whuut? midweek chapter? oh yeah bby.
As usual I'm moving more slowly than I wanted to so haha. More Spy. Some Ammy.
They must have thought she was stupid.
Did they think she couldn't see a gunman stowed away in the castle's singular tower? It was the highest point in this entire compound, stuck out like a sore thumb and- although the mist was thick and visibility was quite low- she was quite capable of seeing heat signatures. She found herself scoffing while watching this little resistance detachment scramble about, hastily laying out their painfully obvious trap.
Stupid resistance scum…
Of course she wasn't going to come out to get shot. She had already tasted lead from the gunman's arsenal once and had no desire for second helpings… still, The Dwarf was technically correct. CC agents were expected to protect their superiors, but The Spy didn't recognize this "Lab Director" at all. Frankly, she was quite certain she'd never seen him in her life.
I wonder what division he's in… was he recently promoted? Or more likely he's a resistance member that's part of this scheme.
So, The Spy opted towards caution. She would wait; She would watch. As she sat crouched in her tree, lobbing stones carefully through the canopy to draw gunfire, she was faced with an unexpected trial. The Spy was fully confident in her combat prowess. She was likewise excellent in espionage and concealment… but she knew her weaknesses, and The Dwarf officer seemed to know them too. His jeers and taunts were irritating in the extreme, and were causing her to endure a most arduous exercise in self-control. She was clinging to her branch all bug-eyed and fidgety, not knowing how much longer she could resist.
That fucking dwarf… how dare he blaspheme the king…
With every word that proceeded from The Dwarf officer's mouth, the angrier she became. The logical part of her brain said it'd be the death of her to run out into that open field to attack him (the lawn was essentially a shooting range), but the sacrilege the Dwarf dared spout seriously tempted the notion. The cool tree bark was rough on her palms as she gripped it, her knuckles white with the strain. She literally trembled in rage as she gnawed her lip bloody; She was certain she felt a blood vessel in her eye pop. Perhaps the lab director was legitimate, perhaps not, but - if she were to be honest with herself - she was more concerned with murdering The Dwarf than dealing with a possible hostage situation.
Bastard bastard... bastard bastard
(BANG, BANG -kachack- BANG, BANG)
Ah, there... A five cartridge magazine. About two hundred metres to her left, the row of trees was beginning to look like a lumberyard. The wood was surprisingly brittle, as if already half dead, and shattered easily before the rain of bullets. Who the hell was this gunman?! The ever gracious lord Yharim had allowed his subjects access to some firearms for self-defense and the like, but by design, nothing the public had could do serious damage to a CC agent. These weapons were clearly contraband. A Resistance gunrunner, I suppose…
(Stop hiding ya coward fuck!)
Oh! The shitty dwarf was really getting under her skin. He was staring up at the destroyed treeline with something akin to triumph tugging at his ugly little mug. Nothing pissed her off more than worms thinking they could obtain victory. She gritted her teeth until their roots hurt. She glared at him as if she could kill with her hatred alone. Who did that dwarf think he was? He was nothing but a disgusting little half-man, threatening the half dead 'lab director' with a pistol. If she could only get close, she'd tear him in two with her bare hands.
Stop… calm down…
The Spy sighed and focused. She couldn't let her emotions get the better of her, especially whilst facing such powerful weaponry. There were three bullets left in the gunman's chamber, and he didn't seem to be reloading until he needed to. Likely, he was afraid to miss the cues she was throwing out. With a slow and steady hand, The Spy drew a smooth river stone from her pocket. At that very moment, as if mimicking her, The 'Lab Director' likewise slid what appeared to be a rudimentary dagger from his sleeve. It appeared that nobody else saw him do so - the rest of the Resistance scum were searching for her. The Spy blinked. It took only a moment for her to process what was happening.
… He guessed my plan? Smart man. Well then… perhaps he really is the Lab Director after all…
The Spy narrowed her eyes to look at The Lab Director's face. He was rather young, perhaps a few years her senior, with ruddy brown hair and an innocent boyish look that sharply contrasted with that dangerous sparkle in his eye. Was he an ally? Perhaps, she needed him alive so she could investigate further.
Give him a good stab for me, Mr. Maybe Director…
The Spy flipped open the pouch on her thigh and plucked from it a sharp throwing knife. It looked like The Director was planning on attacking his captor the moment he saw the opportunity, and The Spy didn't want him to get shot in the head before he got his licks in. With one hand, she lobbed a stone toward the destroyed part of the forest. With the other, she took careful aim.
*pheww…. SNAP*
She crouched motionless as her stone whistled through the air, silently counting the seconds until it hit its mark. It snapped a branch and drew another volley of deafening gunfire. 3 shots…
BANG, BANG, BANG…(ka-chack)
This was her opportunity. If she hurled her knife whilst The Gunman still had bullets in his chamber, he could likely track her location from the dagger's trajectory and cause her significant bodily harm. But while he was reloading his firearm, she had a few precious seconds to save a man's life. Eyes wide and teeth gritted in excitement, The Spy stood, planted her feet on the thick tree boughs, and hurled the knife with all her strength. She heard an impact and a shout, but had no time to watch the events unfold. For the sake of her own safety, she quickly leapt down to the ground to hide behind the tall retaining walls. There was another shout and several gunshots rang out before The Compound once again fell silent.
Did The Director kill ?
Her curiosity getting the better of her, The Spy adjusted the squirming arm on her back (she was forced to strap it to a board, for how violently it was behaving) and scaled the wall, digging her fingernails into the thin creases between the cold bricks. Careful not to be seen, she barely peeked the top of her head over the perfectly constructed barrier. What she saw made her heart leap in a sick sort of satisfaction.
Serves you rats right… humph.
Because that blasphemous excuse for a dwarf was laying on the ground, gasping for breath and bleeding his filthy crimson blood all over the grass. The makeshift dagger (actually a sharpened chisel) had been likewise discarded to the ground. The Lab Director - who, in her eyes, had already proven his loyalty to The King many times over - appeared to have escaped to one of the five identical houses which populated the compound. She knew he was no fighter. His build and frame told her he was the scholarly type... but even so, The Lab Director likewise couldn't bear the horrible things The Resistance was saying about their king. He was a lone, untrained civilian fighting off the forces of evil with nothing but his devotion to their lord to fuel his campaign.
A true patriot…
The Spy couldn't help but smile as her heart swelled. She would honor The Lab Director's bravery. It wasn't often when non-military personnel displayed such devotion to The King. In fact, when troubled times came, even Yharim's most faithful civilians easily turned their backs on their most benevolent ruler. But of course, in order for The Director to be put in charge of this secret lab - all on his own - meant his devotion to the king must be unmatched. This man… he was a rare, loyal specimen. Surely she would do everything in her power to rescue him.
…
But first, she needed to act cautiously. Earlier, she could only see the heat signatures of three people, yet she was certain she heard the voice of The Head Nurse cry out from within the - strangely heatproof- Castle. Who else was here? Were all the buildings heatproof? Strong as she was, The Spy couldn't simply barge in and expect to escape unscathed. I need information…
(That fucking Guide! Goddamn!)
*slam*
More commotion. An old man had turned tail to flee to the second building. The Gunman and The Head Nurse ran out of The Castle to fetch The Dwarf. They worked in a panicked flurry, dragging him into the third house where The Spy could see various vials and medical equipment through the window. She narrowed her eyes and twisted her lips into a deep frown. How dare The Head Nurse betray the King. The wound Resistance Worm had sustained might've been fatal - but he would easily survive it under her care.
Whatever… I'll just have to kill her too… but first…
First… she would visit the cowardly old man. Perhaps under duress, he would provide her the information she required.
Despite his other pressing duties, The Old Soldier had decided to lead this extraction himself. His team had deterred him- of course- saying they were more than capable of handling whatever dangers they came across. However, General Statis could see right through them. Each and every one (himself included) had thought this was a trap, and he could see the looks of relief on their faces when he announced he would accompany them. Although he was old, he had lost none of the vigor from his prime and remained just as sharp and deadly as always.
"You've gotten grouchier, Statis… what did I tell you about aging gracefully?"
"I'm too old to be lectured, Sea King."
Yet to his great surprise, their group of highly trained fighters found not one of Yharim's innumerable snares, but rather, The presumed dead Amidas lounging around one of their safehouses, polishing one of his innumerable golden breastplates. How The Sea King had managed to carry such a tremendous amount of loot here was shocking, but the Old Soldier was well aware of the many powerful spells Amidas had at his disposal. Cosmic magic... supposedly.
And although it'd been 50 years since he'd last seen him, Statis had recognized The Sea King immediately. It appeared R'lyehians simply didn't age. The constantly testy Assassin had cracked a smile and (jokingly) exclaimed that Amidas didn't look a year over 300.
But his good mood only lasted a short moment, as The Sea King loaded up his troops with what appeared to be R'lyeh's entire treasure hoard. The espionage team was clearly unused to being used like pack goats and all of them looked positively miserable. Had Statis himself not been given about a hundred pounds of gold bars to carry, he might've found the situation amusing. Instead, he gave full vent to his complaints.
"Too old to be lectured? Quite right, and I'm many hundreds of years your senior. Stop complaining. I know you have the strength for it."
"Have the strength? Sea King, I've had his persistent back-ache for the past thirty years and if it gets worse tomorrow morning I'm turning you into a fish fry."
The Sea King chuckled from deep in his belly as he bantered with one of The Resistance's most accomplished generals. Statis could hear some of his younger team members bristling with the supposed lack of respect Amidas showed their commander, and indicated they stand down. He'd explain Amidas' importance to them later… their first priority was to escort the amazingly sharp, but famously feisty Sea King to the safety of their stronghold.
Statis pressed his lips together and sighed as he crunched through the thinning undergrowth. He narrowed his eyes and he really did feel a twinge in his lower back. He reasoned that if Amidas was going to make him carry luggage, Statis had every right to be as old and grumpy as he wanted to be. The Sea King took him into stride. Amidas had been his mentor for the majority of his adult life, and despite their rather fiery verbal joustings, there was no ill-will between them.
"Ohoho~" Amidas rattled his spines. "Perhaps I'm intolerable, but you will tolerate me for the sake of The Tyrant's downfall. Come now… tell me about this 'hero' I've been hearing about."
Slayer: ...Guide, they're watching us.
Guide: Okay, I'll distract them. Leave it to me.
S: ...?
G: *leaps out from the bushes* Centaurs have six limbs and are therefore insects. Discuss!
The Nurse, The Merchant, and The Demolitionist: *Immediately begin arguing*
The Arms Dealer, watching in horror: Oh this. I don't like this. I don't like this at all.
S: Guide what's a Centaur?
G: Shut up and run you moron.
Eyo. I had a day off today so I did a chap. hope you enjoy. I love all your skits and comments btw! much love