Peregrino's Permanent Flight Delay

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 3, Post Number 56

-Outside Rose Garden Airport, nightfall-

Clad in the guild panoply so that she could become one with the shadows, Stiletto sneaked into Rose Garden to carry out a mission on behalf of a Hidden Blades client who wanted vengeance for his son Arthur. The client's son had been beaten into a coma by an Anlecotti crime family lieutenant named Lorenzo Peregrino, who was part of a crime family that controlled Lavanitir Port City and was rumored to have interests in other cities across Earthland. Lorezon had assumed himself untouchable because the family had judges and beat cops on the family payroll plus the best defense lawyers money could buy on retainer. The "crime" that the son had committed to deserve being beaten into a coma was the petty one of spilling a shot of whiskey on Peregrino's suit jacket as the two walked by each other at the crowded bar in Boomslang over two weeks ago.

According to the client, Arthur apologized for the accident and offered to make financial restitution by giving Peregrino the Jewels for the cleaning bill, an offer which Peregrino accepted. Arthur thought that the debt was settled once he had paid the Jewels necessary to cover the cleaning bill, but the mob lieutenant thought otherwise because he followed Arthur outside the club and shoved him into a side alley, where he beat the hapless youth to the ground with brass knuckles and knocked him into a coma with numerous kicks to the head. Arthur was found almost an hour later and was quickly taken to Capital Crocus Hospital, where he remained to the present day.

Arthur's father could not get justice from Capital Crocus authorities, who claimed that there was insufficient evidence to procure a warrant for Peregrino's arrest because some of the evidence had been destroyed when some intoxicated club-goers used the alley as a shortcut to get home. The father did not buy this explanation and suspected that some of the top brass were on the take from the Anlecottis and had any incriminating evidence conveniently destroyed for their benefactors. Since official channels had been clogged by timely payments of dirty money, the father wanted extrajudicial justice that Lorenzo Peregrino could not buy his way out of. That was where Stiletto came in.

The client had been tipped off by anonymous sources that Peregrino was going to take a private flight from Rose Garden to Snowfall Island. There Peregrino was going to lay low in a private cottage and let the heat die down, then make his way back to Lavanitir Port City to resume his life of crime once he was in the clear. If he made it back to the port city, there was no way that the mob-controlled city would extradite one of its own to face prosecution in Capital Crocus. It was Stiletto's job to make sure that the mob lieutenant did not reach Lavanitir Port City alive.

Stiletto sneaked through the town and eventually reached a back alley that faced the front entrance to Rose Garden Airport. She took a glance at the security measures and saw that they were best described as minimal. There was one security camera above the entrance and a security guard in a guard box with a movable arm, but she was effectively invisible to cameras and the guard was distracted with a conversation on his blue iLac. Stiletto could use that lax security to her advantage.

Stiletto had been given carte blanche to eliminate Lorenzo Peregrino any way she saw fit. While the client would prefer that the target not even make it out of Rose Garden, they understood that airport security would be tight, so Stiletto was given leeway on when and where to make the hit. She was even cleared to kill the mob lieutenant on Snowfall Island if that was what it took to eliminate him. The only requirement was that he die before he got back to Lavanitir Port City.

Stiletto's initial plan was to find a good vantage point overlooking the airport and shoot him in the head once he stepped out in the open to board the plane, but airport security had been tight that time she was part of Natalya Lebedev's hangar security. Private planes stayed in their assigned hangars and the hangar doors remained shut until the plane was ready for takeoff, so the window to shoot him would be uncomfortably small even if she managed to get a good vantage point with a line of sight on him. The moment she took the shot security would be all over the airport and would call upon Rose Garden Police for assistance, making her escape much more difficult than it needed to be. She would need to take a different approach if she wanted to complete her mission.

With that in mind, Stiletto made a swift and silent approach to the airport's front gate. She used all her powers of stealth to slip past the front gate while the guard was distracted chatting up a woman who turned out to be his wife on his iLac. While they were discussing the grocery shopping list for tonight she deftly slipped through the gate without anyone being the wiser to her infiltration. However, getting into the airport was the easy part. The hard part would be finding Peregrino's plane and working out a way to slip on board to eliminate him.

[Post Word Count: 904]
[Total Word Count: 904/5,000]

-Inside Rose Garden Airport-

Stiletto sneaked into the airport proper and immediately ducked behind a triangular stack of crates to her left because there was a fairly heavy security presence patrolling the hangars and on the tarmac. An eyeball count tallied at least twenty men around the hangars on the left side plus another six actively patrolling the tarmac. Around the hangars on the right were another ten men plus an unknown number of men around back. To make matters more difficult, the men she saw were all uniformed personnel employed by the airport and not mob muscle, so killing them to avoid detection was not an option. Besides, for years Stiletto had made it a point to only kill her target and no one else; despite her career choice she had standards.

Now was not the time to break that personal code for the sake of convenience... she would just have to be smart about the infiltration. Keeping to the code of "no indiscriminate killing" was why Stiletto was employable in clandestine jobs that required discretion and the ability to refrain from killing everyone in sight. Gaining a reputation for discretion helped one keep a lower profile, which meant a longer career in the shadows and more diverse job opportunities. Gaining a reputation for indiscriminate slaughter severely limited one's job opportunities and earned one a place on the priority list of the Rune Knights, Dies Irae, and other authorities. Stiletto had chosen her name because she used stealth and precision to get the job done.

That was all well and good, but before she could ride her high horse to the bank, she had to find Lorenzo Pegerino's plane and board it, then deal with him before he got to Lavanitir Port City and to safety.

After that round of patting herself on the back for not being an indiscriminate killer, Stiletto refocused on trying to find a way past airport security. The security personnel were spread out, but they had portable radios on their hips that would allow them to quickly call for reinforcements if she were spotted. The area around the hangars was dotted with crates that could be used for cover, but that advantage was partially negated by floodlights hanging on the side of the hangars that illuminated a 25-meter area around them. She would have to be careful, but with enough effort and luck she could infiltrate the airport and be on board Peregrino's plane before he got on board to take off for Snowfall Island. The trick would be finding the hangar with his plane in it to begin with.

Stiletto waited until a two-man security team passed by her position before moving left to slowly follow them to the next crate stack. She was hoping to glean some information about which hangar the plane was waiting in, but this pair was tight-lipped concerning any airport gossip and spoke only about unrelated topics like sports, the academic performance of their children, and how the cost of living seemed to go up more and more with each passing year while their paychecks remained almost the same. Stiletto remained in place until the team passed by, then sneaked over to the next crate stack and cautiously looked for another incoming security team.

She was halfway past the hangar and wanted to get to the back so that she could sneak around more easily, but she needed to be careful because she did not know how many men were watching the back doors of the hangars. She heard footsteps approaching from behind, so Stiletto concealed herself and let the shadows shroud her from view. Another two-man patrol passed by while talking to each other, but this time they were talking about something interesting, namely the lack of security on the left side of the airport.

"Man, what happened to all those new security guards the airport promised to hire?" One guard asked the other.

"They weren't hired. The company said something about budget concerns, but that's a load of bull. They weren't worried about the budget when the airport got those five new planes months ago." The other man answered sourly.

"That was a legitimate purchase, Steve. The planes we had were over four decades old. Parts for those old planes weren't even being made anymore and we were having to pay a king's ransom for the replacement parts to keep them flying." The first man protested. The second man scoffed.

"Yeah, but I think we got ripped off. There's no way that one passenger airplane should cost three million Jewels. The company bought five of 'em. We're barely breaking even now because we're so far in debt." Steve complained.

"It's a good thing that we've rented out a few hangars to private individuals. That'll help us keep the lights on until those new planes pay for themselves." The first man replied. Again Steve had something negative to say.

"I don't like it, though. That guy who's in Hangar 18? He's definitely connected to the mob." Steve replied to his coworker.

"Is he part of the Corlones? Weren't they all arrested months ago?" The first man asked. Stiletto recognized that name because of her unpleasant memories of meeting Francesca Corlone and hearing that the organized crime family who once ran Rose Garden was broken up several months ago by a powerful mage. Stiletto listened with interest as the two men discussed the crime family that Peregrino was part of.

"No, Dennis. Most of the Corlones have been arrested and those who haven't have gone underground. He's with the Anlecottis. Steve answered.

"Who are they?" Dennis asked. Steve sighed as if incredulous that his coworker had really just asked that question.

"The Anlecottis. They're the organized crime family that runs Lavanitir Port City and has a lot of interests there. Gambling, smuggling, human trafficking, and some other shady stuff that makes them big money." Steve introduced them as Stiletto listened intently for any more information about Peregrino or the family he was part of.

[Post Word Count: 1,006]
[Total Word Count: 1,910/5,000]

Unfortunately for the eavesdropping contract killer, the two security personnel did not say anything else about the occupants of Hangar 18 after that. The guard named Steve flatly said that he was not going to talk about the subject anymore. When pressed by his coworker Dennis as to why he was not going to say anything else, Steve cited concerns that one of the mobsters might overhear them talking and put a hit out on them to shut them up for good. Aware of what Steve was trying to say, Dennis quickly got the hint and agreed that not talking about the occupants of Hangar 18 was the smart thing to do. After that they changed the subject to the safer subject of how Steve's son Jay was doing in Crocus Magicka University... apparently Jay was studying archaeology and was near the top of his class.

Just as they were walking away she heard Steve mention that Jay was working in the field with Professor Charles Fauntleroy. The masked contract killer gave a small smile when she heard that name and waited until Steve and Dennis were safely past, then resumed her quest to find Hangar 18 and gain access to Peregrino's personal plane. She sneaked around to the back of the first hangar and ducked behind some crates while looking at the back of it. There she noticed a detail that would make her job easier. Beside the door of each hangar was placed a metal sign listing the number of the hangar, a feature which made the huntress' job a lot easier.

Stiletto carefully peered out from around the crate to see if she had gotten lucky and had found the mob hangar on the first try, but that was not the case because the number was 01. Seeing that sign got her to thinking about the layout of the airfield, which had twelve hangars on each side for a total of twenty-four. If the one she was currently hiding near was Number 01, then she had reason to believe that all the hangars on the left were labeled with odd numbers. That meant that Stiletto would have to sneak back to the entrance and sneak to the right side of the airfield without being detected, which would be hard but not impossible for an agent of her experience and skills. Stiletto did an about-face and began the process of sneaking to the right side of the airfield without being detected.

-Right side of the airfield, forty minutes later, behind Hangar 02-

Stiletto had managed to make it to the right side of the airfield without being detected but had to proceed slowly because for some reason airport security had intensified. While being forced to proceed slowly she noticed something unusual while sneaking about. Just when she had passed the entrance she ducked behind a pile of crates about ten meters away and noticed a group of six men in black suits with black ties walk through the entrance, then walk on the right tarmac past Hangar 02 and to the ninth hangar on the right side, where they eventually disappeared into the hangar. Judging from the way that airport security gave the men a wide berth, they were Peregrino's bodyguards.

If his bodyguards had headed for the hangar, that meant that the Anlecotti family lieutenant was preparing to take off soon!

Stiletto peered down the long alley behind the hangars to get a glance at the gauntlet she would have to run both metaphorically and literally. There was irregular crate cover but the security presence was somewhat light with two-man teams passing through once every ten minutes or so. Even behind Hangar 18 there was no enhanced security presence, but that did not mean that the same situation persisted inside the hangar. Stiletto would just have to be careful while she hurried towards the destination before her target took off and she missed her chance to complete the contract.

Taking a deep breath and looking around her one last time, she saw no one to the left, right, or down the alley. She stood up and sprinted for the pile of crates behind Hangar 02.

-Behind Hangar 02-

Stiletto ducked behind the crates and assessed the situation before proceeding any further. Down the alley to her left between Hangar 02 and nearby Hangar 04 a two-man team of airport security was approaching, but they were facing each other and talking instead of facing forward... they were not conducting an intensive sweep of the area. All the huntress had to do was be patient and wait out the patrol, but every minute she spent hiding meant that Peregrino had more time to prepare his plane for departure.

She listened to them chatter about movies like Six-Gun Sleuth and Celestial Conflicts: Hope Returns and discuss how the first film was a typical action movie with unrealistic occurrences like a six-shot revolver being able to fire twenty-four shots without reloading and how one shot to the gas tank could send a car up in a CGI fireball like it had taken a direct hit by an anti-tank missile. Stiletto then listened to the two amateur movie critics grouse about how cliche and disappointing the detective movie was and about how Celestial Conflicts had taken a big chance by using practical effects in an age dominated by CGI. According to them the gamble had paid off with almost universal praise and box office earnings around the 600-million Jewel mark and counting. The two were just starting to discuss the merits of the orchestral soundtrack when they passed by her and rounded the left corner on their way to the tarmac.

Now was her chance.

Stiletto stood up and sprinted down the long alley to try and get closer to Hangar 18 before having to stop again. By running as hard and as fast as she could the huntress managed to pass by three hangars before being forced to come to a stop and duck behind some crates behind Hangar 08 when she heard another security team making its rounds. Stiletto peered down the alley and saw that now only five hangars stood between her and her destination.

[Post Word Count: 1,036]
[Total Word Count: 2,946/5,000]

-Behind Hangar 08-

Stiletto waited until another security patrol passed by before daring to lean out from behind cover to take a look at the situation. A careful peek showed that the coast was clear and that if she moved now she could make it to at least Hangar 12 before having to stop again. She mentally counted to three, then stood up and began running to cover as much ground as she could before being forced to stop and hide from patrolling security guards.

The swift huntress easily made it behind Hangar 10 without incident and kept going. She kept running and made it behind Hangar 12, where she ducked behind the crates there and stopped to take a breath and assess the situation before moving on. She did not have too much time to spare, but getting careless and being spotted before she could reach Hangar 18 would mean that all the effort she had put in up to this point would be wasted.

-Behind Hangar 12-

Stiletto patiently waited until a security patrol passed by her hiding place before peeking out to look around. A quick peek down the alley showed that ahead of her was a large stretch of alley where there was no crate cover until a pile of crates stacked at the corner of the fence just behind Hangar 24, which meant that the huntress would have to run all the way to her destination without the luxury of being able to duck behind a convenient crate stack to hide. Stiletto did not like that, but she had no choice but to press on if she wanted to kill Lorenzo Peregrino before he flew to safety. The huntress took another deep breath and stood up, then began running for it.

Stiletto breezed by Hangar 14 without trouble and was halfway to Hangar 16 when she thought she heard two security guards talking about a concert violinist named Marina Renault and how it was rumored that she had contributed to the Celestial Conflicts movie soundtrack in certain places; rumor had it that she was the violinist behind the violin solo that was part of Princess Orighana's Theme. The huntress did not have time to stay and listen to the music critique because she had to get to Hangar 18 in a hurry. She passed by Hangar 16 and kept running until she was close to the destination.

-Behind Hangar 18-

Stiletto was almost there... just a few more seconds and she would be inside before anyone was the wiser. She had left no evidence of her presence so far and had taken care not to be spotted by security or cameras that dotted the area, so if she could get inside she would have a good chance to board the plane before it took off without her. Speaking of cameras, Stiletto noticed that mountings for cameras had been installed over the back door but no cameras had been installed yet. That was an oversight she would exploit to make the hit and get away without leaving a trace.

Stiletto kept running until she reached the back door of Hangar 18 to find that it had been left wide open. She wondered why that was, but she would not look a gift horse in the mouth. Slowing to a walk, the huntress crept into the hangar without anyone seeing her.

-Inside Hangar 18-

Stiletto quickly looked around her and saw that she had only one real option for a hiding place... a triangular stack of barrels of fuel for the airplane. She quickly took cover behind it just as two black-suited men entered the hangar through the back door she had just come through. They were more of Peregrino's bodyguards and they were talking about the state of the hangar.

"Man, this place is cheap, real cheap. You'd think they woulda at least put a lock on the back door. Everyone and their brother can just walk in like they own the place." One of the men said.

"Yeah, but remember when the boss said that this place had serious budget troubles? This place has serious budget troubles. I heard the airport got ripped off when they bought five new passenger planes." The other replied. The first man scoffed.

"Door locks don't cost that much. Hell, even a cheap lock would do until they can scrape up the money for one of those keycard readers. If military bases and police stations can have 'em, why not the boss' private hangar?" The first retorted before posing a question of his own.

"'Cause the boss doesn't have nuclear weapons or super-secret science projects?" The second man asked.

"It was a rhetorical question, Frank, but yeah. He don't have military-grade stuff... at least not yet. I heard that the big shots in Lavanitir are lookin' for some military-grade hardware." The first man added.

"Oh yeah? Where they gonna get it from, Harry?" Frank asked. Harry scoffed again.

"I don't know and I don't wanna know. That kinda information's way above my pay grade... I'm just the guy who goes to collect protection money and rough people up if they don't pay. I don't wanna sleep with the fishes, so I'm not diggin'." Harry replied.

"I hear ya, Harry. Let's just let the subject drop, huh?" Frank offered.

"Yeah. Let's drop it." Harry took up the offer as the pair walked towards a folding staircase that led into waiting airplane and took up positions on each side of it, which was a sleek two-engine jet with a fresh white paint job that featured a single red stripe across the middle. Such a plane easily ran into the millions of Jewels for the base model, to say nothing of what it would cost to modify it for other purposes. The Anlecotti family certainly paid its lieutenants well.

Speaking of lieutenants, where was Lorenzo Peregrino?

Was he already on board and just waiting for permission to take off?

"Where's that damn pilot? He shoulda been here by now!" A balding middle-aged man in a white dress shirt and black dress pants with black dress shoes fumed as he stalked down the staircase leading into the jet. Harry and Frank looked towards the man and hurried to placate him before his temper fell on them.

"We don't know, Mr. Peregrino. We told him to hurry up, but you know Michael. He's slower than molasses." Harry said to the Anlecotti family lieutenant. Peregrino glared at him.

"I coulda flown the damn plane to Snowfall Island by now. Every minute we stay here gives the Capital Crocus police time to build a case against me and come up with some reason to keep me from leaving. If Michael's lazy ass doesn't get here in the next five minutes he's gonna be DEAD when we get to Snowfall Island! He's gonna be found floating face down in the freezing water!" Peregrino raged at the tardiness of his pilot, pausing on the staircase to avoid getting so wrapped up in his rant that he fell down when he missed a step.

"I don't know WHY I let my sister talk me into hiring her good-for-nothing son as the pilot for my personal jet! The bum barely passed flight school and that's only because he was threatened with being kicked out if he didn't get his grades up! I'm getting too soft. That's gonna get me killed one of these days!" He continued to rant, gripping the rails of the staircase for stability as he walked down the last two steps and reached the hangar floor. Stiletto listened to the rant in silence and waited for her opportunity to strike. Peregrino's softness was going to get him killed a lot sooner than he thought it would.

[Post Word Count: 1,298]
[Total Word Count: 4,244/5,000]

Peregrino then launched into an obscenity-laden rant about how he had beat up some "disrespectful asshole" of a kid back in Capital Crocus for spilling a drink on his coat in Boomslang and how the Capital Crocus cops were trying to punish him for a beating that was justified. He fished a silver cigar case out of his right side pocket and Frank hurried over with a lighter to light Peregrino's cigar for him. The mob lieutenant nodded in gratitude and puffed on the cigar.

"WHERE THE HELL IS MICHAEL?!" He raged further.

"Want us to go find him, Boss?" Harry asked. Peregrino slammed his left fist on the rail.

"GO FIND HIM! OTHERWISE WE'RE GONNA BE HERE ALL DAMN NIGHT!" He roared. The two men left their posts beside the retractable staircase and hurried out of the back door to go find the missing pilot. That left Peregrino alone with Stiletto in the closed hangar, which meant a perfect opportunity to strike and take him out with no one the wiser. Stiletto took a moment to pick the best weapon with which to make the hit.

She brought out her Suppressed Handgun since she wanted to make this look like a mob hit by using a common mob weapon. Organized crime was fond of handguns for their portability and ease of concealment. Suppressed handguns were not unheard of in the underworld, so there would not be very much evidence pointing to the work of a professional working for an outside organization. The blame would likely be laid at the feet of the Anlecotti family's rivals while no one would even suspect the work of an outside organization, which was just the way Stiletto's employers liked it.

Stiletto watched Peregrino smoke the cigar near the retractable stairs while facing the hangar double doors that opened up onto the tarmac. She looked around and made sure that no one was watching before she made her move. Once the coast was clear Stiletto slowly stood up, sneaked out from behind the barrels until she was within five meters of the smoking mob lieutenant, then raised her weapon and began firing.

The first shot landed in the back of Peregrino's head and he collapsed to the floor, smashing the cigar clenched in his teeth with his face. Stiletto fired five more shots into his back to make sure he was really dead before dispelling the weapon and briskly walking for the cover of the barrels. There she waited for a couple of minutes before breaking cover and leaving through the open back door. She had made the hit and had left no footprints, fingerprints, nor any other sort to link her to the kill, but now she needed to escape before the late Peregrino's bodyguards came back and found that their boss was dead on the floor.

-Outside Hangar 18-

Stiletto exited the hangar and wasted no time in running for the crate stack just behind Hangar 24 which reached just short of the top of the fence for some bizarre reason. She was sure that lazy employees were to blame, but right now she was singing their praises for giving her a handy escape route. Sneaking back to the entrance would be safer, but that would take too long and the alarm sounding would mean that the entrance would be locked down tight. Climbing up the crates would be time-consuming and leave her at risk of being spotted by security, but it was the quicker way out. Once she had jumped the fence it was a simple matter of leaving the area and sneaking out of Rose Garden.

-Behind Hangar 24-

By some miracle Stiletto had reached the crate stack without being spotted, but she was not out of the woods yet. She still had to climb it and get over the fence before she could celebrate another successful hit. The huntress took a quick look around and saw no incoming patrols, so she hurried over to the right side of the stack and began to carefully climb the crates that led to freedom. The stack held firm, which made her life easier because climbing while avoiding security was not going to be an easy task.

Stiletto quickly and carefully worked her way up to the halfway point of the stack before she saw the two black-suited men walking briskly to the back door of Hangar 18. The window of opportunity to make a clean getaway was about to close very soon, so she began to climb faster while watching for security to round the front right corner of Hangar 24 at any minute. She made it up to the three-fourths mark and passed it when Harry and Frank entered the back door of the hangar. Stiletto took a quick breath and hurried to the top crate... she had just climbed on top when she heard frantic shouting.

Moments later a harsh alarm sounded and she could see over two dozen airport security personnel hustle for Hangar 18 and more men hustle towards the entrance. Stiletto looked around her one last time and jumped the fence to make her getaway. No one had spotted the huntress when she took the leap and she had not left any evidence of the crate pile ever being climbed.

-Outside Rose Garden Airport, Rose Garden-

Stiletto landed on the ground in an inelegant four-point landing that would make Bastet frown in displeasure, but she had escaped detection because she had landed in an empty back alley with no one to be seen or heard. She took a moment to catch her breath before using the power of the ring to transform her armor into a nondescript young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, blue eyes, a green tank top, a black skirt with a gray hem, and white tennis shoes. Stiletto strolled out of the back alley without anyone the wiser and quickly got onto the main path leading out of Rose Garden. As she walked under the streetlights she saw Rose Garden police streaming towards the airport, which meant that a dragnet was about to be cast over the entire town. Calmly walking through the town at a casual pace while following signs that pointed the way towards Silver Moon Inn so that she would have an alibi if police asked what she was doing on the street, Stiletto made her way towards the inn and towards safety.

[Post Word Count: 1,072]
[Total Word Count: 5,316/5,000]

-Outside Rose Garden, forty-five minutes later-

Still wearing her disguise, Stiletto had left Rose Garden without anyone being the wiser. Far from being challenged by town police, they had not even given her a second glance as they streamed towards the airport to investigate what was going on. Stiletto knew that it was only a matter of time before a dragnet was cast over the entire town, so she got out while the going was good and left the town before the police could change their mind and pull her back into town to answer some questions at the police station.

Stiletto was well on her way back to guild headquarters by the time the dragnet would be cast. She had successfully pulled off another hit and had delivered justice to someone who thought themselves untouchable by the law. Now that Peregrino had caught a bullet instead of a plane, she was sure that the Anlecotti family would be on the lookout for the person who had killed one of their lieutenants. They would be looking for a pretty long time because she had taken care not to leave any evidence that could place her at the scene of Peregrino's murder. The crime family would inevitably place the blame on a rival crime family and get to fighting with them, diverting their attention from finding the real killer.

Stiletto would be wise avoid Rose Garden for awhile until the heat died down, but avoiding that town would be a simple matter because her work took her to many different places across Earthland. She would return to guild headquarters and read the job board see who else needed vengeance delivered to their enemies. She owed the guild some work and would take a few contracts to pay them back for their tolerance of her masquerading as a Guildless mage and doing legitimate work as a freelance mage.

[Post Word Count: 316]
[Total Word Count: 5,632/5,000]