Chapter Text
OO1: The Capture
Peace radiated from the bustiling daytime of Nairobi, folks working and taking in the pleasant weather, children running and playing, cars moving up and down the streets.. a tranquil sight, indeed. The limousine moved at a steady pace, its presence drawing attention as it passed civilians on the road. The weather was calm; a cool breeze blew through the city, the sky was a dull blue, and small wisps of clouds lined the sky, drifting lazily in the atmosphere.
Just four years prior, the separation and fall of the five biggest PMCs signaled a somewhat brighter future, despite smaller groups reforming to mock the greatest of groups. Now, in the present, most have put their contracting businesses to good use.
“Three years,” Prime Minister N’mani said, “look how far we’ve come in three good years.”
“It shows how good of a leader you are, sir,” his advisor replied, to which N’mani shook his head with a smile.
“Not just me, but the people.”
His gaze fell upon a small group of schoolchildren, kicking a ball to one another as they laughed, his smile growing a bit.
“And one able advisor,” N’mani continued, his gaze meeting his advisor’s, who was stifling his appreciative grin.
“Thank you, sir.”
The Prime Minister turned to look at the suited man across from him, his smile remaining.
“Your team is also very much responsible, Mr. Lightning Bolt .”
Through his sunglasses, Raiden’s blue eyes met N’mani’s, a smirk tugging at his lips as he nodded.
“Just doing our jobs, sir,” Raiden answered.
“You know,” N’mani spoke, “just a few years ago, I would’ve instantly declined the service of a private military company, but I’m glad I didn’t. You’re a good man.”
“Thank you sir,” Raiden answered, “but we prefer to call ourselves a ‘private security provider’.”
“Ah, is that so? Security can mean much more than what you think,” replied the Prime Minister.
“There’s a saying that I strive to live by; “One sword keeps another in the sheath”, a code that the Samurai lived by, you know. Violence is a deterrent, no matter. Some spared, some killed,” the white-haired mercenary explained, taking off his sunglasses to fully meet N’mani’s eyes.
“A soldier and a philosopher? Hm,” he chuckled, “you are truly full of surprises, Mr. Lightning Bolt.”
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Humid winds tousled through Rey’s hair as she surveyed the streets. The APC tank, the vehicle Rey had boarded, moved ahead of the limousine at a steady pace, a gunner stationed at the top, and herself and another soldier keeping watch from their ledges on either side.
Had it already been four years? Since.. The incident? Since…
The glare from the sun hit her eye ever so slightly, pulling her back to the moment, her grey eyes falling upon a few children who watched the scene in awe, pausing their game to stare at the soldiers for a few seconds. She couldn’t blame them, she was once like that; watching the adult soldiers on the battlefield when she was a child, in the humid heat, holding a gun twice her size.
‘Thank God they’re here, and not out there. I still don’t know how I survived,’ she thought, waving to a few of them, subtly.
Her gaze fell once more, her eyes spotting a silhouette just a few hundred feet ahead.
“Clear the road!”, the muffled voice of a soldier yelled, “This is official state business!”
N’mani turned to look at his advisor, and then at the driver.
“Why are we stopping?”
The blonde woman sitting next to the driver, Courtney, turned to meet his concerned look.
“Someone’s blocking the road!”
“Who?”
“A cyborg..” Raiden muttered, taking in the appearance of the cyborg soldier standing in their way.
“I said,” the soldier started, “clear the-!”
The man unsheathed his crimson-bladed sword, and broke into a full sprint toward the APC and limousine, forcing them to open fire. But the man proved to be a challenge for Maverick; he weaved through the bullets and deflected them with the blade of his sword. His movements were fluid and precise: like a samurai’s. The passengers of the APC and limousine watched in astonishment and shock as he dodged the bullets while sprinting. The Gunman couldn’t focus on the swift swordsman; he was simply too fast for him to spot. From behind, another cyborg jumped up onto the tank, and thrusted its own sword through the torso of the Gunner. His blood droplets splattered all over the cockpit, and he slumped over, blood pouring down the side of the metallic vehicle.
From the radio came the voice of Maverick’s director, Boris, “ Courtney? What’s happening?”
“We got hit,” she explained, “another cyborg.”
“Whose?”
“No clue! The XIFF comes up as unaffiliated!”
“Get the Prime Minister out of there! I’ll notify all other checkpoints!”
The driver of the limousine whipped the vehicle around, speeding in the opposite direction as the scene escalated. Just as the vehicle was escaping the sudden attack, a horde of cyborgs, not belonging to Maverick, swarmed the area, attempting to attack the limousine. Raiden gave a silent nod to Courtney, kicking the vehicle door open, and slamming it shut behind him.
He commanded the driver, “Get out of here!”
The vehicle sped off as Raiden distracted the cyborg group in front of him. He tore the fabric of his suit away, revealing his ultramodern cyborg body underneath, the dark metals glinting in the sun.
“Let’s just get this over with,” he muttered, donning his electrified sword from the silver case it came in.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Her black sword pierced another cyborg, the blood splattering her suit as she retracted it.
“Where’d he go?!”
Rey looked back up at the Maverick soldier next to her; he was talking about the man who had killed the gunman, and then her gaze went up again. He had disappeared.
“He-” Rey paused, “..he ran.”
A few other Maverick soldiers fought the enemy soldiers invading the street, which prompted Rey’s next action.
“Help’s on the way,” she said, “I’m going after him.”
“But-”
“Stay here, I’ll handle him!”
Rey took off in the direction she assumed that the soldier had gone, sprinting as fast as she could.
“What are you doing?!”
Rey was slightly caught off guard by Boris’ voice through the codec, but slowed just a bit to answer.
“That bastard,” she huffed, “I’m going after him.”
“And Raiden?”
“I believe he’s not far behind,” she lied.
“I doubt you can take that man down by yourself,” Boris exclaimed, “wait for Raiden!”
She felt a spark of irritation; she was fine, and Raiden could catch up at any time. In the moment, she shut off her codec and kept on.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
“Are they still behind us?” N’mani asked, his advisor nodding. The Prime Minister felt a pit in his stomach, but he tried to reassure himself that Raiden and the Maverick company was handling the situation, but he still felt himself to be a nervous wreck internally. The vehicle swerved to escape the enemy, going much faster than the speed limit for the bridge. As the limousine reached the harbor, N’mani almost felt relief; they were almost out of the city. The vehicle slowed, but just a bit, and then-
SCREEEECHH! ! ! ! !
The wailing of the halting tires caused the Prime Minister to cover his ears. He looked up, seeing a small horde of cyborgs crowding the vehicle, allowing the pit in his stomach to return. The two other bodyguards exited the vehicle, and sprinted toward the attacking cyborgs approaching.
But as the cyborgs were depleting, the ground shook violently and something burst forth from the water. The splash soaked the concrete ground, and some of it cracked under the weight of the robotic beast that had emerged from the water.
The monstrous machine reared up, as if it was about to charge at the vehicle but instead, it fired a ray of plasma directly at the limousine, pushing it back into a nearby building, leaving shattered glass and burnt metal. N’mani gasped for air as he pulled himself out of the burning wreckage. The smell of leaking gasoline and toxic fumes spread like wildfire, and he tried to hold his breath long enough to get out. As his eyes met sunlight, he felt a firm hand grab him. The stranger picked him up, and slung him over his shoulder.
As the man was about to turn to walk off, now with N’mani slung over his shoulder, Raiden had made it to the Harbor to stop the man.
Raiden yelled, “Stop!”
N’mani’s captor donned a cybernetic body, similar to Raiden, but his was a menagerie of red and black. He had two sheathed swords that resembled machetes.
“So, you’re Jack,” said the much-taller man, a southern drawl in his voice.
Stancing up, Raiden questioned in reply, “What do you want with the Prime Minister?”
The man laughed, and looked back at Raiden.
“Me? I want him… dead . Nothin’ personal, of course. Africa’s just gettin’ a bit too peaceful ,” the man answered. Raiden’s heart sank, but he remained stoic in the evident face of danger.
“What?”
“Since they cut off the SOP, business just ain’t been the same, you know? “A clean break from the economy,” well, some of us would rather keep that kinda’ economy. How’s an honest warmonger supposed to make a living?”
“That’s your answer?”
N’mani’s captor drew one of his swords, moving it ever-so-closer to N’mani.
Raiden exclaimed, “Don’t do it!”
“Don’t worry now,” the man started, “I won’t kill ‘im just yet. Not while he’s still useful.”
In that second, Raiden’s attention fell upon the Metal Gear approaching him, giving N’mani’s captor just enough time to escape. The beast of a machine roared, the soundwaves could shatter glass, had they not been already shattered by the rays of plasma. The hull of the machine blocked out the slow-sinking sun, the blue fading to a soft yellow.
“How?! How do they have a Metal Gear.. here, of all places?” , Boris exclaimed, “Raiden, you must destroy their UMG, and get the Prime Minister back, do you hear me??”
He only heard part of what Boris said, his instincts lurching him forward into a sprint toward the Metal Gear. The roar of the metal gear, and the crashing of his blade were like a symphony; it’s what he lived for, should he admit that. A flurry of bullets sprayed down on the pavement, Raiden slipping past them with ease and some grace, leaving nothing but perhaps a scrape in the wake. He weaved through the walls of projectiles, leaving deep cuts in the metal of the beast. He struck the leg again, but the machine flung him back a decent distance. Raiden looked up- a glow signaling alarm bells in his head; he scrambled to his feet, and jumped out of the way of a fast-approaching ray of light, blowing cement clean off of the ground. The ground was deeper, now. He felt a chill roll down his back, a grim reminder of the past, a time where he was young, vulnerable-
-But that didn’t matter. Raiden stood back up, taking a running start toward the machine, stomping around, and cut through the gunning system of the metal gear. A scream echoed through the streets, and the beast staggered back. He sprinted forward, but the beast wound up, ready to strike-
-Raiden grabbed the blade of the monster, lifting the masses of metal with his might, throwing it up into the sky. He took a high leap, jumping onto the blade and leaving cuts on the beast’s body. He raised his sword, and brought it down, cutting into the very core of the beast. He landed on the ruined grounds, the beast falling behind him with a deafening thud.
“Horosho!! Very good, Raiden!”, Boris cheered, “Ah, but do not rest quite yet. You still have to catch up to N’mani! Go!”
“I’m on my way.”
Raiden took off, running through the alleyways and train tracks to reach them, but as he scaled a building, he was met with the familiar screech of the machine, forcing him into another rooftop battle. He fought off the flying projectiles with determination, rushing toward the beast, only to be thrown by it. He collided with a clock tower, an absence of a heavy pain sending him back up and sprinting. He jumped onto the machine once more, leaving a deep slash across the back of the beast. He landed, the beast splitting in two.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
“N’mani!”
Raiden had reached the front of the train, where both N’mani’s captor, and the man who had started all of this waited for him.
“Too little, too late, hero,” said N’mani’s captor, “I won’t be needin’ the shield anymore.”
“I won’t let you kill him!”, Raiden said, stancing up. N’mani’s captor put the blade of one of his swords to the prime minister’s throat, leaving a shallow incision on his skin.
“Why don’t we talk about the good things war’s done for us? Why not speeches about the benefits? Jobs, technology, common purposes…”
The other man, who was sitting on a box, rolled his eyes sarcastically, as if he’d heard this exact speech before.
N’mani looked up at Raiden, shaking his head, “forget me, Raiden.. Stop him.”
N’mani’s captor shot a glare at the prime minister.
“You ain’t listenin’,” he muttered.
Raiden attempted to stop whatever was about to happen, but the second man swiftly stepped between them, flashing a shallow smile.
“Mind if I cut in?”, he mused, blocking Raiden’s glare. N’mani’s captor turned to look at Raiden as well.
“All we’re sayin is, give war a chance!”
In that moment, one of the first man’s swords pierced right through N’mani’s chest, blood spewing outward.
“NO!”
Raiden’s gaze met the swordsman blocking the path.
“Get out of my way,” he growled, only to be met with a low chuckle from the swordsman.
“He’s all yours, Sam!”, said N’mani’s captor- no, his killer .
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
When she’d finally reached Raiden, he’d been on the top of a cargo train, standing against two opponents; a fight he might not escape alive.
Rey couldn’t be seen, it would render both of them basically dead at that point. As the train lurched forward, speeding away from the station. Rey watched it speed off, causing her to have to think of another way. Then she saw it; one of the empty cars had nothing on it, allowing her to catch up to it and jump on. Rey sprinted toward the speeding train, hoping to catch the car in time. She leapt up, landing on the empty platform. Keeping her balance was hard, but moving forward was even harder. Rey wrapped her hands around a loose chain swinging off of the other train car, and she pulled herself up onto the other train car. Once she reached the top, the body of the Prime Minister was strewn on top of some cargo boxes, still bloodied and bruised. Rey’s heart sank seeing the Prime Minister be sent off in such a vulgar and brutal way.
“You’re just a little too late to save the Prime Minister. Sorry to break it to ‘ya,” said N’mani’s captor, who wielded two machete-like swords. Rey held her sword tight to the point that her knuckles were the color of ivory. Her stance was almost picture-perfect from years of sword training. As she waited for N’mani’s captor to strike, she felt the surge of adrenaline rising like volts of electricity through her veins.
“You’re going to pay for that,” she said, the tremble in her voice hidden by determination and pride.
“I don’t think I will,” he replied, stancing up as well. Rey went from her defensive stance to a sprint toward the enemy, who was immensely prepared for confrontation unlike her. She took the opportunity to take the first swing, which N’mani’s captor swiftly blocked. Rey stepped back, regaining her composure, but not before he swung his weapon back at her. He was relentless, and would not stop at anything to kill her.
But so was Rey.
Her ebony blade carried a glint of light, separating her line of sight from the enemy. Attempting to look elsewhere, Rey’s line of sight was carried to Raiden in the distance, who was bloodied and missing an arm. Her soul evaporated in that very second, distracting her from the obvious enemy in front of her. Her eyes did not return to the fight, but they stayed on Raiden, fearful of what could happen to him. Then, N’mani’s captor removed a hand from his blade, and grabbed Rey’s sword. He crushed it with the weight of his hands, as if it was paper. He threw Rey aside, causing her to hit her head against the boxes chained to the train. After a hazey few seconds, she pulled herself to her feet.
“We’re not done yet,” she muttered.
“Oh? You still got some fire left in ‘ya?”
He looked down on her, and then looked in the direction of Raiden. She moved to throw a charged punch, but he grabbed her, sending a blow to her stomach, forcing her back down. But Rey was stubborn, damnit; she got back up, staring him down.
“I don’t got a whole lotta time for this, damnit, so I’ll make it quick for the both of us,” he said, unsheathing his swords once more. In seconds, the blade went clean through her left leg, a splash of blood spraying outward. Rey staggered back, her leg slowly peeling away from her thigh as warm blood moved down her skin. He grabbed her by the throat, holding her in the air for a moment.
“You’ve got spunk, girlie,” he mused, “but I think the boss wants your little friend down there.”
“..you wouldn’t.”
“Oh, but I would . And I’m gonna.”
Rey’s gaze fell past, searching for Raiden, only to be met with the distant gaze of his attacker. There was something in his eyes that she just couldn’t understand. It wasn’t malice, but it couldn’t be remorse, could it? She tried to search the swordsman’s gaze, but he threw her off of the train, sending her tumbling into the ditch nearby, pulling her away from the short seconds that her eyes met the swordsman’s.
Her final seconds before the world was black, she saw the two terrorists stealing Raiden away, and disappearing as the train sped off…