This chapter is shorter than the previous ones. But i'm building up to the action parts now so hold tight! A special thanks to The Darkness Knight for the reviews and support. Cheers!
Calm. That's what he felt. A sense of peacefulness he could only find in the rooftops. The cool night air rushed about as he stood tall, letting his eagle soar free. The city looked absolutely stunning. From up here he could almost imagine the city was at peace. Walking to the edge he crouched and tapped into his heightened senses. Like a hunter watching its game, he watched the men from afar. He had waited for this. Discretion might be a sensible course of action but the Assassin inside him longed for this. The thrill of the stalk began to build as adrenaline coursed through his body. He was an Assassin first and foremost. And while he enjoyed scheming and manipulating his enemies, nothing could beat the excitement of the actual deed.
He was in standard Assassin attire. Rubber soled boots, comfortably tight jacket and combat trousers. He strapped his hidden blades on his wrists and tested them. They slipped out from beneath the jacket cuffs with relative ease. Satisfied, he sheathed a tactical knife on his left and holstered a 9mm on his back. The gun was strictly for emergency situations. He wasn't particularly fond of guns. They were loud and in his opinion, a crude weapon. He had argued attaching a suppressor and then decided against it. Suppressors never worked like in the movies. They were still pretty loud and reduced the velocity of the bullets, often causing nothing more than bruised ribs and slightly penetrated bullet proof vests. Guns were often effective, but blades were always successful. A balanced thrust, a graceful arc or a well timed jab always got the work done. He strapped a smoke grenade inside his jacket as a precaution, a small medical pack along with it and pulled up his phone. It was 2 in the morning. Switching his phone to a silent profile, he put it back and made his way down the fire escape.
Ten minutes later, he was outside the factory walls, concealed behind a garbage bin. Criminals are so predictable. It had taken him less than an hour to locate a site that was large enough to allow a dozen men to pack drugs and ship them. This was the heart of Chicago's underworld. He had driven away the Asian gangsters by exposing their money laundering operations. The local gangs were already killing each other off in a gruesome gang war. The escalation of violence had forced the mayor to pass new laws and deploy Gangland task forces. Kyle had ensured that anonymous tips and discrete bribes always pointed towards more criminals. Essentially, Chicago's authorities were slowly overpowering the criminal underworld. Now drugs were all that sustained and fueled the thugs. Until tonight. The remaining gangs had come to some form of agreement and were working together to pull off a massive drug shipment operation. He was going to put a stop to them.
He climbed the walls with ease and landed lightly on the inner compound. The place had been abandoned years ago and had no security cameras and no alarm systems. A pair of thugs sat outside the gates, smoking and talking in loud voices. Sticking to shadows and cover, he made his way towards them. They were supposed to be on guard duty. Their negligence caused their lives as he drove his knife behind the first one's back and then his hidden blade through the other's throat in rapid succession. He stripped and disposed the powerful assault rifles the men had been carrying. The other men were further inside the compound. They were widely spread out over the industrial compound. They were all heavily armed but he also noticed that they were working in a casual, careless manner. Perhaps they believed their recent alliance would keep them safe.
But they are pawns in my chess board.
Everything went right as he killed all twelve men with precision. That's when the shot rang out. It missed him by inches. With lightning fast reflexes, he ducked behind a large industrial container as more shots rang. There were three guns. He could tell by the sound of three different caliber bullets ringing across the large compound. He chanced a quick look and spotted a man some thirty yards away. He couldn't see anyone besides the lone man who seemed to be firing from an assault rifle. Ducking low, he circled around the container and flanked the shooter's left. He hadn't been spotted. Focusing his mind, he activated Eagle vision and spotted two distinct shades of red on the roof outside the compound's adjacent building. The roof? Realization dawned on him as he noticed the shooter closest to him was dressed in SWAT gear. The other two shooters were looking for him from the powerful scopes of M16 rifles. Outside the compound, vehicles could be heard as they lined up, creating a blockade. A man's voice rang from a megaphone as Kyle desperately clung to the shadows.
"This is the police. The building is surrounded on all sides. Give up your arms and surrender right away and you will be provided a trial. If you don't show yourself, my men will enter the building and shoot everyone on sight. You have 60 seconds."
The megaphone was put away as SWAT officers took positions all around the building. Kyle knew he was trapped. He didn't have firepower except for the 9mm. He was boxed in and surrounded. He cursed himself for being reckless. These thugs had chosen one of the most obvious locations in the city to perform their operation. Of course the police had found them. Realizing that he had no other choice, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. The call was received after two rings and a male voice spoke.
"Yes?"
"It's Kyle. I'm at the abandoned factory I told you about. I'm surrounded by SWAT teams that will move in for final assault in less than a minute. I need help."
William Miles hung up the call. He addressed the woman in front of him.
"You are up, Galina. Make me proud."
