Justyce
Admin Dude of Awesomeness
Posts: 317
|
Post by Justyce on Apr 27, 2021 20:37:44 GMT -6
~*Chihuahuan Desert 80 miles south of the US Border*~
The whole situation wouldn’t have gotten out of hand with the portion of the cartel had they just not ripped off the shipment of weapons they had already paid the toll to the right people to move the weapons. That would have been bad enough but they also destroyed the vehicle and and left their driver to walk back. He was dehydrated and that is what caused them to call a man they had dubbed Specter. He cost a lot of money but he was worth it.
That situation ended with them recovering all the weapons and as payback taking the toll money back in a portion of the drugs they found at the place they found the weapons. This caused the cartel to contact them and demand the person responsible and their drugs. The counter proposal was that they go to hell and the drugs are what they lost to replace the vehicle that was destroyed. The argument went back and forth until a second option was presented and that was their contractor. He was solid and had given them reasons to pay his rates depending on the job. They made the call and secured his services. The true challenge would be making the cartel and other cartels respect them and if they had to turn their next bunch of people to ash to make that happen it would be done.
“Alright let’s go and get our guns and let them k ow exactly why taking our hardware is a very costly idea. Send Specter the coordinates of where we need him. Ensure you deposit half of his fee up front or he won’t show which screws us.”
It was them they ended up 80 miles south of the shared border of Texas and Mexico in the desert waiting for the cartel contact to show up.
|
|
|
Post by kaynemorgenstern on Apr 28, 2021 6:56:05 GMT -6
In the few short months since his escape from the Silent Citadel, Kayne had made quite a name for himself in the criminal underworld. He had earned the respect of those who contracted his services, and the fear of those he'd been employed against. The cartels and locals referred to him as "Espectro." He was a ghost, silent and unseen until it was too late. Untouchable. The moniker "Specter" stuck, and he rolled with it. The more difficult it was to tie him to his real identity, the better.
The coordinates he'd received from his latest contract landed him in the middle of the desert. Dressed in the appropriated military fatigues common among the cartels, he stepped out of the tan Jeep and approached the men who'd contacted him.
"I understand you boys are needing to reclaim some stolen property."
|
|
Justyce
Admin Dude of Awesomeness
Posts: 317
|
Post by Justyce on Jun 23, 2021 22:11:15 GMT -6
The group nearly went for their weapons but the familiar voice stalled their actions. That would have been a bad deal had they shot the man they called. The head of the group spoke up.
“You would be correct Specter. It’s already bad enough we are paying them a third of what we make moving the guns but then to take the weapons and destroy our truck. That’s an insult. The only thing we’re looking to do is take our weapons back, any money for compensation for our truck, and to kill every last one of them as retaliation. We don’t care about the drugs.”
He brought out his map and red light to show Specter the area. Where the depot, if you could call an old but well kept barn a depot, was located. He also could understand why they held onto the barn. It had a well there. That in the desert was better than any resources you could dig out of the ground.
“We are going to approach from the north and east giving you whatever window you need to do what you do. After that and you’ve neutralized the threat inside your portion of the mission is done and you can hit me with a text and I’ll wire the other half of your fee. We will mop up the remainder and get our gear. Unless you have a better idea?”
The boss liked Specter. He was professional and extremely well trained. The man was worth his fees. He also could see other tactics that worked better. He respected him but also knew that you only leaned on contractors like him for help when it was a dire need. This was how the game was played.
|
|
|
Post by kaynemorgenstern on Jun 26, 2021 9:50:04 GMT -6
Kayne ran his eyes over the map, committing it to memory. He listened to the description of the target area. On the surface the old barn sounded like a piece of cake to infiltrate, but he knew the cartel would have the area well guarded to protect their assets. Having not seen the actual barn before, he would have to come up with a plan of entry on the spot, but that wouldn't be an issue. He would have plenty of time under the cover of night to examine the location. Nights in the desert were dark, and darkness and shadow were all the cover he needed.
Their plan was sound, he didn't see any issue with their point of approach. He pointed to a spot on the map. "Wait there. You'll be close enough to quickly approach and retrieve your goods and far enough away to avoid suspicion. I'll begin my approach at 21:30." He looked up at the men. "Any questions?"
|
|
Justyce
Admin Dude of Awesomeness
Posts: 317
|
Post by Justyce on Jun 29, 2021 20:35:11 GMT -6
The gun runners agreed with his plan and would go when he started so they could get rid of the rest of the cartels people and get their hardware.
“That works for us. Let’s sync up our time so we go when you go. I’d hate for us to go early and spoil your surprise.”
All the men laughed and set their watches to Specter’s watch. Once this was done they set off for their destination. The last team to move had the boss of this group and he looked at Specter.
“Once we get our gear we’ll wire the other half of the money to your account. After that if you need some hardware you have our info.”
He climbed into his vehicle and hit his position to wait until the designated time.
|
|
|
Post by kaynemorgenstern on Jul 6, 2021 19:07:15 GMT -6
Kayne stood a fair distance away from the barn, covered head to toe in black. Even his eyes were covered by a pair of black wraparound shades, to hide their reflection. All it would take would be a flashlight swung his way and reflecting off of his eyes as he made his approach. Even in the pitch black of the desert, with nothing but the stars above, he could see his target perfectly. From his vantage point he could see two men stationed out front with feigned casualty. He didn’t know why they even bothered, considering the AR-15 rifles they carried. There wasn’t much noise coming from inside. A few voices conversing, the occasional laugh.
He approached straight on, a shadow among shadows, the two men posted out front unaware he was there until he was right on them. Their bodies hit the ground, faces frozen in shock, a neat bullet hole in the middle of each man’s head.
He opened the barn door and stepped into the dimly lit space. The man sitting nearest to the door glanced over, doing a double take when he realized it was not one of his buddies. He swore and called a warning to the other two as he reached for his weapon. Kayne was faster, however, nailing the man’s arm to the table with a serrated blade and shooting the man point-blank in the face.
As the other two began to fire off their weapons, Kayne ducked low and rolled to the side of the barn, melting into the shadows behind crates full of guns or drugs. He heard the mens’ rapid exchange in Spanish, trying to figure out where he’d gone. Quickly and with unnatural silence, he scaled a stack of crates and propelled himself up onto the beams a good 20 feet from the floor. He carefully and quietly picked his way across the beams. The men had separated to search for him. He positioned himself above one of the men and dropped down right onto the guy’s back, sending him hard to the ground and knocking the air from the thug’s lungs and his weapon scattering across the floor. Two quick shots to the back of the head silenced him, leaving only the one. Kayne quickly and quietly moved off of the man, holstering his handgun and grabbing the AK. He waited, hearing the other man running to check on his fallen buddy, and then sprang up, spraying the final man with a shower of bullets. Satisfied that the guy had been turned into swiss cheese, he dropped the gun.
Kayne did a final sweep to make sure there was no one hiding out, waiting to spring at the last minute. Satisfied the building was clear, he looked at his watch. 22:00. As he left the barn he took off his shades and pulled out his phone, shooting off a message to his contact:
It’s done.
|
|
Justyce
Admin Dude of Awesomeness
Posts: 317
|
Post by Justyce on Jul 12, 2021 13:39:31 GMT -6
The crew was getting antsy waiting and after thirty minutes had elapsed and it seemed as if nothing had changed from the last thirty minutes. It wasn’t until his phone buzzed with a message he smiled and looked at his crew.
“Wire his money and move in and get our guns. He is finished.”
Kayne’s device would buzz with a notification informing him his money had been deposited. He would then see headlights approaching the barn as he made his way back to his vehicle. They roared up and established a security perimeter while they loaded their gear and then left with all their hardware. Specter made it seem easy to assault this place without drawing down everyone. That was his job.
“Let’s go we have another thirty minutes before these guys have to report and then they send people to see why there isn’t a call.”
The fact that the depot was hit would draw attention as soon as the report wasn’t sent they were ready for the next shipment. The last of the gear was loaded and they were gone.
The group of gun runners was going to play it off as they lost out to since their weapons were gone and they didn’t care if the cartel lost people because they were out several million dollars in guns and equipment.
|
|
|
Post by kaynemorgenstern on Jul 17, 2021 19:42:12 GMT -6
Kayne felt his phone buzz but he didn't look at the notification until he was in his vehicle. He sat in the darkness behind the wheel, watching in the distance as the gun runners loaded their merchandise. Even though his part of the job was technically done, he wanted to make sure the crew made it out with their goods before backup arrived. He'd done jobs for the crew's leader before. The man was reliable, and paid well. It would be a shame to lose a valuable contact.
Once he saw their headlights retreating he started his engine, keeping his lights off. His augmented eyesight gave him the ability to navigate the dark desert without using the vehicle's headlights, an advantage when you didn't want to be spotted.
The money he earned from this job would be enough to keep him going for a while. It was a big chunk of change for an easy job. Maybe, with any luck, the next job would be more of a challenge.
|
|
Justyce
Admin Dude of Awesomeness
Posts: 317
|
Post by Justyce on Feb 10, 2022 23:06:14 GMT -6
Kayne’s phone would buzz again. This time it was the insistence of a phone call. The only people who had his number he could probably count on one hand. The ringing stopped as the device went to voicemail. It started right up again. It’s insurance only said it was a very wrong number. A drunk dial with terrible luck or just handler. Once he answered his face f do Kees voice could be heard. It was a bit nasally but male and kind of high. Kayne knew his handler sounded like he was whining all the time.
“Kayne when you get back I want you to know she’s been spotted and not on a mission. We will go over where where your back.”
|
|
|
Post by kaynemorgenstern on Feb 11, 2022 9:18:53 GMT -6
Kayne ignored the buzzing as he navigated the desert terrain towards Juarez. The SUV had just hit the sorry excuse for a road when the phone began it's vibrating song-and-dance again. Kayne flipped on his headlights, not for himself but because that's what one was supposed to do when their vehicle was on the road in the dark, and snatched the phone from the seat beside him. He answered and brought the phone to his ear. "What," he snapped.
He relaxed when he heard the familiar voice on the other end. As much as the grating tone of voice made him want to do the world a favor and crush the man's larynx, his handler had been very beneficial in helping him get acclimated to life outside of the prison he had so recently escaped from, as well as lining up jobs.
His brow furrowed at the man's words. He grunted, disconnected the call, and tossed the phone back onto the passenger seat. He wouldn't let the news unsettle him until he found out more information.
Once in the city, he navigated to a nondescript apartment building in the Los Nogales neighborhood. He pulled into the small parking lot at the rear of the building and made his way up to the second floor of the building, the metal stairs shuddering under his weight. One stiff wind, he thought with amusement, would cause the hole thing to come crumbling down one day.
Knowing his handler would be inside already, he opened the door to his unit and forced himself not to roll his eyes. Why the man couldn't be bothered to lock the door behind him he never understood. He shut the door, locking it behind him.
"Tell me what you know," he said as he came around to sit on the couch.
|
|
Justyce
Admin Dude of Awesomeness
Posts: 317
|
Post by Justyce on Feb 11, 2022 18:18:32 GMT -6
Reggie looked at Kayne for a moment like he was trying figure something out. He shook himself and motioned to the TV.
“I recall the description of another from your description and watching the inauguration and that’s when I started recording. After the bomb went off I decided to be nosy. I went and started grabbing local feeds from shop cameras.”
He stopped drank some water and then continued, “After that I grabbed feed of this…..” he spun the laptop around and what would be seen was R1K in profile. The difference here is that she wasn’t pale and looked to have some personality from her clothing.
“That’s her isn’t it?!?”
|
|
|
Post by kaynemorgenstern on Feb 11, 2022 19:49:42 GMT -6
Kayne, oblivious to the look Reggie was given him, followed the other man's gesture towards the TV. It was obviously news footage, the headline at the bottom declaring that there had been a terrorist attack in DC during the inauguration. Just as he was going to ask what, exactly, was relevant to him about this, Reggie spoke again.
He leaned in closer to the laptop, and was hit with a truckload of "does not compute." His eyes were telling him that the woman he was looking at was, in fact, Romeo One Kilo. Except, she also was not. R1K was cold, no-nonsense, and no real fashion sense. But this woman...she was smiling. She had life, personality. It was just one picture, not even very clear, and yet the difference was striking. And unnerving.
He hear Reggie's question, but he was struck mute. Not that anyone had ever accused him of being loquacious. When his brain and his mouth finally made a connection he asked, "do you have any more images?"
|
|
Justyce
Admin Dude of Awesomeness
Posts: 317
|
Post by Justyce on Feb 11, 2022 21:36:07 GMT -6
Reggie was used to Kayne’s silence when he asked questions but the first question he asked them when he became his handler. He asked him what from his past would cause them issues. The answer he was given was not expected. What he described was to the point about how horribly they would die if they ever ran across her.
“No…..of course I do! When you tell me about a person who could end us without breaking a sweat on me and you well you’d be ok. Yes just hit the right arrow.”
When Kayne started to page through the images he would see it was truly who Reggie thought he was seeing. It was just her in the different images and with people to who she appeared to be friends with.
|
|
|
Post by kaynemorgenstern on Feb 11, 2022 22:15:59 GMT -6
The room was silent aside from the tap-tap-tap of the arrow key as Kayne flipped through the image, committing each one to memory. He could feel the nervous energy rolling off of his handler. "It's definitely her," he said, leaning back away from the laptop. "But she's different."
What, exactly, was going on? If she was on a mission, she had picked up some damn good acting skills at some point. But no, Kayne didn't think that was the case. Still, despite her apparent personality shift, she was still dangerous. But, she was also several hundreds of miles away.
He looked across the table at Reggie, and wondered how long the man would stick around before making a continental relocation. "If this was in DC, then she's 2000 miles away. She shouldn't be a threat to us." If she started sniffing around close to the border, that would be concerning.
|
|
Justyce
Admin Dude of Awesomeness
Posts: 317
|
Post by Justyce on Feb 15, 2022 20:21:04 GMT -6
Reggie didn’t like the long silence. Kayne was normally silent but this was different, very different from how he was normally. His examination of the pictures was his normal examination any intel. The words it’s her and she’s different did t set well. That was almost as if he was saying he didn’t know her.
“Different how? She’s not homicidal different or she’s just able to make it swift but still homicidal?”
Either way was making Reggie consider his compound and tell Kayne he was joining for a six month hiatus to let shit cool down.
“Alright I’ll get us another lined up. Those guys tonight kicked the anthill. They are going to need you again. This time though I’ll have to get you some better stuff maybe that anti material rifle for handling some heavy armor.”
He was nervous and it showed a bit but he had already received three requests for Kayne’s services.
“How do you feel about some action in Central America. A government is requesting some rebels be eliminated to bring stability back to their country. Here’s the file.”
He had three files for Kayne to review. Kayne would see that it was a true rebel faction hassling farmers. Destroying crops and generally being a nuisance to the area. It was a lot of jungle and this file also showed Kayne the base they had and it was a good grid on a mountain and that meant Reggie would be his pilot.
|
|