Acapulco, State of Guerrero, Mexico, URNA

March 13, 2552

"Ben, do you recall everything that happened before the pirates had showed up?" Aegis asked, "Any origin of their direction or motives?"

The kid that he had rescued was sitting alongside the docks, looking mournfully at the yacht. He was still in a bit of shock of what had happened. Chancellor learned that his name was Benedicto Reyes, but he must've been more comfortable around the junior agent his age when he asked to be called Benny.

"No, we just moved further out to sea and then the pirates took all the kids away in their boats." He looked down at the waves below again with regret evident in his eyes.

"So how did you manage to get away?"

"When…when the kidnappers began herding everyone onto their boats and my uncle came out to defend them, they shot him up and I…I took that opportunity to get to the bridge and put myself in the closet." He let out a sigh, "Can't believe uncle Marco is dead. This is all my fault."

"Ben," Aegis laid a hand on his shoulder, "Without you, I wouldn't even know where to even start. You did all you could do in a scenario like that."

"I feel so bad after getting uncle killed and being selfish enough to just save myself."

"And you panicked." Chancellor added. Ben just nodded in response, "Hey, that's perfectly normal for a human being."

"Ben, if you can help us, I'd like to identify the weapons our kidnappers used. Do you have a good knowledge on guns?"

Ben shrugged, "Machine guns? I don't know."

Aegis removed his comlink and pulled up a picture gallery, "I'm going to show you some different types of guns, many of which are commonly used by terrorists and criminals. Can you try and identify them by this?"

Ben said nothing as Trip scrolled through multiple weapons. Many of them were considered obsolete today, MA1 carbine, MA3A rifle, the notorious C5 compact submachine gun and the HMG-38.

"That's it right there." He said, almost excitedly, knowing he was doing at least some good in helping their investigation.

Aegis flashed the HMG-38 image to Lorenzo and Chancellor. "HMG 38 high caliber rifles."

Lorenzo snapped his fingers, "The Rojo Punal uses HMG-38s. Lots of them. They stole a black market shipment in Cabo San Lucas two months ago."

"Benny!" A voice shouted, causing the four of them to look over. All along the entrance to the marina were news reporters and their camera teams, all wanting to get a scoop on what was happening. Ben's eyes lit up at the sight of the young man running down the docks to greet him. "Don't worry, that's Carlos. My cousin."

"Lorenzo, keep the media at bay on this. Make sure none of our names are mentioned, especially Ben's. We don't want our kidnappers to know we're onto them."

"You got it."

"You okay Benny?" Carlos grabbed him tightly in a hug as the two let out their stress of the events. When they parted, they both had somber expressions on their faces. "My dad's dead isn't he?"

Ben nodded.

"Thank you so much senor." Carlos smiled sadly at the agents, "You couldn't save my dad, but you still saved cousin Benny here."

"You're welcome." Chancellor returned the smile.

Acapulco Police Department Headquarters

The police had cleared an entire office ward to prepare Aegis and Chancellor's investigation. Lorenzo had pledged their full cooperation since Acapulco was aggressively vying to up its reputation as a safe tourist zone. It wasn't the safest just yet, but they were making steady progress.

"I managed to stabilize some footage that one of the kids was taking while the pirates were boarding." Chancellor held up a data chip, "Quality's kind of bad and both of them that are viewable are wearing masks, so I can't run a facial recognition. They all wielded HMG-38 rifles and had lean athletic builds. I've got their biometric signatures and we can run it if we come across any potential suspects."

"Good stuff." Aegis gave him a slap on the back, causing him to flinch, "What about our victims?"

"The yacht's operator sent back a passenger manifest with twenty kids, including Ben and one adult, who was the captain. All of them were college age from American east coast universities. Combined, they're all from three different schools, but I see no criminal record on any of them or family with such markings."

"So it wasn't a random attack?"

"As far as I can tell. They don't even have speeding tickets."

Lorenzo entered through the doorway, "Listen, I just got off conversation with the North American ONI director. He's putting you and Agent Chancellor to head up this case after receiving calls from parents. Our kids are still alive out there, but they're kidnapped."

"They are demanding a ransom?" Chancellor asked.

"Si. A half hour after the estimated time of the kidnapping, nineteen pairs of parents started getting ransom calls and discovery of their kids being abducted. They all confirmed that they have one son or daughter is vacationing in Acapulco and it all checks out."

"What was the ransom?"

"Five million credits per hostage." Aegis gave a low whistle, "They gave the same ransom amount to each of the parents, so we're totaling up to ninety-five million on the line."

"Are all of these parents rather wealthy people?" Trip asked, "I kind of see a pattern here."

"The director and Agent Morgrave ran checks; they're all worth quite a bit, being real estate developers, bankers, business owners." Lorenzo looked over at the ONI Agents, "You know, high paying stuff."

"They're all quite attractive people too." Chancellor added, "It could also mean that our pirates targeted them to sell to trafficking markets."

"Or they realized they hit the jackpot and found out they could snag bigger ransom than what they estimated."

"Either way, I don't think this was just a random attack." Aegis frowned, "What about the parents of the children?"

"Si." Lorenzo handed him a datapad. On the screen was a list of all nineteen pairs of parents for the kids, "The first couple has just arrived from the airport and the rest are in Los Angeles and en route."

"Okay, I'm going to talk to these parents. Make sure that ONI covers all their expenses, book them all in the Royal Hotel chain Suites, restaurant and amenity bills and give them reimbursements on their airfares. Have grief counselors ready too."

"You got it."

Aegis knew that this was going to be a long few days in Acapulco and one of the hardest parts of having to deal with such cases were to confront the loved ones.

As usual, the first couple had a daughter out with the others who were kidnapped and they were a complete wreck upon finding out their child was taken against her will. Normally Aegis had couples with kidnapped kids just worried and sad, wanting them back in safe hands, but this couple had completely lost it.

The father produced his personal chatter comm device and handed it over to the ONI agent.

"I recorded our conversation with the kidnappers and gave it to the police." He said, comforting his sobbing wife next to him. Trip had to hand it to the guy for keeping his composure in such a dire situation, unlike his significant other. In his teens, if this happened to him, he had no doubt his late parents would be flipping out just as bad.

"Hello?" The father said in the recorded conversation.

"Yes," The kidnapper's voice was very low and Aegis recognized a sound scrambler to distort the speech to be unidentifiable. "Is this Mister David Weddle?"

"Yes. How did you get this number?"

"You don't say a word unless I say it's okay." The voice threatened, "I have your daughter and you'll do exactly as I say."

"What? What are you saying?"

"You're going to listen to what I have to say very carefully. I want five million credits and you will give me them if you ever hope to see your child alive ever again."

"How do I know if my daughter's alive and if you have her?"

The recording played some shuffling sound before a girl's terrified voice came on, "Daddy? Daddy are you there?"

"Madison!" Aegis' lip ever so slightly curled in a scoff, to be honest; he had expected that to be the name of the man's daughter. Either that or a few others.

"Daddy, I'm scared."

"Madison sweetheart, it's all going to be okay! I promise you."

"There!" The kidnapper's distorted voice came back on the line, "That is enough for proof! Now get me the money or I will kill her and everyone else!" The recording clicked dead.

The father looked over at him with the same amount of pleading in his eyes, "Please Agent. You have to find her. She's our pride and joy."

Aegis nodded, "I will."

Chancellor headed back into the investigation room with three boxes of a takeout just as the parents left back to their hotel. Aegis and Lorenzo were still scratching their heads over the footage of the single kidnapper.

"Hey Chancellor, I got a job for ya."

"Good." He walked over to set the takeout down, "Locals recommended the fish taco stand down the block. Marvelous stuff."

"Definitely." Lorenzo grinned, "You guys should spend more time in Acapulco on leisure time, not business and it gets even better when the sun goes to the other side."

"What you got?"

"Still no matches on known Rojo Punal suspected pirates and biometric IDs of the kidnappers except for the one we found killed. We might be dealing with newbies."

"Judging by the way they took the boat," Chancellor said, "They looked to be far from inexperienced. They expertly boarded the boat and easily overtook its crew. For the good part, most Rojo Punal pirates do not move this good. My guess is that this is probably not their first time."

"We're missing something."

Ethan's face suddenly lit up, "Oh, what about the guns?"

"Yeah HMG-38s. Popular gun used by terrorists, although pretty much considered outdated by military standards."

"Yeah but Lorenzo, does the Rojo Punal use HMGs as their main weapon?"

"Lots of them on Mexico's east coast, but not so much on the Pacific side." He shook his head, "They used to have a lot of them. Most of the time we encounter them using MA3s. However, we have seen at least two of such weapons in use by the cells in Cancun."

"That's too far away." Chancellor nodded, "Since the MA3 is probably an ideal replacement for the HMG-38, and either we are looking for some new metal they could've acquired or we're not dealing with their work. Now I'm also looking at the boats they used, which doesn't match any colors or model description in any of the city's dock areas. No camera footage of it being towed out either."

"That means that they could be anywhere from in the city to out on a boat."

"Agreed." Lorenzo sipped his drink, "However, the Rojo Punal do find potential recruits into their network through the nightclubs. A lot of estranged teens go through, both local and not and sometimes they take advantage of that."

"What do they get assigned?"

"Mostly as errand boys, delivering contraband to and from their positions. When they work at it for several months, they get a chance to accompany some of the higher members in their more high profile activities. It's hard for the police to keep up with it and this one particular nightclub at the end of the tourist strip has been a hive of activity recently."

"Let's go pay them a visit." Aegis stood up.

Night had fallen in Mexico and Acapulco's famous nightlife began to stir up as soon as the sun disappeared over the Oceanside.

The dozens of nightclubs had already opened up by six in the evening, allowing the people who had been busy working or sunbathing during the daytime to introduce a different side to themselves. The partying went until the daylight showed itself on the other side of the horizon.

This particular nightclub had seen some footage of Rojo Punal associates inside for some time and without a warrant, police were not allowed to search the place. Lorenzo opted to stay outside in their car to watch for suspicious activity.

ONI Agents? A different story.

Aegis and Chancellor stepped through the automatic doors and were immediately assaulted with a strange odor that was powerful enough to make them gag, Aegis recognized it nevertheless, Sweet Williams cigar. A nice taste and preference for COs, but he didn't smoke. The hallway opened up in front of them to have a high rise ceiling with a second deck.

Pop music blared from loudspeakers as a red headphone donning DJ mixed the beats of whatever newest hit. The entire dance floor was a mass of gyrating bodies grinding against one another with the people's minds in another world, free of care or worry.

"Shit," Chancellor gave a wolfish smile at a blonde haired girl who had seen him wiped some condensation off a beer bottle and swiped a finger down her cleavage in a rather suggestive manner, "Why the hell did we come here for work?"

When Aegis didn't answer he looked on over.

Trip was a few feet in front of him, staring face to face with a burly man that was about his height. While he was lithe and definite, this bouncer was basically a big hunk of solid muscle that would probably bash both of them into a pulp if they crossed the line.

"Listen; from one bouncer to another, I'm here on business with the Office of Naval Intelligence." With that being said, the brute of a man recoiled slightly. Behind his poker façade, Aegis gave a smirk, "You can go ahead and kick us out, but I'll just force my way in regardless."

Knowing he had no choice on this one, he gave a nod and parted ways. There was no doubt the agents would be closely watched while they were inside.

"Wow." Chancellor caught up to Aegis, "I didn't know you used to be a bouncer. You certainly don't look like one."

"I did," Trip confirmed, "Used to work in a Mykonos nightclub after high school to earn money for college. About six months into the job, I had to take out a drunk patron and an ODST recruiter happened to be on leave at the time inside. That's what got me into the ODSTs and eventually the Agency."

"Ah."

"Most of the time bouncers are depicted as brutish guys that are devoid of emotion and doing their jobs as tossing unruly patrons out of the clubs. There are also a handful of smaller less intimidating bouncers too, which I feel to have been a part of. In reality, it's mostly making sure everyone follows regulations and checking identities." Aegis gave a faint smile at the memory.

"Must've been a good time. Plenty of good people to chat with."

"Yeah." Although keeping up in the conversation, Aegis' mind was solely focused on one table. Occupying the cushion seats was a man dressed in a suit with black sunglasses over his eyes. On the table was a glass of amber liquid and ice cubes and he was in the middle of paying attention to two cute girls that sat on either side of him.

"I think we found our man." Chancellor followed his gaze, "See the red tattoo on the left side of his neck?"

"Rojo Punal." Most members usually had a tattoo of a dark red dagger to symbolize their membership. Blood drips could be added beneath the knife to signify their ranking in the terror group.

"Chances are, this guy isn't very high up on the food chain, so this is a make or break situation."

"Worst case scenario?"

"We just started a war with one of the URNA's most dangerous outlaw groups."

"No pressure."

They made their way over to the tables and approached their target. As soon as he locked eyes with him, Aegis flashed his badge, "Trip Aegis, Office of Naval Intelligence."

Without warning, the Punal member sprung to his feet, the motion surprising both Aegis and Chancellor and had zoomed right past them, in an attempt to make an escape.

"We just wanted to talk!" Chancellor exasperated as he and Aegis weaved their way through the dancing crowd as fast as possible. Everyone else around them was either uncaring or too drunk to really know what was going on.

The man had already evaded the pursuing bouncer and probably was getting arrangements for a getaway driver to come rescue him. The last thing Lorenzo wanted was for the entire media to come on the full scope of the case. Such things could seriously damage Acapulco's future as a premier tourist destination.

He didn't even know what he was thinking at the time, but they had to catch this guy and there were little openings between the dancers and their target. So as he ran past one of the bars, he reached out, scooping a beer bottle that felt about half full, much to the drinker's dismay and sidearmed it during the next gap in between dancers. The bottle had just the right amount of liquid to compare it to a rather long cylindrical hand grenade and sailed in between two pairs of grinding couples, impacting directly on his lower back. The bottle shattered, sending razor glass shards and drops of beer everywhere and the blow was enough to send him to the ground. He was down for a second, but it was enough for Aegis and Chancellor to catch up and pin him to the floor.

"Sorry about that." Trip walked over to the man whose beer he had used to take down the Punal man. He handed over a credit note just as Chancellor fitted a pair of handcuffs around the suspect, "Here. Your reimbursement from the Office of Naval Intelligence."

Sorry for not posting in a while. I've been busy cleaning out part of my garage since I am having a new car and need the extra space. Very excited to finally have my own ride.

Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.