Twisted

The pursuit was on, while Rebecca and Sasha chased for the first sniper, Ori went for the second, leaping from the float and grapple-hooking up the building with his Monowire, stabbing the kunai attachments to create points to launch from. Combined with his Sandevistan, he reached the rooftop in barely under ten seconds.

He flies up and rolls as he hits the rooftop, his ankle propulsion Cyberware activates the next second and he blasts towards the opposite side of the building before sliding to a stop. His eyes dart frantically, scanning everything and everyone, through the windows of the opposite building to the street far below.

Civilians, low-level criminals, corpos... None of them was what he was looking for, the assassin couldn't have escaped so quickly unless they had a sandevistan faster than even David's...

There! He notices a faint indentation a hundred yards down the road just under a window. The dust from it hadn't completely settled, and the damage itself wasn't simply wear and tear.

He leaps over the street and lifts the unsurprisingly unlocked window before slipping inside... Only to then tilt his head as a mantas blade skewers the position his eye had just been.

"Painted black combat suit with a Militech helmet, for all your attempts to-" he parries another blade with the back of his armoured hand, "-Conceal your identity, you're leaving a lot to show." he drawls almost boredly, catching and snapping the next stab aiming for his heart.

He twirls the blade in his fingers for a moment before stabbing them into the other mantis blade, specifically the failsafe mechanism designed to stop the user from accidentally castrating themselves while taking a piss. With it severed, the blade instantly retracts into the arm, forcing the assassin to draw the dagger on his hip.

Another stab aimed at his neck, he grabs the blade and brings it to a halt, but the assassin lets go and leaps backwards... Ori throws the dagger and the assassin doesn't even react, taking it to the neck which spills white synthetic blood. Not that the fatal blow mattered, given the faint beeping he could hear from the guy's chest. "Suicide bomb? Not today." he growls, using his sandy and punching through the guy's chest and grabbing his heart.

*SQUELCH!*

Still in accelerated time, he spots the beeping device attached to the side of the organ and runs outside, throwing it high into the sky...

*BOOOOM!*

Windows shatter, car alarms shout, and people scatter. The bomb would've been strong enough to collapse the entire building, which wouldn't have boded well for the huge crowds below it.

Unfortunately, while he'd managed to get rid of the 'insurance' of the assassin, he'd had to kill the guy in the process... If luck was on their side Yorinobu would be able to find something from the guy's identity, but he doubted.

[Rebecca, Sasha, grabbed your guy yet?] - Ori

[Fucking shit! Yeah, but the asshole flatlined himself!] - Rebecca

[Another bomb?] - Ori

[Yeah, but Sasha and Lucy deactivated it... Didn't stop the guy from blowing his own brains out! Fucker!] - Rebecca

[Is Yorinobu secure?] - Ori

[Should be, he and Smasher made off with the float back to the landing sight.] - Kiwi

[Good, get Judy to send an AV, our job is to make sure Yorinobu isn't killed today, parade or not we'll fulfil it. Oh, and get the clean-up teams, they'll want the bodies.] - Ori

------------------

Ori grunts as he hops into the AV from the apartment window, joining the rest of the crew in the cabin. Has Kiwi or Lucy heard any updates?"

"Nah... Nothing apparently..." Rebecca shrugs.

"Arasaka will have put up jammers around the VIP in case someone infiltrated."

"Hah, doubt anyone could do something with Smasher about." Leo remarks while impatiently tapping his pistol on his knee. "Guy's a fuckin' monster, even locked up you'll know that... Especially locked up."

"Not shit, no one fucks with the borg of borgs." Rebecca snarks, and quit that or you'll not have to worry about accidentally shooting your tool off." she growls, snatching Leo's gun from him.

"Hey!"

*Zip!*

David's form flickers as retrieves the gun and drops it in Leo's lap with super speed. "Chooms, let's focus on the terrorist attack, yeah?"

"Mind your own biz, Dimples! I'm as focused as possible... Actually, more than that! I'm ultra-focussed!"

Ori sighs and bangs on the wall connecting the cabin from the cockpit, signalling the Sekaiheiwa pilot to get moving.

"You four still good to go? I'm not putting it past whoever did this to try a bomb next." he asks.

"You really think so?" David questions rather sceptically.

"Never know with Corpos, he's the CEO of Arasaka, most of the world probably wants a piece of him." he looks

Ori steps to the side and glances at the cam displaying the outside, the facility Yorinobu's float had entered looked fine, no units scrambling, no smoke, no nothing. Meant the man was probably secured. Probably.

Once they land Ori leads the crew through the place and into the offices where Yorinobu should be, he pushes past the Arasaka guards and spots the large form of Adam Smasher standing protectively in front of a door.

"Meat, 'boss wants to see you." the borg gestures at the door.

...

Ori nods at his team and steps inside, finding Yorinobu sitting in a chair facing the window. "Any ideas on who tried to kill you? It'd help narrow the list down at least."

...

"Yorinobu?" he asks, stepping forwards at the man's lack of response. He spins the chair around and feels his breath falter. Yorinobu's eyes were glasses, his throat torn out and his kimono completely covered in blood. Realisation hits him instantly... "Oh, shit."

*BANGBANGBANG!*

*THUD!*

*CRASH!*

Ori kicks the door open and sees Smasher with his fist embedded into a wall, Rebecca on the floor nearby with David standing over her.

"Sandevistan? A rudimentary implant." the borg growls and pulls out his arm, causing part of the wall to collapse into itself.