FILE 1
"Congratulations, Officer Saori Saga," Chief Daizaburo Tokumaru said after he pinned the gold and silver badge of the Japan National Police on the uplift chest of Saori. The petite young woman becomes the newest addition to the Bokuto Police Station. Tokumaru saluted, which Saori crisply returned.
Officers Natsumi Tsujimoto, Miyuki Kobayakawa, Yoriko Nikaido and Aoi Futaba, as well as other police officers, witnessed the simple ceremony inside the conference room of the station. They all smiled and clapped happily as their long-time friend become one of their own.
"I knew she'll become a cop one day," Natsumi whispered to Miyuki.
"Thanks to us," agreed Miyuki. "After all the troubles she caused us while she is still a student, I'm really happy to see her find her calling."
The Chief ceremoniously gave Saori a handgun, a Samurai Edge 9mm automatic, the Japanese version of the popular Beretta Model 92FS license-built in Japan. The gun wasn't loaded, of course, but the Chief still handled it with care. Saori's eyes gleamed as she took the pistol and it took a few seconds before she shoved her first ever gun on her belt holster. The chief offered his hand and Saori shook it vigorously.
Saori went to the small podium to deliver the traditional rookie speech. "I would like to thank you all for this honor, especially to my friends Officer Tsujimoto and Officer Kobayakawa. It is them who inspired me to become a police officer and to serve our city. Rest assured that I will do my duty as an officer of the Japan National Police, that is to protect our citizens and uphold the law, even if it means giving my life. Again thank you very much." Loud cheers drowned her last words.
After the ceremony in the headquarters, Natsumi and Miyuki escorted Saori to the Arms Room, which is also a shooting range. "That was some speech Saori," Natsumi said. "You made us really proud."
"It was the truth," Saori said humbly. "You guys are my idols and my inspiration. It's all because of you that I wore this uniform."
"Hey, if you really want to thank us," Miyuki reminded her. "Stay out of trouble."
"Hey, I'm not a kid anymore!" Saori protested.
The three women laughed.
Saori retrieved two boxes of 9mm ammo and four magazines from the dispatcher and proceeds to the range where Natsumi and Miyuki waited. The two veteran Bokuto policewomen donned plastic goggles and earmuffs as Miyuki started shooting paper targets twenty feet away. The report of her customized Kimber High Capacity .45 caliber automatic filled the room. After burning a full magazine, Miyuki removed the empty clip and inserted a full one before placing the gun back to its holster. "Not bad," she said, removing her earmuffs.
"Excuse me, sempai," Saori said as she loads her Samurai Edge. "All of the other cops are armed with nine millimeter automatics. Why are you two armed with different calibers?"
Miyuki shrugged. "Nine millimeters are design to kill Europeans. For dangerous people, you'll need a .45."
"Makes a bigger hole," Natsumi agrees.
"Well, nine is big enough for me." Saori laughed as she shoved the full magazine to the grip of her pistol. She switched the safety on and returned the gun to her holster.
"Natsumi's gun wouldn't just make a hole; it'll blow your head off." Miyuki remarked, nodding at the big gun on Natsumi's belt.
Miyuki is referring to Natsumi's firearm of choice, an Israeli-made Magnum Research-IMI Desert Eagle automatic, the largest and most powerful automatic handgun in the world. Natsumi's Big D is made entirely of stainless steel, and packs the brutally destructive .50 caliber Action Express cartridges. The .50 AE, derived from the .50 caliber machine gun round, is an ultra-powerful 500-grain jack hollow point flesh-shredder that flew at 427 miles per power and delivers a force of 1923 joules. It could penetrate pass an engine block like it was made from butter.
"Hey, I like this gun," Natsumi said. "I could clip a suspect's ear from a hundred feet away…or like you said, blow his head off for good measure."
"You're sick," Miyuki said with a sigh.
Natsumi laughed. "All I need now is a good beer."
"Okay, lets get some," Miyuki said. "You're coming Saori?"
"No. I'm on my first patrol tonight."
"Lucky you," Natsumi exhaled.
11:00PM.
Saori ate her rice cake slowly to kill time. It wasn't that bad, Tokyo rice cakes are one of the best in the world. Her job wasn't bad either. The rookie officer, with her male partner Ryo Kojima is on foot patrol in the urban environment of Bokuto District, considerably a safe neighborhood. Their duty would end at 1:00AM so the two decide to take a short break.
"Hey Saori," asked Ryo. "Why'd you join the force? I mean, you're young and beautiful. You could be very successful in different fields."
"It was a long story," answered Saori. "But to sum it all up, I made a lot of trouble back when I was a student. Miyuki and Natsumi always bailed me out. So I decided to I will become a cop too just like them."
"Those two are causing more trouble than you can ever imagine," chuckled Ryo. "But they always get the job done."
"They're my idols," beamed Saori.
While the two are talking, a white van pulled in front of the Hisashi Research Center, not far from the position of Saori and her partner. The five story building is well-known, for it is the headquarters of one of the largest companies in Tokyo, specializing in fiber research.
And it is the target for the biggest heist in the history of Tokyo.
Inside the van, eight men are preparing for the robbery. All were dressed in all black commando suits, body armor, Kevlar helmets and armed to the teeth with automatic rifles. One of them is not wearing a helmet. He is a large and powerful-built Oriental, with almond-shaped eyes, and shaved head that gave him a meaner look. The man is armed with a short AK-47 assault rifle and a Tactical grenade launcher, not counting his sidearm, explosives and commando knife. The men are all extremely heavily armed, like they were invading a city.
The bald leader knew the Japanese police are not as heavily armed as other police forces, but they can be a formidable opponent especially if they are determined to fight even against overwhelming odds. The plan is not just to overwhelm the police in case of a shootout, but to crush them with massive amount of firepower. Besides, the leader swore to his men that he will kill 20 cops for every man he lost.
"We are ready, Major," one of the men said, donning his black balaclava.
"Good," answered the major. "Stick to our plan and don't make any mistakes."
The door of the van flew open, armed commandos jumping to the streets and running towards the front lobby of the target building. The two security guards were caught by surprise, and the major shoots them both with his silenced Beretta. A commando already inside the building hacks the electrical system and disabled the lights and cameras, blanketing the building in darkness. The commandos are prepared for this; they are also equipped with night vision goggles. They entered the lobby like ninjas, shooting the guards with silenced pistols.
The major and three of his men entered the elevator. The steel door of the research laboratories opened and the scientist inside were stunned when they saw military-dressed men armed to the teeth. "Get down! On the floor!" one of the men shouted in accented Japanese. The terrified scientists had no choice but to follow.
One of the commandos attached a sound suppressor on his Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun. He sets the selector on single shots, and then shoots the scientist close to him on the head. One by one he executes the other scientist, shooting then in the head at point blank range. When he got to the last scientist, he stops.
"Nobunaga?" the commando asked.
The scientist stood. "The package is in the vault. Two guards and the head scientist are there," he said shaking.
"Go!" the commando ordered.
"How about my money?"
The major approached the scientist. "You'll get your money. Now go, or I will castrate you with bullets," he said menacingly. The traitorous scientist ran.
The major examined the vault. He noticed the intercom. "Open this vault," the major said on the intercom to the people inside the vault. "Open this vault or you will die!" No answer. He nodded to the commando beside him.
The second commando opened his backpack, taking two blocks of C-4 plastic explosive from it. He placed the C-4 on the vault door. The major took cover as the commando pressed the detonator. The massive steel vault door was ripped apart by the explosion.
The major entered the vault. One of the security guards lay on the floor dead, his body ravaged by the explosion. The other security guard was moaning in pain. The major aimed his AK-47 on the helpless guard and fired a burst. The head of the guard burst like a watermelon.
"Please don't…" the head scientist pleaded, blood dripping from his ears. "Don't kill me…"
The major smiled sadistically and shot the scientist on the groin. The scientist blood curling scream was louder than the gunfire.
Saori finished her coffee when she heard the muffled explosion. She snapped toward Ryo. "Did you hear that?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said grimly. "That's coming from Hisashi. Let's go."
The two cops mounted on their squad car, a Toyota Altis, which Ryo drove. A Remington twelve-gauge shotgun was mounted on an electronically-released pedestal on the dashboard. As they sped towards where the explosion came from, Ryo radios for backup.
Adrenalin pumped on Saori's veins as she checks her Samurai Edge pistol and tightens her bulletproof vest. In the back of her mind maybe it was just an accident or something, not a violent encounter. Yet she was ready for anything. Her training would ensure her survival, at least for a moment.
Ryo stopped the car near the building of the Hisashi Research Center. The doors flew open and the two jumped out, pistols drawn. Taking cover on the patrol car, they surveyed the lobby.
The building is dark, as if there's a power outage yet other buildings at the area are blazing with electric lights. Ryo gave the radio to Saori. "Here," he said. "Coordinate with our backup units. I'm gonna check the lobby."
"I'm coming with you…"
"No," Ryo argued. "Stay here. Cover my back."
Saori nodded.
Ryo ran towards the front of the building. He cautiously approached the lobby, gun in hand. In the darkness he saw two figures on the front door. His blood ran cold when he saw the two dead security guards. Ryo raised the radio to his mouth when suddenly gunfire exploded inside the building.
Ryo instinctively took cover behind a Mazda, keeping his eyes and gun pointed towards the door. "Shots fired! Shots fired!" he yelled matter-of-factly on the radio. At the distance he could hear sirens from approaching police cars. Good, backup is fast approaching…
The door of the building opened and five men dressed in military-style outfit came out. Two of them appeared to be carrying heavy duffle bags. All were armed with huge assault rifles with banana-type magazines.
"Five 211 suspects in the alley on the loading dock!" Ryo shouted into his portable radio. "All suspects 417. Request immediate backup!" He holstered the radio, then took a firm two-hand Weaver combat grip on his service pistol to give better accuracy and stability, crouched as low as he could behind the right front fender of the Mazda, and shouted, "Police! Freeze! Drop your weapons! Now!"
Ryo never expected them to surrender—and they didn't. As soon as he saw one of them unslung a rifle from his shoulder and level it, he opened fire, aiming three rounds each at the five gunmen he could see across the street.
He saw them jerk and jump as the rounds hit, but they didn't go down. Two of them leveled AK-class rifles at him. Staying low, Ryo ran up Jinsu Street to a nearby parked car and crouched behind the left rear fender, again shielded by the engine block, seconds before the suspects opened fire. They peppered his former cover car with heavy-caliber automatic-rifle fire, shattering the windshield and blowing out the two left tires, and stopped shooting only when they finally ran out of ammo. The two quickly swapped magazines to reload.
"Shots fired, shots fired!" he shouted into his radio. "Heavy automatic-rifle fire coming from the alley, two suspects with rifles, possibly all five have automatic rifles. Suspects are wearing body armor too. Go for head shots, repeat, go for head shots!"
"Get out of there, Ryo!" he heard Saori yell in the radio. "Wait for SWAT back up!"
Just then, a cop's worst nightmare appeared before his eyes. A lone gunman, looking as if he was covered in a suit of black armor, marched out of the alley onto Jinsu Street with his AK-74 leveled. When he was thirty feet from the abandoned squad car, he shouted something in a different language and opened fire, spraying it in a side-to-side sweeping motion on full auto. Then he continued to march forward, raising the rifle up so he could aim it at anything that moved on the other side of the car. His walk was deliberate, no hurry in his steps, no effort to hide himself—just as if he were a pedestrian crossing the street. Ryo's pistol is no match for full-auto rifles.
Ryo dropped the radio, aimed, and fired five rounds at the guy's head. He knew he was shooting back towards the park, toward Saori and the other units, but it was a chance he had to take—this guy had to go. One of his shots must have hit flesh because the guy went down and Ryo heard him shout in the same language he didn't understood as he clutched his neck and began to crawl back toward the alley.
But Ryo didn't see the bald major standing behind a white van. He grabbed a tube-like device from the van and aimed it at the car protecting Ryo. The major pulled the trigger of the Chinese-made B-40 antitank rocket launcher, a copy of the Russian RPG-7. The high explosive warhead hit the car and exploded, blowing it twenty feet in the air and crashed back to earth, a ball of fire and molten metal.
"Oh…my…God…" was all Saori could say when she saw Ryo's cover, and his body, exploded in a massive ball of fire. Her colors drained but training took over and she grabbed the radio. "Ryo!" she yelled desperately as more automatic gunfire hammered. "Answer me! Ryo!"
Only silence remained above the roar of gunfire.
Saori felt a tear falling on her cheek as she radios a call that no police officer ever want to make in his or her career. "Officer down! Officer down! Code 900! Code 900, Hisashi Research Center complex, heavily armed suspects in front between Jinsu and Kairi Streets!"
As she issued the Code 900—the dire-emergency code, the code guaranteed to get every cop in town headed this way on the double—Saori was watching the alley for any sign of the suspects. But all she could actually see were the remnants of the burning car across Jinsu Street, the one that had protected his friend and partner Ryo Kojima, and ultimately became his funeral pyre. At least Ryo got one of the bastards before he died, Saori thought bitterly.
There were men shouting over on Souji Street, the wail of sirens just a few blocks away. The sounds were reassuring to the young rookie, alone and pointing her gun at the darkened building. All she wanted right now is to be somewhere else. But she would never leave her post until given an order to do so, so she was glad that other officers were responding and rushing to help her. She would just have to hold on…
An ear-splitting explosion blasted her out of his reverie. The walls of the building blew open, scattering a wall of glass and fire thirty feet away. She felt a hard slap to his head, followed by a gust of super-heated air. Her ears were ringing so loud, she thought she might have a busted eardrum. She found her finger had tightened on the trigger of her Samurai Edge, afraid that she might have accidentally squeezed off a round. Squad cars appeared at Jinsu street, but they were quickly fired upon with machine gun fire. Then another explosion rocked the night as the suspect let loose another RPG and the front squad car burst into flames over on Jinsu, destroying the car and sending officers jumping from their cars and scurrying for cover.
And then they appeared: two columns of four wearing helmets and gas masks, led by a bald figure dressed completely in thick black body armor who was firing an AK-74 out onto the street as the columns brazenly strode out the shattered front doors of the research building. The men behind him fired smaller but still lethally-looking H&K MP-5 submachine guns, sweeping both sides of the street with a hail of gunfire. As the column marched down Souji Street, the white van they came in exploded in a huge ball of flame. A closed truck wheeled out of the Kairi onto Souji, moving into position to pick them up.
But they were marching away from Saori, and they didn't see her. She took aim on the closest gunman and fired three rounds at his head. The last man in the right column stumbled, stopped, turned directly at Saori, lifted his visor, saw the squad car parked there, and swept it with a two-second burst of automatic gunfire. Highlighted in the glare of a nearby streetlight, he made an ideal target, and the rookie police woman became a guided system of a firearm. Saori took the shot and hit him square in the face. The man screamed and went down, clutching his face and writhing on the ground.
I killed a man, she thought. It was a grim feeling for a first time, but she immediately snapped out of it. Her survival depends on her shooting tonight as the battle is just beginning. Saori was lining up another shot when two of the gunmen in the right column wheeled around and opened fire with their MP-5's. She returned fire, pulling the trigger as fast as she could, rather than aiming, in the hope that her attackers might dive for cover or run. But they did neither. They fired again, concentrating their fire now.
They were coming after her, two deadly assailants with submachine guns, ready to blast her into oblivion…
Natsumi and Miyuki had been taught about the Code 900 in the academy, listened to the instructors, heard the recordings of actual radio calls. But the main thing they learned was never, ever call for one on the radio—it was reserved for someone in a much higher pay grade than themselves. They could call for "backup" or "cover" or "officer needs assistance" or "officer in distress" or even "HELP!" but could never call a Code 900. The only reason to ever call one, the instructors had said seriously, was if the earth was splitting open and all the citizens of hell were flying forth.
But they knew that was exactly what was happening. They saw and heard the rocket explosion as they sped towards the Hisashi Research Center, saw the fires, heard the gunshots, heard the heavy machine-gun fire in return.
And they were both shocked when Saori herself called the Code 900.
"Jesus, Saori, please get on the radio. Say something, girl. Say something…" Natsumi mumbled as she drew her Desert Eagle.
And when they heard the "officer down" call, someone was killed or wounded. And with the sector sergeant calling a Code 900 over the air, they also knew this battle had probably just begun.
Miyuki floored the accelerator of her Honda Today patrol car towards the shooting. She isn't accustomed in driving very fast like Natsumi but their friend is on serious shit. Saori is maybe left alone, fighting against heavily armed gunmen firing rocket launchers.
Explosion again ripped the night as a squad car exploded on Jinsu street. Miyuki hastily parked the Today and the two jumped out, pistols in hand. When they heard the automatic gunfire, they knew they are fighting against a deadly enemy. Their pistols would not be enough. SWAT operatives are armed with M-16's but they were only semi-autos; the Japanese police forbid their officers to carry full-auto weapons. Miyuki, however, defies this rule.
Miyuki opened the trunk of the Today. Inside she kept M-16's, shotguns, tear gas launchers, breaching tools, and an M-40 sniper rifle. Miyuki grabbed the sniper rifle and a booklet of 7.62mm ammunition. She slung the long rifle on her back, and then opened a secret panel on the floor.
Two Japanese-manufactured Heckler and Koch MP-5J submachine guns were hidden there. Miyuki got one and passed it on Natsumi including a bandolier with five 30-round curved magazines. Miyuki also grabbed the second one for her and closed the trunk. The two ran towards the shootout to join the battle.
Both are hoping Saori is still alive.
Saori sank down to her right knee. The gunmen were reloading, flipping the big banana magazines upside down to reload from fresh clips taped against the first ones. She aimed and fired again, missing. This time they did not return fire, evidently satisfied that they had scared her enough so that she was no longer a threat. Saori saw them head back north on Souji to catch up with the others, who were still sweeping the streets with volleys of gunfire, covering the closed truck until it could pull up beside them.
No way! Saori Saga shouted to herself. You're not getting away, not after killing my partner! But all she had was his 9-millimeter pistol—no match for submachine guns. But something else was.
She opened the door of their squad car from the passenger side, leaned inside, started the engine, and put it in gear. Then she laid himself across the front seat, left hand on the steering wheel, right hand down on the gas pedal, pushed on the accelerator, and shot forward.
The two gunmen who thought they had disposed of him turned, aimed, and fired, but they were too late. Saori mowed both of them down under the squad car, hurling them up, then under the fender like corn stalks under a harvester. More automatic gunfire hit the car. The windshield shattered. Without letting up on the accelerator, she shifted the car into reverse. Tires screeched. Saori was shoved forward under the dash by the momentum, losing her grip on the steering wheel. With the right front tire shot out, the car looped to the right and crashed into the corner of a building on Kairi Street. The engine died. She was trapped.
Saori looked up. There was another attacker less than ten feet away, his submachine gun raised, aiming right at her, moving closer for a cleaner shot.
Saori hit the tiny switch on the radio console and the electro-clamps released on the big Remington 12-gauge shotgun mounted on the dashboard. Now lying on her back in the front seat facing the approaching terrorist, Saori racked the action, leveled the shotgun, aimed for the face and neck, and pulled the trigger.
Click! Shit, the shotgun wasn't loaded. Ryo, doing an foot patrol job, obviously hadn't thought he needed to bother loading it. In desperation, Saori tossed the shotgun at her assailant. The muzzle caught the assailant right in the middle of his gas-mask lens, shattering it.
The terrorist screamed something in a foreign language—was it Korean? Saori didn't know.
The gunman ripped off the broken mask, lifting his helmet off with it. Saori got a good look at a very young, chiseled face, Asian eyes, square jaw, close-cropped black curly hair, dark bushy eyebrows, and a nose twisted awkwardly to the right, obviously broken. The guy seemed frozen, paralyzed with fear, as if realizing that Saori could identify him. She reached for her sidearm…
… but it never cleared leather. Another masked and helmeted figure pushed the unmasked guy aside, shouted, and opened fire with his MP-5 submachine gun from fifteen feet away, raking the rookie cop with a three-second full-auto burst at point-blank range.
Saori fell bleeding. The gunman approached the unmoving figure of Officer Saga, determined to finish the job. He aimed the MP-5 on her head…
Three nine millimeter rounds hit the terrorist's torso. He fell on the street, feeling bruises forming under his thick Kevlar vest. The gunman swore as he stood, firing his submachine gun on two female cops running towards him. Both were armed with MP-5's like his, but were slightly different in design with noticeably bigger collapsible shoulder stocks. The terrorist fired his own MP-5 while retreating, missing the two policewoman who were covering from car to car.
Another gunman confidently strode towards Jinsu Street, armed with deadlier AK-47 rifle. The two began exchanging furious gunfire with Natsumi and Miyuki.
Natsumi hit the first gunman, saw him fell but stood up and began firing again. "Body armor!" she yelled.
"Get to Saori," Miyuki said as she fired another burst from her MP-5J. Nine millimeter and 7.62mm rounds were chewing the car they're using as cover. "She may still be alive. I'll cover you."
Natsumi nodded.
"Now!" Miyuki and Natsumi both fired simultaneously, exchanging gunfire with the two assailants. Natsumi ran towards Saori's shot-out patrol car while firing in full auto. They forced the two terrorist to cover while reloading. Two more gunmen were approaching; laying cover fire with AK-47's loaded with huge 100-round drum magazines.
Natsumi reached the squad car. Using her superhuman strength, she opened the driver side door and pulled Saori's body out. Blood covered her face and uniform, with at least a dozen rounds embedded on her vest. Natsumi felt her neck, there was still a pulse. Saori is barely hanging alive.
Autofire hammered the squad car. Natsumi ducked and pulled her Desert Eagle. Kevlar of no Kevlar, no body armor in the world could stop a .50 Action Express round. Laying the ramp sight on the head of the AK-armed terrorist, Natsumi squeezed off a round. The Desert Eagle roared, a raging 500-grain super heavyweight hollow point round smashed on his head, splitting his Kevlar helmet and exploding the head into a bloody balloon.
They shouted in panic at seeing their comrade die, raking Natsumi's cover in full auto. Natsumi cowered, covering Saori with her body. The terrorist however forgot about Miyuki.
Miyuki puts down her submachine gun and unslung the M-40 from her back. She inserted three .308 caliber rounds on the built-in magazine, unfolded the bipod and used the hood of the car as a bench rest. She pulled the bolt, chambering a round and sighted the gunman with the biggest threat, the one armed with a drum-fed AK. The crosshairs of the Leupold scope was dead center on the terrorist's unprotected neck. Miyuki pulled the trigger. The terrorist fell, a fountain of blood bursting from his ravaged throat.
The policemen were now pushing forward and taking ground, forcing the gunmen to retreat to their truck. They took all their dead and wounded, which is more practical than sentimental. They don't want to be identified. The police kept firing, receiving return fire in an exchange of furious gunfire. After a few seconds, the gunmen stopped firing. Thinking the enemy had run out of bullets or the will to fight, the policemen attacked towards them. But the terrorist still have a few surprises on their sleeves.
A large American SUV appeared from Jinsu Street, backwards on the cops. The tailgate of the SUV opened, with a terrorist armed with a Browning M-2HB .50 caliber machine gun. The machine gun fired, taking out three cops, 700-grain slugs blasting their bodies into large chunks. Two more were wounded and fell, and were shot dead by other terrorists.
"Bastards!" Miyuki said angrily, seeing officers mowed in cold blood. She sighted the man firing the machine gun. With one shot, she nailed the terrorist in the forehead. The machine gun fell silent.
The terrorist mounted on the truck and threw grenades on the streets. Explosions after explosions ripped into the complex, smoke covering their escape. Natsumi stood and fired her Desert Eagle on the fleeing vehicles until she burned a whole magazine. The truck and SUV was out of sight when the smoke dissipates. Police cars chased the gunmen's getaway vehicles.
Miyuki ran towards her and checks Saori. "We need an ambulance here now!" she yelled on the radio.
"This is not over, you bastards," Natsumi swore.