[url=https://fontmeme.com/signature-fonts/][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/191117/dd16521e7d86f8ab6fc54285c3e7d99c.png[/img][/url] Takai didn't seem to be in any rush to drive so Bykov took the lead, doing one final check of all her gear before staring the engine. What was the point of not having any identifying markings on a vehicle if it was going to be the most conspicuous thing on the road anyway? Any idiot could see that it wasn't just some adrenaline junkie's modified offroader, it was too big, too imposing. With it's top mounted lights and solid black paint job it would have looked more at home running over protesters in the streets than going for a leisurely cruise. It reminded Kaz of the Humvees and JLVTs she had used to negotiate the mountains and plains of Afghanistan, all it was missing was the hatch mount for her minigun and a different coat of paint. Really this whole "shadow war" reminded of her time in country. She had done the same house to house clearing there that she was doing here, a foreigner coming in to tear apart family homes in search of hidden weapons and terrorists that may or may not have even existed. If she closed her eyes for long enough she could still go back to Bagram Air Base. She had spent enough hours sitting there that she could picture the blankets on her bunk, smell the sewage from the main city of Bagram baking in the one hundred plus degree heat. There had been no escape it, the odor of food trash, offal, and human waste creeping under doors and through cracked windows, just fermenting as fans pushed around humid air. It was the first thing she had noticed when she got off the C-130 that took her there, her nose wrinkling as she was greeted by her new squad. You got used to it they had told her, and they had lied. You could never truly get used it, you simply tuned it out as best you could. Sometimes it would come back to her while she was eating and it was all she could do to keep from throwing up. [color=firebrick]"The edge of the Southern Exclusion zone, Estate 19. I understand."[/color] The APV lurched out of it's spot, Kaz having never been especially lightfooted in vehicles of any kind, and up the ramp out of headquarters and into the light of day. With one hand lightly resting on the wheel the bear of a woman guided her beast of a vehicle past the checkpoints and into NeoTokyo proper. There was a good bit of road to cover to get to the Exclusion Zone, plenty of time for her demons to catch up with her if she let them. To stave off the memories Kaz opted to make inane small talk, no matter how bad at it she was. [color=firebrick]"Takai, where you ever in the military overseas?"[/color]She had never asked about his service record but the encounters with the pathetically unqualified Margo and the dangerously inept Chelsea had placed the question fresh in her mind. ----------------- [url=https://fontmeme.com/futuristic-fonts/][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/191117/bde4c8a92c70e36622f058c1ecb583ff.png[/img][/url] Now things had gotten interesting. Margo and the disheveled American were an "intriguing" sight to be sure, looking more like a sex tourist in the red light district and his escort of dubious age than a pair of investigators given the power to kill by the Japanese government, but they might as well have not existed at all once Chelsea entered the garden. Chelsea Riley O'Connell, heir to the Halifax Company and unknowing participant in an underworld power struggle. The father of the girl she had gotten killed, Hattori Akechi had been a major figure in the Yakuza at one point before the Daichi family ousted him with the help of the Yamaguchi-gumi, and the man who had owned her during her tenure as a strip club waitress was in deep with the Yamaguchi as well. In fact, his father was Hattori's right hand man and a Yakuza mole, reporting on everything that went on. And Daiyu knew all of this because she was at the center of it. The Guarri Ace strip club was one of the fronts she used to launder money and one of the places she knew could always be called on to entertain some of her more prestigious clients or dispose of a body or two. It was one of the linchpins of her web, important enough that if Nobunaga ever stepped down or was killed it would pass directly into her possession. It was not for sale and never would be. So when she found out Chelsea had managed to get a position in the NSF she had taken notice, watching her like a hawk whenever possible. Of course, it wasn't polite to stare so Daiyu had to settle for listening in on her conversations and taking note of her movements but that was alright. She was nothing if not observant. [color=Mediumseagreen]"Chelsea, looking lovely as always. Such a gorgeous kimono, you have to tell me where you got it!"[/color] If she looked back through her notes she'd probably figure it out herself, it wasn't hard to track the movements of a buxom blonde Californian through the capital of Japan. Ashton was making a fool of himself as was to be expected of a sixteen year old boy, "discreetly" eyeing up his comrades and pestering them with tales of his skills. Insufferable yes, but a potential problem she would be careful to avoid. There was a good reason her computer, tablets and phones were kept in shielded bags. His story about hacking the NSF sounded like typical teen bullshit but he had been hired after all. Out of everyone besides Chelsea she would have to keep the closet eye on him, make sure he didn't need to be bribed, bullied, blackmailed, seduced or shot. For now she could settle for having some fun with him. [color=Mediumseagreen]"It's so nice to see such a sweet young man with an interest in politics!"[/color] she cooed, giving Ashton her best "Aren't you adorable?" look. [color=Mediumseagreen]"Intelligent and brave enough to join the NSF, you'll make the girls very happy!"[/color] Her cybernetic arm dug into a well concealed pocket of her kimono and retrieved a folding fan, Daiyu spreading it in front of her face to conceal her light laugh. She wondered if he would pick up on the secondary meaning, watching him even as she sipped her tea.