Black Market Merchant

The room was dead silent. Every monitor linked to a drone's live footage was completely whited out. They had failed to monitor, follow and capture their target, King type cyborg 56. The beginnings of Operation Chess were off to a terrible start.

"What just happened!?" Special Officer Takanowa called out nervously over the communication channel.

Everyone listening seemed taken aback by the sudden turn of events. No one could reply. A massive boom shook everyone from their stupor and an angry shout followed immediately after.

"I should have known!" Special Officer Wellings barked angrily banging his fist on a table. "It was mentioned in his files that that robot of his was capable of drone retinal disabling. How could we let something so simple get by us and end up falling to such an obvious trap!"

"Are we sure every drone was affected?" Special Officer Foal asked on the coms. "Perhaps the Osprey drones weren't damaged?"

"Negative." Takanowa replied moments later. "Every drone has a blind zone on their retinal sensors. We can't see any of that area. We had been played the fools."

This time Lieutenant Colonel Ardith Laghari spoke up for the first moment in a while. He had been observing silently as he watched the Special Officers lead the mission. He was not happy. "What an utter disgrace! You call yourselves solders of the American Fascist Regime; the worlds supposed finest? I ought to demote you all and send you back for retraining. Being outwitted by a single mere soldier and crippling the entire operation in a single blow. Complete waste, the lot of you! Welling, Foal, and Takanowa; I have heard your reports of failure, but Hawkins, you have been silent. Tell us why?"

"Simple, Lieutenant Colonel Sir! I have not failed this mission just yet." Special Officer Hawkins replied promptly as he stood in attention speaking with a ridged fashion.

"Oh really? Explain." The Lieutenant Colonel asked. His angry brown eyes stared daggers at Hawkins through the main monitor’s screen.

"Yes Sir." Hawkins replied calmly. Then he turned to one of his Osprey Pilots next to him. "Turn on the monitor."

"Understood." The Pilot, Gill, replied. Hitting a key on the digital keyboard the black screen turned on, revealing the now empty market area where the flash bang trap took place. The inoperable drones could be seen scattered all along the ground and market stalls roves. However, this footage showed no signs of retinal damage.

"As you can see, I already had one drone deployed in rest mode as a backup just in case something unforeseen happened. It's been said that 'caution is the wisdom of those still alive' and I too read the reports. I considered that since 56 is a known technology expert operative cyborg, he would have countermeasures to deal with enemy technology. This was all I could think of with the resources at hand." Hawkins explained clearly and concisely.

All the while the Osprey Pilot Gill widened the drone’s field of view to restart the search for 56. Since the target was heading westbound the pilot naturally started panning that direction. A second observation assistant soldier was also looking at the screen alongside of the Pilot Gill and patted Gills shoulder while pointing to an area on screen.

Then Gill called out just as Hawkins was finishing his explanation. "Special Officer Hawkins, we found him again."

Turning around Hawkins looked at the screen. A smile broke out on his face seeing it indeed was 56. He was flying closer towards the west plasma wall, though where was not yet clear. Then he typed in a command in the computer and the drone’s footage appeared alongside the video of the angry Lieutenant Colonel.

"You see, we still got a visual on him." Hawkins turned back to look at the Lieutenant Colonel with a pride full grin. "Though I think that the current flow of the operation is still suspended to a point."

The Lieutenant Colonel lightened his glairing gaze hearing and seeing Special Officer Hawkins report. "Well done. It seems that at least one of you is capable of doing your job. Continue the mission only with observation for now, Hawkins. As for the rest of you, handle getting the ground teams back to base and collecting the damaged drones. Expect reassignment when everyone is back."

"Yes Sir." Hawkins replied. He then turned back to the pilot’s screen to watch what was going on. The other three Special Officers replied, though less enthusiastically, as well and went on to carry out the assignment in shame.

Gill whispered to Hawkins. "Awesome call Sir. I was confused as to why you told me to go offline at the start of the chase after 56 left the Café. Now I know. You seemed to have been thinking two steps ahead of everyone."

"Not really." Hawkins murmured back. "I actually guessed that this might happen. It was almost entirely luck that this plan worked out. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"As you say Sir." The Gill replied with a grin.

They all watched as 56 flew through the streets at a low altitude. Skimming over cars and truck, yet low enough not to get in the way of flying Hover craft. If it weren't for the bright burning of his smokeless leg engines, 56 might have been lost in the big suburban area for good. Despite this stroke of luck, they still had no idea where he might be headed.

"I wonder if he knows that there is a Twisted Hoard in that direction." The Assistant soldier wondered aloud.

"I doubt it." The Gill replied. "That information wasn't even sent out to the public and only the military and officials knew it was on the way here."

Hawkins was about to verbally agree with Gill when a sudden thought came to mind. What if he did know about the Hoard? His goal was to escape the city. Surely, he knew that all escape routes were being observed to. All perhaps but one. The Hunters Clan.

"Lieutenant Colonel, Sir." Hawkins called out while turning to face the main screen. "I believe that 56 is going to escape the city, via the Hunters Clan. Does he have any known contact or affiliation with the Clan?"

"Interesting. No, he does not according to our records." The Lieutenant Colonel replied after turning away from the screen for a brief moment. "This should be his first time coming here to Moab City or a Hunter Clan location. Besides, he has been in cryogenic sleep for decades. There is no way he could know any Hunters. However, considering his options, this is his easiest chance to escape from us."

"Shall we continue observing him?" Hawkins asked.

"Yes, but you are to continue keeping your distance. The robot with him might be capable of monitoring surveillance frequencies. That would be my analysis of how he found out that all our drones were watching him at that time." The Lieutenant Colonel replied.

Hawkins replied with a salute and went back to watching the screen. 56 had already made contact with three Clansmen and appeared to have made a deal to leave with them. They watched as 56 joined the unidentified Hunters and flew off into the air.

"Well, it's official. 56 has escaped the city." Lieutenant Colonel spoke to everyone. "Special Officer Hawkins and his men will continue the Operation Chess alone for the time being. All current engagements are now limited back to surveillance only. All other Officers are to return to their assigned locations and await new orders."

"Understood Sir." The four Officers replied in unison on the coms.

The sound of the other three disconnecting from the communications channel was noted by Hawkins with satisfaction. Leaving only him and the Lieutenant Colonel alone to speak.

"Well done Special Officer Hawkins. You and your team have proven that you are capable enough to know the real reason behind this mission and Operation Chess." Lieutenant Colonel said leaning forward on screen. "To be brief I'll give a shortened version for everyone. The specifics and additional information I will relay to you alone, Hawkins, later on in a formal report."

The Lieutenant Colonel then cleared his throat to continue. "Operation Chess is a mission to stop and oppose insurrectional forces within and around our borders. The obvious first target is the rouge Cyborg Units that have been alluding our capture. They are fanning the flames of civilian rebellion and rebel groups. Providing support, resources, intelligence and relocation practices, the Cyborg Units have become quite the unintended throne in our side."

"The second target is to undermine the stability of the Texas Coalition to our south. We can no longer tolerate their existence and rebellious separation for our great country. Ultimately, we will use the Cyborg Units as a scapegoat to either get them to request assistance from the Coalition or find credible means of blame to say that the Coalition is supporting the rebels. This will give us the basic means for an invasion of the Coalition while maintaining face on the world stage and bring them back into the fold. Additionally, the same will eventually be said and done to neutral cities and territories. This will let us finally move to attack the State of Jefferson. Allowing us to confront the invading foreign powers across the Pacific. This, however, is far from now."

"Understandably Sir. I too feel that the Texas Coalition must be reunified with the Americans." Hawkins replied.

"Very good." The Lieutenant Colonel replied nodding slowly. "However, you are not the only Special Officer included in Operation Chess. You are but one of many, selected from similar tests, that have been handpicked to serve in this plan. For now, continue monitoring both Zac Evans, aka 56 and Lisa Cunningham, aka Queen. If 56 leaves the city and your area of operations, report it to me immediately so I can resign the surveillance to another included Special Officer. As long as Queen continues to stay in that wayward town, you can leave her be for the most part. As long as there is nothing that she does there to hinder the AFR or come into contact with the Cyborg Units members just maintain surveillance."

"Yes Sir. We shall do our best for the AFR!" Hawkins replied standing in attention. The rest of the soldiers in the room immediately followed their Officers actions and join in the salute.

The Lieutenant Colonel surveyed the with a satisfactory nod. "Very good. I will contact you again once I have compiled everything out you need to know in detail."

The screen monitor displaying the Lieutenant Colonel suddenly turned dark. He had cut communications leaving them to work unobserved.

Hawkins turned to look at his men. "Well done. Now you heard him. Get back to work! 56 isn't going to just turn himself over to us."

Though Hawkins felt disappointed he couldn’t yet confront Queen and get revenge, this outcome made up the difference. Hawkins smiled inwardly in thought. "This is basically a promotion! Things are turning out quite nicely. Now even more excitement is going to happen to me now. No chance of boredom for days to come!"