Chapter 14, by Arhani 'Hanny' Daforcena :)

Note from Arhani: the Kevlar suit looks very similar to that of Trinity's (from the Matrix) and Selene (from Underworld). It is not a revealing uniform in the slightest, it actually covers up the wearer entirely.

Chapter 14

Pvt. Mckinley "Queen" Front

Task Force 141

Location- Classified (En route to Azerbaijan)

"How do you do it?" Mckinley asked Ryuka out of a sudden. She could not stand the awkward silence between herself, Ghost and Ryuka, and she knew that she must do something to mend the situation. The only subject worthy of conversation in her head at the moment was the catsuit and nothing else. She did not understand how the other woman could carry herself in such a way that she did nor garner any… unwanted male attention at all.

Ryuka raised her eyebrows at Mckinley's question. "Pardon?" she asked, glancing at Ghost who shrugged gently.

There was just only one thing to do for the Ranger, and that was to take a deep breath and rephrase her question to be more specific. "I mean… how do you wear this… thing and not get all the, you know, cat-calls and wolf-whistles?"

To that end, a half-smile emerged on Ryuka's face. "When you have a certain authority over the boys, they will see you in a different light," she explained, moving across the chopper to sit next to Mckinley, so that they could talk more easily. "I was no different than you were when I first got the suit, to be honest. There were only 30 of us then, and well, being the only girl, MacTavish did not allow me to live it down."

Mckinley balked. MacTavish did not strike her as that kind of character at all. Yes, he was prone to tolerate the mischief of his subordinates, but not create it himself… "What did you do?" she asked, curiosity getting into her head once more.

This time, Ryuka sighed. "I want to tell you that I was able to shut them all up by showing them who was boss, but in the real truth, I did not succeed at all. Ghost, here, even took photographs of me scowling all over the place." Mckinley shot a glance towards Ghost, who overheard the conversation and waved two pointed fingers at them, almost like a salute. "However, when I started to run missions with the suit, well, things started to change and we all got used to it."

For the next half an hour, Ryuka began to relate to Mckinley how the catsuit helped her to stay as light and mobile as she possibly could, because as a woman, she would not be able to carry the same weight as the men did anyways. They would be armed with sometimes two weapons at most, she, however used her katana as a side-arm. The catsuit was made of special fibers that were meant to be light and durable, while what seemed to be the Kevlar corset was actually not more different than the Kevlar that the men wore, just more fitted and less bulky. The boning actually gave more support to the wearer in terms of posture; the side advantage (or disadvantage) was that it looked somewhat like a corset.

"So, at the end of the day, the catsuit's just plain old military gear?" Mckinley asked Ryuka, concluding their conversation.

"Yes, it is just plain old military gear, for select individuals, namely you and I," Ryuka answered. "Just think of it that way, and you will carry yourself in it in a whole different manner."

The thought of it was beginning to grow on Mckinley, and she began to look less… concerned. "Thanks…" she said towards the XO and received a pat on her shoulder in return.

"Do not mention it, remember, I am here to help you, not make your life hell," Ryuka replied and went back to her original place. It would take them a few more hours to reach their drop-off point, and she knew that it was more than enough time to put Mckinley's mind at ease at least for now.

Looking back at how the younger woman had acted around her, Ryuka understood that there was no way that she could undo what she had done in New York a few weeks prior… She needed to makeup up to Mckinley in any way possible. If this small little gesture of making her feel more comfortable before the mission really dawned upon them, then at least her guilt will be quelled for at least a small while.

"You know, Reddie, I'm responsible for Queenie's hard time among us too," Ghost said to Ryuka, out of earshot of Mckinley, further making sure that she was asleep before he said those words. "I shouldn't have got her to come with you to New York. What was I thinking?"

"You wanted to give her a chance to prove herself so that she could stay with us," Ryuka answered his rhetorical question. "There is… something about her, isn't it? Something special about her… I have never seen such drive and enthusiasm in a soldier, man or woman."

Ghost grinned. Ryuka knew him long enough to notice it under his balaclava and sunglasses. "Coming from an Algren, that's pretty good, innit?"

Ryuka did not say anything else, but only smiled and nodded.

Three Hours Later

Whitaker had just woken up from his slumber, and already the rest of the team was gearing up for the operation. He was lucky, because Ryuka and Ghost were already starting to brief them about the mission.

"We're only gonna say this once, so listen up!" Ghost warned. "We're here to steal information from the military outpost nearby. We've gotten Intel that said that Vladimir Makarov has plans for St. Petersburg, and whatever it is, we're there to steal his plans so we can anticipate his next move. This base is high in the mountains, so the only way in or out is by chopper. Once in, Reddie will be on sniper duty and we'll move into the base about two clicks away."

There was a slight pause, and Ryuka, already armed continued. "As with all of Makarov's outposts, there is only one computer room in the central part of the base. Once you are in there, Rocket will insert hack into the system and copy whatever the computers have into this hard drive." She finished the sentence and passed a hard drive to Rocket. "It is fairly simple, actually, you get in, get the Intel and get out. One word of caution, though. Makarov was suspected to have ties with the Ultranationalist government. He appears to hate them to the utter core of his being, but you may never know the truth. That is why we need this information so badly."

The rest of them quickly nodded, and Ghost wrapped the briefing up. "Remember, this is your first official mission, Queen and Whiskey, so I want you to remember this, it might save your lives. Think fast, and no real names!"

"Don't worry, we'll have your backs," Rocket reassured the two FNGs, and they thanked them in return.

"Bravo Team, you are ready for drop-off," the pilot of the helicopter announced. "We'll see you at the exfil point!"

At those words, the four-person team quickly descended from the helicopter via rope and landed onto a mountainous trail. "This is where I leave you," Ryuka said after about twenty minutes of walking. They had arrived at a fork in the road, and one path would lead to the outpost while the other would be her sniping position at higher ground. "Good luck for the mission!"

"Thanks, Reddie!" Whitaker said, giving her a thumbs up before quickly following Ghost into the base.

Mckinley nodded at the other Lieutenant and she was soon on her way.

They were all silent on the way into the outpost and soon they heard the sounds of dogs barking. "Wow, dog patrols," Rocket grumbled while rolling his eyes. "How… original."

Ghost put his finger to the front of his face. It was the universal signifier of silence. "They're getting closer," he muttered beneath his breath.

"A little too close for comfort, perhaps?" Ryuka's voice entered the comms. Right before their eyes, the two dogs and their handler collapsed one by one. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that they were right in front of the base, and the dog patrol was not the only line of defense that the outpost had.

"Thanks, Reddie," Ghost said, looking around at all directions to make sure the coast was clear. "There, through that door!" he said, gesturing at a door that was left ajar after Ryuka shot down the man that was supposed to be guarding it.

Once they were in, they started to look around their surroundings, trying to figure out where in the outpost they were. "The computer room is across the courtyard," Ryuka said, "However, I suggest caution, there are at least twelve men there, and they are fully armed."

"Dogs?" Rocket asked.

"No dogs."

"I will go for the one with Stalin on his neck," Whitaker announced.

"Whiskey, not the one with Stalin!" Ghost hissed, but it was too late. The man was already dead before he could stop Whitaker. There was a flurry of voices, all speaking in Russian, and they were all heading towards them. The whole outpost was alerted, and they were in it for the fight of their lives, so to speak. "Reddie, get off the .50 cal and get in here, now!"

Ryuka harrumphed, clearly not at Ghost's order. "I'm on my way," she replied, quickly packing up to regroup with them.

Mckinley could have sworn that her heart started to beat 50 times faster than it usually did. For some reason, something told her that this was more than a routine mission, and by the amount of people that was coming towards them was more than she actually dared to imagine.

"Alright, change of plans," Ghost said. "Queenie, you'll go with Rocket into the computer room and cover his arse while he works. Whiskey and I will hold the fort until Reddie gets here." There was no need to say anything else, they quickly went their separate ways while Ghost and Whitaker strutted into the courtyard. Since their cover was already blown, they had no choice but to fight their way out.

"Do you think Ghost and Whiskey will be okay?" Mckinley asked Rocket the very moment they took down the men in the computer room. She looked towards the window and found the two of them to be alive and well.

Rocket took a quick look and nodded. "If anything, Ghost is a survivor, and we have Reddie on our backs," he answered, delivering keystroke after keystroke with furious speed. She had never seen one operate a computer that fast before, let alone one that has software systems completely in the Cyrillic alphabet.

"Rocket, how much longer do you need?" Ryuka's voice sounded after what seemed to be an eternity. She was already there in the courtyard, making do with a fallen weapon that was left lying on the ground. The enemy soldiers were relentless, as always, and they had no way of knowing if they would stop coming in waves.

"Just… a little… more…" Rocket said, looking at the screen to ascertain that the transfer was near completion. Mckinley bit her lip as she prepared to rush out of the door with Rocket and the hard drive.

Three seconds…

Two…

One…

"We're done!" Mckinley announced, and they quickly fought their way into the courtyard to rejoin the team.

"Well done, you two," Ryuka said congratulated them, and nodded at Ghost.

"Five-Three, we're heading to the exfil point now!" Ghost exclaimed while shooting the big soldier that barred their exit as they ran, dodging bullets as they made towards the nearest clearing.

The pilot of the helicopter quickly responded, and they were ready to board the moment it reached the exfil point. "Hurry, this place is getting hot!" the pilot warned, and they all clambered to get in. The doors of the helicopter were quickly closed by Rocket and Ryuka, both of whom were almost shot had the helicopter not taken off in time.

"That went well," Whitaker sighed, wiping off the sweat on his forehead before he found himself being glared at by Ghost, Rocket and Ryuka. Mckinley immediately knew that there was going to be trouble for Whitaker, and she was lucky that she was not part of it at all.