1200 Hours
02/10/18
New Delhi, India
The next day after being approved by the CIA, Voltron were able to continue their mission after Sendak. As usual, the analysts of Voltron secured information about one of Sendak's lieutenants first before going after Sendak himself. They eventually identified one of his lieutenants known as Bogh. It was actually the bearded man Shiro shot in the shoulder back in Al Khor. He was the only member to know Sendak's location and Voltron needed that chance to secure it.
They tracked his location and confirmed his last known spot was at the Shangri-La's Eros Hotel at New Delhi, India. Which was how the team ended up at the capital of India, placed and positioned around the hotel to wait for further orders. He was also reported to be accompanied by two members. They were also able to persuade the Research and Analysis Wing to help them out in exchange for some cash they were able to afford.
As the team waited for orders, Keith stared out at the street near a marketplace through the window. The breeze outside was quite heavy as the forecast anticipated so he and Lance stayed inside their black Nissan sedan. Their weapons were placed beside their seats in case they got out. Each of them had Kevlar vests underneath their casual clothes. The muffled wind gushed and whistled against their car as they waited in absolute silence. Keith tapped his fingertips on the armrest, letting a soft sight slip out of his mouth. No words were exchanged ever since the two got in the car.
"Hey, Keith," Lance suddenly said, breaking the silence. "Sorry about what I said back in Qatar. You did what you had to and I thank you for saving my life."
Keith didn't give him a glance. He wasn't sure whether to believe it was genuine or if it was just a sarcastic one.
"Are you saying it like you mean it or did Pidge make you apologise?" Keith asked.
"Well first off, fuck you. I'm trying to be nice and second...both."
Keith lets out a snort out of amusement. At least he was a bit truthful.
"It's alright, Lance. We're good." He said.
There was even more silence. Only for a minute.
"You wanna know how I got discharged?" Lance asked.
Keith eventually turned towards Lance, slight interest beaming in his eyes.
"Sure," he answered. "What'd you do?"
Lance remained fixated over the direction he was staring at. He looked hesitant. Shortly, Lance let out a breath under his mouth.
"I was on a recon mission at a village in Afghanistan...hunting down Talibans in short. Turns out there was only one Taliban. From. What I heard, he sounded like he was warning the villagers of something. When I reported this to my CO, he ordered an airstrike on the village because they were aiding the Taliban when they basically didn't have a choice. I told my CO not to but that bastard did it anyway. A F-17 bombed the entire village, killing everyone there. When I was told what he did, I went up to that sack of shit I call the CO and started beating his ass up. I told him I wanted to kill him. That I wanted to punch his eyes out and tear him limb from limb. But I was the one getting punished for striking an officer when he was the one committing a war crime."
Keith in his honest opinion, wouldn't blame Lance at all. He felt sympathy for him even though he was an asshole.
"The Major found me on my way to court and she managed to convince the jury to drop all charges on the condition I'll never serve the Marines again," Lance continued. "She gave me a choice to go home or serve in her Counter Terrorism Unit. At first, I woulda said no so I wouldn't have to go through anything like Afghanistan. I would rather spend time with my parents, my brothers and sisters and their kids. Then again, I love jobs like these. I get to go out around the world, help people in need and kill all of these terrorist assholes. It's the reason why I wanted to join the military."
Just as he finished, their earpieces were suddenly activated.
"Red and Blue Lion, this is Black Lion. Gharial team has reported that Seahorse plus two hostiles are checking out of the Shangri-La's Eros Hotel. Go ahead and meet with them, over."
"Copy. Blue and Red Lion are on the move." Lance replied.
He started the ignition and drove away from the marketplace, heading down to the hotel. Once they arrived, they parked the car from a safe distance away from the entrance. A van was already parked in front next to several black luxury cars. Shortly, Keith noticed Bogh and two of his partners walk out. Each of them were in all-black outfits.
"Here they are." He said.
As the three members headed for the parking lot, the van's doors slid open and two Indian men emerged and approached the three, pulling their pistols out of their holsters.
"You three need to come with us." One of them said in a poor accent.
Bogh and his partners stood still without a word, indicating their obedience. One of them ordered them to raise their hands and they did so, seemingly accepting their capture. Once the RAW agents got closer, Bogh suddenly disarmed the RAW agent, prying his gun off from his hands before shooting him twice in the chest. The other partner did the same to the distracted RAW agent and shot him in the face before opening fire at the van inside. People began to scurry out of the hotel.
"This is Blue Lion, we have a situation here." Lance said.
While he was on the earpiece, Keith noticed Bogh turn towards the direction of where their car was. Without any warning, he raised the pistol at the window.
"GET DOWN! GET DOWN!" Keith yelled.
He managed to pull Lance under the window just in time before Bogh opened fire. He braced as the gunshots pierced through the windscreen. Shortly, the gunfire stopped. Keith slowly peered above and found no sight of Bogh and his partners.
"Fuck, he's running!" Keith cursed.
"Move your ass then!" Lance replied.
Lance immediately grabbed his suppressed HK416 fitted with a 1-8x rifle scope and various attachments from the side and barged out of the car. Keith took his personal MCX SBR with a suppressor and Eotech sights from his side and slipped out of the car, slamming it shut. As he ran after Lance, Keith tapped into his earpiece.
"Red Lion to Black Lion, Seahorse plus two tangos have taken out Gharial team and are on foot. We're in pursuit, over!"
The two arrived at the main road where they found Bogh and his partners running towards the traffic. One of the partners opened fire at the sky, enough to cause havoc among the traffic. People began to get out of their cars and run like hell. Some at the path dropped to the ground, cowering with their hands covering their heads. Shortly, the Galra agents turned around and opened fire at the two.
Keith separated himself from Lance and used the front of one of the deserted cars as cover. As the bullets cracked apart the windows, he heard rapid gunfire from his side. He was quick to recognize Lance as the one laying down fire. As Lance continued to fire, Keith moved away from the car he was hiding behind and moved forward past the cars while crouched. Stopping beside the side of another car, he caught sight of one of Bogh's partners shooting back. Keith positioned his rifle on the boot of the car and aimed at him. Just as the agent noticed him, Keith pulled the trigger and fired. His face exploded into red liquid as he toppled over.
As Keith moved from the boot towards another car, he was suddenly pelted by more oncoming bullets. Keith ducked down and hid behind the car. More gunshots erupted as it penetrated the car he was hiding. Shortly, he heard a mag clatter onto the surface. As Keith stood up and raised his rifle, his aim focused on the Galra agent approaching him. However, he noticed Lance slide across the hood of a car behind the agent and opened fire while he did so. The agent reeled back and slammed against the car window before slipping onto the ground, leaving a trail of stained blood.
Lance looked back up and received a nod of acceptance from Keith before focusing on their job. The two continued to move forward and ducked down when another round of bullets suppress them off. Once the gunfire ceased, Keith peered up through the windows of the car and noticed Bogh making a run for it but without a gun in his hand. They got up and ran after him, bobbling their rifles as they gave chase.
The two managed to find him running down a wide alley with a staircase up ahead. As they ran down the alley, Lance stopped and aimed his sights down, shifting towards Bogh's legs. He pulled the trigger and the single bullet pierced through Bogh's right leg, causing him to trip over. As he fell near the staircase, Keith caught up with him and tased him while holding him down. Once he was unconscious, Keith tapped onto his earpiece for exfiltration.
"This is Red Lion, we have Seahorse. I repeat we have Seahorse." Keith notified.
"This is Black Lion, coming to the back alley's entrance for exfil."
Shortly, a black van pulled up in front of the alley and the doors slid open. Shiro and Pidge stepped out of the van with their own HK416 and Daniel Defence MK18 respectively. While they watched over the two, Keith and Lance carried Bogh's body into the van and sank onto their seats, noticing Hunk in the driver's seat. Shiro and Pidge both hopped back into the van and slammed the door shut, prompting Hunk to step on it. The van's diesel engine rumbled and fumes coughed out of the exhausts as it drove off.
As the van drove down the empty lane, Lance and Keith both took a breather while Bogh's body lay on the surface. They both looked at each other and exchanged smirks.
"Good job, you two." Shiro commended as he smiled.
"Thank you, sir." Keith replied.
The team remained silent for the rest of the trip, although Pidge was happy about the two working together productively. The van turned to the bustling highway, blending itself among the crowd until it was impossible to spot.
0100 Hours
New Delhi, India
British High Commission
"Rise and shine, Bogh." Allura said, just enough to wake Bogh up.
He blinked up, finding himself facing both Allura and Shiro. Bogh glanced below and found his right hand cuffed to a desk he was sitting on. He began to feel something inside his mouth, seemingly trying to feel his teeth.
"If you're looking for that fake tooth, then don't bother because we've already pulled it out." Allura reminded.
Bogh stopped for a brief moment before letting out a chuckle out of astonishment.
"Guess you two learned something." He said.
"Bjørn Tollefsrud, right hand man of Hugo 'Haxus' Becker and another lieutenant of the Galra," Shiro said. "We've been looking for you."
"We've also know that you somehow knew about Voltron. How's that?" Allura asked.
"It's called studying your enemies." Bogh replied.
"Don't play games with us. The ambushes. You and the Galra seem to know your tactics when we arrived. You have someone in NATO or Voltron, don't you?"
"Ask my boss. He's the only person who made contact with him."
"Then tell us where Sendak is." Shiro demanded.
"How about this. You give me 500 dollars in cash and pretty lady over there can give you all a good blowjob."
"You're a real comedian, aren't you?"
Bogh sunk back on his seat, sliding his left hand off the desk. "No I'm serious. I need to pay the bills and I have a thing for ebonies."
Shiro and Allura stared at him, obviously annoyed at Bogh's ability to resist. They would rather find a way to make him talk but as the government ruled out, it was condemned and it would ruin their reputation. It probably won't work on him anyways since he's a Norwegian operative. However, there was something Allura wondered about Bogh.
"How'd you end up like this anyway?" She asked. "You were part of the Forsvarets Spesialkommando. A soldier who swore to defend his country from enemies, foreign and domestic."
Bogh scoffed, rolling his eyes. "If you're a true soldier then you should know it's all bullshit because your government, your country, they don't give a shit about you. All they really do is just make things worse and more people die. So what's the point of fighting for your country when they're just gonna start more pointless wars?"
"A true soldier doesn't work for people who kill innocent people."
"Sometimes, to make your enemies' fear grow, you gotta make some sacrifices for the greater good. That's how wars and being a soldier works."
There was a sudden slam on the desk which didn't faze Bogh much. He turned around and noticed Shiro gripping the desk by the palms, leaning over towards Bogh.
"I won't ask you again. Where. Is. Sendak?"
After the session, Allura and Shiro gathered the team in their meeting room. This time, they got the information they needed.
"So, Bogh finally gave us the location of Sendak," Allura said. "Turns out he's in Goiânia, planning to meet an arms dealer named Mateo Diaz at a parking lot. Used to be a street thug working with the Brazilian cartel until he split and turned to gunrunning."
"Any chance he could be full of shit?" Lance asked. "Not to mention he's going to Brazil. Why not go to India to crack the deal?"
"He could be telling the truth," Colbert said. "They might be needing weapons to for their attacks and there's no wonder why the Galra's trying to keep us off track by splitting Bogh from Sendak."
"But it could be a trap," Gold added. "Hell, the dealer might be in on this and the meeting could be a setup."
"Or maybe it's not because the notes Shay Bainivalu gave me says they meet arms dealers for weapons," Hunk said. "Mateo might be one of their top employees."
"Then we better get to that deal," Allura ordered. "Who knows what the Galra are buying and it's best that we have the Brazilian government involved in this situation. Wheels up in 30 mikes."
1255 Hours
02/12/18
Goiânia, Brazil
The team arrived at the parking lot where Diaz would be meeting at. Along with them were the local police Voltron paid to assist them in case anything went wrong. Shiro and the others were positioned at the west side of the parking lot, hidden among the shadows in the poorly lit area. Lance was placed on a rooftop of an apartment nearby with a sniper team accompanying him. The team was prepped with their own weapons while Lance and the sniper team were packed with Blaser LRS2s.
So far, there was no sign of any suspicious activity for the past few minutes. Shortly, an SUV from a distance appeared and stopped at the parking lot. The headlights remained on and the doors swung open. Two men in all black clothes consisting of combat jackets and pants appeared and stood five feet away from each other. One was dark skinned with a cap and the other was bald. That must be the Galra agents. There was no sign of Sendak however.
Another five minutes has passed and another car arrived. It was a green, grimy sedan approaching the parking lot. The car stopped in front of the Galra agents and the headlights flicked off. The car door opened and their asset, Mateo Diaz hopped out. He had short brown hair with a clean stubble and looked to be around his mid thirties. However, something was off about his skin colour. Mateo looked more Caucasian than any normal Brazilian person. The Galra agents exchanged glances with each other before the bald agent shrugged.
"Is it me or does Gun Bunny look whiter than he looks?" Lance whispered.
"Mateo Diaz?" The bald agent asked.
"That's right," the arms dealer answered. There was no sign of an accent. "Just grew some hair, that's all. Where's Sendak?"
"He's not here."
Shiro was in the bound of both frustration and anger. He thought Sendak was going to be there. That would've been his moment. His revenge. But nevertheless, Shiro contacted Allura.
"This is Black Lion, no sign of Kingfish. I repeat, no sign of Kingfish." He said.
"Zero to Black Lion, are you sure, over?" Allura asked.
"Positive. Kingfish isn't here. Only two of his men came to meet with Gun Bunny."
There was then a short pause. Shiro could only assume she too wasn't that happy about it. A couple of seconds later, Allura got back to Shiro.
"Copy, Black Lion. Capture the two x-rays and Gun Bunny for questioning, over."
"Got it."
"The fuck you mean he's not here?" Shiro heard Mateo snap, grabbing his attention.
"It means he's not here and you'll only deal with us." The bald agent replied.
"Well, I don't know you two so why should we talk?"
"We have the money," the dark skin agent said. "We just want the weapons."
"I want Sendak cos' I only deal with him!"
"We already told you he isn't here! Stop wasting our time and give us the weapons!"
"I'm not handing you shit until I see Sendak!"
"Blue Lion to Black Lion," Lance voice buzzed from Shiro's earpiece. "Shit sounds like it's gonna hit the fan real quick. What'd you wanna do?"
"Hold. Just hold." He replied.
As the Galra agents continued to gicker with the arms dealer back and forth, Mateo suddenly drew out a pistol behind his jeans and fired. The bald agent in front of him dropped within a second with a hole in his forehead. Mateo then turned his aim towards the darker skin agent, shooting him in the shoulder. His cap flung off as he reeled onto the ground. Mateo then went up to the defenseless agent on the ground and bent down, holding him by the collar while aiming his pistol.
"Where is he?" Mateo demanded. There was no answer. "WHERE'S SENDAK?"
Apart from Shiro, everybody else was surprised to see the entire thing unfold. There was no reason to wait. Now was the time.
"All units, move in now!" Shiro ordered.
Voltron's ground team and the police emerged from the shadows and advanced towards the parking lot, surrounding Mateo and the last Galra agent.
"Drop your gun, Diaz!" Shiro yelled.
"Mãos atrás da cabeça! (Hands behind your head!)" one of the police officers ordered.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy! Easy!" Mateo said, raising his hands.
As he loosened his grip off the pistol, two police officers grabbed Mateo and held him against the side of his car, cuffing him. Shiro ordered Keith and Pidge to treat the Galra agent and Hunk to search the car. He looked at Mateo, still being held by the police officers. Something felt off about his skin color.
"What the hell?" Shiro heard Hunk mutter.
He approached Hunk. "What's wrong?"
Hunk stepped away, showing an empty boot. Shiro froze on the spot.
"There's no weapons. The car's empty." The Samoan said.
Shiro stared at the empty boot before turning around to face Mateo. He glanced at him calmly.
"The hell's this, Diaz?" Shiro growled, waving towards the boot.
"I was gonna meet Sendak." Mateo answered.
"Your car is empty."
"Well, Captain Obvious. As you can see, this was supposed to be an ambush. That 'deal' was my way in."
At this point, Keith and Pidge stepped in to listen.
"You have some sort of grudge with Sendak or something?"
"'Course I do. I'm a bounty hunter. I was hired to capture Sendak alive."
The team exchanged glances in confusion before Shiro turned back to Mateo.
"Hired? What'd you mean hired?" Shiro asked.
'Mateo' sighed, rolling his eyes. "You guys are gonna need a computer. Cos' my name's not Mateo Diaz."
2000 Hours
Goiânia, Brazil
Once the team arrived at the empty warehouse they set up as their operation post, Colbert typed up the identity of the bounty hunter they took in. As she did so, the team waited in one of the offices while watching the bounty hunter who sat on the couch with his arms crossed.
"He's right," Colbert said and spun around to face the team. "His real name's Sebastian Rose. US Marine Force Recon turned CIA Contractor."
"I just go by Rolo," the bounty hunter corrected. "And I'm a former CIA Contractor. I hunt bounties now."
"Makes sense with the fake ID. So what the bloody hell happened to the real Mateo Diaz?" Gold asked the team.
"Took care of him back in Rio. Idiot had it coming. And it was a good cover to get to Sendak."
"Who hired you to get to Sendak?" Allura asked.
"The guys from NATO."
The fact it was the government who sent a bounty hunter really surprised the team.
"Bloody bastards," Coran swore. "They really think Voltron wouldn't be able to complete this mission."
"I don't think they're happy the CIA gave us a chance." Keith commented.
"Or the CIA is in on this and they just want us to watch the bounty hunter handle Sendak." Lance added.
"Doubt it," Allura replied. "This came from a friend from the CIA and he would never lie to me."
"Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm willing to back out on my contract and let you guys catch Sendak."
The team looked back at Rolo. He was this quick to abandoning his own mission.
"Really?" Allura asked.
"Uh huh. I have faith you guys would take him down. I'm also planning on leaving this bullshit job so I can go back to Vegas and see my family again."
"Any chance you have any information that could help us find Sendak?"
Rolo shook his head. "Nope. Didn't even get shit on how they smuggle their weapons."
"Well, thanks for the help anyway." Shiro held out his hand towards him.
Rolo stood up and shook his hand. "As long as you guys catch that sonuvabitch for me, I would be more than grateful."
He then walked out of the office, making his way to the door. Once Rolo was out of sight, the team looked back at each other.
"So, what now?" Pidge asked.
"Me and the intel team will try to locate the Galra." Coran answered.
"In the meantime, I'll go have a chat with that Galra member we took in." Shiro said.
"You guys get some rest. We'll contact you if we have anything." Allura told them.
The rest of the team got up and left the office, leaving Allura, Shiro, Coran, Colbert and Gold alone in the office. Something was off with NATO, especially when Bogh mentioned someone from Galra was inside NATO.
"So, how are we gonna deal with the higher ups?" Shiro asked. "No doubt they're gonna try to bury us."
"Leave it to me and Gold. While Colbert gets some intel on the Galra, we'll try to figure out what the tops are really up to." Coran replied.
"Make it happen," Allura nodded. "And keep a low profile. We don't want to confront them. Not just yet."