The Dream Shifter

Chapter 122

The nightlife of the city was unusually dark and empty as the convoy of Land Rovers roared through grasslands of streets. Street lamps and electric powered signs still worked, but with most business closed almost none of them were lit. The lack of other traffic made it feel like they were out in the countryside of Japan, despite the buildings that lined the sides of the passages.

Apart from the infrequent murmur from Tamotsu, Chiharu's ride remained uneventfully quiet for her. All of her gear had been check ten times in her anticipation. After the tenth time she had been interrupted by Tamotsu, who was trying to calm her nerves. 'We're almost to the mission start coordinates…' She turned her eyes towards the door's window catching a dim reflection of her own face. 'Can I do it this time? My test…'

A home passed by her gaze suddenly changing the image in the window to her grandfather. His wrinkled stern eyes stared back at her as though demanding something of her. '…grandfather…' She swallowed painfully trying to hold herself together. The nearby street lamp washed its brilliant light over the darkness the car passed through momentarily blinding Chiharu. Once she focused back all she could see was herself once more. 'I'll show you, Grandfather! You can rest easy soon!'

The vehicle came to a sudden stop shifting everyone forward a little. Behind Chiharu's Land Rover the others matched position filing in next to her. She opened the rear door and stepped out into the open night with only the moonlight as her guide. 'It's time…' Chiharu moved forward to the front of the row of vehicles quickly taking in her men that flanked her. "Move out!"

Their starting location was set nearly an hour out from the Higoshi Clan's main compound. They could not afford to get too close to the grounds. It was Chiharu's plan to go in through stealth rather than charging in through the front door. Using the cover of night and the confusion brought on by the new state of affairs in the country, she hoped to catch them off guard. She figured there would be an increased guard patrolling, but once through the patrol the inner compound would be lighter resistance. There were five teams of five men with her all moving through from different positions to keep the defenses thin once they recovered from the initial attack.

The Higoshi Clan was considered to be stronger than the Chinen Clan currently, but that was only due to the number of assassination missions that they received and completed. The overall numbers in both clans were fairly equal with direct family members held as the elite. So for Chiharu it was less of a numbers game and more of tactical one. She had a small strike force, but they were not interest in wiping out the Clan, but hitting the family itself. Doing so would cause the same effect. On her side, she knew that she had the burning passion of revenge in her men that would give them the strength to keep fighting on. She knew that she could complete the mission so long as the teams were able to make their secondary objectives.

A half hour into their mission Chiharu came to a stop. "…a forest…this wasn't on the maps…" She looked over at Tamotsu to read his reaction.

Tamotsu remained quiet for a moment taking in the environment and calculating. "My guess would be that they had the same thing happen that we did at the estate."

"Agreed, but this doesn't change the mission." The small microphone communication set attached at Chiharu's neck and ear sent in notices from the other teams of encountering the same situation. "Continue the mission as directed," she ordered to the teams. She pulled out her short sword taking two clean slashes at the overgrowth of plants in front of her. As the tanto returned back its sheath Chiharu gave a brief glance to Tamotsu as signal to proceed.

Traversing the forest slowed down their progress a little, but it still put them within Chiharu's time table for the next stage of the mission. The approach to the compound was halted by a low perimeter wall. It was originally decided to climb over it, but with the forest there was a slight change in the plan. Chiharu and Tamotsu climbed up the tree closest to the wall up to the lowest branch for clearance. 'Two guards and another two fifty meters away…poor lighting as well…' She nodded over to Tamotsu giving him a sharp signal with her arm.

Tamotsu moved acting as an extension of Chiharu body dropping down behind the two guards. He jerked his hands back revealing two bloodied kunai. The kunai disappeared back into his belt as the bodies of the guards collapsed to the ground. He was already moving the bodies out of sight when Chiharu landed down on the ground holding in the dark shadows until the next two guards approached.

Chiharu pulled two kunai preparing to throw them once her targets were close enough to insure lethality. Her fingers slid a little and flexed around the handle as the seconds ticked away for her. She tried to keep herself from sweating due to nerves, but it was proving difficult to stay calm through her body. The mind was a strained focus as she beat down any hesitation that surfaced within her. 'Another second and…' Chiharu slowly raised up her arms as she prepared. Each moment pushed her closer to her test; building tension and sweat echoing the feeling of her pounding heart.

The images of the guards being struck by her played through her mind quickly. Feeling the blood from the blade dripping down crawled against her skin lighting up each nerve to heighten its senses. Knowing that it would be her first spun in her mind endlessly. It slowly began to tie down her muscles. She strained against her unconscious will to keep moving. 'Got to—' A dark blur flew by her vision in an instant and before she could realize what had happened the two guards she had in her sights were down.

Tamotsu turned back and pulled away the guards. The way had been opened for them into the main grounds. It was open terrain, but they would only be exposed for a short time. Night easily had covered their approach to one of the wings of the mansion. Tamotsu leaned against the wall of the building slowly coming into sight of an open window. He barely tilted his head over to look inside. 'Only one.' His hand raised up signaling his findings back to Chiharu as she closed.

Chiharu passed by him going for the sliding door. She kept her shadow out of sight of the paneled door and placed a hand against it. Tamotsu returned to her side opposed of the door reading her body for the moment to strike. The door was hardly pulled back when Tamotsu sprung into action. He sprinted through the opening and dug his blade into the back of the man dropping him quietly to the ground. Chiharu walked inside closing the door behind her. "Status," she quickly spoke low enough to keep her voice from passing through the thin walls.

"Team Two entry successful…proceeding to third objective…"

The other teams reported in quickly after with the same results. Everyone had made it inside the compound and began their individual objectives without any problems. "Mission is still on track…" She looked over to Tamotsu, already finished hiding the body. "Surprise is still with us, Tamotsu. Let's start!"

"Yes, Lady Chiharu…"

She stalked over to the door for the interior pressing her ear checking for any noise. It remained still long enough that Chiharu was satisfied and slid the door open quietly. Her head fell into the hall enough to give her sight through the mansion. The hall stretched on empty for several rooms with no furniture. Only a few hanging picture scrolls decorated the well lit passage. Chiharu pulled back into the room and checked her watch briefly. 'It should be time shortly…cameras should be going down…' She checked on Tamotsu in her spare moments before returning to the door entering the hallway.

Tamotsu followed at her side passing through the hall quickly mentally going through the layout of the mansion in his head. They were soon reaching an obvious choke point in the wing of the mansion. As such it was expected that they were would several guards. It would be where they would be forced to fight and lose their surprise. The next minutes would determine the success of the rest of the mission. '…Lady Chiharu…'

An intersection in the hall brought Chiharu to her planned location. She removed a small mirror from her gear pack and stretched her arm out to the edge of the corner. 'Four guards, about what I calculated…' Being interior guards they were dressed in regular business suits. The unaware would easily mistake them for just being staff rather than well training bodyguards. Chiharu nodded to herself in reassurance.

Chiharu shifted her weight as she judged her path ahead of her. She pulled back tightening the muscles in her legs into a spring taking to around the corner and down the hall towards the guard post. "Die cowards!" Her tanto was drawn out from its sheath at the small of her back. Its blade shined from the overhead lights in the hall glowing with a thirst for blood.

The attention that she gained pulled in all four guards. They formed a wall across the gap closing it from her and reaching into their suits. Tamotsu had been watching from the corner immediately recognized what was happening and sprinted out for Chiharu. "Lady Chiharu look out!"

A split second was all she had to react in seeing that the guards were going for guns. She threw herself against the wall in the moment that they opened fire with pistols. "Don't you have any pride? Using a g*n!" Chiharu's eyes burned fiercely as she taunted them. It did not change her situation as they fixed their aim for her. She was able to read them well enough to roll down to the ground just before they opened fire. "You're too slow…" Chiharu leapt forward after the hail of bullets ceased a few seconds after her dodge. The swords blade rippled in the shining light as she sped towards the guards quickly gaining a lock on her.

The men were ready to fire with Chiharu still too far away and almost no time to dodge anymore. Tamotsu charged forward trying to cover the distance in the wake of Chiharu's recklessness. It was quickly becoming clear to him however that he was not going to be able to make it time. There were no more options left.

Several steps away from guards, Chiharu stood up and came to a stop smirking. The men in front of her all collapsed to the ground trailing only small bits of blood. "The path is clear now. Good job, Team Four!" She returned the sword back into its home.

Tamotsu caught up to them a few moments later looking down at Chiharu ready to scold her. She gave him a glare in an instant that halted his intention dead. Team Four headed on to its next destination leaving the two of them alone once again. "Lady Chiharu, you're being recklessness!"

"I can't let you do everything, Tamotsu. How else will I be able to get real experience if my life isn't on the line?"

"Your life is too important to be throwing it away, Lady Chiharu!"