"When da' y'all reckon Amy'll---"
Something was wrong.
The Gentleman, now shed of his disguise and dressed in his preferred get-up, was just poking his head out of his room when Meredith barged passed in considerable distress. A second later, Carlos was calling down the hallway.
"Should we follow her?!"
He shot Carlos a look that said plainly 'Well duh!", and within the minute were racing down the porch outside, just as Amy was exiting her recently parked crawler.
"What are you... and who is this?" she asked bewildered, looking first the the Gentleman and then to Carlos.
"Our schedule has changed my dear, now drive!" he told her, leaping into the passenger seat of the crawler with surprising grace and agility. They followed Meredith all the way out of the domed city, no easy task considering her blistering pace and erratic driving. Despite this being far removed indeed from her usual work, Amy kept remarkably focussed under pressure.
Undoubtedly preoccupied, Meredith raced blindly towards the wreckage of the Maiden until the last minute. The Gentleman was more perceptive. Directing Amy to the top of a rocky ridge some kilometres away. When they reached their destination, The Gentleman hopped out, breathing apparatus already fixed and wait straight for his luggage in the trunk. Within minutes he was making the finishing touches to the assembly of a long, slender sniper rifle. Taking up a prone position at the edge of the ridge, The Gentleman focussed his sights. From what he could see through the magnification of his scope, The Maiden's underbelly had suffered extensive, but superficial damage. The vast majority of the super-structure was still intact. The ship was likely close to still being in flying condition, provided Austin had left enough skilled crew alive to man it, In the shadow of the battle-scarred cargo bay, The Gentleman could see two children (he guessed they were both around 13) patrolling with assault rifles slung over their shoulders.
'How about you pop out for a breath of fresh, toxic air Austin? I only need one shot to scatter your army to the four winds.'
He adjusted his gaze downward, in search of Meredith. If there ever was a time for her to do something irreparably stupid, it would probably be now. Whether she truly would have it in her to massacre her way the children in order to get at Austin was a question to which even he wasn't sure of the answer. Luckily for Meredith, she had less scrupulous friends. If indeed she was about to try something stupid, she would need some covering fire.
What he saw when he finally found her though, changed the plan.
=========================================================================================================================
Minutes later, their crawler was skidding to a halt behind Meredith's, only this time it was only Amy who got out, carrying one of her smaller cases as she rushed over the harsh sands to check on Florian. When she reached the other crawler, she set straight to work, checking Florian's pulse, breathing and temperature. Meredith appeared to not even notice her at first. Opening her bag, Amy withdrew a syringe from her medical kit, and injected its contents straight into Florian's neck, before hooking up a rudimentary saline drip.
"Meredith..." she said.
The woman in the driver's seat still appeared not to notice her, being too busy warping the steering wheel with her fists, cursing herself as tears flooded her face .
"Meredith!" Amy said again. He voice was raised, and firm, but there was still a soothing music to it. "We need to get him out of here!"
========================================================================================================================
Back on the high ridge, The Gentleman spoke to Carlos, his eyes never leaving the scope.
"I want to know who your client is, and everything you know of their intentions. Whatever they were paying you for your silence, I will double. Whatever threats they may have made to ensure your loyalty, I will countermand with threats of my own, threats that you know full well I do not make lightly."
=========================================================================================================================
Agent Sandringham had been tasked with tailing Gorgon's thugs for days now. In that time, any number of opportunities to take them out had arisen. However, his orders were clear. Do not engage in any capacity until the boy and his minder were in immediate danger. Well, that moment was now, and even so it had taken some careful planning and quick execution to set up a situation where he might intervene, with the appropriate amount of force, without needing to reveal himself. If it became apparent that the stray Maidens had more silent guardians than they knew what to do with, then he and his employer's role in this whole affair was at an abrupt and unsatisfactory end. He had had to wait until the shooting started to clear the square of all collateral. He had to wait until Miss Graves and her new pet were in position so as to provide a scapegoat; and he had to wait for Cranston and the kid to collectively clear an exit. Now that was done, it was his turn.
In order for Lilith and her stunted companion to make a break for it, they'd still have to break cover in a square full of very angry armed men, most of whom would have clear fields of fire on the pair of them the whole way. A distraction was needed.
A big one.
Crouching down below the window of his vantage point on the fourth floor of the Feroxi Grand Hotel, Agent Sandringham drew a radio control from his coat pocket, and calmly pressed the red button. While he couldn't see the result, the shock-wave as an ash-crawler on the street below was blown apart by the plastic explosives he had placed underneath the wheel arches shook the entire square and shattered every window. The crawler had been positioned on the opposite side of the square to the cafe, far enough away so as not to be lethal to any important persons. Three of Gorgon's rear guard had been inside the 'pink mist' radius when he had detonated, and there was no sign of them any more. The rest had their heads (and guns) forced down by the ear-drum perforating bang, and the shower of broken glass and twisted shrapnel that flew in all directions.
That was almost certainly enough to give Lilith the window she needed to escape. Beyond that, the gunfight was not his concern. The methods may have been noisy, but so long as Sandringham himself remained inconspicuous, the mission was accomplished.
Something was wrong.
The Gentleman, now shed of his disguise and dressed in his preferred get-up, was just poking his head out of his room when Meredith barged passed in considerable distress. A second later, Carlos was calling down the hallway.
"Should we follow her?!"
He shot Carlos a look that said plainly 'Well duh!", and within the minute were racing down the porch outside, just as Amy was exiting her recently parked crawler.
"What are you... and who is this?" she asked bewildered, looking first the the Gentleman and then to Carlos.
"Our schedule has changed my dear, now drive!" he told her, leaping into the passenger seat of the crawler with surprising grace and agility. They followed Meredith all the way out of the domed city, no easy task considering her blistering pace and erratic driving. Despite this being far removed indeed from her usual work, Amy kept remarkably focussed under pressure.
Undoubtedly preoccupied, Meredith raced blindly towards the wreckage of the Maiden until the last minute. The Gentleman was more perceptive. Directing Amy to the top of a rocky ridge some kilometres away. When they reached their destination, The Gentleman hopped out, breathing apparatus already fixed and wait straight for his luggage in the trunk. Within minutes he was making the finishing touches to the assembly of a long, slender sniper rifle. Taking up a prone position at the edge of the ridge, The Gentleman focussed his sights. From what he could see through the magnification of his scope, The Maiden's underbelly had suffered extensive, but superficial damage. The vast majority of the super-structure was still intact. The ship was likely close to still being in flying condition, provided Austin had left enough skilled crew alive to man it, In the shadow of the battle-scarred cargo bay, The Gentleman could see two children (he guessed they were both around 13) patrolling with assault rifles slung over their shoulders.
'How about you pop out for a breath of fresh, toxic air Austin? I only need one shot to scatter your army to the four winds.'
He adjusted his gaze downward, in search of Meredith. If there ever was a time for her to do something irreparably stupid, it would probably be now. Whether she truly would have it in her to massacre her way the children in order to get at Austin was a question to which even he wasn't sure of the answer. Luckily for Meredith, she had less scrupulous friends. If indeed she was about to try something stupid, she would need some covering fire.
What he saw when he finally found her though, changed the plan.
=========================================================================================================================
Minutes later, their crawler was skidding to a halt behind Meredith's, only this time it was only Amy who got out, carrying one of her smaller cases as she rushed over the harsh sands to check on Florian. When she reached the other crawler, she set straight to work, checking Florian's pulse, breathing and temperature. Meredith appeared to not even notice her at first. Opening her bag, Amy withdrew a syringe from her medical kit, and injected its contents straight into Florian's neck, before hooking up a rudimentary saline drip.
"Meredith..." she said.
The woman in the driver's seat still appeared not to notice her, being too busy warping the steering wheel with her fists, cursing herself as tears flooded her face .
"Meredith!" Amy said again. He voice was raised, and firm, but there was still a soothing music to it. "We need to get him out of here!"
========================================================================================================================
Back on the high ridge, The Gentleman spoke to Carlos, his eyes never leaving the scope.
"I want to know who your client is, and everything you know of their intentions. Whatever they were paying you for your silence, I will double. Whatever threats they may have made to ensure your loyalty, I will countermand with threats of my own, threats that you know full well I do not make lightly."
=========================================================================================================================
Agent Sandringham had been tasked with tailing Gorgon's thugs for days now. In that time, any number of opportunities to take them out had arisen. However, his orders were clear. Do not engage in any capacity until the boy and his minder were in immediate danger. Well, that moment was now, and even so it had taken some careful planning and quick execution to set up a situation where he might intervene, with the appropriate amount of force, without needing to reveal himself. If it became apparent that the stray Maidens had more silent guardians than they knew what to do with, then he and his employer's role in this whole affair was at an abrupt and unsatisfactory end. He had had to wait until the shooting started to clear the square of all collateral. He had to wait until Miss Graves and her new pet were in position so as to provide a scapegoat; and he had to wait for Cranston and the kid to collectively clear an exit. Now that was done, it was his turn.
In order for Lilith and her stunted companion to make a break for it, they'd still have to break cover in a square full of very angry armed men, most of whom would have clear fields of fire on the pair of them the whole way. A distraction was needed.
A big one.
Crouching down below the window of his vantage point on the fourth floor of the Feroxi Grand Hotel, Agent Sandringham drew a radio control from his coat pocket, and calmly pressed the red button. While he couldn't see the result, the shock-wave as an ash-crawler on the street below was blown apart by the plastic explosives he had placed underneath the wheel arches shook the entire square and shattered every window. The crawler had been positioned on the opposite side of the square to the cafe, far enough away so as not to be lethal to any important persons. Three of Gorgon's rear guard had been inside the 'pink mist' radius when he had detonated, and there was no sign of them any more. The rest had their heads (and guns) forced down by the ear-drum perforating bang, and the shower of broken glass and twisted shrapnel that flew in all directions.
That was almost certainly enough to give Lilith the window she needed to escape. Beyond that, the gunfight was not his concern. The methods may have been noisy, but so long as Sandringham himself remained inconspicuous, the mission was accomplished.
