40 Chapter Forty: Tools of the Trade (1/2)
When the crew finally arrives at Vega, they mask Ruby as they take her to their hideout. They took her to the basement to keep her hidden. Shortly after arriving, one of Don's henchmen arrive to tell the crew that Don wants to speak to them. Not long after that, Don comes to their hideout instead of the crew going to see Don.
”It's time to hold your end of the bargain” Don says. ”We made a deal, remember? I gave you transportation, now you owe me a favor”.
”What do you have in mind?” Zia asks.
”There was a deal?” Siran asks.
”Yeah, in exchange for the motorcycles” Zia says.
”So that's where they came from...” Siran says to himself.
”Are you guys done flirting?” Don asks. ”Look, I don't know if you've learned about this yet, you might've overlooked it but The Ly'Lum have correction camps”.
”Correction camps?” Siran asks.
”They're camps that are used to 'correct' peoples' misled mindset” Don says. ”In case you're having troubles imagining how bad it is, they're the equivalent of a concentration camp. Now, I can't believe this sort of thing happened, but currently the camp is used to correct supporters... of a certain type... namely, your supporters”.
”Our... what?” Siran asks.
”You have supporters” Don says, ”some people actually applaud what you do to The Ly'Lum, believe it or not”.
”I don't believe it, actually” Siran says.
”Regardless” Don says, ”people do”.
”I mean, I was a supporter before I became one of you” Robin says.
”Yeah” Satomi says, ”Japan is filled with supporters”.
”And so is Seeira and Omnia” Don says. ”The most unbelievable part about this is, not only have a few of my men already forgiven you, but some of my men support you. Can you believe that? MY MEN! It's crazy! But nonetheless, I organize their business, not tell them who to praise. So it can't be helped”.
”And you need us to go rescue them?” Siran asks.
Don makes a gun shape with his hand and says ”You guessed it!”.
”Do you have their location?” Alex asks.
”Not a precise location” Don says, ”but I know they're somewhere between Omnium Guild and Forehold”.
”That's pretty far” Zia says. ”How'd they get that far?”.
”There's business outside of Vega, you know?” Don says. ”They get taken in with civilians, there's not a lot they can do. They can't draw attention to Vega, because it's our only safe haven. As well as, the people they get taken away with are also Six Guns Sympathizers or whatever they call them. They'll likely not want to hurt people that share similar ideas and beliefs. On another note, who's the one with a bag over their head?”.
”A captive” Siran says. ”Whatever you do, don't kill them, even if they ask for you to do it”.
”You're a buzzkill” Ruby says, muffled by the sack covering her head.
”That's... something” Don says, ”I didn't know you were into kidnapping”.
”It's not a personal interest” Siran says, ”but this is a VIP. We'll need a few people to watch them while we're gone”.
”As long as you come back quickly with my men” Don says, ”we'll keep them safe”.
”Thanks” Siran says, ”but how are we supposed to get there quickly? That's a lot of distance to cover”.
”Why do you think I gave you the bikes to begin with?” Don asks. ”I had previously planned on having you make a contraband run for me against your knowledge, but this takes priority”.
”So that's why you didn't fight much over the bikes...” Zia says.
”Yes, now shoo!” Don says as he tries to push the crew outside. ”Go! Get moving!”.
As the crew leaves, Siran says to himself ”So we have supporters... maybe it won't be such a bad idea after all to let the world know who I am”.
”Look” Vivi says, ”you're obviously not going to listen to me when I say don't be so reckless. But whatever you do, don't give the enemy the opportunity to take advantage of what little information the world may know. The world's idea of you is kind of split in two. Some believe the story of you had a sad ending and you were wrongfully accused, the rest believe it really was all your fault. You have a 50% chance of gaining support, but 50% chance of losing your support... roughly speaking, of course”.
”I know” Siran says. ”By the way, shouldn't he had given us more bikes? We have eight bikes, but there's twelve of us...”.
”Beggars can't be choosers” Alex says. ”We were given support from an outside source, that's what matters”.
”Does Wolf Pack count as an outside source at this point?” Tanya asks.
”Maybe we can mark them down as more supporters” Rose says.
”Maybe” Siran says. ”Guess we'll find out about all this supporter stuff when we get to the correction camp. That is, if there really is one”.
”Do you think Don would honestly set up a trap like this for you?” Tanya asks.
”I don't know” Siran says. ”That's something we'll have to find out. I'm not sure I can trust the modern day mafia”.
Night arrives by the time the crew makes it up to Forehold. It looked like it was about to rain. It was too dark to see the clouds, but lightning overhead was visible throughout the night sky. They drove around the city of Forehold, since they've already attacked there and it would be dangerous to risk going through the city again. It was nearly midnight before they finally found what they assumed to be the camp they were looking for. It wasn't too hard to spot. There were a lot of lights, and a really tall fence with barbed wire around the top of the fence. There were several shelters inside the fence, and a lot of people dressed in dark green jumpsuits. The people dressed in jumpsuits were constantly at work, and soldiers were everywhere watching them with guns in their hands. It looked more like a prison.
”Is this the place?” Rose asks.
”Looks like it could be it” Alex says. ”If we can get closer and quietly ask one of the men in jumpsuits what's going on, that should clear up whether this is the camp we're looking for”.
”I think Don exaggerated when he said this was like a concentration camp” Siran says. ”Sure, it looks bad, but I'm pretty sure concentration camps were a lot worse”.
”How should we get close to them?” Finn asks. ”Should I go, since I'm good with illusion magic?”.
”I can go” Rose suggests. ”I can move quickly, in and out”.
”It'd be dangerous to send two people at once” Siran says. ”They'd likely discover you if you both went. So we can probably use Finn's magic to create a trail with low visibility. If you can decrease the amount of light without making it obvious that there's magic in play, then Rose can move in and ask the people at work”.
”I can handle that” Finn says.
”Then I leave it up to you two” Siran says.
Finn focuses on blocking some of the light in areas that were already dark. The route Rose took was restricted, and there weren't many places she could move through to get close to the gate. Because of that, the area of the gate she moved to didn't have anyone near it. The only choice she had was to wait for someone to come to her. After a long wait, a tall man wearing a green jumpsuit while holding a shovel walked up to the gate while complaining.
”Can't even have a smoke in here” the man complains.
”Psst!” Rose makes a sound to get the man's attention. ”Over here!”.
”Wassup?” The man says in confusion as he looks around.
Rose slowly creeps a little bit into the light and asks ”What is this place?”.
”Who in blazing hell are you?” The man asks.
”My name is Rose” Rose says. ”What is this place?”.
”This is a correctional facility” the man says.
”Like a prison?” Rose asks.
”Yeah, just like a prison” the man says. ”Only difference is, we aren't put here for a crime. Were put here because we morally supported unorthodox people”.
”Supported?” Rose asks. ”Supported who?”.
”The Six Guns” The man replies.
”What if The Six Guns were to break you out?” Rose asks. ”Would you still support them?”.
”Shit” the man says, ”if they broke me out, I'd be happy to support them. Even if they previously had a scuffle with some idiots from my gang”.
”Gang?” Rose asks. ”Then you're from Wolf Pack?”.
”How'd you know that?” The man asks.
”I'm Rose Atiyeh” Rose says, ”from The Six Guns. We're here to get you out”.
The man dropped his shovel in surprise. ”This has gotta be some sorta joke” he says, ”this can't be true!”.
”I'm not joking” Rose says. ”Do me a favor, and act natural for now. I'm going to rendezvous with my team. Give us a little bit of time and we'll get all of you out”.
”Well, I'll be damned” the man says. ”How can I act so natural when I'm this excited?”.
”Just... try harder” Rose says as she creeps away from the gate. As Rose makes her way to the crew, she says to herself ”What a weirdo”.
After Rose makes it back to the rest of the crew, Siran asks ”So how'd it go?”.