The Normal were hard to describe to the general public. On the surface they appeared to be just another civic minded group. Serving the local community, fund raising for charitable organizations, and promoting a familial bond throughout the communities they resided in. If you dug a little deeper though, you would find something a little more, unsavory.
With connections to shadow governments, black ops mercenaries, and more money than some countries, the Normal operated as an organization that could be used to eliminate problems off the books. This was how the Normal were able to fund their research, military, and pharmaceutical ventures. With facilities and head quarters around the world, the Normal maintained a global reach, always maneuvering behind the scenes.
This is how Abolith, the elf assassin, now found herself in a remote castle in the Austrian mountains. Following the attempted murder of her son, Abolith had used her contacts as a killer for hire to locate a Normal headquarters. The plan for her was simple. Infiltrate the base and kill everyone on grounds. The message would be blunt. Target her child and she would drown you in your own blood.
"Abolith? Abolith!"
Abolith paused as she now cleaned her blade. The bodies of the Normal scientists she had slaughtered lay strewn throughout the room. The elf had chosen this place for two reasons; it was remote and lightly guarded. Unfortunately her intel had only been half right. "What is it Shay," she replied through her headset.
"Are you done," Shay replied. "I'm noticing alot of activity around this place."
Abolith frowned, glancing over the room. She had gotten in contact with the Nekomata mercenary after departing the wizards home. While the wizards were willing to move slow, she wasn't that patient. After a brief discussion with Shay, Abolith was able to locate a remote Normal headquarters. The plan was for Abolith to infiltrate the facility before being extracted by Shay. Things though had not gone as planned.
The facility was far more populated than originally thought. Abolith had dispatched far more security personnel than she originally anticipated as well as a small army of scientists and researchers. It hadn't sat well with the assassin. The Normal were hiding something and she needed to know what it was.
"I'm at the mainframe now," she whispered. "Attempting to break the encryption. Whatever their working on is big."
"Well," Shay exclaimed. "You might want to pick up the pace. Security found some of your handiwork. They've mobilized two platoons and have gone to yellow alert."
Abolith was silent as she now punched in several codes. The assassin had to stay current in computer programming, a skill her beloved Fukushu was sorely lacking. While not the best hacker, she had more than enough tricks to usually bypass security protocols. A small smile now cracked across the elves delicate features as she broke the encryption. "Got it!"
Abolith now began to scan through the research files of the Normal, her eyes growing wide in shock at what she had discovered. This was a research facility, a very high level research facility. Abolith now began to browse over the information the Normal had. The Catalyst, the Soul Drives, secret research projects, everything that the Normal had compiled in the past year was here. Abolith realized something, the Normal would kill her if she didn't leave now.
"I'm downloading the data now," she said quickly. "Gonna need an extraction point Shay."
"Abolith whats going..."
"My extraction point," Abolith replied tersely. From the other end of the headset, she could hear the Nekomata sigh in annoyance. "Southwest corner of the complex," Shay replied. "Theres a clearing 50 meters into the woods. But you better hurry, the area is hot."
"Copy," Abolith replied, picking up the flash drive as it finished copying the files. "I'm enroute."
As Abolith turned to leave, an ear piercing klaxon began to blare as lights began to flash. Cursing under her breath, she realized that the files had been protected. As soon as the download and copy had completed an alarm had been raised, the facility would be swarming with soldiers now.
Sprinting into a side room, Abolith began to make her way towards the southwest corner. She had studied the schematics before hand, so she knew her way around the area. Still, trying to dispatch entire platoons of soldiers would be a fools errand. It was only a matter of time before one of them landed a lucky shot.
Abolith now began actively looking for the safest routes, darting into side rooms, making quick side trips into vents, useing anything in the environment to avoid detection. After a few minutes, she had successfully maneuvered her way towards the exit point. "Whats the hold up Abolith," Shay called.
"The exit is blocked," Abolitb whispered, studying the squad of heavily armed soldiers positioned around the exit. "Gonna have to find another way out."
Quickly Abolith now made her way towards a window, slowly opening it she now crept out onto a ledge. Already she could see several squads searching the grounds. Abolith had left an impressive body count inside the facility. She noticed close to two dozen body bags strewn in the courtyard already as the soldiers collected the deceased.
"Can I ask a question," Shay asked.
"Is this really the time," Abolith replied, annoyed by the question as she now lept to an adjoining ledge.
"I'm just curious why you're here and not Fukushu," Shay stated. "I would have thought the big guy would be the one seeking revenge."
"My beloved is many things," Abolith stated. "But subtle is not one of them. If he were here he would have leveled this place and declared all out war against the Normal."
"Isn't that what you want?"
"I want to send a warning," Abolith stated as she now entered through a window. "Target my son and there will be dire consequences." As Abolith now sprinted through the room, she skidded to a halt as five soldiers now burst in.
CONTACT!
Abolith unsheathed her blade, darting forward to behead the lead soldier before useing his body as a shield. The other soldiers turned, unleashing a hail of gunfire that now riddled the meat shield Abolith was useing. As the soldiers now reloaded, Abolitb grasped the dead soldiers handgun, firing off a series of shots that struck the soldiers in the head before flipping into the air and stabbing the remaining soldier through the heart.
*Security Alert. Closing all fire doors*
Aboliths eyes went wide as she noticed a series of heavy doors begin to deacend from the ceiling. Thw Normal were trying to seal her in. Sprinitng as quickly as she could, Abolith now lept through a series of doors before tumbling into an open area.
"Abolitb the extraction zone is getting hot," Shay exclaimed. "We need to go NOW!"
Abolith simply replied copy, taking off once more. She was perhaps a few minutes from the perimeter of the facility. Leaping through a window, glass now exploded outwards as the elf assassin landed in the courtyard.
"There she is OPEN FIRE!"
Abolith now sprinted once more, the sounds of SMG fire all around her. The perimeter fence was in sight with only two lone soldiers in her way. Unsheathing her blade once more, Abolith deflected their shots before slashing the two men's throat and useing their bodies to catapult her over the fence.
"Abolith times up," Shay yelled.
"Go,"Abolith exaimed. "I'll find my own way out."
"Are you nuts," Shay yelled. "You're in the middle of the mountains surrounded by at least five platoons of heavily armed soldiers. You'll never make it!"
"I've survived worse," Abolith growled. Glancing back the assassin could see troops mobilizing, streaking towards her position in jeeps and other vehicles. If she could make it to the tree line maybe, just maybe, she would stand a chance.
The roar of an engine and a brilliant light now caused the elf to shield her eyes. Glancing up, Abolith could see a small hoverplane above the trees, the shapely anthro cat woman looking at Abolitb as she now lowered a rope. Grasping the rope, Abolitb was hoisted aboard as Shay now hit the accelerator.
"Why did you stick around," Abolitb asked as they sped off. Shay turned, the white furred Nekomata giving her a toothy grin. "Your husband would of killed me if I left."
*************************
The Boss now angrily surveyed the damage to one of his secret research facilities. Abolith had not only infiltrated the facility, she had made off with quite a bit of the Normals secrets.
"So let me get this straight,"the Boss stated. "You let this elf just walk in and steal our top secret research."
"Sir," a Normal scientist now stammered. "We tried. We lost 30 men trying to subdue her. The amount of damage she did to the facility was also substantial."
"Oh you tried," the Boss stated. "Abolith stole our research on the Soul Drives and our contingency plans to deal with the Catalyst. But at least you tried." The Boss took a deep breath, giving the scientist a reassuring pat on the shoulder before pulling out a handgun and shooting the scientist in the face. Green lightning now arked from the Bosses fingertips as the recently deceased scientist now reanimated as a zombie."Grab a broom and help with the cleanup."
The reanimated scientist now gleefully made his way inside to cleanup as the Boss reviewed the damage Abolith had done.