USF Progenitor & Crew: Adventures in Cosmos 01

[W#36] TripleBBBrie's Triple AAA Kills

An old, run-down apartment in a low-end city was visited by four mercenaries who were in search of loot. In the early morning, they stormed into the building from the front parking lot, kicking through the front door, and hurried up to an elevator to take it up to the first floor. They expected no resistance, but a high payload, based on what they scanned. After making their way to the second floor, they searched the halls and warmed up an X-ray-like device until it was ready to use on the thinnest walls in the building, so they could see what was on the other side—humans or possibly devices or drugs that they could steal. They burst into one of the rooms, and Rufus went in first with his laser rifle at the ready.
"Sup, man!" Said Rufus 'Killa' Lineduke, a tall white-skin man with short brown hair, pointing his laser rifle directly at his target's head. He fired the shot and killed him instantly, leaving his body laying on the floor, the corpse head's insides exposed with a smoking hole. Some of the flesh on the inside and outside of his head was charcoaled, smelling of burnt human flesh.
Jorge 'Sticky' Fresco told him in an entitled tone, "Nice shot. Point blank to the dome. That's impressive."
"Yup, good for you. Remember, I'm over here with nothing to shoot," Brie (AKA Triple Brie) said, giggling. "So thankful, guys, so thankful."
Rufus told her with a tone of roughness, "Hey, could be worse, Brie. Watch the doorway while we clear out the rest of this b$tch."
Brie called out, "Language!"
"Um, hey, guys, what's this?" Asked Alicia.
Rufus and Jorge studied what Alicia found. It was a suitcase with bags of drugs inside of it worth thousands of credits. Thousands of little upper class pills, usually only attainable by the elite, and very similar to cocaine in its classification of drug. All a person had to do was hold it under their tongue like acid and let it melt, then their entire nervous system would be 'coked' up and peaking for 8 hours straight in Earth time. It was considered the golden drug for the new generation of drug dealers for the long lasting effect.
Rufus told Alicia Crosby, "Them be drugs, ma n$gga!"
Alicia smiled at him, excited at the prospect of having more items to trade and sell.
Brie told them, "Leave it in the case, and come on, let's go!"
"Leave it here, girl?" Alicia asked her, taken aback.
"Bring it- with us- Alicia," Brie reiterated. She said, "The locals here wouldn't notice a bunch of break-ins and petty theft crimes, right?"
"I wouldn't report it," said Jorge. He was an ex-cop back on Earth and was given the decision to deploy as a Mexican Space Cadet, part of the CSASF (Central-South American Space Force,) otherwise known as the C-sassers in their colloquium. "It's not anybody's, anymore."
This felt like foreplay to Brie, all the talk about looting and stealing, getting away with it especially.
"Next place, we go to the building down the street that looks like a-- dam?" Brie directed. She checked the picture of the building on her phone. "What?"
"A dam? Damn," Rufus said.
Suddenly, a laser bolt blasted through the wall from the interior of the building. Another burst of five shots, then three shots blasted through the walls. Everyone dropped to the ground and dove out of the way.
Alicia and Brie were next to each other on the floor. Brie was giggling to herself inaudibly. She mouthed, these f$cking idiots.
Alicia mouthed back, I know, right? Alicia got her laser rifle out and pointed it at the door. Brie tossed her ponytail and brushed her hair out of her face. She threw on her goggles and flicked a switch that allowed her to see a heat spectrum behind the door. She waited with Alicia for someone to walk into the apartment room they raided.
"Do your thing, Rufus!" Brie stressed in a whisper to Rufus.
Jorge held his hand up in a fist, telling Brie to cease any action.
Rufus was crouched to the side of the room behind a cabinet placement while Jorge was crouched right behind him pointing his laser sub-machine gun at the holes in the wall. Both of their hearts were beating very fast from the sudden laser bursts.
The sound of lasers was very loud, and when they hit materials, you could hear the stinging melt sound. The blast from the heavier laser guns was similar to the sound of a .50 calibre machine gun, with each shot followed by the sound of a quick, high-pitched hum that gradually increased, and then a bolt-action sound like a locking mechanism. They sounded very similar to gauss weaponry, another alternative to laser weapons that hit harder but weren't as penetrative as lasers, the trade-off being the concussive effect of each successful hit.
Rufus replaced his current laser cartridge for another higher-powered laser cartridge, then endured the suddenness of another five laser bolts bursting through the walls. Rufus tried to be as quiet as possible, setting his laser rifle's setting to accept higher-powered cells. He then set it to automatic setting and set his aim at where he projected the shooter to be sitting or standing. He aimed up high, then low, then high, then low again.
Jorge whispered to Rufus, "Take low, I'll fire a couple rounds up high. I think he's thirty degrees left, headshot around five feet up. Either he's short or he's just crouching."
Rufus whispered back to him, "Okay. On my mark."
Three laser bolts, then two more, blasted through the wall closer toward where Rufus and Jorge were whispering.
Rufus continued quickly, hasting, "Two, one, shoot!"
Rufus and Jorge both fired their laser rifles fully-automatic at the spot they targeted and heard a body drop to the ground within the first three shots.
Jorge was breathing hard, letting his lungs go, and he asked Rufus, "Who do you think got him? Me or you?"
Rufus was breathing out slowly from the nostrils, taking no time to enjoy the moment. "We've got to move, there could be more," Rufus said, ignoring Jorge. He turned toward Alicia and Brie who were still proned on the floor with their guns propped up and aimed at the door. Brie and Alicia both threw thumbs up at Rufus and Jorge, smiling.
"We've got to move," Rufus said, quickly swapping his HP cartridge back to LP (low-powered or standard fire.)
Jorge stood up and grabbed the suitcase that carried the drugs in it. He said, "So quick to leave that he didn't have a briefcase? I'm not gonna roll this sh$t around. Ladies, you mind?" He rolled the suitcase toward Alicia, its wheels awkwardly sticking to cables running back and forth messily on the apartment floor.
"Brie?" Alicia whispered, smiling wide.
"Alicia?" Brie whispered back harder. She wore the face of a sneering smile.
Alicia got up from the floor with Brie following suit. Jorge was giving Alicia the suitcase while Rufus lined himself up on one side of the door to head back out to the hallway.
Rufus forced a whisper, "Hey! Line up on the door!" He smiled, knowing the procedure was to be safer than what he ordered. "Hey, on me. I'm gonna crack this door open and then we take the hallway again, do check on all corners. Double-check!"
"Got it!" Jorge harshed, throwing a thumb up at Rufus, then placing his hand back on the grip of the laser SMG. "I'll go next and, you, Brie- no- you, Alicia, after me. Brie, cover rear!"
Alicia nodded. Brie whispered raspily, "Okaaay!"
"Three, two-" Rufus started. He pulled the door open and moved into the hallway looking left and right, but keeping on point. Jorge covered him, double-checking each room and corner. Alicia simply rolled the suitcase and kept up with Rufus and Jorge. Brie followed from the rear, shuffling herself backwards and pointing her laser rifle at every possible vantage point.
"Stay with me, we're going to the access lift!" Rufus harshed.
Brie turned around and gave a thumb up. Jorge gave his thumb up as well.
Alicia spoke up saying, "Hang on, let me grab my PLP." She reached to her pulse laser pistol strapped to her outer thigh and equipped it in one hand, setting the safety to the off position.
"Are you ready, now?" Rufus asked roughly.
Alicia showed her gritted teeth and said, "Okay, let's go, f$cker!"
"Go. Go," Jorge whispered.
Rufus set again, "Three, two-" and pulled the door open. He looked down the hall then immediately swung himself toward the right while strafing to hug the wall. Jorge followed suit, hanging tight to the corner wall, and as soon as Rufus moved toward the access lift to their right, he went with him. Alicia waited as Brie shoved forward into the hall and took control of the corner wall, leaned out and pointed down the hall ahead, while Alicia rolled the suitcase out and headed to the right where Rufus and Jorge were checking any open spaces.
To the left of Rufus was an escalator ramp that went down to the indoor laundromat, the ceiling angled to stay in line with the angle of the ramp. He hung the corner, leaning out from it, directing Jorge to carry on down the hall with Alicia until they got to the access lift. Brie was following behind, still covering all of their sixes. She replaced Rufus's position and stayed in place until Rufus caught up to Alicia. Brie swapped corners at the escalator ramp junction, then continued shuffling backwards toward her crew.
Everything was relatively silent in the building, seldom a sound other than machine ticks and the occasional air-conditioning activation that rattled the ventilation systems.
"Open the lift," Alicia said.
Rufus thought for a moment about eliminating Alicia from the squad, wondering if anyone else would care. Four down to only three would, for Rufus, be more lucrative. He brushed off the impulsive, intrusive thought as Brie rushed up to their position. He pressed the access lift button and they waited for the lift to come up.
Rufus told them, "Line up! Brie, stay pointed down the hall! Alicia, behind me!"
Alicia rolled the suitcase to position herself behind Rufus while Brie was hugging the wall and pointing her rifle straight down it. Jorge was planted on the other side of the access lift entry. Everyone was sweating and doing their best to conceal their heavy, hard breathing.
"We gotta get that f$cking Detroxylemothone. Keeps the adrenaline more leveled, no crash, no side-effects," said Jorge.
Rufus gulped and said, "Stay focused, someone could be on the lift."
A burst of laser bolts came from Brie's laser rifle, shaking up the others in her crew. An armed man down the hall had come out of the same hallway they walked through. Brie had thought she saw someone hiding to the side using her heat-sensitive goggles, but she didn't see any movement. "Sorry!" Brie whispered loudly. "I knew someone was there, they weren't moving at all, though!"
"Okay?" Rufus said, controlling his breathing, trying not to feel any emotions until they were done with their objectives.
Everyone stayed quiet after that, waiting for the lift.
"What's taking the lift so long to come up?" Alicia asked.
Jorge supported, "I was just about to ask the same f$cking thing. Someone gotta be on it!" Jorge readjusted himself, moving at the shoulders and replanting his feet.
"Someone. Might be on it," Rufus said, controlling his breathing. "Brie, tighter formation!"
Brie moved closer to Jorge to be right behind him, back to back. She moved to the other wall to crouch down at the end-wall and scope down the hall. She was eyeing Alicia and her PLP, nervous about her and the new load of drugs they picked up. She remembered that cartel members, anywhere, on Earth and in space, could be tracking anyone's drugs. She hoped that the suitcase was attained from a yuppie and not a notorious dealer.
Voices could be heard down the hall, concerned and panicking. It sounded like they would get closer and then would get distant, repeatedly. Then the sound of a door opening and closing, with only one muffled voice returned from down the hall. Brie was wondering if someone was calling the cops on her crew, or worse yet, calling for backup having witnessed a casualty and probably heard all the gunfire.
This all stirred a memory from her. She thought of Ka'eo and the way he sounded when she first heard him speak, back in her gaming days. She also remembered the pressure that he placed on her, similar to the feeling that she was engulfed in now. The intensity of the situation made her feel more want, more lust to kill.
The access lift made a dinging sound. Rufus and Jorge tightened their grip on their weapons. Alicia held her PLP up and pointed it toward the access lift door before it slid open, hugging up against Rufus's shoulder. Brie kept her aim on, feeling a mix of nothing due to memories and then something again, the reality, the crew, their thieving, plotting, and killing. She went mindless and weaved in and out of an experience of surreal nihilism.