Chronicles of Skull & Crossbownes (eBook)

The Atlantis File

TR Gabriel (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
145 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-3900-2 (ISBN)

Infos

Say hello to Timothy G. and Anthony B. Robertson, fraternal twins born three minutes and seven seconds apart. Wealthy, intelligent, and debonair, the brothers enjoy a great deal of notoriety in the celebrity circle of high society. This, however, is their public persona. Privately, over on the dark web side of life, they do manage to garner the same degree of notoriety as in their public life, but anonymously, known only as as Skull & Crossbownes, a mercenary pair of costumed contract killers, highly skillful in the art of death.

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THE ATLANTIS FILE, first in a series, is the story of the contracted assassination of Ms. Maxxima Torrera, Senorita Muerte. The twins' adventures span the globe from the jungles of Central America, where events start with, of all things, a rescue mission for the pair. From there they undertake their new contract in Cancn, then on to the Mediterranean Sea near where the lost city of Atlantis has reportedly been uncovered. Join the brothers as they trek across the world in pursuit of their prey. How will it all end?Step inside and see!

Textauszug

Jungle Trek

The night air was as thick as the jungle undergrowth the two men were trudging their way through. The heat was sweltering even in the middle of the night illuminated by a full moon. Although the two men were following a trail, it was so overgrown with leaves, vines and other entangling vegetation that it kept their progress limited to a slow crawl. This was bothersome to them because they were on a tight timeline, needing to be at their destination well before sunrise. They were relying on the darkness and the element of surprise to complete their mission.

“Jeezus, I hate this shit!” was the whispered complaint from the man in the lead, whose professional working name was Skull. While it may not have been in vogue nowadays to be a costumed assassin, the garments wore by Skull and his partner in crime Crossbownes, who was also Skull’s twin brother, were multi-functional.

First, their suits were environmentally controlled. This was accomplished by a system of mini-tubing spread in a complex web throughout the bottom layer of the articles of clothing that ran cooling water over their bodies. While in most temperate climates this radiator layer kept them more than comfortable, the heat and humidity of the South American jungle proved to be quite taxing for the system to handle adeptly. Both brothers were sweating profusely in their suits which were still keeping it somewhat cooler, so both of them could only imagine what it would be like had they not had them on.

Second, the suits were comprised of a fabric the brothers themselves developed in the secret projects division of their real-world technology company, Robertson Brothers Enterprises International, better known throughout the world as RBE International. Their moniker for it was “Dillo-rap” which was an abbreviation for the full name of their self-manufactured product, Armadillo Wrap. The composition of the fabric was a spandex-based material embedded with tiny ceramic plates. This was then layered and interwoven four levels deep to provide an all-encompassing garment for ballistic fragment protection. Layering of the hardened ceramic tiles spreads out the shock wave of the impact from a concussive force, keeping it from being concentrated in one spot. This not only provides fragment protection but small caliber bullet protection as well. The spandex base allowed for a form fit, keeping loose material from getting snagged on anything and providing for greater flexibility and ease of movement. Their costumes, with the force dispersion properties provided by the multitude of the micro-tiles, come in handy in their more lucrative business of either contract assassination or mercenary work. While Dillo-rap may have led to a substantial profit for them in the commercial market, the brothers decided to keep the material for themselves as part of their covert operations, preferring to use it for their own welfare and benefit.

Snakes had been slithering all around them while small animals had scurried about their area the whole trip through the jungle. They were extremely thankful for the protection provided by their Dillo-rap suits and boots that had kept them from suffering from the numerous bites and stings they would have gotten without their special attire on.

Another beneficial side effect of the unique weaving and layering of the clothing was that the black fabric, along with its texture from the embedded micro plates, resulted in a digital camouflage effect so prevalent in modern tactical clothing. This effect assisted them in blending seamlessly into a shadowy environment, like a modern ninja suit.

“You know, you only have yourself to blame. You were the one that picked the full-face hood to cover that big melon of yours, nobody forced you to wear it,” came the whispered retort of Crossbownes. He was laughing to himself inside. It was almost comical to hear his brother complain incessantly about the full-face mask for his suit. Crossbownes himself had chosen to go with an open mask with a fabric covering for his mouth. It was just a piece of shear mesh Kevlar-like material covering the bottom half of his face up under his chin. All he wanted was something to cover his bare skin, helping to conceal his true identity, something both the brothers took very seriously.

“Gentlemen, if you would kindly cease your pointless banter and keep focused on your mission, please. You will also need to avoid the trip wires connected to a total of three Claymores twenty-five feet ahead of you.” That was the voice of their guardian angel. Mr. Lexington Smythe, the man that had always been there for them while they were growing up. His voice was a constant presence in their ears, calling out the numerous mines planted along the trail for unsuspecting interlopers. He was also somehow able to deduce where other booby traps were by “reading” the drone sensor feeds he was getting. How he was able to see anything through this thick jungle was still amazing to both of the twins. They had built the drone for Smythe according to his specifications along with their own brilliant intellect and imaginations. The sensor suite aboard the RQ-1 Predator type air vehicle was as robust as some next generation spy planes or satellites. That had to account for some of it.

Lexington had been with them from the beginning, present at the hospital as their mother gave birth to them. The twins regard him as both butler and confidante. The only person they have ever known in their lives resembling a real family member. He virtually raised the boys himself since he was always present in their lives, attending to their every need.

The older man knew from an early age that the boys were a little different, albeit not quite right in their heads, having to clean up more than a few of their messes. This suited him just fine though due to his off the beaten path nature himself. He had grown up in England. His parents were poor and there were never many extras or luxury items around the house growing up. He’d been a scrapper since he was just a wee lad, either beating up or getting beat up by all manner of kids. He’d had a moment of self-realization one day when after getting into a terribly bloody fight, he decided he rather liked the fighting and thought if there were a way he could find a way to make a living at it, he might set himself up for life. Not being able to afford a trainer or gym fees he turned to the military for training. Lexington was brilliant and managed to double up on classes and graduate early. He wasted no time in enlisting in the Royal Marines, thinking if there was a fight to be had, he could find it there. He excelled in the training and furthered his education as well as his fighting acumen. After his fourth year Smythe decided he wanted to challenge himself even further and signed up to join Her Majesty’s Special Air Service, the SAS, elite of the elite in British Special Forces. No one ever breezes through SAS training, but Lexington fared very well throughout the lengthy course of training to join the ranks.

His time in the SAS served his disposition well as he saw action in every clime and place throughout the world. There was no lack of fighting for him, and he enjoyed the thrill of combat.

His downfall in the service came when on an operation he was caught beating a prisoner with a bit too much enthusiasm, leaving the hapless man a bloodied and unconscious mess. An inquiry into the incident showed a pattern of brutality that was deemed too much, even for SAS standards. When the time came to re-enlist, he was turned down the opportunity to continue to serve.

It was sheer happenstance that led Lexington to the Robertson family. He had left England, trying to get a fresh start in the U.S. and was acting as security for a high-end night club when a scuffle with an intoxicated patron ensued. Being a high-end club, Lex’s uniform was a tuxedo which isn’t exactly known as fighting attire. With a grace and elegance provided by years of training and actual combat Lexington was able to render the offender incapacitated and look good while doing it.

His abilities went noticed by a man in the crowd that night that happened to get an up close and personal look at the security man. It was none other than Mr. Stephan Robertson, Skull and Crossbownes’ father. He was there celebrating the news that his wife was going to have twins. Stephan had made more than a few enemies in his merciless business dealings and the thought occurred to him that his offspring might be targets for people who may be looking to get even with him. Before he left for the evening Stephan made the cultured security guard an offer he couldn’t refuse and that was how Mr. Smythe came to be the protector and mentor for the sociopathic twins.

Lexington’s service and support were invaluable to the twins as he covered for their whereabouts when they went on missions. Operational support was provided through the mission control center located in a secure room of their massive penthouse suite in New York City. From here he can access numerous websites, servers, systems as well as pilot the drone the brothers have used on many missions. It was the drone that was providing them the clues to potential pitfalls along the way to the target on this particular mission and a valuable resource in their line of work. In their legitimate business, he was the Chief Operating Officer and Curator for the museum as well as...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 5.1.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-3900-2 / 9798350939002