Darkness usually gave the attacking side an edge but didn’t offer much of an advantage when the enemy knew where you were and was already lying in wait. The girls didn’t have night-vision goggles with them, but the enemy might. Takina thought that Chisato had made the right call.
When the lights turned back on a few seconds later, Chisato stuck out the top of her phone to quickly snap a photo of what was waiting for them around the corner. The photo confirmed Takina’s initial impression.
The tall enemy was clad from head to heel in black body armor. Based on the ceiling height, he was almost two meters tall. Joints were usually the weak points you’d go for, but they too were covered with round cowls, leaving no gaps. The enemy’s face was protected by a steel mask with only slits for the eyes. The neck was another part of the body that was hard to protect without compromising movement or obscuring field of vision, but this foe was wearing something like a giant dog collar with spikes around it as a guard. They were holding a squad automatic weapon at their side, an RPK with a 75-round drum magazine.
They were like a juggernaut. Guarding a metal door behind them, they made for an imposing sight.
“Bulldog,” said Kurumi when she saw the photo.
“You know them?” Takina asked in all seriousness.
“Ha-ha,” Chisato said to hint to her partner that it was a silly comment.
Although a famous hacker like Walnut (Kurumi) might have some weird acquaintances…
“I’m not being funny. That’s his nickname. I remembered him since he looked so outrageous. He’s the leader of a small mercenary group known for his full-body ballistic armor. It’s Class III.”
“Class III?!”
Takina had raised her voice despite herself.
So much for Chisato’s rubber bullets. Takina was running 9mm Parabellum, full metal jacket cartridges. Her chosen ammunition was subsonic to maximize the effect of her suppressor, which meant it was also a heavier round with higher penetration potential. But her ammo was also useless. Class III armor could stop even 7.62 rifle rounds.
“Here in Japan, he must feel invincible.”
It was exceedingly rare for Japanese police to be using rifles. They didn’t need such weapons, often relying on nonlethal ammunition and perhaps grenades when the situation called for it.
Takina got thinking. Class III armor was tough but not unbreakable. They could double back, pick up the AKs the other enemies were using, and fire several rounds into the same spot… No, that wasn’t realistic. She hadn’t stopped by to check, but from what she could see, the foes’ weapons weren’t genuine Izhmash AKs but unlicensed copies. They also seemed old. Even if she were able to shoot with the precision required to open up a hole in the armor, in the time it took her to aim carefully, the enemy would riddle her with bullets.
“Chisato, let’s retreat,” she said. “We should regroup. We don’t stand a chance with our current equipment.”
It was a logical suggestion. To deal with that opponent, they would need a lot of explosives or antimaterial rifles.
Chisato stroked her cheek, humming to herself.
“He’s not moving, though, and I’m pretty sure he can tell we’re not geared to take him down.”
“That’s probably because the armor’s very heavy,” said Kurumi on the comms. “Full-body armor like that must weigh tens of kilos… Maybe even a hundred. He wouldn’t want to move too much only to stupidly fall over. It’s impossible to move fast in that.”
“Just like I thought,” Chisato said to herself, taking a smoke grenade from her bag.
“Chisato… Are you going to do what I’m thinking…?”
“Ooh, you’re learning to read me… Cover me, Takina. I’m going in.”
“Are you serious?”
“I’m always serious! Don’t worry, it’s not a crazy plan. This is gonna be too easy.”
Takina knew there was no changing Chisato’s mind. She watched as her partner threw the smoke grenade past the bend in the corridor without even counting down or checking with Takina to see if she was ready.
There was a bang, and the other part of the corridor was filled with smoke, presumably. Takina wasn’t going to peek just to check. A few moments later, strands of smoke made it to where they were standing.
Smoke grenades were extremely effective when used indoors. By then, the other part of the corridor must have been completely filled with white smoke, reducing visibility to about a meter.
Bulldog started firing at irregular intervals to deter the girls from trying to get closer.
Takina thought Chisato would dash in soon after throwing the grenade, but her partner was standing still as if waiting for something.
Several seconds passed and nothing. Several more seconds…
The smoke cleared sooner than Takina expected. The ventilation system must have turned on when the electricity was restored.
“Not much longer now…”
Bulldog stopped shooting. Maybe the smoke had cleared and he could see again… No sooner had Takina thought that than Chisato stuck out the tip of her gun behind the bend and fired toward Bulldog. Takina couldn’t understand why she did that. She wasn’t even aiming, so she was unlikely to hit Bulldog, and even if she did happen to hit him, her rubber bullet would be stopped by his armor.
“The hell? Rubber bullets? Are you joking?” Bulldog spoke in English, in a throaty voice.
He fired right back with his machine gun. Chisato moved her arm away from the corner a millisecond before the bullet made another chip in the wall.
“Almost time to go.”
“…What?”
“His RPK has five, maybe six bullets left.”
“You’ve been counting the shots?”
“Were you not? Aw, silly you. Okay, here we go!”
And she was off.
If the enemy was only firing sporadically, it’d be one thing. And while most assault rifle magazines held between twenty and thirty rounds, this was a machine gun. Most people wouldn’t even dream of counting shots in that case.
Even assuming Chisato was correct, and Bulldog had only five or six bullets left, that was more than enough to kill her. Maybe Chisato really was crazy.
Takina leaned out so that only half of her face and the arm holding the gun were exposed, and she took aim at the far side of the corridor. Bulldog must have been aware that he was running low on bullets since he’d gotten out a new drum magazine and was holding it in his left hand, ready to reload.
Chisato was sprinting toward him, bent low to the ground.
Takina was holding her gun with only one hand, but she took aim very carefully so as not to accidentally hit Chisato and fired two shots. The first one hit Bulldog’s abdomen, the second—his head. He didn’t even flinch.
Takina continued shooting at him, but Bulldog wasn’t paying her any attention. He fired two shots at Chisato, but even as she was running, she saw which way he was pointing his gun and easily dodged each shot to the side. Building momentum, she jumped onto the wall and continued running on it. Bulldog shot at her again. Chisato kicked off the wall and cartwheeled in the air to dodge it.
If Bulldog fired another shot while Chisato was still in the air, there was no way she’d be able to dodge that.
Takina fully stepped out from behind the corner, gripped her gun firmly with both hands, and fired a round. She wasn’t going for Bulldog’s mask but for the RPK in his hands.
Chisato, upside down and in midair, fired rapidly. Sparks flew among a burst of red flowers as bullets collided, deflecting the RPK’s rounds toward the wall, where they exploded, leaving gashes behind.
And that was it. Bulldog was pulling the trigger hard, but his RPK was silent. It was out of ammo.
That was the opening they’d been waiting for. Takina ran out from behind the corner at full speed, changing her magazine, which was almost empty. Chisato landed on the floor and ran at the enemy. She was fifteen meters from him.
Bulldog knocked off the empty drum magazine with the new one, reloading in great haste. He could easily take both of them out if he finished before the girls got to him.