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Nuclear Bloodshed

With the power of nuclear technology at their hands, the Terran Empire seemed to be doomed to fall into the lure of ultimate power. All other nations would shake at the threats of these new weapons, instantly agreeing to whatever the Terrans demanded. This new-found advantage would surely be used to guarantee the ultimate Terran world.

Thus, the first thing Commander Anthony did was to lock up his nuclear arsenal and give part of the launch codes to General Cain, trusting the soldier with the ability to destroy the entire world if he so desired. But why give it to Cain, and not Takeshi? Takeshi was easily the more cunning of the two Generals, but he was far too manipulative for Anthony's understanding. The strategist would use the weapons freely to bring a quick end to any war, regardless of the losses. Cain was the more level-headed and loyal one, trusting his Commander with his life. So, it was only right for Anthony would trust Cain with a part of the nuclear launch codes.

It was absolutely logical to not pick Rorke or Abe either. None of them would have the steady and willing mental state to hold the greatest weapon in the world in their hands peacefully. Parliament protested this decision and wanted a greater division of this nuclear power, stating that at least three different people should own the launch codes. Anthony respectfully ignored this protest.

One must always remember as well that the arrival of nuclear weaponry also signaled the arrival of nuclear power technology. During the first half of Year 7, General Rorke and his team of fellow scientists worked on and built the first nuclear power plant in this world's history, providing enough energy to power up an entire city alone. While many were still cautious about the dangers of nuclear technology, citizens of the Terran Empire came to slowly accept the role of nuclear technology in their lives, giving them the power to use all their electronics with little worry of shortage or pollution.

Speaking of pollution, it was during the beginning of Year 7 did a semi-green movement emerge in Parliament. Some noticeable lords had announced their support for a cleaner environment for Terran citizens to live in, ranging from water safety to garbage disposal. Normally, Commander Anthony would read the report, scoff, and move on to other more pressing issues. So it was somewhat understandable how he missed the part advocating for public nuclear usage, such as in sealed batteries or canisters. But despite this statement, it was truly a missed danger.

Parliament, without any restrictions from the Terran Commander, passed a law granting legal usage of radiated material for public usage. A horrible idea, as it legalized the ability for common purchase of nuclear cores for anyone in the Terran Empire. Consequences soon followed this act. In March of Year 7, barely a month from the passage of this new act, a nuclear explosion engulfed a military base near a civilian population. The result was massive death counts, millions of credits in property lost, and a shocked population. When investigated by General Rorke through material examination, it was determined to have been done on purpose.

After hearing from Rorke about this cause, Anthony immediately cracked down on Parliament and forced them to revoke the nuclear materials act, so nobody could purchase such dangerous items outside of the military's experimental weapon department. But it was too late, as reports streamed in claiming that there was already a huge supply of these dangerous materials in circulation on a black market. The only way to stop any further threats, Anthony determined, was to shut down this black market before it got into even more dangerous hands.

However, there was no way this underground network could be shut down by brute force. No, it had to be taken out with precision and discretion. Thus, General Takeshi and the War Pigs were tasked with taking out the market.

O O O

July 7th, Year 7

"…so I said to him, 'why don't you try chewing on this bullet?"" Will finished and his comrades all laughed, jostling around unarmored in the truck. The Private First Class beamed and turned to face General Takeshi to see his reaction to the story.

The strategist's hood was up, easily covering his face in shadows. But the War Pig could see the mouth, and it was tucked in a rather grim line as the General was not amused by the joke. It was quite eerie, because that was the exact same position Will saw him in a few hours ago when they started out on the trip. With a shiver, Will turned back the other way and rejoined his colleagues in their laughter.

After another few minutes of bumping up and down the truck, it finally shuddered to a stop, tires grinding on a rough road. There was a brief clatter as the weapons toppled onto the floor, but the elite soldiers quickly grabbed up all the guns before too much noise was made. There was a brief moment of clicking as the firearms were examined and checked in preparation. After another brief moment, the doors to the truck flung wide and the men inside were greeted by Gunnery Sergeant Salem and Staff Sergeant Matthew, both of them unarmored and carrying their own sniper rifles.

In two rows, the War Pigs squad piled out of the old truck with General Takeshi exiting last. From pure instinct, the Marines immediately moved out and began securing a rough perimeter around the truck despite a lack of any heavy defensive equipment. Takeshi gave a slight nod of approval at the activity, and then looked around, taking in the surroundings and calculating any possible ambushes.

Around the soldiers of the Terran Empire was a giant grouping of old and derelict buildings, many of them bearing graffiti or broken windows. Vehicles lay abandoned to the side, left by their owners as well as any other large items. Takeshi could already spot a sofa and a giant clock thrown out onto the dusty sidewalk! The street was absolutely deserted and devoid of life, which made sense considering this was the abandoned district of the city nearby.

Without any noisy civilians around, this area was perfect for an underground market of illegal goods. It would seemed that the informant was right.

"Alright, General, how do you want to do this?" Salem asked, hoisting his rifle. "My men are ready to begin sweeping the buildings-"

"There is no need for that. The entrance and password have already been given to me to get into this market." Takeshi shifted, placing a hand on his sword's hilt. "I only need two of your best and inconspicuous men to accompany me into the danger zone."

"So that's why you wanted us to go into the zone unarmored. Are you sure sir?" At the General's nod of confirmation, the leader of the War Pigs turned and considered the options. "They may be inexperienced, but they would most certainly blend in with any shady crowd. Will, Des, follow the General and his orders!"

"Yes sir!" The two soldiers chorused and jogged over to the General.

"Once we get in, surround the building and do not allow anybody else to escape. That is all," Takeshi told Salem, who saluted and walked briskly back to the other War Pigs, barking out orders. The swordsman turned and faced his two followers, frowning at the weapons in their hands. "No primary firearms, though I suppose secondary would be allowed considering it is an illegal market. The C-14 rifle especially, because only War Pigs are known for being able to use those without any aid from power armor."

"This is going to suck," PFC Will muttered under his breath, stowing away his trusty C-14 into the truck. Des followed suit, placing his hand instead on his blaster on his hip as his AGR-14 slid smoothly on the truck's floor. "Okay, anything else we have to strip ourselves for?"

"No. From here on out, act like some hired guns and don't talk," Takeshi ordered and the two War Pigs nodded. He took a quick look at the other soldiers, catching Salem's eye and nodding in confirmation. With everything ready, the strategist General started walking down the street with his retinue of Marines in tow.

As they passed derelict buildings, Takeshi took several deep breaths and resisted the urge to place a hand on his blade's hilt while they walked. He needed to maintain a calm appearance, in the unlikely case the criminals placed out a lookout in these buildings. Of course, logically the lookout would've already seen the War Pigs drive in and alerted the underground market, having them disappear within minutes into a variety of hidden exits. But, as Takeshi learned from experience, expect the illogical or chaotic.

Finally, the group of Terrans spotted an alleyway that was tucked slyly between the streets. Within the alleyway was what looked to be an entrance to a basement below the main building. Jackpot. If any criminal had brains in him, that underground level was perfect considering its primary entrance was well hidden.

The three men carefully and silently moved down the alleyway and descended the short flight of stairs, entering a narrow hallway with a large metal door at its end. The hooded swordsman gave a slight nod to each of the Marines, indicating the time was upon them. Then he knocked the door.

With a loud clang, a slide of metal was swept to the side as a pair of eyes peered out at the newcomers. "What's be this?" The question.

"Are there some apples for sale?" The password.

"Come in." The metal slide slammed back into its proper place and several clicking noises were heard as the locks were undone. Eventually, the metal door creaked open, allowing for the three men to squeeze into the small market area in the basement.

What they saw on sale could've convicted any unlicensed citizen at least nine lifetimes in jail. Assault rifles, small arms, knives, grenades, explosives, shotguns, snipers were just a few of the products displayed. The two War Pigs whistled in wonder as Takeshi remained emotionless as always. Even the personal armory of General Cain didn't have these many weapons on display!

"Come, come! I sell only the ones in good condition!"

"No, over here! These ones are the latest versions!"

"Hey, I'll throw in a few clips of ammo in with your purchase!"

The three carefully weaved their way around the small crowds in the market, catching the attention of many shifty eyes as potential new blood. When he bumped into a person, Will could feel the criminal feeling for his blaster pistol strapped to his thigh. Without ever looking down, the War Pig's hand snatched the offending hand and squeezed, causing the bones in the criminal's wrist to slowly crack. The man cursed and withdrew his hand, nursing it with the other. But even then, there were still an awful lot of bodies standing close.

Eventually, Takeshi spotted the potential target, a shop vendor with a weird tattoo on his face. The General caught the eyes of his escort and gave a slight head gesture, his hood dipping slightly as he did so. The trained soldiers nodded in response and dispersed into the crowd, blending in with the shady crowd without any notice. Takeshi checked to make sure his sword was ready and strolled up to the vendor, making a great show of examining the weapons on sale.

"You see something you want?" The tattooed man asked, his grin showing a few holes in his teeth. "I can give you the best price there is for them in here."

"No, I don't think these would do," The hooded man answered, leaning forwards to the vendor. "Rather, I'm looking for something that would have more of a…kick to it, if you know what a mean."

"Ah, I get you." The criminal tapped his nose and rummaged around behind the counter, taking out a crate. Inside, several grenades wobbled around in their metal molds. "These weren't exactly easy to get, but you'll get a reduced price for knowing who to come to."

Takeshi picked up one of the explosive spheres and experimentally tossed it around before returning it to the mold. "Impressive, but I don't think that they'll do either. I'm looking for something big, something that would cause a bang!" He gestured wildly with his hands to emphasize the point.

By now, the shop keeper's eyes had narrowed in suspicion of this customer. "How big do you want the explosion?"

"Oh, nothing too big." Takeshi let out a sinister chuckled, adding to the effect of the next few words. "I just want something nuclear."

For a few heartbeats, none of the two moved. All around them, the criminals continued shopping for firearms and explosives, a low mumble between customer and seller. The patting of feet on the dusty ground and clink of weaponry seemed to echo as the vendor considered Takeshi's request. Eventually, he nodded and took out a silver briefcase from under the counter.

"No special discount I'm afraid. These things are far too low in supply to give out cheaply."

"That's not a problem." His gloved hands slightly shook as they undid the latches on the briefcase and opened up the container. Takeshi's eyes slightly widened at the sight of not one, but three nuclear cores in the case. One alone would level an entire city! "You have three in stock?"

"Let's just say I bought them in bulk." The criminal gave Takeshi a slight wink. "So, where do you intend to make a bang at?"

"That isn't public knowledge, I'm afraid. Can't have the government get paranoid of me being active again." The briefcase was slammed back shut, the latches quickly attached back on.

"Oh, are you that notorious?" The vendor leaned in, and then frowned as he finally got a good look at the face under the hood. "In fact, who are you? I know I've seen you before somewhere."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Will appear at the neighboring shop, examining the goods on sale with a hand on his blaster. The strategist already knew that Des was probably doing the same thing on the other side. His hand reluctantly left the briefcase, but soon rejoiced as it felt the hilt of his sword, the trigger on his scabbard. "Yes, you would've seen me before, probably in a poster. After all, I'm General Takeshi of the Terran military."

"What?!" The vendor jerked back in horror and tried grabbing the case with the nuclear cores, but it was too late for him.

With a loud gunshot noise, Takeshi's blade slid out of the scabbard with impossible speed and cleanly sliced through flesh and bone. With a loud scream, the seller fell backwards clutching the stump that used to be his arm. With a loud shout, the two War Pigs jumped over their respective shop's wares, kicked the vendors out, and took cover behind the counter with their side arms drawn.

And then everything exploded into gunfire, as everyone was suddenly alerted to the presence of an enemy in their midst. Takeshi smoothly grabbed the case and slid over the counter top like his escorts, crouching behind the counter with his hand on his sword. He felt a tug at his feet and saw the pleading eyes of the vendor who held the cores. With a noise of disgust, he kicked the man's face away and focused on the ongoing battle.

"Will, catch!" Lance Corporal Des shouted and threw a firearm from his shop. PFC Will caught the weapon, a stolen C-14 rifle, and checked its clip. Not as smooth and familiar feeling like his gun, but it would do. Leaning up against the solid stone counter, Will gritted his teeth and blind fired over the top.

"General, we're going to need backup!" The War Pig shouted and the strategist shook his head, pointing at the silver briefcase right next to him.

"Keep this safe and make sure nothing pierces it. I'll scatter the lot here." When Will gave him a questioning look, Takeshi answered with a smirk of knowing and jumped over the counter.

Immediately, all the guns were retrained on him and they fired. Moving swiftly and smoothly cover to cover, the General traversed the various shops as bullets flew just right past him. He saw a criminal close by take aim, only to fall backwards in shock as a well-placed rifle shot pierced his cranium. But that was only one down out of the dozens that must be here.

When Takeshi finally closed the distance between a group of shooters and him, the grip on his scabbard tightened as the blade slid out smoothly and silently, without the aid of the booster. With several quick strokes, the General's gloves became coated in blood as men nearby were sent reeling in pain from inflicted wounds. But they still tried to fight, drawing out knives and lunging. Immediately, the blade was sent back into the scabbard, but came back out with another loud bang as the trigger was pulled, the metal singing as it sliced through bodies in a fine mist of blood.

Several loud thumps were heard as the chopped up parts crashed into the floor, a rather gruesome fate for the victim's end. Such was the power that Takeshi wielded with his blade and scabbard. Barely even taking a moment to catch his breath, the General disappeared back into a blur as he moved onto the next group. However, Lance Corporal Des could spot the faint bullet holes in his cloak and the blood seeping through in some of those holes.

"Move up! I can defend the briefcase by myself" Des shouted and Will nodded, the Private First Class sliding over the top of the counter to help Takeshi. Will's "borrowed" C-14 kept firing, pausing only to reload or to take close aim at any danger to Takeshi as the man crashed into another group, the light glinting off his blade as it sang its song of death.

After another group of criminals was slashed to pieces, Takeshi stopped and turned to the remaining of enemies. A mocking smile touched his face as he spread out his arms in a very taunting gesture. "I must say, you are all little more than mere packrats!"

With a loud roar of anger, some of the criminals took the bait and charged him. Takeshi's eyes narrowed as he realized the ones charging weren't any run of the mill thieves, but experienced guns for hire. The strategist breathed in deeply, and then counter attacked the charge with his sword, a loud gunshot being heard as he switched to the two-handed style.

In a blinding flash of light from his blade, flesh and steel melted before him as the opponents were cut into multiple pieces at blinding speeds. It was only when Takeshi finally sheathed his sword did the bodies collapsed into chunks of human, the speed of gravity unable to match the speed of Takeshi's augmented blade. The scene was quite a gruesome site, a lone cloaked swordsman standing among torn bodies.

That was the breaking point for the criminals as they watched their friends disintegrate before the General. Many of them dropped their weapons, got on their knees, and pleaded for mercy. Others tried fleeing through the wide variety of exits already in place, but would be eventually get caught by the War Pigs on the outside. The black market had been taken out in a single brilliant stroke.

Unfortunately, the medical team afterwards checked and immediately hospitalized General Takeshi. He had several bullet wounds and was suffering a severe loss of blood. Minor surgery was required to remove any lingering shrapnel in his limbs, so his stay in the hospital was considerably extended. He would miss the next major international event to his great displeasure.

A/N: You guys are awesome. Over a 100 favorites? I could've never dreamed of this becoming so well received! Thank you!