Philip had only planned to take Yun along, but after a moment he nodded.

"Alright, c'mon." He led them to his car, looking over the files he had. "What do you know about shotkan karate?' he asked.

*****************************

"Yes, they are, ugly murderers." Chavo reached for a bottle of sangaria, poured himself a glass then placed it in front of Vega and Alex in case they wanted some. "Here's to the dead," he said, sounding a little drunk "May they rise up and take revenge on their murderers." He drank the alcohol as though it was water, then turned his attention to Vega, thinking he would be the one to talk to, being Spanish. "Carlos is determined to fight American soldiers, but he has no proof they are responsible. He does however have a video. I show you, see if you can tell me anything."

*****************************

Reiko looked at the video as she struggled to keep her expression neutral. One of the villagers of Villa Losquestos had thought to find a video recorder when the black van was noticed. However the guerillas that were meant to protect them were on the other side of town, Carlos explained that the good recon conducted by those behind this, making sure whatever forces could be mustered against them would be on the far side of the village, was one of the reasons he thought it was American soldiers. As the van drove past the side door flew open, and men in black hoods threw something out into the dirt. Reiko couldn’t identify it at first, due to the mass of blood where the back was, but as the camera zoomed in she saw that it was one of the women who had been kidnapped, her spine ripped out and her ribs pummeled to pulp once her captors were done with her.

“Turn the fucking thing off,” she demanded. “Turn it the fuck off now.” Before anyone could comply she did so herself.

“Bad,” Carlos noted. Reiko just stared at him.

“Now you know how grave the situation is.” That was Shaquille Shabazz, one of the old enforcers from Los Diablos who led Reiko down here.

“Question is what you expect me to do about it.” Reiko folder her arms, explaining. “I’m not a killer, I hate guns, and you’re asking that I fight soldiers guarding the boarder.”

“Where else do we go for help?” Carlos asked her. “Policia get shut down when they investigate, and we cannot fight by ourselves.”

“But why me?” It was Shabazz who offered to explain.

“You’re tough, you’re loyal. And we knew that once you saw this you would understand just how important it is to find someone…anyone, to help.” With that he offered the AK47, one of the few weapons they had, to her.

“Who else have you found to help?” The hesitant look on Carlos’ face told the story. “Aw shit.” She turned to walk out, knowing it wasn’t worth taking on a suicide mission like this, when she nearly ran into a Mexican woman.

“Please, you have to help us!” Reiko looked up into her pleading face. “You have to do something! They’re taking my baby away!” Reiko wasn’t quite sure how to act. Should she say something to comfort her? Try and think of some action to take? The woman surprised her by grabbing at Reiko’s shirt. “Do something!” she shrieked. “They’re taking her right now!”

“Now?” Reiko broke free of her clutches and ran out to see, snatching up Carlos’ Sig P226 handgun off the table as she did so. Sure enough she saw the same black van speeding off in the distance. She knew they were too far away but Reiko brought her handgun up and pulled the trigger anyway, round after round falling harmlessly to the ground, a muffled roar signaling each time the hammer was pulled forward, until the weapon clicked empty. Roaring in frustration herself, Reiko flung the empty weapon towards one of the houses, before collapsing to the ground in grief. She actually felt her body shaking in frustration at her hopelessness when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Now you understand why we must ask you to fight.” Reiko pulled away from Carlos for a moment, not trusting herself to speak. Looking back she saw the woman who pleaded for her help was destroyed, crying in Shabazz’s arms. She thought about the video, about what she saw went far beyond any laws dictating that kidnapping, rape and murder were wrong. How the hypocrites that were meant to be behind it were enforcing a law that many opposed as being fascist.

“Yes,” she said finally, a quiet fury in her voice, “I understand.” Getting to her feet she took the Sig handgun from Carlos, who had recovered it. “Okay. Let’s get to work.”