Death of Hope

Cetus strode through the streets of Mountain Village. His gear was in a bag over his shoulder. The overalls covered his body along with a white tee. His face was disguised with the guild ring. He looked for all intents and purposes, to be a worker. Any worker at all. He had several patches in his pocket. With a little sleight of hand, Cetus could be an electrician, a construction worker or several other invisible jobs. This allowed for reconnaissance on the target building. Cetus hoped to set up a few redundancies while he was at it. It would never do to let the target getaway.

There was supposed to be another Hidden Blades agent on this job. After the last few disastrous jobs with his guildmates, the shark-man wasn't going to wait. He'd set up the redundancies now. When the other assassin arrived, things would be ready. People congregated on the sidewalk. The press of bodies made it difficult to move without hurting anyone. Cetus hated these situations. His skin could cut viciously when rubbed the wrong way. If he wasn't careful, several people might die in this crowd. Then again, it might bring him some entertainment. Cetus had no control over when his emotions triggered. It seemed almost entirely random when flickers lit up his chest.

The assassin popped out the other side of the crowd. He was almost disappointed. There wasn't time for a field test, however. The target would be arriving in a few hours. That should give him just enough time to set everything up. Cetus had planned out every aspect of this hunt. If the target survived the initial attack, he'd be funneled into deadly traps. The shark-man would leave a single avenue out. That way would be where his partner could lie in wait. Their own escape was rather important as well. Rune Knights would swarm the area. Commander Hendrick was well-liked by his men. They wouldn't let his assassins go without a fight. Cetus looked forward to that part.

The Rune Knights hadn't thought to put security on the building this early. It was laughably easy to slip inside. Cetus took a quick look about. The stage was already set up. It rested against the back wall in the main area. That wall doubled with the Rune Knight vault in this building. Three large hallways led off from the main area. Each had vaulted ceilings and led into various areas. The assassin smiled slowly, mirthlessly.

Explosives could be set within the stage. A backup explosion might be set up within the vault itself. They'd never expect that. Assuming the Commander survived both, a sniper shot could always finish the job. If the other assassin was positioned here, they could ensure the job be finished there. Cetus liked to hedge his bets though. He would plant explosives to collapse two of the hallways. Funnel the target toward the only exit. If he was dead at that point, Cetus would pick off the Rune Knights. Those righteous bastards wouldn't know what hit them.

The assassin smiled to himself. He swung his bag around as he got to work. It didn't take more than two hours to get everything into place. Satisfied with the job well done, Cetus slipped outside. There was a quiet corner where the assassin changed. He came out dressed in a three-piece suit. Black jacket, black pants, white undershirt, and a red tie. Black leather gloves covered his hands. The shark-man carried a silver suitcase as he exited the alleyway. The ring transformed his features into that of a nondescript bald man. Something now one would bat an eye at.

Finished with preparations, Cetus headed to the rendezvous point. The other assassin might be arriving soon. They weren't expected to arrive extremely early. Cetus simply did it as a point of principle. No one expected the extremely early assassin. Finding a bench near the rendezvous, Cetus sat down to wait. He didn't know who to expect. The shark-man could only hope they were reasonable. Death take him should he be paired with someone like Baird again. The assassin would welcome the black abyss if that was the case. No one should deal with someone that loud and obnoxious.

WC:707
707/7000

The lich yawned loudly, not that the skeleton man needed to breath air, but he was bored, which the yawn would help show it. The streets made it hard for the tall skeleton to move, bumping into everyone as he looked annoyed at each one. His mask hiding his face so none could see it, but his red glowing eyes under the mask glowed intensely. His gloves held themselves at his sides with his hands and arms, his long and deep purple cloak hiding his body from everyone. He still hated the fact he needed to hide himself away from all these pests of human life, but he couldnt show himself yet, he needed to buy some time and let things grow as he planned out things, but for now this would be fun for Orokana since he will see how the Rune Knights are and how strong one can be so for future reference he can plan around them. All he needed to do now though was find this man he was suppose to meet up with for this mission. He hasnt met this guy before and he didnt know what to expect. Hopefully he wont annoy him and he could meet one of few people that didnt get on his nerves. He did admit he needed more friends in general but he didnt want them to be mortal if he can avoid it, but finding people like him, being undead, was not an easy thing to do and he would admit it. Soon he found his way to the meet up spot for the mission, which was pretty quiet and out of the way. He chuckled and looked as he saw his partner at the spot earlier then him, which didnt happen often. He walked up to the male as the seven foot tall lich gave a small bow and then spoke "Hello there, I am Hades, pleasure to meet you." He didnt know if he should take off his mask or not, he normally did for his jobs but he didnt want to show someone he didnt know himself, at least not yet.

The stranger approaching and introducing himself must have been his partner. Cetus' lips thinned a little. It wasn't his partner's fault though. Hidden Blades left a little to be desired in its inner workings. Agents tended to simply walk up to each other on jobs. No formal greeting or coded phrases, nothing besides the invisible marks. Invisible to anyone but those in the guild that was. It was something Cetus eventually meant to address with 'Bill' or the Chairman as most knew him. Failing to bring it up to him, the assassin planned to bring it up to Director Meititrice. One of the two in charge would manage to bring about the needed change.

The shark-man let a large smile spread across his false face. Time to use his atrocious accent with a happy tone of voice. "Nice ta mee'cha, Mistah Hades. Mah name is Mako Shahk. Mistah Shahk ta ya. I's made some preps fer da job already. Hopin' ya don' mind. I's likes ta be thourah with me jobs." Cetus took a look around the street. Hades' outfit was attracting looks. Not something they wanted on this job. The Rune Knights would be looking for anything suspicious, to begin with. A stranger walking around in a robe and mask would draw their eye. "Does ya have anyting less... con-spi-shee-ous like dat ya can wears? Das drawin' lotsa 'tention ands we's don' need dat."

Actually, they might be able to use that. Cetus cast a cold eye over the crowd. Deaths would draw attention to one of them. They could lead the Rune Knights on a chase. However, the question was if that would prevent the target from appearing at all. A commotion had a high chance of scaring him off. Cetus scowled, turning back to Hades. Having slaughtered an entire town before, mainly to see if it would reignite his emotions, the assassin didn't mind eliminating 'innocents' for a job. That only applied if it was the swiftest most efficient way to complete the job, however. There was no point in any other case.

"Me though's is dat snipin' da 'arge' is da bes' approach. Den a li'le dis'raction an we's ge' ou'a dodge. Or maybe a big di'raction wit lo'sa death. E'da works fer meh. Sos long as we's ge' da 'arge'" Getting the target was all that mattered to Cetus. An exit strategy was only necessary if you didn't want anyone knowing where the shot came from. From what he understood, the contract giver wanted this as public as possible. A loud exit would place the blame squarely on two rogue dark mages. Cetus rubbed his chin. Did the MC know about Hidden Blades at all? Or were all these assassinations under the guild merely attributed to many different dark mages?

"Das ya has any ideas how ya wanna proceed?" Cetus asked finally wanted to include Hades. This was meant to be a team effort. If they didn't work together, likely one or neither of them would make it out alive. The Rune Knights wouldn't take the death of their commander lying down. They would come wave after wave until the two dark mages were crushed. Not a fate Cetus wanted to explore. Pandora was helping him reclaim his emotions as was her partner Kessica. There was actual desire welling within him. Whether it was for his emotions or the two ladies was impossible for the shark-man to tell. He simply didn't have the required experience with emotions. Regardless, he wanted to eventually find out which it was or if it was both. Dying here would not help him accomplish that.

WC: 606
1313/7000