Author's Message:

Hey there! Right so, I sorta made a mistake with the timeline of the second core of Another World at War... you know how the Japan Arc takes place in autumn 2021? Yeah well, it should have really taken place in Spring 2022. This was my mistake, sorry! 

It is now fixed on all platforms. Anyway on with the story

-J

~~~~~

Location: Niigata, Japan

Unit: GOU, Coalition forces

Date: 8th April 2022 CE

James looked at Mclaw, fitting a small radio over his ear along with a larger set of Ear Defenders to replace the smaller ear plugs, "What's the plan?"

Mclaw spoke back, "We need to get underground, the city is crawling with NZA, command believes there are several death troopers so we are going to hide," pausing he switched the focus to Burt, "Lock down the vehicles, I don't want them flipping when command works their magic."

Burt nodded at him tapping a few buttons on her pad, "Done."

Mclaw turned to Lake, "Find me the nearest manhole, preferably in a back alley connected with ours."

Lake nodded, "There is one quite close, just two streets away, not a back alley, but there seems to be no NZA in a 500-metre radius."

Mclaw nodded, "Send the data to my goggles," he nodded, pulling a small see-through plate from the pouch along with a large battery. Sliding it underneath the glass in his goggles, he tapped a button on the battery as the screen looked up.

A Heads Up Display appeared, showing him moving projections of red figures through walls along with distances changing every few seconds. Behind him stood a few blue figures with one yellow figure, James. A few hundred metres away, in the opposite direction, was a marker above what seemed to be exactly what he was looking for.

Mclaw nodded, "Good work."

James just looked at him, "Anyone have a 9mm magazine?" He paused looking around, "My pistol's out."

Zeller just looked at him, "Who gave the child a gun?"

James shot her daggers. She just looked back, will a somewhat disgusted look on her face. Mclaw intervened, "Calm down, you two, I taught James to shoot myself. Anyone pick up a magazine from the dead?"

Mounts nodded, "Here's one." he tossed a small steel bloodied object to James. He didn't hesitate to load it. 

Keeping it to his side, he loosened his grip.

Mclaw looked at James, "Let's move, I'll take point."

Mclaw stood up and Lake followed close behind. Quickly they swept down alleyways and roads, securing positions. There was no one, it was dead silent.

They continued in silence, James watched the windows when saw a flash of darkness in the window. He gulped as he tightened his grip on the pistol.

He tapped his radio, "Brown building, left side... I saw movement."

Mclaw turned around, switching to thermals.

Nothing.

He turned to James, "Are you sure?"

James nodded at him.

Looking back at the window, closer this time he saw a single desolate figure standing in the window... they looked odd. Almost uncanny... 

Immediately they were slammed against the window, smashing it and falling out. James didn't draw, looking at the body. Suddenly, he felt a dark chill touch the back of his neck. The body was bloodied and bruised. It had chunks missing from the skin like it had been tortured. The face was taken off, and its clothes were mangled apart.

James immediately looked up, only to see a skeleton mask standing in the window, looking at him.

Suddenly, the Operators attempted to react but were too slow. A single gunshot rang out.

James steadied his breathing as he brought the pistol back down to his side. Ahead of him, a hole had formed an inch beneath the skull mask straight through the monster's neck. Collapsing, they didn't even perceive the speed James drew at.

Turner looked at James, "Good shot, kid."

James nodded, not saying a word. Climbing through the window, he looked at the enemy tearing the skull mask off, revealing a scarred face. Woven into the scars were pieces of some type of string, but James did not care to worry. Immediately, he lifted his foot up above the corpse's head, before slamming it full force into the man's nose several times. The GOU watched in horror as the nose caved into the face and the skull started to crack. Blood started to spurt into the sky. Mclaw sat in the window and watched, not showing a shred of emotion.

He spoke, "Are you done?"

James turned around, his eyes dull, "He's dead."

A grin grew beneath emotionless eyes, "Good," He paused, muttering to himself, "so this is why you are known as Devil-1."

James didn't ask further, he just slide open the door walking down the road. The GOU looked at him, as they felt a dark presence grow. This time it wasn't Mclaw's... but his.

***

James climbed down the ladder. He brought the pistol up into a firing position. Aiming carefully, he saw nothing move down the end of the tunnel. Next to him, Mounts nodded as he stepped into the shallow dirty water. In the dark, they shared a glance. Zeller was on the other side, Night Vision already covering her eyes.

Mclaw was the last down, closing the hatch behind them, "Burt, find us a large dry room."

Burt nodded, quickly going through hundreds of files of the city's design. She quickly found a map of the sewers, "Sending it."

The map started to overlay in Mclaw's HUD. He nodded, walking down the dark dimly lit tunnel. The others followed, making sure there were no surprises along the way. Taking another step, Mclaw noticed it was a gentle uphill slope. Slowly the water level started to decrease as the bottom of their boots surfaced. 

Mclaw stopped as soon as everyone was out of the water. Everyone was here. 

Suddenly, a blinding light lit up the tunnel, he heard Zellers audible swearing as she lifted the Night Vision from her eyes. Mclaw wasn't phased by the light, he noticed three targets, all carrying firearms. He aimed immediately shooting out the light. It went dark again as lasers from GOU rifles lit up the tunnel. Mclaw looked at the enemy taking a step forward, "Now what do we have here?"

The first man started to speak, Mclaw didn't understand what they were saying, they were speaking Japanese. So he asked them, "English?" He said this in a primitive way, not to insult them but because it made it easier to understand. 

The speaker looked at him, before shaking his head. Mclaw looked back, "I fucking hate language barriers."

James stepped forward speaking Japanese, and the first man responded. Mclaw looked at him, "What are they saying?"

James nodded, "I asked who they were, and they replied that they were just a group hiding in the sewers until the NZA leave."

Mclaw nodded, "Ask them if this is all of them."

James nodded repeating his question in Japanese, and he got a response, James looked at Mclaw, "He says go fuck yourself."

Mclaw sighed, "Fine they want to do this the hard way..."

James spoke in Japanese once more, the Japanese slightly untensed, and he spoke. James asked, "Does anyone here have evidence, you are with the coalition force?"

Mclaw nodded, "well I would be able to show them if one of them could read or speak English, he showed a set of documents."

James sighed, echoing Mclaw's reply.

Mclaw took a few steps closer, with his hand outstretched holding the document. The Japanese man gulped taking the paper and quickly looking through it. At the top of the page was a circle topped with a crown along with detailing inside the circle.

The Japanese man handed him back the file and nodded saying something. Waving for them to follow.

James looked forward, "He wants us to follow him."

Mclaw didn't speak but Zeller nudged him, "Yeah, we know."

Quickly they all pulled out flashlights turning their night vision goggles completely off. They strolled down the tunnel before they saw a glowing orange light emitting from a doorway. In the entrance stood two guards. The guard stopped the first man, asking him about something. 

Mclaw noted these two were better armed, old Uzi submachine guns, they looked to be slightly rusted, each having a folding stock on the end they sat comfortably in the guards' shoulders.

Mclaw looked back, "Stay here, I'll go in," he paused taking a few steps forward as the guards opened the door, "And don't cause any trouble."

He took off his helmet hooking it on his belt, as everyone looked at him, Mclaw just continued through the door as they were shut behind him.

Suddenly, a laugh came from inside. The guards looked at each other and then towards the GOU. The operators and James looked at each other, confused. 

Turner exchanged a glance with one of the guards, "Either of you speak any English?"

One of the guards replied, "A bit," he said in a heavy Japanese accent.

Mounts nudged him, "Behave."

Turner smiled, "So... what did you do before this."

The man's eyes narrowed, "That's none of your business."

Zeller spoke softly through her radio, "Shut the fuck up Turner, he's Yakuza."

Turner looked to look at his shoulder, there was a small patch of black on his shoulder, but his neck was normal. The guard noticed him looking covering his shoulder, "I'd suggest you stop looking, boy."

Turner smiled, "Boy?"

Turner took a step forward, the Yakuza member followed suit, they were no more than a metre from each other. The second guard just watched, sighing before saying something.

The Yakuza member turned around and looked at him before growling. 

James exchanged a glance with the second man nodding and whispering a word Zeller didn't understand, but the man seemed to get. Then to all their surprise, the man spoke in an American-like accent, "I'm sorry about that."

James's eyes widened not expecting that at all, it was near-perfect American English pronunciation. Zeller nodded back, "No it's this dicks fault for provoking your friend," she nudged Turner, "Apologies."

Turner began to open his mouth when the door flung open, with Mclaw standing next to an old man in a pair of sunglasses and a fedora. The guards instantly looked at him, facing going as stiff as stone.

The man in the fedora spoke English, "Good morning, the Captain has informed me of the situation, please come in GOU."

Quickly the group followed the demands, entering the room to find a big dining room, Burt looked at the map, "This isn't on here."

The Japanese man chuckled, "Well of course, we are always being watched so we need a way to trade the less legal products without being arrested."

Turner was walking to a seat when he decided to ask the one burning question, "Excuse me, if this question may seem a bit rude, but who exactly are you?"

Mclaw nodded, "He's the Kingpin of the Yakuza, Tamotsu Hisoka."

Turner looked completely bewildered, but quickly shrugged off the look before giving a, "huh cool."

As he went to sit down he pressed a small button in his hand and spoke, "Why are we working with mafia members?"

Mounts spoke back through the radio, "From my understanding, the Yakuza aren't like the gangs in Europe and the Americas. They are regarded as a semi-legitimate organization and have been known to conduct disaster relief in Japan."

As Mclaw took a seat, he spoke out loud, "The Yakuza are a gang or a mafia as you called them, there is no denying that, they beat the shit out of people who don't pay them what they are owed, I just use them to keep an eye on Japan through Mr Tamotsu here."

They all sat down at the table, Mclaw took his wrist pad off placing it in front of him, "Lake, get me a scan of the city, I want to know how many life forms are above the surface and how many are armed."

Lake nodded pulling a set of VR goggles from his day sack he clipped them to the top of his helmet before putting them over his life, "Conducting scan now."

He paused, "1012 in the whole city with a heat signature. All armed looks to be NZA standard issue." He looked closer at the data, "Wait, about 15 of them are carrying a different version, the butt looks to be collapsible, small sights, they look to have some tech integrated."

Mclaw nodded, "Send me their exact coordinates."

Lake complied quickly sending the information, Mclaw then forwarded the data to another contact.

A muffled voice came through Mclaw's earpiece, no one else could hear exactly what was said. Mclaw smiled, "I have your permission, Mr Tamotsu?"

The Yakuza leader nodded, "If none of my people will die, then go for it."

Mclaw nodded pressing a small button on the side of his rifle, "Launch all of them, battle plan Zulu."

***

Location: Project Asgard, in orbit above Japan

Unit: 5th Bombardiers, Loyalists

Red lights blared as calls came over the intercom, "Stand to, Stand to, all Bombardiers to battle stations."

The station was in a mess, this was their first ever real strike. They'd done simulations but never completed a test in an ongoing warzone. The battle for Japan however gave them that opportunity.

Recently the station had been equipped with new anti-air guns, mostly stolen NZA designs along with targeting computer designs. This station was called Project Asgard, the pride of the secretive Militant organisation known as the Loyalists.

Standing in the doorway, a single guard stepped out of the way as two men pulled themselves into the room, in front of them was a large command with several soldiers strapped to seats. Tapping the digital keyboards the screen started to change. An image of Japan came into view before the screen focused on the city of Niigata. Suddenly red dots lit up the image, and one of the men overlooking the screen turned around, "Sir, Task Force-Bravo have sent the scans of targets. Orange targets are death troops."

Fifteen orange lights lit up attempting to hide in buildings.

There was a pause until the officer spoke, "Wait for the Reaper's call..."

The air went silent as they waited.

They waited...

And waited.

Until it came, a voice came through the earpiece of every soldier in the room, "Launch all of them, battle plan Zulu."

Sirens started to activate, as the soldier above the consoles started to input commands, and then a robotic voice played, "Kinetic bombardment readied, input launch code."

The officer pulled a knife from his belt and cut his thumb, he placed his thumb onto a small panel and started to paint a few numbers, 0607.

Then the voice spoke again, "Kinetic bombardment engaged, input protocol."

Typing 'Zulu' with the keyboard the room flashed green, "All projectiles launching, Estimated Bombardment Time, 10 minutes."

One of the soldiers turned around, "Sir, we have an estimated twenty enemy missiles heading to our position, NZA model 3's."

The officer nodded, "Engage defences, I don't want a single to reach us."

The soldiers nodded and anti-air guns aimed...

***

Location: Niigata, Japan

Unit: GOU, Coalition forces

Mclaw looked up, "Grab your weapons, we need to be ready to move on impact."

James exchanged a glance with Mounts who looked equally confused, "Sir, could you clue us in?"

Mclaw's face froze as he pulled his weapon from his shoulder and chambered a round. He looked around the well-lit and nicely decorated room, and he noticed no immediate cracks in the walls. Walking up to the wall next to the door he ran his hand across it, "It's reinforced right?"

The Yakuza boss nodded, "As it needs to be, am I correct in what I guess is about to happen?"

Mclaw still looked away, "What do you think is about to happen?"

The Yakuza nodded, "You're about to decimate the city with B2s, I guess?"

Mclaw chuckled, "No, it would take too long for that to be seen as valuable, I'm using my own assets for this," he paused turning around, "Have you heard of project Thor by any chance?"

James's face dropped, "No... it can't be."

Mclaw watched, "Project Thor was an accidental leak, in Project Asgard," He paused, "It was leaked by someone trying to sell the Russians information, we picked them up... and I'm sure you know what happened from then on."

James stepped forward, "But it was a USAF project though?"

Mclaw chuckled, "We had the project over half done by 2003, just the leak forced us to make the USAF take the credit for designs. However, we continued with progress finishing in 2006," he checked his watch, "So I present to you... The real Project Thor." 

Mclaw bowed as suddenly a screen lit up at the end of the table, it showed the city, a few seconds passed as several thin objects contacted the ground, as they hit the ground heavy winds shattered several hundred buildings causing them to collapse on each other, small figures holding firearms attempted to escape but were inevitably crushed. 

Mclaw walked to the door as it swung open, the guards entered, "Boss, someone's bombed the city."

Mclaw nodded, "Levelled it to be specific."

Mclaw attempted to walk out as one stepped in front of him, "How can you say that with so little empathy?"

Mclaw smiled, "Because I ordered the bombardment to kill above a thousand NZA along with a good few Death Troopers."

The guards froze, but the English-speaking one still didn't let Mclaw leave, "You blew up our homes."

Mclaw nodded, "If I didn't, the NZA would've," He pushed the man aside with only a small proportion of his strength, "Even if they weren't going to, I did what I had to do, for humanity's victory."

The GOU and James exited behind Mclaw, Mounts quietly spoke to the guards, "I'm sorry."

Mclaw started to climb a ladder. As he reached the top he drew back his fist, before putting a large proportion of his strength into the blow. Immediately, the cover shattered as the light shone upon them.

Mclaw stood there facing away from his soldiers, "We should get moving fast, NZA reinforcements will probably be en route," he paused, "If the calculations were correct, the Husky's should be completely untouched along with one exit to the city."

They all stood in silence, watching as Mclaw walked down the destroyed street, seeing a body crawl out they all knew it was an NZA, Mclaw pulled his pistol from his side, firing it once the body dropped immediately and Mclaw smiled.

James walked behind him, following Mclaw towards the vehicles.

Mounts and Zeller exchanged a glance. Mclaw was indeed acting strange.