"…we failed."
"What?!"
Justin Han slammed a fist against his desk when he heard Michael Miller report the failure of the assassination to him. He gripped both sides of his head, on the verge of tearing out his hair. Gritting his teeth, he glared at the Country A's citizen opposite him.
"What do you mean, you failed?!"
"Exactly what I said. Trevor Shen is still alive." Michael Miller looked astonished, despite his usual poker face. "He fought off Laura and survived her assassination attempt. According to her, he was highly skilled and almost killed her in self-defense. He is well-armed and even well-trained."
He frowned as he studied the report in his holographic tablet. "He is an expert in swordsmanship? Why haven't I heard about that before?"
"What?! Trevor Shen, a swordsman? Are you kidding?!" Justin Han snorted. "He's a loser. There's no way he's good at swordsmanship."
"Really? But my operative literally told me just now that he fought her off with a laser sword, and that his techniques were nearly on par with hers." Michael Miller turned to glare at Justin Han. The CEO of Han Industries turned pale.
"Impossible! I have never heard about Trevor Shen wielding a sword before!"
"Yeah, but the fact of the matter is he did." Michael Miller shook his head. Justin Han gritted his teeth and punched his desk again.
"So what do we do now?"
"Try again," Michael Miller replied with a sigh. "If we can't win through combat, then perhaps it's time to try a different approach."
He picked up his smartphone and made a phone call. On the other end of the phone, another person answered. A familiar voice drifted through the receiver.
"Yes, boss?"
"Laura…I know you just came back, but you'll have to take responsibility for your failure to eliminate the target."
"I understand. I'll receive whatever punishment you deem appropriate."
"No need for that. Rather, I want you to put into action plan B. if we can't best him in martial skills, then we'll try that other method."
"Understood. I'll proceed immediately."
"Excellent." Michael Miller smiled before hanging up, having full confidence in his subordinate. As he lowered his phone, he caught Justin Han staring at him.
"What method is this?" The CEO of Han Industries demanded. "What is this plan B you speak of?"
"Seduction," Michael Miller replied, a grin widening over his handsome face. "No man can resist Laura's charms. No straight man, I mean. And we know that Trevor Shen is straight."
"Ah…" Justin Han grinned and nodded. "Excellent! With this, that bastard will definitely die!"
Both of them shared a laugh, not knowing that the target had already seen Laura's face and was therefore on his guard. Laura herself hadn't noticed that her mask had been cut and her face had been exposed, which was why she didn't notify her boss.
This was going to doom their mission…though, to be honest, even if her identity and appearance had been kept a secret, they would have failed anyway.
*
"You okay, sir?"
"Yeah." I did my best to assure the sergeant who had arrived on scene. The military police was roaming all over my room, looking for clues and traces of the assassin so that they could track her down and apprehend her. "I managed to fight her off."
"Yeah, we kind of figured that out." The sergeant stared at me in awe. "I have never seen anyone fight with a sword like that before. Where did you learn swordsmanship from?"
"I trained under Sergeant Samuel Shan in Province Y…when we were hunting down the guerilla insurgents."
During those few weeks, I had asked Sergeant Samuel Shan to train me in swordsmanship because I wanted to move more fluidly in my Hunter. Piloting a war walker was related to one's skills as a human. If I knew how to fight with a sword without armor, those skills would translate well when I was piloting a war walker because of neural connections and haptic gloves. The reflexes and neural pathways that were activated when I moved my body were the same as the ones when I controlled a war walker. That was how I designed the robot anyway.
Haptic technology was amazing. It allowed the pilot to control the war walker as if it was an extension of his own body. As such, I was determined to improve my swordsmanship as I knew it would translate into fighting well in my Hunter.
Thanks to Sergeant Samuel Shan's training, I was able to kill more exosuit-wearing guerilla insurgents more efficiently and swiftly, practicing those sword techniques with the field combat knife that the Hunter was armed with, using it as a blade.
In fact, that proved so successful that Sergeant Samuel Shan ordered all his men to learn swordsmanship under him. Even Lieutenant Lionel Li joined in, not caring that the instructor outranked him. His priority was to become a better officer, not rest on his laurels.
"We will investigate this and track down its owner," the sergeant promised as he accepted the phase sword that the assassin was forced to abandon. "We'll definitely catch him."
"Her," I corrected. "The assassin was a woman."
"I see." The sergeant nodded. "Then we will catch her, no matter the cost."
"Thank you."
"It's our job." Colonel Carl Chan finally appeared, having arrived late to the party. For such a high-ranking officer to personally visit the crime scene was an honor, and an indication of how seriously they were taking this. Carl shook his head and sighed. "Honestly, we are considering assigning you permanent bodyguards. All Special Forces. This is getting too frequent."
"I'll find a way to deal with it," I promised. "And stop this once and for all."
"As if it would be that easy." Carl snorted. I shrugged.
"Well, I have an idea who might be behind this assassination. She's a foreigner. I'm not sure, but I think she's from Country A. I mean, that equipment and weapons looked like Country A issued."
"Hmm…at least that will narrow down our search. But…" Carl scowled. "How did foreign assassins from Country A sneak into our country? They shouldn't have any way of bypassing our security. Unless…"
"…they had inside help," the sergeant finished for him. The colonel sighed and nodded.
"We will have to track down the traitor. Traitors are worse than foreign spies and assassins. How dare they betray the country?!"
I wasn't a very nationalistic or patriotic person, so I honestly couldn't care less. However, given that this particular traitor was after my life, I did feel aggrieved. Taking a deep breath, I nodded.
"I'll see what I can do from my side as well. Maybe I'll be able to find something out."
"You should just leave this to the professionals," Carl told me sternly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "As much as I appreciate your efforts, the best thing for you to do is keep yourself safe and stop putting yourself in danger."
"This is my home. If I can't be safe at home, where should I go?" I rolled my eyes. Carl nodded sympathetically.
"We'll assign bodyguards. You can't say no this time. Look, I know you can take care of yourself, as you've proven over and over again, but the military can't afford the risk. How many times is this now? And you're too important for us to lose."
"All right." I sighed, relenting. "You can post bodyguards, but they shouldn't interfere with my business."
"They won't," Carl promised. "You'll still have full autonomy and freedom to do whatever you need to do."
I grinned. "That's a promise."
And so, the next day I took Colonel Carl Chan up on his word and did whatever I wanted. Of course, I wasn't that extreme. Even though I had a couple of Special Forces guys tailing me, watching out for enemies, I mostly ignored them and focused on my own job.
"Bu Fan, are you there?"
"Yeah?" Bu Fan answered my call almost immediately. I sighed in relief.
"We need to talk. This is about business."
"Sure." Bu Fan must have heard the seriousness in my voice, for he didn't question much. Instead, he went straight to the point. "Let's meet at Chao's Café."
Why the hell did everyone always want to go to Chao's Café? Didn't I just visit that place last night? With Lily Ling?
But I didn't have a better alternative in mind, and I wasn't too fussy, so I just agreed. Besides, I was already familiar with its location, so it was a quick drive. The Special Forces guy joined my car and then stood outside the café to watch for enemies. I slipped inside and waited for Bu Fan. He didn't keep me waiting too long.
"Another assassination attempt, huh?" He asked as he sat down. I nodded, noting that Bu Fan had already heard the news before I said anything. Word went around pretty quickly. Bu Fan grinned. "I'm glad you survived."
"Yeah, me too." I took a deep breath. "I will get straight to the point. Bu Fan, you have connections to the underworld, correct?"
"Yes." Bu Fan nodded. He watched me for a moment, a smile on his face. He already knew what I was about to ask. "I will make use of my contacts and track down the culprit for you."
"Thanks."
"No problem. In fact, I've already been doing that, and I can tell you for sure that Justin Han is behind all these assassination attempts." Bu Fan leaned forward, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "My men are busily gathering the evidence. We will destroy him publicly."
"Thanks. I'll be relying on you then."
"That's not all. We also intend to…get rid of him." Bu Fan then relaxed in his chair. "He's too dangerous to be left alive. Even if we ruin him and put him in jail, he'll just use his money to hire lawyers and bail himself out. Then he'll order another hit on you. No, we're going to end this once and for all."
I swallowed, not sure if I was comfortable with the idea. But I didn't object. I was sick of being targeted for assassination over and over again. It was time to end this once and for all, and if I had to take out Justin Han to achieve peace, then I would.
"It's not up to you." Bu Fan snickered. "The plans are already in motion."
He then reached over and clapped a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, bro. We'll make sure he and his company will never harm you again. Just wait for the good news. Then you can breathe easy once all this is over."
"I hope so," I muttered. "I really hope so."
After all, it wasn't just Justin Han who wanted my life. Apparently Country A wanted me dead as well.
And I had no idea how to deal with them.