ASSIGNMENT
NAME:
SHELDON RIVERS
OCCUPATION:
HIGH RANKING OFFICIAL OF CZECH SECTION OF HAVOK. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
THREAT LEVEL:
HIGH. SEVEN KNOWN EXECUTION ORDERS SENT OUT BY RIVERS AGAINST OUR SOLDIERS.
COURSE OF ACTION:
EXTERMINATE IMMEDIATELY
“Sheldon Rivers?”
A man in an armchair leapt out of his chair in surprise, looking around in the darkness for the source of the noise, but the dim room, lit only by the light of his fireplace, did not aid his search. He ran over to his fireplace and grabbed a poker from near the fireplace and began swinging it around madly, as if attacking a ghost.
Sheldon Rivers slowly ceased his attack and began looking around the room once more. “Who’s there!” he yelled. He squinted into the darkness, trying to make out shapes in the dark.
Deathly silence. Sheldon Rivers sighed deeply and lowered the poker to his side, but not letting go of it. He walked over to a small bar, and opening a decanter, poured himself a glass of what appeared to be bourbon. He cautiously took a sip, still eyeing his surroundings.
A shatter. Sheldon Rivers jumped back as the glass in his hand exploded, spraying bourbon on his face and embedding a small piece of glass in his hand. What concerned him more than the glass, however, was the bullet hole in his wall and the soft thudding of feet running towards him. He quickly raised the poker to shield his face, just barely in enough time to deflect the blade of a katar. He found himself face to face with a woman, no older than twenty five, her dark hair in a mess in front of her face, her eyes a sharp golden color, enflamed with rage.
A shriek; metal against metal as the woman pulled her katar off of the poker and Sheldon Rivers stepped back, dumbfounded by what he was seeing. He quickly regained his composure, however, as the woman came after him once again. He pulled a small dagger from inside of his robe and while, keeping her at bay with his poker, managed to make a fairly decent cut on her arm. She let out a cry and pulled away, twisting so she would find herself in a different position from which to attack. Luckily, she found herself squarely behind Sheldon. From there, she was able to easily knock the poker out of his grip with a quick strike to the shoulder, and while pinning the other arm with her left hand, she expertly slid her katars across his neck, the blood spilling onto the hardwood floors.
A thump. Sheldon Rivers fell to the ground with barely a sound, his knees buckling under the weight of his heavily muscled torso. The woman looked down at him, his eyes wide and staring. She reached into her pocket and dug out two small coins, which she threw down on to the body, one landing on the chest while the other fell on the floor, it’s chime swallowed up by the massive hall.
“For your trip across the river.”
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Marena Acantha sat up suddenly, a noise inside of the cathedral she was in startling her out of her thoughts. She looked around in a half daze, not truly expecting to find anything of value making the noise. Her expectations were correct and she soon found herself lying on the floor of the massive church once again, staring at the old assignment sheet she had found in her bag, humming a childhood song.
Restlessly, she returned her attention to the ceiling. Once, she deduced, a beautiful painting had woven a story on that ceiling, but years of grime, dust, and negligence had covered most; a faint outline of some artists rendition of God was all that was even remotely decipherable. The only real value in this building was it’s small, hidden library and it’s sky view. She loved this place regardless; if you came at just the right time, the sun would shine through it so perfectly it didn’t look like the painting had been ruined. You could see the face of God once again. Not that she really knew if anything like that really existed. But in such miserable times, a thought or two about something better never hurt anyone.
No sooner than the thought had ran through her mind, Priest, who she had been waiting for, walked out of a small room on the east side of the nave. With him he had his senior official, Loki, head of Priest’s group, Lux Divina. They stopped dead in their tracks when Priest saw Marena sprawled out on the floor in the isle between the pews.
“What are you doing?” Priest snapped.
Marena denied eye contact. “Well, you said meet here at 10,”
“It’s 11,”
She turned to meet his gaze. “Well, I’ve been here since 10,”
Priest gave out a forceful sigh and stomped over to where Marena was lying and forcefully pulled her from the ground, spinning her to face him and gripping her arms so tightly she knew it would leave a mark. “I don’t have time for your games,” he shouted. “This time I actually have something serious for you to do.”
“When I usually kill people for you it’s not serious?”
“That was child’s play. You may actually enjoy this, if you don’t get yourself killed in the process,”
Marena shrugged herself from his grip. “I think I’ll be alright. I always am.”
“You don't understand, Gemini. I called you because you’re the only person I can think of that even has the capability to take on these people and come back alive. I‘ll give you backup and I’ll be there as well, but...”
“Wait, wait,” Marena interrupted. “Backup? Who the hell am I going after?”
“I need you to get me the Chatrani. It’s run by the NightRiders and I need them gone. Perhaps if they don’t have the theatre they’ll be worse off. At any rate, though, you’ll have to deal with Evelina Maruska. I’m assuming she’ll have her friends with her as well, hence the need for backup and me. They probably won’t be able to do much about Evelina, however, and that’s what I have you for, to help me get her. If we get her, we might be able to get the whole gang out of Prague and we can have some peace. They’re going to put up a fight...“ he cleared his throat. “but if you don’t mind, however, I‘d prefer causalities to be as minimal as possible, on both sides. This doesn‘t need to go on anymore.”
Marena groaned and thought for a moment. “The NightRiders? Are you kidding? I can’t take them on alone and get them out of Prague with “minimal casualties,” especially with just you and that bunch of wannabe gangsters.”
Loki, who had been nearly invisible sitting on a pew behind them this whole conversation, stood up and walked over to Marena, not angry, but almost disappointed in her words. “Lux Divina isn’t just a group of wannabe gangsters, Gemini. They’re specially trained by me. They’re good soldiers, and good guys. They might not seem like much to you, but they’re loyal, and they’ve done Priest and I well so far. I’d appreciate if you showed them a little respect. .”
Marena sighed, but nodded in agreement. The Lux Divina, though it had a rough start, had reached a decent size in only a short time. Loki, a longtime friend of Priest’s, was also a formidable soldier and most of his army was as well. She knew for a fact that quite of a few of them had families, and this was their only source of income. Unfortunately, this was also their only place to live. The church, while beautiful, was ill equipped to house Priest and Loki, let alone 26 other men and their families.
Loki continued, “Gemini, even if this doesn’t work out as well as it might, we’re confident that we can at least hurt these Nightriders. We have a new girl coming in as well, so you’ll have even more backup next time.”
“What if there isn’t a next time, Loki? I don’t think you understand -”
“I do understand, Gemini. Trust me, I have more to lose than you, but this has to be done. Listen, I know you trust me; I‘m asking you to trust them as well. Trust in our plan. That’s all I’m asking of you.” Loki replied, before sitting back down on the pew, his eyes at his feet.
She stared at Loki for a moment, her eyes apologetic, but soon returned her gaze to Priest. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t think this is a good idea, for anyone to do. I don’t think I can do it and come back in one piece.”
“I don’t know what else to do, Gem. We need that theatre. Lux Divina is growing in size, but we cannot take on the Nightriders if they have this theatre at their disposal; they just have too many resources we do not have in this church. You’re the only person I trust enough to do this for me,” Priest replied, putting his hand on his head as if in pain.
Marena narrowed her eyes. “You shouldn’t trust me that much, I’m for hire by anyone.” She paused. “My next target could be you.” She added, winking.
Priest quieted down. “You wouldn’t do that.”
Marena paused before speaking again. “Priest, I can’t do it. I know when the odds are against me, and they‘re very against me now.”
“You’re the only one that stands a chance!”
“‘Stands a chance’ means I’m coming back with only one arm.” She replied sharply.
Priest sighed and moved closer to her. “Gem, I need you. And you...” he trailed off, running his fingers up her side and across her protruding ribs. He pinched the skin over said ribs, causing her to draw back. “...need money. You’re starving.”
“I’m fine.”
“When was the last time you ate, Marena?”
She recoiled at his use of her real name.
Priest paused, then reached up quickly to her face and wiped a line of smoky eyeliner from her lower lid. “Or slept? Christ, how much makeup does it take to make the circles under your eyes one shade further from black?”
There was a long, irritating pause before Priest spoke again. “Please. You need money, these guys need a safe place for themselves and for their families, and I need to stop worrying that my throat is going to be slit while I sleep.”
“We’re not ready, Priest. You need to plan this better.” Marena replied.
“We don’t have TIME to plan, Marena! We have to attack now. Can you imagine what would happen if they were to attack first? It would be catastrophe.” Priest said, his voice raised and strained.
Marena averted her eyes. She knew all along she wouldn’t have been able to refuse, Priest paid her far to well and he spoke the truth. There was a nagging warning brewing inside she knew she shouldn’t ignore, but would. She gave another sigh then reached behind the pews into a small bag. She emerged momentarily, armed with two Rajasthani katars and two fully loaded Israeli Jerichos, whilst fastening a small belt onto her waist, loaded with clips.
Priest smiled. “I assume that’s a yes?”
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