[My's Art in comment]
April 7, 2050 - 00:27
Da Nang, Vietnam - Tien Sa Port
A tiny Bumblebee drone flew down the dark stairway and into a tunnel system sparsely lit by old lightbulbs. It hovered in the middle of the cave, spinning sound to scan the area for information. Its thermal sensor did not detect any heat signature, and its night vision camera was sending the visual back to Katya.
"No hostile in the immediate area at the bottom of the stairs. Seems like there's a man-made tunnel system, about 10 meters deep underground, leading somewhere up North East of the peninsula. It's about 1.5 meters tall, so the taller ones would have to duck down." Katya described what she was seeing on her tablet.
"North East? That's the direction of the Tien Sa Beach and the Navy hotel. Either this is some serious corruption business in the Navy, or these guys are just crazy to have a tunnel system running underneath a Navy facility." Long commented.
"Or, it could be a case where they're hiding right under the Navy's nose. The safest place to hide is in the beast's cage, after all." Luis remarked.
"You know, it's kinda funny how we're about to go into a tunnel, and that we're in Vietnam." My, who was standing at the entrance of the stairway, turned around to the squad to join the conversation.
"Should be yours and Long's specialty then." Edric jabbed.
"Mostly just Long, since he's the shorty of the squad." My turned to Long with a smirk on her face."
"Yeah, and I'm going to be just ok when I get down there. I don't know about you tho, you giraffe." Long quipped, his gaze locked onto My's.
"At least I can reach the top of my locker without jumping."
"At least I don't have to worry about hitting my head on a ceiling fan."
"At least I don't-"
"Ladies, you two can get a room later to jab as much as you want, we're still in the middle of a mission, and our comms are recorded." Peter, who had been quiet for most of the conversation, finally had enough. The man's forehead looked like it was about to pop a vein.
"Sorry, Sarge!" Both of them apologized while still staring at each other, not with daggers but more like a pair of friends who would insult each other.
Katya, who had been controlling the bumblebee drone the entire time, packed up her tablet back on her chest rig.
"The tunnel is about a few hundred meters long and sparsely lit, with multiple branches connected to the main tunnel. I didn't see anyone in the tunnel the entire way, but it led into what seemed like an underground cavern facility with boat and submersible docks. There are about 30 hostiles, all armed and dangerous, likely to be on high alert since they can't contact the group over here. There's a bunch of hostages being held in holding cells… or cages. I count about 33 females and a few males, ages ranging from teens to mid twenties."
There was a brief moment of silence from everyone trying to process what Katya had just announced. Their faces crumbled from joyful to dark and serious expressions. My didn't fair any better, her eyebrows narrowed, and her gaze was much more serious.
Chisato, who'd been standing next to My the entire time, noticed her expression and reached for her hands. My was suddenly pulled away from her thought and looked back at her girlfriend.
"Are you ok?" Chisato asked softly, holding onto My's hand.
My returned a smile, a weak one but just enough to soften Chisato's worry.
"Yeah, I'm ok, just some unpleasant memories."
"You can talk to me if you want to…"
"Yeah… I will... someday." My held onto Chisato's hand tighter.
Peter was the first one to break the silence, keeping his head cool and logical.
"Falcon, can you investigate this situation a bit more?"
"That can be done, but only after you've secured the hostages. Focus on the Mission, Heaven's hound, keep your heads cool and steady." Luna reminded the squad.
"Yeah, copy that!"
Peter then turned toward the team.
"Alright, I know this shit is dark, and you all feel strongly about it. But we've all signed up to be mercenaries; we all knew this shit would happen eventually. Keep it cool, and focus on getting rid of the enemies, then we can get them out of there. Can't save anyone if we're dead."
He grabbed his weapon tightly.
"Let's go."
At the squad leader's command, everyone steeled their resolve and will. My squeezed onto Chisato's hand for a short moment before letting it go, grabbing onto her Vector. Chisato smiled back and grabbed her M4 rifles.
"1-2, lead the way," Peter ordered.
"Count on me!" My replied confidently.
With My at the front, the team headed toward the enemy's headquarters.
April 7, 2050 - 00:35Da Nang, Vietnam - Underground cavern
My saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Quite literally.
She and her squad members exited the dimly lit tunnel and stood on a narrow and rocky pathway, meters above the criminal's hideout, that led down to where the criminals were. There were a few natural rock pillars and covers, or at least, as natural as it seemed to My's eyes. She took cover behind one of the pillars, and her teammates did the same to remain stealthy.
It was brighter than she thought. There were bright spotlights hanging from the roof of the cavern, between the stalactites. Instead of a bunch of pirates and criminals hiding in a dark, damp, and depressing cave, it was still a bunch of pirates and criminals hiding in a damp and depressing cave, minus the dark part.
There were crates and cargoes riddled the wet floor of the cavern, cables strewn everywhere, enough to give the most cautious of people a hard time navigating, all of them connected to the main generator near the end of the rocky pathway connected to the tunnel, providing power to the whole cavern. Next to the cargo area was a dock, with 3 medium-sized submersibles docked, although there were no entrances above the surface leading to the outside; most likely, the submersibles entered the cavern through an underwater path. There were a few of the goons working around the submersibles, unloading cargo and performing maintenance on the vehicles. The majority of the goons were armed with intermediate rifles and on high alert.
On the opposite side of where Heaven's Hounds squad was, there were the hostage holding cells. Young girls huddled together in cramped holding cells, their clothes torn and shredded. Some of them didn't even have any clothes on. The three men were in even worse shape than the women, literally held in cages like animals, with signs of injuries and torture all over their bodies.
'These sick fucking degenerates…' My thought. She could feel her anger welling up again.
She turned around to check on her teammates. Most of them were doing well, though she could see some intense facial expressions on their faces. Chisato, who was crouching behind cover right next to My, had a look of disgust on her face, mixed with a hint of fear.
My understood what Chisato was feeling. She reached out to pat Chisato on her shoulder. That seemed to calm her down as her expression softened slightly.
"Hey, right there, by that tall stack of crates," Max reported, snapping My and Chisato back to focus.
They focused back on the mission and peeked out from their cover to see what Max was pointing at.
By the large stacks of crates was an asian woman who didn't seem to belong in this place. Not because she was a woman, there were also some female goons in the cavern, but more so because of her appearance. Most of the goons were wearing t-shirts or tank tops and were drenched in sweat and saltwater. That woman, however, on top of sporting long, curly, orange-dyed hair, was wearing a tube top that left her muscular, tattooed abs exposed, a cropped leather jacket, a short leather skirt, and thigh-highs that wrapped tightly around her legs. She looked like a biker who somehow wandered into this criminal cave instead of the usual rough-looking criminals. (outfit reference image https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/144856836)
"Who in the hell is this person?" Chisato asked
"Dunno, but damm look at those abs and thighs though…" My said, biting her lips.
"Oh my god, stop getting horny for everyone. Especially the enemy." Chisato pinched My's butt.
"Ow…Have you seen those thighs?"
"That's not the point."
"I'm more impressed at the fact that we found someone who dressed more ridiculously than you." Enzi also joined the banter.
"She certainly has the style." It was Kasem's turn.
"Guys, can we focus on the damm mission?" Peter grumbled. "Whoever she is, she seems more important than the rest of them. So, try to capture her alive, if possible."
"Copy that." Everyone unanimously replied.
"Ok, here's the plan."
April 7, 2050 - 00:43Da Nang, Vietnam - Underground cavern
My and Kasem sneaked down the pathway toward the generator while everyone else was covering them from their positions.
"I gotta give it to them." My said
"What?" Kasem asked.
"This pathway."
"What about it?"
My flicked her head against the rock cover separating the path from a tall drop that could injure or even kill anyone who fell.
"This. this… rocky railing. These things clearly aren't natural, so it's obvious that these fuckers who made it. A bunch of criminals made what is basically a stair railing in a cave to protect themselves. They might be a bunch of barbaric fucks, but clearly they adhere to the safety code." My chuckled.
Kasem opened his mouth but couldn't get any words out. He paused to think for a moment before replying.
"Yeah, that's true. Vietnam's Ministry of Labour would give these guys a certification for safety if they inspected this place." He returned with a joke of his own.
They chuckled at each other's joke before nearing the end of the stairway. There was a guard near the end of the landing. He was facing away from the stairs while still keeping his AK ready. My had no clue why he wasn't facing the stairway, but she was glad that their stupidity made it easier for her and her team to do their jobs.
She grabbed a knife from her gear and looked at Kasem, letting him know what she was doing. He nodded back and readied his MP5SD. Getting the confirmation that she needed, My slowly approached the guard from behind.
The moment she was within range, she covered his mouth with her left hand and thrust her knife into his neck, penetrating his jugular vein. She didn't stop there, pulling her knife out and repeatedly stabbing him. The man immediately dropped his AK and tried to fight back, but the pain of having his throat penetrated quickly caught up to him. His struggle rapidly weakened as blood poured from the hole in his neck. He could barely make any noise as his throat was filled with his own blood, on top of being gagged. Even if My didn't gag him, the generator's noise would mask the man's final struggle.
It took roughly 40 seconds for the goon to go limp.
My dragged the body back behind a crate and left it there. She wiped the blood from her knife and hand on the corpse's clothes before stowing her knife away.
"อะไรวะ… that was brutal," Kasem commented with a complicated look on his face, a mix of disgust and impress.
"Thanks." My replied with her usual cheerful tone and a smile on her face dotted with blood. She nodded her head in the direction of the generator.
"Oh, right. It won't take long."
Kasem headed over to the generator and took out an EMP charge. He activated the charge and stuck it to the generator magnetically. He returned to My and reported to Peter.
"Charge planted. We're ready to give them a party."
"Good. Alright people, it's show time."