Friday, May 26th, 2017
Safehouse VL
17:00 GMT+1 (16:00 GMT May 26th)
They had awoken just an hour previously.
After a shower and a bite to eat, the two unfortunate girls found themselves marched up the stairs to their bedroom. There, both girls were stripped, and Harper handed them their special black underwear. Harper already wore her back underwear as well as the undersuit for her armour. Under Harper's guidance, the two girls pulled on their undersuits. For Diana, her undersuit was different in that it only went down as far as her stumps, terminating part way down them. Harper had queried that.
"My legs are bulletproof, so I've been told. I also need to be able to access them, too, when needed."
"That sounds so weird," Scarlett commented.
"We'll get to that when we're downstairs," Harper cringed.
Diana's artificial legs tended to freak Harper out – she had no idea why; they just did.
..._...
Downstairs in the living room, Alpha Team and Bravo Team met up.
All six wore their dark grey undersuits in preparation for attaching their armour. Cameron, Keira, and Natasha were on hand to assist the two key teams as they suited up.
They began with Harper; her new armour was predominantly a matt black but with a broad green trim around each section of composite armour which attached to her undersuit and neatly conformed to the shape and curves of her body. Once all sections of her upper body had been clipped on, the conformal armour protected every part, coming together as a single, semi-rigid unit. Additional sections of composite armour extended down from her waist around her bottom and groin, then around and down her legs all the way to her ankles. Dark green armoured lightweight boots joined her leg armour and covered her feet and ankles. Around Harper's waist, a dark green utility belt clipped onto the armour, joining the upper and lower sections together. Into the twin holsters, a pair of SIG Sauer P238 Compact pistols, each with a loaded seven-round extended magazine in the butt, were inserted and secured. Three additional seven-round extended magazines were placed into pouches arranged around the rear of the utility belt, either side of the centrally located communications package. Six ceramic throwing knives were placed into mounts on the front of each thigh, three per side. On her right calf, a six-inch combat knife was attached to pre-prepared fittings. For her melee weaponry, a pair of two-foot long tactical wakizashi machetes were fitted to her back, to be drawn over the shoulders. Finally, the transformation from Harper Sharp to Polaris was completed with the fitting of the mask which covered the girl's entire head and face. As the mask came online, Polaris' eyes glowed a disturbing shade of red and as she spoke, her words were electronically mutilated to prevent any chance of identification.
"Feels good," she commented.
Rylee was distinctly impressed by the transformation and she found the red eyes particularly intimidating. As Polaris removed her mask – it was not needed at that point, she grinned sheepishly. Inside, Harper was incredibly pleased to be getting back into action after so many months of treatment and healing for her wounds received the previous year.
"Okay," Keira decided. "Let's go for the three Zetas next."
..._...
Simon, Tanya, and Rylee grinned as they laid eyes on their combat suits for only the second time in their lives.
Sections of matte black composite armour were handed out to the three youngsters. The armour was identical for each, except that for Tanya and Rylee, extra room had been allowed for their female chests. Simon was quick to point that out as he noticed that their chest plates were different.
"Rylee's chest armour is almost as flat as mine," Simon commented slyly, causing everyone but Rylee to laugh.
Rylee's armour was trimmed in blue while Tanya's was trimmed in red, and Simon's was trimmed in a light grey. All three were fully armoured up by Keira, Cameron, and Natasha. Each was armed in an identical manner. A Walther PPQ M2 Navy SD pistol was fitted into a holster mounted on the right hip of each vigilante. Additional fifteen-round magazines, three each, were inserted into pouches on the utility belts of each vigilante, either side of the centrally located communications package. Six ceramic throwing knives were affixed on the front of each thigh, three per side. On each right calf, an eight-inch combat knife was attached. Each vigilante was equipped with a pair of two-foot long tactical wakizashi machetes which were fitted to their backs, to be drawn over their shoulders. Then, after a pair of black armoured gauntlets for their hands, there came the masks which would hide their all-important identity.
As before, the fitting of the masks which covered their entire heads and faces, Rylee Clarkson, Simon Dalton, and Tanya Enfield were transformed into Noxa, Custos, and Necis. As the masks came online, the eyes of Noxa burned a cold deep blue while for Custos, they were a mesmerising yellow, but the eyes of Necis were a deep orange as they looked around the room. Cameron nodded as he studied the three new vigilantes. All three then picked up a pouch loaded with three thirty-round magazines and clipped the pouch onto their respective utility belts over the comms package. They then picked up their Diemaco C8-CQB assault rifles and inserted a fourth magazine into the gaping receivers.
Whatever fears Diana and Scarlett had had about the mission ahead of them, those fears quickly vanished as they laid eyes on the heavily armed Bravo Team whose single mission for that night was to protect Alpha Team – to protect them.
..._...
It was now the turn of the newbies.
"We are going to be walking around, an awful lot, Diana – you going to be okay?" Harper had asked the previous evening.
"I think so – I've got these new 'combat legs' from Lucius. They're lighter than my normal set and the sockets are a lot softer. However, they are loaded with stuff."
Diana was right, the 'combat legs' could be loaded with equipment. The operating components of the legs had been made as small as possible while still being ultra-strong and ultra-light. With a normal artificial appendage, the leg would be shaped to look like a normal leg for psychological reasons, however, lots of space was wasted and the leg was just a leg, nothing more. However, for Diana's combat legs, Lucius Fox had gone to town. The legs were formed from carbon fibre and ceramic composites which made them all but indestructible. They were water, sand, dust, dirt, and bullet resistant. No blade could cut or damage the structure or embedded circuitry, and the structure could withstand an explosive blast – not that the latter was much use as, yes, the leg would survive but the wearer would not. Around the central functional workings of the legs, each of which ended at a skeletal, webbed-foot, a super-thin, super-strong, and super-lightweight structure had been built which filled out the leg to look just like any other, except for several openings built into the external structure which provided compact storage options.
To make things easier, they chose to preload the legs. Without warning, Diana freaked everybody out by simply sitting down on the living room floor and then deftly removing both of her legs.
"Talk about fucking creepy!" Tanya exclaimed.
"Way cool!" Simon said.
"I'll go with creepy," Rylee decided.
"You get used to it," Harper cringed.
"I love it!" Scarlett grinned.
In her left leg, which had more space due to its size, four ceramic knives slid neatly into recesses in the fake calf muscle. The knives were equally good at being thrown or just being used to stab. Also stowed within the leg was a small Kel-Tec PF-9 pistol and two seven-round magazines. In the more compact right lower leg, four more ceramic knives slid neatly into recesses in the fake calf muscle. Also stowed in the leg was a suppressor for the Kel-Tec pistol.
"You all happy now?" Diana grinned as she refitted her legs and sat back down on a chair.
"Yeah...," Rylee grinned.
Then it was time to move onto Diana's combat suit.
..._...
For a start, the composite armour was a deep navy blue with the key sections of armour bordered with a broad dull yellow trim with a thin vibrant red stripe on the inside.
Being female, Diana's chest armour had the same shape as those worn by the other girls with breasts, however, Harper said nothing as she could see that Diana was very focussed on her armour which she had only worn just twice before. Everything about the armour was basically the same as that which the other girls wore, until you got to the legs. The armour was thinner, thus lighter, as the legs were their own armour. However, where there was equipment stored within the legs, additional armour was provided as well as flaps secured by Velcro to allow for swift access to the concealed storage areas. The boots which enclosed the skeletal feet were also lighter than for the others as there was less that needed to be protected. Those weight savings meant that for Diana, the legs weighed quite a bit less than the real legs she had had amputated, even with the additional pistol and other accoutrements. That meant moving the tactical prosthetic limbs would be a lot easier for the girl. A pair of navy-blue armoured gauntlets finished off the limbs.
Into the holster on her utility belt went a SIG Sauer P238 Compact pistol followed by three seven-round extended magazines which were inserted into pouches on the left side of the centrally located communications package at the rear. A trio of ceramic knives adorned either thigh while a seven-inch combat knife was fitted to the outside of her left thigh. The array of weaponry was completed by the five-foot long carbon fibre bō-staff which came apart to form a pair of individual fifteen-inch-bladed swords which could then be joined at the hilt to form a vicious and deadly double-bladed bō-staff.
Finally, came the mask to transform Diana Sharp into Aegea. The mask was formed of black composite armour covering her entire head. The facial section of the mask was a vibrant red with a dull yellow trim. As Aegea brought her mask online, the eyes glowed a striking yellow, but they could also burn a dangerous red when required.
"Well, how does it feel?" Harper asked.
"Brilliant!" Aegea announced in a weird sounding electronically enhanced voice.
Harper grinned as she looked over the combat suit which totally changed the annoying girl into a menacing vigilante.
..._...
Scarlett was feeling very apprehensive by the time everyone turned to her.
The girl had been waiting so patiently and while she had enjoyed watching everyone else suit up, she so desperately wanted to pull on her own combat suit. Natasha grinned, having watched Scarlett's nervousness be overridden by her almost irrational desire to become someone else. As the girl stood there in her undersuit, Harper grinned as she saw Scarlett biting her bottom lip. Harper, herself, placed the breastplate onto Scarlett's upper body and secured it into place. The breastplate was a single unit of flexible composite armour which matched up with a backplate, both sections joining under the arms and over the shoulders. The two sections were coloured a golden brown with the underarm sections a deeper shade. Additional armour fitted to each arm in two golden brown sections above and below each elbow. Her shoulders received extra protection with golden brown armour and covered the joints in the armour. Additional darker armour connected to the upper sections and protected the wearer from the abdomen downwards and then down each thigh as far as the knee. From six inches above the knee, golden brown armour extended down to the ankles where it joined to a pair of deep brown lightweight armoured boots.
Around the waist, a flowing defensive skirt (or pteruges) of Kevlar in a deep brown extended to mid-thigh with strips of composite Kevlar sections arrayed in front and back, each in a deep red. A flowing red sash was secured at the waist just below the utility belt and hung to the right side. The sash was lightweight, but strong, and could be removed to be used as a bullet-resistant and fire-resistant cover. Scarlett's left hand vanished into a golden-brown armoured gauntlet, however, due to her disability, the combat suit on the right arm extended down to what had been her wrist. Her normal, skeletal hand would be enclosed in a lighter gauntlet with minimal armour to protect the intricate mechanism of the hand. However, the hand could be easily removed and stowed in a dedicated pouch on her utility belt. In its place, Scarlett could fit a single four-inch blade, a set of triple six-inch blades reminiscent of Wolverine, or a single serrated right-angled pick as found on a climbing axe. The accessories were carried in additional pouches on her utility belt. Each thigh bore a triple mounting for six throwing blades.
On the utility belt, a holster for a Walther PPQ M2 Navy SD pistol was fitted into a holster mounted on the right side. Additional fifteen-round magazines, three each, were inserted into pouches on the utility belts, to the left side of the centrally located communications package. Secured on her back were three items. A pair of tactical, orange and red carbon fibre javelins with eight-inch blades and a total length of 44-inches, could be thrown, but also had the ability to be fitted together to form a single six-foot bō-staff with bladed ends. The weapons were stowed together and the hilts of both extended over the left shoulder. As added protection, when stowed or when worn on the left arm, the two-foot-diameter composite ceramic and carbon fibre domed Greek-style shield with two six-inch radii hemispherical cutouts top and bottom for a javelin or a firearm. The shield was gold in colour with vibrant red markings highlighting the central dome which was surrounded by a six-inch flattened section. The shield could block all but the heaviest bullets.
As for the mask, which covered the entire head and face, creating Pyrrha, the faceplate was a deep crimson colour with the facial markings around the eyes and nose highlighted in gold. Around the top of the mask, a plain gold-coloured titanium tiara was affixed to the top of the mask and surrounded by a thick mane of vibrant red hair which hung from the top of the head down to the middle of the back in a long ponytail. As the mask was pulled on and activated, the eyes burned an emerald green.
"Now that, is fucking awesome!" Rylee stated.
"How do I look?" Pyrrha asked in an even-pitched electronically altered voice.
"As Rylee said," Harper replied, "you look amazing."
"I am totally stunned," Tanya commented. "That combat suit is truly amazing and those eyes..."
Pyrrha grinned beneath her mask, happy to be someone else.
..._...
For Harper, Scarlett, and Diana, it was to be their first time out as combat-ready vigilantes.
At least it was for Diana and Scarlett – for Harper, though, it was simply a return to action. The two girls – despite both of them being quite a bit older than Harper – were taking direction from the junior girl like their lives depended on it. Actually, that was just how it was. Both girls were astute enough to realise, early on in their training, that Harper's training would be what would keep them alive when the shit hit the fan.
Rylee found herself increasingly impressed by Harper's demeanour.
"I really hate to say this," Rylee commented as they all sat down in the kitchen for a mug of tea each. "But you've done really well for yourself – ignoring the whole getting captured thing – and I'm really impressed."
"Bet that tasted bad coming out!" Simon laughed.
Rylee grinned.
"That really means a lot," Harper admitted.
"What was it like, waking up to no legs?" Tanya asked Diana.
"I felt bitter," Diana said. "I felt like life wasn't worth living. I took it all to heart and then . . . after a while . . . I realised that I didn't have a leg to stand on!"
Harper laughed out loud and she slapped her sister. Even Scarlett giggled. Tanya scowled as Rylee and Simon joined in with the laughter. Rylee noticed the dark gallows humour creeping in, and she realised how close Harper and Diana were. Every person in the kitchen – including Natasha – had endured a traumatic experience of some kind and those experiences had brought everyone together as a tight-knit team, despite their vastly different backgrounds.
After their tea, the two teams went back to their preparations.
..._...
Elsewhere, in the safehouse, the other four teams were preparing for their own missions.
Keira, Kate, and Jessica – AKA Scorpion, Goshawk, and Overrun – were departing for east London. All wore their combat flight suits which carried extra armour. They would pre-flight TWILIGHT and ensure that the armed attack helicopter was ready for action. Harper grinned up at her big sister and Keira gave Harper and Diana a long look before she glanced up at Blake and left the safehouse. Natasha saw the worried look on Keira's face, knowing how much she hated being parted during a dangerous mission.
Craig, Olivia, Dakota, Christopher, and Jessica – AKA Stripe, Ajax, Arbiter, Harrier, and Forager – were all suited up and between them, they were checking and re-checking each other's equipment. Nothing could be left to chance and Craig allowed himself to be checked over by Dakota, the only other Predator on the team.
"You're good," Dakota grinned as she finished checking over the boy's equipment.
Olivia was scowling, but she knew that Dakota batted for the other side, so her touching Craig meant precisely nothing – actually, Dakota had been very hands on, just to annoy Olivia.
"She's doing it to annoy you," Jeremy pointed out to Olivia.
"I know!" Olivia growled defensively.
"You guys ready?" an armour-clad Cameron – AKA Drift – asked.
"Yes!" they chorused.
Mary sat with Electra, both suited up and ready to fight, minus their masks. A few feet away, the ever-present Amber was checking things off on a tablet. Amber's organisational skills were critical to such a mission and she was ensuring that nothing was missed. It still freaked the girl out, some, that she was co-existing with a Royal Princess. It had also shocked her, earlier that day, to find out that Princess Mary was a fully-fledged and blooded vigilante. She had had a shrewd idea, but the truth was simply unbelievable – at least until she had seen Mary in her yellow and black combat suit as Belle alongside Rigour.
Eric, Ewan, and Jordan – AKA Q, Insidious, and Viridian – departed soon after Romeo Team as they needed to get their support van into place.
..._...
Harper was back in lecture mode.
"Today, we three are a team. You will both follow my orders and directions, exactly," she said sternly. "If you do not understand or you simply mis-hear something, then you had better speak up. You go into a situation without the right information then you, or worse somebody else, gets killed. Understand?"
There were mumbles from Scarlett and Diana.
"I want to hear: 'Yes, Harper'!" Harper bellowed.
"Yes, Harper!" the two girls intoned.
Harper had noticed the two girls' building nervousness as the time to depart had rapidly approached; therefore, she had opted to use her voice to distract them from what lay ahead.
Central London
21:15 GMT+1 (20:15 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team & Bravo Team
The streets were calm and empty around the target location as would be expected for such an hour.
Alpha Team with Bravo Team just a few yards behind moved through the darkness, emerging from the shadows of a neighbouring building and making their way towards an opening which dropped down eighteen feet to the basement level carpark. Without comment, Polaris attached a pre-configured climbing rope to a railing with a pre-attached carabiner. One by one, as Bravo Team watched over them, Polaris, Aegea, and Pyrrha dropped down the rope to the basement level below. They were swiftly followed by Bravo Team with Necis removing the rope as she descended last. Their progress was being closely monitored by Sierra Team in DYNAMO. Q had been able to hack the surveillance cameras for the lower levels of the safehouse and the security guards on duty were watching a looped video of the basement approaches and the underground carpark. As they entered the carpark, beneath an open roller shutter, they found that the carpark was mostly empty, and Bravo Team blended into the shadows where they would stay until called upon. Alpha Team continued on towards the door which led into the stairwell.
As expected, the door was secured, but as they approached, it clicked open, courtesy of Q and his team.
..._...
Aegea breathed a sigh of relief – they were in.
However, her relief was extremely short-lived as she realised that they still needed to get to the sixth floor to recover 'the item'. She saw Polaris tipping her head, telling her to move. They made for the fire stairs which would take them up to the fifth floor before they then needed to crossover to another staircase which would take them up to the sixth floor. Above the basement and the carpark were the public areas which covered two floors, one of which was more of a mezzanine than a full floor. They passed the ground floor and then the first floor without an issue and surprisingly, Pyrrha was last as Aegea seemed to cope with the stairs very well, considering her not-so-disabling disability.
"You need to sort out your fitness, Pyrrha," Polaris chuckled.
"Bite me!" Pyrrha retorted.
At the third floor, they paused as they heard voices above them.
"You have company entering the fire stairs from above you," Viridian announced. "Stay out of sight – duck into the third floor."
They did as they were directed with Polaris heaving open the heavy fire door once Viridian had triggered the security lock. Pyrrha went first, her suppressed pistol held out ahead of her. There was no sign of activity on the third floor which was just fine as far as Alpha Team were concerned. They waited two minutes before they received a radio call from Viridian.
"All clear on the fire stairs."
Alpha Team returned to the fire stairs and they continued upwards, more cautiously than before now that they knew others were present in the facility.
..._...
At the fifth floor, they paused outside the exit from the fire stairs.
It was time to go to work and infiltrate the 'secure' portion of the facility. Unfortunately, the surveillance and security systems for the fifth floor and above were a closed system which meant that Alpha Team was on its own until they could breech the air-gapped system. As an example, the door before them was secured with a biometric lock, but they had come prepared with an impressive array of electronic gadgets, most of which had originated from Wayne Enterprises, but one or two which had originated from MI5 and were highly classified. However, due to the nature of the operation, Jasper had persuaded his boss to provide any tools which might be required to ensure the success of the operation. Aegea was the resident geek and she produced a small electronic device which fitted surprisingly neatly over the biometric sensor mounted on the wall beside the doorway. What it did, and how it did it, none of them knew. Needless to say, after about thirty seconds, the device triggered the lock release and Polaris eased the heavy door open and she very carefully peered through.
It was surprisingly quiet, and the silence unnerved all three members of Alpha Team. Immediately around them was an open area with a good-sized kitchen off to one side with space to feed about a dozen people. The kitchen was empty but there was evidence of recent use and the oven was still warm. That was enough to tell them that there could be danger around any corner. Slowly and stealthily, they moved through the open area, keeping to the walls as much as possible. Most of the lighting was off, but there was enough for them to be noticed. As they reached the far side of the open space, they found a small area equipped with four computers. Aegea pulled a small USB device from her utility belt and she slipped it into a port on the rear of one of the computers.
"I have control," Q acknowledged a minute later. "I also have the upper level CCTV system and door locks."
"Okay," Insidious advised the team. "There are seven people immediately visible . . . none are near you, for now. Two are on your level with three on the next level above. The final pair are on level eight. You are clear to make for the next fire stairs."
"Copy!" Polaris whispered.
With Aegea and Pyrrha keeping a lookout, Polaris made for the fire stairs which were down a short corridor away from the open area.
The Basement
A carpark
21:48 GMT+1 (20:48 GMT May 26th)
Bravo Team
"You still awake?" Custos enquired.
"Wish those buggers would hurry the fuck up," Noxa groused as she crouched in the darkness with her team.
"You got somewhere to be?" Necis commented.
"No!"
"Grumpy!" Custos chuckled.
"I just hate the bloody waiting..."
"We know!" Custos and Necis responded, both fed up with the whining.
Noxa decided not to respond, knowing full well that her 'friends' would simply twist her words around.
The Sixth Floor
A stair well
21:49 GMT+1 (20:49 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team
Once they were in the relative safety of the fire stairs, the team paused.
"You both good?" Polaris asked.
"It sure gets the adrenalin going," Pyrrha commented.
"Tell me about it!" Aegea said. "I'm good."
"Me too," Pyrrha added. "Lead on, great leader!"
Polaris chuckled as she began to climb again – her legs were sore, but in a good way; she always enjoyed exercise. Two flights of stairs later, they paused again at the fire door which led onto the sixth floor – their target floor.
"Sierra, we're at the fire door on the sixth floor – are we go?" Polaris radioed.
After a short pause, Viridian came back.
"There are three people on six – we'll guide you, but you'll have to stay tight."
"Copy that," Polaris responded. "Ready?" she asked her team.
"Would it make a difference if I said no?" Pyrrha asked.
"Not really," Polaris chuckled. "Aegea?"
"Let's get this done!"
Pyrrha laughed quietly to herself as she considered Aegea's unbridled eagerness.
DYNAMO
21:56 GMT+1 (20:56 GMT May 26th)
Sierra Team
Viridian had the centre seat, with Q to his left and Insidious to his right.
His eagle eyes were glued to the monitors before him. His job was to guide Alpha Team to their target. Insidious was busy watching the various CCTV images, on the lookout for any trouble while Q kept an overriding eye on everything. High above them, the sixth floor was in almost total darkness except for three offices where people were still beavering away.
"Move! Take a right," Viridian directed, and Alpha Team slipped through the fire door, turning right into the corridor.
Annoyingly, they would have to pass by two of those offices to reach their target office where the file was believed to be located. As a tight threesome, Alpha Team moved through the darkness.
"Stop!" Viridian almost yelled as she clocked the door opening for one of the offices, just ahead on the left of Alpha Team.
The team froze.
"Storage cupboard to your right – get in there!" Viridian ordered and he saw Alpha Team move smartly and they closed the door behind them just as a woman stepped out of her office and pushed open the door to the adjacent one.
Viridian had no way to hear what was being said, but Alpha Team did.
The Sixth Floor
A storage cupboard
21:56 GMT+1 (20:56 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team
Pyrrha frowned beneath her mask.
"Did that sound like Korean?" she asked Aegea.
"Didn't recognise a word of it," Aegea confirmed.
"It couldn't be...," Polaris muttered.
"Time to move!" Viridian directed.
Polaris pulled open the door just as one of the office doors clicked shut. All three moved swiftly, but silently down the corridor. They turned a corner to the left and paused for a moment.
"Third office on the right, Alpha Team."
"Copy!" Polaris responded.
As Pyrrha covered their backs, Polaris and Aegea moved to the door of the office in question.
"Oh, you have to be kidding!" Polaris groaned.
"What?" Viridian demanded.
"There's an electronic lock but also two mechanical locks," Polaris advised Viridian.
"Is that a problem, Polaris?"
Polaris grimaced at the sarcastic tone as she pulled out her lockpicks.
"No! Just fucking annoying!"
Polaris set to work.
DYNAMO
22:06 GMT+1 (21:06 GMT May 26th)
Sierra Team
"DYNAMO, Echo; you have company!"
"Copy!" Q responded as he clocked a set of bright headlights which had just turned into the street and illuminated their white van. "Echo: stand to!"
"Echo copies."
Once the headlights had turned past the van, Q grinned as he recognised the vehicle. It was a large red BMW X5 police car. Once the vehicle had stopped, a police officer climbed out and he peered in the windows of the van. Naturally, he could see nothing, but Q knew that they were safe.
"Nothing to worry about – this van was called in earlier," Sergeant Beck announced loudly before he slapped a large 'Police Aware' sticker on the bonnet of the van for all to see. "That should stop people calling us."
"Echo: Stand down!" Q advised.
Fifty yards away, Stripe and Ajax slunk back into the undergrowth.
The Sixth Floor
Outside an office
22:06 GMT+1 (22:06 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team
It had not taken long.
"Voila!" Polaris announced as she pushed open the office door.
"Show off!" Aegea commented as she strode past.
"I'd have got us in faster," Pyrrha chuckled as she followed Aegea.
"Bitches!" Polaris growled as she followed behind and closed the door once she was inside the office.
The office was enclosed and once Aegea had closed the blinds at the windows, they flicked on hooded, focussed torches attached to their left wrists. They then began to search the office for the file they had risked so much to acquire.
"This would be a good one for Spark," Pyrrha grumbled. "She loves rooting through other people's shit."
Polaris and Aegea laughed at that as they continued to search.
Safehouse VL
22:08 GMT+1 (21:08 GMT May 26th)
Amber/Spark scowled.
"That is so not fair!" she growled.
"They're just messing with you," Jasper commented.
"I suppose."
"Ignore them," Lynn suggested.
Amber glowered at the speaker which sat on the living room table. She hated being left out of the operation, but she was not an operator. However, she had done her part to ensure that the operation went as well as it could.
"Shouldn't they be out of there by now?" Blake asked.
"In a perfect world," Lynn replied.
Jasper was getting worried – the search for the file was taking too long, however, a part of him hoped the file would not be found.
That same time...
Above Central London
22:08 GMT+1 (21:08 GMT May 26th)
TWILIGHT: Romeo Team
So far, the flight was simply boring as they cruised in lazy circles, just minutes away from the teams on the ground.
At that point, they were cruising two thousand feet over the Isle of Dogs. Beside her, in the left seat, Goshawk had her NVGs in place and she was searching the sky to the left and the right, looking for threats. In the back seat, Overrun was keeping a wary eye out both sides of the helicopter and it was she who saw the incoming helicopter first.
"We have incoming, green one hundred, closing at our flight level," Overrun called out over the intercom system.
Scorpion pivoted the helicopter to starboard and she saw the flashing lights of another helicopter closing on their position. The pilot looked down at her transponder to confirm that her Mode 3 setting was correct. She was currently squawking 0026 – a military flight under special tasking. Basically, it told everyone to keep well clear as the aircraft could manoeuvre without warning. However, despite coordination with London Military Radar, someone was making a beeline for them. Scorpion had no choice but to break radio silence to warn off the approaching aircraft.
"Aircraft approaching at flight level twenty, Isle of Dogs . . . stand clear, we are mode three, squawking zero-zero-two-six, over."
Scorpion eyed her TCAS II readout which showed the advancing aircraft, which was probably another helicopter, as a white diamond on a potential collision course. Indeed, sixty seconds later, after no response on the radio, the symbol indicating the inbound helicopter turned amber and a computerised voice announced the warning.
"TRAFFIC! TRAFFIC!"
Then the radio came to life just moments before the TCAS ordered her to manoeuvre.
"This is police helicopter, India Nine Nine, calling the unknown aircraft currently flying over the Isle of Dogs. You are in a restricted area, respond immediately."
The helicopter silhouette appeared to be that of a Eurocopter EC-145. The machine joined on TWILIGHT, maintaining a two-hundred feet separation.
"India Nine Nine, this is Victor Zero One . . . we are on a military flight plan under control of London Military Radar," Scorpion responded in a firm tone. "Stand off!"
A super-bright Nightsun searchlight mounted on India Nine Nine snapped on and swept around to focus on the side of TWILIGHT. The searchlight hesitated as it passed over the starboard weapons' pylon on which a 12.7-millimetre machinegun pod with three 70 mm rockets hung. The searchlight paused again as it found the aircraft's registration: G-VENG. The Nightsun suddenly snapped off and the police helicopter turned away.
"Apologies, Zero One – good hunting – Nine Nine out!"
"This fucking stinks!" Scorpion growled over the intercom. "Nobody was supposed to know we were fucking here!"
"What if the operation is compromised," Goshawk enquired.
"Then our people on the ground are in for a world of fucking hurt!" Scorpion responded.
Scorpion made a few sharp alterations of course before picking up a new heading which took her closer to the team on the ground before she selected an encrypted radio channel and called up Q.
The Sixth Floor
Inside an office
22:12 GMT+1 (21:12 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team
"The fucking thing has to be here fucking somewhere!" Polaris growled.
"Well, it fucking isn't!" Aegea retorted.
"I got nothing," Pyrrha added.
Polaris recognised Aegea's sharp tone and knew that the girl was tiring. Then she had a brainwave – sort of.
"Either of you checked the fucking in tray on the desk?"
"You're kidding, right?" Pyrrha asked. "Who would leave a classified file in the open in a fucking in tray?"
"Oh," Aegea said, matter-of-factly, "here it is!"
Polaris facepalmed as she realised that the goddamn file had been in the open the whole damn time!
..._...
"Finally!" Polaris growled as she finally laid eyes on the file they had been looking for.
Actually, the 'file' was a cardboard carrier which was slightly bigger than an A4 piece of paper, but about two-inches thick. The top flap had a piece of string which wrapped around a small peg to secure it. Strangely, the piece of string was lying loose, and the flap was partly open. A feeling of intense foreboding flooded through Polaris' body as Aegea reached for the file and she picked it up.
"A little lighter than I expected," Aegea commented.
There was a cover sheet, clipped to the back of the folder, advising any interested party of what was inside.
"What writing is that?" Aegea asked as she turned the folder to face Polaris and Pyrrha. "It ain't sodding Korean!"
"Oh, you are fucking kidding me!" Polaris exclaimed as she studied the folder held in Aegea's hands, and more specifically, the text on the cover sheet.
"It's Cyrillic," Pyrrha commented.
"Huh?" Aegea responded.
"Russian – this is a goddamn FSB safehouse!" Polaris groaned.
"That's not good," Aegea commented.
"Ya think!" Polaris growled as the radio came to life.
"All teams, stand to!" Q announced. "We think the operation may have been compromised, watch your backs!"
"No fucking shit!" Polaris exclaimed over the radio. "We've been fucking had; this is a goddamn FSB safehouse!"
Q's response was unprintable.
"Er, Polaris, should that light be flashing?" Pyrrha asked.
Polaris groaned. A red light located above the doorway of the office was pulsing on and off.
"We are in for a load of hurt," she said slowly as lights began to snap on, all around the building.
Then came the sound of voices in the corridor outside.