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Chapter 8

March 25, 2018

Freelancer Safehouse, Chicago

Fenrir and the team had been pouring through files for a least 2 hours. But it was a dead end.

Nothing. There was nothing concrete on this guy.

Redd Ishi was a ghost. No house. No jobs. No friends. Nothing that they could use to find him.

They had found a birth certificate, and a house he had lived in during his childhood. Redd was born in 1970, with him disappearing off the grid at 14. Birth parents were a dead end too, being immigrants from the Old Continents, where the only government besides the United States was. They raided the house, only to find it abandoned and empty. The name only appeared again when he was 19, in a adoption record for a 1 year old fox, no name on the record sadly.

Freelancer had nothing to go on. And Fenrir's hands were out of the investigation. Once they positively identified the guy, the main branch of Freelancer had taken over. They gave him "time off" in order to help him, but he knew it was to turn him away. Even the Bowman's had been forced out, which annoyed Asher the most. The first time in a few months of something interesting and he can't do anything about.

So they did the next best thing. Hack into the files of their own organization. It was a stupid move. At most would get them fined or fired. At worst, Jail time. But they had to do something.

Fenrir had to admit, Rocket was a natural at this. He got through most of the security in the first day after they were turned away, and now had compiled everything they needed on Redd. Too bad all this information was going nowhere.

He let himself lay back on the couch, feeling mentally exhausted. "That's everything?"

The raccoon in the nodded, narrowing his eyes over files. "Pretty much. This guy basically just went up and disappeared when he was an adult. The adoption record might have been important, but I looked up the place. Burned down in 98'. So... nothing."

Asher shrugged. "At least we know somewhat of what he's like. Late forties, fox, a really resilient fighter. Oh, and don't forget, psychopath murderer."

Rocket listened, then his eyes went wide as he remembered something. He scrambled back to the computer, typing until he found himself in the Black Market page.

"I just realized, those guys Redd murdered... they must have been related somehow. Besides the heartmod thing."

Asher looked over Rocket's shoulder as he continued cross checking the two dead mammals, until...

"Well shit. I think I found the most probable place for him to go next."

Rocket grinned as the computer lit up with the positive search. "You guys ever near of Rodrigo Russo?"

Unknown Location

"Redd, get up."

Redd jerked away from the voice as he was roused out of slience. Even though he did not sleep, he could still be startled sometimes. Especially by Kells.

The dark furred wolf had that sinister grin as he stared at Redd. If Redd ever thought of himeself as crazy, Kells was fucking insane.

Like Reynard, he was born on Terra 2 without ever seeing the homeland. His parents indoctrinated them into the livestyle of their home, telling them the weak would be purged. And Kells excelled at it. He never was distracted by the normal events in life, only keeping himself focused on whatever objective the White Lion gave him from back home.

He had no limit to what he would do for the Collaboration.

And that scared the living crap out of Redd.

Kells still towered over Redd's hunched form. "It's almost time. WL wants everyone in. Bring the runt with you."

Part of him wanted to rip out Kells's throat. The more sane half told him it would barely work. Almost all the home-trained warriors had some form of the Infinity formula inside them. Never allowing them to age and letting them cheat death. Well, only if you keep your head on.

"Alright, fine." The fox slowly got up, letting himself stretch a little.

He moved over to Reynard's still asleep form, lightly touching his shoulder. "Wake up."

Reynard grumbled, groaning as he slowly got up. Kells, satisfied that his job was done, left the room.

Redd waited outside to let Reynard get dressed, before the younger fox came out, dressed similar to what he was wearing a few days ago. Black shirt with black pants, and his gear vest.

The two navigated down the hall, up to the Situation Room where all the soldiers would meet.

White Lion's messages were very important. No one at the compound wanted to miss the meeting, since it was the only major chance of them seeing the world they had never been to.

They came out to the usual big set of chairs, situated around a large table. A blueish screen could be seen on top of the table.

The room began to fill with the usual number of mammals. The collaboration was built on a equal world, where there was no divide between Predator and Prey. Nearly every type of mammal was there, from the smallest to the largest. Which is why the Situation Room was one of the biggest rooms in the compound.

As everyone had finally entered, the screen lit up, displaying a hologram of a silhouetted mammal. The room got quiet as the White Lion prepared to speak.

"The time has finally come. Phase one is almost complete. Once the crime barons are rid of, our operatives will be able to move the Ouroborus device to our main HQ. Team Alpha, you will be taking out the Harbor gang. Team Beta, The Russo's. Team Theta, The Slient 40's. Once they are dealt with, we will use the chaos to move our operations to our final destination. The true home of Freelancer. May the gods be with you."

The room repeated the final line as the screen went black. They began to file out, all going to different places to complete the first phase. Redd headed for the last set of rooms, which housed the cars that the team would use to get to Russo. Once this was over, He and Reynard would get their ticket to get out of here, and see the home he had never been to, and the home Reynard had only heard old stories of.

The Endgame was starting to finally fall together.