(This update comes to you, my fans, a day earlier. Tomorrow I'll be off at work where computer access is severely limited. Till my next installment, enjoy this entry and read and review as always, if you please.

(Godhand's Number)

41

Day was upon them already. The little clock on Yune's phone read 10 in the morning before he even knew it. It felt like he and the rest of the team had been waiting all day, lounging practically in combat drab while they sat upon the ancient rocks that had once been one of Solomon's temples, looming over that beautiful, luscious plain that was Jezreel. Picturesque, it was to put it lightly. As his eyes ran over that juicy piece of Fertile Crescent, he could easily see why it would flow with milk and honey.

Tara was either backlit or a shadow, he couldn't tell. She stood as tall as the soles of his first pair of combat boots let her, a hand hidden by flowing hair while she surveyed the area. His ancient black Family garb baggy on her shapely figure, platinum hair a sharp contrast as the gentle breeze ran through it, pushing it ever so gently to a side.

"Wow…." The blonde was predictably in awe, just as much as he was. "This is - incredible! Do you see this, Yune? It's beautiful here, and I typically don't like the countryside!"

"I know." He replied before the thin brim of the bottle touched his lips. He yanked his head back as his mouth welcomed the cool, crisp taste of water happily. "I didn't think I'd ever see this place. I would have loved to come here on any other circumstances though."

"I do not get it." Robin said. The dark girl sat a few feet away from him, her dark skin covered from collarbone to ankle by a pair of cream-colored sweats. An old pair of hiking boots tied on her feet, and her hair lost the frizz when she had braided it tightly. She took the bottle off his hands, taking a sip before she handed it back. "Why on earth would he come through here? I am certain there are other places to the south where he could get through easily!"

"'Cause he's proud, I guess." He shrugged. "If there's anyone more pompous than old man Alex, it's his youngest kid—!"

"Burn - burn - BURN!" that infernal car shouted.

"Can someone please switch Sadie off?" he frowned. "We're wasting gas!"

"I will do it." Rob pushed herself to her feet. "Do not worry. I thought you might enjoy a little music while we wait."

"No thanks." He shook his head. "Not today."

"Of course." The girl hoisted herself up onto a rock, disappearing behind his back - and the sudden arrest of the small block was music to his ears. "There."

"This place is beautiful." Tara pressed. "I don't care what the situation is or will be! I'd like to come back here someday!"

"That is the spirit, friend." Robin said. "And I would love to have you back as well! The country could use your patronage!"

"Oh - I almost forgot!" The blonde slowly turned around. "How'd your conversation with the mayor go, Yune?"

"Fairly well, I'd say." He said. "He understood the situation perfectly, and was planning to issue that statement right about now. He couldn't cancel the ceremony or attendance, mind you, but from what I've heard from Hershel, most of the crowd got the message. Only a few decided to tough it out."

"That is great!" Robin said.

"Some good news today." Tara noted. "Still, today itself could go either way. Whatever happens, I just hope God's in the middle of it."

"He is, Tara." Robin replied for him. "No matter what happens today, tomorrow, or a couple of weeks from now, it is all in His capable hands. Regardless of what it may seem or look like, He knows what is best, and we will just have to let Him do it."

"But what does that make us?" She asked. "Chopped liver?"

"No, somehow I don't think that's the case." He took his turn. "I've got the distinct impression that we are supposed to be here, in this place. I don't know how or why, I just do. And when you're but a leaf in life's stream, it's best sometimes to simply go with the flow."

"But why here?" She asked again. "Why this valley? I don't get it. To me, there's nothing to capture, nothing to steal in a relative sense of the word."

"Because this is the Megiddo Valley, Tara." He replied. "The fabled valley of Armageddon, said to where the final battle takes place. It's a fitting setting, come to think of it. Drazen must have seen that too, when he chose to head north through the Jordan Valley. Sees himself as the judge to end all judges, perched high on his throne, dishing out sentences to those who choose neither to accept or deny it."

"It is the only natural opening that the good Lord had bothered to leave open." Robin noted aloud. "It is a key route going north-to-south and south-to-north, a part of the -via maris-, 'the way of the sea'. Traders used this route either going to Egypt or to Syria and Lebanon. Likewise, armies can use this route too."

"Plus Drazen hasn't any air support whatsoever, so he'd have to use this route." He pointed out. "That's what I would have done."

"I get it now," she nodded, "I think."

"But what on earth can we possibly do?" Robin asked. "We are only three people with an SUV and a few firearms! They have an army!"

"She's right!" Tara said. "We're no use to anyone if we're dead."

"That's where Hershel came in." He turned himself around as he pushed himself to his feet. Rob leaned her back against the car, and Tara bounced into view in the midst of long strides. "Tara, Robin: I'm about to tell you guys about some serious classified material! It can't EVER leave these ruins, or you might find some black choppers circling over your houses! Got it?"

"I understand." Rob nodded.

"Don't worry about me, Yune." Tara waved her hand dismissively. "My lips are sealed."

"Fine." He nodded. "Okay….

"Well over a month ago, myself along with The Family Private Army were sent to Escutcheon, an offshore breeding facility a few miles off the Pacific coastline, with the purpose of capturing it under contract with Colonel Drazen's rather eccentric cousin, Andrew Lipski."

"How could I forget?" Tara said. "I was there, remember?"

"Drew kept Alex in the dark about his true intentions till the old man figured it out to a certain degree. He knew something was there that Drew wanted badly, badly enough to risk certain -heath problems- for. That something was the USAF super-weapon, code named 'Gladius', a massive rail cannon equipped to launch nuclear warheads from orbit."

"Are you serious…?" Robin blinked.

"I remember reading about something like that." Tara cocked her head. "Thanks to some amateur photographs, it was on the news and on several news-sites a week later. The UN and the EU had a field day over that. If I remember right, the States were taking space walks to dismantle it. That's nothing new."

"Remember in Prague, Tara?" he asked. "About a day after we arrived, Kim and Ron were sent out to track Mr. Bonnet and poke into his business?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "It's the same day I saw the helicopter chase!"

"She brought back a ZIP disk that Uzi had on him." He said. "A bluer one. Do you remember it?"

"Yep." She said. "Kim nearly freaked when you handed it over to Hershel."

"Indeed." He said. "It turned out that disk contained the launch codes to Gladius itself."

"What…?" she blinked. "How'd that punk get a hold of that?"

"Back on Escutcheon, I walked in on a little - 'conversation' - Alex and Tristian were having with Lipski's assistant. He must have gotten a hold of it from her, and he eventually must have handed it over to Uzi, but that's just speculation! What I do know is that it's now in Hershel's hands and the Mossad."

"Yes," Robin nodded, "that is good news! It should be safe in their hands."

"Not so fast." He replied quickly. "When I talked to Hershel back in Zanzibar, she -unofficially- told me that she activated the cannon!"

"WHAT?" Robin's jaw nearly dropped off her face. "WHY?"

"For Drazen, of course." He replied. "And his little siege weapon too."

"How's that possible?" Tara exclaimed. "The US dismantled it! I read that myself!"

"Probably a ruse, but that's nothing new." He shrugged. "Or they mustn't have unloaded all the payloads yet. I don't know, but what I do know is they plan to launch it over this very spot when Drazen comes rolling through!"

"They plan to blast their own people?" Robin was flabbergasted.

"No." he shook his head. "Not quite. A high altitude detonation will cut down on the immediate loss of life, and the occurring electromagnetic pulse with fry the opposition's electronic equipment."

"But the fallout!" Robin protested. "It will pollute this area for years - decades even!"

"I don't know what ammo Gladius uses!" He lifted up his hands. "Look! Your protests are understandable, appropriate even, but you're complaining to the wrong guy. We're just field agents, and like it or not, we've got to play our part in this to a T! You all know what happens if we fail."

"Yeah…." Both girls said soberly.

"But if this is true," Tara inquired, "what're we still doing here, Yune? We're dead against them!"

"We're going to have to be the wild cards." He explained. "If the Mossad's last ditch effort paid off, great! The enemy will have lost their first strike capability. Either way, we have to finish this! At all costs, Drazen must not reach Jerusalem!"

"Agreed." The blonde nodded.

"Ever since I had arrived in this country, I knew that my stay would not always be peaceful." Robin said thoughtfully. "I knew that sooner or later I would have to put my life on the line, to fight for all the things I had ever cared about: life and love, freedom and justice. I know I will die someday, one way or the other; this life is not forever, but a wisp in eternity's eyes. But when it was my time to go, I wanted it to be for something - and not of something."

Tara was speechless. Even his words had trouble crawling up his neck.

"Robin…." He blinked. "That's very profound!"

"Robin!" Tara smiled brilliantly. "That's POETRY! I love it!"

"Why thank you, friends!" Robin grinned back. "I have considered being a poet myself, but I have not had the time or the inspiration to express myself into written language. Even if I did, you surely could not read it. Have you Americans ever tried to read from right to left, let alone recognize and understand characters you have seen only fleetingly?"

"Better send them to Ron then." Tara said. "He's probably the only one of us!"

"I have an interlinear bible set back home." He said. "Though I can't read the Hebrew, I do find that my eyes have the natural tendency to wander right to left. Sometimes I even find myself flipping through magazines backwards. Crazy, isn't it?"

"No." Cream shoulders shrugged, Robin's dark head sinking a couple of inches. "I do not think so. But that is just me, given how my first language was Hebrew—!"

"Wait a second!" loose dirt shifted when Tara pushed her feet apart, baggy folds of cloth flapping abruptly when her small frame bent into a gently hunch. Her eyes were just two aquamarine dots in a plush bed of white.

"What?" he felt his back straighten. "What is it?"

"I… don't know for sure." T loosened herself, unrolling from her gentle crunch slowly - only to drop down to it again. He felt something underfoot; so subtle that he wasn't certain he felt it at all. Perhaps his boot shifted; the ancient rock had been eroded smooth, after all.

"There!" She yipped. "I felt it again!"

"Are you sure, Tara?" Robin put a noticeable kink in her brow. "I have not felt a thing. You are tensed by the situation, yes? I cannot blame you. To say that I am not unnerved by these unfortunate events would be a lie. Or maybe your choice of clothing is starting to pick at you."

"I'm not hallucinating, Rob!" she frowned. "I felt something! I'm telling you - like a gentle rumbling."

One of his boots went behind the other, and his body twisted 180 degrees cleanly, just like he was back in the old days. Jezreel looked pristine as ever, ever since the settlers had encouraged the first morsels of fruit out of the desert all those years ago. The day was hot; he could barely see past the first couple of fields. His lips grinned sheepishly, feeling sorry for his girlfriend who had to tough it out in his old garb—

—His boots shook, the rock below trembling gently, firmly - and thick trunks of… metal, three of them, swept gently, gradually into his view from where the haze was whitely thick—

—And his lips pressed against each other tensely!

"I TOLD you I wasn't loosing it!" He looked, and Tara was off for Sadie already. Her torso disappeared behind the front seats, her legs bent, feet hanging in the air before she kicked herself back upright. The robust Barrett clenched tightly in her delicate, practiced hands. The bolt snapped loudly when she jacked in a heavy round.

"Are you sure that this is necessary?" Robin pushed quickly away from the car. "You should not use a cannon to swat a mosquito, you know!"

"Except when the mosquito won't stay down!" She retorted hastily. A small click came from the rifle, and it went airborne for moment as the blonde shouldered it by the sling.

The Baby Eagle slipped out of the holster smooth by those same practiced hands. She held it close to her face while she popped out the "PEZ" dispenser, gazing at her bird's thick choice of food with hurried eyes - and the eagle suckled on them eagerly when she slapped it back home. Racked the slide quickly, she did, smooth and efficiently just as he taught her.

The lethal bird took to the air like a newborn chick, falling back into his girl's palm by the stubby, awkward beak. She held it out to Robin, who eased herself away by a step.

"Here you go, Rob!" T said. "Take it."

"I would rather not…!" The girl replied, lifting up a dark hand by the cream swathed arm. "I am not used to such devices."

"Was anyone?" the blonde said rhetorically.

"I am not sure that I should—!"

Robin experienced the wee hours of the morning all over again when T took her by the wrist, cringing slightly when the blonde shoved the grip of the pistol into her hand, encouraging those dark fingers to squeeze that grip like it were Uzziel's big head.

"Trust me!" Tara smirked grimly. "You should!"

"Showtime's not even a couple miles away, Robin!" He said sternly. "War's coming - and -fast-! We don't have the manpower to baby-sit! As cruel as this may sound, you'll have to watch your back as well as ours! It sucks, but that's just the way things go!"

"I do not wish to be a hindrance." Robin shook her head. "Will I only get in your way?"

"No," he shook his head back, "but you have to give it your all, no matter what! Got it?"

The girl took in a deep breath. The top of her sweats seemed to swell as she let it sit for a moment, deflating like a leaky balloon when she let it out quietly.

"Yes." She nodded firmly. Her body went straight, stiffer than a board; a flat, stiff hand of hers quivered when the tips of the fingers touched the side of her brow in a salute. "A trial by fire. What a better way to prove myself worthy of the honor! You can count on me, Yune Bin-Mok! I swear by the grace of the good Lord, I shall not fail you!"

He smiled. Robin Ata, an innocent Ethiopian dragged along for the mess, ready to put everything on the line, regardless of the sheer madness circling around like buzzards. Standing tall, mocking death itself as she defiantly stood in its way. He couldn't help but give her a salute of her own.

"Carry on, soldier." He nodded.

"You know how to work that thing?" T asked aptly.

"Yes." Robin said gently. "Simply because I am not used to them does not mean that I do not know how to use one."

"Good." Tara smirked. "That gun carries a maximum of 12 bullets. When you run out of ammo, you can have mine. I only have three extra magazines, so don't get trigger happy with it!"

"Do not worry, I will not." Rob shoved the pistol into her pants, letting it press into her body by the elastic waistline. "I shall pick my battles wisely!"

"Good." He turned back around. The three trunks of steel had grown to twice their original size in the haze, yet dropping in altitude dramatically as their trembling owner moved them closer. A faint metal sliver cut off the center trunk horizontally, evenly while the two outer trunks ran longer; all three of them seemingly encircled a sort of structure.

"What the hell is that?" Tara exclaimed panicked.

"The siege weapon!" he growled. "Rob, start Sadie up - Pronto! You're driving!"

"Yes sir!" she called.

"I'm calling shotgun!" he called. "Tara, you're taking the back seat again!"

"Gladly!" she called back.

"Wait a minute!" Rob exclaimed worriedly over Sadie's loud thirst for petrol. "What shotgun? I do not recall you bringing a shotgun with us!"

Though he let out a sigh, his eyes couldn't be bothered to take a lap around in the sockets.

"Forget it, Rob." Tara replied. "Focus!"

"Yes ma'am!"

He rushed for the car while his girl waved him on. The passenger door ajar was a welcome sight. Sadie's growling like music to his ears, powering over that dreadful rumbling easily as Robin quenched the vehicle's thirst for the pungent drink with just a tap of her foot. The subtle vibrations cradling his backside were like magic fingers compared to that rock, and Sadie rocked when he hastily yanked the door back into the frame.

The metal trunks in the sky had torn away from the thick, clinging veil of haze, Uzi's master weapon in the Full Monty, everyone close by forcibly beholding its naked grandeur. They couldn't miss it even if they tried, tall as a football field and just as wide. The trunks were huge cannons (an Israeli naval destroyer was probably missing a few) that crowned the control structure, glass shining, glinting with impossible sheen. The pilots were practically blind, yet still they rolled for them - deliberately, purposefully, a very long line of earth upturning impossibly behind it, even for a monster of that size.

His hand went for his Daewoo, slipping it out easily of the holster. He jacked in a round, a measly, underpowered nine-millimeter JHP with over three magazines to spare. Not that they'd do him much good now….

Help us out here, please…! -

Suddenly the behemoth stopped, dead in its very large, very wide tracks; the dusty line behind overwhelmed by the thick haze.

"That'll work!" he shrugged.

"What will work?" Rob asked.

"Nothing, forget it—!"

"WELL, WELL, WELL…!" The beast spoke to him, blaring at him through megaphones… heavy with Slavic intonation. He knew it! "Who do we have here, perched by the old temple ruins like a damn buzzard?"

"You're asking me?" another voice, a rather firmly proper voice, came out of those same speakers.

"Rhetorical question, 2nd Lieutenant!" Uzi's voice blared out again. "-Dreck! -"

The beast had multiple personalities, it seemed, when another different voice shouted out the megaphones. Yet this one was familiar to him, the words digitized seemingly, speaking with an artificial, machine-like quality - just like Sadie before she took a holiday.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" it yelled.

Even Sadie was taken aback. "Burn…?"

"I second that!" A new voice said, thick with a Semitic character.

"Me three!" the 2nd Lieutenant replied.

"-SHTUP! -" Uzi shouted back to the nameless, faceless men. "SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU! I'm the Major - and I'M GLOATING HERE!"

"Like we've ever stopped you before—?" the mechanical thing replied.

"ENOUGH!" Uzziel predictably screamed - and a deafening shot blasted out the megaphones like a clap of thunder. His ears could barely catch a pin-drop, the sharp telltale ring of brass skittering on the floor.

There was silenced—

—"You SHOT AT ME?" the Semitic one's scream was thick with a surprised, incredulous fury.—

—But not for long.

"Damn straight!" Drazen huffed smugly.

"YOU SHOT AT ME!" the Semitic guy shouted incredulously. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SHOT AT ME! Bad enough you killed two of your own men yourself, BUT NOW YOUR SHOOTING AT ME? THE FUCK, MAN?"

"Not my fault you're a little bitch, Dave!" Uzi yelled back.

"I'd be careful about decimating your own men, Major Drazen—!" the machine couldn't finish.

"SHUT UP, MATT!" The control tower shouted at once.

"This is going to take all day." Tara groaned.

"Maybe they'll kill each other." He guessed uselessly. "Maybe they'll forget we're even here! Just keep cool and—!"

"First, you shoot up your hometown up like Beirut - then Tel Aviv - smack your best man around like a speed bag - AND NEARLY BUST THE ARM OF SOME INNOCENT GERMAN TOURIST! WHAT THE HELL'S NEXT, DRAZEN? DANGLE BABIES OVER BALCONY RAILINGS?"

"Oh shit!" he yelped.

His legs hit the center console as he spun around in his seat - but he was too late! Tara was already standing tall on the backseat, blue eyes locked open, and her face pulled into a mask of aggravated rage. The rifle already in her clenched hands, primitive stock pushed firmly against her shoulder, eyes glaring down those original sights while her finger furiously took up the trigger slack!

"For the last DAMN TIME," she snarled, "I'M NOT GERMAN, YOU BASTARDS!"

"Tara DON'T—!"

Too late again; with her furious battle cry ringing true throughout the valley, she blasted her rage spiraling aimlessly for the telemetry tower's glass in the form of a half-inch round. Its mark simply was lost on the glass's sheen, though a few sparkles fluttered down to the ground like ice crystals. It wasn't lost on her target at all; he'd gotten the message clearly.

"Oh!" Drazen chuckled sheepishly. "How rude of me to shun my friends! Thank you for reminding me, -shikse-! We've got work to do!"

"Tara," he snarled, shooting the blonde a furious glare, "YOU FRIGGING IDIOT!"

Tara dropped the rifle off her shoulder, knee-jerk rage forgotten instantly. She looked hurt, but clearly he saw in her sobered face that she knew she had at least a backhand coming to her.

"I'm… sorry—!" she said.

"Sorry is NOT going to cut it, T!" he seethed.

"Friends!" Robin interjected, playing referee. "Stop this infighting—!"

"Thank you ever so much for sending me the message!" The major gloated proudly. "Distractions like these aren't going to get me anywhere anytime soon. But please, let me be so kind as to send you guys a message of MY OWN!"

Turning back around, he couldn't wait to see this—!

The center cannon blew its top explosively! A thick column of fire erupted out of the massive bore, the cannon itself recoiling a few decimeters. The ground trembled with such force it'd have put Mt. Saint Helens to shame, even where Sadie planted her four feet! But the blackening column - it reached high, soaring into the bright sky to where it seemingly dissipated—

—But it was all he needed to see!

"Robin!" he barked. "Punch it!"

"Punch it?" the dark eyes blinked while she quickly put Sadie into gear. "Punch what?"

He clasped his hand atop her closest knee roughly.

"I said PUNCH IT!" He shouted - and she yelped when he shoved the rest of her leg down to where it couldn't sink anymore. Sadie was overwhelmed so with gasoline that she couldn't take it anymore, just as he'd hoped, uncontrollably hauling them swiftly towards that precipice!

"Burn - burn - BURN!" the vehicle screeched as wildly as her tires.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Robin shouted. "GET OFF MY LEG!"

"YUNE!" Tara screeched.

"I know what I'm doing!" he frowned.

It was déjà vu all over again when both girls' screams overwhelmed the sound of the tires.

"NOT EVEN GOD KNOWS WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"

XXX

The lumbering, treading weapon of certain doom had stopped in its tracks. It rumbled gently in her rearview mirror, running idle between the two sloping outcroppings of rock that she'd just sped through. It ran out of gas? Probably, yet it wouldn't rumble at all if that were true. Something must have caught Drazen's good eye, sticking out like a sore thumb even through that glass Ron had pockmarked snow white….

—But after a brief spell of infighting between the vehicle's pilots, the muzzle of the center cannon exploded in a brilliant - smoggy cloud of fire and light, blinding her in the mirror briefly! The explosion itself crashed into her drums like someone tossed a flash-bang into the passenger seat! Overkill really, all because some local nearby caused a few more specks of glass to fall from the pane.

"What the hell's going on?" Ron exclaimed.

"Yeah!" His buddy squeaked.

"You're asking me?" she blinked. "How the hell should I know? Probably just showing off his big guns-!"

"But you heard him, KP!" Ron continued. "He was talking to someone - someone he knows! Probably someone -we- know too! Did you hear that last part from that other guy, and how someone shouted back and took a potshot from those ruins?"

"Yeah." She nodded dismissively. "So?"

"Kim," he said with a little more -oomph-, "that guy mentioned the word 'German'!"

She blinked thoughtfully.

"Now who do we know that flips out at that word—?"

"Don't matter now!" she exclaimed, eyeing that mirror disbelievingly. "Look!"

A chunk of something ran itself - as Ron and Rufus were her witnesses, that chunk didn't tumble - it -ran- itself off the precipice! It was a rather large chunk, very large and oddly shaped for a rock, glowing a fiery red as it threw itself onto the ground. Four blackened outcroppings on the bottom were rounded smooth, recoiling into the rest of the body as it rolled for them—!

"Sadie…?" she squinted at that approaching object.

KA - BOOOOOMMM! -

The hummer rocked, quaking on its four rubber feet while she was thrown against the driver's door! A greater explosion rocked the countryside! Ron let out a haggard cough, gagging practically while his buddy squealed nastily, his little pink body leaping into the air on its own accord. She didn't think it was possible to deface a ruin any further, but that thick, foggy cloud bellowing, fuming out the top third of that same precipice shown her differently.

"Holy COW!" Ron yelled. "Look at that! It's practically a damn volcano back there!"

"Doesn't matter anymore." That approaching object took more of a definite shape in the mirror two cloudy eyes staring at her, baring those shiny fronts at her like she was looking at a hip-hop artist. She couldn't help but smirk back. "We've got company!"

"And they're friendly!" Ron shouted gratefully. "Really friendly! YO! OVER HERE, YOU GUYS! IT'S ME - THE RON MAN'S IN THE HIZZ - OUSE!"

She wasn't so sure at first when that blonde head popped out of the top like jack in the box, with a rather large, rather long piece of fashioned steel in hand. The steel's steely gaze waned at its handlers wish, instead staring aimlessly at the sky when the handler simply laid it against the nearby door. The gunman gun-woman-, she should say, simply waved back.

It took only a minute before that vehicle - that SUV with the hot paintjob - to roll alongside them. She killed the engine with a simple back-flick of the wrist, and she hopped out the hummer just as her door angled away far enough. The looks on the passenger's faces were priceless, if only she had bothered to snatch a camera on her way out.

"KIM!"

Tara shouted with joyful exuberance, Sadie rocking violently, her boyfriend shaking uncontrollably when the blonde girl jumped for joy. She almost laughed when the girl tumbled out of the car, onto her back when the top of the door caught her by the ankle.

"OW—!" the girl yelped, gradually pulling herself back up with a hand to the back of her head. "DAMN - THAT HURT!"

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed, T." Yune mused weakly. "Likewise, no more caffeine for you."

"Forget that!" Tara bounced up and down giddily again; some lessons never learned. "Kim's alive! She's alive! She's alive - LIVE - LIVE - LIVE - LIVE!"

"BURN!" Sadie barked. "Burn - BURN!"

"Uh…!" her brow put in a kink all by itself. "Yeah…! Good to see you too, Sadie. I think…! You too, Yune."

"As much as I'd like to properly welcome you two back, I can't." Yune said gravely, turning his back to her, steeling a glimpse behind them. A grim reminder, it was, that they were not out of the woods yet, not even a far cry from its edge. "We still got work to do!"

"I know." Her sigh was fleeting, lost to the breeze as a firm resolve hardened deep inside her like steel. She'd come too far, seen so much of the evil manifest from Uzi, that fouled soul beating malignantly within that black heart, to simply cut and run! He had to be stopped, one way or another. "I know what needs to be done."

"Good." He nodded.

"Ron." The back door creaked open; the blond lumbered out right as she called. "Saddle up. We're taking Sadie, since this car's running on empty anyway. Grab the rocket grenades!"

"Rodger-dodger, KP." He said, and she could hear him crawl back inside.

"Yune," she asked, "is it possible we can take the machine gun with us?"

"A bit of a pain," the Asian nodded, "but it's possible."

"Please - and - thank - you!" She smirked as Yune hopped out of the car, his desert print brushing against her olive as she walked for the Sadie's passenger side. "Ron, grab the chains while you're at it! I'm taking shotgun!"

Ron moaned - and she did a double take at the driver when she put her foot on the running board. The build, the hair, and the face; those brown eyes stuck in a familiar shape when the girl gave her a quizzical look! Was that—? No, it couldn't be! She was in St. Croix, enjoying her existence without a care in the world, having some good old-fashioned fun in the sun!

"Monique?" she blinked.

"Monique?" the dark girl batted it back, voice character and pitch practically a match yet hindered by that thick African accent. "I am sorry, friend, but you must have me confused with someone else."

"I don't believe it." Her seat rattled as she closed the passenger door. "You could be her twin! Just your skin and clothes are different—!"

"My name is Robin." The girl replied. "From the family Ata. As a girl from a village in Ethiopia, I can safely say that I have not been across the Atlantic. So rest assured that I am not who you think. Your friends, I take it, can 'vouch' for me - as you Americans would say."

"Hell - it doesn't matter at this point." She shook her head. "Robin, can you drive this thing effectively?"

"Yes." The base of the ponytail rolled a bit when the girl nodded. "I happen to be an excellent driver."

"Driving evasively in an SUV is trickier than it looks, you know." She warned. "It's not like you can take a quick turn on the fly, you have to be more thoughtful and careful about it."

"Of course." Robin nodded again. "I will keep that in mind!"

"Take care of the driving, Robin." Yune called with a huff. She looked, and with some help from Ron, the M60 was clear of its mount. It nearly took a spill on the ground as the blond tried to negotiate it off the vehicle, making Sadie rock as he hoisted it into the backseat. "One a simple condition though: leave whatever fighting there is to us!"

"Yes sir!" 'Robin' nodded. "You may count on it!"

"IDF forces should be here any minute now!" Yune said.

"Yeah…!" she peered through the haze. A faint trail of dust floated by the horizon, pluming larger and larger till she could make out the blocky shapes of vehicles just ahead of it. "I think I see them now."

"They'll take care of Drazen's army!" Tara said over the jingle of ammo chains, metals rattling noisily together as the blonde chucked them into the back. She wiggled her way to an available seat, and helped Ron with the rocket grenades when he approached. The RPG-7 itself leaned next to the big rifle while its volatile rounds disappeared below the top of the center console. "We'll have to concentrate on Drazen himself!"

"Well isn't this cute!" The devil himself jeered loudly from his throne, hidden by the megaphones and pockmarked glass like the coward he was. "The A-Team gathers! Aw… it's so cute! This'll go great in the baby book as 'Baby's First Consolidation'! And look over yonder! They brought friends! Bring it on, I say! This'll be fun!"

"Uh… Sir?" the stick man said over a flat, droning bleat.

"I wonder what it's like on your end, Possible!" Drazen laughed. "Waiting for the sword to fall, to cleave your head in two? Kind of like when you were back in G's fun house, if I remember right! Isn't that right, Eli?"

"Sir…?" stick man said again.

Another bleat.

"Oh, that's right, Eli!" Drazen said lightly. "You were a little -tied up- at the moment, weren't you? Kind of like how you tied up the wench, provided that you could tie A DAMN KNOT RIGHT! To think how much trouble we could have saved if that happened, eh?"

"Sir…!" stick man pressed firmly.

Another bleat. A sigh.

"Must you always steal my joy, Eli?" Drazen probably would have frowned.

"Uh…." Stick man let out a dumb man's drone. "I'm not exactly sure how to tell you this but—!"

Another bleat.

"What the hell is that damn noise anyway?" Drazen asked.

Yune chuckled softly, a sort of delirious smile upon his tight face as he followed Ron into the SUV. She saw a smile pull at Tara's lips weakly, and the black girl beside her let out a deflated sigh. Ron's chocolate eyes nearly crossed, and she was glad to see that she wasn't the only one who let the proverbial balloon float over her head.

"What's going on?" Ron asked. "What's the deal?"

Her eyes crossed too, going wide in awe as the stick man answered Ron's question inadvertently, over the megaphones for the whole countryside to hear.

"Major Drazen," the stick man said gravely, "we've… been 'painted'!"

Drazen replied appropriately… and very loudly.

"What THE HELL—?"

In a split second, not even in a twinkling of her eye, Drazen got his answer…!