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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Sure enough, Isaac was right on time. He arrived clad in his usual Rockst guise, albeit with a bandana tied around his mouth to further obscure any facial features and any non-black colors covered up to better hide in the darkness. Considering the usual flair and bombast thst he brought to the table, it was rare seeing him so quiet.[break][break]

As he arrived, a dark shape descended from the skies. It was none other than a Rookidee, which touched down on Isaac's shoulder. The look on its face was stern, and its body language was heavy with tension. Whatever it had seen on its little scouting run, it clearly hadn't been happy with.[break][break]

"The skies free?" Isaac whispered. The Rookidee shook its head, clicking its beak twice. Just as Bishop suspected, the roofs did indeed have guards on them. "And the perimeter?" Another shake. There were no easy shortcuts for this mission.[break][break]

Now Isaac turned to Bishop, expression unreadable between his two layers of mask. "Was hoping a quick peek at what we were up against would give us some hints," he said. "But it looks like we're gonna be doing this one the hard way."[break][break]

The man had his trusty Gallade out. Far as choices for a mission like this went, it was hard to pick out a better one. "I think we should keep on foot for this one. If we chance it on the roofs, all it takes is getting spotted once and we're sitting ducks. At least down here, we've got a whole complex worth of hiding places. But what do you think?"

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Window sounds good to me. Less sign we've been here, the better," Isaac decided. Windows locked and unlocked, but you couldn't take back a hole in a wall. Sure, if they ended up in a rush, these beggars wouldn't be able to be choosers. But it was better to plan for a good result and prepare for the worst.[break][break]

For now, he remained pressed against the wall, even after Bishop released him. If he only saw two guards on this end, things weren't the worst they could've been. That was a small enough cadre for him and Bishop to each take one. Again, though, worst case scenarios; ideally, they'd be able to do this without resorting to such means.[break][break]

"Slow, careful, and quiet. A Mightyena's gonna hear us way before it sees us, and unless we're getting flasight tagged the guard's vision will be even worse," Isaac figured. "If we distract the dogs, that buys us a lot more time to work, but it also gets hackles raised. Especially if we leave the guards something to look at after." Hasty or methodical. Hidden within the shadows, or veiled by tricks and distractions. There were many, many options for going about this.[break][break]

As Isaac brainstormed, he studied, trying to get a sense of the speed at which these Mightyena patrolled. One loop . . . two loops . . . by now, Isaac was starting to build a steady counting rhythm in his head. "You see any cameras of alarms over by the spot we're eyeing? If you do, I've got a guy that can take 'em out for us," Isaac finished, keeping a hand on Coulomb's Pokeball. A little shock in just the right place could do wonders to help a breaking and entering go smoothly.

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[attr="class","skullbody"]One camera pointed in this direction, huh? That wasn't too terrible to deal with. Isaac waited for the latest round of Mightyena to pass, then cracked a Pokeball open from behind the safety of cover. Coulomb came out, the Pincurchin glancing expectantly towards Isaac.[break][break]

"You're on camera duty," Isaac whispered, gesturing with his head in the direction of Bishop's hand. "Keep to the walls so the camera doesn't spot you. If someone walks in on you, freeze up; if you don't move, it'll be dark enough to blend in. And Halberd, you drop him off so this doesn't take all night. Sounds good?"[break][break]

Coulomb nodded once, then extended a quill for Halberd to grab on. When the Mightyena had rounded the corner and faded from sight, the duo took off. They kept high above the sky, out of visual range of the Corvisquire perching on the roof, and circled around as they looked for a proper dropoff point.[break][break]

Aha. Just behind the camera's line of sight. That would work perfectly. Halberd touched down, receding into the shadows as Coulomb wiggled out from his grip. He wasn't the fastest mover, but he could climb walls with ease and was nearly invisible against the inky blackness of the night. That meant it never needed to break its stride, even when a Mightyena patrol skewed worryingly close.[break][break]

Finally, Coulomb was right up against the camera. It extended another quill, this time to short circuit it with a quick, precise Zing Zap. Any footage it was displaying gave way to first static, then pure blackness.[break][break]

When the bird and urchin regrouped with Isaac, he thanked them with a bright smile and a quick ruffle of Halberd's feathers. The two went back into their Pokeballs shortly after, Isaac not wanting to risk running out of cover with too many bodies in tow. "Alright, way should be clear now," he whispered to Bishop. "Let's get going . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . now!" The Mightyena rounded around the corner, and in their wake Isaac made a dash for the target.

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[attr="class","skullbody"]Stupid internal locks. If Isaac could just get to a lock, he'd be able to pop this bad boy open. But in this darkness? While they were surrounded by this many threats? No way. They'd need to find some other way of getting the window open, or even another entrance entirely-[break][break]

Or that![break][break]

Isaac grinned widely in appreciation as Bishop whipped out the glass cutter. "Oh, you are good," he whispered, his compliment hidden by the sound of grinding glass. As far as traces being left behind went, this was really as subtle as you could get. It'd be near impossible to notice in the darkness.[break][break]

Bishop got the door open, so Isaac was on first entry duty. Yeah. Sure. That made sense. He slipped through the window, his narrower frame and lighter weight making for an easier entrance than Bishop would've had anyway. Only a pair of soft, quick footfalls indicated that Isaac had arrived; clearly, the younger man had practice at this sort of field.[break][break]

He didn't waste time standing around in the open, either. Pretty much the second he landed, Isaac pressed himself against the nearby wall. Now instead of being an obvious target, he could keep hidden in shadow to start surveying his surroundings. He'd take a look at anything of interest he could see from his current location; objects of particular note, electronic devices that could help or harm them, the general layout of the room and any accessible exits, any documents such as floor plans or shipping orders. Knowledge was power, and Isaac liked feeling strong.[break][break]

A deep search could wait, however. The main purpose of his quick overview was to see if they had just stumbled into a trap. Once he was able to confirm that the situation was clear, Isaac would flash Bishop a thumbs up and motion for him to head on in. When it came time for the deep dive, two heads would be far better than one.

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[attr="class","skullbody"]Medicine. Of course it had to be medicine.[break][break]

Isaac quickly took in air through his nose as he saw the logo on the crate. There were two types of heist. The first was the type where the League and the fact cats backing it lost something of value, and Rocket gained it. Raw materials, electronics, Pokeballs, weaponry. Their enemy's loss was their simultaneous gain. It was a win-win for everyone but the League, and fuck the League.[break][break]

Then there was the second type. The type where innocents paid the price as collateral in the war, or were arguably the main target. This medicine could save a lot of lives over in Rustboro. Yet here Isaac and Bishop were, preparing to loot it with reckless abandon. Back when the worst crime Isaac did was shoplifting, medicine was always the one thing on his no-go list without a damn good reason behind it.[break][break]

Maybe there was a good reason. Sootopolis was still hurting in the aftermath of the Necrozma incident, after all. Most cities in Hoenn, at the very least, seemed stable. But Sootopolis? They were already struggling in the aftermath of the invasion, and that was before that big mean mother from Ultra Space decided to drop on in. Were these supplies going there?[break][break]

It was just as likely that they were being funneled into black markets to fund Rocket operations. But, was that so bad, either? Those who needed to turn to black markets often didn't have any better options. Either they didn't have the money to afford the original deal, or they didn't even have access where they were. You could argue it was extortion. But you could also argue with was giving a chance to someone that would otherwise be left out in the cold. And it was depriving big pharma to megabucks they sold these things at, too. That sort of black eye was very, very tempting to deal out.[break][break]

Still, it sat in his gut like a lead weight. Someone was going to win. Someone was going to lose. There was only so much medicine to go around. It was a zero-sum game even in the best of times, and now he was an active player in it. Could he seriously say he was okay with this?[break][break]

Okay. Enough moral philosophy. He'd be running in circles forever if he kept that up. It'd be better to look at the practicality of this situation, and that was all too clear. Bishop was here, doing the job. If Isaac did the job with him, they'd do the job faster and he could go home. If Isaac didn't do the job, the job'd get done anyway and he'd have his inaction hanging over his head. And if he dared to go rogue? Well, that was a can of worms Isaac didn't even entertain opening.[break][break]

He released his breath, and with it his focus and clarity came back to him. He released another pair of Pokeballs from his belt, these ones containing the blade-armed duo of Poseidon and Kurze. "Give our friend here a hand. Faster we get this done, less risk we've got coming our way," Isaac said. The Kabutops and Bisharp looked towards each other, exchanging a single nod. And then they began following Gallade's lead, prying open boxes of particular import.[break][break]

At this rate, they'd be done in no time.

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[attr="class","skullbody"]The bladed Pokemon nodded, easing their crate opening activities from every box they found to only any sections that hadn't yet been checked. If a set of crates looked promising, they'd start bringing them box by box over towards Bishop and his Gallade.[break][break]

The man didn't just have his eye on the prize, though. He also has it on Isaac, noting his contemplation. Isaac's first instinct was to try and swallow his worries down. Nobody needed to know his discomfort. Especially not a fellow Rocket Grunt. Especially not a fellow Rocket Grunt who seemed ready to do anything, and everything, for the cause.[break][break]

At the same time, saying nothing would just be suspicious. The last thing he needed was for back and forth at the last hurdle of the mission.[break][break]

Maybe that was why instead, Isaac sighed slightly, shooting Bishop a weary smile. "Half a year ago, I didn't expect I'd be stealing a whole warehouse's worth of medicine, y'know?" Isaac admitted. "Not that it's a problem or anything. Just . . . needed to catch myself for a second."[break][break]

He'd be lying if he said this fully sat right with him. But if it came down to Rocket or the League, he knew where his allegiance lied. Maybe both of these factions would exploit this resource for all it was worth. Maybe both of these factions cared more about their own survival than the betterment of the world. Maybe both of these factions were just waiting for the other to blink first.[break][break]

But only one of these factions was honest about it.[break][break]

"It's better off out of League hands, anyway."

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[attr="class","skullbody"]The past was never a topic Isaac cared to get too bogged down in. As far as he was concerned, it was dead to him. What was there to look back on? A family that was better off without him? Four years spent spinning his wheels, pretending a bunch of meandering around and doing odd jobs would amount to anything? It was a waste of energy. It was a waste of brainpower. It was a waste of time.[break][break]

And yet, whenever it came up, Isaac couldn't get it out of his head. It stayed embedded in there, as deep-seated as the nails in these crates, until he melted it down with the proper level of vitriol. It wasn't enough to just say his past meant nothing to him and move on. He had to shout his defiance of it to the heavens, just as he shouted his defiance to the meteor that hurtled closer with each passing day.[break][break]

It was as if he knew that he'd never escape either.[break][break]

"Oh, you know," he said, his cool, dismissive tone a stark contrast to the burning heat in the walls of his brain. "Exploring the region. Learning a little of everything. Keeping myself busy freelancing. That kinda thing." Really, was it so different from Rocket? He just had a new client, a lot more wiggle room in the eyes of the law, and more resources than 4 years of odd jobs ever got him.[break][break]

For as much as parts of Rocket disquieted him, it was worth anything to not have to go back. Nobody cared who he was until he put on the mask, and he'd forgotten how to care in turn. Rocket opened his eyes, and everything came flooding back on force. The idea of giving all that up just to float around the region like a lost soul left him sick to his stomach.

"How about you?"

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