Eliminator: Warehouse Warzone

It had been her initial hacking of the growth-pod control systems that had got the foreign Eliminator noticed. Investigators immediately began hunting for her, leading to my deployment, and were now searching for her movements prior to her hacking. The sun was just rising when I was summoned into the Boss' office, the screen behind her desk displaying a single image.

"Our dead Eliminator." The Boss indicated the woman on the right and I could see the forced casualness and uncomfortable slouching, how hard she tried to fit in among normals. "And this is Michelle-151, identified as the apartment's registered tenant."

The other woman in the image was of average height, ponytailed dark hair falling to halfway down her back, and was wearing a light knee-length sleeveless dress that accentuated a toned physique.

"Location?"

The Boss smiled, all teeth and predatory beauty, and slid sheets of paper towards me.

"It's all there."

I took private transport to the warehouses on the city's northern edge, leaving the vehicle behind on the street and pressing ahead on foot. The dossier claimed Michelle-151 was the overseer of a warehouse storing materials awaiting final refinement, some of which was used in her political activism. Shaking my head at how naive she'd been I carefully made my way among the warehouses, keeping an eye out for bystanders as I neared the one Michelle-151 was in charge of.

Her team, low mental and mid-physical, shared her views and my orders were to deal with them as well, the entire group condemned as enemies of the state due to Michelle-151's stupidity. Gina-386 was the first I encountered, the normal walking around the warehouse in what seemed to be a patrol. From my position lying flat on the roof of a neighbouring building I watched her, noting the relaxed stance and unconcerned pace. When she turned and disappeared round a corner I swiftly descended to street level, crossing to the warehouse and pressing myself against the brickwork.

I doubt Gina-386 knew what was happening when I struck, my uppercut throwing her onto her back. I followed her, straddling her thighs, and gave Gina-386 a moment to gather her wits before producing my knife and driving it in under her ribs, splitting her heart with a twist.

The warehouse doors weren't locked but after a circuit of my own around the building I scaled its side, aiming for a partially-open window. Peeking through I could see large pallets of stone blocks, a pair of heavy-duty lifters and a long flatbed truck. Three voices were coming from the staff room by the entrance and I slowly opened the window further, squirming through the gap and dropping lightly to the floor. Each stone block was taller than my already-tall height, certainly taller than a normal, and I used them as a way to easily and quietly move around.

A section of the warehouse opposite the staff room had been set aside for small pieces of equipment, just a single box of spray-cans sitting there. Alex-420 was using the box as a seat, tossing loose pebbles at empty spray-cans, and I found myself somewhat impressed by her accuracy, her profiling suggesting poor hand-eye coordination. Using the clattering of cans hitting the floor to mask my footsteps I snuck behind Alex-420 and when she drew back her arm to throw I neatly reached round and slit her throat. The pebble fell from shocked fingers as blood soaked her overalls and I moved back as the dying woman toppled off the box, glancing over at the staff room.

Confident that the remaining members of Michelle-151's team were all there I unhurriedly crossed towards the staff room before bursting into action. Glass shattered when I flew through a window pane, sizing up my opponents as I rolled out of a dive and then attacking. Leia-327 staggered away after a high kick fractured her left collarbone while Jenny-227 could do nothing, my knife having sunk fatally into her forehead.

Only Michelle-151 was left, speechless in the wake of the violence I'd just meted out. She flinched as I stalked forward, snapping Leia-327's neck as an afterthought, and cast a hurried look behind her when she bumped into a wall.

"Your new friend would've destroyed our growth pods. Did she tell you that?" I shrugged as I moved closer, uninterested in the answer. "The attempt might even convince the Council to spread them out, as you want. You just won't live to see it."

Cornered Michelle-151's last act was to lash out but it was laughably easy to dodge her clenched fist. I flowed under her outstretched arm, standing so close our breasts were virtually touching, and savagely jerked my head forward, hearing twin cracks as Michelle-151's skull connected with my hardened bone and then the solid wall.