CHAPTER 1 - NOVA HOSTILITY (PART 1)

When duty must call, one should serve for the moral code and peace for the world. No tyrant shall abrupt the peace, that the world had worked hard for.

0300 hours

Tokyo, Japan

9th July, 19XX

Corporal Joseph Allen

1st Piranha Squad, 5th Battalion, 2nd Rangers Regiment, Stealth Peace Army

The boat had dropped anchor upon the shores of Tokyo on that dawn. We had embarked off the vessel and gazed around. There was no one around to our advantage. Lieutenant Sanderson had checked the map to determine our location.

"We are here at the shores of Koto ward. The associates are said to meet up at the Kiyosumi Garden, north of here. Sgt. Miller will escort us to Cpt. Masaki, whom we are supposed to meet in Tokyo." he explained.

"We cannot risk being seen. The JSDF thinks of us as a shady organisation and hostilities are plenty." Captain Reznov said, "We need to reach Miller without the public's attention. Keep your cover up."

"Aye." Everyone agreed.

The sky was yet dark and we took it to our advantage to sneak through the Koto ward. The city was full of bustles even at that hour. We had to sneak through the dark alleys, the buildings covering us from the public sight. The Lieutenant had mentioned that the streets were pretty safe for the civilians, even during the night hours.

"And why's that?" asked Sgt. MacGregor in curiosity, "The Japanese were damn atrocious during the big War."

"No one dares to break the law around here." The Lieutenant replied, "You are behind bars if you are caught doing anything funny. The cops are bloody vigilant here."

"In other words, we are obliged to top them if most necessary." the Captain explained without hesitation.

No wonder we had all silenced arms in our disposal. An accidental unsuppressed fire would've alerted the entire city, and we had some heavy firepower with us to get thrown behind bars for a lifetime.

The Kiyosumi Garden was in the vicinity after a while. The sun began to dawn up in the 'Land of the Sun', which was unfavourable for us. Before we had to encounter trouble first hand in that country, we were glad to meet up with Sgt. Miller inside the garden.

"Glad that everyone could make it." he said, "The vehicle's ready."

"Let's go." replied the Captain.

A Toyota GX71 was hidden in a diligent manner inside the garden. The gates were open and before anyone could invoke suspicion, the Sergeant had driven the car out of hostile notice.

"Where we heading?" Cpt. Reznov asked.

"It's a warehouse near the Tomioko Shrine, sir." Sgt. Miller replied, "Captain Masaki is waiting for you."

"Cpt. Masaki your commanding officer, eh Sergeant?" asked Sgt. MacGregor.

"No, he's part of the home guard here in Tokyo. I was sent here to escort you by Captain Truck, from the 3rd Battalion."

"William Truck's soldier, eh?" Cpt. Reznov asked, "Heard he had reached Kuril Islands."

"I guess that's our next destination, eh Viktor?" Sgt. Petrenko asked the captain.

"Indeed, Dimitri. But first, we'll have to clear the mess in Tokyo." replied the Captain, "Reports from Lt. Colonel Mosely mention of a possible S&D. Some new prototype is assumed to surpass over Friedrich Steiner's Nova 6."

"I thought Steiner was dead." Sgt. Petrenko said.

"We don't know who's behind all this but we'll get to it soon."

The Toyota had reached the warehouse. Sgt. Miller had pulled the car inside.

Once inside, we were able to meet Cpt. Masaki who had welcomed us with honour.

"I'm Ken Masaki. I'm really glad that you all could make it." Cpt. Masaki shook Cpt. Reznov's hand.

"Myself, Viktor Reznov. The pleasure is ours, Captain." Cpt. Reznov turned around and introduced us to the former, "Here's Lt. Gary Sanderson and Cpl. Joseph Allen, ex-special forces, here's former SAS trooper, Sgt. Wayne MacGregor, and here's my war comrade, Sgt. Dimitri Petrenko."

"Glad to meet you all." Cpt. Masaki replied. The Captain was a commander of one of the Japanese Eastern Army's Battalions. Upon the countless events untold, he had allied himself to the Stealth Peace Army whilst keeping a watchful eye over the JSDF.

Cpt. Reznov and the rest of us had looked around to find only a handful of soldiers.

"I believe this isn't the expected squad?" Cpt. Reznov asked.

"No, you're mistaken. I'll let you know of their location but before that you should know the rest of the report." Cpt. Masaki explained.

"So the Lt. Colonel has advanced the information to you?" Cpt. Reznov enquired.

Cpt. Masaki had nodded to the former's enquiry and gave him the files. Upon scrutinizing the pages, we got to know of the whole scenario.

"Expected as much." replied Cpt. Reznov, "Mutation bombs in the loose."

"We had retrieved one of the bombs a few days back. I don't know who's responsible for this but it seems connected to the legacy of Nikita Dragovich, the man behind the Nova 6 development."

"I know. Dragovich is dead, Kravchenko is dead, and so is Friedrich Steiner. We need to find this new fascist bastard." Cpt. Reznov was serious, "How many are expected to be around the city?"

"Unknown. I had got some vague reports of unknown militia who were said to traverse through Akihabara and Minato." said Cpt. Masaki.

"There's not much choice in this matter. The city's too big to search all the places." Cpt. Reznov was skeptic.

"My units are dispersed throughout the various locations. Sgt. Miller will guide to the Asakusa Station; one of my elites is stationed there."

Cpt. Masaki had given the descriptions and the location. Sgt. Miller had taken the wheel once we got onto the Toyota, dashing out for the bomb hunt.

The car had stopped before we could've reached the station. Sgt. Miller had mentioned that we would be taking a route through the metro tunnels to avoid public notice. We had gotten off the Toyota and went inside the tunnel darkness.

"Lights on." said Cpt. Reznov. All of us had turned on the flashlight attachments on our silenced weapons and walked ahead.

"The tunnel's damn thin. You sure there's no trains scheduled to maul us?" asked Lt. Sanderson.

"There's no train scheduled for the time. We had to pull some stunts to achieve that." replied Sgt. Miller.

"What do you mean?" Sgt. Petrenko asked.

"Shh… quiet." Cpt. Reznov had signalled of some shadows to the front, "Lights out."

Cpt. Reznov began to walk ahead with caution in the darkness. He decided to rely on his hearing to track unknown perpetrators.

A knife came flying through the dark. The Captain was able to detect it and deflected the blade with his assault rifle. Before he could commence retaliation fire, flashlights had blazed through the area. We found ourselves pointing our guns against the hostilities. Five troops had us pinned inside a circle.

"They were prepared for an ambush." mentioned Sgt. MacGregor.

Sgt. Miller pulled down his guard and looked at the commander. The latter was a young woman, which surprised me.

"I was expecting you at the designated location, Sgt. Nakamura." The former broke the silence.

"Sgt. Miller!" Sgt. Nakamura had lowered her weapon, "Apologies for the confusion. I got the report that you were heading here with allies from the headquarters. Something came up and we had to move."

"So you must be Cpt. Masaki's troops?" Cpt. Reznov looked at the lady sergeant.

"You must be Cpt. Reznov. I've heard a lot about you. I'm really sorry for the situation, sir." Sgt. Nakamura bowed.

"Nevermind."

"According to Cpt. Masaki, you are the squad leader." mentioned Lt. Sanderson.

"I am." replied the lady sergeant, "My name's Yuri Nakamura. We are the SSS Platoon under Cpt. Masaki, a. k. a. the 'Afterlife Battlefront.'"

DISCLAIMER: The following recount is completely fictional and unrelated of any incident in the past or present. All the characters and locations are fictitious. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.

P. S. - This is a recount based on the fan-fiction crossover between CALL OF DUTY and ANGEL BEATS.