One More
Phesx Caolia arrived at the HQ in due time. He calmly walked to the respective halls, feeling tired and in not so much of a good mood after so many little troubles half a state away. He went to the tech desk available before reporting in. “I'm here to verify my mission.”
“Yes, one second.” A young man nodded before checking on the few screens before him, so thin they were nearly like paper. Phesx couldn’t see anything behind them, although they were a bit transparent, but on the other side were clear images and writing with an obscure black ground.
“Very well.”
The receptionist’s words attracted Phesx, who was reflecting on his mission. Although it was troublesome, he only had to kill 3 people, escaping that white van behind them, and avoiding everything and everyone else that wasn’t a potential ‘ally’.
Furthermore, he only went to the mission with a small pistol. Although he clearly had no time to make preparations, that didn’t stop him from making moves in case he had to act quick, or improvise. Clearly, if things were only worse today, it was because he didn’t prepare enough.
“Your mission has ended, and you were paid. Good. You’re eligible for another one, if you’d like.” The young man spoke after grabbing Phesx’s attention. Phesx shook his head a little, but before his opening mouth could say no to that for now, and for the next few days, a voice yelled at him.
“Fox!”
Turning his head, Phesx looked at Pheli, who walked towards him from a hallway with a group of people semi-following her. There were 5 others with her. Pheli walked to him with a casual expression before giving the receptionist a glance, who went silent and lowered his head.
“There’s a situation where you can join us,” Pheli said after returning her attention to him. Phesx blinked, awaiting. Pheli placed her left hand on her hip and gestured to the Artistas who came with her. “There’s a little face-off between bandits in some streets. Turns out, there are some other lagjs involved. We’re going to even the odds, so join us.”
She walked forth and whispered in his right ear, her chin over his shoulder. “It’ll be a good opportunity to show off. You won’t have a problem ‘mingling’ in this, would you?”
Phesx’s eyes shone a bit. Since she pressed such an opportunity to meet others, Phesx wouldn’t waste it away. It was a safe and profitable mission, the one he just completed, after all. He nodded, making Pheli secretly pleased, which he discerned through her eyes.
Pheli looked at her group and raised her hand, “Alright. We got the mad fox. If there’s anyone unready, get off my team.”
The group scrutinized Phesx before grinning at Pheli, they silently accepted Pheli’s changes. She looked at Phesx again and nodded before walking to the tech desk. She picked a mission and returned to the group, telling her lover, “Come. I’ll introduce you.”
Phesx lifted his eyebrows in a soft, slow motion. Pheli led the group away, into the parking area. Phesx was at the back of the group, but he walked through shoulders and in between others to arrive beside her. Something the others didn’t impede him and even seemed to want to see if he’ll have the balls to do. When Phesx arrived to walk beside his lover, things seemed a bit less tense.
Pheli exchanged eyes with him, smiling and showering him with her beauty. Phesx gulped, looking ahead as he felt things were about to get exciting.
At last, on their way to the parking lot, Pheli addressed him, closing in with her forehead towards his. “I’m glad you’re coming. Even Waleks was free for tonight’s action. You can tell how ‘highly’ these situations are regarded. That one is Teon, you’ve met her before.”
Phesx looked at Teon, who had bright pale white skin, big black eyes, and pitch-black long hair picked behind her ears; combed, too. She was very tall, as well, with long arms. This was the young beauty Phesx saw when he first met Cala, the first Instructor he was introduced to.
“She’s the best fighter in the team. Be careful around her,” Pheli whispered to him, somewhat intimately. Phesx touched Pheli’s forehead with his momentarily before voicing, “Why should I be careful of her?”
“Just don’t agree to everything she says,” Pheli grinned and gave him an ambiguous pair of celeste eyes. Phesx felt his skin tingle, almost visualizing himself being beaten to a pulp. He looked at Teon again, but she was indifferently walking.
“That one is Layo,” Pheli’s words brought his attention to another person. Phesx looked at another young woman. This one had creamy white skin with a grayish touch; large, dull, lightened brown eyes, very long chestnut hair, and bountiful breasts. When Phesx looked at her, she immediately noticed, kindly smiling at him.
“Is she dangerous, too?” Phesx asked, not willing to drop his guard. Pheli smiled, showing her canines, clearly teasing him. “Of course she is. But not to you. If she were to know of the ‘real’ you and me, I bet you she’d make us marry and make her our future children’s godmother.”
“That’s… a lot of long and detailed thinking,” Phesx commented, feeling weird upon hearing those words. He tilted his head to the right and looked ahead before his eyes inevitably fell on her right shoulder. Pheli looked to her right, teasingly, and asked, “Is it?”
Phesx Caolia tilted his head with a jolt. He started feeling a bit unusual. ‘Are those butterflies- no, worms again?!’
Continuing walking, nearing the underground parking area, Pheli pointed at the first male in the group, “That one’s Imán. He’s very strong, but a worse fighter than Teon. You might find him ‘familiar’. He was raised in the military, just don’t bother him asking how he came here. Usually, those things are saved for talks between lovers…”
Hearing her words, soft and trailing off, Phesx looked at the side of her neck. He blinked, suddenly feeling a bit ashamed he didn’t thought of that on his own. Similarly, he thought, ‘I wish to know where Pheli comes from… All about her.’
Phesx looked at Imán, who kept staring and walking ahead. Imán is a black man with black hair and eyes. He was very buffed and tall, wearing a tight gray shirt with long sleeves. Phesx thought Imán didn’t notice, but the young man suddenly nodded towards him, briefly glancing at him.
Phesx returned the nod, somewhat somber. Pheli tapped his wrist, making Phesx feel she wanted to hold him a bit but restrained. Maybe they had a non-declared relationship yet, or anything else, but she wasn’t inkling to show it to others. Even though it was obvious, it was the behavior with him around others that would mean a change to her lifestyle as a whole.
“That one is Gesán,” Pheli pointed to a young man in his prime with white bright skin. He was very tall, with short, smooth, relaxed gray hair. He saluted in greeting to Phesx when the latter looked at him.
“Well, the other is Waleks, whom you’ve met more times coming out of the bathroom than at work,” Pheli finished by pointing at the guy with a salad-like brown afro. Phesx nodded at Waleks, who pressed his lips together and nodded a bit in a greeting.
“Prove what the ‘famous’ Fox can do after appearing in the big screens of all news for a few weeks in a row.” Pheli closed her face to his again while walking, ever so intimately. Whispering those words, she pushed him with her shoulder, smiling and taking Phesx’s attention away for a second, nearly crashing into the elevator’s doors.
Going into the elevator, going up a few hundred meters, and entering the parking area, everyone went to a truck big enough for 10 people, with others already there waiting for them joining them. One of them was the gal Waleks always ostentatiously mingles in the workshop’s back rooms or storage rooms. And bathrooms, of course.
“You guys get there. There’s not enough space, so I’ll go with… foxy.” Pheli shouted to her group after remaining behind as they went to the truck, also pulling Phesx to stop with her. The others looked back, some frowning, others smiling, one of them even sent them suspicious, kind eyes.
What ‘no space’? Even with 15 of them, as long as they didn’t bring large bags of equipment, they’ll be fine inside it. However, they ignored it after looking at the Myertha Fox and Pheli were moving to.
Pheli and Phesx walked towards the latter’s bike slowly. Pheli stopped before it, looking at it as Phesx gave her his helmet and his gauntlets. She looked at them, then at his face, before meekly putting them on. As Phesx hopped onto it, Pheli hugged his waist from behind and blew air to his nape through the helmet’s visor.
“I didn’t get the opportunity to be given a ride in this before, thinking I could only treat you like a baby.” Pheli commented, resting the side of her head, through the helmet, on his back. Phesx looked back and grinned, starting the roaring engines and feeling warmth.
Phesx prepared his baby, but waited as the truck advanced out of the parking area first. He looked back at Pheli, who looked up while still resting her head on his back. “I never knew your alias. Tell me, now.”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Phesx’s simple yet soft words seemed to enchant Pheli, who looked at his impenetrable black eyes. She hmphed humorously through her nostrils before replying with a smile. “Snow.”
‘Lien?’ Phesx repeated the word in his head, feeling it become more cute and better fitting to Pheli. Then, he picked his feet up, well-followed by Pheli, before riding out of the parking area. They slightly jumped when coming out of the ramp, drifting a bit behind the truck.
Once they were all ready, the truck advanced through the streets, followed by the Myertha as Phesx enjoyed the wild wind smacking his face. The truck wasn’t driving slow, and the streets weren’t too full, although they still took detours to avoid bits of traffic.
The truck had a fake painting and a few pieces of fabric attached to it to avoid easy detection from the cameras. Just in case they were tracked after what was about to occur, but Phesx didn’t have to worry too much.
Upon becoming a Neophyte, much before turning into an Artista, Phesx not only gained a blank bank card, he was also granted a smallish device to avoid the immediate detection of a vehicle’s records when recorded. Even then, it would be better to not use it from the get-go.
Thus, as the truck detoured to free themselves from traffic, Phesx drove his Myertha between vehicles and cyclist roads when possible. It was a bit too much illegal, but he was careful to not attract attention from the police, although some people did report him.
But chasing a Myertha that could go in and out of cities like it was nothing at night? As long as Phesx didn’t almost hit a family or injured someone, he wouldn’t be bothered. Thus, Pheli softly grabbed him as Phesx drove his baby fast and nimbly through the Sargonde’s emblematic, largest city. It was a nice, cold day, after all. He had to take advantage.
Now he understood. If there was something better than riding at times and with weather like these… it was to do it with someone. Someone whose hands around him were soft, but wouldn’t let go and remained there after leaning, slowing down, and speeding through.
Less than half an hour later, Phesx rode to the outskirts in the northeast of the city. The truck also drove a few streets away, and behind them. When they were arriving somewhere, Phesx frowned before Pheli pointed to the side behind a bridge, where a small water channel was built below. “Stop there. There’s a small space built by the org a decade ago. It’s one of the hideout places across Sargonde.”
Phesx nodded before driving off-road towards it. A few of the smallish engines in the Myertha roared in delight as he went into the dirt without slowing down. The wheels also thinned a bit, while the bike seemed to ‘grow’ a tiny bit.
Stopping before the bridge, Pheli pointed at a spot in the wall to their left. Phesx slowly rode there before feeling something pass by his eyes and behind him. Pheli explained, returning the stare. “It’s a scan. It can read even through walls, but only after capturing footage beforehand. It's harmless. The world’s governments use them since 200 years ago, don’t worry.”
Phesx lifted his left eyebrow. He knew he barely uncovered nowadays' high-end technology, even after becoming a weapon crafter, but this was something he didn’t expect. Furthermore, it was invisible. Then, he heard Pheli add, as if knowing he would remain curious.
“If it is empowered erroneously or by a foreign hand,” Pheli tapped his shoulders to indicate him to advance as a hidden compartment opened. “It just heats up and implodes. Its sound is easy to hear for any ‘serpent’, but not even special forces hear it. Go in, you’ll get the best spot.”
The walls moved behind the opening gap, retreating inside the hidden compartment until they could let a vehicle the size of the tanks Phesx saw in Preut in. Phesx rode inside, following Pheli’s indications to park in the largest room inside before stepping out.
As the truck stopped in the entrance of their room for a few moments before going elsewhere, Pheli hopped down his bike and walked to a panel. Phesx looked around, there was more than enough space for the car and his bike to get in a few times over, but whatever.
After parking his bike, Phesx heard movement from the walls in the room. He looked at the side while walking to Pheli as she explained again, “There’s some equipment in these hideouts. But not enough for a base, so don’t rely on these in the future. Come, pick your choice. You’ll pay for it, though, and it’s rented.”
Phesx watched as a wide variety of all kinds of weapons were exposed before them. His ears heard similar sounds elsewhere.
Pheli grabbed a large rifle, somewhat bulky but not that heavy, before looking at him. “Go on. We’ll be refunded if we bring more weapons from the mission, and extra for delivering so many parts. They’re useless unless they’re melted again, but that’s more than enough.”
Phesx Caolia nodded before grabbing a submachine gun. Then, he thought about something before grabbing another firearm. Pheli looked at his second choice as he put the top quality straps around his shoulders after putting the strap vest on.
“That’s a very sweet taste. Remember, you can do this,” Pheli swiped a finger to the strap beside her left chest. The strap ‘broke’ easily before she joined both ends tightly. They merged like it was never broken, and when she pulled, it was like brand new. Phesx nodded.
The vest strap was a ‘piece’ of equipment that went from their shoulders to their waist, hugging around their hips and collarbones. If one tried to strangle the user from any angle, the rope would just break apart with the grasp, or when pressed against the neck. Otherwise, tough as hell.
This technology was quite high-end, but not the latest generation of such supporting equipment. The actual peak is much more resistant and can easily hold off against explosions, let alone bullets. It was the same for the straps for the submachine gun and the rifle Phesx picked. He also grabbed a few extra magazines for both, and elliptical throwing daggers.
They put their masks and cloaks on. Then, they stepped out of their room and then the hideout. They rapidly checked the place. The sights on the weapons were for night vision, movement thermal readings, and electrical-electronic scanning when up close to something for traps and detecting energy, such as cables and any hidden electricity feed systems, or the like.
The sights weren’t only at the top, but the sides, too, which were as thin as paper, and flexible when deactivated for better handling and to avoid unpredictable errors. Phesx and Pheli waited a few seconds before the others joined them outside. Then, they went on the move.
… The team of approximately 12 Artistas moved and separated into 3 groups when approaching the target location. Phesx went on one with Imán, on the left flank. Teon in the middle, and Pheli in the right flank.
The area was spread open with dirt roads everywhere. The sidewalks, of which some went a step up, and others were almost as thin that they shared space with the streets, were all dusty. The streets were pretty wide, with some yellow light streets illuminating several houses alone.
There were some pickup trucks behind 2 lines of people who tried to hide the obvious rifles and handguns behind their backs. There weren’t that many vehicles, and some were pared sideways in the middle of the street as 2 leaders met each other with a small table between their groups.
Phesx was situated atop a house left of one of the lines. Imán was in charge, positioning them behind a water tank and the tiny barricade on the rooftop. Teon brought her 3 Artistas around the pickup trucks behind the line of people in front of them.
Pheli was atop another house to the right, all waiting in the dark as the streetlights couldn’t reach here, and not enough were built to cover the entire street. They could see the 2 leaders in between both groups debating and talking, while they also saw other secret world people hidden, they were also seen by them.
Phesx felt like this place became a board, and suddenly, he realized. These people, those groups of criminals who liked to play with others’ lives and use ‘big weapons’, were a game that lagjs could set to contest and fight each other, directly or indirectly.
The 2 groups facing each other in the streets were composed by dozens of young people, barely entering or growing towards their 20s. But there were some who didn’t even make it past 15. Furthermore, it wasn’t just handguns in the hands of the youngest in both groups.
Phesx didn’t know how this would proceed, or what each party, including the lagjs in the dark nearby, had to do. He could only observe for now.
The 2 leaders in the middle of the intersection continued talking lowly, appearing calm but occasionally swinging their heads around. They each had a handgun in their hands, always aiming down. Phesx could feel the tension whenever one saw the other lift their wrist a little, but they never aimed it at each other. They were threatening each other to threaten one another.
Both lines seemed to grow restless. They had been here for almost an hour, although not even 45 minutes. Meanwhile, the Riverlye group had been here for about 20 minutes, while the other lagj secret organizations might’ve been here even hours prior.
Phesx looked at Pheli’s side for a moment, thinking about the too-young criminal spring chickens who looked just as audacious and with ‘not give a fuck’ attitudes like their older generations. Pheli turned to look at him from the distance. She only glanced at him, but Phesx received an answer.
‘There’s only so few endings people like this, who think they are meant to be by grabbing a weapon and becoming an ‘outlaw’, when they were not meant to, at all.’ Phesx thought, reminiscing of himself back then in Preut.
Just how different would his trajectory have been if not for that encounter when he just met Sofia? How horrid would things have ended? Or continued? If he hadn’t met Maria, or his ‘skills’ back then have not caught her eye… But it all didn’t matter.
Phesx’s focus returned to the streets, with no one the wiser. At this moment, the 2 leaders were shaking their heads towards one another. Both lines became restless, loudly talking to each other as they began showing their firearms and handguns, provoking the other side with a few slurs and hurl of yelled mockery.
Then, from both sides, handguns fired. The 2 leaders immediately crouched, throwing themselves to the ground from the scare. One of them rapidly stood up and tripped-ran towards one of the pickups parked sideways behind him. The other ran after kissing the dirt and dusting his front.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang… trrr rr rrrr rrr rrrr… The encounter had just begun. Phesx watched as quite a few fell from each side, slumping to the ground like fluffy toys. The rest hid behind the pickup trucks, bringing their leader to safety, turning into crowds behind those trucks.
But the leader on the other side from the hiding Riverlye Artistas fell just a few steps before hiding at the rear of a pickup truck. Right after, the back of his head blurted a streak of blood. His body fell like the other leader was running, never to stand up again, limp. A few youngest criminals tried pulling him up, thinking he was just injured. When they realized their leader was dead, it was too late. Their bodies were barraged with sprays from the other side.
Phesx looked at Imán as this happened. Both criminal groups didn’t flee or take the initiative, regardless of their leaders’ safety. They just stood behind their trucks and fired at each other. They would’ve emptied their magazines if their fingers and arms didn’t tremble and hurt after a few seconds.
Some even fell to the ground without being shot, just holding their shoulders, chest, or ribs.
Imán looked back at him, replying with a shake of his head and a light shrug. “Not yet. We’ll have to uncover the other lagjs first.”
“When will they come out? We’re waiting for them, no?” Phesx voiced. Their words were spoken so thin and soft to not be heard by other lagjs’ hearing or devices. Imán grinned, “Well, let us check first.”
…