Chronicle:Last Red Gryf

"Wont that bastard shut up already?"

In the far west, an unassuming 22 year old man named Franz Nowak travels through the back alleys of Szuto to find a random man getting dragged off to the trunk of a car, the men were covered in black and wearing facemasks. His screams were filling the air, to the annoyance of Franz who had decided to stop since his cigarette stopped burning. He should be panicking or in shock, but his first priority was to get the damn thing lit up again. He came to the conclusion that it clearly was not his problem. Especially because this was his last cigarette. Darn.

Down on his luck and dishevelled, stuck in his grungy Melkhijan army pants and a beaten trenchcoat, he had the appearance of the average bum. In fact, He used his unique appearance and status to blend in with the homeless to get intel on nearby drug stores. Like a pro. He spent most of his vacation in Fengjiang sitting at the numerous ramen shops, occasionally wondering where the prowling cats went the next time he came over.

In one of the shops, he noted the fact that in every store where someone actually tried to steal, there was a surprising surplus of meat. Franz wasnt going to assume anything, but it made him sick thinking about it. Heck. The bloodstains still were there, right behind the counter...

He did not know how much of Fengese food was actually using cows, pets, or pigs, or god knows what. Its just meat. Besides, he was not gonna act like a privileged goldilocks infront of the chef. Last thing he wanted was to confront human beings for longer than 5 seconds. After he recieved his 'Beef' Ramen, he thanked him with a heavily accented "Itadakimasu".

The chef snorted at that, seemingly getting a giggle out of it, and went back to cooking for his next customer. Franz sat down and began to eat despite his withdrawal shakes, somehow managing to muster the coordination to eat with chopsticks. He turned to his right and could swear he saw a woman staring at him intensely, but he just assumed that was the average reaction of a Fengese person upon Witnessing a smelly barbarian within a mere meters of them.

After finishing his suspciously flavored noodles, he stood up from his table and got up to go look for excitement. A man of his caliber didnt really do it because he wanted to feel good. It was more to feel something,  Anything. From his adventures, he had known to not try certain ones. Hallucinogenics for example.

Thinking about that makes him shudder. He went over to the counter and ordered an assortment of the devils goods, which consisted of a shit ton of pills. He did not know what they were or what they would do to him, but he just...did not care. Once outside he took a walk back to his hotel. Cramped for the average man, but for him? Much better than what he was used to. He would then proceed to get zonked off his mind.

Of course, while he was passed out from overdosing on the mystery pills, his door would open, revealing two heavily armed mercs, one female and one male, and what can only be assumed to be a middle manager trying his best to look 'proper'. Like some faux rich man. He started down at the drugged out bum with sheer contempt within his eyes, and knelt down to inspect him for a few seconds.

"Your intel was correct Hina. I think this is the one who got my sister killed during the war. Definitely looks the part of a caveman as well..."He stands back up, dusting himself and motions for his goons. "Jing, tie him up and throw him into the Truck. No one will care if a Hatarian Devil gets nabbed."

Franz Nowak awoke to the surroundings of a dark room lit by a single lightbulb in what he assumed was a...KS facility, tied up by his hands and feet. But he never knew why he was put in this cell. What exactly did he do to be captured by such a powerful corporation? He noticed a soldi- no. A Fengese Mercenary standing guard at his cell. A Serican woman with Jet black hair and cold unfeeling eyes...In fact, extremely similar to the woman who was staring at him during his stay at the Ramen place.

Thinking this was a practical joke (and the fact he was still probably feeling the effects of his drugs) he asked her a question in Fengese. "A chigatte men o tabetakara todzikome rareta setsu ła nai koto o oshiete kudasai..."

The woman tries to stifle a laugh and replies to him in Melkhijan. "No. It was not the noodles. Also, speak your home tongue instead. Your 'mastery' over Fengese is...Bad."

He flopped over onto his back, staring at the ceiling after that. Sat there for ages in fact. Waited for some release from this torment, but instead he would only get an extension to his free trial of pain. He noticed as a corporate middle manager with clothes way more expensive than he deserved came walking down the hall with another Serican mercenary. He seemed somewhat familar to him. But where did he see him before? The man would stay a decent distance away from the bars.

He spoke to Franz in his home tongue, and he seemed to be aggrivated every second he spoke the language. "My name is Junji Okada. Looks like the years have not been favorable for you. Now tell me. What is your relation to the Kaurissmas war?"

Franz raised an eyebrow and quickly replied to this strange person. "I dont know you. At all. I dont have any relation to that war, but if you want a history lesson-"

"I know you're a Red Gryf, dont try to hide it. Normally, I could care less, as would any other Fengjiang Citizen. But the fact I know your face and where you live? I couldnt pass up an opportunity to regain family honor with the capture of one of you monsters." Franz looked away and couldnt find it in him to reply.

Half a minute passed before Junji walked backwards and motioned for his mercenaries. They opened the sliding door, held him down, and then jabbed him with an unknown toxin. Before he lost consciousness they would carry Franz over to a special room they had rented out specifically for him. Something in his brain did click upon hearing Mr Okada's name though.

After he awoke from the toxin's effects, he noticed his head being connected to some electronic implement, with his hands and feet bound up by Rusty Iron Clasps. Clearly this room was not included in the service reports. Mere seconds after waking, his brain would be assaulted with several shocks. He looked around groggily upon the shocks stopping momentarily, and noticed a window to his right.

"They wanted something I could not give." Franz would try to hold out, but each shock was worse than the last. Over the next couple of days, they would keep doing this to him, over and over again. Their primary goal was to get a confession out of him, about his 'crime'. Or at least thats what he hoped was the case. He was not going to give up that easily, but he wasnt sure how long he'd have to fight the pain.

The guards at the observation deck looked at each other several times during the course of this terrible scene. Jing tapping his foot on the ground in annoyance. "Mr Okada, could you rotate us out with other people in our outfit? This is painful to watch."

Junji looks at him with maddened eyes, but straightens up. "What exactly did I hire you to do? To keep guard. No complaining."

Hina turned her head towards Junji and rolled her eyes. "We have standards. Send him to HQ for a trial and be done with it for Phoenix's sake.". Franz could only hear a little bit of what they were saying throughout this ordeal, but it seemed clear that the guards were not happy with their front row seats.

Over these few days, Franz had alot of time to think about what he did during the war. Even if he was getting shocked half the time. He thought about all the friends he made during it. Like his buddies in the Red Gryfs, and even some Fengese soldiers who he made beneficial trade agreements for cans with. See two aspiring merchants wanted to sample some merchandise from the Melkhijans. So we helped them out. The Fenicjan Merch turned out to be pretty valuable post war. And the Red Gryf goods likewise. So we made a killing on that. No one ever said we weren't corrupt. Just that we were war criminals.

"大企業時間你野蠻" He snorted upon remembering that one, to the confusion of the man ordering his torture.

But there was that woman, who he believed was related to this Mr Okada. Despite all he had heard of the Fengese, and the fact their first meeting almost ended in a bloodbath, she was a really good friend to him. He would regularly defy protocol to talk to her, and he wasnt ashamed of it.

"The whole reason for why I'm here is cause I was too nice, took some time before we had trust between ourselves, but it was fun while it lasted. Fengjiang's officers didnt quite like people sneaking off to fraternize with the enemy, and got her killed for it. Only learned that a year after the Kaurissmas war..."

Using the fact that the mercenaries apparently rotate between each other, Franz would spend time (roughly) counting through his torture. He estimated the torture room mercs swapped out every 3 hours, which gave him a guideline from which to make a plan. The amount of times he heard a radio turn on between that period also was infrequent. Sloppy in his eyes, but that was to his advantage.

On the last day Junji would then turn up the dial from 7 to 10. The cackling of the electricty filled the room and was soon deafened by the screams of the Red Gryf. Despite the window blocking most of the noise, the guards winced. In a last ditch effort, Franz tries to get himself off the table. And in a moment that no one could believe, he ripped out the Rusty Iron clasps by their bolts.

Of course, this was too much for his heart, which flatlined on the monitor, and from what they saw, he fell unconscious on the floor. The guards and Junji quickly stood up from their seats and ran out of their observational spot, trying to hurry towards the potentially dead man.

With one eye open, he checked if they were still there, and took his chance. He reached out to one of the bolts on the floor, and placed it in a secret compartment in his pockets before they ran inside the room. Almost passing out before the guards would resuscitate him. Later on, he would be carried back to his cell by the two mercs.

"Jing, just in case I wasnt seeing things. His heart DID stop, right? How's he still living?" She said, while pulling out a Meatcube™ to munch on. (PKT special!)

"Personally, I dont care Hina. I just want out of this job right now. My balls recede every time I see the guy getting shocked." Jing threw the man into the room and pressed the button to close the door.

As they walked away, the 'unconscious' prisoner opened his eyes and placed the bolt he snagged from the torture room underneath the door. The moment the door shut, or well, tried to shut completely, a Red light appeared above the door. Franz quickly stood up to the side of the door. In his hazy brain, he believed he had enough time to make this work.

"What is it now!?" Exclaimed Jing, as he unslung his rifle and raised the door slightly to check for his prisoner.

Jing would find himself being dragged into the room by Franz and struck on his carotid artery, going limp after the blow. He would proceed to steal his guns and his radio. Hina would look back after hearing the noises inside the cell, dropped the Meatcube™ and began to unsling her rifle to help out her friend.

"Dont try anything woman. Put the gun down." Franz appeared from under the door, a pistol holstered temporarily in his pants and pointing a newly acquired rifle at her, in a confined hallway no less. She definitely did NOT expect that from a brainshocked prisoner.

Seeing her chances of actually subduing or killing the prisoner was slim, she slowly placed the gun on the floor, along with her pistol. He approached her, nabbed some zip ties and her radio, and then led her into the cell. As he pushed her in to the cell, he speaks to the two goons calmly.

"After this is all over, all three of us can go out for lunch. If you dont want to, fair enough, I did lock you in a cell. I'm staying at the Muji Hotel, east district. I wont fall for the same trap again." Franz would properly shut the door and continue down the hall, holding his rifle out infront of him, as he checked corners and cleared rooms.

"Should have expected this to go south Jing. But at least we're both alive, and most definitely not getting paid for this..." Hina grumbled under her breath while finding the bolt he used to block the door. Of all things, a fvcking bolt under the door.

Because of the electroshock therapy that was graciously given to him over the course of a couple of days, he wasnt looking too hot right now. Definitely needed a visit to the doctor after this escapade. He checked the time on a wall clock. He had 15 minutes until the next rotation of mercs.

Even if he wasnt feeling too good, he needed to make an example of the Manager. Just so this would never happen again. During the search for his captor, he would attempt to find his old belongings, which were thrown into a pile in the corner of a storage closet, much to his displeasure. He turned on the radio and checked through all the channels to see if there was chatter, but all was quiet. 5 minutes left.

"Of all the days to get pinned as a Red Gryf...Half the world wants my ass either because they want me to kill people for them, or because I killed someone they knew. Cant they take a hint? I dont want this shit."

He moved to a new room. Sweeping it for any enemies. This process repeated until he eventually found Junji, and from what he assumed, this was him talking to his superiors. Something about him not taking this seriously. Franz thought this was his chance. "Always give back. Even Children know that". He checked the time. 2 minutes left.

He quietly used the intervals where he was screaming over the phone to sneak up on him slowly. Taking cover the moment he turned to look his way. 30 seconds left.

The problem was that he kept his radio on to make sure he knew when a search party would be sent for the two mercs he trapped. He was running dangerously close to the end of his stress free romp of the facility. 10 seconds left.

"希娜和靜,進來. "

Middle manager Okada jumped upon hearing the chatter and turned around. He was both horrified and confused upon seeing a half-naked barbarian jumping at him. Soon he found himself in a chokehold, despite his best attempt to get a scream out. This is precisely what Franz was trained for. Did he like it? Hell no. But thats life.

"I didnt start it." He said as he applied more pressure.

The body of the manager went limp after a few seconds. Franz Sighed and dragged him out. Narrowly avoiding reinforcements from converging on his position by passing through to another room. Franz looked around frantically for a way to dispose of the body. Finding an incinerator in a hut outside the main building, he would close the door and the rest was history.

"God this guy's clothes are so fake..." The smell...It was indescribable and horrific. Like the smell of cheap plastics and a fragile ego. He could barely hold himself back from vomiting. He placed the unconscious man in the corner and turned off his radio. Seeing it as unnecessary since the base was alerted.

After leaving, he would attempt to approach the gate for the facility, sneaking past several patrols, and at some point even using the classic 'hide in a box' maneuver. He did notice a guard stationed in front of it, but Franz would take his time sneaking up to the guardhouse and then tripping up the man, tying him up with the zip ties he got from Hina. After that, he opened the Steel gate and took a zig zag approach to running back towards his hotel in the city. Soon the search parties were after him, but they were too late.

While he was running, he had alot of time to think. Half of it was about the fact he was a bare chested man with a gun running around in the wild. What he was mostly thinking was if he made the right choices today. Did he really need to keep the guy and his goons alive? They were just as likely to put him on a KS report. Then again, by this point, he was already on several watchlists probably.

Who knows how many of his fellow Red Gryfs got hunted down for mere association with the organization? Not just by vengeful Fengese people. He could understand that. But also by weirdos in the occult branches who thought we were perfect for 'hunting'. After they got dissolved in 1985 due to more people knowing about the crimes of the Red Gryfs, he could very well be the last one.

"No point in worrying about it."

''Pieces of the middle manager's garb was found at the crime scene in the KS facility. No one knew how Junji Okada, a middle manager of KS Corp was found at the scene, frightended and naked, locked inside the incinerator room. The Mercenaries hired for him did not know how this happened. (More likely, they were omitting information for their own sakes) There are ideas on the Internet. Some say that it was a Cryptid Oni that fled the KS Corp cages. Some say it was some TTO Super BVLL program test run. Or some Noosphere Zoner bullshit.''

''In reality it was a really ticked off Red Gryf. Someone who certainly was not gonna take their kidnapping lying down. Franz Nowak, the perpetrator would lay low for the rest of his vacation. Returning to Melkhija after a week, he used his experience to force himself into his previous employment. Being a hired gun. His one absolute rule? No killing unless he's on the job.''

"But the real mystery is...Did the Mercs take up his offer? Free lunch is irresistable."