Hi Officer.

Shota stared at the screen with a hard expression, anxiety was bubbling in his stomach and his mind was racing as he thought over all the details in the video, the failed operation and what led to it, and the strange phone he was sent. He must have been sitting there silently lost in thought for a few minutes because Lemmons shoved his shoulder.

"This is no time for a fucking nap Hayate." He snapped his fingers in front of him a few times. "Look alive before I send your ass back home."

Shota gave Lemmons a deadpan look. "I was processing it all." He stood up from the seat and ran a hand down his face, cupping his chin. "I think I have a general idea of the location based on the aerial view, but I'm assuming you've already gotten the location."

"Yea. This was sent to my house address in a usb file. Dropped off by some random delivery punk at about 4 am."

Shota looked at Lemmons with a grim stare. "That's… very concerning. It was addressed to you?"

"No it was addressed to the god damn tooth fairy." Lemmons rolled his eyes and pulled open a desk drawer and held up the package it came in. The same kind of package the phone was sent in. "It was left at my door and there was a note inside that said, 'Make sure Shota Hayate sees this.' Some little typed out note. Someone on the inside of the Shanks is either fucking with us, or they want to help us, in some way that benefits them. Either way, we can't just let this gather dust, trap or not."

Shota clenched his jaw and nodded. "No… you are absolutely right we can't… I can be ready to go in 45 minutes. I have some paperwork I should fill out and some reports I should check up on. From the looks of the video the building is barely standing. Who do we want to bring?"

Lemmons gruffly hummed. "2 cars, undercover cars specifically. We don't want to draw too much attention. But…considering that particular stretch of land isn't being used by their owner it should be pretty empty. I called them when I got in to make sure. You will be in the first car, drive down uh.. Whats that fucking street?-" Lemmons pulled up a map of the area on his tablet and zoomed it in on the area where the barn is.

"Take Archway ave down to Asher ranchroad, and when you get to Edwin lane turn left and go around that old hay lot. That'll bring you to the far side of the ranch the barn is on, you can drive up through there. I'll be in the other car and we will stick on Vinegrove ave and pass through the Buchan's property to come up on the other side of that barn since their property line hits the ranch. Got that Detective? If we time it right we should arrive at the same time and have it somewhat surrounded."

Shota was mentally envisioning the streets Lemmons spoke of. He had a habit of staring off in the distance while deep in thought, he would also run his thumb along his pointer finger with his right hand. He nodded and started to head out. "4 officers per car including us. That should be enough." He left the office and looked around at the desks that now had officers sitting in them as they just got there. He pointed at 6 officers.

"Ace, Hayes, Horstmann, Zanueta, Lopez, and Gaut, you 6 get ready to head out in 30-45 minutes. We are taking undercover vehicles. It could become a firefight so suit up." They all looked between a mixture of excitement and concern. But the 6 of them got up and headed to the lockers after chatting among themselves and finishing reports.

Shota went into his office and sat in his chair. He was anxious, but there was something really strange about all of this. He looked between his laptop bag and his office door, there was a small window on it with blinds. He got up and closed them before he grabbed his bag. He got out his lap top and set it up, but he took the phone out and checked the notifications. His eyes narrowed as he read the 3 messages he got.

The first one was when he put his bag in the office. It said *"I hope you take the note seriously and keep this phone a secret for now."* The message slightly annoyed him, mostly because he didn't like hiding things.

Then he read the next one. *"Not my best camera work, but you have good eyes so I have faith you'll see what I'm showing you, Detective."* He visibly grimaced in response.

Now Shota's intuition is proven right. He was concerned as to why they knew he was watching the video at that time. Were they watching him? Or did they just know when he would get around to it? Was it someone he worked with? That last thought made him pissed off.

The last message said *"Pay attention to the details, Shota."*

He sat there mulling it over. He decided to text them back. Writing out *"So, who exactly are you?"* He stared daggers at the phone, much longer than he should have. Annoyed, he sat the phone in a drawer in his desk, keeping it cracked open so he could hear it and peek over to look at it in secret.

As he waited for a response back he looked over some reports he was sent. Remembering that he needed to write down the license plate from earlier he made a quick report of the day's events at his apartment, but he left the package he received out of it. It felt wrong to him, but also it felt necessary. Since he started thinking there could be a leak in the police, he wasn't sure who to trust. And with what happened with the matchbox operation, that list was even smaller.

He sat there rereading the report, checking for anything he missed. His eyes went wide as he finally read the license plate properly. "H..one… fucking seriously? It says `Hi officer'?" He laughed with defeat, running his hand over his face as he leaned back in his chair. "I get it… you like playing games, whoever you are…" Thinking about the barn he sighed.

"I'll play along. For now."

Some time had gone by and Shota decided to put the phone on vibrate and keep it with him, putting his own phone in its usual pocket. He rushed to the locker room and got his lightweight bullet proof vest on, pulling his jacket over and zipping it up it looked like he wasn't wearing one. He made sure his gun was concealed and got his belt on. Looking over he saw officers Harvey Gaut, Santino Lopez and Keith Horstmann.

"Lemmons told us what's up, sort of. This, 'tip', seems a little convenient don't you think?" Santino questioned as he laced up his boots. He had a lovely thick hispanic accent that rolled off his tongue eloquently.

Shota did agree, somewhat. "I don't really know what to make of it, if it turns out to be right then perhaps we have made some kind of ally. Or it's a trap. Who knows." He didn't have much mental energy to put into this kind of conversation or thought process. He was just hoping they would get at least one step closer to finding this hidden facility the Shanks are using, and take them down.

The group of officers met outside, exiting through the right side of the building behind a gated area where they load off prisoner transports and bring in any pick ups. Officers Barbara Ace and Sarai Zanueta brought the cars around, both of them stepped out and walked over to Lemmons and Shota.

They spent a few minutes talking as a team, going over the details of how this should be handled. Lemmons had already called the owners of the ranches and dairies they would be having to drive through and where the barn was located to warn them. So long as their cattle were not hurt and the crops were not driven through, the police were given the go ahead.

"Hayate, Lopez, Zanueta and Horstmann will be in the gray car. Me, Ace, Gaut and Hayes will be in the green car. Radio me if anything happens on route. We don't know what kind of drugs could be in there so wear your damn masks. Got it?" Lemmons had a special tone he used to make you feel small, but he was a decent detective.

With a confirmation in unison they got in the cars, Officer Zanueta drove the car with Hayate in the front seat, the other 2 in the back. The ride was a bit tense as they left the lot.

It was dead quiet aside from their radios going off, it was a pretty quiet morning as there wasn't a whole lot of activity just yet. Lopez and Horstmann talked casually in the back about some show they all watched. Zanueta would chime in on occasion, but Shota had little to nothing to say. Even if he was a fan of the show, he wasn't interested in this conversation. He was too focused on what was going to happen, running different scenarios in his head due to his rampant anxiety building up.

Zanueta was zooming through the dairy lands, the roads were long and very empty even during busy hours. But when Shota felt that phone vibrate, it was as if his heart stopped for a moment and time held still. He wanted to ignore it. Read the text later. But it vibrated again, and it was loud enough to be heard through the brief silence..

"Hayate, your toy is going off." Lopez laughed and slapped the seat.

Though it was a joke, Shota was too tense to laugh. He just pulled the phone out and checked it, holding it on the side of his thigh so no one could peek. His eye twitched as he read it. He was getting more pissed off by the second. The first text read *"Can you not read?"* The second one really pissed him off. *"I'll contact you once you are done. Maybe we can get drinks at that new "Burger" place <3 Toodles for now~"*

"Is this a fucking game to them?" He muttered under his breath. The car got dead silent as they believed Lopez pissed him off, watching him angrily text back to someone in a hunched over way. His fingers tapped loudly against the screen, he responded to them with *"I dont appreciate you fucking with me. Who the fuck are you?"*

A message instantly came in response just saying, *"*Don't."* This made him growl and shove the phone back in his pocket. He crossed his arms and looked out the window.

"Uh… you good?" Horstmann asked nervously. "I'm just peachy. Prank texts, nothing to worry about. Lets focus on the task at hand. I see the barn coming up." He responded in a curt manner. His face was the definition of pure anger, and despite it not being any of their faults, they were having to deal with it.

The car rocked side to side as Zanueta drove up the steep and uneven dirt path that led into the back of the ranch. The metal gate had long since been broken and open, no one bothered to fix it for the past few years it seems. Shota was pretty sure the owners of this ranch were elderly, so it's no wonder the place is poorly kept.

The barn was pretty big, there were collapsed stables that were attached to the barn near the front right side which was the side the car Zanueta was driving came up to. They were driving up to the barn cautiously, a huge dust cloud formed behind them. In the opposite direction they could see the car the other group was in, they had a much bumpier ride from all the uneven dirt and discarded trash.

Shota grabbed his pistol from its hidden holster in his jacket, his eyes narrowing as he could see something shining through some of the broken pillars of the stables. He grabbed his radio and talked to Lemmons.

"Lemmons,I think I see a vehicle in that pile of rubbish. Over." "I see it. T-bird. Silver. It's not hidden on this side. They also have a van right in front of the barn doors. Looks like it's running. Do you see any doors on that side? Over."

Zanueda shook her head to Shota, stopping the car at one side as she saw Lemmons stop at the other. "Negative. No doors over here. I'll have Lopez watch for any one trying to leave that side. Over." Shota pointed at the side of the barn that had no doors and signaled Lopez to go. He got his gas mask on with a helmet and held his rifle at the ready, scouting the side of the decaying barn.

"Looks like they know we are here. Hike your skirts up and take point. Get your damn masks on, I don't want to hear later that your eyes hurt. I see a bald white male with a pistol in the Van. Over." They all got their gas masks on before leaving the car.

Shota stepped out of the car and ducked behind the open door, he could somewhat see the van and the open barn door from his position.

"Zanueta, hide in the stable. Horstmann, try and get some tear gas in there." He peeked over to Lopez who signaled he found nothing. He waved his hand to tell Lopez to stay over there in cover as Horstmann ran up to the barn, expecting them to immediately fire at them once they saw Horstmann coming.

Horstmann, in full gear, rushed towards the barn, launching the teargas into the barn door and over the van. He ran into cover on the other side of the stables and ducked. Almost immediately they could hear things being thrown into the van and multiple gunmen started to shoot at the cars.

Lemmons and his group shot out the vans tires and the windows. There were 3 men inside the van, 1 near the front end, 1 near the back end. From what Shota saw, they put on gas masks. Lemmons had pulled out a ballistic shield from the car trunk and started making his way up to the van with Officer Ace following behind him as she shot at the van. Lemmons was slow as the Ballistic shield had to roll on the uneven dirt and was very heavy, but he and Ace were covered pretty well as they advanced. Ace shot and took down the guy at the front of the van, and once she reloaded she started shooting at the one at the other end.

From within the stables Zanueta was seen darting into the barn after the man near the front end of the van fell, Horstmann followed in with her to back her up. The 3 gang members inside the van started shooting out of the broken windows. They were shouting between each other, to themselves and the others inside the barn over the radio, all speaking russian.

Officer Arin Hayes had made her way to the left side of the barn to back up Lopez as they both worked as a team to make sure no one was trying to escape from hidden exits, on her route there she shot down the gang member at the back end of the van. Over their radios they can hear Horstmann, "7 heads inside-2 down-There is a motorcycle they are guarding behind an upturned metal table, Officer Zanueta has been hit in the leg, we need back up in here! Motorcycle is near the southside of the barn in the back, someone is on it-over" "Lopez and Hayes in position in the rear! We hear the motorcycle!" Lopez's voice rumbled over the radio.

Hearing Horstmann, Shota rushed over to where Lemmons was with the shield, and shot at the men inside the van. Shota shouted at Lemmons over the gunfire. "Where is Gaut?" "He stayed in the car, he's going to chase anyone who runs!"

Waiting for an opening between fire, Shota ran to the van and crouched down. "Horstmann! I'm here!" "Get in here!" He stayed out of the line of sight for the men in the van as Ace and Lemmons shot at them. Once there was another break in fire Shota ran inside the barn and kept low. Blindly shooting towards the south side of the barn as he rushed to where he heard Horstmann. Zanueta was holding her leg as she was ducked behind stacks of hay next to Horstmann.

"Stay in cover Hayate!" Horstmann pushed Shota's head down more as a bullet zipped behind him into the barn wall. Horstmann then returned a flurry of bullets at the 4 people shooting at them. Shota took a tourniquet from Zanueta's vest and helped her stop her leg from bleeding.

Horstmann ducked back down and reloaded his gun, taking one of the men down. "3 shooters left. They are guarding someone who is on the motorcycle, I think they're going to make a break for it. They loaded some kind of bags into the motorcycle's saddlebags, probably whatever drugs they made here."

Shota took a peek over the side of the hay at the shooters, ducking back to hide. "I see them. We can't let them leave." Shota and Horstmann both took turns shooting at the group. Zanueta, even though she was in pain, she relayed everything back to Lemmons.

Horstmann and Shota shot down 2 of the remaining 3 shooters, clearing up a line of sight to hit the motorcyclist who wore fully covering red colored gear. They both aimed at them, and as they shot at the cyclist the last shooter was pulled into the way of the bullets. Seconds later the Motorcycle burst through the back end of the barn, causing the entire barn to begin collapsing.

"Move! Get out now!" Horstmann picked up Zanueta, and dragged Shota by his collar and threw him out of the barn. Lemmons was yelling from the shield. "What's going on?!"

Before Shota could respond Lopez and Hayes yelled over the radio, "Cyclist broke through the barn! We are engaging!"

Horstmann took Zanueta back to the car as Lemmons and the rest went to help Lopez and Hayes.

—-----------A few minutes earlier—---

Lopez and Hayes listened to the firefight inside the barn from behind, staying on guard for anyone trying to leave. When they heard the motorcycle's engine rev they spread out, barely avoiding getting hit by the motorcycle as it burst through the back of the barn. Lopez charged at them with his gun, "APD! Get off the veh-" He was hit by the back tire of the motorcycle as it spun on its front wheel. The red cyclist shot a tranquilizer at Hayes, immediately dropping her as her body went numb.

Lopez recovered quickly, once the Motorcycle dropped back down he hopped onto it and got ahold of the cyclist. They had a punching match as the cyclist spun the motorcycle in a circle in the dirt, causing a massive dust cloud as the rest of the officers started getting within range of them. The cyclist stabbed Lopez with a tranq and shoved his limp body off the motorcycle and zipped away, only to be followed by Gaut in the gray car.

Lemmons rushed up, yelling on his radio as the others tried shooting at the cyclist that Gaut was chasing. "We have officers down at Hollybrook ranch! And a black motorcycle being chased with a rider in all red gear, Officer Gaut is in pursuit heading southbound on Edwin ave! They are armed, Shankz gang member carrying what we believe is drugs-"

Shota ran to Hayes and checked her pulse, she was alive and awake but paralyzed. All she could do was look around with her eyes and breathe. He saw the dart-like tranq in her arm and pulled it out, holding it up. "Lemmons, they were hit with a tranquilizer, fast acting too."

"Backup is on the way with ambulances. Ace, check to see if there is anyone left, the barn is mostly collapsed but maybe we can still find something they left behind. Hayate, go with her, check the van and the other car. I'll stay with Lopez and Hayes until backup arrives." He turned around immediately after giving out orders and went to Lopez, getting on his radio he called up Gaut. "Gaut, are you still in pursuit?" "Yes- they're fast- they just pulled into an abandoned truck lot out near Basil road-" "Keep on their tail if you can."

Shota joined Ace to the front end of the barn once again, checking out the van and the silver t-bird that was in the stables. Most of the shooters were dead, 2 of the men inside the van were badly wounded but still alive. After detaining them Ace and Shota stopped their bleeding the best they could before dragging them out of the van and setting them outside on the floor. They refused to speak.

They could hear the ambulance coming with cop cars in tow. 2 cop cars drove up to the barn with 2 ambulances, 3 cop cars sped past them and rushed to Gaut's location. It was now the long and exhausting procedure of cleaning up, gathering evidence and collecting the bodies.

After 10 minutes Lemmons looked pissed as he walked up to the front of the barn, he called Shota over to him with a hand wave. Shota rushed over, expecting him to say something horrible happened to Gaut.

"I'll start with the bad news. The motorcyclist escaped, Gaut was chasing them within a truck lot and he isn't sure how but They disappeared. Him and the other officers are searching the area, they must have had an escape route planned and hid somewhere."

Shota pulled the gas mask off and grumbled, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his wrist. "What's the good news?"

Lemmons halfway grinned. "Gaut was able to shoot one of the saddlebags, he said some containers spilled out. Some kind of weird liquid capsules, we won't know for sure what kind of drug it is until the lab is able to test them."

Shota was a little relieved, the lead was good afterall. But the pit of his stomach burned once again. "How are Hayes and Lopez?" Lemmons pat Shota on the shoulder. "They're fine, whatever they were hit with is already starting to wear off, they're going to get their blood drawn and sent home for the day after we get back."

Shota nodded with a relieved sigh. "Zanueta is being rushed to the hospital, she should be fine though."

Lemmons crossed his arms and pinched his nose bridge. "Good, Zanueta is a good officer. A bit too fearless at times but she will learn." With a look around he inhaled sharply. His gaze was on Horstmann who was helping search the stable and what remained of the barn. "What do you think about Officer Horstmann?"

Shota rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "What do you expect me to even say? He's one hell of an officer, you've worked with him longer than I have."

"Yes I have. But I have reports I have to file to our superiors about all trans officers working under me."

Shota shot him a very disgusted look. Lemmons just nodded with an exhausted sigh and held his hand up in defense. "Look. I don't give a shit if someone goes through gender reassignment. I'm glad the new laws passed, but higher ups still have their doubts. It's not like I want to write these damn reports."

"Right. Well, Horstmann has always performed excellently in any situation. I'm sure their time in the Marines has a lot to do with it, but nonetheless, his transitioning never once hindered his ability to do his job."

Lemmons seemed to agree, patting Shota on the shoulder. "Alright. Let's gather what we can here and get back to the precinct. I want reports about this filled out by all officers involved asap."

With a curt nod he returned the pat on Lemmons' shoulder.

They spent a few hours there trying to get what they could out of the wrecked building and brought the surviving gang members to be treated for their wounds and interrogated.

—--------------