RoT: Part 2 (John - Victoria)

Victoria was paired with John, which came as no surprise. He required more observation to determine whether he was a fit for Thrones, and observing was a strong point of Victoria's. Of course, She already knew some of all the applicants. Those dossiers her queen had didn't put themselves together after all, Chelle was smart enough to know how important knowledge was in these kinds of affairs. Of course loyalty was one thing, and ability was another.

Victoria followed John into the limo. For now, observation was more important than accomplishing the given task. Victoria had already proven her worth to Thrones after all. "I should remind you that there are several tasks we've set to accomplish before we arrive at our destination." She said without emotion as she entered the car. She didn't really acknowledge the car's original occupant, though she noticed as John handed off his instructions. "Is this boy going to be taking your test for you John? I should think a Thrones member is generally expected to take care of his own tasks." Her British accent filled the car and quickly faded into the soft interior. She had a decidingly bored tone. Certainly she recognized why she should be paired with this one, but it was still a bit of a chore. "I have a record of perfection. I'd advise you don't bring me down."

Victoria didn't acknowledge the drop in temperature in the car. Mostly because she had no way of noticing it, although goosebumps did form on her artificial skin. She remained silent for the ride, though a curious half smile decorated her face. They soon arrived near the warehouse that was her destination.

Kevin watched from behind a corner as a very out of place Limousine pulled in and dropped off two passengers. Seemed crazy, but he recognized the woman getting out as the description of his target. The information hadn't been cheap, but if it was on the money then whatever this woman was carrying would be worth a hundred times what he paid. He didn't actually know what it was, but his information guy had never lead him wrong before. Who knew what these crazy rich types met in the middle of a bunch of warehouses to buy and sell. Once the limo drove off, he made his move.

Victoria daintily stepped out of the vehicle, her boot heals clicking on the paved ground. A quick breeze lifted her hair, though it didn't have the strength to push her heavy jacket. Shortly after the limo drove off, a group of 7 large masked men appeared from behind a building. Three brandished assault rifles, and the rest made their possession of various handguns obvious as they all trained their weapons on Victoria. A few shifted their aim, regarding John warily. Victoria continued her slight smile. Sometimes it false information was worth more when you were selling. If you knew how, you could get anything down the grapevine. The man in the lead barked out some orders. "Both of you, strip now! Give us everything you've got and get on the ground, or we'll put you in the ground understand?" Victoria casually ran a hand through her short blonde hair and spoke softly over her shoulder at John. "Well, it looks like you have your woman in distress. Better rescue her."

"Hmm" Victoria looked at John's handiwork. Not many ice manipulators who can block bullets. She touch two fingers to the icewall and a very slight hissing sound was lost in the noise of the fight as the freezing wall burned the tips of her fingers. Apparently the six men who were still armed weren't interesting in letting Victoria examine the density and composition of the spontaneously appearing ice, as one man decided to act first and fired off two shots from his glock at Victoria. Suddenly the "dainty" woman moved faster than the human eye could follow, shifting her position just enough that the bullets flew right by her crashing harmlessly into the ice behind her. As she spun to avoid the second shot a bullet of her own flew out so quickly her firearm wasn't even seen leaving the comfort of her jacket. The offending shooter screamed, more in surprise than pain, as his trigger finger flew into the air now separated from his hand by Victoria's bullet. "I suppose there's no harm if the woman in distress helps out a tad."

The man who had found himself with 9 fingers dropped his gun, and turned around and ran deciding this fight wasn't worth it. Victoria let him be, she didn't exactly need a dead body for anything as far as she knew. As the group of now 5 armed men tried to use their numbers to surround the two strangers Victoria noticed one of the rifle wielders eyes pointed towards John as he raised his weapon. Victoria quickly made her way to him dodging a few bullets on the way as if it were an easy thing to do. By the time his trigger had already begun its journey to the firing postion. "Oh well, no time for finesse." Victoria thought. She quickly placed her left hand over the barrel of the rifle as it began to fire. A loud metallic bang was heard as the bullets ricocheted off her hand and backfired into the rifle. The assailant yelled aloud as a piece of his gun launched itself into his shoulder, and Victoria responded by producing one of her three-barreled 18-shot revolvers and pistol whipping him across the face. Smoke rose from her left hand as the man crumpled, but before he hit the ground she produced the pistol's twin and fired behind her, taking the trigger finger of a handgun-wielder that had found his way behind John. Victoria had no need for a body, especially not her partner's. Besides, Chelle would not likely appreciate it if Victoria allowed a new recruit to be injured.

Three armed men remained in front of the ice wall, one unarmed man who wasn't sure what to do, and one 9-fingered man attempting to flee the scene.

"Now." Victoria said, examining her hand. The smell of gundpowder and burnt flesh emanated from it, a large shredded hold of fabric and skin led to a patch of metal underneath. She dusted off her jacket and continued. "We head a short distance southeast to obtain some explosives and fulfill the next part of our trial. It should only take three minutes and 46 seconds if we travel at your average walk speed. Unless of course another group has stumbled across the arms deal first, but given our head start that seems unlikely."

Victoria began walking in the aforementioned direction without turning to make sure John was actually following. They made their way down empty streets and alleys between the almost identical warehouses. If one didn't know better, they could swear they were passing the same place over and over. Victoria remained silent for a while, but eventually broke it with a question. "So why sign up for this job anyway? Just trying to make your fortune?" She said, still not looking back. "Forgive me for saying, but you don't really seem like the type."

After a brief walk and conversation they arrived at their destination. Curiously, it was almost like a mirrored version of their first situation. Now they were peeking from behind a corner at a group of some sort of organized criminals somewhere in the middle of a transaction. The difference in dress and attitude made it obvious who the sellers were. On one side a plain black car was parked, with a group of tall muscular Caucasians, definitely not quite from around here, held a large unmarked case. They spoke with heavy Russian accents as they attempted to finish their deal with the other party, who looked more like the kind of thugs they had dealt with earlier. Local crew trying to up the ante with more firepower. The sellers had four people, while the locals numbered five. Victoria spoke in a hushed tone. "Hmmm, we have the advantage of stealth this time. I wonder, how would you handle this?" She asked John, though she expected his reply to be more action than words.

"Freedom huh?" Victoria started to realize maybe this John and her had more in common than she may have thought. Although this perhaps wasn't the best time to discuss such things, as the large group's attention turned to them. Victoria fired off what seemed like one shot, and both of the last able-bodied Russian's trigger fingers flew behind him. It was a trick Victoria was using frequently today it seemed, but it was effective. She then raced out from behind their cover guns blazing. She hadn't intended to steal the show, but she'd much rather make conversation than watch John dispatch some thugs she was already well aware he was capable of dealing with. Her revolvers let loose from her jackets, firing one after another before the group of five could even aim to shoot. Bullets hit to cripple, taking out hands and kneecaps. In a few short moments all five were on the ground bleeding and moaning, assuming they were still conscious. Victoria, satisfied they were disabled, turned her attention to the two cases. The smaller briefcase held 10,000 dollars in stacks of 100's. The larger case held ten modern-looking fragmentation grenades.

"You're entitled to your share of course, assuming you have need for money or explosives." She said, while spiriting half of the grenades away to some compartment in her jacket. Then she slowly walked over in silence to secure her share of the money. She broke the silence for the first time with something to say that didn't seem business-like. "I can relate, you know. Before you were born to this earth, I lived for years without the freedom to even think for myself. I was a construct built to serve a country during a war." She spoke without looking at John "It's worth the price. Freedom that is. If you ever require any assistance in obtaining it,...you may consider me an ally." It was an odd thing to Victoria, she hadn't to date done any work for free. Yet, she knew what it was to lack your own freedom. She suddenly found a strange desire to help this person, simply because she could relate to his situation. It was bizarre indeed. She stood up, having secure her share. "Well, we should get to our rendezvous once you're finished taking what you need."