Revealing the command room, Kazuki stepped through. Archius followed in after him, drinking a cup of coffee. Lilly and Quinn were already present, going through the information. Martinez stood beside Zymuel and Claire as Eliza was nestled between the group, as if they formed a protective shield. Wait… Zymuel? He didn’t notice him at first glance, the techie-mech helmet latched onto his head scrambled his memory for a moment.
It covered his entire head, a life-support system for the brain - whilst Kazuki’s is for the body.
“Kaz, are you sure this intel is right?” asked Martinez, straightening his back as he activated his exoskeletal spine, pricking it on top of his armour.
“It’s right all right.” said Archius, leaning against the command deck. He stood beside Kazuki. Eliza glanced up at him, somewhat annoyed, after all: she was not needed here, But she must be kept close.
Archius was always thirsting for more information, always hands on. But there was another reason why he couldn't let the smugglers get away. They know something. They must! Svenn was mind-snared. These smugglers attack a weak link. Someone’s directing them, there must be a link between all of these aspects. SOMEONE was attacking the AGENCY. But who? Perhaps one of the two remaining Directors knows.
Ugh, headaches. He popped another pill, finding himself more reliant on its mind-clearing properties. Its painkilling aspects seem like a secondary concern to him, after so many years. He can fix his body, or at least Eliza can - but he can’t fix his mind. That thing is too far gone. His perfect memory was more like a catalogue, a database of his mistakes, of every death.
Archius started, flicking through a dozen blueprints and projections on the command deck, “Yamki Shipyards. It’s a large external compound with layered platform storage. Ships hidden underneath, perfect place to hide guns.”
His uplink lit up as he manipulated the shape and form of the blueprints, showing each individual section. Kazuki quickly analysed the whole thing, shoving it into his mind. Lilly was simply reading to herself, but Quinn seemed agitated… He could feel the subtle vibrations of him tapping his boot against the floor. But that was to be expected. Yet, Kazuki wanted Quinn on board, his knowledge of the locals might come in handy.
“The plan is simple, we surround the compound and storm it. Seize as much merchandise as possible,” said Kazuki. He then pointed at Martinez. “Martinez, you’ll take command of the Phoenix’s Fury and manage operations on Anagora with Persephone. Deltastring and Heimfall will be discreetly transported away on the Iron Will.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll hold this place down,” Martinez commented.
“And since the recovery surgery for Zym was successful, he’ll resume his role as Heimfall’s 2iC,” said Kazuki. “Get along you two.”
Zymuel waved and chuckled it off, though his voice was autotuned to the helm-mask surgically sealed over his head. The autotune did not hide his thick, loud and clear Rukitni accent. “Great to be back!”
Claire moaned to Kazuki, “Awh, dammit… Hey! Kaz, can you promote me to Senior Command? I want to send Zym to the Hinterlands.”
Kazuki snapped back, “You want to replace Martinez?”
Martinez’s head swivelled to Claire. She quickly retracted her request as she tried to calm Martinez down.
Lilly leaned over the table, drawing up lines of attack masterfully as she read the information Archius obtained. “Shell companies, obvious ones at that. Why hasn’t anyone done anything ‘bout them till now?”
“Aw, look at you being all naive about corruption. You should do that more often, hell, I bet you can finally snag someone up with that attitude.” Quinn shot into the conversation.
“Alright, that’s it, you’re on reactor duty for the dreadnought! Fucking moron… I don’t berate you when you ask something absolutely braindead, least most of the fucking time, prick.”
Archius raised an eyebrow, and Kazuki noted that down. Poking fun at Lilly to get punished? He saw it through and so did Archius, as Martinez spoke up, trying to explain the situation from his own knowledge.
“Well, this industry’s built on a foundation of necessity for security… the Board protects criminals for a cut of the profits. Same thing going here, except this deposit was probably avoided during the first Shadow War. Not even Freyja or Katala of the crims got close to Narisa. I’m willing to bet that the gunrunners played all sides.”
“And as far as I’m concerned, a completed contract is good enough for me, though this lil’ shit won’t be reaping the rewards.” said Lilly, looking down at Quinn.
“Rescind that.” Kazuki demanded, “Quinn will be transferred to the Narisan task force.”
Lilly backpedalled immediately, nodding as she silently wondered what was going on. Then, she looked at Quinn. It was a simple scheme. Quinn tried to laugh it off.
“Anyways, the police have been on the gunrunner’s payroll. We need to make them whole, deception, bribery or plasma bolts, doesn’t matter. If they get in our way, kill them.” said Kazuki, narrowing his sights. “Narisa’s senator doesn’t even care about the planet, so we shouldn’t have any political issues.”
“Yeah,” Quinn slowly got back into a light-hearted tone. “ I mean between the snowstorms and the radiation, I think we’d all prefer living on the beaches of Kasté.”
Quinn’s sentiment was met warmly, and understandably, with everyone. Eliza started to talk about Kasté itself as the conversation got offtopic, the old Imperial throne-world had such a large rebranding. From fortress to paradise world, it had the biggest change out of any planet.
But Kazuki felt Quinn’s worry. And spite. The coldness slowly encapsulated itself. The cold questions of guilt and worry got Kazuki to feel closer to Quinn. No words were spoken, but the two felt some relation. Maybe it was because Kazuki knows what it feels like to rot in a freezing pool of sweat, tears and blood.
∗ ∗ ∗
Snow flickered through the open shuttle door; blaring searchlights were unable to light anything in front as they came barrelling down to the surface. Quinn reached his hand out, a hail of storm forming into a ball within his hand, before he lobbed it at Lilly.
The two engaged in an argument behind Kazuki.
“Reactor duty,” Lilly angrily remarked. Any tension within the shuttle perished as Kazuki could hear the mutters of laughter behind him.
Quinn replied, “HEY! It’s just a bit of snow! I didn’t know you were allergic to the cold.”
Kaz glanced back at the shuttle’s occupants.
“Too fucking cold…” one contractor said.
“Makes you wish for a nuclear summer,” quipped another.
Everyone was wearing some sort of dark thick coat over their light vest-plates and battle jackets. Still, it was not enough to burn the cold away. Most shivered. The coats weren’t enough. Not ideal, but the AGENCY has dealt with far less ideal situations than this, mainly in odds and gambles.
“It’s too fucking cold here,” commented Lilly. “We should have nuked this planet before we dropped… might be a little hotter then.”
She downed a warmth-pill, handing the package around the shuttle. Kazuki refused one from her. “My body self-regulates heat.”
“I hope it fucking does!” Claire commented.
Kazuki stopped listening in as more people were dragged into it. Despite the freezing cold, they seemed cheery. The randomness of the blizzard felt mesmerising, at least until the street below was visible. Crack. The ramp burst forward, and Kazuki stepped out. The AGENTs stormed out onto the frozen street.
He zipped up his warm winter coat around the armoured-vest he wore, tightening the crocheted scarf that his mother made for him. It had two jirabunnies heads on either end. He liked it. But it didn’t suit him at all, he’d have preferred something that matched his title… Shuttles disappeared by overhead, whizzing up searchlights as they vanished into the snowstorm. Kazuki’s team started their way towards the barred gates of the compound. Snow and ice covered the place, with a few pairs of eyes peering through barricaded windows at the squadron.
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‘All stations move in. If suspects don’t comply: kill them.’ Kazuki ordered, pressing his gloved hand onto his ICAPAD, the armguard igniting up. He steadied the hand-cannon he stole from Svenn on his belt, sliding the safety grates open.
‘Copy that.’ Kiri said, commanding a team on the opposite side of the compound.
Looking up, Kazuki could see a dozen drones fired up on his aug-glasses. It wasn’t a legion, but it was numerous.
Lilly took point, loading her underbarrel grenade launcher. The operatives had to wear heavy warmth gear, clad over their armour and gear. Apparently Archius’ gear wasn’t even ready for this weather. Quinn seemed unphased by the cold, however, unlike Lilly, who shivered.
“You lived in this shit-hole?” asked Lilly. Kazuki looked towards Amyé before signalling her with his hand. She nodded, immediately shooting out a grapple onto the nearby buildings and rappelling upwards, disappearing into the blizzard above.
“Nah, just spent my upbringing here, no biggie…” Quinn trailed off, “But hell, better than fighting alien slavers near the rim, right, Vallé?”
“Copy that,” Lilly chuckled, reminiscing about the past for the moment, before a cold wave of reality washed onto her. “Get your heads in the game, focus.”
“Are these aliens carbon based?” asked Claire, interested in the most nerdy aspect of the two’s military careers.
“They’re not made out of soda?” asked Quinn, before laughing. He played it off as a joke, but Kazuki could tell that it was genuine confusion. “You do mean carbon as in carbonated, right?”
“Enough, the two of you.” said Kazuki, walking down the desolate street as the team formed a V formation on him.
Suddenly, a patrol shuttle nestled in between other broken down vehicles spurred to life. Quinn immediately jumped the gun and aimed his muzzle at it, only for Lilly to lower it for him. Kazuki’s aug-glasses highlighted two possible threats.
Exiting out, two officers of the law emerged. The operatives outnumbered and outmatched them, yet they still slowly waved at them. Scrambling forward, they blocked the way.
They tugged on their light grey coats, the Zymbol of the Narisan police department on their shoulders stained with snow and frost. Their traditional service caps were worn out. One pressed down on their uplinks, saying something that Kazuki couldn’t hear through the snowstorm.
The other placed a hand out towards Kazuki as he kept walking. The leading officer tried to shoo the group away, but to no avail. “Hey, hey, this area’s off limits, go shoot your guns somewhere else, alright? This isn’t some scrap yard for you fucks.”
“We have a search warrant for the Yamki Shipyards. Move.” Kazuki demanded, pulling his small-carbine from its sling with one hand projecting the warrant in question, signed by both a judge and the judiciary commissioner. “And no, we will not be answering any questions. Live.”
Kazuki glared at themWatching as they started to panic, Kazuki could see their hands slowly move. The officers primed their plasma pistols as the lead officer placed one hand out, then shrugged. “I don’t know what games you’re—”
He didn’t even need his threat detection to see that they were stalling. And he had no time for small fishes in a very big fucking galaxy. “Detain them. They’re on their payroll.” ordered Kazuki.
And in a matter of a second, the two officers were stunned onto the ground as Amyé ricocheted a stun-bolt between the two officers. They froze, stuttering in place. Lilly and Quinn passed forward, detaining them with binds.
‘They make it too easy!’ Amyé said, with a smug attitude, kneeling on one of the rooftops, heat-vision activated to see through the frost. Kazuki’s aug-glasses picked her up as she saluted down towards him.
“Little shits, they reek of booze.” commented Lilly, punching one of the officers in the back. There was no reason for it. Perhaps she just wanted to get some vengeance for that minor inconvenience, Kazuki thought.
But still, the police were worthless. Inconvenient more than anything. But still, they got a call out. ‘Overwatch, keep track of police communications. All forces, clear the compound on my mark, remember ROE and keep your legs moving and warm, let’s not get frozen like Archius.’
Chatter started on the uplink. ‘Ha, fuck you!’ said Archius. Kazuki just wanted to have a jab at Archius. No real reason for the joke, but it was a keen reminder to his men. And another useless reminder to Kazuki: that he is responsible for all of them. Their lives are on him. No one else.
Quinn roughed up one of the officers as he took out some frustration on them. For now, they were shoved to the side of the fence. But barely anyone took note of Quinn’s abuse of them, and barely anyone cared - except Claire. Whilst Kazuki didn’t care enough to stop him, Claire quickly got Quinn back on track with the mission. A mercy, he thought. Her humanity is why she’s his personal commander, because she balances out the wave of cold hate.
‘On it, not even a whisper will get out without us knowing,’ said Sato.
‘Oh really?! They probably already fucking know! Thermals and energy monitors are showing a rise in energy within the compound’s control centre. Arbiter you gotta secure the place fast.’ Archius commented.
“You heard them, double time.” Kazuki stacked up against the gated wall, shooting the lock open.
A cacophony of silence highlighted the air as the blizzard continued, lit up with a few dozen bolts as the entire force stormed into the compound. A flurry of drones passed by overhead. Scanning lights bore down, screening the advance of the mercenaries.
Kazuki uttered one command, ‘Breach.’
∗ ∗ ∗
Through the chaotic blizzard, Archius watched down from the numerous drone monitors as he kept track of everything, making sure that any updates were sent through. As always, that workaholic was typing away, monitoring communication relays. Whilst Eliza was simply helping around where she could. She acted in a junior role to Sato and him, but her adaptability and willingness to learn seems to have gotten her to handle the basics. Though her track record isn’t clean, she may be a useful, temporary asset for the AGENCY. Yet again, the costs of having her on is ever present. As of now: she’s still deadweight. If Kazuki had just brought along one of the thousands of other handlers, everything during the Loyalist Crisis could have been condensed.
But for some reason, Kaz keeps her around. BUT WHY!? Archius mulled it over, finding no logical answer to it. Eliza’s involvement will get in the way of both the operation and her own studies! But why… it confounded him. Was it more in line with a human aspect? He groaned, those lessons back in the CRIS were always a drag. Why understand when he can just imitate perfectly?
But now isn’t the time to think. ‘Arbiter, direct your team to the east command relay. Power signatures originate from there.’ said Archius.
‘Alright.’
Looking down, he saw the strobing lights, through the blizzard. Kazuki, Quinn, Claire and Lilly scour through the compound with dozens of other lights. Those maintaining the perimeter soon joined in as Sato highlighted any threats. Those blimps on the map that didn’t go grey were soon a terminated red.
The constant chatter of ‘Clear.’ scared itself into Archius’ mind, the dots on the map disappearing and reappearing into the many shuttle-haulers on the shipyard. Yet its unorthodox platforms create two distinct forces. The sections clearing upwards and those clearing downwards.
Not a single word was uttered for organisation, after all these operatives knew each other well enough, the two most loyal of Kazuki’s talons, to organise anything amongst themselves.
Though their two roles were typically divergent. Heimfall’s shock & awe tactics back when it was a suicide unit in Clandestine; with Deltastring’s organisation & tactics made them perfect for each other. Each unit covered each other’s downsides.
Though, they were already willing to defect.
From the command deck, he looked through the window down at Narisa. Even from orbit, anyone could tell that it was a hellscape. Unlike Anagora, this planet truly felt dead… Abandoned.
Scanning back to the monitor, he watched as Kazuki’s team stacked up to the entrance of the command relay. Drones from Kiri’s team stacked onto them, scanning the building. ‘Archius, we’re in position. Can you hack into the camera feed?’
‘Will do.’ replied Archius, complying with Kazuki’s orders as he always does. Slamming down on the ICAPAD, he connected Krystalink to the relay.
He peered into the camera system, eyes sparkling with information. ‘Arbiter, the first room has multiple tangos hiding behind barricades, go kill them, will you’
‘We have intercepted some communications, it seems like the police aren't too happy.’ Sato reported, wavering a dozen screens away.
Well no shit, Archius thought. He glanced at Eliza, rolling his eyes. She was coordinating Kiri’s team, taking prisoners of anyone they found with drones to escort. She’s not one of them, he muttered to himself. They all had to sacrifice something… and here she was. Two months isn’t enough to mend mistakes… Not her’s at least.
‘Well,’ Eliza started, ‘We are technically trespassing because of a few loopholes regarding warrants.’
The team breached in, cracking the door open as bolts and plasma was exchanged. Through the chaos down there, Archius kept calm. All the while Eliza sweated herself to fulfil some promise he heard from up the grapevine, he wasn’t as overkill as her. If he needed to give this more, then he will.
‘This is sanctioned. Categorically, at least.’
‘Not to the people on this planet.’ muttered Archius, but since who the fuck cares about the people? They’re here for a job, to burn the gunrunners. They can leave the fallout to whoever comes next, the PMC Way™.
The storming continued, both Claire and Edain acting as stimulant-dispensers for the spearheads, using their exoskeletons to carry additional stims. Without damaged implants from before, Kazuki was even faster - and deadlier. He was just like in the old days, no quarter and all death. Archius watched as he crashed through the relay with Quinn and Lilly; anything standing in their way was cut up, living, armoured or machine. He was satisfied that Eliza used her voodoo cybernetic magic to fix Kazuki. But that’s really all of her use… There’s only so much an outsider can do.
Archius kicked his legs back, eating down on a chocolate bar. Everyone calls him a control-freak, but he’ll let Kazuki control the flow of the mission.
Sato grumbled at Archius’ harmless antics, her navy-pride kicking in as she watched him disrespect the command deck. The attack was typical, blood-filled and best of all: clean, no distractions, no worries. He’s seen this play out hundreds of times, possibly even thousands. But as he started to yawn, Eliza looked up at him.
“Umm, Archius, how’s Kaz’s team doing?” asked Eliza, quietly as if worried.
“Don’t worry, it’s all good.” He started to smoke a small cigarette, before coughing at the high-quality turbica, immediately snuffing the light. Eliza leaned over, patting him on the back as he placed a finger up. He quickly recovered. “Most missions are normally more hectic, just relax.”
“Relax my ass!” Sato interjected, “I’m out here busting my mind to try and find possible links while you eat on fucking crisps.”
“Oh, rela—”
Sato was taking none of it. She lobbed a water bottle, crashing into Archius. It Smacked directly onto his head, reflecting off with a bounce as it collided.