Chongming District, Shanghai, China
October 29, 2559
"Fuckin' hell, between the Prometheans and rioters it's damn near impossible to move through the city. How the fuck did Coop get approval to send you on a ground-op in Sol? Much less on Earth?" Andrew closed the door of the small observation room as he spoke. He felt naked without his armor, but understood why he couldn't wear it here very well.
"Hell if I know. All I know is that he wants to ensure nobody is making moves in-system. 'Just in case someone does something about the created.' Can you believe that crock of shit? As if the cradle would fall to insurrection the second that megalomaniac AI went down." Aiko was honestly convinced that this was part of some plan to get her killed.
"Alright, what do you have for me?" Andrew approached the desk that had been pulled back from the wall.
"Here," Aiko handed him a bolt action rifle. "It's seven nine two by fifty seven. I've got it zeroed for where you'll be aiming. All you have to do is keep an eye on my contact and if he does anything you read as threatening, put a round in his dome."
"Really? A bolt action? Where the hell did you find this piece of scheiße?" Andrew looked over the weapon incredulously. She knew he specialized in automatic weapons. While he could use this thing, it would be far easier to at least give him a burst capable weapon.
"That rifle belongs to Otōsan. Don't let him hear you calling it scheiße." Aiko crossed her arms as the Spartan-III realized he just insulted her father's weapon. "Don't lose that gun or I'll have your head, you hear me?"
"Yeah, got it. Aight, I'm gonna tap the local security drones for surveillance and get comfy. You better head down there." Andrew withdrew a TAC-Pad from his jacket pocket and began preparing drones for overwatch.
"Hey, if shit goes sideways and we get split, meet back up at the safe house. Just, don't die on me." Aiko placed a hand on his shoulder before leaving the building. She pulled the hood of her jacket up and crossed the shipping yard to where she'd meet her contact. She wore relatively inconspicuous clothes; leather boots, black utility pants, a gray shirt and hooded leather jacket. Nothing abnormal for the area or time of year.
It wasn't before long that Andrew saw the contact come into view. He aimed for the man's head, adjusted to the wind and waited. This was the worst part of any operation, the waiting. He didn't mind helping Aiko when she needed it, in fact he liked being around her. Special Operations Group X-Ray had become the closest thing to family he'd ever had, with Aiko swiftly becoming his best friend since their introduction in late 2553. He did hate waiting though. He watched as the two spoke for a brief moment before noticing something on his smartglasses AR mixer. There were figures moving through a nearby stack of containers, they were armed and heading right for Aiko.
"Aiko, run!" Andrew shouted into their COMM channel before pulling the trigger. Through the scope he could see her flinch as a fine red mist and bone fragments sprayed from the exit wound in the contact's face. "Run damnit! You've got four hostiles moving to intercept. Forget the data chip, I'll grab it, just run! I'll meet up with you as soon as I can!"
Aiko bolted. She had an escape plan mapped out long before she called in for Andrew's help. She'd just hoped she wouldn't need it. Andrew vaulted over the desk in the office and leaped through the second story window to the ground below. He hit the ground running and bolted for the contact's lifeless body. His AR mixer still displayed what his overwatch could see. He had only a brief window of time to search for the data. Andrew rolled the corpse over and went about checking his pockets. The three centimeter hole in his face didn't bother Andrew, he'd done far worse to people at much closer ranges. He found the chip in a hidden pocket sewn into the man's jacket in the nick of time.
The first bullet missed by centimeters. If he didn't move now Andrew likely wouldn't make it out at all. He bolted into the shipping yard, hoping to lose the pursuers in amongst the containers. The next four bullets came within millimeters of his right shoulder. He considered their misses a miracle considering his size. It wasn't hard to hit a target 2.05 meters tall and 117.48 kilos. Overwatch indicated they would try to pinch him, two on each side. The rifle would do no good in the maze of containers. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his sidearm, a semiautomatic hunting revolver Aiko had gifted him. Truth be told he rarely used it, favoring the M6C-SOCOM he'd been issued seven years prior. Deciding he had a good enough lead the Spartan turned to face his foe and kneeled. The first hostile couldn't raise their rifle fast enough and dropped like a sack of rocks as the .460 caliber round tore apart the visor of their motorcycle helmet and scrambled their gray matter.
Andrew didn't have time to admire his work, instead he stood in a low crouch and backed away. A sound from behind caught his ear and he acted accordingly, spinning on the balls of his feet and firing first. His second target was ripped from their feet as the round burrowed through their heart and lung. By now he'd entered that hyper vigilant state most Spartans experienced in combat. He felt as though time moved slower than his thoughts.
Andrew had made it a few dozen meters before the third hostile made their move. Much like the first Andrew opened their third eye, letting them drop unceremoniously to the ground. He was almost out of the shipping yard when the last one caught him off guard. They rounded the corner of a container at the same time. Feeling too close to effectively shoot he kicked out their knee. They shot on the way down, catching Andrew in the abdomen. He kicked the gun away from them and looked down at the hole in his brown leather jacket. He dumped the last three rounds in his gun into their chest and then kicked the corpse. "Fuckin' cunt."
Hours Later
Jinshan District, Shanghai
Andrew pounded on the door and waited. When the door opened he was greeted by the muzzle of a familiar handgun. "Aiko, if you don't get that gun outta my mush I'll rip your arm off and beat you to death with it."
"Shit Andrew, where the fuck have you been?! I've been worried sick!" Aiko lowered the gun and stepped aside to let him in. Andrew ducked through the door and closed it behind him.
"Where do I start? I got into a gunfight, had to dodge the Prometheans that responded to the gunfire, stole some guy's fishing boat, crossed the harbor, dumped the boat, then spent the last hour and half trying to move through back alleys to get here." Andrew groaned as he pulled the data chip from his jacket pocket and handed it off to Aiko. He walked over to the apartment's kitchenette and looked around for something. "Where's my flask?"
"Bedroom, in your duffle. I already got us packed. We'll be out of here tomorrow and on our way to my parents' to lay low. Coop is sending someone to get us. They'll be in contact within a few days. Where's Otōsan's rifle?" Aiko stood in the doorway to the kitchenette watching him look for a snack. Andrew looked up with some sort of jerky hanging from his mouth.
"Right," he spoke through the savory meat snack. He continued chewing as he pulled the receiver and frame from his jacket separately. He methodically pinned the receiver back into place and handed her the weapon. "Sorry, had to hide it. Only fired one round."
"It's all good, big guy, as long as we still have it." She took the rifle to its case in their shared room and put it away. When she returned to the kitchenette Andrew was taking his jacket off.
"Good, there's something I need your help with."
"Two nights in a row? Must be my lucky week."
"Look I had fun and all last night and I'm still open to getting laid more often, but I don't think blood play is your thing. Now if you don't mind getting your head out the gutter, I have a bullet in me that needs removing." Andrew stripped the bloody shirt off his torso and pointed at the shoddy patch job he did with the fishing boat's first aid kit. Aiko's eyes widened before she ran for the bedroom and came back with Andrew's flask and their med kit. She peeled back the gauze on Andrew's abdomen and poured some of his whiskey over the wound to clean it. From the med kit she grabbed a handheld medical imager, rat tooth alligator jaw forceps, a can of biofoam, more gauze and some medical tape. She quickly set to work locating and extracting the bullet.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to you being awake while I do this. Doesn't it feel weird?"
Andrew took a swig from his flask and hissed as the whiskey warmed his core. "Eh, I was awake for my augmentation procedure. Nothing really tops that. Those bastards weren't fuckin' around. Came after you with six eight rifles and ten mil pistols. I wanna know what the fuck kinda group you pissed off to warrant a hit squad like that."
"I suppose we'll find out when I take a look at that card." Aiko dropped the bloody, deformed bullet on the table and shoved the biofoam's nozzle into Andrew's wound. The coagulant filled the wound swiftly. Andrew hissed as the cold foam expanded within the hole. He picked the bullet up and looked it over.
"Semi armor piercing hollow point. They really weren't fuckin' around. Explains how it got through the kevlar jacket liner." Andrew looked down and watched as Aiko finished placing the gauze over his wound.
"You're lucky that your jacket took most of the energy and that you have twice the muscle density of a normal person. That thing barely had any energy after it mushroomed."
"Yeah yeah, you say that every time I take a bullet for you."
Hamada, Shimane Prefecture, Japan
October 30, 2559
Andrew stood awkwardly at the door waiting for someone to respond to the bell. When the door opened a man in his early fifties stood just beyond the threshold. He had the face of a man who'd spent much of his life on the sea. "Otōsan, it's good to see you again. I wish it was under better circumstances."
"Andrew, it's good to see you too. Where is Aiko?"
"Talking with our driver. Ironing out details for exfil. May I come in?" Andrew looked up and down the street hoping that nobody was watching.
"Of course, I want to know what's brought you two in such a hurry though." The man stepped aside and let Andrew through the threshold.
"Right, we'll talk in private after she's done with arrangements. For now I ought to say hi to Okāsan. It'd be rude not to." Andrew navigated to the kitchen. He knew that at this time of day Aiko's mother would be getting dinner ready. The Spartan was familiar with Aiko's childhood home. She'd dragged him here on several occasions over the last seven years, either to lay low after a bad op or to celebrate a holiday when she could convince their commanding officer.
From the door Otōsan could hear Andrew greet his wife with excitement. If there was anything to be said about the human weapon it was that he was a great guest. He didn't notice Aiko until she wrapped him in a tight hug. "Hey dad, sorry about the short notice."
"It's fine, but you two owe me an explanation and your friend has already promised me one. Aiko, why won't you give this up? This type of life is not for you." Her father had turned to look at her. Aiko's face was framed by the gray hood of her shirt, her black leather jacket hugged her slight frame as did her gray utility pants.
"We've had this discussion dad. I'm good at what I do and this job helps keep innocent people safe." Aiko walked passed him and slipped out of her work boots. Her father sighed as she wandered off to the kitchen to greet her mother.
"She's a strong woman. I doubt she'll hesitate to recommission once hers runs out. I understand why you worry for her, though. Things are only getting worse out there, I'll do my best to keep her safe." Andrew stood on the landing of a staircase. His brilliant emerald eyes were locked on to Aiko's father. He gave the man a nod before heading to the dining room and taking a seat on a zabuton cushion at the table. Aiko's father shook his head, reminding himself that the Spartan was capable of fighting well past the limit of most men. Even if Andrew didn't share the same feelings Aiko had for him, the Spartan would lay down his life for her.
After Dinner
Andrew, Aiko and her father stood in the second floor study. "We came here because our op went sideways."
"I already knew that Aiko, what the hell are you two doing conducting operations in Sol to begin with? Why would Jacobson send you here knowing the state of the occupation?" Her father snapped at her, his face growing evermore grim.
Andrew stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving the man a soft expression. "Officially, Coop wanted her to ascertain whether or not there are insurrection groups preparing to take power should the state of affairs change."
"Unofficially?"
"Unofficially we're fairly certain that the fuckhead is trying to get me killed. My contact got pinched by Sapien Sunrise. Four of their agents in Shanghai tried to kill me at our meeting. Andrew managed to take them down, but took a bullet in the process." Aiko gave the short version of the story as she poked through the bookshelf along the study's north wall.
"Luckily the contact was dodgy enough for her to call in my support. The problem is that with the occupation being as bad as it is in Shanghai, there was no way we'd be able to stay there until our extraction. Too many riots, Prometheans likely would've kicked the door in at any moment." Andrew shifted on the balls of his feet. He looked over at Aiko who had pulled a book off the shelf and opened it. "The Book of Five Rings," if Andrew recalled correctly, was a text on swordsmanship and martial arts written by Miyamoto Musashi. Aiko had explained it to him before, but he didn't necessarily agree with everything the once great samurai had to say. The man was right to say that flourishing in combat was excessive, but his twenty one principles from "The Path of Aloneness" had some flaws in Andrew's eyes.
"Damn it, Aiko. This is why I want you out of this life. This is why I'm always on your case. You two can stay until you exfil, but I want you to reconsider signing a new commission when yours is up. Your mother and I are growing tired of worrying about you. And you," The man turned on Andrew with a swiftness the Spartan rarely saw in regular humans. "You'd better keep her safe until then. If anything happens to her, you'll learn what fear feels like."
"Aye sir, you have my word." Andrew sat down on the couch along the east wall and picked up a book that was left on the coffee table. It was a copy of Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations." He had personally read this book before and taken many of its teachings of stoicism to heart. Despite that, he still couldn't help but feel uneasy about what the near future had in store for him and his best friend.
Translation: scheiße - shit