Vector || An Ryeji Adventure

Mission II: Hardhat

"But Lia is blonde right now, and it'd be weird for Itzy to have two blondes."

"Vector, I cannot possibly express the magnitude of how little I care for your group. I'm a classic rock girl. Remember, Itzy's now just an elaborate cover story."

Yeji sighed. "Alright, alright, I just heard myself complain about going blonde. Point taken. Ok, whatever. How am I getting in?"

"Every intelligence agency on the planet is looking for this bomb, as well as Hopper and Verlaine, so security is extremely tight. They're scouring the country for operators. So you're going to HALO in. A High Altitude / Low Opening parachute drop from an American C-17."

"Please tell me that I don't need to wear skin tight dresses and heels on this mission?" Yeji said.

"No. Just wear casual clothes. Be at the US base in Reykjavik at 0400 on Wednesday."

"Will do," Yeji said.

"One more thing. I like to think I know you. You're in love. Good for you. Even if we weren't monitoring you, I could see it in your eyes. Thank god Ryujin's in the group," Radius said. "She'll be safer there, hiding in plain sight. Oh, and one last thing, Vector. This device will eat Paris if it is triggered. Our science people say the crater left would be a mile wide and a quarter-mile deep. It could even destabilize the European continental plate and send titanic tsunamis rolling around the world. Find Verlaine and Hopper first, and you need to... you need to persuade them to tell you about their network so we can roll it up. And then eliminate them."

"Do we know where they're hiding?"

"Not with total certainty. We've picked up chatter that they're hiding in an important place, so you can't use any weapons."

"Where?" Yeji asked.

"We think they're hiding in the Louvre."

. . . . .

In the cargo hold of the plane, Yeji sat on a jump seat, her feet bouncing on the floor with anticipation. It had been a while since her last parachute jump. She was dressed head-to-toe in black tactical coveralls, but underneath she wore jeans and a t-shirt and old pair of Chuck Taylor shoes.

A voice came over the intercom. "We're at 22,000 feet. Get ready to go. We'll depressurize in 60 seconds."

Yeji got up, stretched, and then, surprisingly given the setting, she yawned. It was 1am. She watched a status light on the wall of the plane turn amber, and then there was a hiss as the air was released. Her ears began to pop. She double-checked that the straps on the chute were tight.

"Time to go, Vector. Happy hunting!" the pilot said. Slowly the rear cargo door opened and the light on the wall turned green. She stepped to the edge and looked down. It was overcast - that's just great, she thought. Then she gleefully turned around and did a backflip into nothingness.

She got herself stable and oriented, then tucked her arms back, straightened her legs, and pointed herself straight down. She could feel the wind on her face get stronger and stronger as she picked up speed. Hearing a gigantic crowd cheer was exhilarating, but this was a whole different level.

This mission was thrilling for several reasons. Of course, the jump was incredible. But she liked that there were no weapons allowed. She was confident in her ability to take out targets bare-handed - and barefooted. That also meant she'd have to get up close and personal. She had a certain perverse fascination with watching their last moments.

Soon she reached the clouds, and felt the mist pelt her face. It was a bit disorienting since she could only see a few feet in front of her. It almost felt like she wasn't falling.