Author's note: Be happy that you didn't go through getting quarterdecked/IT'd/Hazed/Smoked or any word the Corps will make up for what James put Saeko through! That shit sucks but its fun and motivating at the same time, don't ask me why! xD, anyways here's this installment…god I wanna hurry up. There is so much I wanna write out for the story that I can't even fathom. My imagination kills me sometimes! Well here it is so enjoy!

P.S. I want to try something new, this is how I want to write out the intro to the chapter. Instead of doing the generic "Chapter IX: Overwhelming firepower" in underline and stuff. I want to do it the way Call of duty starts out its missions. Now in your reviews or messages, tell me if this style works as well as what you thought of the story/chapter and etc. Because if you guys like it, I'll do it like that. So yeah.

Also, I hope you like the feel that this story is getting now. Since HOTD was famous for portraying how society and the morals of the norm collapse, I want to bring that in too. With the views of our main antagonists and Souichiro! See if you noticed it and tell me if you do and what your thoughts are!

Mission IX: The blood of the Patriots
Cpl. James Sullivan
1
st Marine Special Operations Battalion; Bravo Co.
April 3
rd, 2010
Tokonosu, Japan

"Gah! Darn it! I can't get this stupid thing open!" Saya yelled as she gnawed on the bag of her MRE trying to open it, Alice tugged on her sleeve and yawned.

"Saya-chan…it's too early to yell…" She said with Zeke sleeping on her lap, Saya turned her icy orange glare at Alice and continuously bonked her on the head with her Beef ravioli MRE.

"What did I tell you! It's onee-sama! Maybe a couple of these should not only wake you up but to drill it into your head!" She shrieked as she continued to hit her on the head with it lightly of course, Alice covered her head and whimpered along with it. Shizuka who sat Indian style next to Saeko who now was washed up and dressed in her custom clothing from her school uniform, the nurse yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"But she's right though, it is too early to be so loud Saya."

Saya looked over at Shizuka and then glanced at the MRE, giving up she tossed the pack in the middle of their little group who sat together in indian style. The only ones who were missing from this circle was Takashi and James.

"I give up! I can't even get this thing open!" She muttered and crossed her arms under her chest and pouts.

"Just wait till James gets here; he'll teach us how to cook these things." Rei said as she sighed and planted her chin on her knuckles. "If only we were able to recover all the food we got from Shizuka-sensei's friends house from our old humvee. We would have found a way to make our own breakfast…because I haven't eaten since we left the mall. And all I had was like a cookie or something. So I'm starving!"

"Sullivan-senpai will be here soon, so don't worry about it!" Kohta said in a cheerful manner, Rei giggled lightly and patted Kohta's back.

"You really like him, don't you?" She said as she looked at his response in facial features, he lit up and grabbed the ends of his shirt.

"Yeah I do! He's someone I can really look up to y'know? I just wish everybody could accept him in this room." He said as he looked over to Saya who rolled her eyes and kept starring at the MRE with a passionate hateful glare. Rei looked over to what he was referencing and instantly caught on.

"Don't worry about it, we all like him! He's so cool!" She said, Shizuka took a deep breath and softly planted her hand on her cheek.

"Oh yes, we all accept him. Sullivan-kun is amazing…" She said in her own world, Rei leaned over and stuck her tongue out.

"Oh of course you'd say that! Look at you, you're glowing. We all know what you two were doing last night!" Rei said jabbing her finger at the nurse. Instantly Kohta and Shizuka froze and their faces were red as a tomato. They both started waving their hands dismissively, which was weird since Kohta wasn't accused of anything.

"I don't know what you're talking about! Sullivan-kun and I were just having a good time! We're just friends that's it!"

Kohta defended her and pointed at Shizuka. "Yeah she's right! They didn't do anything weird last night!"

Rei shook her finger and smirked. "Nu-uh! We heard that loud music from the manager's office, we know you two were drinking and dancing together! It's so obvious since you guys took the two bottles with you when you locked the door." Rubbing her chin and remembering the fun she had with the music, it brought her back to almost thinking the world was back to normal. "I'll let you guys slide since the music was good. Saya and I danced to it, it was so fun! Wasn't it Saya?"

Saya looked over at Rei and nodded, "Yeah it was alright."

Rei gasped and covered her mouth. "Don't lie! You know you had fun! I saw the way you shook your ass last night, you loved every second of it. You're so naughty deep down inside aren't you?"

Saya blushed and slapped Rei's shoulder who in response just laughed. "Shut up!"

Kohta and Shizuka watched the two laugh and joked amongst each other about last night's dancing, with that they both sighed and wiped a sweatdrop from their brows. As everyone sat in the circle conversing and Saeko just staying quiet observing, James and Takashi walked in together.

"Hey! Welcome back!" Shizuka said waving at them both, James and Takashi nodded. Takashi sat next to Rei and Kohta, while James sat himself between Shizuka and Saeko. James looked over at the MRE lying in the center of their group and then glanced at everyone's unopened MREs. Chuckling softly to himself he leaned forward and grabbed the Beef Ravioli MRE and held it up.

"I'm assuming no one read the instructions or even got these things open eh?"

Saya grinded her teeth and pointed at James. "It's your fault for not opening them for us! You of all people should know how hard it is to open them!"

James nodded and juggled the MRE in his hands out of boredom. "You're right, I'm sorry. I would have figured since you're such a smarty pants I would have thought you would have figured it out."

Saya put her hand over Alice's eyes. "Hey I can't see!" With her free hand she flipped the bird at the Marine, who in return laughed and got amused at her attitude.

"Haha, thanks accepting my apology, beautiful." He said with a wink, Kohta covered his mouth so he wouldn't be caught laughing at Saya who got even more angry.

She next covered the seven year old's ears and narrowed her eyes at the Marine. "Go fuck yourself."

"Heh, I love you too." He said as he pretty much brushed her off and looked over at Shizuka next to him. "Morning Marikawa." The Marine said with a genuine smile, Shizuka nodded and closed her eyes smiling cheerfully right back at him.

"Morning Sullivan-kun! Did you enjoy your work out? I got your note."

James looked over to his left side where Saeko looked up at him and grinned, he also returned the grin as he slammed his fist into his palm. "Hell yeah! I took Saeko with me and we PT'd outside. She wanted to get a taste of how boot camp is and how Force Recon trains, so I gave it to her. And I have to say…she wasn't kidding. She's on her own level. I like it."

Saeko nodded being very modest and smiled. "Thank you James."

James shook his head and put his finger up in the air. "What did I tell you about your need to become cocky, y'know cocky like me!"

Saeko nodded and giggled lightly, Saya cut in and rolled her eyes. "Please, this store is too small in comparison to your egotistical behind." She finished with a smirk, looking at James for a challenge of some sort.

James returned this and leaned right in and poked her on the forehead. "It's called having confidence, Miss Tagaki. Confidence is different from arrogance…that's something you should really take into account." He dished right back to her what she gave to him, her smirk disappearing as the two geniuses clash.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Take it how you want, you're smart so deduct what I said." He said as he unsheathed his KA-BAR from his holster from the back of his waist, the Marine always loved putting his holster on there instead of on his armor or boot. Spinning his KA-BAR between his fingers, now holding his blade he had a moment. That knife was like his best friend in this world, the closest thing a Marine has to a friend is his rifle and his blade. It was almost like another extension of his arm as he held it and spun it around in his fingers, holding it tightly he gently licked the tip of his blade, almost wishing that it had someone else's blood on it for a split second.

"Our KA-BAR knives aren't just for fighting with or equipping it to a rifle to use as a bayonet. It's used also for digging holes, clearing minefields, cutting your way through a jungle, and of course…" He said as he ripped apart the MRE pack, opening it's contents for everyone to see. "Opening up your equipment for personal use. Multiple uses in one tool. A Marine's favorite other than his rifle, been around with us since the days of the Old Corps."

They watched him take out the contents and put them aside. "Let's see what we got here—vegetable crackers, cell phone bag…" James was interrupted by Kohta who was taking mental notes and wanted to know about one of the contents.

"Sullivan-senpai! Sorry to interrupt but I thought that was a hot beverage bag? Why do you call it a cell phone bag?"

"Oh? Because when you go to the field and stuff, you can put your cell and or Ipod in there to keep it from getting messed up with sand and what not. In the Corps we always adapt, improvise, and overcome. Fine example right here." He said putting the bag down and continued field stripping the MRE. "Flameless ration heater, oh jackpot! Jalapeno cheese spread! Oh baby…we got a brownie! Oh god yes this is awesome! Somebody back at supply must love me if they put some Jalapeno cheese spread in this thing! And a brownie too. WHOO!" James happily exclaimed his love for the little things; Saya this time interrupted him and snapped her fingers at him.

"Hey can you get on with how we eat these things? I'm starving, baka!" She snapped, James held the Jalapeno cheese spread close to his heart and whimpered playfully.

"Jeez, I'm sorry! Gosh pink haired lady, you're so scary!" He said in a mock fear as he shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry, this won't take long. And hey, I know what that means you know!"

He picked up the main packaging that held the main dish which was the beef ravioli itself. Opening it up he took out this little olive green bag that must have held the beef ravioli. "Uhh…" He snapped his fingers and stood up. "Oh yeah! Be right back."

He said going over to where his rucksack was and all of his equipment, while he was gone he did two things. He reached for his cammie blouse and put that on, buttoning it back and fixing his sleeves so that they were still rolled up properly to where he left it. Making sure the cuffs were straight and were just on the middle of his biceps, now that he was all squared away and in his uniform he picked up his cammie cover that laid down there since once he went inside he toss it there since you're not supposed to wear covers when your indors. Finally he picked up his canteen that was lying next to his rucksack and walked back to the group, dropping himself next to Saeko and Shizuka. James then put his cammies cover on Saeko's head and shook his canteen making sure it was filled.

Saeko while he checked his water supply was good to go, she fixed his cammies cover on the top of her head the same way he does where the visor would be pointed down making the hat a bit slanted forward. She knew she had it right when James looked over at her and he barely was able to see her eyes.

"Nice, anyways." He said as he grabbed the main dish, the box it came in, and the ration heater that was a big itself. "Alright, basically all you gotta do is this. Open up the ration heater; place your main dish inside the baggie. Pour some water inside, not too much water though. This bag is special, like…it starts to heat up real hot once it makes contact with water. So it would look a little like this." He said now demonstrating what he did. Slipping the main dish bag into the heater and pouring a very little amount of water inside, putting his ear next to the opening of the heater bag he heard the hissing of the water evaporating which meant the bag was doing it's job. Throwing his dish into the box it came with and he also picked up the jalapeno cheese spread and tossed into the box too.

"Alright…it'll take about give or take ten minutes. I say ten because I want a nice hot meal. If you want you can put it in for like 3 minutes…it'll be warm enough to eat but I like it better hot. But also, this for you guys too Alice since I can tell you don't like coffee Saya, you can make her some juice. There is ice in the ice cream box so you can make her some lemonade or whatever that comes in the MRE. But for us people who like coffee. Same principle applies with the hot beverage bag."

James said as he grabbed the hot beverage bag and the little baggie filled with coffee mix. He opened up the hot beverage bag and poured the coffee inside and water inside. Hearing the hiss he zipped up the bag and placed it on top of the box that held his food that was currently warming up. As he watched those warm up, he grabbed the main bag that the MRE had came in. Folding it back he made a little bowl and dropped his spoon inside of it, placing it next to the box he reached and grabbed his brownie. James unwrapped it and took a bite whilst looked at everyone who watched him.

"I don't know why you guys are still watching me, that's basically all you need to do. Try it yourself!" He said with a smile as he closed his eyes loving the taste of his brownie. "You want a piece, Alice?" James said breaking off a piece and handing it to Alice. She nodded and took a bite.

"Arigato Gozaimasu, Nii-san!" Alice said cheerfully as she took another bite from her half of his brownie, James nodded and replied back to her in Japanese.

"Doo itashimashite, Imouto." James said as he took another bite, Alice clapped her hands with a giggle and crawled over to the Marine and hugged him tightly, James hugged her right back.

"Your Japanese sounds way better then yesterday, Nii-san! How come?" She said as she looked up at him, James scratched the back of his head and laughed.

"My Japanese is a little off sometimes. I have problems pronouncing some words and stuff; I'm still working on it. Give me some credit, I can speak, read, and write it! Kudos to my friend who is in the Marines as well, she joined the same time I did and we went to boot camp together. It was Beckett, myself, and Mina. Lance Corporal Mina Choi, she's great. She has a fiery temper, which is pretty typical of Koreans but she's cool. You'd like her Kohta! She's a gamer chick and hell…she's in the Marines and is pretty hot. Sounds like your perfect girl eh?"

Kohta blushed and thought about it, wondering about just how she looks.

"Anyways, like I was saying. She kinda dragged me to join the Japanese club that our High School was holding…hehe, went to the same high school together too. But yeah, I learned the basics from her and signed up for electives making Japanese class on my schedule back in High School. On my off-time between training as a Marine Poolee and even after I finally became a Marine I furthered my learning since I wanted it to be my qualified language so I can have a good thing to put on my service record and my resume. Because of Mina, I now can include Japanese in the language I know. Along with Russian, Spanish, Korean, French, a little bit of Farsi which is the language those Haji's speak. And English is a default, so I don't even count it!"

Rei and Shizuka gasped obviously impressed with his knowledge of languages furthering their belief in his intellect. While they praised him, Saya cringed and grinded her teeth as she finished making her MRE like everyone else were doing while he was talking to pass time. She hated him even more since those are the languages she knows too. Takashi, Kohta, and Saeko watched on as they were putting the finishing touches on both their main dishes and coffee.

"Wow, you're so smart! So many languages, I'm just happy I know my native tongue and English!" Rei said as she put her heating up beef stew MRE behind her.

Shizuka giggled and zipped up the bag of her hot beverage bag waiting for her coffee to finish up, since she already prepared her spaghetti and meatballs MRE to heat up. "I know French too."

"That's badass!" He said laughing along with Rei and Shizuka who naturally enjoyed his company. Kohta looked through the contents of his MRE and got excited and held up a bag of skittles.

"Sweet! I got skittles! So rare!"

Takashi laughed and pulled out his strawberry twizzler's. "Well I beat you; I got myself some tasty twizzlers." He looked over at Saeko who while waiting patiently for her food, had just came back with a large container of ice for anyone who needed ice if they didn't want coffee. She on the other hand used the ice for her orange flavored Gatorade so it can be nice and cold, it was faster to make since it didn't had to be heated up. Takashi reached into the container and grabbed an ice cube and chewed on it. "So, what did you get as a snack Saeko?"

She looked over at Takashi as she stirred her Gatorade. "Oh, I think I got…" She said taking her eyes off of him and looking at her pile of things from the MRE. "Cheese-zits."

"Nice!" He said as he went back to his twizzler's opening it up and taking a bite of one of those long strawberry swirly sticks. James grabbed his other snacks it came with too.

"Oh if you like that guys, you should check further! Mine came with a S'more's pop-tart, wheat bread, and like APPLESAUCE! Oh shi-? I mean…oh god!" He held the applesauce and the other contents up in the air as if it was like the best thing in the world in his hands. Takashi and the others besides Saya laughed at his exploits. "Like nigga, nigga, niggaa…remember that MRE I gave you last week nigga it's nothin'! It's nothin', it nothin', it is nothing! This stuff right 'ere nigga…" He continued in a mock Katt Williams voice. "This stuff right 'ere! Right 'ere, this stuff nigga!"

The group started laughing again, James must have caught on that they watched the same comedy special as well that he was referencing. Instead of talking about weed and a weed dealer, he's talking about his Staff Sergeant and an MRE. He now while the food and drinks were heating up and getting prepared had now started to bullshit just like he usually would do with his fellow Marines, since it's better to make jokes and laugh then sit around and do nothing. He's used to too much of that back in the field with his Marines, so they just sit around and bullshit. This was his bullshit moments with his newfound friends or maybe even family. So he continued along with his impression of a Katt Williams version of his Staff Sergeant issuing MRE's.

"This is some kryptocronic tastin' MRE, right here Marine! This shit 'ere nigga, this stuff's called the good stuff MRE nigga!" He said trying to stifle a laugh as he continued on. "And then I'd be like…Staff Sergeant, don't even sound attractive like…am I supposed to eat it and die?"

Saeko now that her Gatorade was finished she held onto it with her other hand and leaned against James trying to calm her laughter down, she couldn't drink till she stopped laughing. James continued on.

"Nah, nigga. You hit this stuff twice, nigga you can't take a crap for two weeks that's how good that stuff tastes!" He stood up to illustrate further now that he felt himself on a roll with most of everyone's laughter, instead of Saya of course. "And then hearing that, I'd be like…Staff Sergeant I got stuff to do today! And then that dickhead Sergeant Major of yours would be banging his fist on the porta-potty hearing so many fart noises while you taking a crap finally and he'd be like 'CORPORAL!'"

James then walked over to his rucksack and took his pop-tarts with him. "Man, I'm used to eating an MRE and just feeling nice but this Staff Sergeant gave me some stuff that had me in my foxhole staring at the grass grow for like three hours. I'm just in my foxhole sitting on a lump of dirt and I'm just like," He paused demonstrating how strong an MRE can be where he's blankly staring off into the distance as if he was in another world. "I bet you there isn't anything in there…I bet you."

Kohta was slapping his leg as he laughed and held his ribs since they were starting to hurt from all the laughter.

"And then, if you are hungry and in the sandbox of Afghanistan just like complaining about stuff you just need some MRE's because you're just gonna be complaining like." He said now putting up a high pitched voice of what he thinks would be the bitch of the platoon. "I don't know what I'm gonna do about those Afghan Terrorists! They don't want to make peace, they just wanna kill us, and my butt itches!" He then put his normal voice back on and waved his pop-tart around while unwrapping it to demonstrate. "Just hit the MRE once and see if it doesn't change the perception of what's important in your life!"

He stood up and put his pop-tart in the air. "I don't know what I'm gonna do about tho-!" He interrupted himself by taking a bite and instantly his voice got deeper and he started to pace back and forth around. "Fudge them goddamn Haji's! I got 200 rounds and my M249 SAW, I've been WAITING to light these Haji's up!" Feeling a little tired from all the entertainment he put up for his group he sat back down between Saeko and Shizuka who were still laughing, nonchalantly he grabbed Saeko's Gatorade and took a tiny sip.

"You're welcome?" Saeko said as she cleared her throat from laughing so much, James saw this and handed it right back.

"Thanks by the way."

Rei shook her head and fixed her skirt. "Oh my god…you're so funny! That's exactly what we needed to pass the time with these space-aged food cooking up and stuff. Thank you James!"

James waved his hand around and took another bite of his pop-tart."Don't worry about it; we Marines are used to bullcrapping around when we got nothing to do. Corporal Person and Beckett are or should I say were in Beckett's case are the best people for the humor in the Special Ops community. I felt it was the best thing to like take over and add some flavor into this." He looked over at Alice who sat back next to Saya when he went to entertain everybody. He reached over and patted her head. "And don't worry; MRE's aren't really like that. They won't make you that silly…but the constipation? Depends."

Takashi looked at his watch and then right back at the MRE's. "Hey it's been ten minutes, I think they're done!"

"That's right! Everybody grab your stuff!" He said as he reached over and took his beef ravioli out of the heater and put it down for a second. Next, he reached for his vegetable crackers and crushed them together, ripping it open he'd pour the bits and pieces of crackers into the little wrapper bowl he created. He then, opened up his main dish and emptied out all the ravioli and beef out of the bag. Reaching for the jalapeno cheese spread he put that on top of the ravioli too, it came out like cheese paste since it was melted. Shizuka could like see his mouth water as he does this.

"Wow, you're really hungry aren't you?" She asked, James nodded and tossed the empty contents away and reached for the Tabasco sauce and some salt and pepper.

"Hell yeah, I haven't eaten since I left the FOB. That's been…two days now?"

Takashi taking his MRE out and eating it from the bag, nodding his head at the taste. It was pretty decent, he couldn't complain but when he heard that James haven't eaten for two days he looked over at him. "You serious? And you were able to fight like that the way you did when we met you?" Pointing his spoon at him he swallowed his food and continued. "Plus you did that crazy work out with Saeko! How were you able to do that? I didn't even know you didn't eat a single bite."

James smirked as he poured the Tabasco and the other condiments in his food and tossed them away, looking up at Takashi and Shizuka with that smirk whilst he mixed them all together and took a bite of his MRE. He closed his eyes for a second savoring the food before answering them. "I was trained not to be a pussy. Complaining isn't going to get you nowhere; it's taking the intuitive and doing something about it gets you somewhere. I didn't have the time to eat when I was with Hotel Company; 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines since I was out of MRE's and I finally got my hands on one that I was willing to trade with Beckett to man the .50 cal. But then we got ambushed, I had to walk around and find a hideout. Found it but I couldn't rest yet, I had to look for survivors. Found you guys, evacuated you all out of danger, and well…here we are. I put others first and myself second." He said taking another bite and continued on.

"It almost reminds me of this old picture I saw, it definitely did remind me of my fellow Marines who were in Iraq. I never been to Iraq since by the time I joined, our President was pushing a troop surge in Afghanistan again this time with Marines first to fight as usual. But anyways…civilians and people who just hate the troops would call people like Marines and me terrible and we are baby killers. But when I saw this picture of two Marines with two Haji civis, a mother and daughter. The Marines pinned them against a lump of dirt and crouching in front of them with their rifles downrange." James paused and put his hands in front of him and had a look of genuine sincerity in his face, even Saya was able to recognize this. "The message said on that picture if I remember correctly was this: 'Honor—the difference between the good guys and the bad guys is whether they use human shields or make themselves human shields.' Really does bring out those three core values I had Saeko yell out."

James put three fingers up in the air and continued. "Honor. Courage. Commitment. With that mind set…of course I was able to do everything you saw me do since the moment you met me. The little things don't mean anything to me." With that said, James went silent the entire time as he ate his MRE and was in his own world of thoughts. Takashi understood every little word; the spiky haired leader saw Saya stare at him not even eating anymore. It was as if she was trying to see the sense of what he said.


With a slam of the hatch of the humvees, the two leaders of their group now were in seclusion away from everyone else. James took his cammies cover off of his head and placed it on the dashboard. Leaning back against the passenger seat and glanced over at Takashi who sat forward on the driver's seat and folded his hands on his lap, he'd sigh.

"Alright, so tell me. What's so goddamn important that you had to say to me that you can't say in front of everyone else, Sullivan?" Takashi said sternly as he looked up at the Marine, now it was just business between him and the Marine who wanted to be a second-in-command of the group. It was now time to plead his case with the seventeen year old.

James nodded and rubbed his nose with his thumb. "Now everything I said about that mission is true. But I think you deserve to know at least a little bit more on the classified details of that mission. There are two Operations going on right now. This one that every Marine in Okinawa are participating in is called Operation Rising Sun, which is where we support the Japanese Self-Defense Force in the containment of the outbreak and help evacuate civis like yourself. And then there's the one that I discussed last night, Operation Victor X-Ray. It comprised of a joint task force made up from MARSOC, Japanese SAT, and the CIA. We had obtained intel from the CIA that a black market meeting was going down to distribute the sales of a experimental VX gas. We thought that it was just a couple of terrorists gathering around to sell vials that they were going to use as a dirty bomb, we found out the main target was going to be the Tokonosu airport. But we were wrong…we were dead wrong." James said as Takashi witnessed him now leaning forward with his face now just staring at the ground, he looked really freaked.

"When SAT and MARSOC hit up that meeting we killed and captured most but of course…not everyone. Three got away. We found out a little too late that it wasn't VX gas that they were selling. Of course the CIA kept it from us for the safety of our own sanity that they were actually selling an experimental biological weapon that is meant to kill you, reanimate you and bring you back to life as…well…'them'. We didn't know shit. We knew that their spot was the Tokonosu airport, but CIA did the operation with some of SAT forces guarding the perimeter. MARSOC and some of the SAT operators were on standby not knowing what was going on. Turns out that some fucking Haji from the Taliban had spread the virus as an act of martyrdom right before he got shot down by the SAD, the CIA's paramilitary. Of course…people who did get on the plane and outside of the airport had gotten infected and they went to infect everywhere they went…which soon evolved into the world. Now that explains how the world as we knew it is now over." James said as he planted his hand against the glass of the porthole of the humvee and looked at the cloudy skies; the sky finally stopped the drizzle from the remnants of the monsoon last night. "Huh, it finally stopped raining."

"Don't' stop…what else is there that I can know about?" Takashi urged on as he sat and listened. James took another deep breath and looked over his shoulder. A cold gaze was on his jade eyes as he watched Takashi.

"The two people who got away are the people who are responsible for this. Apparently that little act of martyrdom was planned by them, they just needed a willing Allah-loving scumbag willing to do some Jihad and bring it to Japan that would soon escalate to the entire world. Only one of the two suspects was named: A Taliban operative named Farzad Sajadi, he's pretty well known in the CIA and Marine Corps community. He's a evil motherfucker…and smart too. That's the worst, a motivated killer who's willing to kill anybody who won't agree with his views of Islam and how it should reign all over the world. A Dartmouth grad which already suggests how smart this fucker is...and a Taliban operative for quite some time too after he graduated and moved to Yemen. Took part in the battle of Fallujah which happens to be the deadliest urban conflict during a war since the battle of Hue city in the Vietnam War. It wasn't even a Taliban conflict; it was between the Sunni's and Al-Qaeda going toe-to-toe between the Army and Marines. He wanted to kill some Marines so bad he traveled to Iraq to do so. Rumor has it that he killed a young Marine and stole his KA-BAR knife as a fucking trophy." James said with hate in his voice remembering the profile he read of this guy when the CIA handed him the files of the known suspects. "He and the other Jihadist who infected the entire world were pretty known in the CIA since their files are so extensive…plus a Taliban operative who travels all the way to Iraq just to say he killed some Marines in the greatest battle in the Iraq war? Guy is gonna ring a couple of bells if he's involved in something like this."

Takashi feeling his hate for this man mutually started to feel a pit of anger hearing this Sajadi's exploits and his hatred for anybody who doesn't agree with his views. "Sounds like Hitler to me."

"Tell me about it. Now the second guy, we don't have a file on him. Which is strange because everyone and their mother who is a Ultranationalist has a file on them somewhere. He's like a ghost. But since the Japanese Ultranationalist group is called Yukoku Doshikai…we have reasons to believe that the Ultranationalist at the meet is none other than Souichiro Tagak, the Don of the Yukoku Doshikai. Now do you see why I can't say this in front of our group? The connection is so obvious. Saya Tagaki? Souichiro Tagaki? It's ele-fuckin'-mentary! She already hates me enough; I don't need her getting on my case about this."

Takashi felt his heart skip a beat, and a lump in his throat. It all made sense. The reasons why Saya is even more hostile towards the Marine ever since last night, before it was just about the way he conducts himself and talks around Alice. But ever since last night, it became worse. It all made sense, but something doesn't add up. Saya's father wouldn't be capable of doing something like this, would he? No that's impossible. Saya's father loves Japan and using a very potent virus like this? It just doesn't add up.

"No…" He whispered, James shook his head and put his finger up.

"It's fact, Takashi. Souichiro is a leader and his Ultranationalists follow his word as if it was the bible. He wants Japan to return to its former glory. Without the need of Western and Chinese influence, like the way it used to be back before World War II. He'll do whatever it takes to get that dream to become reality. You don't know this man, his group is responsible for the hate messages towards politicians that are friendly with the U.S., hell he even had his men fuel the hate and the rallies between the attempt to have the Marine Corps base in Futenma, Okinawa removed. He did this with both peaceful and violent rallies. There are other crimes and murders his Ultranationalist sect are responsible for, this guy…he's fucking evil. I could see it in his eyes…I've seen pictures of Souichiro before. He's a motivated individual who wants change…so why not start from scratch? Why not watch the world burn so he can build it right back up in his own image. Hell…we even have reasons to believe that this guy might even betray his Taliban partner since they both want their views reigning supreme, only one man can rule the world in their eyes."

Takashi sat uncomfortably in the driver seat of the humvee and clutched his fist. "You don't know him! I know he's not like that!"

"WAKE UP DAMN IT!" He yelled as he grabbed Takashi by the shoulders and shook him. "You never seen that side of him…Kohta told me you and Saya are childhood friends. No shit you don't know anything, do you think Souichiro would bring his business home to his kids and his kids friends? I bet Saya doesn't even know what kind of man her father is. There's an old saying actually, it goes like this 'The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is natural manure.' That was Thomas Jefferson who said that and shit, a sociopath now thinks like that. Of course war is a necessary evil, as some people have to die in order to obtain freedom. But this is the mindset of a sociopath…different story all together."

Takashi stayed silent in the Devil Dog's grip as he stared into his eyes, letting go of him he looked away.

"I knew you'd react like this. Again, why do you think that I wouldn't bring this up in front of your friends?"

"Your friends? What's that supposed to mean? They are your friends too…I've seen the way you act around us. We are close whether you like it or not…these guys love you. And hell…I respect you. You and Souichiro are the only two adults I can say that I actually respect." Takashi said meaning every word, James nodded taking that in.

"Well…how about this. You got two choices. I either leave your group, leaving you guys with the humvee and everything inside of it. Food, water, weapons, ammo, and etc. We go our separate ways, you go find your parents and I go back to the FOB and finish my mission after reuniting with MARSOC and SAT. And that mission is killing Sajadi and Tagaki." James said with firmness in his voice and his own fist clutched. "Or we stay together; we go to the East Police Station together. Find Rei's father, and then go to the FOB together where I can reunite you with other survivors and from there on in we can stay together. Hell on some crazy shit, you and your friends might even help us on our mission in finding these bastards and killing them for all of the people who died from this terrible tragedy. Those are your two choices, rather than me act on my own. Me, a Corporal in the Marines and in the Marine Special Forces, an adult is respecting the decision of his current leader who is a teenager. A teenager with good leadership abilities of course. So yeah, that's my deal. Take it or leave it, Takashi Komuro." James said putting his hand out waiting for him to shake it upon confirmation of which option he picked.

Takashi stared at James's hand and thought hard about this. He thought about the future, if they would be kicking a door down and shooting this terrorist and Saya's dad in the head. Stopping his conquest to rule the world? He thought about a lot of things in those thirty seconds of looking at James's hand hanging there. The Marine, Shizuka, Saeko, Kohta, Rei, Alice, and Saya. Finally allowing his lips to curl into a grin he grabbed James's hand and shook it tightly.

"Looks like we're still partners, Sullivan. Know this though…instead of warning you if you get my friends killed and what not I'll kill you and all that bullshit. Here's a new one, I can't wait to see the look on your face when I tell you I told you so…and I bet you can't wait to see the look on my face when you tell me. We'll go along with your little mission, this stays between us of course…but when shit comes to push and shove with Saya's father. I'll be at your side…even if Saya won't. We will just have to wait and see."

James smiled and let go. "Don't go betraying Saya's trust because of little 'ol me, you knew her longer than me. Maybe we can convince her to take this all in when the time comes. But only when the time comes."

"Got it." Takashi said as he leaned back against the driver's seat and sighed. "That's all?"

James nodded and got out the humvee slamming the door behind him, enticing Takashi to follow suit. "That's all. Run along inside, I'll meet you in a second. I want to have a cigarette before going in."

"Alright!" Takashi said before turning around and running.

"Oh and Komuro!" He said pulling out a cigarette from his pack and sticking it between his lips; he waved at him with his lighter to catch his attention. Takashi stopped in his tracks and looked behind him to see James light up his cigarette, take a pull, inhale the smoke and blow it out before looking at back at him. "Semper Fi."

x—Devil May Cry.