Silence will fall

Subject: Silence will fall Thu May 09, 2013 2:49 am

One in the morning, surveillance begins. Vox had his forehead protector stashed away in an inner pocket, as he often did. No sense alerting people to his presence. It was far better to just dress like a civvie and blend in with the public. He liked working in this sort of area. It was a slum and all, but that meant a lot of people coming and going at all hours of the night, and nobody wanted to ask too many questions. One more face on the streets wouldn't be noticed. Hours passed as he wandered around, seemingly aimlessly, scoping out the target.

It was set apart from the other buildings around it. It made sense, more open space around it meant more warning if someone tried to sneak in. Anyone entering the building would have to cross about 50 feet of open ground. The guard patrolled the area pretty well, but Vox could see some gaps that could be exploited, especially by someone with his speed. As he glanced around the crowds, he could also pick out members of the gang wandering the streets. Probably more patrols, making sure nobody started trouble on their turf. They could be troublesome if someone raised an alarm. He'd have to be extra careful.

Two in the morning, and it seemed his intel had checked out. A cadre of bodyguards escorted a well-dressed man into the building. That was the target, he recognized the face from the briefing. Head of one of the larger cartels in the region, doing a "surprise" inspection that one of his entourage had leaked. Vox hoped the man had had the sense to call in sick tonight, it would be a shame if he got hurt on a mission he made possible. Vox found a nice, quiet spot to wait a while. According to his itinerary, he would be up to the office area soon enough. It would be easier to hit him there, fewer bystanders in the way.

[Words: 331]

Spoiler:

Subject: Re: Silence will fall Thu May 09, 2013 3:09 am

Three in the morning. Time to move out. By now, the crowds had died down a bit, and the target should be in the office on the top floor, checking the books. Say what you will about drug lords, but they were sticklers for accounting. This also happened to be the time of night that humans were at their least aware, putting non-humans like Vox at even more of an advantage. He cut through an alley, getting as close to the building as he could. Armed guards patrolled the vacant lot between him and his target. On their own, they would be no problem. But if they raised the alarm, that would give the target a chance to escape any number of ways. Luckily, they didn't have the most cutting edge security system. Men with flashlights and radios weren't that much of a challenge. They hadn't even sprung for spotlights. Vox smeared his face with gray facepaint, then got to work.

Looking across the lot, Vox could see a gap in the security. Before they had time to close it, he was in motion. He stayed low to the ground, darting across the open space and muffling his footsteps as he went. Reaching the building, he put his hands to the wall. There was a barely-audible hum as he latched onto it, starting to climb. He still didn't like wall-walking, especially for stealth missions. Vox preferred to stick to the way he had been taught, going on all fours and staying close to the surface. He was far less visible like that. He recalled the floor plan he'd been shown, making his way to the north side of the building. When he came to the nearest window to his target, he set to work on the grate covering the window. He pulled out a knife, using it as a makeshift screwdriver to undo all but one of the screws, pocketing them as he went. With that done, he swiveled the grate down and opened the window, slipping in.

[Words: 338]

Spoiler:

Subject: Re: Silence will fall Thu May 09, 2013 3:25 am

Quarter past three, insertion successful. Vox wasn't himself by now. There was only the mission, the target, and an expressionless face painted dull gray. He made his way towards the closed door at the end of the hall. Vox could hear men talking through it, apparently his target wasn't too pleased. Something about numbers not adding up, and the poor bastard who was in charge this shift was catching hell for it. No, not poor bastard. Secondary target. Retain emotional distance, execute mission. Vox reminded himself. Still, the closed door would be an issue. It was the only entrance to the room, but he didn't like making flashy entries and cutting his way through guards. That was how a thug did things, and he was an assassin. This called for some improvisation. Vox returned to his point of entry, kicking in a nearby door before ducking out the window again.

Sure enough, several bodyguards came running to check out the noise. Meanwhile, Vox made his way around to the office where his target was and set to work removing the window grate there. It swung down as easily as the one before, and he carefully and quietly eased the window open. Two of the remaining guards had their eyes trained on the door, while a third was interrogating the shift manager in the corner. The guard was shouting, convinced that the sobbing man was trying to off their boss. Meanwhile, said boss was cowering behind the desk, peeking out to see what his bodyguards were doing. This was going to be easy. For such a coward, this man seemed to have poor taste in bodyguards. They were so convinced that their backs were covered that they had fallen for an obvious diversion, thinking they were holed up in a defensive position. It was time for an object lesson on the risks of that.

[Words: 313]

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Subject: Re: Silence will fall Thu May 09, 2013 3:54 am

Eighteen past three. There was still a chance of a trap, better to be sure. Vox looked in the window, checking his corners to make sure no guards were ready to chop his head off the second he stuck it in. Lucky for him, they had assumed the bars on the windows would hold, although the shouting down the hall suggested they might not think that for long. He had to act fast, before they could be warned. Vox slipped silently in the window, hooking an arm around the target's neck and hauling him to his feet. The man let out a surprised gurgle, unable to speak as his throat was being crushed by the jounin's arm.

The man's guards turned just in time to see a knife slip between their employer's ribs and into his heart. They started to move as Vox tossed the knife to his other hand, pulling out a smaller, shinier knife from his coat. With the push of a button, the blade shot out with a hiss and buried itself in the neck of the nearest guard. He fell to the floor gurgling as his two comrades stepped over him, swords drawn. Vox pushed their dying boss towards one of them, who frantically put the sword aside to catch the man. Vox's knife swung around, burying itself in his neck. He slumped down with his boss as the third guard made a swing at Vox. The ninja grabbed his sword arm, turning the blade back towards him. Another throat cut, another man down.

Vox had retrieved his knives and was putting the blade back in the ballistic knife when the two who had gone to search the hallway showed up. Enraged by the deaths of their friends, they drew swords and charged. Vox pocketed the ballistic knife, holding the other one ready. The first guard to reach him went for a stab, only to get his arm locked. Vox twisted, dragging the man into the path of the second stab. He collapsed to the floor, dragging his friend's sword with him. As the last guard looked down at what he had done, a knife shot out over the body and buried itself in its chest.

Vox pulled out the knife as the man fell, turning to the last survivor in the room. The whimpering underboss was still stuck under a bodyguard's body, too afraid to move. One quick stab and it was over. Primary mission complete. No witnesses. Moving on to secondary objective.

[Words: 418]

Spoiler:

Subject: Re: Silence will fall Thu May 09, 2013 4:26 am

Three twenty-three in the morning. Vox was hard at work upstairs. It was times like these he was thankful for good mission briefings. Most of the work was done downstairs, but this place also had some storage upstairs, and there were some flammable materials involved in making their products. Some upstairs, would be more down on the main work floor. Should go up nicely. he mused, picking up a can marked "FLAMMABLE." He tore off a chunk of one of the bodyguard's shirt, stuffing it into the opening of the can. The liquid soaked into the cloth as he headed for the stairs.

At this point, everyone had heard the crashing around downstairs. Guards were rushing in, while the workers were being herded out the exits. They didn't want to give their enemies any hostages, whoever was up there. They were taking up defensive positions on the stairs. Vox pulled out a sword, sticking it around the corner of the stairwell. He could see their reflections in the blade. There were a lot, but none had seen his face. That was good. He sheathed the sword, pulling out a lighter and lighting the cloth hanging from the can. The men ducked as something burning flew over their heads and clattered down on the work floor behind them.

Then, everything was fire. The whole bottom floor erupted as the can burst, scattering burning liquid across the room and setting off a chain reaction. Vox bolted back up to the top floor, leaving the men to panic below him. He leaped out the window he had entered through, rolling as he landed. With everyone watching the fire, nobody noticed him slip into an alley. He wiped his face clean with a cloth and ditched it in a nearby trashcan before checking his clothes. He'd done well, not much blood spatter on his clothes. He quickly daubed up the blood off and tossed the cloth away with the other. All of his weapons back in place, he casually sauntered off. If he hurried, he could be back home by tomorrow afternoon.

[Words: 348, Total words: 1748]

Subject: Re: Silence will fall Fri May 10, 2013 10:46 pm

Approved.

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