Lure

We hurried back to The Old World sanctuary. Ko didn’t give us much more info over the phone, opting to keep tight-lipped just in case the phone lines were tapped, but her frantic tone said all we needed to know to get ourselves in high gear.

Some guards immediately escorted us to Miyazaki-sama’s office, locking the door and not letting anyone in after.

“We have a problem,” Miyazaki-sama started. “Do you remember the team I said was going to get the ingredients for the sabotage job?”

“Don’t tell me. Someone caught them?” Ekko said.

“They got busted, but not caught. The real issue is that they didn’t get the goods.” He folded his arms. “I don’t think I need to tell you three how bad it would be if the government discovered what we ordered.”

They’d probably find out very quickly what our goal was at that point. I could see where this briefing was going.

“We cannot let them discover what’s in those crates. Lucky for us, we know where they are right now, but there’s only so much time to get there before they get moved.”

It was getting dark out. The place he was planning to send us was a warehouse on a nearby dock. We’d be tasked with going in, grabbing the crates and hauling them to a secret location where they could be transferred to the sanctuary. If we didn’t do it quietly, it would certainly raise some alarms in the government offices.

“How big are these crates exactly?” I asked.

“Not big enough that you couldn’t load them into a small car and drive off. There’s three of them, only weighing about four kilos a piece.”

That was reasonable enough. We could get in there and get out quickly.

“Let's go.” Ko stormed past me, grabbing my hand. “We don't have time to doddle around.”

“Ko…” I uttered, sensing both desperation, and frustration in her tone. That wasn’t something she usually expressed so openly.

***

Ko, Ekko and myself were the ones going in. We were provided a car that hardly made any noise, which we parked right outside the dock behind a fence.

There were dozens of spotlights lit up. Guards marched up and down the dock, watching closely for any signs of trespassing. All corners were covered pretty well, even up on the rooftops.

It was a hotbed of activity. During training, we had simulated cases like this, but actually being on the front lines was a different type of fear. No matter how much you practice, it never compares to the brutal anxiety trip that experience will give.

To help combat that anxiety, and the watchful eyes of guards, we were given specially made dark cloaks that helped hide our presence, along with masks covered in soot to protect our faces. Simple means of concealment, but they did the job.

Slipping past the first few sets of guards wouldn't be simple, seeing as there weren't many blindspots to exploit. It was especially hard given the flood lights hitting down from above.

If we could turn those lights off, it would be very easy to get past them in the dark.

“Can we get those lights?” I asked.

Ko nodded, then pointed to a fenced off machine.

“These lights are all connected to a generator right over there. If we shut them down, we'll be running around in the dark.”

Running in the dark might seem like trouble, but our masks had a slight technological advantage. They gave us night vision. Coupled with our genetically superior eyes, it might as well have been daytime.

I decided to sit back and let Ko and Ekko take care of this part. They were both fast and agile. Not that I wasn't, but the girls were just better at it.

Both of them quickly bolted over there. Ekko lifted Ko over the top of the fence.

With her limited knowledge of computers, Ko surely would figure out how to shut that generator down in an instant. I had all the faith I could have in her.

Finally the lights turned off, causing everything to go pitchblack, bar a few red emergency lights.

“That was great, you two,” I congratulated as we all regrouped behind cover.

“Yeah, good job Ko,” Ekko told her. “I didn't realize you were so savvy with electronics.”

“Actually, I just pulled wires until something happened.”

I had to let out a disapproving breath with that one. I didn’t take her for the reckless type. Then again, she smacked me in the back with a paddle once to save my life. Either way, it all worked out in our favour, so no harm no foul.

Without those lights, most of the guards scrambled to the generator to try and repair it, like moths to flame. From the sounds over the radio we were eavesdropping on, they were blaming an animal for the cut wires.

“I may have left a few stretch marks just to throw them off,” Ko said. “Don’t think I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Never doubted you for a second,” I quietly laughed. “Let’s get moving before something goes wrong.”

Lights weren’t our obstacles though. We had a bit more trouble coming up at the door.

We had four guards. Two with rifles, and two with shock sticks. The shockmen were marching back and forth. Their shock rods were glowing, fighting back the dark.

After watching them from above, we noticed they’d walk together, often heading down the pier where they were out of sight of the riflemen. It was like they wanted to get jumped by us.

We all took up elevated positions along their path, something like a triangle formation. Ekko and I would be taking them out at the same time, while Ko was watching to make sure the other guards wouldn’t see what we were doing.

We needed to wait until the light from the shock rods were out of range of the other guards, or our shadows would easily give us away.

Seconds went by. It seemed the two shockmen's pace were in sync as they walked along. I could only hope Ekko and I were just as synced up.

At last, the light was beyond the sight of the riflemen. I jumped in, grabbing my target's mouth and wrapping my arm around his neck, choking him until he went under. Then I bound and gagged him with some rope.

Ekko took a more striking approach, opting to kick him as she dropped down from above. She looked cool doing it, but...

THUD!

...she made a lot of noise doing it.

“Ekko…” I whispered aggressively at her. “You’ll give us away…”

“Sorry…” she whispered defensively. “I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to attack there.”

“Well, you just gave away our position.”

Those riflemen would have easily heard us, but a certain someone apparently already had that part covered…

Ko walked up behind us, dragging both the riflemen along with her. She took them both out, all on her own?

“They won't be a problem,” she commented, holding up one of their pass keys. “Let's get inside and find what we need.”