Voltron Global Military Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Unit

Black Lion

(Two Years Earlier)

12/13/2016
0108 Hours
Lahore, Pakistan

A white Toyota Hilux slowly pulled up in front of a gate. There were no lamps so the headlights shined onto the dirt. The truck stopped and six men came out and the other two jumped off the truck bed. They walked past the open gate and entered what looked like an abandoned village. The soldiers were mostly dressed as Navy SEALs, wearing tundra camo USS Milwaukee uniforms and they each had night vision goggles. Some of them carried HK416s while two had FN SCAR-L rifles. They were all fitted with suppressors and laser designators with their own sights. Takashi Shirogane, team's commanding officer took point as the rest followed. His hair was mostly black with short forelock bangs centered on his forehead and was clean shaved. His bangs were tucked under his ballistic helmet with goggles on top. He also has a thin scar across the bridge of his nose. He carried a HK416 fitted with a suppressor, a rifle scope and a RTS attached. His younger brother, Sven, followed behind him, carrying a FN SCAR-L. Shirogane approached up the stairs as his team followed and they stacked up to the door, ready to breach. Takashi activated his comm on his shoulder.
"This is 'Black Lion', in position and ready to breach, over."
"'Zero' to 'Black Lion', Green light." A female voice replied.
"Understood, out."
Takashi let go of the comm and turned to his brother.
"Ready for this little brother?" He asked.
Sven nodded. "Ready as fuck."
The rest of the team gave a nod. Takashi lifted a hand signal. A soldier went up to the door and placed a breaching charge before returning to the side. The team stepped away from the door.
"Ready..." Takashi commanded.
The soldier took out a detonator and placed his thumb on the trigger.
"Three...two...one... execute!"
Within a second, the door exploded. Wooden pieces flew and dust covered the room.
"Move in! Move in!"
The team stormed into the house with their weapons ready. The building was completely dark and empty with most furniture and other appliances rusted and infested with webs. They checked each room inside and so far, there weren't any. The team checked the last room. The room was completely empty except a phone on the floor. Takashi activated his comm.
"Zero, this is Black Lion. No sign of 'Kingfish'. I repeat...'Kingfish' is not-"
Suddenly, the phone began to buzz on the floor. Everybody turned to the phone. Just as they thought their target was gone. Maybe it could be their target?
"Check the phone." Shiro ordered.
One of the soldiers slowly moved to the phone. He bent down and picked it up. The phone's screen was bright it lit the whole room. There was no caller ID, it just showed "Unknown Caller". He tapped the screen and the ringing stopped. He leaned the phone closer to his face.
"What the-"
There was a sudden explosion and the room went bright. Takashi and his team couldn't see or hear what happened due to the blast. All they heard was a loud thump and a splash. The room was filled with smoke. As everybody coughed, Shiro was able to get a glimpse of the room before the smoke faded. The room was splattered with blood and burnt decor. There was a body slumped near the wall and it's absolutely certain he's not getting up again.
"Holy shit," Sven muttered. "Man down! We got a man down!"
One of the soldiers went up to the dead soldier while the rest checked the back. The soldiers almost gagged at that horrific sight. His face was completely torn off and most of his body was blown apart.
"This is so fuckin' disgusting." One of the soldier murmured.
Takashi continued to stare at the body for about a moment. He could literally see his reflection at a shattered mirror nearby.
"Boss-man! Rabbit!" An Austrian soldier called.
Takashi woke up from the gaze and turned to his teammate. He told him he noticed someone running from the house who might be their target.
"Matt, stay with Lee!" Shiro ordered as he signalled his team. "Sven, move out! Charlie, take point!"
"Copy!" Charlie replied.
The team, except for Matt ran out of the house. Charlie took point. They chased him down a lane of shacks. Charlie aimed and fired multiple shots. The person fell down shortly. The team stopped as they aimed at his body.
"X-Ray down." Charlie said.
They approached the corpse while holding their rifles. Charlie bent down and lifted the body. He sighed.
"Is it 'Kingfish'?" Takashi asked.
"Negative." Charlie answered, disappointed.
Takashi cursed. Shortly, his comm activated.
"'Zero' to 'Black Lion'. What's your status over?" The female voice said.
"'Black Lion' to 'Zero'. We have a man down and we need extraction, over." He replied.
"Copy, 'Black Lion'," she responded. "We'll send the birds down for extraction. ETA 4 Mikes, over."
"Copy 'Zero'. 4 Mikes. 'Black Lion' out."
Just as he finished speaking, a van pulled up from behind and a group of armed men got out.
"CONTACT REAR!" Takashi yelled.
Takashi, Sven and Charlie bolted away as the attackers fired. They hid behind a rusty building and evaded bullets. Sven lifted himself up and fired at the attackers, taking out one of them.
"'BLACK LION' TO 'GREEN LION', HOW'S 'YELLOW LION', OVER?!"
The comm responded shortly.
"Yellow-" Matt choked up. "Yellow Lion's gone, over."
Takashi swore under his breath again. There was enough operators to lose on the field.
"Black Lion, what's happening out there, over?"
"WE'RE TAKING FIRE!" Takashi yelled. "ENGAGED WITH UNKNOWN COMBATANTS! STAY PUT! WE'LL DEAL WITH THEM TO SECURE AN LZ FOR CASEVAC, OVER!"
"Copy."
Takashi got off and fired back. One of the attackers approached near Takashi but he manage to shoot two shots at his chest. He dropped down in a second. Charlie returned fire as Sven and Takashi backed away to a car flipped onto its side behind them. While focusing on the attackers, another van appeared, bringing along a Jeep with a mounted machine gun from behind. Charlie turned and noticed their new wave of attackers and fired at them. Takashi and Sven didn't notice until they heard another batch of rounds from behind.
"MORE ON OUR BLOODY SIX!" Charlie shouted as fired.
Charlie continued to shoot at the attackers while Takashi and Sven dealt with the other side. Sven ran up to a barrier next to the car while Takashi stayed at the car. Charlie remained on the other side of the car to fight back. He managed to eliminate the attacker on the mounted MG before he fired. Charlie made his way to Takashi and Sven, only to be torn apart. Sven watched his body slump onto a heap as blood squirted out onto the dirt.
"CHARLIE!" Sven cried.
Sven was about to reach him. However, the bullets almost hit him and he had to hide back again. He and Takashi were a few feet apart from each other but Takashi could hear Sven.
"SHIT!" Sven yelped. "TAKASHI! GET THAT GUNNER OFF MY ASS!"
Takashi noticed his brother across, getting pinned down. He nodded and turned to the MG gunner. He lined up his sights and fired. The shot went between his eyes. The gunner was dead but he was still holding onto the trigger. The MG continued firing across the street, shooting down several attackers moving up to Sven's position. This eventually gave the two the advantage and they finished off the remainder of the attackers. The firing stopped and everything was quiet. Takashi moved to the side where the Jeep was and scanned the area for any more attackers.
"Clear!" Takashi yelled.
Sven checked the back of the van on his side, which was empty too.
"Clear!"
Certain there were no more attackers left, the two remaining soldiers rendezvous. Sven and Shiro looked down at Charlie's body. Matt was nowhere to be seen but they hoped to God that he made it out alive. Their fallen comrades were friends since the beginning. Lee and Charlie, they're gone. Killed in the hands of the terrorists. Sven heard footsteps from behind, followed up by cocking. He turned and noticed an attacker about to shoot Takashi, still staring at Charlie's body.
"TAKASHI!" Sven warned.
He quickly moved in front of the attacker, just as Takashi heard his warning. The attacker fired, hitting Sven's neck. He fell past Takashi.
"SVEN!"
Fuelled with rage, Takashi quickly pulled out his gun and fired at the attacker's chest. He dropped and his grip on his pistol loosened. Shiro then approached his body and fired his entire magazine on him. With the deed done, Shiro turned to Sven, lying on the ground with blood spreading onto the dirt.
"Sven! Sven!" He called out.
Takashi bent down and pressed his hand on where he was shot. Sven sputtered our blood, splashing onto Takashi's face. He couldn't speak. The only thing that came out was a whimper.
"Stay with me, Sven! Stay with me!" Takashi said and turned on his comms. "THIS IS BLACK LION! THIS IS BLACK LION! LIONS BLUE, YELLOW AND RED ARE DOWN! I REPEAT LIONS BLUE, YELLOW AND RED ARE FUCKIN' DOWN! I NEED CHOPPERS NOW!"
There was no response but he didn't wait for a response. Takashi continued to help Sven. Blood continued to spill out of his mouth.
"T-Taka-Takas-" Sven sputtered. However, he couldn't speak any further as blood filled up and he began to gargle.
"No, no, no! Don't speak!" Takashi cried. "You're gonna be fine!"
"No," Sven choked. "I-I-I'm s-sor-"
"No. No, no, no! This is my fault! You hear me?! This is my fault!"
Sven eventually remained silent and stopped moving. His body shortly went limp and his hands slumped to the ground. Takashi couldn't even feel a pulse. Takashi tried shaking him, rattling his body. But he never flinched or moved. He stopped later on. Sven was dead. He and almost his entire team.