Chapter 15
Cerebrum had made his way to the landing in front of the cave where Hilt was staying. The other assassin came out to meet him. Cerebrum had to disable a few traps and alarms as he got closer to the cave. Hilt gave his fellow assassin a nod and then motioned him inside the cave.
Once they were deep enough into the cave, another dark suited figure stepped from out of the shadow. The same patch could be seen on his outfit that the other two assassins had on their suits. This third assassin was almost as tall as Hilt. He was also quite muscular. He greeted Cerebrum with a nod. This assassin was called Scope. His specialty was long range assassination. He was probably the best sniper in the galaxy. He had once killed a target in a moving transport from over a mile away. That shot went clean through one ear and out the other also killing the targets top bodyguard.
The three assassins went into another private room. Cerebrum handed each of the other two assassins an envelope. Inside were instructions from Carden that had been co-authorized by Nefarious. Each of the three assassins had been given specific missions to complete. After examining the contents of their envelopes, the three assassins nodded at one another and left the room. Cerebrum walked to the rear of the cave. There in the corner was a small, weak looking man. He hadn’t been tortured, just not taken care of. Hilt, or any other Black Heart Agency assassin, weren’t known for being good hosts. The man needed food and refreshment to get his strength up. He sat there trembling at the sight of Cerebrum. “Tulak?”, Cerebrum asked. The weakling nodded his head. Cerebrum probed the mans brain and gave him a feeling of encouragement. Tulak immediately stood to his feet and stopped trembling. As Cerebrum walked out of the cave, Tulak followed. Cerebrum made Tulak feel warm even though he was standing barefoot in several inches of snow wearing tattered clothes. They began the descent down the mountain trail. Cerebrum kept a strong hold on the mans brain. He was having to manipulate so many sensations at the same time to keep Tulak’s body from shutting down.
Scope went into the room where his guns were being stored. He had got to Klypto about four days earlier. Carden had sent word to Scope to meet the other two assassins for a mission briefing. Scope had been studying the terrain while he waited for the days to go by. He had found several good points of view for his mission. He planned his escape route so he would be under the cover of trees and rocks from the mountain side. He grabbed a hooded poncho that he had made to look like the mountain terrain and threw it on as he left the cave. He carefully made his way to the small landing beneath several large tree branches. He used his poncho to cover the rifle he had assembled back in the cave. He checked the chronos on his wrist. It won’t be much longer now, he thought to himself. He screwed the scope to the rifle and secured the barrel into a small tripod. He flipped the front and rear covers of the scope open. He began to glare through the scope and pick out an inanimate object for a practice target. He zeroed in on the flower pot sitting on the corner of a stone rail. The rail wrapped around a private balcony. The balcony was probably fifty feet above the ground. He studied the pretend target. He began to control his breathing to calm himself. He lay there on the ground as calm as the sandy deserts of Tyroth. Once the flower pot was steady in his eye with no movement, and the crosshairs had stood still long enough, he pulled the trigger. Nothing happened except for the click of the gun. Had the gun actually been loaded, that would be one very dead flower pot. He let the stock of the gun rest against his arm. He pulled the large bullet from inside a chest pocket. He held it up to examine that it was free of any debris. He loaded the bullet into the gun and began to control his breathing and calm his nerves.
Hilt left the cave from a smaller hole near the side. He looked around to make sure everything was clear. He saw Cerebrum leading Tulak down the snow covered trail. Hilt checked his sides one last time to make sure he had all the necessary tools for his mission. He quickly made his way down the side of the mountain toward the governor’s estate. The security personnel guarding the side entrance to the gate never saw Hilt making his way toward the gate. The assassin was staying between the tall stone wall and the large bushes that decorated the outside of the estate. Once Hilt reached the security station, the man inside the gate deactivated the entrance alarm. Hilt stepped inside and rounded the corner quickly to make sure he remained in the shadows. He slipped the security person an envelope with money tucked inside. The man quickly stuck it in his hip pocket. He knew better than to stand there counting the money. The assassin would definitely come back and kill him if he did something as foolish as that. After Hilt began slipping his way toward the mansion, the security personnel reactivated the gate alarms and went back to his post.
Hilt kept himself concealed in the shadows and landscape of the estate. Normally he wouldn’t be so secretive. It wasn’t unusual for the governor’s staff to see the assassin walking around the estate. But this time it was different. He couldn’t chance anyone seeing him. He had a mission to complete, and he had to make sure his presence remained unknown. Hilt made his way around the landscape until he was underneath the private balcony in the rear of the mansion. He began to climb one of the large pillars that held up the balcony. He was climbing the pillar closest to the estate. Once he reached the base of the balcony, he rigged up a harness to let him hang underneath the floor of the balcony. From here he would be able to stay out of sight, but also be ready if he needed to spring into action. After setting himself up in the harness, he pulled out the envelope Cerebrum had given him. The note read:
Hilt – Mission Objective – Backup support. Locate yourself in a position near the assigned target area. Be ready to terminate target as a fall back plan ONLY. If you get the signal, you will have less than 2 minutes to execute. Don’t be sloppy
Carden
Nefarious Co-approval
Hilt made sure his blades were attached properly to his outfit. He began to slow his breathing and calm himself. He also began running different scenarios in his head. He wanted to make sure he had a plan of attack ready for any situation.
Cerebrum led the weak man toward a small landing, but stopped before reaching it. He caused Tulak to feel very warm and very sleepy. Tulak began to respond to how his body felt by laying down on the snow covered ground. He was unaware of the parts of his exposed body that would surely get frost burn. But all Tulak knew was what his body told him. His body felt warm and tired. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Tulak heard a faint, small, inner voice. His eyes were reacting to what he was seeing, regardless of how his body felt. He could see he was laying in the snow with no shoes and ragged clothes. He figured he had finally gone completely insane. My mind has finally separated from my body. I have no control over myself anymore, Tulak thought to himself. I never should have made a deal with a Dark Heart assassin. Today, I know deep down, I die.
Cerebrum could tell this weak mans eyes were arguing with what his brain was telling him. He had seen this happen before. The victim will try to use logic to comprehend the situation. When that doesn’t work they begin to reason within themselves. When the body doesn’t listen to reason, that’s when the thoughts of insanity creep in. The victim will eventually give in to the idea of going insane. The mind rejects the body and tries to act independently of itself. When the victims mind realizes it can’t function without the body, it will start the process of shutting down abilities one by one. Eventually the brain will shut down the section that controls logic and reason. After that area stops working, the victim becomes a useless bag of bones. The only hope for them at that point is death. Cerebrum figured Tulak had about nine more hours before he reached the state of being a useless waste of flesh and bone, not that he wasn’t already. If he hadn’t paid such an insane amount of money to hire Hilt several years ago, someone else would have already killed him by now. His pathetic existence of a life was because the Black Heart Agency had kept him alive thus long. Cerebrum often thought that Nefarious should have let Hilt double cross Tulak and kill the weak little man after receiving payment. But instead, Nefarious had been blackmailing the man, and using up all the man’s wealth to finance Jade Eye operations. Cerebrum had heard that at one point Tulak had refused to pay anymore money. But after Hilt flew him to Churrov and threatened to turn him over to the AOU for the murder of a high ranking officer, Tulak decided paying for his “freedom” wasn’t so bad after all. He was only free in the sense that he wasn’t locked in an AOU detention center on some forgotten planet. He was, however, a prisoner of Dark Heart. And to some people, that is worse than any sentence the AOU could hand out.
Tulak really began to question his sanity when he swore he saw the ground move. The small flat area just in front of them seemed to be moving around. It looked like the ground was crawling around on top of itself. Just then a pair of eyes seemed to be looking back at him. Tulak blinked his eyes hard and reached up to rub them. I must be seeing things. The ground looks like it’s looking back at me. Tulak began to concentrate on the area where the eyes were. Then they just disappeared. As he squinted his eyes, he began to make out the form of someone laying on the ground. He followed the figure with his eyes until he saw something black against the white snow on the ground. He stared hard at this black thing until he realized what he was looking at. His eyes opened wider in shock. He was staring at the end of a rifle. More specifically at the silencer that had been screwed to the end of the barrel. His head immediately jerked to look in the direction the gun was pointed. He could make out the governor’s mansion in the background. Suddenly, Tulak began to feel very mellow. He forgot all about the eyes, the gun, and the mansion. He really didn’t care about anything anymore. All he wanted to do was lie there in the snow and relax.
Cerebrum could tell the weak man laying in the snow was beginning to feel apprehension. So, Cerebrum decided to probe a different part of his victim’s brain and help him to forget his nervousness and just relax. It had worked, too, because Tulak just rolled onto his back and let his eyes half close. Cerebrum wrapped himself up and sat against a tree. He was controlling his own body temp, as well, to stay warm. He pulled out his envelope from Carden. The note read:
Cerebrum – Mission Objective – Detain Tulak using brain probe. Lead him to the designated area of Scope’s mission. Keep him alive until main mission is successful. Once it has been carried out, use Tulak as a decoy. You may let him die however best fits the situation. Keep Scope from being distracted. Leave no trace once mission is completed.
Carden
Nefarious Co-authorized
Cerebrum folded the note back up and put it away. He stood with his back against the tree. He began to determine how to get himself and Scope out of the area without leaving any trace of them being there. When he was satisfied he had found a way out of the area, he went back to concentrating on Tulak. He was still laying on his back almost as if he were in a state of nirvana. Making sure Tulak’s death fit the situation would be no problem. His feet and exposed portions of his body already had severe frost burns. Once he set Tulak in position, and let go of his brain probe, his body would go into shock fast enough for him to die instantly. Cerebrum checked the chronos on his wrist and noted that it was almost time.
As Scope finished loading the bullet, he checked the chronos on his wrist. Almost time, he thought to himself. He pulled out the envelope Cerebrum had given him. The note read:
Scope – Mission Objective – Assassinate target using long range sniper rifle. One shot kill through chest. No damage to face or head. A photo of target is attached to letter. If target is missed, immediately alert Hilt. If 1 shot kill is successful, help Cerebrum set decoy into position. Be sure to leave spare rifle as evidence. When exiting area, make sure to leave no trace of being there.
Carden
Nefarious Co-authorized
Scope studied the picture. She was a very attractive woman. Her auburn hair and green eyes really stood out. But Scope didn’t really focus on her beauty. Instead, he memorized her eyes. Once he saw those eyes through the scope of his rifle, the target was as good as dead. He never questioned who he was killing or why. His job wasn’t to wonder about those things; his job was to kill the target. As he looked through the scope of his rifle, he could see Hilt suspended from beneath the balcony. He briefly looked back over his shoulder to see if Cerebrum was in place. He couldn’t resist looking at the decoy. The poor man was obviously not in his own mind anymore. Tulak rubbed his eyes, and as he did so, Scope focused back on the target. He zeroed in on the only door that leads to the balcony. Just then the doors opened and two figures stepped into view. There was a man and a woman. The woman looked like the one from the photograph. The man was Scope’s boss, Carden.
Barrett's Blogg 