You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun.
Al Capone, US gangster (1899 - 1947)
It was raining. The Orb and Alki the Ta-Matoran were sitting in a white, unmarked van parked on a street in a poor part of the BBC forum, outside of a rundown old house.
"Are you sure this is where Smeagol4 told us to go?" said the Orb as he watched a TV monitor displaying the street outside, “And why do we have to follow Ninjo, anyway?”
“Because Six told us to, that’s why!” replied Alki, who was watching a different TV. “Apparently, Ninjo sent some letters to a few people asking them to meet him in that house over there. That’s all I was told.”
Alki’s cellphone started to ring. “Hello?”
“How’s everything going over there?” It was Smeagol4, the head of BZ-Metru’s intelligence department.
Alki tensed up. “Uh, everything’s going just fine sir. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Has anyone gone into the house yet?”
“No one.”
“Ninjo?”
“Not yet sir.”
“Call me if you see anything. I’m going to check in again in thirty minutes.”
“Yes sir.”
He hung up and put his phone into his pocket. “That was Smeag. He’s going to call back in half an hour.”
The Orb didn’t hear him. He was focused on the TV.
“What is it?” asked Alki as he walked over to his friend.
“There are five men over there in front of the house, wearing black raincoats and gloves. They’re looking right at us.”
“Do they look dangerous?”
“I can’t tell… four of them just went inside. The one that’s still outside just took out a gun. It looks like he’s just guarding the door.”
“I’ll call Smeag.”
Alki dialed Smeag’s number and waited for him to answer.
“Hello?”
“Five people just arrived. Four went inside and left one to guard the gun. He has a shotgun.”
“This could be what we’ve been waiting for. Try to sneak up on the guard and capture him. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Smeag hung up and Alki did likewise.
“He says to sneak up on the guard, and that he’ll be here soon.”
“Let’s go then!” said the Orb, taking a pistol from his belt. Alki took a submachine gun from the wall of the van. They exited from the back. The street was lined with cars, giving them cover while they planned what to do.
“I’ll distract him, while you go around from the back and capture him. Got it?” whispered the Orb. Alki nodded.
The Orb stood up and put his pistol back into his belt. He walked over to the guard, pretending to be lost.
“Hey, you! I’ve never been in this part of town and I seem to be lost. Can you point me in the direction of 223 Technic Street?” While he was speaking, The Orb tried to get a good view of the guard’s face. He had never seen him before.
“Sorry buster, I’m not from around here myself. Go ask somewhere else,” replied the guard.
“Heh, I guess I’ll try that gas station up the street. Say, what’s with the gun?”
“That’s none of your business. Now scram before I call an FA.”
The guard turned away from The Orb… to come face to face with Alki. He fired his shotgun, hitting Alki in the arm.
The Orb and Alki ran back to the other side of the street, the guard firing his gun at them as they ran. They dove behind their van.
“Are you okay?” asked The Orb as Alki clutched his bleeding arm.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
“It doesn’t look like it. Hold on, I’ll wrap that up.” The Orb took a knife from his belt and cut sleeve from the uninjured side of Alki’s shirt. He rolled the other sleeve up and wrapped the cut cloth around the wound.
“That’s the best I can do for now.”
“I’m fine!”
“If you say so. But get back into the van.”
Alki left his submachine gun on the ground and climbed into the van using his good arm. The Orb stood back up and peered around the side of the van. The other four men who had gone into the house were outside with the guard, each holding a handgun. One was motioning for the others to spread out.
The Orb thought for a moment. What could he do? He was hopelessly out numbered; he would soon be killed if he tried to fight. If he didn’t fight, the men across the street would probably kill him and Alki.
He would fight.
So he crouched behind a car, grabbed Alki’s gun, started firing. The men across the street fired back, their bullets shattering the windows of the car The Orb was behind. Pieces of glass hit him in the arm.
A bullet hit him in the chest. He started to black out. As he slipped into the cold grasp of death, he fired his gun one last time. That last shot found its mark, hitting one of the men in the leg.
***
By the time Smeagol4 arrived at the scene, the men were gone and the house empty. Alki was found in the van, unconscious, and was taken to a hospital. He made a full recovery a month later.
Unknown to all, however, was the fact that the letters Ninjo had sent out were decoys, sent to fake addresses. While the events in the BBC forum were distracting the administration, a real meeting was taking place on the other side of the forum.
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