"Have I missed much?" Clayton entered the room, glanced around, and picked the empty seat beside Sierra. "My boss let me off work early so I could haul ass over here as fast as I could. Is June okay?"
"She's fine, so far." Sierra smiled at him and turned back to the bank of monitors. "They're all okay. They've followed Sokolov to his base and now they're getting ready to go in."
"Good." Clay leaned back and grinned at the monitors. "After seeing June work Silas over, I've been eager for more. I'm a little nervous at the same time, though. I don't want her to get hurt."
"I know how you feel." Sierra glanced at the screen showing he feed from Smokescreen's optics. "Smokey really threw himself into the last battle, which is awesome, but it also worries me." She took a slow breath and tried to keep an eye on the other monitors. "You did miss some hilarious commentary from Miko and a few others. You'll have to watch the whole thing when you have time."
"Can't wait." A blank monitor came to life with an image and data from June's helmet camera. Clay leaned forward and rubbed his metal hands together. "Ah, here we go!"
Arcee's voice came from the speakers under her monitor. "How do we play this?" Her optics zoomed in on the tents and sheds in the crater that used to be part of Airachnid's base.
"Maybe Miko should sneak in and fart a few times," Terwilliger said. "That'd clear those MECH guys outta there in no time."
Sierra burst into laughter. The poor girl's never gonna live that down.
Miko snickered. "I'm pretty sure that'd violate the Geneva Conventions."
Several other team members laughed before Col. McKenna replied.
"Well, since we're not equipped with hazmat suits, how about we get a scan of the mountain's interior instead? We need to be sure there are no other exits and no booby traps. If there are none, we'll surround them, close in, and pin them down."
"Sounds good." The image on Arcee's screen bobbed up and down as she nodded. "Let's go get 'em."
"I hope June doesn't get too close," Clay muttered. "She just started her combat training yesterday, so she's not ready yet."
"Colonel McKenna said she learns fast, but yeah, she hasn't been in the middle of it for several months like the rest of the team." Sierra glanced at him and smirked. "Also, she's really sore from the workout yesterday. A while ago she said every inch of her body hurts, even her nipples."
Well, any excuse to think about June's nipples ... Clay grinned and kept watching her monitor.
"A few of us have stealth systems in our armor," Jack said, "but how are the rest of you going to approach without being spotted?"
"Assuming they don't already know we're here," Terwilliger added. "Wouldn't surprise me if they do."
"Hmm." On Jack's screen, his mom glanced around and smirked. "I have an idea."
***
"Is a good sniper nearby?"
Whoa. Jack stared at his mom and flicked a glance at Arcee. She can't be suggesting we just blow his head off. Can she?
"I like where this is headed," Elita-1 said over the comms. "Moonracer's closest to your position. She can shoot the wings off a housefly from three thousand meters away. What do you have in mind?"
"Nothing fatal, hopefully. If we can get him in our sights, maybe we can convince him to surrender."
"Hmm." Ashanti pondered it for a few seconds. "We've already seen that not all of his troops are willing to die for the cause. We should at least give them a chance to stand down, even if Sokolov won't."
YOU ARE READING
Newer World Order
FanfictionAnother old enemy attacks suddenly, taking hostages and targeting Jack and Arcee. And having grown sick and tired of people going after her son, June decides to get much more deeply involved in the action. [Story begins about two weeks after "Harbin...
