Riches Everywhere!
Vrrrrrooommm. Fox waited until a vehicle with a rather thundering engine neared their location. He eyed the corner of a street a few dozen meters away, managing to see a blurry person exit the vehicle as it continued moving towards them. It went over the sidewalk for a few meters, stopping a few other meters before Fox and Nol.
Then, before he could ask anything, a female figure with an armor-like uniform glued to her skin, and wearing a strange mask covering her every facial feature, including her hair, slid down a rope. Just like that, from a light post Fox wasn’t focusing on, a person sneaked upon them.
Furthermore, she looked similar to the shadow Fox saw moving out of the vehicle just then. At least when carefully analyzing her outlined, well-shaped figure. She descended from the rope, a few meters to Fox’s right and in front of the vehicle, looking at him with a straightened head.
“Fox, meet Colmillo,” Nala Loba returned, who knew when, to the group, and attracted everyone’s attention, including the newcomer. Everyone stepped closer to the vehicle, a tall truck with half a meter distance between the ground and its doorsteps.
It wasn’t too long, so it didn’t need more than 4 wheels, which weren’t too big, but it would still attract quite the bit of attention. It had a dark green painting, and it definitely seemed a bit armored, if not fully.
Fox looked at the newcomer, a female no doubt, who wore a strange mask. Fox didn’t need confirmation to know it was a bion, one whose price and quality he couldn’t hope to match for the time being. It looked like a cutting edge bion, and not only that, it gave Fox a familiar sensation.
It reminded him of that semi-empowered uniform armor Fox saw when he hunted Imán’s boyfriend back in Riverlye. However, it was somehow different still, and it brought his attention to the maximum. Furthermore, the rope she used was as thin as a vein, but it didn’t cause friction. He was just going to his first cooperative, team-up task but was already learning so much!
“And no,” Nala Loba suddenly said as she took the keys, a keycard, and a note from Colmillo’s left hand. Then, she looked at him, saying with indifferently narrowed eyes, “You are not good enough to know her name yet. Everybody, get on. We won’t be moving slow.”
Fox was a little perplexed. The thought had just emerged in his mind, but the Captain immediately bashed him down again, like this was too frequent whenever Colmillo appeared.
“Thank you, Colmillo. We’ll be on our way,” Nala Loba’s expression eased a lot when she returned to face the masked young woman. Surprisingly, the latter spoke, sounding with a natural, rough-robotic yet soft, clear voice; melodic even. “Thank you. Supplies like yours favors me days or nights.”
“Hmm,” Nala Loba blew from her nostrils in a good mood before nodding. Then, everyone stepped into the vehicle. When Fox passed by Colmillo, the latter looked at him in greeting, which Fox understood. However, he was also attracted by her mask.
It was like a black thief’s full face mask, one that tightly yet softly hug her head and neck. Her face was somewhat distinctive, with her mouth area having multiple ‘bone structure’ covering it, looking like a fashionable group of the same. Her eyes were empty white sockets that didn’t move, but while it was a bit longer than wider, it encompassed all eye movement.
A thin, sharp trail of bones moved from her mouth area to her eyebrows, forming small portions of what a heart would look like, but only from the sides, without completing even half of one. Her temples, sideburns, cheeks, and jaw from both sides had a few patterns, like blades and teardrops decorating it. A very beautiful mask.
Fox suddenly felt goodwill towards this person. She lowered her head just a bit, nodding at him, before he went past her and entered the truck.
When he closed the door and looked back outside, she was no longer there. Fox only felt the truck begin movement before rapidly speeding. In under a few seconds, they left the meeting location far away, heading towards the outskirts of the city.
The ride had the occasional bump. Not because of the truck’s fault, but because the driver, namely Nala Loba, drove really fast. She took the routes that were the emptiest, where even if police heard the roaring engine, they wouldn’t move to intercept out of laziness and not wanting to bother with such a ‘crime’ late at night. As long as it wasn’t in front of them.
Fox couldn’t know something like this just yet, but Nala Loba moved around like she built every cubic millimeter of cement on these streets. She drove until one of the airports for public use. However, they didn’t go inside. Instead, she toured around it before entering an empty facility with a long driveway.
It looked like a potential neighborhood in the future, but when the truck went in, Fox rapidly found a plane waiting for them to be used, hidden and small, but not too small. Fox’s previous thoughts on Colmillo were more or less correct at this point, she was like a little thief.
However, he didn’t offer any questions and just followed the rest, getting into the plane after checking its equipment. Then, boarding it at last, Fox and the Captain’s team moved out.
What surprised and intrigued Fox the most was that, when the plane went on the move through the driveway, it made no sound. And when it started taking off, there was only a rough sense of wind being broken before it all remained smooth and quiet. A covert plane, for sure.
Considering what he’s learned of the world, something like this could only be in a nation’s leader’s hands. Although any rich person with enough balls to waste on such high-maintenance aircraft, like politicians and some, very few, criminal lords, could technically get one.
Fox knew not how Colmillo stole one, how she got it, and much less how she put it in Lýmoca’s capital without anyone noticing. If PSD wanted a plane like this, it wouldn’t have been hiding out in the public.
He now understood the depth of the District, and how far he was from it. He only wondered if his current knowledge made up for it, or if his new limit for PSD was still lacking.
Moreover, it wasn’t just them taking flight, the truck was hauled in and carefully strapped in the small storage compartment the plane had. Even then, not a single sound was made.
Soon, Fox understood how they would accomplish their otherwise impossible mission. At the beginning of the SO, perhaps they could’ve flown right into another political entity’s territory and have a high probability of not being discovered, but not a thousand years later.
As they took off, an airplane, much larger and bulky, coming from the airport, flew above them. The plane was quick, so it didn’t have trouble catching up. The pilot was still Nala Loba, with Fox sitting farthest to the back with no one by his side as the other four sat together in pairs.
Soon, the plane flew below the airplane. They could even hear their pilots’ comms, which Nola Loba put on while flying to their destination. Fox was still surprised, as this was his first flight, with cargo of a truck, and going into another country to do the unthinkable, and carried firearms.
It was a hell of a first time, but he felt pretty chill about it. Even the ascension was nothing, and compared to when he dropped from the chopper in the Riverlye tunnel, it wasn’t that much. All he knew was that they were flying well above 13,000 meters from the sea level.
Their target this time was a certain assignation in ANS, the northern neighbor. Fox didn’t know who was the main target in this case, but he knew that whoever it was, be it their government or not, their task’s success would mean detrimental losses.
They went from Lýmoca’s capital to the neighboring state of Lydnígo, and then, still airborne, into ANS territory. It was simple, in truth. The team entered ANS’s state in the ‘cleavage’ region that always served to remind Lys of their humiliating past.
… Fox rested his eyes, keeping them open, while the others occasionally chatted with each other. The only ones not mingling were him and the Captain, Nala Loba. At this time, Fox blinked his eyes once and became sober. He watched as Nala Loba grabbed a hidden panel below the seat, pressing some buttons and forming some commands before unstrapping herself.
“Fox, you close the door behind us.” She stood up and began giving directions, walking to the backdoor leading to the cargo. “The rest, come with me. You know your drill. Get ready to work once more.”
“Hua, hua, Cap.” Nol uttered in low volume, standing up and grabbing his assembled firearms inclining on a wall to the side. The rest did the same, with Lyan, the bright ebony beauty, smiling at the still sitting Fox, maybe as comfort or to encourage him.
Fox stood up after they did. The team waited behind Nala before she opened the door to the cargo. The ramp was still closed as they hurried to the truck. Fox saw this and hurried over, closing the door behind him with his case strapped to his lower back.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Fwuuuuushhh~! Pa, pa, paallmp!
Just as he jumped a little into the air and closed the door with a light spin, the ramp opened rapidly. Fox felt the air everywhere rushing about as the truck’s straps disengaged at once. His eyes widened, with their polycoria shrinking a bit. He stomped his feet against the floor and dashed into one of the doors, feeling some straps slapping his body around.
Fox opened the door and harshly pulled himself inside, closing it with a bang. It was lucky he didn’t grab a left door, or his arm’s strength might’ve broken the window or dented the door, nothing good for what they were about to experience.
When he felt comfortable enough, Fox looked to his left, becoming startled. He unknowingly took the co-driver’s seat, which was fortunately empty. As the truck backtracked, falling into the air, Fox barely cared about it, as Nala Loba supported her jaw and stared ahead.
She turned her head, definitely not caring that Fox was just a second from being left behind, or dying even. Her gray, light blue eyes stared at him indifferently, showing a calculative glint that made him shiver. It was the first time he felt such notions from someone without his life being endangered in multiple levels.
While the motion through air did nothing to him, Nala Loba’s attitude made him breathe erratically; it was quite the irony.
After seeing everyone else, seated and with their belts around their waists and across their torsos, Fox did the same, feeling the thrill of the truck free falling, but it didn’t move freely.
It was somehow retaining its angle, with its belly facing the incoming ground, which came closer and closer at a surreal degree.
Nala Loba didn’t have to say anything to alert the rest. They knew ‘the bump’ would be something. However, it would be fine, as they’ve done this before. On the other hand, Fox did perspire a bit, as he could only imagine they’ve done this before, and that it should be safe…
Right?
CRASSHH! The truck landed swiftly, with Nala Loba immediately rushing it after turning the shifter and putting metal to the petal, gritting her teeth as she did!
The truck received damage, but nothing substantial. Windows cracked, but only from the sides, while the front and rear were most untouched. The quarter glasses broke down, crushed under the resilient wheels, left far behind by a truck whose engine now didn’t make a sound. However, its shape and size was the same, so it was impossible not to notice under the streetlights.
Fox breathed rapidly after the landing, even a minute after the truck drove a few hundred kilometers per hour in a mostly empty, long interstate freeway. He looked at Nala Loba, who gave him a brief glance before checking the road ahead. They were in ANS territory.
Some minutes later, checking the truck’s clock and the distance between a certain ‘route’, Nala Loba drove off the road, rushing into the dirt and some hills, going completely dark. The truck was hidden by the deep of the night’s darkness and the surrounding vegetation that, albeit small, works well enough to cover their movements.
Before long, they arrived at a facility of an old but massive garage, with multiple buildings where supplies or vehicles were stored. The truck was parked in the wilderness still, with the team and Fox rushing over on their feet.
So far, everything was good. They ran up a wall after making a race for it on the dirt, trying to form as little kinetic force around their feet as possible. Their every movement and use of strength, detailed and delicately precise to climb the walls and railing, barely making a noise with their breath becoming their greatest support, aided them enter the precinct.
Nala Loba and Fox were at the front, while the other 4 behind them. They peeked over some routes as patrolling guards and vehicles slowly passed by. They reckon these patrols couldn’t even notice them if they walked side by side unless they were too obvious.
Silently cursing these people’s skill, Fox and Nala Loba move further inside, instructing the others when to move. It wasn’t intense, with only sometimes requiring them to be patient and rush or slowly move in intervals between corridors and buildings to avoid irregularities.
To Fox’s surprise and joy, without exaggeration, the team was all rapid-mobile, rational, quick to react, and able. They all surpassed Fox’s experience of watching other ‘clumsy’ special agents work in the field. Then again, it was his first time in an assignation like this in a hoog secret organization.
Now, he only needed to see the team fight to evaluate them completely. So far, they were satisfactory to Fox, although he didn’t have the right to opine on them like this. Hence, he kept quiet and just helped them get through.
At last, they moved into a particularly small open building with a ginormous gate, practically replacing an entire wall, where some large trucks and trailers hid a small compartment. This compartment was left open, with stairs leading to a lower level.
They took it without hesitation and walked for a few hundred meters before going back up. The underground floor was all white, bright, and with little to no surveillance.
Additionally, only 2 persons could walk at the same time, leaving no space to carry heavy loads. Fox was the first to come up, confirming the previous information gathered was correct. The underground floor led to a building whose lower half was open, but the upper was closed.
He gave the signal to the others before they came out with their rifles out, checking everything. Some had their pistols around their shins, others behind or at the side of their waists. Fox had his small pistol on his back.
Since he could bring all 3 of his preferred types of firearms, he didn’t bother with a higher pistol caliber. Furthermore, because they were in such a sensitive situation, they couldn’t bring the supercontinent’s chosen weapon, so Fox wouldn’t see the team show those beauties off.
Nala Loba took the lead to move upstairs, carefully checking everything. She was followed by Nol, with Fox in the middle, and the other young women behind him. He still hadn’t taken his case out and assembled his firearms, but he wasn’t questioned.
When they stepped near the second upper floor in this half, at the stairs, Nala Loba stopped for 3 seconds. Then, just as Fox heard footsteps and noticed there was a marvelous soundproof field and a material surrounding the following floor, and most likely the rest above them, Nala Loba’s body jolted.
Her head was peeking above the steps, with her arms high up. After her body jolted, they rushed upwards. Fox saw a triplet of corpses with several meters between them, all killed with a single shot. He looked at Nala Loba and cocked his head comprehensively.
“Fox, go up. We have this covered. Find out if the next floor is as stocked as this one.” She noticed his glare and stared back, commanding him with ruthlessness. The others looked at him for a brief moment before getting to work, taking mantles off some large items around.
Nodding, Fox walked up, bearing only his tightened fists as he took the stairs up. Knowing about the dedicated soundproof, he stealthily moved inside, supporting most of his weight with his legs and using his arms as support when taking long strides across the floor and through the industrial shelves.
The entire upper half was like a building still in construction, but it had items covered in mantles with a length of 2 to 5 meters, and only the width of almost half a meter; all piling something up.
Fox didn’t take time to find patrols. They were some fat, mostly middle-aged, although some elderly, men and women.
He first caught one from behind, jumping his left waist on their upper back and hooking their neck with his left arm from behind, easily breaking it. Hiding the body near a pile of covered items, Fox melee-assassinated every other patrol around, repeating on and on. It wasn’t fun, and his life wasn’t endangered, but it was the job, so.
After taking care of them, sweating not, and with none of them realizing their comrades were assassinated one by one, with only the last 2 feeling an eerie atmosphere. Fox checked the place for surveillance before walking to uncover one of the 2 meters long piles.
“…” Fox looked at the hundred plus gold bars lined up in a 2 x .40 meters pile. They were shiny, and smelled of nice, big ol’ riches. Feeling the texture of one bar, and then of a few added together, Fox smiled before letting go. It wasn’t an enjoyable touch, so it was whatever.
He searched the others with his senses, letting his smell and perception decide whether they were all the same or not. Of course, he got close to those he couldn’t smell quite right before confirming it. Then, he walked to the stairs leading down and peeked.
Everyone’s attention immediately went to Fox, clearly alerted in case they were seen. Nol mouthed a yelling ‘Fox?!’ before he faced Nala Loba and mouthed a few words. Reading Fox’s lips, Nala Loba widened her eyes.
After a thought, she nodded to the others before moving to the upper floor. Fox stood back up and moved to the other gold bars, fully uncovering them by the time the team came up.
Nala took a look around before nodding at him. Then, she led her team upstairs. Fox followed behind, grabbing the right side of his case, still at his lower back, in case it was needed at last.
They went up another floor, with this time many guards around. There was also a table, lighted by a long pole, as other guards played cards with their windows lying on the table. Fox opened his case, startling the Captain’s team. They watched for a few seconds as Fox silently moved his hands like a madman and assembled a rifle before putting a silencer to its muzzle.
Then, Nala Loba, who didn’t look back as much as the others did, nodded. The team returned the gesture, while Fox simply watched them spread out before doing the same. One by one, several at the same time as they worked together, the team and Fox all got rid of the guards before moving to those still playing cards. Their movements weren’t only elegant, but silent, efficient, and swift under the cover of the lack of light almost everywhere.
Nala Loba looked at Fox, letting him know of her gaze. When he looked at her, she nodded. Fox slightly nodded in return before moving into the guards’ view, hiding his rifle strapped on his left shoulder, hidden behind his back.
“Ehh, what the hell are you? What are you doing here?” One of them stood up at once, grabbing a radio. Fox looked at the other guards. They seemed surprised at first, but then widened their eyes without nothing happening behind him; Fox narrowed his eyes and nodded to the team.
Pi- pf- pt- pi- ptt- pi- pft- pi- pi…
The guards were barraged to death. The light was taken down with a pair of shots as well, but the team wasn’t contented. Nala Loba wore a serious expression with her eyebrows slightly furrowed. She walked forward to check if anyone had a transmitting device.
The guards were killed cleanly, with no one making a mess, not even falling to the floor. But some objects were destroyed or tumbled down.
While the others searched around, Fox lifted his right hand and looked down. The team took notice at once. Fox kept staring at the square-shaped small device near his left foot giving off static white noise. His polycoria eyes were flashed with a pensive gleam before he lifted his right foot, crushing the device.
Lifting his chin, the others wore stern expressions, even if not by much. Then, the Captain looked at Fox before addressing Nol, sparing him a glance at the end of her words. “Nol, check the floor above.”
…