Guess who's back. A lot has happened in my life since the last chapter, but I'm back to writing.
With some assistance from Pyrrha, with her knowledge of the police's systems, Ciel was able to hack into the database of police officers in Vale, and using the names provided by Sun, was able to find the GTF officers and their details. Soon enough she had a complete list of all of the officers, along with their addresses, contact details, and next of kin, which she was able to distribute to the rest of the gang.
So, Ruby sent her people out to tail the officers and scout out their homes. It would make it much easier to decide who to target and would make planning their abduction so much easier than just going in blind.
Nebula was sitting in one of the gang's less conspicuous cars, parked across the street from the apartment building in which Officer Grace Periwinkle lived. She had been assigned by Ruby, to watch the officer and get a better idea of what she was like and how she lived, so they could decide whether or not to abduct her.
It was the early hours of the morning, and she was waiting for the woman to leave for work. She needed to know which route Officer Periwinkle took to work, how she travelled there, and if she made any stops on her way. Then she was to return to the apartment building and scout the area out, looking for potential entry points and security systems.
It wasn't the kind of thing she was used to doing, but the rest of the gang had been more than willing to advise her on how best to go about things. One of the many advantages of being in a gang which such I diverse group of people, was that they could share their knowledge and skills to help each other out. So, Nebula was confident that she'd have no problems getting the job done, and wasn't worried about accidentally spooking the officer or getting caught.
She was sat watching the building for over an hour by the time the officer emerged, but she didn't rush into anything. She slid down in her seat, doing her best to be invisible from the officer's perspective, and remained that way as she observed the woman from a safe distance.
Her heart stopped for a brief moment, as Officer Periwinkle scanned the area and her eyes passed over the car. But the officer didn't seem to notice anything and went on with her daily routine. She walked over to a car that was parked a little further down the street, and inspected it for anything suspicious, before climbing in after not finding anything.
Nebula continued to watch and wait, only starting her car and pulling out of the space, when the officer had already driven off. She had been advised to take things slowly, keep her distance from her target, and to act like she was just another person going about their business. So, she did all that, as she slowly followed Officer Periwinkle through the streets of Vale.
Of course, she hadn't just been sent into action with a few instructions on how to remain hidden in plain sight. She had also been given props and a disguise, to make her more convincing. She was dressed like an office worker, wearing a blond wig and even had a to-go coffee cup sitting in the car's cup holder. She really looked the part of a working woman, on her way into the office, more so than she thought possible.
So, wasn't even slightly suspicious of the car that was driving behind her. There were hundreds if not thousands of people who looked exactly like Nebula, filling the city's streets at that time of day, so everything seemed perfectly normal. It was almost too easy to stalk the unfortunate officer, and Nebula almost felt bad for what she was doing.
Officer Periwinkle drove straight to work without making stops, likely never noticing that Nebula had ever even existed. So, Nebula was soon heading back in the direction of the apartment building, ready to check the place out. It felt strange getting so close to and observing a life of another person, without them being any the wiser, but it was what Ruby required her to do, so it's what she would do.
She slowly drove past the building on the way back, doing a quick scan for cameras, but not spotting any. So, she parked up, a little further down the street than she had originally, before approaching the building on foot.
Unfortunately, the door to the building could only be opened by residents, so she had to improvise to get inside. She pressed a button to buzz one of the apartments and waited for a response.
"Who is it?" asked what sounded like a sweet-sounding old woman. It was the best possible outcome, as Nebula had been half expecting to get an earful for buzzing at such an early hour.
"Hi. I was hoping you could help me. My cat ran away, and someone told me he might have been in this building. Could you buzz me in so I can look for him? Please," she said, spinning a tale that she hoped would fool the woman, and taking advantage of what she hoped was a kind but foolish old woman, who'd be willing to help her.
"Oh, we can't have that now, can we. Come on in, dear," said the old woman, before buzzing Nebula in. It felt wrong to lie, but it was hardly the worst thing Nebula had ever done.
She slipped inside and headed straight for Officer Periwinkle's apartment, knowing exactly which one it was thanks to the combined efforts of Ciel, Sun, and Pyrrha. She passed a couple of people in the hall, but they paid her no mind, and she was able to reach the right apartment with no issues. She spotted a few cameras on her way and made a mental note of them, but they were the only security measures other than the front door.
The door to Officer Perwinkle's apartment looked the same as the doors to the other apartments and wasn't particularly fancy, but there was a camera watching the door so Nebula took note of that fact. She didn't linger near the door for long, walking past it and acting like she was searching for her cat, to avoid raising suspicions.
She made her way all the way up to the top of the building, even going as far as to inspect the roof access, before making a swift exit from the building. Going through the building to get to the officer would have its challenges, but it was far from impossible. But she still had to establish whether they could access the apartment from outside through a window or fire escape.
She walked around the sides of the building, looking for any way to scale the building, and to observe Officer Periwinkle's place from the outside. There was a fire escape, but unfortunately, it didn't grant access to the officer's apartment, and the windows weren't the sort that could be used to get in or out of, without having to break them.
With the facts established, Nebula headed back to her car, and sent a message to Ruby, informing her of what she found. Grabbing the officer wouldn't be impossible, but it would be rather challenging, so she wasn't sure if she would be the target they chose. But then again, she didn't know about the nightly routine of the officer, or what the others were like, so she wasn't going to jump to any conclusions.
Dew was sitting in another of the gang's cars, watching Officer Stevie Cinnabar's apartment building, from the parking lot of a strip mall. It was early in the morning, but the streets were packed because the apartment complex was in the heart of Vale, and there were lots of people heading to work.
Like Nebula, Dew was in disguise to avoid standing out to the officer. She was dressed as a yoga instructor and wearing a wig, which made her unrecognisable to the untrained eye but still made her fit in perfectly with the kind of people who would be regularly seen in the vicinity of the apartment complex and the strip mall. If Officer Cinnabar spotted her, she would have no ideas that anything was going on, or that Dew was a fugitive.
She didn't have to wait long for the officer to leave her apartment complex and began walking in the direction of the station, which wasn't particularly far away. So, after waiting a few moments, she left the car where it was, and began following Officer Cinnabar on foot, from a safe distance.
After walking for a couple of minutes, the officer disappeared into a coffee shop, which forced Dew to pause her pursuit and return to observing her. She stood outside the coffee shop and pretended to inspect a menu that was on the wall beside the door while looking inside and keeping an eye on the officer.
Eventually, she saw the officer getting her coffee and heading for the exit, so she walked away from the coffee shop to avoid coming face to face with her target. Fortunately, the officer didn't seem to notice her, and just resumed her walk to work.
Dew allowed the officer to get a short distance away, before resuming her pursuit. The rest of the journey was completely uneventful, and soon enough, they reached the station and the officer disappeared inside. So, after watching for a few moments in case the officer emerged again, Dew headed back to the apartment building.
She stopped in the same coffee shop and got herself something fancy and overcomplicated, which seemed to fit well with the character she was playing and made her seem less suspicious. Then she continued through the streets until she found herself at the entrance to Officer Cinnabar's apartment building. A brief scan of the building revealed no cameras and surprisingly someone spotted her and held the door, so she didn't even need to look for a way in.
She gave the stranger a smile, for helping her more than they could possibly have imagined, then headed inside and began scouting out the place. It didn't look like the nicest of apartment buildings, but surprisingly, it seemed to take security pretty seriously. There were cameras at both ends of each hallway and covering every staircase.
Making sure to take note of all the cameras, she continued her walk through the building, until she reached the door to Officer Cinnabar's apartment. Upon seeing the door, she noticed that it was heavier duty than the others in the building and was being watched by its own camera. She took note of it, before continuing on through the building, as to not draw unwanted attention to herself.
She scouted out the rest of the building, before slipping out again. Then she did a quick check of the outside of the building, finding that it would be difficult to access the apartment, no matter which angle the attacked from.
Once she had checked out the building, she made her way back to the car and sent a message to Ruby with what she had found. It wouldn't be impossible for a crew like theirs to snatch the officer from her apartment, but there were likely easier targets to go for.
Gwen was in one of the gang's SUVs, wearing a similar disguise to Nebula's, and watching the apartment complex of Officer Ann Chestnut. The complex was similar to Pyrrha's, so she was able to see the exiting her apartment from the street, and watched her whole walk from her apartment door to her car. The Officer scanned her surroundings but took no notice of the SUV.
Gwen allowed her to get in the car and drive off, before beginning her pursuit. Just like Nebula and Dew, she was able to blend in perfectly and didn't look even slightly out-of-place of suspicious, as she tailed the officer through the streets of the city.
The drive was a rather long one, and it took a while thanks to several sets of traffic lights on the route, but she was able to keep eyes on the officer from a safe distance, right up until the officer pulled up outside the police station. At that point, she kept driving by, to avoid raising suspicions. She made sure to watch in her mirrors to confirm Officer Chestnut went inside.
She soon started her journey back to the apartment complex, which didn't take as long as the drive to the station had. She was able to find a space close to the complex and then walked the rest of the way.
She began her scouting, by looking for security cameras. As it turned out, the only cameras were the ones covering the communal areas of the complex, and there were none covering the entrances to the apartments. So, she casually made her way over to the officer's apartment, only to find that it had it's own, well-concealed camera, watching over it.
She took note of the camera and proceeded to observe the apartment from a distance, doing her best to avoid being observed by the camera. There was a large window which could be used to gain access to the apartment if it was broken or left open, but the door had multiple locks and bars over it, so options for entry were limited.
The one advantage she found, was that the officer wouldn't really be able to escape from the apartment, unless they went through the gang, as the only entry and exit points were at the front of the apartment. There were some small windows dotted around the apartment, but from the outside, it was clear to see that only a contortionist would be able to slip through, and even then, they'd have to deal with a significant drop.
With the small but valuable amount of information she was able to obtain, she returned to the SUV, before passing it all on to Ruby. If they could get through the window, then they would be easily able to abduct the officer, so Officer Chestnut seemed like a very good option for who to target.
Octavia was sitting on one of the gang's bikes, observing Officer Quincy Fern's apartment from a distance. She was disguised as a bike courier and parked outside an industrial building opposite the officer's apartment building.
It didn't take long for the officer to emerge from the building, and when he did, he looked around for my potential threats, before heading over to a car and searching it for bombs and people hiding in the backseat. He didn't find anything and didn't notice that he was being watched from across the street, so he hopped in the car and started driving in the direction of the police station.
A few moments after the car started off down the street, Octavia started up the bike and began her pursuit. She was careful to stay out of his view, while also remaining close enough to not lose track of him. She stealthily tracked him through the streets, as he drove straight to the station, not making any detours or stops along the way.
She slowly rode past him as he headed inside the building, before speeding off back to his apartment building to scope the place out. She parked across the street again, and headed over to the entrance to the building, with a fake package in hand. Someone was just leaving when she got there, so they opened the door for her, so she could drop off the package.
Once the person who let her in was gone, she set the package down and began scoping the place out. There were several cameras throughout the place, though from what she could tell, there were plenty of blindspots. She took note of all their positions, as she moved through the halls and up the stairs as casually as possible until she reached the officer's apartment.
The door to the apartment didn't seem to be anything special, though the hall outside had more cameras than the rest of the complex, so anyone going near the door would be recorded. Not wanting to linger too long and raise any suspicions, she continued past the apartment, checking out the rest of the building for security systems and potential entry points, before heading back outside and taking her fake package with her.
She then checked out the exterior of the building, finding several cameras and a fire escape which could be used to access the floor the officer lived on, but not finding any way of getting into the officer's apartment without being seen. With that established, she headed back across the street to her bike and informed Ruby of her discoveries, noting that Officer Fern would be hard to get hold of without being seen.
Across the city, other members of the gang did the same to the rest of the GTF. Ilia, tracked Officer Ash, from his apartment complex on the edge of the suburbs. Reese, tailed Officer Mulberry, from his apartment building close to the docks. Velvet watched over Officer Alabaster and his house in one of the city's nicer neighbourhoods. Penny stalked Officer Opal, as she made her way to work from her apartment closer to downtown Vale. Coco spied on Officer Wisteria and her house in one of the poor parts of the city, and Arslan stealthily pursued Officer Umber on his walk to work from his apartment above a noodle place.
Meanwhile, May was focussed on, Detective Iris, the head of the GTF. He was by far the biggest threat in the GTF and he wasn't an easy target, so May had to be very careful in her work, as their entire operation would be in trouble if he spotted her and caught on to what she was doing. It wasn't that he was actually dangerous to her, but his position meant killing him would be about as problematic as keeping him alive and risking detection.
After parking a bike in behind some bushes, she climbed a tree at the end of the Detective's street. She took out a spotting scope and used it to spy on his house from a safe distance. As a sniper, it came naturally to her, and she was able to keep herself concealed and comfortable in the tree, as she closely observed the house.
She saw him pass by the windows a few times while he went about his routine, and took the time to scan his house for security systems, as she waited for him to leave. She noticed a few cameras positioned around the place, which she took note of, but she needed to wait for him to be gone, so she could inspect the place more thoroughly.
After waiting for a while, she saw the garage door open and watched as the detective drove out. The moment she saw it, she went into action, scrambling out of the tree and getting to her bike. She put the scope away and pulled on her helmet to conceal her identity, then emerged from behind the bushes to begin her pursuit.
The detective was just reaching the end of the street when she emerged, so after catching up a little, she began to follow him from a reasonably safe distance, doing her best to avoid raising his suspicions.
He seemed to drive cautiously, seemingly watching out for potential threats during the entire drive. She kept a few cars between herself and the target to avoid sticking out, as she followed him, making sure not to look at his car too much, so he didn't think he was being watched.
It was already clear that he would probably be the hardest member of the GTF to get hold of if they did go after him, but May did what she had to do anyway. She followed him from, the suburbs to the station, and observed from a distance as he left his car and headed inside.
Once he disappeared inside the station, she turned around and headed back to his place. She made sure to take alternate routes to the ones she'd already taken, so if she was caught on cameras, her movements didn't look too strange.
She once again concealed the bike behind a bush, and removed her helmet, after returning to the detective's street. Then she donned a bandana and shades and pulled her hood over her head, to keep her identity hidden, as she moved in to scope out the house.
She walked down the street, taking a closer look at the external security cameras as she approached. Then she walked up to the front door of the house and knocked, knowing that there would be no answer, but trying to throw off anyone who saw her.
While she was at the door she noted that it was a reinforced door with a dedicated camera watching it. She then took closer looks at the windows, seeing that they appeared to be alarmed. She walked all around the house, inspecting every entryway and security system, try to look like she was planning a burglary, not a kidnapping.
She even managed to get into the backyard to inspect the back of the house, and she checked for ways to get upstairs without entering the house before she made a swift exit to in case the cops had been called on her by one of the detective's neighbours.
She got back to her bike and sent a quick message to Ruby, before getting her helmet back on and speeding out of the area on her way back to base.
Back at base, Ruby and the rest of the gang looked at all the new info on the members of the GTF. With the spying out of the way, it was time for the less dangerous but more complicated part, figuring out who to go after and deciding how to go about it.
They were fortunate to have enough resources and people, to go after any of the GTF. But they still had to be careful in their selection, as they didn't want to make too much of a scene or take any unnecessary risks.
None of the officers would be particularly easy to capture, but some were easier than others. To ensure the success of the operation and their plans for the GTF, they needed an officer who would be easy to break and get on side, but also relatively easy to capture. So it took some time to decide on the right officer to target, even with all of the information they'd managed to compile.
Still, with such a large and diverse group of criminals, with all the knowledge and experience they had, they were able to pick a target and formulate a plan for capturing them. Once the workday ended and the officers headed to their homes, the gang would strike and make the officer disappear.
Thanks to everyone for the support on this fic, it really means a lot. Now, if anyone's interested and thinks they can help, I'm looking for someone to potentially collaborate with on a new fic I've been asked to write. PM me if you're interested, or have any suggestions for me.