CHAPTER 01: VOID HORIZONS CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
SOMEWHERE IN THE GINZA DISTRICT, 2344hrs.
"Alright, park it here. Kill the engines."
The black van stops in a dark alleyway.
"Sensor's OK… thermal scanning is working, drone's fully charged and ready to fly, sir."
"Get it up on the roof."
The driver then opens the sunroof to the van, and gently laid the quadrotor drone on the roof of the vehicle before sitting back down. "Alright, drone's ready."
"Good. Start the recon. In the meantime, let's recap." My attention would be directed to my group leader, talking from his shotgun seat as he turns towards us. "A week ago, we had a client tasking us on capturing this piece of work." He says as he turns on the cabin lights and showing us the picture of a person in a dossier. "You guys know him from the news, right? Rich, fat bastard, owns a lot of casinos, the works. What the public didn't know is that he owns a lot of underground stuff as well." He then passes the dossier to me. "We haven't been able to locate him until someone tipped off that he's going to be visiting his place right around here. The police won't touch him, but we can."
"What do we do with him, Sarge?"
"Client wants that guy alive."
"Rules of engagement, sir?"
"If someone shoots at you, terminate with extreme prejudice. But keep an eye on civilians and grab the high value target alive. Is that clear?"
"Loud and clear, sir."
"Good. Now wait until I give a go."
"Can we turn on the AC while we wait at least? That would be appreciated." Sarge rolls his eyes, but the driver turns on the AC anyways. "Thanks, Rook."
While waiting for the signal, one of the newer members of the team speaks up. "Is it really fine to like show up to a public area all dressed up like this?"
"Sometimes, a show of force is necessary, Erin. Also, we're not spec ops to like stealthily to snatch and grab someone, and then extract without much noise." Rook replies, and then follows with a few more words. "Yet."
"Check your weapons and equipment, everyone."
There's a multitude of various noises of magazines being slapped into position, charging handles being racked slightly for press check, and for a moment the back cabin becomes a light show as flashlights and visible laser being turned on briefly. Everyone in the van made double-checks on their equipment, making sure they are working properly.
"Mic check, mic check."
"All loud and clear, Alex."
In the meantime, I take a good look at the image of the high value target in the dossier that was passed around the group, just so that we won't mistake someone else in his stead. As I peer over to the driver's seat, I could see driver piloting the quadrotor camera drone we had in the sky to survey the surroundings of the target area.
After a while, they seem to be able to pinpoint the target.
"Alright, I see our target. He's just getting out of the limo with his bodyguards."
"What do they have, Rook?"
"Looks like compact pistols, body armor under shirts, nothing out of place for bodyguards. I count around 20 plus people who I can see their equipment with the thermal cam, plus a lot of civilians as well inside."
"Then the bodyguards should be easy to deal with." Sarge then gives us the signal. "It's showtime."
To punctuate his readiness, Erin slaps down the charging handle of his MP5K into battery.
I open the back door to the minivan, before jumping out with the rest of the team. We walk out of the alley where our van is parked and made our way to the casino. Our presence had indeed caused a stir among the civilians roaming around the casino, and I can see some people pulling up their smartphones to snap pictures or take a recording.
We then enter his establishment, ignoring the bouncer waiting outside.
Our presence inside the casino would soon attract the attention of the HVT, who would later approach us.
"Alex, I count 10-12 bodyguards in my line of sight."
"Five more to my left, Gabe. They are lightly armored."
"Five more on my right, also light armor. No signs of other guns that are above the pistol class." I mention my observation to the rest.
"Possibly concealed machine pistols or PDWs, keep an eye out. Erin, stay close to Seo."
"Got it."
"Ohohoh, what's this? How can I help you gentlemen?" The HVT tries to be friendly.
"We're here to arrest you. We have a warrant – before you ask – coming from the top. Now come quietly or there will be trouble." Alex commands.
He starts laughing. "Come quietly or there will be trouble? Hahah, did you folks hear that? Who do you think you are? There're only four of you, and I have more men than you do."
"What we are is not important, what is important to you and your goons here is this – any non-compliance will be fatal." Alex continues. "Your numbers will not help you; neither will your connections today."
We raise our weapons to ready position as the large man start to back away, and the bodyguards then draw their weapons from their holsters.
"What are you apes waiting for? Shoot them!" He barks out his orders.
"If you want that, then so be it." Alex says. "Squad! Waste them!"
And before they could fire off a single shot, Alex and Gabe opened fire first, eliminating the bodyguards around their flank.
Immediately the place fell into chaos, the parlor customers' start screaming and running away from the establishment for their safety.
"Team, spread out, take cover and thin out their numbers! Make sure your hits do not include the HVT and civvies!" Alex commands through the radio.
"Roger!"
Everyone in my group would then scatter, getting behind cover and taking out any armed personnel as they show up.
True to Alex's words, despite their numbers, the bodyguards are no match for our firepower. Their body armors are inferior when going against our combination of assault rifles, my battle rifle and Erin's fast submachine gun shots, and thus their numbers are quickly dwindling down.
In their attempt on trying to shoot us, they unfortunately fired upon civilians with the shots they missed.
"Jesus, these guys really don't care about collateral damage, don't they?"
"Just keep your aim where it should be."
It was a complete bloodbath, and from roughly twenty-plus strong men, they were reduced to two, slowly backing away and shooting away as the HVT retreats. I notice that the other bodyguard didn't even draw his weapon, even as he keeps his hands on whatever he has in the shoulder holster.
"Shit! This is too much!"
"Let's get out of here, boss!"
When the two bodyguards and HVT reach for the elevator, one of them pressed the button to call one to the ground floor. Now that they swapped positions, the previous bodyguard finally decided to pull out his machine pistol and suppress us with a barrage of full auto shots while they wait for the elevator to arrive.
The HVT and the remaining bodyguard managed to get into the elevator, leaving the machine-pistol bodyguard behind. Once the shots stopped, Gabe pops out of cover to fire upon him with his handgun as he fumbles with his reload.
"He's going up, how nice." Alex says as everyone groups up in the elevator area.
"I'll go after him."
"Just you, though?"
"I can take care of the bodyguard, I don't think the HVT can handle being by himself."
"If you insist." Alex then moves into the security room nearby, and in the meantime, I hear the ding of an elevator door arriving. The elevator doors thankfully open up to reveal a civilian, who upon seeing my gun in my hands loosely pointed at him, he would quickly run out of the elevator.
I then took the access card from the bodyguard that Gabe shot nearby.
"Good news, those two are going all the way up. They might be finding a way into a safehouse up there." Alex says. "You might be able to go all the way up with that access card."
"What do we do now then?" Erin asks.
"For now, we post security here, just in case reinforcements are coming."
"I'll be going now."
I enter the open elevator and picked the highest level possible after swiping the card on the access terminal. I assume that's his penthouse, and he probably have an escape route by air ready. That or they have a safehouse to hide in until we give up and leave.
"Good luck, Seo." Gabe says. "Just ping us if you have issues."
"I'll do my best." I report back, while reloading my HK417.
"Be advised, heat signatures spotted at the penthouse in the top floor." Rook reports.
"That could be him then." Alex says.
When the elevator reaches the top floor, I let the door open. I know the last bodyguard might be waiting for me, and to solve that problem, I choose a nine-bang instead of a regular flashbang. I pull the pin of a flashbang and throw it outside in a way that it bounces off the wall facing the elevator and into the blind spot that I assume where he is waiting.
The flash followed by multiple bangs, and then the screams would confirm that my throw is right on the money.
I rush out with my handgun ready, taking out the final bodyguard with multiple shots to the chest while he is still disoriented by the flash. Once that's done, I scan the area for hostiles. Once I didn't find any, I approach the HVT to apprehend him.
"Come out with your hands up. This is my final warning to you." I would then holster my handgun, before swapping out the M9 I had in hand to the XM9-T from my chest holster, removing the attached snap-on suppressor and undoing the slide lock latch as well.
He did, pitifully hiding behind the expensive mahogany desk of his, coming out with his hands in the air.
"Wait, wait! Now wait a minute! I have connections, you know!" He yells, trying to negotiate. "Who hired you people?!"
"That wouldn't be relevant for you."
"I can give you what you want! Just tell me what you want! Cash! Girls! Anything! Just say it!"
"I'm not buying you more sand for your hourglass. Now shut the fuck up."
I would then immediately pepper him with half a dozen tranquilizer rounds directly to his limbs to stop him from moving anywhere. The fat man then stumbles as the darts numbed his limbs, and he screams his lungs out from that alone.
"Overlord, target is down and primed for extraction."
"Copy that, 1-3. Cuff him and bring him in. We'll sort it out with our client later."
"Wilco."
I approach the HVT and taking the cuff off my rig. But before I could even cuff him, I saw visage of two figures approaching the penthouse's glass. I was suddenly thrown back a few paces backwards with a great force, being hit squarely in the chest with something blunt and fast. I hit the ground on my back, just as two figures breach through the window.
As I get up to my feet and clutching my chest, I see two young ladies standing behind my target. Ridiculous uniform and weaponry? Check. Their appearance also seemed to cause a buzz between the rest of my teammates too, mentioning something about strange girls in strange outfits attacking them.
"Contact!" I can hear Alex yelling before he cuts off the radio, presumably before he and the rest opens fire.
"Who the hell are you two? Are you his bodyguards too?"
I can see that bastard's smug face from where I am, as if telling me his savior has come to get him out of trouble. That is, until the white-haired one speaks.
"We're not here to protect him; rather, he's our target."
"Thanks for making it easy for us." The light brown-haired girl adds, with a smile on her face.
The HVT's smug façade immediately drops as soon as he heard the latter's statement. "Wait, what?"
Within a split second she struck him down where he laid with her sword.
I stared in complete shock at this sudden development, as the girl with white hair flicks the blood off her sword and return it back to its sheath.
"Imu, our job's done."
"Got it. Should we dispose of him too?"
"Do as you wish."
I didn't even manage to speak a word, and all I know moments later I was thrown around like a ragdoll with the flurry of fierce strikes from the girl with the staff. When I finally land on the ground I groan in pain, as it felt like I broke a few ribs from the impact. I can feel my helmet crack when one of the blows lands there and my shemagh slip off, thus exposing my face to the two strange girls.
"1-3! 1-3! Come in! You need to fall back now! This AO is lost! I repeat, this AO is lost!" I hear Alex yelling his orders on the comms.
I manage to get up, but now I have to tangle with the girl with the staff, as her friend watches with her arms crossed. As I take a fighting stance, that girl continues to belittle me before eventually trying to strike me again with her staff. This time, however, I manage to sidestep and strike her in the belly with my gloved fist.
"You son of a bitch…!" She growls as she gets back up to her feet.
It was a lucky shot, I mused. Before she could strike again, I quickly draw my XM9-T and get a few offhand shots towards her. She blocked a few shots with her staff, but a couple of them got stuck on her arms and legs.
She continued her disparaging remarks, at least until the tranquilizer kicks in. When that happened, her demeanor changes and she falls flat on the ground. She's now as numb as the HVT they just killed.
"One down. One more to go." I mutter to myself.
"Imu…!"
Unfortunately, my small victory is also enough to rile up the while-haired girl.
I was about to turn to fire at her too, but she tackled me to the ground first. That made me lost grip on my tranquilizer gun, and it went off flying to the corner of the trashed penthouse. She attempts punching my face, but I parry it as much as I could kick her off me. I scramble back to my own legs to grab my XM9-T and stuff it back into my holster.
When I look back at her, she had her sword drawn and she is ready to strike. I need an escape plan.
"I don't know about you, lady, but I'm pretty sure your friend over there is alright."
"I don't care, you're in the way, and you need to die."
"That's not going to happen."
As she lunges towards me, I made a blind dive to the left to cover my sight and dropped behind a primed nine-bang. I heard her scream as she would find out why it's named as such. My headset would cut off the loud noises before it could affect my hearing too.
Now that she's blinded after taking the full brunt of the nine-bang, she stumbles about while swinging her sword.
"You bastard… get back here!"
Instead of replying, I decided to retreat.
Grabbing my HK417 off the ground, I quickly head to the point in the penthouse where I entered, attempting a diversion by getting the elevator up, that's thankfully still in the same level. One more nine-bang into the penthouse later, I pressed the button for the ground floor and quickly shoulder charge through the fire escape stairs, and descend the staircase for a few floors, stopping occasionally to take a breath and continue.
I continue to escape the building by the backdoor once I reached the ground floor, before eventually sprinting out into the alleyways and hoping that they wouldn't catch up with me.
Thankfully, that didn't happen. Out in the distance, I could hear the police sirens, and I don't know how long I had run from the trashed casino before finally slumping beside a dumpster.
The adrenaline had run out by then and I crashed like a pile of bricks, gasping for air like I had ran a marathon.
"1-3. 1-3, come in. Come in, dammit!"
"I'm here." I start responding to Sarge's call once I can catch a breath. "Overlord… we got bad news. Target's dead. I was about to cuff the bastard and I got intercepted. Girls in strange outfits got to him first and struck the HVT down right in front of me."
"Yeah, we got that. Ground team got attacked too and they had to retreat without you. Are you alright, though?"
"Probably not… those girls beat me really good…"
"1-1 here – this job's a bust, sorry that we had to leave first. Where are you?"
"I don't know, man. I ran as much as I could from the top floor until I couldn't hear the sirens anymore, right now I'm behind some dumpster. I'm pinging my location to you, Alex."
As soon as I did that, I pull out my phone and despite it being cracked in a few places from the previous fight; I manage to send my current location to Alex.
"Great. I just bought this phone and I had to send it for screen repairs already." I lament as I stare at the cracked screen.
Moments later I see our van reversing through the back alley, and eventually the backdoor would open to reveal Gabe, Alex and Erin waiting in the back. Alex and Gabe quickly jump out of the van to grab and carry me off back into the van before closing the door shut. Once we're fully in, Rook then speeds off back to our HQ.
"What should we do now? The client's gonna be pissed that we didn't extract the HVT." Alex says. "I didn't even manage to recover some intel out. Man, those girls are Grade-A crazy."
"I'll handle it; we'll get back to our place first and sort things out later." Sarge says.
–––
Author's note: I've been sitting on the pile of ideas thinking of "how do I mix PMCs with Senran Kagura since certain shinobi operates in the same way?" for months, to be honest. And after a few restarts in trying to find out what works and what doesn't, maybe recycling a good few of my original characters from Infiltrator – An Underground Guardian's Adventure, I present to you this new project of mine.
Enjoy.