RS: Vittoria and Umiltà: Second: The Uncompleted Job

The dark-skinned woman smiled as she pulled herself away from the rifle. The job was pulled off as successful as always. There never had been a person she and her sister could not defeat with their flawless synchronized attack.1

Well…there was one, but neither of the twins counted him among as a loss. After all, both of them were not even sure if he was human, considering the way he moved.2

...3

That job was done on a hot summer day in the middle of the city. Vittoria had set up her rifle on the roof of the Tradewind Banking office building after getting express permission to do so. It was not easy to convince the CEO, but the height of the building was needed.4

The TB office structure was one of the five tallest buildings in the moderately sized city; it was only matched by two other office buildings, the communications spire, and the St. Patrizio chapel, the lattermost known as a national landmark, being the second tallest chapel in the world (though only second by a technicality; the “first tallest” rests upon a previously built structure originally meant for military observation of the Midland Sea from southern Remia, but after Global War IV, the Remian military had to make many cutbacks, and the Constantinian Church purchased the tower as a management building and placed an extra floor with a sanctuary on top and declared the entire building a chapel).5

From her perch, Vittoria could eye the masses until she saw the target, who was rather distinctive, claimed the sisters’ employer.6

At four minutes past high noon, the Running Shadow was glimpsed for just one second four blocks away from the other sister’s location.7

“Umiltà!” called Vittoria through the earpiece radio. “Target is one-five-zero meters from you and moving east. Move northeast and intercept. Press target northwest into park.”8

That was how they worked; they had no handler, so Vittoria would survey until the target was seen, if they did not already know where it was, then Umiltà manipulated it until Vittoria could snipe her way to the job’s completion. They always worked this way and both sisters adapted to their roles. Vittoria grew her golden hair long and her skin was smooth; never entering direct combat gave her more freedom to handle her appearances.9

On the other hand, Umiltà had to keep her hair short, no longer than one or two inches. As for her skin, it was riddled with scars from past conflicts, although she wore a liberal amount of makeup in order to be inconspicuous.10

With the forestock of his revolver, the red-clothed man blocked the flying bullet Umiltà launched towards him. Bystanders scrambled at the noise of gunshots at the beginning of the engagement.11

Umiltà fired off another round; this one was neutralized by a bullet from the Shadow’s gun. Yet another shot caused the Shadow to leap to the side and backwards.12

By then, Umiltà could use her jian. She quickly tossed her gun to her left hand and drew her sword. Her first blade attack was a thrust which was guided away from the target by his gun’s trigger-guard.13

Umiltà attempted to shoot her opponent while his gun was occupied, but the bullet only shaved away some hair. The red-clothed man twisted his gun around the sword and fired back, and Umiltà could barely move fast enough to prevent a killing shot; instead, she simply bled from a cut on her neck.14

The assassin withdrew her blade and struck downward. The shadow dodged by spinning clockwise and stopping when his right side was facing Umiltà. His arm extended, and the barrel lined up with Umilt&#;s eye. Thankfully for Umiltà, she managed to raise her own gun quickly enough to launch a bullet in defense. It clashed with the Shadow’s steel projectile and created a time gap large enough to give Umiltà a chance to attack with her sword.15

Umiltà swung at the Shadow’s unguarded right flank, forcing the target to hop backwards several feet. As he was in the air, he fired off another round. Umiltà blocked it with her sword and used the opportunity to riposte with her gun. This round was neutralized by yet another round from the red-clothed man.16

The Shadow needed to be pushed back another twenty meters; if Umiltà could do that, then Vittoria could snipe him. Although it was taking longer than she would have preferred, the tactic was working. With every swing and every shot, the Shadow retreated, even if just a few steps.17

Umiltà charged forward and thrusted. The red-clothed man nimbly twisted to evade the attack. In retaliation, he tried to aim his weapon, but Umiltà blocked it with the body of her own gun.18

“Your style is very unique,” said Umiltà. “I noticed that you wield your gun almost like a sword in CQB, making for a fine defense. Clever, but easily countered by an actual swordfighter.”19

Umiltà swung in an uppercut, but made a coupè when the Shadow pushed away Umilt&#;s gun and attempted to parry. The blade now sped towards the Shadow’s left shoulder, and he was forced to somersault backwards to avoid the strike.20

A bullet shot towards the red-clothed man was deflected by the body of his gun as he sprung back upwards. Umiltà fired again, but this attack was neutralized by another bullet from the Shadow.21

“How many rounds does that revolver have?” shouted Umiltà. “You’ve already discharged seven!”22

The moment the Shadow stepped onto the grass of the park, he pointed his gun above Umilt&#;s head, rested the stock on his non-dominant forearm, and fired.23

A cream came from the short-range radio on Umilt&#;s ear.24

“Holy shit!” Vittoria yelled. “That almost hit me! Less than twenty centimeters off!”25

Umiltà understood Vittoria’s response. Despite her professionalism, skill, and experience, Vittoria had never been under fire; their targets rarely lived long enough to retaliate or even learn her location. She never learned defensive tactics, only marksmanship, tracking, and surveying.26

The Running Shadow was a new experience for any sniper, especially for Vittoria.27

He attempted a second attack against Vittoria, but Umiltà shot away the bullet. When Vittoria counterattacked, the Shadow managed to deflect the bullet with one of his own (although not actually neutralize; Vittoria’s rifle rounds were too high of a caliber to be completely knocked away by the pistol rounds).28

In the opening created, Umiltà fired at her opponent, but he blocked it with the body of gun as he raised it for another defensive shot from Vittoria. Umiltà fired again, and the Shadow rolled forward, underneath the bullet trajectory.29

Umiltà tried to shoot once more, but her chamber was empty. She plunged her sword into the ground and reached for a new clip with her right hand as she released the empty magazine with her left. In professional speed, she reloaded the gun and aimed it. By then, the Shadow had gotten onto his feet again.30

He pressed the barrel of his weapon against Umilt&#;s gun, and both discharged at the same time. The concussive recoil forced both of them back, but the red-clothed man made a special effort as he moved back to evade a shot from Vittoria.31

A single glance at her weapon told Umiltà that the gun was useless; the bullet she fired had become lodged in the barrel’s opening. She cast away the innocuous piece of steel and retrieved her sword. After the red-clothed man hopped back to avoid an attack from Vittoria, he started running, and Umiltà followed in pursuit.32

Vittoria attempted to snipe him, but the last two rounds in her rifle’s magazine were wasted; now that Umiltà did not have a gun drawn, the Shadow focused on evasion and running away. The target was able to move without fear of another gunner, and it showed in his reaction speed.33

When Umiltà caught up, she swung at his head. The Shadow ducked closely, causing some hair to be cut. He riposted with a solid kick to the gut, put away his weapon, and ran while Vittoria was busy reloading and Umiltà was recovering her wind.34

By the time Vittoria had inserted a new clip and chambered a new round, the enemy was out of sight.35

“Umiltà, I have lost visual,” the sniper said. “Withdraw, we…we lost.”36

...37

Two months, a day, and three hours later, they were earning their living with a more successful assassination.38

“Here’s your payment,” said the black-suited man. He laid down the attaché case and kicked it over to the sisters. His finger stroked his goateed chin as he continued, “Ten thousand Eropian credits, cold and hard. It’s been a pleasure, ladies.”39

After he left (and the sisters checked the money), Vittoria and Umiltà started driving away, Vittoria at the wheel.40

“After that, I’m starving! Let’s have steak tonight. And don’t mention that beef is expensive nowadays, because I really want a steak. And please don’t depress me about our bills or the payments we need to make for dad’s nursing program…” Vittoria trailed off.41

“You okay?” she asked when she noticed Umiltà was not responding. “You’re being quieter than usual.”42

“Yeah. I was just thinking about that one guy who beat us. The Red Scare, the employer called him.”43

“You’re still worried about that? Relax; we can’t stress over the only flaw on our record.”44

“That’s not it,” said Umiltà. She blushed as she finished, “It’s just…I want a rematch.”45

Vittoria laughed and pulled into a restaurant parking lot.