Synesthesia Arc

Prologue
-Chatlog: 23:36:58, 12/31/2054- '' [HQ: Copy 3-1. All clear. Your mission is a go. Good luck.]''

''[Lex: Copy. You hear that? We're moving out.]''

[Zoe: We better not mess this up, guys.]

''[Ridley: Time to kick off the new year with a bang. Out.]''

 -End Chatlog-

The hatch door opens, and it's accompanied by brilliant flashes of light in the night sky. I look out and see the fireworks have already started. I run out the open hatch fall through the clouds. At my sides my comrades were descending with me.

A magnificent view of the corrupt and crime-ridden city of Genlitch filled my goggles as we hurtled at high speed towards the ground.

We were on a mission to capture a man that was considered a high threat and then blow up his building.

I heard Lex's voice in my comlink. "Deploy chutes in three, two, one." I yanked the cord on the pack I was carrying and it let out a black parachute. The two handles on either side controlled my descent. I landed on a tall building and waited. The other four landed shortly after. We removed our goggles and masks and stuffed them into the bags with the parachutes and hid them. From there, we got a view of the whole area. It was beautiful. But not for long. When we're done, their sounds of cheering and joy will turn into cries of panic and terror. Oh what fun.

We silently entered the building through the rooftop access door. "Split up and clear the area," Lex commanded. "Meet outside the the target's office in ten." Zoe and I nodded and we went our separate ways.

Lex took the vents. Zoe took the elevator. And I had to take the stairs. Not a surprise they left the most tiring area to me. Zoe's claustrophobic and lazy while Lex thinks out loud and complains about staying still. I loaded my silenced pistol and stealthily walked through the floor.

It seemed to be mostly empty except for one room where there appeared to be a few people having a small party.

"HQ, this is Ridley." I whispered into my comlink.

"Go ahead, Ridley. What's the situation?"

"Three people. Unarmed. They haven't noticed me yet. Rules of engagement?"

"Eliminate any personnel with visible weapons or that have seen you."

"Copy, HQ. Out."

I walked past them quickly but quietly. Didn't want to draw any attention.

I came up to the stairs, but quickly retreated back to the shadows. Two guards. Armed with base MP5's. Light kevlar vests. Nightsticks. They stood there nearly motionless.

I had a variety of ways of dealing with this. I could snipe them with my Velociten, but the second I shoot one down the other will be alerted and could cause some problems.

I could use my Dragon to kill them both quickly, but the party people will hear that.

My pistol could probably break through their vests. I nailed one of the guards in the head and shot the other twice in the chest and once in the throat. I didn't want him to scream in pain. That would be bad.

I hid their bodies in a nearby closet and hurried down the stairs.

When I got to the bottom, there were bodies everywhere. Looks like Zoe didn't bother to clean up. I scanned the area for any possible survivors then headed to the target's office. I hope he didn't hear any of the gunfire.

Lex and Zoe were already there. "Ridley, stack up." Lex said upon my arrival. I took my place behind him. "What took you?" Zoe asked. "Trying to be as quiet as possible isn't exactly quick, pigtails." I responded. If you're wondering, yes Zoe was wearing pigtails.

"Prepare to breach." said Lex. I drew my Dragon and loaded it. Then Lex kicked the door down.

"Go go go!" He yelled. I ran into the room, and raised my dragon to shoulder length. There were two guards inside. They immediately opened fire on our entrance. While avoiding the stormtrooper-grade accuracy of their bullets I got closer to them then fired my Dragon at point-blank range, easily killing the guard. Zoe got the other with her rifle. The man that was being guarded was trembling in fear.

"P-Please don't kill me! I'll give you anything you want, I swear!" Lex watched him closely, then he said, "This is the wrong guy." Zoe seemed frustrated. "Are you SERIOUS?!" she exclaimed. "I used up all that ammo for nothing." I just sighed. "This is still the right building, though. Carry out the second part of our orders." Lex said.

We split up once again, and set explosive charges throughout the floor and the floor directly above ours. Once we finished, we headed back up to the roof. Lex called in our evac craft. I checked my watch, and it was just a few minutes till midnight.

When our gunship arrived, there was a soldier in the passenger bay to help us get on. "Hop on, fellas. It's a long ride home." We got on one by one, and I requested to leave the door open for a while.

"Get ready with your detonators," Lex said. "We blow 'em up on my count. Three, two one…" Then the clock struck midnight. And the top of the building we were just on exploded in a brilliant display of flames. The fireworks stopped and I heard people screaming. Just another day's work.

Happy New Year, you money-loving maggots.