Jul 15, 2024 7:20:01 GMT
Post by Liek on Jul 15, 2024 7:20:01 GMT
Deep in the eastern forests, far away from the bustle and urgency of city living, nestled among the verdant forests, standing two stories tall and taking up a surprising amount of area for what had been intended to be the home of a single occupant sat a cabin made of lacquered wood and stone, partially greened by moss clinging to the outside wall. It would have been a strange enough sight to find hidden so deep into the woods, but even more surprising was the long air car setting down outside of it.
After a pause two men exited the car from the back, both wearing smart suits, with carefully coiffed hair. The first man was quite bulky with a severe expression permanently carved onto his face. His hair was trimmed into a flat top and his suit bulged with muscles stuffed into the sleeves. The other was more squirrelly, shorter, had a mane of wild green hair with black roots and was a woman. The two exited the same side of the car and looked around, the green haired one much more expressive then the other, her motions ful of manic energy while the bulkier one moved slowly and deliberately.
“So? This the place?” The green haired on asked with a laugh, “Man, this really is the boonies…”
“Perhaps.” The bulkier man stoically replied, “But provoking the target by insulting his home is ill advised.”
“Pish.” The greenette grunted, “Cause he’s stronger then us, yeah? What a drag…” She waved off her partner and started walking towards the building. Sauntering up to the front door they enthusiastically started banging on it, trying to get the attention of the occupant, “AYO! You got visitors my guy!” She shouted, her very upfront antics earning and exasperated sigh from her partner.
Said partner nearly leapt out of his skin as a voice said next to him, “So do I just go in through the back and greet you at the door, or just do it from here?”
The sound of her partner’s uncharacteristic sputtering drew the green haired woman’s attention and the moment her eyes landed on the source of the voice she declared, “HUH?!” as her mind tried to process the impossible sight she was witnessing.
There, next to where her partner had been standing, suspended in the air was a teenage young man clad in black and red clothing, hanging upside down like it was the most natural thing in the world. His hair and clothes fell down around him, in fact the only thing stopping his shirt from hanging over his lower face was his crossed arms making it bunch around under…? On top of…? Against his arms. Though gravity did leave his toned abs and shins exposed.
“The actual hell?!” The woman blurted, completely flabbergasted. Neither she or her partner had seen anything like it. Sure, they had heard of ki wielders they where both ki wielders in their own right, but tricks like being able to fly where far from common place. In fact, it flight could be considered one of the rarest ki abilities.
They knew the target had some neat abilities, but flight was not something they expected.
“So, uh…” The young man asked while righting himself and landing gently on the ground, “What are you after?”
“Uh…” Both suited individuals gaped for a moment before the larger of the two managed to recover from their shock first.
Straightening out his suit the large man replied, “Our Boss, Mr Bones, would like to talk to you about a job offer.”
Liek blinked in surprise. He’d done freelance defender work for the EDF before, both alone and on that job with Zaks, but he hadn’t really been approached by anyone else. But then he wasn’t sure how the EDF had officially recorded his involvement in both of those incidents. Was he accidentally building a reputation as a mercenary like Zaks and her crew? Contract Knights where a thing in Earth’s ancient history, if he remembered correctly, so he wasn’t opposed to the idea.
Scratching the back of his head Liek nodded, “Huh? Ok then. I suppose I can hear them out, at least.” The big guy nodded before gesturing towards the car.
“Mr Bones would like to speak to you in private.” The massive man informed, and at Liek’s questioning gaze he further explained, “It’s how he conducts all his business with private contractors.”
With a shrug the young man replied, “If you say so.” So far no one here presented much of a threat, even grouped up, so he saw no reason to put his guard up. Without needing further encouragement he hoped into the car and waited for the door to close.
As soon as it did the vehicle lifted off and started flying at a sedate pace.
Taking in the interior of the vehicle the young man couldn’t help but marvel at the lavish interior. Black leather seats, what looked like a cocktail bar built into on of the walls with a wood grain finish, plush carpets, with a pristine white interior. The whole interior was brightly lit and he could see another person on the other side of the vehicle, lounging back, their massive body taking up the majority of the seating on the other side, leaving very little for the two women clinging to his sides.
The round man’s had chocolate coloured skin and wore a bizarre arrangement of clothing, starting with a pair of white suit pants and leather boots with pointy toes. He wore no shirt, leaving his massive gut free for all to see and exposing the curly hairs on his chest, but he did wear an open vest seemingly made from the skin of some animal, it was yellow with black spots on it. Golden bands wrapped around his biceps and wrists. His head was bald, but he sported a carefully maintained beard and his eyes where obscured by a pair of black sunglasses.
The two women where a pair of women with luxurious hair and slender bodies clad in revealing cocktail dresses. Other then one being blonde and the other a brunette the young man barely paid either of them any attention.
Chuckling the meaty man brought his hand to his lips and drew in a lungful of the noxious gases from the cigar grasped between his digits. After an obnoxious amount of time the man exhaled, expelling a thick could of smoke, before speaking, “I’d read you where young, but damn.” He leaned forward and his mouth broke into toothy grin, “I didn’t think you where a kid.”
“I’m older then I look.” Liek replied, already not liking this guy very much, “Guess I won the genetic lottery and get to live every woman’s dream.”
Howling laughter filled the vehicle as the bulky man threw his head back, his gut rippling with his mirth. “Oh ho! I like you!” He grinned widely and continued, “My name is Ocean. Ocean Bones.” he then gestured to the women and added, “And these two visions of beauty are Vanillia and Ango.” gesturing at the young man he invited the youth to introduce himself.
“Liek.” He offered, “Liek Galswith.”
Ocean grinned, “Well, pleasure to meet you Liek!” taking another draw of his cigar the man sighed, “Let’s cut to the chase and get to business, hmm? I’m planning something. Something Capital-B Big, and I happen to hear on the grapevine you have a very particular set of skills. Skill I need if I want this to happen, and will pay well for.”
“What kind of job?” Liek asked.
“Uh uh uh!” Ocean scolded, waggling a finger, “I can’t tell you that until you’re in.”
“Fine.” Liek rolled his eyes, “Pay then, how much are you offering?”
“500 up front.” Ocean replied before adding, “Once the goods are fenced? 40/60 split between you and me, in my favour.” At Liek’s raised eyebrow, the part about him being important not being lost on him the big man elaborated, “My crew need to be paid. That’s coming out of my cut.”
“And how much would I be looking at once the goods are fenced?”
Ocean grinned again and pulled out a calculator. He pressed a few buttons and tossed the device across to Liek, who easily caught it. Looking at the screen Liek nearly had a heart attack. That was a lot of zeros.
“Ok…” Liek nodded, “You have my erection…”
“Don’t you mean…?”
“I know what I said.” Liek cut Ocean off, “I’m in. What’s the job.”
The big man grinned and started his explanation.
Over an hour later of discussion later the air car landed back outside of Liek’s forest home and let the young man out. The two gaurds who had been left behind nodded to him from where they had been waiting, one seated on a rock, the other laying down on the railing of the porch, before getting to their feet, walking over to the car and getting in. Before the car lifted off the green haired woman stuck her head out and yelled, “Place is actually pretty chill, my guy! Not my speed but I dig it! Catch’ya later!”
Liek watched silently as the car disappeared into the distance. After a long moment after the car was gone from his sight the young man reached into his pocket and pulled out the communication device General Akubra had given him. Lifting it to his ear he said, “Did you catch all that General?”
“Every word.” Came the reply, “You did good, son. That vault has some priceless historical treasures and a third of the gold reserves of the planet. If Ocean’s plan succeeded he’d bankrupt the whole Earth government!” The general wasn’t exaggerating. If things went as Ocean wanted his crew could get into the vault without being noticed and have several hours to haul the contents out.
“Liek, we’ll get things sorted on our end, for not just play the good little hired muscle.” The general instructed, “It’s best if you don’t know our plan. Just trust me and remember that the moment you see me you can drop the act.”
“You got it General.” Liek nodded. Sometimes you just had to play the bad guy to catch the bad guy. After saying some parting words Liek shut off the connection and went back into his home.
West City. A bustling hub of activity in the western regions of the Earth. Like any city of it’s size the air above was filled with the cacophony of life, the rumble of hundreds of engines vibrated the air as the drone of countless voices and footsteps echoed between the tall skyscrapers. Various aircraft littered the sky, airliners carrying passengers and cargo to and from the airport, the roar of their engines cutting through the air like knives, while helicopters, mostly from news outlets and the local police, hovered as the thumping of their rotors beat in the air.
Liek sat quietly in the back of a van going over the gear he had brought with him. He’d swapped out his usual attire for a predominantly white outfit. A black turtle neck shirt over his upper body with a white jacket with a hood over that and black gloves. White pants with black chaps and brown boots on his legs. Additionally his head was entirely covered by a black wrappings with only his eyes visible through them. Over his mouth he wore a white mask that served as a gas mask with the filters mounted in large, moustache like protrusions.
The green haired guard sat across from him in an all black tactical outfit and her green hair sticking out from under her balaclava. She stared at the young man across from her and noted, “You look ridiculous.”
“Shut up, Surge.” He replied, pouting. Liek had only learned her name that day during the briefing. It wasn’t her real name, since using those on a heist would just be stupid.
The woman’s shark-toothed grin was obvious even behind the fabric, “Seriously, who wears white to a heist?” She cackled.
The third person in the back of the van, the muscular guy from before, now under the name of Hulk, spoke up, “Leave Mayo be, Surge.” He said using the name Liek would using for the heist. The muscular man was dressed in the same kind of tactical gear as Surge, but had opted not to bother with a shirt. Mostly because they couldn’t find any in his size.
Both of Ocean’s regular hires had a small collection of items in front of them, mostly various tools that Liek couldn’t identify. What he could recognise where some bricks of C4 explosive and a collection of guns for Hulk and a laptop for surge and some wiring tools for Surge. Liek himself had brought snacks.
The van jostled slightly and things went dark as it entered an underground tunnel and all three knew it was almost time. On cue, the moment they had packed up their things the side door slid open and Ocean greeted them, “You three geared up? Good.” He smiled. Like his regular subordinates he was dressed in a more tactical version of his regular outfit, combat boots replacing his fancy boots, and vest replaced with a tactical harness. On his hip was some kind of gold plated pistol Liek didn’t know the name of.
Stepping out of the van Liek looked around and saw exactly what he was told he’d see; the interior of a disused service tunnel under the city. It was once used to access and maintain the city’s sewer systems, but had fallen out of use by successive local governments prioritising more obvious, above ground, projects over the last hundred years. Apparently new the city services didn’t even know this tunnel was here anymore.
Who knew what lived down here these days?
Which was one of the reasons Liek was on the team. He and Hulk would take the vanguard and ensure the way was safe for the first leg of the heist.
“Right.” Ocean said, “You all know your jobs. Let’s get a move on people!” The plan itself hadn’t been revealed to the team as whole. Compartmentalisation to ensure if any one member ratted them out the authorities couldn’t figure out how they intended to get in. That way Ocean could just try again with a fresh crew.
Everyone nodded and proceeded further into the tunnels on foot.
As they walked Liek looked over at Surge and asked, “I’m curious, why is everyone doing this job anyway?” Looking up, but not at anything in particular he mused, “I mean, I know Ocean just wants the money and to go down in history, and I’m here for the challenge. But what about everyone else?”
Hulk was the first to reply, “The money.” It was short and simple, and the large man refused to elaborate further. It was Surge that explained Hulk’s motivations further.
“He’s just that money hungry. He hordes the stuff. It’s why he left the Special Forces, he wanted the better pay private contracting could get him.” She shrugged. She wasn’t judging him for it, for all she knew there was some sob story behind it, like he grew up a poor orphan or something. They may never know, because Hulk sure wasn’t going to tell them.
The woman sighed before admitting, “I’m… here because of my brother.” That caught Liek’s attention, “We aren’t blood related, but we’re close enough.” She crossed her arms and continued, “He’s hold up in hospital and I need the cash to pay his medical bills.”
Liek placed a hand gently on the woman’s shoulder, causing her to go rigid for a second as she looked at him in surprise, “I’m sorry to hear that, Surge. If it’s alright, can I ask what happened to him?” The woman grumbled a bit and brushed his hand off her shoulder.
“I…” She turned away from him and replied, “I’d rather not go into it…” She was relieved when she saw the young man nod his head, letting the matter drop. She bit her lip before adding, “But thanks… thanks for caring…”
The group continued in silence until they reached the first obstacle, a set of bars blocking the entire tunnel with a gate in them. Surge and Ocean gave the gate and bars an examination and determined there where no electronic locks or security systems tied to it. With a grunt Hulk grabbed the gate and tried to simply rip it off it’s hinges, an effort that met with immediate failure. Surge looked over at Liek and sighed, “Yo, any good at picking locks?”
The young man just smiled, walked over to the gate and grabbed a hold with both hands. With a single jerk the gate popped free of the hinges and the young man set it against the bars next to it.
After walking through he realised the other three weren’t following him. He stopped and looked back to see all three staring at him with wide eyes, even Ocean who knew more about his strength then the other two was utterly flabbergasted. Not only was his current strength terrifying to them they all had a similar thought, even if their internal monologues used different wording; if this is how strong he is at eighteen, how strong will he be when he hits his prime?
Further in they his other obstacles. The first being a gate that Surge, a technology expert had to hack into to open. As she worked on that Ocean explained that the security systems for the vault where independent networks that couldn’t be accessed remotely. So while there where specialists more skilled then Surge, none could keep up with the physical requirements for the job. Further past that Ocean flexed his own skills by picking the lock to the next door. Finally in last area before vault Hulk strut his stuff by rigging the wall with explosives and blowing a hole through to the vault.
Grinning like a mad man Ocean cheered, “Yes! YES!! We’re in!” And immediately ran ahead of the group. Hulk was only a few steps behind followed by Surge with Liek taking up the rear.
As they ran through the dust cloud they where immediately blinded blazing bright spotlights trained on them. Ocean shouted and covered his eyes before swearing, “We’ve been had! Damn it!” Through the glare, between his arms he could see it, his prize. Gold and riches, jewels and historic artefacts left to gather dust instead of being sold to collectors. Ripe for the taking… only for someone else to already be there.
“PUT YOU HANDS UP! WE HAVE YOU COMPLETELY SURROUNDED!!” A voice ordered and the four could just make out the dozens of EDF soldiers gathered on the catwalks above, all of them with guns trained on them. It was obviously a trap, on prepared in advance. But how? Ocean realised the rat had to be Liek, but even so, how did the EDF know when this heist would happen.
Liek himself hadn’t known until they picked him up that day!
Looking back the man snarled in fury at the sight of the young man holding an EDF communicator in his hand, held up so the soldier could clearly see he was on their side. When the hell did the little snitch get one of those?! Those where only given to high-profile or special priority free agents with a need to directly contact, or be contacted by the EDF’s brass. A newbie merc like him should not have those kinds of connections.
Hulk roared and raised on of his machine guns, opening fire the whole way up. He hadn’t realised Liek was the rat, or seen the communicator. He hadn’t even looked behind himself, is eyes focused entirely on the soldiers in front of him. His time in the forces played through his mind and old instincts kicked in, fight or flight choosing fight. It didn’t serve him well as six soldiers returned fire before he’d even brought his gun high enough to hit any of them. As he fell, riddled with bullets, his finger remained depressed on the trigger, spraying a stream of bullets up the far wall, causing a few soldiers to have to scurry out of the line of fire.
In the confusion Ocean pulled his own gun and pointed it at Liek and fired, however before he could complete the action two shots rang out first, bullets impacting Ocean in the arm and shattered his sunglasses as it scored his face, sending the overweight man’s aim off. The fat man screamed in pain as the arm holding the gun went limp from the elbow and he clutched his face with his good hand, falling to the ground in the process.
But ocean had got a shot off. Surge had just enough time to process the sight of the barrel of Ocean’s gun turning towards her as the flash left the muzzle. In that moment she wanted to cry. To scream and curse the world. She was going to die and leave her brother behind with no one to help him. And she didn’t know who to blame! Should she blame Liek for ratting them out? She knew what they where doing was wrong, but she needed the money dammit! Or should she blame Ocean for robing her into this mess to begin with and pulling the trigger?
It took her a bit to realise she wasn’t dead. Instead she saw Liek’s hand in front of her. She stared for a second before he opened it and the bullet that had been heading for her fell from between his fingers…
...Holy shit he caught it…
That was the realisation that ran through her mind. This kid, this insanely, stupidly strong teenager had just caught a bullet with his bare hands. She was no firearms expert, but she knew such a feet was insane! And this guy just did it without any kind of rehearsals, just reacting in the moment…
It was all too much and she mentally shut down. Sinking to the ground limply, but still sat up as she tried to process… everything.
A short while later Liek stood beside General Akubra as Ocean and Surge where lead away in cuffs, Hulk having been killed earlier. The teen looked at the General and said, “Go easy on the girl, she’s just desperate to help her sick brother.”
The General stroked his beard, “Is that so?” he looked over at Liek and said, “The EDF has some of the best medical facilities on Earth. If she’s willing to take a deal we can work something out.” He then pat the boy on the shoulder, “You did good work, son. Have you thought of official signing on?” The General smiled, “I’ve been trying to put together a Special Forces unit, and you would be an invaluable part of that.”
“I…” Liek sighed, “I don’t know, General…” He rubbed one of his arms before replying, “Let me think on it.” For the sake of the future he did want to know what it was like to serve in the military, if he’d been born a Fury it’s likely he’d have spent at least a year in the regular forces before advancing to Squire. Joining the EDF would give him the experience he’d missed out on. But at the same time he wasn’t sure how much of his freedoms he’d be giving up.
He was on the cusp of agreeing… but just needed a little more time.
WC: 4034
PL: 13,901
Weighted PL: 3,475.25
Zenny: 2,182
Bonuses: Super heavy weights 75% bonus
Pre-workout mix 10% Bonus
10% Quest Bonus
Total Bonus: 95% For First 750 words
Total Bonus: 85% For rest of post
Rewards:
Chance for an additional +25% zeni gains (18 or above/D20)
+1 alignment for turning them in
After a pause two men exited the car from the back, both wearing smart suits, with carefully coiffed hair. The first man was quite bulky with a severe expression permanently carved onto his face. His hair was trimmed into a flat top and his suit bulged with muscles stuffed into the sleeves. The other was more squirrelly, shorter, had a mane of wild green hair with black roots and was a woman. The two exited the same side of the car and looked around, the green haired one much more expressive then the other, her motions ful of manic energy while the bulkier one moved slowly and deliberately.
“So? This the place?” The green haired on asked with a laugh, “Man, this really is the boonies…”
“Perhaps.” The bulkier man stoically replied, “But provoking the target by insulting his home is ill advised.”
“Pish.” The greenette grunted, “Cause he’s stronger then us, yeah? What a drag…” She waved off her partner and started walking towards the building. Sauntering up to the front door they enthusiastically started banging on it, trying to get the attention of the occupant, “AYO! You got visitors my guy!” She shouted, her very upfront antics earning and exasperated sigh from her partner.
Said partner nearly leapt out of his skin as a voice said next to him, “So do I just go in through the back and greet you at the door, or just do it from here?”
The sound of her partner’s uncharacteristic sputtering drew the green haired woman’s attention and the moment her eyes landed on the source of the voice she declared, “HUH?!” as her mind tried to process the impossible sight she was witnessing.
There, next to where her partner had been standing, suspended in the air was a teenage young man clad in black and red clothing, hanging upside down like it was the most natural thing in the world. His hair and clothes fell down around him, in fact the only thing stopping his shirt from hanging over his lower face was his crossed arms making it bunch around under…? On top of…? Against his arms. Though gravity did leave his toned abs and shins exposed.
“The actual hell?!” The woman blurted, completely flabbergasted. Neither she or her partner had seen anything like it. Sure, they had heard of ki wielders they where both ki wielders in their own right, but tricks like being able to fly where far from common place. In fact, it flight could be considered one of the rarest ki abilities.
They knew the target had some neat abilities, but flight was not something they expected.
“So, uh…” The young man asked while righting himself and landing gently on the ground, “What are you after?”
“Uh…” Both suited individuals gaped for a moment before the larger of the two managed to recover from their shock first.
Straightening out his suit the large man replied, “Our Boss, Mr Bones, would like to talk to you about a job offer.”
Liek blinked in surprise. He’d done freelance defender work for the EDF before, both alone and on that job with Zaks, but he hadn’t really been approached by anyone else. But then he wasn’t sure how the EDF had officially recorded his involvement in both of those incidents. Was he accidentally building a reputation as a mercenary like Zaks and her crew? Contract Knights where a thing in Earth’s ancient history, if he remembered correctly, so he wasn’t opposed to the idea.
Scratching the back of his head Liek nodded, “Huh? Ok then. I suppose I can hear them out, at least.” The big guy nodded before gesturing towards the car.
“Mr Bones would like to speak to you in private.” The massive man informed, and at Liek’s questioning gaze he further explained, “It’s how he conducts all his business with private contractors.”
With a shrug the young man replied, “If you say so.” So far no one here presented much of a threat, even grouped up, so he saw no reason to put his guard up. Without needing further encouragement he hoped into the car and waited for the door to close.
As soon as it did the vehicle lifted off and started flying at a sedate pace.
Taking in the interior of the vehicle the young man couldn’t help but marvel at the lavish interior. Black leather seats, what looked like a cocktail bar built into on of the walls with a wood grain finish, plush carpets, with a pristine white interior. The whole interior was brightly lit and he could see another person on the other side of the vehicle, lounging back, their massive body taking up the majority of the seating on the other side, leaving very little for the two women clinging to his sides.
The round man’s had chocolate coloured skin and wore a bizarre arrangement of clothing, starting with a pair of white suit pants and leather boots with pointy toes. He wore no shirt, leaving his massive gut free for all to see and exposing the curly hairs on his chest, but he did wear an open vest seemingly made from the skin of some animal, it was yellow with black spots on it. Golden bands wrapped around his biceps and wrists. His head was bald, but he sported a carefully maintained beard and his eyes where obscured by a pair of black sunglasses.
The two women where a pair of women with luxurious hair and slender bodies clad in revealing cocktail dresses. Other then one being blonde and the other a brunette the young man barely paid either of them any attention.
Chuckling the meaty man brought his hand to his lips and drew in a lungful of the noxious gases from the cigar grasped between his digits. After an obnoxious amount of time the man exhaled, expelling a thick could of smoke, before speaking, “I’d read you where young, but damn.” He leaned forward and his mouth broke into toothy grin, “I didn’t think you where a kid.”
“I’m older then I look.” Liek replied, already not liking this guy very much, “Guess I won the genetic lottery and get to live every woman’s dream.”
Howling laughter filled the vehicle as the bulky man threw his head back, his gut rippling with his mirth. “Oh ho! I like you!” He grinned widely and continued, “My name is Ocean. Ocean Bones.” he then gestured to the women and added, “And these two visions of beauty are Vanillia and Ango.” gesturing at the young man he invited the youth to introduce himself.
“Liek.” He offered, “Liek Galswith.”
Ocean grinned, “Well, pleasure to meet you Liek!” taking another draw of his cigar the man sighed, “Let’s cut to the chase and get to business, hmm? I’m planning something. Something Capital-B Big, and I happen to hear on the grapevine you have a very particular set of skills. Skill I need if I want this to happen, and will pay well for.”
“What kind of job?” Liek asked.
“Uh uh uh!” Ocean scolded, waggling a finger, “I can’t tell you that until you’re in.”
“Fine.” Liek rolled his eyes, “Pay then, how much are you offering?”
“500 up front.” Ocean replied before adding, “Once the goods are fenced? 40/60 split between you and me, in my favour.” At Liek’s raised eyebrow, the part about him being important not being lost on him the big man elaborated, “My crew need to be paid. That’s coming out of my cut.”
“And how much would I be looking at once the goods are fenced?”
Ocean grinned again and pulled out a calculator. He pressed a few buttons and tossed the device across to Liek, who easily caught it. Looking at the screen Liek nearly had a heart attack. That was a lot of zeros.
“Ok…” Liek nodded, “You have my erection…”
“Don’t you mean…?”
“I know what I said.” Liek cut Ocean off, “I’m in. What’s the job.”
The big man grinned and started his explanation.
Over an hour later of discussion later the air car landed back outside of Liek’s forest home and let the young man out. The two gaurds who had been left behind nodded to him from where they had been waiting, one seated on a rock, the other laying down on the railing of the porch, before getting to their feet, walking over to the car and getting in. Before the car lifted off the green haired woman stuck her head out and yelled, “Place is actually pretty chill, my guy! Not my speed but I dig it! Catch’ya later!”
Liek watched silently as the car disappeared into the distance. After a long moment after the car was gone from his sight the young man reached into his pocket and pulled out the communication device General Akubra had given him. Lifting it to his ear he said, “Did you catch all that General?”
“Every word.” Came the reply, “You did good, son. That vault has some priceless historical treasures and a third of the gold reserves of the planet. If Ocean’s plan succeeded he’d bankrupt the whole Earth government!” The general wasn’t exaggerating. If things went as Ocean wanted his crew could get into the vault without being noticed and have several hours to haul the contents out.
“Liek, we’ll get things sorted on our end, for not just play the good little hired muscle.” The general instructed, “It’s best if you don’t know our plan. Just trust me and remember that the moment you see me you can drop the act.”
“You got it General.” Liek nodded. Sometimes you just had to play the bad guy to catch the bad guy. After saying some parting words Liek shut off the connection and went back into his home.
West City. A bustling hub of activity in the western regions of the Earth. Like any city of it’s size the air above was filled with the cacophony of life, the rumble of hundreds of engines vibrated the air as the drone of countless voices and footsteps echoed between the tall skyscrapers. Various aircraft littered the sky, airliners carrying passengers and cargo to and from the airport, the roar of their engines cutting through the air like knives, while helicopters, mostly from news outlets and the local police, hovered as the thumping of their rotors beat in the air.
Liek sat quietly in the back of a van going over the gear he had brought with him. He’d swapped out his usual attire for a predominantly white outfit. A black turtle neck shirt over his upper body with a white jacket with a hood over that and black gloves. White pants with black chaps and brown boots on his legs. Additionally his head was entirely covered by a black wrappings with only his eyes visible through them. Over his mouth he wore a white mask that served as a gas mask with the filters mounted in large, moustache like protrusions.
The green haired guard sat across from him in an all black tactical outfit and her green hair sticking out from under her balaclava. She stared at the young man across from her and noted, “You look ridiculous.”
“Shut up, Surge.” He replied, pouting. Liek had only learned her name that day during the briefing. It wasn’t her real name, since using those on a heist would just be stupid.
The woman’s shark-toothed grin was obvious even behind the fabric, “Seriously, who wears white to a heist?” She cackled.
The third person in the back of the van, the muscular guy from before, now under the name of Hulk, spoke up, “Leave Mayo be, Surge.” He said using the name Liek would using for the heist. The muscular man was dressed in the same kind of tactical gear as Surge, but had opted not to bother with a shirt. Mostly because they couldn’t find any in his size.
Both of Ocean’s regular hires had a small collection of items in front of them, mostly various tools that Liek couldn’t identify. What he could recognise where some bricks of C4 explosive and a collection of guns for Hulk and a laptop for surge and some wiring tools for Surge. Liek himself had brought snacks.
The van jostled slightly and things went dark as it entered an underground tunnel and all three knew it was almost time. On cue, the moment they had packed up their things the side door slid open and Ocean greeted them, “You three geared up? Good.” He smiled. Like his regular subordinates he was dressed in a more tactical version of his regular outfit, combat boots replacing his fancy boots, and vest replaced with a tactical harness. On his hip was some kind of gold plated pistol Liek didn’t know the name of.
Stepping out of the van Liek looked around and saw exactly what he was told he’d see; the interior of a disused service tunnel under the city. It was once used to access and maintain the city’s sewer systems, but had fallen out of use by successive local governments prioritising more obvious, above ground, projects over the last hundred years. Apparently new the city services didn’t even know this tunnel was here anymore.
Who knew what lived down here these days?
Which was one of the reasons Liek was on the team. He and Hulk would take the vanguard and ensure the way was safe for the first leg of the heist.
“Right.” Ocean said, “You all know your jobs. Let’s get a move on people!” The plan itself hadn’t been revealed to the team as whole. Compartmentalisation to ensure if any one member ratted them out the authorities couldn’t figure out how they intended to get in. That way Ocean could just try again with a fresh crew.
Everyone nodded and proceeded further into the tunnels on foot.
As they walked Liek looked over at Surge and asked, “I’m curious, why is everyone doing this job anyway?” Looking up, but not at anything in particular he mused, “I mean, I know Ocean just wants the money and to go down in history, and I’m here for the challenge. But what about everyone else?”
Hulk was the first to reply, “The money.” It was short and simple, and the large man refused to elaborate further. It was Surge that explained Hulk’s motivations further.
“He’s just that money hungry. He hordes the stuff. It’s why he left the Special Forces, he wanted the better pay private contracting could get him.” She shrugged. She wasn’t judging him for it, for all she knew there was some sob story behind it, like he grew up a poor orphan or something. They may never know, because Hulk sure wasn’t going to tell them.
The woman sighed before admitting, “I’m… here because of my brother.” That caught Liek’s attention, “We aren’t blood related, but we’re close enough.” She crossed her arms and continued, “He’s hold up in hospital and I need the cash to pay his medical bills.”
Liek placed a hand gently on the woman’s shoulder, causing her to go rigid for a second as she looked at him in surprise, “I’m sorry to hear that, Surge. If it’s alright, can I ask what happened to him?” The woman grumbled a bit and brushed his hand off her shoulder.
“I…” She turned away from him and replied, “I’d rather not go into it…” She was relieved when she saw the young man nod his head, letting the matter drop. She bit her lip before adding, “But thanks… thanks for caring…”
The group continued in silence until they reached the first obstacle, a set of bars blocking the entire tunnel with a gate in them. Surge and Ocean gave the gate and bars an examination and determined there where no electronic locks or security systems tied to it. With a grunt Hulk grabbed the gate and tried to simply rip it off it’s hinges, an effort that met with immediate failure. Surge looked over at Liek and sighed, “Yo, any good at picking locks?”
The young man just smiled, walked over to the gate and grabbed a hold with both hands. With a single jerk the gate popped free of the hinges and the young man set it against the bars next to it.
After walking through he realised the other three weren’t following him. He stopped and looked back to see all three staring at him with wide eyes, even Ocean who knew more about his strength then the other two was utterly flabbergasted. Not only was his current strength terrifying to them they all had a similar thought, even if their internal monologues used different wording; if this is how strong he is at eighteen, how strong will he be when he hits his prime?
Further in they his other obstacles. The first being a gate that Surge, a technology expert had to hack into to open. As she worked on that Ocean explained that the security systems for the vault where independent networks that couldn’t be accessed remotely. So while there where specialists more skilled then Surge, none could keep up with the physical requirements for the job. Further past that Ocean flexed his own skills by picking the lock to the next door. Finally in last area before vault Hulk strut his stuff by rigging the wall with explosives and blowing a hole through to the vault.
Grinning like a mad man Ocean cheered, “Yes! YES!! We’re in!” And immediately ran ahead of the group. Hulk was only a few steps behind followed by Surge with Liek taking up the rear.
As they ran through the dust cloud they where immediately blinded blazing bright spotlights trained on them. Ocean shouted and covered his eyes before swearing, “We’ve been had! Damn it!” Through the glare, between his arms he could see it, his prize. Gold and riches, jewels and historic artefacts left to gather dust instead of being sold to collectors. Ripe for the taking… only for someone else to already be there.
“PUT YOU HANDS UP! WE HAVE YOU COMPLETELY SURROUNDED!!” A voice ordered and the four could just make out the dozens of EDF soldiers gathered on the catwalks above, all of them with guns trained on them. It was obviously a trap, on prepared in advance. But how? Ocean realised the rat had to be Liek, but even so, how did the EDF know when this heist would happen.
Liek himself hadn’t known until they picked him up that day!
Looking back the man snarled in fury at the sight of the young man holding an EDF communicator in his hand, held up so the soldier could clearly see he was on their side. When the hell did the little snitch get one of those?! Those where only given to high-profile or special priority free agents with a need to directly contact, or be contacted by the EDF’s brass. A newbie merc like him should not have those kinds of connections.
Hulk roared and raised on of his machine guns, opening fire the whole way up. He hadn’t realised Liek was the rat, or seen the communicator. He hadn’t even looked behind himself, is eyes focused entirely on the soldiers in front of him. His time in the forces played through his mind and old instincts kicked in, fight or flight choosing fight. It didn’t serve him well as six soldiers returned fire before he’d even brought his gun high enough to hit any of them. As he fell, riddled with bullets, his finger remained depressed on the trigger, spraying a stream of bullets up the far wall, causing a few soldiers to have to scurry out of the line of fire.
In the confusion Ocean pulled his own gun and pointed it at Liek and fired, however before he could complete the action two shots rang out first, bullets impacting Ocean in the arm and shattered his sunglasses as it scored his face, sending the overweight man’s aim off. The fat man screamed in pain as the arm holding the gun went limp from the elbow and he clutched his face with his good hand, falling to the ground in the process.
But ocean had got a shot off. Surge had just enough time to process the sight of the barrel of Ocean’s gun turning towards her as the flash left the muzzle. In that moment she wanted to cry. To scream and curse the world. She was going to die and leave her brother behind with no one to help him. And she didn’t know who to blame! Should she blame Liek for ratting them out? She knew what they where doing was wrong, but she needed the money dammit! Or should she blame Ocean for robing her into this mess to begin with and pulling the trigger?
It took her a bit to realise she wasn’t dead. Instead she saw Liek’s hand in front of her. She stared for a second before he opened it and the bullet that had been heading for her fell from between his fingers…
...Holy shit he caught it…
That was the realisation that ran through her mind. This kid, this insanely, stupidly strong teenager had just caught a bullet with his bare hands. She was no firearms expert, but she knew such a feet was insane! And this guy just did it without any kind of rehearsals, just reacting in the moment…
It was all too much and she mentally shut down. Sinking to the ground limply, but still sat up as she tried to process… everything.
A short while later Liek stood beside General Akubra as Ocean and Surge where lead away in cuffs, Hulk having been killed earlier. The teen looked at the General and said, “Go easy on the girl, she’s just desperate to help her sick brother.”
The General stroked his beard, “Is that so?” he looked over at Liek and said, “The EDF has some of the best medical facilities on Earth. If she’s willing to take a deal we can work something out.” He then pat the boy on the shoulder, “You did good work, son. Have you thought of official signing on?” The General smiled, “I’ve been trying to put together a Special Forces unit, and you would be an invaluable part of that.”
“I…” Liek sighed, “I don’t know, General…” He rubbed one of his arms before replying, “Let me think on it.” For the sake of the future he did want to know what it was like to serve in the military, if he’d been born a Fury it’s likely he’d have spent at least a year in the regular forces before advancing to Squire. Joining the EDF would give him the experience he’d missed out on. But at the same time he wasn’t sure how much of his freedoms he’d be giving up.
He was on the cusp of agreeing… but just needed a little more time.
WC: 4034
PL: 13,901
Weighted PL: 3,475.25
Zenny: 2,182
Bonuses: Super heavy weights 75% bonus
Pre-workout mix 10% Bonus
10% Quest Bonus
Total Bonus: 95% For First 750 words
Total Bonus: 85% For rest of post
Rewards:
Chance for an additional +25% zeni gains (18 or above/D20)
+1 alignment for turning them in
