A Thief in the Night

"Hold it steady..." he thought. "Steady... C'mon, just a few more inches to the left... There. Perfect." A small spray of red, and a man in a military uniform slumped to the floor. The rifle swung right, and a red bead of light appeared on another man; no, a woman this time, wearing a beret. She was lighting a cigarette, as the bead slowly crept up her burgundy uniform towards her head. "There we are..." the sniper thought. "Red dot special, right in my crosshairs." The woman paused, froze in place, as if sensing what was about to happen. The cigarette dropped from her hands, spinning downwards towards the street below. By the time it hit the ground, her brains decorated the rooftop ledge upon which she had stood.

İİİThe sniper, standing on the lower rooftop across the street from the two dead guards, placed his rifle on the floor and drew his grapple gun. He shot up towards where the woman had been standing, and the grappling hook held its place upon the higher rooftop. "And now," he thought to himself with a smile, "the fun really begins."

İİİHe ran towards the edge of the building, and leapt into the air. For a moment, time seemed to stand still as he sailed over the street below, the wind rushing at his face. Keeping his eyes on the building he was swinging towards, the sniper extended his legs outwards.

İİİHe smacked into the building with tremendous force, enough to crack the hard plastic window. The force of the impact would have broken several bones, were he a normal man; but Ash Preston was no normal man. Ash Preston was a superagent, the elite cadre of operatives who were the creme-de-la-creme of Ticondera's intelligence agency, the Collective. Ticonderan soldiers were routinely treated with the gene-activating drugs Melanophen and Adrenophyll, which acted upon certain unique properties of Ticonderan DNA to increase skin density and metabolic effiency, making them tougher and giving them amazing endurance. Superagents, however, had access to even more complex gene therapy, requiring months of DNA analysis, drug treatments, and special training to prepare their bodies to cope with the added stress of the genetic enhancements. Those that survived the procedure were stronger and faster than humans were capable of being. They had highly dense bone structures that could support added weight and were difficult to break. They even had improved lung capacity.

İİİDangling from a grappling wire a hundred feet above the street, Ash pulled a pen-sized cutting laser out of his pocket. The hard plastic began to sizzle and melt. Ash kicked open his new entryway and entered the Ticonderan Central Government Building.

İİİThe room was pitch black, so Ash wore a pair of Scandian-made light intensification goggles. He quickly changed out of his all-black night gear and into a burgundy Iron Guard uniform, tucking the old outfit back into his backpack. He then pulled a collapsable briefcase out of the backpack, and stowed the backpack inside. He tucked his slick black hair into a burgundy beret which completed his uniform, and retracted the grapple wire back into the gun.

İİİStanding at the door to the room, he used a flashlight-shaped listening device to check for signs of life. He could hear what sounded like a footsteps on a staircase coming from 20 meters to his right. He quickly exited the room, lest anyone associate him with the broken window. The doorway to the staircase opened just as Ash turned a corner. Ash took a second stairwell upwards.

İİİHe passed several members of the Iron Guard on the staircase, who nodded their heads as he passed. Ash had worked quite a few infiltration missions in the past, but this was the first time he'd infiltrated his own countrymen since his days with the OmniSent during Caidin's reign; which meant that this mission was rather like picking up an old book that one had put down years ago. It had an air of familiarity about it, but without nostalgia; these were dark times for Ticondera, when a domestic intelligence mission carried the danger rating of an EU sabotage mission. The Iron Guard had seized control of the TCG Building after Director Gail Courtry threw the governing cabinet out of a helicopter. However, their hold over the city of North Viper was very weak, maintained solely by the threat of SkyNet. Outside North Viper, various military factions held sway, and in some cities, civilian factions had taken over. The city of Pang, however, center of the massive Pang Communications Complex, lay in the control of the Collective. Neither the Iron Guard nor the Collective had the manpower to hold more than a city or two separately. United, they might stand a chance if they hired a considerable contingent of mercenaries; but there would be no such reconcilliation. After the defenestration of the cabinet and the subsequent takeover of the TCG Building, the Council made it clear to all agents that it was no longer part of the same government as the Iron Guard; when the Council spoke, noncompliance meant death. This is not to say such extreme measures were necessary, as agents of Collective were extremely loyal; programmed, some might say.

İİİAsh quickly climbed numerous flights of stairs, not tiring in the least, as he moved towards his goal: the Executive Floor, level 36. It would take more than a uniform to get inside, Ash was certain. He didn't have time to wait around and learn access codes; sooner or later the Iron Guard would figure out what he was up to. Noting the guard at the entrance to the 36th floor, Ash reached behind his back to grab a silenced pistol. Then he casually shot the guard in the temples as he climbed the final steps.

İİİHe grabbed the guard's keycard and kicked his bleeding body down the steps. Ash opened the door and tossed a flash grenade inside, averting his eyes. A bright magnesium flare blinded the guards on the other side. By the time their hands touched their pistols, their skulls were riddled with bullets. Ash ran through the hallways, clearing the way with concussive grenades. Any minute now the floor would be crawling with Guardsmen. Even so, he had to stop for a brief second as he passed Dain's old office; a chill ran down his spine. Dain was the greatest secret agent who ever lived, as far as Ash was concerned. Dain was somewhere out there, Ash believed, lurking and plotting something sinister; he was just too slick to die. Looking at the office door, Ash could almost feel the Great Deceiver looking back, with an unfriendly wolfish smile and those razor-keen green eyes. The idea of meeting the most notorious traitor since Burzmale made Ash shiver, even after all his training and experience.

İİİAsh made his way to the northwest corner, where the late Prime Minister Derry's office had been, dropping four more guards along the way. He took a few precious seconds disarming the security lock, which was well designed but precisely identical to the kind cadets were trained to pick.

İİİOnce inside, Ash took a deep breath and hoped the information given to him at the intelligence briefing for this mission had been correct. According to the briefing, what he sought was not in Carter's desk, but rather in his liquor cabinet. Ash removed several bottles of the finest wines and liquors, desperately avoiding the temptation to grab one for himself. Reaching inside, his fingers found their way to a secret panel. He opened up and found a small wooden box. He could already hear Guardsmen approaching, but he had to find out if what he sought was here. He opened the box, finding a bundle of papers inside.

İİİAsh pulled out a crisp piece of stationery, and examined its contents. Oddly enough, it was a love letter.

Dearest Jennifer,
 İİİDo not despair in this time of darkness. I shall insure the 
safety and security of you and your children. I do this not out 
of appreciation of your loyalty and service, but rather for 
personal reasons. I hope this will not sound scandalous, but I 
have long admired you from afar. To me, you are a creature of 
infinite beauty and kindness, a truly special gift to the world. 
I long for the day when our souls can be joined together in 
eternal bliss.

With Love,
Carter Derry


İİİIt was signed with Carter's distinctively neat signature. Ash suppressed a somewhat shocked smile, and tucked the letter back into the box. He pulled out a second letter, beginning to sweat a bit as he heard Guardsmen struggling with the rewired security lock.

İİİThis was what he was after; the master access codes and frequencies for SkyNet. They would override the Iron Guard's control long enough for the Collective to attempt to lock them out. With the power of SkyNet, the Collective could afford to bunker down and find a suitable faction to back.

İİİThe door burst open, and an Iron Guardsman lobbed a grenade inside. Ash dropped for cover behind Carter's desk. The explosion blew out the hard plastic windows, and shattered several priceless wines. Ash hurriedly opened his briefcase and stuffed all the letters inside it, and impulsively added an unbroken bottle of fine liquor to it as well. Then he took the backpack out of the briefcase and placed the briefcase inside it. Another grenade forced Ash to dive behind a copier. Ash put on the backpack and planted a few pounds of plastic explosives on the charred remains of Carter's desk.

İİİThree Iron Guardsman burst into the room, only to see Ash soaring out the window on a grapple line. Looking back, Ash smiled, and prepared for detonation.

İİİFire leaped forth from the building, and a thunderous boom shook the city, as Ash fled into the night.