Happy New Year everybody! I've been thinking about the story, and I think I've got a good chapter on the way here, even though it might be a bit of a filler.

Inside the Camaro ZL1, Tom guided the American muscle car through the traffic of Tokyo. Miyuki was in the passenger seat, and Natsumi was in one of the back seats.

"So then Tom." Miyuki started the conversation. "Why are we headed to the docks again?"

"Because I think something big is going down." Tom replied. "The mercenaries use black utility vehicles, and we offloaded a dozen vehicles matching the description yesterday. Now, if I'm correct, the receptionist said they were being transported today, so if we get there, we might be able to catch them before they get transported out."

"Sure." Miyuki looked around, admiring the interior of the ZL1. "You sound like you have a few doubts though. What is it?"

Tom sighed. He knew he couldn't lie to his colleagues, especially his best friends. "I do have a few doubts. I mean, I've been dead for... Hey, don't whack me!" Tom quickly put up his finger to Natsumi, who returned to leaning in the back seat. "I've been dead for two years, and suddenly I'm back and I'm coming in, taking control of everything, assuming command. I don't think a few people are going to like that."

"But you're still one of the best officers I've worked with, and if there's anyone I trust to lead us, it's you." Miyuki looked over at Tom, who continued to keep his eyes on the road. "I'm sure the other officers would rather you lead them than someone who's been working behind a desk and who doesn't know what it's like on the frontlines. You do. You served for three years alongside us, you know what we go through, and I don't recall you making a decision that the others didn't agree with. OK, maybe Yoriko didn't like you shaking her about when you caught her spying but..."

"We're here." Tom suddenly declared as he swung the Camaro into a parking space in front of the office of the import company. He shut off the engine and unbuckled his seat belt. "You stay in the car." He looked at the two women. "I'll sort this one out. The guys at the office still think I'm Crenshaw. I want to make it stick a little while longer. Stay here." He opened the door and climbed out of the muscle car.

"OK." Miyuki watched Tom walk into the office, before feeling the ZL1 embroidery on the driver's seat headrest. "I don't mind though..." She said with a smile.

Inside the office, Tom marched over to the receptionist's desk.

"Oh, hey Wayne." Izuko greeted. "Finally took a day off?"

"Right." Tom answered. "I need a copy of the manifest for yesterday."

"Sure." Izuko started typing into the computer.

"And flag up any black GM utility vehicles."

"Any reason?"

"Just want to know."

After a short while, the printer had finished inking the paper, and spat it out for Tom to pick up. The manifest had the makes and models of the vehicles, what color they were, what time they'd come in, where they were headed and who had placed the order. As requested, any black Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC SUVs and pickups were in red to make them stand out.

"Thanks bud."

Getting back inside the Camaro, Tom handed the paper to Miyuki, and she started to scan it.

"See if you can find out who ordered in those vehicles."

"Got it." Miyuki quickly went to the names. "OK, we've got... Akahito Imagawa, Matsudaira Kobayashi and Ryushi Yamakazi."

"And...?"

"And?"

"They ordered in those vehicles." Tom explained. "Very similar. Unless they're three buyers all buying the same product, what else do they have in common?"

"They..." It clicked. "They're known aliases of Daisuke Sato!"

"Exactly." Tom scanned the docks. "If you're a nationally known and almost certainly wanted mercenary, it doesn't make sense to have your real name on the credit card. I guess ordering under three seperate fake names arouses less suspicion."

"So now what?" Natsumi asked from the back seat.

"I'm looking around the docks here and I don't see any of the vehicles we're looking out for. I need to find out something else, sit tight." Tom opened the door and went back out to the office.

"What now?" Izuko asked as he saw the tall American stroll back in.

"You know the utilities we delivered yesterday?" Tom asked. "You said they were transporting today, I need to know where they are."

"Yeah sure, they..." Izuko checked his computer just to make sure. "The trucks just left five minutes ago."

"Thanks." Tom finished, before walking quite rapidly outside and back to his Chevrolet.

"So?" Natsumi questioned as Tom got back into the driver's seat.

"Trucks left 5 minutes ago, if we hurry, we can still catch them." Tom reported as he cranked the powerful V8 engine into life.

"You still think you've got it?" Miyuki asked while Tom was putting on his seatbelt.

"I'll let you make up your own mind." With that, he floored it and the Camaro ZL1 sped away from the docks.

The Camaro sped through traffic like the other cars on the road were in reverse. Another gearchange and the policewomen were once again hurled back into their seats. The ZL1 was really moving, the supercharger whining as it force fed air into the already big engine to provide even more power.

"Looks like you still got it!" Natsumi whooped.

"Maybe, but I haven't found those trucks yet." Tom replied as he slammed the next gear home, another grenade thrown into the bunker of physics. The Camaro went even faster, homing in on the trucks at speeds that would get any normal driver sweating.

"Try the expressway; they're bound to be going on that road." Miyuki suggested.

"The highway, got it." Tom steered his Chevy onto the expressway and started scanning for big trucks. "Let me know if you see anything."

After about a minute of high speed cruising, Natsumi suddenly pointed out two trucks travelling together. "Hey, look! Over there!"

"I see 'em!" Tom drove up to the trucks. "Hey! I need you to pull over!" He yelled out the window and motioned for them to come to a stop on the side of the road. When the trucks had come to a stop, he spun the car around in front of them. He got out, marching over to the trucks.

"What is it Wayne?" One of the drivers asked.

"I need to see the vehicles." Tom said with authority.

"OK. Follow me."

Tom inspected the two trailers, each containing four vehicles. "OK..." He straightened out. "On behalf of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, I am seizing this shipment."

"You what?" The driver wondered. "You mean, for two years you've been a police detective?"

"No." Tom exhaled. "There's no easy way to say this, but I am not Wayne Crenshaw."

"So who the hell are you?"

A short pause. "Officer Tom Fortnell." Miyuki smiled a bit at that remark. Tom was back.

Later that day, Tom, Miyuki, Natsumi and Kachou were outside the precinct, with eight vehicles lined up.

"Impressive." Kachou remarked.

"Not exactly textbook..." Tom admitted. "But I still got what I needed..." His voice trailed off.

"What is it Tom?" Natsumi asked.

"We offloaded twelve vehicles yesterday. Today we seized only eight." Tom declared. "Either the four others were hidden somewhere or have already been delivered."

"So what you're saying is...?" Natsumi wondered.

"This is bigger than we thought." Tom stated. "Fujima and Sato are gearing up for a massive assault. Seizing this shipment has likely only impacted them a little. There's more where this came from." He walked over to a GMC Yukon Denali, and opened the trunk to reveal a wide variety of automatic weapons. "A lot more."

"Holy crap..." Kachou muttered.

"Is anyone else getting flashbacks of Hachi-Ichi-Go about this?" Miyuki thought out loud.

"So now we know they've likely already got enough firepower to level the ward." Tom finished. "We need to move on this."

Hope this was decent enough for you guys.