A/N: Here is a shout out to Acidika, who has stayed with this story since I started Lost in Transition, way back in september of 2015. He's going through a rough time right now, so if you (the reader) don't mind, could you go to his profile and read a few of his stories? Drop a review or two if you can. He'd appreciate it if he knows people care.
For the man himself, I owe him a particular debt that currently remains unpaid. Hope this partially makes up for it.
Unbeknownst to the crew and passengers of Flight 417, outbound from Narita International Airport to Jakarta, they were being watched. This was not unexpected, nor unwelcome. It would have been more unusual if they weren't being watched by someone or another, whether it be a flight control operator looking up from his terminal or a passerby on the nearby road looking up at the booming noise. Koko knew this all too well, knowing that directing her sour glare to the 747 was pointless. It didn't stop her from doing it.
Outside the terminal she, along with Tojo, Valmet, and Jonah stood in a visitors area nearby the parking lot, separated from the tarmac by a chain link fence. Strictly speaking, they weren't actually allowed to be there, but it was such a pitiful rule that she hardly noticed breaking it. In any event, it gave her some privacy for the upcoming conversation. She had the feeling they were going to need it.
"Typical. Motor mouths for an hour and takes off in a heartbeat" she commented ruefully. Two of her three companions nodded in agreement.
"Where's he going again?" Valmet asked.
"A dummy corporation in Jakarta" Tojo spoke up "Its an SR Unit fortress. He's going to go distract them while we make our moves here" he explained. Though he had a small grin, the strain underneath was visible.
"Indeed. Claims there won't be violence too" Koko said. She took her eyes off of the shrinking aircraft to turn around, facing Tojo but addressing them all.
"I bet you're wondering why we're here" she started, her erstwhile glare softening into her smile. Meanwhile Jonah came away from the fence to listen more closely.
"We siblings look out for each other. Always have. I wouldn't exactly call it love, more like 'who else can you rely on.' It's very much a favor system, but with ironclad rules" Koko explained.
"So, if we needed help you would call him?" Jonah asked. She nodded, noting that the tension in him from earlier was mostly gone.
"Yep. Admittedly I haven't called in his help before, never faced a problem that bad before" she answered.
"Puts into perspective how bad things are huh?" Tojo added.
"No kidding. By doing this, he regains his trade routes in Southeast Asia. Keeps the goods coming and going. The ton of cash he's kicking our way is just a bonus. However" her smile dropped, and the temperature seemed to lower several degrees.
"By doing this, you'll be fighting against your old comrades Tojo. Can you handle that?" she questioned coldly.
Without missing a beat, he replied "Sure thing."
Jonah glanced at Koko, noting her frown hadn't vanished. Indeed, it looked like it was worsening.
"Oh c'mon, I'm not that much of a heartless bastard. Colonel Hinoki only taught me most of what I know. Most important part of being a professional is to not let feelings get in the way was his biggest lesson" he half laughed.
"You sure?" Koko pressed. He grinned.
"Of course. I work for you and HCLI. Tell me to point a gun at him or an SR operative and I might feel bad later. I don't care about any of those guys" Tojo finished.
No sooner did the words leave his lips did a large and heavily muscled arm wrap around his throat, while another was forced against the side of his head, immobilizing him. He realized what it was (a sleeper hold) at the same time he realized who was doing it.
"So, no regret for killing your comrades?" Valmet questioned dangerously, right next to his ear. Jonah watched the affair impassively, noting that the man's face kept alternating between terror and happiness.
"N-no" Tojo squeaked, squirming to free himself from her powerful grip, but to no avail. The grip tightened.
"I find your lack of camaraderie...disturbing" Valmet hissed. Just as Jonah noticed his face turning an interesting shade of blue, Koko snickered.
"That's enough. Valmet, release him" she commanded, falsely grave.
She relaxed her grip, letting the poor man collapse to his knees with a gasp. He stayed like that for a long minute, heaving for air and gingerly rubbing his throat. What perplexed the boy was that along with the obvious relief at not being choked to death anymore, there was a degree of disappointment as well. When he glanced at Valmet with her arms akimbo, he did some calculations and internally ah'd, remembering the day on the beach.
When he finally could, Tojo looked up at Koko with a dry look.
"Really?" Tojo heaved.
"I don't know what you're talking about" she said with a large grin.
"That was almost word for word" he countered. Now it was Valmet's turn to giggle, quickly covering her mouth to hide her grin.
"We watched it on the way here. Sorry, couldn't help it" she shyly apologized.
"I could keep going if you want. We shall crush the SR Unit with one swift stroke!" Koko pumped a fist into the air, lasting only a few seconds before her act crumpled, and she giggled. Valmet joined in immediately, while Tojo conceded defeat a few seconds later and started to laugh. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jonah staring at them blankly.
"W-what's the matter?" Koko had to fight through a round of giggles to get the question out.
"What are you guys talking about?" he asked. Tojo chuckled darkly.
"Jonah, you just volunteered yourself for a full day marathon of movie watching" he warned.
"Yep. Though it's going to have to wait until this is over. Business awaits lady and gents" she announced, the cheery mood dissipating. With a wave of her hand she ordered the three to follow her, though Jonah had to help Tojo get back onto his feet first. The way they were going was back to the parking lot, where the others would be shortly.
"Tojo, who was your mentor again? Hinoki, correct?" Koko asked.
"Yeah, Colonel Yosuke Hinoki. Why?" he asked back, still a little weak from his near death experience.
"I don't suppose you still have his phone number, do you?" she inquired. His loud sigh caused Jonah to give him a curious look.
"Mind if I ask why?" he questioned.
"Just want to see which way the wind is blowing is all" she answered.
Sixty miles away, ten minutes later...
Colonel Yosuke Hinoki's day was going decently, all things considered. For an intelligence agent in a black ops division, a 'good day' was one that everything, or at least most of the things, went as planned. As planned often meant it's normal definition; i.e. as the plan specified. In his line of work however, it more often than not boiled down to meaning 'everyone goes home with all or most of their pieces' or something along those lines. In the past twenty four hours none of his people lost their lives, so that equaled good. It beat the alternative anyway.
The older man, tall with darkly tanned skin from spending a great deal of time in the tropics, felt his phone begin to ring without much surprise. He waited until his tray was set on the table before he grabbed it to answer, taking just a second to look at the caller ID: predictably it said 'unknown caller.' For a second Hinoki considered letting it go to voicemail, considering what he had to do in the next few minutes. But anyone who went to the trouble of getting his personal cell number was probably not going to be dissuaded by a recording. With a quiet sigh and a mumbled curse he clicked the call button.
"Hello?" he greeted cordially, sitting down and straightening out his suit. Out of habit he looked around the fast food restaurant, looking for eavesdroppers.
Out of all the voices he expected to hear, the one who said "Colonel Hinoki?" was among the last. Unable to stop himself, he brought himself to attention.
"Tojo? Akihiko Tojo?" he went astonishingly. From the other end of the line came a nervous chuckle.
"That's right. I'm surprised you remembered me" he admitted.
"Oh come on, you think I'm senile? You were my best student" he countered.
"Yeah, sorry. You busy right now?" he asked.
"Nah, you caught me at a good time. I'm getting lunch, another twenty minutes and I'd be on the road" he answered.
"Good to hear. How've you been?" Tojo gossiped.
"Starting to think I'm getting old. Asking myself all the cliche crap like what have I done with my life. Other than that, busy busy busy, nothing new. How about you?" Hinoki gossiped back.
"Ditto" he replied.
"I should've known. You need to start thinking about settling down, you're not getting any younger" Hinoki admonished, which Tojo chuckled at.
"Says the man of a dozen lives. I will never know how you keep it all straight" he said admiringly. Over the tinny line he heard a loud and distinctive sound.
"Say, you wouldn't happen to be at an airport, would you?" he probed.
"That's right. I'm in Japan right now actually. For work" he said, good natured but suddenly hard. The older man chuckled darkly.
"I suppose we better get down to business then" he said, a little sadly. On the other end Tojo muffled a sigh.
"I want you to stop this conflict with HCLI. They're taking steps for war with the SR Unit, and they don't intend to lose" he stated. Hinoki grinned, even knowing full well the younger man couldn't see it.
"HCLI. Last I heard you quit working for them" he went cheerfully.
"I quit working for Kaspar. Don't change the subject Colonel" Tojo said firmly.
"I see. I'm curious though, how were we described to your people?" Hinoki questioned.
"The specific wording used was ghosts" he answered.
"Ghosts. I like that, describes us perfectly. Now, if you don't mind, how does HCLI plan to deal with us?" he questioned, a small amount of viciousness leaking into his tone.
"Can't say. But you do know they have me, someone who knows your playbook. Last chance Yosuke" Tojo stated. Again the man chuckled darkly.
"Goodbye Tojo. Keep that prepaid phone on hand, I may call you later" he said, about to end the call.
"I'm sorry it had to be this way" he got through at the last second before he clicked it off.
Hinoki held the phone in front of him, smiling but not feeling any mirth.
"Me too" he murmured.
The Colonel was consumed by his thoughts, plans and scenarios whipping through the mind that, unlike his body, hadn't dulled with age. So focused was he that the small detail of his food being cold went unnoticed. In short order he he polished off his burger and fries, sipping the soda on the way out the door before dropping it all into the convenient garbage (all save the tray, he hated it when people threw that away by mistake) and walking out the door to his awaiting car.
Hinoki checked underneath his car out of habit before he got in. As he got his phone back out he glanced at the two envelops in the passenger seat; the first thick one was titled by the National Security Agency, the other was much thinner and had a CIA seal on the top. Though consisting of only eight pages, he had to admit it was the more fascinating of the two, especially of what it implied.
He dialed and waited; only two rings in and he heard several clicks, followed by eight voices saying "Reporting" at once. He grinned.
"Kurosaka, you first" he commanded.
A perky female voice spoke up "Sir. I've looked over the report the Singaporean police sent over concerning the death of Kowit Nualkhair. Comparing the documents you lent me to both the evidence and the witness testimony, it's a close match" she reported. One of his subordinates cursed.
"Then it was a hit" he accused.
"Indeed. A few minutes I got an interesting phone call, it all but confirmed their guilt. My initial assessment of who to focus our efforts on was wrong" Hinoki said.
"It wasn't Kaspar?" another asked bafflingly.
"Not what I said. He has one of his own, and he does have the most to gain from this. My meaning was that the source of HCLI's special assets does not come from him" he clarified.
"Where do they get them anyway?" the first asked.
"Doesn't matter. What does matter is that Koko Hekmatyr has the most of them, as well as the largest single group of mercenaries in the game at present. Each one is dangerous in their own, together they are a formidable force" Hinoki stated.
"Then what's the plan sir?" Kurosaka asked.
With the intuition that came with decades of leadership, he knew the eight people on the secure party line were waiting for orders. He obliged them.
"Our original plan is now kaput. I've prepared a new operation, details will be emailed to you later. For the time being Kaspar can be considered the lesser threat. Pull back all of our primary assets, they'll be needed here. We'll assign one of our peripheries to take him out" he commanded.
"Sir, it'll take several days to recall all of our operatives" one subordinate pointed out.
"We're ghosts remember? We have the advantages of time and support" another one reminded.
"Exactly. We'll call this Operation KK. When we strike, we will catch them off guard. After all, we never attack head on. Secrecy, misdirection, and sabotage are our ways" Hinoki chuckled darkly.
"But sir, who do we send after Kaspar?" Kurosaka asked.
"I say Avalon. They've been in poor shape since we helped them out of that Seele fiasco. They should be able to handle that, and it'll keep them from trying to challenge us again. Best part is that either way, we don't lose anything important" one suggested.
"I concur. Get them to Jakarta, stat. Oh, and one more thing. Regarding the enemy's special assets, they are to be referred to in reports and communications as designation Oscar Whiskey, shortened to Whiskey in tight situations. Understood?" he checked, a series of affirmatives meeting him.
"HCLI sauntered into our territory, killed our people, and expected us to give up just because they asked?" Hinoki posed, hearing a ripple of snorts and laughs. He smirked.
"In three days, we will be ghosts no longer. Let us step out of the shadows and show these foolish upstarts who the real power is!" he declared. The roar of approval came out staticky to his ears, like his intentions.
That evening...
"Fuhk mah brutha" Koko droned on. In the nice hotel room, she sat by the window in one of the chairs. On the coffee table was a glass, and a rather large bottle of wine. Her favorite trio of headaches watched her apprehensively for an hour now, steadily gulping down the alcohol until about ten minutes ago. Since then her speech had become increasingly slurred.
"I agree, but why?" Jonah asked, with both Rock and Valmet glancing at him before turning back to her. The one eyed woman had the chair opposite of Koko, the girl was flopped over one of the beds (when questioned she claimed these ones were tolerable) while she surfed the local television networks, and the boy stood nearby watching the event.
"He picked a foit wit dese bastards and pulled me into it" Koko slurred, pouring herself another glass and splashing half of the red liquid into the table. Jonah reflected that at this point they had failed their set goal entirely; keeping Koko calm and collected, away from the stress.
"And where is Miami! Hasn't answered my calls...off collectin butterfies or seashells or some crap..." she didn't fall flat on her face onto the table, though it wasn't for a lack of trying.
"Okay, I think that's enough wine for one night" Valmet said carefully, plucking the bottle from her wobbling hands. Black Rock Shooter gave up on searching for entertainment, finally glancing over at the growing commotion. Noting their concern, she slid to her feet and grabbed her coat.
"Nonsense, I drink bettur when I think, no!" Koko wined, trying to keep her glass from being taken. For someone with Valmet's strength, it was harder to restrain her than to take the cup from Koko. She continued to struggle fruitlessly, muttering incomprehensible curses under her breath. Jonah raised a brow "Do you want-"
Koko's hand grabbed Valmet's breast, and they both froze.
"-help" he finished. Just as a weird smile began to creep up onto her, he turned to stride out the door, grabbing one of the girl's sleeves to half drag her out. The door slamming shut finally knocked the women out of paralysis.
"Um, Koko? I don't mind it when you touch my boobs, but you're starting to scare me" Valmet hesitantly admitted, a blush forming with the smaller woman's hands starting to knead the soft flesh. Though she found it hard to say no, a deep feeling of unease was taking hold.
Koko pounced, pushing the much larger woman off of her feet to fall onto the bed. Valmet yelped in surprise. If she hadn't tried that, there was no way Valmet would have ended up like this. A brief shake if her head cleared the hair from her vision, allowing her to see the grinning woman holding both of her arms while she straddled her.
"Um, Koko?" Valmet whimpered, fearing the worst. The next statement out of her mouth both terrified her and invigorated her in ways she never imagined would happen.
"Koko want nookie."
Outside, R and Lutz just completed their routine circuit when they saw their boss's room door swing open and two of their resident children dart out, one all but dragging the other behind him. Pausing just long enough to slam the door shut, Jonah sighed and released Black Rock Shooter's arm. She yanked her limb back, smoothing out the fabric and staring at him questionably.
"Er, Jonah?" R went first. The boy affixed them with a hard stare, at odds with his behavior just a few seconds earlier.
"Don't go in there" was all he said before he powered off. The two men watched his progress, utterly baffled. Upon looking back, their one remaining witness shrugged, looking no better than they were.
"What just happened?" Lutz asked.
A short ways down the hallway Jonah came to a stop, breathing deeply. Despite their perceptions of him, he knew exactly what was going on in that room. They forgot he spent years in an army unit; those faraway men were all too willing to educate him in the 'finer things' of life. He wanted no part in it, whether to watch or, God forbid, participate. For all the high regard he held Koko in, he knew beyond a shred of doubt that she would've tried. He made a mental note to prohibit alcohol for her from this point onwards.
Sounds of talking drifted to his ears. Curious, and with the immediate problem dealt with, he followed the sounds. As he drew closer, he recognized the voice as Wiley's. It was the studious droning that indicated he was trying to teach someone something. Jonah was wary of going further lest the larger man decided it was time for a lesson, but he was wondering who could be on the receiving end this time.
There was a conference room on this floor of the hotel, which they had unofficially claimed as their off-duty relaxation room. Using his stealth skills, Jonah creeped closer, carefully peeking around the open door. Inside was Wiley, as he suspected. But joining him was Ugo, Mao, Tojo, and Lehm. In the center of a rough circle was Dead Master in a chair. The bespectacled man had a small projector set up, and there was a dozen open books scattered around. He recoiled from his old enemy, but he was mystified at what was going on.
"And that concludes the SR Unit's purpose. Did you understand?" Wiley asked. From his position Jonah couldn't see Dead Master's expression, though judging from the frowns on Wiley and Tojo it wasn't hard to guess what it could be. The dots connected; he realized what the purpose of the room was.
A history lesson.
Hours earlier...
"And that covers it. Any questions?" Tojo asked the eleven people, frowning at what he saw: boredom, sleepiness, and several yawns. Even after he simplified as much as possible and cut out most of the extraneous details, it apparently wasn't exciting enough.
All save one. She raised a black metal hand, her expression somewhere between confusion and irritation.
"Great, yes?" he asked (internally asking himself if giving her the claws back was a good idea). She lowered it and cleared her throat.
"Could you please explain everything you just said? I don't know about any of the stuff you were talking about" Dead Master asked him.
Tojo was quiet for a long span of time, uninterested in the worried looks he was receiving. Then, slowly and deliberately, he removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose; to avoid screaming.
Jonah listened to all of it with half an ear; the flight was long, he hadn't slept the night before, and Tojo kept droning on. Nodding off now seemed like a good a time as any. Just as he started to, Black Rock Shooter elbowed him in the side, flashing a look of irritation his way. He just looked dryly at her, making no secret of his own irritation. In response she dug out her phone.
If i cant then neither can u, she stated.
"So" Dead Master hesitantly began, to the nodding heads of the five men.
"There are many countries in the world. Seventy years ago, the one we are in now, Japan, tried to conquer this section of the world. When they did, they attacked an American naval base, a navy being the term for bunches of big boats with big guns, at Pearl Harbor, which has no pearls. This caused a war, which is a massive organized series of fights between thousands of humans, between them. This was part of a larger war, World War Two, the first one is largely forgotten but for some reason isn't irrelevant. Japan lost, though not for the lack of trying. But, instead of destroying them all or claiming the area as part of their own realm, America helped rebuild Japan, making them their ally" she explained, moving her horned head around to the encouraging nods.
"Spying is the art of finding out as much about you enemy as possible, because, if you've ended up in a fair fight you've screwed up" Lehm grinned "Anyway, America had a lot of enemies during this 'Cold War' period, which didn't involve any direct fighting with their main enemy, the Soviet Union. Or was it China? Whatever. Some areas they couldn't go to, so they had their ally Japan go instead. And today, this SR Unit does its own thing, and you're fighting them now because now they're your enemy. But there hasn't been any actual face to face fighting yet, just snipping at each other. Is that all?" Dead Master asked. Three sighs and five nods answered her.
"That was a gross oversimplification to a level that I've never seen before, but that's the story. Now you know" Tojo congratulated. Mao even clapped a few times.
"I've realized something about you humans" she said.
"And that would be?" Wiley asked excitedly, leaning in a little in anticipation. The others were being far less obvious about it. She took a deep breath.
"You love overcomplicating things" Dead Master dissed.
A stunned silence greeted her.
Lehm chuckled sourly, making the dominos fall. Ugo dropped his face into his large palms. Mao ran his fingers through his thin hair, muttering curses. Tojo closed his eyes and took deep breaths. And Wiley just stared in utter shock, unable to grasp that the collective progress that humanity accomplished over time span of thousands of years, from early prehistory of cro-magnons to the ever more incredible present day, could be waved away so easily.
"You do realize that overcomplicating stuff is the reason you got your ass kicked, right?" Lehm asked dryly. A flicker of his eyes caught Jonah in his gaze.
"First, my ass was never kicked. Second, in the entire time I've been on this planet only one individual" she half snarled, ignorant of the subtle hand signals that compelled the boy into the room with them "Managed to battle me on even terms. I won that fight, even though that damn boy snatched victory from me. Why do you keep that terror around anyway?" Dead Master questioned, unaware of the boy closing in behind her.
"Oh, a variety of reasons" Lehm said wistfully, grinning and doing a poor job of hiding it. It was starting to spread to the others.
"Whatever. Huey kept going on about how dangerous you were and how careful we need to be. This whole time, I've seen no evidence that any of you are good fighters. In fact, other than that little explosion you're not dangerous at all. Apart from than that boy though. The next time I see him, I'll stand up to him and show him who's boss" she declared, stabbing a claw at them defiantly. Jonah coughed.
Dead Master froze, slowly swiveling her head and body around behind her. To her credit she maintained her composure, even if she was doing an excellent impression of a statue.
"You're the boss?" he asked.
Dead Master shrieked. Flailing her limbs around, she bolted from her seat to scramble away. Somewhere, anywhere. It didn't matter, so long as the one who had come so close to killing her was far away. Any sense of boisterousness was swept aside in an instant, her tripping over her own feet only made it worse. In the resultant chaos, Wiley and Jonah were the only ones to not break out in laughter. The latter because he simply didn't find it that amusing (though nothing stopped him from smiling a little), the former was still unable to believe that humanity's accomplishments meant so little to this girl.
In the hallway outside, Lutz, R and Black Rock Shooter exchanged glances, wondering what was going on.
Two days later...
"She's still scared of him?" Koko asked tiredly, straightening out her suit. Lehm, clad in his normal wardrobe, shrugged.
"I honestly have no idea why. Sure, he did put a gun to her head after shooting her a few times, but c'mon. She keeps going on and on about how much of a badass she is and how much we're all wusses, but every single time he walks in, she shuts right up" he explained. She paused to check her phone; no new messages.
"I suppose thats a good thing. If she didn't fear any of us she might get bold enough to try something" Koko said, deciding that her outfit was good enough.
She had to block a yawn. Small wonder she was so tired, with the way her last couple of nights went. Surprisingly none of her men had any real objections to the new development. Were it some random stranger she imagined they would each put the muscle on in their own ways. Lutz with some sharpshooting, Wiley with explosives, or Ugo with just his bulk. She tried to imagine Black Rock Shooter or Jonah attempting to threaten someone; both would probably cut to the chase and draw weapons.
But instead, it was Valmet. They all knew her, they all trusted her. And each one had quietly had a word and offered congratulations. The closest thing to objection she heard came from Lehm of all people, and it went "Don't let your feelings affect your job" before he too patted her back. For her part Valmet was embarrassed, yet also happy. Not since after the incident in the desert had she seen her in such cheer. What made it better was the relief that someone was reciprocating the feelings, at long last.
Unfortunately all good things came to an end. The touristy excursions into the city, romps in a land they all knew was safe, and photo opportunities all had to stop. Today, she and her team would be leaving Japan. Kaspar had, from his location somewhere in Indonesia, had reported that the SR Unit was up to something. Apparently after visiting their stronghold he had walked away rebuffed, and was attempting another route. They were to join him in the Philippines next, going after a suspected operative.
"So, eat before we get on the plane or later?" Koko asked Lehm. He chuckled.
"If we go to a good place here that'll subtract a lot from our bonus here" he joked, which she smiled to.
"I know. Japan is such a great place, but damn it's pricy" she agreed.
With that, Koko left the kitchenette for the living room, Lehm close behind her. It was mostly empty, most of her men dispersing out for one more patrol before they left for good. The only ones remaining were Valmet and Black Rock Shooter, the former of which looked up from fitting her Magpul into her bag and smiled. She returned the favor. The latter was staring out the window, a thoughtful expression on her features.
Before she could ask the girl what the matter was, the phone on the nightstand began to ring. She exchanged a confused look with them before walking over to pick it up.
"Hello?" Koko said into the machine.
"Miss Hekmatyr?" asked the concierge in rough english "There is a guest waiting for a noon appointment, she would like to come up now." Koko frowned.
"Did this guest mention what appointment she had with me?" she asked carefully.
"Certainly. She is a businesswoman from Ganville Trading" Koko froze, for a second not entirely comprehending what she was hearing. She shook off her sudden worry and put her attention back in place before the concierge could say anything.
"Of course. Send her up right away" she said quickly before ending the call. Spinning around, she affixed each of them with a hard stare.
"Lehm, where's Tojo? Scratch that, where's everyone?" she questioned. His half smile vanished.
"Out for one more sightseeing trip nearby, they can be back in five minutes" he snapped out, rushing away for his weapon a moment later. Valmet abandoned her stealth attempt and yanked the Magpul Masada back out. Seeing the shift in atmosphere, Black Rock Shooter abandoned her post by the window to stride over. Oddly, she looked a little relieved.
"What's going on?" Valmet demanded.
"Unless I'm terminally deluded, there's an assassin on their way up right now" she tersely reported.
At that moment her door flew open, the pair in the door a heartbeat away from being sprayed with gunfire. It was R, with Jonah right behind him.
"I sense trouble" he posed.
"Hitman on his way up" Valmet reported, lowering the rifle. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed flashing multicolored light.
"Ah shit" R muttered. All the same he too took off to retrieve his rifle, while Jonah took his place.
"Female actually. Doesn't matter" she said to herself. Lehm returned cradling his rifle, R a couple of steps behind them.
"However" they paused in their sweeping of danger "There's a chance they're here for honest negotiations. We'll hold off on the gunfire until we know for sure. Okay?" she asked, though it wasn't a question.
"Roger" three of them chorused.
"The meeting room is where'll we'll meet. Just in case, get everyone back here and get the car prepped" Koko commanded. Four hands dove for their owners pockets, but they were beaten to it.
Black Rock Shooter snapped her fingers with her phone clenched between them, when they looked over she wagged it at them. Seeing as that was taken care of, the five began to scramble.
"Lose the cannon, don't want to intimidate them" Koko said to her. The odd girl frowned, lifting her weapon up to glance at it before she looked on plaintively to her. Koko sighed.
"I know you don't get to use it a lot. I'm just hoping this turns out well. Just in case though, keep it on dial. Or however you do it" she said instead. The girl nodded unhappily. Nevertheless the cannon dissolved into lights, and she strode after the leaving Valmet.
Precisely three minutes later the elevator door for their story of the hotel chimed and quietly slid open, revealing a smiling young japanese woman in a stylish yellow coat and thin green pants, with a classy looking leather belt around her waist, and a small briefcase to complete the ensemble. Greeting her silently was R and Lehm. The second was the first to notice what kind of smile the woman had: a cheshire, the same one that Koko adopted when she was most dangerous.
She stepped forward and lifted her hands out wide, expecting and subsequently allowing the two men to pat her down for weapons. None of them said a thing during the encounter. However, the entire time the search was going on her smile didn't vanish. On the contrary; once it was finished and they predictably came up empty handed, her smile seemed to grow several degrees.
"This way" R directed blandly, leading the woman away. Still silent and still smiling she followed, with Lehm behind her.
Only a short distance away they came to their destination, the meeting room. Once inside, she quickly surveyed the four people in the room, before stopping upon the closest and speaking for the first time.
"Hi there" she said friendly, crouching down to be eye level with the boy "What's your name?"
The woman stared intently at Jonah, making the boy feel uncomfortable. Sadly her behavior wasn't unexpected, and the quiet groans and eye rolls of the others let him know how they felt about it.
"You are just adorable" she cooed. Jonah said nothing, but he did deflect her wandering hands before she tried to get her hands on him. An insistent sound of a throat being cleared caught her attention, making her take her eyes off of the boy to a girl his age, one that looked bizarre to her. She recovered quickly to smile her way as well, noting first her appearance and second her annoyed expression.
"Ooh, I love your outfit. I love to cosplay in my spare time, care if I give you some tips?" she asked genially. The girl's scowl deepened, which she apparently disregarded. Another throat cleared for attention.
"Do you mind?" Koko questioned curtly from the couch. The woman rose back to her feet to walk to a chair that was sent up opposite of her without a word of complaint, setting her briefcase beside her. The smile went back to it's previous cheshire position.
Why'd she do that? Jonah thought, taking a spot just out of her sight. He had no way of knowing it, but Black Rock Shooter was asking herself the same question while she took a spot opposite him. She knew that women tended to do that around him, Koko did it every chance she got and she thought nothing of it. Why did she get annoyed at this stranger doing it then? Rock dismissed the questions and hoped that the woman turned out to be dangerous. She was feeling perturbed; killing someone might help.
"Good. Your name?" Koko questioned.
"I'm Kurosaka, of Ganville Trading. I apologize for arriving here with so little warning" the woman greeted. Koko nodded, smiling herself with hard eyes.
"Would I be mistaken in assuming that you're here as a negotiator?" she probed. Kurosaka nodded.
"There appears to be a misunderstanding between Ganville and HCLI, I'm here to sort things out" she explained.
"I believe you're talking to the wrong person. My brother Kaspar is far more knowledgeable about this dispute than myself, I was only called in for some advice" Koko said. The woman shook her head.
"That may be true. But we've been unable to get ahold of Kaspar. He appears to be busy with some other project" Kurosaka explained. Despite herself Koko raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Do you know why that is?" she asked.
"Unfortunately I do not. So, since he is unavailable, you are the most senior executive I can speak to. So please" she gestured empathetically. Koko sighed under her breath.
"Very well. Where would you like to start?" she began. Kurosaka nodded and turned to the briefcase beside her. She popped it open to root around inside, mindful of the eleven eyes watching her work. Out of curiosity Valmet stepped a few paces to the side in order to watch her work.
That move saved her life.
Without warning Kurosaka lunged, her hand drawing at her belt. Something clicked, and a length of shiny metal appeared like magic. Just a few feet was Koko, unable to react fast enough. Fast, so fast that it looked to be nothing but a shiny blur. But Valmet was faster. She threw herself forward, putting her broad shoulder between them.
The sharp edge bit deep into the hard flesh instead of it's intended victim. Barely a grunt escaped her lips as she pushed her arm aside to fling it away. Instead the wobbly blade was swing back with a snarl, the woman already in the middle of another strike. Valmet threw a kick her way; she darted out of the way and swung, barely avoiding the woman's leg.
By that point Lehm, R, and Jonah had guns out and were a blink away from ventilating her. Kurosaka realized this, for a brief second unsure of how to proceed. Escape, or keep trying to kill her? She never found out, for the next second a flickering sword intercepted her own and snapped it in half. Seeing an opening, Valmet drew back and delivered as hard as a punch as she could manage from her left hand. For some reason her right wasn't functioning properly.
Kurosaka was knocked off of her feet to crash against the carpeted floor. Oddly, she was feeling quite lucid. Lucid enough to notice three handguns moving to point at her torso with fingers on their respective triggers. From the cosplay girl she saw a short sword that she was sure wasn't there when she walked in. As she watched mesmerizing lights danced down her arm, transforming into black metal before her eyes. Just a couple of seconds and there was the same cannon she saw in several photographs at that point.
One second passed. Then two. Then three. By second four a feeling of confusion began to fill her mind. When second eight came around Kurosaka comprehended what was going to happen. Her training covered such situations, though most of it failed to address the insignificant detail of imminent death. When the pale woman that should be dead walked into her bleary view she made up her mind on how she was going to behave. It was this reason that she affixed a friendly smile on in greeting.
"Whoopsie. I really thought that would work" Kurosaka said cheerfully. Part of her vision cleared, letting her see that her attack wasn't a total failure. Just in sight she saw the one eyed woman clutched her limp arm, blood freely dripping between her tight fingers on her bicep.
"I bet. How many others?" Koko demanded. She shrugged.
"A lot" she said simply.
"Entry points?" the greying man questioned.
"Where they feel like" Koko sputtered out a sigh and rubbed between her eyes.
"Fuck it. Grab your guns, we're getting out of here" without a word the two men and the boy dispersed, the latter going to help the woman. For the briefest second Kurosaka held hope she would somehow escape this FUBAR situation alive. Koko let go and glanced contemptuously at her.
"Rock" she said simply. The pigtailed girl in the neat outfit smirked and put the end of the cannon above her face. A second later it glowed with beautiful blue light. The next second it discharged.
Koko's phone went off just as she found the first aid kit. Grumbling a curse she plucked it out and nestled it on her shoulder to free her hands to dig into it.
"Yes?" she snapped. The voice on the other end sighed in relief.
"You okay boss?" Ugo questioned tightly. She blinked, pausing for a second.
"I'm fine. An assassin tried to get me, Valmet's hurt. Wherever you guys are you better be careful.
"Shit. Some guys in heavy duty gear jumped us" he reported tersely. Again she froze, her eyes going wide. Seeing her distress Valmet frantically directed Jonah away to her.
"Anyone hurt!?" Koko demanded. Lehm and R darted back into the room, rifles at the ready and worried expressions on their features.
"We're fine. Listen, Tojo says it's the SR Unit. There should be between thirty to fifty operatives in total. We got five here, but who knows how many they're sending after you" he reported.
Koko gulped down her fear and put her thoughts into action.
"If they're hitting us in the open like this then it means that stealth isn't an option anymore. Don't try to come for us here, head to point charlie. Weapons free, try to keep collateral to a minimum" she commanded. Ugo was silent for a second; she essentially just gave them free reign to do whatever they needed to do, consequences be damned.
"Will do. Be careful Koko" he said tersely.
"Same to you. See you there, all of you" she insisted before hanging up the phone.
She looked over her five bodyguards, forcing a smile on.
"Alright. This means war."
A/N: Warning, there's some smut in this chapter. Wait, wasn't this supposed to go at the top?