Very gently Tannus applied the slightest pressure to a small button on the side of his electro-scope and from a small speaker located just beside the button the voices of the Kratel began to erupt in hushed tones. The voices sounded almost as mechanical layers smothered over the series of unmistakable clicks. Two Kratel were arguing, the first; the Kratel on the left, was claiming that the shipment was full of duds, while the second; the Kratel on the right was arguing back that their supplier would only provide final product on final payment. Neither had yet to make any mention of Shockers.
"I've had enough of this bullshit!" Tannus heard from behind, and spinning away from his scope he saw Brooks slipping off his dirty synthetic-leather jacket and replace it with a thinner ribbed plastic coat. Before Tannus had time to react Brooks had already sprinted towards the edge of the roof and leapt into the air. For a moment Brooks plummeted to the ground before stretching his arms wide revealing large ribbed wings that stretched between his wrists and waist. Tannus had seen Brooks do this trick on many previous occasions before and do it did not phase him in the slightest as the Human Wraith glided his way down the eight stories of their occupied building to land amidst the Kratel gathered at the building's feet. The same could not be said about those Kratel who scrambled for weapons and cover from this new threat.
Tannus watched as his partner began a small scale scuffle with the immediate Kratel, how he spun on his heels with pistol in hand and with single shots put well placed bullets between each Kratel's large black eyes. At one point it looked like one of the Clickers was about to get the better of Brooks as it pulled a two handed mag-rifle from it's tattered rags and cloak and levelled it at Brooks. Tannus responded in kind and released a single silenced shot from his own rifle at the Kratel and the target fell to the floor, it's mag-rifle clattering to the floor.
As the mag-rifle hit the floor and it's owner's blood began to pool on the dirt covered ground, the remaining Kratel all looked in Tannus' direction before running at full speed away from Tannus and their more immediate fear; the pistol brandishing combatant Brooks, who with little difficulty fired single shots into the back of each Kratel's head as they scrambled for safety. Tannus continued to watch from his high perch atop the building and only fired once more from his rifle when he feared one of the Kratel that had climbed to the other side of a chain link fence might get away. As before Tannus' rifle released a single bullet that silently punctured the Kratel's head, the inertia knocking it clear of the fence it had hung from and it lay sprawled over a pile of rubbish and unwashed rags that had been dumped from the apartments above.
With all Kratel accounted for, Tannus descended from the building's roof using the same fire escape he had climbed originally. With his rifle hitched over his right shoulder and his heavy metal case held in his left hand he walked with an almost swagger towards Brooks who was now rummaging through piles of boxes and cases stacked against a wall. It was clear to Tannus that Brooks was not happy.
"Duds! The Clickers were right!" Brooks shouted in anger "all of them duds!"
Tannus calmed Brooks, explaining that they had done a good job and had more than enough evidence here to track down the source of the Shocker dealer. Brooks nodded reluctantly and pulled out a long thin tube from one of his pocket, the tube looked by all accounts to be very similar to a flash light, however when Brooks readied this device at the now dead eyes of the Kratel and pressed the raised button on the back, instead of a bright light a series of green and blue beams emitted from the end as it scanned the irises of the dead Kratel. Tannus knew how this device worked, how it scanned and recorded the unique iris pattern and stored it remotely for analysis later, Brooks would then take this information and cross reference it with the Wraith database in order to identify who these Kratel were and with hope find either a pattern or someone with a history that would lead them in the direction of the true dealer.
Tannus knew that the Wraith database was not exactly legal, but then the same could be said for virtually everything else they had done that night. With a sigh Tannus reminded himself that not fifteen minutes earlier he had been forced to acknowledge, it was the results their bosses cared about and not their methods.
Placing his case on a nearby pile of boxes, Tannus began to carefully and cautiously disassemble his rifle before gritting his teeth and surveying the surrounding security cameras that littered the streets all around. He wold leave Brooks to scan the Kratel, meanwhile he had security cameras to scrub. After all, he thought to himself, officially the Wraiths were not operating in the Block, and the UEF would not be happy to learn otherwise.
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Hey everyone! If you have reached this far, thank you very much and I hope you enjoyed it!
I'm going to leave the story here for now as it feels like a good place to leave it. We may return to Tannus and Brooks as they continue to chase down the illegal shockers, but at this point I would rather leave that door open as a maybe.
Anyway, if you enjoyed the story, or if you did not, regardless any critiques you may have I would love to hear.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
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