05-05-2016, 10:15 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-05-2016, 10:18 AM by Hiro Protagonist.
Edit Reason: Added word count and fixed paragraph spacing
)
Ten more minutes brought Hiro back on track to his target: a local bar and lounge called "The Tea House". Pulling into the small parking lot adjacent to the building, he took a few moments to familiarize himself with Cleaver's entourage, especially that Mr. Sorry Sorry guy. From surveillance photos, he was at least a head and a half taller than Hiro himself, and was never far from Joon's side, unless he was on a run. Apparently he was the main transporter, and the Cleaver's only Secondary.
The hacker got off the bike and removed the starter fob. Debating how to approach the unknown situation, he thought back to his old flame, Juanita, and one of her favorite sayings..."Condense fact from the vapor of nuance...." Get the facts first. A place like this probably had a security system, and although he was still getting used to the systems of the Omniverse, he figured he could take a crack at piggybacking the camera system. Spying a battered, tan utility box mounted near the dumpster, he walked over nonchalantly and popped it open. Switching his lenses to filter out unneeded info, he saw through the data cables to their sources- several cameras hooked up to a main surveillance system...one of which was pointed at the parking lot he was crouched in.
"Shit!"
Working quickly now, he patched into the camera network with his lenses and quickly set the parking lot feed back three minutes, to before he arrived. With that camera looped, he was safe for now, unless someone had been looking at the cameras before he got to them. Fortunately, there were no active alarms on the surveillance system, so he flipped through several feeds, watching the main bar floor, the cash room, the hallway outside the bathrooms...and there! Right in the kitchen....Mr Sorry Sorry.
The lumbering man was arguing with a cook over a plate of food, sitting on the counter. Hiro couldn't hear them, but from what he could tell about their body language, the cook was pissing himself and Mr SS was just plain pissed. If the Cleaver's Secondary was here, then Joon wouldn't be far. It looked like the EPD's intel had been good. Scanning the rest of the cameras quickly and sending in a few timed commands to be executed later, he disconnected and withdrew from the utility box, walking around to the front of The Tea House. The bouncer standing out front was tagged in Hiro's HUD as associated muscle, but a brisk confident walk up to the front door and a curt nod got him inside with no hassle.
The interior of the lounge was dimly lit with neon and blacklights. A water feature burbled quietly just inside the door, with a host podium in front of it. Low, cushioned couches clustered around tables ringing the dance floor. Suspended above it was a large disco ball, tacky but in an ironic way. The back wall had a second story balcony attached to it, with velvet drapes and other finery across the guardrail. Hiro could hear feminine giggling and a strong male voice laughing upstairs, but the lighting was too dim to make anything else out. The lounge wasn't too full, with a few groups at the tables, a couple people dancing to the thumping techno music, and several people perched on stools at the bar. Hiro made his way over to an empty stool, waiting for the bartender to take his order. Scanning the room, he spotted another identified associate, standing in front of a closed door. He had been positioned underneath the camera, out of it's sight range.
The bartender came over to Hiro and asked for his order. The distracted hacker mumbled something about "The house special", busy trying to retrieve a floor plan for the lounge from the municipal data files, and was surprised to see a fizzing pink alchemical marvel served to him a few minutes later. The bartender grinned a crooked smile and nodded. "House special. Cherry fusion bomb! Drink slow, man." The hacker picked it up with one hand while setting a few chips of Omnilium on the counter, which the bartender swooped up quickly. He raised the glass to his lips and took a large gulp, recoiling as the sweet liquid fizzed down his throat and made foam come out of his nose. Man, that was strong!
Hiro ignored the bartender's instruction, downing the rest of the drink in a minute. The alcohol, whatever it was, went right to his head and loosened his nerves up a bit. They had already frayed some, with the high speed chase across the streets, and the adrenaline was leeching energy from his nervous system. He couldn't stop now, though. Even if everything went perfectly tonight, he still needed to operate at the very best of his skills. Looking around the room, he waited, letting the ambiance wash over him. Occasionally, he glanced at the guy guarding the door, but looked away before it got suspicious. Then, a small timer appeared in the corner of his lenses, ticking down from 5....4....3....2....1...vvwweeeEEEEPPP! VWEEEEEEP! VWEEEEPPP!
The hacker grinned. Any good security system was tied into the fire alarm, and could be activated automatically. You just had to know which relays to set off. People got up from their tables and began voicing loud complaints as strobe lights flashed and speakers emitted a high pitched keening. Reluctantly and grumpily, the patrons left drinks, food, and gorgeous women behind as they started to file towards the exit. A twenty dollar cover charge was one thing but no one wanted to die over it.
The guy he had previously missed looked up at the flashing strobes, and throwing his hands up in exasperation, turned and entered the doorway. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, noise, and mild chaos, the hacker ronin slipped off his stool and followed him into the hallway. Creeping up behind him and detaching his sword, Hiro brought it down on the back of the guy's head with a soft "thwack". The unfortunate door guard yelped and fell face forward, out for the count.
Stepping over the man, Hiro continued down the long hallway. There was a back door at the very end that most likely pre into the parking lot. Possible escape route, so he flicked his lenses and tagged the door with a marker.
Just then, the chef he'd seen previously on the camera came out of two double steel swinging doors and froze when he saw the trenchcoated figure in the hallway. A hand on his sword hilt and a finger on his lips, Hiro nodded at the man. Mouth open, the guy debated his options and chose the one that would get him to safety before things got hinky, moving past the intruder and out to the main bar.
The street samurai moved up to the doors the poor cook had come out of and pushed the open. It was indeed the same kitchen he'd seen on the camera, with pots and pans bubbling on stoves, chopped meat and vegetables discarded on their tables, and two figures coversing animatedly at the other end; Mr Sorry Sorry and Joon Yi the Cleaver himself.
Cleaver was wearing an incredibly tacky purple leopard print shirt, tan chinos, cowboy boots, and had black hair with silver frosted tips. He stopped speaking and watched Hiro enter, a vein on his temple bulging. Noticing the hacker's katana, he pulled a cleaver out of a chopping block and hurled it, screaming all the way. "WHO DA FUCK IS THIS?! WHY YOU HERE?!? THIS PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENT!!"
Hiro dove behind a table and the whirling meat knife embedded itself in the wall behind him. Joon turned around and threw his hands up in exasperation, calling out behind him as he walked out the door. "Sorry! You take care of this fucking punk, I have to go fix alarm and tell the nice ladies there no problem. Ai! Fucking upstarts try to come in here and knock me down!
Mr. Sorry Sorry nodded and reached behind his back withdrawing two foot long blades with a soft -shing-. Hiro's lenses told him they were made of Omnilium treated steel, were quite fast, and that he was at a severe disadvantage due to the cramped space of the kitchen. The smuggler's enforcer grinned evilly and started walking towards Hiro, knives outstretched and hungry.
The street samurai gritted his teeth and climbed quickly onto one of the connected steel tables. He ran across the polished counter tops, sending dishes of rice and vegetables flying across the kitchen. As he neared his foe, he leapt into the air and withdrew his blade for a powerful and quick slash as he passed by and landed behind Mr. Sorry Sorry. Sharp, wet pain oozed out of his side, and Hiro saw blood staining the black leather of his coat, his blade slightly chipped as well. The enforcer had parried his slash and tagged him in the ribs as he flew past him. Stupid, flashy move.
Those whirring tanto came at him from multiple angles, Hiro and the muscular smuggler trading sharp and deflected blade hits. His titanium scabbard was more effective at blocking the stabs and slashes, but it was heavier and his arm was beginning to burn. Over and over they clashed, moving forwards and backwards across the kitchen floor until Hiro felt his foot slip on a puddle of oil and his own blood. He fell backwards, flat on his ass and the thug took his chance. Stabbing downward with both knives, he aimed for the hacker's shoulders to disable his arms for good.
Only one chance to avoid a double amputation, and the ronin took it, his boot lashing out and catching Mr. Sorry Sorry right on the jaw. His head whipped back as he raised his hands to paw at his face and protect it with the sharp knives, buying Hiro enough to scrabble backwards and get to his feet. Then, it happened.
He'd only meant to take a few steps back to open the distance between them for another clash, but the kitchen around him blurred and he was all the way back against the rear wall. That was....really fast. Talk about not knowing your own strength, jackass. Hiro realized what he had already assumed to be true. Omni had given him a power boost upon his arrival and it seemed that this speed dash was one of them. Possibilities floated around his mind, but they would have to be addressed later.
He sheathed his katana, letting the repair systems flash-reforge the chipped edges and stared at his opponent, who was running his knives against each other to make a scraping, slicing noise. "Before I kill you....I have to ask. Why Mr. Sorry Sorry?" The man spat on the ground and flipped his knives into a reverse grip before answering. "Because that's all anyone can say after I get my hands on them...now let's finish this, lapdog!"
They charged at each other from across opposite ends of the kitchen, as the smuggler raised his knives in a throat tearing motion that would have half decapitated our Hiro. But he was ready for it and took advantage of his newly discovered speed, dashing forward and dropping to his knees. He sailed past the astonishned man at waist height, so that was what he aimed for. The katana slid out with a brand new edge and in one motion sliced entirely through Mr. Sorry Sorry's lower spine, showering the floor and Hiro with hot red blood as the man fell over in two halves.
The hacker got off the bike and removed the starter fob. Debating how to approach the unknown situation, he thought back to his old flame, Juanita, and one of her favorite sayings..."Condense fact from the vapor of nuance...." Get the facts first. A place like this probably had a security system, and although he was still getting used to the systems of the Omniverse, he figured he could take a crack at piggybacking the camera system. Spying a battered, tan utility box mounted near the dumpster, he walked over nonchalantly and popped it open. Switching his lenses to filter out unneeded info, he saw through the data cables to their sources- several cameras hooked up to a main surveillance system...one of which was pointed at the parking lot he was crouched in.
"Shit!"
Working quickly now, he patched into the camera network with his lenses and quickly set the parking lot feed back three minutes, to before he arrived. With that camera looped, he was safe for now, unless someone had been looking at the cameras before he got to them. Fortunately, there were no active alarms on the surveillance system, so he flipped through several feeds, watching the main bar floor, the cash room, the hallway outside the bathrooms...and there! Right in the kitchen....Mr Sorry Sorry.
The lumbering man was arguing with a cook over a plate of food, sitting on the counter. Hiro couldn't hear them, but from what he could tell about their body language, the cook was pissing himself and Mr SS was just plain pissed. If the Cleaver's Secondary was here, then Joon wouldn't be far. It looked like the EPD's intel had been good. Scanning the rest of the cameras quickly and sending in a few timed commands to be executed later, he disconnected and withdrew from the utility box, walking around to the front of The Tea House. The bouncer standing out front was tagged in Hiro's HUD as associated muscle, but a brisk confident walk up to the front door and a curt nod got him inside with no hassle.
The interior of the lounge was dimly lit with neon and blacklights. A water feature burbled quietly just inside the door, with a host podium in front of it. Low, cushioned couches clustered around tables ringing the dance floor. Suspended above it was a large disco ball, tacky but in an ironic way. The back wall had a second story balcony attached to it, with velvet drapes and other finery across the guardrail. Hiro could hear feminine giggling and a strong male voice laughing upstairs, but the lighting was too dim to make anything else out. The lounge wasn't too full, with a few groups at the tables, a couple people dancing to the thumping techno music, and several people perched on stools at the bar. Hiro made his way over to an empty stool, waiting for the bartender to take his order. Scanning the room, he spotted another identified associate, standing in front of a closed door. He had been positioned underneath the camera, out of it's sight range.
The bartender came over to Hiro and asked for his order. The distracted hacker mumbled something about "The house special", busy trying to retrieve a floor plan for the lounge from the municipal data files, and was surprised to see a fizzing pink alchemical marvel served to him a few minutes later. The bartender grinned a crooked smile and nodded. "House special. Cherry fusion bomb! Drink slow, man." The hacker picked it up with one hand while setting a few chips of Omnilium on the counter, which the bartender swooped up quickly. He raised the glass to his lips and took a large gulp, recoiling as the sweet liquid fizzed down his throat and made foam come out of his nose. Man, that was strong!
Hiro ignored the bartender's instruction, downing the rest of the drink in a minute. The alcohol, whatever it was, went right to his head and loosened his nerves up a bit. They had already frayed some, with the high speed chase across the streets, and the adrenaline was leeching energy from his nervous system. He couldn't stop now, though. Even if everything went perfectly tonight, he still needed to operate at the very best of his skills. Looking around the room, he waited, letting the ambiance wash over him. Occasionally, he glanced at the guy guarding the door, but looked away before it got suspicious. Then, a small timer appeared in the corner of his lenses, ticking down from 5....4....3....2....1...vvwweeeEEEEPPP! VWEEEEEEP! VWEEEEPPP!
The hacker grinned. Any good security system was tied into the fire alarm, and could be activated automatically. You just had to know which relays to set off. People got up from their tables and began voicing loud complaints as strobe lights flashed and speakers emitted a high pitched keening. Reluctantly and grumpily, the patrons left drinks, food, and gorgeous women behind as they started to file towards the exit. A twenty dollar cover charge was one thing but no one wanted to die over it.
The guy he had previously missed looked up at the flashing strobes, and throwing his hands up in exasperation, turned and entered the doorway. Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, noise, and mild chaos, the hacker ronin slipped off his stool and followed him into the hallway. Creeping up behind him and detaching his sword, Hiro brought it down on the back of the guy's head with a soft "thwack". The unfortunate door guard yelped and fell face forward, out for the count.
Stepping over the man, Hiro continued down the long hallway. There was a back door at the very end that most likely pre into the parking lot. Possible escape route, so he flicked his lenses and tagged the door with a marker.
Just then, the chef he'd seen previously on the camera came out of two double steel swinging doors and froze when he saw the trenchcoated figure in the hallway. A hand on his sword hilt and a finger on his lips, Hiro nodded at the man. Mouth open, the guy debated his options and chose the one that would get him to safety before things got hinky, moving past the intruder and out to the main bar.
The street samurai moved up to the doors the poor cook had come out of and pushed the open. It was indeed the same kitchen he'd seen on the camera, with pots and pans bubbling on stoves, chopped meat and vegetables discarded on their tables, and two figures coversing animatedly at the other end; Mr Sorry Sorry and Joon Yi the Cleaver himself.
Cleaver was wearing an incredibly tacky purple leopard print shirt, tan chinos, cowboy boots, and had black hair with silver frosted tips. He stopped speaking and watched Hiro enter, a vein on his temple bulging. Noticing the hacker's katana, he pulled a cleaver out of a chopping block and hurled it, screaming all the way. "WHO DA FUCK IS THIS?! WHY YOU HERE?!? THIS PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENT!!"
Hiro dove behind a table and the whirling meat knife embedded itself in the wall behind him. Joon turned around and threw his hands up in exasperation, calling out behind him as he walked out the door. "Sorry! You take care of this fucking punk, I have to go fix alarm and tell the nice ladies there no problem. Ai! Fucking upstarts try to come in here and knock me down!
Mr. Sorry Sorry nodded and reached behind his back withdrawing two foot long blades with a soft -shing-. Hiro's lenses told him they were made of Omnilium treated steel, were quite fast, and that he was at a severe disadvantage due to the cramped space of the kitchen. The smuggler's enforcer grinned evilly and started walking towards Hiro, knives outstretched and hungry.
Quote:Sorry About The Mess...Sharp Blades Cut Deeper
The street samurai gritted his teeth and climbed quickly onto one of the connected steel tables. He ran across the polished counter tops, sending dishes of rice and vegetables flying across the kitchen. As he neared his foe, he leapt into the air and withdrew his blade for a powerful and quick slash as he passed by and landed behind Mr. Sorry Sorry. Sharp, wet pain oozed out of his side, and Hiro saw blood staining the black leather of his coat, his blade slightly chipped as well. The enforcer had parried his slash and tagged him in the ribs as he flew past him. Stupid, flashy move.
Those whirring tanto came at him from multiple angles, Hiro and the muscular smuggler trading sharp and deflected blade hits. His titanium scabbard was more effective at blocking the stabs and slashes, but it was heavier and his arm was beginning to burn. Over and over they clashed, moving forwards and backwards across the kitchen floor until Hiro felt his foot slip on a puddle of oil and his own blood. He fell backwards, flat on his ass and the thug took his chance. Stabbing downward with both knives, he aimed for the hacker's shoulders to disable his arms for good.
Only one chance to avoid a double amputation, and the ronin took it, his boot lashing out and catching Mr. Sorry Sorry right on the jaw. His head whipped back as he raised his hands to paw at his face and protect it with the sharp knives, buying Hiro enough to scrabble backwards and get to his feet. Then, it happened.
He'd only meant to take a few steps back to open the distance between them for another clash, but the kitchen around him blurred and he was all the way back against the rear wall. That was....really fast. Talk about not knowing your own strength, jackass. Hiro realized what he had already assumed to be true. Omni had given him a power boost upon his arrival and it seemed that this speed dash was one of them. Possibilities floated around his mind, but they would have to be addressed later.
He sheathed his katana, letting the repair systems flash-reforge the chipped edges and stared at his opponent, who was running his knives against each other to make a scraping, slicing noise. "Before I kill you....I have to ask. Why Mr. Sorry Sorry?" The man spat on the ground and flipped his knives into a reverse grip before answering. "Because that's all anyone can say after I get my hands on them...now let's finish this, lapdog!"
They charged at each other from across opposite ends of the kitchen, as the smuggler raised his knives in a throat tearing motion that would have half decapitated our Hiro. But he was ready for it and took advantage of his newly discovered speed, dashing forward and dropping to his knees. He sailed past the astonishned man at waist height, so that was what he aimed for. The katana slid out with a brand new edge and in one motion sliced entirely through Mr. Sorry Sorry's lower spine, showering the floor and Hiro with hot red blood as the man fell over in two halves.
Quote:Hand of the Empire quest progress: +2004 words
![[Image: MZSDl2O.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/MZSDl2O.jpg)