Disclaimer: See the Prologue
File #9 – A Traitor's End
Ryouji Kaji, better known by his last name, was an employee alongside the entity known as the G-Man, who in turn was the Supreme Commander of SEELE. He became in touch with the G-Man during his time in University alongside Misato Katsuragi, who was also involved with the G-Man and would become a high-ranking officer with NERV Japan, and with Ritsuko Akagi, who would become head of NERV's Science Team. Despite being intimately involved with both Misato and Ritsuko, they had no idea of his connections to the otherworldly G-Man.
The secretive group of government assassins, the Black Operatives, trained him and he was used in assignments all over the world, all involving monitoring NERV. He was once sent to Black Mesa itself, on a routine 'government inspection.' Eventually, The G-Man sent Kaji to NERV Japan to keep an eye on Gendo Ikari's growing ambitions, which were fuelled by the Commander's desire to be reunited with his wife.
But Kaji had his own intentions, as he was not in favour of the G-Man's employer's plans towards preserving the Earth their own way. He begun to play both SEELE and NERV off against one another, in an attempt to cause confusion among the Keel Lorenz, the other SEELE councillors, the G-Man's enigmatic employers, Gendo Ikari and even the G-Man himself, in order to draw them into submission. All the while gaining the trust of Gendo, the pilots and his former flame Misato.
Eventually the G-Man, already knowing of his plans, saw Kaji as a threat to his employers and ordered his termination, which was with extreme prejudice. The Black Ops, Kaji's former brothers-in-arms, were called in to put him down.
Among this death squad was Agents Nicholson and Williams, who would be sent in the future to Black Mesa and would also manage to escape intact and with their limbs.
The man put down the phone as he sat in his apartment, wiping the sweat off his brow. He had just made his last phone call to his one-time love Misato Katsuragi, who he had just managed to reconcile with.
He knew his time was near. He knew that they would be coming for him, the people who trained him and equipped him for his assignment here in Japan. They would show no mercy towards him and would make him suffer to his last breath.
'I'm sorry it has to come to this, Misato,' he thought.
He walked over to his desk and opened a drawer, which he produced a 9mm handgun. He cocked it and holstered it under his shirt. He knew Nicholson and Williams, his former colleagues, would be sent after him.
'You guys aren't taking me down without a fight,' he thought again, determined.
Meanwhile across town, a black van was en-route towards Kaji's apartment. In the driver's seat was Agent Williams, alongside Nicholson, whom had his mask pulled up from his face to eat a packet of salted peanuts.
"For God's sake, Nicholson," Williams said, "Eat with your mouth closed."
"I'm in charge of this operation," Nicholson simply replied, "And don't behave like my mother."
"Are we almost there?" Williams asked, hands on the wheels.
Nicholson reached for the map, and the coordinates written on a notepad.
"Yep," Nicholson replied, "Just up ahead."
The van soon stopped a few metres from the apartment.
"Alright!" Nicholson exclaimed, "This is were that rat-bastard lives!"
The van then pulled into the apartment's garage, where Nicholson and Williams stepped out and slammed the door, armed with M4s with attached grenade launchers. Williams banged on the side of the van, where 4 other Black Ops barrelled out.
"Ok," Nicholson begun, "You two shoot him high…"
He indicated Williams and another Black Ops.
"You three shoot him low…"
He pointed to the other 3 Black Ops, before loading up his Carbine.
"I'm gonna shoot him right through his heart!"
They made their way out of the garage and took the stairs up to the floor where Kaji lived.
"Apartment 665," Williams said.
"The neighbour of the beast," a Black Op commented, "Just like what our situation practically is."
"Beastly?" another Black Op asked.
"Exactly."
"Hey pipe down," Nicholson ordered, "We got a colleague to frag and a world to save."
"Yes sir."
Sitting in his apartment, Kaji could hear the footsteps of armed men bearing down on him. He eyed the window across the room. He contemplated high tailing it to Misato's apartment, but…
'I can't get her involved with these bastards,' he thought, 'I better get out of town completely.'
The Black Ops were outside his door, guns ready. Williams was before the door, with his foot on it.
'3…2…1,' he thought, before thrusting and kicking the door down.
They charged in and begun filling the room with lead…
"SAY YOUR PRAYERS, TRAITOR!" Williams cried.
They stopped firing after a few seconds, and noticed they hit nothing. They moved into the dark flat, scouring it. Nicholson noticed the window was open. He ran towards it, expecting to see Kaji running down the street.
But he didn't.
"Where'd he go?" a Black Op exclaimed.
"Tear this place apart," Nicholson ordered, "He couldn't have escaped us that easily."
"Yes sir,"
What they didn't see was Kaji gripping the upper corner of the room, concealed in the shadows.
'Definitely Nicholson and Williams,' he thought, 'Its time to run.'
He then dropped down and run to the door. Williams spun around.
"HEY!" he cried, "THERE HE IS!"
Kaji dove out the door, bullets flying above his head. He ran down the hallway past the other doors.
"TARGET'S MOVING FAST!" Nicholson cried into his radio, "ALL UNITS, PREPARE TO INTERCEPT HIM!"
The Black Ops tore out of the apartment and pursed Kaji down the hallway, the guy himself running as fast as he can. He saw the stairs up ahead to the side, before another Black Op dove in front on him. Kaji pulled out his gun and fired, downing the assassin.
Seeing how the building is probably full of Black Ops, he decided to just run straight for the window…and dive through it; he gritted his teeth and covered his eyes as he smashed through the glass.
He fell 3 feet before landing in a pile of garbage sacks.
'Thank God for garbage sacks,' he thought, knowing people in his building would toss their garbage bags out their windows.
Gunfire erupted from the windows, which people heard on the streets and begun to panic, running for their lives. Kaji got off the garbage sacks and begun running down the street, his heart pounding against his chest.
He then saw someone getting into his car.
'No choice,' he decided, tearing the guy away and jumping in.
"HEY, F#$#ASS!" the civilian cried, then suddenly ran when a bullet tore through the back windshield and right past Kaji's ear.
He turned the keys and put the pedal down, speeding off with his head down, avoiding the bullets that were still coming at him from the masked assassins on the streets.
"Shit!" Williams exclaimed holding his assault rifle smoking, "Stinking Angel bait got away!"
Nicholson turned to his radio, "Mathers?"
Right here, sir, the other line replied."Intercept target and eliminate him right away," Nicholson ordered.
Yes sir.
Kaji breathed a sigh of relief as he sped away in his jacked car, not caring if he was going over the speed limit.
'That was close,' he thought.
Suddenly, a bullet tore through windshield.
"SHIT!" he cursed.
A black mustang was on his tail, the Assassin in civvy clothing holding onto the wheel with one hand while his other held a Beretta, firing it.
'Now what?' he thought.
He then remembered his gun, but this wasn't the time to use it, as he was swerving in and out of traffic, the Black Op still firing at him.
'Oh what the hell…!' he thought.
Gripping the steering wheel with one hand, he carefully leaned out the window, his gun in his other hand. He then focused…and fired.
The bullet hit his pursuer in the neck, where the assassin then took both his hands of the wheel and crashed through a shop window.
"YEAH!" he cried, happy.
He then quickly put his eyes back on the road, where they quickly widened…
"Oh f#$# me!"
There was roadblock up ahead, with police cars lined with Black Ops masquerading as police officer, and armed with Uzis.
"He's not stopping," one of the assassins said to the other.
"He had his chance!" the other replied, gritting his teeth and preparing to use his double-fisted weapons.
They then begun firing at him, where Kaji kept his head down and did a 180º spin, going back where he was.
"That smart-ass MOTHERF#$#ER!" an assassin cursed.
They continued firing at Kaji, leaving his car completely filled with holes.
'God, they really want me dead,' he thought.
He continued driving down the streets, foot completely down on the wheel. This was probably the worst day in his life.
"C'MON!" a Black Ops/Police Officer cried, "AFTER HIM!"
Suddenly, his communicator beeped.
"Wilkins here!" he begun.
Wilkins, the other line begun, This is Captain Nicholson. We've just received new orders from the top.
"Yes sir," he begun, "What is it, sir?"
The top wants Kaji alive for a little longer, Nicholson replied, Then he will be dealt with after his purpose is done.
"Er…" Wilkins stumered, before saying, "Yes sir."
Kaji survived that little encounter with the Black Ops, but his good luck didn't last. Later on, he was cornered by a Black Ops posing as a NERV employee and was shot. His body was never found. For all the right reasons…
Because he was held captive by the entity known as the G-Man and the men and women of the Black Operatives. He was put in stasis years after the NERV Incident, only to be awaken when the Universal Union finally landed on Earth…
The man felt freezing water contact with his face, instantly bringing him out of unconsciousness.
"Wha…?" he begun.
The last thing he remembered was been cornered in the dark, before feeling lead hit him in the back. It couldn't have been Misato; she had a different kind of gun to the assassin, he could tell by the sound of the weapon fired. His thoughts were interrupted when he found he was tied to a chair, cuffs around his hands.
He looked around and found he was some kind of warehouse, where a bright light shone on him. He saw two guys: An orange-haired man and a brown haired man with a blond streak, both in their late 20s. The brown-hair was holding a bucket, dripping with cold water.
"That woke him up," orange-hair commented.
Kaji smirked slightly, "Nicholson and Williams. I knew he would send you two dogs after me."
He felt a fist slam against his face, drawing blood from nose. Williams felt his hand.
"Is that the best you can do?" Kaji asked, glaring at the former Computer Tech-turned-Government Assassin.
Suddenly, a large door opened in the warehouse, revealing a bright light, and a silhouette of a familiar looking figure, which was holding a briefcase.
"No, Mr. Kaji," the figure begun, "It's only the start."
Nicholson and Williams produced 2 baseball bats as Kaji's eyes widened, seeing that it was the entity known as the G-Man.
"You disappoint me," the G-Man said, frowning, "You were simply assigned to NERV Japan to monitor Commander Ikari's growing separatist behaviour, not to cause confusion among my employers. And NERV and SEELE for that matter."
Kaji spat blood, before replying, "You don't scare me with this Gestapo crap! NERV will find me and they'll turn against you."
"NERV is destroyed, asswipe!" Nicholson exclaimed, "We saw to it personally."
Kaji's eyes widened, "No…you didn't…?"
"Relax," Williams said, "Your girlfriend's safe. She's in the cooler until she is assigned her first mission."
Kaji couldn't believe it. Misato has been 'hired' by these creeps. He felt his world come crashing down. NERV was destroyed; SEELE probably as well, seeing as it no longer serves a purpose and the G-Man just recruited the only person he ever loved.
"What…are you going to do with me?" Kaji asked, feeling his bravery slip away.
The G-Man smiled, "We are going to abandon you here, where they will see to your ultimate demise. But first…"
Williams and Nicholson stepped closer, patting their bats.
"…my colleagues will soften you up."
Kaji closed his eyes as he felt Nicholson strike him across the head.
"Here's what Black Ops do to traitors, Kaji," Nicholson cried.
5 minutes later, Kaji's was lying on the floor, a bloody mess and still tied to the chair. Williams brushed his hands together as they looked down at their handiwork.
Suddenly, Nicholson's radio beeped.
Captain. Combine troops are en-route to your position. We have to pull out immediately, over.
Nicholson turned to the G-Man…
"They're on their way, sir," Nicholson reported.
The G-Man nodded, "Let us be on our way, gentlemen."
Nicholson and Williams took one last look at the barely alive Kaji, before following the G-Man out of the warehouse. The last thing that could be seen before the door closed was the G-Man smiling.
Kaji was engulfed in darkness, where the only light shone from the windows at the top of the warehouse. 2 minutes later, the door was blown apart, where strange-looking soldiers clad in black gasmasks and armour ran in.
Kaji could hear their radio communications among themselves. One of them walked up to him and looked down.
"Ryouji Kaji," he said, "NERV scum!"
The soldier aimed his modified H&K Submachine-gun with Grenade Launcher at his head…
…and pulled the trigger!
Kaji was terminated by the Union, known to humanity as the Combine, during the 7-Hours War, which will end in a massive victory for the Union, which would take over the Earth and subject it's people to it's harsh regime.
The human race only now waits for a hero to return.
