06-27-2018, 01:13 PM
The Cube
Kiwi Bird City
Conternia
11: 15 hours
June 25, 2018
"You cannot seriously be considering this!?"
Conternian Intelligence Service Director of Analysis Alexander Strachen was aghast as he listened from across the table to Service Director Donna Barrow
"I'm not considering it, I'm doing it. My messenger will be on his way to the safe house in Melissa County within hours.'
The heads of the CIS's various sub-departments were gathered to discuss the next step after the strike in Melissa City, an operation which had been controversial among the people now seated around a table in the bowels of the Service's head-quarters, to say the least.
Alexander was silent for a moment before he protested again
"What we did to the MCPD was one thing. I might not have liked it but it was nothing we hadn't done before, and I thought it was necessary to stop Chaher. But this..." He searched for the right words. "This is something else entirely, and I don''t see how it'll help us."
Barrow absorbed his brief tirade, registering little visible response, then replied with two words, simple but imbued with both promise and threat.
"You will"
*
Classified Location
Melissa County
Lauchenoiria
7:30am
June 26, 2018
Robert Vergum stared blankly out the passenger seat window as the white van advanced up the path toward the cabin. There was nothing, no signs of life or civilisation, for miles around: just this building, inhabited by four government-sanctioned killers, which he was about to enter alone. "The things I do for my country", he thought to himself as his driver - a lightly bearded, fair-skinned man who had spoken barely a word the entire drive - brought the van to a halt, keeping the engine running, and Vergum got out and approached the wooden structure. He knocked twice on the door to make his presence known, then opened the letterbox and spoke through it:
"But the better all the works of nature are understood"
Footsteps approached the door and a rough, tired sounding voice finished the quotation that had been designated the password for the house.
"The more they will ever be admired."
The door was opened from inside, revealing a bearded man of moderate height with green eyes, clad in a hoodie, baggy jeans, and a baseball cap. He gestured Vergum inside, and he followed.
Looking around to get his bearings of the house, he spoke quickly and succinctly to the man who had let him in.
"Go get the others. Tell them to collect anything they need and meet me in the van in the five minutes."
The green-eyed man, who appeared not to have slept for some time, advanced upstairs as Vergum headed back to the van, this time taking his seat in the dank, claustrophobic back of the van, at the back of the compartment divided along the middle by a black box. It'd been early morning when he'd got the call summoning him to Lauchenoiria to brief some of Barrow's people. He hadn't officially been told until then that the Service had been behind Melissa City, but it hadn't shocked him: if everyone knew the things he'd learned in two decades as a field agent for the CIS, they'd never say "Free Minds, Free Eyes, Free People" or praise Conternia's commitment to equity with a straight face again. He'd become less bothered by it over the years, especially when things were working out as planned, as was happening now: they'd pulled off the attack, right at the heart of Chaher's territory, got out of the city, got out of the city, managed to ditch their weapons and change clothes, all while Chaher's government had no idea who'd hit them. It wasn't long before he heard footsteps approaching and the van door swinging open, bringing with it light and the sight of four people, all looking haggard and restless, haunted almost. They took their seats along the sides of the small room as one of them - a younger man with dark hair and eyes - swung the doors closed. As the car began to move along the country road, Vergum spoke:
"Well, folks, you did it: Melissa City isn't the stronghold everybody thought it was anymore, and although he might not be showing it, you can be sure we've got Chaher spooked."
The four assassins all looked at him, all absorbing what he was saying but not visibly reacting, clearly waiting for his point.
"You may have heard, he's blaming resistance fighters working with Moore. He's likely to be cracking down on any potential subverters, and cracking down hard - which means showing his own country and the international community just what kind of leader he is. We're just gonna give him a little assistance in that department. If you look in that case, you'll find your weapons"
The four opened the black box and quickly and proficiently armed themselves. Examining the HK G363 in her hands, one of them - a dark-skinned woman with long hair tied back - observed, with the unmistakable tone of a professional discussing their field of expertise
"This is standard issue for Lauchenoirian special forces, right?"
"Indeed it is, ma'am", Vergum returned, "and hopefully plenty of others will share your observance"
Glancing quizzically out of the tinted windows of the van's doors, another of the party - a pale woman with short, cropped hair and a pierced nose, who spoke with a noticeable Skodenian accent - recognised the route
"We're going back to the city", she said, half observing and half asking.
Vergum reached into the box and pulled out four balaclavas, which he quickly tossed to his fellow passengers, quickly saying
"Put these on", an order the van's other occupants began following, before he turned to the Skodeswoman. "Indeed we are. It should only takes us about an hour or so to get you to your target."
The man who had greeted Vergum at the door spoke next
"And that would be?"
Vergum reached into the box again, this time producing a map which he held up for everyone to see. The four ex-pats all stared at it for a moment, then Vergum saw it collectively dawn on them just what they were looking it. One of them, he couldn't quite tell which, let out an involuntary "Christ" from beneath their balaclava.
"You're gonna be striking at the hotbed of political discourse and activism in the county, where Chaher has a lot of enemies. Exactly the kind of place everyone would be expecting him to hit right now."
The operatives all took in exactly what was being asked of them as they looked at the map of Melissa City University campus
Kiwi Bird City
Conternia
11: 15 hours
June 25, 2018
"You cannot seriously be considering this!?"
Conternian Intelligence Service Director of Analysis Alexander Strachen was aghast as he listened from across the table to Service Director Donna Barrow
"I'm not considering it, I'm doing it. My messenger will be on his way to the safe house in Melissa County within hours.'
The heads of the CIS's various sub-departments were gathered to discuss the next step after the strike in Melissa City, an operation which had been controversial among the people now seated around a table in the bowels of the Service's head-quarters, to say the least.
Alexander was silent for a moment before he protested again
"What we did to the MCPD was one thing. I might not have liked it but it was nothing we hadn't done before, and I thought it was necessary to stop Chaher. But this..." He searched for the right words. "This is something else entirely, and I don''t see how it'll help us."
Barrow absorbed his brief tirade, registering little visible response, then replied with two words, simple but imbued with both promise and threat.
"You will"
*
Classified Location
Melissa County
Lauchenoiria
7:30am
June 26, 2018
Robert Vergum stared blankly out the passenger seat window as the white van advanced up the path toward the cabin. There was nothing, no signs of life or civilisation, for miles around: just this building, inhabited by four government-sanctioned killers, which he was about to enter alone. "The things I do for my country", he thought to himself as his driver - a lightly bearded, fair-skinned man who had spoken barely a word the entire drive - brought the van to a halt, keeping the engine running, and Vergum got out and approached the wooden structure. He knocked twice on the door to make his presence known, then opened the letterbox and spoke through it:
"But the better all the works of nature are understood"
Footsteps approached the door and a rough, tired sounding voice finished the quotation that had been designated the password for the house.
"The more they will ever be admired."
The door was opened from inside, revealing a bearded man of moderate height with green eyes, clad in a hoodie, baggy jeans, and a baseball cap. He gestured Vergum inside, and he followed.
Looking around to get his bearings of the house, he spoke quickly and succinctly to the man who had let him in.
"Go get the others. Tell them to collect anything they need and meet me in the van in the five minutes."
The green-eyed man, who appeared not to have slept for some time, advanced upstairs as Vergum headed back to the van, this time taking his seat in the dank, claustrophobic back of the van, at the back of the compartment divided along the middle by a black box. It'd been early morning when he'd got the call summoning him to Lauchenoiria to brief some of Barrow's people. He hadn't officially been told until then that the Service had been behind Melissa City, but it hadn't shocked him: if everyone knew the things he'd learned in two decades as a field agent for the CIS, they'd never say "Free Minds, Free Eyes, Free People" or praise Conternia's commitment to equity with a straight face again. He'd become less bothered by it over the years, especially when things were working out as planned, as was happening now: they'd pulled off the attack, right at the heart of Chaher's territory, got out of the city, got out of the city, managed to ditch their weapons and change clothes, all while Chaher's government had no idea who'd hit them. It wasn't long before he heard footsteps approaching and the van door swinging open, bringing with it light and the sight of four people, all looking haggard and restless, haunted almost. They took their seats along the sides of the small room as one of them - a younger man with dark hair and eyes - swung the doors closed. As the car began to move along the country road, Vergum spoke:
"Well, folks, you did it: Melissa City isn't the stronghold everybody thought it was anymore, and although he might not be showing it, you can be sure we've got Chaher spooked."
The four assassins all looked at him, all absorbing what he was saying but not visibly reacting, clearly waiting for his point.
"You may have heard, he's blaming resistance fighters working with Moore. He's likely to be cracking down on any potential subverters, and cracking down hard - which means showing his own country and the international community just what kind of leader he is. We're just gonna give him a little assistance in that department. If you look in that case, you'll find your weapons"
The four opened the black box and quickly and proficiently armed themselves. Examining the HK G363 in her hands, one of them - a dark-skinned woman with long hair tied back - observed, with the unmistakable tone of a professional discussing their field of expertise
"This is standard issue for Lauchenoirian special forces, right?"
"Indeed it is, ma'am", Vergum returned, "and hopefully plenty of others will share your observance"
Glancing quizzically out of the tinted windows of the van's doors, another of the party - a pale woman with short, cropped hair and a pierced nose, who spoke with a noticeable Skodenian accent - recognised the route
"We're going back to the city", she said, half observing and half asking.
Vergum reached into the box and pulled out four balaclavas, which he quickly tossed to his fellow passengers, quickly saying
"Put these on", an order the van's other occupants began following, before he turned to the Skodeswoman. "Indeed we are. It should only takes us about an hour or so to get you to your target."
The man who had greeted Vergum at the door spoke next
"And that would be?"
Vergum reached into the box again, this time producing a map which he held up for everyone to see. The four ex-pats all stared at it for a moment, then Vergum saw it collectively dawn on them just what they were looking it. One of them, he couldn't quite tell which, let out an involuntary "Christ" from beneath their balaclava.
"You're gonna be striking at the hotbed of political discourse and activism in the county, where Chaher has a lot of enemies. Exactly the kind of place everyone would be expecting him to hit right now."
The operatives all took in exactly what was being asked of them as they looked at the map of Melissa City University campus
<t></t>