Legacy

Chapter 9

  September 11, 2222. Squad 9 was dispatched to Brazil via a carrier ship 100 miles off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. From there, the three of them were dropped off via helicopter on the top of Pedra Bonita. A tall mountain overlooking the Guanabara Bay. Once there, a singular woman wearing a white crop top and green cargo pants, sunglasses and a backwards black cap approached them. "You the crew?" she asks.

  "You aren't... Agent Espinoza, are you?" Silas asks.

  "Ask that question in front of anyone else, and I might have to kill ya for it." Garcia replies. There was a short awkward silence, then "Chill cara! I'm just joking! Brincadeira! If I were in any trouble being found out I was a cop, you'd know... because you'd be shot first, mano. Seriously, all black with the armor? Oh meu Deus... if you wanna slip in unnoticed, we gotta fix your fit first. Come on, I'll show you 'round the flats. Minha cidade natal! Rio de Janeiro!"

  Silas, Dana and Carl all exchange glances of confusion. "So, what's with the get up?" Silas asks as they follow Garcia. "You said something about people finding out you're a cop and us needing to change our outfits?"

  "You don't know what kind of dangers are around here." Garcia replies. "But when you don't know who you're surrounded by around here, it could very well be sua morte. Run into the wrong guy at the wrong time, and boom. Evening news."

  "You grew up here?" Dana asks. "Sounds insane."

  "Nah, once you get used to people, you'll get into the know." Garcia replies. "Unconventional, I know. But you'll see. Brazil has that sort of charm. You'd like it here."

  "I wouldn't be so sure of that..." Carl replies as he thinks.

  As they enter the town near the coast of Guanabara Bay, they find themselves in a slums like city filled with houses made out of debris left behind from destroyed metro buildings from the Naris Catastrophe. Though a lot of houses seems to be made of ties cloth and metal sheets, the people seemed to get along well. Kids were in the streets, playing together, the parents all hung out under the shade, drinks were being shared around and some people were sharing one grill and cooking with their neighbors. Suddenly, a soccer ball rolls up to Garcia from a group of kids. "Ei! Irmã! Onde você esteve?" one of the kids ask.

  "Você está em apuros sis idoso?" another kid asks.

  "Tá louco? Problemas?" Garcia asks. Garcia kicks up the ball and balances it on her foot. "Você acha que eles poderiam até me pegar se eu estivesse com problemas?" Garcia then kicks the ball up, bounces it off of her knee and kicks it back to the kids. 

  "Everybody knows everybody around here, don't they?" Silas asks with a smile.

  "Told you that you'd like it here." Garcia replies with a smile. "Come on, I got a safehouse around here with some clothes you can change into. I'll give you the rundown on the situation at large here."

  After making it to the hideout, Dana asks "Do you have anything... a little more covering?"

  "You aren't worried about the heat?" Garcia asks.

  "So, you have men's clothes just left behind around here?" Carl asks.

  "... Left behind is a better way of putting it." Garcia answers.

  "So, about this situation..." Silas asks. "Who is it we're trying to 'slip in unnoticed' as you put it?"

  "The cartel." Garcia answers promptly. "They run everything. You can't get around without them knowing."

  "Wait, the cartel runs your country?" Dana asks.

  "To be fair... we have seen worse." Carl says.

  "Seeira doesn't have any leadership." Silas adds.

  "America is run by people worse than the cartel..." Carl adds.

  "And to get past them, they can't know you're snooping around." Garcia adds.

  "Then, how do we slip past them?" Silas asks.

  "By being nonchalant." Garcia replies. "They won't stop us if we don't give them a reason to stop us."

  "But if they're as bad as you say, won't they know you're not one of them right away?" Silas asks. However, Garcia simply stares at Silas in silence for a few seconds. "No..." Silas says. "You're a part of the cartel too!?"

  "Gotta be something." Garcia says with a shrug.

  "So the cartel run the police!?" Silas asks.

  "No, they're separate and often times clashing entities." Garcia replies. "I had to join both. Police to protect my family... cartel to protect my neighborhood. If we can keep both at bay, those kids won't have to see any blood. For that, I'm willing to become the weapon they need. But lately, there's been a... faction... a coup if you will inside the cartel. Some people have been working with these Hunters. However, none of the Hunters around here have valid licenses, nor are getting paid to be here. At least, not at first. Some people in the cartel take them in, then... I'm not sure what they do next. But I do know that recently, there's been an outbreak. Something to disrupt our system that's already at war with itself. I can't sort out the imbalance in our country if someone is out there rocking the boat. That's where you three come in."

  "So, we just need to extract the Hunters painfully?" Carl asks.

  "That's step one..." Garcia replies. "Then we gotta find the treasonous snakes in the garden and prosecute them. All that's left from there is the execute them and prevent this from happening a second time."

  "Man, I hate it here..." Dana complains.

  "Don't be so coarse." Garcia protests. "Look, I don't like this anymore than you do. But those kids out there... all they got is inside that worn down little city there. With how deep this issue runs, there isn't anything else we can do to provide those children with lives they deserve. You may not like the way this place runs, but the people are worth every effort I give them. That's all I need to focus on to keep going."

  "Real sweet speech..." Dana replies sarcastically.

  "So, where do we go from here?" Silas asks.

  "After you three get dressed, we'll move to Ouro Preto." Garcia explains. "It's about 300 kilometers from here. So, I hope you guys really like long rides in a car. We can't do anything that draws more attention than is need for this operation. So I'm afraid we're going to have to get real comfortable with each other real fast. Because you're stuck with me for the next couple days more than likely."

  "I can't stand waiting around waiting for word to kill some defenseless family..." Mathias says as he reads through the documents. "None of these people are particularly strong nor defiant. They don't deserve this, they're just... normal people. Who is this Jade Haskell person they want to put handles on so badly and what are they wanting her to do?" Mathias thinks for a moment, then says to himself "If they are trying to take away her will to resist the government, then likely she's one of the few with a conscience still and might be close to catching onto something they don't want spread around. I know these people are all about control..." Mathias paces around his room for a while as he thinks. "Think, Mathias! Think! The Hunters? The CIA has been sending them and making the FBI clean up the messes. But with them always being stopped before reaching Omnia, are they just trying to force a response out of the Mages? But why would they need that?" Mathias thinks for a little bit more, then says "If not the Mages... then they must be trying to dig a response out of..." Suddenly, Mathias comes to a realization. "Are they trying to instigate a conflict with The Six Guns?" Mathias stops suddenly. "No... maybe that's just too easy of an answer... I can never be too sure. But I do know Silas! If they're going to force me to play their side, who's going to stop me when I help the other side as well? Just a couple nudges in the right direction! That's all it'll take! So long as it's enough to screw over Cornell, that rotten little sack of shit. Anything to watch this motherfucker burn in hell."