CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: TRUE FACE OF EVIL

That bastard is planning on retaining his disguise and detonating the bomb when the John F. Kennedy heads back to the states! Everyone will think that terrorist is one of us! Scarlett's heart sunk; she had felt helpless before in the past, but never quite like this. Despite all of her training and everything she had been through to get to this point, she found herself unarmed and helpless. Even her martial arts couldn't stand up against multiple firearms.

The huge man… Boa, from what the Impostor called him, picked up the E-bomb as if it was as light as a feather. With one hand, he stuffed it carefully in the Impostors rucksack; the bomb fit so tightly that he almost accidentally ripped the bag open with his uncanny strength before it zipped up all the way. Despite the grunts and groans and almost giving in to the impulse of ripping the bag open in a fit of rage, Boa's patience was rewarded. Content with his accomplishment he handed the rucksack to the Impostor.

A wicked smile surfaced on the Impostor as he spoke to Dr. Bennett. Pointing the end of his nine-millimeter between his eyes, the Impostor told him, "And, doctor? There is no need to travel with us now that we have the bomb. Still, I'll keep you alive until our other scientists… our loyal scientists, are able to verify you didn't sabotage this bomb. Oh, don't worry, I do trust your handiwork with this bomb; I imagine our recent threats against your family members ensured your honest work. But you never can be too careful... there's nothing worse than a self righteous martyr." The Impostor sneered.

Scarlett couldn't believe what she was hearing... it was like a nightmare come true. Masquerading as Ripcord had given him access to an incredible amount of classified information which made him a threat like no other. He already knew about the naval aircraft carrier and how it was diverted from its original tasking from CENTCOM in order to head straight for the Borovian coast. He probably even knew the Secretary of Defense specifically ordered the captain of the J.F.K. to give Sierra Team a ride home. This was significant, given that the J.F.K. was already in the Mediterranean. The fact that Hawk had been able to pull strings to make this happen… well, it was nothing short of incredible.

But now, it seemed like the Impostor was fully prepared to stroll right aboard the carrier with the E-bomb… and while detonating it on the carrier would be catastrophic, he would most likely detonate it when they reached the states.

If I can somehow destroy his mask… Her mind was forming a plan of action.

Even if they gun me down, I can stop him from getting on the carrier, Scarlett thought. Disable his helmet, and he won't look like Ripcord. The Navy will have to verify each and every member that boards… including visual identification. Looking at the Impostors helmet through narrow but determined eyes, Scarlett knew she had to find a way to destroy it… but it was going to be tough.

Scarlett, still at gunpoint with hands behind her head, slowly slid her right hand closer to her left glove. She moved slowly, but as each second passed it felt like a minute. Scarlett wanted to pull out the throwing star with lightning speed, but she knew she'd be gunned down in a heartbeat. She needed patience. The kind of patience that Snake-Eyes taught her back at his cabin up in the mountains. Patience the stubborn redhead knew she had, but didn't often use. Calmly she controlled her breathing, taking longer breaths. She relaxed her chest. Her fingers slowly reached into her glove…

Got it. With a little sleight of hand, she pulled out a ninja star with her right forefinger and thumb. Carefully and slowly. It felt like every single guard was looking at her, and on to her plan. Yet none of them reacted. They haven't noticed me yet… settle down, Shana. Relax.

The Impostor, preoccupied with the doctor, had his back to Scarlett. Dammit, I can't get a head shot. And it probably won't pierce your body armor, so I can't get a clean kill. She had the shuriken palmed in her right hand. All right, you bastard. If I can't throw this at your face, I'll cripple your helmet. She took a deep breath, attempting to calm her nerves as if she was beginning a tournament in front of a crowd of thousands. Focus, Shana, just like Snake showed you. Throw it straight and true… keep that extra twist out… just throw it and let your training and instinct take over.

It happened so fast. Before she knew it, the throwing star had left her hand and embedded itself deep inside the Impostors helmet… sparks shot out in a brilliant display of blue, red, and orange. She let out a quiet "Yes" in her head, quite triumphantly, fully aware that her shuriken destroyed the circuitry in his helmet and thereby ruining his holographic powers.

The Impostor was completely caught off guard. He immediately staggered, off balance from the force of the throw and knocked off balance. He screamed in pain as the flesh on his face singed; as quickly as he could he reached up to pull his broken helmet off and threw it to the floor. The helmet bounced a few times and the accompanying sparks lit a small fire within.

His face was no longer that of Ripcords… but his own, true face. A face with burned, charcoal black flesh around his eyes. It was unfortunate he wasn't permanently blinded.

But it was a face that Scarlett would recognize if she ever saw it again. One that she would remember for the rest of her life, as it burned into her soul… the face of the man that killed one of her own teammates.

The other guards were initially focused on the Impostor and slow to react. Scarlett had thrown her throwing star so quickly that half of them didn't even realize what had happened.

While severely outnumbered, Scarlett had the upper hand and advantage of surprise, if only for a full second. In that short period of time, her mood quickly changed from a lively defiance and a quick triumphant celebration to realizing that her doom was inevitable and quickly upon her if she didn't act fast.

The guards had turned their weapons to Scarlett, one by one, realizing she was the one responsible for her attack on the Impostor. They're going to kill me… this is really it… There was no getting out of this one; no barriers to hide behind and no way to take all of the guards out.

But at least I'll go down fighting and take as many as I can with me… She pulled out a few more throwing stars and prepared to throw them at the nearest guards, but even so she couldn't help but flinch, expecting the bullets to rain down any second.

One of the guards standing in the doorway screamed out sharply before she had thrown another shuriken – enough to startle her and bring her back to reality, even though the scream only lasted for a split second and ended just as sudden.

Almost everyone in the room had looked over to see what had happened. There in the doorway were two dead guards – one decapitated, and the other one laying in a pool of his own blood – and standing up in between them was a large man dressed all in black, holding a sword in one hand and an automatic weapon in the other.

Snake-Eyes! He was here! But how did he find her? He was supposed to be on the other side of Borovia. At least that was what General Hawk had said the orders were…

Before anyone could react, Snake-Eyes opened fire, dropping another one of the guards in the room and grazing another in the shoulder. All of the guards turned to fire back at Snake-Eyes, who ducked out of the door way and behind the wall.

The Impostor had already grabbed the rucksack and ducked behind some of the computer consoles… just out of Scarlett's sight. Scarlett turned to the Impostor but knew she had missed her chance at him, so instead she threw her ninja star at one of the gunmen trying to nail Snake-Eyes. The star flew from her hand with lightning speed and landed right in the center of his chest. The force was incredible – she threw it so hard that it buried itself deep within, breaking through bone causing an immediate downpour of blood.

Mayday and Jinx had also taken this opportunity to fight back against the distracted gunmen. Mayday leaped horizontally across the room to grab the gun that fell from her grasp when the Impostor shoved her in the room. She picked it up as fast as she could; while rolling on her left side she took careful but quick aim in her awkward position and fired at the guards. Staring down her guard site she pulled the trigger and hit a guard with two in the chest. She put another two rounds in another guard… one in the chest and one in the shoulder.

Jinx reacted with a swift gracefulness that seemed like a blur. With her left foot, she immediately kicked up her sword to her right hand and charged forward. By the time the soldier turned to face Jinx, the diagonal slash from her sword had not only blocked his gun from a point blank shot at her, but it sliced across his chest and abdomen.

Boa and the other guards fought back unleashing an onslaught of bullets; Boa was intentionally protecting the Impostor, giving him a chance to escape from the far door across the room. Jinx had no cover; she held up the body of the slain guard, using him as a shield from the ensuing gunfire. Mayday ducked behind one of the computer consoles, using the artificial wall as cover while returning fire. It wasn't enough to stop bullets, but it was enough to mask her presence… at least for the moment. Scarlett barely had time to grab her crossbow, and certainly didn't have chance to use it; she dove in right behind Mayday, but still focused on finding the Impostor. Noticing his retreat, she laid low on the ground, crawling underneath the maze of computer desks and working her way to the back door.

Gunfire erupted in the hallway. It sounded like Snake-Eyes had his hands full with some of the others in the building.

Scarlett had made it to the opposite door; she had successfully managed to sneak behind the enemies. She wasn't able to stand up, however; that would have put her in the firing path of any stray bullets that Mayday might have had. She had a burning desire to help Mayday and Jinx… but, she knew that she had to stop the Impostor from getting away… especially with the E-bomb.

It was one of the toughest decisions of her life, but she had no choice but to leave Jinx and Mayday. Scarlett crawled through the door and into a hallway; just in time to see the Impostor round a corner, running for his life.