Covert Operations
By: Ominae
Rating: T
Chapter 6: Inside Mayonaka
September 2010
Somewhere in the Chechen Republic, Northern Caucasian District, Russia
Yu and the FSB agent continued to exchange blade blows with neither one having an advantage over the other. Except to make it a point that they're not the typical agent that you'll meet in the field.
"Hyah!" Yu's FN-2 tanto knife clashed with the FSB agent's own blade. Looking at the Russian man's weapon, Yu noticed that his blade is reminiscent of the same weapons that are used by a certain shadowy group that has conducted assassinations over the years with a blade that's hidden underneath their arm.
"You are familiar with fighting against this type of weapon, yes?"
Yu tried to push back on the man's blade. But instead of keeping it to a blade lock, the former decided to kick the man on his chest.
"Ves'ma neplokho." The Russian man seemed impressed by his tenacity. In response, he made a short run towards him and tried to do a jump to stab him.
Yu waited a bit before he moved to the left by sidestepping fast. When he did so, the FN-2 was used to wound the man by stabbing him twice. One on the left arm and another on the shoulder.
When the man moved back just to apply pressure on his wounds, Yu found the perfect opportunity to get him.
Yu went for another stabbing motion, but his opponent grabbed his arm. It was twisted hard to make him drop his knife before Yu's arm was grabbed.
"What the?"
Without any warning, the Center agent felt grabbed at full speed after the FSB agent placed an arm on his chest and a leg behind his back. This was followed by the man's arm being used to push him while the leg was used to ensure that Yu couldn't resist when he was being pulled down.
"Don't underestimate Systema."
The two can hear some loud shouts from a few persons going up the stairs, followed by some gunfire.
"ORAH!" Yu reached for the dropped knife and went for another stab. The Russian dodged it and the last thing he saw before he could hear someone call for his attention was the man jumping out of the window, which was smashed due to using his shoulder to break it.
"Oy! Oy! Oy, Narukami!"
April 17, 2011
2nd Floor, Yukiko's Castle
"Narukami!"
Yosuke motioned to Yu to move in and get up the stairs, remembering the time he fought that FSB agent in Chechnya in a slight flashback. He shook his head and ran up. The semi-active Center agent saw that the entire second floor was merely like what one would expect in a classy house.
"Come on, man! We got ourselves nearly cornered by some Shadows there..."
"I know, I know!" Good thing too that I was able to get a few Personas during that... Shuffle Time thing. I don't know how to explain it.
A red carpeted floor with red curtains. Tiled floors and big wooden doors that were closed. Likely the one used to enter the next floor.
But when they arrived, they saw Chie just standing there, looking up at the ceiling.
"Oh crap..." Yu groaned when he, Yosuke and Teddie can hear the voice of what seemed to be Yukiko. Or rather... her thoughts of things coming from Chie.
"She said that red looks good on me..." Yukiko's voice sighed hard. "I hated my name. Yukiko, it means snow. It's cold and it melts quickly. It's transient... worthless..."
Yu looked around to see where the voice was coming from.
"But it's okay. I'm worhtless aside from inheriting Yasoinaba's only inn. Still... Chie told me that red looks good on me."
"Are these Yukiko-san's thoughts?" Yosuke murmured when he heard the voice. "It's like the time when I could Saki-senpai's voice."
Teddie was standing next to Yosuke, which was why he decided to reply to his question. "Yes. But it's only because of this Yukiko-san."
"Chie was the only one who gave life meaning."
Yu didn't like the implications of where the inner train of thoughts was going to head into.
"She's bright, strong. She can do anything. She has everything that I don't."
I got a bad feeling about this.
Yu reached for the sheath for a generic combat knife replica strapped on his belt, hidden from public eyes since it was underneath his jacket. It was positioned so that he can easily get it with his left hand if needed.
"Chie protects me. She looks after my worthless life. And I... I don't deserve any of it. Chie's so kind."
"A HA HA HA!"
The trio could hear someone laugh. It sounded like Chie, but the laughter was distorted.
"W.. who's that?!" Chie shouted, nearly scaring the crap out of her because of the booming voice that came out of nowhere.
As if things were answering the tomboy's concerns, a shadowy outline of a person emerged with blue flames. Soon enough, the outline formed itself to resemble Chie.
Yeah, Chie. Just with yellow scary eyes on.
"It's... it's a Shadow!" Teddie shouted when it materialized. "She lost control over her suppressed thoughts! It's a Shadow!"
"You sure we're talking about the same person?!" The Shadow took delight in taunting Chie. "She says that she'll protect me?! That how it should be, right?"
Chie was slowly getting over what her Shadow counterpart was saying.
"Yukiko's so good looking... so fair-skinned... so feminine. She's the one guys at the school drool over."
Yu observed the Shadow's banter in order to analyze it and figure it out. After all, he had been ordered to turn in a report if something new came up in the Mayonaka murder case.
The Shadow then had a smirk on her face.
"When Yukiko looked at me with jealousy... Man, did I get a charge outta that or what?"
"NO!" Chie objected. "I'd never think like that."
"Let's move in." Yu told Yosuke and Teddie.
"Right." They both said in unison.
Chie turned around to see them approach her. "NO! Don't come near me! Don't even look at me!"
"Chie. You need to take a deep breath."
"No, you guys!" Chie raised her hands up. "This... this isn't like me."
"Chie, don't do it...!" Yosuke begged Chie to stop talking when he heard her words.
Yu was ready to get his weapon out already, seeing the hostile Shadow as an immediate threat to everyone on the floor.
The Shadow laughed and further taunted Chie. "That's right. I'm the only one who can't do anything alone. I can't win as a girl... let alone as a person. Ahhh... I'm truly pathetic in the end."
It placed a hand on her chest to emphasize her next point. "But Yukiko. She depends on me. That's why she's my friend. I'll never loose my grip on her."
Afterwards, the Shadow pretended to wipe a tear from her eyes. "She's... too important to me."
"No!" Chie shook her head. "I said that this isn't how I think about her."
"This is gonna hurt for us." Yu said, already slowly drawing his knife out.
"You said it partner." Yosuke sighed when he got his dual wrenches at the ready.
"So you're going to turn your back on me and deny it again?!" The Shadow went hostile at Chie. "You won't mind, right? I'm still you."
"Shut it, you're..."
"Chie, don't say anything!" Yosuke tried to reach out to Chie and warn her, but he felt that it was too late since the Shadow got a rise out of her. He learned his own lesson the hard way after all.
"You're not me!"
The Shadow heard the rejection and it just laughed. Laughed hard while the blue and black aura engulfed her. Followed by a red aura.
From the aura turned smoke, something else took the place of Chie's Shadow doppelgänger.
The person... or being was a woman-like being with yellow themed dominatrix outfit, complete with a hooded mask with long, flowing black hair that resembled a cape. The yellow hooded mask it wore had a red smiley face drawn on it.
Beneath it were three pale, trembling female figures with female YH winter school uniforms. The being was armed with a red whip.
"I'm a Shadow! The true self!" The Shadow proclaimed boastfully.
Yosuke gritted his teeth when he heard the Shadow use Chie's distorted voice. It reminded him of his own encounter.
"Guys, you got to move in now!" Teddie shouted at two Persona users.
"Right!" Yu was the first to move, immediately drew out his combat knife. Anyone familiar with combat knives would note that it resembled a generic Fairbarn-Sykes fighting knife with a black rubber grip. "Teddie, get Chie out of the way!"
"Okay! Leave it to me!"
But since he was with Yosuke and Teddie, they wouldn't know about.
And speaking of Yosuke.
"Yosuke." Yu stared at him. "Why wrenches?"
"Sorry..." Yosuke couldn't hide his embarrassment. "These were the nearest things I got from the hardware section. I forgot to get the stuff you got for me from Daidara."
When Yu and Yosuke approached the Shadow, it used the whip to get them back.
"What the hell are you two doing defending the real me? Then you're gonna pay the price!"
"Shut it...!" Yosuke shouted back at the Shadow while he secured the Audio Technica ATH-EF11 headset on his neck. "You're such a goddamn pain!"
"I'll take the right." Yu instructed Yosuke. "Left side's all yours."
"Got it."
Yu made a run to the Shadow's left side, holding the knife in a reverse grip.
"TAKE THIS!" The Shadow used its hair to restrain his movement.
"UKOBACH!" Yu shouted and crushed the tarot card illusion in front of him before the hair went around his throat, waist and legs. The wrists were next.
A little green demon with blond hair and a green tail, it was seen with a giant spoon that has its bowl burning without being melted off.
From what little time Yu has spent with it aside from getting a Pixie and an Angel, it only has Agi, Sukunda and Pulinpa.
"Aaacckkk..." Yu was in the middle of commanding the persona when he felt his throat was being strangled.
"Narukami!" Yosuke came in on the run, twirling the wrenches in his hands as if they're bladed weapons.
The hairs from the Shadow were also used against Yosuke, which grabbed him by the wrists, throat, waist and legs.
"Prepare to be punished!"
"A... agi!" Yu wrestled with the hair wrapped around his throat just enough to let him shout. "Now!"
The Ukobach nodded in response to his commands and stared at the Shadow while it was moving from left to right; it was first seen standing with the left foot with the right leg up before it would be done again with the right foot and the left leg up and vice versa again and again. It focused on the hair used to restrain the two Persona users and casted Agi.
The hairs were now being engulfed in fire as the Shadow freaked out on Yu's persona. Most of the hair used to restrain Yu and Yosuke were long
"Yosuke, now!" Yu used the combat knife to hack at the remains of unburned hair that was still tied to his waist.
"Gotcha!" Yosuke went for a jumping attack to clobber the Shadow on the head.
"Why you...!" The Shadow was about to use the whip after feeling the hit from the wrenches when Yosuke surprised it by using his persona. "Jiraiya! Garu!"
The strong winds that came from nowhere knocked down the Shadow.
"All right! I knocked it off!" Yosuke shouted with a grin after he saw the Shadow being weakened by wind.
"Let's do it!" Yu took the lead and jumped at the downed Shadow. He punched it in the face and stabbed it on the left temple with the knife a few times in rapid fashion. Yosuke came next and used the wrenches to whack it at the body and legs.
Somewhere in Dalnergorsk, Primorsky Krai, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia
The April weather in the town was cold at 9 degrees Celsius, but not too cold for anyone who's used to the kind of weather.
Thankfully, it didn't snow too hard. Plus, the roads were cleared of any snow as a precaution since the town had experienced a snowstorm for a week or so.
The cars that were seen in the area, especially those being driven towards a certain microdistrict located near the southwestern land border between Kavalerovsky District and the Dalnegorsk Town Under Krai Jurisdiction, sported Russian license plates with the number 125 on the right side as an indication that they're officially registered in Primorsky Krai.
The four-vehicle convoy consisted of two blue 2010 Lada Priora VAZ-2170s and two gray 2010 Ford Mondeo Mk IV sedans. It didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary, since they had private-type license plates.
It's only after the sedans parked near the outskirts of the microdistrict and the occupants got out is when things began to look... well, very strange or interesting.
The occupants wore black raid jackets and baseball caps with Cyrillic insignias belonging to the FSB. They also wore black balaclava and tac gloves. Otherwise, they wore various types of clothes and footwear.
The 16-man force carefully made the approach to the deserted area, keeping an area out for anything out of the ordinary. While most of them drew out their ORSIS-made Glock 17 pistols, a few had IZHMASH Vityaz-SN submachine guns with picatinny rails on the receiver for mounting EOTech 552 holographic weapon sights or AK-105 carbines with Russian-made optic side mounts to attach 1P76 Rakurs red dot scopes.
They stacked up on the doors leading to the main building, waiting for the go signal to start.
With the door slightly opened to check if anyone was inside, the leading FSB officer gave the thumbs up to indicate that the ground floor was safe and clear of anyone hostile.
As they advanced inside, the order was given to clear the ground floor first before checking the two upper floors.
What the teams noticed is that most of the interior was rotting with the furniture and other things bolted down torn up or just taken away. Most of the rooms inside are abandoned with the occasional snow or other kind of debris inside. It's as if no one wanted to restore the building and preferred if nature just decided to make itself at home.
But as the masked persons were checking the floor for any signs that it was occupied, they could hear loud footsteps coming from upstairs, followed by some people talking in Russian that they need to leave ASAP before it's too late.
"Eto plokha..." One of the masked persons muttered when the noise was heard. A few minutes later, more loud footsteps came into play, followed by someone cocking a gun very loudly.
A couple of gunmen armed with IZHMASH AKS-74s assault rifles came down the stairs leading to the main floor and shouldered them.
2nd Floor, Yukiko's Castle
"Damn it, it's not going down!"
Yosuke cringed when he saw the Shadow stand up for what seemed to be like the third time. He counted the number of times Jiraiya intervened with Garu to weaken it before he and Yu attacked it with their weapons.
"Let's see you try get past this!"
The two could see the Shadow cast something in front of her. From their perspective, it was a transparent wall with a green outline before it faded. And this happened after it tried to cast Mazio in order to shock them.
"Yeah... tell me about it..." Yu really didn't like the idea of being on the receiving end of an electric attack. He was lucky that he and Yosuke came out okay and it only hurt them a bit. How much longer do we need to weaken it with Garu, rush in and avoid her whip like crazy? Except for a couple of times we were almost hit.
"Are you guys idiots!? Why are you protecting her like that? She's nothing but a grubby bitch!" The Shadow used the whip to attack them both. But since it was easy for them to see where the whip was going to go to, it was kind of easy to avoid it.
It then glared at Yosuke.
"Just shut up!" Yosuke readied himself and used Dia to heal himself. "Okay, Jiraya! It's time for Dia!"
Green energy enveloped Yu and Yosuke for a minute, allowing their muscles to relax.
"That felt good..."
"But we're not out of the open!" Yu went for another attack. "Izanagi! Rakunda!"
A light yellow outline enveloped the Shadow for a minute before it dissipated.
"Follow it up with Rakukaja!"
Yu and Yosuke were briefly enveloped in a halo of light.
"What is this?" Yosuke asked Yu, not knowing about this skill.
"Worry about it later, Yosuke." Yu told him before he commanded Izanagi. "Now! Cleave!"
Izanagi used the Ame no Nuboko to slash at the Shadow, hitting its chest.
I need to change personas to level the field to our side.
The Shadow's green wall protected it from getting hit entirely. It took some damage, but it was alright. However, it retaliated by targeting Yosuke and Yu with Mazio.
"Mazio!"
The electric attack struck the Yasogami High students since Chie was taken by Teddie to safety. The attack felt like they were being shocked when they touched water that had a live wire that snapped out from an electric pole.
"That really hurt..." Yosuke said, feeling frustrated. "I'm gonna beat the hell outta you."
"You're dead..." Yu murmured.
"Hah!" The Shadow laughed. "Just try me!"
Yu saw the tarot card appear in front of his eyes. He took it and threw it to the right, which resulted in a glass breaking sound that he could only hear. This meant that he changed from Izanagi to another Persona.
"Why you..." The Shadow gazed at him when Yu touched the tarot card at once and tossed it to the right, having the sensation that something changed from within.
I can feel it. Another persona's ready to come out.
"Angel!"
An Angelic being appeared, which took a female form with blonde hair and white wings on its back. Her chest and eyes were covered by black leather bondage gear with a chain on her neck.
"Let us pray..." The angel said.
Yosuke turned to the side and had to turn away, feeling red on the cheeks. He saw that the persona Yu summoned was almost naked.
"Use Hama on the Shadow!"
"As you command..."
The Angel obeyed him. The Shadow noted that a circle of light appeared below her feet. In addition, some bright objects that appear to be like ofudas surrounded her from all sides. The ofudas shined very bright several times. It shattered the green wall and seriously wounded the Shadow, but it wasn't enough to kill it.
"Ngh ... Don't make fun of me ... You're ... You're nothing against me...!"
The Shadow was now seen putting a hand on its side, indicating that it was now getting very weak and close to being defeated.
"Alright, pal. Now's our chance." Yosuke said, twirling the wrenches.
"ORYA!" Yu shouted when he took the opportunity to strike the weakened Shadow first. He drove the combat knife's blade into the Shadow's head. This was followed by an attempted use of the whip before Yosuke had Jiraiya used Garu to weaken her, followed by Bash.
"Bash her in, Jiraiya!"
"Argh! I'm ... better ... than..." The Shadow struggled with Yu as the latter was about to drive the blade into the head. This followed by Jiraiya delivering a strong punch to the face.
But with the green wall gone, it was almost more than enough damage.
"NOOOO!" The wounded Shadow shouted in pain after the knife attack was delivered by Yu and being clobbered in the face. It collapsed on the ground, face first.
"Did we win?" Yosuke asked while he was inhaling and exhaling, feeling a bit tired from fighting it.
"Guess we'll see." Yu raised his arms up, still holding up his weapon just in case.
The Shadow collapsed, face first. Its body began to dissolve.
"Are you guys okay?" Teddie asked them while he walked to them alongside Chie. The Shadow changed forms again to take up Chie's appearance.
"We took care of the Shadow for now." Yosuke replied to the bear.
"Yosuke..." Yu spoke to him while he kept an eye on the downed Shadow.
"Yeah?"
"Next time, pick a suitable weapon, will ya?"
"Er... yeah!" Yosuke scratched the back of his head while holding one of the wrenches. "Sorry about that. I was in a hurry that I forgot about them."
Yu raised an eyebrow.
"I left it in the house. But don't worry! They're in a safe place."
"What... what happened?"
It appeared that Chie wasn't paying attention to the fight that happened. Yu and Yosuke don't know how it can be possible that a loud ruckus was happening and she didn't know about it. They shrugged it off.
"Well?!" Chie yelled at the Shadow version of herself, who didn't say anything and instead, stayed silent. "You got nothing to say to me, right?!"
"Chie." Yu placed a hand on her right shoulder. "It's okay."
"But... but... that's not me at all." Chie insisted.
Yosuke shook his head. "Narukami has a point. I..." The Junes' Yasoinaba branch heir sighed. "I went through the same thing and I'm telling you, it's not that simple as denying it."
Chie was frustrated when she heard from Yosuke that he experienced the same thing. She walked up to the Shadow and just stared at it.
"I... I think I kinda get it now." Chie spoke as she stared at it. "It's a side of me that I can't forgive. That I've tried to ignore. But... you're still a part of me."
The Shadow eventually changed forms. It assumed the form of a muscular being in a yellow skin-tight suit with white gloves and boots. It has a white hood that parts of it that resemble a motorbike helmet visor. It also has black and gray skirt armor and long flowing black hair.
"A persona?" The being disappeared and turned into a transparent tarot card for a brief moment before it also disappeared. "Tomoe's the name."
Chie turned around to see her fellow classmates. And Teddie. "Well... it's sort of true that I sometimes felt that way. But I'm not lying when I say that I'm friends with Yukiko."
Chie had to stop speaking and put her hands on her waist.
"You seem tired, Chie." Yosuke saw what she was doing.
The tomboy stayed quiet, contemplating.
"I think we need to retreat first for the meantime. Chie just got her powers."
Yosuke nodded.
"Powers?" Chie was wondering what Yu said.
"Yeah, the Shadow we faced granted you the same powers me and Yosuke have."
"But... I never said anything about taking a break. I can still keep going...!"
"Whoa...!" Teddie approached Chie. "Don't try to overdo it."
Yosuke shook his head and explained to her. "It's not that we don't think you can. It's just that we have to save Yukiko-san, no matter what."
"It'll be easier for us to get further inside the castle." Yu advised Chie. "But since you just got your powers, it's in our best interests if you conserve your strength and rest up so that you don't get tired easily and get overwhelmed by the enemy."
"But she's still here, right?" Chie was still worried for Yukiko. "If what I heard is Yukiko's feelings, then I need to tell her. It's because we were together that I acted in a certain way."
"You need to rest." Teddie came in to share advice to her. "Then you can tell her."
Chie looked at Teddie, wondering what the bear was talking about.
"Yuki-chan's normal here. So the Shadows won't attack her."
Yu motioned to Chie to let Teddie explain details about the Mayonaka world.
"They'll only move in to attack her if the fog is gone."
"So Yukiko-san is safe for the meantime, Teddie?" Yosuke asked him for confirmation.
Teddie nodded.
"I don't get it." Chie was now confused.
This'll be a doozy. Yu sighed, wondering if he'll have to dumb down the report later.
"Teddie gave us some details about the weather and how it's the opposite of things that happened in the real world." Yu replied when he noted that Chie was confused by Teddie's explanation.
Yosuke continued. "When the fog's gone from town, the fog in this world clears up. That's when they make their way. After all, that's what also happened to Yamano-san and Saki-senpai."
Yu cringed when he heard Yosuke talk about her, feeling a bit guilty over keeping the details hidden from his classmate.
"You mean their other selves killed them?" Yu helped Chie a bit when she kept wobbly.
"Yeah. The fog usually comes around when there's rain." Yosuke walked out of the room with Yu and Teddie.
"But we can't turn back now! We need to get in there and save her!" Chie tried to move towards the other door that would led further into the castle's interior. But Teddie moved in and pushed himself to block her way.
"Then you tell us how much further we can take to reach her now." Yosuke began to scold Chie, realizing that she's getting too reckless even if she got Persona powers to fight the hostile Shadows.
"Even Teddie has no idea on what kinds of Shadows we'll face later." Yu also scolded her. "We need to have a clear mind on this or we'll easily get overwhelmed."
Chie calmed herself eventually.
"S-sorry." Chie blamed herself for what happened, especially with the fight against her Shadow version. "You guys are right. I should've tried to take that into consideration."
"We'll head back here together." Yu said. "Don't give up now."
2nd Floor, Abandoned Microdistrict, near Dalnergorsk/Kavalerovsky land borders, Primorsky Krai, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia
The gunfight inside the microdistrict got more intense ever since the gunmen took the masked FSB officers by almost total surprise. When they were initially confronted, the team immediately took them out.
"FSB! FSB!" One of the Glock-armed officers shouted when the raid on the 2nd floor commenced, followed by another officer who backed him up with his AK-105.
He went up the stairs and encountered a gunman trying to aim his Izhevsk Makarov PM at his face.
The gunman was disarmed when the officer used the pistol to hit him in the face. He was then tossed over the staircase railing.
"AAAAHHHH!" The gunman yelled before his body made contact with a nearby wooden chair. It broke some part of his fall, but he was otherwise unconscious.
More gunfire heard in the floor while a person wearing a black jacket with a hood, jeans and old black boots began to make a run for it using the only corridor available for going around the floor. He was heading towards a western direction.
More gunmen went for the staircase to stop the FSB raid, but it seems that they were easily killed off.
But as the hooded man made a run for it for the other side to the floor to find another way out of the building, he was intercepted by a FSB officer who kicked him from the side.
"Da shto ty a sebe vazamnil?" The hooded man gritted his teeth after he felt pain from being kicked hard.
The FSB officer got into a fighting stance immediately. "Zatknis'."
The hooded man didn't say anything and drew out a hidden blade from the right arm, concealed by the jacket's sleeve.
"Templar..." The officer murmured in Russian when the blade was drawn out.
The two began to exchanges blows with each other. The only difference is that the hooded man had a blade and the officer had to rely on martial arts to fight.
Blow after blow, the blade or the punch/kick would be dodged. This would continue for the next two to three minutes.
An opportunity came when an explosion occurred; this was due to a dropped RGD-5 frag grenade.
This gave the hooded man a chance to parry a punch when he went underneath it. He then twisted the arm, kicked the officer at the back of the legs and tossed said person aside like a used rag.
The man's hood came down and the officer saw that the he had a thick beard and long hair. It was as if he hadn't shaved his facial hair for weeks.
The officer quickly got up and rushed in with kicks, followed by quick jabs to to face and chest. The man blocked them by using his arms to counter them before they can make contact with his chest or by moving fast to the left or right.
An incoming kick. I can counter this.
An incoming roundhouse kick done by the hooded man resulted in the officer using the right arm to grab it, followed by an elbow strike to the face.
During the fight, an armed person with a mask that covered his nose and mouth tossed a couple of smoke grenades before a Degtyarev PKM GPMG was fired from outside. The officer was forced to take cover inside an abandoned apartment room while the man just ran away until he was out of view.
Gunfire erupted again, this time forcing the PKM-armed person to open fire down the corridor. This kept the FSB teams away until the machine gun suddenly had a gun jam.
As the gunman tried to clear the jam and make the weapon working again, automatic gunfire coming from the FSB immediately killed him on the spot.
While the gunmen were being picked off, the bearded man was able to make his getaway by using the nearest emergency exit ladder, which was only accessible through the window.
That was a sign of the Soviet era where the use of such a safety measure was seen as a luxury for the time.
With the opposition cleared up, this left them the chance to investigate the premises.
"Was it him?" The masked FSB officer asked his colleague after he saw that the person was removing dust from the pants and jacket sleeves.
"Da. Aleksi Umarov. The FSB agent encountered back in Chechnya according to his report."
"You know what this mean, Galina?"
"Da. He's plotting something. We need to make contact with the other Assassins."
"I'll make contact once we secure anything Umarov was doing here and destroy anything else that we don't need or we can't carry."
"Ya panila."
Mayonaka TV entrance
Yu spoke with Teddie about the situation while Yosuke was with Chie, mostly just to help her get oriented since she doesn't have the glasses that the two students are using.
"You guys..." Chie groaned, feeling a headache coming in. "You feel anything at all. I just feel like a headache's coming in now."
"Oh yeah..." Yosuke nodded. "Chie doesn't have the glasses like me and Narukami are using."
"As instructed by sensei," Teddie had Yu show off the glasses held on his left hand. "I procured a pair of glasses just for Chie-chan."
Yu handed Chie a pair of glasses for her to use. She was a bit groggy when she took them, most likely due to the yellow fog that lingered around the TV world.
"This should help." Yu said when Chie got the glasses and wore them.
"Whoa..." Chie was amazed to see that with the glasses, she was able to see her surroundings without the fog or the headache being there. "I can see everything here. It's like the fog wasn't here at all."
"That's what they're for." Teddie happily chirped in. "Just be sure not to loose them, okay?"
"Thanks, Teddie. These'll come in handy."
"So what happens now?" Yosuke asked Yu after Chie got oriented with her glasses.
"We keep an eye on the weather." Yu told his classmate. "As well as on any news regarding Yukiko-san, regardless if it's from the news or from the police."
"Alright." Chie nodded.
"In the meantime, let's try to head here as much as possible." Yosuke spoke next. "And that includes the weekend and whenever there's a holiday."
"Right." Yu and Chie replied in unison.
"There's one more thing..." Yosuke said, snapping his fingers as he was trying to remember something before he had a eureka moment. "That's right. Yu, can you take the lead for the rest of the team?"
The lead? The student slash agent was confused.
"You're the first one to get a Persona. Plus, I saw the way you fight. It's like you've done this kinda thing before. Not that I'm trying to judge you or anything."
He knows... Nah, I'm getting a bit paranoid. Guess this'll be fine. Plus, this would be potentially beneficial in investigating the place to do my report later to the Center.
"Whatever." Yu shrugged his shoulders.
Thou art I and I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... It brings thee closer to the truth... Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Fool Arcana.
Yu frowned when he heard the voice again. What was it trying to say about these... bonds?
"Let's rest up and take it easy for today." Yosuke said while Teddie conjured the CRT TV stack. "We'll plan our next move from there."
"All right." Chie nodded.
Yu gave the thumbs up.
"Let's see if we can meet... let's say by tomorrow."
"Sounds good."
Teddie helped the trio get back to the real world. On the way out, Chie voiced her displeasure of using the CRT TV stack as their dimensional portal.
Living Area/Dining Area
Dojima Residence, Residential District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu had just arrived back at the Dojima residence, having been informed that Ryotaro would be responsible for buying the food for tonight's dinner.
Which consists of freshly made sushi and sashimi from the sushi section of June's supermarket.
Why am I not surprised to see this happen?
They were in the midst of setting up the table. Nanako was not absent since she needed to use the toilet.
"Hey, Yu. I need to ask you about Yosuke." Ryotaro asked his nephew while they got the plates on the table.
"Okay?" Yu said out loud.
"Are you in some kind of trouble? You two doing something fishy?"
Yu felt that his uncle was now in detective slash interrogator mode.
"N-no..." Yu shook his head as he was prepping the empty water glasses. "It's just his dumb idea of showing some fake blades he has."
"Okay. Fine..." The CID detective sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if he got into trouble before he came to Yasoinaba."
"Was there something wrong?"
"Nothing." Ryotaro now shook his head.
Nanako came down the stairs when she heard her father talking to her cousin.
"With what's happening right now, it's very dangerous if something happens to you. Remember, I agreed with your father's relatives that I'd keep an eye on you since your uncle is still doing his tenure as a university professor in Canada. Understand?"
"Yeah, I understand."
"Is... is something wrong, papa?" Nanako came to the dining room.
"No." Ryotaro replied to his daughter. "I'm just trying to check something with your nii-san."
Nanako poked her father at the leg. "Remember, papa. We're not at the police station."
Ryotaro sighed. Damn it, she has a point.
"Okay, Nanako." Yu spoke to Nanako, trying to break the tension. "Ready to eat?"
"Yayyy..." Nanako clapped her hands when they sat down to break the wooden chopsticks.
Before they ate, they paid respects and thanked the gods for their dinner. Afterwards, they ate the take out food.
While they were doing this, they were listening to the news. And the weather section mentioned that the town will expect a few more days of sunshine.
Nanako began to ask her father if the weather reporter is correct when she mentioned that tomorrow will be sunny.
The father said no.
Yu Narukami's Temp Room
Dojima Residence, Residential District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
The gray-haired teen had the rest of the night free from homework aside from doing some light advance reading so that he's on top of his classes after dinner was done per usual. This was one of the few nights were Ryotaro and Adachi were able to head home and stay home for the time being, according to the word of the uncle.
"Time to do that report..."
Yu went to the closet and took out a black Dell Inspiron N5030 laptop kept in a shelf. He brought it out and booted it up.
After he placed the laptop on his desk and flipped the cover, he saw the password prompt that required to type his password.
The biggest problem is where do I start in doing the report before I submit it to MOM?
Before Yu can get to work after his laptop booted the Microsoft Windows 7 OS with the password prompt done and all, he saw that he was getting a SMS message and an incoming call from his Iphone 4.
SMS first.
Yu had to give the message a quick read since the phone vibrated twice, which was in English.
Incoming job. Answer the call.
Looks like something's about to happen.
Yu looked at the wall clock and noted that it was almost a few minutes before 7 PM.
["Hello?] Yu immediately answered the call. ["What is it?"]
["Sorry to bother you on your time off."] The caller replied on the other line. ["We still know that you're suppose to concentrate on things going on in Yasoinaba. But we need your help."]
Yu sighed. This better be good. ["It'll depend on the situation."]
["SID's being in an op for some time to follow up on the Okina case some of you guys in SHADOW are checking up on. Unfortunately, we got an op incoming stat and one of the guys who's suppose to be with us today got sick since yesterday evening."]
["Due to what?"]
["Food poisoning. Apparently, he ate badly cooked food during a reunion party in Manila."]
["Dammit..."]
["Look. SID'll foot the bill for the inconvenience. If it makes things better, someone from your team's volunteered to help out."]
["Oh great..."] Yu asked the caller a question. ["Just one thing. Does MOM know?"]
The caller was silent for a few seconds. Then he replied, ["Yes. On the condition that we let you leave after the job's done."]
["You sure?"]
["Yeah. I mean, you're still studying to finish off your high school studies, right?"]
Thanks for reminding me of that.
["All right. Send me the details and location."]
["Should be incoming. By the way, you're told to bring it. He says you'll know what it is."]
Yu finished the call while he walked to the closet.
"I guess it's about time I use it."
He opened the closet and took out the small box inside.
Yu stared at the contents, which was some kind of bracer worn for the left arm. It was wrapped in several pieces of old newspaper.
"I need to talk to the guy who handed this to me." The teenager sighed. He wore the bracer on his left arm after he changed from his gray sweater and sweatpants. From there, Yu donned a shirt with a graphite Condor Softshell jacket, jeans, white socks and a pair of (slightly new) black Oakley 6" SI Assault Boots he recently got with the other SHADOW agents a few months ago.
"Time to look." Yu used the custom PORTAL app to locate the portal after he secured his smartphone and his O-Watch he also kept in the closet.
He took the time to check his smartphone for a SMS message, which was in English.
SID HAS AN INCOMING OP SOMEWHERE IN TOKYO. THE PORTAL'S ALREADY CONFIGURED FOR THE DROP. GOOD LUCK OUT THERE.
The app indicated that the portal was located on his desk. Specifically on one of the desk drawers.
What the heck's the meaning of this?!
Facing no other choice, Yu opened one of the drawers and saw the shimmering light coming from inside.
"Guess I'll have to go in like riding a bike."
Yu murmured that he'll need to send in an additional report to ask how the PORTAL app can be improved on in both the Center-issued smartphones and watches (since they're used as standard equipment at all times) to be better when used by the agents.
After entering said drawer, he disappeared since he fell down the portal.
?
Yu landed out of the portal, a few feet safely on the ground. However, he still tumbled for a bit that he almost tripped on something.
Likely a pebble.
"Dammit." Yu sighed when he got himself upright after he tripped.
Looks like the portal got configured right for once.
After the teenager straightened himself out, he realized that he's in some side street. It appeared that there's not a lot of people around, which was likely because it was early evening.
Looks like one of the typical side streets you can see in Japan. But where...
"Good to see that you made it in one piece in Tokyo."
Yu heard a familiar voice from behind. He turned around to see Mark Lau in the flesh.
["Mark."] Yu greeted the SHADOW agent. ["So you volunteered?"]
["Yep. Welcome to Ueno, by the way."] Mark nodded. ["And the three other guys with me are from SID, specifically chosen for their experience in black ops."]
["As in the type where they go in, secure the targets and leave without a trace?"]
["That's it. FYI, these guys are picked also because of their East Asian facial features."]
["I see."]
Yu studied the three SID agent and noted that they wore black windbreakers with hoods, jeans and various shoes. Mark also wore the same, except he had brown tactical pants and Caterpillar hiking boots.
["So... questions?"]
["So where's the stuff we need?"]
One of the East Asian SID agents pointed to a building near the Taito Station game building where the ads mentioned about Yakitori with another sign placed next to the basement stairs that says that the restaurant is permanently closed due to management/financial circumstances.
Okay. I don't know that building...
["That's the Star Plus building."] The East Asian SID agent told Yu in English. ["I honestly don't know why they named it as such."]
["That's Takeshi. SID recruited him after he left from years of doing work with the CIA Special Activities Division. Ex-Delta if I recall."]
Yu got introduced to the other two agents by Mark. He was introduced to Michael or Mike Tham, who's a second-generation Chinese-Irish man in his late 30s who served in the Irish Army in the Army Ranger Wing. The other man was David Leong, a Chinese-Singaporean man who used to be with the Security and Intelligence Division, recruited from the ranks of the Singapore Police Force.
["We got the place checked out."] The East Asian man said when he pointed out the basement stairs. ["Gary's downstairs securing the area for now."]
Yu noted that the man spoke fluent English, with some hint that he grew up somewhere in California based on his tone.
["Weapons and gear are there too?"]
Takeshi nodded.
["Guess we need to move now."]
As the five-man (for now) team moved towards that building's basement steps, one of the SID agents had their Iphone 4s ringing.
["That's me."]
That came from Takeshi's.
["Let's go, Takeshi."] Mark said when he noted where the ringing was from.
["Standby. I'll put it on speaker."]
Takeshi pressed the speaker button on his Iphone 4 screen while the phone prompt indicated that the call was incoming.
["I hope everyone can hear me on the line."] MOM's voice was heard on the line.
["Loud and clear."] Takeshi replied. ["Agents Narukami and Lau are also here with us."]
["Of course. Boys, I apologize for taking you two out of your schedules to help out."]
["Not a problem, MOM."] Yu spoke up after Takeshi said his piece.
["Same here."] Mark chimed in. ["We'll help in any way we can."]
["Right."] MOM replied before she explained the situation. ["SID has picked up recent intelligence that a foreign intelligence organization has set up shop in Ueno. According to risk assessment, it's suggested that the building you're going into is another one of their many safehouses being established to help the one in Okina City."]
["So what are our rules of engagement?"]
["We detain anyone who can detain and secretly turn them over to the authorities. Any intel they have on the Kirijo Group is top priority. Destroy their comms and gear to make their working lives difficult."]
["Understood, MOM."]
When the call ended, the team went down the stairs to the basement floor, going over the chain that was used to barricade the steps.
Unknown to them, a black-haired woman with short hair in her 20s was seen staring at the building from afar. She was a gray pantsuit, a white dress shirt and in heels with her handbag placed on her right shoulder.
"Just when I thought that I could get some time off from work in Makurazaka..."
The woman was now debating to herself on whether she should trail them from a distance.
"Oh what the hell... I'm not even at work right now and I was ordered to take it easy after the case for a week."
She decided to stay put and just wait for a few minutes to see if anything will happen.
Basement Floor, Star Plus Building, Ueno, Taito, Tokyo, Japan
Once at the basement, the SID agents (plus the two accompanying SHADOW agents) were given balaclavas to wear over their heads.
From inside a deserted Lawsons store, someone was waving to get their attention and showed the duffel bag he was able to secure. Like the others, he wore the same windbreaker, jeans and wore sneakers.
["It's Greg."] Mike gestured to the others. ["Looks like the drop was successful."]
["That Greg Cheng and he's from Macau."] Takeshi introduced him to Yu. ["Served with the Macau Judicial Police before the SID recruited him."]
["Nice to meet you."] Greg shook hands with Yu. His English was good, despite having a bit of a Cantonese accent. ["Okay guys. Drop was complete. The guns are here."]
Mark took a peek inside the duffel bag and a grin on his face... which was hidden under his balaclava. ["Hey, Yu. It's some of the guns SHADOW was able to test out at HQ."]
["Okay..."]
Greg passed SOB holsters that had the Seburo M5 pistol with two 2 in a Row Dual Pistol Mag pouches meant for concealed carry purposes. Suppressors were passed to everyone as well since they had threaded barrels. Radio extenders with earpieces were also handed around.
["Just in case."] Greg told everyone about the suppressor. ["And these were tested a few days ago, so we should be fine."]
["So you're telling me that these pistols were made based from a Japanese anime show?"] Mike was confused to see that a fictional pistol from an anime could be fabricated to work. He pulled the slide back to conduct a brass check and see if it was loaded.
Everyone else began to don the SOB holster and mag pouches on the left and right sides of their waist.
["What I'd like to know is where's the target."] Yu said after he checked the M5 and holstered it.
["Somewhere down here."] Greg explained. ["Before I ducked in here, I overheard some Caucasian talking to someone in English that they need to hurry it up. My guess is that they're holding up in some deserted shop they're using as a temp base of operations in Ueno."]
["Let's look around then."] Takeshi replied. ["We can probably still catch them off their guard."]
Takeshi motioned to the team to follow him and move carefully.
["By the way, you two. I'm Eagle 1. Mike, David and Greg are Eagles 2, 3 and 4."]
Yu and Mark nodded.
They looked around slowly and searched every deserted shop and any other place.
To get around, they consulted with a photo of the basement's map. According to it, the basement has a few restaurants, a Lawsons and two to three entrances/exits that can be used to enter and leave the area. So far, the basement steps going down was the first path that one can use. Another leads to a street at the rear and another leads to another building through a corridor.
With the area near the basement steps covered, the team advanced northwards slowly.
["Strange. I'm not seeing anyone."] Yu murmured, silently taking cover beside a non-working soda vending machine. Mark also took the same position, standing beside him.
["Probably the location being closed and all gives them perfect security and stereotypes that the Japanese are law-abiding citizens."] Mark gave his explanation on why their targets would pick a deserted location.
Yu rolled his eyes after he heard his answer.
["Okay... Maybe not all Japanese."]
Everyone inserted suppressors on their M5s while they began to sneak around.
Outside Star Building, Ueno, Taito, Tokyo, Japan
Out of great curiosity and due to her mentality as a police officer back in Makurazaka, the woman decided to take a closer look down the basement steps and see if there was anything suspicious.
"Just what the heck's going on?" The woman murmured when she took a look at the bottom of the stairs. No one. Perhaps they moved inside.
"Still... I may have to alert the police stationed in this ward just in case..."
Suddenly, she felt something was pressed against her back.
"Don't do anything stupid."
The woman noted that while the unknown person was speaking Japanese, she could hear some trace of a foreign accent.
"Move downstairs."
Basement Floor, Star Plus Building, Ueno, Taito, Tokyo, Japan
The team were now working to secure the basement floor. While they didn't find anything significant, they caught onto some suspicious men armed with pistols either tucked on the waistband of their pants or gripping them in their hands.
In order to maintain the element of surprise until when shit goes down the drain, they used close quarters tactics by choking them from the back enough to render the suspicious men out cold.
"Looks like we can make the approach from the north..." Yu sighed.
["Over here."] Mark motioned to him that the others have visually spotted six armed men working with laptops, plugged at wall sockets, inside a deserted sushi bar restaurant. They were hiding behind some stacked military-grade gun cases, which were stacked high enough for them to stick behind them.
He looked around and assumed that the others were also hiding from plain sight.
["I count around six."] Yu told Mark. ["Not sure what to make of them."]
["Guess we'll find out just in case we get spotted or something."]
["Everyone. Move in."] The two SHADOWs got their orders from their earpieces. ["Looks like we got Templars."]
["How did you know?"] Yu asked when they heard the order.
["Check their arms."]
Yu whispered to Mark on looking for someone in the deserted restaurant. ["See if you can check their arms."]
Mark gave a thumbs up and slightly peeked from behind the gun cases. He saw one of the armed men check his wristwatch, worn on his right wrist.
["Over here."] Mark gestured to Yu to take a peek for himself.
Yu crouched and peeked out slowly. Remembering the advice, he went to check the man's arms.
Since the man was examining his watch, Yu saw a familiar bracer that was on his right arm.
["How long 'til we make contact with Sigma Team?"] The man outside the restaurant asked one of the men inside checking the laptop.
["Don't know yet. They didn't say last time we spoke to them."]
["Looks like Templars."] Yu whispered to Mark when he outright heard them mention Sigma Team by name.
["Templars confirmed, Eagle 1."] Mark went to radio back. ["What now?"]
["We go in. They may contact additional reinforcements and I certainly don't want to tangle with that team."]
["I agree."]
["Get your blades ready when we move in."]
Yu realized from that command on that the entire SID team sent to Ueno were riddled with Assassin agents.
Not that he considers it a bad thing anyway.
Yu and Mark raised their suppressed M5s and moved in. They opened fire at two of the armed men inside thrice, killing them instantly.
["Shit! We're under attack!"] One of the armed men lounging behind the counter was surprised at the sudden attack. He moved his left arm in a specific way to pop the hidden blade in his bracer hidden underneath his hoodie.
But before he can use it, Takeshi and Greg busted in with the former slashing his legs while Greg finished off by stabbing him in the face with their hidden blades.
The two men seated on the bar stools tried to take out pistols tucked on their waistbands. Mike and David ran inside and gripped their blades like knives. They too were killed by multiple stab wounds to the chest.
["Secure the data!"] Takeshi got to one of the the three laptops and grabbed an unused backpack on the side.
["That one looks kinda old."] Mark groaned when Mike got the backpack and secured one of the laptops. David secured another one and handed it to him.
["Don't complain."] Yu said when he and Mark assumed positions. ["I don't know if we're lucky, but snatch and grab move seems too easy."]
["Nobody move!"]
["You jinxed us, man..."] Mark was disappointed by his friend's words.
["Whatever."] Yu rolled his eyes.
The group saw an armed man with a hostage in front of him, being used as a human shield.
["Fuck..."] David cursed. ["Got a human shield and he's going overkill."]
Yu gritted his teeth when he saw what the hostage taker was doing. From what he can see, one pistol was aimed at her head. The other was aimed at the restaurant.
The armed man's face was concealed with a strange helmet and face mask, so there was no easy way the SID (and SHADOW) agents/assassins can easily identify him. But the helmet had a familiar logo in the shape of a white penrose triangle.
["Toss the laptops over here or the woman here will get it! I'm giving you six minutes to toss it outside!"]
After the demand/threat was made, around four masked persons converged on the restaurant, although they stood near the hostage just in case they would be shot at.
["Dammit. They got a hostage."] Mark was frustrated that a civilian was made a human shield.
Yu stared at his O-Watch, trying to think of a way to save the hostage and end the standoff in their favor.
["Keep a sharp eye on those guys, people."] The team could hear Greg on the radio. ["It's a Sigma Team element. Looks like Abstergo's running the place or they got an interest in this potential safehouse."]
["Got an idea?"] Mark saw that Yu was in thought. He also happened to whisper to him.
["Maybe. Not sure if it works."] Yu whispered back while he looked at the O-Watch's functions very quickly.
["Depends on what you got. Hit me with it."]
["I'm going to use watch's portal function to get a portal from behind those guys."] Yu pointed to the O-Watch's PORTAL screen after he discreetly activated it. ["That way, I can sneak up from behind and take 'em by surprise."]
Mark was a bit surprised that he's willing to use it. ["Not to rain on your parade, but how's that going to work?"]
["I'll use the O-Watch's portal function and hope for the best."]
Mark nodded and radioed back to Takeshi about Yu's suggestion while Yu got his watch ready to be used. He made manual inputs and got the basement floor's map up to mark the location where he wanted the portal destination to show up.
A few minutes, Mark's transmission was finished. ["The boss man mentions that in case you mess up, the rest of us will rush out and take out that team."]
["Gotcha."]
Yu's portal appeared nearby, which was literally behind him. All he needed to do was to walk backwards while still crouching. Looks like the watch mentioned a 50:50 chance of landing either behind the team or in the middle...
He peeked outside and saw that the Sigma Team element was waiting.
["You got four minutes!"]
Now or never.
["Wish me luck."] Yu holstered his sidearm before he allowed himself to fall backwards down the portal.
["Yeah."] Mark nodded. ["Just FYI. The R&D team got your brace with an Orihalcon blade."]
When Yu went through the portal, he was falling straight down face first as if he jumped out of a plane before he opened a parachute.
What's going on here?
The woman realized that her life was being used as a bargaining chip for whatever was going on down in the basement. She saw the masked men had suppressed pistols drawn out, but did not raise them up with the intent to fire.
If I can only...
Unknown to her (or to her hostage-takers), a portal discreetly showed up... Although it wasn't in the intended position Yu had in mind.
Instead, it appeared over the head of the ST element via ceiling.
Yu emerged from the portal, already gripping his blade like a knife when he held it tight that the bracer's internals were able to function since the device was made with the configuration in mind. He was still facing downward when he stretched his arms to grab the hostage-taker's neck.
"HYAH!"
The SHADOW agent shouted when he grabbed the neck.
["ERKK!"] The helmeted man was forced to let go of his hostage when Yu slashed his legs and stabbed him thrice at the back.
The ST members panicked as they raised their sidearms after Yu delivered the fatal blow by stabbing the hostile at the back of his head.
The woman was seen trying to take cover during the confusion.
Chapter 6 END
PS - This is where it starts for Yu fighting in Mayonaka going (maybe) off, because of the big time op he had in Chechnya. Potentially, Yu needs to be careful that he looks too experienced in dealing with Shadows and investigating the murders going on in Yasoinaba or else suspicion radars are easily going to go off. And gets some suspicion. It's the last thing he needs. Also, this is where you see that he's kinda brutal, a holdover from his agent days in battling against many bad guys that he adopted this attitude.
I actually don't know if Shadows do have blood or anything. I'm running under the assumption that the black goop-like substance that's underneath a Shadow during the dungeon fights are just that. Also apologies if it seems that the boss fight with Shadow Chie is too short.
And yes, the ATH-EF11 isn't a real headphone set made by Audio Technica. Apparently, you can find the name by looking at the anime's 2nd volume DVD cover.
The microdistrict (in Soviet/Russia/Eastern Europe/maybe Chinese terms) is a structural element on how residential areas are constructed in the Cold War. It's mostly not used anymore, but it's been used in China. Albeit it's done in China in a modernized form. It'll have essential things like schools, grocery stores, playground and shops. Come to think of it, it reminds me of the HDB system in Singapore.
I also don't remember if the Hama skill is accurately portrayed like in the game. So... someone advise me please.
I needed to do a jab on Yosuke starting with wrenches as a weapon in the P4 games.
This is for anyone who knows Russian, but "Ya Panila" is a way of saying I Understand for female speakers. I recall that there are at least five ways of saying it. Hopefully I got that correct. Same with the other Russian stuff here.
The last part of the story is heading towards the espionage...y side of things now. So there's a preview of what to expect in terms of the story later on in the other chapters... And Yu going to play both sides.
For the meantime, hope you guys are doing okay with the coronavirus out there and stay at home orders being made worldwide, although I'm hearing/seeing reports of some easing of it... depending on where you live in.
I haven't updated this for a bit (with some of my other stories). Been mostly trying to look for work (preferably out of Manila) and applying for a Masters in Singapore, which may look like it needs postponing unless Singapore can get the COVID-19 cases to single digits.