Under the machine gun’s oppressive fire, the Chinook landed. Those Special Forces who had abseiled down from the aircraft began to shoot towards the peak, suppressing them with a rain of bullets. It was deafeningly loud.
In the midst of rapid-fire, Xia Lei suddenly revealed himself from behind the boulder. What came next was the booming roar of the Hell-bound One Soldier Cannon on his shoulder. The cartridge went straight to the suspended Chinook helicopter.
Ka-boom!
The Chinook’s rotor blade was destroyed.
The Chinook’s head was abruptly torn apart. The remains of its body crashed directly to the ground.
No one had expected Xia Lei to be equipped with such a heavy firearm. If they had known what firepower he was packing, the pilot wouldn’t have dreamt of landing within the shooting range of the Hell-bound One Soldier Cannon.
Sadly, mistakes were made.
As soon as it hit its target, Xia Lei quickly went back to his hiding spot. A few bullets missed his head by a few inches in the process.
“Excellent job!” Tsukino Kyoko couldn’t help but cheer. She excitedly gave Xia Lei’s shoulder a few pats.
Using a cannon to take down a helicopter was something unprecedented in the world of warfare. The type of weapon used also played a big factor. Not all bombs had equal chances of success. However, if it were Thunder Horse Organization’s Hell-bound One Soldier Cannon, under special circumstances such as this, it was completely possible.
“Be careful, these are no small fry. They’re India’s best counterterrorist Special Forces.” Xia Lei didn’t permit himself to get caught up with the joy. As he spoke, his hands were busy loading another round of cartridge into the firearm.
All that was left now was the last helicopter, but it didn’t seem keen to close in on Bone Mountain’s peak. Though so, the machine gunners in its cabin continued to engage the peak in a frenzy of bullets. It felt as if they had a strong intention to flatten out the peak. Such intention was merely wishful thinking as the pilot did not dare to enter within the shooting range of the XL2500 sniper rifle and not to mention, the Hell-bound One Soldier Cannon. The precision of their aim was off as they kept a constant distance of four thousand metres.
Despite that, the blind shooting was a problem to Xia Lei and the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team. It was difficult to do anything under the threat of wayward bullets. Luck was something unpredictable. If they so happened to be on the short end of the stick out of bad luck, it would be lethal.
With the suppression, the abseiling of the Special Forces were completed. They went forward to help those trapped in the Chinook out. The battle had just happened for mere minutes but it was already a nightmare to them.
“Damn it!” The counterterrorism Special Force commander threw a fit as soon as he got out from the destroyed cabin. “Whose intel was this?! This was obviously a trap!”
No one had bothered to answer him in the face of death.
Climbing out of the wreck, Hattori Mei propped herself against the ground. She was the only one not donned in battle attire and without a weapon. What she had on her was a short black leather skirt paired with black stockings and red heels. She didn’t look like she was here for a battle, giving off the impression of a noble lady who was here to enjoy an action film.
She hadn’t expected this. What she witnessed was nothing short of an action-packed movie. When the LCH military helicopter was struck down, she wasn’t even a tad bit nervous. Now that the Chinook she rode on was trashed by Xia Lei’s weapon, Hattori Mei finally understood that the battle was already out of her control! It was only then she realized that this operation wasn’t hers to kill Xia Lei but Xia Lei’s plan to wipe out the Hattori clan!
The commander abruptly rushed towards Hattori Mei and grabbed a fistful of her hair. He pointed his gun at her lifted head. “Spit it out! What the fuck is going on?!”
“I…” The stress from a life-threatening situation and the commander’s outburst finally sank in, Hattori Mei’s face paled. Fear had gripped her tongue, rendering her mute.
“Tell me, what the fuck is going on?!” The commander continued to roar. “We’ve lost so many men and valuable resources. How do you expect me to explain this to the higher-ups?”
An LCH military helicopter, a Chinook transport plane and a normal helicopter. It was indeed a large loss that would be difficult to explain to the military. Plus, this had also involved the integrity issue of the Indian military!
“Release her!”
A cold voice rang from behind them. Without waiting for the commander to face its source, a gun was cocked against the bad of the Indian’s skull.
Witnessing that, the Special Forces nearby quickly aimed their weapons towards Hattori Geppa who had their commander at gunpoint. One of them yelled, “Bastard! Are you so desperate to die? Put that gun down, right now!”
There wasn’t a single hint of fear on Hattori Geppa’s face. Instead, he raised the transmitter he held to his lips. “My people are still on that helicopter. One order and they’ll shoot you all. I’ll make sure no one survives this.”
The Special Forces felt anxiety bubbling up their guts. The Hattori clan still had control of a helicopter equipped with machine guns. If they really opened fire behind them, none of the Special Forces will survive the attack!
“Wait!” The commander quickly removed the gun on Hattori Mei’s. “Calm down, we’re not your enemy.”
Hattori Mei finally snapped back. “You’re the one who should calm down! We paid for your chief! He’s the one who owes an explanation to the authority. This operation was executed based on the intel given by your intelligence department. This is just a counterterrorism operation that went bad, do you understand?”
Her words brought some sense back to the commander. He averted his gaze from Hattori Mei to the peak of the mountain.
“The one at the peak is someone America and India wants dead. If you and your men could get your hands on him, or even get rid of him, I’m sure the Indian military will let you off the radar without consequences. Perhaps they might even offer you generous rewards!” Hattori Mei was not skilled with a gun but deadly with her words.
“Mister Hattori, have your men support us from above. I’m going to get rid of those bastards!” The commander exclaimed.
“No problem.” Hattori Geppa spoke into the transmitter in Japanese. “Fly higher, continue to suppress them with bullets and cooperate with the attack on-foot!”
“Got it!” A reply rang through the device.
“Also-” Hattori Geppa lowered his voice. “Be a little smarter. You’re driving the last helicopter, you need to save it for our final escape.”
“Roger.” Another reply came.
The suspended helicopter abruptly flew their position higher, attempting to close in on the peak without changing its distance. The Hattori men continued to fire with the machine guns on the cabin’s side. What resulted from the firearm looked like a pool of sizzling hot aqueous metal falling straight towards the top of Bone Mountain.
“Go! Get rid of them!” The commander barked an order.
The Special Forces taking cover behind boulders immediately sprung into action. Taking advantage of the terrain, they started their speedy ascend with their torso lowered. They continued to shoot as they moved.
Oddly, their enemies seemed as if they had burrowed themselves into the soil. There was no counterattack at all.
As the Special Forces began their assault, Hattori Geppa shot Hattori Mei a look.
With that, Hattori Mei removed her heels unceremoniously and began her rapid descent towards the base of the mountain.
“What is she doing?!” The commander glared at her retreating back, motioning for his men to lift their guns against her on reflex.
Hattori Geppa blocked in front of the commander. “She’s a woman and she’s not even armed. Are you trying to make the woman of our Hattori clan fight this battle?!”
“We don’t need her involvement but you’re coming with us!” The commander fumed.
“Of course! I’m here to kill this bastard!” Hattori Geppa kept his pistol and readjusted a TAR-21 assault rifle on his back. He pulled the bolt and began his ascent towards the peak.
The battle continued, though not in the favour of the assaulter.
Those hidden on top kept their shootings sparse. As soon as the opportunity arose, their bullets were capable of killing one of the Special Forces in a single shot!
As the intense war carried on, Hattori Mei was fumbling down the mountain. The rocks gave lacerations to the base of her barefoot, ruining her top and skirt in the process. The friction had left her pale snowy back exposed along with her red bikini bottom-clad behind. In dire times, she no longer felt pain and shame. All she could think about was leaving this place alive!
While the rest of the Hattori clan and the Indian counterterrorism elites were busy at war, she had already given up. Back in China, on a snowy mountain in Dawang, close to a hundred Japanese, Americans and Indian elites were assigned to kill Xia Lei and one female agent under Bureau 101. Weirdly, the operation was a failure. Comparing the current battle in Bone Mountain with that, Xia Lei had the advantage of the terrain and had more assistance! How could she possibly expect to win?
She was fully aware that her brother had joined the attack, but she paid no mind to it.
Ka-boom! A loud explosion occurred behind her. The running Hattori Mei glanced back only to see a few of the Indian Special Forces blown away by the blast. A skull even made a bloody trail mid-air before it splattered messily on a boulder ahead of her.
The poor head was already destroyed by the explosion. Brain fluids, blood and bone fragments were splashed mercilessly against her leg.
“Fuck-” Hattori Mei retched at the gory sight, unable to hold it back.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Xia Lei’s team finally made their counterattack. Six gust assault rifles bared its fangs against their assaulter. Rapid firing speed paired with god-like aim left zero space for compromise. The gust assault rifle produced by the Thunder Horse Organization had advantages that were far superior to the sniper rifles used by the Indian counterterrorism Special Forces. The abrupt return of favour crumbled the Indian elite Special Forces. In the blink of an eye, bodies began to pile up on the floor.
Whoosh!
A cartridge suddenly made its way towards the last helicopter hovering above the mountain.