…
A house sat in a clearing, atop a large hil, surrounded on all sides by tall stalks of bamboo and trees.
To call it a house would a gross understatement, do the structures sheer size. Not out of disrespect you see, but rather out of commonality and brevity that is.
Thus instead of a house, the more accurate term for it could most likely be that of a compound.
Compound.
It wasn’t a big compound, in the same sense as seen used by dictators and other people of importance; but, for the architectural style and decorum the building had, to call it a compound was but the only possible choice.
More specifically, it was more than just a compound.
It was a siheyuan, a courtyard house.
The siheyuan sat atop a large rocky hill, its back towards the land, with a cascading waterfall right next to it. The hill was tall, and less like a hill, more like a rocky outcrop jutting out of the side of cliff behind it like a leftover extension, recently put to good use. The walls were made of plaster, mortar and brick making up the fleshy insides, while wood and tile fitted together to create the slanted roofs and gables. The small windows were rhombic in shape, whilst larger, screen-sized ones patterned the walls of the higher floors, creating a sense of escapism.
The soldiers were stationed several yards away, hidden by thick leaves, night vision googles and visors watching the area. The siheyuan was modern, with large metal gates and a well-made, cobblestone road, which lead into the edifice. Outdoor lights highlighted the outer walls, while armed guards walked about their stations, moving in tandem while their weapons, M27s hung from their shoulders, ready to fire at the first sign of danger.
A series of guttural clicks came from one soldier, stationed atop a tree branch, eyed trained on scope.
“12 on the left, 12 on the right,” she said, “14 guards on the outer wall, 27 inside, 13 guarding each individual section of each floor.”
“Any alarms?”, asked the leader over the radio.
She adjusted the angle of her scope, her Barret M82 tilting as she used a disc to seamlessly rotate the gun like a swivel, panning to her left. A flash of light caught her attention and she zoomed in. she smirked at her find.
“No”, she replied, “but it looks like assistance on that front is nothing to worry about.”
“How so?”
“G Company”, she replied, “their mole’s managed to discover the facility's power grid, and are patching themselves in. Looks like you’ll be getting a memo any second now.”
Ping.
“Goddamn lieutenant”, said one soldier, “looks like I owe her a beer.”
She smiled.
“Sure do”, she said to herself quietly.
On the ground, the leader of the squad unit, used his tablet to analyze the information being sent to them. It was a layout of the siyehaun, the outer and inner buildings, exactly what they needed.
“Commander”, said another member, “what do we got?”
The commander said nothing, but scrolled through the pages, his combat trained eyes noting every inch of schematics. He furrowed his brow. It was clean, too clean.
Which meant only one thing.
This facility was hiding something.
“Schematics are too clean, rooms far too typical. Something’s off.”
He sighed, then stood up, carefully gliding over the edge of the brush before him to look out at the building. It was majestic, and beautiful. By all accounts from the exterior, it looked like the villa for a wealthy family, but to the Commander, years of covert experience was far too ingrained in his being to know better.
This place was hiding something. He knew that much.
The question was what?
“Tenfin”, he called, and the same soldier who asked him strode up beside him. The two said nothing, but watched the facility with the same feeling.
“Something ain’t right Commander”, Tenfin stated.
He was right. This facility, it was too conveniently placed. It was too… open.
Easy to find, even from the nearest city.
To call it a house would a gross understatement, do the structures sheer size. Not out of disrespect you see, but rather out of commonality and brevity that is.
Thus instead of a house, the more accurate term for it could most likely be that of a compound.
Compound.
It wasn’t a big compound, in the same sense as seen used by dictators and other people of importance; but, for the architectural style and decorum the building had, to call it a compound was but the only possible choice.
More specifically, it was more than just a compound.
It was a siheyuan, a courtyard house.
The siheyuan sat atop a large rocky hill, its back towards the land, with a cascading waterfall right next to it. The hill was tall, and less like a hill, more like a rocky outcrop jutting out of the side of cliff behind it like a leftover extension, recently put to good use. The walls were made of plaster, mortar and brick making up the fleshy insides, while wood and tile fitted together to create the slanted roofs and gables. The small windows were rhombic in shape, whilst larger, screen-sized ones patterned the walls of the higher floors, creating a sense of escapism.
The soldiers were stationed several yards away, hidden by thick leaves, night vision googles and visors watching the area. The siheyuan was modern, with large metal gates and a well-made, cobblestone road, which lead into the edifice. Outdoor lights highlighted the outer walls, while armed guards walked about their stations, moving in tandem while their weapons, M27s hung from their shoulders, ready to fire at the first sign of danger.
A series of guttural clicks came from one soldier, stationed atop a tree branch, eyed trained on scope.
“12 on the left, 12 on the right,” she said, “14 guards on the outer wall, 27 inside, 13 guarding each individual section of each floor.”
“Any alarms?”, asked the leader over the radio.
She adjusted the angle of her scope, her Barret M82 tilting as she used a disc to seamlessly rotate the gun like a swivel, panning to her left. A flash of light caught her attention and she zoomed in. she smirked at her find.
“No”, she replied, “but it looks like assistance on that front is nothing to worry about.”
“How so?”
“G Company”, she replied, “their mole’s managed to discover the facility's power grid, and are patching themselves in. Looks like you’ll be getting a memo any second now.”
Ping.
“Goddamn lieutenant”, said one soldier, “looks like I owe her a beer.”
She smiled.
“Sure do”, she said to herself quietly.
On the ground, the leader of the squad unit, used his tablet to analyze the information being sent to them. It was a layout of the siyehaun, the outer and inner buildings, exactly what they needed.
“Commander”, said another member, “what do we got?”
The commander said nothing, but scrolled through the pages, his combat trained eyes noting every inch of schematics. He furrowed his brow. It was clean, too clean.
Which meant only one thing.
This facility was hiding something.
“Schematics are too clean, rooms far too typical. Something’s off.”
He sighed, then stood up, carefully gliding over the edge of the brush before him to look out at the building. It was majestic, and beautiful. By all accounts from the exterior, it looked like the villa for a wealthy family, but to the Commander, years of covert experience was far too ingrained in his being to know better.
This place was hiding something. He knew that much.
The question was what?
“Tenfin”, he called, and the same soldier who asked him strode up beside him. The two said nothing, but watched the facility with the same feeling.
“Something ain’t right Commander”, Tenfin stated.
He was right. This facility, it was too conveniently placed. It was too… open.
Easy to find, even from the nearest city.
Like a well-placed trap.
“You’re right”, the Commander agreed, “get the team ready, we leave in 5.”
Tenfin grunted, the two’s history meant that this was his way of agreeing, and he quietly left, relaying the commander’s orders.
“Hey, C”, Tenfin called as he left, his head throwing a knowing sideways glance to his superior, “keep you head straight. Don’t want to save your ass again from overthinking.”
And with that Tenfin left.
C closed his eyes and sighed. It irked him how that shitty soldier was only a few years younger than him, but still made him feel like he was an elderly miser, due to his position. Ah fuck, he thought, who was he kidding? Years spent in the military, and not much changed for him in the way of social progress. He was getting old, too old, for this type of run around. Catching a notorious criminal was one thing, rescuing hostages was something else. He’d done both, he was well-versed in the issues that came crossing the line between vengeance and duty. Hell, he’d had his fair share of both fucking with this job. But, having to disregard his personal feelings at times like this, regardless of what his own personal morals insisted on… well, that was another thing entirely.
Tick.
The sudden snap of a twig startled his senses.
He didn’t hesitate, and grabbing his pistol, he instinctively turned to face the perpetrator only to discover… it was a fox.
He blinked, mouth open.
It was a fox, but not just any old fox, not in this corner of the world.
“You’re right”, the Commander agreed, “get the team ready, we leave in 5.”
Tenfin grunted, the two’s history meant that this was his way of agreeing, and he quietly left, relaying the commander’s orders.
“Hey, C”, Tenfin called as he left, his head throwing a knowing sideways glance to his superior, “keep you head straight. Don’t want to save your ass again from overthinking.”
And with that Tenfin left.
C closed his eyes and sighed. It irked him how that shitty soldier was only a few years younger than him, but still made him feel like he was an elderly miser, due to his position. Ah fuck, he thought, who was he kidding? Years spent in the military, and not much changed for him in the way of social progress. He was getting old, too old, for this type of run around. Catching a notorious criminal was one thing, rescuing hostages was something else. He’d done both, he was well-versed in the issues that came crossing the line between vengeance and duty. Hell, he’d had his fair share of both fucking with this job. But, having to disregard his personal feelings at times like this, regardless of what his own personal morals insisted on… well, that was another thing entirely.
Tick.
The sudden snap of a twig startled his senses.
He didn’t hesitate, and grabbing his pistol, he instinctively turned to face the perpetrator only to discover… it was a fox.
He blinked, mouth open.
It was a fox, but not just any old fox, not in this corner of the world.
It was an Evening Crown, a rare breed of fox only found in this region of the world. He wasn’t very knowledgeable of most rare animals, but he knew enough about this one, given this was his homeland.
An Evening Crown, an elusive, fickle creature that was only spoken of in poems and songs; a small but efficient predator that was normally nocturnal by nature, and possessed a coat of wine-colored fur that glowed an iridescent shade of azure and magenta in the moonlight. Just simply seeing the creature was worth its weight in gold, and skinning its coat at peak was worth billions, because of its unique diet to maintain. As far as C knew, only 12 had been spotted and documented in the last 150 years, while only 3 had been recorded ad captured during that time period.
To see one so up close, practically within petting zone baffled and confuddled him.
The fox and C stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, before the dryness of his eyes forced the man to blink. The Crown continued to stare, its own eyes, a bright cyan, watched him monotonously. C felt his cheeks blush, embarrassed. He coughed and then holstered his pistol, remorseful.
“Sorry”, he quietly said, the tips of his ears red.
What the hell, he thought, I truly must be going insane. Apologizing to an animal, and a fox at that.
To see one so up close, practically within petting zone baffled and confuddled him.
The fox and C stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, before the dryness of his eyes forced the man to blink. The Crown continued to stare, its own eyes, a bright cyan, watched him monotonously. C felt his cheeks blush, embarrassed. He coughed and then holstered his pistol, remorseful.
“Sorry”, he quietly said, the tips of his ears red.
What the hell, he thought, I truly must be going insane. Apologizing to an animal, and a fox at that.
He blinked, and again noticed the fox still staring at him, unsure of what to do. He could scream, not loud, but enough to frighten the thing away, but part of him immediately shot that idea down. He looked the fox up and down. It tilted its head to the side, in a form of questioning.
It was curious about his peculiar behavior.
C felt his shoulders sag and internally groaned.
It was treating him like an idiot, a weird, flustered idiot.
“Just my luck”, he noted. Grunting a sigh, he scratched the scratched the back of his head, completely at a loss for words.
'Kyuh.'
C stopped scratching his head, and bobbing it upward, eyes wide at the creature. The fox, caring little for his reactions, opened its maw and yawned. The sound it made brief, but more than enough to grab the ‘ooman’s attention. It ignored his staring and stretched it paws out, tail swishing upright. It was like a cat, the way it moved, proud and unabashed. C’s mouth gaped, eyes screaming ‘what the fuck?’. The Crown continued to move like it owned the space, and perching itself on the ledge, began sniffing the air. It gave no credence to the big, stupid ‘ooman’, it’s focus was on finding the little cub. Its ears swiveled as it used sound to gauge the area for threats. The fox counted 12, but they were of little consequence; they were ‘oomans’ as well, but as long as he could sneak past them, it made little difference.It was curious about his peculiar behavior.
C felt his shoulders sag and internally groaned.
It was treating him like an idiot, a weird, flustered idiot.
“Just my luck”, he noted. Grunting a sigh, he scratched the scratched the back of his head, completely at a loss for words.
'Kyuh.'
Then with its path decided, the fox leaned over the edge of the cliff spying a means to climb down safely. If it played to its agility, it could easily climb down with little difficulty and enter without being seen. It smiled to itself, proud of its own deduction skills. The smell of jasmine was faint, strong and present, but faint. The fox blinked, usually the scent was more prevalent during his visits. The fox frowned, then barred its fangs. Its whole emotional spectrum did a complete 180 degrees.
Something was wrong; his cub, his little ‘ooman’ was in danger.
“W-wait!”
At the sound of C’s insistence, it stopped, and exasperatedly turned to face the owner’s voice, the big ‘ooman’ who pointed his flashy stick at him. He blinked, and scowled beholding the ‘ooman’ before him. He was tall, with dark, tan skin, and gray eyes. His jaw was rugged, and his cheeks and ears red, while his hair was blotchy, a mixture of black, white, and grey. This ‘ooman’ was young, or at least by fox standards, he was an adult, a young but childish adult. The fox huffed, and rolled his eyes, causing the human to gape. This ‘ooman’ was weird, far too easy to read with his face. It was like he wanted to speak, but couldn’t find the words.
Annoying, and a waste of time.
The fox flicked his tail at the ‘ooman’ twitching his ears and glaring at him with a “what the fuck do you want?” stance written all over the creature’s body language. The ‘ooman’s mouth open and closed, he was like fish, but none of that mattered now.
Too much time wasted, the fox resolved, my cub is in danger.
And with that, without looking back, the fox did what the ‘ooman’ couldn’t predict, and jumped over the edge.
“What th—wait!”, C again called after the animal, his brain barely registering what the hell just happened. It was bad enough that he felt like he was losing his sense of reality after being glared at by a weird ass fox, but to have the animal huff at him like he wasting the thing’s time was just too much. Unable to shake his sense of obsession, he hurried over to where the fox was and immediately scanned the Cliffside, desperate to know if the fox was alive. He was so focused that he didn’t even hear the sound scurrying, as footsteps approached him.
“C, C? C!!!”, Tenfin called, practically shaking his CO.
C didn’t respond, but was deftly scanning the flora below, his eyes straining in search for something. No, not something, just that damn, fucking, crazy ass fox!
“C! Yo, C, what the hell man?”, Tenfin grunted, pulling his comrade back, “what are you doing? We’ve calling you for 3 whole minutes! It’s time to go!”
By this point, Tenfin had C by the shoulders, practically shaking him awake. C blinked several times, before registering that it was Tenfin shaking him. He blinked again, watching his lieutenant glare at him, concern written all over his face.
“Did you see it?”, C asked.
Tenfin’s eyes furrowed, “see? See what? What are you—“
“Gather the squad, I think I’ve found a way in.”
Now it was Tenfin’s turn to blink, visibly confused.
“What? A way in? how?”
“What? A way in? how?”
C said nothing, but a wide grin crept along his face—a broad, wholesome, mischievous smile and a glint in his eye; something Tenfin rarely if ever glimpsed from his captain.
“How good are you with heights, and darkness?”
“How good are you with heights, and darkness?”
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