Not all Monsters wear Masks [TBTP, Afghanistan, Closed]

God damnit it’s hot was the first thought that rolled through her mind as she climbed out of the Humvee she had been riding in, yanking the Bose headphones out of her ears. It had been a long boring ride, and she had managed to only doze off once on the way here, listening to a bunch of classic rock mixed with a bunch of other random songs. Stepping out, it was obvious that she was not the typical soldier in any way, shape or form; her uniform was obviously a smidge too small, and tailored to show off her assets in any way that didn’t fall out of regulation. She had the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, showing off strong, toned forearms and almost instantly after stepping out, she reached in her shirt and grabbed a pack of cigarettes, flipping them open and grabbing a twenty dollar bill rolled in it, and flipping the bill to the Sergeant First Class who caught it deftly. Her twin pistols tucked into her armpits, she looked at the man with the cigar with a bit of what seemed to be boredom.

Lost that bet… she had hoped the Merc’s had told command to fuck off and started the party already.

She grabbed her bag first, slipping the medium rucksack over her shoulder and synching the straps, obviously not worried about the weight. Once that was in place she grabbed ‘Henrietta’, a massive rifle, out of the truck and slammed the door, shouldering the rifle as well. It was a Barret 50 caliber sniper rifle that gleamed with a shine not common to the deserts, showing it was well taken care of, with a large Oracle sight-scope on the top that was used for taking out targets that normal people could never dream of. How many times had she broken that record for ‘longest kill shot’? Three times now? Still, she couldn’t brag about it because of the ‘hush hush’ nature of her assignments, but she knew, and that was all that really mattered. Grabbing a cigarette from her carton and lighting it with a zippo that was in her chest pocket, she tucked the cigarettes away for now and took in a deep draft.

Stupid Major and not letting her smoke in the truck… fuckin’ prick.

As if on cue, the Major turned, gave her a look of disdain, and then turned to the NCO in charge of the operation. “Have them staged over there and ready to roll out when we are done with this meeting, Sergeant… shouldn’t take long. Forge… try not to kill anyone.”[/color] There was obviously malice in his words, but also a relative note of fear. Made sense… she had killed a Lieutenant in blind rage when he tried to use his rank to make her get her and her entire squad killed… then blamed it on an enemy sniper. She was never found guilty, because her squad would carry the secret to the grave, but there were rumors, and that gave even the higher ranks a healthy respect for her reputation.

“Try not to piss me off.” she said briskly, her amber eyes unwavering as they passed over the Major. He was a thin, tall man. She would break him easily if she wanted to. Without another thought on the matter, she looked back towards the big guy with the cigar. “And lookee here… fuckin’ G.I. Joe himself. Heard a bit about you. Impressive Kill Count.” With a sly grin she passed him up, entering the command tent where the map would be and where the Major would try to lay out his plan. It wasn’t going to fly of course, but she would let him pretend to be in charge. She had heard him talking it over with the SFC on the way here… reading his lips mostly since she didn’t want to turn down her music; he was planning to use the Mercenaries as decoys. That shit wasn’t going to fly and she knew it.

672/672

The Major spent a moment to give orders to his Seargent-- and Erek remained neutral as the woman moved up to him, calling him "G.I. Joe" of all things, he simply glanced at her and simply shrugged-- he wasn't proud of how many people he had murdered. He did it, and he was good at it-- that didn't mean that he enjoyed it, nor did he intend to brag about it. Instead, he let her walk past, and turned-- following her in as the Major entered in front of him, and Erek already had a bad taste in his mouth. The guy was thin, and he could practically see the shit decorating his nose.

The classical "I came out of the Academy, I'm special" type-- probably hadn't seen a day of real combat in his life. Plus, the motherfucker was late by a minute.

As he entered, the Major would immediately turn and offer a hand, barely a callous on it. "Major Sim--" Erek however, cut straight to the chase, his hawk-like eyes staring into the man's own with cold disdain. "I know your name, sir," he stated bluntly, before continuing on as the man's shocked face entertained his vision. "I have an entire battalion of my men sitting out in the boiling heat, waiting for attack orders while worrying about some crazy motherfucker running out with a bomb strapped to his chest. Let's skip the niceties, shall we?" The Major stared in shock for several moments-- before he slowly straightened and cleared his throat. Turning without a word to the map.

"Well, that's good then-- because your men won't be needed for the final push. You'll be covering the flanks and be attacking from the front in order to distract the terrorists-- from there, my company will split into--" Erek's tone was calm, and firm-- but held a lethality to it. "Major, you're an idiot if you think a single company of soldiers is going to manage to sneak up on that building just because we're firing some rounds at the terrorists." He stated it bluntly, and the man halted, slowly turning-- eyes wide.

It was clear the idiot thought he'd just step in, and command everyone like he owned the place. Erek however, wasn't the type to be walked over.

"Let me put this as, plainly, as possible." He had put the cigar out, in order to respect the man-- but now the point was gone. He wasn't worth his god damn respect, what he was-- was in the way. A simple steel lightly ignited the cigar as his eyes met the man's own calmly.

"I have orders to do this as effective, and cleanly as possible. I was ordered to let your men take the glory, that's fine, we don't give a fuck as long as we get the job done and get our pay. But what I won't allow is you fucking the job up for us. I am in command of my battalion-- if you want to try and send your men in for a god damn suicide mission just to try and get a notch in your belt for a promotion, I'll have your ass demoted faster than you can lick a generals ass to save you, boy." His eyes stared into the man's own, who had absolutely no idea how to deal with this sudden assault on his authority-- his green showing, it was different from the abuse that was risked with "Forge".

It was a simple threat on his life-- but this was something more. He'd looked at the man's history-- Honorably Discharged due to doing exactly what he was doing now-- but to a General instead. He didn't think the man would have the audacity to do it again. But here he was, and when the Major opened his mouth to argue, Erek's eyes hardened.

"Don't make me bring documentation from the higher ups into this, Major." That made the man halt-- documentation? What the fuck was he talking about?

Then the realization hit him-- he'd only glanced it over, not thinking it important-- but there had been an order from a four-star general-- he'd been the one to approve the hiring of this group, and it had been required to be kept top secret. Suddenly he was at a disadvantage-- he hadn't read it all, thinking it was standard paperwork for their hiring, not that important since they'd fall in line as he was the commanding officer.

"If I have valid reasoning, I have General Hall's backing-- and trust me, I damn well have solid reasoning with this bullshit your spitting trying to pass off as a plan." He stared into the man's eyes for a single moment, before slowly, he would lower his eyes. "Very well, then what is your recommendation?"

"Stay out of my way, and stay in the tent." Erek's tone was blunt, as he glanced toward the woman, stepping forward and past the man that looked like he had just been punched in the stomach, as he placed his hands on the map. Asking the woman details instead.

"Do you know the specialties of the troops you're with? If not-- who does, beyond the idiot behind me?" It was blunt and simple. If he needed to talk to the Seargent, that was fine. He had a stack of papers that had that information but he didn't have time to go reading through it-- he needed answers, simple and to the point to incorporate the company in with his own men so they could handle the situation smoothly with as few casualties as possible.

---

Post Words: 937
Thread Words: 1,488

"Major Sim--""I know your name, sir,"

Natalie’s eyebrow raised and a smile tracked it’s way across her face… she liked this dude already. He seemed to be a little more straight and arrow, but he wasn’t going to take any shit… and that was something she could definitely both relate to and appreciate. Leaning back against the support pole for the tent, she crossed her arms underneath her chest, and if she could, she would have grabbed some popcorn because this was fixing to be a spectacular sight. The first thing he did was put things into perspective for the dipshit… not a bad move, making him see that he had more important things on his mind than pleasant introductions.

A second interruption while the Major was going over his ‘brilliant plan’… oh yes this guy had spunk and she was drinking it in like it was her favorite show in the entire world… and to be fair, it was damn close. He popped his cigar back out, and in an almost automatic fashion, Natalie did the same, popping the cigarette into her mouth and lighting it without a second thought, her amber eyes never leaving the spectacle before her. She didn’t want to miss a damn thing. This was something that she would be able to look back on during a time that shit truly did suck and be able to smile again… a pleasant, beautiful memory she would treasure. She continued to listen, and thought it was pretty damn generous to simply let him take the credit when his crew was going to get stuck with doing all the work.

The bit about General Hall, that was something very interesting. This guy had friends in very high places, and the only reason she had managed to get any information about the ground was because she had friends in similar places… if friends were people you extorted when necessary. Amazing what a little blackmail could get you these days. But the best scene so far was when the Major knew he had been beaten, and was told to stay in the tent like a good little boy. Forge couldn’t take it anymore, and bust up laughing. That deep, hearty laugh of something that they found as legitimately and incredibly funny, and it lasted all the way until he started making his way towards her, when she finally started to try to control it, looking up at the guy and holding her cigarette in one hand, wiping the tears of joy from her eyes with the other. Leaning back up, she steadied her breathing as she was asked the question, and she popped the cigarette back into her mouth but didn’t draw on it.

"Do you know the specialties of the troops you're with? If not-- who does, beyond the idiot behind me?"
"Thank God your not an idiot and have a set of nuts... I know my guys, sure... what is your headcount?"
"Seven hundred fifty three. Split into four companies-- each has a specialty, we also have two sniper squads positioned in the other buildings."
“How many specialize in CQC?”
"A hundred and eighty one. My first company is nothing but CQC, X-Marines and Seals, primarily-- though none of my men are untrained in that area."
Forge let out a whistle, then continued, “Fuckin' overkill, love it. Desired Timeframe?”
"Two hours ago. I had to hold back for your arrival. No hostages, unknown number inside the building but each floor is covered. They have snipers-- at least a squads worth. High priority target near the building roof."

Forge took a long draw from her cigarette, and that was all the time she needed. Out of respect, she blew the smoke out of her nose and away from him, also giving her the appearance of a dragon, especially with the damn near diabolic smile that sketched across her face.

“Then this is how we do this. My guys are good shots, but crap indoors, so most of ‘em will pull outer security. Detain and kill anyone who flees based on their threat. We do have EOD Specialists though, so one of ‘em will link up with your CQC boys and help deal with their fuckin’ IED’s they love so much. They will be on standby for 10 minutes once we start. Your snipers will be providing overwatch… and me and ‘Henrietta’ here…” she paused, setting the rifle next to her and turning it sideways so he could see the Oracle scope that was attached, “will take out as many as I can until I bingo on ammo… maybe 8 minutes tops… whittle them down. Then me, you, and our boys move in and sweep and clear. Should be done inside an hour, and that’s if your boys are draggin’ ass.”

Her tone was simple, yet insightful and held the same tone of authority, but with a slightly different ring to it. She didn’t have that ‘I am the commander of troops’ vibe, but more the ‘this is how we kill them quickly’ tone that was only home to those who truly enjoyed the art of war. She was open for him to provide suggestions, of course, but this was, without question, the best course of action that popped into her pretty little head. If he had a problem with it, he needed to voice it now, but as a little bit of a reinforcement she reached into her shirt and pulled out a single large bullet, showing it off.

“SABOT rounds… heard of em? Usually shot by tanks… superheat and can puncture uranium armor. The Oracle can find their heartbeats through a foot of concrete, and I don’t miss.” The implications of this were extremely clear; she would be able to take out most of the enemy and eliminate a lot of threat to him and his men before they even had to move in, but that only worked if he went with her plan, or a slight deviation of said plan.

1004/1676

The conversation moved smoothly, the woman was blunt, and near-feral, but at least she knew what she was talking about. He nodded his head as she commented about EOD-- they had some, but most of his men specialized in blowing shit up-- not the other way around. They could defuse a bomb, sure, but that wasn't quite the same as being an actual specialist in them. Erek allowed the smoke to trail from his lips, not blowing it out at all as he contemplated the plan briefly-- mind working over them before he would examine her. Specialically her eyes when she made the comment on not missing-- Erek had gotten a long way on just his gut, honed with experience and knowledge.

His lips curled in a slight smirk. "My boys don't drag ass-- guess we'll have time to break for lunch after all." Turning, he moved toward a large crate on the side-- speaking into the radio on his shoulder as he moved.

"Jimmy."

"Sir?"

"We got our orders set. Get first company's asses in gear, spread into defensive formation around the building, let the birds fill in the holes and work with them nice-like. If I hear about a god damn fist fight this time I'll take their ass to the ring personally. I want S-One and two to setup for a temporary Squad leader to be with them shortly. Red hair, crazy eyes, big ass gun-- they won't miss her. They're to follow her orders and prepare to start lighting that building up under her directive."

"Yes, sir. Who will be leading the First Company, sir?"

Erek's lips curled slightly, it was slight, but the grin was there. "Me. I'm leaving you in charge, think of it as a temporary field promotion, Colonel." There was a brief pause, and one could practically hear the sigh before the obviously annoyed voice replied.

"Yes, sir. Don't die, please." Erek simply snorted in response. "No promises."

With that, he yanked the black crate open and inside rested his real babies. Though the fifty caliber Eagle on his belt was clearly not just for show-- his smirk when he reached into the case and pulled out a long pitch black combat knife that was more like a short sword than a simple knife, having the word "Atgeir" engraved into its side was flipped out, before he tucked it into a sheath on his thigh. Strapping on body armor over each section of his body, leaving only the joints unprotected, a vest held multiple slim throwing knives along with its protection as he grabbed a helmet as he moved toward the exit of the tent, glancing back at her assuming she was even waiting for him.

It didn't take him long to move toward his personal AFV. The other troops had long already passed on heading to the main battle line-- it was their turn to catch up with the two squads that had remained behind-- several more remaining on guard around the temporary HQ as Erek hauled his mass of muscle into the front-- not allowing anyone try to drive him as he motioned for the woman to hop into the passenger side.

It wouldn't take them long to get there, the sooner they did, the better. The cigar in his mouth shifted, and as soon as she was in as well he flashed the signal-- and they were off with their small escort through the sand, Erek glanced over at her-- young. Probably had been in active duty most of her adult life considering her rank, no matter how good at her job she was. "How long have you been in?" he asked simply, shifting the cigar between his lips as his eyes remained to scan the area carefully as they passed through sand into old, cracked streets as buildings began to become more common around them.

The area was supposed to be clear, but he'd learned long ago shit didn't always work out the way you wanted it too out here. It only took one crazy motherfucker with an RPG or an IED to fuck up your entire day.

---

Post Words: 690
Thread Words: 0

The lip curl and comment was all that it took for the hunger in Natalie’s Amber Eyes to kindle from a glowing ember to a monstrous flame, and the smile across her face look like it could have suited a demon just fine. The combination made demons look timid in comparison. “I’m down, but your cookin’… My ass doesn’t belong in a kitchen.” She listened as the guy addressed ‘Jimmy’ over the radio, and bit back a joke about Jimmy Dean’s Sausage, knowing she should have plenty of time for that afterwards. As if on cue, the Sergeant First Class came back in, and she reached back into her backpack and grabbed a massive magazine, loading the Sabot round with the rest of it’s bretheren in her clip and sliding it home inside ‘Henrietta’. “We are going with plan B. I’d leave a few here to keep the Colonel safe while he starts writing his report card.”

The Sergeant smiled. “Alright then… good hunting, Chief.” Without another word, he left again, not needing to know anything else.

She couldn’t help but laugh at the description of her, even if it was slightly flawed; she didn’t have red hair, damnit. It was fucking purple. But honestly, she was simply too excited to care enough to make a stink about it. It was what came after that truly intrigued her… she had judged him right in the way that he wasn’t the type to sit behind a desk. He was going to go out with her and help to take these bastards down, and she couldn’t help but wonder if that meant that she would get to see him in action. The blades did nothing but stoke the flames in her soul, that lust for battle… she didn’t use knives, but her own ‘babies’ were quite a force to be reckoned with themselves. Forge would get to show them off soon enough, she was certain… but that was after she watched what he could do.

She didn’t hesitate to oblige as he motioned for her to hop in his own vehicle, placing the Ammo Bag in the backseat along with Henrietta with all the care of a newborn child. Done with her cigarette finally, she flicked the butt into the sand and jumped in herself. Still no helmet or vest, but there was a reason for that which he would discover later as well… she had ironed that one detail in her mind already. Once she was done sniping, she would find Erek and tag along with him directly and see how he worked… she truly wanted to see that blade in action.

Riding along, she chuckled at his question. It was cute, him trying to make small talk. “Been in a little over a year… but I don’t consider this a ‘job’ like most of those brats. This is a way of life, and for now, it’s all I got. Wouldn’t have it any other fuckin’ way.” She seemed deeply satisfied with her line of work, and the fact that she got paid for it was just icing on the cake. Her amber eyes were searching too, looking for possible targets, and that vicious grin had yet to leave her face.

Why would it? Natalie Forge was about to do what she did best; shoot motherfuckers.

Reaching into her cargo pocket, she pulled out a pair of fingerless, knuckle-less gloves and slipped them on, adjusting them for fit. She allowed her gaze to flit over to Erek for a moment, noting how he was looking for possible threats and was ready, muscles tight. He would probably be a lot of fun to fuck around with later, and she would like to see what he was like off duty, hoping that he had a side to him that was a little less uptight. “Your record was buried pretty deep. Took some doing to get to take a gander at it… and honestly I can see myself walking in your footsteps if things keep up. I don’t take shit from higher ups either, if you haven’t noticed.” She was trying to relate to him a little bit, showing that she felt that they were similar in a few ways… her own small talk.

710/2386

Didn't belong in a kitchen, huh? That seemed pretty damn accurate from where he was sitting. A smirk of amusement passed his lips as he glanced at her, "Sorry, I'm not much of a chef either, looks like its preservative-laced foods and tobacco smoke for the both of us," he stated in an amused tone-- but of course, beyond that there wasn't much response out of the man. Once they were out, and driving-- he listened to her response-- a year and already a Warrant Officer. The woman likely wasn't exaggerating about her shot-- she had to be damn good at her job.

The grin that decorated her face made it that much more clear-- the woman breathed the job, though likely in a different way that he did. That was fine. A slight grin formed on his lips, before his eyes focused on their surroundings-- then, of course, she commented on his record and his brow arched even if he didn't take his eyes off the road. So she had at least a three star general in her pocket that could access that information-- if she knew everything that was four, but he doubted that's what she was referencing. His record was supposed to buried pretty high in the security clearance after he became a Battalion Commander.

Still, her words were interesting at least. "Well if you're ever discharged, do your best to do it honorably-- or at least get an OTH. It'll make getting a place in a similar job a lot easier." His eyes briefly moved toward her as his brow arched for a brief moment, "I may even put in a word for you to get you pulled into our organization if you want," with that, he would then let his gaze return to their surroundings. Luckily-- they didn't have anything serious take place, it was all relatively relaxed as he pushed forward through the streets before they began to see the other military vehicles, makeshift bunkers, sand walls, and the occasional aiming laser from a rifle in the buildings flash down.

There weren't any gunshots just yet, signaling how long the stand off had been going-- neither side wanted to waste the ammunition without a proper strategy. The building in question looked like it was, at one point, a religious building of some sort-- but any symbols had long fallen, and it was riddled with broken glass and bullet holes. Sliding on the break as he parked the vehicle, he hopped out smoothly-- immediately the man from before walked up in the same black uniform, body armor, and vest that Erek was sporting-- the only difference was on his shoulder, instead of there being four silver hollow circles's, there was only three. Obviously used for whatever basic ranking system the mercenaries had.

As the man walked up, he saluted before relaxing slightly after Erek had nodded. "I assume everything's ready?"

"Yes sir. First company is ready, both sniper squads are ready for her." Jim's eyes glanced to the side at the maroon headed woman, before focusing on Erek once more.

"Good." His eyes glanced back at Natalie, and he would simply lift a hand toward one of the larger buildings-- appearing about seven stories. "They're positioned there. I've temporarily given you the rights of a three star, basically. They won't question you as long as your orders are to the point and make sense." It was simple enough, he-- frankly, wasn't a sniper. He could use them for tactics and he had plenty of experience-- but placing them in the command of a competent sniper was far more advantageous for him.

---

Post Words: 606
Thread Words: 2,784

He claimed that he wasn’t a cook either, and she gave him a honest to god expression of pure disappointment. “Damnit! Fuckin’ hate MRE’s… you gotta swing by Kandahar when we’re done here… I know a dude that can cook the shit outta some goat. Sounds fucked up but damn is it good.” The smile was back in full force, and it was obvious from her tone that she wasn’t lying in the slightest, but then again, as he would learn in time, she never lied. Wouldn’t always say the whole truth, but never in her life would she lie. Something about being told she was lying and making things up when she told the police, repetitively, about the invisible force that had taken her gun and shot her father to death… she would never lie to someone, and shoot anyone who said otherwise.

He mentioned an ‘honorable discharge’ being what she should shoot for, and her lip curled a little bit and she gave a large, exaggerated eyeroll, then a smirk. “I know… it’s why I didn’t take care of Major Dipshit myself… but in hindsight? I’m glad I didn’t. You did it in a way that was way more satisfying. But yea… might take you up on that eventually… keep it in my pocket.” She let out a short bit of laughter at that part, thinking about the expression the Major had on his face, but now her eyes hardened and the vicious smile returned in force. They had arrived.

Did that guy… oh my god was he a fucking rookie or just scared out of his mind?! “Fucking Sniper Check… Jesus…” she growled, sounding legitimately angry for the first time. Saluting anywhere near the enemy was just asking for someone hidden and waiting to pick off Erek, as this idiot had just signaled to anyone watching that he was higher ranking. Shaking her head, she paid attention to the rest of the information, as it was important.

Shifting, she quickly unbuttoned the top of her jacket and tossed it into the back of the truck, revealing the black crop top that showed off her tan skin, lean muscle and tribal tattoo. Grabbing her bag and rifle, she hoisted them and nodded to Erek, then set off for the building. Abandoned aside the sniper team, she elevated herself so that she was at about the middle of the place and addressed them. “I’m fuckin’ hungry so I’m gonna keep this short and sweet. I’m about to turn that god damn building and anyone hiding in it to swiss cheese, and when I do, well… Henrietta has a bit of a bark on her, and they will know where I’m at. Your job is to scan those windows and keep them from tryin’ to shoot back at us, and I’ll take care of the rest. Also… whoever the fuck is the Commo guy, grab my pocket and follow me.”

Nothing else to say, she took the stairs two at a time as the other snipers got into position, as she had given them the freedom to do so however they saw fit. Their job was to protect her, plain and simple. The mousy looking soldier with the radio followed her, and she easily outpaced him up the stairs to the roof. Dropping the Ammo Bag on the side and unshouldering Henrietta, she set it down and grabbed the radio. “Alright dude, here on out, if I say something to you, you say it in the radio… word, for fucking word. You mess up, and I’ll kick your ass back downstairs so you can sit and twiddle your thumbs instead of watching a master at work.” Once she was sure he understood, she flipped her wrist over to look at the watch.

“Beginning engagement and ten minute timer for CQC team on my mark… 3… 2… 1… Mark!” Nothing else mattered now… just the sweet sensation she had been looking forward to since first hearing about this mission from the Sergeant…

She popped the bipod and set the stand on the ledge, sitting down behind the weapon and pressing the button on her Oracle scope. After two seconds worth of boot up, she identified the first target; some bastard on the roof walking around with an RPG, plain as day. THOOM!! the massive rifle barked, angled downward towards the enemy, already adjusted for elevation, windage, distance and movement on an instinctive level. The round, superheated to damn near sun-like temperatures, tore through him, the RPG, the ceiling, and probably a couple of floors within the building. He exploded, quite literally, as the heat detonated the RPG round and shook the building they were all hiding in. Knock Knock… Next target, hiding under a window, just below the roof. THOOM!! The guy didn’t even have blood hit the floor, the wound cauterized on the spot, and he was dead before his knees hit the floor. THOOM!! a two for one, the idiots trying to peek out the window to see what happened… lining up right behind the other. Concrete, steel, bricks… none of it could withstand the Sabot rounds. Oh look, they were starting to realize something was happening… THOOM!! THOOM!! THOOM!! THOOM!! THOOM!!

Eight… the mag dropped and clattered on the floor, still smoking, and another from the bag slid home. The snipers were doing their jobs, keeping the guys who did dare peek either dead or hiding, and she hadn’t even so much as barely been looked at by these amateurs. Five minutes later, Henrietta’s barrel was red hot, and the building had a vast number of smoking holes in the structure, looking like it had been hit by a meteor shower. Eight clips, Eight rounds apiece, 64 total rounds, 70 dead enemies, and two floors partially collapsed, and she couldn’t help but laugh loudly. “Mouse! Bingo ammo, and I’m on my way to link up with the CQC. Sniper emplacements will provide overwatch while the teams move in to the building from the hole I carved to the right of the main door. Keep an eye on Henrietta for me until this shit’s over, then bring her down.” Nothing else further, she slid down the spiral staircase, her backpack discarded after grabbing the spare mags for her pistols next to the rifle.

It was a long ride down seven flights of stairs, and she had to take a couple of seconds the shake off the dizziness from the ride. But this, this is where the true fun began, and she moved up, sliding behind Erek and pulling her pistols free. “The Twins are ready to play… let’s fuckin’ do this…”

1112/3498

At the mention of goat, Erek would smirk a bit.

"There's a great place about an hour drive away from this hellhole front line, I'll take you to it some time. Little family resturante from an area we cleared out-- they've got some great food." His smirk decorated his lips, before they moved forward toward Jimmy.

"Don't bother," Erek stated idly, as Jimmy would blink at the words "Sniper Check"-- before realization would dawn on his face and he winced. "Sorry, si--" "Shut up and get going. I'm going to start fucking wearing a god damn sign that screams my rank at this rate anyway." He glanced at Nat and would allow a brief explanation. "Experienced killers. Rookie Soldiers-- most of them anyway." He figured it made it clear enough-- she may not know the specifics of his little group, but it would at least make her understand quite a bit of what she'd be dealing with. Stepping forward after she took off, he would step forward heading toward the primary company-- faces that he was used to looking at him since he had been their company commander until his promotion.

"Alright you fucks, you already know the plan-- let's see what the hothead can do-- and once the signal goes, it's business as usual. Split into squads, follow your one rings, and put the bastards down. Quick, and efficient-- if you get shot, get the fuck out of the way so we can keep going and call the medical squad." The "yes sir" that filled the air was good enough, causing Erek to glance over his shoulder as the radio buzzed in his ear-- the countdown initiating before it began. It sounded like a god damn anti-air cannon being fired from the roof, and he allowed a slight smirk to form on his lips after the first impact.

Then, they continued-- and he had to give a soft whistle of approval at the power of the gun-- and the accuracy of the marksman, she, quite literally, tore chunks of the walls wide open, she had to of cut down at least two squads worth of men by herself-- with the other snipers help, even more. He glanced at his watch, thirty seconds, and suddenly she was beside him-- his personal squad all were older. Man and woman, each one held scar's, tattoo's, and clear signs of complete ease with combat experience. He smirked down at her, "Just make sure you keep up," he stated simply-- before releasing a slow breath.

Ten seconds. Five seconds.

They broke cover, dashing across the rubble and streets and moving straight toward the building as only a few shots managed to hit near them before their own snipers covered them-- squads from every angle were on the move, only the back of the building was free, and that was done on purpose. A funnel to ensure if they wanted to run, they only had one way to go. The wall was falling apart, and his foot slammed into what was left sending concrete and rock flying inside, where he heard the Pashto curses from inside-- before the triggers could be pulled, three knives were already in the air.

The gurgling of a throat full of metal filled the air-- Erek didn't need to see them in order to know where they had been, he didn't need to see them to count how many, the voices had been enough. His eyes hadn't adjusted yet, he heard the footfalls and darted forward, despite his bulk moving with surprising agility, the moment they exited the hall, rifles raised- Erek was already ontop of them, breaking the fingers that were holding the rifles and using the weapons like batons, smashing the men across the heads with them so hard the stocks splintered as wood flew across the stairwell.

He didn't stop and wait for the squad-- he was already dashing up the stairs. His squad seemed used to this, and remained-- spreading out over the floor as curses, silenced gunshots, and general melee combat filled the first floor. Erek figured the woman would follow him, but he wasn't relying on such, instead he kept going-- not halting once, each time he rounded a corner a knife already in his hand, yanked from the corpse of whoever had earned it previously before it hurled through the air to thud into his new target. Reaching the third floor through the stairway, squads invading both bottom levels, he rolled his shoulders briefly-- having left behind dozens of bodies that were now slowly covering the stairs in pools of blood, each kill near-silent, efficient, targeting the throat or temple.

He halted at the door, and glanced down, checking to see if the woman had followed him-- the rest of the squads would be here soon, but he didn't need them to clear out the entire floor. Especially after she had already thinned their numbers out earlier.

---

Post Words: 824
Thread Words: 3,608

The invitation to the family restaurant had her laughing a bit. “Hot damn, sounds like a fuckin’ date to me! Tell you what… I’mma see if it’d be worth it today, so I’ll pop that answer after the mission.” Of course, she didn’t mention anything about the fact that she didn’t have any type of romantic emotions left in her as far as she knew, as she had hunted them down and butchered those emotions long ago. Associated with having feelings for people, and that almost always resulted in pain. The bit about the ‘sniper check’ was nothing more than an interesting tid bit of information, and one that went without further comment. It didn’t honestly need one. He summed up what was happening pretty easily.

After her fun on the roof, she gave him a single order, to which she had a simple enough response. “Please… I’m the Shit Bitch, I need Toilet Paper. I’m on your six.” The run had been a quick sprint, and the snipers did their job keeping them pinned down for the most part, and as a fellow sniper, she completely understood that it took time when a new target presented itself, so she would forgive the slowpoke that put down the one that shot at them. She stayed directly behind

She had to say, the first room? She was fuckin’ impressed by his blind instinct and accuracy with those knives. Not wanting to waste ammo, she let the rest of the squad sweep and clear and kept up with Erek, even matching his footfalls perfectly so that it sounded like he was the only one, a trick she picked up last assignment and practiced even when walking around. She had no doubt in her mind that Erek knew she was behind him, watching everything as they went and surprised immensely at his sheer speed. She wasn’t a slacker and was keeping pace, but she would have thought that gear would have slowed him down a lot. Guess the muscle wasn’t just for show. She slowed at the stairs because she could hear a lot of footsteps heading their way as the enemy reacted to Erek slaughtering everything near them.

Then, with a slight bounce in her step as she hummed the tune from Disney’s ‘The Lion King’, I’ve Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts she began her assault. The first one was ‘chasing’ them, and she turned only slightly, putting her pistol under her armpit and landing the first CRACK into the man’s chest, and everything about him seemed to burst into flame as he rocked backwards. Flesh, blood, clothing, none of it was spared as the white-phospherous tipped round tore a hole through him and began to eat him from in the inside out. His anguished screams only lasted a moment or two longer before they were silenced… but more importantly, the pain in his voice had caused the others to stall themselves, giving her a target rich environment of people that were slightly terrified at the sound.

She crossed her arms at the next two, showing that she easily didn’t need to look down the sights at this range, and the extent of her hand-eye coordination. CRACK CRACK and two more men began to scream as their chests burst into a white flame, as well as the walls and flooring behind them. Still humming the tune and seeming to dance along with the song, she spun as she took the stairs two at a time, letting the rounds rip through her opponents while simultaneously starting a funeral pyre for them on the spot. She even took a moment to pop her hips in a very dance-like fashion while igniting three more poor, unfortunate souls, all the while, smiling like a demon. It took a whole minute for her to elevate herself up the stairs, eliminating foes as she went, even one on the third floor who collapsed near Erek, screaming and grabbing at his chest as the flames ate through him.

Natalie finally arrived next to Erek, and very casually pulled a cigarette from her carton stored in her pocket, putting the cancer stick up to the flames of the now dead and burning carcass, lighting it. Once it was in her mouth, she dropped both magazines and pulled two more out of the back of her belt, and slid them into her pistols which were still smoking. She seemed to be legitimately enjoying herself, and was looking for what was next. “Time to switch. Watch my pretty ass while I take point down this hall, will ya?”

Without any more warning, she dashed into the next room by literally jumping into the door and using the momentum to carry her like some sort of improvised surfboard, firing twice through the door at anyone on the other side, and then turning her sights sideways. From the screams in the room, there had been someone indeed behind the door. Tumbling forwards in a roll, she was on her back and spinning, firing rounds as she went, catching most of them off guard. One lucky bastard had enough sense to draw a bead and start firing, but she was still moving, slipping against the wall and running up it, launching off a countertop in a balanced backflip and lighting the bastard up with two extra rounds for his trouble, along with the guy cowering behind him, likely pissing himself. That douche got a round to the face. Emerging from the room, she continued moving, wanting to clear the whole floor, just the two of them.

And burn this place down in the process.

940/4438

The woman was a walking catastrophe. If his kills were barely noticeable and smooth, her own were loud and explosive. Lots of yelling, the scent of roasted pork filling the air along with burning clothing and singed hair-- if he wasn't already used to such things he probably would have vomited, just at the scent. Thankfully, Erek wasn't a greenhorn-- he continued his assault without blinking, even as the crazy bitch started to hum a song as the melted holes through men. He had to admit, in a twisted, fucked up way-- it was hot. The rest of him told him that it was dangerous to even think that, and he instantly cut the line of thought as he focused on his job-- at least for the moment.

She requested to take point, as he yanked a blade out of the last corpse he'd taken down-- flicking the blood from it against the wall, and simply nodded. The moment the door was kicked down and she had rushed in, guns blazing, he was behind her-- three knives shooting to the side to take out a small group that wasn't in her direct line of fire. Dashing behind her and then-- disappearing from sight, true to his roots, the pitch black material practically cloaked him combined with his skill at using the gunsmoke and dust to cover him. While she was attracting attention in an outright open fire, Erek was attacking from behind.

Men simply disappeared-- one moment they were yelling and firing automatic rifles at the woman, the next they were gone, yanked down by the throat, a knife buried in their skull before it was yanked out and the next went down. It had barely been thirty seconds, and already countless bodies-- some smoking, others looking like they could just be sleeping, littered the ground of the first room-- and he heard the click of her guns being out of ammunition. The room was clear-- sans two, but two thrown knives from the shadows quickly ended that-- however, he heard the footfalls outside in the halls, reading to storm in from the other rooms on the floor.

She needed at least a few seconds to reload. Without missing a beat, his hand slid to his thigh, and the pitch black blade glinted in the light as the short sword was drawn-- the next moment, the door was kicked in, a man lowering his barrel on Nat. Then his arms burst into blood as the weapon thudded to the ground, his screams didn't last long as the black blur slashed once more-- this time the man was separated entirely from his legs, his torso flying overhead as Erek's blade rendered the man in two-- right between the vertebrae, right under the ribcage. A smooth slice that showed how often he had performed it.

The blood that burst out, covering the faces of the other men and Erek both caused them to panic, firing wildly in different directions as Erek carefully stepped into close range, another sword and two more bodies were bisected, a final removed the head and arms he had raised to guard against his body. A flick of the blade removed the blood and he fell back, curving around the doorway once more as he waited for the all clear from Forge to know she was ready to continue-- not even blinking an eye at the actions he'd just committed. He was running low on knives, but he didn't want to dash out and gather them from the bodies until he knew she had ammunition ready for her next barrage of hellfire that she seemed to so enjoy.

He had his eagle, but he only used that when he had absolutely no choice. They still had two floors and part of this one to clear, he could hear the footfalls of the last few in the rooms approaching-- even if now they were slower, far more cautious with the screams of terror and pain that they had been hearing.

---

Post Words: 671
Thread Words: 4,279

Man this guy was quiet… but that was fine. She didn’t mind drawing all the attention, and since she was usually dodging before people even realized that she was kicking their ass, she had yet, in dozens of missions, wind up getting shot yet. She was certain that there was a bit of luck mixed in there, but most people had a hard time hitting a moving target, and when she was engaged, Natalie never stopped moving. The tactics seemed to be working in their favor too; while she was drawing their fire and attention, people just vanished and died. He was like a fucking wraith in the darkness, and she made a mental note never to piss him off while she was standing too close; she was certain that there was no chance in hell of her lasting in close quarters combat with the man.

One of her pistols slides remained back, indicating that it was dry on ammunition, but Forge had been counting and had already hit the magazine release, letting the empty clip hit the floor in a clatter while holding the other pistol at the ready. As if reading her mind, Erek stepped up and in a brutal display of efficiency, ended a group that she would have gotten herself if he hadn’t stepped up. But it was the fact that he had cut them in half, through bone, muscle and everything else, that had drawn her attention more than just a passing glance. She let out a whistle, and already could hear someone… several someones, making their way through the hall. Natalie raised her pistol that was still loaded, the other held by a pinky through the trigger well while she dug for a magazine in her pocket, and placed it upside down behind her head, letting loose a shot right as the guy rounded the door directly into his face. Flipping the magazine into the air, she caught it directly in the magazine well of the empty pistol and placed the slide in her teeth, loading the first round into position.



She then walked into the hall, calm and collected, and noticed eight targets, four on either side, confused as to why she had just calmly walked into their midst. But, before they could react, Natalie aimed the pistols to either side and opened fire, tearing and burning through men in a hail of gunfire. She put a single pistol away once they were down and screaming and reached behind into the pocket that was near her ankle, perfectly balanced on one foot for a moment, and grabbed a small device. She could hear the exchange of gunfire almost directly below them, some resistance fighting Erek’s people. She was sure they could have handled it on their own given time, but she had other plans… Walking over to a toilet, she pulled the pin and counted.

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-CHERRY BOMB!” she sang, mostly to herself, tossing the device into the toilet and flushing it smoothly. Walking away, the High Explosive Incendiary Grenade traveled down the pipe, exploding through the wall on the backside of where the resistance was, and at a gentle walking pace, she walked away as the floor caved in from the room, ceiling of the room she had destroyed, standing next to Erik, the screams of the dying like music to her ears. She exhaled smoke from her cigarette through her teeth and then spat the mostly spent object into the open mouth of one of Erek’s corpses. Grabbing another magazine she slid it home and regrabbed her pistol, fully locked and loaded, her other half empty, as planned. She couldn’t help but pinch his butt as she passed. “If you can do this to a man, you must have been holding yourself back… let’s finish this floor quickly, shall we? Highest kill count wins, loser buys dinner.”

Without another word, she took off at a run, darting ahead and blasting anything than moved with bullets that erupted in white flame, shells clattering on the floor behind her. She liked the old motto that the Army used to have, as it was her own personal standard for things like this.

She was an Army of One.

703/5141

The woman had time to reload her dry pistol as he stepped back out of the line of fire once more-- he heard the breathing on the other side of the drywall and wood, and watched as Forge just waded into the center of them-- that was all well and good for the men in front of her, but not for the man that was now behind her likely aiming his gun right at her. So, Erek did the best thing-- his arm smashed through the wall, sending chunks of drywall and wood splinters in every direction. Before his arm snapped like a snake around the man's throat-- his head smashing into the wall, before Erek's bicep strained a brief moment, the man floundered only a brief second, before the snap of his windpipe was felt.

Erek dropped the corpse-- or soon-to-be corpse, with a thud as he drug his arm back out of the wall, glancing out of the hole as he watched her open fire on the other men that were ducking for cover. A slight smirk of approval on his lips before he stepped forward behind her-- he glanced upward-- however before he could focus his attention completely, he heard the gunfire beneath him-- but he wasn't concerned, his men knew what they were doing. However-- it would seem Forge had other ideas, and when he heard the call for a "Cherry Bomb" he glanced back in time to watch the toilet flush-- and then felt the ground shake beneath him as the gunfire turned to screams of panic and pain, he made a face as he watched the wall start to crumble. He supposed it was time to move forward-- as quickly as possible, actually.

Of course, then she pinched his ass-- glancing back at her without even blinking as she held her terms-- a slow smirk played at the edges of his lips, his gaze turning toward the stairs as she took off forward to finish the rest of the men off. Reaching down, he scooped up the gun from one of the dead, burning corpses-- and dashed toward the stairwell instead of following her. Due to their differing combat styles, he had little doubt she'd win the bet, but that was only if he played fair, the woman was blasting her guns and wasn't even looking behind her. By the time she realized what was going on he would already have the top floor cleared.

Like a specter, he was already in the stairwell-- three men, three corpses, their heads detached from their bodies. Up the stairwell, his mind entered an almost robotic state-- there was only killing: as efficiently as possible, all emotion suppressed, all thoughts focused on that one goal. The door to the next floor came into view-- he kicked it down and open fired. The rifle was loud, clumsy, but he hit each time for those close to him, and that was the point. Hurling the gun like a spear when it was depleted, slamming into the chest by the bayonet-- attracting countless men toward the room, before Erek simply disappeared.

Like a wraith, men disappeared left and right-- without a distraction, he couldn't hold back. Going as fast as possible, as men managed a single yelp, the area was open fired on-- and they filled their buddy with holes. Again, and again, until it was as if someone was dying each second-- soon there was only a handful of men left, and as they were backtracking, trying to get out of the room, Erek shot from the side. Likely around the time that Natalie got up, and had realized what he had done. His blade lashing out twice-- and four bodies fell into multiple chunks as the last one earned a kick to the chest, before being stabbed through the head.

The room was filled with the scent of entrails of dozens-- his intelligent tactics of shock, leading into high-speed rapid assassinations, allowing him to clear most of the floor except for the few smart enough to sit back and realize entering the room wasn't a good idea. He glanced at her casually and offered a slight smirk, before turning toward the door, obviously intending to dash forward in point once again and finish massacring the floor that they were one.

Erek didn't play fair.

---

Post Words: 728
Thread Words: 5,869

She already had a trail of bodies that were mostly on fire, and she could tell that this course was only going to continue. As she had killed everyone in the hall, she silently wondered for a moment how one had gotten behind her… her ass was facing the room she had just left, the one that she and Erek had just cleared. Closet maybe? Didn’t seem to matter as Erek decided to literally make him choke on his own windpipe, and she took a moment as things settled to let out a short and sweet laugh. “Never doubted you for a second…” she mused, giving him an extra wink for handling it so well. It was his smirk that set her off though… that ‘you don’t know who you just challenged’ smirk that played on his face. He thought he could actually beat her, and perhaps, if she wasn’t trying, that was true. Originally, she had planned to let him beat her and buy him dinner at this little place he had mentioned, but that bit of planning just went out the window.

“Oh, it’s on like Donkey Kong…” was all she could say as she saw him from the corner of her eye enter the first room, slipping ahead of her by taking a flight of stairs. The smile on her face danced even wider, looking akin to a demon, and she lowered her stance, getting serious at last, because now she had a goal to meet. Taking off, she could hear the screams from above as he tore through men, and couldn’t help but think to herself Yep, their fucked… as she proceeded on, destroying anyone who she saw or even heard. With precision that was uncanny, she managed to shoot several of them through walls as they whimpered behind their doors and hiding places. Clearing a room, she reloaded one of her pistols and let the silence take over again; while her guns were extremely loud, when she got serious, the smile vanished, and she was more like Erek than she cared to admit. Every sound was a trigger, a location… she was even tracking Erek, only able to do so because she had watched him move and knew which steps were his. He was quiet, most certainly, but now that she wasn’t laughing and throwing jokes, she could hear him above as he slaughtered people like so many grains of wheat.

Non-chalantly, Natalie tossed her last incendiary grenade into the next room, and only because the panicked voices of those within did it seem that something was happening, or about to happen, as the room exploded in a massive fireball that erupted into the hallway behind her. Entering the next room, she only had a single target which died while trying to give up, and then it was quiet again. She even filtered out the noise of the people screaming in the room engulfed in flame, the sounds of the fire licking at the structure, and the background gunfire of Erek’s people fighting off another group on the first floor. For a moment, it was absolutely silent… and then she heard it.

creak

It was in the next room that Erek hadn’t entered yet, and she aimed her pistol before he had a chance to move. The bullet sounded off, coming to life with a power ‘crack’ as it tore through the floor and into the man’s chest, causing him to sputter and scream, but he was quickly silenced from her ears. Instead, the sound of another man crying out in surprise and shock was the sound she wanted to hear, and she fired again. There were probably a couple that managed to survive, but about half of his next room were dead and dying with burning holes in their asses or chests. With these rounds, it didn’t matter where she hit so long as it wasn’t a limb, because the fire would burn through their vital organs in seconds, killing them quickly.

She shifted, pivoting behind a pillar as one particularly sneaky bastard let loose with his MP5, trying to shoot her, one that was on her own level. Calmly, she reloaded her pistol that was now dry and waited for the trigger happy fool to be finished blowing his wad against the concrete she had been hiding behind. 30. Spinning around before he even got the chance for the tell-tale ‘click’ of the dry magazine. “Someone isn’t counting…” And she fired a round straight into his confused face.

She needed to clear this floor, and fast, because at this rate, Erek was going to catch up to her kill count… but then another thought struck her mind, and she smiled again, the playfulness coming back out as she remembered something. Walking through the hall whistling the ‘Kill Bill’ theme, she moved room to room, putting a bullet in everything that moved, and she as done clearing her floor in a couple of minutes. It was time to get out… the place was rapidly catching all together, and would be a massive fireball soon as her little blazes joined forces and set the building on fire properly. She exited the South Side of the building via a window, jumping down onto a connex, rolling, and then slipping off it and landing square on her feet in the sand. Turning she scanned the grounds; only Erek’s people seemed to be present… but where was he? Holstering her pistols, she continued to look, trying to find the guy that was big as hell for no reason that these idiots were still saluting more than likely.

---

Post Word Count: 939
Thread Word Count: 6080

The entire clash had gone off without a hitch-- and his smirk had done exactly what he'd intended-- stirred her up to get the job done even faster than before. By the time it was all done, Erek was out of knives and cleaning the blade on one of the ruined corpses. Briefly glancing around him at the bodies that covered the floor, broken furniture, and more-- he'd heard plenty of explosions and gunfire from below-- but now everything was quiet. The job was done, grunting he drug out his cigar, releasing a slow breath of smoke from his lips as he leaned against the wall and stared at the carnage quietly.

There was a point to it-- each face he'd cut down, every man committed to memory. Enemy or not, it didn't matter-- when you killed, you remembered the ones that you killed. It was one of his rules that he never intended to stop. Releasing a final breath of smoke he hauled himself upward, moving toward the door that led to the lower floors once more, ah-- he hadn't been counting. It hadn't fit into his mind during the attack. Shaking his head and shrugging, he moved down the stairs-- he supposed it didn't matter, he intended to pay for the food anyway after all. Despite that, he felt the heat starting to rise from the lower levels-- her rampage had caught the place on fire it would seem.

The sound of his boots clunking against the stairway echoed out now that he wasn't trying to be quiet-- pushing the rubble out of his way as he grunted against the heat, the woman had lit the place up like a fucking college kids bonfire on the beach. The scent of roasting bodies filled his nose as he entered the floor down, lowering the mask of his helmet down, tugging out a mouth piece and sliding it into his lips and over his nose, breathing through the flames as he ignored the heat around him. Unlike Natalie who simply jumped out, Erek went the long way, checking each floor, making sure none of his men were left behind due to the fire-- it was unlikely but possible.

Pushing through the smoke, he finally exited through the flames and smoke at the entrance, waving off the men that came forward to help him-- dragging the mask from his lips and nose he spit the taste of the plastic out before focusing on the closest man to him.

"Casualties?"

"None sir, only minor injuries-- a few burns, Rasnek got a glancing blow from a shot but nothing major."

"Good, get me a working radio, mines fucked from the battle."

The man scrambled with his own for a few moments before removing it and offering it to Erek as he drug the radio to his lips and stated his orders calmly.

"I want this fire under control, no other buildings are going to suffer from this shit. Get the injured treated, and have our guards shifted. I want the whole area cleared-- no stragglers. After that the jobs done boys-- well done." The resounding cheer echoed out, before Erek's call cut through it on the radio.

"Alright get your asses in gear! Get that damn fire under control!"

Quickly the men rushed off, splitting into teams as the other squads moved forward to begin cutting off the flames, the explosions of dust and fire suppression instruments filling the air as the others spread through the area to begin gathering bodies, shutting down any men trying to escape, and so forth. Erek finally moved past the main crowd, rolling his neck a bit before he glanced around, searching for a certain head of maroon hair-- spotting her shortly afterward, he waved her down while he flipped the goggles of his helmet so he could see properly and arched a brow at her.

"You made a mess," he commented simply, but he didn't appear too concerned by it-- in his opinion, no casualties were in part due to her own assistance-- both in the thick of things, and when it came to leading the snipers to weaken their forces so significantly before they had even properly begun the primary assault. A burning building was an easy price to pay for the lives of his men. His cigar slid into his mouth, and a slight smirk played at his lips as he took a drag from it.

"I didn't count-- so we'll say you won," he stated simply, his tone amused as his eyes glanced toward the team that was quickly getting the situation under control, a few gunshots filling the air as the last fleeing stragglers were dealt with. Slowly he would roll his shoulder once more, before glancing back at her.

"Shall we go let the dear Major know the jobs done? Looks like we can get to have a real meal sooner than we assumed, after all."

---

Post Words: 825
Thread Words: 6,694

Waiting for him, she pulled out a smoke and lit it with her Zippo, taking a large drag off of it and trying to settle her nerves down. How long had it been since she needed to take things serious like that? Felt like a lifetime… but it had only been a few months ago when she conducted her first mission. After that, she had sought battle like a moth to a flame, conflict after conflict, climbing over a mountain of corpses to get to where she was now. She always had skill with firearms, but it was months of nothing but fighting and winning that allowed her to relax, even in the midst of combat, because she was just so god damn good at it. It didn’t help that she felt next to nothing when she killed someone; they had the bad luck of being on the wrong side of the line when the fight started, and in order to keep doing what she did, she killed them without hesitation in the most efficient way she could.

The only time she had ever ‘taken her time’ killing someone was when she needed information they had; it was a hostage situation, and she had shot him in the leg, which was pure agony with the way her rounds worked. He promised him the mercy of a swift death if he gave the information she wanted… but it had taken both of his knees literally burning him from the inside out to make him cough up what she needed to know. Aside that single, solitary instance, every shot she had ever made had been a kill shot. It was the only way she showed respect for her enemies; kill them swiftly and without a chance of there being too much pain. It was her own code, and while she felt there was honor in it, she knew others didn’t see it the same way, and simply kept it to herself.

Just as she thought, Erek had been the last one out, but that made sense. He was in charge after all, so him making sure his people were clear of the building. Not being the right ‘temperament’ for leading other people, they had said, Natalie had never had the burden of leadership, but she liked to think she was the same way if she ever did. She honestly did care about her comrades… she hadn’t shot any of Erek’s men after all, and the one time she had it was because he was the type to get her and her people killed. Spotting the man, she listened as he asked if there were casualties and such, and she tilted her head slowly as he talked about the fire.

“If they run into any fire that’s white, smother it, don’t spray it… that shit only needs airborn oxygen to burn, so water ain’t gonna do a damn thing,” she commented, approaching them as they spoke and waiving her over. He commented that she had made a mess, and while that odd, predatory smile had been missing up to this point, it came back in an instant like she was baring her teeth. “That tends to happen when someone gets me fuckin’ fired up…” she warned, looking back at the burning building as the men worked to extinguish the pyre she had started. None of those sorry bastards was going to get an open casket, that much was certain, and she let out another bit of smoke to the side, away from Erek, still showing him that respect even if he was smoking as well.

She did, however, drop the cigarette as her mouth fell open as he claimed that he didn’t count, the shock playing easily on her face for a moment before it turned into a sort of embarrassed anger. “You Fucking Cockweasel!! You made me get serious for fucking nothing?!” she proclaimed, holding herself back from not simply punching him in the face for such an insult. After a moment though, her anger turned to something more akin to being smug. “Not that you would have won anyway you shithead… I had a 50 kill head start remember? Kinda cheated… but still counts.” She was referring to the time where she had been sniping from the rooftop, and that reminded of her about something.

“Oh, and tell that mousy kid with the radio that’s on the roof to bring down Henrietta, will ya G.I. Joe? Since he’s on his way down… I’m sure he will have no trouble carrying her…” The very image of that shrimp carrying the rifle that was bigger than he was made her laugh in her mind, but she would wait to see him before doing so out loud. It was time to go report in, which was her least favorite part of all this catastrophe, mostly because she usually got yelled at. Something about ‘excessive force’ and ‘collateral damage’ almost always seemed to come up, even though no matter what, the job got done. "Yea... let's go tell dipshit he can give himself a fuckin' award." Without another word, she made her way to the vehicle and put her jacket back on, not bothering to tuck it in.

---

Post Word Count: 873
Thread Word Count: 6953

Erek simply nodded in regards to the white phosphorous flames, "Don't worry. We don't waste water on that shit out here. We have other means-- they know what to do." With that, the conversation moved along well enough, until she realized he'd played her like a fiddle-- though he had to admit, he'd been called many things, but "Cockweasel" was definitely a new one. However, despite her harsh tone she began to smirk-- and she clearly wasn't overly concerned by his actions-- still, he remained completely calm, his face neutral as he let the smoke drift from his lips and nose in flowing streams.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just got a bit too caught up in the fight and lost count-- I'm not really smart enough to manipulate a genius like you," along with his words, he would simply chuckle at her comment on her lead, before he would arch a brow as she commented on getting her gun back, simply nodding in agreement. That wouldn't really be a problem. Moving forward he'd start to head back toward the vehicles-- they had a bit of a drive back, and a longer one to get toward the nearby town that had come to mind for the meal.

--
About four hours later, and Erek was showered, wearing his civilian gear (though his eagle was still on his belt and a knife in his boot), with simple cargo pants, boots, and a T-shirt, the sun reflecting off his now clear skin thanks to the sun's grasp no longer being burned into him paired with the harsh desert winds. He was waiting outside the makeshift barracks, they'd both wanted a shower and time to change before they ate-- but he was pretty clean cut and simple when it came to that shit, he'd been ready in minutes.

She didn't seem the type to stare at herself in the mirror for ages, however-- especially since he was certain she was as hungry as he was. So he didn't mind waiting a few minutes, propping himself against the wall as he crossed his arms over his chest, watching the civilians pass through-- words he understood with ease being passed back and forth rapidly. The occasional baying of a goat, or giggle of children playing filling the air-- it helped, after the things he'd been doing hours ago-- to see that removing the terrorists and fanatics was doing good for this country.

It eased his conscious, even if it was just a bit. Releasing a breath when he heard footsteps approaching he moved off the wall and turned, arching a brow as he waited for her to push the door open and exit. He'd promised to take her to a mom and pop sort of restaurant-- and he fully intended too. They had fantastic food, and it would be well worth the wait-- besides, no harm in getting her a few beers and good food for helping make sure he didn't lose any men. He definitely felt he owed her for that-- and it wasn't like he was hurting for cash-- unlike many men that served under him, he had no one he was sending money back to in the states.

---

Post Words: 538
Thread Words: 7,232

Natalie had wanted to slam her head into the tent poles during the debriefing, but thankfully, Erek had handled that pretty well. He seemed to know just what the Major had wanted to heard, and told him only the things that were necessary. At some point, she was certain that the idiot would have said something to piss her off, and she would have told him to make it up as he went instead of getting an accurate report, but that wasn’t what was going to happen now that he had done that bit. For that, he had her thanks, because it was honestly the worst part of the job.

The woman contemplated the man’s words when the job had been done, soaking in the shower and taking advantage of the warmth the water provided. Not a ton of females on camp, so the ‘female shower’ area always had plenty of hot water, and she could take as much time as she wanted. The showering part was probably the only place she really lingered too, reflecting and trying to get her head wrapped around things… like Erek having played her like a fiddle. Cocky prick had actually only challenged her as a way of making her work faster, and that subtle little manipulation had actually been effective too. It was because she wasn’t used to working with people who had a decent head on their shoulders, and even she was guilty of losing track of things in the heat of battle, where the stalwart commander seemed in complete control of himself and various aspects of the battlefield.

A guy to look up to, for sure.

The genius bit had been weird; she had been called a lot of things, but that comment even as a joke was a bit odd attached to her as a description. She was pretty sure her joke about him using ‘decades’ of experience had been a not so subtle jab back, but now is when things got interesting. Slipping on her Army Jungle Boots, cutoff jean shorts with the rigger’s belt, black crop top and pistols, she tied up a bit of her hair to keep it out of the way and stepped out, wondering how much time she had before Erek was ready. Slipping by her bunk, she grabbed her smokes, lighter, wallet and dropped her burning rounds and switched out the mags with her Hollow Points. If she needed more than two magazines worth of ammunition then she was in for a world of hurt already… plus she had Erek there, and if she was right, he would have that damn short sword of a knife.

She wondered what it was made of…

Stepping around the corner she noted Erek had been waiting for her, and blinked once in surprise. She didn’t do makeup or any of that frilly shit, so she was ready pretty quickly, but she imagined him taking a lot of extra time to make sure he could bounce a quarter off his bed and shit before heading out. She hadn’t even taken the time to stop in front of a mirror, long ago deciding that all that craziness was just someone trying to be fake, and that was one thing that Natalie certainly was not. She approached and decided against grabbing a smoke for the moment, instead waiting for a better chance. Her eyes lingered over the knife and the pistol he himself had, glad she wasn’t the only one that never went anywhere unarmed, her own pistols in their holsters underneath her arms. "Let's fuckin' go, eh? I'm starving," she said with a smile on her face.

---

Post Word Count: 609
Thread Word Count: 7562

She wandered out in what was-- effectively-- what he should have suspected he supposed. Wearing nothing but a pair of hotpants and a tank-top, her gun holsters almost covered more than her clothing. Not that he was really complaining, but it was still odd. After a quick glance over her body, he was stepping forward-- nodding in agreement to her comment on being starving. Leading the way through the streets, he raised a hand and called greetings in Pashto and Dali to those that called out to him-- turning down small gifts, calls for a drink with him, and so forth. It was clear that unlike many he spent quite a bit of time with the people in the area he was protecting-- and they were grateful for that.

After about five minutes of walking, they came to a halt in front of a small restaurant with a simple wooden sign hanging from the building, raising a hand and pushing the door open with the chime of a bell, the restaurant was small-- a bar and eatery combination that had about twenty tables total. The bar was empty, but there were a few people dotted across the tables-- mostly soldiers, a few faces that she may remember blearily from the battle. He raised a hand in silent greeting, before moving toward the bar where an older woman was polishing glasses-- when she spotted him he was barraged with high-speed Dali starting with his name in heavily accented English. He smiled softly, exchanging words with her politely as he fell into a barstool and motioned for Natalie to do the same.

The woman halted, looking at the woman-- and despite her appearance, didn't even blink at her revealing clothing, offering a polite greeting in Dali.

"Aaina, she can't speak English, but the old man can," he stated simply, releasing a sigh as the menus were put down for them, the woman disappearing into the back before there was another explosion of Dali, before the door behind the bar was pushed open and an older man with several gold teeth and scar's likely in his fifties at a glance-- pushed forward and opened his arms.

"Erek!" he cried happily, giving the larger man a hug over the counter as Erek chuckled softly.

"Evening Ali. This is Natalie-- she helped us out in the last fight." The man's brow furrowed at the mention of the war, looking toward Natalie and offering a smile, "I see-- you have my thanks then miss. In that case!" The man clapped his hands together with a grin toward Erek.

"Shall I make you the usual special?" Erek nodded slightly, "Two of the usual drinks too," the man's twinkle ignited even more in his eyes with a laugh as he turned and moved toward the back-- alcohol was banned for citizens, but special licenses could be acquired to sell to tourists and stationed troops, they were just hard to obtain. It was another reason Erek had come here initially-- before he had become so friendly with the owners. As the man moved toward the bar's back, pouring royal, bitters, and rye over a sugar cube before pouring in an extra shot of vodka. Placing the two glasses of the altered-- and significantly stronger than normal "Old Fashion's" down for them he'd leave the bottle of royal for them to top off their drinks, as well as a single shot of vodka each.

Erek took the shot, letting it burn in his mouth for a moment before swallowing-- glancing at her as he rested his chin lightly in his palm.

"You're technically too young, but I don't really give a shit," he stated with a smirk, before he would swirl the old fashioned around slightly and take a sip of it-- arching a brow as he glanced over at her.

"Hope whiskey is alright though-- didn't think about that. If you want something else I don't mind." As he stated this he glanced at the wall, it was dotted with mostly wines, and beers-- but it had other, harder liquors that dotted it as well. It wasn't exactly the selection a mexican or american bar-- or even better, an irish bar had, but it was decent if she wnated something else.

---

Post Words: 712
Thread Words: 7,944