Uniform Stealing Board

**************

Prologue


It was a fresh evening.

Fresh evenings were Calypso's favorites... When her schedule allowed her, she would go on her balcony and watch the sun set beyond the city of East Harbour. She would stay there a long time, gazing at the city and its lights. Gazing at the empire she built in this town.

However, this time, she would not have the free time needed to allow this small pleasure to herself.

“She's here.” Sao announced.

The tall and muscular black-haired woman was both her bodyguard and her personal secretary. She used to be a soldier in the Olympian army, but she resigned five years ago and found that private jobs paid better.

Calypso nodded. “I'm coming.”

After all, business was business...

“It's Mary, right?” Calypso asked to her bodyguard.

“Yes.”

“I hope for her that she has good merchandise this time...”

**************

Calypso Callianass was the bastard daughter of a man from the Province of Okéanis and a woman from the Province of Naïad. Unfortunately for her, she inherited the looks of her mother: tanned skin, blond hair and blue eyes. These were the looks of the people from Naïad. The looks of the people who were considered by Olympus with even more disdain and scorn than the inhabitants of Korê. Her father refused to recognize the child as his own, and her mother became a weak-willed alcoholic after he left her. Calypso ran away from her mother's home when she was sixteen.

With nowhere to go, Calypso quickly became involved in criminal activities. East Harbour was a city plagued by crime... She began her career in the streets, in the muck of the criminal world, and her only weapons were her charms and her cunning. However, she learned a valuable lesson there.

Men were only good to be used.

She also made a promise to herself. One day, she would be at the top, and all these pigs would obey her...

Calypso had to crawl her way from the bottom to the top. She started as a low-level grunt, but her cunning quickly helped her distinguish herself from the others. She climbed the ladders, learned the ropes and became a consultant. She entered mob boss Rigol Frisk's entourage. Then, she suborned his men and betrayed him. With Frisk dead, she took control of his criminal empire and claimed it as her own. Over the next years, she eliminated four traitors trying to overthrow her and won several gang wars until most of East Harbour's underbelly was under her thumbs.

She had kept her promise. She was now at the top, and she was intending to stay there. Her people were controlling most of the illegal traffics of the Province of Naïad: weapons, drugs, alcohol, and many others. Her influence even extended to the neighbouring Provinces, Shield and Okéanis. No one could compete with her in the Province of Naïad.

Well... No one except Morgan Shark. But she intended to deal with that problem...

**************

Mary was a brown-haired woman hailing from the Province of Okéanis, with a tall figure and a tanned skin. She wasn't officially one of Calypso's women. She was more like an 'independant', who was sometimes hired as extra muscle. Apparently, she had made a great catch and wanted to sell them to Calypso. Of course, they weren't talking about fish...

Human trafficking wasn't a field that Calypso was particularly happy of controlling, but it made her a lot of money. And the crime boss knew that if she wasn't the one controlling it, one of her rivals would step in. Would step in and use to money to fight her. In the criminal world, it was all or nothing. She had to be sure to control everything, or else her rivals would have weapons to use against her.

Mary was apparently so content with her catch that she asked four of Calypso's guards to help her carry the crate she had brought with her. The woman was currently wearing the uniform of a delivery woman, green jumpsuit and cap. Calypso sighed. Mary fancied herself as a 'mistress of disguise'. Somewhere in town, a woman was probably waking up bound and gagged in a toilet stall, stripped to her underwear. Pitiful... the mob boss thought.

The four guards deployed to protect Calypso. Sao remained next to the mob boss, silent and vigilant.

“Let's be quick, Mary.” Calypso said without bothering to salute. “My time is precious and your previous failures are making me unwilling to waste it with you. You have two minutes.”

Mary didn't lose her smile, proof that she was very confident in the value of the women she brought. “You will not be disappointed, Miss Callianass. I guarantee it on my life.” She opened the crate. “And voilà!”

Inside the crate were lying six gorgeous-looking young women, clad in matching black one-piece swimsuits. Their bodies were firm and well-toned, and just muscular enough to be attractive without looking butch. Clearly, these were athletes. The six women were all deeply asleep. Each was gagged by a strip of tape and blindfolded by another strip. Their hands were tied behind their backs with ropes and other ropes were binding their feet.

“A whole swimming team! As you can see, they all have perfect figures.” Mary said with a proud smile. “I had to infiltrate their locker room in the...”

Calypso suddenly stopped listening. Her eyes widened. She just noticed the green strips in the girls' brown or blond hair.

“Olympians?!” she screamed. “You brought me Olympians?!”

Mary took a few steps back, afraid by the mob boss' sudden outburst.

Calypso exploded. “You dumb bimbo! If we start to target Olympian citizens, they will crack down on us hard!”

During her first years at the head of her illegal empire, Calypso quickly understood that Olympians tended to look the other way when criminals targeted the unruly Provinces; at least as long as their interests weren't threatened. And Naïad was the most unruly Province of them all. It was one of the first countries to oppose Constantin Basileus' conquest, and the last to fall. Even after all their allies were defeated, they still fought to the bitter end. Olympus' Government hated the Province of Naïad. They hated it like the abusive parent hates the child who keeps defying their authority in spite of all the punishments they receive. As long as it was the people of Naïad who were suffering the most because of her traffics, Olympus would close its eyes. But if the Government learned that Olympian citizens had been targeted by one of her women... Calypso had to make sure this wouldn't happen again. She looked Mary in the eyes.

“I do not reward incompetence. If you can't provide me with good girls for my business, you will take their place.” she coldly said.

“Ma'am?”

“Put her in the next shipment.” Calypso said to Sao. "She won't sell for much, but it's better than nothing."

Mary didn't have the time to react. Before she could even move, Sao had grabbed her and applied a vicious sleeper-hold to neutralize her. Once she was unconscious, two guards carried her outside by the underarms.

“As for the girls, did they see your face?” Calypso then asked her bodyguard.

“No. They were asleep and blindfolded the whole time. They don't know we're involved.” Sao answered.

“Then it's their lucky day. Have them transported in the industrial wastelands north of the city and call our contact in the local police. Tell him that I have dealt with an overzealous thug who was targeting the wrong people, and that I allow him to rescue the poor kidnapped victims.”

“A magnanimous gesture, madam.”

“Well, I am a model citizen after all...”

**************

Sao gave a few orders to have the crate transported by a bunch of grunts to the place indicated by her boss. The other guards then left and, soon, Calypso was alone with her bodyguard.

The mob boss clasped her hands. “Well. That takes care of that! Now, tell me Sao, how is our other current business going?”

“Zoë Eudokia has contacted us again. She still wants to collaborate with us.”

“Excellent! And what about the Rebels?”

“We're getting closer, but we still haven't found anything yet.”

Calypso shook her hand. “These damn Rebels really are slippery ones...”

“I apologize, madam.”

“They are preparing something big. Morgan Shark is preparing something. I need to know what. Olympus would pay a fortune for this information.”

The Rebellion was the last remaining threat to Calypso's business. They had a strong network in Naïad and, under the command of their leader Morgan Shark, they were sabotaging her operations every time they could. They knew that her traffics were weakaning Naïad, one of their main reservoirs of supporters. They had sworn to make her fall at any cost.

Calypso relished the challenge. They wanted her skin? Well, she wouldn't go down without a fight!

Thanks to her intel, Calypso learned that the Rebels were planning a big operation against the Government; but she didn't know when, where or what. She had sent all her people to learn more. If she could learn the details of what they were planning, she could kill two birds with one stone...

Get a lot of money as well as the gratitude of Olympus.

And crush her last opponent.


**************


EarthSee Paradise was Utopia's only cruise company, and a subsidiary company of the EarthSee Corp. Due to the huge restrictions imposed by the Government on maritime navigation, created to prevent people from leaving the country, there weren't many destinations and therefore not enough room for a competitor.

Katniss was walking in the corridors of the boarding building. The young black woman couldn't help but whistle happily. She got the job! For someone from the Province of Korê, and given how discriminatory the recruitement was in EarthSee Paradise, this was quite an accomplishement.
Katniss checked her boat attendant uniform for the third time. Utopia didn't have flight companies; the only planes of the country were the property of the army. However, she had been told that the uniforms used by EarthSee Paradise were very similar to the ones used by some other countries' stewardesses. She was wearing a small red hat (over her curly puffy black hair), a red short-sleeved waistcoat over a white short-sleeved shirt, a red long skirt and black low-heeled small boots.
Katniss entered the boat attendants's break room. Because the break room also served as a changing room, men and women each had their own separate room in different parts of the building. Katniss still had a little time before the cruise ship would depart. She decided to arrive early and freshen up a little before waiting for her colleagues. This was a night cruise and, with the exception of the fellow attendants boarding the ship with her tonight, nobody would use the room before tomorrow.
Katniss was still whistling when she closed the door. Then, a dull 'Klonk' was heard.

A few minutes later, Enola and Aimi arrived in front of the break room's door. The two women were chatting with each other. Enola was excitedely talking about the date she just had yesterday. She had tied her red hair into a bun, her grey eyes were sparkling and her smile was highlighting the freckles on her cheeks. Aimi was listening. Her black hair were done into a bowl cut. They entered the break room and closed the door. Two dull thuds were heard.

A few minutes later, the blond-haired Maylara and her two friends Lillith and Thalie were going to the break room. They were talking about the recent deterioration of the internal political climate. While she had long lustrous light-blond hair and a voluptuous figure, Maylara was far from being a 'dumb blond stereotype'. Still chatting, the three women entered the break room. However, the talking suddenly stopped once the door was closed. There were a few noises, some thuds and a 'Klomp'. Someone tried to use the door handle, but the door didn't open. Instead, there was a muffled grunt.

A few minutes later, Syra was hurrying up. She was supposed to meet up with her colleagues in the break room, and she was late. She passed near a lone bald janitor, sprinted in the corridor, and reached the door. "Sorry, I'm late!" she exclaimed after opening it.
She was left speechless by what she saw.
Several women were in the process of dressing up in the company's red uniforms. However, they weren't Syra's colleagues...
Her colleagues were in a corner of the room, near the lockers. Some were lying on the floor, other were seated against the wall or the lockers. They were also only clad in their underwear and socks. Syra's jaw dropped. She could see Katniss lying in her white tanga and bra. Enola and Aimi were seated leaning against each other. The red-haired Enola was wearing matching pink seamless panties and t-shirt bra, while the black-haired Aimi was wearing a light-purple tank top and matching boyshorts. Maylara was seated against a locker. Her long blond hair were spilled over her face and she was only wearing a blue plunge bra and white bikini panties with little flowers printed on them. Lillith and Thalie were lying on the floor near her. The first was clad in a light pink triangle bra and yellow knickers, while the second had a black-and-white-striped balcony bra and dark blue classic briefs.
A woman with rather big breasts smiled at the flabbergasted Syra. "On the contrary, dear. You're just in time!" she said.
Syra was grabbed by the waistcoat and pulled inside. "Wait! No!" The door closed behind her, muffling her cries of protest.

The janitor, a bald man with black skin and muscular enough to be a wrestler, calmly walked to the door and put a 'Closed for Cleaning' sign on it.

**************

"If Thalès was right, she's the last one!" said Klenia while dragging the attendant who arrived last, and who was now knocked out. She was a cute-as-a-button brunette; with her petite figure, small nose and heart-shaped face. Klenia dragged her a few steps away from Aster, Mikani, Aaria and Emery; who were all busy finishing to put on the mugged attendants' uniforms. Then, she started to strip the young woman.

Aster let out a disillusioned grunt. Really? she thought. "Klenia! Why are you stripping her? We don't need her uniform..."

"It's not an excuse to not take her clothes off." Klenia retorted.

"We have no reason to strip her..."

"On the contrary. There are plenty of reasons."

"Really? Name me three then."

"First, it will confuse our enemy as they will think that the intruders are more numerous than we really are. Second, it allows me to be sure that she has nothing on herself to cut her bonds. Third, if she frees herself, she will hesitate to run for help if she's only in her undergarments."

Aster sighed. "For the love of... There's no arguing with you. Just be quick." Soon, the brunette was down to her green panties and light-pink moulded bra.

"So far, so good." Mikani commented while putting her little red hat on.

"Ready to infiltrate the cruise ship?" Aster asked to her team.

Aaria nodded, Mikani smiled and Klenia gave her the thumbs-up. Emery did a slight movement of the head.

"Remember. Our goal is to capture the informant of the Callianass Cartel." Aster continued.

Calypso Callianass, the mob boss controlling most of Naïad's underbelly, was threatening the Rebellion's planned mass-uprising. She was gathering intel on the wherabouts of the agents who dug up the latest scandal on the Government, the one that they were going to use to stir up the masses. The Rebellion's agents were about to transmit their informations to Cérès and the other leaders of the Rebellion. Calypso was trying to intercept them and hand them over to the police.
The Callianass Cartel had declared war on the Rebellion, so the Rebellion decided to fight back.
The first step was to capture one of the main informants of the Cartel. First because that woman was close to learning very compromising informations. And, second, because the Rebels could use her knowledges to plan a counter-attack. While most of the rebel forces were being gathered for the upcoming mass-uprising against Olympus, Aster and her team had been tasked with this important mission. A failure could jeopardy all the efforts of the Headquarter.

"Morgan Shark's men will follow us with the furtive sea shuttle. Once we got our woman, they will recover us and our prisoner." Aaria added. "We won't have much time and we will have to be efficient." Morgan Shark was the leader of the resistance network in Naïad. He helped them mount their operation, and his men would assist them in the mission.

The other women nodded. They knew that their mission was important, and they were determined to succeed.

**************

Before leaving, the five women had to make sure that the real boat attendants wouldn't cause trouble once they would wake up. Emery's suggestion was promptly ignored, and the tape and zip-ties Klenia brought were put to good use. Each attendant was tied in the same way. A first zip-tie was securing the wrists, a second the ankles, a third the knees, and a fourth the elbows. Small sponges were used to fill the women's mouths, and tape was wrapped around their mouths and lower faces to gag them. They were blindfolded with pieces of cloth tied behind the head. Finally, each underwear-clad attendant was stashed out of sight in one locker.

Aster sighed after closing the door of the locker containing the young redhead who still had freckles on her cheeks. Klenia blew a kiss to the black-haired woman with light-purple undergarment before closing the locker door.

"Don't feel blue, Aster!" the latter said. "The holes in the doors will let enough air to allow them to breathe..."

"I know. It's something else."

"What?"

"I know it's stupid but... It's just that, after learning that the days of the mass-uprising were nearing, I was hoping that we could finally stop mugging innocent bystanders and concentrate our efforts on the true Government goons..."

Klenia looked at her. Then she said to lift her spirit: "I'm not worried. There will still be plenty of police agents and soldiers to mug in the future. We just have to wait till the beginning of the uprising."

It was working. Aster couldn't help but smile. Klenia had this effect on her.

"And we'll make sure that the uprising will happen. Even if it means bringing down the mighty Callianass Cartel." Mikani added.

Aaria simply grabbed Aster's shoulder and squeezed it a little.

"Thank you." Aster said to them. They were making her feel better.

Emery stayed away from them and waited until they were finished. When seeing her, Aster was surprised to feel more pity than the usual anger towards the assassin. Emery couldn't understand the joys of friendship. She was just standing there, with her cold empty eyes and emotionless expression.

"All right, girls. Let's go." Aster concluded.

They left the door. Outside, disguised as a janitor, Hieron gave them an encouraging smile. He would stay behind to watch the room and be sure that nobody would find their uniform donors too soon.

Rufusluciusivan...many thanks for providing us with the descriptive version of the comic book scene presented at our board



of course I am alluding to " Charlie's Angels" # 2 , here

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=3373


by the way, at first me too, I was shocked by the stunning 'perfection' of the scene



but there is a minor question about the 'ethnicity' of some provinces

tanned skin, blond hair and blue eyes. These were the looks of the people from Naïad.

short question, ; if Naiad was a place on Earth, where do we find and locate it on an Atlas map?


PS I appreciated so much the six swimming team girls...

Glad you saw the reference. This picture was a great source of inspiration, one of the best pictures I've ever seen in mainstream media (I mean outside of Deviantart and the likes). Now if only they were shown tied up and gagged, it would have been perfect... And many thanks for your picture of the swimming team!

I'll admit that I had no specific location in mind when imagining the provinces. One of the main reasons I used a fictional setting was that it allowed me to do whatever I wanted with the ethnicity of the places. Both Naïad and Okéanis are supposed to be sunny maritime provinces; therefore, over generations, people inherited a tanner skin than in other provinces. The main difference is that Okéanis tend to have brown hair and green eyes while Naïads tend to have blond hair and blue eyes. For Naïad, I've been inspired by the "Dark-Skinned Blonde" trope (as described here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ ... innedBlond ; the picture will give you an idea of what I have in mind, except for the eyes, even though Calypso herself would look older).

And here we go with the first part. The infiltration of the cruise ship begins.

**************


Part 1


"Aster... The woman with copper-red hair on the left. The one wearing the black business suit. She looks familiar. Is she our target?"

Aster quickly glanced at the woman Mikani was discreetly pointing out. She became a little paler, but hid her turmoil. They were in the cruise ship's restaurant and the place was crowded. She couldn't afford to be noticed by the guests because of a strange behaviour.

"No. She's Zoë Eudokia." Aster whispered to the younger woman.

"Eudokia? As in, Heraclius Eudokia?"

"The youngest daughter, yes."

As always, Mikani remained calm and professional. "Do you think she could recognize us as her father's murde..."

"No." Aster interrupted her. "The police didn't even suspect the Rebellion. But still, I don't want to stay near her for too long."

"I wonder what she's doing here..." Mikani said.

"It doesn't matter. Our target isn't in the restaurant. I hope the others will have more luck."

**************

In the cruise ships of the EarthSee Paradise, the 'boat attendants' were versatile employees. They weren't restricted to one task like the maids or the waitresses. They were generally sent to supervize and give a hand in different parts of the ship. So while Aster and Mikani were at the restaurant, and Aaria was serving cocktails to the guests outside on the roof, Klenia and Emery had been sent to bring food to the people who requested to eat in their rooms. They were soon separated: each was supposed to accompany a maid pushing her food cart. The guests had to be served by two people: one maid and one attendant. It was supposed to be for decorum, but Klenia considered it a huge waste of manpower.

Well, at least it was giving her some new opportunities...

Lena was a thirty-year-old maid with light-brown hair tied into a small ponytail and chestnut eyes. And Klenia quickly learned that she was a real chatterbox.

"I heard you were supposed to be seven attendants... It's really a shame that two of your friends got sick..." Lena was saying.

"I know. We have to work a lot harder because of that but, hey, it's worth it."

"It's awfully nice of you to not inform the higher-ups. I mean... Not giving a call to warn the direction? They could have gotten in big trouble..."

"It's what friends are for." Klenia waited a few seconds, before asking. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost."

"Remind me who we're bringing food to again? Is it Joane Madge?" Klenia innocently asked. Joan Madge was the informant working for the Callianass Cartel they were supposed to kidnap.

"No, it's Lady Shan Venture." Lena answered. "Joane Madge hadn't left her room yet."

"Really?" Interesting.

They arrived in front of room 113. Klenia knocked on the door.

"Room service!" she announced.

She couldn't help but smile after saying these words. How many times had she already heard them? Both before and after joining Aster's team... Usually, they were followed by a swift mugging. This was even the first exchange she had with Aster when they met for the first time, while Aster was undercover as a maid and Klenia needed a maid uniform to rob another room of the hotel she was in. Today, Klenia may have been the one saying the words but, given the informations she just got, the outcome was probably going to be the same. A maid uniform could allow her to have an excuse to enter Joane Madge's room...

"Please enter!" a distinguished voice answered.

Klenia complied, already formulating her plan. First, she would knock out Lena, then she would make short work of Lady Venture. She entered the room

"Greetings, my lady." Klenia said.

She was answered by a spray of sleeping gas.

No! Klenia thought. Not the irony! NOT THE IRONY!

She just had the time to see Lena get hit by her own spray of gas. Then, everything faded into black.

**************

Ten minutes earlier, Aaria had met up with Aster and Mikani in the restaurant. She learned nothing from the guests who were drinking their cocktails on the roof. They had received no news from Klenia for a while now, and Emery was wandering in the ship's corridors without bothering to tell them what she was doing. Aster couldn't help but think that the operation wasn't going as planned... They needed to rethink their strategy.

With Aaria here to take her place, she pretended to take a break in order to have an excuse to search the ship. She also needed to contact Klenia, as well as Morgan Shark's men who were following them from afar in their furtive ship.

She arrived in an isolated part of the ship, near the lifeboats. The night was fresh, but not too cold. She quickly sent a message with her phone to the men in the furtive ship.

"Target not aquired yet. Continue to follow us."

The answer came quickly.

"Only three hours left before we are too close from East Harbour to transfer you safely. If target not acquired in two hours, abort mission and we recover you."

Then, Aster tried calling Klenia. No answer.

"Hey you!"

Aster jumped and turned around.

The tall woman who just called her was wearing a sailor uniform: peaked hat, white sleeveless uniform jacket and white pants. She was probably in her mid-thirties. Her blond hair were tied into a long braid.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "This is no place for the staff!"

"Just needed some fresh air, ma'am. This is my break."

"Well, please take your break elsewhere. Only authorized personnel is allowed near the lifeboats."

"I'm sorry."

Aster's mind was racing. She needed to return to this part of the ship, but she couldn't afford to make another scene like the one that just happened. Therefore, she needed the clothes of someone allowed near the lifeboat. She quickly eyed the blond sailor. They had the same built, but she was taller. Aster would need to roll up the pants and put the shirt in her belt, but from afar or in the dark, it should work.

"Excuse me." she said. "Can you tell me what time it is? I think my break time is over."

The woman sighed and looked at her wristwatch. Aster took advantage of her inattention to punch her in the guts. The sailor grunted in pain and bended over. Then, Aster's fist hit her in the temple. A clean shot to the thinnest part of the skull would leave her with a one-or-two day headache, but was unlikely to do any more damage. The sailor collapsed on the floor like a sack of grain.

Aster wasted no time stripping her victim. She didn't want to be surprised by someone else. Soon, the blond woman was down to her white bra and shorts. Aster had kept a few unused plastic zip-ties on her as a precaution. She used some to bind the sailor's ankles and wrists. Then, she took off her attendant uniform, save for her underwear and socks. With a small hidden knife, she cut the two legs of her pants. She used one to secure the woman's thighs and the other to secure her arms. A few strips of the white shirt and red waistcoat were used as a gag; first to fill the sailor's mouth, then to fashion a makeshift cleave-gag. She hoped it would be enough to keep her quiet. Aster threw the last remnants of the attendant uniform overboard before changing into the sailor's white jacket and pants. Finally, Aster lifted the bound-and-gagged unconscious sailor, put her in one of the lifeboats and covered her with the tarpaulin to hide her and muffle her eventual attempts to be heard.

Well, we now have to be quick... I'll go fetch Aaria and Klenia. We'll meet up with Klenia and Emery... I just hope they learned about our target's position...

**************

Shan Venture was actually called Shayna Iven. 'Lady Shan Venture' was one of the many fake identities she used when she had to infiltrate a rich party. Some people would have called her a 'petty thief', but Shayna regarded herself as something a little more prestigious than a mere thief. Indeed, she specialized herself in robbing rich and influent people.

Calling for room service had always been one of her favorite ways of acquiring a disguise. No need to search, her victims were bringing their uniform to her in a silver platter. Shayna was lucky to get an attendant uniform. This disguise would allow her to wander freely in almost every part of the boat.

This time, Shayna had her eyes set on a very specific target. Joane Madge, an agent working for the Callianass Cartel, was on board. Shayna had heard that she was carrying with her several jewels worth a fortune, that she was intending to give to her boss. Other thieves wouldn't have dared cross the Cartel. But Shayna was different. She didn't do it for the money this time. She had a score to settle with Calypso Callianass...

Assaulting Joane Madge wasn't much, but it was a beginning. Shayna had already imagined several other plans, but she had ruled them out because they were impossible to set up alone. Maybe later...

Thinking of the Callianass Cartel made her think of Venia, but Shayna shook her head to dispel the mental image. She needed to remain focused. She couldn't afford to think about Venia now...

The corridors were almost deserted and no one paid any second glance to an attendant. It was almost too easy. The two women she mugged barely put up a fight. And, as they were in their underwear and bound and gagged out of sight in her room, they wouldn't be found after a good while.

The first obstacle appeared when she was near her target's door. The corridor was almost empty, save for a black-haired woman wearing an attendant uniform.

Another attendant?

Shayna knew she couldn't let another attendant see her. She would immediately spot her as an impostor. Luckily for her, she also noticed a cleaner cupboard not too far.

Well, it looks like I'll have to leave a third woman bound and gagged this time...

Shayna silently approached her prey.


**************


Author's note: Plot twist. A new challenger has arrived.

short comment; Rufusluciusivan, looks like you studied the modern tropes with extreme care...at the expense of Klenia

"not the Irony! not the irony!"


well now I doubt this is your first attempt to write a USB tale

come on where are the OTHER novels

The line you mentioned is probably my favorite line in all my stories. However, I'm sorry to admit that there aren't other novels (at least, uniform stealing-related ones; I wrote other things).

By the way, the post presenting the characters has been updated and you'll find the description of the new characters here.

**************


Part 2

Gee... I hate irony...

This was Klenia's first thought when she regained consciousness. She didn't breathe that much gas and she had trained her body to resist narcotics and drugs, allowing her to wake up earlier than she should have. Her assailant didn't bother drugging or chloroforming her.

Amateurish... she couldn't help but think. I got sloppy if I was really overpowered by someone like that...

She shook her head to gather her thoughts. Luckily, since her long dark brown hair were tied into her usual tight braid, she was spared from having locks of hair spilled over her face. Klenia quickly realized that she was down to her black brassiere and white boyshorts. Her mugger left her lying in the bathroom's bathtub of the chamber, and she was feeling a little cold because of the metallig bathtub wall in contact with her bare skin. Klenia tried to move, but couldn't. She was thoroughly bound and gagged. And if the knocking out was amateurish, this was not the case with the bonds. According to the touch and what she could see of her legs and feet, the woman tore Lena's maid uniform as well as some bedsheets and turned them into makeshit bonds. Klenia's ankles were tied, as well as her knees and her upper thighs. Her wrists were also tied, and her upper arms had been bound and pinned on her body as well. She could feel a few pieces of cloth filling her mouth and another strip of bedsheet had been used as a cleave-gag to keep her quiet. For all intent and purpose, Klenia wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

So, I've been mugged for my uniform... How ironic... I wonder if Aster felt the same when I mugged her in our first meeting...

Klenia squirmed a little. While she couldn't loosen her restraints, she managed to sit up straight and observed her surroundings. Lena was still unconscious. She was seated on and secured to the toilet seat, bound and gagged as carefully as Klenia, and clad in a white push-up bra and matching knickers with little hearts on them. Klenia couldn't help but snicker.

Hearts? Really?

She quickly stopped. She needed to pull herself together, free herself, and warn the others. If she stayed here too long, the whole mission would fail and the others would be in danger...

**************

“Klenia is still not answering...” Mikani said. While she was forcing her voice to remain calm, Aster could hear that she was starting to be worried. Aster didn't blame her. She was feeling the same. Klenia maybe looked carefree, but she was anything but that when in a mission. If she wasn't answering, it was because something was going wrong.

“We'll find her.” she said to try to reassure her friend, and herself.

With her new sailor disguise, Aster could pretend that she needed two attendants for a task in another part of the ship, giving Mikani and Aaria an excuse to leave the restaurant and come with her. It wasn't a very good excuse, but at least it worked.

“There's another problem.” Aaria added. “Even if we find Klenia, Emery and our target in time, we have nothing to transport our victim. We can't just carry an unconscious woman in the open and I doubt she will willingly come with us.”

“First things first. Let's not lose our focus.”

“And about Emery?” Aaria insisted.

“She's old enough to take care of herself. I don't see anyone getting the drop on her anyway.”

“Fair enough.”

The corridors were empty and they met nobody at first.

Until...

“Girls, I think I found the solution to carry Joane Madge without raising suspicion.” Mikani said.

In front of them, a lone maid was pushing a laundry cart, happily whistling a little tune.

Aster nodded. “When subtlety failed...” she muttered. Then she said out loud: “Excuse me?”

The maid, a beautiful brunette in her late-twenties with cute hazel eyes, looked at her. “Yes? Can I help you?”

“I'm looking for the room of Joane Madge. Do you know which number it is?”

“Of course. It's at this floor. Room 156.” the maid answered, without realizing that Mikani and Aaria were walking around her.

“Thank you.” Aster answered with a smile. She saw Mikani preparing herself. “Oh. And one more thing... Sorry for what's about to happen.”

The maid frowned. “What do you...”

Mikani wrapped a viselike arm around the brunette's neck and locked her head into a sleeper-hold. The brown-haired maid tried to call for help, but she was unable to scream or even talk. Soon, she drifted into unconsciousness. Mikani waited a few seconds, to be sure that the woman was truly out, then laid her on the floor.

“She's closer to your size, Mikani.” Aster remarked.

“I'll be quick. Undress her.”

While Aaria was watching the area, Aster quickly stripped the maid of her shoes, thighs, skirt and blouse. The brunette was wearing sky blue panties and bra, that were highlighting her small well-rounded chest and nice figure. Mikani took her own clothes off and then redressed herself into her new uniform.

Between Aaria and Mikani, they still had enough zip-ties to bind the maid's arms and legs. Rags from the laundry cart were used as a gag: a few were stuffed in her mouth while a last one was used to cover her mouth and knotted behind her neck, preventing her from spitting the gag. Finally, the unconscious bound-and-gagged underwear-clad brunette was dumped into the cart, well-concealed under all the laundry. Mikani's discarded uniform was also put in the cart.

Mikani finished redressing herself. “How do I look?”

“Perfect. Now, on to room 156. If we're lucky, we'll find Klenia and Emery there.”

**************

Shayna got her spray of sleeping gas ready and approached the black-haired attendant.

“Ma'am?” she asked to make her turn her head around.

“What?” the woman harshly asked back.

Shayna brandished her spray of sleeping gas. “Good night!”

Everything then went so fast that Shayna only understood what happened afterwards.

The black-haired attendant grabbed her wrist just as she was about to spray her with a good dose of sleeping gas. She twisted Shayna's arm so hard that the thief let go her spray and fell on her knees. The pain was unbearable! Without letting her wrist go, the woman moved behind Shayna's back. Before the thief could gather her thoughts, the blade of a knife was at her throat.

“Bad move.” the black-haired attendant simply said.

“Wait... Please... Don't... I... I didn't...”

Shayna wasn't a coward. To rob Olympus' rich people, one was bound to have some guts. But the ease with which that attendant had neutralized her... And the knife... That woman didn't play by the rules. She was a killer. Shayna found herself petrified by fear. She was desperately trying to find a way out. Her supposed hapless victim turned out to be far stronger than expected and she was now in big trouble. One thing was certain. This woman was not an attendant.

I don't want to die... I don't want to die... Shayna thought, completely terrified. Once again, she thought of Venia. Not yet... Not before I could make the Cartel pay for what they did to her... She could feel the blade on her throat. In one move of the arm, the fake attendant could slit her throat.

Maybe she could try to free herself by...

“I see you're searching for a way out. Try to escape if you dare. Just try...”

Shayna nervously gulped. She was a thief, not a fighter. She was brave enough to rob people after carefully crafting her plan, while making sure they don't know who she is to avoid reprisals. She wasn't brave enough to defy a person about to kill her. “Please... I surrender...”

“Emery! What are you doing?” a female voice suddenly said.

Three other women – one attendant, one maid pushing a laundry cart and one sailor – had arrived. The sailor had just spoken.

“Aster! Great timing!” Shayna's assailant said. “We'll use your cart to hide the body.”

More than the fact that the black-haired woman was openly discussing her murder, it was the calm emotionless tone she was using that terrified the thief. Their talk confirmed her suspicions. The black-haired woman wasn't a real attendant, and the other three women probably weren't what they looked like either.

“Wait wait wait!” she desperately pleaded. “I'm just a thief. I have nothing against you girls, or against whatever you're planning! I just wanted to rob this room...”

“Joane Madge's room?”

“Yes.”

“And where did you get your uniform?”

“I... I mugged one of the attendants.” The other women reacted to her confession and Shayna quickly added: “If she was with you, I... I'm truly sorry! I... I didn't hurt her... I just left her tied up in my room... Room 113... You'll find her there with one of the maids...”

She could have sworn that the woman called Aster just suppressed a laughter. “Klenia?! Mugged?!” she said. “The delicious irony...”

The sailor approached Shayna and looked her in the eyes. “So you're a thief?”

“Y... Yes...”

“Your name?”

“Lady Shan.”

“Well, 'Lady' Shan, you're way over your head right now... And I only see one way out for you...”

“Wait! I...” Shayna's mind was racing. She was now persuaded that these women were in an infiltration mission, probably targeting Joane Madge. The Callianass Cartel was in good terms with the Government. So, that left only one group of people both talented and organized enough to infiltrate a cruise ship of the EarthSee Paradise. “You're with the Rebellion, right?”

The older attendant raised her eyebrows. “Well, she's a smart one, isn't she?” she commented.

“I... I already worked for Morgan Shark a few times in the past... I may be not a member of your network, but we're not enemies... My enemy is the Cartel... So we have a mutual interest... Please don't kill me... Or don't leave me here to be arrested...” Shayna wasn't lying; well not entirely. She did work a few times for Shark, but her phrasing could lead to believe that she was a real ally of him. In reality, she only did a few basic errands for the man, in exchange of some quick cash.

“Really?” Aster said.

“Aster, there's no time to waste.” the older attendant said.

“I know. Well then, Miss Shan, here's your choice. Either we leave you here; bound and gagged or dead. Or... You come with us.”

“Come with you?” Shayna repeated without understanding.

“We can't let you wander freely, but we can take you with us. If you really worked for Shark, his men will recognize you. So you have nothing to worry... We may even have some work for you once we left the boat. We could always use some extra hands... And I must admit that someone who could get the drop on Klenia must not be too bad in a mission...”

Shayna quickly made up her mind. She wasn't sure that Shark's men still remembered her, but between a certain death or arrestation and a chance of escaping her fate, there was no hesitation. “I'll follow you.”

Aster made a gesture of the hand. “Don't kill her, Emery. At least for now.” She turned to the maid. “Mikani, go free Klenia and give her your attendant uniform. Aaria and I will deal with Joane. Emery, you will stay here with our guest.” She then looked at Shayna again. “Emery will let you go and put her knife away. Don't try to escape. She doesn't need a weapon to kill you and, this time, I won't stop her.”

Shayna gulped and nodded. No need to tell her! This woman, Emery, terrified her. Shayna may fancy herself as a great thief, but she knew that she was outmatched.

While Mikani left to fetch their other accomplice, whom Shayna foolishly mugged, Aster knocked on Joane's door.

“Miss Madge? This is the cruise staff. I need to have a word with you. Can I enter?”

“What for?”

“It's a message from a Miss Yllac.”

Shayna was impressed. So they even know Calypso's alias? This people may be even better than me... And that's saying a lot!

“Please enter.” Joane Madge answered.

Aster smiled. She and Aaria entered the room. The older woman was pushing the cart and closed the door behind her.

Soon, Shayna heard throws, punches and muffled cries. She winced.

A few minutes later, Aster and Aaria emerged from the room. Aster's uniform was a little messed up now, but she seemed happy with herself.

“She's all wrapped and ready to be sent.” she said while tapping the cart. “We left the maid in the bathtub.”

“So now, we leave?” Emery asked.

“Yes. Just the time to send Mikani a message and tell her to meet us near the lifeboats. Then, we go. Our new friend will accompany us.”

Shayna's smile was neither fish nor fowl. As if she had a choice... Emery was still watching her.

**************

Shayna could have sworn she was hearing mewlings and bangings coming from a nearby lifeboat. At first, she thought that it was only her imagination. But, then, Aster took Shayna's spray of sleeping gas and removed the boat's tarpaulin. Shayna caught a glimpse of a blond head whose mouth was gagged. Then Aster sprayed a good dose of sleeping gas at the woman who was hidden in the lifeboat. The mewlings and bangings stopped. Aster put the tarpaulin back in place.

Aaria was watching the sea. “They're coming...” she said.

At first, Shayna didn't understand what she was talking about. Then, she saw the furtive sea shuttle approaching the cruise ship.

I didn't even hear them... “How is it possible? I thought only the army had such boats...”

“Aster found some plans in Wheat Junction's weapon factory. Thanks to her, the Rebellion was able to build its own furtive ship.”

Once again, Shayna was impressed. So they're the ones who assaulted the factory? She had heard about the attack in the news. They are even better than I thought... In hindsight, she was lucky that her encounter with them ended mostly well...

Mikani, still dressed as a maid, arrived with the woman Shayna mugged earlier, now fully dressed again even though her new uniform was visibly too tight for her. Klenia looked at Shayna, but then – to the thief's surprise – smiled broadly.

“I must admit, the abduction was amateurish, but the ropework was flawless.” she said. “You'll have to teach me a few things. And then we'll have a revenge match.”

Fortunately, she seemed to be mostly joking. So Shayna could hope that, at worst, her revenge would only leave her bound and gagged a few hours and not dead and buried in some hole...

She forced herself to smile. “With pleasure...” In what have I gotten myself into? she thought.

While she was busy feeling sorry for herself, the men in the furtive sea shuttle had sent a few ropes and a rope ladder.

“Okay, girls. We leave!” Aster said.

In hindsight, cutting the infiltration of the boat into two parts was a mistake. To compensate, here is a longer post.


**************


Part 3

“Have we received news from Joane already?” Calypso asked.

“No madam.” Sao answered.

“Odd...” The mob boss commented.

In itself, Joane's silence shouldn't have troubled her that much. Her informants had always contacted her irregularly. Sometimes, she didn't hear from them for weeks or even months; other times, they were calling her four times in a day. However, Joane had always been the most diligent of them all, and her last call hinted that she may have been close to find the information Calypso was looking for. Something was wrong. Calypso was convinced that something was wrong. You could call this a hunch. She didn't go this far into her business without having some intuition. She learned to trust her instinct, and she rarely had to regret it.

“I think it may be time to modify our strategy...” she said to her bodyguard.

Sao was alerted by her change of tone. “What do you mean?”

“I think the Rebels are catching up to what I'm trying to do with my informants.”

“Do you want to stop?”

“No, we'll continue gathering informations about their upcoming operation. But we need to have more than one string to our bow...”

“What are the instructions?”

“Do you have assembled the mercenary teams I asked you?”

“Yes.” Sao was smiling now. She had guessed what her boss wanted. And the former soldier in her was relishing the idea...

“We will deploy them, find the Rebellion's hideouts in East Harbour, and raid them. This is my town. It's time for Morgan Shark to learn this once and for all. And he'll learn it the hard way...”

**************

Emery was busy sharpening her knife. Yet, Shayna knew that she was also watching her. That Aster wasn't an idiot. She left the killer behind to watch her. Shayna suspected that it was also her way of getting Emery out of her hair. Even with the little interactions she saw, Shayna had quickly understood that Aster and Emery couldn't stand each other.

Well... At least Morgan Shark played fair and confirmed that I did work for him... Being here beats being thown in the sea with a bullet in the head...

Shayna wasn't naive. She knew that the rebels weren't above getting their hands dirty, and she wouldn't have been the first body to be disposed of by them, even though they usually targeted soldiers and administrators.

And now, I'm being hired for some new heist. And I will work alongside a woman I recently mugged. Life is weird. But, hey, they were offering a good sum of money AND the opportunity to target the Callianass Cartel... So, why not? I've made weirder deals in the past... Shayna crossed her arms and sighed. Venia... I will make them pay for what they did to you...

The door opened and a man entered. Emery stood up to welcome him. Morgan Shark was big, burly and blond. When he was talking, he usually smiled a huge, toothy smile. His surname fitted him like a glove. Shark saluted Emery, then turned his attention to Shayna.

“Well, it looks like you got back on your feet once again...” he commented. He was joking, but Shayna had learned to be cautious around him. She knew how fickle his temper could be.

“It looks like...” she carefully repeated.

“I must admit, I'm surprised you managed to get the drop on someone of Aster's team.”

“Lucky shot, I guess.”

Morgan Shark snickered. “Of course...” He rubbed his nose. “The new mission will begin. I hope you're ready.” He turned away to leave the room, but stopped and added: “This may be an opportunity for you. If you impress Aster, she may want you in her team.”

Shayna politely nodded and gave a fake smile. “Maybe...” In your dreams... While she didn't mind associating with them for a quick buck, she wasn't crazy enough to join the Rebels for good.

Morgan looked her in the eyes. He wasn't fooled an instant. “You realize that you've learned pretty big secrets about the Rebellion, don't you?" he warned. "You've always been square in your deals with us, and that's the reason why you're still here even though you've seen things you shouldn't have. I know you're an 'honest crook', if such a thing can exist, and you don't betray your clients. However, I'm morally obligated to warn you that if you try to sell Aster and her team to Olympus...”

“You know I wouldn't!” Shayna retorted, interrupting him. And she was being sincere. She may be a thief, but she had standards. And she didn't hold the Government in her heart. She just didn't see the point in fighting them. In her eyes, it was better to find a way to accomodate with their nuisance.

Shayna turned her head and her gaze met Emery's. The black-haired woman was coldly watching her.

“Let's go.” the assassin said.

**************

While not as big as South Window, the city of East Harbour had a huge commercial harbour. In the eastern side of the harbour district, there was an important block of warehouses. Officially, they were the property of a trading company called Yllac Corp. In reality, Yllac Corp was a mere cover and the installations were controlled by the Callianass Cartel.

“According to the informations we got out of Joane, Calypso Callianass will be visiting the main warehouse today.” Morgan Shark commented.

He and Aster were watching the place from afar.

Aster nodded. “Any last instructions?” she asked.

“Most of the dockworkers are probably not aware that they are working for the Cartel; but beware of the people in the black combat gears.”

“Who are they?”

“Officially, the security. In reality, they're mercenaries working for Callianass. Basically, they're Calypso's henchmen and henchwomen.”

“Got it.”

“You know the plan?”

“Yes.”

“Remember. We want her alive if possible. But if capturing her is impossible, we have to make sure she will never threaten our operations again. I would like to be sure that you're okay with that...”

Aster felt a twinge of anger. “Don't patronize me, Morgan. Do I have to remind you that I'm just as high-ranked as you? I know just as well as you what has to be done for the good of the cause.”

The blond man raised his hands. “Perfect, then. Let's have everyone join their positions.”


**************


“Watch out. This one should be your size.”

The dockworker was a thirty-year-old woman with long copper-red hair and grey eyes. She was wearing a grey-green work coverall, black work gloves and black security shoes. Currently, she was walking between two rows of tall metallic containers, a clipboard and pen in her hands. She was unaware that Klenia was watching her, hidden in the gap between two groups of containers.

“Excuse me?” the rebel said to the redhead when she passed in front of her hiding spot.

Surprised to be called out, the dockworker stopped in her tracks.

“I'm here to relieve you.” Klenia added.

Without letting to her victim the time to turn around, Klenia grabbed her. The dockworker made a small noise of surprise, but a clean good punch was enough to knock her out and she only managed to let out a small grunt. Klenia grabbed the redhead by the ankles and dragged her further into the gap between the containers to give them more privacy. After taking a turn, they were now invisible from the main alleys, surrounded by metallic container walls.

Shayna was waiting here. At her feet was lying another unconscious dockworker, a brunette a little older and bigger than the redhead they just caught.

“Here you go!” Klenia said while letting go of her unconscious victim's ankles. “Take her uniform. I'll take the other.”

Shayna complied and started to unlace the redhead's shoes while her partner stripped the brunette.

The thief felt a little uneasy working alongside Klenia, especially since they were mugging other people together barely a day after they met... because Shayna mugged her for her uniform. She tried to strike up a conversation to forget her embarassment.

“Soooo... I heard you used to be a thief before joining the Rebellion?” she asked while taking off the first shoe.

“Yep.”

“Why did you join it?”

“Exactly for the same reason you're here today.”

Shayna now had taken off the other shoe. The dockworker was wearing black socks. The thief was now busy unzipping her coveralls. “Then, what made you stay with them?”

“My parents were the owners of a prosperous trading company. But they made the mistake of stepping on EarthSee Corp's turf... EarthSee's CEO called his good friends in the Government; and, the following day, my parents were ruined when Government agents confiscated their equipments and froze their assets.”

“I see...”

“I became a thief because I saw no other way back then. I remained one because I discovered that I liked that. But Aster showed me that there was another way. A way that was allowing me to do what I like AND give the middle finger to the Government.”

Shayna had now taken the coverall off. The unconscious redhead was lying on her back in her white tank top and grey panties.

Klenia had also finished. The brown-haired dockworker's rather ample breasts were contained by a pink support-bra and she was wearing matching panties and socks.

The redhead started to wiggle a little and moan softly. She was coming back to her senses. Klenia took a cloth and a bottle of chloroform, then used them to send her back to slumberland. As a safety precaution, she did the same to the brunette. Then, she looked Shayna in the eyes. “And you? Why did you become a thief? Was it because of the Government...?”

“More like the Callianass Cartel.” Shayna answered. She then bit her lips. She had said too much, but now she couldn't go back in time.

Klenia started to take off her own clothes. “What did they do?”

The conversation was becoming too personal for Shayna's taste, so she tried to change the subject. “And the others... Are they like you?” she asked while also taking her top off.

Klenia chuckled. She had already taken her shirt off, revealing her light-purple bra, and was busy unbuckling her belt. “Like me? Not at all! Aster is actually a highbrow. She studied in high education, and she joined the Rebellion because she was smart enough to see through Olympus' lies. Aaria's whole family is in the Rebellion. As for Mikani...” Her smile suddenly disappeared. “She doesn't want to talk about it, even to her friends. I think it's linked to the recent labour strikes and riots in the Province of Smog. The Government wasn't gentle when dealing with them...”

“And Emery?” Shayna asked. She was now down to her black underwear and started to redress in the dockworker's uniform. Klenia was also only clad in her underclothes, and Shayna had a hard time not looking at her chest. She couldn't help but blush a little.

Klenia concluded. “As for Emery, it is I who don't want to talk about it. Trust me, it's for the best. Emery already has her eyes on you, and not in a good way. Let's better not give her another reason to watch you...”

Shayna nervously gulped.

“Don't worry too much. She probably has half the country on her hit list by now. Including me.” Klenia joked.

“And that's supposed to reassure me?”

Klenia shrugged. “You have Shark's and Aster's protection. That means that she will bark a lot, but never bite.”

Oh joy...

“Now, help me secure our two generous donors.” Klenia concluded, fully disguised. “We wouldn't want to have them running aroung and blowing our cover, would we?”

Some package tape and clean pieces of cloth were used to gag the two sleeping women. Then, several coils of ropes were put to good use to bind them and make sure they wouldn't try to slip away from their forced break time. The dockworkers were tied liying back-to-back, their firm asses pressed against one another. Each woman's wrists were tied in front of the other's belly. Their legs, arms and upper-arms were secured with generous amounts of rope, to make sure they would stay back to back.

Klenia picked up the pen and clipboard. “Let's go then. We have work to do.”

The two disguised infiltrators left their hapless victims alone and hidden out of sight, in a place where they wouldn't be found before several hours.

**************

“And these are supposed to be Callianass' henchwomen? Either we got lucky to come across the rookies or she has low standards...” commented Emery, with clear contempt in her voice.

The black-haired woman finished buckling her belt. She was now wearing black combat boots, black pants and a kevlar vest over a plain black tank top. Her elbows and wrists were protected by pads and she had a helmet on her head. With her now-gloved hands, she took her victim's machine gun. Her new combat gear made her look even more intimidating than usual.

Luring three of the warehouses' guards in a nearby dark alleyway was almost too easy. And, while the henchwomen were trained in combat, Aster's group still overpowered them with ease. Emery did most of the work by herself and Aster suspected that the assassin could have been able to defeat the three women all by herself.

Aster straightened her own kevlar vest and nodded. “It's almost as if the best agents were elsewhere...” she commented. Then she shook her head. “Nevermind. I will not be complaining if our work is easier. If Calypso decided to send her best agents somewhere else, it's her loss...”

Aaria, also fully uniformed, tapped a nearby dumpster. “Any chance that these three could be found too soon?” she asked. Inside were hidden three brown-haired green-eyed tanned-skinned women from the Province of Okéanis. A few minutes before, they were guarding the warehouses, proud and confident in their combat uniforms. Now, they were bound with ropes, gagged with tape, and stripped down to their underwear. Two were wearing plain-looking ones: black tank tops and white comfortable boyshorts; but the third had chosen ridiculous-looking leopard underwear this morning. Drugged with Agent Moonlight, they were deeply asleep on some garbage. In Aster's eyes, a fitting fate for criminal trash.

“Garbage collection is tomorrow. They will have a lot of time to rethink their life choices before they're found.” Aster answered. “Just let me check if Mikani is ready.”

She took her phone and called the younger woman, who was supposed to take the place of a pallet truck driver. Her friend answered, which was a good sign.

“Mikani, you're good?”

“Almost.” the younger woman replied. Aster could hear muffled moans for help in the phone, as if someone was chloroformed. “Give me the time to tuck her up for her nap and wrap things up, and I'll be here.”

Aster let out a playful sigh. “I think Klenia has fully corrupted you by now...” she joked. Then, she hung up. “Everything is in place. Let's go.”




Part 4




The mere sight of the mob boss of the Callianass Cartel made Aster feel disgust. The woman's blond hair and tanned skin reminded that she was from the Province of Naïad. But she was responsible of so much sufferings in her Province of birth because of all her trafficks... Aster was happy to put an end to it.

Aster was surprised to see that Calypso had brought a guest with her, in addition to her usual guards. Even from afar, she could recognize Zoë Eudokia's bright copper hair.

“What is a member of House Eudokia doing here?” she whispered.

“I saw her on the news. She was pretty vocal about finding the culprits of her father's murder.” Aaria answered. “If I was a guessing girl, I'd say that she figured out that since the police was unable to crack the case, her best chance was to ask the criminal world to give her a hand...”

Aster could see the mob boss and Zoë Eudokia talking to each other in a metallic platform, high on the other side of the warehouse. However, given the length of the building, they were still a long way from Aster, Aaria and Emery. And there were several workers and guards between them and their target; not counting Calypso's bodyguard and two other henchwomen that were with her in the platform.

Aster looked one last time at the place. “We won't be able to reach her from here. Let's walk around the building and wait at the back. I hope Mikani is doing fine with her part. I don't think Calypso will stay here for long. We have to be quick.”

“Remember to be careful to not come across Team Klenia.” Aaria concluded. “I wouldn't want to risk a stupid misunderstanding.”

Klenia and Shayna, currently disguised as dockworkers, were discreetly taking out the sentries guarding the outside of the warehouse. This would allow Team Aster to walk freely; and, if things got ugly, they would have less enemies to worry about.

“Let's go.”

**************

“What the hell's going on here?” the muscular brown-haired sentry asked.

She was answered by Klenia's fist.

“Ow!” The guard grunted in pain and fell on the ground. She tried to come to her senses, but her eyes widened when she saw the smiling Klenia leaning over her. Klenia's fist sped right between the guard's eyes, a place where her helmet would offer no protection. Then she was out like a light.

“You okay in there, Shan?”

“Yes.” Shayna answered.

Her own guard's struggles were becoming weaker. The blonde was smaller and less athletic that her brown-haired companion, and she was being overcome by the fumes of the chloroform-soaked pad Shayna was pressing over her mouth and nose. Soon, her eylids flickered and closed. She let out a small moan and felt in a deep sleep.

Klenia was dragging the bigger guard by the ankles to hide her between the containers. “Phew... That was close.”

“Tell me about it.” Shayna answered, while also carrying her own guard.

At first, Shayna felt uneasy working with Klenia. But, soon, her companion's nice comments put her at ease. Now, she was starting to feel strangely thrilled by this operation. There was something weirdly exciting about overpowering all these strong confident women, proud of being well-trained henchwomen, then leaving them bound and gagged out of sight. This was the fourth group of guards they successfully ambushed.

“I think they were the last ones...” Klenia said.

Shayna was also impressed by her partner's confidence and skills. Perhaps even a little subjugated. As a thief, Shayna sometimes had to overpower someone, but she always favored ruse (and sleeping-gas spray) over physical strength. Klenia was good in both fields. She was a perfect infiltrator. And beautiful to boot. Mugging the Cartel's guards with her certainly was quite the experience...

Suddenly, her daydream was interrupted when they heard footsteps.

“Another patrol?” she asked.

One of the women was whistling a little tune.

“Nope.” Klenia answered. “These ones are on our side.”

She whistled back.

A trio of women clad in combat gear passed near their hiding spot. They stopped in front of it and one of them, Aster, asked: “You're good?”

“Yes. We got them all.”

“Perfect. Take these two's uniforms and weapons, then get ready to cover our backs. Mikani will make her diversion soon.”

“Got it.”

Aster and her two teammates left to join the back of the main warehouse.

Klenia rubbed her hands together and looked at the unconscious guards. “Well... It looks like that this is not their lucky day...”

The next minutes were almost completely silent; save for the sounds of clothes being removed from nubile skin, and then for the sounds of tape being ripped and ropes and plastic zip-ties being tied.

Once they were both disguised, Shayna thought that they were now looking impressive, with their newly-acquired combat gears and helmets. At the very least, they were looking more impressive than the two unlucky sentries, hog-tied with ropes and gagged with tape, and left to be found in their most intimate garments. The blond guard was hiding rather long and lustrous hair inside her helmet, and her locks were now spread on the floor. She had opted to wear comfortable blue full-cup bra and white hiphugger panties. The brown-haired guard was more muscular, and therefore more tightly hog-tied. She was wearing a black bullet-cup bra and matching cheeky panties.

Klenia adjusted her helmet. She imitated the voice of a character of a war movie. “All right men, we're going to war!”

Shayna chuckled and took the machine gun. “I don't think I'll be able to use it though..."

Klenia gave her a reassuring smile. “Me neither. If we come to this, I'll use the handgun. For now, just look the part and stay behind me. If things get ugly, run for cover.”

“Okay.”

“Let's go. You ready Shan?”

“Shayna.”

“Shayna?”

“My name is Shayna. Shan is a fake name.”

Klenia's smile widened. “Then let's go, Shayna.”

When they left, they heard the brown-haired guard starting to come to her senses, and to moan in her gag. But there would be no one to hear her, as all the other guards of the area were currently in a similar predicament (ableit with more clothes).

**************

Mikani's disguise allowed her to go inside the warehouse. The other workers and guards didn't pay any attention to the pale frail-looking palette truck driver that was scurrying between them as if she had urgent business to do. While she was stronger than she looked, Mikani knew how to make herself look insignificant and weak when she had to. Who would even suspect her of being an impostor, if they barely noticed that she was here? And it was not as if the real worker could denounce her, as she was currently hidden inside a wooden crate, clad in her beige underwear and secured with a lot of tape. She probably hadn't even woken up from her chloroform-induced nap yet.

Calypso Callianass and Zoë Eudokia were still in the platform, but Mikani paid no glance to them in order to avoid blowing her cover.

She went to several places of the warehouse, putting her devices in place. Then, she joined one of the building’s exits. Once she was there, she pressed a button in the small remote control she kept hidden in her pocket.

In the warehouse, her smoke bombs belched copious amounts of thick black odorous smoke. Mikani pulled the alarm signal.

“Fire! Fire!” she screamed as loud as she could.

Her screams were soon echoed by other panicked employees, and people started to run for the nearest exit. Before fleeing the building, Mikani took a quick glance back. Calypso, Zoë and their guards were leaving the warehouse through the back door. She smiled.

Perfect...

**************

Aster knew that things were going to become serious when she heard the fire alarm.

“Mikani has done it!”

The problem was that Aster and her weren't in place yet... The alarm signal had been pulled too soon. Or Aster had been too slow. Either way, they had to hurry up.

“Quick!” she told her two companions.

Calypso's armoured car was parked in the back of the warehouse. The mob boss was about to leave the building to jump in her car any second now...

Suddenly, Aster saw her from afar. Zoë Eudokia was walking alongside her. She was escorted by her bodyguard and two henchwomen.

“There they are!” she said.

Calypso's bodyguard saw them running in their direction. Aster saw her say something to her boss. Calypso quickly opened the door of her car.

“I think our cover is blown...” Aster said. And they are too far... We won't be able to capture her... If only they left a few minutes later, we could have replaced the driver... She cursed.

“They are too far.” Emery suddenly said. “We had clear instructions.”

“Emery... I didn't say...”

The black-haired woman had already raised her machine gun. Calypso's bodyguard had seen her aim at them and she didn't waste any time. She roughly pushed her boss and Zoë Eudokia inside the car and jumped behind them, while screaming to the two guards to hide behind the other side of the car.

When Emery's finger pulled the trigger, the bodyguard had just closed the door. The hail of bullets hit the armoured bodywork and armoured windows of the car without penetrating it. Had the bodyguard reacted two seconds too late, Calypso would have been dead. The two henchwomen weren't directly targeted by Emery's first volley of shots, and therefore barely escaped the bullets. They jumped over the car's hood and took cover behind its metallic frame.

Aster understood that the two guards were about to shoot back, using the car as a protection. To force them to remain hidden and prevent them from counter-attacking, she shot over the car's hood.

“Abort mission!” she screamed between two volleys of bullet. “Abort mission!”

Aaria was the first to run, opening up the way for her two teammates. Aster and Emery followed her, taking it in turns to shoot, in order to maintain a sustained fire and prevent the guards to aim at them.

They disappeared between the metallic containers. Calypso's guards barely missed them and their shots bounced on the metallic boxes.

A few moments later, Klenia and Shayna met up with them.

"Aster... What's going on?" Klenia asked.

“The mission failed!” Aster said. "We hightail out of here!"

The five women ran away. They crossed several workers on their way, but they all fleed when they saw their weapons. Soon, the five women disappeared in the alleys of the harbour district. A few blocks away, several cars were waiting for them. Mikani was already there. They jumped in the vehicles and Morgan Shark's drivers immediately sped up to leave the area.

**************

Well... My first failure since a long time... Aster morosely thought to herself. This is war, I guess... We can't always win...

Mikani was sitting left to her. She looked uncomfortable and nervously shifted on her seat. The young woman was paler than usual. Aster was even starting to feel worried, and was about to ask her what was wrong when she suddenly talked.

“I'm sorry!”

“Sorry?” Aster repeated, surprised by her outburst.

“I pulled the alarm signal too soon... The mission failed because of me... I... I'd understand if you were mad at me...”

Aster shook her head and grabbed her friend's shoulder. “You're responsible of nothing. We had a precise schedule to follow, but we knew there would be a lot of variables. I think that we tried to bite more than we could chew right from the start... Calypso Callianass survived four assassination attempts and two gang wars. We should have known it would be difficult...”

Mikani calmed herself a little and gave her a thankful look.

At the same moment, the phone of the man on the passenger seat ringed. He listened to the person on the other side of the line. His face crumbled.

“What's going on?” Aster asked.

“Morgan is calling. He has terrible news. Three of our hideouts were attacked one hour ago!”

**************

Calypso was sitting straight on her seat. Zoë Eudokia was sitting in front of her. She had been a little shaken, but didn't seem as shocked by the recent events as an average rich daddy's girl would have been. Clearly this was a woman who was used to gunshots, even if it was in a shooting gallery. Next to Zoë, there was Sao, who was currently talking in her walkie-talkie. On both sides of Calypso, Rhea and Silva, the two guards who made the assailants flee, were seated.

Calypso patiently waited until her bodyguard was done gathering informations. Then she asked: “So?”

“They were probably working for Morgan Shark.”

Calypso nodded. She had already figured that one out. “They were close this time...” she simply commented. She looked at Sao and her two guards. "Good job. Remind me to give a raise to the three of you."

The two guards shared a small smile.

"What about the assaults on their hideouts?” Calypso then asked to Sao.

“They went smoothly, but there weren't as many people as we had hoped, and some of them managed to escape.”

“Of course there weren't many people in the hideouts, since they were here.”

“We also found Joane in one of their turfs. She was their prisoner.”

“That explains how they knew about the warehouse. Yet, I didn't figure Joane for a squealer...”

“What are your instructions?”

“I can't blame her for talking. I may have done the same in her situation. But I also can't let slide such betrayal...”

“The next shipment?” Sao understood.

“Yes.”

Calypso turned her attention back to her guest. “I apologize for the inconvenience. I realize that this day may seem hectic to you. I also apologize for discussing such crude subjects in front of you.”

Zoë shrugged. “Olympian politics are just as cutthroat.” She was trying to hide her contempt, and she was very good at it. But Calypso was even better at reading people, and she was familiar with that tiny spark of scorn in the corner of the eyes. Most of the Olympians talking to her had it. However, contrary to all the other Olympians she met, Zoë wasn't despising her because she came from the Province of Naïad. She was despising her because she was a human trafficker, arguably a much more valid reason. Calypso found it refreshing and was almost considering the young woman with sympathy.

“Concerning our little matter... You said that your informants had found clues.” the copper-red-haired womand added.

“The Rebellion was involved.” Calypso answered.

Zoë nodded with a predatory smile. “I knew it. The others wouldn't believe me, but I knew it. Do you have any details?”

“Not yet, but I can put some people on the case. I think I know who they corrupted in the local police. Once my men have a name, I'll give it to you. And then you will have your vendetta.”

**************

In Morgan Shark's fallback hideout, the atmosphere was morose. Shark had been injured during the attacks. The wound wasn't too serious, but the pain was worsening his mood. He was listening to his men's reports and trying to estimate the damages. According to the survivors, the assailants were working for the Callianass Cartel.

Aster, Mikani, Aaria and Klenia were speaking together. Shayna was listening to them, as she didn't want to remain too close to Shark while he was in a bad mood. Emery had isolated herself in a corner of the room. She was still wearing her stolen combat gear, which she seemed to like. She had disassembled her newly-aquired machine gun and was cleaning it.

"I guess we'll have to find another way to get Calypso...” Aaria commented.

“The Cartel's mercenaries hit us hard, but I still have enough men to plan a counter-attack.” Morgan Shark said from the other side of the room.

“Calypso will expect a punitive expedition.” Emery intervened. “And her men freed Joane. We can't use her informations anymore...”

“That's true...” Shark admitted.

“We'll have to find something.” Aster added.

Shayna was listening, pondering if she should speak. All her former plans to bring the Cartel to its knees were caming to her mind. Plans that she abandonned because she lacked the resources... Resources of which she now had access if Shark agreed to help her...

“However, outside of a frontal assault, I don't see any plan.” Shark said. “At least for now.”

“There's maybe another solution...” Shayna intervened.

Everyone gazed at her. She almost regretted her intervention, but she decided to not be intimidated. She hadn't forgotten what the Cartel did to Venia, or that she still had to make them pay for it.

“How would you know?” Klenia asked.

“I didn't choose to assault Joane Madge on the cruise ship at random. I... I have a score to settle with Callianass. It took me two years to collect informations and I imagined several plans... But I could set up none of them, because I lacked the resources to put them in motion... However, with your help, we may be able to succeed. I have informations that Joane didn't know. Calypso will expect attacks on places that Joane knew, but she may lower her guard, even a little, in the places in which she thinks no one will be looking for her...”

“Sounds good...” Morgan said. “I might even make diversion by attacking the places Joane informed us about with our remaining men. Calypso will send most of her mercenaries to repel us and flee to one of the hideouts that she thinks are still safe. But if you know about them, a small team would be able to reach her...”

“There is just one problem.” Emery intervened. “Why would you help us again? Why do you want to bring down the Cartel?”

“Emery!” Klenia exclaimed. “You can't force her to talk about that!”

The assassin ignored her outburst and continued to coldly stare at Shayna. She was expecting an answer.

“The Cartel hurt someone close to me.” Shayna answered. She hesitated and swallowed. “My sister Venia was... The Cartel..." She pulled herself together. "Venia was desperately trying to earn some money, and she thought that she could... She was tricked by the Cartel.”

“She was put in one of Callianass' shipments, right?” Morgan Shark understood.

“Yes. They sold her oversee.”

Klenia put a consoling hand on her shoulder. Shayna looked at her and saw in her eyes that she was deeply sorry for her. She mouthed a small Thank you to her before turning her attention back to Shark.

“So if you still want to crush the Cartel, I'm with you. For free this time.” Shayna concluded.

Morgan Shark smiled. “Then what are we waiting for?”

Part 5

Morgan Shark was reacting predictably, but he was still a threat. Over the last few days, most of the buildings belonging to the Cartel in East Harbour had been targeted by the raids of the remaining Rebels. The attacks were discreet, to not attract the attention of the police, but still dangerous. Calypso deployed most of her mercenary teams to repel them. She was successful and didn't lose many men, even though the Rebels also lost very few fighters. The tactic wasn't different from the other gang wars she fought.

I guess I overestimated him... Ultimately, he's nothing but a stupid male...

However, to flee the dangers of East Harbour, Calypso decided to go to one of the several places she used as a fall-back position.

At first glance, the resort village in the city's countryside could look like an odd choice. The 'resort village' was a group of isolated chalets built around a main building that served as a restaurant. They were surrounded by meadows and, a little further, by forests.
The place was also remote from the town, in a region devoid of any Rebellion sympathizers. The resort was frequented by Olympians and therefore had its own security staff. Most of the guests also brought bodyguards with them. If an intruder would show up, all these people would jump on him. And Calypso had brought with her Sao and a group of five mercenaries to protect her. They were all women and the elite of her fighters.
And, of course, her best weapon was the secret. Who would have thought to go looking for a mob boss in a quiet tourist trap? Nobody but her closest collaborators knew about her decision to go there. Joane wasn't part of them. She was here under a fake identity. She was sure that nobody knew.

Near the resort, there were even a spa and a riding club. However, these services weren't the reason why Calypso enjoyed going there. She went to that specific resort hotel to enjoy the embarassed smiles of the other clients. Most of them were Olympians. Seeing them force themselves to be polite and friendly towards someone who was obviously a native of the despised (by them) Province of Naïad was one of her greatest pleasures in life.

“Morgan Shark led an assault on our gambling house last night.” Sao was saying. “We managed to fend them off until the police arrived.”

“I guess they escaped in time.”

“Yes, but they are wearing out quicker than us and every time they mount a raid, they risk being discovered by the Olympians.”

“We just have to wait then...” Calypso concluded. “Almost no one knows about this fall-back position, and Joane wasn't among them.”


**************


“I'm actually impressed... How did you manage to know about that place?” Klenia asked.

Shayna smiled. It was always nice to be complimented. “You'd be surprised how much people like Calypso tend to forget that danger doesn't always come from powerful rivals... Sometimes, it's the nobodies you have to beware of. During the two years following my sister's abduction, I collected informations. After a while, I started to know Calypso's schedule as well as her. Whenever I could, I was following her. That's how I found about her little abode...”

“Good idea, by the way, to split up Morgan's informants and have them watch each of Calypso's fall-back positions." Klenia continued. "And I have to say that the plan you imagined to get in the resort was good. It only needed a few tweakings to actually work...”

Shayna couldn't help but feel embarassed after receiving so much praises. Her cheeks blushed a little.

“The others are all here and in position now. We will be able to take action. Let's go meet up with Aster. The three of us will have to begin the festivities.” Klenia added.

“You know that this won't be easy, right?” Shayna asked, surprised by her enthusiasm.

“Yes. Isn't it exciting?”

“'Exciting' isn't exactly the first word that would come to me.”

“Keep working with us and, soon, it will be.”

**************

As always, Phila had led Silver at his stall herself. She loved that horse. Whenever she went to the Riding Club, she would choose him. Wether they were racing or strolling around, she had the impression that they were an extension of each other.

Phila dusted her red jacket. She was feeling a little tired and was enjoying the idea of taking a long shower. She'd always loved how she looked in her equestrian outfit: black riding hat, red jacket over white shirt, white riding pants and long black riding boots. A purple armband was tied around her left arm. Phila was among the Olympians who gave in to the latest mode at the capital city: she had stopped dying her black hair and instead was using either a scarf or an armband to show the colour of her Faction. For practical purpose, she had tied her long hair into a ponytail. Phila had spent most of the afternoon riding in the area near the resort, strolling in the woods. However, the Riding Club was about to close, and she was probably the last client to bring her horse.

The place was owned by Natsumi and Kazumi Uma, twin sisters who moved from the Province of Kachikuni, a region of Utopia well-known for its livestock production. Phila knew them personally. The sisters were hard workers and did most of the work themselves, with sometimes one or two seasonal employees. For the show, they were often wearing the traditional clothes their people used to wear when they were on horseback, leading their cattle in Kachikuni's immense plains, before the birth of the industrial world. Wide-brimmed hat, scarf, shirts and vest, woolen pants, and block heel boots.

Phila entered the Club's stable to sign the register, to prove that she brought back the horse she loaned. The place was empty, save for a lone woman wearing a garb similar to the ones worn by the Uma sisters. She was checking the register. Guess they hired someone to help them... Though they forgot to tell me... The woman's hat was white, her scarf yellow, her pants and vest off-white, and her boots brown. Phila saw Kazumi earlier that day and could have sworn that the owner of the Club was wearing the exact same clothes.

“Hello.” Phila called.

The woman looked up and smiled.

“Ah! Phila Apama of the Barca Faction, I presume? I was starting to worry something might have happened to you...”

“Sorry... I lost track of time...” she said with an apologizing smile. “I am the last one, right?”

“Yes. The Club is about to close. But you're just in time, so it's not a problem. Please, can you sign the register?”

“Of course.” Phila took the pen she was handing her.

“I assume you sleep in the resort tonight?” the employee said.

“Yes.”

“That means you have an access pass.”

Phila frowned. What a strange comment... “Of course.” She leaned forward to sign.

“That's all I need to know.”

Phila was caught completely off guard. The woman took this opportunity to wrap her arm around the equestrian's throat and apply a sleeper-hold. Phila gurgled in protest, but she wasn't in a position to do anything more. Her attempts at struggling didn't phase her assailant at all, and she soon started to pass out. Guess that means no shower and restaurant for me... Then, her mind blacked out.

**************

Aster sighed and dragged the unconscious black-haired rider by the underarms in one of the empty horse stalls.

“Coast is clear!” Aster said out loud after dropping her burden.

“Perfect!” Klenia's voice answered. She and Shayna were hiding in another stall.

Aster quickly got to work. First, she injected her victim with a dose of Agent Moonlight that would ensure hours of sleep. Then, she stripped her. She started with the riding hat, which she unbuckled and took off. Then, she continued with the boots, which were a little difficult to remove as Phila clearly had a lot of exercise today. Under the boots, the Olympian woman was wearing grey equestrian socks with pink little trimmings. Aster took them off as well, as she would need them with her boots. The belt and white pants came next, revealing grey boyshorts. Finally, Aster unbuttoned the red jacket and took it off, before doing the same with the white shirt. Phila's grey bra was matching her boyshorts. Her chest wasn't too big, but well-rounded. Her clothes were a perfect size for Aster.

“Classic and plain.” Klenia commented over Aster's shoulder, while looking the unconscious woman's underwear. The younger woman was also wearing an equestrian garb; the only difference being that her jacket was black.

“Klenia... That's rude...” Aster jokingly retorted.

“Just wanted to lighten your mood...” she said while raising her hands. “Did it work?”

“Yes.”

There was no shortage of ropes or of scarfs in the stable. Therefore, tying up Phila was an easy task. Wrists, ankles, thighs and upper-arms were all nicely wrapped in a solid coat of ropes. Some clothes were stuffed in her mouth and a scarf was tied over her mouth and behind her neck. Soon, Phila was left bound and gagged, resting on a haystack. Since this one was, at least, polite, Aster didn't want her to feel too much uncomfortable when she woke up. She took the time to check that the woman was breathing correctly through her nose before changing into her new clothes.

“Equestrian clothes fit you like a glove.” Klenia commented. “You look lovely in them. My advice: keep them and show them to Dimitri. I'm sure he'll like it.”

“I didn't know you were a marriage councelor, Klenia...” Aster joked.

“I have many talents.”

“Speaking of which. Are your donors well-secured?”

“Yep. I asked Shayna to check the bonds. And to make sure they were as tight and as uncomfortable as possible.”

Klenia and Shayna had disguised themselves as equestrians twenty minutes before Phila's arrival. The two Olympian women (a blonde and a brunette) they mugged for their clothes proved to be the stereotypical spoiled rich daughters during their brief interaction with Aster and Klenia, who were passing themselves as employees of the Club. Haughty and contemptuous, rude and self-entitled. After punching their lights out, Klenia was happy to leave them with a strict hog-tie and a painful crotch-rope. She also used her and Shayna's already worn socks as gags.

Never get on Klenia's bad side... Aster mentally noted.

As hard as it was to imagine now, Klenia used to be the unpopular kid at school, and the two women were unlucky to remind her of the rich spoiled bullies who used to harass her.

“They're well-secured.” Shayna commented while exiting an other stall, also fully disguised.

“Perfect.” Aster commented. “With these clothes and access passes, we will look like clients of the resort that spent the afternoon at the Riding Club.”

“We go?”

“Yes. I'll call the others while we're on our way to check if they acquired their own disguises. Just don't forget to lock all the Club's doors and put the CLOSED sign in.”

**************

The Riding Club was actually the resort's weak spot. Officially, it wasn't part of the complex, as it was owned by the Uma sisters. Therefore, it lacked its security system. However, the resort's management forgot one important detail. A lot of the people going to the Riding Club were also either clients of the resort, or were intending to go there after their ride.

Soon, Aster, Klenia and Shayna were leaving the Riding Club.

“Are you sure nobody will come by and discover our victims?” Shayna asked. She was looking a little worried.

“Only the owners could. And we all know that they will not be going anywhere. At least not before a couple of hours.” Aster answered.

For obvious reasons, Aster and her two partners couldn't let Natsumi and Kazumi Uma walk around freely while they were assaulting their clients. The red-headed twins were therefore the first mugged victims of the Rebels' big operation. Currently, they were probably still sleeping leaning against each other, seated in a corner of the room they used as an office. They were bound with ropes, and gagged and blindfolded with black package tape. In order to masquerade as their employees, Klenia and Aster also took their clothes. Therefore, short-haired Natsumi and long-haired Kazumi were down to their respective black and light purple underwear.

Aster took her phone and dialed a number.


**************


“Yes. ... ... ... You're good too? Perfect. ... ... ... Yes, we just finished. We'll be on our way.”

Aaria hung up, smiled and looked down. The three sleeping women were lying side by side, hidden behind some bushes. Two had dark brown hair and olive skin, the third had lighter brown hair and lighter skin. They had been stripped to their white bra and panties (or pink in the case of one of them). Their bodies were almost entirely mummified by brown package tape from their feet to their shoulders, binding their legs and pinning their arms to their bodies. The same tape was being wrapped around their lower faces and their eyes to gag and blindfold them.

“I must admit, Morgan Shark's contact did a wonderful work helping us stop their van...” Aaria commented.

Ten minutes ago, the catering crew was driving in one of the woods near the resort village. They were supposed to supply the resort's restaurant with fresh products. Then, they came across a stopped car blocking both roads. Generously, the three women offered their help to what they assumed were people who ran out of gas. Aaria, seconded by Emery and Mikani, took this opportunity to jump on them. A brief fight and a few pads soaked with chloroform later, they could undress the caterers in peace while Morgan's men drove their car away.

Aaria was feeling a little bad for them but, as Aster often said, they were collateral damages. Well, I'll send an anonymous tip to have them freed once everything is over...

The older woman looked at her two teammates. Mikani was adjusting the collar of her jacket. Emery was looking at the pink uniform she had to wear with a disgusted grimace. (Aaria agreed with her for once. The pink jacket and pink pants were an abomination.)

“Let's go.” she ordered.

They climbed into the (pink) catering van.

“Pink...” Emery spat. “Are we supposed to be caterers or beauticians?”

Aaria ignored her outburst and started the engine.

“Aaria, I'm wondering...” Mikani started.

“Yes?”

“Perhaps I should be the one driving the van away while Emery and you stay behind to infiltrate the resort...”

“No.” Aaria softly replied. “Aster decided that you and Emery should be doing it.”

“But I...”

“Trust her judgement. If she thought you weren't ready for the task, she wouldn't have sent you. Just because there was one hiccup during an operation (one hiccup that wasn't your fault even), it doesn't mean that you suddenly became incompetent. You're still one of the best, and you will prove it.”

She smiled at the younger woman, who responded with a smaller smile. Aaria had always been a woman of few words, and her compliments were rare and scarce. She could see that Mikani was fully appreciating hers.




Part 6





Walking in the resort among all the Olympians proved to be a stressful experience, but Aster, Klenia and Shayna were succeeding without a hitch. Once again, as Aster had discovered when she began her infiltration missions, with the right clothes and the right attitude it was possible to fool most people. Nobody paid a second glance to three women in equestrian outfits who were coming back from the Riding Club. It was almost dinner time and some people were already heading for the restaurant in the middle of the resort village.

Now, for the next step, they had to approach Calypso Callianass and neutralize her guards without raising the alarm in the rest of the resort. Their luck was that Calypso didn't eat at the restaurant, but stayed in her chalet. Therefore, they would have an opportunity to capture her while everyone was busy eating in their own chalets or in the restaurant at the other side of the village. However, they needed to wait until Aaria's team was ready.

“Okay.” Aster said to her two companions. “Aaria, Mikani and Emery will arrive soon. While waiting for them, we'll go to our donors' chalets and change into casual clothes to attract less attention.”

The other two nodded. Their victims were staying in a chalet for two persons. Aster's had one of the few small chalets made for one person. The two places weren't that far, but they would have to split up at one point.

**************

After agreeing with Klenia and Shayna to meet up in ten minutes, Aster walked to the chalet in which Phila was staying. From outside, the wooden building seemed small. Probably three rooms: a bathroom, a bedroom and a living room. She took Phila's keys and opened the door.

“Excuse me!” a voice suddenly said behind her.

Aster turned around... and tried her best to hide her reaction of surprise. In front of her was standing Zoë Eudokia.

**************

Aaria parked the catering van in the restaurant's backyard. Near them, another smaller building was the administration building, in which some guards were stationed. Before leaving the vehicle, she instructed her companions: “We unload the boxes. Then, we say that we need to use the bathrooms. You two remain hidden in the toilets and change back into the casual clothes that you will have brought with you. If possible, you try to snag a security uniform. You regroup with Aster, Klenia and Shayna in the meeting point we decided. I'll leave with the van to not arouse suspicions.”

“Are you sure you will be okay?” Mikani asked.

“You saw it just like me. This is a resort, not a prison. They didn't even stop us on our way here and they won't prevent us from leaving.”

“There are security guards and security cameras, but Calypso's best defense was the secret.” Emery added. “Calypso is counting on the fact that no one knows that she's here and no one will think of looking for her here. And if we didn't get informations from Shayna, it would have worked. Callianass got cocky. She saw Morgan react exactly how she predicted he would react after her raids, and now she thinks that he's a dumb brute, that she can read into him like in an open book... She's too arrogant for her own good.”

“If you say so...” Mikani said.

**************

Zoë Eudokia was wearing black low-heeled shoes and a business suit designed by a renowned fashion designer. There were white stripes in her black jacket and black pants. In her copper-red hair, one strand had been dyed white. The colour white was here to remind that she, just as every member of House Eudokia, was a member of the Bélisaire Faction.

Aster noticed that she had the same piercing eyes, the same nose and the same chin as her father Heraclius. The man Aster helped to murder. While she knew that the guy was a monster responsible of the killings of civilans, and a self-entitled pervert to boot, facing his now orphaned daughter was still a terrible experience.

“H... Hello. Can I help you?”

Zoë Eudokia smiled at her.

“I see you come back from the Riding Club. I would like to join it, but I don't have my own equipment. Could you tell me if I could loan them one?”

“Well... I...” Aster couldn't respond, because she had no idea about what were the club's policies. She was still too shaken to tell a convincing lie.

Zoë apparently wrongly deduced the reasons of her hesitation. “I'm sorry to accost you so directly, but I saw you from afar and I thought that this was the occasion. If you're more comfortable, we could talk inside...”

Aster hesitated, but Zoë was already moving forward and she didn't find a polite rebutal in time. “If you insist... But it'll have to be quick... I'm impatient to take a shower...”

“Of course.”

Aster entered the small chalet first, followed by the other woman.

“To be honest, I don't have an answer to your question, since I've always brought my own outfit.”

“It doesn't matter. But you will answer to my other question.”

Something in her tone alerted Aster. She turned around.

Zoë was still smiling, but it was now more a predatory grin. And she had a small handgun pointed at her. She probably kept the weapon hidden under her jacket, and took it while Aster had her back turned.

“I knew it. I knew I would get one of you if I stayed near Calypso long enough. Rebel scum.” Zoë calmly said.

**************

In the staff restroom, a place that wasn't watched by cameras to protect the people's intimacy, suspicious noises could be heard from the only occupied stall. They started with a “What are you doing?” and the door of the stall suddenly closing. Then came muffled screams for help, grunts, moans and sounds of punches. The beating was short but intense. After that, there were the noises of someone being stripped: thick shoes being taken off, belt being unbuckled, pants being removed from long legs, jacket being unzipped, shirt being unbuttoned. Then, the noises of someone redressing herself. Finally, the were the sounds of tape being ripped and zip-ties being tightened.

A few moments later, a black-haired woman dressed in a security guard uniform exited the stall. Inside the stall, an unconscious half-naked woman was seated on the white toilet bowl. Her only clothes currently consisted of the underwear she chose that morning: blue sports bra and panties. Her chin was sotfly resting on her chest and her long dishevelled brown hair were spilled over her head. Her hands were tied to the pipe behind her with zip-ties and tape. Her feet were secured to the toilet bowl with tape. Two strips had been taped over her eyes and mouth, respectively, leaving her quite helpless.

Emery closed the door and pinned the lock to lock it from the outside. Overpowering that so-called 'guard' had been disgustingly easy; and even without Aster's express orders, Emery still wouldn't even have bothered killing her. Such a weakling wasn't worth it.

Dominating her still felt good though... When she understood that she was completely powerless and unable to defend herself, the guard's confidence melted into pure terror.

Still the strongest... Still at the top... Emery thought.

Then, Emery looked at her new disguise: black shoes, blue pants, blue jacket over white t-shirt, and belt with several weapons on it. She smiled a little.

Now, that's a better outfit!

**************

Victoria awoke with a headache. Where am I? Last thing she rememberd, she was walking in the corridors of the administration building. And now, she was waking up in what looked like to be a supply closet. She frowned, trying to gather her thoughts, a task that wasn't helped by her lingering headache. She was feeling a little cold. Why? She suddenly realized that her security uniform was gone. She blushed a little when she realized that her red panties and bra with white polka dots were in full display for everyone to see. Her shriek of surprise was muffled. She could feel some cloth filling her mouth, held in place by the tape wrapped around her lower face. Victoria tried to move but she was tightly bound with duct tape around her arms, legs, and upper body. What happened?! Victoria thought, as she was starting to panick. The chestnut-haired security guard squirmed against her bonds. Was she assaulted? “Hlpmmmh!” Suddenly, she saw some movement in the corner of her eyes. There was someone else in the closet! “HLPMMMMH!” she moaned louder.

A woman wearing a security guard uniform appeared in her field of vision. Victoria's hope rose. She was saved! “Please, untie me... I've been mugged!” she tried to say to her colleague, but she only managed to let out muffled mewlings through her gag.

Then, her hopes were dashed. She realized that she didn't recognize the pale woman in front of her. She wasn't part of the staff. This is the mugger! she thought.

The woman grabbed Victoria's head and with the other she clamped an odorous cloth over her face. Victoria tried to squirm her way out, but she was clearly outmatched.

“Just breath. It will make it easier for you.” the woman said.

Victoria couldn't have done otherwise anyway and, soon, her eyelids closed while she was falling into a deep chloroform-induced sleep.

Mikani waited until she was sure that the chestnut-haired security guard was truly asleep. Then she gently laid her on the floor and left her there. She wasn't worried about her being found: there were no security cameras in the supply closet, and the corridor in which she ambushed the guard wasn't watched by camaras either. She took her phone and sent a text to Emery to inform her that she successfully acquired a disguise. Now, all they had to do was to regroup with Aster, Klenia and Shayna.

**************

Aster knew that she was in a bad posture. Zoë Eudokia was maybe 27 years old, and she may have had the looks of daddy's rich little daughter, but both her guard position and the way she was holding her gun showed that she knew how to fight and shoot. She was too far to try to disarm her and Aster saw in the young woman's eyes that she would shoot her dead if she tried to approach her. Therefore, she used the only tactic she could...

Trying to stall for time.

“How did you know I wasn't a client?” she asked, her eyes desperately trying to find something to help her neutralize her opponent.

But there wasn't anything...

“The riding outfit you're wearing. It belongs to Phila. I recognized it.” Zoë answered.

“A friend of yours?”

Zoë shrugged. “More like an acquaintance. I don't really like her.”

“Why are you calling me a Rebel? For all you know, I could be a mere robber...”

“If that's the case, you can say your prayers. Because I would have no use for you.”

Aster paled.

Zoë continued to talk. She was clearly exulting. “But a woman trying to infiltrate the resort a few days after Calypso went there... Just after the Cartel declared war to Morgan Shark... Using the same method as in the warehouse attacked by Rebels... A little too much for a mere coincidence, isn't it? So I guess you are a Rebel. Am I wrong?”

Aster kept silent.

“AM I WRONG?!” Zoë suddenly screamed, her smile replaced by barely contained rage.

“No.”

Zoë let out a satisfied noise. Aster's mind was racing. Something was wrong... Eudokia's attitude wasn't normal.

“Why aren't you calling security?” she asked. “For all you know, my friends could be attacking Calypso right now.”

Zoë let out a disdainful snigger. “And I should care? You think I liked associating myself with Callianass? I feel nothing but contempt towards that trafficker of human flesh. However, she was the only one who could help me find the culprit of my father's murder. Until now...”

So that's what she wants... Aster understood.

“Your friends may have been able to fool the others, but not me. I know that the Rebellion killed my father. And Callianass confirmed it. Now, I just want to know who... I'm sure you have some answers. After all, you lot are like a big family, right?”

“Your father was a monster and the world is better without him...” Aster reflexively retorted.

“Tell me something I don't know. My father was a killer and a dirty pervert. But he was also the man who taught me how to talk, who taught me how to walk. The man who made me jump on his knees when I was little. The man who paid me the best education money could buy.”

Aster bit her lips. She could see the burning hate in Zoë's eyes, and that fire was a promise of death. The young woman was watching her with unhidden malice.

“What do you say, Rebel?” concluded the copper-red-haired woman. “You tell me who killed my father, and I let you and your pals conduct your business with Calypso... It's a fair deal, isn't it?”

“You'll shoot me as soon as I give you the information you want.” Aster retorted.

“I'll also shoot you if you don't say anything. Then, I'll find another one of you guys strutting in the resort and make them talk. What do you choose?”

Zoë's finger approached the trigger of her gun. Aster was desperately trying to find a way out, but saw nothing.

So, this is how I'm going to die? Is it what they call poetic justice?

“I think she's going to choose neither.” a voice suddenly spoke up.

Zoë tried to turn around. Klenia's fist violently collided with her chin and threw her to the floor. She dropped her weapon in her fall. Klenia approached her to try to neutralize her for good. But Zoë, still on her back, hit her in the stomach with her foot when she got too close. The wind knocked out of her, Klenia moved back. Zoë tried to grab her gun but Aster, who got over her surprise, kicked it away from her hands. The redhead tried to get up, but Aster was already on her. She pinned her to the ground, twisting one of her arms in her back and sitting on her back to immobilize her. Zoë let out a shriek of pain. Aster ignored her.

“Klenia! Are you okay?”

“Yes... Yes... It's just... Damn! She hits hard!” her friend answered while catching her breath.

“I'm going to scream!” Zoë spat. “I'm going to scream for security and your whole operation will be ruined!”

Klenia closed the chalet's door to conceal the noises.

“Try to scream and I crush your neck!” Aster warned. “You may foil my plans, but you won't live to fight another day.”

Zoë wisely kept quiet. Aster turned her attention to her friend. Klenia was still wearing her equestrian garb.

“Just in time, Klenia.” Aster said to the younger woman with a huge thankful smile. “How did you know?”

“I saw you two talking from afar. I decided it would be better to check in and be sure everything was okay. Looks like I was right.” Klenia answered while smiling back.

“Thank you.” Aster let out a small sigh of relief. That was a close call this time... She thought she was a goner.

Klenia eyed Zoë. “What do you want to do with her?”

Aster hesitated.

“Go ahead. Kill me if you dare!” Zoë spat at her.

“I'm not going to kill a defenseless person if I can avoid it.” Aster retorted. “What do you think I am? An Olympian? Instead of whining about the death of a monster like Heraclius, why don't you start with the hundreds of people killed each year by your Government? There are a lot of fathers among them. And also a lot of mothers, and of grandparents, and of children.”

Zoë kept silent and Aster could see that she was feeling more unsure now. Good. Let her think about it a little. Maybe she'll be able to grow up.

“So, what do we do?” Klenia intervened. “We can't let her wander freely.”

“I said that I wasn't going to kill her. I didn't say that I was going to do nothing...” Aster answered.

Klenia gave her a knowing smile.

**************

A few minutes later, Aster finished buttoning up a black business jacket with white stripes, then she smoothed her similarly-coloured business pants.

“Thanks a lot for lending me the clothes. They're a perfect fit.” she said with a small smile.

“Mhhrrmhhh!”

Zoë's eyes shot daggers at her, but she couldn't do anything else about it. The copper-haired young woman was now down to her lavender lacy bra, white lacy panties with a blue edge, and purple socks. She was seated on a chair. Klenia always had a few rolls of duct tape on her and, once again, they were put to good use. Each of Zoë's arms was secured to one of the chair's armrests. The silver tape was wrapped around her hands, wrists and arms up to the elbows. She could only slightly wiggle the top of her fingers. Each of her legs was also secured with tape to one of the chair legs. The same silver tape was also used to secure her waist and upper body on the chair backrest. Zoë's mouth had been filled with washrags from the chalet's kitchen and dozens of strips of tape had been used to gag her lips.

“I advise you to not struggle” Aster said to the young woman, who was wriggling in her bonds to no avail. “That tape is the strongest we could buy. You won't free yourself. All you'll manage to do is falling on the ground and hurting yourself.”

She ignored Zoë's angry muffled shriek and called: “Klenia! You're good?”

“Yes!”

Klenia had helped herself in Phila's wardrobe and found a fitting ample black t-shirt, blue jeans and shoes. She was currently closing the shutters to give their latest victim some privacy.

“Perfect. We leave then.” Aster concluded.

The two women reached the chalet's door, but Aster couldn't resist being a little petty one more time.

“Have a nice evening!” she said to Zoë with a wink.

“MHHHHFFFFHHHHH!"

“Well said.”

Aster turned the light off, then closed and locked the door, leaving the young woman to struggle and mewl in her gag alone in the dark.

“We wasted enough time.” Aster concluded. “Let's go regroup with Shayna, then we'll meet up with Emery and Mikani. The real work begins now. It's time we deal with Calypso Callianass once and for all.”

Klenia nodded, a determined look on her face.

Part 7

Currently, Calypso was talking on her phone to her accountant.

Max Shroud was the best when it came to handle someone's finances, wether they were legal or not. He was also the only man Calypso liked to have in her entourage. Because he was the only man who never ever attached any importance to her body when talking to her.

“The latest assault on your personal hotel has been successfully repelled, madam.” Max was saying. “They tried to send women to infiltrate the place, but they failed to enter your personal room. They apparently still think you're in East Harbour.”

That was a good thing. The secret of her presence in the resort village was a protection just as efficient as Sao and her 5 guards.

”Police is starting to patrol the streets.” Max continued. ”Morgan Shark and his men had to retreat. It looks like they're weakened, and they may even have to give up their hold on East Harbour to take refuge in their hideouts of the countryside.”

Calypso smiled. If Morgan was forced to left the city, it would take him years to be able to regain a foothold in it... And it wasn't even certain that he would succeed.

“Good job Max. As always.”

“Thank you madam.”

“I trust you to take care of things until my return. I'll be back in a few days.”

“Understood, madam. Max Shroud, out.”

Calypso hung up. She was confident now.

She was winning the war in East Harbour's streets. She may have lost the track of the Rebellion's agents, as her intel had confirmed to her that they had successfully arrived out of her reach in the Province of Korê. But she gained something even better... Full control over East Harbour.

Calypso was happy. So happy that she almost asked Sao if she would like to join her in her room to share a private moment. Just the two of them. The two women had grown close during their time working together, closer than a normal professional relationship. And Sao had let out several times that she could be interested... Calypso's gaze met the gaze of her taller and more muscular black-haired bodyguard.

She smiled at her and Sao smiled back. Out of their five guards, four were outside and one was resting in one of the bedrooms.

“Soon...” Calypso's smile was saying.

**************

Counting her bodyguard Sao, Calypso Callianass was protected by 6 guards, the maximum allowed by the resort village. Her chalet was the size of a big house. The building was a little isolated from the rest of the resort, and there were a few bushes and trees that could be used as covers, but there was still a big clean empty space allowing the guards to patrol and watch the surroundings.

Currently, Sao was inside the chalet with her boss. The shutters were open, so Aster's team would have to be careful to not be seen from the inside of the wooden building, and to always take action in the place's blind spots.

Four guards were patrolling outside. The fifth was resting inside the chalet.

All guards were wearing the same outfit, almost entirely identical to the combat gears worn by the guards of the Callianass warehouse in East Harbour. Black combat boots, black pants and a kevlar vest over a black tank top, black combat gloves, pads protecting the elbows and wrists, and a helmet. The only difference was their equipement. They weren't allowed to have machine guns on them; even though Aster was sure that several of these weapons were hidden in the chalet. Instead, they each had a handgun stowed in a holster on their belt; as well as plastic handcuffs, a can of pepper spray, a baton, a stun gun and, most important of all, a walkie-talkie that allowed them to communicate between each other, and with the resort's security.

“We'll start with the four guards outside.” Aster instructed. “We'll have to be careful. If only one of them manage to raise the alarm, the whole mission will fail.”

**************

Two guards were watching the back of the chalet. They were following the same pattern. They would stay at their post for a while, observing the wooden building’s blind spots. Then, they would patrol; approaching the green space behind the chalet to inspect the bushes and trees. Finally, they would return to their post, stay there for a while and then go for another patrol.

Mikani was watching them from afar, hidden behind the trees and bushes. She got a stun-gun from the security guard she mugged and Aster had decided to put it to good use to quickly knock out the two mercenaries guarding the back.

Mikani saw one of the guards check her wristwatch and say a few words to her partner. They left their post to patrol the area. The taller guard of the two was leading the way and the shorter was following her. Their search was methodic. They clearly were professionals. However, days of boring and uneventful surveillance had made them a little more careless than they should have.

Mikani ducked for cover. The taller guard passed near her hiding spot without seeing her. The smaller guard was following her closely. Mikani took a deep breath. This was her window of opportunity. She ignored her doubts and leapt out of the bushes.

With one hand, Mikani covered the guard's mouth. With the other, she administered her a good jolt of the stun-gun she stole along with her security uniform. The guard barely had the time to register what was happening before crumbling in Mikani's arms, out like a light.

The taller guard heard the noise of the brief struggle and turned around to see what was going on. Emery suddenly appeared behind her. A jolt of stun-gun put her out of commission too.

Soon, the two unconscious guards were dragged in the nearest bushes, where Klenia and Shayna were waiting. Together, they quickly took off all the two guards' clothes, except their white sports bras and panties.

While Klenia and Shayna were busy redressing themselves in the guards' combat gears, Mikani and Emery used the women's plastic cuffs to bind their wrists and ankles. The two guards were then chloroformed to ensure they would remain still for a while, and pieces of Klenia's and Shayna's clothes were made into makeshift blindfolds and gags to keep them quiet once they would wake up. Finally, they were dragged deeper in the bushes, out of sight.

The disguised Klenia and Shayna quickly took the mercenaries' place, while Emery and Mikani went to regroup with Aster.

**************

The two mercenaries at the front of the chalet were going to be more difficult to subdue without raising attention. Unless, of course, Aster's team would use the oldest trick in the book...

Mikani and Emery were still dressed as security guards. Calypso's mercenaries had no reason to doubt that they weren't what they looked like. Adopting the confident attitude of the people who are exactly where they're supposed to be, they approached the two mercenaries. The first had blue eyes and her blond hair were tied into a small ponytail. The second had a darker skin, brown eyes and one could make out brown locks under her helmet.

“What do you want?” asked the blond-haired henchwoman.

“There's a problem. We spotted an intruder in the bushes near the chalet of madam Yllac.”

The two guards exchanged a quick glance.

“I swear, if this is another couple of drunk guests making out in the woods, I'll throw a bucket of cold water on them...” growled the brown-haired mercenary.

Emery made eye contact with her. “Follow me. We'll sort things out.” She smiled. “I'll gladly join you if this is another false alarm...”

The brunette nodded and followed Emery. As they were leaving, she turned toward her blond partner. “Rhea, warn Iris and Windy, as well as Sao and madam Yllac. Just in case.” she ordered.

“Okay.”

The brown-haired guard and Emery moved in the direction of the bushes in one of the chalet's blind spots.

The blond mercenary grabbed her walkie-talkie.

“Not the most rewarding job out there, huh?” Mikani said, as if she was wanting to do small chit-chat. In reality, she was trying to buy time. She wanted the brown-haired guard to be out of earshot before she took action.

“More than you can think.” the blonde, Rhea, answered. “It pays well. And I recently got a raise.”

“Really? I didn't know that madam Yllac was such a generous boss.”

“If you work correctly and don't fail her, she's one.”

“Perhaps I should drop off my résumé...” Mikani pretended to joke.

Rhea smiled a little, put at ease by Mikani's apparent niceness and fragile appearance. “You could always try... Now, if you excuse me, I have to make some calls. This is the protocol.”

“I understand.” Mikani said. At the same time, she was glancing at Emery and the other guard. Not as far as I would have liked, but it'll have to do...

Rhea had taken her walkie-talkie and was about to turn it on when Mikani took action. “I know it's protocol, but I would prefer that you dropped the walkie-talkie.”

Rhea's eyes widened in fear when she felt Mikani's knife under her chin.

She immediately dropped her walkie-talkie.

“Don't scream. You seem nice enough, for someone who works for a mob boss. But I won't hesitate to slit your throat if you try to resist.”

Klenia, still disguised, arrived near them from the corner of the chalet behind which she was hiding. “You're not Windy!” Rhea whispered. Klenia was discreetly pointing a gun at her.

“You'll go for a walk with us?” Klenia said. “If you cooperate, we'll be gentle. If not, it will be a lot more painful. But only for you.”

“You'll have to find another job.” Mikani concluded. “Hopefully, the next boss you will choose won't be a rotten mob boss.”

Rhea's mouth opened and closed several times without producing a sound. She was left speechless. The element of surprise, and understanding that two security guards and two of her colleagues had already been replaced with no one noticing, was leaving her stunned. Mikani understood that, in her head, the mercenary was already considering herself beaten. She wouldn't try to resist.

Klenia and Mikani led Rhea to the bushes in which the unfortunate Windy and Iris were already hidden. If someone was watching them from the inside, they would be fooled into thinking that the three women were simply inspecting the surroundings. Still, as a precaution, Mikani and Klenia were careful to remain in the chalet's blind spots as long as possible, and to disappear behind the bushes and trees the moment they could.

“I almost waited...” Emery commented.

Rhea gaped in astonishment at what she saw: Windy and Iris already bound and gagged in their underwear, while her brown-haired partner was already unconscious and in the process of being undressed by Shayna and Aster.

“She barely put up a fight...” the assassin commented while looking at the mercenary she overpowered.

Rhea was left speechless.

Klenia looked at the blond-haired mercenary. “We give you the choice. The chloroform or the stun-gun. Which do you prefer?”

“This can't be real...” Rhea muttered.

“We don't have all day, sweetie. Which do you prefer?”

Rhea blinked several times very fast. “The... The chloroform?” She hesitated one second, before adding. “Please?”

“Well, since you said 'please'...” Klenia chloroformed her.

**************

Soon, the now deeply-asleep Rhea was left in her blue sports bra and matching boyshorts. Klenia laid her between her brown-haired partner, who was clad in black panties and bra, and the two other guards they ambushed a few minutes earlier. Rhea and the brunette were tied up with plastic cuffs, and Mikani's and Emery's uniforms were sacrificed to make new makeshift gags and blindfolds. The latter two were already redressing themselves in their new combat gear.

Emery seemed particularly content with her change of disguise.

Soon, the five women were coming out the bushes, leaving behind four well-concealed bound-and-gagged underwear-clad guards.

Aster smiled. So far, so good... “Well, now that you four entered Callianass' personal guard, it's time we pay her a little visit to talk about your working conditions.” she joked.

She was answered by Mikani's, Shayna's and Klenia's smiles.

“We go?” Emery impatiently intervened.

**************

Shayna was feeling a mixture of nervousness and impatience. This was it. If, one week earlier, someone had told her that she was going to have an occasion to catch Calypso Callianass herself, she wouldn't have believed them.

But, today, she was here. And this wasn't a dream. Venia... After two years... Finally...

Emery was leading the way. She was their better fighter. If someone inside had realized that something was wrong, she was the most likely to be able to fight them off. The black-haired woman opened the door. It wasn't locked. There was nobody in the entrance hall. Everything was quiet. Perhaps a little too quiet...

Aster silently used hand gestures to give to them the order to deploy. She silently closed the door.

Shayna could feel her heartbeat skyrocket. She was starting to feel anxious.

Klenia grabbed her hand and briefly squeezed it. They exchanged a glance and, while it made Shayna blush a little, Klenia's smile also had a soothing influence on her. She managed to calm her heart beats and muttered a “Thanks...” to the other woman. Klenia answered with a wink.

Emery opened the door leading to the living room and, suddenly, they understood why nobody inside the chalet had been paying attention to what was happening outside.

Seated on the couch, Calypso was caressing her bodyguard's cheek and gently kissing her.

A little surprised to come across such an intimate moment, the five intruders remained motionless a few seconds.

It was enough time for Sao to notice them. Her eyes widened.

“Calypso! Duck for cover!” she immediately screamed.

Sao immediately jumped from the couch to grab the handgun on the low table in front of her.

Unfortunately for her, Emery was just as quick. She grabbed the bodyguard's wrist just in time to twist it and force her to drop her gun. A struggle ensued between the two. Sao was trying to grab the combat knife on her belt while Emery was trying to immobilize her.

Calypso moved to grab the handgun that was now on the floor. Aster and Shayna blocked her path.

Suddenly, the door of the living room burst open. A brown-haired woman, only dressed in a grey tank top and black panties, rushed barefoot inside the room, a gun in her hand. This was probably Calypso's fifth guard, who was resting in one of the bedrooms and didn't take the time to fully dress up when she heard the fight.

“Boss! I'm coming!”

She pointed her gun at Shayna. She was about to shoot her dead.

“Don't touch her!” Klenia roared.

She punched the guard in the face. The henchwoman fell on the ground.

However, the guard's arrival successfully made diversion. Aster and Shayna had turned their heads towards her. Calypso took the opportunity to shove Aster out of the way, and lunged for the gun.

Shayna jumped on her and the two women fell on the floor. Sao and Emery were still fighting nearby.

Even though she had lived in luxury the last few years, Calypso started her career on the streets, and she still had some reflexes. With Shayna on top of her, her first action was to free one of her arms and punch her as hard as she could on the temple. Shayna fell on the side, allowing the mob boss to recover. She drew a small switchblade hidden in a pocket of her expensive suit.

“I will gut you!”

Aster kicked her hard in the hand, sending the blade flying across the room. Calypso cried in pain. Aster ignored her screams and immobilized the mob boss by twisting her arm in the back.

On the other side of the room, already groggy because of the first punch she took, Calypso's last guard couldn't properly resist Klenia. Especially since the latter was furious that she tried to shoot Shayna. A few more brutal punches, and the mercenary was already submitting. Mikani finished the work with a gentle sleeper-hold; and the woman seemed almost glad that the beating was over, to the point that she didn't even try to resist it. On the contrary, she was looking relieved.

Emery ended her fight with a low blow. Using her knee, she hit Sao several times in the stomach until the bodyguard fell on her knees. Then she moved behind her and used her arm to strangle her into submission, only stopping when the woman was half-unconscious.

**************

They had won.

Shayna was relieved.

Emery was watching Calypso. The mob boss was seated on the couch, hands tied in front of her. Mikani was busy securing the guard she knocked out, using some bed sheets as bonds and gag. Sao had been stripped of her clothes, to make sure that she couldn't have access to a hidden weapon. The bodyguard was only clad in a black sports bra and black shorts. Aster was tying her hands behind her back while Klenia was securing her legs.

Aster's team now had to quickly leave the resort village before anyone would understand what was going on. Hopefully, Zoë was still taped to her chair and nobody had discovered what happened in the Riding Club.

“I can give you one million each and the promise that the Cartel won't go after you.” Calypso suddenly said. To her credit, her tone was calm. She was bargaining with them as if she wasn't completely at their mercy.

“Keep your dirty money. You know who sent us.” Aster retorted.

“With my money, you could live a life of luxury and stop crawling in front of a man. Aren't you tired of taking orders from them?”

Her answer made Shayna seethe with anger.

“Spare us your crap!” she spat. “You talk about women's empowerment? Yet at the same time you lord over the biggest human trafficking ring of the country! You disgust me!”

“So what? I use all means at my disposal to stay at the top. I know that people are hurt because of me. And? I used to be like them. I still managed to crawl my way to the top. If they're not happy, they're free to try to take my place.”

“Well, guess what. This is the case today.”

Calypso raised an eyebrow. “Do I know you?”

“Your Cartel has sold my sister two years ago! Don't you remember? Venia Iven. And now, you're gonna tell me everything you know about her!”

“I don't handle the details of the Cartel's trafficks myself.” Calypso calmly retorted. "I have no idea of what happened to her."

That's it! This time, Shayna saw red. She raised her fist to punch her. She was going to make her suffer. She was going to hit her until she begged. She was...

Klenia grabbed her arm. “Don't do it. She's not worth it.”

Shayna held back her tears. “I just... I just thought that I finally had a lead... But...”

“Morgan will make her talk.”

Shayna closed her eyes and lowered her fist. Klenia briefly hugged her to console her.

Aster finished tying up Calypso's bodyguard. Sao caught eyes with her boss. “I'm sorry, madam.” she simply said before being gagged.

Calypso shrugged. “It's not your fault. I've always known it would end that way one day. Rigol Frisk actually warned me the very first day, when I poisoned him to take his place. A mob boss rarely lives old.”

“I trust that you still have enough self-respect to not be a sore loser and come quietely?” Aster said.

“If you promise you won't hurt Sao, then yes.”

Aster simply nodded.

**************

Leaving the resort village was a mere formality compared to infiltrating it. Aster disguised herself as Calypso's last henchwoman. The five women were now dressed in the combat gears of Callianass' mercenaries. They used the mob boss' limousine to leave, playing the roles of her bodyguards. To any observer, Calypso had simply decided to go for a drive, probably to go to a restaurant outside.

Sao and the five real guards were left bound and gagged behind, as the Rebels couldn't afford to bring them along.

Calypso had been drugged and seated in the middle of the backseat, to make it look like she was resting. That way, they were sure she wouldn't try to play a last dirty trick.

They weren't even stopped by security.

**************

Emery was driving the limousine on the deserted road. The ride was silent and morose.

Shayna still hadn't emotionally recovered from the confrontation with Callianass. Seated next to her, Klenia was trying to console her, stroking her hand.

"We'll find something." Aster said while squeezing her shoulder. "I'm sure Morgan Shark will be able to find something. We owe you that. It's thanks to you we learned about the resort..."

"Thanks..."

"You could stay with us in the meantime..." Klenia added. "I'm sure we would make a great team, you and I..."

Shayna hesitated."Well..." On the one hand, she was used to work alone by now. On the other hand, when she was with them, she was feeling good. She was feeling better. Especially when she was with Klenia. She became attached to these women. "Yes. I think I could." she finally answered. She didn't want to be alone again. "If Aster agrees, of course..."

"I'd be happy."

"Me too!" Mikani intervened.

"See? Welcome aboard!" Klenia concluded.

Shayna couldn't help but smile.




Epilogue




Aster decided to let Morgan Shark handle everything related to Calypso Callianass when his men came to collect the mob boss. She decided to let him handle the questioning alone then choose alone what to do with the mob boss. She didn't want to take part in the interrogation. However, Klenia insisted to be a part of it, along with Shayna. Aster supported their demand and Morgan Shark accepted. She watched all of them disappear in one of the rooms of Shark's hideout.

She was so tired...

Aster lied down on a couch and closed her eyes.

**************

One hour later, or perhaps it was only ten minutes, she was woken up. Aaria was calling her. The older woman had came back to the hideout safe and sound. She even had had the time to call the police to have them free the three caterers she mugged earlier.

“Aster! The phone! It's for you!”

“Who is it?”

“Dimitri.”

Aster got up and grabbed the phone her friend was handing to her.

“Hello honey!” she said to her husband. “How are things going at the company?”

“The phone is encrypted. We can talk freely.”

Aster let out a relieved sigh. “Thank goodness!”

“Aster. I have wonderful news. The two agents have contacted my network.”

Aster frowned. “You mean the two agents that have the informations we will use...”

“... to spark the mass-uprising, yes. I will escort them to the Province of Lakeland. Then, from there, we will meet with Cérès in her hideout in the Flora Forest. Thanks to our foreign allies, she has the technology needed to hack the Government's television channels.”

“That means...”

“That means that we are about to launch our big operations. Our fighters are ready. Their training in the secret camps was a success. We have received equipments and weapons from our allies. Even artillery! It's only a matter of weeks now!”

“And with the Callianass Cartel out of the way, we have already one less obstacle to worry about... Dimitri, this is wonderful! We will finally be able to change things in this country!”

“I know. I'm ecstatic too!” He calmed himself a little, before adding: “I will already have left by the time you'll be back at the store. Officially, I'll be on a business trip in Lakeland, but I won't be able to contact you very often. Thorn will be with me, as well as most of our men. I trust you to take care of things in Korê.”

“Don't worry. I'm a grown woman.”

“That, I already know. Shark will help you leave Naïad.”

“Okay. Good luck Dimitri.”

“Good luck to you too.”

Aster hung up.

“Good news?” Aaria asked.

“Even better. This is it, Aaria. This is finally it.”

“We will make our move to overthrow Olympus?”

“In a few weeks at most.”

**************

After a few hours, Calypso's questioning was over, at least for now. She didn't try to resist or withhold informations. She answered to all the questions. Apparently, she was fine with the Cartel collapsing now that she wasn't at its head anymore. She despised most of her associates anyway... Morgan Shark had Calypso locked up in one of the rooms. He hadn't decided what to do with her yet, but he was thinking of keeping her around as a 'forced consultant' to continue to use her informations.

Aster was wondering how Shayna was taking this new development. Currently, she was looking for the thief and Klenia. They hadn't shown up since the end of the questioning.

During her search of the building, she came across Emery and Hieron. The assassin was still wearing the combat gear she stole from one of Calypso's henchwomen. She liked it, apparently.

“You do realize you won't be allowed to keep the machine gun...” Hieron was saying to her.

“Now, now, Hieron. Let her keep her new toy a little longer...” Aster intervened. "The kids have the right to have fun..."

Emery turned towards her and coldly glared at her. Hieron snickered. Aster smiled. Angering Emery wasn't useful at all, but it was making her feel better.

“You want something?” Emery asked.

“I'm looking for Klenia and Shayna. Morgan has ended the questioning and I can't find them anywhere.”

“Well they're not here! Go bother someone else, before I decide to test my new toy on you...” Emery retorted.

Hieron shrugged to show that he too didn't have any idea.

Aster left them alone.

**************

Mikani was reading a book, seated in a comfortable armchair. She was smiling. The young woman seemed to feel a lot better and Aster was happy to see that. Apparently, the incident at the Cartel's warehouse was behind her now.

“Mikani! Have you...”

“You won't find them here. They already left.”

Aster didn't need to ask her who she was talking about. She sighed and sat on a nearby chair.

“Why?”

“It had something to do with Shayna. Klenia got attached to her pretty quickly. And I believe the reverse is also true.”

“I saw that...” Aster commented. “I suppose they're trying to find informations about Shayna's sister?”

“Yes. Calypso has fallen, but the remnants of her Cartel are still here.”

Aster shrugged. “Well, I guess we will just have to wait until they come back... Knowing Klenia, it might take a few days.”

**************

Twelve hours later...

Klenia smoothed the red and golden shirt she had just put on. Her new clothing was a little tight around the chest, but she refrained from making a comment. The shirt was part of the standardized uniform worn by the employees of Mr. King, the biggest chain of fast-food restaurants in all the country. Along with the shirt, Klenia was wearing a black skirt, long red and golden socks, black sneakers, and a red and golden hat.

“You okay with yours, Shan?” she asked, using Shayna's fake name.

“Yes! Yes! It's a little small, but I'll manage.”

Klenia smiled. “I told you we would make a great team!”

“But won't Ast... I mean... You-Know-Who get angry? We left without telling her...” Shayna asked while adjusting her cap.

“Don't worry. She's used to it by now. And she'll understand when we will explain that we did it to follow a lead on your sister's fate.”

A sudden muffled moan interrupted her. Klenia turned towards the source of the noise, in a corner of the shed they were currently in.

“Oh!” Klenia exclaimed. “Sorry! I forgot about you...”

She picked up a discarded pair of glasses, then put them on the nose of the black-haired young woman seated on the floor.

“Here you go. Sorry I had to take them off, but it was easier that way to remove your uniform.”

The young woman gave Klenia a frightened look.

“Don't worry.” the Rebel said. “I'm not going to hurt you, or your friend. My partner and I just needed your uniforms to blend in.”

The pale black-haired woman was also the rightful owner of the clothes Shayna was currently putting on. Robbed of her employee uniform, her only outfit now consisted of her white full-cup cotton bra and matching cotton panties. Strong nylon ropes had been used to tie her arms behind her back and her ankles were crossed and tied as well. Tape had been wrapped around her upper-arms to pin them on her body. A big cleave gag, reinforced by a few strips of tape, was securing the rags filling her mouth to prevent her from screaming.
Seated next to her, another girl with red hair was similarly bound and gagged. Just like her friend, she had been robbed of her uniform, which was currently worn by Klenia. The redhead was left in her navy blue push up bra (that had just the cutest white floral motif printed on it) and matching panties (which also had the same floral motif). The redhead was furiously staring at her mugger.
Shayna and Klenia had jumped on them while they were taking a break outside. In order to not be disturbed, they forced them to enter the shed used by the gardener to stock the tools he was using to take care of the green space around the fast-food restaurant. For a fast-food chain, Mr. Big was surprisingly concerned about giving to its clients a pleasant environment... However, today was the gardener's day-off. Nobody would find the two employees before the restaurant's closing.

“Don't bother calling for help by the way.” Klenia concluded. “There is so much noise and music in the fast-food, it wouldn't work anyway. I'm sure someone will find you eventually. Just be patient and enjoy each other's company.”

She moved away from the two unlucky ex-waitresses of Mr. King, but stopped half-way to add:

“And for the record, I'd like to say that our meeting is a pure coincidence. We're here to catch a criminal who has ties with the human trafficking trade. Apparently, the man likes to eat food as disgusting as him... I'm not some kind of stalker taking a perverse joy in targeting you specifically. I'm as much in disbelief as you over this whole awkward situation.”

She joined Shayna. The two disguised women walked to the shed's door and Shayna opened it.

“What do you mean by 'awkward situation'?”

“It's a long story. I'll explain to you on the way.”

Klenia turned off the light. The, the two companions left the shed, with the intent to bug a man that could lead them to the people of the Cartel in charge of the human trafficking ring.

**************

When the door of the shed was closed, Hana Izani and Macha Etaine were left alone in the dark.

Macha was furious. The fifth time! It was the fifth time! Couldn't she have some peace now? Live her life without being victimized by that crazy woman?

She tried to free herself from her bonds, but she already knew it was futile. By now, she was very well-aware that the thief's ropework was flawless. A few grunts and outraged screams were muffled by her gag. During her struggles, her eyes met Hana's.

Her friend was gazing at her. Macha could read a mixture of fear, disbelief and disapproval on her face.

Don't give me that look! she thought, and tried to say with her eyes. I thought that getting these part-time jobs would help us pay our rent! How could I have predicted that it would make us the victims of this crazy thief's shenanigans AGAIN?

Macha angrily shook her head.

One day... One day I'll get her...

**************

Sao was silently driving the car she stole in the resort.

She didn't take the other guards with her; instead letting them to be found bound and gagged in their underwear.

They should consider themselves lucky that I didn't break their necks for their failure...

However, the bodyguard couldn't blame them, as she also had failed to protect her boss. Her murderous intents were only caused by her anger, and she had long ago learned to canalize her violent instincts. She would reserve them for the Rebels, not for the women who at least tried to protect Calypso. Still, Sao decided that the guards deserved some kind of punishment, as for all their talk of being part of the 'elite', they were defeated pathetically easily. Sao figured that the embarassement of being found bound and gagged and half-naked would be a punishment fitting enough.

Sao couldn't care less about them. She had not yet said her last word. She knew that Max Shroud was still out there, somewhere in East Harbour. The man was far too clever to be caught. She would contact him, they would regroup, and they would find Calypso.

And they would make the Rebels pay. Sao didn't forget their faces. She would make them pay...



**************


END



**************

Author's note: And there it is. The end of Part 4. I hope you enjoyed it as much as the other parts. Personally, I found this story harder to write than the previous ones and, while I enjoy a lot of parts in it (the infiltration of the boat, the confrontation with Zoë Eudokia, Macha's and Hana's cameo^^...), I'm not very satisfied with the very last part (the confrontation with Calypso). Don't hesitate to tell your thoughts in the comments! I would be curious to hear what you liked (or didn't like) in the story.

The plot thickens in the epilogue and, slowly but surely, the saga is reaching its finale...

By the way, esercito sconfitto, we finally discovered that Emery isn't interested in the underwear of her victims... She's more into combat uniform apparently.