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Six minutes of furious gun fighting later...

-Fade in-

A spray of blood hits the camera as Ayumi slices through the neck of the last guard blocking entry to Floor-17. The Team is a bit worse for wear, some more than others.

Unlike most stairwell doors, this one is made of polished stainless steel and must weight upwards of 200kg. Using the keycard swiped from the last guard, the LED on the doorknob stays red. The adjacent panel has a three-digit number pad on it, probably used in the event that someone foolishly tried to get past the more passive elements of the building's security.

Peter gets to work.

Well, three digits, that's only a measly thousand possible combinations. On the other hand, maybe I'd better strip off the panel and hack the wires...Oh, fuck, it hurts.

"Somebody please watch the stairs, I don't think I have enough meat left to catch another bullet."

"That is a big door," Artis quips. "Let me know if I need to cut through the latch."

After trying any number of combinations, the door locked. It could be the lack of blood or the fact that the pressure is indeed getting to Peter. He gives the nod to Artis.

His watch's cutting beam slowly begins to work its way through the heavy door, occasionally having to halt progress in order for the beam's capacitor to recharge. It's a slow process with the possibility of opposing forces on the other side increasing by the moment.

Several minutes pass with the doorlock finally slipping off in a heap moltem slag and crashing to the stairwll floor.

Petrovski's House

Nothing quite makes sense right now. Ideas of "doing the whole village" come to mind in Brian's head, being not quite sure as to why/what brought upon Jess' current violent streak. Thoughts of her Russian accomplice cause him to tighten his fist in anger. He keeps thinking to himself that had he been around when Samantha abducted Jess in Italy...things definitely would have been different.

Some time later...

Detective Stavne approaches the Team with two of his men in tow.

Brian shakes his head.

"None of this is right..." he looks at Carla as he talks. "Does any of this sound like Jess to you? She has a Russian with her but hell..."

As he talks its evident to both of them that this is hitting him very, very hard. He's taking it fairly well, but from his tone, and the reflexive clenching and unclenching of his fists, now would not be the best time to be on his bad side.

Enter the three Russian cops.

Noting Brian's obvious tension and seeing Stavne approaching with a couple of goons, Ilyanna moves to meet them. Hopefully, Carla will be able to calm her British teammate.

"Ahh, commander Stavne," she says with a smile. "What can I do for you? We're almost done here and will soon be out of your way."

Quote:

Quote: from CrazyIvan on 3:43 pm on May 16, 2005
"None of this is right..." he looks at Carla as he talks. "Does any of this sound like Jess to you? She has a Russian with her but hell..."

"Brian, we're trained to be cold-blooded. I wouldn't put it past anyone on this team to be capable of it should circumstances require. Granted, you've known her longer, but she was pretty hard in Scotland."

"Just seems wrong..." he turns, looking at the approaching cops, and with a quick "heads up" stops talking, turning to face the three men.

Quote:

Quote: from fanchergw on 5:33 pm on May 16, 2005

"Ahh, commander Stavne," she says with a smile. "What can I do for you? We're almost done here and will soon be out of your way."

"Good because your services are requested in Bol'Shoy Fontan. I have the orders from Central Command if you wish to look at them."

Stavne hands the print-out to Ilyanna then gives a shout to his investigators nearby.

"Round up the equipment. We leave in twenty minutes!"

Kiev

The door opens revealing a blank hallway devoid of any sort of furnishing or accoutrements, save for security cameras placed at the ceiling corners. It extends 10m beyond the breached door then doglegs itself to the left.

No sound is heard other than occasional squalk of a dead guard's radio from the stairwell.

"Yes, please," Ilyanna says, accepting the papers from Stavre. She takes a moment to read through the orders, then returns to Brian and Carla.

"Looks like we're headed to Bol'Shoy Fontan."

Brian raises an eyebrow. "This day gets better and better."

Outside Petrovski's house

Stavne's men seem to be taking their time after the "twenty minutes" order was given. As for himself, the detective is very mindful of his watch, his guards looking nervous the whole time.

Fifteen minutes later...

The dull roar of chopper blades is heard off in the distance. Stavne's demeanor lightens upon seeing the helicopters approaching over the horizon.

Back in Kiev

Inside Samantha's building, the Team approaches the corridor with great caution. Turning the corner, they see a hallway (10m long) leading to an arched opening and into a grand entryway covered by dark hardwood flooring. The lighting in the hallway and archway is dim, being lit by a few halogen bulbs ensconsed in the ceiling.

While they're waiting, Ilyanna finds herself a few minutes of semi-solitude to verify the orders that came in. Just as a precaution...

Ayumi scouts ahead with blades drawn. Nearing the archway, one of her footfalls *creaks* on a loose tile.

Gritting her teeth at the rookie mistake, she continues inward, expecting an ambush....and receives one.

Four guards (two on either side of the archway armed in Type-II armor) attack simultaneously with Ayumi propping herself in a defensive stance, one grabbing her arm another attempting to beat her down with a rifle-butt to the head. The other two mind the archway as a door begins to slide across the opening.

From the others perspective, they see Ayumi struggling, kicking back the rifleman while getting tangled up with the other guard.

Russians and helicopters. I *love* my job. Sigh.

Carla has her doubts but will continue to play ball for now.

Kiev

Artis charges toward the closing archway with Moten and Peter standing in reserve as the guards fire, clipping Artis in the arm as he closes the distance. The door slides closed as Artis dives through the small opening, spearing one of the guards as he does so. On the other side, things are getting ugly.

Ayumi dance partner attempts to wrestle her to the floor, but she deftly slithers out his grasp, slicing her captor across the arm in the process.

The guards regroup and divide their attention between both agents. One joins in on Ayumi, whiffing with his rifle as his wounded counterpart does an equally piss-poor job on his attacks.

Artis' new dance partners try and flank him, one feigning a move as the other breaks out a tazer from his tac-vest.

(Edited by Dieter at 9:20 am on May 25, 2005)

Ayumi slices at her opponent, cutting across the guard's other arm and following through with a downward thrust into his thigh. He's quickly going to know the meaning of Death of a thousand papercuts.

The guards quickly retaliate, giving the bladesinger a few glancing blows which Ayumi easily fends off.

Artis isn't so fortunate.

Juking in between their attacks, one errant shot hits him squarely in the chest, fibrillating Artis' heart and forcing him to take a knee from the numbness in his brain and extremities.