Mission #27

Wisps of grey smoke rose into the air, battling the incoming rain that poured down onto the city below.

A gloved hand removed a half smoked cigarette from a black mask, the burning embers glowling softly in the evening darkness.

A quick hissing sound and the fire was out, quenched by the intensifying rain. With a small gesture the masked figure flicked the now burnt out cigarette off the side of the building he stood on, before turning away and retreating into the open stairwell behind them.

~~~

As I moved back inside, my earpiece let out a crackle, indicating of the incoming message.

"Cypher, report? Has the target begun to move yet?"

I smoothly pushed aside the irritation I felt at this unwarrented inquiry before replying, "No. If they did I would have informed you immediately, after all you are in the line of fire and it is my job as a sentinel to keep you out of it."

While speaking a reached into my breast pocket and pulled out my camera interface, doing a quick sweep of the room I was supposed to be surveying.

"While you are a sentinel, I am also one, and not nearly as proficent as you are in the field of information" Sage replied.

I glowed under the praise, silently of course, before gifting her a compliment of my own.

This rather random comment on my expertise however, rand alarm bells on my head. Was I being manipulated? My brain worked into overdrive, quickly concluding that Sage was too honourable a person for such an act.

"Such high praise, and from one as skilled as you are."

"Meaningless flattery will get you nowhere Cypher. Your abilities are evidently more suited to this mission than mine are seeing how well you have a handle on the situation."

My interest died as she finished that last comment, so that's what it is. She was on edge because of how little her presence was contributing to the mission's progress.

"You aren't sure why you were assigned to work with me on this are you?"

"Yes, well-" She said, before pausing for a moment, "You could definitley have completed this on your own with no issue, I am sure of it. So why was I also given this mission? I could be of use elsewhere instead of standing here holding the flank you have already put a tripwire on."

Despite the rebuffing of my irritation earlier, it returned again after the revelation that she had only distracted me because of her own insecurities.

Could she not see how the angle she was holding was the only viable route of escape our target could take? (Should he somehow be alerted to his impending death, which was highly unlikely I admit but it was always good to have a backup plan).

I digress there were other routes that existed but even so all of them either had an element of risk or took far too long to undertake for them to be a viable escape.

Shaking my head in annoyance, I fiddled with my last spare tripwire before deciding to poke her morality as silent revenge for this needy attitude.

"Whatever their reasoning for making a decision like this, I am sure it was sound, after all - Viper rarely invests in unrewarding ventures."

I could almost invision Sage biting her lip and beginning an internal berration of herself for putting her orders into question.

I smirked quietly as the silent commlink all but confirmed my suspicions.

The pause in her speech eariler had told me of her unwillingness to speak badly of her commander and her loyalty towards them. This had resulted in a delayed reply so that she would not accidently challenge Viper's judgement while speaking to me. Funny really.

Wanting to take advantage her momentary distraction, I stated, "Perhaps she wished to test your ability to coordinate during a mission with someone like myself."

A defiant undertone had entered her voice now, the volume of her speech slowly rising as she talked.

"No Cypher. I have been tested enough, proven myself enough. You know this. Perhaps it is you Viper wants to test with this mission, not me."

I actually chuckled at this, an involuntairy action I could not control as this scenario she thought up sounded so absurd to me. Luckily it was such a low pitch my microphone did not catch it, I hope. She hadn't commented on my laugh anyway which would have been very much in character for her to do so.

As I checked my camera again, I confirmed that the 'Eagle' had not yet flown the 'nest'; my mind began to wander. I thought over her last outburst again, which was surely a defensive comment simply her lashing out at me for hurting her pride.

Now I was the one biting my lip, what if she was right in her wild accusation? Was I really the one who was being tested by Viper? If it was even a test at all? My statement about it being a test was just a shot in the dark to irritate Sage but what if it was the truth of the matter.

My paranioa ran freely and I began fiddling with my tripwire obsessively while quickening my pace down the stairwell.

Perhaps it was a test, something like agent compatibility as I had said before.

'Heh, what a manipulative woman, I musn't underestimate her a second time.' I thought musingly, continuing my internal monologue. 'Viper must have wanted to test my patience when handling someone who is so straightforward, and dare I say it, less intelligent than I am.'

Resolving to prove my competency to Viper with the mission, should this test be real; and partly marvelling at her shrewdness, I threw my tripwire at the base of the stairwell. A slight hum eminated from it as the now invisible strand light armed automatically. I threw down a cage underneath it after which I began thinking back to my new toy's development.

The CAGE was prototype projector of sorts I had been working on. When triggered It would produce a cylindrical cage of grey light around a metre in diameter and height that would prevent anyone from looking in or out of its centre. It was created so I could safely take out enemies highlighted inside of it. My tripwires showed me the outline of anyone that walked into them, proving to be a wonderful combination on paper. All that was left was to test it in the field.

This fasicinating combintion of cameras, tripwires and cages would hopefully yield fruitful results, which could lead to me finally completing my arsenal of gadgets once and for all.

After stepping back up to the second floor and admiring my handiwork, I reopened my camera interface, once again reaching into my breast pocket and connecting my mask's visual sensors with the camera's.

"Just in time", I said out loud, "Eagle has flown the nest, now approaching your position Sage, get ready."

"Copy that."

I waited with baited breath as I watched our target slowly move towards the door through my camera. The target stopped, his expression suddenly twisted in anger as he reached two fingers up to press on what I assumed was an earpiece. I could not hear what he was shouting into it as I had not yet gotten round to installing audio capabilities into my camera but I could tell he was roaring something vulgar. The earpiece was ripped out and strewn across the floor while our target turned right back around, storming his way towards my location.

"Cypher, the target shouted about an intruder and is moving away from my position. What's happening?"

"I can see that thank you." I said dryly before continuing, "Change of plans, go back to our vehicle and get it ready to go. We're going to have to leave quickly after dealing with the target."

"Fine but what is- Ok. I will retreat back to the extraction point, would you like my to pick up your tripwire before leaving?"

"No. You'll simply set it off and I don't have time to explain how to remove it. Stay off the comms also, can't have a stray crackle alerting the target."

"Copy that. I'll wait for your signal."

The commlink crackled, signaling the end of Sage's communication.

The door opened and I pulled out my silenced pistol, preaiming it at the wall so that I was ready to swing when he got caught on my wire.

"Wha- What the hell is this?" The target's voice, coupled with the now illuminated figure visible through the solid brick wall told me that he had tripped the wire. "Cage triggered" I said aloud, and the voice activated command caused the cage I had placed to begin emitting the smokescreen I needed to safely take him out.

I swung the angle, and fired a shot aimed at his head through the cage's projected screen as he flailed about trying to unhook his foot from the trip. I missed.

"NO" He shouted moving even more desperately; now clued into what was going on as the silenced round echoed around the stairwell. I reaimed properly and fired again, his body slumping and falling backwards onto the ground in front of me.

The orange outline of his body faded through the white cage screen, indicating to the face his vital signs were flatlining. I holstered my weapon and shortly afterwards the cage deactivated as it ran out of power, greeting me with the sight of the target lying in a pool of his own blood which leaked from the gaping hole in his temple.

"Slammer." I muttered before saying more audibly, "Target down, Moving to the extraction point."