FourtyTwo

Burning Rubber Three (Bee and kingkonrad)

Mark watched as she took the vehicle out, either by lethally or non-lethally making that driver think twice, the windscreen shattering with a shot from her 9mm as Mark kept focussed on the road ahead, weaving through more morning traffic as the car's roll felt like it was throwing itself around when weaving in traffic, the weight of the Range Rover certainly something the Scot felt when driving this thing at high speed. Hands gripped tight, he made sure to keep control, aware he didn't want to cause a RTC, or a road traffic collision. Keep it straight and narrow, and get the hell out- Athena had helped them to do that, which had put room between them and their pursuers. Pulling off the main road, a junction for the motorway was coming up as Mark turned onto it, dropping his pace back a little to let Athena catch up properly, but not slow enough to lose any pursuers. Sooner they got to Schipol, the better.

Out onto the wide-open motorway, Mark was now chuckling that they'd actually not ended up dead right there.
"Looks like we got out of that one, Ath! How you holding up?" Mark asked, putting it straight into the furhest lane left and keeping foot to floor, hovering at a nice 90 with a bit of wind noise now coming in from the shattered rear window. Letting Athena speak her peace, he watched for the signage, following the route back to Amsterdam's airport, aware they had a hangar to get back to where they could unload the materials.

GEARS: Silent Line - The Silver Bullet (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Max chuckled, watching as Silverwind came back up the beach, sitting down as he lay out himself too.
"Yeah, nothing like the sea! Let's enjoy it while we can...I hope we get another, but if things go well, I have a funny feeling we might not..." The lion commented, yawning as like Silver and Cat, he was just enjoying this peace and calm that compared to going out there and operating. The calm of the waves coming in, and the occasional call of birds while lying on the soft sand was good enough for him.

It would only last a couple more hours Max mused to himself, time to get away and get some proper rest in. Just as Max put his head back, shutting his eyes, he heard something ambient on the horizon, something that instantly caught his ear.
"Hang on...the fuck is that noise?" Max commented, the sound of a quiet whine getting nosier and nosier- the lion already half wondering what the hell it was. It was high in pitch, but still quiet, enough to catch his particularly sensitive hearing, as he turned and saw just what it was. Almost as if on cue, Max sat up, his jaw open, watching on as the black silouette darted past the sun, dropping altitude over the sea and travelling at a rapid rate. That was what she had meant by a quiet afternoon in....of course.

Anna had to admit, finding them hadn't been that hard but hell, it'd been the journey, not the destination that had mattered for her. After all, when you're using a jet-powered wingpack and you're about to do some infiltration using a piece of experimental equipment, nothing like a dry run to calm your nerves, right? She thought to herself it was probably better this way she didn't tell them- well, apart from dropping in just now. Her natural flair and control let her almost get on level with the sea with the wingpack, barely on the throttle before hitting the brakes, not even needing her parachute here to stop herself. The amount of thrust she had at her disposal made it easy by being able to flare out the wingpack, almost like how a VTOL would pull in to land, a clean and gentle flare to stop and land with the jets helping to basically slow her decent down.

Landing on the beach with a gentle stomp, the jaguar pulled her tinted helmet off her head and cut the jets, the wings folding back in as she laughed like a schoolgirl, almost running around in front and definitely on a high that Max could only tell was rare for the team's infiltrator. Anna may have been loaded up with an operational loadout, but there was no doubt for Max that she was having fun while doing so.
"Oh my.....this thing is just crazy!" Anna yelped, Max standing up as he could only admire it, chuckling equally in response. She certainly had an experience with that thing- given the fact she'd basically landed precisely in front of them, no parachute needed to Max's eyes was insane- and he had no idea how much that might have messed with Cat and Silver.

"Bloody hell...okay, that was cool. But you know you could have just come with us to the beach in the jeep if you really wanted to come, right?" Max cooly replied, winking to Silver and Cat as he did, Anna sighing as she still was catching her breath, almost consumed by what this thing could do. Vertical take-off and landing, plus covering ground like a minature jet fighter was just lucid to her, and Max couldn't say he wasn't pulling her strings a bit as the jaguar sighed, uncertain just how to reply.
"Yeah, but this is way, way cooler."
"If you say so..."

GEARS: Silent Line - The Silver Bullet (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Gonna throw a curveball in next post! I feel a bit screwy doing this, but hey, it's the perk of writing for characters with a little prior setup!

Burning Rubber Three (Bee and kingkonrad)

Mark kept foot to floor, cursing.
"Well, that lasted long. Okay. We're gonna try and lead them towards the canals, break our line of sight. They must have had reinforcements after we iced their friends. Keep your foot down." Mark replied, clutching the wheel tighter as he threw the Range Rover's gear up, speeding through a red light and weaving through traffic, seeing the two Mercedes-Benz S-Classes already following. Shit, this was a real mob, and they had friends in town. Going towards the city centre, he knew it was a longer way to the airport, but they had to break this tail.

Racing through the streets, Mark heard the sound of a pistol crack, the next shattering his rear window as he ducked his head down, braking hard and skidding left, into a narrow street, barely dodging a couple of cars, coming quickly into another canal-side residential area, bikes and other pedestrians diving out of the way as he beeped his horn. The bridge next up along the road was gonna be serious, as Mark kept his throttle down, aware he'd get a lot of air- and probably yeet into a crowd if he kept it pinned. Instead, he took it conservatively, the Range clambering over the sharp bridge and giving him an opportunity to let Athena follow on him.

Mark pulled the handbrake, the Range's body roll making the lift off-oversteer even more exaggerated off the bridge, then turning once again into a cobbled road, the Mercs unable to catch here due to the crowds, but still in sight. Mark put foot to floor once again, the four-wheel drive screeching as he turned back out onto another main road, diving and ducking through traffic.
"We've nearly lost them, let's keep going!"

GEARS: Silent Line - The Silver Bullet (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Ah splendid! Yeah sometimes it's needed- I'll probably go see mine soon (moved to Kent, so in a new part of the world)

GEARS: Silent Line - The Silver Bullet (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

No worries! Whenever you're ready man!

Burning Rubber Three (Bee and kingkonrad)

Mark ran in, seeing Athena drop another guy at the end of the hall she was in, following cautiously. Tapping her on the shoulder, he moved past, moving into the front room, sweeping it out, before heading into the kitchen, bathroom, and upstairs into the two bedrooms, moving quick and efficient as he let Athena take the rest of the small flat. There wasn't anyone here, and the place had indeed been stripped out- apart from looking like a typical Dutch flat, there was little in the way to suggest anything had been run here, let alone someone lived here. Nothing of serious value was left- a trace amount of drugs, but nowhere near enough to deal properly with. This guy had been running his operation out of here- and that didn't exactly mean dealing here and now. A typical drug dealer these days often had better than just himself, especially this geezer- he'd have people below him doing the dirty, he was more like a glorified accountant. Now with a knife wound and dying on the porch of his own flat, he was gonna die a glorified accountant.

Running back down the stairs, Mark had to make a note to step over the bodies in the flat, the place a fucking bloodbath. This was making the news alright, and it was lucky this leafy neighborhood had most people in work, otherwise. Even then, they would probably have seen the girl and the guy who had killed a bunch of other gangsters, and that was how it looked. No symbols, or look that make them look like law enforcement.
"Got what we needed here. Place is dry. Cars look full of IT equipment though. Since this guy is good as a chocolate teapot, let's fuck right out of here. I'll keep you on the other end of the line." Mark said, looking to the body as he opened the door, letting Athena go first- Mark ever the gentleman before following her out.

Heading for the Range Rover at the front, the Scot clambered in, the keyless left in thankfully- they were just about to leave after all, and the one at the front who had been punted wasn't about to speed off without a fight. Well, they picked the wrong one, Mark mused- and well, now they had their cars. The radio was blaring, grime of course. Fucking hell, it wouldn't be a morning in Amsterdam fighting gangsters with this shite on the radio, Mark thought to himself, as he pushed the Start button, the four cylinder revving into life. Despite being crashed into, this thing could pull away, as he put Athena through on the speaker.
"All good your end? Best bet for us is back at Schiphol, there's a hangar over there we can park up in and get these things on air freight. I imagine someone's gonna want to tear apart whatever's in these cars...already got a laptop and half a dozen notepads here, shit, proper fucking accountancy going on here. Ready when you are."

Burning Rubber Three (Bee and kingkonrad)

Mark nodded, turning the key on the engine, the Passat firing up into life.
"You have been warned, Ath. Ready up. Moment they get a couple on the pavement, I'll punt them into the front car. We won't crash too bad, but be ready to get out and start blasting. Suprise is about the best thing we've got. Use it, focus, and don't fucking stop till there's nobody left standing. Not often I say that. But well...you signed up to this, right?" Mark said, almost a little sarcastic right at the end, knowing full well Athena would reply in turn with that and agree that as brutal as it was, it was a needed thing. None of the people they were about to get involved with were going to be good people- they had murdered someone in pretty much cold blood, and well, it's pretty hard to go back from that. The Scotsman knew that himself.

Pulling out the parking, Mark checked his P226's location, heading down the short stretch of road, seeing two more come out. Pulling the P226, he put his foot to floor in 2nd, the speedo climbing as he took the pistol and with a quickdraw, started firing a couple of rounds through the windscreen, already getting one and then hitting two, turning them into skittles as he braked hard, knowing it was still too late now. They crashed at about 15mph into the back of the Range Rover, the two Serbs thrown onto bonnet and then floor, as Mark opened his door. It was a little rough, but it had worked. The airbags hadn't deployed at this speed, but it was a hell of a knock, and Mark felt his seatbelt tighten quite a bit, though not enough to unclip and get the fuck out.

With a seamless move, Mark put four rounds between the two on the floor, quickly taking them down with a shot to the top of his chest, before using one of the Range Rovers for cover, seeing two of two more Serbs run out. They were caught with their pants down, but Mark knew they had to act. Mark slid from cover, taking one more down, lookign across to Athena.
"Two more, inside the flat! I'll cover!" Mark added, giving a couple of rounds of suppressing fire, letting Athena move and get shots on. Once they had these two fuckers iced, they'd have to make a quick sweep of the flat, check the dead guy, and then get the hell out with the two Range Rovers- now conveniently loaded with intel. There wasn't enough time here to wait. More Serbs could be around the corner, and even if the police responded quick enough, it wouldn't be fast enough to secure the most important stuff- they'd identify the Serbs when they arrived. Besides, Mark and Athena weren't exactly a conventional police operation- they were pretty much deniable, and this would later go down as a gang shooting, Mark knew. This wasn't very much that- this was getting shit done, the old-school way.

GEARS: Silent Line - The Silver Bullet (Silverwind Blade & KingKonrad)

Max smiled, chuckling at her comment about getting it done proper. Max had to empathise, Cat had some stones about her and well, didn't mince her words She seemed considered, profound and thoughtful in what she said and thought. The sheer size of Cat reminded him that when kicking down a door, someone like her was not gonna ever be an easy fight- but her warm nature made conversation soothing. The lion smiled, as she mentioned coming back to fitness.
"You'll be kicking in doors, GEAR or not all in time I bet. Can't keep us down, can we?" Max added, giving a light laugh as he brushed his eyes out of any sand, shaking his hair to get any more out. It caught a little from lying here, and whilst he was used to it, it wasn't a nice feeling for anyone- Max aware more than just most as he sat up a little. The lion's slender, optimised nature seemed almost what you would expect from an operator of his type, used to the long slogs of recon rather than the confines of a GEAR and heavy arnaments. His golden eyes and hair blew in the wind cooly, as care-free as the operator who had let them grow out. He knew of no lion with a particularly short mane, but his was surely one of the wilder ones, well, given he hadn't bleached it or done anything truly unruly to get him kicked out of his position.

Watching on at Silverwind, the older fox was letting himself go as he swam in the ocean, Max chuckling as he heard Cat's next comment.
"Who knows....he probably had an insight into it's development, I mean, if you're gonna have an artificial limb, may as well get something else put into it, right? With him, nothing suprises me anymore." Max said, shrugging, watching him go.

"Remarkable for his age, really. Guess we're all a crazy breed. All fighters." The lion commented, smiling to Cat, letting his own side down a little, yawning as he stretched out a little, his lean, well chiselled physique on display. He seemed balanced, but knew that comparitively, someone like Anna took that even further. While she was shorter than both him and Cat, there was no doubt in his mind that the jaguar was almost twice as terrifying, someone who had been forged by the operations she'd gone on, and her own unbreakable nature. The black feline was like electricity in pace, quicker and somewhat more applied in her brute force, a needle rather than a hammer. Size mattered in CQC, but sometimes, it was the cerebral that sometimes won fights too.

Checking his Pebble, Max tapped through a few, realising that their GEARs were getting worked upon, given the diagonstics nearly coming to a close. It wouldn't be too long till they were done- but the lion knew that moments like these were going to be far and few between. With that in mind, he rested his head back down, and exhaled, smirking.
"Oh, this is the life."

Burning Rubber Three (Bee and kingkonrad)

Mark took his own P226 after pulling to a stop, watching on, cocking the 9mm after checking the slide, eyeballing the same house that Athena had an eye on. A handful more people were going in, about six or so, going in and out, though nothing actually on them. One was on the phone, and while they couldn't hear him from here, Mark's interest was piqued.
"Shit. No, wait, Athena. This makes things interesting. They're not buying. No cases, and besides, he wouldn't do it here. Let's watch this." Mark said, looking across to Athena, reaching over across into the back seat, pulling out a monacle, looking through the telescopic lens and looking on. They were going in and out, not without cases, but with laptops and computers. No money on hand, whatever they were taking, it was small. The two cars outside were quite nice, a pair of Range Rover Velars, in fact. Not a stupidly expensive car, but still, something snobbish, as he gave the monacle over to Athena.

"They're clearing house. Fuck, they are good. Fast. Right, so they know their network could be comprimised, so they are taking anything of value out. Why the fuck aren't they destroying it?" Mark added, almost in commentary, watching on as a few more came out, Mark taking a sip from his water bottle as he let Athena watch on, all to spit in shock at what happened barely a second later. At the front of the house, a few of them had gotten into an arguement, and what was an arguement had turned into one of them getting stabbed. They dragged the poor bastard's bleeding body inside, the five other men now getting to work and carrying on. Mark hadn't arrived early enough to tell who he was, but he must have been inside the flat to begin with, given he was being walked past and bleeding out through the frame of the door.

"Shit....jammy fucks. Fucking of course, they're not just clearing house of whatever's on those laptops. They're vulturing his network. His own protection probably went and fucking realised what just happened before he did. Taking it underground for his bosses before we lock him up. Cut-throat wankers...that is what we are up against. From the cars, plates and look of em, they look like Serbian Mob types. Someone above them is smart." Mark added, still watching on, knowing they were still loading both Range Rovers up, beginning to finish up their work now.

"Damn. Okay, we can rush them now, punt the car into em', or tail em'. See if we can hit them at a junction instead, recover the key stuff, but if they floor it, or go into a densely populated area, we're fucked. Thoughts, Ath?" Mark asked, getting ready to start the car, knowing either way, it was gonna get pretty brutal. It had escalated, yes, but the reason being was that this opportunity was about to slip. This was important, and well, it was very much in the interests of them both to get this info. If the Serbians had killed one of their own out of spite for it, then it had to have value to someone.