Chapter 1: A Meeting in Lohi

"Kaiser gave the go-ahead."

"Good, I'll prepare the jet then. Still don't know how well all of this will work though."

"Still thinking he won't be willing to work with us?"

"I hope he will, but I can't make guarantees. But if Kaiser got him to come, my guess is that we do have a chance after all.

"Yes...one chance. I expect him to at least find something in common with you however. You were his mentor."

"I was. But that was a while ago. Now I'm old. We're old."

"It's not the first time you've told me that. Maybe we should consider changing your callsign to 'Old Hound' then if you are going to continue complaining about your age so much."

"Ha, very funny. I've still got a few good years left in me though. Anyway, I'll be leaving with the jet then on the 5th. Here's hoping no Feds try an intercept."

"They won't. Feds pulled most of their patrols out of the Pacific, all they have left to throw around is money, anyway."

"Money can buy a lot though."

"Yes...it definitely can. But let's focus on the important matter at hand. We have a lot to do."

CENTRAL VARANGIAN OFFICES, LOHI

FEBRUARY 3, 433 AC

0930

A middle-aged man sat alone at his large desk in an office building, silently looking through reports and documents on a computer screen. The room he was in looked fairly luxurious, with photographs of various aircraft decorating it, and there were even a few scale models of more famous jet fighters such as the F-15S. The man was dressed comfortably, in a grey polo shirt and khaki pants. He looked to be in his mid-50s, and had brown skin and eyes. His hair was black-gray with signs of balding, and while his face showed the beginnings of wrinkles, he still maintained a fairly youthful appearance despite it all. The man sat in a comfortable black leather office chair, and leaned back to look out the window. Through his aging but eversharp eyes, he could see the lovely beaches of Lohi just outside. The bright blue waves were crashing against the shoreline; and the water itself stretched on for what looked like forever. A nameplate on the desk proclaimed his identity: "Khari 'Bloodhound' Evans". Or as he was more commonly known to friends, just "Bloodhound".

Famed mercenary pilot. Co-CEO of noted mercenary organization "The Varangian Group". And the former mentor to the pilot known only as "Monarch".

As Bloodhound looked outside at Lohi, he heard a knock on the door, three quick rapps. It was a knock he easily recognized. "Come in, Mr. Saito."

A man of Asian descent opened the door carefully and walked in. He looked to be in his late 30s, and had brown eyes with a short military style haircut and a thin mustache. He wore a black vest and pants, a white dress shirt over it. If one looked closely at him, they could notice the outline of light body armor below his otherwise professional outfit. Daisuke Saito was no ordinary worker or soldier; but rather the bodyguard to one of the most well-known mercenaries this side of the Ring of Fire.

A good bodyguard, and an even better friend, the man in the office chair thought to himself, as he waited for Daisuke to speak.

"Just came to check up on you, Bloodhound. Just wished to see if you needed anything."

Bloodhound smiled, "Well, I'm doing fine. Thank you." He took a sip from a cup of coffee on his table. It was a bit lukewarm, but Bloodhound didn't mind. Coffee was coffee, and when it's an expensive high-quality import all the way from the state of Bolivar, it was better drunk than drained down a sink.

"That's good then." Daisuke responded, standing there for a moment. "I...I also did have a few questions- about the new assignment."

"I expected so. Sit down, Daisuke. There's coffee and a donut or two on the table." Bloodhound gestured to a counter beside him that held a small pitcher of coffee his secretary had made earlier, along with two maple bars on a ceramic plate.

Daisuke nodded, and took a donut along with a mug of coffee, sitting down in a chair in front of Bloodhound. "Normally I'd be expecting you to have something more 'filling' for breakfast, Bloodhound."

"Filling? I think donuts are filling enough. Especially when the maple glaze contains syrup imported all the way from Northern Cascadia. Shame the war stopped imports for so long thanks to that damn Federation blockade…"

"...Maple donuts are not filling."

"Well, they are to me. Besides you can hardly complain, given you are having one right now." Bloodhound pointed out, a ever so slight grin on the older man's features.

"I'm having one out of politeness." Daisuke responded, immediately biting into his own after he finished. Bloodhound inwardly grinned, he knew that despite Daisuke's professional and more stoic demeanor, he did like them.

"So Daisuke, what questions do you have?" Bloodhound took a sip of his own coffee, before powering off his computer screen in order to better focus on the conversation at hand.

"Mainly around the man coming over. I understand the two of you used to be friends?"

"Yes, he was in Omega Squadron when he joined The Varangian Group, he was 22 at the time I believe. Was about 3 years after what happened at Oceania. I mentored him before he went to Sicario.

"Makes sense. Were you the one who made him who he is?"

"...Sort of. Monarch had a lot of talent already. Already read the reports during his time in Magadan when he started out at 18, worked for Konstantin Tactical before they got dismantled."

"That young?" Daisuke paused, taking a sip of his own coffee, before setting the mug down on the table lightly.

"Yes. 18. Part of me suspects piloting was likely a family heritage or something. Can't be many reasons why he'd get his start so young like that. I mean, it's not the first time I've seen a very young pilot before. In official militaries it doesn't happen, but smugglers, criminals, and mercenaries aren't hardly as picky."

"I take it they either reach ace quickly- or become another stepping stone for someone else to get ace."

"Yeah...that's about right." Bloodhound sighed, thinking back to his many days as a pilot. He saw a lot of young pilots go down in his life. Some of them were shot down by enemies, some of them shot down by him. When he closed his eyes he could almost see blue and green arrows on a HUD, winking out of existence one by one. It wasn't a terribly pleasant image, but one Bloodhound made peace with a long time ago. Still, he made it a point to do his best to ensure as many of his allies returned from every mission, and to minimize collateral damage.

"Thinking about something, Bloodhound?"

Bloodhound blinked, "Ah, just old memories, Daisuke. That's all. Anyway like you were saying earlier, all I did was refine Monarch. Taught him how to never use more bullets than necessary on a target to conserve ammo, or how to maneuver outside of an enemy's SAA targeting range. More advanced things like that, he had the basics down."

"He get along well with Omega and the rest of Varangian?"

"Definitely did. Made lots of friends in that squadron. Flew #3 while I flew #2. Andras of course was squadron leader and still is."

"And you three were the best pilots in Varangian at the time, of course."

"Yep, although I'm sure a few of the others would have begged to differ. However, now I think Monarch may have the spot of top pilot. Not just in whatever is left of Sicario,but every merc company in the region combined." Bloodhound took another drink of coffee. Now it was getting cold. And almost empty.

"The mercenary networks say he is certainly something. Word is he's responsible for shooting down half of Crimson Squadron. His wingmen took the others."

"He's more than something I'd say. I saw something in him I think you only see once in a generation."

Daisuke looks at Bloodhound, "What did you see then, Bloodhound?"

Bloodhound looked out the window again briefly, then turned back toward his bodyguard to answer his question, "When you looked at Monarch, you didn't just see a great pilot, or an ace. He was more than that. Monarch had the hints of an uncanny ability to turn into a force of nature. Just his name being announced over the radio could cause enemy pilots to shake in their ejection seats. That I think was always what made him special. It wasn't his superhuman ability to endure high-G maneuvers that even both me and Andras struggle with. It wasn't his skill to know when exactly to fire a burst of gunfire or a missile to hit a target and take them out. It was a presence that I sensed that he was beginning to develop, even when he was young. The kind of presence that if you heard the 'Crown' was coming against you, your chances would be a hell of a lot better if you just turned and ran. And if you knew the 'Crown' was on your side, even if you were as green as grass you would fight like a veteran mercenary in his prime.

"You think he fully developed it?"

"Well, the Cascadians won the war for a reason." Bloodhound chuckles a bit, before lowering his expression back to being more neutral. "But yes, I do think so."

"Then I must say I do look forward to meeting your former student then. I'm sure there will be plenty of conversation to be had."

"Well, all things considered Monarch is pretty quiet, he doesn't talk much."

"Ah."

"I mean, he'll speak from time to time. And he does open up more around people he knows. Still, your best opportunity to get to know Monarch is if you have him on a one on one conversation. Then you'll be able to learn more about him from the man in person. It's been a few years so I don't know if that's changed, but…"

Given everything that has happened, I think it is a safe bet to assume he has stayed the same in that regard.

Daisuke replies with another question, "Think he will open up to you then?"

"I- I would like to think so, Daisuke." Bloodhound frowns slightly, remembering the circumstances how Monarch left. It wasn't a terribly pleasant memory, that was for certain. Daisuke for his part sat there silently, he seemed to understand already what Bloodhound was getting at. They just didn't know how Monarch was now.

Regardless, it was time for a subject change.

"Anyway," Bloodhound's face becomes more animated, as he launches into an explanation of what will happen in two days, "We'll be meeting him, along with the rest of the Hitman team. You and I will be taking the B-1X, of course. The both of us will take off at 1900 hours on the 5th, and we should get there by 2300 assuming all goes well."

Bloodhound's bodyguard nodded in acknowledgement, taking the last bite of the donut he was holding. "Hitman team has 3 people, so 3 passengers, correct?"

"No, 4 actually. Monarch's WSO is coming along as well."

"Alright then. Well, the B-1X can seat 8, although it is somewhat cramped in the back. I'll make measures to take along two of our top guards then. I know just the men-"

"We won't be taking anyone else with us, Daisuke. Just you and me."

Daisuke stared for a second or two at Bloodhound, and then nearly spat out his coffee. "No guards? Really? What if something happens when we touch down? Wouldn't you want extra security?"

"No, not particularly. I can trust my former comrade and student. And if it is true that Kaiser is leading the Cascadian Foreign Legion, I think we couldn't be in better hands."

"Still...it would be prudent to take the extra manpower in case of the worst."

Bloodhound sighed, running a hand over his hair, or at least the hair he had currently. "That is true. But our goal here is to make Hitman feel as welcome as possible here. If we have guards in the back armed with automatics or the like, it's going to make them feel less as if they are on an island trip and more on a prison transport. Think about it, if you knew you had two armed soldiers sitting in back of you on a flight the whole way to your destination, would you feel particularly welcome Daisuke?"

Daisuke blinked. "You know what I am going to say to that, Bloodhound."

Bloodhound sighed, and put a palm to his forehead. "Yes, yes I do. Something about you being happy that the organization that is flying you is so wise to take extra precautions. But not everyone thinks like a bodyguard."

"Well, someone has to think like one. But you make a fair point, Bloodhound; I'm just taking my duty seriously, that's all."

"I know you are." Bloodhound nodded, then smiled slightly, "And I am glad to know that you do. This time however, your services are more along the lines of being a co-pilot and providing color commentary."

"Would you also like me to pour glasses of champagne for them then?" Daisuke joked, his lips ever so slightly upturned in the form of a smile.

Bloodhound put a hand up,"Wait, actually that would be a good idea. It would make them feel a bit more at ease. I'll have a carton of ice and the best brand we have on hand in Lohi brought aboard. Maybe we can get some little boxes of chocolates as well…"

Daisuke frowned. "...I was joking."

"And I wasn't." The aging mercenary grinned at his warden, who could only sigh.

"Fine. I'll pour champagne." Daisuke shook his head, and stood up, taking his mug of coffee over to fill it up again, before turning to Bloodhound. "Anyway, is there anything else you need?"

"Actually, yes." Bloodhound stood up, taking a small envelope that was sitting on his desk. "Just some pictures that were taken of a possible site we were looking at for a secondary base of operations. Could you run these over to Basileus for me?"

Daisuke took the envelope from Bloodhound, looking at it. It was fairly plain, just a normal white one with some black markings on it. "Alright. But wouldn't your secretary be a better choice?"

"Currently Mr. Anderson just went on his coffee and cigarette break, and I know that he usually always takes 15 minutes longer than he does. Besides, Basileus right there across in his home. I'll be fine."

Daisuke nodded, and picked up the envelope. "Ok then. I'll be back shortly, Mr. Evans."

"See you then, Mr. Saito." The door was shut as Daisuke left quickly to deliver the photos. Khari "Bloodhound" Evans sighed, sitting back in his chair.

It was only two days until he saw Monarch again. Khari had to wonder how the man was doing; given all that had happened during the recent war between Cascadia and the Federation. Seeing two cities get destroyed by the Feds had to have left a mark of some sort on Sicario's top pilot; and Bloodhound knew that the stress of that combined with all the combat missions could easily cause many issues for his former student. He said a silent prayer that whatever stress and turmoil both physical and mental that Monarch was dealing with, he'd come out of it. As well, Bloodhound hoped that a trip to see old friends and some time spent on the lovely island of Lohi would give him some much needed R&R. Old memories notwithstanding, Bloodhound figured that if everything went according to plan Monarch would be much more at ease then he was previously.

Of course, everything would need to go according to plan first.

LEVEL 2- SECURE ACCESS

Varangian Group File Entry:

Lohi

Currently, Lohi serves as the main base of operations for The Varangian Group. The island is stocked with appropriate facilities, including training centers, a large airfield with multiple airstrips, and offices and barracks for the soldiers and staff stationed there. Purchased from Federation billionaire James Webster, the island is not just a way for Varangian to maintain its own standing force, but also act as a place to entertain guests and potential clients. With lovely beaches and a beautiful landscape, it could be described as a paradise to many.

Note: Unfortunately due to the Federation-Cascadian war, supplies and equipment for renovations to our facilities had to be delayed. This included the expansion of the small existing golf course from 9 to 18 holes. All construction has been put on hold so far due to the war, along with the Prospero and Presidia Disasters that occurred during it. Damn shame. -Basileus