Level 60
Chapter 1: Smooth Hit
For a short moment, the cool, nighttime, Los Santos breeze blew just a little harder. Some ashes and just a few glowing embers pulled away from the cigarette between Azu's lips, lifted up out of sight; a second later, the same cigarette was pulled away between calloused fingers as he breathed a long, smoky sigh. He flicked what was left of it over the edge of the AmmuNation's roof and stared dispassionately as it fell to the sidewalk beneath. For just a minute longer, he stayed like that: arms set limply by his sides and his head hanging as he stared blankly over the edge he was standing on.
Dull blue eyes grew slightly brighter as they blinked behind his shades, and Azu straightened, rolling his shoulders and quietly clearing his throat. Fumbling through his pockets, he finally pulled his cell from his tattered, orange hoodie; he fiddled with the screen a moment before bringing the phone to his ear.
"Took you a bit, huh?" he groused, lips tilting amusedly, "I've already got the heli. You ready for me to send the invite?"
"Yeah, sorry. I wanted to finish watching that vid I was telling you about," Reesie told him over the line. Azu was already climbing into the small tour chopper as he listened, rotor spinning up.
"It's cool. Not like we're on a time-limit. I'll send you the invite in just a second, alright? See you on the job," Azu said. A short click on his phone ended the call, and after a few more, Azu leaned back in the seat, relaxing as the world faded around him.
XXX
He blinked back into reality just a moment later, stumbling a little in his now suddenly-upright posture. He smugly adjusted his ever-present shades, the immediate, near-blinding light from the desert sun neatly countered by his eccentrics. His helicopter was sitting just a ways down the dirt road he was now standing off the side of. Reesie, on the other hand, was laying face down in the dust a few feet to his left, with hands wrapped tightly around his head to help block out the sensory overload. Honestly, Azu wondered, what was the point of wearing such a dressy vest and shirt if he was gonna do that?
"I keep telling you to buy a pair of shades, Reesie," Azu said, crouching down beside his cousin and shaking him by the shoulder. He got a low growl for his efforts. Sighing, he stood back up and gave his partner a harsh kick to the side.
"Agh! Fuck, Azz! You just wasted my armor!" Reesie complained, crawling away before finally standing up to glare at his grinning accomplice.
"You won't need it anyway. The job's simple to begin with, and we're gonna do it professionally," Azu explained, thumbing the Bluetooth in his ear while he held another out to Reesie, who grumbled as he snatched from the offering hand. The duo turned and moved toward the helicopter.
"Professionally, huh?" Reesie asked as he put on his headset, skepticism apparent.
"Yup. It's a hit in the vineyards. Lots of open area with no cover, and hills surrounding on all sides. We set the chopper down on one of the hills far enough out to avoid aggro, and then we scope it all out with our snipers. We find the target, put a round in his head, then you pilot the chopper in. I'll hang out the side with my heavy MG and mop up the heat. Set her down, snap a pic of the body, then head back in the chopper to bypass any additional reinforcements. It probably took a quarter as long to explain as it will to do, honestly," Azu monologued. They were already near the vineyards when he finished.
"You know I can't fly a chopper worth shit, right?" Reesie asked, staring out the window at the open country beneath. Azu laughed and punched him on the shoulder.
"All you need to do is hold it steady and keep my door pointed at the bad guys. You'll be fine," he said before changing his focus to landing the chopper on the tallest hill overlooking the hit. A few moments later, the two were leaned up against the helicopter as they scanned the vineyards for their target.
"No cover, huh?" Reesie asked, "I can't see shit through the damn vines."
"You're not looking very hard, then. I've got him scoped," Azu deadpanned, caressing the trigger of his rifle. Reesie dropped his scope to glare at him.
"Bullshit," he grumbled.
"Look again, man. The target has an icon over his head," Azu replied, dropping his own scope and wiping at his forehead. There was a pause as Reesie resumed his scanning.
"Alright, I see him now. Looks like… five guards," he said, steadying his aim.
"Take the shot, man. We'll ice as many as we can see after he's dead; mop up what we can't from the chopper," Azu replied, shouldering his rifle. Reesie took the shot. Far below, a certain judge's head was suddenly vacated of brain matter, followed closely by that of his nearest guard. Several more men fell in quick succession before the quiet sniper-fire ceased. Survivors of the onslaught cowered in the dirt, automatic weapons cradled close. Only when several moments had passed, and the sound of a rotor spinning up made it to their ears, did one nervous gunman rise from his crouch and look to the hills.
"Keep her steady, Cuz," Azu yelled against the wind, unleashing a metal storm onto the idiot stupid enough to leave cover. His MG shook in his hands as he swiped the sights over anything that was still moving, as well as many things that weren't. The bullets that pinged against the chopper around him were easily ignored, and the few that impacted his torso with little puffs of red mist were only slightly less so. He hadn't even lost his armor yet. Eventually, return fire finally ceased completely, and Reesie was able to set the chopper down hard but significantly lacking in explosions.
"Told you, man. Fuckin' cake," Azu needled, quickly snapping a pic of their deceased mark.
"I guess so," Reesie shrugged, "but you're piloting back." The two loaded back into the helicopter without incident, then took off with naught but a few pings against the tail from the reinforcements showing up below. Reesie fired off a few half-hearted potshots from the passenger bay, but his targets were already dots in the distance.
"Buy some shades once we hit free mode. The transitions won't bug you as much that way," Azu pushed, "and they even have aviators like the ones you wear IRL."
"No shit?"
"No shit."
XXX
"Why are you wearing all orange, anyway?" Reesie asked, trying on another pair of aviators. Azu shrugged from his position on top of the counter, ignoring the clerk's pleas for him to get down.
"I like the color, is all," he muttered, standing on his toes to try and touch the ceiling.
"You look like a prison bitch, man," Reesie laughed, glancing between red and black tinted glasses.
"Fuck off, I wear what I want. HEY, CUNT! STOP BITCHING BEFORE I BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF!" Azu screamed at the terrified clerk, hands twitching to equip a gun that he couldn't access in the store. Reesie finally picked mirrored lenses, a small sum disappearing from his bank account as he made the purchase, and made for the exit.
"I'll hold the door for you," Reesie chuckled, doing just that. Azu hopped from the counter, a feral grin on his face, and stepped out of the store. Free to equip his weapons, he happily tossed a grenade up into the air before catching it, his eyes peering through the open doorway to meet those of a store clerk that was suddenly pissing herself more than before.