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Displacement

by hornethead

Chapter 36: The Other Visitor

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Chapter 36: The Other Visitor

James was never a trusting man. He was far more comfortable taking care of a problem himself than delegating the task to some one else. Which is why the Op he was now in charge of made him nervous. It would be spread over five cities across the country and involved far too many moving parts. He couldn't be in five places at once, the only solution he could think of was to put his trust into those closest to him, the ones he had personally mentored and lived with for most of the past year. Thus, he gave his teammates their final instructions and sent them off to their AORs. Sparks went off to Las Pegasus, Feather to Manehattan, Flash to Fillydelphia. Admiral Darkwing would oversee the operation at High Tower with Captain Alister. James would remain in Canterlot where he could receive communications from all over the country much more easily and respond accordingly. Staged at towns between the large cities were other units of the RSTG. They now had their very own Clipper Class airship and could rapidly travel to any destination at a moment's notice.

To assist them in their communications, Princess Celestia had provided them with the most powerful unicorns in the Guard's service. Their concentrated magic would allow them all to keep in touch over the great distances using five of Sparks' specially designed repeaters. There was still some lag between transmission, but it was still a brilliant piece of work, all designed by the engineer himself. James made a mental note to put the unicorn up for some kind of award when this was all over.

At the moment, the human was standing in front of eight ponies of the RSTG, all in civilian dress, but packing concealed weapons. Especially the unicorns who were all carrying suppressed pistols in their saddle bags. Similarly, James was also dressed in his own civilian clothing and concealed firearm. Their goal was to sniff out the cells and find the cache of explosives, if it existed, without arousing suspicion. James would stick out like a sore thumb, but hopefully, any that saw him would assume he was just another tourist on vacation in the county's capitol. The metropolis was filled with a variety of creatures from griffons to Diamond Dogs, especially in the markets. This was where they would start their search, listening in on conversations and subtly asking the right questions around town. With any luck they could catch a lead.

"Remember, keep your eyes and ears open for anything suspicious and don't forget to keep in contact regularly. If you do find anything, you are to immediately report it. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT act until we come to follow it up or you or anybody else is in immediate danger to life and limb. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, now disperse. I want you all to check in on the radio at the top of every hour unless you are in a situation where doing so would compromise the mission. In this case, just give the talk button three rapid clicks and make your report when convenient."

The stallions all snapped to attention and quickly filed out of the room. James walked over to the window of the vacant apartment they were using as a base of operations and watched as they left the building, one by one and at staggered intervals. He picked up his own radio and dialed it to the command channel.

"Mike, charlie oscar is underway."

"Copy, charlie oscar."

"How's the rest doing?"

"All oscars currently underway."

"Outstanding, keep me posted. Out."

James stepped away from the windows and went to a small table in the corner of the room. On it were his pistol, suppressor already attached, a hand made shoulder holster, and his knife and sheath. He pulled up his vest and long sleeve shirt and strapped his knife belt around his waist so the sheath sat sideways in the small of his back. It would be uncomfortable, but all he would have to do is reach around and pull it out. He then took off his vest and donned the shoulder holster and picked up his firearm. He racked the slide a few times to make sure it still worked ok before sliding a clip in and placing the weapon in its holster. The last thing he did was throw his vest back on and button it up, finishing with a black watch cap and a pair of sunglasses he picked up.

He exited the building, stepping out into the crisp winter air. Casually he strolled down the street towards the large bustling marketplace, even in the dead of winter it still thrived. All the snow had been cleared off to the sides of the buildings and alley ways and was beginning to turn a dirty dark gray. James walked over to a fruit stand and bartered for an apple. He paid the merchant his fee and continued his walk while munching on the delicious green treat.

"Charlie oscar."

James meandered to a more secluded section, which was hard to find in such a packed place, "Charlie oscar here, what's up?"

"You got a call, patching it through."

James waited a moment while the techie worked. After a few minutes: "Charlie oscar, this is Papa oscar." Came Sparks' voice.

"I hear you buddy, what's going on?"

After almost a full minute, "We might have found a possible tail."

"Good, follow it up, but be cautious and keep your distance."

Another minute, "Roger that. I also had another concern."

"Shoot."

This lag was beginning to get annoying, "it's this whole thing, these diversionary tactics, smuggling explosives, it doesn't fit their usual M.O."

"I agree. I can't help but feel there's something else in the works here, something we missed."

Another minute passed, "Yeah. I think it's that list. Why would one guy in Manehatten be carrying a list of all the other cities?"

"I don't know, but I think it's best we stay flexible. There's always the chance that this isn't what we think."

James scanned the area around him while he waited for his friend to respond he became worried when almost five minutes passed. Finally, the words came through his earpiece.

"James, I gotta go. One of our guys thinks he may have found something."

"Ok brother, stay safe. Out."

His conversation over, the human resumed his leisurely patrol through the crowded trade hub. As he walked, he would pick up snatches of conversation, read the movements of the customers and merchants as they went about their day. He listened and watched for anything that might be suspicious or out of the ordinary. In just two hours, he made a full circuit without seeing anything that might appear 'off'. He decided to make another sweep and was about halfway through when he finally saw something worth noticing. Although, it wasn't anything threatening. One of the operatives under his command caught his attention with a subtle twitch of his head.

The human made a mental note of the pony's position before turning away and walking in a different direction. He took a scenic and round about route to his subordinate. He was sure he wasn't being specifically watched, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. Besides, they didn't know who was who here. When he reached the operative, the pegasus was sitting at a table with two cups of hot steaming tea. James sat down and took a sip from one of the cups, then began to speak in a low tone.

"What have you got for me?"

"North east corner of the market. I was buying some oranges when I noticed something in the pile of oranges that wasn't an orange," the pegasus reported, "I pretended to accidentally drop a few bits on the ground and got a good look underneath the stand and behind the vendor."

"What did you see?"

"Wires. So what do we do?"

"Simple. Follow the wires."

======================================================================

The first thing they needed to do was get the merchant away from his stand. So what James did was to inform the nearby guard presence of his intentions. For this next part they would have to play the part of the cops that were never there when you needed them. The next thing he did was use some sweets he bought to bribe a couple of playing foals into stealing some oranges. Then it was sit back and watch while his operatives got the scoop on the vendor.

The plan went off without a hitch. The two little colts nabbed some oranges from the stand. The merchant called for some guards, but when none came to his aid, he took it upon himself to chase the children down. He wouldn't catch them though, James had also arranged for a highly inconvenient obstruction to be created by another two operatives. Now that the stand was vacant, the pegasus James had spoken to earlier and his teammate. Quickly they pawed through the fruit until they found what they were looking for.

The pegasus' teammate, a unicorn, removed the object from the pile of fruit and placed it in his saddle bag, filling the hole back up with oranges. Meanwhile, the pegasus went around back, to the wall behind the fruit stand. After a moment he returned and the two took off in different directions. Satisfied his plan worked, James headed back to their apartment. The last thing he did was press the talk button on his radio.

"Good job on the grab everyone. I want four of you to maintain patrols and keep your ears open, the rest meet back at the safehouse."

=====================================================================

"I don't like this. Not one bit. You're sure this is all that was there?"

"Positive. That's it."

"And where did you say the wires went again?"

"Into a storm drain."

*sigh" "Shit. Ok, I want the most recent blue prints of the sewer system they have, yesterday."

"Yes sir." A pegasus smartly replied before jumping out the window and flapping off to the castle.

James stared down at the object they had recovered. On the table sat a clear glass ball wedged between two actuated clamps. The whole set up was very convincing. Except that the wires were soldered directly to solid metal and the small motor casing was empty, not to mention that the glass orb, while resembling the object they were looking for, was completely inert. It was a clever trick, but that's what worried him. Their enemies, while clever, were never this sneaky. They were brutal and direct. Even if they had a pony to help build this, it was still highly irregular.

He was now worried for all the other teams out there. Nothing fit. They had hit a snag. Disquieted by this, he issued a sitrep for all teams out in the field. Every one of them came back green. Sparks' lead had come to a dead end. The human felt like he really needed more information, something he could get an angle on. At the moment, there was only one way to get it that he could think of.

It was nearly nightfall by the time the winged operative returned with several scrolls packed into a satchel strapped to his back. One of the unicorns magiced them out of the bag and spread them out across the table. Another, a native of Canterlot, marked the drain where the wires had led.

"Ok," started the human, "that's where we found the device. Where are the nearest entrances?"

The native stepped forward and started pointing out spots on the map, "you can access the sewers in that area here, here and here. There are plenty of maintenance tunnels that run in all directions in this section of the city. It's just one big labyrinth if you don't know where you're going."

"How do you know all this?" James asked, curious about the pony's unconventional knowledge.

"I used to play down there as a foal. Growing up here... you find your own adventure." He chagrined.

"Well now it becomes an asset. You're gonna be our guide. Suit up gentlemen, it's time to go hunting."

========================================================================

It was dark, damp and smelly. The human's boots sloshed through the tepid water as he advanced to the next corner. In front of him, on point, was the unicorn pony who had been leading them through the fetid maze of twisting corridors and dead ends. Bringing up the rear was two more operatives from his team, another unicorn and an earth pony. The four of them had entered the subsurface about a mile away from the markets. Up above, in the fresh night air, the other five were keeping watch at possible exits that could serve as their targets' bolt holes, should they be found.

Currently, they were making their way towards the area they had found the decoy earlier that day. When James reached the corner, he snapped up his pistol and scanned the next tunnel. behind him, the earth pony quietly splashed up to his position while the last unicorn covered their six with another suppressed weapon. Once they had all moved up, they repeated the process. At every stop, they sat silent and listened for any unusual noises. As they went, they would mark each passage so as to be able to quickly find their way out. For a time, this was tedious and uneventful. However, as they neared their destination, knocks, scrapes and whisperings could be faintly heard.

Slowly, they edged their way to the source, the sounds gradually gaining in volume. At the next corner, their guide peeked around for a look.

"I see three stallions. All armed, blades. None of them Royal Guard." He reported.

"Ok, here's how I want this to go down. We have the element of surprise here. I want them taken down quietly and quickly, but don't kill them. Just knock 'em out, we need prisoners we can interrogate for information. Clear?" James laid out.

Each of them nodded.

"Good, now go."

James raised his pistol and sighted on their targets from the corner while the other three silently crept up to their soon to be victims. Their targets were talking amongst each other around a small lantern, their natural night vision would be useless. Carefully, he sighted in on the source of light and once his team was in position, he squeezed off one round with a muffled snap. The lantern flared and went out, instantly throwing the tunnel into darkness. Through his NVGs, James watched as his three operatives pounced on the now panicky group, making short work of them. When it was all over, they waited and listened for any sign of alarm. When they confirmed all was silent, James moved up to join the rest of the group.

At his feet lay the three stallions, now tightly bound and gagged. All were unconscious and ready for transport. They continued on ahead and at the next storm drain they came across, James held his radio up to the opening and reported their encounter and where to find the prisoners. After he completed the task, they moved on. Soon they heard louder talking echoing down the passage. Then the thunk of metal on wood. Quickly enough, they came upon a large opening.

James cautiously moved up to get a better view through it and had to take off his NVGs to get a good look as the chamber was well lit. He was standing in a small depression in the stone that drained water runoff from the chamber. To he left was a set of narrow stairs that led up into it. Above him was a ledge about seven feet high and over head was a large make shift chandelier made from about eight hanging lanterns. He ascended the rough hewn steps until he could just barely peek across floor and around the room. He saw about seven stallions sitting at a table and pouring over some maps, arguing amongst each other. To the back, near another exit was two more. All were armed.

He crept back down and informed the rest of the team of their situation. Then they huddled down and began quickly discussing possible strategies on how to deal with it. When they finally landed on one, they all went to their assigned positions in preparation for the strike. One unicorn and the earth pony went up and crouched at the top of the stairs. Then, when they were ready, James and the second unicorn aimed their pistols and set to the task of eliminating the light source.

In only four seconds, all the lanterns had been shattered, glass raining down onto the table and its occupants. Before the last shard even began its fall, the operatives had their goggles down and were charging into the chamber. The first two rushed the two guards near the back while James and his partner got to the table and began knocking skulls and securing their weapons. The entire moment only lasted ninety seconds. The four then moved to check all the surrounding spaces, ensuring there would be no surprises. Fortunately, they all gave the all clear. When all was said and done, James was looking down upon a pile of ponies, bound and gagged.

"Outstanding job. You two," he pointed to the earth pony and a unicorn, "start searching the area for any Intel. Don't overlook anything, the tiniest detail could be the biggest clue. You," he pointed to the last member of the team, their guide, "head to the nearest exit and get some bodies down here to help with the prisoners. Hubba hubba chop chop, let's go."

All three quickly moved to obey his orders. Their guide galloped down the passage they had come from while the other two began rummaging through a row of packs and bags they had found on the far wall. Meanwhile, James walked over to the table and began picking up papers to inspect them. There were various inventory lists, maps with towns circled and open areas X'ed off. Nothing looked especially important, but he began to collect and organize them all for transport anyway. Later, they would have time to properly examine them for any pertinent information. For now, all he wanted to do was get everything and the prisoners out of here as quickly as possible. The sewers were an expansive system, they had only seen a fraction of it and there were a number of places they had passed by that could have been hiding anything.

Suddenly, he heard splashing coming up the tunnel they had assaulted the chamber from. Assuming it was the rest of the team come to help, James walked over to the ledge to greet them. He was about half way there when there was a loud reverberating detonation behind him. He spun around to see that the other exit tunnel had collapsed and the two operatives that had been near it were now sprawled in a heap at the center of the room, having been thrown by the concussion.

He turned and ran back to the other tunnel in an effort to warn the others of the impending danger, but when he reached the ledge three small metal projectiles slammed into his chest plate, dropping him to the ground and knocking the wind out of his lungs. Four large humanoid figures, only three in the familiar mismatched metal armor, charged into the chamber, one carrying a distinctly shaped weapon. James struggled to get air in his lungs and up on his feet but was stopped by a boot pressing down on his throat.

"My my, what have we got here. Looks like I was right about you staying in the main city. So you're the thorn that has been sticking so painfully in my side all this time." Said the masked figure standing above him with a gruff, but clear voice. "Funny that you're here. And here I thought I was the only one. Well, since you were able to track the 'IED' down here, I guess you're everything I heard about from my scouts. Don't worry about your chest, I know all about that armor you're wearing. These are subsonic rounds," he said, tapping the side of his weapon, "if anything did get through, it'll just be shrapnel."

The figure looked up to the three creatures he had come in with.

"Tie this one up good or he'll be trouble. Kill the others, we got what we came for."

The next thing James knew, his goggles had been ripped from his head and something smashed him hard in the face, ending his current hold on awareness in general.

Next Chapter: Unmasked Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 13 Minutes
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