Ch7
"For his work and extensive care for the development and modernization of the Bending World. One once hostile, turned influential and cooperative ally and friend of the Republic, this statue forever immortalizes Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.
Former fleet admiral: Imperial Japanese Navy
First Naval Advisor: United Forces Navy," Yasuho read quietly to herself. Posted at street level beside HIJMS Yamato was an iron statue depicting the past Japanese admiral, clad in his naval uniform and holding a set of binoculars in one hand and pointing to the distance with the other as if giving orders and direction at the bridge of the ship at sea. Throughout Republic City there were various plaques, memorials, and statues that paid homage to prominent figures from the time of its inception. Outside the US / Japan Joint Naval Base there was a statue for Raymond Spruance. Supposedly there were two plaques of a pair of servicemen mounted at the base of Aang's Memorial Statue as well.
She adjusted the belt of her service uniform, again the heavier and more durable wool skirt, jacket, shirt and tie combo she normally wore on deployment, though she didn't have her boots with her so pumps would have to do, it was just an investigation anyway. Her peaked cap was the one she normally wore when in the field as well as opposed to her stiffer dress uniform version of the service cap. The center and sides of the crown were caving in downwards, crushed, as evidence of her tank's headphones wearing into the cap's form. The jacket was also stripped of the numerous decorations and cords that were displayed on the captain's dress uniform.
Regardless, the Earth Empire uniform, even the field/service version, was impressive and flattering, exuding a professional, sharp, and powerful image of the Empire and its army. Yasuho was readily noticed by everyone walking by, consequently, and although no one bothered her, many would come closer to say hi, talk highly of the Earth Empire, or come salute her in the case of the children who would run up to her. However, every now and then, she would catch sight of one or two people in a passing crowd that would give her a sour look of disapproval; she didn't care of course, but she noticed.
From a line of cars that were just cleared through the intersection on a green light, a navy and gray crown victoria patrol car veered from traffic and came to a halt on the curb flashing its hazards. This version was clearly marked "United Forces Department of Intelligence" and featured roof mounted lights as well as a bumper-mounted push bar. The driver's door opened and a uniformed Junichiro Stevenson emerged.
"Sorry I'm late," he called out, adjusting his own peaked cap.
"No worries!" Yasuho ran over, sliding into the passenger seat and shutting the door. "Went on a short tour of the ship while waiting."
Jun removed his cap and tossed it onto the dashboard. "The whole ship?" he put the car in drive, turned the signal on and was looking over his shoulder to merge back into car-saturated traffic. "Jeez, its a target-rich environment this morning," he remarked to himself, his way of saying there were many cars whizzing by.
"Yeah, the whole ship."
"Battleship Yamato?"
"Is there another museum ship?"
"It's a big ship!" Jun gunned the engine and managed to shoot the gap and fit in a perfectly sized opening in the traffic column. Finally he exhaled the breath he had been holding in.
"I was waiting for a long time!" Yasuho reminded him.
"I texted I'd pick you up at 9 AM! You came too early!"
"It's eleven…" Captain Aoshima informed.
Jun checked the clock in the dashboard, then his watch in disbelief, then his phone. "Shoot, that's my bad," he chuckled.
"Uh huh." She crossed her arms. Truthfully she didn't mind, walking through the old battleship occupied her for the entire two hours.
Yasuho took a moment to look over Jun's uniform as he drove, a look she hadn't seen on him before. The jacket was a dark navy blue with four brass buttons as well as smaller matching buttons to fasten the pocket flaps of the two breast and two hip box-pleated pockets. A crisp white shirt and a solid navy wool necktie made up the inner layers. Similar to her own uniform, he wore a black Sam Browne style pistol belt with the supporting shoulder strap, though Jun, being a non-bender, carried several additional handgun magazine pouches, where she carried just her gun, and two pouches of metal plates for general use. The trousers and the fabric of his peaked cap were made of the matching fabric, and the cap insignia was the coat of arms of the UFDI, a shield-like symbol that combined motifs of the four elements, and over the shield with its wings extended, instead of a typical eagle, was an owl symbolizing 'intelligence' or 'knowing', denoting the Department of Intelligence. His shoes were well-shined black plain-toe-bluchers, or "low quarters" as the US armed forces called them. Overall the actual uniform was akin to a 20th century American police uniform. In fact it reminded her of the uniform Tom Hanks wore in the film "The Green Mile".
"So where to?" she asked, finally settling in.
"Over to the industrial district again," Jun informed, accelerating as they merged onto the Kyoshi Bay Bridge expressway heading east. "I got a tip off from one of the patrol units over there that they had sighted his car. He is also known to be residing in that part of the city."
"You have your own large fleet of patrol officers? Isn't this the police's job?"
"Well, yes," Jun briefly answered. "UFDI isn't responsible for walking the beat, through the streets like an ordinary beat cop. Technically, we are kind of overstepping their boundaries as this is usually their work. And this is why their chief, Lin Beifong, hates my guts." He changed lanes. They rounded the bend in the elevated highway and were soon staring through the twin tower supports that carried Kyoshi Bridge. The large green towers and their heavy duty swooping cables towered over the expressway traffic; it was dizzying to try looking up at the tops of them. "But this information didn't come from my agents, it came from some RCPD patrol units."
"You keep tabs even on police radio broadcasts?"
"Well, yes. We do," Junichiro admitted, "But this wasn't from eavesdropping. You see, I got some 'pull' in their department with some of their cops, if you catch my drift."
"Pull?" Yasuho inquired for clarity.
"Influence. I get some insider information from her officers, especially the non-benders since they're kind of neglected. Kind of a 'I'll scratch your back and you scratch mine' kind of relation," he clarified.
"So what do you give them?"
"Other cases I either am too busy to handle or information that we have that their department may not have access to easily."
"Isn't that illegal?"
"I don't give them hyper classified things," Jun defended. "But they help me out, and I'll give them cases and leads that surely lead to commendations, promotions, and pay raises if they successfully bag 'em." While keeping the car steady on the straight route across the bridge, Jun fiddled with the dials on his car's radio, "I'm actually waiting for a follow up."
"1-Atago-12, 6-Bumi-16, come in."
"That's one of Beifong's cars," Jun clarified as he picked up the handpiece. "6-Bumi-16, 1-Atago-12, go ahead."
"Bumi? Atago?" Yasuho was puzzled.
"First number corresponds to the station they're assigned to, in our case '1' is UFDI headquarters, the one and only in this city. I was given creative authority when deciding the callsigns for our patrol units, and I named different stations' units after warships of the original US and Japanese fleets that came here during World War Two. RCPD gets their call signs from prominent figures of this world."
"Like King Bumi," Yasuho inferred.
"Yes, like the late King Bumi," Jun affirmed.
"Suspect's car has been spotted at a rundown boarding complex in the industrial district; he's rumored to be in the area. Address is 7231 Badger Mole Boulevard, be advised."
"10-4, 1-Atago-12 out." Jun flicked a switch to change to his own department's channels. "All uniformed and plain clothed UFDI units in the Industrial District vicinity, 1-Atago-12, be advised, target: Dang Zhen reported to be in the immediate area. Address: 7231 Badger Mole Boulevard. Target is a non-bender, believed to be armed and dangerous. Exercise caution."
He veered off and took the next exit ramp which would deposit them in the heart of the Industrial District.
Yasuho was amused, this was all new to her. Sure she had been on the radio and giving orders and announcements in battle, but this was law enforcement; a different setting, different codes and orders, and a different kind of enemy. Though, to her, criminals were criminals. The gun rack that carried longer and heavier weapons between them was outfitted with a submachine gun and several magazines.
"How was the transition for you?" she asked. "From the Marine Corps to the Department of Intel?"
"Took some getting used to," Junichiro revealed. "On one hand I was given a lot of directive authority as the department was pretty much new when President Raiko wanted me to head the branch. I had more authority than I did as an infantry officer, sure. But on the other hand the weapons available to me were very different and objectively a lot older. Though they have an awesome charm to them that I've grown to love. And the tactics are different too, at least in this setting in the cities."
"How so?"
"Well, weapon wise, take a look at this thing!" He reached over and tapped the long-arm that was mounted between them with his free hand, while speeding through the streets. "Good 'ole M1928a1 Thompson submachine gun! This thing is…technically new, as the United Republic Armory actively produces these… but gun-wise this is thing is ancient! Sokka himself carried one of these from the Battle of Kyoshi Island. Really fits the overall aesthetic of the world, and Republic City especially, though. I traded my M16 for this! It's supposed to be an SMG, but it's heavier than a rifle in this day and age! And longer. And heavier. Though it does shred people and, even though not practical, the 1928's ability to feed from the 50-round drum makes it handy in car chases." Jun then pointed his thumb towards the trunk, "And back there, for when I have to punch through the thick metal doors of those 40's-inspired Sato Mobiles, a trust M1 rifle." He stopped his hyper weapons presentation rant and turned to Yasuho. "Has your shooting skill improved?"
"Me? Slightly better, but I still don't shoot much at all," she admitted.
"Understandable. That's the nice thing about this baby, though. Slide that drum mag in there, hold down the trigger and let her rip. Not even kidding, mobster style! The '28's heavy enough on its own already and the drum mag is ridiculously heavy too so… practically no recoil!"
"You still have car chases here?"
"Every now and then, someone gets the idea of running."
"And you fire into a moving vehicle, from a moving vehicle? Amidst other civilian cars."
"Yes."
"Don't you just chase them until they screw up? Or until you effectively pin them?"
"Takes too long, way too much effort, and the person still can cause a lot of damage," Jun simply returned. "RCPD tries though, but their pursuits usually take longer as a result. I mean..have you ever given pursuit?" Jun was jokingly asking now. "I guess it would be hard to do that in a tank."
"We just shoot them."
"See?"
Jun let the car coast quietly past the run down boarding complex. There looked like there was barely a soul present, but sure enough there was the suspect's car with plates that matched the description.
"Central, 1-Atago-12, on scene at 7231 Badger Mole Boulevard. Show us code 6." He parked along the curb and started gathering his things to dismount.
"Code 6?"
"Officers on foot and investigating," Junichiro explained. He put his hat on, shut the door, and un-holstered his M1911 handgun. Yasuho followed his lead, drawing her P-38 as well.
Pushing open the front door of the building, the pair entered cautiously. If the target was still here, they didn't want to alert him prematurely. Ahead of them was a staircase which spiraled up the center of the building from lobby to roof. Jun looked up the eye of the staircase, clear to the roof of the building several stories above.
"In my experience, they're always on the top floors," he griped.
"I'm an earthbender, we could just bring the building down. Or I could simply elevate us up there," Yasuho offered.
"No, we don't know how many people are here and who's here. Could still be civillians present. We'll have to do this systematically." Jun looked up again, this time at the individual floors. "And that's a good amount of rooms to check." From one of the pouches on his belt he drew a small flashlight to mount under the barrel of his sidearm since it was a poorly lit interior. "I'll take point, could you cover my six?"
"Sure," Yasuho replied.
Junichiro still had his well-tuned firearm skills with him from his time in the armed forces. He carefully advanced up the stairs, checking each and every corner where a shooter could potentially be posted. Yasuho likened his movements and handling of his gun akin to that of the operators and special forces characters she had watched in American war movies. By comparison, she quietly stepped along in trail propping her gun loosely in her two hands at a low-ready position. She was more focussed on the magazine reserves of metal she carried if the situation suddenly turned deadly. She remembered to switch off her weapon's safety this time though.
"So," Junichiro quietly said, breaking the over-intensified silence. "You were born and raised in the Earth Kingdom, but what about your parents? If you don't mind me asking. Them too?"
"My father was from Ba Sing Se, and my mother from Omashu."
"And your father was the earthbender?"
Yasuho steadied herself on the handrailing, her heel had caught the edge of an uneven step and she nearly fell backward. "Actually my mother," she quietly said, her tone slightly down. "She worked for the Omashu mail system. My father wasn't a bender, but he was a very good businessman, he had even made a trip or two to America and Japan during the 'bubble economy era.' He really liked visiting Hawaii."
"You ever been?"
"Hawaii? No. But the army has given me the opportunity to venture to the Mechanized World a time or two," Yasuho continued, trying to steer the conversation a different route, for her own sanctity.
Jun paused, holding his open hand out communicating to Yasuho to hold position. There was a door cracked open in the hallway. The light from his 1911 illuminated half of the face of a small child who was peeking out into the hallway. The kid's parent soon joined the kid in the door way. "UFDI, hands where I can see them," he quietly ordered. The adult cooperated, telling the kid to do the same. "Slowly open the door with your foot." As he gave the order he motioned to slowly push up on the door. Finally the pair had positioned where they could see clearly into the run down apartment. No threats. Jun lowered his gun. "Stay inside, ma'am, and lock your doors for now. There's a dangerous suspect in the area. Are you a bender?"
"Yes," she quietly answered, a fire bender.
"That's good. Stay inside, do not open the door for anyone except law-enforcement. Someone tries to break in, you light 'em up."
The single parent quietly nodded and motioned her daughter inside, closing the door and locking it behind her.
Jun shined his light forward and motioned Yasuho to follow. "So," he continued nonchalantly as if nothing happened. "Mom worked in the mail chutes of Omashu. Was she like you, earth bending wise?"
"Oh no. Mom was a lot stronger," Yasuho recalled. "I'm weak and scrawny compared to her. Mail chute work wasn't quarry work, but it's fast, constant, and long-hour work."
"So she's a tank, is what you're saying."
"Yeah pretty much. Without actually being a bodybuilder," Yasuho chuckled to herself.
"Making trips to the Mechanized World…especially back then.. wasn't cheap. Especially for people of this world," Jun observed, peeking the next corner to the ascending stairs.
"It still isn't," Yasuho added. "He worked and lived in the upper ring of Ba Sing Se. His trading company had connections with Mitsubishi at the time."
"A wealthy and successful company man and an Omashu mail chute attendant. How does that happen?"
"He and some of his coworkers and their Japanese partners went drinking after trade talks..typical nomikai stuff..and they decided they were going to try riding the mail chutes in the dark. Mind you, this is very illegal and very punishable if they were caught by authorities. But they were really drunk." Yasuho paused suddenly to check down the previous stair at the floor below where a sudden noise and shuffling was heard. She lowered her gun, resting one hand on her belt where her steel plates were carried and was already undoing the clasp for the cover. It was just another apartment dweller unlocking his room door. He was startled seeing the armed Earth Empire officer looking down on him from above and quickly followed her quiet motions to get into his room and shut the door. "Anyways, he and some colleagues came flying down the chutes, a lot faster than they thought they would. People always are startled by the reality of how fast those sleds fly down the tracks. So they are either screaming of fear or alcohol-fueled excitement in the middle of the night. My mom, luckily, was the attendant at the next station and was the one to catch them from rocketing through uncontrolled. My dad, being the least hammered with his senses still there, pleaded with her to hide them as the cops were surely closing in…And she did. She covered for them. And that's how that started."
"One heck of a story of 'how I met your mother,'" Jun commented. "So you're fully, ethnic Earth Kingdom."
"Yup."
"You came off as Japanese to me way back when I first saw you."
"And I do get that a lot. The name doesn't help counter that either." She turned the table to him. "How about you, chief? I feel like I've talked about myself a lot over the years, but not too much about you has been revealed."
"Well," Jun was slightly caught off guard. He didn't really talk about himself much, and no one really asked. "What do you want to know?
"I have somewhat learned about who you're grandfather is. But how about you? Where does 'Junichiro' come from for example? Paired with your last name of Stevenson. You look more Asian than Caucasion."
"Granddad ended up marrying Japanese. Dad ended up marrying Japanese. And here I am," he answered in the most simplistic and straightforward way possible.
"Why the Marine Corps?"
"Granddad was a Marine. Dad was a Marine."
"And you were born..where?"
"I was born on the naval base right here in Republic Ciy, actually," Jun revealed. "It's US territory so, got the citizenship. Studied in the US throughout school. A little bit in Hawaii, and a little bit in the Bay Area in California. Commissioned in the Corps after graduating with a history degree and completing four years of ROTC in uni," he continued to report.
Yasuho rolled her eyes. He was not the best story teller. Far from it. Despite that, she did take interest in listening to his past, no matter how cut and dry he made it out to be.
"...and between considering a job in the LAPD and the offer I got from President Raiko to head up the newly formed UFDI..the choice seemed obvious," he concluded. He could hear some banter and talking just a few floors above, and hastened his pace to get up there following a gut feeling.
"Well, cap," Yasuho responded, "Thanks for the autobiography. But what about more interesting details?"
"What do you mean 'more interesting?'"
"I don't know..like, who have you dated before..? Or something like that?"
Jun paused, lowered his gun briefly, and turned his head back to give her a look of 'really?' Yasuho just shrugged both her shoulders.
"You talk about these kind of things with your crewmembers?"
"I do, as a matter of fact," she said, with a matter-of-fact tone. "Not just crew, as there's only so many ways to pass long driving times across the expanse of the empire, but also soldiers too. So not just my fellow girls."
"Now's not a good time."
"I literally just gave you my family background for the past four floors," the captain complained. "You didn't mind then."
"I gave you mine too," he tried to justify.
"That hardly counts for an equal trade. Come on, tell me about goes on off the battlefield, and away from the troops, Captain America."
He sighed. "Okay fine, since you're my sort of… confidant. What do you want to know? Admittedly there have been a few I've dated." He moved more quick through the building floors. The faster they got to confronting their target, the faster he could end this conversation.
"A few, he says," she pouted, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "Okay, what about the longest relationship?"
"Longest…" Jun shined his light across the floor above them, checking each door was shut and locked. "That's actually the more recent one. Dated for about five years."
Yasuho raised an eye brow at this. "Five years, wow. Must have been some girl."
"Yeah, she was." He pushed up the next flight of stairs.
"What broke you two off?" She tried to keep up with his increased speed.
"Slight difference of views," Jun revealed. "We're still real close, though. She's like a caring upperclassman to me..of sorts? I wouldn't say she's like a sister. Or..maybe more like a..best friend."
"You still talk to her often?"
"Yeah, recently actually," he further added.
"Hm," Yasuho suppressed. "Well, that's good that you were able to make up."
"How about you?" Junichiro quickly spun the table back to her. He took his eyes off from over the front sights briefly just to watch her get flustered.
"Me? Well..I've dated one person, ever. Way back when I first joined the army. Decent guy, but we didn't last long..And of course, there are the many men, of the army or of civilians, that come to me, but I've never gotten with any of them." She seemed to fiddle and shift uncomfortably as she explained. Just the reaction Jun wanted to see, he laughed to himself. "How about, currently? Anyone? Even if just interested in them?"
"No!-" she quickly blurted out. That was an extremely sudden and very responsive answer. It was more of a yelp than a flat reply. He had barely finished asking the question. "Not really," she anxiously said. "No one I'm interested in."
"Right," he simply called her out on her bluff.
They had reached the top floor of the building. Sure enough, there was a shut door at the end of the hall with a light shining through the gap underneath. Where there was muffled conversation coming from it earlier, it was now dead quiet. Unnaturally quiet since, Yasuho's audible burst of noise. Jun held up a closed fist, signaling to hold, then pointed ahead at the door with his two fingers. She got closer behind, stacking up and getting ready to potentially breach the door. The pair approached the door hugging the wall, consciously avoiding a straight line to the door. Jun posted right beside it, Yasuho closely in trail. She re-holstered her sidearm and had her hands at the ready.
"Be ready to breach," he whispered to her.
Reaching his hand to the very middle of the door, Jun firmly pounded on its wooden surface. Knock knock knock. "UFDI, open up, Mr. Zhen!"
Silence. He knocked again. "Mr. Zhe-!"
Bang! Pop! Pop! Three bullets flew through the wooden door, right where someone knocking on a door normally would have been!
"Fuck!" Jun recoiled back away from the door, grabbing onto his cap to make sure it didn't fly off his head instinctively. The dust and debris of the polyboard puffed from where the slugs pieced the door and wall. Jun pushed Yasuho back, protectively, away from the funnel of death where a small storm of bullets were zipping through. There was more than one gun. "Breach! Breach! Breach!" he yelled above the gunfire. "Breacher up!"
Yasuho shuffled around him, positioning herself next to the door. Simultaneously Jun primed the single flashbang he carried at the back of his belt. Firmly grounding her right foot back, and stamping forward with her left, the entire door frame and a decent amount of wall surrounding it, suddenly broke from the rest of the wallway. She thrust her arms forth sending the entire chunk of wall careening into the room, right at the potential shooters. Following the wall came the flashbang Jun bounced around the corner off the opposite wall into the compartment.
"Flashbang!-"
BANG! The stun grenade went off. A sudden blinding flash of light radiated from the inside. And it became quiet. "Push! Let's go," Jun rallied.
He forcefully rounded the corner, quickly sweeping the entryway with his service weapon. Yasuho followed in trail, open handed and at the ready. "UFDI! On the ground now!
There was no one. The space was small, but it had a limited line of sight. From the door there was a small hallway that fed into the shared living and bedroom. A small room for a small kitchen was to the immediate left which offered potential concealment, and there was a bathroom door on the right side which was shut.
"Dang Zhen!" Jun called out into the small space while slowly advancing into the apartment. "Last warning! You and your buddies come out with your hands up! Or you will be shot!" He slowly and methodically cleared what he could see in the kitchen compartment, hugging the right side wall. He motioned to Yasuho, opposite from him on the left, to check the bathroom that was right in front. A single steel plate levitated out from one of her pouches, he watched its blunt squared edges suddenly fold in and compress on its corners, becoming a small and sharp dagger-like shape with a sharpened point. With her other hand she metalbent the door knob, rotating it and pushing the door open forcefully. Clear, from what she could see.
Jun snapped back to front. "Dang!-"
Pop!
One of the other shooters peaked the corner from in the living room. He missed, but Jun was more accurate in the draw. He fired, striking the shooter in the neck! His opponent recoiled back, falling onto the coffee table and smashing the glass table top. Blood splattered on the drywall, and continued to gush out from the gunshot wound onto the floor. Jun pushed forward, but he didn't see the other assailant that was hidden out of Yasuho's sight further in the dark bathroom.
The floating steel dagger flew! Zipping right past Jun's head, as he dove out of the man's way, and impaling deep into the opponent's stomach. Another quick follow up sent a blunt plate of steel embedding deep in his shoulder. The stocky man was thrown back, having taken two painful hits. He dropped his pistol but pulled the steel point that she had driven into his stomach and lunged at her, as if unphased! Jun steadied himself after tucking out of the way. He was briefly distracted by the sight of the man he had shot, gurgling and rapidly bleeding to death, that he went right past Dang who was waiting behind the next corner with a gun trained for Yasuho.
She quickly lunged out of his way, but unknowingly into the path of the waiting gun. Her own assailant crashed and rebounded off of the wall she was just standing against. Readying another set of plates from her belt, she didn't see Dang standing there until it was too late. Her eyes shot open wide, even though her body continued to flow through the motions.
"Yasuho!"
BANG! A shot rang out. Junichiro managed to spin around and shoot the gun out of his hand. Paying no regard, Dang overcame the shock and quickly charged at the Earth Empire captain, grabbing hold of her waist and forcefully tackling her to the ground. He was bulkier and much more built and quickly overcame her, like a freight train hitting a car. The two of them crashed through the drywall and were now in the kitchen. The other threat switched his sights from Yasuho to Jun, having taken another hit from her steel. Junichiro tried to draw a bead on him, but the man quickly closed the gap and took control of his gun, pushing his aim away. Junichiro was punched square in the gut, winding him. After several successive hits, he involuntarily dropped the gun which was then kicked away in the tussle. Despite being wounded, he still was able to grapple with the chief inspector and toss him across the room towards the sliding door for the balcony.
Yasuho and Dang were locked in a very intimate fight. He was too close to her for her to effectively use her bending, and was back-to-the-floor in the vulnerable position for this fight. Repeatedly she moved out of the way from under the criminal, but was re-pinned before she could complete a bending form. He knew he had to make it hard for her to bend, as much as he could; he had to stay practically on her.
Jun drew his collapsible baton, getting up and facing his opponent. "Let's dance, big boy," he taunted.
The wounded assailant roared as he charged the officer. A swing and a hit to the stomach staved off the man, who recoiled back in pain. But he persisted! He charged again, head down and at Jun with the full speed of a moose-lion. He landed a strong blow to the crown of the attacker's head, practically bashing in part of the skull, but it didn't stop the charge. Jun was shoved into the wall behind him, smashing a large indent into the drywall and knocking off the picture frames that hung there. He was grappled and thrown again, landing beside the target he had shot earlier who was now dead from the gunshot.
Yasuho groaned and tried to wrestle free but her arms were pinned by Dang. He had a tight hold of her wrists as he held her to the floor. With just the mobility of her fingers, she gained influence over one of her remaining plates of metal. It shot up from her belt and firmly struck her attacker on the underside of his jaw, just enough to get him to give her enough clearance to tuck her knees close to her chest from under him. Now with both feet placed against his chest, she kicked him away as hard as she could. Standing back up as fast as she could, she launched two stray plates of metal from the floor towards Jun's own attacker, intercepting him as he charged at her partner who was still recovering. One pinged off his thick skull the other wrapped around one of his wrists and pinned him to the wall!
Jun's hand felt something as he swept it under the nearby couch, still getting up after being pounded and thrown. It was his gun! His absolute unit of an attacker broke free again, Yasuho's metal restraint was ineffective if the wall it was embedded in was practically rotting. Junichiro took hold, and aligned his sights. Just in time! Bang! Bang! Bang! Two shots to the chest and another to the head. The beast came crashing down on top of Jun. Lights out, but the man's weight was heavy. Trying to wriggle free, he had one free arm which still held his pistol, but not the greatest maneuverability. Dang came stumbling back, conveniently, after being kicked away by Yasuho. Jun leveled his pistol but the target caught sight. Just as he squeezed the trigger Dang booked it for the back fire escape. The bullet shattered a standing lamp in the back of the room. Jun finally wriggled free.
"Stop!" He ran to the balcony and looked down, only to see his target already half down the fire escape. He sighted his target and fired again but missed, the bullet striking a rail of the ladder. "Damn it!"
Yasuho caught up, winded but still in the fight.
"He's making a break for his car!" Jun exclaimed, we need to get down there!
The metal bender looked to the stone balcony. "We'll follow!"
"What?!"
She took a few steps back and blew out the already crumbling balcony wall.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"Come on!" She started a sprint toward the ledge!
"W-Wai-Wai-Wait!" Jun panicked. Before he could react or register, one of Yasuho's cable spools had wrapped around his waist. His last sight from the balcony was his partner leaping straight off the ledge over ten-stories of drop to the pavement. She looked at him as she leapt and mid-jump sternly said, "DO NOT. LOOK. UP!" It was a split second but that had to be the closest thing to a death glare he had seen from her.
"AH!" he shouted as he was pulled by her cable, over the ledge and down to the ground.
Her second roll of cable, mounted on her opposite hip shot out and grabbed hold of a nearby drain pipe. With Yasuho as the central connecting point, the pair swung towards the ground for a controlled crash. The wind from the fall caught the hem of her skirt. Junichiro snapped his head to look down, or ahead, or literally any other direction but up, grabbing hold of his cap to make sure it didn't fly off.
He was first to hit the ground, but their target had already started his car and was erratically reversing out of the alley, smashing into several garbage cans on the way out. Squealing was heard as Dang slammed on the brakes and the tires skidded. The rear of his car veered left and struck their patrol car in the left corner of the bumper before he put the car in gear and began speeding down the road.
Jun fumbled with the keys that were deep in the hip pocket of his coat. He tossed them to Yasuho suddenly.
"You're up!"
She barely caught them. "What? Me?!"
"YES! YOU!" He jumped and slid across the hood of the car and quickly opened the passenger side. "It's either drive or shoot! And we both know you can't shoot."
Yasuho quickly slid into the driver's seat, started the car, put in gear, and pushed the gas to the floor. Jun didn't even bother strapping in, he only flinched a little as the car sped off and his door shut itself from the acceleration. He was preoccupied with readying the Thompson machine gun.
Dang took a sharp right, and Yasuho followed. She jerked the wheel sharply and the car lurched as the tires squealed. Jun was caught off guard, the cumbersome drum magazine he had in his hand flew over.
"Ow!" Yasuho exclaimed, after the magazine was thrown against her leg. "Keep hold of your shit!"
"Try driving smoother!"
"We're in a chase! And YOU pushed this on me!"
Jun was leaning over trying to get the drum which was now well in the driver side footwell. His cap was now partially obstructing her view of the road and him leaning over wasn't making it easier to steer. "I'm trying to drive here!"
"Sorry, just a bit closer!"
Frustrated, she metal bent the magazine over to him. Finally he sat back up, exhaling. "Thank you."
The window whirred as Jun rolled it down. He grabbed the handpiece from the radio and clipped it to the shoulder strap of his pistol belt. Jun slid the 50-round drum into battery and racked the bolt to the rear, then he wrapped the unused seatbelt multiple times tightly around his waist, tied it off, and began to seemingly position himself to sit on the window sill, leading out of the car.
"What are you doing?" Yasuho asked, concerned.
"Just try and keep her steady," Jun simply advised. "Don't worry, I'll be fine! I do this all the time!"
"You do?"
"Yeah, in an empty lot with the car standing still."
He quickly flicked the roof switch for the lights and siren. Flashing, rotating red and white lights flashed from the roof and grill mounted light rack, accompanied with the drone and cry of a 1940's style klaxon police siren. The wind rushed by Jun's face from the speed. He suddenly remembered his hat and quickly tossed into the car at its typical position on the dash.
"Any and all available units in the Industrial District," he yelled onto the radio. "1-Atago-12, in pursuit of fleeing suspect: Dang Zhen! Westbound on On-Ji Drive! A matte gray Future Industries Manhattan Imperial Satomobile, license plate: Victor-Sierra-9-8-9. Code 3!"
Several units called in on the radio responding but Jun took no notice. He shouldered his M1928 and squeezed the trigger, letting forth a burst of .45 caliber ammo. The rounds peppered the back of Dang's car, tearing numerous bullet holes through the all-steel body. The second burst shattered the back window. "Damn, this thing is heavy," Jun groaned, holding on to the car as best he could. He had good trigger discipline and good accuracy despite the circumstances; not a single stray bullet was unaccounted for and all were hitting the target.
Yasuho swerved around the growing civilian traffic, keeping very close on the target's tail. Dang was starting to grow frustrated at being unable to shake her, all the while trying not to get shot. If Jun was unsure if he would hit all his shots, or the moment a civilian car crossed into his line of sight, he would immediately lower his weapon and then return to shoulder once the obstruction had cleared. It was frustrating, but it was also rush hour. Finally a clearing! He held the trigger for a long continual burst. The deafening keys of the Chicago Typewriter chattered away, filling the opponent's vehicle with lead and forcing him to swerve. Jun swore he managed to tag the target in the shoulder, as he thought he saw blood spurt onto the windshield. The heavy bolt clacked forward. Empty.
Jun slid the drum out of the magazine well and tossed it back in, reaching an empty awaiting hand toward Yasuho. "Magazine," he requested.
He slid the next 20-round stick into battery and opened fire again. Again, a hail of pistol rounds tore into the enemy car, but he kept speeding and swerving along. "These cars really take a beating!" Jun had joked about the need to mount fifty-cals in patrol cars. The last round of his burst blew out the rear left tire. Jun dropped the empty mag, letting it fall to the street. "Magazine!"
"This is taking too long!" Yasuho yelled at him.
"You got a better idea?"
"Get in here! Hold the wheel!"
"What?!"
"HOLD THE WHEEL!"
Jun slid back in, gun still in one hand, and with his left he took hold of the steering wheel.
"Hold her straight. I'll finish this," Yasuho instructed. She pushed the gas into the floor mat as far as she physically could, the v8 engine roared, and she closed the distance closer.
Dang stuck a hand out and back, armed and carrying a pistol. Two pops! Two bullets! One struck the side mirror, another flew through the windshield just missing Yasuho's head by a few inches.
"Shit!" Jun swerved suddenly.
"Hold it steady!" Yasuho scolded. "I need to focus. Need to get this right!"
More patrol cars joined in the pursuit, two coming into line behind their car.
Her hands in front of her, she swung and pulled! Her metal bending got the right target- or atleast..the right car! The forward axle of the target car snapped sharply! The severed bar dug into the street and Dang's car suddenly sprung into the air and into a violent role. Yasuho slammed on the brakes, taking back the steering wheel and skidding the car to a stop in a horizontal orientation, perfect for setting up a shooting position over the trunk and hood. Dang's car finally came to rest with an exhausted metallic crash. Smoke poured from its radiator. The 1940's inspired car body looked like an aluminum soda can that had been kicked around all day.
The two of them quickly dismounted and took positions behind their patrol car. Jun tapped in a fresh stick magazine and had his gun at the ready. Two officers of the RCPD were the first to approach, staging beside them.
"Dang Zhen! I know you're still up, buddy. Show me both of those hands!" Jun ordered.
He held one out.
"Both! Two! Ni! Dos! Zwei!" he reiterated.
"Other one's broke!" the wanted murderer shouted back.
"Then let it limply hang out of the car!"
"I can't!"
"Well you better cut it off, and toss it out! I need to see both!"
The two RCPD officers shook their heads, buying into it and pushed forward to arrest the suspect.
"Wait" Jun insisted. "Don't!"
They advanced anyway.
"Dang Zhen," they began to announce. "You're under arrest for resisting arrest and for the murder of-"
He suddenly flung the door open and shot the arresting officer's partner! Before he could react, the lead cop was suddenly taken hostage, with Dang holding his hand gun to his head. Yasuho noted the five metal rings he wore; one on each finger.
"No amount of this thin metal armor is gonna save you from this!" he threatened.
Jun raised his weapon, and Yasuho tensed up. All the surrounding forces were drawn on him now, but had no window to shoot. The hostage situation made it suddenly a thousand times more challenging.
"Let him go! Now!" Junichiro ordered.
"Why? And let you shoot me? I don't think so."
"There's no situation where you're going to walk out of this, Mr. Zhen," Jun threatened. "This time, I am going to make sure you get what's due."
"No! You do not get it. I am walking out of this! And you are going to let it happen. Or else! This man, this 'peacekeeper' is gonna join his friend down there, in death!"
"The equalists are gone, Dang! No one supports your ideals! You're nothing more than a pathetic joke. A cringe-worthy embarrassment!"
"No! You! Are playing apologetic to these benders! All these people thinking they're above the average person just because of chance! Luck of the draw? Thousands of years of war instigated by benders with all us non-benders caught in the slaughter. We live in fear and oppression on the daily! But I got their attention now! Oh yeah! And now? I don't need Amon, he's no different than them! No different than your fascist girlfriend there you kiss up to," he insinuated, gesturing to Yasuho. "I'm going to be the face of the next revolution! One bullet at a time!" He pushed the barrel against the officer's head, who was now panicking and begging for help.
"Put it down! Dang!" Jun shouted once more.
"Say goodnight, officer!"
Jun braced. The hostage shut his eyes tightly. But to their surprise, no gunshot.
"W-What is going on?!" Dang struggled, panicked. His gun and hand were shaking, not out of control but because his muscles were fighting an invisible force. The police officer could hear the slide assembly and magazine rattling in the pistol from the strain. His hostage taker let go, bringing his other hand up to try and muscle control of the gun. No avail. Instead, the gun, with his finger still jammed on the trigger pressed itself against his own head! "Hey! What? What's going on?!" The hammer pulled itself back!
Jun lowered his Thompson. He was shocked too. What was happening? He got his answer soon enough. Looking over his shoulder to his right, there was Yasuho with deadly, scary, focus, and precision in her eye. There were short, concise, and sharp movements with her two hands, until her right hand came to halt with her index and middle fingers joined and bent as if she was holding an invisible gun's trigger. Her other open palm, held the frame in place against: against the target's head. That hand kept the gun in place, her trigger hand wasn't bending the gun but rather the small metal rings on his fingers.
The gun pushed itself harder against his temple. "Stop! S-Stop!" Dang yelled. "Alright! Alright! I give up! I GIVE UP!"
Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed. Yasuho didn't stop. She had no intention to. This murderer, this daofei, had to pay for what he had done. They were all the same to her.
"Yasuho!" Jun called over. "Yasuho!"
She looked at him, breaking her death gaze.
"Stop! Stop! You can't get directly involved! Officially," he shook his head, his eyes wide with concern. There would be repercussions that could be traced to her if a member of the Earth Empire Army, in uniform, was directly involved forcing a self-execution of a criminal.
She vehemently exhaled, frustrated. The long stream of hot air rushed from her nose, as she dropped her form, letting him go.
Dang's right arm and gun dropped limply by his side.
Jun turned back to him. "It's over Dang! Drop the weapon!"
He didn't.
"You think you can just do that to me?!" He was bursting with anger again.
"Settle down, Dang!"
"Huh?! You think you can impose your will on me?! Make me shoot myself?! This is what I mean! This right here! These benders! They need to be reminded who's in charge now!" He began to advance imposingly at Yasuho. "My body! My gun! My Will! I am in charge! Me! You bit-!"
He raised his gun! Junichiro unloaded his magazine, letting his submachine gun chatter away! But Yasuho was faster on the draw. Another sharpened-to-a-point piece of her reserve steel zipped ahead of the burst of .45 ACP slugs, and impaled itself at the base of his neck.
Junichiro lowered his weapon, dropping the magazine. Smoke poured from the cutts compensator of his M1928A1. The officer that was previously a hostage fell back to behind the perimeter, still hyperventilating.
Jun gave him a look, knowing he was at least paying attention. "If you're going to contact dispatch. Save the city time and resources, call the coroner and one ambulance for your partner, one gunshot wound. Suspect's not gonna be needing one. He was dead before he hit the ground.
The officer nodded in agreement and continued running to his patrol car to get on the radio.
Jun set his smoking long arm against the car beside Yasuho who still stood there in silence, and simply patted her on the shoulder. "Good shit," he remarked as he put on his disposable gloves and walked to the downed criminal. "One less murdered. And now, a squared off finish to murder case of Sakari Chang."
"I thought you said there was just one of him," Yasuho called, following him to the scene.
"I thought so too," Jun answered. "Didn't think there was going to be another two." He knelt down and pried the firearm from the deceased's hand. A very familiar shape. Identical to Yasuho's own. This caught Jun's attention. He looked at the gun closer. "A P-1 pistol," he observed. "There's only one faction in this world that fields and issues dated German handguns, specifically the P-1" He looked toward Yasuho.
"There's no way he is a part of the Earth Empire's Army," she defensively said. Though she was also intrigued by this murder's choice of handgun.
"Never said he was," Jun said. "This is just an Earth Empire handgun. Gun itself doesn't have allegiance to anyone except whoever actively wields it." He turned the frame over for further examination. "...Though I am curious as to how he got it."
"Maybe he skimmed it off a transport? Or he ambushed a security officer in one of our unified cities?" Yasuho tried to come up with potential reasons. "Our uniforms don't make us invincible either, criminals don't have restraints…"
"That is true, and possible…but not likely. Ah ha," he remarked finding the scratches on the frame..or specifically, the lack of any dremeling or etching. There were no scratches or marks, no need to grind out any serial numbers as there were none to begin with. "There's no markings on the slide or the frame. As if it was manufactured and never given a serial number. Either this is some really really clean grinding work, or someone somewhere in the empire is manufacturing unaccounted guns."
"Could have been a manufacturing mistake," Yasuho chimed in.
"Yeah," Jun considered, "Could be. This guy might have also lifted this off of a transport of manufactured P-1 slides and frames before they were made up into a full gun since I know you guys engrave the serial number after the gun is fully assembled. But that also seems like a lot of effort for something as small as a handgun."
"Where would you even begin to look, though?"
"I don't know yet," Jun answered, placing the gun by the side of the deceased and standing up again. "But I have an idea of where to start. However, there are things I have to handle before that."
"Like what?"
"Welp," Jun rested his hands on his belt and tipped his cap back on his head. "I'll have to drop by the apartment that we trashed in that fight and get whatever I can on those other two. Then I'll have to file a report on all of that. Then I'm probably going to get chewed out again by Police Chief Lin Beifong. And then, I am probably going to get chewed out by President Raiko," Jun accepted, chuckling to himself slightly. "Yeah that'll be fun. I'll uh..meet up with you later tonight? The bar at the Sei'naka?"
Yasuho nodded and grinned sympathetically. "Sure."