![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_changeling posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsThe next line of defense doesn't fare particularly better.
All three external guards were not responding to their comms. That was a nightmare scenario even if it was just the first line of defense. They’d taken steps to ensure that the only entrance points were heavily reinforced windows and deadbolted doors. They’d have plenty of warning if any assailant tried to make entry. At least, the plan said they did.
The plan went out the window as two different doors were breached with thermite, burning white hot for a moment before collapsing inwards with a crash. Flashbangs bounced in a second later, and the first floor was suddenly lit up like a thousand dawns all at once.
"Tvoyu mat," Doug cursed as he flinched away instinctively, blunting the worst of the abrupt light, but still leaving his ears ringing. He dove behind a table and yanked a pistol from his shoulder holster. "Excuse you!" he yelled. "We're the ones executing an ambush here, not you!" He grimaced and looked off into the middle distance. Honestly, if this turned out like that time with Remy, he was going to have some strong words for...someone.
All his colleagues talked too much. Artie blinked away after images in his eyes and sent his own version of flashbangs back down the hall. He tapped Doug on the arm to get his attention and signed, quickly, "I'll send a decoy in behind them to distract them so that we can move in." He kept his flashbangs - projections of the whitest white he could manage and pure black - going in a flash, flash, darkness, flash pattern that was distracting, rather than complex.
"Sorry, boys, I'm on a schedule here." The voice was calm, even oddly amused, and was followed by a hail of semi-automatic gunfire that tore up the hallway floor. "I'd rather not kill you, but if you stay in my way, all bets are off."
Doug stuck his tongue out at Artie irreverently. They'd known each other for a long time - like he didn't know that chatter was practically an imperative for Doug. "Gosh, that's just so neighborly of you," he drawled. "So we put our guns down and you put your guns down and we talk like civilized folk?" He was pretty sure that wasn't what she meant. "I mean, this deal seems pretty one-sided."
"No, you get the hell out of here and let me do what I need to do, and I don't fill you and your friend here full of holes," came the reply. As if to punctuate the statement, another round of automatic weapons fire bounced off the wall above Doug's head.
Artie flattened himself against the floor and winced. "I think we leave. She's kind of insistent." He let the text float in front of Doug's eye. Also, they were pinned down. Also, she was shooting at them. Also, this sucked. He sent a pair of ghosts down the hall, pulling them out of the walls as they moved.
The movement drew Mary's fire, giving them an opening to find better cover. As the bullets passed through the forms without any kind of impact, there came a low chuckle. "Nice illusions there, kid. You actually fooled me for a second."
The last illusion lingered in Mary's field of vision...and then Doug came through it, his telescoping baton sweeping up to catch her precisely in the wrist and send her gun spinning away. "Made you look," he tossed off with a cheeky grin.
Her response was a sudden movement into range and a sudden grab and twist of his gun hand, causing his fingers to open helplessly and drop it. Her other hand came around and dealt him a quick punch to the face. "Made you bleed," came her retort.
"Fuck." Doug dashed his sleeve across his nose, which came away quite bloody. ~Goddamn blood curse,~ he thought to himself. He'd gone off half-cocked, managing to forget just how vulnerable he was these days. He staggered backward, light-headed and unsteady on his feet.
Shit. Shitshitshit. Shit. Artie moved into Mary's peripheral vision. Ducked back, stepped forward again and feinted with his baton to get her attention. Look at me, look at me. Not Doug. Then, blinding lights and he slashed at her face with his knife. Close corner fighting wasn't his favourite to start with and Doug was down. He didn't need to project Run! at Doug because they'd trained this and he knew what distract and retreat looked like.
He stepped in again - swing, duck and oh, this was going to hurt.
Mary dodged back to avoid the lights and the knife slash and slapped his knife hand away. Block the swing, punch at his face and follow up with a knee that caught him as he ducked, connecting soundly under his chin.
Artie fell on his butt, only training keeping his grip on his weapons. He gasped and distantly thought ow. as he scrabbled backwards. He shifted his grip on his knife and threw it at Mary, going for the woman's throat, because honestly, fuck Kevin.
He used the moment of distraction to get to his feet and run.
Even though they were supposed to be executing an ambush, they'd still picked a spot with plenty of exit routes available. And she'd given them the option to leave, so it wasn't that likely Mary would pursue them. Doug tapped a quick sequence on his phone to initiate the destruction routine on the few computers in the room as he lurched much more slowly to his feet.
Mary ignored the knife that whirled past her head and nodded as the pair stumbled back out of the room. "Good plan," she murmured, before turning back to her own mission.
All three external guards were not responding to their comms. That was a nightmare scenario even if it was just the first line of defense. They’d taken steps to ensure that the only entrance points were heavily reinforced windows and deadbolted doors. They’d have plenty of warning if any assailant tried to make entry. At least, the plan said they did.
The plan went out the window as two different doors were breached with thermite, burning white hot for a moment before collapsing inwards with a crash. Flashbangs bounced in a second later, and the first floor was suddenly lit up like a thousand dawns all at once.
"Tvoyu mat," Doug cursed as he flinched away instinctively, blunting the worst of the abrupt light, but still leaving his ears ringing. He dove behind a table and yanked a pistol from his shoulder holster. "Excuse you!" he yelled. "We're the ones executing an ambush here, not you!" He grimaced and looked off into the middle distance. Honestly, if this turned out like that time with Remy, he was going to have some strong words for...someone.
All his colleagues talked too much. Artie blinked away after images in his eyes and sent his own version of flashbangs back down the hall. He tapped Doug on the arm to get his attention and signed, quickly, "I'll send a decoy in behind them to distract them so that we can move in." He kept his flashbangs - projections of the whitest white he could manage and pure black - going in a flash, flash, darkness, flash pattern that was distracting, rather than complex.
"Sorry, boys, I'm on a schedule here." The voice was calm, even oddly amused, and was followed by a hail of semi-automatic gunfire that tore up the hallway floor. "I'd rather not kill you, but if you stay in my way, all bets are off."
Doug stuck his tongue out at Artie irreverently. They'd known each other for a long time - like he didn't know that chatter was practically an imperative for Doug. "Gosh, that's just so neighborly of you," he drawled. "So we put our guns down and you put your guns down and we talk like civilized folk?" He was pretty sure that wasn't what she meant. "I mean, this deal seems pretty one-sided."
"No, you get the hell out of here and let me do what I need to do, and I don't fill you and your friend here full of holes," came the reply. As if to punctuate the statement, another round of automatic weapons fire bounced off the wall above Doug's head.
Artie flattened himself against the floor and winced. "I think we leave. She's kind of insistent." He let the text float in front of Doug's eye. Also, they were pinned down. Also, she was shooting at them. Also, this sucked. He sent a pair of ghosts down the hall, pulling them out of the walls as they moved.
The movement drew Mary's fire, giving them an opening to find better cover. As the bullets passed through the forms without any kind of impact, there came a low chuckle. "Nice illusions there, kid. You actually fooled me for a second."
The last illusion lingered in Mary's field of vision...and then Doug came through it, his telescoping baton sweeping up to catch her precisely in the wrist and send her gun spinning away. "Made you look," he tossed off with a cheeky grin.
Her response was a sudden movement into range and a sudden grab and twist of his gun hand, causing his fingers to open helplessly and drop it. Her other hand came around and dealt him a quick punch to the face. "Made you bleed," came her retort.
"Fuck." Doug dashed his sleeve across his nose, which came away quite bloody. ~Goddamn blood curse,~ he thought to himself. He'd gone off half-cocked, managing to forget just how vulnerable he was these days. He staggered backward, light-headed and unsteady on his feet.
Shit. Shitshitshit. Shit. Artie moved into Mary's peripheral vision. Ducked back, stepped forward again and feinted with his baton to get her attention. Look at me, look at me. Not Doug. Then, blinding lights and he slashed at her face with his knife. Close corner fighting wasn't his favourite to start with and Doug was down. He didn't need to project Run! at Doug because they'd trained this and he knew what distract and retreat looked like.
He stepped in again - swing, duck and oh, this was going to hurt.
Mary dodged back to avoid the lights and the knife slash and slapped his knife hand away. Block the swing, punch at his face and follow up with a knee that caught him as he ducked, connecting soundly under his chin.
Artie fell on his butt, only training keeping his grip on his weapons. He gasped and distantly thought ow. as he scrabbled backwards. He shifted his grip on his knife and threw it at Mary, going for the woman's throat, because honestly, fuck Kevin.
He used the moment of distraction to get to his feet and run.
Even though they were supposed to be executing an ambush, they'd still picked a spot with plenty of exit routes available. And she'd given them the option to leave, so it wasn't that likely Mary would pursue them. Doug tapped a quick sequence on his phone to initiate the destruction routine on the few computers in the room as he lurched much more slowly to his feet.
Mary ignored the knife that whirled past her head and nodded as the pair stumbled back out of the room. "Good plan," she murmured, before turning back to her own mission.
