Just then a shadow looms behind him in the doorway.
“Lucky…. WRENCH!”
CLANG!
Reo cracks his oversized wrench sideways across the slender man’s head. The man hits the floor, haphazardly firing off several rounds as he falls. Crates and boxes explode in a shower of splinters and cardboard with the rapid POP-POP-POP of silenced shots. Chase, Hanami, and Kora hit the floor, arms flung over their heads.
The slender man lies in a crumbled heap, blood oozing out from beneath his long black hair.
The pilots slowly stand, checking to make sure none of them are hit. They seem fine.
“That was fortunate timing,” Hanami says, brushing off her clothes and looking for her Comms unit which was scattered when they all hit the deck.
“You’re welcome,” Reo answers. He tucks the wrench somewhere under his robe and leans over to pry the submachine gun from under the slender man’s hand.
Chase grabs his handgun and crouches behind the open door, looking for signs of the other hostiles.
Kora, trying not to hyperventilate, kneels and checks the man’s vitals. She detaches the med kit from her side and sets it on the ground.
“Leave him be,” Hanami says in a firm voice, picking her Comms unit off the ground.
“I-I took an oath!” says Kora. “If I have the opportunity to preserve human life, I must take it.”
“He was about to kill us all,” Chase retorts.
“Right now, we need to preserve the life of Reginald Cook,” Hanami answers. “That is the priority. That is the mission.”
Kora hesitates, unsure what to do.
“Reo, did you see other guys dressed like this?” asks Chase. “There were three more, two of them have Reginald. He’s frozen.”
Reo arches an eyebrow.
“Long story. Did you see anybody wheeling something, like the size of a gurney?”
Reo shakes his head.
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“They were speaking Yamatoese,” Hanami says. “They said they needed to deliver the parcel behind the shrine. The exchange was supposed to happen soon. We need to go.”
Ignoring Hanami’s directive, Kora quickly bandages the man’s head to stop the bleeding. With a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, Kora realizes there is little she can do for the man here and now. His skull is cracked.
“Ma Tua, Reggie needs us,” Reo says, his big brown eyes pleading with the medic.
Kora wipes a solitary tear from her cheek and nods, packing up her med kit.
Hanami dials into channel six on the Comms—
“Winter, we have located Reginald Cook. He is not yet in our custody. Now would be an ideal time for your diversion.”
Without waiting for a reply, Hanami runs out of the storage building, followed by the others.
To their right, on the bank across the river, a series of loud blasts sound in quick succession. Plumes of colorful smoke shoot up and rise in the air, one after another. A controlled show—daytime fireworks. An artificial rainbow cascading through the humid air.
The crowds of pilgrims and tourists are at first alarmed, then amused. They begin to clap and cheer, drawn closer to the river’s edge to see the spectacle and snap photos. The pilots, still in disguise, nearly bowl over a confused monk as they scramble by.
“There!” Hanami says, pointing to a narrow trail that circles through the trees behind the shrine. There is a sign indicating that only authorized personnel are allowed to use the trail.
The pilots sprint down the trail as it winds around, branching off toward the back of the shrine complex and then further into the woods. There is no sign of the other Yakuza anywhere.
“Are we too late?” Chase asks.
The distant rumble of an engine is heard.
“Over there,” Hanami says, pointing deeper through the trees.
The pilots hurry, finding the trail becoming more overgrown and narrower as they go. Soon they reach the top of a small hill overlooking one fork of the river and the Joseon DMZ stretching off to the west. Below the lip of the hill, beyond the edge of the riverbank, West Joseon soldiers in their trademark olive green military garb wheel the cryochamber up the ramp of an armored personnel carrier hidden under camouflage netting.
“They’re getting away!” Chase hisses, clutching his 9mm pistol.
Hanami holds up a hand to steady Chase who is eager to jump into combat. The soldiers have U.U.R. (United Ursa Republic) style assault rifles strapped around their torsos. The pilots are outgunned.
“Where can they go?” Reo whispers. “They are stuck on this side of the river. And no way they can get that thing through the trees.”
Nevertheless, the soldiers begin pulling down the camouflage netting and close the ramp, sealing off the carrier. The rumbling of the engine intensifies further, sending shockwaves reverberating through the ground.
Slowly, the wheels of the armored personnel carrier fold inward as the vehicle raises up, up, hovering in place.
“No… way…” Reo breathes.
The APC hovers over the river, sending ripples through the water as it passes over. Then it continues hovering across the land and away from the shrine complex. The pilots stand, looking out in disbelief at their rescue mission slipping away.
As the APC travels further, several additional military vehicles emerge from camouflage netting in the distance. They look like hover tanks, escorting the APC across the DMZ.
“Hanami, remember that thing that Winter told us to do only as an absolute last option in a worst-case scenario?” Chase asks.
“I do.”
“I think it’s time to do that thing.”
Hanami dials in to channel seven on her Comms.