Ninjas, Mercenaries, and a Solitary Soldier

Hi everyone. This is my first fanfic that I've submitted to Fanfiction.net. Hopefully you all like it.

Chapter 1: Simple, Yet Complicated

As I sat in the cramped quarters of the transport plane, I could only think about one thing: the mission. It was simple, really. The General said to just "Find and eliminate the enemy." Yet, many complications could arise from it. All those scenarios of what could go wrong that were running through my mind were interrupted when the pilot over the speaker said "5 minutes."

I immediately snapped out of my daydream, and scrambled to ready my gear. I made last minute checks on everything, including my parachute. Satisfied that everything was in order, I stood near the doorway. "1 minute!"

That was my cue to open the door. After doing so, I felt the air rush in, but I was able to breathe easily because of the oxygen mask. The plane I'm in was so high up in the air that anyone on the ground would just think that this plane was just another commercial air liner.

I didn't wait for the pilot's last words. I was counting down since his last announcement, and promptly jumped out of the plane just before the pilot could say anything.

All I could see was the clouds going through me, then suddenly, I saw the mass expansion of green vegetation below me.

"Welcome to Japan, soldier!" I muttered under the mask. "Please fasten your seatbelts to ensure a comfortable ride! Since you are doing a HALO insertion, don't forget to pull the harness of your parachute just before you land, or you'll go out with a splat, not a bang!"

I felt really childish for saying that, but I needed to give myself a laugh here and there. I'll lose my mind if I'm serious all the time.

As the green blur below me became much cleared, I decided to activate my parachute, and with that, I slowly drifted downwards, watching the trees became cleared by the second. The leaves and branches collided with me, but the end was near. I almost made it, but the damn parachute got stuck on a tree! It was a good thing that I wasn't over 2 stories high, so I simply took out my combat knife and slashed at the strings. I then fell to the ground with a loud thud. After about a minute of recovering myself from the HALO drop, I finally stood up. I removed my helmet, as well as the oxygen tank hanging on my chest. I looked all over the place to make sure no one was around, and after realizing that I was on my own, I took a deep breath. I looked up into the sky, and saw trees blocking my view. The sun's rays were trying their best to pass through the large mass of greenery. It was a beautiful morning.

I went to the stream just next to me, and looked at the reflection. I saw a man wearing woodland camouflage, brown spiky hair, with black paint drawn into lines all over the face. Funny, I almost didn't recognize myself, as I don't look in the mirror quite often. As the green eyes stared back at me, I thought back to my briefing…

Two days ago…

"Good evening, General." I said, as I gave him a salute.

"Good evening, Lieutenant." He said. He returned my salute, and said "At ease."

I then stood straight and put my hands behind my back, as I listened to his orders.

"Well, I'm sure you are up to date with the news abroad, or more specifically, in Europe, right?" He said.

I nodded in reply as I let him repeat what I already knew. "U.S. Forces, along with NATO Troops, have routed most of the Russian Terrorist Cells operating all over Europe…"

I didn't fully listen to the rest of what he had to say, until the part where there was actually some new information. "…with the capture and interrogation of the top members of this mercenary group, we have learned that the terrorists that have escaped our troops have retreated to their base, which is located somewhere in Japan. Your orders are simple: Find and eliminate the enemy."

I just stood there. Nothing is that simple. There are bound to be complications in every mission. "Anyone going with me?" I asked.

"No. Our troops, specifically, our Special Forces are scattered all over the map. We've got troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now, most of our troops in Japan and other nearby places are going to South Korea for a possible war with North Korea. Regular troops are a big no-no. Just think of this as a final mop-up job. You'll be cleaning house."

"I don't get any support whatsoever?" I asked annoyingly. I've done many solo missions before, but they're mostly for intelligence gathering, not purposely searching and killing enemy soldiers. "And why me, sir?"

"Actually, you're main mission is to locate the main enemy base. From there, you are to lace the target with a laser designator, and Navy pilots will take off from the nearby Carrier and take care of the rest. We can explain to the media about the air strike much more easily than if we send in our own troops. Of course, you must still eliminate any and all terrorists that you encounter. None of them must be left alive. And as for your other question, well, we chose you because of your 'Ethnicity'. You are…" He then looked over my file, a file I did not even have access to. "…half-Russian and half-Japanese, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Your looks could be of some help. When people see you, they won't automatically think 'American!' in their minds. It's best that no one knows who you are, and which country you represent."

"Understood." Was all I could say.

"Finally, you are not to kill any other people besides the terrorists. There's the presence of this Mugen Teshuu…Tenchin…Tenshin clan in the vicinity of your operations."

"Mugen Tenshin Clan? What are they?" I asked, intrigued by this third party group I might encounter.

He then flipped open another file and said "According to the intelligence that we've gathered, which isn't much, I'm afraid to say, they are a ninja clan who claims to own most of the territory that you'll be trudging along."

"Great. They sound territorial already."

"These people are somewhat like mercenaries. They do assassinations, kidnappings, etc."

"Like what terrorists do?" I piped in.

"They are not branded as terrorists by the Japanese Government, so there's nothing much we could do right now. Do not touch them. You are only authorized to use non-lethal means to incapacitate them if they interfere with your mission."

I smiled at that. If I can't kill them, I wouldn't mind beating their asses up.

"Also, according to intelligence, there's no link between them and the Russian Terrorists that you will be hunting for. Hopefully, with the terrorists' presence, these ninjas might engage in war against them, which should make your job a lot easier. However, if these ninjas are connected to the terrorists, you are authorized to use lethal force."

"Great. My workload just got doubled."

"Not necessarily. Remember, you are only after the Russian Terrorists. If you do uncover a link between them, that's for another mission. You must be bored right now. I'll stop right here." He then took something out of his desk. "Here's a disk containing more information about your mission. Study it, and get ready. You leave tomorrow morning. There won't be any stopovers on the way to Japan, Lieutenant."

"Sir, how many of these terrorists are left?"

"Unknown."

"Oh…" I then took the disk, gave him a salute, and then went back to my quarters. "Great…I smell a suicide mission…"

End of Chapter 1

I'll be honest with you. It might take about a chapter or three, maybe 4 or 5, ahhhh, who knows, before any DOA characters (more specifically, the four ninjas that you all love) appear. Sorry about that.