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A New Life in a New Body Operation Countdown

"What's the word on the SoD?" I asked.

Talking between bites Sherri said "Well last I heard he's stabilized his transformation finally and is talking with the council."

"I feel really bad about how we left things all those years ago, and I want to make it up to you," I started, "How do you feel about Devil?"

Eating for a moment she swallowed and said "He's an alright guy but I terrify even him. He's a damn good mechanic though."

"Well I've talked to him and I'm wondering if you'd like to go on a date with him," I said starting on my food.

Setting her fork down Sherri looked at me for several long seconds until she said "Why are you doing this."

"Because I want you to be happy, though I think someone else has your eye," I said.

Smiling at something she said "Life is full of surprises, but I meant if you're so angry with me about everything, why do you even care."

"There's a lot of shit going on in my head. I am upset about the child thing but it's only because i feel like you're trying to manipulate me. I also said i still love you, though as a sister, and I don't want to see you hurting," I said.

"I felt like you were perfect, especially with your control compared to my complete lack of it. I wanted to bring life into this world that had you as a father. You know me, I hate manipulation, I rather be straight out about anything," she said while taking her fork and beginning to eat again.

"You know that's not going to happen. So who's this person you seem interested in, I heard you sparred with them earlier," I said.

Pointing at me she said "Wanted, past tense. Also if you must know her name is Roslyn, at least I think she's a her."

"Oh, ok. So should I tell Devil Just to forget about it?" I asked.

Shrugging she said "Dunno, you know me better than I do. Oh for fucks sake you've made the point already Alvar. Sorry, he's difficult to ignore, but honestly I'm not sure how I feel. I've never been interested in anyone but you before, how do I know I like girls, or what Roslyn is, at the very least I know that Devil is a guy."

"Yeah, I know. I think Roslyn is a herm," I said, "Not entirely sure though. But love is love regardless of the gender."

Getting angry Sherri said "How would you even know, you arrived here only hours ago."

"People tend to talk about the first gen sniffers that turned, as it is a rare occurrence," I said.

"Yeah, there are three here, she's one of them. I've worked with her as a military forecaster over the radio for two years, she's one of the only people here that can follow what I say," she said while still getting madder.

"No need to get testy, I just know you might like her, I don't want to make you upset," I said.

Breathing deep she said "I know, I know, I know. This is a place where people come when they are lost to the world, I don't like when someone judges another here based on who or what they were. It makes me mad, you know how that ends."

"I wasn't judging anyone, I was just saying I heard about her antics today, I heard some people talking about her, I have no reason to judge anyone. I mean really look at who you're talking to, I'm no saint," I said.

Shaking her head Sherri said "No but you are, you are so very good no matter what you have done. I know that you really can do no wrong, all that you do has reason and trust behind it."

"Don't put me on some god damned pedestal," I said, "I've done things I regret. I need to go for a walk, I've gotta clear my head."

As I got up she said to my back while I started to walk away "There is only one regret that you should have, that you have those regrets."

Walking I wasn't so much mad at her as I was at myself. She had been able to detach herself from the world, I couldn't though. I kept flashing back to all the countless lives ended abruptly. Then the last mission I was on, where we were supposed to eliminate an entire town for fear of rebellion. We killed hundreds, it was called a mission, I called it a slaughter. There were no known survivors. No one raised an arm up to resist us. Then I accidentally bumped into someone.

As she hit the wall I saw that she was a tan lizard with a blueberry coloured underbelly. Catching herself on the wall I felt her crutch hit me as she said "Sorry, I'm usually a bit more mobile than this and can avoid people when they aren't paying attention."

"I'm sorry I should have been paying more attention myself," I said.

Gesturing to herself then the crutch at my feet she said "My name's Roslyn, do you mind handing me the crutch back before one of the nurses notices I slipped out."

"Oh, sure." I said handing her the crutch, "so Sherri found a new sparring partner huh?"

"Thanks, and yeah, but I didn't hold a candle to her. I broke a finger from punching her, that girl is made out of steel or something," she said while holding up her left hand and showing the wrapping on that in addition to the ones around her chest and on her head.

"She is quite hard to handle, I barely kept up with her before she transformed," I said.

Chuckling a little I saw her barely wince at what must have been incredible pain before saying "So you're Sherri's infamous ex-partner, the entire base has heard of you. Did you spar with her after the government experiments at all or was that after you faked your death?"

"I left shortly before the experimentation was started, we still were seeing each other for a few years before I faked my death.

Nodding she said "Ah, it would be interesting to know if anyone could have kept up with her then, before she turned. Anyway, I'm sorry that you felt like you had to do that, I should be going though. It was good to meet you, cya!" As she used her crutch to head out I watched her head to the mess hall at what was still a run for most people.

"Weird girl," I said to myself.

"Believe me, I know she's weird for a fact," I heard someone say behind me.

Turning around a brown scorpion standing behind me,"Sorry, I'm new here, who are you?"

Extending a middle exoskeleton covered hand she said "My name is Anne, I actually came up with her new name. I'm the resident weapons tech, when people have a crazy idea and I think it is actually possible, I do it. We have three hours before you're called in front of the council for a mission, they sent me to see if there is anything in particular that you want for a no blood mission. Sherri has her taser system, I made custom tranq guns for our friend Roslyn there years ago but have the parts to make more. You name it and we'll try and achieve it before mission time."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, "What mission?"

"It was just announced that they're going to kill the President in five hours, we're leaving in three. You, Sherri, Klaw, Lisa and Me. Roslyn would probably be going as well except that she is currently rather unfit for active duty since she is a bit self-destructive with her tactics. Sniping really isn't her thing," she said while shrugging with her upper pair of arms that had a unique looking pair of pincers, they had splits running across them and they opened into a pair of large single segmented hands with eight fingers each, five on the top half of each claw and three on the bottom.

"When the hell were they planning on telling me?" I asked.

Shaking her head she said "Just now, the news just came across the air thirty minutes ago, it took them that long to decide if they were doing anything about it, there weren't any loose cannons waiting for a good report then."

"Ok, so what do we already have?" I asked.

"Follow me, my creations that are not designated for someone else on this mission are all at your disposal," she said while turning back down the hall and after several turns and going down a flight of stairs and then one more turn led to a single door. Opening that and showing me in behind her I saw a forty or so foot wide chamber full of guns, martial weapons, and strange contraptions. "Like I said before though, this is a no blood mission, so anything I haven't designed a non-lethal version of is off limits even to bring. The exception is Sherri since for her a flick is deadly."

"That's fine, flash bangs, blanks, tear gas, gas masks, got anything like that?" I asked.

Bringing me over to a cabinet she handed me a pair of stick on nearly invisible eye protectors and a small tube with a latex expander attached to it, "Gas masks work for humans but they're so cumbersome to create for most of us, these work even for one of Devil's size. As for non-lethal grenades they're in these drawers in the lower section here, we have paralysis grenades, sticky stunners that send the same voltage of current through what they're attached to as a taser the moment they connect with something, and the third creation of mine that regular troops don't have access to is the inducer grenade. It is an electro-magnetic grenade that actually will pull their guns out of their hands if the gun is made of metal that is magnetic, or simply has a magazine loaded, but it only has a four foot effective radius and is only active for thirty seconds. But it can be grabbed and used again if given sufficient recharge time, however if not deactivated within three minutes then the second charge goes off and the grenade melts."

Opening a second cabinet she continued with "These are the typical flash bangs, a bit of C4 for doors, shaped charge and block. Tear gas of course, along with an improved knockout gas. And finally a micro EMP emitter that will fry all electronics in ten feet, don't use it next to Sherri. Your blanks and rubber bullets of several calibers are in this third cabinet," she indicated a twelve foot wide cabinet with several doors built into it.

"Any grenades with rubber balls?" I asked.

Shaking her head she said "No, I have a slight problem replicating those, they tend to turn into actual frag grenades. If you have a specific caliber in mind I can make some tranquilizer rounds though before we leave."

"Big enough for an AK-74? Also how about small glass containers with hot sauce?" i asked.

Making a series of clicking noises she said "I have a shipment of actual bottles of Tabasco sauce if you must have them, I was hoping to figure out how to make a pepper gas grenade next. As for the AK-74 rounds I have plenty of 5.45 by 39mm injector rounds that I can fill."

"Any eggs?" I asked.

"I, what?" she asked confused.

"Eggs, I only need two boxes, and a thin needle, I'll suck the yolks out and fill them with Tabasco, it'll blind them," I replied plainly.

Shaking her head she said "Okay, I have the needle, but for the eggs themselves you'll need to go to the stock and get some, shipments of actual groceries just came in yesterday. Also, don't forget when you're doing it that your mouth is now a muzzle."

"What does have to do with anything?" I asked,

"You'll break them if you're not careful because your muscles in that area are stronger now, really all of them are stronger if you haven't had time to test it yet," she said while walking over to a fourth cabinet and pulling out a box marked '5.45-39mm' and putting it down at a bench along the wall.

"Ok, lock picks, both manual and electronic?" i asked.

Unloading several rounds from the box she started slowly filling them with tranquilizer while saying "Unneeded for you, I can pick any lock and you should know Sherri can break any computer encryption. We are all to never separate so the point is moot."

"Ok, I'd prefer them not to know we're there till we're working on an extraction. That minimizes our risk of loosing any one. I really want to make sure we all make it. I have a track record to keep," I said.

"Don't worry, speak more to Lisa or Klaw about maintaining silence, it is rather difficult to hear my 'foot' steps since I don't have those pesky things called feet anymore. As for your record, this is more the beginning of it rather than a continuation of an older record," she said while quickly loading the filled rounds into a clip with her third, lowest, pair of hands.

"Says you and where in the hell are they," I said.

"Oh, probably at Klaw's place, she seemed disturbed by something when I saw her earlier, she talks to him a lot of the time since he is one of the few that is entirely comfortable with her emotion reading and kinetic abilities," she said while putting aside two full clips. "Please only use semi-automatic when firing these, and if you shoot more than five into anyone they will die from system shock," she said while beginning on filling another two clips.

"Ok, I want everyone to have basically the same load out.

"I don't use guns, and Sherri isn't allowed guns on this. I will have plenty of my custom grenades though, and Klaw can't use the AK-74, it's too flimsy for his paws, he crushes even full metal ones. He uses a modified chain gun that fires 5.55mm rounds. Lisa will use the AK-74 though, and she stocks up on my sticky shock grenades for missions like this. Please don't forget that while many of us are military trained our changes have evolved the way we go about missions," she said while putting down another two fully loaded clips.

"I haven't forgotten. But please also remember that I haven't had enough time to adapt to these changes, and don't forget that Sherri and I went on hundreds of missions, I was her handler for a lot of them and partner for a lot more, I know I have more experience than you," I said.

A moment later she spun around and had a small ball in each of her hands on her middle pair of arms and said "Look, I wasn't military, I have three degrees in engineering and one in biology to be a fully qualified bio-engineer. But I have worked with people just as military as you the entire time that I have been here, I don't put up with the pulling rank or experience bullcrap most of the time except with newbies. You know what though, you couldn't hope to stop me for one reason so long as we're in a confined space. I accept that you have more experience but you are not the leader of this mission, Sherri and Klaw are. With the exception of you Klaw knows all of our abilities and habits because he befriends everyone who goes on missions."

"All I was saying is, don't underestimate me, even for a second. I've had plenty of foes do that now their six feet under," I said.

Tossing one of the balls to me she said "Paralyzing gas, I am the only one with immunity since I made it from my own poison, and I have caused immunity to all of my other gas grenades in myself. I am not underestimating you, if anyone doubted your abilities you wouldn't be coming, so stop feeling emasculated. If you need to talk to Lisa and Klaw then Klaw's humble abode is the third door in on the left center buildings."

"I didn't feel emasculated I felt like I was being treated like a kid," I said heading to the door, "I'll be back soon."

As I left she yelled "That is feeling emasculated!"

Ignoring her I got to Klaw's place pretty quickly opening the door I heard Klaw and Lisa talking about something.

"Mind knocking next time," Klaw said looking at me with surprisingly blank expression from his seat almost directly across from the door.

"There might be an open door policy but we are privately discussing our lives here," Lisa said.

"He has a reason, apparently the President has been set an execution time, he wanted to check if we knew and discuss tactics with us. Isn't that right," Klaw said before Lisa or I could say anything else.

"Uh, yeah. I know you and Sherri are in charge but I think it would be best if we tried to maintain a low profile until we rescue the President, to minimize the chances for early casualties," I said.

Nodding Klaw said "Have you asked Sherri for a plan layout and tactical forecast yet, I'm trying to stay out of your head."

"No, but we've had some troubles as of late," I said.

Nodding Klaw said "I'll ask her, she normally won't bite my head off immediately even if she isn't in a good mood. I would like you to discuss with Lisa tactics in the meantime though, that way she understands yours and I can just pull it from her head afterwards. If I try to get it from your head it'll be in military jargon."

"Alright," I said as Klaw walked out the door.

********

"I still can't believe you snuck out and they haven't found you yet, where are those medical morons?" I asked Roslyn while waving at Klaw as he walked in.

Walking over Klaw said "Sherri, we have a mission."

"Is it finding you a better personality?" Alvar said.

Growling at Alvar I said "Sorry Blueberry, it looks like I might have to leave soon, what's the mission Klaw, and am I actually going or just planning it?"

"You're going and planning, also Mike is going, it's you, him, Lisa, Anne and me," he said in response.

Sighing I said "First fun in years and I have to leave, so what exactly is going on?

"Ooh, Mike is going to be there, maybe there will be some friendly fire. Lets leave him there to die, he's not important to me any more anyway," Alvar said.

Ignoring my scowl at Alvar who was now standing next to him Klaw he said "We are to save the President in a no deadly force mission."

"Fuck that, we both know that your going to end up killing someone, on purpose or accidental, it'll happen," Alvar said.

"Sounds like that will be difficult, my injuries are proof of that," Roslyn said.

Morphing into Roslyn he said in a mocking tone, "Sounds like it will be difficult my meh meh meh meh."

Checking there was no one else in the line I threw a fork right through him and made Alvar shut up saying "Sorry, you know who Klaw, but yeah, it will be difficult to use non fatal force since they'll be trying to kill us, we need to disable them to the point that they can't fire back or pull grenade pins, which means either breaking fingers or using near deadly force to completely knock them out."

Nodding Klaw said "It will be difficult but we have been on missions like this in different combinations before. Apparently it was going to be a six man team but one pair of top agents decided to spar without holding back as much as they should have. Now I wonder who those two could have been."

"Oh, they were holding back let me tell you, the sexual tension is almost enough to kill me," Alvar said.

Attempting to ignore him I heard Roslyn say "Yeah, I pushed her into going harder on me than she wanted to. It's really my fault that I got hurt this badly, I would have loved to go on this mission even if it is practically a suicide mission since I know all three gen three sniffers that are left will be there."

Groaning Klaw said "I hadn't considered that, you're the only one to stop one of them, and you had to kill to do that. Of course they haven't faced Sherri yet, she'll be our secret to defeating them."

Smiling I said "That will be fun."

"You know what would be even more fun," Alvar said.

"You shutting up," I mumbled before saying "So I think that we have an underground entrance to the location which means we'll be able to reduce risks of early detection."

"You know that would be fun for you but I was thinking Bow chicka wow wow with Roslyn over there," Alvar finished.

"Are you okay there Sherri, you look like you've got something on your mind," Roslyn asked me.

Nodding I said "I'm fine, just a little voice that hates to shut up."

"Little voice, ok if you wanna call me that I'm never going to shut up, or maybe I will I think the silence would drive you insane after a while," Alvar said.

"Sounds like a good plan, but if we don't know where he is then the plan is pointless, so do you have an idea about that?" Klaw asked.

Smiling I said "I'm pretty sure I know where they'll be holding something like this, Garrison Fort Taylor. That place is built right on top of an old sewer system, it's in the remains of Old Beckhel city from thirty years back after the massive terrorist attack that destroyed eight square blocks almost simultaneously, perfect place to hold him for something like this."

"I know why you remember that," Alvar said.

"I was there when it happened, hell of a crisis. Then I was stationed there about seventeen years back when I first entered special ops."

Looking at me Roslyn asked "How old were you when it happened?"

"I was six, but I remember the ensuing mess clearly. Bad memories though, I'd rather not talk about it right before a mission like this," I said, thinking about how my dad had beat me both before and after the event.

"Oh, okay. So then what's the plan, if you know that place that should make it that much easier since you have ground knowledge instead of just layouts," Roslyn said.

At that moment a medical technician walked in the mess hall and said "There you are, you shouldn't be out of bed, the dose of painkillers should have kept you asleep for another day. That isn't even mentioning how bad your injuries are."

Groaning Roslyn said "Oh come on, now is when you come, just when the conversation is getting interesting."

Laughing I said "Sorry Blueberry, you should go with him. Otherwise I might have to carry you back to the medical center."

"You'd do more than that," Alvar said.

"Would you fucking shut up, I need to plan this out and you talking does nothing to help that damn it!" I shouted after Roslyn had left.

Not needing to ask but feeling better doing so Klaw said "He's making fun of you, isn't he."

"What do you think fat boy," Alvar said.

Getting even madder at that I said "Why the hell do you even bother teasing people you can't hear you, just fuck off already Alvar!"

"Why don't we go get the layout and make the plans, seems like a good idea," Klaw said while referring to the other people starting to look.

Nodding I led the way up to the holographic layout rig we had managed to steal on a raid. Hacking my way into the military layout of the Garrison I put it into the layout and then managed to find an old layout of the subway system. Checking for anything about filling in tunnels and finding nothing I put all of it up on the holographic and said "Well this makes it all laughably obvious, we go in through this old subway access into their sewer system. After that we'll be past a majority of their defenses and if nothing actually goes wrong, which it always could, then we'll be able to get through the mission with no problems and drag the President out if we have to."

"Sounds like the perfect plan, but if they're expecting it?" Klaw asked while looking at the route I had laid out.

"It is, and they are. That's why this isn't using the primary subway system or the primary sewer system, we'll be on hands and knees the entire way until we're actually in the base, the tunnels are just big enough for you Klaw," I told him, zooming in and showing him the path in higher definition.

Nodding he said "You really think of every possible scenario with the information that you're given don't you."

Walking in Mike said, "Of course she does, Lisa is all filled in."

"Good, damn you consider a lot of variables. You and her, I feel like I'm drowning in possible scenarios when I go through your thought processes. I suppose that's the difference between two top trained operatives and self trained renegade ops," Klaw said while putting a paw to the side of his head.

"Analyze everything, and when you think you're trapped improvise," Mike replied.

"Speaking of," I said while throwing a spoon I had carried out of the mess hall against the door frame next to Mike where it bounced off and flew through Alvar who was making disgusting gestures behind Mikes' back, causing him to dissipate right before it flew between Lisa's ears. "At any rate, this gives the highest percentage of success with the lowest percentage of possible detection, after everyone memorizes the appropriate parts of the layout, or all of it which is better if things do go bad, then we'll be ready to go after we grab our gear."

"You know things will go wrong, everything does for you anymore. But I'm sure that Mike will forgive you for the inevitable loss of life, wait, he still hasn't forgiven you for the last loss of life you told him about." Alvar said while reappearing behind me.

"Ok, I think we should have a backup plan in case we are unable to leave the way we came," Mike said.

Pressing a few keys I brought up a blue secondary line and said "There is a tertiary car garage that is supposed to be for emergency escapes, when I was there it was almost entirely unguarded even during events such as a General arriving. There should be little to no security on that, at the very least less than on any other escape route. Besides these two the only other routes are main gates."

"Ok, weapons loadouts?" he asked.

"I'm specifically bringing my taser conducting grappling kit. Along with that I'll have my usual non bladed weapons, my tonfa, an expanding bo staff along with my jo power staff, and of course the unedged kukri pair and four dozen shock grenades. Since I know you'll ask the grappling kit is a pair of corded thirty foot ten pound ball weighted hyper connected by conductive carbon nano-tube cables," I said while bringing up the list on a monitor to the side.

"You get to pick your load but this is the list of the other ones that the group will be using. Anne will have close to three hundred grenades and four types of lock picking kits. Klaw will have his solid iridium titanium hybrid minigun with attached silencers and well oiled gears, it will feed from a one thousand round body storage belt full of a combination of tranq, paralysis and shock rounds to prevent from killing. Lisa will be using one rifle based weapon with plenty of ammo and her telekinetic abilities along with around fifty grenades. Any questions?" I asked while bringing up the pre-designed gear selections for each of them.

"Where is your.." Alvar began to say before I slammed my tail through him

"No, just know that I'm not carrying the usual load out, about a dozen flash bangs, 3 dozen eggs filled with Tabasco sauce, and an AK-74. I'll also use my hands, we both know I'm great in close quarters," I said.

Putting my hand on the monitor's edge I said "Really, you might want to stay a bit back, you would be surprised at the changes that have occurred in those that we're fighting now."

"I can handle anything, adapt or die," Mike said, "You remember that of course."

Sighing I said "Of course I do, but watch," as I was finishing the last syllable I saw his eyes go wide as I closed the six foot gap between us in an instant and then moved around behind him to tap him on his shoulder, before his head had even turned though I was already back in front of him saying "The third gen sniffers are closing the gap between the speed of the previous generations and me. They do have a weakness though, they are an attempt at combining several projects into one, they can literally take control of other sniffers around, first and second gen, transformed ones excluded, as well as being able to receive all of the visual and auditory of other soldiers around them. That connection is their weakness, if you take down those around them then they become weaker because their godlike vantage point disappears and they forget to pay enough attention through their own eyes."

"So they become arrogant, good to know," Mike said, "Klaw are you following all of this?"

Laughing Klaw said "I know all of this, Sherri is the one that hacked their research network and figured it out. There are a lot of things here that we're doing solely for your benefit, such as Sherri showing off a slow speed. But even she can't protect everyone, we all know our limits, you don't know yours yet. If I had my way you wouldn't be going on this mission honestly, too big of a risk sending someone that has just turned, but apparently the council thinks that as Sherri's old handler you'll be able to stop something like the last mission she went on."

Hissing Sherri said "I said I was sorry, we didn't even know that I couldn't do that back then, I've learned and adapted since then. I've had half a year to perfect everything that I've learned... I just hope it's enough."

"What exactly happened?" Mike asked.

"My speed is dangerous, I was performing an extraction and tore someone's arm off, and when I went back and tried to carry them I, uh, tore them into thirds, I was stuck holding their torso below the arms and their legs above the knees. In other words I can't carry someone and 'run' out with them," I said remember back to the mission.

"Okay, well I doubt i have anything like that," Mike said.

"I bet whatever you can do is really special," Lisa spoke up.

Nodding Sherri said "We all have something special, you'll find yours soon."

"I wonder if it's the ability to alter your appearance like Fred the farmer," Lisa said.

Shaking his head Klaw said "No, I doubt that would happen, while Mike is a very stealthy person he prefers overwhelming strategy."

"Lets not worry about it," Mike interupted, "Lock and load. We need to quit flapping our gums and get going."

Walking up behind Mike, Anne said "Well I guess this is good timing, everyone except Sherri's gear is packed and waiting in my lab."

Nodding I said "Okay, you all head off, I'll get my stuff and have the truck waiting."

Watching them head off I sprinted down to my room and grabbed my gear. Stripping down I removed all of my blades and put on my battery pack, strapping it around my waist and over my shoulders I said "What insult do you have now."

"You look like shit," he said, "Mostly because you are."

Putting on the insulated gloves, tail cover, and boots I hooked the battery up the the wiring along the outside of all five. Looking at him I said "Seriously, is that all you have right now, are you adversely affected by my being in a good mood?" Strapping the tonfa on and setting the straps for quick release when I grabbed the handles I watched him attempt to come up with an answer.

"Iunno," he said, "You're the one with the fully functioning brain. As Lisa said I'm just a part of you."

"Seriously, that's your response?" I asked while grabbing the grappling gear and wrapping it around my upper arms and the base of my tail.

"Mike is in love with Lisa, and you'll probably be the cause of death to those closest to you, even Blueberry," he said.

Snapping out I threw the weighted ball in my hand through his head and said "What the fuck do you know, you're just a manifestation of my mind attempting to cope with something. I don't know why the hell you're an insulting asshole who must constantly be right, but I suspect that it's because of you that I am so frequently wrong." Pulling it back I felt the motor stop when it had secured the ball in place.

"To answer your original question yes," he said, "You must be in a bad mood for me to able to insult you, but you're always in a bad mood."

Grabbing my pair of staffs, an expanding 9 foot bo staff and a thicker 4 foot jo staff, I strapped one to each thigh and said "Half the fucking time you put me in a bad mood, how the fuck do you explain that then."

"You like to suffer," he said.

Grabbing my 'safe' trio of kukri I strapped them to the outside of my battery pack, two to my lower back and the third between my shoulders. Grabbing the bags of shock grenades I put on my foot pads and then strapped a dozen to each calf. Latching the last into the middle of my back I brought the two distribution channels around front and tied them down, latching the top closed. Putting my shorts on I said "That may be true, but right now I don't have time for you."

Sprinting along the halls I quickly arrived in Devil's garage and yelled "Hey Devil, I need the mission truck, we aren't going to one of the usual places, can you open the passage for the base of the third mountain"

Someone I didn't recognize, meaning they weren't part of the military or at least didn't go to the radio, gym, or planning room, came and handed me the keys saying "Devil is wrapped up in a new creation, he says you'll like it when he finishes."

"Fine, fine, can you run up to Anne's lab and tell them to hurry up, it's been a minute already, and I suspect they don't realize we're leaving from here instead of one of the usual car ports."

Nodding he ran off and I walked over to the mission truck. Looking over it I saw that Devil had replaced the tires and set them outside instead of under the truck now. A pair of two foot wide three and a half foot tall metal tires sat to the side of the truck, he had modified the doors to open around the tires. The doors opened from either the front hinges or the back depending on the demands of the situation. Jumping onto the top of the truck I saw that he had finally added the 130 caliber chain rifle with a variable scope.

Opening the hatch I dropped in and crawled over to the back, seeing that he had added his newer drop window system I pressed the button and found that a rifle stabilizer came up from below me along with several belts with different round types, a tray fell from the wall with around twenty different clips with the appropriate ammo for the guns they went to. "Devil, you ingenious bastard," I said before getting up to the drivers seat and starting the engine. Pulling it around I saw Mike and the others finally arriving.

"Wow look at that monster," Mike said.

Smiling I said "Oh yeah, this is the mission truck, there isn't anything we have right now that I would rather take for something like this."

Getting into the front passenger seat Klaw said "Well as you said Mike, let's stop flapping our gums and go."

"Indeed," Lisa said following Klaw and getting in.

Crawling in the back of the truck Anne said "Seriously, did you really just say that and quote C'laet."

"I guess she did, my DI used to yell that at us when we were talking when we were out for a thirteen mile run, he liked that and 'When pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not your friend," Mike said.

"Huh, I guess I did," Lisa confirmed.

"That show is so old, it amazes me the references people make. Are you getting in Mike?" Anne commented, looking at Mike still standing outside and then at me in the reflection of the rear view mirror.

"Oh, right," he said, climbing in as well, then started checking his magazines.

The moment he closed the door I pressed the button series to unlock the tunnel entrance for the base of the third mountain. As a majority of the wall slid up I pulled through and said "Well, let's get this underway."

Driving out of the tunnel I pulled through the woods and started to get oriented and finally pulled onto one of the old roads leading to the Garrison. As we pulled up to the edges of the city it was built in I drove down into one of the old subway entrances that had partially collapsed and parked saying "We walk from here until we get to the secondary entrance I planned, let's go."

********

I was doing my best to keep up with the rest of the squad but these tunnels were so damn narrow. How the hell did she know about these? Well at least the view was nice, looking at Mike's nice tight ass. I don't know why but I tended to turn everything into something sexual when I was nervous.

"How much further?" I asked.

"A couple miles, we have plenty of time before the execution time," Sherri yelled back, she didn't even sound uncomfortable.

"Don't worry Lisa it's not so bad down here, at least we aren't crawling," Mike said.

"Yet, that's when we get to the secondary sewer system, don't worry, it doesn't get used much," Sherri said back.

"Are you being daft?" Mike asked, "She's nervous enough as it is."

Laughter in her voice Sherri said "No, she's been on a mission like this before, I planned it. There is an entirely different reason why she's nervous."

Growling from behind me Klaw said "Sherri, keep out of it."

"Keep out of what Klaw?" Mike asked.

At this point Sherri did start laughing and said "Yeah Klaw, what are you talking about."

"Klaw, please," I begged him, 'Don't tell him'

After a moment Klaw said "It's a private matter that she and I were discussing earlier, don't worry about it Mike. This won't interfere with the mission, Sherri, make the call when we need operational silence since you know this area."

"We're good for now, we have another twenty minutes or so unless I notice otherwise," Sherri responded.

We continued along in silence for most of the time I was worried she might tell Mike about my crush on him and that was something I didn't want for a few more days to come, maybe weeks when I told him on my own time. I could tell he kept going back to the earlier conversation and every time he did I started to blush. I can't believe Sherri knows though since she is generally emotionally dead.

"Remember who it's about," Klaw said cryptically to my line of thoughts.

'So that doesn't mean shit,' I said mentally to him.

"She reacts particularly in regards to that one person, for once the last thought before that reply isn't true," he replied to my direct thought at him.

'Well she doesn't have any business telling him about it, she still hasn't told Mike how much she likes Roslyn,' I replied.

"Of course not, the same applies to you though in relation to him. Besides, she wouldn't tell him anyway since she would rather hold it over your head to make you make your move," Klaw replied.

"Okay kids, cut the chatter now. We have to realize the possibility that there will be guards from here on and I'm going to move forward until I hit the sewer entrance to make sure there aren't any actually guarding down here. If there are you'll find them knocked out, I'll flag you before you pass the entrance," Sherri said before likely completely disappearing from sight.

'We're supposed to be a team,' I thought to myself

Leaning forward Klaw whispered "That is her teamwork."

Eventually we came across a body shoved up against the wall, Mike reached for the base of the neck and felt for a pulse, a minute later he gave the thumbs up.

We kept moving and soon we came across Sherri's tail hanging through a hole in the ceiling. After we got there she pulled her tail back up and a metal cord dropped down slowly. After we all came up Sherri said quietly "Look out," a moment later the cord and the ball attached to the end of it flew past us quickly. "We'll just have a short distance after this, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem to get to the holding cells," she said quietly as we started off.

After several minutes of moving through the reeking tunnel I saw a dot of light open ahead of us and then we were climbing out of the small hole. As I was coming up I heard a small whoof of noise as a soldier landed next to the hole and Sherri was standing over to the side in the entryway of a security room.

"As soon as you're all out of there we move, they'll want to check in on him in the next twenty minutes or so, Mike if you don't mind starting your watch that I know you brought that would be nice," Sherri said before walking into the security room for some reason.

"Ok, ready when you are," Mike said.

"Good, Sherri do you know if the cells are electronic locks or traditional?" Klaw asked.

Walking back out she said "Both, there is an electronic lock that unlocks the opening for the traditional lock, apparently it's a multi pin and tumbler lock with two openings that need to be opened with two different keys that need to be turned within three seconds of each other. So Anne we'll need you to give one lock set to Mike because the locks are six feet apart."

"Alright, catch Mike," Anne said taking out a basic lock picking kit and tossing it to him after she had managed to pull herself out of the hole.

"Ok is everyone ready?" Mike asked when Anne was out of the hole, catching the kit easily.

"Yes, so is everyone else," Klaw said.

"Okay, stay behind me and if anyone shoots me I won't be going down easily. Let's go," Sherri said walk slowly starting around the corner and pulling out a pair of short expanding metal bars with handles, the back of the bar was just barely beyond her elbows.

We continued down the halls for several minutes looking for the president. We soon came across our first guard, Mike took the shot, he went down without any noise. We then came across a fork we took the left.

As we found a group of guards Sherri motioned silence and for me to take the one on the left before she basically disappeared from sight to take down the right side guards. Firing several shots the guards were once again dispatched and out cold. Suddenly a guard came up from behind us, and Mike lunged forward and knocked him out.

That was a close one soon though we had made our way to the cells, Sherri was working her magic on the doors as we were watching out for more guards. Then the two panels on either side of the door slid open,

"Done, Anne and Mike, get to work. We don't have much time left, we've taken out too many guards one of them should have had to check in by now," Sherri said while stepping back from the electronic lock.

"Let's get him then," Mike said.

While they picked the locks I saw Sherri get fidgety and then sprint off to another hallway entrance and disappear around the corner. There was a few seconds of silence and then a guard slammed against the wall where she had turned around the corner before she came back. "Those were sniffers, we need to move," she said while grabbing something from Anne's bag and placing it on the door, "Get back everyone."

After we were all back fifteen feet or so she clicked a button on a remote and the door blew in with a loud noise, "It's safe now, someone get him, Klaw spin up the minigun, we'll have company soon."

"So much for stealth," Mike said.

"Behind you," Sherri said lunging toward him, but it was too late. Someone was standing behind him and fired a shotgun through his heart. As he felt to the ground Sherri spun her sticks back onto her arms and threw forward three heavy metal spheres attached to cords, two on her arms and one on her tail, as they connected the guy was suddenly thrumming with electricity.

Walking over and checking his pulse Klaw said "Damn it, there is no way he's still alive, and I mean Mike unfortunately, the soldier is still breathing."

Sitting up suddenly Mike said "Holy fucking Christ. That hurt like a mother fucker. How bad is it Klaw?" Mike asked.

Stepping back Klaw said "You were dead, I checked your pulse. It was slightly redundant honestly since you had a giant hole through your heart. Check for yourself, your gear shows the blood and hole still, even if the hole in your body is filled."

"No need to tell me I fucking felt it. The whole experience is something you don't want to feel. Get the damn President, and we're going to get the fuck out of here," He said standing up and picking up the shotgun the soldier had and walked over to him, "I may have orders not to kill anyone, but I am going to make you pay."

Taking a small tube out from its holster on her thigh and tossing it to him Sherri said "Shake it, and don't look at either end when you do so, make it hurt, a lot."

Doing as Sherri said he shook it a few times and he was holding a four and a half foot two inch wide pole and brought it down on the soldiers knees ensuring that even if he could walk again he'd never serve again, "I'm going to keep this shot gun. Come on what is the hold up?"

Walking out of the cell with a blue grey Lion Anne said "Only you, I've been bringing the president up to speed, at least he isn't a moron like the last president."

"Let's go then," Sherri said while starting to head down the hallway we came from and when we came to a corner she suddenly came back around and said "Okay, secondary exit. Let's go."

We were running as fast as we could taking down any guards in our way when Sherri suddenly stopped in response to a seeming army of sniffers with three standing in front.

Stepping up the first one said "Well isn't this quaint,"

The second one said "Six little mice trying to paint,"

The third on said "But blood doesn't work very well for that now does it."

At that moment Klaw stepped forward and started unleashing a wall of darts filled with non lethal ways of stopping them, "Go, Sherri you have to get them out of here."

"You can't fucking take them down like that, idiot," she yelled while running up a wall and punching loose a ventilation cover that she then threw into the crowd, killing at least one of them from the blood I saw, "Get in, we're obeying his orders." I could see how much this was killing Sherri not to be killing those sniffers, she could probably do it too.

"Sorry Sherri," Mike said following her.

Getting into the vent as quickly as I could I saw Mike moving quickly on just his elbows in front of me and heard Anne getting in behind me. After several minutes and a couple turns there I came to an open vent and saw Mike and Sherri standing tensely to either side of the opening, getting out I heard Sherri say "About time, we need to go, Klaw is dead by now against that many second and three damned third gen sniffers."

"I hope you're wrong on that it'd be the worst thing that's happened to me and the organization," I said.

Getting out and landing next to me and then helping the President down Anne said "The chances of him surviving that are slim. There were fifty-seven second gen sniffers there and with the three third gens controlling them they would be operating at one hundred and thirty percent efficiency. We should leave quickly."

"I second that Sherri you're driving, I don't like to admit it but you're the best we have right now," Mike said tossing her the keys.

Catching them she said "Fine, people we're breaking into a run now, Mister President, I really hope you can keep up with Lisa and Anne at the very least." With that she all but vanished from my sight moving straight up the tunnel.

We broke into a dead run with only Mike close to Sherri but then a gunshot whizzed past us and she actually did disappear and we started to encounter bodies with a lot of physical injuries and tears in their clothes or gear. Following Mike and helping the President keep up when it became too much. Suddenly hearing an engine roaring I saw the wall burst inward and Sherri was behind the wheel of the mission truck coming through from another tunnel. After we got in Sherri pressed the lockdown button and every slit of visibility on the truck closed with heavy plating and she was driving by the computer screens alone. When a shock rumbled through the truck she pressed another set of buttons and Mike had a control panel appear with a reticule in the middle of the screen. Pointing at the screen with her tail Sherri said "175 mm anti tank rounds, Devil set up an auto loading system with twenty shots, make them count, you always said you were the best sniper, put a round right down their barrel."

"Just like old times then" Mike said manning the weapon, he swiveled it around to look at the tank and took a deep breath and fired a shot and to Sherries request it was straight down their barrel, "Find me a harder target Sherri."

A much larger shock rolled through the truck and a warning said over the speakers *Missiles locked.* "How is that for a harder target, we can't take more than three more shots from that silo." Sherri said while swerving to avoid a direct hit from the second missile.

"They're good but I'm better. Find me the missile truck," Mike said.

"That's going to be one hell of a shot Mike, can you do it?" I asked.

"Trust me," he said.

Pressing a series of keys and bringing up several more screens one of them was a map of the area with a red dot on it Anne said "The hijacked satellite we have points that as the missile truck firing at us," pressing a few more keys a moving blue dot appeared and she continued "That would be us there."

"Ok, got 'em," he said, and fired, "Did it hit?"

After a few seconds the red blip disappeared and Anne said "Yes."

"Damn I'm good, We got any cigars back at base?" Mike asked.

"Yes and yes, in case anyone is curious we are actually in the clear now," Sherri said before ending the lockdown so that she could see through the windows again.

A little while later we were back at base and our victory bittersweet we lost a good man today, and saved another person probably more important in the long run. Mike got some cigars and passed one out to each of us, "To more successful engagements and may we find Klaw alive and well."

Sceaming at Mike Sherri said "Successful engagements, what the fucking hell is that supposed to mean!"

"We've got to keep a level head about this, one loss is better than the loss of a whole squad," he said calmly.

That seemed to do it as Sherri twitched for a moment whispered "Level head, who the hell has a level head when he fucking should have left me there," Glaring at Mike and whipping a dagger from her pocket across the room Sherri laughed as the blood flowed until it dawned on her who she had just thrown the dagger at and whispered "no, no, no, no, no..." before running out of the room.

"Ok, get me to a medical center, before I lose too much blood," he said, falling to the floor, clutching at the knife.