Chương 65: Chapter Sixty-Five: Insider
Siran and the others returned to the hideout. After they get there, they sit down and think about what happened with Mizrahi at the base in Cairo. "I can't believe that worked out." Finn says. "He actually agreed to us having one last big mission before they pull out of Egypt... It feels like this nightmare is finally coming to an end."
"Oh, we're not done yet." Siran says. "Shelby, I'll need your help with something."
"What is it?" Shelby asks.
"You can Chao are the least known to be associated with The Six Guns." Siran says. "However, I want to keep Chao here with us. I think you're the best fit for this job because of your history with being a hunter and all. You may have the most appeal for this."
"Name the task, as long as it gets us out of here." Shelby says.
"I need you to pick either Lebanon or Syria." Siran says. "Whichever you choose, I need you to sneak into there completely undetected, alone. The less people for this operation, the better. Plus, you having been a part of a hunters group may even add to the appeal for whichever territory you so choose. I want you to go and make peace with them, plan for setting up a large forces to draw in Israel's attention. Tell them we want names, locations and any information they have on Mizrahi and all of his immediate supervisors that he answers to. Anything they can give us will be great. In exchange, offer them our help in the conflict and promise we'll feed them information in exchange of when Israel plans to retaliate and how. Whatever we get told will be passed right along to them."
"Wait, what are you doing?" Rose asks.
"We're getting rid of Mizrahi before he gets rid of us." Siran says.
"B-but!" Rose argues. "He agreed to leave Egypt alone. Isn't that all we needed."
"I hate to say it, Rose, but he's right." Holly says. "Like we said. This isn't as simple as black and white. Based on the nature and reaction Mizrahi gave us, I can assure you that he only agreed as a farce to stabbing us in the back. He's not leaving Egypt, Rose. That's the unfortunate truth."
"Likely," Haru adds, "the reason they're even here to begin with is expansion. Whether they want to expand their territory or their economy, I'm not sure. Maybe they want to own other countries, or maybe they're going for a similar angle as Omnia and using their persuasion to push their economics onto others, essentially controlling the flow of money and economic value in other countries. Even Omnia tried to force other countries to convert their native form of money to Omnia's currency. If they can succeed, it would make more countries around them too dependent on their system, or worse. Too dependent on Israel's source of trade. Considering the large leaps in military advancement they've made over the years, it's likely their exports would be military goods."
"But then... war would never end." Rose says.
"Or it would end, but entirely at their mercy." Haru says.
"So, I go to Syria and try to make contact?" Shelby asks. "Do I go in with a surrender and an offer or something?"
"Take this." Siran says as he hands her his own phone. "Contact me if they need further proof that The Six Guns are willing to help their side. The offer is that they will survive this conflict."
"And once we know how and where to find those commanding officers Mizrahi answers to?" Finn asks.
"The goal is to take them out swiftly." Siran says. "However, try not to plan too far ahead with the specifics. If we don't know how many or how far apart they are, we won't know exactly how to take them out yet. Contact Syria, make a pact, gather and exchange information. Those are the three steps we will be focusing on for now."
"Got it." Shelby says as she dusts off her cloak. "I'll get ready to leave soon. Stay hidden so they don't realize one of us is missing until I get back. It'll take me a long time to get back into Syria."
"And Denzel wasn't there?" Zia asks Robin.
"Look, I don't know anything else." Robin replies. "Denzel wasn't there. We were interrogated by McNamara and McNamara alone. I want them taken down just as much as you do. I mean, you see the size of this scar?" Robin shows off the stitches in his leg. "I have to get this checked up on by Doc each week. I've been taking penicillin... penicillin, Zia!"
"What's... so bad with penicillin?" Zia asks.
"It makes my pee smell like... well, really bad!" Robin complains.
"You're lucky that's all you have to complain about..." Zia says.
"Yeah, well... unfortunately, I still don't know anything else." Robin answers. "What did happen out there anyways?"
"I'll have to tell that story when we have the whole crew together." Zia replies. "For now, I have a personal bone to pick with McNamara and Denzel Freeman. With Siran gathering the others, I'm going to be doing my part and remove this pain in the ass from office."
"I like the enthusiasm." Robin says. "What's the plan?"
"You won't have to worry about doing anything here." Zia says. "I want you to finish healing."
"Yeah, you're one to talk." Robin says. "Demetri told me you still needed pain killers or the headaches and check ups to make sure a skull fracture was healing properly."
"I have to do this." Zia says. "Besides, there's some dots connecting here. No matter how much I run, my past isn't going away unless I face it and let it go. But this... Freeman. He needs to be stopped."
"Something about your former clan?" Robin asks.
"It links to that." Zia says. "I know you were around, that time long ago when we ran into Markwood. Remember when Markwood told us that Siran was this monster and also told us that he was Naris?"
"Yeah, then captain ran away but still followed us around as The Sniper." Robin answers.
"Then we found out he wasn't Naris, and all that other stuff." Zia says. "That's not the important part here though. He mentioned the name Markwood was a family name of people who derived from the Mahina clan."
"Alright..." Robin says.
"But I also learned a couple things from the couple that helped save my life when I was injured and lost my memories." Zia adds. "They used to work with your father, Garreth Hood."
"They did?" Robin asks.
"Yeah, he was a former FBI agent." Zia answers.
"... Wait... I didn't know that!" Robin says. "He never talked about his past. He always just pushed me to be part of the military."
"He and Denzel Freeman were part of an operation." Zia says. "Based on one of the last things Felicia told us before we left, apparently it's not the first time that the government has employed an mentally unstable person and handed them uncontested power to watch them go rampant. James Markwood was a very unstable man. But being from the Mahina clan, he had natural talent for magic. They targeted him and gave him subtle pushes to go out of control. It might have seemed like Markwood was controlling and forcing people to do his bidding, but this whole time he was your father's puppet. Now Denzel is the president of the United States, and it seems like his current agenda isn't far off from that operation. This time, McNamara is helping him carry it out. And for whatever reason, they tried to rope our kids into this mess."
Robin raises his hand to his chin to think for a moment. "Sounds to me like they might have been trying to knock out two birds with one stone, by taking your kids." he says. "On one hand, they'd have hostages to control the most well-known and most powerful group of outlaws in the world. The only people who took down their last council of pawns, The Mages Guild. On the other hand, there's been a lot of talk of Athena and Thor training them to close those streams... it may be likely the FBI either caught wind of this or they observed them attempting to close the stream. To my knowledge, that was what they left to do before you guys all came back together with these stories of kidnapping and revenge."
"And I'm not going to let this stand." Zia says. "I'm training with Silas to close those streams. However, I'm sure they'll be ready for us the next time we leave HQ. So, until we're ready to go close a stream, we'll be remaining inside at all times. When we do go out, I'm going to waiting for them to come out of hiding and put a swift end to McNamara. Soon after, we'll take this fight to Freeman too."
"I can see you want this about as bad as I wanted to stop my own father." Robin says. "If there's no stopping you, then you won't hear me complaining much more. But, be careful. Just because we have them being pushed back does not mean they're defenseless. Anything they do, assume it's a trap. They seem to operate a lot like how Omnia operated back in the day."
"Thanks, Robin." Zia says. "Oh, and good luck with your recovery."
"You're not much of one to talk, Zia." Robin complains again.
"I thought you said you wouldn't complain anymore." Zia says with a smiles. As Zia walks away, Robin gestures with his hands as if to shoo her away.
"That's your plan?" Dana asks as Zia walks out of the room.
"Kids?" Zia asks as she looks around and see all three of the kids leaning against the wall outside of the room where her and Robin were talking.
"You didn't think you'd slip that right past us, did you?" Carl asks.
"Look." Zia says. "I'm not going to let you guys be put in danger. I have to take care of this."
"And I have to take care of you." Silas argues with his arms crossed. "Say what you will, but it's not like I can sit back and just let you put yourself in danger like that. At least, not without us."
"We can handle much more than you think." Dana adds. "You're neglecting a duty as a temporary leader. You're not remaining aware of your resources. We're here too, y'know?"
"But-" Zia argues.
"We're not taking no for an answer." Carl argues.
Zia sighs, then says "Silas, just stop. I will-"
"This was my idea." Silas interrupts. "I'm the one who asked Dana and Carl to back me up on this. We're going in there with you."
"You're just kids!" Zia argues.
"We're 18 and 19 years old!" Silas says. "It's time to take off the mom goggles! I'm still your son, but I am not a child. I'm here for you too, y'know. Besides, many of The Six Guns started fighting the whole world when they were just teenagers!"
"That's right!" Dana argues. "Robin is only 20 years older than me! I know by the time the war started and The Six Guns formed, that it was a few years before any of us were born! It's about time we put in time to protect our parents."
"To protect all of you." Carl adds.
"Look, mom..." Silas says gently. "I know you're probably too scared to agree, but we won't take no for an answer. You raised me and kept me protected regardless of all the stuff I never got to grow up to be. Time for me to help repay that. Besides, what am I gonna do if you go an get your head injured again?"
Zia sighs, holding back tears as she does this. "Just... pull out if it gets to be too much."
"Not without you." Silas argues.
After the three of them walk away, Zia remained in the hallway. She stood, both shocked and proud at the same time. Suddenly, Ryan came by and put a hand on Zia's shoulder, shocking Zia and bringing her back to her senses. "They've got a good sense of comradery." He says. "People like those three often do well as soldiers. Hell, maybe even spec ops potential. As scary as it is to send off your own kids, I think it would be best for them if you let them stretch their wings a little, don't you think?"
"Yeah... maybe I sheltered him a little too much." Zia says. "He's growing up too fast. I just... wasn't ready to stop being a mother yet."
"I wouldn't know anything about that." Ryan says. "Honestly, I'd just say you're crazy. But hey, your way of looking at it sounds better."
Zia looks down for a moment, thinking to herself. "Hey!" Zia protests as she came to the realization of what he said.
"So, what is one of The Six Guns doing snooping around Syria like this?" a Syrian soldier asks Shelby as she was escorted to and then locked inside the back of an armored van that was moving in an unknown direction to her. "Knowing your crew has been working with Israel, I'm sure that a sudden surrender is nothing short of a mere trap."
"We actually want to address that." Shelby says with a smile. "You see, you need insider knowledge on Israel and any help you can get. It just so happens that Israel and our relationship has... broken down? I came here alone, on good will to help the both of us. You see, we came to discover Israel has started this conflict and we think we my have an idea on to why, but that can't be confirmed. What we do know if their tech, their defenses and where. We can even give times of attacks and how they'll be carried out. All we want is every bit of information your military has managed to dig up on Lieutenant Colonel Noam Mizrahi and who he answers to, how many he answers to, and their chain of command. With this, we plan on having them dealt with and the conflict resolved before it carries on any longer. We want an information for information exchange. We'll help walk you through the next conflicts, as long as we have a deal."
"A deal?" one of the soldiers asks. "With one of the members who came here alone? How do we know we won't be screwed?"
"I know it may be hard to believe me." Shelby says. "So I have this." Shelby shuffles around a little bit with handcuffs on her wrists until she pulls out the phone Siran gave her. "Take it. There's a speed dial number on the screen. Press that and it'll dial our leader. I'm sure you'll have lots to talk about." The soldiers all exchange glances with each other, then one of them nods their head and presses the speed dial button.
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