(Continued from The Sahara's Hot (Solo)

Things were already being set up for him to set off on the mission as soon as he'd prepared everything that he would need for the mission. Shawn continued to read over the file again and again. He would need to remember the face as best he could and the name. It read: DAE KIM WEAPONS, BOMB, MANUFACTURER/TRADER. This man was deep into the black market and into providing weapons and materials to terrorist groups in the middle east. Shawn continued reading the file. DAE KIM WIRES MONEY INTO THE COUNTRY THROUGH VARIOUS FOREIGN BANKS. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED TO TAKE THIS MAN DOWN THREE TIMES. The wording went on for ten more pages. It was obvious that they had rewritten them so that someone who wasn't in the military could understand their lingo. Streak was being followed around like a dog on a leash at the park. He couldn't do anything without some insignificant adept following him around. They were serious about him getting this guy and they weren't taking any risks in Shawn running off before he could complete the mission.

The Navy had plenty of pictures showing his direct involvement in the distributions of weapons. The mission seemed simple enough capture Dae Kim and bring him back to naval soil before anyone caught on that he was missing. Many of the men seemed afraid of Shawn and treated him with as much respect as they would give a high ranking officer. Finally he had everything ready for his trip. Two pilots were going to follow him as far as they could before they had to fall back. Shawn had prepared the best that he could for this mission. The hardest part would be finding him. He quickly flipped through the file once more and something that he'd read before caught his attention. DAE KIM HAS A TOTAL OF 15 HOMES SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE ASIAN CONTINENT AND SUB-LYING COUNTRIES. HE NEVER STAYS IN ONE HOME MORE THAN ONE NIGHT BEFORE MOVING ON THE NEXT DAY TO A DIFFERENT LOCATION. Some things he didn't need explaining. Somethings just seemed to be stating the obvious and he didn't need to remember. "Let's go yall." Shawn said as the adepts finally stepped away from him and he was able to cover himself in silver once more. The blades immediately returned to his body and it seemed as if he breathed a sigh of relief at being able to use his powers again. The pilots loaded their plains and prepared for take off.

Streak was the first to leave the boat and he waited for them to take off. It took another twenty minutes before they were off the ships deck. Streak was relieved to be flying again. He wanted to get moving so that he could be free of the unfair burden that the US Navy was putting on him. He knew how things worked. He would succeed and bring the target back to the Navy. They process him, issue a statement to the press and get all the credit for the capture. And Shawn would get brushed under the rug as they covered up any traces of the him and his participation in the mission. Streak was fine with that but he did wish that he could get some credit for certain things every now and again. Once they were flying Streak pushed the pilots limits. When they were far enough away from the ship he kicked it into full gear. The blades receded into his skin and as he sped up and reached his fastest speed. Luckily they were fast planes as well and able to keep up with him. He reached MACH 1 with great ease and the planes soon caught up. They flew together for about an hour before the planes had to break off following him. He was all alone on this mission and for something this important he preferred it. No one would get in his way and he would be able to complete the mission as fast as he could. Streak continued flying at MACH speeds and through over many of the smaller countries that seemed insignificant in his task. He wasn't concerned with any of those countries. It took only a few hours before he reached the right country. China. He slowed down and found flew higher. from the intel that he'd studied, over three days, he recognized the landscapes that the intel said Dae Kim would be that day. The sooner he found him the sooner he could continue on his trip.

Shawn landed in the town. He soon noticed that there were significantly more people in the city than had been on the intel. He was soon lost and he couldn't tell the difference from the buildings. This was going to be harder than he thought it would be.

Streak staied on the outskirts of the city for most of the day. He didn't want to attrack any attention to himself unless he was making a move on the person he had to get. Although from personal experience he knew that things that seemed easy were often harder than expected. He'd read, reread, and rereread the file on this guy what seemed like a hundred times on the ship. He was well armed and even better protected. Unfortunately for him he didn't have what Streak had. Mutation on his side. Although Streak was still getting used to having his powers back he was still very confident in being able to do what he'd thought he knew he could do at the moment. The only thing he had doubts about would be if he tried something new. Hopefully he wouldn't have to.

Once it was dark he moved through the streets and noticed that not many people were out and about once the sun had gone down. That made things easier for him. The fewer civilians around when he made his move the better for him and everyone. Luck seemed to be on his side that night. It was a cloudy night, no stars and no moon meant no reflection from his silver skin. He flew through the city, just above the rooftops, so that he could look out for any suprise attacks. The scene reminded him of the city that was in the movie Black Hawk Down. They were shapped similar but in very distinctly different parts of the world. Finally as he reached the other side of the city he came to a moutainous area. He knew that he was getting close to the dealers secure home. Streak didn't hear any vehicles or see any on his flight up the path. It seemed very deserted for someone that kept high security. Suddenly he stopped and hovered above the tree covered car trail. It wasn't well maintained but that made it hard for people to just willy nilly run up there without being noticed. The noise that he heard was from a lot of different things.

At first it sounded like it was people sneaking through the brush on either side of the trail. When that sound stopped he thought he heard the sound of many ATV's and other offroad type vehicles coming down the trail. I hope I'm not too late. Streak thought. Once all the noises had passed him he realized that it was just a group of the dealers security guards doing a patrol. They didn't even look around, but then again who expects to see someone flying towards the building without a jet. Things were going very well. It didn't take long, after that, before he was on the other side of the mountain and coming face to face with a giant safe house. Landing only a few hundred yards away, he was able to walk the rest of the way up to the house. Like taking candy from a baby. The silver bladed mutant thought. Streak walked right through the exterior wall and onto the vast open grounds. This is where he didn't want to be... out in the open. He'd seen enough movies and been in enough fights to know that if he stayed in the open to long he would loose all the luck he had and have a much harder time getting to his target.

Streak walked through the wall and stepped into a very nice, rich house. We're talking gold inlaied into the walls, alabastor pillars, hallway floors so shiny you could see your reflection three times, and giant doors made from what looked to be imported red wood trees. Paintings lined every hallway. Some were famous rare paintings, others were portraits of what Shawn could only guess were ancestors, and still others of old battle scenes that looked like they were painted only once and once they were dry they were placed on the wall, never even seen by the public. It was definitely a place for the rich to live or the evil to do their business without being disturbed. Things were rolling along very smothly for Streak. He didn't even bother flying through the halls. However, one unfortunate thing about walking so quietly that you could sneak up on a mouse, which Streak did just because he could, was that you weren't paying much attention to any security systems that were in place.

It was a foolish mistake on Streak's part. He'd been awake for over 36 hours, thanks very much to the admirals insistance of drilling over and over the information that had been gathered on this case. If he had been smarter and flown through the halls no one would have known he'd been there until it was to late. Alas, that was not the case. Streak turned one corner and as he did he tripped a laser sensor that was going from one wall to the other. A silent sensor was triggered in the security room, which was then relaid by ear pieces of his persence. They to were very practiced at sneaking around. One thing they didn't count on was an unfortunate malfunction in one of the guards earpieces. It was turned up just a little to loud so Streak heard when he was right behind him and knew he was about to fall into a trap. The silver mutant then dove into the nearest wall and went through it.

Things didn't seem to get much better beyond that point. When he looked up he was face to face with a group of security guards all packing a pistol and an AK47. To make things better for him, he noticed that they all looked like Hulk Kogan... minus the moustache. When he looked up from the ground he was eye level with the butt of an AK47. Oddly enough the machine gun butt came in contact with Streak's head at that exact moment. Silver was out faster than he could say, "Hi."

The next thing Streak knew he tied to a rather uncomfortable chair in a dimly lit room. The guy that Streak was coming to get had seemed to be the epitome of cliches. Either that or he watched to many gang movies and modeled his life after them. Streak later found out that once they'd knocked him out they immedatley moved his target to another safe house somewhere far away. His target was the least of his concerns right now. He wanted, no, needed to get out of this situation as fast as mutantly possible. Things were starting to look down for the silver bladed mutant. He knew there was no way they could keep him tied up there and away from his goal. He was determed to continue on his trip and even though it seemed it was interrupted he would be able to finish it fairly quickly. These goonies were going to be in for a real surprise. The knockout gave him a good nap and he was feeling a little refreshed if not with a major headache and probably a bump to prove it. Fortunately, that would all be gone by the time he was out of the building. "Well, well, well. Look who's finally awake. It's about time to. They must have hit you harder than I thought." A voice spoke out of the darkness. "Hey can you turn out the light I was having a nice nap." Streak said to the guy. He'd been in worse pain than this before and he knew that they hadn't even started. "Cute. You wont be so smart when I am done with you. I am a professional. They call me in when they have a special job. And by the looks of you I can see that they didn't dissapoint by calling me here to work on you."

As Streak was becoming more and more awake he thought that he recognized the voice that was bragging to him about his talents. After a minute of silence and his eyes adjusting to the light he said, "Have we met before? Your voice sounds very familiar." The silver bladed mutant was fully awake now and no matter how much his head hurt he was able to ignore it and focus on the voice. "Like something from the past. Why don't you step into the light where I can see you and I'll know if I know you or not." Streak said. The mercenary thought about the offer before he, ironically, very civilly declined. Streak would figure out if he knew this guy or not before the night was out.

The night continued on in much of the same manner. They bantered back and forth for the better part of an hour. Eventually the torturer got board of the conversation and decided it was time to do his job. He picked up a knife and said, "We need to get on with this. Because if I don't then I don't get paid. And no money means no living. And I like living. You understand correct?" Though out their entire conversation, Streak was trying to figure out weather or not he knew the guy. So far he was drawing a blank on the mans voice. However, talking to him did give him a chance to work on his restraints a little. They'd done a good job of tying him up so that Shawn couldn't get to them easily. Fortunately, he was able to cut the restraints with a knife. When the assassin came up to him, Streak knew that it was time to act.

With the pain still a little in his head he was a little groggy and predictable in his actions. As Streak went to strike at the assassin, who saw it coming a mile away, the man was able to avoid it and counter with his own attack. Since he'd already explained his job to Streak he knew that he wasn't going to die right away. This guy was going to make him suffer for a long time. The stab the man put into Streak went right into his shoulder. The knife was sharp and cold against his muscles and sank in easily. "Oh my boy. You're making this to easy for me." the assassin said as he pulled the knife slowly out of Streak's shoulder. Streak gave a small cry of pain and gritted his teeth against it all. That pain was pretty bearable. However, he was sure that there would be things that would hurt more later. "I don't know why you're doin' this but I'm going to get you back for that and then some." He began through gritted teeth. "Everything you do to me I'll do tenfold to you. You'll be within an inch of your life and yet you'll still feel pain that I can cause you. So continue if you think that however much money they're paying you will be enough to prevent the harm that will come to you."

The assassin took a few steps back at Streak's words. They were said with all the truth in the world. The look in Streak's eyes said it all and fear could be seen in the other mans eyes. Suddenly the assassin was having second thoughts about why he was here. He needed the money but for the first time since he'd started this career path he was doubting what he was actually going to do. A small smile appeared on the silver mans face. It was obvious that what he'd said had gotten to him. Streak wasn't going to waste any time working on getting out of the rest of his restraints. It was easy to get out of the rest of them. He stood up made a short advance towards the assassin. "My how the tide has turned." He said forming a set of knives in his hands. The man then knelt down and started to beg, holding his hands up towards Streak in a begging fashion. Streak took the knives and sliced them into both of the mans under arms. They went deep and nicked the arteries just enough for them to start bleeding. Streak walked away saying, "I told ya so." The knives disappeared into Streak's hands and he flew through the ceiling and out into the open air. The search for his target wasn't going to be stopped so easily. He was going to find this guy no matter where he had to go because he only wanted one thing. To get home.

Sure he could have just left from there and gone on his way, but the government would have found him again and probably thrown him in a special prison or something like that. After all they did manage to find him while he was in Africa. And if they could find him there they could definitely find him back in the states.

Other segments of his mission came back into his mind. DAE KIM HAS A TOTAL OF 15 HOMES SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE ASIAN CONTINENT AND SUB-LYING COUNTRIES. HE NEVER STAYS IN ONE HOME MORE THAN ONE NIGHT BEFORE MOVING ON THE NEXT DAY TO A DIFFERENT LOCATION. He decided to head south. Unsure of where to look next he had officially run out of ideas. Dae Kim's first place was easy to find because of the scarce civilizations around the area. He hoped his other homes would be similar to the first location he'd found. With no other options available he headed towards the Philippines to try that location. If he didn't have any luck there he would have to travel to every single one of the hundreds of islands in the surrounding area. He wanted to find this guy as soon as possible and if his first location was any indication of what his security would be like, then he would have to work even harder to obtain his target.

At the thought of this he slowed his flight. He was getting tired and impatient. Streak needed rest, but more than that he wanted to find this guy. Shawn's drive to find the man was the only thing that kept him from stopping and sleeping through the night. As the sun crept slowly up above the horizon Streak paused and watched it a little before he descended from the sky and into the low lying villages and towns of the Philippines. He flew over all of the towns. Not many people saw him because it was so early. As he flew over the towns only the farmers stirred and started to make their way outside and to their farms. It was a beautiful country side that seemed to be hardly discovered by the rest of the world.

His spirits lifted as he saw another house on top of a mountain and away from the rest of the people. Not even many trails seemed to be leading to the house. The silver mutant began to wonder how anyone could get to that building. He landed just on the inside of the houses gate when he found his answer. It was pretty obvious the choice of how to get there. The steady, rhythmic thwacking sound of a helicopter could be heard from just a little ways off and coming closer. The silver bladed mutant hid in the trees as the chopper landed and unloaded its passengers. As he watched the people disembark the chopper he recognized some of the important people that were there. He didn't need to be handed a confidential folder to recognize some of the more infamous terrorists and arms dealers that many of the countries friendly to the U.S. wanted to capture. They were all there, gathering for a meeting and Streak could only guess what else they were going to talk about in there. There was only one way he was going to get in there. He needed to play them to get inside. Once they were almost all inside the chopper took off, and flew off into the distance. Just about the time Streak was ready to move, the sound of another chopper came into hearing range. "Someone's showing up late? That's odd. Ya think they would bother to show up on time for there own meetings." Streak said quietly to himself in the bushes.

This chopper was a different one and only had one person to drop off at the landing. Oddly enough there were no security guards or escorts waiting for him to arrive. "Is he supposed to be here?" Streak asked himself. The chopper didn't stay very long and was gone before the man had even crossed the threshold. Streak saw his opportunity and took it. He ran up behind the man and caught him just before he went inside the building. Throwing him up against the wall he began to assault the terrorist. Pretty soon the terrorist was out cold and Streak was dragging him into the forest area where he couldn't be seen. Shawn thought for a moment as he thought of a way to get through the security without raising any questions. Pulling his powers back a bit to reveal his face he undressed the man and put on his clothes. The clothes were a bit small but they would do to get through the guards. He then tied and gaged the man to prevent him from joining ruining his plan. Shawn had seen to many movies and shows to know that that was a possibility that he didn't want to have to deal with.

Streak straightened his hair, checked his clothes to make sure that his powers weren't showing and then headed inside. He passed a few of the guards and didn't even get a second glance from them. It made him more confident when no one object to his presence. Eventually he figured that he wasn't going to get anywhere pacing around the house. And it made him look suspicious. Shawn walked up to the nearest guard and asked, "Excuse me. Where's the meeting being held?" The guard looked at him for a minute quizzically before answering. "Go down to the end of the hall. Take a right. Pass two hallways then go left a short ways. It's the third door on the right." Streak thanked him and started to follow the guards directions. After following the guards direction Shawn arrived at the doors where the meeting was supposed to be held. When he opened the doors the entire meeting stopped and everyone stared at him. Streak immediately regretted his decision. He froze in the doorway and was outlined from the lighting contrasts. Finally Dae walked up to him and invited him to sit at the only empty chair in the room.

Shawn could only guess that the seat Dae offered him was for the man that he had tied the man up outside. Streak sat down and nodded to each of the respective men in the room. All of whom returned the motion. He was relieved that they didn't ask him any questions, but merely continued their meeting. He listened to their conversation as they discussed their transactions and other parts of their lives that they felt were important to share with each other. My God. They run this stuff like a business. They're talking about killing thousands of people. This is sick! He thought to himself as he tried to keep as straight a face as possible. He started to think of different ways that he could get out of this when he was suddenly brought back to reality with a simple question. "Well my new friend. What do you think? Where is Al Majedhia?" This was it. Streak had been called out at the meeting. Every eye was on him and his head started thinking about a good enough story that might sell to them.

Finally after he'd stalled for enough time. "Well I am here to make sure that everything is going according to plan." He started speaking slowly so that they wouldn't pick up on his accent. Streak continued, "As for him... uh...h...he...he came down with a bad case of the flu and it knocked 'im right out." Streak said to them. Suddenly he realized that he'd made a big mistake. His accent had slipped out. Shawn could only hope that no one had noticed it. He quickly continued before anyone could say something. "And from what I can see everything is going to plan." He hoped that the men had bought his story and that they wouldn't ask him anymore questions. Unfortunately they didn't buy it at all. His one little slip had been enough for them to know that he wasn't really part of their group. They all slowly stood up and he did the same. The closest one to him started to swing at him. The fight was on and he was going to win because he wanted to go home.

He managed to knock the guy out fairly easily. The others came at him and he was able to beat them with only a few hits to himself. The last ones pulled out their guns. It looked like it was time to up his own firepower. The silver spread over his entire body and the blades extended and ripped the clothes he was wearing. He quickly formed a shield as they came out of their dumbfounded stares and started shooting at him. Their bullets were stopped by his shield and once they were out of ammo they started to look worried. "My turn." He said with an evil smile on his face. Just as quickly as Streak had created the shield he absorbed it back onto his body. The bladed mutant then formed two swords and he advanced towards the remaining terrorists. Streak quickly and without mercy disposed of the men. The ones that he'd managed to knock him unconscious started to stir. He quickly go rid of them and decided that it was about time to leave. He'd completed the job that the military wanted him to do. Now it was time for him to get back there and get the military to let him go so that he didn't get assigned something else.

Streak flew through the roof and out into the open air. It would probably be hours before anyone notice that the terrorists were dead. He flew straight to the same Navy ship that was hanging around in international waters. Streak landed on the carriers landing strip to the sound of applause and salutes from many of the crew. He walked through the line of sailors, feeling a lot like a rock star, and walked right up to the Captain of the ship. The captain saluted Streak and invited him up to his quarter to discuss some things. Streak agreed and followed him up to his quarters where the cook brought them food and he pulled our some whiskey to drink. "The U.S. Navy and the Government thanks you for all the work you've done. You are now done with our mission and are free to go and live as you please. We only ask that you don't tell anyone about the mission as it was obviously a very top secret mission that no one knows about. Do you have any questions?" The captain said to Streak. Streak thought for a moment before replying. "You mean the government wont be calling on me to do anything else right?" He started and the captain shook his head no so Streak continued. "I'm just glad that it's done and I don't have to worry about this. I'm sure you'll also be happy to know that I got rid of many of your top wanted terrorists. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go now before you try to force me to do another mission that even your precious special ops guys can't do." Streak stood up and left the captain sitting in his room looking a little confused. Streak left the ship as soon as he could and he flew to Russia. Streak spent the night in St. Petersburg that night without having anymore trouble for that day.

(OOC: Continued in The Land Down Under's Upside Down (Solo)