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 under fire in the streets of Central, the Strikers are now being cornered by Trident operators in the urban areas of Hong Kong after nearly escaping a deadly attempt on their lives in a rocket attack. Will they be able to beat them back and get out of the area safely? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

To all readers:

Hope this chapter would eventually inspire others to do some action-kicking fics!

Chapter 7: Rumble in Central, Part 2

Lantau Island Pier, Intersection of Man Yiu St. and Finance St., Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

It had been an hour since Yu and his Striker comrades have met up with another Trident mercenary force near the Lantau Island Pier.

"Scatter!" yelled Mark, trying to get a Trident commando off him as the two were on the ground with the latter threatening him with his Glock 17. "Get back to the main road!"

Yu and Michael provided cover fire by firing the remaining ammunition from their Colt M4A1 assault rifles before using it as melee weapons after its remaining ammunition has been exhausted. Granted that the roads behind them were being evacuated again of any civilians, it had an easier job for both Trident and Striker operator with the flexibility to fight anywhere in the streets nearby.

"Hrah!" Mark disarmed his adversary of his Glock 17 and did a palm thrust on him, sending the poor commando flying away from him before crashing on top of an abandoned Nissan Cedric red taxi.

Ouch! Mark got up from the paved road and fired the Glock 17 wildly against any Trident operator as he ran back towards Connaught Road Central. Though 9mm bullets were killing off the regular Trident grunts, the agents were somehow treating this like child's play.

"Heh!" Jack the Ripper whipped out his Omihalcon blades and used them to deflect the incoming bullets from hitting him.

"Watch it!" Iwao ducked down to avoid getting a head shot by one of the 9mm bullets that Jack deflected. "You could have killed me with that!"

"You trying to kill us?" snarled Iwao, ducking down in time to avoid two 9mm bullets from penetrating his head. It instead deflated the tire and smashed the passenger window of a 2000 BMW E46 parked near the curb.

Seeing that the opposition was kept busy, Mark tossed the used Glock 17 and ran on down the streets towards his destination.


Intersection of Harbour View St. and Peddler St., Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"Everybody present?" Jean yelled, launching his gloved fist on the face of a Trident commando, trying to stab him from behind. His punch, by luck, was able to avert the situation. The commando had dropped his own combat knife, which missed its mark.

Couldn't even get to my bomber jacket! sneered the French Striker, cracking his knuckles for another anticipation. Knife appears to be a Fairbarn-Sykes...

"Hwa!" Yu did a solid roundhouse kick that knocked a Trident commando's GIAT FAMAS G2 assault rifle before he did another one that knocked the mercenary out. Seeing Gerald was a bit busy dodging gunfire from the Colt M16A2 assault rifles of two Trident commandos, he sneaked out behind one and snapped the first commando's neck before the Irish Striker used the distraction to knee the other in the crotch before doing a shoulder tackle and an uppercut.

Riza and Miguel, by instinct, decided to draw out their pistols. The former drew out her Charles Daly ZDA pistol while the latter took out his Glock 21 and started to gun down every armed Trident commando that they can target their pistols with while being careful to avoid hitting a civilian or a police officer, an irony to consider for the latter since most of the world's security forces have branded the Strikers to be a dangerous lot to have around and have secret policies handed down to their subordinates to have them killed.

Michelle, on the other hand, began to engage Sidewinder in combat. The only exception here was that the Trident agent had the advantage of his cybernetic hands to launch steel dart heads at his opponents.

"Shit!" She saw him aim the fingertips from his hands at her and managed to leap behind cover of a parked 2000 Nissan Cedric, only hearing the dart heads punching through the glass windows and penetrating the metal of the auto while hearing two tires deflate.

"This is not my day!" fumed the Canadian, debating on whether to use her Heckler and Koch USP 45 pistol.


Tudor and John were facing off against Iwao and Hedgehog near the General Post Office as the fighting had apparently made its presence near the building. The Romanian Striker was duking it with Iwao while the Kenyan Striker decided to take his chances with Hedgehog.

"Give it up, Striker!" Iwao rammed his gloved fist on the pavement, leaving a small crater. Tudor jumped out of the way by some few seconds before he was pounded.

"I'm not going to let some paramilitary chump like you get those suits up and running!" Tudor charged and prepared to collide his clenched fist with Iwao as the two had their fists ready to violently meet up with each other.

"Take this!" grinned Hedgehog, removing his prosthetic right hand to reveal his needle gun. He then fired off a shot from his weapon, damaging a parked 2000 Toyota Corolla and a 2000 Honda Civic as the Kenyan Striker nimbly dodged him, anticipating the Trident mercenary's attempt to fire his needle gun before moving.

"Eya!" John then aimed a kick on Hedgehog's chest, temporarily dazing the half-cyborg.


Mark and Michael were now facing Jack the Ripper, though the advantage of two against one were being outwitted by Jack's Omihalcon high frequency blades fitted on his prosthetic arms.

"Whoa, mate!" Mark crouched down to dodge a vertical blade swipe from one of Jack's Omihalcon blade, slicing the top off an abandoned 2000 Mazda 626 used by the Hong Kong Police. He remembered seeing two corpses of the two constables believed to be shot by Trident mercenaries when they responded to a radio report of armed men from the pier; Mark assumed that they had left their car behind to investigate the situation.

"Can't keep you, can you?" grinned Jack, trying to keep up his slash attacks with his blades.

"Maybe."

Jack turned his head momentarily and saw the heel of Michael's shoes kick him in the face.

"Thanks." Mark dashed forward near Jack as he was falling to the ground. With a swift kick that could potentially rival professional soccer players, he gave a kick to Jack's stomach and watched his body fly towards an abandoned 2000 Ford Econovan, leaving a big dent on the van's right side when the Trident mercenary crumpled on the ground.

"Heads up!" The twin Strikers turned to see Jean and Michelle tossing an unarmed Trident trooper to them. Jean had earlier assisted Michelle in taking care of the other Trident mercenary. Seeing his body flying in the air, Michael dashed towards him and did a Bushin Senpuu Kyaku to clobber him in mid-air.

"Right." Jack's been taken care of.

"Hey." Jean whispered, stopping for a moment to do a roundhouse kick on a Trident commando armed with a Steyr AUG P assault rifle. "Got word from Tudor said that he and John took care of Akatsuki and Hedgehog."

"Strange." muttered Michael, nimbly dodging a knife stab from another Trident commando. "Is this all?"

A Trident trooper showed up with a hostage and a knife being held.

"Shit!" snarled Riza. "He's got a hostage."

"I caught a glance of her being accompanied by civilians. Where are they?" asked Wesley, a bit worried.

"Saw them leaving the area." answered Ronald. "They were able to leave, but Graham got her."

"If you don't want to see blood spilled from her lovely neck." The Trident trooper had his KA-BAR D2 Impact Combat knife on his hand, slowly inches away from Jill's exposed neck. "I demand that you all stand down at once or she gets it!" He was flanked by two Trident commandos, one armed with a Steyr AUG P assault rifle and another with a Steyr AUG M203 assault rifle.

"Fuck!" hissed John. As noted by the rest of his comrades, they were all being surrounded by Trident commandos while others were being mobilized to keep Hong Kong police officers from reaching them.

"We need a plan." Miguel had the urge to raise his Glock and fire a .45 slug on his head, but opted to wait and see.

"I agree." Patrick said, turning his attention. "Why don't you distract him, Mark, and we can take care of the extra mess here ourselves?"

Mark nodded at his companion. His gloved hand felt for his weapon on his pants before springing into action, heading towards Dary.

"What do you think you're doing?" quipped the knife-armed trooper, preparing to make a deadly incision with his knife's on Jill's slender neck when he saw blurry images of Mark taking out one of the Trident commandos with a Rising Punch and the other with a Gale Kick.

"Have a taste of cold Omihalcon steel!" Mark warped out of the trooper's view and was above him, drawing out his Fairbarn Sykes Commando 1 combat knife from his jacket.

"Aagh!" The trooper felt the Fairbarn Sykes' blade penetrate his left shoulder, forcing him to drop his D2 knife and release his hold on Jill.

"How does it feel?" snarled Mark, thrusting the blade deeper and deeper before the wounded trooper shoved him away from her, taking his knife with him.

"Are you okay?" Jill helped Mark up, momentarily taken aback by his resemblance to someone she had met before. Mark's ballcap had, however, managed to hide most of his facial features. Why does my heart beat so fast? He look so familiar...

"Come on." murmured Mark, leading her out of the way. "I'll get you out of here."

The two went off, leaving two Trident commandos on the ground with a severely wounded trooper clutching his shoulder wound. He felt his wound was slowly regenerating to close the stab wound before getting his radio and using it to call for help.

"Get the specials platoons in here, now!"


"Here." Mark lead her to Chris, waiting nearby with the others. "Make sure she's all right." Most of the Trident mercenaries were killed, with its agents knocked out cold. Before meeting with him, he resheathed his combat knife under his jacket.

"Thanks." Chris said. Mark nodded, accepting his gratitude.

"Dammit!" snarled Yu.

The Strikers heard more choppers incoming. And they didn't belong to the police or to the local government.

"Why you little?" Wesley was about to draw out his sidearm when he heard the rotor sounds of two Sikorsky S-70-27 helicopters approaching from the direction of the pier.

"Get out of here now!" Michael directed at the civilians, imploring with Chris and Jill to get out of the area.

"Come on!" Jean rallied the other Strikers. Most of the other Strikers have followed Jean towards the semi-abandoned Connaught Road Central, heading to the road leading to Connaught Road West.

"Grab a weapon, peeps!" yelled Mark, reaching out to grab a GIAT FAMAS G2 Commando and Steyr AUG A1 assault rifles, tossing the former to Michael before the two hussled towards the main road.


Iida flinched a bit, witnessing Mark uses the M203 grenade launcher on Dary after the M67 had exploded underneath him.

That has got to hurt...


En route to Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"What's Trident throwing at us now?" hissed Jean, pausing momentarily to crouch beside a ditched 1997 Mazda 626 before he heard a burst of automatic gunfire emitting from a Trident commando's Colt M4A1 assault rifle, its 5.56 NATO bullets leaving bullet holes on the back windshield and trunk.

"Cover me!" yelled Mark, armed with a Steyr AUG A1 assault rifle, was with Roland. The Swiss Striker gladly armed himself with a FAMAS G2 assault rifle.

"Right. Go for it." insisted Roland. The two used the back of the 1999 Ford Transit Mk. 2 van abandoned on the road as the group were near Connaught Road Central.

Peeking out of cover, Mark fired a short burst from his Steyr AUG A1, killing some Trident commandos.

"Gurkhas again!" Michael went prone near a 1998 Toyota Crown Comfort red taxi left near the Ford Transit van used by Ronald and his brother for cover. He fired off a short burst too from his GIAT FAMAS G2 Commando, catching a few Trident comandos in his sights. He was now unfazed when the Trident Gurkha mercenaries fired at him, missing him. Instead, their shots made holes at the taxi's front windshield and engine cover with the front left tire deflated from a 5.56 NATO bullet slug.

Shit! Michael went back to concentrate on gunning down a few more Trident commandos.

"Hrah!" Riza fired her Colt M16A2 assault rifle with Michelle providing fire support from her Steyr AUG M203 assault rifle, using the body of the 2000 Hyundai Atos for cover. The former laid flat on the ground, body parallel to the rear bumper since the car was abandoned sideways while the other crouched behind the engine, using it for cover.

"They keep coming!" Michelle snarled, firing off the only HE round in the M203 at a 2000 Isuzu Trooper with Hong Kong Police markings. The explosion had killed off some Trident mercenaries, but 3 more approaching Sikorsky S-70-27 choppers were beginning to make things a bit difficult for the Strikers.

"More trouble for us!" Yu opened fire with a Heckler and Koch MP5A3 submachine gun while crouching next to an abandoned 1999 Toyota Camry Hong Kong Police squad car, only stopping to use the Gurkha's own kukri against him when the latter was the first one to be near him. Mark saw a couple of Trident Gurkhas closing it; he too temporarily dropped his Steyr AUG A1 and grabbed the kukri from one of them before using it to stab one of them and killing the other by slicing his head off, heading a meaty thump. A moment ago, he spotted a dead constable's body with a few rifle bullets in his chest, slumped with his back on the back of the car's opened driver door. Yu thought that the man was killed during the initial chaos.

"A little less conversation!" quipped Mark, tipping his ballcap before grabbing the dropped Steyr AUG A1 and resuming his attack on the incoming Trident Gurkhas.

"What the?" Dropping the MP5A3, he parried the blow meant for his head before nearly crushing the bones on the Gurkha mercenary's left hand, catching it with his right hand and performing a vertical slash on his chest before tossing it like a throwing knife on another Gurkha mercenary, dropping dead after receiving the said weapon on his chest.

Flying overhead were two Hong Kong Government Flying Services (GFS) Sikorsky S-70-27 choppers loaded with SDU operators, flown over by Hong Kong Police officials in order to defuse the current situations. The SDU operators inside were ready to be deployed.

"Drop them!" yelled one of the Trident Gurkha commandos, directing his comrades to take out the choppers before feeling a lucky 5.56 NATO slug hit his forehead, killing him instantly.

One of the Gurkha mercenaries made ready his Saab Bofors AT4 CS and aligned it sights at the incoming choppers. Though gunfire from the SDU operatives firing from inside the S-70-27 choppers were able to take out some Trident mercenaries, the HEAT warhead was fired off from the AT4 CS connected with the first S-70-27. The AT4 CS' HEAT warhead made contact with the chopper's main body, without hitting its cabin. The ensuing explosion took out everyone inside and the smoldering chopper landed near the entrance of the Exchange Square, one of Hong Kong's prominent buildings known for having foreign consulates and business as its occupants. Thankfully, the area was evacuated since the chopper hovered nearby in order to use the empty entrance as its staging ground.


Cabin, Hong Kong Government Flying Services (GFS) Sikorsky S-70-27

"Get us down right now!" yelled the SDU troop commander at the pilots, urging them to land them safely.

"But we don't know where!" insisted the co-pilot. "Using the Exchange Square entrance area is now out of the question. You saw what those guys did to one of our choppers."

"Sir!" One of the masked SDU operators had alerted his troop commander.

"What is it now?" The troop commander asked his subordinate.

"Someone's trying to take aim at us from outside!"

"Then stop him!" ordered the troop commander.


Near Intersection of Harbour View St. and Peddler St., Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"Die!"

Hedgehog aimed his needle gun at the second GFS Sikorsky S-70-27 helicopter while the Strikers and Trident Gurkha commandos kept each other busy. With a precise aim, he fired his weapon at the chopper's tail.

With an evil chuckle, the Trident agent adjusted his glasses as he watched the chopper tried to keep itself upright until it crashed a few feet away from the first chopper in the same area near the Exchange Square.


En route to Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"Cover fire!" yelled Mark, moving away from the Ford Transit van that he and Roland used for cover as it was already riddled with bullets to find another vehicle for protection.

"Here it comes!" Wesley bravely climbed on top of a 1999 Honda Accord and fired his Heckler and Koch MP5A3 at the incoming Trident Gurkhas. Though receiving a direct hit on the chest, he tumbled a bit and crouched on the roof instead while continuing to rain 9mm bullets on the enemy. A few of them were killed by the hail of submachine gunfire. During the gunfight, the South Korean Striker heard some glass break from under him, a result on gunfire incoming from the Trident commandos.

Tudor and Gerald engaged a small group of Trident Gurkha mercenaries using a 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser for protection. The former crouched on the left side of the vehicle, but fired at the front of the SUV using a Colt M4 assault rifle; Gerald engaged incoming Trident Gurkhas from the right side of the SUV and fired from the rear with a GIAT FAMAS F1 assault rifle.

"More of them are coming!" yelled Miguel, dashing forward pass them. He held a GIAT FAMAS F1 assault rifle, but had a single M67 grenade that he pilfered from a dead Trident mercenary. Tossing the armed grenade, it landed near 5 Trident Gurkhas and in the explosion, killed them. The Strikers heard another S-70-27 chopper passing overhead, dropping a few more Trident Gurkhas.

John used the rear of an abandoned 2000 Mercedes Benz 416CDI ambulance, abandoned by its users after panicking at the sound of automatic gunfire.

"Did Trident replicate their Gurkhas or what?" quipped John, peeking out of cover to fire his Steyr AUG P assault rifle.

"Must have been recruited these guys from the British army!" Mark was next to him, peeking out also from the unused ambulance to fire off a few rounds from his Steyr AUG A1 assault rifle to stall the Trident Gurkhas. Their enemies retaliated with heavy gunfire, but had squarely made hits with the front windshield, which broke down completely due to the number of bullet holes made on the glass, and its two front tires before the ambulance's front was soon receiving its own share of bullet holes.

"Hey!" Patrick yelled, stopping to fire his GIAT FAMAS G2 SMG assault rifle. "I've got some vehicles that we can use to get out of here!"

Mark nodded before tapping John's shoulder. "Get everyone to move out."

"Okay." The Kenyan Striker peeked out of the rear of the ambulance for the last time before firing a short burst from his Heckler and Koch MP5A3. He only heard returning gunfire hit the sirens of the Mercedes ambulance, lightly chipping it with 5.56 NATO bullets.


Near Tunnels, Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"This way!" barked Yu, motioning to his fellow Strikers to move it. Their enemies were gaining on them fast.

"We're almost there!" assured Patrick. Suddenly, a squad of Trident Gurkhas appeared nearby by using the flames emitting from the smoldering GFS S-70-27 choppers as cover.

"Why you!" Mark, Jean and Roland fired at their adversaries, killing them for good. Mark went to check on them fast to verify when one of them tried to reach for his Glock 17. The Filipino Striker was quick enough to pump a few rounds into him after running over to his still body.

"Come on!" hollered Riza, providing cover fire for her comrades by using a 1999 Nissan Bluebird for cover, firing near the abandoned vehicle.

"Vehicles are over there inside!" Patrick pointed the way.

A semi-loud rumbling sound was heard from where the Strikers have entered. Mark and Yu were quick tohear the sound of GKN Saxon AT105 APCs marked with Hong Kong Police markings.

"SDU's arrived! We can use them for cover!" shouted Mark, ushering his comrades further inside the tunnel.


Outskirts of Tunnel, Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"Take care of them!" yelled a Trident Gurkha platoon commander, aiming his Steyr AUG A1 assault rifle at a 2000 Mercedes Benz 310 Hong Kong Police van that came in from the direction of Causeway Bay, emptying his clip on it. Joined with other Gurkha commandos, they have killed the vehicle's driver and front passenger, making the van crash into a deserted 2000 Volvo Super Olympian public bus.

A few minutes later, its occupants exited the crashed van and got ready to engage the Trident commandos. Even though they were decked in PTU equipment, their equipment was no match for Trident's as they were all mercilessly gunned down in a matter of minutes.

Hearing the siren of a 2000 Land Rover Defender 110 coming in fast from the direction of the pier, a Trident Gurkha mercenary fired his HE grenade from the AA1 M203 grenade launcher of his Colt M16A2 assault rifle, sending the SUV to a spin before it landed on its side. Eventually, it blew up and resulted in a smoldering wreck.

Coming from behind the smoldering Defender 110 was a 1999 Ford Transit Mk. 2 Hong Kong Police van, believed to be with PTU officers. It skidded to a stop and its occupants dismounted to engage them.

"Let's go!" Hedgehog fired his needle gun at them, killing 3 officers with its needle shots. Iwao joined in, firing his Steyr AUG A1 at them. The PTU officers and vehicle were both riddled with 5.56 NATO bullet heads. Soon enough, the Ford Transit had cracks on its side windows, a broken front windshield, a couple of deflated tires, bullets holes on the van's frame with a couple of dart heads embedded on the front of the Transit. Its police siren was half destroyed from gunfire.

A 2000 Mercedes Benz Sprinter 314 Hong Kong Police van came towards the group at full speed from the direction of the General Post Office. Suddenly, Jack the Ripper hopped on the van's roof to amuse its occupants before doing a flip a few feet away from the van. He dashed forward and used his left Omihalcon blade on his left prosthetic arm to blow up the right front and rear tires, making the van crash into an abandoned 2000 Toyota Crown Comfort red taxi and a 2000 BMW E39.

From inside the van, another squad of PTU officers tried to engage with Jack. However, the Trident agent's combination of speed and agility, thanks to his Armored Machine Suit, made things useless for the PTU officers. Doubling that with his Omihalcon blades in his prosthetic arms, it had the advantage for him as he used his Omihalcon blades to slice the PTU men dead by hacking and slashing them.

"Uwah!" shouted the PTU officers, killed by having their body decapitated due to the strength of the Omihalcon blades that Jack carried on his arms. He smirked after killing them.

Good! HKPD will have to reel from our handiwork.

Suddenly, he and the other Trident mercenaries were alarmed when 2 GKN Saxon AT105 APCs were driving into the killzone, accompanied by a 1999 Mazda Bongo Hong Kong Police van with an unmarked 1999 Volvo S70 and a 1999 Mazda 626.

The combined Trident Gurkha mercenaries and Trident agents began to work on disabling the Mazda Bongo. The vehicle crashed into an abandoned 1997 Honda Civic and forcing the 2 unmarked vehicles to grind into a halt. The Trident Gurkhas began to pepper the two cars, rendering them unusable before killing two of the detectives who have dismounted from the vehicles. Their colleagues pulled them into cover by using the abandoned civilian cars while using their sidearms to fight back, mostly consisting of revolvers.

Iwao and Hedgehog focused their attention on the crashed Mazda Bongo, firing their weapons at the constables and PTU officers as they dismounted from the vehicles. All of them have been killed before they focused their attention on the SDU operators exiting from the Saxon APCs, who fought back with the same ferocity as the Trident mercenaries have.


Tunnels, Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"That was shit!" murmured Jean, seeing the Trident commandos engage with officers of the HKPD.

"We can't stay here anymore!" hissed John. "We better get inside the vehicles."

Mark and Michael crouched on the pavement near a ditched 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer, carefully whipping out their Sig Sauer SP 2022 and Bul M5 Government pistols and twirling them on their hands.

"They there are!" Two Trident Gurkha mercenaries ran towards the tunnels with a Colt M4 assault rifle and a GIAT FAMAS G2 Commando in their hands.

"Get them!" hissed Mark. He fired a couple of shots from his SP 2022 to kill the first Trident Gurkha armed with the G2 Commando, falling down with his back first. Michael fired a couple of shots from his M5 Government, hitting the second commando armed with the M4 on his neck and left shoulder before he saw the Gurkha hit the trunk of the abandoned 1998 Volvo V70 and collapse on the ground.

"Come on, you two!" yelled Wesley, urging to hurry on. "Leg it!"

"Right." said Mark. The two Strikers ran inside the tunnel, heading towards the other side.


Somewhere near Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

Who is he? Jill had her thoughts on Mark, who had saved her from being killed by Dary. He reminds me of Mark, but is it him?

"Jill." She had her head up and saw Leon talking to her. "You all right?"

"Yeah." Jill managed a smile. "A little shaky."

The group had been herded to safety, being escorted to a safe area cordoned by armed PTU and SDU officers. While Jill was a bit relieved that they were all safe, some of them were ecstatic to see the shootout, primarily from the side of the Strikers.

"Did you see that?" chuckled Carlos. "I mean, those two cats were pretty cool when they handled those uniformed bums like they were nothing back near the tunnel."

"You were right there." grinned Barry. He did the same technique that Mark and Michael used to draw out their sidearms since the safe area was a bit far from the firefight, but a bit close for them to see the rest of the battle.

"I did dig those cool moves that the teenagers did against them." Chris gave a goofy grin too before frowning. "But still, what was the deal with those two groups?"

"If I remember correctly," explained Maki, stretching her hands. "I believe I heard the word ARCAM from them."

"Can't it be?" Claire wondered. "I did hear that ARCAM's a multinational corporation dedicated to the preservation of ancient artifacts."

"If that's the case." said Guy. "Why does a company like ARCAM have armed agents on their payroll?"

"Who knows?" shrugged Kyoya. The others nodded in agreement.

Jill couldn't help, but smile at the thought of being rescued by the stranger.

Whoever you are, thank you. I can't help it that you remind me of Mark. I hope that it was him.

Upon thinking about the boy who she had met back in Raccoon City a few years ago, her smile became even wider.

Outside the safe zone, the SDU continued to engage with Trident's mercenary force.


Tunnels, Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong SAR, China

"Finally!" Yu motioned them to come near them. Apparently, Patrick's effort have netted a 2000 Land Rover Discovery with Hong Kong Police markings, indicating that it belonged to the force's Explosive Ordnance Division (EOD) with a 2000 Isuzu Trooper with regular Hong Kong Police markings.

Mark was on the driver's seat of the Land Rover with Yu beside him. Behind them were Riza, John and Tudor on the second row with Patrick and Roland on the third row. Miguel took the Trooper's driver's seat with Gerald next to her. Jean, Michael and Wesley were behind them in the second row and on the third row, Michelle occupied its seats. The group had ditched the rifles that they've taken from the dead Trident commandos before boarding the two vehicles.

"Where to?" Mark buckled himself on the driver's seat.

"Better head to the field hospital." suggested Riza. "It's nearby and it only takes a few minutes to get there since the area was cleared off."

"Good idea." As he activated the Discovery's ignition, he asked Patrick on what happened to the officers who had used the vehicles.

"Hey, Pat. You know what happened to the officers, especially the guys from the bomb squad?"

"Don't know, Mark. I did see a glimpse of their corpses nearby the area where Dary took the hostage. They were killed by Trident mercenaries a while ago."

"Sucks to be them." murmured Yu, placing his seat belt on.

"Shut it." Mark muttered. "We better get a move on." Must have been shot while responding to radio calls. Strange is that bomb squad people here aren't armed. Still, they probably tried to do something.

"Right." sighed Yu. He turned on the SUV's sirens. Seeing that it was done, Mark drove the Land Rover Discovery out first from the tunnel with its siren on so as to avoid suspicion from police officers and civilians alike. Yu motioned the Isuzu Trooper and its driver to follow close behind. Moments later, the Trooper turned on its emergency lights.

The two marked Hong Kong Police SUVs rolled out of the tunnel, leaving Central as it was now abandoned towards ARCAM Hong Kong's local field hospital. Towards their destination, the Land Rover Discovery took the lead and the Isuzu Trooper followed behind it.

Chapter 7 END

Notes/Terms:

A little less conversation - Line used by Henno in Ultimate Force when he used a machete to chop the head of a rebel army commander. Quite bloody, but good!

Bushin Senpuu Kyaku - Bushin Whirlwind Kick. Used by Guy in the Street Fighter Alpha series.

Charles Daly ZDA - Pistol marked in North America, based from the Yugloslavian ZDA pistol made by Zastava Arms, which is based on the Sig Sauer P226.

Gale Kick - A roundhouse kick that uses channeled ki energy. Think of it like the psychic blow used by Yu Ominae in Spriggan.

GIAT FAMAS G2 SMG - Micro version of the FAMAS G2 assault rifle.

Government Flying Services (GFS) - Flying services unit of the HK government used for many operations, such as air ambulance and police operations. Created in April 1, 1993 to take over non-military functions of the former Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force (RHKAAF).

Rising Punch - Influenced by the Shoryuken punches done by Ryu, Ken and Sean. Dan calls it Koryuken while Akuma doesn't say anything. Makes you wonder why, eh?

Steyr AUG M203 - Grenade launcher version of the Steyr AUG A1. Attached with special equipment below the foregrip.

Steyr AUG P - Carbine version of the Steyr AUG A1.