Chapter 3 Pandora's Box

the runway was cleared out of the snow after snowplows quickly cleared up the snow for future patients inbound by air ambulances provided by the private hospital, the flight was quite short than he expected as Gabriel fell asleep mid-flight. he was awakened by Nicholas as soon as they reached the airport.

the Filipino slouched as he walks due to his erection rose after waking up from a long flight, the Kurosawa Clan Headquarters has the appearance of a high-rise condominium building under the name of Zeitakuna Condominiums, the inside of the building had the same stuff that every hotel and condominium already have such as trained staff, aesthetic decorations, lounge area, etc.

the rent cost around 1.5 million yen, it's like buying an imported automobile overseas while paying for taxes to shipping and the engine placement. the staff gathered in the lobby along with the members of the Kurosawa Clan.

"everyone, this is our guest Gabriel Kurosawa, he used to be one of us, ever since his father treated him and his mother like they're nothing. we can't blame her for cutting ties with him and the clan, if anyone tried something stupid with him, you know what the consequences were"

as everyone went back to their position, Gabriel and the crew acquired their key cards for their perspective rooms, Gabriel and Nicholas were in Room 451 while Akane and Louisa stayed in Room 467, the rooms were elegant as according to the brochure and feedback from Yelp. the rooms were modeled after hotel room after hotel rooms around the globe. it has a bed, air conditioning, heater, a kitchen, bathroom with water heater, etc. there's even a hot spring on the 7th floor.

there's a gym with complete equipment and amenities, a swimming pool, meeting rooms, a fine dining restaurant, a nightclub, gift shops, a dessert shop, and designated smoking areas, well somebody has taken notes while visiting Las Vegas.

back to the room, Gabriel woke up in a haze, he found a note written by the Polish agent saying "Gabriel, meet me at the restaurant, there's a surprise for you at the safe, it's in the closet and I guarantee you like it, Nicholas P.S, the code is 02801"

with a shrug, he opened the safe with the written code, and it revealed a gun case, Gabriel took off the latches and revealed a glimmer of the revolver, and yes, it's the MR-73 G Revolver, one of the finest revolvers used by the GIGN and RAID on France. each agent are issued with revolvers or pistols in case their arsenal is spent during their mission

such examples are the Colt Python, and Smith & Wesson Model 19 revolver, there are some reports of agents armed with Mateba 6 revolver, the Chiappa Rhino, and the Manurhin M-73 revolver, and Gabriel is one of them. the pistols that were issued are the CZ-75, Glock 19, and Beretta PX4 Storm, in case they opted for a semi-automatic pistol rather than the double-action six-shooters.

Gabriel went down to the lobby along with Nicholas, Akane, and Louisa. he also got the chance to meet Ayumi and Shiro in person.

"Gabriel! Man, you've changed! the last time I see you, you used to be skinny as the "Mantis"!" Ayumi said

"yeah right, I used to gain a few pounds until I looked like Asian Fat Albert" Gabriel replied

"either that or a sumo wrestler in his debut match" the Japanese snickered

"knock it off Shiro, he had it rough during the years, but at least he's still standing today," Louisa said

"yeah, to the very least, so were we heading to?"

"Shichigosan, you've been there when you were young, and boy you're crying for days after uncle didn't buy you a toy car"

"Yeah, yeah, I want that car at the time, so, what are we waiting for? I'm starving

Ayumi and Shiro walked out of the lobby along with their cousin and the Polish Agent, what's waiting for them is the blacked-out Mercedes Benz S Class Sedans, bulletproof material that covered the vehicle from the body to glass, right under the car is also shielded with anti-vehicle mines or improvised explosive devices of all kind.

it was upgraded by a company called Titan's Armory Limited, a US-based company that specializes in bulletproofing vehicles for military and law enforcement use, it even specialized in the manufacturing of firearms right after buying a struggling Artemis Firearms Company. the company had the biggest break of their time is becoming one of the main suppliers of bulletproof materials for UN Black Berets.

the sedans were escorted by a van filled with armed local UNBB Agents and enforcers from the Kurosawa Clan via motorcycles, the Filo pulled out his cellphone and his Bluetooth earphones to fill his ears with Queen, the band he fell in love after watching the movie.

the restaurant used to be small, then it was renovated after the owner's son took over the business, the food taste just like it was first opened in the seventies, the vending machines where orbs are filled with prizes depends on the brand.

Gabriel used to have a hard time using chopsticks right before going to Japan but now, he's getting a hang of it, Nicholas drank a mug of Japanese beer after trying out their best selling ramen, Shichigosan was at its peak during the dinner rush and it's a sign of business doing well

the food tastes exactly like it was since Gabriel was a baby, the broth was flavorful and the portions of the dish are enough to fill up the hungry patrons, as the group went out of the restaurant, they received J-Alerts in their respective cellphones, it turns out the Crimson Dawn made some chaos in Hiroshima Prefecture and the situation is covered by the local Black Berets agents on the area

"welp, we got business tomorrow morning, set your alarms at 0530 hours, we got a train to catch" Akane reminded

"I hope you had a great sleep tonight, Gabe. shit is about to be real soon" Nicholas said to Gabriel

"you betcha, should we stop by for shopping?"

"we'll do it another day cousin, for now, let's head to Nagoya but first, let's grab our belongings at the hotel"

the Century came back to pick them up, this time with Komatsu LAV's, once they gather their belongings, they were escorted by the JGSDF Lieutenant Hayato Shishio, and Agent Haruka Kinoshita of Black Berets Tokyo Chapter, the trip went smooth according to the plan, no signs of Crimson Dawn lurking in the streets of Japan after the failed attack on Hiroshima. Hayato requested a couple of soldiers from the 1st, 6th, 8th, 3rd, and 10th Divisions by the JGSDF, who were recently recruited by the Special Forces Group

fortunately, they picked the best soldier in their respective battalions. 3rd Division Ayumi Kinoshita, Hiro Tatsumaki of the 6th Division, Daniel Yoshimoto (Balogun), Toshiro Minase of the 10th Division, and lastly, Haruto Dojima of the 1st Division. and then the remaining members of the Black Berets Alpha Team has arrived from Tokyo via Concorde like aircraft, the convoy arrived at the 10th Division HQ in Nagoya

Gabriel, Nicholas, and Louisa change their normal clothes with their uniforms and matching berets to meet up with their fellow agents,

"so, how's the dinner with the recruit went?" the Italian agent asked

"quite better than my ex-boyfriend in Beijing" Louisa replied

"Yeah, yeah, Agent Zhao's a two-timer, we get it now, so, who's the recruit again?" Marina added

"have you forgot? that's Agent Gabriel Kurosawa, our newest member of the Alpha Team" Maxim replied to Marina

"oh right, my bad, welcome to the team, F.N.G, the names Marina Novikova and he's Maxim"

"що до рекрута (shcho do recruit)"

"namaste, I'm Agent Mayra Malhotra, it's nice to meet you"

"bonjour Gabriel, Jacob Olivier Bergeron, nice to meet you"

"Carmella Bianchi, nice to meet ya!"

"Good to see you man, I'm Joseph Williams"

"Emily Jane Lawson, greetings recruit"

"Lynette Park, It's a pleasure to work together"

"Everyone, it's nice to meet you all, and thanks for the introduction" Gabriel replied

"oh finally! we could lay out the plans of our next mission!" Akane exclaimed

"Akane? you're with them?" he asked

"of course, so I looked like I joined the JSDF?"

"no"

"Good, let's debrief our mission for tonight"

soldiers at both sides discuss their plans to raid an abandoned compound, the Filo was caught mid-yawn from Joseph as he stuffed his mouth with coffee bread, and it did energize the recruit and kept listening until it's finished

then, Gabriel was sent to the CQB station to do it solo, a table where the loaded out MP7 with the USP, both made by Heckler & Koch and four CTS 9-bang Flashbang, the Special Forces Group tackled it in 20 seconds and Gabriel is going to beat the record time

the CQB area is based on the abandoned compound they mentioned a while ago, all are made out of sturdy plywood, an array of props such as broken electronics, tattered furniture, and cheap decorations you would buy for a dollar. a rope tied up on the platform to mimic the height of a helicopter on the flight

"Okay, if you're ready, rappel the rope if you're not scared of heights, if not, there's a firing range," Hayato said

Gabriel, who's determined, switched the beret for a FAST helmet while donning a black facemask to cover his face, once he checked the guns for unnecessary jams, he grabbed the rope and rappel

"go go go! hit the targets!"

Gabriel mowed the plywood enemy down with the PDW and proceed to position 2, he pulled out his pistol right before going down to the stairs to position 3

"Flashbang through the door!"

as instructed, he pulled out a 9-banger and tossed it to the room as the pin was removed, an ear-piercing ring with flashing lights blinded every occupant while deafening them at the same time, well this time it was made out of plywood, two targets were capped with the USP and switched back to the MP7

"position 4, go!"

Gabriel continues to position 4 and repeats the same thing from position 3 through the other room after stabbing the target with a combat knife, once he got out, he sprints through the finish line, and his approximate time is 17.9 seconds, not bad for a rookie like him

"17.9 seconds, not bad Agent Gabriel. not bad," Akane said

"I could do faster than you but first time's a charm" Daniel added

Joseph tossed Gabriel a bottle of grey sports drink to replenish electrolytes and sitting down on a foldable chair

"Alright people, let's secure the package and roll out, hopefully, we'll go home and rest, Optima Fortuna"

the agents prepared their arsenal for their mission, the Japanese were armed with Howa Type 89, Minibea P9 Pistols, and Remington M24 for snipers of both teams. the agents' arsenal consists of Glock 17 Gen 4 Pistols, MP5 submachine guns, and HK-416 Assault Rifles. the UN Black Berets wore M50 Gas Masks as Intel also said there are even chemical weapons stored on the warehouse, the Japanese soldiers donned the Type 4 Gas Mask. once they're ready, they hopped in the helicopter and flew away

the warehouse didn't have anti-aircraft weaponry installed due to blowing their cover, in which the location was right next to the docks, the smell of seawater seeped through their filters. once they reached their destination, they rappel down to the ground, checked their surroundings, and they're cleared.

they advance for the compound by the shadows, they saw a truck carrying crates filled with unknown material yet their Geiger counters are going crazy, it turns out its refined plutonium, they even carried Sarin, Tabun, Soman, and Cyclosarin, all of which are outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention, this gave Haruto a trip to the memory lane, it's the exact nerve agent (Sarin) used in the Tokyo Subway Sarin Attack on 1995, he's one of the 6,252 injured, he wasn't able to use public transportation the same way after the attack, he still uses it today, without having a panic attack, not until he owned a Golden Retriever puppy named Kenzo.

a rich neighbor down the block was concerned about Haru's well-being at the time, which she decided to give away a small pupper to the depressed man at the time, his mental health went well after that, there's a time where he tried to hang himself but he knows that Kenzo would be hungry if he does it, so he cut the rope down, add some water and dog in separate bowls, and went to bed.

meanwhile, the Japanese specialists took care of the guards while the Black Berets continue searching inside the building and they found crates filled with refined plutonium and boxes of nerve agents, what's even more terrifying that the location is going to use the nerve agent not only in Japan but countries like UK, USA, France, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, etc. all of which are planned to disperse the nerve agent on the said location

but that's not all, there's even another type of gas that put Rainbow Herbicides to shame, it's called Broken Daylight and they plan to disperse it to Washington DC and storm the Capitol.

"holy shit, we stumbled on the Pandora's Box, sir" Nicholas shockingly said

"but that's not all, there's refined Plutonium, straight out of the Cold War, I'm pretty impressed of how they store these things with lead composite" Adrian replied

"i remember Romans used lead as an artificial sweetener for wine, and that's how their vast empire crumbled fast" Gabriel also said

"it looks like we learned something new today, Maxim, grab the manifest and Gabriel, signal for backup"

"team, you got company and they're not happy" Intercom said

"shit, change of plans, call in the Task Force Hercules" Adrian also said

"hold on, you know they have a mission on Frankfurt, right?" Marina added

"i know, they're also here but i didn't told you all earlier" he replied

"who's Task Force Hercules?" Gabriel asked

"you'll see for yourself, press the silent alarm and they'll move in"

"well, if you say so" Gabriel sighed

Gabriel pressed the silent alarm, tossed it back to Adrien, and cocked his rifle as the mercenaries came back to check their inventory.

"come and get some, you son's of bitches" he cursed silently