Prior to the breach, the armed men patrolling the grand lobby of Bertie Baker's safe house had diligently kept their guards up, though several of them were getting rather bored. In their line of work, not only were they being paid well by their boss, but their job was relatively simple on most days, provided no one tried to storm the safe house. Shifts would often consist of them walking across the same set of hallways multiple times per day---with occasional trades every few hours to ensure rest breaks---all for a meaty paycheck at the end of it all. Nine times out of ten, no one came, and that would be the end of it; they would've simply gotten paid, then gone home to start the cycle again in the morning. It didn't matter that their superior had tons of red tape on him, having had experience covertly covering the operations of illegal poachers over several years. The only thing that stood out to them was Baker's wealth, and how he was willing to share it with them.
It was easy money.....but not all the time.
Today, for instance, the mercenaries would not receive such luxuries.
Instead, the double doors to the lobby suddenly slammed open without any warning, with everyone proceeding to fruitlessly open fire on Nightclaw, Lily, and Theo as they began tearing through Baker's security. While Lily rushed up the left-hand staircase and Theo covered the right-hand side, Nightclaw bolted forward, jumping from guard to guard and using her claws and teeth to inflict them with heavy wounds, deeply injuring them but barely not finishing them off; death might have actually been more preferable by that point.
The hapless security teams thought they had managed to get a good read on Nightclaw. Believing she operated entirely at short range, they began dispersing further apart around the lobby to hamper her effectiveness. However, what they didn't know was that Nightclaw did possess one ranged attack: the ability to fire off claw projectiles directly out of her paws at high speed towards her targets. She had not inherently gained this ability when she first became a werewolf, but she had simply trained herself to perform such a move over time.
A set of four guards rushed to the upper east balcony's railing and aimed pulse energy rifles at the rampaging beast, intent on shocking her into submission, but not only did Nightclaw anticipate their move---even using the bodies of three of their colleagues as improvised cover---but after they fired their shots, she nailed all four of them in the chest with her claw projectiles, decommissioning them.
Another foe looked down the barrel of his rifle from the western balcony's railing, but Lily---who had opted to clear out the west wing---suddenly appeared behind him and incapacitated him using a firm chokehold, gently lowering his now-unconscious body to the ground and taking his rifle for her own.
Oh.....we're going to have so much fun! Lily squealed internally as she sheathed her silenced pistol and immediately began utilizing the stronger firearm.
On the eastern wing, Theo handled his enemies with surprising effectiveness, wielding his electric guitar as an improvised weapon; his most preferred move was to perform a modified chokehold on targets one by one by pressing the neck of the guitar against theirs, then swiftly flipping them over his head onto the hard ground. On top of that, the air echoed with the sick riffs from his guitar, providing solid background music at the cost of alerting the entire safe house to the trio's presence.
".....What are you doing?!" Lily asked her partner. "You're going to bring the whole compound this way!"
"Come on.....don't act like you're not enjoying this," Theo replied with a smirk. "You want more chances to use that rifle.....I just know it."
Lily's initially exasperated expression soon melted into a delighted smile. "Oh.....you know I do! You know me so well....."
Guys! Nightclaw barked, even though the vampires couldn't understand her. Enough of this! Get to the eastern wing's hallway! Baker's office is the last door on the right!
To get her point across, she nodded in the appropriate direction, to which Lily and Theo returned back with understanding nods of their own.
Once Lily, Theo, and Nightclaw had taken care of the security personnel in the lobby, the three of them then regrouped and moved down the eastern hallway together, rapidly advancing towards their target.
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They were forced to skid to a stop and hide behind a corner, however, when they spotted a squad of eight more goons hustling down the hallway almost completely in sync, like they were participating in an exercise drill.
"What are we going to do?!" Theo exclaimed in a hushed tone. "They're going to see us when they pass!"
Let's just go! I can literally take care of all of them! Nightclaw said, slamming a clawed fist into her other open palm.
However, both Theo and Nightclaw noticed that Lily was wearing quite the cheerful grin. "Don't worry, guys," she said with a wink. "I've got this."
The vampire casually stepped into the guards' line of sight, at which point they quickly raised their weapons.
But Lily was faster. Her move? To grab her flute from her hip and play a song, of all things.
Her enemies were immensely bewildered by this sudden turn, simply standing there and emitting confused exclamations amongst each other rather than taking action. The apparent absurdity of the situation caught the men off-guard for so long that they didn't bother to realize the effect that the song was having on them.
"What are you doing?!" one of them cried.
"She's distracting you, you greedy, porous punk!" Theo responded, chuckling.
As crucial seconds passed, the mercenaries began to get drowsy, and their eyelids grew heavier and heavier with time. Their heads nodded off more and more frequently, and eventually all eight of them collapsed to the floor, fast asleep.
Greatly impressed, Theo and Nightclaw then left their cover and rejoined Lily at her side. ".....What happened to wanting to use the rifle?" Theo asked her. "Don't get me wrong, I love hearing you play.....but....."
Lily removed the rifle from her back, looked directly into her lover's eyes, and planted a single shot squarely in the backs of every single helpless merc.....without even looking away from him. "I didn't forget."
Theo laughed. "I love you."
"I know."
You guys are lucky that Esther disabled all the cameras before we got here..... Nightclaw said, visibly facepalming and groaning internally. Let's just go.....the office is right there.
The team then covered the remaining distance between themselves and the room, with Nightclaw in the middle, Lily on her left, and Theo on her right.
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When they opened the door---which was surprisingly unlocked---they found Bertie Baker himself completely alone in his room, looking away from them and outside his big office window with his big, beefy arms crossed. He seemed uncannily overconfident, as though he had some kind of trap planned for Nightclaw and the vampires from the start.
"Good morning, Nightclaw," Baker greeted with a menacing, slightly-raspy voice. "And to your new friends, as well."
We already know what you've done, Baker, Nightclaw pointed out. Your days of covering for these illegal poachers are over.
"Come with us quietly, and we won't be forced to harm you," Lily spoke aloud, putting Nightclaw's threats into a form Baker could understand. As she said these words, she took out two items; a human-sized burlap sack and an anesthetic syringe identical to the one Esther had used to take out the two guards outside.
"I know not how you pale-skinned, blood-sucking types are out in the daytime, but let me ask you this. How exactly will this look on the news? A member of the Paragons---and her accomplices---unlawfully abducting a respected businessman?" Baker taunted, turning around to face them. "Even if you were to take me in now.....my clients would have me released within the week. All of this showmanship.....these.....theatrics.....have been a complete waste of our time."
Nightclaw's paw balled at her side; it took all her restraint to prevent herself from lunging out and killing him on the spot for his egotistical, smug behavior. But she remembered that General Vultur had insisted on killing Baker herself; if Baker died too early, there was no telling how the general would react.
Thankfully, Lily took action for her. The vampire feigned panic and pointed at the window. "Sir, look out! A missile's about to hit you!"
Alarmed, Baker whirled back towards the window.....allowing enough time for the female vampire to approach him and jab the anesthetic syringe directly into his neck, administering the full dose and causing him to black out on the spot. As Theo moved towards Lily and began helping her load Baker into the burlap sack, Nightclaw leaned out of the office doorway to keep an eye for any incoming security. Her eyes widened as her enhanced hearing allowed her to detect several approaching footsteps coming from the right.
You guys! she alerted, banging her paw on the frame to get the vampires' attention. They're coming!
Before the two vampires could finish getting Baker into the sack, the security personnel arrived and began opening fire, forcing Nightclaw to cover for them until they were done.
Theo and Lily ducked behind Baker's massive desk for cover as they finished the job, with Theo tying the opening shut after what seemed like forever. Lily was originally working alongside him, but she soon found herself staring in awe at Nightclaw's combat skills, watching as the werewolf flawlessly dispatched her foes with an odd mix of grace and utter brutality.
Amazing.....simply amazing..... Lily thought to herself, before Theo lightly hit her on the arm to snap her out of it.
"I've got him!" he alerted before he opened Baker's office window and spotted Dave, Valeria, and Esther in the getaway truck right below it. He then held out the burlap sack, stepped onto the window frame, and prepared to leap out of it, planning on using his body to break his fall and keep Baker alive. In the meantime, Lily moved to assist Nightclaw, opening fire with her newly-claimed rifle at any goons the werewolf missed.
In the midst of the firefight, though, Theo abruptly appeared at Lily's side, a sight which she didn't question at first.
"Here! Hand me your silenced pistol! I'll help you!" he called, wishing to be heard over the sound of the roaring gunshots.
"You got it!" Lily said, tossing her sidearm into his grasp and allowing him to aid her as well; again, she hadn't noticed yet.
Once all their enemies had been taken down, Nightclaw, Lily, and Theo all took a few seconds to catch their breaths. It was at this moment that Lily did a double take, noticing that the burlap sack was nowhere to be seen and that Theo had nothing in his hands besides the silenced pistol.
She quickly realized that something was wrong.
"Wait.....Theo, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I wanted to help you two," Theo replied nonchalantly. "So I just dropped the sack and asked for your gun."
Nightclaw's jaw just dropped in shock, with the werewolf almost at a complete loss for words. You dropped the sack.....?!
".....WHERE IS BAKER?!" Lily cried incredulously.
She, Nightclaw, and Theo all went into a panic, and looked out the open office window. There, they saw the burlap sack lying in a heap on the ground, just barely having missed the bed of Valeria's pickup truck. A clearly-visible pool of blood was accumulating beneath it.
Additionally, the countess had gotten out of the vehicle; she took one look at the bloodied sack, then shot a confused look at the trio.
Baker had died from the fall due to Theo casually dropping the sack in the wrong position without even looking below first.
The werewolf covered her mouth in shock.
Lily buried her face in her free hand and shook her head, while Theo twiddled his thumbs and whistled innocently.
"YOU IDIOT!" Lily exclaimed once she had recovered, grabbing her partner by the collar and pulling him in close. "If this 'General Vultur' does not kill you, I will do it myself!" She then took a moment to calm herself down and take several deep breaths. "Sorry.....I lost my cool there."
"It's okay....." Theo muttered with a genuinely heartbroken frown once Lily had let go of him. "You already told me before that you were quite intense. I'm sorry for letting you all down.....I just wanted to help....."
The three of them looked back at the pickup truck and saw Valeria, Dave, and Esther reluctantly loading the bloodied sack into the flatbed. Then, the three adults re-entered the vehicle, with the countess firing up the engine.
Come on..... Nightclaw instructed. Let's just go. I'll deal with Vultur later.....
She, Lily, and Theo then jumped out the window, landed feet-first next to Valeria's pickup truck, and got inside, with all six of them departing the safe house and leaving quite the scene in their wake.