TEN YEARS BEFORE THE GREAT IMPACT , AT AN UNDISCLOSED US ARMY BASE
Alexander Eisenhardt hurried through the halls of the quiet building that housed his superior's office. He had no idea why he'd been summoned there, particularly since he'd just gotten back from an operation. It had been a rough op, maybe something was off in the report and the Major needed some clarification.
At twenty three years old, Lex was the youngest operator on his squad, but he was undoubtedly one of the best. In two years he'd gone on twenty missions and eighteen of them were complete successes and the remaining ones were either only semi successful, or had been scrubbed at the last second for some reason or another. And now he was headed to his bosses' office without so much as an explanation. There was no way that this could be a good sign.
When Lex arrived at the Major's door, he knocked on it with a confidence he didn't really feel, and seconds later, a voice on the inside ordered him to come in. Lex didn't waste time standing outside his door, quickly opening the door and stepping into the office. The decor could easily have been described as Spartan. A large wooden desk, with a modern computer on top, a picture of his family next to it, some chairs in front of his desk and one for him behind it, a filing cabinet and that was it. As his eyes continued to roam around the office, they landed on a young woman of asian descent. She stood behind one of the chairs, with her arms crossed in front of her. She looked very serious and intense in that pose, especially when considering that lethal looking katana strapped across her back.
"Lex, sit down. We have much to discuss. "Major Paine, said, not one to waste time. Lex moved further into the room and headed to the chair near the one where the woman was standing, looking as if she was trying to intimidate someone.
"This is Kira Nowasaki, of the Nowasaki Private Security Group." Paine explained. "She's going to be helping you with your latest assignment. "
"Sir, My assignment? Don't you mean the squad's assignment? " Lex asked apprehensively.
"No. Your assignment. We have a highly sensitive case that we need to keep quiet and the best way to do that is to limit the amount of people who know about it.". Paine explained.
"Okay, so what does this have to do with her? Sir." Lex demanded, pointing at the woman.
"She works for Nowasaki. As a matter of fact, her grandfather founded the organization. She's their number one operative. Perfect for what we need you to do." Paine.
Lex nodded his head, his thoughts racing, trying to figure out what was actually happening here. "Yes sir!"
"Here's the quick version. We need you to go to Africa and retrieve a high value target for us. Thing is, he's not exactly the United States' favorite person in the world right now. As a matter of fact, he's at the top of a list you're not even cleared to know of." The Major started. "However, your target has volunteered to turn himself in, on the condition that he is brought in under the pretense that he's been captured. That's where you come in." The major stopped talking and looked to Kira, pointedly.
"We recently.....acquired some information that indicated that one or more special operations teams have been infiltrated." The woman said in slightly accented English. "You were the first to be cleared by our initial inquiry, so you were chosen. Not to mention your skill set and your impressive track record."
"We need you two to go to Africa, pick this guy up, try and get something out of him and then hand him over to the CIA." The Major said, taking over. He glanced at me and noticed the look on my face. "I know, I know." He said. "I hate doing the spooks' dirty work for them, but these are our orders. They came from the top."
"So why are we going after him? This seems way too cloak and dagger for one guy." Lex mused.
"He claims to have information about an organization that has piqued our interests. This is the only reason we are even interested in bringing him. It is imperative that we get this information out of him." The Major explained.
Lex sighed and shook his head. "And we can't take at least one other soldier? " He asked. "High Value Targets aren't usually just left out in the open, free for the taking." He asked.
"We believe the two of you are sufficient. " The Major answered. "You have to be."
***A WEEK LATER.....OVER THE JUNGLES OF AFRICA***
The sound of the helicopter drowned out everything else. The co-pilot looked back and with a series of hand signals, let his passengers know the drop point was coming up in five minutes. Lex nodded his head in acknowledgement and he turned around back to his display.
"You ready?" He yelled over the roar of the engine. She nodded her head yes, choosing to not strain her voice. As they approached the spot from which they'd be jumping from the plane, Lex did a final check on his weapons and gear. Once he knew everything was good to go, he rose from his seated position and got ready to exit the helo.
When the helo landed, Lex immediately hopped out, swiftly followed by Kira. The pair immediately went to their ready positions, guns up, expertly looking for any enemy assailants.
"All clear." Lex said, lowering his assault rifle. He turned around to face Kira. "You clear on the plan? Remember we're going to have to move quickly and quietly if we hope to reach the target's location by nightfall."
"Don't worry Alexander. I can keep up." Kira said confidently. "I just hope you don't fall behind." And with that, she took off, running into the trees. Lex scoffed and took off after her.
***A FEW HOURS LATER***
Lex and Kira lay crouching behind some bushes, tracking the movements of the target's guards. Lex looked over to Kira and nodded at her. She nodded back and immediately started rising from her position. Dashing from her cover she withdrew her Katana and pounced on her first victim, stabbing him at the same time. While Kira was taking him down, Lex had advanced on the enemy base, shooting two men as he moved throughout the camp quietly. Kira finished her man off and moved on to the next targets. The pair qiuetly worked through the camp, eliminating the perimeter defense before continuing on into camp.
With the outer guards removed from the equation, Kira and Lex went deeper into the camp, sneaking past several guards. When they reached the target's tent, the pair rushed in and discovered a surprising sight. Their target had company. Two women from the local village were in his bed, passed out. Kira didn't hesitate. She reached for some throwing knives and released them. In the next motion, the knives were in the air and embedding themselves in the throat of the two women.
"General Matumbo we are your extraction team." Lex said, stepping into the light, glaring at Kira at the same time. "Their death was unnecessary." Lex whispered under his breath.
Kira shrugged in a nonchalant way. "I couldn't risk them screaming and drawing attention to us." She then turned around to face Matumbo.
"They only sent two?" The General asked as he got dressed. "I thought I'd be worth more than that."
"You are. That's why they sent the best. Now hurry up and let's go, before one of your men finds the dead bodies we left behind. " Lex demanded.
Kira was not so chatty. She merely walked up to him, grabbed him by his collar and proceeded to drag him out. Lex did a quick sweep of the tent and found nothing of value and then he followed suit. Kira and the General were already moving through the camp, with Lex only a few feet behind them, guns at the ready.
They were almost clear when a very bright light was flashed on Kira and the General. Matumbo immediately started yelling, calling for his men to kill the intruders.
"F**k!" Lex exclaimed. He aimed his weapon at the nearest target and started firing. The three ran for cover, with Lex dropping bodies left and right. They found cover behind a metal crate.
"Why the hell did you order them to kill us?! Lex yelled.
"I must keep up appearances. " The General explained calmly. "You must get us out of here."
Lex stared at the General, contemplating whether or not it was treason to just kill him and leave him there. "Get up!" he growled as he grabbed the General. The three of them ran towards the edge of the camp, but were forced to grab some cover as the General's men closed in on them.
"Kira. Protect the General, I'm going to get us a ride." Lex decided. "Cover me." As Kira pulled her pistol from the holster and laid down some cover fire, Lex ran for a nearby humvee. As he neared the vehicle a soldier burst from out of the shadows, wielding a machete. He grinned broadly.
"I don't know why you're smiling. I learned knife fighting in the mountains of Tibet. You know what that means right?" Lex asked. The soldier paused and frowned for a second, and Lex leapt into action. With his right hand he threw a powerful punch, but it was a feint to get the man to commit to a blocking manuever. At the last second, Lex ducked under the soldier's guard and wrapped his arms around him, lifted him off his feet and slammed him onto the ground.
The man was ready for the impact, and he braced himself well. After hitting the ground, he delivered a powerful elbow onto Lex's head, stunning him temporarily. Before Lex could recover, the soldier grabbed the knife which had fallen nearby and stabbed him in the back, right near his shoulder blade.Lex cried out and bared his teeth before slamming his head into the guys mouth, and using his good hand to palm the soldier's face and lift off of the ground and slam it back down. Repeatedly. With the man dead, Lex ran over to the car, cracked the window open with his hand and unlocked the door. Then he hotwired the car and got it started.
After belting himself in, he honked the horn twice and he could see Kira and the General leave their covers and run desperately for the humvee. They got to the car and Kira pushed the General in first. Before getting into the car herself she paused to look at the corpse Lex had left behind.
"Good work." She said.
"Just get in!" Lex yelled.
*****PRESENT DAY*****
Lex was where he always was on days like this. In his office, a glass of bourbon in his hand, looking out of his window. A motion from behind caught his attention and he reacted instantly, based on instinct. He grabbed the hand that was attempting to wrap around his throat and threw his assailant over his shoulder. The assailant was ready however and she used her forward momentum to spin and sweep Lex's feet out from under him.
Lex went crashing down and the woman jumped on top of him and Lex reached out and grabbed her throat in his hand.
"One day Lex, we really should find out who's better." Kira stated.
"I have your throat in my clutches. I think we already know." Lex replied. Kira smirked and tapped the blade that she had palmed against Lex's thigh.
"One cut right here. And you'd bleed out in minutes." She said. Lex laughed out loud then.
"I assume your mission was a success then? Seeing as you're feeling so playful today." Lex asked.
"Yes. One hundred percent successful. The Mayor has agreed to push the bill through, provided that we come through on our promise. " Kira informed him.
Lex nodded his head. "Soon, the CBTF will be forced to hire carriers. And I'm the only capable of providing them with some willing employees. " He laughed out. Loud then. "How ironic. "
"You seemed distracted earlier. I've never been able to sneak up on you like that before. " Kira asked.
"It was nothing." Lex replied. He then sat up and kissed her deeply. "We are going to have a very bright future. I just need to make sure the past remains the past."
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