Mission 3 Part 1

“So,” Timothius asked as he walked with Ryan to the motorcycle. “What’s this one about?”
Ryan shrugged. “I don’t know. The emperor just said he’d need us on this one, Kayla to.”
Tim sighed. “Well okay, if you say so.” He got into his car along with Kayla and followed Ryan. When they got to the palace they hopped out and walked up to the large front gate. Ryan presented his ID. “We’re IMF,” he explained to the guard at the gate.
“You’re what?” the guard asked.
“Exactly,” Ryan replied. “Just keep it that way.”
Just then, Laz came running up to them. “Ryan, pant, the next time, pant, you make me run, pant, all the way here, wheeze, I’m going to kill you.”
“Hey,” Ryan threw up his hands and pointed to Emmy. “She needed a ride.”
“Well maybe next time I won’t let you ride on my motorcycle,” Laz shot back.
Ryan shook his head. “Laz, you don’t have a motorcycle.”
“So,” Laz retorted. “That’s not the point.”
“All right,” the guard said, hanging up a phone on the wall by the gate. “The emperor has told me to clear you. After you all pass a thumb print test, and an eye retina scan.”
Timothius shrugged. “Of course.”
“By the way,” the guard continued. “He also said you’re late.”

When they arrived at the emperor’s office the others were already there.
“Finally,” Jordan said.
Cathy, Christophear, Zach, and Shelleroo, also known as Michelle, all greeted them with nods. (Note: Shelleroo, or Shelly, or whatever has been changed to Michelle permanently due to the many complaints that have been made about the “funkiness” of her name. We apologize for any irritation and admit that it was a very funky name. We also want to say, it was all Oyi and Clari’s fault! Just kidding.)
“So,” Ryan ventured, flopping down on a sofa. “What’s new?”
Just then, the chair at the emperor’s desk that had appeared to be empty whirled around to face them, revealing the emperor. “You’re late,” he said, frowning.
Ryan gave his trademark grin. “Fashionably late.”
The emperor glared at him, then that glare started to fade away and slowly became a smile. “You’re right,” he shrugged. “Let’s get down to businesses then.” He paused and looked them over. “I’ll only be choosing some of you to go on this mission.”
“Then how come you made us all come here?” Laz asked.
The emperor glared at Laz, who shrunk back in his seat. “I’m only picking some of you,” he continued. “Because it wouldn’t make sense to send you all. Not because I think any of you are better than the others.”
“Why doesn’t it make sense to send all of us?” Ryan asked.
“Because we don’t need to risk losing all of IMF on one mission,” the emperor replied matter-of-factly.
“Say,” Ryan said suspiciously. “This isn’t a suicide mission or anything. Is it?”
The emperor hesitated. “No, no, of course not.”
“Okay, good, because I wouldn’t want to go on any suicide mission,” Ryan sighed in relief.
Timothius just stared at the emperor. That slight pause was more than enough to send warning bells off in his head. Was the emperor telling the truth? He doubted it.
“First of all,” began the emperor. “Cruise, you’re point man, as usual.”
Ryan gave smug look and leaned back in his chair. “Of course.”
“Laz,” the emperor continued. “You’ll be going with him.”
Laz pumped his fist and gave Ryan a high five. “All right.”
“Christophear and Zac, you’ll join them as well.” The emperor paused and looked at Timothius. “And Timothius, pack your bags, you’re going too.”
“Is that it?” Ryan asked.
“Yes,” the emperor replied. “Kayla and some others will stay here and keep in contact with you. If the objective changes at all, she’ll let you know.”
“All right,” Ryan clapped his hands together. “Guys night out.”
“Excuse me,” Timothius raised his hand. “What is the objective?”
The emperor held up his hand and tapped a folder on his desk. “I’m getting to that.” He opened the folder and started reading. “Apparently, a dangerous villain, known as Q--”
“What’s with all these one letter villain names?” Ryan mumbled.
“Known as Q,” the emperor continued. “Has been smuggling TNW’s into an enemy country. His ultimate objective is to use those TNW’s against the Touché Empire. Your mission if you choose to accept it is to intercept those TNW’s and destroy them before they reach their destination. Bring back Q, alive. Any questions?”
“Yeah,” Ryan raised his hand. “How do we know that Q is a he? Is Q a guy’s name or a girl’s name?”
The emperor sighed and ignored the question. “Any others?”
“Yes,” Laz raised his hand. “What country are we talking about?”
“You know,” Ryan said. “The enemy country.”
“Yeah, but what country?”
Ryan leaned over and whispered the name into Laz’s ear. “Oh,” Laz said, nodding. Then he frowned. “Why didn’t you just say that?”
“Because,” Ryan replied matter-of-factly, “It would offend the other country.”
Laz just gave him a confused look.
The emperor sighed and threw up his hands. “I swear, if you two weren’t so good at completing missions against all odds, including yourself, I’d have you both thrown out of IMF. Now Jordan will be providing you with transportation. Once there, you are on your own. If you are caught, the Touché government will disavow you, and deny all knowledge of your mission or that you were ever working for us. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” they replied.
“Ryan,” the emperor motioned for Ryan to come up. “Explain to them what exactly will have to be done to recover the location of the TNW’s”
“Okay boss,” Ryan replied. “First of all, once we get into the opposing country, we’ll have to lie low for a while. Once we’re sure that no one’s seen us, we’ll make our way to their SHP--”
Laz raised his hand. “What’s their SHP?”
“Their Secret Hiding Place,” Ryan replied smartly.
“Also known as their Head Quarters or HQ,” Tim said, a little annoyed.
“Whatever,” Ryan shook it off. “Inside their SHP is all the information about all of their secret plans, including the whereabouts of the TNW’s. We’ll have to get inside the building without setting off any alarms and find a way into the Top Secret Information room. This room is very special, because it has all kinds of high tech booby traps. The floors are weight sensitive, any unauthorized weight inside the room and it sets the alarm off. Also, any noise louder than a whisper will trigger the alarm.”
“Are you serious?” Zach asked, unbelieving.
“No not really,” Ryan admitted. “I got a little carried away there, but still the alarms are pretty state of the art. Not to mention there’s about a million guards, and the hallways are decked out with cameras. Plus, there’s code you have to use to get into the room, which we don’t have. And a key card used to get past security, which we don’t have. Oh, and don’t forget, we don’t even have clearance to get into the building period, let alone within twenty miles from it. Did I leave anything out?”
“Yeah,” the emperor replied. “There’s a laser beam that has to be deactivated before you can get into the hallway that contains the secret room.”
“Oh yeah,” Ryan said. “I forgot about that. Any questions?”
“Yeah,” Kayla said, turning to the emperor. “You said something about this not being a suicide mission?”
“Seriously,” Tim agreed. “Sounds pretty impossible to me.”
“Hey man,” Chris quipped. “Its what we do.”
“Exactly,” the emperor nodded. “And that’s why I’ve picked you five. Now is there anyone who wants to back out?” He gave them a look that meant business.
They all shook their heads no.
“All right then, move out.”

Ryan, Timothius, Emmy, and Kayla were standing outside the helicopter, their hair flying in the wind from the whirling blades.
“Well,” Timothius said. “I guess this is goodbye.”
“Yeah,” Kayla said. “I’ll be sure to keep you guys posted. Just take care of yourself.”
“I will,” Timothius promised.
“Remember, Ryan,” Emmy said. “Don’t let them catch you, or…” she trailed off, unable to finish.
“Hey,” Ryan said confidently. “I’ll be back, you just make sure you’re still here.”
“I will,” Emmy replied. She hugged him. “Just don’t get caught,” she said, choking down tears. Emmy loosened her embrace and stepped back. “Guess you guys better get going, be careful.”
“Hey, you two,” Jordan shouted. “I’m leaving. Get in or you’ll be walking.”
Timothius waved to Kayla and climbed in. “Be careful, all of you,” Kayla said to Ryan as he turned towards the helicopter.
“Don’t worry,” Ryan replied, casually slipping on some shades. “We’ll be fine. What could go wrong?”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Kayla whispered. Emmy nodded in agreement.
Ryan faced the helicopter and took a running leap at it. This time he caught the edge of it as it took off. “Ha, ha,” he yelled. “I did it!” Ryan tried to pull himself up, but to no avail. “Now what?”

To be continued...