"Drop your Poké Balls and cease all resistance! We guarantee your personal safety!"
"Stop fighting! Don't make a pointless sacrifice! If you die, your bosses will just keep living in luxury while no one mourns for you!"
"Team Snagem accepts all prisoners! Those who surrender will have their lives and property protected!"
Loudspeakers were stationed at every major intersection, broadcasting surrender appeals into the district on a constant loop. The tens of thousands of civilians living in these streets weren't just a herd of sheep, Team Snagem had to ensure the general populace wouldn't "assist the villains." Their goal was to clear the area as much as possible so the official combat members wouldn't get bogged down in messy, collateral-heavy skirmishes.
The Snarl Gang, however, had already anticipated these tactics. They rounded up the peripheral civilians and forcibly moved them toward the inner sectors. Under normal circumstances of not having any traitors, Roki's division could have held out for a long time using these people as leverage.
Unfortunately for them, the Gemat Division was a step ahead. Having already turned a large number of people, Gemat's moles took the lead in surrendering, walking toward Team Snagem's lines from various points across the three districts.
A massive tide of civilians began trickling out of the streets, their faces etched with terror. They walked tentatively under the watchful eyes of Gemat's men, clearly not there by choice.
But as Team Snagem followed through on their promises of securing their safety, respecting their belongings, and properly settling families, the tension naturally began to dissolve.
Then, Team Snagem turned the tables. They asked the refugees to join the surrender effort.
In an instant, "model citizens" were hand-picked and propped up as examples. Under Snagem's direction, they spoke into the sound systems, calling out to friends and family still inside. The sound of genuine, tearful pleas proved more effective than any cold military broadcast, and many inside began to waver.
Of course, Roki's loyalists weren't about to let everyone just walk away. To them, these people were meat shields and auxiliary labor, every person held inside bought them time against a Snagem breach.
Team Snagem knew Roki wouldn't just release everyone. The primary goal of the broadcasts was psychological warfare, to divide the civilians and peripheral members from the core loyalists. By poisoning the internal atmosphere, they were creating structural cracks they could later exploit.
Simultaneously, the strike teams moved to secure vital infrastructure. Water was cut. Power was severed. Medical supplies were intercepted. By ensuring no resources could flow in from the outside, Team Snagem prepared for a war of attrition.
Swarms of drones flew into the district. Though many were quickly shot down by the Snarl Gang, they exploded into clouds of leaflets as they fell. To ensure even the illiterate understood, the leaflets were covered in simple, clear illustrations depicting the path to surrender.
The peripheral members of the Roki Division were the primary targets. Thanks to Gemat's covert meddling, many of these men were already looking for an exit strategy. Unlike the founding members, these newer recruits joined for profit, not loyalty. Now that their "company" was being dismantled by a superior force, none of them were interested in going down with the ship.
(TL: will use Snarl and Jackal interchangeably)
Working for the Jackal Gang was just a job, working for Team Snagem would be the same. All they needed was a gentle shove, and the crumbling skyscraper of the Jackal Gang would topple. Every move Snagem made was aimed at cutting away the "final straw" these men were clinging to.
Peripheral Snagem members began clearing the outer buildings abandoned by the Jackal Gang, checking for stragglers or hidden tunnels.
Kashiwagi, as part of the strike team, carried a heavy mission: seize the district's high ground. This was the key to total battlefield awareness.
Because they lacked the manpower to simply flood every alleyway, Snagem deployed a thick screen of smog across the district. Under this cover, Kashiwagi and Otsuka donned Jackal Gang uniforms, intending to slip through the chaos and take the target building. From there, they would control the airspace, communications, and line of sight for the entire sector.
----
"Stay close. Don't panic", Kashiwagi whispered to a visibly tense Otsuka.
"Right!" Otsuka nodded, clutching a strange piece of machinery to his chest.
While wearing Jackal uniforms provided a layer of deception, Kashiwagi knew it was a pipe dream to think they could fool everyone. Charging into an enemy-occupied district with just two people was borderline suicidal.
However, Kashiwagi was grateful for one thing: the Orre region lacked firearms. He didn't have to worry about a sniper taking his head off from three hundred yards away. That said, there would be plenty of improvised explosives. Things like the flashbangs Kashiwagi used wouldn't kill him through his protective gear, but they'd certainly leave him dazed and vulnerable.
"Go, go, go! We'll provide cover with the drones!" a voice shouted in his earpiece.
Kashiwagi and Otsuka lunged into the smoke. Kashiwagi held a handheld scanner that functioned like a localized radar, constantly pinging the target location.
They hadn't gone far when a terrifying explosion lit the horizon. Even through the thick white fog, Kashiwagi could see a massive plume of black smoke rising in the distance. It looked like the power station, one of the Jackal Gang's most defended assets. Whether the facility was destroyed or not, the blast would amplify the panic of those trapped inside.
If Kashiwagi could just install the portable signal tower Otsuka was carrying onto the highest point of this district, they would seize control of the information flow. The rest would fall like dominoes.
Pushing through the last of the smoke, they emerged onto a wide, eerily quiet street.
Truth be told, the Jackal Gang was inferior to Team Snagem in almost every way, and this street proved it. Though there were restaurants, bars, and dance halls, the atmosphere felt oppressive and cramped. The walls were grey and crumbling, sewage pooled in the gutters, and trash was piled high on every uneven corner.
Kashiwagi recalled the gaunt, malnourished look of the civilians he'd seen earlier. Was this a neighborhood or a labor camp? This was supposedly one of the wealthier districts under Roki's control, yet it looked like a trashcan.
It wasn't hard to imagine the level of exploitation the Jackal Gang practiced. It made sense why they were the kind of scum who didn't even spare the elderly or children. Under such high-pressure tyranny, Kashiwagi found it hard to believe there weren't people inside who shared his desire for change. But if they existed, they weren't in his assigned sector, or Frobo would have mentioned them.
The two of them moved quickly along the base of the walls, eyes darting around. Perhaps the smoke from the power station had drawn most of the Jackal members away, as their progress was remarkably smooth. No ambushes, no attacks.
However, just as the target building came into view and Otsuka began to relax, Kashiwagi suddenly reached out and blocked his path.
"Shh. Someone's there."
Kashiwagi lowered his voice, pointing toward several deliberate pieces of cover surrounding the building entrance. He then tapped the screen of his device.
The Jackal members might have thought they were well-hidden, but they had underestimated the power of high-tech life-sign detectors. While it couldn't tell him exactly how many enemies were there, the "living heat" pings were enough of a warning.
Otsuka's eyes widened. "What do we do?"
"We fight our way in, obviously", Kashiwagi said, reaching for a Poké Ball.
Otsuka looked at the building, then gritted his teeth. "Wait! I have an idea!"