Rothester

Chapter 14: Decisive Assault

As a result of the constant threat from the Egwater gangs, Ringleader finally decided to do something definitive. At first, they thought that the gangs would quit after their first few robbery attempts failed. Frustratingly, they keep chasing after the STC's prize, proving themselves to be committed. Ken, on his part, refused cooperation with one of the gangs and forced the team to come up with their own solution.

Early the next day, in one of the nearby neighborhoods, the team is inside Matt's home, which is a downgrade from Ken's. However, it doesn't matter because Matt is perfectly content with the smaller house as he personally thinks a bigger one is too much of a hassle to deal with. All members separately own their own home in Efielge, but they are all near enough to walk between them in minutes. The reason they did this is, of course, to portray the image that they only knew each other through a common line of work. It would simply be too suspicious have they lived together in the same building.

The five of them surround a table in Matt's kitchen which is full of hardware. Next to a large sack full of metallic parts, Matt and Cayde assemble HK416 rifles for their upcoming operation while Ken, Jax, and Reed load magazines. Meanwhile, they all talk about strategy.

To put it simply, they have had enough of all the harassment and plan to attack one of the gangs to serve as an example to the rest. From all the information they compiled, they determine that the Bourkee gang is one of the most dominant gangs in Egwater. Ringleader have now switched from defense to offense, and the Bourkee gang is their target.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Reed asks.

"I say we walk right in through the front door and start blasting," Cayde replies.

"A drive-by isn't going to be enough," Matt argues. "If we want to send a message, we'll have to take out the gang leader."

"So we kill Greysen Bourkee. Great. But do we even know if he will be in 'The Siren'?" Jax comments.

"He should," Ken adds. "Before Cayde and I were kicked out when we asked around, the guards hinted that he was there, and there are a lot of them. Also, the building is big enough to have some sort of office space somewhere. Besides, The Siren is the only property we know is owned by the Bourkee gang, so we don't really have many places to choose."

"What about the layout?"

"I don't know. I didn't get a good look."

"Damn," Matt grunts.

"I have an idea," Reed says. "One of us should pose as a customer instead of forcing our way through. If you can sneak around as a customer, you might get lucky and find him. Pop him if you do. Otherwise, if you can't get to him or don't know, the rest of us will raid the place as a last resort."

"That's as good a plan as we will come up with, I think."

"I'll pose as the customer." Ken raises his hand.

"You sure?" Matt asks. "We don't know what's in there. Can't have you hesitating."

"I'm sure," Ken firmly says.

"I have a dirty, worn coat you can use instead of your embroidered one and some worn trousers. Keep your waistcoat, of course. Just ditch the chain it has. If you're too clean, they'll suspect you. If you're too dirty, they'll reject you. You'll also have to leave your rifle with us. Otherwise, they'll see it and blow your cover."

Once everyone agrees, they go to retrieve and put on the clothes they will wear for the mission. Ken trades his clean trench coat for a dirty and worn dark brown trench coat. After taking off some of the flashier details of his clothes, he now looks more like a member of lower-class society. The rest of the team wear darker and baggier clothes for concealment and scarves to cover their faces. Everyone, except Ken, slings their rifles over their shoulders. Each HK416 is equipped with a holographic optic, suppressor, and forward vertical grip. Cayde slings a second rifle over his other shoulder as a spare in case Ken needs one down the line