Chapter Five - Desperate Measures
Minako tapped her foot to a familiar rhythm as she waited for the mole, a man by the name Belikov, to arrive. The data extracted by Mason and Lazar at Yamantau gave a critical piece of information to the team, Perseus was not operating under Soviet High Command, possibly even against them. Nothing in the KGB's records ever mentioned Perseus requesting resources or names, a clear sign he wasn't up to any good. The situation had escalated further than ever. Now, the CIA was taking a last resort, they were infiltrating Lubyanka. The CIA had a mole on the inside for years now, and they needed his help now more than ever. His role was to secure a bunker ID card and a pair of uniforms for Minakol and Adler, who waited in the coal tunnels under Lubyanka. Then, she and Adler would enter the bunker, and fight their way to the data storage center. Once there, they would extract everything they could get their hands on relating to Perseus. Then it was a matter of getting out alive.
"Never been here, what's it like?" Adler asked in a hushed tone. Minako thought for a moment, though she had been in Lubyanka many times, she barely remembered it. She remembered lots of field work, assassinations, infiltrations, theft, the black ops type work. At the same time, however, she remembered her time being dull, uneventful, and consisting mostly of doing paperwork and encrypting documents at Lubyanka.
"You know, I really don't remember." Minako sighed. "I do vaguely remember a store with imported goods, however. Probably misremembering things."
"Well, there is that toy store across the street." Adler softly chuckled. "Probably getting it confused with that."
"Yeah, maybe." Minako sighed. "I honestly wasn't here a whole lot. I was pulled for field work quite often, they said my codes were too good and soldiers had a lot of trouble deciphering them."
"Anything we should be worried about here?" Adler asked.
"Not really, this KGB, not GRU, so we're relatively safe." Minako answered. "Infact, since so much stuff here is soviet made, it probably won't even work. The miners have a joke about that, actually."
"Tell me."
"Okay, what is as big as a house, burns twenty litres of fuel every hour, puts out a shit load of smoke, and cuts an apple into three pieces?" Minako began, time for the punchline. "A Soviet mad machine designed to cut an apple into four pieces." Adler chuckled in response.
"That's a good one." Adler sighed. "I'd tell you one about the US but everyone who made one is in prison already."
"Eh, fair." Minako responded. "The reason why that one exists is because of how important the miners are to the country. They go to the Gulag, the country dies." Light flashed from outside the door, the signal. Minako and Adler got up and snuck over to the door, slipping out quietly. Minako slowly moved up to the woman standing to the left, er, right, of Belikov. Minako wrapped an arm around the woman's neck and placed a hand over her mouth, gripping tightly for a few moments before she stopped struggling. Minako then slipped into her uniform, the long skirt, shirt, and garrison cover she was so familiar with.
"How do I look?" Minako asked, adjusting her cover and wiping coal dust off the skirt.
"I think I now see why you said so many Soviet men were after you." Adler teased. Minako rolled her eyes.
"You look fine, Bell." Belikov responded, before seemingly pondering. "Say, do I know you?"
"I don't think so, I used to work at Lubyanka so it may be possible." Minako responded. Again, that didn't feel right.
"Ah, I understand." Belikov responded. "Here's your gear. If anyone stops you, say that your commander is Sobol. They won't be happy when you get in the bunker, so be ready."
"Understood, stay frosty Belikov." Adler stated. The two left the basement, slowly making their way up to the first floor. Once they reached security, they approached the metal detectors, but walked past instead, opting to go in through the security office.
"What are you doing? Everyone goes through the metal detectors." A soldier called out.
"We were approved to go past by Commander Sobol." Minako explained. The soldier didn't bother listening.
"Come with me." He stated. "Go through the checkpoint." Minako and Adler stepped through, activating the detectors.
"Place your bags on the table." Another soldier requested. Minako did as she was told. Just as the soldier was about to inspect it, Belikov saved the day. He dismissed the soldier and searched the bag himself, pretending not to find any contraband. Thank god Belikov was experienced. Belikov let them through, allowing Minako and Adler to reach the Elevator. Just as the two were about to go down to the bunker, a man stopped the elevator. He was bald, a large beard on his face like a bush. He stood with an imposing presence that took over the energy in any room, the proverbial elephant in the room. This man was Imran Zakhaev, not a man she wanted to mess up in front of. He watched the two, looking over their faces, an intense look over his face.
"Hmm, fresh faces. When did you get here?" he asked.
"Just now, actually, we're going to give a report on a field operation to our commander." Minako answered before Adler did anything rash.
"Hmmm, and who do you answer to again?" Zakhaev asked. Shit, who did Belikov say to respond to that with? Can't be Utkind or Petrov, that's definitely not right.
"Commander Sobol. We report to Commander Sobol." Minako responded. Zakhaev overlooked the two, smiled, then opened the elevator.
"Why, I have an appointment with him right now!" He excitedly stated. "I'll be sure to send him your regards." He left the elevator and it closed. Adler breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's assholes like him we have to look out for." Adler stated, pulling his gear out of his bag. "Who was that guy anyway? We didn't have any intel saying he'd be here."
"That was Imran Zakhaev, the terror of the Eastern Bloc." Minako explained, pulling her own gear out of her bag. "He's known for even more brutal torture than even Kravchenko. Even the higher ups are terrified of him, he doesn't even work for the government, he's an independent worker." Minako finished changing into her combat gear, a red canvas jacket, black jeans, combat boots, and a pair of leather fingerless gloves.
"Christ, sounds like a handful." Adler grimaced. "We're here, they won't be happy to see us." The doors opened, revealing a group of Soviet soldiers running security. Almost immediately, the group came under fire from the duo. Minako and Adler rushed through the bunker, taking stops to shoot at Soviets, taking a single stop to plant charges. Eventually, the pair were at the bunker vault, ready to extract the intel they needed. Adler set up the download while Minako prepared her piece-of-resistance, a PKM she brought specifically for this part of the mission. Soviet troops began to file into the one door that led into the vault, and Minako just so happened to have a big-ass machinegun. Minako let loose as the files downloaded, taking a solid minute, ending once Minako ran out of ammo.
"Alright, we got what we came for, let's bail." Adler stated, sliding the floppy disk with the intel into his bag. Minako and Adler rushed through the bunker once more, this time in relative darkness, still making it through.
"WE HAVE YOUR FRIEND! SURRENDER NOW!" a Soviet soldier yelled.
"Time for plan B, Bell, get the gas ready." Adler stated. "I keep you covered, you get a mask on Belikov." Bell nodded as she put her mask on and prepared one for Belikov. Minako set off the gas, the green cloud spewing into the elevator lobby. The two burst in, Adler shooting at anyone already wearing a mask while Minako put one on Belikov and cut him free.
"Thank you, it seems I didn't cover all of my tracks." Beliko stated.
"Not an issue at all, let's get going." Adler stated. "There's a surprise for us in the lift." It was heavy armor, perfect. The three suited up and prepared for the battle ahead. With their armor, the Soviets didn't stand a chance. The three shrugged off mounds of bullets, enough to arm a small revolution, and still kept going. The three made it to the escape, leaving Lubyanka behind. Minako ripped off her helmet and mask, breathing deeply, filling her lungs with the crisp air of the escape car. They had what they needed, it was time to go after Perseus.
Shinjiro Aragaki, well, now Shinjiro Kirijo, was rather concerned about his wife. Since she found out Minako was alive, Mitsuru hadn't been sleeping, eating, or interacting with her family, she was intently focused on using the Shadow Operative's resources to find her, and bring her back to Japan. It seemed that she just didn't know it was a possibility, not after what she did. But Mitsuru persisted, all she seemed to want was just to get Minako back to Iwatodai. Shinjiro could tell, her lunch was uneaten, as with every other meal.
"You're going to kill yourself if you don't eat, Mitsuru." Shinjiro sighed. "Please, take a break."
"Aigis will have something soon, I know it." Mitsuru responded. "You can just give it to the kids."
"Mitsuru, Fuuka couldn't even find anything, and you know how powerful Juno is." Shinjiro retorted.
"What about that coded message?" Mitsuru asked. "Did she decode that?"
"It's too good for her. And even if she could break the code, it's in a mix of Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and god knows how many Yugoslavic languages." Shinjiro sighed. "You're working yourself to death." Mitsuru paused for a moment. She gave a letter to Shinjiro.
"Read it, the CIA gave it to me, maybe that will change your mind." Mitsuru stated. Shinjiro opened the letter. It was about Minako, obviously. It spoke of how the CIA was dealing with her, specifically, how they modified her memories to forget about Personas, The Dark Hour, SEES, anything related to the darker side of her High School years, and how they intended to keep her under their watch.
"Well, maybe it's a good thing she won't be returning." Shinjiro stated. "Did you ever stop to think why she left the country?"
"She was radicalized at a young age, she wanted to find answers, and she found them in the Marxist-Leninist way of life." Mitsuru responded.
"No, she wasn't radicalized, she chose it of her own will." Shinjiro stated. "Sure her foster parents were Socialist, but that's what they were, Socialist. Life gave her Socialism, she chose Communism."
"Is that truly what you believe, or is it your old flame talking?" Mitsuru asked, a tender, understanding voice in her tone. Shinjiro sighed.
"I know her, she saved my life, I owe her mine." Shinjiro stated. "And if that means believing she chose her path, so be it." Mitsuru set her pen down and sighed softly.
"Shinjiro, if she came back to Japan, would she be happy?" Mitsuru asked. Shinjiro thought for a moment.
"No, I think she would be worse off here than in the USSR." Shinjiro responded. "Sure, the Soviet Union isn't in the best of shapes right now, it's on the brink of collapsing, but that's where her fundamental beliefs lie. If we brought her here, we would be forcing her to live against those beliefs."
"You're right." Mitsuru sighed. "I'm not stopping though, but I am going to slow down. I'll call off Aigis' field work." A knock came to the door of the office. Mitsuru opened it, revealing their oldest child, Hibiki.
"Mom, Dad? There's someone here who wants to see you. He says he's a friend of a friend." Hibiki stated. "He's in the living room right now."
"Thank you, we'll go talk to him." Mitsuru stated. Shinjiro nodded and followed Mitsuru to the living room. Standing there was a man wearing a pair of black slacks, a black blouse with a blue and white striped tank top underneath, and a black overcoat. His hair was greying, combed back neatly, with an equally greyed and neat moustache sitting just on top of his upper lip, looking like a comb. Despite his neat appearance, his smell was quite pungent, smelling like typewriter ink, oil, gunpowder, and blood all rolled into one repulsive stench. It was clear to them that this man was a Soviet Spy.
"Ah, you two must be the Kirijos, Minako told me much about you." The Spy stated.
"Not good things, I assume?" Mitsuru asked as more of a statement of facts. The Spy chuckled softly.
"No, quite the opposite actually." The Spy stated. "Mitsuru, she said that, despite how much she hated you, she had to admit you were beautiful, smart, and were the best hope for your corporation."
"She said that? After all she blames me for?" Mitsuru asked. The Spy nodded.
"At first, she only said awful, horrible things, but I taught her to be humble, to blame the system of Capitalism and the states that follow it, not those who perpetuate it." The Spy explained. "As for you, Shinjiro, she said you were her biggest regret, that she didn't stay with you."
"What did she say?" Shinjiro asked. This was the first news of Minako he'd heard from someone truly close with her, he had to know.
"She said you were what kept her going." The Spy answered. "She doesn't care what you do with your life, you could become the leader of every Capitalist state in the world, and she wouldn't care. As long as you lived without the burden of your relationship with her, she would be happy." She really said that? She really didn't care if he went against her beliefs? She really did love him.
"I didn't understand, at first." The Spy stated. "I had no clue why she would be happy even if you went so far from what she believed in. But she explained to me that bonds are what give us strength, especially love. She said that love is not just wanting to be with someone, but also wanting them to be happy, which means you should put their happiness before your own. She loved you, Shinjiro, she still does, the CIA just took that away." Shinjiro felt tears begin to roll onto his cheeks.
"Let's change the subject." Mitsuru humbly sighed. "I assume you came here to tell us something?"
"Yes, something important regarding Minako." The Spy began. "I will have her back soon, and she won't be coming to Japan. She will be safe though, not unharmed, but safe. You have my word."
"Will we get to see her, ever?" Shinjiro asked.
"Yes, but you won't speak with her." The Spy explained. "You can watch it all happen at Solovetsky, but do not interfere, it may be disastrous to her mental state. I must be going now, I have a flight to catch."
"One last question, are you this Perseus person who helped Minako defect?" Mitsuru asked.
"No." The spy responded. "Perseus is not one, but many. I must go now." The Spy left without another word. Hibiki walked into the room after The Spy left.
"What was that about? You seem sad, father." Hibiki asked. Shinjiro wiped tears off his face.
"Closure." Shinjiro stated. "He gave us closure."
A/N: Yay another chapter! I'm glad I'm getting this one finished, I'm really excited to start the second half of the MW stuff, and possibly some alternate timelines to this series. And yes, Minako and Shinjiro were in a relationship before Minako defected. Originally, I didn't want to reveal this until Break on Through, but I decided to do so now, for two reasons, one, I wanted to touch on how Mitsuru reacted to Minako being alive, and two, I didn't have a Perseus snippet planned (though this felt better than doing that soooo). Just a few more chapters and the epilogue to go, I hope you enjoy and have a great day!