Crack

Richards hissed as shards of concrete sliced into her arm, she dove for cover. "Damn!" She backed up against the wall, glaring at the bullet hole on the opposite side. "And this was going so well…" It was really simple, climb the surrounding wall, run along it, and provide overwatch at a higher vantage point two Ronin and Basilisk.

Hazel and Thomson both stared at her, snug in their cover. Hazel broke the silence with a small cough. "Should probably let the Boss know.

Richards nodded, pressing a finger to her headset, opening a channel. "Boss…they've got a sniper." Someone stole their idea…bastards.

"Shit…any idea where?"

She tilted her head, trying to gauge the trajectory from the bullet hole in front of her. "No clue other than higher than my current position on the wall." She switched channels. "Hey Ronin Actual, this is Basilisk One-Two, we've got a sniper up high, you guys see anything on the radio tower or the main building?"

"Shit! Hang on." There was a rustling.

Crack

Richards glanced at her two fireteam members.

Thomson shook his head.

Hazel was bunkered down.

"Basilisk One-Two, Ronin Actual, no idea where that sniper is, but they've got a bead on y-"

Crack

"Fuck! Make that a bead on us! We're pinned down for now."

"Copy Ronin, sit tight, we'll see what we can do." She switches channels again, motioning for Thomson to cross over to her cover. "Boss, we've got to take care of that sniper."

She heard gunfire in the distance.

"I've got no visual on either points. We're trying to get Kendricks and Ronin's Tech Specialists to the target." There was a grunt, a thud, and a gasp.

"Boss!"

"Fuuuuuck! God damn…that's going to bruise!"

"Boss!" She grit her teeth.

"Don't worry! It just hit my plates." He groaned. "Back off Kendricks! Don't need you getting shot too." There was a shuffling sound. "Look Richards…I hate to do this…"

She frowned. "Don't you dare…"

"Just handle it Richards!" Baslisk One cut coms.

She felt a sour look cover her face as Thomson and Hazel almost crashed into her as they crossed over from their old cover to hers.

"So…what're our orders?" Hazel gave her a look.

"To…and I quote. 'Handle It'"

Thomson raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well our fearless leader did take a hit to a plate."

Crack

Thomson's eyes went wide.

Hazel hissed.

Richards winced, then ran through her mental checklist. Baslisk One, along with the rest of their team and Ronin's Techs were hitting the main target. The Station's database. Ronin actual and the rest of his team were hitting the anti air…and were now pinned down.

Oh how she hated this.

"Fuck it…" She glanced down the wall, meters along, it connected to the main building, and her gut told her thats where this fucker was. "Thomson, Hazel." Richards checked her gear. "We're handling it."

"Oh…fun…" Thomson sighed, "This cannot be good for us, but we need the AA down or we are screwed."

"Basilisk Two-One to Ronin actual, we're going for that sniper, but it's going to take a little to catch them. Let me know if you get a positive on their position."

Crack

"Copy Two-One, make it quick if you can."

"Will do." She closed the coms and took a deep breath, checking her gear once again as she did. It was a weird habit yes, but it helped her nerves. She slapped Hazel on the shoulder, then ran in a low sprint.

Her legs ached already from all the running she had done today. Now they were screaming as she kept her head and body low, making sure to speed up whenever there was an opening. She kept up the sprint, hoping and praying that the sniper wasn't smart enough to check if their old target had moved or not.

Crack

Richard's world spun, she gasped as the wind was knocked out of her lungs by the impact. For the smallest of moments, she was in freefall.

Hazel's eyes went wide.

Thomson shoved her forward and kept them both moving.

Thud

Richards tried to suck in a breath as she impacted into the concrete top of the wall. She tried to roll into cover, she tried to crawl away. Instead she saw a glint of light from the rooftop of the main building.

Death looked back at her, cloaked in black, he smiled.

Her eyes widened.

He pulled the trigger.

She couldn't roll away, her hips and elbows were in the wrong postion.

She couldn't crawl, her legs couldn't get traction on the shards of concrete she was laying in and her arm was suck underneath her.

She was a sitting duck.

So Sergeant Erika Richards, age 26, second in command of Basilisk team, her heart in her throat, did the first thing that came to mind.

It would always known be the stupidest thing she ever did.

She slammed her face into the concrete, and moved her hips into the right position.

PANG

Crack

She quickly rolled into cover. Hazel grabbed her shoulders and dragged her.

Richards finally sucked in a breath of dust filled air. "I'm alive?!"

Hazel looked pale as snow, quickly checking both points of impact for any injuries.

Thomson picked her helmet off her head, and winced.

"Hey! I'm going to need that!" Richards grabbed it out of his hands and turned away from him. It felt like her head had been squeezed into a vice, her nose felt like someone had punched it eighty times.

"Ummm…yeah…Richards, I think you need a new helmet all together."

First…she saw the shards of metal covering the ground, the results of a bullet shattering. Second, she looked down at her helmet, and saw the now massive dent and crack punched into the Kevlar. "Oh shit…yeah…that…that's busted."

Hazel chuckles nervously. "Well…at least you aren't hurt." She stuffed a replacement plate into Richard's vest, tossing the damaged plate to the side.

Richards tossed her broken helmet along with it. Making sure her headset was still in place, then grinned. "Well, gotta make sure that asshole can't say the same. One-Two to Ronin Actual, Sniper's on the roof. We're gunna rip him out of his spider hole."

"Copy that, we managed to move a bit closer to the AA, we've got it in sight, but we're waiting on you. Don't want to risk walking into that Sniper's killzone."

"Copy. Sit tight, we'll get it done." She cut her coms again. "Well, looks like Ronin's in position, they just need us to take the bastard out."

"Shame we don't have any rockets left." Thomson sighed.

"Well we took out the radio equipment with them, so it was worth it." Hazel checked her ammo, tapping a mag on her helmet in her usual habit. "Also pretty sure Boss'll be mad at us if we blow up target…"

Richards did the same, taking a deep breath. "Okay…we break cover and run, then just bust through the nearest door. Sound good?"

"Do we throw a flash?" Thomson held up one of their stun grenades.

She shook her head. "I don't want him to know he's onto us."

Hazel nodded, "Ready?"

Thomson nodded. "Ready."

Richards got back onto her feet, staying in a crouch, then took a deep breath.

Crack

"Go." She pointed.

They ran, stealth and cover weren't a factor anymore, the sniper knew where they were and was skilled at switching between targets.

Erika kept up her dead sprint, staying together with Hazel and Thomson. "Go, Go, Go!"

"Door!" Thomson shouted, jumping over a crate as he did.

Sure enough, there was a small walkway between the wall and the main building.

Richards took a deep breath, put more power into her steps, and dropped her SMG. The sling caught it and pushed the weapon to her side as she reached back. She grabbed her hammer as she hit the turn. "KNOCK KNOCK BITCH!"

Hazel slid into a crouch, rifle aimed at the door.

Thomson came up behind her, aiming up at the edge of roof above them.

Richards swung her sledgehammer, putting all her momentum into a perfectly aimed swing at the lock.

The door opened.

An Erusean Rifleman appeared, His eyes went wide.

Crack

Hazel hissed as she watched the Rifleman disappear just as quickly as the sledgehammer smacked right into his gut, shattering plates in his vest and sending him flying back.

"Huh…Our luck is really looking up." Thomson shrugged, moving into the open doorway, and smacking the groaning soldier with the butt of his rifle. "Clear!" He took a moment to actually look at the soldier. "Huh…an Officer."

Richards winced. "Ooo…sorry." She pulls her SMG into her right hand, while keeping her hammer in her left. Stepping over the solider and following Thomson.

Hazel fell in right behind her. "Yeah sorry, we'll be right back!" She pulled out a flash grenade into her left hand, ready to throw it at a moment's notice. "Hopefully we've stirred up enough chaos to make things easier for the Captain."

"I think we could stir up a little more chaos…" Richards switched radio channels to a code that all of Basilisk had memorized by now as she got a brilliant idea. "Hey Striker!"

There was a pause of silence that filled her headset as she moved down the hallway.

Finally, a sigh filled the coms. "Hmm?"

"Do you want to cause some trouble?"

"Is the AA down?"

"No…But you could definitely make taking out the AA easier." She swept her SMG over an open room, pushing the door open all the way.

Striker Six sighed once more. "I'm interested, but I'm assuming it won't be easy."

"Noooope!" She made a pop once she hit the 'p', grinning as she did, stepping into the room, scanning carefully for any signs of life.

"Fine, you owe me, target?" There's the sound of an engine whining to life and switches being flicked.

"I need you to scare the shit outa a sniper on the roof of the main building. When you do, my team and I are going to jump him from behind."

A pause. "Permission to engage?"

"Not yet, we can't risk damaging the building, I've got a prisoner for you to take though, then we'll blow stuff up until Kendricks and her new friends pull the data." She turned quickly, checking behind the door, "Clear!" Richards backed out of the room.

"Okay…you owe me triple."

"What?!" A door opens, Richards turns, sees the Erusean flag on an arm and opens fire one handed. A long burst of automatic fire knocks the solider back into the room he emerged from. He screams.

Hazel pushes forward, chucking her flashbang into the room before anyone could even react, slamming herself into a breaching position next to the door.

Richards had barely a second to turn away, hoping that the loss of her helmet wouldn't mean her ear protection was completely fucked.

The doorway turned bright as the sun.

Thump

Thomson turns, kicking the door, almost knocking it straight off it's hinges, then fires three bursts of rifle fire into the room.

It's perfectly silent for the longest of moments.

Richards winces as a slight ringing starts bouncing around in her left ear.

Hazel turns the corner into the doorway, rifle raised.

Thomson follows moments later.

Richards watches the hallway looking for anyone else dumb enough to engage them.

"Clear! Need you here Ma'am."

She moves into the room at lightning speed, smg raised, her eyes readjust to the light as she enters the room, taking in the stacks of harddrives, racks upon racks of servers and a few desks that now had chunks missing from them. "Shit…" She sighs, putting a hand up to her com. "Boss, target located, third floor of the main building, Hazel and Thomson are guarding it currently, be sure to let them know you're coming."

"Huh…well look at that. Thanks Richards, we're moving in now then." There was a rustle of fabric. "Phillips! Davis! Blow theses assholes away! We've got our target!"

Richards felt the explosions from where she stood.

"Status on the enemy sniper Sergeant?"

"Handling it sir." She cut coms. "Hazel, Thomson, Boss is on his way, you two stay here and guard this point. Drop anyone who doesn't identify."

Hazel nodded. "Copy that, we'll put some coffee on."

Richards glances at a broken coffee machine behind her, tilting her head.

Her subordinate turned, then chuckled. "Thomson did it."

He huffed. "Why did you say stay here? Where are you going?"

"Someone has to take care of that sniper." She reloaded her SMG, taking the half empty mag and placing it on her belt. "I've got to repay him for a few hits. Eye for an eye and all that."

Thomson went to say something.

Her coms clicked, "Striker Six to One-Two, ETA, two mikes."

"Copy that Six, bounding." She gave a two fingered wave to her team, then took off. "Best of luck!" She fell into a dead sprint, seeing a sign marking a nearby door as the stairwell entrance. She didn't even check to see if the door was unlocked, she just smashed it open. "One-One, I've busted the stairwell door open, currently heading to the roof, keep an eye out when moving up, we have no idea who's on the first two floors." She started bounding up the steps two at a time.

"Copy, we're about to breach first floor. Phillips took a hit though," There's a muffled response, probably from Basilisk One's Advisor. "Shut it, you're bleeding, I took a hit to the plate. We'll both be fine."

"You want Striker Six to Medevac once the AA is down?"

"Oh is he on speaking terms with us today?"

She grinned as she rounded the corner to the next flight of stairs, seeing the door marked 'Roof Access' "It's about fifty-fifty Boss."

"Thirty Seconds." As if summoned, Six contacted her. "Get into position."

She jumped up the stairs to the door, carefully pressing it open, seeing that it was left ajar she checks the jamb and still for any booby traps. "In position."

CRACK

She took a deep breath, placing her hammer down on the ground, and readying her SMG. As the ringing in her ears finally went away. She smiled as new sound filled them, the wonderful sound of a buzzer mixed with the skilled play of a chef's knife on a cutting board.

"Quoi?"

She grinned, "You crazy bastard…where on earth did you get the guts to do this?"

The sound suddenly hit a crescendo as a black hawk suddenly burst out from behind the wall, flew up to the building and flooded the entire roof in bright white light.

"MERDE!"

Richards kicked the door open and pushed herself out onto the roof, SMG braced against her shoulder.

The Erusean sniper was still where he had been before, he hadn't even attempted to move. Maybe he thought she was dead? His arm was braced in front of him against the wind, trying to block out the light, but his eyes were widened in shock.

She laid her sights over his chest, taking a deep breath as she slammed her feet into the ground for stability.

His gaze slowly glanced over to her, a whole new form of shock played over his face.

Erika Richards, her hair still in a short ponytail behind her head, covered in dust and dirt, this time she was death itself, and she smiled just like he did.

She slammed the trigger, Her ears became overwhelmed.

The sniper was thrown back by a wall of 556 rounds, straight over the side of the roof.

Richards paused a moment, scanning for any other hostiles.

"Roof Cleared One-Two, pulling back for now."

"Copy Striker, thanks for the help." She waved and grinned.

He backed the Blackhawk away from the complex, shutting down floodlights first, then his running lights, before popping flares.

An AA missile cut through the night sky, slicing the air where Striker Six was.

There was nothing there anymore.

She chuckled. "Well played dude, well played." She ran over to the sniper's position, grabbing his AWP and checked it over. "Ronin Actual, you're clear, sniper's down for the count."

"Yeah…ummm…Ronin Two Three here, the…the Uzi guy."

"Oh hey!" She adjusted the scope as she talked. "How's it going?"

"Well…we know the Sniper's dead, we heard him crunch on his way down."

Richards hissed. "Oof…that's harsh." She shivered, stuffing whatever regret she felt deep into herself for later. "You guys okay?"

"Spick and span! Ronin Actual's helping with the charges, so I'm answering for him."

"Thanks Two-Three." She set herself up in the same position as the Erusean had been before. "I took the asshole's sniper, going to hang out and overwatch for you guys for a bit."

"Copy that, thank you very much Sergeant!"

She closed the coms with click and settled in, watching as Ronin moved from AA launcher to AA launcher.

Before she knew it, they were at the last one.

Movement flashed to the right of her scope, she adjusted her aim, seeing as two Erusean commandos pushed out of a nearby building. "Ronin! Contact left!" She pulled the trigger.

Her first shot went wide smacking into the doorway that the commandos had just exited. They both dived down, hitting the dirt as fast as possible.

"Shit!" She reloaded, took a breath, then fired.

Another shot flew across the battlefield, tearing up dirt and grass behind one of the commandos. He rolled to his feet as Ronin moved in and opened fire.

"What the fuck?" She double checked the sights, everything looked right? She wasn't a sniper by any means but she could shoot a goddamned gun! She reloaded, then took a deep breath once more, and pulled the trigger.

Then bit her lip as she watched her bullet go flying into the wall on the opposite side of the base. She reloaded once more and groaned. "Oh this is just embarrassing…"

She watched as one commando moved up, suppressing Ronin, then joining his comrade in cover, Two-Three popped up and let loose with his Uzi, spraying the commando's cover in bullets, then hit a jam, both commandos popped up.

Richard quickly aimed, took a deep breath once more, and gently pulled the trigger.

The bullet flew true, slicing through the air, moments passed in hour long intervals as the two commandos sighted up on Ronin Two-Three, who was trying to get back into cover as quickly as possible.

The 7.62 round suddenly dipped in it's flight, penetrating right through one commando's foot, he screamed and dropped his gun. It instantly went off, hitting the other commando in the thigh with a burst of bullets.

Richards watched, her face contorted into pure confusion as she watched what transpired from her actions, She looked at the AWP in her hands, then back down the scope at the two commandos, who were now neutralized.

Her headset crackled. "Damn One-Two! That was a beautiful shot! Nicely done!" Ronin Actual gave a chuckle. "But…next time…if you could just shoot them proper that would be awesome."

"I…was…trying…too?" She glanced down at the AWP in her hands. "I think this sniper rifle is cursed?" She gently put it to the side. "Or…something like that."

"Alright?" She watched as Ronin Actual looked up at her made a motion of 'What the hell?'

She chuckled, taking a breather as Ronin finished up their work, she still kept an eye out, but things had finally quieted down around the base.

"Ronin to Basilisk, how are things going on the digital side?"

"Busy, our techies are just sifting through things to try and find important data. I'm just overseeing it, though we do have a captured officer as well, so, in for a penny right?"

Ronin laughed, "Might as well huh? Alright, we're pulling back and detonating the AA launchers."

"Well that sounds like it'll be a blast, have fun Ronin." Everyone could hear Basilisk One's grin over the coms.

Richards groaned deeply. "Oh that was just awful…" She still released a small chuckle before opening the coms again. "Hey Boss, I'm exfiling with my team with Striker Six, gunna have them bring up our prisoner and Phillips too. Any arguments?"

"None, get Phillips outa here, I'll let Ronin know in case they have any injured."

KA-BOOM

Richards braced herself as a shockwave washed over her, watching as the AA launchers began to melt from the heat. "Oh shit…" She laughed heartily, smiling as the fires consumed the Erusean equipment. "Awesome."

"Richards, Ronin says they got no injured, Kendricks is just double checking Phillips bandages then we'll send them all up."

"Thanks Boss! Do we know if the area is clear?"

"Right now, from what we know, it's probably clear. We're staying on high alert though, I'm not letting us get caught with our pants down."

"That would be pretty bad." Ronin Actual laughed, joining the com channel. "I'm not seeing much movement though. We're securing the exfil point, and getting the beacon ready. Should be ready in five mikes. Once the techies are done with their work, we'll bug out, then watch the fireworks."

"Well, well, and here I forgot the popcorn!" Basilisk One chuckled.

"Boss, how the hell did you forget the popcorn! We literally have a microwave right here!" Kendricks chuckled. "Seriously, could have had perfectly good popcorn while we watch the place get turned into a crater."

"Oh my god why…" Basilisk One sighed. "I swear…"

"No coffee either," Phillips cut in, "Someone filled the coffee maker with rounds, rather than coffee grounds."

Hazel cleared her throat, "I once again stand by what I said earlier. Thomson did it."

Thomson groaned. "Fer crying out loud…"

Richards went to throw in her own retort, but paused. In the chaos of shit hitting the fan, they had missed something. She leaned over the edge of the roof, looking around carefully. She checked the back gate first, but that area was clear, other than most of Ronin hanging out in a group. Spread out enough that a grenade wouldn't screw them over, but close enough to where they could talk. She followed the road past the building over to the still burning AA launchers, but there was still no sign of her target.

She swallowed, opened a channel, and gently asked. "Hey…guys…Where did those trucks go?"

There was a long pause, before a member of Ronin sucked in a breath. "Oh shit, where are the trucks?"

Richard's eyes glanced down to the cursed AWP, she took a deep breath and grabbed it, sighting down the scope towards the front gate.

"Well two went past us, then went through this gate here, they have to be somewhere. Ronin, I want everyone on high alert." Ronin Actual's cool commands came through the coms. "Report anything suspicious."

The coms started to fill with each member of Ronin calling out if their areas were clear. Davis was apparently clearing out the first floor with one of the Ronin tech specialists.

The roof access door opened, revealing Richard's squad, their prisoner in tow between the two of them. With Phillips close behind, carrying her sledgehammer with a bit of limp, glancing down at his bandaged leg.

Hazel smiled brightly. "Morning ma'am. How's it go-" She paused, squinting a little bit.

"Holy shit…Richards has a sniper rifle…" Phillips eyes went wide.

"Shush you two." She held up two fingers, then waved them forward.

Hazel let go of her half of the prisoner, pulling out her rifle in one swift motion.

Thomson almost fell over, but quickly adjusted the prisoner, gently laying them down next to Phillips, who was carefully loading a grenade into his underslung launcher.

The group took cover by the edge of the roof, peaking down the road.

"It's a damn well paved road…" Phillips frowned. "Boss is right though, it wasn't on the satellite images at all."

"Which brings up a bunch of questions…" Hazel hummed.

"Above our paygrade Hazel, focus on the task at hand." Thomson snorted in amusement.

A flash of movement appeared in the distance.

Richards hissed, watching as two pairs of headlights appeared down the road to the main gate. "Got something…" Her eyes widened as another pair of headlights, then another, and another appeared. "Shit! Contacts! Vic's headed for the front gate!"

"Ronin! Take cover!" Ronin actual took command in an instant. "Two-one, take your squad around the building, set up a killbox, I'll keep my squad here, we'll draw their fire. Take the RPG too, we've only got one shot left, make it count!"

Ronin's second squad moved instantly, running from cover to cover.

"Ronin Actual to Basilisk One, ETA?"

"Thirty seconds, our people are finishing things up now, then we're bugging out."

"Sorry gotta make sure we eject all our disks properly, then we're ripping out a few hard drives!" Kendricks grunted as the sound of metal tearing filled the coms. "Doesn't hurt right?"

"Heh, not at all. Ronin Two-Six, Drives ejected, proceeding with ripping."

"Got a few thermite grenades to torch the entire thing, make it unusable, then we bring the entire building down. First floor is clear too, so we're bailing, see you outside. Basilisk One, out."

"Shit…we don't have thirty seconds!" Richards took a deep breath as she sighted up on the lead vehicle's windshield. They were moving at full speed, gaining ground faster than anyone could have predicted. She hoped and prayed that her new sniper wouldn't be cursed just this once, that it would aim true. "Engaging."

She pulled the trigger.

CRACK

The AWP jumped in her hands, harshly slamming into her shoulder, making her wince in pain.

She watched as the bullet sailed true…

Time slowed as it traveled across the wall, through the gate.

Richards grinned.

The bullet smashed through the windshield with a crunch of glass.

Red blood splattered out.

The truck kept up it's advance.

Richards felt her stomach turn to ice. "Shit…Incoming!"

Her coms peaked with static.

"Copy Two-One, clearing the road for you."

Richard's tilted her head at the new voice. "Striker?"

Striker Six's Black Hawk flattened them to the roof with the sound of the air itself being cut in half filled their ears as he flew in just above them.

Richards had half a second to see the twin miniguns slung under the wings, before her hands cupped her ears.

Brrrrrrrrrrt

Her teeth rattled as thousands of rounds spat out of the guns and down the road, ripping it apart with reckless abandon. She watched as the lead truck was torn in half.

Striker Six didn't stop there, ten rockets followed soon after, blasting holes into the small convoy and setting nearby trees ablaze.

She just watched the absolute slaughter, unable to turn away as men, metal, and nature were pounded into dust. It seemed like an hour had passed when the Black Hawk's guns finally stopped, their barrels glowing just barely.

"Alright you four, grab your guest and get in, we don't have all day." Striker Six moved the Black Hawk to the side and lowered it, turning on the running lights.

Richards glanced at him, dressed in his usual mix of pilot helmet and standard marine combat vest, then gave him a thumbs up. She thrust out a hand to Phillips, pulling him to his feet. "COME ON! LETS MOVE!" She pointed to Hazel and Thomson, then motioned to the unconscious officer.

The two looked to each other, than scrambled to their feet, moving quickly to grab their prisoner, Hazel picking up the legs, Thomson grabbing the man by his shoulders.

Richards pulled the cabin door open, then helped Phillips in.

She could smell smoke. "We gotta go!"

Hazel and Thomson ran up, gently swinging, then throwing their prisoner into the Black Hawk, before each of them jumped in themselves.

Richards was the last to board, sitting on the deck before slamming her fist against the cabin twice. "We're good!"

"Copy, hold on."

She did just that as Striker Six quickly rose them into the air, leaving her stomach on the ground somewhere for someone to find.

Hazel gagged slightly, but they quickly switched to a circling holding pattern.

Richards carefully watched as Ronin and Basilisk met up, exchanged a few words, then threw out a red flare, before quickly filing out.

"Basilisk One to Strider Two, Table is set and ready for dinner, hope you like barbecue."

"Two here, good to hear, we're hitting the target in two mikes, but I would like to note for next time that we're more of pizza people."

Chuckling filled the coms. "Copy that Skald. We'll remember that for next time, alright?"

"Thank you, Wiseman will appreciate that, bombs ready, radar is clear. Beginning run."

Richards let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as she stood up, watching as Ronin and Basilisk disappeared into the forest.

Hazel grinned. "So…I guess that sniper's not so cursed if you kept it huh?"

"Kept it?" She tilled her head, then looked to her left, sure enough, sitting in her hands, resting against her chest and stomach, was the cursed AWP. She didn't even remember bringing it…then again, she didn't remember letting it go. "I…I guess I did. We really did have a lot of weird encounters on this mission…" Her mind flashed, and before she could process it, she had opened a channel. "Hey Boss…can you grab that kid we knocked out?"

There was silence for a moment.

Then a sigh. "Yeah…Yeah I can. We got the manpower."

"Thanks Boss…I don't…."

"You don't have to say it, I understand. Just rest up and make sure your prisoner is comfy, alright?"

"Copy that boss." She smiled. Even with all the shit that she saw day after day, she was always happy she could still smile. She closed the Black Hawk's cabin door, then tossed Thomson some zipties. "Make sure that asshole is secure and in a seat, I don't need him waking up and causing trouble."

Phillips moved to help him out.

She pointed at him. "Ah! No, no, no! Sit your ass down Corporal! You're injured, you just sit back and rest."

Hazel gave him pat on the back as she moved to help out Thomson.

Phillips relented with a sigh, handing Richards her hammer. "Didn't think you'd want to leave this behind.

She thanked him with a nod, then moved up into the cockpit, grinning slightly, "Thanks for all the help Striker, you kicked ass out there."

"Just doing my job Ma'am." He chuckled. "Well, at least as best as I can." He glanced back her way.

"Well I believe you said I owe you triple, so think about what you want. Alright?"

He nodded.

"Strider Two to Basilisk One, you clear?"

"We're clear! We're Clear!"

"Copy that, Bombs away."

They watched as the base was engulfed in a blooming explosion, the light just barely reflecting off Strider 2's Nose.

Even though she was bruised, bloodied, her nose broken, and covered in dust. Richards grinned.

What could she say?

It was a hell of a night.

Well...it's been a while, hasn't it?

I hope everyone has enjoyed this small continuation of the Project Wyvern story. I swear this will be important in Chapter 22, and that hopefully I can get things worked on more soon. There is a plan for stuff going forward and I thank you for your patience. This last year has been a fucking roller coaster, starting with getting flashbanged 4 times in a row and now I'm sitting here with two injured wrists.

But I have missed writing Project Wyvern, and I thank everyone who has been reading or rereading it and leaving comments. I love seeing that people enjoy my work.

Take care of yourselves everyone, and thank you for reading! I leave you with this final tidbit, a breakdown of Basilisk team. ^^

Basilisk One: Team leader, bad joke extraordinaire

Richards: Second in command, Breacher

Hazel: Rifleman, F, jokester

Thomson: Rifleman, M, The more serious one.

Kendricks: Techincal Expert and Medic, F.

Phillips: Grenadier, M, aid and advisor to One-One

Davis: Grenadier, M, the gentle giant. Says little gets shit done.

Striker Six: The only attack helicopter pilot. Gets shot down a lot, very good at boots on the ground work though.

Havoc: Two-One, leader of second squad.