Chapter Three (C): Jake & Thorchan

[Akirapryde]

Kimiko nodded her agreement of what Jake said, "yes" she said very properly and slowly rose to her feet. She turned to look at Jake with a smile on her face. "Thank you lieutenant Straker," she said with a large bit if relief in her voice. It was clear the talk helped her greatly. As if just having someone to talk to who saw only as a young woman in emotional distress. This was reflected in her eyes as she looked at him with kindness.

She started to reach out to hug him but suddenly her whole body grew tense. Her mouth clinched down on her lip harshly causing a bit of blood from her lip. Her eyes went wide as if something startled her then they rolled up towards the top of her skull. Jake first noticed that her head shook then within milliseconds her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. She tried to speak as her knees gave way but only droll formed from her opened mouth.

Even for a trained pilot the situation unfolded so fast that Jake hardly had an idea before she was dropping to the ground. As she fell to the ground, Jake saw the reason why her sudden and strange reaction. A member of the Dropship crew had shot her with a stunner. More importantly, the crewmen was aiming the stunner st him!

Before Jake knew what was unfolding, there was a popping sound in Jake's ears. It was like someone was walking across bubble wrap. Jake's vision blurred as he felt the cold hard deck slamming in to his side. He could see through blurred vision Kimiko laying next to him. Her body was still shaking from the stunner.

As Jake's body came to rest, he realized that the popping sound was gone. His eyes started to clear but his body was still sluggish to react to his own commends. He suddenly realized why. The dart that provided the electric shock had been smashed when he fell on top of it. He could barely feel his hands as the crew member walked up to the helpless pair.

"Do you know how long I waited for her to get away from her bodyguards?" the man said. "Sure, I could have blown her up" he said then kicked Kimiko in the back. Luckily thanks to the shocker, she felt no pain in that moment. "But her damn bodyguard found the explosives. Three long years I waited for this chance and now her family line comes to an end!"

Jake saw the man arm himself with a military issue automatic pistol. He secured a silencer to the weapon and readied to shot Kimiko in the back of the head. It was clear that the assassin had a plan and was carrying out that plan.

[i](OOC: What will Jake do?:
A) Let Kimiko die. Her death is only a minor problem that the party has to face. There are much larger issues as play than one girl who already shown her willingness to runaway from problems

B) Strike out at the attacker. Even though Jake's body is suffering from the effects of the stunner, he could still attack with a slim chance of success. The Assassin might not be expecting an attack from Jake. Surprise could be a valuable asset.

C) Stall for time. The Assassin clearly has pent up frustration over this job. Get the assassin to talk, ask him about how he expects to pull of the assassination. Each passing moment could allow other options to develop and help Jake recover his motor skills more.