Hot Bubbled Heist

[Saabossi]

Saabossi had her body curled around a spire. Her scaled skin protected her from the heated flames of the flowing lava rivers below. The spire of rock stood up high enough for a vantage point. And below, was a landing pad where occasionally a shuttle came by and landed. This planet was attached to a heavily used trade route, the Pabol Hutta route. Used by the Hutts and crime families, but the goal was a small time gang. They were the target.

Saa was waiting for the signal of her partners arrival. [member="Toni Nova"]. She met them once on a job, but like most of her species Saa didn't show much appreciation or emotions. She was very focused on the mission alone. Lifting the scoped rifle up to her gaze, she looked over the site again. Another shuttle was coming in. Was this the one? Maybe.

 

[Toni Nova]

@Saabossi



[SIZE=11pt]Fire. The planet was engulfed in nothing but it, except for the few cities that managed to perch themselves over the flames on mountains or floated over the fiery flames. Toni stalked along one of the durasteel catwalks toward her coworker for the job. The heat around her was almost enough to make the gunslinger sweat. She hadn’t been on a volcano planet before this one, and that was saying something.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Toni leaned back against one of the nearby support struts. Her dark brown eyes looked across the paths before depressing the comlink on her wrist live. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“This is Toni,” she said through the line at last, “When you’re ready, we are live.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She had seen this reptile, Saabossi, before, on a job. They weren’t anywhere near close, but the credits were good and if the pair could make it work, then they could both get rich off this Hutt tactic.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“The intel is good,” Toni said when Saabossi arrived, “The gang we are looking for has their headquarters fronted at a swoop mechanic shop. There are four, possibly six guards in the front, and up to ten in the back behind them. It looks like there are least two more levels below where the spice is being held. I couldn’t get anything on those, what is below is anyone’s guess until we get in there.” Toni paused, “Any questions?”[/SIZE]

 

[Saabossi]

Saabossi continued to watch from the spire, watching for anything out of the ordinary. The comms sounded, Saa responded quickly. "Saa reporting" she hissed through the comm, then went back to looking down the scope. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, not yet at least.

Flicking out her tongue, she smelled something. Or rather, tasted something in the air. Immediately she turned from her perch, only to have her aim linger on the trespasser of her space yet not fire. Instead, Saa hissed at them, "You sssshould know not to creep." Had they been some foolish attacker, her tail would have struck or she would have fired her rifle on them. One or the other. Toni was lucky it was not the tail.

"I have been obssserving them for quite some time. Nothing unusssual" her tail flicked a bit as if rattling. They may have been a patient race, but while she could resist the heat she did not want to stay too long. "I can provide overwatch on the platform. You go in, and wait on the platform for me. Then, we go in together."

[member="Toni Nova"]

 

[Toni Nova]

[member="Saabossi"]

"Perfect," Toni said with a cool tone. She thumbed the safety on each of her pistols, their soft vibrating hum to life made her thighs buzz softly. "I'll move in on your mark then."

The mercenary strut out of the shadows towards the swoop shop. She exaggerated her naturally swayed step, letting the enticing movement of her walking do all the talking she needed. One of the two gangsters out front saw her, slapping his comrade on the arm. "Hey, girl, bring that over this way."

"Yeah, girl, come on over, let us show you what a real man can do," his Rodien companion teased too.

Toni stopped with feigned surprise, placing her hand on her chest, "Who, me?" She took a few tentative steps closer, "I--I don't know, my boyfriend would be so upset if he saw me with you two."

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him baby," said the first closing the distance. As his fingers closed around Toni's forearm, she sprang to life.

She brought her knee up into his groin with a heavy hit, crippling the man for a moment. Her free hand grabbed his forearm as she side stepped around him. With her momentum, she akito-threw him against the permacrete wall. Flecks of gray dust bound off the stony surface as he grunted in pain. Out of the corner of her eye, Toni saw the Rodien reaching for the heavy blaster in his belt. Toni whipped her own pistol out, the single shot landed square in his chest, sending his body sprawling back. A punch to the side of her face sent the world reeling around Toni. She hit the ground just in time to be vaguely aware of the sensation of the first man wrestling the blaster from her hand. She could see his angry face loming over him from behind her blaster.

 

[Saabossi]

Saabossi gave a quick wave of her hand in dismissal as she continued to look down the scope. There was some movement on the platform. If she was to take this quietly, she needed to wait for her perfect moment. She made some quick adjustments to her scope's focus and the rifle itself. As Saa observed, she spotted her partner moving in. Not sure what her game plan here was, though it was curious her movements and such.

But as soon as action happened and blasters and limbs flying, Saa took aim. It was too much happening for her to get a good shot. So, Saa waited. Waited for a good point to fire, and then there it was as Toni was sent down. Saa zeroed in on the second thug, pulled the trigger. Sending them sprawling off to the side. Her tail rattled in satisfaction.

She went to comms after. "Targets down. Some may have heard your commotion" she said, her tone sounding out just how confused she was by the tactics. "Wait in cover for a few moments in case."

[member="Toni Nova"]

 

[Toni Nova]

[member="Saabossi"]

As the man's body collapsed backwards, Toni let out a breath of relief. She hated to work with others but if she was going to work with someone, it would be with a sniper. With a single fluid motion, she whipped to her feet, plucking her pistol from his lifeless hands.

"Willco," she muttered.

A moment later the raven haired agent could hear the scuffle inside of footsteps. She recoiled to the nearby shadows behind a stack of plasteel crates. Four of the gangsters came out, each brandishing blasters and vibroblades.

"Who the hell did this?" one of them exclaimed looking at his dead comrades.

"Whoever did it is gonna get popped, you feel?" said a second brandishing his pistol in a threatening gesture.

"Yeah I--" The first's words were cut short by a single shot to the back from Toni's pistol.

The other three didn't have a chance to respond before Toni stepped out into the light, shooting the second twice in the chest. The third, a Nikto, brought his vibro blade in a quick stab towards her stomach. Toni side stepped the attack, wrapping her free hand around it. With a hard tug she used his momentum. The scaley alien stumbled forward towards the wall. His head hit it with a hard crash. The sole survivor fired a salvo of wild rounds at her, Toni twirled in a graceful side step, artfully dodging the trio of blaster shots and closing the gap between her and her attacker. She pressed the barrel of her blaster pistol against his throat. For a fraction of a second terror gripped the young man's gray-blue eyes before she snuffed his life out.

"Amateurs," she muttered, "We should be clear for your descent."

 

[Saabossi]

Saabossi readied to fire as multiple thugs came out. Though instead, she held back. Toni seemed to have this handled just fine as they all fell one after the other. Saabossi watched the whole fight down her scope. She did wait for a shot opportunity, but none came as over and over Toni seemed to fell them, one by one. Saa had patience. It was not till after they were all down did she fire, hitting one of the fallen thugs.

"Missssed one" she hissed into the comms...though really, she didn't. Saa just felt a little left out. Her tail rattled before she became to descend from the stone spire, down to the level of the platform and began to slither over. Once over, she nudged one of the bodies with the barrel of her blaster. "Pity...none seem even capable of fighting in a war. Let alone defend a little place like thisss."

 

[Toni Nova]

[member="Saabossi"]

"Yeah, well," Toni drew flicked some of the semi-burned blood off her blaster pistol, "You have to earn your keep too."

The reptile came down from her perch and Toni watched as she double checked the dead bodies. What struck Toni was how common violence had to be in this neighborhood for no one to even care a pair of females had just killed six beings. Or maybe they were too smart to really give a mind to the blaster shots.

"Its better that way," She shrugged, "when they are easier to kill, it makes it easier to get back home earlier."

The dark assassin swaggered into the Swoop Shop. Its cheap, dated interior was filthy with disrepair and plain. Aside from the counter with a door just past it and a pair of couches for waiting, there wasn't much to offer and not a soul was in site. Toni cautiously made her way to the door on the opposite side of the room. There was no knowing what lay on the other side of it. She nodded to her reptilian companion, mouthing One.... Two.... Three. Before kicking the metallic door in.

 

[Saabossi]

Saabossi hissed through her comms hearing that. She would earn her keep, all right. Coming over to Toni, Saa gave her a look over for injuries. She did not wish to be slowed down. And then waited for their next move. She slithered into the Swoop Shop after her partner, her tail sweeping along the ground back and forth. The bladed tip rattling on the end with each movement, occasionally tapping to the floor of the shop or hitting a wall if her tail went near it. Her sight was about normal but her hearing, that was where she was faulted. What she relied on most, was her sense of smell.

The slithering sniper readied herself by a wall as Toni observed the place. Till she moved to a door. Slithering over, she took aim at the door with her rifle, moving the scope aside for better sights more suited for closer engagements. Her tail rattled again quietly out of anticipation.

The door was opened. Her tongue flicked about as she tried to scent something down there. There were many signatures down inside. "Further in. Heat. Life. I sssense the...merchandissse." Their target had not left just yet. She waited for Toni to take the lead, then she would follow.

[member="Toni Nova"]

 

[Toni Nova]

[member="Saabossi"]


[SIZE=11pt]It made sense for Toni to go first, she was after all, the most skilled in close combat of the pair. The tongue thing Saabossi could do was unnerving but handy. It reminded Toni of the advantage that all the non-human guns always brought with them.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Sounds fair,” she said with a nod.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]With her pistol in both hands Toni stepped into the next room. The cold duracrete flooring had three swoops laying on the surface in various states of disrepair. She gave the room a cold appraisal. There was no one of danger here, but the room was clearly a dead end.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her eyes fell on one of the swoops. A line of scratch marks along the duracrete flooring along it had dug deep rills into the gray flooring. She gave the partially dismantled speeder’s chassis a heavy kick. It fell on its side with a clatter. Under it was a small trap door, barely large enough for a human to slip through.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Alright, you first this time,” Toni said motioning towards the hole with her pistol. “It’s too dark for me to do much good in there.”[/SIZE]

 

[Saabossi]

Saabossi flicked out her tongue every now and then as she attempted to seek out any more signatures. Through the door they went yet, none were here. Had she sensed wrong? No, for sure she had sensed something. She hissed to herself in her stupidity, thinking perhaps she had sensed nothing after all. And was about to reprimand herself when her partner spoke up. She slowly came over, her tail positioning with the tip just by the trapdoor while she stood on the other side of her partner. The blade rattling.

"Wonderful..." she hissed lightly, as she slithered down. Her form was flexible enough to move through with ease, yet she had to had a blaster pistol out rather than her rifle. This was most dangerous for Saabossi. "Wait, there are some ahead...I sensssse their heat, their sssmell."

[member="Toni Nova"]

 

[Toni Nova]

[member="Saabossi"]


[SIZE=11pt]“Awesome,” Toni said with a less-than-pleased tone. “Maybe we should just ask them nicely and see if they will just hand this load over.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Toni looped her free hand through her belt and strutted down the stairs into the dark passage. She was going in blind, and if it wasn’t for her excellent coordination, she would have came tumbling down on her face. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]When she reached the bottom at last, she found herself in a dimly lit room. The cavernous duracrete walls were barely lit by a yellowing bulb in the middle of the room. A quartet of gangsters were there, along with six sealed plasteel crates. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Hey, guys,” Toni said with a shrug, ‘Just a thought; how about you hand this over and save us all the struggle.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]One of the gangsters closest to her whipped his vibroblade out, bringing a wild slash at the hired gun’s throat from her left. Toni easily sidestepped the blow, the only thing its humming edge cut were a few strands of her raven hair. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Guess that’s a no, huh?” Toni muttered as the others drew their weapons on her.[/SIZE]

 

[Saabossi]

Saabossi looked to the woman for a moment, then realized that her partner was using what was called 'sarcasm'. She was too serious to notice it, most of the time. "If we ask with our weapons, perhaps." Saa held her blaster pistol up in both her hands, her tail snaking along the ground behind her. The tail rattling, hitting the walls at other side every now and then. It would seem to echo ahead, a sound of impending doom. Then, they arrived to more thugs. She let Toni do the talking before action erupted.

Saa moved forward with almost blinding speed, slithering across the ground to one of them. She flicked out the tail end to one of them, nicking his chest and surprising them as they let out a shout of pain. All the while, she took aim at another and fired a couple times with her blaster pistol. Her tail went back to the one it had nicked, slamming into them with the thick part into one of the crates.

[member="Toni Nova"]

 

[Toni Nova]

[member="Saabossi"]


[SIZE=11pt]All hell broke loose as Saab began to return the attack. Toni side kicked the vibroblade-wielding, closest attack. He stumbled back a few steps in surprise as another curved his knife in downward stab towards her ear. Toni’s forearm came up in a cross block, stopping his blade. As she swung herself upright, she twisted the blade around into his neck. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Blood gushed from his wound as Toni ripped the blade from the opening. The man who had slashed at her at first retrieved his pistol from the hidden folds of his baggy tee shirt. Each of the shots he fired at her went wide, not even coming close as the woman side stepped his sites. She flicked her wrist, the bloody knife whizzed through the air and lodged itself right between his eyes. A shower of gore sprayed in the air a it landed true. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Toni flicked the blood off her hand, “Damn, well they sure don’t want to quit, now do they?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She grabbed one of the dead bodies Saab had made off the chest and tossed it to the floor. “I think this might be the goods, care to do the honors?”[/SIZE]

 

[Saabossi]

Saabossi dove at the one she had knocked against the crate, slicing at their chest with her tail blade. A shot flew over her head, and she ducked out of the way before slithering close to the ground. A hard target to hit till she sprung upon them. She dove upon them, wrestling their weapon away to cast it aside. It slid away. She coiled around their legs to keep them from running, then delivered a swift punch to their head. Just in case they needed to question anyone later. With them down as well as the other guards, she made her way over to Toni.

Her hands went to the lid, and very carefully Saabossi clicked the lid open then pushed it off. Inside was indeed the goal. "Betting the resssst have the ssssame. The job wassss to take these or dessstroy them. What to do...what to do" she tapped one of her slender fingers to her chin in thought.

[member="Toni Nova"]

 

[Toni Nova]

[member="Saabossi"]


[SIZE=11pt]Toni cocked her head to the side, putting her free hand on her hip. There was something of a delima here, wasn’t there? There was a lot of stash here, moving all of this glitterstim was going to be almost impossible. Moreover, when they sold it--that was sure to attract a lot of unwanted attention--and maybe retaliation--with their victims. She wasn’t scared of a few street rats, but they clearly had a distributor. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Both,” Toni grabbed one of the foil wrapped kilo sized bags and stuffed it in her belt. She filled her belt with all it could carry before taking the satchel across her back off and filling it to the brim. It was maybe half of what this large crate had, but it was a small fortune’s worth of drugs. Just to be safe, she grabbed a final pair of kilos from the box and stuffed them in his shirt. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]she turned, catching her reflection in the metal box’s lid. “Damn, I should stuff drugs in my bra more often. That pushes me up a cup and a half at least.” She unclipped two of the mines off her belt, tossing them to Saab, “Let’s blow this crap.”[/SIZE]

 

[Saabossi]

Saabossi watched her partner in this act as they decided what they would do. But, Saa would have no part in it as she had no need for such things. She simply slithered back a bit, while [member="Toni Nova"] stuffed her clothing and bags full of the contents of the crates. The end of her tail rattled slightly. She was not sure what to even think of this, whether it was even a good idea. Would this count as crossing their employers? She did not know.

"We mussst move" she spoke up after catching the mines. Quickly she slithered about, placing each mine on a crate then setting it up to explode. But, she set it for motion detection after one minute. In case reinforcements arrived. The thought of them coming to check on the supplies, only to be the cause of the destruction brought her satisfaction. "Explosivessss are ready...time to go" she said, beginning to slither out of the room rather quickly. Saa wanted to be far away.

 

[Toni Nova]

[member="Saabossi"]

"Good work with those triggers, you almost look like you know what you're doing," Toni said sardonically. She grabbed one of the pillars and swung herself in a graceful pole-dancer like swing onto the stairs, a skill she learned from her days as a dancer. "Let's kick it."

The gunslinger stormed up the stairs not far behind the lizard in front of her. She didnt want to be here any longer than her companion did. The sound of them leaving must have attracted some attention, she could hear the sounds of steps and clambors coming from lower in the passages.

The pair barely made it out of the shop in time before the mines detonated. The blast shook the ground, a flaming ball of fire with the shock wave ahead of it sent Toni stumbling forward. She bounced off her hands, landing on her bootted feet without missing a step. Some days those extra hours practicing as a gymnist paid off.

Shards of glass pelted the ground around them as the windows were blown out from the explosion. Debris fell around them, anything that could catch on fire in that building smouldered in flames.

"Come on!" Toni shouted, her ears were still ringing from the sonic concussion. "We have to get out of here fast."