Chronocide: Mission Wounded Pride

Ana shouted "What the fuck???"

She grabbed Calvin and shoved him down into the snow. "Is that.... no...no no.."

Speakers clicked on further into the depot, and a patriotic march began blaring through the air.

"....that's Brass Eagle's tank."

"Keep the doctor safe the best you can," Hazel said. "Looks like I'm going to have to take him out."

Ana nodded, and grabbed Doctor Kovalenko "come on Doc, let's huddle together somewhere warm." She smiled weekly. "Boss. Take my rifle, you might need it." She unshoulders a sniper rifle from her back "....it's not much, but it'll pack a punch if he ever gets out of that damn thing."

"Thanks, Ana. Of course I don't have the fucking rocking launcher right?" she flashed her a grim slime, and readied the rifle.

Ana laughed with her "...i mean, gotta save that for the birdbrain and her flying machines, right?"

She grabbed the doctor with one hand, and her submachine gun in her other, before dragging him back and into the snow near the edge of the building. "I know a place to hide. come on."

The patriotic march grew louder as the sound of treads eating up the snow below came closer.

Calvin yelped, but did his best to follow along with Ana.

Hazel gripped the rifle and looked for an opportunity, then darted to cover behind another truck.

As she ran, the gun swiveled towards her once more, before she ducked down.

"Running and hiding...like a rat..." Came a voice from the speakers. "Why don't you come on out where i can see you? Saves me time and ammo."

_Come and find me yourself_ she didn't say. She peeked out carefully from around the edge of her cover to gauge the situation.

The brilliant, gold plated tank was rolling through the depot, aiming slowly towards her truck...but wavering and aiming at the one just past it a moment later.

He didn't know where she was...but he was in a huge, glimmering tank with a mounted machine gun, full cannon rig, and speakers...as well as the fluttering flag of the Pax Republic.

Great. She had the mobility advantage, but if he hit her that was that. She needed to find a weak point on the tank before she tried anything.

The march played louder as she heard him grumble "that one!!"

And the cannon fired again....blasting away the truck next to hers.

Hazel moved while his canon fired and his attention was focused, darting further away to another truck.

The music blaring from his tank covered her footsteps as she darted behind the other truck.

"You're here to stop Iron, aren't you?" he called through the speakers. "If you understood what she was fighting for....if you _weren't bound_ to the Pax Republic's false ideals..."

She peeked out carefully, examining his tank for any weak points and keeping her body tense and ready to move as she listened.

She spotted a few.... gas tanks on the rear of the tank, that looked like they could be ruptured....the speakers....and there was a spot on the treads that might be able to be damaged enough to break them off.

**beep beep* her comm rang

"Come in," she hissed, as she zeroed in on the treads and the tanks. She got ready to move again.

"hey, it's Red Fox." Simon said "what the hell just happened? There's no way that guy should know your position!"

"yeah, trust me I know."

"Well...this guy seems pretty long winded....maybe if you take out the speakers you can get him to come out like an idiot and cap him when he starts yelling?"

"Good idea," she said. "I heard you guys have been having.... technical difficulties."

"yeah they haven't been fantastic." He muttered. "Someone's hacking into our systems...but we've kept them out...more or less. " he hesitated "it's like someone's giving them the keys to the kingdom every time we change the locks, you know?"

"Yeah. I'm starting to wonder about that." She made a dart for a new hiding place.

As she ran, she heard the tank start barrelling towards the truck she'd been hiding behind...ramming it hard just as she ducked behind the next one.

"Fox, is there any way I can temporarily disable my link to the command center?"

"...yeah." He whispered "But you'll be cut off... until we bring you back online. You wanna take that risk?'

"I think I'm going to have to," she whispered back.

"I'll cut you off, okay?" He took a deep breath "you're my best friend, Hazel. Good luck."

The line....and all her communication...went dead.

Hazel was on her own. She got ready, and darted for fresh cover again.

The tank rolled past, the treads visible as it drove past the truck she was hiding behind in a low rumble.

The machine gun opened fire, tearing holes in the tarp above her head...but it's wide path suggested it was meant to startle rather than maim.

"Those people in their tents...those _commanders_ hiding away from it all.... the pencil pushers in the high command... they'll tell you you're a hero. Promise you the world.."

_Whoever organized the alloy unit was an idiot or a criminal and I don't know which is worse._

Hazel stayed low, listening for the tank to fully drive past where she was.

It passed her with a low rumble, giving her a good shot at the tanks in the rear or the speakers.

"They don't care about us, Steel Heron. We're tools....weapons to point at the enemy and plaster on posters. Something _pretty_ and _deadly_ that they can use to win their wars."

She stepped out just enough to aim, steadied the gun, and fired at the tanks.

The bullet punched through the tank, and she saw a leak start to trail out from it...unfortunetly, it cut off the rant mid sentence...and the cannon swung towards her, machine gun already firing.

Hazel leapt into action and sprinted for cover the second she was done firing.

She felt the sudden hot bloom of the truck exploding behind her, pitching her into her next truck.

There were a few smoke signals of decimated metal and shattered glass where trucks once stood now.

She grimaced, and got ready to shoot again when she had an angle.

"That little gun of yours won't stop me. I'm marching till the end of this tune, Heron. I'm marching until the end."

The tank started to slowly turn, hiding the gas tank from her as it swiveled around.

"The government... Pax....it'll take everything from you. Your service. Your friends....your loved ones."

She moved again-- this time looking to get a bead on the speakers.

She managed to get one in her sights...

"Have you ever felt love on the battlefield, Heron?"

She took a shot at the speaker despite the heat in her ears.

The speaker went up in sparks, and his voice dropped quieter...one more speaker and he'd lose his ability to monologue.

The machine gun swiveled around and opened fire , grazing her cheek as it ripped through her cover.

"The love betw---**static** soldiers... borne of adversity and **static**  Love that they expect you to kill at the drop of a **static** the shifting of lines on a map!"

Hazel hissed, moving fast again as her cheek and her ears burned. This was not a fight she wanted to be having. Or an argument she wanted to be listening to.

The cannon swung...and fired again, deafening her as she ran across the snow.

"They **STATIC**!! They'll take everything from  you! They'll **static** your damned hands and make **static** put the bullet between their eyes yourself!"

Hazel concentrated on her movement and her breathing. Dodge, aim, fire. Just focus on that. She came to rest behind another truck and tried to line up a shot.

With the way the tank was turning...she could get the other speaker, or the gas tank.

"Soteria and her people... **static** constantly! All they do is LIE. Poor Crane, her people **static** , and forced into  the Pax Republic while she was helpless! Falcon! Poisoned and dreaming of the family THEY STOLE. "

She went for the speaker-- it was hardly even a conscious descsion.

She fired...and the man's voice finally cut out...along with the patriotic music.

Now there was only the roar of a massive golden tank as it swung around and went into a full on ram towards the truck she hid behind.

She couldn't stick around to enjoy the silence-- she darted for cover and away from the ramming tank.

The tank slammed the truck into the research center, shattering windows with the crunch of steel on steel.

She found cover behind a jeep.

The hatch atop the tank opened up...and a man climbed halfway out, glancing around.

He was tall...classically handsome , with broad shoulders and wavy blond hair. His bright eyes were marred by the long scar that trailed down his face, however.

He was in bright golden armor...plating like that of his tank, with shoulder mounted pistols that swung this way and that as he cleared his throat.

"Think of Owl...wounded because they needed FODDER!! Of all my brethren! Tortured by Pax and it's insatiable thirst for power and control! of IRON, your own SISTER!" "

Handsome. Of course he was.

Hazel leveled the gun, trying to aim for his head.

The crosshairs fell upon his head, the magnification showing the tears that  rolled down his cheeks as he continued his speech.

"She was created, you know, created to replace you."

And she had failed. And now Heron would probably have to kill her too.

To kill herself. In a way.

She pulled the trigger.

The pistols on his shoulders swiveled at the sound of the rifle's report, firing upon her as he turned just in time to catch the bullet across the face. In a splatter of blood...he lost his eye, and slammed back into the tank's hatch with a cry.

Hazel grimaced. She'd hoped to be able to put him out in one....

The pistol on his left shoulder aimed down, and fired several shots right at her, as Eagle groaned, clutching his eye  

"I deserve this." he hissed, the blood flowing over his lips "I deserve it... " He kicked, and the tank lurched around, the cannon turning to face Heron as he kept her pinned with mounted pistol fire.

Hazel looked for an exit strategy, heart thudding quietly in her chest, keeping low, ready to move. Her breath heavy.

The cannon turned to face her, as he fumbled with his foot for the firing mechanism...he was sloppy though, on account of how his eye had just been blown out with a rifle. It took him a minute...

"But I won't let Iron down...She's....she's looking to give us a chance, while the rest of the world....world's turned it's back on us."

Hazel dived before he could hit it, ducking and rolling and coming back up to dart for cover again.

The cannon fired...too late, and it detonated the truck beside her as he cursed to himself. "Dammit!"

She lined up another shot as he was cursing.

He had one hand on his eye, but his other had gone to grab a high calibur pistol from the tank .

Hazel squeezed the trigger. This whole thing was awful. But it needed to be done.

He spun, trying to block the shot with his gauntlet...only for it to ricochet off his arm and slam into the ground below...igniting the oil that had been flowing from the ruptured gas tank.

It exploded, and peppered his back with shrapnel as he pitched forward with a sharp shout.

Hazel ducked down behind the truck as the tank exploded, hugging her knees.

The shrapnel peppered the truck she was hiding behind....but for the first time since the fight began....the man was silent.

Hazel hoped he'd just been killed outright. She waited until she heard the shrapnel stop falling to get up.

The shrapnel stopped falling...but she heard the heavy clang of metal on the pavement as something fell from the tank.

"Damn it," she hissed, getting up, rifle in hand. She peeked out to look.

She saw Brass Eagle on the ground, slowly trying to rise from the pavement as the blood poured from his face and out from  under his armor. "....no.." His voice cracked.

"Can't...I can't die here..."

Haze slung the rifle over her shoulder and pulled out her pistol, approaching.

"Its over, Eagle."

He slowly attempted to raise the pistol in his hand, but slipped on his own blood to clatter back on the ground.

"Just like Falcon and Crane, huh?" He laughed painfully, his shoulders shaking. "....goddess damn me to the pits of hell..."

"I hope not," she sighed, leveling the gun at him. "You're right. None of its fair."

"No. It's not." He coughed out blood. "They...made me kill the woman I loved.... took me inside a tent and had me execute her." He glared at the ground "Forced me to stick the gun to her head and pull the trigger....to show her handlers on the other side what we do to spies in our midst..."

"I'm sorry," she rasped gravely.

"They called me a hero." He said softly. "But every day, with every speech they made me give, I just ...saw her face...her eyes." He rested his head on the ground

"She'll never forgive me."

"You couldn't forgive yourself," she said thickly.

"how could i?" he hissed , "I killed her....and so many others..."

His hand gripped the snow below, which was staining crimson under the flow of blood.

"Iron...Iron was going to give us a world without the pretense and lies.... a world where we weren't all tools..."

Tears fell from his face, and mingled with the blood below. "It's a world i could die happy in....but...If I die here...right now...I'll have to face...."

"She's waiting for you." Hazel's finger hesitated on the trigger.

He sat up, and turned his back on her, the armor plates perforated and torn from the blast.

"we'll see....if love can survive the battlefield." He closed his eyes, sitting like an execution victim, just waiting for the end. "....Godspeed, Heron."

"Godspeed."

She pulled the trigger.

The report echoed through the now silent vehicle depot, as his blood once more drenched the snow below.

Brass Eagle slowly fell forward, his body dead in the cold...

Perhaps in death, he would find the forgiveness he sought.

Hazel turned away and staggered forward, sagging against a truck. She was glad, for the moment, to be disconnected from her coms.

For a long moment it was just her and the silence. The whistle of wind against the labs....the crackle of the tank settling and the fading flames....

She took deep, calming breaths, but they didn't still her turbulent emotions right away.

she staggered to her feet anyway. Time to find Ana and the Doctor. She couldn't just let herself stay there.

They'd gone and hidden away somewhere by the west side of the building...

Hazel headed that direction, keeping low as much from the sag of her shoulders as from any real effort to stay out of sight.

A moment later, she saw Ana's head poke out of a vent "we heard the gunshot." She muttered. "is he dead?"

"yeah," she said thickly. ".... yeah. You two okay?"

"I had to stuff your brother in a narrow vent, but we're doing just fine." She crawled out and stretched. "he's not as limber as you'd think."

"I can't feel my spleen," he voice came quietly.

"Good."

"It'll grow back." Ana bent down and grabbed him "come on, we gotta get out of here before the HINDs come. I'd like to be ARMED for that."

"Yeah," Hazel agreed. "Lets get moving."

"Whoa!" Cal half fell into Ana's arms.

Ana steadied him with a soft laugh "you gonna be alright there, doc?"

He pushed up his glasses and gave her a bashful look. "I think so?"

Ana smiled widely "Good, I don't think my conscience could take it if I let a cute fella like you get hurt."

She punched his shoulder. "Now that we've warmed up, let's brace the cold, huh?"

"I'd rather be out in the cold than in that vent," he said with a smile.

She laughed as she started moving through the depot. "Didn't like being squished in there with me?"

He flushed hotly and stammered. "Well that's not what I..."

Ana laughed, and shrugged off her overcoat. "here, wear this, alright?"

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded, "it's the least I can do for flustering you." She winked. "you're gonna vent all that heat into the atmosphere and _then_ what are you gonna do?"

He smiled and took it. "Alright... if you say so.. Thanks."

She gave him a salute. "No problem, Doc. Now let's get ya somewhere safe so we can end this"

Hazel nodded and gestured to them. "Come on."

Ana hurried along, taking up the rear behind Calvin again "alright...with Brass Eagle...gone...we shouldn't have too much to worry about."

"Stay alert anyway," she said. "Just in case."

Ana nodded "we still have Raven to worry about." She muttered "and those copters."

"Is she the last of the alloy unit?" Calvin asked

"No. We've got Owl, too." Ana's eyes stayed straight ahead "and Iron herself."

"Yeah," Hazel nodded. "we're not out of the woods yet."

"But we can see the road through the trees." Her lips spread in a smile "We can do it, , all three of us."

The old lab rose beyond the depot, connected to the main building by what was now a shattered tube of steal and glass thanks to Eagle's previous intervention...

Hazel hurried toward it with them, hoping that at least now that she was cut off from command they wouldn't find a trap waiting for them.

"I still think it's too bad we can't just send Calvin here off to the safety of that carrier of yours..." Ana said, as she slunk behind a set of generators, and gestured to a smoking porch on the old building.

"We'd need something like a reverse parachute for that," hazel snorted.

"Huh... a reverse parachute," Calvin murmured. "That reminds me of some old tech they were working on a few decades ago. I guess it didn't go anywhere."

Ana stared at him with a wide grin "wait, they were developing something like that? do you think they were looking into it _here_?"

"I don't think so unfortunately," he said, shaking his head. "But who knows."

"If we do, how'd you feel about a reverse parachute ride?" she winked

"Uhhh, well it was pretty experimental... but I guess I'd try it?"

"pretty adventurous." she said with a chuckle "I like that, doc." She hurried past one of the windows, and ducked down to give Heron a hand up to the smoking porch. "Come on, we can break in up there!"

Heron took the hand up, and lifted up, looking for a handhold.

She was able to grab the underside of one of the bannisters and haul herself up.

She hauled herself up and looked around.

She was on a smoking porch outside of what looked like a very 1970's break room. It was a different part of the labs than the Chrononaut tests, but....it was devoid of anyone.

She knelt down and offered her hand to help the other two up.

Ana had Calvin go first, and followed once he was safely on the platform. "Alright." She said "let's get in before anyone sees us..."

Hazel nodded and looked for a way into the break room proper.

There was a sliding glass door on the porch, probably so people could come and go for their smoke breaks.

Hazel slid the door open carefully, aiming her gun in case there was anyone present.

Inside the break room were old, dusty coffee cups, forgotten news papers decades out of date , and propaganda posters from what looked like the 1970's.

It was pretty vacant. And looked like it had been for a while.

Hazel still checked each are quickly. "Alright looks like we're clear."

She turned and waved the other two inside.

Ana nodded, and slipped into the room with a glance around "wow...this is a blast to the past, huh?"

Calvin stepped inside and looked around. "Nobody's used this place for decades..."

"Except you, snooping around the ol' Chrononaut stuff." She said as she crept through the room, stepping over a fallen  chair.

He coughed. "well, I mean.... its important that things like this aren't lost."

"Yeah, though from what I've seen...some of that time stuff is dangerous. Panther and Lynx detonated some kind of explosive back there and.. "

She shook her head. "anyway..." She pushed open the door. "With the bridge destroyed, i doubt anyone will be in here. But we should be careful anyway."

Calvin nodded. "Trust me I'm not about to go around shouting and flashing lights everywhere."

"Not in a party  mood?" She giggled. "because that sounds like some of the parties I went to in basic."

"I don't usually get invited to those kinds of parties."

"Who knows, if we both get out of this alive, Maybe i'll invite you to one." She winked, and peered down the halls.

"Okay, we're not quite in the chornonaut sector...I think this was...."

She paused "...oh, huh."

Hazel cocked her head. "Yeah?"

She cleared her throat awkwardly "Cloning and genetic engineering."

Hazel's mouth flattened. "Oh."

Calvin nodded. "I think you're exactly right. This was the home of the genetic replication project."

Ana nodded "I don't know much about it." she said slowly.

"But it's what made Iron and Wrought..."

"Their greatest achivement as far as they tell it," he nodded.

Ana grimaced. "yeah it's not turning out so great now.."

She looked at Hazel. "you wanna just rush to the labs and avoid all this?"

"I don't have time to sightsee or go through records," she said shaking her head.

"Then let's just get Doc Kovalenko to safety and end this."

She cocked her pistol. "Ready to roll, doc?"

Calvin pushed up his glasses and nodded. "Lead the way, ladies."

Ana jogged down the hallway, glancing sidelong to Hazel.  "...so Boss? You don't want to poke around, huh?"

"What would we find?" she asked, almost more to herself than Ana. "More mistakes that ruined lives? Nothing I say is going to change Iron's mind."

Ana shook her head. "i don't know...answers, I'd hope."

She bit her lip "....i wish there was some way to change her mind of all this, though."

"We can wish all we want," she sighed. She stopped sharply. "Damn it. I do need to look around. I almost forgot."

Ana skidded to a stop and glanced over "wait, what? D...Do we drop off the doc first or?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "We'll drop him off and then look on the way back."

Ana nodded "Got it, boss."

She nudged Calvin "alright, let's get you to the lab. We'll try to set you up with a radio too, so we can keep in contact."

Calvin nodded. "That would be great."

Hazel started moving again.

Ana hurried along the hallway, a concerned look on her face.

"This whole thing is a bit of a mess."

calvin smiled slightly. "You two are doing a great job, though."

Ana flushed, rubbing her neck.  "heh, I'm just a guard, Doc. Heron's doing the real work around here."

She hurried through the hall, as labs like "Cloning Chambers" and "Genetic Development" and "Centerfuge" gave way to "Time Dilation Sensors" and "Air-Extraction Mechanism."

"Air extraction?" Hazel muttered.

"must be that experimental tech." Mused Ana "The reverse parachute."

Calvin nodded. "yeah! that was it. I forgot that called it that. I think it would have benefitted from a snappier name."

"yeah, like... uh.." She pursed her lips in thought. "The Whizzbang Flyer"

"Lets take Bang out of that maybe," Hazel suggested. "and whizz while we're at it."

"But that's the whole name!" Ana protested

"Huh." Hazel was quiet for a moment and then managed a chuckle.

"then it can stay the Whizzbang Flyer?" She asked with a cock of her head.

"I guess it can," she nodded with a small smile.

She grinned. "Neat." She nudged Calvin "good name, huh?"

"Its much catchier," he agreed.

Ana smiled with pride, as Hazel saw more familiar scenery. They'd looped back around to the shuttered iron door that lead to the broken bridge...and the old chrono labs. Labs she'd already seen lined the halls...save for the one with the buckled and broken door.

"and here we are! Casa Calvin, for the next few hours!"

"Better than vents by a wide margin," Calvin nodded.

"well don't get too excited." She gestured up to a vent "you've got to wiggle your way through there to get in."

He gave her a sheepish look. "Can I get some help again?"

Ana winked at him, offering her hand as a step to lift him up there. "I gotcha Doc. Just hop on up there, the vent should be pretty easy to pull away."

He took her aid and with difficulty hauled himself up. "Thanks, Ana."

Ana nodded. "Anytime, Doc." She said brightly.

"You're not exactly heavy."

"Oof," he chuckled and shimmied in. "You're not wrong."

Ana watched him go, and leaned up to unhook her secondary radio, and hand it to him. "Here. It's my auxiliary radio. Hold onto it, alright? I'm on channel 5."

She grinned "and I could probably bench press you, Doc" She teased. " Might tap you for that when I'm back at the training grounds."

He took the radio and nodded. "Sounds like a plan. And I'll stay in contact."

She saluted him "Stay safe Doc. If you hear trouble, keep hidden and quiet."

"I can guarantee it." He gave her a little awkward salute back.

She nodded, smiling slightly "Good. And if you think of anything to help us stop the Alloy Unit...lemme know."

"You got it. Alright I better.... get set up."

She nodded "Good. and careful of the radiation, Doc." She winked.

She turned to Hazel "ready to go?"

Hazel stood from where she'd been leaned against the wall and nodded. "Yeah. Lets move."

Ana turned back towards the cloning labs. "So you need something over there, huh?"

"A briefcase," she nodded.

"that's gonna be tough." Ana drawled, "This place is full of things like that."

"This one is fairly unique.... I think anyway. Its covered in hexagons."

"Hexegons, huh?" She mused softly "...that sounds like something that should probably be in the cloning labs. Hexegons factored into the project's logo.."

Hazel prickled. _Wonderful_. "Alright. Lets check that area first."

"Did they say why they needed it, boss?"  Ana asked as she hurried down the hall, pistol in hand.

The sound of the HINDs echoed from the other side of the facility.

"No. Just that it was a primary target."

"That's...great." Ana muttered. "Guess we'll make sure it happens, huh?"

She glanced out the window. "...anyway, we're almost there...."

"Yeah," she nodded. She was quiet for a moment. "You and the doc were getting along well."

Ana scratched her cheek with an embarrassed laugh. "Yeah? you think so?"

She kept her eyes ahead "He's pretty cute, you know? for an egghead."

"I might not have noticed cute, but he seems nice."

"He is. Honestly, he's one of the nicest guys in the facility." She said "I met him a few times before this, mostly when I let him sneak past and into the ol' timelabs."

She smiled "he's inquisitive. and chatty if you get him going."

Hazel chuckled. "He seems the type. A little like my mom."

"That so?" Ana asked curiously

"She's quiet.... until you get her going on something she's interested in."

"and then she goes on, and on huh?" She chuckled "that's pretty charming, honestly. Your mom sounds like a fun lady....and a lot like Doc Kovalenko."

"Hopefully we'll get a chance to see them both in one room."

"I mean, if we work hard enough, that's pretty much a given, right?" She winked. And then we'll see if they start talking about giant robot anime or something dorky like that."

"Probably will," she said allowing herself a smirk.

"it'll be an endurance test." She snickered softly. "I'd like to be a fly on that wall"

"Maybe you'll get to."

"heh." She nodded slowly "If I don't get shunted off to military prison for some kinda failure of duty or something, sure, maybe."

She rubbed her neck "Wonder if the Doc and your Mom would mind me hanging around for that."

"I'm sure they wouldn't," she said, answering both questions at once.

"Heh, I hope not." Ana winked "and I'd love to meet your mom. Scientists are always a fun bunch."

"A fan huh?"

Ana blushed again, shrugging her shoulders "Depends what you mean by a fan, boss"

hazel smiled slightly. "I get the feeling I'll find out if I keep watching."

Ana fussed, checking the clip of her gun before sliding the tranq rounds back into the handle of the pistol with a lopsided smile. "Maybe,  maybe you will, Heron. I doubt I'd be able to hide much from a master spy like you, anyway."

"Good practice to try," she teased dryly.

"Sure it is. Around you I'll be a master infiltrator in no time" Ana stuck out her tongue.

She gestured "a-anyway, there's the cloning labs."

"Back to work then," she half smirked. She turned her focus to the labs.

"Thank the Goddess." Ana murmured, "so ah, we have a few places we can check. Genetic Engineering or the lab proper...."

"Lets start with genetic engineering."

"Genetic Engineering it is." Ana pushed the door open and peeked inside.

It was a large lab, with a good many worktables, each laden with a computer, centrifuge, and a number of test tubes and  other bits of scientific equipment. And at the forefront of the lab....a massive screen.

Hazel frowned as she glanced it over. "what was the screen for? any idea?"

"I think it was to display projected results from the worker's computers. Kind of like a shared simulation of the project's status."  Ana mused "beyond that, i couldn't tell ya."

"Huh. wonder if there's anything left to display...."

"There's probably a main command console somewhere around here..." Ana mused, poking around the desks "if we boot it up, we could see if we can get the display going..."

Hazel nodded, hunting around the room carefully, looking for the briefcase or anything that seemed relevant.

The first thing she was able to find was the control desk. A desk with a more advanced computer sitting off a bit to the side of the others, with a blinking red light on a small controller beside the keyboard.

Beyond that there were a few memos hanging on a corkboard, and some more old propaganda posters here and there.... and a file on one of the desks.

"I can't believe how much of this is still set up." She picked up the file curiously.

"From what I heard, they just sealed off this wing and told me not to let anyone through anymore..."

She rubbed her neck "I let Doctor Kovalenko through, though."

The file was marked 'Development Plan: Chrono-lock Serum'

"Chrono-lock?" she mumbled. "What the hell is this?" She opened it up and leafed over it.

It was a very scientific document... mostly chemical symbols and long buzzwords... but there was a writeup that was fairly easy to make out.

"Development Diary #9: Doctor Renfield reporting.

Development of the Chrono-lock Serum is going well this week. We've gotten a hold of some rats infected with Chrono-radiation, and performed tests of the 5th iteration of the serum. It performed well, temporarily suppressing the radiation's effects and locking their cellular structure to linear time.

Sadly, the positive effects stopped there. One of the rats aged rapidly, dying in his cage after only mere moments (Exact time: 9.15 seconds). The other vanished, presumably to  another timeline, though our sensors were unable to track it effectively.

The staff is confident that a few more iterations of the serum should do it, and we'll effectively  have a cure for those afflicted by the more negative effects of Chrono Radiation Poisoning and it's cancerous effects.

I'm starting to have my misgivings over the project, however. While this has been created as a program to cure our President's seizures...I fear that the Serum could be used for darker deeds than that.

I spoke with Victor about my misgivings during a private meeting to discuss our recent attempts to develop medications to allow the unit to utilize their high tech armor with less strain to their bodies.

It isn't often that I see that man worry, but in this case he seemed positively freaked out. He stated he had to speak with me after his next mission on the subject...but he has yet to return .Presumed dead, or missing as of last report.

Perhaps I'll stall the project...or at least speak to the Command about it."

Hazel's blood went cold.

"Ah. Right," she murmured. The project must not have finished, since the president still was effected.

"what's that?" Ana asked curiously.

"Old paperwork," she said shaking her head.

"oh. Huh." She shrugged "well if it's not what we're looking for , maybe we should check the memos or that computer?"

She nodded, putting it down. "Yeah." She moved over to the computer.

Ana leaned over the computer "Lets see what these guys were working on.."

hazel looked for a way to turn on and access it.

There was a power button.

She pushed it.

It turned on.

A little Pax Republic Office of Research and Development logo flashed across the screen before a password was requested.

"Uhhh.... damn."

"Maybe it's on the memos..."

"I'll try those before I take a crack at the computer."

Ana saluted her, and settled down in one of the chairs

Hazel moved to shuffled through the memos.

They were pinned up on the corkboard.

1: Chrono-Lock Serum Development put on hold. Please shift all efforts to Project Wrought Iron.

2: Coffee is not a right! Please stop abusing coffee privileges, or we'll have to start insisting you bring your own.

3: Project Wrought Iron is of the uptmost importance. Please keep a tight lid on details while out in the main facility.

4: If you forget the control passcode remember to check under the acronym 'Don't Enunciate Sally's Karma'

"Seriously?" Hazel raised an eyebrow.

"What? did you find the passcode?"

"Yeah, I think so." She chuckled and bent to check under the desk.

Under the desk she found a post it note with a string of numbers and letters on it.

She pulled it up and tried typing it in the computer.

And the computer turned on....along with every other computer in the room.

Data began crawling across the screen as a prompt appeared.

"run Diagnostic?"

"Uh.....Y?"

She tapped the key.

The Diagnostic began, as all the computers in the room jumped to life at once. Data flashed across their individual screens, as a projector kicked on in the rear, projecting a pair of human silhouettes upon the screen.

Hazel hesitantly looked up at the screen.

One was labeled Iron, the other Wrought.

Data flashed across the screen along with a loading bar. 7%....25%....50%....

"This must be information on the cloning project.."

"Sure looks like it," she agreed.

The data came through...and displayed itself along the screen.

There were genetic sequences around each of the silhouettes.

Under Wrought: 1 to 1 genetic replication, DNA match perfect to Steel Heron, save for the specific mutation. All attempts to replicate effects experienced by subject Steel have failed. Wrought's genetic structure matches that of Steel's perfectly, but she retains only the ability to travel to select moments within the immediate hour.

and under Iron: Attempts to alter genetic sequencing have brought out the albinism present in Steel's mother, Dr. Kovalenko. In addition, Iron seems to suffer from a slight respiratory issue triggered by dust. In addition, her mutation has manifested not as a death triggered 'reset' state...but as a time leap triggered by physical distress.

_A time leap triggered by physical distress._ "Huh."

"geeze... I mean...i know they cloned you but..."

Ana bit her lip "This whole thing is a little fucked up.."

"You read that whole thing?" she asked.

She glanced over. "well...yeah. it's up on the screen." Ana laughed awkwardly "...I'm not totally unobservant."

"yeah," she nodded. "Well, now you know more about what I mean when I said I had help with the Snowdrift mission."

"I...guess so." Ana said quietly. "geeze.."

"wondered if they had it on the books," she sighed. _And now I know for sure. No point in avoiding talking about it with Simon then._

"So..when you die you just...snap back?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Can't be sure how long."

"Ha...has it happened here?" She asked cautiously

"Think about if you want the answer to that question before you ask me to answer it."

Ana stopped for a moment before she smiled weakly "no. I don't want to know."

She leaned on her hand "Wonder why they tried messing with Iron's genes and not Wrought's..."

"Probably trying to replicate the chrono effect."

"Ugh..." Ana frowned "and look what they did...they created  a soldier with a complex."

"Yeah," Hazel sighed. "They sure did that."

"And maybe a slight form of allergies...or something, from the look of it."

"Probably linked to mom's genes," she sighed.

"Probably." Ana nodded "might be something to keep in mind if you have to fight her."

"Yeah. Use the pocket sand," she half joked.

Ana blinked "wait, you've got sand in your pockets? is that like...an infiltration tip?"

Hazel opened her mouth, and then closed it again. "Its... its mostly a joke," she admitted.

"Oh.." Ana's shoulders drooped "well...it sounds like a decent idea. I'll make sure to fill a pouch with it next time I'm in the field."

"Could be a good move,' she nodded. "Unorthodox."

"It'll keep my enemies on their toes." She grinned. " ...so ah, think we gleaned enough from this lab?"

She nodded. "Yeah... I don't see the briefcase here either."

"maybe it's in the actual lab...or maybe Iron took it for some reason.."

"That'd track. But lets check the lab to be sure."

Ana nodded, and cocked her gun. "alright... let's get going."

Hazel nodded, gun in her own hand and moved for the door.

THey slunk out into the quiet hallway, creeping to the larger lab just down the hall. "Think we'll see a third clone in a tube or something?" she joked

"I can only hope not."

"Maybe there's a whole baker's dozen in there."

She laughed as she pushed the door open.

"If there are, I quit," she smirked. She checked the door as it opened with the aim of her gun.

She saw a large laboratory, dominated in the back by three massive tanks filled with a green liquid. Each one glowed dimly in the darkness of the lab...but all three were empty.

The fact that they had ever been occupied made Hazel's blood run cold. And why three? She peered into them before she moved.

Each tank had a number of small diodes currently unconnected to anything as they floated limply in the thick looking liquid.

Each was small...like they'd hold a child, rather than a full grown man or woman... and each had a label on it.

The first was Wrought

The second was Iron...

She moved closer to see what the third said.

The panel was removed...but there was faint lettering reading 'Golden'

"what the hell...."

"What's up?" Ana asked curiously

"It looks like there was.... or was supposed to be... one more."

"well I only know of two. so..." She shook her head. "Possible that one didn't make it...or...was scrapped."

"Maybe," she murmered.  She started to poke around the area.

She found a computer by the back, along with a great deal of genetic sequencing tools. The whole lab looked like the 70's version of a science fiction future... and it smelled of acrid chemicals.

Ana flipped on the harsh halogen lights, and illuminated a row of lockers, and some files by each of the pods

"This place sure has a look about it," she muttered. She looked over at the lockers and tested to see if any would open.

One of them opened...it was one Dr. Renfield's locker. The rest were locked tight

She opened Renfield's locker slowly and curiously

It was opened recently....the patches in the dust were clues to that...

In fact, there was a large rectangular space in the back that looked like it could have been where a case once stood.

Besides that there was a small tin of 'pharmaceuticals' hidden in the back, a shotgun tucked away behind his labcoat...

And a small notebook.

"Looks like you were right about the case," she sighed. She took the notebook and looked through it quickly.

"Fuck." Ana said.

There were a few entries...

Two latest ones were all about the cloning project, which he seemed to have been involved in.

She paused to skim over the latest entries.

The first one read.

"They set to work cloning Steel Heron today. A direct 1-1 project called Wrought Iron followed by an attempt to alter her genetics to create a version of her more connected to the time stream called Iron.

The project makes me uncomfortable, Having known Heron well during the snowdrift mission. While we all miss a long lost friend, I think Soteria and Knight are misguided in this as Knight was with the Chrono-Lock Serum.

I can't imagine Victor will take the situation well when word finally gets to his ears.

We have a third project in the works as well... a 'Golden Heron.'. A combination of genetics ordered special by Knight himself....a combination of Steel Heron's genes and Silver Viper's in the attempt to make what he believes will be the ultimate infiltrator.

I've tried to protest this phase of the project. The first two were bad enough without this bullshit. I earned the director's fury for that one, and the guy had the gall to call me a stoner in front of my own team. Demand I 'sober up and get back to work.'

....I'm just glad I found out where Vic's been hiding. I'll have to send him some files to let him know what's been going on while he's been away."

Heron nearly choked as she read it. "_Combination of_-- what the hell did they think they were doing?"

She quickly read to the next, hoping desperately the idea had been scrapped.

The next one read

"Someone remind me to nominate myself for understatement of the year award.

My missive got to Victor in the United Nations of Kemet, and lets just say his reaction was less than cool-headed. Can't blame the guy, honestly. I'm fairly pissed on his behalf.

We'd just finished work on Iron...she came out different than expected, but Knight swept in and immediately dragged her and Wrought off to the Schools to begin their training before they got used to the serenity of a quiet lab.

That was when these two independent operators I'd never heard of before come sweeping through. Soldiers bearing a shattered peace sign surrounded by a coiling serpent on their sneaking suits.

They shut down communications somehow, took down the whole computer network too. They came in, terminated the Golden Heron Project and torched our DNA samples, and left with the research.

Few weeks after that? We get an announcement over the airwaves.

over in Kemet, Vic's declared himself an independent operator, leading some paramilitary organization called Viper's Nest. Soldiers unbound to any nation.

Knight's furious. He's demanding I get back to work so we can begin development on synthesizing the DNA from...memory, I suppose. Bullshit. I got word that there's an out for me, and I'm about to take it....and I'm taking the Chrono-Lock Serum with me."

_Victor_ His name came out from her mouth as no more than a breath.

_The doctor should have taken this with him. He got out? or not...._

There was the blood spattered suitcase that Crane tried to trap her with....it was the doctor's.

Perhaps he never did have the chance to grab the serum _or_ the notebook.

Still. It looked like the Golden Heron Project was stopped...hopefully before it even began.

_Poor doc..._. She shook her head. She had liked him.

So Knight had been pushing to try to make some.... _genetic combination_ of her and Victor. That... wow yeah that messed up her calming exersizes.

From the looks of it... Knight had been pushing for a better soldier.

A perfect soldier. One with her abilities, and their combined skill ...

And Victor had not taken the idea well.

Hazel couldn't say she might not have reacted in a similar way if their roles had been reversed.

There was a lot she wanted to say to Knight. Most of it in words she didn't usually use.

_An idiot, or a criminal_.

She took the 'pharmaceuticals'. Were they what they appeared to be?

They sure were drugs. It seemed like there were some that could be used as stabilizers, slowing any shaking in her hands...but a lot of it was weed and some other 'herbs'.

"Find anything good, boss?" Ana asked , though a bit hesitantly

"Depends. You smoke weed?" she tucked the tin into her belt.

"A little bit." She admitted "mostly when I was uh...still in training.."

"Then yeah," she nodded. "Found some of that."

"Nice" Ana grinned, flashing a thumbs up . "Wonder if Doc Kovalenko's ever gotten high."

"You could radio and ask him."

She punched her hand "good point, boss."

She activated the radio on her collar and spoke into it. "Doc. Doctor Kovalenko, do you copy?"

"Uh, come in?" Calvins voice came back tentatively.

"All set in there? No problems?"

"No problems so far... what about with you?"

"Looking at some gross cloning shit."

She paused. "so hey, Doc, have you ever gotten high?"

"Uuuuhhm... is this a trick question?"

"yeah, i'm a fed." Anna said "here to blow you in for drug use on company time."

"Oh uh, then no. Definitely not."

"How about as that cute guard who always let you sneak into the forbidden labs?" She teased

"In that case then um.... sorry, still no... but uh, not because I think its bad or anything."

"Interested? We scored some weed. Coke too, but uh, not looking for a new addiction att he moment." She laughed. "If you're into it, we can blow off some steam after this whole thing."

"Oh geez uh... maybe? As long as its after all of this is over... as tense as I am, now doesn't seem like a good time."

"Trust me, i could do without any paranoia right now." She said "I'm taking a few days of rest at _least_ before giving it a go."

"Good idea. But if you still feel like it, uh, feel free to look me up."

"You got it, Doc." She purred "Stay safe."

With that, she hung up. "Sounds like I got myself an outing, boss."

"Congrats," hazel said with a dry smirk.

She rubbed her neck "a...anyway. I think maybe we should get back to the rocket launchers and take out more of Iron's support."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Well the detour wasn't a total waste anyway. It got you a date." She turned toward the door.

Ana stammered as she hurried out into the hall around her. "It isn't a date! Yet! "

She looked over her shoulder "we also learned a bit more about...Iron, so that can be helpful.."

"True enough," she agreed.

"It wasn't a waste...and now we know it's gone. And it just means we have to get it back when we stop iron."

"Sure does," she said, double checking the hall before she started on her way. "can't come soon enough."

"No it can't." She agreed. "We have to venture back into the snow...are you ready for that?"

"I'm ready," she nodded, taking a breath. Just getting out of this area would help her mental state a lot she thought.

"Alright, we should go out through the tunnel.... and maybe try to get to that pipe we used to get down to the main floor? It should go all the way to the ground..we can just climg all the w...way up."

"You ready for that?" she asked, echoing the previous question.

"...." Ana gripped her gun as she opened the walkway. Wind rushed in and rustled her hair as she eased out into the sea of shattered glass and torn piping.

"I have to be."

Hazel nodded. "Then lets do it."

She nodded, and hopped out, skidding down the sharp incline on her heels with a hiss. "Thanks Eagle."

Hazel skidded down after her, alert and ready. She took a breath of fresh, cold air and let its sharp sting sharpen her in return.

Ana took a deep breath as well "Good to get outta that stifling old lab." She whispered.

"very," Hazel agreed. It was shocking how much the place had effected her and she was glad to be able to shake it off.

"You doing okay?" Ana asked, as she hopped down into the snow with a soft huff of breath.

"better now that we're out of there," she admitted, letting herself down into the snow too.

"not a fan of labs, huh?" She asked cautiously "Or was it the clone stuff specifically?"

She began hurrying along the snowy plain between the old lab and he new lab, keeping her steps quick and light.

"I'm not a big fan of the cloning project," she admitted, also keeping alert, gun in her hand in case they ran into trouble.

Ana nodded "it's pretty fucked up...especially since they didn't seem to ask you..."

She kept her eye to the sky as she went. "I wouldn't want clones of me..."

"In their defense I guess I wasn't around at the time. But yeah."

"Guess that's true..." She paused and asked "what...happened, anyway?"

"I popped back to my original part of the time stream."

"....what the fuck." Ana said.  "This time ...sickness...thing...sounds bizzare."

"Bizarre. Yeah. You could say that."

"I can't imagine just..." she waved her hand 'Poof . snapping back to another time."

"It came at a bad time for me," she said dryly.

"yeah?" Ana asked with a note of concern.

They had made it halfway through the snowfield by now.

"I left a second date hanging."

"...oof..." Ana whispered "and you wound up pretty far in the future, I'm guessing...far enough a second date wasn't...possible."

"Yeah," she breathed. "Reconnecting doesn't look like it was in the cards."

_Though Iron seems to disagree._

Ana hesitated slightly "was...it Viper? You mentioned him earlier in the mission.."

"You're perceptive," Hazel said, a little thickly as they made their way across the snow.

_Snow, snow. Would all her missions be icy?_

"I told you... I trained my whole life to be a spy." She said slowly "I desperately wanted to be one, so I learned to be perceptive."

She bit her lip "Sorry. I...can see why it's impossible now."

"Its... unfortunate. But its not something that could have been predicted, or stopped."

"Life throws curveballs at you like that sometimes." Ana murmured. "But you just gotta keep going.."

"And here I am. Still going," she nodded.

"And you're real strong for that." Ana said with a smile..

Unfortunately for that touching moment, the sound of helicopter blades was coming closer.

"Shit!"

"Get down, but keep moving."  Hazel said, doing so herself. How far were they to where they had stashed the launcher? was there any cover?

They had made it most of the way across the plain...but they had to loop around the side of the building to the left to get to the pipe.

Sadly, most of the cover was to the right...past the depot. Aside from a few heating units...this area was pretty empty.

Ana dipped low, but kept hurrying left and towards the building. "Got it boss."

Hazel double-timed it as fast as she dared as they made their way. Frankly, for all the lives she'd ended Hazel wasn't an esspecially violent young woman. but at the same time the thought of blowing something up with a rocket launcher definitely had its appeal right now.

Ana grimaced, and gripped her submachine gun as she hustled for the side of the building....only for  a sound like the scream of a bird of prey to echo through the air.

"That wasn't a HIND," Hazel grimaced, raising her gun.

Ana shook her head, aiming up at the sky "it's Talonite." She hissed softly.

"Great," she hissed. "Come on. forget stealth for now lets just get there."

Ana nodded, and hurried along the side of the building. "Don't let her grab you. She's mobile. she might snatch you up to drop you somewhere easier to get a killing blow in."

"Right. Stay on alert."

That was when it happened. There was a spot in the sky and then  suddenly something slammed into Ana.

Ana screamed out in alarm, pitching forward as she fumbled for her submachine gun. "Dammit!"

"Shit!" Ana heard Hazel hiss as the sound rapidly fled her eardrums, replaced with a rush of air.

A pair of strong, lithe arms held her tightly.

Ana looked down, her face blanching pale as she gripped one of the strong arms in one of her hands, the other moving to try to aim her submachine gun.

"G'dammit." She hissed. "Raven, I'd bet."

"Shoot me now and you fall to your death, kid." a woman's voice said through some kind of mask.

Ana's eyes watched the ground rush away underneath her "y-yeep!"

She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling faint as she started to shiver in the woman's arms "gghhhh..."

"Too much to hope this is just a nice little r...ugh...ride , huh?"

"I'm not giving you a get out of jail free card if that's the hope."

"We worked together, you know" She said with a tense laugh, her eyes still squeezed shut. "I t-tried to join your unit."

She gripped her gun tightly, and readied herself to act, peeking carefully out of one eye at the space below. If she was over the building...she could act.

"You guys were my heroes."

They were coming toward the labs where Calvin was.

"There are some spots open if you wanna join up."

"Yeah. I heard there were a few openings." Ana said "i'd feel better about saying yes if you guys weren't so keen on bombing my hometown to ashes. Lots of memories there, you know?"

She waited just a little longer...until she was over the roof...until she could survive the fall.

"Gotta break a few eggs, kiddo. That's what they told me when I limped my way back to the office."

Closer.... closer....

Ana tensed in her arms. "Which isn't right"  she hissed. "people aren't eggs, Raven. They're human beings... people, just like you and me. The system has to change, yeah, but..."

She aimed her gun slowly up...over her shoulder as the roof passed under her.

"There's better ways than becoming monsters." She opened fire over her shoulder at the Raven's wing

The sudden noise by her ear startled her and Raven dropped Ana-- though just as soon as Ana was falling the enemy operative was after her.

Ana hit the ground and fell into a roll with a muffled 'ow , ow, ow' before she came up, and attempted to get the operative in her sights.

"People hurt you" She hissed, trying to back towards one of the old rooftop railings for cover.

"But hurting thousands won't heal your pain"

"You're right," she hissed going for her gun as she neared the roof but staying airborn. "But it will stop it from happening to someone else."

Ana opened fire on her with a hiss.

"There's always going to be abusers, Raven. Blowing up a city isn't going to stop them all."

Raven dodged out of the way on an updraft, and aimed down at her, firing off a couple of rounds.

"How else will we get the out of power? They're entrenched like cockroaches."

Ana was struck, staggering back as one of the bullets sank into her shoulder, driving her backwards as her submachinegun fired wildly through the air. "GAH!"

She hissed, gripping her arm "There's...there's other ways." She breathed. "Expose them! Show the people all the secrets they've got hidden here! Tell everyone what they've done? I don't know!"

She reached for her tranq pistol with a grimace, and fired off a shot.

"No! you don't know do you!" the woman hissed. The bullet snagged one of her 'wings' and she wobbled slightly in the air before readjusting.

"Maybe not." Ana said, trying to get a bead on the woman's head before another hail of bullets started.

"Maybe I'm just a kid who's in over her head. Scared and desperate."  She hissed "trapped behind enemy lines....who doesn't know how bad the Central Command can be."

She staggered, blood falling to the snow below. "...but I still want to protect people. From you and Iron...from corruption..from anything!"

The woman circled above her like a hawk. "you'll see. You see when they use you and it doesn't matter if you come back."

She fired on her again.

"Too fucking late, you old bird!" Ana called up to her. "They already _don't expect me to come back!_ I'm written off as DEAD!"

Unfortunately, she was distracted....and the bullets slammed into her torso, sending her clattering to the ground with a sharp, breathless wheeze of pain. "GGggggk..."

"Just like they wrote me off," the woman snapped. She circled and raised her gun. "But I came back! Sorry that you won't."

Ana stared at the sky, her snapped reply lost in the gurgle of blood and shock...

Her vision on the circling woman doubled and faded as she lay on the crimson stained ground....

"Damn it.." She coughed "Guess I won't...s..sorry Mama...Papa..."

She closed her eyes...just before she felt a sudden...sharp... _pull_

From above, Raven could see time in a three foot bubble around Ana...simply..... _stop_ ...and then slowly reverse.

Bullets pulled from her flesh , and resumed their position in the air as she staggered to her feet in an odd sort of reverse fall, until the bullets pulled back enough to  leave the bubble...falling like rain on the ground before it as they left the strange distortion...leaving a healed and stunned looking Ana to tumble to the ground as the bubble 'popped.'

"ow." She hissed between her teeth. "what the...." She glanced up, seeing Raven, and grabbed her submachine gun before dodging behind a vent shaft.

"What the hell?" Raven boggled in the air, strafing for a moment before firing on her again. "Iron didn't say anything about that..."

The bullets pinged off the vent as Ana hunkered down, her breath rabbitlike in the frigid air.

"haha...okay. Alright Ana" She dodged behind the other side of the vent as Raven strafed. "you'll take it in stride. Figure it out as you go. That's what being a spy's all about."

Raven circled in the air above, trying to get a visual on her.

Ana jumped out from behind the vent, and opened fire at Raven's wings in an arc spread of bullets.

She hit full on and took a chunk out of Raven's wing. The woman screeched that strange screech again and Ana saw her wings flapping to get air without achiving it.

Ana dodged from foot to foot, and waited for her to start spiraling out.

She fired again, trying to further destabilize her.

She hit her again, and another screech- not just the wing this time. She was coming down, and blood spattered on the roof.

Raven fired wildly at her. "No no not again!"

Ana ducked behind the vent, hearing the bullets pinging off metal all around her... she waited until the firing stopped, and ran out from her cover with arms outstretched to try and catch the woman before she hit the ground. "Dammit, dammit."

Raven was tumbling ungracefully like a caught by a cat, but hand't quite hit.

Ana ran under her, and quickly shifted to where it looked like she'd make contact, bracing herself for the catch. "I got ya"

The woman and her ragged wings fell hard into Ana's arms. "_shit._" the woman coughed. There was blood.

Ana gripped her tightly, staggering down to her knees with the catch...but managing to hold her tight.

She took a deep breath, and lowered Raven to the roof below, looking her over. "...shit."

She smiled weakly "Here I was hoping to bring you down safely, Miss Raven. Even in the fog of war, nobody deserves to die crashing into the ground in dangerous territory. No man left behind, right?"

She pat her shoulder gently. "how bad is it?"

"Even after that you're worried about me?" she shook her head and it looked painful. There was blood across her chest and stomach. It was hard to tell with the flight suit. "I hope you stay so innocent."

"We were still comrades." Ana said. "Even if the Alloy unit and...and so many of my friends changed sides... You're all still my comrades. And I wouldn't want a comrade to suffer."

She smiled weakly "heh...if that makes me innocent, then I hope I stay that way for a good, long time."

She stood slowly, and aimed her submachine gun down at the woman "Do you want me to do it? I'll make sure you and the rest of the Unit get a proper burial when it's all over. Even if I have to punch Knight's face in myself."

"I don't want to crawl back. Not again." she hissed. "I'm no use to Iron like this. No use to anyone. I finally get to be useless. Do it."

Ana saluted her with a grim nod.

"Yes ma'am."

She pulled the trigger on Talonite Raven, the muzzle flash illuminating the old lab's rooftop.

Overhead a group of crows squawked and flew away.

Ana bent down, and squeezed the woman's shoulder one last time, before she staggered towards the edge of the building, and started to climb her way down.

"Innocent, huh?" She sighed, glancing towards the main lab. "....Lets hope that lasts the night..."

Distantly, she heard the sound of a rocket exploding.

She glanced up to see the bloom of fire and smoke, and hopped the rest of the way down into the snow.

"Guess when you've died, heights don't seem as scary." She muttered, as she ran for the Main building and the rising smoke.

There was another rocket blast- and from the secondary explosion a moment later this one had connected.

Ana winced. "Guess Hazel's either doing really good, or really bad up there." She whispered as she hurried to the pipe, starting to shimmy her way up it.

As she climbed, she got a view of the helipad.

She was just in time to see the second chopper get hit by a rocket like it was the forth of july, spiraling and spinning down to crash on the wreckage of the first. She could just about make out a small figure from behind cover, bent with a rocket launcher on her shoulder.

"Goddess Pax." She muttered darkly "....Heron knows what' she's doing."

She watched as Heron waited a moment, then stood up squaring her shoulders and stretching. And then she started to jog toward where Ana had been snatched.

"HERON!" She called, as she hiked herself up into the damaged guard tower "over here!"

Heron stopped and gave her a wave, jogging toward her.

Ana hiked herself in, and let herself flop back in the snow, staring at the rent metal of the ceiling while she waited for Hazel to arrive.

"Fuck."

"Ana." Hazel greeted as she reached her. "Are you okay?"

"Not really." She said blandly, still flat on her back. "How went the helicopter fight?"

Hazel got down on one knee beside her. "Cathartic," she admitted. "Are you hit?"

Ana looked over at her. "oh, I died. I think. Or came real close to it." SHe pat her chest "just filled with lead all over here."

Hazel frowned, and checked her over gently. "Ana...."

"Only when I thought it was game over for me...this..bubble surrounded me and pulled all the bullets out." She said "healed me up and dumped me back on my feet again. Like time was reversing."

Hazel's eyebrows raised. "Huh...."

"yeah." Ana said quietly. "I put Raven out of her misery, though. She's...finished her fight. But I ...I want her and the rest to get a proper burial."

Hazel nodded. "Yeah. We'll do our best to make it happen."

She nodded slowly again. "It hurt to kill her. But it had to be done..."

She bit her lip "I wanted to knock her out, but i fucked it up after I...time...warped... "

Hazel squeezed her. "Probably better in the end that you did."

"She seemed ....." She bit her lip "....She..."

Ana's shoulders started to shake "....She said I was innocent."

Hazel sat beside her and squeezed her again. "In some ways she's not wrong."

"I guess she's not." She murmured quietly. "But how long's that gonna last out here in the battlefield? How long until someone hurts me like they hurt her?"

"No way of telling," she said with a sigh. "Innocence... that's a sacrifice you make when you decide to do a job like this."

"Y-yeah." Ana murmured, looking down at her blood stained hands with shaking shoulders.

"She's right, too." Her voice cracked "....there are people in the Capital who don't even see us as people. just...assets to burn and leave behind." Tears welled in her eyes.

"I don't matter to anyone there but my parents. I'm...a nobody. A guard they can write off as a casualty. None of us matter, even as we give our lives and i-innocence and everything to the cause."

"That's not true, Ana," Hazel said. "It can feel true. And sure, some people do feel that way. But there are people in the chain of command who are devastated by any loss. I happen to know the president is one of those people."

Ana sniffed softly, and glanced up at Hazel. "She does?"

"Yeah, she does," she said nodding. "She's really messed up over this mission too."

Ana wiped her tears away with her forearms. "...I guess that's reassuring.." She said softly .

"This whole thing is a mess."

"Yeah," she nodded. "It sure fucking is. After Brass Eagle and the lab I wasn't sure I could keep going either. But I can't just let Iron reign down destruction."

Ana shook her head. "I can't let Iron do that either. For every evil person in the capital...there's a good one... and I won't let those good people die."

She pressed her hand to her face with a soft sigh. "even if it's hard to keep going. I won't let you down, boss.."

Hazel rubbed the back of her neck as it sank in that Ana had been calling her 'boss' for the last while.

"I know you won't," she nodded. "And I won't let you down either."

"heh..." Ana smiled thinly "I know you won't, ma'am."

She flashed her a thumbs up "We'll make it through this together."

Hazel returned the gesture with as much of a smile as she could manage. "Damn right. Glad I have you with me."

"Yeah..." Her laugh turned a little strained partway through.

"And on the plus side, looks like I won't be dying on you anytime soon. P...probably. Ma...maybe.... unless that was some kind of freak accident.."

"In my experience, things like that aren't one off," she said shaking her head. "Huh. You faced down a member of the alloy unit, and you've got time cancer. You're practically an official agent now."

"Time Cancer??" Ana squeaked , looking increasingly alarmed "From _what_ ? what even IS time cancer? am I gonna die?"

She bit her nail, thoughtfully "....geeze... you're probably r..right, though..." Her eyes flicked to the side. "Guess despite everything, I wound up taking after my heroes anyway."

"As far as I know only one person's uh... died of it, and that's hard to verify," she said scratching her head. "It seems more likely to keep you alive. As for taking after your heroes, obviously I can't make it official, but if you want it, maybe its time for that code name. Feels weird calling you Ana all the time while we're doing this together."

"...it's the radiation poisoning... the...mutations that you and Iron and the others have." Ana said, as realization dawned. "...and now...me." She dropped her hand with a puzzled look, before Hazel's words finally dawned on her.

"h-h-hold on!" She perked up "you're saying you wanna give me a code name?? Take me on as a...non-official agent? YES! Absolutely!"

"Yeah," she nodded, stroking her chin and looking Ana over. "Huh... think we should go with a bird, or better to stay away from that?" she mused.

"I.. I mean, I like birds well enough." Ana said with a nervous smile "Though that might be more , like, you and your family's thing."

"We're sisters in battle anyway," Hazel said. "Lark, maybe? Starling?"

Ana's smile grew "I really like Starling, actually"

"I think it suits you," Heron nodded.

Ana leaned against the wall with a smile "Agent Starling. Heh. it sounds so official."

"If you still want it to be when we get back, I'll put my word in for you," she told her. "But for now... do you think you're ready to move, Starling?"

"heh." Ana grinned at her. "Sounds good, boss." She stood slowly and cocked her submachine gun.

"I'll live up to the name you gave me."

She nodded to her "Let's take care of Iron."

"Lets go," she agreed, straightening up. She dumped the empty rocket launcher where they were standing, and pulled out her pistol.

"Man you really went ham on those guys, huh?" She asked as she hurried out into the admin center hall.

"If you ever fight a helicopter you'll understand," Heron said with the ghost of a smirk as she headed in, checking the area over with the sight of her gun.

"You know, I'm hoping to avoid the whole two helicopters at once scenario, but I'll take your word for it."

She grinned, and looked at her submachine gun "i gotta get something stronger, asap, as an aside. I'm nearly out of ammo for this sucker, and it's not very versatile. Doesn't pack much of a punch, either."

Hazel nodded. "Alright, we'll put it up on the priority list."

"I got the pistol and a few more clips of the submachine gun." She said, "and my own handgun, so we're alright for now. But ..." She shook her head. "if we're jumped by Iron, i'm not counting on those being enough to stop her."

"We're going to have to decide if shooting her is a good idea to stop her at all," heron considered.

"I don't think she'll come quietly, if that's what you're thinking, Boss." Ana slipped into the director's office, and looked around "it's quiet, we're clear. For now at least..."

Hazel slipped in with her, on high alert in any case. "For now," she murmured. "And I don't think she will either. But you saw what the screen said about her time power..."

"Guess it's a bridge we'll cross when we come to it." She murmured "Time cancer's a hell of a thing, isn't it?"

She peeked from right to left down the hall, and gestured "alright. What's our next step, boss?"

Hazel frowned. "We need to determine where Iron is. Also-- you need to know I'm currently not in communication with my team."

"...wait, why not?" Ana asked, a little startled "what if we need support?"

"There's a hacker in the system," Hazel explained. "Sterling Owl I assume. He was using the coms to follow our movements."

"huh." She muttered softly "...he probably would have made himself known by now if that's the case."

She put her hand on her pistol "he's pretty egotistical."

Her eyes glanced to the left branch of the hallway. "there's a security station. Cyber Security, down near the computer labs. We can probably track Iron through there."

She nodded. "Lets give it a shot."

"Worth a try." Ana said, as she hurried down the hall. "hey, can I say something that's gonna sound like the kinda thing you told me not to say?"

"As long as you remember why I told you not to," she said dryly.

"Of couse." Ana nodded slowly.

"I'm just thinking...it's awfully quiet." She bit her lip "especially since we just lit up the area like the Seventh of July"

"Yeah," Hazel sighed. "I noticed that."

"It's creeping me out, honestly."

Hazel heard a crackle through her comms.

"Shit..." She paused and touched her comm. "Come in?"

"heyyyy." Came Ismael's voice.