7: Insidia

Angelica felt pain...It wasn't a nice sensation. She didn't feel it often, only when bad things happened. But when had bad things happened to her? Last she remembered she was going on a mission with everyone. She was so excited to go on a mission. She hadn't felt the fresh air in a while. It would be great.

Still, the pain was rather irritating. She was cold too. Angelica didn't like the cold.

"She's awake." A stern voice called from nearby. Angelica couldn't see anyone but she was sure she had her eyes open. She was confused.

More voices called out, none of them sounded familiar. Nothing was familiar to her at the moment, not even the smell in the air. Sure it had a slight whiff of gunpowder, something she had grown accustomed to, but this was quite different. Something was wrong about this moment, but Angelica struggled to comprehend just what that something actually was.

Footsteps pounded near her. She craned her neck but everything was darkness to her deceiving eyes. She blinked but every time she looked all she could see, was nothingness.

"Wake up!" A deep voice demanded. Was that an order? Only Marco could give her orders. Who was this man?

Lights switched on and the world was bathed in artificial light, but with the darkness preceding it, the pure flood of luminescence was like the sun rising before her very eyes. Angelica closed her eyes and tried to place her hands up to shield them, but her hands were bound behind her back. Now she was quite certain something was wrong...But then again she was usually restrained for the conditioning...Maybe she had another treatment before the big mission.

A man appeared before her, his face unrecognisable. He looked mad. He wore faded army fatigues under heavy body armour. The man was smoking, the scent of the smoke wafting throughout the room and causing an almost suffocating aroma. Angelica would have coughed, were it not for her cybernetic lungs. She just stared at the unfamiliar person.

"Um...Excuse me. Who are you?" she asked innocently, cocking her head to one side.

The man scowled. "You want answers? You're asking the wrong person. You see we aren't in charge of this operation. We're just helping out an old friend."

"Huh?"

"Padania...You sweet young things have quite a grudge against them don't you? Or is it just those disgusting Southerners brainwashing that makes you feel that way?"

Angelica didn't understand the question. She just looked up at him, still waiting for the answer to her own inquiries. She was answered with a closed fist. The man took another drag of his cigarette and sighed with his mouth opened wide, allowing rings of smoke to drift carelessly from his lips. It looked rather pretty, but that wasn't important right now.

"Who are you?" Angelica repeated.

"Me?" the man asked, placing a hand over his heart, "I'm just you average soldier in the elite Col Moschin. My name isn't important right now. In fact it never will. I don't really feel like answering your questions right now, so how about you answer some for me?"

"Um...Ok..." Angelica tried to shrug, but the restraints limited her mobility. In the end she merely looked like she had convulsed.

The man laughed at her obvious struggle. "Can't move eh? Sorry but we've seen what you little girlies can do when you're all fired up and so we had to take precautions. Now, I'm going to ask you some questions. If you get them all right, I'll let you see your friends again and you can all go home. If you answer wrong..." The man made a fist and stuck his thumb out. He then dragged his thumb across his throat while making a strange face. "Is that understood?"

Angelica nodded.

"Very well. What is your name?"

"Angelica."

"Angelica huh? Very well Angelica. What is an innocent little girl, as cute as a button, doing in a place like this?" The man crossed his arms and waited for an answer.

"I don't know...Where are we?"

The man looked less than impressed. "What?"

"I don't know where I am...Is this the Organisation?"

The soldier scratched his neck and groaned. "Ooh, I'm sorry. That is a wrong answer. You said you would tell me the truth didn't you?" Angelica nodded curtly, "Then tell me who sent you!"

"Sent me where? I'm a little confused." Angelica smiled sweetly, at least until the soldier punched her full in the face, his hardened fist colliding with her cheek. There was immense force behind the strike, so much so that Angelica's chair fell back and she too was dropped onto the floor. Her arms were still wrapped up behind the back of the chair and so she was utterly trapped. Unfortunately it was only then that Angelica realised what was happening. Her memory came flooding back.

Images of fire played back through her mind, the screams of close friends echoing within. Angelica's eyes narrowed and she struggled against her captor but he was now standing over her, one boot pressed down against her chest to keep her pinned to the floor. "Memories eh? So confusing. So do you remember now?"

Angelica snarled under her breath. She cast her gaze about the room to look for something to use, but she found none. The room was bare aside from the chair and a table in the corner. She was trapped.

"Answer me Angelica. Who sent you here?"

She refused to answer, even as his boot was pressing down upon her trachea, crushing her airways. She choked, her cheeks draining of colour. She writhed about and tried to free her hands but it was an impossible task. She lashed out with her legs instead, snaking them around the soldier's waist. His eyes widened in shock and surprise but it was too late. She leaned back to gain momentum and then forced all of her body weight into her lower body and threw the man down while pushing the chair upright at the same time. The feat would have been impossible for a normal human, or at the very least incredibly difficult, but with cybernetic musculature, Angelica managed without too much struggle.

"Grrr, kill her! Kill the bitch now!"

Angelica leaned forward and got onto her feet. She felt dizzy, but she knew she had to act fast. To save herself and to help Marco. She dashed forward and barrelled into two men who had entered the room after the soldier's order had been given. There were five of them in total. All of them had guns. Angelica waited for them to start firing and whirled around so that the chair took the impact. She felt them strike her, but the impact was softened from the chair. As the wooden frame split apart she managed to slip her arms out. Though they were still bound behind her she was at least able to run freely.

"Fire! Fire!" the soldier sat up and reached for a holster by his side.

Angelica ducked under one of the shooters and drove her knee into his gut. The man let out a violent cough and dropped like a bag of cement. A second shooter beside him glanced off a round which hit the cyborg in the shoulder. She barely seemed fazed by it and Angelica fought on relentlessly. She lunged, throwing herself into the shooter's centre mass. Her shoulder collided with his belly and she managed to tackle him to the ground, relinquishing the gun from his grip.

The other shooters managed to bring her down while she was on the ground. Three rounds were fired into her back, one hitting her directly in the spine. Although replaced with a technologically enhanced column of steel and machinery, that shot did a great deal of damage.

Angelica flopped forward and found it hard to move. She rolled over slowly and tried to sit up but her legs wouldn't obey her. She gasped and tried again but to no avail. She willed her legs to move but it was futile...

The soldier approached her and fired another bullet in her chest. Angelica cried out in agony and rolled over onto her stomach.

"Stuck? I thought so. I took out your spinal column. You may be a fucking machine but that doesn't make any difference. You can't send signals to your legs anymore and your arms are still tied up. I think your little rebellion has come to an end. Now how about you answer my questions?"

Angelica was no longer listening. She was sobbing. She had failed her handler and herself. She was useless in the end. Marco would be so disappointed in her...

Marco? I have to find Marco! I can't...I can't lose now...Not just yet!

With a groan of effort Angelica tried to break the chains that bound her wrists but it was still useless. Angelica gave up before long and tried to catch her breath.

"Humph. Useless..." The soldier rolled his eyes and took out his radio. "Falcon, this is Sparrow. The girl isn't talking and we've had a bit of a disturbance. She almost broke out. Huh? No she won't be walking again. She's done for." The man laughed hysterically for a moment before falling completely silent. "Huh? Seriously? On your end as well? Damn it! Alright I'll be there shortly. Over." He put the radio away and glanced down at his captive.

"Think about my question. I'll give you an hour to come up with an answer and if you still have nothing then I'll have to put a bullet in that gorgeous little face. We don't want that now do we?" He left her with the unsettling sound of his laughter, a dry chuckle that was dripping with venom. Angelica wished to destroy him and fulfil her orders but it seemed she was helpless to do so.

The men left her alone. They closed the door and she could hear them wandering off.

When she was sure they were gone she tried once again to break her restraints.


Jose overheard gunshots. He wanted to check out the situation, but his eyelids felt so damn heavy. He could barely lift them. He groaned with the effort of just prying them open enough to let the moonlight filter in and that alone stung his eyes as if he had been welding without a mask. He cursed and tried again and this time he could see blurs.

"Brother." It was Jean's voice. Not many people could tell, but Jose knew his brother was worried. Most people saw him as more or less a robot. A crime fighting robot like in the movies...But Jean was human; he just tries not to show it. Jose had been around him long enough to understand that. Jean was afraid of showing weakness to anyone, whether they be friends or foes. No matter what, he would be strong. It was all to prove to himself that he was not useless, a common feeling after the death of their parents in the Padania attacks many years ago.

"Jean, what happened?"

"The choppers...They were shot down. The Col Moschin are indeed in league with Padania. They gave the terrorists access to military weapons and so they were able to ground our unit. I lost contact with the others, but if my guess is right then most of our comrades have been taken back to their base. Rico however...She must still be out there."

"What makes you say that?"

"She fell long before the chopper did. She must be some distance away. They enemy wouldn't have searched that far. They found so many of us here that they called off the search early. They are highly organised and their equipment is the best. The Col Moschin unit must have been trading weapons for years...Even worse is they found much of our supplies as well. I salvaged what I could, but it will only go so far..." Jean turned to pick up a small pistol and an Amati violin case.

Jose recognised it immediately. "This is...Henrietta's. If we can find her we can-"

"Launch a strike against the combined forces of the enemy? You really think we stand a chance, just us?" Jean rolled his eyes.

"Come on! You know how powerful Henrietta is! Even Rico. All of the girls are incredible soldiers with the best training in all of Italy! If we can find Rico and Henrietta, then we can infiltrate their base and rescue the others. With everyone reunited we can-"

Jean raised his hand in protest. "It is far too dangerous. For all we know the others could already be dead. It may just be you and me. If so then we must reach the hideout. We can contact the Agency and request reinforcements. We can reign in everything we have and destroy these bastards once and for all!"

"But by then the others will have-"

"Forget about them!" Jean roared. "This is a war Jose! You must think of victory first, survival second and friends last! Is that understood? You can abandon a fellow soldier, but you cannot abandon your country! If you throw away your life then you are just letting Padania win!"

"You're wrong!" Jose cast his gaze out across the expanse of the forest and sighed. "I just know Henrietta is still alive. I can...feel it."

"You're just saying that because you've become too attached. You're deluding yourself into believing she is alive because you can't let go of her! We all know the only reason you care for her is because she looks like her!"

Jose gasped, his eyes wide.

"Yes, I noticed! It's because of our dear little sister. You see her inside of Henrietta. That is the only thing keeping you from abandoning that broken piece of tin and seeing reality for what it truly is! Our sister is dead, alright! And Henrietta will be too! Let go of the past and-"

Jean didn't finish his sentence. Jose was panting heavily; unable to cope with the anger he was feeling. Jean had gone too far. He had severed nerves and unearthed secrets that were better left buried. He stood over his brother and scowled.

"You...You may abandon all hope at the first sign of trouble. You can go ahead and think that everyone is dead...But don't you ever take it away from me! It is because I believe in Henrietta...That I can keep going. You see her as just a machine, but I see a little girl, trying her hardest to survive in a world we forced upon her. I don't care if she acts like our sister or looks like her...I just want to make it up to her."

"You fool..."

"Call me a fool all you want, but know this. I am not afraid of battle. I've served the Agency long enough...The one thing I am afraid of...Is the guilt I feel over Henrietta. If I disappoint her. If I fail at keeping her happy...Then I will have lost everything. That is why...I...I..."

"I must save her!"


The girls are in danger. Angelica has already suffered at the hands of these elite opponents. Just what does the Col Moschin want and why are they allying with terrorists? And is Jose's resolve enough to save them? Will he truly be able to rescue them? Find out in the next chapter!

By the way, thank you to those who have been giving me feedback, your comments are very helpful. Please review.