10-19-2017, 02:05 PM
Hijiri, carrying the re-sheathed sword in one hand, ready to draw at a moment's notice, was crouched by the trapdoor. It hadn't exactly been well hidden; the thing sat in the dead centre of the room and was covered by a bright orange and fluffy rug. Ever so slightly conspicuous. None of the other rooms had held anything worth mentioning; certainly no guns, explosives or gangsters waiting to spring another ambush, at least. As such, they were now ready to head out; Priya, Leon & Jallus had all returned from their appointed tasks.
“Do it.” Kroll ordered. He and the rest of the squad were standing, blasters levelled at the trapdoor. While they'd waited on the three who had now returned a pair of skinny guys armed with regular bullet-guns had tried to flee out this way, looking scared. They'd started firing when they noticed the squad, but luckily neither had been a remotely good shot; in fact, they could barely even handle the recoil of their own weapons. It was no wonder they were so desperate to get away before Davion & Co found them. Brandon and Kroll gunned them down easily enough, but they weren't taking any chances; they had no idea what was under the trapdoor, so they'd fire the moment they came across an enemy.
With his free hand the Battle Rabbit smoothly tugged open the hatch, revealing...
Nothing. There was no one there.
Carefully advancing, the squad headed down, with Hijiri bringing up the rear. It didn't take long to spot the difference between this level and the one above; whereas that had been dingy and unwelcoming, this area was richly upholstered indeed, with plush red carpets and wallpaper of a colour to match. Golden lights were attached to the walls at regular intervals, providing a far more brilliant illumination than that of the dim bulbs of the building above.
There were no side-doors in this corridor. It carried on straight for a several metres before turning at a right angle. Upon rounding the corner they saw a set of double doors just a few metres away, guarded by a pair of hulking thugs in white suits and grey ties. Apparently the casino's workers were supposed to dress more professionally than the rest of the gang's members.
The moment they laid eyes on the group, the two men raised their weapons; a pair of fat guns that looked almost like miniature cannons; there would be no getting through this way quietly.
Those at the rear darted back round the bend whilst Hijiri, Kroll and Brandon, who had taken the lead when they reached the corner, dived to the ground as the big guns roared and huge bullets slammed into the walls behind them. If those things were to actually land on target they'd easily have torn a fist-sized hole right through their victims and out the other side.
The recoil was strong, though, even for towering masses of muscle such as these, and so they'd need a moment to aim again.
Kroll and Brandon took one, unloading their blasters into his chest and causing him to stumble back, through the doors, whilst Hijiri dashed forwards in the blink of an eye, staying low to the ground until he was upon his target, then spinning as he drew his blade, drawing a line in blood across the big guy's gut.
Facing his allies now, with his back to the doors, Hijiri calmly and coolly sheathed his katana. Behind him, the bruiser dropped his weapon and clutched feebly at his stomach in a vain attempt at keeping his organs internal. He failed.
“Nice work.” the 'sergeant' commended him, as they got to their feet and Priya, Leon, Trevor & Jallus joined them. Past those doors would be the casino itself, and now that he paused to listen closely, Hijiri noticed he could hear faint gunfire in the distance. Hopefully the lieutenant's people were doing alright.
Wasting no time, he swung the doors wide...
He took one look at the various thugs, goons and gangsters arrayed around the many gambling tables within, noticed that they were all already aware of the stormtroopers headed their way – courtesy of the big doorman who'd stumbled in as he died – and had over three dozen guns aimed his way, then smoothly shut the double doors once again, fully expecting them to at any moment be smashed to splinters in a hail of bullets and lasers which would undoubtedly take out the Prime as well.
Instead, however, he was pleasantly surprised when the plethora of projectiles battered against the doors, but utterly failed to make their way through.
It seemed that these things must be armour plated, for them to have withstood a barrage such as that. If so then the NSW's desire to protect their casino from any unexpected attacks would seem to have badly backfired.
“Windvale, you're up.” Kroll said, taking a position by the right door, as Hijiri moved aside to the left.
“Ready.” the elf told them, unhooking a pair of small spheres from his belt.
With a nod from Kroll, he and Hijiri simultaneously swung their doors open just wide enough Brandon to toss through his little gadgets, then slammed them shut once again, as quickly as they could manage.
A few shots were fired by those with the fastest reactions, but even the closest one barely managed to so much as graze Brandon; the bullet struck his shoulder and glanced off, sending a couple cracks snaking across the plastoid plate but not actually harming the elf at all.
Then they heard the explosions.
Not that those were nearly as dangerous as the noise they made might lead one to assume; one had been an EMP which would cut off the Wolfpack's communicators and perhaps some other equipment as well if they were lucky, whilst the other had been some sort of ultra-smoke-grenade, easily capable of filling even a room as huge as that one with its contents.
No one would be killed by those things, but they would prevent their foes from organising, calling in reinforcements, and noticing if the squad entered the room. Of course, the 'troopers wouldn't have it all that easy themselves if they were actually to do so, since the laser bolts from their blasters would give away their positions every time they fired, just as much as the enemy's weapons would.
Hijiri, of course, did not have this to worry about. He could hear the panic in their voices as the gangsters realised they couldn't see more than a foot or two from their faces in this thick smoke. Some were already coughing. It wouldn't be long before they were forced to head for the exits, at which point any dumb enough to leave through these doors would be gunned down by Kroll's group, and hopefully Davion's people would soon close in from the other side.
In the meantime, Hijiri drew his blade, reduced his weight, took a deep breath – to get as much oxygen as possible into his lungs – and slipped into the room; as light as he now was, his steps would make virtually no noise. He couldn't see his targets, but he could still hear them blundering about, cursing, and, most importantly, yelling orders.
Keeping low, he moved as stealthily as someone with no training in moving stealthily could possibly be expected to. Between the loud gangsters and the obscuring smoke, though, it seemed his lack of practice was not enough to give him away, and he soon reached someone he assumed must be at least moderately important.
The man was short, overweight and dressed – so far as the Battle Rabbit could tell with such low visibility – in a suit similar to that of the guards they had seen in the hallway. He was standing on a roulette table as he screamed commands to his goons in between coughs, trying to get a group of them organised enough to rush the hallway and take out Kroll's team through sheer weight of numbers.
Angling the point of his weapon upwards, Hijiri calmly slid the katana into the gangster's belly and up through vital organs and into his heart. His victim shrieked in pain and surprise, and the Rabbit slid out the weapon as he collapsed.
More people began yelling, but Hijiri jumped lightly to put some distance between them. Having no way of knowing where he would land, though, he made sure to keep his blade at the ready, and it was fortunate indeed that he had, for he soon found himself touching down right beside one of the many goons scattered across the room.
“Huh?” she asked, not having noticed him at all until he was upon her. His blade lashed out. Normally, a strike with as much energy behind it as he was using here would have straight-up decapitated her completely, but as lightweight as he currently was, it merely slit her throat.
Her blood rushed out in a torrent – some of it splattering against him – as she stumbled back, hands going to her throat for a moment before she collapsed. More shouting started up as others heard her body strike the floor, and a couple people even fired vaguely in his direction (though neither shot came close to being on target) before cooler heads prevailed and those idiots were loudly and angrily ordered not to fire... shooting blindly in a room filled with your own allies generally wasn't the best of tactics, after all.
Hijiri moved on. He would be forced to exert himself more than usual to inflict the same wounds, and he would have to leave the smoke soon to take another breath – more and more people were coughing now – but he was determined to do what he could to cause some chaos for however long he could hold out.
He got to work.
“Do it.” Kroll ordered. He and the rest of the squad were standing, blasters levelled at the trapdoor. While they'd waited on the three who had now returned a pair of skinny guys armed with regular bullet-guns had tried to flee out this way, looking scared. They'd started firing when they noticed the squad, but luckily neither had been a remotely good shot; in fact, they could barely even handle the recoil of their own weapons. It was no wonder they were so desperate to get away before Davion & Co found them. Brandon and Kroll gunned them down easily enough, but they weren't taking any chances; they had no idea what was under the trapdoor, so they'd fire the moment they came across an enemy.
With his free hand the Battle Rabbit smoothly tugged open the hatch, revealing...
Nothing. There was no one there.
Carefully advancing, the squad headed down, with Hijiri bringing up the rear. It didn't take long to spot the difference between this level and the one above; whereas that had been dingy and unwelcoming, this area was richly upholstered indeed, with plush red carpets and wallpaper of a colour to match. Golden lights were attached to the walls at regular intervals, providing a far more brilliant illumination than that of the dim bulbs of the building above.
There were no side-doors in this corridor. It carried on straight for a several metres before turning at a right angle. Upon rounding the corner they saw a set of double doors just a few metres away, guarded by a pair of hulking thugs in white suits and grey ties. Apparently the casino's workers were supposed to dress more professionally than the rest of the gang's members.
The moment they laid eyes on the group, the two men raised their weapons; a pair of fat guns that looked almost like miniature cannons; there would be no getting through this way quietly.
Those at the rear darted back round the bend whilst Hijiri, Kroll and Brandon, who had taken the lead when they reached the corner, dived to the ground as the big guns roared and huge bullets slammed into the walls behind them. If those things were to actually land on target they'd easily have torn a fist-sized hole right through their victims and out the other side.
The recoil was strong, though, even for towering masses of muscle such as these, and so they'd need a moment to aim again.
Kroll and Brandon took one, unloading their blasters into his chest and causing him to stumble back, through the doors, whilst Hijiri dashed forwards in the blink of an eye, staying low to the ground until he was upon his target, then spinning as he drew his blade, drawing a line in blood across the big guy's gut.
Facing his allies now, with his back to the doors, Hijiri calmly and coolly sheathed his katana. Behind him, the bruiser dropped his weapon and clutched feebly at his stomach in a vain attempt at keeping his organs internal. He failed.
“Nice work.” the 'sergeant' commended him, as they got to their feet and Priya, Leon, Trevor & Jallus joined them. Past those doors would be the casino itself, and now that he paused to listen closely, Hijiri noticed he could hear faint gunfire in the distance. Hopefully the lieutenant's people were doing alright.
Wasting no time, he swung the doors wide...
He took one look at the various thugs, goons and gangsters arrayed around the many gambling tables within, noticed that they were all already aware of the stormtroopers headed their way – courtesy of the big doorman who'd stumbled in as he died – and had over three dozen guns aimed his way, then smoothly shut the double doors once again, fully expecting them to at any moment be smashed to splinters in a hail of bullets and lasers which would undoubtedly take out the Prime as well.
Instead, however, he was pleasantly surprised when the plethora of projectiles battered against the doors, but utterly failed to make their way through.
It seemed that these things must be armour plated, for them to have withstood a barrage such as that. If so then the NSW's desire to protect their casino from any unexpected attacks would seem to have badly backfired.
“Windvale, you're up.” Kroll said, taking a position by the right door, as Hijiri moved aside to the left.
“Ready.” the elf told them, unhooking a pair of small spheres from his belt.
With a nod from Kroll, he and Hijiri simultaneously swung their doors open just wide enough Brandon to toss through his little gadgets, then slammed them shut once again, as quickly as they could manage.
A few shots were fired by those with the fastest reactions, but even the closest one barely managed to so much as graze Brandon; the bullet struck his shoulder and glanced off, sending a couple cracks snaking across the plastoid plate but not actually harming the elf at all.
Then they heard the explosions.
Not that those were nearly as dangerous as the noise they made might lead one to assume; one had been an EMP which would cut off the Wolfpack's communicators and perhaps some other equipment as well if they were lucky, whilst the other had been some sort of ultra-smoke-grenade, easily capable of filling even a room as huge as that one with its contents.
No one would be killed by those things, but they would prevent their foes from organising, calling in reinforcements, and noticing if the squad entered the room. Of course, the 'troopers wouldn't have it all that easy themselves if they were actually to do so, since the laser bolts from their blasters would give away their positions every time they fired, just as much as the enemy's weapons would.
Hijiri, of course, did not have this to worry about. He could hear the panic in their voices as the gangsters realised they couldn't see more than a foot or two from their faces in this thick smoke. Some were already coughing. It wouldn't be long before they were forced to head for the exits, at which point any dumb enough to leave through these doors would be gunned down by Kroll's group, and hopefully Davion's people would soon close in from the other side.
In the meantime, Hijiri drew his blade, reduced his weight, took a deep breath – to get as much oxygen as possible into his lungs – and slipped into the room; as light as he now was, his steps would make virtually no noise. He couldn't see his targets, but he could still hear them blundering about, cursing, and, most importantly, yelling orders.
Keeping low, he moved as stealthily as someone with no training in moving stealthily could possibly be expected to. Between the loud gangsters and the obscuring smoke, though, it seemed his lack of practice was not enough to give him away, and he soon reached someone he assumed must be at least moderately important.
The man was short, overweight and dressed – so far as the Battle Rabbit could tell with such low visibility – in a suit similar to that of the guards they had seen in the hallway. He was standing on a roulette table as he screamed commands to his goons in between coughs, trying to get a group of them organised enough to rush the hallway and take out Kroll's team through sheer weight of numbers.
Angling the point of his weapon upwards, Hijiri calmly slid the katana into the gangster's belly and up through vital organs and into his heart. His victim shrieked in pain and surprise, and the Rabbit slid out the weapon as he collapsed.
More people began yelling, but Hijiri jumped lightly to put some distance between them. Having no way of knowing where he would land, though, he made sure to keep his blade at the ready, and it was fortunate indeed that he had, for he soon found himself touching down right beside one of the many goons scattered across the room.
“Huh?” she asked, not having noticed him at all until he was upon her. His blade lashed out. Normally, a strike with as much energy behind it as he was using here would have straight-up decapitated her completely, but as lightweight as he currently was, it merely slit her throat.
Her blood rushed out in a torrent – some of it splattering against him – as she stumbled back, hands going to her throat for a moment before she collapsed. More shouting started up as others heard her body strike the floor, and a couple people even fired vaguely in his direction (though neither shot came close to being on target) before cooler heads prevailed and those idiots were loudly and angrily ordered not to fire... shooting blindly in a room filled with your own allies generally wasn't the best of tactics, after all.
Hijiri moved on. He would be forced to exert himself more than usual to inflict the same wounds, and he would have to leave the smoke soon to take another breath – more and more people were coughing now – but he was determined to do what he could to cause some chaos for however long he could hold out.
He got to work.
![[Image: Hijiri_Name_Sig.png]](https://image.ibb.co/k1H7Hd/Hijiri_Name_Sig.png)