Macharius crouched in the belly of the airship, shadows covering his body, blending in amongst the various crates. He could see his team, hidden similarly in the darkness. His partner, Jack Saxon had pressed his large frame in between a couple of pipes, his sleek and blackened armor hiding him from sight. Wulf was hidden somewhere in the scaffolding above them, and Arhus had disappeared from sight entirely.
The noise of the engines was mind numbingly loud, and they had endured it for hours. The crew that milled about on the walkways above them spoke in exaggerated tones, trying to be heard above the roar, were heard well enough by the infiltrators, the tidbits of useless information were f
passed over in favor for the key information that they were waiting for.
"So did you hear? Our next stop is Vale." A voice above him sounded.
The reply was lost in the din of the engines, but Macharius had what he needed, and knew what he had to do.
As it was with all things, he had to be patient and wait for the right time.
(@)
Finally, the airship docked. The dull thump of the mooring clamps rattling the hull was the trigger that sped he and his squad into movement.
They rushed away from the crates, as silent as they could have been, and made their way to the vents nearby.
Macharius crouched down, a small screwdriver flashing into his hands as he unscrewed the bolts holding the vent cover in place. His team stacked up behind him, their movements rushed.
"Okay, listen up." Said Wulf, his hands making motions and numbers as he spoke. "Any minute now, the engines are going to vent all their built up hydraulic pressure straight through these vents, through a filtering grate, and straight through some dumping tubes. This is our ticket outside, but our biggest priority is removing that filter."
Macharius continued with the vent, his hands working quickly as Wulf continued. "It is absolutely imperative that filter be removed, because if that pressure is flushed with us in there, we'll be squished together and the resultant air pressure will pop our eyes and lungs like grapes. Any Questions?"
Jack raised his hand. "How do we remove the vent?"
Wulf smiled beneath his helmet, tapping his head with a finger. "That, big man, is why we have you."
"I'm finished." Macharius said suddenly, setting the vent on the ground next to him. "Jack, your up first."
"Why am I up fi-"
Jack never finished his sentence when Arhus shoved him into the vent, jumping in behind him soon after. Wulf went next, and Macharius crawled in behind him, stopping to turn around and place the vent cover back in place.
The vents wound and twisted, slick with hydraulic fluid. Jack bit his lips as he went down, sliding along the grease covered surface. Soon, as he rounded a bend, he saw a large covering spanning the section ahead of him, thin metal wires interlacing across it. Jack had the time to suck in a breath for a scream before he plummeted through it head first. The filter broke, wires straining before shattering into tiny fragments. Jack opened his eyes, squeezed shut as they were, to see tthe end of the vent, and the concrete that laid below the ship.
"Oh shi-" Was all he had to say before he impacted the landing pad.
He landed with tremendous force, his aura flaring and straining to keep him from breaking his neck and spine. He skid for a few meters, his armor sparking as it ground against the concrete.
Arhus came out of the vent next, slamming down onto his hip before jack-knifing and rolling along the ground. Wulf ended up the same way, rolling along the concrete and slamming into a mooring clamp. Macharius shot out next, sliding along his back before using the momentum to enter a roll and come to rest with far more grace than his comrades.
"Right in the fuckin tit!" Screamed Wulf, hand clutching his chest as he writhed in pain.
"Get up, we have to leave as soon as we can and get to the safe house." Arhus barked at him, giving him a swift kick to the rear for good measure.
"Yeah, but you don't have to be a dick about it!" Wulf snapped back.
The team gradually made their way out from underneath the ship, ghosting their way across the landing pad and into the lower residential districts. The darkness of night helping them to blend in as they filed into the doorway of a disgusting looking building.
The building was a several room apartment, owned by one Gage Mews, a known rapist and pedophile amongst the lower echelons of the city.
Macharius rapped his knuckles on the door, cursing being heard from the other side as the occupant struggled up to the wooden door. Inwardly, Macharius grimaced at the prospect of having to stay in such a disgusting and filthy place, he would have preferred a hideout far less littered with diseases, but such was the way the world turned. The door was pulled open with such haste that the un-oiled hinges threw up sparks. A large, balding man scowled from the other side, his greasy skin shining with a fresh sheen of sweat, likely from having to get up and answer the door.
"Are you Gage Mews?" Macharius asked indifferently.
"Who wants to feckin know?" The fat man replied.
Macharius took a step back from the door, holding up a wad of lien. "A very wealthy person, that's who."
The rapists eyes bulged, locking onto the cash as he waddled out to grab ahold of it. "Yeah! Yeah! I'm Gage! I'm him!"
As soon as the man took two steps from the door and out into the street, a bulky hand slapped over his mouth as a large knife slammed up under his ribs.
The pedophile shuddered, his eyes going wide as he struggled vainly against his captor. Trying desperately to escape his oncoming demise.Coughing once through his muffled scream, he thrashed in Arhus's grip, he coughed again, his eyes glazing over as he slowed, his body unable to keep up the struggle after losing so much blood. With one final wheeze, Gage Mews fell forward into the street.
"Excellent work, Arhus." Macharius commented. "One less problem for us to deal with. Take the body and dump it in the sewers, no one will miss him."
Arhus nodded and dragged the body off, the rest of the squad filing into the house to claim a room for their own.
"Fucking gross." Wulf commented as he saw the state of the interior. "How does someone live like this?"
The walls were covered in muck, and the kitchen sink was piled high with dishes and grime. The carpet stuck to their boots, and the lightbulbs flickered as roaches passed through their light, casting ominous shadows across the room.
Jack yelped as he opened the door to the spare bedroom, his eyes settling on the leather straps attached to the ends of the bed.
"That guy was fucking sick." Wulf spat as he opened a drawer filled with bottles of lube and strangely shaped objects.
"We'll clean this place up tomorrow, just find a spot not too filthy and bed down, keep your pistols handy though, never know if he worked alone." Macharius ordered, his own sleeping bag already unfolded and placed in the least disgusting spot.
Wulf groaned when he noticed the stain covered couch. "I should have stayed on the fucking ship."
(@)
The night passed without alarm, and the morning had come much too quickly for the squad.
"Bloody hell, that's bright." Whispered Wulf as he slung his sleeping bag over his head to block out the suns rays. "It's too early for this shit."
"Tell me about it, I think I had a roach crawl in my ear." Jack murmured from beside him, his own sleeping bag right alongside Wulf's.
"Why are you so close to me?" Wulf growled, his eyes glaring at Jack from beneath his hastily erected awning.
"If I tell you, you'll just yell at me." Jack squeaked out, scooting away from his squadmate.
"Get up, we have work to do." Macharius called from the kitchen. "We need to meet with a man called Roman Torchwick today, he's a notorious criminal, but he likes his money, and the crown paid quite a bit to arrange this meeting."
Arhus leaned against the counter alongside him, grunting as he bit into a protein bar. He was up far earlier than the others, a habit he had developed when he lived in the dust mines, if he got up early, he could protect Litla from the worst of the work.
Now he just hated sleeping in.
"I'm up, I'm up. What do we need to meet this Torchwick guy for anyway?" Wulf asked, standing up from his sleeping bag, beginning to roll it up. "He's a criminal, and I don't like criminals."
"Torchwick is a criminal, there isn't a thing that goes down in this city without him knowing about it, he has info we want."
"And after we get the info from him? What then?"
"That is none of your concern, soldier." Macharius barked. "Your job is to assist me, anything beyond that is far above your clearance."
"Understood...Sir" Wulf spat, managing to turn the words into an insult.
The group packed their belongings, stopping shortly to make sure they left nothing behind. They made their way through the alleys, avoiding contact with people and staying away from the prying eyes of the homeless. They wound their way through twisting alleys, their hands close to their sidearms. Their gear was hiddsn by heavy cloaks, and their hoods covered their faces.
Eventually they arrived at their destination. A large warehouse, stocked with fish from the ocean. Although the only thing fishy about this place was the clear lack of workers.
"Keep quiet and stay here." Macharius whispered, opening up a door and slipping inside.
"Damn." Whispered Wulf. "Should have brought something to read."
(@)
"Took you long enough."
"Sorry, I was tied up with some rather unenthusiastic help."
"Tell me about it, good help is hard to find, but you're not here to tell me about your day, you want info, I got info, let's do business."
Macharius lowered his hood, staring directly ahead at the infamous criminal, Roman Torchwick.
"I want to know everything."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
A/N: And Macharius begins the backroom dealings, and the plot marches onwards! Although I must say, writing these play by play scenes is rather exhausting, I'm not used to writing such transitory pieces and it really shows.
Review and Fav. Peace.