No Arms For The Anlecottis

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page Number 23, Post Number 568

-Hargeon Town, midnight-

Clad in the guild panoply and moving unseen by all, Stiletto was sneaking through the middle of Hargeon Town on a mission by a Hidden Blades client who had a serious grudge against the Anlecotti crime family. Apparently the client for this job was the same one who had commissioned her to take out Anlecotti family lieutenant Lorenzo Peregrino because it had been mentioned that the client's son had died in the hospital after spending weeks in a coma brought about by a vicious beating. Now the client wanted to destroy the crime family at any cost and was willing to pay any price to make sure that it happened. Stiletto had taken the job because she owed the guild some cloak-and-dagger work and she wanted to continue harrying the Anlecottis until they were wiped from Earthland.

Her mission was to find and disrupt an arms deal that the Anlecotti family was going to make with another crime syndicate to acquire stolen military-grade weaponry somehow smuggled out of a military base in Ca-Elum. They were military-grade assault rifles, sniper rifles, and light machine guns with a host of features that put them above and beyond the average firearm such as extended magazines, top-of-the-line scopes with night vision and infrared modes, and other enhancements with an emphasis on improving accuracy. The client wanted every criminal at the meeting to die. He did not care how it was done just so long as it was done. However, completing the mission would not be a simple matter of sneaking in and shooting a few people.

To get to the meeting site in Hargeon Town's underground she would have to get past Hargeon Town's police force, which was patrolling the streets at the height of Mayor Page's re-election campaign. The mayor was still pushing his "morality" angle and was doing his best to appear tough on crime. However, Stiletto had learned that Mayor Page's morality angle was little more than a cynical vote-grabbing ploy and Hargeon Town's police knew it. As a result they were more concerned about making a show of force to deter criminals than actually finding and arresting them. Stiletto could use that forced inaction and the resulting lethargy to her advantage to slip past them without undue difficulty.

Once she got to the door that led to the tunnel that led to would be heavily guarded by men from both syndicates and the area for the meeting was once rumored to have been home to demons. There was also only one way in or out and that was through the underground tunnel that led to the meeting site. There was also no knowledge of whether the guards had radios or not and how good the radios were. Stiletto might have to engage in a little more gunplay than usual, but it was just another day at the office for the contract killer who delivered justice from the shadows.

Stiletto paused in a side alley as two members of the Hargeon Police passed by without noticing her. They were expressing boredom with how they were not allowed to go out and arrest criminals except if a crime was committed right in front of them. They also expressed cynicism over how the mayor was pushing hard to clean up the harbor's red light district while willfully ignoring the upper class red light district in the better part of town. Stiletto waited until the coast was clear before moving deeper into the city, passing by a campaign poster of Mayor Page smiling at the viewer and a campaign slogan that read "RESTORE PUBLIC MORALITY!" running across the bottom in bold black letters.

[Post Word Count: 612]
[Total Word Count: 612/5,000]

-Hargeon Town, outside the tunnel entrance, thirty-three minutes later-

Stiletto had to take her approach to the tunnel entrance slow and easy thanks to there being so many police officers out on patrol. Their attentiveness was not a major problem. The major problem was the sheer number of them walking the beat. She had counted at least forty officers while on approach to the tunnel... while most of them were barely paying attention to the ground beneath their feet, there was always one or two younger officers who took their jobs seriously and paid close attention to their surroundings. It only took one of them spotting her for the contract killer to be in a lot of trouble, but thanks to the concealing properties of her guild armor, the abundance of shadows, and her patience Stiletto made it to the tunnel entrance without being spotted.

It had been recently unearthed thanks to a giant sea monster attack in the not-too-distant past and had been secured with a thick metal door that was apparently not too secure if mobsters could readily gain access to it. Maybe they were banking on the rumors of the tunnel serving as a home to demons to discourage interlopers from disrupting their arms deal. Those rumors did not discourage Stiletto, who had recently been empowered to banish demons from this world thanks to her Lunar Guardian magic. Considering how often she encountered the supernatural, Selene's power was a good thing to have on her side.

Looking around her for any patrolling police officers who might actually be on the ball instead of bored to tears, Stiletto did not see any. She carefully opened the thick metal door and slipped through it, then carefully shut it behind her. She was in without anyone being the wiser.

-Inside the tunnel-

Stiletto turned to her left and saw a tunnel that gradually descended and snaked to the right. Stiletto turned to her right and saw a pile of corpses with bullet holes in the torso, stomach, and head lying on the ground less than two meters away from her. They were the homeless people of Hargeon Town who had squatted here looking for shelter but had been executed by the mobsters to eliminate any witnesses to their illicit arms deal. Stiletto turned left and brought out her Suppressed Assault Rifle, then followed the sound of a male voice coming from further down in the tunnel.

While she was descending Stiletto noted how wide the tunnel was but also noted how there were no branches, meaning that there was only one way in or out. That made security for the mobsters easier and her life a little harder, but she had been expressly ordered to eliminate the mobsters, so the lack of stealth options was of little concern. All she needed to do was press forward and eliminate the mobsters as quickly as she could before they cottoned onto her presence and organized a response. Depending on whether they had radios and the quality of the radios, that might be easy or hard.

Stiletto listened out for the male voice and heard it again. She ducked around the bend and listened to a pair of men complain about something. She could hear the sound of something tapping on hard plastic.

"Damn cheap-ass walkie-talkies. This tunnel is killing the signal quality. We woulda been better off with two cans and a string." One of the men complained.

"Yeah. With all the money they spent on security you'd think they'd spring for better walkie-talkies. At this point we'd be better off with messenger pigeons." A second commiserated. The sound of tapping on hard plastic and a frustrated groan followed by a garbled voice reached Stiletto's ears.

"Well, we can't rely on these things to call for help if trouble shows up. There's nothing we can do but hope that we don't get a Hargeon Town SWAT team on our case." The first man express frustration with the poor quality of the communications equipment.

"Or those Rune Knights." The second man chimed in.

"Yeah. Them too." The first agreed. The mobsters would not need to worry about either of those groups because Stiletto would be the one to do them in. Stiletto raised her Suppressed Assault Rifle into a ready position and waited for just the right moment to strike.

[Post Word Count: 728]
[Total Word Count: 1,350/5,000]

Stiletto was about to move into action to eliminate the two guards when she thought of something.

If she used a Suppressed Assault Rifle to kill the guards, that would make it a lot harder to pin the blame for the interrupted deal on a rival crime family.

Stiletto dispelled the Suppressed Assault Rifle and switched to her Suppressed Handgun so that she could make it easier to pin the blame on a rival crime family. When the Hargeon Town Police eventually got to investigating the scene they would examine the bodies, gather forensic evidence, and conclude that another crime family had ruined the arms deal.

Equipped with her new weapon, Stiletto waited until she felt that the guards had turned their backs, then swiftly moved to eliminate them. She sneaked out from around the corner and quickly focused on one guard, shooting him in the back of the head with her Suppressed Handgun and dropping him to the ground. The second guard had barely enough time to sputter in shock before a single shot went through the back of his head as well. Stiletto had went for shots to the back of the head because it was a common mafia tactic and she needed to make sure that they went down with the first shot and stayed down. She did not want them somehow surviving and getting back up, then calling in reinforcements to flood the tunnel with alert and trigger-happy mafia soldiers.

Stiletto had a few minutes to get further down the tunnel before their superiors noted that they had not checked in and got suspicious.

Both guards were down and were not getting back up, so Stiletto continued past them and went further down the tunnel at a brisk pace. She was not sure how long she had before the arms deal happened, so she had better hurry. Time was of the essence in situations like this one.

-Further down the tunnel, twelve minutes later-

Stiletto had proceeded down the tunnel for a good twelve minutes without hearing or seeing a single guard. The underground tunnel was rather lengthy and devoid of anything but crystals on the walls and floor for lights, but Stiletto had no need of them thanks to her natural night vision mode. She could see just fine, an advantage that the poorly equipped mafia soldiers did not share. Stiletto was about to round another curve in the tunnel when she heard male voices speaking and pressed herself against the wall. The scent of a lit cigarette filled the air as the male voices approached and their commentary became audible.

"Man, those bums near the entrance had better not be sleeping on the job!" A male voice complained about the men Stiletto had silenced earlier. He believed that they were sleeping on the job. He did not know that they were busy being dead.

"They probably are. Those lucky bums. We get stuck near the boss while they get to do whatever they want without someone breathing down their neck!" A second man complained. Both of them were unhappy about their work assignments and both of them envied the two men closer to the tunnel entrance who were not under the direct supervision of the boss.

"The boss is really paranoid lately. He jumps at every shadow and thinks that everything's poisoned. He won't eat until someone's tasted the food first and he won't drink until someone else drinks first." The first man changed subjects. The second man muttered an expression of agreement.

"After Peregrino caught lead poisoning in Rose Garden and Beall got iced on Snowfall Island, I'd be paranoid too. Someone's really got it out for us." The second man defended the behavior of their employer and cited the cases of two Anlecotti mob lieutenants that Stiletto had killed. The first man stopped walking towards Stiletto and scoffed.

"What, you think that the boss' enemies have hired some kinda super-stealthy hitman to go after us and keep after us until we're all dead?" The first asked sarcastically.

"Don't laugh, man. I heard from a pal in Capital Crocus that a few months ago Soldier 74 came out of retirement. You don't want that guy after you." The second man answered with a tone of fear and reverence. Stiletto had never heard of Soldier 74 before. Then again, underworld figures often worked best when no one had heard of them. What made this guy so special?

"Oh, that old rumor again? About the super-assassin who can use any weapon, sneak into anywhere, and kill anyone at any time? It's made the rounds at least five times already!" The first man scoffed at his partner's warning.

"Mr. Corlone's father thought that Soldier 74 was a joke too... until he caught a bullet between the eyes while sipping rum on his private yacht in Hargeon Harbor. The police combed Hargeon Town. Every building, every street corner, every inch of the sewers, hell, even every bathroom in town. They didn't find anything, not even a shell casing." The second man replied. The first man scoffed again and was about to deliver a rebuttal when he heard a garbled voice that sounded rather angry.

"Oh man, it's the boss. We'd better go see what he wants!" The first man said. His partner muttered in agreement and the two mobsters turned around and walked away, leaving Stiletto alone in the tunnel for the time being. Stiletto waited until she was sure the men were gone before she dared to leave the safety of what little cover she had.

[Post Word Count: 930]
[Total Word Count: 2,280/5,000]

-Down the tunnel, thirty minutes later-

Once the second patrol had left to go see what their boss wanted Stiletto continued her trip through the tunnel She had neutralized three more two-man patrols and now stood at the mouth of the tunnel. At the end was a large circular room that hosted a gathering of mobsters from two separate families, the Anlecottis and their contacts. Stiletto did not know the name of the other crime family, but that did not really matter. All that mattered was that none of the mobsters survived. Before she started taking them down she needed to get the lay of the land.

Stiletto crouched down behind the wall leading into the meeting area, then used her enhanced vision to scope out the room and get an idea of who was where and if there were any alternate exits that the mobsters could use to escape the slaughter that was to come. She spotted around twenty mobsters representing each family and noted that the Anlecottis all wore black suits while the other family wore gray suits. On the left side of the room sat two dozen olive green rectangular crates and twenty gray-suited men. On the right side of the room stood the Anlecottis with three briefcases filled with what was presumably money.

Stiletto saw that there were no alternate exits and turned her attention to the men of both sides. The tension in the room was so thick that Stiletto could feel it from where she crouched. Both sides expected the other to betray them and make off with the military-grade weapons. The huntress could exploit that tension to get them to kill each other off and minimize risk to herself, but she would need to be careful in how she did it. There was no room to hide on one side and shoot someone to spark the conflict, which would have been the simplest way. to enact that plan.

The distance was too far for her pistol to reliably hit a target and one pistol shot might not be enough to make a one-shot kill, so she would need to use either Silent Hunter or her Suppressed Assault Rifle to make a long-distance shot. While Stiletto thought that matter over she watched the meeting take place. One briefcase-carrying man from the Anlecottis and one man from the other family stepped forward and met in the middle. The man from the other family wore dark sunglasses with large lenses... why he did was a mystery, but maybe he had sensitive eyes.

The gray-suited man motioned for the briefcase to be opened and the Anlecotti did so. The first man pulled out a bag of Jewels and counted them, then set it back in the briefcase and took the briefcase from the Anlecotti. Some words were exchanged and two of the gray-suited men came over carrying one of the long rectangular crates. It was opened and an Anlecotti in a black suit with a black derby hat began to examine the weapons and ammunition within.

The hat-wearing Anlecotti pulled it out and Stiletto saw that the weapon in question was an assault rifle with a somewhat bulky scope. It looked to be one of the new-generation scopes with infrared and night vision capability, but the huntress could not tell for certain. The man looked the assault rifle over, then set it back in the crate and picked up a magazine of ammunition for the weapon.

The gray-suited men frowned and they gestured at the Anlecotti. Evidently they were not happy with the implied accusation that they were selling the Anlecottis blank ammunition and did not want him examining the goods too closely. The hat-wearing man motioned for another briefcase-carrying Anlecotti to come forward. The man did so and presented another briefcase of money to smooth things over. The sunglasses-wearing man smoothed things over with his subordinates and the deal continued.

Stiletto looked at the men and saw that the tense mood was still present. She was trying to figure out how to exploit it so that the suspicious mobsters did much of the work for her, but she was not quite sure what to do. She selected Silent Hunter and brought it up. She then aimed for the head of the sunglasses-wearing man and waited for the right moment to strike. If she fired too soon or too late both sides would catch onto the fact a third party was here and come after her in full force.

Since the offering of money had smoothed tensions over for the moment now was not the time to shoot. Stiletto continued to observe the deal and noted that both sides were still wary of each other and were just waiting for a sign of betrayal to pull out their concealed weapons and start firing. All she had to do was provide the spark that ignited the powder keg and they would do most of the work for her. The huntress continued to observe the proceedings through the scope of Silent Hunter and continued to wait for just the right moment to take the shot. Once the fighting started she would need to work quickly to eliminate the mobsters before they got wise to the presence of a third party and declared a temporary truce to go after her.

[Post Word Count: 890]
[Total Word Count: 3,170/5,000]

-Twelve minutes later-

Stiletto continued to observe the arms deal from afar and continued to wait for the right moment to act, but so far the uneasy truce was holding, if only because both crime organizations stood to profit from the deal going through. She risked another glance at the chamber and found that the circular chamber in which the crime organizations met offered no alternate ways to maneuver into a better firing position, so she would just have to stay where she was and make a shot. However, a good opportunity was not presenting itself any time soon and the clock was ticking. She did not know how long the deal was going to take and she did not want to risk discovery by sentries, so she would have to act sooner rather than later.

Stiletto watched for any sign of tension that she could exploit and did not have very long to wait. The leaders of the organizations were standing in the middle of the chamber arguing over something because both men were making exaggerated gestures and their subordinates had their hands under their coats just waiting for a reason to pull their weapons and fire on the other group. The huntress would soon give them that reason. She aimed her weapon at the head of the hat-wearing man and waited until the tensions were at their highest.

The men grew more excited and the huntress could hear loud swearing and other insults being hurled about. The mood was growing more and more tense with each passing second, but somehow it was not the right time to pull the trigger. Stiletto briefly and carefully lowered her rifle and looked behind her to make sure that no sentries had slipped up behind her. Once she was satisfied that no one was behind her Stiletto carefully raised Silent Hunter and aimed at the head of the hat-wearing man again, resuming her wait for just the right moment to take the shot.

-Five minutes later-

The tense mood still prevailed as sharp words were being exchanged and both sides were ready to fight. The Anlecotti representative accused the other man of trying to drive up the price on what was secondhand merchandise. The other organization's representative accused the Anlecottis of trying to drive down the price of stolen military-grade weapons with amateur bargaining tactics. The exchange of insults continued as both sides stood with their hands on their weapons and eyed each other warily. Stiletto continued her wait for just the right moment.

The Anlecotti representative motioned for a subordinate to come over with another briefcase and the man obeyed. The silver case was brought over and opened. The representative counted out the money and stared at the Anlecotti man, then threw some Jewels in the other man's face. Both sides went for their weapons. The tension was as high as it was going to get, so she had better act now.

Stiletto shifted her aim from the hat-wearing man to the Anlecotti representative and steadied her aim on the side of his head, then fired a single shot that punched through his temple and dropped him to the ground. The effect of the man's sudden demise was electric. The Anlecottis pulled their weapons and immediately opened fire on the other organization's representative and his subordinates. The other side fired back and killed two of the Anlecottis and the rest attempted to take cover the best they could in the open chamber.

The die had been cast.

Stiletto quickly dispelled Silent Hunter and brought out her Suppressed Submachine Gun, then quickly and quietly hurried into the circular chamber and ducked against the far left wall while both sides fired away at each other. Her plan was to sit back and let both sides whittle each other down before she picked off the survivors, but she knew how plans tended to change once the shooting started.

-Inside the meeting area-

Stiletto crouched down against the far left wall while the soldiers of both crime organizations fired away at each other with handguns, submachine guns, and even some of the military-grade weapons that were intended for sale to the Anlecottis before hostilities broke out. The crates were hastily opened and their contents doled out to the soldiers of each side. Stiletto witnessed assault rifles and their ammunition being passed out, but she thought she saw one soldier of the other organization bringing out an anti-tank rocket launcher to use on the Anlecottis. Stiletto blinked.

An anti-tank rocket launcher?

That would definitely complicate the situation. Once it had been fired off the explosion could likely be heard on the surface and would draw Hargeon Police to investigate what was going on. Their presence would hamper her escape from the tunnel and the city.

Stiletto could not let that launcher be fired, so she carefully aimed at the man's head as he loaded the weapon, then fired a Three-Round Burst that hit him in the side of the head and caused him to drop the launcher. Thankfully it did not fire when it had been dropped, but such a powerful weapon would not be left lying around unused for very long. She would have to take the risk of shooting anyone who went for it and thus risk being discovered and used for target practice. That was a risk she would have to take to make sure that she had some chance of getting away after the mission to wipe out the members of both organizations was complete.

As both sides continued to shoot at each other with the occasional break to reload Stiletto watched to make sure that no one went for the rocket launcher. The dead of both sides littered the chamber, but the other side had the slight but important advantage of having weapons crates to use for cover. Stiletto would have to even the odds a little, but she would have to be careful when doing so. She would have to wait until their attention was fully focused on the Anlecottis before picking off the mobsters fighting in front of her.

[Post Word Count: 1,020]
[Total Word Count: 4,190/5,000]

-Seven minutes later-

The exchanges of small arms fire were beginning to die down as both sides were looking to get a definite advantage over the other by maneuvering into better firing positions or bringing out bigger guns to take out the other side's cover. Stiletto kept an eye on the rocket launcher lying on the floor about forty-five meters away from her and kept her Suppressed Submachine Gun ready to cut down anyone who made a move for it. She watched men on both sides raid the weapons crates in search of ammunition for their current weapons or better weapons. While no one made a move for the rocket launcher, she could not have anticipated that another explosive weapon would be brought into play... hand grenades!

She watched as men dug out large quantities of the anti-personnel explosives and doled them out to their fellows. There was nothing she could do to stop it. If she fired on one side the other side would see her and open fire on her. All the huntress could do now was hang back and watch the fighting unfold.

Stiletto watched both sides fling the anti-personnel explosives at each other and quickly retreated from the meeting chamber before they went off. That was one way that both sides would take care of each other for her, but if any of the other munitions went off they would not only take care of the mobsters but also draw the attention of the police. Stiletto held her breath and heard loud explosions followed by screaming. Some of the munitions had been detonated by stray hand grenades, but other boxes were intact... for now. She was sure they would not remain that way for too much longer.

Both sides had lost a good deal of men, but the men in gray had a larger number of intact crates to get weapons from and they raided them with gusto. Stiletto saw light machine guns and grenade launchers being loaded and doled out. The Anlecottis found another crate of hand grenades and began passing them out to the survivors while the other men finished loading their weapons and prepared to renew the struggle for supremacy. Stiletto saw one gray-suited man go for the rocket launcher and had no choice but to let him since two of his fellows were facing in her direction. He picked it up and hurried to rejoin his fellows just as a hand grenade clattered to a stop where he had been standing.

It went off and the man's back was riddled with shrapnel. The man fell down with his finger on the trigger and the launcher went off. The rocket struck a box of munitions and set them off, killing a few of the gathered men in gray and disorienting the rest long enough for the Anlecottis to pitch a lot of hand grenades in to finish off the remaining men in gray. Stiletto heard the explosions and the screaming and knew that the other organization's men were dead.

Stiletto watched as the dazed survivors who had not been riddled with grenade shrapnel tried to fight back against the Anlecottis, who moved in to finish off the survivors with small arms. Stiletto watched the final exchanges of gunfire as the two sides clashed again. The men in gray killed six of the thirteen Anlecottis with a mix of grenade launchers and light machine gun fire, but seven healthy Anlecottis against ten mobsters dazed by explosions and wounded by shrapnel was not much of a contest.

Three minutes later and it was all over. Every member of the other crime organization lay dead on the ground and the surviving Anlecottis began to pick over the dead for their weapons. Now was the time for Stiletto to move in and complete her mission. She slipped into the room with her Suppressed Submachine Gun at the ready and waited for the Anlecottis to bunch together before she struck. That did not take long... the seven men gathered around one of the only intact boxes on the left side and marveled at a rocket launcher that had survived the explosions from earlier.

Stiletto carefully sneaked to within eight meters of the preoccupied men, then aimed at the men on the far left and opened fire. She killed two of them before the other five could react and killed a third as he wheeled around with a handgun. The remaining four leveled their weapons at the black-clad agent, who killed a fourth man with a Three-Round Burst to the head and quickly ducked to avoid return fire.

Once the three men had fired all the ammunition in their weapons they hurriedly reloaded while Stiletto stood up and killed two of them before they could reload. The last man reloaded his submachine gun and prepared to fire on Stiletto when she fired a single shot that hit him in between the eyes. It was a good thing she did not need to fire a second time because that was the last round in the magazine of her weapon.

Stiletto waited for it to reload and scanned the area for survivors. She switched to infrared vision to check for heat signatures and did not find any, so she walked around the room looking for survivors. Two laps later and none of the men stirred, so she walked away from the underground battlefield having left no evidence of her presence to trace her. Now she would have to make her way to the surface and get out of Hargeon Town without being detected. That loud blast of munitions going off was sure to attract at least one inquisitive police officer who saw a chance to do something to fight crime other than walk a boring patrol route.

[Post Word Count: 966]
[Total Word Count: 5,156/5,000]

-On the outskirts of Hargeon Town, thirty-five minutes later-

Stiletto had wound her way through Hargeon Town and had made it past police officers who seemed to be oblivious to what had transpired underground. She doubted that they would remain that way for long, so the huntress would make good her escape while she could. The huntress had the benefit of good cover in the shadows and a lot of experience in sneaking out of populated areas. She also knew when to leave instead of sticking around to admire one's handiwork. Stiletto had used all of those skills and had gotten to the outskirts of Hargeon Town undetected.

The arms deal had been broken up and the mobsters of both crime organizations lay dead on the ground in the underground chamber that had hosted the arms deal. No evidence had been left to trace her. She had delivered vengeance for another client who wanted the people who wronged them to pay for it. Now all she had to do was return to base and chalk up another success. Stiletto would do just that.

Not daring to look back at the port town, Stiletto vanished into the shadows and made good her escape with no one the wiser. The Anlecottis would have a hard time recovering from the loss of men and weaponry and the other organization might suspect that the Anlecottis had a hand in the death of their representative and his men. The crime family would be busy for awhile, giving her time to let the heat die down and time for the Anlecottis to be preoccupied before taking another job against them.

[Post Word Count: 274]
[Total Word Count: 5,430/5,000]