The Two Jerseys wrote:Halting the flight at the doorway, he heard Red Flight moving around inside and poked his head in. "White calling Red, we're at the entrance. Do you need support?"
Her eyes still fixed in the direction of the mysterious noise, slowly stepping forward, it took a moment for Alix to realize Talbot was talking to her. She forced herself to sound calmer than she felt.
"No...No, we're fine, Five. Keep your eyes glued on the perimeter until I say otherwise. I may be out of contact for a moment or two."
The sound kept going, just on the edge of hearing - an odd, scratchy wash of noise, like static over the radio, coming from the end of a side hallway off of the main foyer that Red Flight found itself in. Alix slowly crept towards and through the dark hallway, the rest of the flight following.
Kouralia wrote:Smythe nodded, following on after Flight Lieutenant Noble to investigate the source of the sound. As he did so, he half turned and whispered to the remaining NCOs in his flight. "Okay guys, stick together in case this is a trap - there's no need to split up and look for clues."
"Too bloody right," Alix breathed. There was no mistaking it - the sound definitely was getting louder the deeper into the hall she went. There was a room right at the end...could that be the source?
it was only a minute or so, but it felt like a small eternity as Alix finally closed the distance. Finally, stacking up on the door, the sound more and more resembling static as it grew louder, she was ready. Looking back at the other four (Reide having returned from his errand), she could tell that the rest of them were as well. She slowly turned the doorknob, and then threw it open, Colt at the ready.
The room was as abandoned as the rest, save for one significant exception. In the center of the room, a wooden table was placed with a single chair alongside. Upon the table was placed a radio set, with microphone attached - the clear source of the noise, which was indeed static. Alix scanned the room, eyes wide and suspicious. There was nothing else - no sign of any traps, bombs, concealed gunmen, or anything of the sort. Confused and not quite knowing what else to do, she sat down in the chair. She gently tapped the microphone with her finger, with the resulting pops of static feedback confirming that it was live.
"Hello?" she spoke into the microphone. No response. She waited a few seconds, then-
Suddenly, a loud, harsh, Afrikaner-accented voice cut into her ears, ringing throughout the room and shattering the quiet.
"You're in my home."
She nearly had a heart attack. "Who...Jesus, who the hell is this?"
A chuckle. "Who do you think I am? I am the owner of the house that you've just broken into - and the employer of all those guards you've just murdered. Disappointed you weren't left anything to burglarize or destroy while you were here? No cash laying around? No jewelry to pawn? No bearer bonds in a safe, somewhere? No women to brutalize?"
Alix tried to collect herself. She opened her mouth to respond - but Jackal beat her to it.
"Make no mistake. I know exactly who and what you are. You band of killers and thieves are the British death squad sent to assassinate me. You no doubt hoped to find me asleep in my bed unguarded, so you could slit my throat and steal away under cover of night like hyenas...and were it not for my good friends, that may have been how you would have found me. But instead, I made preparations..."