Station Square Hostage Crisis

The **Station Square Hostage Crisis** was a battle that took place during Episodes 1 and 2 of *V2 Universe*. The crisis was initially a feud instigated by the Vultures against the Sunrise Empire, as payback for the kidnapping of some of their best members; the feud spiraled out of control once the captured Vultures were freed, which led to a hostage plan by the Vultures as part of a bid to get back at both Sunrise and the Central City police. The Vultures were ultimately stopped by the Vincent Five and Sunrise. This battle was, notably, the instigator for the Awakening of Callista Paige's Code.

## Battle Synopsis

*Disclaimer:* *Due to the differing, alternative nature of V2 Universe's timeline, all dates and times mentioned here are in reference to the television show's world history rather than the film series' chronology. Bear this in mind throughout.*

The hostage crisis began during a small battle between Sunrise and GUN in Central City. Under Warren's personal command, the Sunrise soldiers were searching for a chemical weapon stored in one of GUN's repositories. At the exact same time of Sunrise's ambush (wherein they killed every GUN soldier on site), the Vultures decided to raid the very repository as well in search of weapons and equipment. Seizing an opportunity, the Sunrise soldiers killed half of the Vultures there and kidnapped the rest, which led local authorities to believe the shootout was one between GUN and the Vultures. As a result of this, Sunrise's involvement in the incident remained a mystery. The kidnapped Vultures were escorted to one of Sunrise's prison and espionage facilities in the Greenland Territories.

Word quickly spread to the Vultures that several of their members had been killed and kidnapped, which eventually led to a violent shootout in the streets between Warren's forces and the Vultures. At the same time, the kidnapped Vultures had managed to bust out of prison and began fighting their way out of the facility - the Vulture escapees managed to steal an APC and the GUN chemical weapon before driving back to Central City. During all of this, the Vultures' ringleader, Kellan, created a plan, intending to use civilian hostages at the train station as a way to force the police into giving them information about Sunrise.

Callista Paige, the new transfer student at Amber Academy, was caught in the crossfire between Warren's forces and the Vultures. After seeing the Vultures blow up a row of parked cars, she decided to pursue two escaping Vultures, intending to bring them to justice. She got into a standalone scuffle with the two gang members, a scuffle that she wins by the skin of her teeth. Upon running away from the scene, however, Callie was unfortunate enough to stumble onto Mission Street, one of the Vultures' personal turfs. Charlie, one of the Vultures' street captains, was prepared to execute Callie before the Vincent Five swooped in at the last second to save the day, wiping the floor with the Vulture squads on Mission Street and saving Callie's life. During this scuffle, Kellan's forces seized control of the train station and began listing their demands to the police: the people's lives in exchange for their records on Siegfried Wulfstan and the Sunrise Empire.

Due to the lack of time and the danger of the streets, the Vincent Five were forced to bring Callie along with them in their hectic, violent drive towards the train station, dispatching numerous Vulture goons along the way. Yuri Mobius notably utilized his Geass during this chase, using his heightened auditory perception to reveal the Vultures' whereabouts to his teammates. The Central City police remained barricaded outside of the train station, with Kim Colomar asking for information on a 'Siegfried' to a junior officer that turned out to be a Sunrise agent in disguise.

Once the Vincent Five arrived at Station Square, V2 brainstormed a plan with the Vincents, deciding to use the Vultures' demands for the names of a largely-unknown group to his advantage. He carefully got the Vincents in place in the train station. V2 approached Kellan's men - Kellan was quick to grab a hostage, Camilla Winters, threatening to kill her if V2 made any wrong moves. V2 kept Kellan distracted, which gave Canis and Candy Clairet time to sneak around and quietly free some of the hostages.

Hana was ordered to take Callie back home now that the coast was relatively clear; Callie was about to get into the Charlotte with Hana before hearing from the Class 2-V group chat that her friend, Camilla Winters, was reportedly in the train station at that very moment. Unable to sit by while her friend's life was at stake, Callie ran into the train station against Hana's calls, determined to save Camille's life.

V2 offered to give Kellan the "names" of the Sunrise "gang" leaders personally, provided he and his forces let the hostages go unharmed. V2, however, was completely in the dark about Sunrise's very existence, let alone their personnel; he gambled on the Vultures' mutual ignorance and the street cred of the Vincent Five's intelligence network to back up his offer. V2 pretended to jot down the names of half of the Sunrise higher-ups in a notebook, making up some names off the top of his head before handing it to Kellan. The names were believably absurd (and Britannian) - Kellan's men were convinced that "no man could make this shit up".

Kellan, however, was not completely satisfied - he demanded to know Siegfried's last name. V2, hesitating, was taken aback by hearing Siegfried's name for the first time in years. Callie made it inside of the train station at that moment - once her eyes landed on Kellan threatening Camille with a gun, the moment was traumatizing and fear-inducing enough to fully awaken Callie's Code. Callie was in such a state of shock and duress that she even managed to access her Overdrive Point right from the start - this caused her to transform into her iconic Magical Girl attire. Fueled by sheer rage, Callie charged into the fray and completely annihilated the Vultures within, saving the hostages. This, however, completely sapped her of her energy and strength once the moment had passed - this causes Callie to pass out.

Thanks to Callie and the Vincent Five's efforts, the police were able to secure the hostages and detain the remaining Vultures in Station Square. Other Vulture parties stationed around Central City were taken out by small Sunrise units and the police; Naomi and Roy Elliston worked together to take down the third of the Vultures' Top 3 commanders, with Naomi delivering the final shot before bidding Roy good night and regrouping with the rest of her team. The pilot of the Warlord also assisted in the city's cleanup of the Vultures.

The three Vultures that had escaped from Kaguya and Shiro's clutches arrived in Central City with the stolen APC and chemical weapon intact - they had not gotten word about Kellan's defeat, and were intending to continue with the hostage plan. Right as they reached the back of Station Square, however, Warren blew out the APC's tires and surrounded the crashed vehicle, leading to the escapees' capture once again. Due to exceptional timing on Sunrise's part, they managed to obscure their involvement in this conflict, once again.

## Aftermath

This battle officially marked the downfall and eventual erasure of the Vultures as a viable threat. The Vultures' top three commanders were either taken out or detained by the Vincent Five, and both the police and Sunrise managed to mop up the rest of the stragglers. GUN's chemical weapon wound up back in the clutches of Sunrise. The three Vulture prisoners were brought forth to Siegfried at Bismarck Castle. After insulting the Vultures' very existence, Siegfried executed the two male prisoners and offered the girl to his guards as a gift. As a result of this battle, Callista Paige would officially join the Vincent Five as an agent-in-training.