Comments,
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence
Soldiers, by their general nature, make both excellent spies and terrible spies. There's a reason after all why people from military backgrounds are among the most popular recruits for spy work. Mainly it was a practical decision of survivability: soldiers were well trained to operate in stressful combat situations, and to make quick, decisive tactical assessments. Both traits were handy for spies handling sensitive and vital information, to make it to the end of the mission alive.
What made soldiers terrible spies, by and large, was the habitually gruff demeanor they exhibited, ground into the military psyche by the very combat training that kept them alive. Spy work, especially when interacting with people that may become assets, demanded a certain sense of tact, of subtle awareness and poise. These were niceties that hardened soldiers typically couldn't afford to focus on.
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Tact and Tactics
/
For Sasha Zura, the evening and morning before Connor's main meeting with Rick –before her meeting with Alastar– was spent getting something of a crash-course in intelligence work.
Connor did his best to be an accommodating teacher, and Sasha a receptive student. One of the more prominent points Connor enforced was the kind of control Sasha should be able to have over Alastar. While Alastar was clearly affected, having that attraction toward Sasha, Sasha herself could remain detached, having little personal emotional stake in the interaction. This meant she could weave the conversation with Alastar around on her terms.
On the one hand, this made Sasha feel a bit like a fraud, like the manipulative, inauthentic women who enjoyed stringing along the affections of gullible ogling men. On the other hand, this emotional security took some of the load off her nerves for the meeting. It'd be up to her to help Alastar feel comfortable and receptive to conversation, and thankfully she'd be in a pretty ideal position to do just that.
"Don't force things, let the conversation flow naturally," Connor would often remind Sasha over the course of his coaching. "Everything you'll need to know will be there, you just need to let it present itself."
That's mainly what was going through Sasha Zura's mind on the way to the meeting, on the way to the Pedra Torre Cafe. The picturesque streets and plazas were a little less intimidating now, mainly due to Sasha's focus on the operation at hand, partly due to some small measure of familiarity. It was some comfort to Sasha to know that she –being a well armed, well equipped and well trained 'mercenary'– was more intimidating to the local militiamen than the militiamen were to her.
The operation itself was straightforward enough: Connor and Rick would be meeting privately, which means they'd leave their bodyguards alone with each other. Sasha would strike up friendly conversation with Alastar, and whatever happened from there would happen.
To better facilitate this, Connor opted to take just Sasha to the meet, leaving the rest of her squad behind. Hopefully they weren't getting themselves into too much mischief...
Connor and Sasha made it to the Pedra Torre Cafe with little trouble. The cafe was quaint enough: some seating had been set up outside, taking advantage of the naturally pleasant weather at this place. There was a tantalizing scent of fresh brewed coffee and pastries wafting out from the open front door, with some light atmospheric folk music playing in the background. Truly, were it not for the rampant political tension strangling all of Zoness at the time –which made proprietor and patrons perpetually weary– the cafe would've been a charming little place to relax and unwind at.
Sitting at one of the tables outside were Rick and his bodyguard Alastar. The scene would've been normal enough, if not for the fact that Alastar being in a public place fully equipped in combat gear. Then again, that sort of thing was the 'normal' for the tension at the time.
"Connor!" Rick greeted, standing up from the table. He seemed in much better spirits now, "Glad you could make it."
"Same here, Rick." the rusty avian replied, while the two exchanged a friendly handshake.
"Let's go on inside, and talk about this opportunity of yours," the raccoon invited.
Connor gave him a nod, and turned to Sasha, "Wait out here until we're done. Shouldn't be too long."
"You got it." the husky responded.
While Rick and Connor moved inside the cafe, Sasha sat herself down right across from Alastar.
He was still a little shifty like he was before, but it didn't make Sasha anywhere near as suspicious as it had then, knowing that Alastar was just being nervous because of attraction reasons. She could relate, and even sympathize, having gone through a similar nervous bout with Maya before. It wasn't exactly a fun position to be it, so she worked on putting Alastar at ease.
"It's such a lovely place here," Sasha mused, looking around at the quaint, almost nostalgic scenery around them, "A shame what's going on with all this militia business."
"I came here once when I was a lot younger, before all this," Alastar replied, also taking in the surroundings, "These old streets were so much busier then: lots of folks, going about their business, having a good time."
"I wish I could've seen it."
"Once all this business blows over, maybe you can," Alastar suggested, and added with a little resentment, "The politics these days are just... all screwed around."
"Yeah, no kidding," the husky agreed. "Is that how you wound up working for that Rick guy?"
"Sort of, I suppose," the merc answered with a small shrug, "It's a bit of a long story, and not an especially cheery one at that."
"What's so not-cheerful about it?" Sasha asked, believing this might be a chance to check out his background.
Alastar didn't seem exactly comfortable though at the question. He squirmed in his chair, fidgeting, eyes shifting away.
"I'm sorry," Sasha apologized, feeling she'd overstepped in her prying. She needed to try and keep him comfortable, "If you don't want to talk about it..."
"No, no– it's alright. I mean... " Alastar said, flustering and fumbling over his words as he looked back. He stopped, took a quick breath, and started his words over from the beginning, "I used to be military: Cornerian Army, First Dragoon Guard."
"Ah, right, that makes sense." Sasha said with a nod, "I noticed some of your gear: pretty advanced stuff, almost one-man-army material there."
Captain Zura had heard of the Cornerian Army's Dragoon Guard before. It was supposed to be an advanced commando unit, one that specialized in urban guerrilla warfare. Beyond that however, she knew very little about them.
"Well, that's sort of the idea," Alastar confirmed with some subtle pride. This seemed to loosen him up a little, as he further explained, "The way the Dragoons usually worked was: one squad of Dragoons punches ahead, each soldier spread across the target area, each one acting individually. We take the attention of the enemy, disrupt the defenses, while the main assault wave of infantry rolls in behind us into the enemies' confusion."
"So like shock troops then," Sasha observed, "spearheading the advance."
"Exactly!" Alastar agreed, then moved the subject forward, "As to how I wound up here though... there was this one mission, off the books, black ops. We were sent into the target building ahead of the main infantry wave, the usual way."
"Right, right." Sasha said with a nod. The merc finally seemed comfortable now, at least comfortable enough to go into his background. Hopefully there'd be some useful information here.
"While I was in there, combing the building from room to room, I ran into this cluster of civilians hiding out and... there were kids in there, little children, a whole lot of them. They'd come in and hunkered down, looking for someplace they were hoping was safe, but it wasn't safe. In another few minutes or so, the main assault force would have rolled on through and..." Alastar stopped short, lost track of his words. He seemed like he was affected by this moment, this concept. The canid mercenary soon found his words again, but they were pained words now, strained by some hardship, or harsh experience, "You know how many civilian casualties a brutal infantry sweep like that can take? How many will get killed dead, the only fault of them being in the wrong place, at the right time?"
"Yeah... all too well, actually." the husky replied, now in a far more somber tone.
This had suddenly claimed Sasha's interest. The fact that this mere mercenary was in-fact a man of deep compassion. But yet, here he was as a lowly gun for hire, working for a less-than-benign cause. How in Lylat could Alastar have wound up so far down?
"So what did you do there, with the civilians?" Sasha asked, leaning a little in, pulled by her curiosity.
"I led them away." he explained, "I found them an exit, and got them out of the building to somewhere safer... I figured no one would've noticed."
"But someone did notice, didn't they?"
"Yeah, that they did..." Alastar changed his voice here, imitating a figure of authority, "'That was not your decision to make or to act upon, Sergeant Alastar Korvyn!' my commander told me, when I tried to defend my actions, 'Your mission was to scout ahead and disrupt the enemy's defensive capabilities ahead of the main assault force! Your little stint as 'guardian angel' distracted you from this utmost imperative mission objective, and in so doing may well have cost us the lives of good soldiers, should they have blundered into a trap because of your lack of discipline! That is a disgrace to the Dragoon Guard, Sergeant Korvyn!'"
Alastar spat out those final words, almost like he was trying to get the bad taste of the harsh reprimand out of his mouth. The resentment in his voice continued through as he explained what occurred next, "My superiors couldn't formally court-marshal me; the mission was off-the-books, not supposed to exist. So they reassigned me to some rubbish post instead, and I'm fairly certain they were working on some excuse to discharge me outright."
"I'm so sorry..."
Sasha found herself thinking of her father, of everything he and the Zura family went through after the 'Massacre on Fortuna' all those years before; the humiliation, the feeling of betrayal. Alastar's situation may have had a somewhat different context, but so much of it was the same. She could only feel sympathy for what he went through, for what he must've endured.
"I wasn't having any of it." Alastar continued, the resentment still clinging to his words like a verbal stink, "I couldn't fight for an army that way, not when everything is so wound up in petty political garbage, so I resigned."
"I understand." Sasha replied, trying to control her emotions, trying keep that old pain buried.
The picture of Alastar Korvyn was starting to become clearer now, and he was right: it wasn't a very cheery one. Some things though didn't quite line up right though. How could Corneria, which had thrown up its arms and cried 'Scandal!' for Kell Zura's ruthlessness, turn right around and reprimand Alastar for showing some shred of compassion in the line of duty? Had the military-political situation for her homeworld degraded so far these last years?
"I started up mercenary work shortly after that. Rick hired me as his bodyguard, and that pretty much brings us here..." after glancing around, checking his surroundings, Alastar leaned in and added quietly, "To be honest though, I'm starting to have second thoughts about working for that guy."
"Oh?" This could be the break Connor was looking for, something possibly valuable...
"It's been a terrible deal all-around, really." the merc explained, "You know he's former LCI: he meddles in things, makes far too many dangerous enemies doing it, and not for the right reasons either I think."
"Like this thing with the Matai estate," Sasha recalled.
"Precisely: the 'spoiled mob prince' your Connor fellow called him, and he's exactly right as far as I'm concerned." The familiar pang of resentment came through his words again, but now there was a bit of quiet desperation, "If there were a better opportunity available, I'd take it in a heartbeat–"
All of a sudden, Alastar seemed to realize something terrible, and palmed himself in his forehead as he moaned out, "Oh no... "
"Something wrong?" Sasha asked, genuinely concerned for him now.
"All this time I spent talking about myself, and I didn't even get your name!" Alastar exclaimed as he shook his head, mortified, "I... dammit..."
"It's Sasha." the husky said through a little smile and giggle.
"And such a lovely name it is!" the merc complimented, trying desperately to salvage the situation, "It suits you."
She had to admit, seeing Alastar fumble about like he did was rather endearing. Most of the guys Sasha had taken time to get to know before were gruffer, more regimented military men, like the officer cadets at Easthold or enlisted soldiers under her command. There wasn't much before that, never really being into guys the way most other girls were.
Rick and Connor emerged from the cafe's interior, stopping to exchange a few more words.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Alastar," Sasha said, standing up from the table, getting ready to meet up with Connor again
"Do you?..." Alastar got up too, his words dropping like flies, "I mean..."
"Yes?"
"Maybe– you know– when we're not attached to our clients and everything, we could do something like this again sometime?" he suggested, his tone strained to breaking with a wishful hope.
"Oh, absolutely," Sasha agreed, "I'd like that."
"Great!" Alastar blurted out, relieved, as if a massive burden had been taken off his back.
The two of them hastily exchanged contact information, seeing Rick and Connor wrap up their final exchange, and about to reclaim their bodyguards. They soon departed the Pedra Torre Cafe, with few other words afterward. Sasha went with Connor, Alastar with Rick.
Sasha enjoyed seeing him cheer up like this, especially after how glum talking about his past made him. It was a real shame how much trouble Alastar had to go through, simply for the fact that he acted on his sense of compassion. He deserved better than the life he had now, barely scraping by under the employ of a shady figure.
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/
During the return to the old hotel, Sasha couldn't help but notice how quiet Connor was being, how detached he was, not saying a single word at all.
After the rather uneventful trip, the two of them regrouped in their hotel room with the rest of the squad.
"There's... a bit of bad news." Connor announced, his tone grim and foreboding. "I thought for sure Rick would come to our side. I thought we had enough history together to build on, but... he won't be joining us, and there's no convincing him otherwise..."
"So, what does that mean for us?" Coproral Xavier asked.
"It's not what I wanted, not in the least but... we'll have to eliminate him," Connor answered.
"Assassination," Sgt. Fletcher stated, to which Connor nodded in response.
"Wait a minute, is that really necessary?" Sasha asked. Rick and Connor seemed so friendly to each other before, having to kill Rick didn't quite make sense to her.
"Belive me, I wish there was another way," the older avian spy explained. "Thing about Rick is: he is absolutely, insidiously, dangerous. He can organize intricate double-agent operations like it was nothing, playing multiple sides of any given conflict like a one-man-band. He can sabotage his targets' most vital operations barely lifting a finger, utilizing an extensive network of contacts he's built up over his career to support him. I'm not surprised he was able to string himself along the way he has, even without support from an agency to fall back on."
"Sounds like a handy person to have as an ally," Vance mused.
"Or an absolute nightmare to have as an enemy, which he was," Connor responded, with an air of experience, "but since Rick isn't with us, that makes him a threat now, a threat we simply cannot afford to ignore."
"So, what's our game-plan then?" Xavier asked, ready for whatever came their way.
"Depends..." the avian spy said as he turned to Sasha. "Tell me about Rick's bodyguard: can we use him?"
"I... I think so," the husky officer answered. "We got a pretty good connection going during that first meet."
"Smooth moves there, chief," Gavin joked.
Connor shot Fletcher a stern, piercing look, telling the soldier without words to "shut up" and quit fooling around with such sensitive matters. When Gavin backed down, he turned back to Sasha. "You were saying..."
"Alastar isn't at all happy about working for Rick," the husky confirmed. "He's really hoping for a better opportunity to come his way."
"Then let's give him exactly that," Connor said, sounding relieved and highly motivated by these latest developments. "I need you to meet with Alastar again, and convince him to work with us to eliminate Rick," he told Sasha, "Promise him sanctuary and safety with Macbeth, outbid the price Rick pays– anything you can do to put his mind at ease, you go and do it. We'll make this messy business as clean and painless as we feasibly can, for everyone–"
"Connor," Sasha Zura interrupted, walking up to him.
"Hm?"
"Can you and I talk for a second?" the husky demanded quietly, so the others couldn't hear clearly.
Connor gave her a quick nod, and the two of them went outside the hotel room into the narrow hallway outside. They spoke quietly, so as not to attract unneeded attention.
"If I make those kinds of promises to Alastar, if I tell him 'you'll be safe with us', will you be able to make good on it?" Sasha questioned, with such intensity in her words, and in the sharp-eyed gaze she landed on the older avian spy. "Will you keep your word to him, hold up your end of the bargain, or is he just another disposable tool to the operation?"
There was genuine concern there, for Alastar's safety, and for his well-being. She just couldn't feel right to promise someone so much for their help, only to cut them off later when their immediate usefulness ended. After all the trouble Alastar went through on his way to where he was, and what he'd go through again in betrayal, he especially deserved so much better than to be dumped on by his employers yet again. Sasha had to know that she was more than a mere pawn in Connor's little game, that Alastar would be more than a pawn if he followed through with the plan.
"Honestly, it depends on how things go," Connor responded as earnestly as he could, picking up on Sasha's concerned sentiment. "This may just be a one-off deal with Alastar, or we might be able to find him a more permanent place among us, even if it's simply a steady merc gig..." with a confident little smile, the spy then added, "With you helping him along though, I think we can definitely win him over to our side. You've got a connection: use it."
So that was the answer then. If Alastar was going to be safe at the end of all this, then she had to get him to fully commit to betraying Rick, to being useful and dedicated. Sasha herself had to fully commit to selling that concept to him. Yeah, she could do that, no problem.
"Alright," Sasha said to Connor with a determined nod, "I'll make the call."
"And I'll leave you to it, Cpt. Zura," the older avian replied as he headed back inside the hotel room, leaving Sasha by herself outside.
Once alone, relatively anyway, the husky took out her personal comm and sent the call signal to Alastar.
While it was ringing though, she felt something inside her, some kind of hesitation? Why? She could do this– she had to do this, for him.
"Oh, hello Sasha," Alastar's voice greeted in her ear. "I didn't think you'd call back so soon."
"Aww, and why shouldn't I?" Sasha asked in a cheery tone, almost giggling. It came so effortlessly, without even trying. "Anyways, I really liked our little chat earlier today, and I was thinking I'd like to meet up again, like you suggested."
"Really? I didn't– I mean–" He stumbled and stuttered, still working himself up to believe his luck it sounded. "That's fantastic!"
"Did you have something specific in mind?" the husky asked, "You've been here longer than I have, you'd know more than I."
"Well..." Alastar's voice said over the comm, taking a moment, considering options? "I guess I could bring you around the area, show you some of the places here still alright to go to, like a little tour? We could go out this evening if you like."
"That sounds great!" Sasha agreed, with a little more enthusiasm than she'd anticipated. She seemed to be looking forward to seeing him again, a lot.
"Well alright then! Give me a few hours and we can meet up... " then he added, with some hint of resentment again. "Need to come up with a good excuse to get away from Rick."
"I'll see you in a few hours."
"Still, I'd recommend bringing your gear though," Alastar suggested. "Militia and all."
"Of course, I will," and with that Sasha hastily closed the channel.
She felt that her pulse had picked up, that her breath came uneasily, like she was nervous? But it was also a giddy anticipation... This wasn't attraction she was feeling, it couldn't be attraction, that's not how she felt about Alastar. This was concern for a good man who deserves better, and relief that she could do something about it. If Sasha was a little nervous, then it must've been because she wasn't used to this kind of 'open subterfuge' of espionage work. It didn't have anything to do with emotional investment... well, maybe it did, but not that kind of emotion.
Sasha tried not to think about it anymore, and simply returned inside to begin prep-work, if for no other reason than to distract herself from all these conflicting emotions.
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/
True to their words, Sasha Zura and Alastar Korvyn met up with each other a few hours later, in the old plaza outside the hotel. The two of them walked through the dusk-lit antiquated streets of the historic district. The charm of it all was mired somewhat though, with the always-present pressure of the militias, forcing Sasha and Alastar, for their own safety, to meet while wearing their full combat gear with assault rifles slung over their shoulders.
Nevertheless, they were together as they strolled cautiously through the old city, and alone enough to discuss certain pressing matters.
"You told me so much about yourself earlier today," Sasha began,
"Sorry, heh..." Alastar responded, giving a slight shrug and smile. "Got a little ahead of myself there, didn't I?"
"So..." the husky continued, "I think it's my turn now to tell you a little about me."
"Fair enough."
"I'm not actually a mercenary," She confessed, more than a little suddenly. "I'm with Macbeth Special Forces."
The revelation silenced Alastar for a few moments. One could practically see his original train of thought veering off the rails in his head, with his awkward shifting eyes, furrowing brow, as well as a few ill-fated attempts to begin a sentence before he finally managed to blurt out, "But... you're Cornerian, I know it. I can tell by your accent–"
"I am..." Sasha confirmed, stepping on his words.
"Then how–"
"My name is Sasha Zura. My father is Kell Zura, formerly of the Cornerian Army."
"Zura... Kell Zura... I know I've heard that name before..." Alastar's free hand was scratching his head, digging thought his thoughts, until the buried thought was found, "Oooooh that's right! They still tell stories about what happened to him. So he moved to Macbeth, did he? And you, in the Macbeth military... how does that work, exactly?"
"It's kinda complicated." the husky admitted with a little shrug.
"Right..." he said, giving an understanding nod.
"Alastar, there's something else..." Sasha's tone became far more focused, more determined. There may have even been a few traces of her stern 'officer's voice' creeping in now, "and I need to be honest with you about it."
"Right?" In any case, she'd captured the merc's complete attention for the moment.
"Connor is organizing an assassination operation against Rick, your boss, right now."
"And... why are you telling me, exactly?" Alastar asked, while a quizzical look quickly overtook his features. "I am his bodyguard after all."
"Because I like you Alastar, I really do, and I don't want to see you hurt, or worse..."
Sasha felt the pressure of emotions behind those words, and not entirely false ones either. This was concern again, for a good man. She steeled herself after this short moment, and pressed forward, "I know you're not exactly on good terms with Rick, that he doesn't really treat you well. You know far better than I do how dangerous he is, and I really don't think it's worth putting your life on the line for him, not with what we'll have coming his way. You're a good person, and you deserve so much better than that."
"So, you want me to betray him?" It was clear that Alastar understood what she wanted, and why. Now was just a matter of selling it, to make him want it too.
"You mentioned you'd take a better opportunity if one came up: this is that opportunity, right here," Sasha insisted, doing her best to keep feelings in check, focused on selling the concept. "We can give you safe amnesty with Macbeth, compensate you for any financial troubles it may cause, even set you up with a new client if you need it, and..."
Sasha stepped closer, and wrapped her arms over Alastar's broad, armored shoulders in a close embrace. It happened very quickly, a spur of the moment thing, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time.
"I'd be so much happier knowing that you're okay," she added, more quietly now, more inflected with the emotions she was having.
It wasn't a lie: Sasha really would feel better if Alastar was safe at the end of all this. Those emotions came up, and she may as well use them while they're authentic. The next several moments were spent desperately hoping that this ploy would work... It had to work...
"Um... Sasha?" Alastar asked, resting his own arms across Sahsa's lower back.
"Hm?"
"What if... ah... " he started, stalled, and then tried again. His voice took on a steady, in-control tone. "What if I told you I didn't 'actually' make up some excuse to get away from Rick, to be here with you?"
"What do you mean?"
Alastar broke from the embrace, holding Sasha by her shoulders at arm's length. The features of his face were hanging down, in regret and remorse, "Rick wanted me to spy on you," he confessed with pained words. "He suspected Connor would... exploit me, like you're talking about doing. That's why I'm able to be out here with you right now, because Rick put me here to do his bloody legwork for him."
"Wait a second..." in an instant, Sasha snapped into tactical assessment mode, and began scanning the streets, roofs and windows, "Are we being recorded? Or followed?"
"No, thank Lyla," Alaster assured her, shaking his head. "Rick knows you've got one mean counter-surveillance man on your team; couldn't risk 'blowing the op', so this is strictly face-to-face."
"Right, right." She couldn't be sure now. Maybe Rick sent someone to follow them without them knowing. The entire operation could be compromised, and they wouldn't even notice. Was Alastar even telling the actual truth here?
"You see? It's that kind of thing, right there." He noticed Sasha's uneasiness very easily, her suddenly closed-off tendencies, especially after being so intimate before his revelation. Alastar let out a frustrated sigh, hanging his head, and continued on as he explained, "I have had it up to here with being roped into Rick's damn spy shenanigans. I signed on to be his bodyguard, alright? Not his accomplice, with all the lying, the mistrust, and the second-guessing..."
He looked up at Sasha then, showing her such longing, such regret, and such pain, all boiling over the surface here as he pleaded his case.
"You have to believe me Sasha, I don't want to be dragged down into it anymore." Alastar insisted, almost desperately, "I'd rather have more times like this, with you– I mean..."
His words sputtered to a stop and he looked away, embarrassed, realizing he let his romantic interests slip in.
Whatever doubts Sasha may have had before were gone. This was a man pulled into more than he bargained for under Rick, and wanted out of the bad deal. He needed only the chance to break away from it, and the courage to see him through. Sasha Zura, even though it was completely by accident, could give him both.
"It's okay Alastar," She told him, in a sweet comforting voice she didn't know she had, "I understand..."
Sasha moved in again, wrapping her arms around the merc's chest. The armor that encased him was cold, and hard. She found herself wanting the armor to come off, for Alastar to come out of his shell...
In some ways at least, it happened.
"So... you want Rick dead, do you?" he stated. Alastar's words came out calm, but there was a determination behind them now, a steady confidence that hadn't been there before, "Tell me what I have to do, and I'll see that it's done."
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/
Comments,
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence
It was such a nice, clean and simple operation, the assassination staged in Port Seyid, Zoness. I wish more of mine were always as neat and straightforward as this one was. Every once in a while, you might get lucky playing this crazy game, and everything lines up just the way you need it. Other times though, it takes "rigging the game" a little bit to make sure you come out of it winning, or surviving.
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/
Sasha Zura and Alastar Korvyn stood outside the room where Rick was, making their final preparations.
After discussion with Connor and the squad, it was decided that Alastar would give the killing blow. Rick had no reason to suspect his own bodyguard, at least for now, so Alastar would have the valuable element of surprise on his side. Sasha volunteered to act as his backup for the hit, standing back as Alastar made the kill, but ready to move in if things got out of hand.
Sasha made one last check of the narrow hallway. There was no one, as well there wouldn't be at this hour, a little past midnight. It was just her and Alastar right now.
"You ready to do this?" Sasha asked quietly.
Alaster fixed the noise suppressor to the barrel of his handgun, then responded in a grim, stony tone, "I've been ready to do this for... quite a long time."
"Okay," she said with a nod, and placed a hand on his armored shoulder. He was ready, Sasha could very clearly see the courage she knew Alastar had in there. He was focused now, in a conditioned self-imposed trance-like state that she'd seen soldiers sometimes assume prior to the mission. Alastar would see this through to the end, that much she could tell.
In another couple seconds, Alastar swiped the key-card over the room's door, his suppressed blaster in hand, and entered inside.
The next few moments, with Sasha outside and alone, were silent, tense, uneasy. Sasha felt some worry boil up inside her for Alastar, though she thought maybe she shouldn't have. Alastar had this all under control. If anything amiss happened, she was there to back him up with the superior firepower she had in the assault rifle in her hands. There was nothing to worry about–
* Thump! *
That was a body hitting the floor. That was the signal for Sasha, one way or another, to enter the room. She swiped a copy of Alastar's key-card, and followed inside, expecting anything...
The inside of the hotel room was quiet, almost tranquil in its stillness. Were it not for the still-warm body slumped on the floor, and Alastar holding a smoking handgun over it, there would've been nothing at all remarkable in the space.
There wasn't much time to reflect on the sentiment of the moment, the next part of the operation was the discreet disposal of Rick's body. The hallways of the hotel were too conspicuous to try getting Rick's body out that way, even this late at night, so the window was the way to go. Luckily the window for this room opened to a narrow back alley, complete with sewer access. Fletcher and Xavier were outside in the alley now, waiting for Rick's body to come down so they could send it down a manhole into the city's sewer system. Vance and Connor held their position at the end of the alley, acting as lookouts, ready to run interference on curious passers-by if needed.
Sasha and Alastar went to work in silence, working to focus on the task at hand.
A bed sheet was used as an impromptu body bag for Rick, tied off with a sturdy rope. Sasha quietly thanked Rick's relatively slight build, making his dead corpse so much lighter and easier to handle than someone more robust. It was a simple matter for her and Alastar to tie up the bedsheet sack, move the body to the window, and lower it outside with the rope to Gavin and Anton below.
Sasha and Alastar watched from the open window, as the two soldiers took hold of the inconspicuous-seeming bundle that contained a dead body, and then lowered it quickly and quietly down into the open manhole. Once it had disappeared down, Fletcher and Xavier replaced the manhole cover, and walked away, as if nothing happened. With any luck, when Rick's body turned up, it'd appear to be nothing more than another hit-job, carried out by any number of the gangs or underworld syndicates in the city.
It was all over so fast. From door open to manhole cover closed, it couldn't have been longer than two or thee minutes. In that short span of time, they'd killed a man –an insidious one at that– and removed any obvious trace of him, erasing him from existence entirely.
"So... It's done then," Alastar said, with a worn-out tone to his words.
The mission must've been hard on him, and Sasha could hardly blame him. The desire to be rid of Rick was there, but it was never practical for Alastar to pursue the desire until now. Even so, he probably would have preferred to terminate employment without bloodshed, but bloodshed came nonetheless.
"We'll need to get you away from here, fast, before any of Matai's enforcers start to get suspicious." Sasha reminded. Apparently her words came out flat and colorless, made numb by the situation.
"Yeah, right, of course." Alastar agreed with a vacant nod.
"You gonna be alright?" the husky asked, concerned. She placed a hand on his armored shoulder
"I will, it's just..." the merc had started a thought, but stopped it, and let out a tired sigh instead, "Yeah, I'll be fine."
Maybe he would be fine, maybe not. In either case, they had to leave and get off-planet as soon as possible. Concerned as Sasha was for Alastar's well-being, she was a practical person, a military field officer, and had to be concerned first and foremost with his immediate safety. They could discuss these other issues during the trip back, when there'd be plenty of downtime.
For now though, the two of them simply exited the room, and headed out to meet up with everyone else for the trip back to Macbeth.
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Author Notes:
And another chapter comes careening out the gate!
I deeply apologize to any/all the readers who were really hoping for some intense battle sequences here. This chapter wasn't really about that sort of thing though, much more about the intrigue and emotional shifting. There will be plenty of action later though, so don't despair yet, it's coming.
Thank you everyone who's been reading and responding to the story, I'm glad you're liking as much as you are! As always, your feedback is most welcome here.
I'll catch you all later I hope!
Note: 5/3/2012
I have removed the current 6th chapter, pending an edit/addition to the story. Very little will have changed overall. Mostly, this edit is to add a scene to help support the later action, which otherwise would seem somewhat abrupt. Thank you for understanding, and sticking with the story through this business.
Note: 5/8/2012
The new 6th chapter is now up! It doesn't "replace" the other chapter (I'll post it again later), just fits in between this chapter and the other.
