| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Next Move? |
| Date: | Mon, 24 Nov 1997 23:34:57 +0000 |
>>>>>[There's an obvious conclusion to be drawn from this morning's
festivities. For those of you who were curious, this is what actually
happened.
+++++begin video
The camera is high in the corner of a small bedroom, not much larger
than a prison cell; moonlight streams in through the window, shedding a
pale glow over the room's contents.
It's plain and quite bare, the main contents being a single bed
(occupied by a sleeping form, only long silver-blonde hair visible), a
wardrobe, and a desk below a bookcase. Both bookcase and desk are laden
with disks and books: the only visible title is "Decline of the Roman
Empire".
The timestamp says it's 04:34, and the audio track is silent.
Almost as the digits flick to 04:35, there is a piercing, screaming wail
that overloads the audio pickup, and the door flies wide open.
+++++decrease frame rate to 25% normal
The door smashes against the wall and the shrieking noise dies in a
crunch of broken plastic, and two white-clad figures are rushing into
the room towards the bed with knives in their hands: the sleeper,
though, is already out of bed, flinging the sheet at the nearest
attacker.
That confusion and the tangle of cloth buys perhaps half a second, long
enough for the sleeper to have a katana naked in her hands by the time
her first attacker is free of the enfolding cloth.
There is an instant of stillness: a painfully beautiful Elven girl
wearing only a black T-shirt, holding _Kurosio_ ready to attack or
defend; and two men or women, in close-fitting white clothing and hoods,
one holding a shorter, straighter sword and the other - female - a
wicked-looking curved knife with a weighted chain attached to the
pommel. The slow frame rate makes the moment last for a second at least,
though it could only have been an eyeblink: then the swordsman lunges at
Easy, slashing for her neck, and her parry leaves her exposed for a
vicious cut across her ribs. It's immediately obvious she's badly
outclassed.
She ignores the wound, instead bringing her own sword across the man's
arm, the white cloth suddenly bright crimson around the rent: he seems
no more troubled by his injury than she is by hers, and the other ninja
is circling to attack when a huge form crashes through the door.
The knifewielder throws the weighted and barbed chain, snagging Sherak's
knife hand and jerking the blade aside: she drives the curved blade into
Sherak's chest in the followthrough.
The swordsman slashes at Easy's legs and she leaps back, trading her
little manoevre room to avoid being crippled. Her riposte is parried
with contemptuous ease, the ninja as fast as Easy and turning her
strength against her.
Sherak grunts with pain, dropping his knife and jerking the chain: blood
rushes from his arm as the barbs dig deep, and the ninja staggers
towards him, and the Elf clamps both his hands around the woman's
throat. The ninja's eyes - the only part visible - bulge with sudden
surprise and fear, as she pulls the knife free and stabs Sherak again.
And again. And again. The huge Elf is sagging at the knees, soaked with
his own blood, but the iron grip on the ninja's throat never loosens and
he drags the white-clad assassin down as he falls, still choking the
life from his enemy.
Easy, out of room to run, stumbles against the edge of the bed and half-
falls: the swordsman is beginning his killing stroke when a dozen red
flowers bloom in his chest, the thunder deafening. Mani advances into
the room, the Mini-Uzi held in a two-handed grip, and fires a short
burst into the ninja's head: turns to see Sherak's victim.
Sherak is blowing a bloody froth from his mouth and the wounds in his
chest, but he is clutching the ninja's throat so tightly that bruised
flesh almost hides his hands, and the knife-wielding woman's eyes stare
lifelessly from the mask. He painfully turns his head, sees a bleeding
but functional Easy, and smiles almost contemptuously.
"Shi'el mach tir fa'aal..." he says, or something not unlike: hard to
make out through the blood he's drowning in. And then, as if a switch
was thrown, he dies.
"You are hurt." Mani says, concerned: the slash in Easy's T-shirt shows
her pale flesh slicked with blood, and a nasty cut.
"Nothing. It skidded across my ribs, they're titanium laced. It can
wait." Easy pulls the T-shirt off, examines the clean eight-inch cut.
Mani stares, then looks away in confusion, reaching into his jacket for
a spare magazine.
Running feet outside, and two Serenity guards arrive with guns ready:
stopping dead when they see the room.
"Response time... thirty-two seconds. From postions a floor and several
doors away. Good work." Easy says.
"Sir, I'm sorry, we-"
"For what?" Easy picks up the dropped sheet, slices a swatch of cloth
off, uses it to wipe away the worst of the blood and then apply pressure
to the wound. "These guys got past you, big deal, it's what they do,
almost _all_ they do. Ninja. Heard about them, never thought I'd see
them, let alone have two dead ones delivered. For sure you're not being
paid to stop _this_ level of threat."
"What do you want us to do?"
"Check the area. See if they planted any other surprises. Find out how
they got in. You guys know the drill. I'll be okay, and your backup is
on the way, right?"
The guards leave, reluctantly. Mani looks nervous, hesitant even, then
suggests "May I treat your wound?"
"Please." Easy nods, and Mani reaches into a pocket of the embroidered
jacket for his medkit. He carefully sprays the cut with coagulant and
antibiotic, then begins taping it shut with small butterfly sutures.
"You're well dressed for the festivities. Something wake you?" Easy
asks.
Mani glances at the jacket (all he seems to be wearing). "No. I woke
from a nightmare, and sat to read a little to calm my mind. Since the
night is cold, I donned my jacket. It holds many useful things, to
reassure myself after a fearful dream: having weapons near is soothing
to me. A fortuitous nightmare, perhaps."
The medkit bleeps and administers another injection. "The wound was
poisoned." Mani says with disgust. "A powerful venom, but one that can
be neutralised. You are lucky the cut was so shallow."
"Lucky all around." Easy flexes her arm. "Good stitches, Mani, thank
you. If it weren't for you and Sherak, I'd be dead. I couldn't handle
that guy even by himself, and he and his friend would have left me dead
in another second or two."
"I swore I would protect you. And I will." Mani replies simply. "Sherak
will be missed, though. He was a warrior. What were his last words?"
"I'm not sure." Easy - unconcernedly naked, which seems to discomfit
Mani greatly - walks to the wardrobe and picks out clothing, dressing
carefully to avoid pulling on her wounded side. "It sounded like 'I have
followed the Path to its end'. Don't know why."
She turns - now barefoot in jeans and a sleeveless T-shirt - to face
Mani. "Hold very still and close your eyes." Mani does so, and Easy
leans forward and gently kises his lips. "Thank you, Mani Cuma. I owe
you my life."
Mani seems to be shivering slightly, but says simply "You will never be
in my debt."
"Perhaps." Easy smiles, then picks up the double shoulder holster for
her Beretta automatics and begins fastening it into place. "Meanwhile,
time for a council of war."
+++++end video
The ninjas got in... well, never mind how, the Serenity guys closed it
off but good. You wouldn't believe two guys could get through there, and
I hardly do either, but it's closed now. Traces of mana, maybe they were
shapechanged? Serenity are checking it out, anyway.
They took the security seriously: they didn't risk leaving any surprises
(and we checked _hard_, Serenity guards really hate it when anything
gets past them). No ID, no traces, just two dead bodies that look like
cheapass trideo ninja wannabees unless you were fighting them.
I mean, they killed _Sherak_. I was lucky the screamer worked, lucky the
room's so small, lucky Sherak and Mani got there so fast... I should be
dead.
That's a lot of luck to use up in one night, and I want to make the bad
guys use some up.]<<<<<
-- Easy <23:34:21/11-25-58>
