I still don't own anything.
An Assassin's Memories
Nineteenth Shot: Rogue
"Do you really believe that SEELE has discovered Michael's identity?"
"Yes I do," Gendo said. "He knows enough about their operations that I trust him completely on matters attaining to SEELE."
"I see," Kozo said. "Then they know that we've been sheltering him."
"I would worry if they hadn't drawn that conclusion yet," Gendo said.
"We should step up security," Kozo said. "As Michael pointed out, Section Two is far from being infallible."
"I have already begun an initiative to improve their performance," Gendo said simply.
"What about our plans?" Kozo asked. "Have they been affected by this at all?"
"Yes," Gendo said. "I am taking steps to move the date of commencement closer."
"I see," Kozo said. "Will Michael be necessary to the process?"
"That has yet to be seen," Gendo said. "Akagi is already researching the matter carefully. If possible I wish to exclude Michael from the process." That made Kozo's eyebrow raise slightly.
"Is there a reason?" he asked.
"Michael has already shown that he is perfectly capable of going against orders and working under his own agenda," Gendo explained. "SEELE learned this the hard way. We will learn from their mistake."
"If you think he's so much trouble then why don't you have him eliminated?" Kozo asked.
"We have enough problems right now," Gendo said. "If we attempt to kill him and fail then we'll all die. Right now I'm hoping that SEELE's assassins kill him."
(:ii:)
Michael looked around the apartment and finished putting his night vision goggles together. "Michael?" Michael looked up and frowned. He didn't want any distractions.
"What do you want?"
"Yuji sent me over here," Ginji said as he walked into the apartment. "Why aren't you in your normal apartment?"
"It's a security risk," Michael explained. "A standard tactic for highly dangerous targets is to use a high-powered rifle and a thermal scope to eliminate them in their homes. That apartment was too close to the nearest building."
"Oh," Ginji said. "Like what you did with Commander Ikari?"
"Somewhat," Michael said simply. "I don't require your assistance for this operation."
"It's always good to have someone to watch your back," Ginji argued.
"Two people are harder to coordinate then one," Michael said simply. "You'll die if you stay here."
"Alright," Ginji said. He tugged something from under his jacket and laid it on the table "Good luck."
"Thank you." Michael watched as the young man walked out of the room. He glanced down at his watch. It was nineteen hundred hours. They would be coming soon. Michael stood up and picked up the weapon Ginji had left behind. It was his MP7. Michael shrugged and tucked the weapon into his belt.
(:ii:)
"Number Eighty-Nine reports no apparent thermal signature." Marks cursed. He had been hoping to kill the rogue without having to send assassins in. 'Looks like that was wishful thinking.'
"Where are Numbers One and Ninety-Three?" he asked.
"There are in location sir," the technician said. "They all are sir. Command to all units. Hold position and await further orders." The technician turned and looked at him. "Once the assassins are inside Number Eighty-Nine will be useless."
"When the operation commences have him fall back to the armory van and then join the others," Marks ordered.
"Aye, aye sir," the technician said. He checked his watch. "The time is twenty hundred hours sir."
"Commence operations," Marks said.
"Commence operations," the technician repeated. "Aye, aye sir. Command to all units. Commence operations." Marks sighed and sat down.
"What are the statistics for an anti-rogue operation?" he asked.
"Twenty-five percent fatality rate amongst operatives," the technician said.
"Three assassins," Marks said. "That's a general statistic, right?"
"Yes sir," the technician said. "The expected fatality rate among operatives for this operation is seventy-five percent."
"This kid must really be something," Marks said. "Anyone know why he went rogue?" The technician glanced back at him and covered his mouthpiece.
"Off the record?"
"Off the record," Marks said.
"I heard SEELE found something strange in this kid's history and tried to bump him off."
"That's odd," Marks said.
"Number Thirty-Three has entered the building sir," the technician reported.
"Good," Marks said. "I don't care how good this this kid is supposed to be. Thirty-Three is the best."
"Yes sir," the technician agreed.
(:ii:)
Michael stared at the laptop on the table and frowned. It was linked directly into the thermal intruder alarm system that Section Two had set up when the Second and Third Children had first moved into the building. It showed that the assassins had entered the building with every exit covered.
Michael rubbed his eyes and stared at the small screen. He counted eleven heat signatures. Michael felt his cheeks stretch as a grin spread across his face. He had once worried about how much he enjoyed unfair odds. One of the instructors he had talked to had simply attributed it to extreme competitiveness. Of course that had been followed with a kick to the ribs for asking a question.
Michael stood up and picked his suppressed 6.8mm assault rifle. If assassins were in the building then the sniper would be gone. They wouldn't risk assassins to preventable friendly fire accidents. Michael glanced at the screen closer.
Michael pulled on his night vision goggles and closed the laptop. He walked to the door and pulled his night vision goggles down over his eyes. The nearest assassin was at the bottom of the stairwell. That would be an easy kill, probably the only one of the night.
(:ii:)
"Section Two spotters have reported activity." Yuji frowned scratched his chin. "What should we do about it?"
"Nothing," Yuji said. "We have orders from Commander Ikari to not interfere and Michael has placed an official request that we not interfere."
"Should I at least put paramedics on standby?" Ginji asked as he pulled out his cell phone again.
"Yeah," Yuji said. "But be very specific that they are to move only when told to."
"Alright," Ginji said as he punched in one of the numbers. Yuji moved to one of the lockers lining the walls of the safe house and pulled out his rifle. "Sir?"
"I'm not going to interfere," Yuji said. "I'm just going to observe. If I'm attacked them its my right to defend myself."
"Ikari and Michael are going to be pissed," Ginji said. Yuji shrugged and began to load one of the long twenty-round magazines. "If we get attacked them we might need something that packs more of a punch then that .308 sir."
"It's not a .308," Yuji explained. "It's a .300 Winchester Short Magnum. It will knock them down just fine."
"Actually," Ginji said as he opened another locker. "I was thinking something more like this." Yuji stared at the RPG-7.
"Where did you get that."
"You don't want to know," Ginji said. Yuji nodded, accepting the answer.
"You're finally catching on to what it means to be deniable."
(:ii:)
Michael stared at the body sprawled across the ground and prodded its head with the toe of his boot. There were three holes dead in the center of the body's bullet proof vest. Michael brought the rifle up and put two more bullets through the assassin's head. 'One down.' Michael stepped over the corpse and into the hallway beyond the stairwell.
There were three ways to get to the upper stories; one elevator and two stairwells on either side of the building. Some assassins would stay on the ground floor and then they would move up the floors. Michael paused and glanced the dead assassin. He grabbed her by the front of her vest and dragged her into one of the maintenance closets.
Maybe they would bypass him. He could clear the ground floor and then follow them up. Escape wasn't an option. If he ran then they would follow. They all needed to die. Michael ducked under the stairway. SEELE were fools. Assassins and handlers were trained to work alone or in pairs. In large numbers they were still highly dangerous, but there were sometimes communication break downs. They might not even know that an assassin was dead already.
Michael shrugged. It was unlikely, but there was a chance. It didn't bother him much. If his plan worked then he could kill many of them before he died. If his plan failed he would kill many of then in a shorter amount of time and then die.
'As long as they come with me,' Michael thought with a grin as he gripped his rifle tightly.
(:ii:)
Yuji stared at the van and frowned. "What do you think?" Ginji asked.
"I think I've only seen antenna arrays like that on mobile command centers," Yuji said as he reached under his jacket. He pulled his .40-caliber and began to screw the suppressor on.
"What if we're wrong sir?" Ginji asked as he followed Yuji towards the truck.
"The world will continue spinning," Yuji answered. He gripped the handles of the large white van's back door and ripped it open. The two men inside had time to look surprised before he shot them both. "Definitely a mobile command center. Check it out." Ginji scrambled into the van and shoved one of the men away from a console.
"Twelve operatives," he said. "It looks like they just moved in. That's odd."
"What?"
"Look at this signature," Ginji said, tapping the screen lightly. "Its moving oddly. Now its in a maintenance closet and its stopped moving completely. What do you think?"
"Sounds like Michael's covering his tracks," Yuji said. The radio crackled to life suddenly.
"Armory to command," a man's voice said. "We're proceeding to our position right outside the building. Copy?" Ginji glanced at Yuji and shrugged. The older man picked up the radio.
"Command to armory," he said calmly. "I copy."
"Roger that command." Yuji glanced at Ginji. The young man grinned and patted the rocket propelled grenade launcher slung over his shoulder.
(:ii:)
"That attack has begun." Gendo glanced at the man standing in front of his desk.
"Do we know what the situation is?" he asked.
"It's impossible for us to tell," the man said. "The only way to get real time reconnaissance is to send in an incursion team."
"No," Gendo said. "Maintain long-range reconnaissance."
"Yes sir," the man said. He turned and walked out.
"What will Michael say if he discovers that you denied him any support," Kozo asked.
"He'll thank me," Gendo said. "He made an official request to handle this by himself." Kozo's brow knitted in surprise.
"He's planning on dying?"
"It seems that way," Gendo said. "With proof that he is not necessary for the commencement of our operation it is just as well that he dies now."
"What about his Kari?" Kozo asked.
"She poses no threat," Gendo said. "The same as Yuji Kaido and Ginji Takashi."
"I think you underestimate them," Kozo said. "That's always been one of your flaws."
(:ii:)
Michael tried to control his breathing as he stared through his rifle's scope. It wasn't very powerful, but it had light gathering capabilities that made it perfect for its application. Training kicked in harshly and Michael's breathing and heart rate dropped rapidly. He timed his breathing and fired, three heavy rounds flying from the rifle's barrel. The whole process had taken less then ten seconds. Michael sprinted towards the body, moving lightly and silently. He reached it in seconds and put two more rounds into its head.
'Two down,' Michael thought, allowing himself to feel a flush of pride. He knew something was wrong with the assassins. It almost seemed that they were working on their own with no coordination. Michael could only speculate that they had lost contact with their head quarters. Something creaked behind him.
Michael turned to see one of the assassins coming to the top of the stairs. They fired at the same time. Michael's skills held and the young man went down with three rounds in his chest. Unfortunately, while his skill held, his luck didn't, to an extent.
The assassin's bullet slammed into the receiver of Michael's assault rifle. He heard a sickening crunch and dropped the weapon without another thought. There was no purpose in trying to use it. He didn't know how severe the damage was. It was possible that the rifle might blow up in his hands.
Michael drew the MP7 from his belt. The weapon felt light in his hands, almost like a toy. He frowned. He knew it was roughly the same weight as his old PP-2000, but it just felt strange. He quickly pushed his misgivings out of the way. He had seen Ginji do some rather remarkable things with this weapon in combat. Michael had never used one outside of a short familiarization session.
It really didn't matter. Michael tugged the shoulder stock out and moved towards the stairwell the assassin had just exited from. He glanced down the stairwell with the MP7 tight to his body. The flight leading down was empty, but he had already checked the level down stairs. Now he needed to check the levels above. Michael stopped and glanced at the assassin. He lowered the muzzle of the MP7 and put two rounds in the man's head. He kneeled and grinned. There were grenades strapped to his chest.
Michael didn't know what they were, but the general shape was that of an anti-personnel grenade. Michael took as many as he could carry.
(:ii:)
"Freeze!" The young man started to turn and Ginji fired. The machinegun Michael usually carried sent the young man to the ground and nearly did the same to Ginji. "Damn."
"Nice shooting," Yuji commented as he walked over to the body of the young man. He couldn't have been more then seventeen, probably around Michael's age. Yuji toed the young man's assault rifle away from his hand and kneeled to check his pulse. There wasn't one.
"One down," Yuji said. "I hope Mike doesn't get too pissed." Something exploded in the apartment.
"I don't think he's going to notice," Ginji said. "Now where the hell is that armory van?"
(:ii:)
Michael stepped into the hallway and nodded appreciatively. 'Definitely fragmentation,' he thought eyeing the two bodies. One of them moved and Michael dove to the side. The bullet meant for his head slammed into his chest. Michael raised the MP7 and put two rounds into the wounded assassin's head. He shifted his aim and put two into the second just in case.
He glanced down and felt the spot where the bullet had hit him. He could feel the painfully hot metal caught in his vest. Two centimeters to the left and it would have entered his arm. It was painful enough without having the chunk of lead actually go into him. Michael groaned slightly and straightened up. 'That. . .hurt,' he thought weakly. Suddenly two more assassins flew down the stairs on the opposite end of the hall and opened fire.
Michael was knocked flat on his back. He raised the MP7 and pulled the trigger. He swept the bucking weapon across the hall and saw both assassins go down. He climbed painfully to his feet and made sure they were dead with two bullets in the head each.
He took a breath and examined his new wound. He had seen the weapons. They were both assault rifles, unlike the sub-machinegun he had just been hit with. Rifle rounds did a hell of a lot more damage then pistol rounds. There was a hole in his vest. He could feel blood soaking into the material.
"Damn it." Michael ejected the MP7's magazine and pushed a new one into place. He needed to get moving. There were seven dead. That meant there could only be one more or, more likely, five more. Michael carefully walked up the steps and glanced into the hallway. It was empty. He steadied the MP7's stock against his shoulder and stepped cautiously into the hall. The doors were all shut and there weren't any signs of forced entry, but that didn't mean anything.
Michael groaned as he was thrown to the ground. He rolled and fired. The three tightly grouped 4.6mm rounds knocked the assassin to the ground. Michael was on his feet in a heart beat. He didn't trust such a small caliber to kill. He raised the weapon and fired twice more.
With the threat gone Michael turned to examine his wounds. He touched the back of his neck and felt blood. He touched the back of his right should and felt more blood. "Fucking shotguns." Most of the pellets were caught in his vest, but a few stray ones had stilled managed to get him. Michael kneeled and picked up the woman's weapon. It was a heavy military shotgun with an extended magazine and a bayonet. "Thanks." He pumped the handle and glanced at the spent shell that had popped out. The five round method he had been taught was excellent for making sure the target was dead, but it was ammo consuming. 'Eight down.'
(:ii:)
Michael paused on the stairs and tugged one of the grenades clipped to his belt free. He tossed it down the hall and pressed himself flat against the wall. The resulting change in air pressure nearly blew out his eardrums.
Michael reached into one of his pockets and tugged out a small mirror. Lacking proper equipment he had been forced to rely of certain field expedient items. The mirror had been part of a compact he had found in Kari's room. She would probably be pissed off if she found out he had broken something of hers.
Michael pushed his goggles up and held the mirror around the corner. In the pitch blackness it didn't do much. Really he was hoping to catch a flash of something reflective. There was nothing. Michael frowned and pushed his goggles back down. This was the second to last floor. They must have been here, or they were trying to flank him. He was only one man. One man couldn't cover three possible directions of attack.
Michael kneeled and pulled out his dagger. The drywall parted easily and Michael tucked a grenade into the hole and made sure the spoon was held tight. He tugged a folding pocket knife out and slammed it into the floor for an anchor point. He stretched a piece of wire from the grenade's spoon, across the hall, to the knife.
Booby traps, like assassinations, were one of the things that you could be taught, but to truly master then one required a rather good imagination. Michael liked to think that his imagination was quite good.
He glanced at the set up and checked the wire. It was tight enough. 'Perfect.' Michael pulled the pin and straightened up. He un slung his shotgun and started forward, only to pause by the elevator doors. The hair raising on the back of his neck was the only warning he had. Fortunately he had learned to listen to his body's warning signs and ask questions later, something that obviously annoyed Kari.
Michael threw his shotgun up, the stock parallel with his neck. The blade collided with the barrel of the heavy weapon. Michael reacted instantly. He threw his head back and felt the back of his skull connect with something that crunched. His attacker stumbled back and Michael dropped the shotgun. He pivoted, drawing his dagger, and swung in one motion. The blade bit into the other assassin's arm.
The man didn't bother reacting to the wound. He brought his arm back, the massive curved knife shining in the light coming in through the window. He swung. Shinji grabbed his wrist and forced his dagger into the man's chest. The long, thin blade snaked through the assassin's ribs and into his heart. For good measure Michael tugged his knife free and slashed the man's throat. He fell to the ground and didn't gurgle. 'Guess I got him the first time,' Michael mused. He sheathed his dagger and picked up the man's knife. It was a massive military Kukri knife. The same kind that had given Michael the scar that stretched from ear to ear. He loved those knifes and had been rather annoyed when he had found out that he couldn't use one.
A loud click broke Michael from his musings. He turned back to see the another assassin standing at the base of the steps. Instead of looking at Michael he was staring at the wall. In an instant Michael knew what had happen. "Oh shit."
(:ii:)
Michael stared at the ceiling overhead and struggled to sit up. He finally managed to and groaned in pain. There was something in his chest. He reached up and felt dozens of tiny slivers of metal in his vest. He couldn't tell just how far they went in.
The assassin who had tripped his trap was a whole different story. He was little more then a dozen parts lying on the ground. "Stupid son of a bitch," Michael spat angrily. He would never have fallen for such a simple trap. 'Of course the simplest traps are often the easiest to be caught in.' One of his instructors use to say something like that all the time.
"Well that was creative." Michael knew he couldn't turn fast enough to face the new threat, so he didn't.
"It was an amateur trick," he said. A smirk landed on his face. "Amateurs are always the most dangerous. They're unpredictable."
"I'll remember that," the assassin said. His voice sounded familiar. Michael sighed as the muzzle of the assassin's weapon was pressed against the back of his skull. The next few moments were a confusion of noise and light.
Something outside the window had exploded. Michael jerked his head to the side as the assassin's pistol roared, the bullet tearing into his right ear. Michael brought the Kukri knife up and slammed the blade into the assassin. The assassin bellowed out a curse and Michael snatched up the MP7. He fired blindly over his shoulder.
He managed to turn himself around and stared at the assassin's face, lit by the light pouring in through the window. The man's blue eyes glared at Michael as he tried to fire. Michael managed to get a more careful shot and fired. The 4.6mm round slammed into the assassin and knocked him backwards. He managed to catch himself and ducked into the stairwell as Michael continued firing.
"What the fuck was that?" Michael wondered. He leaned back against the wall and cursed as pain tore through him. He leaned forward and carefully pulled the large piece of shrapnel from his back. He tossed the sliver of metal aside and leaned back again. His thoughts turned immediately to the dark-haired, blue-eyed assassin. "What the hell is going on?" A new scent invaded Michael's senses. 'I smell smoke.'
(:ii:)
"That did it," Ginji said happily as he stared at the flaming van in front of him.
"Yeah," Yuji agreed as he lit a cigarette. The flame caught on to more ammunition and set off another round of explosions. "The building is on fire."
"What. . .oh shit!"
"Tell the firemen they can come now," Yuji said. "Now Mike is going to know that we were here."
"He'll definitely be pissed off." The front door burst open and Ginji winced as a man in black stepped out.
"Uh. . .hey Mike."
"Hello," Michael said. "What are you doing here?"
"Just. . .uh. . .passing through," Ginji said brightly.
"I see," Michael said. That made Ginji frown.
"You injured?" Yuji asked.
"Not bad," Michael said, touching his chest. "I was shot once."
"Good for you."
(:ii:)
"The operation is a success," Keel said, trying not to sound smug. "Our wolf is now among the sheep."
"What of the rogue wolf?" one of the other members of SEELE asked. "Has it been slain?"
"It has," Keel said. "I've been assured."
End
(:ii:)
Author's notes. Did everyone catch what happened? I would hope so. This was one long pain in the ass to write. By the way, Kukri knives as seriously cool. In the hands of a skilled soldier they can remove a man's head in a second. That's certainly impressive when you realize just how much is holding that man's head to his body.
Lots of plotting, little foreshadowing, and a look into why Michael is the most dangerous of SEELE's assassins. Yep, I'd definitely say this chapter is done.