GATE: In the Company of Shadows

by Krueger-X

The JSDF handled the opening of the gate well, but what they don't know is that another gate has opened within the Special Region. On the opposite side? A multinational tier one private military company. Will Japan be able to share this new resource rich fantasy world with a group of shady mercenaries or will rising political tensions cause them to reach their breaking point?

15. Dull Downtime

Gate: In the Company of Shadows

Chapter 15

Dull Downtime

---

PHILLIP GRAVES - SHADOW CO, THIRD RECON JSDF

HOTEL SANKAI, HAKONE HOT SPRINGS, JAPAN

NOVEMBER 10, 2022 - 01:03:04

---

The battle was… well, calling it a battle would have made it seem a little underwhelming. Bloody bodies and spent casings littered the field, while Graves regarded the resort building as nothing short of in shambles. It was essentially a small warzone in this otherwise quaint little getaway in this Japanese forest far from civilization. One that he and his Shadow Company were partly responsible for…

Not that he'd be cleaning any of it up. Absolutely not. He had better things to do with his time.

Like getting the hell out of dodge as soon as possible.

The commotion of a gunfight and explosions was sure to have drawn some attention in the area - attention that he really didn't want to deal with right now. He certainly didn't want to get caught in any more crossfire, both from enemy forces and media outlets alike. Though that depended entirely on how quick of a response the Public Security Bureau had, and whether or not they had a good cover up story to give to the curious public. Graves hoped that the latter would hold up well.

I wonder how they're gonna explain three dead Japanese soldiers…? Graves mused internally. The media would definitely have a field day if they learned that foreign boots just took lives on Japanese soil. I doubt any of these Japanese officials have the drive to silence any loose lipped civvies…

Graves was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a soft thud nearby. He turned his head towards the sound, spotting the body of an enemy operator laying face first in the grass with blood trailing from a bullet hole in the side of his head. Graves furrowed his brows at the corpse, before looking past the porch doors and back inside, seeing Viper and Ronin as they walked away. The latter dusted his gloves off, grunting as they hunched down and picked up another body near Bristol.

It appeared that the two were currently cleaning up the last of the corpses inside of the washitsu room that they stored their gear in, with the rest of the Shadows checking their gear and topping off for the journey ahead.

After all, it wouldn't do to get into another firefight with almost no ammo.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best, was the saying that came to mind. Realistically, Graves ended up getting both. Losing two Shadows and surviving against overwhelming odds, respectively.

Still covered in a wet and dirty black uniform, Graves took the helmet off his head for a moment, letting the cool air circulate better as he slipped a hand out of his glove and ran it through his brown hair. "What a fuckin' shitshow…" He muttered to himself.

A light cough interrupted his thoughts, causing him to turn around and face the source of the noise. Standing nearby and leaning against the doorframe was Princess Pina, who was currently back in her diplomat dress - safe and dry - alongside her knight. Despite not being the ones in the rain, Graves could still see them shivering slightly as they hugged their arms close to their body's, a troubled expression clearly written on both of their faces. "It's quite the unnerving sight to see, isn't it?" Pina asked.

Graves followed her gaze past him, before seeing that she was referring to the still fresh bloodbath out in the open field. "Sure," Graves offered, casually shrugging his shoulders. "But you kinda' get used to it in this line of work."

Princess Pina couldn't help but quirk a brow up at him, "You're used to immortal demigoddess massacres?" She asked incredulously.

"Massacres, yes. Immortal demigoddesses? No… that one might still take some adjusting to…" Graves replied as he crossed his arms, tapping his helmet against his torso to rest. "What about you? How's this compare to your other battles?"

He watched as Pina bit her lower lip for a moment, briefly looking away before she sighed in defeat. "This was… really only my second major battle." She whispered.

Bozes, still in awe at the slaughter in front of her, quietly added, "This was my first…" Whether out of fear of the enemy operators or of Rory Mercury, clearly, she was thankful that she wasn't in the thick of it with a blade in her hands.

Holy hell… looks like I was right. He thought to himself. His silent predictions about Pina back at Formal's estate really did turn out to be true in the end. He was dealing with an order of knights who were as green as FNGs putting boots in the sandbox. Despite his theory being confirmed, he still had to hand it to her. For being so new to real combat, Pina trained her Rose-Order fairly well if folks like Norma managed to survive the assault back then. Though how much of the knight's survival was actually attributed to Pina's training rather than Graves' Shadows was still debatable. "So Princess, Italica really was your first battle then, huh?"

"Yes," Her voice lowered just a tad as she continued. "It was certainly a… memorable… first experience."

Graves chuckled slightly. "Well it seems like everybody's been experiencing memorable firsts recently."

"Yes," Pina agreed. It was clear that she was reminiscing about the messy aftermath that the combined efforts of the Japanese and his Shadow Company caused. In a way it wasn't too dissimilar to the sight that lay just a couple of meters away from them. It appeared she thought the same, as she brought it up to him as well. "It's one thing to witness the terrifying destruction that was wrought by Rory Mercury upon a horde of bandits… but, it's another thing to see her so easily outmatching the warriors of this world. Ones with weapons and gear so similar to yours."

Graves frowned at the princess. He knew all too well just what she meant by that remark and the underlying words that came with it, that were obviously left unsaid. He had seen firsthand the devastating power that the demigoddess wielded with her halberd, both times, and he knew Pina did too. The first being against the medieval bandits of her world that were so far behind them technologically and tactically speaking, and the second, being conventional fighting forces with similar capabilities to that of his Shadow Company. For her to bring it up in the first place left a sense of trepidation bubbling in his gut.

It seemed Pina realized what she had inadvertently suggested, as her eyes immediately widened into saucers. She cleared her throat, averting her eyes away and turning back towards the forest in front of them. "Anyway… shouldn't we be moving out?" She asked, quickly trying to change the topic.

Graves kept a wary stare at her for a moment longer, before he decided to relent and shake his head. "Not yet," He said, looking past her and back into the resort building. "My Shadows are still packing our gear and we're still waiting for Itami and the rest of his party to finish gathering their belongings. Plus, I'm hoping he can wake Rory up from whatever slumber she's in. I'd rather not have to worry about carrying some crazy unconscious girl like her out of a forest possibly filled to the brim with hostiles, even with her childlike size. Don't tell her I said that by the way."

"I can see how that would be a problem. And you shouldn't talk about a woman behind her back in such a way…" She said with a teasing smirk, before trailing off. She looked to a nearby deck railing, cringing as she saw a corpse draped over it with the upper half of its head missing. A mix of blood and saliva dripped down the otherwise still intact lower jaw, bleeding into the wood below. No doubt, another victim of Rory's, who unfortunately got caught in the girl's sights during her quest to satiate her bloodlust. "What will happen to these men?"

Graves answered with a scoff, shrugging his shoulders in indifference. "My guess is Japan's gonna try and sweep them all under the rug now that this is all over." He put a hand on the cadaver's shoulder, before roughly shoving it over the railing and onto the wet grass below. The body sprawled out on the ground with a heavy thud, joining the rest of the corpses strewn about the place. He inspected his hand after, dusting it off against his pant leg. "Not too sure if they'll be able to - what with a lot of these guys most likely having government connections. But that's their problem, not mine."

Pina let out a soft hum as she thought about it for a moment before asking, "These assassins, from the other kingdoms, what could they possibly have gained from attacking us?"

"Countries, not kingdoms, and they're contractors, not assassins," Graves corrected. "If they were assassins, they would have killed you all rather than attempted a capture for whatever reason."

"A capture…?" Pina asked, with her expression quickly shifting to concern. "Then it sounds like they want to use me as a political hostage. This incident is really starting to sound like quite the, 'shitshow' as I overheard you describe it earlier, for this world's politics."

Graves nodded with a small smile, "Well, like I said. Their problem, not mine."

There was a momentary pause, before Pina raised a singular brow at the man. "Is it though…?" She asked, not really believing him. "I remember quite a few faces from your group, some of which I know for certain that I didn't see returning after the battle."

The smile on Graves' face quickly faded away as he looked towards Pina with an unreadable look in his eyes, before averting his gaze back outside. "Yeah, you won't be seeing some of them ever again." He confirmed with a heavy sigh. "The size of the enemy fighting force was… unexpected, to say the least, and they put up a hell of a fight. I lost two guys and a third is currently wounded, albeit, still combat effective."

She gave a small nod in understanding, "That does sound quite unfortunate."

"It is," He agreed rather solemnly, which was apparently a small surprise for the princess, who clearly hadn't expected a man like Graves to show any semblance of care regarding any of his men.

Graves didn't miss the subtle confusion that was evident on her face, and he had felt a tiny underlying sense of indignation with how lowly she obviously thought of him and his Shadows. He usually didn't care about what other people thought of him, unless of course, it stood to benefit him in some sort of way like usual. But for the princess to even think he was a bad leader, even for a second, in any way shape or form, was slightly insulting. Insulting enough for him to be a little upset. Upset enough for him to defend his nonexistent honor.

"I know you see us as nothing more than the big bad mercenaries, Princess, but every member of Shadow Company is not just another subordinate to me. That's what separates us from the mercenaries of your world that you're so used to. The company is a team that consists of strong individuals with even stronger bonds built through the trials of combat." His gaze flitted to his Shadows nearby as he continued expounding with his small speech. "None of us are tools to be used. We're people, same as you and those in your Empire are. We live, we laugh, and we love…"

.

.

.

The princess didn't reply immediately. Instead, she opened her mouth as if to respond, but ultimately came up with nothing in response. It was obvious that Graves' words did something. Whether she disagreed or if the words resonated with her, it was enough to give her pause as she closed her mouth and gazed at the ground, mulling over what he had said.

After a few moments of silence, she gave him a slow and hesitant nod. "I guess I hadn't thought about it that way-"

"Ugh, God, I can't believe people actually say shit like that." Graves interrupted. "Sorry, that was just my attempt at offering honeyed words. No offense to you, but I so badly wanted to puke after uttering that last bit out of my mouth. None of it was original by the way. If I had a nickel for every house I entered with 'live, laugh, and love' on a sign, I wouldn't be doing contract work."

The princess' jaw hung agape momentarily, stunned to silence at Graves' sudden emotional one-eighty. Just when she thought that his mask was slipping to reveal a more fervent side, Graves had apparently decided against doing just that, instead just resuming his stoic facade, which left her utterly baffled in regards to how this seemingly laid back man could so easily switch between emotions in such a manner.

Graves was amused by the sight, getting his kicks off for a moment at her expense. First a compassionate speech, immediately followed up by a blatant disregard for the previous emotionally backed words. For someone untrained, it was never easy reading people's reactions, and it wasn't like there was a written manual for those sorts of things… only experience. Hopefully the confusion of whether or not he was serious would be enough to keep her on her toes. The princess was already pretty socially inept, often floundering through her words with him and Itami with a slightly intimidated and meek aura. It wouldn't do for one of his pieces to be so easily readable to others on the board.

He could imagine the fallout from someone figuring out just how… sheltered, the princess truly was, and taking advantage of her through subterfuge in order to gain some sort of leverage.

That would be bad, because that was his job…

Regardless, he knew exactly how to play himself off as the one in constant control. Because he was the one in constant control - Previous hiccups ignored. It was basic manipulation 101.

The princess finally shook herself out of her stupor, clearing her throat and making sure her voice stayed steady as she focused on getting the discussion back on track. "Ah, yes, of course. Anyway, what's your next plan of action now?" She asked curiously.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, this entire diplomatic trip has been… far from ideal. The company has made a lot more enemies now, and we've definitely got giant targets painted on our backs." A slow nod and a deadpan expression on her face told him that he was stating the obvious. "Suffice to say, it's no longer safe to be here on this side of the gate. Not unless we come back with enough Shadows to take over the whole damn nation."

Princess Pina gulped nervously at the suggestion, clearly unnerved at the confidence from which he so casually stated that last bit. "So… that's it then? What's done is done…?" She asked tentatively.

"What's done is done, when I say it's done…" Graves trailed off ominously. He paused as a certain thought came to mind when he said those words, before he reached a free hand into one of his pockets. After a few seconds of digging around, he finally fished out the watch that he looted from the lobbyist earlier that night. The polished gold glistened under some dirt and raindrops, which he wiped away with his thumb. Real 24-karat, not bad for a hired gun. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Pina was also eyeing the watch in his hands. Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly at the sight, likely recognizing the familiar piece of jewelry as well as coming to her own conclusion about what happened to its previous owner. "... And I think we're pretty much done here."

The princess huffed, "If you don't mind me asking, Commander, what exactly have we done here?"

"We've sent a strong message and got our point across…" He said, rehashing the words he heard earlier from a now dead man. "We're a superpower for hire, and none will stand in our way…" He finished, staring pointedly down at the watch in his hands. A satisfied smirk greeted him back through the tiny reflection.

He was making a name for himself in this world, rather infamously, he might add. But any publicity was good publicity. It didn't matter what the other nations would say about him here in this world, because they would ultimately be able to do nothing against him. They were powerless due to forces beyond their control.

The biggest dogs in the park bark at the top, but that park may as well have been a kennel with how big an open field Graves had to play with. An open field which the other dogs barked at from behind a chain linked fence, so badly wanting to run around in. It wasn't his fault that the Gate appeared in his own backyard. He was simply making the most out of the opportunity that presented itself, and considering the sheer size of the still largely unexplored Special Region, he had quite the opportunity. Supposed goodwill relations could come later though.

Despite the losses on many sides, his included, Graves wasn't willing to push any of the competing nations completely off the table… yet. After all, he'd still need business partners and clients, and if he was able to pull them from three different worlds? Well, that was just fine by him. He'd take that win any day of the week.

Who wouldn't?

---

[REDACTED] BRISTOL [REDACTED] - SHADOW CO, THIRD RECON JSDF

HOTEL SANKAI, HAKONE HOT SPRINGS, JAPAN

NOVEMBER 10, 2022 - 00:58:00

---

Bristol kneeled against the floor, staring at the shattered fragments that remained of the gift that Risa had given him earlier that night. The maneki-neko was a symbol to many people around the world, the most common one being to invoke wealth or good luck to its owner. And now here it was… in several pieces against the tatami mat.

He barely paid attention as Viper and Ronin hefted up the body next to it, too distracted to care as they moved to haphazardly toss the corpse over the railing outside.

Why was he distracted? Because the man found himself a little irritated as he one of the broken ceramic shards at eye level, being careful not to cut himself with it as he used his still gloved hands.

A sense of irritation, which led to confusion.

He usually wouldn't care about some impractical object such as the one in front of him being broken. After all, it was easily replaceable and served no real use to him. It wasn't a gun that shot bullets, a phone that called people, or a first aid kid that stopped bleeding. It was just a simple desk decoration.

So then why was he so irritated? Why did he care so much about an ornament, a trinket, that would have just been collecting dust in a barracks locker back at Site Hotel Gamma?

He sighed, even more irritated as the answer to his silent question still eluded him. Seeing that he was getting nowhere, he let his arm drop as he inspected the rest of the pieces laid out in front of him. Thankfully, the damage wasn't too bad - as the cat had only shattered into big and easily identifiable chunks. That would make the clean up process significantly easier…

"Excuse me miss, I think you've got the wrong room-"

"Nope! I'm pretty sure I've got the right one," Responded a familiar voice, cutting off one of the Shadows. Bristol turned his head, not completely, but just enough so that he'd be able to confirm the owner of the voice. As expected, it was a figure he recognized quite easily from before - even with her currently disheveled appearance - as evidenced by the big red glasses that sat crookedly on her face.

Risa was dressed back in her streetwear. A simple get up consisting of cuffed dark blue denim jeans, a sleeveless puffer jacket in a lighter shade of blue, - which rested over an orange long sleeve - and a yellow pom beanie. It was casual, and despite how much of a far cry the current status quo was from casual, she herself appeared to be just that.

Bristol had to hold back a small laugh, as to his amusement, Risa waltzed past the other Shadows without a care in the world. The Shadows could only look at him for answers, confused as to how unfazed the tiny Japanese woman was to just ignore hardened contractors still dressed to kill. Bristol only shrugged in response, essentially telling the other Shadows to just forget about it and leave her be.

She made her way over to him, before coming to a stop and crossing her arms nearby. She looked down at him expectantly, tapping her toe against the floor.

"Bristol," She greeted, though there was a tiny underlying hint of something else in her tone. Something that Bristol couldn't quite place right away, which frankly, made him a little nervous.

"Risa," He greeted back easily, hopefully fronting a cool exterior with the nonchalant response. He finally stood up to his full height again, allowing him to get a better look at her face under the room's lights as he turned to properly address her. She did not look happy, not one bit… "Are you alright?"

"Wha-?" She began to ask, before shaking her head and glaring at him. "How can you be asking me that? You're the one that got into a massive gunfight!"

"Well I think you're over exaggerating just a tad. It wasn't the biggest gunfight I've ever been in, and me and the boys have definitely gone through much worse. To be completely honest with you, I'd hardly even classify it as a fight; just a bit of a small skirmish really, and if-"

"Bristol!"

"Y-Yeah?" He hesitated for a brief moment.

"Not helping."

"Right…"

"What the heck happened out there?!" She demanded with a faint scowl, clearly displeased with the current situation. It was understandable though. He'd be pretty pissed off too if he was woken up by gunfire and explosions. "I thought you said you had it handled?!"

He flinched at the harsh tone, before awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well I guess I thought wrong, huh?" He asked sheepishly, hoping his attempt at a reassuring smile would help to ease the tension somewhat. The discomfort he felt from her stare down was really affecting him for some strange reason, as the last time someone was capable of making him feel this bad was his evaluator - God rest his soul - back at Hereford, in his world.

That must have been ages ago…

"Clearly," She grumbled, looking away before her gaze flickered towards the destroyed remains of her gift on the floor. Her expression seemed to soften slightly at that, and the somewhat annoyed expression immediately left her face. "But are you alright? Seriously this time."

"Of course I am. I'm standing right here in front of you, aren't I? I'm in picture perfect health, and that's more than I can say for some of the others."

Risa opened her mouth to berate him, before pausing at his last words. It took her a second to fully register the insinuation, but once she did, she couldn't hide the wince that appeared on her face. "H-How, um…" She cleared her throat, before taking a slow, deep breath. "How many did you… lose?"

"None in my squad, but Sentinel lost two guys and Boxer was wounded."

"Was…?" She choked out.

"Oh, no, he's not dead." Bristol confirmed, much to her relief, before adding, "He's combat effective right now. Well, as combat effective as one can be with a bullet through the ankle."

"I see…" She replied quietly, still frowning slightly as she looked back toward the scattered pieces of the gift. "I also see that my gift broke during all the chaos…"

"Yeah, some cu… fools, decided to rummage through the bags while we were away."

"Well it's a good thing they didn't get away with it, right?" She joked with a small laugh, before awkwardly glancing outside.

From the corner of his eye, Bristol could see Graves shoving a headless body over the railing as he spoke with Princess Pina and her knight. He could see Risa turning a little green at the sight, clearly unused to seeing corpses on the daily… like a regular functioning member of society. Actually, Risa was pretty far from regular and functioning if he really thought about it. Not that he had any reason to remind her. He decided to help take her mind off of it with a distraction.

"Hey," He said, placing a hand on her shoulder and getting her attention. "Why don't you help me pick up the pieces, huh?" He didn't wait for a response as he already began kneeling back down to start putting the shards into the pocket of a nearby backpack. "Just be careful not to cut yourself, it's still pretty sharp."

Risa cocked an eyebrow down at him, before kneeling alongside him to help. "Um, Bristol? I'm not sure if you know this, but I don't think we'll have the time to go back and show the store that it broke for a replacement."

"Heh, we're not going back to the store, luv," He answered simply, grabbing a few of the larger fragments before holding them up for inspection. There weren't really too many separate pieces. Just two or three, all relatively intact, plus some of the smaller fragments. They both placed them carefully in the large front pocket of the bag before he closed it back up. "I'll find some way to fix it, yeah?" He said with a wink.

"It's not gonna look as good as it originally did, but sure," Risa agreed with a shrug. "You do you."

"I'll make you eat those words," Bristol said, before lifting the bag up with a grunt, looping his arms through the straps and resting it against his back. "So, you ready to hit the road yet?"

Risa shook her head, looking back at the doorway she came from and out into the hall. "Everyone else is, except for Itami and his soldier friends." She answered.

Right. Itami ordered his people to gather some weapons and ammo just in case they encountered any trouble during the trip back. A good call on his part, especially if the Japanese that were stuck with them could actually back them up with some decent firepower. Or if they would back them up. He wasn't going to be forgetting about how quickly the SFG guys bailed out on them anytime soon.

Sure, orders were orders, but that still wouldn't stop him from being pissed off about it…

"And… where's Itami?"

"I saw your Commander hand Rory off to him," She informed. "That reminds me, what happened to her? I assumed that she was holding her own back out there, but then I saw her come back covered in blood. Granted, most of that blood probably isn't hers," She paused to shiver at those words. "But she was out cold. I thought she was dead until Itami told me that she was just asleep."

"She got hit by a tranq dart," He answered. "Pricks were tryna' roll her up in a snatch and grab. I'm also bettin' that she wasn't the only one that they were aiming for."

"Oh geez, that's pretty scary-" She said, before cutting herself off with a sudden gasp as she looked to the side. Bristol followed her gaze, before his vision settled on his squad leader nearby, who was currently grabbing a rifle sling that another Shadow handed out from his backpack. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?!"

"Huh?" Vale asked, turning to look at them. Bristol didn't really understand what Risa was so shocked about, as the last time he saw Vale, the man was perfectly fine as he dead checked the field of bodies. Though once the man turned to them fully, only then did Bristol understand. The messy and easily identifiable splotch of red stood out against the coyote tan of his plate carrier, and a piece of duct tape was now stuck to his right sleeve.

Bristol knitted his brows, pointing to his vest. "Is that a tooth…?"

Vale looked at them both weirdly, before glancing down and seeing the cause of their concern.

"Oh, it's not mine, I'm not hit." He said quickly, picking up the blood stained piece of dental that was caught in his molle webbing and flicking it somewhere in the room. "Apparently one of the Russkies that Rory cut up wasn't fully dead when we moved in. Bastard got a hold of me for a second and tried to get at me with a knife." He muttered with obvious disdain as he clipped the replacement sling onto his MK18.

"You must have fucked him up pretty badly to have that much of him left on ya, mate."

Vale scoffed as he adjusted the sling's tightness, hugging the rifle closer to his chest as it hung limp. "I shouldn't have had to have fuck him up if Rory just did her damn job properly! Nine hundred years old and she doesn't know how to do a proper killing blow with that ax of hers?" He asked incredulously. "I call bullshit! She was fuckin' around out there, toyin' with the enemy while everyone's lives were in very real danger!"

"Hey, that's a little unfair, don't you think?" Risa stepped in, interrupting the small outburst. "I'm sure she was doing everything in her power to-"

Vale glared at her, causing the tiny woman to clam up for a moment as he cut her off. "If she was doing everything she could to protect you all, she wouldn't have left the building to go fight outside and leave you all with the horribly under equipped JSDF."

Bristol immediately stepped in front of him to shield her. His squad leader was worked up, he could certainly understand that. The man had to make some tough calls recently for the group that relied on his orders in Graves' brief absence.

Barely escaping two separate gunfights while being hunted in a cold and rainy forest was not a position that the Englishman wanted to be in ever again. Combine that with being put in charge of other's lives, and he understood that the stress of the situation might have been getting to him. Bristol didn't envy Vale… and he certainly wouldn't hold it against him for the small fit of rage. But that rage was starting to be directed at the wrong person. He usually wouldn't care about how Vale spoke to a civilian, but Risa didn't deserve the man's ire.

"Easy there, mate! We're all a little run down here, yeah?" Bristol said, holding a palm out in front of him in a placating gesture. "Let's cool it and take things slow. Risa's not the one at fault here."

Vale blinked, somewhat surprised by Bristol's intervention. Thankfully, he realized what he was doing and took a deep breath to help calm himself down. Vale sighed heavily after a few seconds, pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head at the ground. "Ah, Jesus Christ… yeah, you're right… sorry for losing it at you like that, Risa."

Though the tone was apologetic, the anger in his eyes did not dissipate completely. Bristol didn't sense that any of its remnants were malicious though. Rather, Vale was directing that anger and blame elsewhere. Probably at Rory for her unprofessionalism, or to himself for his unprofessionalism.

Risa nodded back softly, giving Vale a sympathetic smile. "It's no problem at all," Risa responded honestly, stepping out from behind the Brit. "Seriously, I get it. Tensions are pretty high right about now, and I wasn't the one out there dealing with what you all had to."

His expression softened marginally, letting his shoulders drop for a moment as he sighed tiredly. "Sure, but that's no excuse for me to take out my frustrations on you."

"I said it's no problem, didn't I?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Alright everyone! We're ready to go now!" Announced a voice from nearby, pulling them from their discussion. Everyone turned to find Itami standing in the doorway, - with a red handprint on his face again - and much to everybody's surprise, Rory was also up too. Although the demigoddess was back in her signature frilly dress, she was still a little drowsy, as evidenced by the pout on her recently dried face.

She rubbed one of her eyes as she let out a small yawn, looking around the room for something. After a short pause she noticed everyone staring at her, making her frown as she still didn't find what it was that she was looking for. "Has anyone here seen my halberd?"

Bristol pointed a thumb behind him and out of the room. "It's back outside on the grass."

"Ah, thank you." She said curtly, making her way past him and the other Shadows. Her heels clicked loudly against the floor, until she stepped off of the wood and onto the grass. She casually strutted her way past the corpses, absentmindedly humming to herself as she reached her signature weapon. She bent down and picked it up, dusting the handle off before twirling it in one hand.

"Hey, Tomita!" Itami shouted. The sturdy and cool-headed Japanese man rounded the corner at his name being called, a bag slung over his shoulder and back in his street clothes, ready to leave at a moment's notice. "Can we use the garden footpath to get outta here?"

Tomita nodded at him, "Yes, I took a short walk and confirmed it myself." He said.

"Alright, that's what we'll be taking."

Bristol turned back to Graves, seeing what his Commander's response would be.

"Okay then," Graves agreed, before whistling loudly and putting the helmet back on his head. "C'mon people, we're oscar-mike!"

---

[REDACTED] VALE [REDACTED] - SHADOW CO, THIRD RECON JSDF

HOTEL SANKAI FOREST, JAPAN

NOVEMBER 10, 2022 - 01:18:00

---

The group had been walking for at least ten minutes now, having taken the garden footpath that Tomita had scouted out earlier. Thankfully, the path also just happened to be the shortest route to a nearby road, something that Vale was grateful for. He wanted nothing more than to be out of this forest as soon as possible. Scratch that, not just out of this forest, but out of Japan and this world entirely.

At least back in the Special Region, he didn't have to worry about catching a bullet from several different countries in some stupid, political, dick measuring contest bullshit, and at least back in his world, it was pretty clear cut on who the bad guys were.

The pirates, the insurgents, the ultranationalists, etcetera…

Here, he was already fed up. Fed up with running, hiding, and fighting. It was so much easier not being on the international radar like this and under the constant threat of being watched like hawks by the UN or NATO. He imagined if they got caught trying to sell weapons to the warlord of an African militia like they did with Waraabe, this world would use it as an excuse to flood their own troops into the Special Region.

Hopefully they'd be able to get to the gate in one piece, and hopefully, none of their enemy's would be batshit crazy enough to start a shootout in the streets of Tokyo. It was a small blessing that they took contact somewhere a little more secluded, and if Japan was on the ball about this incident, it would be contained with no media coverage.

They continued following the path through the forest, the only sounds filling the area being the crunching of leaves under boots, the whistling of wind against tree branches, and the chirps and buzzing of local wildlife. The forest ambience that he was listening to had returned to its natural state, no longer disturbed by the large presence of human activity. Despite that, Vale was still on his toes near the front of the group, ready to raise his rifle up if the situation called for it.

And in a moment, the situation did indeed call for it. Past the treeline, he could make out a small clearing nearby, with the silhouettes of several helmets easily poking out of the forest brush. Despite how still they were being, he could see them very clearly.

He held a fist up as he dropped to a knee, leveling the rifle up in their direction. "Hold up. I see five, behind the bushes to the right."

Everyone immediately got down alongside him, before Graves peeked over. He expected Graves to give him and his squad the order to do something about them, but the man merely furrowed his brows and sighed. "Relax Vale, just a group of strays that me and Carnival ran into earlier. We iced them before they could squawk. They're just worm food now." Graves stood back up, urging everyone to continue moving. "Come on, let's go."

Vale watched his Commander lead near the front, seeing the rest of the group get back up and resuming their walk behind him. He gave one last glance towards the bodies, before seeing a vulture flutter its wings and slow its descent, landing atop one of their helmets. It looked down curiously before beginning to peck at the face underneath. Its attention quickly shifted to look around at the others, its black eye glinting wickedly in the dim light, before it settled on Vale. The bird tilted its head at him, before resuming its feast.

There would be plenty more opportunities for that bird to sink its talons into flesh for the rest of the night.

I'm just glad that I'm not one of them… Vale thought to himself, jogging to catch up again.

As they walked, the path gradually became less and less green. The trees grew thinner and less frequent, until finally, the path opened up to a curved main road alongside a rocky wall. The transition from the natural vegetation to man made construction was a bit jarring, as the grass was suddenly cut off by a concrete sidewalk, complete with guard rails and faintly humming street lights. The street lights, combined with the better exposure under the moon meant that the Shadows no longer had to keep their night vision goggles in front of their eyes to see, - the ones who still had them anyways - and they switched them off before flipping them back up on their helmets.

The group walked along the pavement at a steady pace, with Carnival in front and leading the group towards civilization. Considering how far out they were and the current time, it was going to be quite a long and boring walk. But Vale was okay with that. He'd had enough excitement for one night, and would much rather not fill the rest of it with distracting small talk. He'd like to be left alone with his thoughts for a moment.

Everything looked as normal as ever. The streets were void of any major traffic after midnight, so the worry about a bunch of otherworldly armed contractors being spotted walking around with fantasyland women was pretty minimal.

…

Maybe I'm in a medically induced coma, and this entire trip has been a figment of my hallucinating imagination… His mind suggested. That idea seemed to appease him somewhat, but he shook his head to clear it away and shove that silly thought into the deepest darkest recess of his mind. This wasn't the time or the place to be thinking of things like that.

"Jesus," Tomita breathed out beside him, cutting through the silence. Vale could see the heat leaving from his mouth, forming a small cloud against the crisp autumn air. "It feels like we've been doing nothing at all but running away lately…"

"So much for our good times I guess." Itami snorted from nearby, "This was hardly the vacation I was expecting when I came back."

"Vacation?!" Boxer asked incredulously from the back. The group paused as the wounded man began pushing his way through, brushing shoulders with their VIPs and making a beeline towards Itami. Boxer glared at the Japanese man, hobbling up to him and ignoring the searing pain in his ankle. "Two of my people are gone, and there was nothing I could do but watch them die in front of me. Your superiors used us as nothing but mere puppets in their plans the moment the politicians got your so called special forces to stand down. While we were out there trudging miserably through the cold and damp rainfall, you were sitting comfortably wrapped up in blankets inside the resort, getting drunk off your ass! As far as I'm concerned, your good times can shove it till we're in the fuckin' clear!" He snarled, jabbing a finger against his chest all the while.

Vale was still a little upset, sure, but Boxer was furious. The man lost two of his people and got shot earlier that night, and Itami made the mistake of poor wording. Vale was certain that the man didn't intend to downplay the seriousness of the situation, but it certainly looked that way when it seemed like he was missing the original point of their entire trip across the gate.

For a second, Vale was worried that he'd have to hold the man back, lest a brawl break out in the middle of the sidewalk. Fortunately for the Shadows and the JSDF, before the opportunity to escalate any further presented itself, Boxer grunted in pain, nearly collapsing to the ground as Itami quickly moved to hold him up.

"Woah, is he okay?" Kuribayashi asked from the back, peeking her head over Pina's shoulder and watching as Itami gently lowered him down, resting his back against the guard rail.

Angel stepped past Vale, kneeling down before activating the flashlight mounted to the arc rail of his helmet, the street lights apparently not bright enough for him. That, or the yellow hue made it hard to see properly. Angel rested a hand against the bandage wrapped ankle for a brief moment, causing Boxer to hiss in pain. "Argh! scheiße!" He exclaimed, stifling a cry.

"Bullet to the ankle," Angel informed, satiating everybody else's curiosity who wasn't there to witness the injury themselves. "It went clean through, and I bandaged it about an hour ago, but it was really only a temporary solution at best. We're gonna need to stop somewhere to take a proper look at it and treat it right, at least before we're back at the gate."

Boxer huffed as he leaned his head back on the metal bar, staring up at Angel before turning back to face the rest of the group. "Don't bother patchin' up the wound, I can manage on my own."

Angel narrowed his eyes, looking unimpressed. "We need to fix your ankle if we want to be able to move on tomorrow, otherwise, you may end up making it worse. You don't want that, do you?"

Boxer scoffed at that, rolling his eyes as he lifted himself up, using the guard rail for support. "That doesn't mean shit, I can handle myself."

"Yeah, sure, doesn't really look like it. You're limping and favoring your left leg." He responded dryly, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're not at full strength right now."

"None of us are at full strength right now. That doesn't make you a burden." Boxer grunted. Vale cocked an eyebrow up from behind his goggles. No one said anything about being burdens. "I told you before, Angel, I'm fine. Just leave me be. Let's get moving already."

Angel opened his mouth to protest, but Graves cut him off. "He's right, Angel. Let's keep moving. But that doesn't mean we're ignoring your injury Boxer," He said with a finger pointed towards him. "We will be stopping to take a good look at it whenever possible."

"But-"

"Oxide can manage things back on the other side of the gate for another day. I'm not losing another Shadow tonight." Graves said seriously, before turning to Angel. "Are you okay with carrying him, Angel?"

"Not a problem Commander," He complied, already throwing Boxer's arm over his shoulder.

The sound of a beep interrupted them, and everyone looked around for the source of the noise. After a few seconds, everyone's eyes finally settled on Vale. And by everyone, he meant everyone. He chuckled awkwardly, being the source of attention once more before a disembodied and staticky voice spoke up.

"Kto-nibud', voz'mite radio i otvet'te mne, gluptsy!" (Someone pick up the radio and answer me, you fools!) Demanded a voice in obvious angry Russian. "Kakogo khrena u tebya status?!" (What the hell is your status?!)

"What the hell?!" Kuribayashi asked, before raising her MP7 up at him and flicking the safety off. In any other situation, he'd admire the fine piece of weaponry. After all, it was quite difficult to get one's hands on an MP7 back in the states. The Kuribayashi girl must have known that too, as he had seen her snatch it up from an American contractor with stars in her eyes after sweeping the battlefield. And now he was staring down the barrel of its suppressor can, while she glared up at him from behind an Aimpoint Micro T-2 optic. He was also pretty sure that the fire selector was on full auto, and that the girl wouldn't hesitate to shred his face point blank with forty rounds of 4.6 by 30mm at nine-hundred and fifty rounds per minute.

Judging by the hint of alcohol that was carried on her breath and the tinge of red on her cheeks, it was safe to assume that the girl was also slightly hungover. Was he really going to get dropped by a tiny Japanese woman who couldn't handle her liquor? Not meeting his fate to an African warlord, a radical Jihadist, or a Russian paratrooper?

At least he'd be one of the few people on the list of statistics for gun violence in a country that was relatively restrictive in their gun laws.

Did I really just try and see the upsides to this situation? He mused internally to himself, before cringing. Maybe I should consider a career change if this is how my psyche is acting in response…

Several voices raised as the commotion spread amongst the group, all accompanied by the sounds of several other weapon safeties switching off. Mismatched eyes frantically looked around, and Vale could see everyone reacting to the Sergeant's sudden act of hostility.

Bristol and Viper placed themselves in between the rest of the women, while Ronin rested the suppressor of his MCX against Kuribayashi's temple. Tomita quickly whipped around, throwing the bag from his shoulder against the other two members of Sentinel, before slamming the PP19-Vityaz in his hands against both of their faces as they attempted to step in and intervene. Angel and Boxer drew their pistols from their holsters, while all of Carnival pointed their rifles at him.

"Oh geez!" Risa yelped out in fear.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Itami shouted in panic. "Let's just cool it people!"

Rory had an excited smile on her features at the small scuffle. "Ooh, are we fighting?"

"You've fought plenty already, Rory." Lelei firmly rebuked the bloodthirsty demigoddess, much to her disappointment.

Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Tomita was calm and collected. Though his eyes were slightly hardened as he stared down several rifles. After a couple of seconds, Tomita closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. "There you go again, Sergeant. Escalating things and blowing them way out of proportion. Like usual…" He muttered.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" She growled, glaring daggers up at him. The two Shadows of Sentinel squad could still be heard groaning on the ground. "Anyone wanna tell me why this asshole has Russian comms right after we were attacked by them?!"

"Well maybe you should lower your weapon soldier, then we can figure this out like reasonable adults." Ronin suggested. Though it was less of a suggestion and more of a demand, especially considering the fact that he had the barrel of his gun mere inches from her brain, ready to hit the off switch. "I really don't wanna kill some little girl playing dress up tonight."

"I don't take orders from you, jackass!" Kuribayashi snapped at him, never once taking her eyes off of Vale. "And this little girl can still kick your ass any day of the week."

"I'd like to see you try with a bullet of 5.56 lodged into your brain." He threatened, pushing his suppressor against her head and reminding her of her current position.

"Would you really be able to do it before I put one in your squad leader?"

The response provoked Vale into silently pulling his Glock out, before resting the muzzle brake against her pelvis. He could see her eyes widen as he made sure that she felt it pressing against her, and it looked like she knew the consequences if he were to pull the trigger in response to any more possibly threatening actions. How that was more intimidating than the gun against her skull, he had no idea. But it seemed to work as he could see the hesitation on her face. "Soldier, you so much as move that trigger finger the wrong way and I will bury you so far underground, archaeologists will be digging up your bones centuries later."

"Lieutenant, your Sergeant's making a big mistake here," Graves warned easily, using Itami's rank for the first time in a while and sounding almost bored with the fact that Vale's life was in danger. A little off putting, but he knew that Graves' confidence was part of the play in getting him out of this situation alive. "It'd be a real shame if we survived the entire resort battle just to find your bodies left on the side of the street, and all because your soldier decided that we were the bigger threat."

To be fair, they were the bigger threat, but that was neither here nor there…

"I guarantee he'll do it too," Vale confirmed. "And without a second thought."

"Sergeant…" Itami said slowly. Her eyes quickly flickered over to her superior while she kept the weapon aimed up at Vale. "Shadow Company are not the enemy here. I'm ordering you to lower your weapon and stand down, please…?" He added at the end.

Vale tilted his head and cocked a brow up at her, though in hindsight he doubted that the latter was seen through the tinted lens of his goggles. "Yeah Sergeant, you wanna be a good soldier and follow orders, dontcha?" He sneered sarcastically, taking the moment to antagonize her despite the fact that he was staring down the barrel of her gun. Later, the others would ask what made him think that it was a good idea to mock someone so ready to shoot him in the face, but in his eyes, he felt that it was a pretty justified response.

She only narrowed her eyes further, trying her best to read his expression behind the goggles before finally relenting. She took a deep breath, before lowering her weapon with a frown. "Explain." She demanded curtly.

"Aw, so we're not killing each other?"

"Bloody hell… no! No one's killing anyone here you little psycho!"

"Now that's more like it," Graves nodded to himself in satisfaction before waving the rest of the Shadows down. Ronin and Tomita glanced at him, before both slowly took their fingers off their triggers and lowered their rifles. "Vale?" He asked with an expectant tone, suggesting for him to continue.

Vale cleared his throat as he slipped the pistol back into his holster. He slowly reached a hand towards one of his pouches, before unclipping the latch and digging the radio he snatched up earlier. "During the battle back at the resort, I got into a small scuffle with one of the Russkies. I managed to drop him obviously, but not before I heard the panic in their comms. I figured that if he wasn't using it anymore, we'd take it for ourselves." He explained briefly.

.

.

.

"Was it really that simple of an explanation?" Kuribayashi asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" Vale exclaimed in an exasperated tone. "I'd prefer it if you weren't so quick to point fingers, or in this case, guns!"

"He's right, you know," Tomita agreed. He helped one of the members of Sentinel get back up as the other slapped his hand away with a scoff, denying the assistance.

"W-Well, I had every right to be suspicious! I'm not sure if you remember, but we're in danger of being hunted at the moment!"

"Yes, which is precisely why we can't be turning on each other right now!" Graves chastised. "Especially out in the open by a main road like this. We're burning the midnight oil right now, and the shadows aren't gonna conceal us forever. We need to get our asses moving!"

"Oh, the brass is gonna give us one hell of an ass chewing if they ever find out about this…" Itami muttered.

-O-

The group traveled for another fifteen minutes, with Boxer constantly grunting and cursing under his breath. Unfortunately, they were moving slowly, and the progress that they had made in those fifteen minutes wasn't at all significant compared to if they were all capable of moving at their top speed.

Vale could see Ronin was starting to get tired, yawning behind a hand. He was about to tell Graves that they should find somewhere to camp out before he spotted something up ahead.

The quiet road was devoid and empty the whole time, not even having any passing cars. Vale was thankful for that, as they would have been easily spotted. Even if it was just some random office worker driving home for the night, that would have been another pair of eyes on them that could have reported their position to authorities. Lingering in plain sight was a concern that all of them shared… all except for the enemy operators up ahead.

Parked near the side of the narrow road were three passenger vans, all lined up in front of each other. They were unmarked, simply painted in a regular shade of brown meant to not stand out. Of course, with them being the only three vehicles in the area and in a convoy line, it was pretty obvious that this was the extraction team that had dropped off some of their attackers. The same attackers that they were obviously waiting for, not knowing that they had been completely wiped out.

"Heads up y'all," Vale warned. "We've got vans parked up ahead."

Graves rolled his eyes, "How inconspicuous… and convenient." He finished as an idea came to his mind. He glanced back over at Angel, who was still assisting Boxer in keeping up.

"Kill or capture, sir?" Vale asked.

"You know my preference."

Vale nodded at him, before turning to the rest of Bishop and Carnival, gesturing towards the vans. They looked both ways before crossing the street and silently creeping up on the parked convoy. Vale approached the rear of the back van, where an enemy operator could be seen sorting equipment in the back, unaware that he was being watched. The man was too busy conversing with the driver in Russian, who was smoking behind the steering wheel with the window rolled down. Vale saw Bristol and Carnival squad sneak up to the driver side from the corner of his eye, getting into position.

He quietly approached the man, before grabbing the back of his head and slamming his face down against the floor of the vehicle. A pained yelp came from him, before being immediately silenced as Vale crushed his skull with the door, a sickening crunch sounding out as his body went limp.

The driver glanced up at the rear view mirror during the commotion, before gasping at the unfamiliar uniform and fully turning around in an attempt to raise his pistol. Vale met the man's eyes briefly, before his head snapped forward as a suppressed shot rang out, a puff and splatter of red following suit. The man's head drooped down as he slumped in the seat. Past the windshield, he could see Viper and Ronin shooting into the windows of the front seats of the second van, while two members of Carnival cleared the trunk space.

Suddenly, the driver of the last van exited, swinging the door open and raising an AK up in an attempt to fire back. The rest of Carnival never gave him that chance, quickly gunning him down before focusing their attention on the van's interior. After a few more seconds, Carnival's squad lead announced that it was all clear.

In under thirty seconds, there were now several more bodies for Japan to clean up.

Graves stepped up beside him, having already crossed the street with the rest of the group during their small bout of action. "Alright Shadows, we're taking these vehicles!" He announced, before making his way to the front van. "Itami, I'm riding in front with you and your people. Princess, take your knight and get in the back car with Bishop, Sentinel takes the middle car, and Carnival splits between the two. Come on people, let's haul ass!"

"Yes, Commander." Vale answered, before looking to the side and pointing to Bristol. "You take the wheel, Bristol."

The Brit had already unbuckled the seatbelt of the Russian man he killed, halfway through dumping the corpse out of the driver's seat before he paused at his words. Vale could see the man slowly looking back at the interior of the vehicle, before looking down at the body in his hands.

"Fuckin' hell…" He muttered, dropping the body against the road with a solid thud. "Are you serious right now? I wish you had told me that before I painted the dashboard with his fuckin' brain matter!" He complained loudly, kicking the corpse as he did so.

Vale rolled his eyes at him. It was only a bit of blood, and Vale had certainly already been painted in enough of it from earlier. "Quit whining, me and Angel will be sitting shotgun with you." He replied, already making his way to the passenger side. "It'll be a tight squeeze."

"Good, you can suffer with me then," He grunted, stepping on the running board and hefting himself up into the driver's seat. He adjusted the rear view mirror to his preference, before turning the keys in the ignition, activating the van with a small rumble.

Angel stepped up behind Vale, ready to get in after him before his eyes settled on the blood covered dashboard and seats. "Yeah… I think I'll just sit in the trunk, holmes."

Vale shrugged as he shut the door, watching him walk to the back of the van in the side mirror. "Alright then, enjoy the ride back there!" He called out, before laughing as he caught sight of Angel flipping him off without turning around.

The passenger door slid open, allowing Princess Pina and Bozes to enter and sit, with the rest of Bishop stepping in alongside some of the Shadows from Carnival. The door slid shut moments later as everyone buckled in. The vans in front of them eventually started up, before they began picking up speed and turning onto the main road.

As the vehicle drove forward, there was a muffled thunk, pop, and squish. The vehicle and its inhabitants inside jostled a bit as the car did it a second time before driving smoothly the rest of the way.

"The fuck was that?" Bristol asked. "We hit a speed bump or something?"

Vale looked at the side mirror, seeing the body of an enemy operator with a red colored tire trail that seemed to originate from their vehicle.

"Ah… yeah, just… just a speed bump. Nothin' too important."

He shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever you say."

The trip would probably take a while, especially with three vans moving in a convoy. But for now, the ride would hopefully be smooth sailing from here on out.

"Hey, Bristol?" Angel asked, speaking up from the trunk and cutting through the momentary silence.

The man raised a brow up at him in the rear view mirror, only taking his eyes off of the road for a split second. "Yeah?"

"At least you're driving on the right side of the road now, right?"

"Oh piss off…"

---

POTUS - DIRRELL

WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 9, 2022 - 11:00:00

---

"What the hell do you mean we've lost contact with the contractors?!" President Dirrell shouted, slamming his hand loudly against the signature desk of the oval office, and shaking the coffee in his mug. He had been angry before, but never once, did he imagine that he'd be this angry. But he felt that the anger was indeed justified from his point of view.

He not only lost the bargaining chip in the form of Prime Minister Motoi, now ex-Prime Minister, but on top of that, he lost most of the agents that he assigned as contractors, and the diplomatic guests from the Special Region. All of this, he learned, not even five minutes ago.

Agent Graham sighed from the other end of the call, looking slightly tired, likely due to the situation in addition to the time zone difference. "It's as I stated, sir," He said, calmly. "The teams ran into operators from other countries, and were heavily outnumbered. None of them reported back or made their way to exfil."

Dirrell glared at him angrily. "Do you think I wanna hear that bullshit, Agent Graham? That, what? Our best agents in the field can't stand against a country that hasn't fought in any major war in over seventy-seven years? Those Special Region folk were supposed to be stateside earlier this morning! This is unacceptable! Get your act together, agent!"

Agent Graham waited patiently for his upbraiding to end, seemingly unfazed by Dirrell's rebukes. "Yes, sir. We'll do what we can to bring them to Washington. Count on it."

"We'll see about that," Dirrell said, linking his hands in front of him. "Dismissed."

The feed cut immediately after, and the room had sat in silence for about ten seconds, before erupting into small conversation again. There was a collective murmur from his advisors, some of whom simply worked under him, and some of whom he knew personally. One such example of the latter was Director Carter, who sighed to himself as he stuck a paperclipped stack of documents back inside of a manilla folder and stood up from a couch. Dirrell saw him approaching, prompting him to take a sip of his coffee. The bitter liquid burned its way down his throat… just like the next words that would possibly be uttered out of Carter's mouth.

"Sir, may I ask you something?" The director inquired, keeping his voice low and calm.

"Of course," Dirrell replied easily, setting his mug down on the table and looking back up at him.

Carter glanced behind him, seeing that the other cabinet members were still preoccupied with each other to focus on them. "Are you sure this is the right way to go about things?"

Dirrell frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

The director took a deep breath, before lowering his voice further and leaning forward more. "This operation has gone completely pear shaped. We've lost some good agents over in Japan, who need I remind you, were operating under the Blackwater name. If any of this information were somehow leaked to the press, this entire operation could come crashing down on us."

Dirrell's frown deepened. "We cannot afford to lose those resources, Director. The inhabitants of the Special Region are our one good chance at gaining leverage over Japan to access the gate."

"Yes, I understand that, sir. However, if someone leaked our possible involvement, it could ruin everything…" Carter warned, "And if that happens, then we risk losing much more than our operatives in Japan or access to the gate."

Dirrell's jaw clenched as he leaned forward. "I can promise you that no one will find out about our involvement," He reassured, his voice growing dangerously cold. "Do you honestly believe that a leak would jeopardize this whole operation? I'm willing to burn some bridges in order for us to save face and contain the situation."

Carter appeared to bite the inside of his lip. "I know, sir, I know. It's just… we're not just competing with the other nations. We're also going up against a Shadow Company, literally. If what Commander Graves said was true, then his mercs are making a killing under his employ, and his best shooters are more than likely willing to die for the man."

Ah... so that's where the Director's concern came from. Not that he didn't understand. After all, when dealing with people like these mercenaries, every little detail counted. The fact that these individuals were also directly involved with Japan, and just as unwilling to budge, made them another hurdle to get past.

Well, if it makes him feel better… Dirrell thought bitterly. "We'll try and keep it on the down low for as long as possible, but if Greenhill can't reach an agreement with the Japanese, we'll have no choice but to resort to desperate measures."

A slight nod was all Carter needed to respond with, but it was clear that his response did little to lessen his concerns. "Understood, sir. You have my complete support." He reassured.

Dirrell wasn't entirely convinced, but still relaxed a bit. He'd let it slide for now. "Good. Then please get me a progress report by the end of the day." He said, before turning to the Secret Service agent standing guard nearby. "Cooper, clear the room for me."

"Yes, Mr. President," He complied with a neutral expression. The agent opened the pristine white door, gesturing for the rest of the cabinet to leave with him. Getting the message they all got up, parting the room with quick nods of acknowledgment.

After he heard his agent close the door, he waited a few more moments, before letting out an exhausted sigh and slumping in his chair. As his head slowly sank, he stared ahead blankly at the fireplace, the thoughts of recent events still running through his mind.

What the hell are they doing? He thought to himself, rubbing his temples with his fingers. There was a brief period of silence as he reflected on his decisions, before taking another sip of his coffee, and staring out the glass window. Stubborn old Japanese men. Always seeming to have the last word, and refusing to budge, making negotiations difficult even in the most straightforward sense. They were stuck in the past, still too blind to see the future, just wanting to live out their fantasies of the old glorious imperial days.

While he liked to think that the US government was on a level playing field, even going so far as to say they had the advantage, it was hard for him to be certain. In the past few days he had been forced to confront the reality that the Japanese government had been more on top of things than he ever expected them to be. He was actually beginning to worry that there was little he could do to stop them.

Their stubbornness was legendary, obviously, requiring the power of the sun twice before they actually surrendered back in forty-five.

He had hoped to use the status of the United States and its influence as a willing ally to help alleviate the workload across the gate, gaining access through friendly means at first, rather than resorting to paying off guns for hire. He was already dealing with enough in America without adding an international incident to their plate.

Still, he couldn't let himself become distracted.

I've got work to do… He thought to himself, putting his hands back on the laptop in front of him.

---

RISA AOI - THIRD RECON JSDF, SHADOW CO.

ROADSIDE REST STOP, JAPAN

NOVEMBER 10, 2022 - 02:07:36

---

"That was a pretty decent highway stop. Usually the ones that I go to smell like weed, sweat, and expired nacho cheese."

Risa made a face at his words, "That doesn't sound at all sanitary…" She said, before handing him a small box of painkillers. "Here."

"Thanks Risa," Angel replied, taking the painkillers from her palm. The man was currently tending to another contractor sitting in front of him, one who had apparently been wounded during the intense combat outside. The Hispanic man took out some trauma shears from a small pouch nearby that was filled with various other medical equipment, before beginning to cut through the bottom hem of the wounded man's pants.

They were at the back of the van, where everyone was parked at a local highway roadside rest stop. True to their Commander's words, they did indeed stop for the night, allowing Angel, - who Risa assumed to be the medical professional of the group - to get a proper look at their injured man after slipping on a pair of sterile blue medical gloves.

The injured man, who Risa learned to be Boxer, cringed as he watched Angel take off the tourniquet and ruin his clothing. "You sure you know what you're doing, Angel?" He asked.

Angel rolled his eyes in response. "Yes hermano, the clothing would only get in the way. You can always buy a new uniform, but not a new foot. Trust me, I went to med school." He said, pouring the water from a bottle onto a wipe. He began cleaning off the blood, and while it was still an unsettling sight for her, she was afraid to admit that she was starting to get used to it.

Risa paused as his words finally registered in her head. "You went to med school?" She asked dumbly. He offered a grunt in confirmation as took a skin stapler out and began sealing the wound. She winced alongside Boxer with every press that sounded out, but she swallowed her unease and continued on. "So then… what are you doing out here?"

Angel gave her a sidelong glance as he pulled out a roll of freshly white bandages. "Patching up a fellow Shadow? Or…?"

She shook her head, "I meant what are you doing here, in Japan, with Shadow Company?" She clarified.

"Would you believe me if I said it was to pay off student loan debts?"

"No," She responded plainly. "It seems like everybody in the company hasn't lived like a normal person before… no offense." She hurriedly added.

"You're learning quickly, chica." Angel muttered, "You've got me there. I was already pretty well off, you know? Long before I signed on with Shadow Company."

"How well off?"

"Working as a bodyguard for Mexico's most infamous drug trafficking cartel tends to pay pretty well…" He answered with a mirthless chuckle before trailing off.

"Oh." Was all she could manage as the conversation came to a halt. Now she wasn't really big on following crime syndicates, but as far as she was aware, cartels were Mexico's version of the Yakuza here in Japan. It was a bit strange for her to hear about such shady business in the first place, but the fact that Angel had interacted and been involved with criminals of that scale was really interesting; it was the kind of thing she wanted to ask questions about, but it seemed like he didn't want to talk anymore.

Good thing for her. How exactly was she supposed to continue the conversation after that bombshell reveal?

Hey, that cartel business is pretty crazy, huh? What was the worst act of torture you did on someone?

It was safe to say that she'd be navigating a minefield if she kept talking to him, and she wasn't really too keen on finding out what narcos got up to in their spare time.

"I think I'll just go and bother Bristol…"

"You do that," He said, half paying attention as he waved her off. "Careful though, he might convince you to go back in and buy a pack of cigs for him." He joked.

She laughed nervously, giving him a thumbs up to show that she understood. It was pointless, as the man had his back turned to her. As she walked away she caught him muttering to himself in Spanish, though she couldn't quite make it out. Not that she'd understand him anyway.

In a couple of steps, she found herself standing beside Bristol, who was leaning against the side of the van with his arms crossed over his chest and one leg over the other. The moment she entered his vision, he regarded her with a small smile. It seemed that despite all the chaos in the past couple of hours, the man was still able to maintain his smile and composure without any effort. After giving the young woman a quick nod, Bristol returned his gaze to the store in front of them, watching as several of the fantasy world guests entered to buy things.

"You havin' any fun fishing?" He asked casually, glancing briefly at Risa.

A slight blush formed on Risa's cheeks. She wasn't expecting to get caught so easily, much less teased when confronted about it. "How'd you know?

"You're not quite as slick as you think you are." The Brit blatantly admitted without any tact, shrugging his shoulders all the while. "You're lookin' a little pale. Was it the sight of blood that drove you away or what Angel told you to leave him alone?"

Does this man always eavesdrop?! She thought to herself. Is privacy not a thing back in his world?!

She leaned forward, lowering her voice into a whisper just in case Angel overheard her sharing information that he may or may not have wanted to be spread. "Did you know that your teammate back there used to work with the cartel?" She asked in a hushed tone.

Bristol chuckled, shaking his head lightly, "I don't see why that should have surprised you. He does carry the aura of someone who used to be involved in petty street crime, doesn't he?" He commented, glancing over her shoulder.

Cartel and petty street crime? Pick one, Bristol!

"Ignoring the most likely unintended racist implications of that statement, no, not really…" She sighed, looking at the back of the van. "I mean, he's performing professional medical work back there. That's not really something you usually learn as a criminal, right?"

He let out a hearty laugh at that. "Well now, that's an astute observation… I would classify Angel to be more of a field surgeon now, rather than some criminal doctor. Though it wouldn't surprise me if most of his experience did indeed come from his cartel days. After all, it's easier to stay out of the eyes of the law if you don't go to a hospital for any suspicious injuries like gunshot wounds."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense…" She agreed, nodding slightly.

The silence between them became somewhat awkward as the conversation died down. It was the uncomfortable type of quiet; one that neither one of them really knew how to break. In the background they could hear Angel still working at the back of the van, other contractors conversing quietly, and cars passing by on the highway nearby. It was a stark contrast to the comfortable silence they'd shared earlier back at the hot springs.

Before things could get any more awkward, she coughed, breaking the silence again. "Are you hungry…" She asked tentatively, motioning her thumb toward the store behind her. She wasn't too hungry earlier, but after waking up slightly hungover to explosions and walking so far to get away from the bloodbath, she was starving now. Plus, the rest of them definitely needed to eat something. Even if it was food that they ate out of convenience, at least they'd have something to refuel their energy for tomorrow. Especially since they hadn't eaten anything substantial yet today.

Bristol looked at her curiously, before shrugging his shoulders. "Sure, would probably do us some good to get some food in our bellies." He said, already unclipping most of the gear he had on and resting it inside the van. "Sure as hell beats MREs too…"

Now out of his gear, Bristol stretched his arms over his head before loudly popping his knuckles as he walked alongside her down the empty parking lot. She was thankful that they were out at the ungodly hour, because at least then there were less eyes on the group.

The doors to the convenience store slid open with a small chime as they stepped in, and the clerk behind the counter greeted them with a muffled "Konbanwa," from behind her face mask, complete with a small wave.

The pair politely greeted her back, before they each picked up a basket from the stack near the entrance. From the corner of her eye, Risa could see Bristol looking up and down, inspecting every row of every shelf with a look of confusion. She had to make an effort to hold back a laugh. It was more than a little amusing to see someone like him being overwhelmed by the selection of choices inside of a convenience store.

"Risa, are you sure this is a convenience store?" He asked with furrowed brows. "There's a lot here for what it is. I was expecting just some cheap snacks…"

She turned around slightly, smiling up at him. "Of course, this is normal for Japan.

"Really…?"

She couldn't stop herself from letting out a small giggle as she grabbed a package of ramen noodles from the shelf. "Yes, now come on. Start picking things out for everyone else. I don't know their preferences."

"And… how exactly are we paying for all of this?"

She gave him a small smirk, before very obviously turning to the left. Peeking over the shelf from the other side was a blonde head of hair, and a familiar set of pointed elven ears that wiggled slightly. "Hey, Tuka!" She called out.

"Oh?" She asked, before peeking around the other side to see who had called her name. "Ah, Risa! Are you also here to buy some food?"

"Yeah," She said easily, "But I can't exactly pay for it in my current state. Do you think you'd have enough if we purchased something for everybody?"

"Oh, absolutely!" She responded gleefully. "The JSDF have paid us well for our work back in the Special Region. I'd be more than happy to help feed everyone!"

"Thank you, Tuka."

"It's the least I can do!" She exclaimed.

As they finished speaking, Risa turned to scan the shelves once again, trying to find what would be suitable for everyone. Seeing how absolutely large all the contractors were reminded her that they'd most likely need to eat a lot. They were buff, hunks, absolute units, etcetera - a huge contrast to the average sized Asian person. They would need to be in a profession such as theirs, right? Or maybe she just so happened to get the only group that was full of muscle heads…

Most of the items were pretty small in serving sizes, and she wasn't sure about their dietary preferences like she told Bristol earlier. However, there was a large variety of options that she could choose from. It'd be good to get input from a close source.

"Hey, Bristol?" She asked, glancing to the right to see the man inspecting a sealed pack of egg sandwiches in his hand, the food looking like a comically small snack in his hands. The man hummed in acknowledgement, telling her that he was listening as he read the nutrition label. "You know what we should be looking out for?"

"Nothing specific really," He said, shrugging his shoulders. He put the sandwich into the basket, before looking at a row of bento boxes. "To be honest, everyone in the company will eat just about anything, so long as it's edible. I know Viper basically eats protein powder and drinks eggs for breakfast-"

Risa let out an undignified snort at that tidbit of info.

"-But nobody's got any allergies as far as I'm aware. Though I'd watch the sodium intake. Not that I'm one of the blokes that personally cares about stuff like that." He continued, moving on to pick up a few packages of beef stew from the top shelf of the aisle. "What about you, though? Any special preferences in your diet?"

"Umm… I mostly like whatever I can get my hands on for the week…" She reminded hesitantly. She was not about to tell the man that she still had the palette of a sixteen year old pre-teen. At least, not right then and there. She was a woman nearing her late twenties, damnit!

"Right… What was it that you told Itami you were living off of? Soy milk and day old cereal?"

She cringed slightly at the thought of eating cereal anymore, even if it was soy milk that she used for breakfast. And for lunch… and dinner… "Yeah, that about sums it up."

"Hmmm…." He hummed thoughtfully as he put another item into the basket. "I'll see if I can convince Itami to leave behind the rest of the Yen that he didn't get to spend on this failed jaunt for you." He stated lightly, but the expression on his face indicated that he was serious. After a moment, he smiled at her warmly, and she couldn't help but smile back. She knew that he was trying to cheer her up, and she did appreciate him for that. It had been a while since someone showed some genuine care for her.

"Thanks Bristol, but you don't need to do that," She began, her tone growing somber once again. "I mean, it's not like I've done much in order to earn any sort of money myself…"

"Hey, none of that nonsense. You're working a job that you enjoy. Sure, it's not really taken off yet, but you just need to keep pushing for that eventual big break. And I'd be a bad friend if I didn't at least attempt to help improve your financial situation." She had to pause briefly as he spoke. The way he had said that was so casual, and yet, she could still sense the real sincerity behind it. Judging by how he continued shopping, the man clearly didn't know how much of an effect his words had on her. Life had been pretty crappy recently, and she was considering quitting the mangaka path to just pursue some boring nine to five office job. At least that way, she'd actually be able to live rather than survive. But now she was reconsidering, and all because this mercenary from another world was the first person to actually motivate her in a long time. He was pretty charming and sweet for someone in such a serious and dangerous line of work. "Besides, it might make me feel a bit better to see you eat some real quality food for once."

Risa laughed lightly at his last comment, shaking her head gently. "You're too kind, Bristol," She said with a sigh, smiling softly as she turned back to the shelves. "Well, uh… thanks… that means a lot to me."

More than you know…

They spent the next ten minutes or so wandering through the shelves, picking out items for everyone. Considering how large the group that they planned on feeding was, she and Bristol had also been forced to ask the other girls inside the store for help. Thankfully, they weren't too difficult to track down, standing out like sore thumbs as the only other customers. Once they explained why they needed the extra hands for their shopping, the other girls went along with the idea without complaint.

"Alright… that… should be… everything…" Bristol breathed out as he struggled to heave the basket full of foods and drinks.

Rory rolled her eyes, before putting a single hand underneath the basket and effortlessly lifting it from his grasp. The Brit's jaw dropped in disbelief as he watched her put the basket on the checkout counter with absolutely no problems. Rory turned back as the clerk began scanning the items. She flashed a smug look up at him, causing the man to scoff as he crossed his arms. "That's not really fair now, is it?" He muttered under his breath, causing all the girls to giggle at him.

While the clerk was placing the items into the bags nearby, Risa found herself enamored with the hot fried foods that were displayed on wire racks. The crispy golden brown crumbs were lit up under a similar golden hued light, looking almost holy, as if they beckoned her over, begging to be purchased and eaten.

"Wow…" She breathed out as she took a closer look at each plate of fried food. Her hand reached out as if to caress them gently… were it not for the protective glass in the way. "These look amazing!"

She turned back, wanting to grab Bristol's attention, before freezing. The man was currently distracted by something, his gaze hyper focused behind the clerk. Risa followed his line of sight until she realized exactly what it was that he was staring at…

Cigarettes…

A whole shelf section, dedicated to just cigarettes. It wasn't unusual to see, as it was a very common place for them to be located in every store that sold them. Behind the counter so that the clerk could verify that you were of age to smoke. Bristol was obviously very much of age, and that was the problem.

"Oh boy…" She murmured quietly, gulping nervously as she realized the situation. This is just the kind of thing she wanted to avoid happening right now. She quickly stepped beside him, grabbing the man's elbow and causing him to quickly turn his focus towards her. When his eyes caught hers, she immediately shook her head with a disapproving expression.

"No, mister, Just ignore it! Pretend that you never saw it, and just focus on getting everyone's things. That's what we're here for."

"But-"

"Nuh-uh!" She said, not giving him the chance to make up excuses. "We made a promise! You look out for me, and I look out for you. As friends… Wasn't that the deal?"

A small hint of confusion flashed across his face before his expression shifted to one of understanding. There was a certain amount of hesitation that lingered, before he finally gave in. He sighed heavily, nodding his head and weakly complying as she continued to pull at his arm. "Alright, alright, fine. You win…"

She grinned happily to herself in satisfaction, before patting his back firmly. "Great!"

A light cough nearby interrupted the moment, causing her smile to falter. Her head slowly glanced over to the source of the noise, and only then did Risa just now remember that they weren't alone.

Tuka had a supportive smile on her face, Lelei was blank faced as always, and Rory… Oh God, Rory…

The Lolita demigoddess had a single brow raised at the two, accompanied with the most amused and knowing smirk that she had ever seen on another human being. The latter was concerning, because whatever Rory knew was completely wrong, and she was most definitely misreading the situation just like the other two.

"I know that look Rory, and it's not what you're thinking," Risa said in a serious tone.

"Really?" She asked, clearly not believing a single word that came out of her mouth. "Then why are you still holding onto his arm?" She pointed out.

Risa's eyes widened, before her head snapped down towards the forearm still in her grasp. She blushed in embarrassment, before hurriedly letting go and stepping away. "Sorry!" She squeaked out in a high pitched voice.

Bristol only gave a hearty laugh as he put a hand on top of her head, ruffling it around as if to mess up her hair slightly. At least she had the beanie on this time, but that didn't stop her from pouting at the attempt anyway. "Don't worry about it. And I'll be fine too," Bristol reassured her softly, before giving her a wink, causing her blush to deepen this time. "I'm honestly surprised that you noticed before deciding to step in. Shows that you do care about this friendship thing."

She glanced to the side, noticing that not only was Rory's knowing smirk still on her face, but it only seemed to grow larger at the interaction. The only thing missing was a bag of popcorn in her hands as she enjoyed the show…

Before her embarrassment could continue, the cashier cleared her throat, drawing everyone's focus back to the register. All the items were scanned and placed in bags, sitting nearby as she waited for someone to pay.

"Ah! Sorry about that…" Tuka apologized, causing the clerk to shake her head. "My brain got lost for a second there."

"Not a problem." The woman responded as she handed the elf girl her receipt.

Everyone took a few bags, ensuring that the workload would be shared evenly amongst all of them, before he motioned with his head towards the exit. Once the five of them were back outside, they headed directly for the parking lot, taking care not to trip and drop everything they had. Rory was quick to lead, eager to get back to the vans which had the heaters turned on and away from the cold air surrounding them.

She could see Itami talking to the Shadow Company Commander, - Phillip Graves if she recalled his name correctly - whose face appeared to be unreadable as he nodded his head every so often at his words. She couldn't quite make out what it was they were talking about, but judging by the look on their faces, she could decipher that it was probably some pretty serious business. Blue eyes briefly met brown as Graves glanced to the side and saw them approaching.

She was about to offer a friendly smile… but then she remembered that this was also the same man that guaranteed to leave the bodies of the JSDF on the side of the street after the altercation caused by Kuribayashi's fit of misplaced suspicion earlier. The reminder of the man's character was a bit of a smack in the face, as she recalled him being nothing but cordial before the attack. She was starting to think that the man's respectable hospitality was just a front for a hidden sleazy side. How Itami could remain calm enough to talk to him with a straight face after such a blatant threat was beyond her. Maybe it was just a military life thing…

That, and it appeared that Graves didn't wish for anyone to get hurt unnecessarily, though that wish seemed to apply to Itami more than it did the rest of them. Something was definitely going on behind the scenes regarding Graves' interest in her ex, and not the weird kind of interest that she usually writes about in her manga. Unfortunately, it wasn't like she could just walk up to him and outright ask.

Unlike the other contractors, Risa assumed that the Commander was more than likely to keep information closer to his chest, rather than being loose-lipped about anything. The risk of being put in the man's sight as another person of interest was simply not worth it.

"We're back!" Tuka piped up in a sing-song tone, pulling her from her internal conflict.

Itami turned to the group as he heard her announce their presence. "Hey! How'd it go in there?" He greeted back easily.

Risa smiled widely as she held up her bags. "Pretty well actually! We managed to get something for everyone!"

"Yeah, I can certainly see that," Itami said. His vision trailed across each of them, looking at every plastic white shopping bag that had been filled with various oriental style foods packed neatly in ready to eat containers. A pleased smile appeared on his lips, likely excited to dig in and fill his stomach with something hot. "That looks great!"

Graves kept silent, his brow furrowing slightly as he looked at the bags in her hands. "How exactly did y'all pay for this?"

"I offered," Tuka cut in, holding her card up once more for all to see.

Graves paused, shooting a surprised glance over at the elf girl, before shaking his head with an exasperated sigh. "You work for 'em?" He asked in disbelief.

Right, Graves wasn't there to hear that the girls had jobs - a fact that was still plenty surprising to Risa.

"Yup, yup!" She replied, cheekily using their signature catch phrase in response.

Graves opened his mouth to say something, before coming up with nothing, and shutting it close.

"Here you go, sir," Bristol said as he took out a roast chicken bento box from one of the bags, before passing it over to Graves, the steam from the food forming a thin layer of condensation against the see-through cover. Some of the other contractors that were hungry peeked out the vans at the smell of food. Risa could see the curious ones looking down at the bags, before they turned back to the inside the van. There was hushed banter as they conversed with each other, before some decided to step out.

One of the contractors kneeled down beside the bag before meeting her eyes, "Is this for us…?" He asked, making sure they had permission before they just went taking other people's groceries.

"Yep!" She confirmed with a nod, gesturing for him to go ahead and choose whatever interested him. "We've got food for everyone," And soon enough, after the first man picked something out, some more contractors emerged from their vehicles. A sizable portion of the group was out and about, unbothered by the cold as they inspected and traded meals. Some brought food and drinks back to the others that chose not to step out, while others leaned against the vans or stood in their own circles. They chatted and joked with each other, enjoying each other's company as they momentarily forgot about the severity of the hardships they shared earlier.

I guess boys will be boys, no matter what world they come from. She thought to herself as she took out a cup of pork belly instant ramen.

Much to Risa's relief, the parking lot was still relatively empty thanks to the time of night, meaning that no one was there to bat an eye at the large group.

She quickly found an empty spot in her van, before sitting down and setting everything on the floor.

Bristol followed closely behind her, before leaning against the slid open passenger door. "So… you have any idea how Itami's gonna get us back to the Special Region without being hounded by the enemy?" He asked between bites of his sandwich.

"Why yes I do!" She suddenly perked up, happy to speak of her contributions to their future endeavors. Bristol cocked a brow up at her, gesturing for her to go on. She cleared her throat as she figured out the best way to explain, before nodding to herself once she was satisfied with her choice wording. "I leaked a supposed plan on a bunch of different public forums about Tuka, Lelei, and Rory offering flowers for the fallen at the Ginza memorial sometime around 2, before heading back to the Special Region. That way, you'll be hounded by the media instead."

"Oh good, I love appearing on the telly…" He said sarcastically, causing her to roll her eyes. It looked like the man still didn't know that billions of people all around the world had seen his Commander's mug online. "Are you sure about that, Risa? What does that even accomplish?" Bristol asked, uncertainty clear in his tone.

"Definitely," She confirmed. "I spoke about this at great length with the others, and your Commander was the one to approve of the plan in the first place. It'd be too late to back out now anyway. People are already talking, and the internet is pretty good at spreading the word around like wildfire. I'm betting that you're gonna have thousands at Ginza, from mainstream news reporters, to bloggers, confused tourists, and even weird enthusiasts!"

"That… uh… sounds like quite the crowd…"

"Oh it is, and it's perfect for what you need! A bigger crowd means more eyes, which'll make it even more difficult for anyone attempting to do anything drastic. Not unless they were desperate of course."

Bristol cringed beside her. "You know what they say about desperate times, right?"

"That… well I'm hoping no one's crazy enough to take that risk!" She said, with newfound fear. She didn't exactly take into account that possibility. The prospect of a big event with a large crowd in a major city like Tokyo didn't really sit too well with her now. She didn't want to be the cause of Ginza two: Electric Boogaloo. That wouldn't be good for her conscience… "I'm banking on the fact that there's gonna be live media coverage present. If anyone did attempt something, then there'd be a massive political incident with even bigger political ramifications."

"Yeah, you're probably right…" Bristol grumbled, looking away from her for a brief moment. He rubbed his temples before looking up and giving her a wry grin. "Thanks for your help, Risa."

"Not a problem-"

"Sir, we've got a problem!"

The two paused as their moment was interrupted by one of the contractors jogging past. They glanced at each other in worry, before Risa got up from the floor of the van and followed alongside Bristol as they made their way over to the commotion. The rest of the contractors had followed as well, appearing to gather around their Commander with quiet murmurs throughout, wondering what had happened to panic one of their own in such a way.

Bristol stepped beside Vale, who was looking on from the back of the group. "Vale," He said, getting his squad leader's attention. "What the hell's going on?"

"Fuck if I know," He said, shrugging his shoulders. "I was just talking to Carnival 1, before the man suddenly leapt out of his seat mid conversation, phone in hand."

"Phone?" Bristol asked. "How's he got a phone with him? Didn't Graves tell us to leave 'em in the goodie bag that he locked inside the vehicles back at Ginza?"

"That's what I asked him. Apparently Graves snatched it from one of the operators that attacked us earlier, and he handed it over to him so that he could take a crack at it. I'm assuming that he found something pretty worrisome if it made him react the way that he did." Vale explained before pausing to let his words sink in.

Raising her brows curiously, Risa shifted in place a little, doing her best to get a good look at the phone from behind the small crowd of contractors. A task which was nearly impossible due to the massive size difference. Thankfully, Bristol saw her struggles before helping her squeeze through the crowd, muttering the odd, "Sorry!" and "Excuse me!" over her shoulder as apologies.

After making their way near the front, they could finally see the contractor who had run past them with the phone. The man wasn't the main focus anymore though, as he had already handed the device to his commanding officer. Risa saw the light from the screen illuminating Graves' face, before seeing his expression shift from subtle surprise to an annoyed glare.

"Graves, what's going on?" Bristol asked in concern.

The man didn't say anything in response, only quickly glancing back up to see that a crowd had formed in front of him. He tapped the phone real quick before turning it horizontally, putting it on portrait mode as he showed everyone the screen.

With her being at the front, she was able to get a pretty good look at what Graves wanted everyone to see.

The phone's gallery app was opened, showing a picture of several men dressed in casual clothes. Jeans, cargo pants, flannel, button ups, T-shirts, and baseball caps all in various colors. Judging by their surroundings, they were in the desert somewhere, taking a group picture like your standard tourists. Except these men weren't on the tour that she was thinking of.

Every single one of these men were armed with rifles, carrying their extra ammo in a chest rig that rested on top of their body armor. A giant military style jeep was parked behind the men as some of them stood shoulder to shoulder, while others kneeled, or laid down against the sandy gravel with smiles on their faces. If the similar gear and clothing wasn't already telling enough about their position, then the giant flag being held up in the middle was certainly damning enough.

Against a black backdrop was a dog's bony white skeleton paw, and surrounding that paw was a deep red crosshair with one name above it.

Blackwater…

---

Author's Notes: At this point, we're just hoping to get back in the Special Region. My creative freedom is a little limited with this current scenario; the scenario in question being the Japan arc. I'm also just now realizing that I suck at writing heavy dialogue / casual downtime without action, which is why I somehow ended up including a moment of brief action in the middle of this chapter.

Sorry for the long wait, not really too happy with the way this chapter turned out. It took several revisions, several breaks, and several more revisions for me to figure out how to continue.

---

BONUS OMAKE:

---

Managing a tank wasn't exactly an easy cakewalk.

To be fair, the same could be said for any military vehicle. Vehicle maintenance was a long and arduous task, even more so when the vehicle that you were assigned to had lots of complex moving parts working in tandem with each other. But as a tank crewman and driver of an Abrams, Mastiff 1, AKA Manny, felt that he had the right to say that tanks were fairly difficult to manage - and that wasn't including their average maintenance cost for their very own 'Misery'. Misery, of course, being the name that he and the crew had given to their precious tank. After all, Misery loves company, right?

Looking at the numbers, he was thankful that he didn't have to pay out of his own pocket just to keep her healthy.

Efficiently moving over sixty tons of heavily armored steel on treads was no small feat. But ol' Misery was still lugging that weight and the crew around like it was nothing, powering through it like she was still fresh off the assembly line. She had been through the sandy deserts of Iraq, the sandy deserts of Afghanistan, and the sandy deserts of Syria.

Wow, that's a lot of deserts…

The sun beat down relentlessly overhead, giving them plenty of reason to take off their helmets and masks in the heat of the day, lest they get a heatstroke or sweat themselves to death. That wouldn't really be a funny story to pass throughout the company.

Though there weren't too many people up today, this particular morning seemed to be filled with a plethora of Shadows just milling about. Some of them were still on duty, easily recognizable in their signature black uniforms, while others were in more lax clothing, going about their day as usual. No matter what, the base was still as lively as it ever was, which was almost always.

He was currently sitting in the driver's seat of the tank, watching shows on his phone and barely paying attention as he propped it up with a clipboard in his lap. On the clipboard was a sheet of paper with several squares that were marked off with bright green checkmarks, listing what they accomplished that day. Ever since Site Hotel Gamma managed to get a working signal up in the Special Region, Manny was able to catch up on all the shows that he had missed out on. And now that his work was done, he had a lot to catch up on. The upside of missing out on a lot was that he could binge it without having to wait between episodes.

"Yo, Manny!" Shouted his gunner over the rap that was playing on his Bluetooth speaker nearby. He had been working on the Abram's machine gun, and Ironically enough, his nickname was Gunny. What a surprise… They really were destined to be a tank crew, weren't they? "Did you steal my soda, dude? I'm sweatin' my fuckin' balls off out here!"

He sighed, pausing his show before slowly turning around and raising a brow at the man who was now crouched down and looking at him through the open hatch. Manny made an obvious show of looking around, before putting his hands up. "Where the fuck would I put it, Gunny? You see how cramped I am in here?"

"Alright, alright!" He laughed as he managed to get a rise out of him, "I'll just get another one out the cooler then."

He heard the man climb off the main turret, before the sound of ice sloshing around sounded out, followed by the signature hiss of a twelve ounce can cracking open.

Manny shook his head. There was nothing particularly noteworthy going on, just typical business on base. Despite that, he couldn't help but feel that something bad was about to happen today. He just knew it; his gut instinct was never wrong about things like this. The question wasn't what was going to happen… but when.

As Gunny climbed back up from rummaging around for drinks, he came back holding another can in his hand. Manny raised a curious eyebrow. If he had to hazard a guess, Gunny had probably brought him a can to make up for missing out on the last time they had gone out for drinks. It was nice of him, but Manny wasn't really thirsty at the moment.

It didn't mean that he was going to refuse it though.

"Thanks, Gunny," he smiled gratefully before taking the can from him.

"No worries, bro. I'm gonna finish checking on the ammo, then we can join the rest of the crew for some R&R, huh?" Gunny suggested as he walked back to the turret

Manny took a sip of the soda, enjoying the coolness of the carbonation against the warm air, before continuing to flick through his phone. After about ten minutes though, he found himself suddenly growing bored as he continued staring blankly down at the screen.

Yeah, that's enough lazing around here for today. He thought to himself.

Manny shut off his phone, pocketing it before raising himself out of the driver's seat with a grunt. Halfway out, he suddenly paused as his vision landed on two familiar feminine figures conversing not too far away.

"Holy shit…" He muttered to himself. "Gunny!"

"Yeah?"

"You'll never guess who's on base talking to Dakota right now."

"Is Boxer back early with Sentinel squad?" He guessed. "I swear, he and Dakota seriously need to get a room and tie the knot with that stupid chess match. The sexual tension has never been more obvious, and she's basically begging him for it at this point. He's gotta take the initiative and not play hard to get, you know what I mean? King takes queen and all that jazz-"

"Nope! Roze is here!"

He paused as a loud thump sounded out, and the hull of the tank rocked violently, before a nearby explosion shook the ground. After a few seconds, he slowly turned to the turret hatch with a horrified expression. Gunny hesitantly peeked out, eyes widening as he looked behind him. Manny really didn't want to turn around, but he had to assess the damage and make sure they didn't just kill anyone.

.

.

.

He really wished he didn't…

The concrete T-wall far in front of him was now sporting a big dent with an accompanying scorch mark in the middle of it - and the Hesco barriers filled with dirt were spilled over, likely needing to be completely replaced rather than refilled. He could hear other Shadows running out in a panic, having gotten their weapons out and wondering what the hell just happened to disturb the peace.

"What the hell just happened?!"

"Are we under attack?!"

"Move it, Shadows! Get your asses in gear!"

Manny swallowed nervously as the activity around the base picked up exponentially. And worst of all, Roze and Dakota were staring at them and their tank like they were the biggest morons they had ever seen in the company. A belief that was starting to look more and more like fact…

"Graves is gonna fuckin' kill me…" uttered Gunny from behind him.

"Not if I get my hands on you first!" Manny shot back. "What the hell happened in there?! Why was there a shell in the fuckin' breech?! How did it go off?!"

Gunny nervously tapped his fingers together as if he was some nervous school girl in an anime that did an accidental oopsie, rather than a fully grown man that had just set off expensive and highly volatile ammunition inside of a base full of armed personnel. "Okay, I can sense that you're mad at me, but don't get madder… please?"

"Gunny! Explanation! Now!" He forced out, barely restraining himself from reaching for his sidearm.

"Alright, fine, fine! I kinda forgot to take out the shell from last time, and I kinda dropped the soda when you mentioned Roze being here, and I kinda… hit the fire button trying to catch it from falling."

.

.

.

Manny had no appropriate words for the situation, so he elected to do the one thing that wouldn't bring harm to anybody else or get him into more trouble.

He buried his face into his hands and screamed.

"Also, I'm pretty sure that the soda's stickin' up the console now… you know, because I couldn't catch it in time…" Gunny trailed off. "You think Oxide will let us off easy…?"