Chapter Text
The first thing he notices is the muted sound of air rushing by him as if he were flying down the streets on his bike. Yet, despite the noise, he doesn’t feel the wind, doesn’t feel the cool drafts weave through his hair.
The second thing he notices is how dark it is, save for the lights on the panel in front of him. The dim light from the screen on the panel illuminates his hands as they rest in front of him. He looks up, finding even dimmer lights above him. Stars. He was in an aircraft in the dead of the night.
A military aircraft.
A crackle, the sound all too familiar, draws his attention to the mass of black in front of him.
“Bzzt…bzzz….-SK, Binad...bzzt…,do yo-...copy?”
A click is heard and, in the dim lighting, Danheng can just make out a helmet in front of him as the owner of said helmet leans down slightly to talk into the comms.
“Copy that. This is PSK. Your comms are cutting out. What are your locations?”
“Bzzt….bzzt…”
Incoherent arguing came over the system and Danheng just barely made out another callsign. Then, the static noise fizzles out a female voice replies, loud and clear.
“Fifo to PSK. We’re 1.2 miles Northeast from pickup location. ETA, 8 minutes. ”
“Copy. ETA, also 8 minutes.”
“Say, why don’t we get wasted at the usual place after we head back?”
“Save small talk for later, Knockout. We’re not in the clear.”
“Copy that. Yeash, so uptight.”
The comms went silent as Danheng heard the person in front of him breath out a sigh.
“Hey Binad.”
“Yeah?”, Danheng replies unconsciously.
“You feeling alright back there?”
Danheng blinks. The voice sounded familiar, yet he couldn’t quite place the owner.
“I’m fine. How about you, PSK?”
“Excited. The mission’s almost over and we can go back home!”
He snorted.
“I thought you liked flying.”
“I do. Doesn’t stop me from missing home though.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Silence fills the cabin again.
“Hey, I never got to ask. That letter that Fifo gave me. Do you-”
PSK was cut off by the sound of an explosion coming through the comms followed by coughing.
“Fifo?...FIFO! Come in!”
There were no replies.
“Oh my god, oh my god, what happened…”
Danheng could hear her rushed breathing, could hear his own terrified gasps for air.
Then, a voice spoke over the comms, calm yet laced with worry.
“This is Toddler. I’ve spotted Fifo and Knockout.”
“Report”, Danheng hisses into his comms.
“Fifo’s device is gone. Knockout’s fumbling to get his working.”
A pause. Then a low ‘sh*t’ comes over the comms.
“They have tails.”
“How many?”, PSK asks.
“Too many. I can’t take them all out in time.”
“What about the mission objective?”
“Fifo still has her bag. It should be in there.”
“Okay, okay, everything hasn’t gone to crap yet”, PSK breathes out, “we’re close.”
Then, Danheng watches as the screen in front of him lights up with the locations of Fifo and Knockout.
And all of the hostiles.
“There’s too many.”
“We have to finish this mission!”
Toddler grunts through the comms as Danheng vaguely makes out the telltale sound of a gun’s cartridge emptying.
“I’m taking down the closer ones, but I can’t keep up. They’re going to get to them soon.”
Voices start clamoring around him, some of them his, some of them PSK’s, and some of them Toddler’s. His head was spinning, everything was spinning. It was too much, but he couldn’t close his eyes.
Somewhere in cacophony came a phrase that made everything fall silent.
“SAMs! Multiple, incoming!”
Everything after that became a blur. Toddler was yelling out directions over the comms and PSK’s replies were rushed and urgent. His own hands were flying over the panel to release the anti-missile flares while he focused on the screen in front of him to keep track of the SAMs.
Then-
“We’re out of flares!”
His voice rang out, his heart dropping as he processed his own words. Something about it felt all too familiar, all too coincidental…as if it had happened before. He doesn’t need to focus to know what PSK’s decision was as multiple SAMs closed in on them. He doesn’t even need to turn his head to know that PSK had turned back to reach his ejection lever.
He couldn’t move.
Danheng barely felt the cold, night wind bite his cheeks as his seat was ejected out of the plane. He couldn’t feel the sudden shift in inertia as his seat’s parachutes activated.
All he could do was focus on the plane he was just in spiraling downwards, the SAMs following it. Time slowed as the plane came closer to the ground and, right as the SAMs touched it…
Danheng swore he could see PSK’s bright smile glint back at him, her expression calm.
Before the sky turned completely white.
“Danheng?”
He jerked awake, breathing heavily.
“Danheng, are you okay?” A voice asked, bringing him to reality.
Danheng looked up to find Welt’s concerned face staring down at him.
“I’m…I’m fine.” He said, looking away. He didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to relive it again.
“Alright.” Thankfully, Welt stepped back and didn’t push further. Danheng breathed out and let his emotions settle, resorting his thoughts and relocking away that memory.
A door clattered open in the distance. Looking up, Danheng watched as Himeko and Jingyuan– General Jingyuan–walked in, conversing about something.
“I appreciate the offer, but we plan on heading out tomorrow morning.”
“So soon? Not even a break then.”
“Yes. Oh, Danheng, Welt.”
Welt greeted her back and Danheng simply nodded towards her.
“Where are the twins and March?”
Right on cue, another door opened, revealing Caelus, Stelle, and March who were laughing amongst themselves. All three of them were flushed and sweaty, evidence of having just finished exercising.
“Oh, hey Himeko, Welt, Danheng! Greetings General!” The trio greeted.
“Doing training first thing in the morning?” Himeko asked.
“Of course! We gotta stay in shape!” Caelus replied with a wide grin on his face.
Welt chuckled lightly. “So. Who won this time?”
Stelle takes a step forward. “Me.”
“Hey, not true!” March pulls her back, “we were evenly matched.”
“No, no, no, did you guys bang your heads together too hard? I remember clearly that
I
won.”
“If it was a blue moon, maybe,” Stelle scoffs back as March pushes Caelus playfully as she mouths “
liar”
.
Suddenly, Jingyuan’s walkie-talkie comes alive.
“General? General, come in.”
“Copy that. This is General Jingyuan. What’s the situation?”
“Operation Neptune Spear has been accomplished.”
There was a stunned silence in the room as everyone took a moment to process the information as Jingyuan replied, “Copy that. Great work, soldier.”
“No way!” Caelus yells, “It actually succeeded!”
“Of course it would! It’s led by a freaking
government
-backed agency where said government has the largest legal force in the world!”
“But still!”
Jingyuan smiles as the crew congratulate him before coughing to get everyone to quiet down.
“Ahem. Since the operation is a success, would you all like a drink or two?”
“Of course I-”
“Shaddup”, Stelle grumbles, clapping a hand over Caelus’s and March’s mouth.
“Sorry General, but since we’ll be flying out tomorrow, we won’t be able to partake in the drinking.” Himeko replies, a rueful smile on her face.
“I see.” Jingyuan sighs and turns to leave the room. “With no doubt, a meeting will be called soon so I’ll get out of your hair to let you pack up.”
He pauses for a moment at the door before turning back to face them all.
“On behalf of my forces stationed here, thank you for helping us find the mole. Even if it was all contractual work, I am nonetheless grateful for your help in this whole ordeal. If fate will have it, I hope we meet again under the same banner in the future.”
“See you, General Jingyuan.” Welt said as he and everyone else waved goodbye.
Danheng made eye contact with Jingyuan one more time. He could see, just barely, a sliver of hope there for something. He knew what Jingyuan wanted, but he couldn’t give it to him. Not now, after so long. So he simply smiled, gave a tiny shake of his head before closing his eyes.
He almost missed the slight fall in the general’s expression before Jingyuan turned away.
“Hmm.”
Danheng was about ready to head to fall asleep when he heard Welt and the sound of typing.
“Something the matter, Welt?”
“No, not really…I’m just a little taken aback by the fact that the ‘Hunters’ actually helped and meant no harm.”
“The ‘Hunters’....the two members we met were codenamed Kafka and Blade.”
“Indeed. For a group that serves the Albanian mafia Besa and as hitmen for anyone willing to pay their price, they were surprisingly helpful. It
was
them who tipped us off on the likelihood of a mole within the ranks of the forces here. If it wasn’t for their warning, we likely would’ve fallen for their trap. And…”
Welt trailed off, letting the rest be unsaid. It was no secret now that Danheng had some history with Blade, history that was long before Danheng wound up among the Nameless. No one on the Nameless had to reveal their past when they joined, but Welt and Himeko definitely had their suspicions on Danheng’s origins especially when he was so well-versed in warfare.
And as a veteran, he definitely should be.
Discharged silently from the military after a catastrophic incident broke him physically and mentally, he spent years in rehab before returning back to the familiar smell of gunpowder and smoke. Despite how much he tries to convince himself otherwise, the need for that on-the-front-lines adrenaline never left him. Neither did the ghostly visions that came with it.
Blinking away his thoughts, he turned his head towards Welt again.
“Do you think Tingyun did it willing?”
“Who knows. It’s a little late to ask now since the only person who can answer that is six feet under.”
Danheng turned back to stare at the bottom of the bed above him, letting silence fill the air again.
“...Hey Welt?”
“Yes?”
“Where are we headed to next?”
The typing paused.
“Himeko was going through the offered contracts a couple days ago. She accepted one in Sicily.”
“One of the ‘Family’?”
“Who else could possibly hire a mercenary group like the ‘Nameless’ to come to Sicily?”
“What’s the request for?”
“Not very clear. The most Himeko and I could make out of it was that we were going there to get something. We’ll get more details when we meet the contractor.”
“Alright. Goodnight then, Welt. You should also go to bed soon.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Goodnight.”