Chapter Three (C): Jake & Thorchan

[Akirapryde]

She turned to face him again, "its okay. You get used to it" she said softly. Kimiko drew in a deep breath, "its my aunt's" she said motioning at the fighter. "My mother and I built it for my aunt after we found out that her fighter was destroyed on Tukayyid. It is a precise copy of the one she used to fly. Well not a precise copy. My mother and I used all Clan tech to build it."

She turned and looked at the fighter, "it was one of the last projects that we worked on together." There was a great sense of sorrow in her voice as she spoke.

She turned to him "I can't leave can I? I have to face her, don't I?"

[CarcerKango]

"Yes," Jake said softly. "You have to stay here...because running away will only make things worse. It'll only prolong everything and make the pain worse in isolation. That's what I'm seeing, anyhow."

[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.

[CarcerKango]

(OOC: I choose option C, there are too many variable factors to be sure of winning.)

Jake coughed harshly, trying to startle the man into freezing as the would-be killer readied his gun. He recognized that it was critical to interrupt him and hold his attention on anything but the gruesome task at hand. He retained the appearance of being electrocuted, keeping his voice barely above a whisper now as he continued to speak. "Three years...a long time to wait to pop a helpless victim from behind," he rasped. "But then I s...suppose that doesn't matter to someone like you...does it."
His vision still a little blurry, he concentrated on his surroundings with furtive glances. Gotta find something to use, he thought to himself. Some way to get an edge...For now, he was stalling for time.
"This is a half-assed plan if I ever saw one," he mumbled.

[Akirapryde]

The assassin turned and looked at Jake with a surprise on his face, “I guess you are stronger than you appeared.” He turned from Kimiko and lowered himself down towards Jake, “that is because you don’t know the full plan. It is quite simple. Disable the camera’s in this chamber and leave your finger prints on them. Upload a hidden file in to the communication network containing a virus. Once the ship contacts approach control the virus will be transferred to New Earth’s communication network. It will create you” he said with a smile. “Don’t worry, I gave you a good military history. Links directly to General Macko and his right wing supports.”

He motioned to Kimiko laying helpless on the deck, “Kill the girl, kill you, even possibly wounding myself. Tell the others I walked in on you, but it was too late. We struggled and the weapon went off. Maybe once, maybe twice. I might even get a medal for killing you. Once word reaches New Earth that Macko’s people ordered her assassination, tensions will erupt out of control. Even if they discover the virus, then Macko will blame President McGray. President McGray’s bold gamble of trying to unify his world while saving his government will die with her. General Macko will blame President McGray for her death and their war of words will turn hot. My superiors thought that it might take something more creative to ignite the war, but trust me, her death will set the stage for it, if not igniting it outright.”

He smiled at Jake in only the way someone of truly even means could. This man had no intention of letting Kimiko or Jake living beyond this moment. Jake knew that time was fleeting but he could still stall if he chose to. The man continued without pause, “Either way, it won’t matter. She will be dead along with every other member of the Tetsuhara Death household. Her bothers, her father, her mother, all dead. Now it is her turn to join them. Their ambition of rebuilding the Terran Hegemony one world at a time will be over. Their legacy, instead will be a world locked in another civil war. All that blood will be on their hands. Their name will become hated across the region as the civil war continues. Prefect timing for our forces to move in and resort peace and order.”

He stood up and kicked Jake’s shoulder. It hurt, but Jake remained still giving the illusion that Jake was still subdued. “How is that for a half-baked plan?” He said turning his attention back to Kimiko. "So unless you have anything else to say," He raised the pistol and took aim at the back of Kimiko's head.

(OOC: What will Jake do?:
A) Strike out at the attacker. You have waited, while you still suffer from the effects surprise could be the decisive factor. There may not be enough time to continue to stall long.

C) Continue to Stall for time. You have learned valuable information already. You could attempt to keep him talking and hope that someone might come to your aide or wait for the effects to wear off.

[CarcerKango]

Jake knew time was running out. He thought out a quick prayer, followed by the thought of "here goes nothing," breathed deeply, and attacked. He gathered his strength, shifting his weight ever so slightly, with as much subtlety as he could. In one fluid movement, he sprung forward, aiming to knock off the attacker's aim, or even seize the gun.

[Akirapryde]

(OOC: Jake told me that he will be AFK after tomorrow. To save time on this scene. I will be making some of Jake's rolls on the dice roller instead of waiting for him to make them. If there is any question about the results, Jake you can make the roll yourself and I will edit my post accordingly. What ever the results of Jake's rolls stand.)

Jake gathered up all of his strength and sprung forward like a caged animal on the attack. His body screamed out in protest to the waves of pain that shot through him. He hit the assassin broadside in a surprise attack. The impact caused the weapon to go off. Jake heard the round strike solid metal and this somewhere else in the hanger it struck metal again. It was clear that the round missed Kimiko and was no longer a threat.

Both men landed heavily on the deck and to Jake's surprise he heard the sound of what could only be the gun sliding across the deck. The two men rolled with Jake landing on the bottom while the assassin took his advantage of being on top of Jake. If Jake thought for a moment that the assassin was less of a threat without the gun, this was proven wrong when Jake saw the blade in the assassin's hand. Jake didn't even see where the blade came from. It was like it just appeared there, that was how fast the assassin drew the weapon. As the blade came down, all Jake could think of was 'I'm a dead man!'

In the back of his mind, Jake heard the a echo from the past. 'listen up maggots!' echoed the voice of his former drill instructor, 'what we are teaching you today will not make you a martial art expert. It will not win you a bar fight. But when you need it the most, it will be second nature and save your life in combat.'

Jake opened his eyes to see his arms crossed right over his chest. The assassin was pressing down on the back of the knife with all of his weight. Jake was holding the knife only inches away from his chest with both of his arms. Jake knew he could hold this for the time being but he had to change the situation before his strength gave out.

"Fool!" The assassin spat at Jake as he pressed down on the blade, "New Earth is a clear threat to the region. To the Lyran Alliance. To EVERYTHING! They must be stopped! She has to die!"

(OOC: Jake please check the dice roller for the rolls of this post)

[CarcerKango]

Gritting his teeth, Jake stared defiantly through scrunched-up eyes into the assassin's face. "What's....everything?" Even as he spoke, he struggled to rise. "She's not the one you want," he insisted, his head swinging up to try to ram into the assassin's face, but lacking the reach to do so while the rest of his body was pinned to the floor. His gaze flicked wildly now around the bay, searching for something he could use to get an edge, his eyes flickering briefly to the stunner on the assassin's belt, where it seemed to be forgotten. There. He needed to get that somehow. But for now, he had to stall, and see how the situation changed. "You're wasting time," he declared finally, a forced smirk forming on his face. "They already are coming. They'll be here any second now."
"You've already lost," he whispered with faked confidence. "I have a tracking chip in..." he grunted. "In me," he continued. "They've locked onto it."

(OOC: http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Transmitter_Unit)

[Akirapryde]

The assassin smiled as he pressed down on the blade, “liar. I already scanned you and your friends for implants. And I know you have none!” The statement was a foolish omission by an over confident assassin. The fact that Jake knew about this remarkably rare covert item was only due to his personal history, a story that Erik would find most interesting. However, the fact that this assassin knew about the device and knew how to scan for one told Jake that this was not some hired gun to do the dirty work of an unknown power. No, this assassin was more than a professional. He worked directly for a major power.

The assassin shifted his feet and legs moving more of his weight to his torso. This pressed more weight on the blade. Suffering from the electrocution, Jake’s mussels were weakening. Time was running out as the weight was taking its toll on Jake’s arms. The blade slowly started to move closer to his chest. The tip of the blade was now pressing up against Jake’s chest and threatening to pierce his ribcage. If Jake lost this contest, not only would Jake be killed, so would Kimiko. Beyond that, this ‘A-hole’ and those he worked for, would win. An outcome that really wasn’t sitting well with Jake.

Jake felt the tip start to break the skin as his mind panic. He searched his surroundings. He saw the stunner on the assassin’s hip. He there is no doubt that Jake could reach the stunner. But could he stun the assassin before the assassin would drive the blade in to Jake’s chest. (OOC: This would take a quickdraw roll at base. Because the weapon is not on your character, you have to successfully make the quickdraw roll to fire the stunner this same round. The next roll would be a small arms roll -2 to base to stun the assassin.) Jake saw the legs of the assassin holding up the assassin’s body. He could kick the assassin’s leg out and try to push the assassin off of him. (OOC: An Unarmed combat roll at base to kick the leg. There is no modifier due to the struggler, close proximity and the called shot. All these factors cancel each other out. This would cause the assassin to lose his balance. Next would be a Build Save (3d6 highest two) roll at base – 2 (because the assassin is off balance) to push him off of Jake. Even failure in this second roll, Jake could buy himself time by pushing the blade back some.)

Jake looked up at the assassin and knew that he could just push with all of his might to force the assassin back. (OOC: A straight Build Save (3d6, highest two) at Base to push the blade back. If your Build Save result is base + 4 this will toss the assassin off of Jake.) Jake had to make up his mind fast as death was only moments away.

(OOC: Jake even though I used an Edge, this doesn’t count against your own edge. Remember if you fail a dice roll you can edge it and reroll it using the same format that I used.)

[CarcerKango]

(Rolled Quickdraw and failed, rolling Build save.)
(Build save passed with two degrees of success.)
Jake snatched for the stunner but it slipped from his grasp--spitting out a curse he was forced back down, straining under the knife. He succeeded with a grunt at forcing the blade away from his chest, but he was unable to wrench it to his advantage; instead they were locked in a grapple again.