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Chapter 12 by MidbossMan MidbossMan

What's next?

Phase 1: Arrive at the abandoned fire station and begin infiltration

After a rather uneventful ride... {if Au Revoir's Hazing = 1}if you ignore the near-life-threatening handjob hazing your fellow agent gave you... {endif}your van arrived down the block from the abandoned fire station. The district was pretty rough, but with the sorts of armaments you guys were packing, you didn't have to worry about being jumped by the locals. From the moment you exited the van, it was pretty clear you meant business. Au Revoir was shouldering a miniature grenade launcher (perhaps not the safest choice for a mission involving so much flammable material), while Despedida was busily setting up some sort of VR set, including goggles, gloves, and a remote controlled drone. She'd apparently brought her own, besides the fire suppression drone that you'd requisitioned before the mission began.

You asked Au Revoir if heavy ordinance like that was really appropriate in a perhaps structurally unstable fire station like the three of you were slowly approaching.

"Ha ha ha ha! Are you sad for the little fire station, New Ciao? You have a good, soft heart, but Au Revoir's is steel enough to make up for that." The big girl patted her over-sized weapon and grinned maliciously. "We pop a few of these through the window before we get started, then we fall back on the service pistol you prefer. Police know we are here, they know this is CEDIT jurisdiction. Do not worry."

You told her that you thought you should be the one making calls like that, as the handler.

"Maybe. Maybe once you prove yourself, Little New Ciao."

Unfortunately, Despedida wasn't backing you up; she was busily working to set up her remote-controlled drone. In fact, it looked like she was every bit as intent on doing her own thing as Au Revoir was. You asked her what she was planning to do with that machine.

"Well, Au Revoir's handling the frontline, so I figure I'll backdoor them. Did you ever play Battletanks for the 3DO? The N64?"

You shook your head no.

"Not even Battletanks 2?"

Still a no.

"Well, that's something to correct. Anyway, there's a homing missile in that. This drone basically works like that: I see through its 'eyes', I direct it toward a high priority target, then you get the big boom. Easy to understand." As she chuckled happily, you wondered why she even needed the video game metaphor to describe it, or, for that matter, why she needed high tech gloves for it. "Hey, talk to Goodbye about requisitioning us a Flip-E Tank, alright? They've gotta have those now. You see any of those in Europe, Au Revoir?"

"No, no, Despy. I do not see any of your silly video games anywhere," Au Revoir responded, smiling sympathetically as she shook her head. "New Ciao, you decide if you want to bust through the front with Au Revoir, or if you want to hang back with Despedida. I would say come with me, but mmmm, you Ciaos do not have the best survival rate. So I understand if you are feeling a little, how do you say, baby about it?"

In the end, despite her taunting, it was your choice. You could either join the grenadier up front, or you could hang back with Despedida and watch her high-tech gadget in action. Thinking on it, you remembered what Goodbye had said, to sabotage the work of your own teammates to expose their weaknesses. This could be an opportunity... but were you really going to use your expensive CEDIT EMP to fry your own ally's tech? And was it even safe? This drone apparently doubled as a guided missile...

Then again, going up front with Au Revoir could be just as dangerous as making a guided missile go haywire.

Bring up the front with Au Revoir or hang back with Despedida?

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