Bullets in the Rain [Ayako]

[templier90]

Few empty magazines and bullet shells on the floor, he lean his back at a car with his assault rifle behind his back while he still wielded his dual pistols in his hands. Peek out from his cover, guns were fired at him and forces him back to his cover. Templar has been surrounded by unknown hooded assailants and the weather was heavy rain today. His assault rifle already low on ammunition and his dual pistols are served as his secondary weapons to survived in this attack.

He already killed three of them, who are lying on the streets in pool of blood but these assailants are still stubborn as ever, so Templar have no problem by ending this in rain and bloody mess. Look aside him, there's another car which provide another cover for him, as his old cover is already crawled with bullet holes, can't count how many of them. Rain water were slides down from his forehead to his side of his face, Templar quickly run towards to his new cover while fire blindly at the assailants with his pistols, they return fire as well.

Slides down to his new cover, Templar leans his back to the car door while ejects his pistols' magazines while look around him. "...Tch."

[Ayako Hikumi]

x x

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Another day, and Ayako was seated on the passenger side of a black van, eyes scanning the surroundings.

Apparently, there had been an anonymous tip-off at HQ - a man claimed to be in cahoots with a member of the Galbadian Vipers was starting a commotion in the place that she - and her party - were currently heading to now. Personally, Ayako wasn't one to believe unnamed hints and rumors, but her boss had insisted that it was genuine.

And who was she to disobey the boss?

With the vehicle finally halting to a stop, she quickly left her shelter, with a pistol in hand, and crouched down behind a car that was conveniently parked there. The rest of her group had split up, leaving her with Takeishi. A more agile and obedient man that Akira was.

Warily raising her head, she hastily placed it back to her previous position as she heard gunfire. Her eyes narrowed as she noted the sparks that had emitted from the impact from bullet to car surface. Thank Hyne she'd been able to duck quickly enough.

The rain wasn't helping at all and Ayako felt herself getting soaked. Shaking her hair out of her eyes, she narrowed her eyes - to increase her field of vision - and peeked out again. Well, the guys were busy - maybe a member (or two) of her team were responsible for diverting the attention of the hooded figures. In any case, they were in battle with an opposing party.

Takeishi's words, despite the storm, carried. "Should we shoot to kill, Ayako?"

She shook her head, both to shake her hair away from her face and to express her disagreement with his question. "No, not yet, anyway. Only unless we have no choice. For now, we keep them alive." Of course, she wouldn't be responsible for any 'accidents' that would occur, but ... she didn't feel the need to kill them. Not unless she absolutely had to.

Another bang, and - almost in sync - Ayako and Takeishi ­unleashed fire. Their vision was restricted, so many of the bullets did not dampen the enemies' determination to keep shooting at them. She then extracted her other pistol from its holster, apparently planning to finish this as soon as possible. Firing two guns at the same time proved to be advantageous, however, as she heard a defeated groan from one of the hooded figures. That seemed to have spurred the others into shooting more ferociously, though, as it was becoming relatively hard for both Takeishi and Ayako to shoot them.

They ducked, the car they hid behind proving to be a good place for cover for the moment. These guys were proving to be tougher than expected.

[templier90]

Bullets were fly past above his head, Templar loaded full magazines into both of his pistols while peek behind his cover. Who are these hooded assailants anyway? Kill Templar on sight? Or they mistake him as their assassination target? Or other various reasons? Regardless he must survive in this crossfire, Templar holstered one of his pistol in order to conserves his pistol ammunition.

Suddenly the assailants turn their attention to others, Templar senses that someone is helping him, or another rival that these assailants that they after? Eventually, he was so pissed about those assailants attacked him in the first place and causes his assault rifle ammunition were out, which means he has no problems in payback. Try to flank those opponents, Templar sneaks out from his cover and approaching the assailants' cover.

Shouts of the assailants were heard near him, Templar get himself ready as he pops out from his cover, "HEY!" He fires his pistol at the assailants rapidly from their back, the bullets went through their back and they screams in pain, then lie dead on the ground along with their weapons.

[Ayako Hikumi]

x x

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"Ayako, I don't think we have much of a choice! We'll have to kill them! They're going all out!"

Those words were shouted by Takeishi. Amidst the rain and the gunfire, Ayako had had to strain herself to hear his words. Her own words were muttered, emphasizing her dislike for that idea. "I guess you're right ..."

The shooting itself had not yet subsided, which had reduced Ayako and Takeishi into blindly firing bullets, hoping that they hit the targets. The hooded figures were then distracted, and - to her slight surprise - were then shot dead. Huh ... maybe the others had also thought of killing them, seeing as they had no intentions of coming quietly.

Raising herself up from the ground, for there was no need for her to crouch down anymore, she considered the possibility of an ambush. Admittedly, it hadn't been much of an ambush, but those crooks had wanted to fight to the death, only increasing the likelihood of them being acquainted with the Galbadian Vipers - if not, then there was a pretty good chance that they were Galbadians, themselves.

If she had been in charge, she wouldn't have followed the orders of an anonymous tip-off. It was so much more likely to get stabbed in the back that way ... metaphorically speaking, of course.

With Takeishi behind her, observing the scene, Ayako moved towards the now-dead figures. When she was near enough - and ignoring Takeishi's "Ayako? What are you doing...?" - she crouched down and noticed the youthful features of one of the guys. He looked too young to be wasting his time involved in fights like these - younger than her, in fact. And yet his life had been cruelly snatched away because he was on the other side ...

She stopped her thoughts from proceeding any further. There was no need to think about him - he shouldn't be haunting her thoughts like this.

Standing back up, Ayako then half-turned to look at Takeishi. "Takeishi, let the others know of the situation. Then we'll decide what to do from here." She then turned back to look down at the corpses - Takeishi replying with a "Got it!" - and listened to his footsteps patter away. Chocolate brown eyes, though, snapped up to regard the figure that she had not acknowledged until now. "Who are you? And what business do you have here?" She was a little wary of this guy, even though he didn't seem to be one of them ...

What was his reason for being here?

[templier90]

Breathes in and out heavily, Templar rests down his pistol as he looks at the bodies. Why these assailants attack him in the first place? He keeps on thinking as he walks on one of the body and look at it. Suddenly, a woman figure appears in front of him and she is armed.

Speaking of chivalry, Templar waves his pistol in the air and places it back to his shoulder holster with his slightly smirk. "I'm Templar, part of counter-terrorist unit. I guess you're not one of them?" Templar simply points his finger at the bodies as he approaches them, he checks one of the body and he found something; a silver locket. "Looks like our friends here are terrorists from Silvara Cell."

Silvara Cell is a terrorist cell that appears in Cocoon and other worlds, they mostly appeared in hooded-jacket and wielding machine pistols as their main weapons. Silvara Cell is responsible for hijacking, human-trafficking, bombings thus other wetwork. But what could these terrorists would attack Templar because he is counter terrorist?

[Ayako Hikumi]

x x

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Templar. An unfamiliar name.

She took in his smirk with mixed feelings. Charming. Well, as long as he didn't get in the way, she could endure his chivalry. She shook her head, wet tendrils of hair splashing raindrops on her face. "No, I was actually called here to capture - or kill - these guys here," she said, gesturing to the lifeless bodies that were still lying there. "Apparently, they were working with a couple of Galbadians." She didn't know why she told him that - possibly because he was also part of a group planning to stop crime. Or something of the sort.

Incidentally, she hoped he knew about Galbadia. She didn't want to deal with 20 questions. Or more. Her clothes were only getting more soaked by the second, and she waited - secretly impatiently - for Takeishi to come back and report to her.

And that he did.

Soaked thoroughly, Takeishi - panting - stood a couple of feet away from Ayako and Templar. "Aya - Boss said - to double back - to HQ ..." He indicated the black van, which was now moving to stop a fair distance away.

Templar's next words, though, caused Ayako to reconsider leaving just yet. She turned back to look at Takeishi and raised her hand. "I'll be right there. You go inside and let the others know." She raised her voice slightly to ensure that he heard every word.

With Takeishi now entering the vehicle, Ayako turned back to look at the bodies. She watched as Templar extracted a locket from one of the bodies and she regarded the object with slight nonchalance, before she looked back at the man in front of her. "Silvara Cell?" That name was also unfamiliar. She hoped that Templar could fill her in.

[templier90]

"So that mean you're from law-enforcement?" Templar questions the woman as he tosses the locket in the air and landed in his palm, she here to capture those terrorists either dead or alive? Maybe she had the same role as Templar did, counter-terrorist member but odd thing that she didn't heard about Silvara Cell.

"They responsible for bombings, human-trafficking, you named them.... These guys trade blood for money." Templar gets up for a moment. The woman was covered with rain and she's was soaked with the rain water, Templar takes off his empty assault rife and his bomber jacket and covers her body with his jacket. "Ahem... You'll get fever if you continue expose your body to the rain, so.... here."

Templar slightly chuckles for a moment with his eyes close, rubbing his cheek with his finger.

[Ayako Hikumi]

x x

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Ayako hesitated. Hmm, law enforcement? Not exactly. "... In a way. Although we only tend to interfere when the criminals either threaten us in some way, or if our boss commands it." There - that seemed to be a reasonable amount to divulge to a man that she'd just met. Although, technically, they were sort-of comrades now, since they had been after the same people.

Her gaze was then drawn back to the corpses. Well, these guys certainly sounded dangerous, and she'd been in the receiving end of their bullets, which was proof enough that they were a threat. The only question she could process in her mind, though, was: would the Dragon Triad Corporation be the ones responsible of eliminating this threat?

After all, Templar was here, too - so these 'Silvara Cell' guys were not only a threat to Esthar (or, more precisely, the DTC), but also had issues with other counter-terrorist units. Like Templar's.

Speaking of Templar--

Ayako almost jumped when she felt him wrap his jacket around her, and instantly welcomed the slight warmth emitting from the item of clothing. Although she wasn't used to guys coming near here - especially guys that she had just met - she was, nevertheless, grateful. She smiled tentatively back at him. "Thanks."

She felt that there was no point in asking if he was going to be okay without a jacket on, since it was likely that he'd simply insist that he was fine. After all, some men were more focused with keeping the girls happy.

Kind of like Masaru.

Suppressing a smile from making its way onto her face, Ayako simply looked at Templar's attire. There was nothing particularly foreign about his attire, yet she couldn't help but feel that he wasn't from around here. "Are you familiar with these parts? After all, you know more about this 'Silvara Cell' than I do." She didn't like to feel uninformed, so the fact that she hadn't heard of these guys was kind of a personal insult to her.

Then, as if just realizing that she hadn't introduced herself, she nodded in greeting. "Oh and, by the way, I'm Ayako. The man that you saw with me is Takeishi." There was no need for her to elaborate, though; first names were more than enough for him.

[templier90]

"Pleasant to meet with you, Ayako." Templar nods with his gentle smile, he stretches out his hand and shakes Ayako's hand with gentle. Her gentle and sweet smile, reminds Templar of someone who he loved so much but lost her; Elegante. Templar was completely speechless and eyes were slightly sad for a moment as he gazes at Ayako, but he gains back his sanity. "Pardon me for a moment, I just remember something..... And you can keep the jacket," Templar shrugs for a moment to Ayako with his smile.

Been familiar to these places? Templar arrived here in this world for his first time after his business in Balamb Garden, the only place he knows. "Actually I'm not from around here, I'm from a world known as Cocoon and I just have finished my business in Balamb Garden." Templar points his thumb to his back, shows the Balamb Garden which is really far away but still visible to others around here.

"Speaking of these guys, I was a leader of Bodhum Special Warfare Task Force... a counter-terrorist and covert ops company in my homeworld. I got a lot of information about them and if you want to know more, I would be share the information with you... although it's against our protocol."

Yep, sharing the task force's secretive information with outsiders is against the protocol and the punishment will be discharged from military service but... Templar play his own rules and maybe the task force will becomes Ayako's faction's allies and backup in the future.

[Ayako Hikumi]

x x

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After the pair shook hands, Ayako noted Templar's eyes reflect sorrow. Not bothering to ask about what he was thinking about, she simply watched him, her own eyes a little softer.

She then nodded as he vaguely let her know of his thoughts. Truthfully, she didn't want to intrude, anyway; whatever he had been thinking of seemed much too personal for her to ask about. And there was a chance that he wouldn't divulge it, either.

Her eyebrows were raised a fraction of an inch when he spoke his next words. The jacket was warm and - particularly now - she wasn't intending on taking it off, anyway. She didn't know what else to say to him, save from "Thanks again."

Ayako then listened to Templar explain where he was from. Of course, the name of his homeworld was - yet again - unfamiliar, so she had no choice but to nod vaguely. "Hmm, I see..." Her sentence trailed off; apparently, her curiosity was quenched.

Her head turned, and she gazed at where he was pointing. Balamb Garden - an institution that she had never entered, but heard of. Ayako's attention was then turned back to Templar, and she began to absorb his every word.

She wished that she would be able to divulge information regarding the DTC in kind, since this guy was kind and helpful. But, then, she remembered the last time that she had revealed their secrets--

She forced herself to come back to the present. There was no need in thinking about him now.

With a nod and a friendly smile, she reassured him. "Thank you ... for wanting to share the information with me. Though - of course - I wouldn't want you to tell me anything that would get you into trouble with your boss. And, I'd ... also like to tell you about the DTC. If it was not for these rules, then I would tell you everything I could..." She wished that she had better news for the man, but it was not so.

Turning to lock her gaze with his, she continued to speak. "Maybe ... there would come a time where we'd be able to join forces and work together." She nodded her head respectfully. "Then, I'm sure we'd be able to say so much more to each other." If his company were as good as he was, then they'd be great allies to have. Of course, there was no telling what the future may hold...

[templier90]

"Well, my commander Bishop will have no problems with that, she'll understand." Templar chuckles a little as he rubs his chin. Speaking of Bishop, Templar still remembers her as a teacher, a mentor, and a leader. She is also both Elegante and Vaillant's eldest sister, but she never blames Templar for Elegante's death but herself, for not visit her for one last time in her deathbed and gets herself drunk in a bar after the funeral.

Right now she's all right, and becomes commanding officer of the task force and spearhead it's operations. Bishop was strong-willed while Templar... still hold his guilt over Elegante's death until today. "It's all right if you bounded by rules, you keep your organization's information to yourself and your men, Ayako." Templar understands her, and he wishes not to trouble Ayako and her men with her leader. Speaking of getting along with each other, perhaps this is fate that Elegante wants Templar to find another soul, or perhaps no. "Well... at least we can know each other as we put our works aside." Templar placed his hands into his pockets and shrugged with his smile. Few moments of silence, something came up in his mind as he snaps his finger.

"Hey, I wonder you want to come to my homeworld? My town was on beachside and lately there's going to have a firework festival... Want to join? Everything is on me."

[Ayako Hikumi]

x x

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Ayako smiled with Templar. This "Bishop" sounded like a much more easygoing person to work under. In contrast, Katashi wasn't one for slacking off or having any mercy, particularly when it came to apprehending criminals. His stern nature was the reason that he was such an effective leader and - as most of her colleagues had pointed out - that trait of his had apparently been passed on to her.

Of course, she didn't agree with that ... much.

She dipped her head, as if to apologize for the fact that she couldn't tell Templar more about the DTC. Her chocolate brown gaze then shifted downward as his next words were said.

She hadn't been exposed to much fun and entertainment since Ryudo had died. For whatever reason, she still saw him as a lover and felt a little guilty whenever someone else had asked her to hang out with them.

Admittedly, the only other male she had become close to was Masaru ... but they were just very good friends. Nothing more, nothing less.

Ayako's answer had already been formed in her mind, but Templar was quicker - her gaze then shifted back up as she looked at him. Fireworks, hmm...? She'd never seen much of them. The little that she had seen, though, had been beautiful. And, incidentally, wasn't there some sort of 'legend' regarding fireworks...?

Smile lighting up her face, Ayako nodded. "Sounds nice. I'd like to see your homeworld. And the firework display." Who knows, maybe now was a good time to break away from her constant guilt and sorrow. After all, there was nothing wrong with accepting an invitation like this from a friend. Or comrade. Whichever works.

Eyes then partially widened in realization. She'd have to let the others know. "Of course, before I do come along with you, I'll need to file my report in." She gestured to the van that was still waiting there, and felt the eyes of the occupants bore into her back. What were they thinking - or talking - about? Turning her head back to look at Templar, she shook the now-drying strands of hair away from her face. "Would you like a ride down to ... wherever you're heading? You're more than welcome to join us." Of course, he wasn't allowed to enter headquarters, but - from what she had observed - he had no way of going back home. Or escaping the rain, that was - admittedly - decreasing in rapidity. Which was a comfort.

[templier90]

__

"... Great then! I will take you around in my hometown and tell you everything there... like a tourist's tour." Templar smiles towards to Ayako while rubs the back of his neck. The rain drops getting less and he knows that the weather is going to stop, Templar raised his head above and look onto the skies. Been asked to going around with her assistance, Templar look at the van far behind Ayako and saw the occupants inside. He could senses them what they thinking or talking, like "Is this guy going to date Ayako out?!" all kind of that stuff.

"Well..." Templar slings out his assault rifle and ejects it's empty magazine, "If you don't mind, I need to go to a gunsmith shop, resupply my assault rifle and pistols' ammunition... Can't fire anything without mags." he shrugs for a moment and look at his back, hang with those people he acquainted with would prevent him getting killed by those Silvara Cell terrorists later on. "Thus you and your organization want to know about those guys who try to kill me? We can discuss that in the van." Templar shows his hand to the van, signals Ayako to go first... Rather in gentleman way.

Ayako was alll right to him; attractive, cool-headed, and calm.... reminds him of Lightning, his old friend and fighting comrade. Speaking of making new friends, Templar hopes that Ayako's associates and subordinates wouldn't mind him to ride along in the van.

[Ayako Hikumi]

x x

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A tour sounded good. At least Ayako'd be able to find her way around this "Cocoon". Getting lost was not an option. "Can't wait." She said, with feeling.

She gave Templar a half-smile. Of course, with any type of long-range weapon, there was always the minor issue of reloading on supplies. Which reminds me ... I'll also need to stock up on more supplies back in HQ...

[/color] There was no saying what could be waiting for them - maybe there'd be another assignment. Which was why Ayako was usually set on stocking up beforehand.

As soon as he signaled for her to enter the van first, Ayako obliged. Her eyes were on the guys seated at the front, Akira and Takeishi; the former was staring back at her, with a mixture of smugness and another emotion she couldn't decipher on his face, and the latter acting as if he had not just been watching her and Templar conversing in the rain.

With not much success, obviously.

Entering the vehicle - whilst leaving the door open for Templar to enter - Ayako seated herself next to Taro, the rookie of the group. An introverted character, but great with technology.

She vaguely noticed Akira and Takeishi resuming their conversation - which she'd have to ask them about later; who knows what rumors would spread after this? - before flicking her almost-dry strands of hair back. Whatever they discussed now would surely have to be relayed back to HQ. These 'Silvara Cell' guys surely sounded like a menace. Looks like the Vipers weren't the only foes to watch out for.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/font]

[templier90]

__

Relax and breathes out for a moment as he enters, sit in front of Ayako and her subordinate. Templar slides the door close as he look at the rest of Ayako subordinates, and he sensed that every eyes are look at him, making him felt "unwelcome". Regardless, Templar checks his pocket for a moment and draws out his PDA which it's back have his Guardian Corps logo and written, "For Guardian Corps personnel only." His finger taps on the console for a while,

Accessing Fidelis System....
Initiating Bodhum Security Regiment Database...
Login as Grandmaster...
Success!

"Give me a few moments...." Templar taps on his PDA console for few seconds, then successfully found the information. "Got it. Silvara Cell were formed few years back in my homeworld, founded by an expelled-military officer Vladimir Leach. Their first operation is bombed a military facility in Palumpolum and steal military armaments, second is they robbed a heavily-guarded bank, leaving few survived or wounded while others dead.... These jag did several things every single day, always keep our hands full."

Templar hands over his PDA to Ayako, a full details of Silvara Cell is in it and it got all that Ayako needs. "But one thing I'm curious about, how did they know that I'm here?" Templar places his chin on his hand, ponders that how did his enemies know him that he is this world? Either a rat between his task force or Dmitri got some intelligence officer in his cell?'