CHAPTER 2

Five years later

"All rise." Major Minami's voice echoed through the command chamber, and the collective squeak of soldiers rising to their feet filled Jun Matsuoka's ears. Next to her stood Captain Nanami, and Sergeant Kaneko. The other members of the two extraction teams filled the room, along with their commanding officer, Major Minami. This would be the first official meeting with both Captain Nanami and Nakamura together. Their mission was quite simple, actually, they were to infiltrate the Hanran Compound, and bring their concubines to the Lab, as well as try to eliminate any high ranking Hanran.

"Captain Nanami, can you please relay the plan to the members of your squad?" Major Minami asked in his pristine Japanese, and Jun saw Nakamura tense up opposite Mamoru.

Mamoru nodded, and moved over to the holographic display of the Hanran Compound Major Minami had put up earlier. From his pocket he produced a stylus, and pointed at the Compound.

"As most of you know, the Hanran Compound is an old American military facility that was abandoned after they were chased out of the country after the fertility wars. The layout is relatively simple. LET1 will be infiltrating the centre, while NLET1 work to liberate the concubines of the higher-ranking officials. Private Soseki, you will be accompanying Captain Nakamura for the duration of this mission, do you understand?"

Manabu Soseki nodded, his black hair falling over his glasses, "yes, Captain." He spoke up, his usually soft voice filling the room. Again, Nakamura looked annoyed.

"Alright, moving along. Privates Matsuoka, Akimoto and Furukawa, you will be coming with me. Your orders are to eliminate any Hanran ranking officials," Mamoru paused, turned his stylus horizontally, and pulled something from his inventory. He plugged the device into the display table, and pulled up four different designs, "these will help you identify ranking officials." He split the stylus, and Jun watched as he digistructed copies of the storage device, and handed it out to her, Furukawa and Akimoto.

Collectively they said, "yes, Captain." Just as Manabu had earlier. She ignored Nakamura's speech, opting to play with the storage device in her hands, and waited patiently for Major Minami to dismiss them. She never like command team meetings, because they always droned on and on, due to Nakamura's huge ego. Mamoru was quick about his game plan, but Nakamura could listen to his own voice for hours. And it didn't help that all the underclassmen worshipped him like a God. Finally, Major Minami dismissed them, and she shot for Mamoru's private quarters, using one of his dark devices to bypass the security. She tapped the voice modulator twice, and felt the effects wearing off just in time for the door to open again. It didn't even phase Mamoru that she was in his room.

"Sorry, I know you hate it when I hack my way in here, but after hearing Nakamura drone on for an hour, I needed some time away from his starry-eyed underclassmen." She admitted as she fell down on his cushy bed. After being promoted to Captain he was awarded with a posh, private living suite with an en suite bathroom, and she basked in the glory of it. The barracks were pretty shit, if you were asking her.

"I get it, Minori-chan." He said with an amused laugh. She blushed at the forbidden nickname they shared. No one but him and Manabu called her Minori-chan. To everyone else, she was Jun Matsuoka, or Private Matsuoka. Being alone with Mamoru gave her an opportunity to be herself, a much needed one. It gave her a chance to throw Jun Matsuoka out the window, and lose herself in her desires without having to worry about being caught, because Captain's quarters had ridiculously high security clearances. It was a miracle she was able to bypass his security, but he was a pretty genius coder, so for him it was child's play, and with one of his unregistered devices it became ridiculously easy for her as well.

"It feels like I haven't seen you in forever." Mamoru said as he laid down next to her. She turned to him and laughed.

"That's because you've been seeing Jun way too much."

"I do like Jun, but I love Minori-chan more." He said, as he hoisted himself up, and supported himself with his arms, placing a kiss on her lips.

"I know that." She said as she blushed, "but sadly, Minori Matsuoka is quite literally dead to the rest of the world. She died in the Hiyokuna, remember?"

"Not to me." Mamoru said, with that dazzling smile of his. Not long after he'd rescued her, he fell head over heels in love, and ever since then, their relationship blossomed in the shadows. His smile dissipated into longing, as it always did. There was just something about making their relationship known that he needed, but for the sake of Jun's safety, he'd keep it to himself. If anyone knew they were involved, he would risk exposing her, and she would be forced to become a Yōki.

"Don't look so sad, Captain," she teased, "I'm all yours until we leave tomorrow." There was something alluring about the way she spoke, her lips puckered, her voice soft, and every little curve in her body beckoning him towards her.

"I like that idea, Minori-chan." He said and enveloped her lips in a kiss again. It was bound to be a long night, but at least she would enjoy it.

She always hated being deployed. As they were strapping on their mobility suits in the docking bay, she exhaled, and pulled her visor over her left eye. It was such a routine that everything was muscle memory now, and the adjustment of the suits was music to her ears. Next to her, Satoshi Kaneko was zipping up his mobility suit, the zip disappearing as soon as he did. She grabbed her gun from the rack, the screen recognizing her as a user, and the trigger safety locking automatically. If pointed at a target, it would dislodge and she would be free to fire, but in the docking bay, it would be locked. Opposite her Manabu Soseki was busy putting healing spray in his many pockets, his mobility suit looking more like a video game character's outfit than a military healer.

"You ready, Jukkun?" Satoshi asked next to her, with that devilish smirk of his. They'd met in training, along with Manabu, who was busy setting up his gun.

"Always." She spoke her trained answer, because anything less was unacceptable.

"I sense doubt." Manabu spoke up.

"Don't let Major Minami hear you, Soseki-kun." She told him in a hushed tone. Satoshi pointed his weapon at the wall, and she watched his dark eyes flash orange momentarily, shortly afterwards the trigger safety clicked in her ears. Major Minami appeared in holo-form, and announced that it was time for them to depart. In two straight lines, both the lethal and non-lethal extraction teams moved to the helicopters, and they were raised into the air. As soon as the optimal altitude was reached, she stopped hearing the whir of the blades, and she knew the helicopter had entered stealth mode, to obscure its presence from the Hanran.

"Approximately ten minutes until drop off." Mamoru's voice echoed through the cramped space, and Jun clutched her assault rifle to her chest, forcing herself to smile through it. The helicopter rides were always the worst for her, the tension thick enough to shoot through. She could see the NLET soldiers chewing on their bottom lip, and see Nakamura try to put on a brave face, even though he was absolutely terrified of the outside. The only soldier in the room who looked truly ready was Mamoru. He looked the readiest for it, and he should, because he's the leader of the lethal team, they were preparing to literally go and kill a bunch of Hanran.

"Attention all," Major Minami's holographic projection interrupted the deathly silence, "as you might all be aware of, the objective of this mission is not only to kill any ranking Hanran officials, but to specifically target the current General. With General Okumura out of the way, it will allow our informant within the Hanran Army to rise to the position, and give the Militant Forces even more control over the Hanran. It is imperative that you target ranking officials, this will make sure that Akira, our informant, has more control over the newly appointed officials." Jun listened carefully, knowing it was going to be her job to wipe out most of the officials.

"Please insert your implants." Major Minami commanded, and all the soldiers reached into one of the pockets, and pulled out a cybernetic implant. Jun felt around for the port in her neck, and plunged the device in.

"Matsuoka, Jun. Vital signs stable. Tracking device online. Heartrate uneven, please calm down." The voice rung through her head, and she took a deep breath.

"Please remember, this is a stealth mission." Mamoru said, "please activate stealth mode on your imprint." A handful of beeps rung through the air, and suddenly only the faces of the soldiers were visible. The rest of their bodies had been made invisible by their mobility suits.

"Lastly, please digistruct the silencer module for your guns. Be advised there are extra ammo boxes in your personal inventory, as well as healing spray." He said as he demonstrated. His stylus effortlessly digistructed the module, and he plugged it into his rifle's side. Jun did the same, and in front of her eyes a message flashed. SILENCER MODE ACTIVATED, PLEASE DISLODGE MODULE TO DEACTIVATE. Collectively, the trigger safeties were released, and suddenly the lethal team looked a lot more dangerous than their non-lethal counterparts.

"One last thing," this time it was Manabu who spoke up, "as Captain Nanami mentioned, there are healing sprays in your personal inventory, however, this does not mean you should become reckless. The possibility is high that you will get shot, and a simple healing spray will not be able to seal a fatal gunshot wound. Please exercise caution. That is all."

"Good luck, soldiers. And remember, glory to the Force." His final words echoed as all the other members of the squad said the same thing.

"Cargo hold opening in ten seconds." A computerized voice reminded them, and Jun tensed up.

"Deployment is imminent," a little avatar showed up on the side of her vision when she slipped the compulsory glasses over her eyes, "Private Matsuoka," the chibi soldier said, clutching a gun that looked just like hers, "your heart rate is uneven, please take a deep breath, and remember, glory to the Force!" It said, as it saluted an imaginary leader. The soldiers were now fully disguised, and without warning, the cargo door opened, and they were forced outside. Jun activated silent mode on her booster as a last resort, and then she jumped.

As soon as she landed, she pulled up the holographic plan of the compound, and looked around for Furukawa and Akimoto. This was their first mission, and she was supposed to babysit them. From a bush emerged Furukawa, his glasses skew on his face, his gun pointing at the sky. Akimoto followed shortly after, and then they watched. She watched as one of the officials paced the hallways, and whispered a silent command to her implant. The little chibi soldier popped up again, and identified the official as a lieutenant. She got her gun into position, waited until he rounded the corner, and then swiftly pressed it to his temple, watching as he fell, and her name appeared in the top right corner. It was always like this, even in simulations, whenever a kill was made, it would display in the top right corner like some sick video game, and ironically the one with the most kills would be awarded with some or other perk for the next mission. Last time it had been Sergeant Kaneko, and he now got extra ammo in his personal inventory. She signalled Furukawa and Akimoto to follow as they progressed. Their specific target was of course the Captain of the Hanran's mobility unit, that frequently launched attacks on the Militant Forces' close by compounds. Two sergeants and another lieutenant later, Jun neared the Captain's quarters. Her mobility suit still hid her from his sights, but it was going to be hard to kill him while he was... entertaining. Splayed out over his bed lied one of the Hanran's in-house whores. She only called them that because that's what they were, women who were too scared to become Yōki and who decided that the Hanran men would treat them better. He was busy thrusting in and out of her, breathing heavily, while Jun opted to look away. Soon enough, she thought, he'd be done, and then she could contact Manabu, and have him retrieve the woman. Jun doubted she'd even be considered for the Program, considering she'd probably been with this specific Captain a couple of times, and the pervert scientists in the Lab had a thing for virgins. Finally, she stood up, pulled his collared shirt around her shoulders, scooped her underwear up from the ground, and entered his bathroom. This was her shot. She clutched her silenced gun to her chest, and then aimed it at the Captain. He fell like a gigantic tree, and she hoped the girl didn't hear the thump of his body hitting the floor over the running bathwater. She tapped her earpiece, and suddenly the voices of her teammates filled her ears. She'd always preferred doing missions in silence, but sometimes she needed contact with her teammates.

"Soseki, do you copy?" She asked over a private line she and Manabu had established.

"I'm here, what is it?" His reply came almost immediately.

"There's a woman in the Captain's quarters. I've disposed of the Captain, but I see no real need to kill her as well. Do you mind?" She asked.

"Roger. Captain Nakamura and I will be there shortly." She tapped it once again, and it deactivated. She stepped out of the room, felt a soft breeze whisper by her, and moved on to find Furukawa and Akimoto. When she rounded the corner, she was unpleasantly surprised to find Furukawa, without his suit on, and surrounded by Hanran officials.

She tapped her earpiece, "what in the hell is going on? Akimoto?"

"He was caught, Matsuoka. They deactivated his stealth mode." Akimoto said on the other side of the line, and Jun shuddered. This was bad.

One of the Hanran made a dash for a nearby wall, and punched the command pad attached to it. Suddenly a loud alarm filled her ears, along with the collective panic of all the other soldiers on the other side of the line.

"Shit," she heard Mamoru's voice, accompanied by gunshots, "we're taking fire! Requesting backup!"

"Hurry, please!" Sergeant Kaneko added afterwards, and she heard an array of gunshots being fired.

"This is Matsuoka, what is your position, Captain?" She asked.

"In the mess hall, we got caught after I eliminated the general." Mamoru explained.

"Roger. Akimoto and I are on our way." She grabbed Akimoto by his collar, and pulled him towards the mess hall. It was a short sprint, but halfway there the lights went off, and they were forced to activate the built-in night mode their visors offered. Jun and Akimoto snuck around the compound like thieves in the night, hoping they could save their Captain. Before they reached the mess hall, they ran into sergeant Kaneko, who was clutching his arm, his mobility suit flashing in and out of sight.

"Sergeant!" Jun said, louder than usual.

"Oh, thank God." He breathed out.

"Where's the Captain?" Akimoto dared to ask.

"Help me first, you idiot." Sergeant Kaneko reprimanded. Jun pulled her stylus out, and quickly digistructed one of her healing sprays. She sprayed it on his shoulder, and he immediately looked better.

"Akimoto, go look out for any Hanran." She said quickly, "Satoshi. Where is Mamoru?" She asked as soon as she was sure they were alone.

Satoshi bit his bottom lip, "he was injured, they got him while we were making a run for it." He said gravely.

Jun looked conflicted, hell, she was conflicted, "I'm going to find him."

"No." He said, "Nakamura's saying we need to retreat, we've completed the mission."

"But," Jun argued, "but he'll die, Satoshi!"

"Mamoru's smart, Jukkun. He'll be fine." He tried a smile. Akimoto reappeared.

"Sergeant, we have orders from Captain Nakamura to retreat." He said loudly, and she could her Satoshi sigh.

"Help me up, will you?" He asked Jun, who complied quickly.

"The chopper is this way." She said, without even thinking about it. As she was getting into the escort helicopter, she panicked.

"Where is Captain Nanami?" Nakamura asked.

"He was injured, sir." Satoshi answered, "I lost contact with him, I believe his implant was deactivated."

Nakamura swore under his breath, "no time to get him now, we need to retreat. Private Matsuoka, will you relay the message to the Major?"

"I will, Captain. But I do not believe Captain Nanami is dead, and I would like to request a search and rescue team be put together." She answered smoothly.

"Discuss it with the Major. I don't have the authority right now, besides, we need to get back to HQ, otherwise there will be consequences." And then she complied like a docile deer. Her name did, after all, mean obedient. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

if ur wondering why the first two chaps are the same, i'm keeping them since i love them!!