The Package

Chapter four

The organization known as SEELE did not meet in person, nor were the members open with each other about who they were. Instead they met in a virtual plane, represented by simple steel obelisks, each one marked with a number. Their voices were distinctive yet could also be disguised, no one really knew.

"Who put the bounty on young Ikari?" 01 demanded, the leader of their group sounding very angry despite the distorted voice.

"It wasn't us," 02 replied, apparently representing several European nations. "We're searching as hard as we can, but..."

"Search harder," 01 said flatly, "we don't have TIME for delays! There is less than two weeks before the Angel arrives!"

03 hesitated then the representative for Germany asked, "Could we move Soryu?"

"Not without complicated explanations," 01 said after a moment. "Begin making preperations for the move, but covertly. How quickly could you get the Second Child there?"

"Just barely in time," 03 admitted, "in fact I don't know if we would make it."

"Then we concentrate on Ikari," 01 said, "we need to get him to Tokyo-3 in time, at all costs. Is this understood?"

"Yes," the group chorused as the holograms winked out.

The final hologram 01 wavered a moment, revealing a old man, his eyes hidden behind a mechanical visor. Keel Lorenz was a powerful man, surrounded my servants, yet in this he was stymied by unknown forces. He leaned forward, expression grim as he said, "Are you there, Balalaika?"

"Thank you for letting me observe," Balalaika, head of the Roanapur underworld and possible leader of the Russian Mafia said coolly. "I take it you wanted me to know that SEELE is not responsible for the troubles in my town?" she drawled.

"Yes," Keel agreed, "you have been a great help to us in the past, and I hope you will continue to be." He paused, "I would hate to see our relationship suffer."

Balalaika got the subtext and smiled slightly. "Don't threaten me, old man," she cautioned him, "you have many strings, but you're no puppet master. I could kill you if I needed too."

Keel grit his teeth, but knew she was telling the truth. The woman could mobilize a small army, even if his own forces were equally powerful. "No insult was meant, and I hope none taken," he answered smoothly.

"Fair enough," Balalaika answered after a moment. "I have my best people trying to bring Shinji to Tokyo-3, but things are complicated by the high bounty on him. We may have delays fighting off interested parties," she added.

"We'll do everything we can to kill the bounty," Keel promised.

"Do so," Balalaika said, "and I would suggest looking into your enemies. They have every reason to see you fail."

And with that, Balalaika's image disappeared as well.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"They did WHAT?" Gendo Ikari snapped, the brown haired older man looking at his closest ally Kozo in disbelief.

Kozo noted the surprise on the man's face and decided Gendo was telling the truth. He certainly wasn't that good an actor in Kozo's experience. "I almost thought it was your back up plan, in case the agents Balalaika sent failed," he noted mildly.

"No it would be far too chancy," Gendo shook his head firmly, pushing up his glasses with one hand. "Did we hear from Balalaika?" he asked.

"Yes, it appears that Shinji was successfully retrieved from the concert hall ans brought to Roanapur," Kozo reported calmly. "They'll be on the move again after refueling and a night's rest."

Gendo frowned as he considered the situation. There wasn't anything he could directly do about the Roanapur situation, so he focused on what he could do: determine who their adversary was. "The bounty emerged from central Europe?" he mused aloud.

"It apparently came from there," Kozo corrected. "If it was really sponsored by SEELE, they wouldn't be so clumsy."

Gendo nodded slightly, "Someone is using SEELE as a patsy."

"Which takes a fair degree of guts," Kozo noted quietly, both men well aware of how powerful SEELE was. "Who would dare?" he wondered.

"There's a Japanese project trying to produce a substitute for Evangelion," Gendo speculated, "I suppose they could attempt to launch early. But if they failed..."

"Third impact," Kozo shuddered slightly. "It could be that they do not realize what could happen if they fail?"

"It's possible," Gendo sighed, "but truly, there are far too many suspects to consider." He shook his head, "Deploy Section 2 forces around the city. When Shinji arrives, we need to be ready to protect him. It's all we can do."

"And if Captain Katsuragi asks about what we're doing?" Kozo asked curiously, knowing that Misato was in the chain of command and would likely find out.

Gendo gave him a rather flat look. "If you cannot handle Katsuragi, possibly I should be looking for a different second in command?" he mused.

"Of course, it will be handled," Kozo answered, then hurried off to work.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Get 'em!" someone yelled, and the whole mob raced for the doors.

"Run?" Rock asked as they got their bearings.

"Run," Dutch agreed as they bolted, bodily dragging Shinji after them.

Shinji Ikari knew he had a rather unmanly scream. In fact, more than once he had been told he screamed like a little girl. However, under the circumstances he thought a good scream was justified right about now.

"Shut up!" Revy growled as the Lagoon Company broke out of the crowd around the bar, running for the latest old car Dutch owned

Not far from them the horde of bounty hunters and killers poured out of the bar, and most of them were heavily armed. "Give up the kid," the mechanical tone came from Sawyer's vocoder as the gothic lolita clad woman hurried after them, "we'll split the bounty."

"Not likely," Benny said as they yanked the doors to the car open.

"Stop!" the figure seemed to appear from the shadows, jumping down from a nearby balcony to land on the car with a thump. He posed dramatically, long coat billowing, "I am Rotton, the Wizard, and I say..."

"Shut up," Revy shot him with one of her twin pistols, sending the man flying off the car to hit the street with a thud.

"She shot him in cold blood!" Shinji yelped even as Rock pitched him into the back seat, him and Revy following him in as Dutch and Benny took the front seats.

"He wears body armor," Rock noted as they squealed off, "he'll be fine."

"Head for the docks, Benny," Dutch ordered as the big black man pulled out a pistol from beneath his jacket.

"I think word is out," Benny noted as the blonde haired man pointed ahead of them were several cars were blovking the road, "they're trying to cut us off."

"Oh good," Revy smiled ferally as she hefted her pistol and stuck her head and shoulders out the window, readying to shoot.

Meanwhile, back at the Yellow Flag Sawyer walked over to where Rotton had been blasted off of the car. "Are you all right?" Sawyer asked mechanically.

"How did I look?" Rotton asked as he got up, adjusting his sunglasses and long coat, the kevlar vest he wore underneath visible.

"You look like idiot," Shenhua noted, the black haired woman in a slinky dress noted, casually flipping a knife. "You barely make distraction," she noted.

"Well, are the barricades up?" Rotten asked his teammates, wincing a bit as he felt a broken rib shift. While not that efficient as a killer he had a certain amount of charm and luck, which put him in the odd position of being in charge of their little trio.

"Yes," Sawyer answered, "though I don't know if they'll stop them."

"Well, this IS Dutch we're talking about," Rotten admitted, then he shrugged. "Let's grab a car and join the chase!"

Meanwhile Dutch was swearing loudly as the car had to turn to avoid another roadblock. "What the hell?" he growled, pushing up his glasses as they were rocked by poorly aimed gunfire.

"Damn, someone must have planned this well in advance of our hitting the Flag," Rock noted, mooshed in the back with a terrified Shinji and a annoyed Revy.

"Get me someplace I can start shooting these bastards!" Revy growled angrily, waving one of her guns in annoyance.

"Could you please not point that at me?" Shinji whimpered.

The phone Dutch usually carried rang, and he answered it as Benny took them down a straight stretch of road. "Ah, Miss Balalaika," Dutch said, "you're aware of our situation?"

"I got word of the bounty, but not soon enough to warn you," Balalaika sounded mildly annoyed as she added, "My source claimed word had not spread, but obviously they were wrong."

"Hey big sis!" Revy leaned forward to call into the phone, "anything you can do about these jackasses?"

"I have my squads out to the east end of the city ambushing the ambushers," Balalaika now sounded amused as she told them, "head that way, and you should be able to get through." She paused, "Is young Mr. Ikari fine?"

"I'm okay," Shinji managed, trying not to look at Revy's ass as she practically jammed it into his face while leaning into the front of the car.

"I regret I will likely not see you again in Roanapur," Balalaika said, "I wish you well, Shinji." She hesitated, "I expect that hard times are coming to you, boy. Face them bravely, and you will bring honor to yourself and your comrades."

Shinji blinked, taking that in. "I'll try," he said quietly.

"Dutch, get him to Tokyo-3 in time," Balalaika seemed to choose her words carefully, "the stakes are higher than you know. Understood?"

"Will do," Dutch agreed as the east bound car passed the first group of Balalaika's troops. "We're headed for the docks and will be on our way shortly."

"Good luck to all of you," Balalaika said before hanging up.

To be continued...

Notes: Second draft. I chucked about a third of my first version as I realized there was no way Balalaika'd be caught off guard. Also, why does Balalaika know SEELE? I assume after Second Impact she pretty much runs the Russian mob, and SEELE probably needs them to get any 'covert' stuff done in the former USSR.

Rotton the Wizard (Or Lotton, depending on the translator) tends to make dramatic appearances in Black Lagoon, only to get nailed immediately. However as one of the few characters to wear kevlar, he usually gets away okay.