Last Gasp

Things were going to hell in a handbasket, fast. Two drug labs hit in as many weeks, people were getting picked off left and right, and the patrol beetles were crawling all over Oz's turf. Gasper's teeth ached from how tense his jaw was all the time, and it was putting him off of his game. Thakfully, today was guard duty for him. One of their last labs, and The Wicked Witch seemed determined to put Oz's drug trade out of business, so Gasper wasn't alone, and he was packing heat. Each of the guards and all of the chemists had on high-grade gas masks, preparation for the event of Gasper pulling out his secret weapon; no one apart from a handful of people in Oz knew about his powers thankfully, but even with that in his corner, he still kept his magnum close.
The lab was in what used to be a grocery store, long gone out of business due to the local gang activity. No loss, Gasper remembered that their apples were always just a little fuzzy anyways. It was well in the back, and whoever was going to break in would have to maneuver past the lookout, five different patrolling guards, and then deal with Gasper and his three men as backup before they could damage the lab. Gasper felt more than confident that even if they got ambushed, unless it was that new explosive super Valerie found, the chemists would be able to safely evacuate a significant amount of merchandise.
At the front of the store, the lookout sat casually polishing his shotgun, a large german shepard resting at his feet. He was relaxed, but still alert, constantly scanning the road and the small, empty parking lot for any movement.

Well, Sai couldn't say that this venture wasn't profitable so far. Still though, this mission was going to be more difficult than the last. Sai had been watching the place for some time. He didn't get an exact count on the amount of people going in and out, he knew of at least three...but there were likely far more inside. You didn't set up shop in a location like this without having quite a few people inside to cover the corners and dark areas. At least, Sai had a feeling that Oz was smart enough for that. Especially considering that so many other labs had already been targeted. The stealth element was gone, at least in terms of these guards being completely unprepared for an attack.

Looking to the lookout, Sai lowered his binoculars from where he was watching them. "I fucking hate dogs" he mumbled before moving down. He had been in a building across the street, abandoned and dark, perfect place to try and keep an eye out. For now, he'd need to do something to try and get some attention heading his way. He didn't want to make it obvious that anyone was here, so Sai chose to be a bit creative. Heading to the back of the room, Sai took out a small lantern that he used for stakeouts. Taking the oil from inside, he smashed the rest of it and doused it before throwing a match on it. A fire would start, with orange light that would likely be seen by the lookout in at least a few minutes. Moving away and around the building, Sai kept an eye on the lookout, wanting to see what he did in response to this attempt at a diversion. Sai had to admit, there was a possibility this might blow up in his face.

The lookout furrowed his brow; he wasn't entirely sure what he was looking at, but there seemed to be something happening across the street. He stood up and took a few steps forward to get a better look. The damn house across the way had caught fire! Immediately, the lookout pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Fire started outside. Across the street from the building, no risk of harm to product. Probably some junkies who passed out before dousing anything." He reported. After putting the walkie-talkie back on his hip, he turned around and gave a curt command to the dog in German. The dog obediently sat up, gave a short growl, and pricked up its ears. Cautiously, the lookout strayed from his post, walking to the far side of the parking lot. He was still in view of the glass fronted building, and the hound, but far enough away that he wouldn't make it back to his post very quick without a quick sprint.
Inside, Gasper tensed up when he heard about the fire. He let out a sharp whistle, and the men he was with lowered their masks. The Witch was fond of spectacles; a fire was very much her style. If she wanted to smoke them out, she was going to be sorely disappointed. Gasper lowered his own mask, which he had painted with neon green and bright white, looking like something out of a sci-fi/horror film. Apart from lowering their masks, however, none of them moved to the front to investigate.

Sai couldn't make out the conversation from where he was, but at least the lookout was moving towards the building to get a better look at what was going on. All Sai had was his handgun and his combat knife. For now, he was going to have to try and be as quiet as possible. However many people were here, it was going to be too much to take in a straight gun fight. Of course, that lookout wasn't going to need his shotgun for much longer. An enclosed place like this building would be ample for it.

Right now, the lookout was the first problem. Sai didn't want to leave him alive. If Sai went in without taking him out, he'd just get flanked from multiple sides. Moving out from the building, Sai lined up a shot very carefully as the lookout looked over the new building. After feeling confident with his aim, Sai fired.

BANG! The shot hit with precise accuracy, dropping the lookout instantly. The dog immediately started barking loudly at the sound of the gunshot and seeing its owner drop. Inside, one of the patrolling guards heard the dog and looked out the front window, noticing the barking hound and the lookout's corpse on the far side of the parking lot. He pulled out his walkie-talkie and barked into it, "Man down! Sean dead, unknown shooter!" He opened the door and whistled to the dog before shouting at it in German. Immediately the dog followed the command, retreating into the building, where the guard closed the door and fell back to safety. The other four patrolling guards took up positions behind cover, surrounding the entrance.

"One down, many to go" Sai said to himself, more hopeful than confident in the statement. Standing up, he once again backed off before circling around other buildings to try and approach the grocery store from a new angle. It took several minutes, but after seeing one of their men shot in the face, these guards would likely find defensive positions and stay in place. At least, Sai hoped for that.

Moving around, Sai approached the side of the building where trucks would deliver goods to the storage. The back gates were completely locked and shut, likely only to be opened from the inside. Looking around, Sai found what he was looking for though: a ladder. Getting on top of it, he began to climb up it as quietly as he could. Reaching the top, he peaked up and saw no one up here. Climbing up, he began to look around for anything up here that might give him an advantage. If nothing was here, at the very least he'd have the high ground if any of the guards tried to leave the building.

The roof was mostly bare, save a few vents and a skylight towards the front of the building. It was a few yards behind where the guards set up, but only three of the five could be comfortably viewed from the skylight; the other two, as well as the dog, were out of line of sight.
Inside, the dog's ears pricked up as it heard Sai climbing the ladder, a sound inaudible to the rest of the people. It began barking loudly, pulling on its leash to the side of the building Sai was climbing up. "Shut up!" The guard holding him snapped, repeating the command in German. "It's a fucking wall that way, animal. Only way in is through here." He snarled.
Minutes passed with no activity. Gasper spoke into his radio. "Front desk, report."
One of the guards pulled out his radio. "All quiet. No sign of the shooter. Building's still burning across the way."
Gasper frowned behind his gasmask. Something wasn't right; from his post in the back, he could hear the dog getting antsy, but the guards out front couldn't see anything. He turned to one of his boys and cocked his head, silently ordering him to patrol the store. If someone was already inside, he wanted to know.

Three wasn't a bad number, besides, Sai was going to have to move pretty quickly if he was going to pull this off. Even then, there was no guarantee of this working. But still, he had to try. After all, what good was he as a mercenary if numbers would do him in? He would see this through, or he'd die trying. Retreat wasn't an option, not for Sai's pride at least. Lifting up his gun, he took careful aim and watched to make sure the three guards in his view were in range. Breathing calmly, he acted.

Firing twice, he shot at the first guard before turning and repeating the process. He fired two shots at each guard. Sai didn't want to see if he downed them all though, the skylight was breaking and glass was shattering everywhere. The moment he fired the sixth shot, he turned and ran across the roof, making his way back to the ladder and beginning to slide back down.

The first guard had no idea what was coming, and so was completely unable to react, falling dead from the two shots. The rest reacted quickly, looking around to see the shots. The second guard took a shot to the shoulder, but managed to get away before the second shot hit, and the last managed to get away with nothing but a grazing.
"Shooter's on the damn roof! One more dead, one injured, shooter bolted, no idea where to." Came in over the radio. Gasper paced anxiously. No idea how many assailants there were, but at least there weren't any explosions yet, and the defectors weren't exactly known for patience, so no super today, thankfully. "Chemists, pack what you can and fall back to the deli. Hunker down, then be ready to move." He ordered into the radio; if they were on the roof, they could be trying to get in through the back, and he wasn't letting them hit their most vulnerable people and cut off their escape. He and his two remaining men went back into the lab, covering the back door to buy them more time. "Let the dog loose." He ordered into the radio. Beast had one hell of a nose, wherever he was going to come from, that animal would know.

After landing on the ground, Sai began to move over to the front of the building again. A few of them were dead now, but he was still completely outnumbered. Along with this, he was running out of bullets. Circling back around to the front, Sai was eyeing that shotgun that the lookout dropped. I breathe out softly for a moment before suddenly sprinting forward. Firing his bullets, he was trying to make them take some cover as he grabbed the shotgun and kept running to avoid any return shots.

The glass in the front windows shattered as Sai fired at them. Sure enough, there was little return fire as the guards sought cover from the glass and bullets. As Sai stopped firing however, the hound came barreling towards him from the building, one of the guards inside shouting after it as it ran off on its own. None of the guards could get a shot off on Sai from their angle, and none were following the dog outside, but it was a trained killer, and the shotgun's safety was still on, unknown to Sai.
"Single assailant, armed with Sean's shotgun and a handgun. Beast just left the building to run him down." Came over the radio's frequency.

Glancing down to the radio, Sai smiled as he heard that only the dog was following him. Well, Sai hoped that the dog was the one nicknamed beast. Turning around after moving out of line of sight of the guards, he turned sharply and pulled the trigger as the dog moved in. However, the safety was still on. "Shit!" Sai shouted as he pulled back. The dog was moving on him, and he tried to use the shotgun to block the dog's snapping jaws from reaching his flesh.

The dog opened its mouth and pounced at Sai, likely with enough force to knock him down, even if it did only get a mouthful of the shot gun. Its sharp teeth were well visible as it bit down on the weapon, desperately trying to pry it out of Sai's grasp, its claws digging into his lower torso as it pinned him to the ground. Its breath was foul, and fire was in its eyes as it desperately tried to avenge its master.
Inside, Gasper looked at the chemists; the product was mostly packed up, as was some of the equipment. "Status of the assailant?" He asked into the radio.
"No visual. Sounds like he's fighting with Beast, though."
Gasper rolled his eyes. "Then why the fuck aren't you out there shooting the guy? You honestly think the dog's gonna be able to kill him on his own?!"
"Sir, we have no idea how many of them there--"
"There's only the one." Gasper shouted into the radio. "If there were more shooters hiding around, they would've shot Beast by now! I want at least two of you moving in on this guy, and I want him dragged to me, living or dead, in five minutes!" He slammed the radio back onto his belt and pointed to one of his men. "You: take the car out back, get the product and chemists out of here. Even if there is just the one guy, I don't want to risk back up arriving for him. Get them to safety."
At the front of the store, the guards nervously looked at one another, but they had received orders. Two of them, both armed with pistols, left the front of the building, circling around to the sounds of Beast and Sai fighting.

Falling on his back, Sai just did what he could to try and hold back the attacks from the dog. Beast was really trying to go all out and tear out Sai's throat at this point. The longer he wasted here, the more likely someone was going to come out and just place a gun against Sai's head to end this. Earning a bout of strength, Sai slammed Beast up a little bit before reaching down. As Beast pushed back down, Sai drew out his knife and stabbed up. Sai lost track of how many times he stabbed the dog, but he made sure that it was enough times to put it down.

Shoving the body of the dog off of him, Sai quickly started tinkering with the safety on the shotgun. Turning it off, he quickly lifted the shotgun, and fired the moment one of those guards appeared around that corner.

The guards appeared just as Sai managed to turn off the safety. The shotgun blast hit the first guard in the shoulder, knocking him down and seriously injuring him, but not killing him. The second guard scrambled back behind the corner, only to pop back around, mostly obscured by the cover and returning fire with his pistol. After firing several rounds, he retreated back into cover and barked into the radio.
"Beast is down, one more injured. Assailant armed with the shotgun." After this, he popped back out and fired off another two rounds in Sai's direction, more to maintain fire superiority than anything.

Shit, there were two of them. Sai moved backwards, trying to avoid any stray shots that the pistol might land. When the guard popped out for another shot, Sai shot right at the corner. The cover would be too much, but hopefully the fear of dying would help them at least not fire accurately. Turning around, Sai took off in a sprint to try and circle around the building. If these two pursued, or even just one of them, Sai hoped that he'd be able to maneuver back to the front and perhaps get in the front entrance. This was taking too long as it was, he needed to move faster.

Sure enough, the shotgun blast caused the guard to keep his head down before getting any more rounds off. "Assailant is making his way around the building." He barked into the radio.
"Don't pursue." Gasper ordered. "Bring the injured man back, we can evac him with the chemists. Don't let yourself be caught in the open against these guys. Fall back inside. If they want us, they can come and get us." Gasper set the radio down and ran a hand through his hair. "What's the game, Valerie?" He asked aloud.

Running around the building, Sai knew that he wasn't going to be able to keep this up for too much longer. He was going to just have to strike head on at some point. They were getting picked off, and eventually they'd refuse to pursue and risk themselves. By now they probably assumed it was a very small unit attacking them, if they hadn't realized it was all the same guy yet. Circling around to the front half again, Sai stopped at the corner and glanced around with his gun, only firing if he saw anyone.

From Sai's position, he would see the corpse of the man he had shot from the skylight, and movement behind one of the shelves, likely one of the remaining guards up front. From what he had seen earlier, though, Sai would likely remember that the front counter was just on the other side of the stone wall he was leaning against, and it would be a prime position to put a shooter.
Inside, the two who went out had made their way to the back. The injured man would probably never have full use of his arm again, but he would live. He climbed into the back of the truck, and Gasper hit the side of it. "Scram. We'll mop up here." With that, the van screeched off, the sound audible even from the front of the store.

God this was such a gamble. Sai breathed out for a moment before knowing what he needed to do. His eyes shot open the moment that he heard the van wheels screeching. Leaping forward, he turned his shotgun to the front counter. The moment he saw anyone, he pulled his trigger to try and decimate the guy. After landing, Sai immediately pulled out his pistol and surrendered the shotgun for now, for tight spots like this he'd want more flexibility with his knife and pistol. Army crawling behind a shelf, he sat still and tried to listen for any possible movement.

As Sai flew around the corner, he came face-to-face with a guard holding his pistol up. His eyes went wide as he saw Sai, moving to fire, but he was caught off guard. The shotgun blast shattered the window, sending buckshot and broken glass raining down on the guard. He was sent sprawling backwards, dead before he hit the floor. "FUCK!" Came from behind the shelf Sai saw movement behind earlier. "Assailant breached the building!" He shouted into the radio, loud enough for Sai to hear. "I-I'm alone up front, no visual, I--" Sai could hear someone speaking over the radio, but he couldn't make out quite what it was. After a moment and the sound of fleeing footsteps, Sai would be able to make the educated guess that it was likely an order to retreat.
After a few moments, the store was dead quiet, eerily so. It was impossible to tell if anyone was still in the store at all.

Sai just sat there, allowing himself to catch his breath at this time. Standing up, he turned and began to move forward towards the back of the store. Checking each shelf he passed, it seemed that they had all gone to the back room for the time being. Holding his knife in one hand, pistol in the other, Sai just moved to the back door and slowly pushed it open, pistol aiming forward and scanning the room for threats.

As Sai made his way to the back, at one point he would hear the slightest sound coming from the other side of one of the shelves, the lightest footstep. It wasn't loud, but it was highly noticable in this dead silence. If he focused his hearing, he would hear heavy breathing, as though the man was wearing a mask or something. He would be able to pinpoint the location of the man, and he was approaching the gap that Sai was in front of. In a moment, the guard would be on him. Whatever Sai was going to do, he would have to do it fast.

Turning sharply, Sai stepped back as the man lunged in for him. Sai slammed his arm out and the pistol smashed the man's face in. With the man being dazed, Sai hooked an arm around his neck before stabbing the man multiple times in the chest. He finally drove the knife in to the man's neck and yanking it out sharply. Pushing the man to the ground, Sai turned his attention back to the path he was taking and made his way forward.

The man was taken completely off guard, seemingly patrolling the store in search for him. He raised an arm to try and block the pistol whip, but he wasn't able to react in time; the lense on his gasp mask shattered, and he was killed without much of a fight, but not completely silently.
In the back, Gasper let out a sharp whistle, calling back the two remaining guards; everyone but his private team had been ordered to retreat, so it was just the four of them. Well, three now, it sounded like. Sai would also hear the whistle, coming directly from the deli section.
"We know you're here, rat." Gasper called out to him. "C'mon out. We're willing to talk and listen. Negotiations can be reached."
Gasper wasn't bluffing; he was willing to talk with whoever this was; either they were a defector and he wanted to see if he could reason with them back to Oz, or they were a merc, and mercs could be bought. Similarly, he was willing to bet that whoever this lone wolf was was worn out from taking on such an assault by himself, and would welcome a moment to catch his breath.