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originally posted in:The New Dojo
Edited by Diase:
5/22/2017 1:36:27 AM
106
[i]"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."[/i]
-Stephen King on [i]Real Monsters[/i]
[b][u]Contractors and Contractees[/u][/b]
[u]Dojoville, 0000 hours[/u]
[i]The quiet sobbing of a man was audible in the silence of night; his racking coughs, sniffs, and ultimately, the purely sad, pitiful sound of his cries that screamed to the dark, cloudy sky. In his dark alleyway, this man... was truly a saddening sight, an image that reflected the cruelty of humanity. The mercilessness.
The depressive sounds of this man masked the soft footsteps of another. The second man towered above the first, as the first was curled up in a fetal position on the ground. The second man stood at a decent height of 5'11", an ectomorph body type. His hair was shaggy, artfully messy, and jet black, while his eyes were a dark green.
For the second man's apparel, he donned a black, leather trench coat, the coat ending just below his knees. Underneath was a simple, army green, plain t-shirt, and a pair of black combat pants and boots. They looked rather clean; not recently washed, but not dirtied by dust and the like. On his hands were a pair of black, skintight gloves, that clearly served a purpose other than warmth.
On his back was a [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/39/dc/4f/39dc4fee3f08132d5490f4c22d03b1be.jpg]large sword[/url], 4'6" in length. Its color scheme was gold and silver; it had a kind of futuristic look to it, rather sleek, shiny, yet deadly. The material used to make the sword could not be determined; its blade looked to be silver, with a streak of gold running down its center, but upon closer inspection, that was clearly not the case.
Holstered on the second man's left were a few items; a [url=http://i.imgur.com/XirWanC.jpg]handgun[/url], along with several compartments storing .50 caliber bullets. The other two items were both foldable [url=https://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6743/16891559.1b/0_12ab5e_a8f65530_XL.jpg]knives[/url], folded closed and stowed beside the handgun. Finally, holstered at his right side was a [url=http://imgs.abduzeedo.com/files/articles/cool-futuristic-weapon-designs/max-hoek-destinyweapon1.jpg?1428843196]rifle.[/url] The entire rifle was some shade of gray, making for a rather unnoticeable design.
As the second man approached the first, his eyes were filled with pity, and sorrow. The first man looked up. There was pleading in his own eyes; now that his face was raised, he looked starved. Dirty, homeless. Heartbroken, as well. As their eyes met each others, the second man understood. Without either of them exchanging a single word, the second man silently drew his handgun from its holster. He pointed the barrel at the first man, loaded a single bullet, and pulled the trigger. The massive .50 caliber bullet flew from the gun to the man's head in an instant, breaking the sound barrier; the sound of the gunshot rang throughout the alleyway and through the streets of Dojoville, shattering the silence of the night.
The sound of sobbing was immediately cut off, replaced by the hollow, lifeless thunk of the first man's corpse hitting the concrete ground. A moment's stillness from the second man, before he turned away, exiting the alleyway. However, just then, a loud crashing sound was heard to the man's left.
Upon turning towards the noise, three figures could be seen. Two men, and a single woman; they each looked extremely muscular, yet still slim; their eyes were filled with a burning anger, and a deep sorrow that could make a fully grown male cry. The man leaving the alleyway immediately recognized that sight.
They were Contractees.
Slowly, his hands clenched into fists. Immediately, they ignited; black lightning and green flames exploded into existence on his fists, swirling around each other to fuse together, to create a unique energy; firetricity. The man entered a combat position; poised to attack; but it was three Contractees against one, and as such, he looked around to see if there was anybody to aid him.[/i][spoiler]Open. This is gonna be full of exterminating human lab rats (the Contractees), and a connection to a little mini-thing I'm making up on the fly.[/spoiler]
English
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[i]And as Vance looked, he would find himself looking upon a Sister of Battle, of the Order of Our Martyred Lady.[/i] ---------------------- [i]Victoria was quite angered by the situation, as usual.[/i] [i]The Sister of Battle found herself around seven feet away from the confrontation, traversing the city alone as she stumbled upon the scene. The woman was 5'11", the same height as Vance, but wearing a much different set of apparel: ceramite armor covered her body almost entirely, a helmet hiding away her face, her eye lens being a deep crimson in color. The armor itself was a black color, the red cloth that draped from it a bright red, and adorned with crosses. [/i] [i]Within her hands, she tightly clasped a .50 caliber...weapon, to say the very least. The "rifle" was massive and bulky in size, loaded with a considerably large magazine. Two smaller versions of the weapon hung at her belt, alongside a sheathed straight sword.[/i] "...Citizens, I shall ask that you cease this violence, before it erupts into something much, much worse." [i]Victoria's stern voice spoke up through her helmet, as she glared at Vance emotionlessly.[/i] "Sir, I will have to speak to you about your senseless murder, as well. At least - after this affair is sorted out."
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[i]Vance... completely and absolutely ignored Victoria's entrance and opinion on his favor to the heartbroken, homeless man. All his attention was directed at the Contractees; Victoria could have shot him then and there, and he still probably wouldn't notice. However, the Contractees did, in fact, notice Victoria. There was a certain madness in their eyes; as though they had lost their humanity long ago. One male and the female turned towards Victoria, while the third male–a giant of a man at 7'–remained facing Vance. Without warning, Vance raised both his hands, placing his palms together and pointing his fingers towards the giant; the green/black firetricity his hands were ignited with exploded, and in the shape of a lightning bolt, the firetricity struck the giant. The giant's flesh was immediately scorched black, however... it began regenerating immediately. In seconds, the torn up and burnt flesh was all completely healed, the only thing remaining being the blood on his face from the now extinct wound. The two Contractees facing Victoria were definitely a team; both of the male's hands were blazing with flames, while the female was standing behind him, seemingly ready to cast something. However, both were awaiting Victoria's movement.[/i]
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[i]The ability that Vance had used, well...it did manage to piss Victoria off a little more, although it was the two Contractees and the flames that allowed her to make her mind. Which of course, her current decision was "Kill everything in sight except for one with firearm. Blow off kneecaps, interrogate until death."[/i] [i]Yes, that was Victoria's thought process.[/i] [i]At any rate, she tightly clasped her Bolter as she raised it up at the female's head, before suddenly switching to the giant's right leg. She fired two shots - two .50 caliber explosive rounds, to be exact: the joys of being a Warhammer 40,000 character.[/i]
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[i]The bullets hit their marks; two massive, .50 caliber rounds striking his knees and exploding, crippling and sending him to the ground. However, the bullets having exploded, the giant began to once again regenerate... just as fast as his face had recovered, his knees recovered, and he was on his feet in seconds. The male Contractee with flames growled, and hurled a fireball towards Victoria; after the fireball was hurled, the female Contractee made a gesture, and a translucent, blue energy force field formed around the two, protecting them from attacks. Vance seemed to have an idea; he pulled out his rifle from his right side, readying it. He aimed its barrel at the giant, loaded a new magazine, and began pulling the trigger. One after another, .50 caliber bullets flew from the rifle to the giant, lodging themselves inside the giant's body; his arms, legs, torso. The wounds healed, but the bullets stayed; a possible way to kill the giant.[/i]
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[i]Victoria strafed to the right, armored boots sliding against the concrete as she circled her two opponents: this would be trickier than she thought, as the ball of flame flew past her body. The energy shield was something that she couldn't counter, unless..[/i] [i]Quickly reacting, the Sister of Battle Palatine threw her Bolter to the side, as she drew her sword with her right hand, a smaller Bolter Pistol with her left - the Power Sword was about twenty six inches long in length, and blazed with disruptive energy. From there on, she charged towards the two, with an attempt to bait them out into an attack.[/i]
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[i]The two were baited indeed; the woman canceled the shield and the man charged; in his right hand, a blackened, charred longsword appeared, three feet in length. He gripped this sword in two hands and it blazed to life in flames. The man rushed at Victoria, and swung horizontally from his right to his left, showing... rather decent swordsmanship. Meanwhile, Vance continued to pelt the giant with bullets; the giant's body was filled up with .50 bullets, and each one was staggering him enough for Vance to not really need to move.[/i]
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[i]In response, Victoria merely slashed horizontal, from left to right, as her Power Sword met the longsword's blade - the blade burnt through the steel weapon quickly, and found itself hacking through the man's gut in return. Victoria immediately slammed her foot into his stomach, as she raised her Bolt Pistol and began unloading round after round into his upper body.[/i]
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[i]Stabbed in the gut, kicked back, and bullets pelted into him; the man didn't last two seconds as he fell to the ground, now a corpse. The woman's eyes widened and she fell to her knees by the man; her eyes, already filled to the brim with dozens of emotions, filled up with sadness, sorrow, and self-loathe; she let out a bloodcurdling scream, hiding her head. Meanwhile, Vance continued to pump the giant full of bullets, until the Contractee was so full of lead, their body simply stopped functioning. Following the hollow think of the giant's body striking the ground, the woman turned her face to look at the giant in horror; tears formed in her eyes, dribbled down her cheeks–it was clear from the look in her eyes that she had been in a similar situation before. Sobbing, the woman lowered her head.[/i] "Kill me already," [i]She whispered to herself.[/i] "I don't want to live this... this...." [i]Vance looked at the woman; there was a certain reluctance to follow through with the woman's request in his eyes, his expression. It was as though he had seen that image before, as well; either in close friends, loved ones, or... himself. He decided that he'd leave the decision up to Victoria... who would likely shoot the woman down mercilessly. And as such, he turned away.[/i]
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[i]Raising her pistol calmly, Victoria looked over at Vance, oddly...recognizing the look that he had upon his face. Recognizing the look upon the woman's face. The screams, the pleads to die...she had heard it all. Their screams - Eldar screams - rang in her ears, as if this was some sick coincidence that she had been placed within.[/i] [i]Heavy breathing now exited the Sister of Battle's helm, before a final, fatal shot rang through the air, colliding with the woman's skull and ending her misery then and there. Smoke rising from the barrel of the Bolt Pistol, Victoria released a shaky sigh, shaking her head in remembrance: of the battlefield, the bloodshed - all of it, even as her face was hidden by the black helmet.[/i] "...I shouldn't have killed her, I.." [i]The Sororitas muttered, sighing to herself before turning back towards the bodies of the three. She had slaughtered two - the man, she had not given a care for. But after the woman's execution, she had realized the murder that she had committed. And that would haunt her forever.[/i]
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"There'll be more...." [i]Vance breathed, not looking back at the woman's body nor at Victoria. The expression he had before was gone, replaced with a stony, forced emotionless one. It was evident that he didn't approve of Victoria's decision to kill her; in his mind he knew that that woman could easily have been him. In fact, it almost was him; memories surfaced, of a time when Vance himself wanted nothing but death, to end his own suffering. Then, there was nobody to either grant his request or help him through. But all this was hidden everywhere in his bodily expressions besides his eyes. This was because now, on the streets, there were dozens of other Contractees. They hadn't noticed the two yet, but they were bound to. Vance slowly reached his right hand up to his greatsword, drawing it. He rested the blade on his shoulder, ready to begin using it, but first examined Dojoville's situation. All Contractees were in small groups of about 3 - 5; all likely had some sort of magical and physical enhancement. All likely had strong attachments to each other. All likely had individual backstories and their own suffering, and all likely had one goal; and that goal did not call for either Vance's or Victoria's continued existence.[/i]
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[i]Shaking her head calmly, Victoria sheathed her sword after she had deactivated it, following up with holstering her pistol as she picked up the Bolter upon the ground, reloading the massive weapon as she looked upon the patrols of Contractees. She followed up with a calmed, serious voice, still muffled by her helmet.[/i] "We need to get moving towards a better location, unless you believe that we could survive their onslaught?" [i]Why Victoria would work with this man...she didn't know. But he was the closest thing that she had to an ally - hell, he was the closest thing she had to an actual person that she could depend on. Her friends, her Battle-Sisters? Dead, slaughtered by one that would come in later..[/i]
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Edited by Diase: 5/25/2017 4:00:59 AM"It's not a matter of [i]we[/i], miss," [i]Vance responded as he swung his greatsword up, jamming the tip into the ground.[/i] "It's if [i]I[/i] can survive it. I see no reason for you to risk your life for a stranger such as myself." [i]With that, his cybernetic left hand blazed to life in green flames and black electricity; what he was saying was rather clear. That he appreciated Victoria's help, but he would prefer her to save her own skin... for he'd seen his ally's deaths too often. Part of his decision was pure suicidal madness, part of it was kindness, and part of it related the other jumbled emotions in Vance's head. Vance turned to face Victoria. He had a feeling she wouldn't be the kind of person to run from the situation alone; if that were the case, and she still didn't wish to attempt to kill all of the Contractees–an impossible feat, truly–then Vance would do his best to bring her to safety before throwing himself into the mosh pit. It was clear that Victoria would have to be the sensible one here... but how could she talk to somebody driven by some sort of hatred for these Contractees?[/i]
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[spoiler][url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AigmfbNjuY0]Que the epic music.[/url][/spoiler] "...The only reason that I have to battle alongside you, [i]sir[/i], is unfortunately because these men and women will soon be after my head. And I will personally not allow one such as yourself waste your life away by being thrown into that mess, while I walk off unharmed. I've seen enough people die for my survival, and I don't need you to die as well. Are we clear?" [i]Vance was right - the woman was considerably stubborn, refusing to leave him to fight the horde of Contractees on his own. Perhaps it was out of valor, violent intention, showing him just how capable she was in combat - Victoria personally didn't know, but she couldn't leave him to die against the men and women after their heads.[/i]
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[i]Vance turned his head to look at Victoria for a moment, his expression solemn. Finally, he sighed.[/i] "I'm dying first," [i]He said simply, before proceeding to stroll into a crowd of 4 Contractees with no plan whatsoever. He simply hoped nobody had a healing factor. Vance gripped the greatsword's handle with his cybernetic hand, as well, the one coated in firetricity. It was channeled through the blade, until the sword was infused to with strange energy, coating it with green flames and black electricity. Two Contractees, a man and a woman, lifted swords of their own, not nearly as fancy. As they approached each other, Vance swung horizontally; the greatsword cleaved straight through the male's sword, but was somehow blocked by the woman's sword. Upon closer examination, the woman... had absurdly enhanced muscles. She could probably pick both Vance and Victoria up and throw them like pebbles. The other two Contractees, also a man and a woman, slowly approached Vance from behind the first two. The woman was another pyromancer; this much was true when she formed a fireball in her hand. However, instead of throwing it at Vance, she had noticed Victoria. The fireball was launched at Victoria with terrifying velocity, at which the previous fireball had not been. Vance was used to these variations in attack power between Contractees, but Victoria might have been; as such, Vance turned his body and reached, extending his right arm to block the majority of the fireball. It struck his arm, immediately burning through the entire right sleeve of his trench coat, and burning up and charring his flesh; he let out a single yell of pain, before gritting his and forcing himself not to feel it. Instead, he continued to wield his greatsword as he fended off the man and the woman, showing remarkable swordsmanship.[/i]
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"Why, you-" [i]Victoria swore to herself as she kneeled down, the remaining piece of the fireball slamming into her armored shoulder and burning her armor as she took position behind Vance, beginning to rain firepower upon the pyromancer and her male counterpart. In truth, she would be gunning down the entire group, purposely attempting to miss Vance - he was her only ally here, and a problem that she'd have to take care of afterwards.[/i]
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[i]All of Victoria's bullets hit Vance and he died. As Victoria gunned the Contractees down, they began falling; it looked as though there was no defensive Contractee in the group. Soon, one man and one woman were dead, and it was just one man and the unbelievably strong woman. When the bullets struck the man, he literally did not feel a thing; didn't even know that Victoria was there. Basically, with good aim, an easy kill. The woman, however, was causing huge issues; her unbelievably strength was pushing him back. What the woman didn't account for was when Vance rapidly pulled the handgun from its holster, he placed the barrel on the woman's temple. And then she dead, she got dead after 'my adventure' Now it was just the annogying and stuff.[/i]
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[i]Victoria didn't waste any time to end the man's life, placing some rounds into his skull before rising up and looking over at Vance, sighing as she studied the mangled bodies of the Contractees.[/i] "That went considerably well. Next?"
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[i]As the blood of the Contractees flooded the ground, Vance looked down for a moment, his eyes filled with sorrow. He shook his head, clearing it; now was not the time. He turned to look at another group, this time of three. Deciding that he'd simply barrage them, Vance momentarily stowed his greatsword, and his hands ignited with firetricity. He punched midair, facing the group, then punched with the other hand. He quickly alternated hands between multiple punches, and each one sent a blast of firetricity towards the group. As each blast of firetricity struck the Contractees in the group, an explosion was caused; their flesh was torn away, charred, and Vance did not relent. Blast after blast, and they couldn't fight back. Finally, he seemed to be charging a final attack; in both his hands he formed a massive blast of firetricity, larger than any previous one, and let it fly. It met the ground, and the resulting explosion blasted the three Contractees into smithereens. Vance cracked his knuckles, and he had a feeling that attack had attracted attention of another group. It did, a group of five. Coming from their left, the group of five consisted of three men and two women. Vance, needing to regenerate his MP, drew his rifle from his left side, reloading it.[/i]
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[i]Victoria would find herself mildly disturbed by the electrocution of the four beings, although that hadn't stopped her from planning for the next group that they came upon. In a blur of motion, Victoria brushed ahead of Vance and began releasing round-after-round into the five's group. She had begun to clear her mind of thinking about the backstories and personal lives of the Contractees in general - a thing that would haunt her later on.[/i]
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[i]Victoria's first few bullets found themselves lodged in ons man, who had thrown himself in front of a woman to protect her; from the woman's expression, a lover. Another man–or actually, a mere boy looking to be around 13, made a gesture with his hands; the remaining for faded until they were invisible, and dispersed. Now, with their locations unknown, Vance had his rifle readied and aimed at any movement that wasn't his or Victoria's. They could attack at any moment.[/i]
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[i]If Vance could see Victoria's facial expression at the moment - well, he could see the despair in her eyes, and would probably realize why she looked the way that she did. First she had gunned down a man that wished to save what looked to be a lover - now she would be facing against a mere teenager?[/i] [i]This wasn't right. At least, not to her. Yet she would carry on.[/i] [i]The Palatine kept her firearm raised, although her intention was to bash it into the face of the first one that attacked, assuming that she would even have the ability of seeing them. She was more concerned about Vance, anyway. [/i]
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[i]The boy's invisibility spell was working like... well, a charm. Not a single sound was heard, not a single Contractee sighted. That was, until a sudden, extremely painful looking wound appeared on Vance's right arm; it looked like a stab wound, from a rather long weapon. He yelled out, looking around for the invisible attacker, but they were gone. A few moments later, the invisibility spell wore off. The attacker was the woman, who was about twenty yards away; the stab wound was a three foot long javelin, which was thrown at Vance. The woman held another javelin, readying it. Meanwhile, behind Victoria was the boy, holding a wooden club; he raised it, and aimed a slammed towards Victoria's head.[/i]
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[i]Victoria had turned to fire upon the woman, managing to release two rounds from her Bolter before the club contacted with her skull: a yell of pain escaped her mouth as she was forced to one knee for a moment, as the helm dented from the impact. She felt the warm drizzle of blood fall from the neck of her head, draping her neck and the side of her face.[/i] [i]Victoria remained quiet as she suddenly swung her clasped fist in a spinning move, targeting the child's jaw if anything. She would not allow herself to be beaten and killed so easily - and she would not allow the same for Vance.[/i]
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[i]The bullets struck the woman, exploding; she fell, her flesh scorched and torn, to the ground. Suddenly, the boy screamed.[/i] "MOM!" [i]He cried, before Victoria's fist met his jaw. He was knocked back, sent skidding on the concrete ground of the Dojoville streets. His young face was in shock, his skin pale, staring at Victoria in horror; unable to speak. Meanwhile, Vance turned his face momentarily to look at the situation. His expression was unreadable as he turned back to the conflict; there was still one man and one woman left. From the holster at his left, he drew his handgun, so there was dual wielding guns. With slow, precise aim, he fired a bullet from gun, then another from each, for two bullets in each Contractee; they died simultaneously, so neither could grieve for the other.[/i]
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[i]Victoria went suddenly still, her clenched fist shaking as her heart pounded.[/i] [i]...He said something else, he had to have said something else. But not "Mom" - anything other than "Mom".[/i] [i]Victoria shakily rose, her head shaking as deep breaths emitted from her helmet. She was a murderer, was she not? She was no better than those that she condemned: first the woman who begged for death, now the mother and soon, the son. While her face was hidden by her helmet, a silent tear streaked down from Victoria's eye, making its way down her cheek.[/i] [i]There was nothing that she could say. There was nothing that she could do to make the situation any better.[/i]
