Stefan held up the device, as to make the man/woman heard.
"Maybe we should've tried that first, yeah. Seems like a basic lapse of manners."
He went up to the door, and gave it a rough knock, three times. He had been at a loss. What did he know about bank doors and how they operated? Nothing. He could only hope the man wasn't joking. That'd make him look like an idiot. Though they could all use some humour about now. The noise of the knocking resounded in the sewer with a light sound.
Jacob kept going along the pipe Oliver seemed distracted he was probably gathering information. Jacob looked at the man going down one by one using the ladder. He was happy to see that they didn't have to crawl through this filthy pipe any longer. When his turn arrived he looked down the ladder and into the room. It seemed strangely well kept this was obviously a sign that someone had been here recently, a thought that didn't comfort him he.
He turned around to Oliver "There is an ladder up ahead, so you might want to go down the ladder before going on gathering information." Jacob checked his gun one last time before also sliding down the stairs. He joined them in time to hear. "You could always try knocking. Honestly, why must criminals always do things the hard way?" Jacob looked around this seems liked an perfect place for an hideout. Jacob looked at the former cop who knocked on the door. Jacob didn't like the man and if this was indeed an ambush he wouldn't mind if he was to die.
"You could always try knocking. Honestly, why must criminals always do things the hard way?"
"Yeah because when I see a big steel door that looks like belongs on a vault in a Swiss bank, I always think, that door looks specifically designed to keep people out and is probably being monitored. Clearly the best thing to do is knock on it. That can't possibly have any negative consequences" Calvin retorted aloud. He wasn't sure if the mysterious stranger could hear him, but a pithy response made him feel a bit better.
Almberg walked up to the door and banged on it a few times. Jacob was watching him intently, almost as though he was expecting something to happen. Maybe he thinks it's a trap, Calvin thought. Best to be sure I suppose. He took his stolen pistol out of the waistband of his trousers and flicked off the safety. If there was a nasty surprise waiting for them on the other side of the door, this time he wouldn't let himself be caught.
As he crawled through the narrow space the information poured into Oliver. There were a few small gangs and terrorist cells that came up, the usual suspects, they wouldn't have the funds or sheer audacity to break out a large group of prisoners hand picked by President Black. However for each small time gang that he was given three other names came up.
The Popular Republic union - Primary opposer's of Black's regime during the election; majority assassinated.
The Brazilian Independence group - Against Black's regime and suspected of harbouring escaped criminals the majority of which are from France, England and the US.
The Steel Knights - Former vigilante group known to operate in several countries and are now fighting against Blacks militia, reasons unknown
A Republican, a Brazilian and a Knight walk into a bar. Oliver couldn't see any of them organising this break out individually, but they all seemed to have a common cause: President Black. His thoughts were interrupted by Jacob telling him the tunnel had ended and there was a ladder leading down. Oliver turned on his night vision as he descended.
For a sewer it was very clean, all the refuse had been moved to one side and ahead of him he could see a large steel door, similar to the ones you find guarding bank vaults. Stefen was pounding on the door looking bemused.
"Yeah because when I see a big steel door that looks like belongs on a vault in a Swiss bank, I always think, that door looks specifically designed to keep people out and is probably being monitored. Clearly the best thing to do is knock on it. That can't possibly have any negative consequences"
"You shouldn't be so narrow minded, when I see a door like this I wonder what it's keeping in."
Byron looked around the sewer. Just knock. Could it be that simple ? Calvin was being his sarcastic self again but this time he did something really dangerous. He rose his gun, preparing for the worse. He really seemed on edge.
"Ehh, what are you so worried about Calvin, mon ami ?" he turned to Calvin. "This person had plenty of chances to take us out already and if they open the door and see you armed they might as well take you down. So do us all a favour and lower your gun"
"Ehh, what are you so worried about Calvin, mon ami? This person had plenty of chances to take us out already and if they open the door and see you armed they might as well take you down. So do us all a favour and lower your gun"
Calvin lowered the gun slightly. "I got caught because I wasn't prepared for an ambush. I'm not letting that happen twice. And just because they haven't taken us out already doesn't mean they won't do it at all." He lowered the gun to his side. "However, whoever this person is, they clearly want something from us, so greeting the with firearms may not be the best idea. I suppose we'd best hear them out first." He flicked the safety back on and put it in his jacket's inside pocket.
Everyone in the tunnel could hear the gears of the security door spin the moment Stefan knocked on the door. A few mechanical clicks, some electronic buzzing, and then...silence. The last thing to happen was the com device Stefan was holding shorted out completely.
The door slowly swung open on it' on accord, revealing the room inside. It was rather unremarkable for the most part. It looked like a mere 40 foot cement box with an arrangement of boxes to the left, and a wall of glass at the far end of the room that seperated one half of the room from the other.
Beyond the glass were a row of 5 computers mounted to the wall. A common office chair sat in front of the screens; its occupant kept his back to the group entering his home.
"All you had to do was run, and you make a big ass explosion. You are one entertaining bunch"
The voice of the man wasn't nearly as robotic as the one on the com device had been, but he was clearly augmenting his voice to cover up what he really sounded like.
"In any case. Welcome. I hope you had fun out there"
Calvin stepped forwards towards the chair. "Welcome. I hope you had fun out there"
"Yeah running through a muddy forest, crawling through a sewer pipe and faking my own death is just my idea of a good day out."
He had a look around the room, and saw nothing he hadn't seen already. Just bare cement walls, the boxes, and the glass screen at the far end.
"Sitting in a swivel chair with your back to the door when your guests enter. How very original. Do you want to tell us who you are now?"
Entering the pipe was bad enough, but enduring the crawl with no end in sight was suffocating. Nothing pleasant came from cramped spaces for Edmond. It was as if gravity itself was grasping his throat, gripping ever tighter without remorse. He could barely breathe in these situations, luckily he heard over the chatting up ahead that a ladder was found. Nearly stumbling down the ladder head first, Edmond took in every aspect of the room he now resided in. Spacious, recently cleaned, a grand door that appears to be a vault, and best of all not a pipe.
The relief of being out of the cramped tube, almost blinded the doctor from realizing several oddities. Before he would sit down and think about them, Edmond figured proceeding through the vault door was the logical next step in their given destination but the other inmates before him seemed unable to find any way of opening the door. "Anyone try to ring the bell? Or should we just blow the door open? Worked last time". The man who referred to himself as Calvin called out for us to find a keyhole so that he could have his way with it. Problem was vault doors of this caliber wouldn't, or most definitely, shouldn't have keyholes of any kind. Before Edmond could voice his opinion on that plan, the crackle of a radio erupted in the room. Initially startled by the abruptness of the device, Edmond frantically looked around the room to find it, only to notice seconds later it was in the hands of one of the men. "You could always try knocking. Honestly, why must criminals always do things the hard way?".
Hearing those words spoken over the radio caused Edmond's mind to stir. This scenario laid out before him left subtle hints to what has been going on and why it has happened. Three buses full of convicts picked specifically by Sebastian Black were all attacked simultaneously, a man on the radio orders us to all head into the woods, a pipe in the middle of a forest that leads to a site that appears to be a hideout, the voice referring to us as criminals suggests he has dealt with the like before yet does not consider himself such. This must not be a large gang that wants more muscle, could it be a political party? Hire criminals with little chance of objection to carry out the dirty work behind the scenes so as to remain inconspicuous. With tasks so life threatening they'll all die off to the point where the remaining can be snuffed out silently. To his dismay, the doctor had no options left, returning to the bus or what was left of it would now put him in greater peril then what was to come from the man on the radio.
So lost in thought was the doctor he suddenly realized the vault began to open. It was quite the sight, or so he thought as he could not get a good look over the other prisoners, almost all of them were unusually tall. What he was able to hear was a man say "I hope you had fun out there". This man was obviously going to throw us into life threatening situations with circumstances so dire that he might as well put a couple rounds into us and ship us back to the cops right here, would be quicker. Then again he did spare their lives moments ago, and he looks to have something that would give us some sort of motivation besides murder hopefully. Might as well play along he thought, wouldn't this be more exciting? Aside from the pipe crawling of course.
Blarg took forever for this post, touchscreen keyboards
"Well not all of us wanted to stand around for 10 minutes, others....". Calcifer gave the others an icy glare. "Well they obviously like to play, but I'm a business man man. To the point as we all want to arrive at, would you be so kind as to answer his question, and my own; what do you want". The arms dealer folded his arms, he was unsure if they could even speak to him. It just seemed to be the boxes in there half of the room, obviously something for them. Whoever it was through the glass, he was an intriguing man.
Byron was surprised that the door actually opened. He thought that their saviour was playing some sort of joke on them but was relieved when he saw that there was no trap behind the door. He saw the man, his back to them. He looked around the room, pretty empty, not what you'd call a mastermind's hideout.
"Sitting in a swivel chair with your back to the door when your guests enter. How very original. Do you want to tell us who you are now?"
"Hah, you suppose that when he turns around he's wearing a suit and stroking a fat cat? Oh and by the way I really like this evil mastermind arrangement, spells out crazy right away."
Stefan stepped forward towards the glass pane. He decided to tuck away his gun again as to not appear threatening but it was an arbitrary gesture, the glass was obviously bullet proof. He had thrown the destroyed device aside as the door had opened. It was no more use obviously. Instead he took a grip on his shock baton again, holding it still as he walked through the vault door and up to the glass pane.
"All you had to do was run, and you make a big ass explosion. You are one entertaining bunch -- In any case. Welcome. I hope you had fun out there."
Stefan opened his mouth to speak. But he realized he most likely owed his life to this man. He nodded slightly. Manners first.
"Thank you. Anyone else can think whatever they wish, but I doubt we would've escaped without outside help. So.. yeah. Thank you. Even if the service wasn't free. I'm guessing you have a lot of plans, huh..."
That was all he really needed to say, taking a light breath, the tension in his stomach eased and he felt better again, even if he was cold and his clothing was wet and covered in filth. He wanted to shower and scrub himself clean. He wasn't sure if it was because he was being associated with criminals or because he was covered in grime. A bit of both he guessed.
He shifted his body a little and adjusted his filthy shirt, he managed to smirk a little though. That might've been at the remarks people were making about their saviour though.
"I hope you have showers down here somewhere. Because your pipe really smelled like shit...Sir."
Caspian soon joined several of the other inmates as they entered a room that felt rather sterile in comparison to the inmates who were all dirty and wet due to the conditions outside. Beyond a glass wall, lay a bank of 5 somewhat large computers, and someone sitting in a chair with their back towards the group. Abigail soon joined the others after trudging through the pipe, and stood next to Caspian who had propped himself against the back wall.
The way in which the person spoke was obviously synthetic in nature, probably a means to disguise themselves. On the groups side of the room, there were a series of boxes, each one with a person's name on it; which must of corresponded to a member of the group. Abigail looked curious, and tempted to walk over and life the lid; not before Caspian grabbed her hand.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you Abigail, who knows whats lurking inside of those boxes." He remarked in a quiet, cautious tone.
"Awwh, but I want to see whats inside." Abigail responded with a childish pout.
"Patience, all shall be revealed in time." Caspian then returned his attention to the person with a augmented voice.
"In any case. Welcome. I hope you had fun out there."
"Yes, fun is definitely the term I'd use to describe having to run through a forest while being chased by the local police; then crawling through a tunnel to meet with someone who currently keeps their back to us." Caspian remarked in a rather annoyed and sarcastic tone. He soon calmed down, realising that acting negative around the person that might of saved them, could be considered bad form.
"Pardon me, we've all had a bit of a rough day so far. Also, thank you for assistance in our little escape attempt." Caspian then said in a much more polite tone of voice.
"Sitting in a swivel chair with your back to the door when your guests enter. How very original. Do you want to tell us who you are now?"
"Hah, you suppose that when he turns around he's wearing a suit and stroking a fat cat? Oh and by the way I really like this evil mastermind arrangement, spells out crazy right away."
"I'm glad at least some of you have an appreciation for theatrics. I work hard on my image"
The man behind the glass was either incapable of picking up sarcasm or simply refused to. He rotated his chair towards them and waved. He was clad in a black suede jacket and gloves. I helmet with a reflective surface was worn over his face.
"Though I admit, If I had time to take care of a cat that would have been quite the awesome site..."
The man reaches over and writes something down on a notepad, then gives his attention back to the guests.
"To answer your questions, I am called Mantis by everyone that currently knows me. And as for what I want...well. Your help of course.
"I need a few of you morally grey types to work on the side of Justice for a while. In return, you get to the people have a chance at changing the world first hand. And some monetary gain for your troubles if that's your sort of thing"
"Why would I want to change the world Mr. Mantis? I'm an arms dealer, I profit from chaos and I doubt your looking to make things worse in the long run" Calcifer stepped up to the glass to bring his size to bear. "But I am a deal man, though my rates are not by any means cheap".
The vault door swung open moments after Stefen had knocked on it, revealing the room inside. It wasn't what Oliver had expected at all, it was bland and anticlimactic, it looked more like an office cubical then the lair of some shadowy organization. A wall of glass separated them from the occupant of the plain office who kept his back facing them. The scene was staged, ripped entirely from old spy thrillers, he almost expected the occupant to be Russian.
The person behind the glass revealed himself, rotating his chair to face them. He wore a plain black suede jacket with matching gloves and a helmet that covered his face. The man introduced himself as Mantis and then offered them the job, he had expected this, but he hadn't expected he would be working for the other side of the law. The Knights of Steel is is then.
"It was very chivalrous breaking us out like that, and you did keep your word about introductions" He said smugly "But we still don't know what organization you're part of, you couldn't have pulled all this off by yourself"
"Why would I want to change the world Mr. Mantis? I'm an arms dealer, I profit from chaos and I doubt your looking to make things worse in the long run"
The large man stepped forward, from what Mantis could guess he was trying to look tough.
"But I am a deal man, though my rates are not by any means cheap".
"Oh? Do tell, how much money will you be inclined to make if potential clients are getting locked up by the hundreds each day?
You profit from chaos, I make chaos. That much is evident by me releasing 40 criminals to tare France apart. As far as money goes, I'm not all that concerned about price tag at the moment"
"It was very chivalrous breaking us out like that, and you did keep your word about introductions. But we still don't know what organization you're part of, you couldn't have pulled all this off by yourself"
"You would think, but breakouts when the transport you're targeting follows the same pattern for 5 months. Then it's just the matter of putting explosions in the right place, getting a hold of a weapon, and all the other boring logistics of it."
"You profit from chaos, I make chaos. That much is evident by me releasing 40 criminals to tare France apart. As far as money goes, I'm not all that concerned about price tag at the moment"
40 criminals into the country side. That seems small pierogies to me Mr Mantis, though I haven't seen your resume. And why would I care if simple criminals are getting locked up. I supply rebels, terrorists and professional armies beyond the reach of a black bag. I am grateful for you getting me out of my jam but I wouldn't of lingered in prison long". Calcifer turned to the side and examined the crates exterior from afar. It's to bad he couldn't of met this Mantis fellow truly face to face, no walls. But clearly both somewhat underestimated the others power.
"Why don't you just tell us what you want, and I'll decide if I want to throw my support in and we can work out the details after".
Stefan nodded slightly, stepping away from the glass pane.
"So the theory is correct then I take it. You want to take down Black. At this point, I'm not even going to bother to think he isn't up to something. Screw what organization you're part of. I'll help. I don't want money, help me set my life straight instead."
Stefan was clenching his right fist again, closing and opening it out of some habit. If the man didn't have some twisted perception of justice, maybe he could even fit in. It would be comforting to know that his work was justified. Things were unfolding nonetheless. The man with the cuffs was an arms dealer apparently. He looked as if he was trying to look imposing. It didn't seem to work, what with the glass pane and all.
"Why don't you just tell us what you want, and I'll decide if I want to throw my support in and we can work out the details after".
"To put it in simple terms, I want the guy that had you locked up. I want Black, his militia, and everything he has wiped off the face of the earth. And I want your help to do it"
"So the theory is correct then I take it. You want to take down Black. At this point, I'm not even going to bother to think he isn't up to something. Screw what organization you're part of. I'll help. I don't want money, help me set my life straight instead."
Mantis spun in his chair several times and clapped in celebration.
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