《The American Heist》Tests
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"So what exactly can you guys do?" John asked as he leaned on the table that's in the center of the room
"You're obviously the only person who belongs." John said as he pointed to Tyson. "You guys are professional paintballers." As he moved his finger to Rob then to Yumi.
"A couple who make more noise than a construction site." John said as he then pointed at Morgan and Connor.
"A pilot who can't spread his wings." John said pointed at Kaz.
"A blonde who thinks she's hot shit when she's not." John said as he finally pointed his finger at Sarah before throwing his hands up.
"We're being led by a genocidal maniac who thinks he can get away with everything." John said as he turned around to look at the stairs to see Jack descending down.
A look of horror washed over John's face as he realized what might happen.
"Yes, I believe I can get away with a lot of things. No, let me correct that, I know I can." Jack said as finished descending the stairs.
"Any problem can be solved if you have brains and patience." Jack said as he got right in front of John's face.
"I've never killed anyone." Jack said in a whisper. "You're a playboy who decided that he was tired of the good life." Jack said as he made a fist. Tyson moved closer to get between John and Jack in case they both decide to fight.
"What can you do?" Jack asked with a neutral face.
"I'm the person who's funding your job. John said as he put a finger on Jack's chest. Everyone is now surrounding Jack and John. Nobody wants to miss out on this moment.
Jack and John are staring at each other, tension building between them.
"Aye, but that doesn't answer my question. What can you do?" Jack said with anger in his voice now because of how annoying the situation has become.
"You said you've never killed anybody, then why did you bomb a children's hospital in Caracas?" John asked with anger in face. All eyes are on Jack now.
"I didn't." Jack said as he tightened his fists. "I was framed." Jack said as he was getting ready to swing.
"How about a test?" Rob said as he folded his arms. Everyone but Jack and John turned to look at Rob. " John want's to see what this team is made of, we've got the space, equipment and materials for everyone to prove themselves" Rob said as he unfolded his arms and waited for Jack to respond.
"Sixty seconds." Jack yelled as he turned his back to John and motioned everyone to follow him up the balcony. Rob joyfully turned his attention from the situation and went over to the armory. From there he selected his weapons and opened a door that led down to a room that no one knew.
"As Rob said, I've built-in a proper facilities to prove ourselves and sharpen our skills." Jack said as everyone ascended the staircase. When everyone entered the observation room Jack pressed a button and a row of shutters shot up to show an adequate arena.
"This is Rob's test." Jack said as he pressed another button and red lights filled the testing floor. Everyone is standing just before the glass to see what will happen.
"Operator, any requests before we get started with your test?" Jack asked into a microphone.
"Ya give me a beat I can swing to." Rob said as he stepped onto a platform. Soon it started rising.
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Jack smiled and pressed another button and two trap doors separated from the floor and revealed Rob standing in the center of a circular platform that was rising. When the platform stopped moving, a loud buzzer could be heard going off multiple times before going silent and then lights turned white.
Music started blasting and targets started popping up. Within a second, Rob had his pistols in his hands and was shooting at every target he could see. One by one they fell in a quick session before there was a pause.
"Holy shit!" Everyone said in unison except Jack, who now had his arms folded.
Rob quickly reloaded his pistols and mentally prepared for the next set of targets. The next batch of target's are further apart now and moving. Quickly moving in and out cover, this was making the challenge harder but not impossible. The result was still the same, targets came up and they went back down.
Again, there was a pause and Rob dropped his pistols and reached for another set from his torso. As he was in the middle of grabbing a set, a target sprung up behind a thick piece of wood and started moving swiftly towards him. Without any hesitation he focused all his attention on the target in front of him. Pieces of wood kept splitting off from the cover every time a bullet hit it until a hole had opened up. Rob had no trouble getting the target down when he had a clear line of sight.
Rob looked at the fallen targets and the wood that's scattered around the one target. Shaking his head he looked up to the window and gave a cue as if he was asking for more. Jack grabbed a lever in response and moved it halfway then all the way. The platform Rob was standing on started to slowly spin in a clockwise direction, this caught him off guard.
"Shit!" Rob thought as he realized how much harder the test got.
Then the platform was spinning at full speed. Targets started popping back up, but some we're painted red. When a bullet hit one of the red targets, it didn't fall. But instead, it started moving erratically then all the targets started moving erratically. Different colors, different directions and different speeds. This caused Rob's smile to disappear.
Quickly reloading his two pistols, Rob pushed his arms apart from each other until they were in different directions. The pistol in his right firing at every red target and every other target. The pistol in his left, finishing off every red target that didn't fall and any other target that he missed. Soon all targets are down, the platform is slowly coming to a stop. All bullet casings and weapons are on the ground. Everyone in the tower was surprised at the scene, except Jack. No gunslinger is known for the extreme feature that Rob was able to pull off.
Rob looked back up into the tower to see if Jack was going to end the test. Jack responds by smiling and turning off the music.
Seconds later five targets popped up directly behind Rob. Instinctively he spun around and pulled his revolver and moved it until it was by his side. Rob turned his body slightly after every shot until the five targets were down and had only one bullet to spare in his revolver.
Rob turned back around and made eye contact with Jack. Both looked at each other with a smirk. They were both happy with the results. Jack turned around and faced the group as Rob walked over to the platform and waited for it to be lowered back into the ground.
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"Convinced?" Jack asked John as he turned away from the scene to face him.
"No." John responded.
"Who else?" Jack asked as he leaned back onto the window. Everyone was anticipating to hear their name.
"Her." John said as he pointed to Sarah. Still facing John, Jack extended his arm enough for everyone to see and made a thumbs up with his hand. Sarah turned to leave the room and as she was leaving Rob was entering.
"Happy?" Rob asked as he walked over to Yumi.
"Very." Jack said as he pushed off the wall and turned back around to talk into the microphone.
"Sixty seconds." Jack said in a neutral voice. Soon everyone was looking at each other wondering what the next test was going to be.
"Any requests?" Jack asked into the microphone only to see Sarah tying her hair into a ponytail. Jack grabbed his phone and selected the first song he saw. Everyone looked at each other wondering what was about to happen. After a short moment, Jack pressed a straight line button which caused lasers to instantly fill the room and the lights to go out.
"There's more than five hundred programmed lasers in this test. Half of them move and half of those moving lasers are erratic" Jack said as he turned up the music. "If anything touches the lasers, instant failure." Jack said as he motioned everyone to watch Sarah.
Sarah bounced her head side to side before popping her knuckles and walking up to the laser field.
"Let me tell you something John." Jack said out loud as he watched Sarah duck under the first laser then sidestepped to avoid a moving laser. After which she spun around and leaped backwards over a row of lasers, avoiding the majority of them by a couple of feet.
"You can take two kinds of approaches to a problem." Jack said as he folded his arms. "The first is the smart approach. Taking extra time to make sure you're doing it right and not needing to question yourself." Jack said as he watched Sarah land on her hands and pointing her legs straight up. Within a moment a group of lasers were surrounding Sarah's body.
"The second is being bold." Jack said as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath that no one heard. "You're putting yourself into a situation that you've never dealt with before and only relying on your past experiences to help guide you." Jack said in a calm voice as he watched Sarah wait until the lasers moved; then lowered herself down until she put both her feet on the ground. Sarah then saw a row of lasers were moving in a X pattern towards her, within a moment she was flat on the ground.
"I was born bold." Jack said as he turned around after watching Sarah jump up after the pattern had passed and lean back to avoid another laser that was moving diagonally from the floor. Sarah then leaned forward and took a deep breath. She saw the end of the course, only a small opening in the pattern. After looking around, she knew that was the only way through, she had to leap through the small gap. Sarah stood up and sidestepped a moving laser.
"This isn't right." Sarah thought as she looked at the end of the course. Soon more lasers turned on and started moving towards her. Sarah quickly bent backwards into a handstand, avoiding a laser moving horizontally along the wall. Then another laser was moving towards her legs, quickly thinking she split her legs to the sides just in time to avoid the lasers.
"Because if you can steal what others can't." Jack said right before Sarah pulled her legs together to avoid two lasers moving along the ceiling then rolled forwards to build momentum.
"Then you can live like a king." Jack said as Sarah rolled to her feet and leaped through the small opening in the grid. Sarah then looked towards the tower after punching a button that was on the wall. With the test being completed all the lasers deactivated and the lights filled the room.
Jack smiled as the majority of everyone in the tower was shocked to see Sarah move through a laser field that seemed impossible.
"We're not going to have any more tests, we need to prepare." Jack said as he pushed off the wall and turned to face John.
"You're here because of Tyson." Jack said as he took a step to leave the room.
"If it wasn't for him, I would've been more than happy to turn you from an accomplice to a hostage." Jack said as he maintained a neutral face.
"I already told you the plan, if you want out, now's your chance." Jack said as he folded his arms. John simply mirrored Jack and folded his arms.
"What about them, why do we need them?" John asked as he pointed at where Connor and Morgan were standing only to find Morgan propped up against the wall.
Within a moment, a hand was on John's shoulder.
"I'm the ghost that goes BANG in the night." Connor whispered into John's ear right before he shoved John back and started walking towards Morgan. As he was walking, he gave Jack a dirty look and Jack didn't respond.
"I don't care how you cut it, everyone on this team can bring something." Jack said as he turned his attention to Kaz.
"Mind doing me a favor?" Jack asked Kaz. Kaz simply responded by slightly lifting his head up as if he was saying yes.
"Train the handicap in some basic form of combatives, I want him to be able to hold his own in a fight until help arrives." Jack said right before turning his back to the room, not bothering to wait for a reaction from anyone.
Jack left the room and descended down the set of stairs until he had reached the table where he told his plan to the team. Sarah was waiting there. Jack couldn’t but help but look at how beautiful she was.
“You know I’m a triple threat right?” Sarah asked as she leaned on the table, half sitting half standing. “I know, I’d like to keep your last threat a secret for as long as possible.” Jack said as he stared at the table. After some careful thinking, he picked up a pen and wrote something at the top of the schematics.
"What did you name this operation?" Sarah asked as Yumi and Rob approached the table to join them. Jack just put the pen back on the table and stepped away.
Rob looked at the schematic and frowned. After a short moment, he picked up the pen and crossed the name out of what Jack had written and wrote his own title.
"I think it deserves that title." Rob said with a smile right before he left the table and soon everyone was now around the table. Jack smiled at the new name for the operation, but that smile quickly evaporated.
"We need to get ready for The American Heist." Jack said as he motioned everyone to leave the table and go to their respective areas.
"Wait up Rob, we need to talk." Jack said out loud which caused Rob to stop mid step and turn around. Yumi and Sarah both stopped and turned around out of curiosity. "In private" Jack followed up as he looked at Yumi and Sarah. They both understood the seriousness in Jack's voice and decided to let it go. They both turned around and started making their way back to their own areas in the safehouse. Rob and Jack walked over to a door that led outside of the safehouse, once outside Rob faced Jack and waited to hear what was about to be said.
"What were you doing with a bomb in London?" Jack asked in a serious tone.
"Honest truth?" Rob asked, in which Jack nodded. "I was going to use it as insurance in case I botched the contract I was on." Rob said as he looked down and then back up. Jack closed his eyes and shook his head in response
"I didn't need it though." Rob said with a calm voice. Jack stopped shaking his head and looked at Rob in confusion. "When I heard you were in London, I pulled out of the contract to find you." Rob said as he folded his arms. "I know the majority of everyone in there is on the most wanted list and frankly I know you wouldn't gather everyone without reason." Rob said as he unholstered his revolver.
"We both know the rules." Rob said in a quiet voice. A wave of sadness overtook Jack's face as he realized what he meant.
Pulling out of a contract after accepting is a guaranteed way to earn a death wish in the criminal world. Jack remained silent as he looked at the revolver Rob was holding, thinking of the consequences that Rob had gotten himself into.
"Your brother gave it to me, it's only right I returned it." Rob said as he flipped the revolver around so Jack could grab the handle easily. "He gave it to you for a reason, he often preached that the best deserve the best." Jack said as he looked up to meet Rob's gaze. "Besides, you're a better shot than me." Jack said. "I'm good, but not as good as you." Jack followed up. They both exchanged a smile as Jack took a couple steps back and leaned against the door they came out of.
"We need a marksman." Jack said and soon hung his head. "I thought the plan you gave was good, we've already got a marksman, Yumi." Rob said as he holstered the revolver and folded his arms.
"No, Yumi is a sniper and you're a gunslinger. A marksman is a hybrid between the two of you." Jack said as he forced his head up. "Trust me, we need a marksman, I'm thinking of all possibilities for this job." Jack said as he looked behind Rob whilst thinking. "Our problem is, we can't get a marksman the right way." Jack said as he refocused his attention back onto Rob.
"Well this does present a problem." Rob said after some careful thinking. "I can't reach out to my friends, you're disavowed and wanted by everyone, we've got a rookie who's getting his feet wet for the first time and a ghost who's been shot." Rob said as he reached into one of his pockets to pull out a bullet and start twiddling with it. Jack moved his hand up to his mouth, trying to figure out a solution to their problem. After what felt like an eternity for both of them, Rob then had a thought.
"We could get a mercenary." Rob said as he continued playing with the bullet. "No, their loyalty is to coin, not principles." Jack said as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in frustration. All of the sudden, Jack opened his eyes and dropped his hand from his face. He then proceeded to look at Rob and smile.
"You know I hate it when you get that look right?" Rob said as he stopped playing with his bullet. "You got enough bullets?" Jack asked as he started walking away and motioned Rob to follow. Soon they're both walking beside the safehouse.
"Depends, where are we going tonight?" Rob asked. "We're going to Giles, it might get interesting." Jack said as he popped some fingers and his elbow. "You serious, we're wanted in every capacity, both legal and illegal and your idea is to walk into a club that's the nerve for all organized crime?" Rob said in disbelief.
"Yup." Jack said happily. "You're insane." Rob muttered under his breath before that both turned around the corner. They could see Yumi working under the hood of the van, trying to presumably remove the battery. In the next moment, the wrench Yumi was holding slipped and connected the positive and negative terminals together. Large amount of sparks erupted right before Yumi pushed the wrench off of the battery.
"Taxi." Rob and Jack both said in unison before turning around to walk to the front of the safehouse.
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