Two contracts, one target

[Shae Kalin]

Shae scrunched up her nose at the stink of the chemicals in air. This was definitely one of those moments where she dreaded having as keen of senses as she did, but on the flip-side those senses had served her well, even saved her on more than a few occasions. Still, it burned, not to mention the stench was going to be stuck in her fur; she was going to be smelling chemicals for a week...

The Ruferaluin woman crept through the darkened corridor silently, past the medical ward, past bio containment... Elevator! She used a thumb she had 'liberated' from a guard to fool the biometric security system into letting her call for the lift. Once the lift arrived, she boarded and sent it to the upper levels with the offices. Oklarth Magnus was surely going to beef up his security measures after this, so she was only going to get this one shot! Then again, he probably wouldn't survive this encounter, not after the things he'd done...

The lift came to a stop. Before the doors opened, she drew her bow and hid in the corner, listening carefully once the doors slid open to hear who, if anyone, was about. She could hear footsteps... just one set... not in the corridor. Shae exited the lift, her bow still drawn but low, ears constantly moving to check for new sounds that could alert her to any dangers as she headed for the rear office.

She reached the door and pressed an ear against the cold metal. Yeah, he was in there, pacing from the sound of it. She relaxed her bow so she could access the door control, but then she paused. She was not alone! Well, of course she was not alone, there was her mark on the other side of the door, but she could sense someone else was after her target...

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

Thirty one- Directly east- Not nearly far enough to worry about bullet drop. There, everything was set. Mit could have taken the shot then and there, but very soft footsteps alerted him to another person. It had taken hours to get in here, one guard wasn't going to stop im. He hadn't needed to harm anyone to get in here, of course, he was willing to do it. Crawling through vents and sneaking around corners could only take you so far. Once had gotten through the first security checkpoint it had been smooth sailing.

From the lift he had gone away from his mark. A knife to the back was certainly effective, but it wasn't really something Mit enjoyed... No, a bolt through the head would do just fine. Anyway, the person was moving away from him. They were outside of Dr. Magnus' room though. Could they be a worker? This guy was pretty notorious, could there be another bounty hunter after him? Just to be sure, he readied a secondary blaster and set it next to his rifle. He would probably be dead before he could grab the blaster, roll over, and shoot whoever it was, but it made him look more proffessional at very least.

[member="Shae Kalin"]

 

[Shae Kalin]

Someone was definitely nearby, but where... She tilted her head up to sniff the air, but her nose still burned from the chemicals from the lower levels. She calculated her options, and there weren't many. She could just go on in and rough the target up and get what she needed, but this other person could cause problems. Were they after the research too, or was there something else at play? No, she had to deal with this situation now! Shae became very still, slowing her breathing and hear heart rate so the thrum of her pulse in her ears didn't confuse the sounds that she heard. She heard breathing... slow and controlled. And an echo? But where? that damned echo was confusion the direction, where?!

After a moment, she grinned and looked up. She couldn't see anyone through the air vent, but she knew someone was in there.

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

Breath in, breath out. Mit stiffened and centred his crosshairs on the forehead of the man. This guy was a criminal, no matter what his badge said. This person, they could prove to be a problem. He wondered if they had figured out that he was in the cramped air duct yet. It wasn't often that people opened the grating and didn't lock it back into place. He still had to wait for the man to move away from his window before he could shoot. If the guy fell through the glass, well it would be far messier than necessary. Every second meant more rsik. Who was the person below him, and what were they after? He was almost in position, maybe this would still work.

[member="Shae Kalin"]

 

[Shae Kalin]

Without any further distractions, Shae finally entered the room, then as soon as her eyes fell on Oklarth Magnus she turned and fired an arrow into the air duct to distract whoever was up there. Then she grabbed her mark by the arm.

"I'm not the only one after you, so if you want any hope of getting out of here alive, then you will get me into the lab working on ZX-309," Shae stated softly but firmly, urging the man towards the door with her powerful grip.

Oklarth Magnus' first instinct was to push her away and call for security, maybe even draw a weapon, but if not one but two individuals had managed to get in separately, then he had no doubt that there wasn't much left of his security, and he sure as hell couldn't take out two people come to kill him. He nodded and followed the woman out of his office. He didn't know if this woman would make good on getting him out alive, but at least this way he had a chance of slipping away and escaping on his own. "This way..." he said and pointed down an adjacent corridor.

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

"Damn it." Mit muttered, that rat had Magnus on the move. That settles it then, stealth would do nothing at this point. Whoever was down there knew he was here. The arrow was enough evidence for anyone. It was a good trick, shoot the guy who was trying to shoot the guy you wanted to talk to. He grabbed his pistol and turned to jump out of the vent. The rifle didn't matter, it was his contractors. It wasn't like he had promised to return it. With a grunt he hit the ground. He just caught sight of the two as they disappeared around a corner. He huffed and bolted after them, this rat wasn't getting whatever it was they wanted from Magnus. If it came to it, he was sure her could win in a fight against an archer.

[member="Shae Kalin"]

 

[Shae Kalin]

Shae heard the pursuing footsteps and pushed Magnus ahead. Then she turned with a grin. She could see the white-haired man approaching and she was not going to let him get any further. Her heartrate quickened as she rubbed the fingers of her free hand together at her sides to begin generating fire. then she raised her hand, throwing a ball of flame down the corridor. It missed her competition by several feet, landing on the floor of the corridor, but then with a gesture of her hand, the fire spread across the floor and started climbing the walls to create a barrier between them. She didn't wait for any retaliation, she simply continued on down the corridor to the lab where Magnus was leading her.

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

Mit grinned as the girl set barrier of fire in front of him. "Hey, after We deal with this guy, we should get a drink!" He yelled before the buildings fire prevention system activated. Rows on rows of sprinklers spinning to life and dousing the flame in seconds. It was a research centre after all, why would there not be plans for when a fire broke out? It only took a few seconds for the fire to die out enough for it to be safe for him to run through it. He was soaked now. Why do I always end up in water? Probably because I always end up next to fire. "Don't even worry about it, I'll pay for your clothes. Even though you're the reason these things went off."

[member="Shae Kalin"]

 

[Shae Kalin]

Her wall of flame had provided just enough of a distraction that she was able to get Magnus and herself inside the lab and behind a protective glass door. She left the intercom on so he could hear her giggle as she nibbled on her lower lip and wiggled her fingers as a wave at him.

"Sure, we can get that drink," Shae said softly with a smile, "after I have what I need."

Despite being wet, there was still an allure about her. Her ears stood erect as she listened to the way his heartrate sped up at the sight of her drenched form. Well, he was nothing to scoff at either...

"You just wait there a moment, pretty boy, I'll be done soon..."

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

He ran up to the door and slumped against it. There was no way to get it open if she had the security lock on, and with a fire? He was surprised there wasn't a bulkhead behind it. Most of the other rooms had metal panels covering the doors now, maybe this one was just a back up conference room, incase there were something going on in the other one.

"I haven't even gotten within ten feet of you and you already locked me out. Nice." Mit said with a huff of impatience. "What do you want with him anyway?"

[member="Shae Kalin"]

 

[Shae Kalin]

Shae's grinned and she walked away from the door, but the intercom was still on. She approached Magnus, pulling an arrow out of her hip quiver, twirling the shaft over her fingers as she contemplated her next move.

"ZX-309," she started with a glare as she padded closer to the scientist. "Someone let it out of the lab, decided to test it in a human populace... Now you are going to give me all the research pertaining to this nasty little drug as well as any samples for an antidote, or I am going to spend the next hour inventing new ways to use my arrows before I hand you over to that charming man on the other side of the glass. Don't know what he wants with you, but considering he's carrying a very finely crafted blaster pistol, I don't think he wants a group hug..."

Magnus swallowed hard as his eyes darted between the man and the woman after him and he considered his alternative escape options.

"But if I help you, you'll get me out of here?" he asked.

"That is what I said," Shae said with a nod.

"Alright, just give me a few minutes," Magnus replied and moved over to a research station and started accessing the computer system.

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

"Hey... What the hell am I supposed to do? It's not like I can-" He shook his head before storming off. Down the hallway and into a maintenance room a few meters away. There was nothing in here but cleaning supplies and a computer terminal. At Least this would give him access to the cameras. He managed to find the one that rested inside the sealed room. Now, what was Magnus looking for on that system. There was a list of documents, nothing interesting just a load of numbers.

There was a space that instructed him to input a code, what could it be for? Lockdowns? Security? Probably both. He shut down the terminal and paced back to the room. "Hey, you should keep an eye on him. Pay attention to what he's typing. Just a tip."

[member="Shae Kalin"]

 

[Shae Kalin]

Shae stopped twirling her arrow and pressed the arrowhead against Magnus' neck, right along the jugular.

"Be careful what you do, Doctor. If you call for Security, I might just slip and, well, if the arrow head receives too much pressure it will expand and rip the flesh and underlying blood vessels apart. You would bleed out in a matter of minutes, there's no way Security could get to you in time," Shae reminded gently him as she watched what he was typing. "Although... maybe that wouldn't be a bad idea... I haven't eaten in a while, and you look delicious..." She punctuated her words by leaning in to breath in his scent. Her olfactory senses were still hindered by the chemical fumes, but in this case that turned out to be a good thing because this guy did not smell delicious at all, although he didn't need to know that.

"You said you would-" he started , then stopped with a shudder when she nuzzled against his cheek.

"I know what I said, but deals change, don't they? I can't help you if you're going to call Security on me..." Shae said softly. "The research, Doctor. Enter your code on that secured file and transfer everything to a data disk."

She could sense the man calculating his options, which weren't many by this point. Then he made his decision. Shae didn't give him a chance to act on it; she shoved him away from the console and fired her arrow into his shoulder, pinning him to a wall. Heh, can't do that with a blaster pistol! Then she reached into her pocket for a dataspike, shoving it into the computer access port. She really didn't want it to go down this way, but she needed that data!

While Magnus spewed expletives at Shae, she turned to face the man on the other side of the glass. "The dataspike I used to get the information I need is crashing his system; the door is unlocked, he's all yours."

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

With a grin Mit pushed open the door. Yeah alright, she was brutal, she was also pretty. "You do seem... Able. What's it take to be able to shoot a man point blank like that?" He said quietly while brushing past her. "I guess I'm about to find out." He stepped up to Magnus and gripped his blaster. He couldn't help glancing towards the girl every so often. What was she even after? "You can eat him when I'm done."

"Sorry Dr, It's just business. Not that I have anything against you. I loved some of your old broadcasts." He lifted the pistol and fired a shot into the center of his forehead. The man started to slump to the ground, but the arrow stopped him from falling all the way. It was kind of cool looking actually, a grim statue. He reached over and snatched the man's badge before opening his coat and clipped it inside. There were about ten other nameplates there as well, all with the names of other marks he had taken down. The people who hired him usually wanted some proof.

He walked up behind Shae and looked over her shoulder. "So, find what you needed?" He asked in a genuinely qurious tone.

[member="Shae Kalin"]

 

[Shae Kalin]

"I am not eating that garbage, he'll give me indigestion! I just said that to intimidate him. Although you look rather... yummy," Shae said, a small smile slowly finding its way into her features. Now that they were closer to each other, he could see the canine fangs poking out of her smile. Although, as hungry as she was, she preferred not to eat people she worked with, it made things awkward, and though this was just an 'on the fly' working arrangement, it still counted.

"I think I've got everything I nee-" she started as she removed the dataspike from the computer, "oh no, the antidote..." She looked around to see if she could notice anything that overtly looked like what she needed, but she was no biochemist, she had no idea what of all the chemicals in here was the one she needed. "There's no way I'm going to find it now, gotta cut my losses. If I can get to a working comm system and transmit this data to the people who need it, then I'll be good."

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

"Don't even think about it. I can tell you right now I would taste disgusting, just fat and hair products." Mit said, holding his hands up in a defensive gesture. He looked at the now very dead man, he probably knew where this antidote was. Oops. Hey, she never told him she needed anything else.

"What kind of comm system? I've got a datapad with me, there's another terminal a few rooms down. We could even hijack some of the laboratory stuff if you need it." They were working together now, whether or not either of them wanted to. Might as well help each other out right? She had let him in to finish Magnus off, the least he could do in return was help her find what she needed.

[member="Shae Kalin"]

 

[Shae Kalin]

"No, I need something stronger than a datapad, I need to get this signal off-world. And after the work my dataspike did on the network, nothing here will be useable," Shae said as she pocketed the dataspike. "I've got somewhere I can go to send this. Maybe we can go get that drink when I'm done?" she offered as she headed out of the lab and for the elevator. "And possibly... a bite..."

 

[lordmitmar]

Mit paced behind Shae, he had no where to go. Might as well follow. "Sure. It's on me. Er, the food isn't- Nevermind. I'll pay. That's safer wording. So where are we going now?" He pressed the panel and waited for the elevator to stop on their floor. The dataspike had wiped all security checks. Anyone that wasn't dead was most likely busy trying to find a fix for the mauled technology- The elevator's door opened and it wasn't empty. Three guards were huddled in the center of it, blasters raised.

[member="Shae Kalin"]

 

[Shae Kalin]

Shae had anticipated the possibility of a show of force, which was why she had trashed the labs earlier, leaving the stink of chemicals in the air. She threw Mit on the ground in the corner of the elevator and covered him with her body. With one snap, she ignited the fumes hanging in the air and it was all over for the remaining guards on this level. As soon as she felt the heat die of that first plume down, she pulled away from Mit to check that he was unharmed. Thankfully, her fur was fire resistant and protected them both, not to mention they were both still damp from the fire sprinklers on the upper levels.

"You alright?" she asked anyway, helping him up off the floor and rushing them out of the lift. The guards were still alive, writhing on the floor in pain from their burns. Shae was tempted to stop to end their misery, maybe even grab that bite she had been joking about but seriously needed, but this place was a serious fire hazard and they needed to get out of here, now!

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

"We can't leave them like that!" Mit said in a pained voice, but he knew they had to leave. This place could burst into flames at any second. Or, even worse. The flames could spread to something a bit more volatile. Anything could happen if they managed to spread far enough. With a series of muttered insults he rammed his shoulder into the final door. It had been sealed, but the fire had burned the frail lock to a melted lump. It gave way easily and he went tumbling out the door. He stumbled to his feet and looked to make sure Shae was still behind him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks. You?" In truth he was more worried about her, even though she was obviously covered in flame retardant clothes. Even her fur hadn't been burnt.


[member="Shae Kalin"]