Chapter 41 - Crashing
After the mess with Rjarta, Percy and Sara took a week off. Percy was still planning on saving up his leave for a year on Earth, but this was a necessity. After everything they had witnessed over the last 4 years, they just wanted to have some fun. Percy spent a few hours on their first day off, scouring various stores in Chaos' Realm, looking for something in particular. It was incredibly difficult, but he eventually found it in the 7th store he visited. He was looking for a DVD player.
Sara had never seen any of the movies he had grown up watching. This was natural, seeing as she was an alien, but he really wanted her to see some of them. So, he found the DVD player and a stack of movies from his childhood. He found Wall-E, the Lion King, 101 Dalmatians, Toy Story, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo (his favorite by far), and a few others. There were some live-action movies too, that he loved. He only wanted to show her his favorites. He found The Prestige (Genuinely, if anyone reading this hasn't seen The Prestige, go watch it and thank me later), a few Bond movies, which he thought she would get a real kick out of, and a few contemporary war movies, which Percy imagined she would find interesting.
The rest of the week was spent curled up on Percy's couch, watching them. There was no food available for purchase anywhere on Chaos' Realm, so, unfortunately, popcorn was out of the question. But aside from that, it was perfect. Sara was a good audience. She gasped, and laughed, and scowled, and cursed at the screen whenever anything bad happened.
Her uncontested favorite, was Wall-E. Percy had been slightly surprised by that at first, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. A lone robot on an abandoned wasteland, who meets a beautiful companion and goes on adventures with her. She probably saw it as the story of her life. Percy saw it as the story of his own.
On their last night before returning to Operations, when they had just finished watching Wall-E for the 5th time, Percy looked down and found Sara dozing peacefully, her head against his chest. Before he knew what he was doing, his hand was up, stroking her hair gently. She looked so perfect. Innocent.
It was kind of difficult to reconcile the Sara he had watched kill people with such practiced ease, with the beautiful blonde resting in his arms. And it was twice as difficult when she was reacting to classic Disney and Pixar with a child-like innocence and sense of wonder. Not for the first time, he considered what a paradox she was. It was fascinating to behold.
She blinked her eyes open slowly and smiled up at him gently. Then she stretched like a cat, and he saw her leg shake and her spine curl in pleasure. He chuckled softly, and she just settled back down into his chest with a contented smile.
"You wanna go to bed?" he whispered.
She nodded against his chest and made no move to go anywhere.
With another smile, Percy took careful hold of her and stood slowly. He led them to his bed. He'd invested in a good bed, earlier in the week. After 4 years of sleeping on what was effectively cardboard, he wanted somewhere nice to sleep when he was home.
Home.
Interesting.
Percy pulled the covers back, Sara still clinging to his body like a spider monkey, and climbed in. The sheets were cold, and Sara made a whining sound, her face screwing up adorably. She climbed off of the spot beside him where he had placed her, and onto his chest so she wasn't touching the bed at all anymore. She was flat against him. Percy wasn't about to complain.
He resumed stroking her hair, and she let out a satisfied sigh. They were asleep within moments.
—-
The next day, they got up and Percy made coffee. As he stood in his open kitchen, he turned from the coffee maker and leaned against the counter to watch Sara. She was sitting on his couch, a book propped against her knees. She was idly twirling a lock of her hair around her finger, concentrated on the book she was reading.
Percy found he could have watched her for hours, even when she was doing absolutely nothing. He couldn't help but picture his life with her. Or at least, a version of his life. A version of his life, where this would be a daily occurrence, and not a once-in-a-blue-moon rarity. He'd wake up, and Sara would be on the couch, looking exactly as she did now, doing something painfully mundane. Perhaps a crossword puzzle. And he'd just watch her. Then they'd get up, and go do whatever it was they'd do with their days. Go to work, or whatever normal people did. Then they'd meet up again, and go out to dinner or a movie. He'd fall asleep every night, her being the last thing he'd see for the day. Then he'd open his eyes in the morning, and see her again. Rinse and repeat.
He remembered what his father told him just before he went back to Chaos' Realm. 'Go meet a beautiful woman who makes you dizzy when you look at her, marry her, have children with her, and settle down in the most boring place you can find.'
He had the beautiful woman who made him dizzy. She was right there. So how about the rest of it? The marriage. The children? The boring place where they could be together? Well, that was a work in progress.
Children. Was that something he even wanted? They certainly wouldn't be having kids while they were both still Operational. No way, no how. But what if they retired? They could go to Earth, or find some other planet where no one knew who either of them were, and live. It was possible. But it wasn't. Not really. Percy truly doubted that Sara would ever leave Chaos' Army.
"Hey, Sara?" Percy asked slowly.
She looked up at him with a soft, contented smile.
"Uh, have you ever… I mean… Do you ever think about…-"
A buzzing sound filled the apartment.
Sara immediately rose from her comfortable position on the couch, and he could see the Operator inside her re-emerging.
She walked over to the kitchen island and picked up a small rectangular device. It was basically a pager. Each Spec Ops Operator was given one. That was how they were to be contacted for missions and such. There was a very small screen on it, that could display a few words of a message.
"They need us in HQ in 3 minutes."
Percy sighed quietly. Sara still noticed.
"Oh, sorry, you wanted to ask me something?"
Percy looked up at her and watched her carefully for a few seconds.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Ooook. If you're sure."
She walked to his bedroom and dressed quickly. Percy did the same, and they were standing in the Special Operations Headquarters 3 minutes later.
"Alright, now that you're both here, we can get started. Last week, there was a-"
—-
5 years later
Sara had been acting differently lately. Percy couldn't quite put his finger on it. For the last few days, she'd been avoiding his gaze. She seemed distracted. Something was going on, and whatever it was, Percy didn't like it much.
Sara was basically the only person he had any regular contact with. He saw Pricela and Moril here and there, and it was great when they ran into each other, but it wasn't on any kind of consistent basis. Chaos was incredibly busy, basically all the time. Percy wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but she seemed a little busier lately. He tried not to get excited about that. Maybe her being so busy, meant that the war on Earth was growing closer. He had to remind himself, that that was a bad thing.
But there was nothing exciting about whatever was going on with Sara. He noticed that she hadn't slept in a while. Not since before she'd begun acting so strange. Whatever this was, it was serious. Percy had never known Sara to pass up some shut-eye. Not unless something was truly bothering her.
He wasn't sure what the best approach to take, was. Should he confront her? Demand to know what was going on? That was probably a bad idea. She'd just shut down. Should he give her space, instead? Let her work through whatever was bothering her, in her own time? That probably seemed smarter. But he just wasn't sure about it. What if she mistook his giving her space, as him not caring? Surely, that would just alienate - no pun intended - her further.
Enough was enough, Percy decided one morning as Sara refused to meet his gaze over breakfast. She'd been picking at her food for nearly 10 straight minutes before he spoke up.
"Hey, Sara?"
"Hmm?"
"How long do you think it's been since The Captain got laid?"
She looked up at him, finally meeting his gaze, utterly befuddled.
The Captain was one of the higher-ranking officers in Spec Ops. And just happened to be an asshole.
"I'm sorry… what?"
"I bet it's been a while," Percy said idly.
She blinked.
"I mean. I guess."
Percy nodded, "Mhm, mhm. Well, now that we've got that out of the way, you wanna tell me what you've been hiding the last few days?"
He hadn't exactly meant to put it like that, but oh well.
She looked like a deer in headlights. Percy had never seen her so freaked. She was definitely nervous about something. For a second, she started swelling up with rage, like she was about to explode at him. But then she just deflated, and her head dropped into her hands. She was shaking. Percy didn't know what to do. Comforting crying women? That just wasn't in his repertoire.
He hesitated for a few seconds and then got up and sat next to her, placing a hand on her upper back and stroking softly. Finally, she lifted her head and looked at him. She was clearly exhausted.
"There's something I haven't told you," she said so quietly he almost thought he'd imagined it.
"I kinda figured. What is it?"
She took a deep breath, and then looked away from him, back down at her hands. Percy waited for her to speak. It took her a while. Finally, she breathed deeply and spoke to him without looking up from her hands.
"Do you know what the Dead Men are?"
Percy thought for a few moments. He didn't.
"No."
"They're a unit within Spec Ops. A 6-person team. Top secret stuff. They were formed tens of thousands of years ago, during one of the worst conflicts Chaos' Army has ever been part of. The Top Brass gathered every single Spec Ops Operator together and explained a mission they needed doing. It was basically a suicide mission. The expectation was, that no one would come back from it. 6 men raised their hands. Everyone else started calling them the Dead Men behind their backs. The 6 of them went, accomplished their mission, fought like hell, and made it back alive. A few injuries, but not a single fatality. People couldn't believe it. Started calling them the Dead Men to their faces. They became recognized as an official unit, or at least, as official as it can get with a top-secret Spec Ops unit."
(If you know where the Dead Men come from, you're a legend)
Percy figured that made enough sense. He didn't see what it had to do with anything, but fair enough.
"Well… they've been operational ever since, as that same team. A few hundred years after their first mission, one of them died on a job. They spent some time figuring out what to do about it. In the end, they decided to hold tryouts and bring on someone new, so they'd remain a team of 6. That's been the protocol ever since."
Percy nodded, now starting to figure out where she was going with this. There was a long pause before Sara finished her explanation.
"One of their Operators just died a few weeks ago on a job. It's the first time that's happened in nearly a thousand years. And because of my reputation, they offered me his job outright. I have until tomorrow afternoon to let them know if I want it. If I take it, then I'll have to leave. They don't live in Chaos' Realm. No one really knows where they're based."
Percy felt cold inside, but he didn't want to let it show. She wanted this, didn't she? So, the right thing to do, would be to encourage her to pursue this, right? That certainly sounded right. So why did it feel so wrong? Why did he want to get on his knees and beg her to stay with him? That was bad. That was really bad. That was what he wanted.
"Well, that sounds great. Congratulations," he said in a weird strangled voice he didn't even recognise.
"Percy-"
"I mean, I know this is what you'd want. You're a very career-driven person. That's great. I'm really happy for you."
"Percy," she sobbed.
Sobbed?
He looked over at her and found she was crying. Actually crying. She was looking at him pleadingly. Like he was saying something horrible and she was begging him to stop and see reason.
It completely threw him off. He had never seen her like this.
"It's not fair," she sobbed.
Percy felt tears stinging his own eyes. No, it wasn't fair. Nothing about this was fair.
"I know," he said in a would-be strong voice.
He pulled her into a gentle hug, and she cried into his chest.
Percy stroked her hair and tried desperately not to cry onto the top of her head. She kept muttering 'It's not fair, it's not fair, it's so not fair' into his chest. It wasn't fair.
After some amount of time none of them could recognize, they pulled away and Sara looked up into his eyes. He got the strange feeling that the next words out of her mouth could determine the rest of his life.
"Tell me to stay, and I will. Just say the words. Say the words, and I'll stay with you."
His mouth opened before he knew what was going on. The words were right there on his lips. She'd said it herself, he just had to tell her to stay, and that would be that. Then they could continue dating. They'd have more mornings like that extraordinarily mundane one just after Rjarta. They'd go out for dinner, and wake up together, and they'd be happy. That was what mattered, right? Happiness? Work was important, but that was all it was. It was just a fucking job.
But it wasn't just a fucking job to Sara. This was the only life she had ever known. And this was what she'd been working towards ever since joining Spec Ops. This would be the crowning achievement of her life. How would he feel, if he took that away from her? How would she feel?
Percy pictured that mundane morning. Sara sitting on the couch, knees drawn up, reading a book. Then he imagined a glazed look in her eye. Like she was physically present but mentally, she was somewhere else entirely. He imagined calling out to her and saw her turn towards him with a hint of resentment in her eyes.
The man who killed her dreams.
He pictured the divide widening with every passing year until they couldn't stand to be around each other anymore. She'd walk out on him, or he'd walk out on her. She'd wait for potentially another thousand years, and then accept the job when they inevitably offered it again. He'd lose her anyway. He already had.
"You have to do it."
He could hardly believe that he had just said those words. Surely, he had lost his fucking mind. He was an idiot.
"Are you sure? I mean,-"
He cut her off.
"I'm sure. We both know that this is the most important thing to you. More important than me. And that's ok!" he added hastily when he saw her eyes widen in offense, "It's fine. I understand. Just tell me that you wouldn't hate me if I told you not to go and pursue the greatest ambition of your life."
She stared at him for a few minutes, and Percy could tell she was running through all the same scenarios he had just gone over in his head.
Eventually, she just looked back down at her hands.
"It's not fucking fair. I've been alive for 3 thousand years, and all I've had in that entire time is my career. Now I finally have you, and my career comes fucking knocking. Why couldn't they have offered me this 200 years ago, before I even knew you? Why couldn't they have just fucking offered it to someone else?"
He resumed stroking her back.
"I know. But hey, maybe I'll be offered a position the next time one becomes available. We'll see each other again then. And maybe we'll finally get it right."
Sara sniffed, "Percy, most Spec Ops Operators live for hundreds if not thousands of years, never knowing that the Dead Men even exist. I only know about it because Chaos told me."
"Well, I'm not most Spec Ops Operators, am I?"
"No, you're not."
The next morning, Percy went with Sara to the airport in Chaos' Realm, where she'd start to make her way to wherever she'd meet the Dead Men. She was crying into his shoulder, openly. He was crying too, just as unashamedly. This was after an entire day and night of going back and forth, arguing over whether she should stay or go, and crying more than either of them had in their entire lives up until that point.
Chaos was there to meet them, but she didn't say anything. Not at first. Percy and Sara sat down to wait for her dropship, and held each other, trying to memorise the feel of the other person in their embrace.
"We have the worst fucking luck," he said softly to her.
She nodded into his chest and kept crying.
Finally, the dropship came. Sara stared at it like it had done something unforgivable to her personally. All he had to do, was say the words. It wasn't too late. He could keep her right here with him. But they had made their decision, and it was the right one. They both hated it, but it was the right one. It had to be.
They all stood up, and Sara hugged Percy tight for almost a full minute. Then she disentangled herself, wiped her eyes as though it would make much of a difference, and stepped away to hug Chaos, who patted her on the back comfortingly.
They pulled away after a spell. Sara was about to board, when she dropped her bag and flung herself at Percy again. He held her as tight as possible, and she kissed him fiercely.
"I love you. I love you so much," she told him as soon as they pulled apart.
"I love you too."
She picked up her bag, walked to the dropship, and climbed aboard. She looked back at him for a second before the doors closed, and he could see fresh tears welling in her eyes. There were more tears in his own.
The dropship took off, and Percy watched it until it was out of sight. Then he collapsed back onto his seat and stared at the floor. A moment later, he sensed Chaos sit down beside him. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and he let himself get pulled into her embrace.
—-
Percy went back to work the very next day, which was generally advised against by anyone and everyone he spoke to. Chaos had come very close to banning him from HQ, but he'd talked her out of it. He needed a distraction. Something - anything - to focus on. He'd take any job offered to him and just hope there would be violence involved. He had a strong sense that hitting something viciously, would cure all his problems.
And hit things, he did. His first mission, was to dismantle an organized crime network. 2 weeks and nearly 80 lives later, it was no more. Then, a terrorist group. 4 weeks. 800 lives. Finished. And then it went on and on and on.
31 years later, Percy celebrated 49 years as an active Spec Ops Operator. He had long since stopped counting how many people he'd killed, or indeed how many operations he'd been on. Some of them were kind of fun. Like when he was attached to an Infantry platoon, in a more conventional war effort. He'd enjoyed that. Some of them were less fun. Once, he'd spent 5 days hiding in a bush, without moving a single muscle, deep in hostile territory, just waiting for his target to appear. That had been total misery.
As a result of the constant Operations, Percy was starting to pick up a reputation of his own. He'd had something when he'd been attached to Sara. But that was mainly just piggybacking off of her success. But now, his own jobs were catching attention. It infuriated him a little. There was something comforting about anonymity. The idea that he could go from place to place, without ever really being seen or remembered at all, was like a warm blanket. The very notion of people pointing at him and muttering as he walked by, was enough to set his teeth on edge.
Percy had an appointment with Chaos one morning, so he made his way over to the Training Center and checked in on Hazel on his way. He'd specifically arrived nearly 20 minutes early so that he could take her out for a cup of coffee and catch up before his meeting. She was 187 years into Basic - he was counting - and by all accounts, she'd be going to Selection once she graduated. Her Instructors had nothing bad to say about her, which was about as good as it got in Basic.
He found her in Tradecraft. The last time he'd pulled her out of a class, an Instructor had almost hit him. Not this time. Her Instructor turned to Percy the moment he opened the door, and then stared for a second.
"Uh, Jackson, what do you need?"
Percy had never seen this guy before in his life. So, having a reputation did have some perks.
"I need Lavesque."
"Um, of course."
Hazel, not looking nearly as shocked as Percy had expected, simply got up, collected her things, and joined him.
"Coffee?" he asked once the class door was closed.
"Sure."
So, they made their way down to Percy's favorite cafe, ordered their drinks, and sat down.
"So, how's my cousin, the legend, doing?" Hazel asked with a smirk.
Percy raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
She laughed, "Seriously, Percy? Everyone knows who you are. After that business in Victo, no one in my class could talk about anything else for months."
Victo, had been a major operation a few years prior. A former Spec Ops Operator who had left Chaos' Army and sold his services to the highest bidder. Percy had spent an entire month tracking him, hunting him across entire galaxies before catching up to him on Victo.
Percy landed on Victo, a rather beautiful planet full of slick, high-rise buildings made from glass. This was where the wealthy and the powerful lived. Percy could see the appeal. It was his style. But more importantly, it was his target's target's style. The Spec Ops Operator turned hitman for hire, a man called Ghilp, was in town to assassinate his client's political rival.
Ghilp was a sniper, much like Percy, which made things decidedly easier. All Percy had to do, was figure out how he'd runthe operation. He spent his first day in town, learning the political rival's schedule. Where he would be, at any given time. Then he started running scenarios. The easiest, would be to set up on a rooftop 8 Kilometers away. It had a clean line of sight, and it wouldn't be searched by the politician's advance team, because it was way out of range for any sniper they had ever encountered.
Percy set up in the building and lay in wait for 4 hours before Ghilp showed up. Percy watched him begin to set up his sniper's hide. It wouldn't be a good idea to attack him now. He was still highly focused on his surroundings. Percy wasn't sure he'd be able to take him head-on. So, he'd wait until he dialed in on his target, and let the world fade away around him. Then, and only then, would Percy emerge from his hiding place and stab Ghilp in the back. Ghilp might sense a gun and dodge out of the way before Percy's bullet found its mark. He'd definitely sense Percy using shadows to his advantage. So, a knife.
Ghilp was 5 hours early to his target, which would allow him plenty of time to arrange himself for the shot. He was a good sniper, but not the best. An 8-kilometer kill shot, would be difficult. He'd need the time to dial in. That was what Percy was counting on.
Finally, the target arrived, and Percy emerged from the rafters up above, where he'd been hiding. As Ghilp turned off the world around him, Percy slipped down to the ground without making the slightest sound. Ghilp did not turn around. Percy took a slow, silent step towards him. No reaction. One more step. Nothing.
He took another step. This time, Ghilp moved his eye away from his scope and looked mildly puzzled.
Percy froze, keeping absolutely still, not even breathing.
'Just focus on the job, asshole,' Percy thought, annoyed.
But Ghilp, the asshole, did not just focus on the job. He looked over his shoulder and saw Percy standing right there behind him, with a knife.
There was a fraction of a second.
Then Ghilp spun away from his rifle, and his hand moved for a handgun tucked into his pants, with lightning speed. Percy dove at him and tackled him to the ground. The gun, having just been dislodged from Ghilp's waistband, went scittering away. Percy went in for a punch, but Ghilp caught it, and pulled on the arm roughly, sending Percy downwards towards him, and then slammed his forehead upwards in a brutal headbutt that broke Percy's nose instantly.
Caught in a moment of stunned pain, Percy's grip loosened, and Ghilp rolled out of his grasp, diving for the handgun on the floor a few feet away. Percy sent a small wave of shadows, all he could conjure in the split second he had to focus, directly at the gun, and sent it crashing out the window.
Ghilp spun to look at Percy, just as Percy dashed towards him, knife high in an ice pick grip, preparing to stab downwards into his cranium. Ghilp caught Percy on the forearm, and they struggled for a second. Then Ghilp switched tactics, leaning away and pulling Percy's arm instead of pushing it away. Percy stumbled forward a step, and then Ghilp was behind him, trying to get his throat in the crook of his elbow. Just before he could catch him and begin to tighten his arm in a chokehold, Percy used his shapeshifting powers to make himself 4 inches shorter, so Ghilp was trying to strangle his forehead instead of his throat.
It took Ghilp a second to realize what had just happened, and Percy spent that second wisely. He martialed his focus and sent a blast of shadows coming straight at himself, and dropped to the ground just before they would have impacted him. The shadows hit Ghilp full in the face, and sent him sprawling across the room. Percy jumped to his feet, eager to capitalize on his advantage.
He sent a sharp spear of shadows straight at Ghilp, aiming for the throat, but Ghilp, already back on his feet, raised a hand, palm outwards, and a wall of shadows appeared between himself and the spear. The spear hit the wall and bounced too far off course to be effective, so Percy let it dissipate and sent several more spears at the wall as he charged toward it.
The wall held, and not a single sliver of darkness penetrated it. With one last spear thrown its way, Percy leaped over it, landing almost on Ghilp, who was forced to throw himself to the left to avoid Percy's massive form.
Ghilp recovered with a roll, and sent a wild kick at Percy's face, as he'd been charging towards him. The kick hit hard, further damaging Percy's already-broken nose, and dislodging a few teeth. Percy was sent crashing to the ground, and the Ghilp was on top of him, raining down punches. Percy took them, feeling each one jar his brain, but collecting his focus. After the 7th heavy blow, Percy managed to slip a thin dagger of shadows, into Ghilp's stomach, piercing the abdominal aorta. Ghilp's hands stilled suddenly, and he looked down at his own stomach in pure shock.
He grunted in surprise, and his eyes found Percy's. The two Operators, one former, one active, stared at each other for a few seconds, both of them knowing what would happen in the next few moments.
Percy shoved Ghilp off of him, and lay there for a few seconds, collecting himself. Then he stood, and walked over to the sniper rifle where it was perched on a few boxes by a window. Percy removed the scope and walked over to the prone form of Ghilp. He pressed the barrel of the massive gun directly to Ghilp's forehead, paused for a second, and then pulled the trigger.
A contact shot from a weapon designed to shatter bones from dozens of Kilometers, is not a pretty sight. Ghilp's head exploded like a watermelon thrown from a penthouse. If not for the hasty shadow shield Percy had erected, he would have been covered in the former Operator's brain matter.
Percy left the body there, after going through all the pockets, checking for any sensitive information. Someone would find it eventually. He took the sniper though. That was Chaos' tech; not to be allowed in the hands of anyone not in her Army. His dropship picked him up a few hours later. As it took him to the mothership hovering out of orbit, Percy took out his communicator.
"It's done."
"Good. The body?"
"At the scene. No sensitive material on it."
"His weapon?"
"I've got one Spec Ops issue sniper rifle. I was told that was the only Army weapon he still had."
"And so it was. Good work. You can leave it on the mothership, we'll take care of it. Now, you're needed on Bijon. Get there ASAP."
"Well, I suppose that was something to talk about," Percy told Hazel as he dragged himself out of his memories.
"Believe me, it was. I think a few of the girls in my class are going to try to mind-control you into falling in love with them."
"How did they get my name?" Percy asked, ignoring the mind-control comment.
Hazel shrugged, "Someone in your command must have let it slip. Probably to talk about how impressive it was that a human had done it."
Percy frowned at that.
There was still a fair amount of anti-human sentiment in Chaos' Army; especially from those who came from races with incredible powers. Humans were generally seen as lesser. So, trying to give them some street cred by namedropping Percy, was a conceivable notion, no matter how much he personally disliked it.
"Anyway, what brought you by today?"
"Meeting with Chaos. Don't know what it's about, but I'm due with her in 10 minutes. How's training going?"
"It's fine. Pretty interesting to be the first human to though it since Percy Jackson. Like there's some kind of expectation for me to either be really terrible, or really great, and prove or disprove the stereotype."
"Well, I hear you're giving humans a good name. You're shortlisted for Spec Ops Selection right out of Basic?"
She blinked and sat up straighter.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Did you… I mean… did you have anything to do with that?"
Percy raised an eyebrow, "What, like threaten your Instructors? No, I didn't. You got it on merit. Or rather, you will get it on merit."
Hazel seemed to glow with excitement.
It was no secret to Percy that Hazel wanted to follow in his footsteps. He knew that the news she was on the same track as him, would excite her tremendously.
"And you still can't tell me anything about what to expect at Selection?"
Now, he smiled softly, "You know I can't. It's for the best that you don't know."
Hael grumbled a little, but she did it with a soft smile on her face that told him exactly how serious she was.
They chatted idly for a few more minutes before Percy had to get going. He walked Hazel back to her Tradecraft class and then took the elevator to the top floor to meet with Chaos. He sensed a presence in the room with her, so he knocked on the door respectfully instead of just strolling in as he normally would have.
"Enter," came the unusually official voice of Chaos.
So, whoever was in there was clearly someone who valued propriety. Probably an Army Branch officer.
Percy walked in, and his suspicions were immediately confirmed.
The man in there was dressed head-to-foot in black. He had an insignia of a skull with a rifle's barrel going through one of the eyes. That was the insignia of Army Branch. Each Branch had its own, and they were all reasonably similar. The Assassin Branch had the same emblem, except it had a knife going through one of the skull's eyesockets, instead of a rifle. Spy Branch had a skull with a larger-than-normal grin, and a top hat resting at an angle, obscuring one of the eye sockets. And so on it went, each insignia representing the personality of its Branch fairly well. Except for Spec Ops, who did not have an insignia of their own, but instead borrowed from others if it became necessary.
The man in the room also had two silver spirals on each of his shoulder patches, which denoted his rank as a Major General; the third highest rank in the Army. Fourth highest, if you counted Chaos herself. Percy liked the spirals. They were a nice design, and symbolised Chaos herself. Vast, all-consuming, ever-changing.
He was standing ramrod-straight, chin high in the air, dark brown hair perfectly tidy on his head, not one iota of facial hair, and boots gleaming so intensely that he could use them as a mirror. He looked old. He was, of course, but most members of Chaos' Army he had seen were older than some deities on Earth, and they still looked like they were in their 20s or 30s. And this guy did too, in a sense. At a glance, Percy would have thought he was 30 years old. But he obviously wasn't, upon further observation. There was an air of weariness about him, that told Percy he'd been alive for a very long time. And the eyes told all. He had seen some shit.
Percy, an exercise in contrast, was wearing a dark grey hoodie, and jeans. He hadn't exactly dressed to impress. In fairness to him, Chaos had expressly told him not to wear a uniform of any kind. But the General didn't know that.
"Ah, Bandun, you're here. Good, we can begin."
Percy raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
The General looked over at Percy over his shoulder and scowled. Percy scowled too. This was the kind of man who hadn't been in any kind of fight in millennia, and still thought he was capable of sending young, eager Infantry soldiers into a battle where there was a good chance they'd lose their lives. And he still thought he was the most important person in any given room. Maybe not this room, as Chaos was sitting right there behind her desk, but most rooms.
When Percy didn't immediately snap to attention at the sight of the spirals on his shoulders, and fire off some kind of salute/bow, the General's scowl deepened, and he turned back to Chaos.
"An assassin, my lady? Are you certain that's the wisest course of action?"
Percy smiled coldly. So, this guy thought he was an assassin? Interesting.
"Oh, I'm quite sure, General. Bandun, here, is a very talented individual. I'm sure if you bring him up to speed on the current situation, then he'll be able to help you immensely."
The General did not look happy about that. If anyone but Chaos had said that, he probably would have thrown them out of the room. Or rather, he'd have had someone else throw them out of the room for him.
"What's the job?" Percy asked lazily.
The General scowled yet again.
"We need someone killed," he said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, no shit, I'm an assassin. That's all anyone really asks me to do around here" Percy said sarcastically, "Not that I'm complaining, of course," he added to Chaos.
The General turned bright red, and Percy held his gaze evenly.
"Bandun, we're having a slight… um… development, on one of our planets. An issue with the war effort on Lomik."
Percy had heard of Lomik, and the war going on over there. It had started out as a perfectly ordinary war between two countries. Then, Chaos' Army had stepped in to help one side. No one expected the war to last longer than a month after that. 3 years later, it was worse than ever. The other side seemed to be getting some kind of support, though no one knew from whom. That single planet was tying up something ridiculous like 5% of Chaos' Army's members, which didn't seem like many to Percy until he remembered that there were billions of members in Chaos' Army.
"Go on," he said slowly, his interest peaked.
"You've heard of the situation down there?"
"Local rebels getting support from an unknown benefactor, right?"
"Exactly. Well, General Gilln, here, is personally leading the war effort against them, while also trying to find out who this mysterious benefactor is. Now, we believe we have a lead."
"And it's only taken 3 years of war? Well, fuck me, I'm impressed."
The General, Gilln, went even redder. Percy could tell that Chaos was biting back a smile.
"We have good intelligence that the rebel leader will be meeting his benefactor, or at least the benefactor's proxy, in 5 days. We even have the location of their meet."
"How?"
"That's classif-" the General began before Chaos cut him off.
"A well-placed Spy in the rebel network.
Percy raised an eyebrow.
"Well, shit. Ok. You want a clean kill, or shall I send a message?"
Chaos shook her head, "Neither. You'll be with a team. Together, you'll surveil the meeting, and identify and track the proxy. We want the head of the snake, not a piece of tail."
"What do you mean, I'll be with a team? I'm a solo artist; you know that."
"Not for this. It's going to be a big job. You'll be 7 people in total. You can get to know the rest of them on the way. Yourself, one other Assassin, two Enforcers, and three Spies. Once you're on Lomik, you can request some extra manpower from the Infantry stationed there; I'm sure they'd be more than happy to give you whatever you need. Your official designation is Task Force Gothic Serpent."
She said the last part with a pointed look at the General. Clearly, this was an order.
"Alright. Who's leading this thing?"
"You are."
Percy blinked at her. Then blinked again.
If he was heading up an inter-branch unit after just less than 50 years of Operational experience, then he must have been doing something right. Typically, the earliest anyone could hope for a TL - Team Leader - position, was 300 years.
The fact that Chaos was trusting him with his own team; a team made up of members from three different branches, and on a planet as important as Lomik, said a lot about what she thought of him.
Despite his best efforts, he felt himself straighten his posture slightly.
"And when do we leave?" he asked, careful not to give away how honored he was, in front of the General.
"Immediately, I'm afraid. You'll get the full briefing on the way, and you'll have to get started as soon as you land on Lomik. You'll have a very busy few weeks, so if there's anything you need to straighten out before you leave, I'd recommend you do it now."
"There's nothing."
With a mocking smile at the General and a serious nod to Chaos, Percy left her office and made his way down to his apartment.
There wasn't much for him to pack. Percy shoved a few sets of BattleDress Uniforms - BDUs - into a backpack, and then went down to the Airport to catch a transport.
The moment Pery arrived at the Airport, he spotted them. His new team. They were tough to miss. Most obvious, were the two Enforcers. They were playing some kind of game together, that involved slapping each other on the wrist very quickly, and laughing loudly when they hit the other. Then there was the lone Assassin in the room, standing in the shadows in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes sharp. The three Spies weren't sitting together, but they were near each other. One of them was male, and the other two were female. Each of them looked like they'd been designed from the ground up to be as forgettable as possible. They were sitting quietly, staring into space, apparently bored.
The Assassin caught sight of Percy first and melted off the wall to stand in front of him. The Spies noticed, saw the reason behind the Assassin's movement, and then joined him. The two Enforcers finally looked up from their game, saw their temporary TL standing there watching them, and hastily stood up and joined the others with sheepish looks on their faces.
"Sir," one of the Enforcers said in greeting, nodding respectfully.
"Fuck that shit. Just call me Jackson."
"Jackson?" one of the female spies asked, "As in, Percy Jackson?"
"Yeah, that's me. How'd you know?"
"Shit, sir, everyone knows you. After what happened on Victo, you're a household name. I didn't know we'd be working with Spec Ops."
"Officially speaking, you don't. As far as anyone else is concerned, especially the Infantry we'll be running into in the AO (Area of Operations), I'm an Assassin named Bandun. And don't call me sir," he added as an afterthought.
"Uh, right, of course, si- I mean, Jackson."
Percy sighed inwardly.
"Have you guys been briefed?"
A collective head-shake indicated that they hadn't.
"Alright. We'll be fully briefed on the way. What I know at the moment, is that there's been a development on Lomik. A high-ranking officer of the enemy forces will be meeting their benefactor, or the benefactor's proxy, in five days. Mission objective is to observe the meet, then track and trace the benefactor or the proxy. I don't have confirmation of this, but I'm pretty sure that we'll be tasked with exterminating whoever's at the top of this thing, so be ready for that. We have assistance from the local Infantry if we request it, but I've met the General in charge of them, and I'd rather not ask him for help, so let's try and get this done quietly."
"So, an Assassin to help you fix the guy if we get the order, and two Enforcer types to help out if we need them. But what are the three spooks doing here?" the Assassin asked, casting a distasteful look at the three Spies.
The Spies bristled, but Percy was the one to answer.
"They're here for surveillance, and seeing as that'll be around 90% of the job, their role here is pretty damn important. Treat them as such."
The Assassin looked annoyed but said nothing.
A dropship came in, and Percy led the other six aboard. The ride to the mothership went by in total silence. Once they were on the mothership, Percy led them to a private room, where a senior Infantry officer met them, and handled the briefing.
A Colonel in the People's Army for Free Lomik, or PAFL, named Riak, was going to be having a meeting in one of the remote locations on the planet. Percy and the others would conduct their own surveillance of the terrain, but the reports indicated that it was so hostile, the Infantry couldn't even move there. Riak would be making contact with someone Chaos' Spy assumed had to be the benefactor's underling, due to the lengths he was going to in an effort to keep the meeting covert. Task Force Gothic Serpent would watch the meeting, and catch photos of the contact's face so that HQ could try and figure out who they were.
After the meeting, someone from the Task Force would eliminate the PAFL Colonel, while everyone else followed the contact. They'd dig themselves in for long-term surveillance, listen in to his phone calls, and follow him wherever he went until he led them to the next person. Rinse and repeat until they got to the top.
The briefing was concluded, and Percy led his team to their barracks, where they got some sleep for the rest of the journey.
—-
They arrived at their destination, made the familiar switch from mothership to dropship, and landed on the planet.
Lomik was far from the most beautiful planet Percy had ever seen. It kind of reminded Percy of Kennegmagogia. A barren wasteland that felt neverending, and quite possibly was. He could already tell that the dust was going to be a problem. The problem with dust, was that it got everywhere. Constantly. Nothing was sacred; nothing was safe. Inside your boots? Dust. The barrel of your gun? Dust. The sheets on your bed? Dust. Inside your fucking pillowcases? Dust. It had been serious on Kennegmagogia, and it was serious on Lomik too, it seemed.
The second problem Percy noticed, was the heat. Chaos' Corp of Engineers had tarmacked the Infantry base. That was, of course, a very smart move. Now, the Infantry could walk around without swimming in sand and mud. It was just logical. But the problem with the black tarmac was that it seemed to latch onto the heat and reflect it back at whoever was unlucky enough to be within several miles of it. So, they were being attacked from below, even as the sun bore down on them from above. They were being cooked from both sides. Not fun.
If not for some supreme self-control, Percy would have been sweating already. He had full mastery over his own body, and he exercised that control regularly. Sweating was a nonverbal tell, that someone might be able to interpret as stress or unease. So, Percy simply wouldn't sweat.
The rest of the Task Force followed him to the TOC, where they were greeted by all the appropriate people. The ones they'd be working with, in the weeks to come. Then there were certain logistics to figure out.
A Chaos' Army Infantry Base, was a strictly regulated place. There was no 'Ah, just sleep wherever'. Everyone was assigned a bunk. Nor could you carry your own weapons whenever and however you pleased. You had to sign weapons in and out, every time you arrived at, or left, the base. The mess hall was open at certain times. If you missed it, tough shit. The showers were only available at certain times too. But you'd rearrange your sleep schedule to avoid missing one of those. No one wanted to be the asshole who stunk up a base. And considering the blistering heat, it was no mean feat to stink up a base.
Percy and the Task Force spent most of their first day on Lomik figuring out the mechanics of living on the base, which Percy found exceptionally frustrating. The moment the Colonel met his contact, they'd be leaving the base so that they could keep tabs on him anyway. So, everything they were learning and figuring out, was going to be put to waste in just four days.
Their second day on Lomik, was far more productive. Percy made about a hundred inquiries about the assets available to them. He wanted to know the status of everything from pistols and knives, down to gunships and jet fighters. There was always the possibility that this was all a trap and the moment the Task Force set up to observe the meeting, a few thousand PAFL troops would swoop down on them. He wanted to know that there were birds in the sky capable of raining down hell, should he request them.
After that, he and the Task Force loaded up in a jeep, and one of the Spies drove them to within 150 miles of the meeting place. Percy was unwilling to drive any closer than that. They'd go the rest of the way on foot.
That turned out to be a very bad idea. The only people Percy had ever worked with in the field like that, were Sara, Pricela, and Moril, all of whom had been through Selection and OTC, and none of whom would so much as blink at 150 miles on foot. The three Spies, two Enforcers, and Assassin had never been through anything like that, let alone pass it all.
The 150-mile walk, under normal gravity, and with virtually no weight on their backs, proved almost too much for the six of them. Percy was vaguely astounded. What would these people be like in the field? He supposed there was nothing in any of their job descriptions that would mandate covering distances like this, and Percy couldn't see anything like this arising again during this Operation, but still. He was distinctly unsettled.
But eventually, they reached their destination, the rest of his team panting and sweating and clutching stitches, while Percy was breathing easily. They weren't at the shack itself of course. They were on a cliff face around four miles away. Between the elevated position, their enhanced senses, and all the technology Chaos had made available to them, they'd have no problem watching the meeting. Listening to it might prove a slight problem, but Percy could read lips reasonably well, and he was sure the Assassin would be able to as well. Maybe one or two of the Spies as well. They'd have it covered.
Percy measured temperature and windspeeds. He took samples of the terrain and held a color chart next to the various textures that were in the area. He was planning their camouflage patterns. He'd want them all to blend in with the environment as well as possible.
They stayed there for 3 hours before Percy decided he had what he needed, and they could all go back to base. The other six did not look excited about walking all the way back, so Percy decided they could shadow travel back to where they'd hid the truck.
He spent the rest of the day talking to experts, and figuring out where exactly the sun would be at the time of day when the meeting would take place. He wanted to know everything down to the tiniest detail.
The next day passed without great incident. Percy went over all the reports again and confirmed that everything was conforming to the expected standards. Then, he briefed his team. He told them to enjoy their day because they'd be moving into position tomorrow, and staying there until they had witnessed the meeting. And they wouldn't be returning back to base after that.
The day went by quietly. Percy took some of the rifles down to the on-base shooting range and made sure they were working properly. He didn't like the idea of fielding weapons he hadn't personally verified. And he couldn't use anything out of his private collection, issued to him by his Spec Ops command, because of various regulations.
Finally, it was go time. Percy and the rest of the Task Force shadow travelled directly to the observation point Percy had outlined, and settled themselves in for a long wait. It was during that wait, that Percy really saw the difference between himself and the rest of them. They were talking quietly among themselves, eating, drinking, napping, and virtually anything else they could think of. Percy lay on his stomach, staring at the shack where the meeting would take place, hardly blinking, barely even breathing.
Something years of Spec Ops work, plenty of which he served as a sniper, had taught him the value of remaining absolutely still. Not one muscle would be allowed to move. The mind would not be allowed to wander; not even for a second. His muscles would shut down as if going to sleep, so he would be physically well-rested when the action started. His mind would do the same thing, keeping itself alert enough only to notice when something changed. That way, he would be mentally well-rested too.
They were there for just under 40 hours. In that time, Percy moved precisely once, to take a long swig of water from his canteen. Aside from that, he remained as still as a living being was capable of being.
But then it finally happened. The PAFL Colonel appeared, getting out of a big jeep, flanked by no less than 5 bodyguards. He was a little earlier than Percy had expected. He had probably wanted to arrive before his contact. That was what Percy would want to do.
But to everyone's amazement, including the Colonel's, the door to the shack swung open before him, and a man inside greeted him.
Percy's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
'What. The. Fuck!?'
How was this possible? Percy had not looked at anything other than that shack for 40 hours. There was no possible way anyone could have been in there the entire time without him noticing. And there was certainly no chance that someone had arrived without him seeing them. That simply wasn't a possibility.
"How the fuck?" one of the Enforcers muttered, obviously bewildered.
That was enough to snap Percy back into his professionalism.
"We'll figure it out later. For now, we need to get what we came here for."
One of the Spies immediately started snapping pictures with the camera he had brought. Percy had to fight the urge to snatch the camera out of his hands, and take the pictures himself. He genuinely didn't know if he could trust the rest of his Task Force with such a simple task. They certainly hadn't proved themselves capable.
But he resisted the urge.
Percy tried to hear anything going on inside the shack, but it was too far away. He could see inside well enough though. And even though he could see the Colonel quite clearly, the contact mostly remained in blind spots; only walking past a window sporadically, and very quickly.
This was either blind luck, or some serious tradecraft training.
The meeting lasted half an hour. Once it was over, the contact opened the door and walked out. Percy watched him eagerly, and sensed the Spy with the camera taking photos at a much quicker pace. Percy wanted to see how he'd leave. He hadn't arrived in a car, or anything like that. Or had he? No, Percy was pretty sure he'd have noticed a damn car. So, how would he do it?
To Percy's fascination, he just kept walking. He went up and over all the rough terrain, and climbed his way out to Percy and the Task Force's right side. Percy had to think quickly.
"Alright, here's the play. You guys go kill the Colonel and his guards. I'll follow the contact on foot and see where he goes. It won't be nearly as stealthy if we're all following him on foot. I'll establish communication once he reaches a destination."
And with that, Percy climbed to his feet and started off in the same direction as the contact.
The rest of his team shadow traveled down to the shack and disposed of their targets. Percy didn't hear a single noise as he followed the contact. They had done their job fairly well. Percy started wondering exactly how this was going to work. How was he going to follow a man, on foot, through what basically amounted to a desert, without being seen? If the contact's tradecraft had been good enough to avoid the windows' line of sight in the shack, then surely he'd notice the only other living being within a hundred miles of him.
But Percy Jackson, was Percy fucking Jackson.
First, he used his shapeshifting powers to make himself as small as he could go. At 6'4 and 250 pounds, this wasn't exactly small, but it was a little bit better at least. Next, he pulled the shadows into him, and let them wrap around his skin like a bodysuit. It was starting to get dark, which gave him a huge advantage.
As long as he stayed as far back as he could, while keeping the contact just barely within his senses, then he'd be able to follow him right back to his hidey hole.
So, that's what he did. He kept as low to the ground as he could, while matching the contact's pace from nearly a mile behind. They carried on like that, for 100 miles, which Percy found noteworthy. His own Task Force had been winded by the time they'd been walking for 100 miles just a few days prior. Then they'd been on their asses by the time they'd done the rest. But this guy, the contact, seemed absolutely fine. Percy couldn't detect any heavy breathing, or a single bead of sweat. Whoever this was, he was not any kind of regular man.
At the end of the 100-mile walk - or crawl, in Percy's case - the contact got into a truck that he must have hidden before making his way to the shack. This, was where Percy could follow him no longer. No way in hell was he going to remain hidden while sprinting after a truck. He could probably keep up with the damn thing after all the running he'd done on Perstompa during Selection and OTC, but he wouldn't remain unnoticed for long.
But he had enough to go on. He'd heard the man's heartbeat. Each and every person's heartbeat was unique to them. Percy also had the car. It was a serious jeep, like everyone else on Lomik seemed to drive. But this one seemed especially powerful. A big engine; probably a V8. And there was a number plate on it, which Percy had memorized.
Percy carried on crawling in the same direction as the car for a few miles before he was sure he was well out of the contact's range. No way he'd be seen now, he got up and started walking casually in the same direction. Percy had realized a while back that he actually quite enjoyed walking. Nothing but himself and his thoughts. Nothing to distract him. It was quite soothing. Of course, he was walking across sand dunes in the middle of the night in a desert, which got so cold that the sand beneath his feet seemed to be frozen. Not exactly ideal walking conditions, but hardly the worst he had seen.
After a few hours of walking, Percy arrived at the first big city on his way. He ignored it completely, and carried on right through it. No man who walked 100 miles from his car to his destination and then back again, with the tradecraft skills to avoid possible angles from windows, arranged a meeting in an isolated location where the closest thing resembling civilization was his own home. And the contact had definitely been the one to arrange the meeting. No way the Colonel, who Percy go the impression had spent the entire meeting bowing and scraping before his magnanimous benefactor's proxy, had deigned to set the meeting himself.
So, he carried on for another few hours and came across another city. This one was more likely. Percy spent an hour there, walking the streets, listening carefully. He heard a few engines that sounded like the contact's, but none of them turned out to be him. Nor did he hear the heartbeat he was listening for. Percy moved on again.
6 hours later, Percy walked into another city that looked promising. This one turned up the goods. Percy heard the heartbeat coming from a local grocery store. He ducked into an alley and shapeshifted, just in case, before heading inside to check him out. He needed to know for sure.
Percy walked in, and picked up a basket. His target was a few isles over, so Percy dropped a few random bags into his basket, and made his way over. Pretending to examine the nutritional value of a can of something that looked suspiciously like worms, Percy shifted his gaze over to his target. It was definitely the same guy.
Now that he was up close, Percy could start to make out the details. Dark black hair, olive complexion, and a smattering of stubble across his jaw. He wasn't tall, but he wasn't short either. He occupied that middle ground that most of the population seemed to fall into. Nor was he particularly heavy or light. Overall, he was quite anonymous. In other words, the perfect covert operative.
Percy had to leave his basket under a shelf before he left, which saddened him slightly. He'd actually picked out a few items he thought he might like during his covert observation. But any thoughts of making a few purchases were chased away by the fact that he didn't have any local currency. He wasn't even sure what the local currency was. He resolved to have people calling it Lomikian Dollars by the end of his stay there, no matter what the actual name was.
He followed the contact, while keeping a safe distance, to an apartment building, which Percy didn't enter. Instead, he tracked the heartbeat as it rode up the elevator, and then let itself into an apartment on the 6th floor.
And now he had an address.
Percy walked across the street and entered the apartment building opposite where his contact lived. Then, he made his way up the stairs, until he was on the same level as the contact. There was no one inside. Percy broke the lock and looked inside. The whole place smelled of dust, and there was nothing in there that could be considered personal in any way. An empty apartment. Right across the road. Excellent.
The next conversation he'd have, would be an awkward one. He knew that, going in. But even still, when Percy shadow traveled back to the Chaos' Army Infantry Base, he was caught off guard by the General's reaction to his re-emergence.
"Where the fuck have you been!?"
"Shit, calm down, General. You'll have a heart attack."
That was not the wisest thing to say, given the circumstances.
"You've been AWOL for the last 15 hours! How did you expect me to react?" the General thundered.
Percy sighed, "I haven't been AWOL, I've been in pursuit of my mission."
"What are you talking about? The rest of your team reported in. They told us the moment the meeting was over. What could you possibly have been doing since now and then?"
He shrugged, "Following the contact."
"For 15 hours?" the General demanded.
"He's a cautious guy. And he really knows his stuff. But, as it happens, so do I. I have his address and vehicle. I've also secured a surveillance position for me and my team. Where are they?"
The General said nothing for a few moments.
Then, "What's his name?"
Percy shrugged for the second time in that conversation, mainly because he knew it would annoy the officer.
"I don't know yet. If I did, I might have led with that. I'll give it to you within the next few days, once we've established our position."
They sat in silence for a few moments. The General had clearly been expecting something different, and seemed quite annoyed that Percy had a reasonable explanation for not checking in.
"Give me the vehicle details," the General grumbled.
Percy bit back a victorious grin and gave him the make, model, and number.
Once they'd got all the details out of the way, Percy went to go find his squad. They were in the mess, looking vaguely like lost puppies. He explained everything to them, then had them join hands and shadow traveled them all to the bathroom of the apartment opposite the contact.
Now that they had all seen the place, they could each shadow travel there themselves, which meant they could start moving in the equipment, and dig in for the long haul. They weren't going anywhere until they had the next rung on the ladder.
A week later, the Task Force was getting restless. A round-the-clock surveillance took a lot of effort. They slept in shifts, they ate in shifts, they went to the bathroom in shifts, they did everything in damn shifts, and Percy was starting to get sick of it.
It was one thing to spend several days in the field, hiding under a bush. Then, you were uncomfortable the entire time, deep in hostile territory. It was easy to switch into work mode. But being in an apartment? Seeing a fantastically comfortable-looking bed just a few feet away from you, and being unable to go to it? Well, that was just torture.
And what was worse, they had to take certain measures to make sure they weren't seen accidentally, by the contact. Walking past windows? Forget it. If any of them wanted to get something from the kitchen, they'd have to get down on their knees to crawl past the windows, just in case the contact happened to notice something moving in the apartment that was supposed to be vacant.
They weren't helped by the fact that the contact lived a boring, meandering existence. It would have been different if he was interesting. But no. He slept, he ate, he watched TV, he worked out once in a while, and that was about it. He didn't even go out to bars or whatever, and find a lady friend. The resulting self-gratification was immensely uncomfortable for all involved.
One day, Percy was sitting on the floor in the corner of the living room, stretching his sore muscles. He'd just spent 50 hours straight, in a deeply uncomfortable position, in order to make sure he didn't miss a single thing going on inside the apartment he was watching.
"Hey Jackson, why don't you run to the store and pick up some food? It's your turn," one of the Spies said from her position on the floor by the couch.
Which wasn't a bad suggestion.
As with everything else in their existence, they went to the grocery store in shifts. Now, it was Percy's turn. He shadow traveled out of the door and into the hallway, where he was able to stand up fully for the first time in several days. What a simple pleasure, that made a person feel so much better.
The walk down to the grocery store, was an enjoyable one. He hadn't walked anywhere since he'd found the contact, over a week ago. It was nice. Once he was there, he loaded up his basket with a lot of the same items he'd selected while following the contact. Not all of them, of course. The jar of worms remained firmly on its shelf.
But there was a bag full of deliciously fresh-looking vegetables. They'd be nice. Unfortunately, there was nothing fried. He'd have easily killed for something like bacon, or sausages, or scrambled eggs. But he'd make do.
Having received a little care package a few days prior, containing certain necessities like local cash - Lomikian Dollars - so he was able to pay for his goods. Grocery bag in tow, Percy strolled casually to the alley behind his temporary apartment, where he shadow traveled into the living room.
They were dead.
They were all dead.
One of the Enforcers had had his throat crushed by some kind of colossal blow. The other one had been stabbed in the brainstem. Two of the Spies had been shot in the forehead, and the last had been strangled.
The Assassin was nowhere to be seen.
Percy dropped the bag, and dashed to the window, not bothering to crouch underneath it. There was a chance for the strangled Spy. She was the same one who'd suggested he go to the store. She might just be unconscious. But he checked her pulse and listened for breathing sounds, and found nothing. She was dead, just like all the rest of them.
He rose, shakily. He just happened to look out the window and saw the contact they'd been watching for the last week, standing at his own window, staring at him. The contact grinned and raised a glass of wine in mock toast.
Percy's blood boiled.
He was going to go across the street and beat him until he told Percy what had happened. And then he'd beat him some more.
Just then, the apartment's door flew open. Percy whirled. Sara came flying in, gun in hand. There were 5 more people behind her.
A/N: Well, hi there. A mere week and 2 days since the last update, and now we've got another one. Over 11K words, too. Lots of setup here, for the plot going forwards, and Percy's character. I've been wanting to establish the Dead Men as a thing here for quite a while. If you don't know where that name comes from, then I highly advise you go find out. Those books are awesome. Speaking of names, if any of you remember the movie or book Black Hawk Down, then you might have been able to guess that something was going to go wrong with Percy's Task Force, as soon as you saw its name. I doubt that's my most subtle piece of foreshadowing, but there you go.
Now, about Sara. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with Artemis. Sara is not finished in this story; I want to make that very clear. I really like her as a character, and she's going to turn back up a few times, and be a very important character going forwards, to Percy as a character and the overarching plot. A few people have stated in reviews and Private Messages that Artemis would be a more challenging romance to write, given how things began between them, and how they've progressed so far. I agree.
Not to mention, and this really is quite important, that my goal with this story when it began, was to write something that followed all the tropes of the sub-genre, and having Percy and Artemis end up together, is a big one. So, that'll be the ultimate pairing.
Anyways, I hope you've all enjoyed. See you in the next one, which should be soonish. Stay safe.