Outfitting a Hero
Ayden knew it was a suicide mission, though she didn't really care about being shot at— she was more afraid of the possibility of her crashing the plane, seeing as she had never flown one before, even less driven a car.
"Do you even know how to fly one?" Andrew asked her when they'd reached the private slot in the Bagram Airfield.
Ayden blinked. "Yes. Of course, I do. What would make you think otherwise?" Of course, what she told Andrew was a complete and utter lie; she'd only flown planes in video games.
Not even giving him the time to think of a reply, she grabbed Elena by the arm and pulled her over to the plane he'd assigned them.
Elena and Ayden were left shocked when the latter had actually managed to infiltrate them both into the enemy's base flawlessly... well, they did have a few bad turns and a few bumps on the road, but the rest of the flight was alright... until they eventually crashed, though that was done on purpose. Their arrival had been noticed, but they had to make the enemy think they were dead, so they grabbed their parachutes, their weapons, and helmets, and jumped to the rescue, letting the plane dive into half of the base, which went to their advantage. That was the perfect distraction they wasted no time in using to rescue the one-o-sixth.
"I feel like Captain America," Ayden muttered as she and Elena rushed through the wilderness.
"Well, Captain? Focus and stop making me feel like Bucky," Elena retorted, quickly readjusting her helmet, as they crouched behind a tree when they heard some people from the opposite party running past them.
"Hey, Bucky was cool," Ayden whispered, defending one of her favorite Captain America characters. "... from what I can remember..."
"You're just saying that because Sebastian Stan plays him in the movie."
"He becomes the Winter Soldier," Ayden continued, not having quite registered her friend's retort.
Elena snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I become the Arctic Blade," she replied. "Just shut up."
Ayden's face heated up, but not in embarrassment. "You should not talk like that to those who are younger than you, that's bad role modeling," she accused. "Besides, I don't even know the names of the actors, even less of Stan Lee, okay?"
Elena snorted as they rushed forward, still crouched. "That made no sense— Stan Lee was the writer. Sebastian Stan was the actor, you dimwit."
"Exactly my point," Ayden exclaimed in a whisper.
"Where did you learn how to fly a plane?" Elena suddenly asked, changing the subject as they pressed their backs against another tree when they heard a gunshot.
Ayden was silent. Elena turned, only to find the sixteen-year-old aiming her sniper at something far ahead. After a second, she pulled the trigger before hearing, a second later, a grunt and a thump. Elena gave her an appreciative look as Ayden straightened her position, all the teasing from earlier completely wiped from her face.
"I didn't," she replied, her tone empty as she walked toward her kill.
Elena was suddenly confused. "Didn't what?"
"I didn't exactly learn how to fly a plane; I was never taught."
Elena gave her a perplexed look. "Then how the hell did you know how to fly it?"
Ayden stopped walking for a moment, almost causing Elena to crash into her back. A grim smile stretched across her lips as she looked down at the dead man who had the bullet from her sniper rammed into his forehead.
"Video games."
And with that, she grabbed the man's weapons and continued her way, a dumbfounded Elena hot on her heels. That was when Ayden's Schizoid, or Split Personality Disorder, was discovered and, thankfully, only kept between the two girls.
Ayden quickly skimmed through the woods, crouching now and then, and hiding behind trees and large boulders as to not get caught.
"Ayden, slow down, will ya?" Elena huffed loudly. Ayden quickly spun on her heels, grabbed Elena and practically slammed her against a tree trunk, pressing her hand over her mouth to keep her from speaking. "Hmmmm? Hmmm mmm mmm hmmmm?"
Ayden gave her a weird look. Rolling her eyes, Elena grabbed her hand and removed it from over her mouth to speak. "I said: 'Ayden? What are you doing?' But, of course, you couldn't hear me because your hand was over my mouth!"
"Shh!" Ayden clamped her hand over Elena's mouth again.
Once again, Elena ripped her friend's hand from over her mouth. She opened her mouth to speak again but then clamped it shut when she heard voices not so far away.
"Oh, that's why," Elena mumbled, giving her friend a sheepish look.
Ayden rolled her eyes at her. "Yeah, that's why." She began to walk ahead, crouching as best as she could while doing so so she wouldn't get caught. "Now shut it. We're getting closer," she whispered.
"Actually, we're already there," Elena replied.
Ayden turned and gave her a surprised look. "Really?"
"Oh, don't be so surprised. You're a freakin' road runner." Elena exhaled tiredly as they both peeked out from behind the tree. "бог, (God) you'd win a cross-country and wouldn't even realize it."
The Canadian girl hushed her and urged her to follow her behind the bushes. They both mentally thanked God that it was starting to get dark outside; it's easier to take on enemies that way
Ayden took off her glasses and put them away, replacing them with the irritating contact lenses. She then brought out her night goggles and struggled a bit as she pulled them over her helmet, placing them over her eyes before turning them on and activating the x-ray function to look through the wall of the warehouse-looking building, and the tents and trucks encircling it. Elena, having put on her own pair of night goggles, scouted the rest of the area they had just come from, just to make sure no one was still around.
"There are some weapons in the tents, a few left in the trucks, but most have been emptied; everyone's inside," Ayden listed.
Elena nodded. "Well, the coast is clear back here. Should we get in?" she asked, readying herself to stand from her crouch.
"Yea— wait." Ayden quickly brought her back down as four more trucks made its way into the somewhat crowded yet empty camp. The girls shared a look, then, as though communicating telepathically, they nodded at each other and quickly snuck over, and crouched as they waited for the vehicles to get closer. As the last one drove by, Ayden gave Elena a boost before jumping in herself, only to be greeted by seven enemy soldiers.
Elena froze, though a nervous smile grew on her face. Ayden just looked awkward and out of place.
"Hey, fellas," she greeted, unknowingly coy, with a nod, bringing a smirk onto Elena's face. The men rushed toward both girls, but they were faster and knocked them out of the truck.
"You've gotten better," Ayden complimented.
Elena gave her a lopsided grin, as she took off her helmet, freeing her long raven braid from it. "Well, someone's gotta train hard to keep up with you."
The truck then turned, backed up, and finally came to a stop. They were there. Ayden quickly began to press randomly on her watch, only to be startled a few seconds later when a ballistic shield erupted out of it. She looked over at Elena who'd been startled as well.
"Well, he sure wasn't kidding about the watch being smart," Elena blurted.
Snapping out of her daze, Ayden rolled her eyes as she placed her iron mask over her face, Elena doing the same. "Get behind me," Ayden instructed as she readied herself behind the shield and waited.
The canvas on the back of the truck was soon pulled away, filling the space with dim light. Ayden used her shield to knock out the guard. She quickly pressed the crown of her watch, retracting the shield into it, before climbing out of the truck and darting between rows of tanks, Elena hot on her heels, handgun at the ready. They looked around before running across the lot, then climbing into another tank to reach the top of a building, running across the top before finally getting inside.
"You're not seriously gonna knock on the door, are you?!" Elena whisper-yelled, in disbelief, through her own iron mask.
"Got another option?"
"Well, no, but—"
Ayden gave her a look, causing Elena to sigh and stop talking. Glancing around quickly, Ayden and Elena shared another nod before Ayden finally knocked. A guard opened the door and stuck his head outside, which Ayden wasted no time in slamming against the door, knocking the guard out with a precise punch, and dragged him out.
"Nice hit," said Elena as she took off her night goggles.
Ayden nodded. "Thanks."
They hid between boxes before zipping across the opening, to a row of furnaces, then again to a row of giant metal pods. They got out of the main factory and managed to make it above the holding cells. There was a guard walking around, making sure the prisoners weren't making any trouble.
"May I?"
As Elena took off her iron mask, she motioned forward. "Be my guest," she replied.
And Ayden jumped on him and knocked him out, making him land above one of the cells. The sudden attack startled all of the prisoners, causing them to look up, most of them standing up in surprise, as Ayden searched the guard. Grunting in irritation, she ripped off her helmet and threw it aside before taking off her night goggles, only leaving on her iron mask. She searched a bit further, then, finally, she found the keys and threw them at Elena, who instantly made her way over to the locks while Ayden stayed a bit behind, freeing her shoulder-length hair from the messy bun she'd had it in before taking off her iron mask.
"Who are you supposed to be?" said one of the prisoners.
Ayden looked down at him, feeling awkward. "Er... I'm—"
"Captain Shades," Elena blurted out.
"I'm sorry, what?" said another of the prisoners before he walked around and got on the main holding floor.
Ayden sent Elena a glare. "Seriously, Lena?"
"Love you too," she replied as Ayden joined her and helped her unlock the rest of the cells.
The prisoners got out of their cylinder cage cells and congregated in the area between.
"What, are we taking everybody?" asked a prisoner with pale russet skin.
"Well, I didn't exactly come for just one person," Ayden replied with a shrug. "A unit's a package deal." Then she turned to another man who looked a bit older and wiser and said, "Mister English man—"
"I'm from Scotland," the prisoner corrected her, flashing his dog tags.
"Er... right. Anyway, grab everybody else," Ayden instructed. "We're looking for Sergeant Gray... Damian Shostakovitch."
"Leave it to you to shorten the name," Elena muttered, receiving a glare from the latter girl.
"There's an isolation ward on the flat deck, but no word has ever come back from him," said another prisoner.
"Alright." Ayden cleared her throat as she began to walk again. "The tree line is northwest, it's about ninety yards past the gate, get out fast and give 'em all you got. I'll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else I find."
"Wait!" called a dark-skinned prisoner. "You know what you're doin'?"
Ayden blinked, then gave him a lopsided grin. "Yes. Of course, I do. What would make you think otherwise?"
"You have no idea what you're doing, do ya?" Elena said, a small smirk on her face.
"'Just smile and wave,' girl," Ayden muttered, as she brought out her scouter and hooked it to her left ear.
Elena gave her a disbelieving look. "So let me get this straight; you know that, but you don't know Captain America?!"
Ayden rolled her eyes at her. "You. Go with them to the rendezvous point."
Elena's look of disbelief did not waver. "You don't even know what my brother looks like!"
"I can guess he has the same big eyes and brows as you."
Ella rolled her eyes. "Out of the entire half year you've known me, what's the possibility of me actually going with them?" she challenged Ayden and kept stride.
Ayden looked at her for a long moment before sighing and shaking her head. "I'm guessing it's very a slim one."
Suddenly, she stopped and held up a hand to Elena; two enemy guards ran by, and Ayden kept them hidden in the shadows until they completely passed. She activated the scouter, cautiously glancing around for any enemy as the dark blue monocle extracted and covered her eye. When it was activated and fully functional, she used it to lead the way toward the isolation ward she was told of and turned it off as soon as they reached the lab, the monocle retracting back into the metal attachment, though she did not take it off. Ayden ran up to an experimentation table where she saw a young man, whom she assumed to be Elena's brother, laying there.
It was easy to say that beauty ran strongly through the Shostakovitch bloodline; despite his sickly pale and sunken appearance, Elena's brother was rather handsome, to say the least. The young man was muttering incoherently when the female duo approached him. To Ayden, he just looked crazy. But finally, he snapped out of it and looked up at his sister.
"Elena?!" he exclaimed as both, Elena and Ayden, helped him up.
Ayden quickly glanced around and noticed a map on the wall with a few marked parts, though she didn't look at it long as they had to get out of there as soon as possible, so she quickly stepped forward, closer to the older Shostakovitch and wrapped an arm around his waist as she put one of his around her shoulders.
"I thought you were dead," Elena said as she helped Ayden, who began to haul Damian out of the lab room.
"I thought you were home. Who's this?" he asked when he finally noticed the girl who was pretty much carrying him out.
"Oh, this is—"
"The girl who survived an explosion, turned into a super soldier and will break both of your jaws if you two don't shut up," Ayden cut her off, glaring at the siblings.
Damian had a hard time focusing on what she was saying as the feeling as though his body was fighting itself overtook him. Though the second he heard the word 'explosion,' he snapped out of his reverie. "Explosion?" he gasped at her.
She gave him a plain look. "No, a walk in the park— yes, an explosion!" she huffed.
Elena sighed; there she goes with her SPD again. Damian looked over at the pretty brunette, though his eyes stayed locked upon her lips as though when she spoke, he would read something different than what she was actually saying.
"How are you here?" he asked, though it was clear the question was directed to his sister.
Elena rolled her eyes as she recharged her gun. "I joined the army, what do you think?"
"Did it hurt?" This time, the question was directed toward Ayden. Elena glanced her way as well, curious as she had only really found out about the whole thing less than twenty-four hours ago.
Ayden's jaw clenched as the memory of Marinescu dying in her arms made its way back into her head. "A pinch."
"Is it permanent?"
"Frankly, I hope not."
The three finally made it to the only route out of the self-destructing building. Elena gasped as she ran right into the rail. She made the mistake of looking down, and her stomach churned.
"Let's go."
Both Shostakovitch siblings looked at the Ayden as though she had gone insane.
Ayden noticed their look. "We have to, there's no other way out; the building's self-destruct mode has been activated. Must be an emergency feature in case there was ever an intruder."
"How do you know?"
Ayden tapped her scouter with an index; they hadn't realized she had reactivated it. They hesitated. "One at a time," she assured her as she helped Elena over the railing. "Don't worry, I've got your back."
Elena swallowed and felt her feet shake. бог, why did rescuing my brother have to end up in such a Captain America moment?
She slowly started over the thin beam, her entire body quivering in fear. Halfway through, she nearly slipped, but caught herself and made it to the other side. She turned and saw her brother crossing, but the beam was starting to crack and break, so he jumped the rest of the way, grabbing onto the railing. Elena helped him over, then the two of them looked back, fear evident in their eyes as they saw Ayden now trapped on the other side. Things were starting to heat up around them, and the flames were getting hotter and taller.
Ayden swallowed hard; some part of her had always hated fire for some reason...
Elena leaned over the railing to yell back to Ayden. "Gotta get a rope or something!"
"I'll find another way, just go! Get out of here!" Ayden called back.
"No! I'm not leaving without you!" Elena shouted, wrapping her fingers around the railing, knuckles white. Damian suddenly shouted in surprise as a piece of the balcony they were standing on exploded. Elena looked back at her brother. "Go!" she yelled, "Get help!"
"What? No! I'm not leaving without you!"
Ayden huffed, looking around at the rail and calculating eyes. Biting her lip, she suddenly took a step forward, put her hands on the rail and forced the metal bars out of the way before she backed up for a running start.
"And to think I've always disliked running; now I've gotta run for my life..." she muttered under her breath in slight disbelief. "Unbelievable."
Deciding to count to three, though knowing she would never count to then, after thinking the number 'one,' she ran and leaped over the vast fiery pit of death. Ayden slipped, almost falling, but she quickly grabbed onto a metal bar and pulled herself up with Damian and Elena's help.
To say that the one-o-sixth unit was filled with the most loyal soldiers ever would be an understatement; when Ayden, Damian, and Elena had finally made it out of the building which was on the verge of collapsing, they had all been outside, waiting by the trucks and tanks they scored. They were waiting for Ayden, the young girl they already looked upon as their leader now.
After leaving the campsite, "borrowing" a few things here and there before leaving, Ayden had been revealed a truth that only made her laugh for at least five minutes, only to calm down for three before laughing again.
Elena wasn't nineteen at all.
In fact, she was younger than Ayden, who had just turned sixteen that June; Elena was still fourteen. After laughing for a while, Ayden then realized something else: she couldn't find herself capable of staying still when she sat in one of the stolen trucks they were driving back toward their base, though she was quickly distracted.
"That was really stupid of you to do, Elena," Damian had been scolding his sister for the past half hour, Elena rolling her eyes and sighing in annoyance at each scold or glare she received from her brother, though inside, she was dying of happiness for being reunited with him and was extremely relieved to see that he was okay.
Although she was happy and relieved, he was seriously starting to get on her nerves with his over-protectiveness.
"Shut up!" she exclaimed. "I get it! I was reckless and stupid and shouldn't have let people believe that I was nineteen, but I saved your butt today. And I wasn't alone."
That was when Damian finally looked over at Ayden, who was now standing, getting ready to climb up to the front of the truck.
"Hey, Carmi, where are you going?" Elena asked, eying her curiously, as she too got up.
"Don't call me that," Ayden muttered, her voice as cold as it had been when she mentioned that her knowledge on planes came from video games.
"... Carmi?" Elena asked softly, ignoring her friend's demand.
Ayden bit her lip as she craned her head to glance at the direction they came from. "Their camp was at crossroads between these two mountain ranges at a factory of some kind... it's odd to find such in the wilderness."
Elena scrunched her eyebrows as she thought. "Now that you mention it, it does seem out of place."
"It is out of place," Ayden deadpanned, and they both shared a look, unreadable to the others, before shifting their gaze back toward the direction they came from.
The other soldiers stared at both girls in shock and awe.
"How old did she say she was?" one of them whispered so low, only the soldier sitting beside him could hear.
"I didn't," Ayden answered his question, not moving her gaze from the ambushed campsite disappearing from sight as they drove. "Maybe it wasn't their actual campsite," she wondered aloud. "Or maybe... maybe it was just not one of their main bases. The weapons were few, and so were their soldiers."
"How old is she?" another asked, watching the girl in awe.
"Sixteen," Ayden and Elena replied in unison, both still distracted.
"How did you get in the army so young?"
Ayden snapped out of her calculating thoughts. "Falsified my file," she said, shrugging nonchalantly.
Her head snapped up toward the sky and, after a few seconds, she growled under her breath. "Shit, shit, shit!" She took off her camouflage-colored tactical vest, then began unzipping her dutch tank overall.
"What are you doing?!" Elena exclaimed, watching her friend in disbelief. "We're on the road with a bunch of guys! Now's not the time to—"
"I ain't stupid, kid! You really think I'd undress myself in front of men? Who do you think I am— Taylor Momsen?" Ayden snapped.
She slipped out of her coverall, revealing her perfectly fit body. She was now left wearing an all-black uniform, the tight black leggings running down her long legs like a bark down a tree trunk, the whole attire hugging every inch of her body, showing off all of her feminine curves, the only skin showing apart from her face, neck and collarbone being thus of her torso, which was revealed only due to her long-sleeved shirt being cropped. Apart from her dog tags and army pendant, hanging from a thin silver chain hooked around her delicate-looking neck was a black onyx pendant in the shape of a tiny guitar.
Taking off her Timbuk, she quickly zipped it open and fished out her grappling gun.
Elena gave her a disbelieving look. "And you didn't think of using that before?!"
Ayden huffed. "Not the time, Lena." Slipping her bag back on, she activated the gun. "Got your earpiece on?"
Elena frowned in confusion. "Yeah."
"Scouter out and activated?"
Elena was confused but activated her scouter, which she had put on when they left the campsite. "I do now. Why?"
Ayden gave her a wry grin. "You're going to be the tour guide," was all she said before she climbed out of the truck's bed.
Elena groaned. "I just had to become best friends with the most reckless girl ever, didn't I?" she muttered before making way to follow her, only to be stopped by her brother.
"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.
"Didn't you hear? I'm a tour guide now." She tried to push past him again, but he only pulled her back.
"You're not going anywhere, Elena. You've put your life on the line a bit too much as it is," he snapped.
She glared at him. "You know, your lack of confidence in me is a little insulting," she said, quoting her best friend word for word. Sighing, she then added, "Я буду в порядке, Дамиан. Я тренировался для этого в течение более полугода." (I'll be fine, Damian. I've trained for this for over half a year.) She could feel the others staring at them now, so she cleared her throat and continued in English. "Besides, I'm the only who knows how she rolls," she said, nodding the way Ayden left to. "And, trust me, it takes a hell lot to keep up with her, even before she became a female version of Captain Stars and Stripes."
Noticing the confused look on her brother's face, and thus on the other soldiers, she added, "Oh, that's my nickname for Captain America. Have you watched the movie, by the—"
"L!" Ayden's head popped into their view, upside down from the roof of the truck. "I'm kind of waitin' on ya here."
Elena jumped back, startled. She turned back to her brother and put on a scolding face. "Damian, how many times have I told you not to waste my time with all that non—"
"Oh, cut the crap, Elena, we all know you were gonna start talkin' about Cap'n America." That made the others snicker, and even Damian crack a smile. "Now, come on. We gotta hurry before they start shooting at us."
"Aye, aye, Cap'n," Elena replied, following after her, her brother right behind her. "What are you doing?" she demanded as she followed Ayden across the clothed roof of the moving truck.
"I'm not letting you go off on your own." That made Elena roll her eyes, though she did not object. She slid into the passenger seat, Damian following suite, while Ayden went to the driver's side and knocked on the window, startling the driver. Elena quickly rolled down his window so Ayden could speak.
"What's your name, soldier?"
"Anthony Turner."
Ayden nodded. "Alright, Annie. You think you good for leading chase?"
He stole a glance her way. "You askin' if I can race?"
"Sort of. The second I go up there—"
Elena's eyes widened. "Go where, Ayden?" she demanded, but the latter only ignored her.
"— a chase is gonna start, and I need someone to lead the rest of the unit to the rendezvous point Lena, and I made earlier."
"You're not going up there," Elena snapped stubbornly.
Ayden pursed her lips. "We're on our own, right now. And I need y'all to keep your focus on this, alright? I need you to be ready in case I don't manage to drive 'em all away from you."
"Ayden..."
"Я буду в порядке, Лена." (I'll be fine, Lena.) Elena's eyes widened in surprise, though Ayden only shrugged. "Andrew wasn't lying when he said this scouter's an all-purpose computer." She sighed again. "Anyway," she drawled out as she climbed back onto the roof of the truck, activating her earpiece, which automatically activated Elena's. "You hear me?"
Elena sighed. "Loud and clear."
"Good, our earpieces are connected to the iPhones Andrew gave us. Put yours on loud-speaker so Annie can hear me too."
"Way ahead of you, sister."
"And it's Anthony."
"I really don't care, right now." She huffed, pressing the button on the side of her scouter. "Alright, so listen up. I'm gonna scan the trucks and tanks we got and send you the main auditive data controls. Then, I'm gonna need you to take the chip and put it into the truck. By then, all are gonna be linked through the radio, and they're gonna be prepared for—"
"Wait, hold up, what the hell are you talking about?" Elena exclaimed herself, flailing her arms in panic.
Damian rolled his eyes. "Give me that," he muttered, snatching the phone from her hand.
"Hey!"
He ignored her. "D'you send the data?"
"Is this the brother?"
Damian rolled his eyes, though cracked a smile in spite of himself. "Yes. Did you?"
"Yeah. The chip needs to be inserted into the truck in order for all of them to be linked. There's one on the phone and one in the watch. There's even one in the scouter, but I need Lena on it."
Damian hummed, grabbing his sister's watch and prying the latch from behind open. "Got the chip. Where do I put it?"
"Find an entrance on the control panel that's small enough for it—"
"None of the entrances available match."
Ayden groaned. "Then get the connecting side of the chip wet and put it in any. The point is, it has to be connected. It doesn't matter where; the data just needs to be transferable."
"How is it going to—"
"It's a Carson chip. It has a mind of its own," she retorted sarcastically, although her statement was pretty much accurate.
"But won't wetting it electrocute—"
"Just do it!"
Quickly licking the chip, cringing slightly at its metallic taste, Damian put the chip in the smallest, thinnest port in the control panel, and they all waited. A little less than five seconds later, the control panel emitted a few electrocuting sparks before a few more lights lit up on it. There was a soft yet clear beep in both scouters, signaling it.
"Good job, Shostakovitch. Good. Now, Lena?"
"Yeah?"
"I need you to open the GPS on the phone and select the location we chose. Annie?"
"Anthony."
"Well, at least you're listening." Ayden swallowed hard. "On my signal, you lead this chicken run." She stretched over to the passenger side and pushed herself down a bit, so her face was visible in the window. Damian rolled it down. "You still cold?" she asked him, nodding to the dark red blanket he had over him.
He shook his head.
"I'm gonna need you to wave the drape out the window for a moment, so they know who to follow."
He nodded. "When?"
She held out a finger. "Lena put me on." Elena turned up the speaker of the radio. "This is Ayden, does everybody hear me?" She heard a couple of low, confused murmurs and groaned, glaring at Elena. "I hate you so much right now." Elena simply gave her a cheeky grin as Ayden turned back to the radio. "Captain Shades," she grunted. She received a few chorused 'oh's and 'ah's in realization.
"Look, y'all are gonna have to embark yourselves into a chase— one where you'll be doing the running for your lives. You know, the usual stuff in this sorta habitat. I'm gonna try to give you a head start, but I need you all to be prepared either way. If you follow the truck from which y'all will shortly see a red drape flowing from the passenger window." She paused, looking over at Damian, who immediately waved the drape out the window the second she moved aside for him to do so. She moved back when he was done doing it for around ten seconds and continued her instructions. "Y'all saw that?"
She got a murmured confirmation.
Nodding, she breathed out. "Alright, well, this truck will lead you to the rendezvous point. Right now, however, I need y'all to start accelerating and preparing. On my signal, y'all go and follow this truck. Got it?"
She got quite a long chorus of "Got it!"s, "Yup!", a few "Oui!"s, and "Aye, Cap'n!"s.
Taking a deep breath, she rolled onto her back and squinted her right eye a bit; her left contact lens had fallen out, but, even so, her scouter was over her left eye, and was zooming in on her target perfectly, though it was a bit hard to focus what with the difference in eyesight. Bringing up the aiming lens of her grappling gun to her right eye, she aimed the hook, counted to three in her head, then shot. Perfect shot. Her eyes widened when she was beginning to be pulled up into the air, and she quickly fished out one of her handguns and shot at a tree before being hauled up into the air.
Anthony jumped slightly, startled at the sound of the gunshot. "Wait, was that the signal?"
"GO!" both Shostakovitch siblings shouted in unison.
Ayden never once imagined she would be jumping from one plane to another, killing enemy soldiers, even less that she would be in a war, yet there she was, fighting off some Tajik soldiers. She knew the Tajik, in general, weren't all as bad as most people made them out to be along with most of the Afghans, though she did not hesitate on shooting those she was facing since... well, they started it with her. She was glad she wasn't on it alone, though, and that her fellow soldiers were helping her from below. However, when she got to the last chopper, she knew there was no way they could help her now.
For one, she'd never flown a helicopter in a video game before, so she didn't even have an idea of how to operate a live one.
For two, there was an Afghan kid in there with her who had been held there against his will. She basically saved him, only to probably have him die with her if she didn't land the chopper.
For three, she accidentally broke the button that activates her parachute with her enhanced strength.
"Shit!"
"Ayden? Is everything alright? Where are you now? I can't see you," she heard Elena ask her into her earpiece.
"I'm up too high. Phone and watch are cracked, and my scouter's on the brink of breaking."
"Dang."
"Yup. Did you know some soldiers could be real asses? Anyway, what's the story downstairs?"
"The chase is almost over. We're nearing our spot."
Ayden nodded absentmindedly. "Alright, I'll... um... I'll try to swerve your way."
"Try? Swerve— Ayden what's the story up there?" Elena demanded.
"Er..." She glanced over at the boy. "I've got a kid in my hand, we're in a chopper, and my parachute's busted."
Elena groaned. "Can you land it?"
Ayden swallowed hard. "It's a chopper."
Elena looked at the phone in disbelief. "You flew a plane."
"I always passed my brother the remote when a chopper came up!" she said, quickly becoming defensive. "They reminded me too much of fruit choppers, and the last time I was near one, I almost lost a finger!" She shuddered slightly at the memory. Ayden then sighed as she stole a glance at the clearly terrified boy. She stumbled over to him and knelt before him. "Hey, kid. I'm gonna get you outta here, alright?"
He only stared back with glazed over, terrified and confused eyes; he didn't understand. Her scouter beeped, catching her attention.
Name: Aziz Nikbin
Age: 10
Nationality: Afghan
Language: Dari
Ayden blinked in surprise. "Brief, but it's something," she muttered, before looking at the boy. He spoke Dari... let's just hope what she learned from her brother's girlfriend will help her.
"Aziz?" The boy seemed to snap out of whatever reverie he was. "Is that your name?" she asked. "Aziz?" He nodded slowly. "Okay, Aziz? Er... My name is Ayden. I'm going to get you out of here, okay? But I need you to come with me. Alright?"
The little boy looked into her eyes with fear in his own as he stared at her for a long moment before nodding. She sighed in relief before grabbing his hand and pulling him up and toward the control panel. She took off her tactical vest and put it on him as tight yet breathy as she could, before getting him to put on her backpack, strapping him in it for extra protection.
"Ayden?!"
"I'm here."
"Status?"
"Not so good. I may have to make the kid jump," Ayden replied, glancing down at the boy who was clinging to her arm.
"You said your parachute was busted!"
"I can fix it for him."
"For him?!"
"Elena, he's a ten-year-old boy who was taken against his will."
Elena's jaw clenched. "Scan the chopper and send me the data. I can seek your coordinates, and find you a safe landing site," she urged.
Ayden sighed. "The control's too busted for me to scan. And even if it weren't, my scouter would explode. I'm gonna have to force it down."
Elena huffed, cheeks flushed. "Don't you dare— don't you dare do this to me, Ayden."
"I'm sorry, L," Ayden said softly as she grabbed the control stick. "But this has to be done."
"Ayden... please, don't..." Elena barely managed to choke out.
Ayden didn't answer. Instead, she grabbed the boy into her arms, securing him with her body, placed her foot on the control stick and pushed it forward, forcing the chopper down. Where? She didn't know, but what she did know was that she was going to keep this little boy alive if that was the last thing she was going to do. She could feel her heart clench in anticipation as she heard Elena and a few other soldiers who had found out her actual name calling her out, while the boy buried his face in her chest, whimpering in fear.
"I'm sor—"
The line went dead as Ayden's last words were interrupted by the chopper crashing. By the time it did, the chase was over, and Elena and the one-o-sixth were already pulling up to the center of the rendezvous point. But Elena didn't move. Not when the truck stopped, not when her brother called out her name. No. She kept staring at the slightly broken phone in her hand, unblinking.
When she finally blinked, she swallowed hard as a tear escaped her eye.
"Carmi..." Elena choked out, hoping it was just her phone malfunctioning.
Damian didn't say anything as he watched sadly his heartbroken little sister, who simply sat there, breathing heavily. He did not know what to do or say to make her feel better as he had never really had to do that; she was always a happy and cheerful little girl— it was rare to see her cry.
"Carmi?" she repeated, desperate to get an answer, either it'd be a grunt, a groan... anything would suffice as long as the sound came from her best friend. "Car— Ayden, please..."
She began to sob as no reply came, though she jumped, slightly startled when smoke began to fill the air. Her hopes rose as she looked up ahead. Could it be? Jumping out of the truck, she ran and ran, her brother and a few other soldiers in toe, until she reached a small clearing, where a recently crashed chopper lay in flames.
Her heart began to pound erratically when he heard a faint shout. Following it, she found a ten-year-old looking boy, balling his eyes out as he tugged on something. Jogging closer, Elena let out a gasp when she noticed what he was trying to pull out of the aircraft; there was Ayden, lying unconscious on the floor, a bloodied metal beam sticking out from her side.
Rushing forward, Elena grabbed onto Ayden and pulled her out of the chopper, falling onto the floor with the unconscious girl in her arms. She began to shake her, calling out her name, though the latter did not answer. Elena quickly ripped off a sleeve of her coverall and placed it over her wound the instant she ripped the metal beam out of Ayden's side.
"Ayden? Ayden! Come on, dammit. Wake up!"
Though it felt like an eternity, around seven minutes later, Ayden moaned and groaned in pain, her eyes tightening for a moment before finally fluttering open.
"Is it normal for me to crave a rainbow sherbet right now?" she muttered.
Elena looked at her for a moment before letting out a disbelieving laugh, throwing her arms around neck, practically squeezing the life out of her as she hugged her tightly. "You idiot! You bastard! You lying little— gah! You said you wouldn't pull one on me, but you did! I hate you so much!"
"I kind of guessed that by the way you're killing me," Ayden grunted, wincing in pain.
Elena gasped, immediately letting go. "I'm so sorry!"
Ayden chuckled, shaking her head. "S'alright. As long as you get me a rainbow sherbet when we get back, we're good," she told her as the boy ran over to her and hugged her, still clinging to her when she stumbled onto her feet. "Whoa, there, kiddo. Are you alright?" He nodded, bringing a small smile onto her lips.
"She speaks Afghan?" Elena mumbled.
"That's not even a language," Damian muttered.
"That was Persian... or Dari, if we're looking for correct terms." They both turned to look at Anthony, who simply raised his hands in surrender. "What? I'm just sayin'..."
"Captain!"
Ayden looked towards the call; a young Asian man, probably in his mid-twenties. It was a mess outside, trucks overturned, fires burning everywhere; they'd been followed there, she realized. She led Aziz through the wreckage towards the tree line, heart sinking at the evidence that the others might not have made it out okay.
"Huang Wu," he started by introducing himself.
The young Canadian nodded. "Ayden Jaubert." She glanced around. "Everyone okay?" she asked worriedly.
"There were some minor injuries during the escape. And the guards weren't exactly easy on the workers before. Many of the men have broken bones," he looked at Damian. "Your ribs were broken, if I'm not mistaken."
"I'm fine," Damian mumbled.
Ayden looked over at him and raised a brow. "You're fine? You're pale and sunken, and I can bet my four guitars you feel like you look, dude— you are not fine."
"Where's the rest of the cavalry?" another soldier asked, his voice coming out soft with a slight Scottish accent. "We've been looking around, but besides a few stray bad guys, we're not seeing anything."
Ayden bit her lip, hesitantly. "Uh, well. Actually, I'm it... well, Elena and I are it. I mean, it's just us."
Damian looked from her to his sister, then back to Ayden. "You came out here by yourself?" His voice had that low, dangerous edge to it that is always got when he was angry at his sister for doing something incredibly stupid.
"Not alone. Well..." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. "Ah, shit..." she muttered; the phone was in pieces, and her smart-watch and scouter weren't any better.
"What's all this, exactly?" the Scottish soldier, looking skeptically at the smashed gadgets.
"It's all supposed to call our ride back. I think they're broken."
Elena gave her a plain look. "Ya think?"
"What the hell is going on?" For someone almost asleep a while ago, Damian sure was yelling loudly now. "Where's the rest of the troops? What the heck is that? What is going on?"
Ayden sighed tiredly and shook her head. "Now isn't the best time. I'll tell you, okay? All of you. Everything. But, right now..." She groaned, then sighed, running a hand through her slightly tangled hair. "Right now, let's just be honest and realistic here: no one's coming for us. They think we're dead." She turned slightly to look over at Elena. "When we left, Colonel Doolittle was writing letters of condolences, remember?" Then she looked at the rest. "We're on our own, so, round up as much transportation as you can. Anything we can put the injured in. Scout for food and water. We've got weapons just in case. Anything we can use."
"A-are w-we m-moving out now?" a slightly scrawny redhead asked, his question coming out in a stutter.
Since she had no idea what his name was, and she knew that she probably wouldn't remember the next day as she was too tired from all the action and thinking, she sighed, deciding to call him Red.
Shaking her head, she said, "Not right now, Red." She looked at the other few who had rounded around her.
"We can wait till dawn," a dark-skinned soldier suggested.
Ayden nodded in agreement. "We can wait till then. Any able-bodied men need to be put on a watch rotation." She looked at the Scottish man. "What's your name?"
"Sergeant Curt Morris."
"Will you and... Huang?" she hesitated. She got a nod but decided something else either way. "You know what? I'll just call you Hugh. Can you two see everything set up?"
"Of course, Captain."
They'd had to abandon a few of the trucks and cars for malfunctioning, so they reserved most of the ones they'd kept for the injured, the rest of them going by foot. Ayden hadn't gotten exactly the chance to speak with Elena's brother since he'd been the one to have been separated from the rest too, probably, be tortured when they were still captive.
She had, however, gotten to meet many more soldiers of higher ranks such as Curt and Huang himself, whom she'd taken to calling him, Hugh. There was Ronald Fray, who had a bit of a stuttering problem and whom she'd taken to calling Red, and Anthony, whom she called Annie or Tony and wouldn't stop teasing when she noticed the lost puppy look he often got on his face when he was around Elena, and there was Daniel Lewis who preferred to be called Dan; she was surprised to find out that he was Marvin's childhood best friend. And then there was Chris Jameson, a young African-American soldier, who had a few Latino ancestors in his roots.
She had taken a liking to those six young men and found herself surprised by how trusting she felt toward them. Perhaps it was because they had made it clear that they trusted her with their lives since she saved them.
"You okay?" she asked Damian, finally pushing herself into talking to him; she had, after all, gone to save him, the rest of the unit was simply the rest of the package deal.
She handed him a canteen of water and sat beside him.
He took a drink before he answered. They'd been marching for two days, and he was exhausted. They were all exhausted, but they kept going. No one complained because they all knew they were lucky to be there. Being exhausted meant they were alive.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He screwed the cap back on the canteen and passed it back. "How about you? I don't think you've stopped moving since you broke us all out."
She took off the rogue helmet she snatched a while back and rubbed her hands over her face. "Yeah... I'm not tired. Haven't really been tired since the... change."
"Is that normal?"
She shrugged. "I guess. Yeah, it's normal. Increased stamina and endurance was all meant to be part of the package." She looked at him. "You get your bandages changed today?"
"Yeah. Gaudreault did it before we started this morning. He said they're looking good." Not that Damian would admit it if they weren't. A couple of the injured men had gotten infections, so last night Ayden and the others in her command group had discussed the possibility of raiding a town for medical supplies. Only problem was the nearest town would take them off course by about ten miles and delay their return to Allied territory. Plus, it'd put the entire group at risk with a low probability of success.
On the one hand, Ayden couldn't stand the idea of losing anyone. On the other, she didn't want to put the rest in danger.
They'd all discussed it long into the night, and no firm decision had been reached. Not yet.