Special Assault Team

The Special Assault Teams (特殊急襲部隊 Tokushu Kyūshū Butai) are police tactical units of the Japanese Police.

They are established in urban Prefectural Police departments supervised by the National Police Agency. The SAT is national-level counter-terrorism asset cooperating with territorial-level Anti-Firearms Squads and Counter-NBC Terrorism Squads. Most information on the unit has been confidential, its existence officially revealed only in 1996. SAT is officially known in Japanese as simply Special Unit (特殊部隊 Tokushu Butai) and individual teams officially take the name of the Metropolitan or Prefectural police departments to which they are assigned; an example would be Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Special Unit ) for the SAT unit assigned to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.

Battle vs Snow Leopard Commando Unit
Alternate universe

This is Tokyo. A once beautiful and happy metropolis, now in ruins. Nothing more than a battleground for a tug of war where men wash off blood with more blood. This is Tokyo, or at least what remains of it. Following continuous high tensions between China and Japan, the two countries have finally turned their attention to military conclusions. None can name all the countries that used this as an opportunity to settle their grudges against old foes. The world is not the same anymore, and many know it will never be. Here, once again, a battle will be fought. A battle of the chosen. A battle of the best. A battle of the elite. The only survivors will be…

THE DEADLIEST WARRIORS!

SAT: 5

A squadron of five Special Assault Team members walk cautiously in the ruined district of Akasaka, a place once known for the wealth of its inhabitants. The special operation members advance in this place they once knew, cautiously checking for Chinese forces. Seeing the path is clear, they advance, still cautious. One SAT member checks the display glass of a broken down fashion shop and remembers the days when he used to come here with his wife. A torn apart red dress is still on a mannequin. Another member sees the subway station he used to go to school as a teenager. The captain looks around and feels saddened by all of this devastation that struck his country.

“奴らめ、絶対に許さん．．．(I’ll never forgive them…)”

“隊長！あそこ！(Captain, over there!)”

SLC: 5

Meanwhile, a squadron of five Snow Leopard Commandos scout the devastated city of Tokyo. Even though they’re enemies, one of the commandos can’t help but feel sorry for the state of the city. He used to watch a lot of anime back in China and respected Japanese culture despite the high tensions between his country and theirs. Another member looks around the ruins and compares it to the image of Tokyo which he had in his head. The scenery he had in mind was that of a city filled with people and vigor, but instead, this was what was left of it. He felt conflicted: this was incredibly brutal and violent, but at the same time demonstrated what China could do when on the military offensive. As they continue their scouting mission, however, they come across “unwanted” attention.

"队长，那边！(Captain, there!)”

“发现敌人，所有士兵都在位！(Enemies spotted, all soldier in position!)”

The two sides, spotting each-other, open fire with their weapons. A Snow Leopard is hit in the shoulder before he manages to get to cover while a SAT is hit in the leg. A Chinese sniper rushes towards a ruined building as a Japanese one does the same. The two sides now exchange fire while staying under the cover of broken building debris and walls. A Chinese soldier leans out of his wall to try to take aim, but is quickly shot in the head by a Japanese armed with a Howa type 89.

SLC: 4

As they keep exchanging shots, the Japanese sniper manages to get to the top of the building and fires at the wounded Snow Leopard, piercing through his helmet and head, killing him instantly. However, he is quickly shot in the head by his rival sniper, who then proceeds to snipe a Japanese special police member.

SLC: 3

SAT: 3

The SLCU start retreating between tall buildings, forcing the SAT to chase them. The sniper moves to the other side of the building to keep his eyes on the Japanese SWAT and opens a window to peek his rifle out. A commando turns around and fires his QSZ pistol, hitting a SAT in the shoulder. The commandos then resume their escape as the Japanese make a pause to look after their wounded. The Chinese sniper aims his QBU rifle, but then notices only two SAT members are present. As he wonders where the other one went, the Japanese who vanished, who also happened to be the one wounded in the leg, approaches the room in which the sniper is from a corridor, USP-45 pistol in hand. He slowly approaches the sniper and enters the room, but accidentally knocks the door against the wall, causing the sniper to turn around and fire his type 79 submachine gun. The SAT takes cover behind the wall separating the corridor and the room and fires his pistol, which the SLC avoids by kicking a table and taking cover behind it. The Japanese, seeing this, grabs his H&K submachine gun and fires a barrage, which causes the sniper to pinned behind his cover. Using this as an opportunity, the Japanese police runs in. As the Chinese hears his footsteps and throws a punch, the SAT quickly counters and uses the strike against him with an ippon-seoi nage throw, bashing him against the ground. He then shoots his foe in the face with his smg. With the enemy sniper dead, he gets to the window and sends a sign to his friends, who continue advancing without the risk of getting sniped.

SLC: 2

The two other SAT members keep running, but find themselves in a dead end. As they wonder where the SLC went, they’re attacked from behind by the Chinese commandos, who amerge from a narrow alley and fire their QBZ-95 assault rifles, killing one of the Japanese and downing the other. The commandos get close to their incapacitated opponent and one of them shoots him in the nape with his pistol.

SAT: 1

The SLC members then walk towards the building where their sniper was hidden to check up on him. However, as soon as they enter the room, they’re met with shots from H&K submachine gun of the SAT operative, killing one of the commandos while the other manages to get to safety behind the wall.

SLC: 1

Both soldiers breathe slowly and deeply, knowing all of their friends are dead. This would be it. This would be the last kill of the battle. The SLC jumps out of cover and shoots the H&K out of the SAT’s hand. The latter draws his own pistol, but the Chinese special policeman closes in and grabs his hand before he can fire. The Japanese manages to dislodge himself but is forced to drop his gun. He takes a judo stance as his rival takes a wushu one and the two warriors circle each other in the room. The SCU is the first to lash out with a violent series of punches, which the SAT starts blocking and counterattacking with his own, which the Chinese also blocks, resulting in an ORAMUDA situation. The Snow Leopard throws a kick at his foe’s face, which is backstepped. The Chinese stays on the offensive, throwing attack after attack as the Japanese keeps redirecting them away from him. The two sides eventually pause their attacks to regain their stamina, but this time the Japanese throws a series of attacks using his judo training, which the Chinese starts dodging and blocking. A quick seiken tsuki in the stomach makes the Chinese back off in pain, but before he can inflict further pain, the Special Assault operative is grabbed by the collar and thrown to the ground. He, however, manages to ukemi to minimize the damage and frees himself from the grip. Both policemen are already panting, tired from the continued battle. However, the SLC attacks again, and the SAT starts defending once more. He is however hit with a quick upward strike in the helmet, knocking it off, which is followed by a punch in the side of the jaw. The SAT backs off and regains his stance before grabbing his enemy’s arm and throwing him into a knocked down table, smashing it to pieces. This time, however, the SAT runs to grab his dropped USP. Just as the SLC manages to get up, he’s shot in the head with the pistol. The SAT keeps shooting until he runs out of bullets, before raising his weapon in the air.

“日本万歳！(Hurrah for Japan!)”

SLC: 0

He shouts in victory, but at the same time, seeing the light of nationalism still alight in his foe’s eyes, he remembers they were in the same boat as him the whole time. It was only because of the war that they had to fight, and should the situation have been different, they might have been good drinking partners. Forget that, the whole two teams could have gotten drunk together. It was simply saddening that they had to fight like this. Plus, this battle was nothing but an unimportant skirmish between scouting teams which would have no impact on the war whatsoever. However, he was a SAT member. He had the determination to kill and die for the country ever since he joined the team. He puts his pistol back in its holster and contacts the main Japanese forces, informing them that the sector was now clear.

Expert’s opinion
Both paramilitary forces were extremely skilled and deadly in combat and very evenly matched, but only one could prevail in the end. At the end of the day, the Japanese’s better training thanks to cooperation with other countries’ special police forces, as well as their better knowledge of the environment gave them the slight edge they needed.

To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here.