"Sarge can you believe this? We get caught in an explosion, land in what turns out to be a fucked up version of early earth, and now go from high level commando status to thief. Why the hell are we doing this?" Avery asked making his irritation known.
"It was either this or going to war with the whole planet over willingness to be a science project. If you want to spool up your minigun and launch a one-man war against an entire nation. Be my guess." Jacob responded.
The cooper gang and humans were in Italy. They had hid out inside a safe/tree house. Bentley had started off with his usual routine. He had Sly do some recon and devised a plan from there. When he brought back the pictures, they showed 6 different people. Only 3 were familiar. There was Neyla, who's playing double agent. Carmelita was there, undercover. Last but not least was Rajan, who was the person they were aiming to steal from. The other 3 were a third undercover policeman named Contessa, and 2 other Klaww gang members named Aprieggo and Jean Bison. Apparently all the big shots of their mission were there. Bentley went through a run down of the plan.
"Alright, taking the Clockwork wings from a crowded ball room will take some serious misdirection but it can be managed. Rajan has a security helicopter that needs to be taken care of in order for the operation to work." At that moment Jarvis interrupted.
"How do we take out a helicopter without alerting everyone?"
"I plan to shoot a couple fire crackers in the air to distract the guards. Then you can blow the helicopter up with your missile launcher." The turtle explained before continuing. "When we do that we'll need Sly to distract the party. Meanwhile you all will be taking positions on rooftops with your weapons ready. Avery will have to break the locks on the drawbridge lever and stand guard there. When Jarvis blows the main bridge cutting off reinforcements, Murray will go down on an electric cable and take the clockwork wings. He'll have to run back to the drawbridge with the wings so it will be up to you guys to make sure he gets back safe. Any questions?"
"Yea. Rethela is used for espionage missions not non-lethal shootouts. That last firefight drastically drained our supply of the green stuff. If the mission is to go as you explained we would have to use lethal rounds." Jacob explained. That was a major kink. The goal was to take all the clockwork parts without killing anyone. If they used live rounds they'd just about drain any civilian support they may have had and give the government permission to go into wartime mode.
"We can't kill but we can wound are enemies correct?" Eli interjected. Everyone turned to the Jamaican in surprise. He rarely talked if at all, especially in briefings. "We could simply aim for the legs and arms. The act would be meet with anger but much less so than if we killed. It may even help our cause since the fact we shot to maim would prove we had no overly violent intent." Bentley thought about it for a moment. On one hand it would prove the aliens were indeed dangerous and worthy of military attention. On the other hand it would show they were only doing what was absolutely necessary to find the Clockwork parts. The pros outweighed the cons just barely but enough to get by.
"Alright. We are going to use lethal force, non-lehtaly!" Bentley exclaimed. The 5 humans let out a collective "huh?"
Jacob sat on top of a rooftop on a building right next to Rajans palace. Next to him lay two unconscious sentries, both panthers. He was looking through the scope of his rifle, scanning the building for trouble. When he was satisfied Rajan and his guards hadn't got wind of the operation, he spoke into the COM.
"This is Delta 1. All squad members sign in."
Louie was on the roof with his sniper, ready to take down anyone should something go wrong. He saw nothing out of place… or at least out of place by the animals' standards. Satisfied, he called in. "This is Delta 4. All clear on my end."
Jarvis was strapping C-4 on the edges of the bridge. When it exploded the bridge would fall straight down and not make much noise. The only way you could notice was if you saw it with your own eyes and even then it was pitch black outside. His improved vision however didn't make it very hard for him to see however. When he was done, he took 3 steps back and pressed the button on the detonator. The C-4 blew and separated the bridge from either sides of land. It plummeted down into the lake at the bottom. He called in when he was sure no one had heard or seen the bridge blow. "This is Delta 3. The bridge is out."
Eli was standing next to Murray as he strapped the cable to himself, keeping watch for anything potentially dangerous. "This is Delta 5 here. Murray is almost done." In the background Murray could be heard complaining about how uncomfortable the cable was.
Avery scratched his head as he stared at the drawbridge lever with 5 locks. You would think it had told him a riddle. "Who puts 5 locks on a LEVER." Avery said to himself as he thought up a way to break the locks without alerting any sentries. "Um… Yeah Delta 2 here but he can't figure out to silently pop the locks." Avery responded.
"Get creative." Jacob stated before speaking to Bentley. "We're all in position. Sly is already inside."
"Good. Jarvis I'm about to light the fireworks get your missile launcher ready." Jarvis was already leveling his rocket launcher with the helicopter.
"Way ahead of you." He said as he loaded a heat seeker inside the barrel of his missile launcher.
"Alright! Fireworks away!" Bentley unnecessarily yelled. Dozens of fireworks shot into the air. None of them erupted until they were parallel with the palace. They began exploding to the point it was hurting the eyes of those who stared to long. They were so enraptured they never saw a particularly large firecracker slam into the Helicopter. They didn't hear as the popping sound of entertainment explosives drowned out any and every noise possible within a mile radius. The Helicopter went down in flames into the lake below. Luckily a parachute opened and began drifting toward the forest surrounding the lake. "That's a kill."
"Alright Cooper your clear." Jacob confirmed.
"Good job. I didn't hear or see a thing other than an ungodly amount of fireworks." Sly complimented, before walking toward the dance floor in a tux he "borrowed". In the center, Carmelita stood waiting impatiently.
"Watch yourself Romeo. I imagine if she recognizes you she will maim you. Try to be as out of character as possible." Avery warned through the small microphone in his ear.
"Don't worry. I've been dealing with Carm for years. I'll handle her simply enough."
"She was never this mad before. I can feel her anger from over a quarter mile away."
"Yea. She's mad at you though. Not me."
"She'll vent on you. Remember Dimitri? Poor poor Dimitri."
"Cut the chatter both of you. Lover boy your on." Jacob chastised.
"Miss Fox. I believe you owe me a dance." Sly stated.
"It's about time. I thought you had left." Carmelita responded.
"Just waiting for the perfect moment."
All of the guest gathered around the pair as they began dancing. The lights cut off everywhere except the spot where Sly and Carmelita stood. This only made the plan twice as easy. Taking advantage of the situation, Murray lowered until he was directly above the Clockwork wings. He gripped both wings then pulled them out of the statue roughly enough so they would come out easily enough but slowly enough that it wouldn't gain him any attention. He was pulled up quickly, going completely unnoticed.
"Oh how the hell do you not notice a pink hippo hanging on a wire!" Avery yelled in irritation as he tried to rip the locks off the lever. Even with his augmented strength that gave him the ability to flip cars, a lock proved a much worthier opponent.
"So tell me stranger. What's your name?" Carmelita asked, actually sounding… sweet?
"Why ruin the moment?" Sly asked.
"I…I don't understand."
"THE WINGS! Where are the Clockwork wings!" Rajan yelled in surprise, finally noticing the absence of the car sized mechanical wings. Alarms rang throughout the entire area alerting every guard of the theft.
"Fuck it." Avery said before pulling out his Berreta side arm pistol, which was basically a futuristic desert eagle. He shot the locks off the lever and pulled down the stick itself. The Drawbridge finally fell forward. "That creative enough for yah?"
Carmelita was completely at a loss for words as she began connecting the dots. The stranger waiting for the perfect moment. The deafening fireworks. The disappearance of the clockwork wings right after the dance ended.
"What! How! Who could of…Whuh? COOPER!"
