Master of Thieves
Chapter 20: Italian or Scottish
The small group of thieves were scouting the vacant hamlet from the hill near the Cave Hideout, hidden from sight under a thick bear pelt that Slaigh stole from a scamming Tailor a few months ago. Terry, Sly and Bentley were looking through their respective Binocu-Coms, with photos of their girlfriends (in Bentley's case, ex-girlfriend) attached to the corner. Sly then curled his mouth in distaste and noted "Nah, I don't see any hints of where the hidden power source is… Do either of you guys have any better luck?" Bentley replied as Sly lowered his Binocu-Com "Well, if we're talking about energy that can handle the equipment from the Recon Photos, I doubt that it would be inside the lake or directly underneath the Castle's Cellar."
Bentley curled his mouth in concern, unsure where the generators would be hidden, before he and Sly glanced at Terry for his opinion. Terry then said after lowering his Binocu-Com "Knowing villains and secret rooms from various media, I'm fairly positive that Drake wouldn't have hidden in either the Inn or the Village Head's home. And since that high tech equipment would likely to be either rusted or shorted-out near wet surfaces, I can conclude that it would be under a hidden bit of flooring in… that little cottage right there." Bentley, Sly and Slaigh looked at the cottage Terry had pointed out: Like the rest of the buildings in the hamlet, it was wood panelled in the exterior with a stone smoke stack on the roof, but it has the most Security Traffic from the Security Drones. Further proof that it holds something important for Drake came a few seconds later when a Light Guard came out and guarded the front door.
Bentley then thought of a fairly successful idea and explained to the 3 raccoons "I have an idea: We could take out the guard and find the secret trapdoor or hidden wall piece that leads underground, before destroying the generators." Terry then replied unsurely "Uhh… Or one of us can disguise as a guard, convince him to take a break, find the secret passage to the hidden generator room and latch a remote EMP bomb in the ideal centre of the most amount of power usage." Bentley, Sly and Slaigh looked at Terry with puzzled looks on their faces, though the latter sighed unamused.
He then pointed out "If we knock out the guard, there's a good chance that a Security Drone would discover him and alert Drake. Also, if we just destroy the generators, that would give a good excuse to inflict harm, if not more, to the hostages." The others looked at each other and thought Terry made some strong and most likely points. Although they don't have any clothing that would be close to represent the guard's outfit, Terry might have something useful in his bag in the Hideout.
Minutes later, Terry came out of the Hideout, hidden in a massive fur coat that Pearl gave him, with Muggshot's Family Trinket attached to the Coat's Hem. He admits, he didn't think a local born and raised in Texas, U.S.A. would own a fur coat THIS thick, but at least it definitely keeps the cold out, even in the dead of the night. Since both Sly and his Ancestors are well known to Drake and Bentley's… condition would make him suspicious, it was up to Terry to get the job done. Also, since Sly's Italian 'accent' would be a dead giveaway, Terry would need to do the convincing since he can do a Scottish 'accent', but he decided not to do it in front of Slaigh since he doesn't want to offend him.
As he approached the stationary guard, the latter said in the natural Scottish accent "'Ey there! What are ye doing, laddie?" Terry then replied in an improvised, yet accurate Scottish accent "Ah, just thought ye' wanted a small break, ya' friendly piece of lamb." The guard leered at Terry suspiciously and asked "I don't recognise ye', little lad… Why would ye want a big un' like me teh take a breather?" Terry then pulled out a pack of almond biscuits from his pocket and replied "I doubt a big un' like yer would so much as take a lunch break… Don't fret, big lad, I won't put this in the daily report." He then handed the biscuits to the guard, who took it with a gentle smile and gestured his head at the cottage, letting him pass.
As the guard leaned on the corner, Terry went inside and saw a perfectly cut square just in front of the extinguished fireplace. As he opened it, he saw a metal rung just visible from the clouded light coming from the window, before he climbed down the hole down about 3 storeys and jumped down the last 3 rungs onto the wet, rocky floor. Aside from a minor splash from a puddle he just landed on, he also heard the familiar hum of the generator motor running, but it was 3 unionised hums instead of one. He then cautiously approached the noise, before he saw 3 small, but powerful energy generators connected to a ceiling mounted connector, which the wiring leads into a small hole in the wall that leads to the castle.
Terry then looked around the small, cavernous room and saw no signs, even vaguely, of any security inside. He then turned on the earpiece of the Binocu-Com and said to Bentley through his Binocu-Com "Bentley, I'm at the generators and I'm about to plant the Remote EMP Bomb. Do you copy?" He didn't hear a verbal response in the earpiece, just blank static; unamused, he tuned to Sly's Binocu-Com, but there was static too. He then had a thought and tuned to Carmelita's Binocu-Com, calling it and said "Carmelita, can you hear me?" Carmelita's voice then replied "Terry? I can hear you clearly, but what's going on?" Terry updated Carmelita on what transpired when he and Bentley arrived in Scotland in a reasonable amount of detail so Carmelita won't be confused.
After being given an update, Carmelita let out a relieved sigh and noted "Well, thank you again for helping get Sly back. I can imagine it would be cold in 14th century Scotland." Terry then remarked "Believe me, if you were here right now, you DEFINITELY need a heck of a fur coat. Listen Carmelita, I somehow can't connect to either Sly's or Bentley's BinocuComs… Maybe since I am deep underground, the signal is really… weak, to put it mildly. Do you think you can patch through them with the Hideout's Time Transmitter?" Carmelita, although Terry didn't see it, nodded in confirmation, before she linked the Transmitter to Sly's BinocuCom.
At first, she thought she got the wrong Connection, but a few moments of surprise turned to realisation when she heard Sly, Slaigh and Bentley laughing out loud. She then overheard Sly, who didn't realise that his BinocuCom was linked to the Time Transmitter "Okay, I won't deny that my Italian Accent is bad, but that Scottish Accent Terry made is… Okay, not bad to be honest, but it's still funny!" Sly then continued laughing, when Slaigh noted "Lad… If that kind'a imitation would ever offend me, then it's more laughable than that poofy piece of cloth!"
Carmelita heard loud pounding in the receiver, which she assumed that Slaigh is pounding the cave floor with his fists in fits of laughter. She then heard Terry's voice from his BinocuCom in an unamused tone "You know what? How about some radio silence?" Carmelita then replied "Sounds good." She then turned off the link to both BinocuCom's, as Terry closed his eyes and made a sigh, before he placed the Remote EMP Bomb and turned back and headed out of the cottage.
When he left through the front door, he told the guard in a Scottish Accent "A'ight, big laddie. Yer shift is back on, so I'll leave ye to yer job." The guard then tilted his bilby cap curtly at Terry with a gentle smile, before the latter thought to head back to the Hideout first. He then gave it a second thought and felt a little hurt that Sly, Bentley and Slaigh laughed at his Scottish Accent impression, so he instead turned to the cliff face and Wall Shimmied to the lookout facing Loch Ness.