edonil Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 It's a simple thing to kill a man, Phelan reflected. Poison in a cup, a stab through the heart, bullet in the brainpan...the task itself isn't complicated. Getting to the moment where the task can be accomplished? Little more problematic. Especially in a place like Malifaux, where even a merchant has more bodyguards than a lord back home. He looked out over the city block from his rooftop, and kept his eye out for the target. He had been given some incredibly precise intelligence on the man, almost disturbingly accurate considering the task at hand. There was a voice in the back of his head that wouldn't quite shut up about that fact, but he'd worry about it later. Everyday right around this time, the merchant wandered through this section of the city on the way to his office. It was fairly isolated, with little traffic, which probably explained both the selection of the route and the bodyguards, five of them. Six to one odds weren't the best he'd worked with in his time, but he was confident that, with good planning, this would work. "And...here we go," he said softly as a group of people entered the street. One merchant, in a far fancier outfit than he expected, but the man's face matched the description, along with five bodyguards dressed in various outfits. Only two of them shared a uniform, brown leather armor with full head masks. Those two had the casual walk of professionals, carefully and unobtrusively checking their surroundings. The other three were much more raw at this kind of thing, and the mismatching of their dress seemed to indicate they were most likely hired guns there to draw fire from the professionals and the merchant. Phelan carefully climbed down from his rooftop, immensely grateful for the fact that the street was long. He pulled a pair of gloves onto his hands, and grabbed his long warknife in his right hand. Pressing up against the wall of the alley he was hiding in, he looked around the corner, estimating the best time for his strike. Priority targets would be the masked professionals, then disabling the merchant so he could be dealt with after the fodder. The group passed without seeing him, and he reached down, picking up a stone, which he threw against the wall across from him. CRACK! The professionals turned as one, hands resting on the butts of their pistols. One of them pulled his gun out, and said something Phelan couldn't understand. The group stopped as the one came over to check. Phelan smiled, stepping back into the shadows. One nice thing about professional bodyguards- they did things by the book. As a matter of fact, it really was an excellent book, as far as such things go. Unfortunately for the man getting closer, Phelan was familiar with the patterns. The bodyguard led with his pistol, keeping it in line with his vision. As the man put his arm forward into the alley, Phelan took another careful step back, focusing hard on the timing. The bodyguard stepped fully in, and Phelan reached out with his free hand, grabbing the man's arm and tugging him forward, knife angled up into the man's throat. The mask muffled the man's death rattle, and the assassin carefully lowered the dead man to the ground, warm blood gushing onto the ground. "One," he whispered. He flicked his wrist, dropping a throwing dagger from his sleeve into his hand. This was where it all got risky, when the bodyguards' curiosity turned to adrenaline as they realized what was happening. Phelan took a deep breath, and stepped into the street, flicking the dagger at the other professional. The dagger spun end over end, and glanced off a ridge of metal plating he hadn't seen before, prompting a curse. "For the Freikorps," the bodyguard yelled, drawing his pistol and firing a snapshot that scratched a line of blood across Phelan's cheek. The wound wasn't so bad, but the impact still snapped him around and he stumbled onto the ground. He rolled, trying to get back onto his feet before the pistol fired again, but failed. The Freikorps trooper's aim was off, and the bullet burrowed into the cobblestone street. Phelan bolted forward, burying his hand in a pouch at his waist as he slid past the trooper and got briefly in front of the merchant. The gloved hand came out, and tossed a handful of dust into the merchant's face, who immediately starting coughing and swearing, as the powder got in his eyes and sucked into his lungs. A triumphant smile briefly lit the assassin's lips, then was suddenly replaced by a look of momentary panic as one of the fodder grabbed him and threw him into a nearby wall. The impact broke his nose, and blood began pouring down his face. “Dammit,” he yelled as he stumbled backwards, reaching toward his face with his free hand. He caught himself barely in time to dodge past a clumsy sword stroke, then immediately had to duck under another. Two of the fodder were ganging up on him, but their efforts to work together were clumsy. The pain of his broken nose was searing through his system, causing him to slow down by mere fractions that would eventually kill him if he didn't do something about it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absolution Black Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 excellent once more! Seems a pretty pickle phelan has got himself into already! More please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucklemonkey Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Some very nice work. I have just been moaning about how I can't write action and combat sequences, then I head over here and see how it should be done. Looking forward to part 3! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 Thanks for the kind comments. I have to admit, this wasn't at all the original plot path I had figured out...as with so many other times of writing, my characters start (early and often) to defy any sense of planning and grab the wheel to the car... @Chucklemonkey- If you want to improve your combat and action sequences, the best books that I've found for a way to do combat that is engaging, quick, and not overwhelmingly detailed are Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts, or his Eisenhorn and Ravenor series, and also RA Salvatore's Drizzt books, at least the early ones. There's an odd balance that takes a while to figure out of how much detail do you put in, and how much do you leave alone. I hope to have part 3 done either tonight or tomorrow, but we'll see if life agrees with that plan... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absolution Black Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 Thanks for the kind comments. I have to admit, this wasn't at all the original plot path I had figured out...as with so many other times of writing, my characters start (early and often) to defy any sense of planning and grab the wheel to the car... @Chucklemonkey- If you want to improve your combat and action sequences, the best books that I've found for a way to do combat that is engaging, quick, and not overwhelmingly detailed are Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts, or his Eisenhorn and Ravenor series, and also RA Salvatore's Drizzt books, at least the early ones. There's an odd balance that takes a while to figure out of how much detail do you put in, and how much do you leave alone. I hope to have part 3 done either tonight or tomorrow, but we'll see if life agrees with that plan... Agree with the Gaunts Ghosts ones..havent read the rest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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