The Open House

[DaBomb]

Clear the bar out for the client. That was the assignment given to him. The mission details was a little vague on how it would be done, but regardless, it would be done, one way or another. As Dante makes his approach, he begins to see the bar. It appears to be a dirt covered bar for the most part, with the fithy grime on the walls, this obviously is not a bar that is cleaned on a regular basis. To complement the disgusting exterior, Dante can already see the local ruffians hanging around the place. Doing a quick scan of his surroundings, he quickly notes that his current situation is partly safe. The only thing to do next is wait for the person helping him on this mission.

 

[Bantha]

Whether her previous job with her especially well or not wasn't really her call, but Gemma apparently thought high enough of her to hire her for another job. This time, it was personal and while it didn't pay as much as she certainly would have liked, Atlas understood the importance of performing well. It would make or brake a potential business relationship.

She was clad in her usual electromesh armor, serviceable boots, armorweave gloves, and utility belt. Holsters at her hips showed her trusty DL-44 heavy blasters, and two lightsaber hilts hung from her belt. Whether they were used weapons or merely trophies boasting of accomplishments, there was no indication. Spotting her partner for the contract, Atlas headed on over to his position. Mentally, she applauded him for choosing a spot where he could see just inside the old cantina, but they couldn't see him.

She gave a nod in greeting, but didn't spare the time for an overly formal introduction. They'd been hired to do a job, and that was exactly what she intended to do. “How do you think we should go about this? We weren’t given instructions beyond 'clear house' but I don't know how she feels about killing. On the other hand, trying to simply convince them to leave is a fool's game. It's unlikely they'd want to give up something that's theirs and we'd be giving up a precious tactical advantage in case things go south.” She had no qualms about taking them by surprise and shooting them dead, and it was the most straightforward route, if not the easiest.

She motioned to her utility belt. “I've got flashbang grenades, among other types. If there's a back door to the establishment, we could hit them from both sides. Weapons set to stun or kill, that's your call. If it's stun we have the problem of figuring out what to do with several unconscious people, and they could eventually come back and try to reclaim the bar. I say we just kill them, and we only have to figure out how to dispose of bodies without risk of a potential attack sometime in the distant future.” She stopped talking, waiting for his interjection. While he replied, she'd be checking out her weapons one last time to make sure everything was in working order.

 

[DaBomb]

While scanning the area for points of entry, Dante makes a mental note that his partner has arrived. Dante carefully listened to what the woman had to say, but while doing so, he kept his eye on the building the entire time. Only when she stopped talking, did he look at her to respond.

"I have no quarrels​

Toward the act of killing

But, I must inform."​

"I have no blaster​

I excel in blade combat

And poison crafting"​

"I can kill from far​

With nothing except silence

And up close as well"​

"Stun, Death, Distraction​

I can do much with poison

Which do you prefer?"​

Dante asks the woman, hoping she would choose the killing option. If she caused a distraction well enough, he could easily dispatch many guards before they knew what hit him. But it was what happened when they noticed him that worried Dante.

 

[Bantha]

Atlas pulled out each of her blasters in turn, carefully checking the tibanna gas chambers as she absent-mindedly listened to Dante. Only after she had the weapons back in their holsters did she notice how odd the rhythms of his speech were. Saying nothing, she regarded him for a moment.

“We'll take them all out, then. No sense in complicating things. You said you had poisons. Do you have any fast-acting poison that will drop them quickly? If not kill them, then incapacitate them. I can distract and immobilize them with a few cryo-ban and flash-bang grenades without getting sighted. I'll take the front entrance. Then it will be up to you,” she told him, a determined look on her face. Hopefully he would agree with her plan, and he would have effective “poisons,” as he called them.

 

[DaBomb]

As soon as Dante heard fast acting poison, he pulled out a flask from his satchel. He opens the flask and begins coating his throwing needles with the poison. While doing so he says:

"In a major vein​

This will painlissly kill in

under a minute"​

"After you attack,​

Am I going through the front

or the back entrance?"​

 

[Bantha]

“Immediately after I attack, I'll give the signal, 'Go,' and you'll go through the back door,” she replied, emphasizing the main points. Reaching into a pocket in her utility belt, she pulled out a comlink that fit into the ear. “Here, take this,” and she tossed Dante the device. “We'll talk to each other through these. The one you're holding is already tuned to the right channel.”

'So please don't mess with it!' she thought.

“You'd best start heading back. I'll let you know through the comm exactly how many I see before I throw the grenades,” she said with a nod. Turning, she left their little hiding spot and into the view of others hanging around. Thankfully, with her battered armor she wasn't conspicuous looking and attracked little if any notice. As she melted into the stream of people in the street, she gradually made her way over to the other side and arrived a building up from the cantina. That was her plan, as she ducked into a dark alleyway. In a moment she walked out again, and casually made her way to the target.

The metal siding of the building was grimy and laden with dust and grease stains, but that was of little importance to her. The walls were transparent to her, as she used Force sight. Each presence inside a dim candle shining in the dark. She could count at least five or six. Not too many patrons, thank goodness, and centered around the bar. Easy enough to hit with a few grenades. With a surge of energy pulled from the force, she grabbed a flash-bang and two cryo-gen, and with inhuman speed hurled it through the doorway. The light-filled blast didn't effect her in the least, but it disoriented the individuals enough for her to be able to throw the last two. The ice from the cryogen enveloped the people inside, but she didn't stick around to find out how well it worked.

“Go!,” Atlas shouted, “I'll rendezvous with you in a minute!” Force energy still surging through her body, she ran quickly three buildings down and into a narrow alley. After a quick check to see if anyone was after her, she drew a pistol and set it to stun, then crept down the back alley that was behind the row of buildings to eventually join back up with Dante. She only hoped he was going to do as well as she had. The effects of cryo-gen only lasted so long. In a few minutes she would reach the back door, and as she approached it she would use telekinetically-bended light rays to camouflage her presence, rendering her invisible.

 

[DaBomb]

Dante gave a nod after he was given the instructions, he was able to mentally plan what he was about to do. As he walked to the back he noticed what appeared to be two workers on smoke break. Standing in front of them with his arms crossed tapping his foot, he began to whistle a merry tune. The workers gave each other a confused look and looked back at Dante. It made sense to, he was quite the sight o behold. Freak show was one of the names he was called. They saw an averaged size man, wearing jet black leather armor with a hood. On his utility belt was flasks of many different colored liquids, some of them bubbling. And to top it all off he was wearing one of his masks.

"Can we help you with something?" The worker on the left asked. Dante didn't miss a beat with the whistling and the foot tappin'. The only thing he did to acknowledge the worker, was he held his index finger in the air, telling the worker to wait a moment. A couple seconds past and the workers gave each other another look. Just as they were about to move a loud BANG was heard, followed with a "GO!" Following the signal, Dante threw two needles, one for each worker, in their jugulars. Walking past the spasaming bodies, that began foaming through the mouths, he walked in he back door. Scanning the room he saw a pretty grimy bar, but what separated this with the rest is all the occupants were covered with a this sheet of ice. Just as he walked in two giant men, armed with blasters, burst out of a door marked "Employees only". Doing a quick combat roll, Dante ends up next to a table and pushes it over for cover.

Pinned behind a table, Dante had little choice of what to do next. He picked up a mug and threw it toward the burly men. Hoping it was well enough of a distraction, Dante dashes toward the men. With a throwing knife in both hands, Dante throws both knives toward the men. One hits the man smack dab in the middle of his forehead, the other hits a pillar next to the second man. The man with widened eyes continued shooting at Dante. Ducking and sliding underneath the man's legs, Dante appears behind the man and squeezes the mans neck. The man tumbles to the ground, without a pulse. Looking around for any threats, Dante notices that pat of his armor is smoldering, checking the hole he also discovers that he has a hole of burnt' steaming flesh on his right shoulder. Grasping his shoulder, Dante walks out the front door to meat Atlas. As he saw her, he motioned to his wound.

"I have been wounded​

Do you have some bandages?

I would be thankful"​

 

[Bantha]

The com chimed and he spoke in his odd sentence patterns, asking if she had medical supplies. She released the Force cloak she had gathered around herself, not needing it now.

“I’m at the back door! Couldn’t stay around, they might’ve shot at me. Are they dead? The cryo-gen effect doesn’t last for very long and just serves to temporarily immobilize them. And yes, I have bandages. Don’t move.”

Atlas noted the two dead bodies outside of the entrance, needles sticking out of their necks. ’So your poison does work...’ she thought. The woman crept through, pistols drawn and set to kill. Two more dead bodies lay on the ground and the room showed the signs of a scuffle. He may have gotten shot, as the table showed scorch marks from a blaster bolt. But there wasn’t much time to dwell on that. The cryo-gen would wear off soon, and with it their adversaries would be released.

After busting through the door marked “Employees only,” she took a quick assessment of the situation. No one had melted yet, and most appeared to be unconscious. Good. She didn’t like killing live, helpless people if she could help it. Raising her left pistol, she took a shot at the first ruffian. The shot hit square in his forehead. The procedure was quickly repeated with the other targets, and within two minutes they had been taken care of. The cryo-gen was starting to dissipate.

Satisfied with her handiwork, Atlas turned and to Dante and motioned for him to step closer. Ripping the medkit box from her utility belt, she tossed it to him. “What happened?”

 

[DaBomb]

"I killed those outside

Then I kicked the door in and

they started shooting." Dante says while applying bandages to his wounded.

Now that his wound was dressed he walks out of the employees only section and speaks again.

"I got the first one

in the forehead with a knife

the other one I missed." Dante says as he pulls out the knife in the man's forehead and the one i a wooden pillar.

 

[Bantha]

“Well done. We have completed the main task we set out to accomplish.” Dante’s words did not go unnoticed. If he hadn’t done what he was able, their circumstances would have been much different. It would have been extremely difficult for Atlas to try and clear out the building on her own, one versus six. She underestimated his abilities and doubted the effectiveness of the fast-acting poison, but they proved themselves reliable.

Atlas looked back at the main area of the cantina and sighed. “It’s going to be fun deposing of these bodies, no? We don’t have any specific instructions, so...”

 

[DaBomb]

Dante begins picking up on of the dead workers and looks at Atlas.

"How will we do this?
Do you want to burn the bodies,
or just bury them?"

Dante didn't really care what to do with the bodies, he'd prefer to keep it humane and not do anything disrespectful, but it was her choice.

 

[Bantha]

“Don’t bother burying them. Or burning them, for that matter. We’d have to take them kilometers outside city limits, outside of their gang territory. We’ll just…find a few nice dumpsters a little ways from here. Throw them in, maybe disembowel and behead a few to send a message, then call it a day.”

She said it in such a conversational, matter-of-fact way it could make one think it was an everyday practice. It was as if she didn’t fully realize all she was saying. She did, of course, but she had little care for the corpses that were now devoid of the life energy they once held. Their spirits were gone and the weak mortal frame that used to house them were useless sacks of meat. As honor was beyond them in life, so in death it would be also.

That was how it was in the Underworld, wasn’t it?

end thread//