Chapter Text
Elsewhere…
He set down the last part of the rifle, having finished cleaning the gun. Leaning down, he dragged out a long, black box and heaved it onto his legs. He clicked it open, pausing to check that everything was in place, and started placing the parts into the box, letting each piece fit snugly into the case.
“Not going to be reassembling the sniper rifle?”
A voice asked from in front of him, smooth and velvety.
“No”, he replied, not even bothering to glance up. “There’s no need for this one to also be built and prepped when there’s so many already waiting.”
He gestured towards the side where a rack of various firearms only missing their ammo sat waiting to be taken out to the field.
“What are you here for?”
“I can’t just come visit you?”
“Everyone on this aircraft knows, Kafka , that the head doesn’t show up unless the boss has new orders.”
“Well, you’re wrong there then, Bladie ”, the woman replied evenly, moving to sit down next to him. “I’m here to inform you that Operation Neptune Spear was a success.”
Silence.
“You’re not surprised”, Kafka noted, watching Blade close and lock the case before sliding it under his seat, the box disappearing to be stored elsewhere.
“Of course not. If the general’s there as one of the heads, then it couldn’t possibly fail.”
“You place a lot of faith into General Jingyuan’s ability, don’t you?”
“Whether I do or not doesn’t matter, Kafka.” Blade turned away from her and headed down the aisle. Kafka got up, turning as well to walk behind him.
“You know, if there’s something bothering you or if there’s anything that you feel like you can’t keep down, you can talk to me, Blade.”
“I know. And thank you for the offer”, Blade replied, “But that past is better left buried. I threw away all claims to that name and its history willingly when I joined the ‘Hunters’.”
He stopped and turned to face Kafka fully, letting her see the steel in his gaze.
“I understand”, she sighed, nodding her head as Blade turned back around to continue walking down the aisle
“What’s the next mission?”, he asked as they entered the eating area of the aircraft, sitting down at the nearest empty table. Kafka sat next to him, humming some tune as she pulled information from her memories to answer his question. Silverwolf was also in the area, seated at a different table, where the hacker mindlessly tapped away on her phone, no doubt playing some game again.
“ELIO has already gotten another contract for us. The location is Sicily.”
“Whose assigned to it?”
“Sam.”
At this, Blade looked at her, slightly surprised.
“Only one person? That isn’t very safe.”
Kafka chuckled a little. “Says the one who used to run solo sniping missions on occasion.”
“That was different”, he argued, “there was no one else available to serve as a flanker or spotter.”
“And you couldn’t wait to get back on the field.”
Blade didn’t reply to that which Kafka took as a small victory. She reached behind her to grab a plastic water bottle and opened it. Blade let her take a few sips before he asked another question.
“So, why Sam?”
“Because he has connections.”
“Connections don’t mean anything when we have Silverwolf over there”, Blade nodded his head in Silverwolf’s direction, the hacker still on her phone and paying no mind to the outside world. “She can fake literally anything.”
“Perhaps, but Sam having real connections means that he has real people as tools to use or as backup in the event that something doesn’t follow the plan.”
“Oh, that’s why Sam’s going alone then. He already ‘has’ teammates there.”
“Precisely. Just leave this next mission to Sam and take a break. You deserve it.”
“As if. The trip to Afghanistan was not particularly hard in any way. If anything, it would’ve been easier if we had just, you know, dropped into Afghanistan and not miles away in a different country.”
“We would’ve gotten shot down by the U.S. forces stationed there.”
“That might’ve been safer than trekking through hostile–potentially hostile–territory. Us ‘Hunters’ don’t exactly have a good reputation among anyone who is part of any war.”
“Perhaps, but ELIO mandated that it would be safer doing it the way we did.”
“Huh.”
“Anyway”, Kafka continued, getting up in one smooth motion, “Take a break. You’ll need it because you’re designated backup if Sam encounters any issues.”
“Alright. See you.” Blade replied, as Kafka walked away towards Silvewolf.
Kafka walked towards the hacker, and was about to say something when she spoke up first.
“The files? Right here. I got them done last night.”
“Quick and precise as always”, Kafka smiled as she accepted the files from Silverwolf.
“Yeah, yeah”, Silverwolf muttered back, not really paying attention to Kafka as she was more focused on the screen in front of her.
Walking out of the eating area, Kafka entered the training room where she found who she was looking for currently working out.
“Easy there, Sam. Punch any harder and you’ll mess up the aircraft’s balance.”
“This plane’s withstood more than me just moving around”, the person replied as he threw another punch towards the punching bag hanging in front of him. “The files?”
“Right here.” Kafka waved the folders around before setting them on a nearby shelf. “We’ll drop you off in Ustica where you can take a ferry to Palermo. Silverwolf already made contact with your person in Sicily to come pick you up.”
All she received in reply was a grunt as Sam continued his workout.
“One more time before we arrive, are you absolutely sure that this person of yours is trustworthy?”
“Yes”, Sam huffed out as he slowly lowered his hands and turned around to grab a nearby towel. “I am absolutely sure.”
“Got it. Well, good luck then. Although I’m sure you don’t need it given you and your lineage’s long list of success. Kyulev, Selimi, Remeliik, and Heydrich just to name a few.”
“Buttering me up Kafka?”
“No, just a slight reminder that your target this time around is also quite…noteworthy as an individual.”
“Whatever”, Sam paused for a second before chuckling, “It’s just sort of funny that someone in the ‘Family’ would go out of their way to hire an assassin instead of just having their henchmen do it.”
“Then you know what that means.”
“Of course. They don’t want anyone to know it was them who ordered it.”
“Quick, clean, and untraceable work, Sam. Understood?”
“Copy that. It’s what I specialize in after all.”