Korey entered the meeting room dressed in a light blue business suit that matched the blue stripe in her hair, a slight limp to her walk as her bandaged and almost healed ribs protested the brisk walk she pushed herself to. The injuries were recent, from last night in fact, and were a painful remainder of the intense firefight that had resulted when she and Angel had lead the DFP black ops team against the Russian mafia, which had infiltrated the DFP some months ago. It had been wild, dangerous, and, in the end, resulted in Korey agitating her still healing ribs once more. Thankfully, today's work would result in little trouble, or so she hoped. Still, the nagging feeling at the back of her mind continued to persist all the way to Angel's office.
Angel got up from her desk. She wasn't wearing one of her skirt suits, but the lightweight body armor similar to what she had been wearing during the assault on the hotel. Except this suit had the DFS insignias along with a black dragon. "Welcome Korey." Angel greeted her with a smile. "I thought you might appreciate getting in on this."
Korey managed a small grin in return, and shook Angel's hand. "Thank you for inviting me along... I've had a healthy suspicion that Thomas Byrant knows we are coming for him today."
"Probably, that's why I have these for you." Angel opened her desk drawer and pulled out a Desert Eagle and set it down on her glass desktop., followed shortly by two clips of ammo and an ID badge.
Korey took it up easily and tested the weight, checked the safety, and made sure that it was filled with a fresh clip. "Good... you have the warrant, I assume?" Opening her jacket, she placed the large handgun in the empty shoulder holster.
"Of course I have a warrant, that's what took all the time."
"For once I'm almost glad for the wait," Korey said as she attached the ID to her front jacket pocket. "It gave me further time to investigate the leads we picked up from the assault. Fortunately, Mr. Byrant is the only legitimate leak left in the DFP, the rest were incriminated colleagues that he did not particularly like."
Angel nodded. "Thanks for the good work." She pulled out her own gun belt and, like Kami, she carried a pair of pistols. One was a Zeta like Kami, and the other was a Stormbreaker, a standard issue firearm for the Pumas owned by the DFP.
"Your quite welcome. My payment will, of course, be no problem?"
Angel laughed "Would you like me to transfer the funds now?"
Korey merely smiled and shook her head. "After we arrest Mr. Byrant... then, I'll have earned it in full." She motioned to the door. "Shall we?"
"Just one moment." Angel typed a few commands into her terminal. "Lets go." Angel picked up the sheet of her paper and walked over to the door.
Korey followed beside her and a little behind, her feeling of uneasiness from earlier growing by the second the closer that they got to the TV executive's office. She took a slow steady deep breath to calm herself, not wanting to appear nervous beside her temporary employer, but still the feeling persisted. Of course, this was the first time that Korey Winters was performing a arrest and seizure of assets on company property, whereas Karin Nys, the small voice that pestered her from the depths of her soul, had only had training to undertake such an act.
Inwardly she sighed, knowing full well just how young and inexperienced she was despite the years of training she had. After all, training was one thing, but experience was something else altogether.
A few more minuets later brought them to the executive's office, where two security officers, also armed, joined them. Without breaking stride Angel unlocked and opened the door the door with her passkey. She strode arrogantly through the door. "Mr. Byrant, I'm placing you under arrest."
Korey kept a careful eye on the TV executive, noting how his expensive business suit revealed no extra lumps that could be concealed weaponry. His eyes, meanwhile, were on Angel, watching her thoughtfully while his hands remained still atop the intercom system built into his black marble desk. No doubt being the producer of Lace and Steel had been good to the man.
Mr. Byrant sat arrogantly behind his extravagant desk. "I see the board's house cleaner is here to take me out." He cackled arrogantly. He heard of the assault on the hotel, and assumed that it could very well lead her to him. "But you see I've made preparations. Nobody has seen you fight or engage in combat. So much so that I believe that your reputation is nothing more than hyperbole. If you know what's good for you, you will revoke the warrant, and let me go about my business."
Pulling her Desert Eagle free, Korey flipped the safety off and simply let it hang at her side. If she didn't know any better, it was almost as if the man was preparing for a last minute standoff to preserve his position... or to, at least, make a get away. "Whereas I have seen her fight, and whatever you are planning, you had best forget it," she said.
"Gentlemen please cuff Mr. Bryant." Angel's voice was ice cold, exactly the way she taught Kami.
The two guards moved around the women. One of the men, the head of the Arcology's Internal Security, "Tom, we've known each other a long time, please come with us, I'm sure we can resolve these things."
"I don't think so." He sat back suspicious of Korey's potentially itchy trigger finger. "Protect."
As soon as he said the word, Korey's gun came up, aiming dead center on the man, the bad feeling she had been experiencing all day flaring into an all out battle sense. At the same time, the door to the closet shattered as a gleaming white metal figure burst through it; an M-66 Hunter Killer Cyberdroid. Angel hit the floor taking Korey with her as a beam of white light lanced out from the HK's her right eye slicing the two guards in half, and the wall behind where Korey and Angel had been standing.
Korey winced with the landing, and wrinkled her nose at the smell of roasted human flesh of the dead and dying guards. The M-66 stepped forward while Byrant sidestepped confidently behind it, as though he were out for a midday stroll. Rolling away from Kami, Korey snapped her gun off and snapped off a few shots, the bullets tearing up the wall in front of Byrant. "FREEZE!"
Angel then rolled to her feet and took off running, angling towards the M-66. "Get out of here Korey, that toy's not gonna penetrate the M-66's armor!"
The M-66's beam followed Angel across the room. With their computer targeting systems, M-66s were inhumanly fast and accurate, but Angel outpaced the beam with exacting precision. Angel was slightly faster than the M-66 and snapped off two thunderous rounds from her Stormbreaker, both of them punching through the skin of the M-66 armor.
The M-66 focused its beam on Angel again, trailing it across the room and causing even more damage. "Kill her now!" The exec yelled as he ducked behind the desk.
Angel fired the last round in her cylinder taking out the M-66's laser. Meanwhile, Korey hoped over the desk and meet Byrant with a thunderous clock from her Desert Eagle, knocking him out with a single blow. Making sure that Angel was fully occupied with the M-66, Korey hefted him over her shoulder and, with a barely suppressed grunt, stood up and began to cart him out of the office.
The M-66 had its new set of orders and protecting the exec wasn't one of them. And while it was far more dangerous than any Puma, its programming was also much more ridged; it would track Angel down until it was destroyed. The HK leaped across the room and sliced at Angel with its clawed hands, which Angel deftly sidestepped before grabbing the cyberdroid by one wrist and slamming it into the desk, shattering it. Working quickly, she ejected the spent rounds from her gun and slapped in a fresh set from her speed loader.
But the momentary delay gave the Hunter-Killer the time it needed to twist its legs, landing a blow that would have taken most people's leg off, but only knocking Angel to the ground. The HK reached for her with its claws ready to tear into her body, but was sent flying with a solid kick to the chest. The 800-pound monstrosity twisted in midair to land at the ready, and immediately pressed its assault, launching forward with a brutal sidekick.
Angel caught the droid with one leg and arm, overpowering and restraining the metallic killing machine. "Korey, get my gun, and be careful, these things have a self-destruct mechanism, if you hit them too hard or capture them!"
Running back into the office, her Desert Eagle holstered, Korey made a leap for Angel's dropped Stormbreaker. She knew this make of gun, and took long enough to brace herself for the impact, and the pain. Crouched down, she held the gun close to her side with both hands, aimed for the M-66's head... and fired.
Sparks flared out the hole in the side of the M-66 as it writhed and squirmed from the impact. With a mighty effort, Angel threw the 400 Kilo cyberdroid across the room at the armored glass window. "Again!" She yelled as it hit the glass.
Grunting with the effort, Korey quickly took aim and fired, the recoil of the powerful gun grating into her still healing ribs and bringing a gasp of pain from her lips. Despite the awkward angle, the shot hit dead center on the M-66's head, blowing a hole clean through it's forehead. It slumped against the armored as a loud, steady whine pierced the air. Cursing, Korey dropped the gun and flung herself behind the toppled heavy desk just as the cyberdroid exploding in a shower of shrapnel that took out the armored glass. The noise was deafening, but soon faded, and Korey, with a hand over her ribs, stood up to assess the damage.
Angel stood up and brushed herself off. "Are you okay?"
Korey nodded and walked over to her. "None the worse for wear, although that Stormbreaker has one mighty kick to it. Plus, Mr. Byrant is resting outside for us."
"It certainly does." Angel dusted herself off. "I think we have this business wrapped up then." She smiled at Korey.
"Good. I intend to take my pay and go for a nice long vacation." Korey motioned to her ribs. "But nonetheless, it was a pleasure doing business with you, Angel. If you ever had any future use for my services, do not hesitate to call upon me." She held out her hand to Angel.
Angel gently took Korey's hand. "It's been good working with you too." She smiled. "Looks like you could use a little time in a Jacuzzi."
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