SunlitOverdrive: uh, kinda? You see, back in '84, Minako was killed by Adler, and revived using a Plume of Dusk. However, this had a side effect, Minako would age differently from other people, and would begin to suffer from a combination of mania and acute psychosis. While Minako is relativly able to control her mental state, she still ages much slower than other people. So while the other members of SEES are in their late 50's/early 60's, Minako would be in her mid 50's. It's not as significant an age gap as I originally had planned (Minako was planned to have had her age completely frozen at one point, leaving her at 21), but it makes a bit more sense to me.
Chapter Two
"So that's where it all began." Woods explained in Section's memory. "Your old man tries to kill Menendez, he swears revenge, even if it takes decades. He was a big fish in a small pond at this point. Made his cake running drugs out of Nicaragua. It was a hand-me-down, mmmhmmm, CIA smoked his old man. So old Cyclops is pretty pissed at America, and Russia and China are getting real cozy. Your phone, David, contains rare earth elements. This is what the war is over, not ideology, like the politicians say. Remember that kid. Now, if you'll excuse me I need a fucking beer." That was definitely Section's uncle. He couldn't think about that right now, he had a mission. He had just finished scouting a compound being used by Menendez, and now he had to get there.
"What does Cordis Die even mean anyway?" Crosby asked. Torres opened his mouth first, bullshit coming out.
"Ah you see it's German for corpse dead, referencing what Menedez will be when we catch up to him." Torres laughed. Their new team member was certainly lively, that was for sure.
"Forgive Torres, he's an idiot sometimes." Sakamoto sighed. The British Captain was now working with JSOC, as a team member, however, he wasn't taking over. There was one reason for this, Arisato. One of Menendez's terrorists, she was known for her far stronger degree of radicalization in Cordis Die's beliefs, and her hatred for the US, England and Japan, due to personal history and the fact that Sakamoto worked with the SAS.
"It's fine. But Cordis Die, it's Latin, means heart day or some shit." Harper responded.
"Sounds like a noble cause." Crosby sarcastically mocked.
"That's what he wants people to think." Salazar commented.
"Believe me, it's anything but." Sakamoto stated. The team set their gliding gear on, leaving Sakamoto rather annoyed.
"Not to sound old, but this tech isn't reliable, you need a good solid, real wingsuit that isn't pressure activated." Sakamoto stated.
"You don't sound old, it's a bit hard for a twenty five year old to sound old." Torres laughed. Sakamoto gave him a look.
"I'm married with a kid and a second on the way, I'm going to feel old, Torres." Ryuji sighed. "You were at the wedding, you are my daughter's godfather, I'm surprised you don't feel old yet."
"That was only five- Oh Jesus fucking Christ we are old." Torres groaned. Section chuckled to himself. He heard rumors that Torres and Sakamoto knew each other, he just didn't know the extent of it. Section ran and leapt off the cliff. Normally, this would have led to his immediate death, but the wingsuit allowed him to glide through the air, reaching the Cordis Die Facility miles away in a mere minute. Moving towards the guards, Harper radioed into command.
"Admiral, we've encountered Cordis Die members, permission to engage?" Harper asked.
"Granted, we need to understand their capabilities." Admiral Briggs stated. Just as they were about to attack, two figures were suddenly revealed by the rain. Their bodies were transparent, light bending around their figures. Evidently, they had optical camouflage.
"Let's rock." Torres stated before Section could warn anyone about the camouflage. Torres began firing on the terrorists, leading to the rest of the team engaging them in a firefight. It wasn't how he wanted things to go, but it was the fun option, so he wasn't complaining. Pushing through the terrorist forces revealed a large intricate temple, desecrated by these terrorists for their own benefit. What was once a place of worship was now a weapons research facility, it was sickening what lengths Menendez went to for his goals. Moving into the facility, Sakamoto seemed to find something he was happy with.
"Check this shit." Sakamoto stated. "It's one of their optical suits, I'd need to be right next to them for them to see me in this."
"Try it out, we need to see how good it is." Section stated. Sakamoto nodded, fitting the equipment over his gear. It was essentially a large cloak worn over his armor. While it was not the best for blocking bullets, it was good for keeping the enemy from seeing their shooter, though the floating M4A1 was somethat funny. Once it came time for actual combat, it was a sight to behold. Enemies suddenly stopping their fire as a knife previously unseen rips into their throats. Section assumed his enemy was trained differently on how to use the optical equipment, as they focused on staying away from the battle and striking from a distance with high powered weapons. Section made a note to bring thermal optics on the next mission. After a rather brutal firefight, the team made it to a weapons printing lab, where an assembly line of machines were printing ballistic shields, AN-94 Assault rifles, and even the optical camo used by the terrorists. It was quite disturbing how easily Cordis Die produced these. He recalled Woods discussing how Menendez amassed his fortune, going all in on investing in weapons tech and production. Infact, Menendez was at least partially responsible for some manufactures, such as the Kastovian Arms Plant and Forge Tac, and especially the security group Tacitus. Section watched Torres grab one of these guns with slight jealousy.
"These assholes are making better shit than we get." Torres groaned, hoisting up a strange looking assault rifle.. "I should know, I was on the design team for this."
"You worked on this shit? Sorry, Torres, but I find that very unlikely." Harper stated.
"Well, it's true." Torres stated. "I used to work for XRK. During the LSAT program, XRK went all in on making a rifle for the army. This beauty, the Peacekeeper, was our magnum opus. It fired a proprietary 5.7x28 caseless ammo adapted from a 5.7x28 cartridge that FN made, it was well worth the licensing. It had the fire rate and weight of a PDW, but it had the range, muzzle velocity, and accuracy of an assault rifle. It ended up falling through, only issued to select JSOC and ARM-4 units for the most critical of missions. I'm guesisng Menendez bought out XRK and obtained the blueprints for this thing. I wouldn't be surprised, they've been stuck selling Glock clones and AR-15's for the past three years."
"Still, we'd best find what we need, whatever Menendez has been developing here." Section sighed. It was still concerning that Menedez was making weapons, it meant they couldn't stop them from arming themselves. Not a thought Section liked. A banging noise suddenly rang out, in the direction of a storage crate that would typically contain a CLAW. Section nodded to his team, the group aiming at its opening hatch. Harper opened the container, revealing a man hiding inside. He was, well, he was certainly tired, that was for certain. His skin was pale as a ghost, making him much whiter than Torres or Harper. His hair was greying, even though he was clearly only a bit older than Torres. The man left the container, visibly scared, his hands placed firmly behind his head.
"Don't shoot, I'm not one of them!" He pleaded.
"Identification, now." Sakamoto spat, pulling back the hammer to his MP443.
"My name is Erik Breighner, I'm a magnetologist." the man responded.
"Yeah and what's Menendez's interest in you buddy?" Harper demanded.
"He brought a bunch of us in to process the Celerium, a new rare earth that would render all current Microchip technologies obsolete.
"This Celerium, describe it." Sakamoto demanded.
"I'm not sure how to describe it." Erik stated. "In it's raw, unrefined form, it's a small feather, capable of acting as a room temperature superconductor, source of energy, or even bind wounds. But if refined into any other kind of form, it's effects are amplified. We found if we made it into a solid brick, or a gas, it was capable of quantum entanglement."
"Speak English doc, or Japanese, might be better." Sakamoto stated.
"Bassically, it's when particles exist in an indescribable state, like with zero spin or momentum." Torres explained. "It's a big thing in quantum mechanics."
"Thanks for the explanation brainiac." Harper laughed.
"I didn't earn my engineering degree for nothing." Torres stated with a slight laugh.
"Don't mean to alarm you, but we have hostels incoming." Salazar stated.
"Right, let's get this shit." Torres laughed, tossing one of the printed Peacekeepers to Sakamoto. "Erik, get in the box, don't come out till we give the go ahead."
"Grab one of their printed weapons, we may need them." Section stated, grabbing a shield off the printer. Using this shield, Section took point, utilising his KAP-40 machine pistol to gun down hostiles. It was essentially a TDI Kard that had been modified for use by JSOC with a select fire sear, and more rails to make it compatible with optics, lasers, and even a foregrip if the user so desired. All that aside, it was not a long gun fight. Soon enough, Erik guided the team to a large storage room where a small cylinder was floating in place. Sure enough, quantum entanglement. Erik handed the device over to Section.
"Quantum entanglement. This single device has more processing power than your entire fleet combined." Erik stated. "I heard whispers around the lab, Menendez plans to use Celerium as a basis for a large-scale cyber attack. I heard the name Karma mentioned, it may be a weapon. Whatever it is, it can't be stopped. I couldn't stop it." A gunshot rang out, tearing open Erik's jugular, killing him on the spot. More Cordis Die members, great. At least it was something a solid fight could take care of. Pushing through, however, that wasn't easy.
"Wait, look at our two o'clock." Sakamoto stated. "ASD storage. Let me contact someone." Sakamoto pulled out a small cellphone before continuing. "Oracle, It's Skull. I'm sending you some coordinates. Find every ASD Unit in the area, set parameters to ID Cordis Die and eliminate them."
"Copy that, Skull, good hunting." Section heard a young woman's voice state from the phone. ASDs left their storage units in a single minute.
"Holy crap, and I thought the egghead was a good hacker." Harper stated.
"What the hell was that about? Who did you call?" Section asked.
"141's hacker, Oracle. Price recruited her from the UN just before he left the task force to me." Sakamoto explained. "She's an old friend of mine, once hacked every TV in Japan to broadcast a message back in 2016."
"You know a member of the Phantom Thieves?" Salazar asked.
"Yeah, you know them?" Sakamoto asked, quite surprised at his knowledge of them.
"They're a big deal in a few countries outside of Japan, especially ones with big class divides. Many believe they would be the world's liberators from big business." Salazar explained. "I know there are whispers that Menendez plans to find and recruit them. Don't want to think about how that would go."
"Me neither." Sakamoto stated. Something told Section that Sakamoto more than just knew a Phantom Thief. It didn't matter though, what mattered was the results of his friend's efforts. An entire stretch of the lab was almost completely destroyed.
"I'd say don't shoot, but I don't think you need to worry about that." a JSOC member laughed. "Admiral wants to see you." Section debriefed Admiral Briggs, who admired the Celerium device.
"Finally got one over on this cocksucker." Admiral Briggs laughed.
A/N: Honestly, this mission always felt so mediocre to me in the past. I guess that was just me being a dumb kid though, so ah well. I'm satisfied with this so far, and I'm excited to show you all what I have planned. Especially for Zombies, I'm sure you'll love that. Next chapter will cover Old Wounds, one of my favorite 1989 levels (other than Phyric Victory). Until then, hope you enjoyed, and have a great day!