Chronocide: Mission Snowdrift

"What?" Boomed the all too familiar voice of Comrade Gagarin, feet crunching in the snow "Lionheart, are you telling me that your _top sniper_ has _Fallen_ ?" He hissed. "I thought you said your unit were the best of the best"

"They are the best, Gagarin," Lionheart's voice answered, in clipped tone.

"Then how could two little _infiltrators_ kill your 'Lucky Sniper'  and get away?" he snapped. "She was supposed to stop them THERE"

"Rabbitsfoot may have been... emotionally compromised. I am certain the rest of my squad will not have a problem."

Viper had frozen, his face white as the snow underfoot. His hand had begun to shake, clenching around his tranq gun.

"They had better not" He growled "Because I need another two days with the TItan to make it fully operational. and if your team proves _not_ to be the fighting force _you_ promised...then I'll have to rethink our agreement"

'I assure you, Gagarin," she said. "you'll get the time that you need."

Hazel had frozen as well, right beside Viper.

"Good. Or I would start to doubt your commitment to our cause" He said, sharply

The sound of a truck rumbled by, and stopped "I suggest we move on then. Station one of your men furthur along. I don't care which one."

""Of course, comrade," she replied. "It will be done.

The door opened and the occupants got inside "Good. We're forging a brave new world, Lionheart" he said with a hearty laugh, just as the doors to the truck closed.

The truck growled away....and the path was silent.

Viper was taking deep and controlled breaths, his eyes closed.

Hazel gave him a concerned look, waiting for him.

Viper opened his eyes, which were focoused, his face in a determined frown "Lets go."

She nodded, and started to move again.

They crept along the cliffisde until there was a space they could haul themselves back up. THe road was quiet at the moment, no footsteps or trucks.

Hazel was the first to hoist herself up, carefully, and as stealthily as possible,

Viper followed her, silent as a ghost as he hefted his body onto the cold snow, and rolled into a crouch.

Hazel flattened herself down too, and looked for the nearest cover, taking stock of the area and the situation.

There were bushes on the other side of the road, as it transitioned to scattered flora and craggy stones. Perfect for hiding. The thick road was bare at the moment....safe to cross.

Hazel motioned for Viper to cross with her, keeping her profile low as she hustled across to the brush.

Viper followed her, their feet crunching softly in the packed snow of the mountain trail. He ducked behind a rock, and gestured with his head towards the tower in the distance "we just have to get there"

Hazel's comm beeped.

She nodded, following Viper's lead as she answered the comm. "Yeah."

Red Fox piped in "How are you feeling Hazel? I opted for a private channel with you, none of the others can hear."

Viper crept along the road, moving from rock, to bush, to rock as quick and light as he could. The closer they got, the more impressive the road became . There were even streetlamps here...with cameras. He stopped when he saw the first one.

"I'm doing.... alright," she answered quietly. "Better than I could be,." She followed Viper, also pausing when they spied the camera.

Viper aimed for the camera, and fired. There was a shot of sparks from it's lens, and it went dead.

He continued towards the looming fenced in building.

"I'm worried about you" Simon admitted "That was a hard thing to do"

"Yeah," she breathed, following Viper, carefully, keeping a look out. "Didn't feel great."

Viper continued down the path, ducking behind rocks, and jolting out to take a shot at the cameras, which inevitably went dead. There wasn't any patrol yet...but it paid to be careful.

"But you did what you had to do, Hazel... I know it's kind of hard, considering. But you have to remember that that woman and her comrades _are_ complicit in an international incident of their own making"

Hazel was on the look out for any cameras that he missed- just in case she needed to take one out.

"I know. And that's why I did it."

There was one a little ahead that she had a better angle on.....

"yeah...is there anything you ah, want to talk about? about it? Get it off your chest?"

She raised her gun, and pulled the trigger, taking out the camera.

"I don't know...."

The camera went dead.

"You can tell me, Heron. I mean, we're friends, right? and I'm supposed to help with your battlefield psychology..."

"I know I can tell you S-Fox. But I don't know what to say."

"fair enough. Just be ready, okay? because Rabbitfoot won't be the last....and if you ever need anything you know my comm number"

"I know," she said. "Thanks, Fox." There was warmth in her voice, but distance, too. Part of Heron was definitely shutting off whatever feelings she had about what she was doing.

Fox's concern didn't waver as he answered "good. Just remember that, Heron. And when it's over..." he paused "Lets get a milkshake or something and have a talk,alright?"

Viper held up a hand for her to stop moving.

Hazel stopped short, and followed Viper's gaze.

"I'd like that," she whispered back to Fox.

Viper gestured towards a group of guards at the gate, standing at attention. They were being drilled by an older officer, who paced before them with a clipboard.  

Fox whispered back "Good. Now don't let me distract you. Good luck, Heron"

She didn't reply back, just nodding to herself, watching the group of gaurds. This would be tricky. She looked to Viper.

Viper watched them carefully. His eyes narrowed, and he gestured to Hazel to come close.

Hazel came quite close to him, keeping hidden.

"we have to make a  distraction" he murmured "disperse those guards. They won't fire the mortars this close to their security center, so it isn''t as critical to be completely hidden, if we take them all out. "

She nodded. "Good point. A distraction, hmm..." she rubbed her chin.

"Can you put their commander to sleep?" he murmured

Hazel smirked. "Sure can," she murmered back, taking aim with her tranq gun.

The commander stopped for a moment to slap his clipboard with the back of his hand, barking orders.

She shot right for the exposed part of his neck, near his jaw.

The man jolted with shock as he was hit...before wobbling on his feet and collapsing in a heap in front of his shocked subordinates.

"Night night," Hazel murmered.

The man was asleep, and his soldiers had all backed away and begun looking around in surprise.

All six of them seemed disoriented. Viper gestured towards her automatic rifle with a questioning look, as he drew his SMG.

Hazel drew it. Now was as good a time to use it as any. She aimed at the confused soldiers.

Viper opened up controlled bursts of fire from his SMG. The chaos only got worse. Men scattered, others were peppered with small-arms fire, and one even slipped off the edge of the cliff after a bad stumble.

Hazel let loose a stream of fire as soon as Viper did, the bullets spraying at the soliders.

Several dropped, hitting the ground near their commander.

The twin streams of fire took out most of them, and left the remaining two fumbling for their weapons.

Hazel took aim at one of them,  and directed another spurt of fire right at him.

The man got two shots off, winging her, before he was dropped by the stream of bullets.

A high pitched alert siren started wailing from the tower, as Viper ran forward to grab the last man, kick his feet out from under him, and throw him towards the edge of the cliff.

he fell.

;Hazel hurried out to meet viper, gun still in hand. "That's a distraction alright,

Viper nodded "A rather deadly one" he admitted,and prodded one of the bodies with his foot "lets get in there and shut this thing down for good"

She nodded, holding her gun tightly and watching for any incoming. "Lets go."

There was a lot of motion inside. And the guns began to alter trajectory, as if searching out a target.

The siren wailed.

They'd have to silence the security station _fast_ .

And Hazel moved fast, ready to get what had to be done, done.

Viper pushed the door open, and slipped inside

Hazel followed with him, alert, her pulse high.

They entered a grey painted hallway  empty save for the sound of footsteps running about above and Uldovian voices shouting to and fro. IT was a state of high alert, the sound of the siren shrieking just outside.

Hazel looked for which way to go- for doorways and corridors.

There was a hall ahead, going right and left in a t across the entry hall. Doors were on either side.

"You know whwere we're headed V, or do I start opening doors?"

Viper shook his head "don't got a map of this area" he murmured. "But I'm guessing the command center's near the top. But if we can find some explosives, we can really take their defenses down in a way that will stick till we're finished here"

she nodded. "Got it," she said. She peeked into one of the nearby rooms, quickly.

It was a storage closet....unfortunetly, this one was for brooms and mops. A janitor, a young woman with wide eyes, was cowering in it, and nearly screamed before Viper knocked her out with a swift hit.

"she'll be fine" he said

Hazel nodded, and closed the door on the janitor. "So much for door number one."

"My guess is they keep the ordinance near the cannons. We just have to find some c4, or a grenade, and set it off near the artillery, and this problem should take care of itself"

She nodded. "Got it. Lets move then," she said.

He nodded, and crept down the hall with her "No sense being too quiet unless it looks like we're outnumbered. they already know we're here" He murmured, and paused, gesturing with his gun "Stairs"

She nodded. "Going up?" she said, her gun still in hand.

He nodded, and shouldered the door open "Lead the way, Heron" he said, "i'll cover your back"

She nodded, "got it," she said, sliding in past the door, and moving forward as she took stock.

There was a spartan military staircase. Up or down, were her options. Down being a basement, and up being towards the command consoles and commotion.

"Lets check the basement for those explosives, quick," she said, hurrying down the stairs.

Viper nodded, and hurried behind her.

THe scraping of feet and voices dimmed as they flew down the stairs and into a slightly darker part of the complex.

Hazel hurried, not wanting to get trapped in the basement, but definitely wanting any goodies that were down there.

Viper shouldered the door open, which struck a figure square in the face as he did.

The figure sprawled out on the ground with a sharp sound of pain.

Hazel aimed her gun down at the figure, taking a quick assessment.

Her eyes were wide. and panicked.

it was the same girl she'd shoved in a locker yesterday. Now wearing a different pair of chunky headphones and reading glasses.

An inventory list had clattered to the ground beside her along with a pencil.

She made 'ah! ah! ah!" sounds, as she quivered.

Hazel made a noise of annoyed disgust and confusion. "I'm looking for explosives. Tell me where they are."

The girl pushed up her glasses, and tried to sit up, only for Viper to put his boot on her chest and push her back down.

She whimpered "Why?? why is you YOU again!" she howled miserably "i just got transferred to security today!"

"Yeah, I didn't want to see you again either," she said. "Now spill."

She bit her lip "ah..." She picked up the inventory list, and looked at it in her shaking hands "the...the third shelf has explosives. Some...some c4.....some rockets...som...some timers...." she whimpered "please don't kill me this time, ma'am"

Hazel drew her tranq gun. "Thanks," she said dryly. Have a nice nap." She shot her with the tranq.

The woman hit the ground with a soft snore.

"an old friend?" Victor asked dryly

"We keep meeting like this," she quipped back. "Come on, lets get that loot off the shelf."

He nodded, and gestured with his gun "to the victor go the spoils" he said, and stepped over the snoring woman.

"Nice," she smirked and stepped over her as well, looking for the stuff.

There was a number of racks....and three down, she could see the shelf marked 'danger, explosives'

She grinned. "Bingo."

Viper looked through them with a grin of his own "this is some top grade stuff. We should be able to blow them sky high with all this"

Hazel grabbed C4 and timers- and looked for anything that might be useful later.

A few grenades were on this shelf, smoke, flash, chaff, and fragmation.

On the other shelves, according to the list, were some rations, a field kit....and  a grenade launcher among a number of other armaments.

She grabbed a pair of each of the grenades, putting them in her pack, and the rations, and field kid. She looked at the grenade launcher. "Huh.... that'd be a pain to carry...."

Viper nodded "If I swap out my sniper rifle, and leave the long range to you, I could probably take it" he murmured

"Think we'll want it?"

"Depends on if you think we'll ever have to get past a tank or an armored truck"

"She thought about it. "Yeah, ditch the sniper, and take the heavy artillery. Just in case. I can handle long range.

He laid his sniper rifle along the rack, and picked up the laucher and a number of rounds, which he strapped to his belt, and back "there" he smirked "now we're ready for any sort of opposition"

She nodded, returning his smirk. "Perfect.'

He saluted her, before gesturing to the stairs "Now come on. We have a military base to detonate"

She returned the salute as she turned and headed up the stairs again, wary and alert,

He followed her, his hand back on his pistol and knife as they made their way up the stairs. Shouting echoed from above "Third floor! Clear! moving down to second!" It seemed a security team was going floor to floor.

She held her automatic in her hand, heading up. "Ready?" she murmered to Viper. "We should be able to catch them off gaurd."

Viper nodded, and crept behind her "Don't be afraid to use that flashbang"he murmured "to give us an extra edge."

She nodded, and slid one out of her bag, ready as she crept foward, watching, waiting for the opportunity.

They hit the first foor...and they could hear the feet moving around one floor above. Perhaps they should wait in the stairwell till they came down...

That was exactly what Hazel had been thinking. She flattened herself against the wall just before the top of the stairwell, gripping the flashblang.

Viper positioned himself lower down the stairs, aiming up and in wait.

The door opened, and the voices called "Second floor, clear! Moving to first!"

Hazel waited for the right timing, to arm and throw the flashbang, so that it would blind them.

THey had come out of the door and onto the landing. THeir eyes were centered on the floor below as the grenade clattered to the ground. VIper hid his face, just as it exploded. The security team wasn't so lucky, and the panicked shouts of blinded men fillled the echoing stairwell.

Hazel uncovered her eyes, and aimed her automatic, firing into the security team.

Viper fired into their midst with his reloaded SMG.

Blinded as they were, they could only stumble in the narrow shooting gallery that the stairs had became. Some walked into bullets, and one other fell down the stairs, only to be finished off by Viper.

Blood sprayed against sterile white walls, as all but one man were killed in the hail. The survivor hurled his body blindly towards the sound of Hazel's gun, trying to grapple her.

Hazel grabbed him deftly, and slammed him against the wall.

He man grunted, and attempted to jam his gun against her belly.

His body was pinned to the hard wall, though, and the movement of his arm was strained

She aimed her gun at him first, and fired.

He jolted hard, first backwards...and then forwards as his body became dead weight that fell against her in a sagging heap.

She let him fall and stepped away, looking out for any more.

The rest of the team had been mercy killed by Viper while she finished the survivor off. He nodded at her, and flashed a thumbs up.

She returned it, and nodded, striding over.

He reloaded his weapon with a casual ease, and gestured up "we don't have to clear floor by floor. Just get up there and plant our payload"

She nodded. "lets get up there then, and make an explosive exit."

He nodded back , and started up the stairs in a controlled jog.

She followed closely, hurrying up the stairs.

They passed the third floor, and made their way up towards the fourth...the final floor before the structure became mechanics and machinery related to moving the mortars and cannons around.

Hazel took it in quite curiously- she'd never actually seen this kind of thing up close before. She still kept alert however.

They stopped before a door marked 'control' , tense murmuring coming from behind the door.

Above they could hear the grind and churn of great machinery

Hazel hesitated before the door, gun in hand. She looked to Viper.

Viper took a deep breath and gestured "probably technicians. " he murmured "I'll hold them up, while you plant the bomb"

he paused "I'll hit the lights, if you got night vision"

She nodded. "Two pairs," she said, pulling them out.

He nodded, and took one pair to slip on.

She slipped her pair on and gave him a thumbs up.

He returned the thumbs up and thrust the door open.

Hazel saw the room, filled with a small group of technicians and two guards amid the control panels and reloading bays....

Before it went dar, as Viper shot out the only illumination in the room.

Hazel got ready to do her part, and plant the bomb.

Viper turned on his night vision goggles as te room fell into darkness. His tranq gun fired in silenced shots that lit up the room in dim flashes. Hazel heard one body hit the floor, then the grunting shout of another man as Viper grabbedhim around the throat, and slammed him into the console, breaking a screen in the process.

hazel watched as she flipped her own nightvision goggles on. She looked for where to plant the bimb.

The back wall was predominantly comprised of mortars and rockets that were to be loaded into the guns' loading bays, which were situated along the left wall.

If she set off an explosion near those rockets, it would start a chain explosion that would take out this entire complex, if they were lucky.

She saw, in the green glow of the goggles, as Viper grabbed one technician, snapped his arm to make him drop his gun, and threw him bodilly into another one of the men, sending them both slamming into the console with a small shower of sparks

Hazel couldn't help but smile when she thought of the huge chain explosion. She hurried over to the wall with the mortars and rockets, and started to set up the c4 with a timer. She'd never _done_ it before, but she'd practicied it many times.

It really wasn't too hard. She had her manuals. And the process wasn't too hard....As she set it up, she heard Viper fire down at one of the men who'd struggled to his feet.

She got up after it was all set. "Ready."

Viper looked over, his goggles glowing eerilly "good" he gestured "Lets get out of here, and a safe distance away"

She nodded, and got moving. They didn't want to be here when it went off.

He pushed open the door, and held it for her, quickly disengaging his goggles before the sunburst of light from the next room blinded them.

She did the same, tucking the goggles away in her bag again.

He tucked his in his own pack, while he ran down the stairs "what's the timer for, Heron?" he asked hurriedly

"Five minutes," she said. "we should be able to get clear in time."

He nodded 'Don't want to risk anything though" he said, as he practically slid down to the second floor...just in time for a man to burst out of the hallway door, and slash at him with a combat knife.

Hazel cursed and grabbed her onw knife in a smooth motion out of its holder, moving to block the man.

She intercepted him, and entered into a grapple. He tried to grab her, and shove her away

Hazel used her strength against him, trying to force him down.

She had the upper hand but his knife grazed her arm, even as she forced him against the wall.

She hissed at the pain, but didn't let up, slamming him against the wall. She moved to cut his throat.

He grunted, but was stifled as her blade slashed into his throat.

She pressed it deep, until she didn't need to any more, and released him.

The man fell to the ground, another close quarters kill crumpled in a heap on the ground. Viper nodded in approval "Lets go. We lost time with that fight""

She nodded, and hurried away, not at all wanting to get caught in the explosion.

They managed back to the first floor, where Viper shouldered the door open with bodilly force "go!" he barked

She hurried out of it, in a controlled, efficient run.

He followed her, as they turned down the hall and back out into the crisp and cold snow. He gestured past the tower, down the path opposite where they came in "Come on, this way!"

She nodded, heading fast in the direction he indicated.

He ran down the path, counting under his breath as he reached for her hand.

She grabbed his hand as she ran with him, glove in glove.

He tugged her off to the side, down a gully beside the road, pulling her close as they rolled into it, and hunkered down as low as possible.

She pressed herself against him, waiting for the explosion.

He  pressed close,a nd buried his face in the snow.

A roar ripped through the sky, rocking the very earth as the building exploded. Heat and pressure rushed and rippled through the air in a shockwave that blasted their exposed skin with heat. The scent of fire and smoke filled the air, as small chunks of concrete and steel rained in the snow around them.

Hazel couldn't help being kind of amazed by it. She'd always wondered what it would be like to be near a huge explosion. Too bad there was no time to put on sunglasses.

Viper's body was larger than hers, and it protected her from most of the hailing debris. He took a deep breath once the stone hail stopped, and rolled away to look up at the smoke filled sky with a sigh of relief "went perfect"

She sat up with a small smile, taking a breath as well. "Thankfully."

He chuckled , with a nod "now we don't have to worry about a missle to the skull when we cause a slight fuss"

"That would have been really inconvinient."

He nodded, and ran his hand through his sweat matted hair, peeking up to look at the smoldering remains of the tower "that thing's out of commission till we're gone, I think"

"Yeah it should take them a while to rebuild it."

He nodded, and began to sit up "alright. Now while they deal with that, we have to get across the rope bridges to the other mountain's top...where a science lab is supposed to be. In there, we might be able to get a clue about where Adler is. Or hell, if we're lucky, maybe some more information on the titan project and how to stop it"

She nodded. "Right. Here's hoping, V." She sat up as well, slightly leaning against him.

He put his arm around her, steadying her with a nod "Heh. Here's hoping , H." he watched the curling smoke with a look of satisfaction.

She looked up at it as well.  "Not to jynx us, but, so far so good."

He nodded "I don't want to tempt fate, either" he admitted "But yeah. We're a good team, Heron"

She nodded. "I agree."

He gestured towards the road, hand leaving her back "Shall we?"

She nodded, stretching a little. "lets.

"

He climbed up out of the ditch, and offered her his hand to help her out, his eyes alert as he looked from side to side.

She took his hand gratefully, climbing up, alert as well.

The road was empty... for now. But they could hear a commotion from the supply depot down the road. They were probably on their way to check out the tower. He nodded to Heron, and began hurrying down the road towards the sharp peak of the other mountain.

She nodded back at him and hurried as well, sure footed as they hurried down the road, pistol in hand, and looking out for trouble.

Ahead of them rose the strange rope bridges....they were a criss-crossing maze of rope bridges that connected the two peaks in a cats cradle of rope and wood. This area had two bridges going off at angles , past a guard tower manned by some panicked looking guards, their attention absorved in the rising smoke off the mountain.

Hazel didn't like the look of the bridges. She hoped they'd be able to get over them as quickly as possible.

Viper hesitated, and gestured to the guards "Loud or quiet, Heron. your call"

"Lets go quiet. They're already distracted."

He nodded , and held his tranq gun in one hand, as he crept along the outskirts of the area. HIs eyes were on the soldiers....if they looked this way, they'd have to try to get a neck shot or a face shot to take them down fast

She had hers out as well, ready if anyone so much as glanced in their direction.

One of the men hollared that he was going to the comm tent to report what he heard, turning just the slightest towards their position

Hazel saw him turning and snapped off a quick tranq round at the trajectory of his face.

As she did, Viper shot towards the man at the top of the guard tower's neck. If the first man went down, this soldier would have seen it.

They both hit their mark...and the two figures wobbled before crumpling to the ground.

Hazel gave Viper a grateful nod- looking to see if they'd need to move the fallen, or just move on.

IF they didn't, one of the other soldiers might see the one Hazel dropped...he was in the edge of camp

Hazel moved for him, stealthily and quickly.

Viper covered her from the shadows, his gun tracing one of the other soldiers pacing along the outer perimiter.

But she made it to his body without confrontation

She grabbed him, and looked for some place to stash him quickly.

There was a tent nearby...she could drag him in there.

She hurried toward it, low and stealthy.

HIs body made a soft scraping sound as she dragged him into the tent. She passed through the flaps, and into an empty sleeping tent. Nobody stopped her, but she heard Viper's gun go off with it's silenced bang.

She winced, leaving the man in the tent- hefting in into a bed, just in case someone came in. She turned  back-- she'd have to drag in whoever Viper dropped as well

There was the scuffle of feet outside, and she heard a man grunt, only to be strangled. Viper's voice hissed "talk" .

This must have been the last soldier in the encampment, because Viper had him held in the middle of the camp, knife to his throat.

"b-buh...I...I..." he stammered "The lab on the other peak was recently used for some sort of experiment with the Titan systems."

Hazel raised her eyebrow as she came out, quietly. That was good intel.

Viper nodded slightly, and tightened his grip on his neck "now remember. You didn't see us, did you?" He hissed "your life isn't worth alerting your boss, is it?"

Hazel stayed quiet, watching the other spy work.

The man shook his head "n-no! No sir!"

Viper leaned in and whispered "good. Because we'd know" He growled, before he struck the man on the back of the neck.

The man dropped to the ground,limp and boneless.

Hazel nodded. "Nice."

Viper smirked "thanks" he hefted the man and dragged him into the tent "now we know for sure that lab is an important target"

"I heard," she nodded.

He dropped the man on the bed, and turned towards her "now at least we won't have trouble from this side of the valley"

He paused, and went to the comms station. He cut the wires on their unit "or any backup."

"Perfect," she said. She did a quick check for useful supplies.

She got a few magazines for her auto rifle and sniper. And a...packet of dog treats? Viper found a pack of adrenoline shots as well .

She took all of it- the dog treats just in case.

Viper stowed the shots away, and nodded to her "ready to walk across a gorge?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

He nodded "Hopefully it'll be quick" he reloaded his pistol with a quick series of movements.

She took the chance to reload as well. "Only one way to find out."

He smirked thinly "lets just hope luck stays on our side" he started for the swaying bridge.

She followed him, gun in hand, ready for trouble. The last time they'd been on one of these rope bridges certainly hand;t been great.

And it became evident as they took their first steps onto the heavy, thick boards of the bridge....that theywere far higher up thistime. Survival wasn't quite as guaranteed.

VIper took a careful step across, careful of patches of ice or snow as he began walking across the swaying bridge.

Hazel swallowed, and refused to look down. Down wasn't important. Across was.

Across, she could see the swaying length of the bridge. It was a long one, and the furthur they walked, the more the bridge swayed.

She tried to time her footfalls against Viper's, so that their steps evened out as much as possible to minimize the swaying.

Viper caught on, and soon they were walking with coordination. The swaying bridge slowed slightly,the wind still starting to chill their skin.

The wind chill was something she knew how to tune out at least, doing a little medatative excersize to keep her mind off it. It wouldn't be good to tune out in the long run (one could freeze to death) but for now...

But for now, the chill of it seemed to wane. It wasn't until the shrill screech a hawk sounded through the air, that her concentration and their careful progress was interupted.

A hawk, wearing some sort of lightweight face armor, came streaking out of the trees, curling in a loop around the bridge.

Hazel cursed, and aimed her weapon. "V....."

Viper turned, gun raising to meet the bird as it came...only for it's talons to strike his eyes. Blood spurted out as it gripped, deep enough to puncture, it's wings flapping. It leapt up and jumped back into the air.

Viper stumbled back, blind and holding his face....only to topple off the bridge

"No! Viper!" Hazel dove for him, trying to grab his hand as he fell, gripping the rope with her other hand so she didn't fall too.

SHe grabbed the heavy man's hand, the both of them dangling off the edge of the bridge. THe wind howled around them, as the bridge rippled and swayed under their swinging weight.

She'd only just started to pull him up...when the hawk came back in a silent pass. The rope under her hand snapped with a slash of it's talons, and Hazel suddenly pitched forward. She fell, down the deep, dark crevace and onto the sharp rocks below.

On the comm-link, she heard SImon wail "Heron!!! HERON! HEERON!"

And then it all went dark with the impact.

[Reload]

Hazel found herself back at the edge of the bridge, walking along it with Viper. HIs eyes were intact, her body was fine...and he was in the middle of one of his previous murmured sentences. "...Stays by our side"

Hazel stopped, and looked around in confusion for a moment. "Viper?"

Viper looked over at her with a raised eyebrow "you okay?" he asked "it's just a bridge. Stick close and time your steps and we'll be fine"

She put  a hand to the side of her head and nodded. "Yeah...." had she had a stroke? She thought about it for a minute. No.... she had traveled through time again....? "wait....." She drew her gun, and aimed it at where she remembered the bird coming from.

There was a sharp screech, as the bird came sweeping out of the trees. THis time, Viper had enough warning to see it coming. He ducked, and waved for her to fire.

She fired at it, eyes wide. She _had_ traveled in time!

She hit it's wing, and it cried pitifully as it fell into a spiral down.

Viper looked at her with astonishment "good shot"

Hazel went for another shot as it spiraled down. No need for the wounded bird to suffer.

The bird had turned it's wounded flight into a wobbling glide for the other end of the first set of cliffs. On the other side, came a more human scream. Of rage, rather than pain. A gun went off from behind the rocks at the treeline,and bullets skimmed each of the offending spies too close for comfort.

She cursed, and looked for where the shot came from. Did she see a target? "we need to get off this bridge."

Viper nodded, and began walking swiftly , waving for her to follow.

Red hair vanished from behind the rocks, and disappeared into the snow. The bird, wounded, had flown into the scattered trees on this particular craggy cliff.

Hazel frowned, losing the target, and concentrated for the moment on getting across the bridge, keeping her attention high.

Viper followed, his gun out. THis place was a maze of bridges..and trecherous terrain.

But they made their way across the bridge, and onto the solid snow.

There was a beep at her comm.

Hazel answered it. "Yeah?"

"Bravo here" Came the gruff voice of the animal expert "I saw you shot down that hawk a moment ago?"

"Hey Bravo. Yeah, it was on its way to attack us."

"Normally I'd ask you refrain from harming the wildlife of this area...some of these species are actually very endangered,but that...I recognize that girl immedietlly"

"She's part of the Body, isn't she?"

"The hawk? Yes and no" He began "That hawk belongs to Tigerfang, the animal tamer. We were close once" Bravo said with a hint of sadness in his voice "She and I worked together when she wasn't off with the body. Saving animals in dangerous areas. Preserving wildlife in warzones. The like. The girl's love of animals rivals even my own"

"The hawk? Yes and no" He began "That hawk belongs to Tigerfang, the animal tamer. We were close once" Bravo said with a hint of sadness in his voice "She and I worked together when she wasn't off with the body. Saving animals in dangerous areas. Preserving wildlife in warzones. The like. The girl's love of animals rivals even my own"

"Ah," she nodded. "I'm sorry."

"it's okay"  He said with a warm rumble "She's always been closer to the animals than to other people. Body and me aside. She was raised, believe it or not, in the circus. To a family of animal tamers traveling the world before the Great War."

"Huh.... the circus."

"That's right. They were the show of the century, they said. Some even said they had the ability to use a special sort of empathy to pacify even the most wild of beasts. I never believed it" Bravo sighed. "But Lil...ah, Tigerfang. Lost it all when the war came. One distraction at the wrong time got her family devoured by their own companions in  a fit of panic. Now she serves the Body as a special operative.  Don't trust any beast you encounter....because it may prove to be a fatal mistake"

she whistled. "damn, that's rough for her. But good to know."

"Good luck, kid. " Bravo said "I'll tell you how to counter anything you come up against."

Viper had his gun trained towards the patch of woods, as he stepped off the bridge "I don't like this. If Tigerfang's here, we should get as far away as we can, and fast"

"Thanks, Bravo," she nodded. "And I agree, V. Lets et moving."

Viper nodded "Tigerclaw's ahead, then" He sighed "Damn. " he took a few steps into the snow "let's just hope the next few bridges take us to so barren an area as this, huh? No real room for a wolf attack on this hunk of rock. "

"She could have more birds," she pointed out. "But yeah, lets hope."

"I don't think she'll send them off just yet. Not when we know her tactic" He gestured "Come on. we have another bridge to pass."

Far off, an ursine growl sounded , but it's source was unknown...

she nodded, and followed with him.  "lets do this."

He walked through the small thicket of trees, past a bloody splatter on the snow. There was no bird there, only the leaked blood from the wing.

She frowned at the blood spatter, keeping alert as they moved.

Footprints intercepted the path onto one of the bridges beyond. Footprints that seemed to be bear-shaped.

Hazel paused, and looked. "V-- these are bear tracks.

Viper frowned and nodded "She's probably got her bear out here somewhere then. But a beast like that....it can't cross rope bridges, can it?"

"Probably not, but I don;t  like taking that chance." she thought for a minute. "V-- will we have to leave the same way we came?"

He gestured forward. A criss-crossing network of bridges connected different parts of the peaks "We don't even have to continue on the same way, if we don't want to"

"Hmmm" she looked them over, and nodded.

"I say we make for the opposite side of the mountain via those bridges" he gestured "And avoid her altogether. "

She nodded. "Lets get this done."

He nodded, and made a break for the furthest bridge. The one that crossed another on the way, and connected to the far side of the spire-like peak ahead.

She followed, moving quickly, but surely, keeping her footing.

Their feet hit the boards of the rope bridge, and VIper's steps grew more careful. They crossed, careful not to look down. On the other peak, the same roar rose up again....but it would be on the other side, past several small gorges. They would avoid the bear.

""I desperately want to make a bear pun," she said, as she carefully crossed the bridge. "but I can't think of a good one.

Viper laughed under his breath "I wouldn't be able to bear it if you thought of one, Heron" He said, with a wry smirk. They managed without incident to make it to the next landing. Here...the snow was blindingly white due to the way the wind blew it off the cliff overhead. But they could see enough to make it around the flat area in relative safety.

"She chuckled at the pun as they made it to the landing. "wish we had some snow glasses.

Viper nodded "it's as white as the Goddess' robes up here." he murmured, and squinted against the whiteout "Didn't think to pack them.

Something seemed to dart past the corner of Heron's vision....too fast and well camoflaged to register.

Or did she see anything at all?

She shaded her eyes, trying to follow what she thoughht she saw with a frown.

Viper frowned as well, his eyes tracing the snow...behind her, she felt....something...rush past. Was it the wind on these craggy peaks?

"I don't think we're alone," she said, on alert.

Viper nodded with a frown. He stopped walking...and a white shape lunged out of the blinding snow....and tackled Heron by the bag.

Heron grunted, and as she went down, tried to turn the pin around and wind up on top.

A large white wolf snarled as she tackled it to the ground, the pack of dog treats crunched between a vice of wicked teeth. Deep blue eyes glared at her as paws kicked and flailed to get her off.

Hazel-- finally seeing what it was and what it had gone for, leapt off of it, aiming her tranq gun at it to see what it died.

The wolf hopped to it's feet. It had a strange pack on it's stomach, strapped on with some sort of release latch. THe beautiful white wolf growled, chewed at the pack of snacks...and shook it's body. THe pack came free. The wolf nuzzled it's nose in the pack for a moment, before turning and absolutely sprinting over one of the swaying bridges, dog treats in hand.

Two of them now lay in the snow, brown spots on white.

Beeping came from the pack the wolf had dropped.

Hazel's immediate response was to attempt to throw the pack off the mountain.

The pack went sailing down, down the cliffside where it hit several outcroppings of rock.

At the bottom, it went up in a earth shaking explosion, a howl echoing from the other peak.

Viper stared, gun half lowered, at the smoking crater below.

it landed on a guard post.

He stared a moment longer .

"A wolf dropped a bomb" he finally said.

Hazel couldn't help staring at it as well..

"..... ....... ..... huh. Bad doggy."

Viper nodded "Bad....bad doggy" he repeated, a bit dumbly. "I never really fought alongside Tigerclaw. Even in training. I....didn't think this was how she fought"

Bravo radioed in "You bet your ass it's how she fights" he barked "TIgerclaw's the best animal tamer the world's ever seen. her empathic bond with her animal friends means they can do all that and more. I told you to be wary, soldiers"

"You did, Bravo. I just didn't expect bomb delivering dogs...."

"That's Frostflower" Bravo said "She's a good girl, agile. Deadly. And capable of delivering bombs of all kinds in her mouth or on her pack. She's got one weakness though. THe poor girl loves her dog treats. "

Viper pressed his hand to his head, and hissed in a deep breath. "Lets try to tranq the wolf, eh, Heron?" he murmured.

Heron nodded. "yeah, lets...." She raised her tranq gun.

He nodded, and hurried towards the next set of fences "you pick this time, hmm?"

She nodded, and looked over the bridges ahead of them, watching out for the wolf.

The wolf had run back where they had come from....if they ran into it again, it'd be furthur on when it looped via one of the other bridges.

Viper kept lookout as well, though.

There were three bridges here. One went up, to the very top of one of the peaks, a precarious area, but one that diidn't have much room for ambush.

Another went across to a small plateau, bordered by spines of rock and shrubbery...

And another went down slightly, and connected to another bridge that would take them to the low east of the next mountaintop. WHere it looked like a small pine forest lay.

"Lets go up," she said, opting for the more precarious area.

He nodded "hold tight to the ropes" He advised, walking up the sloped bridge, using the ropes to keep his balance "The sooner we're off this pass, the better"

She nodded, holding quite tightly and moving slow and sure. "agreed."

"if you think you're going to fall" he said, "Just grab me, I'll make sure we both make it off here alive. Same goes for you?"

She nodded. "absolutely," she said.

They crept up the bridge slowly, and steadilly. It was a hike, but they reached the summit where the bridge was fastened.

Before them was a snarling mountain lion, wearing what could only be described as a bulletproof vest for cats.

It crawled up from the side of the cliff, and slunk low, as it crested the other side of the small cliff-top, it's shoulders hunched, and a strange apparatus on it's back. It looked like a rifle barrel. But fastened somehow so it pointed over the top of it's head, wherever it was looking.

Hazel stared at the creature for a long moment. "Is that a big cat with a gun?" she whispered.

The Cat hunkered low, and grabbed a ripcord with it's teeth. With a yank, the gun went off, narrowly missing Viper as he dodged, and found himself narrowly avoiding a fall off the edge of the small plateau.

He grimaced "yeah, Hazel. I think that's a big cat with a gun"

"What the fuck," she hissed. She aimed with her tranq gun at it.

The cat whipped around, and charged her with a pounce. As it did, it lowered it's head,and grabbed the cord in it's jaws again.

She fired twice, fast, and then ducked out of the way as much as she could.

One dart hit the great cat, reeling it. But it wasn't enough to take the beast down. It whirrled around, agile and quick, and yanked the cord.

The gun went off, firing towards Hazel, who had found herself at the edge of the cliff.

She gimaced-- no where to run. She flattened herself as low as possible.

She hit the ground, the bullet splitting a loose hair as it whizzed past too close for comfort. The cat leapt, and landed atop her with a snarl. Claws dug into her shoulders...but she had a clear shot at it's stomach

Viper, meanwhile, was embroiled in a battle of his own. A bird, different than the hawk from earlier, was dipping and slashing past him with daggerlike talons

Hazel didn't waste time or engery screaming at the claws in her shoulder- she just fired into its belly as much as she could.

Darts jutted from it's furry flesh, and it didn't take long for the powerful chemicals to do their job. The big cat rolled over, and fell fast asleep.

Meanwhile, Viper finally lined up a shot,a nd downed what turned out to be a  falcon with a single, careful shot.

She struggled out from under it as careful as she could.

It snored, and Viper set the bird down next to the cat "okay" he said, wiping blood from his face with a wince "that was a pain in the ass"

"Yeah, seriously," she said, "its like a zoo out here."

"that's Tigerfang for you" he said "She's an odd duck. But a good soldier" he gestured "lets head down. THis should be the last bridge"

"Small blessings," she muttered

He nodded, grimly "I'll go first this time. You took the danger zone the last two bridges" he stepped onto the swaying rope bridge with  careful steps.

"if you're sure," she said warily, following him as she remembered their 'deaths'.

He nodded "i'm sure" he said , and walked across the solid, but distressingly high bridge. His gun and knife were drawn and ready, as the howls of the great wolf-dog echoed through the mountaintop

She had hers drawn as well, trying to be ready for anything. It was hard to be 'ready for anything' when that included armed mountain lions.

The slope of this bridge was a sharp decline, and it was all they could do to keep from slipping down and towards the large wooded flat of the largest valley this high up the mountains.

It wasn't a huge area, about the size of a football field, but it was thickly forested, and lead towards the elevator down to the main valley and it's facilities

At least there was more cover here... she didn't like being exposed on the bridges.

They had made it. The bridges threat was over after another minute of careful walking.

They touched down on the firm and snowy landscape, their feet on solid ground once more.

Viper sighed with quiet relief

Hazel did the same, drawing a long breath.

The howl of the wolf ripped through the trees before them, echoing through the jagged mountain ominously.

She raised her gun again, lowering her profile, alert.

In her alertness, she heard the soft draw of a bowstring and the hiss of an aluminum shaft aganinst a bow's notch. Towards her left, up in the trees.

"V!" she hissed, immediately moving her body, aiming at the source of the noise, and firing.

Viper had already dodged behind a tree, at the sound of her voice. An arrow shot, stuck in the ground a mere few inches from Hazel. A shape jumped from one branch to another, avoiding her shot by sheer luck and timing.

Viper frowned, and now began scanning the treeline, his blue eyes narrowed and searching.

"We;re not alone," she murmered, moving in a slow arc as she scanned the trees.

He nodded "yeah. That's Tigerfang, I'd bet"

Shuffling came from the treetops behind them "you'd bet right" Hissed a female voice "murderers"

A shrill whistle cut through the air, and the howls and growls of...various beasts , rose from the trees.

"Murderers?" she demanded, scanning and mobing.

Viper spun around, and aimed his gun at the trees. A woman with firey red hair , dressed in white camo and a military issue jacket, glared at them from her perch on the branches, her bow drawn and aimed at viper's throat "You killed Quentin" Her green eyes were narrowed in hate. A bloody feather was tucked behind her ear, a bullet hole torn through the upper half of it. "he held more beauty in his feathers and patterns than any mark you killers leave on the world"

"Quentin tried to kill us," Hazel said dryly, aiming her gun at the woman.

The woman's eyes narrowed, and her bow snapped over to Hazel, aiming at her eye. She snapped her fingers....and a huge bear came charging through the trees, snapping underbrush and trampling snowdrifts.

The bear hammered into Viper, who turned in time to diffuse enough of the blow to keep his ribs intact as he rolled

Hazel hissed, and rolled out of the way of the woman's shot, moving to fire at the bear attacking viper.

the arrow struck a tree behind where Hazel was, and the woman leapt to another tree, vanishing.

As Hazel moved to fire upon the bear, she saw the movment of something huge and white out of the corner of her eye.

She had just enough time to imagine what it must be. Another fucking bear.

She whipped around and shot at the white form.

well. She was in luck. It wasn't a bear.

She had enough time to see the wolf slam into her gut at a full charge.

The thing knocked the wind out of her, but also kicked in her physical response reflexes. She slammed her elbow into its face, hard.

The wolf whimpered, and whipped it's head around to make a snap at her arm with it's powerful jaws.

She moved her arm away, kicking at the beart's stomach instead, and then firing a tranq round at it.

The wolf made a pitiful noise, and was struck by the bolt. It's clawed foot caught Hazel's side, and tore into the flesh as it tried to kick free. The tranq dart was slowly doing it's job....

But the shot had an unintended side effect.

Tigerfang leapt out of the trees, and ran for the wolf, too distracted as it whined in the snow to even pay attention to Hazel." Lora, my darling" She whimpered with him "i feel your pain. I feel it. " She whispered soothingly to the beast, and plucked the dart from her flesh. She unhooked the bomb on Lora's side, and investigated her ribs, checking each one.

As Tigerfang was busy with the wolf, Hazel popped off a shot at her with the gun that was in her hand.

The tranq dart struck her in the shoulder, causing the woman to stagger back, woozy "Dammit!" she hissed, as Lora the wolf slowly rose to her feet. The wolf stuck her nose to the bomb's simplified controls, and there was a beep. She ran, and grabbed Tigerfang's shirt sleeve in her jaws, tugging the angry and distraught woman into the trees.

The bomb beeps began to pulse faster, and faster.

There was no handy cliff this time for Hazel to use. She bolted instead, leaping and making for the best cover she could find, hoping she wasn't torn to pieces by burning splinter shrapnel.

_Some days you just couldn't get rid of a bomb._

The explosion knocked her off her feet, and sent her collapsing into the snow. But the force of the explosion blew her out of the way of the shrapnel and into the shield of the trees.

The hiss of metal and bowstring drew back again, and this time, the arrow pinned her shirt to the tree, narrowly missing her flesh.

She breathed hard, wrenching her shirt free of the arrow, and looking back, knocking off another tranq shot half-blindly where the arrow had come from.

She heard it hit the tree branch, as someone leapt to another tree...and below it, the snarling wolf stepped forward, her fur on end, and ears pricked as she leapt, and swiped at Hazel with her claws.

But her movements were sluggish, as if she was still dazed by the shot to her stomach. The tranq dart had been at least slightly effective

Hazel hissed as she had her flesh clawed again, and she leapt backwards, pulling off a mid air kick as she did.

The wolf was struck, and she reeled back with another yelp, and a wayward snap of her jaws...again, the woman in the trees faltered enough for Hazel to take a shot at her, drawn by whatever empathy linked her to these beasts.

She snapped her aim up to the woman and took the shot, aiming for her neck this time.

She got lucky, and struck the woman in the throat. She cried out, and fell from the tree with a heavy snapping of branches and what might have been a bone.

Lora immedietly leapt away from Hazel, and ran for the fallen woman, who squirmed sleepilly on the ground.

Tigerfang was down, her bow just out of reach.

Hazel swooped in, and grabbed the bow from her, aiming her tranq gun at her again.

The woman squirmed, her eyes foggy and distant "Show's over I guess" She murmured, as Lora licked her cheek, lapping at her to try and wake her up, even as she wobbled under the dart's effects.

Tigerfang looked down the barrel of the tranq gun "Surprised you're not using the real thing" She said with a lopsided grin "Don't you want to kill the big bad traitor? Send me to the final curtain call?"

"I'm not exactly some bloodthirsty animal," she muttered back, still holding the gun.

She laughed, her eyes going wide for a moment "Oh you poor naive little thing" She said, her eyelids drooping slighlty as she brushed her fingers over the ridge of Lora's nose "We're all bloodthirsty animals under the skin. More so than the actual beasts. You have to know that by now. We tear eachother apart...just as ma and pa were torn apart by their own animal friends. " She plucked the dart from her throat and rolled it in her fingers "we just have to invent our own fangs and claws"

"Maybe," she murmered watching her,

The bear parted the brush, laden with darts and still standing....she lay against Tigerfang, and nuzzled her nose against her throat with a low growl, prompting the woman to pet her too.

"Oh, my dears" She murmured "my darling companions" she shook out of her daze to look at Hazel again "So. You've been armed with claws and fangs by your masters. Yet you keep them sheathed. How would _they_ feel if I walked out of here alive, hmm?" she bared her teeth in a manic smile.

Bravo , on the line, spoke up "Heron.  Tell her that at least one of us would be happy to see her free. " he said "this is a private line.  No evesdroppers. Tell her that somebody over here wants to give her another chance to shake off her own damned leash and be free of her own 'masters' . No Gagarin . No Soteria, just freedom in the wilds, doing what she loves to do. Helping the endangered and unprotected."

Heron nodded. "There's someone there who wants to see you free," she said. "He said you should have another chance to shake your own leash off." She reapeated the rest.

Tigerfang's two animal companions formed a sort of impromptu blanket over her, nuzzling close to keep her warm as she gazed up at the sky beyond the trees "The show must go on, then" She said with a shaking voice "Perhaps it's time for this old beast to retire." She looked at Heron "Finish it, girl. Before I change my mind"

Heron nodded. "Happy hunting." She muttered. She shot her with a last tranq round. The animals would keep her warm, and they'd be long gone by the time she came to. Hopefully she;d slink off into the wild, into retirement.

The woman passed out, and her animals curled in close, keeping her warm like one of their own young.

Viper came staggering through the woods, looking a bit worse for wear, but alive and mostly unharmed "Fucking bear" he murmured. "who gave a bear protective shielding in the first place"

Heron jerked her head toward their sleeping 'friend'. "Someone we won;'t have to tangle with again, I wager. YOu look good for a man who fought a bear."

He looked at the sleeping Tigerclaw, and nodded with approval "Good job" he gestured, smirking a little "I just grinned and beared it and somehow found my way out of that tangle alive. "

She snorted. "Just had to salmon a little courage?"

He made a short huffing sound that may have been a stifled chuckle "Otherwise there would have been claws for alarm. But no. I handled it. Got a little roughed up. But I'm good"

"Lets get a bit away from here, then I'll check you over."

He nodded, and turned away from the furry pile behind them. "It's almost heartwarming if you forget she tried to have us blown up, shot or maulled" he gestured to them, on their way out, towards the elevator.

"Almost," she agreed, heading toward it.

He limped out of the woods, and onto a small supply area beyond. This post, unlike the last, was currently not in use, and consisted of only a loading platform and a guard tower.

"How'd you get her to stop skulking in the trees?"

"Shoot the animals," she said with a shrug. "She was a bleeding heart."

"ah" He nodded , looking a little distracted "I can't blame her. They're her family. more or less" He walked past the empty tower, and staggered with a wince 'dammit"

She put a hand on him as he staggered. "Maybe nows a good time to stop."

He nodded, sinking down to his knees with a nod "getting real banged up, aren't we?"

"YOu can say that again," she said. "lemme see your leg."

He rolled his pant leg up, and showed her the rather nasty gash that one of the bear's claws managed to tear in his calf.

"Damn, that bear got you good," she said with a frown. She took out the emergency kit.

This wound would need those stiches "she almost got me worse, if you believe it"

"Oh I believe it," she said. "after all, you fought her bear-handed." She got out the needle and thread.

He smirked thinly "you love your puns, don't you, Heron?" he looked at the needle with a slight frown "think we got any antiseptic in there?"

"Lets hope," she said, pulling the rest of the supplies out and looking them over.

There was indeed a lot of medical supplies. She'd be able to patch him up just fine.

"Yeah, I think we can take care of this."

He nodded, and gestured.

It was agonizing minutes later, after slow and deliberate stitching and careful steralizing, that the wound was closed and properly bandaged. Viper had chewed a few asprins to get the pain down, and was just resting for a moment to recuperate his strength "thanks Heron"

She nodded. "Of course," she said.

He stood with only a slight wince "Maybe we should get down that elevator. I think according to intel, just down there is the science facility that one guard told me about"

She nodded. "Don't take this the wrong way, but are you going to be able to walk, V?"

He nodded "i'm fine" He said "I've been through worse.  Trust me" he gestured "Shot by a sniper on my first mission, remember?" he smiled thinly "It'll be fine once I get movin"

"You're one hardass, V," she said, impressed and a little taken aback. She smiled back at him.

Viper gave her a wide grin, his eyes bright despite the pain that found it's way into his smile "hah. I've been told it'll either take me far, or to an early grave. Haven't found out which yet"

She chuckled. "My money's on the first one, but who knows."

He smirked , with a salute "well. Your faith in me is appreciated, Heron. But I guess we'll have to wait and see. Not like any of us can see the future"

"Not well anyway," she chuckled, thiknking of the previous... weirdness.

"Oh? Are you secretly a psychic?" he asked, with a raise of his eyebrow, as they stepped onto the elevator. He hit the button, and it lurched into a start

"I wasn't last time I checked," she said. "But I did kind of get a premonition earlier. With the bird."

He raised his eyebrow , leaning on the metal back of the elevator as it creaked it's way down "now you have me curious"

She shrugged, and related the incident as if it had been a vision before the actual event.

He grimaced, looking down at the frosty world below "well damn" he murmured "Glad you took that for the vision it was and took that bird down for me"

She nodded. "My pleasure, really. Didn't want things to end with us taking that kind of plunge."

"yeah, Can't blame you there" he admitted "I don't really want to take that sort of plunge either." he smirked 'I prefer being alive."

"Same," she agreed with a smirk in return.

He looked down, gesturing with his gun "I think the same can go for everyone" he paused before finally saying "See that flat building over there?"

She lifted her gun as well, following his gaze to it. "yeah."

"That's the science complex that Adler was forced to work on the new Titan's systems in"

"Oh boy."

"with any luck, he'll still be there" He said, with a sharp nod of his head "And we can get in and out without any fuss. If we get him somewhere safe, maybe the Titan project will stall"

"That would definitely be good for us."

He nodded and took a deep breath "but we need a surefire way into there"

the radio beeped

"Maybe that's what we've ot," she said, answering the radio. "yeah?"

"Red Fox here!" chirped Simon "i have _an idea_ "

"Oooh, an idea. Let me hear it."

"Okay, so everywhere must have a laundry. What you should do, is find the laundry, or knock out some scientists, and dress up like lab workers. Use that disguise to get furthur into the facility without being spotted"

Viper grimaced "I don't exactly have the face of a pencil pusher, lad"

"Maybe if you put some glasses on?"

He thought for a moment, then nodded "perfect"

"nobody will suspect a thing, trust me" Simon said seriously "You'll be the perfect pictures of a poindexter"

'Hazel had to chuckle. "So we disguise our way in.

Simon sounded eager "It's the finest form of espionage."

"I...suppose" Viper said, nodding slightly "alright. We get the coats and sneak in. Then we get all the info we can about Titan and Adler, trash any important machinery we find, and get out of there"

Hazel nodded. "Sounds perfect to me."

The elevator creaked down towards another small supply depot. this one wasn't nearly the size of the one on the other side of the mountain...and they could see a few guards milling around...but they were hardly a challenge.

Hazel felt like she was getting used to this.

As was probably a good thing, given she was in the middle of a military facility, on a two man stealth mission.

The elevator hit the bottom, with a soft ker-chunk, drawing attention from the small platoon of guards. Viper duced down behind the metal grate, making himself a smaller visual target.

Hazel also ducked behind some cover, hunkering down and lowering her profile as she withdrew her tranq gun.

Viper had his pistol out, lethal rounds in his chamber as he crept out, and slunk quickly behind a patch of boxes waiting to be loaded. They were all marked 'Laboratory 2-B'

She kept watch for a moment, making sure no one was coming atfer him. She aimed at the gaurds, looking to see what they were doing.

They were slowly walking towards the elevator. Murmurs rose up from them.

"I didn't think we were getting a shipment so soon"

"You idiot, do you see anything on there?"

another piped up to say "I think someone hit the switch by accident"

Viper gestured to a pair of empty boxes, and looked at Hazel quizically.

Hazel raized her eyebrow and thought about it, then smirked, and nodded.

Viper grinned, and carefully hefted one of the boxes onto the truck, and got inside, as quick and silent as possible.

Hazel followed his lead, vanishing into a box on the truck.

The two of them sat hidden, as the chattering guards dismissed the elevator as an accident, and began loading more boxes onto the truck.

After a lot of hustle and bustle, the truck started with a rumbling roar, and began to move. Unbeknowst to the crew, it was carrying some _very_ dangerous extra cargo.

Hazel smirked to herself. This was a bit ridiculous, but it certainly seemed to be working.

Sometimes espionage was ridiculous, it seemed.

her comm beeped. "Agent Heron" Barked the Uldovian woman.

"Stilletto," she answered back.

"It is good to hear you are still living after the encounter vith the beast tamer" She began.

"I appreciate it. That was an... interesting encounter."

"I imagine so. Unconventional fighter. Though her choice in a bow is inspired."

"Oh?" she cocked her head

"Animals" The woman said in a low purr "They can become startled by the loud report of a gun.. Not to mention the relative silence of a bow means one can move in the shadows and strike while the beasts distract. She is not an overt fighter. Unless she was in a manic frenzy. In which case, I have seen her unload an automatic rifle into a man's skull from atop her bear"

She rubbed her chin. "That's a very good point. And also,.. wow."

"Wow is right" The woman said "It vas impressive"

"She was a pretty impressive lady.'

"I am left vondering if she really did have some sort of link to the animals minds. I have never seen volves respond so well to direction before'

"I wonder too. I guess anything's possible."

"I have seen miraculous things, dear Heron" The woman purred

"I can only imagine."

"Do you have time for a talk?" THe woman asked , a little sardonically .

"I think so, yeah," she smirked a little/ "Just sitting in a box for the moment,

"comfortable' The woman said with a chuckle "then I vill ask you something"

"I'm listening," she said with a little flush, wondering what it would be about.

"Vhy do you fight for Pax?" She asked in curiosity "i sense a kinship in you. Ve are of the same. Different. Foreign to the Republic."

She paused for a long moment. "You're not wrong," she said in a low voice. "But, it has to be done."

"That is true." the woman spoke "It must be done....but vhat is your reasons? I have my own, you see. My own reasons for betraying my people to fight for Lady Soteria and her ideals"

"They must be compelling reasons."

"They were" She said seriously "Do you still have that pornographic magazine?" She purred with an edge of flirtation

She chuckled and flushed as well. "I'm keeping it close at hand."

"good, good" She said "ve vill talk more about _that_ in specific once you survive this trial" she said "But back to ze point. You see that I was a famous ballerina. You see I was popular enough for men to put me in their magazines to become fools over?"

"Obviously," she agreed. "you were famous."

"this vas during the Great Var. Vhen the Gilded Empire marched unhindered across our neighbors. Killed thousands in the name of their pantheon. In the name of their 'god-decended race' . The vorld was united for the first time in history. The Allies...versus the Gilded Empire and it's sub-nations. Pax...Uldovia...Shenzhou...and the Allied Nations of  Kemet all banded together to push back the Gilded and their many crimes"

"Ahhh," she noddded, thoughtfully, listening. An analog of the world wars....

"I...vas a dancer. As you know. I entertained Uldovian nobility vhile the var tore the rest of the vorld apart" Misery leaked into her voice "I vas a distraction. A beautiful distraction from the vorld outside our frozen valls" She took a deep breath "But Vhen the Gilded breached those valls...they needed spies. And who better than a beautiful voman?"

"So they pressed you into service."

"that they did. I spent months behind enemy lines. Dancing in their clubs. Getting...close...to their officers. Sabotaging their efforts without being seen. I was my dear Uldovian Royal's eyes and ears"

"That doesnt sound like it was a lot of fun."

"it vas not" she said bitterly "But I vas a loyal citizen. I veakened them from vithin, while General Gagarin...and no, not the one you've met, while Gagarin pushed our forces vest to smother those I had veakened. I gave more than my time and my life to my country. I gave up more than you can imagine under the gaze of those Gilded bastards"

"I.... can imagine a bit," she said

"Now imagine more" She said with bitterness "And I returned home after the var...Home to vhat I hoped vas my old life on the stage. Dancing. Entertaining. A hero in the eyes of my Queen and King" She could almost hear the bitter smile on her face as she said "And then General Gagarin...." She hissed "took a cue from the Food Riots of Pax, and started his own little cultural revolution. Collectivists. They rose up, executed many people. Not just my royals. But anyone who spoke out. Anyone who didn't take up a rifle and support them."

"A hell of a hostile situation."

"it vas. And it vould seem" She said softly "That a spy who could be considered a loyalist is not velcome among the Collectivists. No matter vhat she gave up for Uldovia's freedom"

"Damn. That's cold."

"So I had to flee my homeland. I vas an exile." She continued with a quiet voice "But..."

"But?" she asked with a note of warm concern.

"Vhile I fled from country to country, I eventually found the Body." She paused "who I had met before. During the var. I assisted with an operation that killed an enemy general and stopped their advance through the northwest. I met these heroes again as I vas caught attempting to cross the boarder into Ériu. "

"Eriu?" she asked. It was one of the few names that didn't seem familiar.

"Ah. Do you not know of Eriu?" She asked in her clipped tone "It is a loosely bound series of minor kingdoms under the collective rule of a parliment and a noble line. They are to the vest of Uldovia, along the coast and among the islands"

"Ahh," she nodded to herself. Europe, then. "Of course."

"they vere there on some mission, passing through I imagine, vhen I kicked up a fuss by stunning those who had attempted to incarcerate me as a Collectivist spy, for at this time the Collectivists had been threatening var vith the rest of the vorld."

"Ahh," she nodded. "It must have been some fuss."

"It vas a big fuss. One that showed I vas not to be taken lightly" Stilletto said proudly "Lionheart herself commended me...and I vas pointed to the Pax Republic, The land formed by the vill of a goddess. If the myths are to be considered true. A republic based around ideals of peace and acceptance for any who valk through their doors"

"And did that hold true for you when you walked through their doors?"

"Hah. Pax is not perfect" She admitted "It's people are people. And those people can sometimes hold prejudices. Or views that do not hold true to their nation's pledges. But...." She said with a chuckle "For me, vhat held true vas their Leader's promise. I vas taken to meet Lady Soteria."

"That must have been an interesting meeting.'

"It vas. She commended me for my efforts during the var. She listened to me, Heron. As I told her vhat had happened. She _listened_ and I could see honest, naked sympathy in her eyes. And then the horror , vhen I told her of the revolution and my exile. Soteria took me by the hand, and showed me her vision of the vorld. A flag of peace fluttering over an unbroken blue sky" She sighed "and told me that I vas as velcome among her people as anyone born there vould be. I vas given my new code name. I vas given a position training new spies in the ongoing cold var. Soteria gave me , for lake of a better vord, a new home"

Heron was quiet for a moment, then she said, "Soteria's passion is very obvious. I agree with you. There;s something about her that's.... moving."

"She is a passionate voman. Vho truely believes in her cause and in the goodness of people. Vhile I....Vhile I know humans are not as good as she hopes they are, I am moved by her. She has been through so much, and still she believes that people vill not disappoint her. " She paused for a moment, before continuing "Vhich is vhy I promised myself when I agreed to her offer...that I vould never...ever...dissapoint Lady Soteria. I vill strive for her vision . and I vill not betray her"

"That's very noble," she said. "and I can understand your ferver."

"Unlike the collectivists, this voman sticks to her vord" She said, simply "and believes in a brighter future" Stilletto sighed "I believe I have talked your ear off about this, Heron. My appologies. Next time, there vill be more talk of rifle barrels and ammunition and less of an old voman talking of old vounds and miseries. I promise"

She chuckled. "I liked hearing about you. Not that I don't like hearing about guns, too. All kinds of beautiful deadly things catch my attention."

Stilletto almost sounded a bit flustered as she answered "Then you have good taste, Heron. I look forward to seeing you in person once more"

"I'm looking forward to that too."

"For now, I should let you do your own spying, do you think?"

"Probably," she chuckled. "Mores the pity."

"There vill be time for talk later" She purred "I vill talk to you again soon" The line shut down, and Hazel was aware that the truck had begun to slow.

Hazel got ready to move. She peered out of a small hole in the box  trying to see anuthing.

She saw the low buiding of the science center ahead of her...and the truck pulling up to a loading dock. Now would be a good time to slip off , before they started moving boxes

Hazel took the chance, scooting her way off the truck.

Viper followed her lead, and the two boxes silently 'plopped' onto the ground, as the truck pulled away and into the loading dock.

Hazel used her small hole to peer around as much as she could- were they safe enough she could take the box off?

Sure, she could take the box off. Especially after Viper used the hole and his pistol to take out the nearest security camera

She slipped out from under the box, gun in hand.

VIper tossed his box to the side, standing with a smooth motion. He smirked , and gestured towards an air vent with the heel of his pistol

Hazel smirked, and nodded, moving toward the vent,.

He crept to it, and carefully yanked it free of the wall with a grunt of effort.

Hazel sized the vent hole up, before attempting to climb into it.

It was a large vent. Curiously large, really. Uldovians must need a lot of filtered air.

Regardless, it was big enough for a grown man to creep through.

"Hope this doesn't go to the incinerator," she remarked, climbing into it.

"If it does, we'll just have to turn back" he murmured, "or burn alive" He climbed in after her.

"Obviously," she smirked, crawling forward.

He crawled after her, chuckling softly "yeah. Not a lot of room between the two, sadly"

"we'll just have to make the best of it."

"Too bad I left my marshmallows at home" he said dryly, as the vent sloped upwards

She crawled up the gentle slope. "yeah I didn't bring any weenies either."

"Damn. There go all my backup plans" He murmured, and gestured "So we want to find the laundry. we should sniff for the detergents"

Hazel nodded. "Lets sniff then," she said, as she crawled.

The vauge smell of cleaning chemicals came from the left, and they soon came to a fork

She sniffed- trying to determine which way to go. Was it stronger on the left?

It was stronger on the right, actually, which was actually towards the inside of the building, rather than back out the way they came.

She moved toward the right, follwing the smell,

They crept through the air vent, past another turn, where a squeaking mouse about faced and booked towards the faint scent of food. The linen smell was dead ahead though...but they came to another rise, one they'd have to ease through and climb up to a higher vent.

Hazel sighed, but wasn;t detered, pushing on, easing through.

Viper followed her, squeezing up into the sloping path. Light streamed from grates in the floor of the vent ahead, and scents and voices followed.

Hazel moved carefully, not making a sound as she eased her way up the vent- listening for the voices.

"This psychic machine technology is madness" one heavilly accented voice ranted, slurring his words slightly as they passed over one grate in silence "Reading minds? Directing missiles towards specific personalities or persons? I do not see the point when a simple launch can take care of things! Men! Men are the future, not machine! Bah!"

Interesting thoughts.... She continued on her way, looking for the higher vent.

They came to it without much trouble.

"Drop them in the basket, We'll get to it after we pick up the next load. Whoever these intruders are, they're sure making a lot of work for us laundry folk" Murmured one voice

"Yeah, bloodstains aren't all that easy to get out" ANother answered in a grumble

Hazel had to smirk at that. Perfect.  She followed the path to the laundry.

It was just below the grate. Once these people left...or even before, if she wanted to knock them out  or add to the bloodstains needing cleaning, she could just kick out the vent and drop in on top of them.

She waited-- she'd see if they were leaving any time soon.

They turned and walked away...leaving the room unguarded

She waited until she was sure they were far enough away- and pushed the grate out.

The grate fell into a pile of linens, and didn't make a sound.

Hazel slipped down through the grate, and to the ground, waving for Viper to follow.

Viper jumped down with her, landing in a rather impressive and stylish crouch.

She gave him the thumbs up- and then started looking around for the clothes they'd need.

there were two piles. One of folded uniforms and lab coats, the other a pile of dirty and bloody linens. Viper grabbed a labcoat, and slipped it on over his uniform, buttoning it so one couldn't see his fatigues and snow gear "how do I look? No glasses yet, but.."

She grabbed a labcoat as well and looked him over.

He looked like someone stuffed a somehow human wolf in a coat. He needed those glasses.

"We definitely need to get you those glasses," she said, slipping on her own coat.

He nodded, and took his bandana off, smoothing out his hair "i never felt at home in a lab" he admitted

She patted his shoulder. "Sorry, V."

He chuckled "If we get me a pair of glasses off the first nerd we knock out, I should be fine" he joked "Come on, you look great. Lets get this over with"

She nodded, chuckling slightly. "Alright, lets go punch a nerd."

He pushed the door open "After you, Dr. Heron" he said seriously

"Thank you Doctor Viper," she said, walking through it.

"Shall we go compute things. and Combine the Maths?" He walked down the hall as if he belonged there, past sterile white walls and posters of tanks and rockets.

Heron had to stifle a laugh as they walked. "Oh yes, lets compute the algorythims."

"and mix the DNAs" He smirked "And perhaps, maybe, build a thingamajig"

A voice on the comm groaned. It was her mother. And she sounded absolutely disgusted. "Are you always this bloody stupid, Viper?" Dr. Kovalenko griped

hazel let a hiss of air pass through her nose- a mere shadow of the huge laugh she was holding back.

"I'm just a simple scientist ma'am. I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. Not if it isn't all about that math" He said dryly

Kovalenko griped "just make sure to _actually try_ to pretend you're clever when you meet an actual scientist, would you?"

They passed a break room...which had, lucky them, one bespecticaled scientist nursing a cup of coffee and a very miserable looking piece of pie.

"Don't worry ma'am," Hazel whispered to her. "I'll do the talking." She paused in front of the break room.

"Good. I wouldn't trust him to pass as an intellectual. But you, i might."

Viper gestured to the man, then to his own face.

She nodded, and looked back and forth down the hall-- was anyone else coming?

The hall was currently empty...and the break room was lacking any cameras. Unlike the rest of the facility.

She smirked and slipped her tranq gun out, covertly aiming from against the outer door frame.

The man looked up, and gave her a perfect shot to the neck as he started to say "heyyyy! Who are..."

She pulled the trigger on him, taking that perfect shot with a smile.

He was hit, and he fell into his pie with a wet thud.

Viper casually walked over, and plucked his glasses off his face, and used his thumbs to push the lenses out into his hand. He threw them away, and put the frames on his face.

He looked like a humanoid wolf wearing glasses and stuffed into a labcoat. But at least it made him look like a very smart wolf.

"You're definitely the most dangerous doctor in the area."

"Paging Dr. Deathstab. Dr. Deathstab to Research Bay 12" he said dryly.

She smirked and pulled the dart out of the man's neck, before aranging him on a couch in the break room.

Viper plucked his identification out of the man's pocket, and gestured to Hazel's "you're lucky. Yours forgot to take his off his lapel."

"Thank goodness for laziness," she chuckled, tapping the badge.

Viper smirked, and pushed his lensless glasses up "Thank goodness. Come on. Lets get that intel, eh?" He walked back into the hallway, passing a scientist who bustled past him on his way to one of the other labs. The man didn't stop at all.

Hazel walked with him, with the air of one who knew exactly where she was going.