Chapter 8 – New Allies

July 31st, 6:30 am

50 miles past the border crossing between North and South Korea.

The three vehicles made it thru the border into enemy territory. After exiting the cave, the three drivers headed into a remote dirt road that crossed thru a dense forest.

"Do you know your way around this forest?" Dalton asked Kira over the radio.

"Yeah, just follow me. There's a village nearby where we'll meet our contact" Kira replied.

Marcus hear the conversation "They never said anything about a contact at the briefing"

"Trust me… our contact knows how we can infiltrate the main base" Kira assure that this contact was to be trusted.

After driving for half hour the dirt road led to a paved highway, the horizon was covered by high mountains and deep forests. That made tracking very difficult for enemy radars to see if any strange vehicle was crossing thru.

"It's very peaceful here…." Dalton thought to himself

"Where's this village?" Marcus asked.

"I've sent you the exact location to your GPS" Kira answered, a red dot appeared on Marcus' GPS screen. Dalton's screen displayed the red dot as well.

"Ok…. I'll race you to the village" Marcus downshifted and passed both Dalton and Kira.

"Not that easy…" Dalton stepped on the accelerator as well and passed Kira.

"Men…." Kira followed suit.

The GT-R was on the lead while the Corvette and Vanquish were catching up.

"This car still gives me goose bumps… I wish I could take this car back to Fairhaven" Marcus said to himself.

A hairpin came up, Marcus downshifted and aggressively turned the wheel to drift the car.

Dalton saw the maneuver "What is it with rice burner drivers and their drifting?" he looked at the weapons screen and tapped at the grappling hook. A small compartment beneath the front bumper opened up and shot the grappling hook to a tree on the inner side of the hairpin and by doing so Dalton was able to keep a high speed and was bumper to bumper with the GT-R.

"Damn it… grappling hooks? Really?" Marcus complained.

Kira also drifted around the hairpin but she wasn't interested on racing, she just wanted to watch the race between the air force pilot versus the former police detective.

"You think like a street racer… I just pretend I'm flying an aircraft" Dalton responded to Marcus' complaints.

A straight away came up and Dalton was looking for an opening to pass Marcus. However, Marcus was blocking him.

"No way… You're not passing me" said Marcus.

Dalton saw a pile of dirt he could use as a ramp.

"Marcus, have you heard of afterburners?" Dalton switched to afterburner mode, the Corvette's exhaust let up a blue flame out of it and the roar of the LS V8 engine was accompanied by a jet sound. Dalton drove towards the pile of dirt and jumped over the GT-R and landed right in front.

"Told you… I think of my car as a fighter jet" Dalton taunted.

"Shit!" Marcus slapped the steering wheel in frustration.

The Corvette raced thru the straightaway, Dalton switched off the afterburner system.

"So much for winning" Marcus said.

"Did you forget your car has the same afterburner system as Dalton's" Kira said to Marcus over the radio.

"I'm just barely getting acquainted with the car" Marcus responded.

"Time to get serious… we're almost getting close to the village" Dalton looked at his GPS screen.

After clearing the highway, a village was visible. It looked like a ghost town, houses looked old and poorly maintained.

"Is this where we're meeting with this contact of yours?" Marcus asked.

"This is the place" Kira replied.

The cars drove by an empty street, there was nothing. Then they turned right into a back alley that led to a town square. Before reaching the square they stopped.

"Why did we stop?" Dalton asked.

Kira exited her car, she was wearing blue cargo pants, black boots, and a gray tank top under her black vest. Her hair was tied in a low pony tail with a couple of bangs across her face. She took a few steps until a red dot appeared on her chest.

"What's going on?" Marcus looked at Kira as she raised her hands.

"I think we've just got spotted" said Dalton.

Dalton and Marcus didn't like what was going on, for all they knew they've just got ambushed.

"You must be the care package" a voice could be heard from somewhere close.

"We're the care package…. The pharaoh sent us" Kira replied, she was calmed.

"Sorry about that…" A man walked towards Kira, he looked like he was in his mid 30's, he was wearing a black military uniform with no insignias. Kira put her hands down.

Dalton got out of his car, he was wearing grey cargo pants, a black shirt and a tan leather bomber jacket. He noticed that the man who appeared in front of them was an ally. Marcus also emerged from the GT-R, he was wearing green military cargo pants, a white shirt with a black rain coat and a bandana wrapped around his head.

"It's OK… he's a friend" said Kira as both Marcus and Dalton walked up right where she was standing.

"So this is our welcoming committee?" Dalton asked.

"This is Xian Wei, he's with China's Ministry of State Security" said Kira

"I've read your profiles… You must be Lance Dalton and Marcus Rodriguez" said Xian.

Dalton looked a bit puzzled "So you're with Chinese intelligence but why are you on our side? The last time I've checked your country supports North Korea"

"Officially but that doesn't mean we support their terrorist activities" Xian answered.

"Don't worry, Dalton. Xian and I go way back" said Kira.

Marcus looked at Xian "You read our profiles? How did you know about us even coming?"

"You'd be surprised how much our headquarters back in Beijing have investigated about foreign agents that work with us. We know about the French weapons trafficker you along with that detective from Fairhaven and the former S.A.S. operative took down a year ago in Palmont City" Xian explained.

"I told you man. Intelligence agencies are more resourceful than police departments" Dalton chuckled.

Xian looked to a building across the square and yelled out something in Chinese as he waved at someone, possibly a subordinate. Then he turned his attention back to Kira "There's a safe house on the other side of the village. It's dangerous to stay outside"

The safe house was only five minutes driving distance from the town square. There Dalton, Kira and Marcus parked inside which used to be a make-shift temple. There was computer equipment that for the looks of it, it came from China. Dalton looked around and noticed a small group of field agents were in the safe house already and it was clear Xian was the man in charge.

"So these are the prototype vehicles your CIA has developed" Xian said as he looked at the three cars, he took special interest on Dalton's Corvette aka the Vulcan Stingray.

"And they're not for sale" said Kira jokingly.

"You know we'll come with something better" Xian replied.

One of the Chinese field operatives walked up to Xian and handed him a blue print.

"This is their base of operations, it's actually an old base that the Japanese occupied in World War two" Xian put the print on a table "It has a silo built in underground, a little gift from the Russians"

"A silo… I suppose they need it to deploy the Red Lazarus" Dalton pointed at the print.

Xian nodded.

"There's also a runway, which is heavy guarded" Kira mentioned.

"How tight is security?" Marcus asked.

"You can expect a wall of firepower if that's what you're asking" Xian answered "The difficult part is getting into Kaesong. There's a military checkpoint which keeps citizens not worthy of entering the city from entering"

"Unworthy?" Marcus was curious to know.

"There's a caste system. People from the lower classes have no access to good jobs and opportunities in the city" Kira explained.

"That also explains why the village is nearly empty" Xian said.

"What do you mean?" Marcus looked puzzled.

"Most people from this village were either executed or taken to a labor camp for having disagreement with the central government about the so called Juche Ideology" Xian explained to Marcus.

"But China supports Pyongyang" Dalton protested.

"I'm Chinese and I love my country but I don't agree with what the North Korean government does with its people, we had it rough during the Cultural Revolution but we became a superpower but this Juche Ideology is total bullshit if you ask me" Xian expressed his disdain for China's neighbor.

"Infiltrating Kaesong won't be a problem" Marcus looked at his Nissan GT-R "Night Raven"

"We can cause a diversion just in case" Xian proposed.

"What do you have in mind?" Marcus asked.

Xian pointed at the other side, Marcus and Dalton turned and saw at two limousines.

"They fear their dear leader and that's what we'll use" Xian said.

"Ok… I like the idea" Dalton walked up to the limo.

"Once inside we'll destroy the housing unit that stores the Red Lazarus and eliminate Chase Lihn and General Hwang" Kira pointed at the map.

Xian shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Kira asked.

"The Red Lazarus has been moved to an underground lab deep under the base" Xian pointed at a location close to the silos "According to intel, it has movement sensors and lasers guarding the lab"

Kira stared at the print, it was time to improvise the plan "I'll infiltrate the facility then"

Dalton looked at Kira "How?"

"I'll let myself get caught" Kira responded.

"Are you crazy, Kira?" Marcus protested her plan.

"Just like in Burma three years ago" Xian muttered.

"I'm not gonna drag you guys into a trap. I knew the risks when I joined the CIA" Kira looked at Marcus.

Dalton placed his hand on her shoulder "I'm not losing a teammate again"

"What do you suggest?" Kira asked.

"Create a diversion" Dalton answered.

"How?" Xian asked.

"Leave it to me, just get ready. If we're doing this I suggest we make the trip to Kaesong in the early evening when visibility will be minimum by the time we arrive to their base" Dalton had a plan.

Kira and Xian nodded.

Dalton walked towards his car, Marcus followed him.

"Dalton… wait up"

"What's up?" Dalton turned around.

"I need to talk to you for a second" Marcus pulled an envelope.

"What is it?" Dalton noticed something was off.

"I need you to hold this for me until we go back home" Marcus handed the envelope and a small box.

Dalton looked at the envelope and the box "What is this if you don't mind me asking?"

Marcus paused for a second as he tried to get his thoughts together "It's a letter and an engagement ring"

"I see… you and… what's your girlfriend's name?" Dalton knew what Marcus meant by giving him the ring and letter.

"Her name is Izumi" Marcus replied.

"Right…. But why do you want me to hold on to this?" Dalton asked.

"In case I don't make it. I was gonna propose the day you and Col. Duncan came to see me" Marcus responded.

Dalton shook his head "Look… We're all gonna make it back and you'll give the ring to her yourself"

"I thought about what Kira just said. It made me think a lot…." Marcus leaned on Dalton's car.

"I see… I'll hold on to this but you will give this to Izumi…. In fact I'll be there when you get on that knee" Dalton put the ring and letter in his pocket.

"I owe you one" said Marcus.

"You gave up everything for love. That's something I couldn't do back in the day" Dalton said.

"You mean?" Marcus remember that argument after the briefing.

"Sun Yeung… that girl from the briefing. We were together but I put my career before her, that's why she hates me now" Dalton explained.

"That's why she was mad, look man I'm sorry" Marcus now knew why Sun Yeung was pissed when she saw Dalton.

"The important thing is you'll be back home day after tomorrow" Dalton assured Marcus that the mission was going to be a success. Now the real test was about to begin at sundown.

The Junkie's notes: I haven't seen the new NFS movie but I think I'll watch it tomorrow. I've been busy with work and all that jazz. By the way I'm already cooking yet another story which I'll publish very soon so look out for it! One Love and blessings!