2254 hrs.Undisclosed Date
Streets of Tokyo-3
The baker's dozen have again been let out of the box.
"Sooo...she wasn't a hooker?" Maloy said nursing a palm-print on his cheek.
"No Maloy, she wasn't. And she looked pretty pissed too. If she files a report, it's your ass. I REALLY hate having to explain you guys to my CO."
Cooper, bringing up the rear, was still laughing from the incident that had taken place about a minute ago. He saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned to get a better look. He thought he saw a woman with spikey blue-hair, carrying a large bottle of sake, flying through air above him.
"Did anyone else see that?"
"See...what?" Lampright asked.
"Never mind."
'I have GOT to stop drinking shit brewed in bathtubs.'
0221 hrs.Undisclosed Date +1
CPT Lampright's Quarters, NERV Headquarters
Lampright is sleeping soundly in his bed as the phone begins to ring. He sits up and swings his feet over the side of the bed. He quickly tried to rub the sleep from his eyes.
"Somebody BETTER be dead." he said as he crossed the room.
"Captain Lampright speaking."
"What?" he said, instantly waking up completely.
"Roger. I'll be there in ten mikes."
He hung up and got on his radio.
"Denisovich, get everybody up and in the office. Yeah, don't worry, it's worth it."
0248 hrs.Undisclosed Date +1
N-FOG Office, NERV Headquarters
"I have an announcement that all of you want to hear." Lampright said.
"Howard likes the cock!" Maloy yelled from the back.
"Even better than that." Lampright assured them.
"What's better than me liking the cock!" Howard replied, grinning.
"We're going on the offense." Lampright said, not completely managing to keep a smile off his face.
"SCORE!" Larson yelled, high-fiving Cooper.
"At 0209 this morning, NERV received intelligence indicating that our 'mysterious assailants' are moving equipment by ship through the Sea of Japan. We will board the ship, neutralize the enemy presence, radio the Japanese maritime authorities, and await their arrival. Cooper, you will be assisting me in planning of this operation. Assembly time is 1800 hours, with mission commencing at 2300. Stand-by your radios for updates. Cooper, stand-by, everybody else, dismissed."
0558 hrs.Undisclosed Date +1
"I could do it, and I bet the German, the 'operator and the two SAS guys could do it too." Cooper said.
"You sure? I mean, I'm a pretty good paratrooper, but landing on a rockin' ship, that's a challenge."
"Yeah, I've done it before. My concern is what about everyone else?"
"Me and Maloy are gonna bring the rest in on an RIB. That's gonna be fun." Lampright said with a smirk.
"Whadda you know 'bout RIBs?"
"I used'em back in Ranger School in the swamp phase, I've used'em operationally a couple of times too."
"Well then, let's get crackin'. Sir."
"Shut-up."
1800 hrs.Undisclosed Date +1
Lampright stood in front of the room, Cooper standing off to his side, a large image of the Lotus Blossom, a small container ship behind him.
"This is our objective. It is reported to be carrying weapons, ammunition, supplies and possibly a few vehicles that are to be turned over to whoever is responsible for providing all of the targets since we arrived. Now, the plan is as follows:
Cooper, Jaeger, Jackson, Monty and Howard will paradrop onto the ship and secure the deck. Now, according to intel, the entire is armed, so it's a free-fire zone. Once the deck is secure, the remainder of us will insert by RIB. We will ascend to the deck by a rope ladder, which will be lowered from the deck by Monty, here." he said as he pointed to a spot on the port side, just forward of the bridge.
"Once aboard, command element will search the connexs on deck, team A will search the living areas, and team B will search the cargo holds. I want it done fast. From boots on deck to ship secure, twenty-five mikes tops. From there, we radio maritime authorities, and then turn the vessel over to them. Now then, due to special considerations based on environment, our standard weapons load-out will be modified. Armament will consist of melee weapons, pistols, SMGs and shotguns, and flash-bangs. Wouldn't wanna blow a hole in the hull now, would we?"
This decision was not well liked by the men.
"Hey, on the upside, I have managed to procure a number of P-90s for our use, complete with suppressors, if that makes any of you feel any better."
2354 hrs.Undisclosed Date +1
3,000 ft. above freighter Lotus Blossom
Chief Petty Officer Daniel Cooper carefully steered himself, aiming for the lighted shape of the ship's deck, thousands of feet below. Even though he couldn't see them, he knew that the other four who had jumped out with him were in a close formation with him Suddenly, he was yanked upwards, his chute fully deploying about five hundred feet above the ship. He executed a PLF, landing on top of one of the dozen or so connexs dotting deck of the ship with a hollow, metallic thud. He detached himself from his rig, and readied his weapon, going prone and observing the deck for half a minute before dropping lightly to the deck. Cooper knew he was near the bow, and held position until the rest of the team straggled in one by one, Jackson with the ladder and Monty and Howard splitting a set of breaching tools. Jaeger brought up the rear with a Benelli shotgun as the other four moved out with suppressed P-90s. Cooper turned the corner around a connex, a man with an AK-74 smoking a cigarette, starred at Cooper for a split-second, the cigarette fell from his lips as Cooper fired, splitting him from groin to scalp with a controlled burst, finishing him before the butt even hit the ground. The clattering of the suppressed weapon's bolt seemed louder than a dozen .50 cals in the still night air. Cooper began to drag the two pieces of the body out of sight as Howard passed him.
"Guess it's true what they say." he said.
"What?" Cooper asked.
"Those things'll kill you." he said, pointing to the butt.
Cooper made a shooing motion with his hand as Howard grinned.
Cooper heard another burst of clatters, this one coming from the bridge.
'Damn it! We're falling behind.' he thought.
0003 hrs.Undisclosed Date +2
Jackson guarded the top of the ladder in a crouch, as the rest of the group boarded the ship from their black zodiac-like craft.
"Eight down. Deck and bridge are clear, the other four are guarding entry points to the deck, sir." Jackson said, apprising the captain of the situation.
Lampright merely nodded.
"No need for quiet now."
"Permission to go loud." he said into his mic.
The groups spread out and covered down on their assigned tasks. Lampright and the command crew began cutting locks off of connexs and searching their contents, a short burst of automatic fire or the curt roar of a shotgun occasionally puncturing the otherwise quiet night. Lampright photographed all the finds, boxes of AKs, RPGs, explosives, a few PKMs, even a light mortar. And ammunition, thousands and thousands of rounds. Howard was in the bridge playing with the ship's GPS, pulling out all the tracking data to allow them to figure out it's route, and where the supplies came from.
"Sonoda to Lampright, I'm in the hold. You wanna see this." Sonoda's voice came over the radio.
"Inbound." Lampright said, jumping down a hatch.
He quickly made his way to the main hold, meeting with the leader of bravo team.
"What've we got?"
Sonoda pulled aside a tarp.
"Holy shit. Are those what I think they are?" Lampright said.
"Yeah. They look like some kind of modified entry plug. Nine of'em."
"Howard, meet me on the on the deck." Lampright said, snapping pictures from multiple angles.
0010 hrs. Undisclosed Date +2
"Is HQ dialed in?" Lampright asked.
"Rog."
Lampright shoved the handset under his helmet.
"This is Lampright. I need to speak to Commander Ikari. Now."
Several minutes pass.
"Sir, we have Eva components on the ship. Instructions?"
"Roger sir."
Lampright hands the handset back to Howard and switches on his radio.
"Cooper, we're scuttling the ship. Get on it. If you need explosives, I've got some up here."
"Don't worry, a good boy scout is prepared." he replied.
Lampright turned to Howard.
"Don't worry, he was never a boy scout."
The teams quickly finished searching the ship, Lampright continuing to document all the supplies, as well as the faces of the dead crew to compare with pictures in criminal databases. Within seven more minutes, everything was done.
0023 hrs.Undisclosed Date +2
Safe Distance from Lotus Blossom
"Now?" Cooper asked for the eighth time since they had piled into the small craft and sped from the now doomed ship.
Lampright sighed.
"Yes, now." he said.
"Finally. wait 'til you see what I did with a few RPG rockets." Cooper said gleefully hoisting the remote detonator.
"Cooper-" Lampright started, knowing the danger of Cooper saying 'watch this'.
Cooper clicked the button. A dozen balls of flame erupted at the waterline simultaneously. A split second later, a lone explosion blossomed on the deck, followed by a trio of RPG rounds spiraling into the air at approximately 75, 90 and 105 degree angles and exploding above the ship.
"'Little early for 4th of July, isn't it? Larson asked, chomping on a piece of bubble gum.
"Why don't you go drink some fuckin' maple syrup?"
0931 hrs.Undisclosed Date +2
Gendo Ikari's Office, NERV Headquarters
"Mister Lampright, you found Eva components aboard the vessel you raided last night." Gendo starred down his glasses at the captain as he made the statement.
"Yes sir, I-"
"You and your team will speak of this to no one. You found nothing in that hold. If you have already said something, what you found were several large pressure vessels intended for use in the chemical industry that to your untrained eye appeared at first to be Eva parts. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Also, I have been informed that you have pictures of the pressure vessels. Those pictures will be turned over to me and all copies and other saved forms of them destroyed within the next thirty minutes. Is that understood?"
Lampright was beginning to hate this assignment. Every time he thought he was close to an answer, the question just got deeper. He suppressed the anger smoldering inside him.
"Yes sir. What is this about? I deserve to know if-"
"You deserve to know nothing, captain. Now, you will do as you are told. Dismissed."
Lampright snapped to attention and exited the office.
"Douche bag." he muttered as he headed to his office to comply with his demands.