After Wyrm, a man named Dennis Murgo and his wife Allyson had contacted her. The couple had met while severing in the military, and both were experts in surveillance and tactics. Dennis had been with special ops while Allyson was an explosives expert. While in their late thirties, both of them were in phenomenal shape, and were perfect additions to the team.
Despite the occasional boredom, Eliza loved her job. It was dangerous and exciting, and it was the sort of job her parents hated. Within four or five years, they had earned themselves a reputation as some of the best in the world at what they did, which meant Eliza and her team took the jobs they wanted and named their own price.
She glanced over towards a shadowy area in front of some curtains where she knew Thug was sitting. Once you spotted a camouflaged troll, you could usually keep track of them. She thought she could make out where his eyes were, particularly when he rolled them. She was willing to bet he was bored too. Luckily, she had a telepathic link established with all the team-members so they could talk completely silently while they waited. Mentally linking multiple people was tricky for most magic wielders, but it was old hat to Eliza.
{{Leave it to humans to show up late for their own robbery,}} Thug mumbled mentally. Hearing Thug think was interesting. Trolls couldn’t reproduce human or vampire sounds, but they understood them clearly enough. Troll language was guttural and hard to comprehend by some standards, but their minds were clear.
{{Hey!}} came thoughts from the backroom where Wyrm was hiding and monitoring the security system.
{{Don’t pay any attention to him,}} thought Dennis who was up on the roof with a sniper rifle. {{He showed up a week late for dinner that one time.}}
Eliza smiled. Thug was dependable on the job, but occasionally got distracted. He had been having lunch next the creek next to the group’s Springfield offices when he realized he didn’t really know where that creek came from. Rather than asking or looking at a map, he had simply decided to follow it. On foot. For about three days.
{{Sure,}} Thug thought, {{ . . . just keep throwing THAT back in my face.}}
{{Leave him alone,}} came Allyson’s thoughts. {{I’d kind of wondered where that creek went myself.}}
{{That’s why they invented maps dear.}} Dennis sent his wife an image of a big smiley face with its tongue sticking out. They all got an image of Allyson rolling her eyes. {{Heads up everyone,}} thought Dennis with a sudden air of seriousness. {{Got three unmarked hovercraft with heavily tinted windows trying to park inconspicuously.}}
{{How does someone ‘park inconspicuously’?}} Wyrm asked.
{{I’ll explain later. They’re on the north side of the building. They’re getting out now . . . I count fifteen getting out, but the drivers are staying in. Wyrm, can you get me outside surveillance on the other side of the building? I don’t want to take my eyes off these guys.}}
{{Got it. Nope, I don’t see . . . wait, we’ve got another two craft in the alley. I think I understand the ‘parking inconspicuously’ comment now. They’re trying to hard to look like they’re not being sneaky. Another ten getting out. South side. They’re all heavily armed.}}
{{Shit,}} thought Eliza. {{I wasn’t expecting this much of a firefight. If they start blasting . . .}} She didn’t even need to finish the thought. They were surrounded by several billion dollars worth of irreplaceable artwork. {{Wyrm, call the cops. What kind of response time can we expect?}}
After a few moments, she got an unnerving response. {{Shit. It looks like the cops have their hands full. A bunch of fires and an explosion downtown have them all tied up. According to police broadcasts, unmarked black hovercrafts were seen nearby in a couple of cases. I think these guys set up some distractions. Traffic alone means we won’t get any official help for fifteen minutes.}}
Eliza hated it when the other guys did something smart. Fifteen minutes might not sound that long to most people, but it was an eternity when people were shooting at you. {{ Okay, }} she thought, {{we need to avoid damaging anything. I don’t want our entire fee to go towards paying to replace a Picasso, particularly since I HATE Cubist art. }} She sensed Wyrm snicker. {{ And tell regular museum security to get somewhere safe and stay there. They aren’t equipped to deal with something like this. }}
Then Wyrm had some good news. {{Allyson, you got those knockout grenades with you?}}
{{What kind of question is that?}} she responded. Allyson never went on a mission without her non-lethal capture devices.
{{Good. The south-side group is making for a door used by maintenance people. Long hallway, poorly lighted and ventilated . . .}}
{{I see where you’re going with this,}} Allyson thought. {{Can you clear me a path?}}
{{Already done,}} came the response. {{Once they’re inside, I’ll let you know when they get close to the door that leads into the storage area. Drop a couple grenades close, toss one down the hall, and you should get them all.}}
Eliza had a concern. {{How strong is the door?}}
{{Exterior is steel. Interior is wood. Shit!}}
Eliza knew it. The intruders might be able to bust down the interior door before the knockout gas kicked in, which would potentially leave Allyson in a one-on-ten situation. {{Thug, go help keep them there until the gas has finished them off. Wyrm, relock the outer door once they’re in and keep it locked until they’re finished. Dennis, disable the hovercraft so they can’t escape and then get your ass down here. Wyrm, where’s the safest place for a fight?}}
{{Outer lobby area. Currently, the front desk staff is hiding and they don’t have anything valuable there. Are you sure about this though? You’ll be on your own until Dennis gets down there!}}
{{It’s okay. I’ve got a plan.}} Then the crew sprung into action. Wyrm cleared the motion detectors, laser tripwires and heat sensors out of the way so Allyson and Thug could get to the south side of the building. Dennis took aim and used his silenced sniper rifle to disable hovercraft engines as soon as the foot soldiers had entered the building. Eliza made her way to the front lobby, where she prepared her mind for the used of magic. Magic, despite human beliefs, wasn’t about components or chants. It was about pure will and understanding of how the universe worked. And Eliza was a good student. She mentally willed the sound around her to be dampened, allowing her to move quietly and quickly. When she got to the lobby, she had a couple other tricks up her sleeve. She didn’t want to overdue it, since using magic was physically exertion, same as using her regular muscles. Things like keeping it quiet were easy. Her other magics were a whole lot harder.
Eliza’s superior night vision helped her pick out the invaders easily. And just as she expected, they all had night-vision goggles. She grinned. {{This is going to be too easy,}} she thought.
{{Don’t get cocky,}} Wyrm returned. The problem with telepathy is that EVERYTHING got shared, which also made for very few secrets within the group.
Eliza mentally prepared, concentrating on everything in the area that gave off light, from the dim red buttons of the emergency lights to the flickering of the security monitors. The intruders were weary when they didn’t find any security in the lobby. Eliza wasn’t going to give them a chance.
{{Wyrm, get ready to hit all the lights in the lobby for two seconds, then shut them off again.}}
{{Got it.}}
When it was all said and done, it was almost too easy. Wyrm hit the lights and Eliza closed her eyes while amplifying all the lights in the room tenfold. With the night-vision goggles on, the fifteen people in the lobby were completely blinded. With the noise around her still dampened, Eliza moved quickly into the room with a steel baton. She had knocked out half of them before any of them could even begin to see again. Most of them had thrown their goggles off when the light hit them, and by that point it had gone dark again. They didn’t stand a chance. She was like a whirling dervish, knocking heads and grabbing guns as she went. The last four started shooting blindly around them. Eliza almost felt bad for them at that point. Shooting in a blind panic generally led to one thing, and two of the invaders dropped to their own comrades’ gunfire. Eliza concentrated again, causing the air to become denser between her and them, then she sent a couple of telekinetic punches, dropping the two remaining attackers. That last spell had actually caused her to sweat a bit. That kind of telekinesis was hard work.
{{Got the ones in the lobby,}} she thought. {{Allyson? Thug?}}
{{The ones back here are sleeping like babies,}} came the response.
Wyrm was scanning with the security cameras. {{That’s it,}} he said confidently. {{No other points of penetration.}}