BUSINESS IS BUSINESS

The objective of Hans' first mission was relatively simple: plant a bomb in his current workplace and take the CEO hostage. He was allowed to have three of the men who worked for the Volksfrei with him, along with any weapons he felt he needed. Herr Fuchs informed Hans just before concluding their interview that he would be closely monitoring Hans the entire time, although he refused to specify how.

Of course, this put Hans in a bit of a pickle. He would have forever screwed up his chances of promotion at his old job, and it also meant he was fully tied to whatever money he could make working for the Volksfrei. Naturally, this was exactly what Herr Fuchs was hoping for when he set Hans up for his first mission. In terms of physical difficulty, it shouldn't too difficult for him, as long as he stayed with whomever he picked for the task. All the other men in the Volksfrei had many years of experience to refine their skills. Even Fritz, who was their newest member after him, had no less than five years of terrorism under his belt. His strengths were physical combat, as well as great marksmanship and incredible swiftness and agility. This was probably due to the fact that at the tender age of fifteen, Fritz had joined a neighbourhood gang and by twenty-one had participated in countless gang fights. His first murder had been at the age of seventeen, when he'd slit the rival gang leader's throat after the latter had set fire to his house and attempted to rape his then-girlfriend.

Impressed by Fritz's physical abilities, Hans decided to invite him along on his first mission. Fritz shrugged at that and replied, "Don't worry, I got your back if you get yourself killed out there."

Knowing Fritz, that was probably his idea of being reassuring. He wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the room, but he seemed capable of carrying out basic orders with no problem.

There was no question that Hans would also have Karl come with him. After all, it was thanks to the blond-haired man that Hans got the job in the first place, and the guy seemed pretty good at whatever he was doing. Later, he would realise Karl was also a great marksman and fighter, but he was also surprisingly tenacious and had great physical strength. The rippling muscles were only the tip of the iceberg when it came to Karl's physical abilities. Hans wondered what else he hadn't noticed about his friend during their days as children. Then again, eleven-year-old Hans never would have guessed that Karl could sneak across a border as heavily guarded as the Berlin Wall and live to tell the tale, either.

They also took on board another man, Heinrich. Although he wasn't much in the fighting department, he had extensive knowledge on how explosives worked. He was also a chemistry genius at school, which had led to him being constantly teased, beaten up and labelled a nerd by other kids while he was in school. Having finally snapped with the death of his parents, Heinrich became obsessed with making his own bombs and exacting revenge on the world that had turned a blind eye to him when he was suffering.

Hans turned to the other three men. "Good luck, gentlemen," he said, for want of anything better to say. Fritz scoffed, believing him to be a runt that wouldn't last for very long. However, Karl gave him a thumbs-up sign and Heinrich bid him good luck in return.

Guns in tow, the three terrorists jumped into their car and began the short drive to Hans' old workplace.

*At Hans' former workplace...*

The poor journalism department had no idea what had hit them. Hans slipped into the building as an employee, while Karl and Fritz entered with guns blazing. Despite there being only two gunmen, everyone was quickly terrified into submission. At this point, Hans drew his pistol (a semi-automatic, although he had never used one before. Karl had only just shown him how to properly hold one, and he just hoped he wouldn't have to shoot anyone today).

He demanded to see the CEO, a request that was instantly granted. Fritz and Karl accompanied him to the CEO's office while Heinrich set to work on the bombs.

The terrified CEO at first attempted to resist, but was instantly silenced by Karl pistol-whipping him. Fritz proceeded to gag and bind him, while Karl held the pistol to the man's head should he attempt to escape. Hans informed the CEO, who was sweating buckets and attempting to plead for mercy through the gag, that he was being 'punished' for using false stories to sully the names of politicians he personally didn't like.

They forced the man into their getaway car just as Heinrich had armed the bomb. As Heinrich leapt into their getaway car and they began speeding away, the entire building exploded. Hans stared out of the window, knowing he had just killed most of his colleagues and old friends. He felt a twinge of guilt, but it was quickly suppressed by Karl clapping him on the back and telling him he did a good job.

Hans couldn't help but smile.

A/N: Terribly sorry about the long wait, I had a terrible case of writer's block! This is the first action scene I've ever written, even if it is a relatively short one, so I hope you guys enjoyed it!