It had been a few weeks since Raven Squad had returned to the base. Samantha was still healing but she was feeling more functional. She could move better. She was still undergoing some physical therapy to help prevent scar tissue from tightening up and messing up her range of motion. She was also having to recover some muscle conditioning. The skin grafts had sealed well. Samantha had some ugly burn scars. The red spidery veins that were Lichtenberg Scars were fading. The ugly bright red lines had faded away and were almost gone. Just the faintest hint of pink lines remained. Samantha had been struggling to come to terms with her experience on the blimp when she had been dying. She was consumed with the message they had given her.

There had been no word from intelligence about Rose’s activities. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. Everyone was so happy to have stopped the virus, it was like they forgot or dismissed Rose now that it had been neutralized. Samantha had looked into Rose’s eyes and feared for the world. That woman would absolutely try to destroy the world just so she could have the last word. She couldn’t help the driving anxiety that made her fear what Rose’s next move would be. It was driving her crazy that she had heard nothing about what Raven was doing to track her down. The leaders kept telling her that she needed to focus on getting better and not worry about it. How do you NOT worry about it when your dead parents and grandfather tell you that you are not allowed to join them yet in the afterlife because the world needs you?

Samantha’s ADHD had never been so bad. Samantha felt as if her skin was going to come off if she didn’t do something. She couldn’t sit still. Sophie had already yelled at her more than once for pushing her recovery and trying to move too fast. Sophie didn’t want her to be so physically active just yet. She wanted Samantha to build up to it. Samantha couldn’t help feeling that time was running out. So before she had been cleared by the good doctor, she began to run around the base to help regain her stamina. Then in true Skye fashion, she ignored the doctor and began adding in parkour moves. She pushed her body harder and harder. She had a driving need to be ready when the call came.

This morning she had Duke and Chuck running with her. Chuck’s long legs allowed him to keep up with her easily. Duke seemed to think it was a game as he followed Sam as she bounced off the side of buildings and jumped over fences. He barked excitedly as he followed her lead by jumping from one side of a building to the other to go up onto the roof and then back down again. She laughed as she realized Duke had followed her. She stopped for a moment as laughing took her breath away. She shook her head and praised Duke giving him a loving rub behind the ears. Samantha realized it was the first time she had laughed in a while. She had been so subdued and withdrawn. It was a wonder that other members of Raven Squad who knew her well hadn’t sought her out to see what was going on. She laid her forehead against Duke’s as she continued to pet him and scratch behind his ears.

Chuck had noticed Samantha had been different since the team had come back from the op on the blimp. He didn’t know her very well yet but he could see she was struggling. It didn’t take a genius to know that almost dying on the last op had impacted her. He had noticed the dark circles under her eyes that said she was not sleeping. He noticed that she had started running again. He knew she usually ran much farther. He figured it was her way of easing back into things. He had asked if he and Duke could keep her company on her runs. He had been passing sickbay when Sophie had chewed her out for overdoing it. She had torn one of her skin grafts open on the edge and Sophie had to close it again. Samantha had been serious after Japan but he had never seen her restless. She had always seemed to have energy and be in motion but it had always had a positive edge to it before. Now there was an almost desperate edge to it. He had asked if he and Duke could accompany her so that he could keep an eye on her. He was hoping she would open up to him. He could tell something was eating at her.

Chuck had stopped to see what was going on. It hadn’t surprised him that Duke had followed Samantha up onto the roof. What had surprised him was that Duke managed to work his way down the same way. That was a new trick for him. Chuck smiled as he saw Samantha kneeling with her forehead pressed to Duke’s. Duke was panting with his tongue lolling out. He gave a happy bark and began to lick Samantha’s face. Chuck couldn’t help but laugh as Samantha began to sputter and tell Duke she didn’t want dog kisses. Chuck let it go on a little longer before calling Duke to heel. He realized that was the first time he had heard Samantha laugh in days. Duke quickly came to Chuck’s side and sat down wagging his tail. He looked up at Chuck and barked as if he was telling him. Yep. See I made her laugh. I did good! Chuck shook his head chuckling as he looked over at Samantha who was pushing up onto her feet.

Chuck gave her a smile as she wiped doggy drool off her chin with her sleeve. “Everyone always thinks Duke is all cute and fluffy till he shows him teeth or gives some doggy affection. That was his way of saying thanks for playing with him.” He gave Samantha a smile. “Thanks for teaching him a new move. I don’t think I have seen him do that before.”

Samantha rose to her feet and gave Chuck a smile. “Duke is fun to have around. I was surprised that he followed me up onto the roof. I didn’t expect that.”

Chuck nodded at Duke. “He is an exceptional canine. I can tell he was having fun. He took chasing you as a form of play. I am not surprised that he learned how. He has always caught on to physical moves pretty quickly.”

Samantha nodded and brushed Duke across the ears once more. “He truly is a magnificent animal. I can see why you take him running with you. “

Chuck gave Samantha a warm look that became a little more serious. “Samantha I have noticed that you have been… struggling since you came back from the last op. Do you want to talk about it? I understand you had a close call. That would rock anyone’s confidence.”

Samantha gave Chuck a frustrated look tinged with guilt. She looked at Chuck’s earnest face and sighed. She looked away into the distance as she contemplated whether he would understand. She shrugged and began to pace, unable to stand still in one spot. She began to walk the path they had been taking on their run. Chuck and Duke walked at her side. Samantha began trying to explain her feelings. She knew he would keep dogging her till she spilled what was on her mind. She had seen him do it with other team members.

“Chuck I literally died. My heart stopped from the electricity. Skye had to give me CPR and shock my heart into beating again. While she was giving me CPR…”

She trailed off unsure whether she should trust Chuck with this. He had asked though. She could tell he wanted to help. She sighed in frustration and resignation. She suspected he wouldn’t let it go if she didn’t talk to him.

“When she was giving me CPR, I found myself in this peaceful place and found my parents and grandfather talking to me. They told me it was not my time to join them. They told me that I needed to save the world. That I had to come back.”

She stopped and looked Chuck in the eyes. “My mother died when I was very young. My father and adopted grandfather died in the terrorist attack at Angel Stadium. They are all dead Chuck. I miss them so much it hurts to breathe sometimes. It was peaceful and I was surrounded by people who loved me. I sensed if I stayed they would be with me forever. I could lay down all this pain and struggle. But they told me I couldn't and that I had to come back. We may have stopped the neurotoxin but Rose is still out there. We have no idea what she is planning, but I feel it deep in my gut Chuck. She is planning something else. It will probably be worse this time. That woman doesn’t care if the world burns. And we are here doing nothing!”

She was almost screaming in frustration now as tears ran down her face as she tried her best to contain these strong almost toxic emotions. She expected Chuck to call her crazy and report her as unstable to the leadership. She turned on her heel and took off running, trying to outrun how she was feeling. Maybe if she ran far enough and hard enough, she would sleep tonight. Maybe she would be so exhausted that she didn’t dream that her parents were calling to her and telling her that time was running out.

Chuck could hear the depth of pain and loss in her voice. He could almost feel the frustration that seemed to roll off her in waves. He was surprised by the depth of emotion that Samantha was sharing. She had always come across as a deep thinker. She only showed her deeper thoughts and feelings to a chosen few. She would laugh, joke, and smile but she always kept conversation light hearted and usually had to do with the mission. He was shocked that she told him everything. He hadn’t expected that. No wonder she was struggling. Who wouldn’t feel the pressure of the entire universe if your dead parents came and told you that you had to save the world and it wasn’t over yet after they had already neutralized the toxin.

He could see the moment pass in her eyes when she got embarrassed. Samantha took off like a shot. Damn she was fast! Duke barked and took off after her thinking their game was resuming. Chuck swore and took off after her. Luckily he had much longer legs. He caught up to her about a hundred yards away. She tried to pull away but Chuck easily overpowered her and pulled her into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and just held her as she sobbed her heart out. Chuck sighed and just held her as the violent sobs wracked her body. It took some time before her emotional storm was finally spent. Chuck waited knowing that she wouldn’t be able to understand him until she calmed down. He understood her emotions were in complete control at the moment. That was dangerous for an active operative. He had seen others try to cope with trauma on their own. Men were the worst for pushing down and not talking about it. They want everyone to think they are okay. He was surprised that he didn’t think that was what was going on with Samantha. Chuck was patient and waited till the tears had stopped and she had finally gone from hiccuping sobs and unable to catch her breath to breathing calmly.

Samantha was embarrassed. She had been feeling like a grenade with the pin pulled ready to explode at any moment. At the moment she felt like an exhausted wet noodle, her body felt weak. She knew she sounded crazy and manic. She couldn’t stop the feeling that she needed to be doing something. She can’t believe she told Chuck of all people. Chuck was the steady reliable one in the team. Chuck was Mr. All American in giant form.

Chuck released Samantha’s body from his tight hug. He used a finger to gently tilt her head back so he could look down into her eyes. “Samantha, that is a lot of pressure to put on yourself. I accept that you had this experience and that it was very real for you. You are feeling compelled to act based on that experience. That makes sense. But Sam, you are doing what you need to be doing. You can’t save the world if you are edgy and exhausted and still recovering because you are pushing yourself too hard to heal right the first time. You know that Raven leadership is following up on all leads in regards to Rose’s whereabouts trying to find her.”

Samantha blinked in surprise. She had not expected that. She frowned in confusion and then sighed in frustration. “I know they are looking for her but they are not sharing any updates with us. I have this deep seated feeling of dread and like we are running out of time. I am having dreams where my parents are telling me time is running out. I feel like I need to do more.”

Chuck’s head tilted to one side as he thought about that. “Well you have to agree with me that we need you ready for action. You are not healing because you are pushing too fast. Yes?”

Samantha had to concede that he had a point. “I know you are right. It is hard to sit still though. I need something to do. Something to focus on.”

Chuck smiled as he had the perfect solution. “Well there is practically nothing left of my armor. I wonder if there was this amazingly talented person who could design and build me a new set?” Chuck raised an eyebrow at her.

Samantha gasped and jumped up and down in excitement with a big beautiful beaming smile on her face. She jumped up and kissed Chuck on the cheek before jumping down. “Chuck! That’s it! I need to be getting the team’s gear ready for our next mission.” She was so excited her hands were flapping in the air and she took off running back towards the base. “Thanks Chuck! I will see you later for fittings!”

Chuck watched her run off with an amused expression. He looked down at Duke who was turning his head from side to side as if he was trying to decide if he should take off after her. Chuck just gave him a hand sign and laughed as he and Duke started running again. He at least could finish getting his workout in. He would explain to Freya about getting kissed by Sam and the hug. He would hate for her to hear it from someone else and it gets misconstrued as anything other than him helping a teammate out.

---

Samantha had gone back to her room and showered and changed. She then went to go to find the quartermaster. She needed to repair her laptop. It had taken some damage from the electrical surge. It had been hardened against that kind of thing but it still damaged some of the components. Sam took the parts she needed back to her room and used her tools to repair her laptop. She then settled in to do some research. She needed to design new armor for some of her teammates. She needed to replace some weapons. She would need to redesign her armor once again. Skye needed something new as well. Ban had been a friendly and welcome presence that reminded her of her grandparents. She wanted to do something nice for him too.

Samantha was still recovering but there was modern machinery to take some of the physicality out of what she needed to do. She had done some digging on a new compound alloy that had a ceramic base with an metal alloy mixed into it that gave a safe, heat resistance, lightweight, very strong armor. The caveat was that the structural integrity of the ceramalloy preferred curves to sharp edges. The alloy was being considered as the plating for the next space shuttle. Sam liked the layered armor as it provided additional protection and environmental controls. She wanted to redesign the hard exoskeleton that provided the heavy armor protection. She wanted something stronger and lighter for that material. She also wanted something that wouldn’t be as conductive. She would have been alright with Rose’s trap if the electricity had not arced from the floor attracted to circuitry and the heavy armor exoskeleton on the surface of her armor. This new alloy was not very conductive and would be more resistant to electrical attacks. Samantha worked late into the night drawing and setting up schematics for new armor, new weapons, and new technology for the team. She fell asleep curled up around her laptop.

Sam didn’t wake up until almost noon the following day. She had finally slept through the night. Now that she was doing something necessary and constructive she felt better. She sighed and stretched. She went right back to work designing everything she wanted to make. Then she would go talk to the Blue Sword armor smiths and technicians to help her make it.

Ban stirred somemore noodles in one of the pots, the meat popping and cooking. He tended it all like a master. As he cooked he looked to Sam and nodded. He turns the heat down so nothing burns. And gives Sam his entire attention.

He nods slowly, "The Kami know when our time is to come. Not before, or after. The exact moment. Your ancestors and your loved ones knew it was not your time. And the Kami did too." He nods and bows taking her hands softly, "You have much work to do still." He smiles, "There is no shame in having seen the Kami and your ancestors and then sent back to the land of the living. It shows the strength of your soul."

He nods, "Use this chance well. Turn this into a chance to make your count better in the next chance!" He reaches to his hip and draws the Kingo Blade free with a clean smooth move, "Your soul has been honed from this like the edge of a sword! Yosh I can only hope to be here to see what else you can do! I wish to know the strength of your soul, like the edge of a sword you have been given a chance to part the darkness that has been put before us. Just a my blade is here to cut the cancer free of any who stand before us. Your mind and your hand will be the wise edge that leads us through." He slowly slides his sword away dramatically, the scabbard and the guard of his sword meeting each other with a click.

Ban nods, "Use this, take that fear, take this new view and forge it into your own blade. You are great now. You will be incredible." He bows, "Take it from someone who has also seen the Kami. This will only give you more ability to carry on."

He nods, "Ah but enough hard stuff. More food?" He holds up some of the food, and offers to refill her plate.

---

---

The rainy scene outside the modernist villa poured on down, revealing little of the landscape.

"Rose. We have a thin window of time. And you think it will work?" The voice was Spectre's, clearly the Dane's reservations still holding. In a white woolen pullover sweater and a pair of tights, the doppelganger to Skye seemed as pointed as her own sister, or genetic copy would be, brushing her red hair aside as she leaned up in the chair.

"We do. They know I'm alive. And, they know I have you. Sooner we move, the better."

"Does it change anything?"

"Not like that stopped them before." The redhead turned, sighing, Christian's thoughts pointed on the events of the last 72 hours. The events that had unfolded not quite the way anyone imagined. This should have been the end. They'd been prepared, geared for it, and yet right now, here they were, everyone alive, everyone hunting them, the dream of a future moulded by Artemis, unfulfilled. It felt cartoonish evil, but then again, to them, it was a world that they believed in like the sun rising to achieve, given how far they'd gone so far. And to Rose, it was more than a little bit personal.

"So, I never got to ask. This is the part of the film where you didn't get your way, so you suggest some insane shit....even for what I know we want. You kidnapped me and let them torture me so you would have your way inside Artemis. Screwed everything we worked for, all my friends for twenty years, because I let you inside something forbidden. Then you rescue me, as if to prove your point and letting Raven dismantle the remains of Artemis? And you had a perfect moment to kill all of them after that, and you squandered it on your own pride. So, if you're going to rip me apart, I'd like to die knowing why I held out. Either we disappear into the shadows, or look like we're going to be arrested, or killed." Christian sat up in the reclined chair he was in, looking out at the night sky beyond, and the redhead he wanted to take to task. The original plan was one thing, but now what was next, it had to live up to that.

Rose exhaled hard, looking back, coughing a little, a gentle splutter as she walked across, sitting down.

"My father was a great, great man. Even if he never disclosed it, in me, I suppose they came true. He must have had a vision, a design of utopia that just can't be understood when you see it from the lens you see society normally. Bigger than you, or Pavel, or anyone. No. He had an idea that doesn't die, in me. Once you taste a bit of immortality, even the pain, the screams, agony, all of it, makes you realise just how it all interconnects. When you've got an AI that parses bits of you back together, you start to see the trends in the numbers, in nature, in humanity. And look at it. Every piece of the problem we made, all of this ruins itself worse than anything we can control. If not by a design, this will all fade into bits. You all believe that in Artemis. Except for you, because you invited me along, seeing something greater, even if you didn't know. You are a believer in what needs to be actually done, Christian. That's why you stay." Rose remarked, sitting at the end of the sofa. She continued, knowing this was a reminder to him. But a pointed one.

"You believe that this consumption, this continuous use cannot continue. Yet how many billionaires backed Artemis quietly? Pavel is just the highest profile. All of them bought estates in Argentina, Yukon, Norway, just waiting for the end. Waiting for it, because they have to tell themselves their doomsday bunkers were more than tax-write offs. But that is part of the problem. You know that deep down too. Billionaires use, contribute, make more emissions than thousands would even do so themselves, and feudalise the world as they see fit, perpetuating the very system that leads them to destroy it worse, like the waves eroding the bedrocks of the castle they chose to build at the shore. It contributed to me, made me even, and now you look at what you have got." She paused for breath, as if addressing Christian's own origins, Artemis in whole, and perhaps, the wider world beyond the window.

"You're the worst hypocrisy there is, and money can't even really fix that. So no, the entire thing needs a clean slate. We nearly had it. And we still can. Just means there's no version of me to carry things on. We now have to spin the roulette wheel that society might restart a little better....without my guidance. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. But unlike some of you, I'd die to see it still happen. Better than the alternative at least." Rose's vision was a terrifying one, to say the least. For anyone else, this was outright insanity. But for Christian, he was bought into the ideal.

"Artemis planned on 90% effectiveness. What you and me are.....and were proposing, was to take humanity down to thousands. Without you, I don't see a point now. That was what it was based on. Guiding what came next. Rather than a repeat. Even I agree with you there. But this? This is....this is nothing." Christian replied, as if to almost rebuff, yet check her there. She did not take it kindly.

"And maybe it's what we deserve. Nothing. But then again, Artemis got its power from politicians, ministers, chief executives, terrorists with nothing to lose, and those greedy enough to hoover the money up." Rose mused, sitting up, continuing.

"And you previously, seriously thought you could just eradicate most of civilization, just like that, sweep in, and take everything? Set up some order? Rule the ashes? Please. You don't understand people. You don't understand hurt. You don't understand that the moment you treat human beings like sacks of clay, they start to lose everything that made them what they were. And what they did to me was....well, worse than that. Like an object. Radiation was agony, but then to experience fire, that was the worst. I suppose it's perhaps, like a fable, that I had to be the one to correct all of it. And now, we can't even try and nudge it in the right way. What happens now, is random. Lucky for them that Sol Hestia is relatively painless." Rose's voice pitched, as she continued.

"All great civilizations begin, and end. Perhaps we are now one big civilization that needs something to stop it. We let this go unchecked, and you get a nuclear hellhole when people start running out of water. Oil. Gas. Aluminium. Soil. Lithium. You know the numbers."

"I know the metrics."

"Anything short of a true reset makes this exercise pointless, whether I live or die. None of it works if you keep the population numbers higher to what you wanted before at your 10%, because you'll just keep the thing going and not really effect anything meaningful. You won't be Kings and Queens from your bunkers, or as people fail to bear children as your previous model to sterilise half of the population had in mind. For something like that, you'll be hated. Despised for merely existing on top of them. So no. None of it can exist really. Not our version of life under people like you, and Pavel fucking Andros. So don't sit there pretending you can put your head in the sand. There's nobody to fucking serve you in your doomsday bunker anyway. But we can't bear the alternative either. The status quo buries us deeper." Rose started, a certain shimmer still holding in her voice. As if she was repeating the creed, one more time.

"So we go back to basics. Starting again, anew. It's as if, the person that brewed the thing in my veins knew what they wanted, because the compound doesn't touch the rest of life on earth. As if by fate. It corrects us and starts us anew, able to at least pick some other trajectory, and perhaps a better future comes out of that. Shame I can't live to see it, but, I suppose I know my morals better than some of Artemis did. That I can at least die happy knowing it's still going to happen. It's why you'll be one of few to live in it to see out your remaining days in what happens. In a morbid curiosity, I suppose. Doing what you know is necessary. And because for humanity's sake, we deserve a full reset."

"And you think Zhao is the last key to saving this." Christian replied, with a nod back from Rose confirming that.

"He is. He's the only thing we have left. And, he knows me. Fucking made me. He's the one that....he'll die first once we're through."

"And how exactly, do you plan on turning that key then for someone you intend to kill?"

"That is where you come in. I need some fire to cover the setup to this. He is clever, but not clever enough to understand how this works."

"Rose....we have no assets left. Nothing. Your....sister, copy, if I can call her that, has wiped us out. We lost almost everything in Greenland and Ferrovia Two. Most of our leadership is dead, arrested, or wanting to slink away back into wherever they came from after what you did. Truth bleeds out, and there is nowhere for us to run. Even if your idea works, I don't see us making it long enough to see that dawn of a pest removed."

"A pest that refuses to die. I'm done. Or will you be? He is loyal to Artemis and as far as he knows, just got very high up." Rose asked, threatening in her aura, despite the fact that Christian knew far worse, he had to admit, she could do damage to him.

"I don't have a choice, you make that clear."

"People like you lack what is required, Christian. You may not see that dawn. But that's okay. Artemis was born to die. So be ready to do so, same thing I've been doing all this time. I'll send co-ordinates. Short, sharp, attacks buy us time. We dump the entire Raven file out to the last moles we have in the intelligence communities. They'll be so interested it'll be like sand falling through a sieve." Rose was clear about her method, Christian still having one last comment to make.

"And was she born to die, Rose? You didn't answer my question from earlier. You hesitated. I know what's needed to happen, but tell me you're not going to push things the wrong way. If she exists in it, none of this functions.." Christian asked that, as Rose turned and looked away from the rainy window.

"Skye is incapable of understanding what she is. And she'll never understand just how much worse than me she is. I hoped to reason with her, hoped she'd come through without us breaching the subject....but I suppose that was my final mistake. Never realises she needs to lose it all to become free. I realised she's too far gone....too broken. They made her into what she is. And left me to what I am. And then, there's the matter of...well, there's still a bit of an elephant in the room. She'll get sorted out soon enough." Rose commented, Christian nodding, seeing the text back.

"Zhao will be ready to take the launch site when you are ready." Christian's response gave Rose a certain moment to absorb it, as she sighed deeply, in her own thoughts about what had been said. Doing what she was doing beforehand, that would have been simple, and it all had come together so perfectly. But she'd underestimated Skye and her team. Now, this was the last ditch that Rose had, and that meant she was if anything, even more dangerous. After all, she was on Skye's level now...

---

Ebrima's presence back gave Skye a chuckle, as she responded to him first.
"No, she doesn't. But, doesn't stop me from trying to annoy her." Skye smirked back, watching them all chat, then turning back to Sophie.

"Sophie is good. Shame she can't be here, she's got some other work to do. But, I have a lot of time for her. Just sometimes...you know, I kinda treat it as in one ear, out another. I am lucky to have a good metabolism. And be far too stubborn to die." Skye smirked, looking to Sam, smiling back at her.

"Hell of a set of scars you got there, Sam. But glad to have you in one piece. Seriously happy you're back to things. And while this isn't over....we will make sure it will be soon." She commented, Purna nodding, wrapped up in his warm puffy jacket.

"This whole mess isn't over. I keep sitting here, thinking, the job isn't done. Rose is unpredictable. And have we got any idea of what next?" Purna asked, Adam shaking his head, shrugging.

"Agreed. But all we can do is wait. We all did a good job. Now we just need to hope this plays in the favour we wanted, and either she slips up, or we get to her first." He stoically added, Athena not so keen on even that idea.

"And I'll be smashing her head in when I see her. Fucking bint. Sorry Skye." Athena cursed, Skye giggling.

"I like it when you talk dirty, Athena. Your sister might not." Skye smirked back, as Athena shrugged, knowing Chuck had a glaring look at her, so she responded.

"Look, you could probably guess how these things go...word gets around. Family and all. But words are small things when you have you know, the capability like mine." Athena quite literally flexed on that note, Antti poking the fire a little more and looking across.

"You can't even fit your ego inside of a Volvo, perkele." Antti added, as with it, Skye, Adam and Purna chuckled, Athena shrugging and taking the loss there and then.

On the other hand, Tahlia looked up to Chuck, smiling.

"Pleasure was mine, Chuck. Duke's a cute thing. He is a very good boy." She commented, ruffling his ears, getting a tongue out, huffing from the latent energy Duke still seemed to have, and the affection for being back with his owner again.

---

Adam pushed through the hollow room as Skye followed, clattering a couple more targets, Skye using her exo's enhanced potency to leap forwards in the woodland out of the shack, as Adam clattered a couple of AR-enabled targets with the MSBS, firing blanks as Skye clattered her two. Tahlia followed on Skye's lead raising her L129A1 DMR, clattering a couple more down range, as the Scot moved around the tree, blasting a few ore more rounds down. Skye and Adam's exos had been modified- the former for agility and with an open-face arrangement giving her now almost a ludicrously quick movement and jump ability, the latter having their field generator augmented and bulked up with armour and a grenade-launcher like device on his shoulder, copied but dissimilar to Luisa's. Adam's exo took on a satin black colour, whilst Skye's seemed to have a gentle grey gradient to it, worn in tandem with her MTP fatigues that were now a bit better adapted to the exo's plates and use.

Sharpness was important. And a bit of tactical training to demonstrate all of their new gear, as Athena had her own opportunity to stomp like a rampaging ram through the forest, nearly taking out a tree as she used her jump jet to blast into spot, saving the Tesla coil on her VR targets because she'd already have them out. Purna was joining in and sticking with Tahlia, this exercise a quick demonstration of everything the team had. It was like they were fighting ghosts, because to anyone else, there was nobody in the forest they were firing blanks at, but to the team, the simulated environment was quite vivid in the Finnish forest.

This would be the moment everyone in the team had a chance to play with what they had now that was new, and everyone was in one spot, on the rampage, going after it.

They kept going past the next emplacement of virtually projected enemies, well, it all was continuing until the sim suddenly stopped, the AR link ceasing to broadcast for a moment.

Because someone was getting a phone call.

The buzzer vibrated against Skye's side, as she looked to the other team.
"Sorry, just for me. Keep going without me. Sorry, I know, immersion...." Skye commented, with it, running back, and out of the vast, endless green pine forest back towards the base, the call urgent.

Running into the briefing room, Oracle stood at the head of the table inside the wooden structure. The look on Skye's face, still wearing her exo, rifle slung on her back, helmet off and in her hand presented the look of a Scot that wasn't casual here, but far more tactical, mean and vicious. Skye in that look seemed to have that aura of inducing fear to the people she met, tall, and seemingly like she just had the confidence to keep going even if inside, it was melting away.
"We have a situation. A lot of them. Look."

"Shit." Skye's response was clean, as she picked up the tablet on the table that displayed it. And every worst nightmare that due to Raven's focus away on Rose, had dropped the ball on a series of unconnected, yet all so pointed events.

The Thames Barrier in London had been hit by a tugboat during a storm surge and disrupted the city, flooding half of it and doing untold amounts of damage.

A major car-bombing in Paris.

Another in New Delhi.

A Chinese naval ship had been hit in the South China Sea.

A major bank had been bombed on Wall Street in New York.

And nobody knew who was behind any of it. A co-ordinated attack on everyone, at the same time. This wasn't a terrorist attack like any other kind. This was a message, a point proven that with Raven hunting Rose so hard, as well as many others wanting a slice of her now, they'd lost sight of the unconnected, yet oh so linked, connections back to her redhead form.

"Yeah. She's thrown all of most major intelligence agencies into confusion, given this all connects, yet none of the culprits make sense. Sown chaos...."

"It's her last play. Reason she didn't use the nerve agent is because the game would be up then, but this is enough to force a response in the next week. This serves her perfectly. And for what?"

"Because now, a lot of them have intel leaks that relate to our old file, from what she stole from us. And it details all of you, and Rose's presence. Look at how many calls I have had. We are very fucked. They took their eye off the ball for you, and she punched." Oracle added, looking to his phone. The phone that nearly never rang, was off the hook. How the base hadn't been levelled by a B52 yet was a miracle. It was perhaps speaking to Oracle's respect in the community he would do the right thing. Yet he knew better than that. Thankfully. Because Skye knew what that had meant. What had followed when that file went out.

"Oh...oh fuck."

"Right now, I should be putting a bullet through your brain if I followed any logic. Again. It all leaks to a redhead that they want to rip apart to figure out how to make you again. Cat's out of the bag now if it wasn't before, and it pushed the ball of wool over the edge, and across the floor. The person they connected to this looks a lot like Skye Rosalind Lyons, who now they know was the product of a NATO-sponsored genetic engineering programme, and our supposed allies are going to be turning knives on each other for what it is worth to them to get out of this, given they believe that's how they get to Rose....and everything else that could mean for their own programmes." He took a break, breathing out a hard exhale for a moment, thinking back on earlier. "We are so fucking lucky Sam deleted that data, or else we'd all be dead already, because it hasn't got an equivalent monetary worth. Immortality is priceless. And they have everything about your history, shit, it may as well be broadcast on TV now for what it's worth in the intelligence community. Rose realised she doesn't have to hide behind your mask anymore given what happened. But...."

"You know I'm needed. And you know that Rose is hoping you follow protocol. Because if you do..."

"Then there'll be no reaction to what she's doing. I think she's waiting on us to still strike anyway, because she knows she set us a dilemma. It takes the venom out of us, for sure. I'm not fucking stupid. Rose is realising if she can't have her lives to skulk among us, she'll take you with her. Also, because honestly, it proves her point. They'd treat you like a plaything. I thought better by protecting you, but no, the way they reacted....none of them can be trusted. Even at this point, Blue Sword is one NDA away from being wiped. The people we save are the ones that want to swallow us."

"So tell me where, when, what needs to be done. Tell me we have an edge of some kind. Because time is running out."

"We know where she has to be, and where Zhao, and the remainder of Artemis are holed up if she's played her cards like this, because intel points to only one thing she can do. It's a bit rushed, but we think her last option is a private Vulpine Space launchpad, located on a small volcanic island off the coast of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean. Amidst the smoke she's put up, a contingent of Zhao's PLA forces and Artemis mercs took it last night and are settling in."

"And what do you want me and my team to do?"

"Do what you do best. Wipe the slate. Find her, and Zhao, and take them both out. And then some. But there is one element on top of it. Take a look at this." Oracle's tone seemed confident in Skye as she looked on, and went over the plans.

"That's a mechanised People's Liberation Army company, just sitting there, a PLAN corvette, plus a shit-ton of Artemis mercs, and from satellite imagery, good ones too from the vehicles and tools they have laying around."

"Zhao's remit means the men under his command are not in the know.....but, Zhao has his free rein where he'd like with Artemis, and he has a significant faction within China and the North Korean government that bows to him. If we do this backed by anybody else, it's war....even if he's taken a bit of Reunion in the process. Rose knows if we hit with any support from anyone even willing to work with us, it'll get framed as the Americans going after Chinese-backed interests."

"Very smart. But she knows if we go alone, she'll have enough blunt force to stop us as we are right now. Unless we hit them with everything we have. And something a little more." Skye narrated, as Oracle pointed out something else.

"And kook at this. They have an Arianne 7 rocket on the pad. One they were looking to launch. If that's loaded with Sol Hestia...." Oracle's observation was good, but Skye had something of her own.

"Wait. That isn't a cargo rocket. That launcher has a crew module on it. Look. The nosecone is slightly different." Skye pointed out, zooming in.

"Does it matter? Fill it with canisters of Hestia and you load it up, and it's potentially billions still dead if you have a primer. It becomes an ICBM at that point."

"A bad one. Or, Rose is waiting to get off Earth quickly."

"Well, there is one aspect to it....if your theory is right...maybe it gets worse than that. That rocket on the pad is the kind that Pavel Andros used to launch a telecoms network and saved on costs with, and now, a private space hotel for access. Ark Angel. One that if you are right, is the only place Rose can go to now, because that rocket with Sol Hestia wouldn't be enough to achieve what she wants, it's just enough to kill a few countries worth, at most."

"And that station is the kind that we can't just zap out of the sky now without creating a massive diplomatic incident given the fallout. Or worse, if there's any store of Sol Hestia there, who knows what happens next."

"Exactly. Even if she hasn't got a body she can link into anymore, but she had copies left there.....she's basically got a biolab she can fling tungsten-reinforced canisters of Sol Hestia back at us with, at will over populated areas with little recourse for us, and over a few weeks with a few canister drops..."

"Game over."

"Exactly."

"Not her first choice and why she turns to it now, considering it's a one way journey and puts all her eggs in one basket, but it's the only way she gets what she wants. If she's down to one of her older bodies, she'll last maybe a few months before she breaks down altogether. Especially if she's peeling blood out of her severed bodies, and it isn't a process she can't complete without inducting it herself through her own one, given what's in our blood. There is a window coming up in four days and it's the only time it would intercept the station's orbit, and, if we're lucky, we're able to stop her. If not, we are chasing her to a dead end. Up there. And that means...."

"Well......"

"Oh fuck, Oracle, I rode on Freya's inflated arse and thought that was bonkers enough! Holy shit.....right. So, let me get this straight. Every intelligence agency wants a piece of me, no matter what we do, despite saving billions. You want us to go off grid, go into an incredibly risky area of military build up with no support, raid a launch site, take out a rogue Chinese general, then steal a fucking Arianne without getting shot at, go into space, take out a space station to stop a plan we don't even know about that Rose might, and I mean, *might* have, then come home and not die? Please tell me you understand me, when I think you need to check whatever pain medication you're taking." Skye seemed even lost for words, as she shook her head.

"And I don't know any other operatives that could do it. We call this in, and the by the time the PLA, the CIA and anyone else has authority to act, we are out of time. Right now, I'm the only one keeping anyone from closing the jaws on us. Do you know how close Blue Sword is to getting investigated? So I suppose yes, we are out of choices."

"So this is it then. No more help. No more support, to take on a world-ending fucking threat. Within the space of a month. You have to be kidding me. At least the first time you wanted my guts for garters, at least everyone agreed."

"And it's why you're the only person who can run this op, alongside your team. I believe in you. And I know you have a certain experience to all of this." Oracle said, leaning across the table as Skye sighed, looking back.

"That crash course with the ESA when we were thinking this sort of incident might happen...and someone in the community might need to react. But doing it live, actually out there, is another thing. Guess I'll need to teach a few of the team too. If it comes to it, I'd rather not go alone. For the love of all that's holy, I hope not." Skye added, as Oracle shrugged.

"I thought a few ICBMs back in my day was a threat. I remember we fought our way through Idaho and Kerala like there was no tomorrow to stop a threat that felt like this. But Rose is different. So if she is counting on us ripping you apart, she has another thing coming. I was a stickler for the rules, but this time, maybe we're so fucked that I think we do what needs doing." Oracle said, a grin forming on Skye's face.

"The only person that can kill Skye Lyons, is Skye Lyons. Your words." Skye replied, as she shut the tablet down.

"No honeymoon in Reunion then."

---

Skye had called everyone to the briefing room, the air sombre given the events of the past few months. It had come to this. The last time felt final, yet this felt as if it wasn't an epilogue, but like the culmination. The crescendo.

"Right, we have a situation. You've probably seen the news, and we're not deploying to any active event, but the one that's been smoked out of the coverage. We've got a privately-run orbital launch site in Reunion to hit, and while I am aware I put you against it sometimes....this one, this is more difficult than most. The world is teetering on an edge, and whilst I appreciate your efforts before, this one might be a bit more difficult due to current circumstances. I know it feels like we won. It's not quite over, I'm afraid. But, you are all rather unbreakable. So let's get down to it." Skye said, the elephant in the room clear. There was a certain silence, and a look at Skye. The news had leaked from Oracle.

It was best the team had known, given the circumstances. Most of them would now understand that whilst the events of a couple of weeks ago had nearly killed some of the team, being rewarded with bread and a pile of shit and being asked to make sandwiches was about to mean the team were no doubt weary, but aware of the stakes.

"There is a chance that Rose has undertaken these attacks to cover up a launch taking place in three days, using the chaos to get away and deploy Sol Hestia either via a rocket, or potentially worse, from an orbital platform with her going up on it. It's an option that certainly kills her, so we need to pin her down before she can execute it, and with it, the majority of humanity. The irony isn't lost on me anymore we were here two weeks ago." Skye started, knowing the looks she would likely get.

"We will be outnumbered, and there is a significant Artemis, and PLA presence on the island. They are trained, cohesive and have the backing of a structure rather than an assortment of bodies. We've got one clean shot at the facility, but we are up against a significant resistance, aerial, naval and infantry-based series of threats." Skye added, looking the team over, bringing the map in tighter.

Île de la Tempête, or Tempest Island was one of the smallest of the islands off the eastern coast of Reunion, closer towards Mauritius than the main island itself, and was an anomaly on most maps- given it was a former French Navy installation that had now been taken over by Vulpine Space as a remote, suitable site for military and civilian rocket launches. It must have been about 20km2 in size, with an active, occasionally spewing volcano at the dead centre of it, that almost made the site feel more . Outside of that, the entire island was blanketed in a thick, dense rainforest that broke into pines in the higher elevations of the volcano, albeit at the coast where it broke up with green, grassy plains and clearings. It was a perfect tropical volcanic island, albeit the section that had been razed and now had a spaceport on it with a small harbour adjacent large enough to bring rocket stages in, cinematically backed by the orange plume of the volcano. The former European Space Agency site, built as a contingency for Kourou in French Guiana and modelled upon it, had two launch pads and sat on the eastern coast, now owned by private money with a command bunker, a large warehouse-like hangar for rockets and assembly, as well as a warehouse and supporting fuel and supplies. A hell of a site, flanked out by newly assembled barracks and defences that made the place feel less like a tropical paradise and more like a fortified position. A system of tracks and trails dotted around the island, providing access to an otherwise inaccessible world.

"There's a number of things we can do to swing the odds in our favour. A couple of mechs here, brought in by Artemis based on the model series found in Marrakesh, can be flipped if we are clever about it. And here, there is a frigate that needs to be rigged to blow, so it can't interfere with our operation. There's a lot of aviation that needs suppressing, but we can likely flip a set of SAM system to do that for us. And lastly, a significant portion of enemies and armour are concentrated around this part of the lower base, who are likely to be aware of how we attacked in Greenland, so could probably take on a force ten times our size. All of this needs clearing out first, so we can take back a control centre where the staff on site have been taken hostage, and we need to secure. Lastly, we have one, potentially two HVTs to eliminate. Only then, are we done." Skye flicked up the picture next, a little tremble in her hands. Zhao and Rose came into view.

"General George Zhao commands a serious asset in the People's Liberation Army, and is one of the last Artemis bigdogs left. Do not expect him to back down. Capture him or kill him, but whatever you do, if you see Rose, don't hesitate to shoot. She gave up willingly on that airship because she knew there was one final roll of the dice we didn't know of. She will gnaw through you if it's what it takes because this is a desperate act. Do not expect her to give up lightly."

Skye stopped, looking about the room.

"There is something else. If Rose isn't there, or the situation evolves, then there's another job we need to do. If it comes to it.... there is an orbital space station, Ark Angel, we need to clean house at, and neutralise all Sol Hestia compounds, as well as all remaining bodies that could produce the toxin. And given there is an Arianne rocket on the launchpad, and that a launch could be configured within an hour to go, means we're first responders that can cut it off before any other method. And I can't go alone. Ebrima, Sam, Athena, Freya, Eloise, I want you four with me. There's probably a degree's worth of content I got taught in a week. I have to teach you that in about four hours. The latter two, I'll expect your suits can manage EVA, given the CBRN sealing. The former two, they have suits at the site from their last inventory that you'll need to switch to once we secure the compound. Plus, Sam is the most likely to know how to actually manage the avionics of a rocket, outside of the centre's staff. You two are the most likely to adapt to it given you've used jump jets and that sort of tech before." Skye added, looking around.

There were probably a million and one questions.

"The situation is evolving. And it's likely that all of us are out on this one. Purna, Eloise, you are are on the ship to take that out, whilst Sam, you and Adam are on the mechs and seeing if we can turn the tables on them by eliminating their guard crews, and hijacking them. Chuck, Freya, you two are on clearing duty, securing the main barrack and security areas. Me and Ebrima will secure any vehicle pools, and anything we can use as a force multiplier. Our job is to turn their arm into them. Jamie, Athena, Tahlia, you two I'll deploy where I need you, as a rapid response. So if you have any creative ideas on how we can force multiply, I'm eager to hear it. The techs have the latest upgrades for your gear, so now I imagine you're all at your most lethal, or as far as you can be. We are going to need every last bit of it." Skye said, sighing a little, knowing no easy options were left right here, right now.

"Given the size of the island, and the concentration of the forces, getting ashore is easy enough, but our fighting will need to be guerrilla like. We'll need to disable all of those elements at the same time, before hitting the main target itself in a combined push, hitting them hard enough to destroy their capability to hit back. We can't leave anyone standing, or at least, leave them in a state so that Blue Sword reinforcements can manage anyone captured." Skye finished, looking across the room, taking in the look of everyone.

"Any additions? Anything you want to set yourself up with on this island?" Skye's comment felt like it didn't really fill out the rest of how bonkers this was. A lot of different strands needed hitting, then it needed to be brought together in one, larger, massive final assault.

Words came slow.

"You are joking about space, aren't you?" Adam asked, as well, Skye may as well have just turned around and told the team the moon was blue and made of cheese.

"I wish I was."

"Holy shit...."

"Well. While you lot think of that, I can perch up and run recon through the forest." Tahlia added, looking up the map. "I can get you fire support. A couple of remote drone snipers, and a hook-in, and I can set that up." Tahlia crossed her arms, a confident nod back, as Raph gave the same response.

"Enri and I can kill and jam their comms, if you can get into their systems. Perform some electronic warfare. The PLA aren't stupid, they have their own countermeasures, but we can do some damage."

"My new blimp, that big ol' flying butt has got a lot of missiles. It's anti-radar coated, so we have a fire support tool, but it'll need to go dark after it unloads. We can use it as a mobile base once we're closer, instead of the VTOL, and it can sling-load the hovercraft and carry reinforcements for later. Should reach there in time, three days including fuel. Might even be a better staging area for us if we can meet it at a fuelling stop in Tsavo." Athena pointed out, as Tahlia nodded, Skye holding back her giggle for Athena's new nickname for it.

"This is an incredible amount of force we need to take on. And ready like ever for infiltrators like me. If we need to launch, what happens to the rest of us?" Purna commented, looking across to Skye.

"Sit tight, and hold off anyone that wants to counterattack. By then, we're on a countdown." Skye's response was clean, as Oracle sat at the end of the room, looking in to Skye, who seemed to be calm in her instruction, yet beneath the surface, clearly had plenty to worry about.

Samantha was struggling to come to terms with her near death experience. The American western culture part of her couldn’t help but wonder if she was losing her mind. Was she going crazy? Was she too traumatized to be of help to the team? Would she crack under the pressure when they needed her most? That was her biggest fear, that she would let the team down when they needed her the most. Her exposure to Japanese culture from her adopted grandparents had taught her to accept the experience as real. That the Kami had taken the rare step to interfere in her life’s journey to ensure she stayed on destiny’s path. The two ideologies conflicted and so she found herself at war with herself over the experience. She was struggling to process it. The team psychologist had of course poked and prodded at her over the experience. It was protocol after such a close call. They of course gave her the psychological perspective that her brain put the experience in terms she could understand her close brush with death and created a reason for her to fight to live.

Samantha was normally confident in her abilities and skills. She didn’t seek confirmation of her skills from others. Samantha had spontaneously decided to share that experience with Ban. She felt at least hearing his opinion might at least help her resolve some of the feelings she had regarding the Kami. She felt like a child asking a parent to validate their feelings and emotions. She hoped his response would help her know if what she was feeling was normal or not. Samantha struggled with that as she was a high functioning autistic. Her brain was simply wired differently. She typically didn’t give a shit what other people thought about her or how she did things. This experience seemed to invade all her thoughts. It was like a drip of water that she couldn’t turn off. Her brain fixated on this experience. She needed to find a way to function. She had tried distraction but that was obviously not working since she had felt compelled to ask Ban about it. She kept coming back to the feeling of dread, that something bad was going to happen. She had this sense that they wouldn’t be ready for whatever Rose did next. She couldn’t help feeling like time was running out and she needed to be doing something.

Samantha waited anxiously as she explained her experience to Ban while he cooked. Sam felt the inner tension knot that had been wind tight in her chest release some of the tension as Ban seemed to understand and accept her experience, validating how she was feeling. She felt a little guilty for feeling so relieved to hear his take on her experience. She lowered her head as her cheeks showed her embarrassment. She gave him a bow of respect as relief and tension flowed out of her. She gave his hands a quick squeeze before he let them go.

“Arigato Ban-San. Your words are wise and welcome. I thank you for allowing me to share this burden with you. Your wisdom is a healing balm for my uneasy soul.”

Then in true chef fashion, Ban offered to feed her more.

Ban: "Ah but enough hard stuff. More food?"

Samantha just laughed at that question and shook her head. “Ban-san, how big do you think my stomach is? I still have over a half a plate of food!”

Samantha laughed as the hungry crowd of soldiers cheered Ban’s statement about seconds and were obviously ready for more. Samantha gave Ban a smile as she watched him go back to his pots and pans to feed the hungry crowd. Samantha still felt a need to be doing something and like time was running out but she no longer felt so unsure of herself. She no longer questioned her experience or her reaction to it. She didn’t finish much more of the food Ban had given her. He had probably put enough on her plate for three meals. She chuckled as she considered that for Freya or Chuck it was probably an appetizer.

---

Samantha felt better having something constructive to do. When Rose popped up, their team needed to be ready. She began making a list of what gear absolutely had to be repaired or replaced before the team saw action again. Then she made a list of potential new gear to hopefully give them an edge. The entire team had come back from the last mission but it was a close thing. Her armor was trashed and couldn’t be repaired. Chuck’s armor was trashed and would have to be completely remade as well. Others needed repairs to theirs. Skye needed a new exoskeleton armor set. Tahlia could use something for camouflage and some protection when she was in the field. Maybe she could design a prosthetic that would help her move around easier. Athena’s armor could use some repair and maybe some upgrades. She could easily add jump jets and upgrade her power system based on her designs for Chuck’s new armor. Adam’s armor needed quite a bit of repair. She thought about his armor and felt it wasn’t really set up for his job. He needed a new upgraded set of armor. He needed something with better team lead supports, better protection, and some shielding capabilities. Purna and Ban’s armor just needed some repairs. She would like to create some new weapons and gear for them.

Samantha turned her thoughts to their support team. Enri might not make it into the field but she could probably use some light armor as well. She would have to check to see what kind of gear she was using. Maybe Samantha could help her out with better hacking gear. That gave her an idea for some hacking gear she could add to her inventory to help out the folks hacking from a distance. She needed some new tricks. Artemis was proving to be a smart adversary and every time she used a broken piece of their cyber security against them, they fixed it. She never got to use the same exploit twice however, she did take out Rose’s hacker on the blimp. Maybe they won’t have time to change much in regards to changing security codes. She did wipe out Rose’s network, maybe there is a way for her to exploit any weaknesses there. She would have to chat with Enri and find out how good she was at controlling drones. That might be another way that could be a force multiplier for them in the field without compromising more agents.

Samantha had spent all evening working up new designs. She had done some research on materials to see what she could possibly upgrade for her teammates as she worked on gear. She had fallen asleep curled around her laptop after working far into the night. She woke up the next morning starving. She realized she had been so hyper focused on her task that she had worked through lunch and dinner. She moved carefully and quickly to the bathroom since her bladder was screaming at her. She took a quick shower and then got dressed for work in the shop. She didn’t have much so she put on black cargo pants, her boots, and a long sleeved t-shirt. She pulled on her heavy winter jacket and went to find some breakfast.

Samantha felt excited to be doing something. She went in search of Blue Sword’s armor and weapon techs. There had to be a place here where she could work on stuff. She grabbed some willing helpers and headed into the armory to get a first hand look at what needed to be done. She had not actually seen what was left of Chuck’s armor. Samantha blanched as she saw the holes in his under armor suit. The entire hard shell of heavier armor was completely missing. The only thing that remained of his heavier armor was the legs. The jump jets on them were trashed. There was nothing salvageable. Chuck would need an entire rebuild. She inspected everyone’s armor and began doling out repairs to the technicians. She had them begin on those who just needed repairs such as Ban and Purna. Samantha had already been called out by Chuck for over taxing her healing body. She accepted that she needed help and she asked for it this time. She willingly taught anyone who wanted to know what she was doing and why.

While the techs got busy on the armor that just needed repairs, Samantha got busy experimenting with some new materials. She had researched a new ceramic and metal alloy mixture. It was supposed to be harder than titanium, heat resistant, and nonconductive. The scientists that had developed it were looking for new materials for a new space shuttle. They wanted something that could launch into space and survive reentry over and over. This material was lighter than the original space shuttle coating and stronger. Samantha ran some field tests after she created some of the material. She was satisfied after shooting it with several calibers of bullets and tested its piercing strength. She did some calculations and the new armor made from this material would weigh less than a straight metal alloy and should shrug off up to 30 to 50 caliber bullets depending on how thick she made the plates. Samantha knew from working with the experimental batch of material that it didn’t like hard angles and preferred curves. Sharp angles created a weak point for it whereas a curved surface increased its strength.

Samantha decided to go with it. She took elements from her last suit design and combined it with this new material to create her new armor. The result was the layered ballistic gel lined flexible suit from her previous armor with vital areas covered in this hard shell armor. Samantha’s new armor had a hard shell breastplate and reticulated hard pieces over the abdomen and back area for flexibility. There were hard armor pieces that rounded over her thighs, calves, shoulders, and arms. She kept her helmet design since it had worked well for her. The only thing she redesigned on it was to embed Bob into it. She managed to shrink her AI’s size by embedding the individual components between the padding and outer shell. She had managed to shrink his processor size by upgrading him to a new quantum chip since the special ballistic gel she had used for lining her suit dealt with the heat for it. The gel acted as a heat sink pulling the heat away from the chip. The helmet was just a touch larger in a few places but it was not noticeable to the naked eye. The gloves had built in haptics to better support her ability to hack in the field using Bob, her onboard computer system and AI without compromising her ability to fight and protect herself.

Samantha had to ask some of the armor technicians to help her. She was still not up to much strenuous activity. Working heavy equipment and moving around heavy materials would have Sophie sedating her and locking her in the infirmary. She decided not to push the doctor any further than she had already. The suit was almost identical to her last one except for the addition of the hard outer plates on the surface of the armor. While they did the heavy lifting on her armor, she got busy on the new weapons and heavy armor for Chuck.

She was going to design Chuck’s armor along the same lines as hers. She was going to ramp it up though so it could take more damage. This armor would be a little different for him. Since Samantha felt like he needed higher grade protection. She started by building Chuck a sleek ballistic suit like her old suit to wear under his heavy armor. This would stop handguns and smaller rifle fire all by itself. There was a moisture wicking soft material that laid against the skin and was embedded with sensors that kept track of vital signs. The next layer is a woven titanium infused carbon fiber that acts as an artificial polymer muscle or tendon and armor. The material had been put through a special bonding process that resulted in a material that naturally harvests kinetic energy that allows it to stretch and rebound with strength adding strength and power to the wearer's movements. The user retains flexibility speed, while gaining protection and strength. The next layer is a ballistic liquid gel cooling system lined with a tough but soft material that keeps the gel in place and provides padding for the user. The outer layer of the under armor suit is another layer of the tough titanium weave that harvests kinetic energy.

The heavy armor outer shell power armor would be made from the same strong ceramic metallic composite of her armor but it would be thicker. Samantha’s molded plate armor pieces were only about a half inch thick. Chuck’s armor would be at least an inch and a half thick. This should allow him to shrug off all small weapons fire and most rifle fire. There are flexible tubes of hydraulic fluids that help keep the suit cool and moving. The internal workings of actuators, hydraulics, electronics, and sensors live in between layers. There was another thin gel layer for padding and more ballistic protection. The inner layer of the power armor was lined with another layer of the kinetic titanium weave.

Samantha designed the heavy combat power armor to open up in the back. The under armor suit had the kinetic energy return technology in it that would help to keep Chuck’s suit powered and moving. Samantha improved the chemical reactor from his old suit to last longer. With the kinetic assist, Chuck should be able to get almost 48 hours on one charge now. He could keep the suit moving by building up the kinetic charge if he had to. Chuck would just step into the calf high boots. Once his feet locked in place the armor would close and seal around him. Sam designed a cool interlocking zipper of flexible hex shaped disks that would move and magnetically lock him into his armor while providing armor over that area. This flexible join would give Chuck more flexibility in his torso. Samantha reviewed the trouble he had navigating with it underwater and had added some internal special ballast bladders and maneuvering jets that would work underwater or in space. Once the helmet was on, the suit could be pressurized for use as a hazmat, underwater diving, or space suit. The suit has a sealed air system with air filtration and carbon dioxide scrubbers. She had left the jump jets off. Chuck had only used them in battle a few times.

She was going to give him heavier weapons this time. That meant he needed a more stable armor base to fire them from. The power armor used a combination of hydraulics and synthetic muscle fibers to move the suit. Chuck could run faster, hit harder, and pick up more with the armor. She designed the suit to have a modular weapon mount that would work with all his weapons. Giving a few options for heavier weapons to take on the field. She designed a special holster for Lucille that rode on a sling across his back. Samantha designed Chuck a 50 caliber gatling gun that was autofed from a large capacity pack built onto the back of his suit. Samantha deliberately kept the rate of fire low since she expected Chuck to be using it as an anti personnel weapon. Samantha designed the gun so Chuck could change the firing rate from a small burst of 5 bullets up to 200 bullets a minute. This would allow Chuck to snipe with the large caliber gun. On the other shoulder, she redesigned his small missile launcher. Chuck’s armor could fire 6 missiles at a time but his armor only had room to carry 12. Chuck could fire missiles one at a time or in pairs, so he can fire 1, 2, 4, or 6 missiles at a time. The shoulder mounted weapons would work with Chuck’s Hud for targeting. Samantha built in a holster for his carbine on his upper leg armor. She included a metal mesh combat tactical harness that Chuck could carry peripheral weaponry in such as grenades and extra magazines. Samantha decided to paint Chuck’s new armor in a radar reducing stealth coating which she colored a dark navy blue to reflect his marine background.

There are sensors and high-definition cameras embedded into the outer layer in key places feeding information back to the user. The helmet is a transparent titanium alloy in a crystalline matrix, an upgraded version of bulletproof glass. This allows the user to see out and is used as the screen for the Heads-Up Display. There is an AI system onboard to help the user with the suit’s systems and targeting. The suit has an embedded communications system. Cameras allow for heat, infrared layover, and night vision. The suit is powered by a small chemical reactor and has a rechargeable battery backup. The suit is good for about 24 hours of heavy use and battle before it will need to be recharged. If just worn, without any heavy fighting or power draw needs the suit can be powered for up to 48 hours. There are directional jets built into the legs, torso, arms, and feet of the suit. On each shoulder is a heavy weapon mount. Samantha designed a 50 caliber gatling gun specifically for Chuck’s use. There is a small missile launcher that mounts to the other shoulder. The missiles are small and don’t have much range. They allow for a high payload to a target no more than 500 yards away. The missile launcher is a modified miniaturized LAW design. There is an onboard medical sensor suite monitored by the AI. The AI can help him deal with injuries in the field by injecting the Raven Squad cocktail of stimulants, pain killers, vitamins, and antibiotics. There are built in tourniquet systems so that if he loses a limb or gets a severe injury on an arm or leg the AI can apply pressure to stop the bleeding and save his life. The suit is designed to be used in numerous environments. Samantha was happy with the design on Chuck’s armor. She worked with a few of the techs to get it made. The new composite was a pain in the butt to work with but it was worth the effort.

Her next large scale project was new armor for Adam. She took the design for Chuck’s armor and just scaled it down for Adam. Instead of a large caliber gatling gun for his armor, she mounted him a smaller missile launcher. It would shoot one missile at a time and he could carry six. She built into his suit an embedded AI that could act as a targeting system. The AI would work with his HUD for a targeting display. There was an optional toggle that would allow Adam to check on a variety of team information such as vital signs, locations, and assets in the area. She built in an embedded communications suite that would allow Adam to run encrypted team communications from his suit. She built in a powerful transmitter and receiver to boost his signal. She improved his electronic suite to include lidar and radar that was limited in range but would give him some tactical advantages she hoped. Adam’s armor had the same kinetic assist technology and chemical reactor as Chuck’s. The hard outer armor on his power armor was only an inch thick making it lighter than Chuck’s. The hydraulic actuators and synthetic tendons allowed Adam to move faster, punch harder, and lift more. She painted Adam’s armor in the same stealth coating she had used on Chuck’s armor. She designed Adam’s armor so that the hydraulics could give a force punch that would allow his arm and fist to act as a hydraulic ram. She included a trophy system so that Adam could better shield himself and his team. There was a magnetic holster on each hip that was angled to allow Adam to carry long guns with him.

Samantha enjoyed the challenge of designing something for Tahlia. She designed a holographic sight for her sniper rifle. She then decided to make her holographic hide. It needed to be very lightweight and easy to set up. Samantha had just the thing. She took some of the titanium weave kinetic fabric. She designed a popup tent for Tahlia to lay down in or she could drape the fabric over stuff to hide behind. She attached the holographic projector and control box to the edge of the fabric. It was about the size of a cigar box. Hit the button the projector would pick up the image of the onboard mini cameras or an image of Tahlia’s choosing. She designed a prosthetic leg that was based on the flexible blade styles that runners preferred. She designed a support that came up over her knee. It would wiggle around less and reduce the pain and irritation Tahlia suffered from the prosthetic slipping around. She padded the area where her stump fit in with the ballistic gel for comfort and support. The synthetic tendons behind the knee joint would help her walk more normally. This would give Tahlia more stability walking in uneven terrain. The prosthetic leg was designed to absorb the impact from running and provide a return kinetic assist. The result should mirror or even be better than the flexible blade prosthetics that running amputee athletes used.

Samantha redesigned Athena’s armor to be more energy efficient. She added in jump jets that were a little larger and used a new biofuel. That should provide enough thrust to propel the giantess up and over almost any obstacle. She made sure the new armor design supported her special weapons. She then turned it over to the technicians to complete. Samantha was sad that had to turn so much of the work over to the other techs. She sighed but she did it. She enjoyed the process of beating metal into submission and soldering wires into place. She enjoyed putting together her designs like a wonderful puzzle. Her stomach rumbled and she realized she had once again worked through a meal. She knew she needed to remember to eat for the nanites repairing her body. She took off in search of food.

Samantha came back and checked on the armor techs. She corrected a few minor issues and then set to work on the weapons she wanted to make. She smiled as she began working on the components for Ban’s new weapons. She purposely designed them to look like traditional Japanese weapons but upgraded them with modern tech. She started with a naginata. The long sweeping blade was a folded titanium instead of steel to increase its strength. She coated in a matte black carbon and etched Ban’s household symbol into the blade. The handle could be shortened so he could use it as a sword. There were two small buttons on the collapsible handle. One would cause the springs to release and extend the handle to make it a spear. On the opposite end from the blade was a metal dragon head cap which hid a set of taser contacts. If you hit the other button, the dragon head would act like a cattle prod taser delivering a stun charge. Samantha found Temari balls easy to adapt based on her work producing upgraded grenades. She designed metal Temari balls that could be loaded with any powder. They had spring loaded openings that would pop open after a 5 second count. A small pressurized air blast would blow the powder into a cloud around the ball. They were refillable and could be used to create any variety of poisons or smoke bombs. She then made him a Kusarigama. She kept it more traditional with folded steel like one would use for a katana for the blade. The curved sickle-like blade of the weapon on a leather braided titanium handle which was connected to a titanium chain with a weighted spike bob on the other end. She then worked on the special piece of this collection, a special rifle that looked like a Sengoku era rifle. She hid a modern magazine in the handle of the rifle that would hold 20 bullets. The rifle would only shoot one bullet at a time though. The rifle would shoot the same bullets as a M80.

While she was working on new toys for Ban she decided to make something special for Purna. She decided to make Purna special ammunition. She thought about the logistics and materials needed. She got to work with the molds and presses available in the workshop. She made him four boxes of ammo for each of his guns. It was armor piercing fragmentation hollow point rounds. The special part was the hollow cylinder in the middle of the bullet. He could use a hypodermic needle to fill that reservoir with a poison or chemical of his choice. The end would be sealed with a low melting wax. When the bullet fired through the gun barrel the heat generated would melt the wax. The force of the bullet flying through the air would keep the poison contained until it hit its target. The round would fragment upon impact spreading the poison. Even if the round failed to pierce all the way through the armor, if the person handling the armor was not careful or didn’t know the poison was there, they could still be harmed by it. She put together a kukri style blade for him using the technology that mirrored her hand held laser welder that she carried in her gear. The power supply for the laser was in the handle. It was a very nice folded damascus steel which embedded a lovely pattern in the blade. The laser head was hosed in the end cap of the blade. The hinge popped open and he hit the button that was hidden as a stud in the ceramic metallic alloy handle. So on one end a lovely damascus dagger and the other end was a portable laser welder. The charge would not last long, maybe 10 minutes but Samantha was pretty sure that Purna would find it useful in the field.

She created a set of grappling hook guns for the team. She knew some of them would find them more useful than others. The grappling hook was fired out of a rifle-like device. The hook was attached to a 50 foot long super strong thin titanium alloy braided cable. There was a small but powerful winch on the back of the rifle with a motor strong enough to pull and hold four hundred pounds. Once the grappling hook was set, you could activate the winch attached to the cable which was located on the side of the handle. An operative could hold onto the metal reinforced handle or clip it to a harness for hands free lift support. The winch would pull them up or whatever was attached to the handle of the grappling gun up to the grappling hook. The only challenge with the grappling hook gun was it did weigh about 20 pounds. Samantha made a few smaller grappling hooks that were spring loaded with serrated titanium hooks. She had reels of the braided cable available to go with them. She created those for the operatives that wanted portability. The grappling hook was lightweight and could fold up in a cylinder about two feet long. She made sure Purna’s armor was repaired and tinkered with the power system to make it a little more energy efficient. She also made him some optional plates out of the new ceramic metallic alloy she had developed for the new armor she was making. It is lightweight and stronger than his current plates.

Samantha thought about gear for herself and Enri. She used a few of the quantum chips she had to build Enri a laptop computer like hers. She would let the hacker set it up her way. She built some drones especially to help her hacker friends out. They were small about the size of a baseball. They were round and would pop open when tossed into the air. The inside was a powerful transmitter and receiver that used the encrypted technology she had developed for Raven. Also inside was a small powered articulated arm with a gold plated sharp toothed alligator clip and a mini laser. The mini laser would burn its way through a housing or wire covering allowing the alligator clip to clip to communication wires. This would give them a hard dock to hack whatever the drones could access. The drones were designed to be used as a swarm and would be controlled by Bob. Once she had a hard dock with the tech she could turn the signal over to Enri and Rafeal back at the base. She did a little dabbling with the communication systems on the larger flying drones that Raven had. She upgraded them to the new encrypted sealed communication network to prevent Artemis hackers from taking them over again. That would allow them to call on the drones for air support again as well. Raven Squad had avoided using drones after the drone was hacked and attacked their team in the desert.

Samantha looked around and was tapping her fingers against the worktop. She couldn’t help feeling like there was still more to do. She had pulled up the designs for Skye’s exosuit. Samantha was reviewing the designs since she was not the one who had put it together for her. The tech had come from reverse engineering Rose’s suit. She knew the technicians were busy with all the work she had them doing. She had not turned Skye’s suit over to them yet for a rebuild because she wanted to see how much she could upgrade it. That was where she was as she had high tech schematics pulled up on her screen when Skye found her in the armory workshop.

The inquisitive Skye walked in, watching Sam at work, a smile on her face, firmly seeing the American in her happy place. She was hard at work putting everything together, nearly a single-woman engineering department, almost reminding her of Laura. Perhaps even a bit more than Laura. What Sam may have lacked in brute force, she made up for in absolute precision.

Skye glanced across the designs, whistling looking at the new kit.

“You have been busy.”

Skye sounded blunt, smirking back to Sam, running her hand over the grapple, the mantle-like device able to be rifle fitted, or for her purpose, something else she wanted.

“Thank you for this. This is all amazing work. The team are gonna be giddy when this all gets set. A lot of it came from prototypes sent to us but some of this is exquisite.”

Skye added, the redhead glancing back up, her tall height making it sometimes a little more awkward, but definitely nowhere near as bad as say, Athena would have.

Samantha looked up as she heard the whistle. She blushed a little since everyone including Sophie had been after her for over doing it lately. She suspected Chuck had snitched on her and told everyone else to keep an eye on her. She smiled at Skye feeling a little more at ease. Grateful that Skye didn’t give her a ribbing for trying to do too much as well. She simply nodded and pointed at the row of finished armor that the techs were putting the last touches on. The new gear laid across the work table.

“Thanks. I have been feeling restless and I want us to be ready for whatever Rose does next. We both know when she pops out of her hole like the sick weasel she is, it's going to be bad.”

Sam didn’t bother to hide the worry that had been eating at her since the blimp. She knew Skye would understand. She pointed to her computer screen and the schematics she had pulled up on it.

“Right now I am looking over the schematics for your exosuit. I want to see if we can make some improvements.”

Skye smiled, nodding back at Sam, looking at the screen and going through it. She seemed a little pensive, deep in thought for a moment, before she looked back.

“Interesting. I like the design. I like how you’ve linked up the fatigues and the exo’s clip points. That was always annoying. Though, being an early adopter I guess….I suppose it was time I made some changes. Alright, if you have me here, then why not. Let’s have a look. I know you like being busy, even against doctor’s orders, but, who am I to say no.”

Skye said, almost as if she was speaking to herself, pulling up details of pneumatic-hydraulic systems, plating, composite material, from the thin layer of carbon fiber that overlay a predominantly composite chassis backed by titanium and dragonskin where it had to be.

“Hmm, maybe tweak this bit here? See if you can mount a grapple on the arm. If we’re going clean sheet, let’s try that.”

Skye added, looking over something else. The exo seemed to have a similar charm to her old one- not as bulky as Adam’s, but much more a frame built around her body. The armour came with actuators, a jump-pack on the back of her hip that allowed her to double-jump and run on walls, as well as basically leap up three storeys at time, like her old one, but seemed to have more in the way of accelerative and movement-based capability.

Samantha pulled the keyboard over to her and began to type and draw changes on the screen.

“If you don’t want the grappling hook to take off without you, why don’t I design an armored gauntlet or an armor piece that guards your arm from wrist to elbow that I can mount it to?”

She continued to talk as she designed on the screen.

“You know the new tension polymer will be an improvement over your old ones. They are stronger and less prone to tearing. I designed some new jump jets for Athena’s armor. I can scale them down for you and place one off each hip for balance.”

“Go for it. Stick to a pack design though, smaller but with a bit more bite to them rather than a continuous lift design. Athena’s got a fat ass, I’m not exactly like that. Tends to be if you oversize them, they send you everywhere, so even if the jets are smaller, they’re….well, a bit more like just getting pushed. Trust me. I fiddled with it before.”

Skye added just nonchalantly with a grin, looking it through further, the design a lot more sleek- a black rather than the old tan-colour, that then meshed with her fatigues. Given the type of operations, it made sense to go with black and then have her usual fatigues under in a different fashion, although she’d less go for an undersuit and more for a composite, more advanced next-gen fatigues system with cooling and a skin-tight feel just for that extra little bit of comfort. It didn’t offer any armour of its own, but it did keep Skye cool or warm, which was a little nicer than just usual MTP fatigues she rolled with.

Samantha nodded along as she continued to make changes to the schematics while Skye was talking.

"I see what you mean. Do you want the jump jets to be optional?”

She made a few more taps on the keyboard before turning her attention to what Skye was saying.

“Put them in. It’s integral.”

Skye was fast to the reply, peeling up the ammo stores, amending them Freya’s M31 mods, the battle rifle now basically a railgun requiring a new mount for power. Where her MG3 ammo had gone in a small ammunition pack on her back, Skye tweaked it while Sam did her bits, putting the power source for the rifle there, running a cable through her arm and into the rifle, through a clever modular socket already found on it. She wasn’t an engineer or a designer by any means, but, it would at least put the weight off her arms and more onto her core, something Freya might not have needed to worry about given she could probably dual wield one, but even with an exo, 30kg was a lot.

“There we go. Open face is nice, I know Adam and Ebrima like theirs sealed, but I prefer a bit more visibility. Just need to add those tactical glasses in and….there. All you.”

Skye smiled back, brushing her burgundy hair out of the way as she headed over towards the corner of the armoury, letting Sam get back to it.

“Can I get you a tea or coffee, by the way?”

Samantha smiled as she noted the changes Skye was requesting. She made some notations on upgraded materials and some modular designs to make maintenance easier for the techs. She upgraded the power core and tweaked the power routing to be more efficient and reduce the bulk. She checked the composite for the frame and suggested some materials that would be a little lighter but just as strong. She looked up as Skye asked her if she wanted some tea or coffee.

“Tea please. If I drink any more coffee, I will still be here sometime tomorrow for inability to sleep.”

Skye chuckled, putting on the kettle, letting it boil away and preparing two cups of tea, lobbing in the teabags like it was another day in the office.

She had learned to appreciate this a hell of a lot. Little things like this. Mundane, stupid, silly things. Some people who lived like adrenaline addicts and on the edge got bored of reality, but for her, nearly dying, an awful lot, and enjoying the little things as the leader of this little task force to help out her colleagues meant a lot more. Boring was boring, but at least it got to exist so long as they kept going after people like Rose. And that brought some small joy to Skye at least.

“Milk or sugar?” Skye asked, as she poured the now boiled water in, filling each cup.

Samantha kept tweaking the design here and there moving some things around to make the profile sleeker.

“Sugar, no milk. Thanks.”

She looked over the revised design with a thoughtful look.

“Do you want any kind of on board AI? Or how about a slim under suit like mine with that temperature controlling ballistic gel?”

With that, Skye added just that, leaving her own black, bringing both over after a short but vigorous stir
“Here.” And the mugs went down, Skye letting hers cool off, before giving a gentle slurp. The Scot wore a cream yellow fleece and jeans combo, as casual as could be for an operator that normally was out tearing pieces out of people. There was this civilized nature to Skye, she looked over the design, responding back to Sam.

“Keep the fatigue underlayer as is. I’m just not that attractive in one of those undersuits. But yeah….I mean, it’s good, but I prefer the tactical appeal of mine. It’s got a little cooling to it here and here. Bit more basic, but it works. As for AI….I guess having another voice in my head might be good. I have Raven’s already networked, so maybe just some iterative improvements.”

Skye giggled at the first bit before getting more serious, smirking at Sam, the Scot doing her absolute classic understatements, her face and hair beautiful for someone who seemed to have a body that was more like some pentathlete’s frame, not to mention the litany of cuts, bruises and scars she had. In Singapore, she’d shown that off- she was able to become a siren on demand, but typically, she was much more tomboyish, especially with her hair only just about growing back from the pixie-short level she’d had in Nagoya.

Samantha’s nightmares had eased up after she began working on the gear. She still had that underlying sense of impending doom. She didn’t feel as manic and unsettled though. Having something to focus on had really helped. She would have to remember to thank Chuck for pointing out the obvious to her. She turned and accepted the hot mug from Skye and took a grateful sip. Her stomach gurgled, reminding her she had not eaten lately. She laughed at Skye’s comment.

“You would look fabulous in it and we both know it. The challenge is it distracts the men in our team. How about some optional lighter stronger plates for your plate carrier?”

Skye peeled it up on the laptop, pulling in the plate carrier.

“Go for the carbon-composite and dragonskin. It’s light, and segments. Means it takes hits, not like Adam, but keeps the overall figure down.”

Skye picked through, this suit more of an iteration on her previous one, but it being nice to work on this, the plate carrier covering the shoulders, with a thin plating on the forearms, thighs and legs that was pure composite, rather than backed by significant plating. Skye realized she had been here for a hell of a while, and hadn’t moved from this spot. It was in her body language, the kind that Skye didn’t even need words to see, that and her rumble.

“I mean, Athena distracts the men in our team. Between us, Natalie back in the day was something. It’s so strange how similar they are. Crazy. Anyway. That’s my little aside…”

Skye giggled like a schoolgirl, looking through the design again, pointing out another thing.

“Better absorption of drops would be nice. Mine throws me onto the floor at the moment. So a teeny bit more give, perhaps a coil rather than an air spring? And while we’re looking at stuff….do you want something to eat? You sound like you’ve been here a while….don’t know how cabin fever hasn’t hit you yet!”

Skye gently pulled in on the legs on the CAD drawing, particularly where the exoskeleton’s absorption mechanism sat, actually allowing the thing to be thrown off a building and hit the floor, superhero pose. Though it felt more like still, it just did a practical, functional job rather than a cushioning one.

Samantha just shook her head giggling with Skye. "Athena was in a league all her own and bold as brass to boot.” She sipped her tea while Skye explained what else she wanted. Samantha thought about the problem with landing. She needed to improve stability and a way to absorb that kinetic energy. Samantha had a thought and yeah that would work. She could layer that tension kinetic weave over the springs which she redesigned to absorb and rebound giving Skye a little assist back up.

“This should absorb the impact and then push you back up a bit. It might give you a little hop up. Would that work?”

Samantha had been lost in the design and startled as she realized that Skye had been asking her a question. She sheepishly pushed the laptop back a little.

“Well yeah…. Maybe I have spent most of my time here lately. But Skye! We need to be ready! It’s driving me kind of crazy. The only thing that has helped has been working.”

She looked away realizing she had not shared that experience with Skye. She took a sip of her tea. She sighed and stood up stretching out her stiff neck and back muscles.

“I know you are right. I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Feel like a trip to the dining room?”

Skye nodded, hearing her response, agreeing on that design.

“A little spring in my step. That works. Add it to this bit of the heel and…..voila. Perfect.”

Skye smiled, hearing Sam’s anxiety come back a little, sipping her own tea as well.

“That might be a good idea for food. We might make it for the end of lunch, if we’re lucky, so yeah, take a break. And while this thing is definitely making all of us anxious….only thing we can do is just do what we can. Have the gear we can. That’s why we drill, train, and push ourselves. So it all becomes normal. That’s the best way, but….you have done a hell of a job with this. Just don’t remember you’re not alone. There’s techs who can help you.”

Skye smiled back, masking her own feeling of unease about just about everything that had gone down.

Samantha nodded and felt a little silly. She knew that Skye had to be impacted by this too. Rose was technically her clone sister. They were very different people but it had to be difficult knowing that Rose was out committing who knew what atrocities and she had the same face as Skye. She sighed and pulled Skye into a hug.

“I am sorry. I have been so preoccupied with how I was feeling that I forget we are all going through it.”

She hugged her friend.

“I need to be a better friend.”

She chuckled a little determined to talk about something else.

“You know I heard that Chuck had the talk with the family and has been cleared to date Freya. How adorable is that? The man asked her mom’s permission to date her.”

She tucked her arm in Skye’s and led the way towards the food.

Skye returned the hug, feeling very much like a big sister to Sam at this point, even though professionally she knew she had to be incredibly careful. Yet, Sam had taken well after her. Skye was all aggression, capability, and Sam had been getting moulded into something approaching that. And the Scot felt a certain type of responsibility in herself to keep that, nodding back.

“It’s alright Sam. Don’t worry about it. So do I, I didn’t spend much time with you after everything went down. But we’re a team. And we always carry each other over the line. We all have a lot to deal with, but that’s what makes us the best.”

Skye kept herself stoic, to the point, but from a place of warm care, even though that didn’t melt out as often- yet still, it was more than ever before. With it, Skye followed Sam, heading out, hearing what she said.

“Brave man. But not a stupid one. The last person that Freya saw, she slammed a hammer into her gut. Probably best to clear it with family first.”

Skye smirked, already aware, and well, not one to pass up on some dry humour.

“Come on then. Let’s grab some grub. I hear they’re doing pasta bake. That reminds me of how much I miss Corsica from our last place, and Domenico’s cooking on base…man, that was good.”

Skye smiled, thinking back to an old team-member, and another time, sipping the rest of her mug of tea down, putting hers and Sam’s back, before following.

---

Samantha still didn’t feel like she had done enough when she left the workroom later that evening. She showered and fell into bed exhausted. For the first night in a while, she slept well that night. Her nightmares stayed away. She woke up late the next day. Her body finally forced her to get the rest she needed to heal. She woke up groggy and pulled on some workout clothes. She headed for the gym. She needed to start working on her flexibility now that the skin grafts were holding. She settled down for some easy and light yoga before heading out on a run. When she got back, she showered and went to get breakfast. She ran into Ban in the dining room. She asked him to do some light sparring with her. Her martial arts skills were getting a little rusty from not having used them in a while.

Samantha was sweaty again as she lay panting on the mat in the gym. Ban had been a man of his word. He didn’t take it easy on her. He was fitter than her at the moment and taller and stronger. He had the advantage over her. She suspected once she was back in top shape he wouldn’t find it so easy to put her on the mat. Sophie had warned her that while technically her ribs were healed that they still would re-break easily until the bones fully knit and the calcium sleeves over the breaks hardened. Ban waited patiently for her to get up.

Samantha groaned and tapped the mat. “Ban-san I think I am done for the day.” She slowly and with only some minor pain rolled wearily to her feet. She gave Ban-san a deep respectful bow. “Arigato gozaimashita.” She straightened her back and twisted from side to side to loosen tight muscles. She gave Ban a big smile. “Before you go I have some things for you.”

Samantha crossed the gym to the storage locker where she had been putting all the finished gear she had been working on. She pulled out the weapons she had made for Ban. She laid them on a table in a row and then turned to him with a bow. “Thank you for being a friend when I needed one, for understanding. I made these for you. I tried to honor your heritage. I hope you like them.”

Sitting inside the office, the phone buzzed from security for Skye, as she looked across the caller ID, swiping her print to answer.

“‘Yello. She’s here? Well. Tell her not to be shy.” Skye smirked, standing up, the remarkably casual looking operator, before the exercise they would have later to test out their new gear at 1200 making a move for the door of the office. Wearing her usual jeans with a grey softshell fleece and a blue beanie hat over her head that clashed with her auburn hair, Skye did not look like the sort of woman that did the sort of operating she did, but beneath, the litany of cuts, scars, marks and hurty points were there.

Walking through the armoury, Skye gave a whistle to the quiet Nepali in his vintage mountaineering gear, Purna raising his head.
“With you, boss. I haven’t seen her in a while. She is a little cold from what I heard, but you get used to her.” Purna’s reply was short, as Skye smiled back, walking out towards the front, hearing the truck come to a slow halt in the slushy gravel.
“‘Well, you know me. I can handle difficult people. It’s the genocidal fuckers that I can’t stand. It’s been far too crazy a month to really shock me, I think.” Skye quipped, given well, the barrel was getting bottomer these days, she enjoyed relieving a little steam when she could, Purna all too acutely aware.

It was short notice, but getting Eloise on board had been part of Purna’s remit to find another infiltrator for the team, and well, Skye had heard good things through Oracle. She’d gone through the tests whilst all the anarchy behind the scenes had been going on, and she had been proven fit. A sleeper for a while, Eloise was now here, summoned based on Purna’s thoughts on future ops needing another hunter-killer pair. As good as Sam was, she was needed to hack, and as good as Freya was, all seven and a half foot of her couldn’t hide. Nor could Chuck, no matter how good his explosives skills were.

Eloise’s file was interesting. A bow carrying operative seemed to be a token, but the weapon was silent in good hands, even if Skye preferred a crossbow for that work. Still, her record was indicative of a silent shadow. Like Purna’s, the sort of person who killed and got intel and did not dice around. Left no trace, bar shavings.And that made Skye a happy team lead. She needed more people that could inflict damage quietly. She had far too many on her plate that were good at doing it with a megaphone.

Eloise slid down from the back of the truck, glancing around with quiet curiosity. She noted the people standing nearby, ready to greet her and held a look toward them; before pulling her back from the back of the truck and shouldering it. A deep breath of the cool, crisp, clean air and she hesitantly stepped closer to the waiting Skye and Purna. By comparison to either, she was barely a slip of a woman; slim and sleek and looking even more so in her civilian outfit; skinny black jeans, a snug, long-sleeved black and white-striped top and a battered, faded blue denim jacket.

And watching Eloise clamber out of the back of the truck, Skye and Purna, the tall Scot and the shorter Gurkha, dressed in his pile fleece, were here to meet the newest member of the team.
“Good Morning, Eloise. I’m Skye Lyons, this is Purna Gurung. Welcome to Hannula.”

As she stepped up to the pair, her lower lip worked a moment as she chewed it, putting her snakebite piercings out prominently. She eased her bag to the ground as she looked up at the pair. Slowly, she nodded and spoke up in a quiet, soft voice.
“Hi… Good to um, meet you. It’s…” she looked around at the surrounding forest, tilting her head and that unruly mop of black hair and a faint smile curling the corner of her lips. “...quiet here, and beautiful too. I like it”

Skye smiled, nodding.
“Yes, it’s wonderful out here. Quiet, outdoors, and well, a good hiding spot whilst everything has gone crazy. It’s probably too much to explain in one go….but anyway. Welcome to the team, and welcome to the setup. I’ll show you about the place, and show you your room. If you’d like to follow me?” Skye replied with her usual chirp, the uncertain look in Eloise’s eye showing a nerve, but an unsettling look, like Skye was being sized up as a predator. Purna had met her very briefly before, so knew what he was in for, as with that, Skye led the group around, focussing on something else entirely.

Starting with the armoury, including the heavily armoured suits located towards the rear in the industrial-looking setup, where Athena was working away on hers, clad in her thermals and leaving nothing to any imagination, whilst Adam was retooling his MSBS, giving a wave as Skye pointed out the area- particularly Purna noting the area where his gear was stored, and somewhere Eloise could make her own, including a workbench, locker and kitstore. Skye continued to lead them about, then heading towards the rooms, Skye had little to say, followed up by a point out of the mess halls, shared with Blue Sword, the PMC running this site owned in part by Freya and Athena’s parents, Antti rolling in with a quad bike carrying some more supplies that had been trucked in across to another cabin on site.

“So, as a quick reaction unit we may be deployed a bit faster than most, so it makes sense the home we have between operations is a little cosier. I don’t mind being a little more casual, you’re not here because it’s a military unit, we’re here to stop bad people doing things and with the nature of the task at hand, it is quite serious. I trust you to do what is needed, if you got through the Cooker, then you’re good by me. I run things on trust.” Skye chirped, as Purna walked alongside, perhaps a little more on her level than the boss was.
“Though be warned, first time working with her, I think even I couldn’t keep up!” The Nepali chirped, Skye turning her head back as her hair gently swayed back, still growing back to original length given her pixie-level cut in Japan.

“Well, I demand a lot! But, I need to look after you all somehow, so I’m all over. So, don’t try and keep up. Just do what you do best, get the job done and I’ll be a happy woman. And if I’ve read the file right, then well, I think we can expect good things.” Skye chuckled, her honesty cutting, and the whole scene feeling a lot less than some formal military arrangement.

It was quite a facility, as Skye led them through into the quarters adjacent to the office and briefing rooms in a large, half-embedded wooden lodge into a hillside, finding the door that had a newly stuck-on label for Eloise.

“This is your room, if you want to drop your bags. All set the way you’d like, I hope….and I left some choccy in there, tends to be a new starter treat. But, if you heard the stories, I tend to drill my team fairly well, and expect what we do to be everything I’ve heard. So it’s a rare treat.” Skye chuckled, her Scots tone holding that song-like quality with the ability to firm on command. Opening the door, Skye let her drop her gear, and settle herself in.

Eloise’s head span as she was given the full tour treatment. She hadn’t been sure what to expect. Well, not exactly, anyway; she knew it would be hi-tech, sophisticated and impressive. Just… not this much so. Much to her own surprise, she felt a growing sense of excitement. As the beautiful Scotswoman showed her around, her enthusiasm and pride quickly started to infuse into the slim, athletic woman trailing in her wake. She nodded as she was shown things, and gave shy, small waves or nods to the other operators and personnel as they were introduced and tiny, hesitant smiles that didn’t quite reach her strikingly grey eyes.
She perked up as Skye mentioned running things on trust, and her expression flickered, but a more genuine smile crept onto her dark-painted lips as the Cooker was mentioned, and she winced, her artificial hand tightening on her bag strap.
“I’ll do my best,” she said, in a more firm voice, feeling more reassured as Skye mentioned her record and what she’d read. “And if you’re putting your trust in me, well; that’s all I can do back. And after seeing this place and all it is, well…” she looked back in the direction of what they’d walked through, brushing a lock of her hair out of her face that revealed more of her features at last, rather than hiding behind that curtain of raven locks.
“If you think I’m good enough to be here, then maybe it’s somewhere I can fit in, and do what I’m… good at… for some kind of better reasons, at last. Pay back some karma”.
She shrugged a little awkwardly and with a half-smile on her face, before her eyes turned away from Skye and Purna and she glanced around her room, giving a big grin - the first big emotion she’d shown - as she saw Aloysius asleep on her bed, in the usual feline tangle of limbs. She didn’t disturb the cat, but the smile softened a little as she gazed at the fluffy ball of fur, and let her bag slip to the ground next to a slightly larger one with her other personal effects, turning back to the door to look back at Skye and Purna.

Watching as she threw her gear down and settled in, the cat sitting there snugly asleep, the smile continued to hold on Skye’s face, the team leader friendly now, but Purna all too aware of what she’d seen Skye go through the last few weeks. Most would have almost certainly had a breakdown over it, and well, she was doing well to hold the facade up. The Nepali was quiet to observe, as Skye replied.

“Whatever your reasons, we tend to find a variety of operators fit in. All sorts of misfits. Even him.” Skye giggled, Purna scowling a look at her silently as if to reinforce that point, as she shrugged.
“He is very serious, yes. But, we work well together. And, it’s a reprieve from the paperwork I do. I’m going to go grab some brews. Purna, are you alright to show her the rest? Eloise, coffee or tea?” Skye asked, as the Nepali nodded, his fit in the team a rather interesting one. If Skye was the chaotic, yet charismatic, ball of energy that glued the team together, Purna was, if anything, friendly, but knew where to jump in and where not to. He didn’t have much baggage of his own. It helped in his line of work.

Eloise listened attentively, eyes flicking between the team leader and the stout, stocky Nepali. She appreciated the attempts from both of them to help her feel at ease so far, and they seemed genuine people. The smaller woman’s inner voice told her that, of course; it was in their interest to do so as well due to the transactional nature of her being here to a degree; that she was here because her talents were wanted and valued as were her experience such as it was. But the more rational side pointed out that were it just that, there would be no need for such gestures as bringing Aloysius here, providing her with comfortable accommodation and the rest.
“Tea, please,” she answered as she pulled her wandering thoughts back to the moment.

“Sure thing. You know mine.” Purna replied, letting the Scot go, Purna’s short stature more to Eloise’s height, as Purna looked about, looking across at the tangle of cat on the bed, cracking a rare smile of his own. Purna was a man of duty, deep honour, loyalty, and an unspoken violence. Someone who, like Skye, was all too friendly, but beneath, was a set of eyes that had zero qualms with what he did. Sort of like Eloise, perhaps. With Skye moving out of the picture, Purna led Eloise on, heading towards the briefing room, with the lightly AR-enabled interface on the main table and presentation deck, as well as the remainder of the workshop, where Sam was deep in work, and Purna thought it best not to disturb her, pointing out the team where he could for informal introductions.

“So that is about it. I read about the tech you have, but if there is anything you need, go see Sam. Or Tahlia, who also has a prosthetic pair of legs, and can procure nearly anything you can dream of here.” Purna commented with a finality, looking across at Eloise, taking in her slender, almost anonymous like figure. It reminded him of himself.
“It is strange, isn’t it? Being a ghost. At the beck and call of those wanting us to do such horror. You operate the same as me, as far as I can tell. Handy with a bow…..and able to turn invisible. I would be frightened to come across you if we were not on the same side” Purna commented, leaning against the wood, Skye inside the smaller canteen of the office, making brews for the three of them.

Eloise regarded Purna as he spoke, leaning back against the wood. She unconsciously mirrored him, leaning back and her arms folded around her meagre chest as she listened, glancing away and looking about at their surroundings, and at the same time far off in time to other places. A slight, wry smile crept onto her lips and a short, dry chuckle, before she gave him a sideways look.
“Hum… if things had been a little bit different, well; I might not have been on the same side. But after seeing what you have to bring to bear, well. I’m very glad that’s not the case”
She turned back to him as he continued, listening attentively.

“Well, Ebrima thinks the same. You’ll meet him later, he is uhhh….it’s complicated. But yes. Whatever it is you are looking for here, meaning, purpose, revenge, this is a place you’ll settle well into. Skye will tell you later, but there has been a lot….how do we say, disruption these days? She has gone through a lot. She hides it well, and will never stop. But, considering the last few weeks, I think I understand. You may have seen the briefing file on the way here, but we had a lot of issues with Artemis Group, an extremist group set on omnicide. Much bigger fish than you have ever seen before. Skye in particular was quite affected by it, a lot has happened since. We have one loose end to wrap up with them, and when she mentioned we needed an infiltrator to bolster us, you were a natural pick for me from what I saw. I hope we can work well together as a team.” Purna genuinely seemed to loosen up his heart to her, his stoic impression perhaps reflecting back at . If Skye was a bundle of energy, Purna seemed a grounded, honest, genuine person. Growing up in poverty had done that to him. Even with that look in her eyes, Purna saw it in hers. That fear, that look of an urchin that had survived the rat run. Desperation to survive turned into a survival that lit fires.
On that note, Skye came around the corner, carrying the three cups of brews that were requested, and passed them across.

Eloise grimaced in reply as Purna described the scale of the Artemis ambitions, and the implication of the threat they represented. Her lips pursed into a tight line, and her eyes turned down as she shifted uncomfortably a moment.
“I read the short version,” she replied, idly scuffing at the floor with the toe of one of her boots. “And that was enough to make me feel… well, if not scared; definitely uncomfortable. It reminded me of one of those old secret agent movies, with how absurdly huge the scale of Artemis goals was”. The corner of her mouth twitched in that shy, hesitant half-smile again as she looked up at him, a slight glimmer of optimism reaching her eyes at last and some of that resolve and fire reflected back to him.
“But if you think I can help stop… that, then I’m game to try. And, well… it’ll be… good… to work with a team. I haven’t really… done that before”.
She shifted and grimaced a little, hugging her own arms a little tighter. “I’ll admit; trust isn’t easy for me. And the idea of someone watching my back and not waiting for the moment to stick a knife in it, well; that might take a bit of… getting used to. But I’m here, and I don’t want to let anyone down”

“Well, that’s why I thought to introduce you with Purna," Skye continued, joining back in with the conversation. "You two seem to have rather similar traits in putting knives in things, even if the methods are still in development. I prefer the front door kind of approach. Or over that door.” Skye smiled, as she slurped down some of her coffee, Purna’s green tea gently going down also.
“It’s a complicated affair. Not been easy for me to deal with, of course. But, that’s why we’re a team. It’s hard to get used to from going alone, but together, we’re a lot more cohesive. And well, being the world’s emergency service, it takes a bit of getting used to.” Skye added, as they headed towards Skye’s office, walking on through, taking in Eloise’s body language, struggling to read yet Skye able to use her leading talent to pick out her nerves.
Despite it all, the life she lived, the gruelling training, then everything else, Eloise still seemed to have those fears. That ice cold, utterly ruthless ability, yet that feeling as if she was trying to still process it all. Skye definitely wanted her to relax, but knew that would not come immediately, or straight to bear. Walking in, Skye looked out of the window, seeing Blue Sword contractors in the far-away barrack preparing for the day, the sharp-looking redhead gently sighing, taking in the horizon before looking back. Never an easy way to explain things.
“The situation is fluid, I’ll be honest. We stopped possibly the end of life as you know it in Europe and North America two weeks ago, and it still doesn’t feel quite real. But my genetic copy, a woman by the name of Rose, is still at large. And what worries us is where she is. And what is up to. She had this strange ability to basically spawn herself into another body. That link’s been severed. As you might understand, that worries me a hell of a lot more that her last body is now somewhere out there. And when it comes to it, I know she’ll put up a fight.” Skye mused, looking up and down Eloise’s figure, nodding.
“I know what it is like to hurt. But there’s an entire world of it if we don’t stop her, and whatever she is up to. Better an imperfect world, than one certainly fucked.” Skye didn’t mince her words, glancing across her desk, from her FNX sitting there, her personal tablet and keyboard, to her lamp, an office Adam had moved out of given he was willing to hand back control back to Skye for the time being, following the events of the last few weeks.

Skye held a thought for a moment, looking at both of them, nodding with a certain kind of confirmation in her head, the Scots redhead having that clarity on what next, breaking a smirk.
“So, this is the secret agent, Bond-level shit you wanted? I suppose congratulations on it. It’s everything and more.” Skye chuckled, as Purna nodded.
“Even had the Aston Martin a month ago.” Dry as he would like, as Skye nodded, gently sliding across a tablet, saved for Eloise.
“List whatever else you need. I’ll let you and Purna figure out what you need. You’re included in my little exercise in a few. AR training, with a bit of setup, so feel free to set your gear up for that. For now, welcome to the team.“ Skye finished up, as Purna nodded. Skye had a certain administrative edge to her, almost as if not only was she the mum of the team, thinking about others and their place, but making sure she could back that up with a little more authority.

Eloise smirked at that last remark as she sipped her tea, a glimmer dancing in her eyes.
“Hm; well, it’s definitely not what I expected. I think I like the outfits more than the tuxedos and fancy suits that Commander Bond wears. And he wishes he had gadgets this cool”. She raised one eyebrow at Skye and grinned across the top of her cup.
“Shame I missed the car, though…”
She set down her cup as she delicately picked up the tablet, tapping at the screen curiously, before tucking it under one arm and taking the cup back in hand again to finish her tea, and set the empty cup down.
“Thank you for the welcome,” she said with a nod and that glimpse of a smile still in place. “I’m… strange to say it, given the circumstances of what we’re up against, looking forward to it.”
With that, Purna led the way from the office after the introductions were all made, Purna wanting to gear up and well, thought Eloise may as well follow.

Heading inside of the large set-up room, he found his wetsuit-like gear, noticing the similarity between his and Eloise’s, the soft hexagonally-patterned weave where the optical cloaking did its magic, as he pulled his fleece and shirt off with no qualms at all, gently getting settled in. The marks across his light caramel skin could be noted, a lifetime of soldiering, working as a Gurkha, merc and now, this version of a infiltrator, light and intelligence gatherer. His MPX on the bench across from him, Purna kept limited conversation, but something going nonetheless with Eloise, as he set up his hoodie-like cowl and balaclava, quad-NVGs on head, and the remainder of his gear ready.
“You have a similar taste, I see.” Purna’s comments were often dry, but well, he was glad to have an infiltrator of similar spec on board, as he loaded up the mag with smart blanks, slapping the bolt ready, checking the optic and stock.
Eloise was pleased and surprised to see her kit had been unpacked for her, but left to arrange to her own liking. She hung up her jacket on a peg as she shrugged out of it, and set to examining her gear and equipment, picking up her own suit and rubbing her thumbs and fingers over the familiar, rubbery texture of the thick material. She glanced aside at the movement as Purna disrobed, and blushed slightly as she glanced away, looking down at her own body and the suit and flicking back to his back to her. Quickly and feeling self-conscious with every motion, she kicked off her battered doc martens and stripped out of her clothes, pulling on the thick, wetsuit-like garment with nothing beneath it - essential to how it worked in regulating her body temperature. Quickly and in a businesslike manner she fastened the front of the suit and kept up some small talk as she dressed and likewise examined her own gear.
As he mentioned the similarities in their equipment, she looked over and nodded appreciatively at his choice of kit.
“I can certainly see some similarities, yeah,” she agreed as her eyes moved across his body clad in the gear and the NVG’s perched atop his head. She fastened the hard armour and gear into place over the flexible underlayer, and then her own cloak and hood went on top, mask retracted for now. Likewise, she checked the quiver; smart blunthead arrows all over and it went on her back, and the mags for her guns filled with .45 smart blanks too.
Purna chuckled, following her looking her up and down like the way a falcon would look its handler, analytical, rather than some other manner, returning it back. Taking his Kukuri, a tailored note, he adjusted the grapple in his left arm, exhaling hard as he took his Mk14 as well, adjusting the FLIR-produced thermal optic on it, and then his twin USP.45s, smiling.
“You like your .45 caliber too. You really have a taste. Not many people in our line of work like them. It’s a heavy, big bullet, some prefer the 5.7 round because they think it makes them better at piercing armour. But that’s why I like it. Goes through most helmets and drops most people. Fast. So I appreciate it.” Purna smirked, cocking one of the USPs with a loaded magazine, the flush tacticool Osprey silencer sitting on the end in a specialist holster as he span it in his finger around the trigger into the holster following the other one.
With that, he looked across as some of the other team came in, the giants of Athena, Chuck and Freya no doubt utterly boggling the mind of Eloise, with Adam and Tahlia joining too, gearing up in another corner. Given the height on them, it was like a mobile crane walked in from their perspectives. Purna stayed with Eloise for the moment, letting her soak it in slow. Apart from having to crane her neck up.
“Don’t mind them, even if they make your neck hurt. They’re how shall we say, muscle? Athena you probably saw on Instagram. She will tell you all about herself if you ask, so don’t worry, you’ll get to know her in time. Freya and Chuck, those two, a little bird says they are….involved. Heavies, they usually take the heat and all the fire. And over there, is Adam, Polish operative who looked after us while Skye was away, there is Tahlia, Kiwi sniper and a former base manager. A few more will come soon.” Purna added, observing the same way that she had onto the others for Eloise’s benefit.
“You can make introductions throughout the day. But, we have an exercise to ready for. Hunter-killer, right?” Purna matter of factly stated, before a smirk came on his face for the last part, cracking that last bit of his shell.

The slim, slight woman nodded as he mentioned her fondness or preference for .45ACP. She shrugged as she lightly drummed her fingers on the receiver of her MAX11 as she slid it into its’ holster on her thigh. “I suppose my thinking on it is if I need to use bullets instead of arrows or throwing knives, then I want what I’m shooting to be very dead, very quickly. So, yes; big heavy bullets”. She said with that slight half-smile. Her voice had picked up a little, a little more boldness and confidence starting to come through, especially now she had her familiar gear on. She picked up her bow as well, testing the pull on the string and ensuring it was set up as she liked - but her attention was, understandably, drawn away as the other members of the team came in and the room suddenly became much busier. She was overawed by the size of most of them, and then the sophistication of their fear and equipment. She shuffled unconsciously closer to Purna as he listed off names and her steely-grey eyes darted between each other member. She was sure she’d forget all of the names right now, but would quickly learn them as things went along, and settled for nodding as she quickly took in the distinctive features of each of them as they geared up.

Athena had overheard that comment from Purna, looking over, as Purna turned, yelling out in response to the behemoth of the team giving a stare.
“You gonna start blasting grime over there again, big girl?” With a total lack of fucks, Athena gave a middle finger up back, the seven and a half foot of youngest blonde Kaantario making the big distance between the three of them seem remarkably small.
“I was, but then I realised I’d make you look like an old man. Big words for a Gurkha a foot down on me?” Athena chuckled with a hearty giggle, physically bending over, sitting by Eloise’s side, and still at eye-level. Athena’s look was still caked in a little bit of make-up, but her natural charm came from her Russian mother’s siren-like beauty- the larger than life amazon lacking in fucks to give.
“New girl? My advice, Purna’s usually slitting throats and up to nothing interesting really. But with that bow and arrow, ooo, that could spice things up for him. See, why can’t he think of anything that cool? Thinks just being invisible works for him. Slick infiltrator, and yet getting shown up by the new girl.” Purna was getting his fair share of shit today, as Purna gave Athena icy-eyes, to a point where even she backed off.
“You done scaring people? Come on, Ath. She’s new, and I mean, she might just fuck with you.” Purna sighed, Athena shrugging with shoulders that were basically Eloise’s entire torso in width. It was fairly clear here- while in surprise you could probably get Athena, it was one of those things- if you’re gonna go for the Queen, better not miss!
“Nah. It’s still kinda funny. Purna, you missed this bit on the blimp, where I ended up….” Athena started, as Purna interrupted, already disgusted.
“You sat on some fucking guy. I read the report. You are fucking awful.” Purna replied, trying to keep some civility, as Athena giggled.
“You infiltrators haven’t got shit on me, and look, did it quietly get the guy down? Hell, fucking, yeah. Anyway. Eloise is it? Give him a run for his money. I’m sure we’ll kick some ass out there, but Purna needs to stop being so tight.” Athena replied, standing up to full height, frankly twirling with the amount of energy she seemed to have, the long-haired blonde heading back to her gently glistening navy blue armoured suit in the far corner, Purna sighing.
“Yeah, welcome to Raven. No, she hasn’t had too much coffee.”
Eloise was adjusting and just getting adjusted as the others walked in, but as Athena sat by her side and actually started interacting with her, those grey eyes went wide and she apparently forgot every word she had ever learned as she was addressed by a gorgeous goddess made flesh, who was sitting right in front of her. At the mention of her sitting on someone, the diminutive, slender woman’s mind drew some rather creative pictures… and then made some substitutions for herself in certain positions and she felt her cheeks start to burn. She squeaked a reply and nodded a faltering acknowledgement to the giant woman’s encouragement to kick ass and take names.
Oh no, she thought to herself as she pulled her hood up over her face and drew her cloak in. She’s hot.
Fortunately she was saved from her own mortified embarrassment and hopefully from Athena’s notice of it - or her reaction to the giant woman - as the briefing began, and her attention was immediately pulled away and to the job in question.

The goals of the exercise were quite simple and straightforward; a chance to test and show her skills, and to practice and experiment with how they and her equipment fit in with the rest of the team, and what working alongside them was like. A way to build some familiarity and experience before things went live.
Once the brief was outlined and its’ relatively straightforward goals, the AR systems were warmed up, and it was game time.

Several hours later after an even dozen run-throughs and evolutions of the exercise, with numerous unexpected wrinkles and problems randomly thrown in just to test how she - and the rest - adapted, Eloise gasped her breath back and chugged down ice-cold water. Her body had that satisfying burn from having worked out virtually every muscle, and especially her shoulders and arms from all the bowstring pulls she’d made.
But she felt accomplished.
She’d worked well with the others. It had been clunky at first, awkward as she’d learned how the team worked, how they operated and the pace of things; how they used their equipment and abilities to carry out their unique way of fighting, and then slowly started to add her own skills to that mix, her own talents and equipment, finding niches to fill and gaps to exploit.
There were still things to learn; of course there were. It was the first day. But she’d learn, and she was eager to learn more, to do more, and to fit in and find her place.
Like both Purna and Skye had said to her, hours earlier - she’d find one, here, and make a difference with it.

---

The Cameroonian stood outside, breath visible in the early morning air. Borrowed phone in one hand and a scrap of paper in the other, Ebrima dialed the number Raph gave him after several minutes of persuasion and a near argument. Well, first he got a laundromat in Tel Aviv, then a restaurant in Eliat. What even was this man’s handwriting, Christ…

The third attempt connected on the second dial.
”Khen?” A middle-aged man’s voice came through.
”Avi?”
”Shlum, Ebrima.” A hint of a smile appeared in the bored and tired voice, ”They finally let you have a phone?”
”It’s a loaner. I do not have long to speak, but I need a favor.”
”There is not much I can offer you these days. Unless you would like to hear a flute song.”
”Flute…?”
”I had hoped to learn guitar, but I wasn’t allowed stringed instruments.”
”I see. No, this is something I would only trust you or Viktor Bout with. Who was that film maker you told me about last year? The Italian pioneering that system that you wanted to… Repackage?”
”Cristina Severanti? What about her?”
”Do you still have the contact?”
”Yes? Why, may I ask?”
”I am doing work… let’s call it public service. They agreed to mark this help on your record.”
”For what good it will do.”
”I cannot tell you the scope of our work, but it will.”
There was a pause. ”That bad?”
”That bad. Ms Severanti, please?”
”I’ll send it by message.”
”Thank you. I’ll tell Enri you said ‘Hello’.”
”Waitwhat?”
”Yes, turns out our little keyboard warrior is alive. And now no longer thinks we left her to die. I’ll give her the number.”
”Please do.”
”I have to go. Goodbye for now.”
”Goodbye.”

---

---

Ebrima rushed out of cover, immediately taking a hail of fire from the two Blue Sword troopers, the armor shrugging off the two lead hoses aimed at it for long enough for him to stagger behind another wall.
“How hard is this fucker to bring down?”
“Not long now, go, get around him, I’ll keep him pinned!”
The first trooper rushed out under covering fire from his buddy and rounded a corner to see what shouldn’t be possible - Ebrima changing positions, somewhere he shouldn’t have been even with a jump pack.
“The fuck- My 20!”
“Wha- Moving!” His buddy recovered from the impossible situation quickly and moved to catch up.
The first one, meanwhile, fired a few shots in vain before following, hearing gunfire from elsewhere, likely his partner finding an angle on the Cameroonian merc. He rounded a corner to find Ebrima behind a low wall, clutching his arm. He fired, the injured African completely ignoring him once again. Alright, what the fuck? This was getting ridiculous. The Blue Sword trooper moved forward when he saw Ebrima. Again. His aim alternated between the duplicates, not knowing what to think when a hand landed on his shoulder.
”Your friend is dead.” Ebrima said calmly, ”And now, so are you.” He added as the exercise was called and three Tricksters - small hexrotor drones with a speaker and a holographic projector Severanti used to create realtime CGI effects in her movies - returned to the mounts on the back of Ebrima’s armor along with a standard Scout drone borrowed from Blue Sword that had been keeping track of them for him the entire time. If the pristine condition of Ebrima’s armor was anything to go by, at no point were they even shooting at the man himself.

Enri and the techs had spent the time well, completely unfucking the software of Ebrima’s exosuit and ditching some fat they couldn’t fix, meaning it was actually possible to upgrade the thing without multiple cascade failures. With Sam’s help, three charging ports were added to the back of his armor, each carrying one Trickster drone, and an AI of Enri’s make to manage them all, each trickster capable of projecting a lifelike image of any member of Raven plus some preloaded Blue Sword and civilian scans. A second, less sophisticated AI was added to run the two Scouters, although anyone in the team could take control of either of them through their armor at any time if needed. The onboard power packs were likewise tripled to keep up with the increased power demand, the Scouters having about an hour each in them but the projectors draining the Tricksters fast and needing in-field recharging after less than five minutes of use.

---

---

Ebrima actually didn’t know what to think about the briefing. Space. Fucking space. How? It was one thing to have him go underwater. He knew water, never really dived except that one instance of an overturned RHIB they all agreed to never talk about, but fine, alright, diving. But space?

”Air and Sea-borne anti-satellite weapons are nothing new. Why not down the station from here if we believe it to be a threat? I am not by any means a scientist, but any toxin that may be aboard should disperse harmlessly in the vacuum, no?” Ebrima asked.

”Jamming is easy enough wirelessly, and I brought a lot of infected drives with a wide array of payloads from home to hand out. Tell me what you want and we’ll see what can be done, on top of Sam’s pocket drones.” Enri spoke up, ”What worries me is that launch sites are typically hardwired for reliability, so if they want to launch, we most likely can’t stop them unless we’re in the command center. What’s our contingency for that?”

Ebrima had one more question, waiting for everyone to get theirs out of the way and to see if anyone else’s mind went down that grim path, only speaking if his head was the only one fucked up in that way. ”It’s a lot of work to do. Beyond Sol Hestia, what do the priorities look like?” He didn’t say it directly, but the implication of leaving the hostages to their fate if needed was clearly there.

Listening in, Skye let the team ask their questions and responded in sequence to each. Going first with Sam, who raised the point about capabilities.

"Good ideas, Sam- but I need you with the main force. Purna and Eloise will be your portal to that world if you need it ahead of time so give it to them, and you’ll have time to setup what you can when they tap into the local comms grid. They’ll be your eyes and ears if you give them what you need, including jamming and breaking into comms for Enri and Raph- but when it comes to the main assault, I need you and Adam paired up to man those bits of armour. It will be a fight to take them, and no offense to our heavies, but I need someone fast there too.” Skye replied, turning her attention to the larger American with his arms crossed, replying as the burly Marine could.

“I’d take you for some coastal sabotage, Chuck, but as big as you are, sneaking onto or under the boats will be difficult given their defensive grid. We have a new infiltrator here who can help Purna there, given I need something faster, smaller moving. But don’t worry. There will be plenty for you to detonate- the barracks need a healthy number of explosives in them so we can sow as much anarchy as we can. Guerilla style.” Skye smiled back at him, knowing for him and Duke, explosions would certainly come aplenty.
Ebrima's question got an answer too, as Skye turned to it, thinking it over for a moment.

"That was our initial thought too, just blasting Ark Angel out of the sky. But, if there's any tungsten containers up there, then we're possibly crashing in any remaining Hestia too. It may fall to us, and then godknows what next. As for priorities, Zhao and Rose are your two main HVTs, find and eliminate them and the rest goes from there. The hostages follow after, if we can rescue them. That, and any other intel we can find once we're there. More we find to end this whole mess, the better. And if it comes to us to solve this nightmare, then we'll do it." Skye added, looking over to the others, including Enri.

"Stopping the launch is our prerogative, Enri. We could shoot it out of the sky again, maybe not so easily, but again we run into the same problem as earlier- we just need to be careful at what we're about to detonate. As easy as it would be to wrap up all our problems, any amount of Sol Hestia in there creates a failsafe. And I can’t assume that Rose has already thought that through. So worst case, we’ll deal with it personally if the situation evolves.” Skye added, looking more broadly across to the team, addressing the wider elephant in the room.

“She’s likely engineered this situation that if we were to attack, we’d get ourselves slaughtered if we went in by the coast. And she knows we won’t risk any direct strikes on anything. I’ll let her indulge because I think her immortality has rotted her brain a little...because I have a method we can use to hit her where she can’t react. She's laid out the board expecting us to go into it, not use her hand against her. By the time she thinks she can do something about it, we’ll have applied enough aggression to turn her dagger into herself. Comes from lacking a team of her own." Skye replied, wrapping this thing up, finishing the brief, knowing there were still no doubt a ton of questions, but many of them would slowly get wrapped up on the way over.

"Right. We'll ship out on the Galaxy that Blue Sword have here and rendezvous with the airship once ready. We've got a ghost transmitter for our little run, and you have your last chance here to sort yourselves out. We’ll be moving in eight hours. You can catch up on sleep in the plane once we’re done. EVA team, I’ll brief you shortly, so stay here. Rest of you, you’re all dismissed.” Skye authoritatively called, with it, wrapping this little segment up.

---

In the interim, Skye had gone through the briefing with the team coming up into space with her on EVA procedures, and whilst more likely than not relevant later, for the time being, you could almost stack it into a montage of various theory, and then some major playing around with Skye’s and Ebrima’s exos, and what movement in space with a MMU pack was like. For most people, this was freaky- but then again, being able to actually steer was crucial to even being able to fight back. If there was anything unexpected, best to be ready.

As for the others, they helped with moving things. Everything had to go into containers, for an op of this scale, it wasn’t so much just picking up gear and loading up, it felt more of an industrial effort than ever, and bit by bit, the cargo trucks, as well as their contents were loaded aboard a C5 Galaxy brought in by Blue Sword, and just like that, the team had packed in. Goodbyes had been made to Antti, Natalie and Victor, and they were off to a faraway land, to a meeting point for the blimp. They were leaving Finland with what felt like a certain kind of finality- the last operation had been substantial, but this felt altogether alien.

It was a long flight. A long way to go. And the situation was still fluid. But, whatever was to come, it was sure to be one hell of an operation to follow.

---

Soundtrack: Bonobo - Kerala

Going from the sub-tundra north of Finland to the equator was a shock to the redhead, her gentle skin catching rays and metaphorically speaking, sizzling on impact. It had been a long flight, with shipping containers and vehicles loaded, armour set up, and in the back of a MAN KAT 1 8x8 cargo truck that bumped through the insanely gouged out roads of the Kenyan savannah, Skye sat with the rest of the team, wearing just fatigues for the moment, albeit keeping her rifle and pistol to bear even without the exo on at the moment.

The rest of the team were in the back too- and likely- they were feeling every bump of the insanely rutted, washboarded road. Skye looked back to the others, wearing her blue tactical shades, her red braided hair blowing about in the wind a little as she sat next to Freya and Ban, smirking back.
"Never thought we'd be out on safari, did we!" Skye chuckled, a certain grin in her face as she looked across to Eloise, who was out here for her first op, and then Athena, and Sam adjacent, the latter of whom Skye smiled even across to, breaking back to serious team leader face as soon as she could permit herself to allow it.

The cover for the truck was off which allowed them to enjoy this safari into the end of the world, and in the distance, a group of Giraffes could be seen on the savannah horizon, contrasted by the enormity of Kilimanjaro in the distance, and then, in the thick treeline of a special LZ, the Airlander’s gigantic mass. Painted a dark grey, covered in specialist coating, the team were making haste for where Athena's Airlander Class-12 airship was landing in the brush, making a few gazelle scatter and certainly cementing itself as the biggest thing for miles around. This remote, and out of the way from civilization in the middle of the savannah, locals would likely call it in but be told to calm down with their whiskey habit. Who would believe this, after all?

For the airship, it was a needed catchup. The various fuel trucks and supplies had been hauled across from a backcountry landing strip the C5 Galaxy had dumped the team into were here to intercept it, and they would continue aboard this, the ability to loiter closer to the island thanks to it’s stealth capability a godsend tactically speaking, and something Skye had astutely put into service given no other support was needed. When you weren’t getting airstrikes, make your own, was her logic. And if it was stupid, then well, good. That meant it wasn’t going to be seen coming, even if down here, the Flying Buttocks, as she was affectionately named to the chargrin of basically everyone that wasn’t remotely interested in calling it that, sat there in the red-sandy rock of the plains.

They were a day out from Reunion, ready for another dawn attack on a highly reinforced site. So the gear they had, and the prep they had was perhaps a little above average, but considering the number of enemy, and their skill, they could use any prep they could have. Pulling into the clearing, Skye opened the rear latch and leapt down the few feet to the floor, M31 on her back and the sight of Vincent already ahead of schedule.

“Mon Capitane, she is ready. The size of her I still cannot get over. Gigantic, huge, mon dieu, you are going to give me a heart attack!” Vincent said, chuckling as Skye stared him down, as he realised what he’d said, the silhouette of the Airlander Class-12 behind Vincent framed almost perfectly, basically like someone had covered up Athena with a shimmering grey pair of tights, that particular blonde even craning her neck at it before staring down Vincent. And hysterically, it just couldn’t have been worse. He turned to look at it, then back at Skye, then Athena, then Sam, as if the realisation had hit in him that even he was getting infected by just how stupid this entire thing was.

“Ah, merde. Sorry, sorry. I did not….” Vincent replied, Skye still stoic and pear faced, as she looked to Sam, then Freya, smirking, as she gave him a gentle shove in the shoulder, breaking into laughter.
“It’s all good. They’ll just take turns beating you up. You keep seeing us hurt, maybe it’s your turn? Ahh, Vincent. You’ll dig yourself a hole like that….now come on, let’s get this show on the road. Before this goes arse over tits. You alright flying it?“ Skye giggled with the charm she could have, hiding the fact in that moment even against Vincent she could have set him up so, so clean for the two next to her. And he followed, nodding back.

“Oui, it’s like a plane but just full of helium. Stealth coating on it is as good as the….what was it, flying thing that Freya had? It’s tiny on their signature, no easy way to lock it unless they deploy jets. And we loaded AMRAAMs and ECM systems on top of the Hellfires. And even Freya's new system, the long-range railgun. So by the time they even try, we may even have a fighting chance.” Skye giggled at the thought of it, looking to Eloise, who no doubt was dropping her jaw beyond the floor in the sight of all of this, anything she’d ever seen even in her line of work likely being eclipsed by this.

“Good. By the time we have what we need done, stealth won’t be a problem. And you can make all the ass jokes you like then. Pervert.” Skye coldly replied with a grin towards the end to just poke that she hadn’t forgotten whether it was intentional or not, as the logistics operation got to work.
"Sam can lend you a hand." Skye smiled across at the tech of the team, nodding her head back to the blimp.
"Hopefully in better circumstances than last time, right?!" Athena replied, Skye sighing in response to maybe her....overenthusiasm, giving a look to Sam of "look, she's being hyper again, leave it".

The ramp onto the beached airship visible in the gap in the tall brush was being loaded via a forklift truck, a hastily assembled rendezvous giving the airship a chance to get fuel, supplies, and most of all, the equipment the team would need.

The team followed, Purna looking to Eloise with a grin.
"This was a hell of a capture. Not sure how we got it, but it's impressive, right?" Purna asked, as Tahlia followed Ebrima, looking over to him.

"Your holographic projector threw those Blue Sword OpFor in that exercise for a spin. Where on earth you got that from beats even me. So you have my respect there, Ebrima. Outfoxed me when it comes to logistics." She smiled back to him, as Skye headed up said ramp, leading the group's brief little stop to look at the giraffes, gazelles, and probably somewhere in the distant brush, lions and zebra that populated this perfect shrub.

The option of taking the hovercraft was mooted, but given its weight, had now been replaced with two buggy-like CAVs, mounted up with a XM307 Grenade Launcher on the rear, and a M240 in the passenger seat, seating four in complete discomfort for all situations but providing rapid, mobile firepower that compromised completely on armour. Installing a V8 in each had helped out with that, given the shorter sprints required, Javi had souped both up with a lot more speed and Baja-like suspension to just send anything it hit when on the road. For the reassurance of the occupants of each, it could be deployed aerially and had two-stage parachute systems linked up to them, a system made for rapid deployment that was a bit more tried and tested from old designs when you absolutely needed to drop a vehicle in from on high, say, as high as 30,000 feet. That was just the vehicle pool, located where Rose's last pod had been, and now had been scrubbed thoroughly for any trace of any other sabotage or other hidden systems. There was so much more to this airship now, given it had become a mobile FOB and Athena’s little palace in the sky.

Athena's people, Skye had to admit, had been through, as she clambered upstairs, back towards the quarters where Sam's heart had stopped, as she wondered inside, taking in the refurb. Skye whistled, the look on Athena's face reflecting the same childish grin, as Skye took in just how lavish this was. This was not a command centre of Skye's liking. This was a fucking penthouse, even more extravagant than Rose's. Although, it had room for all of them aboard, CAVs, weapons, armour, and everything else inbetween.

"You had two weeks to refurb in here, and you really threw more money than sense at it. My god. Not sure if I should take my shoes off in here. That is really plush." Skye commented, the opulence of this little place staggering. White walls, and gold trim, in a hyper-modern style. Athena, standing in a dark crimson jumpsuit, like her thermals replaced with a thin overlay, were her go to for this- somewhat inspired by her sister, and when coupled to bleaching her usually apple blonde hair with electric blue, made her look like an alien rather than a giantess. She wanted that superhero look, given the new additions to her suit, and a little tribute to Freya too. She seemed barely phased, giggling at the thought of Skye's lack of ambition.

"Look. Evil flying lair shaped like a giant booty. Did you think I was passing the opportunity up to do something with it? Absolutely not. The Insta clout I am gonna have up here, I mean….you can’t buy this." Athena did not particularly care, the crimson red jumpsuit barely covering her curves and making her look more hyper than usual, as Skye somehow could feel Athena's parents judging behind the smile on all those things together. Walking into the armoury that had previously been the store for Sol Hestia and a bunch of supplies brought her smile back, looking around at the state of things, all in its right place, ready to go for an operation on moment's notice. Athena at this point was definitely high on all of this, her hyperactivity given her second heart more likely than not throwing more blood than she probably should have had in her head.

"No, but you can steal a highly advanced, classified piece of military equipment the Americans are screaming most likely they want back before you shipped it here. Fuck me. This is a bona-fide mobile FOB for the sky. Utterly ridiculous." Skye commented, walking through the area where no less Rose had been shot, and the comprehensive palace that Athena had made to her own self. This bit was more industrial, but still, if industrial met Christian Dior levels of opulent décor, with racks for the heavies armours, exos, weaponry, and so on, well, it had been well equipped.

"Well, it's at your service. Without cost. I'm kind like that. I mean, I could charge you rent? By the hour, by the day? I mean, I could make it a business. Screw this whole private military thing. I just sit there and just let people have a ride on something as glorious as this." Athena commented and rambled, as Skye looked over her shoulder, staring a dagger, and giving a sigh to Athena's casual filler-filled smirk.

"What was I thinking…..fine. Your treat. Just means you have to save the world so you can keep it." Skye replied, Athena shrugging off as she walked through the deployment room, containing the literal trapdoor in the floor for the CAVs to drive out of, and the team to drop out of- with wingpacks at the ready. They were getting reused again, at least for some members of the team, as Skye completed the tour, heading back to the main common area, looking out of the window at the life beyond. Athena sorted out her affairs, namely caking her face in makeup, nails, of course, tactical, and then sorted out the new attachments to her armour that she'd been wanting for a while.

Purna, Adam and Tahlia followed suit, setting themselves up in the armoury, bringing in their gear, rifles, suits, and everything else. It wasn’t much more to go, but fuelling was nearly done, and the searing heat of the African plains would soon be a memory once they left the LZ.

Once everyone was aboard, the airship clambered fast to altitude, leaving no doubt plenty of the Maasai tribespeople in a certain shock and awe, as the vehicles cleared route as fast as they'd arrived back to the C5 at the bush airport, and left, leaving only tracks and footsteps behind.

---

Soaring higher and higher, the airship caught wind and was now motoring as it approached 35,000 feet, into the jetstream, and now was covering plenty more ground, into the afternoon and it would continue through the night.

Adam looked across to the redhead who cinematically stood at the window, in her usual characteristic blue shirt and jeans, staring into the vast horizon, her braided hair and undercut revealing an operative in the glimmer of sun.

"Come on. Save some cool points for the rest of us." Adam interrupted Skye's staring at Kilimanjaro and the plains of Africa far below now, becoming a distant streak from the wind carrying this oh-so-stupid insertion method, as Skye looked over.

“Fine. You got me there.” Skye’s reply cut back, as Adam sat down on the sofa, the same one that Sam and Skye had actually shared, funnily enough. Athena had been sensible enough to leave some furnishings, once checked, over. No more sofa-based explosive devices.

“I never did talk to you before the last operation. Or this one actually, properly about us.” Adam said with a sincerity, as Skye looked at him, almost wanting him to go on.

“You did. You apologised, remember?” Skye replied, Adam shrugging.

“Yeah. But it did not go exactly the way I thought. It was more widely, you know. I know we didn’t see eye to eye after Kyrgyzstan. There was more to say.” Adam said, sighing, as Skye nodded.

“Well, it was done and dusted. I thought you were for order, control? And I was too much. You said it yourself.” Skye’s response. “So, honestly, it is what it is. I learned a lot back then too, and changed my own methods too, realised I needed to be a bit tighter with things. In some ways, you’re right, what works for me relentlessly doesn’t for others, rules are there sometimes not to be broken. So, no, if that is what you are inferring, I didn’t dwell on it. Just acted it out. Thought you'd appreciate that.” Skye replied with a meandering thought, as Adam nodded.

“Well, not like that, Skye. Just more….it was shitty. It’s why I gave this position when you came back in. Have to admit, you have a way with the team that I simply can't. Good team, but Jesus, Raven is a lot. Crazy.” Adam fessed up, as Skye nodded in return, thinking back on all of it, bald Pole’s green shirted, fatigue wearing contrast to the Scot displaying perhaps the differences- the rock-band supporting team lead versus the more orderly, disciplined Pole showing just how apart they’d been.

“Well, I was a bit brash. But we’re both just too messed up. And in this game? Honestly. Takes someone fierce to do what we do. Leading a bunch of misfits like this, nothing wrong with saying it was difficult. Your op in Marrakesh went well for what it’s worth. I think you’re a perfectionist who realises when you couldn’t enforce order, or stop the big blonde girl funding half of this, you might struggle. It happens. Still worked out or we wouldn’t be here. Just roll with it and sweat it later.” Skye replied, more mature in some ways, as Adam looked over.

“I get that. I get it. But hey. I learned from you too. More aggression works sometimes.” Adam nodded, as he looked back across at her, giving a smile, a rare one, before cracking open more truths while he felt like he had to right now.

“You know, after this is done, you should think about stopping. Get some R&R. Find someone, Skye, and just leave it behind. Even with all the shit that is going down, you need to be normal eventually. And you know I’m not saying this because I’m trying to be difficult. If not me, someone will respond.” Adam commented, Skye nodding, looking up to him.

“I mean, what choice do I have, Adam. You missed a bullet. Apparently there were fucking hundreds of bodies of mine to deal with....so it still isn't easy to let go. I don’t think I can ever leave it, Adam. You probably can, and did for a while. But me? This thing is to the core, to the end. Till she’s dead, I don’t know how I move forward. But once I guess I’ve got her spine peeled out of her, then I’ll be happier.” Skye did not mince her words, the sometimes warm Scot turning anyone ice cold, even Adam in that moment, just reflecting just how utterly done, broken, and fed up with this bullshit affair she was by now.

“Maybe. But there is an after. You’re still human, Skye. Maybe if not us, then there’s someone who will want you to live. Do that for you.” Adam added, Skye nodding, giving no reply as they looked out of the window, in a silence, uncomfortable, and perhaps to Skye, unresolved entirely.

The quiet was uncomfortable, yet in it, Skye lived. Adam had a point. He had something, perhaps family drove him back, normalcy even in this absurdity. But her? As much as she found it in Sam, Freya, the gang here aboard, she still struggled deep down. And this always gave her something. After, there would be time. More than enough given the headache Rose had caused.

---

Tahlia sat with Purna inside the armoury of the airship, the Kiwi retooling her FN Ballista, going through the .338 chambered sniper rifle, getting ready to drape a new camo cover over it, the Kiwi sitting in a merino wool green pullover and her tactical legs, the Nepali himself checking his SIG MPX through, the lengthened barrel a bit more pronounced for the greater accuracy he wanted from the SMG.

“So the new girl. Eloise. You seem keen on her?” Tahlia added, gently adjusting the stock on the rifle, as Purna nodded.

“She’s lethal. Quiet, maybe a little awkward but….she’s no less capable.” The Nepali replied, himself taking the time to go over his arm-mounted PDA, fiddling with the cloaking capabilities of his gear, as well as the bundle of high-density explosive he was carrying. A higher than usual load, considering sabotage work was on the horizon.

“I think she reminds you, of you.” Tahlia replied, a blunt tone in the blonde’s response, Purna’s face caught off guard.

“We’re all killers here. I thought it’s about the right person for the job.” Purna’s reply was as blunt, as he finished up, checking the high-calibre SMG over, checking the sighting.

“Agreed, it’s just an observation. I thought you’re more of a loner. Yet more you work with people, I think you seem to find that mutual. I’m no expert on people. And I shoot people from afar on my lonesome. But I just note that about you.” Tahlia poked a little, smirking.

“Come on, smile a little bit. You are even making me seem warm.” The Kiwi farmer chuckled, as Purna shrugged, the ice melting a little as he gushed out a bit.

“It’s a mindset of being stepped on and treated like you’re nothing, Tarly. I am sorry. But it’s what I know. Most assassins just behave like they have everything all the time, so they forget what it’s like to truly be a ghost, truly be untouchable. So perhaps it’s why I wanted her. Believe me, I trust you with everything. But working on such things….it requires more than everything.” Purna replied, Tahlia nodding as she chambered the rifle, checking the bolt.

“Aye, I know what you mean, I mean nothing by it. And it’s her first op. And maybe her last if we earn ourselves some R&R. Or get killed. Either way, I’m sure you have this.” Tahlia smiled back, as Purna cracked, and returned one.

“Wouldn’t dream of stopping now.” Purna responded, as he left the armoury, and with that, left the scene to grab a bite to eat- likely the last or a while.

---

Looking down at the tactical map of Ile de La Tempete, and the Vulpine Space facility, Skye had her opportunity to at least review how the site was laid out, tactical positions, everything else. Rough estimates of troop concentrations, capabilities, and then everything else.
She drew in a simple plan. A little out of sequence, but if it worked, all parts of it would kick in at about sometimes.

Using the resources they had, the advantage of a bit of stealth, their vehicles and their weaponry, Skye had gotten to work cooking on something that felt equal parts old-school, classic Raven, and a little bit more silly on top of that.

Eloise, and Purna had wingpacks to go- the ships, as well as critical infrastructure on site needed needed some sabotage. That meant copious amounts of explosives, and paving the way for the rest of the team by snipping the SAM sites on the ground, the ones that at least, could be physically managed rather than hacked. That meant some highly agile, fast movement in the more urbanised, dockland of the spaceport, a facility able to move rockets off ships and into position for launch. They were “Fireteam Shadow”.

Herself, Tahlia, Ban and Ebrima had one CAV, and had a vehicle store and barrack to hit on the volcanic slope further inland, designated as “Camp Bravo”. Tahlia would need a sniping position, and then could provide long-range firepower, hitting targets critically where and when needed. Once Bravo was dead, they would keep rampaging until they hit the command centre. That team was “Fireteam Hammer”.

Freya, Chuck, Sam and Adam had the other CAV to deploy in. They would hit Camp Alpha, a large barrack, with the former two taking the heat and rampaging through the barracks zone to clear the way to the launch site’s entry point and command centre, whilst the latter two had the larger mechanised titans to go steal and capture, taking another massive zweihander to the launch facility afterwards- the Command Centre being designated Objective Osiris and where they coalesced, near the rocket on the launchpad. That team in particular was termed “Fireteam Anvil.”

It had moved fast, so Skye had no doubts people were unsure where they were going. All she expected was once they were in contact, they just made sure to destroy as much as they found.

As contingency, Athena and Jamie could sort themselves out and deploy later when required- and Vincent was on call to unleash hell with missiles on the armoured targets, albeit with a bit of a delay. Safe to say, it was an all points setup.

Skye ran it by each of the teams. This would be a bit of an asynchronous attack- the lights of Purna and Eloise would be in early, but they’d be behind enemy lines when the others started falling out of the sky. They had a lot of explosives to plant, and if done right, they would cut off the naval aspects, as well as the inland troops in one fell swoop.

To cap things off, the team had their last opportunities to mingle on the airship- with Skye and Adam in the lounge with Athena not too far away spread out on a sofa herself, Tahlia and Purna grabbing a bite to eat from the teeny kitchen onboard.

---

Part Seven: Countdown to Launch

Soundtrack: Dawid Posiadlo, PT Adamczyk- Phantom Liberty (from Cyberpunk 2077)

Suiting up, from the heavy armour plates interlocking on Athena’s Warhawk, retooled, equipped with a significantly improved boostpack and coil mechanism, to Adam and Skye’s fatigues latched into the exoskeletons they wore, to Purna’s tight fitting infiltrator garb, one by one, the team geared up in a certain kind of solace. They had trained years, some decades now for this. And yet in this situation, this very moment, they were going towards their biggest threat yet.

Moving out of the armoury and into the vehicle pool and quite literal trapdoor of the airship, where the ramp emerged out of, Skye stood tall in her exo and fatigues, oxygen mask on, given the door was going to open in the centre of the room. The dawn assault was back in vogue, the pink sky returning from two weeks ago.

“All yours, Viper. You two go make us an opening.” Skye smiled through the oxygen mask, as Purna gave a nod, heading over towards the release and punching the button.

With it, Purna looked across to Eloise, giving a thumbs up. The black carbon fiber wingpack sat tight on his back, the jets there as usual on each wing, a carbon fibre helmet and oxygen setup providing a nice steady flow of breathable air.

“Time to stretch your wings out, Archer. LZ’s marked up. We’ll land, then divide and conquer. Place your charges carefully, there’s many, many targets of opportunity. Fuel dump, the corvettes, you name it. And no end of personnel that need a knife, a bullet, or an arrow through their skull. Let’s make some mayhem of our own.” Purna replied, as the door widened up, his breathing intensifying. And with it, Purna led, not trying to leap so hard as if he’d fall across the other side of the trap door, but instead falling out, the cloud layer below masking the island, but not the big pointy volcano that stuck out of it.

Turning, Purna got a lock on their LZ shy of the dockyard area in a thick mangrove swamp, and only used the jets to adjust trajectory, the two lights soaring onto target. Falling more than flying this time around, but the speed and pace that allowed them to accelerate towards target, undetected, was unbeatable. And Purna was loving every second of it.

“You holding up okay?” Purna called out, the rare glimmer of emotion calling back as he turned gently around a bank of cloud, the tropical island that made up Ile de la Tempete coming into view below, the launch site perched on the plains of the east contrasted by the bulbous orange glow of the gently active volcano on the west of the isle, and inbetween, a presence of Artemis and PLA forces that would usually make him wince. But this time it was just necessary. There was no other way around, and Purna could have no doubts, not when the stakes were as high as they were.



And headed for their HUD-marked PLA, Purna readied to deploy his chute as they skated down from on high to almost level with the ocean itself, the waves throwing themselves up, as they flew towards a volcanic island in the southern Indian Ocean, below radar, a tiny blur in the dawn chorus.

If this wasn’t something cinematic, then nothing was, as they had 1km to go to the mangroves, their parachute deployment point, and then, the start of their little romp to start sabotaging. Lights did not often work together- but on this instance, Purna knew that Eloise just needed to be let loose on any targets of opportunity, and so long as they picked the opposite ones, they'd have everything covered, ready to detonate in time for the other teams to arrive.

---

With Viper and Archer gone, the rest of the team finished gearing up, and got ready to go, sitting in their CAVs respectively.

Quite literally, it was time to freefall some assault vehicles onto an island, Skye seeing the rest of the team assemble up, clambering onto vehicles, Athena and Jamie staying behind but ready as a QRF as and when she was needed. Quite literally, to drop in where their presence was required. Skye knew Athena had something in the works for that, as if the queen of indulgences hadn’t already cooked up something of her own.

The actual callsign Queen, however, had a moment to address the rest of the teams, wanting to go through the plan one last time.
“Right. So, just a reminder. Normally you’d deploy the chute on the vehicle early with that yellow toggle, but instead, when you pull that, it’ll deploy a drogue. That will slow the vehicle down, but it won’t stop you going splat. Instead, you yank that red one when the altimeter shows 2,000 feet. Then, fire the engine up, and whatever you hit, keep it going, cutting the chute away.” She begun, looking to the rest, knowing this was hasty- but, such a brief was important to reiterate.

“Winds and drop-point should put my CAV on target for the slope of the volcano towards the west of the island, and we’ll then rampage towards the vehicle pool after dropping off Tahlia. Our job, if you’re with the lovely Major Skye Lyons that is in Hammer, is to sabotage any vehicles, then run a gauntlet mopping up patrols around the island to make sure no QRF can fuck with us. We’re going to wipe them before they wipe us, and lead the attack on the main Command Site.” Skye started.

Adam looking to his group. “My team, Anvil should be here for this point, south of Camp Bravo. If we keep up the speed, and ram-raid, we can launch an assault on the barrack and the mechanised suits’ location. The ships, SAMs, and majority of the resistance should be cut through. But we need to secure that barrack if we want a clean run on the command centre and the launch site. If you find any intel, let me know. But I expect this to get messy.” Adam added, as Skye looked to the collective group here.

“And collectively, we need to then group up and assault the Command Centre after we’re done, and the remaining forces. Viper and Archer might be able to open us some doors, but we’ll need to do the heavy lifting. This method will drag them into a confrontation we fight on our terms. Speed, aggression, and firepower wins us this fight, because we sure as hell don’t have numbers. We’ll have them on the run in no time.” Skye smiled, clambering into the passenger seat of the CAV, sitting next to Ebrima, looking to him.

“We all good?” Skye asked, reattaching her oxygen over her face, the fatigues wearing, exo-clad Raven lead in position to go, as was Adam, behind the passenger seat of the other CAV with Sam at the wheel, Athena watching on at all of them.

“Happy hunting, go fuck them up, but leave me some!” Athena teased, as Skye smirked back, even broken by her unrelenting bullshit. With it, the armoured blonde punched the release button, the air draining as they were about to HALO some buggies into an island. There was an order to all of this, the sort that would make sure they hit their LZs, because they weren’t about to just send these things into the ocean or some jungle. Seeing their marker come up, Skye turned to Ebrima, and her smile visible through the mask, she tapped the bonnet of the CAV.

“Little hand says it’s time to roll....so play us out, Boaro. Hope you’re strapped in. I'll navigate us, let's fly this fucking thing.” Skye with that, cued the music, and her hand on the side strut of the CAV, got ready for Ebrima to drop them down.

Soundtrack: AC/DC - Shoot to Thrill

The odds were not in Raven's favour, at all. But, Skye had some feeling they were tipping it close.

LZ Zulu, Somewhere in Tsavo West National Park, Kenya

1100 Hours Local Time
Two Days Later

The Lyons Queen

Eloise did her best to hold on and stay comfortable as the truck bumped and rattled along the rutted, dusty trails through the savannah. The pale, slight young woman had found a pair of shades somewhere and had them over her eyes, and her normally serious, even neutral expression couldn't help but curve into a small smile at the corners as she saw the vast, expansive natural beauty of their surroundings and the animals in the distance, or otherwise glimpsed as they passed by.
Once the airlander came into view, she was similarly awed by the size of the thing. With the vehicles clustered around it, it gave even more of a sense of scale for the size of the thing. She hopped down from the back of the truck with graceful ease, standing close by as the others spoke and a smirk crept onto her lips as the jokes about the airship looking like a flying butt came up. She tilted her head and hummed, before shrugging and speaking up to add her own comment in reply to Purna's mention with a nod.
"Mm... it does look like a butt. Or maybe like boobs under a sports bra. Or someone with a really bad cameltoe... but it's impressive though. I've never seen anything quite like it".
Her eyes were drawn to Athena's shapely bottom as the giantess headed up the ramp a little ahead and her cheeks flushed a little as her imagination betrayed her again.
"Well... almost," she muttered more quietly to herself.

***

Much later on, after having stowed her gear with the rest and having explored the opulence of what she'd come to think of as 'Athena's Sky-Palace', Eloise had found herself a place to let the time go by. Her gear was already adjusted and set up, she'd fiddled with it and adjusted it to her specs; given that she'd undertook her training and familiarisation earlier, there wasn't much to make ready.
As much as she was prepared to be part of the team, and as luxurious as the Sky Palace was, the side of her that was something of a loner and a goblin had asserted itself, and she had found herself a perching point after raiding the kitchenette and food supplies of the airship. Now, Eloise was sat on top of one of the CAV's in the vehicle bay, munching her way through a packet of bourbon biscuits, empty packaging from a large bag of tortilla chips and a packet of marshmallows also around her, along with an empty can of root beer, and a second she was sipping from every so often.
She set the biscuits and can aside as she worked on the other thing occupying her time. She'd 'liberated' a roll of tinfoil from the kitchen as well, and between her snacking, she had been sculpting using the foil. A bit more twisting, folding and shaping, and another thoughtfully chewed and eaten biscuit, and the rolled the result between her fingers, happy - enough - with what she'd achieved. Leaping effortlessly down from the top of the CAV to land athletically on the floor, she hummed musically to herself and tucked the life-size rose in on one side of Athena's Exo helmet.

***

As they suited up, later on, Eloise was nervous; she had no idea what to expect in the way of a reaction to her little gift. With Purna in their side-by-side gearing up areas, she looked across at the Nepali giving a tight smile and a nod. Before Skye had them ready to deploy, she reached out and touch his arm briefly for attention.
"Thanks for all the help in getting me adjusted so far. Especially at such short notice. Whatever happens next, well; I'm glad we're going to be working together".
Words said, she slid her helmet and mask on and tapped the hidden button behind her ear to seal the suit. Her cloak was folded and tucked in under the wingpack for safety and her bow and quiver strapped to her front for the drop, a cover over the top of the quiver to stop any arrows falling loose.
She nodded to SKye as she saw them off, and returned the thumbs-up to Purna, eyes behind her helmet on him as he spoke, voice coming through just fine in her ears.
"Confirmed," she said in her normal, hushed tones. "Breaking things, hurting people, and causing chaos. Just what I excel at," she said with that same, flat humour.
He dived out, and with a thump of her heart creeping up her throat, she dived out of the hatch right on his tail, following his gliding trajectory and gently easing in the jets to tighten turns or add some power where needed. She was no pilot, but the theory she understood and she'd done her share of parachute drops and free-falls using her cape to glide, and it was somewhere between them.
"Well enough," she replied with a slight waver in her tight voice that betrayed her nerves. "Honestly; I'm less scared about being shot at once we're down, than I am about fucking this up and smearing myself across the ground or plunging into the volcano," she said with a slight waver of gallows humour.
As they got lower steadily, her nervousness started to creep away, replaced with a mix of elation and anticipation, the itch to unleash her skills and talents rising. The waypoint numbers rolled steadily down on her helmets' HUD. The 1KM mark flashed up, and she pulled the cord for her 'chute, panting a terse 'deploying' as they reached the mark, yanked up and back by the sudden drag.
The parachute drop was short, a brief moment of serene, slow-motion falling, before she cut herself loose and landed in an elegant wide roll. A pull on the straps disconnected her from the wing pack and let her bow and quiver fall free. A quick few motions had them stowed more readily at hand, ready to move and take action.

@LadyAmber

The Japanese chef/warrior/ronin/performer/yakuza gangster (pick one) grinned at Sam, "Your form is stiff, Sam-chan, but that would be your wounds. You fight well, I had to think a lot about how to counter you. I don't get to do that often." He smiles brightly.

But then he goes wide-eyed, "Sam-chan, what is..."

The rifle took his breath away. Styled like a Sengoku-era muzzle loader, but he could see the semi-automatic accouterments. He took it carefully, looking it over diligently, "Yosh, this is a fine gift. Chambered powerfully I see." He popped the chamber open checking everything, snapping it shut, "A gift fit for a Samurai pity I am but a lowly Yakuza, I'll put it to good use." He sets it down in its carrier crate.

He chortles at the Temari ball grenade, and maybe shows off abit playing a little kickball with one of them. He grinned brightly, "And modular too, hmm it shall be like a mind fuck when these colorful things burst with smoke or explosives." He bows to her in thanks.

He is not at all expecting the next thing.

Ban's jaw drops. He kneels and watches as Sam demonstrates how to put it together. He carefully takes the pole arm when she's done and its offered to him. He rests the haft on his shoulder and takes a few kneeling steps back. Like a ritual he gets to one knee, tipping the pole arm up over the back of his neck then down the other shoulder, gripping the weapon just below the blade, and standing.

The kata he performs is careful and almost feminine. He speaks as the long arm whirls and slashes through the air, "In the art of Bushido, it is said, the sword, is wielded by a male for they know the art of killing in confrontational battle." He twirls the curved blade of the Naginata slicing, "But the Naginata is the woman's weapon alone as they know best how to defend the home and hearth." He ends in a solid pose the pole arm held aloft, "My life and blood to defend this family." He tucks the haft of the pole arm to his shoulder "Thank you Samantha-Chan you do me great honor. Such that I hope I can repay it someday."

The final thing though, is what makes him chuckle almost sinisterly. He sets the naginata down, then picks up the Kursari-gama. The long chain, heavy weight almost a meteor hammer and the deadly sickle blade. He picks it up, "Now this...this is the weapon of a Yakuza." He laughs and starts spinning the weighted end, lashing and kicking it around, pulling the chain in, and sending the blade whirling out in a close spinning circle, "Yes, my brothers in the family would be jealous with this thing!"

He begins to break the weapons down for safety and storage, "If we only had you in the Amagi-gumi, the family would be unstoppable." Its a joke obviously but clearly Ban thinks highly of Sam's skill.

---

Freya had been watching people file in from her spot at the meeting table. She grins brightly as she hears the click patter of claws and paws. She looks over and pushes away from the table, and arms open she half catches Duke as he comes up and partially climbs into her lap. The giant woman giggles, yes giggles, and gives the canine the attention he deserves, "Hello there handsome, you're looking quite well today. Someone has the scent of a freshly napped pup doesn't he. Yes you do." She smiles trading kisses with Duke. She looks up at Chuck, "If we ever divorce I want the dog." She jokes gathering Chuck in for a hug and a kiss on the lips.

Over in a corner Jamie holds a juice box in hand almost delicately. Grinning abit at his sister, Chuck and the dog. He jumps when Duke nudges his great nose against Jamie's thigh, as if to say, "You smell like my partners mates family. Pet me." The normally straight faced young man gives the dog a good neck ruffling.

And just as the briefing begins, like a Shadow, Ban slips into the room, ever present sword in hand. Twirling one of his throwing spikes in his free hand. Careful attention being spent on this moment.

Freya had offered one of her prototype mass launchers if they wanted to try that, or keep it in reserve. Hurling a tungsten-cobalt slug at near 1.5 times escape velocity would more then likely bring down a orbital installation, and her experimental launcher could be brought online too if need be.

The options are there atleast.

Jamie gave a nod, "With my rocket system I should be able to provide artillery support to most the operation area as long as people on the ground can give me coordinates for anything over the horizon. Or if you give me three days, I can have my father's OTH system delivered to my Sister's blimp."

Victor's penultimate rocket rig, an 8 tube heavy launcher with well over-the-horizon capabilities. If Jamie's rocket pods could hit anything he can see that rig Victor created could be a definite force multiplier. Freya hums "Force Multipliers? How about one of my rail cannons? I can get one of the closest to public usage cannon attached to that ungodly blimp, no amount of armoring this side of one yard will stand up to a tungsten-cobalt slug traveling faster then the speed of sound. I'll get it set up."

Ban could only grin, "I may know a guy." He says Infamous words from his first time with Raven. He doesn't elaborate further, the underworld is a second home for him.

---

The trip on the Galaxy is fun, figuratively speaking. Jamie spent the time poking fun at Freya and Chuck on their new relationship. Freya had really laid into it and spent part of the trip with her head in Chucks lap and Dukes head resting on her chest. Sniping back at Jamie's lack of a love life.

When not hanging on during turbulence, Ban had been using one of his new Temari ball grenade cases to play some Japanese style kick ball, essentially hackey sack. Working at keeping it up for as many kicks as possible.

The trip across the Savanna had been something else. Ban had looked out the back of the truck "Yes I may know a guy...but, that is not say I have been here. Father...Mother...I wish you were here to see this. Ancestors, Kami, watch over us."

Jamie had crowed upon seeing the Blimp when they arrive, shouting to Athena, "I still think it was in poor taste to put your ass on this. Too like Auntie Antoine." The siblings knowing all about their adopted Aunts infamous crash pad.

He shoulders his gear crates and humps on over to the blimp with a grin. With the full intention ton see if the OTH rig arrived.

Freya chuckled walking by her sister and smacking her ass, "Well done sis." And eeps as Dukes leash she has tied around her wrist goes taut as the dog tugs trying to get in as many sniffs and marks as he can get before boarding.

Soundtrack: ACDC - Back in Black

---

Samantha frowned at Skye. Why did she ask for their input if she had already decided how they would deploy? Samantha was a little annoyed with Skye but she knew better than to take that out on other team members. Samantha gave Skye a dark look. She had brought in a new team member? Samantha couldn’t help but wonder if Skye was coddling her after what happened in the last op. She had gotten her act together and Sophie had given her the go ahead to resume active duty. Samantha turned and regarded Purna with a raised eyebrow. She gave him a smirk and nodded. Looked like she would need to make some tweaks to the drones and gear and give Purna and Eloise a crash course in how to set it up. She would do what she could to make it simple and fast for them. Her eyes moved over to Eloise, the new face in the room. She gave her a nod of acknowledgement. Sam’s smile grew somewhat mischievous as she would get to know her a bit as she trained her on the infiltration gear that her and Purna would now need to deploy in her stead. Samantha knew from observing the training she had been doing with Purna that Eloise used a bow. She had an idea for some special gear for her but she didn’t know how much time they would have before they left. Skye had moved the briefing onto the others who had voiced concerns or ideas.

Chuck couldn’t blame Duke for being infatuated with Freya. He was in love with her. It made sense that his dog approved. It was a good thing they liked each other. Chuck shuddered to contemplate what his life would be like if Duke objected to Freya or vice versa. Chuck shook his head in amusement that his dog got greeted before he did. Chuck laughed Freya told him if they divorced she wanted the dog. Chuck returned the kiss Freya freely gave him with enthusiasm before he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Well I guess that means you will have to marry me and keep us then. Duke and I are a package deal.” Chuck wrapped his arm around Freya’s shoulder and sat next to her during the meeting.

Chuck turned his attention to the briefing but was keeping track of Duke since he was off leash. He rarely leashed Duke since he was so well trained. Chuck kept track of Duke’s progress around the room as he checked on various team members. He noted the Duke simply passed by Skye but pressed against her leg on his way to Jaime. Chuck looked amused when Jamie startled as Duke went to him and demanded attention from Freya’s brother. Duke kept going around the room. He noticed Duke stopped to sniff at Eloise. He hoped she didn’t mind dogs.

Chuck eventually removed his arm and crossed them, his face morphing into a serious expression as the briefing told them how bad the situation was. Space? Hell no! He was not being crammed into a tin can that was built for people half his size. With his luck he would try to stretch and put a hole in the fucking wall sucking all the oxygen out. He turned to Freya a little worried that Skye would take her on the mission to space. Space was a hostile environment and Chuck knew enough to know that he was not trained for it or ready for it. He was not claustrophobic but he didn’t like small spaces because of how big he was. Duke had returned and was leaning heavily against Chuck’s legs. Chuck reached down to rub him reassuringly behind the ears. He was never sure in moments like this if he was supporting his dog or his dog was supporting him. Chuck understood Skye’s point of view. He was suddenly grateful for Samantha’s upgrade on his armor. His armor had needed to be completely rebuilt after he only managed to salvage what was left of the leg armor. Samantha had completely redesigned his armor for better defensive and offensive power. He had been training with it since it was finished to get used to using it. It was not quite as flexible and maneuverable as his old set but it would stand up to more abuse and deal out more damage.

Samantha sighed and tried to school her face into neutrality. She had felt off since her near death experience. Skye had not been acting quite like her normal self either. Both of them had been through a lot since Kaitaki. Skye had found out she basically had an evil clone who was a megalomaniac who wanted to take out the world. She had been on the run from the agencies she had worked for and trusted. She had to kill someone who looked like her. They had to stop the end of the world and here they were again just a few short weeks later. Samantha couldn’t help but feel as if Skye was pushing her away somehow. They had all been busy trying to figure out what Rose’s next move would be. Samantha couldn’t put her finger on what was bothering her about Skye. She knew Skye had been through more than she had. She knew that Skye was excellent at compartmentalizing and pushing away the emotional stuff. There was nothing in Skye’s behavior that was out of the ordinary for her. Samantha kept her thoughts to herself. Maybe this was one of those times where she was obsessing over a behavior that was not there. She still struggled with social cues occasionally. Samantha couldn’t help the feeling that somehow Skye was saying goodbye or accepting that she was not coming back from this mission. That was not acceptable to Samantha. She sighed in frustration. She couldn’t come out and ask Skye what was up. She knew that Skye would deny it and the others would think Samantha had lost her damn mind. That was one of the reasons she had not shared her near death experience with many people. Conventional wisdom said that the experience was her trauma of losing her parents making itself known. Samantha’s eyes went around the room. She smiled a little to see Freya sitting with Chuck. It made her happy to see Freya content and happy. Samantha decided to take her cues from Freya about Skye who was treating this mission as business as usual.

Skye wrapped up the meeting.

Skye: "Right. We'll ship out on the Galaxy that Blue Sword have here and rendezvous with the airship once ready. We've got a ghost transmitter for our little run, and you have your last chance here to sort yourselves out. We’ll be moving in eight hours. You can catch up on sleep in the plane once we’re done. EVA team, I’ll brief you shortly, so stay here. Rest of you, you’re all dismissed.”

Samantha grinned as she now knew how long she would have. She had just enough time to get the gear for Eloise made with a little help. She would tweak the insertion gear and teach them to use it on the blimp. She would catch up with Purna and Eloise then.

---

---

Samantha made sure all the gear made it onto the trucks. She was mesmerized by the scenery. It was hot and she felt like she was melting somewhat. She was grateful that her complexion tanned instead of burning thanks to her Hispanic mother. She was enjoying the heat after being in the cold for so long. Samantha had been to Africa before but she had only briefly visited various hotspots. She had been deployed mostly in the trouble spots around the Middle East. When she had been in Africa, she had been in cities. She had never had the opportunity to enjoy the animals and wilds of Africa. While it was scenic, Samantha was self aware of the fact that she would always be a city girl at heart. She would appreciate nature but she felt out of place in such a rural place without all the trappings of society and technology at her disposal. She liked modern plumbing, air conditioning, and electricity. Thank you very much.

Samantha was grateful when the bumpy uncomfortable ride across the savannah ended. The scenery was the only perk on that leg of the trip in Samantha’s opinion. She was helping off load the gear from the trucks. She was passing by Vincent and Skye as she overheard their conversation and met Skye’s mischievous look. Samantha gave Vincent a wicked grin as she kept carrying the box with the new gear she had made Eloise towards the blimp. “Sorry Vincent, If Athena decides to kick your ass, I am not saving you! You do know she is Freya’s sister right? I have seen her action. Sorry buddy you are on your own!” Samantha laughed maniacally all the way to the loading ramp for the blimp. She made sure that box made it into the blimp before returning for the crate of infiltration gear she would need to teach Eloise and Purna how to use.

Chuck had enjoyed being close to Freya on the Galaxy. He figured this was as close as he would get to a domestic scene with Freya for some time. So he did what good Marines do… he embraced and enjoyed it. Duke had settled down easily on Freya’s chest for the duration of the trip. Chuck had helped Freya turn the tables on Jamie. The two of them ganged up on Jamie about when he was going to meet a nice girl. Chuck avoided the topic of Athena’s very fine derriere. He knew a girl trap when he saw one. The team didn’t need his help to share butt jokes and puns. As evidenced by the Flying Butt remarks by their fearless leader. Chuck was helping unload the crates of gear and weapons. His muscles put to use as he stacked the heavy boxes into the blimp’s cargo hold. It didn’t take long to unload everything they had brought with him. He had offered to help Samantha but she had brushed him off. Chuck hid a mischievous grin from Freya as Duke yanked on his leash wanting to explore the new and exotic scents that were assailing his nose. Freya had offered to mind Duke while Chuck had helped unload the gear from the trucks. Chuck knew just how powerful Duke was. If Freya had not been a fairly strong woman Duke would have yanked her over in his enthusiasm. Chuck went in search of Freya once more and found her in Athena’s penthouse suite on the top floor of the blimp’s cabin. This blimp was ridiculous. Most blimps had a single solitary cabin that was the control room. This thing was like a small flying castle. He liked the stealth capabilities of inserting from the stealth coated blimp. Hopefully their target wouldn’t see them coming before they got the drop on them.

---

Samantha waited till they had all checked in and were in the air before going in search of Eloise. She had slipped away from the main group in the confusion of the blimp’s departure. Most of the team was hanging out in Athena’s sparkly play room. Samantha was never the princess type. She was more rock and roll and grunge than pretty princess. She found Eloise in the vehicle bay eating a snack of some kind. Samantha made sure to make a little noise. She didn’t want to startle her. If Eloise was anything like Samantha, she had probably sought out a little space to catch her breath. Samantha had come a long way from the lone wolf operative she had been in the CIA. Skye had taught her to work as a member of a team and value it. Sam still had moments where people didn’t make sense to her or she felt overwhelmed by them socially. She wanted to talk to Eloise before they needed to jump out of this perfectly repaired and functional blimp in a vehicle drifting to the ground on parachutes potentially under fire. Yeah… now would be good. She still needed to teach Purna and Eloise how to use the gear.

Samantha approached where Eloise was sitting. She smiled up at her in her perch. She waved her down. “Hello Eloise. I am Samantha or Sam. Can you come down here? I have something for you. I also need to show you and Purna how to use the infiltration gear.”

Samantha waited for Eloise to join her. She then handed over a very modern looking tactical quiver full of arrow shafts. Samantha explained how the new piece of gear worked.

“I understand that your callsign is Archer and that you like to use a bow. I didn’t have a lot of time to get any gear ready for you. This is not much but I wanted you to give you something to welcome you to the team. This is a very special quiver and arrows. The shafts are all a lightweight aluminum alloy blend with aerodynamic fletching. The shafts are all identical. They have a threaded end that will screw into the arrow tip. The quiver has a mechanism that will attach the arrowhead you ask for. I sent an update to your armor system so it should work with your HUD. You can subvocalize or select what you want to fire from the menu. The possibilities for speciality arrows are only as vast as our imagination and what I can engineer into them. The quiver holds 40 arrows. I didn’t have a great deal of time so I went for simple and what I knew I could get done. You have ten arrows of each type, acid, electrical, explosive, and armor piercing. The acid vial on the arrow tip will break and spray acid on your target. It will eat through almost anything carbon based. The electrical arrow discharges a volt strong enough to take out most electronics that are not hardened against electrical surges. You can use them against soft targets but its much stronger than a taser. It might kill what you hit. The armor piercing arrows are barbed and strong enough to punch through most operative armor. The explosive tips use a special mix I got from Boomer. It will put a sizable hole in what you hit.” Samantha passed it over as she finished explaining the gear. She shrugged a little and looked down and away. “I am sorry I couldn’t do better with so little time. Welcome to Raven Squad.”

---

Samantha finally got Purna and Eloise together to discuss how to use the infiltration hacking gear. “The drones just need to be activated and let loose. I reprogrammed them to seek out targets of opportunity. They can be controlled remotely by Rafael and Enri to provide close air surveillance support as well. However if you target the communications tower. You will need to take off the access panel and strip the main wire of its casing. Then simply attach this box to the wire. That will allow Rafael and Enri to take over their communications and hack gear remotely from the base. It will give them a hardwire connection that the PLA can’t sever without physically disconnecting it and they have to find it first.” She made sure they understood how to attach the communications box. She showed them videos and diagrams of what it might look like. If they had the opportunity it would certainly help the hackers sow dissension among the PLA. Samantha had done that once on one of their ops. Since then Artemis had hardened their communications against wireless hacking. This would allow them to send troops in the wrong direction or feed them conflicting orders. Or shut down their communications altogether. The drones would seek out automated heavy weapon platforms such as SAM launchers and automated gun turrets.

Sitting in the wide, enormous leather-backed chair in the office adjacent to the cockpit, staring out through the cabin windows, Athena’s crimson red spandex-like tights covering her legs, torso and arms, and blue haired look truly jumped out as something a bit more superhuman than person, given her enormous size, her legs sprawled wide, arms hanging off, and her blonde-blue straightened hairline breezing by with the fan that was on- and that might have been probably correct. All she was missing was a cape really, and she’d pass off as something from Marvel. In this position here, it felt more like a Captain’s chair, like her oversight of it all, with her enormity barely covered by the size of the already ridiculous chair. She had a tablet on her thigh, and a laptop on the desk, as she typed away, catching up on business, socials, and retention.

Managing a Private Military company came with work of course, and even with her gentle application of makeup, her lashes and crimson-red lipstick that matched her superhero costume-like tights, contrasted against the business savvy, profit-margin led mind she still had to have. She was allowed indulgence, luxury, stupidity, but only if that number in accounts went up. And so far, due to the whole shitshow, and the rates that were paid, it had. Raven’s backers paid, a weird mix of UN money and from various shady agencies, and that money went straight to Athena’s company account. She could stop of course, focus on full time running the show behind the scenes. And in here, she had a perfect work-from-home office. Who the fuck could interrupt you? It would take some doing, Athena knew that from literally stealing the thing herself.

She finished up, gently stretching, setting up her phone to grab a picture of her leaning against the window, the derriere that Eloise seemed enamored by occupying most of the shot that would likely be combined with something about “#grindset” and “#CorporateDuchess” and “#AthenaAwesome” once again, once all of this was done, and the little foil-made origami piece that was on her desk still deep in her thought, as the photo snapped.

The capture of a giantess Kaantario, as per her mother and father's, her sister and brother's fame was no doubt to see, making almost anyone crane their neck up to see her, the muscle and sinew not laid bare like some bodybuilder but part of her rather plump, almost soft curve that filled the glove-like tights, shameless as she was to wear it, but unafraid of her own femininity entirely. From her abs to her chest that heaved, to hear flowing, cape-like hair in dark blue, light aquamarine and blonde, she was someone who happily moved mountains and caught attention. From a pair of legs that went on forever to her rear that while nothing like what Freya had seen with Laura, wasn't exactly insignificant. Just the way she wanted it as an armoured beast.

She was back in reality, as she turned, and hearing the door behind rustle, she spotted the redhead who filled the room with her presence.

“Hey, Freya!” Athena beamed, clearing distance quickly as she approached her sister, wrapping up with a hug.Her sister’s imposing height was taller than even her own, by a few inches. Athena hoped she’d grow a little more, but then again, this whole gigantism thing, it was a pain in the ass for most things going on.
“So, you took me up on the offer of swinging by. It’s quite the place. And yes. I picked this out, luxury item, reminded me of you a little.” Athena whipped around in almost a pirouette, resting her leg up on the desk, whipping her hair like she was some sort of supermodel, or a Mustang on her hind legs as she leaned against the desk, putting strain against it with her sheer mass.
“So, what can I do you for? I mean, apart from pre-mission catch ups, yadda yadda, I guess….yeah, we haven’t really talked since our last job.” She added, smiling away, beaming like a kid who’d had far too many sweets..
“Oh and you know, Project Olympus is still going ahead. After this is done….oh boy do we have some fun lined up.” Athena licked her lips, giggling at the thought of it, knowing that Freya was no doubt keen on that little incubator she’d funded a while back.

Freya smiles, and waves to her sister. As she gets closer she stops and folds an arm under her grand rack and sets her chin in her off hand, “My my, look at you Thena, like a proper pirate princess. Or a big bratty bitch.” She chuckles. Truly she’s been glowing ever since Chuck and her had gotten together (finally). She comes over and smiles, “I wanted to check in on you mostly. And apologize for getting Jotunheim to attach one of my god awful and ugly rail cannon prototypes to your ship.”

The thing hung under the ship like a wart with it’s root sticking out, a 200mm cannon barrel that fires rounds faster then currently possible. She smiles, “Felt like the right thing though. Help everything out. I’ll pay for the damages when it’s removed. If you want it removed.”

She steps over and leans on Athena lightly, “Oh is Project Olympus coming anyway? Remind me, lords we all have some interesting things going on. Even Jamie is up on the deck tweaking Dads old OTH rig. That thing is a beast in it’s own right, and here we are with all this stuff tacked onto your ship.” She chuckles, “Isn’t family lovely? We move in and don’t bother paying rent.” Freya turns and finally shows off her outfit of her charcoal grey combat body glove, under one of her black lab coats, her hair tied back in a rough pony tail and a pair of her combat boots, those big gothy things she hide away, but stomps around in when she can.

Athena pfft’d, giggling, thinking about that massive railgun under the blimp.
“You attached a big long shaft underneath my big ol’ floating fortress. I mean, it better blow shit up.” She giggled like a child, herself taking in Freya’s inquisitive nature.
“I would charge rent, but then again, I thought I’d get the bigger helium-filled structure. Your suit seems a little small compared to this? Told you I’d win someday.” Athena giggled, as if to one up her, gently walking across the floor and looking out at the ocean and horizon beyond, looking rather dramatic in silouette.
“Sky Pirate. I like it.” Athena said to herself almost, before turning, smiling.
“Olympus is a rather interesting one. If you want to see what being a little more…..than this flesh and bone is like. Then maybe there’s something.” She giggled, tittering as she poked Freya right above her chest, right towards her beating hard with her finger, giggling as she seemed almost a whirlwind.

Freya sigh and shakes her head, rising her arms to the side, “My goodness Athena, this isn’t a competition.”

And she manages to say it with a straight face, and even keep it straight for all of 60 seconds.

She then giggles, “Oh who am I kidding it often is when it comes to us.” She grabs her sister and hugs her, mashing Athena’s face between her big breasts. Almost purring as she holds her sister close.

She hums, “I think…I’ll stay away from augmentation after all.” She says as she lets Athena go so she can poke her. Freya rubs where she got poked and sighs, “I think I understand why you added to yourself sis. But after my incident, and thinking briefly about getting augmented, I realized you’re right, that it’s not something I really want to do. I want to stay flesh and blood.” She blushes a little, “There’s these two guys, one has four legs and another has two legs and arms that can actually wrap around me, that seem to like the way I am.” She rubs her bicep a little, bashful all of a sudden.

Freya huffs, “It works for everyone differently in the end I guess? I’ll stay with Dad’s style, and build up my suit until it’s unstoppable.”

Athena giggled, squished into her sister’s breasts, hearing Freya’s thoughts, and her melt away. My, Chuck was changing her, and with it, Athena walked around, gently kneading her palms into Freya’s sizable rear end in her body glove, pushing against them like they were pistons, giggling.
“That’s good. He is a good egg. Mum didn’t kill him. Which means he must be. Plus oh my god, Duke is so cute…..” Athena chuckled, hearing her response, the nuance coming across as Athena walked back around.
“That will be exciting when you amp that suit up. But I’ll let you know, as you say, maybe not that way with mods, but there are other methods. There’ll be a space. Anyway. I guess I wanted to just give my blessing and all, considering everything. You’re my big sis anyway and you’d threaten to squish me, but I’d make you rethink it you know? Because the Gods blessed you up top, but they blessed me with…..” The blue/blonde haired youngest sibling added, leaning against her desk again, the gentle sound of what could be paper shredding being heard, as Athena looked straight into Freya’s eyes with a wild look, the sound getting wilder and wilder, Athena knowing she revealed this part of her cardiovascular system around nobody but Freya. And actively, willingly trolling her, because if Freya was going to do that, shove herself around, she had a reply. The silence came back, as Athena giggled, a wicked, awful smile on her face.

Freya smiles, “Thank you, he’s…well letting me feel like a woman finally.” She huffs and blushes as Athena massages at her rump, “Emm, better watch out my new boyfriend might take offense to you doing that.” She chuckles. Then nods, “Oh yes Duke is so cute. He gives such wonderful kisses.”

Freya leans on the desk beside her sister, and curls an eyebrow, grinning broadly, and harmonizes with the ripping sound, humming in tune, higher then the sound but still. When it’s done she smiles, “You’re out of tune sis.” She takes a slow breath…through her mouth. Not risking her nose, thank you. With a smile she hugs Athena again, “I swear sis. Only you.”

She rests her head on Athena’s shoulder, “I still don’t get how you do it, you’re so spontaneous. Sometimes I’m a little jealous of how outgoing you are. It’s a part of you that I admire.”
Athena turned in shock, hugging back, smirking.
“Didn’t know you were a gas giant too! Damn, I thought the new heart caused that side effect….” Athena belly laughed, letting Freya rest her head, as they looked out at the endless clouds and ocean outside, hearing her next question, before turning with a thought through answer, that was in total contrast to Athena being her most lewd, unfiltered self away from cameras.
“Thanks….I guess I always needed to prove myself. Show I was more than just the youngest sister, you know? I mean, you were doing all this amazing stuff, Jamie….Jamie is Jamie, but me, I always thought about Mama’s stories, and thought wow, what if I did more? So I guess it came easy. Plus schooling abroad, and being out of my comfort zone, you know, that helps.” Athena replied, rather insightful in that moment, as she shattered all of that immediately after.
“Also, I realised that when you look like this, you can’t help but attract attention. There’s a crown, covered in glitter and gold, and I’m gonna wear it whether anyone likes it or not, so if you get to look, you better listen too!” Athena smirked, cooing almost as she leaned back out, sighing, taking a moment as she knew Freya was paying attention, and no doubt, that question that came from a deep place, one that Athena felt she was now suddenly finding herself in.

“I guess I’m not you, Freya. You’re….damn you’re so clever. Fuck, Skye’s genes are good but yours, with ten of those you could rule the world, not a hundred Roses. You stood up on your own two feet and became your own boss girl, all of this. And you did so well at it. And I’m proud of you, sis. I never say it much but…..you want to make a better future for humanity with what you’re doing. I’m just business as usual. Well, they like it, but you, you’re special Freya. That’s why I was….well, I wanted you to think about not changing anything drastic. Being you, that’s what I love the most, and you’re so brilliant you should be that. Not just for me, but….for something bigger than us.” Athena seemed to be trawling into the depths of something rather silly, even by her standards.
“Don’t be jealous of it. You deserve to be happy, Freya, and you found someone who loves you, respects you, and will protect you….and you don’t have to be outgoing to have that. If you want to be outgoing, I mean there’s a reason we get looks…..” Athena giggled, gently turning her shoulders in and squishing her boobs a little, turning her head sideways, before breaking out in a fit of laughter.

Freya hums bobbing back and forth abit, “No, you’re not like me Athena. I’m not like you, Jamie isn’t like either of us, and we’re not entirely like our parents. We are us, ourselves.” She smiles and kisses her sister on the cheek, “Don’t try and be me, and I don’t try and be like you, I’m not really jealous jealous so much as envious. I guess I got the mega brain, you got the ultra charisma.” She smiles, and stretches, joints popping and muscles rippling under her body glove. She sighs softly.

After a bit she continues, “I’m…looking forward to all this. Get rid of these assholes once and for all, get rid of this all, put it behind us. There’s a future for everyone all we need to do is bring down one of the worst enemies a Special Forces unit has had to fight since Bin Laden.” She nods, “But with this team we can do this. I’m sure we can. I want you to be careful okay sis? I need you to be…to…be…uh.” She blushes, yes blushes. Then whispers, “I need you to be one of my maids of honor if…well if Chuck and I go the next step okay?”

Athena giggled, blushing herself, hugging tight, a few tears running down her face, from how happy Freya made her, as well as her reassurance. She needed that in this moment, and emotion came easy to Athena, good, bad, sad, love.
“Of course, sis!” Athena giggled, beaming, smiling back at her, nodding. It didn’t even need to be asked, as Athena broke away, hands on shoulders, looking deep into her sister’s green eyes.

“But our Ladies’ Night, before we we lose you, I organise that. We are gonna get so, so, so fucked up.” Athena smirked, wooping, with it opening the door and heading back into the lounge.

“Well. Shall we get ready to go destroy some shit? We’ll fuck up whatever we’re going into. As big as the risk is, hell, I think we got this.” Athena giggled, practically bouncing across the room, leading Freya to do the door, a smile etched into her face, very different to the kind that in a few hours, would suit up and get ready to wreck many, many people’s days. She was still thinking about that thing that had been left on her suit. Eloise seemed to take a liking to her….and she had looked back. The little girl, she seemed so shy, so quiet, so….away from things. Yet something in Athena weirdly felt for her. She could have any man, anything she desired, maybe a big giant like her sister…..yet weirdly, she had this strange affection for something a small and insignificant as that. There was some sort of strange courting. And whatever it was, Athena found it funny, yet somehow, beyond all the plastic of her, somehow charming.

It would be a long afternoon, but that faded quickly, and before long, the morning had arrived.

And suiting up, going from just a pretty influencer to the Warhawk's suede-lined embrace, plates locking in, Valkyrie may have been the prettier face, but still, she could just feel the energy pulsing in her hands with the Tesla Coil's gentle humming and weight reassuring once more.

---

Soundtrack: Amon Tobin- The Lighthouse

The deployment onto the island had come easy, as the jets cut out on the wingpack and Purna flared up, barely above sea, the pilot chute pulling out the small black parachute as he grabbed the toggles and put himself between a few branches of the mangroves, steering carefully inbetween the gentle sea-mist that had crawled in before sunrise burnt the remaining fog out. Landing in into the swampy water, he cut the parachute away and the wingpack with it, coiling the material in and bagging it in a thin plastic wrap, burying it in a way he hoped environmentalists would not get too angry about, buried beneath a mangrove root. Peeling his MPX off his side, he slid the magazine in and watched as Eloise followed him in, cutting hers away and rolling into position, bow at the ready, like Hawkeye but with the finesse of Black Widow. Yet probably more accurate than both. Eloise had a history. An unspoken one that for this, he trusted. Moving himself through the wet mangrove, Purna led the way, not a word even being exchanged as they had their next bit to get towards.

A patrol of two guards walked along the small path, cutting out of the mangroves towards the edge of the harbour, their patrol an unsual one, but looking for signs of boats, or anyone that was trying to land. They were clearly ready for an assault.

Not the one Purna had planned, as he gestured to the man on the right, and then, seemingly, vanished.

They continued to chit-chat in Mandarin, flashlights catching nothing, instinct less. Purna being behind them, cloaked up, and tearing one of their throats out with the Kukri was comically easy, as he peeled him down into the mangrove water, pushed into the dense shrub and the brown-muddy water turning a slightly more gentle shade of red. Looking to the other soldier, Eloise had done her business to him. A subtle nod, little communication came across, but then again, little was needed.

Moving forwards, Purna led the way, moving into the concrete dockyard, a mix of a container yard, and a harbour for a parked Corvette, and a smaller gunship, both of which were covered in enough missiles and firepower to make a bad day for anyone assaulting. Even if they were ships, the firepower they had would tear through a Heavy if it hit, even with a field generator, you couldn't stop that kind of firepower pointed direct. So, they had to go, Purna decloaking as the two snuck past a group of guards, opting to let them live than take them to the grave.

For now.

Looking up, Purna took a position in cover by a shipping container, looking to her, taking in the scene.

A floodlight-filled shipping yard, with two main ships, a comms mast that was heavily defended on a bit of a steep hill next to the dock, and a small warehouse filled with rocket and satelite parts, all topped off with a large, modular-built security centre.

"Right, so this is a sandbox. Lot of enemies....and plenty more targets. There's a large marine diesel store building over there, and the gunboat. I can hit those, lay some explosives on all of those. Do you want the lay charges on the corvette and to hijack the comms relay, on the harbour building? Once we're done, let's regroup on the Security Building, by the entry road to the port. Then if we have time, find more targets of opportunity. If we can get into the Command Centre, it'll be a safe place to be when things kick off." Purna asked, happy to amend his plans on her call. It was up to her- she had a lot of options, and right now, a lot of enemies.

Going guns blazing and killing too many would raise too much heat- after all, this was not a group of just mercs, but a group of PLA Marines that were drilled, cohesive, and whilst not elite, certainly knew how to fight together. And more than that, they were ready to find infiltrators. Splitting up was risky, but it meant they covered the ground and did the maximum amount of damage they could inflict in the next twenty minutes.

Moving through the container yard, Purna heard more guards coming, sneaking to the side of a container gap, before hobbling up. The men went under him, as he kept his split position, using one USP.45 to clatter one man in the head, the drop down and push into the floor to break his fall, with a snapped neck quickly wiping the other. Even with an exo, he wasn't going to last.

Two more men met a similar fate, chatting on a corner, as Purna sliced them open with the Kukuri and a well balanced throwing knife, dragging them into shadow, and out of sight. It was like the Grim Reaper collecting bodies. All in silence. Purna could see her doing the same on his tacticla overlay, the two broken apart, but still, it was clinical, cold, and ruthlessly efficient. There was a reason Raven ended up with infiltrators of this capacity. Any mistake, any issues, that was game over. This was not an optional stealth kind of mission. It was one that relied on timing, knowing when to balance risk and reward, and not relying on just cloaking, but silent, ghost-like movement. Purna's Nepali frame seemed to almost turn to dust when he needed to, and despite dozens of soldiers awake at this time in the morning, he had passed them by without even a stone turned.

Moving to the diesel store, Purna's skin-tight infiltration gear and cloaking made him a blur as he dodged light sources and patrols, expertly going from point to point. Sometimes needing to kill, sometimes not. It wasn't much, but by the time he had gotten where he had needed to, he'd exposed the store and found the opportunity to sabotage the blowback valve, hack the priming pump, and lay a teeny amount of explosive on the top of it so it would catch the rest of it. It wouldn't make an enormous boom, but it would flare and create a hell of a fire, making a distraction, and most importantly, chaos in the dockyard if anything else went to ham.

It was a subtle move through the rest of the yard towards the gunboat as he wove through the cabin buildings at the far end, but he could feel a little static pick up on his skin. He stopped, pinning himself into shadow, cursing in Nepali under his breath. Those would knock out their cloaking on their infiltrator kit, if they went too far into them, and Purna was not going to risk damaging his any further if he could help it. The advantage they had, two infiltrators against probably a hundred sailors and Marines, would be lost near instantly. He put a silenced round into the device, a small 360-degree camera like device mounted adjacent to a lightpost.

"Archer, they have EM Jammers. Knock them out if you see them, they'll fry your cloak. They finally learned their lesson....and if they know what they are doing with those....I bet they have someone who knows how to look for infiltrators. Be extremely careful." Purna's voice was cold, clinical, as he knew the countdown was on. Daylight was coming, and the rest of the squad would be following. Smooth was Fast, but right now, they had to find a way to be fast that still got the job ready for the crew coming in, and Purna knew they still had more work to do in the harbour.

Eloise would no doubt have her wits tested, given how dense the corvette was- but sabotaging the weapons, missiles, munitions and then hacking the comms tower to let Sam in, would unravel all sorts of chaos. Then they just needed to get out. Easier said than done, though, when Purna knew the next bit involved clambering onto a ship, and rigging the fuel supply there to blow.

---

---

Chuck gave Duke extra attention and rubs as he put Duke’s upgraded armor on him. He noticed that Samantha had once more upgraded the canine’s armor. Duke looked almost like a robot once his armor was on. The undersuit only left his head free. She had crafted lightweight plates out of the same material that she used for his. It had been cleverly reticulated to give Duke the same range of motion. There were heavier plates over his chest and sides. He had a helmet with goggles that protected his eyes and hearing from the gunshots and explosions that would happen in battle. Duke’s armor was colored a mottled mixture of dark gray, browns, and black that would help him hide in shadowy places in either an urban or rural environment. It was a big step up over what Duke had before. Duke didn’t like putting the under suit on very much as the suit was snug. He was well trained and was used to donning armor. Chuck could tell from his body language when his ears flattened back and his tail dropped that he disliked the procedure. Once he was in his armor and used the compression feeling of the undersuit he settled and appeared comfortable. Duke started to pick up on the excitement and anxiety of the team as they prepared for the drop. Duke began to pad around the drop bay on the blimp as he moved from team member to team member as if checking on them or wishing them luck.

Chuck turned his attention to Freya. He smiled at her and began to look over her armor to make sure everything was adjusted well and attached properly. It was his way of dealing with his anxiety about her going into battle with him. He knew she wouldn’t be the woman he cared about if she was not the badass battle goddess, however she was still the woman he cared about. He would make sure she went into battle with every advantage he could give her. He was grateful that they would be on the same team this time. They would be able to watch each other’s backs this time. Before Freya donned her helmet, Chuck pulled her to him in a hug. He held her face gently in his hands and kissed her softly.

“Freya, when we are done saving the world again, I would like to take you on a real date. Somewhere nice. Maybe take you dancing.”

His eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled. “I care about you. Be careful out there.”

He gave her one last kiss and then gently set her helmet on her head making sure it was sealed. He then donned his helmet and let Freya make sure he was sealed up and ready to go. He then helped Freya climb into the CAV, not that she needed it. He was being a gentleman. He then climbed in and took the seat next to her. He whistled for Duke who hopped agilely into the CAV. Duke settled in between them and Chuck fastened his armor to the harness designed to support him on the drop.

---

Samantha had gifted Eloise her gear and then trained her and Purna on the infiltration gear. She had managed to grab a quick nap before Chuck had woken her up. He had let her know it was time to get ready. Samantha had suited up quickly in her armor. Samantha’s armor was very similar to her last set of armor except for upgraded materials. Her helmet even looked identical to her last one. One of the big differences was the technological support built into her armor. She had beefed up the communications suite in her armor with a stronger receiver and transmitter that worked on her special communications encryption. That would help her when she was trying to control the PLA equipment for their use. Bob, her onboard AI, was present and active in her HUD. She had minimized and redesigned his computation core to not be as easily damaged. It was more spread out to help dissipate the heat and lower the profile. She had added a special encrypted transmitter for data to a siloed air gapped server back on the base. Bob would be automatically sending any intel over the satellite network to the secure server. The data was in a stand alone server that would quarantine any data retrieved so that Rafeal and Enri could take it apart and look at it without worrying about viruses and kill switches infecting Raven’s systems.

The exoskeleton plates were made out of the new ceramic alloy she had developed for Chuck’s armor. She had her knife bandolier strapped around her midsection. A tactical belt around her waist held numerous pouches of her tools and gear. It also supported the twin holsters on each hip which held semi automatic pistols. She had extra magazines strapped into pockets along the belt within easy reach. Samantha was carrying more tools than extra gear. She needed to get into the mechs and make sure they were usable. That meant making sure they could bypass any security in them. She would have to leave the explosions to Boomer. After all, her computer skills were what she really needed on this op. She did include her mini drones and the quick sticker mini cameras. She didn’t know if she would need them but it never hurt and they didn’t take up much space. After spending some time sparring with Ban, she had been inspired to include two tungsten core fighting sticks. They hung in loops off her belt. They didn’t require ammunition and would give her another close quarters option.

She then went in search of Skye. She had disturbing dreams that had left her feeling unsettled. She felt she needed to at least meet with Skye and check in before this op. There was always a chance one of them might not come back from an op. Last time she almost didn’t make it. She had some things she needed to tell her that wouldn’t wait. She would go into the op with a clearer head if she talked to her. She began looking around the prep area where everyone was gearing up. She spotted Skye getting into her new Exo. She made her way towards her.

Soundtrack: Wolf Alice - The Last Man on Earth

Skye’s exo fired into life, the tactical display on her arm lighting up as the coil springs and hydro-pneumatic activated, suddenly lifting the heavy weight she carried into very little, the M31’s energised state going from weighing like a ton of bricks on her shoulders and arms into a sub-machine gun like weight, as she checked the rifle over, adjusting the hybrid thermal / magnified optic and holographic atop it, checking the new capability it had- going from just an accelerated assault rifle into a fully blown railgun when required, with charge. A “Stream” with the trigger held down would be a full-auto, with a semi-selector available, but it fired just regular custom-milled ammo that if needed, could be amped up even higher. Holding the “Charge” button would activate Freya’s new mode- instead of just firing it at an accelerated pace, it became a railgun, actively propelling the rounds into something even harder hitting, able to pierce heavier armour and cover, with a paired up thermal side-optic, making it even more scary. The exo’s design, a beautiful, elegant design by Sam, was working perfectly, the chest plate backed by lighter armour across the arms and legs, covering core mechanical parts and organs, creating redundancy that then paired perfectly to the new damping system, and jump-jet system below her tactical pack (that sat below the M31’s power feed) and on her hip, the system calibrated for her weight, her movement and most of all, able to keep up. It was this that made Skye lethal- she was not just heavy hitting, she was incredibly fast, able to run, leap, slide, and find any angle she wanted before anyone could ever get a hit on her at the same time. Coupled to how hard Skye worked, it meant she was able to tear through lines, relying less on cover and more on sheer aggression and capability. Ebrima was probably a good match, but from their little exercise, Skye’s USP wasn’t deception, it wasn’t even firepower, or stealth, it was just being the ultimate version of what she’d wanted to be for a while. She had a Swiss Army Knife in her rifle to mess up targets, and what that wouldn’t hit, the M32 could blow apart.

And she wasn’t done.

Her helmet followed, an open-face Ops-Core like type in olive camo with her usual almost obsidian-blue like paint going under her eyes, breaking up the texture of her face and taking her from gentle redhead into full-blown Pictish warhound. A new tactical tomahawk, inspired by Freya was by her side, as well as an M32 MGL grenade launcher, with multiple revolver-round grenades hanging there ready for deployment if she needed to make a hole in lots of things, and make her way through. Her FNX.45, in classic tan camo went into her holster, as did her Scout knife, and was capped off by her putting on her classic Mechanix tactical gloves, sitting at the end of the gauntlet of her exoskeleton, it’s brilliant black and olive paint simple, yet capping off the look of the team leader’s relentless gaze, allowing her tactical glass to go see-through rather than tint up. Her feet clattered a little on the metal, the exo’s activation adding a little to it, and making her feel like she had the power back. It had been a while since she’d operated with it. But immediately, it turned her from just a bit of flesh and bone, into a projectile of her very own that magnified everything she was, her 6”2 frame now at about 6”3 standing in her tan tactical boots, holding a look that turned into someone who looked at home in the blood and mud. An almost androgynous look, the woman there present yet now replaced by a mode that almost telegraphed a fighter.

She turned her head, seeing Sam approach, seeing the look on Sam’s face. She had concern. It was obvious she was deep down worried, driven by her compulsive need to work on something, do something. She felt for her, but same time, knew that if she didn’t hold it together, keep a brave face on in all of this, the team would crack. And while she had heard Sam voice her concerns, Skye knew that right now, putting her with Adam and focussing on one thing at a time would help. Infiltrating was something Sam was good at, but Skye needed her in the fight elsewhere. And knew that from the look she had gotten before, Sam had worry about Skye from all that had happened. Concerns about the scale of this. After everything before, Skye knew that look, and knew she was going to struggle to address that, but still kept a positive attitude.
“Looking good, feeling good Sam?” Skye asked, breaking her look, her Scots accent unfiltered, nothing like Rose’s, and warm like a fire, yet as burning like one.

Samantha approached Skye and tilted her head a little to one side as she appraised Skye. They hadn’t really talked much since what happened on the last mission. It wasn’t that Skye had purposely avoided her or her Skye. It was as if by mutual silent agreement they had avoided discussing anything that approached true emotions for the both of them. Samantha sighed and looked down uncertain once again about her instincts but still feeling just as driven to say what she needed to say. She knew from experience that you just never knew when would be the last time you got to see someone. The pain of losing her father and grandfather how she did flared to life in her chest. She pushed it away and looked up, meeting Skye’s eyes. She stopped forward and hugged Skye. She whispered with her mouth as close to Skye’s ear as she could reach. She didn’t necessarily want the whole team to hear what she had to say but it was now or never.

Samantha’s voice deepened with emotion as she told Skye. “I just want you to know before we go to save the world again. That I care about you Skye. You and Freya are like the sisters I never had. I want you to know that. I am worried you have decided this will be your last fight. I want you to know that you are more than a soldier and a fighter. You have more to offer than that. I will fight by your side. I will be with you till the end. Do you understand me?”

Skye’s fierce look broke and melted when Sam hugged away, Skye embracing her back, looking into her eyes, hearing her voice and nodding.
“There’s no guarantee in our line of work, Sam. But I’ll try and make sure we come back.” Skye smiled, careful with her exo given how close she was, and that Sam had already been squished, shocked, and shot at in the space of probably about four weeks.
“I appreciate that. And all of you too, you’ve carried me through a really tough time. But don’t let the emotions get you. Let’s get the job done, yeah?” Skye smiled back, looking into her eyes, that leader-like determination coming through, sighing with a look over to the rest of the team, from Athena’s booming clatter
“It’s do or die on this one. There’s no guarantee of an afterlife. So let’s try and make this one a good run, and honestly, just do what we need to. Stakes are high. But we can do this.” Skye said, almost as if to say to Sam, to trust in herself too, trust and believe in what she could do, given all of this tech, all the equipment, all the prep, physical work, everything, it all came down to this. This moment here and now.

Samantha relaxed a little as she heard Skye’s response. “I know that there are no guarantees in our line of work. I just needed to say the words at least once in case. I will be fine. I know what you need me to do. I will get it done. You can count on me. I just…. Had to say it.” Samantha shrugged as she couldn’t really explain what was driving her odd instinct either. But she felt better for having said it. She stepped back giving Skye some space. She felt it would get awkward if she didn’t turn to business. She once more checked her load out making sure she had not forgotten anything.

“I know I can. Mechs are a fickle thing to steal. But I guess we finally get to enact some revenge for the amount of times they’ve rained down fire on us, right?” Skye smirked, cracking a smile as she looked over to the rest of the team, before heaping her water bladder nozzle between her rucksack and her exo’s spine, gently cradling it through and pulling the nozzle in over shoulder, watching Sam continue to work.
“You’ve done good, Sam. This exo is awesome…..feeling very alive in this thing. Go kick some ass, Sam. Do what you do best. See you on the other side.” Skye added, keeping the positive vibe going with her husking accent, back at height again as she saw Adam come in, equipping his MSBS and his USAS pairing, his helmet sealing then opening up again, as Skye took the oxygen bottle that was already attached to the front of her chest rig and checked the translucent breathing mask, ready in place when the doors would open later.

Samantha nodded to Skye that she heard her. She looked around at the rest of the team. Samantha knew she had done her best to make sure they all had what they needed for this mission to save the world. Samantha gave Skye a quick pat on the shoulder before heading to the CAV she would be piloting or driving? That thought made her grin wickedly as she hopped into the driver’s seat. Samantha hooked her suit up to the onboard oxygen. She strapped in and was ready. She looked over the rear to see Chuck, Freya, and Duke were already in place. The only one missing from their team was Adam.

Adam headed over to the CAV, clambering in, getting on the passenger side, feeling the weight as Chuck and Freya clambered aboard, the bark of Duke making it very clear he was on board too. As Skye ran through the brief, so did Adam, calling out to the team what was needed. Skye’s CAV went first, hurtling out of the opened up trapdoor, and with that
“Okay, Chaos, give it twenty seconds. Guidance is set for us, just drive out of the door, then hang tight.” Adam added, knowing he’d kept quiet, but given the briefing by Skye, he hadn’t needed to add much. He trusted her, that much could be said, the bulkier exo he carried versus Skye making him more of a bruiser rather than a lightning bolt, but still, no less capable in closer quarters.

Samantha was ready. She was focused on what she needed to do. She was the picture of calm as she had the timer and guidance points pulled up in her HUD. Bob was helping her with the timing. She waited twenty seconds and the alarm went off. “Hold onto your hats. Here we go!” Samantha’s voice full of glee being the adrenaline junkie she was. She then hit the throttle driving the CAV off the ramp. The CAV hurtled off the ramp at high altitude. The vehicle started to tip downwards due to the weight not being evenly distributed which couldn’t be avoided. They all had an excellent view of the tiny lush volcanic island below that looked like a spec of green and dark brown from this far up. Samantha hit the drogue that would help even out the vehicle and allow her to aim it a little before popping the chutes. She kept a careful watch on the prevailing crosswinds. She intended for them to hit the target hard and fast. The temperature this high up was cold. The winds tugged and pulled at the vehicle but she kept it on course. The vehicle swayed a little as it was buffeted by winds and pushed around a little. Samantha used her skill almost using the vehicle like a surfboard as she rode the wind currents always correcting towards their destination. They picked up some speed.

“Anvil is away, headed onto LZ, out!” Adam yelled into the comms, the chuckling voice of the Scottish team lead on the other end.
“Hammer’s on course too, not a bad view this! Happy hunting Anvil, see you down there.” Adam chuckled in response to Skye’s radio filtered voice exposed to wind, as they hurtled through the dawn sky, the clouds in the distance growing closer and closer, the freefalling CAV and the weight in it controlled expertly by Sam. Hammer’s approach was to land more on the volcanic hillside of the island and hit the vehicle pools and upper sectors from above- whilst Anvil’s approach were coming in hot onto the more rainforest, jungle-like interior, with few clearings and tracks across it to enter. The coral offshore, the brilliant blue and green sea clashed with the intensity of the island itself, and the inhabitants that had fortified, unaware that you could even run an assault like this- but then again, Raven rolled that way. That said, using the CAV and their approach as it stood would get them to the barrack and PLA’s command centre for their troops far faster, not too far at all from the dockland and the big clearing that then led to the launchpads and the gigantic command centre.

The black-coloured drogue buffeted above the olive-coloured CAV, as Adam took a cursory look to check that everyone was still aboard. Sam was definitely there, and so too was Freya, Chuck, and most vitally of all, even Duke, who was no doubt, having the time of his life, behind his cute tactical goggles.

The little green island grew as the vehicle dropped. The sun's rays bathed the vehicle in golden rose colored rays. The bright rays highlighted the vehicle and caught it as it fell through the sky. Sam kept a close eye on the altimeter. She had skillfully aimed the CAV towards the jungle side of the island. As the vehicle got lower the island got closer. It was time and Samantha pulled the lever that would open their parachutes for the vehicle. The vehicle’s momentum towards the ground jerked and slowed as the chutes deployed. The idyllic scene below made it feel as if they were jumping down into paradise instead of enemy territory. One of the only things to spoil that image was the dirt track cut through the jungle that was evidence of man’s habitation. The CAV swayed on the straps attached to the parachutes. Samantha used the handles to trim the parachutes to guide the CAV to where she wanted to land. Her eyes on their landing spot. She was grateful for the camera feed in her HUD that told her that at least they hadn’t been spotted yet. The track was empty as the CAV got closer to landing. The tree canopy felt endless like a green wall they were approaching below them. For Samantha it felt like threading a needle. She had to aim for a track that was carved out in a thin line from their viewpoint in the air. She deftly adjusted the trim on the parachutes as their descent got real as the body of the CAV fell between the branches of trees on either side as it landed with a hard bump on the track in the forest. Right on target. Samantha hit the lever that would release the parachutes and hit the throttle as she headed inland towards the barracks. The tires grabbed the earth and their speed increased as the CAV gained traction.

Soundtrack: Fleetwood Mac- The Chain (GotG Remix)

As the vehicle clattered into the road, the Baja-like suspension squeaked and creaked under load with the weight of he heavies aboard, Adam adjusting the M240 in front of him and keeping the MSBS by his side if they needed to do a driveby. The engine roared into life, the modified V8 a courtesy of Javi’s Cartel-inspired engineering, no doubt something that was making Sam very, very happy right now based on her Shelby’s similar engine. This was probably a bit more floaty, with the enormous tyres and suspension not built for comfort, but for just going really, really fast on the trails inland, which were slippery, muddy and boggy. A checkpoint could be seen ahead, as Adam adjusted position.
“Keep rolling Chaos, no stop until we hit our marker point to drop off Boomer and Frigga! Everyone, fire from the vehicle on anything that moves!” Adam yelled into the comms, adjusting the MMG, and with it, lighting up a guardtower, hoping that the two in the back would join in with shenanigans. They were rolling towards what looked like a small outpost, and with the speed, firepower, and everything they had going, Sam was no doubt having a hell of a time keeping it on the road, and drifting towards the barracks, the outline of which could be seen in the distance with a large fortified structure and an outlying hangar where their prize most likely lay to turn the tides.

Freya and Chuck had plenty of targets to eliminate, and through the barracks, they had a mixture of targets - HVTs, fuel and vehicle stores, defensible positions and then some to take out and clean up. They had the ability to call in strikes from the blimp if needed- because what they were about to be up against would be frankly silly, even by their usual metrics.

Samantha kept the CAV on the track but it was bumpy. The uneven track through the forest caused the passengers to rock back and forth with the bumps. The track they were following let out into a clearing ahead. The compound was set in the clearing. There were two watchtowers on either side of the gate to the compound. Samantha sped up wanting to catch the PLA with their pants down. “Target those watchtowers!” Samantha focused on keeping them moving down the path. She sped up even more as the CAV headed towards the gate. “We are not stopping!”Samantha chortled in glee as the vehicle burst through the gate with a loud screech of folding metal and chain link fencing. The PLA had started to respond but it was too little too late as the fast moving vehicle swept deeper into the compound. Samantha swung right on the way to the barracks. “Next stop barracks. We kicked the hornet’s nest. Look lively!”

Chuck had used his grenade launcher to target the other watchtower. He watched it explode into a shower of shrapnel with satisfaction.

“At least I did get to blow something up.”

He was still not happy to be denied being able to plant explosives on the boats but he still got to make things go boom. He pulled out his long gun and began to take careful potshots at the more active and awake members of the PLA that were firing at their vehicle. Chuck was good at what he did. He might have missed where he was aiming due to the rocking of the vehicle on occasion but that just meant he got a chest shot instead of a head shot. Duke barked in excitement, his whole body shaking and ready to be a part of the hunt.

Samantha planned to stop just long enough to drop off Chuck, Freya, and Duke by the barracks before speeding back towards where the mechs were stored with Adam.“This is going to be a fast stop. When I stop everyone going to the barracks gets out fast.”

The compound was surrounded by chain link fencing. The tall launch platforms were in the distance. There were large geodesic dome structures that dotted the compound that held the PLA’s equipment, aircraft, and vehicles. Off to the right side of the compound was a military encampment. They could see the barracks as they approached and it looked like a sea of tall olive green tents in the spaces around two of the geodesic dome hangers. The tents were large with metal or wood structural poles that were ten by twenty feet or bigger. There were larger tents that were twenty meters wide and almost one hundred meters long. The larger tents were probably the mess tent and/or held the command center for the group. They were on a well packed dirt track that led in that direction.

Rolling back into speed, Adam let Sam stop the CAV in front of the hangar, where most likely, the mechs were located inside of.
“Okay, I’ll draw their fire Chaos, see if you can flank them, we need to get into that hangar!” Adam yelled out, moving out and using his field generator to bolt towards cover, laying down fire with the MSBS, clattering a group of PLA soldiers, but replaced by even more, Adam holding the main position and giving Chaos a chance to flank and run the gauntlet towards the hangar, and clear out even more.

"Frigga, Boomer, you have the rest of the barracks, use the blimp's fire support to kill anything that might blow you up and moves, and detonate any other positions yourself, cause some destruction!" Adam yelled back, the scene well and truly being a moment of let slip the dogs of war and cry havoc!

---

Craning his head back between the seats, Ebrima waited for Tahlia to confirm the location of where she wanted to be dropped off, the point appearing on his HUD. ”All good.” He answered, giving the loadmaster a thumbs up and likewise grabbing a hold of the roll cage right before the released drogue chute caught wind, the vehicle getting ejected out of the blimp like a shitty cartridge out of a rifle.

Crewed aerial vehicle deployment. Never before did he feel kindred to a fictional character as he did with Private Hudson in that very moment. ‘How do I get out of this batshit outfit?’

And what a way out it was, as the drogue fluttered above, revealing beyond the slight part in the clouds the actively volcanic, smokey Île de la Tempête, with the lush jungle coating the base by the sandy shores, where the voice in Skye’s ear could be heard, the headset having to work overtime to noise cancel for her.

“Anvil is away, headed onto LZ, out!” Adam yelled into the comms, the chuckling voice of the Scottish team lead on the other end.
“Hammer’s on course too, not a bad view this! Happy hunting Anvil, see you down there.” Skye yelled through her mask, looking to Ebrima, and in the back, Tahlia, who was basically a bush in a hurricane with her ghillie-suited loadout, adjacent to Ban, who was even cracking a smile from the look of it.

And Skye returned her look to it again, seeing the jungle turn to pine and more scattered wood the higher up the volcano, turning to black-ash like substance- at the intersection of which was their target. A large vehicle pool, and more importantly, an opportunity to wipe out a significant portion of the PLA and Artemis’s firepower down here. Adjusting the drogue, Skye could see the other CAV freefalling on the winds in a slightly different tangent, and given they were virtually surfing the upper winds, they were making rather nice progress, sailing towards target into a tropical paradise backed by a beautiful scene of blue and green reef-filled ocean.
“First time, Boraro? You look pale!” Skye asked, a smirk on the Scot’s face as she looked to her left, the blue paint beneath her eyes and her new exoskeleton, coupled to her loadout and her general ferocity cracking ostensibly for a moment, in a way only Skye knew she could get away with.

”You mean to tell me yours isn’t?” The Cameroonian shook his head, a quiet ”Never heard that one before.” masked by the buffeting winds, his eyes wandering to the altitude readout every few seconds. ”Here’s to the suspension managing the landing.” He noted as the island beneath them kept getting bigger and bigger. He almost hoped there would be no survivors on the other side for their benefit, because seriously, how would you live this down? Someone took the least stealthy thing since Athena herself, flew it over your head and dropped two buggies out of it right into your lap. Taking refuge in audacity was, after all, a proven tactic.

“Noted! Javi’s got a screw loose, but I trust him with suspension.” Skye replied back, the sight of the volcanic mountain coming closer and closer, as using the HUD, she managed to virtually suggest the CAV to go a little more left, before the altimeter hit 2,000 feet, and she reached up and yanked the main deployment parachute. With a loud flutter, the drogue yanked it out of the bag above them, as Skye stood up, steering it in according to the HUD, already hearing a massive explosion in the distance as Anvil were clearly hitting the ground running, whistling as the howling noise became more of a buffetting one.
“Okay, sit tight, fire the engine up and let’s get to OP Tango, then go start a party of our own!” Skye added, the black-coloured canopy above them contrasting the olive-coloured, V8-powered, Baja-suspension having tool that the Cameroonian next to Skye had to pilot- the sinewing track on the volcano’s side below coming closer and closer, as she prepared them to cut away, stalling the parachute in….

Soundtrack: Focus- Hocus Pocus

The noise of the wind gave away to the guttural rumble of the V8 idling in anticipation. In gear, with a foot firmly on the brake, Ebrima’s left hand hovered over the release, standing by for the kick of hitting the ground. He hit the switch as soon as it came, the clamps holding the CAV onto the palette it had been dropped on releasing as the engine awoke with a roar of 15000 RPM and supercharger whine, the tire thread grasping at the soil as the CAV made its way up the mountainside toward Tahlia’s chosen perch. ”Two minutes at this rate, get your gear ready.”

With that, Tahlia checked her rifle over and Skye held on as the buggy clattered on the black volcanic pumice, the explosions in the distance making it clear that Anvil was well, doing their job as an Anvil. They had arrived a hell of a lot later than Skye had anticipated, no idea how, maybe the wind or just the weight of the heavies? Probably that, but they had the more difficult job of hitting the midst of the base, and no doubt, pulling heat. With the buggy going from skating to spewing soil, the spot came into view as Tahlia patted the metal, letting Boraro pull to a stop as she clattered out on her new legs, making a move into the pine-like brush and into position, disappearing as fast as she’d left.
“All good, Boraro! Onto the next, base is 250m down slope, let’s get ready for a fight!” Skye added, loading her M31 and checking the mechanism, the M240 also available if she needed to add just even more bullets to the equation, blasting down the now plantation-like pine-tree filled forest above the jungle layer.

”Mountainside, mind the gap. Next stop, motorpool.” He chuckled, holding the CAV on brakes and launching it back down the slope as soon as the signal was given. Perhaps it was at that time, careening down the forested mountain in a vaguely controlled way, did Skye realize she handed the keys to a motorsports fan with no formal driving training beyond whoever he was deployed with all over the place. The rate of descent would have made a skyscraper elevator blush, and as the base came into view, Ebrima leaned forward in his seat, the three Tricksters separating from his back with mechanical clicks and following the CAV, standing by for instructions.

The scene was not lost on Skye that he was hucking it around like he was on a Scottish rally stage, perhaps in Perth and Kinross, where even Skye as a wee child had gone and seen the Escorts and Focuses be thrown around the mud, and yet detached out of all of that, Boraro was driving like he stole the thing, around hairpin after hairpin, the voice in Skye’s ear confirming their overwatch was in place. The Kiwi slumped down in her hide, digging out a gap in the brush, the angle good for both shots about 1.5km away into the faraway base Anvil was assaulting, as well as the one up close that Hammer was close to.
“Taniwha’s in position. Got an eye on the base…bear with. Got eyes on movement. Ton of vehicles leaving. Looks like a QRF. Basically the entire place is emptying out!” She adjusted the optic on her Ballista, refocussing.
“Looks like there’s a whole cluster of them leaving. Convoy, lot of guys on them….trying to get a bead. A few stayed behind, looks like they're reacting to the other attack.” Tahlia’s Kiwi accent crisply called, as Skye looked to Boraro, shrugging, her mask off and her look clean.
“So much for beating the other team here and hitting them with their pants down. Looks like we’ll just have to stop them getting the other team.” Skye took a moment to contemplate, looking over at the faraway dust trails of vehicles pushing through the hillside, heading down the gravel track.

The sight of PLA soldiers left in the vehicle pool needed cleaning up first however, as the gears turned in Skye’s mind.
“Alright, Shimura, there’s a whole cluster of them here. I’ll let you do what you do best, clear it up and see if you can detonate the fuel tanks over there. Boraro, we go after the vehicles, drop him here, and we keep going. We might be getting creative in how we stop the convoy….” Skye chirped, as calm as ever under pressure as bullets started flying, and Skye replied with them back, performing a drive-by with the mounted M240 on the cluster of enemies that they blazed by- taking a couple out and suppressing the other three so at least Ban could be dropped clean.

The remainder of Camp “Bravo” was still full of enemies, but it seemed significantly lighter, the crack of Tahlia’s sniper whacking a machine gun post inside one of the structures. Once that was done, Skye looked back to Ebrima, a glint in her head of an idea. The convoy being made up of a mix of Land Cruisers, trucks, ZFB-04 armoured MRAPs, even a BMD-3 in its ranks, unusual for a PLA team, but still, probably Artemis’s- well, that couldn't react, and given how heavily armoured and armed they were, that QRF was best not to make it to where it was going.
“Your little drones might about to be very handy.”

Meanwhile, Tahlia set up, watching Shimura get ready.
“Shimura, sniper on standby. Call fire where you want it. I’ll pick off targets where you don’t get there.” The Kiwi called in, adjusting her shots and picking out another guard-tower, sniping the man out of the way and cycling the bolt, feeling a little small up here, but able to make a meaningful difference for Shimura, his hidden hand and rifle available on standby.

”It was bound to happen sooner or later.” he shrugged off the news of a convoy leaving the motorpool. As bullets started flying, he kept the front of the CAV pointed more or less to the biggest cluster of PLA troops to keep them in the M240’s cone of fire. As offense was the best defense, the few still standing by the time they got close found out the CAV was really a 1200 kilogram guided projectile as he turned it 90° in a slide and slammed into them, running two over and crushing one unfortunate bastard between the CAV and a wall. Hammer team, doing a hammer’s work. That brief stop was enough time for Ban to dismount, and a second later they were already on the way out and after the convoy. ”Shoot the driver, stops the car.” He shrugged, an uncreative but effective solution to the soft tops in the convoy.

Skye whistled, noting the squish, and hearing Boraro’s advice, watching the tail end blast back small arms back at them, their speed making their accuracy poor both given the CAV’s relentless pace and ability to just hit bad bumps without issue, but it made the distance easy enough to close.
“Noted, but from this angle, it’s poor. Get closer!” Skye yelled back, switching from the M240 for just sending rounds in a spew towards the convoy and instead back to her personal M32 for a more explosive taste, clearing a corner through the bumpy jungle, the rear-based vehicle a large cargo truck that had plenty of PLA troops in it. Had, when the couple of rounds that Skye sent on target blasted the thing apart, and revealed the MRAP-like ZFB-04s in front, machine gunners scrambling to get rounds on it.

“Closer, Boraro, foot to floor, do not let go and follow behind the vehicles, I’ll clean these two, just don’t slow down, we need to intercept them!” Skye yelled back, looking across to him, as she clambered onto the side of the CAV, M31 in hand, the rifle rather than the grenade launcher, and with it, put her foot against the side rail, feeling Boraro accelerate, the LMG-equipped gunner on top turning around to face Skye, as she lept off the CAV and onto the MRAP, the gunner turning to face Skye and firing a couple rounds into her chest as she kicked back, kicking him inside, in barely a motion pulling a frag and dumping it through the hatch, bouncing it off him into the front of the cabin, in a position it was lodged rather nicely and chaotically.

Impressive so far, but not quite all she had. And with her running across the front of the vehicle and onto the next, the jump-jet’s leap allowing her to clear the distance and almost overshoot, pirouetting head first to catch the air as she saw the explosion detonate the rear MRAP, bullets flying from her M31 into the cockpit of the next one upside down with the accelerated rounds as she used it to cushion her fall on the bonnet, kicking in the window with a harsh boot to double-tap the driver, that was more a bit of showing off yet practically, getting the next truck wiped out. The men in the next cargo truck along turned, but by then, Skye was already off the bonnet and into the rear of the flatbed, crushing one with literally getting thrown at him by her exo and rolling the other female soldier with an exoskeleton-reinforced punch, one soldier throwing one back at the side of the head that Skye half-caught before they were getting literally sent under the wheels of the MRAP behind that slowing down, as another on the truck rushed her with his knife- nearly getting Skye if she hadn’t have just kneed forward and with her own kick, thrown him into the front bulkhead with a hurl that would have been something like Athena’s natural strength. Another pulled a pistol, and Skye dodged the first in her gun-fu like state of flowing, utter rage, the exo-equipped PLA soldier a more meaty match, but well, Skye was already ahead, using the knife from the man she’d stabbed to get a lucky throw at his crotch, before ramming the M31 into his head with her spare hand and pulling away, leaving claret behind, and on that, shoving him over the edge and under the MRAP that was nearly stopped behind. A casual run up onto the cab roof with the M31 and she put rounds through the relatively soft metal, killing the driver and the passenger, as she dropped onto the bonnet, ducking out of more gunfire from ahead as she peppered a couple of rounds into the truck’s occupants, clattering one of them and finishing the mag.

With a whistle to Boaro, the truck was slowing down from the dead occupants inside as she was watching him catch up, running past the mess that was all of this, appraoaching on the BMD and a series of trucks ahead. Skye had made her point. Her exo, and her right now were pushing like hell, everything a blur as she enacted what was probably what Boraro would now understand to be why there was a little legend to her activity. This was what was meant..
“Thanks!” Skye yelled, leaping the cavernous gap across and into the back, grabbing the rail, slapping.
“Few more to go! Jesus, this doesn’t fucking stop!” The Scot yelled back, hanging on and trusting Boraro to get to the rest, as she reloaded her M31 and then the 40mm rounds on the M32, ducking as more fire came by.

”Speed bump!” He cautioned the Scot hanging off the side of the CAV as one of the PLA troops from the truck fell into their path, the crunch unheard and bump barely felt as she lept off. He dodged two out of control MRAPs, caused by an out of control Scot, and floored it to catch up, taking advantage of the automatic transmission freeing up one hand to hold something as he reached behind himself for the M25.

Skye jumped back just in time for the trucks ahead of them to scatter to the sides of the road, clearing the path for the BMD’s gunner. The timing was just about there, two thermobaric grenades blanketing the airborne IFV in fire for a second. Inside, the gunner laughed at the futility of the endeavor and sent a long burst of 30 mm rounds scything through the CAV…

…to absolutely no effect, the light vehicle simply charging down the lane to catch up to the BMD before flickering out of existence, leaving behind nothing but three small drones.

”Looks like you get all the fun.” Ebrima gestured to the IFV they’d pulled up next to while it was distracted by the false projection, leaning partway out of the CAV and emptying the rest of the magazine, turning three trucks into smoldering wrecks.

Skye practically roared like a wildcat in reaction, her blue-faced, MTP-and grey-camo’d trace a blur as she lept back from the CAV onto the BMP, one of the commanders popping his head out of the turret in pure shock given it looked like his optic failed and getting instantly blatted in the face by Skye’s tomahawk as she frankly tore through him and half pulled him apart in the process with her right hand, as she emptied the M31’s mag inside the BMD with her left to wipe the two crewmen out, the vehicle coming to a much faster stop as Skye just didn’t halt in reaction. She didn’t go back to the CAV, that wasn’t a choice either.

She just kept on running, from one vehicle, to the next, the convoy on the muddy roads and even in spite of spacing nothing for Skye’s exo, making stupid gaps from vehicle to vehicle seem easy, frankly drifting across the air and where she couldn’t find a gap, punching off a pine tree to double jump and then make the rest up and clatter into the back, as she wiped out the drivers in the soft tops for her bullets, slowing down the convoy ahead for the CAV that was now just stuck in the traffic of Skye’s mayhem as it descended the mountain. Any man on them got a faceful of lead, or Skye’s tomahawk, or a 40 mil sent to their six-letter postcode. It was almost poetic in flow, the Scot running on pure, utter rage, the blur of her less soldier and more the peak that she seemed to find. Peak Skye- and thanks to her exo, her training and her being back to her best, she was making it look easy, dodging exo-equipped and non-exo equipped soldiers, sliding a new mag into her FNX and putting it through the skull of another PLA soldier, the ferocity neverending from her body language, skidding behind cover for ammunition swaps and breath, before then charging again once she knew where they were, and what degree of the pistol or the rifle she needed to hit them with, dependent on armour. Not wearing a full-face revealed it for all to see, the blue paint contrasting the now muddied red hair and the look of someone who just had one priority at hand- wiping everything that was in front of her. She was made for this. And her exo only willingly pushed her rampage.

Watching from afar with the FNX in hand, Skye seemed like liquid, using the pistol to clatter three more men on the next truck, the M32 MGL drawn in her right and pistol in left as she then blasted another Land Cruiser ahead, blowing it into the air out of the road before ducking behind the bulkhead as a group of Artemis mercs tried to fight back, one with an exo even making a jump but instead, clattering a tree branch and still getting a .45 to the face rom Skye as the truck’s driver slowed down to give them a go, a group more of them coming along as Skye decided she wasn’t so keen on that fight. Legging it off that truck with a backwards leap that curled her directly into the back of the CAV, skidding in as the convoy started on approach towards the command centre, nearly there, Skye reloading her various munitions as she couldn’t reply to this until she was at a better pace. The convoy had been stupid, but then again, the entire QRF here must have thought the base being under assault was all Raven had to bear. So it made sense that there was so fucking many of them, it felt like some sort of never-ending conveyor belt of dust and dirt.
“Last group, Boraro, got any ideas?”

Ebrima had used the momentary distraction of a berserker to throw up one of the Scout drones and reload his launcher, a fresh magazine of Frag shells eager for a piece of the fun now seated in it, the truck Skye had just abandoned the first unlucky winner. Exo was an exo, but a frag grenade going off right in his face was still hard to argue against. ”Ideas? One or two.” He shrugged as a second CAV burst out of the forest ahead of the convoy and turned right into them, a game of chicken now in progress. It was rigged from the start, the drivers and crews of the forward vehicles unaware of what had happened behind the BMD.

The lead driver lost his nerve with a bit of distance between them, managing to keep a hold of his vehicle as the seemingly suicidal CAV charged past. Those behind him did not have the luxury of seeing the threat until the vehicle ahead swerved, and with each vehicle down the road the CAV was closer and closer to them leading to a domino effect if PLA vehicles throwing themselves into the ditch and woods running alongside the road, the deployed Scouter tagging their locations for Skye and Ebrima to mop up as they passed in what could only be described as a gangland drive-by with grenade launchers and belt fed machine guns. ”And to think Jerusalem has the gall to keep this man behind bars.” Ebrima chuckled as the Tricksters returned and reconnected to their slots.

Skye whistled, watching the PLA vehicles turn into a massive clusterfuck that was almost straight out of a comedy, if it wasn’t for the M32, the M240 and the barking of vehicles being blown to bits and hit hard, eliminating the convoy’s lethality and pretty much any attempt they had at getting to Anvil, who were now pummelling the shit out of the site. Vehicles were flying everywhere, from explosions to crashes to general anarchy just taking a hold, and Skye had to hold on tight, the air in her lungs tight from just how unhinged this had gotten, and from Boaro’s perfect little deception that had taken the others out of contention.
“Holy fucking shit, that worked! Nicely done!” Skye cackled, as she heard more bullets fly, the sound of what sounded like helicopter blades from the far bit of brush now actually being audible outside of the insanely loud gunfire and the Michael-Bay level of destruction, trees being blasted apart and vehicles getting detonated giving Skye a perk up that ah yeah, that was of course on the cards. Anvil had AA of their own, as did the mechs, but they’d caused so much shit, so much heat, that Skye realised they were trying to kill the CAV, the one they thought they saw double of, rather than the two heavies and a couple of mechs that were about to rampage, Skye assumed.

Even by her standards, she was impressed seeing the Z-10 attack helicopter blast rockets and 20mm cannon fire into the jungle-like forest they were now in, as Skye looked to Boraro, sighing, knowing as fast as he was going, the pilot just needed one good strafe and they were toast. And the bridge ahead was exposed, a long concrete thing that headed to the launch site itself, as she adjusted her position.
“We may want to bail, that chopper will shred us….let the CAV run, let’s go sort this!” Skye called out, pulling him up from the driver’s seat, rifle in hand ready, and knowing that if this was going to work, they had a fairly limited run at it. Leaping onto a vehicle, that was a good run, but that helicopter was just turning in hard, ready for another run down the relatively straight bit of muddy trail, as Skye smirked to Boraro, leaping with her exo, hoping Boraro had the other side covered. It was a two-person helicopter to knock out, after all. And she did not want to have all the fun herself.

Helicopter. Abandon vehicle. Grapple. It clicked in his mind, standing up while keeping his foot on the gas for as long as he could, giving the jump a boost of the jump pack. Of all the things the Z-10’s gunner expected to see just outside the side of his canopy, a human was definitely very low on the list. One foot braced on the right gear leg, the other on a protrusion housing the landing reflector and left hand holding onto one of the wire strike protection blades, with one motion the exo punched through the side window and grabbed a hold of the gunner’s vest, ripping him out of the seatbelts and out through the shattered canopy before sending him up into the main rotor, checking on his team leader before letting go, using the jump pack and several trees to break his fall into a smooth landing.

Skye hung off the left of the turret, ratcheting in and seeing Boraro go for the move, punching the pilot’s window out for courtesy’s sake and blasting a couple of .45 rounds, before Boraro straight up decided to turn the gunner into a lasagna, and with it, Skye released and pushed back, following Boraro off and watching the helicopter spiral and then spectacularly detonate into the side of a warehouse structure close to the command site, munitions and fuel making one hell of a bang as Skye refocussed on her landing, the jump pack and trees cushioning her own fall as she rolled and exhaled.

“Fucking hell!” Skye yelled out, looking to Boraro, panting heavily, hands on knees, coughing a little bit of blood up, before wiping her lip and looking back across at the now wrecked CAV, the half-blown up warehouse, and behind them, the trail of destruction that had extended from two kilometers up the volcano to here, about three-quarters of the way to “Camp Alpha”, where Anvil were raining down fire. Brushing the mud and crap off her face, the Scot looked to Boraro, giving an approving nod.
“Well. That went well. I think if we go that way, we’re going to get shredded.” Skye pointed, towards where basically, the Tom and Jerry equivalent of a gigantic fight was going on at the main barrack area, exhaling, even by her standards, feeling that.

“That….remainder of the warehouse has the main Command Site for the launches beyond it, and it’s mostly an equipment store for satellites, with a clean room and labs. We’re getting ahead of ourselves, but I reckon we keep on rolling the punks- that’s their last main concentration before the last checkpoint in. You got all your ribs in one place, all your kit together?” Skye asked, almost as if the motherly part of her never left, even if she was capable of extraordinary amounts of violence- Boraro seemed to be on the same level, the gentle feeling of blood and dirt on them both in copious volumes.

“There are a lot of them and only two of us. I think we may need some help clearing it, and the checkpoint because without speed, we’ll be a bit toast. Save the Hellfires and railguns for the barrack, there is a lot more of them there. So as reluctant as I am to ask for her help, I think we need a hyperactive Valkyrie once we go for that. Drag some pressure to us.” Skye added, pushing out of the brush, her M31, M32 and FNXes all reloaded, after various states of complete, total anarchy. Looking to him, she stopped for a second in the brush, knowing they had been given the briefest of moments to catch their breath, Skye knelt in the overlook, and took in the pale Cameroonian, glad as hell he had kept up. That was rough, even by her metric.

“Valkyrie, sending you co-ordinates, I need your services and your disgustingly fat ass to crash a party. And I suppose Scion can join you too. Taniwha, I could use some fire near my location. Shimura, I assume the remainder of the vehicle pool was easy enough…..I might have a bigger challenge if you can salvage a vehicle from Camp Bravo to get to us, but just don’t mind the traffic jam of detonated vehicles we left behind. See if you can catch us, and we’ll hit the warehouse and entry gate to the launch pad..”
Skye with that looked to Boraro again, giving a nod.

“Ready for Round Two?”

Checking that he hadn’t lost anything in that last stunt, he pointed at the flaming warehouse that had once been a helicopter. ”You didn’t want that, did you?” He felt like he had to ask, as the ability to fly one wasn’t entirely out of the question with a seasoned Raven operative.

“Well, beggars can’t be choosers. I guess we no longer have to knock. We just made an entry for ourselves. Okay, Boaro. On your lead. Let’s clean out the exterior of the warehouse and entry point, I’ll follow you. Gents first.” Skye suavely, charmingly in the most Scots accent she could muster.

–

@BigPapaBelial

With that callout, Athena sealed up her gold-tinted visor, and the door opened once more, revealing the chaos far, far, far below.

“Valkyrie is ready. Got your location.” Athena chuckled, the door opening again in the blimp, as she looked across to Jamie, her hulking armoured mass occupying about a little bit of the width of what the CAV had previously had, the coil strapped to side, thruster pack readied, and the far oblivion of the island a bit of drift below, but somewhere they could still hit.
“Ready to follow on me, brother?” She looked through the visor camera to him, her grin full.