Six months ago. June 30th, 2267. 08:30 Colonial Immigration Services
Elias was exhausted. He was up far too late the prior night working on no less than three different projects. Thanks to some of that work no less than twenty-six percent of the total industrial output for the colony was now dedicated to producing the materials for the super gate, though the locals had no clue what precisely they were manufacturing.
He smiled at that. A “Confederate” science project was assigned to the colony. Which they accepted without much pressure. The supposed financial incentives for completion were enough to get the administrators of the colony salivating at completing it. Rational thought was thrown to the wind when there were easy credits to be made.
One more issue was resolved. Things were looking up. Until they weren’t. They should be looking up, but this is why Elias was at this office. He wished to be any place but here
He had to commend Confederate immigration policies and procedures. They were very active in ensuring the immigrants got situated in their communities. That they got jobs and were feeling healthy and welcome.
Immigrants who lost their lives were not something their offices enjoyed seeing. In fact, Elias was quite taken aback by the measures and support given to him and his fellows immediately after Paulus was murdered.
“Elias Mendicate, our senior chief will see you now,” the secretary’s voice said.
Elias stood up stiffly and smiled. He nodded at the secretary as she gestured to the door.
“Third door on your right at the end of the hallway. You can’t miss it dear.”
“Thank you.”
Elias calmly walked to the door. It opened with a quiet whoosh sound. She was right, it was impossible to miss the office. There were three doors visible down the right side of the hallway. The left side was just a long wall with a bunch of pictures on it.
The last door looked like it was opposite the hallway heading in another direction deeper into the building. Elias wasted no time looking around and strode calmly towards the door. He had declined their meetings previously, but this immigration chief was insistent on having a face-to-face meeting.
Just as he got to the door it opened and Elias heard an excited voice, “Come in, come in!”
“Please, take a seat Mr. Mendicant. I am Lillith Morgan, the Chief Immigration officer for the Vosture colony. I want to express my deepest condolences for the untimely losses that you’ve suffered.”
“Thank you,” Elias said as he sat down, “I’m not sure what the purpose of this meeting is for…”
“We know where your current residence is. And to be frank that neighborhood is…” Lillith trailed off.
“A rundown, cheap, drug-infested shithole, is an accurate way of describing the neighborhood,” Elias said bluntly, “But it meets our needs and is within our meager budget.”
“I’ve found several, much more modern not to mention safer, accommodations here,” Lillith said as she displayed them on the small holographic screen that appeared between the two.
Elias looked at each one before he spoke, “Each one of these costs in a month what it would cost for a year to stay where we are. Additionally, the amount of floor space is much reduced. Admittedly the room sizes are quite a bit larger but that’s the only real plus on any of these.”
“We are worried about you and your fellow’s safety.”
An uncomfortable silence loomed large over the room. Elias stared at the screen, looking just over the poor woman’s head. The silence coupled with the staring changed Lillith’s demeanor from one of supposed kindness to discomfort. Elias broke the painful silence with a sharp rebuttal.
“If you were there’d be more policing in this neighborhood. What you really are worried about is the reports that one immigrant was murdered and another two were killed in an accident by a citizen of this colony. Worse yet, the accident occurred because of negligence on the part of one of your citizens,” Elias leaned forward, “Is your department willing to pay for the difference for us to move into any of these new facilities?”
Lillith sighed as she looked down at her keyboard, “It is not within our budget to do that.”
“You needn’t worry about our safety. We’ve taken responsibility for that ourselves. We’ve got cameras around our building and all of us, the sixteen remaining, besides me, have taken firearms courses in the past few days. We are armed and prepared to defend ourselves from any violent attacks,” Elias said, “We would obviously prefer to avoid such a scenario, but we are both ready and willing to defend ourselves now.”
“I see. I will forward a request to our police department and strongly request that additional patrols be in your district.”
“I do appreciate this request, but short of a change in colonial leadership I do not expect such a request to be approved by the police much less result in any meaningful change in the quality of life found in our district.”
Lillith’s demeanor had changed entirely from the cheerful and helpful woman who appeared at the door. She knew that everything the newcomer had said was true. The colony had obvious and serious issues with blighted districts and was doing nothing to resolve the issue. Only fresh leadership, which was going to happen as the incumbent never filed for re-election, could possibly change this.
“Ma’am, is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”
“No, I just hope that nothing else befalls you here. You overcame so much to leave one bad situation and it’s my fear that you landed unexpectedly into another.”
“Be that as it may, we are free from our oppressors. This isn’t the first hurdle we’ve had to overcome; it surely won’t be the last,” Elias said as he stood up and began leaving the room.
Lillith’s whole day was ruined by the brutal truth. There was nothing she, nor her agency, was able or willing to do to aid these immigrants. The simple truth was the cost of living was too high anywhere else. They also weren’t eligible for full-time work yet, which made paying for any of the nicer accommodations moot. But one ray of hope for her was that those immigrants possessed a fighting spirit. They were not only willing but able to fight for their future.
12:10 Xenuvian Headquarters – Dining Room
The four people sat at the dining table eating quietly. The pot-marked old table surely had tales to tell. But none would be told over this meal today. The group was still reeling from the passing of two more of their members.
This time, unlike the murder of Paulus, there was no doubt who was at fault and why it happened. Unlike previously thought, that the truck driver was responsible, it was in fact the cab driver who was not only distracted but ran a red light.
Ellie, the group’s doctor, was closest to Fauna and had taken the loss of her friend the most. She was rarely seen in the last week. Her normal lively eyes were lacking that zest for life that she was known for. All she was doing was staring at her plate and slowly bringing a piece of food to her mouth.
Elias noticed this but he was stumped. What could he say? Could he make things any better? Frankly, he didn’t know the two decedents well, he presumed anything he would say right now would only exacerbate the situation.
Meanwhile, Castor, who was classmates with Milo, gripped his fork so strongly he risked either hurting his hand or destroying the fork. While Elias may have little to say to assuage Ellie, he had to do something with Castor. An angry agent is an unfocused one, and they can ill-afford mistakes.
Elias looked up from his plate, “Bottling this up for any longer isn’t going to do any of us any good. Castor, you are angry, I get it. Ellie, I know your dear friend is gone. Would either of them want you to feel the way you are feeling?”
“That’s easy…” Caster immediately snapped back but paused as he processed Elias’ statement.
“I know she wouldn’t want me to be sad, but I can’t help but feel sad,” Ellie said meekly.
“Loss is painful. It has always and will always hurt. And everyone reacts to it differently,” Elias sighed, “I want both of you to take a couple of days off to decompress. Neither one of you has done that yet, and both of you were closest to our lost compatriots. Your peers will cover for you. You need time to process all that has happened without worrying about your duties.”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Castor nodded as he set the fork on his plate and sighed. He rested his head against his arms as he stared down at the plate of food. Ellie nodded but didn’t show any outward change in body language.
“I know it’s not much, but we need both of you to accomplish our mission,” Elias said as he stood up, “If you need anyone to talk to my door is open for everyone.”
Elias then walked into the kitchen and cleaned his dishes. As disappointed as he was that two, no the actual number was three, of his crew were dead, there was still so much work to do. He had to refocus, there was another debate occurring in just a few days. Co-opting their industrial output was on pace just a short week ago, but the processing was held at a razor's margin for being on time.
When the dishes were done, he sighed loudly and headed upstairs to his office. Work was what he’d take solace in. He would honor the deceased by achieving the mission. If they failed, then their deaths would have been in vain.
Fate, it seems, had other plans in mind for Elias. Just as soon as he sat down Constantine barged into the office. Elias groaned internally; he didn’t have time for curveballs.
“Apologies for the sudden appearance, we need to chat.”
“About?”
“This,” Constantine took control of the holographic projector through his tablet and began to display an overlay of their building and those around them, “We’ve noticed more and more transients moving into the neighboring buildings.”
“Druggies are setting up shop here…”
Constantine shook his head, “Several of these people were scoping out our facility last night. None made entry but…”
“Fucking hell, we can’t have this,” Elias said as he lightly slapped his desk’s countertop, “What would you do?”
“Dispose of them.
“No, killing them would draw too much attention to ourselves.”
“Perhaps beating the hell out of a few though…” Constantine paused for dramatic effect, “That could be an effective deterrent.”
“Do it, be smart. I want several of these buildings to be hit tonight. They need to be aware that our facility is not to be touched, much less looked at.”
“I’ll recall my people and get them geared up for this evening. I know Ellie is not in a good place…”
“Ah, god dammit,” Elias leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, “I told her and Castor to take a couple of days off. She’s not in the right headspace to help. We’ll have to use basic first aid. If it’s serious we’ll go to the hospital. We have control over the cameras and can blame it on some random transient that attacked us.”
“We’ll go as one gang, strength in numbers,” Constantine said, “We’ll hit one building after another.”
“Remember, I don’t want them killed. I want them driven away from here. I don’t want to deal with the police over the death of these assholes.”
“If things really get going sideways it isn’t likely any will call the police. We could just move the body or hide it out in the country.”
“This is true, but all the same, I’d prefer to avoid that eventuality.”
“My team and I will attempt to avoid doing that.”
Elias nodded, “My team will be monitoring your progress in the war room. Now that it’s set up and working finally.”
“May luck shine on us this evening,” Constantine nodded before leaving the room.
One more unexpected, and frankly unwanted, item to take care of Elias thought. He stared at the ceiling with an unusual contempt. The mission was going so well until that was it wasn’t. But was it? Sure, the loss of his compatriots was entirely unexpected, but the mission was proceeding on schedule at the very least. But something about it felt just wrong.
22:25 Warehouse District – Around the Xenuvian Headquarters
Elias watched the viewscreen as Constantine’s team moved to another building. Sixteen drug-addled vagrants with questionable motivations lay beaten and bloodied in three different buildings already. Thus far the injuries dealt to the vagrants didn’t appear to be more serious than some deep muscle contusions and a few mild lacerations.
Most importantly, there hadn’t been any deaths among the vagrants. And there weren’t any injuries to his team. The operation had been proceeding as expected. There were, however, at least four more buildings for them to go through. The message to avoid this space needed to be dealt with by several more people.
“Making an entry into the Lambda building,” Linus said over the comms.
“Roger that, no one on the main floor. Drones have five individuals on the second floor,” Daphne said as she spun in her chair, “Three are in the second room on your right. Two in the final room in the hall. Recommend you hit both rooms at once.”
“Linus, you take Aella with you and take care of the pair,” Constantine said as he gestured for his team to follow him quietly up the stairs.
The cameras attached to their helmets had remarkably clear night vision mode. Each of the five feeds was displayed on the largest screen. Constantine led the train of operatives slowly and methodically up the stairs. When they got to the second floor Linus and Aella quietly walked by the pair hugged the far wall in the hallway and silently made their way toward their target room.
Constantine and Quintinus made their way to the closer room while Heva followed right behind covering their six. Linus held the position at their door. Voices could be heard in both rooms. Then with a silent gesture, both groups went into action.
Constantine stepped into the room and quickly noticed there were two males and a female. His group immediately knew what to do. Quintinus darted from behind Constantine and slammed the closest male into the wall. Constantine closed the distance on the other male and kneed the poor bastard in the head. Heva, being the female of the group, restrained the junkie female that was in the room.
She made her watch her friends or lovers, watch as Constantine and Quintinus laid down an epic beating. Heva kept her head forcefully pinned onto the cold and dirty floor as she pressed a knee hard into her lower back. Then she leaned in and hissed.
“Understand this bitch, spread the word to your disgusting friends, this place is persona non grata. No one is to come near that building.”
“We just want…”
Heva exerted more force into her forearm and began choking the junkie, “Spread the fucking word, we don’t want your kind around here. We aren’t going to be lenient if you come back.”
“How is this lenient?” the woman said in a pained voice.
“We aren’t killing you,” Constantine said as his boot stomped right in front of her face, “Stay away from here.”
“Assholes dealt with,” Linus said as he stepped over a coughing and bleeding man.
Constantine and Quintinus left the room quickly. The two men were knocked unconscious. Heva stood up and stepped back and watched the woman push herself up slightly. Then she planted a vicious kick to her side before leaving the room. The female vagrant rolled over to her sight sobbing and coughing in pain.
The team then returned to silent running and quietly filed out of the building. Pained moans could be heard in their wake from the end of the hallway. Their next target was the Delta Dynamics warehouse immediately next door. They held just short of entering the side entrance.
“Nine individuals. Two on the main floor. Four on the second floor, and three on the third floor,” Daphne said over their comms.
“Linus, you and Aella take out the first-floor individuals. We will hold at the top of the stairs,” Constantine said.
Heva was kneeling in front of the door jimmying the lock. A noticeable click was heard before the door slowly opened inward silently. She stood up and stepped back and fell in at the rear of the group.
Linus was the first to enter the building, with Aella following closely behind. They were guided to the room with the two junkies in it through their HUDs. When they got to the room it appeared as if the pair had just finished taking a hit of some illicit substance.
No resistance was given after the first attack. Linus took a mighty swing with his baton at the far man and very likely broke or cracked the man’s rib. He followed that up with a fierce kick to the man’s face. Aella matched Linus’ ferocity though couldn’t match the damage dealt. The two were merciless to their foes.
As quickly as the attack started the pair left the room. Aella fell back towards the stairway and kept her head on a swivel. When the two met up with their peers they slowly made their way up to the second floor. Constantine paused when they got to the top.
He whispered, “Quintinus, go with Linus, far room. Heva and I will take this closed room.”
Constantine then sheathed his baton and equipped a light power gauntlet. Everyone else nodded and made room for Linus to take the lead. Three people were in the closest room, which they successfully snuck by. The darkness enveloped them as they walked down the hallway.
Shards of light could be seen faintly at the far end of the building. Constantine re-engaged his night vision and looked back and Heva. He gestured to her as he took up position next to the door. She quietly crept to the other side of the doorway.
Much like the preceding beatings they gave out, it was just as one-sided on this floor. The drug-addled dregs of Vosturan society were easy pickings. They were too high to notice the newcomers, much less put up any kind of defense. Constantine stood above the battered but still barely conscious man that Heva beat the shit out of.
“Stay away from this part of town,” Constantine activated the gauntlets which caused electric bolts to arc between the knuckles, “We won’t be as kind if we catch you hear again. Tell your friends this warning too.”
Heva then pressed her boot on the man’s cheek, “Do you understand?”
The man weakly said, “Ye… ssss. We… we will… stay… away…”
“We won’t be so merciful if we see you here tomorrow,” Constantine said as he lifted his foot off the vagrant’s face.
The two then left the room as quickly as they entered the junkies. They met up with their three peers and went up to the third floor. Constantine led the charge into the final room. To none of the attacker’s surprise, they took this group of people unawares.
But the attack stopped as quickly as it started. With only a couple of blows thrown. A single gesture from Constantine stopped everything in its tracks.
“What is the police doing here?” he growled.
“Immigration Services was insistent on us ensuring the immigrants' safety…” the police officer said as he looked up at his attacker.
“As you can see, we are managing that for them. Who we are is none of your business. Leave and do not come back,” Constantine let go of the man and loomed over him, “If our message is not shared, then we will escalate issues. In either case, your presence is neither needed nor wanted.”
“Fucking hell,” said one of the police that was being held down by Linus, “Let go of me you fucking freak.”
Linus shoved the man back into the ground before letting go of him. He stood up and just pointed menacingly at the man. The police stayed on the ground and watched their attackers silently leave the building. The trio looked at one another and shook their heads.
Surprisingly they followed the orders of the mercenaries. None of them wanted to be there and the immigrants had taken matters into their own hands. Normally that would be frowned upon, or worse, but in this case, given where their home was located, the police were glad that they had.
Constantine and his team hit two more buildings that night before calling the mission. They left in their wake battered and bruised junkies. It wasn’t honorable combat; it was dirty and utterly one-sided. But the message had been sent.
Elias would later find that the officers that were assaulted that night had ‘privately’ commented to their superiors that the unknown mercenary group should’ve just killed all of the drug-addled junkies. It would’ve fixed some of the colony’s problems. But more importantly, the junkies gave the Xenuvians a wide margin now. None would dare approach closer than two blocks to the building.