In the previous chapter, Rogue returned to the EPF. Now, we fast forward to… say a year later? Yeah. A year later.
A little warning about Piri, though. She's… not really being innocent here.
Chapter 13: Infiltrating in My Sleep
Maguindanao Province, Philippines. 1348
The summer heat burned the back of her neck as Rogue stared through the scope of her rifle. Her belly rested on the smoldering concrete, and the leather she was wearing wasn't at all helping her resist the heat.
"Troika to Sanguine, I repeat, Troika to Sanguine." Her earpiece said, followed by a dull buzz.
"This is Sanguine. What is it? Over." She said, voice raspy from the absence of water.
"Are you holding, Sanguine? Over."
"I am, Troika. How about the others? Over."
"Not really. Over."
"I should've known. Out."
Rogue sighed and looked through the scope again. She noticed small blots of black on the scope.
"I think I'm seeing our mark here… does anyone copy? Over."
A chorus of grunts and words came into the earpiece.
"Alright, agents. I want radio silence until someone takes the first shot." Their mission handler, Major Dante Ramos, said.
"Yes sir, Major Ramos." They all said.
"Sanguine, I want you to take the first shot." Dante said.
"10-4, Chief. Over and out." She said.
She looked through the scope, straining her eyes to see further.
"This is just Geneva all over again…" she mumbled.
She locked her weapon, and waited for the right timing.
3.
She thought she was hallucinating, because she sworn she saw someone familiar driving the truck.
2.
She shakes the feeling off and concentrates on the driver.
1.
Her trigger finger becomes twitchy.
0.
Nothing happens.
She looks at the rifle again, frowning and hitting it in the side.
"Troika. We have a problem here." She said. "The rifle's jammed."
"Troika isn't here to answer."
She gasped, voice all too familiar.
"S… Svetlana?"
The voice in the other line, Svetlana, let out a giggle.
"Ah, Natalia. I should've seen the look on your face. But, you're too far away." Svetlana said.
"What do you want? Where's my field commander?" Rogue said, at the verge of dumping the mission.
"Oh, your handsome field commander is with me, as well as your other friends." Svetlana said, "Come down by the office, and I'll explain."
Rogue, unsure if she will obey or not, sighs and presses the earpiece deeper into her ear.
"If you're going to shoot me, I swear, I will kill you." She growled.
"Not until I kill you first."
With that, Rogue prepared two of her pistols.
As she held the knob of the door to the office, she took a breath in. She made sure the gun in her hand was already locked and loaded. Her other, locked and loaded pistol, rested on her belt holster.
"Relax." She sighed, closing her eyes.
She felt her hand being clammy. She just sighed and twisted the doorknob.
"Good afternoon, Natalia." True to her word, Svetlana didn't shoot her.
"Afternoon." Rogue nodded.
"You must be thirsty, since you're in that. It's sunny, no?" Svetlana smiled, "That's why I like tropical islands. There's so much… sun to soak up, don't you think?"
"I'll agree to that." Rogue said, "How's Mother Russia? Being cold, as usual?"
"She's no longer your mother." Svetlana said coldly, "Besides, it seems you love your new, adoptive mother better than your biological one."
"I do what I want, nowadays." Rogue said, "Unlike you, Svetlana. You were forced under orders. I, on the other hand, can choose which missions can I do."
"Do you still want to live, Helada? Because I feel like I need to shoot you." Svetlana said.
"Go on, then. I'm not afraid to die in the hands of cowardice." Rogue said. She closed her eyes.
All of a sudden, a shot rang out. Rogue didn't feel anything, and peeped an eye open.
Dante stood there, breathing heavily, and holding one of Rogue's pistols.
"I finished your mission for you." Dante said.
"Why?" Rogue asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because, HQ needs you back." Dante said, handing her a dossier.
"Good." Rogue said, smirking as she looked through the contents of the file, "Nice to know that I'll be seeing my archenemy once again."
Rogue, being jet-lagged, staggered into the Command Room.
"Ah, Agent Tvarkov. Sit." Gary said.
Rogue nodded, and sat into one of the chairs. She spotted an unfamiliar person, who stood out. She knew everyone else in the table.
"Who is this girl, G?" Rogue asked, nodding to the unfamiliar person.
"She?" Gary said, "She's Agent Ezra Trotsky. She will be a major factor in this mission." Gary said.
"If she is going to be a major factor," Rogue said, "Why haven't I heard of her yet?"
"Ah, yes." Gary said, "She's been assigned to Moscow ever since she graduated. Sometimes, she would be called to HQ missions."
"Alright." Rogue said, "Continue."
"We will be sneaking into Herbert's Lair at Toughest Mountain." Gary said as the lights dimmed, the screen behind them showed a map of Toughest Mountain, "Since this month there will be a Great Snow Race, we can easily slip by."
"How do we not alert Herbert, G?" Jason asked from the front of the table.
"He's asleep, along with Klutzy." Gary explained.
At the mention of Klutzy, members of the former PSA Squads shivered.
"Alright." Jason said, "Continue."
"We will try to trap Herbert, so that we can avoid him getting out." Gary said.
"When he wakes up, G. When he wakes up, he'll be aware." Piri said.
"I know." Gary said, "That's why there are holes in the cage. We'll be installing tubes there that will release sleeping gas into Herbert's lair." Gary said.
"And how long are we planning to expose Herbert to this… gas." Rogue said, "How sure are we that we wouldn't harm him?"
"You're actually asking about that?" Atom said, raising both eyebrows, "Thought I'd never see the day. Piri, you owe me 20."
Piri growled at Atom.
"Crease, Trotsky, Tvarkov, Perez, and Laurenson will go in." Gary said, "They will disable security inside, and allow me, Rory, and the others in to make the cage."
"Affirmative." Rogue nodded, "How do we get in?"
"There are lasers and security cameras on the way, that's all we can say." Dot said.
"Lasers and security cameras…" Jason mumbled, "Awesome."
"If I were you guys, I'd want to practice gymnastics now." Dot said, "You'll need it."
The five nodded, and disappeared to the gymnasium.
Five people hiked up the mountain, decked in snow gear.
"Nice board." Jason said to one of the civilians.
"Thanks!" he said, "Good luck!"
They eventually came before the hidden entrance. They all looked at each other before going in. Once in, Atom began to speak.
"Okay," he said, "Get out of your disguises and put on your cameras."
They all nodded and peeled off their clothes. They all wore black underneath. The three girls wore catsuits, while the boys were the combat uniform.
"Okay. Just stuff your things in your bags, and we'll go." Atom said.
They all nodded once more, and were off.
"How do we get through those security cameras?" Ezra gasped.
"Let me." Rogue said, taking out a knife and throwing it at a security camera. After that, she kept on throwing knives at the others.
"Problem solved." Piri mused.
"Let's get through this, shall we?" Atom said.
"Ladies first." Jason said, half teasing and half serious.
Rogue sighed, and walked back a bit. She then ran quick, and then threw herself above the beam or red light. She did several jumps and moves here and there, before ending up in the entrance of the next room.
Piri followed, doing several cartwheels and somersaults. She sighed in content as she ended up beside Rogue.
Ezra came next, doing several twists and turns and sliding. She held her breath when she came in front of one of them, just a small space from it.
"Hurry!" Atom said.
Ezra nodded, and quickly slipped under the beam. She ended up between Rogue and Piri.
"You can do it, boys!" Piri said.
The two boys looked at each other before nodding. They both did several (clumsy) cartwheels and a few backflips before smacking into the girls, who went through the door, which was apparently ajar.
"My head…" Piri groaned.
"Ow…" Ezra winced.
"Klutz…" Rogue grimaced.
"Sorry, ladies!" Jason said, grabbing each and every one of them.
"Let's just get to the door." Ezra and Piri groaned while Rogue smoothed down her ponytail.
They finally reached the door that separates them from Herbert.
"We don't have a key." Atom said.
"I knew we needed one." Piri muttered.
"I think I know how to get it done." Rogue said as she took out a knife.
"That wouldn't work." Jason said.
"Watch me." Rogue growled as she started banging her knife on the door.
"Who is it?" Klutzy's irritated voice said in the other side.
The door opened, revealing Klutzy. She didn't notice the agents who slipped into the door from the ceiling.
"You are a genius." Jason whispered once the door closed.
They watched as Klutzy slipped back into bed with Herbert fast asleep. She only wore a red tube shirt and white volleyball shorts. In a few minutes, Klutzy was out like a light.
"You think your sister and Herbert did-" Piri said.
"No." Jason deadpanned.
"But think of the possibilities as to what they're up to!" Piri said.
"Piri. No." Jason said.
"Come on, they make a good baby-"
"Piri." Rogue and Jason said as one, "Shut. Up. Just. Shut. Up."
With that, the agent shut up.
"Let's disable the security." Atom sighed.
They dropped to the ground and began to look at the computer.
"Who can hack into security?" Atom asked.
"I can." Ezra said.
In a few minutes, they already bypassed the security and disabled it.
"Gary, get in." Rogue said.
Klutzy woke up slowly to the noise.
"What…" she mumbled before waking up.
She saw EPF agents in the room. EPF!
"Jay!" she screamed at the sight of her brother.
"Hello, Klutzy." Jason said coldly.
"I thought you were my brother!" she cried.
"I thought you were my sister." He said.
"What did they do to you?" she gasped, "Hey! Nerd guy! What did you do to my brother?"
"My name's Gary, Klutzy." Gary said, "And I did nothing to your brother. You did."
"How?" she scoffed, "I couldn't hurt my brother!"
"You did." Gary said, "When you sided with Herbert."
Klutzy only laughed manically, "You idiots forgot one thing: Teleportation!"
She took out an old PSA phone, and teleport out of the room before anyone can protest.
"Sorry, Jay." Rogue said to Jason.
"It's okay. I'll still live." Jason said, smiling faintly.
"Right." Rogue said.
Rogue just came back from debriefing. She walked back to her dorm, sighing.
"Hi Rogue."
She turned to see Jason, who looked a bit down in the dumps.
"Hey there, Jay." Rogue said, removing her balled up fists from her hoodie's pockets.
"You available for the night?" he said.
"Yeah." She said, smiling, "Why?"
"I uh…" he said, "Do you want to watch a movie with me?"
"Where?" she asked.
"In my dorm." He said, "I'm emotionally exhausted. I just… want a good friend beside me while I watch one of my favorites."
"Oh." She said, "Sure."
"Ever heard of Mrs. Doubtfire?" he asked.
"Who?"
"You have so much to learn, Rogue." He sighed, shaking his head.
By the time the movie was done, the two were just a heap of laughing people leaning on each other for support.
"Oh god… what… ha… hahahaha…." Rogue said, barely saying a coherent sentence.
"Watching a movie with a friend is… awesome!" Jason said, also laughing.
"I second… hahahahaha… that." She said, smiling.
They just look at each other, as they became quiet. They soon had another round of laughter.
"He reminds me of Agent Prisma, for some reason." Jason said.
"Yeah. Agreed." Rogue said, grinning.
In memory of Robin Williams, I give you, this chapter. He was awesome, and he helped my learn what friendship is...
Oh god, I'm being emotional now… oh joy.
Meanwhile, on to happy times! Next… is pre-Blackout!