If my cybernetic implants couldn't detect the disruptor, it meant a professional assassin was around.
Only the professionals used a peculiar special type of disruptor gun with a signal jammer to avoid detection from sensors and scanners. Palm sized and easy to handle, anyone with the right knowledge can easily modify this type of disruptor to look like something else.
The downside of this disruptor is the time used to charge it for a shot. Because of its small size, the manufacturers sacrificed the capability to disintegrate the entire target at the molecular level.
The mercenaries called it the fatal slow burner. For a reason. A concentrated energy shot by one such disruptor guaranteed an almost 100% chance of a cruel death to its victims.
The shot would disintegrate the affected major organ and the neighboring organs within the body based on where the high concentrated beam hit. Victims often suffer great agony before death.
Hence, most authorities banned or strictly regulated all disruptor weapons on most inhabited planets and space stations.
I definitely do not want any part of me disintegrating.
"What are you searching for?" Zhiva lowered the menu to look at me.
"I thought I saw something," I replied curtly, as my eyes wandered around.
*TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
The shrill sound of a charging disruptor pushed my instincts to seek cover by sliding down from the seat, in a partial kneeling position on the ground behind the table. I could hear a thud on the ground but the table cloth obscured my view.
Screams ensued along with the pitter patter of stampeding patrons fleeing the scene for their dear lives. I could hear tables overturning and shattering utensils.
Screw it.
Self-preservation came first. My eyes looked for an escape route, but with the moving bodies jamming the exit, the high risk of getting hit by a stray energy beam from the disruptor weapon changed my mind.
"GET DOWN!" someone shouted. "Disruptor!"
The reaction is a little too slow for my liking.
"PROTECT THE GENERAL!" A yell rang out amidst the noise.
I peeked over and saw Zhiva groaning as he crawled towards me using his elbows.
Did Zhiva try to throw himself onto me? He won't be crawling if a disruptor beam hit him.
"You hide —"
He stopped the moment I lifted my finger to the lips.
Didn't he hear the yells to protect his father? His lack of concern was disconcerting.
*PEEEEEEEWWWW*
My ears pricked up at the discharge sound. Based on the sound direction, the assassin stood a few tables from us, near… oh no… General Perkuna. I wanted to pull my hidden weapons out, but in this highly volatile chaos, I could get mistaken as the assassin.
Think.
Cutlery.
"Your reaction is fast," Zhiva grumbled while careful to keep down from disruptor fire.
"GET GENERAL PERKUNA AWAY!" Another shout echoed amidst the fearful, screaming crowd.
"Your father?" I whispered.
He shrugged without a care in the world. Don't Perunian families look after each other? Like Kamuy civilian families?
*TWEEEEEEEE*
Screw it. My hand fumbled on the top of the table for the cutlery knife where I last saw it. My hand felt the first metallic item and pulled it down.
Yup. Got the knife.
Running away isn't an option unless I wanted to risk getting shot as a collateral damage, given that I am beside Zhiva, the son of the General. I knew how professional assassins worked, and the ruckus earlier might alert the assassin to Zhiva's status.
If you can't take down the primary target, take the closest and dearest of the target to bait the target - that was the key to most successful assassinations, especially for high-profile officials.
The stupid Perunian dragged me into this mess.
"A knife? Disruptor!" Zhiva mouthed in a hushed tone while staring at the knife in my hand.
A knife won't protect me against a disruptor. That much I know. I ignored him.
The knife can do a lot of damage to the assassin if thrown correctly. My fingers ran over the edges of the blade.
Not enough to slice my the flesh of my fingertips but sharp enough to stick into someone with enough force.
I stole a quick look above the table and saw the back of the Velesian woman slowly walking towards the corner of where General Perkuna sat earlier. His officers turned that large table into a barrier by flipping it to the side.
The sudden thought popped into my head - why would a Velesian assassin attempt on a Perunian when it results in an uproar among the Great Swirl Council?
Could this be a case of disguise, misdirection, and deception?
I glanced at the large table where the General and his officers took cover. Her shot created a gaping, burnt hole in the table.
She hasn't fired the second shot. Yet.
At the distance between the General and her, I would take the shot if I was in her shoes. The second shot bore a high chance of success, so why the hesitation?
[Threat detected]
My optical implant announced the obvious, but it locked onto the assassin.
[Switching to combat infra-red synchronic sweep]
[Estimating intercept angle]
Part of my vision in one eye switched to the infra-red vision and merged with the normal vision. The moment I got behind the table, I could see her infra red figure moving with the lock on.
I noticed the chandelier hanging above. If only she moved at least two more steps, then she would be directly below.
'Gun?' I moved my lips at Zhiva, who slid his hand to the side and pulled out a black plasma gun.
Better a plasma gun than my neutraliser gun. My neutraliser guns, still hidden from sight, packed enough punch to blow a large hole in the ceiling. The weapon manufacturers designed plasma guns to do more damage in a specific area.
With a push of my fingers, I slid the cutlery knife into my jacket sleeve and grabbed the barrel from his hand with my right hand. A quick examination of the gun for use satisfied me.
With a flick of my finger nail, the safety lock on the trigger turned off and the lights on the side of the barrel lit up, showing that the gun started charging up the particle stream.
"Don't tell me you are going to shoot her? Her disruptor is charged!" Zhiva whispered to me.
I shook my head and pointed the gun barrel at the hanging chandelier near her position. The optical implants in my eye caught onto the barrel.
[Switching to Targeting system]
[Object structure: weakest link lock on]
The optical implant acted as a targeting sensor in my eye and zoomed in on the thinnest part on a long canopy holding the chandelier to the ceiling.
[Metal: Ferrum composite with carbon polymer]
The plasma gun should be able to take out the canopy.
Zhiva peeped over the table and then got down. His face changed to a pale shade, but he said nothing. He finally grasped the gravity of the dire situation - the possibility of the impending death of his father.
Towards the end, only when someone is about to lose the most precious object or person regret will fill in. I had seen that glazed look in the eyes of the individuals when I killed their loved ones in front of them.
Zhiva bore the same stoic look as his eyes shut tightly at the reality.
Any rash movement on our side would catch the attention of the assassin.
I tugged at his sleeve to bid him not to play hero.
He took a deep breath and nodded in silence.
"Whoever you are, we've alerted the authorities," a voice over The Durgema speaker system announced. "Please cease and desist."
What a pointless announcement. The assassin moved a step ahead.
[Trajectory calculations. Focus on target]
My optical implant reminded me.
I looked back at the ceiling.
The grid scoping square in my vision moved back to the targeted canopy of the chandelier once I turn my focus upwards again.
Instead of stepping forward, she raised the arm. Well, her errant arm under the chandelier could work.
[Target lock established]
My finger pulled the trigger.
*TWEEUUUUUUU*
The plasma gun fired.
*BIANG*
I heard the sharp sound of the plasma discharge hitting the canopy. Without waiting to see what happened next, I got up before the assassin could turn.
*EEEEeeeee CRASH*
Everything happened too fast. Instincts combined with the neural link in my brain guided my actions. The back of the knife slid down onto my palm. I switched the plasma gun to my other left hand and gripped the knife in my right.
[Target locked]
My optical implants' targeting frame projection narrowed in on the assassin's wrist.
I threw the knife at her wrist, which was holding the disruptor. The chandelier came crashing down on her arm, causing her to fire the disruptor upward to the ceiling.
"RUN", I yelled.
Large chunks of the ceiling may drop on General Perkuna's party. His group, including the general, immediately ran towards the exit for their dear lives.
The disruptor ray disintegrated part of the ceiling, causing the entire floor above to destabilise.
No time to lose. I yanked a stunned Zhiva by the collar and pulled him out to the exit after his father's group.