Round Three (KBTBB FF)

5 - Burning & Bonding

Content Warning:
Strong Language

November 3rd, 2020

About a week has passed of investigations and data collection following the bugging of Heemi Choi's devices, those being the heart and chain of information that connect the Flaming Hound leaders together. Soryu has been on a high, especially the IT nerd, who has never been so invested in his work since I began working with them.

The flurry of data that has flowed in from Heemi is massive, and only a select few know about it. I think it might only be the leaders of the Ice Dragons, Baba, Rin, and me. With so little who know where we get this data from, the chances of the Flaming Hounds discovering the bugs are slim. Soryu plans to inform the Ice Dragons one person at a time in order to eliminate another double member, starting with the elite.

Soryu summoned me last week after the bugging to execute Artise, but he started blabbing and became much more helpful to our cause. Because of this, his execution was postponed. However, he hasn't been of any more use lately because of the device tapping, so he ordered Baba and I to deliver him to the Flaming Hounds.

"Run the plan by us again." Baba requests.

"Come on, he's repeated it three times now." I groan and hit my head on the steering wheel.

"I just can't believe he wants us to execute him in front of them."

"That's why I'm the getaway driver."

"Can you even drive well?"

"You bet I can."

"Both of you shut up." Soryu rolls his eyes. "Baba, this is last time I'm going to tell you. I want you to tag along to gain some experience since you asked to help me end this war."

"Maybe we'll have to train him if he wants to work with me." I suggest.

"Anyway, Mina will drive the two of you past the Flaming Hound headquarters up in the hills. You dump Artise out of the car and execute him in front of the guards, and get the hell out of there."

"Why are-" Baba begins.

I lean back in my seat. "Can't I take Samejima with me? He doesn't question orders and is probably more competent than Baba." I ask.

"Go ahead, Baba." Soryu glares at me.

"Why do we need to kill him there? Why can't Mina do it before or just dump him in the woods?"

"The Flaming Hounds need to know we gained a step in the war and it'll also work as an intimidation factor if we do this." He explains to Baba. "Get going now. The more time you spend idle, the less time you'll have remaining. Good luck." Soryu backs away from the car and I press on the gas pedal.

"Can you put the address into the GPS? I have an idea of how to get to their HQ but I'm not 100% sure of it."

"Give me a minute." Baba taps on the car's control panel to set the route. "Okay, they're set."

"Perfect. How's Artise doing back there?" I ask.

"He's coming back to his senses. The injection wasn't enough to keep him asleep, I guess."

"The injection they gave him is only to keep him drowsy. If he were to be unconscious when we deliver him, it'd be difficult to really see if he dies."

"How do you guys think of all of this?"

"Once you've been in the business for so long, you have to get creative and learn from your mistakes. Making errors is dangerous and can cost you your life, so you need to be constantly improving your work ethic and thought process to succeed. You can apply that to your thieving as well."