Hey all of you! It's been a few days since I updated, but OH MY THE SPRING WEATHER is so nice and I wanted to spend as much time as I could outside. Today I needed some rest and was really in the mood to write, so I give you the next chapter!
OOOOO
Alex had her arms wrapped around Hesh's torso as he stood in front of her and he had his on the sides of her face. She was smiling as he kissed her, realizing for the first time in a while how long it's been since she's been kissed like this. Having relationships in the military was always difficult before the war began, and now it was almost impossible with the way the world was now. But at the moment, Alex wasn't thinking of all that. All she could think about was Hesh's lips moving against her and his hands on her face.
After what felt like forever, Hesh finally pulled away. His hands remained on her face and he met her eyes with his. She had a nervous smile on her face and her cheeks were a bit tinted with red. He thought for sure he was going to get hit when he kissed her and never thought she'd want to kiss him again. He allowed a small smile to stretch across his face when he realized who he was kissing. Alex Merrick. What if her brother found out? He quick dropped his hands and stepped away.
Worried about what had happened to their moment, Alex hopped onto the floor from the table Hesh set her on a few minutes ago and the smile on her face faded. "What's wrong?" she asked. He looked at her. "You-We…" Hesh mumbled. "We can't. I can't. What if your brother…" Alex cut him off right there. "Okay if you regret kissing me you can just say so. You don't have to pull that card."
"Why on Earth would you think I regret kissing you?" he questioned.
"Um…" Alex looked at the ground
Hesh walked over to her and tilted her chin up so she would look at him. "I don't. I am just worried that I am going to have my ass beat by your brother if he finds out that I made out with his little sister." Alex chuckled and put her hand on his chest. "What Merrick doesn't know won't kill him." She said.
"He may kill me."
"He won't. No one has to know about this right now. There are other things to be worried about at the moment." Hesh gave her an all teeth smile and tucked some hair behind her ear before placing a kiss on her forehead.
OOOOO
That was the last thing Alex and Hesh talked about before they left for the weapons facility. Now she was in the jungle with Keegan and Hesh at Entry Point B while Merrick and Logan were at Entry Point A. It was night time and raining out, drenching Alex from head to toe which counteracted the heat she was feeling from the humidity. Even though the sun was down, she still was sweating a bit.
They were just on the perimeter of the facility when Alex, Hesh, and Keegan encountered a patrol standing in the trees talking. "All yours." Keegan whispered to Alex. With a smirk Alex took out her knife and carefully walked up behind the patrol, Hesh and Keegan standing at their original position hidden in the. Once she was close enough, Alex covered the Fed's mouth from behind and jammed her knife into the base of his skull. He let out a sound of struggle, but it was muffled by Alex's hand. As his body began to go limp she lowered him to the ground when another patrol came out of the trees and in a split second a blade whizzed through the air, landing dead center in his throat. He let out a gargling noise for a second before collapsing over. Turning around, Alex expected it to have been Keegan who threw the knife, but saw Hesh was in a stance. She simply just nodded in acknowledgement and pulled her knife out of the dead patrol's skull.
Hesh, Alex, and Keegan regrouped with Logan at Merrick where they had the railroad tracks and trains rolling by. Kick changed course so he could get to where the security was to tell them when a threat was near and also to keep an eye on the perimeter to make sure no one came in and no one got out.
Once Kick was gone, the other four continued their route to the Black Zone, Merrick leading the way. They came up to a small warehouse where they were doing security checks on the vehicles entering and exiting the facility. "Tangos ahead." Merrick said. "Alex, on you."
Alex raised her gun, aimed at the first Fed she saw, and pulled the trigger. The bullet went through his skull in a matter of half a second and the rest of the Ghosts fired at the other Feds in sight. Once all of them were dead and lying on the ground in a pool of their own blood, the team moved forward. "I got right." Merrick said as they moved up.
"I'll take left." Alex added, kneeling down and aiming down the driveway. It was clear. Hesh grabbed a security badge off one of the Feds and used it to open the door to the warehouse. Right inside were two more Feds that they quickly took care of.
As they moved towards their next checkpoint, Kick warned them about a lot of Feds in their next area with no advantage points. "We'll make our own advantage." Merrick retorted.
When they got to their next area, they split up to clear it. Merrick, Keegan, and Alex took the bottom while Hesh and Logan took the top. It didn't take long to clear the area, Alex encountering only two guards which she made quick work of taking out. They were standing around a computer, their backs not to her, but their attention focused on the screen in front of them. Figuring she'd keep the noise to a minimum for the sake of the mission, Alex took out her secondary that had a silencer on it and fired two shot at them. The first hit the one directly in the head, but the second bullet whizzed by the Fed Alex missing by half a centimeter. She immediately fired another bullet, this time ending the Fed's life successfully.
The team regrouped at the large vault door that was the entrance to the Black Zone. "Whatever's in there they want to keep safe and locked up." Alex noted.
"No cameras in Black Zone. You're on your own inside. Starting over ride procedure." Kick informed the team.
A loud beeping noise sounded and a couple of lights flashed before the doors began to spin. The team had their guns raised as they saw the room on the other side. "Multiple tangos! Go hot!" Merrick yelled. The team split and ran to different areas for cover. Alex slid with Logan behind some panels and fired at the Feds in front of them and off to the side.
At first Alex was worried that all the gun fire would attract the unwanted attention of Feds especially since they were in a restricted and highly secure area, but Kick reassured them that they were still in the clear after they had eliminated all the Feds in the room.
The team moved ahead, Merrick reporting to Elias. "Scarecrow, we're in Black Zone. We're seeing what looks like rocket components."
"Solid copy, keep searching." Elias responded.
On that note, the team rushed down a tunnel component where they came across a pressure locked door. "Kick?" Merrick said.
"Roger." Kick responded, the door opening moments later.
Stepping into the next area, Alex's jaw almost dropped to the floor at the sight in front of them. "Holy shit." Alex breathed out. "It looks like some kind of satellite." Keegan said.
"With a hell of a weapons package." Merrick added, before leaning over the railing and looking up to see the satellite better. "Scarecrow, we found it. Looks like space-based weaponry."
"Copy Actual." Elias responded. "Pipe a feed for identification."
"Logan get your eyes patched in, Hesh you too. Keegan and Alex get the main heat shield open." Merrick ordered.
Keegan and Alex went over to the computers and opened up the heat shield to get a better look inside while Elias explained to them that it was a kinetic rod delivery system. "Like the one that took out San Diego." Hesh supplied. Alex stopped for a moment. Stephan was killed in that strike. He wasn't in San Diego, but Sacramento where he was took a lot of causalities.
Once they had what they needed, Elias told them to get out of there. Then he gave the coordinated to an airstrike team to have the facility destroyed completely. The team may have still been inside, but Elias knew his team would get out in time. They always did.
"Merrick, find any data that can give us a bigger picture of their process and then get the hell out of there. You have an entire air wing en route to level the whole complex."
"Kick you got that?" Merrick questioned. "Arclight is en-route. This entire facility is going to disappear very soon."
The team moved to a lower level where all the system computers were that held all the data on the satellites and rockets. "This is it." Merrick said. "Find the data quick, we gotta move." Alex stood by the one window and allowed Hesh, Logan, and Keegan to pull the information. She was terrible with computers and knowing her, she probably wouldn't be able to get by the first firewall. She knew the basics, but that was it.
"Looks like manufacturing data." Hesh said. "The satellite is labeled as twenty-four, how many are there? There's encrypted data here; launch events, dates, predictions…I don't understand. Have they launched these yet?"
Before Alex could process what all of that meant, Kick came over the comms and warned them about a lot of enemy movement outside. The seconds Kick's voice stopped, the lights went off and the door and part of the wall separating them from the next area was blown up. Everyone was blown back, Alex hitting the floor near the window with a sharp stinging sensation on the right side of her face. She looked up and saw Feds beginning to enter the room and crawled under the one desk while she fished for her gun. The one Fed approached Merrick as he came to his senses, but Alex fired a bullet in the direction and it blew out the front of the Fed's skull. Alex fired at the Feds as they came in through the windows, taking them out easily since they didn't know she was under the desk.
Once the room was clear, Alex stood up and her hand went to her face, finding pieces of glass imbedded in her skin. She pulled them out, not careful in the slightest, and had all the shards pulled out in a matter of seconds. She could feel the blood begin to dampen her mask and skin, but at the moment she couldn't have cared less. Very quickly she reloaded her automatic and took cover behind the one remaining wall.
Looking around, Alex saw everyone was alright. Merrick was talking to Elias, Keegan was reloading, and Hesh and Logan were by each other's sides firing at the Feds in the next room. Elias told them that they wouldn't be able to call off the incoming air strike which resulted in everyone throwing out all their smoke grenades.
The team switched to thermal and moved forward, taking out any Fed that stood in their way. At this point, Alex was high on adrenaline and beyond pissed. Not at anyone, just the situation. The mission was going smooth, and now that she looked back on it, too smooth. So now they were just nearly blown up and she had blood running down the length of the fight side of her face.
The team had an advantage against the Feds when some asshole decided to throw a flash bang which resulted in everyone's thermal getting fried. Alex closed her eyes immediately from the bright light and slumped down to get some cover. She yanked the goggles off and threw them across the floor. "Mother fucker." She cursed as her eyes readjusted. Hesh suddenly ran towards and grabbed her arm, yanking her to her feet. "Come on we have to keep moving." He said. Alex trailed behind him as they rushed ahead and threw out a few flash bangs, allowing them to take out the Feds more easily.
"Merrick! I'm securing transport, but you've got a full house on the rooftop ahead of you!" Kick yelled through the comms as the team move towards the exit. Damn it, damn it, damn it.
When they got to the door, Hesh and Keegan pushed the door open and Alex immediately noticed how many Feds were on the rooftops and the helicopter in the air. "Move and shoot, do not stop!" Merrick ordered in a firm tone. Alex ran ahead into the one building, firing a bullet into any Fed she saw. Hesh was behind her and they walked up the steps and onto balconies above. Alex threw out the remaining frag grenades she had as well as her last flash bangs. She and Hesh cleared the space from above and then returned to the roof top.
The team advanced forward to the parking lot where they were suppose to be meeting Kick who had their transport out of here. "Any moment for an appearance would be well appreciated Kick." Alex said through the comms as she ducked to reload.
"One minute!" he replied.
"We don't have a minute!" Merrick responded.
After a few minutes of firing at Feds, Hesh alerted the others that Arclight was starting. "Where's Kick?" he yelled. As if he was waiting for a cue, seconds after Hesh said that Kick burst out from the side. "Get on the trailer! Go ! Go! Go!" he yelled. Everyone got to their feet and broke out into a run for the trailer. Merrick got on first, followed by Keegan and Logan, and then Hesh. Alex went to climb on just as Kick began to speed up and Hesh rushed over to the edge, grabbing a hold of Alex and yanking her up. She landed on the wood and quickly sat up again. The Feds didn't give up, Alex would give them that. They were pursuing them in trucks that were firing at them as they returned the gesture. Kick slammed on the gas and made some sharp turns, making the team roll around the back of the trailer. Alex thought for sure she was going to fall out when she lost her grip on the side, but her brother's hand shot out and caught the back of her jacket, pulling her to him. She smiled in relief as more explosions went off and the trucks were obliterated. Arclight was taking some weight off their shoulders and soon enough Kick burst through the exit gates.
"Nice driving Kick." Keegan complimented. Alex looked over at him as she sat back with Merrick. "He's a lot better than you." She teased.
"We destroyed number twenty four, but what about the other twenty three?" Hesh questioned.
"Well there's ain't gonna be a twenty fifth." Merrick replied as he and Keegan pulled off their masks to take some breaths that weren't blocked by the fabric. "JSOC will give us our next steps. Time to head home, boys."
Alex pulled her mask off, which was now damp with blood, and tucked it in her pocket. Merrick noticed her bloody face and examined it, seeing where the glass went in at. "We'll have to clean you up then." He simply said, trying to mask his emotion without a real mask.
OOOOO
Back on the sub, Alex was escorted to the infirmary by her brother where he had her sit on the table while he got the antiseptic wipes. The wound wasn't bad itself, just a good number of small cuts from the glass made a lot of blood paint her skin. Merrick walked over in front of her and put his fingers under her chin, turning it to the side and wiped all the blood away. "It could be worse." Alex muttered. "I mean at least it isn't a snake bite." Merrick half smiled as he cleaned his sister's face. "Yeah." He agreed.
Once the blood was clean, Merrick cleaned the cuts that were no longer bleeding so they wouldn't get infected and was going to put a large bandage over it, but Alex stopped him. "I am not walking around with that on my face." she protested. "I'd rather just have everyone see the cuts." Figuring an argument was pointless, Merrick obliged and put the bandage away and helped his sister off the table. "Come on." He said. "Let's go back to the others."
Alex followed her brother out of the room and down the Operations Room where everyone was waiting. "Our worst fears have been confirmed." Elias stated. "The Federation has reverse engineered a space weapons system from the wreckage of ODIN."
"How long until it's operational?" Hesh asked, glancing over at Alex quickly to make sure she was alright. She was, but the right side of her face was covered in small cuts.
"Unclear. The data you received has been sent on to NORAD. SecDef wants to debrief in person. Keegan I'm sending you to Colorado Springs. We'll rendezvous at the Vegas Safe House at twelve hundred hours tomorrow."
Everyone dispersed from the room and Keegan went towards the area where he would exit the submarine to catch a flight to Colorado. Alex ran over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, turning him around so he was facing her. "I know it's a debrief, but be careful." She said.
"I will be." Keegan assured her.
"I'll see you tomorrow. You better not be late."
"Wouldn't dream of it Princess."
Alex rolled her eyes and gave Keegan a quick hug before he walked away. She figured getting only a couple of hours of sleep was pointless and took a quick shower before going to make coffee in the rec room where Hesh was with Riley. They were lying on the couch, Hesh reading a file while Riley remained curled at his feet. Alex smiled at the sight of Hesh and Riley's ears perked up at the sight of Alex. He jumped down from the couch and trotted over to her. She kneeled down and scratched his ears for a second before looking at Hesh. "Want some coffee?" she asked him. He shook his head. "I'm good." He told her.
Walking over to the small kitchen, Alex started the coffee and walked over to where Hesh sat on the couch. She sat on the edge of the couch and Hesh sat up properly to look at her. He put his fingers under her chin and turned her head so he could see the right side of her face better. "Glass get the better of you?" he asked. Alex scoffed and looked at him. "Don't even." She warned. Hesh chuckled and kissed the side of her face where the cuts were before she got up to get her coffee.
Once she put milk and sugar in it, Alex sat on the couch next to Hesh who moved his legs so she could sit down and then rested them on her lap like he did before. Riley hopped up onto the love seat and Alex switched on the news while Hesh resumed reading the file he was previously focused on, occasionally peeking over the top of it to look at Alex.