It was just another intelligence gathering mission. Falsify some documents, assume the false name of Sonya Nakano, get hired by Interspace Commerce as an insurance saleswoman, and head to Furyoku station to find out the truth behind all the disappearing Kishiro personnel. The Havoc MKII bomber she was assigned stands out amongst all the Kusari-made ships, but it's perfect for giving out free escorts in addition to insurance policies.
As Sonya posted her insurance rates on the Neural Net, she thought her old life as a GMG pilot. Her parents were killed in an h-fuel explosion when she was 16, leaving her and her brother to fend for herself. After being stranded in New Tokyo when the game miner she worked on took off without her, she got recruited by the government.
And now here she is, in the same system that she worked in years ago. This system has a lot of memories, and she doesn't want to remember any of them. Unfortunately, her duty requires her to operate in this system. Letting out a deep sigh, she begins to look at the buyers for her insurance.
Furyoku Station Lounge
Among the patrons including Kishiro traders, Interspace Reps, Universal employees, and the odd freelancer, A young man of Kusarian origin sat at a table in the back room, Working on a holographic data-pad. The man looked like he could be any Freelance pilot or civilian, drawing little attention to himself. As bar-mistress eventually walked over, he closed discreetly changed the window from what he was working on to an innocuous paint-program.
"Konnichiwa sir, is there anything I could get for you today?" The bar-maiden asked.
"Oh, a cup of coffee would be nice. Cream, no sugar please."
The woman nodded and went to fetch the man's order. The man returned to his datapad and continued to write his intended message. Finally completing it, he hit the send button, and sat back to wait...
***
Elsewhere...
INCOMMING TRANSMISSION
Source: Steve.McCormic
Dest: Suzuki.Hiroto
Subject: Meeting
Mister Hiroto
It is me, Steve. We met in space... remember? That little chat over the comms?
Well, on that topic, there are a few things I'd like to discuss with you, In person. Over a drink at the bar on Furyoku station, perhaps?
It is important. I'll be waiting your reply.
Take care.
~Love: Steve-san:ylove:
TRANSMISSION END
***
After a few minuites, the Bar-maiden returned with a mug of coffee. "Here you go, sir."
"Domo" The Man replied, handing the woman a few credit chips. He sat sipping his coffee for several minuites, observing the activities of the bar.
As he sipped his coffee, he eyed a young woman entering the bar, apparently an interspace representitive. However, she was not immedietly considered anything other then another Bar patron, aside from her charming good looks. Eventually, the man finished his coffee and headed out into another part of the station.
He made his way to a nondiscript room, a rental quarter for pilots sleeping over. Inside was a communications console, which the man activated.
"Message has been delivered, we will wait here until he arrives."
"Good. INTELSPIKE Theta is still preparing it's operation. We will forward you the details once we hear from them." Another voice, heavily warped through a Vocoder, responded.
"Understood. We will proceed with our side of the mission. End of Line." The man replied. The comm shut off from the other end immedietly afterward.
The man, with the alias 'Steve', then went to lay down on the room's spartan bed. Not really sleeping, not really awake. Simply waiting for events to unfold to his ends...
Suzuki Hiroto walked into the bar. For all the GMG knew, he docked on the station for a little rest and relaxation. However, he had other things to do. He got summoned here by some Steve guy. He has no idea who Steve is, or who he works for. All he knows that he was told to enter the bar for a little meeting.
Hiroto sat down at a table, and began to look around the bar. A waitress was serving a rowdy bunch of foreigners drinks. The barkeep was serving food to a freelacer. His sister was sitting at the bar drinking a sidewinder fang...wait, what? He hadn't see his sister for years. How come she suddenly decided to turn up now?
In disbelief, Horoto walked over to her sister, and said "Hey, Akane!"
The woman looked at him in confusion. "Who's Akane? You must have me confused with some other person."
Hiroto stared at the girl in disbelief. "What do you mean, 'who's Akane? You are Akane, my sister!"
The reply was a lot angrier. "Your who? I don't know who you are, or who this Akane is, but leave me alone! Or I will call security on you! Now get outta my sight! Now!"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" The first meeting with his sister in years, and she doesn't even remember him. Hiroto sighed and sat down at a table on the far side of the bar.
The girl also sighed. Her idiot brother almost blew her cover! She doesn't need anyone finding out she is a double agent. Spy work has no place for personal relationships. Ordering another sidewinder fang, she begins to think about how she is going to go about her task.
Minuites later, Steve walked into the room. He looked around briefly and saw his quarry. Recognizing Hiroto from file images, he walked over to the Young man and spoke.
"Mister Suzuki. Pleased to finally meet you in person. I belive we have... spoken... before." Steve said, directly referancing his meeting with Hiroto in space several days prior.
He looked around to ensure nobody was watching. Then leaned closer to the man and lowered his voice. "We need to speak, Hiroto-san. Not here though... I need you to come with me."
Steve looked around again. A woman at the bar was glancing at them, but was unlikely to have heard, or cared what they were saying.
***
District 57, Planet New Tokyo
"Alpha, Kilo, and Unity teams are reporting in position. Zephyr is still setting up Position."
"Affirmative, stay in cover until we get the green light for operation."
Within the tall, and seemingly abandoned buildings and warehouses on one of the hundreds of Atoll-cities on the Surface of New Tokyo, Several teams of heavily armed soldiers were gearing up and preparing. Those assigned to keep watch on the building lay dead, each with several bullet wounds, indicating these gunmen were not Kusari military.
Infact, the force was a platoon of Consortium military clones. Attached to a Blackwatch unit which had been operating on New Tokyo for almost a nine months now. This platoon was one of a total of four. Each having arranged all of the weapons and vehicles they would need for an all out assault on a certian facility...
A facility run jointly by the Kusari intelligence facility, known as Kempeitai, and the Imperial Army. Containing, among other things, a copy of the Intelligence database used by that organisation. The base itself was built into a large derrick, which acted as the main access and defense point. Most of the facility however, was underwater, built into a seamount on which the derrick was constructed.
The Consortium soldiers knew their attack was a suicide mission. While sufficient forces and surprise would almost ensure the force would breach the facility, and give them enough time to transfer the database to several waiting recipiant ships, the reaction force from the Kusari Army and Police would almost certianly overwhelm them.
Hence why many of the Consortium troops were late-run stage clones. After the first thousand or so clones are created from a single DNA source, the genetic code starts to break down, eventually to the point where defects and abnormalities begin to appear. The Conditioning and augmentation of these soldiers meant they were immune to any fear or intimidation of death, and their lack of a past or any emotional attachments made them perfectly expendible in the minds of the Consortium.
The attack, however, awaited the word from Overwatch. This strike was just one part of a much larger operation, and would have to be timed perfectly to avoid alerting their quarry...
Hiroto jumped. This was his second scary encounter in 2 minutes. Looking at Steve in surprise, he said: "Alright, what do you want with me? I just spoke with my sister, and she doesn't even remember me. I'm not sure how I can help you."
Grabbing a glass of Sake from the waitress, Hiroto sighed. This was going to be a hard day.
"Sister?" Steve asked, surprised.
He looked around for a bit, trying to see who might be watching.
"Come with me." He said, grabbing Hiroto's arm and taking him down into a corridor, trying to do so in a manner that didn't arouse much attention.
He lured him to his quarters, likely making the poor boy feel like he was about to be raped.
"Now, Miner. We need to talk. You said your SISTER was here? This 'Suzuki Akane'? Where was she. Explain everything."
Hiroto looked around the room nervously. Did this guy want to kill him? Only thing to do is to answer the question. "I-Isaw h-her in the b-b-ar...I t-tried saying h-hello, but s-she claims s-she doesn't k-k-now me..."
Regaining his composure, Hiroto continued to speak. "It did not go well. It's like she is a whole different person now."
Steve leaned closer, his hands on Hiroto's shoulders, staring into his eyes. "You mentioned she was in the Kempeitai, correct? If so... she may be here undercover."
The Consortium agent turned around and took a step away. "That expedites things greatly...
Infact, that is why we summoned you here in the first place. We need her. What was her name again? Tell me everything about her."
Hiroto sighed. "Her name is Suzuki Akane, but she is probably operating under a false name. I didn't find out what. She had on these big glasses and wore a long, very conservative dress. I don't know anything else."
"Conservative Dress... not good." Steve mused, rubbing his chin.
"If she IS here, she's probably investigating -us-. We will need to secure her... or more accurately, YOU will have to secure her. Go talk to her, lure her to the hangar. Make up a cover story. I can't be seen yet..."
Steve motioned toward the door. "We will need to get her somewhere more secure."