A/N:
Here's the latest chapter. Only reason this one took a bit more than a month is because of the one-shot.
Special thanks to Fawkes Kleiffen and Orthros both for helping me find some grammatical errors. There were more than usual this time around, which is probably due to me being distracted with finals.
"…" - Spoken dialogue
Italics - Michael's thoughts
'Italics' - Telepathic dialogue
/\/\/\ - Lemon Scene
"Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person... is at stake..."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Ch. 41 - Stepping Out of the Shadows
"I'm sorry to call you all in on such short notice, but there's been a change of plans," Colonel Hawkins stated. "It's a complicated matter, but we feel that it is one best acted upon sooner rather than later, despite our prior plans to hold off on any engagement."
"What's going on?" John asked.
"Using Allison Roux's list of contacts, we found one that had ties to a significant criminal ring within Goldenrod, and one that has been investigated on numerous occasions in the past."
"Is it enough to put Delta away for good?" Michael asked.
"No, not on its own. The contact of interest is not the head of the snake. He's only played a very minor role within Delta's operations. Most likely they don't even know what he and his superiors are involved in, though they likely have an interest in Delta succeeding." The Colonel looked visibly distressed - even more so than usual - and everyone present was wondering what the hell they had stumbled into. Unfortunately, they learned just that.
"The contact's name is Javier Ricardo. As you can tell, he's a long way away from Orre. Used to belong to the special forces group 'Los Cazacabezas.' Guess he figured out that he could make more working for cartels and the like rather than his own government. Right now, he's a hired gun for whoever pays. He and some of his associates are currently working as protection for an underground group known as 'the Playhouse.'"
"Arceus… please don't tell me…" Zaire muttered.
"I'm afraid so. Douglas Stone's crew had nearly cleaned them out, actually. But since then they've been making a comeback, and as you can see, they've done well remaining hidden. Everything they do is backed by state-of-the-art encryption, and any agents sent in to collect information tend to end up with a bullet in them. It doesn't help that they always meet in a different area, either. The police sent in a guy just a few months ago to go undercover, and he managed to swallow the data drive as he attempted to escape. He didn't make it out, but now we have a little information on them. Most the time they're only active online, but every once in awhile it seems like the sick bastards want to do more than just watch. They will have a convention this weekend at the community center right off of Varick Avenue, the likes of which will probably be one of their largest. The flash drive had mentioned a movement of around fifty girls between the ages of eight and fourteen."
"What the hell…" Thomas said.
"Secretary Stryker and I have spoken in great detail about the matter. We wanted to hold off and take Delta out in a surprise attack, but we think that it'd be best to move in on this for several reasons. The Playhouse is already in a risky enough market to the point where Delta wouldn't be alarmed if we killed them all off, Javier included. Something like this is bound to happen to them. That and the fact that this is the best shot that anyone's had at this group leads us to believe that we are obligated to act in this situation."
"I'd say that's a good call," Kevin said. "So I'm guessing there won't be any prisoners this time around?"
"Both Secretary Stryker and the president have directly ordered us not to take any."
"Good," Thomas said. "That's real good."
"They deserve far more, but the priority is obviously the hostages. I can't imagine what those young girls have been through, but it's about time we put a stop to it. We're rolling out in two days, so be ready. The Twenty-Eight Squad will be teaming up with us on the raid, along with the army. We shouldn't have any problem killing every single adult in that building."
"So we can expect to see this Javier, then. Him and his crew," Alex said.
"Of course. They're dangerous, so all of you will need to proceed with utmost caution."
"Obviously. How're we going about this? Are we sneaking in there or what?" asked John.
"Submachine guns are out of the question. Javier's crew is always pretty decked out, so I'd expect them to be wearing some body armor. Rifles are going to be the way to go, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to take out some of the enemies silently. Zaire should be a massive help in that regard. Suppressed .45's are your best bet short of breaking their necks."
"So we're sneaking in there at first, but it's fine if we use rifles?"
"I'm counting on it for Javier's crew. Whatever works easiest for y'all, but if there is any intel in the area, I would like to have that secured before they have the opportunity to destroy it. Once that's done and the hostages are freed, we can all but bring the building down for all I care."
And they had no qualms about doing that, either. It wouldn't have been the first time. But even after they had all the details laid out - including the very map of the community center - there still was no telling what all they would face once they infiltrated the building. The largest concern would be the cameras that would undoubtedly be set in various areas, so they were each equipped with EMP jammers in order to place the cameras on a continuous loop. But they would need to move quick, as paying close attention to the feed would surely raise suspicion. As such, they would need to move quick and in a calculated manner.
Once they had been dismissed, Michael sighed to himself, having promised to at least attempt to make things right. But he already had the feeling that there was still resentment on her part due to the fact that she refused to look in his general direction over the course of the briefing. It wasn't much different when they were headed out the door, and as the Reapers left, she had deliberately ignored him when he'd tried to get her attention. It didn't take her long to disappear within the large building, and it was clear that it was done in an effort to avoid him. Oh, you little fucking… He stopped his train of thought with a sigh, knowing that he was already taking the wrong approach. I'm not gonna get anywhere being like that. He just couldn't understand why she refused to even try to be civil about this. Yeah, he had punched her, but she had said some stuff too. The zoroark wasn't without blame either, and she knew it. But he supposed that he couldn't force her to talk things over.
This mission, though, was more of a concern at the moment. He could see it among everyone else's faces in the room. Douglas Stone had resorted to selling people, but this would be the Reapers' first encounter with this sort of crowd. The instructions were clear: anyone in the building was to die. The receptionist, the traffickers, and even those attending the event were all going to get the same treatment. While Javier's crew might be of some concern, there was nothing that they'd be able to do against thirteen Reapers.
The Twenty-Eighth Squad had seven graduating members, and Michael knew each of them to be skilled. What would be interesting was the fact that one of them - a guy by the name of Gabriel - had also originated from Orre. He had been in their army prior to moving to Johto, and ended up taking his military career much further for the pay increase. He was probably the single most skilled individual with a pistol Michael had ever seen. He doubted that his shared origin with Javier would get in the way.
Then again, this wouldn't be such a common occurrence. Reapers tended to work only within their squads, unless the mission was very large. This seemed to be a case of that, as there could very well be several hundred targets in the building. Bunch of sick fucks. If only there had been a need for interrogation. No doubt the Reapers would enjoy handing them over to Nikolai, who would equally find enjoyment in the torture. But orders were orders, and ever since he'd torched Derrick, he'd taken great care to not take things overboard, much to the girls' delight. Though it sure as hell felt satisfying that one time…
But he supposed that it was for the best. It wasn't mentally healthy to engage in such activity, and definitely not morally justifiable. It had been wrong then, and it would be wrong now. Killing them was enough, and the main focus was rescuing the captives. Eight to fourteen years old… Michael shook his head, unable to process what kind of person - no, monster - could have such little decency as to do something like that. Jobs like this were both the most rewarding and sickening in his line of work. On one hand, eliminating the problem brought a sense of satisfaction that was completely indescribable. But the fight was nowhere near done for those girls. Whatever the hell had gone wrong in his head was nothing compared to the years of pain and suffering that they would go through because of what all had happened to them. It was something that he didn't want to imagine, but he couldn't help but think about time after time during his tours.
Before he had realized, Michael had made his way onto the porch of his duplex. The door was unlocked, since one or more of them were generally home, and he walked inside. What did surprise him, though, was the fact that only Layla was in the living room, laying on the couch carelessly. She perked up upon seeing him. "Hey, is everything okay?" she asked.
"Not really. Well, I mean, things are fine for me. But we're going into the city three days from now. A bunch of pedophiles are hosting a convention."
"Oh… no…"
"We're about to change that, though. No prisoners."
"Good, as it should be."
"Yeah, no kidding. Special place in hell for those people." He grabbed an apple from the bowl in the kitchen and joined her on the couch. "Where'd everyone else head off to?"
"Ver told you last night about that training exercise. But Alaina went and took the others out for lunch. If you'd have been here about twenty minutes ago, you'd have caught 'em."
"Ah, gotcha. And you weren't hungry?"
"Not really. There's stuff here and all, too. But I was mainly waiting for you to get back." The lucario laid against his side, nuzzling up to him. "Has everything been resolved with Zaire yet?"
"Well, not exactly. She kinda blew me off after the briefing. Then again, after all that, I'd have probably done the same thing in her place. Can't exactly talk things over if she won't even look at me." He wrapped his arm around the fighting-type, much to her appreciation. "How's she been with you all? Have you seen her recently?"
"Two days ago, sure," Layla replied.
"And what did she have to say then?"
"Nothing worth repeating. But I think that things will get better, especially now that you're seeing that therapist a lot more."
"Yeah, I hope so, at least. I'm doing the best I can. And I can honestly say that this time around," he said.
"We appreciate that more than you know. Oh, and speaking about that," she said with a smile, "I heard what you and Alaina were up to last night." He laughed.
"Really? Nosy little thing…"
"Mhm. I'm just surprised none of the others heard it. You two were quite loud back there…"
"Ha, I betcha Zaire heard it next door. Her damn bed's right on the other side of the wall. Didn't think about that before we went at it. That probably didn't help her hate me any less."
"Probably not," she said with a sweet laugh. The lucario put her maw to his cheek, kissing it softly before whispering into his ear. "Now, seeing as to how you're getting back into all this…"
"Aww, does my sexy lucario want a turn, too?" he asked jokingly.
"Oh yes master, she sure does." Damn, I love it when she talks like that. He kissed her deeply, and it took almost no time for her to be clinging onto him, the two of them ravenously exploring one another's mouths. Michael grabbed her rear, lifting her into the air as he headed back towards the bedroom. Layla started trying to push his shorts down, but he at least wanted to make sure they were in the clear.
"Wait up," he said, panting slightly from the intensity of their affectionate gestures. "Just wanna… make sure she's not home… Can you tell?" Layla closed her eyes for a moment, sensing the immediate area for any aura signatures.
"We're in the clear. Now take those clothes off so we can get on with this!"
. . . . .
Michael finished putting his suit on before holstering his pistol. Once he had slung the rifle over his back, he headed out the room, being the second to last one to finish gearing up. It was late in the evening, and tonight was the night. The Twenty-Eighth was already within their van, ready to take care of this group of degenerates. Everyone involved was.
He stepped into the van, taking his usual spot by Alex. "Ready to wipe these sick fucks out?" Michael asked.
"Counting down the minutes," John replied. "I say we try to play things quiet, but… if it looks like one of the girls is about to be hurt, then I say we make some noise."
"I think that'll happen regardless. But let the city hear for all I care," Samuel said. "Sends a message." Thomas stepped into the vehicle, having just finished suiting up. Noticing that everyone was in the van, the drivers were off. Zaire was actually quiet for once, and whether that was to avoid conversation with Michael or because she was reflecting on the significance of this mission, he knew not. If only she had been as quick to make amends as Alex had been… But girls can be finicky like that, he thought.
"Guessing you heard the news, huh?" Alex stated.
"About the new champion?" Thomas asked, holding his mask between his legs.
"Yeah. Lillian watched the finals - of course, happened to be right when I was at the gym…"
"Shit, forgot about that," Michael said. "Who was it?"
"Browning ended up winning. Come to think of it, you battled him a few years ago, right?" He couldn't help but laugh. How am I not surprised?
"Yeah, and we won, too. It was close, but we beat him alright. I bet we'd have done it again if we were over there…"
"Well there's nothing you can do about it now. Besides, that'd get boring quick I bet – just waitin' around for someone to come battle you. You're where you need to be," John said.
"I reckon so."
The colossal buildings drew near, and the Reapers began making their final preparations. All of them were on the same frequency, which would be absolutely crucial for a mission of this caliber. Michael screwed the suppressor onto his pistol, gripping it in his hand in anticipation for what was to come. The only thing that troubled his mind was what all he had witnessed on similar missions. The victims of sex trafficking had a way of getting to even the hardest of soldiers.
The two vans eventually stopped at a traffic light, and Wesley spoke up. "Here we are." Michael and the others looked through the tinted windows at the large building.
"They were kinda playing it a bit reckless, picking a community center of all places. Cops are right around the corner," said Gordon.
"Maybe that's why," Alex said. The light turned green, and the Twenty-Eighth squad's van sped ahead of them, taking them towards the side that they would infiltrate from. Meanwhile, the Twenty-Fifth would enter from one of the two side entrances, which happened to be located between the community center and the library.
Their van turned into the alley, and they noticed two guards in front of the door, both with handguns at their side. The driver immediately rolled down his window, and leaned out, drawing his suppressed pistol and emptying the clip into the pair before they could notify those inside. He reversed the van, making a succession of short, quick turns, before backing through the alley, effectively blocking off any line of sight between the traffic and the Reapers.
"Y'all ready?" asked Zachary. "We're about to breach on our side."
"Yeah," Michael said, putting his mask on. The display came to life, and he opened the vehicle's doors, stepping out and heading for the entrance. He gripped the USP in his hand, quietly pushing it open and pointing the suppressed barrel into the room. Nobody was in the immediate area, though he couldn't help but notice how dark it was inside. "We're clear over here." The other Reapers followed suit, joining him inside the large building.
"Remember, no prisoners. Not this time," Wesley stated.
"Wasn't about to take any," Gordon said on the other side of the building. "Don't care how much they beg." No, these men lost the right to be treated like anything other than animals once they started acting the part, Michael thought. In the silence, the Reapers crept into the building, more than willing to carry out the task at hand.
