Thank you to those who have reviewed: JourneyIntoMadness, Mitzi Stardust, Lily, Zoeythara, Black-fl0wer & Acid Rain2345! I can't tell you how pleased I am with you! I'm very grateful you took the time out to review. (:
Things are going to be picking up from now and Vaas is making his second début! He'll be in it much, much more from this point on. So enjoy it~! :3
Still looking for a beta reader! (hinthint)
Rated M for language.
The new dawn arrived much too soon. After a briefing on their mission, the trio climbed into the helicopter; their gear and supplies already loaded and ready to go. They set off for the Northern Island, watching the Jungle pass beneath them in a blur of colours. The loud thrum of the helicopter blades pulsated all around them, the vibrations tingling up their spine and legs. The mercs stared out of the open hatch, the warm air whipping around them in a flurry. In the distance they could see the large structures of the radio towers, green flashing at the peak. They passed over many of the pirate camps; black smoke billowing from the fires; red flags fluttering in the wind.
They touched down on one of the pirate occupied bases and quickly jumped out, unloading their gear into the back of a truck that waited nearby; trunks and bags, filled with the necessities for their mission. It was a large haul, but they couldn't afford to be without. They climbed into the truck, the engine sputtering to life, jostling ungraciously side to side as they drove down a dirt road. Lucas gripped the wheel deathly tight, eyes glaring daggers beneath his sun glasses. Charlie sat rigidly beside him, watching the jungle scenery pass by in a blur of greens. Eli drew the short straw, clinging onto the side for dear life in the back, trying not to be crushed between the equipment.
They finally arrived at their destination. A large compound with shanty's and lookout towers, dozens of men milling around on the ground and roof tops. The guard at the entrance had been none too friendly, pointing his rifle in their faces, demanding to know who they were and why they were there. After a shouting match and a few curse words, the pirate reluctantly allowed them entrance and the trio drove up the dirt road, agitated and tense. They gazed left and right, taking in every detail of the terrain that they could. Counting each guard, gate and tower they drove by.
Lucas pulled the truck to a stop next to another vehicle and cut the engine. They slid out, warily eyeing the group of men that had stepped outside upon their arrival, each of the men armed; regarding the new comers with visible disdain.
"Who the hell are you?" One of the pirates questioned gruffly. When none of them seemed inclined to answer, he quickly strode forward, roughly poking Lucas in the chest with the nozzle of his weapon.
"I asked you a fucking question!" He spat heatedly, glaring at the silent man. The pirate ground his teeth together with frustration and grabbed the strap of Lucas's military vest, yanking him forward; their faces only inches apart.
Lucas scrunched up his face and stuck out his tongue. "What the hell, dude, ever heard of a toothbrush?"
"Bastard!" He shouted, ready to hit the merc with the butt of his rifle.
"Hey hey hey! Is that anyway to treat our guests?" A voice shouted suddenly, causing all heads to turn. A man leaned against a beam of one of the shanty's hand resting casually at his hip, fingers toying with the flap of his pistol holster. He flashed the mercs a wide grin and sauntered towards them.
"Put the fucking weapon down, hermano. These are Volker's bitches. You touch them, you're dead, got it?" He threatened the pirate and he immediately nodded, taking quick steps away from the trio, moving to the back of the group of pirates, hiding away from view.
"I'm sorry about my dogs, they don't like strangers." He held his hands in a prayer position in front of his face, an apologetic gesture.
"Don't worry, they only bite if I tell them to." The mercs didn't feel very re assured by the tone in which he spoke or the devilish smirk he wore. In fact, it put them further on edge.
"Vaas Montenegro, at your service." Vaas introduced with a mock of a bow. He was a head taller than Eli. His tanned skin glistened with sweat, trailing across the dirt on his arms. He had an interesting haircut, a Mohawk, something Lucas inwardly found amusing. An odd assortment of necklaces dangled from his neck and bracelets on his wrist; white bandages on his fingers. His colours a similar fashion to the other pirates around him.
"I guess black and red are in this season." Lucas quietly commented and Eli had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop the smile creeping onto her face.
Better than yellow. She inwardly mused.
"Welcome to my kingdom, motherfuckers!" He announced loudly, holding his arms out at length, gesturing all around him.
"So! Who the fuck are you three?" He questioned sharply, gesturing to them with a jut of his chin. Vaas strode up and down in front of them with confidence, like a predator would circle it's prey, his eyes raking over each of them with interest. He flashed Eli a wolfish smile when he looked her over, taking his sweet time when he reached her chest, eyes lingering for more than what would be deemed appropriate. She frowned, giving him a dark glare, which only caused his smile to widen.
"Lucas King," he introduced, giving a polite nod of his head. Everyone turned their gaze to Charlie expectantly.
"Charlie Hyde," he said with confidence, chest puffed out, chin tilted upwards. A short pause followed and all eyes turned to Eli. She huffed with annoyance, scowling deeply at the many eyes peering at her.
Eli muttered inaudibly, causing Vaas to pause, taking a step closer, he leaned in.
"Speak up, honey," he said, cupping his ear dangerously close to her lips. Eli pulled away with a grimace, pressing her back into the truck.
"Eli Lennox," she ground out with length, seething from his unwelcome close proximity.
"Let's put your shit away, hm?" Vaas suggested and looked at the group of pirates standing behind him. "If you useless fucks haven't got anything better to do, you can take their junk to their accommodation!" The pirates stood still for a moment, something Vaas found agitating.
"NOW MOTHERFUCKERS!" He bellowed loudly, causing the pirates to scramble into action, grabbing their gear and running out of sight.
"Come, I'll show you to your new homes!" They wanted to protest, tell him that they would find it themselves, but Vaas was already walking in the direction the other pirates had disappeared to. He stopped for a moment, pivoting on his heel and began to walk backwards.
"I don't have all fucking day." They reluctantly followed, trying to keep a distance from the pirate lord, whom had other ideas. Vaas slowed his pace until he was between Charlie and Lucas, slinging his arms over their shoulders, pulling them close.
"This is going to be fun." He said with a wide grin, mind a buzz with devilish ideas.
Their quarters sat away from the other shanty's, offering them a small amount of privacy. Unfortunately, that meant they were housed on either side the pirate lord. It looked like a stereotypical shanty. The windows barred with metal grating, allowing only small slithers of sunlight into the dusty room. A small, worn out bed with an old wooden crate for a bedside table were pushed into the corner, leaving space between the wall. The book shelf looked rotten, used only to stack unread books and beer bottles. Yellow tinged posters peeled at the corners, barely holding onto the wall, the pictures faded and unreadable.
The floorboards creaked awkwardly with each step, making it difficult to move across the space unheard. The only saving grace, a small refrigerator, lime-scale encrusted sink and a weapon locker. The former hummed loudly, rusted and covered with a thick layer of dust. A broken padlock hung from the locker, a large dent on the front, warping the metal and jarring the door.
Home sweet home. She sighed quietly, turning the tap on the sink; somewhat surprised it actually worked.
"What do you think, hermana?" Vaas asked, slinging an arm around her shoulder. Without waiting for a reply, he continued to speak. "If you need anything, I'm right next door, okay?" He grinned, giving her a wink.
"Anything at all." The suggestive tone in which he spoke caused her to inwardly cringe.
"Thanks," she replied tonelessly, shrugging his arm away from her. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Follow me, amigo's, your room is right over here." The two mercs reluctantly followed the pirate lord, their heavy boots thunked loudly against the planks of wood that served as a small wrap around, giving them a good view of the surrounding area.
Once alone, Eli began to unpack her gear that had been unceremoniously slung onto the floor. She pulled out a pouch of knives, fanning them across the table in perfect decoration. Eli picked up a large hunting knife, running a finger across the cool metal, admiring the sleek curve. Footsteps entering the room broke her from the reverie; she cast a glance over her shoulder and scowled. Vaas casually made his way across the floor and sat down on the edge of her bed.
"Bored of playing tour guide?" She asked wryly with her back to him, her attention solely on the weapons in front of her. When Vaas failed to reply after a long length of time, she turned around curiously.
"Hey!" She hissed angrily. The pirate lord rummaged through her bag nonchalantly, pulling out her personal belongings, throwing them onto the bed.
"You have a lot of shit, you know," he commented boredly, tossing a book onto the mattress beside him.
"What the fuck are these?" He asked, pulling out a small, wooden carving of what looked to be a tiger. He held it up, turning it over in his hands, running his fingers over the smooth curves of the wood. He glanced down at the bag and noticed there was an abundance of them, all different species.
Eli snatched the figure from his grasp and grabbed the bag. "Keep your bloody nose out of my stuff!" She hissed darkly, placing the bag roughly onto the table.
Vaas quirked a brow, amused. "Did you make those?" Ignoring the pirate lords question, she turned, leaning her lower back against the table.
"The rebels," she began. A look of disgust flashed cross his face at the mention of them.
"What can you tell me about them?"
"Straight down to business," he chuckled. "Volker's got you bitches trained well." Eli rolled her eyes, sighing with exasperation. Working with the pirate lord was going to be a test of her integrity.
"The sooner we get started, the sooner we can leave." And the sooner I can forget about Sunny.
Eli was all too eager to start her mission, throwing herself head first into the deep end. It gave her little time to thing of anything else, just as she wanted it. She turned, fishing a map out of her bag, pinning it securely to the wall. Each outpost was marked with a red circle, the radio towers with yellow and the rebel controlled areas in blue.
"Aw, what's wrong, hermana? You don't like my company?" Vaas teased, mocking a pout. "You better get fucking used to it. This is my island, okay? If you're gonna be here, you better play ball. I don't want no boring shit from you." His abrupt change in demeanor piqued her interest and she spun on her heel to face him. He sat rigid, the muscles in his arms twitching with spasms. The dark circles beneath his wide, red rimmed eyes confirmed her suspicious that he was a junkie. And if she had to guess, a hard core one at that.
Who am I to judge?
Eli scowled, turning her attention back to the map on the wall, studying each outpost and radio tower with keen interest. Roy had briefed them on the mission as best he could; satellite images, grainy photo's and vague Intel from the locals whom were willing to divulge information for a price. They lacked vital facts, which called for a recon mission, something Eli hated with a passion, especially when she lacked the necessary tools and man power to carry it out in a timely manner. It would take them a while to scope out the captured territory on foot.
"Your phone is a piece of shit. Volker's must be paying you guys monkey nuts." Vaas commented boredly. He was playing with her phone, jabbing at the buttons with unnecessary force.
"It's a satellite phone, it's not supposed to be pretty." She seethed, biting hard on the back of her teeth. "Could you stop touching my stuff? Please?"
"Since you asked so nicely," he grinned, throwing the phone onto the mattress. Vaas stood from the bed, stretching his arms above his heard, the joints popping audibly. The pirate lord crossed the room, standing beside Eli with his hands on his hips, looking at the map with disinterest.
"Doc, Sparky! Get your asses in here!" Eli bellowed loudly.
The loud sound of hurried footsteps followed and the two men stood in the door. "You rang?" Lucas drawled, pushing passed Charlie and making his way to stand beside Eli.
"Show us the last outposts and radio towers they took, please."
"Here," he pointed, leaning over Eli's shoulder. "Here," he turned his face into her, his nose almost touching her cheek. "And here..." he whispered quietly, his hot breath pouring over the skin of her neck. Vaas abruptly coughed when something hit him roughly in the gut.
"Don't stand so close next time," her voice dropped an octave, cold and toneless. She gave the pirate a glare when he grinned madly, an indecipherable emotion flickered across his face and she tensed, brows furrowing.
This mercenary was going to be trouble. And he liked that.
Lucas cleared his throat, glancing between Vaas and Eli, the two stared unwavering at one another, one amused, the other pissed off. "So, uh, about the outposts?" He said awkwardly, gesturing to the map.
"What's the plan?"
Eli moved across the room and pulled out a hard case, unclasping the locks on the front. Inside the protective shell, a thick, hardy laptop sat snug, encased within carefully molded foam to hold it in place. She took the laptop out, placing it on the table and took up a seat. She flipped the laptop open, pressing the power button, bringing it to life. A series of login screens and encrypted pages flickered to life, demanding passwords and identification. Once she had passed through the security checks, her desktop flashed onto the screen.
Charlie grinned at her desktop wallpaper, a group photo of Alpha squad surrounded by snow. One of their toughest missions, and one he would not soon forget.
Vaas said nothing, watching with keen interest when she brought up satellite pictures, highlighted and marked with co ordinates, pinpointing each outpost and radio tower. The images were grainy and blurred, distorting the clarity. They all leaned in, squinting to get a better view of the land.
"Google Earth is better than this shit." Lucas huffed with annoyance. He could barely tell the difference between the trees and the outposts! How were they supposed to work with such poor images?
"Be quiet, Sparky. You know it took the tech boys a lot of effort to get a hold of these." He scoffed at Charlie's words.
"I could have done a better job." Lucas, the techie of the group, prided himself on collecting information and his proficiency in electronic devices. He was more of a field work kind of guy, and very skilled with a gun. Roy had had a difficult time placing him in a specialized field, so he got stuck between the two, luckily for Lucas. He often got itchy feet sitting in the base all day.
"Roy should've asked me," he muttered.
"Anyway," she interrupted, giving Lucas a pointed look to drop the matter. "I think we should do a little recon, get a lay of the land." Lucas butted in.
"We've only just got here!"
"If you need your beauty sleep, Lucas, we can begin the mission tomorrow. I mean, if that's okay with you? It's not as if this is important or anything." Eli spat with the utmost sarcasm she could muster, giving him a flat look. Charlie snickered, nudging Lucas with his elbow. The techie scowled, shooting him a mean look.
"Perhaps it would be best if we pressed on. There's a lot of ground to cover with each outpost. If we don't get started soon, we're only prolonging our stay here." Charlie chimed in, glancing between the two glaring figures.
Lucas relented with a sigh. "You're right. Sorry, Looney Tunes."
Eli grinned, reaching over and patting his head affectionately, something she did often. "The sooner we leave, the sooner I can kick your ass at video games."
"You wish!"
She turned back to the laptop, eyes flickering across the pixelated images. "Sparky, you and I will take this one. Take note of any patrols, how frequent and how many. I want to know the number of men they have posted and what sort of weapons they're carrying," she instructed with authority, pointing to an outpost ten klicks to the north. Eli cast a look over her shoulder, suspicious from the lack of curse words and smart ass comments. Vaas had slipped away, disappearing into the camp, much to her annoyance.
"See these cliffs here?" She pointed to a blur of white curving around the outpost. "I want to perch up here. It'll give us the perfect vantage point and keep us out of harms way. We won't have to worry about any of the wildlife if we're up in a tree or flat on the rocks." Lucas agreed, muttering something about boars and how much he detested them. On more than one occasion had a swine barreled into him, giving away his position. He hated them.
"Doc, I want you to scope this one out. Whilst you're there, I want you to investigate the radio tower, check the integrity." The two men nodded obediently, soaking up her orders like sponges.
"Keep at a distance and stay hidden. I don't want anyone dying on the first day here."
"Well it's not exactly on the top of my today's to do list."
"We'll rendezvous here at nineteen-hundred-hours," she said, pointing to the mark on the map. "With the towers down, we won't be able to radio in. You'll be flying solo. If things take a dive, use these." Eli handed them each a small, satellite phone.
"Don't use them unless it's important."
"This thing is older than me!"
"You wish."
"I wasn't fucking talk to you, Sparky."
"Shut up!" She said with exasperation. "Each of our numbers are on speed dial, okay? So if you're in a pinch, just hit one or two."
"Can I order pizza if I'm holed up in a tree?" Lucas said with a grin. "Hey!" He yelped, rubbing the back of his head where Eli had slapped him.
"Get geared up and we'll head out soon." Eli told them before marching out of the room in search of Vaas.
She made her way down the small incline, towards what appeared to be a make-shift bar, bustling with pirates, laughing and talking loudly among themselves. She rose a brow at the people tied in bonds, hanging from the ceiling and bound to chairs, being taunted and teased by the drunken louts. Cages were in abundance around the camp, made from sturdy wood and thick rope. Some full, others empty. Though they wouldn't stay that way for long, if she knew the pirates. Dogs snapped and snarled, their chains chinked loudly when they tried to lunge for her, teeth bared. She snapped her own teeth at them in response, skirting out of their reach.
Ignoring the pleas for help and outstretched hands, she made her way to where Vaas was, sitting proudly on top of a cage in a lawn chair, beer in his hand, a small boom box playing an obnoxious song beside him.
"Hey, Vaas!" She called loudly over the music. "Vaas!" At the call of his name, Vaas lowered the volume and turned towards her, a grin on his face.
"I knew you'd be screaming my name at some point, hermana, but I didn't think it'd be so fucking soon!" Vaas teased, lifting his sun glasses and giving her a wink.
"That's lovely," she replied sarcastically. "Anyway, can we borrow some vehicles?"
"No."
"Why not?"
He sighed loudly. "I don't like the fact that you bitches are sniffing around my fucking business, okay? I let you stay in my camp, oh you're welcome by the way, but that's as far as my generosity goes. So no, you can't borrow my shit."
Eli gave a low, throaty growl, shooting the man a glacial glare. "Fine," she muttered, stomping away and back to her shanty to retrieve the necessary gear she would need.
Lucas and Charlie filed into her room all locked and loaded, a small pack on their backs with the essentials for their recon mission. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm afraid we'll be making the journey on foot."
They gave a loud groan. "Why?"
"'Cause Vaas doesn't want to share his toys," she ground out. "It's better this way. It'll be easier to slip in undetected. The roads will be too dangerous."
Lucas huffed audibly, crossing his arms over his chest. "This sucks."
"Grow up, please?" Eli retorted, throwing her gaze up to the ceiling. She picked up her knives, placing them each in their respective holsters and fastened the pouch around her thigh. She buckled the gun hostler around her torso and slid her machete into the sheath on her back. Eli moved over to a hard case, flipping open the latches to reveal her beloved Z93 sniper rifle. The weapon felt heavy in her grasp; she checked every dismantled piece of the gun along with the several clips of different types of ammo, scopes and suppressors. Satisfied it was in tip top condition, she placed it securely in her pack, slinging it over her shoulder.
"Ready to roll, Big Mama?" Lucas grinned excitedly.
"Let's go."
Yay! We finally got to see Vaas! ;) What did you think? Was he in character? Stay tuned: the next chapter belongs entirely to Vaas! ;D
Thanks again to all those who reviewed! I love you guys! :')
Just so you know, I am going to try and update once a week so I don't get behind. I have chapter 6 in the works right now, but I am trying to stay at least two chapters a head of myself so I have a little time in case I get a case of you know what.
Please review! I love hearing from you guys. (:
