The sun barely kissed the top of the trees but not much else stirred. After letting her people go crazy the night before, some drinking, some not, she wasn't surprised. But they had things to do, a whole camp to pack up now that they'd verified the money and bank codes had successfully transferred, and that they worked. They hadn't done much with them, besides look. That could wait until they returned home.
Still not one for names, the woman they called leader strolled along the tent line, hearing a few snores. She shook her head in disgust. If they were truly going to become a terrorist organization worth mentioning, they needed better soldiers. It was embarrassing.
One of her higher ranking soldiers came up behind her, breaking a twig as he joined her. "We need a better recruitment process," he said, more than aware of her thoughts. He missed the momentary glare she shot his direction at the noisy entrance.
"We'll have better soldiers soon," she replied in a hard tone, walking with him back to the main tent.
Everywhere she looked, sleeping figures dotted the small valley they'd chosen as their base of operations. To say some were still drunk would be an understatement. How they'd managed to get their hands on so much booze behind her back was beyond her. But once she found out, heads would roll. Literally.
Though she'd given them permission to let off some steam a night or so ago, the fact that they'd continued their celebration while she'd left camp didn't leave a good taste in her mouth. Her absence was unavoidable though. The man she'd sent in to try and gather some last minute intelligence had someone hot on his trail and he had to leave what intel he'd gathered at a drop spot only he and she knew. Chances were good the man was now either dead or in jail.
Sounds of activity came from the mess tent and she quickly shifted her attention to that direction, quickly but quietly heading in that direction. Upon lifting the tent flap, however, she discovered that about half of her men were already up and eating breakfast. Well, at least some of them wouldn't need replacing, she sighed. Now if only the others would be as diligent and less inclined to drink.
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Only the slightest of sounds indicated the passage of many individuals through the trees. Each group made sure to make as little sound as possible. Even the members of Big Hero 6 were able to keep things to a minimum, though Fred had the hardest time with his larger suit. But they each made it to their respective points without incident.
Hiro resisted the urge to contact his team via com link. They were likely keeping radio silence as instructed by their group leaders. Of course, once the actual operation began, that would change. He glanced around at the soldiers around him, not sure if he should actually think of them as soldiers or officers. With a shrug, he decided it didn't matter.
Off to one side, Loki perched in the form of a small bird of prey. He turned his head to glance at the antsy teen, not sure what was going on in his head. He reached out a mental tendril, asking if everything was all right. His answer was a slight nod, followed by licked lips the Asgardian saw out of the corner of his eye as he looked ahead once more.
Talons clung to the edge of Hiro's arm guard, not quite digging into the flesh beneath. The form was probably more useful than the one he'd employed earlier. In fact, he'd gone through several before deciding on his current one. Chances were good he'd change again, pending on what the battle ahead required. Either way, he'd stay as close to Hiro as possible.
Jack strode their direction, having to look up as both teen and god were already mounted on Baymax's back. He didn't say anything, however, and continued on down the line, making sure everyone was good to go.
The teen switched to thermal view and looked above the men surrounding him. Thanks to Baymax's super sensor, and the added software that allowed him to switch to the robot's view, Hiro could see several bright spots of heat not too far ahead. He'd guess maybe a hundred or so yard, though he wasn't sure. And the shape of those head splotches could only mean they were human adults moving around in whatever clearing lay ahead.
Overhead, Tony zoomed across the tree line, keeping low enough to make sure Hiro's people were where they were supposed to be before he shot back up into a higher altitude where it would be harder to spot him from the ground. His passage left a bit of wind that Hiro couldn't feel physically but could somehow hear through his bones.
"Positions ready!"
The call was quiet, sounding over the radio link of every officer on the ground, and probably above.
"Team B, move in!"
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Across the clearing, GoGo and Kally's assigned group began to move. Wearing more camouflage than the others, the men and women in front slowly approached the clearing, using hand signals to talk to each other.
Kally and GoGo followed one small group as it neared the clearing, keeping well back of the main line as instructed. Moving like a ninja, Kally slide across the ground as if a born woodsman. GoGo came behind, just a bit less quietly, throwing disks at hand.
The front officers broke the tree line, crouching low for any cover as they approached the first line of tents ahead of them. Once more giving hand signals, several more approached on silent feet as they peered around tarp and fabric walls.
From a bit further down, a man walked from the trees, looking more asleep than awake. Before the other officers could react, GoGo threw one of her disks, clocking the guy on the head. He went down into the brush, her disk flying back to her waiting hand.
Everyone seemed to pause, just in case the slight noise had attracted any attention but no one else emerged from either the trees or from the tents. At a nod from the team leader, they continued on, skirting around the tents, some entering their confines. A few muffled sounds followed, along with the sounds of fabric moving, possibly some tape ripping, and a few plastic sounding snaps before the men reemerged.
"South east perimeter secure," the leader whispered over his link.
...........................
Fred all but jumped up and down as he listened to the live feed. There were a few muffled sounds, not directly associated with any activity he could imagine, though his imagination certainly went a path all its own. And then came the perimeter secure announcement so he turned to his team's leader, waiting for the order to go in.
In a way, it made sense for them to leave the flashier group to go in after the more stealthy one, though he wasn't sure why they'd called his group "team one" instead of "team two". After all, they weren't the first to head into the fray. Well, it made sense to someone, he supposed, and shrugged the notion away as unimportant.
"All teams," Jack Harkness called over the radio, "engage. I repeat, all teams engage."
With a bit of a laugh, Fred flipped his kaiju mask in place, bouncing up and down on his feet. "Oh yeah!" he exclaimed as he noticed Honey reach for her chem purse, ready to punch in a chemical equation on the fly. "Let's do this!"
"Right behind you, Freddie!"
Before any of the other officers could hold him back, the mascot broke through the trees and into the heart of the camp, Honey Lemon right behind him.
...............................................
"Wings!" Hiro called out with authority and Baymax complied, extending his wings as soon as those around him were far enough out of the way to not cause them any harm. The teen noticed Jack looking back in his direction, an expression of disapproval on his face. He was done playing by their rules though and merely stared back with an expression honed by experience. "Fly," he said in as unemotional a tone as he could manage.
Baymax was only happy to comply. Moments before any of Jack's men, called at the last moment to stop the trio, could reach them, the robot activated his thrusters and soared into the sky.
At that same moment, Loki took to the sky, pushing off the momentum of Baymax's flight, working hard to get clear of the flight path as he moved to run parallel to it. He transformed into the larger form of an eagle as he soared alongside Baymax and Hiro, screeching out in defiance to the skies.
From below, fire erupted in a glorious twirl of motion that could only mean Fred had activated his suit's abilities. Smoke billowed up as Honey's chem balls made contact with the flames, creating a fog of concealment that would either make things easier on their allies or all that much harder. Either way, it created a smoke screen that left more than one confused. But, thanks to Hiro's upgrades, he knew exactly where every member of his team was.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Tony called out to him over his radio link. "You're supposed to stay on the ground with Jack!" The Iron Man zoomed close to the teen, causing Loki to swerve to stay out of the line of the man's path.
Baymax turned on a dime, changing directions to make sure Loki was okay. Tony's somewhat careless flight had almost pinged the Asgardian. As things stood, the god had to dive to escape the tailwind the billionaire had created.
"How about you try to be more careful," Hiro retorted. "You almost hit Loki."
Tony turned to follow Hiro's flight. "Sorry, not sorry," he said, adding the last bit under his breath in a facetious tone. "But that doesn't answer my question."
Hiro rolled his eyes behind his helmet. He and Baymax were at their best in the air. He thought Tony knew that. "I work better in the air," he stated as he looked below them, noting flashes of gunfire and a few more pops of fire bursts here and there. The enemy was decidedly fighting back. Just how many were there, though?
With all the bouts of fire, it became difficult to tell what heat signatures were flames and which weren't. They'd definitely come in with more than was potentially necessary. Probably. Then again, maybe not.
"I don't care if you work better up here," Tony inserted, sounding more than a little peeved. "I want you back on the ground now."
Loki swooped in as Hiro and Baymax leveled off, clinging to the miniature super hero's back, pressing his body against the teen's frame. "Perhaps we should do as he says," he said in Hiro's mind. "Let his overinflated ego go."
If even Loki was suggesting it, then maybe he'd better reconsider, Hiro decided. With a bit of a sigh, he instructed Baymax to circle lower, not quite ready to land just yet. The robot had to roll to avoid a stray bullet flying upwards, ruffling more than a few feathers.
"Hiro!" Honey called over their private channel. "We've located their computers but can't reach them. There's too many."
The sound of flame came over the link as Fred tried to ward off the enemy nearest them. Something in his chest squeezed painfully and Hiro redirected their course to help his friends. "We're coming."
In an effort of self-preservation, Loki changed forms as soon as it was safe to drop from Baymax's back. He landed with a light thud, wearing the guise of Samuel Jackson, but with the usual daggers he preferred to employ.
Light flashed off of metal as Loki's blades flashed, incapacitating those who opposed him. He'd cleared a space just as Baymax landed and Hiro detached himself from the magnets keeping him in place. The Asgardian nodded as the teen rushed past him towards the enemy's command tent.
Everything suddenly seemed to slow down, Hiro's limbs feeling like jello as he stumbled. All sounds around him blurred into a slowed down recording from a war movie and the air rippled as if with heat, but more blue-tinged. The only other person not affected was Baymax, who stood stolidly by his side.
A series of clicking sounds filled the air and Hiro turned to their direction. From inside the enemy's main tent, a woman leaned over a metal box, frantically typing into a portable keyboard she'd attached to some wiring inside. As he watched, the woman detached the keyboard and ran for it. Mentally, he could see her dashing for a vehicle in the brush they'd somehow missed, as it was covered with a camouflaged net.
His attention returned to the box, unable to see where the woman went after she uncovered the vehicle. The box was beeping, a red light flashing in the stillness of the moment. He could almost see the countdown clock and it made his heart drop into his feet. He wanted to throw up, noting the load of C4 attached to the thing. It would send them all sky high, leaving a crater of destruction larger than any they'd already created.
A gasp escaped Hiro's lips and time sped back up to normal, the cacophony of battle filling his ears like sawdust. He reeled, having to use Baymax as a support to not fall. It took him a moment to catch his breath as he licked his lips. "They're going to set off another bomb," he rasped over his headset.
Loki was somehow instantly by his side, supporting him by grabbing him around the shoulders. "What did you see?"
He wanted to be sick but also didn't dare. Looking up at Loki's concerned face, the teen swallowed hard. "She's going to blow up the entire clearing, with everyone inside. Even her own people. And then she's going to run."
The Asgardian's hands tightened on Hiro's shoulders. "How long? How long do we have?"
Images swam through his head as Hiro tried to thing. The idea that someone would be that selfish rocked him to the core. This woman, whoever she was, didn't care for human life, not if it wasn't her own skin. He tried to focus, trying to time the events to what was going on now. "Not long," he finally answered.
Loki turned to find the nearest officer. "Tell your men to fall back," he commanded. "Now." He didn't pause to see if the man listened or not as he turned to look around him, remembering he had a comm link in his ear. He switched channels so everyone could hear him, but he spoke specifically to Tony.
"I know you don't care for me," the Asgardian began, "but believe me when I say that if we don't get these people out of here right now, they're all going to die."
Silence followed this announcement as Tony had JARVIS confirm what Loki had said. A few seconds later, he responded. "Roger that. Everyone needs to fall back!"
Hiro broke free from Loki's grasp, stumbling into a run as he headed towards the tent in question. From the other side, a woman ran towards the foliage. "She's on the other side!" Hiro yelled. "She's going to get away!"
"Not on my watch!" Tony declared as the whine of his thrusters came closer, the Iron Man skimming the trees.
But Hiro didn't have time to worry about that as he thrust open the tent flap, Loki not far behind him. Baymax had a little more difficulty entering the confines due to his size.
The teen knelt next to the metal box that contained the bomb, looking at the digital readout. "Three minutes," he breathed. There was no way they'd get the bomb squad in there fast enough. It would be a miracle for that woman to escape unharmed as well, but he supposed the trees were a factor in helping to contain the blast. But it wasn't enough time for them to evacuate everyone else.
Before he could even formulate a plan, Fred, Honey Lemon, GoGo, and Kally broke into the tent, each a bit out of breath.
"What are you doing here?!" Hiro exclaimed as he saw them, their appearance distracting him from the bomb.
A gum bubble popped as GoGo flipped back her visor. "We're not letting you do this alone," she stated. "So you can just forget trying to send us away. Besides, you don't have time."
Calculations ran through Hiro's head. Even if he were to take the bomb, strap himself to Baymax and have him try and break the sound barrier with speed, there was no way they'd get far enough away that it wouldn't affect those below them. And there was no way Baymax's body would contain the blast either.
"Why don't you try doing what you did back at the Hydra facility?" Kally suggested. "If anyone can talk to that thing, it's you."
Hiro's mouth felt dry at the thought. The last time he'd merged with technology, he'd almost not come back.
Honey gave him an encouraging smile, soot smudged across her face and armor. "You can do this," she said. "If anyone can, it's you."
Sweat broke out on the teen's forehead. He'd never purposely tried to connect to anything, outside of that one computer at the Federal Reserve. That was different. This time he was trying to save the lives of not just his friends, but everyone else still within the blast radius.
Loki walked up to him and squeezed his shoulder. "You're stronger now than you were then," he stated. "We don't have much time. All you can do is try."
With a nod, Hiro tried to clear his mind, remembering what it felt like to merge with the Tesseract-powered Hydra base. All he had to do was let his consciousness slip into the programming and defuse the bomb. Not hard. He could do this.
Taking a death breath, Hiro placed one hand on the circuit board visible and closed his eyes, releasing his mind from his body so that it became limp and those around him had to support its weight, keeping his hand in contact with the bomb.