Not a North Korean Safehouse
The Sixth Floor
In an office
22:19 GMT+1 (21:19 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team
"Взломщики!"
The single word was being shouted up and down the corridors outside the office.
"What does that mean?" Aegea asked.
"Intruders!" Pyrrha and Polaris replied unhappily.
"What do we do?" Aegea asked.
Polaris identified a hint of panic creeping in and she quickly decided to give Aegea a task.
"See if you can find a way out onto the balcony, Aegea."
It was almost a full minute before the door to the office was thrust open from the outside and a security guard stuck his head in.
"Что за...!?"
Pyrrha kicked the pistol out of the man's hands, then she punched his lights out before she slammed and locked the office door.
"We got trouble," Pyrrha commented.
"Take the newbies with you, Polaris. It'll be a quick in and out, Polaris. It'll be easy as pie, Polaris," Polaris grumbled. "Lying fucking bastards!"
"You finished?" Pyrrha demanded.
Polaris stepped over to where Aegea was wrestling with a door which led out onto a small balcony.
The Basement
A carpark
22:19 GMT+1 (21:19 GMT May 26th)
Bravo Team
There was a looming issue.
"Okay, this isn't good!" Necis stated as she watched the roller shutters closing.
"You doing this, Q?" Noxa enquired.
"Not me, and I can't stop it," Q responded. "I'm locked out!"
"Great!" Noxa grimaced beneath her mask.
"Could be worse, I suppose," Custos commented.
"I think worse has just arrived," Necis grimaced as they laid eyes on a masked individual who rapidly rolled under the closing roller shutters.
Whoever it was, they were armed. Noxa took note of the Brügger & Thomet MP9 machine pistol as the suppressed weapon was turned in their direction and a half-dozen nine-millimetre bullets struck the concrete wall a few feet over their heads. Was it a warning shot? Did whoever it was know that they were even there?
"Fuck!" Noxa growled. "Q, Bravo Team is taking fire from an unknown x-ray."
"Copy that!" Q responded. "Everything just kicked off upstairs – get to the sixth floor as quick as you can."
"Fucking great!" Noxa growled as she stood up and fired a short burst from her Diemaco C8-CQB assault rifle at the figure who had just opened the door from the basement carpark with an access card. "After the twat!"
Necis and Custos jumped up and raced after their fearless leader.
The Sixth Floor
Still in an office
22:23 GMT+1 (21:23 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team
"Hey, guys!" Pyrrha called out as she ignored the pounding at the office door.
"What?" Polaris growled as she battled with Aegea to find a way out of the office.
"I think I've found something," Pyrrha went on. "I've got an order here for File Number 8723GT-776\832.1 to be transferred to an external holding facility."
"That's nice," Polaris responded as the doors finally parted and their escape route was ready. "Grab whatever you've found and let's get the fuck outta here!"
Pyrrha stuffed several sheets of paper which she had taken from the desk into the empty folder and she secured the packet to the back of her combat suit.
..._...
Polaris stepped out onto the balcony which had a wooden trellis fitted along its length supporting a lot of greenery.
"We need to get onto the next balcony," Polaris stated as she looked across the six-foot gap between the two balconies.
"No fucking way!" Aegea responded.
"We have no other choice.
"No."
Polaris could see the fear in Aegea, and she knew that she had to get nasty to get the point across. Polaris pinned Aegea against the wall with her arm across the other girl's throat.
"Do you want to fucking live, bitch?" Polaris asked angrily.
"Yes!"
"What did I fucking tell you about obeying me?"
"I am to follow every order."
"I will not let you down, Aegea, understand?"
"Yes, Polaris."
"Let's get to it, then."
Pyrrha vaulted over the gap with ease, landing on the far side and drawing her pistol to check out the balcony and the two offices beyond. Once she was happy that all was clear, she waved at Polaris who then helped Aegea up onto the short wall around the balcony. Normally, a person with biological legs would be able to use the lower muscles in the knee and ankle to spring themselves in addition to making use of their thigh muscles, however, Aegea was missing most of those key components enjoyed by Pyrrha and Polaris. As a result, Pyrrha had secured a rope to a strong point on her balcony and she threw the rope across to Polaris who attached it the carabiner on Aegea's combat suit.
Aegea used her thigh muscles to push herself off, reaching for Pyrrha who held her gauntleted hands out . . . only it was not enough...
The Basement
In pursuit of the rogue x-ray
22:25 GMT+1 (21:25 GMT May 26th)
Bravo Team
The running gunfight was ongoing.
The intruder was making for the upper levels via the same fire stairs which Alpha Team had made use of just an hour before. Bullets clanged on the railings as they were fired up and down the stairs. No one was struck, but the bullets descending in their direction were decidedly unnerving, nonetheless.
"Who is this fucking twat?" Custos wanted to know.
"He's got some training under his belt and he knows how to handle that MP9," Necis commented.
"He's a fucking cunt and if one of those bullets gets me, I'll fucking crucify the cunt," Noxa growled.
"You go girl!" Necis chuckled as she dodged back from another stream of bullets before firing off a short burst of her own from her C8-CQB assault rifle.
They then heard the fire door on the floor above them, the fifth floor, slamming shut.
The Sixth Floor
Spread across (and between) two balconies
22:26 GMT+1 (21:26 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team
Aegea screamed as she reached out in desperation for Pyrrha's gauntlets.
Aegea's own gauntleted hands missed Pyrrha's by just three inches. The eleven-year-old vigilante found herself plummeting down but only for a few feet before the rope snapped tight and Aegea's plummeting was arrested. That was when bullets began to fly. Polaris fired off half a dozen rounds from her P238 compact pistol which had the security guards ducking back inside the office behind her. Polaris then ran for the opposite balcony, soaring over the fallen Aegea and landing beside Pyrrha who was struggling to pull Aegea up onto the balcony. Polaris fired off the final round from her magazine and swapped it for a full magazine before adding her own strength to that of Pyrrha, pulling the miserable Aegea over the balcony to safety. There was no time for finesse, so Polaris simply fired two bullets into the glass door leading inside and she then used her combat suit to smash through what remained. Pyrrha had unhooked Aegea from the rope and both followed Polaris into a dismal-looking office before piling out into the corridor beyond. Pyrrha then scared herself shitless by putting a bullet into a guard who was about to slot Polaris.
It was to be her first human kill . . . but not her last.
The Fifth Floor
Still in pursuit of their x-ray
22:26 GMT+1 (21:26 GMT May 26th)
Bravo Team
As Noxa emerged onto the fifth floor, a stream of bullets stitched across the wall with two striking the young vigilante in the chest, shoving her backwards into Custos, both of whom went flying.
Necis fired off a long burst at two security men, then another at the x-ray. In response, a hoard of angry bullets were fired off in her direction by both the security men and the x-ray.
"This sucks!" she called out to Noxa.
"I fucking love it!" Noxa responded as she dropped the two security men while Custos just looked at Necis and shrugged.
With the two security guards down, the trio ran for the next set of fire stairs, hot on the heels of their x-ray.
Outside
In some bushes
22:26 GMT+1 (21:26 GMT May 26th)
Echo Team
Ajax was itching to get in there to assist her colleagues.
It took Stripe's firm hand to keep the girl undercover. As for the others, Arbiter was getting just as annoyed as Ajax, and she wanted to storm the facility, just as much as Ajax did. Harrier and Forager were both content to remain in the safety of the undergrowth, but when needed, they would support their colleagues.
Until then, their primary role was protection for Sierra Team in DYNAMO.
The Sixth Floor
In deep shit!
22:30 GMT+1 (21:30 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team . . . and eventually . . . Bravo Team
The situation had deteriorated, badly.
All three of them were pinned down in a reception area just a short distance from the fire stairs which would take them to the roof – and safety. Between the three of them, they kept the security guards at bay. However, they were not equipped for a full-on gunfight and their ammunition was running low. There was a good selection of security guards scattered around the floor; some dead and some in pain – which Polaris thought was definitely progress – but they were still pinned down, nonetheless. Then all hell broke loose as the distant fire door opened and an unknown x-ray appeared, closely followed by Bravo Team.
"So," Polaris growled. "You lazy twats decided to come to the party, huh?"
"It was getting rather boring in the basement," Noxa commented dryly.
The arrival of heavy weaponry, in the form of the assault rifles, swiftly turned the tide and Bravo Team gunned down the security guards.
"Who's the other guy?" Polaris asked.
"We have no idea – he sneaked in just before the lockdown and he attacked us as well as the Russians," Necis reported.
"Never a dull day," Polaris conceded as she targeted the unknown individual who was working his way towards them.
Aegea was surprised that she was not scared out of her wits, but she considered that the adrenaline was keeping her mind focussed, just as Polaris said it would. She took her time aiming at the men and women who were trying to kill her, wounding at least two, but not killing any as far as she could tell, which was fine with her. Pyrrha was enjoying herself. At least one of the bodies on the floor was due to her skill with a pistol – her second kill of the night. However, she found that she was liking the new her – her that killed – and that scared her; was she turning into what Polaris was? That thought horrified her, but only to a point – a fact which worried her. However, she knew that she had a task to do, so she pushed her feelings and emotions out of her mind, and she concentrated on staying alive and supporting her teammates. Whether she was demonstrating a little too much exuberance or not, Pyrrha managed to get caught out by the unknown x-ray and a pair of bullets thudded into her chest armour.
Polaris was stunned to see Pyrrha fall back and slump to the ground.
..._...
Pyrrha yelled out with the pain of the two bullets striking her chest.
For several moments, she was unable to breathe as she found herself falling to the ground. It was a full minute before she was finally able to breathe almost properly. She saw Polaris looking down at her and she raised her left hand and her left thumb. With a groan, Pyrrha clambered to her feet, picking up the pistol which she had dropped when she fell.
"I'm okay, I'm okay..."
"Bravo Team, we need to fucking end this, NOW!" Polaris yelled.
"Copy that, Alpha Leader!" Noxa responded, instantly, as she waved her team forward.
Noxa was not going to mess about, and she was determined to prove to her former trainee that she was just as able to follow orders as her trainee had been for her instructor. For Noxa, it was a pride thing. She did not care that she was following the orders of her former fucked-up trainee, two years her junior; she was far too professional for that and she was determined to prove it. Necis and Custos moved to flank their leader, providing covering fire, brutally taking down any surviving security guards but also catching the errant x-ray in the side and putting him on the ground. The three vigilantes moved forward to check that the security guards were no longer a threat. There were a few move gunshots as the injured were put out of their misery. Custos moved over to where the x-ray had gone down.
"He's gone."
"What?" Necis demanded. "I put two bullets into his left side!"
"The bastard was probably wearing body armour," Polaris commented. "Let's get to that goddamn roof and the hell away from here!"
Both teams made for the fire stairs which led directly to the roof.
"Necis, Noxa – you both head up and ensure that there is nothing waiting for us," Polaris directed, receiving two nods in response. "Custos, help Pyrrha – she may have broken something. Aegea, follow the girls."
Custos nodded and he went to help Pyrrha who was struggling with her chest which was probably bruised to hell while Polaris kept a wary eye out for the missing x-ray and any more security guards.
"Romeo, this is Alpha Leader – we're coming up," Polaris called.
"Copy, Alpha Leader. With you in ninety seconds," Scorpion responded.
Polaris was relieved to hear that as she shut the fire door and followed the others up the fire stairs. The fucked-up mission was finally coming to an end which was a great relief for so many reasons. As they raced up the stairs to the seventh floor, on their way to the eighth, and then onto the roof for helicopter extraction, focus was lost as everyone saw the finish up ahead. Polaris saw the fire door on the seventh floor open, just a crack, as Noxa and Necis raced past, their eyes focussed ahead, up the next flight of stairs.
Aegea took the first step onto the next flight of stairs, just as the fire door beside her flew open and a pair of gloved hands grabbed the girl, yanking her through the fire door.
That same time...
Above Central London
22:38 GMT+1 (21:38 GMT May 26th)
TWILIGHT: Romeo Team
Scorpion was just passing to the west of Buckingham Palace and coming around over Belgrave Square when she heard the chilling radio broadcast.
"Aegea has been seized . . . in pursuit!"
Scorpion felt her hands trembling at the words. "Oh God, not again, please, not again," she muttered.
With Goshawk searching the dark skies over the city for anything they might collide with, Scorpion lined up TWILIGHT for a direct in approach to the target building.
The Seventh Floor
22:38 GMT+1 (21:38 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team & Bravo Team
Polaris kicked at the fire door, but it was locked.
"Q, can you open the door?" she demanded.
"Negative – I've lost control."
"We blast it – Necis!" Polaris ordered.
While Necis attached a block of C4 to the fire door, Polaris paced up and down impatiently. "Get a fucking move on!" she growled.
Noxa knew what was going through Polaris' mind, as did Pyrrha.
The Seventh Floor
22:38 GMT+1 (21:38 GMT May 26th)
Aegea . . . and the x-ray
The girl screamed as she felt herself yanked backward.
Her last sight was of Pyrrha and Custos staring after her. She had no idea what was happening as she found herself being dragged across the floor before she was released, and a masked face glared into her own.
"Give me the fucking file!"
"No!" Aegea responded.
Aegea found herself rolled over and the file ripped from where it was secured on her combat suit. The man looked inside the file and scowled at the few pieces of paper inside.
"Where is the rest of it?" he demanded.
"No fucking idea, jackass!" Aegea growled as she stabbed the man in the left thigh with one of her ceramic knives.
"Bitch!" the man yelled out before dropping the folder and making for a window.
There was a loud explosion and the fire door exploded inwards.
The Seventh Floor
22:45 GMT+1 (21:45 GMT May 26th)
Alpha Team & Bravo Team
Polaris was amazed to see Aegea nonchalantly leaning against a desk as they burst in through the thoroughly destroyed fire door.
"Hi, guys!" Aegea said with a wave of her left hand.
"Aegea is safe!" Polaris growled into her radio.
"Where is he?" Noxa demanded.
"He went out the window and jumped to the floor below," Aegea commented. "No, I opted not to follow.
"A good decision," Polaris agreed. "Now, let's go!"
With everyone closing ranks, both teams raced up to the rooftop.
Above Central London
22:46 GMT+1 (21:46 GMT May 26th)
TWILIGHT: Romeo Team
Scorpion brought the helicopter in smoothly, head into the wind, slowing as she approached, coming into a hover at the exact point she was aiming for, just over the west section of the rooftop.
The helicopter hovered over the building for almost a full minute before Goshawk saw a hatch open, below them, and then all three aboard counted six emerging out onto the rooftop. Overrun waved them aboard as Scorpion brought TWILIGHT down until the port wheel was just an inch off the rooftop. As crew chief, Overrun pushed each one of them into seats before she heaved the door shut and then crouched on the floor between the seats.
"Six aboard and secure," Overrun reported.
Scorpion lifted TWILIGHT out of the hover, and she pivoted to the right before they headed out over The Mall and St James's Park. They had made it barely one nautical mile before the AN/VVR-4 LWRS (laser warning receiver system) triggered an alert on the control panel ahead of Goshawk who felt all the blood drain from her face.
"Laser tracking warning!" Goshawk announced urgently, but calmly. "Break right! Deploying flares!"
As the helicopter banked sharply to the right and increased speed, Goshawk flicked the M-130 chaff/flare dispenser arming switch up to ARM and then she pressed the flare button on her cyclic to trigger off four flares from the dispenser mounted below the tail, aft. Overrun was doing her best to keep an eye out both sides of the helicopter, looking for a missile.
"Missile launch!" Overrun reported as she saw a flash of fire in the darkness below, brighter than the lights from the surrounding streets and buildings. "Aft of us!"
Scorpion threw the seven-tonne helicopter onto its side and Goshawk triggered off two more flares. They raced over Vauxhall Bridge at one hundred feet with the SIS building to port and they narrowly avoided the 594-foot St George Wharf Tower just after the bridge. Scorpion kept the helicopter flying low, along the River Thames, cruising over Chelsea Bridge at a hundred feet. The missile finally lost lock and it self-destructed over the river, two hundred yards behind them, confused by the flares and rapid course alterations of its target. Scorpion remained low to ensure that she could no longer be targeted before she curved around to port across southern London as she made her way back towards the City Airport, close to which, there was a nice private area for TWILIGHT to set down.
There, TWILIGHT was placed under cover and serviced while her human cargo returned to the safehouse.
The early hours of the following morning...
Saturday, May 27th
Safehouse VL
01:10 GMT+1 (00:10 GMT May 27th)
The mood was not good.
"Well, that was one giant, monumental cluster-fuck!" Cameron exclaimed as he threw his mask down on the kitchen table.
He was not too far from the truth, either. The teams had drifted in, one by one, until all were accounted for. Harper was with Scarlett who was in a lot of pain as Lynn helped the girl to remove her armour. Once removed, Scarlett was found to have some very nasty bruising across her chest. Diana was uninjured but bruised in places she did not care to think about. Harper, herself, was okay. Tanya had her own bruises from bullet impacts, but other than that there were no further injuries. However, the mood was not a good one, considering that the operation had been a failure; the mission had not been completed.
Most stripped off their armour, returned their weapons to the armoury, and then simply went to bed. There was very little conversation, and everyone was tired out. Harper was unhappy and she simply grabbed her team members and they all made for the bedroom which they shared. The other teams did pretty much the same thing until the safehouse was all but silent. Jasper was the only member to remain awake as he patrolled to ensure everyone was safe and in bed, including the adults.
He then retired to his own bed where he found his wife already asleep.
Later that same morning...
10:00 GMT+1 (09:00 GMT May 27th)
The mood as hungry vigilantes appeared for breakfast had not improved.
It had been a bad night with very little to show for it. There was very little of the usual banter and most simply grabbed their food and sat down to eat it in silence. Harper was particularly annoyed, and her glowering expression even had Keira giving the youngster a wide berth. Diana looked thoroughly miserable and she did not seem to have got much sleep.
Once breakfast was out of the way, there was a lot of planning to be done for that night's operations. Eric had been up for three hours preparing with Jasper and they would be briefing everyone later that day. Until then, there was equipment to be cleaned and prepared for reuse, as well as a debriefing of the previous night's activities.
Harper had noticed Diana's mood and she was somewhat concerned for the older girl.
..._...
Diana felt thoroughly miserable.
She had been a total failure on the mission. She had been scared out of her mind for most of it and for the rest, she had just got in the way. At least that was her take on it. The unhappy girl made her way up the stairs; not easy with her legs which were sore from all the exercise the previous night. She was angry with herself as she dropped onto her bed, so angry that she felt anger at herself, at her disability, at her legs. She pulled them off one by one and then, with an anguished scream, she threw them across the room.
The eleven-year-old girl buried her face into her pillow, and she began to sob violently even as she punched the same pillow with her fists.
..._...
Harper headed up the stairs to find Diana and she found Scarlett there.
"Where you off too?" Harper asked.
"To see Diana," Scarlett responded. "She needs help, even if she doesn't think she does. She helped me when I wanted nothing to do with her, but she pushed and pushed and despite hating her more and more, I began to realise that she was right."
Harper scowled, remembering Diana's match making in the hospital between her and Scarlett.
"Yes, she was right. Thanks."
"She's my friend and my team member," Scarlett pointed out. "What's your excuse?"
"Without her I'd still be feeling sorry for myself, I suppose, and I wouldn't have made up with my former torturer."
Scarlett scowled.
"That's a bit below the belt," she pointed out.
"At least you were wearing a belt; I was naked . . . sorry, that was just me being snarky; I didn't mean anything by it."
"I hurt you Harper, but I'm glad we are friends. Now, let's go help our other friend."
Harper grinned; Scarlett was bang on . . . annoyingly.
..._...
They found Diana lying on her bed, her legs on the far side of the room.
That was an instant warning sign; Diana worshipped her legs and looked after them meticulously. It was also obvious that the girl had been crying.
"What do you two want?" Diana asked through red eyes.
"We want to talk," Scarlett said.
"Well, I don't want to talk, so fuck off!" Diana responded angrily.
Harper and Scarlett exchanged a glance – neither had ever heard Diana swear before. Scarlett was not having any of it.
"Diana, sit up!" she ordered.
"I said...," Diana began.
"Diana, sit the fuck up and fucking listen!" Scarlett said forcefully.
Diana groaned and she pulled herself up into a sitting position on the bed.
"Well, say what you're going to fucking say and piss off!" Diana growled.
"Diana, we're a team. Talk to us," Scarlett said in a much kinder tone.
"I fucked everything up and I allowed myself to get taken and I was just a burden to the team. I don't want to go out again. I'm fucking useless because of those damn legs. Now, I've talked to you, so leave me alone."
"Diana, you are so full of shit!" Harper responded. "You did nothing wrong – not a goddamn thing. You did your job as a member of Alpha Team and you did it well. So, you had a few issues getting over the fucking balcony; so, fucking what! If it helps, we'll work on that in training, okay? If you were a burden, then I would never have taken you on the mission; do you understand that? Those legs which you've simply tossed across the room in a fit of anger are your life, and I know you love those legs and the other pairs more than anything. If you EVER, EVER say you are useless again, I will fucking slap you stupid; understand?"
Diana was crying again, but she also forced a grin.
"Thanks for being my friends. I just felt so low after the failure of the mission and..."
"And as for 'allowing' yourself to be taken; you had no choice in the matter – I didn't. However, you fought back – which was more than I did – and you made the bastard run."
"He wanted the file, only I didn't have it," Diana pointed out.
"He wanted the file?" Harper repeated. "How many people know about that damn file?"
"Scarlett?"
"Yes, Diana."
"Could you pass me my legs, please?"
Scarlett passed the legs over with a big grin on her face – it was not something she had ever been asked to do before.
12:00 GMT+1 (11:00 GMT May 27th)
The mood downstairs was sour, to say the least.
"Well, it's bloody obvious that they knew we were fucking coming!"
"Yes, Rylee, they knew we were coming, it seems," Jasper conceded.
"How the fuck did they find out?" Rylee persisted angrily. "My friends and I were put at risk and that is something which I cannot condone."
"I'm a friend of yours, cool," Harper commented as Rylee scowled.
"We were intercepted by a police helicopter," Keira pointed out. "Our transponder code should have identified us and kept them well clear. Somebody knew to ignore that and expose us. There is something going on and it is putting lives at risk."
"We have people digging into the security aspect," Jasper confirmed. "We will be going ahead with the mission, this evening, as per the briefing documents you each have before you. Ensure that you have read the details for your particular part in the mission."
"So, who was that other bastard – he wanted the fucking file, too?" Harper questioningly pointed out. "It was just dumb luck that the file had been moved."
"Unknown at this point," Jasper replied. "The file is known about by many but its current whereabouts were unknown to any but us – or so we believed."
"Do we have a leak?" Craig asked. "Somehow they knew to move that file."
"There is a distinct possibility, yes," Jasper allowed.
There were a lot of angry mutterings from amongst those present at that comment.
12:40 GMT+1 (11:40 GMT May 27th)
Diana was busy cleaning her weapons when several shadows blocked out the light around her table.
The girl looked up to see Rylee, Simon, and Tanya looking down at her. All three were smiling. Diana grimaced, knowing why they were there.
"Sit," she said. "You been talking with my gobby partner?"
"Harper wanted a second opinion and she trusts us," Simon said in explanation.
"There is no such thing as failure," Rylee said. "We have good days and we have bad days – believe me, I've had a lot of bad days! There are days we feel like we've failed, but it's just been a bad day, is all. In most cases, what we see as failure is often just a lack of training or just because things got on top of us a bit. Okay, you have a disability, but from what I've seen, you have NEVER allowed it to stop you doing what you want to do. Harper tells me that you are fiercely independent, and I respect that. If you were a failure, you would probably still be in a wheelchair. Scarlett says that when you set about something, you almost always, carry it through to the end. Hell, you managed to get Harper and her former jailer talking and they are now the best of friends – kind of."
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Tanya interceded. "What Miss Bookworm is trying to say by using every word in the dictionary, is that you are no failure; you do not allow yourself to fail – full stop."
Simon grinned as Rylee scowled.
"Thanks guys," Diana said. "I'm feeling better and I'm ready for tonight. Anyway, I'm going to have me feet firmly on the ground for this one."
"Yes," Simon grimaced in agreement. "We have our work cut out for this one."
"We'll leave you to your weapons," Rylee said as she pulled Simon and Tanya away.
Diana smiled happily as she went back to her pistol.
That evening...
17:00 GMT+1 (16:00 GMT May 27th)
The furious activity would have looked chaotic to an outside observer – actually, to Amber, it looked uncoordinated and not very efficient.
However, she went around checking everyone off her list and ensuring that everyone had replaced expended ammunition from the previous evening and all radios and communications equipment was working perfectly. There were several jokes about Amber's organisational skills but her attention to detail was silently appreciated. However, only one verbally appreciated the thirteen-year-old.
"Thanks, Spark," Harrier commented causing Amber/Spark to blush slightly as she quickly moved onto Ajax.
"You complete, Ajax?" Amber asked.
"I, yes, she's complete!" Stripe commented.
"I am not referring to her boobs or her twat, Stripe!" Amber retorted putting the boy in his place. "Well, Ajax?"
"Yes, Spark, I've checked my weapons, comms, and ammo. My armour is also ready."
"Thank you," Amber said sourly as she ticked off several boxes on her clipboard and then rapidly moved on as Ajax began giggling in response to something which Stripe had whispered into her ear.
..._...
Polaris was checking that her team was ready.
It felt different not wearing their full equipment, but theirs was to be a very different type of operation. Their full combat suits would be far too bulky and obvious due to their need to be out in public. As such, they were not wearing their combat suits, but they were wearing the slimline Fusion Covert Combat Suit Mk2 – FCCS2 for short – under normal clothing. Their facial features had been altered with makeup and their hair had been dyed and was hidden under baseball caps, the peaks of which plunged their faces into shadow which supported the makeup. It had taken over an hour to dye three sets of hair and make up three faces – only Scarlett had worn real makeup before, so that was a challenge for the younger girls.
"Wow!" Amber said as she arrived to check on Alpha Team. "You guys look totally different. Harper you look way older . . . and so do you, Diana."
"What about me?" Pyrrha growled.
"The dirty blonde colour suits you," Amber offered. "Do you each have your concealed weapons?"
"I've got a whole freakin' armoury," Aegea quipped as she tapped her false legs.
"I have my trusty SIG," Polaris acknowledged.
"I have my Walther PPQ M2," Pyrrha confirmed as she patted the small of her back.
Amber moved off to report her findings to Jasper.
Alpha Team: Polaris, Pyrrha, and Aegea with Doctrina.
Bravo Team: Noxa, Custos, and Necis.
Echo Alpha Team: Crimson and Drift.
Echo Bravo Team: Arbiter and Stripe.
Romeo November Team: Scorpion, Goshawk, and Chief.
Romeo Tango Team: Raptor and Overrun.
Sierra Team: Q and Insidious.
Yankee Alpha Team: Sleuth and Viridian with Rigour and Forager.
Yankee Bravo Team: Doc and Belle with Ajax and Harrier.
17:04 GMT+1 (16:04 GMT May 27th)
"You ready for this, mother?"
"Yes, Rylee – oh, sorry: Noxa."
"You take care out there, Mum."
"I'll be fine, honey; I'm driving an armoured Range Rover."
"Okay, Doctrina."
Rachel/Doctrina watched her armour-clad daughter heading off for the night's operation, decked out in body armour and fitted out with advanced weapons and electronics. It felt strange watching her only daughter heading off to . . . what . . . war? Rachel had seen the various bruises on her daughter's skin from the previous night and she hoped that the bruises would not be added to that night, although, she thought darkly, bruises were an awful lot better than the potential alternatives.
"She'll be fine, Rachel," Lynn said. "Her training is top-notch, and she impressed the hell out of Hit Girl, and that is saying something."
Rachel smiled as she looked down at her own body armour which protected her torso and abdomen.
17:35 GMT+1 (16:35 GMT May 27th)
All were gone, deployed into the field.
There were nine teams on the ground and in the air, that night. There was a lot to be done – and a lot to go wrong – but the end result was expected to be worth its weight in gold. At least that was the hope. Q was in his van with Insidious as Sierra Team, but they would be on their own as every Vengeance member was otherwise occupied. They would be doing their utmost to control the operations alone. However, they had been given the full support of Synthesis, from over three-thousand miles away in Chicago. Synthesis would be monitoring CCTV and the surrounding area, as well as providing a hacking ability, where required.
There were two maps displayed on his screens. One was of a residential area in the village of North Stifford, Essex just off the A13 about seventeen miles east of London. That was the target for Echo Alpha and Echo Bravo Teams with the support of Romeo Tango Team as well as Yankee Alpha and Yankee Bravo Teams. The second map was of an area about nine miles closer to London and just to the east of the City Airport but south of the River Thames. The image was centred on HM Prison Belmarsh, a Category A facility housing over nine-hundred convicted prisoners. However, the actual target for the evening was located just next door, to the northeast of the prison. While Bravo Team was to be targeting the primary target next door, with the support of Romeo November Team, Alpha Team had the task of breaking into the prison . . . yes, you read that right; Alpha Team was going to break into a prison!
The ultimate aim of the evening's operations was to retrieve the blasted file, retrieve some unbelievably valuable human intel, and hopefully not end up with three youngsters under lock and key in one of the United Kingdom's toughest prisons.