Chapter 5 - The New Recruits.

Disclaimer – I don't own anything, don't sue me because all characters are owned by other SNKPlaymore or Capcom.

Dramatis Personae

Alliance Members (Active) -

Ken Masters
Kyo Kusanagi
Rose
Eiji Kisaragi
K'
Maxima
Angel (MIA/supposed KIA)
Benimaru Nikaido

Alliance Members (Reserve) -

Saisyu Kusanagi
Diana
Kula (out of action)
Shizuka Kusanagi (out of action)
Zangief (out of action)

Military Forces

Inspector Chun-Li
Commander Heidern
Private Sarah Machiko
Colonel William Guile

The New Recruits

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Geese Howard's Forces

Geese Howard
Rugal Bernstein
Vega
Ryuji Yamazaki
Mr. Big

The team is still together, though they are now all at the command of the US. All except one - the enigmatic Angel. She alone is the wild card. With her supposed 'Killed in Action' status, Angel alone could turn the tide in the Alliance's favour. Alone and unarmed, Angel now heads for Hong Kong, hoping to recruit some of her old connections to stop Geese Howards plans.

Under the command of the Ikari Warriors, the main team is limited in their capabilities and actions, but they do have the advantage of new recruits - the quiet Ikari Warrior Whip and the legendary ICPO agent - Inspector Chun-Li. Left with time on their hands, the main force has to find ways to occupy themselves before risking life and limb against Rugal's army.

Meanwhile, in Paris, the new Psycho Drive nears completion . . .

Paris - Rugal's Secret Base

"We have completed the first two stages of development of the Psycho Drive. However, we are about twenty-four hours behind schedule now sir," reported the terrified technician. Rugal was not at all impressed with the current status report, and grabbed his worker by the throat, applying pressure.

Geese Howard had already delayed their plans by a day and a half when he stopped over at Washington DC to pay his old connections a visit. Rugal had no idea what that was about, but whatever it was probably wasn't worth wasting so much time.

It turned out the stolen plans for the new Psycho Drive were much more complicated than originally thought. Even with the army of servants that had been hidden away in Paris, waiting for Rugal's return, the plans for World Domination were moving along far too slowly.

Rugal decided to make an example of this worker and squeezed even harder. The man gasped and struggled in Rugal's grip, his legs flailing helplessly. Rugal grunted in annoyance and squeezed harder, causing the man's vertabrae to shatter, killing him instantly.

Rugal then walked to the construction room and held the dead man's body out for all of his technicians to see. "Here is an example of a bad employee. This organisation repays failure or even close failure with painful death. I'm sure this little example will keep your working spirits up."

Rugal then hurled the lifeless body at the Psycho Drive. The carcass bounced off the generator and landed before the horrified technicians, the limbs sickly mangled. The workers wisely didn't stare for more than a second, doubling their efforts.

Rugal turned around and headed for his private quarters. It would take another two days to complete the engine.

Hong Kong Airport

The workers at the Hong Kong airport were busy as usual shifting the cargo from the planes to the baggage claims. This particular 747 had come straight from New York, and since many passengers were businessmen with little time to spare, the workers moved about their tasks extra fast. However, one worker was dragging one particular box around, straining with the weight. The young man eventually managed to put the box on a trolley and carry it to the airport.

In his native language, the worker complained about how extremely heavy the box was as he finally brought the box to the baggage claim. As he was about to place the box on the machine however, a female head popped right out of the box. The girl smiled at the shell-shocked worker, before punching his lights out.

Angel pulled herself out of the box and dusted herself off. Luckily, she and the worker were alone, but she had to move away quickly. Placing the man back into the box and sealing it with some sticky tape she found, Angel skipped right out of the staff area and bypassed customs, successfully smuggling herself into Hong Kong.

"Poor worker man. I know how much it hurts to get knocked out," Angel said aloud as she wandered into the streets of Hong Kong, "Still, little old me is pretty sensitive about my weight. He shouldn't have called me heavy."

New York - Some Fancy Shmancy Cafe where the coffee costs $100

Ken, Whip, Chun-Li, Eliza and for some strange reason Benimaru were at a fancy café, discussing Chun-Li and Whip's roles in the for coming battle in two days. Benimaru was constantly flirting with Whip and Chun-Li, but the government agent and the soldier simply ignored him. Ken had decided to pass some time before his battle, and not worry or psyche himself up like the rest of the team members.

"So Eliza," called Benimaru, taking a break from attempting to score with Whip and Chun-Li, "Your brother is that harsh brute Guile? He can't be really, can he? A woman of your beauty can't possibly be related to him." Eliza laughed, and stroked Ken's shoulder when she noticed him tensing at Benimaru's comment. Ken had no right really to be angry at Benimaru's behaviour since he acted in the exact same way for a long time before he settled down with Eliza.

"Well, actually, he's my brother-in-law, not Kens. He just got a huge liking to me after he married my sister Jane. He was so totally against me marrying Ken. Ken and William don't get along, and I don't think either of them are happy to be related to each other. William thinks Ken is a spoilt, reckless playboy."

"And why don't you like Guile?" Chun-Li asked Ken. Ken frowned and finished the rest of his $20 coffee in one gulp. "I could say all the reasons I don't like the army fart," said Ken, "but it would take too long. Let's just call him a faggot and be done with it." Eliza playfully slapped her husband on the shoulder.

"Actually Ken, Guile's right about you," said Chun-Li playfully, "Do you remember when we met? You really were a millionaire playboy back then. You fought recklessly and you used to be more egotistical than Kyo Kusanagi. What happened?"

Ken patted his wife's legs and replied with, "I got married to Eliza here and had a son. Calmed me down a whole lot." The women all smiled at Ken's touching remark, but Benimaru frowned. "Are you telling me you used to get hundreds of women and settled down and stopped having sex with all but one?"

Ken did not like the way Benimaru asked that questioned, and nodded, his eyes narrowed to mere slits. "God, help me, I feel faint," Benimaru said melodramatically, as he put his hand over his forehead, "the mere thought of such a turn will destroy my aura of sheer beauty."

"Hey, you narcissistic turd! You'll learn that sleeping with the same woman a thousand times is better than sleeping with a thousand women!" was Ken's enraged rebuttal. This caused Eliza to look lovingly at her husband and for Benimaru to look at him like what he said was the stupidest thing he had ever heard.

Then Ken's egotistical side came out again as he settled into his seat with a sly grin on his face, "besides, you never met me while I was single. I reckon I'd pull in twice as many gorgeous babes in a week as you would get in a year." The loving smile on Eliza face quickly turned to one of contempt for her husband.

Benimaru took the statement in another way, "Is that a challenge? See who can sleep with the most women in a week?" Ken looked about ready to agree, but one look at his wife's face made him reconsider. He settled back in his seat uncomfortably, before smiling arrogantly again and speaking in a challenging tone, "How about you and me battle right here and now, and I'll show you why I'm the 2-time (so far) US champion?"

Chun-Li interrupted the men before they did anything rash, "Save that for Howard and the rest of the slime boys. We need everything we've got in two days time."

Benimaru and Ken settled down, but they still kept looking at each other with challenging, cocky expressions on their faces. Whip tried to relieve some of the tension, "Um, thank you for bringing me out with you people. I don't, uh, really know how to socialise and I'm sorry if I'm not doing anything right."

"No problem Private Machiko. Would you like for us to call you Sarah?" said an encouraging Eliza.

"Not really but if that's what's socially acceptable, OK then." Benimaru leant back in his seat and looked at Whip seductively, "You know my darling Sarah, I can show you all about the social life and how to work the people. And together, I can teach you things about much more in private matters eh?"

Chun-Li rolled her eyes at Benimaru's behaviour. "Heidern's a major hard ass isn't he? Do you ever get to go out and meet new people Sarah?"

"Well, I mostly just get to know my team mates. There was one year I spent with K''s crew of mercenaries, but compared to them I was the most sociable person by far."

"Well, come get to know us people a bit better," added Ken, "You're going to be working with a pretty diverse group of people soon. Excuse me for a minute, I'm going to go handle the bill." As Ken walked over to the counter, he pulled out his wallet and looked for his trusty American Express. However, he was shocked to find that it was replaced with a slip of paper saying, 'I might need this, Seeya in France. ; )'

Hong Kong - A High Class Shopping Mall

Angel strode out of the mall in Hong Kong, carrying a dozen bags of clothes. Angel had promised herself that the card she stole from nice old Mr. Masters would only be used on important stuff, but she couldn't pass by the mall without at least buying a few things. As it was, those few things turned into hundreds of outfits, and she was going to be late for her meeting.

Angel finally arrived at the restaurant, where she found her friends already feasting on their favourite meals. There was a pale looking man in robes about the same age as Angel dining on some sort of poultry, and an older man with casual fighting attire feasting on some Shanghai crab.

Angel bounced over to take a seat with her old friends, placing her many bags under the table. Shen Woo and Duo Lon looked shocked at the amount of shopping Angel had done. "Cripes Angel, where the hell did you get the money for all this stuff?" inquired Shen, "You haven't been hacking into a bank's funds again have you?"

"No silly, Mr. Masters sorta lent me his creddy card!"

"Sort of?" asked Duo Lon with one raised eyebrow.

"Sorta ;)" Angel replied, shrugging innocently. Angel looked to her right, left, behind and under her, before asking, "Where's Master Gen and Ashy-Poo?"

"Ash says he'll meet us in France, says Hong Kong is too tiresome," answered Duo Lon.

"And I'm right here," said a new voice. None of the group noticed the owner of the restaurant sneak up on them, which was no surprise since he was a retired assassin. Gen was holding onto a bamboo basket, no doubt filled with his favourite meal of Meat Buns. Gen took a seat and greated his old acquaintance.

"Shenny, Duo, this is Master Gen, world renowned martial artist and owner of this place. Master Gen, meet Duo Lon, a high ranking member of the Hizoku ninja clan and Shen Woo, a really really good fighter."

The three men shook hands as Angel placed her order with one of Gen's waiters. "You wouldn't happen to have any Tequila would you?" Angel asked with puppy dog eyes. When the waiter sadly shook his head, Angel shrugged and pulled out five bottles of Silver Tequila out of one of her bags. She drained one bottle in one go, before opening a second bottle and pouring herself out a glass.

The men all looked shocked at Angel's actions, but the strong drink didn't seem to affect Angel just yet. "So, onto business," the sober Angel clearly stated without missing a beat. "Duo, the Hizoku Clan have had a long standing hatred of Rugal's operations. He's been responsible for many deaths in your clan right?"

Duo Lon nodded, "I would not have been able to leave the village otherwise. We of the Hizoku are still rebuilding after Ron's involvement with NESTS and are loath sending anyone out at this trying time.

"However, our vows of vengeance must still be upheld no matter what situation we are in. Because of our prior involvement Angel, I have been sent to join your group of mercenaries. However, I must request that once this is finished, I have property of Bernstein's head. Official Clan business you must understand."

Angel nodded enthusiastically, not in the slightest bit affected by such a grisly request. Angel then turned to Gen. "Master Gen, how's the leukaemia going?" Angel asked cheerfully. Most people would be aghast that Angel would ask something like that in such a way, but the three men knew Angel well enough to know that that was the way she worked.

"I am OK my child. I will never recover, but a master of ki such as myself can prolong his life for quite some time. I did what you asked me and have been able to organise some bartering with the underground. My old contacts can bring you all the weapons you need and also smuggle them into France with us. As long – of course – as you have the funds for them."

Angel began waving Ken's American Express around. Gen continued in a more solemn tone, "I do request one thing young Angel. I would like to join your team, you know my abilities, you need my help."

Angel opened her mouth for her usual pose. "I was never able to relocate that Shotokan monster Akuma again, and this is perhaps my last chance to die gloriously in battle," Gen explained.

Angel knew that Gen's cancer was terminal, and she knew about his quest to die an honourable death. Gen had spent years finding opponents worthy enough to kill him, and had tangled many times with NESTS and Shadaloo agents in the process.

However, Gen was simply too much for any of his adversaries, and he was never able to locate a certain practitioner of Shotokan who was said to have mastered the powerful 'Shun Goku Satsu'.

Angel smiled at Gen, "Sure thing Master Gen, I'm sure Mr. Masters will let you join. And Officer Chun-Li is supposed to join the team, I know the two of you are acquainted." Gen nodded in appreciation, opening up his basket and starting on his meat bun.

"What about you Mr. Woo?" Gen asked Shen, "What are you risking life and limb for? Have you got a score to settle with Howard or Bernstein? Perhaps with Yamazaki's Hong Kong gang?"

"Nah, I'm just doing this for fun and for bashing in heads," was Shen's simple answer as he shattered another crab's shell with a mere movement of his bare hand.

"Then it's settled. Yay!" cheered Angel. Her order finally came, six quails, five whole chickens, eight of the Whole Roasted Bird of Paradise that Duo Lon liked so much, seven bamboo baskets full of dim sims and a whole pig on a spit, as well as a bowl of soup. As Angel dug in, Shen and Duo Lon looked on with speechless expressions on their faces.

Gen looked through a few of Angel's bags and frowned as he saw that they were almost all of the outfits were Angel's trademark Vintage B-3 and Deck Coat P.D. series clothing. Those that weren't were pretty much the same thing with only a few differences.

Angel threw a car key at Shen and attempted to say something with her mouth full, but all that came out of her mouth was a muffled noise. Angel washed down her food with another whole bottle of Tequila and tried again, "You guys can take the new Rolls Royce I just bought out for a spin. It's just outside, right next to my new Harley Davison. I have to sort out the things I need from Master Gen's contacts.

"I'll meet you guys over at the gang's headquarters in exactly three hours. The rest of the team attack in Paris in two days and Lord knows how much time we really have to spare. Be prepared for battle."

As much as Angel's friends wanted to catch up with her, they knew Angel put business first. Besides, with the amount of food Angel had ordered, she was going to be there for at least two of the three hours she had set aside.

The three of them stepped outside to admire Angel's new car, when they realised that she had given the whole thing a pink paint job. Gen got in the passenger's seat and Duo Lon motioned for the hesitant Shen Woo to climb in. "But . . . it's . . . pink," Shen stuttered. Duo Lon roughly shoved Shen into the driver's chair before taking another passenger's seat.

France - A NESTS Safehouse

A day and a half later, Angel, her car and motorcycle and her companions had arrived in France. Gen's connections had brought them to France just in time to rest up before the rest of the team arrived. They were in one of NESTS's 'safe houses.' Angel had often used the place in her missions for NESTS, and the place was well equipped with high tech weaponry, equipment and bar room.

Angel had picked out some choice weapons for herself, including an RPG launcher she carried on her shoulder with a full bandolier of grenades, an assault rifle she held in her hands, two Uzi's on her waist holster, a shotgun on her other shoulder with spare shells tucked into her cleavage (she boasted that having the biggest breasts of any girl in KoF had lots of advantages) and even a Katana Blade.

Angel then made a few laps around the house with her weapons, making fake gun and explosion sounds wherever she went. Amazingly, despite making such loud noises from her mouth, she ran without her heavy weapons making a single rattle, and her footsteps could never be heard. She really was one of the best-trained assassins in the world.

The others refused any weaponry whatsoever, and had taken to other ways of spending their time. Gen took out a pocket-sized book of his favourite Chinese poems and began reading that. Duo Lon was playing a game of Mahjong with himself and Shen was exercising.

Angel spent a few hours 'fixing' her new Rolls Royce, and then jumped on, making fake 'vrrm vrrm,' noises as she avoided imaginary traffic. When she was finished, she quickly told the others that she was going to look for Ash and rode off into the streets of Paris.

After parking outside a club that she used to meet Ash in once in a while, she started wandering the streets, knowing that sooner or later (and probably sooner), she would stumble into him. She leaned on a wall and let time pass by (but had to refuse a few men who thought she was a prostitute), before dinnertime came and she wandered into a café.

Inside Angel found Ash munching on a few Sachertorte, with a Kahlua coffee and sliced cactus pieces already set out for her. Angel glided over to the seat and drained the coffee in one gulp before requesting for straight Kahlua.

Afterwards she settled into her seat and stared into Ash's eyes, munching on a few pieces of cactus. Ash stared right back while delicately dining on his sweets. After a while of silence, Ash decided to break it by asking, "Why have you told Duo Lon and Shen that we are still together?"

"Better than letting out what you really are and risking Kyo Kusanagi finding out eh? And to keep a big haired blonde freak show from annoyin' me."

Ash seemed satisfied with that and settled back into his seat with feline like grace and a sly grin. "How long were we actually together then Angel?"

"I would say about a week but you usually only say five days."

Ash shrugged nonchalantly, and rested his head on his hand. "Hmm, if you're willing to not let out my little secret, why ask me to work with Kusanagi? It's much to soon for me to see him."

"It's been 'much to soon' to see him since you were thirteen. For three years you've been making plans against him and God knows what you really want with him. I've seen you fight, and I've seen Kusanagi fight firsthand. If you used your full powers you could take him."

"Ah, patience my girl. I meant it when I say the time is not right. I'm waiting for a certain group of people to appear, and I can't make a move until then."

"Don't call me girl Ash, I'm four years older than you," Angel said angrily, showing her true side to Ash. No matter how good Angel's act was around other people, no matter how well Angel kept her secrets to herself, no matter how many secrets she could keep, Ash was able to pull them right out of her.

The way Ash went about so casually extracting her thoughts and feelings was absolutely maddening. And the fact that Ash was so powerful that Angel could do nothing about it made it worse.

Still, since Ash was so good at looking directly into someone's soul, Angel didn't have to act ignorant around him. She had sometimes used Ash as a sort of confidant, confiding in him as if she really had a choice.

The bad thing about their relationship was that while both of them were mysterious and kept their secrets well, only Ash was able to keep every one of his secrets to himself. Angel really wasn't even sure if she wanted to know who or what Ash was, or what his plans were.

To Ash, bringing this strange girl to anger was something he did to amuse himself. He liked to elicit some out of character response from Angel. And since he knew her better than anyone else, he knew that getting into her head was something only he could do.

"Hmm, you say you are four years older, but do you act it? Many would say otherwise. May I ask why you act so ignorant to so many?"

"You ask yet you can find out for yourself."

"Ah, but I want to hear it come from your beautiful lips."

Angel looked at Ash darkly and a very sinister expression emerged from her face, "Sometimes, people will never suspect an ignorant fool capable of anything until that ignorant fool rips your heart from your chest."

"That's not the true reason is it Angel?" Ash said, completely unfazed, "But no matter, we should talk about business. As I said, I really can't show myself to Kusanagi just yet. Perhaps next year, perhaps not."

Angel calmed down and put on her happy-go-lucky act again, "Well, maybe you and little 'ol me won't ever have to see him. Maybe we can plan a course of action that keeps you boys from seeing eye to eye?"

Ash had a tiresome face when he heard that, "Perhaps so, but how tedious does this sound? Fighting a few of your typical super villains and their boring minions."

"Come on, it'll be fun!" cheered Angel. Ash looked unimpressed, taking a few sips of his cappuccino. "Um, won't you do it for me?" Angel asked, trying to use another tactic. Ash simply yawned in response. Angel tried her patented 'puppy dog eyes' but Ash rolled his eyes and said, "that look has never worked on me before."

"Well, what else are you going to do if you don't? Something boring or uninteresting in comparison probably," Angel slyly said. Ash raised an eyebrow at this and gracefully finished the rest of his drink. "You have me there Angel, I suppose this little mission of yours is much more interesting than anything I would have done in its place. Alright, I'm in."

Angel beamed; Geese and his minions wouldn't stand a chance now. There was still one more thing she had to ask of her ex-boyfriend, "Ashy- poo, can you please still act like my boyfriend so that annoying guy with the silly blonde hair leaves me alone?"

Over the Atlantic Ocean - The Ikari Helicarrier

In transit using the Ikari warriors' helicarrier were all the remaining members of the alliance. Guile had developed a plan of strategy and was briefing the members on their orders. In two hours time they would arrive in Paris and the attack would commence half an hour after the drop. They only had one hour to infiltrate the base, they were illegally entering France.

Eiji was to sneak in first and run reconnaissance for the group. The team would proceed to storm the complex by themselves. It was agreed that if the mission was a failure, then without any US troops or Ikari warriors present, the attack couldn't be traced back to Heidern or Guile.

Ken noted everything in his head, but wondered how Angel and her friends were going to be able to enter the fray. Would she even be able to co-ordinate her attack with the rest of the teams? He hoped the eccentric young girl knew what she was doing.

France - a NESTS Safehouse

Back in Angel's safe house, everyone seemed calm about the mission and continued casually passing time. Gen was still reading his poetry and Shen had joined Duo Lon in a game of Mahjong (though Shen was losing badly). After spending an hour on her bike making fake 'vrrm vrrm' noises again, Angel had taken to kicking a soccer ball around while Ash was touching up his Nail Art.

Angel managed to keep the ball up 350 times before she got bored and caught it in her hand. "I'm bored!" she announced.

"Me too," stated Ash.

"Why don't we just go now?" asked Shen.

"Why not?" said Angel as she picked up her weapons and headed for her bike.

The others stretched a few times and got into Angel's Rolls Royce, following her lead to Rugal's base without another word.

France - The Outskirts of Paris

Angel and her group were gathered had outside an inconspicuous looking manhole on the outskirts of Paris. They had left the vehicles a few kilometres away so as to avoid detection. When they uncovered the manhole, they could see that it led to some sort of bunker.

"Alright, this is the back entrance and hidden under this grass is a kilometre wide launching pad for all of Rugal's Naoh series ships. This leads to the barracks and living quarters so we can expect the big guys to be around here while most of the grunts would be near the front entrance, which is back in the city."

"Wait, we're about ten kilometres from the city," cried Shen, "You're telling me that this base extends this far?"

"Yup," said the grinning Angel happily, "Pretty big base huh? And it's supposed to be that long as well, and a kilometre deep. But this data is about four years old. Maybe they've extended it since then."

Shen's jaw dropped, while Duo Lon and Gen frowned at the thought of storming such a huge complex. Ash seemed unfazed, simply asking, "So my dear, what is our first move?"

Angel loaded a grenade into her RPG launcher, "this is our first move," she announced, before shooting the grenade directly into the entrance. When the ensuing explosion subsided, Angel jumped in, squealing, "Wheeeee," as she plunged into the darkness. Ash followed suit, minus the sound effects.

Shen, Gen and even Duo Lon stared wide-eyed at what they had just seen, but soon recovered and followed their companions into the base.

France - in Front of an Abandones Warehouse (the Secret Entrance to Rugal's Base)

The rest of the team had separated into groups. Eiji was to go in alone first and scope out the defences. Ken was to go with Kyo, Rose, Chun- Li and Benimaru, making the main attack force. K', Whip and Maxima were partnered together to attack in other areas, both to distract and cause as much damage as they could.

They were gathered at an abandoned warehouse that was in actuality the front entrance of the base when suddenly, Saisyu's frantic voice came over the intercom. "There's an incredible amount of activity at the other end of the base. I think someone's hit the base first!"

Ken cheered; he knew it had to be Angel. The girl didn't let him down. "We don't know who or what that is and this was not in the plans," came Diana's voice over the intercom, "Do we retreat?"

"Negative, we're not going to get another shot at this, I say we go in now while they've got their pants down," shouted Guile.

"Damn right negative, it's Angel and her friends. They've hit the base on the other side so we can sandwhich them between two attacks!" announced the elated Ken.

"What? Angel's alive? Why the hell didn't you tell us Masters?" demanded an infuriated Guile.

"Because if I did, then she wouldn't be here fighting for us now. I did what I had to do and I don't care what you're going to do to me."

"Let's sort this out some other time ladies. We've got to attack now!" cried Kyo as he charged at the front door. Some startled troopers attempted to bring their weapons on the Kusanagi heir, but Kyo performed his 'Ura 108 Shiki: Orochinagi' before they could and practically incinerated the troops.

With Kyo leading the way, the alliance poured into Rugal's base fearlessly.

Yeah Dude, what a long wait for a smaller chapter. This is only half of what I originally wanted, but the gap in updates was so long I decided that here was a good point to leave it. Originally it was going to end at the end of the battle but what the hey. I'm getting amped to do the Street Fighter version in the Street Fighter Section, so I'm going to have to get through this faster. Look out for the Street Fighter version once Story One ends.

Next chapter is the battle in Paris. Though the Alliance does have the upperhand, do Geese and Rugal have a few tricks up their sleves as well? And what will happen when Ash meets Kyo? Sucess or failure, what effect will the UN and US have on the Alliance after the battle?