-Ghost in the Shell-

"Blood for Blood"

Chapter 3 – Set up

An older model cargo van that had seen better days slowed as it neared the end of an alleyway. This warehouse district was in a seedier part of the city and like the men in the van, it had seen better times as well.

As times had changed here, so had the clientele. But while there were as many illicit business dealings as there were legal ones in this area, it was the first time that this district was going to be used for an ambush.

Wind gusts blew the leaves and errant garbage into swirling piles as the van came to a halt. It had stopped underneath a sagging overhang that covered an empty garage bay which was out of sight from the main approach at the other end of the main alleyway.

The van had come to a stop next to Sergei's Lincoln which had been sitting there waiting for them. The Lincoln's driver, Sergei, silently turned to look at his passenger. His gravelly, cold voice cut the air between the two men.

"Anatoly, do they have everything with them? Everything that I requested? I don't want any mistakes here."

"Don't worry Sergei, everything has been taken into account and both the men and all the needed gear is ready." Anatoly hadn't turned to meet his bosses' gaze. He could feel Sergei's eyes boring into his skull.

The doors of the van opened and the men inside stepped out carrying the tools of their trade. One of them carried an Accutech MP8A3 sniper rifle with the latest enhanced telescopic sights.

The next three carried Soviet made AKD assault rifles with twin magazines taped together at their bases for quick reloading.

The last man emerging from the vehicle carried a man portable rotary grenade launcher slung over his shoulder.

The men stood silently in place by the van for a minute or so as they swept their surroundings with their eyes, scoping the area out.

They were all hard looking men, wearing ballistic armor over what had once been military uniforms. Web gear with pouches, killing knives and military sidearms were worn by all.

What completed the picture were the dead, lifeless eyes each of the men possessed.

As a group they turned and walked over to the car and clustered around the two men. One of them, a tall powerfully built man with a bald pate, swarthy skin and numerous tattoos around his neck spoke.

"Well Anatoly, we are here."

Anatoly glanced briefly to his side at Sergei before taking a step forward and looking at the team leader who was standing before him.

"So I see Georg, so I see." Anatoly smiled but it was the smile of a man who was conducting a business deal. "It is good to see you again. I take it all the equipment that you requested was delivered and is all in good working order?"

Georg put his hands on his hips as he returned the same smile back at Anatoly. "Of course Anatoly, everything is just as it should be. I knew you would take care of it all."

And then the smile vanished. We need to go over some points of this Anatoly; I have questions that need answers."

Anatoly tried to look as sincere as he could as he raised his hands. "This does not surprise me Georg, and they will be answered. I will now turn your questions over to our benefactor who can best answer and explain it all much better than I."

As he gestured to Sergei he stepped back to allow the focus of their attention to switch to Sergei who stepped forward and faced Georg.

After a few moments of sizing each other up, Georg asked the most obvious question first.

"Very well, can you tell me who we will be facing and how many will there be?"

Sergei looked at each of the team members before replying. "You will be facing a team from Section 9. I can't tell you for certain how many they will be, but the usual complement of one of their teams is from 3 to 6 members. Each with cyborg augments, extensive training and they will be well armed."

Sergei looked down for a few seconds before continuing. "For the problem I intend to create for them I expect a team of 3 maybe 4 members with the usual urban warfare loadout."

Sergei stepped closer to Georg and looked into his eyes. "What I want to achieve is to cripple Section 9 by killing this team. I don't want them to be driven off or allowed to escape. I want them to die."

Sergei side stepped away from Georg as he addressed the entire team. "There is no one for you to provide cover for, no one for you to protect. Your only task is to wait for their arrival and when they move into position… I want them all killed. It is just that simple."

A few looks were exchanged among team members but no comments.

Georg raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head as if he were amused by the whole thing. "We're not providing cover fire or protecting some other group as a diversion. Correct?"

Sergei nodded his head to Georg, "That is correct. Your goal is to kill this team, nothing more. I want to see their dead bodies lying on the ground when you leave the site."

"What purpose will this serve?" Georg asked. "You must know that stirring Section 9 up in this manor will have grave consequences, will it not?"

Sergei clasped his hands behind his back and nodded at the ground. "Yes I am aware of that as well, Georg. The reason, does it matter to you what it is really?"

"No, I guess it really doesn't matter at all." Georg looked up at Sergei once and then did a quick once around look at the surrounding area. "We can be set up and in place by tomorrow Sergei. Then we will be ready. Is this acceptable to you?"

Sergei's face slowly broke into a grim nasty smile. "That will be acceptable, Georg. If you need anything, contact Anatoly and it will be taken care of.

As Sergei started to turn to leave, he hesitated briefly and looked over his shoulder. "As agreed, the payment has already been deposited as was requested. Do well tomorrow Georg. Goodbye."

Sergei then turned and walked back to his car with Anatoly to leave. Georg watched them briefly before he turned to talk to his men.

"Very well. You have all heard. This is nothing more than an assassination. A hit, and we have all done this before. Now let's talk about positions and covering fields of fire. I don't want any of them to somehow make it out alive when we open fire on them."

Georg stepped over to the man holding the grenade launcher. He was a short but stocky with a very muscular build. Georg slapped him on the shoulder, smiling at him."Vasily, we will go down to the end of this alley and pick out at least two sites for your position."

Georg turned to a second man on the team who was holding the sniper rifle. "Dmitri, you will come also. We will see what we have here and what our options are. We will select a hide for you and you can start the site prep and a range card."

Dmitri, a tall, lean man with deep set eyes said nothing but merely nodded his head slightly as a nasty grin slowly spread across his face. His eyes seemed to constantly scan back and forth across their surroundings.

Lastly, Georg looked towards the remaining three men of his team. "Vladimir, Popov and Constantine, I want you three men to go out and give me an area reconnaissance of this entire area. I want no surprises or loose ends in the terrain we face or axis of approach or escape. He looked around to all of them. "Are there any questions as to what I want?"

All of them merely nodded and turned to attend to their assignments in setting up the killing zone.