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Wings to Death; Resa's First Job
Topic Started: Mar 11 2013, 07:17 AM (147 Views)
Garaku
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(Takes place before the death of Edward Duwan)


It is often told to children that hidden in the darkness of the night are terrible creatures. Monsters that would come from the shadows and spirit them away to lands forbidden to man.

Tonight these monsters were scattered around one of the larger complexes within the district of Arcadia’s Hesperides Garden. Their prey was to be the single man living on a suite on the top floor, Jonathon Blackwell.

Two monsters in suits, late to the party quietly drove to join their comrades as they discussed the outline of their plans one final time.

“How much has Duwan told you?” Carlotta asked, turning another corner as the building came into sight. “Knowing the fool, I’m assuming not much.”

--

Resa sat quietly in the passenger seat, checking over her weapons for the third time that night. Her hands had been shaking at first, but now they were rock steady as they approached, though her heart was still in her throat.
"Not much, no. Just a time and a place." She tucked her pistol securely in her belt along with a set of long knives. "I'm not sure what exactly I'm supposed to be doing."

So saying, she pulled on her cap, using the shade mirror to tuck her hair out of sight with her fingers. Everything she wore was either black or navy, and she didn't want her catching some stray beam of light and giving away her position.
Her rifle was in the back in a nondescript gym bag, all oiled and ready to go. Though she hoped she wouldn't have to use it.

--

“That would... explain your luggage,” Carlotta said, eyeing with her rearview mirror the armory that her back seat had become.

With one hand off the wheel she pulled out a photo of a man in his late 50s, dyed black hair combed over atrociously to the side to hide what was an obvious case of balding. “Jonathon Blackwell,” she explained, not taking her eyes off the road. “He’s holding on to some documents that we need. Unfortunately however, he has refused to comply and has instead locked himself inside his little mansion.”

Another turn, and soon they were parked at their destination.

“Blackwell also has a habit of keeping himself surrounded by his personal armed guards, all with powers of course. Your mission will be to then simply get to his room and retrieve those documents.” She waved at her window as a familiar man with long black hair began to make his way to their car. “Duwan can answer any other questions from here.”


---

She shifted rather uncomfortably in her seat as the man approached, Ed made her uncomfortable, though she wasn't sure why. She'd dealt with nutbags in the past, so what made this one so different?

"Thanks for the lift." Resa gathered her wits and opened the door, quickly collecting her duffle bag from the back and giving the older woman a quick wave.
It was only then she had the courage to face her boss.
"It's nice to see you again."
No, it most definitely is not.

She hoped she wouldn't have to kill anyone, that would really suck.
Because she hadn't understood what the mission was beforehand, she had dressed lightly in a pair of comfortable trousers, quiet but sturdy shoes, and a black halter top underneath her jacket to leave her wings free to move.

She might be cold, but at least her clothes wouldn't hinder her in any way.
"I've been briefed on the mission, but I'm not aware of our exact plan...?"
Tell me he at least as a floorplan or something.

---

Carlotta responded with a small wave of her own, before pulling out and driving off to leave the two in their dealings.

“Jones!” Ed exclaimed, extending a gloved hand out in greeting. “Glad to see that you could make it!

“See, see, see, this Blackwell fart is kinduva nut-job-- Always walkin’ around with hired guns, y’know? Having our men deal with all that would be so, so, SO messy, wouldn’t you agree? And then I remembered! Resa Jones, that’s you, has wings!”

With his free hand he jabbed a finger over his shoulder at the building behind him. “I figured, y’know, with those shiny wings of yours, you could probably just fly up there and take care of the old fart mono-a-mono, y’know?”

--

Resa looked uncomfortable at the man's usual mania, but managed to keep her expression under control.
So it would be flying would it?
"By 'take care of,' do you mean killing him.... sir?" The sir was tacked on rather reluctantly, but she figured it was safer to flatter him. "I was just told I'd be retrieving some documents."

She gathered he meant her to bust in a window or something, which shouldn't be too much of a problem, she'd picked up some skeleton keys and a bunch of lockpicks off the Black Market a week ago when they caught her eyes. She'd practised using them a little and thought she could probably get a lock open.

That's if there was a lock and not just a latch... then she might have to smash the thing.
"Where do you want me to enter, exactly?"

--

“Didn’t Jacinto tell ya?” Ed tilted his head in confusion. Well it was his technically his job to do the briefing, but still that sort of work was so, so tiring...

“There are plenty of windows up top,” he motioned with his hand at the top floor. “You want the ones on the west-side, easiest one probably bein’ the one on his balcony.

You don’t have to... kill him,” he said the last phrase making air-quotes with his fingers. “But if you do get spotted, we can’t have him as a witness, y’hear? Either take him out of the building, or out of this world. Anything else, or would you like his birthday and blood-type as well?”

---
She scowled at the sarcasm in his voice - he didn’t get it, she’d never done anything like this before. But at least she had some idea what was expected of her.
“Yeah, actually, I do.” Her tone was slightly snappish. “What exactly do you need me to retrieve? Or do you want his whole damn filing cabinet?”

Hopefully she’d be able to sneak in and out without waking him, and if she did well... she’d do her best not to put a bullet in his head. Though doing so would probably be kinder for him than dragging him out and having the Mafia take him in.
“And since I gather you’re not coming in with me, a map would be nice too, I’ve no bloody clue where his office is, remember?”
Her snark was dangerous, but was thoroughly sick of being tossed around like some dimwit, and the job wasn’t something she relished either.

--

Ed only laughed at Resa’s defiant tone, amused by the spunk she was showing tonight.

“Jones,” he said, clapping his hands together. “His office is the building.” He was about to mention that killing Blackwell in his own room was probably a bad idea, but held his tongue upon realizing that that demand might have been too much for the rookie. If she messed up, he would just have to clean up after her.

“You’re gonna be looking for a red envelope, about the size of... this,” he motioned a square as big as his chest. “It should still be sealed, but if not...” There was a pause as he leaned his weight back in thought. “Well, just burn every piece of paper you see if that’s the case.”

--

Resa looked fairly amused at that last part.
“Got a light?” She smiled grimly, burning down a building seemed more pleasant than anything else she’d been asked to do.

She put down her duffle bag, clearly it wasn’t going to be of any use tonight, her sidearm and knives would have to do.
“Should I meet you back here or just hightail it?” She figured they wouldn’t want to trust her with important documents for long, so she expected he would say to meet her somewhere.

--

From his inner pocket, Ed pulled out an ear-piece and lightly lobbed it over to Resa. “We’ll meet here in an hour. If you’re not back by then, we’re considering ya dead.”

Then from his pants-pocket he pulled out a blue lighter and a cigar, lighting the latter before copying his action with the ear-piece and throwing the lighter to Resa as well. “G’luck and all that junk.”

He turned to leave, but stopped as a final thought came to mind.

“Oh and Jones,” he looked at her over his shoulder. “Make sure to bring that light back to me. It’s my favorite one.”

--

“Got it.”
She tucked the lighter safely into her pocket and put on the wireless piece, it felt kind of odd to have something in her ear and she was worried it would fall off, but for now it seemed secure.

Gathering up both her jacket and duffle bag, she hid them in a nearby bush, unzipping the bag in case she needed to make a stand or warn off some pursuers.
Next she walked at least a block away before taking off, shivering slightly as the temperature dipped.

After climbing to a significant height, she circled over the grounds cautiously, keeping to the line of nearby trees so she wouldn’t be visible from the ground. She had to make sure there were no guards before she could make a move.
She could see the balcony from here, but there was a wide stretch of lawn she had to fly over first, and there was no cover.

Soon enough there was a break in the patrol, and she swooped quickly to the balcony, landing softly and hiding to the side of the window, listening intently for anyone that might be on the other side.
Upon peering past the inner curtains, she could see that it was indeed a bedroom.

No good entering from here then, she would probably wake him with rattling the window.

Still being cautious of the guards, she glided over to an empty window, listening for a few minutes to make sure there was no one inside before thinking about entering.
It was locked, and by a latch to boot.
Shit.
This was going to be a bit awkward. She should have brought her jacket.
Cursing and doubly hoping no one caught her, she quickly unloaded her gun before whipping off her shirt and wrapping it up.

The window broke easily enough, and fairly quietly thought she wasn’t able to catch all the shards and at least one fell to the floor.
Now having a decent hole, she wrapped her arm in her shirt and felt her way up to the catch.

There!
The window was now unlocked.
She pulled the shirt back on and slipped inside, careful of the few pieces of broken glass on the floor.

It looked like some kind of sitting room, thankfully empty.
His room should be just down the hall...

--

On the other side of the room that Resa had entered, two guards could be heard chatting as they slacked off on their duties with a midnight snack.

Outside the room however, another guard tiredly patrolled the halls, his gun holstered to his side. He’d periodically make his rounds in a routine circle of the floor, obviously bored by the monotony of his given job.
There was a clatter as one of the guards got up from his sitting, his footsteps slowly growing louder as he unintentionally made his way towards the window broken by Resa.

--

Trouble already?
Resa could hear the guards talking, and one of them pacing, but it was the footsteps that bothered her.
She quickly ducked behind the door, hopefully he’d just glance in and walk away. But in any case she would have to take them out somehow, and the best way to do that would be either to knock them out or... or...
Or slit their throats.

She decided to go with the first option, making sure her gun was loaded though the safety was on. The base of the head should do it.
The others... well hopefully they didn’t have radios.
For the moment she didn’t hear any chatter on her earpiece, and she wasn’t about to start talking unless she had to.

--

The first thing that the approaching guard noticed was the broken glass by the window. At once all hell had broken loose as he quickly rushed past the open door, not even stopping to consider why it was opened in the first place.

In the next few moments footsteps quickly filled the halls outside as guards armed themselves outside of their bosses room. Others had begun to search the other floor, to Resa’s good fortune not considering that the perpetrator may still be in the very same room of entry.

---

Well this sucked.
Once the guard had left, she’d shrunk back into the shadows, listening intently.
She gathered there were at least six guards out there by the sounds of things, but quite possibly on their own, and by the short dialogue she figured that they did indeed have radios.

So much for stealth.
Resa’s gaze flicked to the window, maybe she could sneak out and just... take her chances with the old man? Escape afterwards might be difficult though... on the other hand, she’d have a hostage.

She bit her lip, considering it for a while and then dismissing it. Too messy, it would mean she would have to fight her way out, and then she had Ed to think of... he probably wouldn’t appreciate being chased down under fire on her first mission.

The other plan she had in mind was extremely risky, but with any luck it would at least buy her a little time.
Whipping out her skeleton keys, she loosened the door handle, feeling it drop off into her hands.
Then she snatched up a delicate looking vase, she hurled it out the window before shrinking back to her (not much of a) hiding place. She heard it make a satisfying crash on the pavement outside.
Her hand rested on the door, waiting with bated breath.

---

Like bees to honey, the sound of breaking china had two guards rushing in to check on the commotion. However seeing nothing but the broken window, their paranoia was aroused as they carefully walked inside.

As one peaked his head out the window to see if anyone was crazy enough to climb it, the other moved to inspect the other partition of the room.

--

Quick as a flash, Resa dashed around the door and slammed it behind her, trapping the two guards as the lack of a doorknob (which was in her pocket) would make it difficult for them to leave.
Her gun was already up, ready to fire as anyone who had heard the slam (or the protest of the guards) as she ran across the hallway and took shelter behind a nearby cabinet, ready for the firefight that would surely follow.
She did a quick headcount, seven of them. Shit. And more on the way most likely.
She would have to make this quick and pray they were wearing body armor.

--

Angry fists slammed at the door behind her, curses following as the trapped guards debated on whether or not they should just blow the door down for the sake of simplicity.

The others on the outside were already running, and upon one seeing a flash of silver hair began to let loose not bullets, but balls of fire from his hands. Two more decided to actually use their guns, firing at Resa’s hiding spot as the remaining four rushed over to deal with her in person.

It was only a matter of time before she was flanked from both sides.

--

The four rushing at her from behind were the most immediate threat, as fireball man was just one person, and the other two seemed content to fire from a distance.

Resa raised her gun, hands rock steady as she fired, aiming for their chests as accurately as possible. The chest was a bigger target, and far less likely to be fatal presuming they were wearing armor.
The bullets should wind them at least.
She alternated targets, firing five times in quick succession before twisting around and letting off another two shots and fireball man. The cabinet took a hard beating, and it wouldn’t take long for the bullets to tear right through.

Resa made a mental note to get her hands on some armour asap.

--

“Fireball man” quickly fell to the ground as two bullets found themselves lodged into his chest. One other guard was quick to join him, while the others took the cue to duck to the side to avoid further fire.

However one rebel of the group decided to continue his charge, and cloaking himself in a film of purple energy he charged forward guns ablazing.

Behind Resa more gunfire could be heard as the trapped guards decided at last to break down the door. In mere moments they would soon join their comrades in the ongoing struggle.
--

Her eyes widened as the shields deflected her bullets. Oh that wasn’t fair.
Cursing, she scuttled out from her hiding place, retreating further down the corridor firing as she went to try and at least slow him down.
Finding a different cupboard, she crouched behind it and took the opportunity to reload, dropping the spent magazine. One bullet had hit her in the leg, but she barely noticed.

She was now further from her target than ever.
But at least she had room to at least lay down some fire at the men rushing toward her. She aimed in particular at the two still out in the open.

Taking a chance, she flicked out one of her knives and sent it hurtling toward the man with the purple shield, thinking that maybe a slower projectile would work.

--

The knife sunk into the purple field, its blade almost reaching its target before dropping to the floor due to a lack of momentum. However ineffective in damaging the guard, it did prove sufficient in temporarily delaying his pursuit.

Another of the guards who had attempted to resume his charge was not so fortunate, and fell to the ground as a stray bullet cut through the width of his shoulder.

On the other end the door trapping the other two guards finally gave way, and the bigger one angrily pushed his way through to stop in the middle of the hall.

In seeing this, the other two guards then jumped to the side and covered their ears, as the large man took a deep breath and released an ear-piercing scream that was followed by a powerful shockwave aimed at Resa.

Walls cracked and furniture flew through the air as a result, and the guards in front of him despite their futile attempts at defense were violently thrown to the ground with the blast.

--

Of course Resa, being as light as she was, was thoroughly blown away by the blast and smashed painfully into the wall at the end of the corridor.
Her head spun, static whined in her ears (though that could have been the earpiece, she wasn’t sure) and pain flooded her entire body.
One of her shoulders had popped out of it’s socket, though luckily she could still fire with her other hand.

Gritting her teeth against the screaming pain in her shoulder, she steadied her vision and fired six shots at the man who had released the shockwave, determined to take him down first.

How many more were there...? She wasn’t sure.

--

The screamer despite his rage had not expected such a quick and brutal retaliation. As such his smug grin of victory promptly disappeared upon realizing that he now had six bullets lodged inside him as his limp body crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

In the aftermath of his rage-induced attack, only one other guard remained, and at this point he was just as angry if not more so than his fallen comrade. He had expected the other reinforcements from the lower floors to have come by now, but for some reason there had been no response from their radios.

With a primal yell of frustration he opened fire on the shaken Resa as he pushed to advance on the injured girl.

--

Half whimpering in pain, she managed to get on all fours and crawl into the corner before the man began his assault.
She had no shelter, but the man was too angry to aim properly and only two bullets managed to graze her. The blood loss was almost immediate, but Resa quickly retaliated and fired twice, emptying her magazine again.

--

Be it the fruit of her stubbornness or just plain luck, her shots hit home as the final guard fell at last, skidding forward to the ground from his frenzied charge.

The hall was a mess, furniture toppled everywhere along with the bloodied bodies of who were once guards on duty. The only thing for Resa to do now, was to go through the remaining door at the end of the corridor and fulfil her mission.

--

Still breathing hard, Resa got to her feet, stumbling slightly from her injuries which only now started to flare up in earnest.
She reached the first guard and quickly disarmed him in case he wasn’t already out cold, or- or dead-
She wasn’t going to think about that.

After searching through his pockets she found a single roll of bandage, which was better than nothing, and she used it to quickly tape up the gash in her leg and arms. She was covered in bruises, and her left arm hung uselessly by her side, but she didn’t have time to try and reset it, instead she used a loop of bandage to hug it close to her body.

With her newly reloaded gun still in her hand, she opened the door at the end of the corridor, mindful of any guards inside, or the target himself.

---

Inside, sitting at the desk at the back of the room, was Ed reading a book with a large red envelope resting on his lap. On the bed beside him, was the form of Jonathan Blackwell, dead.

“What took you so long?” the tall man said, closing the book as he stood to stretch. “You were partying really hard out there, y’know? That kinda racket isn’t something these old farts enjoy.”

--

It took a moment for Resa to comprehend what she was seeing, soaked as she was in blood and sweat.
When she did her knees almost buckled from beneath her out of relief - which only made her angry.

“Oh you son of a bitch!” She winced, clutching at injured shoulder, gun still clasped clumsily in her hand. “You were there the whole time? You could have helped you fucking arsehole.

“Here I am standing in a pool of my own blood and you’re just sitting there like some fuckin- Fuck this hurts!” Resa sank to one knee, grimacing in pain with her fingers digging into the muscle of her shoulder. Her gun fell out of her blood-slicked hand and hit the carpet with a dull thud. “Nine guys, Ed. Nine. You coulda fucking warned me.”

Pulling the earpiece out, she tossed it at him.
“Fat lot of good that thing did.”

She ran a hand through her hair, leaving dark stains as she caught her breath and her temper.
“Well, what now, you need me to give you a lift down or something? I doubt those were the only guards he had.”
Her gaze flicked to the form on the bed, the sheets soaked in blood. Poor bastard.
“Hope that envelope or whatever was worth it, jerk.”

At the moment she couldn’t care less if he tried to shoot her, she’d probably try to rip his throat out one handed and all she was so angry.
Fuck, I’m pissed off.”

---

Ed laughed into his hand, both impressed and amused by Resa’s display of moxy after the run he had just put her through.

“The other suits are dead down below,” he said, shaking his head solemnly. “No need to worry about them crashing the party anytime soon.”

His dark eyes followed Resa’s gaze, looking at the form of the old man which would never move again.

“I never said anything about taking out his goons, did I? If you just took care of the old fart here, we could have handled the rest, but well...” He turned his head back to the silver-haired girl. “Nine guys, was it?” He grinned. “Nice work, Jones.”

He took a step forward and stumbled slightly, the result of his back being torn open from his work downstairs. But no one needed to know that fact, and making sure to keep his front towards his subordinate, he stood up straight and offered her his hand.

“You did good kid. Let’s get outta here.”

--

Resa gave a harsh laugh.
"Wouldn't have gotten far if I just busted straight in here would I? Not with the thugs outside."
She fumbled in her pocket, taking out the lighter and passing it to him, it was a little stained from the blood on her fingers, but nothing he couldn't clean off.
Resa considered refusing his hand, but trying to get up on her own didn't exactly appeal to her so eventually she swallowed her pride and relented.

She felt a bit weak actually, and she hoped she wouldn't have to be running anytime soon. The pain was starting to exhaust her, and the bleeding couldn't be helping.
Just don't pass out in front of this guy... pass out in front of Lotta, yeah, do that.

---

“Woah there Sunshine,” with one hand Ed stuffed his lighter back into the home of its pocket, and with the other he hoisted Resa’s arm over his shoulder to lessen the burden of her weight. “We’ll be headin’ out, so hold on tight.”

Walking out the window, without so much a word he leapt straight from the balcony. In the next moments as gravity would dictate, the two of them were soon quickly plummeting to the ground below. However just as they were about to hit pavement, an invisible field seemed to surround them, and instead of a harsh splat that any other falling object would make, their feet landed lightly with a small tap to the ground.

“There,” he grinned, letting her go as his balance would not stand for holding another person any longer. “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”

--

The wave of vertigo that swept through her meant she couldn't put up any protest when he swung her arm over his shoulder.
Jumping out the window was unexpected, but she didn't have time to make a sound before they were on the pavement.

The loss of his support made her stumble, and she braced her uninjured hand on her knees as her vision swam white.
"You'd better..." She panted, fighting for consciousness. "Not be trying to romance me... jerk."
It was a joke, but she sounded more cross than she was.

With that she slumped to the pavement, pushing her head between her knees to try and stay conscious. Not yet... not yet...
She hadn't noticed Ed's own injuries, because at the moment her head was swimming and it was all she could do to count to ten.
---

He didn’t reply. At the moment getting Resa some proper treatment was his first priority. The kid may have been stubborn with the tongue of a shark, but that didn’t change the fact that her body was battered like a worn baseball.

Whispering something into his earpiece, it was only a short while after when a familiar convertible turned the corner with its engine purring gently in the night.

He walked back over to Resa and offered his hand once more. “You can’t sleep here, Jones. You’ll catch a cold.” He motioned to the waiting car. “Come on.”

--

After a few seconds the dizziness retreated, and she was able to pull herself up, gritting her teeth and managing to get to the car without too much wobbling.

However she walked straight past it to the bush from before, retrieving her gun and jacket and slinging both over her shoulder. She stumbled under their weight but managed to drag both them and herself back to the car.

She tumbled inside, half sitting on her jacket as she pulled the duffle bag after her, blinking away the spots in her vision as she fumbled around clumsily, looking for the small bag of emergency supplies she'd packed earlier.

However she was forced to give up and just lean back in the seat, concentrating on breathing.
Resa did notice Ed moving a little stiffer than usual, and a dark stain around his clothes that she thought might be blood, but she couldn't focus on it for more than a few seconds.

"Lotta... are you there?" She mumbled, her vision starting to go. "I think... I might need some help here."

--

“I’m here,” Carlotta replied, sitting in the front like she had been since the night began.

“Get some rest, Jones,” Ed said, peeking into the car one final time. “I meant what I said back there. You did good.”

With that he closed the door, and motioned for Carlotta to drive off ahead. Resa may have been done with her job, but for him the night was still far from over.

--

Resa barely heard him, grasping her shoulder and running her hand down the length of her arm before bending her elbow at a right angle and turning it outwards.
She could feel her shoulder straining, but it wasn't working.
Finally she braced it against the seat in front of her and leaned back.

Tears sprung to her eyes and her vision blacked out entirely as with a loud gasp of pain, her arm sprang back into it's socket.
Still gasping, she sat back and nodded.
"Y-you can drive now."

With that, she finally passed out.
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