Operation Black Dawn, 1995
Mission 23 - The City
October 1995/December 1096
Several Days after Operation Chernobog Freedom
"That's that, and this is this."
- International Security Agency Director George H.W. Bush, 1989
Contractor Stepan [GloboTech - Security Contractor Department] - Lungmen Sewer System - Dated December, 1096
The stagnant water splashed on my visored helmet as I waded my way through the tunnels. It took a helicopter and poor weather to find an opportunity for us to open up a dent in the de facto armor of Terra's security. Especially for a city like Lungmen. In fact, a part of me wondered why it was built like this in the first place. The sewers felt like a swamp, and it just- Fuck. Fuck.
The flashlight on my gun flickered, an annoyed frown and grunt escaping me as I smacked the tactical flashlight on my assault rifle, a G36K. The flashlight stopped working for a second before immediately going out once again. Sighing, I closed my eyes and lowered my gun, irritated at the malfunctions suffering right now. To think that I trusted this rifle from Heckler and Koch...
"Goddamnit," I muttered as I inspected the charging handle on the assault rifle. Finding that a bullet was, in fact, loaded, I let go of the charging handle and smacked the flashlight again. An irritated sigh escaped my lips once again. "Flashlight keeps getting fucked." I muttered, irritated. As the next splash came from my boot wading through stinking sewer water, I heard Liwei sigh in disappointment.
"Why must our tertiary equipment always fail?" He asked. "Contractor Stepan. Have you triple-checked your flashlight with the quartermaster before we left?"
That was Contractor Liwei, my commanding officer. He wore a long-sleeved fleece, some pants, waterproof military boots, and brought along a vest, webbing, and a beret. His weapon was an M1911 pistol, the old reliable of the United States Armed Forces that served since, well, 1911. The reason he only had said pistol is due to his main weapon being a sharp machete, which he used to kill most things.
Following behind was Contractor Tamaki, who chose to wear a two button jacket, a patch of the Empire of Japan embroidered onto its right shoulder, alongside a skirt barely visible under her baggy jacket combined with gray pantihoses, kneepads, military boots, and a PASGT helmet. She also brought along a sling containing her ammunition and a holster concealing a Browning Hi-Power. Her main weapon was a bolt-action sniper rifle, so she needed that pistol.
"No, not really," I frowned underneath the visor and balaclava. "I think that it's just the world out to get us... All three of us, sir," I raised my assault rifle by the sling and set it over myself, gun slanting down to the left. In exchange, I brought up my GI flashlight. An angle-head flashlight always seemed to be the more reliable, so I might as well use it. I flipped it to its left and smacked it on my left hand, hoping it'd kickstart any energy in it. After two smacks, a second later and with a flipped lightswitch, the flashlight was on. "But I'll be using this instead."
"Glad you brought something else then," He muttered. A scoff interrupted what he was going to say, and I just sighed as I realized what Tamaki was doing again. She was always a negative, deadpan nancy. Being somewhat of a pedantic person. But simultaneously, she was the sole reason we had any long-range capabilities. As much as it pained me, I felt like she was the... tough love guardian. Of a sort- Those thoughts became interrupted as Liwei spoke once again. "Contractor Tamaki. Are you implying something?"
"I regret to inform you that I did not bring any torch-like tertiary accessory to my firearm, yes," She stated. I turned back to look at her one more time and I saw her carrying this almost ancient sniper rifle. I believe its model was the L42A1, a sniper rifle used during the Second World War.
These days, contractors and Allied Snipers use more modern things. But I suppose it was Tamaki's preference to run a rifle as old as her grandparents. "And due to the incompatibility of tertiary accessories with this model, I could not use them either way."
"Hmph," Liwei continued. "Well, doesn't matter now."
I nodded, flashlight still shining on. The journey that we took got us somewhere I just... loathed to be in. The sewers offered nothing but pain and suffering. Though, at the very least, I was able to know that my G36K assault rifle's flashlight wasn't able to work. I grit my teeth as I halt next to a wall, the less-powered handheld flashlight in my hands neglecting to inform me of the potential dead-end.
I had to blame an underpowered everything for the flashlight being absolute garbage regarding that.
"Looks like we've hit a dead end," I muttered to myself, turning my head left. "Think that there's our way out?" I asked, sheepishly attaching my underpowered handheld flashlight to my belt to grant me a source of vision in the murky, wet sewers of Lungmen. My contractor job didn't prepare me for any of this. "I'm pretty sure there's a tunnel at least somewhere nearby..." I muttered.
Liwei marched ahead, forcing me to step aside as I had quite frankly to get the hell out of his way. The man's nearly disappointed presence spoke volumes to me. I sheepishly scampered back, my head turning just to see Tamaki shake her head as she followed Liwei with her sniper rifle in tow. I bit my lip and shook my head, but pressed on. Liwei didn't seem to be bothered by his lack of a flashlight, which was unfortunate for one specific reason. Me. I had the flashlight. I was supposed to be the point man.
But, unfortunately, complications meant that my role was effectively screwed over massively. Still, it wouldn't help if Liwei at least told me to lead up with the flashlight. A sad frown formed on my face as I lagged behind both Liwei and Tamaki. Goddamnit.
The stagnant sewer water managed to splash onto my pants, which greatly irritated me. These pants were chosen because they were the darkest color that could possibly blend in with the conditions we were expected to deploy in. What was unfortunate was the lack of waterproofing. Hence, I had to lag behind them while covered in germs.
Yuck.
Liwei raised his hand with the back facing us, a signal to stop. Tamaki and I immediately halted. Leaning to the left and turning his head to me, Liwei spoke up. "Stepan. Check out this area," He said, turning back. "Use your light."
"On it," I muttered as I stepped to the left and walked forward, taking my GI flashlight off my belt and sweeping it across the sewers. To the direction of the left, there was nothing worth noticing. To the right's direction, a tunnel was leading... somewhere. I was not sure if I wanted to cross it. And as I swept to the center, I shone my light up. There was a ladder to the sewers and a manhole cover. Turning off my GI flashlight, I attached it back to my belt.
"Well," I shrugged. "We found our way out of here. Let's-"
The sudden opening of the manhole caused me to stiffen myself- It seemed that Liwei and Tamaki had the same idea, as they immediately stopped moving when the manhole opened. Whatever was going into the manhole-
I widened my eyes in alarm as a human body was dropped down from up top into the manhole. Then another. Then another. And a fourth, final body was dropped in. The manhole quickly closed shut after that. I sat there frozen, mouth open in shock. How, what, and why the fuck did that- No, nevermind. I shook my head and shone my flashlight on the bodies.
"Check it out," I said, crouching down to shine my light closer onto the body, which was fresh. Too fresh, in fact. "That's Oripathy." I muttered as I observed patches of black crystals growing out of the skin. Turning back at the other two contractors in the sewers, I saw Liwei shake his head, a firm and stern look on his face. He then put his hands on the earpiece, while I turned my head back to inspecting the bodies.
"TOC, we have a situation," Liwei spoke into the radio. "We have bodies being disposed into the sewers. I repeat, we have bodies disposed into the sewers. Yes, we can confirm they are infected." He answered each question that TOC gave him. Yet, I could not hear them. But perhaps that was for the better. "No, I have not heard back from Team Zwei. I cannot confirm if they have reported the same situation as us. Yes, we will expedite. Contractor Liwei out."
I turned to him once more, and he looked at me. "Contractor Stepan. Up the ladder. We're continuing our objective," He grunted as he put his pistol into a holster and his machete into a scabbard. "If they're dumping bodies into the sewer then all things have broken loose." I nodded at Liwei's order, standing up and walking over to the ladder, turning right to properly face the aforementioned ladder.
Climbing up the ladder, I used my right hand to push off the manhole cover, turning it over as I then threw my right arm over, gripping the concrete floor and dragging myself over the manhole, scrapping my gear stomach-first as I did so before fully getting up. I flipped myself over and stood up, scanning the area. When I was certain there was nothing there, I crouched and procured my G36K, detaching the flashlight.
I toggled it on and off twice. When that didn't seem to work, I immediately hit it on the concrete floor twice. Only then did it seem to work, as the light began to shine once more like a heavenly sign. Smiling, I turned it back off and stuck it back on the rifle. Just as I did so, Liwei climbed out of the sewers, followed by Tamaki.
"So, are we going to ignore the bodies being disposed, or?" I asked, standing up and checking the chamber on my rifle once again. I had not lost a bullet, and it was still chambered. So that was good on me.
In response, Liwei sighed. "Things happen in riots, Stepan," He pulled his M1911 and machete back out of their respective holster and scabbard. "They were probably lacking in grave space to bury those who perished in the fighting."
"I see no reason why they would not just let them rot. Why dispose of them in the sewers?" Tamaki interjected, racking the bolt of her sniper rifle, a 7.62x51mm bullet loaded into the weapon afterward. I was about to raise my voice to add to Tamaki's comment, but Liwei held his hand up, a signal to stop speaking. I nodded and zipped shut, as did Tamaki.
"We can save the debate about the reasoning for that after we rendezvous with Team Zwei," He muttered. "For now? Get your legs working, gentlemen."
I nodded. It was time we headed out anyway. I stood up and marched forward in a direction Liwei pointed at. It was an alleyway. When I asked Liwei about it, he said that it was the location that the route we chose was determined by a combination of U-2 photography and terrain mapping as well as GPS trackers, the ones that enabled command to send orders to us. Though the satellite was delayed, so oftentimes we had to do things on our own because the orders took so long to process.
Come to think of it, I wondered how the satellite was doing. Because it couldn't get a visual feed on the ground. Whenever we tried, we'd get just something that blocked our vision. Hell, the only thing visible were the troop markers that command could, well, command. So we had to rely on spy-planes who'd take photos and map the terrain with scanners working in conjunction with satellites that couldn't see shit.
Splendid. Just fucking splendid.
But, then again, Liwei trusted it. So I had no reason to oppose him. Though if anything went wrong on the way... perhaps it would be the fault of him. Oh, lord, I could just imagine screaming "The fault lies with you!" at Liwei from the grave. That'd be fun to do if I died.
Suddenly, the lights in the area cut out just as we entered the alleyway. Grunting in annoyance, I turned on my flashlight. "Oi. Light's on." I said to my team as we shifted our walking speed to a slow-paced movement.
This setback was annoying, and I wish I could fix the power so that we don't have to skulk around with an obvious flashlight. But, then again, this is the consequence of not being issued night-vision goggles by command.
For now? Just keep moving.
What was the worst that could happen?
(Fmr.) Officer Lowell Xiao [L.G.D. - Riot Control Dept. - LAID OFF] - Lungmen - Dated December, 1096
"What do you mean you got laid off as well?!" Former Officer Xiao shouted in horror as her husband - Officer Lowell - came back with the news. The Guard Department had been running short of funds due to the austerity measures implemented by the city government to satisfy the investors holding assets in Lungmen. And unfortunately, due to this, they had to cut down on a lot of things. One of the things unfortunate enough to get cut seemed to be employees, much to the despair of Xiao.
She had faithfully served in the L.G.D. for half a decade and they decided to drop her?! Goddamnit, the organization had fallen short after the uprising. Hell, she was injured during the uprising! A bullet to the stomach by the grey men, and she fully recovered from it! So why in the name of Terra did they drop her?!
And she had hoped that Lowell would be retained! But- No! It couldn't be! They really dropped both of them like potato sacks?! What the fuck was the government doing?!
"I'm sorry, Xiao," He shook his head in frustration as he crushed the letter that announced his laying off. To think that he was ready to work in the uniform to defend the city... "They've announced another wave of purges. They've fully laid off a sector's worth of guards..." He collapsed to his knees as Xiao rushed forward, crouching down to hug him as he sobbed. "I-I tried to protest, b-but..."
"Please tell me this isn't real..." She sobbed as well as she pressed her face against Lowell's shoulders, tears dripping down her face and her grip around Lowell's waist intensifying. "Please, Lowell... Just... This isn't real, right?"
"...I'm afraid it is," Lowell wiped the tears off his face and wrapped his arms around Xiao as well, patting her in the shoulders as she began her bawling as well. To think that the both of them, having served for years in the Lungmen Guard Department, would suddenly get tossed out because the government wanted to save some money? Through austerity?
She couldn't handle it. She did not take a bullet to the stomach for nothing! And yet! YET!
...Yet...
...Yet.
She couldn't bring any more thoughts to her head as the sobbing continued, though slowed down as she inhaled and exhaled, snot and tears mixing together in a depressed concoction. Lowell pitied her. Both of them had been on the line during the uprising that almost brought Lungmen to its knees. And yet, with them being so casually laid off she couldn't...
Sighing, she let go of Lowell. "I'm.. I'm going outside." She muttered, her home feeling more like a prison as her heart felt a tight grip around it, the pressure from stress resulting from the layoffs tormenting her far more painfully than any riot instigated by Reunion ever could.
A sigh escaped her lips as she turned around and opened the door outside. She couldn't bring herself to dispose of the black-and-blue uniform she once proudly wore. Yet, as she was laid off... She wanted to cry, cry, and cry. She couldn't find anything better do. Her life had been tossed aside and ruined, her job torn to shreds, and everything she could do to prevent it had long escaped her.
She should've transferred to the administrative sector. She should've become a Sector Commander. She could've...
She looked at the streets that she once called home. Fires raged on unattended in the trashcans as the aftermath of streetfighting intensified. In a distant corner away from her block, LGD forces clashed with unemployed workers looking to find a way to sustain themselves. To the left, broken windows mixed with blood tell the tale of desperation.
All of this after an uprising caused the almost total destruction of the city.
Xiao wanted to laugh. She really wanted to. To think that what would bring down Lungmen wasn't the threat of Ursus expansionism. It wasn't Columbia simply buying out the city. It wasn't Yan mismanaging the city or deciding that it was better off directly under their empire. No, what kneecapped Lungmen was a bunch of infected. Slimy, grubby bastards! And yet. And yet! They brought the city down to its worst!
Tonight, the world lost its economic centerpiece. Not to any of the expected perpetrators, but to a bunch of grubby infected and their accomplices in grey who started shooting everyone.
Isn't it nice to know that she lost everything in such a short time due to the damage the uprising has done to Lungmen over all?
A small chuckle escaped her lips. Perhaps she was destined to fail. Perhaps. Maybe. Just maybe.
She breathed in and out, turning back around to open the door to her apartment. Perhaps she just needed some time to-
The lights to her home suddenly cut out as she opened the door, shrouding her entire block in darkness. Panicking with wide eyes, she rushed in. Lowell! Was he okay?! "Lowell! Lowell!" She shouted, mouth flanked by her hands in an almost-stereotypical shouting fashion as she sought out her husband. An orange spark nearby caught her attention and she immediately turned to it.
To her relief, what greeted her was none other than Lowell, holding up a lighter in irritation. Rushing to her husband, Xiao hugged him as relief washed over her face and appearance. She had not, in fact, lost Lowell. "I thought you got lost, Lowell! Thank Terra you're alright!"
"Damnit, how did our lights go out?" He asked.
"Hell if I know. Probably the government's to blame," Xiao muttered as she let go of Lowell. "I'll go outside and check for anything wrong with the fuse."
"Thank you, Xiao," He muttered as he turned around. "In the meantime, I'll be looking for other light sources."
Xiao nodded, turning back to go outside. She was glad to have Lowell. After years of awkwardly prancing around the idea of a relationship, the two had finally gotten together three years ago. Hell, she smirked remembering their first night together. It left both of them spent but eager to continue working in the Guards Department. Though she couldn't feel that same enthusiasm now.
Still, she had to ensure that their home was safe. As she stepped outside, she swept her block left to right visually. Aside from the trashfires, broken windows, distant clashing noises, and ruined everything... all seemed normal.
She turned left, expecting to see nothing in the alleyway next to her home. I mean, nothing could come from that area. Aside from a few ra-
A shining light being pointed at the ground was not what she expected. Widening her eyes, she immediately recoiled back. Those must have been the perpetrators! Rushing back inside her house, she immediately found Lowell rummaging through a drawer with a flashlight in his hand.
"I swear I placed it here... Somewh-"
She immediately grabbed his shoulders and turned him around, Lowell almost stumbling in surprise.
"Xiao! What-"
She immediately pressed her finger against his mouth and moved her hand towards the flashlight, turning it off. "Shhh," She said. "Lowell," she whispered. "I think..."
"You think wh-" He opened up, but immediately stopped. Wondering why, Xiao turned back to where she came from. But as she did so, her eyes widened as she realized why.
Just passing by her door, the perpetrators of the blackout—the ones with the flashlight—passed by her door, unaware of the two as they took a turn right of her home walking straight, never bothering to check the ajar door. Perhaps they couldn't see. But, still... She turned back to Lowell, whose eyes were stricken in fear.
"I think we may have found our perpetrators."
Letting go of Lowell, Xiao skulked back to the door, grabbing it by the frame and peeking out, eyes trailing the perpetrators. Lowell followed suit, peeking out as well. The two turned to each other, Xiao frowning.
"They might be off to go Terra knows what," She muttered. "We have to stop them."
"...I couldn't agree more," Lowell muttered. "What do we do, then?"
"Follow them." Xiao stated as she let go of the doorframe and stepped outside, intent on trailing the perpetrators.
Even in a riot, she couldn't afford to let lawbreakers loose. The Lungmen Guards Department was, after all, built for the defense of the city. And while she may have been laid off, she would never forsake her line of duty. And neither would Lowell.
She turned back to Lowell. "Grab our swords." She gritted her teeth as Lowell nodded. Perhaps she could serve the city once more. A parting gift, to those who dared forsake her and her people in the Department.
"Tonight, a Star of Lungmen sparks again."
Author's Notes:
Today it's "guess what media the author played in the meantime" day. And if you get this one I'll be sure to send you at least one copy of Iron Lotus digitally through Youtube dot com.
But anyways, I apologize for the long absence. Life has been kicking my ass and I started to burn out for a bit. But I've got my groove back and after spending time in America, I've come to enjoy the things that have been afforded to me. Getting to talk with military nerds, people who actually really like my work, and other people... Well, I promised them that I'd come back to this. And I hope I did not disappoint.
This chapter's short. Originally I wanted to end it in a full sequence, but I suppose that a cliffhanger would be funnier. So, guys, if you can guess what happens to the two lovebirds... I'll be impressed with you.
But, that's for another time. When I bundle that chapter with a joint UN-Nod operation in Chernobog yet again to suppress Reunion. Which is next chapter, because I want to kick Reunion to the ground before it redeems itself.
Also, I'm rewriting some of the older chapters as well to accommodate for new AK lore revelations that I missed at the time. Wish me luck as I embark upon this arduous march.
See y'all next time.
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