Reconnaissance
A forest in Eastern Russia; Monday, June 13, 6:45 P.M…
The four members of the gang stood alongside the van, looking down on the ground at the device that Bentley had brought out.
"Alright, all systems are ready to go."
"Bentley, are you sure that this is the best way to do some reconnaissance?" Sly asked worriedly.
"Absolutely. Since last time, I've updated the RC chopper even more. It's now a combination of my latest model and your latest model. It has the ability to drop bombs, a Yank 86, a forward-firing turret that can be adjusted, a camera on the underside that can take still pictures, and another camera on the front that can give us a live feed. And the best part: It now has a cloaking device. Similar to whatever shield surrounds the vicinity around the Volcano, this will prevent the chopper from being detected by radar. That, combined with new silenced blades and its overall very small size and improved maneuverability, makes it the ultimate reconnaissance tool, and perfect for fighting back if ever detected. Plus, I've reinforced it with bullet-proof metal."
"Wow." Murray replied, noticeably impressed. "All that in just one little toy?"
"Yep. And remember: We've also got the RC car, also with bullet-proof metal, a camera, and adjustable turrets. That's in the back of the van, too."
"We could wage war on whatever's over there with just those two if we wanted." Murray joked.
"Hardly." Sly retorted. "I doubt that whatever's over there has minimal security. It's clearly going to be tough. But we need to get decent reconnaissance first before we can make a decent evaluation."
"Usually I'm the one who says that. But Sly's absolutely right."
"Alright, enough chit-chat." Penelope cut in. "Let's get this bird flying."
"Penelope's right."
Bentley then moved around the others to the open rear doors of the van and jumped back in, the other three all following him. They watched as he wheeled over to the massive computer monitor and switched it on. He then reached behind the monitor and pulled out a thin gray cord. He attached it into a small hole in the back of the remote.
"OK, everyone: Here it goes!"
Bentley turned a small key on the remote, and the RC chopper's small blades started spinning. Just as Bentley said, they made almost no sound whatsoever, and the only feeling was the slight breeze from the spinning blades. He then slowly moved one joystick on the remote up, and the chopper rose off the ground, the blades of grass blowing away from it as it rose. It was now hovering about four feet off the ground.
"OK, so now I just need to channel the chopper's transmitter through this monitor, and…"
Bentley typed away furiously on the keyboard, glancing between the rapidly-clacking keys and the static-covered monitor.
Then, after a brief crackle, the screen turned from static to the chopper's POV, showing all of the trees dead ahead.
"Excellent! Now we can see whatever the chopper sees, right here from the van."
He then picked up the remote and moved the right joystick forward. "Now we're moving north. Destination: The Krak-Karov Volcano."
As Bentley piloted the small chopper away from the clearing and through the woods, the last four words all created a slight lump in everyone's throat. Especially Sly Cooper.
After what seemed like several hours, the chopper finally cleared the woods. The four of them watched intently as it broke through the trees and emerged into the light.
What they all saw before them on the monitors made their jaws drop almost simultaneously.
There was the familiar, menacing Volcano, smoke still spewing from its summit. But at the base of the Volcano, attached to part of the Volcano wall and stretching out from it like an extra, artificial appendage, was a massive facility. Multiple buildings, all pressed together against each other at certain junctures, and constructed of a sleek, shiny metal. Most of the buildings seemed no higher than two or three stories. However, the part of the facility that was directly against the Volcano wall was much larger, wider, and higher, slightly bulkier and darker, with some square sections protruding from the ceiling. The rest of the buildings were mostly of plain square or rectangular shapes, and had few features to them besides a few doors and some windows. Walking in and out of buildings, as well as all around them, were many men. All of them seemed small from this distance, but it was still clear to see that there were many of them, everywhere.
In addition to the central mass of buildings, there were two other notable structures. One was directly above the massive section pressed against the Volcano wall. It was a long, thin tube, seemingly of glass, stretching up from the bulky part, running all the way up the length of the wall, up to a smaller chamber resting at the very top of the Volcano, perched on the edge of the crater.
The other was a massive building, perfectly square, and just as large as the part of the facility against the Volcano. It was particularly tall, and with a roof that curved at the top and hung down over the edges, like a hangar's roof. The unique thing about this building was that it was completely set apart from the rest of the facility, sitting by itself out in the grass; a single drop that was separate from a large puddle of metal at the base of the Volcano.
The four of them were absolutely speechless.
"Oh…my…gadzooks." Bentley finally muttered.
"Move in closer, Bentley. We can't stop now. We need to get a better look. And be careful." Sly swiftly and nonchalantly commanded.
The chopper continued flying high over the facility, moving over the one building that was by itself.
Then, just as the chopper flew over the lone building, a scratchy, ragged sound could be heard emitting from the computer.
"What's that? What is that?" Sly asked frantically.
"It's the built-in Geiger Counter. It detects any radioactivity that's directly below the chopper. It's going crazy over that one building that's by itself. I'm directly over it right now…holy cow, it's off the charts!"
"Take some aerial pictures and come back to that building later. For now, check out the rest of the facility. And stay high."
The chopper continued moving along. Every now and then, whenever it was directly over one of the guards, Bentley would snap another picture. Even when he was directly over the facility, a majority of which was just plain gray squares and rectangles, he continued snapping picture after picture.
"OK, now I'm heading towards the area that's right up against the Volcano."
"Be careful. That's the section that's elevated more, so it could make it easier for them to see you."
Bentley moved the chopper over the rest of the facility, over to the large bulky part. Once he was over the larger section, he took several pictures.
Then the ragged, scratchy sound returned.
"Oh, boy. I'm sensing more radioactivity in this area of the facility, too. In much greater quantities, I might add."
"Proceed with caution."
Finally, he was close to the long, glass tube along the Volcano wall. He snapped several more pictures. The scratching continued.
Finally, the RC chopper moved away from the bulky area of the facility, moving over desolate, rocky terrain just behind the metal buildings, at the base of the Volcano. Eventually, the chopper was directly over the all-too familiar path at the base of the Volcano on the other side. The same path they had driven along in their first raid on the Volcano all those years ago. More pictures.
"I think that's enough pictures, Sly." Bentley said after about 10 more minutes. "I'm not liking it here, with the radioactivity and the danger of being seen. I think it's time to bring it back."
"Agreed. Bring it in."
…
"I can't believe that I wasn't spotted!" Bentley exclaimed once he brought the chopper in and eased it down behind the van.
Sly swiped it up.
"Looks like those modifications of yours are doing their job. Now how do we get a good look at these pictures?"
"Place the RC chopper on the desk next to the remote."
Sly did as he commanded, and Bentley pulled up another small, black cord. He tipped the chopper onto its side, with the underside facing them. He plugged one end into a small hole directly underneath the chopper, and the other end into yet another hole in the back of the remote.
"OK, so I transfer the memory from the RC chopper through to the remote, and then through that again to the computer, and…"
After more rapid typing, he hit the "Enter" button.
"Done."
The screen changed from black to the first photograph that Bentley had taken: Of the single, lone building that sat away from the rest of the facility. It appeared very plain from above.
"That's the building where the Geiger Counter first started going crazy." Bentley reminded them.
Sly placed a single hand on the desktop and leaned in closer.
"It's definitely large. Something huge is in there. What's next?"
"I took a couple more pictures of that building, but nothing else different." As Bentley flipped through the next two nonchalantly, the angle on the building changed slightly, but not dramatically, with each shot.
The fourth shot was of some of the guards below.
"OK, let me zoom in here."
Bentley moved one of the joysticks up, and the image grew larger as it focused towards the center. The image of the guard grew larger, and it was still amazingly high quality.
"Yep. Just as I thought. He's heavily armed."
"I'll say!" Murray agreed. "Just look at that shotgun!"
Bentley moved the focus over to another guard in the same shot, who was holding a long rifle.
Bentley zoomed in on each and every guard, studied them a bit, and then moved onto the next image, which also showed several guards.
As they magnified and studied each of the guards captured on camera, one thing was for sure: They were all heavily armed. From Uzis in their hands, to pistols at their waists, to shotguns slung over their shoulders. They also wore matching uniforms of black, short-sleeved, plain shirts, dark gray belts, matching black pants, and black boots. Some of them also wore black hats, and some bore black gloves.
"Would you take a look at that? They all have…uniforms. And so many weapons. This place has clearly been around a while." Penelope explained.
"And they're very well-organized, too." Bentley added, with a note of worry and disbelief in his voice.
"This is unbelievable. Take a look at some of those guys!" Murray exclaimed. "Those guns could blast ours in half in a second!"
"I feared the worst." Sly said grimly. "And this is the worst."
They moved through the rest of the images, which depicted the roofs of the various sections of the facility as the chopper had hovered directly over them. They were all plain, flat, and gray. Nothing else interesting. Even as Bentley moved to the pictures of the large, bulky section where the Geiger Counter had gone off for the second time, nothing seemed immediately unusual or unique about it.
Nevertheless, things looked grim.
Once they finished going through all the pictures, Bentley shut off the monitor and sighed.
Sly turned and stepped down out of the van and onto the grass. He started walking away aimlessly.
Bentley noticed this first, and immediately wheeled out after him.
"Sly, Sly wait!"
"Why? What good will it do?"
"Sly, I know that look on your face. It's the look you've gotten only once before…"
"Yes. It is. It's the look of defeat. Deal with it."
"You can't give up now! We're so close!"
"What do you propose that we do? Did you see those pictures? Did you see all of the heavily-armed guards? Did you see the heavily-fortified facility or whatever it is out there? Don't you get it? We're in over our heads! We're way out of our league! We weren't prepared for this. They've probably got a whole army over there. Do you really think that, with these three guns and two RC toys, we can actually stand a chance? No! We can't! It's as plain and simple as that!"
Bentley, as well as the other members of the gang, were greatly taken aback by Sly's sudden outburst.
After a long, awkward pause, Murray was the first to speak up. "But we've faced hundreds of goons before and still managed to come out on top. I'm sure these guys won't be any different."
"Murray, do you remember that man? The one who chased us halfway across downtown LA? And survived the train crash? And chased us up the mountain road in the helicopter?"
"That guy's dead, Sly. We all watched it burn."
"Still. Remember what I told you? The handle of the knife that he held had the traces of radioactivity from the Karovanine on it. That means he came from here. If just one guy like him was that hard to kill, imagine how hard a hundred, or two hundred guys just like him would be!"
After a nervous swallow, Bentley started to speak. "Well, it's…it's not completely hopeless, Sly. It's not like we have to handle this by ourselves, just the four of us."
"What do you suggest then, huh? Call in the army?"
"You're still technically employed by Interpol. You could call in reinforcements…"
"Need I remind you that if I did that, I'd be forced to tell them about my meeting up with you guys again? About our entire parade through LA? About how we opened fire on Interpol property and murdered a man? About how I've broken several laws as it is, and can be found guilty of, in addition to all the hundreds of crimes from my past, conspiracy and perjury? They'd probably just swoop in here like the marines and arrest all of us, and not even bat an eyebrow in the direction of the Volcano! You guys would all be caught, and so would I! No, it's too late to call on Interpol. Way too late."
Sly grabbed his head in both hands and ruffled up his own hair in frustration, turning away from the others. "We were so close!" He muttered. "So close…"
"Well, what do we do now?" Penelope asked. "I mean, if he thinks we shouldn't try to do anything, then we shouldn't. But we can't just leave, can we?"
"They never spotted the RC chopper." Bentley noted. "And if they already knew that we were here, I think they'd have done something by now."
"Well, what are you saying?" Murray asked.
"I don't care what he's saying." Sly shot back. "I don't care what any of you say right now. I don't know what to think, what to do, or what to say. I just want to be alone."
And with that, Sly disappeared into his tent.
The other three members were completely stunned, completely speechless, at the sudden and harsh behavior exhibited by their old friend.
"This is bad." Bentley finally said blankly. "I've never seen Sly like this. Never."
"Wonder what's got him so riled up?" Murray added.
"Isn't it obvious, guys?" Penelope spoke up.
Bentley and Murray turned to her.
"He lost his wife. The woman he loved more than anyone else in the world. Clearly, someone over at that facility is responsible."
"Wait, I thought it was that guy in the helicopter who was responsible."
"Well, he might have committed the actual act, but if what we all fear is true, and he was just an assassin, then someone from over there sent him. Someone in charge of that place. Besides, even if he was entirely responsible, that still doesn't change the fact that there's a massive, heavily-guarded, fully radioactive facility over there that wasn't there 15 years ago."
"So, what are you saying?"
"Sly wants to go much further than avenge his wife's death. He wants to deal with this…this place here. Clearly, it's dangerous."
"Now hold up. How do we know it's not just some kind of government facility?"
"If that was the Russian government, then why would they go to all the trouble of sending an assassin out to kill a bunch of people from different countries all around the world, none of which including Russia, and who, prior to this, had absolutely no knowledge of this place? That would be a bureaucratic nightmare that they'd have one heck of a time trying to explain."
"OK, but still; what can we do?" Bentley asked, repeating the question that was on everyone's minds.
"I…I don't know. And Sly doesn't know, either. I feel that he wants to do something, but knows that he can't. He wants to storm in there with our weapons and whatnot, but knows that we'll get blasted for sure. And he knows that calling Interpol, while easily enough to take over whatever base is over there, would also result in us being captured. And, for him, that would mean throwing away the 8 solid years of police work that he had done alongside Carmelita."
Bentley and Murray turned and looked in the direction of Sly's tent. There was no movement at all. Not a single sound.
…
10:30 P.M…
Vlotho lowered his watch and eased it into his lap.
"It is now officially the third day. In 24 more hours, the Clockwerk shall launch and fly again. It shall be glorious." He said to Hans, who, as always, didn't react.
"Nothing shall stop us. Not even Sly Cooper."
To be continued…