Chapter 7: Striking Out
Downtown Mobotropolis, on a building overlooking the warehouse, 22:00 pm
Lowering her binoculars, Ashley nodded. Turning to where Roman and Tails were sat, she said: "This is the one."
"Are you sure this time, Ashley?" Roman asked.
"I'm sure." Ashley said, handing Roman the binoculars. "Look, it even has my fathers 'business' logo on the sign at the warehouse gate."
"So it does." Roman said, seeing the logo in question and lowering the binoculars before looking up at Ashley. Yet again, he found himself entranced by his girlfriend. She was wearing her tight leather combat gear, which displayed every single part of her curvaceous frame, from the curves of her abdomen to the slimness of her legs, it simply enhanced the appearance of most parts of her body. That, coupled with the moonlight illuminating her, made her look nothing short of stunning.
Ashley noticed him looking at her and cocked her head slightly. "Something on your mind, Roman?"
Roman nodded, getting to his feet. "It's just, no matter whatever we're doing, you always look so darn beautiful."
Ashley smiled warmly and pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thanks for the compliment." At this, she kissed him.
Roman reciprocated the gesture, accepting Ashley into his arms as he had ever since meeting her in the summer of that year
Tails, meanwhile, watched this with a bored look. He didn't want to interrupt the romantic moment, so he decided to wait until they were finished.
Breaking the kiss, Ashley looked at Roman with the warm smile she always reserved for him alone. "Have I ever told how much of a bloody romantic you are?"
"You have on occasion." Roman replied coyly, pecking Ashley on the lips. Looking to Tails, he said: "Now that that's out of mine and Ashley's systems, let's get to work."
"Finally." Tails said as he got to his feet. "So, how are we doing this? Heading in through the front door with a full out assault, or are we doing this stealthily?"
"An all out assault would lead to an all out slaughter. Of us." Ashley stated.
"Thank you for undermining my confidence." Tails said sarcastically.
"We're going in quiet, but hard. We leave no-one alive but one guy. That's all." Roman said.
"Right." Tails said. "The one guy we leave alive is to deliver a message, right?"
"Obviously." Roman said.
"Okay." Tails said. "First thing's first, how are we getting down from the roof?"
"Tails, have you ever heard of a fire escape?" Roman asked, pointing at the aforementioned means of getting down from the roof.
"No. I've never heard of a fire escape." Tails said.
"Well, now you know." Roman said as they headed towards the fire escape, beginning to descend it.
Not too long later…
Peeking around one of the parked landspeeders opposite the gate, Roman looked up to Ashley, saying: "Do a head count. I'd like to know a little about what we're up against."
"Didn't I cover that earlier?" Ashley hissed. "This warehouse is protected by about one-hundred guards, all of them armed with blaster rifles, blaster pistols, and a knife and sword for close combat."
"Suddenly I regret giving Sally my lightsaber." Roman confessed.
"Told you so." Tails added.
"Shut up, Tails." Roman replied with a hint of annoyance.
Ashley was listening to this with an amused smile. She enjoyed hearing Roman and Tails' conversations. Mostly because they were filled with wit from both parties in question.
"At least I still have a knife." Roman said.
"At least." Ashley said.
"But anyway, why are we lounging outside the front gate? I thought we wanted to do this stealthily."
"We still are. I just want a headcount of the people in the main courtyard so that we'll notice if they show up while we're taking out the guys inside." Roman said.
"Okay." Ashley said. After several minutes, she said: "I counted about fifteen outside, which leaves eighty-five guards inside."
"And here I was hoping for a quiet night earlier today." Tails said.
Roman chuckled. "You'll get your wish. Just not without seeing a few heads get blow off first."
"Astounding." Tails said sarcastically.
Roman chuckled. "Okay. Ash, where do we go now?"
"I'd figured you'd know." Ashley said. "The back door of course."
"Well, that's all well and dandy, but where is the back door?" Roman asked.
Ashley giggled and said: "Follow me, boys."
Roman and Tails looked at one another and shrugged before also getting to their feet and following Ashley. After several minutes of walking, they reached the back door. Unfortunately, it was guarded by two men.
"Trust your old man to guard every means of entry." Roman said to Ashley.
"He's cautious that way." Ashley replied. "Always keeping everything he values guarded. He even wears a metal plate to protect his crotch."
Roman cringed. "Fuck, that sounds uncomfortable."
"It probably is." Tails said.
Roman chuckled to himself before returning to the present, saying: "So how are we taking them out? Quick and clean, or loud and messy?"
"Quick and clean. We'll lose the element of surprise if we do things loud and messy." Ashley said.
"Right." Roman said as he drew his knife. Without as much as another sound, he leaped out of hiding, and threw his knife at the throat of one of the guards. The knife met its mark to considerable effect, finding its way between the targeted guard's eyes. The now dead guard slumped to the floor, blood beginning to trickle from the wound.
The other guard made to shout, and would have called for help had Ashley not slunk up to him and silenced him with a knife to the throat.
Ashley helped the body to the ground, and cleaned her knife on his uniform. "That was easy." She remarked.
"No shit." Roman said as he wiped the knife clean on his kill's uniform. "But the easy part's over. Now for the hard part."
"That's a no-brainer." Tails added as they formed up on the door. "So, what now? Do we blow the door off of its hinges or something?"
"Nope." Roman said. "But we're gonna need eyes in the sky, and you're the only one that can get into the sky."
"Can't you be bothered to climb?" Tails complained.
"No, it's because we're pressed for time. Now get up there." Roman said. "When we're in, I'll contact you and you can bust through the windows while taking out the guys up top."
"Fine." Tails grumbled as he flew up to the roof.
Roman then turned to Ashley. "Ready to tear shit up?"
"You bet." Ashley said as she gently eased the door open.
Mere seconds later…
Roman closed with the unsuspecting guard in front of him, knife in hand, as he violently slit the guard's throat.
Other guards in the vicinity noticed this and turned their weapons on Roman, opening fire instantly.
Roman held up the corpse of the guard he had just killed and used him as a shield, taking the opportunity to return fire himself. Promptly, several guards fell to his blaster. Throwing the body aside, Roman took cover behind a pillar and downed two more guards.
In the meantime, Ashley had killed the guard she had targeted, and instantly afterwards, drew her own pistol, jumping into a forward roll, ending it on one knee and firing her blaster at several nearby guards. Her accuracy was deadly, with all the guards in her crosshairs dropping dead instantly.
Roman saw this and made a mental note never to piss Ashley off. He knew for a fact she was an excellent shot with any form of blaster. He was driven from thought as several blaster shots thudded into the ground next to him. Another grazed his shoulder. "Argh!" Roman growled. "Motherfucker!" Roman shouted as he turned to fire on the guards. But before he could even pull the trigger, a blur of orange and white entered his field of vision and gunned the guards down.
Turning around, the blur was revealed to be Tails. "Dang Rome, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"I can't actually kiss my mother because she's dead." Roman retorted. "And if I kissed her as a corpse, that would translate to necrophilia."
Tails laughed and said: "I was kidding, Roman. I've grown used to that foul mouth of yours over the years."
"I know. I was just stating a realistic fact." Roman said before taking his knife and stabbing a guard that had gotten too close. Whirling around, he downed two guards that were sneaking up behind Ashley.
"Thanks." Ashley said as she returned the favour by shooting two guards on Roman's right.
"I had that under control." Roman said.
"Keep telling yourself that, darling." Ashley said as she kissed Roman on the cheek and proceeded to shoot several more guards behind her.
Tails, who was watching this and had no intention of being outdone, used his twin tails to fly up to the nearest crate, and promptly tipped it onto some of the guards, finishing them off with quick-fire shots to the head. Walking forward, Tails ducked under incoming fire and gunned down several more guards.
Soon, the bloody word was done, and only one guard remained alive, albeit with a nasty leg wound.
Roman walked up to said guard and said: "Permit me to ask you a question: Do you want to live?"
The guard said nothing, merely looked around frantically for an exit.
"I said," Roman growled, now pointing his blaster at the guard's head, "do you want to live?!"
Weakly, the guard nodded.
"Good. Because I want you to send a little message from me to your employer, Frederick the Fox." Roman said. "When you see him, which you most likely will, tell him this was done by Roman the Fox and Ashley the Cat. And tell him that unless he calls things off and stays away, more will come."
The guard nodded fearfully, getting to his feet and making as if to run.
"No." Roman said, aiming his blaster yet again at the guard. "I want you to stay here. Better that Frederick comes to you and sees what happens when you mess with me and my girl firsthand."
Reluctantly, the guard stayed where he was, now facing Roman.
Turning to Ashley and Tails, Roman said: "Torch the damn place. I want Frederick to watch as a vital part of his organisation burns to the ground."
Two hours later, 00:30 am
Frederick stepped out of his personal landspeeder and walked over to the smouldering remains of his spice-manufacturing warehouse, his scowl deepening with every step he took towards it. He had put on his best leather jacket, accompanied by fairly casual clothes, clothes that he usually wore when he had decided now was the time to get his hands dirty. To his left stood the guard Roman had left alive, now bound, gagged, and restrained by Alec, who had been the first on the scene after Roman had set fire to it. Looking to Alec, Frederick asked: "Was there anything you was able to salvage from the fire?"
"No sir. Just this survivor. He claims the attackers left him alive to be their messenger." Alec said.
Interested, Frederick turned to both Alec and the surviving guard, and walked over, standing uncomfortably close to the guard. "So, the attackers left you a message for me, hmm? Then let's hear it. Alec, remove his gag."
Alec complied, and undid the cloth around the guard's mouth, pushing the guard forward. "Speak." Alec snarled.
The guard took one look at Alec, and then at Frederick, saying shakily: "T-They told me to tell you that this;" As he spoke, he gestured at the smouldering ruins of the warehouse. "Was done by Roman the Fox and Ashley the Cat. And that if you don't call things off and leave them alone, more like this will happen."
Frederick mulled this over for a minute or two before looking to Alec.
Alec nodded, and made to draw a one of his bladed weapons, but he was stopped when Frederick held up a stopping hand, and walked over to the guard, saying:
"Do you know what I hate more than seeing members of my own family betray me?" He asked as he took the guard by the shoulder.
"W-What sir?" The guard asked. He got his answer with the visage of a Bowie Knife to the gut.
"Employees of mine who can't do their job properly." Frederick replied darkly as he ripped the knife out with such violence, that the guard's intestines spilled to the floor.
The guard's eyes widened at the sight of his own insides, and sunk to his knees, blood beginning to spill from his mouth as he looked up at Frederick as if to ask: Why?
Frederick saw this, but did nothing.
The guard took one last look at Frederick, before falling onto his side, shaking visibly for a few minutes before at last falling still, a pool of blood beginning to form around the corpse.
Frederick glared for a few more seconds at the carcass before looking back up at Alec. "Take the body to the sewer, as usual. Then come back to me. I think it's time we closed in on my little girl and her boyfriend, this, 'Roman the Fox'. But send a message for our friend Roman. It's time we had a little face to face meeting."
"Yes sir." Alec said with a rare grin.
Just guessed it to be time to show just how ruthless Frederick is. His profile isn't up yet on my profile, and neither is Alec's, but they'll be up on there soon. Believe THAT.
Anyway, please leave your reviews, and May the Force be with you. Always.
T-Rock14
