Chapter Text
PROLOGUE: you aim, i pull the trigger
The sound of gunshots could be heard echoing in the indoor firing range. One shot. Then another. And another.
Stell readjusted his gym bag which hung on his right shoulder slackly. He could guess who would be practicing his shots at 7AM. Only a few people were that hardworking, but only one hasn't gotten his firearms license yet. He approached the last stall which was pressed up against the walls of the room.
There, with his milky pale skin a stark contrast to the dark gray walls of the firing range, was Justin. He was leaning against the ledge, eyes trained on the sheet of paper approaching him.
Clank! Clank! Clank! The sound that the target carrier made as its pulleys moved bounced off the bullet-proof walls. Justin was so focused on his target that he didn't notice Stell come up behind him.
"Think fast, Jah!" Stell announced loudly, left hand swiftly aiming to jab at Justin's side.
Justin only had under half a second to register Stell, his stance, and the blow that would be connecting with his left rib. In that split second, Justin's body moved on its own. He stepped back, left hand moving to wantonly block Stell's jab.
When his brain finally caught up to what was happening, Justin firmly grabbed Stell's wrist and gave Stell a surprised look. "What the--hoy po!"
The two were locked in that position until Stell retracted his hand and placed it on Justin's cheek. Stell pulled. "Good block!"
"Owwww~" Justin complained, but didn't make any motion to bat Stell's hand away. "You're such a cheat, Stell. I wasn't even ready."
"Why? Do you think they'll go easy on you when you're in the field?" the older agent replied. "They won't, Jah. So you have to be focused."
Justin grimaced. "Yeah, I know, I know. I'm trying."
"But it was a good block. A bit soft, but it was good," Stell reaffirmed. "You've been working on your hand-to-hand?"
"By myself, when you're not around." Justin gave a confident smile.
"And you've improved on your mid-range shots, too." Stell checked the target that hung perfectly still on the carrier. It sported bullet holes all over, with no discernible pattern. "What is that, exactly?"
"I wanted to make a smiley face," Justin replied, then grimaced upon checking the paper once more. "But I think I made the two bullets on the side look like moles."
Stell laughed. Justin liked to create pictures on his targets, instead of aiming for pure or clean shots. Stell liked that the young agent was creative for a "soldier". Justin's mind was more imaginative than most people in their agency--one that Stell could only see was an asset in the field. But Justin was young and inexperienced. He would have to learn a lot more before he could become a true asset. Perhaps that was why they put him in this particular unit.
"What's up losers?!" called a high-pitched voice from the entrance of the firing range.
Justin glanced at the door, both hands retrieving the target from the clamps. Stell leaned on the shooting booth, and acknowledged the newcomer by raising his hand. "'Sup?"
Josh approached the two with swag. He had both his hands gripping the backpack that looked too big on him. He did a quick dance towards Stell and Justin, a cheery spring in his step. "What are you two still doing here? Sejun called for a meeting at 7:30, didn't he?"
"We were on our way out. What's up with you?" Stell asked.
"I've been awake for almost 30 hours now," Josh said proudly. But Stell noticed the redness in his eyes. "Pretty sure it's not blood but coffee that's flowing in my veins now. But it's one of the perks of pretending to be a bartender, I guess. Free-flowing coffee."
"How's the stakeout?" Justin asked excitedly. "Any progress?"
The undercover agent suddenly looked tired despite the energy that he showed not even 30 seconds ago. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I'll tell you guys in a bit. Right now, we should really just get to the briefing room before Sejun comes down here with a gun."
Josh managed to keep his eyes open as he relayed his report to the group, but only just. He was used to staying up late, being the sole member of the unit who did reconnaissance and undercover assignments. But the stress of having little resources as support for their experimental unit was slowly catching up to him.
He had no substitute in the field, unlike established groups who had hordes of people to backup for their agents. Their company had very few connections to bigger agencies. They hardly had any political clout in government sects. Doing what they wanted to do was hard enough without finances; it is close to impossible without the necessary support from the right people.
Josh firmly believed that their team from an independent agency as small as theirs could make a positive change in the shit-hole called Earth, but he was unfortunately human. He could grow tired when he did too much.
And he was tired. When he finally spoke the last sentence, his thoughts were only focused on getting his butt to the chair. If his team could read his thoughts now, he'd get teased for being such an old man.
Josh returned to his seat on one side of the table. Both Justin and Stell sat across him. Seated at the head position was their unit chief and leader, Sejun.
"So this basically confirms what we've been preempting from the start," Sejun stated calmly. "They'll start smuggling drugs through the backdoor of Zamboanga at the soonest possible time," he declared. He clasped his hands together and stared at the monitor right in front of him, in deep thought.
The small briefing room was quiet. The way Sejun said that statement sounded sure. And after years of training and working together, the trio knew that when their leader said things with finality, they will surely come to pass.
It was supposed to be a simple job. A surveillance job. Just observe the target's daily activities in Manila while he was there and report everything to the central office. But it was either because of luck or Josh being too good at his job that they accidentally uncovered the target's connections to high-profile drug lords in the government.
Josh had found this out by accident as he was "working" at the bar as part of his cover. Two men. One swift pass and a sleight of hand. They proceeded to take out their phones--technology, which Josh was good at. He sneakily went to the storeroom where he hid his tech, acted quickly enough to peek at their digital interaction, and caught what seemed to be the end of a financial transaction. With a little more digging, Josh had opened an entire chest of dirty secrets.
Observe. Report to central office. That was the job. And that's what Josh did; only this time, he had reported more than the central office bargained for. A month later, their surveillance was ending; but with the target returning to his base of operations in Zamboanga, the job just got a bit messier. It was no longer a surveillance, it was going to be an interception. An operation that shouldn't involve the government, whose key players were themselves part of the more tangled web of censorship, complications, and corruption.
The job had to be quiet. It had to be clean. Something they believed their unit could do with their skills... but not with their connections.
"We can't go to Zamboanga," Stell said. "We don't have enough people there. Do we even have people there?"
"No," Sejun answered. "We don't."
"So do we report to central office that we're referring this assignment to a vice unit?" Justin asked. He was anxious at the prospect of being involved in such a dangerous mission, but at the same time excited to do his first major assignment.
"There has to be a way to even out the playing field," Sejun said. "We need more information. We need someone who knows more than we do about the situation. Someone with eyes and ears on the ground."
Josh sighed. He was tired, and he knew he would be more tired if he was going to say what he was thinking. But he said it anyway. "I know someone."
All eyes were on Josh now. "You do?" Sejun said. "One of ours?"
"No..." he said, voice laced with mild concern. "An... independent mercenary. I crossed paths with him on assignment. It was a long time ago."
Stell's eyes lit up in recognition. "You don't mean--"
"Yup," Josh replied. "But I can't guarantee he'll be willing to help. He's not exactly easy to talk to."
"Who? Who are you talking about?" Justin asked. Sejun looked as if he was asking the same question.
"I have an old contact. Nice guy, good set of skills." Josh heaved a heavy sigh. "But lazy as frick."
"Name?" Sejun asked.
"He doesn't reveal his real name," Josh started. "We just call him Ken."