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Ebow DaLetta
Villore Sec Ops
Gallente Federation
6
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Posted - 2014.05.30 16:46:00 -
[1] - Quote
Author's Note: This story is based on the assassination attempt on Tibus Heth as written by the Eve Online Dev Team. I am in no way, shape, or form affiliated with them and this story is NOT part of the Official Eve Online canon. I hope that doesn't detract from your enjoyment.
Tibus Heth returned to the podium preparing to begin the next stage of the rally in the city of Okushin. Thousands had come to see their Hero today, the crowds filling the public square and extending for blocks in every direction. The leader was heavily guarded, a platoon of lightly armored men armed with stun rifles formed a solid wall between him and his adoring public. The threat of political assassination was always a real one, especially with someone as polarizing as Heth. This, however, was his home ground, and the faithful had turned out in force to see their beloved leader.
Almost two kilometres away a man wearing a full-body scout dropsuit watched impassively through the scope of a sniper rifle. He was nearly invisible lying in the shadows cast by the air ventilation towers on the top of a 102 story combination hotel and office building. The suit he wore had been designed for just such a purpose; advanced polymers and embedded circuits worked to render the wearer almost invisible to electronic surveillance, and the photo-reactive elements bent light around him to allow the wearer to fade into the background. He had climbed to this rooftop this morning in the predawn hours and had been lying here quietly since.
He had been waiting in these shadows for hours now. The armored suit was designed to protect the wearer from nearly any environment, but they became less and less comfortable as the hours dragged by. The opportunity to shoot Tibus Heth had come and gone several times that morning, but the sniper and his spotter had let each of them pass. The contract called for the killing to be carried out after noon, when Heth resumed his speech-making following the intermission. That meant the order to take the shot would be coming soon.
GÇ£How you holding up?GÇ¥ Duluth, his spotter, called to him from his suitGÇÖs internal comms, breaking the silence. She was waiting several floors down, watching the square through a pair of electronic rangefinders even more powerful than his sniper scope. She would break radio silence once per hour at random intervals to ensure he was awake and alert.
GÇ£IGÇÖve been contemplating my life,GÇ¥ he replied quietly, his attention still on the target so far away that Heth would have been invisible without the enhanced electronic rangefinder in his rifle. GÇ£Thinking maybe I want to make a change somehow.GÇ¥
GÇ£Oh? Like what, Gaurav?GÇ¥
GÇ£Well, next time I fall in love, I think itGÇÖs going to be with you.GÇ¥
GÇ£Oh, be still my beating heart.GÇ¥ Duluth replied drily.
GÇ£I realize how difficult loving you could be.GÇ¥ Gaurav continued, his eyes focused on his target.
GÇ£Knowing how much I love women?GÇ¥
GÇ£ThatGÇÖs just because you havenGÇÖt found the right ****, Duluth.GÇ¥
GÇ£Let me guess, your **** is the right one?GÇ¥ she sounded vaguely amused by this.
GÇ£How would I know? I am, however, willing to offer myself up for experimentation. Because IGÇÖm a friend, and that is what friends do.GÇ¥
Duluth laughed out loud and Gaurav grinned. This was an old, familiar game they played. Neither had any interest in the other sexually, which had made them fast friends. Their bond had only strengthened over the years as the result of numerous missions together.
GÇ£Get ready, itGÇÖs past noon.GÇ¥
GÇ£Copy.GÇ¥ the sniper replied, taking a long, deep breath before exhaling slowly.
In his scope Tibus Heth had returned to the podium, basking in the adulation of the crowds, his stern face glowing in the bright light of the sun high overhead. Gaurav tightened his finger slightly on the trigger, taking out the slack. Designed by Ishukone Corporation for use against soldiers wearing dropsuits with full armor and electromagnetic shields, the weapon was huge, its size and weight making it impossible for use without the assistance of the tiny, powerful servo motors inside the dropsuit that amplified the wearer's strength by a significant factor. The magazine only held three rounds, each one made to punch first through the electromagnetic shields, then the extremely durable composite armor of battlefield soldiers. Even at this range he would have no trouble at all hitting his victim, knowing the bullet would instantly annihilate a mere flesh-and-blood target. Gaurav shifted his posture slightly, the suit scraping on the plasticrete rooftop. THe order to take the shot would be coming soon, he knew.
Suddenly Heth jerked to the side and a swarm of bodyguards moved to cover him, obscuring him completely.
GÇ£The ****?GÇ¥ Gaurav muttered as he shifted his sight picture, taking in more of the crowd, trying to puzzle out what had just happened.
GÇ£Gaurav, somebody is trying to steal our kill.GÇ¥ Duluth sounded distracted.
GÇ£Who? Wait, IGÇÖve got himGǪGÇ¥
GÇ£I donGÇÖt know who this guy is, but I want to be his new best friend.GÇ¥ Duluth said approvingly. GÇ£Are you seeing this?GÇ¥
Gaurav whistled through his teeth. GÇ£Look at those moves! IGÇÖm sorry, Duluth, I think IGÇÖm in love with him!GÇ¥
GÇ£Hey, I saw him first.GÇ¥
GÇ£You said you wanted to be his friend.GÇ¥ Gaurav pointed out as he shifted posture again, tracking the battle below through the weaponGÇÖs scope.
GÇ£Never heard of breast friends, Gaurav? Oh wait, of course you havenGÇÖt.GÇ¥
Gaurav grinned but didnGÇÖt respond, turning his full attention to the tableau unfolding so far away from where he lurked.
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End Part I
58e137c67cd4de61ab4bd86d4cbcb71a6af3d158
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Ebow DaLetta
Villore Sec Ops
Gallente Federation
6
|
Posted - 2014.05.30 16:48:00 -
[2] - Quote
The killer slipped through the crowd, holding his cloak close, but not close enough to betray the outline of his pistol. There was no way anyone would be able to smuggle an energy weapon close enough to Tibus Heth at this rally. A carbon-fiber pistol that fired standard bullets, on the other hand..that was much easier to do. So long as one didnGÇÖt call attention to himself.
As he moved among the crowd he scanned the faces of those around him, trying to spot anyone who wasnGÇÖt entranced by their great leader. Those would be plainclothes security officers sent there to ferret out people like him. He wasnGÇÖt entirely sure what he would do if he spotted any, but it did not hurt to be cautious. He sorely wished he could activate his suitGÇÖs cloaking field but that wasnGÇÖt an option. HeGÇÖd left his helmet behind since no hood was deep enough to hide that, and the crowds were too thick for him to navigate while invisible. Instead he had chosen to simply camouflage himself as another admirer. His tunic and pants hid the sleek contours of his exosuit, and his long gloves covered his hands. His name was Ebow DaLetta and this was the first time he would ever murder someone.
Heth stood at the podium, smiling benevolently at the thronged masses, the crowdGÇÖs adulation the drug he craved. A phalanx of Provist guards stood before him, silent and watchful, ready should any trouble present itself. DaLetta drew his pistol and aimed it right at HethGÇÖs face, his own a mask of peace. Revenge would be his.
Someone jostled his arm and he reflexively squeezed the trigger, the shot going wild and hitting Heth in his side, just below the arm. There were shrieks from the crowd as Heth toppled, then the Provist guards reacted.
True to their training they immediately began firing stun rounds into the crowd. This of course only made the crowd panic further. DaLetta hesitated, torn for a moment between fighting to his own death, and slipping away with the crowd, perhaps to take another shot at Heth later if he survived. Then the moment passed, and the guards had focused on him.
He reacted without hesitation, firing his pistol at each of the nearest guards, watching two of them fall, their blood spilling out onto the pavement. The others hesitated slightly,the wariness in the face of death revealing that they were simply humans; apparently Heth did not trust clone soldiers with his life. This definitely counted in DaLettaGÇÖs favor, and he intended to take advantage.
Several more Provist guards fell as he emptied his clip then dropped his gun. There was no way he was going to escape this now, he knew that he had let that opportunity slip away. Now he intended to take as many of HethGÇÖs henchmen with him as he could before they ended him. Dropping his now useless pistol he pulled a pair of Nova knives from his belt as he spun, his cloak billowing around him. The Nova knife earned itGÇÖs name from the searing plasma that arced along the weaponGÇÖs edge once activated. They were widely used by the clone armies of the various factions in New Eden. Designed for close-quarters combat, they were often the preferred sidearm of scouts. He raced towards a nearby statue then caromed off of it, leaping back at the cluster of guards, the weapons slicing through the lightly armored bodies as easily as if they had been wearing saffron robes.
DaLetta moved smoothly, flowing through the forms his father had taught him as a child. As he did he could hear his fatherGÇÖs voice reminding him of the important things: balance, control, and peace. A warrior who lost his balance would soon lose his control; if he lost his peace then he would be lost entirely. As he danced with the guards among the rapidly fleeing crowds, the killer drifted on a sea of calm, his balance and control evident as he flipped, threw, and stabbed one guard after the other, several of them would never get up again.
His father had been a gentle man who studied the martial arts for the discipline, exercise, and spirituality. He had always taught his son to turn his back on strife and apply himself toward the betterment of his fellows. On the edges of the killerGÇÖs calm a sense of betrayal slid past like an oil slick, there and gone. His father had been a good and kind and decent man, and it was those qualities that had made him a victim of HethGÇÖs racist followers.
There was no way he could have gone after Heth directly, not then. Heth was too powerful, too wealthy, too well connected. If he was to be brought down, serious work would have to be put into the effort. After much contemplation DaLetta had decided to enlist with one of the galaxies numerous mercenary training schools. After successfully completing basic training he underwent the surgeries to grant him the ability to be reborn at the moment of death in a new, cloned body. It was a situation that would set him apart from the rest of humanity, consigning him to live with other immortals, never to mingle with the general human population.
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End Part II
58e137c67cd4de61ab4bd86d4cbcb71a6af3d158
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Ebow DaLetta
Villore Sec Ops
Gallente Federation
6
|
Posted - 2014.05.30 16:49:00 -
[3] - Quote
Clones have a different view on life and death, since they were essentially immortal. Because of this, some clone soldiers and their pilot brethren, the capsuleers, have been known to suffer psychotic episodes, a major reason for the segregation. Violating that law was going to get him into more trouble, he suspected, than the assassination attempt.
DaLetta had excelled at the warrior training and his aptitude testing, combined with his performance during training, had seen him moving on to Scout school after his recovery from the clone process. For the next six months he was trained in tracking, escape and evasion, and sabotage. He graduated near the top of his class and was highly sought after, eventually taking a position with one of the more respectable security corporations.
For two years he served honorably as a special security operative, protecting the assets and personnel of various business concerns. He had resigned his position last month.
Now, a judgement long due was going to be delivered.
For a moment he forgot his situation, so lost was he in the thrill of this fight. He tore off his cloak and used it to blind one of the Provist guards before jump-kicking the man solidly in his chest. Myofibril stimulants and kinetic enhancers made him stronger, faster, deadlier than the best-trained of mortal guardsmen. Even with his training and years of combat experience, there was no way he could have fought this many without his suit and the cloning implants.With them, however, this wasnGÇÖt a fight so much as a slaughter.
His armorGÇÖs shields had repulsed numerous blasts from the Provist guardsGÇÖ stun lances, but the repeated bursts eventually overwhelmed his systems. When the next stun blast hit him dead in his chest he crashed to the ground, the Provist guards swarming him like ants.
Darkness clawed itGÇÖs way towards him, and within it he heard his fatherGÇÖs voice whispering GÇ£When a man goes to seek vengeance, he would be well served to dig two graves.GÇ¥
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Duluth and Gaurav watched the unknown assassin fall, brought down by the weight of numbers of HethGÇÖs Provist forces. He had taken down nearly a dozen trained guards, no easy task by the best mercs. Neither of them had recognized the manGÇÖs face, but they expected they would know his name before too long.
GÇ£Now what?GÇ¥ Gaurav watched through the scope on his rifle as the square emptied, his face expressionless behind the darkened faceplate of his helmet. The failed assassination had clearly ended the rally earlier than anticipated, putting a major damper on the planned festivities as well as preventing Gaurav and Duluth from fulfilling their contract..
GÇ£Wait for sunset then come down. IGÇÖll update Bryce on the situation and he can alert the client.GÇ¥
The rest of the day crawled by, neither Duluth nor Gaurav breaking radio silence as they waited until after sundown for Gaurav to exit the rooftop, moving down to a maintenance room where they had stashed the shielded containers for his armor and sniper rifle. After that he descended the seventeen flights of stairs to the suite they had rented. Accidental witnesses were a risk, but a minor one, and they really had no choice but to take it. Both of them had made sure they had new clones safely off-world so if worse came to worse, they would just suicide out. Fortunately they had met no one and Gaurav was able to get cleaned up after a long day of waiting in the form-fitting exosuit.
GÇ£Planet is under martial law, so dinner is going to have to be here at the hotel.GÇ¥ Duluth told Gaurav after he had showered. She was stretched out on the bed sipping mineral water and watching a news report on the attempt on Heth.
GÇ£ThatGÇÖs cool,GÇ¥ Gaurav shrugged. He wandered past her to his bed flopping down and stifling a yawn. GÇ£What did the Boss say?GÇ¥
GÇ£He said to enjoy our time here, it might be a while.GÇ¥ Duluth grinned. GÇ£Oh, and he asked if we had ever done a jailbreak before.GÇ¥
58e137c67cd4de61ab4bd86d4cbcb71a6af3d158
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Ebow DaLetta
Villore Sec Ops
Gallente Federation
9
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Posted - 2014.06.01 06:54:00 -
[4] - Quote
Thank you, I appreciate that.
58e137c67cd4de61ab4bd86d4cbcb71a6af3d158
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