Chapter 14

"Contact!"

Sequoia was suddenly pulled down and covered by Hesh as they were assaulted by gunfire that was thick and heavy. He had pushed her down behind some crates before the bullets splintered and ricocheted above and right into her chest. She struggled but Hesh kept her pushed down until he got off and returned fire. She followed and shot a look but didn't say anything. She fired her weapon and they continued making their way up to deck two.

The hall had hostiles hiding in the rooms and they had to clear them out. It was fairly easy even though the Fed tried to be sneaky. Sequoia stuck to her side and noticed that Hesh hadn't strayed too far. It wasn't oppressive and it felt good; she had become more comfortable being around him. She ended up teasing him, "Is this getting back at me for having fun last time?"

"Something like that. Come on, move up." It was unnecessary by Hesh tugged on one of her equipment straps to move forward. It was much like it was unnecessary of him to hoist her up when they were underwater but… It was something he did and couldn't explain except to put down that he was helping a teammate up.

"Let's move. Someone would have heard that."

"Like you're a light foot old man," Sequoia muttered as she followed Merrick.

The door was closed and she could hear rapid Spanish on the other side. Merrick looked at Logan and told him to get a breacher on the door. Sequoia kept listening though. She may not be the best with Spanish but she could get along pretty well. She had shown that at in the Andes. She watched as Logan fixed the charge to breach the door when she heard it.

"Down!"

Merrick had gone in to shove Logan down but he was grabbed from behind by the waist and pulled back. At that moment the door became riddled with bullets but Logan became acutely aware that he had landed on top of someone and they had their gun pointed at the door the moment the charge had been hit and blew the rest of the door away.

"Door's down," Logan heard Sequoia say, "Throw a flash in."

It was an odd angle since he was on top of her but Logan managed to throw in the flash. He was pushed from behind and instantly on his feet to move in. He turned to see that she had gotten to her feet in a fluid motion that was impressive since they were covered in gear. He said, "Nice move."

"It's what I get for learning Spanish," Sequoia replied as she moved in with Logan. Hesh and Merrick were already in and firing at hostiles. She took out a couple when she noticed one bearing down on Hesh and he was vulnerable in his position. It was automatic for her to reach for the knife she has stuck on her person and dart forward. In a fluid motion she threw it and it hit the hostile dead on. He was the last to go down.

"Close call," Hesh commented when he realized how close he was to buying it. He looked at Sequoia and grabbed the knife and pulled it out. He handed it back to her with silent thanks.

"I'll say," she murmured as she accepted the knife back.

"Eyes and ears. Nice work Hawk," Merrick said, completely oblivious to the other meaning behind the action.

"Sure thing old man," she replied as she followed Merrick down the hall and covered the way. At the end of the hall was the control room they needed for step one.

They burst through the door startling the foreman. He looked pretty freaked out at having four people with their faces covered though he seemed scared of Sequoia the most and her look was nothing like the others. He stammered, "What are you doing?"

Merrick pushed the foreman back and onto the panel while holding him at gunpoint, "Quiet!"

Sequoia just walked in like she was taking a stroll while Hesh and Logan held their guns ready just in case someone decided to get the jump on them. It was odd but she sensed that there was no immediate threat. She wasn't completely relaxed though since her finger was near the trigger and her hands were gripping her weapon. She stood near the console while Merrick flipped the foreman over and pressed his palm onto the recognition plate and looked at her and said, "Shut it down Hawk."

Sequoia looked at the console for what she was to press. The foreman was shouting at them as he was struggling against Merrick's grip. She was checking out the console and activating what she needed when she heard, "No! Don't do it! You'll blow the stack!"

Sequoia had opened the cover and the red light cast an eerie shadow over her painted face and she said without emotion, "That's the idea." She glanced at the foreman and pushed the button with a decisive movement.

"What are you doing? This place is going to…"

There was a slight pop and the spray o blood. Sequoia looked to see that Merrick had blown the guy's head off. She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders and adjusted her grip on her rifle as Merrick relayed to Keegan, "Flare stack's off. Stay clear of the derrick. It's about to get nasty up there."

Roger that. We're clear.

"Alright, let's head topside," Merrick said. He cast a look at Sequoia who was quiet but she was ready to go. He had been reminded of his old friend Charles, her father. She was like him in many ways but she was also different and he realized it once he got over his initial anger from when they first met. He actually didn't know who she was then until Elias called her by name. Now he did and it was an interesting ride learning what to expect from her.

He turned to open the iron door and said, "Stay frosty. Do not fire until my command."

The rumbling was indicative that the stack was about to blow. It reminded Sequoia of the tremors of ODIN. She had been in San Diego and had experienced a few earthquakes but the day ODIN struck… that was different. The rumbles on the platform felt the same. It wasn't exactly numbing but it didn't make her thrilled either.

"Come on, Hawk."

Sequoia felt Hesh's hand tugging on her to keep up. She blinked and followed him up saying nothing about her lapse in speed. She dealt with the rumbles as they reached topside and Merrick raised his hand to indicate that they were to hold fire. She almost jumped when the stack blew and started to collapse. She had her rifle up the moment Merrick yelled, "Weapons free! Go hot!"

There were Feds that hadn't been killed or injured by the stack blowing hiding amongst the debris and what was left of the buildings nearby. It was funny how certain scenes seemed to blend together. For Sequoia, she saw the different areas when she did wall sweeps and the trenches; that last battle at Santa Monica… and it blended with what she was seeing. She remembered a phrase a CO she had once said: same shit, different day. That's what it felt like as she pushed forward taking out what the others couldn't see in order to watch their backs as she followed behind Hesh and she was followed by Logan.

Merrick, we've secured a helo for exfil. Spooling up now.

"Check," Merrick replied, "We're two mikes from the command room. Coming up on the north side." He rounded a few corners in the direction they needed to go in.

We'll be waiting for ya.

Explosions and collapsing structured brought on fires and a lot of smoke. Suddenly a door burst open and two Feds came out coughing and staggering. Logan had been behind Merrick and took them out before following the man through the door. Sequoia took a breath as she saw the orange glow of fire and smoke fill the tunnel and let out an involuntary cough.

"Keep low," Hesh said as he ducked to go under the smoke. "The command center's up ahead."

Sequoia got low and followed Hesh. The smoke made everything difficult to see but she stayed right behind him. The only thing she was sure of was his shape and that was how she was able to stay with the group. The smoke and fire along with the darkness made it difficult to see but she focused on Hesh's shape and kept moving.

"A little slow," Hesh's voice she heard.

"Fire and smoke makes me naturally cautious," she replied in a matter of fact tone. She had a straight face and was surprised she made Hesh almost laugh outright. She added, "You never know."

"Right," Hesh said coughing a bit from the smoke. He shouldn't have laughed and was lucky he stopped himself but smoke got in. He signaled her to move up. "Come on."

"Okay old man," she teased since he was coughing.

Merrick, we're on station. Ready for targets.

"Copy that. Just keep an eye on us." Merrick led the way and ran up a set of stairs. "Command center is up ahead. Move it!"

The ground was slick with oil and stuff to quench the flames. It was a wonder that no one slipped and they made it through the area taking out Feds until Merrick spotted MGs on the balcony. They had to take those out otherwise Keegan and Kick would pretty much be shot out of the sky. Sequoia along with Logan and Hesh aimed for the balcony trying to take them out. There were several of them up there and they almost thought that they had it clear until Hesh spotted another one and took him out.

"Keegan, balcony's secure! You're clear to engage!"

Copy. Keegan, light it up!

It was a sight to see the helo engage and fire on the balcony. Whatever was in there was pretty much dead or on their way dying. It would really be rare for someone to survive that. Sequoia changed a mag out and followed to rally on Merrick who was telling Keegan that they were about to shut off the fire suppression system.

"Logan, I'll overload the pumps. You maintain the water pressure," Merrick told Logan as they started heading up the stairs.

That was the cue for Hesh and Sequoia to cover. They kept an eye out while Merrick instructed Logan to keep the pressure in the green. She looked through what remained of the command center. Keegan had done a job on it and she was ready to forgive Kick for the whole thing on the sub. She felt the shudders under her feet indicating that Merrick was shutting down the pumps. The other indicator was the set of explosions for each of the pumps.

The last one was their cue that they had to go and it was perpetuated by Merrick shouting at them to move it. Sequoia was running through the corridor and used the railings to slide down the stairs. She joined Hesh and they followed through as the very big indicator that the thing was getting ready for the grand finale spurred them on.

"Keegan, we're on our way to the pipe deck."

Copy. We'll stay as low as we can.

That was pretty much saying that they had to get their asses moving, otherwise they were going down with the platform. That and the fact that the structure was coming down faster than they had anticipated. Sequoia ended up falling behind if only to push at Logan who stumbled and fell against the railing. She grabbed his strap and pushed him forward shouting, "Go! Go! Go!"

She followed behind and actually fell to her knees. That slowed her down and she was now further behind and she felt the grating underneath creak and shift. That was just perfect. She got to her feet and rounded the corner in the direction Logan had gone and heard the thing start to collapse and Logan had just grabbed on and Keegan was pulling away; she was going to get left behind.

"Hawk!" Hesh's voice rang out. The concern was evident.

Sequoia put an extra spurt into her muscles, imagining she was racing her cousin out on the plains. She put everything she had into gaining enough speed. The ledge started to tip and that was reducing the chance she would have to make it but she was determined and she knew she could. She pushed off and flailed her legs for momentum. If she didn't time it right, she would be buried with the structure in the Drake Passage.

It felt damn good when her hand grabbed on the third to the last rung. Her fingers tightened around it and could feel her nails as she felt her body swoop down as the helo flew away from the structure. She slowly started pulling herself up to get her feet on the rungs and wrap her arm around to get a view of the platform going down.

Damn Hawk. You had us worried there.

Pull that shit again Hawk and I'm clipping your wings.

She chuckled as she replied, "You go ahead and try old man. Call it sheer determination." She looked at the platform and watched the subsequent explosions take it out. That would definitely take the Federation's attention away.

Glad you're okay Hawk.

She looked up to see Hesh looking down at her. "You're not so bad yourself."

"We lured the Federation fleet away, but the factory is still guarded by one ship," Elias said as he looked at the rest of the Ghosts. "A destroyer packed with advanced weaponry. Its air defenses prevent an attack from above but it's vulnerable in one place… sixty feet below the waterline, near its thermal exhaust port."

"Water attack, sir?"

Elias looked at Sequoia who was sitting between his boys and nodded. He looked at Keegan and continued, "Keegan, Logan, I'm tasking you with this. Clear us a way to that factory."

Keegan nodded, "Roger that. We're going to add one more ship to the graveyard."

There were a bit more things to discuss in terms of logistics but Sequoia wasn't paying attention. Her concentration was on Hesh when she felt him tense up beside her. She had been mellow even though they had been on the sub to intercept the ship and that was because she still had access to Riley and after being in the cold water, she felt sluggish. She still felt like that after they got to a different transport to be in position for Keegan and Logan to do their thing since this was going to be their mission.

The moment Elias said that Keegan and Logan were going to do this one, Sequoia felt Hesh move slightly, like he wanted to protest. He actually looked like he was throughout the rest of the briefing but he held it in. She ended up not paying attention to the briefing since it didn't involve her but focused on Hesh and came to a few conclusions that she was tempted to ask and she considered doing that as long as he didn't bite her head off.

She was to get her chance when everyone left. She paused when she saw Logan and Hesh approach their father. She got the feeling that it was going to need to be private so she left and shut the door behind her not realizing that Riley had followed her and stuck by her until she saw him when she leaned against the wall near the door. She grinned and said, "Is this your way of saying that you like me?"

Riley gave an appreciative and begging whine for a scratch. Sequoia was only too happy to do it since she did like the dog. She tried not to get too affectionate since he was a Special Forces dog; essentially a working dog. It was hard though since she really liked the animal and well animals in general since they really didn't judge you like people did. She rubbed Riley's head and chuckled as he panted happily until his ears pricked up in recognition.

She had heard the footsteps and she said, "Father and son moment Keegan."

Keegan grinned when she called him by name. He teased, "Well you're looking better. Sub wasn't too bad second time around was it?"

"I still hate fucking subs," she replied as she straightened up. She felt Riley nose her hand.

"I don't like them much either," Keegan replied. He looked at her, not sure what else to say until he asked, "What are you doing out here? Thought you'd hit the sack. Seems all you've been doing lately."

"Cold makes me sleepy," Sequoia offered with a shrug. "It was the only way to deal with being on the sub." She glanced at the door and figured it was going to be a while. She asked, "Feel like taking a walk?"

"Little young for me aren't you?" Keegan grinned at her to let her know that he was teasing her. He got that it was a serious conversation in mind and wasn't out to hit on her. Truth be told he was more concerned that she would pull a 'Charlie' on him.

"Well you could bounce me on your knees and tell me a story," she teased back. "I love hearing tales from older warriors… old man."

Keegan couldn't help but laugh. He nodded, "Alright." He gestured that she was to lead the way.

Sequoia took his offer and called to Riley to come. The dog came with her and trotted by her side and making an effective barrier between her and Keegan when there was space to walk side by side. He refused to let Keegan come too close even though he knew Keegan was one of them. Sequoia frowned a little at it but wasn't going to make a fuss.

Keegan wasn't put out by the dog's attitude either. He figured out that it had something to do with territory that wasn't clearly defined. It was interesting to watch and entertaining when Logan decided to stir things up. It would be fine. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Upcoming mission… if you don't mind," she replied as she automatically crossed her arms behind her back.

"I'm not giving you the teacher's notes since you weren't paying attention," Keegan countered in a friendly warning.

"Didn't expect you to. Don't really need to know the details now do it?"

"You seem to like to know everything."

"Only when it concerns me," she replied with a slight smile. She knew she sounded conceited and for the most part she was hardly that… At least what others thought of her. She sighed slightly and decided to jump right into it, "I just want to ask you something… a favor." She looked forward and lapsed into silence.

"A favor?"

"I have no right to ask it but…" She paused thought about how to word what she was saying since it could be made to be taken the wrong way. Finally she said, "Can you keep an eye on Logan for me?"

"You know he's an adult," Keegan pointed out. He wasn't trying to be rude but the request was unusual coming from her and he wondered if he had been wrong in his observations. He had set Kick straight after the poker game incident. Logan had done it to save her from embarrassment. Perhaps he was mistaken.

"I know but…" Sequoia looked off to the side and then at Keegan full on, "It's just that… he's a good sparring partner… and I don't want to deal with a stick up Hesh's ass." She rattled it off and felt really off. She was acting like a girl that was nervous asking her daddy for the keys to the car. She hadn't felt that way since when she was a teenager.

Part of it was because she was concerned for Logan's welfare. She liked him and they had become good friends the past couple of weeks. He was like an eager young pupil wanting to learn what she knew and she gladly taught him. He had been practicing with his hand axe; she caught him at it when she was wandering around and he showed her to get her mind off being on the sub. The other part was because she was concerned for Hesh. She sensed that if anything were to happen to Logan it would crush him and she didn't want that.

Keegan looked at her now grasping what she was getting at. His initial observations were correct. He nodded, "I get it, Hawk. I'll look after Logan… but for you."

Sequoia frowned a bit at that and said, "I said he's a good sparring partner and he makes me laugh. That's it." She peered at Keegan and asked, "What makes you think…?"

"Let's just say that you and Logan get along a lot better than you do with most other people," Keegan replied giving a wave of reassurance. "By the way the captain of the sub said something about a sun drawn on his walls. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that now?"

"No," she answered automatically.

"Good… cause I think people need a little sunshine in their lives," Keegan replied dropping the initial stern tone he had taken. "Sunshine on a cloudy day…"

"And I hope that isn't singing," Sequoia replied stopping Keegan. "Most people still blame me since they think that it was Riley that did that."

Keegan laughed with Sequoia. She had mellowed out since she had come aboard. She was still hesitant on some things but she had been drawn out and it was mostly by the Walker boys. He didn't deny that she was a good soldier. She had watched their backs like a good one would and she toughed things out but… they were getting to see the person she was and it was nice to see. He said, "No one thinks that. But I'll do what you ask Hawk. I'll make sure Logan gets back safe and sound."

"You better extend that to you as well Keegan," Sequoia said. She was relieved that she could breathe easy. She knew Keegan would look after Logan and Logan would be careful in what he was doing. She continued, "You're a part of this team too."

"Alright, alright," Keegan said as he motioned to placate her. "I'll be careful too. You're starting to sound like a bossy mother."

"Only because I care about the guys on my team," Sequoia replied with a slight smile. "Thank you Keegan."

"Gladly," Keegan replied and he watched Sequoia turn to head back. He started chuckling at the look Riley gave him before moving to follow her.

Sequoia heard Keegan laugh and turned around. She wondered what was so funny since her request was serious business. She asked, "What is so funny?"

"Riley."

Sequoia frowned and looked at the dog and then back at Keegan. "What about it?"

Keegan was trying hard to control his laughter. He finally got it under control and replied, "Oh just something about protection of territory. Think about it Hawk." He then turned to leave her to think about it.

Sequoia shook her head at that and looked at the dog. She frowned and then turned to walk back. She was hardly anyone's territory.

A/N: They take down the platform and now on to the next mission. Stay tuned for more There Are No Coincidences...