Selective Memory

[Arage Bao]

[member="Elias Truden"]

Whilst Kimberly was being the pro-active do-gooder he was trying to be, I did a little bit of experimentation of my own. Mostly involving the computer systems of the doc himself, nothing all too interesting here though. A couple of private messages here and there, nothing incriminating or that could tell us where the fether had gone though- smart guy, no complete wiping of the drive; just enough to make it impossible for us to trace him without raising all kinds of red alerts on the network.

Turned around to see what Kimberly was talking ‘bout, some kind of locked compartment. Huh. A couple of looks around didn’t provide a key, doubted he would be stupid enough to leave the important key laying around just like that though. So I shrugged and did the following.

Pulled out my blaster, took aim and shot once, twice, thrice… and whatcha now. Suddenly the locker wasn’t a problem anymore.

‘Yeah.’ I answered him. ‘Got your key right here.’

Smirk aside I nodded towards the compartment.

‘What we got there?’

Really doubted we would be able to find anything of use, but ya never know with these brilliant types. Sketchy characters, one moment they are geniuses and the next they leave an obvious clue in the bottom drawer.

 

[Asher]

I would have used the blaster too had it not been for the potential fragility of the contents of this very drawer. The drawer shrieked as the hinges began to provide resistance. Light shone into it and provided the light necessary for the two of us to see the emptiness within. There was nothing in there, nothing except that one solitary lockbox.

I picked it up and placed it on the desk. The look of it made it seem so incredibly unspectacular, a wooden box with a lock. Except the locking mechanism was wry, locked before the lock had fully fallen back into place. Perhaps whoever last used this was in a hurry. Stress nagging at the back of my mind a flung the lid open.

There was a datacard, but to what?

“A datacard?!” I picked it up. I clenched my fist, raised it to cover my mouth. Shakes and shivers, a guttural scream, a panicked move as rage come unfurled. I picked up the box and tossed it at the wall. “What good is a fething datacard in finding this- this-”

The longest, bitterest exhale parted me as I leaned over the desk again. “I am going to kill him.” Both hands planted on the cold metal I wanted nothing but to set fire to the whole apartment, send the man a message in case he got away. But he hadn’t, and he wouldn’t. My eyes caught sight of a socket, a vertical line perfect for the cylindrical form of the card.

Quickly jamming it into the reader the lights dimmed, the doors locked while a holographic screen burst forth from the desk lending it’s blue glow to all within reach. Documents, mails and images. An (apparently) X-rated folder dubbed ‘4ltr’. A quick browse was enough. It was the first time I was introduced to Gran fetishism. A world I could have lived happily without knowing of.

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” I looked over at [member="Caden Cadell"]. “This mail says they’re meeting at a place not too far from here in case his previous employer, that's me, got any funny ideas.”

I pointed at the screen. “You know of this place?”

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Elias Truden"]

Mental pictures of Gran tentacles digging themselves into places that I didn’t even know exist aside, there was useful information in here, most of it came down to the particular location that the doc had apparently been dragged away to when we weren’t looking. It were coordinates mostly, and a general outline of how to get there, but I didn’t just magically know what this was all about just like that though.

Punched a few buttons on my wrist computer and jerked my head towards the door, a sign for Truden to follow ahead. The computer would touch base with Irani and ask him for more information on the coordinates, might be his intelligence could quickly find out what we would be up against.

One thing was for sure, that little peashooter of Kimberly wouldn’t do a damn thing wherever we were going.

‘We will need to properly equip ya.’ was said over my shoulder. Point was that Kimberly weren’t no Mister Irani, maybe Darell could afford running around in a business tux with a big cannon in his hands, but that guy was crazy.

And made of sterner stuff than the lad who was running behind me to catch up. Would probably take me a while before I had built him up to watch Irani needed.

Wonder if the cash will be worth it.

 

[Asher]

I took the hint and followed. The man had his part of the operation and I had mine. Granted, my part of the operation felt a bit lacking compared to the big guy’s. He had the guns, intimidating look and armor. To put it into perspective I felt like a raindrop to his waterfall. He had force and pull, I had neither. It was a perfect team that complemented each other.

“Just exactly what kind of trouble are we expecting here?” The question had to be asked. As much as it made me feel like an idiot I had to know. Darell had hired the man for a reason though whether to function support or outright babysit me wasn’t something I was aware of yet. Truth be told I didn’t really want to know that part of the equation either.

I patted at the blaster on the inside of my coat. An understandably underperforming choice, but a sidearm that had been with me for the last few years nonetheless. Hadn’t given it a name, I wasn’t that in love with it, but it certainly had sentimental value.

For a second I paused to think. [member="Caden Cadell"] didn’t return the favor and I had to run to catch up.

“So are we talking armor, secondaries and primaries, grenades and decoys. Or just, you know, better equipment overall?”

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Elias Truden"]

Couldn’t help but sigh just a little bit, before halting in my strut. We weren’t really in a rush right now anyway, we had the coordinates- sure, but I ain’t no Irani who had some magical shield that kept him from any harm. If I dropped into a situation with a single pod and this guy on my back, I better be sure to know what we were going to get ourselves into, so at this point I was content to wait it out until we got better intelligence on what it was that would be protecting the doc from us.

So I turned around, put my armored gauntlet on Kimberly’s shoulder and looked him right in the eye with my amber-colored cybernetic eyes. Yes, even that was an enhancement I had gotten for myself, ya couldn’t run out without ‘em these days.

‘Truden, let me be honest with you.’ I wouldn’t be very honest with him, the last thing he needed was to know that I was really just babysitting him while evaluating his ability to adapt to a steadily more excruciating experience. ‘Your gear is lacking majorly, you will need armor- medium at the very least, assault rifle maybe, a good shotgun at the very least. A few nades, helmet… yeah, definitely important.’

Took another look at the guy. I doubted he could even wear medium armor without falling to the side, but I’d rather have him crawl behind me like a turtle, than to be riddled with holes the first second we step outta the transport.

‘You have any experience with shooting a rifle? Or is the peashooter the only expertise you got?’

This might be the most important part, I didn’t have the time to take him through the normal course, so if he was clueless I’d have to improvise. Maybe give him a crash course lesson on how to pull the trigger and generally deal with recoil.

Let’s hope for the best.

 

[Asher]

Hand on my shoulder, honesty to be appreciated. Lacking gear, medium armor, assault rifles and shotguns. By the sound of it we were going to war, an army of two. At least if we overplayed my participation. I had never worn armor. I had carried it, but I had never worn it. There had never really been the opportunity to do so when your job consisted mostly of pushing papers and pencils. Even when said pencils belonged to the military councilor.

“I know how to use a rifle.” That much was true though. “You don’t spend years as the assistant to the High Councilor of Military Affairs without practicing your aim every now and then.” Even if said councilor never seemed to pick them up themselves. I chuckled. “I know, an overly fancy title. It’s an occupational hazard.”

The task at hand was still more important than cracking jokes though. “Soft arms, steady footing and finger off the trigger, I know the deal.” Somewhat. “Never been one for grenades thought.”

[member="Caden Cadell"]

 

[Arage Bao]

Political function, more than the literal one. The High Council had turned into a mockery of its former functionality right around the time the Fringe suddenly decided to turn into some kind of democracy, never was a meritocracy anyway though. The ones with the power kept the remnant display of powers exactly where they wanted them to be, doubted the girl even knew what she was being pushed at.

That’s only the rumors, of course. I wasn’t around these parts when all this shet went down, but ya always hear those whispers, people liked to talk and I liked to listen, best way to figure out where yare getting yourself into.

Anyway, I gave him a nod. This would be just a little bit easier if he actually knew how to shoot a rifle, turned around and returned to walking down the hallway. We would catch the elevator back to the hangars and gear up in the transporter.

I probably had something in his size, hopefully.

‘I will do the nades, then.’ took a few ponderings and then I asked him, who would know better than the kid who used to do her groceries? ‘What do ya think of the ol’ High Councilor of Military affairs?’

[member="Elias Truden"]

 

[Asher]

What did I think of the old Military Affairs councilor? Well, it was hard to say, we knew each other since way back but even then it was hard to truly put my mind around her, or him. It was a difficult person, a difficult situation. Perhaps the best word to use, as I had so many times before, was uncertainty. I was uncertain what to make of it. The rumors of what she had done all those years ago, the details weren’t relayed to me, but considering her exile had lasted for as long as it had I could only assume the worst.

"She or he was an odd type. We go way back but it would seem not far enough.” I shook my head. “I know she had to escape something, and I know it involved a former lover or similar. Lord Cordel knows where she is, but he never shared the detailsand if I am supposed to be honest...”

I sighed, honesty was that precious commodity I shouldn’t have just handed out freely like this. “I am amazed she got the job. She was a hotspot of emotion and I mean, yeah, she could organize things but I always figured a person of Military Affairs would have some actual time invested in the Military. As in you know, military service.”

“So call it mixed emotions.” I shrugged as a follow up. “She was a seemingly kind girl, but still the wrong person in the wrong place.”

[member="Caden Cadell"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Elias Truden"]

Heh. Ain’t that one hella of a way to put it, didn’t disagree at any of the points though. What he said was mostly what the rumors had whispered back in the day, cold rumors now of course. The gal had been long outta sight and people’s memories was the foggiest when it comes to shet like that.

‘Ain’t that the truth.’ I finally said as we sat down in the transport, and I started picking out the proper gear for the guy. Didn’t really have anything to add for the moment, it was just important that they would get Truden the good stuff that would fit and not turn him into an useless turtle.

While Elias would try out the different assortment of stuff, I started communicating with Ty’rel Intelligence. Weren’t really called that, but ya had to reference them somehow, no? Anyway, soon my augmented reality suite was filling in with all kinds of details and information.

Well, feth.

We were going to assault a fecking citadel, took another look at the kid and was just really happy the boss was paying me royally for these kind of jobs. Besides, it would give me one hell of a story to tell later on and that’s all that matters, no?

 

[Asher]

It was a bit like window shopping, except I wasn’t getting the items I wanted save for the sweet rifle. A piece of armor was passed my way and even though it was a bit of an uneven fit I still found a way to operate in it. Maybe movement found itself hindered somewhat and maybe the weight of it was a little bit more cumbersome than I expected but hey, it came with the job. At least technically, this operation felt a bit like an one-off.

I equipped the armor and put the helmet on. The HUD lit up in my face. and if the data was to be believed there was just the one thing to say. “I think we both know why I was teamed up with you here.”

I would be dead had I solo’d this one. The idea had popped into my mind, I wasn’t gonna lie, but a fresh batch of sanity washed over me. Would be interesting to see the man at work and just maybe I wouldn’t prove too much of a liability.

“So do we have a plan? Full frontal or do we go in through the backdoor?” No, I did not realise what I had just said. “Is there even room for a plan here?”

[member="Caden Cadell"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Elias Truden"]

I grunted as ideas mulled through the mind, had this been a movie, a Casino Royal flick than we simply would have been able to find some kind of backdoor or even know of it already. Get in from the back and take ‘em unaware, but we ain’t got the time for that, time was on the clock and it wouldn’t be long before the doc was outta our reach and with him the data that was fething important.

No, there ain’t no chance of backdoors and sneaky entrances. We would have to do this outside of the book, full frontal assault and hopefully get some outside support to keep most of the heat looking from us. Then we might have a chance to pulling this off without getting killed in the progress.

‘No plan, kid.’ I said, between finishing the report and requesting for backup from Irani. The man hadn’t ever been cheap with his money, I was sure he wouldn’t be against giving me some extra men who could keep the heat off of us.
Hopefully.

‘We go in hard, hope they will be too surprised to see us coming. Might pull it off, if we play it ruthless enough.’ gave him another look. ‘You sure you are up for this?’

 

[Asher]

Brute forcing the front door and hoping for the best. I couldn’t say I liked the plan but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I gave the equipment a few final lookovers. Had no expectations of success nor failure at this point, it boiled down to whether the man would get away with it or not. A look at [member="Caden Cadell"] gave me a confidence boost on the matter but that still weighed heavy on whether I’d pull my own weight in this.

I wouldn’t want the man to perform all of the work after all.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Either I failed and died or I failed and died later. Really, my options weighed heavy on success. “As long as I let you do most of the ‘talking’ we should be fine. Just point me in a direction and I’ll go.”

Oversimplifying a man’s work, putting oneself under another. Some habits really did die hard. It was all part of project planning. Guns, armor and nades were part of warfare and, well this. I was built for the former and we both knew it.

I readied myself for the ship to arrive. Nothing spelled preparation like the quiet before the storm, right?

It was an honest self-reflection, I had no idea.