Mercenaries’ Tale – 4.08 Scouting
By the time the boys awoke, Kate had already been up for an hour. She’d showered and had borrowed Julia’s digibook to check the news feeds. A quick check of the barmaid’s feed history only led to a few videos of makeup tutorials, some blogs about celebrity gossip and some forums revolving around life in Polaris. Nothing suspicious that Kate could see. She decided to leave the device behind the bar before the blonde had a reason to suspect it had been temporarily pilfered.
Once the boys had cleaned up and Doug had served them all a breakfast of Megaloaf™1 and kippers – the soldier apologising throughout over how crap the Polaris diet was – the trio ventured out into the world to acquire some transport. An hour later and they were walking through the small town of Canyon Forest. It wasn’t much different from the town they had left besides the abundance of fir-trees that encircled the town. The architecture still mostly consisted of log cabins with the only concrete establishments being associated with the governance of the town, a visitor centre and town archive having been built at the town’s entrance on this side of the valley. The mercenaries abandoned their little car a mile out of town, behind some snowdrifts and entered via the backstreets so that they could avoid any officials wanting to see their work papers.
They were reaching the opposite end of town when Dog decided he needed to sate his curiosity.
“I gotta ask, Red, ‘cus it’s driving me round the twist: how come you, ms Practical, still have your hat on?”
Kate glanced up at the brim of her hat like a naughty child that had been caught cheating on a test.
“Ah. Right. It’s a bit of a story…”
“I’m all ears,”
“Well, my dad was always a western nut. He loved the aesthetic. He liked strutting around the ranch as if he was a proper cowboy and not a mad Irishman. So, one year, my brothers and I bought him a hat not too dissimilar to this one. His face when he opened the box…it’s my fondest memory of him…”
“So you bought that hat to remind you of your dad?”
“Pretty much. You probably think I’m silly…”
“Nah,” he reached down his shirt to retrieve his dogtags- a difficult feat considering how many layers he was wearing. Once free, he showed Kate the two sets of tags, the second pair having the name “Trent Galvison” engraved on them.
“Oh! Right! I remember noticing you had two sets back in Galmanoc!”
“It’s nice to have something to remember those we lost by. I still carry a picture of my mum in my wallet too,” Doug smiled sympathetically at her.
“I only really have this hat and an old newspaper clipping reporting on the fire. Practically speaking, I should have left the hat in the apartment. Negates the point of a new alias if I look the same as I do on the wanted posted…” she sighed sadly. Doug watched her for a moment before a spark of inspiration hit.
“Here’s an idea, let me just…” Kate stood stock still as Doug, standing directly in front of her, reached behind her head and let her hair down for her. Rough curls slipped down, just past her shoulders. Her hair was a dark rust colour but as the wind caught her locks, the sun hit them in such a way that it highlighted the orange and blonder strands. For a moment it looked like her hair was on fire, the sight of it rendering Doug breathless.
“What’s wrong?” Kate asked as she ran a hand through her hair in a half-hearted effort to brush out the kinks. It wasn’t much of a disguise but at least she looked a little different from her poster…
Doug broke into a grin, the spell broken.
“You look like a million Kronz!” Kate looked at him sceptically for a moment before flashing him a playful smirk.
“Yeah? Too rich for you. Come on, the spot’s just round the corner here,” she took him by the hand, leading him onwards. The soldier, still feeling a little peculiar in himself due to the familiarity of Kate’s appearance, caught sight of Gratin staring at them, a knowing smile on his lips.
Don’t you bloody say a word, he thought on the off chance that Gratin was listening in. If he was, he didn’t reply although Doug could swear that Gratin’s smile widened…
“The Spot” was hidden down an alley between a residential cabin and one containing a barber shop. The alley was a thin stretch of land barely wide enough for a single person to venture down, the trio being forced into an awkward sideways shuffle as they proceeded down it. Beyond the alley was a collection of fir trees lined up along the top of a very steep slope. Doug and Kate carefully wandered to the edge of the plateau to better inspect just how steep the slope was.
“I reckon I could make it down that…” Doug muttered as he took in the 45 degree angle. There was the occasional snow covered outcropping but for the most part it looked possible to skid down.
Kate let go of Doug’s hand and rummaged around inside her pocket, retrieving her rifle’s scope which she proceeded to use to observe the compound far below.
The Genetix complex was made up of a central hub and five wings; one to the north that ended in a glass dome half covered in snow, plant life just about visible behind the uncovered portions of glass; one looking to be some manner of warehouse to the north-east; another to the south-east that was could only be described as an enormous warehouse with a tower sticking out of the roof, a docking bay with a couple of lorries and an aircraft situated outside of it; one to the south ending in what could only be described as a concrete silo the size of an apartment block; and finally a wing to the west that had the appearance of a more stereotypical office block. Each wing was connected by lines of corridors that looked rather like a simplistic spider web from above.
After a moment, she handed the scope to Doug.
“Looks like it’s fairly sizeable. Fence just looks like a chain-link though,” she said as he began taking in the details.
“Electrified,” he agreed as he spotted bright yellow signs depicting a lightning bolt hung up on every sixth section of fencing. He turned his attention to the entrance of the compound. The gate looked far sturdier, it being comprised of steel. A pair of watchtowers framed the gate, the opening big enough to allow a couple of trucks to pass through side-by-side, a guard hut in the middle of the road that controlled the gates. Doug could see a pair of individuals inside each watchtower, the centre closed off to the elements with a walkway encircling it. Doug handed the scope back to Kate.
“You think that glass is bullet proof?” he pointed to the towers with his bionic arm, Kate looking through the scope.
“Hard to tell from here but logically, if they aren’t willing to pay for a sturdier fence, then I would say no. Looking at how they’re positioned, I think they’re more worried about keeping things inside the compound rather than attacks from outside forces,” she reasoned. Doug was inclined to agree if only because the spotlights he could see fixed to the towers were all pointed towards the buildings rather than at the world outside Genetix’s boarders.
“Makes you wonder what they want to keep in so bad, huh?” he couldn’t help but smile in anticipation, visions of the action movies of his youth depicting mad scientists and the abominations they created fluttering through his mind. Kate was less enthused, her expression tensing as she spied some guards patrolling inside the grounds. They had worryingly large machine guns strapped to their backs and were clad in armoured suits. They weren’t quite as well armoured as the Salmanic security had been but they were still better kitted out than your average security guard.
“I don’t think it’s going to be anything good. Not a lot of security out in the open from what I can se-” she paused, the sensation of being watched prickling down her spine. A hand came to rest on a holstered pistol as she wheeled around, ready to face whatever had sneaked up on them.
A large snowy owl was perched on the roof of the barber’s cabin. Its head rotated to give her a sideways look, Kate beginning to feel a little foolish.
The boys had also turned to prepare to defend themselves from whatever had spooked their friend but were somewhat confused by what they found. After a moment’s awkward pause, Doug began to laugh heartily.
“Hoot have thought you’d be so scared of a little bird, Red?” he quipped, tears in his eyes.
“Something felt off…” she mumbled, her hand slipping away from her weapon.
“It’s ok love, owl protect you from the critters!” the puns only made Kate grumble to herself, the red head’s cheeks nearly as red as her hair. Gratin focused on the bird, the mage taking context clues from Doug’s jokes to work out what was in front of them.
“Are owls not nocturnal? I thought you said it was nine in the morning when we left?” this gave Doug pause, the soldier lowering his eyewear for a better look at the bird.
“Huh, yeah. That’s kinda weird…” he scratched his chin in thought, “guess Polaris owls had to adapt to the sun being out all the time, right?”
“It seems quite tame. A pet perhaps?” reasoned Gratin. The owl let off a soft hoot, another bird landing next to it and replying with a hoot of its own. Doug shrugged in reply, scanning the skyline for more feathered friends.
“Maybe? At least you’ll have company while we’re away,”
“Yes, I am sure their sense of humour will be an improvement on yours at any rate,”
“Ouch, Archie, that one got me right in the funny bone!” Doug turned to Kate, who still looked uncomfortable as she rubbed her arms, her eyes never leaving the owls, “you happy enough to go to the ammo place? Don’t think we’re gonna learn much more from up here…” The gunslinger snapped herself out of her thoughts, took one last glance towards the compound below and nodded.
“…Yeah, you’re probably right. Will you be alright up here?” she turned to Gratin who had already took up a sitting position in the air, the wall of trees obscuring him from the compound below.
“I will be fine. Good luck with your shopping trip,”
“The place is called “Icepick’s” right? We’ll probably need a bit of luck to find something that ain’t supposed to be in a hardware store…” Doug japed, his shoulders bobbing nonchalantly. He and Kate began the trek to their next destination, Gratin focusing his attention on the compound below and the guards he could sense circling it. Behind him, a third owl landed on the roof, all three intently watching the mage.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
Inside Genetix’s central hub was a darkened room three stories high with various computer terminals lining the walls. Suspended above the floor was a series of metal gangways leading to a suspended glass chamber that housed an office. This was the inner sanctum of the Alexendretta Sisters. The floor below was full of working individuals monitoring various experiments, each one too engrossed in their work to pay attention to the sanctum above their heads.
The aforementioned sisters were perched on a simple leather sofa in the centre of their glass chamber, a multitude of holographic monitors floating in the air around them. Each one displayed a whole host of data; results from various tests enacted throughout the last 24 hours that had been submitted for review, spreadsheets listing the many budgetary requests and accounting information for the business, and papers written by the researchers employed in the company that were waiting for approval. There were also several news feeds open reporting on the Salmanic Power Plant attacks, broadcasts intending to inform the average citizen of who the perpetrators supposedly were, some lesser seen stories about some arsonists travelling the country who attacked a travel agency and a small diner.
Perfectly in sync, the two women reached for a cup of tea resting on coffee tables either side of their sofa, raised the cups to their mouths and took a sip. They were part way through reading the profile of one of their employees that recently terminated their contract of employment when a new holographic window blinked into existence in front of them. This one displayed a video call from their head of security.
“Sorry to disturb you Ma’ams, but we have news on GR4-71N,” the grizzled man in the pristine Genetix uniform announced. There was a nasty scar down the right side of his face, his eye a milky blue where the jagged old wound intersected it.
“The sentries have spotted him here in Polaris, in Forest Canyon,” he could be seen swiping on his own screen, a second window opening within his original displaying the trio of mercenaries standing on the edge of the gorge, staring down at the Genetix compound below them. The sisters watched as Kate spun around, looked directly at the camera with a hand on her pistol only to become confused at whatever she was looking at, the boys following suit. The sisters shared a glance as what they were observing sunk in.
“Oh! How,”
“Curious!” the sisters responded in genuine surprise, “Subject GR4-71N has come,”
“Home of its own accord. That certainly makes,”
“Our plans easier to,”
“Fulfil,” the Security Officer nodded. He had worked for the sisters for most of his adult life at this point but he still found the way they constantly finished each other’s thoughts and sentences to be incredibly unnerving.
“Of course Ma’ams. How would you like me to proceed? I can have a team ready to intercept in ten minutes-”
“That won’t,”
“Be necessary, Captain,”
“Barnes. Clearly it intends to,”
“Come to us. We say let it,”
“You want us to apprehend GR4 and it’s friends in the facility?”
“We wish to,”
“Lay a trap. A full confrontation with these three,”
“Could become messy. We recommend separating,”
“Them first. From what intel we gathered at,”
“The Power Plant, it seems they are an incredibly,”
“Cohesive group. We do not wish for a repeat of,”
“Our last altercation.”
“Certainly Ma’ams. That should be simple enough. Would you–” he paused as a beeping sound came from his waist. He lifted his personal communicator and frowned.
“Hmm, it appears our guest is becoming agitated. He would like a word with you, Ma’ams,” the Captain informed them.
“Yes, we rather thought,”
“He might. Make arrangements to contain the mercenaries, we shall,”
“Meet with our guest of honour. Thank you,”
“Captain,” they smiled identical smiles at the man on the screen, who merely nodded before hanging up.
1Megaloaf™ is a popular product amongst doomsday preppers and survivalist fanatics. They swear it tastes of and has all the benefits of bread whilst having a shelf life of several decades. In actuality, it tastes chalky and smells faintly of mushrooms.
Post by Sam | December 3, 2022 at 12:01 am | The Mercenaries' Tale | No comment
Tags: Animal Sentries, Blaise, Doug McCracken, Forest Canyon, Frozen Bluffs, Genetix, GR4-71N, Gratin, Icepick's Arms Emporium, Julia, Kate O'Donnell, Neon Arachnid, Polaris, The Alexandretta Sisters, the Mercs