*Disclaimer*
Alright, legal junk.
Copyrights- pieces of paper that some companies use to say they own something.
Me- Don't have any copyrights to the gundam series.
In other words, I don't own the gundam series and can't profit from this fiction. Enjoy.
Chapter 9- Smugglers' Folly
Eizo sat in his chair, while he grimly stares at a wall. A nearly burnt out cigarette dangled in his right hand, and his arms hung low on the sides of the chair.
'How can this be? How could they do such a thing?'
The videophone next to him had a smeared image on the screen. "It is true. Koan is dead."
The dark-grayed haired, old man hesitantly glanced at the videophone. "What happened exactly?"
"He was killed by the smugglers, which we were hoping to use for supply routes in Europe."
"Yasuo Suza. You know that this is a great blow to us, and can't allow such a thing to destroy our plans." He said in a delusional state.
"You want them dead, I take it?"
"Yes. Send one of your men to take care of them." A crooked grin appeared on his face. "Make them suffer."
"I have a man on it already."
"Excellent." The old man in the tuxedo said. "Yasuo, be careful. We're getting closer to the operation. We can't afford another slip up."
"I am very well aware of that. This man is one of the best around. He will not fail."
"That's what I want to hear."
"I'll see you on Saturday, then."
"See you then."
The videophone cut off and Eizo brought up his cigarette to his mouth. He thought about smoking, but decided not to and snuffed out the cigarette.
'Smoking is only good when there is joy in the air. Once the people who killed Koan are dead, I'll smoke again.'
Eizo turned his chair around to face a portrait, and his mind wandered in thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's 645 hours. Wake up." Hilde stared down at Alex while he was wrapped up in his dark blue bed covering.
"Five minutes. That's all I'm asking." Alex said and motioned with his right hand. "Five minutes."
"We gave you five minutes five minutes ago."
"Would you consider extending that loan, then?"
"No! You're getting out of bed." Hilde grabbed Alex's covers and ripped them off of the bed. Alex tumbled to the ground face first.
"You win... I'm getting up..." Alex lifted himself off the ground and glanced at Hilde and Toki, who was in the doorway.
"You would think after three weeks, that you could at least had learned how to get out of bed in the morning." Toki commented as he left the doorway and went out into the hall.
"I don't like this type of schedule..." Alex yawned and scratched the back of his neck. "Hilde, would you mind leaving, so I can change?"
"We're on duty, Snow."
"Ok. Lumin, would you mind leaving, so I can change?" Alex rolled his eyes. 'There is too much formality with this stuff. It's getting annoying.'
"No problem. Please, don't get that way, though. Being formal once in awhile isn't bad." Hilde left the room and the door shut behind her.
'Easy for you to say.' Alex thought as he headed over to the dresser.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where are we going, again?"
"Can't you remember for more than ten minutes?"
"Yes I can. I just want this mission stats drilled into my head first."
"Ok. We're going to Athens, Greece."
"Where the Greek Empire used to be, right?"
"That's right. Snow, pay attention to the rest, ok?"
"Ok."
"There is a report of arms smugglers in the area. These smugglers also have been reported to deal with mobile suit parts as well. We're going in there to take them in. Alive."
"Why not send in a SWAT team, instead?"
"It was handed to me directly from Colonel Une. I don't know her reasons, but she assured me that there will be a SWAT team to back us up there."
"So why not let them in first?"
"For the last time, I don't know."
The brunette turned away from his team leader. 'Great. I'm going to die on the first mission.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Location: Athens, Greece
An Old Warehouse on the Docks
Date: 26, 6, AC-199
Time: 11:00pm
Shelves of wooden crates lined the dimly lit warehouse. In one of the aisles, a group of nine men huddled together and talked quietly. They had a variety of weapons; a rocket launcher, M-16's, and MP-5's were among them. Each person held their weapon respectively and treated them like they could go off on their own.
"So, when do they arrive?"
"Any minute now."
"I can't believe the Preventors would be stupid enough to send in a small team to get us." The man with the rocket launcher laughed.
"I know it is, but let's think of it this way. We can make an even bigger name for ourselves in the underground, when we do."
"I'm up for that. Aren't you guys?" The rest of the group nodded.
"Alright then, all we have to do now is get into positions, and wait for Boris' signal."
A small thump silently echoed through the warehouse and the men scattered to their positions.
The men began to speak quietly. "Do you think that was Boris?"
"That isn't his signal, though."
"It has to be Boris. Who else could it be?"
"What about the Preventors?"
"No. We would have heard gunfire."
"Would you guys be quiet?" The leader of the group asserted and began to walk down the dimly lit aisle. "I'll go check it out." The man held his M-16 still as he walked down the aisle. A soft noise could be heard. It sounded like something that swayed, but he wasn't sure; there were only dim shadows in the pitch black. As he crept down the aisle, the noise lingered on, and grew a louder with each step as though he was getting closer. 'Am I the only one hearing this?' An old floorboard creaked under weight from virtually in front of him.
"Who is there! Show yourself." No response came, except from one of his group who said "You said we should be quiet...."
"Shut up!" The man calmed down a bit and continued a little further down. 'This damn darkness, I can barely see. I know it's the element of surprise that's important here, but still I need to see.' Something small brushed up against the top of his head, and he reached up to see what it was. 'Good, a light switch.' He gazed upward as he turned on the light, and continued this gaze for a few moments. The man looked down from the light and saw a horrible sight.
In front of him, a blood-soaked face stared back at the leader with a mortified expression. The black suit had huge bloodstains, which ran down the length of the body. A shiny metal thread held the body off the ground by the neck and disappeared into the darkness above.
The leader recognized the blood-soaked, hung man almost immediately. "Boris!" He shouted as he turned away from the body, feeling sick.
A gunshot rang out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Location: One of the Side Doors of the Warehouse the Smugglers were in
Time: 11:00pm
Alex crouched by the door and patiently stayed there. He had full body armor on with a strange device on his forehead; if he remembered correctly, it was called night vision, or something of the like. He also carried a small caliber pistol, so that he could move fast through the area when needed and still have firepower. There was a microphone that wrapped around his head, and a camera was attached to the base of the microphone, as well. He glanced across the doorway and saw Hilde decked out in the same stuff as him. She was primed and ready to go with her gun pointed at the door. Alex looked away from the door and saw the SWAT team in position to cover them. A further distance away was a white van with an antenna that stuck out the top.
Alex looked back to Hilde. "Wanna bet Toki is enjoying himself in that van?" The brown haired pilot chuckled a little bit.
"He doesn't have to lay a finger down."
"Hey! I heard that!" Toki's voice rang over the speakers in their microphones. "I've a lot of work to do with this van! Thank you so very much!"
"How did you hear that?" The blue eyed pilot eyes widened.
"Simple, it's called a voice activated microphone." Alex made a bash gesture on his head. "Anyway, you will be going in two minutes. Be ready."
'Easy for him to say, we're the ones that will be facing the weapons. Not him.' Alex snapped out of his thought as he heard a gun shot from inside.
"What's going on?" Hilde said as she put her head up against the wall. Several more gunshots rang out.
"Lumin, was there another group sent here?"
"No. Why?"
"I'm not sure if we should go in there then."
"Snow, we have no choice. We have to take them in."
"I know that, but we shouldn't go into the middle of a gun fight for the hell of it!"
"We're not going into a gun fight!"
"Would you two stop arguing." Toki said over the radio. "We need to investigate. Go in there now."
Alex solemnly acknowledged Toki's request and looked at the door. Hilde prepared herself to knock down the door when she realized something; there weren't any more gunshots. 'Something has happened. Crap.' Hilde kicked in the door and it swung up against the wall of the warehouse. The sound echoed through the warehouse, but nothing responded. Alex moved himself in front of the door with his pistol pointed inside, and Hilde came up behind him to cover the upper section of the door. Alex stepped forward into the warehouse with Hilde close behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex aimlessly walked in the darkness of the warehouse with his pistol in hand. He barely saw his hand as he held up his gun, let alone the SWAT team and Hilde. He had somehow lost track of them, even with the light that came from the door he had came from.
'Shit. I'm lost.' Alex began to think of some way to find the others. Then an obvious thought occurred to him. "Toki. Do you hear me?"
"Yes."
"I'm kind of lost."
"I figured as much."
"Great. Lumin is already chewing me out for this?" The armor-covered Alex commented.
"I heard that!" Hilde blasted over the radio. "If you had put on your night vision like you were suppose to, you wouldn't be in this situation... I just found something."
"What is it?"
"It's a hung body. What the hell happened here?!"
"What do you mean hung?" Alex stepped back not exactly sure what to say next.
"There is some metal string wrapped around the neck..."
"Lumin, please don't go into any more detail. My stomach is weak." Toki commented. "Besides I have a clear view of it..."
"I forgot you have a camera view."
Alex stood by and heard their conversation as it continued. He didn't really care for the conversation, because he was more concerned that he was lost. Alex had to find his way back, except time slipped away a little bit as he thought.
"We have eight more dead bodies here. Great."
"Did they fire a single shot?"
"Not sure, I can barely smell gun powder in the air."
"Maybe there was a mutiny."
"Maybe. I doubt it. I think someone beat us here."
"Who?"
"Not sure. Snow, what do you think?"
No response.
"Snow."
No response.
"Snow! Pay attention!"
Alex's mind came back to reality. "Sorry. What was that again?"
"Do you think someone beat us here?"
"I'm not sure. I wouldn't know if they were still here though. I mean, I can barely see."
"Snow. It's called night vision. Use it." Toki chuckled over the radio.
Alex slipped the night vision over his eyes and saw a green screen. "Ok. So now I see green instead of black. Thanks a lot."
"Just keep it on, Snow. You should be able to find us now."
"Ok." Alex let out a sigh.
Alex took a step forward and then heard something. It sounded like a human in distress.
"I hear something."
"What is it?"
"I'm not sure."
Alex continued forward with the green screen in his eyes. He could hear it more clearly, but wasn't able to make out anything. Alex made more progress through the warehouse until he saw a man that stood in front of a six-foot window, which some moonlight shined through. From Alex's sight from behind a shelf of boxes, the man appeared to be panicked, but he didn't know why.
"I told you everything I know... I don't know anything about that guy you're talking about... I swear I don't..."
Alex eyed him oddly. 'Who is that guy talking to, himself?'
"Just let me go... I beg of you... I won't tell anyone of this... I swear..."
Alex looked to the left and the right, but didn't see anyone.
"Guys. I'm not sure what I have, but I'm seeing some guy panicked out of his mind here." Alex quietly said into his microphone.
"Is it one of the smugglers?"
"I'm not sure..."
Alex continued to look at the man with increased concern.
The man backed himself closer to the window as a gun came into sight, but the person that held the gun was obscured by some darkness. "It's you! It can't be you... You were nothing but a whisper in the old days... But, you were killed..." A gunshot rang out and blood flew from between the man's eyes.
Alex cringed as he saw the shot hit the head, and looked away as he heard a splash sound. When he finally looked back, the window was scattered and there was no sign of the man or the person who shot him.
"What happened over there, Snow? We heard a gun shot."
"The man is dead."
"Great… There goes the mission. Where are you, Snow? We'll group up with you."
"Which ever side of warehouse has direct access to a large body of water... except I need to make sure it's clear here."
"Snow, don't do anything until we get there."
Alex ignored the order and pushed some boxes out of the way. He crawled through the shelf and got to area where the man had been killed.
"Snow, you're not following direct orders." Toki commented.
"He is what!"
Alex slowly approached the broken window with his gun held up.
"Snow, get away from there."
"What is he doing Toki?"
"He isn't staying in position..."
Alex stopped just short of the window and turned his head to scan the area, but saw no one in sight. He reached up and pulled off the night vision from his face.
"Snow! What the hell do you think you are doing?!"
'Useless piece of junk.' Alex threw the night vision to the ground and kept his eye out for anything. "Whoever killed off these smugglers, show yourself. Now!"
No one responded to Alex's call. Alex kept his guard up and braced his right foot up against the wall.
"Show yourself now! Damnit!"
The last thing Alex saw was an elbow about to smash into his face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex opened his eyes and saw a blurred figure that stood over him.
"Are you alright?"
The figure became clear to Alex, and it was Hilde. Alex tried to respond, except he gargled, instead. Hilde rolled him to his side and Alex spat out the water. He then realized that he was in sand, 'a beach no less'.
Alex managed to get the words "What happened?" under his coughs.
"We found you in the bay, next to our tenth corpse."
"Must have been a sight..." Alex coughed some more.
"We recovered all the bodies. Most died of gun shot wounds. One died by strangulation, and another by a knife puncture wound in the throat."
"Glad I wasn't there." Alex sarcastically said as he continued to cough.
"It was a gruesome sight, but at least we're still alive."
"I guess so... What about the one guy? You know the guy that killed the last guy practically in front of me."
"We did a thorough search of the warehouse, and nearby buildings. We found nothing of the shooter."
"Figures…" Alex tried to get back up, but something stopped him. "Damnit..." He felt a sharp pain in his back, worse than anything else he had expressed before. "Is there anyone nearby?"
"Not at this time."
"Good..." Alex began to cry in pain. "I can't take this back much longer."
"The scars?"
"Yeah. I've had them for so long to remember what I did... But, now I can't it anymore. The water soaked shirt is leeching to it. It's too much to bear. Please get me up off the ground."
Hilde lifted Alex up from the ground, and assisted him from the beach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eizo stared at his videophone as he awaited word of the agent's success or failure. The videophone finally lit up and the old man activated it.
"Eizo. I'm surprised to see you up at this hour. I was expecting an answering machine."
"Some things come before sleep." The gray-haired man rubbed his eyes. "So, which is it? Success or failure?"
"A complete success."
"Excellent." He let out devilish grin as he let down his arm.
"This man isn't the best for no reason."
"I see that. What is his working name, again? I forgot."
"His name is Silent Wind."
"Right. I'll remember that next time. Give him my thanks for a job well done."
"I will."
"But, Koan's death was a set back. There will be another month needed to make up for it. Complications may arise from this delay."
"What kind of complications?"
"Ones that require favors from your man."
Alright, legal junk.
Copyrights- pieces of paper that some companies use to say they own something.
Me- Don't have any copyrights to the gundam series.
In other words, I don't own the gundam series and can't profit from this fiction. Enjoy.
Chapter 9- Smugglers' Folly
Eizo sat in his chair, while he grimly stares at a wall. A nearly burnt out cigarette dangled in his right hand, and his arms hung low on the sides of the chair.
'How can this be? How could they do such a thing?'
The videophone next to him had a smeared image on the screen. "It is true. Koan is dead."
The dark-grayed haired, old man hesitantly glanced at the videophone. "What happened exactly?"
"He was killed by the smugglers, which we were hoping to use for supply routes in Europe."
"Yasuo Suza. You know that this is a great blow to us, and can't allow such a thing to destroy our plans." He said in a delusional state.
"You want them dead, I take it?"
"Yes. Send one of your men to take care of them." A crooked grin appeared on his face. "Make them suffer."
"I have a man on it already."
"Excellent." The old man in the tuxedo said. "Yasuo, be careful. We're getting closer to the operation. We can't afford another slip up."
"I am very well aware of that. This man is one of the best around. He will not fail."
"That's what I want to hear."
"I'll see you on Saturday, then."
"See you then."
The videophone cut off and Eizo brought up his cigarette to his mouth. He thought about smoking, but decided not to and snuffed out the cigarette.
'Smoking is only good when there is joy in the air. Once the people who killed Koan are dead, I'll smoke again.'
Eizo turned his chair around to face a portrait, and his mind wandered in thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's 645 hours. Wake up." Hilde stared down at Alex while he was wrapped up in his dark blue bed covering.
"Five minutes. That's all I'm asking." Alex said and motioned with his right hand. "Five minutes."
"We gave you five minutes five minutes ago."
"Would you consider extending that loan, then?"
"No! You're getting out of bed." Hilde grabbed Alex's covers and ripped them off of the bed. Alex tumbled to the ground face first.
"You win... I'm getting up..." Alex lifted himself off the ground and glanced at Hilde and Toki, who was in the doorway.
"You would think after three weeks, that you could at least had learned how to get out of bed in the morning." Toki commented as he left the doorway and went out into the hall.
"I don't like this type of schedule..." Alex yawned and scratched the back of his neck. "Hilde, would you mind leaving, so I can change?"
"We're on duty, Snow."
"Ok. Lumin, would you mind leaving, so I can change?" Alex rolled his eyes. 'There is too much formality with this stuff. It's getting annoying.'
"No problem. Please, don't get that way, though. Being formal once in awhile isn't bad." Hilde left the room and the door shut behind her.
'Easy for you to say.' Alex thought as he headed over to the dresser.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where are we going, again?"
"Can't you remember for more than ten minutes?"
"Yes I can. I just want this mission stats drilled into my head first."
"Ok. We're going to Athens, Greece."
"Where the Greek Empire used to be, right?"
"That's right. Snow, pay attention to the rest, ok?"
"Ok."
"There is a report of arms smugglers in the area. These smugglers also have been reported to deal with mobile suit parts as well. We're going in there to take them in. Alive."
"Why not send in a SWAT team, instead?"
"It was handed to me directly from Colonel Une. I don't know her reasons, but she assured me that there will be a SWAT team to back us up there."
"So why not let them in first?"
"For the last time, I don't know."
The brunette turned away from his team leader. 'Great. I'm going to die on the first mission.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Location: Athens, Greece
An Old Warehouse on the Docks
Date: 26, 6, AC-199
Time: 11:00pm
Shelves of wooden crates lined the dimly lit warehouse. In one of the aisles, a group of nine men huddled together and talked quietly. They had a variety of weapons; a rocket launcher, M-16's, and MP-5's were among them. Each person held their weapon respectively and treated them like they could go off on their own.
"So, when do they arrive?"
"Any minute now."
"I can't believe the Preventors would be stupid enough to send in a small team to get us." The man with the rocket launcher laughed.
"I know it is, but let's think of it this way. We can make an even bigger name for ourselves in the underground, when we do."
"I'm up for that. Aren't you guys?" The rest of the group nodded.
"Alright then, all we have to do now is get into positions, and wait for Boris' signal."
A small thump silently echoed through the warehouse and the men scattered to their positions.
The men began to speak quietly. "Do you think that was Boris?"
"That isn't his signal, though."
"It has to be Boris. Who else could it be?"
"What about the Preventors?"
"No. We would have heard gunfire."
"Would you guys be quiet?" The leader of the group asserted and began to walk down the dimly lit aisle. "I'll go check it out." The man held his M-16 still as he walked down the aisle. A soft noise could be heard. It sounded like something that swayed, but he wasn't sure; there were only dim shadows in the pitch black. As he crept down the aisle, the noise lingered on, and grew a louder with each step as though he was getting closer. 'Am I the only one hearing this?' An old floorboard creaked under weight from virtually in front of him.
"Who is there! Show yourself." No response came, except from one of his group who said "You said we should be quiet...."
"Shut up!" The man calmed down a bit and continued a little further down. 'This damn darkness, I can barely see. I know it's the element of surprise that's important here, but still I need to see.' Something small brushed up against the top of his head, and he reached up to see what it was. 'Good, a light switch.' He gazed upward as he turned on the light, and continued this gaze for a few moments. The man looked down from the light and saw a horrible sight.
In front of him, a blood-soaked face stared back at the leader with a mortified expression. The black suit had huge bloodstains, which ran down the length of the body. A shiny metal thread held the body off the ground by the neck and disappeared into the darkness above.
The leader recognized the blood-soaked, hung man almost immediately. "Boris!" He shouted as he turned away from the body, feeling sick.
A gunshot rang out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Location: One of the Side Doors of the Warehouse the Smugglers were in
Time: 11:00pm
Alex crouched by the door and patiently stayed there. He had full body armor on with a strange device on his forehead; if he remembered correctly, it was called night vision, or something of the like. He also carried a small caliber pistol, so that he could move fast through the area when needed and still have firepower. There was a microphone that wrapped around his head, and a camera was attached to the base of the microphone, as well. He glanced across the doorway and saw Hilde decked out in the same stuff as him. She was primed and ready to go with her gun pointed at the door. Alex looked away from the door and saw the SWAT team in position to cover them. A further distance away was a white van with an antenna that stuck out the top.
Alex looked back to Hilde. "Wanna bet Toki is enjoying himself in that van?" The brown haired pilot chuckled a little bit.
"He doesn't have to lay a finger down."
"Hey! I heard that!" Toki's voice rang over the speakers in their microphones. "I've a lot of work to do with this van! Thank you so very much!"
"How did you hear that?" The blue eyed pilot eyes widened.
"Simple, it's called a voice activated microphone." Alex made a bash gesture on his head. "Anyway, you will be going in two minutes. Be ready."
'Easy for him to say, we're the ones that will be facing the weapons. Not him.' Alex snapped out of his thought as he heard a gun shot from inside.
"What's going on?" Hilde said as she put her head up against the wall. Several more gunshots rang out.
"Lumin, was there another group sent here?"
"No. Why?"
"I'm not sure if we should go in there then."
"Snow, we have no choice. We have to take them in."
"I know that, but we shouldn't go into the middle of a gun fight for the hell of it!"
"We're not going into a gun fight!"
"Would you two stop arguing." Toki said over the radio. "We need to investigate. Go in there now."
Alex solemnly acknowledged Toki's request and looked at the door. Hilde prepared herself to knock down the door when she realized something; there weren't any more gunshots. 'Something has happened. Crap.' Hilde kicked in the door and it swung up against the wall of the warehouse. The sound echoed through the warehouse, but nothing responded. Alex moved himself in front of the door with his pistol pointed inside, and Hilde came up behind him to cover the upper section of the door. Alex stepped forward into the warehouse with Hilde close behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex aimlessly walked in the darkness of the warehouse with his pistol in hand. He barely saw his hand as he held up his gun, let alone the SWAT team and Hilde. He had somehow lost track of them, even with the light that came from the door he had came from.
'Shit. I'm lost.' Alex began to think of some way to find the others. Then an obvious thought occurred to him. "Toki. Do you hear me?"
"Yes."
"I'm kind of lost."
"I figured as much."
"Great. Lumin is already chewing me out for this?" The armor-covered Alex commented.
"I heard that!" Hilde blasted over the radio. "If you had put on your night vision like you were suppose to, you wouldn't be in this situation... I just found something."
"What is it?"
"It's a hung body. What the hell happened here?!"
"What do you mean hung?" Alex stepped back not exactly sure what to say next.
"There is some metal string wrapped around the neck..."
"Lumin, please don't go into any more detail. My stomach is weak." Toki commented. "Besides I have a clear view of it..."
"I forgot you have a camera view."
Alex stood by and heard their conversation as it continued. He didn't really care for the conversation, because he was more concerned that he was lost. Alex had to find his way back, except time slipped away a little bit as he thought.
"We have eight more dead bodies here. Great."
"Did they fire a single shot?"
"Not sure, I can barely smell gun powder in the air."
"Maybe there was a mutiny."
"Maybe. I doubt it. I think someone beat us here."
"Who?"
"Not sure. Snow, what do you think?"
No response.
"Snow."
No response.
"Snow! Pay attention!"
Alex's mind came back to reality. "Sorry. What was that again?"
"Do you think someone beat us here?"
"I'm not sure. I wouldn't know if they were still here though. I mean, I can barely see."
"Snow. It's called night vision. Use it." Toki chuckled over the radio.
Alex slipped the night vision over his eyes and saw a green screen. "Ok. So now I see green instead of black. Thanks a lot."
"Just keep it on, Snow. You should be able to find us now."
"Ok." Alex let out a sigh.
Alex took a step forward and then heard something. It sounded like a human in distress.
"I hear something."
"What is it?"
"I'm not sure."
Alex continued forward with the green screen in his eyes. He could hear it more clearly, but wasn't able to make out anything. Alex made more progress through the warehouse until he saw a man that stood in front of a six-foot window, which some moonlight shined through. From Alex's sight from behind a shelf of boxes, the man appeared to be panicked, but he didn't know why.
"I told you everything I know... I don't know anything about that guy you're talking about... I swear I don't..."
Alex eyed him oddly. 'Who is that guy talking to, himself?'
"Just let me go... I beg of you... I won't tell anyone of this... I swear..."
Alex looked to the left and the right, but didn't see anyone.
"Guys. I'm not sure what I have, but I'm seeing some guy panicked out of his mind here." Alex quietly said into his microphone.
"Is it one of the smugglers?"
"I'm not sure..."
Alex continued to look at the man with increased concern.
The man backed himself closer to the window as a gun came into sight, but the person that held the gun was obscured by some darkness. "It's you! It can't be you... You were nothing but a whisper in the old days... But, you were killed..." A gunshot rang out and blood flew from between the man's eyes.
Alex cringed as he saw the shot hit the head, and looked away as he heard a splash sound. When he finally looked back, the window was scattered and there was no sign of the man or the person who shot him.
"What happened over there, Snow? We heard a gun shot."
"The man is dead."
"Great… There goes the mission. Where are you, Snow? We'll group up with you."
"Which ever side of warehouse has direct access to a large body of water... except I need to make sure it's clear here."
"Snow, don't do anything until we get there."
Alex ignored the order and pushed some boxes out of the way. He crawled through the shelf and got to area where the man had been killed.
"Snow, you're not following direct orders." Toki commented.
"He is what!"
Alex slowly approached the broken window with his gun held up.
"Snow, get away from there."
"What is he doing Toki?"
"He isn't staying in position..."
Alex stopped just short of the window and turned his head to scan the area, but saw no one in sight. He reached up and pulled off the night vision from his face.
"Snow! What the hell do you think you are doing?!"
'Useless piece of junk.' Alex threw the night vision to the ground and kept his eye out for anything. "Whoever killed off these smugglers, show yourself. Now!"
No one responded to Alex's call. Alex kept his guard up and braced his right foot up against the wall.
"Show yourself now! Damnit!"
The last thing Alex saw was an elbow about to smash into his face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex opened his eyes and saw a blurred figure that stood over him.
"Are you alright?"
The figure became clear to Alex, and it was Hilde. Alex tried to respond, except he gargled, instead. Hilde rolled him to his side and Alex spat out the water. He then realized that he was in sand, 'a beach no less'.
Alex managed to get the words "What happened?" under his coughs.
"We found you in the bay, next to our tenth corpse."
"Must have been a sight..." Alex coughed some more.
"We recovered all the bodies. Most died of gun shot wounds. One died by strangulation, and another by a knife puncture wound in the throat."
"Glad I wasn't there." Alex sarcastically said as he continued to cough.
"It was a gruesome sight, but at least we're still alive."
"I guess so... What about the one guy? You know the guy that killed the last guy practically in front of me."
"We did a thorough search of the warehouse, and nearby buildings. We found nothing of the shooter."
"Figures…" Alex tried to get back up, but something stopped him. "Damnit..." He felt a sharp pain in his back, worse than anything else he had expressed before. "Is there anyone nearby?"
"Not at this time."
"Good..." Alex began to cry in pain. "I can't take this back much longer."
"The scars?"
"Yeah. I've had them for so long to remember what I did... But, now I can't it anymore. The water soaked shirt is leeching to it. It's too much to bear. Please get me up off the ground."
Hilde lifted Alex up from the ground, and assisted him from the beach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eizo stared at his videophone as he awaited word of the agent's success or failure. The videophone finally lit up and the old man activated it.
"Eizo. I'm surprised to see you up at this hour. I was expecting an answering machine."
"Some things come before sleep." The gray-haired man rubbed his eyes. "So, which is it? Success or failure?"
"A complete success."
"Excellent." He let out devilish grin as he let down his arm.
"This man isn't the best for no reason."
"I see that. What is his working name, again? I forgot."
"His name is Silent Wind."
"Right. I'll remember that next time. Give him my thanks for a job well done."
"I will."
"But, Koan's death was a set back. There will be another month needed to make up for it. Complications may arise from this delay."
"What kind of complications?"
"Ones that require favors from your man."