"Close Calls"
*******************
"Breaker, how soon can you get our satellite to scan the Columbian jungles?" Scarlett asked the team's communications expert.
"About three hours tops," Breaker replied as he bit into a red apple. "Why, what are we looking for?"
"Yeah, what are we looking for?" Duke asked as he walked into the communications room. Caught off-guard by the C.O.'s entrance, Scarlett fought the urge to smile at his mere presence. Why did she take such delight in being in the same room with him, she wondered as she silently cursed him for having that effect on her.
"Our spies have confirmation of Cobra's ties to the Columbian drug lords," Scarlett informed them. "He's supplying their weapons. I have a hunch that they're providing him with a location to operate in return. They hide their crops and processing labs deep inside Columbia's jungles, which would be a perfect hideout for those snakes."
"Good enough for me," Duke replied. "Get a move on that, Breaker."
"Consider it done, Top!" Breaker eagerly told him. "If there's a Cobra snake in that jungle our satellite will pick it up."
*******************
The military transport plane flew over the Columbian jungles in the middle of the night when lo and behold there it was - Cobra's training camp. Scarlett looked out the window to see the terrorist training grounds for herself in her night vision goggles, noting the various building locations: one main building and two barracks, along with several large sheds scattered around. And what's with the big cobra head on top of the main building? Is this guy trying to overcompensate for something lacking? What an idiot, no wonder the satellite could pick up the camp from space.
"Scarlett, you and your team will raid Barracks A," Duke instructed as they strapped on their parachute packs, "Gung-Ho, your team will raid Barracks B. Stalker and I will go after the commander. Now lets shut down this little operation." Duke slid open the door to the Airbus.
As Scarlett moved to the open door and prepared to make her jump, Duke gently put his hand on her shoulder and said to her in a hushed but still confident tone, "Don't worry, Red. You're gonna do great." Scarlett closed her eyes for a second as she felt like she was going to melt under his gentle touch. Stop it and just jump, she told herself. With his confidence instilled in her, Scarlett made her jump and her team followed suit. The rush that went through her as she freefell sent adrenaline surging through her and she felt invincible, like she could take on the world - or at least Cobra. She pulled her ripcord, opening her parachute then landed softly on the ground. She waited for the rest of her team to join her then led them to their designated Cobra barracks to raid, passing bullet-riddled police cars and a school bus with mannequin targets that were scattered around the property along the way. She saw the soldier who was on guard detail and knocked him out from behind with a strike in between his shoulder blades. They waited for Gung-Ho's team to get into position at their barracks.
"Ready when you are, Red," Gung-Ho confirmed over her radio.
"NOW!" On her command they blew open the doors and stormed the building, drawing their M-3A1 submachine guns on the Cobra soldiers who had already jumped out of their beds and were reaching for their guns.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND EAT THE FLOOR COBRA SCUM!" Scarlett bellowed out as she fired warning shots from her submachine gun into the ceiling. The Cobra soldiers dropped their weapons on the floor, raising their hands in the air.
"ON YOUR FACES! NOW!" She ordered, pointing her M-3A1 into a Cobra soldier's neck. The Cobras obliged and laid prone position on the floor. Her team of Greenshirts immediately started picking up the guns off of the floor. Then in a flash in the corner of her eye Scarlett saw one of her Greenies a few yards away with his back turned to a Cobra soldier who had his hand around the handle of the pistol in his ankle holster, his finger already on the trigger. It was too late to warn him, and Scarlett immediately fired her gun at the Cobra, shredding open his chest and killing him instantly. Fuck, she lamented to herself, he couldn't have been more than nineteen. What a waste.
"DOES ANYONE ELSE WANT TO BE STUPID LIKE YOUR FRIEND HERE?" Scarlett challenged the room, her tone unwavering. "YOU CAN EITHER WALK OUT OF HERE ON YOUR FEET OR BE CARRIED OUT IN A BODY BAG - IT'S UP TO YOU!"
Silence.
"That's what I thought. Get these snakes out of here," she ordered her Greenies. She walked over to the dead soldier and looked at the face of the young man whose life she took only minutes ago, his lifeless brown eyes staring back up at her. She knelt next to him and closed his eyelids.
*******************
"Hopefully Breaker will be able to get some information from the computers we seized," Scarlett said to Duke as they sat on the transport plane headed back to the States. Duke said nothing in response and she wondered if he was even listening to her. "You're still pissed that the commander got away," she said, now noticing Duke's seething expression.
"The commander and his high ranking officers," Duke fumed.
"We shut their training camp down and collected their soldiers," Scarlett reasoned. "That buys us a little time."
"Only until he recruits more and opens up another training camp, if he doesn't already have one elsewhere," he stated. Scarlett hated to see him brood, but he was right. Their stop to Cobra was only temporary at best. She decided not to push the issue since she had her own casualty to brood over. That baby face, the young lifeless eyes staring back up at his killer, and she'd never even know his name - which was for the best for fear of humanizing him any more than she already had. And he'd only be the first of many to come. These soldiers swore allegiance to Cobra and were more than willing to die for this madman's cause. Apparently they were also willing to shoot up school buses as well. Inside a huge shed she raided after the barracks was an equally macabre scene - shot-up mannequins, male and female, in domestic and office settings, some with red, blood-like stains on them. The disturbing scenes strengthened her resolve to put a stop to the Cobra Command.
"You're thinking about that soldier, aren't you," said Duke as he took notice of her sullen expression and faraway look in her eyes. Scarlett snapped out of her trance and just shrugged.
"War is hell, right? I'll be fine," she promised then her attention was turned to the trickle of blood coming from his forehead. "Duke you're bleeding," she said with slight alarm.
Duke touched the wound on his forehead then looked at the blood on his fingertips. "Oh," he replied nonchalantly, "I thought I had it had stopped."
"You should have Doc take a look at it."
"Doc's busy tending to real wounds. It'll clot soon enough."
"Not soon enough for me. Come on, Top," she said as she picked up a first aid kit and dragged him to the lavatory. It was a tight fit in there but the lighting was much better.
"This really isn't necessary," Duke protested as she dabbed antiseptic on his wound.
"Don't give me a hard time. You don't want this to get infected."
"I have better things to do."
"Like what? Brood? You can do that while I clean this up."
"Do you always have to be such a smart-ass?"
"So change my name to Sergeant Smart-Ass," she retorted as she taped gauze over the wound. Duke looked in wonder at the fiery redhead, not afraid to stand up to him but without overstepping her bounds as his subordinate. He fought the urge to push the few strands of hair off of her face. Before he had a chance to reply to her remark they were suddenly jolted by turbulence. He caught her by her waist to prevent her fall, gripping her tightly and closely to hold her steady.
There she was, standing in the big Master Sergeant's arms, pressed up against him with her hands clutched to his shoulders and her face only inches from his. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin as his piercing blues gazed down on her, looking intently into her deep blue eyes. She was too captivated to look away as she felt like those piercing blues were shooting a fire through her body. She was sure he could feel her heart was about to leap right out of her chest. As his clutch around her waist softened to more of a caress and his lips slowly came an inch closer to hers, she was sure he was about to kiss her. This is wrong, she told herself. This couldn't happen - not with another teammate and certainly not with her superior. But at the same time she longed to taste his lips, to explore the deep passionate side of this man. But there were two careers on the line; was she ready to open that can of worms? The intensity was too much to bear for her and she finally broke away from him.
"I'm fine," she said nervously, "turbulence is over." It actually had been for seemingly an eternity by now.
"Um, good," he replied as he nervously ran his hand through his short blonde hair, and a mixed feeling of disappointment and relief washed over him. "And I'm all bandaged up so lets get out of this sardine can."
*******************
*******************
"Breaker, how soon can you get our satellite to scan the Columbian jungles?" Scarlett asked the team's communications expert.
"About three hours tops," Breaker replied as he bit into a red apple. "Why, what are we looking for?"
"Yeah, what are we looking for?" Duke asked as he walked into the communications room. Caught off-guard by the C.O.'s entrance, Scarlett fought the urge to smile at his mere presence. Why did she take such delight in being in the same room with him, she wondered as she silently cursed him for having that effect on her.
"Our spies have confirmation of Cobra's ties to the Columbian drug lords," Scarlett informed them. "He's supplying their weapons. I have a hunch that they're providing him with a location to operate in return. They hide their crops and processing labs deep inside Columbia's jungles, which would be a perfect hideout for those snakes."
"Good enough for me," Duke replied. "Get a move on that, Breaker."
"Consider it done, Top!" Breaker eagerly told him. "If there's a Cobra snake in that jungle our satellite will pick it up."
*******************
The military transport plane flew over the Columbian jungles in the middle of the night when lo and behold there it was - Cobra's training camp. Scarlett looked out the window to see the terrorist training grounds for herself in her night vision goggles, noting the various building locations: one main building and two barracks, along with several large sheds scattered around. And what's with the big cobra head on top of the main building? Is this guy trying to overcompensate for something lacking? What an idiot, no wonder the satellite could pick up the camp from space.
"Scarlett, you and your team will raid Barracks A," Duke instructed as they strapped on their parachute packs, "Gung-Ho, your team will raid Barracks B. Stalker and I will go after the commander. Now lets shut down this little operation." Duke slid open the door to the Airbus.
As Scarlett moved to the open door and prepared to make her jump, Duke gently put his hand on her shoulder and said to her in a hushed but still confident tone, "Don't worry, Red. You're gonna do great." Scarlett closed her eyes for a second as she felt like she was going to melt under his gentle touch. Stop it and just jump, she told herself. With his confidence instilled in her, Scarlett made her jump and her team followed suit. The rush that went through her as she freefell sent adrenaline surging through her and she felt invincible, like she could take on the world - or at least Cobra. She pulled her ripcord, opening her parachute then landed softly on the ground. She waited for the rest of her team to join her then led them to their designated Cobra barracks to raid, passing bullet-riddled police cars and a school bus with mannequin targets that were scattered around the property along the way. She saw the soldier who was on guard detail and knocked him out from behind with a strike in between his shoulder blades. They waited for Gung-Ho's team to get into position at their barracks.
"Ready when you are, Red," Gung-Ho confirmed over her radio.
"NOW!" On her command they blew open the doors and stormed the building, drawing their M-3A1 submachine guns on the Cobra soldiers who had already jumped out of their beds and were reaching for their guns.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND EAT THE FLOOR COBRA SCUM!" Scarlett bellowed out as she fired warning shots from her submachine gun into the ceiling. The Cobra soldiers dropped their weapons on the floor, raising their hands in the air.
"ON YOUR FACES! NOW!" She ordered, pointing her M-3A1 into a Cobra soldier's neck. The Cobras obliged and laid prone position on the floor. Her team of Greenshirts immediately started picking up the guns off of the floor. Then in a flash in the corner of her eye Scarlett saw one of her Greenies a few yards away with his back turned to a Cobra soldier who had his hand around the handle of the pistol in his ankle holster, his finger already on the trigger. It was too late to warn him, and Scarlett immediately fired her gun at the Cobra, shredding open his chest and killing him instantly. Fuck, she lamented to herself, he couldn't have been more than nineteen. What a waste.
"DOES ANYONE ELSE WANT TO BE STUPID LIKE YOUR FRIEND HERE?" Scarlett challenged the room, her tone unwavering. "YOU CAN EITHER WALK OUT OF HERE ON YOUR FEET OR BE CARRIED OUT IN A BODY BAG - IT'S UP TO YOU!"
Silence.
"That's what I thought. Get these snakes out of here," she ordered her Greenies. She walked over to the dead soldier and looked at the face of the young man whose life she took only minutes ago, his lifeless brown eyes staring back up at her. She knelt next to him and closed his eyelids.
*******************
"Hopefully Breaker will be able to get some information from the computers we seized," Scarlett said to Duke as they sat on the transport plane headed back to the States. Duke said nothing in response and she wondered if he was even listening to her. "You're still pissed that the commander got away," she said, now noticing Duke's seething expression.
"The commander and his high ranking officers," Duke fumed.
"We shut their training camp down and collected their soldiers," Scarlett reasoned. "That buys us a little time."
"Only until he recruits more and opens up another training camp, if he doesn't already have one elsewhere," he stated. Scarlett hated to see him brood, but he was right. Their stop to Cobra was only temporary at best. She decided not to push the issue since she had her own casualty to brood over. That baby face, the young lifeless eyes staring back up at his killer, and she'd never even know his name - which was for the best for fear of humanizing him any more than she already had. And he'd only be the first of many to come. These soldiers swore allegiance to Cobra and were more than willing to die for this madman's cause. Apparently they were also willing to shoot up school buses as well. Inside a huge shed she raided after the barracks was an equally macabre scene - shot-up mannequins, male and female, in domestic and office settings, some with red, blood-like stains on them. The disturbing scenes strengthened her resolve to put a stop to the Cobra Command.
"You're thinking about that soldier, aren't you," said Duke as he took notice of her sullen expression and faraway look in her eyes. Scarlett snapped out of her trance and just shrugged.
"War is hell, right? I'll be fine," she promised then her attention was turned to the trickle of blood coming from his forehead. "Duke you're bleeding," she said with slight alarm.
Duke touched the wound on his forehead then looked at the blood on his fingertips. "Oh," he replied nonchalantly, "I thought I had it had stopped."
"You should have Doc take a look at it."
"Doc's busy tending to real wounds. It'll clot soon enough."
"Not soon enough for me. Come on, Top," she said as she picked up a first aid kit and dragged him to the lavatory. It was a tight fit in there but the lighting was much better.
"This really isn't necessary," Duke protested as she dabbed antiseptic on his wound.
"Don't give me a hard time. You don't want this to get infected."
"I have better things to do."
"Like what? Brood? You can do that while I clean this up."
"Do you always have to be such a smart-ass?"
"So change my name to Sergeant Smart-Ass," she retorted as she taped gauze over the wound. Duke looked in wonder at the fiery redhead, not afraid to stand up to him but without overstepping her bounds as his subordinate. He fought the urge to push the few strands of hair off of her face. Before he had a chance to reply to her remark they were suddenly jolted by turbulence. He caught her by her waist to prevent her fall, gripping her tightly and closely to hold her steady.
There she was, standing in the big Master Sergeant's arms, pressed up against him with her hands clutched to his shoulders and her face only inches from his. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin as his piercing blues gazed down on her, looking intently into her deep blue eyes. She was too captivated to look away as she felt like those piercing blues were shooting a fire through her body. She was sure he could feel her heart was about to leap right out of her chest. As his clutch around her waist softened to more of a caress and his lips slowly came an inch closer to hers, she was sure he was about to kiss her. This is wrong, she told herself. This couldn't happen - not with another teammate and certainly not with her superior. But at the same time she longed to taste his lips, to explore the deep passionate side of this man. But there were two careers on the line; was she ready to open that can of worms? The intensity was too much to bear for her and she finally broke away from him.
"I'm fine," she said nervously, "turbulence is over." It actually had been for seemingly an eternity by now.
"Um, good," he replied as he nervously ran his hand through his short blonde hair, and a mixed feeling of disappointment and relief washed over him. "And I'm all bandaged up so lets get out of this sardine can."
*******************