Chapter 4 Part 2 Operation Red Tape (Pairing Acquaintance)
12th December, the Year 1096
1500 Hours (Day 1)
Lungmen Central Administrative Node,
District 1, Greater Lungmen.
Lungmen, the vast and massive nomadic city that has become one of the major trade centers of Terra, is perhaps the most influential city of the region between two great empires. Thanks to the deeds of the city's leaders, billions of dollar worth of trade move through this prosperous city each year since its inception of autonomous power granted by the Kingdom of Yan.
As the world began to dwindle in its economy, Lungmen leaders took the initiative to make sure they prosper through these harsh times. These actions finally paid off as Lungmen Dollar, their very currency is considered the most stable financial powerhouse in the world.
Thus, Lungmen City grows and prosper through its leadership competence for years to come.
Lungmen City is not a singular entity but is made of dozens of mobile structures designated as Districts for the city's administration. From trade to housing, these structures support the longevity of the city to stand up on its own without relying too much on external aid.
One may say Lungmen is the melting pot of cultures but most of its denizens will always acknowledge the origins of the city creation where there are both Yen and Ursus cultures intertwine with each other to form prosperous societies for its upper and mid-class groups.
Unfortunately, for every grandeur of things, there always be a shadow behind every light.
Once you looked past those veils behind the gleaming city of lights and the wealth projected by Lungmen to boast the world of its well-earned prosperity, then you may discover the dark truth of this sleepless city.
Criminal syndicates control the underworld and the Slums in the southern part of the city. Bandits and international cartels roam the streets, maintaining order and making sure every transaction of items that are exotic and guaranteed illegal by the land authorities.
Such a lifestyle is not unfamiliar to Chief Wei Yenwu and his spouse, Lady Fumizuki. For the prosperity of this city, he had involved himself in backdoor agreements and even unsavory meetings that if known by the public, will tarnish his image as the public figure of this city.
Fortunately for the citizens of Lungmen, this day would be history in the making.
On top of the Lungmen Tower, the Lung Ancient and his wife stood alongside their guards to greet new guests that are quite piqued the interest of the couples.
Soon after the broadcast, the world began to search for who was responsible for the rescue mission. Various organizations rushed forward on anything that has a connection to the group with all assets yet non had gathered the intel about the unknown soldiers during live footage.
The Bloody Broadcast, is the name granted by the public thanks to the content of the footage taken from the G-News drone.
Intelligence communities especially from Yan had contacted their affiliate inside the news network and found out that the reporter, Melinda Sawyer, and her assistant, Lucia Delfina had gone missing before the sudden end of the video.
Their disappearance was reported to Lungmen Guard Department due to the protocol of missing individuals after missing for 24 hours without any forms of contact. G-news publicly announced their mission status one week after the broadcast with their family members compensated with the company's life insurance on war correspondents.
Their accidental involvement in unknown military operations spews various rumors on the internet from captured to outright murdered by them.
The first week was tenacious as rumor ran rampant within the net with various organizations and the public speculated the involvement of an unknown party into the fray just after the Reunion Movement had taken Chernobog from Ursus Empire's hold.
Conspiracy theorists even made claims as the unknowns are black ops from Laterano as all of the combatants have long guns which are very rare outside the angelic nation as the Laterano government itself has made trade restrictions on their monopoly of Arts Firearms.
The angelic government has not confirmed nor denied their involvement in the rescue mission.
These speculations had made even worse on the front news as professors and even military analysts began to share what they had researched from the footage.
Unexpectedly, amid the chaos, two organizations had established contact with the mysterious forces.
Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical Ltd. and Lungmen Guard Department.
Both organizations were contacted via encrypted transmissions and were given secured data packets. The intelligence services within Lungmen also intercepted the signal but could not pinpoint the origin of the signal as the artificial pings interfered much from revealing the sender's actual location.
One thing is for sure, Chief Wei learned what just happened and react accordingly to his station. He had made preparations to receive this new entourage of individuals from the famed Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical and the newly revealed Axiom Security.
"Axiom….I wonder, why they use such a name for their organization?" He bemused himself of the new faction's name.
His wife Lady Fumizuki glanced at her husband "Cherry for thoughts, dear husband." She gracefully asked.
For the princess from Higashi, Lady Fumizuki has married the shrewd politician even before he took control of Lungmen decades ago. For decades she has learned the arts of deals and court affairs to the point she could run the administration by herself if her husband has other issues to deal with. This matter is the same just like the others she had managed. Such a competent wife of a ruler.
He shook his head "Nothing in particular Fumizuki. I just having a thought about our new 'business partner' as of late."
Knowing her husband's attitude along with the contents of the message they received, she replied "Is this about the deal they presented to us before? Last I remember about the documents from this particular group, they wanted to have a place in Lungmen."
"You should know that they provided us with deals that…..quite one-sided to our favor instead of theirs. Should you be concerned about this?" Lady Fumizuki turned to her husband, with a tinge of concern in her calm voice.
"Possibly. They also requested a joint meeting with Rhodes Island and LGD at the same time. I am curious about what they will bring to the table." Chief Wei replied.
Then, one of the LGD officers walked to the pair and saluted.
"Sir, Milady, we received a transmission from Air Controller. They are on the way here, eta 2 minutes."
Chief Wei grinned, "Splendid, now lets us gift them the courtesy of Lungmen, shall we?"
His wife next to nodded to the officer and walked to the helipad, awaiting the new arrivals.
Minutes later, they heard several thumping heading their way. The sounds of rotors become closer and closer by the second.
Two medium-lift helicopters and four smaller counterparts, which were the escorts flew within their sights. The officers guarding the top of the node took a look at the rare sight of multiple aircraft that now heading to the helipad.
It was an astonishing sight for the married pair. Surely, they had experience of being inside an aircraft as they are executives and thus have access to such tech but these new entourage not only have them in such numbers but also armed to the teeth.
The larger ones did not have any notable armaments other than external fuel tanks attached to the rear booms of the helicopter. But it was another issue for the smaller escorts as he noticed soldiers were sitting on the sides, ready to be deployed at the moment's notice. Let alone the small cannons attached to the rear of the helicopters.
Miniguns, Arts weapons that look similar to the weapons employed by the Laterano Gun Knights.
"That is quite an impressive entourage if I may say so myself. And a persuasive show of force." Chief Wei said to his wife while grinning in participation of this peculiar faction.
He had prepared various contingency plans should anything have gone south. From basic trade deals to even outright manipulative agreements, he has set the stage for the meeting in Lungmen's favor especially for his benefit. He had a call with Dr. Kal'stit about the packages both of them received from Axiom. Based on the said call both have the same message but the RI got a little bit extra which is a bunch of medical assessments from Axiom.
He respected the particular info as they are patients' medical records thus he has no power over patients' confidentiality unless he has the court orders with him and that is a big no-no for his image of a Lungmen ruler to demand someone's medical record just to sate his curiosity.
The main plan was to show the guests the greatness of Lungmen City especially its economic and recreational districts with the intent of luring the supposed leader of Axiom to support Lungmen especially in these harsh times. Even though Lungmen is capable of standing semi-independently (unfortunately Lungmen is an autonomous city of Yan), he cannot afford to lose the opportunity of having a small yet potent force of Sankta riflemen guarding the city from the chaos of neighboring regions.
The plans he made are for the prosperity of Lungmen regardless of what people called him, from a power-hungry ruler to even a tyrant to some of Lungmen denizens, he took their criticism to strengthen his resolve to make sure there will not be another incident like what happened decades ago.
Yet, for years of his ruling, this one took the cake and somehow managed to rekindle his inner competitive side.
Looks like LGD will have some hard competition after this.
The helicopters and their smaller escorts were toned in darker shades of silver gray with particular roundels etched on the sides of the aircraft.
A sword and shield with an eagle spread its wings covering the white five-pointed star in the middle of the crest.
'Columbian origins….Interesting.' he said to himself.
One of the two larger helicopters descended on the helipad with gushes of turbulence from the powerful rotor. Finally it safely landed and the port door of the aircraft was slid open with its passengers disembarked one by one.
The first was the armed guards and finally the guests he has been waiting to welcome. Next passengers disembarked from the aircraft were one he did not even expect from the mysterious faction.
Melinda Sawyer and her cameraman, Lucia Delfina walked out with a few young girls in tow as if they did nothing wrong to the guards next to them. Donned with military fatigues of the said faction, they, along with other girls moved away from the helicopter as its engine has been turned off.
Lady Fumizuki even rose an eyebrow at the missing reporters as the rumors of their disappearance shook the media and even inside the net by storm. She then turned her focus to the next group and was even intrigued with the Ursus girls.
Young and strong as befitting for an Ursus, but Lady Fumizuki had noticed their eyes lay sadness and painful experiences they had endured yet remain firm and even has a tinge of happiness in them.
She may be a strict ruler just like her husband but she is also a woman of compassion. The pain and sufferings from recent incidents made her pity their situation yet their healthy forms and even the sweet smile of the young blonde eased her heart as they are not truly lost from the cruel world they lived in.
The young Ursus girl noticed her and even gave her an adorable smile in her direction. She return the smile and gave a small wave at the girl as her response.
Her husband on the other hand still retain his grin as he looked at them.
Then a man moved out of the vehicle which he would be the last passenger to disembark from the helicopter.
He looked as if he is in his prime with his black beret and the utilitarian-military fatigues he was wearing right now which is quite unsuitable for a meeting with an executive yet he carried a mysterious aura even though he looked plain as much as a common man. In this case, he looks like a common footsoldier.
The man walked towards the reception party and stood in front of Chief Wei. His brown eyes confidently stared back at the Ancient who was slightly taller than him and gave his courtesy to the executive and his wife.
"Greetings, Chief Wei, Lady Fumizuki." He nodded his head in respect, "I'm Alex Munroe, CEO of Axiom Security and Consultation. It has been an honor to meet both of you here and thank you for accepting our request."
"Pleasure is all ours, Mr. Munroe." Chief Wei return the courtesy and shook Alex's hand. "That was quite a spectacle there, Mr. Munroe. A small air squadron of your own?" he inquired.
"Correct, Chief Wei. I know this may be excessive but I need something to make a point across without too much aggression or even a slight to your authority in Lungmen."
Chief Wei chuckled, "Excessive? More like an impressive first impression. Besides, you and all of your men are armed with guns. That is already set the point through."
"Are you sure you got those guns legally, if I may ask, Mr. Munroe?"
"Chief Wei, I guarantee you that all Axiom assets are made by our faction in-house and not from outside sources." Alex rebuked the slight accusation on his men's equipment.
"Indeed you are. Yet I am quite surprised that Miss Sawyer and Miss Delfina were in your care, Mr. Munroe. Instead of certain sources said of their…." He paused, "-rumored demise on the aftermath of the broadcast." Chief Wei said as he looked at the two reporters that were now sheepish at the presence of the ruler of Lungmen himself.
Lady Fumizuki then addressed the reporters before her, "Regardless, I am glad that both of you are safe Miss Sawyer, Miss Delfina. G-News had made headlines of your disappearance since then and their executives even had compensated your families as they expected the worse to happen to you."
Both of the reporters bow their heads to her, " Thank you for your concern, Lady Fumizuki. Axiom forces had retrieved us and even took care of us. At least during our stay with them, we gave our impressions on Mr. Munroe's forces. Well, a bit whacky if you know what he has under his command." Melinda replied to the noble lady.
Her assistant, Lucia nodded her head as affirmation that they were properly protected by Alex's forces instead of being harmed by interrogation.
"And who are these lovely young ladies?" She turned to the group of teenage Ursus girls before her.
The blonde one replied first "I'm Rada. Ma'am."
Next was the red one "Sonya….Madam ", as she was fidgeting with the noble lady's stare at her.
Then the blue one with spectacles also replies, "I am Anna, Mi'lady. Anna Morozova."
Finally, the oldest member introduced herself to her, "Greeting Mi'lady. I am Natalya Andreyevna Rostova of the Rostova family. It has been an honor to meet you, Lady Fumizuki, Chief Wei Yenwu." Natalya gracefully bows down to the ruling pair.
"Rostova. It has been a while hearing that name. I'm glad you are safe. What about the others? Are they fine?" Lady Fumizuki continued her inquiry.
Alex replied, "They are fine as of now, Madam. Unfortunately some of them require treatments that only one particular company that my faction has taken an interest in, Rhodes Island." he paused. "Are they already here, for our meeting, Chief Wei?"
The Lung Ancient was about to answer him when one of his LGD officers interrupted the conversation.
"Excuse me, Chief Wei, sir. We have received a call that Rhodes Island representatives are present in the meeting room with Chief Inspector Ch'en. They are awaiting your arrival, sir." The officer reported to his superior.
"Then that's the queue." Chief Wei turned to Alex and his entourage. "Shall we?"
"Before we move to the meeting,-" Alex addressed the rest of his entourage. "Girls, I'm going to the meeting with Chief Wei. All of you have to stay out of this."
The four teenage girls wanted to protest his decision but eventually relented to his order and nodded their heads.
"Yes…sir." They replied.
"Don't worry too much. This meeting will take some time and I can bet you girls are going to be bored to death in that room listening to legal babble and such." Alex reassures them.
Lady Fumizuki asserted herself in the conversation. "Then they will be fine Mr. Munroe. After all, only my husband will attend the meeting."
"If you may, I will let them accompany me for a while during your meeting session." She proposed to the man before her.
"That would be great, Lady Fumizuki. Thank you, I'm grateful for your aid. Milady" Alex appreciated her aid.
"You welcome, Mr. Munroe. Girls, follow me. We are heading to the waiting room for a while. At least you could rest after long travels." She then walked away from the helipad.
The teenage group alongside the two reporters followed her to the waiting room for them to wait and enjoy the amenities provided by Lungmen staff. One brief moment of concern from Rada and the girls, especially Sonya towards Alex, but the man smiled at them and gave a small wave.
'Stay safe' he mouthed off to them. The girls noticed and nodded their heads replied to his words as they walked together with the spouse of the city's ruler.
He then turned to his nearest escort, "Sergeant, I want two men with me, the rest guard the girls."
The Sergeant accepted his order and gave command to the escort squad to do what Alex has ordered him to. Two riflemen both armed with Mk18 Mod 1s moved in position to him, awaiting further orders. The rest followed Lady Fumizuki's path with four men staying with the pilots guarding the helicopter together with LGD officers on the helipad.
"Chief Wei, I would like to have your permission for our escorts to land on available helipads near LGD HQ." Alex requested the Ancient.
"Permission granted. Now that aside, let us move to our meeting. Time is money and are on the clock." Chief Wei grinned at him.
"Thank you, Chief Wei. Lead the way, sir."
"With pleasure, Mr. Munroe." He replied.
Minutes later, Alex and his two guards walked together with Chief Wei to the meeting room. It was uneventful but Alex could enjoy the scenery of Lungmen City from this position.
Lungmen Central node was high enough that he could see the bird's view of the city. The evening sunlight from the west gave the glittering scenery of reflected lights that enhanced the already clean and quite active activities throughout the city.
Alex knew Chief Wei uses this path for the captivating view of the busy and lively city below to earn his favor. Indeed, he managed to attract him to this piece of living art without much fuss. It feels like playing a city simulator where you can plan your city's placements and even try to make impressive infrastructures to bolster your city's credentials to the world.
Finally, they reached the front door of the meeting room.
The two LGD officers guarding the front door opened them and let them enter the stage.
Alex followed the Ancient from behind and noticed the small stature of a Cautus with a black and blue uniform with her entourage. He was about to greet her but suddenly his voice went dead as he was speechless on what stood before him.
'What the hell….didn't this guy die in the first act?! How the fuck?!' Alex's mind rebooted to what he just saw.
Next to Amiya, Dr. Kal'stit and the Doctor was no other than the fucking MVP of the first act of Arknights.
It was none other than Ace, the senior operator of Rhodes Island that was supposed to be killed by Talulah in the Chernobog Act. Yet the man before him is tall and healthy, as if he did not even fight the flame witch to his last breath.
'Ahh…..screw canon. Let's wing it!'
Alex moved to the nearest available seat while his guard stood vigilantly as the meeting is about to proceed.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Now that all parties are here, let us start this meeting."
Chief Wei grinned at the individuals with him as the battleground was set and ready to be fought with thinly veiled words and double meanings as the blade with patience as the shield.
One thing is for sure, in this battle, the one with more knowledge wins, and even Alex has prepared for the battle of words.
Let's see if he could win this fight with pens and papers instead of guns and ammo.