It took five hours to get the information they wanted, and it took another two before they had enough intelligence available to make a solid plan so by the time they were all ready and set to brief it was past midday local time.
"Alright, we have the location of Adam Taurus who is the leader of the White Fang, an elite arm of the insurgents based in Afghanistan and Iraq, they are a tough bunch and fanatics in every sense of the word." Neo told the assembled Task Force Beacon, giving them an intelligence briefing on their target.
Everyone's attention was on Neo, however the one she would of liked the attention of most was not paying attention to her.
Ruby was reviewing the planned assault, while they didn't have clearance for the assault to go ahead quite yet; they knew it was slim chance they weren't going to get it.
Neo finished telling everyone in the room about their target she opened up the floor to Ruby, stepping to the side.
Ruby looked up and saw everyone looking at her, knowing that that was her cue.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, our mission is to capture or kill Adam Taurus, I repeat our mission is to capture or kill Adam Taurus." Repeating the mission statement meant there would be no confusion over what she said and to make sure they all knew what their objective was.
"Secondary objective is to find any thing that could tell us of his operations and any planned attack. As such once on the ground we will split into two teams, one to deal with Adam and the second to look for any Intel." Ruby informed the team, before taking out maps and handing them to everyone.
"I'm still waiting to hear from higher if the mission is a go, because as you can tell by the map the target is in Pakistan, which means if the mission is a bust or we get compromised then we will be on our own." Ruby looked around at everyone in the room, asking what she always does on these types of missions.
"If anyone doesn't wish to take the risk, tell me now and you can leave as this is a joint task force you are not under the strict command, so speak now or forever hold your peace."
Ruby looked around at everyone, they knew Ruby would do this as she always did when they worked together but she saw no one raise their hand or leave the room meaning they all wanted to take the risk.
Smiling Ruby looked at everyone once more before continuing, "Ok as you can see the compound is close to the border, only around a mile inside so we will wing suit in from this side of the border, distance will be about 3 miles overall and we will deploy from a V-22 Osprey and it will be above 12,000 feet so mask's will be required." As she spoke she heard a few groans at the mention of masks.
Smiling she didn't mind the masks personally but she knew a couple of her team had problems with them, namely her sister because of her hair.
"Anyway the compound has two buildings, a large two story where Adam is and another smaller building where we've been told he holds business meetings, and we all know what business that is. Anyway the courtyard is large enough to fit a Blackhawk which will be our extraction, two Blackhawks will launch when we deploy, which means we will have ten minutes on the ground."
The rest of the conversation was about attack plans and the teams, WBY and JNPR would focus on collecting Intel while Ruby, Coco and Velvet would go after Adam. Once everyone knew the plan and were ready Ruby smiled as she told everyone what they would do while they waited.
"Now that everyone knows what we're going, lets go take a practice skydive, I managed to get our pilots to take us up in an Osprey and even got the base commander to allow us to land inside the SF area, so everyone go and get your gear." Smiling like a child on Christmas, Ruby told her team and watched as they all left the building they were in and go get their wing-suits.
Before Ruby was able to leave however Neo stopped her, saying "I'm going with you."
Ruby turned slightly shocked at what Neo was saying, "I can't let you go, you aren't trained with at least an M4 and have you ever used a wing-suit before?"
Neo straightened up as she spoke, "No but I am a fully trained solo skydiver, how much harder can a wing-suit be?"
Ruby frowned at Neo, clearly she was determined to go with them, "It is harder, the principle is simple and I suppose I could show you now when we all go up but the fact remains you aren't trained in an M4 which most of us are going to be using."
Neo smiled at Ruby as she stated, "While you were all on the last mission a man found me at the range and taught me how to use one, he had a cane and had a coffee mug in his hand."
Ruby shock her head as she realised who had taught Ruby, it was her current commander. 'Sneaky bastard.' Ruby thought, she'd known him for most if not all her life, him being a friend of her uncle for many years and so she had known him as well.
Ruby nodded at Neo, "Fine then, you look about my size so I'll give you my spare suit, lets go."
Ruby informed Neo who had grown a massive smile on her face as she won the argument and would be able to go on the mission.
Eight hours later.
They had done two jumps with wing-suits; the first one was a simple one not going very far as to get a feel for the suits again, Ruby being the only one who had used one in recent months.
Once they done two jumps, the pilots needed some rest and to prepare for the night flight, again the pilots were from the Night stalkers, while they didn't normally train or fly the Osprey both pilots had done so before and were available, which meant they had six elite pilots flying them around tonight.
After that they did a weapons check and went to the range, most of the team were using standard M4's with a holographic sight and a suppressor, however the three marksmen or in this case markswomen went with a different gun.
They chose something with a more stopping power then the 5.56mm bullets of the M4, they chose the HK417, which was a slightly bigger weapon and used a 7.62mm bullet the same as those used by the AK-47.
The three markswomen in the group, Ruby, Weiss and Velvet all chose this weapon although the assaulter variant which had a shorter barrel then its marksmen version, making it ideal for smaller spaces.
They chose the weapon for the more stopping power and for a longer range as they could be fighting at varying ranges and if they had to run, they could hold people off at a further range.
Once everyone was armed and ready were all lazing around in the common room in the section of the base they were living in since arriving to the country.
Everyone was dressed in wing-suits and weapons hanging by their side while they waited to find out whether the mission was a go or not, and the wait was annoying most of the team in the room.
Neo was sitting on one of the couches next to the women she knew as Gold, and from what she gathered was also the sister of Red, if her teasing of both girls earlier was any indication.
Her mind was going back to earlier when they went for their second jump, Ruby had spoken to the two pilots and the co-pilot climbed out of his seat and went into the cargo bay with everyone else and Ruby took his seat.
It surprised Neo that Ruby was able to fly the aircraft, or any aircraft for that matter. Ruby was clearly a woman of many talents as she had displayed throughout their time together.
Yang sensing the questions that Neo had or at least her thoughts spoke up, "I'm guessing you're wondering how Ruby knows how to fly an Osprey, right?"
Neo looked shocked as she turned to Yang, she didn't remember saying the question out loud.
"Ah sorry, its been written all over your face since we landed again and I'm quite good at reading emotions." Yang informed Neo.
"Well yeah, that was what I was thinking about, how can she? Fly you know?" Neo asked Yang.
"Well a couple of years ago we were on a mission I think it was me, Mother and Rabbit. It was a simple lift operation for some commander of the insurgents here, but yeah during extraction out pilot and co-pilot caught quite a few bullets and we crashed, pilots died as we hit the ground and all of us were wounded in some form or another." Yang started telling Neo, her attention and that of a couple other peoples attention as well.
"Anyway as you can tell we all got back ok, we managed to walk to a nearby patrol base and even had our target alive as well but afterwards she learnt to fly a helicopter and a few other aircraft after it happened, in case it happens again and she could do something about it." Yang said, noticing the attention on her as well.
Before Neo could say anything back, or anyone else, Ruby poked her head into the room shouting, "GREEN LIGHT."
That got everyone up and moving out of the room, heading outside to the Osprey that was currently warming it's engine up.
Everyone started to walk inside the cargo part of the aircraft and sat down, doing last minute checks making sure they had everything they needed.
They had masks attached to their suits, weapons hanging at the sides of everyone and underneath their wing-suits they had tight fitting clothes that had numerous pockets where they could store ammo and first aid equipment.
The pilots brought the aircraft up; informing Ruby flight time was ten minutes before they reached their drop location.
Everyone was talking as they were flying but when the pilot informed them of the five-minute mark, Yang decided to speak up.
"Ladies and gentlemen today we have a special treat, we have the lovely Lady Red who will provide entertainment for you on this lovely day, with help from her backing singers, the lovely Lady Mother, and the ever adorable Lady Rabbit." Yang spoke in an announcers voice that seemed very well practiced, however her speech earned her three raised fingers showing her the opinion of the girls she mentioned.
This however didn't stop the three women standing up in the middle of the compartment with their mission mics open so everyone in the aircraft could hear them.
Ruby's voice hummed out a tune which the two other women with her picked up on and adopting the tune, allowing Ruby to sing.
Neo recognized the tune Ruby was humming; it was from a song that while not very well known to a lot of people, was popular in certain circles of people. Neo knew because she had followed the singer and composer for a while and enjoyed their work.
Neo also noticed Ruby added a verse from another song, which seemed a little too personal and relevant to everyone's situation.
Ruby provided the main voice, while Coco and Velvet hummed the tune and also sang the repeated lines.
"Listen up, strap in, notify your next of kin,
You're about to take a ride a little on the blazing side,
Guzzle down your Red Bull, you're gonna need a bucket full,
You're watching me accelerate and tear apart the interstate.
A certified monster I'm an absolute trip,
Like Otis Redding, hard to handle so you better get a grip,
A super-fast, superfly, bonafide wise guy.
Call the morgue and say goodbye, write your will; it's time to die.
Caffeine. I'm caffeine.
Caffeine. I'm caffeine.
I'm a bad dream.
I'm a rad scene.
I'm a tad mean.
But I'm not afraid to take you out.
I'm a cheetah on the plains, I'm a highway star,
A supersonic princess in a million dollar car,
Blood on fire pumping through my veins,
Weaving in and out while I'm bolting through the lanes,
I'm hyperdrive, overdrive, hit the gas at fifty-five,
Breakneck, trainwreck, in my presence genuflect,
Track-roundin', speed-a-soundin', electrifyin', pulse-poundin',
Heart-pumpin', brain-thumpin', watch me get the party jumpin'.
Caffeine, I'm caffeine.
Caffeine, I'm caffeine.
I'm a bad dream.
I'm a rad scene.
I'm a tad mean.
But I'm not afraid to take you out."
Once she had finished singing, Ruby's two helpers went back to their seats, and while Ruby was walking back she started to sing more softly catching everyone's attention.
"Were we born to fight and die?
Sacrificed for one huge lie?
Are we heroes keeping peace?
Or are we weapons?
Pointed at the enemy,
So someone else can claim a victory?
Now it's time to say goodbye,
To the things we loved,
And the innocence of youth.
With a doubt in our minds,
Why we chose this life,
And at times we can't help wondering…."
As Ruby sang the verses slightly differently, the words weighed on everyone's mind. Whenever Ruby was on a mission with this particular group or with her sister in the group she sung those last two verses for those with her to think about.
No one knew why she did that, but she had done it for as long as any who has worked with her can remember.
Everyone was quietly contemplating either the songs or the mission ahead of them, but the pilot informing them that they were one minute from target interrupted them.
Everyone stood up moving to the sides while Ruby moved to the back of the craft, where the cockpit was. She stood in the middle while everyone formed two lines behind her, Neo just behind her.
"Stay on my ass, like we did in training earlier." Ruby told Neo, reminding her about their plan.
Neo nodded and waited for the go.
As everyone put their masks on, they all started to check the person in front of them with the person at the back being checked by the one in front of them.
"11, OK"
"10, OK"
"9, OK"
"8, OK"
"7, OK"
"6, OK"
"5, OK"
"4, OK"
"3, OK"
"2, OK"
"1, OK"
Everyone sounded off, including Ruby to make sure everyone's gear was ok and safe to use.
The whole rear compartment turned dark and then went into a red color, telling them they were thirty seconds to drop point.
And true to her word, thirty seconds later the compartment filled up with green light and Ruby was running forward jumping from the aircraft.
Arms and legs extended out, everyone's wing-suit caught air and the whole team was flying through the air, high above the country they were helping and they quickly crossed the border into a new more hostile country.
They reached the five thousand feet level before they pulled their parachutes, the familiar pull as the parachute caught air and expanded out to start slowing them down.
It didn't take long for the team to hit the ground inside the target compound, having already stripped off the top half of their suits they were all ready to fight as they hit the ground.
They left their suits stripped off halfway as to not leave any evidence behind, at all. Landing everyone quickly split up into their teams, Ruby, Coco, Velvet and Neo headed to the two-story building while everyone else headed to the smaller building.
As they landed they had to take out a couple guards but otherwise the alarm wasn't raised due to the suppressed weapons.
Both teams got to the doors of their respective buildings and didn't waste any time putting an explosive charge on it and blowing the doors open.
Soft pops from the discharge of suppressed weapons filled the rooms and quiet words of 'Clear' filled her ear as Ruby fought her way through the first floor, moving to the second floor.
A number of bodies littered the floor from bodyguards who tried to fire at the women entering the house.
Reaching the second floor, Ruby and Neo headed to the furthest door while Coco and Velvet went to the closest one.
Breaching at the same time, Coco and Velvet found another room with bodyguards inside and what seemed like some women amongst them, all of them had weapons raised and the explosion knocked those nearest to the door back.
Coco and Velvet didn't distinguish between anything, all they saw were weapons raised at them and fired at those who had weapons pointed at them, none able to return fire as the shock of the door exploding made them freeze.
Ruby and Neo had better luck however, they breached the room at the far corner and once they entered the room they saw their target Adam Taurus standing a hand on a sword that he carried everywhere with him.
Weapons raised, Ruby's gun was trained on the leader of the White Fang, shouting at him, "HANDS! HANDS UP!" Ruby screamed at the man.
Adam didn't move however and just starred at Ruby and then Neo, deciding what course of action to take as he took a step towards them.
Ruby reinforced her demand, moving forward as well with her weapon pointed directly at his head, "HANDS NOW! OR I WILL SHOOT."
Adam seemed to ignore Ruby as he took another step, prompting Ruby to shout again, "MOTHERFUCKING HANDS NOW!"
It seemed Adam didn't want to comply as he moved his hand to his sword and about to rush Ruby but his sword barely came out of its holder and he barely made it two steps before Ruby and Neo fired five bullets each, hitting him in the chest and Neck with a bullet embedding itself in his forehead.
Ruby and Neo took a second before they saw the man had died, moving quickly Neo went over to the body and took out a camera taking pictures of the dead leader, a full body picture and then a close up of his face as proof that he was killed.
Once that was all done everyone in the target building headed outside and waited for the second team to finish up, the whole compound being cleared by this point.
As Ruby stepped outside she saw Neo off to the side slightly, crouched over. Walking over to her Ruby smelt vomit, quickly seeing it in front of the rookie agent. Ruby put a comforting hand on her back but didn't exchange any words with the girl as a double clicking sound, sounded in her ear.
Speaking up to her team Ruby said, "Extraction." This got her team moving, as they finished up and all met in the courtyard, the second team all carrying heavy bags full of computer hard drives and paperwork that could be anything from porn to attacks planned on people.
The first Blackhawk landed quickly in the centre of the courtyard, the second team and their Intel all climbing on board, prompting the pilot to quickly take off to allow the second one to land and pick up the remainder of the team.
The second Blackhawk landed and just as the four women were about to board, Ruby was thrown forward and around, something akin to a hammer hitting her in the shoulder.
Coco screamed out, "CONTACT REAR." As she watched her commander and friend, get shot by a lone insurgent.
Ruby was only knocked down to her knees by the force, but having been used to being shot didn't fall to the ground.
Ruby and the other three women all spun when they heard Coco scream, acting on instincts they all opened fire on the insurgent before he was able to get another shot off.
The firepower of the four women tore into the insurgent and later reviews by Pakistan police would show he was hit with between twenty and thirty bullets, having died as the first couple entered him.
Ruby was pulled into the helicopter by Coco, while the other two women climbed onboard next to the injured woman.
Once they were all onboard Coco got to work looking at Ruby's shoulder, both Neo and Velvet not very good with those sorts of injuries to be able to look at them.
Ruby didn't feel much of the pain, happy that she had completed another set of missions without much injury and a lot of success in eliminating a large insurgent threat from the world.
Two days later.
"From two nights ago through early this morning US and UK special forces alongside US Marines and UK Para's all launched raids against the insurgent threat in Afghanistan known to the world as the White Fang."
"Early in the morning Special Forces from the US and the UK launched attacks against the leadership of the White Fang, successfully taking them out while Marines and Para's took out the main fighting force of the White Fang, this is Meg Turney reporting for BBC news."
Once the reporter was finished Ruby turned off the TV, she didn't have time to watch anymore TV and that was all she wanted to see, that they had truly succeeded. Now she saw they had, she turned the TV off and started to prepare for the party she was hosting later today.
A/N
So not much to say, other then one last chapter, no action in it just some fluff really and some fun stuff that I want to do and a ending of sorts as well and then that's it for this story, i hope you've enjoyed and thank you for reading. ^_^
Oh and songs are clearly Caffeine and Time To Say Goodbye, with a verse changed around slightly.
And as always i own nothing, it all belongs to RT and Jeff Williams and whoever else that owns anything i've used. ^_^