Isaac was sailing across the Mobian Sea with Lily by his side, the late March weather still having a bit of chill in its air. As they sailed, Isaac was keeping an eye out for the other ships on the water, not trusting of the number of ships out for one day. His destination was the harbor in the United Federation, where they would be welcomed by G.U.N. agents as an escort.
"Is anyone following us?" Isaac asked. Lily quickly climbed the rigging, looking out behind them.
"We're good, Isaac!" Lily answered, climbing down. The Drunken Nephilim plowed through the open water; its sails filled with Northbound winds. The nimble sloop soon neared the harbor, Isaac running over to the anchor and throwing it overboard, stopping the sloop as Lily furled the mainsail. But before G.U.N. could show up, a trio of men rowed up to the hull of the ship, getting Isaac's attention.
"Who are you?" Isaac asked.
"We're in charge of this port! We're with the Mobian Trading Company! We are here to inspect the cargo of your vessel before we allow you to dock!" One of them announced. Isaac kept his cool, knowing that they weren't going to find her.
"Go ahead. You shall see I have nothing to hide." Isaac responded, throwing them a rope ladder. They soon climbed on, holding clipboards.
"Any I.D., sir?" One of them asked. Isaac produced a fake I.D. card, handing it to him. He looked at it, running it under a small scanner. The scanner saw it as an authentic I.D. card.
"Now, Mr. Horowitz, what is the purpose of your visit?" He asked, using Isaac's fake surname.
"I'm dropping off supplies for G.U.N. They've requested a barrel of mead from the Kingdom of Acorn. I have the shipping paperwork right here." Isaac answered, showing shipping documents.
"How many people do you have here?" He asked.
"Only the girl and I." Isaac answered. He wrote it down, looking around.
"This is rather a large vessel to be manned by only two people. Are you sure?" He asked, suspicious.
"I have not told you any lies. You will not find anyone else here." Isaac responded. The men soon went into the quarters and below deck, inspecting the cargo to ensure no illegal contraband was hidden. One of them approached the large barrel of mead, putting a small cup under the spigot. He poured a small amount into the cup, smelling it. As soon as he found it to be mead, he knocked it back, getting a few swallows. As they searched, Isaac was standing near a large chest, looking at it.
"What's in the chest?" One of them asked.
"Nothing." Isaac answered. The man tucked the clipboard under his arm, asserting himself.
"Open it." He demanded. Obliging, Isaac grabbed a key from his neck, opening the chest. The man peered over as Isaac opened the lid, seeing it truly contained… nothing. It was an empty chest.
Satisfied with their inspection, the men left back down the rope ladder, rowing back into the harbor. Isaac saw the G.U.N. agents coming down the dock, preparing for them to come aboard by placing the boarding ramp. Isaac welcomed them, smiling.
"Mr. Horowitz. Do you have the mead?" The leader asked.
Isaac nodded, leading them to the cargo storage. Isaac helped them with lifting the barrel, leading it towards the boarding ramp and off the ship. As soon as they got it into the transportation truck, Isaac took the top of it off, Sally quickly getting out, having been in a compartment of the barrel that was separated from the mead!
"Man, my legs were falling asleep!" Sally exclaimed, rubbing them. The G.U.N. agents were clapping, the drill finally being over.
"Hey, is the drill over?" One of the men from the inspection team asked, revealing they were in on it.
"Affirmative. She was in the mead barrel." The leader answered.
"Damn good hiding spot. Secret compartment?" He asked.
"There was another barrel inside of it. Isaac, did they check everything?" The leader asked.
"Everything except under the floorboards. And even then, they would have missed her entirely." Isaac answered.
"Alright, everyone! Thank you for participating in the drill! Your efforts will ensure the safety of our allies as we continue our war against the Order of Honorius. Now, let's get this mead to headquarters and have ourselves a party!" The leader announced, everyone else cheering.
Isaac and Sally left the transportation truck, heading back to the dock. Isaac and Sally waked up the boarding ramp, Isaac pulling it back onto his ship as soon as they were on the deck. After Lily unfurled the sails and Isaac pulled the anchor out of the water, The Drunken Nephilim began heading back to the Westside Island, where King Nigel was waiting for the end of the escape drill.
"Lily, I need you to go into the storage room and make sure everything was how it was before the drill. If it ever happens for real, we'll need to make sure everything looks inconspicuous." Isaac said.
"Yes, captain!" Lily responded, running into the quarters. Isaac laughed to himself, still getting a kick out of being called 'captain'. As Isaac focused on sailing, Sally was gazing out into the Mobian Sea, admiring the early Spring weather. But as they plowed through the water, a ship was changing its course, performing a teardrop-shaped turn, also known as a Williamson Turn. It was heading straight for them, all of its sails unfurled to maximum length!
"Isaac… we've got trouble!" Sally exclaimed, warning him. Isaac turned around, seeing the ship catching up to them! His vision narrowed, zooming in onto the figurehead of the ship. The figurehead was a demon, impaled with multiple swords and spears.
"It's the Order! Lily!" Isaac shouted, Lily quickly running out of the quarters!
"What's wrong?!" Lily asked, knowing Isaac wouldn't have shouted so loud if something was terribly wrong!
"The Order! They're following us! Quick, we need to get to the dock! Get to the crow's nest! I need a lookout!" Isaac ordered.
Lily obliged, quickly scrambling up the crow's nest! Lily grabbed the binoculars stored there, looking through them. She saw quite a few of the Order on that ship, equipped with better weapons and more intimidating armor!
"Oh no…" Lily said, knowing they really meant business. She looked through the binoculars to the harbor, seeing a small fleet of ships docked! She could see the symbol of the Order burned onto the ships, indicating they were already raiding the Kingdom!
Lily quickly grabbed the cargo hook near the crow's nest, jumping off the platform and lowering to the deck, terrified!
"Isaac, they beat us! They're raiding the Kingdom as we speak!" Lily warned.
"No! Isaac, we need to get to my father! We can't leave them alone!" Sally exclaimed. Isaac shook his head, changing the course away from the Kingdom. The ship behind them didn't change their course to follow them, instead going towards the dock of the Kingdom of Acorn.
"I have faith King Nigel will be all right! Right now, we need to get you away from there!" Isaac said, locking the wheel. Isaac ran down into the quarters, grabbing a distress beacon. Isaac activated it, sending a distress signal to G.U.N.
"We need them here ASAP!" Isaac said to himself. As he placed the beacon down, he ran over to and unlocked the chest, removing the false bottom. Multiple passports and documents were organized, Isaac grabbing them. He came back out to the deck; Sally having taken control of the ship. Isaac strided over to her, looking behind the ship. No one else was following, all ships controlled by the Order occupied with the Kingdom of Acorn.
"Here. I've got our passports and documents. G.U.N. should be here soon." Isaac explained, handing Sally her documents. Sally took them, looking them over.
"Samantha Horowitz, age 26, Civil Court lawyer. So, I get to be 8 years older and a lawyer." Sally commented, reading her documents.
"And my wife." Isaac added, grinning. Sally giggled a bit, pulling out the marriage license that came with the documents. As it was printed, the marriage license stated them as being married for eight years, using their aliases of Issachar and Samantha Horowitz.
"Issachar. Pretty damn close to your actual name." Sally commented. Isaac laughed to himself, not actually having had a choice in their chosen names. Nicole picked it out of an algorithm to properly hide their identities. As Sally went through the documents, she found three birth certificates. Two of them belonging to Isaac and Sally, but the third one belonging to Lily.
"Lillian Horowitz. Sheesh, didn't wait to put a baby in me, did you?" Sally asked, joking. Isaac lightly blushed, flashing back to when he and Sally consummated their relationship a few weeks ago.
"Nicole couldn't make us too old, otherwise people would get suspicious. But you should've seen the look on your father's face when he saw the documents! He practically burned a hole through the back of my head when I left!" Isaac said, laughing. As they sorted through the documents, a G.U.N. helicopter came hovering by, lowering a ladder onto the deck.
"We received your distress signal! Quick, get on! We'll have one of our men commandeer your ship and get it to one of our harbors." The pilot announced. Grabbing the documents and his pack, Isaac led Sally and Lily to the ladder, making sure they were on the helicopter before he proceeded to climb the ladder. As he climbed, one of the soldiers lowered themselves onto the ship, taking control of the ship.
"You all came quick." Isaac said, sitting himself next to Sally and Lily.
We didn't even get a chance to break into the barrel of mead you gave us! Also, we just got word from King Nigel. His forces have driven the Order back. The Order suffered major casualties… but there were casualties on our side as well." The leader explained.
"Anyone we know?" Isaac asked. The leader nodded, taking off his helmet.
"They killed Harold Yurani. He refused to tell them anything. He died honorably." He explained. Isaac felt a terrible pain in his stomach, feeling his throat ache. Isaac instinctively bowed his head, putting it into his hands, feeling himself break down. Sally attempted to comfort him, feeling Isaac's body shaking.
Twenty Minutes Ago:
"WHERE ARE THEY?!" The soldier shouted, delivering another punch into Yurani's stomach, who was restrained by two other soldiers. Yurani grunted, feeling the wind knocked out of him. He was breathing heavily, having been punched in the stomach for the past ten minutes.
"Fuck you!" Yurani exclaimed, spitting out blood. The soldier cracked his knuckles, grabbing his right shoulder.
"We've been keeping tabs on everyone here! We know what you are, Harold! And we know who you're married to! If you don't answer us, we will storm your home and kill your spouse!" The soldier threatened. Yurani began laughing, his chest hurting from the constant abuse.
"My husband isn't here right now! We knew you were coming a few hours ago! Right now, Richard is far away from here, guarded by G.U.N. agents! You won't get anything from me!" He exclaimed, still laughing.
Angered, the soldier grabbed the knife from his belt, ready to end this! But as soon as Harold saw him grab the handle, He quickly broke the restraint the soldiers hand on him, stabbing through the neck of the solider on his left and slashing through the brachial artery on the soldier to his right! But as soon as he turned towards the remaining soldier, Yurani felt a bowie knife slip through his stomach, the soldier stabbing repeatedly! Yurani reacted by digging his knife into the soldier's clavicle, stabbing into his heart!
The solider collapsed, dead before he could hit the floor. After a few moments, Harold collapsed as well, clutching the stab wounds in his stomach. As he laid there, bleeding out, the main door burst open, the Royal Guard having breached it with King Nigel in tow! Nigel saw Yurani on the floor, quickly running over to him!
"Yurani! YURANI!" Nigel yelled, crouching down to him. Yurani's skin was drained of all color, the growing pool of blood ceasing. Nigel put his fingers onto his neck, unable to feel a pulse. Shaking his head, Nigel put his hands over Yurani's eyes, closing them.
"Sir, we just received word that another ship is coming! A big one! We need to get out of here!" Nigel's guard explained. Nodding, Nigel slowly got up, not taking his eyes off of Yurani's corpse.
"And Isaac and Sally?" Nigel asked.
"G.U.N. received their distress signal. They're on their way to pick them up and get them into their Witness Protection Program. They'll be safer than they would be here." He answered. Nigel nodded, agreeing with him.
"Good. Grab Yurani. I refuse to let them have access to his corpse!" Nigel ordered, leading them towards the War Room.
Three Hours Later:
"Those are a nice fit, huh?" A G.U.N. agent asked Isaac, commenting on Isaac's new clothes. Isaac was wearing a pair of jeans and a tucked, white button-down shirt. Isaac was wearing a pair of black sneakers, a stark contrast to his elk leather boots. Isaac's quills were trimmed down somewhat, not as long as they previously were.
"They are rather nice… but I'd rather wear my regular clothes." Isaac answered.
"Yeah, but you'd be standing out like a sore thumb in Central City! Now, do you remember your backstory?" The agent asked. Isaac nodded, pulling out his documents.
"My name is Issachar Horowitz. A former G.U.N. agent with Jewish heritage, so as to compliment my religious background. I enlisted when I was eighteen, right after I married my wife, Samantha Horowitz, maiden name Samantha Ross." Isaac began, recalling from memory.
"After Basic Training, I was working as Special Forces for about four years, until one day, when I went to get into the driver's seat of my tactical vehicle, as soon as I turned the ignition, an IED went off under the driver's side of the vehicle." Isaac continued.
"I obviously survived, but due to fragmentation from the explosive and myself becoming concussed from the force of the explosion, I suffered minor brain damage and permanent nerve damage in my left leg. I was medically discharged." Isaac finished.
"Perfect! You really got your backstory straight! Now, I'm going to ask you a few questions. I want you to answer them as Issachar Horowitz. Ready?" He asked. Isaac nodded.
"What is your daughter's name?" He asked.
"Lillian D. Horowitz." Isaac answered.
"When were you born?" He asked.
"June 4th." Isaac answered, keeping his original birthdate.
"When was Lillian born?" He asked.
"April 12th." Isaac answered, keeping Lily's birthday the same as well.
"What is your religious orientation?" He asked.
"Judaism." Isaac answered.
"Religious orientation of your spouse?" He asked.
"Deism." Isaac answered.
"Current occupation?" He asked.
"Unemployed." Isaac answered.
"Alright, I think that's good for now. Now, we're giving you and Sally- Sorry, I mean 'Samantha', a debit card. This card is linked to a bank account, where you two will receive payments every 1st and 15th. The bank statements you receive will be correlated with a fake Law Firm, where your spouse will be reported as employed." The agent explained.
Isaac nodded, stretching out his arms. As he did so, Sally walked out of the next room, wearing a blue suit with a skirt, carrying a briefcase. Her auburn hair was dyed black. Lily was following her, wearing a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt with a pair of white sneakers. She also had a thin, brown jacket on, a purple butterfly embroidered onto the right shoulder. Her quills were brushed down, Isaac unable to see her left eye.
"Well, you two look… different." Isaac commented, unable to think of a better word. Sally put down her briefcase, stretching out her right shoulder.
"I just wish I didn't have to dye my hair. But if that's what it takes for us to remain hidden, then so be it." Sally commented. Lily walked over to Isaac, holding her arms up. Isaac picked her up, hoisting her onto his shoulders.
"Am I the only one who thinks it's going to be strange calling you two 'mom and dad'?" Lily asked.
"No, you won't be the only one." Isaac answered, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with that realization.
"Alright, let's get you three to your new residence. It's going to be a high-end apartment complex near Station Square called 'Shenandoah Residences'. The security deposit and first month's rent has already been paid, as well as it already being furnished. Also, we have an automatic payment set up for the rent for the first of every month and your utilities. As long as you don't drain your account, you'll be fine." The agent explained, leading them towards the exit.
Grabbing Sally's hand, they both walked out, stepping outside of the facility. A private taxi was waiting for them, the driver patiently waiting on them. Lily got off of Isaac's shoulders, opening the door and hopping inside. Isaac held the door for Sally, herself getting in. Isaac followed, shutting the door behind himself.
"Where to, Mac?" The driver asked Isaac.
"Issachar, actually." Isaac corrected.
"Alright, but where to?" He asked again.
"Station Square. Shenandoah Residences." Isaac answered.
"You got it, boss!" The drive exclaimed, putting the car into drive, and going off towards Station Square.