Disclaimer: I have taken them without permission, but I will return them
when I'm done. Promise.
Comments: Look, Marty has begun another story! Not just a bunch of weird little bits, but an actual story. She's not sure if she likes it or how often she'll update it, but she has at least started it. Anyway, this takes place sometime after 'The Saga Begins' so yes, it is in the same universe and Ken and Aya are snogging on a regular basis. Unfortunately for those of you who were perhaps hoping for a continuation of 'The Saga' (meaning Ken and Aya's relationship) this isn't the place to find it. It's mentioned and exists, but that's really not what the story is about. It isn't RanKen-centric if you catch my drift. (I do intend to continue with that whole drawn out soap opera, but… not yet.) Enjoy this for what it's worth. Fist chapter is Ken's POV. R&R or you will taste my wrath!
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I stare resolutely out the window of the motel room I am sharing with my three teammates. Dust swirls down the street in tiny tornado whorls and through the cracked parking lot. A beat-up station wagon, complete with long horns on the hood, rolls past the window and jerks to a stop outside the motel office. I sniff once and blink my eyes.
I sense more than see Aya come to stand beside me. He gazes deadpan out into the dusty, dry, sweltering morning. "We're in hell," he grates under his breath.
I look over at him and run the back of my hand across my forehead. Even with the air-conditioning on it's practically unbearable in here. I hate hot weather. Nodding I turn to look back out into the dismal landscape. I've never seen anything like it. I hate it. Nothing but dust and sand and ugly little plants for miles and miles. Tumbleweed, you think it's a myth, just something they put in stupid American movies, but it's not. It's real. I've seen it. Another bush goes rolling by down the street. I close my eyes.
"Hell," Aya repeats turning away. I let my head whack against the windowpane. We've only been here for twenty-eight hours, but I already know I hate Texas.
Youji comes bursting out of the bathroom and gives an ear splitting whoop. "Hot damn! I can't believe this, this is going to be so awesome. Finally Kritiker sends us somewhere interesting. It's like a vacation and charity work all rolled together."
He practically dances to the bed he is sharing with Omi and grabs the hat he bought at the airport in Austin, placing it carefully on his head, making sure his hair sits just right beneath is. He straightens the brim and grins wickedly. I can't believe he's actually enjoying this. And what the hell is he wearing? I thought bolos were an urban legend. Are those cowboy boots?
I glare at him and then turn back to the window. "I hate this place," I mutter.
Youji puts his hands on his hips and rolls his eyes. "Jesus, traveling with you two is like having a downer fed intravenously into my arm. Perk up! We're out of the Koneko, we're out of Japan, we're getting paid for it, and there are several very nice looking young ladies staying just a few doors down. What can you possibly be complaining about?"
Aya doesn't say anything. He just grimaces and throws himself onto the bed, burying his face in a pillow.
"Let's see, Youji," I begin, "first of all there's the heat, then there's the dust, then there's this… motel, if you can call it that, there's the fact that we are in Texas, the most bigoted land on earth, then there's the fact that we're going to have to speak English the whole time we're here, and finally as if all of those things aren't enough there's my personal contempt for this ugly, backwards little town that seems content to hold fast to the cultural skews of fifty years ago. Do you have any idea how many times we've been referred to as 'Japs' since we got here?! I lost count!"
"Oh, c'mon Ken, and how many times have you used the term gaijin? It's all the same. But just because we're outsiders doesn't mean we have to act like it. We've got to dive right in, show them no fear!" Youji exclaims. "That's why we are going dancing with those lovely ladies down the way tonight."
I glance at him nervously. "We are? When did that happen?"
He bites his lip, thinking. "Oh about eight o'clock this morning at the ice machine. So put on your 'honkey-tonk' shoes, cause we're going line dancing!"
Aya groans loudly from the bed. "Hell! Hell I tell you, we're all in hell!"
Youji gives him a scathing look. "Would you pull yourself together, man? A little social interaction isn't going to kill you. Now get off that bed and get ready. We have some snooping to do today."
I look back out the window. A fat man in nothing but faded, greasy overalls walks through the parking lot and disappears around the corner of the gas station. What is wrong with these people?
I realize something's missing. "Where's Omi?" I ask absently.
Aya looks up from the bed and twists his head around to look at me. "He went out to find some breakfast."
"When?"
"Forty-five minutes ago."
"What? What if he's been kidnapped or molested by some redneck cow- fucker!" I cry.
Aya raises one of his thin, arched eyebrows. "Hey, if you wanna go look for him out there, then go for it."
Aya's right. The last thing I want to do is leave this motel room. I'll put that off as long as possible. Still, forty-five minutes is a long time for Omi to be wandering around out there all by his little old lonesome. I sigh and go back to staring at the bleak Texas landscape. Another tumbleweed drifts by. I see him. Omi, that is. He's walking up the road, trying to beat back the dust devils. What's he got? A box of… something. Well at least he wasn't kidnapped by a cow-fucker.
I watch lethargically as he walks up the road, into the parking lot, across the cracked pavement, and to our door. He fumbles with his key. Youji saves him, opening the door with gusto.
"Welcome home, pilgrim," Youji drawls.
I snort under my breath. "Youji, could you try for once in your life not to be a total dork."
"Hey," he snaps, "I'm just trying to blend in and have a good time. At least I'm not moaning and crying and rolling around on the bed feeling sorry for myself like –some- people I could mention." He makes a point of indicating Aya who rolls over and groans again.
"So nice to be welcomed back," Omi says under his breath, pushing Youji out of the way.
I look over at him slowly. "Whad'ya bring us?"
He glares at me for a moment and then marches to the obligatory motel room table, setting down a large box and cup holder with four cups in it. "Wouldn't you like to know? You know, you guys, for all the trouble I go through I'm feeling a severe lack of appreciation here…."
"Oh shut-up, Omi-kun, and just tell us what you got and what took you fourty-five minutes to get it!" I snap.
"Fine, fine. Hawduyuhawses*, Ken," he says in rather mangled sounding English.
"Nani? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I means, 'be patient,' I think. That's what the girl at the counter kept saying to me while I was trying to get her to take down my order correctly. I swear, I thought that English was hard in class, but I can't understand –anything- these Texan people say. They have some sort of … weird accent or something. It's like a sub dialect. I can't make it out. But it really is rather fascinating. I finally figured out what that word the flight attendants kept saying was. The one that sounded like 'yul.' It's actually a slang term for 'all of you.' 'Y'all,'" he parrots happily. "Isn't that cool?!"
I roll my eyes. I haven't practiced my English since I got out of high school. Not many gaijin hanging around the Koneko. Youji is proficient. It was a prerequisite to be on the force I guess; he had a lot of foreign contacts. As for Aya's English skills, well… not like he talks a lot anyway, but he seems to understand most of what is said to him. Omi doesn't really speak so badly, but he treats the whole language barrier thing like some giant sociology experiment. He finds almost everything about the English language, and especially English idioms, to be 'fascinating.'
"Omi, just tell us what's in the box," I grumble.
"Oh, yeah I almost forgot. I found a donut shop down the road a ways. Kurispee Kureemu,*" he reports happily. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. Sounds rather disgusting if you ask me. "Anyway, after a rather long and drawn out battle with the counter girl, I managed to buy a box of donuts and four cups of coffee."
"It's hell!" Aya moans from the bed once more.
Omi trains his large, startled eyes on our so called 'leader.' "Are you feeling ok, Aya-kun? I got you some coffee, maybe you'll feel better…."
Aya sits up abruptly and glares at Omi, hard. "I don't want your goddamned coffee, Omi. I want to get the hell out of here."
"Why? Texas is absolutely fascinating. I've never been to the United States before, so why don't you come and have some coffee and a donut?" Omi asks innocently.
"I've never been to the U.S. either, and now I know why. This place reeks of depravity. We have landed in a cesspool of the lowest breeding stock the human race has to offer!" Aya growls and then falls back into the pillows.
Omi looks rather frightened and turns away, flipping open the box of donuts.
Youji stares at Aya, "That was harsh."
I sigh. I shake my head. I suppose it's my job to make him act civil. I grab a cup of coffee and a chocolate glazed donut and walk over to the bed, sitting down beside him. I take a sip of the coffee and Aya glares up at me. I take a big bite of the donut and chew it contently. "Mmm, donut," I mumble. I glance over at him to see if it's working. He glares back at me, but I can see that he's interested.
I swing my legs up onto the bed and lean against the rickety head board. "Want some?" I ask sweetly.
He blinks at me, and then reaches up, snatching the rest of my uneaten donut from my hand.
"Hey!" I cry.
He stuffs it completely into his mouth and chews, little spooges of chocolate mussing his lips. That's gross… that's something I would do. "Aya, that was my donut," I grumble. He shrugs and starts to lick the brown glazing off of his lips. I berate myself silently for having the nerve to be turned on by it. I take another sip of my coffee and cross my feet at the ankles. "If you sit up and act civil, I'll share my coffee," I say.
He wipes the last of the chocolate away with the back of his hand and looks up at me. I am determined not to look back, so I sip my coffee contentedly. Eventually he sits halfway up and pushes his way under my arm, resting his head on my chest. Great… it's too hot in here for this…. Why am I drinking coffee if it's too hot?!
I realize that I detest the taste of coffee. "Bleh." I hand the cup to Aya who takes it gracefully and sips at it, wrapping his free arm behind my back. It's still too hot for this….
Omi trots over with the box of donuts in tow. He sits happily on the floor and rests his back against the side of the bed he's sharing with Youji. Youji grabs his coffee and comes to sit on the bed across from us. Omi holds up the box. "Seconds?"
Youji immediately grabs another one and as I reach for one myself, Aya pokes my rips. "Get me that cinnamon twisty thing."
"Fine," I snap, grabbing it and handing to my temperamental koibito. I snag the last crème filled jelly roll. I feel Aya chewing against my ribs and looks down. "Ugh, koi! C'mon sit up, you're getting cinnamon crap all over me, and besides that it's sweltering in here!" I give him a nudge with my elbow and he growls, sitting up reluctantly. I feel bad for the poor guy, he has to be in a really bad mood to cuddle with me. I mean… I cuddle with –him- all the time, but when it goes the other way around, I know he's not a happy camper.
"So," Youji says at length, after devouring his maple bar, "let's go over things one more time, just to get all this straight. And then I suggest we come up with a plan of action."
We all nod in agreement, it's business now. Omi gets crackin'.
"Ok, so according to Manx we are here to locate and destroy all facilities that are linked with the Global Oil Corporation. Apparently Global Oil has been found to use child slave labor imported from Asian countries and is involved in facilitating several different drug-running operations. Global Oil has also been reported to be involved in experimental, and environmentally unsound means of oil extraction. Biohazardous and radioactive materials are leaking from their processing facilities with little or no attention to clean up or the effect on the animals and/or people living in the areas directly affected by the contamination. I think we all saw the pictures…."
We nod silently. The pictures were truly disturbing. Entire towns were infected, contaminated with chemicals. The people living there suffered growths, internal bleeding, physical deformations, hemorrhaging, loss of hair and skin, and any number of other horrific symptoms, all of which eventually led to death. Global Oil refused to take the wrap, and it's heads just kept the plants and refineries running at top speed.
"The man that is our ultimate target, when we locate him, is Shiro Ano, the President of Global Oil. Although the corporation he began was Japanese in it's origins, it became a part of a larger oil conglomerate, merging with several other small time oil companies to become the Global Oil of today. We have also been instructed to kill the other heads of the Corporation, included Abdul Al Sidiki and Jerome Sanchez. Unfortunately we are going to have to locate each of these men on our own. Their whereabouts are currently unknown to Kritiker, although Manx did assure us that they would keep looking. Until we know where to find them, we are to destroy all their facilities in the Texas oil belt and wait for further instructions." Omi looks around at everyone and then nods definitively.
"Sounds like a lot of crap," Aya says harshly. "Why should we have to take care of this? What does any of this have to do with Persia or Japan?"
"Well, much of the child labor being supplied to the Global Oil plants is composed of children taken from Japan and other east Asian countries. And… I think Persia has some sort of favor he owes to someone who wants this guy dead, so…."
"So we get to do his dirty work on a long, half-assed mission like this," I finish.
Omi sighs and hangs his head, "Pretty much."
Youji looks up and smiles at all of us. "I don't know why you guys are so down about this? The mission, once we get the logistics figured out is going to be simple. We find these plants, and it can't be that hard, there's nothing around here for miles, we blow then up, and we're out of here. In the mean time we get a little line dancing, a little tex-mex, a little tequila, and a few fine South Western women to boot thrown in."
"You forget, Youji," Omi breaks in, "that our mission isn't to just destroy these plants. We have to locate the three head honchos for Global Oil, and kill them. They could be anywhere in the world, at any of their main bases of operations including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Austin, Tokyo, or the North Slope in Alaska! One way or the other we are either going to be burning or freezing for a very long time."
Youji rolls his eyes. "Ok, ok. Spoil my fun before it even begins. But we –are- going dancing tonight. No arguments."
I look over at Aya who doesn't look pleased. We all know that there is no use in arguing with Youji, if he wants us to go dancing, we'll end up at the dance place if he has to knock us out and drag us there himself. It might not be so bad. At least I'll have Aya… and at least he'll have me. Aya mumbles something under his breath, and then swings his legs over the edge of the bed.
"Well, what are we sitting here for? We have a lot of work to do. We've got to start locating these oil plants. Omi get on the computer. Youji and I will snoop around town and see if anyone can or will tell us anything. Ken… go grocery shopping."
Great I get to be food bitch again. I'm –always- the food bitch!
Comments: Look, Marty has begun another story! Not just a bunch of weird little bits, but an actual story. She's not sure if she likes it or how often she'll update it, but she has at least started it. Anyway, this takes place sometime after 'The Saga Begins' so yes, it is in the same universe and Ken and Aya are snogging on a regular basis. Unfortunately for those of you who were perhaps hoping for a continuation of 'The Saga' (meaning Ken and Aya's relationship) this isn't the place to find it. It's mentioned and exists, but that's really not what the story is about. It isn't RanKen-centric if you catch my drift. (I do intend to continue with that whole drawn out soap opera, but… not yet.) Enjoy this for what it's worth. Fist chapter is Ken's POV. R&R or you will taste my wrath!
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I stare resolutely out the window of the motel room I am sharing with my three teammates. Dust swirls down the street in tiny tornado whorls and through the cracked parking lot. A beat-up station wagon, complete with long horns on the hood, rolls past the window and jerks to a stop outside the motel office. I sniff once and blink my eyes.
I sense more than see Aya come to stand beside me. He gazes deadpan out into the dusty, dry, sweltering morning. "We're in hell," he grates under his breath.
I look over at him and run the back of my hand across my forehead. Even with the air-conditioning on it's practically unbearable in here. I hate hot weather. Nodding I turn to look back out into the dismal landscape. I've never seen anything like it. I hate it. Nothing but dust and sand and ugly little plants for miles and miles. Tumbleweed, you think it's a myth, just something they put in stupid American movies, but it's not. It's real. I've seen it. Another bush goes rolling by down the street. I close my eyes.
"Hell," Aya repeats turning away. I let my head whack against the windowpane. We've only been here for twenty-eight hours, but I already know I hate Texas.
Youji comes bursting out of the bathroom and gives an ear splitting whoop. "Hot damn! I can't believe this, this is going to be so awesome. Finally Kritiker sends us somewhere interesting. It's like a vacation and charity work all rolled together."
He practically dances to the bed he is sharing with Omi and grabs the hat he bought at the airport in Austin, placing it carefully on his head, making sure his hair sits just right beneath is. He straightens the brim and grins wickedly. I can't believe he's actually enjoying this. And what the hell is he wearing? I thought bolos were an urban legend. Are those cowboy boots?
I glare at him and then turn back to the window. "I hate this place," I mutter.
Youji puts his hands on his hips and rolls his eyes. "Jesus, traveling with you two is like having a downer fed intravenously into my arm. Perk up! We're out of the Koneko, we're out of Japan, we're getting paid for it, and there are several very nice looking young ladies staying just a few doors down. What can you possibly be complaining about?"
Aya doesn't say anything. He just grimaces and throws himself onto the bed, burying his face in a pillow.
"Let's see, Youji," I begin, "first of all there's the heat, then there's the dust, then there's this… motel, if you can call it that, there's the fact that we are in Texas, the most bigoted land on earth, then there's the fact that we're going to have to speak English the whole time we're here, and finally as if all of those things aren't enough there's my personal contempt for this ugly, backwards little town that seems content to hold fast to the cultural skews of fifty years ago. Do you have any idea how many times we've been referred to as 'Japs' since we got here?! I lost count!"
"Oh, c'mon Ken, and how many times have you used the term gaijin? It's all the same. But just because we're outsiders doesn't mean we have to act like it. We've got to dive right in, show them no fear!" Youji exclaims. "That's why we are going dancing with those lovely ladies down the way tonight."
I glance at him nervously. "We are? When did that happen?"
He bites his lip, thinking. "Oh about eight o'clock this morning at the ice machine. So put on your 'honkey-tonk' shoes, cause we're going line dancing!"
Aya groans loudly from the bed. "Hell! Hell I tell you, we're all in hell!"
Youji gives him a scathing look. "Would you pull yourself together, man? A little social interaction isn't going to kill you. Now get off that bed and get ready. We have some snooping to do today."
I look back out the window. A fat man in nothing but faded, greasy overalls walks through the parking lot and disappears around the corner of the gas station. What is wrong with these people?
I realize something's missing. "Where's Omi?" I ask absently.
Aya looks up from the bed and twists his head around to look at me. "He went out to find some breakfast."
"When?"
"Forty-five minutes ago."
"What? What if he's been kidnapped or molested by some redneck cow- fucker!" I cry.
Aya raises one of his thin, arched eyebrows. "Hey, if you wanna go look for him out there, then go for it."
Aya's right. The last thing I want to do is leave this motel room. I'll put that off as long as possible. Still, forty-five minutes is a long time for Omi to be wandering around out there all by his little old lonesome. I sigh and go back to staring at the bleak Texas landscape. Another tumbleweed drifts by. I see him. Omi, that is. He's walking up the road, trying to beat back the dust devils. What's he got? A box of… something. Well at least he wasn't kidnapped by a cow-fucker.
I watch lethargically as he walks up the road, into the parking lot, across the cracked pavement, and to our door. He fumbles with his key. Youji saves him, opening the door with gusto.
"Welcome home, pilgrim," Youji drawls.
I snort under my breath. "Youji, could you try for once in your life not to be a total dork."
"Hey," he snaps, "I'm just trying to blend in and have a good time. At least I'm not moaning and crying and rolling around on the bed feeling sorry for myself like –some- people I could mention." He makes a point of indicating Aya who rolls over and groans again.
"So nice to be welcomed back," Omi says under his breath, pushing Youji out of the way.
I look over at him slowly. "Whad'ya bring us?"
He glares at me for a moment and then marches to the obligatory motel room table, setting down a large box and cup holder with four cups in it. "Wouldn't you like to know? You know, you guys, for all the trouble I go through I'm feeling a severe lack of appreciation here…."
"Oh shut-up, Omi-kun, and just tell us what you got and what took you fourty-five minutes to get it!" I snap.
"Fine, fine. Hawduyuhawses*, Ken," he says in rather mangled sounding English.
"Nani? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I means, 'be patient,' I think. That's what the girl at the counter kept saying to me while I was trying to get her to take down my order correctly. I swear, I thought that English was hard in class, but I can't understand –anything- these Texan people say. They have some sort of … weird accent or something. It's like a sub dialect. I can't make it out. But it really is rather fascinating. I finally figured out what that word the flight attendants kept saying was. The one that sounded like 'yul.' It's actually a slang term for 'all of you.' 'Y'all,'" he parrots happily. "Isn't that cool?!"
I roll my eyes. I haven't practiced my English since I got out of high school. Not many gaijin hanging around the Koneko. Youji is proficient. It was a prerequisite to be on the force I guess; he had a lot of foreign contacts. As for Aya's English skills, well… not like he talks a lot anyway, but he seems to understand most of what is said to him. Omi doesn't really speak so badly, but he treats the whole language barrier thing like some giant sociology experiment. He finds almost everything about the English language, and especially English idioms, to be 'fascinating.'
"Omi, just tell us what's in the box," I grumble.
"Oh, yeah I almost forgot. I found a donut shop down the road a ways. Kurispee Kureemu,*" he reports happily. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. Sounds rather disgusting if you ask me. "Anyway, after a rather long and drawn out battle with the counter girl, I managed to buy a box of donuts and four cups of coffee."
"It's hell!" Aya moans from the bed once more.
Omi trains his large, startled eyes on our so called 'leader.' "Are you feeling ok, Aya-kun? I got you some coffee, maybe you'll feel better…."
Aya sits up abruptly and glares at Omi, hard. "I don't want your goddamned coffee, Omi. I want to get the hell out of here."
"Why? Texas is absolutely fascinating. I've never been to the United States before, so why don't you come and have some coffee and a donut?" Omi asks innocently.
"I've never been to the U.S. either, and now I know why. This place reeks of depravity. We have landed in a cesspool of the lowest breeding stock the human race has to offer!" Aya growls and then falls back into the pillows.
Omi looks rather frightened and turns away, flipping open the box of donuts.
Youji stares at Aya, "That was harsh."
I sigh. I shake my head. I suppose it's my job to make him act civil. I grab a cup of coffee and a chocolate glazed donut and walk over to the bed, sitting down beside him. I take a sip of the coffee and Aya glares up at me. I take a big bite of the donut and chew it contently. "Mmm, donut," I mumble. I glance over at him to see if it's working. He glares back at me, but I can see that he's interested.
I swing my legs up onto the bed and lean against the rickety head board. "Want some?" I ask sweetly.
He blinks at me, and then reaches up, snatching the rest of my uneaten donut from my hand.
"Hey!" I cry.
He stuffs it completely into his mouth and chews, little spooges of chocolate mussing his lips. That's gross… that's something I would do. "Aya, that was my donut," I grumble. He shrugs and starts to lick the brown glazing off of his lips. I berate myself silently for having the nerve to be turned on by it. I take another sip of my coffee and cross my feet at the ankles. "If you sit up and act civil, I'll share my coffee," I say.
He wipes the last of the chocolate away with the back of his hand and looks up at me. I am determined not to look back, so I sip my coffee contentedly. Eventually he sits halfway up and pushes his way under my arm, resting his head on my chest. Great… it's too hot in here for this…. Why am I drinking coffee if it's too hot?!
I realize that I detest the taste of coffee. "Bleh." I hand the cup to Aya who takes it gracefully and sips at it, wrapping his free arm behind my back. It's still too hot for this….
Omi trots over with the box of donuts in tow. He sits happily on the floor and rests his back against the side of the bed he's sharing with Youji. Youji grabs his coffee and comes to sit on the bed across from us. Omi holds up the box. "Seconds?"
Youji immediately grabs another one and as I reach for one myself, Aya pokes my rips. "Get me that cinnamon twisty thing."
"Fine," I snap, grabbing it and handing to my temperamental koibito. I snag the last crème filled jelly roll. I feel Aya chewing against my ribs and looks down. "Ugh, koi! C'mon sit up, you're getting cinnamon crap all over me, and besides that it's sweltering in here!" I give him a nudge with my elbow and he growls, sitting up reluctantly. I feel bad for the poor guy, he has to be in a really bad mood to cuddle with me. I mean… I cuddle with –him- all the time, but when it goes the other way around, I know he's not a happy camper.
"So," Youji says at length, after devouring his maple bar, "let's go over things one more time, just to get all this straight. And then I suggest we come up with a plan of action."
We all nod in agreement, it's business now. Omi gets crackin'.
"Ok, so according to Manx we are here to locate and destroy all facilities that are linked with the Global Oil Corporation. Apparently Global Oil has been found to use child slave labor imported from Asian countries and is involved in facilitating several different drug-running operations. Global Oil has also been reported to be involved in experimental, and environmentally unsound means of oil extraction. Biohazardous and radioactive materials are leaking from their processing facilities with little or no attention to clean up or the effect on the animals and/or people living in the areas directly affected by the contamination. I think we all saw the pictures…."
We nod silently. The pictures were truly disturbing. Entire towns were infected, contaminated with chemicals. The people living there suffered growths, internal bleeding, physical deformations, hemorrhaging, loss of hair and skin, and any number of other horrific symptoms, all of which eventually led to death. Global Oil refused to take the wrap, and it's heads just kept the plants and refineries running at top speed.
"The man that is our ultimate target, when we locate him, is Shiro Ano, the President of Global Oil. Although the corporation he began was Japanese in it's origins, it became a part of a larger oil conglomerate, merging with several other small time oil companies to become the Global Oil of today. We have also been instructed to kill the other heads of the Corporation, included Abdul Al Sidiki and Jerome Sanchez. Unfortunately we are going to have to locate each of these men on our own. Their whereabouts are currently unknown to Kritiker, although Manx did assure us that they would keep looking. Until we know where to find them, we are to destroy all their facilities in the Texas oil belt and wait for further instructions." Omi looks around at everyone and then nods definitively.
"Sounds like a lot of crap," Aya says harshly. "Why should we have to take care of this? What does any of this have to do with Persia or Japan?"
"Well, much of the child labor being supplied to the Global Oil plants is composed of children taken from Japan and other east Asian countries. And… I think Persia has some sort of favor he owes to someone who wants this guy dead, so…."
"So we get to do his dirty work on a long, half-assed mission like this," I finish.
Omi sighs and hangs his head, "Pretty much."
Youji looks up and smiles at all of us. "I don't know why you guys are so down about this? The mission, once we get the logistics figured out is going to be simple. We find these plants, and it can't be that hard, there's nothing around here for miles, we blow then up, and we're out of here. In the mean time we get a little line dancing, a little tex-mex, a little tequila, and a few fine South Western women to boot thrown in."
"You forget, Youji," Omi breaks in, "that our mission isn't to just destroy these plants. We have to locate the three head honchos for Global Oil, and kill them. They could be anywhere in the world, at any of their main bases of operations including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Austin, Tokyo, or the North Slope in Alaska! One way or the other we are either going to be burning or freezing for a very long time."
Youji rolls his eyes. "Ok, ok. Spoil my fun before it even begins. But we –are- going dancing tonight. No arguments."
I look over at Aya who doesn't look pleased. We all know that there is no use in arguing with Youji, if he wants us to go dancing, we'll end up at the dance place if he has to knock us out and drag us there himself. It might not be so bad. At least I'll have Aya… and at least he'll have me. Aya mumbles something under his breath, and then swings his legs over the edge of the bed.
"Well, what are we sitting here for? We have a lot of work to do. We've got to start locating these oil plants. Omi get on the computer. Youji and I will snoop around town and see if anyone can or will tell us anything. Ken… go grocery shopping."
Great I get to be food bitch again. I'm –always- the food bitch!