Chapter Twenty-Six
Less than two hours later it was totally dark. They had made surprisingly good time on foot toward the Team Lunar base.
"How were you even sure where this was? I thought that it was supposed to be secret…" Amanda whispered as they neared the lit complex that was visible over hills ahead.
What was going to be a challenge in Colby's opinion was getting over that huge wall of fence. According to Josh he had this all covered, so everyone just pretended everything was under control.
"Did I not explain this many times before? I have my resources," Josh snapped.
Josh dug into his bag and pulled out what looked like five black earpieces with a wire and clip on the end, handing them to Ellis who began o distribute them.
"Here, stick these in your ear. This way you can hear your orders. I will wire into their security cameras and will be able to tell you who is where and more importantly where the Pokémon are being stored," Ellis said, handing Colby her little ear bud.
She stuck it in her ear and clipped the wire onto the collar of her shirt, keeping her attention on Ellis.
"Josh had the map of this place, on the ground floor that is, below that we don't have eyes yet. Our best bet is to get through this fence and get up on the roof to one of the air vents. Riley…I have something separate for you though," Ellis said, turning to Riley with a bit of hesitation.
Riley seemed to perk up at the mention of it, "Anything. Especially if it involves something wacky."
Ellis chuckled, lighting up his blue eyes, "Believe me, it is far more than wacky."
Riley grinned like a mad man and Ellis took him off a ways away, separate from the other group that consisted of Amanda, Colby, and Josh. They were grabbing their backpacks, light, but at the same time stuffed with Josh's gear that no one even knew why the hell he had. Was he a spy in his past life? No one thought to question it though because every time anyone said something he just brushed it off mumbled something no one could understand as a legible answer.
"Alright, I'd say that's about it," Ellis declared, coming back with Riley in tow and beaming like an idiot.
Good Stellar Spirits, what was Ellis having Riley do? Amanda gave Colby a nervous look, which she returned. Hopefully this went as planned…
"Move out soldiers, let's go get those Pokémon!" Ellis beamed, sticking his ear bud with microphone connected, like all of the other ones.
"Testing testing," Ellis said into through the earpiece as Colby, Amanda, and Josh headed off in a separate direction from Riley.
"Loud and clear," Amanda said while grinning into the earpiece.
It was like they were living an adventure from something out of one of those spy movies!
"Wonderful, now I gave Josh basic instruction but I will explain it to you two. Riley already has his orders, so just ignore this for now Riley," Ellis said. Riley snorted, "I ignore you anyway."
Ellis sighed through the microphone, "Anyway…for the rest of you. Our mission is clear but it seems that it could in fact be a bit challenging. Ahead of you should be the fence," in fact they were approaching the at least 20 foot fence, "and we obviously need to get through or over this obstruction. Which could be a problem, but thanks to Josh's help and abundance of equipment, isn't," Ellis explained.
They reached the fence, standing in a small group and awaiting orders from Ellis, but not daring to touch the fence itself in case of electrocution or something.
"Yeah yeah, whatever, just get on with it," Josh muttered.
"With pleasure. Josh has a hand held blowtorch for you and you can guess what we're going to do. I'm not sure if that fence is electric or not, but I do know that you need to get through it regardless," Ellis finished.
Amanda's eyes got wide as Josh passed her a small silver handled object that she recognized as the blowtorch. As Colby received hers, it felt heavy in her gloved hand.
"We need to get this done as soon and as swiftly as possible. I've hacked into the basic security camera system, Riley, so you should be good to go as soon as I get conformation that they're in. There are a couple guards at the entrance, discreet of course, but I don't see any around the outside perimeter. Still we can't be too safe, so speed is key here. Begin."
Josh nodded to Colby and Amanda as he held down a little red button on the handle of the torch. Out of the nozzle came a bright bluish white flame, making a strange sound as it awaited use.
"Well go on," Josh insisted.
Colby nodded to Amanda and they each pressed the button on their torch with blue flames appearing from theirs also. Josh started on the left side and was careful not to touch the fence as he shoved the flame through the metal. It made a sizzling noise and excreted a smell of burning metal as the torch cut through the chain somewhat easily.
Colby started on the bottom and slowly brought the torch up as it cut through links of metal with Amanda doing the same above her. Moving as fast as possible they sliced through the metal and exchanged grins as a half oval shape fell to the ground in front of them and allowing them to each slip through the hole easily.
They didn't bother with the chunk of chain link that was on the ground and were now inside the perimeter of the area. Josh collected the blowtorches and stuck them back into his black backpack that looked like it weighed a ton.
"We're through," Josh said into the microphone.
"Excellent! Now comes the next phase and what I think of as the harder part. Keep heading in the direction you're going until you get about fifty feet 20 or so feet away from the building. I will then direct you to an area where I believe a ladder is located for easy roofing purposes, but that's just guessing. Riley you sit tight," Ellis asked.
"I'm not sitting, but my clothes are pretty tight," Riley answered smugly.
Amanda frowned, it's not like anyone was appreciating that. Josh just ignored the redheaded idiot singing something asinine into his ear and led their small group towards the looming shape of the building. It was barely lit up with only a few lights switched on from the cubicles but other than that no light was present outside. This building wasn't supposed to be noticed after all, so why attract more attention than necessary? Team Lunar's motives may be brilliantly thought up, but the idiots who executed them sometimes messed it up.
They were the required distance from the building now, which was welcomed by Colby and Amanda so Riley would shut the hell up.
"We're here," Colby yelled into the microphone to silence Riley.
"Shhh!" Josh hushed.
"Alright, now to your left about another twenty feet on the south side of the building will be a ladder. It will be a bit difficult to see in contrast with the darkness, but use your flashlights carefully. I don't believe anyone has seen you yet which is good, so just be careful here," Ellis ordered.
They were nearing one of the lit up windows and were able to duck under hopefully without being noticed. The dark night wasn't the most favorable to work their way around in but it did provide excellent cover for their operation.
"There," Colby pointed, gesturing to a ladder that was barely visible in the moonlight, fifteen feet above…and not reaching down anywhere near to where they could grab it.
"It doesn't fully go to the ground," Amanda said.
"You wouldn't expect it to. They don't want intruders Amanda," Ellis chuckled.
"Well then how…?" Colby questioned, then was silent as Josh began rummaging in his bag again.
"Of course, Josh has everything in that bag," Amanda said with an eye roll.
Josh pulled out what looked like a big shotgun with a grappling hook on the front…sort of like a launcher for the hook or something. How does he fit all this shit in his backpack? For that was the ultimate question for the rest of forever.
"Oh great Stellar Spirits," Colby exclaimed.
That earned her barely a half smile from Josh, which was quite rare, as he zipped up his backpack again and put it on his back. Holding the device firmly in hand he began to start instruction.
Josh looked at them, "Obviously we can't just climb up there because we don't have any foot holes. If we did Amanda probably would be able to, but that isn't the case. So, this is what we're going to do."
Like a silent killer would strike, he pulled the trigger on the black handle of the gun. The hook on it shot up to where he aimed it, almost perfectly hooking itself to the top rung of the metal ladder. It made a ting noise as it connected and attached itself to the metal but other than that it was silent.
Amanda was watching diligently and Colby was trying to keep her mouth from dropping open in surprise. Where did he learn all this stuff?
Josh unhooked some rope from this backpack along with a harness and attached the two together. The grappling gun was anchored to the ground and the cord was pulled taunt along the side of the building with just enough in a break of tension so you could grip the cord. Josh wrapped the strange looking harness around him and attached it to the cord, placing two hands on the rope and pulling back the slightest.
"This should be the easiest for Amanda because she is used to Free Running with Zero. Colby, it shouldn't be too hard," Josh instructed.
"If it's a challenge, then I'll take it," Colby said with a grin.
"That's the spirit!" Ellis encouraged.
"I'm going to go up and then I'll send the rope and harness down for you both," Josh said.
He then pulled the rope back and swung both of his feet up, making him almost perpendicular to the wall. He looked back and gave them a grin as he swiftly ran up the wall in a matter of about ten seconds, reaching the top with ease.
"Not bad Hershey, not bad," Colby congratulated with a wry grin.
Josh unhooked himself from where he was on top of the building, looking down at them. The harness slid down on the cord and fell into Amanda's hands. Josh tossed yellow and red rope down as well, securing it on the rung of the ladder so they could walk up the wall easier.
"This is the closest to a ninja I'm ever going to be," Amanda said with a giggle.
Her eyes were lit up as the harness was secured, giving her an opportunity to grip the rope. She pulled it taunt and swung both feet up on the wall just as Josh had done. With a couple swift bounds she was on the building as well. Josh gave her a nod as she took of the harness, sending it down to Colby.
"Bring the grappling gun when you go up. Don't want anyone to find that," Ellis reminded her.
"Will do commander Corona," Colby teased.
She stuffed the gun into her bag; glad it would barely fit (with half of it sticking out the back of the pack) and secured the harness around her middle. Then grabbing the rope firmly she took a deep breath, swinging her feet to meet the wall.
It was like a feeling of being upside down, only with a bit more awkwardness to it. She ignored that unsettling feeling in her stomach and pulled herself up on the rope, walking along the side of the hexagonal building. Before she knew it she was at the top and grabbed Josh's strong hand to help pull her up. The dizziness disbanded as she realized she'd done it! Who said walking on walls wasn't possible? Josh Hershey, defying all laws of physics. "That was awesome!" Colby exclaimed, somewhat out of breath.
Josh removed the gun from her backpack and somehow folded it up to where it was compact enough to stuff in the backpack. So that's how he fit it in there! Amanda was winding up the rope and clipped it to the backpack, getting all their stuff ready. With everything stuffed back in Josh's backpack, they crept on the roof, not seeing much except for a concrete roof.
"Everyone up?" Ellis asked into the microphone.
"We're clear," Josh responded succinctly.
"Moving right along. It doesn't look like much now but there should be a silver object over in the right corner. It is an air shaft I believe…so classic spy movie style you should be able to craw through the air ducts to a neutral room on the first floor," Ellis explained.
"When do I get to go," Riley whined into the microphone.
"In a moment, we need to make sure these three get in first," Ellis sighed.
Just like he said in the right corner from where they were standing was a silver air duct that came out of the building to filter air. They hustled over to it and Josh dropped his bag down, pulling out the blowtorches again. He tossed one to Colby and together they swiftly began cutting a hole in the side for entrance. The heat of the fire was unimaginable and almost burnt her even though it wasn't close to her skin.
Like the last one they were able to cut easily but this time Josh grabbed the cut out piece, lowering it to the ground easily so it wouldn't make any noise to alert Team Lunar of their presence.
"You're actually a pretty good spy Josh," Amanda praised.
Josh just grunted and stuffed the crap back in his pack, looking down into the hole in the air duct they just made. He had a flashlight in poised in his left hand as he examined the duct. It went straight down approximately five feet into the main air ducts that would branch off all over the ceiling of the building. Normally it would be a challenging task but since they had Ellis at command central feeding them directions, it didn't seem like that much of a challenge. The ducts were going to be small, but hopefully enough for them all to fit.
"I'm going first. It doesn't look like that big of a drop. Don't fall down and alert the whole damn army of useless grunts if you can keep from it," Josh muttered.
He climbed through the hole and with a little bit of squeezing he fit, then his head vanished as he dropped silently.
"Next," Josh hissed into the microphone.
Amanda gave Colby a reassuring look as she climbed through the hole carefully, dropping as lightly as possible and moving over beside Josh in an army crawl since the duct was so small. A couple seconds later Amanda dropped as well and joined them in an army crawl. For sake of space they all had to follow each other on their hands and knees, being as quiet as possible. "In?" Ellis spoke into their ears.
"Affirmative Captain," Amanda said with a quiet laugh.
"Next step…now if my map of their heating and cooling system is correct…I think you need to go left and take a right at the next crossing. I'm aiming to get you into a break room, so there shouldn't be anyone in there considering the 'offices' are closed," Ellis mumbled, with the sound of rustling paper in the background.
"There shouldn't be any guards anywhere though…it's supposed to be a closed office building," Colby pointed out.
"But this is one of Team Lunar's bases. Do you really think it's going to go unguarded?" Josh hissed.
"Point taken," Amanda whispered.
"Just be careful. When traveling through the air ducts crawl as quiet as possible because we don't want them alerted. I can see there are in fact guards roaming the halls, on the first floor at least. The basement…that's another story," Ellis instructed.
"Will do," Amanda confirmed.
They shuffled along in a single file line with Josh in the lead, Amanda in the middle, and Colby bringing up the rear. The air ducts were tight and cramped, the small space making Colby a bit nervous. It wasn't panic attack drastic but she knew she wanted to get out as soon as possible. Occasionally their knees would make a bending metal sound, which wasn't good but for the most part they were doing a good job of going at a good pace that wasn't causing suspicion, hopefully.
They reached the crossing and took a right like Ellis said, now feeling a bit of a cool breeze from the direction they were now going.
"Keep going, pass this next crossing and then take another left on the next one," Ellis directed.
They kept crawling in silence to the check point Ellis was talking about where Josh then lead the troop down the duct.
"Okay you should just keep following this and pass over a couple vents…be careful, you want the second one, not the first. Be careful not to fall through either," Ellis warned.
Close to the end of the duct they made out some light, contrasting to the dark they'd become used to.
"The one that's lit up correct?" Colby asked, carefully crossing the other vent that a dark office could be seen below.
"Yep!" Ellis replied succinctly.
Josh got on the left side of the vent and peeked down into the room that appeared to be an empty break room. A drink and snack machine sat in the corner along with a couple scattered tables. It didn't appear that anyone was in the room, good news.
Josh rummaged through his backpack and pulled out some contraption…it turned out to be a normal hook with this super strong magnet attached to it. He looped the rope through hook and secured it before letting it stick to the metal of the duct.
"Clever," Colby said with a smile as Josh began to lower himself (after removing the vent itself) to the ground of the break room.
Colby and Amanda followed soon after and they breathed a sigh of relief as they realized they were finally inside. They hadn't been detected yet which really surprised Colby. Luckily this room had no windows and the door seemed to be shut. It smelled sort of like bleach for whatever reason, making Colby's nose wrinkle.
Josh put a finger up to his ear as he spoke, "Houston, we have landing. I repeat, we're in."
Back at base of operations Ellis smiled, "Riley, you may begin."
"Ronan, boss needs you again," Sarafine snapped from the opposite end of the hall.
Ronan stopped, for God's sake; he hadn't even made it an hour before evidently the boss had something else to say. Sarafine narrowed her brown eyes as he muttered something and stomped away in a huff, running his hand through his light brown hair. Sometimes it was hard to do what he did, but the position was worth it…so until that time he just had to grit his teeth and do the boss's will.
He pushed past a couple of the blue headed grunts, twins, from Mitheral or something and stomped back down to the hallway where the boss had his office. The boss had better not be yelling at him to get what was previously assigned done, because that was just unrealistic time…especially for him.
Ronan was all about getting things done, but that wasn't possible. Ronan approached the doors and didn't bother to knock, but just went in. "Sir?" Ronan called.
He was as usual sitting with the back of his chair facing the doors where Ronan was standing.
"My apologies for bothering you again but the mechanic for basement floor one is off duty on a mission. I just need a simple thing done and I figured it would be on your way down to the lower floors. Is the air conditioning on? I've heard a pop or two that I believe is coming from the vents," the boss blabbered.
Ronan mentally rolled his eyes, why couldn't he get someone else with less important shit to do? It was just checking on an air vent for God's sake. "Yes sir, I'll take care of it. I'll have one of the others convey the information as soon as possible sir," Ronan replied.
"Wonderful, that's all. You may exit-"
Just as he was about to turn on his heel Ronan stopped short. The intercom hissed like it was coming on. Those hadn't been used for a while now…unless of course there was an emergency, which is what they were built for. Each one of these babies was positioned through out the halls and in some of the rooms in order to alert Team Lunar if something was going on. The perimeter had been secured…hadn't it?
The static stopped and some interesting bopping music began to play…it was unlike any other he had ever heard. It was a strange mix of sounds and as it kept playing Ronan's confusion deepened. Who the hell was responsible for this prank? The grunts weren't supposed to be immature assholes, but it turns out most of the newbie's are. This was a highly important position in an organization that will soon rule the region. Whoever was responsible for this would be severely punished. The words finally came, blasting two times as loud, as Ronan's confusion deepened…what was this?
"I'm sexy and I know it."
A/N: Oh lordy, that was fun to write :P I am in the process of writing the next chapter, so sorry for the cliffy! This next chapter will be CRAZY, with lots of Riley, that you obviously don't want. Hope you enjoyed, and PLEASE REVIEW SO I CAN KNOW WHAT MY WONDERFUL READERS THINK :)
