Xenotober2024 30 Infiltration (H.B., Yelv)
a/n: Two part story about H.B. and Yelv on a stealth mission.
Yelv was never great at stealth, he'd be the first to admit. Go in loud and hard was more his style. But someone in BLADE thought he needed some skills, so they had paired him with the smoothest guy in New Los Angeles. Yelv had teamed with H.B. in the past and it had gone pretty well. He had simply kept his mouth shut, stuck to H.B. like glue, and only pulled out his weapon after the first explosion.
This time he wasn't allowed a weapon. "We're infiltrating a civilian facility, which requires fitting in. We can't risk people noticing that we're armed," H.B. had told him.
"Guys and gals park their skells in front of the ice cream shop," Yelv pointed out.
H.B. ignored him. "Casual clothes. No weapons. 1200 sharp."
And so Yelv met him at the Ma-non transport pad at noon, looking very sharp indeed. He was wearing his nicest suit, the plaid one with the shiny lapels and the bow tie. H.B. made a strangled noise and stripped Yelv down to an undershirt. At least it was a clean one, and Yelv got to keep the pants.
Someone in the ECP had heard that the anarchist aliens that floated over the city were up to something. The Ma-non lived in a sparkly golden ship that shaded a quarter of the city and were known for their love of pizza, anime, and good times. They were also capable of defending their ship in ways that wasn't fully clear to humanity. Now they were doing something new and the ECP wanted to know more. The Ma-non had been making structural changes to the port side wing of the ship, usually home of the aliens they loved to have as guests. There were reports of galleries or closed labs or processing rooms, but the details were in short supply. The lighting had been dimmed from cozy to secretive, and the Ma-non had been stockpiling strange ration in unheard of levels. Their normal pizza requirements guaranteed Army Pizzeria stayed in the black, but now they wanted raw materials, a shopping list of carbohydrates and lipids, edible but not actual food. The Ma-non weren't bringing in BLADE for resource missions, turning to the Nopon Commerce Guild, which was primarily an arms dealer. This was unprecedented, secretive, and worrisome.
Yelv stayed close to H.B., who sailed nonchalantly into the section of the ship reserved for guests. Today the non-native aliens were bunched together in the entry corridor, speaking in low voices and shushing each other when H.B. and Yelv passed. One insectoid Orphe perked up as they approached and buzzed at them. The Orphe stretched out a slender arm clad in glowing rings, offering a deal. Yelv wanted a bangle like that, kind of, maybe the hot pink one or the green that really popped. H.B., however, moved on before Yelv could haggle for a price.
"Am I supposed to not talk to people?" asked Yelv.
"We need to investigate without wasting time," H.B. lectured.
The guy could probably order a beer and make it sound like he was teaching you something, thought Yelv. "But what about acting normal? You said we needed to do that to, and it's normal to shoot the breeze."
"It may be too late," murmured H.B. He slid his glasses up his splendid nose (Yelv wondered what it was like to have a nose that straight) and smiled with grim charm at the Nopon bustling towards them.
"Friends have clearances?" The pink Nopon circled around their knees, adjusting the lace on her dress and fluttering her lashes up at H.B.
"I'm afraid I left them in my other pants," said H.B., squeezing out a little more animal magnetism. "I'd be deeply grateful if you could let us pass for now."
The Nopon was examining H.B. from every direction. "Understandable how friend not have space to spare with those pants. Warawa looking respectfully and seems very reasonable."
"I promise to bring our passes later today. You can take all the time you want to check them out then."
Warawa giggled and Yelv felt invisible and unnecessary. Warawa gazed a moment longer up at H.B. with deep, dark eyes, then cooed when H.B. dropped another smile in her direction. Finally she pattered away, toward a door to what looked like a connected row of shipping containers. "Warawa forgive this time and open door. Have funsies!" She waved a lollypop-shaped comm device at the lock and the door slid open.
H.B. walked through the entrance with only the faintest repressed shudder. Yelv was right on his heels, glad that the Nopon had asked absolutely nothing from him.
The door slid shut behind them and the light dropped from dim to almost midnight black. Yelv really wished he had picked up one of those bracelets. Even a yellow one would have been better.
"We're in," said H.B. softly, "but from this point out, I have no way of predicting what will happen."
"Groovy, pard," said Yelv, pretending to be calm. "I'm used to being in the dark, like, existentially, so this is normal for me."
a/n: Yes, I am still vibrating. Are we ready for The Superior Form on Switch? Yelv and H.B. teamed up (ft Frye) in Apriltober 2021. Don't worry. Doug was fine. Eventually.
Next up: What are the Ma-non hiding?
