30 seconds west, approaching objective destination.

Target found, initiating termination protocol.

...

Command Root_21F Action initiated, beginning termination in 30 seconds...27 seconds.


Running fast, wind blowing by as I pushed my way through the throngs of startled teenagers. I was running as fast as I could to save maybe the only hope of our planet. She didn't even know me, but if I didn't act in the next 30 seconds...well...

My watch told me I had 24 seconds to go.

Perfect, right on schedule.

anata ga ite watashi ga ite...

She was finishing the song, in about 20 seconds she was about to get a .33 lapua round through the front of that nice looking head.

I could stop it.

All of it...all I had to was...

dakara watashi tsuiteiku yo...

Second verse, 15 seconds...

Even with my intense training, running this fast might not be enough to reach her in time...

kitto anata wa kagayaite...

Busting through the school assembly doors and ignoring the startled look of the audience, I saw her, clear as day.

"Have you found her Eli?" I was literally sliding down the stair rails as I answered my head com built into my heavily customized ipod, "Oh yeah, shes here alright, but its gonna be a close shave!"

my way kasanaru yo
ima futari ni God bless...

"Hurry the hell up, you have 10 seconds!"

As I made a mad dash passed startled onlookers, my eyes were quick to assess the situation at hand.

Girl in a bunny outfit playing a guitar, brown hair. Running through the details of my target in a flash of thought, it was nothing less then second nature to assume that she was the designated target.

Then there was that purple haired girl in the witch outfit. My dossier gave me very limited details about her, but she wasn't my priority.

There was also the bystanders. A girl with a fender bass guitar and a brunette drummer played behind the purple haired chick in the witch outfit. They were safe, I assumed once the bullets started flying, they would reach cover relatively fast.

I hoped.

I was able to run this through my mind in less then a second. I was after all, a genius with a 252 IQ.

As the crowd cheered towards the last verse of the song, I was able to make out something barely visible on her forehead.

Red.

A laser pointer.

It all boiled down to this split second decision. Do or die.

Sliding down the remainder of the assembly railing, I used my forward momentum to propel myself onto the stage and positioned myself to tackle us both into the stage curtains.

I could see her eyes widen in surprise as I grimly flew onto the stage , "Wait, what do you think you're-"

But she wasn't able to say anything else. In less then a second, I tackled her into the curtains...just as gunfire erupted from the window ceiling. I was able to mentally calculate the bullet velocity coming through the top window and planned accordingly.

292 meters a second. Austrian made .33 lapua round. Most likely from a bolt action precision rifle.

The bullet came fast, but I planned for it and brought my padded left shoulder across her face, using the momentum from the tackle to position my back to the gunner scope.

Hopefully, that guy isn't using piercing rounds.

We fell backstage just as the bullet slammed into my side, missing the intended target and driving the breath out of my lungs. Luckily, my combat harness was around my waist and had absorbed most of the impact.

I was still going to feel that bruise tomorrow morning though.

As I pinned the now screaming girl on the wooden floor, I paused to listen for any bullet reverberation, that usually gave away the position of the gunner.

It came. I calculated the bullet velocity with the estimated distance of the gunner. A lot of guesswork, but that was something I was very good at.

292 meters a second, 30 seconds west. He was roughly 8760 meters away. Something like 5.4 miles away. It was an estimation, but my estimations were almost always correct.

The expected screaming from everyone in the room came a second later, as well as the chaos and confusion that always ensues in reaction. It was nothing less then your typical, confused mob of frightened teenagers clamoring to get out.

Perfect cover for our escape.

I sensed someone in a much closer vicinity then the rest of the screaming mob. Roughly 3 feet away. My instincts automatically kicked in and I slowly flicked the handgun holster strap located on my combat harness. I was already playing out the next 5

seconds in my head. I was holding the girl in a kneeling position. If he was already pointing a gun at me, I was going to have to drop the girl as he fired, block the round with my shoulder pad and go for a clean head shot as I turned.

This was going to require insanely quick reflexes, as well as a lot of guessing. I couldn't know exactly when he would fire, but I could usually sense when...

And that would be now.

I simultaneously dropped the girl and pulled out the pistol in one movement, moved my shoulder into the estimated shot destination and spun, using my knee for forward momentum, gun snapping to a firing position, held by my left hand.

But this person wasn't armed. Good thing, I had never actually had to kill anyone on these assignments, I was hoping I didn't have to on this one either.

I relaxed and lowered the gun. It was that purple haired girl in the witch outfit, I recognized her from my dossier in the mission briefing.

Name - Yuki Nagato.

Description - Purple hair, short, brown cardigan, school uniform attire.

Data - Linked with Haruhi Suzumiya, priority number 2.

She quietly closed the curtains, hiding us from anymore gunfire coming from the roof. I made a quick note to observe her demeanor, the way she walked.

Quiet, calm, collected.

I liked that.

"Hey! Answer me! What do you think your doing?" I realized I had been pinning the ungrateful damsel in distress against the backstage floor for the last moment and a half. I released her, hoping she wasn't about to make a run for it.

She got up, crossed her arms and gave me a scowl. "Hmmph, that isn't the proper way to treat a lady you know, is that how you introduce yourself to others, pushing them onto the floor?"

Sarcasm almost made me say yes. However, I had bigger problems then a teenager with an attitude. Problems like...

"GET DOWN!" I grabbed both her and Yuki and forced us both onto the ground. Bullets smashed into the wooden floor as gunfire staccato'd in short bursts, punching holes the size of my fist into the ground.

Whatever attitude Suzumiya had possessed up to this point quickly evaporated as she screamed like a little girl in reaction to the entire front stage demolished by a barrage of rounds, presumably directed at us.

I quickly assessed our position. I had Haruhi, who was struggling for me to let go, and Yuki who lay under me without a sign of protest. Good, at least she knew how serious this was.

The mob of students had already filed out of the exits in a remarkably quick fashion, although some lingered and hid under the assembly chairs. I knew they were toast if they didn't run.

Those rifles sounded a lot closer then the ones fired at us earlier. I realized the sniper was probably just there to scatter the crowd and prevent civilian casualties, they wanted this assassination to be a clean job. Bystander deaths would probably have

resulted in a severe cut in their pay check. Killing her with that first shot would have just saved them the trouble of coming in and spraying the place up, although they would have preferred that sniper to not miss in the first place. I was guessing at least.

The real killers were busting through the main assembly doors using fully automatic, military grade assault rifles designed to stop trucks, they knew someone was going to be sent to protect her, and were equipped accordingly.

Unfortunately, HQ refused to give me any equipment besides my handy dandy heavily customized Sig Saur, a combat knife, and the communications com. Funny how the good guys never get good stuff.

Chancing a small look through a crack in the curtains, I spotted 6, no, 7 heavily armed men and women wearing black combat armor. None of them wore masks, and I could easily tell them apart.

One wore a smug expression as he had quite a blast shooting at random objects in the room, scaring the remaining people in the room. I stifled a small whimper from Haruhi with my free hand. Yuki lay there under me, watching the scene play out with in

silence.

"That's enough, Sako, you've had your fun" I saw that the voice came from the slender blond chick holding a large gun that basically screamed "compensation" I froze in place, instincts telling me to look small, be small, and stay small in the cover of these

curtains. I could not beat these guys, even with my training. Haruhi must have known that because I started to see genuine fear, an actual dilation of her pupils.

I was outgunned and outnumbered, but I've been able to get out of closer scrapes.

"Come on out with the girl, we know your in there!" This time a male voice belonging to a rugged, middle aged chain smoker who was standing there with a huge cigar in his mouth. My speculation was that they were going to have me disarmed, shoot me in

the back of the head while we kneel'ed, and basically do the same thing to Haruhi and Nagato, execution style.

That was a dull way to go, and I really had no intention of coming out with my hands out any time soon. "They aren't coming out, should I go in there and kill em?" He racketed the chamber and pulled back the charging handle. "No, let me handle this."

It was the same, blond haired chick with the oversized shotgun, she took a step forward and starting speaking to what she presumed was us behind the red curtains.

"Listen, this can be a peaceful negotiation. All we want, is the girl, we might even spare your life if you be good kids and come out right this instant". I debated just shooting out the lights and trying to sneak out that way. No, that would just cause them to

fire wildly, hitting me, Haruhi, Nagato, or one of the poor teenagers still stuck in this room.

They might even shoot each other.

Too much chance involved for something like that. I wasn't about to risk our lives by doing something that rash. Besides, they don't know for sure i'm armed yet. Firing my gun would only result in them not taking chances and shooting anything that moved.

I was better off staying quiet.

My thoughts quickly ran through a list of actions I could try to get us out in one piece.

Then I looked at Yuki.

Her witch outfit. That was all that was needed.

I removed the cloak, leaving Yuki in her brown cardigan mentioned in the dossier. She gave me a very slight, quizzical look as I donned the outfit.

"What are you doing?"

It was a long shot, but I knew it was going to work. It had to work.


Continuing this later, slightly tired


North High Academy assembly hall. Objective Location. Assembly Hall, backstage.

I was taller then Yuki, but the outfit still fit pretty well. The hat was pulled over my eyes to cover my face. The stage beckoned, time for my opening act.

"Stay here." I motioned them to remain where they were, and slipped through the curtain...

"Well, well, well, look who decided to be a little fashionable today." That woman with the shotgun gave smirked as I delicately made a couple steps down the front stage. It was hard to look delicate when I was strapped with kevlar and a combat harness.

However, they only needed to be convinced I was her for a couple seconds as far as I was concerned. I kept my head bowed, hiding my features. My combat harness would absorb only so many shots from this range if they decided to shoot. Hopefully my

operator wasn't having an off day with his crack shooting.

"Kneel." I was quick to comply. I purposefully shook and gave them the impression that I was terrified. A good show for my operator to say the least.

Truth is, I'm in no danger at all. I'm a master at psychology. Graduated at the top of my class you see, and these are the types of punks who like to play with their food before eventually eating it.

The woman circled behind me, flipping her cascading hair with flourish, and laughed. "I have to say, I am pretty dissapointed, Miss Suzumiya, I thought someone like you would be more...protected. Expected more of a resistance."

She cocked her shotgun. "Well, if it really is that easy..."

Not yet, I knew she wasn't going to fire. She was a talker. They loved to delve into these ridiculous minute monologues and act important. It was something I was taught during training. Beat into my head several times.

When you have the chance, take it.

It's a good thing these paid hit men don't learn the basics of human psychology. Shame. Apparently, bigger guns is all that matters to them, as well as even bigger pay checks.

Too easy.

"...Then, maybe I wouldn't have to go around doing stuff like this. Stuff like killing you." She sighed. My thoughts snapped back to the present, here we go.

"Anyway, I want to see that pretty face before I blow it off at least."

She strode back around my front, and with a rough tug, took off my hat.

That was when my adrenaline kicked in.

"What-" My reflexes were so fast, she didn't even have time to look shocked as I knocked the gun out of her hand, hit a pressure point, and held her in a tight choke.

It never occurred to me if that they might actually be willing to just disregard her life and try taking us both out. Something that brash wasn't completely out of order, seeing as they were paid assassins.

My suspicions were confirmed a couple seconds later. The chain smoker smiled and pointed his gun at her chest, the rest of them following suit.

"Sorry, Karma, but i'm sure you understand that this isn't anything personal." Her eyes widened in shock as another armored, dark haired assassin gave the grim nod to signal firing. Karma huh, how ironic is that?

She tried to break free from me, but I simply pushed the pressure point on her temple and she screamed in pain. "You bastards!" She screamed, trying again to kick her way out, "Don't tell me your actually gonn-"

They unloaded, hoping to hit me by shooting though her. However, the combined body armor from both me and the impromptu hostage kept me relatively safe. Although for her, I don't know if I could say the same.

My body shook from the impacts of so many rounds coming at such a short distance. Staggering, it was difficult to remain on balance as they pushed us back with the sheer weight of automatic lead.

I counted the bullets. Standard military weapons carried 20-30 rounds on average. It would take less then 2 seconds for them to empty their clips...

*Click*

Showtime.

It was a relatively easy matter of drawing my gun and shooting each of them in the leg, where they dropped to the floor in cries of pain.

The guns were scooped up and placed in a pile on the front stage. I searched each of them for backup weapons and knives. I found handguns on every one of them, as well as combat knives and roughly 2 pounds worth of ammo bricks in their satchels.

I was very thorough, they weren't going to pull any tricks on me anytime soon.

Clean, efficient, and quick, with no one hurt.

All in a days work.

I heard the police sirens. Funny, how they always showed up as things wrapped up.

The cops could take it from here.

I signaled Yuki and Suzumiya to come out. The assassins sat, watching the target come within a meter of their grasp. I knew they wouldn't try anything, the cops were too close, any attempts at escape or a last ditch effort to take her out would result in

basically an instantaneous neutralization from the police which I saw rushing into the room now, guns drawn, checking the vitals on the civilians, and barking orders.

I was getting ready to leave. Being on a classified mission meant not getting questioned by the local police. Besides, it would look better if the police saved the day and rescued the school from a supposedly random shooting.

Masking myself in the witch outfit, I was making a speedy exit towards the emergency fire doors located at the base of the auditorium.

"Wait, where are you going? You never even told me your name!" Not good, she was bringing attention to me, something I did not want with the police around.

I didn't turn nor stop for anything as I sped across the room in a dark blur, ignoring the "Halt!" Of a female police officer, and flying through the side doors.

They tried to chase me outside, but I was too fast. In fact, their eyes could barely track me as I was running at the speed of an accelerating car. Even with 20 pounds of my equipment weighing me down, I could outrun an Olympics track champion without

breaking a sweat.

Once I was a good distance away, hidden in what looked like a classroom, I gave myself a second to breathe, and flicked my com switch.

It was just another day of the life of a top secret agent.

We were in the clear, all I had to do was request a meeting point and we could go home.

My coffee might even still be warm back at the hotel.

Sometimes, with the stress of the day off your shoulders, all you want to do is relax. Smiling, I brought the com to my mouth and flipped the communications switch.

"Hey, that went smoother then I thought, when your ready we can set up a meeting point." There wasn't an answer. The com switch was on, was he having a problem with the communications up there? He was at least 90 meters high in terms of altitude, a

momentary signal block was possible. However, that was unlikely.

Then his voice came, strained, heavy breathing the first thing I made note of. "Eli you gotta go back!"

Freezing in place, I stared at the com for a split second, running through possible errors in our assignment. Another wave of backup assassins is possible, could I have been careless and left Suzumiya in protective custody before HQ secured the perimeter?

"What do you mean...?" I knew instantly something was wrong. He was speaking in short breaths, I could make out the sharp nuances in his voice.

"Eli, listen, they knew we were coming, those guys were just decoys, the real ones...get your ass back there!" The com died in a burst of static. He's injured, judging from the ragged breathing. He was suffering from gunshot wounds, with at least one

punctured lung and and a stab wound.

"Do you need me to call HQ and request an evacuation?" I heard him coughing over the static. He wasn't doing so good.

"No, don't you worry about me Eli, worry about the targets." I heard another fit of coughing as he struggled to clear his throat of what I assumed was blood. "It'll take more then a couple of trigger happy punks to take me out, that inital wave of hostiles was

a decoy to attract the local police, now I need you to listen!"

"But what happen-"

"A group of heavily armed hostiles are approaching the school assembly hall, ETA 30 seconds. I can hold them off, but you gotta extract the target to a safe location, keeping her alive is a top priority, get your ass back there!" I felt a pang of guilt as the sound

of a ratcheted bolt broke the silence over the com.

If he was serious, and the real assassins were coming...

I took a second to digest this information. My past successes have resulted in overconfidence, leaving the targets behind like this was a huge mistake. A mistake that might cost lives.

And now my operator was going to try and fix the problem I was too cocky to even consider.

No one said it, but I knew it came down to how well he could aim today. My operator was the only one who could salvage this mission, there was no way I was going to make it back in 30 seconds and we both knew it. He was just trying to save me face and

avoid humiliation back at HQ.

Even with my intelligence, human nature always got the better of me.

I got off the chair, popped a fresh clip into the Sig.

Damn it, how could I have not seen this coming? I was getting careless, expecting the cops to clean up like that was beyond reckless.

With my previous observations of the weaponry used a minute prior, the police wouldn't stand a chance. Armed with only standard issue glocks. They would get gunned down through superior firepower. Yuki and Suzumiya were still in that room. Police had a

tendency to question bystanders at the scene. I could picture the scene running through my head. The assassins bursting through the front door, gunning everyone down...

And it would be all my fault.

30 seconds...I would never make it.

I looked up into the sky as I ran out the door, weapon drawn.

It was all you, buddy.