THE DISASTROUS TALE OF THE BALDS. CHAPTER 7: SHOWDOWN IN PYONGYANG

THE DISASTROUS TALE OF THE BALDS.

CHAPTER 7: SHOWDOWN IN PYONGYANG

 

Bald Leon sat down in the quiet, darkened board room that was being used as the operations centre for their missions with the Agency. The Agency had been working tirelessly to try and analyse Skinwalker Leon and how he operates in an attempt to try and predict his next moves. They had noticed that he was targeting Agency facilities around the globe, but the attack pattern was random, it wasn't as if he was searching for something stored at each site, it was as if he was just hunting agents for sport, but his reasoning remained a mystery. His latest attack had been on an Agency facility in China, so the Agency had localised searches to South East Asia, but even this was proving to show too many "bald wave" signatures matching the Leon energy.

Agent Davidson entered the board room holding a tablet and took a seat near the head of the table. He tapped a few buttons on the tablet which activated an overhead projector, causing the retractable projection screen to descend from the ceiling, and consequently being lit up by the projector with a map of South East Asia.

"as you can see, we have identified 5 Bald Wave signatures in this region which match the target. Unfortunately due to the intermittent nature of the satellites that we have access to in this region, the signature that was confirmed to be that of Skinwalker Leon on location at the now destroyed Agency facility disappeared soon after it was identified. By the time we got past all the political red tape and were able to move an Alatosh satellite into position, there wasn't a single signature left in China."

"What about that one?" asked Bald Leon, pointing to a signature on the screen

"That's Hong Kong, Bald Leon, it's a different country."

"hmm I don't know if I'm ready to recognise it as a country yet, so let's just steer clear of that place and agree to disagree"

Agent Davidson didn't know what to think of that so just moved on.

"We believe that Skinwalker Leon may have moved South of the Border into North Korea, making him this bald signature here in the capital city of Pyongyang, We would like to deploy you and Bald Jack with a reduced and covert tactical team in efforts to remain undetected, the last thing the Agency needs is to get into a conflict with North Korea, cause they think we work with the UN. You deploy at 0300 hours"

Bald Leon retired from the meeting and went back to the headquarters room the Agency had given him. Bald Jack was waiting, tinkering with a device on the table in front of him. As he heard the door open he turned to greet Bald Leon.

"Hey Bald Leon! What's the plan then boss?"

"North Korea."

"Oh gee that's a bit of a fright, the BBC says that that can be a scary place for a guy like me!"

"Yeah so you better shut up and do as I tell you or I'll shoot you myself, what are you messing around with by the way?" He asked, pointing at the small rectangular device that Bald Jack was fiddling with. The device had a built-in screen, and what appeared to be a collapsed ariel on its side, which seemed to be able to extend.

"Well I thought that the detection kit we used on the last mission was a little bit lacklustre, so I was seeing if I could improve the range and accuracy"

"Since when can you do science shit? It's meant to be one of my character traits, not yours?"

"Well after the divorce I had to fill my time somehow. so I started taking apart things in my house to give them a proper deep clean from the inside and then putting them back together again. Since I broke the first few things I cleaned, like the TV and my gaming PC, I thought I should learn how they work so that I don't break them!"

"I'll be honest Bald Jack, that was really fucking boring. I'm going to go and see who our team is on this mission"

Bald Leon left the sleeping quarters and headed to the hangar. He found his stealth team inside, gathering relevant equipment for the mission ahead. The team was comprised of 4 people other than Bald Jack and Bald Leon. These Agents were known as "Ace" the generically named pilot of the team, Ace had been a private "gun for hire" pilot in every major conflict around the world during his military career, before being recruited by the Agency. Ace wore silver framed aviator sunglasses, and appeared to model his face and hair after Tom Cruises character "Maverick" from the movie "Top Gun".

Ace was joined by the teams heavy weapons and explosives expert, "Shellshock". Unlike Ace, Shellshock had been recruited directly into the Agency from basic training to join the American Marines and had never seen field work outside of his work for the Agency, however, since joining the Agency he had been one of its most active field agents. Shellshock had a shaved head and a very muscular build which he needed for carrying the large weaponry he used.

"Overwatch" was the name of the teams onsite co-ordinator and sniper. She was slim with blonde hair and standard military fatigues a modified sniper rifle which had been outfitted with anti-armour rounds, not to be used on armour necessarily, but to pierce through structures to hit targets directly, as the rifle was also fitted with a thermal scope to see through walls.

The final member of the stealth squad was "mask". Mask had the unique skill to blend in wherever he went, often acting as a double or even triple agent, but always with the Agencies best interests at heart. Masks false identity in which he appeared to the North Korean security forces as a British agent who has defected would be used in this mission to get the team into North Korea and around any unavoidable checkpoints. Due to his role in the operation, Mask was dressing himself in standard smart clothing, the kinds of which a member of the British secret service would wear. Mask himself had short dark hair, however due to the nature of his job, this was something that would frequently change, along with his visible weight and facial structure which he would modify with discreet prostetics.

Bald Leon shook hands with each of the agents who would be risking their lives along with him. As they finished the introduction, the alarm sounded, signalling that it was time to loadup the jet. Ace climbed into the pilot seat, with Mask sitting next to him. Bald Leon helped Shellshock the load up the remaining boxes of equipment, while Overwatch and Bald Jack strapped into there seats in the hold. 

The plane taxi-ed onto the HQ's internal runway, and the engines kicked into full power mode. The jet soared into the sky as Bald Jack was sucked into the back of seat by the G-force. The plane was fast, but the flight would still take a while. Ace took the jet high into the sky, near the upper limit of what's possible in a none-space worthy vehicle. The higher altitude allowed to jet to go faster with less air resistance, and also allowed them to take a direct route through, but far above, potentially unfriendly airspace. The higher altitude combined with the Agencies cutting edge stealth flight technology allowed them to be completely invisible from the ground. 

After 10 hours, the flight was approaching North Korean airspace. Ace brought the craft down where it was almost immediately met by 2 North Korean fighter jets who hailed the Agency jet over the radio in Korean. Mask had of course prepared for this.

"Unidentified air craft please state your origin and your intention, answer quickly or you will be shot down and the Democratic peoples republic of Korea will retaliate against those who have dispatched you"

"Korean peoples air and anti-air forces this is Agent Bradley Mitchell of the British Secret Service, I have already made contact and am expected by your security forces as a I have brought intel of value to the supreme leader, special authorisation code 02189 Alpha 205. Requesting clearance and guidance to nearest airfield"

"Recieved Agent Mitchell. You will follow Fighters to nearest military airfield, any deviation from course will be treated as an attack and you will be shot down. over"

"Recieved and understood. Complying now"

Mask set the radio headset back on the cockpit before looking to Ace and relaying the instructions to him and the rest of the team via the intercom.

"Follow them to the airfield. When we touch down you all have to hide in the hidden compartment. They will probably arrest me to be on the safeside, wait a little while and then sneak off of the ship and into the woods nearby. From there move to the next objective. We have no safehouse here, so I'm going to have to try and keep the airfield secure while you grab the asset, especially if we want to get out of here."

The plane touched down on the airfield, and as soon as the engines were shut off, the team all hid away in the craft. Mask lowered the back ramp on the craft where he was met by a small squad of North Korean soldiers, all with guns drawn and pointed at him. They immediately started barking orders in Korean" 

"Hands above your head! Where is your pilot"

"No pilot, I didn't have chance to steal one when I took the jet, feel free to search the plane, I have come alone as previously discussed"

A soldier approached Mask and handcuffed him. Half the squad led him down the planes ramp and into an administrative building, while the other half began to thoroughly search the craft. Some time passed, and the Agency team began to grown concerned that the search had lasted longer than expected, and the soldiers were getting closer and closer to discovering them. A soldier had began to look over the section of the plane which concealed there hiding spot. the access to which was a thin locker against a wall. In reality, this locker was the door to access the hiding spot, and the locker was mounted on a fake wall, but this particular soldier had noticed that the thickness of this fake wall didn't make sense. Overwatch drew her rifle equipped with a silencer and pointed it through the wall at a one of the soldiers on the far side of the plane. Shellshock drew his own weapon, also with a silencer, and pointed it at the otherside of the locker door which the Korean soldier was now reaching for. 

The soldier opened the door, pointed his weapon at the team and started shouting in Korean. Shellshock pulled the trigger first, killing the soldier, and in the same moment Overwatch fired threw the wall, killing the furthest soldier, before immediately moving onto her next target and killing them too. this left just one soldier which Ace tackled and slit the throat of.

Bald Jack uncovered his eyes which he had blinded with his hands and immediately threw up at the site of the bodies. Bald Leon stepped out and waited for the rest of the team armed themselves and hid the bodies back inside of the hiding place. The team moved out of the craft, and ran off of the lit up runway into the cover of the woods. 

Meanwhile, Mask had been brought into an interrogation room and was being interviewed by his contact inside of North Korea, a high ranking man named Ji-Hoon, whom believed him to have valuable intel on Western governance.

"Hello again my friend! It is good to finally meet you, and in honour of our agreement I will do you the honour of making your life a little easier by continuing this conversation in English. Now Mr Mitchell, I must apologise again for the way in which my men treated you. They were simply following protocols I am afraid. May I interest you in a drink?"

"That would be lovely thank you" replied Mask

Ji-Hoon clicked his fingers and drinks cart was immediately wheeled in. Ji-Hoon took a bottle of scotch from the cart along with two glasses, before waving the cart away. He sat the cart down and poured two drinks, before pushing one to Mask. He looked at Mask and continued his questioning.

"I believe you have some information that you think will prove valuable to the supreme leader, and in exchange you of course want refuge and a secure living here in North Korea. I am authorised to give you this, but only if I deem the information to be of equal value. So.., let us now 'spill the tea' as you English say" He said while chuckling to himself.

"Well that is technically an American saying. Speaking of the American dogs, it is them that I have information on, since I know you see them as more of a threat than little old England. I have memorised the design of a new American long range supersonic bomber, one which could be used to drop nuclear weapons at a close range without appearing to be a nuclear craft, I believe the intention is to make the attack seem non-nuclear, as obviously a missile can only really mean one thing, but a plane could mean many things"

"you... memorised the design? you didn't get any physical evidence?"

"I can assure you I have a photographic memory. No detail will be left untouched, I also happen to be a dab hand with a pencil so I can draw you the blue prints myself"

"Fine... You will get your rewards upon completion of the design"

Ji-Hoon clicked his fingers again, telling the attending soldier to bring in the required supplies, before leaving the room himself. 

While Mask was being interrogated, Bald Leon had led the team in search of the Bald asset they had been sent to discover. Bald Jack's improved detection device was pointing them to the nearby city of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea and home of the countries supreme leader, Kim Jong-un. the team split into two groups, Bald Leon, Bald Jack and Shellshock took a direct route into the city, using the dense thicket of trees as cover, while Overwatch and Ace took an alternative and higher altitude route through the nearby hills in order to provide support. Before long, Bald Leon's team encountered a checkpoint. The team lay down in the undergrowth on the approach and surveyed the checkpoint. The checkpoint was comprised of a raising gate, as well as a 3 storey pre-fabricated tower, reels of barb wire on both sides of the checkpoint and a dozen men standing around. This all made Shellshock uneasy.

"This would be a lot easier if we still had mask with us to wave us through"

Bald Leon got up from his prone position, crouching just below the road in the thicket.

"We don't need him"

Bald Leon sprinted up the embankment and onto the main road, making a B-line for the nearest soldier on the checkpoint. Before long he was spotted, and the soldiers began to shout at him in Korean, ordering him to stop and identify himself. When Bald Leon didn't respond they began to open fire on the speeding bald, but Bald Leon easily side stepped all of the bullets. As he reached the nearest soldier, he wound up his fist and delivered a colossal punch to the mans gut, causing him to instantly vomit, and sending him flying through the air into the guards tower. The soldiers already dead body slammed into the wall of the pre-fab tower, taking off much of the wall on the impact site. Bald Leon was approached by two more soldiers whom he quickly dispatched, dipping down and grabbing one by the ankle, and swinging him around like a club to hit the other one. He grabbed a grenade off of the belt of his most recent victim, throwing it into the congregation of soldiers behind cover. Another soldier had climbed up the stairs of the tower and was now firing upon Bald Leon from above, causing him to lift up the unconscious soldier who he was still holding the ankle of, using him as a human shield. He grabbed the human shields side arm, firing two precise bullets at the soldier in the tower, one in his head, and one in his heart. Bald Leon then threw the gun with immense speed and strength, with it stopping halfway inside of another soldiers head. The remaining soldiers tried to flee, but Shellshock climbed up onto the road and fired upon them with a few quick bursts from his silenced rifle.

"The idea was to be stealthy Bald Leon" scathed Shellshock

"This was quicker" replied Bald Leon

The team of three moved into town, avoiding the roads as the commotion they'd caused had already brought about reinforcements. The reading on the detection device was getting much stronger, pointing them in the direction of a research facility. 

"This must be the place" said Bald Jack

They approached a side door and smashed open the cover on the digital lock. Shellshock took out a small device which shorted out the panel, allowing the door to swing wide open. The team went inside, Bald Jack listening intently on the detection device. They reached a part of the building that appeared to be sectioned off.

"What is this?" asked Shellshock

"It says... Genetic modification" replied Bald Jack

"Since when do you speak Korean?" asked Bald Leon

"I'm a K-pop stan" replied Bald Jack

They entered the room, finding a man suspended inside of a vat of liquid. The detection device pulled back a positive reading when pointed at the man, this was there bald. The man inside of the vat looked almost exactly like Bald Leon, only clean shaven, without glasses and with a head full of black hair in a bowl cut. The man also seemed to look slightly Korean, as if one of his grandparents or great grandparents was a native, but otherwise they looked pretty similar to Bald Leon. They did not look like Skinwalker Leon.

"This is our guy" said Shellshock

"That's not Skinwalker Leon" said Bald Leon

"doesn't matter, protocol is to bring him in regardless" replied Shellshock

"OH MY GOD!" shouted Bald Jack

"What is it?" shouted back Shellshock, gun raised.

"This is North Korea's ultimate response!" replied Bald Jack

"What? It's a bloke not a weapon, what's it an ultimate response too?" asked Shellshock

"K-Pop! South Korea practically rules the world with their K-pop bands. BTS, Blackpink, EXO, Twice, all of these bands have so much international influence. This guy right here, who they've named 'K-pop Leon' is the perfect k-pop performer." explained Bald Jack

"so he's a singer... and a bald" said Bald Leon

"Yeah. It looks like they somehow harvested your bald waves and pumped them into a volunteer, it says here he received extensive biological metamorphosis in this process, but they were able to modify the Bald waves to make him the perfect singer"

"That's really fucking stupid"

The machine whired into life as Shellshock tapped a button on the monitor. The liquid began to drain from the vat, as the top of the glass pill unscrewed itself and began to rotate onto its side, tipping out the wet singer.

"제발, 다시는 노래하게 하지 말아요. 나는 국제 대회에 준비가 되지 않았다. 잠깐, 당신은 누구입니까?" said K-pop Leon

"Don't worry pal, were getting you out of here" said Bald Jack

"남쪽으로 운송? 훌륭한" replied K-pop Leon

The group, now with an additional naked k-pop singer, left the room, and immediately received a radio transmission.

"Hello? Radio interference appears to be running high. setting this message to loop on closed channels. We've been made, Ace is dead, im surrounded and hit. It's only a matter of time before they connect us being here to Mask. Get back to the airfield ASAP, I'm running a distraction, I'll detonate in 10 minutes, so I hope your clear before that"

"was that Overwatch?" asked Bald Jack

"Yeah... Agency protocol is to destroy all equipment and ourselves in the event of unintended capture. If she isn't dead yet she will be soon." replied Shellshock solemly

"Oh my god I'm so sorry" sympathised Bald Jack

"She'd want us to complete the mission. Come on, we need to get back to the airfield. hopefully Mask hasn't been made yet"

they ran from the facility back towards the airfield. They reached the checkpoint which had now been reinforced with additional troops and some temporary battlements. They realised all too late that additional sensors had been planted, and the group was lit up by spotlight.

"American invaders! Lay down your arms and surrender" came a voice over the loudspeaker

"Americans?" asked a disgusted Bald Leon

the group were soon surrounded and arrested, they were thrown into the back of a van with a bag over each of their heads.

"Does this mean we get to meet Kim Jong-un?" asked Bald Jack

it did.

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