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Post by Artherus on Nov 25, 2012 22:22:12 GMT -6
"Funny ideas? Surely you jest!" Oh, he had ideas alright. And some of them might very well have been funny. But the only ones that actually had anything to do with her were the best ways he could put her in between him and anything that would be a life-endangering threat to himself as quickly as possible.....if he really needed to.
He wasn't a coward or anything.
So he should be good, at least as far as any "funny ideas" went. Besides, he wasn't fond of getting acquainted with her sword any time soon. He'd seen firsthand what sort of relationship that was. He liked his blood right where it was.
When she started down the tunnel, he hung back a few paces, far enough to be well out of her range of motion in case of sudden need for swordplay or fighting, but quick enough to spring up and do something heroic if he had another easy chance for it. Though the odds of him having the time to do anything at all were slim, which suited him just fine. Too much heroism in one day made him sneeze.
The sight of a ladder appearing ahead slowed his pace slightly, listening out for the sounds he was expecting to hear any second now.
And right on cue. Good Elimine, that accent was atrocious. It literally hurt his ears just to listen to it, but he suffered in silence, merely shaking his head in disgust. The sound of shuffling footsteps above was more immediately worrisome, however. A quick look around told him his options for hiding were....rather limited. After debating his choices for a moment, he sighed inwardly and darted into the alcove behind the ladder. Kneeling down, he pulled his cloak around him close.
Already hard to spot against the dark walls of the tunnel, when his lovely partner for the moment doused her lantern, he all but vanished entirely. It would have been tough to spot him if you were right on top of him, even if you did know he was there. Anyone who didn't know to look for him would have a much harder time of it, to put it mildly.
And they said dark clothing never had any uses.
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Post by Selena on Nov 25, 2012 22:44:24 GMT -6
Selena waited, her eyes nearly glowing as the trapdoor opened, light streaming into the tunnel. A series of boots climbed down the ladder, as she watched the figures silhouetted by the light upstairs. One...two...three. Only three? How many trips would they be making to transfer all of that stuff? The door above them closed, and Selena held her breath as the three men, talking to each other, trudged off down the path. She moved slowly, heading up towards the ladder and listening. Those men wouldn't be gone long before they discovered the bodies, so they needed to be out of this tunnel before they made their way back.
She'd gotten a brief look into the room above, to spite the light blinding her for a moment. It hadn't told her much, but she at least knew there was nothing around the door that would obstruct her. As she listened again, she heard the sounds of movement...someone walking around and...opening doors...closets..? It was hard to tell. She lifted the trapdoor slightly, and peered into the room. Her eyes spotted the man on the far end of the room, clearly unaware of her presence as he opened a locked closet, well stocked from the looks of it, and began moving things around. He wore armor, metal armor, was he a guard?!
Of course! They would never think to check a guard's private residence! They took bribes, sure. But working for the criminals, that was beyond even what a place like this would allow. And especially not criminals that refused to 'pay their dues'. If they moved quickly, they might be able to end this without a prolonged fight. She wanted to keep this quiet. She motioned to Art, and gestured to the man, asking a silent question. She quietly lifted up the trapdoor, supporting it so it wouldn't creak or slam, and allowing enough space for him to squeeze up if he wished it.
Hopefully he understood the suggestion she was making.
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Carmichal
Brigand
Booze is always an acceptable form of payment in my book.
Posts: 41
Profession: Mercenary
Affinity: Wind
Profile: Profile
OoC Alias: Marc
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Post by Carmichal on Nov 25, 2012 22:46:30 GMT -6
As Carmichal approached the tavern, the alleyway finally came into view. At first, all he could see was three men moving crates, but as they were bringing another round of boxes into the backroom, the woman revealed herself. As the men returned, she caught their attention and started talking to them. Carmichal couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but it looked like she was confronting them. For a moment it seemed as if the situation had been resolved, but the woman suddenly struck one of the men and knocked him out. Carmichal's hand went to his axe, and he almost rushed to assist her, but someone else beat him to the punch. Another man leaped over the two remaining men and dispatched them in quick succession. From what he could tell, the woman and this newcomer didn't know each other. As it would seem, Carmichal hadn't been the only one watching this woman. From what he could tell, there was at least one more person watching these events unfold, namely a small boy who had dashed in front of him. The kid seemed to think he was pretty stealthy, but he wasn't really fooling anyone. However, it made Carmichal wonder how many people were watching this woman and what their intents were. An interesting development to be sure.
When Carmichal looked back at the alley, the man and woman had already move into the backroom and the kid was moving further down the alley. Not good, Carmichal thought, That kid's gonna get himself in some serious trouble. Forgetting about the woman for a moment, Carmichal moved into the alley and towards the kid.
Approaching the kid, he said, "Be careful where you're going, kid. You don't know what's back there."
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Post by Artherus on Nov 25, 2012 23:07:21 GMT -6
Three men came tramping down the ladder. Only three? Yeesh. Even if only three of them could have somehow managed to lift and move all of those crates in one trip, there would hardly be room in this tunnel for them all. They were going to be making quite a few trips. Or in a normal situation they would have, at least. He shook his head at h ow sloppy this job was. It had been so easy to gum it up, and all it took was one person doing an investigation.
He'd have to figure out just what exactly she had been looking into that had sparked all this at some point.
As the three tromped off down the tunnel, talking amongst themselves, he disentangled himself from the shadowed alcove, stepping out near the ladder. He looked up, listening carefully for anything to watch out for. And of course, there was still someone up there. Perfect. It did sound like just one person, so that was something of a blessing, at least. One was infinitely better than the four that were here less than a minute ago.
When the trapdoor was opened, he folded his arms across his chest, content to wait and let her take the lead if she was intent on doing so. He was just here to be sneaky and handle the tricks and traps. And because he had nothing better to do. If nothing else, he could at least walk away from this with a new sword. That was always a nice plus.
When the gesture was made to him and then to the room above, he quirked an eyebrow, but he grinned. He got the message. A quick step-up onto the ladder, taking six rungs in two quick leaps, he pulled himself up through the trapdoor as silently as he could manage. He slipped his blade from its sheathe, stalking across the room in a low crouch. When he was within reach, he rose up and struck. His free hand swept out and clamped over the guard's mouth just as his blade came about and he nearly bisected the man's neck with the quick cut.
Waiting a handful of seconds for the pitiful struggling and death throes to pass, Artherus quietly lowered him to the floor. Standing upright again, he turned back to the trapdoor, and gestured to come on up.
This was definitely interesting, alright.
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Post by Nihlus on Nov 25, 2012 23:08:41 GMT -6
Nihlus let out a sigh of relief when his little outburst didn't get him caught. That was a close one, the boy would have to remember to be more careful next time. If he wanted to be a true ninja he'd have to be more quiet, more stealth like and such. Nihlus then looked over through the doorway to see what was going on. He frowned when he saw that the door was shut. Great, one of them must have closed it to get people off their backs. Nihlus was pretty sure he remembered where exactly the entrance to the trapdoor was. Now all he had to do was get in there
As he was about to make his move he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Someone was coming over here which wasn't good. What if this guy was with those men that just got killed? Oh man, Nihlus didn't want to end up like those guys! He just pretended like the man wasn't there and that all he was doing was looking in the room as if accidentally wondered down here. Nihlus also pulled out his tome and was ready to fight if he had to granted he had never used his magic to try and kill someone.
When the man finally reached him Nihlus gulped as he started to speak. The pupil let out a sigh as it seemed that the man was just looking out for Nihlus. Well that what it seemed like anyway he could just be messing with the rose haired kid until he wanted to put an end to him. "I can take care of myself mister but thanks for the concern," Nihlus said with a smile on his face as he then started to make his way toward the door. "Besides I've gotta go after these two people I saw earlier," He added as he tried to open the door. Great there was something blocking him from moving the door. What was it? "Hey wanna help a kid by seeing if you can open this door?" Nihlus asked cheerful as he still had a tight grip on his tome.
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Post by Selena on Nov 25, 2012 23:25:27 GMT -6
Selena half smiled as the nimble man seemed up to the task, sulking across the room like a shadow. In an instant, he'd silenced the corrupt guard, and laid him out rather gently on the ground. She moved out of the tunnel, closing the trapdoor behind her as she looked about the room. Cabinets, cupboards, chests, and desks. Dozens of places to hide things of note, most of them probably locked. She nodded to the man with a grin. [blue]"Nice work. Help yourself to first salvage, you've earned it. I'm not here for the smuggled goods."[/blue] She said, moving over to the desk, sorting through the paper work there. She wouldn't have very long before the other men came back, so she intended to find what she needed quickly. Something...anything to give her some idea where these weapons were coming from, or where they were going.
The search was half pointless. There were no documents saying where the weapons went from here. So...they weren't supporting specifics bandit groups. Were they just trying to make money off of them by selling to anyone? But then why go through all of this effort to hide it? She did, however, manage to find something quite interesting in the pile of scribbled notes.
[red]"Second shipment from Big J that's been light. Tell him that we'll find another supplier if he can't deliver."[/red] She read the words carefully, and noticed something. As she lifted the paper to read it, a small amount of ink shifted. It was still wet, less then an hour old. She knew the place they were getting their shipments from, that company down by the docks, but this gave her a name to look for. Someone to question to find out just where these weapons were coming from. But sneaking into a bar in mid day was one thing, a shipping company was going to be much harder. She might be able to bluff her way in the front door, but she doubted they would trust her without seeing a face they recognized. Which would mean...she might need a more subtle kind of help.
She turned to where the other man was, and spoke to him. [blue]"How do you feel about making some coin? In addition to whatever you found here. I seem to have found myself in need of someone with...subtle talents."[/blue]
After seeing him in action, she had a pretty good idea the kind of work this guy did. But, as they said, sometimes it takes a thief to catch a thief.
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Post by Artherus on Nov 25, 2012 23:51:09 GMT -6
"Not exactly my favored part of the job," he admitted with a vague shrug, doing his best to wipe the blood from his blade. "But hey, sometimes it's necessary." He checked the blade for a moment, ensuring it was wiped clean, before resheathing it. The mention of first salvage brought a grin to his face. Trying not to seem too obvious about how eager he was, he turned on one heel and went about his own personal business. He didn't quite disregard the woman entirely, not quite trusting her any more than she apparently trusted him, but he kept just enough awareness of what she was doing to avoid anything....unpleasant.
His rooting about amongst everything in the room went unrewarded for a short while, finding nothing of value immediately. He went back to the guard himself, and after unceremoniously rooting through his pockets, came up with his coin purse. Well, that was definitely a start. He tossed it up once, catching it in his hand as he stood up, and stowing it away somewhere among the folds of his cloak.
The next prize he came across was a small bag of what looked like gems of some sort. Well now that was interesting. They were all small, tiny things, probably not worth much...at least alone. He wasn't the best when it came to pricing gemstones and the like, but he suspected the entire bag might fetch at least a few coins. He briefly wondered how the guard had come by something like this, and cast the corpse a curious glance. "Liked to collect shiny things, I'll bet." The sparkling highlights on his armor said that quite clearly.
Tucking his second prize into his belt, he looked up as he was spoken to again. More coin, eh? Now that sounded like a nice idea... He certainly didn't object to payment. Who in their right mind would? But the question of it all was, of course, what kind of work it would involve. But if things did turn out to go down a road he didn't find enticing, he could very easily cut and run. He was quite good at that.
"Well, a tempting offer." He tapped at his chin, making a show of considering the offer, even though he already had his answer. "I suppose I don't have any other obligations to attend to."
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Carmichal
Brigand
Booze is always an acceptable form of payment in my book.
Posts: 41
Profession: Mercenary
Affinity: Wind
Profile: Profile
OoC Alias: Marc
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Post by Carmichal on Nov 26, 2012 0:45:46 GMT -6
Carmichal coked an eyebrow at the kid's response. It was a surprising amount of tenacity from one so small. The kid reminded the brigand of himself at that age, rambunctious, brave, and a little stupid. Although the kid was a lot smaller and scrawnier than he had been, but that couldn't be helped. He could tell that no matter what he said, this kid was gonna stick by his decision. Besides, Carmichal was just as curious to discover what the man and woman were up to. He would just have to keep a close eye on the kid and make sure no harm came to him.
"Alright, kid, but when we get inside, make sure you stay close to me. I don't know what's on the other side of that door, but it probably won't be friendly." With that, Carmichal turned towards the door. He set himself, the sprinted headlong at the door, throwing his weight into his shoulder. He collided with the door, pushing it open about half-way and spilling the crate. A quick scan of the room revealed that it was unoccupied and only a few crates sat around the room. Otherwise, there was nothing of interest. He turned back to the kid and motioned for him to enter. "We're all clear in here. It's safe to come in. By the way, you got a name?"
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Post by Selena on Nov 26, 2012 17:35:50 GMT -6
Selena had a feeling the man wouldn't refuse the chance of more coin. [blue]"Good, let's get out of here before those idiots come back then. I'll explain on the way."[/blue] She said, moving to the door and listening for sounds on the other side. She wasn't sure why, their search had been loud enough, since time was a factor. When she heard only the usual port sounds, she nodded and opened the door, slipping out with the other man behind her.
She started down the road towards the docks, she knew where she was going now. [blue]"I'm looking into the weapon trafficking, and I found a solid lead connecting them to the Silverwing Shipment Company, down on the docks. But, I cannot imagine that place will be as easy to get into as this was, so I might need someone with a bit more experience...going to places he isn't supposed to."[/blue] She said, ducking into a side street. She knew enough to see that entering the place from the main road was going to be impossible. Easily accessible rear entrances would be similarly guarded or sealed. But perhaps this man had a trick or two up his sleeves.
[blue]"If my guess is right, that is something you are better at. So I want you to find a way in, preferably without alerting every inch of hired muscle in the place. When, where and how, that's your job. I'll follow your lead until we find who I am looking for. I'm not picky on life or death of those involved, though I'd prefer not bringing a fight into the front room."[/blue] She chuckled darkly. [blue]"Something tells me the thought of that never crossed your mind."[/blue]
Time to see what this man was capable of. This should prove interesting.
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Post by Nihlus on Nov 26, 2012 18:13:54 GMT -6
Nihlus messed with the door some more as he waited for a response from the man. What was on the other side of this door anyway? A whale? Once more the young boy tried to see if he could force his way in before he gave up on it. He turned his head quickly to the man as he began to speak. "Awesome! Thanks man!" He exclaimed as he made a big smile. The man was going to help him despite the fact that Nihlus was being a nosy little kid. Nihlus stepped aside and watched as the man did his magic. He watched with a big grin on his face as the man used his body to take care of that door like it was nothing, nice! Without any hesitation Nihlus followed behind the man that just bulldozed the door blocking his way.
"Nice job big guy," He said as he carefully stepped over the aftermath of the door coming down. As he passed the man the patted him on the back and then started to inspect the floor. He of course head the man's question about his name but Nihlus wasn't sure if he should give it to him. "The name's Nihlus and you should probably see whatever fell out of that crate maybe something useful," The rose haired boy said as he started to step around the floor where he figured the trapdoor was. "What's yours?" He asked in response as he finally found the place where the trapdoor was. Happy, the boy lifted the floorboard and peered down it.
Boy it was much darker than he had expected it to be. "Once you're done over there I've found something that might be interesting," The pupil said happily as he continued to look down the passage way he revealed. In order to safely traverse that passage they'd need some kind of light. Maybe some fire magic could help or if there was torch or something. Well as soon as his big friend was ready Nihlus was ready to hop down.
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Post by Artherus on Nov 26, 2012 18:29:48 GMT -6
"As fine a suggestion as any." Getting out of here was definitely a good idea at this point. They hadn't exactly made excess noise, but it hadn't all been completely silent, either. Sticking around would only tempt fate to drop in another guard coming to talk to his dead compatriot, or the goons sent to grab the shipment to come back at the most inopportune time possible. Neither situation in and of itself was all that bad, but the noise it would make....ugh, that was where things would get nasty, and fast.
And so he waited until the woman gave the clear sign and slipped out the door, and darted out close behind her. He carefully shut the door behind himself, and turned on one heel, falling in with his companion-for-the-moment, listening carefully to what he'd signed himself on to do.
Oh boy, this was going to be interesting!
"Silverwing, eh..." And now his perhaps not so finely-honed mind went to work. He'd passed the building more than once from something of a distance, but never really stopped to get a good look at it. He never considered the task of actually needing to break in to such a large, likely relatively well-guarded facility. He'd be making this up on the fly as he went, then. Perfect....that was his specialty.
Her insinuation that he was good at getting in where he wasn't supposed to be brought a low, amused laugh from him. She was right, of course. What thief worth half his salt wouldn't be? Bad ones, probably....common pickpockets with no class.
Talk of a fight earned a grin from him, but he just shook his head. "It was quite far from my mind, indeed." Fighting was messy, noisy, unpleasant business. He preferred to avoid it when he had the opportunity. Luckily, he had all the opportunity to do just that with this task. Fighting was actually discouraged, and would just cause more problems than it was worth, more likely than not.
"Alright, then. Let's get started."
And with that, he quickened his pace, letting his mind go to work even further with what limited information he had. The building, from what he'd seen of it, was a large thing, partly out over the water. At least two large warehouses for storing cargo and shipments in between the actual shipping parts. He'd seen a handful of guards at each of said warehouses, and at least one man loitering around the entrance to the main building.
Good thing they weren't going through the front door.
If it had been up to him, he'd have taken a dive and gone in from underneath. Who would actually expect that? Or maybe the windows would be a good choice.... They could always try the back door. It was statistically going to be less guarded than the front entrance. It might be locked, of course, but a lock had never stopped him before. They might even try a worker's entrance...he'd seen at least one of them.
So many choices, not a one decision on which one to actually take. What a thing to be indecisive over.... Okay, okay, time for narrowing the options down. The front door was completely out of the option, that was a concrete fact at this point. Any windows would be a good enough choice, if they weren't in plain sight of the main street. The rear entrance was, as always, a good choice, guards excluded. Side and worker's entrances would probably be a no-go, unless it was a slow day.
Looked like their entrance was clear enough. And just in time, too. The building in question loomed ahead, and just as he'd figured, the front entrance was guarded. A single guard was outside, but he could guess they had a good four or five more on call just inside the doors. Shady business was apparently worth a little extra muscle. He'd really gotten himself into something this time, that was for sure.
"Think I've got our route in," he announced, slowing his pace slightly.His gaze swept over the front of the building, around to the side. Perfect....it was nice and dark in the shadow of the building.
Just the type of conditions he liked to work in.
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Post by Selena on Nov 26, 2012 19:41:50 GMT -6
Selena wasn't watching the building, she was watching for people. As the man scouted the area, doing what he did best, she kept her eyes alert and attentive, making sure the two of them wouldn't be observed too closely by anyone. It seemed pointless, the two of them were plenty inconspicuous in a place like this. They just looked like run of the mill sell swords, and there was nothing even noteworthy of that.
Whatever plan he was concocting, he kept it silent for the most part as he observed the area. He made his declaration, but didn't expand on it any further. She'd guessed right on this one, he had an eye for the details needed for this kind of work. It did bother her a bit to employ a thief, but he seemed decent enough...for now.
At least he hadn't tried to stab her in the back for her coin, yet. Though if he knew what she was, he likely wouldn't be so willing to tag along. The thought made her half grin, that would be amusing. A former knight acting as a vigilante in a town of pirates and cut purses. As long as she kept some coins in front of his nose, she didn't figure she'd have too much to worry about with him, and after this job she'd be done with him... in all likelihood.
[blue]"Well, lead on then."[/blue] She said back to him, following his lead as casually as she could manage.
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Post by Artherus on Nov 26, 2012 20:40:32 GMT -6
He cast a long, searching glance at her out of the corner of his eye. He'd seen enough already to know something was just a bit....off about her. She was far from just your commonplace, run of the mill sellsword. It was a curiosity, at best. He didn't really care too much what she was. Coin was coin, regardless of the source it came from. She was just lucky he was such a fine, upstanding gentleman. He'd had several opportunities already to stab her in the back, both figuratively and literally.
But that would have just been rude.
He turned his attention back front as she said to lead on, and did just that. Keeping his pace casual, as if he were going right where he was supposed to be, he strolled right toward the building, and around the corner. Sticking close to the building wall, where the shadows were deepest, he made his way along quickly and quietly, not even bothering to sneak or look as if he were trying not to be seen. The chances of actually being seen weren't exactly high regardless, but best to avoid tempting fate.
From somewhere within his cloak, he produced his lockpicks, idly twirling them around one finger as he went, like a ring of keys. Catching them firmly to silence the light jingling they made as they neared the object of his purpose here, he strode right up to the rear door to the main building. Carefully, he leaned in close to the door, placing his ear against it, and listened intently for a handful of moments.
He sighed inwardly. Of course. It was guarded too. There were only two, from what he could hear, and....if he was any judge of direction, they both had their backs to the door. If they were quick enough, they should be able to slip in and dispose of both of them before they even know the door had been opened.
Just the way he liked it to go down.
Flicking through his lockpicks, he went to work on the door. In the handful of seconds he did so, he turned his eyes to the woman. "There's two of them on the other side of the door. Sounds like they aren't even paying attention. Should be easy to take them both out quick and quiet." The door unlocked itself with a barely audible snick. and Artherus grinned lightly, stowing his picks away again, slowly drawing out his blade once more. "Take your pick of which moron to take down." With his free hand, he slowly opened the door, pushing it just slightly open.
Turning to the woman, he nodded in the affirmative. "Your lead this time."
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Post by Selena on Nov 27, 2012 22:31:37 GMT -6
Selena kept her eyes open as the man worked, but kept herself more then a sword distance from him. She didn't trust him, and he likely didn't trust her. There was no need to make him more stressed with such delicate work, lest he make a mistake. She need not have worried, it seemed, as the door silently clicked and he slowly pushed it open. The two guards seemed half asleep, standing there and not really paying any attention. Who ever heard of standing guard with your back to the door? They seemed to be arguing about something.
[red]"...never fails. We get a good place and the boss has to up and move us. We've only had this place for two months, and they already wanna change shops."[/red]
[green]"Yeah, you know how paranoid Big J is, always thinks someone is out to get him. Gotta hand it to em, they haven't gotten wise yet."[/green]
Selena snuck up behind the one of the left, creeping around a table to do so as she raised her sword.
[blue]"...Spoke too soon."[/blue] She whispered sweetly as she brought the pommel down onto the back of the man's neck, making him fall like a sack of wheat. The other man turned in shock as he saw her, and went for his weapon.
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Post by Artherus on Nov 28, 2012 16:21:37 GMT -6
With some curiosity, he listened in on what the two guards seemed to be arguing about. Apparently there was a bit of job dissatisfaction going on. Their boss was sounding a bit paranoid about something or other. How quaint. His interest was just getting more and more piqued the longer he stuck around. But now it was time to get down to business. As the woman snuck around to the left guard, Artherus silently crept around behind the other one, his arm drawn back and ready to strike. He waited until the man was distracted with his ally falling and went to draw his weapon before he struck.
He barely had time to get a solid grip on his weapon when Artherus caught him blindside, his blade flashing up and striking him in the back of the neck. There was a moment of stiffness, where his eyes widened in surprise, then he slumped soundlessly down. Artherus looked momentarily troubled -- he'd missed by a fraction of an inch or so where he had been actually aiming for with that blow, an instant death-dealing strike -- but it passed quickly.
"Very streamlined operation they're running here." The sarcasm in his voice was clear as day, as was his distaste for the entire situation.
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