Men of the Law and Shield: Chapter 3 – The Exciting/Headache Part of the Job

Chapter 3 – The Exciting/Headache Part of the Job

Today, I’m doing traffic duty on one of the busier roads of the city with Cole in my police car. Nothing’s been happening so far, so we’ve just been talking on and off and looking at our phones.

“What did we do to get punished with such a boring task for today?” Cole asks me.

Not exactly knowing what to say, I guess, “Kurtis just told me that he trusted me to be on my own today with you.”

“He trusts you to be on your own with me? What’s that supposed to mean? Am I dangerous to be around?”

“No, I don’t think he meant that.”

“Well, it is true. It’s probably why Kurtis wanted you to drive. I’d chase anyone who goes ten miles over the speed limit and hope we’d get into a car chase. Speaking of which, are you paying attention to the speedometer?”

Looking at it again, I say, “Yes, I am. No one should be speeding around here since we’re so visible and most people here respect us and the law.”

“I can’t believe the so-called officers who just hand out tickets all day. I’m glad President Campione finally helped implement changes to stop giving raises to certain police precincts that would fish for tickets or make as many convictions as possible, false or otherwise, to get pay raises. Things are much stricter now to get those raises. The head department for the whole country double-checks the situation behind all your tickets and arrests to make sure they’re all legit.”

“Yeah.”

“What? That doesn’t interest you?”

“It does. I’m just more interested in our job and what we’re doing.”

“This is more interesting to you?”

“No, I mean that I’m more interested in our job as a whole and what it involves. Everything outside of it, I leave to God and His providence.”

“Hmm. That is a good mindset to have, but my mind can’t help but wander to different things because I’m bored. Here, I was thinking that joining the police after the military would be more exciting.”

“You’d have to go to one of the more crime-ridden cities for that. Even there, crime is at an all-time low because of all the benefits and upgrades President Campione has been giving us.”

“I didn’t want to move outside of my home city because I wanted to make sure it’s safe for my friends and family. I guess I got what I wanted by seeing that things are mostly peaceful here, but still. I’m itching for some action.”

“Be careful what you ask for.”

“Yeah, okay, Kurtis. I don’t need to be reminded of that.”

Suddenly, a car passes by us going twenty miles over the speed limit, while dodging through traffic.

“Thanks be to God! Chase after them, Xander!” Cole says as I activate my sirens and hit the gas.

Cole radios over to police headquarters about the speeding car and where we are, as I chase after it. Thanks to President Campione, our car is fast enough to match any custom race car, so we quickly catch up to our target. Still, the car refuses to pull over, so I use the car’s loudspeaker to tell the driver to pull over. After a few seconds, the car turns a corner and then goes faster through a residential area.

“Now we’re talking!” Cole says before he radios police headquarters that we’re chasing a driver who refuses to pull over.

As we chase after the driver, Cole leans out of the window and starts firing his pistol at the car, hitting the body of it to scare him. It does nothing, and the chase continues onto the boulevard. From the boulevard, we head onto the highway where there’s more room for me to ram the car and take him out. Getting close to him, I hit his rear end, making him lose control and hit a wall; however, he keeps going. The hood of his car is starting to smoke, and thanks to Cole’s continued shooting, one of his front and rear tires is shot out. Still, he tries to get away from us, and even pushes through police cars that are blocking his way off the exit.

The car is finally starting to slow down, and yet the driver keeps pushing it as far as he can. He eventually drives through a warehouse door and crashes inside. Cole radios where we are as I park my car on the sidewalk, take out my taser, and start making my way into the warehouse, only to be met with a hail of gunfire. I trip and fall on the ground trying to avoid the bullets, and then immediately get up and behind my car.

In the chaos, I use the car’s loudspeakers to tell the shooters, “Stop shooting and surrender, or we will use lethal force to bring you in alive or dead!”

“They already made their choice! You don’t need to play this entirely by the book, Xander!” Cole says as he pulls our higher-powered weapons out of the truck of the car.

Cole takes out his bulletproof shield and a handheld submachine gun and hands me a high-powered rifle. Since we have no other choice, we fire back at the suspects, hitting several while they fail to hit us. I go more for leg and lower-body shots, whereas Cole is aiming for the upper body and head. Because of the new laws, we aren’t incentivized to try to take anyone alive if they try to seriously harm us. Trying to kill an officer is an automatic death sentence in most, if not all, cases.

With the shooters at the front cleared, Cole pushes up and says, “Get behind me, Xander.”

I do as he says and keep my eyes open for any threats. A few more start appearing, and I try to take them down before Cole does so he doesn’t intentionally kill anyone else, though he still does kill a couple before the area is clear. Backup and ambulances finally arrive, and I hurry the aiding officers to restrain the shooters that are still alive and rush them to the ambulances. Sweeping the warehouse further with Cole reveals an amateur drug operation that was happening here. Later in the day, my squad interrogates everyone we’ve taken in alive, and they tell us a bit more about their drug operation and that they hated the driver Cole and I chased for drawing us to them.

Speaking about the driver, he’s still alive and was under the influence of drugs when he was driving. He’s recovering in the hospital, confesses the same things that his friends did, and pleads for us to give him a light sentence since he’s still young. We tell him that’s for the judge to decide and leave him to go back to the office to rest.

I plop myself down on the couch and say aloud, “I’m glad that’s all finally over!”

“How did he do, Cole?” Kurtis asks.

“Excellent, sir. He shot even more bad guys than I did,” Cole says with a smirk, as if he’s an older brother who’s proud of me.

“Do you know why he did that?”

“To give them what they deserve.”

“No. It was to save them from you.”

“…from me, sir? For what purpose?”

Cole looks at me, looking for an answer or more to help.

“Look at me, corporal. I know how you operate. I don’t even need to read your report to know that you shot to kill, while Xander shot to incapacitate. It's why I had him with you. You’re not a soldier anymore. You’re a cop. We’re supposed to bring them in alive, not just kill them.”

“Even if they’re shooting at us?”

“Yes.”

“That’s bullshit. President Campione made it so it’s a death sentence if anyone tries to kill us. We gave them their chance, and they spat in our face. I fought, sacrificed, and killed for this country, and I refuse to let scum like them ruin it!”

“You know what’s more important than killing, Cole? Saving lives. I don’t care what the new rules say. I don’t care that the criminals that you brought in were bottom-of-the-barrel leeches of society. Those few who were killed could’ve had a second chance at life, and you denied them that.”

“Is that why you’re mad at me?”

“I’m mad that you didn’t even try, unlike Xander here.”

Cole and Kurtis have a stare-down until Cole finally says, “Okay, sir. I’ll take your advice next time, but don’t blame me if someone dies while I’m trying to defend myself or save someone’s life.”

“I won’t.”

Kurtis walks away while Cole slumps into his office seat. He looks over to me, and I just shrug.

Max walks over to me and makes a surprised expression, and whispers, “Who knew a job well done could end so dramatically?”

“Kurtis just has his way of doing things, and so does Cole, is all,” I say.

“Whatever the case is, keep up the good work, Xander, and I’ll do the same so you don’t outshine me.”

Max leaves the office while Cole and I sit in silence. At least our squad gets a boost in reputation because of what happened today. When to kill suspects and criminals has always been a point of contention between Kurtis and Cole, and I hope and pray that it doesn’t tear the squad apart.

Men of the Law and Shield: Chapter 2 – The Process of the Job

Chapter 2 – The Process of the Job

Today, our squad is tasked with patrolling through the streets as a city-wide festival is happening. Cole and Max are patrolling in one area of the festival while Kurtis wants me to be with him in another. Right now, we’re near a police stand where officers are both standing by to help people in need, trying to recruit more people, and signing people up for the police academy.

“It’s always good to see people interested in joining,” I say.

“Eh. The academy will separate the fakes from those who are really meant to be officers,” Kurtis says.

“Really? You think some people aren’t earnestly joining?”

“Yes, I do. Because of the rumors surrounding the new president, they think joining the police is a short way to join the mafia, or the family, and they’ll get all the benefits associated with it. Sure, you may get honor and government pay, but more is expected of you as an officer than with the alternative. You have more eyes on you, and you’re expected to be more restrained and by the book rather than acting on your own conscience.”

“Hmm. I guess you’re right.”

“Damn right I am. Now, don’t keep your attention on them and just watch the crowds.”

“Are you expecting trouble?”

“I’m always expecting trouble. There’s always a law being broken somewhere and someone out there for a warrant for their arrest. The smart ones stay out of view, committing their crimes in the shadows, or using events or crowds like this as a distraction to move around or get what they want.”

“I’ll keep my eyes open, sir.”

Some time passes, and I see Kurtis intently staring into the crowd.

“Did you see that, Xander?”

“No. What am I supposed to see?”

“Follow me.”

Following Kurtis, he goes up to a woman and grabs her wrist, saying to her, “I saw you grab that doll off the vendor’s table. Put it back, and I’ll act like you didn’t take anything.”

“I’m sorry! I just took it without thinking since my daughter wanted it, but I couldn’t afford it. I can hardly afford to get by as is, but don’t mind my ramblings. I’ll put it back,” the woman says.

We’re now noticing the little girl with the woman, who looks related to her and looks curiously at us. Kurtis stares at her, then brings her back to the doll vendor’s table, asks how much the doll is, and pays.

“Was that doll taken? I don’t remember selling it,” the vendor asks.

“It’s paid for,” Kurtis says before taking the woman away from the crowd and telling her, “Don’t teach your daughter the wrong lessons or else you’ll regret it later in life. People can be more charitable than you think if you ask them for help. Understood?”

“I understand! Thank you so much, officer!” the woman says.

Before the woman can tell her daughter to thank Kurtis, the daughter hugs and thanks him.

“You’re welcome,” Kurtis says with a smile.

The two walk away with smiles on their faces.

“That was very nice of you, sir. Why were you so gentle with them, if you don’t mind me asking?” I ask.

“Did you really look at that lady? Notice the tone in her voice and choice of words? Some people commit crimes without thinking, based on emotion. Something small like that shouldn’t put her in jail or even a fine,” Kurtis explains.

“Oh, okay.”

“Are you thinking I’d punish her based on what the law says? I’m a by-the-book kind of man, but I’m not heartless. We have to apply the law appropriately, not blindly without thinking about the circumstances and people associated with it.”

“Yes, sir…”

In the crowd, I notice something weird happening. Kurtis notices my attention being taken away from him and turns to where I’m looking.

“I see what you’re seeing, Xander. I’ll let you handle this one.”

Going to what I see, I grab a man out of the crowd.

“Hello. Excuse me?” I say.

“Y-yes, officer? How can I help you?” the man asks.

“I remember your face on the news and in our database. You have a warrant.”

“I know about that, but it’s for minor stuff, isn’t it? I just owe some parking and speeding tickets, is all.”

“Your warrant also includes violence for some fights you got into.”

“Those were because I was defending people I knew. Is that so wrong?”

“I don’t know, but I do know that a warrant issued for violence means that I have to take you in, regardless of intent.”

I grab the man’s arms and cuff his hands.

“Ah, come on. If you know about them, then you know I’m a good person!”

“A good person doesn’t have to say who they are or try to avoid the consequences of their actions. Now, come on, and stop making this difficult.”

The man keeps trying to excuse everything he did as I take him to a nearby group of cops to take him to the police station for processing.

After they leave, Kurtis says, “Why didn’t you go easier on that guy in comparison to the mother? I know the situation behind his warrant and that he was actually protecting and fighting for the people he cared about.”

“The mother was willing to make up for her mistake, while that guy was trying to avoid the consequences of it,” I say.

Kurtis pats me on the back.

“Good work. If you had let your empathy get the best of you, I’d hit you across the head. Besides, he shouldn’t have tried to take justice into his own hands. He could’ve gotten more than himself and the people he was after hurt and caused more trouble for the people he cared about.”

“You’re right. I guess you really know the difference between a true and a false confession.”

“Yes, sir. I need to know it for when I go to confession. I wouldn’t be able to call myself a Catholic otherwise.”

“I’d call you a fake one if you said you didn’t go at all. God blessed us with both examples of confrontation that I wanted to show you today. Glory be to God!”

“Glory be.”

Some time passes, and nothing else seems to happen in the crowd. Kurtis guesses that the public displays of us picking out and dealing with people are scaring the others who may be thinking about stealing or crossing our path. Police headquarters calls us and tells our squad that an incident related to the man with a warrant we just arrested has just popped up, and since we handled him, we get the honor of handling this new situation. We thank them, and the squad heads out in two separate police cars to the house we’re told to go. Now in a poor area of town with broken sidewalks and doors and windows with metal bars over them, we come across four people arguing with one another, and the argument quickly turns violent as they shove one another, throw punches in the air, and get louder, saying they’re going to hurt the other.

“Police! Break up your fighting and tell me what’s going on. One at a time,” Kurtis says.

Both sides complain to us about what the other did, then start complaining to one another again as if we’re a minor inconvenience to their fight. They start pushing one another again, and this time, one of them pulls out a makeshift-looking gun that explodes into pieces as soon as the trigger is pulled, making sharp pieces of metal fly into the faces of the four people. We start to arrest them and then ask them where they got the makeshift gun from. They mention the man I arrested at the parade, giving us a reason to go to his house. We call for backup, who take away the four people while we go to investigate the house.

The man’s house isn’t too far from here, so we walk there on foot after getting the address from headquarters. Going to the one-story house, we find the door locked, so Cole breaks it open with his battering ram.

“Whew! This guy must be really a gun fan or sprays his home with gunpowder-scented perfume,” Max comments.

“He has all gun models on these walls and figures of fictional characters holding them. Safe to say he’s a big fan. Oh, he has one that I’ve been searching for,” Cole says.

“You two can fangirl about guns with your mutual friend later. Let’s head to the basement. See if that’s where he makes his defective toys,” Kurtis says.

The door downstairs is also locked, but because it’s metal, Cole’s battering ram can’t break it down, so Max uses his lockpicking skills to open it for us. Inside the basement, we find a bunch of gun pieces and a variety of ammo, bags of cash, and a handwritten list of contacts with codenames.

“Didn’t think I’d find nice photos, a kitchen, and a bed down here. It’s like this is where he really lives,” Cole says.

“Look at the photos. Two of them are the people we just saw in the fight,” Max points out.

“Look over here, boys,” Kurtis says, bringing our attention to a shooting range.

At the shooting range, we find a bunch of broken weapons, some dried blood, medical supplies, and pictures of people with bullet holes in them, some of whom are two of the people the other two were fighting with.

“Looks like he’s not the best at making guns,” Max says.

“Yes, but he still makes them, and obviously has targets,” Cole says.

“He has a whole list and plans,” I say, finding a list of names and plans.

I bring attention to a mess of papers I find on a table with bullets and gun pieces on them.

“This guy has an entire war plan with targets, Plan As, and Plan Bs,” Cole says.

“I recognize some of these faces from the news and warrants. From what I can see, it looks like he’s trying to take over this neighborhood and drive out the criminals,” I say.

“He was planning to murder them, and given that one of the people that he knows has one of his custom guns, it means that the others are involved. Let’s see what they have to say,” Kurtis says.

The squad goes to interrogate everyone we arrested, and everyone who’s involved with the man who makes these makeshift guns admits that they were going to rid the neighborhood of criminals. They admit to being criminals themselves, but justify it by saying they’ve turned over a new leaf and will prove it by using their guns to protect the neighborhood, just like the men of honor. Despite their claims, everyone involved is going to be charged with conspiracy to murder by default, given what they say and the evidence we found.

After we arrest everyone involved with the conspiracy, Kurtis pats my back, back at the office, and says, “See how one thing leads to another? This is all because of you, and you deserve all the credit, Xander.”

“Thank you, sir. Just doing my job,” I say.

“Don’t say that. Otherwise, you won’t get anything,” Max comments.

“You don’t get anything because you’re always rewarding yourself.”

“It ain’t a sin to reward yourself for doing a good job.”

“Then start doing a good job like Xander here, and you can reward yourself all you want, and get your legs off your desk.”

Kurtis throws Max’s legs off his desk, making him fall off his chair. Cole laughs at the sight, and Kurtis and I try not to laugh, while Kurtis helps Max off the floor, and Max quietly thanks him and promises to do a better job.

Men of the Law and Shield: Chapter 1 – Another Day on the Job

Chapter 1 – Another Day on the Job

“Hey, coppers. I got a bone to pick with you,” Max says as he reaches for something in his trench coat. “Which one of you gave me a three-hundred-dollar ticket for going five miles over the speed limit?”

“I did. Got a problem with that, or would you like another with a little bit of a beating on top?” I say while reaching for my controller on my desk.

“You know the answer to that. You better put up or shut up.”

Max takes out his controllers, and my friends and I start to play free-for-all on our favorite FPS game on the breakroom TV in the office.

During the match, we joke, and Max says crazy things like, “He’s reaching, he’s reaching! Stop resisting, stop resisting! Officer down, officer down!”

Coming to see what the fuss is about, Sergeant Kurtis Thomas enters the room, rolls his eyes, and says, “Don’t you have anything better to do than bother my boys, Detective Max Marlowe?”

“No, sir. It’s another quiet day in the field,” Max says.

“That’s funny, because I thought you were supposed to follow up on me about the thieves we’ve been after.”

“Ah. I got the file right here.”

Max reaches into his trench coat and hands Kurtis a folder. Looking through it, Kurtis says, “Alright, boys. We got work for you to do right here. You can play your games later.”

The four of us listen to our commanding officer, turn off the console, and take out and look at the files in the folder. Our squad of four is known as the Angel's Trumpet, and our symbol is a flower rendered in a tribal tattoo style, with a white center, four yellow petals, and a red shield around it. Detective Max Marlowe has brown hair and brown eyes, a slight goatee on his chin, and wears a long brown detective’s trench coat, a blue dress shirt, a yellow tie, black dress pants, and black shoes. Underneath his clothes, he has a thin layer of bulletproof body armor. In contrast, Sergeant Kurtis Thomas has black hair, dark green eyes, a chevron mustache, wears a helmet with a king poker card on it, and normal police body armor, a shirt, boots, and everything else. Corporal Cole Belmont has dark brown eyes, wears heavy police armor, a helmet with a shield on it to protect his face, and has the look of a grizzled veteran about him since he was a soldier in the Great War.

Meanwhile, I have brown hair, green eyes, and a normal police officer hat, and I wear the same sort of outfit and armor as Kurtis, but slightly less since I’m not wearing any armor on my shoulders, forearms, or shins. Each of us chose our outfit based on what’s available to our rank and our chosen role on the squad. Even though we have the same tools and gear available as the other squads, we look distinct because of the way we wear our uniforms plus the patch of our squad that we wear on the shoulder of our shirts.

“Alright, boys,” Kurtis says. “These thieves are the definition of petty and amateurs. They robbed places that recognized their voices, left fingerprints, and tried to sell their plunder as soon as they could in various public flea markets and parks as unregistered vendors. God bless the idiotic for making this job easy for us.”

“Shouldn’t we let the locals handle this? They’re who I got this information from and only prevented them from pursuing because you want to handle this,” Max says.

“And I still want to handle this. We’re the police, Max. Dealing with lawbreakers is our job, not theirs. Do you have any bigger fish to fry that we can go after?”

“No, sir.”

“Then we’ll deal with the jewel thieves, and not let some vigilantes or men of honor take care of them.”

“Those men of honor are the reason why we have so many new toys to play with,” Cole points out.

“I know the rumors about the new president and vice president being connected to or members of the mafia, or family, as they like to say, and don’t care about that. He won the election fair and square, has good morals, and is an honest man, unlike many politicians, including the men and women he was up against.”

“He also limited the powers of the tax agency,” I say.

“If he doesn’t do anything else good during the presidency, that one thing made it all worth it,” Kurtis continues. “Back on topic, with how things are now because of our new president, we need to earn our keep as a squad, and as your squad leader, I refuse to let other squads and men of honor hog all the glory, no matter how small it may be. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Cole, Max, and I say.

“Damn right I am. Officer Xander.”

“Yes, sir,” I say.

“You need more experience on the field, so I want you by my side on this. Max and Cole, go out to one of the other locations by yourselves and let us know if you see them.”

“Yes, sir,” Cole and Max say.

The squad moves out and gets into separate SUVs. At one of the flea markets, we ask around for the suspects and are immediately pointed toward them.

One of the civilians even says, “Get their asses, officers!”

Another says, “Lock’em up!”

A crowd follows us as we approach the three suspects, who look happy because of all the attention around them, and then lose their smiles the second they see us.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” Kurtis says.

“…morning…officers…” one of the suspects mutters.

“I think you know why we’re here. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

The suspects suck in their lips, and I watch for the slightest hint of movement of them either going to run or reach for a hidden weapon. In a split second, the table and everything on it are flipped at us. Kurtis dodges and runs around the side to chase two of the suspects as if he knew it was coming. Meanwhile, the table hits me, and I fall.

“Get up and chase’em, newbie!” one of the people in the crowd says.

“I’m not a newbie,” I say under my breath, get up, and start sprinting toward the third suspect.

Kurtis and I use our squad radios to tell Cole and Max we're pursuing the suspects and to head down to where we are. Kurtis further radios the local stations to come to where we are to clean up the stolen goods, so that no one else takes them. The crowd clears as I chase the suspect I’m after, who continues to knock aside tables and throw stuff at me to slow me down, but this time, I react in time to not let anything slow me down.

“Stop running away, or I will tase you!” I say with my taser out and ready.

The suspect takes one look at me and starts to run faster. Wrong move. I pull the trigger of the taser, and the suspect goes down.

As I get on and start to cuff him, the suspect says, “Wait! You can have everything I stole! I was just stealing stuff to get by and take care of myself and my family!”

“Everyone says that,” I say.

“Come on, have a heart, man! I can’t go to jail! People are depending on me!”

“There are better ways to take care of your family without hurting others. How long you stay in jail will be decided in court. So far, you’re looking at five years minimum based on what I know.”

The suspect continues to struggle with me, so I threaten to tase him again. Not listening to me, I tase the suspect, much to the entertainment of the crowd, who cheer for me and mock him. Now cuffed, I go back to the police SUV and find Kurtis leading two suspects to the SUV. Max and Cole park their SUV as we’re meeting up and are disappointed that they missed the chase.

“Yeah, you can get these troublemakers into the SUV and take them in for processing. I’m not going to let them stink up my car,” Kurtis says.

Kurtis and I help Max and Cole get the suspects into their SUV, who all make excuses about taking care of their families, but we ignore them and slam the door in their face. Then, Kurtis and I watch Max and Cole drive away.

Kurtis pats my back and says, “You did well handling the one suspect by yourself, kid. You need to improve your reaction a bit, though. Anticipate their moves next time by thinking about what you would do in that situation.”

“Yes, sir,” I say.

Getting into our SUV, Kurtis continues talking to me, saying, “Is this what you expected being a cop would be, Xander?”

“Kind of. Why?”

“Most cops either want to live in an action movie, getting into high-speed car chases or intense shootouts, or just be lazy and collect tickets all day. What do you want to do in this job?”

“Serve God by doing whatever the job requires, both the mundane and the intense.”

“Good answer, Xander. It’s the same one I did when I first joined up, and it’s the same answer I have now. You may have a bright future ahead of you as an officer, if you do the same.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You don’t always need to say that when it’s just us casually talking.”

“Yes…”

Back at the station, Max and Cole tell us that our squad got a nice bonus for both getting the suspects and their stolen goods at the flea market, but another squad is getting the credit for collecting the rest of their stolen goods from the house the suspects kept their excess stock in.

“Ah, that’s fine. I only care that they got caught, is all,” Kurtis says.

“Yeah. With that done, can Xander, Cole, and I finish our game? I got a score to settle with them,” Max says.

“No,” Kurtis says with a long pause before continuing, “You have a score to settle with them and me. Don’t think I forgot the time you put a whoopee cushion under my car seat.”

The four of us laugh and continue the game we were playing, a nice rest from the bit of excitement we had from a simple day’s work.

A collection of my latest short stories is out today!

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Ace Argentum joins a secret syndicate called the Hydra Roundtable and is put in a group with like-minded criminals, Kelly McGhee, Al Jarrett, and Suzuki Koyama. The people who join their syndicate do so to commit crimes in the shadows for the betterment of society, steal from those who steal from the innocent, and punish the guilty who aren't punished by law enforcement. Theirs is a group of vigilantes who will steal simple things such as cash to being sent to rout out a cult within the government, and finally to help steal the presidency of the United Chimaera States itself.

This collection includes: Thieves Stealing from Thieves, Virtue Among Thieves, and Redistributive Justice, along with Behind the Story trivia for each short story.

My latest book and last in the Casa Dell'Ambizione is out today!

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The presidency of the United Chimaera States is contested, with the Hydra Roundtable and Paradox Collective in fierce competition. Both factions leverage insider connections, underworld contacts, and supernatural support for an advantage. In the midst of this power struggle are four thieves from the Hydra Roundtable, who know they're on the right side and will steal and kill to seize the country and protect it from a cultish, evil syndicate.

Redistributive Justice: Chapter 4 – Less than Saints, Greater than Sinners

Chapter 4 – Less than Saints, Greater than Sinners

With support for Vincenzo being greater than it’s ever been thanks to the attempted assassination on his life, all that the Hydra Roundtable has had to do is defend our supporters from the shadows, while the Campione brothers promote themselves in the light. The Paradox Collective has been sending their foreigners and far-left supporters to harass everyone into trying to vote for their candidate, so the Hydra Roundtable and our allies have to step in to protect the people. If that wasn’t bad enough, they’re using their contacts in opposing dictator-led countries like Adler and Cocodrilo to send over their rigged voting machines to sway votes, and today, my friends and I will be intercepting those voting machines.

In the Hydra Roundtable hideout, I say, “This will decide the election. If these machines make it to the voting centers, then the country is lost.”

“I’m still surprised that our main import ally, Vito D’Accordo, couldn’t stop all the illegal imports from coming in,” Suzuki says.

“The old man can only do so much in his city. It’s not like he controls imports from all airports and docks in the country,” Al says.

“Your family might as well have full control over the country.”

“And it soon will be for the betterment of everyone.”

“Heh. This is all weird and sorts of strange,” Kelly says.

“How so?” I ask.

“We’re helping criminals gain control of one of the most, if not the most, powerful countries in the world as opposed to another criminal syndicate.”

“Remember, one criminal syndicate is virtuous and does criminal things to safeguard its people and preserve its honor. The other is not,” Suzuki says.

“I’m not complaining. Just saying. There’s no such thing as honest governments nowadays, is there?”

“Not at all. That’s why we need to fix it from the outside in,” Al says.

“And the difference between our enemies and us is that we’re right and they’re wrong. We fight for truth and justice while they fight for sin and falsehood. They murder. We execute. They steal. We redistribute. Let’s get this done, and save our country,” I say.

Kelly, Suzuki, and I cheer as if I made some kind of rousing speech. I nod at them as we put our masks on and head out. We take up our positions in the warehouse and wait for the ships to get closer to the docks. Looking around us, I see other people from the Hydra Roundtable, people with clown masks, animal masks, and masks with fictional characters, historical figures, and their own custom designs. Switching to universal comms unique to my friends, me, and those in the innermost circle of the Hydra Roundtable, I hear them talking about what they’re going to do after, the patriotism and virtue of this work, the pay for this job, their theories on who is running the Hydra Roundtable, and guessing it correctly to be the Campione brothers.

Hearing them reminds me of my own group during our first year, when we were in the middle circle of the Hydra Roundtable. My own words and the points that my friends brought up enter my head as the firefight starts. Strangely, remembering them keeps me calm during the firefight and makes it pass by as if I’m doing some mundane job. We will make this country and the world by our criminal deeds. We may have made some questionable decisions here and there, but none were obviously sinful, at least not to me. Even as we gun down everyone on the approaching boat and destroy the rigged voting machines, I feel no shame or guilt, only satisfaction.

“We’ve discovered the location of more rigged voting machines! We need your help chasing them down,” I hear over the radio.

My friends and I race to the location and find the truck speeding away. I drive close to the driver, and Kelly shoots the driver, causing the truck to crash. Going over to the wreck, we open it up, shoot the survivors inside, and blow it up.

“Requesting backup at our location! We found a warehouse belonging to the Paradox Collective that is holding the rigged voting machines!” I hear over the radio.

Not stopping for a second, my friends and I drive out to the location and back up our allies. With more reinforcements coming, our side becomes unstoppable, allowing us to move through the Paradox Collective.

While finishing them off, one of the injured enemies says, “You call us cultists and accuse us of using sinful means of obtaining power when it is really you-”

I shut the man up with a bullet to his forehead. I know I’m right and he’s wrong for the simple fact that we submit ourselves to higher powers for a good better than us, while they try to manipulate it for their benefit. They’re all wrong and in need of salvation. I cross myself as a prayer for them and leave the warehouse to answer more calls and send more souls to God for judgment. As the morning sun starts to rise, the calls stop coming in, and everyone from the Hydra Roundtable and its allies retreat into the shadows like night shift workers clocking out for the day shift. When the day shift takes over, the citizens come in and cast their vote. Vincenzo talks on live TV and streams across the internet to encourage people to vote for who they think is the right candidate, while also making it obvious who he thinks is the right one.

For some reason, his opposition doesn’t say anything on social media, TV, or online anywhere. No one knows where he or his cabinet are, as if they disappeared off the face of the Earth. The Campione brothers didn’t sanction their assassination, nor do any of our underworld know what happened to them, as we were all focused on destroying the rigged voting machines, and our friends in politics and business don’t know either, since they’re focused on spinning what happened last night as gang violence, which it technically was.

“I guess that’s it then. We win,” I say as my friends and I preemptively celebrate at a café.

“We won the moment Vincenzo survived the assassination attempt,” Al says.

“Nothing says that a person has God’s favor other than narrowly dodging a bullet,” Suzuki says.

“So, what? The other candidate and his friends just ran for the hills?” Kelly asks.

“That’s what it looks like,” I say.

“And nothing’s going to be done about that?”

“Not unless the authorities say so,” Al says.

“There’s already an investigation looking for them. I’m sure they’ll be taken care of appropriately, especially when the new administration takes control,” Suzuki adds.

“As if they haven’t already,” Al says.

“To a new, better future we helped create,” I say with my coffee cup raised.

My friends and I toast to God, our future, our friends, and ourselves. Sure enough, Vincenzo wins the presidency by a wide margin. He makes his victory speech in the nation’s capital, where one of the largest, if not the largest, crowds ever to come out for a presidential speech comes out. Vincenzo has both a joyous and slightly devious smile as if he just got away with the biggest heist in the history of the world, which he really has.

At the podium, which is flanked by bulletproof glass, Vincenzo says, “Friends, no family. Who am I to call you friends when you’ve done so much for me that I consider you all my brothers and sisters? Thank you for trusting my country in your hands, but as for you who don’t, I pray and hope that I will gain your trust through my actions. I know that you think I’m taking away your so-called rights to murder your unborn children, but I’m sure we can both agree on limiting to the point of getting rid of the tax agency and limiting the powers of the SIB will do our country good. A wise mentor once told me that men make laws, but God decides what is right and wrong. Therefore, my allies and I will sanctify our country by making laws where necessary and getting rid of them where they are not. Do not be mistaken that I will be breathing down your necks or be completely hands off. The government I will create is one guided not by my own ambitions, but one guided by God and what is true and good for all of us. I will not impose my beliefs on anyone, because true love is given, not forced, but if you do anything to harm or hamper the lives of my family, my fellow countrymen, even my enemies, then I will bring down the full force of the law upon you. May God have mercy on all of us and teach us all to get along and learn to love one another. May God bless the United Chimaera States and help me to be the leader worthy to serve you. God bless you all. Amen.”

The crowd says Amen and cheers for Vincenzo. My friends, the rest of the Hydra Roundtable, and I celebrate as if we’re just faces in the crowd, which we are. I suspect our job is not done yet, and that this is just the beginning of our work, something that neither my friends nor I mind. A life of crime in the shadows to affect what happens in the light is what we chose, and is a life we wouldn’t want to live any other way. May God truly help us to make this country a better place, worthy of His grace, through us, His servants in the dark. Amen.

 

The End

Redistributive Justice: Chapter 3 – Dirty Work for a Cleaner World

Chapter 3 – Dirty Work for a Cleaner World

I can’t wait for this election to be over with. Our Hydra Roundtable keeps indirectly attacking the Paradox Collective, and they keep indirectly attacking us. They go after Catholic churches, poor houses, and have gangs of migrants attacking our people, while we keep stealing from their banks, research facilities, and underground cult hangouts. These are just a few examples of the attacks that both groups use on one another, with some being minor fights between groups to larger robberies or destruction of the other’s goods and money. Vincenzo keeps calling in favors from people in power that he knows, and they keep calling in favors from their people in the media and in power, who slander Vincenzo and try to get him out of the presidential race.

The liberal candidate and his cabinet, Vincenzo is up against, are the Malefic, the heads of the Paradox Collective. I wish this were simpler, and that I could just kill them since they’re always out in the public spotlight, but since that would make their cause look better and the information we’ve gathered suggests they have others to take their place, I have to hold back and just do what I can. According to polling data, Vincenzo is sure to win; however, the Paradox Collective has people in high places like we do and can skew the election in their favor. It’s all so irritating to deal with. God, please help the right person to win, and don’t give our country to the cultists who want to ruin it for their own gain.

Sitting in a Hydra Roundtable hideout, my friends and I go over the latest task set for us by the Campione brothers. This time, our friend on the inside of the Secret Intelligence Bureau, or SIB, Donnie Parlarono, has informed us of Paradox Collective agents in the SIB who he can’t get rid of and needs us to take a more forceful approach to the matter. We’re also supposed to hack into a hidden server in the SIB that Donnie can’t get into and thinks it’s one that holds secret communications between the Paradox Collective and the Malefic.

“Are we seriously raiding the SIB?” Kelly asks.

“Guest passes can only get us so far, and going there in masks will only start trouble, so we might as well go all the way,” I say.

“It’s what our friend, Donnie, suggests anyway,” Al adds.

“I’m not complaining. Just saying. Do you think we can attack the tax agency across the street too?”

“That’s not part of our objectives. Vincenzo’s friends, probably more Israelis, already have the situation there under control,” Suzuki says.

“Ah, man! Those people deserve a beating more than the SIB, but I’ll take what I can get.”

“Alright, so the plan is, go in with our modified masks, juggernaut armor, eliminate our targets, use non-lethal rounds on non-targets, and download the server data. Easy enough?” I ask. My friends agree. “Let’s get this done.”

Getting into the armored SWAT van provided to us, we put on our masks, make sure we have everything, armor up, and head out. We put on our police lights to clear traffic as we speed to the SIB building. Once it’s in sight, Suzuki further puts the pedal to the floor and rams through the front entrance, injuring a few of the workers. Immediately, we run out of the SWAT van and arm ourselves with our special light machine guns, ones that have two drum mags and two triggers; the right one fires lethal bullets, while the other fires non-lethal rounds. We start firing non-lethal rounds at the guards inside the building and go to the part that Donnie said had all the agents of the Paradox Collective.

Pushing our way to it, we find our targets trying to escape and gun them down. With them dead, we take their access cards and use them to get into their secret server room. Kelly and Al get to accessing the server’s contents while Suzuki and I cover them as the cops and SWAT arrive to back up the SIB agents. Our non-lethal rounds can pierce through the armor of the heavily armored units, but some of them, dressed up in juggernaut armor like us, take several more bullets, mixed with lethal rounds, to take down.

“You almost done in there, Cappuccino and Rosebud? It’s getting a little too hot in here,” I ask.

“Almost! We’re just getting a lot of info, some of which from the SIB’s founding,” Al says.

“Our foe has been around since then, so it makes sense that they’d have their claws in this agency,” Suzuki says.

“You could say that again, Byakko. You have no idea how dirty their hands are according to this info. Oh, no.” Kelly says.

“What is it?” I ask.

“We have to get to our boss now! They’re going to get to him like how they got to the sixteenth president!”

“Understood!”

Kelly and Al leave the server room, blow it up, and join us in pushing back the cops.

“They must be getting desperate to go after them,” Al says.

“They’re going to blame an liberal extremist, who the SIB is actually responsible for hiring. Afterward, they’re going to kill him,” Kelly explains.

“Just like with the assassin who killed the president, the mafia got into office? These people are so predictable and less than trash,” Suzuki says.

“They’ll be dealt with soon. Let’s just focus on getting out of here,” I say.

I hit my radio a few times to signal our helicopter, and by the time we get to the roof, a news helicopter arrives and takes us away. We tell the pilot to head straight for Vincenzo’s rally and radio over to our allies what we discovered.

“The Snake Knight is about to be beheaded! Keep an eye on the secrets!” I say.

By the time we get to the rally, my friends and I have taken off our armor and masks. We hit the ground sprinting toward the rally and see Vincenzo talking on the stage.

“My family, Great War veterans, and neighbors and I helped get a good man elected while the election was being rigged by the city’s very own police force and corrupt mayor. That’s how you know that I am doing nothing to rig this election, so don’t listen to those liars in the media, those people over there who want to wrongfully discredit me so they can have control of you,” Vincenzo says, much to the crowd’s delight and agreement.

Everything seems to go in slow motion as I catch sight of a sniper dressed in an SIB officer’s uniform lying down on a shack. The sniper takes his shot at Vincenzo, and the sniper is shot at the same time by an SIB sniper on another shack roof and is killed. Looking at Vincenzo, I see him slightly turn his head and duck behind his podium. Time resumes back to normal, and now Vincenzo is taking cover; his SIB guards are finally covering him, and the crowd erupts into a panic. Nevertheless, Vincenzo stands tall above his guards and raises his fist in the air, while chanting something with the Chimaera States flag behind him. The crowd starts saying, “Fight, fight, fight!” as Vincenzo continues his brave performance, even as he bleeds, his guards try to keep him down, and get him into the ambulance. He’s then driven away with a police escort and his family members, both blood-related and criminal, following close behind.

The four of us are able to join Vincenzo in his hospital room when he tells his security that we’re business associates. When we’re let in, I apologize for learning about the attempt on his life too late, and consider myself a failure because of it.

“I’m still alive, aren’t I?” Vincenzo asks.

“Yes, but-” I say as Vincenzo raises his finger.

“If God wanted me to die, then I would’ve died no matter what you’ve done or failed to do. You and your team did well, Ace. Turn on the news. Donnie should be giving his report on what happened.”

Donnie Parlarono appears on the hospital’s TV and explains that the attack on the SIB was known about. He told his colleagues that far-left anti-authority extremists would attack the building, but his warnings fell on deaf ears. The TV then shows the people we killed as Donnie explains that they were not on the SIB’s official list of agents and were double agents whom his friends thankfully killed during the raid. He then brings up the attempted assassination of Vincenzo, saying that the shooter and the sniper who shot him were both infiltrators, and that the one who is still alive is being held for intensive questioning. He goes on to explain that the SIB will look into the shadowy organization associated with these people, ensure that an attack on the SIB and its infiltration will never happen again, and make the public safe from any secret syndicates.

“Despite what Donnie said, we should go after those who planned your assassination. No one takes a shot at my brother without getting shot in return. No one!” Cesare says.

“Why should we when they’ve handed us the presidency? All we need to do is ensure they don’t steal it from us,” Vincenzo says.

Cesare turns to Vincenzo’s wife, Marin, and she agrees with her husband. Meanwhile, Cesare’s wife, Okazaki, can’t help but agree even though she also agrees with Cesare.

“Damn it. Damn it! This is why I hate politics! I can’t stand it!” Cesare says as he storms out of the room, followed by his wife and kids.

“Vincenzo…” I say.

“Leave him alone. He just has to blow off some steam. He won’t do anything rash. Go back home and enjoy your payment. We’ll be defending more than attacking in the coming days,” Vincenzo says.

My friends and I leave the hospital room and try to enjoy a nice dinner out in the city.

“You sure we shouldn’t be doing anything? I like chaos as the next revolutionary, but something like this is beyond wrong,” Kelly says.

“It’s what the boss said. Cesare said exactly how I feel, but we can’t do anything about it,” Al says.

“We joined a group of rogues. When did we ever play entirely by the rules?”

“We joined an orderly, virtuous group of rogues,” Suzuki specifies. “Break the code of conduct or chain of command, and your way of life or life itself is forfeit.”

“Ace?”

“I agree with Cesare’s wife, Okazaki. Something should be done, but we have to lay off for now and reap the rewards of our enemy’s mistake,” I say.

“Shit, and here I thought I escaped all the political violence and nonsense when I left the Slav Federation.”

Suzuki, Al, and I try to console Kelly and to enjoy our dinner together and pray and hope for the best for the future of our country.