April 7, 2050 - 01:04
Da Nang, Vietnam - Tien Sa Port
Pvt. My Phan
My didn't know how someone could sneak behind her without her noticing, or when they even got behind her, but none of that was important at that moment.
Her brain was working overtime to process all the information, and her hearing picked up shuffling noises from the filtered background chaos. She didn't think twice and immediately swung her body to the side. My glanced back to the one who attacked her and saw the out-of-place muscular biker girl from earlier, holding a metal baton that had just struck where My was.
The biker girl locked eyes with My for a brief moment before moving again, swinging her legs at My. My was still in a bad position after dodging the first attack and couldn't recover in time, taking the full brunt of the kick and stumbling a few meters back.
*Cough Cough*
She grunted as she held onto her stomach. That kick took the wind out of her, but it wasn't enough to take her out of the fight. My gritted her teeth and got back up on her feet, quickly taking a look at her situation and her surroundings.
The woman who had just kicked her was now walking toward her while grinning deviously. Her hand was still holding that metal baton that nearly took My's head off. My touch her side, trying to find her Vector, but it was to no avail. She looked around the area to find that her gun was knocked away from her, with the sling somehow broken. She still had her pistol in her holster; however, the evil hot lady was standing in front of the hostages.
'Fuck… note to self, tell the armorer to get better fucking sling next time.'
Her attention went back to the biker woman. Now that she had gotten a good look at the orange-haired lady, she could see the various scars strewn across her otherwise beautiful face. It wasn't for the fact that she was related to a criminal syndicate, My would have loved to take her out for a date.
"And here I thought that this boring ass night would last forever. I'd have to give my thanks to you mercs, for making this night more interesting. And you. You're faster and tougher than you look," said the biker woman with a grin on her face. "You'd better last longer than my last toy."
"Heh, straight to BDSM? No dinner? Not even foreplay?" My replied while preparing herself for a fight.
"We can talk about dinner and foreplay if you last long enough. Just because you look durable, I'll play with you without my baton."
She shortened her baton and stowed it in a holster on one of her thighs. That also brought My's attention to another holster that was carrying a revolver — either a .357 or a .44 Magnum, judging by the size of the revolver —that the biker woman hadn't used. My had no idea why she hadn't used it on her when she had the chance, but it was best not to question it out loud.
Once the baton was out of her hand, the woman cracked her knuckles and neck, audibly popping them. She grinned deviously, showing her full battle-lust face.
"Let's play then."
As soon as she finished her sentence, she charged toward My like T-rex locking onto its prey. She quickly closed the distance between them and threw the first hit, swinging a left hook at My. My instinctively dodged the hook by leaning and stepping back. The biker wasn't deterred by the miss and continued her assault, throwing hooks left and right. My dodged most of her attacks, only resorting to deflecting and blocking attacks that she couldn't dodge.
The biker threw a right hook toward My's face, to which she ducked under, got up close and personal, then threw an upper cut. Her fist made contact with the biker's chin and whipped her head back from the recoil. My thought that the uppercut would at least make the biker disoriented or even knock her out; however, to her surprise, the biker wasn't even phased by the hit and instead was staring down angrily at My while My's fist was still connected to her chin.
"Uh… umm… hi…" My awkwardly said to the biker with a strained smile on her face.
The biker didn't reply to My's awkward moment and used both of her hands to grab My's nape, forcing her head downward while she brought her knees up toward My's face. My reacted quickly by blocking the knee with both her hands, though she took the recoil to her own face from the sheer force of the biker's strength.
The biker wasn't done with her assault as she grabbed the back of My's plate carrier and threw her toward a pile of boxes. My went flying and tumbling into a bunch of boxes, knocking herself over.
"Ow… fuck…" My groaned as she turned around to get back up. It wasn't as painful as she would have experienced since the back armor plate took most of the brunt of the impact. She stood up from the pile of boxes, dusted herself, cracked her knuckles and neck before looking back at her opponent.
"1-2, 1-9, come in." In the midst of the action that was still ongoing, Peter's voice came back in.
It was jarring for My to be interrupted, but she had to remind herself that it was still her job.
"Gimme a lil bit, would you?" My asked her opponent while giving up a finger, signaling for her to wait.
My wasn't expecting anything from the biker lady; however, to her surprise, the biker lady actually nodded in response.
"Sure, go ahead, it isn't fun when my toy isn't paying attention."
My gave her a thumbs up before responding to Peter.
"Yeah, in the middle of the fight with the biker… boss lady over here. What's up 1-1?"
"Deal with it quickly, we're being flanked from behind where we came from."
Just as Peter said that, My could hear gunfire roaring alive again from Peter's position in the back.
"I'm trying man, you told me to capture her alive, and she's hella strong."
"She's strong enough to fight both you and 1-9?"
"No, just me, 1-9 went off to investigate the subs."
"1-9, come in!"
There was a moment of silence, if only in their communication channel, before Kasem responded.
"Fuck, I'm busy over here."
"With what?" Peter asked. There was a hint of annoyance and frustration in his voice.
"Bombs. these motherfuckers rigged the subs with enough explosives to blow this cave down. Trying to fucking disarm this thing." Kasem yelled.
"Fuck! Falcon, evacuate everyone out of the area. We'll try to stave off the attack and deal with the bombs."
"Falcon heard loud and clear, just hold your position. Warhounds and Valkyrie squads are on their way to assist you." Luna remained professional and calm while still coordinating between different squads.
While My was listening to the chaos that was happening in her headset, the biker lady was just patiently standing still, waiting for My to return to action.
"1-2, your priority is to get the hostages out and help evacuate the area. 1-5, you go to 1-9 to see if you can clear that fucking bombs. Everyone else, focus on the flank, we're getting the fuck out of here."
"1-2 heard loud and clear." My replied before looking back at the biker who was standing around with her arms crossed and her face bored.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Looks like I'd have to get the hostages out, if you don't mind."
My gave her opponent a sorry face, all while her hand was reaching down to her pistol. If things panned out badly, My could take the chance to just kill the HVT, since there were more pressing priorities. My undid the button so she could pull out the pistol, while staring at the biker and watching her every movement. The Biker also did the same thing by putting her hand ready on her iron while getting into a Mexican standoff with My.
They both stared at each other, observing the others with all the scrutiny they could muster. Each second passed by felt like hours to My as her adrenaline spiked and her system was working overtime.
Just as My was contemplating whether she should shoot first or not, the biker lady suddenly let go of her revolver and relaxed. That got My's attention, but she kept her hand on the pistol just in case.
"Chill, girl, I don't care if you take those idiots out of here or not. My job here is done." the biker said casually, as if she wasn't in a life or death situation.
"That's it? Are you just gonna let it go?" My asked.
"Eh, it isn't my job to fight you or to protect anything here anyway. I'm just here as an observer. You and your pals can do whatever you want," the biker shrugged casually.
"Huh… so you're just gonna… walk off?"
"Yep."
"I suppose it's a bit too much to ask if you could surrender and come with us?" My tried her luck.
"I said it wasn't my job to protect the cargo here, that doesn't mean I'd willingly come with you. If I wanted to, I could have blown those bombs up long ago," the biker barked back.
"Huh, thanks, I guess?"
"You're welcome. I'll be seeing you again."
As she said her farewell, the biker turned around and walked away from the fight, toward a corridor that My didn't even notice was there before.
"I guess I'll see you again? If ever?" My replied to the biker in confusion as the biker gave her a thumbs up without looking back.
'Huh… that's one weird interaction.' My shaked her head to clear herself before returning to the hostages' cells.
She picked up the bolt cutter — that she had dropped right next to the cell door when she was attacked — and cut the lock and opened the door. She did the same thing for the other cells and cages, letting the hostages out.
Despite the gunfire still ongoing on the other side of the cavern, My could hear the crying and sobbing from the victims. She could feel their pain and relief. It was a familiar feeling to her.
"Just follow my instruction. Just a little bit more and you'll be out of this place." She ordered the hostages. As much as she'd like to let them have their moment, they were still at the lion's den. The celebration would have to wait.
April 7, 2050 - 03:32
Da Nang, Vietnam - Nova Oriental Nightclub's office
Despite the loud music coming from the dance floor downstairs, the office was almost calm and still, save for a few noises leaking through the soundproofed glass window. The room was filled with smoke, illuminated by the myriad of colored lights from outside.
Sitting at the main desk in the room was the owner of the nightclub, Vũ Việt Huy. He was known as a successful local business owner in Da Nang, owning several entertainment businesses and franchises around the city, though his most well- known business was the Nova Oriental Nightclub.
However, he had a much less well-known side that wasn't known to the public. Despite being a successful business owner, Huy wasn't satisfied with his position. He wanted to expand, gain more power, and make more money. Luckily for him, after a fortunate encounter with a certain someone a few years ago, he had decided to expand his business beyond the "legal" side, dipping into the murky depths that were the underworld of crime and syndicates. Since then, he had grown to be one of Vietnam's most notorious crime bosses.
He sat on his fancy leather-covered chair while puffing a smoke from his cigar and staring blankly at his ceiling. Usually, at this point of the day, he would have already gone back to his mansion and had a good night's sleep, but urgent issues forced him to stay up and stay at this loud ass nightclub. He loved the fame and power, but he hated the fact that he traded some of his own comfort for it.
*Knock knock*
Huy turned to his office door. The whole reason he had been staying up until now was to be in a meeting with this person.
"Door's open." He grumbled.
The door opened, briefly letting the loud music leak inside his soundproofed haven. Huy looked at the orange-haired woman, who dressed like a biker, standing behind the door, clearly annoyed at her.
"Get into the damm room, Tigress. And close the door." He growled.
Tigress shrugged her shoulder before walking into the room and flopping down onto Huy's guest sofa.
"Last time I saw you, this office was still bare bones," Tigress said as she reached for the nearby alcohol bottle on the table in front of the sofa.
She popped the lid of the bottle and took a large swig out of the bottle. Huy, seeing that Tigress has dirtied his bottle by making full contact with it, made a face of disgust. He waited until she finished drinking before asking her a question.
"So, how was the inspection of the new site?" Huy tried to keep his temper in check.
"Eh, suboptimal, really. Below our standard, but it gets the job done."
"Sub… what do you mean?" Huy raised his voice slightly.
"Security's horrible, your guys are dogshit at their jobs, can't fight for shit. Not to mention the horrible conditions for stashing our merchandise. The Poseidon's Trident has a standard when it comes to storing merchandise, and that… cavern, was not it." Tigress complained, oblivious to Huy's visible forehead veins.
"That place was probably one of the safest places to hide and distribute the drugs. Hiding in plain sight, right under the Navy hotel. I even bought off the port officials and the hotel managers. It is the safest and most hidden place in the city to do so. Sure, it might look a little bit shitty, but-"
"It was, Huy, it was the safest and most hidden, up until two, three hours ago. Guess you wouldn't have known that since none of your guys made it out, or have the brain to report."
Huy dropped his cigar and jolted up straight in his chair. His eyes were bulging and staring at Tigress as if he wanted to choke the life out of her.
"What do you mean by 'was'?" he asked with a hint of rage in his voice.
"Oh yeah, forgot to mention that. Your 'Oh-so-secret' base was raided by a bunch of mercs." Tigress shrugged before taking another swig of the alcohol.
"WHAT? WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL HERE?"
"My job here is only to inspect the new site. Your former new site. But I guess you no longer have a site, so I'd have to report that to my boss."
There was a brief moment of silence between Tigress and Huy.
Huy gripped onto his fancy chair's sidearm hard, his eyes went bloodshot, and his face went red.
"FUUUUUUUU-"