Chapter 4: The Rimbastar Jewelry Heist

“I hate the fucking paperwork...” Stone said as he drove his car. He maintained a steady pace with his car as his one hand gripped the steering wheel. The look of disgust and anguish was obvious.

It had been later on that afternoon. The introductory tedium of arriving at the police station was met with having to sit behind a computer and waiting for hours. Meanwhile, the marine had to type in all the data pertaining to Ioren’s transfer and the status of the previous day’s encounter.

Ioren was busy loading the last of the two spare magazines for her pistol while the vehicle was moving forward. She was gently placing the small rounds over the other as each one made a satisfying clicking sound. When the last one was put in its place, she closed the case and stuck it with her belongings. She placed the magazine in the spare pouch of her newly acquired belt. By now, she was getting used to the nuanced outbursts that the marine was making. She was careful making any gestures that would anger him further and instead tried to diffuse it partly. She pulled out her tilon, started to type, and let the device continue translating her words out loud.

“The people at the police station seem friendly. I like the police chief.”

“Ugh...” Stone grumbled. Ioren decided to change the topic.

“Thank you for everything today.”

“Hmph...” was his only response.

She paused as she seemed hesitant in writing it, but it was needed as she could see the Oshunian sun was just past afternoon. Finally, she had to bring it up as she resumed her typing.

“I need to have a room to sleep in.”

“So? It’s not my problem.”

She sighed as she briefly closed her eyes. “Please. Can you help me find a place to sleep?”

“Why are you asking me? You expect me to give you some luxury apartment?”

She hissed a little bit as her clawed fingers typed. “Not this again. I need to find...”

“I know goddamn it,” he snapped at her. “What? Don’t you have any friends that can let you sleep with them? No family or spouse?”

“No friends. No family here. No mate. I have nothing here but what I had in the submarine.”

“You can’t find anybody to help you?”

She shook her head. “Nobody will help me here.”

Stone gripped the steering wheel hard. He gave an agitated scowl at the thought of having to help some alien find a room and board. The idea of having to assist his partner simply bore into his mind. He turned his head to see that Ioren’s feathers were drooped low. She gripped her hands and claws to her sides for a short while. She was not sad, but he could clearly see that she looked rejected.

They had been driving for thirty minutes since they left the precinct. The traffic was much less since it was past lunchtime. The marine observed the environment as they were closer to the mountain ranges while still in the center of the great metropolis. There were no skyscrapers in this location, instead consisting of low-rise apartments and stores. Ioren herself was observing the place. The streets showed signs of wear and tear like they were poorly maintained. Walls of back alleys had graffiti painted on the sides with no signs of an effort to clean them. There were individuals making deals in the back alleys that she could see.

There were no Itreans in this area at all, with the exception of one or two Shal’rein here and there. Ioren even noticed that the humans here had unusual augmented ligaments. The typical person might have had a mechanical-looking arm or leg. Occasionally, a few of them might have had an augmented nose, eyes, ears, to even a mechanical-looking throat. It was a staunch comparison to those that lived near the coastline or any other human being seen so far that had augmented ligaments but easily blended in with their own bodies.

“Why do these humans not have normal augments?” Ioren asked on her tilon.

“Price,” Stone answered. “It costs more to have the augments that a majority uses. These people either have no jobs or are poorly paid. The cheaper augments tend to show more easily.”

“One person only has one arm and a leg,” she remarked.

Stone turned his eyes to see the person she was talking about. This person was limping on one actual leg and only had one real arm. It was as if his body had been gutted out with just enough for him to walk. He didn’t look like he was in the best condition as he moved with crutches.

“That person violated the 10% rule,” Stone answered.

It dawned on Ioren of some of the human rules and laws. The man they drove past was a person who clearly violated that rule. Human beings who decided to have more than 10% of their bodies augmented without special permission or some catastrophic accident could have their bodies stripped of them. In this case, the man was literally walking on one leg and had one arm.

“It is a harsh rule,” Ioren typed.

“No, it is necessary and none of our business to say so,” Stone explained. “If people were allowed to continually augment their bodies, they will overpower and outdo the people that don’t have them or don’t want them. It is our responsibility to watch for it. For us, we don’t hold the position to enforce it, but I can report it to other police units that will go and apprehend the people that do.”

“Understood,” Ioren replied from her tilon. “Where are we?”

“It had two names. It was originally called L’Accra when the city was made, but everyone now calls it L’Kibera.”

“The people seem to have less here than what I saw earlier.”

“Yes. L’Kibera is a fitting name. I think it was called that because there was a slum that existed back on former Earth with a similar title. This is a poverty-stricken region, one of the poorest in Oshun.”

“This place...” Ioren stopped typing as she looked at the place some more. Finally, she shook her head and resumed typing. “Do the people choose to live like this?”

“The tourist industry ensures that the poverty stays away from anything that can taint their precious image. The government promises to help these people but only keep them here and give them scraps to survive.”

“War distracts it too.”

Stone looked at her momentarily, but it seemed his eyes were transfixed to the alleyways. “Yes,” he simply replied.

“It is disgusting,” Ioren typed. “I would prefer to be away from here.”

“Is that the spoiled, snobbish side of you trying to come through?” Stone snapped at her.

She responded by giving him a dirty look.

“Don’t try to lie to me,” Stone continued. “Better get the fuck over it. Our job reaches this precinct. Two powerful gangs rule this area, and it is prone to urban warfare that gets out of control. Media would cover this spot more often, but it would hurt the tourist industry even more. When it comes to violence, this is one of the deadlier locations on Oshun.”

There was no sense of fear in Ioren’s inflections. If anything, she kept track of Stone and his thoughts on the area. Despite the mess of the location, it could have been far worse, but it was evident that the people were living in impoverished conditions. The buildings could use improvement. People had fewer smiles on their faces as if they were forced to live here. Even the fact that there were so few Itreans amongst the many humans here seemed to show where everyone wanted to go, which was away from here. If things got out of hand, though, the Shal’rein were strong enough to handle themselves against a lawless human.

“Where is that piece of shit?” Stone said as he continued to look. “I don’t see him!”

Ioren hesitated in asking it when she typed on her tilon. “Who is he?”

“A person who breaks the law, but one that I know clearly breaks the law. He has information, one that pertains directly to us.” He shook his head as he smacked his hand against the steering wheel. “He isn’t at his usual spot. Coward thinks he can hide?”

His augmented eye scanned every person, clearly looking for the exact facial features that matched his intended target, but it was clear that the person was not here. The idea of driving this far not to find him only seemed to agitate the marine. Even Ioren folded up her arms almost as a sign of boredom.

Finally, after what seemed like a minute, a beeping sound was given off in the car’s interior. The marine’s eyes narrowed as he knew what the audio queue was.

“What the fuck now?” he said as he tapped the button by the steering wheel.

An audio-only channel had been established between Stone’s car and the police precinct headquarters. The speaker sounded off as a male, most likely one of the receptionists that was near the chief’s office. His voice gave a slight sense of urgency in it.

“Master Sergeant Stone, do you read?” the caller said.

“What is it? I’m fucking busy,” he replied. Ioren’s attention peaked, looking at the source of the audio and the marine.

“We have received a code 10-65, location at the Rimbastar Jewelry Store.”

Stone’s hand seemed to crush the handles of his steering wheel. “It begins...,” he said. “An armed robbery in progress.”

“Yes, our teams are responding, but they could use your help.”

“Like yesterday? They can’t handle the shit?”

“We have twelve armed suspects and hostage situation in progress. Please respond.”

Stone looked over to Ioren. Even she knew the urgency of the situation. An armed conflict was coming down the tubes, and they were about to be put directly into it. The supposed criminal event that her partner told her might be the beginning series of a new crime wave. A jewelry heist was in progress.

“Damn it,” Stone said. “Copy that precinct. En route to Rimbastar Jewelry store, ETA fifteen minutes.”

“Copy that, Sarge.” The voice on the other side ended as the channel closed. Ioren kept her hand on her tilon as she began to type readily.

The marine slammed on the breaks and did a complete u-turn. The inertia could be felt as the car police alarm was turned on. Nevertheless, Stone was determined to get to his destination as fast as he could. The electric car was quick and responsive as the quiet hum of the engine revved up.

“Do you know this place?” Ioren typed.

“Rimbastar Jewelry is the largest jewelry store in the area,” Stone explained. “It imports much of the rare gems mined from Batrice and other areas. It has been hit once before. Looks like we will be testing out how good your new body armor is going to be.”

“I’m ready.”

“Better be.”

The great Rimbastar Jewelry store was located amongst the endless blocks of buildings of the great metropolis. It had a slight rectangular appearance with the great words of “Rimbastar Jewelry” highlighted in neon black, yellow, and purple lights. This area would be rather interesting to behold at night, but it was still in mid-afternoon with clear blue and slight purple skies.

Despite the appearance of such a place, the location had blocked off traffic. Alarms from police were being echoed throughout the entire region. Pedestrians and excess vehicles had vacated the scene except for two blue electric-powered vans parked next to the store. Four police vehicles had created a perimeter that surrounded the main front entrance of the store. Police officers and armed teams were located in various areas to keep anyone from coming or going. Much as it was the previous day, the only difference was that more police were present. This was more than just a single gunman that had become deranged. This was a significantly larger event.

Stone’s vehicle would become the fifth as it pulled in to join the perimeter. There was plenty of room for the car to come to a stop. The marine quickly powered down the vehicle. The doors on both sides opened up as the marine got out. Ioren had less knowledge of the area but could see the towering human walking up to the set of officers. Her eyes tried to evaluate the place the best that she could.

By now, most of the police officers had seen the lone Itrean that walked amongst them earlier in the day. Her unique facial features simply made her more distinguishable and recognizable, not to be ignored. The few who hadn’t seen her yet could see that she was not far from the marine working with them. However, most of their attention was not towards her but the closed-off store they kept secured.

Ioren noted that the jewelry store had a series of sizeable clear panel windows. This would allow the browsers from outside to clearly see the contents of fine apparel, rare metal, and hard-to-find gems that humans found so beautiful. Unfortunately, she could not see the inside interior as the windows had been sealed shut. An array of heavy-duty blast-resistant panels had overlapped these windows to secure everything that was inside. It was like a fortress consisting of highly dense materials that would require the most sophisticated or powerful equipment and weapons to punch into. There were back alleys on both sides of the building structure, with tall apartment rises that littered the background beyond it.

“Stone!” Gero called out to him. “Catch!”

One of the police officers tossed a Mclevar bulletproof vest to the marine. Stone caught the vest and gave a stern nod to him as he started to put it on.

“Does she need one?” Gero asked, pointing at her.

“No, she has body armor on,” Stone responded. The severity of the situation was apparent, and the threat was genuine. But, unfortunately, it also meant talking to somebody that the marine was not in good relations with.

Lekan’s attention was directed to a set of other police officers. His tablet was perched on the hood of his car as it showed a digital three-dimensional layout of the area. Everyone was decked out in combat gear, ready for war. The police lieutenant was briefing the others until he heard Stone’s voice called out. There was a slight grumble in the man’s face as he turned around to look up at the pale-faced marine.

“Damn it, not you again,” Lekan said to Stone as he towered over him. The marine, however, didn’t care about the comment.

“What is going on? Another shit show, I suppose,” Stone remarked with agitation. Lekan’s face of annoyance only seemed to deflate a little bit as he saw the apparent Itrean newcomer that followed Stone.

“Alright, here is a quick briefing of the scene of events,” Lekan explained as he pointed at the projection. “At 1347 today, we received a call that the Rimbastar Jewelry was being robbed. Two vehicles,” in which the lead officer pointed at, “pulled in unison and disembarked twelve armed suspects. Camera footage transmitted from the store revealed them to be armed with body armor, guns, and other stowing gear.”

“Uniformity...” Stone considered. “They had been training and preparing to do this.”

“Precisely. It is believed that one of the workers might be one of the suspects and was marking out the entire scene for the future robbery now in progress.” The layout projected from the tablet changed as it showed a diagram of the interior of the store. “The suspects went straight into the front entrance. Gunshots were heard from the inside from outside pedestrians.”

“I see two entrances to this place,” Ioren’s tilon stated. Lekan’s attention was diverted to look down at her.

“Yes,” Lekan continued. “The moment that the robbery took place, one of the workers hit the panic button. It caused the blast-resistant shutters to activate and seal everyone on the inside. There is the left side entrance for employees and the main front entrance for customers to enter. These entrances have shutters as well, but it isn’t as strong. Our first goal was to secure these entrances in case they tried to escape, but so far ... nothing.” Two orange dots appeared near the layout diagram. “We have two recon drones flying overhead that are pointing out anything of the unusual. I have Leredi on the roof on point for sniper position.”

“What about the guns they are using?” Stone asked.

Lekan seemed to pause a little bit. “The footage makes it hard to identify all of them. The suspects’ faces can’t be seen too well with the gear they have on. However, most appear to be armed with sub-machine guns or pistols. Five staff members were working inside the building, but it sounded like from recordings that there was a gunfight inside. According to the owner Rimba, one of his workers was armed and might have tried to fight back.”

“Is Rimba here?” Ioren typed.

“He is in one of the cars. He was outside when the whole event took place. From his explanation, the shutters were a recent install to help beef up his security. It is designed not to be opened up unless it has a code. Most of the workers didn’t even know about it yet.”

“It is possible that the suspect worker...” There was a brief pause as Ioren was hurriedly typing as fast as she could on her tilon. “Might not know about the new security measures.”

“Exactly,” Lekan remarked. “Suspects were most likely trying to do a quick in and out heist.”

“But the fools didn’t know they were going to get locked in either,” Stone interrupted him as he folded up his arms. “Cornered, they only have hostages to save them.”

“Yes. I have the codes to open up the shutters and launch a full-scale raid to apprehend them, but it risks hurting the workers.”

“Have you contacted the suspects yet?”

“I have tried three different times. Last ten minutes, I spoke with one of them. They want free passage out with their stolen goods, and they will let the hostages go.”

Stone lifted up his hands and momentarily stepped away before he almost slapped his hand on the vehicle hood. “They can’t expect that they will get away with that,” he iterated to the lieutenant. “I say we just go ahead and open the shutters. Full barrage of stun and gas grenades, and none of the hostages will be hurt.”

Lekan shook his head. “The gear they have consists of filter masks and stun resistant armor. I will keep it in mind but only as a last resort. However, I won’t bargain with them on their terms, and I’m trying to stall them for now, but our primary goal is to secure the workers before we go in. Any action on our part will endanger the hostages.”

“Is this all that you have?” Ioren typed.

“I’m a little low on manpower. I summoned reinforcements, but it will take time. It’s twenty of us against twelve of them. I have our main team here ready to launch the raid, but I will have you a part of the team with your partner, Gero, and Delu.” He paused as a beeping sound came from the tablet. “Excuse me...”

Lekan gestured to Stone towards the car. The marine seemed more interested in the coming call directed at the commanding officer. Ioren, however, saw the vehicle that Lekan had pointed at. She looked and saw a man in the backseat. She proceeded to the car as Stone turned to see where she was heading to.

His augmented eye could easily distinguish a man with unique features on his face. Unlike most people of Oshun, the passenger in the backseat of the car was more mixed with former Chinese features and a dark complexion. Moreover, he was well dressed, like he was a manager of some sort. It was enough for Stone to follow suit and check the passenger. This had to be Rimba, the store owner, or at least what he thought it was.

Upon reaching the car, the older man turned his head to look at Ioren and Stone. With a hard tap, the marine’s fingers made a preverbal thud on the car. It startled him as he hit the button to lower the window to talk to the two. Ioren noted that this person was well used to seeing Itreans by now but seemed more nervous with Stone’s physical appearance.

“Are you Rimba?” the marine asked the older man.

“Yes, I am,” Rimba replied with a hint of fear in his voice. His accent had a gentile tone sounding snobbish but professional at the same time. “This is my store.”

“What can you tell me about the shutters you use?” Stone asked him.

“I don’t know. I am just a jewelry store entrepreneur,” Rimba explained. “I wanted to make sure that my store was ready against another heist.”

“We have word that one of the workers might be a suspect. How many of your workers knew about the new security measures you installed?”

“A few did...” Rimba lifted his pointer finger and tapped his lips. “I did get a new worker last week. She wouldn’t know about the new measures. Cindy Adamma is her name. Yes ... she seemed interested in the non-branded gems and wanting to work there...”

“What is non-branded?” Ioren asked with her tilon.

“All my gems and metals carry a brand label etching to them,” Rimba explained. “I think the suspects might be interested in those gems.”

“Why would they be interested in them?”

“Branded gems that are reported as stolen can be picked out in any jewelry or pawnshop easily. It is designed to help stop these sorts of heists and revelry unless they have re-branding machines, but the non-branded gems are easier to pawn off in time. We always have my workers branding the gems around the clock when new shipments arrive.”

“How much value do you have in there?” Stone asked.

“About seven million mard with a quarter of that is in the uncut and non-branded gem shipments.”

“Did you happen to make out the suspects?”

“They were ... thugs dressed in riot gear ... masks, gas masks, gloves. I saw the vans come rushing in unison and pull off the road. All at once, they came running, going straight in. Honestly, if I were there, I would have just surrendered to them. Never had I seen so many rousers in my life.”

“Well, it seems you caught them perfectly in something they didn’t prepare for,” Stone remarked.

“Not like this...” Rimba put his hand to his head. “I have the codes to have it disabled at any time, but I have been instructed not to yet. My workers and livelihood are in danger...”

“We will save your people,” Ioren typed.

“Thank you. I fear for my associate. The gunshots ... I think Oyoo might have fought back...” He closed his eyes as he paused. A great sense of regret filled his emotions.

“What can you tell me about the back of the store?” Stone asked.

“Offices mostly, with the lounge in the middle rear. The branding and cutting machines are in the right rear section of the store. Storage is further past that. No doubt the thugs have already pillaged the storage area.”

Stone backed away from the car without giving any further attention to Rimba. He tried to look into the store’s interior, but it was proving to be challenging. His augmented eye simply couldn’t penetrate through the thick walls due to either the range or the density of the materials. As a result, his vision was merely obscured. Only very faint thin red outlines would appear but disappear before he could make anything out.

Ioren watched as the marine gave a mean look towards the store. He turned his head towards Lekan that was still busy talking with someone else. He stepped forward as the Itrean woman followed him.

“I think it would prove beneficial if you released one of the hostages as a sign of good faith if you wish to have any leeway,” Lekan said towards his tablet. The projection indicated an audio-only communication that was made between him and the store’s interior.

“No!” an angry man called out on the comms. “We have made our demands, and you must follow it. In fifteen minutes, we will execute one of the hostages. Let us go, and we will release them!”

“Listen! Whoever you are!” Stone jumped in on the conversation. It caused Lekan to cringe, knowing that the marine might make things worse. “My name is Master Sergeant Stone of the police force. You attempted to rob a store, and now you hold the workers as hostages. If you want this to go peacefully, then I suggest that you let them go.”

“We are the ones with guns aimed at their foreheads, cop. You have fourteen minutes to comply. Joe, patch them in. I want them to hear how serious they are in.”

There was a brief pause as they could hear a channel change. Suddenly the sound of a woman came through the line. It sounded severe and distraught. The woman was apparently crying as the microphone was most likely brought to her face.

“Tell them your name,” another male voice could be heard.

“Sa ... Samantha Ife...” a female voice. It was apparent that Lekan, Stone, and Ioren were listening to one of the hostages talking.

“Ife ... would you like to go home today?”

“Ye ... yes...”

“You can tell them what I am holding. What am I holding in my hand?”

“A ... gun ... he has gun ... aimed at me ... please ... please let me go.”

There was another channel click as the original male voice returned. Stone and Ioren were carefully noting everything that was happening.

“You have thirteen minutes, or that woman dies first,” the man said. “No more negotiations. No more warnings.”

“You...” But Stone could hear the channel be disconnected entirely. Lekan gave a dirty look at the marine but eyed the vicinity again.

“There was a clicking sound,” Ioren typed on her tilon.

“Yes,” Lekan remarked. “The hostages are in a different location than the place that the leader was calling from. Hmmm...”

“The rear section of the store consists of offices, cutting and branding room, and storage,” Stone noted as his eyes were narrowed. “According to Rimba, he feels that the storage areas are fully cleaned out.”

Lekan pulled up the diagram. “Here is what I propose. I can’t abide with their demands.”

“I agree,” Stone sternly replied. “We will just invite more of this in the coming weeks if we let them escape.”

“What about the hostages?” Ioren typed.

“This is what I want both of you to do,” Lekan said as he pointed at the building. “In about twelve minutes, I will have no choice but to use the codes and open the shutters. There we will engage them. We will fight the criminals if we have to, but I need you, Ioren, Delu, and Gero to go into the side left entrance. Your goal is to rescue and secure the hostages. I have to take the gamble that they are back there. Do this silently and get them out of the building. Once the hostages are secured, then we will take the next step and deal with the criminals.”

It could have been considered a desperate action, but one that still seemed to make sense to Stone.

“Understood,” Ioren replied through her tilon.

“And here I thought you didn’t have a backbone, Lieutenant,” the marine scolded him. “Fine, it sounds like a plan.”

“I try...” the lead officer replied as his eyes narrowed at him. He tossed a small ear mike piece to the marine and Ioren. “Go!”

Stone and Ioren didn’t have to hear it twice as they began to run towards the left side of the building. Ioren closed her tilon momentarily while she kept one hand on her sidearm holster. She was fast in how she moved. Compared to the towering human, the smaller Itrean was capable of running at much faster speeds than most typical humans. Her tail would straighten out a little bit like a running raptor. The feet would cut into the concrete hard, propelling her to impressive speeds. She ran ahead of the marine as Stone was shuffling to pull out hearing protection to fit in one of his ears. Ioren already worked the piece over her right ear hole. He knew that the possibility of armed conflict was getting closer.

The marine was indifferent to the scene while he made it to the left side of the building. He placed the hearing protection in one ear and the headpiece microphone in the other. It would have to do. With Ioren, he already knew enough that Itrean physiology was relatively resilient to any damage to their hearing. He could see that Gero and Delu were already in position by the door.

The back alley area had a fence that prevented individuals from walking to the buildings behind the jewelry store. The entrance to the store had a similar shutter to the ones in front. Delu was already preparing her plasma torches while Ioren was the first to reach them. Stone was not that far behind her.

“Sarge...” Gero responded to his arrival.

“Have you already been informed of the plan?” Stone asked them.

“Lieutenant has briefed us on the layout and operation,” Delu explained.

“Our time is short,” Stone explained. “Delu, begin cutting through the door. In less than ten minutes, the leader inside is going to start executing hostages. As soon as the door is cut, you will move the door and place it to the side. We have to be as silent as possible while we try to find the hostages and get them out. Once the entrance is open, Delu and Ioren will remain out here to keep the location secure. Gero, you will be with me when I go in.”

“Roger,” Delu replied.

Ioren was not pleased with the idea of Gero and Stone going in. She gave an angered look at Stone as he could see her facial reactions. She even hissed at him to get his attention. Delu stepped forward and pulled out her twin plasma cutters. She stretched them outward as the faint sound of metal being burnt could be heard.

“You have an issue with the plan?” Stone asked her. Seeing her reactions even caused him to narrow his eyes at her.

She waved her hands at him but then reactivated her tilon. She began typing again as the system translated for her.