Full Metal Panic: Overwatch

By: Ominae

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of the Full Metal Panic! series are under the copyright of Shouji Gatou/Koichi Chigira/Yasuhiro Takemoto, GONZO Studios, Kyoto Animation Studios and Kadokowa Shoten. All other characters are under the copyright of their respective owners. Ronald Chua (and other subsequent characters) is only under me though. If I had control of the series, Sousuke could've come up with a way that wouldn't give him a hard time since he got Kaname involved with the Takuma situation. I found that a bit lame IMO since Kaname could've walked away without getting into trouble.

Summary:

MITHRIL has launched a covert operation to capture Leung Kai Fei, a known associate of Gauron and an arms dealer, for his links with the abduction of Kaname and her class to North Korea. Unknown to Tessa or the rest of the participating SRT/PRT forces, two mysterious teens have covertly infiltrated the target facility with an unknown object. Who is their main target? Will the rest of the SRT/PRT units get to Leung on time? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Chapter 7: Unseen Pain

Somewhere in the main floor, Warehouse 1, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"Kalaban!" One of the armed guards fired a Norinco M14 assault rifle at the intruding enemy from behind an abandoned Nissan Frontier pickup truck. Minutes ago, Ronald and Shinji fired their scoped rifles at three other men, all armed with Elisco M16A1 rifles. Though the M14-armed man was firing at the SRT/PRT forces, Melissa's unit had been working on going up the second floor of the warehouse with Tim and the others clearing the first floor of all enemies after the two teams had opened fire on most of the guard inside, all out in the open without using any source of protection.

"Puta!" With another guard covering him with his Norinco Type 56 assault rifle, the guard armed with the Norinco M14 hastily unloaded its empty 20-round magazine and ducked behind the Frontier's engine block. Before the guard slapped a fresh 20-round magazine, he heard a thumping sound from behind.

"Ano yun?" When the guard turned around, he saw that Shinji had fired his FAMAS G2 Commando on the Type 56-wielding guard. "Lintek!" The guard has been almost done loading his M14 when Tim fired his M-30SAS on the guard's chest from a short distance at his right side, the buckshots of the 12 gauge shell dispersing to penetrate the chest, parts of his legs and arms.

Another bumping sound was heard from Tim's rear, making the Irish SRT operator turn around. He saw Ronald had pierced the last guard, armed with an Elisco M16A1 carbine, on his stomach before twisting it a bit to inflict maximum pain on him before he quickly drew the Balisong's bloodstained Weehawk blade and made a horizontal slash on his throat. The slash attack instantly killed the guard as he collapsed on the ground with blood pouring out on his slashed throat.


Somewhere in the second floor, Warehouse 1, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"Move your asses!"

Melissa, crouched near the top flight of stairs, had worn the assault glasses on her headset and switched on thermal mode. The MITHRIL-made custom headset allowed its wearer to switch between normal, night vision and thermal when the situation requirements change. Right now, the Alpha Team commander motioned her subordinates to take cover in one of the rooms in the second floor while she would lay down suppressive fire with her Fabrique Nationale P90 submachine gun after seeking out the guard's thermal signature on her glasses. In the midst of conducting suppressive fire, she had been able to gun down a small number of armed guards, all armed with Colt M16A1 rifles.

"Sergeant major!" One of her subordinates had called for her, a blond man in his 20s. Seeing that he was firing his FN P90, Melissa dashed inside one of the side rooms.

"How are things with the others, Tony?" Melissa asked, trying to catch her breath from running around the warehouse when she asked her PRT colleague.

"So far, so good." Tony moved inside the room as automatic gunfire became a bit more aggressive against him. "The others were able to get to the other room." Tony used his right thumb to point out the other side room that was there via a connecting door. Melissa saw that Lian Shaopin and Roger Sandraptor were in the other room. From the data that Melissa was given prior to the mission, Lian was a PRT operator with the rank of Private and Roger was a SRT operator with the rank of Sergeant. With the former using a Heckler and Koch MP5A3 submachine gun and the latter with a HK UMP submachine gun, the two men were busy countering the gunfire on the second floor by firing on the armed men outside.

"Grenade!" Melissa yelled, with her right hand used to toss a live M67 fragmentation grenade on a group of armed guards congregated near some crates after she grabbed one from her tactical vest. When the live grenade landed near their feet, the weapon exploded with a deafening sound that followed by sounds and the shrieks of the guards being torn apart by shrapnel.


Office, 5th Floor, Main building, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"I don't believe this." Leung stared out the window from his office to see another MITHRIL team emerging from the second warehouse, moments after clearing it of armed guards stationed inside. "Gauron was right. Those so-called MITHRIL punks are here to get me." Moving towards a table in front of the window, he grabbed a Beretta 8000 Cougar pistol and pulled its slide back. "I won't let them take me alive."

"Sir!" Five guards came inside the office, two armed with Colt M16A1 carbines, two with a IZHMASH AKS-47 and one with an IMI Galil SAR rifle.

"What is it?" Leung had gripped his pistol tightly, his right index finger poised over the trigger.

"We have to leave now." The guard with the Galil SAR said in his Tagalog-accented English. "It's too dangerous to stay here."

Suddenly, gunfire was heard from outside the office. The five guards suddenly became a bit tense with the gunfire growing louder and louder in the corridor. Within a few minutes, all was quiet. Way too quiet.

"Akong bahala." One of the Colt M16A1 carbine-armed guards went to peek outside to see what was going on outside the office. His action was soon rewarded with a whizzing sound that preceded the movement of a sharp blade that made a slash wound on his throat.

"Hoy!" The guard armed with the Galil SAR fired the rifle as soon as the guard outside went down with his neck slashed after Fei Xiu and Xia Yu Lan were inside, armed to the teeth and ready to fight.

Leung was astonished to see who killed the first guard. If I'm not mistaken, those two teenagers were raised by Gauron personally as assassins.

Fei Xiu and Yu Lan, armed with a push dagger on his right hand for the former and a machete for the latter, began to eliminate the opposition inside the office in order to reach their main target. Fei grabbed the barrel of the Galil SAR and pushed it away from his face before he plunged the push dagger onto his chest four times.

Yu Lan swinged her machete and hacked the left hand of a guard who was about to fire his AKS-47 before she slashed him on his chest twice. Fei tackled another guard, who was about to aim his Colt M16A1 carbine at him, down like a North American football player had been tackled for having the American football in his arms. Raising his right arm, Fei drove the blade of his push dagger deep down the pinned guard's throat. Yu Lan kicked the second AKS-47-wielding guard on his chest, forcing him to topple back first onto the wall before Yu Lan drove her machete's blade into his chest before it pierced his back all the way to the concrete wall with strong force.

"Nihao." Fei stood up from the ground, removing the push dagger's blade from the downed guard's throat before the frightened man who still had his 8000 Cougar gripped on his right hand. "Yu Lan and I have some things to talk about with you."


Outside Main building, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"What the hell was that?" Roger heard automatic gunfire and people screaming from the building's 5th floor.

"It seemed that the mission's about to change." Lian commented. He saw Tim, Ronald and Shinji running towards the entrance of the main building. Minutes later, Melissa and Tony met up with 4 more MITHRIL SRT/PRT personnel that made up Bravo Team.

"Sergeant Jenner." Melissa greeted. "How are things in Warehouse 2?"

"The Chris Jenner of Delta Force?" whispered Shinji. "I'm surprised to see a woman from that outfit." The Japanese SRT operator saw that in Jenner's team was Yang Jun-Kyu, an SRT operator of South Korean origin with the rank of Corporal. Two PRT operators were attached to team; one was Allen Ishiba, an ex-Delta Force soldier of Japanese-American heritage with the rank of Sergeant. Another was a man whose name is Wu, who had the rank of Private. Studying his face, Shinji deduced that he was of Chinese origin, though he's not sure if he's from the North or South.

"Nothing much." The brown-haired ponytailed woman shook her head. "Target's not in the building." More sporadic automatic gunfire was heard before it died down again.

"What the hell's happening up there?" muttered Yang, confused about the situation inside the main building.

"Best thing we need to go is to get in there and ask them ourselves." Wu replied. Yang raised an eyebrow at his colleague, thinking that he was trying to be sarcastic.

"Stack up on the door." Melissa gave the order. She and her team had been positioned on the left door with Tim and the others taking the right as it was necessary for him to breach it via shotgun blast on the hinges. Chris had positioned her team beside Melissa's, providing rear security.

"It's dark on this floor." Ronald said. "Probably on the other floors too."

"Get your glasses on." Melissa ordered, wearing hers after she lowered her assault glasses on top of her head before she tapped her headset's mic. "And set them to night vision mode."


Office, 5th Floor, Main building, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"What do you want?" Leung raised his right arm to fire his 8000 Cougar pistol. Fei Xiu dashed to his side and elbowed him after he disarmed the man of his sidearm by painfully twisting the right arm and snapped it, earning screams of pain from his victim.

"It would have been best for you if you were back in Central instead of being here." Yu Lan kicked the discarded 8000 Cougar away from Leung.

S-it! So they knew I was back in Hong Kong before coming here? I should've stayed there for good. The Hong Kong native was beginning to panic, seeing that his options to survive had been eliminated.

"Besides," Fei Xiu cracked his knuckles after putting away his push dagger. "now that you're here right now, it may be easier for us to settle things."

"W-what things?" Leung asked. Yu Lan was a few feet near the arms dealer before she knelt on the floor in front of him.

"Very well," The Chinese girl had replied. "we'll tell you why we're here..."


Outside Main building, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"Go! Go!" Melissa yelled, hearing Leung's painful screams. At her command, Tim aimed the M-30SAS's barrel on the top hinge and blasted it with a single 12 gauge shell before he brought it to the bottom hinge and shot it off.

Roger moved it and kicked the door down as soon as the hinges were taken out before Lian had quickly tossed in an M84 flashbang. An explosion was heard after the M84 was tossed in.

"Breaching! Breaching!" Tim was the first to go inside the building's abandoned lobby, aiming the Aimpoint 3000 scope with 30mm scope rings mounted on the M-30SAS's custom Picatinny rail in the vicinity. The other SRT/PRT operators followed close by and fired their weapons at the stunned guards.


Office, 5th Floor, Main building, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"Looks like gunfire's getting loud." Fei Xiu commented, noticing how the gunfire from the lower floors were slowly increasing by the minute.

"Oh well." Yu Lan gripped her machete's handle on her right hand tightly. "We need to finish our last job."

"Wait, wait!." Eyeing the discarded 8000 Cougar pistol on his left side, Leung tried to reach for it. "We can talk this over. I insist!"

Yu Lan, on the other hand, was quick to resolve the situation by swinging her right arm. The machete's blade made short work of Leung's left hand, which had gripped the 8000 Cougar's pistol grip.

"AAAAGGGHH!" Leung screamed even more. Now that his left hand was sliced off his arm and his right arm broken, the crippled arms dealer cringed in pain with Yu Lan pointing the machete's blood-soaked blade at Leung's face.


Somewhere in the 2nd Floor, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"Tangos down!" Ronald called out his kill after firing his VB-SR carbine at two guards with Norinco Type 56 assault rifles in a small room, seeing that the occupants were still stunned by the sudden blackout. Gesturing to other friendly SRT/PRT units that his area was clear, Shinji and Tim began to storm the room in search for other armed guards or items that had potential intelligence value. Must've been sabotaged...

"Errahhh!" One of the wounded guards, grazed in the right arm and left leg, charged at Ronald with a pair of scissors. The masked SRT operator immediately countered by drawing out his Balisong. Punching him in the face and stomach, Ronald performed a horizontal slash on his throat with the Balisong held downward, which killed the scissor-armed guard.

"Damn, we didn't see that coming." Tim commented, seeing the guard go down while holding his slashed throat.

"Room's clear." Shinji yelled out. "Nothing much in here except weapons..."


Office, 5th Floor, Main building, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"What? That can't be correct."

Leung was dumbfounded when he was told by Yu Lan that he was to be killed in order to cover up his tracks from what had occurred in North Korea.

"I'm afraid that's correct." Fei Xiu lightly nodded. "Gauron-lǎoshī wants to make sure no ones get to him."

"And that," Yu Lan prepared her machete for another attack. "is when you'll be going down." As a last sign, Fei Xiu outstretched his right thumb before he pointed it down on the floor in a thumbs down position.


Somewhere in the 4th Floor, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"Damn!" Lian went to duck behind the dusty reception desk with Roger, Melissa and Tony after seeing armed gunmen from around the corridor after her team had accompanied Chris' team while Tim's team stayed behind a bit to cover their approach on the 4th floor via fire escape in order to surprise the enemies in the 4th and 5th floors. "We've been boxed in!"

"I noticed that!" Melissa yelled to make herself heard as the gunfire became louder and louder. "Don't just hang around there! Get some suppressive fire out there!" The SRT's 2nd commanding officer yelled again when she saw that her subordinates were not fighting back against the enemy. Seems they decided to fire at our location since they can't see.

"Understood, ma'am!" Roger and Tony fired their weapons in an effort to pin down the enemy forces.

"Incoming!" Lian took out an M68 fragmentation grenade, pulled its safety pin off and tossed it towards the corridor on the left of the dilapidated elevators. When the live M68 landed, it exploded in an orange ball of fire that killed some of the guards.

"Sergeant Major!" Chris' squad came from another corridor near the reception desk and fired on the remaining guards that staggered from the smoke. Yang and Wu had fired their FN P90s on the remaining guards that survived the grenade blast; Allen had aimed his Bushmaster M4A3 Type carbine with its mounted EOTech Model 510 holo sight to cover the two PRT operators after initial firing on the surviving guards. Chris knelt next to Melissa and placed her Heckler and Koch G36K on her lap while being supported by its rifle sling.

"I'm glad you guys came." Melissa said, greeting the female sergeant.

"Same here." replied Chris. "Did you guys had any trouble before we arrived?"

"We're fine." Lian, Roger and Tony replied in unison. Their answer somehow made Chris a bit uneasy, as indicated with her raised right eyebrow.

"Come on." Melissa stood up. "Let's search the area." She began to relay her orders. "Chris, take the others to search the offices in this floor." Melissa turned to face her subordinates after Chris motioned to her colleagues to come with her. "Tony, Lian. You two stay here to cover our rear. Roger, come with me. We're going to search the conference rooms that we saw in the directory."


Office, 5th Floor, Main building, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"Goodness." Fei Xiu peered outside to hear more sounds of automatic gunfire coming from the direction of the fire escape. "I hear more gunfire downstairs."

Leung began to piss on his pants when he heard Fei said, "Yu Lan, finish him off. We need to get out of here before those armed boys and girls come up here and find us here with that cripple."

Yu Lan stared at her target coldly, now moving her machete back at arm's length. "I understand."


Office, 4th Floor, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

As soon as Chris and her teammates barged into an abandoned office, she fired her G36K with Allen and Yang, the former with his Bushmaster M4A3 and the latter with his P90, at four guards. Since they were not accustomed to the dark yet after the lights were sabotaged, the SRT/PRT team had an advantage due to their night vision glasses on their headsets.

"All clear!" Wu called out after seeing that the tangos were already dead after being shot by gunfire.

"Uruz 2." Chris radioed Melissa. "This is Uruz 15. Office next to reception area is cleared. Tangos down, no sign of target. Over."


Cafeteria, 4th Floor, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

Melissa and Roger had engaged a small group of at least 6 tangos when Chris' radio message came through. "Damn." hissed the Chinese American, firing her P90 at 3 of the armed men with IZHMASH AKM rifles, who were firing at their direction after barging in the dark cafeteria. "At a time like this." She eventually killed them when she fired her submachine gun from left to right, shooting them in the chest.

"Gotcha." Roger grinned after gunning a tango down in the chest, armed with a IMI Uzi submachine gun. Ducking down to use a cafeteria long table, Roger had his P90 poked out by using his right hand to do blind shooting. He was lucky to hear a groan or two before a thumping sound was heard, meaning that he was able to shoot down the other two guards.

"Uruz 2 here." Melissa replied to Chris' radio message after dashing to Roger's position. "Target is not on this floor. I repeat, the target's not on this floor. Over."

An ear-splitting scream was all it took to convince Melissa and Chris that their target is now in mortal danger.


Office, 5th Floor, Main building, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"Just what we need."

Ronald muttered a complaint when he, Shinji and Tim were now running towards the sound of Leung screaming in the direction of the office that he was hiding in.

"Looks like someone's attacking the target." Tim murmured. "Hope we can get there in time."

"Head's up!" Shinji shouted, pointing out an arm that was exposed a bit in the corridor from the doorway leading to the office.

Tim motioned to the newly arrived SRT recruits towards the door. "Aright mates. Let's stack it up." He then counted one to three with his gloved right fingers, indicating the timing that the three SRT operators needed to move in unison. When the third finger went up, which was his right middle finger, the three members of Team Charlie rushed inside the barely lit room in unison. They aimed the barrels of their weapons around to search for armed tangos.

"This is new." Tim whistled, lowering the barrel of his M-30SAS shotgun to see the dead guards, mostly killed with machete blade slices or the push dagger blade punctures on their necks.

"Take a look here." Shinji knelt next to the slumped Leung Kai Fei, underneath an open window. Placing his left index and middle finger on the pulse point in his neck, the masked SRT operator gave the grim news to his comrades.

"Afraid he's dead." Shinji spoke up. "We can't bring him in alive."

"You're right." Ronald knelt next to Shinji, examining his body for wounds. "Looks like he's been stabbed in the chest, particularly aimed in the area where the heart is. His killer must be a professional if they wanted him to be really, really quiet."

"Hey!" Ronald pressed his left earpiece close to his ear when he heard an incoming radio transmission. "We got incoming!"


Outskirts of abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"Take this!" Kurz snarled, using the mounted scope of his Bofors ASG96-b smoothbore cannon.

"Uruz 1!" Ronald's voice was heard on Kurz's cockpit radio. "Can you identify the enemy AS units in the vicinty, over?"

"Negative!" replied McAllen, with the sounds of gunfire from his M9E unit, armed with a Oerlikon Contraves GEC-B assault rifle. "But I can some Rk-91s and old American-made M4s. Over."

Damn! Kurz thought, keeping fire with McAllen's M9E and Ronald's Falke, which unknown to either the Arm Slave pilots in unmanned. Must've came by when someone radioed for help.

"Anna!" Ronald communicated with his Falke's AI. "Do Plan A! Uruz 1 and 6 need all the help they can get!"

"Understood!"

In response to Ronald's command, the Falke drew out the Mauser MGK rifle from its back and had the solid stock unfolded, a modification placed by Ronald to the TDD-1 maintenance crew. It fired several 50 mm grenades from its underbarrel grenade launcher before it rapidly expended the rifle's clip by shooting from left to right in rapid bursts. When it was done, the Falke replaced the MGK as its back before charging at the surviving M4s with its Crimson Edge cutter.

"I don't believe it." McAllen whispered as he watched the Falke made short work of the renegade M4 Arm Slaves by cutting its legs and stabbing it when it was down, slicing its waist into two or making various flips before the Falke stabbed the M4 cockpits.

The Falke, after disposing of most of the M4s, made a series of flips before landing in front of Kurz and McAllen's M9E units, slipping its Dark Edge back into its sheath before the M4s that were sliced or stabbed were destroyed in an explosion.

"Err..." Kurz felt a sweatdrop on his left temple. "Why does this remind of the Sentai guys when they finish a Kaiju of the week?"


Rooftop, Main building, abandoned complex, Bagac, Bataan, Philippines

"Our ride has arrived."

Fei Xiu and Yu Lan had waited for the past 5 minutes when a Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter arrived with some armed men inside.

"Get inside!" yelled the pilot. The two teenaged assassins wasted no time when they boarded the UH-60L's cabin before Tim and the others had stormed the rooftop, in time to see the chopper depart.

"Crap! They're airborne!" Ronald pointed his VB-SR rifle at the airborne chopper. Shinji too joined in and pointed his FAMAS G2 Commando at the chopper as well.


Cabin, Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk, above Main building

"S-it!" cursed the pilot, seeing that the two masked SRT operators were firing their carbines at the chopper. "We need to distract them 'til we can get fully airborne from this place!"

"I'll take care of that." Fei Xiu was given a Barrett M95 anti-armor sniper rifle by one of the armed men in the UH-60L's cabin. "Perfect. This should do the job for me." The Chinese-born assassin grinned as he chambered a .50 BMG by pulling the bolt back before placing its stock on his right shoulder.

"Here we go." Aiming at Ronald's chest, Fei Xiu slowly exhaled his breath and held the rifle's foregrip tightly before he pulled the trigger.


Bridge, Tuatha de Danaan-1, somewhere in the South China Sea

Tessa was shocked in her commander's chair when she saw on the tactical screen that a member in Team Charlie had been shot.

"This is Ansuz." Tessa spoke on the communication officer's headset after she quickly walked over to her station. "I've received word that a Team Charlie had been shot. Can anyone confirm that?" Silence was on the air, lingering around for a minute before she got a reply back.

"Uruz 13 here." Shinji's reply came in. "It's Uruz 11. He's been shot by an anti-armor bullet."

Tessa swallowed her saliva upon hearing the news. Please, please. Please let him live. Frantic shouting was soon heard on the encrypted radio channel.

"This is Uruz 9." Yang's voice came on the channel. "Uruz 11's okay. Bullet didn't penetrate his chest."

"What the hell?" Melissa's voice came after Yang's. "It's either I'm dreaming or that jumpsuit of his was able to deflect a .50 BMG round? That thing could kill anybody..."

"Commander Kalinin." Tessa spoke to Kalinin, standing next to her and listening to the radio transmissions. "Get the helicopters out there at once. It seems that an outside force had complicated their mission."

Kalinin nodded and saluted, "Understood, Captain. I'll get them ready at once."


Cabin, Sikorsky MH-67 Pave Mare, en route to Tuatha de Danaan-1

"You're alright?" Shinji asked Ronald, who had his head leaned on the cabin wall after boarding the MH-67 chopper with his teammates and the Falke inside its cabin.

"Yeah." Ronald removed his balaclava and rubbed his eye. "Worse mission I ever had in my life."

"So what'd you think it was?" Tim asked, stretching his arms. "I mean, how could've the punks killed the target if our briefing was top secret."

Shinji shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. Unless...


"the intel was leaked out."

Allen stared at Chris, who was checking her G36K, from his seat adjacent to hers. Wu and Yang were busy checking their P90s to see if the submachine guns were still functioning.

"I'm serious, Allen." Chris stared at her SRT teammate. "This was the only way that it could have happened."

The Japanese-American SRT operator sighed after hearing Chris' thoughts.

"I guess we'll have to worry about that later when its true during the debriefing session back in TDD-1."

Chris nodded. "That's true." She sighed and stared at the cabin window, watching the evening sky. "That's true, indeed."


Cafe TOO, Island Shangri-La Hotel, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, South China

"Thanks a lot, Fei Xiu. Tell Yu Lan that I'm extremely pleased with her performance as well in the Bataan operation. Yes, I'll call you two again when you get back to Hong Kong. Okay, bye."

Gauron, wearing a black business suit with red tie, was eating alone in a table of Cafe TOO, one of Island Shangri-La's well-known restaurants. His meal had been interrupted by a call on his cellphone. Gauron began to redial a set of numbers on his cellphone and placed it near his right ear before he heard a dial tone.

"Hey, it's me." Gauron spoke to the caller on the other line. "Just want to tell you that it was a success. Listen, see if you can get me in touch with the ARGUS Corporation ASAP. I need to do business with them."

Gauron chuckled when he heard a response. "Of course. This is a big test for our friends in MITHRIL. Yes, I'll be sure to send them your regards, Mr. Kalium. Let me know how things are later on."

Now that business with Gates is done, I'll just need to make one more call before I get more food. Dialing another series of numbers on his cellphone, Gauron waited a bit for the dial tone before hearing a female voice answer it via activated speaker on his cellphone.

"Hello?" Gauron grinned after placing his cellphone near his right ear again. "Thanks for answering my call. As I hoped, the information provided by you and your cousin was worth it. Yes, please inform him that he'll be paid in a day."

Gauron listened in on the caller for around 5 minutes before he gave a reply, "No need to worry about it. I'll make sure that our tracks are covered."

"After all, Ms. Jenny Bruno." Gauron gave out his wicked grin. "What would it be without you and your cousin, Vincent, helping us out here in the long run? Thanks to you two, my plan's going accordingly."


The headquarters of High-Tech Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND, based in Camp San Luis Obispo in the State of California, had a modern look in its exterior and interior in terms of building standards. One would know if they had entered FOXHOUND HQ by its emblem, symbolized by a fox holding a combat knife in its mouth, on top of the reception area. Most of its personnel are FOXHOUND-trained soldiers from various nations, while being under the control of the United States Special Operations Command.

Its members are given free reign in handling a situation that the US military would want to resolve, but without getting them involved. Some soldiers in the US military have had resentment against the unit, citing special treatment in terms of arms and equipment that they can use and the methods that they can use to accomplish a mission. Despite this notion, the Joint Chiefs of Staff still has a final say on what FOXHOUND must and must not do.

But this evening, FOXHOUND commander Liquid Snake had been summoned to the HQ's briefing room for another event is about to take place.


Outside Briefing Room, FOXHOUND Headquarters, Camp San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, California, United States of America

"Liquid!" Viper waited for Liquid to show up. When he arrived, the British CO had been panting for breath, which was a sign that he had been running the moment the building's PA system called up his name.

"So what's the emergency?" Liquid asked, fixing his brown trenchcoat.

"We've received word." Viper handed him a brown folder. "Our next mission's in there."

"What about it?"

"It's A21."

Chapter 7 END

PS - I got Ronald's Balisong knife moves based from Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad's use of his knife in Assassin's Creed, a game that I've played recently. I used his knife attacks in the story as a homage to Altaïr. He's just so badass!

Chapter title reference is from Pumpkin Scissors. Thought it made sense here since the MITHRIL boys/girls weren't able to secure their target in time.

Got the reference to Metal Gear? I hope so, they'll play a role in the next few chapters. Also, did you get another reference in here? It's from a Tom Clancy series. Clue is that the organization is from the multiplayer component of this particular game. I also added a character from the Sigma manga. Bruno is a female in this case, but I don't think she was given a first name. I just made one up.

That's it for now. No updates for a while until next week to attend to exams.