Snoodum-Mzeusia ONLY RP [COMPLETED]

[Snoodum]

This is a forum post dedicated to documenting the joint Snoodian-Mzeusian covert operation codenamed Operation Misfire.Please refrain from posting anything as this is a two-player roleplay. Thank you for your time and have a good day!

[Mzeusia]

Peleron Biroyanis stepped inside the lift, immediately recognising the Snoodian national anthem that was playing. He admitted to himself that he was slightly nervous about being briefed by both the Mzeusian and Snoodian heads of intelligence. He had never been to Snoodum before but what he had seen while on his journey here, had been very imposing.

He watched as water droplets slid off his umbrella and hit the shiny lift floor. The lift stopped, and a woman walked in. Peleron tensed. He was a man always on edge but was glad to see some clothes on her, it would take him a while to get used to the enforced nudity which Snoodum imposed upon most of its citizens. The woman didn't have a weapon on her but could still be deadly. Peleron was ready for anything. He shook his head, reminding himself of his job. Snoodum wouldn't dare attack a Mzeusian agent, would they? The woman hadn't looked at him all this time and when the lift arrived at another floor, she got off without a word. Waiting on that same floor, a man entered the lift. Peleron recognised him by his picture on the file he had memorised. He was Sir Thomas Portinum, the agent Peleron would be working with during the operation. Peleron was headed almost to the very top of the building, the fourteenth floor. He sighed, this was going to be a long day.

[Snoodum]

Sir Thomas Portinum stepped into the lift, noting his fellow agent standing there. He gave a nod to the man and stood still as the lift began to move slowly. He didn't mind as he got to admire the Snoodian flag on each plush cushion embedded into the walls and the gold trim around the corners of the lift. The floor was made of a single slab of thin marble while the ceiling was mahogany panelling with an exit hatch up the top for maintenance.

Thomas started humming along to the tune playing quietly from the speaker in the top left corner of the lift. Many people didn't know it also contained a tiny camera on the underside of the speaker. He couldn't wait for the mission briefing to begin and getting to know his fellow agent would be fun too.

[Mzeusia]

Peleron found the man's humming only made his anxiety worse but he steeled himself. Glancing at the other man, he saw that he was slim, thirty years of age with dark brown hair, intelligent light grey eyes. All this had been on his file. He was wearing a glove on his left hand, that hadn't been on the file and the glove unsettled Peleron for reasons he couldn't pin down. The two men didn't talk to one another, but it wasn't long before the lift arrived at their floor. Mr Portinum led the way, down a long corridor. He stopped outside a dark wooden door and opened it. Peleron thanked him and stepped inside. His eyes sought out Mr Delikas, the head of Mzeusian intelligence. He stood up as Peleron entered, giving him a warm smile. From the look of the office, Peleron could tell where the Snoodian government put their money.

A desk was at the far side of the room, a rare wood that Peleron couldn't quite place. Above the desk hung an assortment of valuable weapons. The floor was practically a mirror and light streamed through two large windows and if one had an idle enough nature and looked out of them, they would see the imposing ministry of war. It was brutalist in architectural and certainly did a good job of intimidating anyone looking out.
Peleron did no such thing.

The Snoodian head of intelligence, John Sinistrum, was a well-built man with his days in the field not far behind him. One could see it is his eyes and the way that he walked. Peleron's eyes flicked to Mr Delikas. They nodded at one another.
Mr Portinum stepped from behind him. Peleron instinctively tensed but there was nothing to fear. They were all gathered here. It was now time to begin.

[Snoodum]

John stepped over to the window, calling them all over. Thomas watched him go. When they were all looking out Thomas saw his head of intelligence raise three fingers.

John frowned and scanned the pedestrians below. One woman ducked into an alcove to get out of the rain.

A finger came down.

She lowered her umbrella and fiddled with the underside.

Another finger came down.

A packet fell to the street and the woman scrambled to pick it up.

The final finger came down.

Bang! A shot rang out and the woman crumpled to the floor. John turned to the two Mzeusians. "No smoking in Snoodum." He said. Mr Delikas went white. Mr Biroyanis' hands clenched and he stepped towards Sinistrum. Thomas put his gloved hand to his gun but Mr Biroyanis restrained himself. Mr Delikas put a hand on the man's shoulder. "These aren't the people we've come here to fight." He said calmly. Mr Biroyanis nodded gravely and apologised with obvious difficulty.

Thomas' hand fell from his gun.

John turned and stood behind his desk. He looked at the men gathered in front of him. "I would offer you, gentlemen, a drink but I doubt you'd want water or juice." Thomas smiled. John turned to him. "How's the hand?" He asked Thomas, apparently as cheery as if a woman hadn't been shot for breaking the law. Thomas pulled the brown leather glove from his left hand." As mechanical as ever, Sir. Thank you." He moved the fingers and the sleek, clean metal glinted in the lamplight. Thomas noted that the Mzeusians almost remained their composure, although the shock was evident to a trained eye such as Thomas'. John nodded and sat down slowly, popping a chocolate into his mouth from the polished wooden box on his desk.

He eyed the Mzeusian agent. "Your mission is to neutralise the high-profile weapons smuggling gang going under the acronym IRV or the International Relief Volunteers. This group has been smuggling weapons to all kinds of terrorist groups and we need to put an end to it," John produced two folders from a small drawer and slapped them down on the desk. "Your target is Miss Appletine. She runs the whole joint and is the head of the snake if you like. The woman can be found operating in East Lebuck. She owns a string of warehouses down by the docks where she ships the weapons from. Your orders are to apprehend this woman and bring her back to Snoodum where she will be extradited to Mzeusia. You will be parachuted into East Lebuck and will make your way alone. It is too dangerous for anyone to help you. Good luck. Any questions?

[Mzeusia]

Peleron moved to a chair and sat down. "You don't mind, do you?" Mr Sinistrum raised an eyebrow but let him be. Mr Delikas followed suit, dropping into another chair. Mr Portinum's superior nodded in appreciation at his agent, thanking him for not sitting down. The two Mzeusians did not move.

"I do have a question for Mr Portinum if you don't mind?" Peleron asked, confidently. The man looked down at him. "I don't mean to be offensive." Peleron continued, "Your hand...won't hinder the operation in any way will it?"

"My hand is more than capable of throttiling you Mr Beeryani." The man replied, coolly.

"I suggest that we keep the insults out of this and the name is Biroyanis." Peleron retorted. "I was simply making sure that everything was in order."

Mr Portinum sniffed at him but said nothing. Peleron leaned forward in his chair "I already know the information you told me, this being an international effort and therefore it is a requirement for me to be briefed. There is a lot that I have been told but I'm still worried about the hand on Thomas over here. Won't it be a bit difficult to blend in. East Lebuck isn't exactly known for its high-tech prosthetics."

"I'm sure the Snoodian government has something sorted out?" Mr Delikas said with a pacifying smile.

Mr Sinistrum stood up from his chair, placing two clenched fists on the desk in front of him. He gave Mr Biroyanis a hard stare and spoke with more than a hint of anger in his voice. "You can rest assured Mr Beeryani, the Snoodian government can take care of its agents."

The Mzeusian agent spread his hands and smiled, relaxed. "I was just being thorough, I'm sure you know all about that here in Snoodum."

Mr Delikas stood up suddenly. "I think we are done here don't you?"

The agent chuckled. "Yes, and I can't wait to start."

[Snoodum]

Thomas nodded to his superior, taking the file of Cynthia Appletine and opening the door. "Oh, Thomas, you'll need to go see Markus Trevalin," Said Agent Sinistrum. "He has some gadgets to give you for the mission." Thomas nodded again and left, leaving the door open for the Mzeusians.

He called the lift and the three men got in. The doors opened and Mr Delikas turned to Mr Biroyanis. "You're the best agent we have and I know you're used to working solo but you make it work with Mr Portinum and you'll be doing your country a great service."

Mr Biroyanis nodded. "I won't let you down, Sir." Mr Delikas turned and let the building. The doors of the lift dinged close and the two agents went to the basement for their gadgets. Markus Trevalin shook Thomas' hand and spread an arm wide, showing off the modern design of the gadget's department. Markus had long shoulder-length hair which sat uncouthly upon his head. He had a flowing mustache and a long rag-tag beard. He was widely thought to be insane but Thomas knew he was just eccentric. Very eccentric. As he looked around, the Snoodian agent could see a splint doubling as a grenade launcher being used on a beige mannequin, a pen that fired a dart from the front but also housed a tracking device was being demonstrated by a technician further on and finally, some plastic explosives wrapped in the cover of a bird watching book. The technicians were clearly preparing for their mission.

Markus led the two men towards a pair of innocent-looking briefcases and two Lebucktese Bibles. Next to them lay two fold up bikes and a sports bag. A wicked looking knife sat neatly in its sheath. Markus opened one of the briefcases. Inside was a folded up SS-08, standard issue sub-machinegun for Snoodum special agents. Markus assembled the gun and passed it to Mr Biroyanis who looked it over and smiled. "As long as it works, it'll do me."

Markus grinned. "Not like this one then," He said nudging Thomas. "He needs to create an atmosphere with every gadget he gets." Thomas punched the man lightly on the arm, shrugging as if to say "I don't what you're talking about?" Markus opened the Bibles and a secret compartment was revealed in the pages. A grenade nestled comfortably inside. He hummed to himself, waving a hand over the bikes and grabbing the sheathed knife, handing it to Mr Biroyanis. "Tracking device in the hilt. Sticks to anything, good blade, nothing fancy, just metal."

Mr Biroyanis inspected the knife thoroughly and whistled. "I must say, this is the first time I've had a crush on a knife." Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Don't get too close to it, you might cut yourself." He smiled at his fellow agent. Markus coughed a little and ushered them into the lift. "I have some important work to do." He told them with a knowing smile. The men got off at the ground floor and left the building.

[Mzeusia]

"We are entering East Lebucktese air space now" The pilot told them. The two agents sat in the back of a military helicopter that they had taken from a private Snoodian airstrip. They had managed to fly over West Lebuck, telling air traffic control that they were aid workers. What with the highly unstable situation in East Lebuck, it wasn't unusual to see military helicopters carrying aid workers.

It wouldn't be long before they had to parachute into the country. Peleron's brief in Mzeusia had included information on East Lebuck that didn't sound promising. The country was run by a dictator who had a love of all things bloody. The population weren't too happy but couldn't get out to a better place. They had a black market that allowed guns to be bought and sold freely and so ticking off the locals might not be an idea one would have twice.

The plan was to parachute down near the city of El-Rackinko but not too near as to get spotted by anyone looking up. Then they would cycle into the city and get to the docks. Once by the docks, they'd watch for however long they would need to and once they had a lead, they would follow it. It was a plan fraught with danger that barely held together but both Mzeusian and Snoodian intelligence services couldn't offer much help in a country as authoritarian as East Lebuck.

As Peleron sat back, he tried to think of the positives. Several Mzeusian agents had infiltrated the weapons smuggling operation and a Snoodian boat would be there to evacuate them when that time came. It was a help but Peleron doubted they could do much with it.

It seemed like an ice age could have ended and begun by the time the two agents were told to get ready. They grabbed the parachutes, checked each other's equipment. When they were both secure, Peleron smiled, "How many times have you done this before?"

Mr Portinum shrugged and smiled back. "Did it to death in training and a few times in the field so I'll be fine."

Peleron laughed, "I do this almost every day."

The helicopter door opened, and the wind ripped at their clothes and bags. This jump was slightly different to ones Peleron had done before. He was carrying the briefcase he'd been given and the sports bag containing money, bibles and bikes. Being the more experienced one, he carried the sports bag, but Mr Portinum still had to take his own briefcase down. The green light turned on and Peleron jumped. He struggled for a moment with both the sports bag and briefcase, but he was calm and soon managed to get them under control. Had he been less experienced he might have been worried about himself, but he was only worried for his agent behind him who was no doubt free-falling already. As he plummeted towards the ground, the parachute opened, and his decent was dramatically slowed. It was always nice to see Snoodian issue parachutes working. He dropped to the ground, bending his knees to absorb some of the impact. Mr Portinum came down as Peleron was disentangling himself. He walked over to the man, helping him out. "Thanks." the Snoodian agent said, "That was efficient."

Peleron grinned at him. "Always happy to help you out. We 're standing on East Lebucktese soil now so we might have to start working together a bit more, can I call you Thomas?""

"Yes Peleron." Thomas nodded.

Peleron looked around. They were standing in a grassy meadow with not much of anything. In one direction was the city they would be going to, but out here, was an easy place to hide a body. He went back over to the sports bag, "Best start assembling these bikes then, we have a long mission ahead of us."

[Snoodum]

El-Rackinko was a typical East Lebucktese city. The further into the centre the two agents got, the nicer the houses, cleaner the streets and the fewer police patrols they came across. Thomas could see a market up ahead. It was a shaded area due to all the cloth awnings that spanned the stalls and narrow alleyways that were temporarily erected. The people were haggling loudly and, from what little Lebucktese Thomas knew, swearing at one other vehemently. "This'll be a good place to gather information and maybe someone here knows of a hotel we can stay in." Thomas said.

Peleron nodded. "I don't think we're being followed yet but the quicker we can get out of this market, the better." Thomas and Peleron dismounted from the bikes and wheeled them through the streets. People grumbled at their passing and some shouted insults at the foreigners. They approached a bored looking vendor and Thomas spoke in broken Lebucktese. The man looked up from his notebook and frowned. "What?" He asked.
Thomas tried again. "Hotel?" "We need hotel." "Stay, sleep, hotel." The man frowned but stood up.
"Down there. ...two lefts. Big... expensive." He said fluently.
Thomas shook his head, just able to grasp his meaning. "Cheap." He told the man.
The vendor laughed and turned to his right. "Five... down La Turito street." He shook his head and made a gagging noise. Laughing, he showed the two agents six missing teeth and a maw so black it must have been filled with ink. He sat down heavily. "Let's go," Thomas said to Peleron, wheeling his bike in the direction the man had indicated.

Peleron glanced around at the locals, eyes staying on the vendor before following Thomas. They stayed close together as they tried to follow the man's instructions. A half-hour later, the night was dark and the streets were emptying but they had found their hotel. A squat stucco building rammed between a funeral director's shop and a neat, tidy police station that looked at least fifty years more advanced than anything in this part of town.

Thomas knocked on the peeling brown door of their hotel. An elderly man opened the door and peered out at them in the darkness. "Yes?" He spat.

Thomas stood up straighter and motioned to Peleron. "We need room few nights." He told the man hesitantly. The old man frowned but nodded slowly, his brain working out what had been said, and ushered them in. "Two-hundred Lebucktese Leris... night," He croaked. ...out... four in the morning and... back ... seven in the evening... ." The man said between breaths. He coughed into a handkerchief and it stained black. He said something Thomas couldn't get but the man pointed up exasperatedly and Thomas nodded. The man led the men up the stairs and opened the door to their hotel room. Thomas thanked him and entered the room. He had noted the lack of a bannister and the sagging steps which creaked softly when each one took his weight. The stairs had been tiny and cramped, barely fifteen centimetres in length and at most half that in width.

Thomas motioned to a chair that looked more like a stool. It had amazingly kept all four of its legs, however. "Too nervous to sit down," Peleron said evenly. Thomas nodded and glanced at the taped-together bed and the chipped sink bolted to the wall. He shook his head but followed Peleron to the small, grimy window. Peleron forced it open with a screech and peered out. An old lady was hobbling home with a loaf of bread under her arm. A patrol of four police walked briskly up to her, shouting for her to stop. She obeyed instantly, hunching over in fright. One policeman barked an order. The woman slowly started searching her pockets. The man barked the order again, this time right up in the woman's face. She jumped and dropped the bread. She stopped searching and peered down at it.

The policeman drew his baton and struck the woman in the head. She cried out and fell to the paving stones. The police grabbed her, each officer taking a limb and hauled her into an alley. The thumping of batons stopped after a few minutes and the two agents saw the police officers straightening their uniforms and marching off as if this was normal. " Idiot woman. She didn't have any ID. Not that it would have helped her, it's past seven." Thomas told Peleron.

Peleron grunted. "Never seen anything like it in Mzeusia but I've been to plenty of countries where this is the norm."

[Mzeusia]

Moving away from the window, Peleron took in the rest of the room. It was not exactly luxurious but in East Lebuck, wealth was suspicious, not a good thing for two spies. Spider webs covered the ceiling and corners making the room more of an accommodation for them. Peleron wondered if they had been offered the same extortive prices. If anyone could get spiders to pay, it would be an impoverished, desperate East Lebucktese man. Peleron wasn’t surprised to discover that the sink didn’t work and when he twisted the knob on one of the taps, it fell off in his hands. Anything not essentially had most likely been sold and so now the broken sink and the bunk bed were the only things left. “The last time I was in a bunk bed was when I was a child back in Mzeusia.” Peleron sighed. He could already see that the beds were nowhere near big enough.

“Well this’ll be fun.” Thomas stated sarcastically.

“I’m just glad we won’t have to spend much time here.” Peleron replied putting his things on the floor. “I’m going to see if the man knows what a broom is.” He shook his head.

“I’ll come with you. I know more Lebucktese” Thomas walked out and Peleron followed.

They found the man eating a watery soup. He didn’t look pleased to see them. Peleron spotted something he assumed was once a broom and hoped it could still be good enough. He picked it up and showed it to the man. In response he leapt up and snatched it out Peleron’s hands. Then he swung the object at Peleron’s head. The Mzeusian agent ducked and caught the broom, tearing it from the man’s grasp. “Leris?” He said. The man realized that he was not being robbed and spoke reluctantly in Lebucktese.

“Eighty Leris” The man tensed as if expecting refusal. The two agents said nothing as Peleron handed him the money. In East Lebuck, being a foreigner was tough.

When Peleron had gone to war with the spiders and the end of the broom was covered in webs, the man got it back. He took one look at it and laughed bitterly, throwing it into a corner. Now that their room was slightly cleaner they could get to work. Peleron took the stool, Thomas took the top bunk. Thomas spoke first. “We know Appletine owns the docks but that’s about it. I say we talk to the locals, see what they know and go from there.”

Peleron nodded. "If she’s clever she should be employing El-Rackinko workers. Close to the docks and will take any job they can for the lowest of pay. That should help with the enquiry.” He glanced at his watch. It was almost eight. The East Lebucktese curfew demanded they be out by four giving them just over eight hours. Peleron began singing the Mzeusian national anthem as he looked out at El-Rackinko. “Oh, Mzeusia, a nation strong and free, always here for you and for me.” Compared to Forstasia, the city where he had grown up in, this place wasn’t suitable for human habitation.

What with eight hours until the spy work could start properly, Peleron started to ask about Thomas. They had both been given files about each other, but they didn’t really know the other man. “What was life like in Snoodum?” Peleron asked

“It’s fine, so long as you don’t disobey the law, then it gets really, really bad.” Thomas said, matter-of-factly.
Peleron shivered. He couldn’t understand how one could live there but he didn’t say anything. He could see that Thomas didn’t want to talk. Peleron looked hard at him, studying his face. “You want to know more?” Thomas questioned

“I just think it is best to get to know the man you’re working with. As you know I usually work solo and by your attitude, it looks like you’re no different.” He paused. “We not working alone for this one though, so if we could maybe trust each other more and maybe share a joke or two, things wouldn’t be as difficult.” Peleron waited, not hopeful.

“I’ll tell you a joke.” Thomas said coldly. “That old woman’s chances of survival.”

Peleron’s face betrayed no emotion. I’m not going to get anywhere with this man. He I thought “Why did they have to send me on this mission with him? What they say about Snoodian citizens seems to be true. Humourless, cynical idiots the lot of them. He walked over to the window, remembering a fishing song that Mzeusians liked to sing. His father was a trout fisherman, his mother was a tour guide. He had loved walking in the beautiful forests of Mzeusia. In East Lebuck, it was rare to see grass let alone a forest.

With the talking over and both men bored, they tried to sleep. Peleron removed the mattress and slept with it on the floor. Thomas stayed on the bed. Peleron had a feeling sleep wouldn’t come quick if at all.

[Snoodum]

Bang! Bang! Bang! The old man’s knock sounded on the weak wooden door. Thomas, who had never been a heavy sleeper, sat up, swung his legs over the top bunk and jumped down to the floor. He straightened out his top and brushed off his Sjeans. Peleron scrambled awake and reached for his gun before realising they were not under attack.

Thomas could hear the old man tramping down the stairs and he opened the hotel room door wide, waiting for Peleron. Peleron nodded to Thomas and thanked him, all emotion sucked out of his voice. Thomas followed his fellow agent. “I Did some thinking over-night and I’ve to the conclusion that this is not the time or place for worrying about morals. You mind if we have a clean slate.”

Peleron stopped briefly. “To worry about morals?” He asked, confused.

Thomas sighed and began. “I’ve always thought that Snoodum was an alright place, we had the people’s interests at heart and even if they couldn’t see the bright future we’d bring them they’d have people like me and my government colleagues to make all the hard decisions.” Thomas paused, letting Peleron digest the information. “Seeing East Lebuck now and realising how the state treats its people and then the similarities to Snoodum in so many ways, it just gets to me. Is the Snoodian government, always right? Does anyone really have the authority to decide the fate of others just because they have a fancy title like…” Here Thomas swallowed, wiping a hand on his forehead. “…God Emperor Snudgeskooge…” Thomas let out a sigh, involuntarily reaching for his fellow agent.

Peleron rolled his eyes. “The man finally grows a conscious and it suddenly makes everything alright doesn’t it.”

Thomas whipped his arm back and balled up his hand, fist clenched, knuckles white. He walked briskly away from the other man, refraining himself from flipping over a small table or kicking down the front door. Instead, Thomas seized the door handle and opened the door much too forcefully. The little thing survived but a hurricane had been released on to the streets. He looked at his watch and noted the time. Three: fifty. Ten minutes for Peleron to get out of the hotel or the police would pounce. Thomas found his way to the market, his vision a haze of red, his gun suddenly so inviting.

Peleron followed Thomas out the door and to the market, silently. Thomas marched up to a vendor in a blue Thnak top. “Know anything about the International Relief Volunteers, my… acquaintance and I wish to join them.” The man looked at Thomas blankly. Thomas growled and repeated the request in broken Lebucktese. The man pointed to the docks and spoke “Car…Miss Appletine…drive away… The man pointed ahead of him, over some squat building and through a gap to where a slice of green grass could be seen. Thomas thanked the man and moved on. The crowd parted and for a second Thomas couldn’t figure out why. Then four men in police uniforms strode forth, hitting anyone who so much as coughed too loudly. Thomas pulled to the side, lining up, back hunched like the locals. Peleron held the same pose and when the police had passed, Thomas risked a thumbs up but Peleron ignored him.

Thomas whirled around and stalked up to another vendor. A woman in a dirty brown shirt and hair in a taut bun looked up, the end of her cigarette glowing orange. Thomas stepped aside and motioned for Peleron to step up. “I’ll try translate from behind you.” He said. Peleron chuckled sarcastically. “Scared of a cigarette?”

Thomas replied evenly, “I don’t wish to die sooner.” Peleron shook his head but stepped up to talk to the woman who had gone back to looking at the cobbled ground. “How many people are employed by the International Relief Volunteers?” Peleron began. Thomas tried his best to translate while also battling the cigarette smoke wafting behind his fellow agent. The woman gave a rough estimate. “One hundred and eighty to two hundred.” Peleron thanked the woman and Thomas mumbled about carcinogens. He turned to Peleron. “We done here?” Peleron shook his head. “Not quite.” He turned back to the woman. “Why are the police in the market?” The woman snorted, stuck her tongue out and put a finger to her head, eyes flittering. Once she had finished, she spoke sharply. Thomas translated. “The police..anywhere. Sometimes…free food, other times... more fulfilling.” Thomas looked up as a police helicopter chopped the air above the market, flying off West, away from the docks.

Peleron turned to Thomas “Best get on with the mission. Can’t stay here to long in case we die.” Thomas jerked a finger towards the woman. “You telling me?” The woman had reached under the stall and drew forth a bottle of gin, swigging from it heartily. “I give her about ten more years, twelve if I’m being generous.” He walked off in the direction of the docks.

[Mzeusia]

They had needed information before they could have made a move but Peleron had believed the locals would provide what they needed willingly. He had been wrong. It had taken more than a few sharp words and Peleron's temper had been trying to break free for hours but eventually the two agents knew that they would be getting no information. A brief bike ride took them down to the waters edge and they began to look for the IRV owned warehouses. The workers were easily identifiable. Their t-shirts had IRV written on them so one simply had to follow a worker to a warehouse and they were in.

The two agents were about to enter into a warehouse when an angry voice called out to them. "What do you think's going on here?" A man approached with an assault rifle over his shoulder. Peleron almost laughed, that couldn't have been comfortable and it showed the man's inexperience.
"You can't be going in there, you might steal something." The man called out to more workers and two more men came from behind them. Peleron tensed but he knew where his gun was and that gave him comfort.

Although they had said nothing, the men seemed to relax and the first one motioned with the barrel of his gun, pointing inside. "I'm sure you two gentlemen wouldn't cause too much trouble." Peleron was naturally suspicious and by the look on Thomas's face, he felt the same. Nevertheless, the two men walked in the warehouse, sticking close together. Peleron wasn't about to start searching the place with the guards behind them. To make matters worse, he counted five other men who had already been in the warehouse. None were looking too friendly.

"We just want to see about joining the IRV." Peleron addressed the first man. "We didn't really know how to go about doing it so we just thought that maybe we could come here."

The men weren't happy. "Had an awfully suspicious way of doing that what with you going around and asking all those locals. Seems fishy to me it does."

Peleron had been trained for long enough to read these men's body language and it didn't look good. He would soon have no choice but to start shooting. Walking over to a low wall of crates, he motioned for Thomas to follow. The crates would provide a least some cover from the bullets. Peleron put one hand on his hip, near his gun. Thomas gave the slightest of nods, he understood.

Peleron's hand sped for his gun. He snatched it from it's holster and shot one of the men in the leg. Thomas dived over the crates and he came after him. Bullets threw wood into the air as they tried to reach their target. Peleron was glad the crate wasn't empty and whatever was in there was good enough at stopping bullets. Bursts of gunfire whistled over their head as they were pinned down, unable to poke their heads up to fire back. Then the screaming and sound of bodies falling came and Peleron frowned. "You can come out now."

Peleron looked at Thomas and together they climbed over the crates. The warehouse was littered with bodies of the men who had previously been shooting. There was one man left, holding his assault rifle as if he had been given training. "Mzeusian agent at your service." The man smiled.

Peleron grinned. "You've got to be kidding, a Mzeusian agent infiltrated the IRV?"

The agent looked around to check for danger. "Yeah and there's more than just one of us. I've heard a lot about you Biroyanis. You're pretty good." He motioned to the dead men. "Well they won't be telling you anything so I guess that's up to me. Miss Appletine runs this whole organisation and so she comes down here around once a week to check on things." He began hiding the bodies and weapons, the two agents helped. "She lives up on some hill in a big house. You go past a farmhouse to get to it."

Peleron thanked him. "You've been in East Lebuck a while then?"

"Quite some time, yes. You and your friend better get going, I don't think I can save you a second time." The man said.

Peleron thanked him again. It was good to speak Mzeusian again but more importantly, they had another lead and one that should direct them straight to Miss Appletine herself.

[Snoodum]

Thomas and Peleron stood by the warehouse they had attacked. Three days after the attack, the bodies had been cleared, the security on the docks had been increased by a factor of three and Miss Appletine's car sped down the road towards them. It drifted smoothly to a halt and Miss Appletine stepped out of the car. A long flowing red dress swirled at her feet as she walked up to a group of six security guards at the entrance to the first warehouse.

Thomas closed the newspaper he'd been holding and dropped it to the floor, hoisting the sports bag higher up his shoulder. The six guards had followed Miss Appletine inside the warehouse. Peleron nodded to Thomas. "Let's go." Thomas drew his service pistol, holding it by his side in case things turned sour. Peleron took his pen from his jacket pocket and walked over to Miss Appletine's car, "accidentally" dropping the pen. Peleron knelt to pick it up and stuck the pen's tracking device to the bottom of the car. He then scooped up the pen and hurried away. Thomas smiled on his return. "Nice job." He could see the display on the pen light up as it took the car's coordinates. Peleron shrugged with a grin, "Easy enough."

A three-minute wait later, Miss Appletine finally climbed back in her flashy red car and sped away down the road. Thomas quickly assembled his bike at the back of the warehouse and him and Peleron cycled after Miss Appletine. The two agents followed the car with ease as it turned and sped its way out of the city and down a road that seemingly led nowhere.

After many kilometres, the two agents could see a large house in the middle of the countryside. A small courtyard housed four identical looking cars. All well simonised and painted the flashy red that appeared to be synonymous with Miss Appletine. Thomas swerved off to the side and lay down in the long grass that covered the ground. Peleron crouched beside Thomas and shaded his eyes, peering up at the guards. Miss Appletine climbed the few steps to the front door. This was opened by a butler. The house itself was a big white limestone affair with a tall tower and a rooftop garden. It was surrounded by a wall on which were posted a few guards. They had sub-machine guns and radios.

Thomas opened his briefcase and retrieved the silenced assault rifle. He and Peleron sprinted towards the garage entrance undetected. A guard post protruded from the wall and a guard sat on a chair sipping East Lebucktese rum. He was supposed to be watching for cars. Instead, he got a bullet to the head as Thomas shot out the window with his assault rifle. Thomas vaulted through the window and Peleron followed. They unlocked the door and snuck around the cars to the front door. Due to the remoteness of the house, the security level was low and not many guards were present.

A guard opened the door and Thomas held it open behind him. Thomas took the butt of his rifle and smashed it over the guard’s head. The guard dropped. Thomas put a bullet through his head and dragged the guard into a cupboard full of suits and weapons. Thomas tossed Peleron two grenades and picked up a pistol, sliding it into his belt. “What are these for?” asked Peleron. Thomas shrugged “I dunno but I’d rather have them on me than leave them for the enemy.”

A guard appeared around the corner, whistling to himself. Thomas ducked behind the cupboard with Peleron behind him. Thomas levelled his assault rifle at the guard and squeezed the trigger. The guard jerked and flopped on the floor. Thomas slipped past the guard and turned a corner, thinking through the floor plan in his head. The two men found the staircase and Peleron took the lead. The padded combat boots making little sound on the polished marble stairs that spiralled above. One guard walked on the landing above and Peleron fired a silenced burst at the man. He crumpled and started to fall down the stairs. Thomas raised his assault rifle, covering Peleron as he placed the body silently on the stairs.

With that finished, Thomas continued up the stairs, sweeping his gun around. No one.

He rushed up to a door, flattening himself against the wall as Peleron opened it. He let it swing for a second then turned into the room. Thomas followed the man, pointing his gun the other way. Miss Appletine, separated from the agents by a large glass wall, leant on a balcony, having a smoke and cradling a glass of wine in her other hand. Thomas hissed, drawing Peleron’s attention...

[Mzeusia]

Peleron carefully placed his gun on the soft carpet, drawing forth a pistol loaded with tranquilliser darts. He motioned to the door they had come in from. Thomas watched the stairs.

Peleron moved swiftly across the room, opening the glass door leading onto the balcony. Before Miss Appletine could react, Peleron shot her in the neck. She swayed, moaning in surprise as the drug took over. Peleron grabbed her waist, stopping her from toppling over the edge. He tried to keep the woman steady in one hand while the other dived for the falling wine. He caught the glass before it could smash but the majority of the wine still was able to realise its desire for freedom.

Peleron jerked back to avoid getting his suit stained. Thankfully it splashed at his feet. In his effort to get away, Miss Appletine's head had collided with the glass wall with quite some force. Peleron checked her head. It didn't look dented so he assumed that no damage was done. He stepped on the cigarette, the last plume of smoke rising up. It was time to leave.

Peleron nodded to Thomas, who took her from the Mzeusian agent. Peleron holstered his gun, picking up the one he had left on the carpet. Together, they reached the front door without being seen. Exiting would be messy. Peleron opened the front door as Thomas laid the woman on next to an umbrella stand.

” I’ll go right, you go left.” Peleron said. Thomas nodded. The two agents burst out of the door, guns raised. The guards hadn’t seen them enter and they wouldn’t see them exit. The gunfire was silenced. Within a moment, the guards were dead. Peleron dashed back into the house, hauling Miss Appletine over his shoulder and sprinting out. Thomas had already made it over the wall and he took his load from the Mzeusian. Peleron scaled the wall with ease.

Outside of the compound, they mounted their bikes. “I can’t carry her on my own.” Peleron said, panicking.

Thomas grabbed the woman’s head. Her head and shoulders lay across his lap while her feet and lower legs were draped across Peleron.

“Every cycled like this before?” Peleron asked.

“No, this is the first time.” Thomas replied.

Peleron nodded, manuvouring Miss Appletine behind him. Thomas did the same. Peleron strapped her legs to his back. Once Thomas had secured her, he nodded. Peleron grinned out of nervousness rather than happiness. “On one.” He steeled himself. “Three, two, one.” They began cycling down the road, uneasily at first. The journey was far from pleasant. Miss Appletine jerked as they rode and trying to keep the right distance between the bikes was a thankless task.

If the two men hadn’t been part of the special forces, they may not have made it. “In there.” Peleron untied their baggage. “You go on ahead and get a car, I’ll stay here.” Peleron said. Thomas said nothing but cycled away with lightning speed.

Peleron dismounted, swinging Miss Appletine over his back and guiding the bike to the farmhouse. Soon the attack would be noticed. Peleron just had to hope Thomas could find a car fast enough.

The farmhouse was barely standing. Peleron kicked in the door. The place was covered in dust. He set his bike against the wall. Miss Appletine, he tied up with the straps he had used for her on the bike and placed her inside a wardrobe. The place was sparsely furnished. A fridge was the main feature. He checked the house but there wasn’t anything interesting. The place had been striped almost bare. In the absence of a chair, he toppled the fridge. It was wide enough to lie on its side and be a good enough height to sit on. With the pistol in his hand, he stared at the barren fields that would have once produced crops. The tranquilliser would last a few days, but would he?

As he sat there, he thought of home. An old Mzeusian fishing song came into his head. He had seen it in the Mzeusian Library. He hummed as he sat still, wondering what other people might be doing at this moment. He doubted they were having a harder time then he was but they hadn’t been trained like he had so, he supposed, that evened things out.

[Snoodum]

Portinum’s legs pumped hard as the bike picked up speed. Soon he could see the city's tower blocks coming into view. He cycled harder, thinking of how he would steal a car. He flexed his left hand, the tiny motor whirring in response. He smiled as he entered the city, an idea forming in his head.

Thomas dismounted his bike, turning into an alley and folding the bike. He slung it over his shoulder with his right hand, walking out into the daylight. He was in a commercial district and could see banks of computers on hundreds of floors. No need to go in those any time soon. The cars whizzed by and Thomas crossed the street, heading towards the docks where the more rundown businesses resided. He’d need a car park.

About ten minutes later, he found what he was looking for. The building had definitely seen better days and more importantly, two cars were parked. Walking up to one of them, noticing the scrapes and bumps that riddled the thing. He stopped at the driver’s window, glancing around, whistling a tune to something he couldn’t remember the name of. Satisfied he was alone, he removed the glove from his left hand, keeping it covered with his right. He flicked his index finger and a tiny blade extended from its tip. Peering into the car, he found the door handle. He smiled, cutting a circle in the glass with the blade and pushed the circle in the car and reached in, pulling the door open. Getting in, he rolled down the window just enough to hide the hole and turned the radio on. He flicked a screwdriver head out of his middle finger. He stuck it in the ignition and turned it. The car’s engine sputtered to life and Thomas eased it out of the car park, joining the traffic a few minutes later. The car grumbled the whole time and increasingly juddered at him whenever he applied the slightest pressure to the accelerator. Eventually he turned onto the road heading to the farmhouse.

Some time later, he pulled up to the remains of the building, its red paint almost fully peeled off, the door having been kicked in by Peleron. He rolled the window down further and shouted to Peleron. ‘Let’s go! My arm’s tired!’

[Mzeusia]

Peleron heard the car drive up to the front. Through the window he could see the Snoodian agent pull up. Dashing to the wardrobe, he grabbed Miss Appletine by the waist and slung her over his shoulder. "Get my stuff," he yelled, running to the car, opening the boot and stopping. "Where did you steal this from, the local mad scientist!" The boot was full of scattered drawings and pieces of twisted metal, some bolted together, some seemingly attached with more care, and others alone and discarded. The Mzeusian moved quickly on to the back of the car, as Portinum threw his things in the boot. "Thanks a lot," Peleron grumbled, shoving Miss Appletine across the back seats, and throwing a blanket over her.

Unfortunately, it was a rather tight squeeze for the woman, and as Peleron looked around for a way to make more room, he noticed a box file lying across one of the seats. He picked it up, rearranged Appletine and slammed the door.

"Get in already," Portinum said, getting in the driver's seat. Peleron followed a moment later, and as soon as he was in the other seat, the Snoodian agent kicked the vehicle into reverse and executed a 180 degree turn. Peleron jerked in his seat, reaching for the door. After three attempts, with the dust and the dirt whipping past him, managed to reach the handle, and with a mighty tug, he shut the door.

When they had reached a suitably breakneck speed, Peleron was able to relax a little more. He opened the box file that had been in the back, and started rifling through it.

"I hope Miss Appletine wasn't to much trouble while I was gone." Portinum said.

"Oh, none at all. If I had any gold stars on me, I'd give her one. Slept the whole way through, so I'd say it was one of the easiest babysitting job I've ever done." The two sat in silence for a moment, before Peleron couldn't help but chuckle. "Mind you, I don't usually tranquillise my charges beforehand."

The two of them burst into laughter as Portinum pushed the engine harder. After a little while, Peleron resumed his look through the box file. "Of all the cars, you picked the one belonging to the mad scientist. Listen to this," he said, grinning. "I believe that Electroguiser 1 is nearing completion. With just enough of this Pickerium Gyzophakic dust, I might be able to make the prongs super resistant to the charge, allowing a constant, built in safety mechanism, while ensuring that if I do ever need to give Yenet a shock, it will send that thieving woman into a time that would make the comforts of the palaeolithic age seem like the height of luxury. There is of course, one problem. With the extreme heat that would be produced, I would need enough protection for it to usable. Perhaps if I used a more insulating material like wood for the handle, I would be safe, although at the temperatures this thing is going to get up to, I'm not sure that would be a good idea. If only I hadn't stepped on the Quozcalital last Thursday. That would have sorted this right out. That reminds me to finish the Tigumidazal. Then I'll be able too melt the face of that lesser mortal next door"

Peleron smirked. "I hope we didn't pick up any of his devices that melted lesser mortals like ourselves. We might be carrying a car load of WMD's in here for all we know. I just hope there isn't a tracker back there. I'm not sure we could beat the Quazaldazal Mcfrazalnator."

After a few minutes, Portinum looked over to the Mzeusian, who was trying to understand a collection of hectic drawings. "You ready to meet your Mzeusian friends again?"

"I'm already ready to meet a Mzeusian. Let's do this." He paused. "Meet a Mzeusian sounds like a Mzeusian only dating site."

[Snoodum]

Thomas spotted the name of the alley they were supposed to park in and swerved out of the traffic. Someone had been cutting the dimensions a bit fine as the car’s wing mirrors exploded in showers of glass and twisting metal. The car grinded against the brickwork on either side, sparks flying. Thomas pressed the accelerator hard, grinding the car through the alleyway, lining the car door up with the non-descript metal door leading into their safehouse. The car stopped, slumping down. A hissing sound told Thomas a tyre had been punctured and the rearview mirror alerted him to the thin plume of light grey smoke coming from the boot.

Realisation dawned as Peleron’s mumblings came back to him. ‘Go, go, go!’ he said, scrambling into the back of the car and grabbing Miss Appletine by the shoulders. Peleron tried the passenger door. ‘The door’s stuck, there’s no room.’ He said, as Thomas passed him Miss Appletine. He took the body, awkwardly letting her slump in the driver’s seat.

A window above opened and a man poked his head out. ‘What are you doing! How are we getting you out of there?’

Thomas had been frantically chucking their gear out of the boot and onto the back seats while the strange science stuff continued to smoke happily in the corner. Thomas dropped a Bible, the pages opening to the secret compartment containing one of the grenades. ‘Peleron, catch!’ He picked the grenade out and threw it at his counterpart. The man stumbled with it, obviously confused. Thomas shouted at him over his shoulder as he grabbed the briefcases. ‘Get back here and blow the door out. Tell your friends to stand back!’

Peleron smashed the window and the glass, not being able to fall outside the car, fell onto his trousers. He shouted up to the man in the window ‘Get the boys away from this door! It’s gonna blow!’ He passed Miss Appletine back to Thomas who shielded her with his body as Peleron pulled the pin and set the grenade next to door. The agents covered their ears, crouching as the grenade detonated.

BOOM! The door into the safehouse blew off its hinges and the car door fell into the doorway. The car settled as Mzeusian agents moved the twisted door out of the way. Thomas and Peleron carried Miss Appletine out of the car and into the safehouse.

Three men in plain clothes stood around a table, dusting their hands off. ‘Way to make an entrance Portinum.’ One of them said, a scowl etched on his face. Thomas gave the man a two-fingered salute and a smile.

‘So, what’s the plan?’

‘A truck’s going to pull up to that door,’ he gestured to a door in the back of the room. ‘You get in the cabin with me and I’ll drive you to the port.’ Portinum smiled, opening his briefcase and checking his SS-08. He’d have enough bullets if this got hairy. Satisfied, he followed the two Mzeusians to the door. An engine rumbled up and stopped. The door opened and the two men got in the cabin. The driver gave a signal to the Mzeusian agent and went into the safehouse. The driver’s cabin had a hidden door in the back and Portinum pulled it open. Inside was the interior of a cargo container with rows and rows of weapons stacked high. Miss Appletine was manoeuvred into the container and tossed in a corner. The two agents sat down and the new driver closed the door, revving the engine.

Suudenly, a loud boom sounded. Portinum looked up. Peleron checked the scientist’s notes. ‘That would be the Pickerium Gyzophakic dust touching with the Tigumidazal. Look,’ He showed the paper to Thomas. ‘It says here: Do not combine the Pickerium Gyzophakic dust with the Tigumidazal.’

Thomas shrugged. ‘Well, don’t blame me. I didn’t choose that size alley.’ He kicked Miss Appletine’s leg out of the way, glaring at her.’ Her response was minimal.

[Mzeusia]

The inside of the sectioned off shipping container was pitch black, but the two agents could feel the tires moving over the tarmac. When they neared the docks, the truck went over a speed bump, jarring Peleron and Portinum. Miss Appletine also shifted with the bump, but Peleron had made sure to hold her close. There was no need to have her arrive in Mzeusia with too many bruises.

The agents heard a rap on the secret door. "You are being dropped off now. Our man in one of the crane will pick you up. He should have seen you."

Then, a minute or so later, Peleron felt the container go airborne, the floor of it swaying slightly as it rose. He just hoped that this was the Mzeusian agent picking them up, and not some random dockyard worker. If they were delivered to the wrong ship, things could go south extremely easily.

As he hug tightly to Miss Appletine, trying to keep his back against a wall to stabilise himself somewhat, the thump of the container being returned to solid ground sounded and the swaying stopped. Now, if the Snoodian ship had indeed been the one to pick them up, they would head into international waters, and were things were a lot safer. The Snoodian secret service had said that they would provide tranquillisers to keep Appletine sedated, but at this point, there was honestly very little that she could do. The sound of the cranes and the shouting and the clanging of metal would easily drown out her scream, and if need be, Peleron could use a sleeper hold on her.

The ship, it turned out, was indeed the one that the Snoodian secret service had sent, and as the ship sailed into international waters, the secret door opened. Peleron's eye's adjusted to the light and as Portinum greeted the men who came inside, he smiled. It seemed like they had successfully completed the mission.

Peleron watched as two men grabbed Appletine under each armpit, and hauled her out. Peleron followed after, stepping into the light once more. The shore of East Lebuk was receding behind them.

A week later, and Peleron was standing in the office of the Snoodian head of intelligence, Mr John Sinistrum. The man himself was standing behind a desk. Thomas Portinum stood beside Peleron, and the Mzeusian head of intelligence sat in an armchair off to the side.

"An excellent job," Mr Delikas was saying. Sure, she wasn't given to us as she left her compound, but that is of no consequence. Peleron, I never doubted you, but nevertheless, you handled this difficult mission expertly. You too Mr Portinum. You two have done both your country's a great service."

[Snoodum]

John Sinistrum cracked his knuckles. ‘Well done, Miss Appletine will face Mzeusian justice somewhere though you two have done a great job. The East Lebuk authorities are running an investigation. Your tracks are covered so nothing's coming back here and that’s down to you not going too hot. Sure, the compound was hot, but you got her out and no one outside knew. We can scramble jets if the Lebuck government jumps out of line. Either way, thank you, I’m sure the Mzeusian authorities will get what they need and maybe we can work together more often? Portinum, you’ll find a little something from the Intelligence services on your bed.’

Thomas smiled, shaking the man’s hand. ‘Thank you, Sir. I look forward to going on another mission soon.’ Sinistrum gave the two-fingered salute. Thomas replied in kind, holding the door open for the Mzeusians, playing the mission over in his head.



OOC: Thanks so much for reading this, I hope it has been fun and we may do more of this in the future.