Chapter 38

Duke and Ripcord were now running through and urban environment obstacle course, 3D holo-projection of terrorists lunging out at them. The guys were taking them out one by one, never more than a split second after they appear. The holo-projections all died down.They soon reach the end of the and a buzzer sounds. At the back, arms crossed, impassively taking it all in, is Hawk. Scarlett approaches the guys with an electronic clipboard.

Scarlett was slightly impressed and said" Sixty-three seconds. Not Bad. But not good enough. Gotta get under a minute to qualify."

Duke had a few guess,questioned"What's the record?"

Scarlett with smile answers"Not counting Kage it is Forty-five."

Ripcord with sarcastic tone said" Don't tell me, Snake-Eyes?"

Scarlett with smirk replied"No, me."

Ripcord glances at Scarlett's crossbow pistol and asked" You can do this whole course with that thing in forty-five seconds?"

Scarlett with a smirk replied" If you're going to shoot at something, kill it. Otherwise take up knitting."

Ripcord steps close to her and said" When I get my target locked in my sights, I take it down."

Ripcord meaning is clear. She holds his gaze, slaps a magazine into her crossbow pistol and hands it to him and said"Here. Go on. Try it."

Ripcord with smile said"I wouldn't want to show you up."

Scarlett with a scarcastic tone replied' Oh, that's so thoughtful of you."

Ripcord What can I tell you? I guess I'm just a considerate, humble guy. You'll learn that about me.

Scarlett walked a few metres giving each other space and said"I'm the "target in your sights," right? You've got ten rounds to "take me down"."

Ripcord with slight concern replied" I don't want to hurt you."

Scarlett ignored that and said"They're training arrows. The most I'll feel is a little jolt."

Scarlett walks back and faces him.Kage glances at Duke who is loving this.While he was watching this from a distance knew Ripcord has zero chance of winning.Scarlett was too well trained to be defeated by Ripcord,if it was Duke their would be some chance.

Ripcord readies the pistol. Scarlett darts left. He shoots and misses. She darts right. He misses.

Duke with smile yelled"C'mon, Rip."

Ripcord tries harder, genuinely doing his best. But Scarlett was just too fast. Ducking and weaving around Ripcord, as nimble as a cat. Five more shots miss her. And now Ripcord's feeling the pressure. He waits for her to move. Fires. She leaps up onto a corner wall and the bolt passes underneath. He fires again as she lands, ducks under it and rolls up to him. He fires his last bolt point blank. She catches it in her left hand by the stem as it leaves the chamber. Slamming her body up against his. Right hand behind his head, left hand holding the bolt. Their faces close. Lips closer. Ripcord's eyes on hers as Scarlett whispers " Guess you didn't really want me that bad, rip."

She holds his eyes a moment longer, then lets him go. As she walks away, Scarlett casually tosses the arrow, it hits the ground and explodes. Ripcord and Duke jump back. Ripcord glances at the underside of the pistol's magazine. Three words: "CAUTION: LIVE BOLTS".

Duke,Ripcord and Kage watch Scarlett as Kage was pretty sure, she was definitely adding extra sway to his his as she saunter back to the beginning of the course, awestruck. Breaker walks by eating a burrito and watching his bio-rhythm display.

Breaker with amusement said" Aw, Ripcord's heart just skipped a beat. Isn't that sweet?"

Storm Shadow decided to take a risk during their raid he decided to pass his brother all the info he had,Storm shadow smirked and thought"I love to see McCullens face after this."

Storm Shadow slipped the pendrive into a small spot in his Kunai,as he mutterd"This was it."he then looked at Ana who just nodded they both planned this,the only problem was there was Zartan who was the callsign of a man who was a master of disguise,he uses his impersonation skills to advance their agenda and then there is thr annoying Firefly he was an explosives/demolitions expert, and is also an accomplished pilot.

Firefly was recruited by the Doctor,he even heard that Firefly was almost recruited by Joes.Storm Shadow already guessed the fact the man was only loyal to the Doctor,also not matter what he couldn't find the identity of this so called Doctor.But he did find something the original scientist who created the Nano mites was a Dr.Mindbender who supposedly died in a bombing.

Both of them knew with these two now in the mission they have to be careful about how they make their move.

The sun is sinking, turning the dunes a brilliant security room,the technicians works a console in the Security Room. Their infrared monitors show a herdsman and his camels walking across the desert dunes. A Technician taps some keys and an X-RAY IMAGE shows the skeletal structures of the herdsman and his camels.

In the desert night the herdsman walks across the desert with his camels under a full moon moon and a field of glittering stars. All of a sudden, multiple mounds of sand whip past his feet, almost knocking him over. He stares at them as they abruptly disappear deeper under the sand, like diving submarines.

It was Ana who was driving the lead mole pod, an oblong-shaped digging device that is just large enough for her to fit inside. She watches her HUD relay information about her angle of decent and her distance to the target. Thirty yards...twenty yards...ten...