On The Edge
Edogawa City, Tokyo Prefecture
"Everyone, please stand back. This street is closed off temporarily. There's been an escalating situation with the local Yakuza, and we ask that you please remain behind the barricades. This area will be reopened shortly."
"What? My shop's down there!" A lady protested.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but it's to protect you and the safety of the public."
Lowering the megaphone, the teen gave a sarcastic sigh. This incident just had to take place at midday, the most inopportune time of all. He wasn't doing anything new, just the standard procedure of "make up a story until the conclusion of the operation". As long as it wasn't too far-fetched and voiced by someone that looked official, the public could be kept comfortably at bay. There wouldn't be anything to worry about.
"I understand your frustration, and we're getting the ransom to you as I speak. It will be in your hands shortly."
"Well, you better hurry up! You've got five minutes until I start putting bullets in these people!" the presumed leader hollered back in his cellphone, pressing his gun against a lady's head just that little bit harder.
"You will have your money, just sit tight and remain on this call."
The gang leader kept his phone on the call, muttering curses at such an inconvenient holdup. He and his buddies had the guns, why be bossed around when he was the boss himself?
The hushed steps of their boots amongst the concrete made small echoes up and down the stairwell. Whether the bad guys knew or not, there was trouble coming their way.
As usual, the DA had priority over any law enforcement, and they were the first to catch wind and dispatch the appropriate fireteams. In terms of being conspicuous, LilyBell uniforms certainly got full marks for effort. White base with teal accents? What was this, the toothpaste convention? At least the team leaders got red uniforms compared to the rest.
But if looks were to be laughed at, their combat capabilities definitely weren't. This kind of tough situation was what they were drilled for, and their equipment showed. Medium rated kevlar plates, ARX-160 assault rifles, they meant business dealing with their unwanted visitors. "Local Yakuza"? That was a funny way to say "these people are a bit more dangerous than that". Armed criminals holed up in the upper story of the headquarters of some management consultancy. Some poor office workers just happened to get caught in the midst of them rudely busting in.
Five boys took one side of the door, their Bravo counterparts on the other. Given the fact a wall separated them from the commotion taking place, the ten of them had to press on hearing this no-good crony get his kicks. All in the name of a planned out ruse, of course.
"Alpha Team is in position," Alpha lead radioed.
"Copy that. Breach and clear at your discretion," their overwatch at HQ responded. Satisfied, he signaled his boys to be ready in their positions.
Except none of his team was focused on the door, they were all craning for a look outside the windows. Someone was approaching that wasn't supposed to be here.
"What the hell?" his lead looked back confused at his teammate's quip, until he nodded out the window. "Up there."
Drawn by the advice, he spotted it himself. Dark colored figure, presumably a male, running along the edge of the adjacent building's roof. They were in awe as it almost serenely leapt the gap and crossed over onto the roof-the same one they were under.
HQ had to know about this. "Control, we have visual on an unknown making entrance onto the roof."
"Alpha, standby." A brief moment passed. "Alpha lead, can you identify the unknown?"
"Negative, I've lost visual. They're on the roof now."
"They're not even on our comms," Bravo lead mused.
"One minute! Where is it!?" Alpha lead nearly jumped in startlement at the ruckus behind the wall.
"Just a moment, sir," a modulated voice responded. The boss let a particularly colorful exclamation after that. Seriously, what was HQ doing? Putting their heads in the sand? They had to get in there now.
"What the-" The boss never got to finish. Cut off abruptly by a single gunshot, resonating throughout the hallway, and shaking the teams down to the bone. Unsuppressed, but booming like the sharp sound of thunder. They'd gotten used to the modest fire rate of an AK and their own rifles, but nothing like this.
There was an awfully dragged silence. Then all chaos broke loose behind the wall. What, with the sounds of gunfire, objects getting tossed around, and panicked shrieks from some of the hostages, it all sounded like a wild bull rush in a flash. "After him!" Someone inside barked before another booming shot cracked the air in response.
"Alpha, Bravo teams, our negotiator has reported hearing gunshots. What's happening?" HQ radioed urgently.
"Control, unknown has possibly infiltrated the target room. Firefight's broken out."
"Affirmative. Breach now. All units, eliminate remaining hostiles and secure the hostages."
"Roger." About time. He signaled back to the rest of the team. "Prepare to breach."
Ready at the doors, Alpha leader gave the hand signal to his Bravo lead opposite him. He acknowledged, whipping out a sledgehammer, moving himself a step back, and heaving the heavy tool up high. One nod, and that was enough. A swing of heavy metal, and the door was rudely knocked out of the way.
Exactly as they trained, Alpha swept one way into the room, Bravo the opposite direction. The remaining cronies wouldn't have much hope against precise, methodical takedowns with double taps to their craniums.
Well, if there were actually any left to deal with.
"Room clear!" Bravo leader declared, much to the confusion of everyone else.
"Clear? What do you mean-" Alpha lead's teammate stopped the moment he saw the scattered bodies and AK rifles. "Oh."
The only things left living were the anxious forms of the hostages huddled up against the wall.
"Secure these people," he instructed his fellow boys. Whilst the office workers were being tended to and escorted out, he took an overall scan of the room. Judging by the mess of work tables, strewn papers, and toppled chairs, he perceived the criminals likely surprised by the first shot and then scrambling to avenge their boss.
Speaking of the boss, that guy was not a pretty sight. Alpha leader walked over to what remained of him, partly aghast at what lay at the feet.
"Ugh. Talk about losing your temper…and head," Bravo lead mused having come over to observe alongside.
"Hello? Anyone there? Hello?" Some modulated voice was speaking near the boss-right, they saw it. The boss's cellphone, still on the line with their negotiator. Well, "negotiator", it was just part of the overall plan.
Alpha lead picked up the phone. "Yeah, this is Alpha leader. The targets are dead."
"Wait, what? Who did it?"
"If I had to guess, a guy we saw hop onto our building."
"Any casualties?"
"None taken."
"Huh. Wonder what our director is gonna say about this."
"We'll probably be there to hear it. Get yourself back to base, you've done enough."
"Sure thing." With that, Alpha lead hung up and tossed the phone onto the corpse of its former owner. At least be polite and give their stuff back, he thought before picking up some of the chatter from his teammates.
"Those guys that went after that guy, they're dead too."
"Some of the hostages are wounded, but they can be walked out."
He pressed back into his mic switch. "Control, all hostiles are KIA, hostages are secure. Awaiting further instructions."
He was half hoping for something about heading back to base. Of course, that'd be too easy. "Alpha team, we have a visual on the unknown. Looks like they're heading for the rooftop. Pursue and apprehend if able."
"Understood," he replied, albeit reluctantly, before turning back to his team. "Alpha, listen up. We have a new objective. That guy we saw? We're going to try and catch him."
"You cannot be serious," one of his teammates protested.
"HQ's going to be all over us if they don't see we tried." He had to remind him of the rhetoric. "Let's go!"
Much to his and his team's chagrin, they were hauling their rumps back out of the room whilst Bravo team took care of the hostages. Following signs on the walls, they violently shoved doors open into the main stairwell of the building.
"Up the stairs!" Alpha lead shouted, holstering his rifle just to get it out of the way. They clambered their way up the flights, their arduous breathing echoing throughout the stairwell. Rushing to the top of the stairs and busting the door open revealed the harsh brightness of the sun. Turns out this guy led them right to the rooftop-and speak of it, there he was heading right to the edge.
"There he is! Hey! Stop!" someone on the team barked, except they were sounding cooked from their desperate sprint.
"He's not gonna listen, idiot!" another teammate shot back.
With the mustering of strength in the legs, Alpha lead tried, he really did try to catch up. But it wasn't even close as the figure gracefully leapt off the roof and onto the next one over. No way he just did that!, he thought. He ran to the very end until there was no more rooftop before digging his heels to a stop.
He looked across the gap, then back down in amazement. 8 meters, as small as it sounded on paper, looked a long way over, and that wasn't accounting for the fact they were five stories up. Also that he and his team were bogged down by their rifles, sidearms, plate carriers, and other equipment. So yeah, no chance they were going to attempt a leap of faith anytime soon.
He had to concede defeat. "Control, Alpha lead. Unknown got away, unable to pursue further."
Understandably, HQ didn't sound too pleased. "'Unable to pursue'? What's the hold up?"
"You come here and make the long jump this guy just did," he curtly snapped.
Silence for a moment, before he could make out a sigh on the other end. "Alright, just get your rumps back to base as soon as possible."
"Copy that." He looked back at his boys. "You guys good?"
Their collective heavy panting acted as a kind of hoarse choir. He'd take that as a "no" for now.
Unbelievable, he thought. Outright left in the dust by this mystery man. Although, Alpha lead had to partially admit that whoever this guy was, he somewhat appreciated the assist. Did the dirty work for them and didn't ask for anything else. Then again, what was HQ thinking, sending them after this guy like they were policemen? Shouldn't that other group rumored about in DA be taking care of this person?
It was a boatload to ponder on during the long trek back down all five stories. Once down at the bottom again, he got word on the condition of the hostages from the medics. Some wounds here and there, but nothing that couldn't be repaired. A small consolation for their troubles.
Walking back out the building, Alpha leader met up with the chief supervisor of the cleaner crews. Needless to say, the bewildered looks he got while giving his assessment told him enough of what they thought of the unexpected turn of events. HQ better have a good explanation for this, he thought.
AN: Nope, nothing here this time around. Catch you next chapter, dear readers!