Prologue

Azure Sword

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Fort Siloso, Sentosa, Singapore

"Y'know as far as ops go, this is a slooooow start..." The Major groans as she lays back on the stone edge of the ancient wall, kicking her feet in the air like an antsy child. "What is the freakin' hold up, Anchorage?"

"Its Alma!" A woman's voice calls over the joint lobby.

"I know what I said!" The Major shamelessly says.

"Well I like to see YOU try hacking into some dark net system without your brain being fried!" Alma replies sounding annoyed. "If it weren't for that chick you guys knapped, we wouldn't even have a lead. Besides, I don't see what YOU'RE problem is. I never heard someone complain so much before while relaxing on a vacay destination! You are the biggest baby I've ever met!"

"Uh, one: its thirty past midnight right now. Two: the waves here are lame and no fun. And three: The only fun I'm thinking of right now is dishing out the pain to some friggin' chumps who tried to snatch and grab my sister!"

"You do realize that I'm sitting RIGHT here, Boss." Kira reminds her.

"Right where I want ya!" The Major dramatically affirms. "Within BODYGUARD range!"

Kira sighs and rests upon the sand and looking up at the night sky not even willing to argue with the Major.

"Is she always so... intense and childish?"

Kira acknowledges Sothis with a silent nod.

"You really don't have a view like this from where you work Kira?" The young woman from earlier asks taking her seat where Sothis is directly sitting.

The phantom girl gasps in alarm and frantically pivots to the side, but quickly remembers that she cannot be harmed by physical means.

Kira shakes her head and makes contact with the woman. "Nope, just with Central Area."

The woman hums. "Makes sense. Either way I don't think a ship graveyard would be an appealing tourist attraction for Singapore, huh?"

Kira furrows a brow. "Jill, you do know that Singapore is top tourist attraction for travel, right?"

"That doesn't change the fact that there are, like, hundreds of wreckages out there!" Jill argues.

"Didn't you once said that you couldn't care less about the ship graveyard?" The young man with a stubble takes his seat where Sothis is now seated, and again, she panics and dodges his bottom before being squashed by it. Or at least she originally thought.

Kira can't help but snicker and Sothis shoots daggers at her.

"I did and I still don't." Jill dryly answers. "What I give a rats dick about is is the that aquatic sanctuary that just so happens to be just below that said ship graveyard."

"You're just pissy because you're favorite scuba spot is..." The man stops himself before he can finish that sentence and his face contorts into shame.

Jill and Kira shoot him hostile glares.

"You want to finish that sentence there, Gil?" Jill's voice is dripping with venom.

Gil meekly shakes his head. "No... not gonna step on that minefield."

Jill scowls and nods. "Good boy." She then turns to Kira casting a caring glare. "You wanna play my violin to pass the time?"

Kira shakes her head. "Not unless you want to hear the same renditions for the hundredth time."

Jill frowns. "We need you to learn some new material."

Kira shakes her head. "Any material pales in comparison to the Three Kingdoms."

"She's gotta point, y'know." The Major chimes in.

Jill rolls her eyes. "You're taking her side, Boss?"

The Major chuckles and throws her hands up. "Hey! You try comparin' a moment of history that's famous for the amount of action, battles, and conquest! The Three Kingdoms is almost epic enough to be on par with Sengoku Jidai!"

Kira casts an incredulous glare on the Major. "Excuse me, 'almost'?"

"I know what I said and I dare you to prove otherwise!" The Major proudly states. "Tell you what: YOU try comparing the likes of legends like Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, AND the Battle of Okehazama, and then we'll talk!"

Kira's response is quick and decisive. "Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi, and the Battle of Guan Du." She continues before the Major could even open her mouth. "Zhuge Liang was a BA leader and knew how to think long-term while running a nation, but when it came to tactics, Sima Yi is the top-dog. But the Battle of Guan Du, long before both of their rivalry, is when Cao Cao's guys defeated Yuan Shao's vast army. Those two legends and that battle make your comparison belong in the junior leagues."

Jill and Gil stare at Kira with amazement and a little amusement while Sothis is completely baffled and confused by this debate.

"You're makin' that up." Is the Major's rebuttal.

"Mmm nah, she's not." Jill comes to Kira's aid.

"I hate to go against you, Chief, but I'm with Kira on this."

The Major scowls. "Oh yeah, and how would you guys know?" She argues. "You guys know nothin' about that section of history!"

"We don't." Jill admits before quickly adding with a jab of her finger, "You don't either. But that girl there does! Hell, I bet you that we sign her up for an exam on that time period at one of the unis, she'll pass with flying colors."

Kira shakes her head. "You guys know I have a bachelor degree in History, right?"

"Oh yeah? I be she'll pass with flawless flying colors then!" The Major counters, as if she's ignoring Kira's statement.

Jill contorts a strange glare. "Weird bet, Boss."

Kira sighs and brings her attention to Gil. "Well I'm being ignored."

Gil chuckles. "Sounds about right. Oh!" Remembering something, Gil rummages through his bag. "Speaking of history... almost forgot."

"What is it?" Kira asks.

Gil lets out a satisfied, "Aha!" And fishes out a fairly large book that looks somewhat worn but remarkably well-preserved. "Little souvenir from our gig in Hong Kong. Last place I wanted to be, mind you. Buut... I figure that Tycoon wouldn't mind me taking it off his hands."

Kira's face blissfully lights up and she takes hold of the book with both of her hands. "This is... i-is it... h-how..."

Gil smiles warmly and nods. "It is. That's the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel. Not just any, but THE original. Well... it had to be fixed and reprinted several times, but its just as good as when it came out all those hundreds of years ago."

Kira opens the book and squeals in delight. "And its in Chinese characters! No friggin' way!"

Gil can't help but cast a satisfied smile. "I don't think I ever seen you this happy before."

Kira springs onto Gil hugging him tight. "Gil, this is... this is incredible! Thank you so much!"

Gil, taken aback at first from Kira's unexpected gesture, returns the favor by hugging her in return.

"Giiiiiiil!" The Major draws out sounding disappointed. "We were supposed to give it to her as a surprise!"

"I just did?" Gil responds. "C'mon, Chief! After what happened, I think she deserves a good present now!"

"But I missed everything!" The Major whines.

"Should have paid attention, Boss." Jill teases.

The Major scowls. "Yeah, yeah... but knowing Kira, I'm pretty sure that she has her mind set on other matters. Right, Imouto?"

Silence is the Major's answer other than the insects and wildlife chirping in the background.

"Kira? Heeelllooooo, you awake?"

All three teammates, including Sothis all bring their eyes to Kira to see that she's already deep in her new present humming dreamily as she begins to mutter to herself.

"Is she muttering Mandarin...?" Jill says cocking a brow up.

The Major sighs and rolls her eyes. "Alright, Gil. You may have just fu- ugh... just messed this whole thing up!"

Gil lets out a gasp of irritation. "What are you blaming me for THIS time?"

"Look at what you done to Kira! She's a friggin' book otaku, now!"

"A-and that's a bad thing... why?" Gil stutters, beads of sweat dropping from his head.

"Uhh, Gil..." Jill starts. "You do know that Boss is just fucking with you, right?"

Gil then casts an uneasy glance over to the Major and see that she has a cool smirk across her face settling his nerves. "Uncalled for, Chief."

"Just keepin' it real, playa!" She says. "Now be a good boy and get me a present, too! Something fruity with a punch!"

Gil frowns. "Chief... its past midnight."

"So? We're in a preem tourist spot! There's bound to be something open! Just go find something will ya? Treat yourself, too!"

"Fiiiiiinnnnneeeee..." Gil groans before pattering down the stone stairs muttering incoherently.

The Major smiles leans against the rocky railing. "And there are three." She counts.

*FE*

"Enjoying your new present?" Jill asks a preoccupied Kira.

The blue-haired woman surprisingly breaks away from the pages and carefully closes the book with her thumb bookmarking her spot.

"Its amazing." She graciously says with a smile. "I dunno how you came across this, but... thank you so much!"

Jill curves a satisfied smile. "Thank John-Face. He's the one who decided to swipe that retro read from our client."

Kira frowns. "So you can steal from your clients as long as they don't see you?"

"Weeelllll..." Jill draws out. "Turns the gig got a little complicated. Long story short, client got pissy, to put it very mildly, got himself flatlined, and we got paid with a big bonus." Jill lets out a chuckle of disbelief. "Still don't know if I should thank Gil or kick him in the little John-faces."

Kira nods slowly. "Oookkaaayyy. Good to know the Major keeps things lively with all sorts of bizarre contracts."

Jill chuckles. "Never a dull moment with Boss. That's for sure."

Silence follows and Kira desperately has the need to say something just to keep to momentum flowing.

"How's your vacay in Singapore?" Kira finally manages.

"You mean aside from finding the twat who ordered that hit on you, and quite possibly ANOTHER raid involving state-of-the-art security, mercs whacked out on mods and drugs, AND the fact that I can't pop a cig ANYWHERE in this place? Its been pretty relaxing. Shopping's awesome and that massage was sooo needed..."

Kira is initially unsure how to respond to that. "I see..." She sees this conversation coming to a crossroads, she can either delve about this op and their foe, or she can allow for a smooth calming path about shopping, dresses, or in Jill's case, alcohol.

"Y'know the hotel I work at has this preem vodka on the rocks." Kira decides on the latter. "From what I heard from ads, its made from rare natural ingredients, and its strong, too."

Jill's expression brightens giving Kira a lukewarm satisfaction. "Shit, I didn't know that! Then again, that hotel has a crap ton of malls, restaurants, bars, what doesn't it have!"

"Well... the hotel doesn't have night markets with your favorite 'penis cakes'." Kira answers.

Sothis visibly squirms from the vulgar word but Jill stifles her laugh.

"Excuse me?"

"Excuse me?"

Kira's eyes widened thinking that was a perfect unison of these two.

"'Member the night markets in Taipei? We couldn't find Iris and Boss, so we decided to pass the time stuffin' ourselves."

Jill quickly grows sullen. "Oh boy... I think I know what you're talking about, now..."

Kira continues. "Well, you gotten a little tipsy from that wine and you suddenly dragged me over to these sweet cakes that shaped like... y'know... and all I can remember is you tryin' to stuff 'em down your mouth with white cream all over your face."

Jill looks away with her cheeks turning cherry red. "You're talking too much, little girl!"

"I'm eighteen and you're twenty-nine! I don't think you're in a position to call me that." Kira counters.

"I am if you're being a butt face!" Jill grumbles.

Kira snickers. "I still remember you mutter in the a low flirty voice somethin' about-"

"Finish that sentence and I will throw you into the ocean." Jill lowly threatens.

"She has my full support, mind you!"

Kira sighs and drops the subject. "Regardless, I... wanted to try those cakes, but after all the colorful words from you, well... I sorta lost my appetite."

"How tragic..." Jill mumbles not sounding sympathetic in the least.

"Ugh! How you converse so casually on such lewd subjects is bewildering!"

Kira snickers feeling a lukewarm satisfaction of annoying the pink and green braided haired girl, but Jill's voice catches the blue-haired woman's attention.

"Soo..." Jill neutrally starts. "How's retirement treating you?"

Kira flashes a small grin. "Pretty good so far." She responds as she gazes out at the city skyline. "Still gettin' used without all the action, but work keeps me busy, love my night shoppin' and I can catch up on all my MWJ back home."

Sothis mentally takes note of Jill's sour expression.

"I see..." The twin-tailed haired woman passively says before continuing. "Does that mean you've officially moved on from us as well?"

Kira cocks her head up and glances at Jill. "Whoa... where'd that come from?"

Jill's brows furrow. "Where do you think?" She bitterly spits. "Kira, I'm not one to usually hold grudges, but what you did... that was seriously fucked up..."

Kira lets out an irritated sigh. "Oh, gimme a break! You're givin' me crap for movin' on? I told'ja that once we finished that job that I would be startin' over! I never hid anything from ya guys!"

"Hmph! Should've guessed that meant ghosting off on us, huh?"

Kira rolls her eyes and looks away. "Someone's havin' a rough night."

"You had Boss worried sick about you for awhile now! Dick move, girl!" Jill snaps.

"I just hadda start over with some peace and quiet. You guys can't get rid of me THAT easy." Kira defends.

"It sure felt like we did, and it sure did felt like a low blow." Jill harshly dismisses before backing away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find a smoke spot around here."

Kira twirls around to see Jill shuffling away with her hands in her shirt pockets and her head down, leaving herself alone with a sour feeling within her.

She growls, exhaling sharply through her clenched teeth. "Am I gonna hafta put up with this crap?"

*FE*

"Getting something for you was pretty easy." Gil calls out to a bookworm Kira. "At least I think I hope its pretty easy."

Kira cocks her head up away from her book to see that Gil has finally return from his errand and offers Kira a plastic bottle of water. "Got some still water for you. Preem, pure, and limited offer."

Kira grins and graciously accepts the drink. "Didn't trade your spleen or something, right, John?"

"That's Gil to you, young lady." Gil sternly reminds her.

"Yes, mom." Kira teases.

Gil sighs and and easily disregards Kira's childish behavior. "You're all impossible to deal with anyway." He quickly adds. "Sorry, I didn't mean to keep you away from your book."

Kira shakes her head. "Its no trouble." She assures him. "Thank you again. This is... I'm still tryin' to take all this in."

"Hey, long as its a good read, I did my job. Huh? That a bookmark or something?"

"Just a photo Boss snuck in while I was thrown into the Romantic Era." Kira slips out the thin sheeted paper and hands it to Gil.

He scans the paper and a delighted grin flashes across his face. "You're actually smiling in this pic."

Kira's face contorts an uncomfortable expression. "Y'know I hate that word..."

"Sorry. Bad habit of mine." Gil apologizes. "Really though, seeing you genuinely smile is kinda freaky, actually."

"Uhh... excuse me?"

"W-well... I-I mean... umm... well..." Gil stammers and bites his lip as a nervous drop of sweat falls from his head.

"Weeeellllll...?" Kira copies him waiting for his answer.

"Ahh, hell... walked into that minefield, might as well trudge on..." He mutters before speaking up. "What I mean is... its surprising seeing you actually happy."

Kira sighs. "Gil, if you remind me of my 'blank stare' again, I'm gonna flick you!"

"H-hey! You're just... hard to read sometimes you know! Not a whole lot of things really catch your attention need I remind you. You just smile and nod only without the nodding."

"I'm just a girl with high-quality tastes!" Kira defensively says.

"Suuuureeeee..." Gil smirks. "Anyways... I just thought if I gave you a book that you talked about so much, it would be pretty cool to see you all happy. Instead, you got all chirpy and squealy. Definitely was not expecting that."

"Sooo... you stole from a Hong Kong Tycoon, who happened to be your client, just to see me actually smile?"

"Deceased client." Gil corrects. "And you make me sound like I had ulterior motives."

Kira smirks. "Oi, just don't want any hits on your heads, that's all."

Gil laughs. "Don't worry, our reputation is still good. In fact, we got in a really good word when we completed the job."

Kira stares at him inquisitively. "What exactly happen with that gig?"

"Uuuummmm..." Gil scratches the back of his head. "That's... confidential."

"NO ITS NOT!" The Major's voice cries out.

Kira and Gil cock their heads in the direction of that call.

"Boss!"

"Chief!"

"Believe me, Kira! I thought Gil just botched that whole gig, but he just made our lives a whole lot better with that stunt!"

"I-it wasn't on purpose!"

"Not at first! But you went along with it and loved it!"

"C-chief! Please! Drop it!"

Kira jabs his shoulder getting his attention. "Alright, now ya gotta tell me!"

Gil immediately sprints away. "Uhh! I JUST FORGOT SOMETHING BACK AT THE SHOP! BE RIGHT BACK!"

Kira just stares at Gil as he rushes down the stairs with an inquisitive glare.

"Now even he has piqued my curiosity."

Kira gasps and jolts at the sound of Sothis's voice and instinctually turns in all directions until she realizes that it was just her.

"Are you still not accustomed to the sound of my voice? You cannot be that faint hearted!"

"Quiet." Kira grumbles.

Sothis curves a devious smirk. "This may actually turn into a rather entertaining hobby."

*FE*

Kira sits on the stony railing with the lights of the Singapore skyline shining bright in the background while devoting all her attention to her book.

Sothis, however, appears amazed of the view. "To see a city shine with so many colors at night... I never seen something so beautiful, yet so... bizarre before."

Sothis did no receive a verbal response from Kira as she's too invested in her book. She sighs and smiles. "I suppose you deserve some solitude. Besides, I prefer not to be distracted by the wondrous view."

A faint flash of light followed by a strange clicking sound reaches Sothis's sharp ears and turns to see the ashen-haired woman dubbed the Major with a strange cube like contraption covering her face. She notices a thin piece of paper sliding out of the device.

"That's definitely one for the scrapbook." The Major states proudly viewing the crisp photo with Kira reading with the city illuminating behind her. She strolls next to Kira and leans close to her. "So what's happening?"

Kira breaks her concentration and shifts up to see the Major. "Sorry?"

The Major points to her book. "Your book. What's happenin' so far?"

"Yellow Turban Rebellion." Kira curtly explains.

"Huh... those are the dudes sportin' yellow scarves around their heads?" The Major guesses.

"Simply put, yes. The Zhang Brothers basically have an army behind them to overthrow the Han Dynasty and build their own."

The Major chuckles at Kira's enthusiasm. "With all that knowledge you have in that noggin of yours, I dunno why you even wanted that book to begin with!"

Kira rolls her eyes. "Because this is a novel, not a textbook." She ponders on how to make her book sound more unique. "Its like... an epic blend of history and fantasy wrapped into one."

"Oooh, cool! Hey speaking of history, you ever thought about what would happen if the yellow guys or the green guys won the Three Kingdoms war?"

Kira gives the Major a unamused glare. "I assume Shu-Han are the 'green guys' and the Yellow Turbans are the 'yellow guys'?"

"Yep! y'know what I'm talking about! Historically the blue guys won, so just kinda curious."

"Too many vintage video games, Boss." Kira chastises, shaking her head. "Well... its hard to say with the Yellow Turbans. With them, they would either brought China into a whole new golden age, but... its a possibility they would have plunged the land into the dark ages, so the Yellow Turbans are a wild card. With Shu-Han... it would be... more or less the same with the Han, but maybe... they would be much more... humane than the Jin." Kira shakes her head. "That's all just speculation, though, so I can't really provide a concrete answer for you."

The Major nods. "Pretty interesting though, doncha think? Not just the 'what if' but also the 'rewrite history' part. Literally."

"Like going back in time and changing the course of history?"

"Bingo. Wonder about it sometimes, but... meh..." The Major turns and gazes out to the city. "Guess if I could, maaybeee I can go back in time and become one of those legends in China, or a badass ronin in Japan."

Kira delicately closes the book using her finger to bookmark the page she's on. "So being the legendary 'The Major Zanekantou' is not enough now? Thinkin' of aiming high to be like Guan Yu, or Lu Bu?"

The Major chuckles. "Maybe more so China than Japan when you put it like that."

"Boss, aren't you a legend already? The gigs you get, the rep you have, that's definitely Three Kingdom's status worthy."

"Maybe you're right. Guess I can't help but be hungry for more." The Major frowns and bows her head towards the water. "Maybe... maybe I shouldn't be overly ambitious or strive to become a legend of all legends, and things may have..."

"Uh... sis?" Kira reaches out for her arm.

The Major shakes her head and turns to face Kira with her trademark smirk. "Just me thinkin' aloud anyways." The ashen haired woman reaches her hand out and shows Kira her photo. "Here. Hold onto this puppy. Serves as a reminder of this momentous occasion that you're merged as a full-fledge nerd."

Kira smirks and swipes the photo from the Major's hands. She views it herself and approves heartily. "Thank you. Its... serene and ultramodern. Definitely my style."

The Major affectionately rests her synthetic hand on Kira's back. "You've got your own life now, Imouto, and I'm so friggin' proud of you. Every single day I'm so proud of you." Her grip tightens. "My little sister livin' the good life, the peaceful life, in the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. As a top-quality masseuse."

Kira clasps her hand on The Major's synthetic limb, not wanting her to let go. "Massage practitioner."

The Major chuckles. "You're right." She lowly confesses. "Massage practitioner."

"Sis... Dana..." Kira starts. "'Bout earlier today... I'm sorry... it wasn't you, was never you, or Jill, Gil... jus-"

"I know." The Major whispers softly. "What happened... that hit us all really hard..."

Kira bitterly chuckles squinting her eyes shut and curling her hands shut. "Truly... and what's the first thing I do? Bail from everything and everyone to start a new life."

"And that was the smart thing to do." The Major adamantly tells her, retrieving her hand to rest on the railing. "This line of work... doesn't matter how much of a pro you are... merc life... its Russian Roulette 2.0..." She lets out a humorless laugh. "And ever since our little joint shut down, Julianne and Johnface latched onto me like friggin' leeches, tellin' me they wanted work, but..."

"They chose the merc life because of you." Kira answers for her. "To be with you, to be more accurate."

"Yeah they did. Not exactly the brightest bulbs of the bunch, are they?" The Major scoffs. "Hey, least both are smart enough to have preem retirement plans."

Kira gazes out to the vibrant lights illuminating from the skyscrapers, staying silent for a moment. "Where do you see those two in five years?"

"You lookin' to hire for your studio?" The Major jokes. "Dunno. Jill's a nerd, she'll figure something out. After, like, dunno five or six tries. Maybe seven, give or take."

Kira snickers. "And Gil?"

"He's such a cute widdle boy. Wid his cool sungwasses and Hawaiian T-shirt..."

"Not the shiba, sis. Nice try."

The Major's smile falters and bows her head to the water. "Honestly, that kid is just one big mystery... Only clear thing about him is that he's nice, professional, and loyal to his peeps. Don't tell him, but... he was going steady with a girl. Smart, hot, kinda had that sugar mama vibe, but not being callous and being twenty-somethin'."

"'Was' was the key word." Kira points out. "She broke up with him?"

The Major shakes her head. "Other way 'round. Dunno what happened, but... he was just as devastated as she was."

"Why?"

The Major shrugs. "All he said was... 'Too much baggage for her and him to deal with' like he was doing her a favor. Stupid kid."

"He'll figure it out." Kira assures her. "I did. 'Member?"

The Major's smile returns and pulls Kira's head onto her shoulder. "You really are the best thing in my life. Always will be."

Kira sniffles as her eyes close. "Ditto."

The two sisters stand in silence as they enjoy the tender moment. Its a sight that brings a warm feeling to Sothis's heart. But then that welcoming feeling twists into something empty, like a cold void begins to eat away at her. It frustrates her as much as it saddens her as she does not know why she has this feeling. The only thing that is certain is that Kira's bond with The Major is the cause.

*FE*

"Okay, you guys have no idea what sort of minefield I had to navigate so you all better be grateful!" Alma's grumpy voice rings into all three of heads of the 1-7.

"'Bout time!" The Major exclaims. "The suspense was killing me!"

"Detes incoming. Should be a sec!"

Sothis watches as Kira's vison becomes occupied with some sort of schematic of a strange vessel with small boxes of descriptions while twirling in a precise circle.

"The Crimea, decomished oil rig now home to some of the most bloodthirsty and sadistic fuckers in the biz. Scavs, pirates, slavers, sex traffickers, ex-white knights, basically a paradise for those twisted in the head. She's resting a few miles off of Sumatra."

"Slavers and... trafficking innocents for... the wickedness these people!"

"You left out the part that its a freaking fortress!" Jill cries. "Whole grid 500 yards all over is one electric clusterfuck. Even one pinky in that grid and your customized fish sticks! Never mind speed boats, mounted rail guns with customized mods, and even if you get passed all that, almost every twat in that rust bucket is armed to the teeth. Hate to break it to you guys, but nooooo way we're getting inside that deathtrap! It's impossible!"

"We don't have to break into it, we just hafta draw our mark out." Kira clarifies before directing her attention to Alma. "Alma, can you get an eye on our prize, please?"

"Your little sister has more manners than you, Dana. She's definitely won a girls night out with me." Alma comments with a smirk.

"You wound me, Alenko." The Major lowly replies. "Found our dude, yet?"

"Patience! Like to see you try hacking the shit they got set up!" Alma growls before her tone drastically shifts. "Heeelllloooo, handsome..."

"What's up, Alma?" Gil asks.

"Found your guy! Cute as a button but in the wannabe rocker boy way! Definitely stands out with that nervous look in his face."

"That's...!" Kira is at a loss for words.

That face is unrecognizable, nervous disposition, same shaggy long hair and strange choice of clothing. And there he is on their feeds walking among occupants who barely look human and more monstrous.

"Kira, what's wrong?" Jill asks.

"That's my client from work earlier." Kira confesses. "That man... he knew my name, and he knew that I wasn't... always a massage practitioner."

"What the... Nuh-uh no friggin' way!" The Major sounds astonished.

"Boss?" Kira asks worried about The Major's alarmed state.

"Your boy is meeting with Queen White Knight! Victoria Knight, herself! Wonder what he did to score that deal!"

The three examine the footage in their neural feeds and find that a heated discussion is taking place between Aelfric and a stern looking woman with small facial markings, blonde hair, and a cigar pinched between her fingers. She seemed still as a statue as Aelfric appeared to be screaming in her face.

"Alma, can you get audio up?" Kira requests.

"Can't risk it. If I go deeper, I'll be made. Sorry."

Kira nods, understanding the situation. "Worth a shot."

"So I assume this woman is royalty with a wicked heart?"

Kira shakes her head. "Not officially, no." She whispers quietly. "Our gal ran a security group back in Glitch City notorious for corruption and abuse of power. Unfortunately for them, karma reared its ugly head and people started killin' and lynchin' any White Knights they came across. Next thing they know, they lose their license to the city and became defunct with bounties on their heads. Not surprising our Queen Bee decided to hide there of all places."

"I see..." Sothis nods before gasping. "But... some of the inhabitants... they look demonic and frightening... more so than that metal man earlier! And other resemble more of animals! What... what are those things?!"

"Pirates, scavengers, criminals, mercs take your pick!" Kira murmurs. "'Lotta them are just overloaded with mods and implants, or gene therapy. Take your pick."

"I... I don't understand..."

Kira sighs. "Later."

"Huh, is this bloke fully natural?" Jill questions sounding amazed.

"Looks that way. No way I can jack into his mind not even a sign of any minor implants. Your mark definitely sticks out."

Gil chuckles. "Poor guy looks like a nervous wreck. Then again, I'm amazed he even got in."

"Well glad you guys know the good news. But, sad to say, my work this time comes with a mixed bag."

"Spit it out, Alma!" Jill impatiently demands.

"Jill was wrong about this place being tough to breach. Try impossible!"

"I literally said its impossible!" Jill exclaims.

"Hmmm no you didn't. I'm sure I would remember you saying that."

"I don't remember her saying that either." Gil supplies Alma with his backing. "Pretty sure I wouldn't forget something like that."

"Shut up. Both of you!" Jill grumbles. "Kira knows what I'm talking about, right Kira?"

"She did mention it was impossible earlier." Kira lazily comes to Jill's defense.

"Guys! Focus, please!" Alma cries out. "Hate to break to you, but you guys can even go black ops on that rig! Lemme show you what I'm talking about:"

The virtual images in their visions expanded into a geographical map of Southeast Asia and zoomed in on the strait showing where Kira and her friends are and where the oil rig is, along with the outskirts of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

"See that flashing green square? That's the electrical grid Jill mentioned. And sadly these guys are smart enough to have the power source INSIDE their hideout! Now normally, I would just breach their grid, but these guys are, once again, smart enough to have some pretty lethal firewalls that will flatline me if I even just go on a dark net sight link to their grid! In laymans terms: I'm useless. And you would need a hacker to even set foot in its vicinity! And I won't even go into the OTHER stuff Jill forgot to mention about the speed boats, rail guns, dildo shaped trophies, ect. ect."

"I hate all of you right now..." Jill sourly grumbles.

"Wait... Alma," Kira speaks up with a lightened expression. "Scroll down towards Sumatra. Narrowin' down your search with my marker. You getting this?"

"One sec... eeeyup! Just came through! Zooming now."

"Right there! See that complex right there? That's an electrical power plant, right?"

"Eeeyeeah... whattya gettin... oooohhhh... oh tell me you are not thinking what I think you're thinking!"

Judging from Alma's tone, the group cannot tell if she's impressed or alarmed.

"EMP pulse. Might be able to overload the grid and bring their systems offline." Kira adds before gloomily adding. "Of course, the pulse may envelop outskirts of Sumatra."

"Jesus, Kira..." Jill breathes. "You'd be ruining a lot of peoples lives if you tried something like that!"

Kira ignores Jill and keeps her attention on Alma. "Is that possible?"

"Its more than possible. That baby will bring down everything, the grid, patrol boats, lighting, even the virtu strippers. That rig will be ripe for open season. Bad news is parts of Sumatra will be affected. Good news is that their mostly corpo installations and resorts so don't worry about average joes and janes being affected. So yeah, you guys would definitely be ruining 'lotta peoples lives, but at least they'd be the stuck up assholish type."

"Meh, never mind then." Jill withdraws her concern. "Fuck it, I'm in."

"But that means we'll have split into teams, right?" Gil assumes. "Ooooor... are we doing this together and going from Point A to Point B?"

"Plan A through and through." The Major decisively decides. "We'll split into two teams. Kira and Gil will EMP the heck outta that plant, and when you guys do, me and Jill will go in, fish out our tadpole, get out, and we celebrate back at the resort!"

"Hate to be that lady, but I think its 'Gil and I'?" Kira points out.

"Not the time, Kira!" The Major sternly tells her sister. "Everyone know their jobs then? Yeah? Good! Okay, break! Alison, I need two speed boats with engines from hell, yesterday!"

"For the millionth time, Dana, the name is- oh fuck it... you'll get your boats half-hour tops. Oh and I took the liberty of stacking all your stuff within the Fort compound before you guys showed up. Sending you guys your designated spots, now."

Kira's brows shoot up, taken aback by what Alma reported.

"Alma... what the fuck?" Jill murmurs in disbelief. "You mean to tell me you smuggled our gear BEFORE we even got here?"

"Jill," Alma begins lowly. "If there is one thing I learned with working with you guys, is that if I don't plan ahead with this, you might as well go all in naked and unarmed."

Jill scoffs. "What?! You're still pissed off about that gig?! Blame my Boss, not me! Besides, she's did that job all by herself!"

"If you wanna job done right, do it yourself!" The Major hotly defends.

"We didn't have our gear!" Jill argues.

"Pfft... excuses..."

"I rest my case."

"Uh... I think we should find our gear and get prepped." Gil directs his suggestion to Kira.

"Good idea. Better move fast before The Major decides to raid that rig all by herself in nothing but her street clothes!"

*FE*

For FE fans, you know that the series is all about those supports you have with other characters, so you're welcome!

The Crimea is a reference to the Kingdom of Crimea from the Ike Mercenaries series.