Episode One: Calling Card

Leaning her back against the SUV, Farrah watched as the NID agents were put into place. Mission success. Things had gone far from according to plan, but they had gotten done. She had managed to play paleontologist, use her natural British charm to let them to pass, and was given time to analyze one of the agents. He was a rather nice man who was quite literally just mixed up in some rather interesting stuff. His favorite color was dark green, he liked dogs nearly better than people, and he really wanted to eat some beef stew. Lovely man, really. Taking a deep breath, she felt the air of the night begin to feel like morning.

Her mind slid back to the mission, and felt a pang of anxiety from how much of a liability she was. Farrah made a note to spend some time at a shooting range. The girl had fired a weapon several times in her life, but this was different. The rest were British soldiers showing her their favorite weapon after she helped them through a crisis. Sometimes it was even helping them cope with the weapon itself. Perhaps there was some sort of civilian training course she could enlist in, to help with the combat end of things. Or just hand-to-hand. It didn't even need firearms really.

As the team began to reenter the SUV, Collier commented, "This is going to ruin my hankering for coffee for quite a while ... "
"That's why tea exists, love," she off-handedly mentioned, craving a bit herself.

Pausing before she entered the SUV, she leaned on the door and watched the helicopter take off. It was rather beautiful in the slowly brightening sky.

Then there was a thunderous boom.
A bright flash.
A clash of debris from the sky.

A chill went down her spine as she felt her eyes grow wet.
"No...no...no..."

She couldn't tear her eyes away from the dimming brightness that lit the sky before the sun could even squint at the land.

They were dead.
Gone.
Only moments ago she had been discussing cravings with one of them.
Only seconds ago she had been thinking about how smoothly the mission had gone.

She was at a loss of words.

They had failed.
They had lost.
The enemy had won.

0530 Hours
Departing Location
Calamar, Colombia

Finally things were going as planned. With the rest of her team safe and Katrina none worse for wear because of the man who held a gun to her head, it was time to leave. With the men that they had rescued in a helicopter and ready to, Ayden focused her attention on her team. As she put her weapon away in the SUV they had come in Ayden scanned the area once more to make sure that they weren't about to be attacked. All was quiet on the front and they would have to leave quickly once the helicopter took off. 

Ayden's gave lifted to the sky then, watching as the helicopter took off. It seemed so different, peaceful even, watching as the world grew still and quiet, the only sound to be heard were the helicopter blades as they whooshed above them. This was perfect. The mission had went well and all were safe.

Until the sound of an explosion from above hit her ears. Flames and smoke could be seen as the helicopter blew up. Ayden could've sworn that her heart had stopped in her chest when that happened. Her hands closed into tight fists and she wanted to scream. They had done everything to protect those men and get them out safely. A chill went down Ayden's spine as she gripped tightly at the handle on the door and her breath was taken away.

It was raining debris not far from where they were and their mission was a failure. The enemy had won. Never before had Ayden been so angry. She kept her composure though, she couldn't let the rest of the team see how this had affected her so. She lifted her hands to her face and ran them down her pale face, stretching the skin as she released a breath of air. She looked to her team then: to Adam, to Katrina, to Alek, and finally to Farrah. She saw the tears in her eyes and the way she was frozen there and she reached a hand out to rest on her shoulder in the only sort of comfort she could provide. She knew that Farrah would take this harder than the rest of the team. Katrina and Adam were battle hardened and this wasn't their first mission that had gone south. They always knew this was a possibility.

"Adam," Ayden spoke after a few moments of silence passed. "We need to get out of here." 

< Tag: Adam "Sly" Collier then End of Episode >