(Team Fortress 2 Soundtrack: The Calm)
"HOLY MARY MOTHER OF JOSEPH!" Soldier exclaimed. A sight before her appeared to be some sort of a little city, afloat the lakes. She turned to Big Band, then to Valentine, who were both given orders to monitor her.
Valentine, groaned then folded her arms on her chest. "This is, I believe as far as I can continue with you two. I can't be too exposed if I am going to be monitoring you." She said directly to Soldier in clear distaste. Apparently, she didn't wanted to come along in the beginning, but considering that Brain Drain gave her a direct order, there was little choice she had but to comply. "Remember. You're here to gather whatever Intel you can possible that may prove useful to the ASG. You have Big Band serving as a low profile backup, in case... You comprise your initiation test, and as for myself... I'll be on lookout from above and dispose any signs of threat on your way. But keep in mind, this place is expected to have those pesky Egrets as it was given based off the ASG reports." Valentine continued, then paused. She then let out another groan before finishing her statement. "If you encounter them: pacification would be advised, but in my second opinion... Neutralize them would be much preferable."
And with that, Valentine dropped a smoke bomb before disappearing out of sight. Soldier grinned. "FINALLY! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOME REAL ASS KICKING!"
Big Band was immediately alarmed by the patriot's reaction and responded, in a much rather fatherly tone. "Hey now, don't be getting all too excited. Remember. You're here to gather any useful information that may benefit the ASG, so don't get your beat on a hunch just yet, and only when necessary."
Soldier whined before folding her arms. "I PROTECT AND STEAL ENEMY INTELLIGENCE FOR OVER SIX YEARS NOW! THIS MISSION IS AS SIMPLE AS KICKING SOME COMMIE ASS BACK TO STALINGRAD!"
Big Band slightly looked down and slowly began shaking his head at the woman. "Well, so long as you won't end up causing trouble, you're fine. This is a place with a small, but peaceful community so... Try not to drop some unnecessary beat." He said casually before jerking his head to the side and adding. "I'll be going to lay off now. This one's on you, but I'll be around to monitor from below while Valentine does from above."
With that, Big Band began walking away, leaving Soldier all on her own. Though, not literally.
Looking around, Soldier observed as the environment was preoccupied by pedestrians of any kind - Moreover, fish looking people. Some, that Soldier couldn't even tell of what kind of fish equivalent other people are that she sees all around her. But overall, the place, the entirety of this little fish city above the lakes was quite admiring, Soldier would give it that.
Soldier suddenly stopped within her thought. Admiring was something she usually wouldn't do. Nothing more and nothing less that she admired anything else other than the battlefield against the losers on Blu team. Soldier frowned and then grumbled to herself. Only a woman admires anything that is not from a raging battlefield. Her eyes suddenly went wide underneath her oversized helmet... She is a woman... What possibly could get any worse from that? That fact that she became the one thing she despises the most to see in a battlefield, or the fact that she strongly believes women belong in the kitchen to cook? Soldier was just glad, though. That the Red team aren't here with her. She'll have a problem into keeping those idiots in line, as well as the problem of strangling each of them for seeing her on this kind of state of appearance...
A grumbling came from below.
"WHAT'S THAT!?" Soldier wondered for a brief moment before realizing it was her own stomach grumbling. It had been hours since she last ate...
Peering her eyes out of her helmet then looking around she found some stores and shops around. None peeked her interest. Video games stores? Vintage shops? Comic book stores and even a pawn shop.
"GOD-FUCKING DAMMIT!" Soldier cursed but then began to walk mindlessly. A couple of streets she passed by, and Soldier tool notice of the names such like 'Ho Ching Lao 2nd to 5th street' and even a 'Beifong Avenue' Soldier stopped and observed. Those were names she would likely assume... Perhaps, Vietnamese, but can most notably be known for... Chinese... "COMMIE-CHINA-FUCKING TOWN!" Soldier's sudden outburst gained her startled looks and even some wary glances from the various amount of pedestrian fish creatures.
Soldier's face suddenly lit bright red under her helmet in embarrassment... She mumbled a curse before continuing on her way randomly at Beifong Avenue. Street lamps Soldier passed by were engraved with dragons. Some slightly rusted and worn, while others seemingly in pristine condition. Soldier grumbled in distaste as she minded her own business.
But then passing by a wooden bridge at the center of multiple street alleys, Soldier found a Chinese restaurant. "DAMMIT... NO! THAT'S COMMIE FOOD THEY'RE SELLING!" Soldier reluctantly began by the time she took a deep steps forward on the wooden bridge. "MERASMUS, YOU SEE ANY OTHER RESTAURANT THAT ISN'T COMMUNIST CHINESE-" Soldier stopped. And then, she slightly looked down. "OH... DAMMIT, WIZARD... WHERE ARE YOU NOW MAGGOT..?" Without any word further, Soldier reluctantly proceeded to walk across the bridge, then into the restaurant.
"YU-WAN'S RESTAURANT..." Soldier carefully read the noticeably big sign about the entrance. "WELL... LET'S HOPE THEY DON'T SERVE ME POISON..."
Pushing one of the glass doors open, Soldier allowed herself inside and was greeted with a cool breeze of air-condition, and the scene of multiple dishes that she couldn't even begin to describe. Observing her surroundings, the restaurant was quite occupied, but not too overly crowded nonetheless. Soldier let out a small breath of relief and began to proceed.
"Welcome to Yu-Wan's restaurant, good ma'am." Suddenly greeted a fish looking male wearing a white sleeveless shirt and slightly ripped jeans. Soldier frowned under her large helmet. Clearly, she was still trying to get used into being referred to as a female. But considering to take Merasmus' word from the start, Soldier just responded with a slight nod. But taking a glance over to her left, she saw another fish looking male with the same outfit. Except this time, it looked and appeared to be a hammerhead shark. Soldier figured these to be as the security guards... But deciding to get over it and get straight to ordering a meal for herself, she sat at the very corner of the restaurant, which was a good spot for perfect viewing of the large windows to see outside.
Setting down her magical inventory that she casted with unholy spell that Bombinomicon sold to her, Soldier casually grabbed one of the three menu sheets formally stacked on the stable. It took her quite some time to find a meal that peeked her interest. But as she decided to flip through the menu sheet, Soldier noticed a very short, feminine fish individual. Casually clothed with black waitress outfit with an apron while holding a small notepad and a pen.
"Welcome to Yu-Wan's restaurant, ma'am! How may I get your order?" She spoke with a beaming, friendly smile. Although Soldier expected her to have some kind of Chinese accent, but much like the muscle buffed guards, she spoke in straight English. That helped to ease Soldier, but another thing that she noticed was that this waitress in front of her looks to be like in her teens. Perhaps mid or late teens. Somewhere in between. Soldier decided to keep it in mind before giving a casual response. "I CAN'T DECIDE WHAT TYPE OF DISH I WANT TO ORDER. EVERYTHING ON THE MENU IS SEA FOOD AND... SEA FOOD. OH! AND THERE'S ALSO MORE SEA FOOD HERE ON THE MENU..."
The waitress let out a soft giggle. "I take it you must be new here? Most of our customers are very familiar to our dishes. But if you'd like, ma'am, how about I suggest you to try our special recipe King Crab?" she responded with a smile. A genuine one. Soldier was still unsure, but she was hungry and the last thing she needed was to focus on her initiation test with a growling stomach. "UHH... YES! AFFIRMATIVE! I'LL HAVE A KING CRAB!" Soldier finally responded.
"Wonderful! Would you also like some rice along the dish? And some chili sauce or sweet chili?" The waitress asked. Soldier thought of it for moment. Rice is most commonly part of the commie Chinese food source. But then again... She doesn't find anything too suspicious in this restaurant at all, and neither the people in it. And also... She had already eaten rice quite a number of times on their field rations during short post battles against Blu team. Soldier finally gave a nod at the waitress. "YES! I'D LIKE TO HAVE SOME RICE AND CHILI SAUCE ERR..." Soldier paused as she noticed the shall name tag on the waitress. "...MINETTE."
The young waitress, Minette, smiled and took note of Soldier's order on her notepad. "I'll have your order within a dew minutes, ma'am." replied before hurrying to get orders of the other customers.
Soldier just sat on her seat alone on the booth. But as she waited for her order, She began to think about what Merasmus was suggesting which seems to give him some hope of them getting back to their world. Their America. Soldier frowned. She didn't liked the idea of seeking help from these Nazis. But considering the situation that they're both in, she still needs to find Merasmus and drag his magical ass to the ASG labs. Only the people there have the resources to help them, even though she was clearly certain that she could only trust Lab 8... She's still unsure and wouldn't be sure to trust that talking brain maggot in a dome that's for sure...
"Sorry I took so long. Need any help?" Soldier was suddenly interrupted when a person suddenly spoke. Feminine, she recognized.
"Oh, Nadia! You're back!" She heard Minette's response. Other than deciding to eavesdrop, Soldier turned her attention to see a young woman with feather white hair at short length and brownish tan skin speaking to the young waitress. Oddly enough, she wore quite revealing shorts and a light blue tank top for an outfit, but even so, her figure was slim but has some masculinity in it. Soldier also noticed that the young woman's limbs, both arms and legs had stitch marks. But that also didn't stopped Soldier from raising an eye brow to notice that she also has a cat tail, as well as ears and claws on her hands and feet...
Soldier said nothing as she watched and observed the two young women converse as she proceeded to eavesdrop.
"Sorry I took so long. Thugs were packing heat while harassing the stores in the public markets." The cat woman, who's name was Nadia, spoke once more, with Minette goggling shortly. "It's fine, Nadia, no need to apologize for it. But were you hurt? I mean, knowing those gangs when they do their operations..." Minette trailed off in response. "Of course not! Well... Even if I do get injured, it'll take more than a couple of bullets to tear this cat apart, would it?" Nadia interrupted with a cocky grin.
Soldier listened further but as she did so, she quickly took out her own person notepad pencil and began to take notes of what she just heard. Whatever gang the cat woman dealt with, she'll have to see if she can look further into it for more information gathering. But speaking of the cat woman... Why was she dealing with gang members presumably mobsters harassing people? And she mentioned they were armed...
"Good day, madam!" Soldier slightly jolted on her seat when she heard the same voice of the cat woman, now standing next to her table with a greeting expression. It took Soldier some time to process what was going on until the cat woman spoke again. "Sorry, I don't mean to disturb you, but it's just part of the restaurant security protocol to check on our new customers." She paused for a second before studying Soldier's full appearance. "Now, I hope you don't take this offensively, but we just want to make sure that our patrons mean no threat to other patrons and our small staff here at Yu-Wan's. Usually, our customers are regular here daily, and whenever a newly different customer passes by here, I am tasked to check on them. Just for security reasons." She smiled casually at Soldier before continuing. "So, have you already ordered, ma'am?"
Soldier decided to put her notepad and pencil away before responding casually. "YES. I UH... ORDERED YOUR WAITRESS' SUGGESTION, SPECIAL RECIPE KING CRAB WITH SOME RICE AND CHILI SAUCE. ALSO, I AM NEW AROUND HERE IN FISH CHINATOWN AND I AM JUST PASSING BY."
The cat woman was a bit surprised by her response. Specifically by her loud tone. "My, you're a loud one. No offense. But speaking of which, I guarantee you won't regret the special recipe King Crab! It's from high quality crabs, the same being served in those fancy restaurants in the city! But less expensive, and are evenly more appetizing!" She replied with a genuine smile.
Soldier gave a crisp nod. But she then got an idea of taking the opportunity to ask the woman about what she overheard of. "SO... MIND IF ASK ABOUT THAT GANG YOU DEALT WITH AT THE PUBLIC MARKETS? I OVERHEARD YOU SHORTLY EARLIER."
The woman, Nadia, was surprised. But casually chuckling for a moment, she replied. "Just a daily operation by the Medici mafia. They have gangs. Big and small gangs assuming control on major parts here on New Meridian." She frowned shortly before continuing. "They... Harass people, kidnap and even sell them as sexual slaves. Men are sold for Medici labor slaves, women for sexual enslavement, and the children..." She avoided eye contact shortly before adding. "... As either one, or both." She cleared her throat before continuing. "Usually, their beef here is to harass locals. Mostly those with businesses, big and small. To put it simply, they offer 'protection' to those with full time businesses in exchange for money. Sometimes, they will threaten to abduct your family. Mostly the women and children, forcing the men to oblige for a monthly payment to prevent abduction into slavery. The daily issue, which is the one I dealt with at the public markets, are the usual Medici activity to harass people for money. Those with small time busineses. Easy targets, easy to force against their will."
This hit Soldier about what she and Merasmus had encountered... Their first ever encounter with this Medici mafia was a gang, abducted adolescent children... She stopped thinking about it. She didn't wanted to think about the fates those children, especially the girls that were rescued if she and Merasmus never even came across the gang at all... "THOSE MOTHERFUCKING MAGGOTS..." Soldier gritted her teeth with clenched fists.
"Yeah... It's a real pain on our rears trying to keep this local city of ours with those Medici pestering us..." Nadia added slowly. Soldier liked at her and then questioned. "WHY AREN'T YOU ASKING HELP FROM THE POLICE? OR BETTER YET YOUR MILITARY TO DEAL WITH THESE MAGGOTS?" Soldier waited for a reply, and to see Nadia giving a weak laugh, the cat woman responded. "If only it was that easy... A majority of the NMPD are corrupted by and are serving as protectors of the Medici Mafia. The local military of Canopy Kingdom, well... They're completely useless. Seeing that they're underfunded, undermanned, the most attention goes to the so called elite military force, the Black Egrets. But even they could barely do anything to shift the Medici presence off New Meridian, can they?"
There was a pause. Soldier at this point, was back into taking notes of what Nadia said. But turning her attention back at the cat woman, Soldier asked another question. "AND WHAT ABOUT YOU?" Nadia looked at her for a moment. But realizing what Soldier meant, she vaguely responded. "What's my story?" She let out a brief sigh before continuing. "I was and still am a part of the Fishbone Gang. Now before you think of anything suspicious about me, let me clear it up by saying that were just a bunch of capable locals trying to maintain peace and order here on our little community. Seeing that barely of the NMPD can be trusted, we had to do that responsibility ourselves by serving and protecting our little community. It's not the best, but were managing at the very least... Only thing adding to our problems is those Egrets meddling by arresting us, who're only trying to keep our people and community safe..."
Soldier frowned at that. But giving it a small moment of thinking. Apparently, these people, despite living in a fish Chinatown, are facing harassment and threats from the same mafia that she and Merasmus encountered last night... It took Soldier some real serious decision making, regardless of Nadia looking at her confused at the moment. Time was up for Soldier, as she decided to get straight to the point in response. "WELL... I AM A RETIRED VETERAN FROM THE DEVIL'S TRENCHES OF WAR! I HAD BEEN MAKING A LIVING SINCE MY HONORABLE RETIREMENT BY TAKING MERCENARY CONTRACTS! AND WITH MY EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE - HOW'D YOU LIKE TO HIRE A WAR VETERAN THAN CAN FIGHT THOSE MAFIA MAGGOTS?"
Nadia's eyes blinked rapidly in surprise. "You will..?" She asked. Hope hinted under her tone. "I mean... The Egrets meddle in our group since, our way of protecting this community isn't by knocking them down and throwing them in jail... Those mafias aren't as you might think they are if you will offer your services-" "I BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF MAGGOTS ONLY BY INTERROGATING! MY BASIC TRAINING TAUGHT ME TO KILL EVERY MAGGOT THAT STANDS AGAINST ME ON MY BATTLEFIELD! AND IF YOU NEED SOMEOME TO DISPOSE SOME MAFIA BASTARDS BY EXTREME MILITARY PREJUDICE, THEN YOUR TALKING TO THE RIGHT VETERAN, SISTER!"
Nadia was visibly thinking about it at this point, and while she does so, Soldier noticed Minette approaching her table with a smile as she held up the tray of bowls of food that Soldier ordered. Soldier cheered in relief as she began to smell the wonderful scent and aroma of the King Crab a couple feet away. "Hey, babe! Can we get somethin' on this menu?" A seemingly familiar voice came from the very front of the table booths. Minette stopped and went a few steps to speak to what appeared to be two grown men. A fat one in red long sleeved polo shirt, brown pants ordering from the menu, and a slim man with white pants, yellow polo shirt, and a pair of pointy mustache.
Soldier couldn't hear what the slim man was saying, but as she observed and judging by the man looking up and down at Minette with a forming grin, Soldier's eyes widened by to time she saw the man began molesting Minette on the waist by slipping his hand under her waitress outfit. The sight alone even gave Soldier a view of Minette's pink underwear with her waist being groped and squeezed by the slim man. "EEEK! Sir, what are you doing- Stop!" Minette's squeeling and sudden shout was heard all over the restaurant, alarming the other patrons, the two other guards at the entrance, and Nadia who spun around startled. "Minette!" Nadia called aloud in shock as she saw that the young waitress, a minor, being molested by a grown man. "YOU TWO AGAIN! MAGGOTS!" Soldier immediately pushed pass Nadia. Her shotgun out of nowhere now in both hands, locked and loaded.