We're approaching the first action centerpiece of the story. I hope people like it. As for the flashbacks to WWII, they won't be in every chapter, but they'll be in the next four chapters including this one. There's a reason for that, I'm building towards something.
Chapter Three: Wings and Prayers
Indian Ocean
Present Day
Ruby Rose sat down near the ramp. It wasn't her turn to jump yet, in fact, it wasn't coming for a while.
A lot of people complained about the C-130. Ruby kind of liked it. It was a far more spacious plane than the ones she had to fly in. She could find a corner somewhere and just read a book for a while if she needed space. Considering the size of her book, and considering how much longer they needed to be in the air before they reached her destination, that was a good thing indeed.
"What tome are you reading, mortal?"
Unless, of course, someone disturbed her privacy. Like Nora Valkyrie.
Ruby looked up. "The Stand. Stephen King."
Nora chuckled lightly. "Another 'king'?"
"It's his last name."
"Oh, I know. I'm just doing what your mortals call 'screwing with you'. It is most amusing."
Why am I not surprised?
Nora was strange. She seemed to have her head up in the clouds all the time, always blithely smiling and acting like she didn't have a care in the world. And yet, sometimes, she would preach about 'worthiness' and the 'pride of mortals' or some such.
Nora fidgeted with her Mjolnir hammer a bit. Nora went by two aliases, 'Valkyrie', most of the time, but she really loved being called 'Thor'. That was her official title in Asgard, apparently, due to being able to wield Mjolnir, but she would accept 'Valkyrie'.
This was good, because Nora did not look like a 'Thor' to Ruby. She didn't look like a 'Valkyrie' either, but at least she fit that description better than 'Thor'.
"What is this The Stand about?" Nora asked.
"It's about a group of people fighting evil in a post-apocalyptic world."
Nora sniffed. "You mortals and your obsessions with the apocalypse. Tell stories about triumph, about glory, the way you used to! They're a lot more fun than 'darkness be my friend against more darkness that hides in darkness'!"
It occurred to Ruby that Nora had leaned in close. Real close. She looked up from the book and saw Nora was almost leaning over the book at this point.
"You have no concept of personal space, do you?"
Nora grinned. "None. In Asgard there is no such thing. We touch each other however-"
She's not finishing that sentence! "Too much information."
"But I haven't gotten to how the glorious Lady Sif and I-"
"I am on a need to know basis about your exploits, and I declare that whatever you're about to say is something I don't need to know."
Nora made a pouting face that reminded Ruby of a begging puppy. "Don't you want to know?"
"No."
"You're even less fun than Lie Ren."
Ruby remembered Lie Ren's warnings about Nora all too well. Nora was someone best kept at a reasonable distance. Too many BEACON members had found out the hard way about not heeding that simple advice.
"Only sometimes," Ruby said, offering Nora a smile.
"Remind me when you're being more fun than Lie Ren and I will happily regale you with my tales of Asgard. I have achieved so much glory that my father is finally proud of me, though he is disappointed in I taking a liking to Midgard."
"All right," Ruby said.
One of the BEACON field officers, Brock Rumlow, approached Nora then. He was a veteran BEACON operative, in his mid-forties, with dark hair and a tall, well-built physique. Nora turned to look at him, and remarkably, Brock was not fazed like a lot of other humans Ruby had seen.
"We're approaching your destination. Time to jump."
Nora pumped her fist in the air. "As you mortals say, 'okay'!"
She turned to Ruby and grinned widely, waving at Ruby like she didn't have a care in the world. "Tell me about your mission when we see each other again, Ruby!"
"Um, sure," Ruby said, offering an awkward hand flip.
The ramp was already lowering, and the sound of the wind was making it difficult to hear her own voice, much less Nora's. But Nora seemed to hear her anyway, because she smiled before she ran off.
"Farewell, Ruby of the Roses!"
Ruby had corrected Nora more times she could count over her name. Ruby had decided a few months ago that it was something Nora did on purpose, because she did get Ruby's name correct in other, more serious or casual instances. It was just something Nora just liked to say, because . . . she was Nora.
Ruby watched Nora run towards the ramp and leap into the air, vanishing from sight. Ruby heard an audible "Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!" above the din of the air and the plane, as if it had been amplified by a god.
Then again, she pretty much was one.
A young BEACON operative stared at the closing ramp, horror clearly on his face. "Was she wearing a parachute?"
"Nope," Brock and Ruby said in unison.
"She doesn't really need one, does she?" the rookie asked.
"Nope," Brock and Ruby said in unison again.
Brock turned to Ruby then, just as the ramp closed. "Final briefing's in 0100 hours. We'll be arriving at Hong Kong pretty quickly."
"Thank you. I'll be there." Ruby set her watch to fifty minutes, and smiled as she looked at Brock. He was an older, more mature presence among her frequent collaborators on these missions, and Ruby appreciated him for that. Too many of these kids and rookies didn't know what they were getting themselves into, even though, biologically, they were older than Ruby.
Brock nodded. "You always are."
He walked away, leaving Ruby with her book. With a sigh, she opened it up again. Stephen King was not a bad writer, but he was not Ernest Hemingway. They had similarities, including fairly plain, simple prose, but King lacked the edge Hemingway had. Hemingway's prose was hard, anti-literary, much like King's, but Hemingway could cut so much more.
She thought about switching to The Old Man and the Sea. It had been released after the war, like Across the River and Into the Trees, which she had finished a short time ago. It was the last Hemingway novel published before he had tragically killed himself, and Ruby was trying to save reading it for when she felt it was the right time. It still didn't feel like the time was 'right', but she so desperately wanted to read it.
Novels these days disappointed her. She had yet to find a female author on Jane Austen's level. Twilight had her holding her sides in laughter after just fifty pages due to the sheeridiocy of the characters and the childish prose and airheaded dialogue. Suzanne Collins wasn't bad though, with her Hunger Games work, but that trilogy sometimes got depressing just for the sake of being depressing. There wasn't much a point to piling on additional tragedy, especially towards the end. And the less she could say about Laurell K. Hamilton or Anne Rice, the better.
Maybe she just wasn't looking in the right places. Maybe she was too busy listening to what other people recommended instead of seeking out what she truly wanted on her own.
She set down The Stand and pulled out her copy of The Old Man and the Sea. Feeling the book in her hands, it took her back to when she had Hemingway on other planes, long ago . . .
Over Sicily, Italy
July 9th, 1943
Operation Husky
Ruby was almost through the third chapter of For Whom the Bell Tolls. After years of searching for it, she had finally found it. She had traded all of the Hershey bars, cigarettes (which she found disgusting) and lemonade packets she had stocked up in order to have the book. It wasn't like she had any bookstores to visit when she was always on duty, and she figured she could stockpile more chocolate down the line. She already had a couple of bars on her, so she was already making progress on achieving the ultimate chocolate stockpile to share with her sister after the war was over.
Literacy was something Ruby loved. In all of her environments, she had been surrounded by people who couldn't read, couldn't write, couldn't spell. The ability to read was like a portal to other worlds, to the fringe of imagination, had opened. Hemingway was her favorite (Jane Austen was a close second) due to his brutal simplicity. There weren't any fancy descriptions, there weren't any unnecessary words, no pretentious preaching or speeches. It is what it is. Ruby had to figure out what Hemingway's themes were herself, without them being told to her, and she appreciated that.
Reading about the Spanish Civil War reminded her of her own war. Hemingway knew what war was like. It was like reading a journal from a kindred spirit. Ruby wanted to meet Hemingway someday, to tell him how much she appreciated his approach to writing, how he skillfully showed his themes without telling the reader what they were, how she felt a connection beyond being a mere reader just by opening his books.
It wasn't like Ruby would ever meet Jane Austen and tell her how much she appreciated her, so . . .
A hand on her shoulder. "Ruby, it's almost time. Put it away."
Yang's voice. Ruby turned to her right and saw Yang looking at her, smiling.
"I was almost finished with the third chapter."
"You can finish it after we're done with the mission. Consider it motivation," Yang said.
"Aww. All right," Ruby said softly, and she memorized the page number and closed the book. She quickly stuffed it into her pack.
The soldier to her left eyed her. "I can't believe the goddamn army's sending little girls like you to war now."
"I'm not a little girl," Ruby said softly, for the umpteenth time in this war, it felt.
Before either of them could say anything more, the leader of the 'stick' stood up. Lieutenant Bradley McCoy looked like he was approaching thirty, but Ruby didn't feel too assured about him. No one from the 82nd Airborne Division had found in combat before. Being attached to the best group of men in the regiment didn't mean much to her. Until they saw battle, there was no real way to tell who the 'best' was.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen stand up! We're approaching our drop point!"
"What drop point?" shouted a paratrooper near the front. "You take a look out the door, sir? It's pea soup!"
"Fog or not, the pilots have given me the signal that we're dropping. Now I need to make something clear to you all here."
McCoy cleared his throat loudly and began speaking. "We were handpicked by Colonel Gavin himself for this mission! He considers us his very best men! Our mission is to ensure these young ladies here complete their own! They may not look it, but those ladies we're jumping with are the best soldiers in the entire United States military and we need to bring them back home!"
"You're shitting me!" shouted a para. Ruby got the uncomfortable feeling she was being stared at.
"I am not shitting you, Corporal! We are the best of the 505th and that is why we're going with them! We are going deeper into Sicily than any other plane! Those young ladies saw a lot of action in North Africa, and half of their dossiers are blacked out! They wouldn't be so goddamn classified without reason, and I've seen why that is!"
Suddenly, Ruby heard metallic pings.
Shit, they're shooting at us!
"Stay calm, Ruby," Yang said softly.
"I am," Ruby lied. "I am."
The red light turned on. Ruby knew what that meant.
"All right, stand up!" McCoy shouted.
Everyone did.
"Hook up!"
Ruby fumbled with her hook but managed to clip it onto the wire. She could feel Yang sifting through her equipment, making sure it would trigger.
"Who's shooting at us?!" screamed someone in the back.
"The Italians! That's why they haven't shot us down yet, they can't hit the side of a-"
An explosion near the front of the plane nearly knocked Ruby to the ground. She felt Yang immediately reach for her and pull her back up.
Oh my God. Oh my God. Are we going down?
"L-T's gone! L-T's gone!"
"Get the hell out of the plane!"
"Move it, move it!"
By the time Ruby regained her senses, she saw the three soldiers in front of her pushing themselves out of the plane. As the third one left, Ruby saw the body of Bradley McCoy, burned and bloodied.
Ruby stiffened. Even the worst of Africa had never made her this scared. She could still hear bullets hitting the plane, and she could hear screaming and shouting behind her.
Am I going to die like him? I'm gonna die like him, aren't I?
She felt her sister's hands on her shoulders. "I'm with you, Ruby. We're jumping together. Come on."
Somehow Ruby was able to move her legs and approached the opened door.
This isn't right. We're jumping too early. Way too early.
"Ruby, I'm with you! Go!"
Ruby looked down, towards the ground below. At least three anti-aircraft guns were shooting at the plane, judging by the white flashes.
Just like jump training. Just like jump training.
Ruby took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and walked out of the plane.
She felt like she was nearly being blown off the plane. Immediately she felt sore all over her body. The plane was going much too fast.
She looked down, holding onto her activated parachute for dear life as she approached the ground.
Just like jump training. Just like jump training.
The wind was blowing her towards a small tower, and she realized she was going to crash right into an enemy soldier at the very top.
Dammit!
Ruby stiffened and prepared to fight as she was about to crash into the unknowing soldier.
This isn't like jump training at all!
Impact.
Somewhere over Hong Kong
Present Day
"You all right?"
It was Lie Ren. Ruby shook her head out of the doldrums and looked over at him.
"I'm fine. Just waiting until we land."
At least I don't have to jump this time.
The mission was simple. There was a club in Hong Kong run by a Hei "Junior" Xiong, He was rumored to be connected to the terrorist group "White Fang", particularly in ferrying Dust to them. Intelligence said that was true, but rumor also had it that he was holding at least one BEACON agent hostage. Ruby and Lie Ren were to enter the club as a couple, find out the truth, find the hostage(s), and if backup was necessary Brock Rumlow and company would break in and light the place up.
It was a mission guaranteed to end in violence, and in way Ruby was more comfortable with that than if the mission could swing either way. It was less stressful than worrying about whether to avoid battle or not.
Suddenly, her phone beeped. Ruby took a look at the screen, saw the name of the caller, and sighed. "Hang on, I gotta take this."
She turned it on to see a video of Weiss Schnee, looking proper and dressed in white like she almost always was. "Hey, Ruby! How are you?"
"Classified," Ruby offered.
"Ah, thatkind of mood, huh? Did you bring Argentum Rose with you?"
"First tell me how you tapped into a secure line."
"I'm Weiss Schnee."
Ruby sighed. "Good enough. And yes, I have it."
"Oh good, you're finally trying it out! I designed that weapon specifically for you! It's far more efficient with using Dust than Crescent Rose, and it can revert to a far more compact state. Perfect for undercover work."
"I know what it does, Weiss." Though Ruby wasn't thrilled. She loved her Crescent Rose, but Weiss had been begging Ruby to give Argentum Rose a shot for months. Ruby felt there was no harm in using Argentum Rose for this one, she didn't want to keep hurting Weiss' feelings and this was definitely going to become a combat op.
"Well, when you come back to the States, want to hang out for a little bit? I'm going to try to get all of the girls together for a meeting, and Lie."
"What am I, chopped liver?" Lie sighed.
Weiss' eyes widened. "Oh crap, Lie heard me, didn't he?"
"He did," Ruby said with a wry smile.
Weiss rubbed her forehead. "Sorry, Lie! It just feels weird to think of you as one of the girls!"
"I'd . . . prefer to not be thought of as a girl," Lie said softly.
"We need to get another guy in here. You need a guy friend."
"Please stop talking," Lie said softly. Ruby, for her part, was finding it hard not to laugh.
"Well, anyway, give me all of the relevant date and your thoughts about Argentum Rose, Ruby! I've got to do the prodigal playgirl philanthropist thing on my side of the world . . . and before you're caught talking to me on a supposedly secure feed. See ya!"
"Sure. Bye," Ruby said, and Weiss killed the connection then.
Ruby looked over at Lie. "Sorry. She gets like that."
"I've noticed. A lot."
Ruby chuckled. "Well, let's get ready to depart. I'm sure Weiss is jealous on the inside, why else would she have called? I get to hit a club and she can't."
"She takes advantage of her being legal far too much," Lie said.
"Well, she is a 'prodigal playgirl philanthropist', in her own words," Ruby said.
"She's one of those things, for sure," Lie said.
Ruby caught the joke right away. Lie was good with the deadpan, though sometimes she couldn't tell whether he was joking or not.
"She's not that bad. Honest. She helped finance me getting pulled from the Arctic," Ruby said.
"If you say so. We're about to land, time to get ready," Lie said.
Ruby nodded. "Yeah. Right with you, Lie."
They sat down just in time for the plane to touch ground.
Playtime was over. Now it was time for work.
