Stealth was the name of the game and they were trained for it.

Yuri and Yoona winked at each other before they parted ways. Each was to lead a team down two flanks in a bid to surround the dock. Sooyoung and Minho were sticking together, taking the lead in crashing in on the party that was due to take place in a few moments time.

Cameras had been placed in strategic spots to ensure that their ops strategists had a view of every possible escape route of the place. The radius of their cover had been extended by fifty meters—a clear sign of how much resources Boa had invested into tonight’s operation. Yet, she had entrusted the entire operation into their hands. She was not there with them tonight. She had another mission to accomplish.

+++

Jessica and Tiffany exchanged looks of encouragement as they sat in the van that transported them to the location of their mission. Hyoyeon and Boa sat beside them and together, the four made for a rather tense group. It was imperative that they succeeded in their mission. The extent of corruption in their government was far deeper than they had imagined and the complete extermination of BLACK’s hold on their government depended solely on them.

They arrived at the premises of BLACK’s database. Thanks to Taeyeon’s input, Boa was able to have her experts narrow down the exact location of their database. What she couldn’t get her hands on completely, was the extent of defenses that BLACK had placed on the system and that was in the hands of Hyoyeon. Hyoyeon was the best. No one else could do it. And that was how Boa got her superiors to relent and let her back in—into Light even. But Boa knew perfectly well that if anything went wrong, her head would be on the chopping block. Seohyun too, was the best strategist Boa had and it seemed like a good deal to pull her back in and get back two outstanding agents for the price of one. And so it was the five of them, just the five of them.

+++

Back at the docks, Yuri had the left flank secured and Yoona, the right. They reported in and were told to wait. The transaction had not taken place just yet. Sooyoung and Minho too, were lying in wait for the optimum moment to take action and the wait only served to get their hearts pumping even faster.

Then the moment arrived. Their earpieces sounded in their ears and their minds acted upon the simple message.

“Go, go, go!”

Sooyoung leapt up from her hiding place and ran as though her life depended on it. Minho was quick to follow and the two of them burst in on the transaction that was in the midst of taking place. There were crates and crates of firearms and various other contraband but they weren’t concerned with that. They were simply after one thing—the masterminds.

They spotted the man that they wanted—Changmin. He was already making a getaway and they gave chase without hesitation despite the shots that were ringing out here, there, and everywhere. They ducked behind pillars and crates as they advanced upon Changmin and closed the gap between them gradually.

“Chang, heading to Northwest route.”

Sooyoung could barely get the words out as she put on an extra burst of speed to get closer to him. Minho was ahead of her, running so fast that his legs were but a blur. Suddenly, a man leapt out of nowhere and brought her down to the ground. Her handgun was sent flying and she was pinned but her long legs were flexible and in one fluid move, she hooked her leg around her attacker’s neck and yanked it hard. Her attacker grunted in pain and she took the chance to twist her body to gain leverage and the attacker found himself thrown off her forcefully. She reached for the compact gun she had strapped to her ankle and shot the man right between his eyes. She blew at the non-existent smoke of her not-so-smoking-hot barrel—something she could never resist doing—and grinned but she knew that she was out of the chase.

“Soo is off the chase. I repeat, Soo is off the chase.”

“Regroup at Sector A south exit. There’s a fireworks party going on.”

Sooyoung got back on her feet, dusted herself off and retrieved her handgun.

“Soo’s joining the party. I repeat, Soo’s joining the party.”

+++

Yuri stiffened when she heard that Sooyoung was off the chase. That meant that Minho was the only one left. Changmin was heading her way and she signaled her team to be on standby. Sure enough, a door burst open and a tall man came dashing out, followed shortly by another tall man.

“Get him,” Yuri commanded as she pushed off on her right foot into a sprint. She raised her gun and took a few shots at Changmin but he managed to dodge the bullets. It didn’t help that she was running vigorously and couldn’t take a proper aim. Changmin diverted suddenly and disappeared behind a tall container. Yuri and her team spread out to cover the area and Minho caught up with them a few seconds later. He was gasping hard for breath but Yuri knew that he could run for many more miles before he collapsed. Such was the extreme training for NSI agents.

“Free drinks for the one who gets him first.” Yuri winked and grinned before darting off in search of Changmin, leaving Minho in her dust.

+++

The dock was as good as a maze with the large metal containers that were all around it. And it was even more so in the dark. The few lights that shone on the area did little to help but the NSI agents were well prepared for this lighting situation with their night vision shades resting on the bridge of their noses. And in the dead silence of the night, it was important to be as stealthy as possible so that the smallest sound did not give away your location. Of course, with the shots ringing out from the fireworks party going on and the sheer number of feet shuffling along on the ground, stealth became less important and that was what helped Changmin to get away faster. Yuri and her team combed the area around the containers methodically and reported each zone clear when they secured it. Where had Changmin gone?

+++

Yoona scanned the area carefully. She and her team had already apprehended several BLACK members who had tried to escape down the Northeast route but the status of Changmin was still unclear. Yuri and Minho were hunting for him but he was nowhere to be found. She lay in wait patiently, on the other side of the containers. There was no telling where Changmin might run to.

“Yoong, movement spotted. One o’clock.”

One of her team members spoke up and she looked in the reported direction immediately. Yes. There was movement.

“Spread out and cover this route,” she ordered.

Keeping low, she moved herself to an elevated spot just above the containers and flattened herself as much as possible as her team members spread out to ambush the incoming target.

“Yoong, he’s running to you.”

She heard Yuri’s breathless voice and smiled. They will catch him together. Together, they were formidable.

She spotted Changmin right after Yuri spoke. He was running towards her and she timed her jump perfectly.

“OOF!” went Changmin as Yoona landed on him and knocked him to the ground.

Before she could do anything else, however, he had delivered a blow to her jaw and sent her sprawling beside him. He tried to get up quickly but she didn’t let him. With all her might, she kicked with her long slender leg and took his legs out from under him. He rolled onto her and gave her another punch but a flying body knocked him back onto the ground.

Yoona got up quickly and saw Yuri trying to wrestling his arms behind his back. She went over, pulled out her gun and pointed it at his temple. He stopped struggling immediately. Yuri handcuffed his wrists and tied his ankles together with a cable tie deftly and raised a hand at Yoona. Yoona grinned lopsidedly and brought her hand to Yuri’s, giving her a high five.

“We’re the best troopers!” she said with a laugh, ignoring Changmin’s death glare as he lay on the ground, trussed up and immobile.

+++

It was a high security building as Boa already knew and expected. As good as the vault of a bank, it was going to take some careful maneuvering to get into the building.

“I can freeze and loop the camera for one elevator in Tower A for about two minutes. That should get you to the ninth floor with time to spare. From there, I’ll be with you on your earpiece,” Seohyun reminded them.

Jessica was busy with her sniper case. She had to singlehandedly cover as much area on the outside as possible. It was a challenge but she wasn’t about to fail on it. She double checked her equipment before shutting her case.

“Ladies, I’m good to go.”

“Off you go then,” said Boa with an assuring smile.

Jessica smiled and nodded at Boa. She stopped for a moment longer when she passed by Tiffany and whispered, “Stay safe, Tif.”

Tiffany nodded and smiled. “Love you,” she mouthed and off Jessica went, out into the dark, dark night.

+++

Tiffany, Hyoyeon and Boa snuck under the cover of shadows towards the building that housed the database that stored the secrets of the dark side. Boa’s stealthy footwork had her moving much faster than the other two, much to their admiration. Boa wasn’t the top for nothing that was for sure.

They located the back door and it was locked with a security mechanism but it wasn’t a problem. They came prepared. Hyoyeon took out the card that she had made that would enable them to get pass the security locks in the building. She swiped it, punched into a few digits and a beautiful electronic beep was heard. She grinned cheekily at them and opened the door with a flourish. Entry was a breeze when you had the right talent. But of course, Boa had learnt from Sunny and Sungmin’s operation and was on high alert nonetheless. If anything, the easier it was, the more careful she was.

The three agents sneaked into the building and shut the door carefully before looking around their surroundings to get their bearings right.

“Elevators to your left. Take the first one on the left.”

Seohyun’s voice came through, crisp and clear and they made their way to the elevator as instructed. Once inside it, Tiffany pressed the ninth button and they were on their way.

+++

The database was located on the ninth floor, behind the ninth door. They walked down the long corridor and stopped at the door that separated them from the database. Seohyun had already disabled the cameras on that particular corridor, but she could only hold off the system from detecting an intruder for so long. Hyoyeon had to be fast.

+++
 

Passcodes, encryption and various other forms of electronic security platforms were no match for Hyoyeon and the incredible decoder she had plugged into the system. Tiffany blinked as the pages zipped by, unable to make sense of the things that she saw. All agents were trained in some basic hacking but this was way above her league. This was plain godly. Hyoyeon was godly. Her fingers flew across the keyboard with such ease that it was as though she was born to do this and it wasn’t long before she lifted her head up and gave the thumbs up sign.

“Incredible. That was only three and a half minutes!” Tiffany was astounded by her speed but Hyoyeon merely grinned and shrugged.

“Time to get out.”

Just then, Seohyun’s voice came through with an edge of worry in her voice.

“Incoming threats are zooming into the building from nowhere! I’ve got images of troops of twenty people entering the building from all three exits. This is a trap!”

Hyoyeon began darting around in the room from terminal to terminal, finally stopping at one and plugging in her gadget again.

“Hyo! What are you doing?!” Tiffany was flabbergasted.

“T, we need to hold off the incoming troops. Hyo is going to transmit the data back to our people.”

Tiffany didn’t have to ask any more questions to know what that meant. The data was at this moment, more valuable than their lives. She closed her eyes and muttered the fastest prayer she had ever muttered in her life before hurry to Boa’s side.

“I’m ready.”

“We’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Boa’s smile was somewhat assuring. “Hyo, how much time do you need?”

“One minute left.”

“Okay. Come out when it’s done. We’ll be waiting.”

“Sure thing.”

Boa winked at Tiffany who took a deep breath and nodded.

“Kero? Signal please,” said Boa.

“Around the corners, in three, two, one, now.”

Boa pulled the safety pin and tossed out her flash grenade.

“You caught three on each side. Now!”

Boa and Tiffany ducked low and pointed their guns out opposite sides. Each took three shots in succession and turned back in.

“Cleared. You’ve got ten more coming on the left. Seven more on the right. Flash, in three, two, one, now.”

Tiffany pulled the pin and tossed.

“Great throw! Clear!”

Boa pulled out another gun and lay on her side so Tiffany did the same. They swung out and squeezed their triggers rapidly, firing at multiple targets in succession before swinging back behind their cover.

“Clear! All men down.”

Tiffany cheered inwardly. She thanked herself for training her marksmanship so hard to beat Jessica. This was definitely a situation that called for it. For a split second, she wondered if Jessica was okay by herself out there. She sincerely hoped so, for the words of her father haunted her a little. However, there was no time to dwell on such matters. She had to focus on keeping Boa, Hyoyeon and herself alive.

+++

Jessica was having a hay day out in the dark. She had fixed an anti-reflective filter on her sniper that was a key factor in her godliness in sniping tonight. The troops she had spotted far off in the distance were in great numbers of almost forty. However, she merely reported it to Seohyun who then came up with a plan.

“Hold till they are near the building. Allow about half to entire, then snipe the other half.”

“Brilliant, Kero. I got it.”

It was definitely better to kill off the second half who had no backups. Seohyun wasn’t labelled the top strategist for nothing. Even in such dire situations, she broke no sweat.

Jessica allowed herself a tiny grin as she patted her trusty sniper rifle. It was top of the line, the most expensive hi-tech rifle that NSI could afford and it was hers. It allowed her to snipe in rapid succession with little recoil, therefore compromising little of her accuracy. Her past practices had her scoring near perfect scores and she had a perfect understanding of how her weapon worked. She and the rifle were as good as one.

As planned, she allowed some of them to enter the building unscathed and unsuspecting before she started picking off the ones at the back. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Her trigger was squeezed fifteen times in rapid succession and each time she squeezed, a man would drop to the ground. Dead.

She was sure that upon closer inspection, they would have been found shot right where it counted and if there were a score on this, she’d probably have broken her personal best.

“J, twenty degrees to the west. Clear sector.”

Jessica responded immediately. She adjusted her rifle and realigned her scope within seconds and aimed. A few more squeezes of her trigger and she was happy to report that the sector was clear.

“Well done, J.”

“Thanks, Kero.”

Before she could smile, however, she had a sudden gut feeling. Having learnt from past trainings that instincts were best trusted during extreme situations, she reacted instantly and pulled her rifle down before flattening herself on the ground. She heard a bullet whizz by as well as footsteps. Footsteps?

She moved to the side as quickly as possible and positioned herself behind the door of the rooftop that she was on. Her gut feelings were proven right when the door burst open and two men came through. She caught the first one by surprise at close range when he swung to the right to scan the area and knocked the gun out of his hands. She then fired a shot at his forehead and ended his life efficiently.

The other man, having heard the noise, wasn’t as easy to deal with. He fired at her, forcing her to duck behind the corner where she squat quickly. As he rounded the corner, she stuck her leg out and tripped him the classic high school way. Will adults never learn from mistakes made in their adolescent years? Jessica smirked before striking out at his vital points with her hand. She delivered a swift chop to his neck but he managed to move and she missed the spot that would have knocked him out.

Not to be outmaneuvered, she wrapped her other arm around his neck and brought her knee up mercilessly, catching him in the face. He groaned out loud and she knew that she must have broken something. But he grabbed her and slammed her against the wall with brute strength which knocked the wind out of her as well as her gun.

Wanting to keep the fight short, Jessica reached around him for her little dagger which was strapped to her ankle and stabbed him where it counted—the neck. She tried not to look at his eyes as she pulled her dagger out. She wasn’t entirely comfortable with looking at her victim’s eyes and it was one of the main reasons why she opted to be a sniper aside from the fact that she had an uncannily awesome skill in marksmanship.

She strapped her dagger and retrieved her gun before jogging back to her rifle.

“J, are you there? J?” Seohyun’s concerned voice came through and Jessica was happy to report that she had dealt with the problems.

“But I think they know where I am. I need to move.”

“Sector Two it is.”

“On my way.”

+++

“Done! Let’s go!” Hyoyeon ran towards them with a cocky grin on her face.

Boa and Tiffany couldn’t help smiling at the cheeky woman.

“Kero, which way is best to leave?” Boa asked.

“Route three. We have only six threats there.”

“Go, go, go!” Boa ordered and led the way.

They sprinted down the corridor as fast as their legs could carry them and rounded the corner. In sight, was the door to the stairwell that would take them to the ground floor and out the main exit. They dashed down the stairs at top speed. Their speed increased exponentially when shots were heard. The threats were shooting down the stairwell, hoping to catch them with a stray bullet or two. They stuck closer to the wall to dodge bullets and hopped down as many steps at a time as they could.

“Fifth floor, go, go, go,” encouraged Boa.

The three women literally ran for their lives down the stairs to the bottom of the stairwell. Boa pushed the door open and they flattened themselves against the wall outside.

“All clear. Proceed to Sector Two, east of where you are. Jessica is waiting.

Tiffany whooped for joy inwardly upon hearing that Jessica was okay. She could now understand how her father had felt and why he opposed to their relationship a little bit better. It had indeed been rather nerve wrecking, having experienced the danger so close and strong tonight.

They reached Sector Two and saw the getaway car. Jessica was in the driver’s seat, waiting. They got in and Jessica drove off immediately.

Seohyun’s proud voice came through loud and clear, “Well done, ladies. The mission is a success.”

+++

Taeyeon hadn’t moved from her spot for a couple of hours or so. There was nothing she could do but pray and pray she did, relentlessly. She was determined to pray as vehemently as possible to the extent of possibly pissing God off enough to make him answer her prayers, just to get her to stop praying so vehemently. Anything, she’d do anything to help Sunny stay alive.

“Sunny…” she sobbed as her teardrops fell and shattered upon reaching the floor. “Please don’t leave me alone. I’ll join you in death, if that’s where you are. So if you don’t want me to jump off that roof, stay alive. Please. I’m begging you.”

With her elbows on her knees, she held her head in her hands and completely ignored the people who stopped to ask if she was okay. In her opinion, it was a ridiculous question to ask her. What could she possibly say? Yes? She was okay? She obviously wasn’t. And if she said no, could they help? Could they save Sunny’s life? They obviously couldn’t. She felt angry. She was angry with the whole world. What was wrong with this world? Why were good people being shot and why were the bad people getting away? Her father had not followed her to the hospital. She hadn’t realized it until a while ago and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he must have panicked and quite possibly run to hide behind his evil friend’s back.

She would never forgive her father for shooting Sunny. Never. She’d never forgive herself for insisting on getting the soft copy either. If only she hadn’t. If only. No. No, no, no. No! Why was she behaving as though Sunny was going to die? No. Sunny was stronger than the sun. She had to be. She had to be.

+++

Taeyeon wasn’t aware of how much time had passed. She had finally stopped sobbing, having run out of tears and energy but her nose was numbed and her eyes, swollen and hurt from sobbing too much. Her vision wasn’t affected, however, for she could see a familiar face approaching rapidly.

Boa. It was Boa. She stood up and hugged Boa. She didn’t know why but she instinctively threw her arms around the harried looking woman and sobbed all over again.

+++

Boa asked no questions. She simply stayed silent and sat beside Taeyeon. Their hands were clasped together. It was odd but comforting. Oddly comforting. Taeyeon stared at her hand in Boa’s and was reminded of the time she left Sunny behind and got kidnapped. Sunny had saved her then. Sunny had also saved her from the bullet at her graduation ceremony. And that night on the rooftop, even though she hadn’t actually planned on jumping, Sunny had pulled her back nonetheless. All in all, Sunny had saved her so many times that she had no way of repaying Sunny for what she did. There was no way. How many lives did she have? Just one. How many times did Sunny save her life? Too many. It was an eternal debt. A debt that she was willing to spend her entire life paying. If only.

+++

Finally, the light of the operating theatre went off. Taeyeon shot to her feet at once with Boa doing the same. Both were equally anxious about the outcome of the operation.

A man came walking out of the theatre and looked at them. “Family?”

“No, but I’m her superior at work.” Boa had that look in her eyes that threatened to harm the man should he withhold information from them.

“Superior. Right.” The man looked a little nervous as he shifted his line of sight from Boa to Taeyeon. “What about you?”

“Me? I’m going to be her family. Real soon.”

The man raised his eyebrow at her statement but did not ask any further.

“Well, it’s good news, so I can tell you now that she has pulled through the critical stages and will be fine. The bullet had done some substantial damage inside her which led to her hemorrhaging. It did get very critical at one point but we managed to stop the bleeding and patch her back. It’s going to be a long road to complete recovery but she will get there.”

“THANK YOU!!! I LOVE YOU!!!” Taeyeon was all smiles as she launched herself at the man, never mind that he was covered in blood and all.

“Miss! Miss! Please, get off me!” the man tried to push Taeyeon away but to no avail.

It was only when Boa gave Taeyeon a big yank that the petite girl finally let go of the bearer of good news and flashed a weak embarrassed smile.

“I’m sorry, I’m just… so…”

“It’s okay, I understand.” The man smiled. “She will be out in a while and be put in the intensive care unit. You can visit her there but she won’t be conscious until a couple hours later.”

“Thank you. Thank you.” Taeyeon couldn’t stop thanking the man. “Thank you for saving her.”

“You’re welcome.” And with that, the man disappeared back into the theatre.

Taeyeon fell on her knees suddenly and Boa had to grab her to support her.

“Taeyeon, are you alright?”

Taeyeon smiled and nodded. “Yes. I’m more than alright.” And then her world went black.

+++