Quick Kick watched nervously as Lady Jaye removed Beach Head's balaclava and outer clothing. "I guess no one's tried taking him out right away before," he said. "Man, is he gonna be mad when he wakes up."
Gung Ho shrugged. "Last year Leatherneck knocked him out and gave him a black eye."
"Yeah, well, Leatherneck still got caught," Alpine commented.
"I don't think he was still trying to get in at that point," Gung-Ho replied. "He'd already set off the alarms."
Lady Jaye stood, holding Beach Head's clothing. "I'm going to go change. Someone tie him up, please." She ducked behind a thick growth of bushes, and Alpine brought out a length of climbing rope. He secured Beach Head's hands behind his back, tugging at the knots to make sure they were secure.
They all stood looking down at their drill instructor. Lying trussed up on the ground in his underwear for a few hours was not going to improve his disposition. Tunnel Rat jumped when Beach Head moaned and shifted his head, and the group took a step back. No one wanted to be in his line of sight if he woke up just then.
"Ok, I'm ready." Lady Jaye emerged from the leafy screen, now dressed in Beach Head's stolen clothing. Everything fit, more or less; the balaclava hid her features, and the thick vest covered her figure almost completely. "Give me a half hour head start, then move in."
The others nodded, moving behind the next hill and a little closer to the base. "I hope he stays out," Alpine muttered. "I don't know if I can take listening to him curse us for a half an hour."
Lady Jaye smiled to herself as she began the trek back to the base. With a little luck, they would pull this off. She wasn't sure if Beach Head would be proud or only mad, but regardless, they would get farther than any other group had so far.
Mutt saw her coming and moved to open the gate. She stayed far enough away that he wouldn't be able to see details, giving him a gruff nod in passing. He didn't seem to notice anything, but Junkyard obviously sensed that something wasn't right. He cocked his head and whined, giving a half wag of his tail for the person who smelled mostly like Lady Jaye but looked like Beach Head. Fortunately Mutt had him leashed, and he was unable to investigate further.
She used Beach Head's pass key to enter the base, grabbing a random clipboard from the unoccupied front desk as she passed. This part of the base was empty; everyone should be done with dinner and lounging around in their various favorite spots. Technically everyone was supposed to go about business as usual, but it was impossible to act like this was just another night. The team would be on guard more than usual, but not, she hoped, looking for a trick like this.
Taking the long way to the control room, Lady Jaye managed to avoid the most heavily populated areas. She passed Bazooka and Airtight in the hallways, but Beach Head's reputation was working in her favor. All she had to do was glare and they left her alone, giving her a wide berth down the passageway.
She glanced into the main control room before entering. Perfect. Only Mainframe was present, tapping away at a keyboard in front of one of the screens. She quietly walked up behind him, taking on Beach Head's voice to bark, "Mainframe!"
The man flew out of his chair and landed facing her. "Jeez, Beach Head! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
She took a step closer and drove a finger into his chest. "What if I had been Gung-Ho or Tunnel Rat? You'd be unconscious on the floor right now."
Mainframe smiled nervously. "Aw, they won't be in for a few more hours, at least. If they even get this far."
Lady Jaye did her best to loom over him. "That is a sloppy attitude." She moved to one of the consoles and sat down. "I'm going to take over here for a while. Go somewhere else."
She could sense Mainframe rolling his eyes behind her back. "Do you need anything?"
"Just some peace and quiet," she snarled.
Mainframe took the hint and walked out of the room. Lady Jaye quickly moved to his station. She hadn't given him time to shut down the programs he had been working on, and he was still logged on to the computer. She took a few moments to turn off the alarm system, making sure that it wouldn't send out an alert to Duke, as it would under normal circumstances. Fortunately Mainframe's codes overrode that part of the system, since he worked on the program on a regular basis. Next she turned off a few cameras in key locations, citing "needs maintenance" as the reason they weren't up and running. She left the bulk of them alone, as too many non-functional cameras would only raise suspicion.
That done, Lady Jaye downloaded her personnel file, made sure that the date and time were tagged to it, and copied it to disk. She slipped the disk in a pocket and rose, checking her watch.
Quick Kick would be coming over the back fence in ten minutes. She had better get to the firing range and make sure that it was empty before that happened. She headed down the side passages again, exiting at a small door near the armory.
It was nearly dark, yet one lone figure stood at the front of the range. Lady Jaye watched as Cover Girl fired off a last few rounds before walking out to check her target. She walked back, holding the paper up to the fading light. Lady Jaye could see several well-placed holes near the center of the target.
"Nice shooting, Barbie Doll," Lady Jaye drawled.
Cover Girl turned with a start, then raised her eyebrow. "That's rare praise," she said. "Are you in a good mood because you've caught everyone already?" She set down the paper target and leaned against the wooden counter, relaxed and apparently in no mood to return inside just yet.
Lady Jaye gave a one-shouldered shrug and said, "Nah, but I will. Just doin' the rounds." She thought fast. Time was short, and if Cover Girl was in a chatty mood, she'd still be around when Quick Kick started climbing. "I noticed you were actually paying attention during my speech tonight," she said, watching Cover Girl's expression. "I wish Duke would listen as much as you do. Cobra might barge in here at any moment. We have to be on guard."
Cover Girl started edging away, eyes darting to look for an escape from the continuation of the speech she'd heard a million times already. Lady Jaye continued to rant, "We need to have CONSTANT VIGILANCE! I don't know why Duke doesn't just let me run training the way I want to...I could turn this place into a real base. Just today I was telling him—"
"Uh, some other time, Beach Head," Cover Girl interrupted, stepping away. "I need to, uh…get some…paperwork done." She gave a small smile and nearly ran back to the door to the armory.
"About time," Quick Kick called from the far side of the firing range. He climbed the fence with incredible speed, flipping over the wire at the top to grab the links on the inside. He slid down a support pole and landed lightly on his feet.
They walked back inside, and Lady Jaye led the way, making sure the coast was clear before signaling Quick Kick to follow. They headed to the basement sub-levels, where they would let in Tunnel Rat.
There was a light on where there shouldn't be. The two Joes crept closer, looking around the corner to find its source. "Crap," Quick Kick said. "I guess we know where Ace moved the poker game."
Ace, Breaker, Dusty, and Shipwreck were seated around a small table, cards in hands. Lady Jaye glanced at Quick Kick. "Just follow my lead," she whispered.