Pax

"We'd better get moving."

I nodded, and followed him to his car, lingering momentarily at the motionless corpse of the man I killed. I shook my head sadly, and felt a pang of guilt, something grand... Yeah right. I ejected my clip of bullets, and switched to my one 'bean bagger' clip. Stun rounds. Oliver entered the drivers seat, and I took the passenger side.

I tapped my communicator, "Carter to everyone... Something came up, I'm en route to Warehouse 12 on the docks. Back up not needed. Base, can you give me an update on how that girl I picked up is going? The rest of you... Don't ask. Under control. Carter out." I sunk back into the chair, "I am possibly the most unofficial soldier in the galaxy," I glanced at Oliver, "If any of your cops ask, I'm a reliable freelancer who's an old friend of yours... Or something like that."

I pointed through the windscreen at the scene we left behind, "You had probably best send someone to get that lot cleaned up. A lot of evidence here, in case this warehouse 12 thing was a load of bull****."

 

Spectre seemed to have the situation under control with a CRK. The girl would be fine, but she still shouldn't leave for a while. the question was, how long did they have until Pappy arrived and shot him in the ass for having two civilians in a top secret base? Nathan decided to play the communicator back again to listen for any clue as to where Pappy was. At first, nothing. But then, another voice. It was hard to make out, but it sounded like Carter's... Nathan couldn't hear the words to well as Pappy's voice was still going over the top of it.

"...Warehouse 12...Back up..."

The communicator ended.

"Spectre, I hate to bother you again, but I have a bad feeling that Carter's in trouble. Mind keeping an eye on the girl? I'm gonna go check on him.

Nathan grabbed the headset and check the Stiletto was still holstered. He might need it...

Nathan reached the alleyway where he'd seen Carter heading. A few bodies lay on the ground, one dead. They didn't look too kind... He checked their equipment, these guys were probably who attacked the girl. He went through the alleyway onto a small road where he saw a car drive off in a hurry. He didn't get much of a chance to see it, but it looked like Carter in the passenger seat...

Nathan didn't know what was happening, but he sure as hell wanted to find out...

He tapped his headset.

"Spectre, how safe are taxi's here? I'm gonna need a ride..."

 

"Spectre, I hate to bother you again, but I have a bad feeling that Carter's in trouble. Mind keeping an eye on the girl? I'm gonna go check on him.”

Specter sighed.

“I suppose so, it’s not like I’m gonna be successful if I protest is it?”

Nathan went outside, after the other fleet kid, leaving her alone with the stranger. Specter thought about gagging and blindfolding her so that when she woke she wouldn’t be a security liability, but it would be bad manners if not rude. If she couldn’t think of something for when the girl woke she would have a lot of explaining, the girl would probably assume she had been kidnapped. It would be hard to be convinced by an invisible person that you’re safe in an odd bunker surrounded by weapons, yes, Specter would have to get rid of the girl somehow.

"Spectre, how safe are taxi's here? I'm gonna need a ride..."

“Don’t trust anyone on Ceres, not even the taxi drivers. But I happen to know someone who is quick, reliable, and won’t rip you off. Here, I’ll forward you his contact info on your PDD.”

The listed contact shows a curious fellow with a low gravity taxi transport that was purportedly "cheap, fast, and good for the environment!" The owner, driver, or model for the business is a stocky, swarthy, bald man with beady eyes and a cigar in his mouth. Mel is his name, he is winking and trying his best to smile.

"Despite his ogre-like looks, he is quite the charmer." Specter chuckles.

 

“Don’t trust anyone on Ceres, not even the taxi drivers. But I happen to know someone who is quick, reliable, and won’t rip you off. Here, I’ll forward you his contact info on your PDD.” answered Spectre.

Nathan's new PDD retrieved the info showing a bald man with a cigar hanging out of his mouth.

"Despite his ogre-like looks, he is quite the charmer." Spectre chuckled.

"If you say so."

Nathan pressed the call button.

The PDD and waited for a moment before connecting to his communicator. There was a shuffling for a moment before a gruff voice came across.

"Hullo?"

"Uh, Mel? I've been given a referral to you by Spectre."

"Spectre eh? Haven't spoken to her for months. How is she?

"She's currently looking after an unconscious girl."

"Doesn't sound like Spectre, she was never the caring type." he chuckled.

"I'm in need of your services, could involve some action. You up for it?"

"Well, if you're a friend of Spectre, sure." he replied.

"How fast can you be over here?" asked Nathan.

"I've been tracking your location this whole time; I'll be there in a moment."

A big green car pulled up outside the alley. Nathan peered through the window, confirming it was Mel. He looked just like the picture, even the cigar hanging out of his mouth. He unlocked the passenger door and wait for Nathan to get in.

“Hi, Nathan Brown, UEAF.”

“Fleet huh? So where’re you goin’?”

“The Docks, Warehouse 12.”

 

Mort had easily become a ghost in the room. An extra hand that wasn't needed, an extra person that wasn't needed. There were some slight twinges at his mind, he was plainly curious about this new environment. But then again this new environment didn't seem much to be the type to be interested in him.

Mort decided it would be best to make his way out instead. He simply wasn't needed. But as he began to leave, without anyone's notice, he heard the brief glimpses of a conversation on the radio. His mind was racing for one he was curious and for two he didn't want to be alone.

"...Warehouse 12...Back up..."

how safe are taxi's here?

He put on his hood and quickly memorized all the information he could and he began a power walk, which turned into a jog, and then a full sprint. He was careful as he began to get to the location to lower the speed which he was going so no one could hear him. He caught a glimpse of Nathan and he simply smiled.

An excitement filled him, a chase he hadn't felt in so long. Like air being brought back into a balloon. As Mort made his way as both the driver and Nate was distracted he found himself crouching near the trunk. Searching in his pockets he realized he had no rubber bands. Now he was to improvise. What though? Mort crouched around to the side of the taxi and got around to the back door.

Lucky he still had some body pins and he fiddled around with the lock and he carefully opened the back door. He slipped in behind the driver and waited till Nathan took a seat. He closed the door carefully and only smiled.

"Hi Nathan!" he said rather excitedly.

So much for stealth, but now they were going to have a hard time getting him out of the taxi.

 

As Mel started the car up, Nathan heard a slight creak of the car. He waved it off as nothing. The car began moving and again he heard a noise. Nathan turned around to see Mort sitting in the car. How the hell...? Nathan thought.

"Hi Nathan!"

The car screeched to a stop and Mel turned in an instant to the source of the noise, a gun in his hand. He held the gun on Mort's forehead, ready to fire.

"Wait! He's with me!" Nathan yelled.

"Why didn't you tell me? It's not exactly a good idea to have a friendly hiding in the back of my car. I'm a careful guy," he said, opening a small holder in the car to reveal guns and ammunition.

"Well, I didn't exactly know he'd be tagging along."

"Right. You aren't making to much sense buddy," he said with a grin.

The car continued on without much conversation. "So, explain to me what's going on, or is that not allowed?"

"We're not entirely sure about anything other that our friend may be in danger. Possibly organ thieves."

"Uh-huh. Those organ thieves 'tacked me once. Nearly succeeded, but an officer stepped in. Creepy buggers, always remind me of them zombie movies."

Nathan remembered watching an old zombie movie when he was nine. It scared the hell out of him, he hadn't watched one again for years. Now he was facing almost the same thing. A human that didn't have the mind of a human. A human that stole organs...

The car sped through the city for a while before stopping at a traffic jam.

Nathan leaned against the window looking into the crowd of people. Cinemas, restaurants, they were all packed. A sea of faces. Nathan was about to turn away from the window when he noticed JJ. Next to him stood Trin. Nathan turned to Mel.

"How long'll we be stuck in here?"

"Looks like five more minutes at least." he replied.

"Mind if we pick up to more people?" Nathan asked.

"Sure bud. Where?"

Nathan put the window down and yelled out to JJ and Trin.

"Right here."

 

A chirp from JJ's and Trin's PDD inturrupted her before she could answer. "Carter to everyone... Something came up, I'm en route to Warehouse 12 on the docks. Back up not needed. Base, can you give me an update on how that girl I picked up is going? The rest of you... Don't ask. Under control. Carter out."

JJ looked at Trin, she looked none too pleased about the matter of fact way Carter had addressed everyone. JJ was more doubtful than pissed, though he still made a racket about it, if only to quiet her own discontent.

"What is that dumb joystick monkey up to now?" he wondered aloud. JJ tried to hail the infuriating twit over his PDD, half yelling into the mike clipped to the inside of his jacket, "Carter, this is JJ, you copy...? Carter!" but to no avail. "Damnit, rookie probably turned off his comms. What is he thinking?" Inwardly, JJ smiled. It sounded like a dumb thing to do, go off without telling anyone what you were doing. Unless you wanted people to follow you.

Trin looked at JJ blankly, brooding but she didn't betray her thoughts. Eventually she ventured, "Well...?", gesturing away from us towards where the docks were, off of our route back to Spectre's trapdoor hideout. JJ grinned and subtly checked his weapon before slipping it back in his jacket, "Seems we think alike. Let's go see what trouble he's getting into."

* * *

A few minutes later, half-jogging down the street through the press of people, passing by a jam of cars stuck almost bumper to bumper for several blocks. Unremarkable in a place such as this, the asteroid equivalent of Black Denver, the city that was built over by another city. JJ checked his PDD, only a few more blocks to go.

Suddenly, out of the unremarkable mess of mankind, JJ heard a yell. Looking around, he spotted Nathan waving at them from the window of an old green cab.

He yelled a greeting to the young man, "Oi! Pretty boy! What're you doing out here? Rounding up lost sheep too?" Approaching the cab, JJ saw two others inside, one a troll of a man puffin away at a cigar, another in the back seat, though their features were masked by the layer of smoke in the cab. Trin followed reluctantly.

 

"Oi! Pretty boy! What're you doing out here? Rounding up lost sheep too?"

JJ replied, making his way to the car with Trin not far behind.

"We're on our way to the docks. Looks like Carter has got himself into trouble, you want a lift?"

JJ and Trin had reached the door. Nathan turned to Mel and the traffic began moving. "Is there any way we can get to Warehouse 12 quicker? Any... secret routes?"

"Secret routes? Well, how desperate are you?"

"Very. One of our team could be in danger, even our whole mission."

"It'll require some pretty crazy driving, but we should be able to cut a bit off of the trip."

"Great." Nathan finished.

JJ hopped in the back. Nathan took his last moments of relaxation. Mel was good, he didn't ask many questions. Trin, on the other hand, she'd be asking about Mort. She'd want to know about Carter as well, and Nathan was her only source of information. The only person to get angry at...

He couldn't blame her. She was technically in charge of the mission, at least until Pappy showed up. She needed to know what was happening.

 

Wolf was by Akinlabi's side before he finally stood firmly again on his feet. Still dazed by the impact of the shot, while non-lethal, Akinlabi never saw where his friend emerged from. Wolf was practically invisible for several hours, only to appear again as soon as he was needed. The man had a knack for subtlety.

Akinlabi was struggling to get back up. His smuggler friend held him steadily by the hand, aiding him.

“Whoa, easy buddy, you alright? He asked quickly, but not unworried. Akinlabi nodded, his head throbbing, and attempted to convey non-verbally that he wasn't injured. Wolf talked more, but the African did not quite register fully the meaning of the sentences. The events of the previous minute ran quickly in his head. Rico Grieger. The curfew. A black shotgun -- a Peacemaker. There was a loud blast, then a brick smashed into his face. No -- it was the peacemaker. He was hit, but unharmed? He touched the left of his face with his hand, flesh touching cybernetic metal. My dead side... Did it leave a dent? Akinlabi shook his head, then hissed silently as the motion brought another headache.

“Come on pal," Wolf's words suddenly made sense again, "we’ll get you back at the safe house and all cleaned up. I tagged Rico, that will make Specter shut up for a bit.”

"Yes," Akinlabi replied, "get back."

And he followed his friend.

 

Wolf was afraid of running into another curfew enforcement team. It would be hard trying to explain what they were doing out there, and Wolf has been a BS artist for so long that trying to tell the truth would give him away.

He thought about trying to flag down a taxi or a centipede transport, but none of them would stop to pick up a passenger if they knew what was good for them, and the centipedes stopped running.

No way was Wolf gonna drag Akinlabi all the way back to the east side and risk him getting shot again. He was just going to have to call in a favor. He readied his PDD, remembered an old smuggling friend's contact information, and dialed him up.

"Wolf? What the hell---" Someone answered.

"Look, I don't have alot of time to explain. I'm at the lower west side, I've got an old friend with me that got banged up a little bit and security patrols are combing the area. You still owe me a favor if I recall correctly, I'm calling it in a bit early, and I'm sorry for doing this so suddenly, but I wouldn't if I didn't have to. After this we're even and you'll never have to worry about me calling you up in the middle of the night again."

"Dammit Wolf, I could've been on a date with a tall blonde model. I'll send a few of my guys to come swing by. Activate a signal on your PDD and they'll track you."

"Who are these guys of yours, why won't you be coming yourself?"

"I'm busy at the moment, but don't worry, you'll be in good hands."

"Fine, thanks for the favor; Wolf out."

"You bet, but after this we're even." The other voice said and terminated the call.

 

"Seems like he's forever doomed to go out looking for trouble that one. Yeah we'll ride with you, thanks."

JJ climbed into the back of the slow moving cab as Nathan spoke to the driver about shortcuts. It'd be faster to walk, he thought to himself, but JJ was more interested in answers than faster transportation. But as he sat down and was about to address his fellow officer, the grievous injury on the face of the silver haired young man caught his attention.

Now, JJ assumed that whoever Nathan was with were more help. Probably working with or for Spectre. The driver seemed sane enough, but the distant look in the eyes of this new silver haired guy begged for a check if anyone was there. Or perhaps he was an elite agent working for Spectre, hence the disconnected and hidden look. Could always use another gun in a possible firefight.

That didn't make the huge wound on the man's face any less shocking to JJ however. He made an effort to keep himself from gawking at the festering wound, thinking about where it must've come from, failing miserably, while Trin spoke to Nathan. "Who are these guys and what's going on with Carter? We haven't been able to raise him on our PDDs."

No sooner did she finish the sentence than the cab suddenly accelerated and took a sharp turn, throwing the unbelted occupants against one another in a tangled mess of limbs and yells of protest. JJ did his best to keep from being thrown around, serving as a barrier to keep the other two back seat passengers in place by bracing himself on the ceiling and floor, but after a third sudden turn, to no avail. He joined the tangle of bodies, wondering idly if this is what a bug being shaken in a tin can felt like.

 

"Who is this guy and what's going on with Carter? We haven't been able to raise him on our PDDs."

Nathan heard Trin and turned to answer her when the car turned sharply and chaos broke loose as everyone flew into each other. JJ was trying to hold Mort and Trin in place, but after the third turn, JJ couldn't hold his position. Nathan's head smashed into the passenger door as the car turned again. He tried to turn to Mel who, rather than stop the car, slammed his foot onto the accelerator, speeding down a small road. They took another, slower turn before coming to a halt outside a cafe. Nathan turned to Mel, shocked at the driver.

"What the hell was that? You could've killed us!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen. A while ago, I worked with Spectre. I didn't know much about Spectre, not even the gender, but I believe Spectre was female. Anyway, we all kept our identities hidden, often working undercover. I was trying to follow up some organ thieves which would hopefully lead me and my team to a larger group of them, possibly all organ thieves in the system. Long story short, they found out and took out the whole team minus Spectre, me and and a few others. The others managed to keep their identities hidden due to a nice little gadget, distorting their features, but mine was destroyed, showing my face to the enemy. I was told I could no longer work undercover, so I left and went to driving. After all, not many people are going to hire somebody when their only skill is spying. Unfortunately, the group of organ thieves knew this and have been hunting me down ever since. Of course, there's always a bright side. It's just a small, unprofessional group that knows about me. Anyway, I'm blabbing on. Long story short, I noticed a few of the group back there and they noticed me. If I hadn't gotten us out of there, we all would've been donating our hearts."

Nathan didn't know what to say. So much information, this guy had secrets, a past he didn't want to remember. He turned back to Trin.

"Now that we've stopped, I might quickly explain everything to you." he said before turning back to Mel. "Can you promise not to do that again without a warning?"

"I can try..."

The car began moving and Nathan tried talking to Trin. He gestured to Mort. "This guy here is Mort. He's a good guy, we can trust him. I know that my words aren't enough, but he's good," said Nathan, "just like Mel here. Everything you said is enough for you to know about him. He's a good friend of Spectre's, she recommended him. As for Carter, I don't know. The only thing I know about him is that he's on his way to Warehouse 12, the docks, where he may or may not be in trouble. Could be friends of the guy we tagged. He seemed like he had a few buddies, could be taking Carter there to find out who we are and what we're doing. That, or he just wants to torture Carter. We pissed him off at the brothel. Also, Pappy's on his way back."

The rest of the ride was in silence. Finally, the car stopped and the doors automatically opened. Mel turned to his passengers.

"OK, Warehouse 12, we've arrived. Well, actually, I parked us a small walk away, don't anyone to know we're here..." he stated.

Nathan nodded. "Everyone, stay quiet. Like Mel said, we need to keep unknown. You all got guns?"

 

Oliver´s car veered around a corner, and he tapped the pedal expertly. It wouldn´t take longer than a couple of minutes from where they were to get to the docks. Glancing to his right, he saw Carter activate his comm bead.

"Carter to everyone... Something came up, I'm en route to Warehouse 12 on the docks. Back up not needed. Base, can you give me an update on how that girl I picked up is going? The rest of you... Don't ask. Under control. Carter out."

Davis´s eyes narrowed. Who was "everyone"? He dismissed the thought as the car accelerated down a slim road. He felt the G-force of the velocity pull him into his seat.

"I am possibly the most unofficial soldier in the galaxy," Carter said, Oliver´s head tilted in his direction slightly as the Fleet man looked his way. So far, he hadn´t noticed anything "unofficial" about him, he´d been damned brave to oust the thugs in the alley. Perhaps the people he was contacting knew a thing or two about his personality that wasn´t aware of yet.

"If any of your cops ask, I'm a reliable freelancer who's an old friend of yours... Or something like that." he said, "You had probably best send someone to get that lot cleaned up. A lot of evidence here, in case this warehouse 12 thing was a load of bull****."

The detective nodded solemnly, and then smiled, "Our backup isn´t just any CPF, they´re tactical squads who´ll be covering us when the shooting starts. We´re going to try and hit the warehouse from as many angles as possible, if it is one of their main bases of operation, i´ll assume they´re armed to the teeth and ready for us. Strategically speaking, they´ll divide their forces to deal with the multiple threats, most likely panic, and we can pick them off and possibly nail some arrests. Although, the two squads will take one entrance, your coming with me for the other. You up for it, partner?"

The car screeched as the brakes strained to stop the vehicle, the question hung in the air.

 

Strangely Mort remained quiet when the new guy came. It must have been his trust issues coming out. Actually Mort was seriously trying to cover himself with his hood, to no avail other than to fail. He could sense the man's stare to his wound and he pulled his hood over his hair trying to make sure the man was no longer looking.

Suddenly the taxi cab began to be driven in a mode of crazy. People were holding on tight and holding tight grimaces. People loosely trying to control their bodies. Where as Mort completely let go and let the cab take him wherever. He didn't mind, he hadn't had this much fun in god who knows how long.

"Weeeeee!" he said as he let the chaos of the cab take him.

The taxi stopped and everyone looked like they been hassled like a chicken who had been plucked. All though the chaos of the cab did leave him a migraine. It was the good kind of migraine he enjoyed so greatly. They all huddled out of the taxi cab, looking more like a lost school of penguins rather then a couple of rag tag bad awesome dudes.

"Everyone, stay quiet. Like Mel said, we need to keep unknown. You all got guns?"

"I don't have a gun," Mort mumbled.

Mort talking wasn't pretty much a big issue though. Though at times he could get loud, for the most part he talked low enough where his voice wouldn't carry very often. Mort had this glint in his eyes though. A glint that a killer may get before the first kill they have had. His eyes became something that others hadn't yet recognized. Unsteady and yet dilated. Ready for a hunt.

"But I prefer a knife," Mort mumbled even lower than the earlier statement.

He stared at Nathan.

"Gotta dagger?" Mort asked, "Or I could alway swipe a gun off the men."

 

"I don't have a gun," Mort mumbled.

Nathan turned to the source of the low, quiet voice. Mort was a strange character, that was for sure, but they'd need as many people they could get if these people had kidnapped Carter.

Mort muttered something else, too quiet and low for Nathan to hear before speaking up a bit louder.

"Gotta dagger?" Mort asked, "Or I could alway swipe a gun off the men."

Mel spoke up. "A dagger? I'll be right back mate," he said slowly heading back to his car. He pulled a small pistol out of his pocket as he went, checking it was full. The docks were ten times more dangerous than the rest of the rock. It was dangerous to be alone and the car was quite a walk away. Nathan turned to the others. He hadn't really seen Mort in action, but Trin and JJ had shown they were powerful fighters back at the space port. The three of them would be safe.

"I'll go with Mel, we'll be back soon."

Nathan broke into a slow jog after Mel. The sky was dark and light drops of water fell onto the ground, breaking into several smaller drops on impact. Nathan stared at the puddles as he jogged, looking up only as he turned corners. He heard the yell after a couple of minutes. Nathan whipped the Stilleto out of his pocket and aimed forward, looking for Mel. Mel was at his side. The scream had come from around the brick wall they were presently up against. Another scream was heard followed by the grunts of at least eight men.
They could be armed and eight men against two wasn't good odds. A puddle had formed around the brick wall. A thud was heard and the puddle turned a slight tinge red. Nathan turned to Mel who looked him in the eye. He nodded to Nathan signalling he was ready. Nathan quickly peered around the corner and found four armed men, four unarmed. They had a woman on the ground screaming and an unconscious man slumped up against the wall with blood trailing from his hair and nose. He pulled his head back around the corner. Mel stared at him. They both had a gun in their right hands. They put up their left hands holding three fingers. Two. One. Nathan and Mel turned the corner and let off shots...

OOC: I'll finish this tomorrow, too tired now.

 

The first shot smacked into the closest man’s chest, taking him by surprise. The stiletto was silenced but at that moment, another man turned, just in time to see his colleague fall, unconscious thanks to the non-lethal rounds in the Stilleto. Not waiting for the armed man to shoot, Mel let a shot into his neck. The other six turned to upon hearing the shot. The four that had previously seemed unarmed pulled out small hidden guns while the two that remained with larger guns turned and held them up to the threat. Screams of confusion came from the men and their communication units as they randomly let off shots, not taking the time to see where their enemies were. Nathan and Mel took this opportunity to fall back behind the wall and regain their senses.
“They aren’t trained properly in combat, that’s for sure, but they’re well armed,” stated Mel.
“Any ideas on what they’re doing?” asked Nathan.
“A few,” replied Mel, “but we don’t have time to discuss.”
They turned back around and found the girl trying to crawl away in the confusion. Nathan tried to reach for her, but one of the armed men shot her and the man, killing them instantly.
“No!” Nathan let out another shot, unsure of whether he struck his target, before jumping back behind the wall. He turned to Mel who had shot a man in the leg. “They’re both dead and we will be too. They’ve outnumbered and outgunned us!”
Before Mel or Nathan could move, one man turned the corner and received a bullet to the head from Mel. “Let’s go!”
The two ran, trying to retrace their steps. Nathan listened for the footsteps and updated Mel. “There are three of them following us. If we can get back to the rest of the team, we’ll have them outnumbered and can disarm them,” he said.
Mel grunted in return before adding, “You got a communicator on you? I’d recommend giving them a warning.”
Nathan pulled his communicator out of his pocket. “JJ, Trin, Nathan here. Mel and I have some company, three armed hostiles. Not exactly sure who they are, but they’ve killed two civilians, minimum, and are on our tails. We’re on our way back to your position, if you can, try and come up behind us to take down the hostiles, we’d appreciate it!”

 

"You up for it, partner?"

I grinned at the detective a flash of ancient buddy police movies springing to mind, "Huah!"

The car pulled up in a grimy alleyway, a dozen of Olivers men and women were checking their advanced gear. I exited the car, slamming the door dramatically hoping to catch the eye of a pretty police woman who was leaning against a wall, polishing her gun.

"These are your guys Davis, I'll let you set them up," I absentmindedly said as I approached the attractive officer. She had an innocent face, with upturned lips and lively blue eyes. She made for much more enticing eye candy then the dilapidated warehouse looming over the low slums.

"Hey there," I adressed the woman in a confident tone.

She briefly looked up, smiled, then cocked her rifle, "Hi."

I leaned against the wall, and nodded my head looking around, "Pretty dodge this place. Full of undesirables and the like I'm sure. Pretty scary too... Are you scared?"

She stayed silent for a moment.

"Ever shot a gangster before?" I insisted.

She looked up at me again and smiled, "In the past five years I've worked as an officer I've helped break up four major crime rings. I've made one hundred arrests, killed thirty men, two of them in the last week," Her sweet smile didn't falter, "So to answer your first question no I'm not scared, to answer your second question, yes I've shot a good lot of gangsters and- this next question is for you by the way- how well can you walk when your balls are ripped off?"

"Your busy I can tell," I apologised beating a hasty undignified retreat.

 

I just have to accept whatever’s thrown at me, right? I just have to go with what happens so I can advance, right? Trin was trying very hard while sitting in the back of the random taxi cab that picked her up. She didn’t know half the people in the car, most of what was being said to her or argued about made really no sense, and somehow that dumbass punk Carter had managed to get himself into trouble. And no one had put this through on the comms. These people are out of their ****ing minds.

Trin gave JJ a look that told him pretty much how she felt. One of those ‘I’m furious, but certainly not at you’ looks. In all honesty, she was hoping that Carter or Brown would pull some move of insubordination and she could shoot their asses right here and now. Trin didn’t care who these other people were in the car. She was too angry to. But if I blow up here, nothing will get done. I’ll look so much worse than I already do.

The cab stopped near their supposed destination. Trin really had no idea what was going on still, but just rolled with it. She just wanted to get off this rock and be done with the games. Intelligence didn’t seem to be on the highest order in this mission.

The three other guys left them to wait at the cab as they went to investigate, which Trin just let them do as she needed a second to take in this random pile of information and events. I am going to be shot for having all this chaos happen under my direction. I’m never going to be able to lead people again. **** it, **** it all. Then she turned to JJ, “Promise me you’ll back me up at least a little when I have to report this to Gunthar or the Spectre. They’re going to tear me apart if I’m alone on this, and I know I’ll be taking the blame. I should have let you lead the others.” She shook her head, disappointed at herself. “What a ****in’ mess.”

The comms opened up with semi-frantic chatter from Brown; ****, more trouble. “JJ, Trin, Nathan here. Mel and I have some company, three armed hostiles. Not exactly sure who they are, but they’ve killed two civilians, minimum, and are on our tails. We’re on our way back to your position, if you can, try and come up behind us to take down the hostiles, we’d appreciate it!”

Trin snapped back into action and put her thoughts aside. “Fall back straight to the cab. We’ll set up defensive positions slightly ahead. Pass right by us, we’ll take out the marks tailing you.”

She looked over at JJ and motioned with a quick head motion to move out. The two ran down the dark hallway to a spot that had a hide spot on each side. “Take the left side behind that container, and don’t fire till the group passes.” Trin took a position behind a thin, but tall cylinder. She come hear them running towards her.

 

“Fall back straight to the cab. We’ll set up defensive positions slightly ahead. Pass right by us, we’ll take out the marks tailing you.”

Nathan and Mel kept moving. If it weren't for all these short roads, they'd be dead by now. "We're going to move back to your car. They'll be waiting up there. A bullet hit the wall next to Nathan's head, urging the two to run faster. They took another turn and found the road leading back up to the car. This must've been the only long road in the area, and it'd be tough to get to the cover of the car. Nathan looked up to find nobody by the car, where the hell were they? They jumped to the car, taking cover behind it and popped their heads up to see where the other three men were. They had just turned the corner and were lifting up their guns to shoot the car and anyone near it...

 

Oliver and Carter exited the vehicle simultaneously. Carter shut the car door closed, loudly, calling attention to their arrival. Davis barely gave the detective any time to speak before he one-lined to the nearest female officer, who was inspecting her rifle. Oliver gave a short laugh, and immediately went to business, approaching the first squad of six men. The sergeant who led them took a step forward.

"Detective." he said simply. Davis looked at the armor of the sergeant, segmented into black plates, underneath that pale gray fatigues and a visored helmet for headgear. The men of his squad wore similar attire.

"Sergeant." Davis replied, in equal tone.

"This is Alpha squad, the men over there," he said gesturing in the general direction of the other six, one of whom Carter had apparently failed at impressing with his swagger. "Are Beta. We´re ready and prepped for whatever kind of opposition is inside. This is your show, so, what kind of tactics are we looking at?"

Oliver stood silent for a moment thoughtfully.

"I propose the best way to tackle this is a two-pronged assault, considering the lack of intel on the organ thieves numbers, we´ll cover ground a lot easier that way." said Davis. The sergeant nodded.

"The first strike will be done by you and your teams, go in loud and keep them pinned. Me and my partner are going to swing round the back and try to capture whoever is in charge, and we´ll divide up their attention, giving you some leeway for whatever other mid-battle plans you deem fit." Oliver finished.

"Sound." the sergeant agreed, turning to his two teams, "Alright! Alpha, Beta, lets rock n´roll."

The men and women formed up quickly. Oliver waved Carter in his direction.

 

Warehouse 12

From the outside, warehouse 12 would appear to the casual civilian just another run down building on the docks. They are blissfully ignorant.

The interior was a complex of narrow hallways, leading to larger rooms that served for specific purposes. One of those, nicknamed "The Fridge", was where the street surgeons did their horrid work. They were hideous beings, their skin a fleshy pink, faces fused and twisted as if burned severely. On their backs sprouted extra, mechanical limbs that improved, slightly, their accuracy when removing the internal body parts of unfortunate victims. Crude metallic tools we´re visible in almost every pocket of the aprons they wore, some of these tools still had caked, dry blood on them. And that was just one room.

Dull blue lighting rods edged the walkways were the men, and some women, of the organ thief guild operated unmolested, shuffling in both directions hastily. They came from all walks of life, most of them off-worlders who brought with them their own styles of criminal mastery and appearance. Some sported gas masks from which interconnecting tubes travelled along their bodies, others, peculiar but advanced eyewear that gave them a variety of abilities. "Custom" was never an underused word when it came to the organ thieves conversating or bragging about their gear. All of them had weapons.

In a cargo hold, they would store organs, and large amounts of deadly addictive drugs that waited to be shipped off Ceres to whoever would pay the cold hard creds.
It was a sprawling crime empire, and business was booming.

Urick Kayle smirked darkly. Warehouse 12, and everything in it, was his. He had built this ring from the ground up, and was damned ruthless in his execution of deals and cutting out the middle men. Urick was already well informed of the imminent CPF attack on his territory. Let them come. He´d gladly welcome them into the jaws of the beast. To his side lay an M-18. The "Admonisher", and it´d make short work of anything that would walk into his sanctum. That´s if they even made it this far, through his entire force of 25+ robbers, murderers and guns for hire. He highly doubted.

* * *

The Sergeant placed the charge on the door. 3 seconds. He looked away. It detonated in a flash of white and sparks. Alpha and Beta squads, weapons shouldered and level, melted through the doorway.

* * *

In the rear of the edifice, on an entirely different side then the CPF troopers, Oliver glanced back at Carter. Now was their chance. The detective unholstered his pistol, and planted a savage kick on the door.

 

I couldn't stop grinning, I felt like such a badass. Oliver booted the door in, a shower of splinters flecked my skin as I burst through. The UEAF trained their soldier's well. Three stun rounds equalled three criminal writhing around clutching their bloodied stomachs. Room clear. The room was a simply back entrance, with a security desk, and a couple of rusted filing cabinets, poorly illuminated by a swaying light bulb. There were two doors leading away from the room. I swiftly disarmed the thugs, and looked back at Davis.

"Hey Oliver, forgive me if I start spouting cop one liners. Erm, you wouldnt understand, its an earth thing," He looked at one of the moaning organ thieves, "You have the right to remain silent mother****er. OH BOY THAT WAS FUN!!!"

Still laughing, I gestured for Oliver to take the far door, whilst I quietly opened the near door, and silently moved down it's length. Erotic posters of skimpily clad woman did their best to distract me, but voices carried over from the next door along the hallway.

"I tell ya, thems were gunshots!"

"Well then you check em out! I gotta get the slush outta this 'un while she's still clean..."

"Oh that one sure as **** weren't clean... She moaned like a whore, and sucked like a vacuum..."

I gritted my teeth to the sounds of cackling, and sickening sound of flesh being slit. I opened the door a crack. Two men. One operating on a corpse, on a table. The other was lazily pacing back and forth watching the street surgeon intently. Easy prey.

I pushed my rifle through the door first, and opened fire on the merc. He dropped like a very screamy sack of potatoes. The surgeon whirled around, his disfigured face spread into a menacing smile. Sharpened yellowed teeth jutted out like stalagtites behind his sallow lips. His skin was ruptured with various clumsy mechanical enhancements, the most noticeable of which was a retractable mechanical arm, sprung from just above his wrist. It's spindly mettallic fingers were coiled around a surgical knife. Gore was slowly dripping from its edge. The man disgusted me in every way.

"Boss said you was coming... why you come eh? Hehehe... People need these organs... more then her... hehehehe... your a handsome one... a fine looking... hehehe specimen," The mans voice was hoarse and grated on my ear drums.

"Drop the knife."

"Hehehe.... No..."

"I know what your thinking, did he fire 5 shots, or 6-"

"I wasn't thinkin-"

"Just shut up and roll with it... where was I? Oh yeah, well in the excitement, I kinda lost track myself. So you gotta ask yourself one question; Do I feel lucky-"

"What?"

"Well do ya? Punk."

"Hehehe.... Your a funny... one....I want to see... how your brain works..."

I didn't give him the chance, I plugged him in the leg, then broke his jaw with the butt of my gun.

"Davis, someone told me they knew we were coming. You might wanna warn your men," I spoke into my communicator.

I was about to leave, before a grisly curiosity overcame me. I turned back, and approached the corpse on the table, the viscera glistening under the sharp lighting. I walked around, and looked at her face. She was beautiful. Her face held an angelic beauty, if her torso wasn't open with her intestines dangling to the floor, she could have simply been sleeping. I noticed a wallet in a surgical tray, a peeling pink sticker of a flower personalising it's surface. I opened it, and saw a photo of the woman on the table beaming wildly, her arms around the shoulders of who I could assume her father and mother. A little sister was in the corner desperately trying to cram herself into the photo. A boy of roughly ten years of age was giving the girl bunny ears behind her back.

A rage consumed me, its way paved by the brief glimpse into this girls idyllic life. I turned around, and shoved the picture into the surgeons face, "Look at this... LOOK AT THIS YOU PIECE OF ****!"

Bleary eyed he looked up, and merely laughed. I smashed his face in, blood smeared my knuckles but I didn't care, I wanted to hurt this worm. I pounded him again and again, until his body was limp in my arms. I stood up, teeth bared and armed my gun with lethal rounds. The wounded guard was barely conscious, but managed to raise a quaking arm when he realised his fate.

"No..."

"Beg for mercy... I want you TO BEG!" I pressed the barrel against his head, "LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO THAT GIRL! BEG ****ER BEG!!!!"

He did beg, he soiled himself, and begged, and when he was done, his splattered brains mingled with the surgeons blood. I stormed out of the room, returning to where me and Oliver entered. The three guards were incapacitated, and I systematically shot each in the head. When they were dead, I let out a cry of frustration, and rested against the wall.

 

As soon as they had breached, Carter had made short work of three men. They whined in pain from the accurate stun rounds. Carter took away their weapons, and looked back at the detective.

"Hey Oliver, forgive me if I start spouting cop one liners. Erm, you wouldnt understand, its an earth thing," he said, Oliver didn´t mind, as long as he got the job done.

Carter whipped back towards a sprawled criminal "You have the right to remain silent mother****er. OH BOY THAT WAS FUN!!!" he yelled, Oliver laughed, Carter was military, not a cop like him. I won´t rain on his parade, Oliver thought.

Carter, his laughter not yet subsiding, sneakily began opening the door nearest him. Then the UEAF soldier curtly signalled Oliver to the far door. Back to work then. Oliver complied, splitting up could be dangerous, but the detective didn´t doubt his partners´ability. He went over to the entrance, posting up against the wall, and slowly edged open the door, the nose of his pistol poking in ahead.

Noone. Oliver walked in, checking both sides of the hallway with snap-aim movements. He couldn´t hear any shooting coming from Carter´s side, so he figured they were both making some distance. Then he heard frantic footsteps, and from more than one pair of feet.

Oliver dropped to one knee just as the three men turned the corner.

"Stay right there!" the detective demanded. The three men looked at each other, laughed, and then flashed out assault rifles. Oliver´s eyes widened in surprise, but he leapt sideways back into another room to his right, dodging what would´ve been a short and bloody demise and bullets stitched out holes along the walls. The three mercs raced down the hallway after him. The first criminal to come into the room was halfway in when Oliver slammed the door, there was an audible crack, and the man yowled.

Turning, the detective ran behind a table in the center of the room, upturning it for a slightly better defensive position. He rested the pistol on the edge of it, focussing down the iron sights. The other two men kicked the door off its hinge, and began spraying lead. One bullet seared past Oliver´s ear, but the detective didn´t flinch. He shot three times. Two of those missed and smacked into the wall, kicking up chips and dust. The last bullet punched a neat hole in the nearest criminals wrist, and he dropped the weapon painfully.

Oliver let go of his pistol and jumped up, rolling over the cover of the table and retrieved the M-22, and on full auto, dispatched the final man. He breathed heavily, all of that had occured in little more than a minute, and he felt drained, and the adrenaline in his system made his heart pump fiercely in his chest. He was alive.

* * *

Alpha squad had lost one trooper, but the crime ring body count was already at a dozen, mangled corpses. The Sergeant swore under his breath, and with quick commands led Alpha and Beta further into the complex. The close quarters fighting wasn´t difficult, but their lack of knowledge of the general layout of the building made it easy for them to be caught off guard or flanked. They had to keep going.

"Go." the sergeant said gruffly, and they breached another room, guns live.

 

The men fell in a hail of bullets, ripped apart. Nathan and Mel got up from their cover to find Trin, JJ and Mort come out from theirs.

Nathan rushed over to the rest of the team with Mel breaking the silence.
"OK, who the hell were they? Some organization you UEAF guys are tracking down?"

"I was hoping you might be able to answer that..." replied Nathan.

Mel inspected one of the bodies. "Looks like they might be..." The rest of the team watched him as he pulled out a small ID card from the man's body. "****. Organ thieves... Same organization that wants me... This must be their new little hiding spot..."

The team headed back to Mel's car, took as much ammo as they could manage and were on their way back to Warehouse 12 when they heard it.

The explosion was nearby, coming from Warehouse 12. The yells of trained men and women were heard in the distance. The team looked to each other for clues as to what was happening, all receiving nothing.

Nathan spoke up. "Does it seem like a coincidence that Carter's in trouble, organ thieves are here and there's an explosion at Warehouse 12? Carter could be in trouble, we're gonna get him out. I'll take the back entrance, anyone who wants to come with me, feel free. The rest of you, try to cause mayhem. Nathan ran off to the back door bursting in. He found a familiar face, exhausted and slumped up against a wall, dead bodies around him.

"Carter!"

***

Mel looked to the remaining team, "I've got some... business to take care of. If you make it out, take my car, good luck, see you soon," he said. He ran off to one of the side entrances, eagerly awaiting the battle.

When he arrived, the floors were littered with bodies. Mel heard a shuffling behind him and whipped around to find bloodied man crawling towards him, disbelief in his eyes, as though he couldn't believe what was happening. Mel raised his gun and put the man out of his misery. To his right, he could hear gunfire and shouts. Best steer clear of that. He had one target and pone target only, anyone else was just a bonus.

He burst through a door to find a man with bodies of organ thieves around him. Any enemy of organ thieves was a friend of his. He examined the man, a detective.

"Don't shoot! I'm good, I hate these guys just as much as you!"

 

Oliver checked the magazine for the assault rifle. A little less than half, that should do for now. The walls around were pecked with mini craters of gunfire, and the thieves corpses pooled more blood. Oliver's head snapped to attention as someone barged through the door. He pressed the stock of the rifle to his shoulder, finger attentively hovering over trigger.

"Don't shoot! I'm good, I hate these guys just as much as you!"

He had almost fired. But didn't. The weapon lowered, slightly, the detective not fully convinced. Yet, the man seemed truthful. He still wanted answers.

"Convenient," Oliver said warily, "This raid is operating under the authority of the CPF, and you don't look familiar. Who do you work for?"