Operation story: DH-9

Operation

Story

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Characters
Ch'en Ernesto Hoshiguma Lin Yühsia Rafaela Swire Candela Pancho Bodyguard Captain's Subordinate Feeble-minded Contestant Headstrong Contestant Pancho's Subordinate Ship Guard Dignitary
Backgrounds
1 2 3

Before operation

“

With Ch'en diverting attention, Lin Yühsia successfully rescues the hostages on the ship. Elsewhere, just as Ch'en finds herself with nowhere to run, Lin Yühsia comes to her rescue on a boat. And the ship explodes.

”

<Background 1>
Ch'en	Status?
Lin Yühsia	Going well. I'm almost to the dining room.
Ch'en	Roger.
[Ch'en heards someone breaking through the door...]
Ch'en	?!
[...who turns out to be Ernesto.]
Ernesto	We meet again, Miss Ch'en.
Ch'en	You should have stayed in bed.
Ernesto	I wish I could've done that. I also wish that, when I opened my eyes again, all of this would've been over, win or lose. Too bad. I couldn't.
Ch'en	You can't beat me.
Ernesto	I'm really glad that I identified you two as my greatest foes right at the beginning... We wouldn't have made it this far otherwise.
Ch'en	You... You don't seem like those maniacs out there. Why are you doing this?
Ernesto	Let me tell you how I truly feel, now that it's come to this. Ms. Candela once said that her father, a former mayor of this city, was a useless piece of trash who, propped up by the Leithanien government, could do nothing but take bribes. Before the outraged citizens could kick his office's door in, he fled the country with his wife and daughter. Although her father was a piece of trash through and through, as the daughter of the scumbag, she followed her father first to Kazimierz, then to Victoria. Through her father, she learned all the ways that wealth could be used. She learned the very meaning of wealth. Then, she came back to the city and became its mayor. At a time when the resistance was nothing but a huge failure, the city found itself producing the finest liquor, coffee, and confectionaries. Dossoles tequila can even be found in Leithanien and Columbia. And while the Leithaniens and Columbians were bickering at each other, the city transformed into a vacation hotspot of choice among the elite of both sides. They had no choice but to follow Ms. Candela's rule: You may never fight here. And it's not military might or prowess that makes them willingly follow this rule. It's wealth, entertainment, and all the luxuries this place has to offer. It's the city's colorful facade. I know that's not how I should see all this. But I can't keep myself from thinking this way– From a certain point of view, and all things considered, perhaps Ms. Candela loves this country far more than my father. All he is doing is blindly chasing this construct of a country. He wants a country called Bolívar. Its borders were defined when it was still a colony. Its citizens are those who have always lived on these lands. What comes next? How will this country take on the Columbians and Leithaniens in this conflict? How will it continue to develop as a country? He doesn't know. He doesn't actually know what kind of a country Bolívar is. But Ms. Candela found a path forward. She found meaning in its existence, and she plans to make that meaning a reality.
Ch'en	That's a load of shit.
Ernesto	It's better than having nothing but empty promises, no?
Ch'en	In that case, why help your father?
Ernesto	From the moment I was born, I've watched my father toil away amid the flames of war. I've watched him go from a spirited man to a quiet one. I know what kind of person my father is. He's not like those men who chose to give in to the modern world. Even though working under Ms. Candela put these thoughts in my head, that doesn't mean I will betray my father. But I also cannot deny that these thoughts are getting stronger and stronger. So much that I'm slowly starting to consider the other possibilities there are. That's why this operation is something like a crossroads for me. I will wholeheartedly help my father in his cause. If he succeeds, then I will continue to help him. If he fails, then I will accept my change of heart and become Ms. Candela's supporter. Of course, if I die– That just means I'm gonna be dead, haha. But now is not the time for all of this to end. Not just yet. That's why I can't let you through.
Ch'en	In that case... we've got nothing to say to each other.
Ernesto	Right, it's been a pleasure, Miss Ch'en. If we'd met under any other circumstance, I would have loved to give you and Miss Lin a proper tour of the city.
Ch'en	I'll pass.
Ernesto	I thought you'd say that.
<Background 2>
Ship Guard	B Team, send a few men my way.
Dim-witted Pancho Subordinate	What's up?
Quick-witted Pancho Subordinate	You know that team that did really well in the championship, LUNG wRATh? Seems like their girl Ch'en is still putting up a fight.
Dim-witted Pancho Subordinate	The whole ship's our people, and all the other contestants are here. How is she putting up a fight?
Quick-witted Pancho Subordinate	Apparently she took Ernesto out. Then she's been running up and down the ship, and now the captain's personally going after her. Heh, that's something, and here I brushed it off when Ernesto told us not to underestimate them.
Dim-witted Pancho Subordinate	Hm? Speaking of, where's the other girl, Lin? I don't see her among the hostages.
Quick-witted Pancho Subordinate	Who knows. Probably jumped off the ship.
Lin Yühsia	You called?
Dim-witted Pancho Subordinate	?!
Lin Yühsia leaps down from the ceiling above, swiftly dispatching them with two quick chops.
Alert Pancho Subordinate	Quick! Surround her!
Lin Yühsia	(Hui-chieh makes good distractions. There's not too many of them here.) (Let's get this over with quickly.)
Surrounded by the guards in the room, Lin Yühsia leans forward slightly and dashes. She rams her knee into the first guard's stomach, sending him flying into a second guard. The two violently crash into a pillar, incapacitating them and almost knocking the pillar over. The third guard is about to attack with his weapon, but then notices the two streams of blood gushing out of his arm. He screams and falls to his knees, before a single chop turns everything around him black. The fourth and fifth guards attempt to attack her together, only for Lin Yühsia to kick an entire dining table toward them, tableware included. They crash to the ground before they can react. Correctly deducing the severity of the situation, the sixth man picks up his comms in an attempt to relay the information, only to find it puffing up smoke. The next moment, he finds himself flying through the air; his body draws an elegant arc before falling into the sea. Lin Yühsia is particularly skilled in close quarters combat, and she takes full advantage of this in the cramped dining room, dispatching the hostage guards in a flash. The hostages, in other words the dignitaries kidnapped by the captain and the contestants who got dragged into the mess, are all trembling in the corner, gawking at her in surprise.
Lin Yühsia	"Come_with_me_if_you_want_to_live." Come with me if you want to live.
Dignitary	How are we supposed to escape?! The whole ship's full of Pancho's men!
Lin Yühsia	You two.
Feeble-minded Contestant	Eeep–
Headstrong Contestant	Stop embarrassing yourself. Stand up. Miss Lin, we'll do what you say.
Lin Yühsia	I'll be the point guard. The rest of you, take care of the bigwigs.
Headstrong Contestant	Got it.
Lin Yühsia	Now, then...
[Rafaela quickly rushes towards the deck, only to see much of Pancho's men being taken out by Yühsia.]
Rafaela	Damn... am I too late...? Ernesto said you'd be here. Looks like he was right.
Lin Yühsia	(Ernesto... Hui-chieh took him out, but he figured the situation right after he came to?) (He's a capable man. What a shame.) (Still, I didn't expect to run into this little girl again.) Little girl, you shouldn't have thrown yourself into this mess.
Rafaela	My name is Rafaela. I'm not a little girl. I may be adopted, but I'm Papa's daughter, so this is exactly the mess I should be in. Mi hermano called you a good person. Why are you standing in our way?
Lin Yühsia	Do you think what you're doing is right?
Rafaela	I'm not so sure, but Hermano and Papa said the city's a bad place, and I take their word for it.
Lin Yühsia	You should form your own opinions, little girl. Sometimes, your elders need your help. They have experience, and they can be quite insistent on following that experience. When it comes time for you to take over, you can't always do as they did in the past. You need to use your own reason to break away from their old ways. You need to think about what only you can do.
Rafaela	I don't understand.
Lin Yühsia	It's okay, but you should try to remember this. Okay, I still have something else to take care of, so it's time for you to be good and go to bed now, little girl.
<Background 1>
Ch'en	(Grr, how dare that Lin Yühsia hang up on me. Now I can't reach her. What the hell is she doing?!)
[Ch'en's phone rings. She answered the call from Yühsia.]
Ch'en	Lin Yühsia, what are you even doing? I heard you rescued the hostages like twenty minutes ago, and now most of their men are coming after you.
Lin Yühsia	I know. I'm not with the hostages right now. My guess is they've gotten out.
Ch'en	What are you...
Lin Yühsia	Trust me. Come to the basement. Together, we'll...
[Suddenly Ch'en hangs up.]
Ch'en	?!
Ch'en puts her phone down and turns around in an instant. Pancho and his men are standing not too far away.
Pancho	I've heard stories of what an impressive man the Chief of Lungmen Wei Yenwu is. You may be no less formidable, but neither of you have a clear head, and he sent you two nonetheless. Looks like Wei Yenwu is no more impressive than Candela.
Ch'en	You...
Pancho	You people see nothing but money. There is nothing but leisure on your mind. I can't wait to slaughter all of you. I don't know what Lungmen is like, but ever since I was born, there's been blood gushing out of Bolívar's veins. Who doesn't want to shake hands and live in happiness? But none of us here can do that. Let me tell you this. It doesn't matter how much blood we spill. This city sucks far more blood in a single day! Alright, I've had enough of your games. Give it up, or this is where you die.
Ch'en	(Why are you doing this? Do you really think this is right, in spite of how much more blood you'll spill?) (None of those questions matter to him...) (In his eyes, I'm the one who's disrupting his plans, and besides–) (I can't argue with him.) (Not because I regret what I've done.) (In fact, it's because I do agree with him, now that I understand his motives.) (Even if I disagree with his methods.) (But I don't understand Bolívar well enough, and I don't understand war well enough. I can't come up with a better solution.) (That's why I can't argue with him.) (That's why I can't draw my blade.) (Chi Xiao definitely won't accept me as I am now. I can tell.)
[Ch'en thinks something for a moment.]
Ch'en	(In that case, there's only one thing I can do–)
Ch'en slowly lifts her gun.
Pancho	So you have chosen death.
Likewise, Pancho slowly lifts the anchor in his hands. Right at that moment–
[Yühsia reaches out to Ch'en.]
Lin Yühsia	Jump, Hui-chieh.
With no time to think, Ch'en leaps off the deck of the ship.
Lin Yühsia is waiting underneath with a boat.
Pancho	Gah, after them!

After operation

“

Working hand in hand, Ch'en and the gang defeat Pancho. What Candela does next leaves everyone shocked.

”

<Background 3>
Hoshiguma	Hey, look. That's Ch'en and Lin they're chasing, right?
Candela	Impressive. Really impressive.
Hoshiguma	We should go help–
Suddenly, a loud explosion echoes from the ship, not far from the shore.
Ch'en	What did you do?
Lin Yühsia	A little surprise. Remember how I asked you what to do after the hostages are rescued? I did agree with you that I should take everyone with me and leave, but then it came to me I still had that bomb. So I thought I'd give them a little surprise.
Ch'en	......
Lin Yühsia	Care for a drink?
Ch'en	Interesting time for such a display of aesthetics.
Lin Yühsia	I didn't notice this until I got the boat out here. Figured I'd try my hand at arranging it.
Ch'en	Sounds lame.
Lin Yühsia	Talking about yourself?
Ch'en	......
Lin Yühsia	......
Ch'en	I can't tell for sure whether you did that intentionally or not.
Lin Yühsia	What?
Ch'en	Have you forgotten already? "When it comes time for you to take over, you can't always do as they did in the past." The call was still connected when you said that.
Lin Yühsia	......
Ch'en	So, be straight with me. You didn't do what I think you did, right?
[The boat is about to reach the shore.]
Lin Yühsia	We're almost to the shore.
<Background 3>
[Yühsia puts Pancho at bladepoint.]
Lin Yühsia	You lost, old man.
Pancho	...... You have no idea what you've done, helping Candela.
Candela	You've done well, Pancho.
Captain's Subordinate	Candela!
Pancho	Stop. We lost.
Candela	Good choice. Come, sit.
Pancho	What are you trying to do, Candela?
Candela	Can't you tell? I'm inviting you to eat with me.
Pancho snorts, but sits down opposite to Candela nonetheless.
Candela	Most men would be terrified at this point. That's what I like about you, Pancho.
Pancho	You flatter me. I lost, but not only have you not arrested me, you're asking me out to eat. What are you trying to do? Humiliate me?
Candela	I want a chat, Pancho. You used Ernesto to distract me, and you had your underlings plant bombs all over the city during the competition. Finally, right before the third round was to begin, you took all the elites and dignitaries on the ship hostage to keep me from doing anything. I've got to hand it to you, Pancho. This is the closest I've come to losing my city.
Pancho	Concha tu madre, Candela. My men and I spent days on end to put this plan in motion. Then, it so happens you invited two outsiders who don't know the slightest thing about this city here, and it so happens they took on this case for you. And they... They happen to thwart my plans!! Why did you, of all people, win?!
Candela	I won? What are you talking about? Dear Pancho, I think you've spent so much time in my city that you've forgotten who I am. Or perhaps you never understood me at all. I was never your opponent, and you didn't lose to me. You merely failed. It's that simple. You lived in the city you despise the most for decades, complaining about the three governments, yet you accepted the backing of one of them just to overthrow me. Let me guess. It's probably someone from the Leithanien side. Oh, I even have a good idea who it might be. Tell me, Pancho. What was going on in your mind that you turned to those ruthless men for help?
Pancho	......
Candela	Oh, so you've learned to swallow your pride. In that case, why not wag your tail at me and beg for my mercy? How are you so sure I wouldn't help you? I mean it, Pancho. If you had come begging, perhaps I would've given you the manpower and money to fight the wars you so love. And if you then managed to win, this city would have to bow down to you. You couldn't find a more attractive plan if you tried.
Pancho	I will never bow down to you.
Candela	Oh, look at you. You're always so stubborn. Men like you always have unrealistic expectations of the words "complete" and "independence". You dream of an ideology that will bring all of you together. You seek a symbol that will unite all of you under its banner. But the truth is Bolívar has never been independent. It has no history, so where will you find your ideology and symbol? Suppose you succeeded, would the Bolívar you go on to forge really be the Bolívar you've always dreamt of? Somehow I doubt it.
Pancho	It doesn't matter what you say. All I've ever wanted is an end to the war, for peace to be restored to Bolívar. I lost. I accept defeat, Candela. My undertaking may not be righteous, but, at the very least, I am more righteous than you are!
Candela	Oh, pardon. Look at me, I confused you with the men behind you. You are not the kind of man I described. You wish to save this country from the bottom of your heart, and that earned you this seat right now. However, you must be punished for your failure, so I will treat you as their leader nonetheless. Makes things easier that way. I've never thought myself righteous, dear old Pancho. I don't care what the three governments are doing, and I certainly don't care about your Bolívar. You say I'm obsessed with this city, but you're wrong. I don't care about this city. What I care about is the meaning that this city represents.
Pancho	Meaning? You call wasting your life away on entertainment meaning?
Candela	*Sigh*, look at how stubborn you are. You will never understand what money represents. Okay, take this old bastard away. I will talk to him some other time. If you come across anyone trying to resist, you know what to do.
Bodyguard	Yes, ma'am.
[Ch'en and Yühsia silently watch Pancho being taken away.]
Lin Yühsia	......
Ch'en	...
Hoshiguma	Wow, I bet not even the Hung-mên Banquet was this intense. Just watching them was enough to give me creeps.
Swire	That was about as suffocating to watch as watching my father and grandpa having dinner together.
Ch'en	Agreed.
[Ch'en suddenly realizes who she is talking with.]
Ch'en	Hoshiguma?!
Lin Yühsia	Swire?!
Hoshiguma	Hey there.
Swire	Look at you two. You're drenched. Get a towel and dry yourselves.
Ch'en	What are you doing here?!
Hoshiguma	Hahaha, it's a long story. We'll talk about it over dinner.
Swire	Eh, I'm not sure I'm in the mood for dinner after all this.
Candela	Oh, my girls, look at me chattering away with Pancho, leaving my heroes of the day out in the cold. Hey, you over there, get two drones over here right now. Lighting, too. That was beautiful from the two of you. Simply beautiful. I have to thank Wei Yenwu for introducing me to such fine examples of the younger generation. And you contributed a wonderful, unparalleled ending to this championship.
Ch'en	Championship? Ending?
Candela	That's right. If nothing goes wrong, I am guessing a lot of people are sitting in front of their TVs, watching us. Although we didn't get footage of everything that transpired inside the ship, I am sure the sight of you taking on Pancho on the deck has left a deep impression. Everyone must be cheering for you two right about now.
Ch'en	You once told me that as long as you're here, no one can threaten this city.
Candela	Yes, I did. What of it?
Ch'en	You don't consider everything that just happened a threat?
Candela	Hahaha, my little Ch'en, you are still far too young. What constitutes a threat? Is it the city getting leveled? Is it seeing its entire population massacred? No, those are hardly threats, Ch'en. The real threat is the city's people losing their desires, never to seek enjoyment again. But you've been a policewoman for a great number of years. Do you think that's possible?
Ch'en	......
Candela	Oh, the look on your face tells me what you think. You see. You know it yourself. The answer is that it's not possible. And as long as that remains the answer, this city will continue to exist. And if Dossoles falls, Tressoles will rise in its place. However many cities you need, I can build.
Ch'en	......
Candela	Nonetheless, that doesn't erase the fact that you two are heroes to this city. Oh, look at me. How forgetful I am. Is the party ready yet?
Bodyguard	For the most part.
Candela	Now where's my mic... Oh, there we are.
[Candela makes a speech that is broadcast to the entire city.]
Candela	Ahem, my dear citizens and tourists. Whether you are sitting in front of a TV or watching from the beach... It gives me great pleasure to announce to you the final victors of this year's Dossoles Warrior Champion, as well as the heroes that saved our city. Our heroines from Lungmen–Ch'en Hui-chieh and Lin Yühsia! Let us also thank Pancho for taking it upon himself to give us such a grand performance! Now, we'll be throwing a party on the beach. Everyone is welcome!
[The people of Dossoles cheers.]