Bellatrix was getting worried. She had about six hours before her battery wore out. Six hours...to get the drive, fly out, get to the pick up point, and get plugged in to a charger. And that was assuming she wouldn't have to fight her way out. A fight and a chase to follow the fight...that might mean two hours.
***
'Orion', her employer, was a clever bastard. Neither the human nor the machine side of Bellatrix were capable of loyalty to him. The armor was too concerned about preserving it's own existance, and the mercenary...well...
Orion didn't know the mercenary's name before she joined him. Intellegence told him she had been hired to steal the HARPY Armor by a rival group. She was good -- for someone limited by human anatomy -- but Orion caught her and shot her three times in the chest.
The mercenary dropped like a rock, sputtering blood and going into shock. That's when it hit Orion -- no one would miss this bloody heap of organic tissue, and since he had failed to legally aquire a suitable host for the HARPYT Armor, this dying human might serve as an illegal host.
And to make sure he wouldn't be stabbed in the back by his own creation, Orion installed a fail-safe. The human heart was too badly damaged to be used again. So an artificial heart was inserted into Bellatrix. It powered both the metal and the machine, a life support system that took two very different weapons and made them into one.
The battery that charged the Bellatrix was operated only by Orion. It needed his voice and activation codes to turn on, which meant that he held power over Bellatrix. Bellatrix could go eight hours on her battery, twelve if she wasn't exerting herself. But once the battery died, the heart would stop beating, and Bellatrix would deactivate.
***
A stroke of luck. Dr. Little had been going in and out of Faber's office, taking items with him for more delicate storage. But the particular drive Bellatrix was looking for was undisturbed. She could hear Little talking to a guard in the hallway outside. Since he was preoccupied, she used this moment to strike.
The vent grill dropped on the ground, and Bellatrix found herself in a bare office. Faber's personal affects were already packed away.
The drive was located just where Orion said it would be -- a special drawer in the desk, hidden from view. Bellatrix plugged the drive in to a USB port in her hand. "This is the right file. Plenty of battery power to get back --"
Bellatrix was interrupted by the door flinging open. Dr. Little was standing in front of a marine. The marine grabbed the doctor and pulled him out of harms way, using his own body to shield Little.
Which was exactly the wrong thing to do. The HARPY was harmless in front of a harmless civillian, but the marine was different. He had a gun. And he was pulling it out, aiming at Bellatrix.
Engaging in self-defense mode.
At the heart of the mettalic core, HARPY was a bit of a coward. The bullets began firing. Bellatrix used her wings as a shield, and then went on the counterattack. There was nothing fancy about it. She grabbed the marine and snapped his neck like a twig. The soldier dropped to the ground.
Dr. Little looked up at the machine. "Are...are you going to kill me?"
Bellatrix loaded the drive into a storage spot in her upper arm. "Don't sound an alarm. I'll be forced to terminate anyone that responds to the call."
