Chapter 7 - Simon Trevor - Sundown
November 16, 3040 7:15 PM
Our debriefing has finished, so Agent Leons shows us the way out of the conference room.
"We need to figure out our strategy first," I tell him as we walk through the hallways with the team behind us.
"Hold on, son," he tells me. "First we'll have to stop by the armory, reception said the team's special packages have arrived."
"These things are going to be on the move, especially after one of their own has been killed. The more we wait, the farther they may have gotten."
"It's night time, no one is going anywhere this fast. All the ways out are closed. You need to slow down there, pal. You can't fight a battle if you don't have anything to back it up."
We're all different species, so the headquarters here doesn't exactly have everything each of us need. For example, for handguns, I require a standard issue Tang 534A Pistol. It fires pulsed energy shots at a target, hot enough to char through the skin of a crocodile and leave him dead.
However, other members of my team may not have fingers to operate my firearm. Most quadrupeds have to rely on side harnesses to hold their weapons, and their mouths or tails to pull the trigger. This is the first time I have met my team, so I'm not sure what kind of arms they plan to use. All of their gear had to be ported in earlier this morning, according to Agent Leons.
We get to the armory and I see six bags on the floor. They're all the same color, granite black, but each is tagged and one says "Trevor." Another says "Snow," and another says "Bradley." "Freely," "Bornoa," and "Zuma." Looks like they packed their gear, too.
"I see that some of you have your equipment on. Nice armor big guy," Agent Leons says looking at Erawan. He does not appear amused. "All except Commander Trevor. I'll provide you with some standard issue protective gear after your strategy session. I believe the rest of you brought your own weaponry, since we're running low on animal arms around here. Don't know why you brought your own stuff, Simon, you know we have plenty of toys for you to play with."
"I like to work with my own tools."
"Work with your own tools, eh? What movie did you get that line from?"
I look into my bag and pick up my Tang 534A. The pistol is one of my favorite weapons. It has a long battery life and is speedy and accurate. It's also equipped with a silence mode that suppresses noise at the cost of lower firepower. I glance at it to make sure it hadn't been damaged during the delivery and set it aside.
I then take out a longer, heavier gun. It's a Tang 700 series energy rifle, also known as a Spitfire. Its nickname derives from its plasma shots, hot enough to burn through several metals, but its energy cost is higher. I probably can only get one hundred rounds or so until I need to recharge. I saw the images of the rhino and croc halfkind, Alex and Curtis. I have a feeling my Tang 534A won't cut it, so I may have to rely on the Spitfire instead
Those are the only two weapons I need, though I'll be sure to pick up some pulse, mini, and sound grenades from Agent Leons before we leave.
I observe the others' gear. I'm familiar with dog and wolf weaponry, since I worked with Apollo on a several missions, but I'm not aware of what Borton, Erawan, and Colbo might have in their arsenal.
Colbo pulls out a large gun from his bag. It looks like my Spitfire, but twice the size. Gorilla weapons are similar to human weapons in that they are carried by arms and require opposable thumbs to operate, but they are usually bigger than what humans use. I doubt that a gorilla would want to be seen with a ridiculously small gun on them and a trigger that their fingers can barely squeeze.
The leading gorilla weapons manufacturer is Silverback Industries, and their arms are known to have quite the punch. Gorilla's themselves tend to favor heavy weaponry as opposed to pistols. They have a reputation for hitting hard and hitting fast. I can't even recall the last time I've seen a gorilla with a pistol or light firearm.
"I trust that you guys have grenades and pulse bombs," Colbo says to Agent Leons.
"Sure do, but they are Tang models. Hope you don't mind using human weapons," he says.
"That's fine, a bomb is a bomb. I should be able to use it like you humans."
Erawan uses his trunk to pull out a large, metal stick. At first I'm not sure what it is, but after looking at it, I know. Designed by Shivato Tech, the elephants call it a firing stick. Basically, it's a large stick where one end fires an energy shot, while the other end is held by the elephant's trunk. A trigger is in the form of a panel on the stick and when an elephant wraps his trunk and applies pressure, the shot is fired. It can also be used as a melee weapon.
Borton rummages through his bag and pulls out a harness looking apparatus. It looks like it is supposed to fit on his back. From it protrudes two energy pistols. Pigs don't have an independent weapons manufacturer. They rather negotiate and haggle for weapons instead of using their resources to make their own, so they have their weapon designs contracted out by other species. This looks to be the work of a human developer, since it's a bunch of human weapons stitched together for a pig to use. Attached to the triggers of the energy pistols are wires that lead to a helmet looking contraption.
My curiosity gets the better of me. "So how does it work?"
"What, my weapon?" Borton say. "Well, basically I put this harness on my back and this helmet on top of my head. The strings that connect the harness and helmet go near my mouth, and when I'm ready to shoot, I bite down on the string which is attached to this small controller. The buttons on the controller retract the cords, which pull the triggers on the pistols you see on the harness and, boom, weapon is fired. I know it seems primitive by human standards, but it's effective."
I then look at what Apollo and Fenrir have. Canine weapons, regardless of wolf or dog, are produced by the Beo Group. The only thing they need is a helmet, which is for both protection, storage of devices, and weapons. Their trigger is voice activated. Once the command is spoken, shots of various type, electric, plasma, ballistic, come out of their helmet. For stealth shots that don't require a vocal command, a sensor is aimed at their tails. If they move it in a certain manner, left, right, whatever depending on how it's programmed, directives are interpreted.
I've seen Apollo use it before, and the firepower that comes out of those helmet cannons is pretty impressive.
Fenrir has something else, though. It's a small box that looks like it should be attached to his front leg. I've never seen it before.
"Is that some kind of communication device?" I ask him.
"No, it's a marble shooter," he says. "Marble shooters fire out small balls of energy in a forward direction. It rolls across the floor, like its namesake, and after a ten second window, it explodes. The blast radius is the same as a small grenade. However, they are required to roll on a flat surface. Any uneven ground makes it unpredictable and inaccurate. I have it just in case. They're best used as an element of surprise."
"All right everyone, you have everything you need?" Agent Leons asks.
"It looks like that's the case," I say.
"Good, then let's go to the war room. You'll need to figure out your plans."
We put our gear back into our bags and follow Agent Leons into another large conference room. It's called the war room, but it looks exactly like all the other rooms we've been in. Colbo and I take a seat, but the rest stand since there appears to be no chairs that would fit their body type.
"Commander Trevor will take the lead from here," he says.
The team's attention turns to me and I walk to the front of the room to address them.
"After our debriefing, we know there are ten halfkinds remaining. You've gone through their profiles, I assume?" I ask the team. They all nod. "Good. We know that Maya Lawton's corpse had been there for about a week, thus, I think they vacated 1523 Chakming Drive immediately after she had died. It seems they didn't even take time to bury her properly, whi
ch meant they were in quite a rush to leave their home."
"Judging from the evidence that we've obtained, they had lived there their whole life. Why would they be so quick to leave?" Apollo asks.
"Perhaps they knew someone would be coming," Borton interjects. "Maya was on a daily plan for her energy bill since her credit was so bad. That means she had to pay every day or else a collector would be coming. The Las Vegas County Energy Department has always been very punctual about bill collections, and for someone who already had late incidents before, they wouldn't hesitate to have someone stop by."
"It seems that they want to keep a low profile. But why?" Apollo persists.
"Because they think we are hostile," Colbo interrupts. "Think about it, when that frog half-man, Leonard Lawton, saw Detective Marsden, what was his first instinct? To attack him. He didn't ask any questions, didn't give any terms of peace, he went straight for a weapon. Judging from what I've read on Maya's profile along with the actions of Leonard, these things fear us."
"Do you blame them?" Fenrir asks. "You all realize that our mission is to track down and kill these creatures, right? Maya Lawton raised her children with the right mindset, that they will be feared and attacked. Her upbringing made them understand their place in the world."
There is an awkward silence in the room after Fenrir's comments. The reality of our mission sinks in. We are given our orders, but we are not the good guys. We are the predators, hunting a prey that didn't ask to be hunted.
"As long as I get paid, that's all I care about," Borton says.
"Of course," Fenrir responds. "That's all you pigs care about."
"Excuse me?" Borton says defensively.
"Calm down both of you," I say sternly. "We're here to discuss our plan, not argue with each other."
Borton and Fenrir stop their squabbling, but give each other dirty looks. Apollo interjects to ease the tension. "My original question wasn't answered, though. Why do you think they left so abruptly?"
"I thought my statements answered that question, but I guess I have to spell it out for the less intellectually inclined," Fenrir says. "They're afraid of making contact with the world. They're motivated by fear, avoiding any creature that comes their way, especially ones that ask questions. They'll do anything to keep their secrecy, even if it means leaving their dead mother to rot in the house they grew up in."
"Sounds cold," Apollo says.
"Survival is their only mission. Sympathies are trivial," Fenrir says casually.
"Okay, so we know they're on the run," I say. "They've been out there for a week. How do you think they are on supplies?"
"From the reports at Maya's crime scene, it seems that they took things with them. Not personal items, but the house was scarce of any items that are necessary for their survival," Agent Leons says.
"Food, water, clothing?" I ask. He nods. "How much do you think they took?"
"A lot," he responds. "It's hard to determine, but there was barely anything in the house, in terms of that stuff."
"What about their insta-item?" Apollo asks.
"Negative, that was still there," Agent Leons responds. "Maya had one linked to her accounts and it was a special security model. It had a bio scanner on it, so it would only work if she activated it. The thing is useless without her. They wouldn't be able to order any supplies with it, nor receive any goods unless she was physically alive to get it for them. Seems that she wanted to be the sole provider."
"That's good news for us," Colbo says. "That means they'll be running out of supplies eventually."
"You're correct," I say to Colbo. "You all know how the insta-item process works right? The items that you can order through the intsa-item are stored in supply depots. Various delivery companies have many scattered about small towns, like Primm. That's where all your food and goods are held. When you make an order through the insta-item, it's automatically processed in a supply depot. So, say you want to order a bag of rice. The supply depot gets the order and sends it through their teleporters to the coordinates sent via the insta-order. Once it's sent from their side, it only takes a couple of moments until it pops in your insta-item. Ingredients for your day's dinner are ready."
"So," Borton asks. "You think that once their stash runs out, they'll head to a supply depot to get what they need?"
"Yes," I respond. "I assume they don't have an insta-item with them, so they'll need to go directly to the source to get their goods. I think our first task should be to stakeout all the depots in Primm. They'll be bound to try and get supplies sooner or later, and we should be there to intercept them when they do. Apollo, do you have your compcube with you?"
"Yes," he says.
"Do a quick search on all the supply depots in Primm."
He takes out his cube. The user interface appears in front of him, a floating hologram. He uses his paws to navigate the menus and search my query. Within a few seconds he has an answer.
"Looks like there are six different ones in Primm," he says.
Great. There are six of us, and I can't risk sending one animal to each supply depot. We have the weapons to take them on, but if we spread the team thin and it becomes a "one on ten" situation, whoever that one is will be screwed. Yet, I need to make sure all of the supply depots are monitored.
"Leons," I say. "Is it possible to bring in reinforcements?"
"Yes, but it'll take at least a few days tops to get all the necessary permissions. It was already hard enough for the Human Council to maneuver through the bureaucracy to get this team assembled."
"Damnit. We can't risk sending one team member to each depot, but we need to have them all covered. How about drones?"
"Again, more paperwork."
"Shit!" I say to myself in a frustrated tone.
"They don't have an insta-item right? That's probably the only thing they need, that and credits," Fenrir says to the group. "We should cross reference Apollo's results with depots that carry insta-items."
Once again Fenrir impresses me. His logic makes sense. "Apollo, do it."
Apollo quickly enters the query into the compcube. "Looks like there are three depots that carry insta-items. Primm-Phillips, Primm-Austen, and Primm-Burke."
"That's where we should start looking then," I say. "We can split into teams of two and each pairing can do recon there. We'll want to stay low and only spring into action when we encounter the targets. Does anyone object to this plan?"
No one raises a hand. However, Fenrir speaks. "Remember, when we're on stakeout, we want to stay inconspicuous. The halfkinds won't be expecting us to act so soon, so the element of surprise is key here. It could take a day, or five, to stakeout the area, but they'll come eventually. They'll have to."
"I want to focus on these three depots only," I say. "I can work on the paperwork to get the drones out, but the earliest we can get them here will be in a week. We can't wait that long, so for now we'll have to make do with what we have."
"When do you want to start?" Borton asks.
"Tonight," I say authoritatively. "We don't have a moment to waste. Apollo, has there been any reported break-ins to any of the depots?
"Give me a second, I can check." Apollo scans the information presented to him on his compcube. "Nothing in the past few days. No stolen items, no missing inventory. If anything came up, it would have been reported and I can't find anything."
"Good, that means they haven't made their move yet," I say. "But they'll make it soon, I can feel it. I hope you all got enough sleep, because most of our operations will happen at night."
"If you don't mind me asking," Borton says, "why is that?"
"You heard what Fenrir said," I respond, "they're scared of what's out there. And right now they're hiding. Why would they want to go out in broad daylight and risk being seen?"
The answer is obvious and Borton knows it. His face shows frustration, as if he angry at himself for asking
such a stupid question.
"How do you want to assign the teams?" Apollo asks me.
"We will take Primm-Austen. Fenrir and Colbo, you'll secure Primm-Phillips. Borton and Erawan, take Primm-Burke. Are you all okay with these assignments?"
They all nod their heads.
"We have to act fast, team, so let's go back to the armory and suit up."
We head back to where our gear is stored, but I wait for everyone to pass until Erawan walks by. I want to have a word with him. I am curious that he remained silent during the entire strategy session.
"Something on your mind, Erawan?" I ask him.
"No sir," he says.
"You didn't say one word during our meeting, something must be on your mind."
"No sir, just the mission."
I know his background. He is a member of the elephants' elite guard, probably the most decorated animal on our team.
"I would have expected more talk coming from someone so experienced," I say to him.
"Experience is the reason I stayed quiet. I've been on more of these kinds of missions than anyone on this team. I've seen it all, been on covert assignments on the Moon, fought secret wars in Africa, things I can never tell anyone. That is the key to my point, a true soldier has nothing to say unless he needs to say it. And right now, there is nothing I need to say. I will fulfill my mission. Everything else is optional."
He walks away without a hint of emotion. I was wrong to question his lack of participation and now I realize that. This is my team and I will respect how they operate.
Time to get started.