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Kensai
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wintersoldier
Thayr
FourtyTwo
Lunamaria Hawke
datadogie
Half Pint
FosterRaven's Rock, Camp Hannula, Pöyrisjärvi National Park, Finland
Earlier That Day, 1000 Local Time
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.
