The Outline of a Plan
“I did, at one point, really think he couldn’t be that dumb. But I was consistently one upped in my expectations.”
“Okay that was all cool and shit, but it’s not an answer,” Sileena said. The smirk betrayed that she did, in fact, enjoy the dramatic way I said it.
“More importantly than that,” Gabe cut in before I dug a deeper hole, “With the caliber of people invited, there’s bound to be a greater call here than just laying down boundaries and posturing for Halogen. It’s a bigger risk to her to have so many hot heads, us included, present.” Ever the insightful right hand man, he had hit the nail on the head.
“And that means that whatever is being built up is probably big enough that we shouldn’t squander our chance to have a seat. And besides, who knows what sort of connections I might make,” I said, still grinning.
“You’ve got a plan already,” Hyo gleaned.
“Well of course I have a plan,” I agreed. “Well. The outline of a plan. Gabe’s comin with me, that’s part one. He’s threatening enough that people won’t test him lightly, which is good for me. Whatever is going down in the Forge HQ here, I want parts of it if only because it’s the sort of thing that warrants all of this attention.”
That was a problem, in of itself, because I had no idea what it was and at least one other person did. Wars were won on information, and I was starkly lacking. Between that and a lack of friends I could lean on actually present… and without a lot of firepower to begin since we were just starting and I understood the concern… or excitement in Gabes case. Still, they treated me as the defacto leader for a reason or two. Not the least of which being how good I was at working under stress.
“So that said, I’m going to need to make a few calls and get some things ready. For now, everyone’s got a job,” I commented as my eye stopped being a projector and I blinked away a bit of stars from my vision. “Hyo, can you do some digging into the current layout of the White Spiders, and what the Daywalkers have been up to? I wanna know who’s likely to be coming with them, recent moves made. Be discreet.” She gave a curt nod.
Best I was likely to get from her on the matter.
“Gabe, want to work with me on a couple of projects? Weapons and protection. Whatever you got,” I asked, to which he clapped his hands together.
“Two steps ahead jefe. I have some ideas I’ve been putting to paper. I can accelerate to the planning stage.”
“Good man. Sileena, you’re on recon for the week.”
She perked up even more than usual, at that. “Oh, fun, a proper use for my skills at last.”
“Yeah. I need to know the basic layout of security at the Playground. Security, floor plan, the works.”
“Done done and done,” she agreed. “Should I try to get access codes, ruffle feathers to measure responses?”
I considered it. “Risky, but if you can manage it without making things difficult, sure.”
“I’ll be in touch,” she answered before there was a disturbance like a blink in space and she was gone, replaced by a blanket from across the room.
Hyo took that as her que and got up to go to the second level, leaving me and Gabe to tinker while I considered some options.
He’d known that the invitation to work wasn’t just that. He and I had a bit of a history with the Daywalkers.
Not too long before we setup in the warehouse, and for that matter before I even ran with this specific crew, Gabe and I had actually had a run with Jehricho. Suffice it to say that compared to right after we left, relations there weren’t as openly hostile anymore…
At best.
“So, you're finally making the shock pistols?” He asked me as I dug into the work.
“Yeah,” I replied. “It’s been on the list a while, but we’ve had higher priorities. Still don’t think they’ll be worth more than a few shots until I get something better than tasers to cannibalize.” He laughed, apparently eager to grab his own projects too.
“One of these days we can stop being scavengers and straight up raid a FORGE armory again. What I wouldn’t give to get my hands on some of their weapons. Even the low tech stuff is ridiculous.”
“You’re tellin me,” I said ruefully. By the time he got up and went down the stairs, I’d started flipping through the contacts on my phone for Jericho's number. While it sat there ready to call, I looked at the two bags Gabe brought from the floor below.
Military grade munitions, body armor and even a few explosives all haphazardly dropped into a duffel bag. I flinched when he dropped it, and he plopped down between them.
This man was dangerous in so many ways it was hard to count, and that’s why I loved him. Beyond his power, he was one of the most gifted inventors I’d ever met- including myself. Engineering and mechanics were his bread and butter. Between the two of us we made a solid collaboration, but he had an edge in a myriad of ways due to methodology.
When I met him, he was already a nationally recognized terrorist in his home country. If it blew up, shot, or otherwise could cause property damage Gabriel dos Santos could make it better. To that end when he placed a silver ball on the table I knew better than to assume it was mundane.
“No bombs,” I said sternly.
“What? Come on hermano,” he complained.
I shook my head. “Not this time. They’ll probably tolerate some things but bombs are pushing it.”
He sighed and snatched it, tossing the ball onto the couch to my visible ire, and then he slapped what looked like a slender machete on the table. I picked it up, eyeing the length of it with my second sight to examine tech inside the hilt of the weapon. I locked on as soon as I found the on switch. With an expression of raw will I flicked it on, and the 2 foot blade glowed red with heat. “Ah, yeah that’ll work,” I answered with a grin.
“Basic shit, but effective. That thing could carve through Kevlar like tissue,” he proudly said, reaching down and removing what looked like a submachine gun from the bag with the explosives.
“Okay, this is one of my favorites.” I recalled that one, stealing it with him was a high point of that month. Versatile little thing, spits out so many types of ammo with the restriction mostly coming down to what we could make with the tools in The Garage, or what we could find and fit into it’s magazines.
“That’ll do, I think,” I said in assent.
“So, you gonna make the call?” he asked, eyeing my phone. I sighed. “Come on Kendrick you can’t duck them forever, and I’m pretty sure that as soon as Hijack lets everyone know she was passing your info along Jericho will know to expect contact, or to make it.”
He was right, and that raised my hackles quite a bit. “Maybe I'll wait for his call, in that case.”
“You could, but you and I both know the reason you’re avoiding this call jefe.”
“Next up on the loadout, please, Gabe.” I was thankful that he obliged my request to drop the topic. Next out of the box was a vest, of which I knew he had four hanging around in the chaos of the basement.
“Bulletproof, slightly heat proof, and sprayed down with that non conductive resin they’ve been pushing out. Won’t work against a lightning bolt but some shock-tech will be heavily dampened before it reaches the torso. If I could get my hands on a proper shield cell…”
“Nah, this will do I think.”
“Think the shock pistols will be done in time for the meeting?” He asked. I glanced at the pile of tasers and empty casings long enough to figure the time I’d need as the schematics I’d thought up flowed through my mind smoothly.
“If you can lend me a hand, sure. Like I said, probably won’t be able to survive more than a few shots each without burning out but that’s the nature of the beast.” He looked downright hungry at that.
“Let’s get a working prototype together and worry about upgrading after.” Man after my own heart. Without needing another word, we both dug in, and as always it felt like music being made between us.
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Later that same day, around lunchtime, I found myself taking the stairs two at a time to the second floor. Across the somewhat empty expanse, Hyo and Sileena had made a cross between a Dojo and a dance studio. A long mirror stretched one wall, which should have been a fucking nightmare to get there but Sileena trivialized the hard part of that work.
On the far wall, a couple of blocks of distance away, Hyo sat cross legged in her bed with a Laptop in front of her and a 60 pound dumbbell casually being lifted in one hand. “You should knock,” she commented as I approached.
“What? I was so far away,” I protested.
“I would have heard.” She regarded me with a nod, beckoning me over after the curt response and turned the laptop to me.
My heart skipped a bit of a beat when I saw Jehricho, looking older if only because he didn’t have gray hair when I knew him, and his two siblings. They looked like they were in trouble in the still image. With a blink, I played the footage.
Miles held up a hand, eyes a Smokey white that was clear even with the shaky camera footage this had been taken from. Incoming gunfire shattered against a translucent wall, and behind him Millie barked something out in a cadence that sounded almost unearthly. A bright light emanated from off screen at the end of her statement as she pointed a finger, and the resulting explosion made the feed temporarily fizzle. When it came back, a hole tore into reality and they slung four bags through the hole. They stepped through, bodies shimmering just before and a small silver ball bounced through.
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That blast destroyed everything, camera included.
“Looks like your acquaintances are still up to no good,” Hyo explained. “That was from Texas. Raid on a facility fronting as a retail warehouse went downhill. You gasped when you saw those twins. Anything I should know?”
I blinked, flipping to a picture of a woman about as old as me, much longer locs of hair with several charms mid swing behind her with a dangerous smile and piercing red eyes, came up. I sighed exasperated. “It was more at the portal opening than anything. They don’t usually get those directly in combat from their leader Jericho.”
She didn’t call me on the lie like I could always count on Gabriel to do. She just stared. She knew me better than him in some ways. That hawk eyed stare almost made me flinch, but the monster in me was too indignant to balk at something like this.
“I’m sure it won’t come up when you tap them for backup,” she conceded sarcastically.
“Insubordination will not be tolerated,” I joked, flipping past her to San and his current followers. “Ah yes; time to grill you about your history. Which is what I asked you to look into by the way.”
She turned the knowing gaze into a forceful glare and that was more than enough to ward me off that line of conversation. “To which I mean, as you no doubt gleaned, we shall now discuss his threat level.”
No video this time. Just a clear statement of power. No less than 200 officers in hisnever expanding army. I whistled noting that some of them were on international watch lists and some looked to be business men and women. At his right, in a white mask and bodysuit adorned with the White Spider Clan crest, Geomi. World renowned assassin. Dangerous. Lethal. Efficient.
“You know you can’t come,” I told her when I finally deigned to speak, having a seat on the edge of the bed. She dropped the weight, fingers tapping the bed rhythmically as she took a deep, calming breath.
“Stand back up.” I was startled a bit at that, and the speed at which she popped up from her seat.
“What?”
“If we are going to have this talk, and you are going to convince me to stay back, I want to have it while we spar.”
My face dropped, and I had no problem letting her see how wildly unappealing that sounded to me.
“Non-negotiable,” she added. “I will go easy on you.”
I sighed. “Alright, fuck it.” It had been a bit since I got my ass beat anyway and I didn’t want any rust settling in. I’d been trained my entire life to be capable of doing a lot better than just defending myself, but Hyobin had the code name Prodigy for a reason.
The second I stepped on the map we offered each other a bow, which I suppressed the urge to be sarcastic about, and took a ready position.
Six feet between us. Didn’t offer a lot of time if she decided to close in and crack my skull open like an egg, but she’d said she was going easy.
“So, explain again why I cannot go?” She commented, palms open towards me, right foot forward ever so slightly, eyes flickering over my form quickly; spotting weakness.
Like a Panther sizing up a mouse.
I took initiative, closing in. One step. Two. She was in my jabbing range before my foot touched the ground for a second time, and stepped right between my legs. By the time my hook swung for her chin, one of her hands had parried, striking the elbow and the other rebuffed my advance with a palm strike that destroyed my forward momentum.
Reeling, I stepped back with it and pushed down her hand with the one I hadn’t swung with. Precisely, she used the one she’d parried with to effectively shove my wrist aside, crossed in front of my chest, and then pivoted slightly to shoulder-check me.
Two exchanges in her favor and I was on my ass.
“Hyo, you can’t go because your temper is worse than mine and that’s a huge thing.”
She backed off with measured steps, never looking away from me with that sharp gaze. I got up, brushing myself off, and his my chagrin. No matter how strong and experienced the opponent, being dismantled by someone half your size hurts the ego a bit.
“If Geomi shows up and things go south-“
I rushed again, and she let me. I feinted, forgetting who I was dealing with, and then backed off. She followed and swung a kick at me.
“-you are going to need me.”
I managed a well timed block that allowed me to jab at her again safely with a step in. Bait. The foot I had blocked recoiled and snapped out, landing in my chest right as my wrist was caught. The impact winded me, and then she rolled back, pulling me with her foot still against my solar plexus, and slammed me into the ground. The strength involved in her jumping with one leg with my body was definitely NOT her going easy, but she twisted my wrist anyway once we landed, dropping a knee against my chest.
I tapped immediately, before the lock could start to hurt.
“Last time I checked Geomi can be shot,” I grunted fighting the urge to go grab a gun right now. “We’re not idiots. We can handle this.”
She snorted, letting me go and helping me up. “You are getting smarter. At fighting I mean. You are still an idiot otherwise.”
“Fuck off,” I responded gracefully.
“When you feint, you try not to put your body into it like you do when you actually swing. It is the kind of tell that is exploitable by anyone with an equal or higher skill level. Boxing did you a disservice in that regard but if you had hit me I’m sure it would have been a really good hit.”
And there was Hyos most dangerous quality. Beyond the mystical and mysterious connection to a magical energy I knew nothing about, she had also been chosen by the forge to receive an… improvement. Her reflexes were beyond inhuman to pair with supernatural speed. Due to some neuro-implants her mind could slow down the world, allowing her to experience things at a tenth of the speed, sometimes even slower.
She was beyond efficient and lethal, even if pushing that advantage came with downsides, like overheating her brain or trapping her in her own mind temporarily.
“If you go, San and Geomi might not even play ball, Hyobin.”
Before she spoke I cut in.
“It’s not like you can’t wait nearby. You and Sileena are absolutely going to be coming to the club. You just can’t come inside. That’s all.” Her mind turned that around a few times.
“Sure. Fine. Whatever.”
One loss traded for one victory. It was always better for the one coming in with less negotiating power after all.
“Anything else you manage to dig up?” I asked not quite ready to rise from the floor yet with my not-bruised ego.
“Nothing I cannot, quickly brief you on another time. More names, more background information on some people with weight from San’s camp. I do not think it is going to matter. He mostly brought lieutenants he would not mind losing but could trust.”
“Guys that might be looking for a way up?” She shook her head.
“The ambition would be equal across the board so it is not an angle we could try to use,” she explained while reopening the laptop and flipping to Halogen and Sway at last. Nothing surprising. Her usual cabal, some heavyweights with powers that were good for everything from assassination to demolition but nothing as… esoteric as magic from her side.
“That is all I have,” she said. “Too many bodyguards, cut throats and purse snatchers under her. Same thing with Sway except it is too few. He just hides in Halogens shadow like an insect. I also have no real method by which to see if anyone else will be there. That being said, Sileena might have intel as well.”
I took that as the que it was to leave without bugging her anymore, even if kicking me around would have raised her spirits a bit.
I had one more person to check with and then a phone call to make anyway.
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For Sileena, at least, I actually did need to make a phone call to catch up with her. This, at least, would likely be fast.
“Sup,” she said as soon as the phone rang twice.
“Yo. How goes recon?” I asked, making a few final adjustments to the vest I’d be wearing under my shirt to make sure it fit.
“It goes indeed. Turns out The Playground has really fucking good food man. I got these little sliders as an appetizer, Mmf to die for. The entree was a ribeye. That shit was fly as FUCK. And a baked sweet potato too. And like 4 orders of fries. The fries, Upgrade, the fries,” she all but moaned in my ear.
“Sileena,” I impatiently growled at her.
“Okay right,” she said and I could hear her suppressing the laugh. “Yeah so, I ended up eating everything and keeping my eyes open. The staff on the night shift are all people who could probably throw you across a room casually. Even the wait staff. I managed to sneak a peak into the kitchen, and saw a couple of guards watching the door on the fridge.
“Lot of people meandered back there inconspicuously and didn’t come out the whole time I was there. After my second steak I figured I’d been ID’d.”
“People shouldn’t know you by face, you’re too new at this,”I said honestly. Meant that some folks might have passed her info around who DID know what she looked like.
“Yah and I wasn’t armed or anything. All I had was your wallet. Anyway, no sign of Halogen herself but what tipped me off was a manager came by to check on me since I’d gotten enough food to fill a Lion and he was sorta odd. Had black sunglasses on in a dimly lit restaurant.”
“What else was odd Shift?”
“There was a pistol on his hip. Military grade vest under. Oh and he told me if I wasn’t here to visit the Queen Bitch herself I should make myself scarce and that I’m not as sneaky or clever as I thought I was. Don’t know if he knew who I was but he tipped his hand there for sure. I managed to steal his the gun and swapped his wallet with yours.”
“What, wait a second I like my wallet!” I complained. “Also I have like four IDs in there!”
“I emptied it before I left. This guys name is Danai Charles. Or so it says on his work ID and State ID. From Ohio. Fuck Ohio. Anyway yeah he has like, way too much cash. I looked him up, and turns out this specific alias, unless it’s really him, is probably one of her right hands. He’s probably going to be mad I stole this too, because he keeps an access card in the back. Just in case we need to make a quick entrance or exit, we got it.”
And that’s why I put up with Sileena. Small mercy she’s half as good a thief as she is at talking my damn ear off.
“Good work. Anything else of note.”
“Yeah, I also got you building plans on the way out. It’s incredible what people keep in eyes view. I swapped a plate with a tablet, you’d have been so proud to see it btdubs, right out of the office. Yeah they didn’t keep close enough eye on me. Turns out I’m sneakier than I thought I was, huh Danai. Anyways… Remember when I said all the staff look like hired goons? They probably are. She’s called her hounds home for this one. And this tablet has everything an out of towner or new hire would need to be aware of to be effective security when everyone in town is possibly dangerous. I got routes, I got emergency access points. I got the roster. I got it all. Made a copy for you, and then sent the tablet back. I’m on my way back.”
“Good shit Shift,” I praised. “Got an ETA?”
“Be there by midnight. Gotta stop for a bite,” she said. “Ring ya if I get into trouble, bye now!”
Click.
Well, that was certainly a worthwhile conversation. One day of recon and she had everything I needed. Even if the access codes changed I could use the card she stole as a base to build on. The floor plans and security roster was an obviously good find. Now it was just a measure of playing the waiting game and making a phone call I’d been trying to avoid.
One ring, and an amused voice spoke over the phone. “Miles gave even odds you’d bitch out and not call,” a voice chided me the second hit could.
“Well, I figured waiting till end of business would keep you on the edge of your seat.”
“Very funny. To what do I owe the displeasure, Upgrade? Don’t suppose you’re calling looking for an in to the party,” he responded.
“Nah, got my own. They really are just letting anyone in these days.” A moment of quiet. He didn’t expect that.
“Alright, so I’ll humor you. What the fuck are you calling for?”
“I need a favor Jehricho,” I said, tense.
“You got a lot of nerve, boy,” he growled. The already deep voice got even lower. “After all this time, you think you can call me for favors? After last time I did you a solid?”
“I squared with you before I left, come on don’t play ball like this man.”
“See that’s the thing. You barely broke even before you cut and run. You didn’t have much then, you ain’t got much now. You’re a little fish in an ocean you can’t even see the deepest part of and you think you got enough pull that I’ll do you a favor?”
“My nigga, I’m not dumb,” I cut in. “This is mutually beneficial. There’s no bad blood with us. I told you when I left that I wasn’t trying to start a feud. I had to go my way and you had yours. It’s in the air of good graces I want to give you something you’ve wanted since before I was born. I just need some assurances and a hand with something. Then you get a real shot at turning the tide.”
The quiet on the other end meant he had muted his phone. Miles and Millie and probably some others giving some advice.
I took initiative again. “How would you like to bring down the biggest hound in the FORGE Jericho? I’m talking about toppling Halogen.”
“…I’m listening, boy.”
And just like that,the foundation was laid for one hell of a party.