Striker/Spriggan: Unknown Object

By: Ominae

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Striker/Spriggan are under the copyright of Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. Cameo appearances of other characters are under the copyright of Capcom and Tsutomu Takahashi. All other characters are under my jurisdiction.

Summary:

Now in Hong Kong, Mark and Michael must find out what Trident plans to do with their prototype Armored Machine Suits after realizing that they had already conducted tests on it overseas. But in order to get possible clues on this, they have to interrogate a businessman who has ties to Trident in the Hong Kong financial sector. Will they find solid clues to figure out where Trident is hiding their prototype suits? Will they be able to get those clues with the cooperation of Tsang Sie Yu, the said businessman with alleged ties to the Trident Corporation? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

PS - Tsang Sie Yu is not related to the current HK CEO. Like I said, he is a made-up character.

As for the gloves, they act like Little Boy's cutting wires, only without any motors. They'll be demonstrated next chapter...

Chapter 5: It's Going Down

Entrance, Prince's Building, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"Thanks, Ran." Yu thanked the driver as he was the first Striker to dismount from their vehicle.

Being dropped off by Ran, ARCAM's Gurkha security guard and designated driver, from their 2000 ARCAM Ford Transit Mk. 3 minibus van, Mark Sy led the other Strikers were busy working in the early Saturday morning to speak with Tsang Sie Yu after intelligence had confirmed that he was working at the Bank of China Tower. Wearing various civilian clothes over their ARCAM Armored Muscle Suits, they were thankful that Mayzel made the suits to be worn with clothes over them. Strangely, all were wearing jackets in order to conceal their sidearms as they couldn't risk toting their assault rifles and submachine guns around. They were about to get busy.

"Time to get to work." Miguel Ruiz, Filipino Striker who arrived in Hong Kong a while ago was beside Patrick Chan, fellow Filipino Striker who cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

"Whatever you two." Michelle Bogden flicked her brown ponytail at her rear after some of its hair strands were on her shoulders.

"Okay, guys." Mark urged all the Strikers to gather around while he was already making plans on what to do next. "We're here to speak to Mr. Tsang about his alleged ties to Trident. So I don't want everyone to do anything that could draw attention to us, especially the police." He glared at his comrade. "And that means no pistol smashing or pistol whipping too."

"Nuts." Yu snapped his fingers. Was about to apply some pressure on the guy.

"All right." Michael said, leading all the Strikers inside the building.


Lobby, Prince's Building, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

With Riza inquiring to the receptionist on the office of Tsang Sie Yu, the other Striker operatives waited for the Hong Kong Striker to finish up her work when they were lounging in one of the lobby's lounge areas, mostly filled with sofas.

Minutes later, Riza spoke with the group and told them of some news.

"Good news guys." On hearing the words good news from Riza, the resting Strikers turned their heads to focus their attention to the black-haired girl, waiting for her to say something.

"He's here in the building right now at the KPMG office. The receptionist told us that we can see him soon even though we don't have an appointment." Riza placed her hands on her jacket office.

"Great work, Riza." grinned Yu. "Now we can finally speak to him about his links."

"Hope so, lad." nodded Gerald. The Irish Striker seemed to agree with Yu with his comments.

"Um..." Mark sheepishly raised a hand, earning a smile from Riza since she liked the way he was acting. "What floor is the KPMG in this building?"

"On the 8th floor." grinned the Hong Kong Striker.

Jean stood up from the sofa. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"


Elevator Lobby, KPMG Hong Kong, Prince's Building, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

Arriving at the 8th floor of the Prince Building, the group had disembarked from the building's two elevator since not all of them would not fit into one single elevator.

Here goes nothing. Tudor wiped some sweat from his nose as he stepped out of the elevator.

Now what? John felt a bit nervous about the new mission, but had to go along so as to stop Trident from doing something diabolical that could harm the world balance.

"I'll go ask." Riza went ahead to the receptionist. Most of the Strikers excused themselves to go to the nearest toilet, leaving Riza to do her work.

Minutes later, all of the Strikers emerged from the toilets, seeing Riza wait for them.

"Can we see him?" asked Yu, referring to Tsang Sie Yu. Seeing Riza nod at him, she watched one of the receptionists lead them to the office's conference room where she told them to wait.


Conference Room, KPMG Hong Kong, Prince's Building, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"Greetings." Tsang Sie Yu entered the conference room with the Strikers lazily waiting for him. Mark studied the businessman; he was just as exactly who intelligence described to be as.

"Mr. Ronald Tsang." addressed Yu. "We're from the ARCAM Corporation and we need to ask you some questions."

What? These teenagers are from ARCAM? The businessman could not help but be curious that teenagers are actively working for a multinational corporation such as ARCAM. "And what is this about?" asked Tsang as he took his seat.

"We want to ask you..." Gerald stood up from his seat. "regarding your allegations with the Trident Corporation."

"I'm sorry," said Tsang, wiping sweat from his brow. "I don't know what you people are talking about."

Playing hard to get eh? He's hiding something. Micheal decided to speed up the questioning pace by speaking to him in a threatening manner. "Look here! We've got reliable and solid information that you have active links with Trident and their backers! So unless you're going to tell us when you spoke with a Trident representative, we're going to keep you here as we can!"

"Impossible!" Tsang rapped the desk with his fist, making a sound. "You can't do this to me!"

Suddenly, Tsang was pinned to the table with hands while a pistol barrel was placed at the rear of his hand.

"Wanna try us?" Miguel whipped out his Glock 21 from his shoulder holster after drawing it out from his jacket. while pinned down by Michelle, keeping the businessman down from trying to make a move. The pistol's barrel was painfully placed at the rear of Tsang's head, aiming at his brain. Tsang was now pleading for his life, begging for mercy.

"Enough!" shouted Mark. "Let him go!" The two Strikers grudgingly agreed to release Tsang from their grip.

Mark scolded Miguel. "I thought I told you that you're not allowed to whip out your pistol." He pointed at the entrance to the conference room. "We could get into trouble in a matter of minutes with HKPD."

Miguel shrugged him off. However, Mark still gave the businessman a warning when he grabbed his necktie, earning an "OOOHH!" remark from some of his comrades.

"I'm gonna stay outside for a while and have some of my friends talk to you." Tsang looked and saw Yu and Jean grinning at him. "You're gonna cooperate with them and tell us anything you know about Trident's latest activities."

With that, he shoved Tsang back at his seat. Before he left the conference room with some Strikers, he turned around and glared at the businessman with a warning.

"If you don't tell us the truth, we'll try to see that you don't live long enough to see the morning sun."


Cabin, Trident Sikorsky S-70-27

"What's this?" Iwao asked Hedgehog as they were on an unmarked Trident Sikorsky S-70-27.

"Just the report." grinned Hedgehog, adjusting his glasses again before handing him a piece of paper. "We're to intercept the Strikers down in Central." He was seated next to Jack the Ripper.

"Are they interrogating that businessman from KPMG?" sneered Jack, arms crossed on his chest.

"True that he may have spilled some info on us." chuckled Iwao, sitting next to the muscular. "That means we'll have to kill him."

"Tsang Sie Yu's a liability within Trident." Hedgehog flexed his robotic fingers. "We'll have to kill him later on."

"All in due time." Iwao told his comrade. "But we'll have to take care of the Strikers once they come out of the Prince's Building."

"If I heard it right," said Jack, warning his comrades. "some of our spotters have already reported an ARCAM transport on the way to pick them up in a few minutes."

"Let's wait for a report from them first." suggested Iwao. The other operatives nodded at him in response.


Elevator Lobby, KPMG Hong Kong, Prince's Building, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

Mark, Michelle, Patrick, Tudor, John and Gerald were waiting in the lobby area while Yu and the rest were busy spending their time talking with the businessman to get some leads. Moments later, the rest of the Strikers have emerged from the conference room to the lobby.

"How did it go?" asked John, speaking to the Strikers that arrived at the lobby.

"Fine." Wesley placed a hand on his head. "Managed to get some good solid information out of him."

"True." said Roland in support. "Apparently, Mr. Tsang does have some connections with Trident and he did mention something about them."

Mark grinned. "This has got to be good."

This was when Yu decided to speak up. "The man knows a place where Trident's conducting the testing of their so-called prototype suits."

Jean added more fuel to the fire. "It's some sort of warehouse-like facility somewhere in Kowloon." The Frenchman scratched his neck. "Where the place is located is what we don't know, though he mentioned that the place is secluded."

"Right." Mark quickly stood up from the couch at the lounging area of the lobby. "Better warn Mr. Yeo about this."


Rooftop, Jardine House, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

Two men dressed in olive green fatigues and Trident berets had been watching the entrance leading to the Prince's Building earlier on. Besides them with their Colt M4A1 assault rifles. Both were Caucasian males with blonde hair.

"Report!" buzzed one of their radios. One of the surveying Trident soldiers responded by grabbing his radio unit while the other was maintaining observation on the building.

"No sign of the Strikers." said the first soldier, reporting to his superior.

"Hold it!" His companion, the other soldier, motioned him to come on as he had spotted a vehicle on his binoculars. "Their transport's already in the area."

"Correction." said the trooper on the radio. "A van's already approaching the entrance to Prince's Building."

"Good." replied the caller. "Take them out when they're near their transport."

"Yes, sir." Returning the radio back on his belt, he took out a Saab Bofors AT 4 CS (Confined Space) anti-tank rocket launcher from a black duffel bag next to him.

The second soldier got ready their rappelling gear while the first soldier began to cock the weapon after removing its various safeties on the rocket launcher. With that done, he attached an optical sight on the weapon and took aim at the 2000 Ford Transit Mk. 3 minibus van.


Somewhere near Prince's Building, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"Just what I need! A vacation!"

A brown-haired woman wearing a blue tube top and black skirt happily walked on the sidewalk of Chater Road, treading it with her black boots. She also happened to have her black jacket on too.

"Good to see you in a bright mood, Jill." Her black-haired companion, wearing a brown jacket with blue jeans and brown shoes, grinned at her.

"Of course I am, Chris!" beamed Jill. "Who would have thought of spending some quality time down at Hong Kong?"

"I would." A brown-haired man in his middle '20s chuckled at them. "Never thought I'd see you like that."

"Leave Jill alone, Leon!" A bearded man in his '40s-'50s laughed at them. "She needs the energy to enjoy herself."

"Say," Leon shuffled his hand on his hair. "Where are the others? It's unlike them not to come after trying to buy some food from the stalls again?"

"Sorry!"

The group turned around to see Rebecca and Claire running up to them.

"Sorry." smiled Claire. "The fish balls back there was too good to eat."

"Yeah, right." frowned Rebecca. "You almost ate half of my food too."

"Ladies, please." pleaded Barry. "Let's not get into a fight here over food. We can try it some other time, okay?"

"Claire." Chris asked his sister. "Heard anything from Elza or the others?"

"No." Claire shook her hand. "Last time I heard from Elza is that she's currently competing in another motocross rally in Canada. But as for the leads, she's still waiting. Don't know with DJ or with Ark." Hope Sherry's okay.

"Don't worry about it." Carlos tried to get everyone into a happy mood. "We're on vacation, so let's make the most out of it."

"Carlo's right." smiled Barry. "Besides," He took a glance at his watch. "I can't wait to go shopping with her later on for the kids."

The entire group nodded in agreement with Barry, their thoughts right about one common thing.


"Watch out, world! The master of Saikyo Groove is in the house!"

A man wearing a pink karate gi pumped his fist in the air, earning some curious looks as to why his attire was pink. He began to do a headbang while holding his CD player before putting it on his knapsack.

"Hey! I taught you were going to give me a refresher in my training!"

A young girl, around the age of 18, was shouting at the man in front of her. Wearing a Japanese sailor fuku suit and having a white headband over her forehead with red fighting gloves, she wasn't your everyday typical student that you'd meet in the streets of Japan.

"It's no fair Dan! You said you were going to teach me one of your new moves and next thing you know, I'm taken to Central!" The girl shook her fist in front of him. "I can't believe you!"

"Calm down, little girl!" grinned the ponytailed man. "Dan's here gonna keep my word with ya, Sakura. I promise you that!"

A Japanese man wearing an orange gi with a blonde-haired Japanese woman in civilian clothes were walking close behind Dan and Sakura.

"No need to worry about that, Sakura." chuckled Guy, wearing the orange gi. "I'll see to it that Dan keeps his promise."

"Thanks, Guy-sempai." Sakura bowed a bit in appreciation.

"Don't you worry, Sakura." The blonde-haired ponytailed girl glared at Dan before smiling at Sakura. "Maki's gonna make sure that he will help you do your training."


"How's your vacation so far, Ada?"

A woman with Chinese looks at the age of 26, Ada Wong was wearing a black jacket over her red blouse. She also had brown pants on too.

"Why Wesker?" grinned Ada, speaking to her colleague on her Nokia 8850 cellphone. "Do you miss me?"

"Very funny, Ms. Wong." said Wesker sarcastically. "Mocking me on your Hong Kong vacation."

"I'm just kidding, Wesker." giggled the woman.

"Anyway, the head ups are expecting another meeting when you get back from your lovely R&R there."

"Sure, Wesker. You can count on me."

"I'll be in touch in case something else comes up in the upcoming agenda."

"Of course." Ada closed her cellphone and kept it in her jacket pocket while trying to enjoy the rest of her day off. She eyed a group of people standing near Chater Road from her position at the Connaught Road Central.

"Leon." She whispered to the air. "Why are you here?"


A man in his middle '20s walked alone on the sidewalk of Ice House Street. He wore a black jacket over his shirt with black pants and shoes on.

Yamaki. sighed the man. Why didn't you call for backup like you were supposed to?

He remembered the day when his partner, known as Tsuyoshi Yamaki, was shot to death by an armed illegal delinquent. Initial investigation showed that the suspect turned to be on Chinese descent and was sent on an assassination mission with Yamaki being at the wrong time, though he was supposed to be at a local bar helping the manager clear a local drunk at Shinjuku.

Calm yourself, Iida. Moping around won't do you any good.

Kyoya Iida had been placed on a temporary paid leave after his superior, Narita, learned of what he did in China after he knew that Iida was indirectly responsible for a few deaths in Shanghai in order to avenge his death. Narita told Iida to rest for a bit since division was currently trying to look for a suitable replacement for him.

I hope my vacation turns out to be fine. Anyway, can't wait to see who's going to be my partner soon.


Entrance, Prince's Building, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"Right." Ronald checked his watch. "Van should be coming in at any minute now."

"Speaking of the devil, of course." Wesley pointed to his fellow Strikers the incoming van. The traffic, for a strange reason, was kind of light, even though it was almost noon.

"Ford Transit made it in time." whistled Yu, watching the van slowly made its approach.

Hmm... Mark sensed something was not right in the area.

"Bro." Michael patted him on his shoulder. "Did you feel it?"

"Yea." Mark whispered to his twin. "Something's not right. I feel that trouble's about to come up in a few more minutes."


Rooftop, Jardine House, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"Target in sight."

The first soldier, already armed with the ready Saab Bofors AT4 CS rocket launcher, aligned the sights on the incoming 2000 Ford Transit Mk. 3 minibus. He had the advantage of having a perfect aim since not much traffic was around the area surrounding Prince's Building.

"Got it." His companion continued to monitor the area via binoculars. "Strikers are outside the main entrance waiting for transport to arrive."

"Has it arrived yet?"

"Almost. I can see it coming in. The same van that dropped off the Strikers a while ago."

The first soldier began to re-aim the sights of the AT4 CS. "Ready and waiting for the drop on those Striker chumps."

The other soldier studied their targets on his binoculars when he told his comrade. "Van's nearing them. Fire as soon as the vehicle's in front of them. No traffic's gonna hamper the way."


Entrance, Prince's Building, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"I'm telling ya, bro." assured Michael. "It must be something else that we might expect later on or perhaps the information that we got from Tsang Sie Yu regarding Trident's secret hideaway."

I don't know. For some reason, Mark isn't convinced by his brother's words. He took his Xavier School ballcap that he clipped on his belt and wore it. His brother did likewise, only wearing the ballcap of the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

He knew that something was going to happen. Even though the two are trained psychic, Mark has always been the better one when Tea had trained them before their eventual recruitment into ARCAM.


Rooftop, Jardine House, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"They're right in place." The soldier then signaled his companion to fire his weapon at them.

"Right! Going hot!"

With those three words, the other Trident soldier fired his Saab Bofors AT4 CS rocket launcher and aligned its sights at the incoming American-made vehicle.

Afterwards, he depressed the weapon's firing button, launching the rocket launcher's HEAT warhead as it began to streak towards its intended target.


Entrance, Prince's Building, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"What the!" Mark saw a projectile heading towards their direction with white smoke following it.

"Shit!" The Filipino Striker motioned to his comrades to get away from the missile. "Everyone, hide!"

"What is it?" asked Jean, until he saw the projectile that Mark had noticed. "A missile!"

You know what that means! Wesley and some of the other Strikers began to panic, but Yu quickly rallied to his other Striker comrades to get away from the incoming missile.

"Incoming!" The Japanese Striker operator ran away from the Saab Bofors AT4 CS' HEAT warhead when all the Strikers scattered in various directions. Regretfully, their 2000 Ford Transit Mk. 3 minibus van wasn't able to get away since the event happened quickly.

A loud explosion then echoed throughout Hong Kong's Central district after the HEAT warhead made contact with the Transit's engine, resulting in an explosion that took out both the driver and the vehicle itself.


"Everyone okay?"

Mark tried to take command of their current situation.

A situation that took the form of a now destroyed 2000 Ford Transit Mk. 3 minibus van with the charred corpse of its driver. Looking at the former body of Ran, the hideous sight only made his blood boil.

"We're okay." shouted Yu through the smoke. Mark looked around and saw that the others were okay, not hit by the HEAT warhead fired from the rooftops of Central's skyscrapers.

"What the hell happened?" Riza coughed through the smoke that came from the charred van.

"Yeah!" coughed Patrick as well. "Who did this to us and to Ran?"

Miguel looked around for a sign of an attacker before he theorized, "You think it's Trident, guys?"

"One thing's for sure." Jean swatted the gray smoke away from him. "Someone's coming to get us for sure."

"He's right." Mark swatted the gray smoke from him also. "They're coming to get us for sure." He looked around to see most of the civilians have left their vehicles in the streets or have evacuated the area in panic.

And hell they're not even gonna hold back and fight in the streets of Central, aren't they?

Chapter 5 END

Notes/Terms:

HEAT - High Explosive Anti-Tank. Uses the Neumann effect to make a high-velocity jet of metal in a state of superplasticity that punches through most solid armor. Mostly used for killing tanks, though it can also be used on anything that has armored reinforcements such as automobiles, buildings and hardened bunkers.

- The Neuman effect refers to the partial focus of blast energy made by a hollow/void cut into a piece of explosive. This is usually seen in warheads, such as the ones used in missiles for rocket launcher or in grenades (Not the handheld ones) for grenade launchers.

- Superplasticity refers to solid crystalline materials that deforms after a certain amount of force is exerted into it, leading into a breaking point.

KPMG - Named after Klynveld (K), Peat (P), Marwick (M) and Goerdeler (G). Dutch-based professional services company specializing in taxes for the most part. Involved in a 2005 KPMG tax shelter scandal when several of its American-based executives assisted several wealthy clients in tax evasion.

Saab Bofors AT4 CS - A variants of the AT4, used only when fighting in urban warfare. Though it can be used in urban warfare, there are reports that soldiers faint when the weapon is fired from confined areas.

To know more about the characters from Resident Evil and Street Fighter series, I'd recommend that you check wikipedia for info, even though some are questionable. Same goes for Jiraishin. Scanlations are available on the internet currently, so you may want to check that out also. Good cop angst manga to read if you're into that sort of thing, that is.