Choice & Chance

[bluewind78]

0100HRS, HAKODATE

Sayuki Takagi rubbed her eyes, yawning before proceeding to shut down her "company-issued" laptop. It has indeed been a long day and just as she entertained the thought of joining the others at the nearby local bar, the Chiba native was startled by the subtle sound of the front entrance to the office opening. Sayuki's first impulse was to reach for the Glock 17 pistol inside her top drawer. Then, the intruder's shadow appeared at her doorway and in one swift motion, Sayuki grabbed the pistol and pointed at the newcomer.

"Stop right there or I WILL SHOOT!"

"Woaahh...woaahh !! easy there, Saru-san"

Sayuki instantly recognized the mocking tone of voice. It is Tomoko Kanazawa paying her old friend a visit.

"Mou! I could've killed you there and then! You know, you should REALLY stop making these "house-calls" skulking around in the middle of the night. The younger said, putting down the Glock to its original place in her top drawer.

Tomoko ignored the comment and shrugged, before taking the offensive. "Hey, that's no way to talk to a two-star Admiral!"

"I'm sorry...MA'AM! I could't see your stars since my eyes are barely open right now". Sayuki motioned for the elder to sit down.

"For what it's worth, CAPTAIN, last I checked, I still am a member of the Special Forces community. So, naturally, some habits are VERY hard to break" Tomoko chuckled.

Sayuki's fingers touched her chin as she sat down, apparently still speculating her superior's motives. "That may be so..coming from the Head of Naval Special Warfare. But I've got the feeling there's more to this visit in the dead of the night. Black ops, again?"

"No" Tomoko paused for effect, possibly even trying to find the right word.

"FAMILY".

"What?!" Sayuki hated being kept in suspense, but Tomoko always had a knack for dramatic and cryptic responses. "Surely there are other Teams?"

Tomoko leaned forwards slightly as she interrupt the younger. "Sayuki, I need the BEST for this one. The ones I can PERSONALLY TRUST. I need JUICE=JUICE"

"So it IS black ops? I'm guessing a VIP extraction? That's why you come here tonight yourself..no aides. You could't afford it leaking out?"

Tomoko smiled, impressed by the navy Captain. She took out a small brown envelope and placed it on the current Juice=Juice Commanding Officer's desk.

"All you need to know is in that envelope. And Sayuki...under no circumstances can The Fleet know that you and Juice=Juice are running this mission for me. Not even Admiral Wada...is that understood?"

Sayuki nodded. "Crystal, Ma'am"

"Get the ambassador home alive, Captain" Tomoko got up and headed for the door, putting on her cover. Before leaving the office, she let out a soft sigh and faced Sayuki one last time. "We owed her so much"



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"Strike 2!! You're going down, Yanamin!" Ruru Danbara yelled as her fastball whizzed past Nanami Yanagawa's small frame on the right side without so much as her fellow officer moving her baseball bat.

"Hey!!! Nanami!! What's wrong?" Ruru trooped down from the pitcher's mound to check on her team-mate. "You seemed really distracted today"

"Nothing...I guess I'm just tired lately" Nanami replied. "Sorry..for being a stick in the mud"

Ruru folded her arms. "You know...you are a terrible liar.. this is the only R&R time we had for weeks and you of all people suggested we square off against each other...in my favourite sport, of all things..knowing you suck at it..What's REALLY going on, Nanami?"

Nanami walked towards the nearby bleachers and sat down. Getting no response, Ruru followed suit.

An uncomfortable silence hung between the two Lieutenants before Nanami finally broke it.

"Ruu-chan..If you had a chance to relive a previous life, even if it meant starting over and leaving the warm and comfortable one you are living right now...Would you do it?

Ruru scratched her head. "What kind of a question is that?" Suddenly the ace operator realize it.

"You're LEAVING Juice=Juice?!! Is that it?!"

Ruru look straight at Nanami. When the latter remained silent and her eyes locked on to the lights of the Hakodate harbour, Ruru knew she is right.

"Risa-chan....erm.. Commander Yamaki was in town the other day and she stopped by to see me. The Country Girls's being repurposed to become a guided missile cruiser with an embarked assault team permanently stationed onboard. She offered me a place on her ship, serving as the assault team trainer and lead operator"

Ruru's eyebrows furrowed as she tried processing all this. "To serve onboard the CG again..that must make you happy, right?"

"I dunno, Ruu" Nanami finally faced Ruru. "I mean...it's nice that she still thought of me even after my transfer to Special Warfare and then being selected to join Juice=Juice. And nothing would please me than to accept such a vital role in the ship. Who better to train a Country Girl's crew than a former Country Girl who's a qualified Special Forces officer, right?"

"What about the last 6 years, Nanami? Are you going to throw it all away?" Ruru's voice was uncharacteristically hostile right now.

"I know you're upset, Ruu" Nanami reached to touch the taller's forearm.

"NO!! You don't know ANYTHING! Don't you know how long and hard I trained to qualify for this unit? And you can just simply walk away now and..."


"Nanami! Ruru! We gotta go! Skipper's got new orders" Both young officers turned to look at Commander Karin Miyamoto, their current Executive Officer.

"Be right behind you, XO" Ruru hollered and pretty soon Nanami followed her fellow officer heading towards their jeep.

<TO BE CONTINUED>



 

[bluewind78]

0700HRS JST, SEA OF JAPAN


"I don't like it, Karin. She didn't tell us anything much about this mission, not even the identity of the ambassador we're supposed to be rescuing" Lieutenant-Commander Akari Uemura commented as she passed Yanamin her gear who promptly stowed it on the Seahawk helicopter.

"Sayuki's got a very good reason. I'm sure of it!" Karin replied.

"Keep your voice down, Aarii" The Juice=Juice CO appeared in her khaki uniform after a nearby bulkhead opened, promptly walked towards the flight deck starboard elevator as her Team assembled near the helo on the elevator.

Sayuki looked around and signaled the Master-of-Arms, who nodded and cleared the area off all other personnel.

Grabbing the rails lining the elevator, the Captain finally spoke.

"Our intel sources reports the ambassador is held in an undisclosed location roughly 12 miles out from your insertion point. A friendly contact will meet you at the beach and take you in. Heavy fighting has just broken out between North Korean forces and Russian rebels so don't get involved. Just find her and get to her location without wasting any time. You will be flying blind for a while so take extra precautions not to engage any belligerent forces while you're there, IF you can help it. See you on the other side"

"Make sure you're there!" Akari quipped.

Sayuki could afford a small smile as she watched the elevator carrying four of her best operatives in the Seahawk was raised to the level of the flight deck. To be honest with herself, she could never get used to sending off her Team in this manner. She wondered to herself what could've been on the minds of her previous COs, Tomoko and Yuka, whenever they were in her position right now.

"It's never easy, isn't it? Sending them off like that and wondering if all of them will make it back alive?" A voice suddenly interrupted Sayuki's reverie.

"They wouldn't be alone Ayumi... at least not yet..."

The Morning Musume's Wing Commander, Captain Ayumi Ishida joined her Special Forces counterpart.

"You know...for what it's worth..I never asked what your mission is when you told me you needed a favour to get into Sakhalin Island. I knew well enough not to. Hell you could've hitched a ride on a C-130. " Ayumi looked intently at Sayuki. "But I'll be damned if I didn't know enough to help if the girls are in trouble"

Sayuki gazed back at the aviator, arms on her hips. "I can't discuss this, Captain..you KNOW that! Now, is my Apache prepped for launch?"

Ayumi sighed as she grabbed on to Sayuki's forearm. "Half of Musume's squadrons owed Juice=Juice their lives at some point in their career, yours truly included. As much as you've got your pride as the #1 Special Forces Team in THIS Navy, we still consider you as part of our own family. I just want you to know that, ok?"

Sayuki was overcome with emotions, but tried her best to conceal it. "I appreciate your offer, Ayumi. I really do. But this is something we have to sort out on our own. We have our reasons why we're doing this alone, and why nobody else has to know"

"Captain Takagi, your flight suit and gear, Ma'am" a crewman appeared and handed Sayuki all her gear.

"Well, I guess I can only wish you good luck, Sayuki" Ayumi offered her hand and Sayuki took it in a firm handshake. The petite aviation head suddenly pulled Sayuki into a warm hug.

When they finally broke from the hug, Ayumi bellowed out to all who were on the hangar.

"Attention on Deck! Commanding Officer, Juice=Juice, Departing!" Everyone turned to face Sayuki and saluted the senior officer, who then returned the salute before heading towards the black Stealth Apache waiting for her pilot.