Piper had been training none stop the past week.
Her senses were in so high alert, she had almost fired her gun at Annabeth when she came to talk to her. She had, of course, apologized, but she had the feeling that had added some nightmares to the poor girl. She became more aware of where she was before pulling out her gun again.
The big day had finally arrived and Piper was in the Control Room, leading the whole New York operation. Reyna had flown personally to San Fransisco to direct the operation from there. Percy, to her dismay, was leading the operation from the ground, how Chiron had given him permission to be there was beyond her. But he was the boss.
"New York team, this is Katropis and Cabin 10" Piper called through the microphone "As soon as all teams identify we'll be set"
"Riptide is go" Percy's voice was first one talking. Piper saw Annabeth's tense figure from the corner of her eye and Jason trying to calm her down.
"Maimer and Cabin 5 are go" Clarisse spoke.
"ThingOne-"
"-and ThingTwo-"
"-and Cabin 11 are go!"
"Rose and Cabin 4 are go"
"Pegasus and Cabin 14 are go"
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have green light" Piper acknowledged, hands on her hips and eyes on the screen "Our mission is to divert Kronos' Army from civilians and have as less casualties as possible, roger?" Several 'roger that, Katropis' were heard at the same time "Pegasus, get this show on the road"
"My pleasure, Katropis" Butch's voice echoes the room. The water as background made his position very obvious "We have two boats coming from the Hudson River and reports of three on the other side of the island, on the East River..."
"Sink them" Piper avoided looking at Jason and Annabeth's direction. It wasn't a pretty job but someone has to do it. It wouldn't be the first time she had done this to save someone, but those men and women had chosen their sides. It wasn't easier, nonetheless.
"Roger that-"
"Katropis, we have movement on the bridges..." Piper couldn't recognized if it was Connor or Travis Stoll "Two small groups, not bigger than ten individuals... They don't seem to like our stops..."
"Keep them as much as you can-"
"Katropis, we have eye vision of Kronos" Percy's voice silent the rest "I repeat, we have eye confirmation on Kronos and his entourage"
"How many, Riptide?" Piper had to keep the headphones on her head because of the shock "Can you count them? Who and how many are with the target?"
"I see three others. Luke is one-" Annabeth gasped in surprise, but Piper tuned her out "-so is that Drew girl... And one who we presumed dead, Nakamura" Several people around, including on the ground, cursed and swore. Clarisse had a very interesting set of words for that "Guess he didn't need to break Chris after all..."
"Maimer, you're on backup. Riptide, you know what to do"
"Move it, punk!" Was all Clarisse said before the footsteps were heard around. Piper was glad the Control Room had turned off the cameras of the bulletproof vests and only the thermal images were available. She wouldn't be able to deal with Annabeth and Jason watching the same images.
"Piper...?" Piper took her headphones out and looked at Annabeth, who was ready to cry any second "You- You think that Percy and Clarisse could save Luke...?" Piper was torn between lying and telling the truth, so a half truth won.
"I'm sure that they both will do everything in their hands to save him" Technically, that wasn't a lie. Chiron said the order came from above and the team would do its very best to follow it "But-"
"Ahhh! So the teams of Olympus are here..." Piper interrupted herself as soon as she heard Kronos spoke. Everyone was following the conversation in silence "And young Jackson is leading it..."
"Hello, Grandfather" Percy teased him, earning a scowl "Are you ready to surrender? Or are we doing this the hard way...?"
"Nothing has to be the hard way, Perseus..." Kronos tried to compel him to give up. Piper smirked, knowing it was a lost battle "Ditch your friends and join me... I'll reward you greatly-"
"You seriously think you will win? Ha!" Percy laughed to the horror of Jason and Annabeth "You're not even man enough to fight like one... You have to send your little incursion teams to do your dirty work..." Piper couldn't see it, but she swore Kronos was frowning "You're even hiding behind those pathetic puppets of yours... Hello, Ethan. Being dead suits your wonderful..."
"You're gonna lose, Jackson-"
"Luke, I'm so disappointed on you, picking the wrong side..." Percy interrupted the traitor, mocking Luke "Annabeth and Jason are listening and hoping you don't do anything else this stupid..."
"And you think you're doing the right thing, Jackson? Living in a world that places morals and believes in a second place after revenge?!"
"Aren't you doing that?" Piper heard the silence coming from the other camp "Surrender and we let you live, which is more than you will allow us..."
"You're a fool, Jackson" Kronos spoke to him "You and everyone behind you, are fools... What do you think it will happen when we lose? We can help you make the world better, you can rule this new world and you'd be the masters and mistresses of tomorrow-"
"Did you take that speech out of a movie?" Piper bit back a chuckle "What is it with villains that like to keep going about their plans, anyway? Don't they understand that if someone is fighting against you, will never switch sides...? Actually, keep talking because the more you are focused one me, the greater the chance to take you out..."
"What are you talking about, Jackson?!"
"Maimer in position" Clarisse whispered through the communicator. Piper knew it was time.
"Fire"
Hello, guys.
I'd like to start by apologizing on not posting yesterday. I want to share something that I have discovered in the past few days, a reflexion if you will (I do want to make emphasis in the fact that this was NOT prompted by comments or PMs or directed to anyone in particular).
Last week, I had some bad days. I'm sure you're familiar with the term... But, as the week was closing and I was forced to put a smile for work, I realized that I didn't want to pretend I was having a great week. My football team had SPECTACULARLY lost in the World Cup and I was stepped on so hard on the subway I was limping (among other things). All I wanted to do was to come home and cry.
So, I decided to be sour all weekend, not because I wanted to be mean with everyone, but because I NEED IT. And I must say, I feel quite better. So, I think my lesson of wisdom to share is that, is OK to fell like crying once in a while. Just, don't go to extremes like our beloved Nico or even Supreme Commander Valdez, two extremes of the same coin.
Alright! Enough with the sappy moment! Story time!
Sis/Bro! Your Shadow is Hot!: THE LAST 3 CHAPTERS! Consider it a way for me to apologize for yesterday...
The First Times: 1 chapter!
I wish you all a great week! And remember, crying once in a while is good!
xoxo, SilverHuntresses
