He burst through the wall again.
I had already had a talk with him about
this. At length. “You have to understand, Mole, obliterating
drywall and aluminum with nothing but a steel shovel is certainly
impressive! It's just not particularly...stealthy.
If you're looking to get to the other side of a wall while avoiding
detection it might be better to use, for instance, the door adjacent
to it. I just think that you should keep in mind that this is a
heist, not a demolition project, and we're here primarily to rob the
place, not to perforate it.” At the time I had honestly thought
that we had reached an understanding. I realize now that I was
mistaken.
The
other three of us (the Cleaner, the Hacker, and myself, the Lookout)
had just finished clearing the western wing of the building of any
valuables with the help of a nasty computer virus that disabled most
of the laser trip-wires and through the liberal application of
chloroform. During this time I can only assume the Mole was busy
making impromptu renovations to the executive washrooms. We were now
taking turns darting across the expansive, and well populated, lobby
in-between sweeps of the security cameras.
That
was when the southern wall of the room disappeared in a sudden crash.
There
was a very short period of time that elapsed between all of the
guards in the room turning to regard the Mole and the sound of the
first gunshot ringing out. I took advantage of this period of time to
hurry our little group over to the other side of the room and up a
ladder into the nearby ventilation system (as the Lookout, I can open
these vents faster than anyone). The Mole took this opportunity to
turn and run right back through the hole he entered from, and, though
I couldn't see them myself, due to the little flashing fists and
pistols that showed up on my map to mark where enemy guards were
moving (another perk of being the Lookout) I could see that a good
dozen or so guards decided to join him.
Alarms
were blaring. Panicked civilians were scattered all throughout the
corridors we were going to have to pass through to get to the vault.
Guards charged down hallways in hot pursuit of our bumbling
accomplice. Things weren't, strictly speaking, going to plan.
It
wasn't all bad, though. We decided to let the Mole handle himself and
move on to the vault. Some guards had abandoned their posts in the
nearby security room to go respond to the alarm. This allowed the
Hacker to make short work of the cameras in front of the vault doors,
giving us ample time to break the lock (if we had brought a Locksmith
instead we would've gotten through much more quickly, though). Once
we got inside we took a quick moment to assess the situation.
A
patchwork of pulsing alarm lasers crisscrossed the floor. In a circle
around the center of the room there were also rotating lasers rigged
to turrets filled with tranquilizer darts; and this was not a place
where one would like to take a nap. Amidst them two patrolling guards
protected the safe in the middle of the room.
Without
a word we each already knew what to do. I darted out from around the
corner to quickly grab a guard's attention, then darted back into
cover just fast enough that he was unsure of what he saw. When he
walked up to investigate, the Cleaner pounced, knocking him out.
Next, the Hacker gracefully dodged in-between pulses of the alarm
lasers, moving with the rotation of the turrets to keep out of their
gaze. When he got close enough, he was able to shut them off
one-by-one, allowing myself and the Cleaner to dart across the room.
The Cleaner quickly rounded a corner and knocked out the other
guard, and I broke open the safe, spilling out it's contents for our
greedy hands to scoop up. For how chaotic things had gotten back
there, they were suddenly going very smoothly. All we had to do now
was make it back out to our get-away van, and even though it was a
circuitous route back through the same tight security we faced on the
way in, if we just handled it the same way in reverse we were pretty
much home free.
Of
course, we would've been, if it weren't for what happened next. It
was a tiny mistake, anyone could've made it. The Hacker was standing
in just the wrong spot when the security laser sprung back to life.
He took a tranquilizer dart to the back and was out cold immediately.
Without him the Cleaner and I couldn't hope to turn the lasers back
off fast enough. In a panic I tripped the alarm, and both I and the
Cleaner joined the Hacker in his nap. The guards that the Cleaner had
knocked out sprung awake at the sound of the alarm, and down the
hallway I could see the retinue of guards who must've given up
chasing the Mole rushing towards our location. By the time the three
of us managed to fight through the drowsiness and get back up on our
feet, the gunfire had already started, a good five guards and growing
stood between us and the vault door, and we were completely, utterly,
irrevocably screwed.
And
then he burst through the wall again.
Behind
him an improvised corridor, scattered with the remains of mangled
walls, led directly out to the parking lot where our getaway van
idled.
“WE
OUT.”
