Sabtro, Victoria

August 9, 2558

Vasili's arrival into Victoria went off without error. Customs waved him through after a simple glance at his fake identity. They had only done a brief search of his bags, but didn't suspect much since he was a worker coming to look at the construction sites expanding around the Kirup metropolis.

He had spent his first day wandering around the city, being away for nearly seven years meant that he had to accustom himself again. He knew the other languages spoken were Russian and English. Although he was fluent in his native language, his voice had no accent, but rather a bland sound that would be nearly entirely foreign to a Russian native to Victoria. To help, he often stood at the rail train stops and tuned in to the conversations around him, singling out the ones in Russian.

He couldn't believe the changes Kirup had underwent since he had left. The skyline was among the tallest on the planet. The air above buzzed with busy transports to their bustling destinations. Many people had datapads and chatter comm devices with quick and excited conversations carried over the latter. When night had fallen, the buildings and their even taller cranes became a dazzling show of light. Newly constructed on the north end of the city were several unique shaped buildings that were prestigious hotels that sheltered the military police guarded governmental district of Kirup. After moving to Reach when he was five, he had learned Russian and English during his childhood in his hometown of Vladivostok.

His melting into the Victorian society had gone seamlessly. After two days spent in the city, he checked out of his hotel, selling his empty suitcases and whatever else to a travel shop. The immigration papers had been flushed down his room's toilet and then he traveled to the mall to buy some commoner clothes. The cashier didn't give a second thought onto why he was wearing a business casual and purchasing garments not up to his standard. He ditched his suit, heading towards the industrial district of Kirup, a smog filled section that was an ugly sight to anyone with the view of the tall hotels. Instead of a jungle of vibrant warm colored clothing worn by the youth, it was now a dull sight to see older workers heading home at dusk, covered in a grayish brown. Factory funnels pumped smoke that had formed the horrid smog cloud. Now, he had torn his clothes and his worker shoes were scuffed thanks to a cinder block that he found in a construction lot.

Some of the poorer workers gave him odd looks, but nobody really singled him out for anything. At this point, he wasn't one of them, but probably not that far up the totem pole to be different.

Sabtro was a city that was populated in the ten thousand range. The richer area was bordering the highway that led back to Kirup's nightclub area, a bright skyline barely visible in the blurry air and the area where he was headed was at the outskirts of the city, where what remained of the forest still stood. He was now returning as a worker who had failed to find employment in the big city. He even had the mood to encourage others to believe the same. It had been his third day absent of a shower and his eyes were the pained look of despair and defeat. An elderly woman had sat next to him as the bus went into the city. She had told him that it was best if he returned to his family, as the city life wasn't for everyone. Fortunately she may have been hallucinating and if she could see clearly, it would be evident that Vasili was much younger than she expected.

The city was hosting election day, which Suvorov had seen before when undercover rooting out the insurrection that was now controlling Victoria. Since there was only one government party that was ruling, most of the voting in the "democratic" elections consisted of multiple candidates for the office in the same party, but with different policies. Since many of them agreed, there was maybe a maximum of three candidates for each office. Sometimes voters just had to hit the random box on the electronic pad and then deposit their vote, all under surveillance by the armed militia.

Since he would attract attention, he had to ditch a few more things. His dollar-shop comlink that he had carried was broken under his feet. The comlinks that people carried here were much cheaper and ironically more durable than the city counterparts that were talked and messaged upon by the obnoxious teenagers. Since the military would be on edge, he decided to wait underneath a sewer that ran over the open in one road that led to the winding trees that seemed to span forever beyond. His plan was to stay hidden until the military rolled off to their next area to overwatch the next biased election.

He lay down on the dirt concrete, just inches from the rushing water that emitted a horrible smell and was colored greenish. Lost in his own misery, he didn't even hear the voices until they were right on top of the bridge above.

"Of course." The voice was in English, coming from male and the accent sounded like Kirup.

"You sure know how to flatter a woman." Her voice was maybe a year younger and she had sounded like she was local.

"I know the perfect place Tatiana, just past these trees."

The girl, Tatiana laughed in response. Vasili knew that the two were heading to the small hotel he saw earlier on the outskirts to engage in sexual activities. He slunk from his hiding spot and observed the couple.

The man was a soldier, clad in his pristine uniform, an unknown model of a battle rifle slung on his back as his arm linked with Tatiana's. Her swagger in stepping suggested that she may have been intoxicated and drank a little more than usual booze at the party in her high school or college. That was probably where she had met the soldier boy.

Sure enough they had walked into one of the rooms without paying for their dues. Because he was a soldier, the fee was nonexistent, as if serving as intimidation was already enough. He waited until the checkpoint guards had ran off to assist the other troops in packing up the two machine gun nests that were manned to observe traffic from the forest highway. The group wouldn't leave until all of its soldiers were accounted for, the one about to get laid included. Moving out of his hiding spot, he crouch walked over to the side of the single story building stopping at the one that the two had gone through. She had locked the door behind them, preventing him from intruding by the front door. The window next to the door had light shining through it, since the sun was setting and he saw a pair of silhouettes on the wall. The soldier had pinned his partner and both had removed their leg clothes by now. Vasili nearly tripped on one of the cracks of the dipilidated concrete walkway and hit the wall. He braced himself ready to run, but the two inside were so caught up in him removing another article of clothing that they failed to notice his presence. He walked back to the window's side; the two were now gone from the wall and likely on the bed which was behind the wall that was in front of the door when one walked through. A series of stimulating moans and ruffling sheets kept on going, so he hid behind a few decorating bushes, avoiding being seen by the few other hotel guests that walked in and out. He was surprised that nobody had caught him as peeping tom.

Twenty minutes later, he checked on them again, now hearing silence inside indicating that both had fallen asleep. He was clear to head inside.

Pushing on the door, he felt the angle of the pins that kept it from swinging open. He shifted his weight on pulling upwards, pulling with unholy strength. The pin snapped free with a metallic bang and now the door minus its lock was shut. He had flinched from the breaking in case someone was alert.

The room's cream colored walls were chipped and in desperate need of a new coat. The floor was a dark green that was probably less tinted when it was laid out. The smell of something dank and mildew was getting stronger by the time he had crossed into the bedroom.

The bed was a queen size and the two lightly sleeping naked occupants had no idea that a stealthy Spartan had just infiltrated their room. The soldier's uniform was taken off in a rough manner and Vasili spotted the weapon leaning against the wall and slung the rifle over his shoulder. Resembling an old Belgian rifle called the FAL; it featured a scope that was probably the most advanced last century. A box magazine of twenty rounds sat in front of the trigger, in heavy contrast to the UNSC bullpup weapon style on most of their rifles. Using the balls of his feet, he crossed the front of the bed, careful not to wake them. Gathering all parts of the uniform he managed a small smile as his imagination of the soldier having to go back into town minus a uniform. The dog tags were wrapped around one of the bedpost, which he took as well. There was no doubt that the Victoria militia was already eager to roll off to the next town so his presence would already accelerate their departure.

Changing his plan, he no longer planned to interrogate the family that was discovered in the container. It was no use now, because they might have been killed by the pirate hitmen. His only option now was to go through the same processes that the group had gone through.

He silently shut the door and crossed the bridge over his sewer home back into town. After asking a man about a smuggler recruiter called Andres, he immediately froze up, ready to run. However Vasili knew the soldier tactics of intimidation. He aimed the rifle squarely at his chest and demanded it in a kindly, but also laden with menace type of voice. Knowing his life was in danger, the man shakily pointed out to the Untamed Serpent, which was a bar that was downtown. After thanking the man, Vasili nodded, insisting that he should leave before he changed his mind about shooting. He had already left, much to the relief and scrambling of his informant. He planned to confront andres about the smuggling and see what he could get from that. Unfortunately, the man had told him that Andres was difficult to impress and convince to take on a journey, so Vasili had to be something worth going for.

Slinging the dog tags over his neck and heading back into town, he had now found the ideal cover.

Thanks for reading everyone! You all give my writing purpose!