Duo stepped in and looked about, the Syndicate wanted him here... for some reason. He adjusted his coat and stepped forward, if the instructions were correct, he'd be meeting up with someone soon.
Duo was disappointed he could only carry his pistol in here, not any of his grenades or his rifle. Hell not even the Tec9s were allowed with him. That would have made things easier if it went bust, but he was assured that was incredibly unlikely.
Discordian Agent
Luvina meandered down the streets of Akasaka, not bothering to even try to be inconspicuous in her movements. A young woman wearing such a precisely maintained dress suit, inevitably stood out some. But not nearly as much, as one might think. Moving with confidence and a lack of concern for the eyes of others, often made normal people dismiss you as not a big of a deal. Skulking about, purposely trying to blend in, trying to hide her face, these all stood out to people.
And anyone that would be looking for her would be able to find her regardless of what she did. It would be practically an invitation to the more astute agents that lurked about the greater Tokyo area these days, to try to pick at her cover. Which would in-turn give her an eye for any of the more dangerous people that might be interested in her.
That, and she didn't really want to put in the effort.
She didn't look up much from her smartphone, as she weaved her way through the constant crowds of these streets, as she considered the latest message her handlers had sent her way.
They were a bit annoyed with her, for her having shaken them off and setting out on her own. It wasn't an uncommon thing for her to do, but she suspected that they were trying to keep a closer eye on her these days. They needed her to get into the PANDORA facilities, and beyond that the Hell's Gate. So, it only made sense that they worried that she might get herself in trouble.
Which made it all the more tempting to yank out the tracking chip they had implanted under her skin, and dump it on some unassuming shopper.
But, that would give away too much...temptation not withstanding, it wasn't worth it.
She glanced up towards the walls of the Hell's Gate, as she adjusted her course towards them. She could scout around them for now, and get an understanding of the area-of-operations.
Luvina quietly typed in a text with her phone.
-Stop pestering me while I'm working.-
edited 16th Mar '15 6:13:52 PM by dungeonguy88
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves." -C.G. Jung
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
Someone made his approach towards Duo. The ex-Swedish commando could hear the footsteps in the empty lobby. While his jeans and boots were visible since it was only in the morning, the lack of working lights obscured the man's face and parts of his chest.
"Has anyone set foot here?" Duo can hear the challenge question thrown at him. All he needs to do is to use the challenge answer to authenticate each other as Syndicate agents.
A SMS was sent to Luvina, courtesy of the American Embassy in Minato, that she needs to get to the Type I restricted areas so that she can get a better look at the place.
At the nearest Type I checkpoint for Chiyoda or Chūō, a chain link fence with a couple of Komatsu Type 96 APCs
with a blue finish with armed men in green tac gear were seen on one side with HK MP5A3s and 4s. Behind the chain link fence were PANDORA soldiers (having white tac gear, including helmets) armed with HK G36A2 assault rifles alongside a couple of ST Kinetics Terrex APCs equipped with a GPMG and an AGL via remote control weapon system, being configured for Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition.
Their presence does show that the UN means business when they announced the authorization of deadly force to enforce the Security Council's mandate to protect the facilities and the people working near Hell's Gate.
edited 17th Mar '15 1:43:19 AM by Ominae
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
Discordian Agent
-Affirmative- Came the quick text reply.
It was easy to notice the thinning crowds, as she neared the checkpoint. No one was entirely at ease, when within a stone's throw of that much firepower. She didn't bother trying to hide her scrutiny as she passed by, though she didn't slow her pace much. Acting like that sort of thing didn't warrant attention, tended to warrant some attention.
It's be easy to assume she was just a passerby that way.
From that one pass though, it became obvious that they were still in the process of beefing up security. She wouldn't be able to get in much reconnaissance, if she didn't do it now, before their equipment was set-up.
She didn't waste time turning a corner, putting herself out of sight of the heavily-armed men.
She quietly began pulling up the files on her phone, holding the maps and utility data that covered this area. All she'd need was a place out of easy sight, some place that seemed impregnable, and thus not worth monitoring heavily.
A solid-cement wall was a lot less of an impediment for her than others.
It was a bit of a cliche, but a sewer system would do. Any barricades they set up down below wouldn't be too thick for her to pass through without too much trouble.
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves." -C.G. Jung
"Not for 10 long years," Duo responded, he looked over to the new face. The Syndicate was a bit nuts.
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
The man scrutinized Duo before he nodded when he heard the challenge answer correctly.
"Well it seems that you're the only Syndicate agent available." He sighed. "Beggars can't be choosers after all. Anyway, I need to introduce you to someone before we get down to business."
"HEY YON! I need you to introduce yourself!" The man turned around and looked over his shoulder, but he had his hand on his waist.
Due to neglect done by Tokyo, the sewer system wasn't as protected. That meant that no one was around to stop Luvina from exploring the sewers if she wanted to. But rumors do persist that PANDORA has sealed them off with cemented walls and security measures in order to prevent any prying eyes from venturing inside, including terrorists, spies and the occasional urban explorer.
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
Discordian Agent
It seemed a viable enough means of ingress.
While the UN and Pandora might have been beefing up security, it wasn't hard to imagine that they'd be hard-pressed to tighten up security in the sewers below. And she was uniquely gifted in bypassing most security measures.
She wasted no time, in searching for an out of the way location to enter the sewers. This wasn't so difficult, as with her phasing, any spot above the sewers that was out of sight would serve.
An alleyway, carefully checked for any street surveillance cameras, would serve.
She took the to hide away her false I Ds, near where she was going to enter. If the situation became so bad that she was caught, they wouldn't do her any good, and might only lead them to her superiors. Which might cause her superiors to decide it would be better to be rid of her.
-Testing potential point of ingress. May fall out of contact temporarily.-
With that last text sent, she cast one more around the alleyway. Satisfied, her body soon lit up with Lancelnoptchrotron radiation, as she slowly sank through the street.
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves." -C.G. Jung
The Fantabulous
A long, graceful figure stood almost completely motionless in a dark corner of the lobby. At this hour of the morning there was hardly enough light to make out your own nose in front of your face but this did not phase Yon - a few drops of fresh blood cooled in her palm as her spectre roamed, granting vision far beyond her physical capabilities. There was no spilled blood in the building nor in its surrounds but the flow through the approaching man's body was enough to alert her of his presence before he likely even saw the Spiral Building. The Doll's 'interest', if a creature such as this could even have such a thing, flitted between a few violent puddles as her Syndicate handler confronted the agent.
Suddenly a call broke through Yon's trance, her head turned to acknowledge the summons and her dead hazel eyes gave a one last glance to the painless wound in her palm before clasping her fingers over it. The Doll silently tread from the shadows and into the morning light, tilting her head to the handler for a moment and then fixing a far away gaze on the Swedish man, "I am Yon." She said without emotion, not knowing how to be more courteous if even that she should. She hadn't been programmed to deal with social situations. It wasn't even her real name, her real one had been ripped from her wholesale with the rest of her history and identity. But Yon didn't, or at least couldn't care.
“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
"She's going to be your partner." The Syndicate agent spoke to Duo, still keeping his face obscure for... some reason. "She's the newest Doll working for The Syndicate. You just make sure she's okay because the top brass wants you to work together with her."
He then approached the Swedish man, his face now visible. He appeared to be in his 30s, was Japanese and had a scar on his left cheek.
"I got some info for you on your latest case." The man handed the folder to Duo. Inside was information on Meyer & Hilton. It also included bio datas on two men, Kenneth and Luco. The info noted that the latter was a Contractor hired out as a mercenary for the British company. "Top brass wants these two gentlemen taken out of the picture."
A squad of four PANDORA soldiers were heard patrolling a sewer corridor near Luvina's position, all armed with G36A2s.
"Man, I heard rumors that some urban explorers had breached one of the walls made to block part of the sewers." One of the PANDORA soldiers spoke to his colleagues. "But are we really needed here?"
"I guess you didn't pay attention to the briefing that the DGSE attempted a breach after they made contact with one of the scientists here."
"You mean they'll try again?"
"Who knows? We need to be on our guard."
"Yeah, I know."
edited 17th Mar '15 4:20:23 AM by Ominae
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
The Fantabulous
Yon, after a brief pause, walked back into the shadows for a few moments - returning with a long-ish brown duffel-bag. This contained her issued pistol, rifle as well as a smart cardigan. She shouldered it and wordlessly moved to Duo's right side, facing the scarred man as he handed over relevant files. She had been informed that the mission would involve Meyer & Hilton and was given a basic description of their targets, enough to recognise them if and when her spectre found them. The Doll didn't question this and waited with a stillness only her kind could.
“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Duo looked over the file, "Affirmative. I will get on it ASAP."
Discordian Agent
'That was quick.' She couldn't help but think to herself.
Fortunately, this wouldn't be too much trouble. Quickly glancing around, she found an appropriate place to phase before leaning back into the wall. Soon enough, there was nothing to see.
Granted, she wouldn't be able to see them, until she came back out a bit. But, it would serve to let the patrol pass her by, without alerting anyone.
After a little while, she briefly leaned back out to confirm that they had passed her by.
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves." -C.G. Jung
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
The PANDORA patrol had passed Luvina, while making a mention of an emergency access to the surface of the restricted area being monitored by their colleagues upstairs in case someone would have the balls to sneak by them.
Mike had arrived at the chairman's office inside the ASE building, being shown inside by the chairman's secretary.
"Mister Chairman." Mike introduced himself to the chairman in English. "I thought that I was suppose to be called in..."
"I know." The chairman replied back in the same language. "But things have escalated in regards to the case of Mai Kashiwagi."
He was handed a folder with bio data on her and her father, Kozo Tahara.
Mike went through the folder quickly. "Tahara, sir? I though he left PANDORA due to PTSD from surviving an initial expedition in what's now Hell's Gate."
"We know... but there's word that his daughter's gone missing. Most likely by mercenaries hired by Meyer & Hilton."
Mike gritted his teeth when he heard the name. Never mind that Contractors are detested due to their lack of emotion and hesitation to kill, maim or injure people when needed, but he didn't feel right if a multinational company like them are involved in unethical experiments involving plans to created Contractor soldiers."
"Aren't they suppose to be out of business, sir?" Mike asked.
The chairman replied. "They are about to declare bankruptcy, but a faction inside the company wanted to get Tahara to cough up whatever he found in Hell's Gate in order to prop it up again."
The intercom of the chairman rang.
"Yes?" The chairman answered the call.
"I'm sorry, sir. But there's news of an attack on police officers at a local park somewhere in Koto ward."
"Understood." The chairman stared at Mike before he continued. "Looks like things escalated quickly."
"Permission to proceed, sir?" Mike asked the chairman.
The chairman nodded.
The Syndicate agent continued to explain to Duo about the latest assignment. "Syndicate's worried that the company's trying to mass produce Contractors as supersoldiers in case of a future conflict. They don't like it and they want you and Yon to help out BK-201's team in taking them out..."
"Hold on." The agent answered a call in Japanese. "Yes, what is it? Okay, okay... Understood."
"All right." He ended the call and spoke to Duo. "We just got word of an attack on police officers somewhere in Koto ward. The mercenary Contractor was sighted there by an eyewitness. You need to hurry and get to the witness."
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
Discordian Agent
'So, the French have been poking around.'
That was potentially useful, if she were to be spotted. If she was detected, it would give them an easy target to lay the blame on, other than her own employers. Granted, she would have to kill any witnesses that spotted her, as she was decidedly not French. But, that gave her a bit of operational freedom.
Slipping free of the wall, she took a moment to slip off her shoes. It was a bit objectionable to walk around down here without shoes on, but her steps would be quieter.
She probably wouldn't need to go through the PANDORA forces entrance, she could find her own way back to the surface.
Briefly checking the saved files on her phone, she began navigating towards the perimeter of the Hell's Gate facility. She was looking for barricades or sealed-off tunnels that would signal that she was in the right place. Something that no normal person could bypass, without demolition specialists, wouldn't have much security over it.
edited 17th Mar '15 5:11:41 AM by dungeonguy88
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves." -C.G. Jung
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
If and when Luvina would start exploring the sewers, she would need to go straight and turn right since the path was completely cemented from the other side.
Which meant that the area behind the wall is a part of Hell's Gate territory.
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
Duo gave a brief salute and ran off dragging Yon with him, he had a mission to complete and he didn't feel like wasting time.
His black van sat outside, just needed to get in and get moving.
The Fantabulous
Yon didn't resist as Duo tugged her out of the building at towards a black van, clearly used to this sort of treatment or at least impartial to it. He would find she had no difficultly keeping up with him, her spectre in search once again for information as she clutched the blood in her hand. It went to the nearest available medium to the explosion, hopefully the flames had not completely vaporised all its victims. Once shown to the van she would get in without complaint, mind still elsewhere but with awareness of her new 'partner'.
“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
"Head to the helipad at once. I'll get Dr. Jones to join you on the mission."
"Right, sir."
A doctor? Mike mused when he got to the elevator up towards the roof. What for?
On top of the helipad/roof of the Almighty Support Enterprises' Tokyo building, an Airbus EC155 B1 with ASE markings was now being prepped for takeoff.
Mike was led to the chopper, with doors now open by a guard. He was told to expect someone inside the waiting chopper.
Yon's specters would be able to detect fresh blood near a small playground in Koto ward. They came from the corpses of police officers killed off by Luco. Their Toyota Crown squad cars were left untouched.
One of the specters could detect another source of blood on the ground. It came from the chest wound of a man in his early 20s.
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
The Fantabulous
Yon suddenly spoke, though it seemed to no-one in particular, "There are dead at Koto, but not the Police Station. A playground, dead men in uniforms outside their cars." She said as casually as one might observed passing trees on a road, her eyes were fixed on her closed palm "A young man, no uniform. Bleeding chest." The Doll noted, not having the initiative to speculate on the scene's meaning.
Yon let a spectre linger there then let the others meander between sources of blood in the ward and surrounds for anything else of interest.
edited 18th Mar '15 2:34:48 AM by Lt.BGob
“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
Duo fastened Yon in and started up the Van, "Alright where to then?" He asked the Doll.
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
Yon's specters would also find out that the young man was bleeding from his chest wound in a side street in front of the playground where Mai was a while ago before she was taken by Luco while in her Moratorium state.
Duo would receive a SMS from the Syndicate agent he met with a while ago.
Discordian Agent
Luvina considered the blocked off path for a few moments. If, and when, her superiors wanted her to head-in there this route would be a reasonable choice for making her way into the Hell's Gate. Which, would give her a pretty easy way to get into the PANDORA facilities. It was easy to imagine that their facilities were guarded more from people sneaking in from the outside, rather than the inside of the Hell's Gate.
Though, frankly, she didn't particularly want to go into the Hell's Gate, now or later.
She'd make a note of it and lie, claiming that security was too tight now around the periphery of the Hell's Gate, after the previous incursion by the DSGE. That would be plenty of info to keep her superiors satisfied.
Making note of a few more locations, that, based on her maps, would provide passage into Chiyoda and Chūō, Luvina began making her way back to the point where she had entered the sewers. After passing underneath Chūō, she'd have basically served out her objectives, and could honestly say she was done. Getting into the Type I areas undetected, didn't look like it would prove too difficult. And besides, she still needed to collect the false I Ds, she had hidden in the alley, before returning to the embassy.
edited 18th Mar '15 7:17:57 AM by dungeonguy88
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves." -C.G. Jung
Sandwich Summoner
Terry looked up at the open sky, before the draft caused him to sneeze. He was walking with a swift pace, fully aware that the time he employed in his financial sponsor was time he could not dedicate to his own devices. Stopping before entering the chopper, he took his time to scan the whole scene and recalling any sort of knowledge he could have about helicopters. Having none, his best course of action was prudence. There was a seemingly human passenger, which matched the descriptions.
Now...how was it? Terry mentally recalled before putting an average sized smile and extending his hand to Mike. "I am doctor James. You must be my partner" He enunciated, shifting his entonation to match his face. He couldn't be sure about what kind of asset or threat this individual presented himself as, nor how much did he know about his Contractor nature. "Shall we get the show started?". He parroted such a flippant expression, trying to gauge the other individual's response while Terry himself changed his smile to a confident smirk.
Duo understood and headed out. The mission was clear here, and maybe he actually didn't need to silence anyone today. Perhaps it was simple retrieval, but that had yet to be seen.
The truck dove into the tunnel and the trip began.
Ten years ago, a mysterious area called Hell's Gate appeared in the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan after a similar one known as Heaven's Gate appeared in Brazil. This has altered the skies permanently with the real stars gone, replaced by fake ones. At the same time, people with mysterious powers known as Contractors and Dolls started to appear all over the world. They have their powers obtained at a price.
Various nations and factions worldwide began to use them in special forces and espionage operations before a mysterious group called The Syndicate made itself known. Their actions have rendered various superpower nations irrelevant, including America and Russia. With the presence of Hell's Gate in Japan, this has made Tokyo and other urban cities in the country as the new international arena with external intelligence agencies, terrorists, PMCs, mercenaries, secretive corporations and other groups conduct operations against each other.
Episode 1: A New Star
The 30-story of the Almight Support Enterprises' Tokyo branch, located in the Shinjuku ward a few blocks from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's new headquarters was a sight to see with the big sign placed on top of the building. A multinational company from the United States that previously specialized in private security to its clients, it is now placed on the side by hiring out individual and group specialists to various government and individuals who need their help when all legal means are exhausted.
Right now, an East Asian man had just entered the lobby of the ASE building and went to the elevator to hit the 27th floor. He was dressed in a green softshell tac jacket that resembled the jacket used by the BSAA in the Resident Evil series. He also wore black 5.11 Stryke tac pants and Adidas GSG9.7 Tactical Low Boots.
As he waited for the elevator to hit the said destination, he looked over the screen of his smartphone and studied the map of the Greater Tokyo Area. He first looked at the wards that are either partially or fully inside Hell's Gate, known as No Man's Land by Japanese analysts. They consist of Arakawa, Bunkyō, Chiyoda, Chūō, Kōtō, Sumida and Taitō. As such, they were considered Type II restricted areas, which meant their isolation from the rest of Tokyo via wall.
"These wards are under control of PANDORA, huh?" The man mused to himself when he checked the map image of Hell's Gate. "This is going to be a doozy if missions are going to be held there."
He then checked another map of the Greater Tokyo Area for residential areas, that consisted of Itabushi, Kita, Nerima, Setagaya, and Suginami. As for the new Greater Tokyo Area, they consist of Minato, Nakano, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Toshima.
Better remind me to get a tac map of the GTA.
The man looked outside and saw the "ring" that surrounded Hell's Gate. With both fear and uncertainty, he knew that the place was not the Tokyo he read in modern history years ago.
"One thing is for sure..." He murmured when he looked outside. "this isn't the Tokyo dad or angkongnote talked about years ago."
The American embassy located in Akasaka, Minato looked the same as ever even before Hell's Gate appeared in the GTA. The location itself spared Washington the inconvenience of potentially abandoning the place if it was in Hell's Gate territory. Well, unlike some of the embassies that were caught inside the place such as the Chongryon...
With the exception of an Isuzu Giga anti-riot truck and three Toyota Crown squad cars parked near the embassy entrance with uniformed officers on guard to serve as security under orders from the TMPD's Public Security Bureau, the interior was otherwise entirely manned by Marine Security Guards.
The Syndicate placed a feeler to its informant network for any available Syndicate agents to meet up at the lobby of the Spiral building
in Aoyama where a Syndicate agent will make contact with the challenge question "Has anyone set foot here?" with the answer "Not for ten long years."
It was the perfect place to meet up, considering that places near Arakawa, Bunkyō, Chiyoda, Chūō, Kōtō, Sumida and Taitō are considered Type I restricted areas, which meant that anyone who lived there years ago were ordered to relocate and abandon the cities and towns for good.
Aoyama has a lot of abandoned vehicles, bikes and other things left alone. There was some grass seen growing on the sidewalks and some of the roads since no one dared to go to the Type I areas due to government orders and due to urban legends that paranormal things happen there. That saved Tokyo a lot of time and money in not having chain link fences or walls placed around them.
Which is the reason why the area is a perfect place to meet up covertly without being spotted.
edited 16th Mar '15 7:20:06 AM by Ominae
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"