Whew! Lots of fighting action there. Well, we'll soon be back to downtime, so gather round, kiddies…
She Pu is a ninjitsu advancing move used to crawl low and noiselessly when cover is scarce to adequate, and allows good visibility for spying. It translates into English as "serpent step"; the weaving motion of the crawl resembles the undulations of a snake in the grass.
Tommy and Snake Eyes slipped through the excitement, Snake following his sword brother towards the hidden Fang chopper. As they darted through the battle, Snake Eyes caught a glimpse of Hawk beating a viper down with the butt of his M16; the senior officer had a truly terrifying grin on his face. CoverGirl was running her Wolverine over the smoldering remains of a HISS tank, and BeachHead was yelling at his squad to keep moving as he picked off vipers through the windows of a bunker with his sidearm.
Snake caught a glimpse of Scarlett; his girlfriend was lying on top of a low roof with Low Light, protected by the ledge that ran around the rooftop. The sniper was picking off any vipers that attempted to circle around and flank the Joe team, and Scarlett was picking off any vipers that tried to get to the sniper. Snake breathed a soft sigh of relief. Scarlett looked totally unhurt, and he always worried about her when he wasn't right behind her as backup.
Tommy hopped up on top of a dumpster, caught the lip of a second floor windowsill, and swarmed up to a rooftop. Snake followed, and for the first time noticed the sharp flash of pain in his left thigh whenever he moved. He sternly put the injury from his mind and followed his sword brother.
Outside of Azov, they broke into an easy jog. Tommy led Snake Eyes towards a small clump of sad-looking brushy growth that looked as if it was trying to be a grove of trees but couldn't quite make it.
Storm Shadow smiled; a moment later Snake Eyes heard the faint sound of a heavily accented female voice, and a deeper male answer. Neither sounded happy.
"Oh, please resist." Tommy muttered. "Please please please resist."
They melted into the tall grass and low brush and rocks, and crept towards the voices. Snake Eyes dropped to his belly and inched forwards with She Pu until he could see through the stunted trees.
The small FANG chopper had been covered in camouflage netting, which was now lying in a pile on the ground. The Baroness was examining the fuel tank on the little craft and swearing in at least four languages. Snake Eyes smiled; from what he could see, the fuel tank now consisted more of holes than metal.
"What are we supposed to do?" Bludd was fuming. "You said that you checked this thing over just yesterday!"
"I did." The Baroness slid out from under the aircraft. "It was fine then…and shut up! I'm thinking…something you wouldn't be familiar with."
"Well, what happened?"
The Baroness shot her colleague a withering look. "Idiot…those damned ninja found it. They must have been here last night; how did you think they found our snipers so quickly today?"
Bludd glanced nervously around, his eyes moving right over Snake Eyes' hiding spot and right under where Tommy was balanced on the thin branch of one of the larger trees, hidden by the leaves.
"Relax." The Baroness sighed. "I've got a jeep hidden a few kilometers away; we can foot it that far. They're still fighting in the town, and I'd guess that the ninjas would be in the thick of it."
Just the slightest rustle as Tommy launched himself out of hiding, and as Bludd and the Baroness spun, Storm Shadow crashed into the tall woman, tackling her to the ground.
"Hello." Tommy's voice was not friendly. Snake Eyes' sword brother pressed the blade of his tanto just a little harder against the Baroness' throat. "You're lucky, you know." He smiled nastily. "If I had my way, you'd already be dead."
"Let her up." Tommy turned to eye the gun that Bludd had leveled at his temple. "You're going back to Mindbender, Storm Shadow…the Commander will be very pleased that I brought his favorite operative back."
"Mmm." Tommy shook his head. "Idiot…you never look behind you."
"Wha.." Bludd trailed off as his gun was jerked upwards and Snake's fist cracked sharply into his temple. The mercenary toppled over, out cold.
"He never learns. Ah ah ah." Tommy pressed the knife a little harder, and the Baroness stopped inching her hand towards the holdout pistol in her boot as a few drops of blood trickled along her skin. "Bad idea…I've been waiting for an excuse to kill you for years." Tommy grinned evilly. "I could always tell Hawk that you moved too far into a disabling strike…not my fault if I broke your neck when I was just trying to subdue you…"
"You will pay for this!" The Baroness was glaring up at her captor, apparently more angry than afraid. Snake Eyes had to give her credit for bravery; the woman had demonstrated again and again what Ripcord called 'balls of solid granite.' "Destro will free me, and you will all pay for your audacity!"
"Mm." Storm Shadow caught the roll of duct tape that Snake tossed him. "Likely…that's why I keep asking Hawk to just let me kill you." Any response was muffled as Tommy gagged her with a strip of tape. A few quick twists around her wrists and ankles, and Tommy stood, hauling the woman unceremoniously over his shoulder. "Sonova…you've put on some weight, haven't you?"
The Baroness made a furious noise, her face going scarlet in rage. Snake Eyes had already bound and gagged Bludd, and picked up the mercenary in a fireman's carry. His leg throbbed, and he stubbornly ignored it.
"Quit struggling, or I'll put you out, and you'll be hurting worse than you ever have before in your life when you come around." Storm Shadow glared down at his captive. "Hawk wants you alive, but he didn't specify the condition otherwise."
The woman went limp; Snake could only guess that she'd seen firsthand just how much pain a ninja could inflict without causing lethal damage.
They trudged back towards town. Weighed down with their captives, it took them much longer to get back to the other Joes than it had to reach the hidden helicopter.
By the time they reached Azov once more, the fighting had wrapped up. The Joes were bundling a few captives into Humvees when Tommy and Snake Eyes walked up to the base of operations that had been established on the outskirts of town.
Hawk was leaning over a camp table, scribbling in a notebook. He straightened up as Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow came to attention and saluted. The senior officer grinned when he saw the two ninja's captives. "Excellent...I knew that you two would find them. FLINT!"
The warrant officer jogged up. "Sir? Oh, hi Snake, hi Storm. Success, I see."
"Of course." Tommy sounded almost insulted. "You expected anything else?"
"Take the two captives and secure them." Hawk ordered Flint. "We were just waiting on Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, so we can get moving out now…both of you go and see Lifeline. You're hurt."
Snake unceremoniously dumped Bludd into Flint's hands and glanced down at his leg. *I'm fine, sir. It's not bleeding anymore.*
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
*I'll go see Doc when we get back to the Pit, sir. I'm sure Lifeline is already busy enough.*
"I just got clipped, sir." Storm Shadow shrugged his burden off into Clutch's hands. "I don't need attention."
Hawk sighed. "Fine…but you both will go see Carl when we get back, and you will not vanish into your rooms to bandage up whatever damage you took. That's an order."
Snake Eyes sighed. *Yes sir.*
Tommy sighed almost identically. "Sir."
"God…you two would claim to be fine if you had a limb missing…" Hawk shook his head. "Go get ready to head home; we'll be leaving soon."
Several hours later, and Snake was trying to doze as the troop transport flew back towards the USA and the Pit. Sleeping was rather difficult, though, since Scarlett was fussing and trying to get him to let her field-dress his leg.
*I'm fine.* He signed for the eighth time, but not as empathetically as he had the previous seven times. In the face of his girlfriends' worried persistence, his resolve was wearing thin.
"I swear, I could just kill you sometimes." Scarlett sighed. "Stop being so stubborn, Snake. Just let me look at it and clean it up a little."
"Give up." Storm Shadow advised him. Snake's fellow ninja had already let Roadblock clean the bullet graze on his upper arm. "You won't win."
Snake Eyes sighed. *Fine.*
Scarlet had cut his pant leg open almost before he'd finished giving his assent. "Snake, you've got to stop letting people shoot you…and I know you could have avoided this if you'd really wanted to. The bullet is still in there; there's no exit wound." She quickly cleaned the dried blood away with a sterile wipe. "How the hell were you running on this? It pegged you right in the big muscle in front of your thigh…this has to hurt like hell whenever you put weight on it."
*It does. I just ignore it.*
Shana sighed. "Ninja." She bandaged his leg and moved to sit beside him. "I swear, you two are more than a little crazy."
"He'd better be." Tommy was slouching against the wall, and had his feet propped up on the opposite bench. "Otherwise my uncles failed somewhere."
Scarlett threw the wadded-up gauze wrapper at the white-clad ninja. Tommy caught it without looking and tossed it back, hitting her right between the eyes. She glowered at him.
*Stop it.* Snake shook his head. *I'll go see Doc when we get back, Shana. Don't worry about me.*
"Snake, worrying about you is my job." Scarlett patted him on the shoulder. "Silly."
Tommy snorted with laughter. "Telling your woman not to worry about you when you get shot on a semi regular basis is a futile game, brother. Trust me on this."
"Call me his woman one more time…" Scarlett leveled a warning finger at Tommy.
"What? You are…oh, right. You wear the pants, not him. Sorry. Snake Eyes is yours."
Snake glared. Scarlett threw her hands up. "I give up."
Next chapter will have ninjas reluctantly receiving medical care, and Doc barely resisting the urge to just knock them both out. Also, more of Tommy and Sherry flirting, and more SE/S