Love Struck Eternal

by mT Shadow

Change is not always for the better. Eighteen years have passed since the events of the second most major war for the middle east had come to a close. Leaders have come and gone, society itself has changed, and those who seek a different outcome have gone dark. The focus is now on one person. Yet her story will change the world forever. Following down her father's dark past.

46. Chapter 46

Love Struck Eternal

Chapter 46 - Sikes.

Sam's POV, Twenty minutes later.

Looks like I was gonna have to take my nickname seriously. Tika had already informed her people of it and as I was finishing up with my rifle I had already heard a few of them discuss me amongst themselves. Of course none of them trusted me, but that wasn't the point because they would eventually. Internal thoughts were different however. Almost all of them were in awe of my setup. Compared to their own gear I was a good distance ahead of them in terms of intimidation and my weapons made their AK's look like children's toys. It would be better if they knew just how advanced my armor itself was, but more than a few of them were commenting about my mask. It made the nickname stick even easier for them and I liked that. Yet my time to prepare was nearing its end because I could sense my partner approaching.

Using the sling I had to throw my rifle around my backside, I looked in the general direction of the cave's entrance to find a black jaguar marching inward. He stopped to talk to the guard and was clearly pointed my way in a matter of moments because his head turned in my direction, yet his eyes widened when he saw me and his mouth dropped. He was in awe. Not starstruck like some. He was just impressed at a first glance. I didn't want to read him just yet. At the very least I was gonna give him a proper chance before cheating my way into his mind.

It took maybe twenty seconds for the man to approach me from where he was, but when he did he stopped about a foot or two out to assume.

"You must be Anpu."

"What gave it away?" I smiled back at him as he started to chuckle.

"The mask, but your equipment? You take your job seriously. I haven't seen armor like that ever. Custom made?"

I nodded, but continued to listen as he proceeded to inform me calmly.

"We should get moving. We can talk more on the path back to my camp. Tika doesn't like it when her people procrastinate."

"Lead the way then." I urged him back as the jaguar began to turn back around. I stuck to his side for the most part, but kept myself quiet till we were out of the cave and back into the open light. Once that happened I asked him.

"So you know who I am, but I didn't catch your name. What do you go by?"

In all honesty this man was very good looking. Had to be in his late twenties, but he wasn't old enough to convince me he was a full fledged adult. Reminds me of Rosco in a way before I killed him. He wore the same type of gear Tika had except he was a lot dirtier. I had to assume he's been out in the field for a good length of time now. Even his fur had dirt in it. Yet with two bright golden eyes he replied respectfully.

"People call me Sikes. Or at least I hope they do. I'm typically not around camp."

"What do you do?"

"Scouting mostly. Intelligence gathering and the likes." He replied as I then wondered as we walked up the small hill just outside the cave.

"How long have you been out here doing this?"

Looking over at me as we reached the top, Sikes replied with a small sigh.

"This site in particular? Maybe a month now. All together? Has to be going on for five years now. What about you? Been a contractor long?"

Shaking my head, I replied back with an equal sigh following my answer.

"A little over a year now."

"How'd you get involved with Tika?" Sikes then was curious enough to wonder.

"I ran into another person from your group. Ace? Ring any bells? Nice guy."

"Oh shit, really? God I haven't seen him for maybe a year now. Smart guy. He was always good at talking to people."

"Good at handling a knife too." I chuckled back as the Jaguar let out a strong laugh.

"Ha! I still remember watching him in action for the first time. Dude was never really able to handle a rifle just due to his size, but give him a blade and he can work magic."

Just judging from his voice alone, I could tell Sikes was personable and pretty easy going. I was using some of my talents to read his mind and even then all he was doing was trying to get to know me. More than I could say when it came to the others I just recently met back there. I was actually happy considering the situation I was in now.

This back and forth conversation went on for the rest of the trip, but as we got closer and closer, we began to get less and less noisy. Nearing the mine Tika mentioned, I asked him.

"Where are you laid out?"

We found ourselves deep in the mountains at this point. Enough so that it made me paranoid a little. So many angles to watch and so many things to consider when moving around. I'd be even more concerned if I didn't have Roslin's power, but thankfully that wouldn't ever be the case. I knew where everything was all around me. I had no fear that we were being watched or an ambush laid ahead. Sikes on the other hand was a little bit different. He was on his guard and I couldn't blame him for being so. Yet I've been watching and taking mental notes this whole time. He carried himself very well. He was fit and barely breaking a sweat despite the terrain. This seemed natural to him and considering his species of cat, I'd say he was indeed grateful because of it.

Pointing up ahead towards a small overhang, he replied to my question.

"Just under the cliff there. Come on. You'll see for yourself."

He led the rest of the way and once under the cliff I found his camp to be nothing more than a simple rucksack. He took note that I was judging it and quickly informed me of why.

"I like to keep everything on my back and a fire would draw too much attention, especially late at night."

"What have you been doing for food and water?" I asked him with some concern for his health as he made his way over to the rucksack. Once sitting down on it, he replied.

"The mountain is full of small game to hunt. It's easy pickings. I only need a bird or two to keep me fed for a few days. I've been used to rationing for a long time and I've packed more water than ammo, so I've been good for the most part."

I took a few seconds to take in the area we were camped at. My senses alone told me that we were high up enough from where the mine was that there was minimum risk of being seen and we were far enough away that the noise wouldn't be an issue so long as we weren't taking shots with our weapons. That also led me to my next question which the cat was looking at me for.

"How the hell do you hunt this close to the mine? Ain't no way you're taking shots with that rifle of yours."

Sikes had the same kit the majority of his people seemed to have back at the outpost. Just an AK-47 and some spare clips for it. Nothing crazy when I had to remember these were the same people who somehow managed to kill my uncle. Giving me a small chuckle he replied.

"You got that right. A gunshot will echo all over these mountains. Thankfully I came prepared. Check it out for yourself." Using his head to nod in the direction of a nearby rock, I turned to rest my eyes on a compound bow he had leaning up against it.

"It may not shoot at eight hundred rounds per minute, but it sure as shit kills anything it comes into contact with."

I took the opportunity to grab it and the moment I got it into my hands I fell in love. Sikes noticed and went on to say to me confidently.

"That's a Prime Black 5. Weighs four and half pounds, has a draw weight of eighty, let-off of eighty percent, with arrow speeds up to three hundred and forty three feet a second and it's as silent as it is deadly."

"Is it yours?" I had to ask him.

"For now. We stole it during our last munitions run. Didn't make sense to leave it in that cave when I planned to be out here for a while. You know how to use it? If so, feel free to take it. We won't be up on this cliff for much longer, god willing."

"Are you sure?" I questioned like an excited child which got him to smile and nod his head.

Oh fuck, I was ready to test this thing out. Yet I had to refocus for now. Putting the bow down I looked back at Sikes to say.

"So what do you know about the mine?"

Urging me to come over to where he was, the jaguar took me to the edge of the cliff and together we looked down at the mine. It had to be three hundred meters from where we sat and from what I could see it looked easy enough to infiltrate, but only at night. Going down this mountain in the daytime is bound to bring its own problems to our doorstep. Pointing down at it, Sikes said back to me in confidence.

"I know that they only keep a handful of guards at the front entrance. Sometimes three, but most days it's been just two watching out for the operation. Once in a while the trucks make rounds. If I had to guess they fill up on products, send it out and where it's going can't be far since I've timed it since I got here. Takes about thirty minutes then the trucks come back here and sit for a few days."

"When was the last delieverly?" I then asked him as he handed me a pair of binoculars so I could get a better look.

"Yesterday. They won't be leaving anytime soon. So the trucks are as good as ours if we act soon, but it's always easier said than done. I don't know how many guys they got down in that place, but it's at least a dozen."

"Have you tried to get inside?"

"Nah. Only one way into the place and if I got caught I'm sure the operation would have been moved by now." Sikes was confident in that assessment and I couldn't disagree with him. From what I could see from here, the trucks were easy enough to nab. Only two guys guarding them and those were the same men who were also in charge of making sure the front entrance was secure and the rest of the surrounding area was looked after. If you ask me, that's too much work for only them.

Putting down the binoculars, I looked back at Sikes to say to him confidently.

"If we wait till it gets dark, it shouldn't be a problem securing the entrance and the trucks. Going into the mine itself could be tricker considering the close quarters environment. But then again, we shouldn't have any problems when it involves making sure no one gets out alive."

"Agreed. They'll see us if we run down there now. Nightfall isn't far off. I say we just rest our legs till we're ready."

"You can rest. I wanna try out this bow a little."

The jaguar looked at me with a small smile and a chuckle before replying.

"Be my guest, but we should spend some time coming up with a plan for how to take this place."

"And we will, but not till I'm done. Leave this up to me. After all, Tika wants this to be my test. I'm sure you've already shown her what you can do, so give me a chance to do the same. I won't disappoint."

"Judging from your gear, I can just assume you aren't flying by the seat of your pants. Just be careful if you stray from the camp. I haven't gone too deep into the bushes, but if you're not careful a snake could find your ankle. Trust me on this, some of those fuckers can kill you in minutes if they bite you."

"I'm a tracker. I know what to look for in my surroundings. I'll be careful though."

"If you're not back within the hour I'm gonna have to call it in. Tika's orders." Sikes stated back.

"I don't plan on running out, but you make the rules. I'll be back. I promise."

Sikes nodded and I took both the bow and the arrows on my way back down the hill. I understood what I had to keep in mind. SIkes was just doing his job, but the truth was I could easily handle this job without him and that was the hard part. If Tika didn't have him here I'd already be down there in that mine. With my powers no one could hope to see me coming. Holding back from that fact was the hardest thing to accomplish. So I'd just resort to impressing him by the end. Starting with this bow he gave me. I used one back in training, but this was the real deal. Not some toy I managed to put together on my own. With any luck this would be even simpler to master and those men guarding the trucks would be my first prey.

Sike's POV, A few hours later.

Plan was simple, but it's not like we were robbing a bank in broad daylight. In fact it was pitch black and we were already down at the mine's entrance. Two men guarded it. One was right in front of the entrance way, while the other was walking back and forth between the trucks. My job for right now was to wait. Anpu was going to make the first move and that involved dealing with the guy by the trucks. I was to take down the second right after. So I was in position and waiting. I could see both of them perfectly from where I was, which just so happened to be right behind the guy at the entrance. Being black and a cat paid off. No one could hear me coming.

I had my knife down at my hips just waiting for the first move to be made and my god was it crazy to witness. I had very good vision at night, but I lost track of Anpu almost immediately when we had split up. I guess wolves were just as stealthy, because out of nowhere an arrow had come in from the south side of the first truck; hitting the first guy right through the throat and it even managed to send him back with enough force that the arrow itself had pierced into the driver's side door, pinning him in place. I was stunned for a moment just by the event that I hesitated in doing my own half of the work. But before long I managed to come to my senses and ran right into the second guy's back jamming my knife just under his collarbone.

"Aghk!" The dude gagged instantly as I used the knife as leverage to pull him down to the ground and away from the entrance.

"Shhhh!" I whispered into his ears as I held him in my arms till he stopped moving.

Once it was over I pulled out my knife and wiped the blood on my pants. It wasn't long after that I looked back at the trucks to see the first guy still standing there with the arrow stuck in his neck. He was long gone in terms of being alive and Anpu had appeared with the bow on her back. Looking over at me with that mask covering her face, I urged her with hand signals to start the second phase of the plan.

Using her rifle, she shattered one of the windows with the end of it and the truck's alarm began to go off. It was so fucking loud I'm sure even Tika could hear it from where she was thank to these hills. Yet it was perfect because before we knew it, backup from inside the mine had come. Four or so of them came running out to see the commotion. They ran right by me and that's when I whistled.

Turning around like it was a stage show, the men widened their eyes and went to raise their weapons once they had found me kneeling over the body of one of their buddies. Yet the moment they went to touch them they were gunned down by Anpu who was standing between the trucks with her silenced rifle. I watched closely as she took them all within seconds. Thanks to the sirens coming from the trucks, the gunfire was muffled further. Once they were all on the ground, Anpu shut off the alarm and proceeded to reload her rifle. That was when I again used my hands to urge her over to my position. Once back at my side I asked her.

"You ready to finish this?"

Nodding her head, she replied while going to her belt.

"We move fast. No one gets a chance to act. Take these and once we get inside I want you to pull the pins and duck. The sound will deafen everyone and then we'll clean house. Watch your shots though, no telling what kind of chemicals they have down there and if something explodes we could cause a cave in." She stated as she had given me two flashbangs.

"Understood. I'll be careful. Just watch your head in there and don't shoot me." I begged her as I had already pulled the pins on the flashes she gave me.

"Never." She chuckled back slightly as she led the charge.

To be honest this wasn't what I excelled at. I never liked taking a straight fight. At the very least the remaining men inside didn't expect us so we'd have the element of surprise. Anpu on the other hand moved in with such grace it gave me shivers. She looked as trained as any killer came. The way she moved and the way she held and aimed her rifle told me everything I needed to know. She was going to take most of these fools out before I could really join in.

Doing my best to remain confident, I followed behind her as fast as I could. The mine itself was actually a lot smaller than I expected it to be. As we went deeper all you could smell were the drugs. It had to be meth. Nothing burns as hot as that.

Once at the very bottom of the tracks, we came to an enclosed space where you could perfectly find everyone else that remained for us to kill. Most of them were focused on the chemistry part of their jobs, but one dude was waiting for us just where the room broke away from the tunnel we were coming down. The moment he saw us aiming guns at him he went for his own and that's when Anpu dropped him with three well placed rounds to his chest and head. The sound echoed the mineshaft almost instantly so I did my part and tossed the flashes I had been holding into the very center of the chamber. Then a second later my ears had shut down from the sound of them going off. Anpu on the other hand opened fire.

"Son of a bitch!" I shouted to myself as I ducked behind a nearby metal minecart to try and get a good hold of my weapon.

By the time I had it ready I stood back up to find almost everyone dead already. Anpu was sweeping the floor with them, but before she could get the last one left alive she had taken the fight to close range with her fist. Knocking the weapon out of his hand, she swiped across his face with the butt of her rifle.

Going down maybe an inch or two; the man fought back swinging with everything he had behind his own fists. But with unbelievable speed and accuracy she dodged it and quickly took him into a headlock from behind his back.

I didn't want to shoot and take the risk of hitting her through him, so I had no choice but to watch as she pulled him with enough force that his neck snapped in a matter of seconds from under the pressure. Then she just threw him down to the ground to immediately look back at me and ask.

"Are you good?!"

Her ears were clearly ringing as well, because there was no need to shout as loud as she did. I barely even understood the question from it. But once I had nodded my head I decided to ask her back.

"Are you?!"

Smiling, she replied.

"Yeah! Good work! God damn it that was fucking loud!"

I couldn't agree more. I thought to myself as I began to look around the room.

Clearly this was a bigger mine now that we were here. The only thing preventing it from going deeper was the simple fact that where the mine was supposed to dip; it had been cut off by the previous explosion that had originally made this place a hazard. Ain't no way these dudes got deeper in. So I think we were officially done here. It was just a matter of calling Tika.

As I scrambled for my phone, I looked back to see Anpu scoping out the drugs that surrounded us. Tika wasn't lying. This place was loaded with products. They must have been close to finishing their next batch. Good news for us. But it surprised me when Anpu took off her mask to the sight of a few keys of cocaine that were perfectly wrapped up in front of her on a plastic picnic table.

Using a single claw she cut open one of the keys and pinched out a small line for herself. When she bent over to snort it I asked her.

"Any good?"

Looking up at the ceiling near immediately, she replied with almost an orgasmic chill to her voice.

"Holy shit. You want some?"

Chuckling, I replied.

"I'm clean, but thanks for the offer."

Nodding her head she then asked.

"What now?"

Looking around the room I replied.

"Now I'm gonna call Tika and let her know how we made out. She'll send a few of our guys over to help load everything onto the trucks and from there we'll be heading back to see her. I'm sure she'll want to leave as soon as possible now that we have the transport."

Anpu continued to enjoy herself with the product as I got on the phone. Tika answered within seconds asking me.

"How'd it go?"

"The site is clear. Trucks are secure and so is the product. We're ready for pickup."

"They'll be on the way. Good job Sikes. Any problems with Anpu?"

"No. She handled it very well. No issues at all. She's impressive. I informed her as she then said back to me calmly.

"We'll talk in more detail once we're on the road. For now just hold your position."

"And Anpu?" I wondered as she then said to me confidently.

"She's coming along for the ride. Got a lot to discuss. Don't worry, she's gonna be fine. Just relax till the boys get there. We'll be under a roof soon enough and you can find yourself sleeping in a bed again."

"Okay." I replied back with a sigh of relief to hear. I haven't slept in a bed for this past month. I hope my body can readjust. Before I knew it Tika had hung up the call which left me with Anpu who asked me curiously.

"Is she gonna care if I shave some of this off the brick?"

Chuckling, I replied.

"I doubt it. Look at how much they have here. Easily a couple hundred thousand dollars market value just in coke alone. So nah, be my guest. Won't say shit."

The wolf went right to work making herself a goodie bag. It came as a small shock to me that she was an addict for the stuff. Her build was so physically strong it convinced me she was ultimately against harming herself. I know what coke can do to people, but it was just amazing that she was in such fantastic shape. I wonder if that's natural? Or if she had to work at it?

Regardless, it wasn't my place to ask. For all I know this would be my only time working with her. Clearly she was a skilled killer and Tika tends to put those types to work. No doubt Anpu would rake in a lot of profit if she was put in the right place with the right people. I just really hope she'll be okay. Tika is known for her sick sense of humor and I wouldn't be shocked if she planned to try and break her mentally. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to the last person we brought in. Hazing someone to the point of death is a quick way to gain loyalty. Fear is a powerful tool and if she could convince Anpu she'd die if opposed, then she'd have found herself a very loyal servant.

Anpu on the other hand lost her smile for some reason. She seemed calm. Hopefully that was also a good sign.

Sam's POV, A few hours later.

I can't say whether or not I was happy enough yet with what I've managed to accomplish thus far. Tika spent the majority of the trip with Sikes. They were talking about me to be specific. Everything Sikes said was good. He wasn't trying to play himself up; though he easily could be considering I wasn't supposed to be able to hear every single word they were saying. That told me that at the very least Sikes was honest despite the affiliation.

Tika on the other hand was itching to see me for herself. That much was clear. I wanted to show her too, but her idea of getting to see it was not how I was hoping it would happen. Even now she was plotting a method to get me to show some of my colors and it was going to be just like Sikes said himself back before we left that awful mineshaft. It was just a matter of when it would happen and who it would be fighting me. It could be this whole fucking truck for all I knew. Not that I was worried. I was more than capable of fucking everyone up. None of them matched me in size nor skill. It would be an easy contest, but I doubt she was looking for me to go easy. She was looking for a chance to see me get hurt.

This trip in the truck itself was crowded. I shared the back of the lead truck with five other men. All of them were looking over my gear and body this whole trip. Sooner or later I was expecting a question and it came when the man closest to me wondered curiously.

"So what happened to your face, Anpu? If you don't mind me asking."

Looking over at this thinner dog, I replied as nicely as I could so as not to come off as a stuck up bitch or a person who just wanted to be left alone.

"Knife fight about a year back. I got into a bad way with some guys and one of them cut me up good. I was lucky not to lose this eye."

The men all seemed interested to say the least as the same dog said to me back.

"I know a guy who got cut like that back when I was in the army. Lost the eye during a training session with one of the instructors. It was an accident according to him, but whether it was an accident or not, it didn't matter. The eye's surface is so sensitive that almost any friction from something that sharp can make you go blind. You got really lucky. You can see out of it right? No issues?"

"None." I stated back as another dude wondered out loud.

"What do you get up to mostly?"

"I'm a contractor for hire. Been up to that for the last year now. Working for money mostly."

"How the hell did you get involved with us?" I was then asked as the truck drove over a quick bump forcing us to brace before being able to talk again.

"I had some business in Azerbaijan. While I was there I ran into Ace and two more of you guys, Dusk and Gwent."

"Oh yeah that's right. Forgot they were there. It's been a good bit since we last saw them all. How were they?" I was asked as I ran my hand in front of my face so I could wipe some sweat off my brow.

"Good for the most part. I ran into Ace by chance and he got himself into some trouble with some drug dealers. They managed to beat him down pretty good, but I got him out before anything worse could happen. From there he got into contact with Tika after he saw what I could do and boom….here I am now."

It was getting more and more obvious that not everyone from this group was informed of current events. None of them seemed to know about my work with Esteban. I wondered if that was for a reason, but of course I wouldn't know that till I got the chance to talk more with Tika herself.

"You got some serious hardware for a contractor. I'm assuming it's all custom work right?" Nodding my head I replied back.

"Actually the mask I wear is the only thing custom from my kit that I went out of my way to get. The armor and the weapons I use I put together myself. Of course it wasn't easy getting this kind of tech, but money can speak better than words nowadays."

"God damn, is that right?" I was asked by the nearest man to my left as I again just nodded and replied calmly.

"I'm not lying to you. I'm pretty good when it comes to my hands and I was one of the smartest kids back in school. Loved science and technology most of my life and I planned to go to college to do just that, but…..well let's just say the course of my life was changed when someone I held close to my heart was killed. I couldn't find it in my heart to sit still, so instead I took action and made sure the proper people were dealt with accordingly. Once I saw the money come in from it and the potential I had as a free agent; I just decided to stick with it."

"Fuck man, that's deep. Sorry, I didn't mean to bring that shit up." The dog informed me as I quickly urged him.

"Don't be sorry. It's in the past now and my life has gotten a lot better since then. Where the fuck its going now is a different question."

The dudes began to all laugh and that made me feel somewhat more relaxed about the whole situation. I was expecting to fight them at some point, but for now it was okay just making some common ground. When the thrills began to die down, I asked the dog who started the whole conversation.

"So where are we heading with all of this shit? You guys must have a plan."

"Tika is the one with the plans. We just execute on them." Another one of the men stated as my eyes were still on the dog who smiled back and replied to my curious question.

"We're heading into Tehran. We have a contact in the M.E.A.F. who pays top dollar for surplus G.U.N munitions."

"He can't just buy from G.U.N then?" I questioned as he shook his head to state.

"Fuck no. G.U.N and the M.E.A.F have an open agreement when it comes to gun running. They control nearly sixty percent of the market and there is so much red tape nowadays that trying to skim from the inside is too risky. It's a lot safer to have an outside group like us on the payroll. Guy isn't looking to buy for his country anyway. He buys what we bring in then marks up the retail value and sells it to other PMC's for nearly twice the asking price. Makes a fortune from it since no one wants to buy legally and once G.U.N or the M.E.A.F lose a shipment, they just write it off anyhow. So it's a win win."

"That and when we need something he makes sure we get it." One of the other guys snickered happily as I just took in the information for what it was.

"The people we work with are very low under the radar. None of the other uppers take that as seriously as Tika does. She might be a mean son of a bitch, but she also knows how to negotiate and get the things she needs to keep us on top." The dog sitting next to me stated after a few moments of silence had passed. Looking over at him I asked curiously due to his tone of voice.

"You say that like it's an internal competition. How do the other uppers operate then? You all don't work hand in hand?"

"Fuck no." He replied which suddenly got them all to start laughing. In some confusion I shot them all a look and soon one of them answered me seriously.

"We're all part of the same team. We're all working for the same things, but how we get to them is completely left to the uppers. There's five groups as of right now. Tika is in charge of this one."

"So what's the goal then? Just to make money?" I questioned as each of them nodded. Somewhat confused, I sighed to myself a second later.

"Boss woman said we were looking to make the world right. To change things for the better. When does that kind of goal take priority?"

"It takes priority when we actually can put together a solid move to make and for that to happen we need a lot of fucking money. Between all the bribes and the setup work, we're left pretty high and dry. You need money to do anything these days so a lot of our time is put into making as much as we can. Trust us though Anpu, changing the world is a priority. It just takes time."

I couldn't disagree with any of what they were saying. They were a hundred percent right. It takes a fuck ton of money to make anything illegal happen. I could figure that out without needing to be told if we want to be honest. Living with a president gives you insight sometimes.

After the conversation had ended I sensed we were nearing our destination. Traffic was everywhere and by this point we had been within the city for nearly twenty minutes just driving to this point. I'm a little surprised by how many cops I saw. This was damn near as busy as the US was when I was there. Difference was the utility though. These cops had rifles and most looked pretty mean. Yet what mattered now was not getting pulled over. Hopefully Sikes can keep us driving at a fairly safe pace and away from that kind of trouble.

"Three minutes!" Sikes shouted back at us.

Everyone began to prepare themselves. We were collecting our gear and once we had reached our destination Tika shouted back at us as well, but only with orders.

"When we pull up I want everyone to quickly unload this truck then fall back into the second! I don't care where you dump the product, just make sure we're in and out of here in two minutes flat! Am I clear!?"

"Loud and clear!" The dog next to me shouted back up as he threw his rifle over his shoulder and looked back at me to suggest.

"When we park, can you help me with these crates? Fuckers are heavy."

"I gotcha." I said back to him as he smiled and quickly thanked me before telling the rest of the truck.

"You guys pair up and get the others. Just dump the cargo onto the ground. It's like the boss said, fuck where it goes. Let's just be quick and roll out."

Everyone was on the same page and once we stopped moving we took off like a bullet. We were clearly at some sort of shipping warehouse, but I didn't have much time to look around. All I could get was the name of the place and it was called Westly's ship and scrap. Looked old too. Perfect place for this kind of thing to go down.

Tika on the other hand was off talking to that client the guys mentioned and if he was with the M.E.A.F then he had to be someone up the chain. He looked decorated judging from the uniform, yet he wasn't an officer I could recognize from my time growing up around my father and his men. Again though I wasn't able to get a very good look at him with how fast we were going. All I could see was the tradeoff between him and Tika and once she had the money she waved him off and walked right back to get into the second truck we were going to use to leave. By the time she was inside the guys and I were jumping in the back and we were off. Sikes was driving and once we were on the main road again Tika said to us all happily.

"Good work everyone. We're heading home for now. The take was well worth the wait I can assure you. I'm gonna need a few days to make some more plans, but you'll all have tasks as soon as they come to me. For now we're gonna stick to the rules once we're home. I expect all of you to stay on your best behavior. Anpu? I know you don't know what those rules are, but when we get to where we're going I'll want you to come along with me for a little while. We need to go over some business in private together. Are you cool with that?"

I nodded my head as she went back to focusing on the road with Sikes. After a few minutes the same dog who had been talking to me nudged me on the arm with his to then whisper.

"Rules are simple around the base. No one is to go out without permission from Tika or another upper."

"Is this where everyone is?" I quickly whispered back in confusion. Shaking his head he replied.

"Not all at once for the most part. Yes everyone could be here waiting for us, but that's never happened. The only time groups come here are for times like this. We finish a big mission then we come back and rest up for the next. Other times we come here are when we have to work with another upper's group and like I just said it's very rare that we do that. Only time we require that kind of support is when we're making really big moves."

"So this is more of a hub in between missions then. Makes sense I suppose. It would be a problem if we were using this as the main base of our operations. Iran is littered with soldiers and snitches the like. One person fucks up and it could all come crumbling down real fast." I stated which got the dog to question.

"Fuck up? We don't fuck up, let's get that straight. We spend months researching our targets. We then spend even more time preparing and once that's all done we can execute on all that time we had. We get every step right, Anpu. We get steps ahead from our enemies and before anyone can know anything; we've already executed and exfiltrated. We're some of the best in this line of work. Not just anyone gets to join. Fuck if that was the case we'd have hundreds of brothers and sisters to work with, but the uppers are ahead of the curb. We can't survive in today's climate if we're open about our existence in any regard. We have to remain a myth. We even manage to get more done with that handicap because we only put our trust in people who have earned it. People like you."

"Please, I haven't done anything for you guys yet." I tried to tell him as I picked up on his slight confidence in my affiliation.

"You saved Ace, right? That's something if you ask me. Ace is among the conversations people are having over who could be the next upper. And Ace has a lot of strong pull with all the current ones. Not to mention they all see him as a friend, which means once he reported it to Tika, it then probably traveled among the rest of the groups. Needless to say, I am grateful for what you did and I'm sure even more so the uppers are. That right there has earned you some trust already. It'll only get better too once you show us what you're made of."

"You seem like you have a good grasp over this." I chuckled which got him to slightly laugh back, but not before he could reply.

"It's not hard to get a grasp on. I've been with this group for nearly five years now. By the way my name is Byron." He then offered me to shake his hand and I accepted it nicely enough as he then proceeded to say to me.

"You'll get to know everyone else as time goes on. I'm sure we'll be working together soon."

"I'd hope, but we'll need to wait and see what Tika decides to do with me. Either way I'm grateful for some of the advice."

"No problem. You ever have a question or concern, just ask me. We all work together better when there is some form of synergy among us and I prefer to keep that cool." He stated as I nodded back and prepared myself for the next major step in the operation.

Building trust.

Twenty minutes later.

"Quickly, everyone inside." Tika ordered as we were now exiting the truck in pairs. By the time I was ready to leave, I was left with Byron who allowed me to get out first before informing me of where we were exactly.

"Welcome to your new home. The biggest international airport in the Middle east."

Now I wasn't crazy, but we were not within the airport's limits. We were just outside of the airport at an old five story parking garage and it was located just down the road from a nearby rental car business. Across the street however sat nothing more than the actual airport's runway. You could physically watch the planes take off if you wanted too; we were that close to it. However our business was inside this garage it seemed so I refocused and began to follow Byron inside. Pointing ahead of me, the dog calmly said to me.

"Don't worry about anything. Our tracks getting here are covered and the truck we drove in is gonna be scraped before the night ends. The drugs as well already have a buyer so they'll be out of our hands soon"

"Where are we going exactly?" I asked him as I decided to also bring back my powers to try and get an idea for what was exactly going on with this garage. There just isn't any way that this group operates up here in broad daylight.

The moment I tapped into my gifts I understood the true meaning to this place. It was all just a front. A neat little building that clearly no one used and even if they did they probably wouldn't know what was really going on. Everything was underground. I could sense a few people, but from what I could sense it was nothing more than a few people keeping watch around the area from above ground. Under the parking lot however were three others. We'd be the only people going in to join them it seemed. Holds true to what I was just told about no one really coming here unless it was to rest up or if it was for a meeting.

Everyone ahead of us was going in the same direction. Towards the back of the garage was a solid metal door that everyone was going through. I already knew I could use my powers to search this place up and down, but I had to stay mentally ready to deal with Tika. If everything goes well then I could spend my nights doing the observations my brain craves while under less pressure. So for now I ignored my gifts and just made the moment genuine to experience.

Byron got the door for me since we were the last to enter, and upon doing so I made the trip with him to the very bottom of the stairs. It was two sets of them, but when we got down I widened my eyes seeing that now everyone had gathered in the same room. Tika was in front and I just watched as she looked back at me to state.

"We rarely use this place, but at the same time we can't have any unwanted guests coming down here." I watched her move carefully as she looked back in front to reach down at her feet. Little to my knowledge there was a thin string wire maybe a foot away from her going from one wall to the other. Pinching the wire and moving it off of its trigger, Byron leaned over my shoulder to whisper.

"C4. It's in the ceiling overhead. Someone wanders down here and trips that; they'll be digging out the corpse."

"Wouldn't that trap us?" I asked him back quietly.

"We have other exits. This is just the only one people could find without needing to try." Byron replied back as Tika soon had everything set and ready for us to continue on. With some of the men going on ahead however, Tika waited till Byron and I were in sight before ordering us both to stay by her side for now on. I proceeded to walk alongside her as we soon found ourselves going down another smaller flight of steps which then led to an elevator. In confusion I asked out loud as it appeared we missed the first trip down to wherever it is we were going.

"Why the hell is there an elevator in a parking garage?"

"There's an elevator here because believe it or not Anpu, this is an old decommissioned test site the M.E.A.F used to use. They shut it down well before the war ended between them and G.U.N."

"You mean the rebellion then?" I questioned back which got her to nod her head and state.

"Rebellion, M.E.A.F; it doesn't matter. They weren't supposed to be here back then. Iran was a neutral place. This was all covered up by the time it was over. They haven't been back for nearly twenty years."

"What were they testing?" I then asked the bird as the elevator came back up and we boarded. With the door shutting behind us Tika replied.

"A bunch of crazy shit from what I can tell. All the computers and files were wiped before they left. We can only make assumptions from what they left behind. But the one big thing we can put together for sure is that they were working on improving their nuclear launch program. Only reason we know that for sure is because they left the fucking missile here."

"What?" I gasped slightly which got her to chuckle before informing me calmly.

"It's a dud, don't worry your pretty little head about it. The missile itself was disarmed and dismantled thoroughly. It's not launch ready nor will it ever be."

Now inside my body I had the urge to see this missile for myself. G.U.N is gonna lose their minds when they learn of this. The other urge I had though was to work on it. I had a pretty good amount of knowledge on how to operate on explosives. Yes I've never worked on something this massive, but I think it could be a fun thing to look into if I was allowed to in the future. I'm sure no one here was smart enough to do it. Yet if I worked on it and managed to get it functional, I would be giving the world's most dangerous terrorist group the means to start world war three. Is that what I wanted? I had to ask myself as it appeared this bunker was well below the surface. It took the elevator a minute to reach the shelter below. On the trip Tika began to look me over more closely. At which point she gave off this thin smile before saying to me nicely.

"You have some impressive cheek bones. Very sharp. You get that from your mother?"

I was caught a little off guard but soon snapped back into reality to reply to her.

"My father actually. My mom's face is a little more rounded. Smoother even. What about you?"

"What about me?" She asked back in a way that showed me that she wasn't expecting a compliment back. Yet she was equally as stumped when I replied back.

"I meant what about you? How are you even surviving in the Middle east? Sparrows like you aren't fans of this kind of heat and I know very well that even if you keep yourself hydrated you risk passing out just from the temperature alone. You somehow look very well kept together. You just adapt?"

"Here I thought you were about to compliment me on my feathers or something. Hehehe ...well you're right about your assessment and I plan to be honest. Byron here can attest to what I'm about to say to you, but I fucking hate the heat and I fucking hate the Middle east in general. My first few months here were horrible, but I learned to regulate my body. That and a lot of fans help out."

"Must be happy to be back here then." I replied back as I could assume such a thing based just off of the temperature of this facility we were entering. The AC was on and it was very welcoming when compared to the outside world. Had to be sixty three down here.

"More than happy." Tika smiled back as the elevator opened at long last. Looking back at Byron, Tika ordered him calmly.

"Go get yourself cleaned up Byron then come find us in the war room."

"Yes ma'am." He replied back as Tika then urged me with a swipe of her hand.

"Walk with me now. I'll show you around a little then we'll go have that conversation in private together. I'll even show you to your room and you can stow your gear."

I nodded and it was at this point this turned into a tour for me. The facility was massive in size. It makes me wonder how the rebellion managed to keep this place a secret during the war.

It took Tika damn near thirty minutes to introduce me to most of the areas the facility offered. A lot of it was converted by this group, but a lot still remained. Most of the labs were changed over to bunks and mine just so happened to be near the war room where Tika was leading me to now. It sat between the facility's main armory and a silo. The silo was a point of interest for me personally. I was curious if the nuke she mentioned was housed there.

Upon entering the war room, I stopped at the entrance to just take in the room. It was a single level. The facility had no second floor nor a basement. Everything was built on one stretch of land. This room however was plastered with maps and more documents then I could hope to count. It was very easy to pick out what was going on with the room once my eyes caught on to what the maps were exactly showing. Tika however noticed how I was looking around and so she decided to inform me of what was happening.

"Welcome to the war room. This is more or less our main hub where we can come and look over any important locations we need to hit. If anything major goes down this is where all teams come so we can form up the operation. What you're seeing is typical of our setups. Each station is a different area where we operate. Currently you have Iran, Azerbaijan, France, China, and Russia. That doesn't mean these are the only places we have a presence in though. We have people working all across the Middle east. Nearly every country has someone operating with our best intentions at heart. The only place we don't take a chance with is Iraq. It's too risky as of this moment."

"I get it. So these must be the current countries where the other uppers are. Can I assume Azerbaijan is gonna be packed away now that we're here?" Nodding Tika replied while walking me over to it.

"You'd be right with that assessment. We're gonna cut ties in the city as a whole for right now. Give it a few months to cool off. Gives the authorities time to forget about things. Well they'll forget about us in time, but you? Doubt they'll ever stop looking for you if they got you on camera."

"I understood what I was doing at the time. Thankfully my business there is done and I don't plan to head back. But you sound a little worried about your own. What did you guys do to piss off the country? Ace and his friends didn't seem like they were there to shake up the city."

Giving me a legit chuckle, Tika replied while ripping down the map.

"You got that right. They weren't. But this goes beyond just that city. Our group as a whole got on the radar pretty recently after we conducted one of our more major and successful operations here in Iran."

"What did you do? I had to ask even though I already knew the answer. Looking back at me with a smile she replied.

"We assassinated the M.E.A.F's president. Him and all the officials who attended his peace conference. It was our first big win." She whispered that with awe behind her voice. Looking me in my eyes she went on to say.

"I know. Quite shocking. How did we pull it off? It would take hours to explain. All you need to know is that this is what happens when we all get together. One of our groups can take over a city in a matter of weeks. Two can take over the country. All five? We can change the fucking world." It was at this moment I picked up on Tika's immense sense of loyalty and honor. She had true love for this cause and I could feel her sacrifice. It was inspirational. Giving her an honest and respectful nod back, I went on to say to her.

"That's….pretty impressive."

Looking back up into her eyes, I smiled and added.

"Guess we're one for one."

Tika enjoyed my cockiness. Ace's intel was solid when it came to how to work with her. I can honestly say she might be my friend in mere weeks. Shaking during some laughter, the sparrow replied.

"Guess we are. But now that you know I'd like to ask what you think about it? You still operate like a contractor at the end of the day. There isn't much stopping you from trying to turn us in. Actually you seem cocky enough to try to take us down all by yourself. So let's not beat around the bush. I don't trust you."

"What about the job I did with Sikes? Does that mean shit to you? Was it some kind of test?" I asked her back with a small growl which got her to begin walking towards me. Inching closer by the second.

"No tests. I just used you cause you were there. Sikes would have gotten it done without you regardless. He's a genius when it comes to stealth. You just haven't worked with him long enough to see."

In my face now the bird snickered up at me.

"Fact of the matter is still trust and no one earns mine on day one Anpu, so can that frown and fucking listen. You're gonna have to work your way into my group. You'll have to prove you can earn your keep and your gonna fucking do it to my standards. Any deviations end up with your head on a pike and our business being concluded."

"Why would I….?" Cutting me off Tika shouted out.

"I don't want to hear your fucking reasons for why you wouldn't do something retarded to fuck us! This is my fucking life bitch! This is my mission and I won't bring in any new blood without thoroughly fucking them into the dirt!"

Grabbing me by my neck the sparrow surprisingly had a strong grip. She pulled me down into her face to shout.

"I'm gonna fucking break you! Both mentally and physically! I need to be one hundred percent sure that you aren't a rat! Because it could just be a fucking joke that you fell into my lap the way you did! I need to know everything there is to know about you! Everything! And I won't hesitate to hurt you to get the answers! Am I clear!?" She asked me as I was taken by her sudden switch of emotions. She played me pretty good. That or she's bipolar; which led me to ask her as such.

"Are you bipolar?"

The sparrow went red in the face. She was not expecting me to ask that the way I did. Thanks to my time spent being under my power's influence, I was very good at controlling my temper. My emotions in fact were more on the level then they have ever been in my life. Almost enough to wonder if I was even being serious when I asked such bizarre questions like the one I just asked her.

Releasing my neck, she replied back stunned.

"No?"

For a few moments we just looked at one another. She was confused and trying to see if I was being serious. Once she understood that, she said to me calmly.

"You're weird."

"What? How?" I questioned as she shook her head and began to walk away from me.

"I just screamed my head off and you just fucking have the posture of a rock after being on the receiving end of it. If your joking with me then I can't fucking tell, so I'm just gonna skip the intimidation now and tell you how it's gonna go from this moment onward."

With her posture recovered, Tika said to me calmly but still with force so that this wouldn't come across as a joke.

"You have a lot of work to do and that work starts here. I want to start you off with something simple. You're gonna make a contribution to the family. A financial one at that. You'll have your freedom to act as you see to get this done, but you are not going to cause us any more trouble then you already have. No M.E.A.F or G.U.N involvement. That means you're forbidden to act against them to get this done. Bring me a quarter of a million dollars. You have two days."

"Excuse me?" I questioned as she looked at me sideways for a split moment before questioning.

"What?"

"Two days? You're joking; because do you have any idea where we are? This isn't the United States. Contracts with that kind of pay don't exist here and the ones that do would bring down half the military on top of me in the process."

"Oh I know and those contracts are all on M.E.A.F and G.U.N officials, so you got an even bigger challenge ahead of you it seems. Ace said you enjoy that kind of thing right?"

"You're serious then?" I asked her to be sure this is what she wanted. Nodding her head she again replied to me with some aggression.

"I'm serious. You're the big bad contractor with the cocky attitude. So shut your mouth and pull out your balls and prove you can make shit happen. You pull through and I'll consider what to do about your next step going forward, but before you go hand over your gear."

"Why?" I had to ask as she came forward to just snatch my duffel from my hand. Throwing it on top of the station's table, Tika began to go through my things. Pulling out my coke; she shot me a cheeky smile.

"No wonder why you have such an attitude. Anpu enjoys shoving product up her nose?"

"You gonna turn this into an intervention? I'm sure everyone here has something they enjoy doing, be that bad or good."

Putting the coke back, she soon asked me once she reached the bottom of the bag.

"No cell phone?"

Going into my back pocket, I handed her my phone. She took it just as fast as I offered and tossed it onto the table next to my coke.

"My people will be wanting a look at what kind of business you keep. Needless to say this is part of our investigation. You'll get it back once it's been cleared. Till then you take this."

Going into a nearby draw, I watched as she pulled out another phone that was similar to the one G.U.N gave me. Putting it in my back pocket, Tika packed back up my bag then said to me.

"The phone is only good for one thing and that's to contact me. My number is already saved to the phone so fucking use it whenever you have something to report, but make sure you break it if you get into a pinch. I don't need to change numbers anytime soon."

The sparrow then went to work looking over my armor and weapons. She whistled at it quite a few times, but ultimately didn't ask any questions. I'm sure part of her was already thinking about what she would claim if I fucked up.

A few moments more and she had my bag zipped back up. Grabbing it with force the sparrow threw it back at me and of course I caught it. From which point on she looked back at me directly to smile and say.

"One last thing. You're not gonna be let off the leash fully just yet. Byron will be accompanying you."

"To keep an eye on me?" I questioned smartly which got her to nod and reply.

"Exactly. Nice to know you catch on quickly. But you could also view this as a chance to impress another one of our family members. So use him as you see fit, but if you get him killed or if he comes back here and speaks negatively of your faith; I'll have my way with you. Are we clear?"

Biting my tongue, I replied.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. I'll inform Byron of his duties once he gets here. You're free to wander. He'll come find you once we're done talking. Oh and Anpu?"

Giving me a very sharp smile, Tika chuckled.

"Don't let me down now. I'd hate to ruin those cheekbones."

This was my chance to break away from this crazy bitch. So taking my things I began to walk my way back towards my room which was nothing more than a lab that had been converted into a barracks. Each team had their own room and ours was fairly small. Three of my teammates were already asleep it seemed. I can only imagine why. Tika was stressful alright. Can't imagine she treats everyone with the same level of respect, but only time would tell.

I figured now was my time to change clothes and that I did. Once I was all set to move, I decided to sit back down on one of the bunks and just mediate. I needed time to think about a plan for making the money she demanded. With any luck I'd put something together soon.

mT Shadow.