"High Caliber" - Intro Game for William Slyth.

The Rochester Building stood at 1,038 feet, cutting high into the atmoshpere. The air was thinner here, but William didn't mind. It increased his range.

Finishing his lunch, William looked through the scope of his aging Mosin-Nagant at the Harlem Tenement, an 800 foot tall slum. He could see the Harlem Landlord and his three men, but Andre was nowhere to be seen.

Andre was a local mobster who had managed to get a fair price on his head. There was a bounty on his Lieutenant and second in command, a smallish man named Yuri, but that would just be extra. Andre was the real prize. They were meeting with the Landlord today at about noon, but they were late.

To pass the time, William pulled out photographs of the two men. Andre was tall, and loved ridiculous clothing, often dressing in fur coats and top hats. Yuri was more practical: he was often seen in a decrepit leather jacket.

Looking up, William spotted activity on the Harlem's roof. The Landlord and his men had risen from their seats, and the door to the roof was opening. William quickly got into position and looked through his scope. Six men poured onto the roof. If any of the Landlord's men die, I'm in real trouble. Better be careful. The meeting could be over in ten minutes-he need to act fast.

I rested my Mosin-Nagant on the edge of the roof, lying in a prone position. Looking through my scope, I adjusted the magnification. My targets were all there, lined up down the table. Knowing that they would most likely be wearing body armour, I centered my sights on Andre's head, and then moved my rifle to Yuri. I repeated a few times, until I was sure that I could make the transition quick enough. Targeting Andre, I slowly exhaled, steadying my rifle, and squeezed the trigger. Bang! The shot rang out. I snapped the action forward again, and swung my rifle to Yuri, and squeezed the trigger. I swung my rifle back to Andre, and checked to see if he was dead.

The member 'Chronos' has done the following action : Dices roll

#1 '100' : 31

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

#2 '100' : 86

The first bullet hit Andre in the throat, and the large man hit the ground with a thud. The men from both crews hit the deck, as the second shot flew past them.

"There! There has to be a sniper on the Rochester!" Yuri shouted, motioning towards the large skyscraper. The men tried to get behind what they could, but cover was sparse.

"Open fire! Just shoot him!" He yelled, though no one had scoped weapons. Keeping himself down, Yuri slowly crawled towards the open door, and freedom.

William had a choice: cut his loses, or take another shot.

Andre was definitely dead, unless he could survive a bullet entering his throat, which was unlikely. I switched my view back to Yuri. Damn. The shot went wide. I shot once more at the head, hoping I would hit. I stood up and slung my gun across my back, and hurried down the building to the slums. When I reached the bottom, I walked out and proceeded to act like any other member of the ghetto.

The member 'Chronos' has done the following action : Dices roll

'100' : 88

William exited the Rochester building to the distant sounds of sirens. Above, two police cruisers cut through the blue sky. Towards the Harlem Tenement. The chances of them finding anything would be slim, though. They were fast, but in this city, it wasn't fast enough. On Pandora, the Police were practically at war with the ghettos. Some areas were so bad that the Police just walled them off. Other parts of the planet, however, were the exact opposite. 9,000 foot structures, filled with the rich and powerful, were not rare either.

This was a light ghetto: middle poor, so to say. As long as you weren't outright stupid, you could survive.

William navigated his way to where his contact said he'd meet him: a little dive known as the Meltdown Cafe. The man, who William knew as Gemini, was the mysterious type. He always wore simple clothes that bore no insignias or gang colors, and never revealed who he was working for. But he always paid.

William entered the cafe, and quickly spotted Gemini. He sat in the back, drinking black coffee. The cafe was loud, but not packed, the perfect meeting place.

Will sat down across from Gemini, who looked out a window for a second before asking,

"Those sirens for you then?"

I waved down the waiter and ordered a cup of tea. "Yeah. Andre is dead," I said softly. "I checked the body through my scope. The bullet entered his throat. He was dead from blood loss in 'bout a minute." Now that I was mostly safe, I reloaded the internal magazine on my rifle, careful to make sure the gesture was friendly and nonthreatening, and rested it against the wall next to me.

Gemini leaned forward.

"Good, good. 15 hundred credits, as promised. That'll be enough to pay the rent for the next few months. If you go around the back of the cafe, you'll see a red little box labeled 'Textbooks' by the trash. Under a layer of tissue paper, you'll find your cash."

The waiter returned, and gave William his tea. As soon as he left, Gemini continued:

"So, what about Yuri?"

I idly sipped my tea. "I shot at him twice. I missed the first because he fell to the floor. As for the second shot, I didn't stick around long enough to find out. but my gut feeling says that I missed. I don't expect pay without confirmation."

Gemini half smiled.

"Well, I'd prefer him dead, but I like your honesty. It'll be awhile before an opportunity like that opens up again, but you got the big fish. Yuri's dangerous though. A follow up operation might be tough. I'll keep you posted."

Gemini slipped out of the stall and left the cafe. William waited a few minutes, finishing his tea, before he left to collect his money.

***

The sun was starting to set when he entered the alley. He located the little box, and felt it. None of the tell-tale signs of a booby trap were present, so he slowly opened the box and removed the paper inside. He counted 15, 100-Metros notes inside. A lot of coin. He stood, slipped it into his pocket, and turned.

William turned to find three thugs behind him, dressed in hideous neon-orange clothing. Crap. Some of the Helljumper Gang.

Two were armed with a clubs, but the center man had a 9mm pistol strapped to his leg. This one, apparently their leader said,

"This is our territory. That means that's our damn money. Give it to us now, before we spill some blood."

"Fine. Whatever." I reached into my pocket with my left hand, feeling for the money. As I did this, I turned subtly, blocking my right side from their view. I reached for my Luger slowly, as I pretended to have difficulty finding the money. I whipped my gun around, steadied, and shot twice at the guy in the center, aiming for his torso, I then spun and let out two at the guy on the right, and then two more at the guy on the left. I then drew my knife and charged in, ready for anything.

The member 'Chronos' has done the following action : Dices roll

#1 '100' : 83

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

#2 '100' :


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

#3 '100' : 46

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

#4 '100' : 64

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

#5 '125' : 12

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

#6 '125' : 59

Will's gun rang 6 times. The first shot went wide, but the second struck the leader in the jugular. before he hit the ground, will fired at the man on the left, who jumped behind the steel dumpster unscathed. The last man, in shock, took a bullet to the chest, and fell back, starting to pass out. Will had two shots left in his clip, and holstered the Luger, and drew his knife, and charged.

The man with the club jumped out from behind the dumpster with lightning speed, and swung for Will's legs.

DICE ROLL FOR THUG

The member 'Chronos' has done the following action : Dices roll

'200' : 44

The club grazed my leg. While painful, nothing serious. The attack put him right next to me, and I slashed his throat. I then proceeded to stab him in the heart, to make sure that he was dead.

The member 'Chronos' has done the following action : Dices roll

#1 '50' : 10

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

#2 '50' : 7

The last thug fell to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. William cleaned the blade on the dead mans shirt before sheathing it.

"Very, impressive... Mr. Slyth, is it?"

William spun once more, to see a tall man, in a plane, gray jumpsuit step from the shadows. William kept his hand on his knife, ready for another attack.

"I'm with a very special section of Alliance military. We've been very interested in you for some time now." The man said, slowly moving closer.

"That's close enough." William said.

The officer stopped, and continued. "Your life of crime could be over. Tomorrow. I've been scouring the universe looking for talent like you. My shuttle leaves at exactly 7:00 at the Shantytown spacedock. I hope to see you there."

The man then vanished into the darkness, leaving Will alone in the alley.

End intro game for William Slyth.