Chapter 2: Powers and Close Calls
The Special Forces take off to head to their destination to Kano's new Black Market hideout. It's different from Alex's first mission and the one that Cassie infiltrated to rescue the past versions of her parents. This one is taking place in an abandoned hotel turned illegal market. Kitana, Liu Kang and the others stay behind, not wanting to lose too many of their own warriors just in case. And knowing the Special Forces, they know that the forces have had years of experience with Black Dragon for decades and they normally rely on stealth. Everyone already knows the plan and must stick to it if they are to help Outworld prevail.
"Feels good to be back with the Special Forces. It was one long hell of a road for me, Kenshi and Takeda." Kung Jin said. "Glad we were able to pull it off and come back after the New Era began."
"Heard it was a pain in the ass. Anything interesting happened?" Alex asked.
"Well we killed every one of them and found the Red Dragon clan founder named Daegon. He seems to be like some sort of a demigod. I remember reading about them when I joined the White Lotus to honor Kung Lao." Kung Jin said.
"A demigod? Like Alex? How did you guys manage to kill someone like Daegon?" Cassie asked out of curiosity.
"It was us and Hanzo. Four on one. We all fought him desperately. We were getting our asses handed to us even trying to tire him out." Kung Jin said. Me and Hanzo Hasashi held him in place, but he almost broke free. Kenshi and Takeda both used their telepathy powers to get inside his head and make him feel so much pain. After a little bit, his head exploded and fell over, dead."
"Damn. Never knew that their telepathy could be so strong together. I remember feeling a little bit of pain from his powers. I gotta give it to them, at least they finally got their wish." Alex said. He and Jin always felt empathy for Takeda about him losing his mother, Jin originally losing Kung Lao and Alex's parents. This is what drew the three boys closer as friends to where they would consider each other to be brother-in-arms.
"Yes. The thing is we should always live up to our names, no matter the cost. It's about honoring ancestors and other family, regardless of who or what you are. Something that Raiden himself told me about. One thing you should always remember." Kung Jin said.
Alex and Cassie nod in understandment. Cassie has always looked up to her parents, idolized them even after they divorced. It didn't stop her from wanting to be like them. Alex wanted to be like them but with different reasons from the fake earth. But after serving under Sonya, he realized it felt right to idolize them as well, and he also idolized Cassie because she was his leader.
"If only Jacqui and Takeda were here to hear you say that." Jax said. "She's always wanting to live up the Briggs name. I thought she had different reasons for joining until I finally opened up my eyes."
As Sonya pilots, she couldn't help but overhear everything they were saying. Sonya and Johnny realize that they share the same cause: wanting to live up to their family names. She always idolized her father and wanted to be a soldier and that has been passed down to Cassie, Jacqui and Alex. Sonya wonders how long it will last as they get closer to their mission.
The Special Forces arrive at the right time, hours before Kano and the Black Dragon could contact Shao Kahn. General Sonya lands the jet miles outside the market from a good distance. They all relay the plan.
"All right. We all know the plan. Major Jackson will make the first move and get the frontliner's attention. Once he starts the fireworks, I give the signal and we move. They're not like the Neatherrealm, but these guys can be tough as usual. We will each take a small group of soldiers with us to command. Johnny will be with me. Commander, you will take Kung Jin and Sergeant Alex with you. We cannot let even one escape." The General said.
"Yes, ma'am." Cassie acknowledges her.
"You up for this, Jax?" Sonya asked.
"Hell yeah. Time to pay Kano a visit. Been a long while since I've seen that bastard. Nowhere to run." Jax said. He has hated Kano as much as Sonya does for generations before they became involved in the tournament.
"Like the good times, Jax." Sonya said. Time to make your move."
"My pleasure, General." Jax said, smiling. He missed working with Sonya. They always thought beside each other like back in the days. Even after Jax lost his arms to Ermac, this didn't stop him from wanting to fight.
Jax, the Alpha team and Bravo team all head out first with the others spreading out while using stealth tech that Sonya and Alex once stole from Kano one time after the New Era began. Sonya was smart enough to see through Kano's disguise when he snuck in one time while on the journey to stop Quan Chi and Shinnok. Thanks to the improvements Alex made, this made the mission a lot easier. But they know better than to underestimate anyone or grow overconfident. They had to hurry or else get caught because they can't remain stealthy forever. From time to time they have to shut off so they can recharge at a certain time. Jax and the two teams use small explosives to gain the attention of some of the market men. One team led by Sonya and Johnny and another led by Commander Cage rendezvous with each other close to the front gate without being seen.
Kabal notices something going around outside and sees explosives. "God damn it. Hope it isn't one of our best goods. Anything but that." Kabal contacts Kano and tells him what happened.
"Here we go with this shit. I was afraid this was gonna happen eventually. I hate changin plans at the last bloody minute. Well, you know what you gotta do. Get those weapons loaded quickly. Can't let Shao Kahn down." Kano orders.
Kabal opens the gate to let more goons out to investigate the explosions, without knowing that they're walking into a trap. As they run outside, General Sonya signals to Cassie and her team to march inside. The General and Commander tase the rear guards unconscious to track less attention. They switch between hiding, shooting more men when unseen and taking out the cameras so Kabal wouldn't spot them. Cassie grabs a guard from behind and tases him and knocks him out cold. Sonya uses her energy whip from her gauntlets and chokes a man into fainting. Alex and Johnny use their respective weapons to kill some.
Kabal knows something isn't right. "Now what? Cameras are going dead. Kano, I think we got company. Special Forces." Kabal reported. "They don't know when to stop and quit."
"You don't know them as well as I do, don't ya, dumbass?" Kano said before facepalming. "Kabal, contact Tremor and Tasia. Tell em to get ready for a fight." Kano ordered. Kabal growls at the comment before he pushes a button and sounds the alarm. Kano turns to Tasia and Tremor. "Kabal is gonna need some backup. Too weak to fight someone by himself."
"Shao Kahn. He's asking of you. He sounds really pissed at you." Tasia tells him. "He's asking when are we going to meet him. He will only speak to you."
"Can't the big man just cut me some slack? Talk about no patience." Kano shrugs as he takes an Outworld tab and turns it on to show an angry Shao Kahn.
"Kano. You promised me powerful weapons and yet you fail to meet my demands. You better have one reason I shouldn't take your blood and make you scream?" Shao Kahn glances at him.
"Well it ain't my fault. Special Forces apparently caught onto the plan. Now we're trying to rush ahead of schedule. We've lost two stacks." Kano said.
"Blade and Cage. You are like pathetic children, always fighting. If you hadn't started your own war against them, you would've been back here in Edenia by now. Earthrealmers. Tah!" Shao Kahn mocks.
"Says the one who starts wars and conquers." Kano said.
"You watch your tongue, Kano. Finish what you started and come to me in Edenia swiftly. I don't care how many you have left. Remember what happens when someone turns back on their end of the bargain. You give me what I want to know, and I grant you immunity." Shao Kahn ordered before turning off.
Kano doesn't show it to anyone, but he actually seems to be very intimated by the mighty conqueror. Despite being aware of his ego, Kano knows Shao Kahn means bigger business. He contacts all men to evacuate with their weapons and follow their leaders. Kano takes Jarek with him to gather their stack.
Outside, the Special Forces hear the alarm, but they don't seem surprised by it. "Just as predicted. Kano always jumped to panic as quickly as possible. A smart coward he is as usual." Sonya said. She always knew Kano would be quick to get as many men to kill his enemy as quick as possible. Not to mention that he is a loudmouth, which led to his demise. "Alright, troops. You what to do." Sonya reminds them before they jump from behind cover and start shooting the goons dead with their respective weapons. Kung Jin uses his bow and arrows to shoot the higher men out of the towers and they fall to their deaths.
Jax, on the other hand, remains outside to gather the goons' attention and lures many over to a small row of trip mines and they explode and shoot many of them as possible. Jax shoots anyone who approaches and those who actually do get knocked out cold by him. He defeats many single handedly and wounds up the rest of them.
"General. First two piles of weapons have been wiped clean." Jax reports to her.
"Good, Jax. Ready the two teams and head inside. Do you think you can keep them off our backs?" Sonya asks via commlink.
"You betcha. Someone's gotta school these morons anyway with you not around to do so." Jax joked, making her smirk.
"Don't die out there, Major." Sonya tells him before turning to the team. "You all know what your assignments are. Let's move!" She ordered. Sonya and Johnny go together while Cassie leads Jin and Alex behind her when the two teams reach a split path. The three of them shoot and punch their way through many goons. Jin incapitates many with his bowstaff while Cassie and Alex use their respective kombat skills, weapons and powers. Alex guarded the rear and uses his pistols and energy beam attacks to knock them out cold. Cassie, who's finally mastered her green shadow power to swiftly dodge their attacks. Cassie and co reach a large room with several monitors, including a large one in the middle. They see Kabal, Jasia and Tremor.
"Long time, Kabal. It's been a while." Cassie said.
"Figured it'd be you and your hubbie that'd find me. You have noses like bloodhounds." Kabal said.
"Dude. You have a B.O problem. When was the last time Black Dragon offered you luxury?" Cassie mocks.
"I'll get luxury after I show Kano your head." Kano said as he gets his hook swords out.
Tasia gets her twin kitanas out. Tremor on the other hand uses his powers to summon two big rocks from the ground to attempt to throw them at Cassie and Jin, but Alex activates his powers and glows yellow. He brings up his shields and blocks the rocks and they crumble, but they create a small dust cloud. Alex quickly absorbs the dust cloud as it's part of the earth and he sees Tremor escaping.
"I got him. You two take care of them." Alex said. "Try to not get scratches on yourselves."
"No promises, Sergeant. We got this. Now go." Cassie orders and her husband runs after Tremor. Cassie and Jin stay behind to deal with Tasia and Kabal.
"I'll take the smelly dog. You think you got ninja girl?" Jin turned to Cassie as they get into a stance.
"Oh yeah. Been wanting some payback for a long time." Cassie said before going to face Tasia. Cassie remembered too well that Tasia attempted to kidnap her and Jacqui and take them to the Black Dragon. She'd be too happy to get her back.
"You are all too familiar to me, Cage, but I don't even know what you are talking about." Tasia said, confusingly. Of course, none of the enemies to the likes of the Special Forces, Lin Kuie, Shirai Ryu or Outworld would remember, since Liu Kang and Alex didn't want to restore their memories in the first place, only their friends and family.
Cassie and Tasia begin to fight. Tasia swings her twin swords, but Cassie leaps out of way and manages to kick both of her swords out of her hands. Cassie punches her chest and neck elbows her in the forehead. She double kicks her in the stomach and backflip kicks her in the nose, making it bleed. The older woman snarls at this and starts to fight back. Cassie ducks one roundhouse kick but gets hit by a reverse roundhouse kick. Tasia kicks her in the back twice and trips her. Tasia gets out a dagger to kill her but Cassie rolls out of the way and grabs her wrist and punches her in the waist and throws her down with a suplex. Cassie and Tasia get back up but Tasia suddenly teleports behind her and grabs her by the shoulders and throws her into a wall. Tasia picks up one of her swords and throws it as soon as Cassie gets back up but Cassie ducks and does a Shadow Kick, making her slide backwards. Cassie throws two green shadow balls, making her go flying. Tasia teleports beside her but Cassie was ready. She elbows her in her bleeding nose and backhands her in the back of the head. Tasia kicks Cassie in the chest and punches her in the face three times. Tasia attempts to finish her off but Cassie blocks her punch and knees her in the chest, making it crack, kicks her upwards and Cassie jumps up and does a shadow dropkick on her upper spine, causing Tasia a lot of pain. Tasia lays defeated.
"Does that jog your memory now, asshole?" Cassie mocks her. Cassie tries to tase her, but Tasia throws down a smoke bomb and teleports away.
On the other hand, Kung Jin fights Kabal.
"You think you're fast, kid?" Kabal insults.
"Speed isn't everything, Kabal. And that mouth of yours isn't gonna get you anywhere. It'll cost you." Kung Jin told him.
"Says the one who sounds like an asshole." Kabal said.
"Just like that." Kung Jin said before they fight.
Kung Jin and Kabal clash weapons together. Despite his hook blades being sharp, Jin's bow staff is more durable than anyone would've thought. And even though it's a long staff, he's capable of wielding it with only one hand. Jin thrusts his bow staff forward and makes Kabal lose his balance, allowing Jin to execute a hit to the stomach from the big dragon-like end and a swing to the left rib cage, making it bruise. Jin spins around his bow staff and kicks Kabal in the chest, stumbling him. Kabal was not ready to give up yet. He throws a spinning blade, forcing Jin to throw a chakram and they deflect off each other. Kabal runs up, punches his chest, kicks his rib cage, and speeds past him, making Jin spin. Kabal stabs his left shoulder with both of his hook swords and throws him down, front first, cracking his chest. Jin, despite the injuries, was not finished. Jin sees Kabal attempting to do the same thing, but Jin reacts in time and fires stun arrows at his feet. Kung Jin executes a spin kick, jumps in the air and does a dive kick and swings his staff down on Kabal's head. Kabal is dazed. Jin fires two arrows at his wrists, pulls Kabal towards him, kicks him in the chest, cracking his chest worse than what Kabal did to him and gets sent to a wall and falls down. Jin falls to his knees from the injuries he sustained. Kabal, despite being defeated, tries to contact Kano.
"Kano. Kano, where the hell are you? I need some help." Kabal tries to call him. Kano hears this, but he drops his commlink.
"You useless, fucking prick." Kano said and stomps it and all Kabal hears now is static.
"Kano, pick up! Don't ditch me!" He tries, but to no avail.
"Looks like Kano decided to leave you because you're nothing to him." Jin tells him. Jin has been knowing about Kabal's history with Kano, but who would've thought Kano would abandon him. Then again, Kano is known for being a liar and a dirty backstabber.
"N-no. You're lying. He found me. I'm one of his top men. His best man perhaps. He's gonna come for me. Y-you can't." Kabal tries to plead with them.
"Oh, don't worry. We don't plan on killing. Probably not yet anyway. You need therapy. And a long shower, too." Cassie said before she shoots and tases him. Cassie turns to see Jin badly injured from his bleeding shoulder and some broken bones. "You okay? Can you walk?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Jin said. He tries to get up but is injured. "We-we gotta finish the mission."
"Don't worry. Haven't forgotten. Not leaving you here, either." Cassie said as she holds a C4 detonator. She grabs Jin and holds his arm by the shoulder and get away from the room as far as possible. Once at a safe distance, Cassie sets off the C4 charge and detonates Kabal's stack of weapons.
"Nice work, Cage. Did better than I did." Jin compliments her.
"Thanks." Cassie said before contacting Alex." Sergeant. How are we doing?"
"The guy is basically leading me to his room of toys. For someone so big, he's fast. I'm almost there. Gonna kick ass and start a fire." Alex tells her.
"Good. Just make sure you don't die out there and come back safely, you hear me, Alex?" Cassie ordered while trying not to sound worried.
"Understood, Commander Cassie." Alex said. Her soldiers come in and see them and Kabal knocked out.
"Cuff him by his hands and feet. Don't want him running around."
"Yes, Commander." A female soldier said as they do so.
Note: I split these chapters into two. For those who don't know who Tasia and Tremor are, Tasia was originally a character, an expert swordswoman and ninja part of the Black Dragon in the infamous MK: Special Forces game on the Ps1, the game even Ed Boon hates. Tremor is an earth elemental also from the same game, controls wary powers and different minerals from the ground, including earthquakes, magnitude, and even lava. Unlike Tasia, he became playable as DLC in MKX.