Hearing the responses from his help, he inwardly sighs. This was going to be a hard day indeed. Saito gets a good look at the holoprojector user to discern which is the real form and which are the copies. It takes a second but Saito sees it. A lot of time spent working in conjunction with other holoprojector users when he was attached to the ISS meant he learnt the signs to tell the real from the fakes. Knowing this now, he gently tells his team mates that they are drugged, that only the man aiming at Samira, the SMG guy and the one carrying Lauren are real, the other two are fake. That help is on the way and they need to grapple with their targets. Saito on the other hand mentally prepares himself. He's so happy he didn't have the time to take off his spektr armour. He cautiously maneuvers himself into the right position to launch himself at the intruder carrying THEIR mark, in inward breath and then Saito launches off the lounge right at his chosen target. Giving everyone the sign to strike, he hopes that the others can at least hold their own while he goes to work on the surprised intruder, drawing his weapon to attack.
Saito slashes hard at the soldier holding Lauren in his arms as he launches past the Ayyar but the Ayyar is no slouch either, quickly retraining his viral pistols at the now bodyguard. Saito cops a viral round to the shoulder hampering his swing just enough to not penetrate too deeply into the leg of his target but the other shot hits his target anyway. That will do something at least he thinks to himself as he pivots around to continue his combo. But just as quick as he is, the Hassassins are equally quick as the SMG wielder and the one carrying Lauren activate their ODD and flee the room with the Ayyar redeploying his echoes to stand in his path. "Be wise and accept your defeat." Such words... From the Ayyar. They were so matter of fact, Saito knows how effective Hassassins are and how wise. BUT... in a strange way too predictable by half. It was obvious even without studying the mirror images which was the real one. The Ayyar was in the door way itself. Any other course was illogical, unwise. To the Hassassins, that was anathema. Relaying this to his teammates over the tacnet and his intention to ram into and past the Ayyar to freedom and the pursuit of Lauren. With the consent of his teammates flashing over the tacnet, they each help the ex-ninja as he charges straight at the Hassassin, shoulder barging him out of the way. Knocking the Ayyar off balance enough to avoid a counterattack, Saito runs out of the room towards the other opponents down the hall, sword in hand. But he can't help himself throwing a jibe in at the figure as he leaves. "Hah, you lot are 'wise' but too predictable by half." Over the tacnet. Sorry guys and gal. I'll leave him with you, i'll chase after Lauren's captors. He also instructs Shadow to keep Gota up to date on the pursuit details so that his men can intercept. Material should at least get to the hotel room. Oh crap. A stray thought comes into his head. I hope the guys know to conceal the biografts so we have a bargaining tool for Material's help.
As the ninja was hoofing it down the hall someone stepped out from the stairway access door. They let the one carrying Loren go right by them. Saito quickly released it was another Hassassin. Dressed in the same dark clothing as the others but with an unmistakable helmet design... they were a Govad and in there hands was a boarding shotgun. The SMG guy quickly backpedaled away from Saito before the world erupted in muzzle flashes and deafening gunshots. If it wasn't for a last second dive the boarding shotgun would of most likely torn his left leg to pieces. However, SMG rounds peppered Saito's body and left arm. The ninja felt his left arm go numb and slack and his breathing was ragged as blood quickly exited his body through more holes then one would like to be aware of. It wasn't exactly superhuman toughness that made Saito press on. It was old and painful memories of a failed mission. He used the momentum from his dive to roll towards the stairway access, quickly descended down, and burst through the exit. He could see the one holding Loren was about to load her up into a transport Energia Zond. Before the hostile could even think about retaliating Saito decapitated him with his sword. The body collapsed to the ground and in doing so dropped Loren who was still way too drugged to do anything. The weight of Saito's wounds were starting to come back and he was barely holding on to consciousness. He knew he wouldn't be able to move Loren. Instead he detached Spot, his spotbot, from his belt and connected it to Loren's back. It was the only piece of gear that Saito on him that could be easily tracked. Spot changed it's color to pink and tried its best to look like a small embedded hard case pack. Saito finally let the sweet embrace of darkness take him as he slipped into unconsciousness. ++++ Saito awoke in a hospital. His eyes tried to focus and look around the room. He saw Padre and Taisa were both asleep. Samira was reading something in AR. Kenn and Igor were patiently waiting by the ninja's bed side. He awaited the news about Loren. She was fine. Material Johnson had contacted some bounty hunters and they followed Spot's signal to the lower decks of Bakunin. When they arrived they found the Hassassin had been dealt with by somebody else first. Whoever it was left a mess as the Hassassin were expertly dissected apart. They had left Loren there though. Saito knew that was the handiwork of Oniwaban Gota. His contacts were really paying off this time around. Before he could ask, Samira told Saito that Material Johnson was happy to close his case. A thank you was waiting in Saito's bank account. It was decided that the team would wait until Saito could travel before they escorted Loren back home. A few weeks later they were on Varuna handing Loren back over to her parents and with orders from the SDA to enjoy the beaches and sunshine with a very well deserved vacation. ++++ Maya Front Page News BREAKING NEWS: Heiress of a prominent lobbyist family reunited after a wild ride spanning from Varuna to Bakunin. It would seem like it was taken straight out of neo-noir holo-film, but no! It really did happen. Join us as we uncover what went down here at PanOptik, your essential Maya channel! The Private Eyes of Tunguska: Is the Sunz Detective Agency one of Tunguska's best kept secrets? This private investigation firm has been at the forefront of some of the biggest cases in the last couple of years. We're going to give you a deep dive into their operations and exploits here on Profiling the Wild Side of the Human Sphere, a show you can enjoy on CoreNet: the channel that dares! Arachne BREAKING NEWS: Multiple black labs have seen their staff disappear or turn up dead (as in true death) over the last two weeks. The Nomad Military Force has deployed Vipera Pursuit Force teams to contain and track down the instigators. More information is available on BIBLIOTEK. Underground Five: We've been keeping up with the news about the recent black lab kidnappings and assassinations. Rumors are swirling and the truth is being heavily obscured but we have it on good authority that many of the these scientists were doing researching involving alien technology. [That is the official end of Sunz of VaudeVille! Thank you to the players for coming and playing in the infinity universe with me for a third time.]
