So, I am taking these chapters very slowly, because I really don't want to mess up or rush what I have in mind.
Also, flight times etc for Russia and stuff, I can only Google so much (also a lot of it is a no fly zone), and helicopters are a whole new ball game, so don't take them as real, this is fan fiction XD
Info (rough):
A Chinook is a carrier helicopter, 90ft in length with two 60ft rotor blades on each end, capable of carrying large vehicles and up to 60 troops.
A black hawk is a carrier/fighter helicopter (I'm pretty sure) that is capable of carrying up to 15 men.
An Apache is a twin pilot helicopter built solely for combat and attack.
IED is an improvised explosive device.
This chapter I consider to be draggy, but I needed it to set up things along the story line, hope you enjoy anyway.
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This was the moment that separated the likes of people like Mikhail and Asami from the rest, the moment that defined the true crime lord.
The moment that either took control of you, the fear of the unknown striking indecision and hesitation into the core of your self control, forcing you to make irrational choices based upon useless emotion rather than approaching the situation from a tactical point of view.
For people such as Asami, Mikhail, Feilong and even Akihito, this was the moment where emotion fled them, truly became irrelevant, whether your little brother, or your boyfriend(to Asami he still was), was in peril or not.
For all they both knew, he could be dead already, or dying at this very moment, but it still didn't change their thought process.
This ability to rise up, to stomp on the panic that threatened to overwhelm and use it as a doormat to step into the realm of a calm state of mind was the difference between Kings and peasants.
The difference between those that wore the crown, and those that fell to the weight of such a title.
Right now, this moment, two Kings stood in the sitting room that over looked the hills.
After the news sunk in, all previous feeling left the room, any and all animosity gone, replaced by unwavering resolve in the face of their most feared monster.
It was a lie, to say that crime lords didn't feel fear, because they did, it was how they dealt with that fear that set them apart.
Asami watched as the leader of the Russian Mafia became just that, his eyes hardening, his muscles coiling, his aura commanding.
Despite their current differences, Asami could still admit that Mikhail was an exceptional man, dangerous, cunning, and deserving of his title.
Their relationship was based on mutual respect for one another, which is why Asami wouldn't get in the way here, no matter how much he wanted to take matters into his own hands.
As Mikhail ran through a million scenarios in his mind, before coming to, no doubt, the best course of action, Asami could only stand back and offer his thoughts when needed, though Mikhail would never need any when he was in his own playground, the blonde snapped back to attention and went into action, giving orders just as you would if it were any normal trade.
"Yuri, arrange for the Chinook to come out of the hangar and be ready for Vladikavkaz within the hour, we'll operate from there, and the moment any of Akihito's men are picked up, I want radio communication. Do we have Akihito's last known coordinates?"
Yuri replied with just as much calm, over his initial haste to inform his nephew, "I've already got Siegfried rousing a troop of 30 to go, 15 of your men, and the 15 of Akihito's that were off duty, it leaves room for Asami's men, if he wishes to come."
Asami nodded his inclination, there was no question that he was going, and Mikhail accepted the fact without any argument, with this situation, he needed someone else like Asami that could stay calm, in case Mikhail did indeed lose it if Akihito was lost to them.
Mikhail strode towards the door as Yuri handed him a piece of paper with longitude and latitude numbers on it.
"That was the pick up location for the men that made it out, we don't know who called it in yet, and we aren't sure of how many men, information I got from the men at the base at Vladikavkaz said all they got was the code for pick up, that location, number of men lost, and the fact they'd been separated from Akihito, before the signal was cut."
Yuri and Asami followed Mikhail, who made a small grunt of annoyance at the hindering information, he kept striding down the hall, taking corner after corner towards one end of the mansion, until they came to another open area with multiple doorways coming off it, he opened one door right at the very end, which led into another sitting area, but Asami could instantly tell that this was the beginning of Akihito's living quarters.
It could have been anyone's room, but once again, Asami was struck with that feeling that he knew Akihito was here, not physically this time, but this was Akihito's space, his home, the essence of Akihito was here. Just like when he arrived at the penthouse on the night Akihito stayed with him. It felt right to be in this place, despite not having spoken to him in a week.
It was furnished modern instead of traditional, the massive chaise lounge the picture of contemporary comfort with a coffee table in front of it, it had a paintball gun on it still, as well as a DSLR camera of all things, which brought Asami back to observing the photos on the walls.
Large canvas photos of places Akihito had been decorated the spare wall space, he recognized the one he sent Asami all those weeks ago, the scenery of mountains and a giant lake spreading from one side of the landscape photo to the other, with open parachutes floating in the air beneath him, all the other photos were action shots such as this, all filled with friends, his family, all capturing moments of his life that he deemed important.
That was all Asami had time to take in, because Mikhail shot through another door, into a room that came off the living area, it was a long narrow office, neat and perfectly well kept, unlike the living area, with territory maps covering the walls from one end to another.
Asami saw what Mikhail came for straight away, there on the wall right next to the massive mahogany desk, was an extensive map of the route Akihito was taking and its terrain.
"Fuck, that was meant to be one of my most secure routes." Mikhail cursed as he saw the green pins that plotted the journey the land train would take, surrounded by yellow pins for potential conflict areas and red pins for places to avoid completely.
Asami counted a lot of red pins, a lot, and that was meant to be one of the most secure routes.
As if reading his thoughts, Mikhail spoke, cold and harsh, "This isn't Japan anymore, Asami. My business is an entirely different one to yours. Welcome to Russia."
This much was true, Japanese and Russian affairs had two completely different danger zones that crossed over in the middle, Asami's was being undermined politically, people pulling strings on paper and shifting the power behind the scenes.
Where as Mikhail's biggest worry was direct danger, gunfire, explosives and carnage in general.
Asami just grunted his acknowledgement of the fact, and kept watching as Mikhail pinned the coordinates that Yuri had given him, the pick up location of the men who'd radioed in, the point was on the top of the Syrian border, where the borders or Turkey and Iraq met the corner of the Syrian nation.
From there, the route went up through Turkey, Georgia and the Caucasus Mountain ranges before it got to Vladikavkaz where the shipment has passed through on its way from Moscow.
The pick up location was where most of the red pins were, and it was only 15 miles away from the closest green route pin, which meant that Akihito and the rest of the men would be somewhere in between those two pins. It narrowed down the search area significantly.
"Yuri, have the base at Vladikavkaz send in Apaches to cover the Black Hawks so they can expand the extraction area between these two points. Do we have ETA on the choppers that got sent in?" Mikhail took a quick picture of the map on his phone, and was already walking back out of Akihito's office and living area as Yuri answered.
"Just under 2hours from the base to pick up. I've already told them to have a rotation, so we have a pair leaving first and 1 every hour after for consistent arrivals and searching. I'll tell them to add the apaches now."
The three men were walking the halls once more, brisk in pace with a sure direction in mind, there were men in the halls rushing to get ready for departure, with combat boots on, cargo pants and bullet proof vests, they were all in the same state of mind as Mikhail, each going about getting ready with cool efficiency. Asami didn't know where they all came out from, before this it seemed as if the mansion was empty.
"We'll be leaving once the hour is up, anyone not ready by then will be left behind. We should land in Vladikavkaz by the time they've made it to the coordinates." That said, Mikhail stalked off towards his own quarters on the other end of the mansion to get ready, leaving Yuri and Asami alone in the hall.
Yuri gestured Asami to follow him, the opposite way Mikhail went, filling in the details that Asami wouldn't be aware of on the way to Asami's guest quarters.
"It takes just over 2 hours to fly to our base in Vladikavkaz, it's an airport compound where we operate our Middle Eastern routes from, so it's one of our biggest ones, when we get there we'll have direct communication with the chopper pilots, but we wont have much to go on until then." Yuri reported to Asami as he would to Mikhail, "we can only hope to get them all before nightfall, or they're on their own for the night. It's dangerous enough for the pilots in the daylight, but at night they'll be open to anything."
Asami looked at his watch, it would be roughly 4 hours until nightfall, which meant that was 4 lots of choppers heading out between now and then, if they were lucky. That wasn't many.
"You wont be putting people to ground tonight?" Asami questioned, as Yuri led Asami into his room, where Suoh Kirishima, and 5 his other men were already waiting and ready.
They had all foregone their suit coats and ties, replaced with black Kevlar vests that had been provided by their Russian hosts, this was Russia, where anything could happen, though they might not be going to ground in Syria, anything could happen, Asami and his men knew that.
"No can do, we don't have enough information to go on yet, to drop anyone on the ground. Once we have the situation, we'll have them search on foot tomorrow at dawn with air support if we don't have them all by tonight. I would bet money that Akihito sent the others on to the border and stayed behind to evacuate everyone, before leaving himself, so a simple extraction should be enough." Yuri sounded sure of Akihito's capabilities.
Despite not knowing Akihito's tactical habits, Asami had to agree with Yuri that that's what the young blonde would do, Asami couldn't picture Akihito ever leaving anyone behind, dead or alive. He remembered that saying, 'Blood above all', and knew it would apply here.
"I want a spot on the first helicopter in the morning if we don't have him by then." Asami declared without hesitation, shooting Kirishima a look that said 'don't question me', before he quickly threw off his own coat and vest, only to dawn the black Kevlar like his men had on.
That was all he needed to do get ready.
He might still be in dress pants and shoes, not suited for the terrain, but he'd been in enough gunfights before that his dress shoes might as well be combat boots, and dress pants were easy enough to run in.
Yuri knew at that moment that Asami Ryuichi was actually serious about his young nephew, you didn't just risk your life by offering to drop yourself into the middle of a war zone for someone you didn't care about, the surety in which he took in all the information and catalogued it without complaint, he could see the heat in his eyes, and he knew that if Mikhail or himself didn't slaughter the people responsible, Asami would.
People like Asami and Mikhail, were wolves in wolves clothing, and whether Mikhail liked to admit it or not, it was clear that Akihito had become part of two packs, therefore merging them both into one.
"I'll make it happen." Was all Yuri said before he left them in silence to prepare the rest of the men for departure.
During the wait until they left, once again, Asami had to restrain himself from pacing. Smoking cigarette after cigarette in his impatience to get going. This time, it was completely different than waiting for word when Akihito was at Sakazaki's club, this time it was unknown, beyond his control no matter what he did.
Everything to do with Akihito was beyond his control, Akihito himself he could never hope to tie down, the blonde was too feral, to free to let anything of the sort to happen to him (unless it was his job of course), no matter how hard Asami tried.
That lack of control brought fire to his veins, the thrill of the fight with Akihito, not knowing what the blonde would do next, his unpredictability and own inner flame would always, always, have Asami coming back for more.
This lack of control though, not knowing if Akihito truly was fine or not, awoke a different sort of fire in him, a vengeful fire, hidden beneath the surface that he would unleash on anything which stood in his way, if it came down to it, he would take his men into the heart of Syria himself tomorrow, he would make sure he was the first to find Akihito, to touch him and make sure he was ok. That much he was sure of.
.
Mikhail cursed inwardly all the way back to his rooms, that route wasfucking secure, he would never send Akihito otherwise.
This was Akihito's first loss under self command, his own judgment, and not a minor loss, over a quarter of the 41 men that left wouldn't be coming back alive according to the report.
This would hit Akihito, and it would hit him hard, Mikhail still remembered his first big loss, he was young, 18 at the time, he remembered the sleepless nights and nightmares when sleep finally decided to come to him, and he cursed again, because sleepless nights and nightmares weren't something he could protect Akihito from.
The spot the ambush would have taken place was too much of a red herring, the fact that it happened to be in the most dangerous part of the route wasn't a coincidence, if people set it up there it would just look like typical conflict, but Mikhail pegged to be much more.
Though dangerous, that route had been solid for years.
Either the Egyptians wanted the shipment without paying for it, or a group in that area, from Syria or Iraq thought to steal it, Turkey was out of the question, Mikhail practically owned everything from Turkey upwards.
He cursed again, because it wasn't either of those options, the old man in Cairo had been friend's of his father, and friends of the family, for as long as Mikahil had been alive and the Syrians and Iraqis knew it was suicide to lay a finger on his cargo, they'd all learnt the hard way long ago.
That is what made the route so secure in the first place despite the war zone, rebels and terrorists alike were more shit scared of the Russians and their firepower than anything or anyone else.
That left the only option of the ambushers having a man, or men, on the inside, to tell them information on when they would be passing through.
"Fuck!" he cursed out loud this time, pulling his vest on and strapping it tight, with so little information he couldn't put it all together yet, did they just want the weapons? Or was their aim Akihito and his men?
It had to be the latter, no one in the Middle East had enough money to buy any of the men out just for weapons and risk the consequences, but the head of an Arbatov though, people would pay a fucking lot for that.
There weren't many options, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia were the most plausible. With Akihito's help, Mikhail's reach across the land mass was increasing, and it seemed people weren't happy about it.
He just needed to figure out who was unhappy enough to go this far.
Once he found them, everything they had, everything they were, and everything they would ever be, would be undone by his hands, not a blood relative would remain from the family once he was done.
The thought of desecrating the people responsible, made him genuinely happy, Mikhail smirked to himself as he continued getting ready, physically and mentally as he ran over what he would do to the people once he found them.
Once ready, and with his revelations in hand, he begrudgingly headed to Asami's rooms, he needed to tell the Japanese man what he'd come up with, and it bugged him.
It grated on him to admit that he needed Asami's help right now, because while him and Yuri made the calls to figure out where the trouble was coming from, they would be too busy to oversee choppers coming in and out of Vladikavkaz.
It fucking grated on him, because apart from Feilong, Asami and his team were the only other people on the fucking planet that he would trust with the task of overseeing operations to rescue his own flesh and blood.
Why would he trust Asami so much? Why?
Apart from Asami being inhumanly smart, ruthless and experienced, Mikhail saw it.
He saw that look of concern in Asami's eyes before it was swept under the crime lord mask they all wore.
He saw that moment of genuine distress the man went through before he reigned himself in, just as Mikhail had.
He fucking saw it, because Asami let him see it.
.
The hour was up, that feeling of deadly calm had carried him through the hour as Mikhail came to his quarters to tell Asami his conclusions, Asami's mood had grown darker as Mikhail went over each point in private, the severity of the situation rearing its ugly head.
From the information given, Asami came to the same conclusion as Mikhail, it was an inside job.
The last fact Mikhail presented him with, that this would be Akihito's first loss under his own command, only steeled Asami further, it was a big blow, for your first loss to come from the result of betrayal, such a big loss at that.
Whoever was pulling the strings would wish for a thousand deaths once Asami and Mikhail got their hands on them, Akihito was his, and he would wipe the people that tried to take Akihito away from him off the face of the earth.
The man that sold Akihito and his men out however, Akihito would deal with himself, Asami knew his fate would be much worse.
After they ran though it all, surprisingly, Mikhail appointed Asami command of operations once they touched down, because Mikhail and Yuri alike would be too busy contacting their connections to commit themselves fully.
The Russian never said why he would trust Asami with something so big, or with so much information, but the Japanese man could guess well enough.
With all that in mind and an agreeable peace between them, Mikhail and Asami finally stepped onto the 90ft long, sand colored helicopter.
That sense of stillness before the storm weighed heavy on all the men as they all stood around the aircraft, no one speaking, they had all been briefed, and nothing else needed to be said until they touched down in Vladikavkaz, though it was too loud for words anyway as the whine of the turbo shaft engine started and the 60ft rotor blades on each end started to turn, filling the air with deafening thunder claps as the blades went faster, and faster, whipping fabric against skin as it caused an oppressing downdraft on them all.
Asami and his men fit right in as they all boarded, there was no difference between Russian and Japanese right now, even if the Russians were curious as to why Asami was even here.
The last man stepped on and buckled himself in, and not soon enough, the giant helicopter was finally lifting off, on its way at last.
Mikhail said they could expect an update during their flight there, the first pair of Black Hawks were due to arrive in Turkish air space near the border half way through their flight, and true enough, after an hour, all the men in the chopper looked towards Mikhail as he held his hand up to hold his ear piece firmly in his ear, Asami did the same to the one that Mikhail had given him, covering his ear to better hear over the noise of the twin engines.
"Boss…We have word from the first pair of pilots, 10 men and 13 dead were found at the coordinates given, of the 10 alive, we have 2 critical and the rest have serious to moderate wounds….. Sergei is the highest ranking to be picked up, he said he wouldn't talk to anyone but Yuri or Mikhail in person. But he did say that Akihito forced the separation as a diversion for them to get out with the dead, and to continue with normal extraction procedures."
Both Mikhail and Asami looked at each other in understanding, the fact that the man said he wouldn't talk to anyone else confirmed Mikhail's theory, it also meant that Akihito knew and told Sergei, or the ambush was that obvious of a set up that Sergei figured it out on his own.
Either way, it was favorable news to continue as planned, so Asami and Mikhail sat next to each other for the next hour mulling it over, the feeling that the two bosses gave off much scarier to the men in the aircraft than any conflict situation would ever be.
.
As soon as the Chinook touched down, and the blades slowed enough to allow people to exit without knocking them over with the downdraft, everyone began filing out into the grounds of the airport compound on the outskirts of the outpost city.
This place, though it served as a place where the men under Mikhail's command lived, was nothing like the mansion back in Moscow, this place was a fortress of a building, where they also worked from, and going by it's size and equipment, the operations out of here weren't small, as Yuri said.
There was a one-story complex building with a flight tower on one end, next to an airstrip that could land multiple aircrafts at once, there were a few normal cars, but there were also armored 18 wheelers and Humvees in the hanger that opened out onto the air strip.
There was an out of action Black Hawk in there as well, multiple small aircraft, and a pair of F22 fighter jets, sleek and dangerous in all their glory.
"Those cost me a shit ton." Mikhail declared gruffly as he saw Asami admiring them, "but with good pilots, they've come in fucking handy."
He left after that, already putting his phone up to his ear to start his search for information.
He left the man under Yuri, Siegfried, with Asami incase there were language barriers, but there didn't seem to be any once Asami started giving out orders when he entered the control room, the Russians accepting his lead without question.
Even in this part of Russia, everyone knew who Asami Ryuichi was.
The pair of Black Hawks would be arriving back within the hour, the one with the living and dead, there were 2 more in the air at different intervals also, with an apache each as cover. It would be too late to send the first pair back after all, so it only meant 3 chances to pick them up, not 4 as Asami first thought.
Only 10 minutes Asami had been there, and they got word from the second Black Hawk, the pilot's voice came over the speaker in Russian, the guttural language that Asami didn't understand a word of, so Siegfried was forced to translate.
"They picked up another 10, all alive, at the coordinates given for the first pick up, Akihito is sending the men all to that spot when some have a chance to get out, there are enough vehicles for two more lots to get there, after that they will be forced to travel on foot and we will have to search properly."
"Was everyone still alive when they left the remaining 8?" Asami asked, his tone crisp and clear.
He waited for the Russian conversation to take place before Siegfried spoke in English again. "Yes, no more casualties, though Akihito's and Axel's vehicles were close enough to initial IED blast that everyone inside took some damage."
Asami catalogued it all, Akihito and Axel maintained command even under duress and injured at that, getting his men out before himself, even if he knew it was a set up.
That meant Akihito and the rest would have a harder time getting out than the rest.
"Have the apache hang back to secure the way out for the last of them, we only have one more chopper an hour off, they need the extra air support whether its been called for or not, I'm not leaving Akihito there for the night." He drawled the order in thought, once that last black hawk was there, it was out of his hands for the night, they just had to hope Akihito made it to the pick up location or the apache managed to give cover for the black hawk to go all the way in to lift them out.
The odds were good, they'd managed 2 for 2, and no one seemed to be panicking, which meant they all knew Akihito would pull it off.
None of it helped Asami's wrathful mood, however.
The order was relayed, and now they had to sit back and wait for the pair coming back, which landed 50 minutes later, organized chaos took control as they landed side by side, the giant helicopters whipping the dust and grit in front of the hangar into a frenzy before calming down again and allowing the waiting men to take their injured comrades from the air craft, some with broken limbs and some covered in blood of their own or someone else's.
Two more died on the 2 hour flight back, which brought the death count to 15, which was 15 too many. Everyone was quiet as they went about their tasks, Akihito's men grim in the face of losing so much, and being back at base, being able to do so little for those left behind.
The man called Sergei limped out, blood plastering his black hair to his face, as Mikhail came out from his office to oversee this part, his mood black as the bodies were taken from the aircrafts and laid down next to one another in death. Side by side even in the afterlife.
"Boss, Mikhail…" Sergei huffed, clutching his side and casting a questioning glance at Asami and his men, who were listening. Mikhail just nodded it was ok to keep going, the man relaxing visibly despite his pain.
"They knew exactly where to hit us, if Axel and Akihito hadn't swapped Humvees when we stopped for a break, they would have been hit in the first blast. Bossman said…" huff "…. not to let any survivors off base and to keep a watch on them at all times."
Sergei chuckled without mirth, a cold hollow sound, his grey eyes alight as he recalled events. "Stupid mother fuckers attacked a convoy that was transporting weapons, what did they think was going to happen. The Bossman blew most of them to pieces before they knew what was happening. They didn't expect him to live and act so quickly"
Mikhail's eyes lit with pride that he didn't try to hide, and Asami's lip curled in a smirk, Akihito had it under control, there was no doubt he'd be coming back on the last chopper.
The small rise in mood was lost as Mikhail told Sergei to go and get treatment, and he stepped up to the line of bodies being placed on the tarmac.
Mikhail severely surveyed each face, before writing it down and moving on, not irking from the task but not enjoying it either. As each man was laid in front of him on the concrete, limbs positioned respectfully, the mood only at the base only got worse.
Asami stood back with Kirishima and Suoh in silence, merely watching the display.
So many young men with potential, snuffed out. It was the nature of their job.
"FUCK!" Mikhail cursed, spitting the word with venom, as he came to the last two, who'd just been put down.
Everyone in the compound stopped what they were doing at Mikhail's distressed tone, on the verge of cracking.
"Fuck!" came the repeated curse as Mikhail leant down to close the eyes of the two men lying there.
He was angry, he was hurt, not for himself, but for Akihito, this was much worse than he thought.
Asami stepped forward, wondering what on earth could have Mikhail's mask slipping.
They stood next to each other as Asami looked down on faces of two men he'd met before.
Vlad and Kristof.
"Asami?" Mikhail queried after a prolonged silence.
"Hmm?"
There was a thoughtful silence again before Mikhail found the right words, "These two, could you imagine what it would be like to lose Suoh and Kirishima both at the same time?"
Asami didn't need to answer, the question hit him like knife to the gut, Asami was unshakeable, he'd proven it time and time again, his empire was built on the foundations of Suoh and Kirishima underneath him though, for Akihito to lose so much….
"Fuck." He said under his breath.
"Before I gave Akihito his position, before he had so much responsibility, Akihito, Axel, Vlad and Kristof were practically inseparable, they caused so much fucking trouble, I could never decide whether to kill them or join them." Mikhail narrated, his eyes and mind in a far away place as he remembered, "it's too early Asami, for him to lose this much."
Asami could only agree, Akihito might be doing fine now, while he was still in the situation, but he'd lost two key figures of his own organization, it was going to be hard on him for a long time, until he found people he could trust enough to fill in the gaps.
Everyone began moving once more, hesitant around Mikhail and Asami's prickly moods, the Russian turned to Asami now, his face stern, but honest.
"Asami, whatever… differences we have right now, are gone. I'll need to focus on my own business, as well as Akihito's. He can get through it, he's a tough little bastard, but it won't stop people from trying to pull shit."
"I'll help." Asami drawled, as if it were his plan from the start.
Rivals would take advantage of the weakness once word got out, so on top of dealing with the emotional baggage of losing so many comrades, Akihito would have to deal with people targeting his business.
Akihito and Axel were in for an extremely, extremely rough time.
The real fight wasn't now, it would be in the months to come.
People would be in for a nasty surprise though, to try interfering in Akihito's business, only to be met with a very unmerciful Asami Ryuichi.
"You're serious, aren't you?" Mikhail questioned, he didn't need to explain what he meant by it.
"I am."
The Blonde sighed, "When this shit is over, you and I are going to have a long talk."
"Dinner." Asami shot back.
"The fuck?"
"I want that dinner invitation Akihito told me about."
Mikhail barked a laugh this time, "Oho, you well get your fucking dinner invite, don't think you'd ever get out of it so easy, Asami."
"I look forward to it." It was Asami's turn to leave Mikhail standing alone, walking back to the control room to wait for word from the last pilot, which was due in an hour from now, the exact same time the second wave was due back.
After that, it would be a long 2 hour wait for the last black hawk, to hopefully come back with the last of the men.
The hour passed slow, but at last word came through, Asami choosing to stay in the communications room as the other black hawk touched down at base, Akihito wasn't on that aircraft, so he didn't care, Kirishima could take care of it.
All he cared about were the words coming over the speaker, in rough English.
"BH3 back to base, we have 10 man on board, I repeat we have 10 men on board, 8 of ours with two captives. Commencing flight back to base."
Everyone let out a breath at the words, and the tension that was hidden in the room, vanished completely.
The silence was cut short, as a new voice came over the speaker, Akihito's voice, no emotion, just plain command.
"Arbatov back to base, I want an air strike with the jets, two fly overs, one to blow the shipment up, and the second to blow those motherfuckers to smithereens."
The stern voice prattled off coordinates for multiple hit points, before he went back to talking again.
"…Put me on to Mikhail."
Asami took the microphone, he was in charge here, regardless if Akihito wanted to talk to him or not, he would have to.
"Your brother is occupied right now, I'm in charge of the operation." He said, keeping his tone unfamiliar.
"…. tell him, Saudi Arabia." He didn't sound surprised at all to hear Asami, because he didn't sound anything. He was blank.
Akihito cut the connection on his end, Asami could reply, but there was nothing he could say, not over air, so he left it, Okayed the airstrike and told Mikhail the news.
The roar of the fighter jets as they took off was magnificent even from the flight tower, and the speed in which they took off and disappeared from view was even more amazing, that was the only distraction Asami had during the two hour wait for Akihito to get back.
It was a long one, but at dusk the last chopper, and a pair of apaches came into view, the noise of the aircraft getting louder the closer they came to base.
The apaches landed far back, but the big black hawk landed on the helipad as all the survivors that were capable of walking came out to greet their boss, who by reports had done a remarkable job of getting that many men out alive.
Many said, that if it weren't for Akihito's quick thinking, and Axel's bravery, they would have all died.
It was an amazing feat, but it didn't make anything any better.
Not to Akihito, Asami could see that.
The world to Asami was silent, despite the blades on top of the chopper still turning as he watched Akihito step off the platform onto the ground, only after all the other men had disembarked with the prisoners confined amongst them.
Akihito waved away Axel's support, who looked to be in horrible shape anyway, his clothes torn, spattered with blood and mud, and not capable of giving any assistance even if he wanted too.
Akihito was much worse though, his left arm hung useless at his side, blood and sand plastering his blonde hair to his face, his white shirt soaked in the life essence of himself and his comrades, Asami could see the lacerations on his injured arm, the blood painting his skin down to his fingertips, his Kevlar vest was speckled with flesh, grit, and shrapnel.
His face though, was the worst, his cheekbone was gashed, it needed stitching, and it looked to be bleeding slowly still.
A gash to the cheek wasn't the cause of Asami's unease, it wasn't the cause of Mikhail's either, as they stood side by side away from the much needed reunion of boss and his men.
No, the gash was minor compared to the look in his eyes, that raucous young man was gone, Akihito hadn't died with his men in the carnage today, but from the look in his eyes, he might as well have.