The carbon-fiber glass shards twinkle oddly in the red fluorescent light when Shin looks around the corner. With gravity effectively off, they seem to be like miniature stars floating in the ramshackled office. There's a chair floating out of the shattered window, being consumed by the endless maw of space, with only the furniture bolted to the floor having remained. Shin surveys the room; eyes narrowing when he spots a broad mahogany desk, he draws his gun from its holster.
"What do you see?" Takami's tinny voice sounds in his ear.
"Not much." Shin presses a button on his suit and reads the stats on the orange-tinted visor of his helmet. Still, something about that desk… "We're going to need a cleanup team, several objects are floating in space now."
"Your scanners aren't showing any life. Head back to the ship. I guess we're still on Hiruma's trail-"
A ray strikes just to the left of Shin's head.
"Shit." Shin shoots his gun and ducks behind the corner. The titanium wall melts where it was struck. "Definitely life, it was a concentrated plasma canon, hand operated only."
"I doubt it; the level of accuracy needed with those short-range is a stupid amount."
"I would expect Hiruma to have experts as bodyguards."
"Well, if you're sure-"
Shin clicks his teeth at Takami. The commander-in-chief of the intergalactic policing committee. But Shin's never been wrong before, so.
"Right. We're sending-" Takami's voice turns to static as Shin's sensors go crazy.
(Shin thinks: sensor blocking.)
He switches his now-useless sensors off. There's a knocked over cabinet Shin can use to charge up to the desk and incapacitate the bodyguard. It's almost a shame considering how high of a mark's man the bodyguard is.
Shin sprints from the corner and dives behind the cabinet, just barely avoiding another blast. He goes above the cabinet in time to see a small figure hide underneath and fires three consecutive shots at the desk. That was a mistake- now he and the bodyguard are even, each two more chances.
Shin breathes deep and jumps over his makeshift shield. The bodyguard wastes no time and fires, but Shin's fast (the fastest) and he feigns away from the blast as he shoots (and misses). Thankfully, the plasma canon has a significantly higher cool down than Shin's gun, and he uses that time to jump over the desk and tackle the person against the white tile.
(Shin thinks briefly: the bodyguard is small, and thin, delicate under the skintight material of his suit.)
Shin knocks the canon away from the bodyguard's hands and it floats away into the void. He presses his boot against the bodyguard's throat and looks around for Hiruma, wherever he may be hiding.
"Where is he," Shin says through his suit's outer speakers.
The bodyguard chokes underneath him, squirming in his grasp, clawing at his throat.
(Shin thinks briefly: the bodyguard is terrified, and shaking, pleading brown eyes looking up at him through the his blue-tinted visor.)
Shin holds both of the bodyguard's hands in one of his own and eases the pressure. "Name."
(Shin thinks: the bodyguard is a boy, and young, no more than seventeen at most.)
"Sena," the boy gasps, ribcage arching as he sobs in air. Still, there's something about his eyes…
"Where is he."
The boy locks eyes with Shin and says nothing. The pulsating panic light shines off his helmet, and tinges the boy in crimson. Shin's breath stutters very briefly.
"If you tell me, we'll protect you from Hiruma. He won't be able to kill you if that's what you're afraid of."
Sena says nothing, just continues looking up at him; he can practically feel Sena's eyes tracing his jaw. From where Shin's crouching above the younger, the boy's palpating heartbeat is a fast but steady rhythm against his thigh.
"Do I know you?" Sena asks, then turns red for whatever reason.
(Shin thinks briefly: he might know Sena; he's familiar, the softness, the voice, the eyes.)
And something about the eyes… not the terror, not the defiance- but acceptance. Shin's not stupid and when he understands what Sena is doing in the abandoned corporate office with Hiruma nowhere in sight, Sena just smiles a bit apologetically.
He hauls Sena up, intent on taking him in to the policing ship for questioning, but Sena jerks away, quick and nimble. Sena kicks Shin in the stomach and uses the momentum to jump out of the window and into nothing.
"Sorry," Sena says. There's the plasma canon in his hand again- one last shot, the last part of this trick play.
(Shin thinks briefly as he tries to clamber after the boy: Sena's loyal.)
Lastly, Sena's eyes are sad. He puts the barrel against his helmet, locks it into place, and shoots.
There's no noise, there never is in space, which is a pity because the red and gray ribbons that are all that is left of Sena, should have some accompanying music.
He presses a button on his suit and hears Takami's voice, but only listens to parts of his message. "-escaped hours ago… no trace…"
"Send a biohazard unit," Shin says, watching the red matter glistening in all directions. He turns off his communication device and sits down.
(Shin doesn't think.)