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Elena María "Mira" Álvarez

…

There was nothing like driving a heavily-armored SUV in the middle of nowhere; there were neither bumps on the road nor long lines of traffic to avoid. Elena gripped the steering wheel with firm hands, going 80 per hour, just like what her father taught her. Behind her was a team of five mask-wearing combatants, sitting in the armored compartment, all geared up for a hard breach-and-entry maneuver. Their objective was a two-story building somewhere in the desert, with pre-planned entry points at the windows and the front door. Timing was key; if she drove too fast, the vehicle would miss its mark and force her passengers to drop out further from their target. Too slow, and the tangos inside the structure would see them coming from a mile out, ruining the element of surprise.

The distance was closing. It was now or never.

Three.

Two.

One.

*tires screeching*

"Go! Go! Go!", she yelled behind her.

"Dismount, dismount!", Morowa Evans ordered her fellow passengers. "Alpha, left-side breach! Stack up!"

From the rearview mirror, Elena observed the team disembark the vehicle in rapid fashion, with the designated leader brandishing her Crowd Control Shield. From there, they advanced to their objective with all haste- the black British woman taking point while another Operator totted an assault rifle across her shoulder. It took them less than ten seconds to reach the building and huddle behind its walls. The driver was mildly proud of her contribution, getting them this far and this fast.

Everything was working well. She saw Evans use hand signals to order an explosive breach, to which she was heeded by her group's second man, who came in front of the queue. He pulled out a flat, brown charge from his backpack and placed it on the door, before hurrying back to cover. The device exploded a few seconds later, and this prompted the leader to set her foot into the building first. The rest of the team followed her inside the dark interior, weapons raised, and soon they disappeared from Elena's perspective. A few seconds later, there came loud crashing noises and shouts from within the structure. Then, came the gunfire…

…

"Operator down. Operator down.", the driver's radio buzzed in with a male voice. "All trainees reset. Scenario aborted."

"Not again…"

Frustrated, the Spanish woman lightly punched the steering wheel, missing the horn by a few inches. Within moments, her teammates emerged out of the building with their guns down. There was confusion and disappointment strewn in their eyes, as the desert sand kicked up on their masked faces. And just like that, their session was over and it was already time for another peer review. The morning had barely even started.

…

…

"I was blindsided, sir.", Evans explained. "The shield's too unwieldy to move in tight spaces."

The response she got was a cold stare from the grizzled GIGR Commander. The rest of the squad sat anxiously on plastic chairs, listening closely while they waited their turn. Elena, on the other hand, was more tranquil, patiently tapping her foot until it was her turn in the wringer. Luckily, she didn't do anything wrong; she only had to wait and listen, until it was time to return to the driver's seat.

They were inside a tent, the designated debriefing area this morning, which was located just a short distance from the training building they were supposed to "raid". It was rather cool and comfy inside, as desert dwellings were wont to be, but some tension still pervaded. The air was rife for a whole lot of debating and finger pointing, only a hair's breadth from another fistfight. This had been the prevailing theme of the training exercises; 'Kaid' El Fassi loved organizing little daytrips outside of his beloved Fortress, exposing Team Rainbow to the harsh elements of the Atlas Mountains. Constantly faced with an unfamiliar environment, the small group of trained professionals were always off of their game, making it easier for them to make a misstep.

Learning why they were all sent to suffer through this Spartan-like regimen was above Elena's paygrade. The worse part? It seemed that the bearded drillmaster was reveling in their misery. He was breaking them down to their basest skills and taking their tools away from them, reminding everyone of their personal note. Of course, the Spanish woman had suffered through worse. She would rather be at the beck and call of this old dude than, say, eke out a living in a dirty street. She would rather be shouted at by the old soldier, than spend another second in the midst of that pompous redhead Eliza. It had been a nice change of pace to have somebody else barking orders.

"That is not what the cameras told me, Clash."

"Sir?"

"Team cohesion and speed. Your Number Two reacted half a second too late."

Elena instantly took a mental note on what the 'Kaid' just said, who also pressed the remote control for the projector on the propped up desk, illustrating to everyone what he was talking about. The projector played a looping camera footage, slightly-blurred and grainy, which turned out to be a bird's eye perspective of what transpired a few minutes ago. Five heavily-armed Operators moving inside the building in single file. They were met with a torrent of rubber bullets just a few seconds after they breached. Naturally, they returned fire with their own guns, a rather messy display at that. And somewhere in that chaos, an errant round had found its mark on Evans' helmet. The person behind her, Ryad Ramirez, retaliated with a double-tap to the source of the shot, but by then it was already too late. Losing a man meant losing the training scenario.

"Buen Trabajo (Nice work).", Elena bumped her friend's elbow.

"Hah. Seguro que usted lo hará mejor que yo…" ("I'm sure you can do a better job than me…")

It was here that the Commander stopped the video and turned his stern eyes on the other Spaniard.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Jackal?"

"I have no excuse, señor."

"This is not acceptable! You are supposed to be better than this!", the old man raised his voice. "All of you are better than this! …You telling me that none of your training prepared you for something this basic!?"

"No sir!", they replied unanimously.

The entire exercise was yet another staple of the Moroccan Gendarmerie, designed to teach everyone the art of rapid, tactical deployment from a moving vehicle. Team Rainbow needed to be a flexible fighting force, as the rationale went, and Elena wholeheartedly agreed with this mindset. Though to be fair she was the only one to be enjoying these stunts, since she was the designated driver. As Ryad would always say to her, she might love playing mechanic, but what she really yearned for was a chance to get behind a steering wheel. Dear Papa's influence, most certainly.

"…We will run the exercise again in 30 minutes. If you fail, tomorrow's physical training will be at dawn. With no water breaks."

Elena smiled in her head. El Fassi was like one of her old training instructors back in Madrid, albeit ten times more intimidating. Her father always said not to be daunted by such people, as they ultimately had her best interests at heart. Like a troublesome engine, they could be managed with enough grit and patience. She only needed time.

30 minutes: the Commander had allotted them a half hour to rest up or go on a trip to the latrine, while the training building was reset for another run. Elena realized that she didn't have enough time to work her magic. She had been making technical notes in her brain since the codger started blabbering in front. The shot that hit Evans came from an unexpected angle, and she was right in suspecting that her riot shield was the problem. Considering the Brit's body build and reflexes, she definitely had less leeway to react swiftly, especially with her heavy-duty gear. An adjustment to the Crowd Control Shield was in order. She could tweak the servos to minimize the retraction of the translucent armor panels, or she could remove some of the weights to make it a bit lighter to wield.

While the rest of the trainees dispersed, Elena made haste to talk with the other lady. The clock was ticking.

"Hey, Detective.", she called her attention. "Can I take another look at your shield?"

"What for?"

"A few modifications. We only have half an hour, but I think I can work something out that will help you."

Briefly, the bald woman looked at her with puzzled eyes, only to relent on the next moment. Elena was one of Rainbow's best gearheads, after all. If not the best.

"Tch. Sure… Won't hurt to bloody try, I suppose."

"Excellent! Wanna come with me and see it for yourself?"

"Maybe in a while.", the former cop shook her head. "I have to talk 'strategy' with my mates here for the next run…"

"If you say so."

With that, Elena grabbed her gloves and made her way out of the tent, basking herself in the bright sunlight. She didn't bother shielding her eyes, as the trainees' makeshift workshop was just a short walk away: another tent in the middle of nowhere. Inside, she stumbled across a motley collection of crates, trunks, and lockers arranged in a rather haphazard way. It didn't take her that long to find the good Detective's shield, conveniently stashed beside a large tool cabinet. The work was cut out for the resident tinkerer seeing that she had everything she needed, and perhaps a thousand more she didn't.

There were all sorts of equipment stored in the storage-slash-workshop tent as well. In one corner laid her stockpile of opaque, bullet-resistant glass that the Commander would use for yet another exercise. El Fassi was intrigued by her Black Mirrors and wondered if his beloved GIGR troopers could get their hands on them too. In another corner was a hoard of equipment prototypes that Mira still needed to work on. A machinegun-mounted shield, redesigned portable barricades, more armor panels for the SUVs, just to name a few. She planned to work on them once this whole test was over with. By her estimates, that would be an hour or two from now.

She smiled at herself, thinking about them all, the products of years and years spent in a garage. She had no Master's degree to boast, nor a high-paying salary to match, yet she had already accomplished so much in her life. She had been to all corners of the globe, made friends along the way, and created a long-lasting rivalry with another woman. Her handiwork was recognized by some of the most powerful countries on Earth, all wanting a piece of her genius designs. She was lauded as one of her country's best and most upstanding public servants, enough to earn her a spot in an international taskforce. Quite a huge step up from a struggling family who only made ends meet by fixing cars and selling parts. Their road had been a tough one, but it had gotten them quite far.

And today would be just another speedbump. The Crowd Control Electro Shield, with its bullet-resistant glass, quick retraction mechanism, and circuit arrangement, was Elena's brainchild. As such, she was in the best position to make adjustments as she saw fit. One gander at the transparent, armored frame proved one of her hypotheses: the shield's front panel didn't provide enough coverage when it was retracted. By all accounts, an easy fix. Wasting no more time, she opened the cabinet and grabbed a power tool and a wrench, then knelt down to start working. She didn't need a blueprint or a diagram as a guide; she knew by heart everything she had made.

"Oye, Elena.", a male voice called to her from the outside.

She recognized Ryad's voice, but she didn't answer back. He probably came here to check up on her, remind her of the time. Not that she needed babysitting; she couldn't wait to see her handiwork in action, one more time. She couldn't wait to get behind the wheel and do what she did best. There was still the matter of the exercise to deal with, but it was nothing that grit and patience wouldn't overcome. A few minutes later, Elena was done. She sighed to herself and marveled at her craft. The Crowd Control Shield looked a bit smaller now that its servos only retracted to about two-thirds the original length. That should grant a greater deal of mobility, while still protecting the good Detective from getting dinged in the head. The coverage for the rest of her body should still be within the reasonable range, but there was only one way to find out. With a beaming smile of self-satisfaction, Elena hoisted the shield over her back with one hand, then parted the flaps of the tent.

Once again, she was met with a bright sun and the scorching heat, not that she'd mind. In her midst was her teammates, huddled together and talking about their next run. They were already in their training gear. Ryad Ramirez and Morowa Evans had been waiting for her.

"Care to give it a try, Detective?", Elena asked the other woman. "I adjusted the panels and gears to make the shield more maneuverable."

"Right. Let's try it."

She took it from her hands, then gripped the metallic handle, planting the shield square into the ground. Then, she engaged the servos, retracting them to their intended 'deployment' state. A mesh of bulletproof glass surrounded the front of her body in response. This time, though, the shield expanded at a fraction of its original time, became a little bit less unwieldy to use. It was enough for the baldheaded Detective to give one of her rare smiles. The Operators cheered on, happy to know that their next foray into the training exercise would be a bit easier.

Elena was proud of herself. A mechanic, a tinkerer, a driver, a public servant, and a counter-terrorist agent. Quite the resume for a poor grease monkey from Madrid. No doubt her father was smiling… wherever he might be.

"Cheers, luv. You're a miracle worker."

"This is more like a 'good start', I say.", Ryad chortled. "A 'miracle' is when she's finally made peace with Eliza. Isn't that right?"

He patted Elena's back, playfully, only for her to turn around with a scowl.

"Do not get me started with that arrogant little-"

*whistle*

"Trainees!", Commander El Fassi called out to them from the other tent. "Mount up and get to your starting positions!"

The time to shine had come again and Elena couldn't punch her friend fast enough. No matter; she was called to duty a second time. She picked up a helmet and dropped its visor, then calmly walked towards the SUV.

…

Again, there was nothing like driving a heavily-armored vehicle in the middle of nowhere; there were neither bumps on the road nor traffic to avoid. Elena gripped the steering wheel with firm hands, going 80 per hour. She was focused yet at peace, knowing that she had done good work today. All she needed to do was to repeat what she had already done. To mimic what was already perfect. If her father could see her now, he too would be grinning to himself with pride. And she knew, deep down in her heart, he would be rooting for her. Always. Wherever he might be.

She peered into the windshield, seeing the target building from afar. The distance was closing. It was now or never.

*tires screeching*

"Go! Go! Go!"

…

Author's Comments/Notes: This bit was inspired by the latest Invitational charm for Mira, "Mira's Family". It's quite insightful if you read up about it; I never expected Mira to be particularly close to her father, who seemed to be the only family she had. Maybe he had already passed away, and working as a cop and a mechanic was his daughter's idea of honoring his memory. I didn't feature the charm in this chapter, but I hope I managed to capture its spirit nonetheless.

It's time to feature our favorite soccer dad; the next chapter will focus on Lesion!