Chapter 11: Win, Lose or Die

Location: Macau, China

24 hours later...


Jonathan hurtled towards the streets of Macau at a speed that would have been lethal if he hadn't been wearing a parachute. As he neared the target distance he immediately yanked on the ripcord of his parachute and felt a jolt as he suddenly decelerated as the 'chute unfurled. He glanced at the tracking device strapped to his arm and pulled on one of the risers causing him to shift in the direction of where he needed to go. He reached the rooftop that would provide him with a perfect vantage point for his termination of traitor agent Briony Thorne. He triggered the release of his parachute and dropped to the rooftop, rolling as he touched down and gazed around the area, his only companion was the howling wind of the approaching storm.

"Nice landing," a voice said.

Jona immediately sprang to his feet and tore the Slovak made K100 Whisper from it holster and aimed it in the direction of the voice.

"Show yourself?" he ordered.

He saw movement and watched as an Asian woman on the tail end of her teenage years stepped out of the shadows. She had long black hair and dressed in a pair of tight fitting black pants with a white T-shirt and holding a black guitar case.

"Wai Lin - SBDO," she introduced, "Denholm Crisp sent me."

"My contact," he said, returning his pistol back to its holster, "you got the rifle I requested?"

"Arrived just this morning, courtesy of Universal Exports. Follow me."

Wai Lin led Jona to the opposite side of the rooftop to a patio which overlooked the Casino Lisboa, but was lacking illumination, not that it mattered since he needed to remain unseen. There was a large awning that covered a section of the rooftop in order to protect from the sun and the rain, which was flapping about wildly due to the increasing wind. Lin took a seat at one of the tables and laid the guitar case down on the table before opening it, revealing the guitar itself. She reached inside the sound hole and pressed something causing the entire sound board to come off, exposing the pieces of a sniper rifle that was packed in black foam.

"They'd expect a weapon to be hidden inside an instrument case not the instrument itself," Jonathan snorted.

"We've got to stay one step ahead of Chinese Intelligence," Lin stated.

"Aren't you afraid that your operation has been compromised by Agent Thorne?" Jona asked.

"Yes. Which is why when we discovered her defection we shut down the Universal Exports office in Victoria Harbour as per protocol."

"What are you going to do now?"

"We have to waiting to see if the Chinese People's External Security Force raid our office," she replied, "until then we're hiding out in a secondary location in Kowloon."

Jonathan grabbed a piece to begin assembling the weapon when he suddenly realized that something wasn't right.

"This isn't metal," he stated.

"No. I believe that Dr. Hirani said it was comprised of a composite material that's just as sturdy as metal, but once exposed to a combination of sulphuric and hydrochloric acid it'll cause the weapon to disintegrate."

"Thus destroying the evidence," Jona said shaking his head, "Gotta hand it to the boys and girls of Q Lab. She in the building?"

"No. A fellow SBDO agent; Kim Dae Yung says she's being flown in via helicopter in order to minimize the potential opportunities for assassins."

The storm had finally hit the city and it was beginning to rain heavily by the time he had finished assembling the rifle.

"Isn't a bolt-action kinda unreliable in a situation such as this?" Lin asked as she handed him a metal cigarette case that contained the ammunition.

"Only need on shot, besides this is the type of weapon I used during my time with SO13. Having a sniper rifle with an ammunition clip just makes it unbalanced."

"I'll head down to the streets and bring the car around," Lin said as she stood up, "The windows here in Macau and Hong Kong are meant to withstand Typhoon force winds so Denholm issued you armour piercing ammo."

"Alright," he said as she headed for the stairwell.

Jona removed one of the rounds from the cigarette case and inserted it into the breech and shifted the bolt closed before flicking the safety on. He didn't have to wait for very long for a Harbin Z-9 helicopter to suddenly pass overhead and flew off in the direction of the Casino Lisboa.

"Shit," he cursed as he watched the helicopter landed on the casino's rooftop.

He had hoped that he would've been able to take out Thorne the moment she stepped out of her helicopter but the rooftop was out of his line of site would need to find a better vantage point and try to take her out while she was in her hotel suite. Jona glanced around and took notice of the stairwell enclosure and immediately slung the rifle over his shoulder and scrambled on to the top. He worried that the awning wasn't strong enough to support his weight as he eased himself out and slid down the rain-slicked fabric. There was enough of a depression in the fabric to all him to sit comfortably with a perfect view of the hotel suite, all he had to do was wait. He was beginning to shiver from the rain that was soaking through his combat suit when he caught a glimpse of Briony Thorne being escorted into the hotel suite by her entourage as he flicked off the safety catch. He needed her to stay still for a couple of seconds to get off the shot but she wasn't making it easy as she put herself amongst her bodyguards. They arrived at the suite that she was assigned to and one member of her security detail moved forward to open the door, giving him the opportunity that he was looking for. He put her in the sniper-scope's sights and squeezed the trigger, preparing for the knock back as the bullet leapt from the barrel and straight through the window. Agent Thorne happened to be looking out through the window when the round slammed into her forehead, snapping her head back and spraying blood on the wall behind. As her body toppled over Jona immediately slid off the awning and dropped to the ground, slamming the butt of the sniper rifle against the rooftop in order to rupture the acid cartridge. He discarded the weapon as the acidic mixture began to do its work and immediately raced over to the door to the stairwell and began his decent to the streets below. Despite the urgency of the situation he was careful not to run and draw attention to himself as he marched down flight after flight until he reached a doorway that led directly into the side alley. Wai Lin's car was in actuality a taxi cab that she had pulled around and parked by the time Jona emerged from the apartment complex.

"C'mon! You've stirred up a hornet's nest," She said as she leapt into the driver's seat.

"Where's my Extraction Point?" Jona asked as he climbed into the back.

"I'm taking you to the harbour. There's a speedboat waiting to take you to Kaohsiung where the HMS Repulse is currently docked," Lin replied as she drove out of the alley.

"The Repulse? I thought it was decommissioned in '96."

"It was brought back into service for this mission," Lin explained.

"Guess I should be honoured. But what about the Taiwanese Government? The PRC's gonna be pissed if they find out that they just assisted in the assassination of a defector," Jona commented.

"The Republic of China doesn't know that the Repulse is even dock in their territory, that way they can't be linked politically."

"I hope you're right."


Location: MI6 Headquarters

Fifteen hours later...


M had just received an Intel report from the Minister of Defence; Nigel Yupland that Agent Jonathan Hunter had succeeded in his mission. He had reached the safety of Kaohsiung and boarded the HMS Repulse after shortly assassinating Briony Thorne. The People's Republic of China was covering up the incident as was expected and had declared that Agent Thorne had been a tourist on vacation when she had been murdered. The PRC was officially placing the blame at the feet of 'Tibetan Rebels' seeking to undermine China's economic stability. That was fine by her, let them believe what they wanted to, but that didn't change the fact that MI6's Asian Ops were potentially compromised. Despite the fact that the traitorous Double-0 Thirteen had been eliminated they had no way of knowing just how much she had talked. She had put out an advisory to all operatives warning them of the situation and all they could do was wait to see what happened. With the official report filed there remained only one thing left to do as she finished what she was typing: Jonathan Hunter - 009 status confirmed.