Blackbird Down

Four months since appearing

Captain Aleksey Yablokov started his day like any other with a strong cup of black tea, brewed extra strong. While sipping the bitter hot drink, he looked over the ship's manifest and schedule for the day. The ship he ran was named Kuzma Minin, a bulk-carrier class cargo vessel. She was an old, cantankerous beast, built decades ago, but still chugging as much on faith as its aging nuclear fueled turbines and grease. The greedy executives from the Murmansk Shipping Company had kept the boat in operation far past the recommended cycles on a regularly scheduled run of cargo between Yokohama and Vladivostok, mostly carrying Japanese goods to be sold into Russia, then carrying back grain and coal back to Japan. He grunted at the schedule and manifest; another few days of loading cargo and ship preparations and they would be leaving once again. A glorified goddamned truck driver is what I've become... he thought and shook his head. Before he could finish his checklist, the intercom rang.

"Captain to the bridge, landline message, your ears only," the crewman reported.

"Route it to my cabin," Aleksey ordered, then changed directions. Upon entering his private space, he picked up the landline handset. "This is the Captain," he answered.

"Captain, this is Cardinal, acknowledge," came a terse reply.

Aleksey struggled to remember before he went cold. That was a name from the past he thought he had put long behind him. Cardinal... a code name that designated that a special cargo would be headed his way. "I see... how much and how many?"

"Just one container," the voice assured, before continuing, "but we'd like to also bring aboard some additional security. Three officers, along with additional assets. What is your ship complement capability?"

Aleksey mentally went through the ship's current berthing layout, food and supplies, and other logistics that would be required to support crewmen. "We're currently at 18... we probably could hold 15 more at current layout. Any more than that and your men will be hot racking, and we'd need additional supplies to support them."

"Understood... prepare to receive additional instructions and supplies in the next few days. The men will be arriving at your docks sometime tomorrow evening."

____________________________________________________________________________________

"I really think we should reconsider this step," Dr. Sato urged.

In the ICU, Dr. Nishimura had started the first round of treatments of the experimental anti-serum that Dr. Sato had developed during the past few weeks. The results had looked promising when tested at the microscopic cellular level, and under normal circumstances, they would be taking a few months to go over the results in detail before starting animal testing. Unfortunately, these weren't normal circumstances.

"It seems like we aren't going to have the time to be that cautious," Nishimura pressed. If this had been any other patient, he wouldn't have dared to attempt something so desperate; in his mind, he was counting on Lady Yamano's healing factor to give him the margin of error to cover for any discrepancies in dosages for what was admittedly an experimental cure. If he could slay the 'red dragon', as he had come to call this toxin, then perhaps her healing power could handle the rest. Besides, in a few hours, they wouldn't be in a position to offer much more.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Inspector Aozuka stood watch as the assembled police force at Fujikawa took control of the facilities to enforce the court-ordered warrant, as Sergeant Kobayashi watched with a scowl. Inside, Dr. Yoshihiro Uchiyama reviewed the paper worked before shaking his head. "We need some time to stabilize the patient at the minimum, or all you'll be doing is transporting a dead body."

"No stalling," Aozuka ordered.

Uchiyama turned to Minatsuki and grimaced, and with a silent expression that communicated his message clearly enough. I've delayed them as long as possible... do what you can... With that understanding conveyed, she turned and headed back to ICU, making her way to the patient that was the center of attention.

"Dr. Uchiyama's bought us enough time to stabilize her as best we can," Minatsuki updated, before noticing the new IVs hanging on her drip feeds. "What are you administering?"

Nishimura and Sato hesitated before the former came clean. "I've started administering Dr. Sato's treatment to our patient."

Minatsuki's eyes widened. "That seems... highly irregular..." she exclaimed.

Nishimura looked back with a pointed expression. "As you said, matters will soon be taken out of our hands. If she doesn't get some kind of treatment soon, she's not going to be getting any at all."

"The wrong treatment, or dosage, and that could be worse than not treating her at all," Minatsuki pointed out.

She's not wrong, Nishimura frustratedly thought. That damned Inspector and his Judge, whoever he was...! But I have no choice...! Lady Yamano, I hope that healing factor is as good as you said it was...!

____________________________________________________________________________________

Mitsuha sat quietly at one side of the conference table, dutifully taking notes while Mayumi Hongo engaged in a three-way conversation between dueling corporate clients on opposite sides of the table arguing their positions in an intellectual property dispute. The layman in Mitsuha thought some of the arguments were childish; just shake hands and be fair about it, but the newly-minted future lawyer that was being given a ring-side education knew better. In this case, hundreds of millions of Yen were at stake, depending on which side could extract each percentage point from the agreement before signatures could be finalized. All this while Hongo billed them north of Y100,000 per hour on behalf of the firm; not a bad haul for what amounted to filing paperwork. Naturally, Hongo-sensei had coached Mitsuha that she should be filing her own billing statement just sitting there, taking notes, albeit at a junior associate's rate near Y20,000 per hour. No one worked for free at a law firm.

Once the meeting concluded, Mitsuha handed the compiled notes over for a quick inspection. Hongo was a speed-reader; it only took a few seconds, and a couple of quick jots for minor amendments before she handed the stack back. "Looks good, have that filed with the front secretary."

"Hai, sensei," Mitsuha said with a bow before turning to leave.

"Oh, and one more thing," Hongo added, causing Mitsuha to stop in her tracks. "What's your plans this weekend?"

"Ah... well..." Mitsuha equivocated.

"OK good, you're free then," Hongo continued opportunistically. "The firm is holding a fund raising social at the TKP Tokyo Station Conference Center this weekend. A lot of big names will be there; current and prospective clients, some political figures, judges, and other law firms. Normally these are for partners and senior associates only, but I put in a good word in for you."

"Ah... well... I'm honored... but... what I should I do while at this party?" Mitsuha asked.

"Just mingle... network... a lot of a lawyer's career is building one's client list," Hongo explained. "Your standing in our firm is very much tied to how much business you help bring in, as much as your expertise as a lawyer. And yes, we understand you're still an associate, so we're not expecting you to have a portfolio; just present yourself as a professional and an up-and-coming talent for the firm and you'll be fine."

____________________________________________________________________________________

Outside Fujikawa hospital, an assembled group of policemen watched as a prepared ambulance was pulled up to the emergency wing of the hospital. Dr. Uchiyama reluctantly signed the releases and handed the forms to Inspector Aozuka. "Before you take her, there's some very important things you're going to need to know about keeping her medically stable during transport."

"That won't be necessary," Aozuka assured Uchiyama. "It's a short trip to Chou City." Especially since we won't even be going all the way there.

"I'll go with her," Yuta Ishii chimed in unexpectedly, causing heads to turn. When everyone looked at him strangely, he continued. "I've been working with Dr. Sato and Dr. Nishimura, and I've been on staff helping to keep up with her day-to-day medical needs these past few weeks. It should be easy enough for me to keep her stable for a short trip to Chou City and once we're there, I can find my way back easily enough."

"Then I'll come along as well," Sergeant Kobayashi added. "Your warrant might require I hand her over, so I've agreed to this... procedure," he managed to say with only a hint of contempt, "but nothing says I can't be there to see this matter through. I worked this case from the beginning; I deserve to see it to its conclusion."

Goddammit, no...! Aozuka silently swore. He was supposed to detour his route to the Fujikawa Roadside Parking Area that was enroute to meet up with his rendezvous and accidentally "lose" his detainee, reporting that those same organized crime families that his warrant had invented had come for "Akiko Michizane" to finish the job, but having two additional witnesses there would sorely compromise his plans. Unfortunately, in his panic, he couldn't come up with a convincing reason not to bring Ishii along as his own cover story required "Michizane-san" to remain alive as a "witness", and denying Sergeant Kobayashi would mean he'd go straight to his own Inspector, who would no doubt raise a red flag to his Precinct commander for breech of protocol.

Nishimura pulled Ishii to one side. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked with a low voice.

"For one, I'm making sure she gets whatever help she needs," Ishii insisted. "I can also keep administering and monitoring Dr. Sato's treatments. Second, I can make sure that she's treated fairly with whatever... legal nonsense they've cooked up against her, and if needed, I can point out when they have the wrong person. Regardless, it's just an hour away at most, and we're still in Japan. It's not like we're traveling to some other world or that they're charging us with a crime. Besides, Sergeant Kobayashi's going to be with us as well, so what's the worst that could happen?"

Nishimura sighed, "Fine..." He handed Ishii some additional vials and notes. "Here's the rest of Dr. Sato's regime, along with the dosages we came up with, based on her physiology. I've included some diagnostic symptoms to look for, based on how she responds to the treatments, so you can make some adjustments if needed. But Yuta..." he lowered his voice. "be careful... something about this whole mess doesn't feel right. You and I both know this isn't Akiko Michizane or whoever they're calling her. There's something else going on here, and I'm almost sure that our Inspector isn't telling us everything he knows."

____________________________________________________________________________________

The Fujikawa Waterside Park was a grassy landscape that made the most of its natural surroundings of the Fuji river, offering golf, jogging, and dog walking areas. A multi-purpose plaza had hosted many local amateur athletic events in the local town, and the park was a popular place for families to bring their children to bask in the outdoors. Unfortunately, this didn't suit the three tall men, who's obvious foreign features marked them as outsiders to everyone who passed them by. Boris in particular looked on at annoyance at one little boy who stared at him like he was some kind of evil alien before his parents quietly pulled him away from the "strange foreigner", that she no doubt whispered into the little boy's ear.

"I'm telling you, this was a terrible place for a rendezvous," one of the men whispered to Boris, looking around at all the locals. There were literally dozens of people, any one of whom could be an undercover surveillance asset or counter espionage agent. "Why couldn't we have set up at Yakumoike Park or that shrine we passed back on the highway outside of town?"

Boris grunted; while both of those locations were far less crowded, both were also far out of the way from Chou City, which would have been far more difficult for Inspector Aozuka to justify, not to mention neither location would have been able to handle a cargo truck without obviously sticking out. This location was literally a block away from the Fujikawa Roadside Station, which was a toll road rest stop that routinely handled larger cars and trucks, including the cargo truck they had standing by, ready to receive their package. It was also located at the intersection of the Western line and Chubu-Odan Express Tollways, which would make for a quick exit, once they hit the road, assuming the exchange went smoothly. He sighed, "Just... calm yourselves comrades," he assured, making sure to stick with English, as he had been instructed. "Remember your training... " He patted his pockets where his forged credentials as a reminder to his partners. "We're foreign businessmen, here to ship cargo to Yokohama, nothing more. Besides, we're meeting with a high-ranking policeman. In this country, they're all but untouchable; none of the civilians would question police matters, even if he is speaking with a foreigner, and he's going to be all by himself. Just keep your cool, and it'll all be over soon."

____________________________________________________________________________________

Inspector Aozuka kept an impassive face as he drove the ambulance up National Route 52 as Sergeant Kobayashi sat quietly in the passenger seat. Outwardly calm, both men were harboring quiet inner turmoil, though both for completely different reasons. In the back was Mitsuha lying on a gurney with Yuta Ishii keeping an eye on her vitals, as he kept his own council.

How am I supposed to handle this...? Aozuka wondered, as the planned rendezvous came ever closer. Another few kilometers, and they would reach Fujiwaka Roadside Station, where he was supposed to park the vehicle, go for a break, only to return and conveniently discover the vehicle had been "stolen". Now that plan was completely shot, unless he could somehow connive a way to get both Kobayashi and Ishii out of the ambulance and leave Mitsuha all by herself. Kobayashi... he thought, perhaps he could be lured for a quick smoke break in the Roadside Station's very pleasant lobby. Ishii however was another matter; he suspected there was no way any self-respecting medical attendant would abandon a charge that was listed in critical condition, which presented Aozuka with an intractable dilemma.

Meanwhile, Kobayashi kept looking at the passenger rearview mirror, expecting to see someone following them. Right as they left, he was immediately surprised to find out Aozuka himself was going to drive them to Chou City. He had justified it as it being a short trip and that he didn't feel it was necessary to task a junior officer for something so trivial for something he could do himself, but Kobayashi's own experience was that most Inspectors almost always tasked junior officers for exactly these kind of meaningless grunt work. Then there was the matter of no police escort... for a case that he had presented as so vitally important, what would happen if they were attacked? Or just a simple car accident? Shouldn't there have been some kind of backup? The longer this drive went, the more suspicious the cop within him was becoming.

"Why are we pulling over?" Kobayashi demanded, as Inspector Aozuka pulled the ambulance into the Fujikawa Tollway parking lot.

"Forgive me; I just needed a moment," Aozuka equivocated. "Something I ate at the hospital has begun to disagree with me. If you'd like, feel free to have a smoke break in the lobby while I'm gone. Just be aware they don't allow smoking in these ambulances though."

Kobayashi grunted with annoyance and crossed his arms, and glanced in the back as Ishii had paid them no mind, while attending to Mitsuha's unconscious form. "I'll be here, thank you very much," he insisted.

Well, damn it all... I tried... Aozuka muttered to himself. Maybe the Gods have mercy on your souls...

____________________________________________________________________________________

Mitsuha got off the JR Tokyo station in Yaesu central gate, with the TKP Tokyo Station Conference Center being only a minute away. Even at on a weekend evening, the streets were bustling; Tokyo was truly the city that never slept. The firm had rented out Hall 10A for the evening, a generous space capable of hosting more than 160 people. Dressed in a sharp business suit, Mitsuha looked the part of a young up-and-coming executive, ready to make her mark in the professional world.

Entering the foyer, Mitsuha made her way past the evening crowd of people headed towards the elevators, taking it to the conference floors. She looked around, seeing the labeled venues and headed in, presenting her invitation to the party's coordinator. She looked around with a feeling of trepidation. Other than a few of the partners she had been introduced during her interviews, she didn't recognize anyone, though there was an undeniable feeling of status and self-importance among this crowd of people. The conversations were entirely directed away from her, as would be expected; almost no one would be interested in a first-year associate's opinion on any serious legal or corporate matter and not enough alcohol had been consumed to loosen up people's tongues to get to the really juicy topics of the evening. Retreating to the corner of the hall, she requested a fruit drink from the party bartenders, wanting to keep her sobriety.

However, as she turned back around, Mitsuha wondered if she had drastically failed in that goal as she suddenly saw the banquet hall of Marquis Kardebolt's ballroom from back in Zegleus in front of her. Looking at her own outfit, she was now wearing a formal medieval gown, similar to the one she wore when she attended the party at Count Lansen's mansion to meet up the Pasteurs*. All around the room, familiar faces from the Zegleus Kingdom were looking at her with the sense of respect as someone who had been often referred to as "the Lightning ArchPriestess", and began to swarm around her.

* see Manga Chp54 /LN Chp23

"Viscountess Yamano, a word please!" Baron Flageaux beseeched.

"Mi' Lady, could we discuss the trade agreement between our provinces?" Baron Kossok offered.

"ArchPriestess, there's a matter of great urgency we have to speak to you regarding the Mathrica delegation," Ambassador Clarge pleaded.

Mitsuha's head began to spin. What was going on? She seemed to remember these conversations... this party... half of these were negotiations she ended up passing off to Miriam and Colette to handle, while the others had to be handled on a case-by-case basis. But was this happening now? Or am I reliving a memory? And what happened to my life back in Japan?! "Um.. excuse me, please!" she pleaded, pushing her way to the washroom, much to the disappointment of the assembled nobles.

Closing the door behind her, Mitsuha immediately headed towards the wash basin. Being a medieval washroom, even for a noble's mansion, there was only the basin with a drain, and a freshly-prepared pitcher of water next to it ready for use. She immediately took advantage of the facilities and poured some water on her hands to splash her face in an attempt to clear her head as she began to pant with confusion. How can this be...? I literally just got off the train station and rode up an elevator to get here...! The memories of her family's deaths, which she had slowly begun to push away as possibly figments of a bad nightmare suddenly surged back to the forefront... if Zegleus was real after all, then that night had to be... she abruptly tried to world shift... nothing. She closed her eyes and concentrated harder... "Transfer...!" she quietly verbalized with determination... still nothing. Just then, another hand clamped down on her shoulder from behind, causing her to yelp in surprise.

"Transfer?"

Mitsuha opened her eyes abruptly and again reeled in shock. She was standing in a modern hotel bathroom with Mayumi Hongo looking her dead in the eyes with her hand on her shoulder and a worried look on her face. She was once again wearing a formal modern business suit, standing in front of a sink with water facets still running.

"What exactly are you planning on transferring?" Hongo asked.

"I... I... " Mitsuha shook her head. "It's nothing sensei. I was... having a really bad memory flashback of something... traumatic from my high school years... a death in the family... but I'm fine now... really..." Yeah... not entirely a lie there...

Hongo looked at her with concern before motioning her back into the main room. "Well, if you're up for it, the senior partners were about to start making speeches. It would be bad form for you to be hiding in here while the ones at the top were trying to make their pitches."

"Ah yes, of course," Mitsuha nodded, doing her best to regain her composure. Both women left the restroom to rejoin the party, picking up additional refreshments to blend in with the rest of the guests as Mitsuha did her best to make small talk to the best of her ability. After nearly an hour, an elderly man with greying hair named Hiroo Atsumi stood up at the center stage, as the rest of the party slowly came to attention.

"Good evening everyone... on behalf of myself and the rest of our partners here at Atsumi and Sakai, I'd like to welcome all our prospective guests and partners on this auspicious night." He paused as light applause scattered throughout the room before continuing. "We're pleased to announce that once again, we've managed to meet or exceed our planned metric goals for the year and for that... all of us among the leadership are extremely grateful for your efforts and teamwork. We look forward to working with all of you once again in the spirit of unity and cooperation in the coming year ahead!"

Around the room, waiters had begun passing around bottles of champagne. At each table, they were being opened up one-by-one. Unlike Micchan, whose family owned a bar, Mitsuha never had champagne before. As the ones next to her were being opened, she winced a little as the corks gave out a series of loud pops, shooting across the table, followed by streams of bubbling beverage. She hadn't realized that popping the corks open was so loud... it almost sounded like gunfire...

____________________________________________________________________________________

Back at the Fujikawa Toll Station, Kobayashi thoughts were abruptly shattered as the driver door opened, only to reveal a total stranger trying to enter. Both men had a look of total surprise.

"Who the hell are you?!" Kobayashi snarled as he reached for his sidearm.

"Вот дерьмо!*" the foreign-looking tall blond man shouted, reaching for his own weapon. Almost simultaneously, two shots rang out, with a bullet striking Kobayashi in the weak-side shoulder, and his shot missing high.

* Vot der'mo / Oh shit

Yuta Ishii cringed with pain as the loud shots of the pistols, amplified by the confines of the ambulance interior nearly deafened him, sending him tumbling to his knees. He managed to get back up as Kobayashi looked at him, silently motioning him to take cover. He was then able to get a two-hand grip on his pistol for a better shot, forcing the first agent to flee for cover, as the next two agents came up from behind.

"Ox черт возьми!*" the second man shouted, as he ran around the back of the ambulance. Outside, any hope of a quiet switch had long ago ended as civilians throughout the rest stop ran screaming for cover. Boris also swore under his breath; how could such a perfect operation go to utter crap so fast...!

* Okh chert voz'mi / Oh for fuck sake

Kobayashi managed to catch a glimpse of the second man pull back, and when he didn't see him come around the front, realized what he was trying to do, so he pulled back to the rear of the ambulance next to Ishii. "Dial 110*, then call for help! If you can keep a phone connection open, do it!" he ordered quietly but urgently.

* Police emergency number throughout Japan

Ishii nodded frantically as Kobayashi kept his gun at the ready with his head on a swivel, checking both front and back. The back of the ambulance doors were secured; he hoped they wouldn't be able to go through those, at least not without some time, effort and warnings. The front doors however were completely exposed; it was only a matter of time before they would try something.

Outside, Boris glared at the man next to him. "What the hell where you thinking?!" he cursed, lapsing back into Russian. At this point, any kind of subtlety seemed pointless.

"The vehicle was supposed to be empty!" the man protested. "How was I supposed to know there would be a policeman in there?"

"And your first instinct was to shoot him?!" Boris retorted incredulously. He should have immediately retreated, feigned as if he had mistakenly gotten into the wrong truck, or if necessary, presented his forged credentials to the policeman as a legitimate long-haul truck driver for their pre-prepared business cutout in Yokohama, but that ship had sailed. He quickly assessed his options; hating every single one of them. They could retreat right now, but without a vehicle, and their faces caught on the nearby cameras at the toll station. They could grab their agent Inspector Aozuka and have him "arrest" them, possibly taking them to another site for silent extract, though at this point, such an action would likely burn him forever as an asset, which would be just as bad for the three of them once word got back to Moscow. Lastly, they could continue with the plan, push forward, move this ambulance to their prepared cargo truck and make it a race to Yokohama, all the while trying to stay ahead of what surely would be a nationwide dragnet once word spread as fast as the digital age spread such information. All of them were terrible options, but... after a moment's consideration, he choose the last one. If they could make it to the Kuzma Minin, they would be onboard a Russian flag ship, surrounded by Spetsnaz forces, and soon in international waters before the noose closed in. Then finally, if they could bring their prize back to Mother Russia, there was still the slight chance this fiasco could be forgiven.

Inside the ambulance, Ishii set the phone up to dial the police emergency number, then at the same time, texted Dr. Nishimura, "Hijack, foreign, guns, Fujikawa Toll" before the phone picked up. "Police emergency..." came the terse reply.

"This is Ambulance 14, Fujikawa Hospital, vehicle number 30606, we're under attack at the Fujikawa Toll Station, three men with pistols trying to hijack my vehicle!"

Just then, both front doors opened, and Sergeant Kobayashi pointed his gun at the man coming from the passenger side door, but was himself being covered by two other men coming from the driver side door.

"Do you speak English?" Boris asked, trying to be as concise as he could. "No one has to die here. All we want is the van, the patient, and your cooperation," he pressed as calmly as the situation allowed, which in this case was borderline.

Kobayashi and Ishii both stared at Boris with confusion and fear. Neither man was fluent in English, aside from some very basic greetings and simple phrases, so much of what Boris said went over their heads. Guns however were a universal language of themselves. Boris pointed at Kobayashi's handcuffs, beckoning him to hand them over. Seeing the futility, and not being suicidal, he complied, lowering his gun.

The second agent then pointed his pistol at Ishii and ordered, "Phone!" Ishii nodded; that was one of the few English words he did know, so he complied, handed the phone over. The agent noted that it had an open call with voices on the other end he didn't understand, so he ended the call. "Boris, we have limited time. Chances are, their police are already enroute."

"Get driving!' Our truck is just in the next block. We'll drive the van into the back. There are no cameras in that area, so if we can make it there in the next few minutes before their police arrive, we should be able to get going." Boris then turned to Ishii, recognizing his hospital smock as a medical uniform and pointed at his uniform, then at Mitsuha. "Keep her alive, no matter what! She dies... you die...!"

Ishii caught maybe a quarter of the actual sentence, but the menacing gestures and tone of voice carried the intent clear enough, so he nodded frantically, and got to work. However, unbeknownst to the Russians, Ishii, as a medical student in fact carried two phones. One was his personal phone, which he had just handed to the Russians. The other however, he kept on him, was strictly for hospital business, which would allow him to separate his professional and personal life more easily. Once the Russians were no longer looking at him, he reached into his pocket to silence the ringer and turn the phone's tracking app on.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The cargo truck stopped short of the entrance of the Yokohama Bay bridge and entered one of the Keihin Company warehouse right on the mouth of the bay. The past few hours had been a harrowing series of close calls, barely managing to avoiding detection by means of disguises, forgeries, and practiced social engineering. Pulling into the warehouse, they saw a group of foreign workers, much to their relief, including Dmitry Ivanov. Their relief was short-lived however; as soon as they got off the truck, Ivanov slapped Boris hard across the cheek.

"Идиот...!*" Ivanov snarled. "You and your men have officially just made yourselves the most wanted men in Japan! Where did you learn your tradecraft... Afghanistan... or even worse... Hollywood...?!"

* ˈidēət / Idiot

Boris flinched; the insult stung more than the slap. "I... I take responsibility for my men's poor behavior..." he said with his head bowed.

"Be very sure that I will be submitting my report to Moscow about this fiasco!" Ivanov continued with a cold measured voice. "Just being here with you, I'll consider myself lucky if I'm not PNG'ed*!" He glanced at the ambulance and focused at the passengers, shaking his head. "As for these two..."

* Persona non grata / Unwelcome person; in this context, diplomatically expelled from a host country for conduct unbecoming.

Dmitry Ivanov forced himself to calm down; the last thing he needed now was another emotional mistake. The medical intern could be useful to keep the package alive for transport... and at this point, a hostage could be helpful if the heat got too close, but the policeman was going to be trouble. Kill a policeman, and all the fires of Hell would descend on us... there would be nowhere these fools would be safe, even once they reached Russia... it wouldn't surprise me if the Japanese hired independent mercenaries to pursue them to the ends of the Earth if necessary to bring them to justice. But if we released him, he'll no doubt go right away to the authorities, with a full description of all our faces and operational locations. Every single intelligence officer here would be forced to leave the country, along with burning every recruited agent they've invested in up to this point, notably Inspector Aozuka, setting their Intelligence gathering operations back for years. He sighed then nodded. "Bring them both with you... then release them to their Embassy once you reach Moscow safely. Under no circumstances are they to be harmed, or it'll be on your heads what happens to you next! By the time they're able to make it back to Japan, I'll have our assets in-country exfiltrated." He paused and leaned towards Boris for emphasis, "I sure hope your prize is worth what she's costing us."

____________________________________________________________________________________

"... and there's still no official word regarding the shootout that took place earlier this afternoon at the Fujikawa Toll Station. Once again, officials are asking for the public's help for any information for the whereabouts for these men, who are considered armed and dangerous..." as the television in Fujikawa Hospital's waiting room flashed surveillance pictures showing clips of the tall blond men climbing into the ambulance after firing shots into the cabin, then driving off.

In the waiting room, the doctors, nurses, and patients watched with varying degrees of interest, concern and fear. The ambulance drivers recognized once of their vehicles was the one that had been hijacked and whispered among themselves with shared sympathy. Others shared their shock at the violence at the shattered peace. Gun violence was so rare in Japan; for many of them, this was their first experience seeing it touch their lives.

For himself, Dr. Nishimura looked at his phone for what felt like the twentieth time... Hijack, foreign, guns, Fujikawa Toll... he could almost hear Ishii's fearful voice and his resolve almost cracked. Why didn't I stop him from going...? He was also furious with Inspector Aozuka... now it all made sense... and there was nothing worse than a corrupt law enforcement officer. Was it money...? Blackmail...? Well, whatever it was, I hope it was worth it, you bastard...! he raged internally.

He made his way to the temporary office that Fujikawa Hospital had set up for him and Dr. Sato and sat down. The word "foreign" in particular burned into his mind; so this was some kind of espionage activity; likely by some hostile nation-state. That meant Lady Yamano and likely both Yuta Ishii and Seiryu Kobayashi were probably being smuggled out of the country. If that happened, then there was no telling when... or even if... they were ever seen again...

His thoughts were interrupted as Dr. Sato entered the office and sighed sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Shuhei... Ishii-san was a very... diligent student and a hard worker..."

Nishimura looked up and nodded. "He's a bright young man... dedicated to his patients."

Sato paused before continuing. "I have to ask... who is that girl... and please... don't say she's 'Akiko Ishitobi'... there's clearly a lot more to her than you're letting on..."

Nishimura looked meaningfully at Sato and pursed his lips. "You're not wrong, but... " he paused and sighed. "All I can say is... I gave my word for my discretion... what I can say is... saving her life is of upmost importance, and that many people's lives rest on her survival."

Sato nodded gravely, taking the implied meaning to heart. He thought back all the work they had been doing these past couple months... otherworldly toxins... talks of "dragon materials"... exotic weapons... and untraceable murder suspects, and it all began to click. "I see... so that's why there's been such drastic actions to take her... even to the point of violence. Unfortunately... I suppose it's out of our hands now."

Nishimura picked up the phone. "Perhaps not," and began to dial a number.

Sato looked on quizzically. "Who are you calling?"

"A number that my patient gave me some time ago, in case things ever went very wrong..." Nishimura explained before turning his attention back to the phone.

"Station Whiskey Foxtrot Oscar," came a terse greeting.

"This is McCoy, I need a safe line," Nishimura replied in English. Next to him, Sato looked on with confusion and doubts. What exactly was his colleague gotten himself involved in?

"Wait one," came the reply. Nishimura paused as he heard a series of clicks over the phone.

"Go for secure," the voice confirmed.

"McCoy here, I need to report Blackbird is down, Sierra Six Alpha," Nishimura continued. He winced a little at the use of codewords, but after everything that had gone wrong and what he suspected was truly going on, he knew that secrecy was the last card they had to play.

"Understood, stand by..." the voice replied. After a tense few moments, a new voice came onto the call. It was coarser and more reflected the experience of the man behind the call. "This is the Captain... you're on speaker and you've got our attention Doc."

Nishimura sighed with mixed feelings. Just what box was I about to open? But it was either this or we would likely never see Lady Yamano nor Yuta Ishii ever again. "Our mutual friend's been taken and is likely headed out of the country, in enemy hands. One of my students is on board as well, and is providing us a location, heading to Yokohama port."

There was a brief pause; on the other end of the call, the Wolf Fang Captain and senior team members all looked at each other. Of all their regular clients, the 'little lady' as the Captain referred to Mitsuha had been their most profitable client by far, bringing them prosperity and stability that none of them could have ever imagined in the mercenary line of work. Moreover, as the sole representatives to "Princess Nanoha", they had continued to enjoy a regular stream of residual revenue through the sale of dragon and otherworldly biological components across the world, along with the influence that gave them, not to mention quite a few of the men in the unit were more than a little infatuated by Mitsuha. Even if the Captain presented this mission as volunteer-only, he had no doubt every last man would sign up without hesitation, especially if it meant rescuing their benefactor, so in the end, there was really little to talk about. "Understood Doc. We'll be wheels-up in 90 minutes, and headed your way."