Cargo Bay Two, Ohm Colony, HIP 82030 - 3307-04-04 19:07 GST
Hiroko Watanabe quickly assessed her situation. An unknown assailant had just attacked her and her team member, Kayleigh Rouse. Kayleigh had been blown off her feet by a grenade blast and was drifting amongst the cargo racks in the cargo bay, out of Hiroko's sight. Hiroko herself was unharmed. Their attacker had a submachine gun and a clear line of sight covering the area between Hiroko and where Kayleigh was. He probably had more grenades. She had just a laser pistol. Another burst of submachine gun fire struck the containers she was sheltering behind. Let them waste their ammo, she thought, right until the EMP grenade stuck the wall behind her. It went off and the energy pulse it emitted dropped her shields. So it wasn't a waste of ammunition after all, but a tactic to mask the noise of a grenade hitting the ceiling. Her attacker was smart; too smart to let her rest here and recharge her shields. Hiroko disengaged her magboots and pulled hard against the edge of the nearest crate to start her moving towards one of the corners of the cargo bay. It was a good thing too, as a fragmentation grenade sailed over the crate she was just sheltering behind and detonated. She was eight meters away at this point, outside the blast radius, but still felt the blast on her legs. It increased her drift in the zero gravity environment and she had to use her hands to slow herself down to avoid colliding with the wall ahead. She tucked her knees in to her chest, and used her legs momentum to flip her body to face the wall. She then pushed along the wall with her fingertips and untucked to send her drifting at right angles to her original direction of motion and end her flip. A complex cat like wriggle turned her about her axis to face away from the wall. She made a mental note to thank Lieutenant Johansen for the zero-g combat training exercises they did a few months back: there's no way she'd have been able to maneuver so fast or so quietly without the drills she had been taught.
There was a stack of crates between her and the center of the cargo bay, so she still couldn't see her attacker. She could hear them though. Their magboots clicked on and off, advancing to her original location. The pace was steady and measured, confirmation, if any more was needed, that her opponent was well trained and experienced. Hiroko had drifted to the end of the row of crates and quietly stopped her motion by grabbing the corner of the crate in front of her. Her shoulder muscles complained: she may be weightless but she still had mass. She poked her head around the corner of the crate and caught a glimpse of a large man, wearing dark green overalls, aiming down the sights of a submachine gun. He passed behind some crates before Hiroko could draw her laser pistol and get a shot off. He was near the control station, though, and soon would know that he hadn't eliminated his target. It was time for Hiroko to get moving again. She pushed off towards a cluster of large crates a little bit further out from the wall and away from her opponent. Once behind the crates she paused to take stock of her options. She was about ten meters from a door to cargo bay, so she could leave and regroup with station security. However, given how she and Kayleigh had found Administrator Whitton murdered, her opponent had a track record of tidyi ng up loose ends. Whatever, chance there was of Kayleigh surviving the grenade blast, she'd have no chance if Administrator Whitton's murderer had tim e to find her. Her second option would be to take out the assassin herself. He didn't appear to have a shield or any armour, so a couple of bursts from her Takada laser pistol should do it. It was a proper battlefield weapon and had survived the EMP blast, thankfully. She had shields, so she could even afford to be a bit sloppy and trade fire, though her suit battery was draining alarmingly fast. This strategy would require her to be quick. The cons of this strategy were that her opponent was highly trained had grenades, and if he killed her, then there was a chance he might escape as detailed knowledge of the situation would die with her. Besides, for all she knew Kayleigh was bleeding out somewhere in the cargo bay. That left the third option: go find Kayleigh, and get the two of them out through the door that they had come in. She could return with station security and deal with this guy. Hell, they could just seal the area off and vent the atmosphere: the assassin didn't appear to be wearing a remlok. Hiroko start maneuvering herself towards the cargo racks at the center of the cargo bay. She could hear by the sound of magboots that her opponent was moving towards the crates where she had spotted him first. She hesitated, if she turned back, she might have a clear shot.
She was vacillating when the doors to the cargo bay opened. Two station security members entered. The first of them didn't even get their shield up before they were struck by a burst of submachine gun fire, which killed them instantly. The second got his shield up, and ducked behind one crates to his left near the doorway. Hiroko saw an EMP bounce off the wall near the doorway and detonate. A fragmentation grenade was sure to follow: Hiroko had to intervene. She drifted back to the corner of the crates where she could see assassin. He was holding submachine gun with hit right hand, stock against his shoulder, aiming down the sights. His left hand was pulling a grenade from a satchel on his left hip. Hiroko planted her feet, engaged the magboots, aimed and fired off a burst of laser shots into the killer's center mass. Her shots burned through the overalls and raised sparks from metal plates underneath. Her attacker, surprised, flicked the grenade vaguely in her direction and retreated to cover. She hit him with another burst in chest as he retreated, without any affect. The station security guard chose this moment to make a dash for the for the door. His shields hadn't fully recovered, and two seconds of sustained submachine gun fire cut him down. The grenade exploded a few meters behind Hiroko, dislodging some crates.
Hiroko mind raced. How did the killer survive three laser pistol bursts to the torso. He was bulky, but not bulky enough for armour under his overalls. Then dread dropped into the pit of her stomach like a Type 9 coming out of supercruise. The killer was a cyborg: the very cyborg that most of BPIA was hunting for. She was fighting the Elite mercenary, Dimitri Faber. She'd caught him flat footed, but he would have recovered by now, and he had a satchel full of grenades. Time to move. The way behind was cluttered with debris and her opponent had figured out the direction she was heading and would likely try to cut her off. The corner of the cargo bay had some floor to ceiling racks that would limit his options for bouncing grenades. She poked her pistol around the corner of the crate she was hiding behind and let off a burst, forcing the mercenary back into cover. She to that opportunity and dashed to another nearby cluster of crates. Unfortunately her opponent had anticipated that: he bounced a grenade of the ceiling aimed at where she was going. The EMP grenade went off, knocking out Hiroko's shield just before she reached her cover. A submachine gun burst narrowly missed her. She kicked off the crates hard towards the cargo racks in the corner of the bay, her back inches above the floor in order to make the most use of the cover the crates provided. Looking back between her feet, she saw a fragmentation grenade detonate just just beyond the crates. She swung around the corner of the cargo rack and took up a firing stance. Her shields recovered, but the suit battery wouldn't last more than five minutes. She reloaded her pistol, traded weapons fire with the mercenary a few times and reloaded again. Despite her efforts she was not managing to get a clear shot at his head, or to keep him pinned down for long. And she was running short of power cells for her pistol. At least he seemed to have run out of grenades.
Hiroko considered her options. Her opponent was very clearly Elite. Both of them were running short of ammunition and Hiroko's suit was almost out of power. When it drained, her shield would be gone, which was the one advantage that she had. On the other hand, she had time on her side. A game of cat and mouse among the crates would be to her advantage, if she had a shield. She looked around and spotted a charge point about ten meters away. She made a dash for it. Bullets slammed into her shield. She almost made it to cover, when her shield collapsed. A bullet tore through her forearm and another hit her pistol knocking it free of her grip. Hiroko watched impotently as it drifted towards the ceiling.
"Isn't that a shame. You were doing so well. I am going to have to kill you though: my employers dislike loose ends.", the mercenary said, as the sound of his magboots steadily approached. "I am puzzled as to how you found me, though. Tell me and I will grant you a quick death."
"Station security are on their way. They will be here soon.", Hiroko replied. "You don't have time to waste on an interrogation."
"Well, this is a small station, and I do believe I have dealt with the on duty force.", Dimitri said as he stepped around the corner of the crates. "It will take them off duty officers at least thirty minutes to organize themselves. I can inflict a lot of pain in fifteen minutes, leaving me plenty of time to disappear. You have lost, agent. No need to make your last moments more unpleasant than necessary."
The mercenary stowed his submachine gun and advanced towards her. She threw a jab with her left hand, but he slipped it and hit her with a left cross. A palm strike with his right hand slammed into her jaw, stunning. A forearm smash with his left arm knocked her floor. Her ears were ringing. Looking up at him she waited for death, hating him and his cruel smirk. She was out of options. This was the end. The ringing in her head became a whine. The mercenary started to spin around as Hiroko watched Kayleigh drift over his head, a power transfer tool aimed at him. The tool discharged and the mercenary jerked backwards. Kayleigh bounced off the wall and launched another charge at the mercenary's face. The arc blackened his nose. His eyes clouded to a milky white as he jerked. Something inside his torso popped and the air smelled of cooked meat and burnt electrical insulation. After a few seconds he stopped twitching. Kayleigh maneuvered herself down to the floor and engaged her magboots. She bent over her friend and assessed the injuries. She inserted a medkit pack into Hiroko's suit and activated it.
"I got you Hiroko. It's going to be fine."
"Well, this station is a definite fail!", croaked Hiroko. Kayleigh laughed. Hiroko drifted into unconsciousness as the medkit took effect.