The text went out, but at the time, Ellis has been a little busy. So, when it actually came time for him to check his phone, there was no way in hell he would have made it in time. Only a few minutes late, but still. Tardiness was something few people tolerated, especially in his line of business, or the businesses he was often around. When he'd arrived at his little apartment, he'd found most of it trashed, his bed halfway out the window, the TV busted, the walls busted up, and his refrigerator ransacked. After a quick little search of the asshole who'd done all that to him, he was able to get away with looking at his phone, set an assault team on its way, and hopped onto the next train for Arkhan.
The train ride was, as was to be expected, boring as hell. Ellis would have rather been out on a rainy night tracking a serial killer than sitting there in a state of half-sleep, half-consciousness that did not allow him any rest and only made him more tired while he listened to young couples bicker to each other about idiotic young love stuff and old ladies talk about people behind their backs, him being one of them, though not the focus of their gossip. Getting off the train had been like a gift from God Himself, and he thought about actually visiting a church some time. If Arkhan had any real churches.
As he walked down the streets of Arkhan, he pulled out a match and lit his cigarette. Call him old fashioned, but he was a staunch believer that, somehow, some way, lighters took away some of the flavor of a good smoke. His nostrils filled with the smoke to drain out anything foreign, he was able to concentrate a little better on what was going on. A few blocks down, the Starbucks in question was already locked up and closed. Anyone else would assume it empty, but someone like him could tell there was more going on. Mission planning, introductions, the whole spiel going down. He let out a sigh, blew out some smoke, and kept on walking, making mental notes of all that went on while making the conscious effort not to repeat any of it out loud. He was bad about that, often speaking as he talked without really trying to. Sometimes it got real bad.
But now he was just getting distracted. His attention turned to the city around him, and the people milling in the streets at this late out. Cities like this always had people around, and in the dark, those people were far more likely to shoot someone else. The fact that he looked like a cop straight out of the 1950's didn't much help, but the fairly big gun at his hip did. They didn't know he could shoot about as well as a blind man. Speaking of shooting, two of the assaults seemed to be just a tad too trigger happy for his tastes, but that couldn't be helped. At least they'd be able to cover his ass while he was running away. Or hiding. Whichever was better at the time.
He let out a sigh as he reached the door, and waited for the Russians to finish up their dialogue. While he did, he took a tally; driver, two dagulas, four assaults - three ranged, one melee - logi, and two lezzad, one of which was the team leader. 'Course, it had to be a lezzad in charge, but just what did he expect? They'd never put an assault or dagula in charge of a team, and logi, were background guys. With a shake of his head and a sigh, he raised his fist and knocked on the metal part of the door, saying, "Hey, I know you're closed, but I need some coffee to get me through the night. Just got told I had a team meeting that'd keep me up all night!"
The train ride was, as was to be expected, boring as hell. Ellis would have rather been out on a rainy night tracking a serial killer than sitting there in a state of half-sleep, half-consciousness that did not allow him any rest and only made him more tired while he listened to young couples bicker to each other about idiotic young love stuff and old ladies talk about people behind their backs, him being one of them, though not the focus of their gossip. Getting off the train had been like a gift from God Himself, and he thought about actually visiting a church some time. If Arkhan had any real churches.
As he walked down the streets of Arkhan, he pulled out a match and lit his cigarette. Call him old fashioned, but he was a staunch believer that, somehow, some way, lighters took away some of the flavor of a good smoke. His nostrils filled with the smoke to drain out anything foreign, he was able to concentrate a little better on what was going on. A few blocks down, the Starbucks in question was already locked up and closed. Anyone else would assume it empty, but someone like him could tell there was more going on. Mission planning, introductions, the whole spiel going down. He let out a sigh, blew out some smoke, and kept on walking, making mental notes of all that went on while making the conscious effort not to repeat any of it out loud. He was bad about that, often speaking as he talked without really trying to. Sometimes it got real bad.
But now he was just getting distracted. His attention turned to the city around him, and the people milling in the streets at this late out. Cities like this always had people around, and in the dark, those people were far more likely to shoot someone else. The fact that he looked like a cop straight out of the 1950's didn't much help, but the fairly big gun at his hip did. They didn't know he could shoot about as well as a blind man. Speaking of shooting, two of the assaults seemed to be just a tad too trigger happy for his tastes, but that couldn't be helped. At least they'd be able to cover his ass while he was running away. Or hiding. Whichever was better at the time.
He let out a sigh as he reached the door, and waited for the Russians to finish up their dialogue. While he did, he took a tally; driver, two dagulas, four assaults - three ranged, one melee - logi, and two lezzad, one of which was the team leader. 'Course, it had to be a lezzad in charge, but just what did he expect? They'd never put an assault or dagula in charge of a team, and logi, were background guys. With a shake of his head and a sigh, he raised his fist and knocked on the metal part of the door, saying, "Hey, I know you're closed, but I need some coffee to get me through the night. Just got told I had a team meeting that'd keep me up all night!"
