(( Many thanks to Py for loaning Ross and providing his dialogue. Standard Sassy Disclaimer: Violence, profanity ahead ))

Mr. Ross peeled the surgical gloves off and tossed them in the wastebasket with a grimace. He took the proffered folder and opened it. “What is going on back there?”

The Allied Federal sergeant shrugged. “Sloppiness.”

Ross frowned and turned his attention back to the folder in his hands. It listed out a number of close calls, sloppy execution, and near-misses from the contractor. Mistakes piled up on the pages, mistakes that should not have happened. At the back of the folder was a brief psychological assessment: “Mental condition deteriorating. Stability compromised. Suggest immediate treatment.”

Ross grimaced. He hated having to clean up his own messes. He couldn’t avoid it this time - this particular contractor could not be allowed to remain free. “Contact Ms. Najez. Have her arrange a job in the southern hemisphere. Get full details. Then contact one of our friends in local law enforcement. Have them disappear our little problem.” Ross snapped the folder closed and handed it back. “I don’t want to hear about this again.”

--

Oruro, Bolivia
Thursday, May 26, 2011 21:57 hrs Local Time

Like so many other industry cities, Oruro had gone through its share of boom and bust. Once a bustling silver mining city, and later a tin mining location, those resources had long since been exhausted and the mines abandoned. This made the mineshafts the perfect location for hiding a paramilitary mercenary organization and its support facilities. Very rarely did anyone venture out this way, and those that did were easily bought off... or dealt with.

Supported by skim funds from the mining operations and outside investors, the mercenary group had worked for years to destabilize the region whenever it suited their employers. Unfortunately for them, their employers were no longer interested in their services and were expendable. At this point, you might expect they’d be turned over to the government to maintain goodwill. Not this time. Not quite.

Crouched in the shadows nearby to one of the entrances to the underground base, the Assassicat waited and watched the guard patrols go by. Normally the thrill of the hunt would be enough for her - the jobs she’d received from Allied Federal had been amusing enough before. This time, as the previous jobs had been in increasing amounts, things were different.

Sassy was bored. Perhaps not just that. She was bored and apathetic. These jobs just didn’t do anything for her anymore. Nothing really seemed to, she’d been finding recently. Still, Allied Federal was paying, and she would execute the job as agreed - eliminate the mercenary group and its leaders. They were a loose end to be tidied up, and she was going to do the trimming. Starting with this patrol.

The patrol guard activated his radio for a moment and spoke into it briefly. Once finished, he turned the radio back off and was turning around to head back the way he had came when she struck. Leaping from out of the darkness, Sassy latched onto the soldier from behind, arms and legs wrapping around his body for stability. One hand immediately went to his mouth, the curved blade of one of her daggers pressed quickly up against the man’s throat, and with one quick movement it was silently over.

The now-lifeless body crumpled to the ground and Sassy rolled off, flicking her dagger towards the ground to clean the blood from its edge. The guard normally checked in every 15 minutes. There wouldn’t be another patrol coming around this way, as she’d noticed from her time observing the security pattern. “Plenty of time for fun”, Sassy thought as she entered the compound. Maybe this time the job wouldn’t be so dull.

22:09 hrs

The mercenary group was adept at hiding from law enforcement, when they had to. They weren’t so adept at hiding from a four-foot murderkitten. As the attack had progressed, Sassy had grown even more bored, and even more disinterested in the effort. Eventually she’d stopped caring about stealth at all - a few times she’d even just walked straight out into plain view, just to see if having some gunfire would increase the thrill.

It hadn’t. Sassy had left an unsatisfying trail of death throughout the entire base with only a few scratches to show for their efforts at resistance, and finally reached the bunker where the leaders of the group had holed up. She could hear them excitedly talking inside, reports of more and more missing guards. “Well, at least maybe this can end with a bang”, Sassy thought to herself as she extracted a chunk of C4 from a pouch. She placed the explosives against the reinforced door’s hinges and stepped back, pulling a remote detonator from another pouch and pressing the button.

For the mercenaries, the last thing they’d know of life was a burst of flame and the silhouette of a short catgirl stalking through the smoke. A couple of the soldiers had ineffectually fired on Sassy, but in just under a minute, none of the mercenaries were left standing. Sassy wiped her blades on the shirt of one of the fallen mercenaries, blood covering her face and armor. It’d almost been exciting, at the very end. The cramped quarters of the bunker and the gunfire had made it a little more interesting. Ultimately, though, Sassy was just glad it was done. The catgirl sheathed her daggers and exited the door... right into view of a dozen guns drawn on her.

A uniformed woman yelled out “¡Policía! No se mueva!”. Sassy slowly raised her hands. “Fuck. Since when did the Bolivian police actually DO anything?” The officer was gesturing for her to get down on the ground. Slowly, Sassy did as they asked, eyes scanning the group gathered in front of her. They were all gathered in close... “Too close”, Sassy thought with a grin. They clearly had no idea who they were dealing with.

Sassy closed one of her hands into a fist, keeping an eye on the lead officer. As she feigned compliance, the officer turned to the person next to her and motioned for them to move forward. That moment of distraction was all Sassy needed. She flicked her hand forward, splaying her fingers, and a ball of Mu lightning flashed towards the group, shocking the entire gathering.

Sassy got back to her feet as the surprised officers shouted and started firing at her, instantly drawing her daggers, and jumping at the nearest officer, slashing wildly. The officer struggled to fight back, but the catgirl drove a dagger into her stomach. Ducking behind the body to shield herself from bullets, Sassy pulled the dagger back out then dashed at full speed towards the entrance tunnel.

“Goddamn it all, what the fuck was that?”, Sassy cursed as she sped away from the mine towards cover. “Where the fuck did they come from? Fucking bullshit.” They would not be pleased with another messy job, Sassy knew. She’d done her due diligence this time, though. She’d watched, she’d waited... there shouldn’t have been anyone else around to notice this, much less the police. “Fucking mercs must’ve called them to save their sorry asses. Probably on the take.”

Sassy waited for a while to make sure she wasn’t followed, then headed off towards the safehouse. She’d have to lie low for a while then exit the country, make sure the heat was completely off her, before she contacted Ross. She couldn’t have the situation getting any worse. Inwardly, she hoped the police officers’ superiors wouldn’t believe their story about a pint-sized catgirl assaulting them.

Sassy wasn’t bored anymore, but she certainly was not amused.

_________________
DJ Memetic - djmemetic@furuba.net
- - -
City of Heroes: @Mitsukineko
Champions Online: @buckminst
The Secret World: DJ-Memetic

(( Once again, many thanks to Py for her help. Usual Sassy Disclaimer Applies ))

Mr. Ross stalked into the communication room. Interrogations were going much slower than he anticipated, and this...this...cat...was causing problems he didn’t need. She had to be dealt with, and swiftly. At a nod from his communications officer, Ross picked up a handset.

“Ms. Sassy.” Ross managed to keep the scorn out of his voice. “I am so glad to hear you are alright.”

The voice of an angry catgirl piped up on the other end of the comms. “Alright? ALRIGHT? Yeah, I’m fucking alright. Why wouldn’t I be? I only had half of Oruro’s police force decide to pay a visit to that goddamn mercenary hellhole you sent me to.”

“Mmm. That was unfortunate. I remain concerned, however. Such...loose...execution is not what I have come to expect from you. Perhaps it is time to terminate our agreement.”

Sassy’s voice grew even more irritated. “LOOSE execution? The operation went fucking PERFECT until the cops showed up. How the fuck was I supposed to know they’d pick THAT day to do their fucking job for once? I’m not a fucking psychic, Ross. I did what I had to. I got the damn job done, be happy. What do you want me to do? Go back there and wipe out the police precinct too?”

Ross made a sound somewhere between “Yes, that’s exactly what I expected” and “So?”

“I can handle your little errands, Ross. Maybe you should stop sending me on these jokes of milk run missions and give me something worth my time. Don’t forget what I gave you already. WHO I gave you.” Sassy spat the last words, not bothering to hide the threat behind her statement.

Ross ground his teeth. He’d only used the cat to increase the distance between himself and the abduction. Now it was coming back to bite him. “I have NOT forgotten.” Ross’s tone was strained. He paused, choosing his words carefully. The psychologist had issued a stern warning about the cat’s mental state. “I’m taking a risk, you know, giving you another chance. This isn’t just your ass on the line.”

“...” Sassy’s seething on the other end of the line was almost audible. “I get my fucking jobs done, and I get them done the first time, Ross. Fuck you. This one won’t be any different. Just give me the details, I’ll get it done.”

Ross sighed into the handset. “Very well. Someone will contact you on this number. Be more careful, alright? Good-bye, Ms. Sassy.”

The communication officer motioned to him that the connection was cut. Ross turned to his right and addressed the sergeant. “Set it up. And call in that favor with Nitro-8-2. They can do whatever they want. Just get her off our books.”

--

Rikti War Zone
Saturday, June 11, 02:37 hrs Local Time

The weather was uncharacteristically overcast, making the night even darker as Sassy sat perched on the rooftop of a burned out building in the War Zone. Not that it mattered to her cat-like eyesight - the dim glow of the nearby Rikti mothership’s protective shield was as good as any night vision goggles for her. She’d been here for hours, watching, waiting, checking and double-checking over and over that nothing would interfere this time.

The War Zone was home to a number of criminal groups seeking to gain a foothold near Paragon City, and Arachnos was no exception. Deep below the shattered ruins of White Plains was plenty of infrastructure and room to support their forward stronghold. The Rikti Pylons nearby kept everything, supers and normal beings alike, away.

One of Ross’ agents had finally contacted her, after weeks of angry waiting on Sassy’s part. Arachnos had intercepted a shipment that happened to be carrying something important to Allied Federal. They wanted it back. Get in, get the item, get out. Simple. She’d been given free reign to get the job done as she saw fit, and that pleased her greatly, as did the size of the base she was dealing with. Dealing with a rag-tag group of mercs was one thing. Putting the hurt on her least favorite spider and his organization was different.

Finally, something a little more worthwhile.

Sassy had been patient, even though she was still fuming at Ross’ words. She would not repeat her failure in Bolivia. She’d taken care of everything this time. There would be no surprise reinforcements, no mistakenly leaving witnesses alive in an effort to not draw too much attention. She would purge this base and take what Allied Federal wanted, and Ross would eat his hat. Sassy smiled as she pondered that thought, then silently hopped off the building. Time to get to work.

In the ruins of another burned out building, others were getting to work too. The Tactical Operative who had been observing Sassy turned to his superior. “Sir, the target is moving.” Nitro-8-2 nodded. “Good. Have the rest of the troops prepare to infiltrate the base after the target has neutralized their defenses. Make sure the secondary perimeter is ready in case she makes a run for it.” Nitro turned to one of his operations engineers. “Have the Zeuses standing by.”

03:14 hrs
The ventilation shafts in the Arachnos base were cramped, cold, and connected to everywhere Sassy needed to go. The particular vent she was crawling along inside led to the main communications and control center. Arachnos, like any other major entity except for perhaps the Council, suffered from its own bureaucracy - Its base designers didn’t like to work all that hard, and so most Arachnos bases followed a few fairly standard templates. Sassy knew the standard ones by heart, and this one had proven no exception.

She’d already made a courtesy visit to the backup communications center and relieved the soldiers there of their duties... permanently... She just needed to do the same to the main center and then she’d be able to have her fun. Why Arachnos never bothered to monitor the ventilation system was beyond her, but it made her job a lot easier.

Reaching her destination, she quietly lifted the grating out of the way and peered inside. Several soldiers were at their consoles or keeping guard. One particular console held Sassy’s attention for a while - the one with the alarm controls. She’d have to take care of that one first. There was just one problem - it was across the room. On the plus side, Sassy was a very fast runner. She watched the guards patrol the room for a while, and then when their backs were turned, she struck.

Sassy dropped down from the ceiling vent as quietly as she could, and as soon as her feet hit the ground, she was off on a dead run towards the alarm console. The operator barely had time to register the sound of approaching footsteps when the blade from one of Sassy’s energy katanas went up through the bottom of his chin and out the top of his head. The noise from the blade’s ignition startled the guards, who promptly turned towards Sassy but she was already heading towards them.

Sassy struck the first guard in the group, blades slashing across his torso and ripping him in half at the stomach. The remaining several guards in the room opened fire on her, the first bursts mostly missing her, but one of the guards’ bursts caught her in the chest as she turned to face him. Her armor did its job though, and before the guard could reload, Sassy had crossed the distance and stabbed him through the heart. Not wanting to take chances, Sassy proceeded to cut the guard’s gun arm off at the elbow, then turned on the remaining soldiers and very frightened operators in the room.

Almost as quickly as it started, the attack was over. All that was left in the room was Sassy and a grisly scene. Satisfied with her work, Sassy walked casually over to the communications console and began setting up her explosives. Once she was done and she’d verified that the detonators for this console and its twin in the backup comms room were online, Sassy backed away and pushed the button.

The console exploded in a shower of sparks and flame, severing the base from outside contact. ”Try and call for help now, fuckers”, Sassy thought with a smile. There would be no repeat of Bolivia here. The explosions of course would have tipped the rest of the base off to the presence of an intruder, and Sassy had a plan to take care of anyone thinking of running for help. She strolled casually over to the alarm console, and pressed the big, red “Lockdown” button. Alarm klaxons sounded, and all the doors in the base slammed shut. ”That should keep the spiders busy.” Sassy hopped back up into the ventilation system and proceeded to the storage bays. What she had to find would likely be in one of them.

Outside the base, Nitro-8-2 was receiving the latest update on their target. “Base communications just went silent, sir. Base appears to have gone into lockdown.” Nitro frowned. That would make getting to the target more annoying, but not impossible. Finally, he spoke to his subordinate. “Arachnos will likely be converging on the cat. Send two of the Zeuses to...” Nitro looked over a map of the Arachnos base, then found a spot to his liking. “Here. Have them make a forced entry and send the rest of the team in through there. With luck, we’ll be in place before the cat makes it to the storage area. Take out anything that gets in the way, but remember that we want to give the kitty a little surprise. Move.”

Sassy was getting frustrated. As she’d figured, the Arachnos troops in the base had quickly mobilized. What she hadn’t counted on was how secure the storage rooms would be. Whatever was here, they really didn’t want it disturbed. The first few rooms she’d checked had put up quite a fight, but she hadn’t found the item she was after. Worse yet, while she was in the last room Arachnos had managed to override the internal lockdown. External doors to the base were still sealed, but they were hitting harder and harder every time she ventured out. She’d heard explosions in the distance, which she figured was Arachnos trying to get out to call for help.

”Next time, Sassy, make sure you take the fucking internal comms out too.”, she angrily thought to herself. She’d thought the main comms console would handle both, but it seems Arachnos had recently modified their layout to separate internal and external comm systems. At least the fights were a bit of a challenge.

Arriving at her next destination, Sassy popped the grate, and didn’t even bother checking the situation. She knew there’d be guards, and more coming as soon as she hit. As soon as she was on the ground, the blood started flowing in this room as well. The room exploded in a cacophony of electric arcing and gunfire as Sassy hastily took out the Arachnos soldiers in the room. Finally the room went silent again, and Sassy spotted the crate in the picture Allied Federal had sent her.

As Sassy approached the crate, she looked around nervously. Last time, Arachnos had made it to this room within moments, but this time they were taking longer. “Maybe I killed enough of them that they’re getting the hint to leave me alone”, Sassy mused. It wasn’t likely, but she wasn’t going to argue with being able to acquire the item uninterrupted. The crate itself was too large to move on her own, so Sassy set about undoing the latches to retrieve the item itself. Her ears twitched, but she heard nothing. Satisfied, she hummed to herself a bit as she deactivated her energy katanas and worked on the crate.

That’s when the Sapper’s beam hit her.

Sassy dove for cover as soon as she felt the beam hit her, breaking line of sight. “FUCK FUCK FUCK, what the hell is _MALTA_ doing here?” Sassy breathed hard, letting her body counteract the effects of the Sapper’s gun, then glanced over the edge of the crate she was hiding behind. The Sapper was hanging back, waiting, but she could see more Malta pouring into the room. Sassy looked back at the crate. She couldn’t screw up... she’d have to take them out, like she should’ve done in Bolivia. Sassy reignited her blades, then dove over the top of the crate.

The Sapper spun to target Sassy, and fired at her again. Sassy dodged at the last moment, then charged forward at an angle. The Sapper tried to track her but by the time he had her in his sights again, she was on him. Sassy slashed with reckless abandon, energy blades slicing through the umbilical for his weapon then flaying away at the Sapper’s body. The Malta soldier screamed in agony as Sassy ripped him apart, and the other soldiers opened fire on her. As an Engineer tried to get his gun turret online, Sassy leapt towards him, slashing down and neatly severing his head.

The rest of the Malta soldiers had gotten a bead on Sassy, and she was taking heavy fire. Sassy managed to dodge an entanglement grenade and promptly dispatched its previous owner, but things were starting to get out of hand. Even as she whittled away at the Malta forces, more were arriving in the room. She’d ducked behind a support pillar to dodge some of the gunfire, only to take an incendiary round through the armor. Sassy looked around for its source and found a Gunslinger preparing to shoot her again. Sassy ran towards him as fast as she could, catching another round in the shoulder for her troubles, when she got hit with another Sapper beam.

Sassy skidded across the ground then scrambled behind another crate. Malta was definitely playing for keeps, but so was she. Ignoring the rapidly disintegrating cover around her, Sassy tapped her inner reserves, then ducked out from behind cover again. Her hands crackled with electricity as she raised them skyward, then a column of lightning struck down through the roof of the room. She pointed her arms at the Malta troops, and an enormous bolt of lightning shot forth, catching the Sapper square in the chest and arcing out to hit several of his teammates as well.

The stricken Malta soldiers crumpled to the ground, but Sassy had little time to enjoy her work. The remaining Malta quickly assaulted her again, and she was running out of strength. Sassy managed to dispatch a few more of the soldiers, and take a few more hits, when she heard a new noise in the background. Her ears twitched. “Heavy... metallic. Fuck.” Sassy knew what was coming, and as if on cue, the first Zeus Titan appeared in the doorway, firing a salvo of missiles as soon as it had a clear line to her. Sassy barely managed to take cover before they hit, the spot she’d just vacated erupting in a series of fireballs. As she looked around the corner to check the situation, dual energy beams lanced towards her, barely missing her head. ”It’s just one Zeus. I can take i--” Sassy’s thought process halted abruptly. More metallic footfalls were followed by the arrival of 3 more Zeus Titans to the room. She could hear more coming down the hall.

Sassy growled, but she knew the situation had turned for the worse. She wouldn’t be able to stop the army of mechanical monstrosities heading her way, not with that Sapper still around and who knows how many more Malta operatives on the way. It was time to leave. Sassy took one last look around, making sure her path to the ventilation duct was clear, then looked at the partially-unlocked crate and sighed.

She’d failed again.

Sassy tensed, then bolted for the exit. A salvo of beam fire and missiles followed in her wake as she ran, jumped up into the vent and crawled as fast as she could. It wasn’t fast enough though, as she discovered when the section directly in front of her exploded in her face and she fell out of the ceiling back into the storage room. Sassy hit hard, dazed from the explosion, then found herself crashing into a wall as the kinetic force of the Zeus’ latest beam salvo slammed into her. Sassy fought to stay conscious, and as she looked around the room for another way out, she got an idea.

With the last bit of her strength, Sassy launched herself back up to the ceiling, crouching on a support beam running just below. The four Titans immediately tracked her and unleashed their full firepower at Sassy’s location... only for Sassy to drop back down to the ground just before impact. The missiles and beams hit the ceiling and punched a hole straight through to the roof, exposing the room to the outside. Sassy made one last jump up and out through the hole, landing on the outside roof, then took off as fast as her injured, worn out body could move.

From his observation point, Nitro-8-2 watched as Sassy sped off into the darkness, quickly vanishing from sight. She’d hit the outer perimeter and the Titans there had opened up on her. She’d managed to evade them, and now she was gone. Nitro cursed his luck - Ross would not be pleased with his failure to dispatch the cat, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. With a sigh, he ordered the end of the operation and began to vacate before Arachnos arrived on the scene.

The Golden Giza, St. Martial
Sunday, June 19, 2011 10:47 hours Local Time
Sassy was on her usual perch in the Rave Room, waiting for Demoryel’s show to start. She’d been extra careful to not be seen on the way to the casino, and was thankful that most people didn’t bother looking up when they came into the room. Sassy was replaying the event in her head, trying to figure out what went wrong. How had Malta known she was there? Was she followed? Did they somehow spot her? They had significant assets present, so they obviously were prepared for... something. Was it the item they were after? … Or her?

Twice in two operations, she’d been foiled by last-minute sudden arrivals. Something was going on... was someone in Allied Federal trying to put her out of favor? As Sassy thought about that, a sudden recollection from her fight with Pyrria hit her. Ross couldn’t be trusted. He’d turn on her, Pyrria had said. Sassy shook her head. “He knows what I did for him. I’m doing the best I can... there has to be another explanation.”

Still, the doubts nagged at her. What if Pyrria was right? What if Ross _was_ trying to kill her? Who could she turn to for safety? Sassy thought and thought... and the answer she came up with made her even more uneasy.

Nobody.

Sassy would have to see this through to the end on her own. People were asking questions about Pyrria. Asking _her_ questions about Pyrria. Even Rijarin had asked... She had to deflect suspicion. She couldn’t ask for help. They’d find out... Sassy curled up on top of the cage and sighed, words tumbling out of her mouth before she could think about what she was saying.

“I miss Pyrria...”

In another room in the Giza, an unassuming man took off the headphones he was wearing, and wrote a quick email on his computer terminal:

Listening Post GG-1A Report -
Subject secondary asset observed at Golden Giza. Audio clip of recorded statement from subject attached. Flag keyword present in subject statement. Subject tone indicates possible regret, issue may be serious. Forward to Ms. Najez immediately.

Email sent, the man resumed his listening detail, soon to be overpowered by the music the evening DJ would be playing. It didn’t matter. He’d gotten enough today.

_________________
DJ Memetic - djmemetic@furuba.net
- - -
City of Heroes: @Mitsukineko
Champions Online: @buckminst
The Secret World: DJ-Memetic

(( Finally, at long last, the final part of this fic! Once again, much appreciation to Py for supplying more Ross dialogue as well as editing help. Usual Sassy disclaimers continue to apply. ))

“You can’t take care of one, small, psychotic and unstable CAT?!?” Ross ground his teeth. “Fine. No, You are not ‘off the hook.’ In fact, you owe me double because now I have to take care of YOUR mess. Get off my line.” Slamming the phone down, he spun on his heel and stalked out of the communication room. He’d finally started to get somewhere in the interrogations and now he had to deal with this messy loose end.

“Barnes!” Ross shouted down the corridor. “My office. NOW.”

The Allied Federal sergeant appeared in Ross’ doorway. “Sir.”

“We’ll have to do it ourselves. What have you got in mind?”

The sergeant stepped into the office. “Ms. Najez was kind enough to provide some additional surveillance. Apparently, in addition to these recent exhibits of deteriorating ability, the cat lost a sparring match to a snake. It seems to have shaken her confidence further.” The sergeant paused, a tone of distaste creeping into her voice. “Ms. Najez believes she may be having...second thoughts.”

Ross snarled. “Well that won’t do. Eliminate her, now.”

“Yes sir. We have a team ready to deploy. We’ve studied the surveillance footage and we have a good idea of how she’ll react. We just need for her to walk in.”

“I’ll make sure she’s there. You take what you need and set it up. Send Jack the coordinates when you’re set.” Ross paused and fixed the sergeant with a stern glare. “This is personal now, Barnes.”

Barnes nodded and snapped off a salute. “Aye, sir.”

Sitting back in his chair, Ross pondered his next move. Pyrria was likely to crack soon. If this little problem was removed, he would have nothing but smooth sailing. All that remained was to taunt the little cat into the trap.

--

Nerva Archipelago
Monday, August 1, 21:30 hours Local Time

The jungles of Primeva - a land out of time, with the ruins of ancient ziggurats and even older trees. The Circle of Thorns had taken up residence here, free to practice their dark rituals safely away from the prying eyes of Longbow and the rest of the world beneath the dense canopies. Infrequently, others had set up shop, using the sprawling complexes beneath the surface as haven.

It was here, below one of the massive pyramids from a bygone era, that Sassy found herself sent by Ross on one last errand. “One last task, little kitten, and your mistakes during the previous assignment will be forgotten.” Sassy was still fuming at the tone Ross had taken with her after the incident in the War Zone. It wasn’t her fault. He’d made her wait more than a month before giving her this tidbit and she didn’t like waiting, and then the way Ross had spoken to her...

Sassy shook her head. Ross had said this was it, he was through with her, and that was perfectly fine with her. It just didn’t have the same fun in it anymore. She hadn’t even complained about the nature of the mission - another milk run - she’d just agreed to it. It’d be money, and after this she could go find other, more amusing work. She could put all of this behind her.

At least, she could try. Something was still nagging at the back of Sassy’s mind... something she wasn’t familiar with. More and more, thoughts of Pyrria came back. What Ross could be doing to her. What she’d done to her most worthy of opponents. Normally, Sassy didn’t dwell at all on the jobs she’d done, but this...

Sassy shook her head to clear it as she entered the lower tunnels. She had a job to accomplish - all she had to do was deliver a USB key to an operative stationed in this area, running a listening post. Their reason for sending her, Ross had said, was that there had been increasing Longbow activity in the area and they wanted someone ‘capable’ to ensure its delivery.

“Fine, whatever,” Sassy had thought. True enough, there were more Longbow patrols than usual in the skies overhead, but it had been easy enough for Sassy to avoid them. She’d been fighting them for so long, she knew their tricks by heart. Here in the tunnels, though, there was only the occasional drip of water and the echo of her own footprints as she slowly walked to the drop-off point.

It was this distinct lack of noise that had the murderkitten on edge. Since the fight with Malta, Sassy had been entertaining a thought she had been previously certain wouldn’t be applicable to her, one that Pyrria had stuck in her head. Thoughts of betrayal, and not coming from her. It was distracting, and for the first time in Sassy’s life, worrisome.

Sassy paused to check the map she’d been given. She was getting close, but even to her sensitive hearing, there was hardly any noise. No hum of generators, no talking, nothing. Sassy didn’t like this one bit. “Did someone beat me here?” she wondered. The thought of this being yet another failure made her tail fur bristle.Sassy detached the hilt of one of her energy katanas and kept it handy as she resumed her trek to the drop-off point.

As Sassy rounded a corner, she could finally see signs of occupation - there was a light coming from one of the chambers up ahead, and she could make out brief bursts of radio chatter. Her hand tightened around the hilt - she’d be ready for any interference this time. Sassy made her way down the corridor towards the light, and then stepped through the archway.

Sassy looked around the room, and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Something was not right here. No equipment, no cabling... just one person, standing in the center of the room. It was this figure who broke the silence. “Ah, you must be Assassicat.” The figure smiled, a gesture Sassy did not return. “Who the fuck are you?” Sassy snarled. “ Sergeant Julia Barnes, Allied Federal. I understand you have an item for me.”

Sassy appraised Barnes warily as she reached into the pouch that contained the USB drive. “I do. This sure isn’t any listening post like I’ve seen before...” Sassy’s eyes glanced around the room, taking in the details. “We tend to keep our operations rather secret, so it was decided that I would meet you here at the entrance. The drive?” Sergeant Barnes held out her hand.

Sassy withdrew the USB drive and carefully leaned down to set it on the floor, sliding it over to Barnes. The woman leaned down to pick up the USB drive and plugged it into a small device she had withdrawn from her tactical vest. “Everything appears to be in order here.” Barnes nodded to the catgirl, who warily nodded back. “Your service to Allied Federal is now completed. We thank you for the assistance you’ve given us. Per my orders, our relationship is now... terminated.”

With that last statement, Barnes gave Sassy a little salute, then turned and began to walk towards the tunnel on the opposite side of the room, finally ducking out of sight as she entered the tunnel. Sassy would’ve continued watching further, but the softest of ‘beep’s caught her ear’s attention, and she knew right then what Barnes had meant by ‘terminated’. The catgirl flung herself forward towards the tunnel Barnes had gone through, just as the explosives hidden in the wall behind the room’s entrance detonated. No sooner had she hit the floor when the room erupted with gunfire.

Sassy rolled across the ground, regained her footing, and made a bee-line for the tunnel Barnes had entered moments previously. The sounds within the makeshift shooting gallery nearly overwhelmed her as she ran, the bullets tracking her every move. Sassy’s mind raced as she neared the tunnel entrance. Pyrria had been right. Ross did betray her, in the end. After everything she’d done for him, after how hard she had worked for him, this had been her reward. Sassy hissed as a lucky shot glanced off her cheek, pain mixing with anger to send Sassy into a rage. She raced into the tunnel, only for her face to meet abruptly with the butt of an Allied Federal soldier’s gun.

Sassy back-flipped and growled, grabbing the hilt of her other blade and igniting them both. Allied Federal would pay for this, oh yes they would. They’d pay dearly. The soldier leveled his gun at her, but never got the chance to pull the trigger - in the next moment, his gun’s barrel, then his arm, then his torso, found themselves neatly severed from their previous attachments. More soldiers began to enter the tunnel, blocking Sassy’s escape, but Sassy didn’t care. As the gunfire came again, Sassy darted forward with all her speed, cutting a bloody swath through the soldiers arrayed against her.

Once the tunnel was clear, she removed the headset from one of the dead soldiers and clicked it on. “ROSS, YOU FUCKING BASTARD. I know you can hear me, motherfucker. I’m coming for you, and I’ll kill everyone in my way to get there. You’ve made a big fucking mistake, you cocksucking asshole. You hear me? A BIG MISTAKE. NOBODY FUCKS WITH ME. NOBODY!!” Sassy screamed the last into the comm piece, then set it down and took off after Barnes.

As Sassy raced down the corridors, dealing with soldiers who got in her way, she could hear a steady droning in the distance. Turning a corner, she could see sunlight coming from a far doorway. “Must be an exit shaft to the surface,” Sassy thought. She didn’t have time to contemplate it further as soldiers came pouring out of the doorway. She pressed forward towards her escape, some of the soldiers’ bullets catching her armor, one or two finding their way to the flesh underneath.

The catgirl hurled herself bodily against one of the soldiers, smashing him against the wall. Spinning, she launched herself at another guard, thrusting both blades through the soldier’s chest, sweeping them out to rip him apart. Sassy ran into the corridor wall, bounced off of it, and jumped back towards guard she had first attacked, slicing him in half with an overhead slash from her blades. The gathered soldiers continued their attempts to take the cat down but their numbers quickly dwindled under Sassy’s assault, the hall and doorway turning into a horror story scene of blood, gore and bullet holes. When it was finished, Sassy watched the last soldier’s body twitch for a moment, then stepped into the shaft.

The droning noise was significantly louder now, and Sassy looked up to see what was making the noise. At the far end of the shaft, Sassy caught a glimpse of Barnes on a winchline, stepping into the back of a helicopter hovering above. The catgirl screamed in rage at her departing prey, then looked around the shaft for another way up. Finding the ladder, Sassy began to haul herself up towards the surface. Her progress was too slow, though, and the helicopter began to move off. As the noise from the rotors started to diminish, Sassy heard a familiar beep again. “FUCK.”

Sassy braced her feet against the ladder and jumped as high as she could as the first of the explosives went off. Sassy hit the far end of the shaft and used the wall as a platform, launching herself up the shaft again. The next explosive device went off, continuing the collapse of the tunnel below her. As quickly as Sassy could, she kept jumping her way up to the shaft, barely managing to keep ahead of the explosions below her. As she neared the top the last explosive went off earlier than expected, sending her hurtling through the air out of the shaft.

Sassy landed hard on her chest, losing her breath from the force of the impact. She gasped for air, writhing in pain from the burns to her exposed flesh. There was no time to relax, as more gunfire erupted moments after she landed. Staying low, Sassy gathered her bearings, then took off at top speed towards the beach. She had to get out of here. She ducked in between two rock faces to try to break line of fire, only to meet with another explosion. The rock crumbled, blocking her escape route, and Sassy growled.

“Allied Federal had this set up from the beginning. This wasn’t just an ambush, this really was a trap... a trap I walked right into... fucking hell. I really am slipping...” Sassy took off back the other way, ducking renewed gunfire as soon as she emerged. There was only one way for her to go, and Sassy headed that direction as fast as she could.

Sassy ran, dodging bullets as best she could, occasionally catching new wounds, before arriving at her destination. The beach was clear as far as she could see, and there didn’t appear to be anything on the island a few hundred yards away. “If I can just make that, I can use my teleporter and get out of here...” The catgirl took off towards the water’s edge, preparing to make the leap to safety. As she neared the end of the beach, gunfire erupted again, driving her on faster.

Closer, closer, closer the water came. Sassy was almost free, almost safe. As Sassy crouched down to make the jump, a thought suddenly came to her. “All these explosions, all this gunfire... always just right behind me... … It’s as if they were trying to... lead me somewhere... OH FUCK” Sassy hurried to make the jump, realizing too late what the situation was. As she pushed off the ground, a loud CRACK echoed across the water, and the sniper’s bullet caught Sassy in the chest, easily piercing through the damaged armor. Sassy’s arc faltered and the catgirl splashed down hard into the ocean well short and to the side of the island she was intending to land on. The water was hard, cold, and dark as it closed over her, her vision going blurry and then black.

From the helicopter, Barnes observed Sassy’s impact into the ocean. She clicked on her radio. “Sweep the area, verify that the target has been neutralized.” Rafts pushed off from the island, converging on the location of Sassy’s impact. Barnes watched as the divers entered the water a few minutes later, and then the waiting game began.

Nerva Archipelago
Tuesday, August 2, 00:14 hours Local Time

Barnes was seated at her computer preparing a report to Ross when her subordinates reported. “Ma’am.. We’ve completed our search of the impact area. We were unable to find the body, but we did find several pieces of the armor she was wearing, and there were a number of sharks in the area circling. It would appear they finished the job for us. We also found this lying on the sea floor.” The soldier handed Barnes a long cylindrical object, which she examined for a moment. “An energy blade. Must have come from the cat. Very well, dismissed.”

Barnes pondered the information she had just received, then returned to her report, smirking. “A fitting end for the cat... sleeping with the fishes.” She typed up the information and prepared to send it to Ross. “Target neutralized, eaten by sharks. A dirty beast killed by a dirty beast.”

Inhuman League Base
Monday, August 1, 23:47 hours Local Time

The teleporter disengaged, and inside one of the emergency medical reclaimators a column of water suddenly rushed out. All was quiet again for a few minutes, and then coughing came from inside the device, followed by a wet, bare hand. The hand flailed about for a bit, finally grabbing a support bar inside the medical unit. Weakly, the half-naked body pulled itself up, shivering. “They need to think I’m dead... I’ll have to... stay... low... …You’re going to fucking pay... Ross...”

_________________
DJ Memetic - djmemetic@furuba.net
- - -
City of Heroes: @Mitsukineko
Champions Online: @buckminst
The Secret World: DJ-Memetic

(( Eeeeeheeheeheehee! I've been looking forward to this! ))

_________________
"Do your best and let the rest work itself out."
Doctor Void - Dr. Wretched - Impact Tower - Jackie Bones - MerryGoRound - Bella Facade - Dark Anima - Choose - many others.

(( *busts out the popcorn* Awwww yeah. This is gonna be fun. ))

_________________
Mizythra: What does the queen actually do these days?
Maelthra: Convenes parliment, feeds her corgies... offers to cut up the prime minister's food for him.
Mizythra: ahahahah. Wow.
Maelthra: srsly
Mizythra: What does the king do? Anything?
Maelthra: Is no king
Mizythra: Well, when there is one.
Maelthra: Same thing, but hopefully with less dogs

(( Part 2 is now up. Sorry about the long delay, but it couldn't be helped. ))

_________________
DJ Memetic - djmemetic@furuba.net
- - -
City of Heroes: @Mitsukineko
Champions Online: @buckminst
The Secret World: DJ-Memetic

((Wahahaha! Kitty got a beating I'm sure there are more coming, too! ))

_________________
Mizythra: What does the queen actually do these days?
Maelthra: Convenes parliment, feeds her corgies... offers to cut up the prime minister's food for him.
Mizythra: ahahahah. Wow.
Maelthra: srsly
Mizythra: What does the king do? Anything?
Maelthra: Is no king
Mizythra: Well, when there is one.
Maelthra: Same thing, but hopefully with less dogs

((Ooh Sassy....she told you so! :7))

_________________

(( Ooooh. Kitty got burned. ))

_________________
"Do your best and let the rest work itself out."
Doctor Void - Dr. Wretched - Impact Tower - Jackie Bones - MerryGoRound - Bella Facade - Dark Anima - Choose - many others.

((Looks like Sassy's bordering on a burn notice and neither Pheo, Emmy nor Foundation 2.0 is behind it *noms popcorn*))

Ashes to ashes,
DJ Pheonyx

_________________

DJ Pheonyx of The Cape Radio
Global Name: @Pheonyx

(( The final part has now been posted! And now you know why Sassy hasn't been around lately... XD ))

_________________
DJ Memetic - djmemetic@furuba.net
- - -
City of Heroes: @Mitsukineko
Champions Online: @buckminst
The Secret World: DJ-Memetic

(( HMHMHAHAHAHAHA!! Excellent. ))

_________________
"Do your best and let the rest work itself out."
Doctor Void - Dr. Wretched - Impact Tower - Jackie Bones - MerryGoRound - Bella Facade - Dark Anima - Choose - many others.