~ two

With a sigh, Crow examines her room, VTOL engines always in the background when not smothered by gun fire.  Then out to the door to the too quiet hall, not noticing at first but suspicious by the time the bridge arriving.

Monroe pulls the blade from the captain's back, the rest of the crew dead.  She turns for the Crow and pulls the other blade.

Crow - "What are you ?"

Monroe answers with the sound of a death's rattle and launches herself for blood, blocked by a body pulled up by the crow, her fury her strength, she pulls the gun from the crewman's belt, firing pointlessly as Monroe anticipates all.
________

While on the Doc's yacht Libra lays in bed with Emilio a foot away, clearly after but not particularly 'cuddly'.

Libra - "Thanks for that.  It's embarrassing, practically clinical.  Sometimes I just feel like I need a good dicking."

Emilio - "I know how you feel, it's almost like I love my mother again."

He struggles to keep a straight face, Libra snickers into laughter.
________

Running back to her room the Crow pulls her own sword to block, clearly of an equal grace but more formalized, all movement for another gun are blocked as though only the blade would be allowed.

Monroe growls a rattle then pulls her own blades down against the block, the force of it pushing Crow back.

Crow - "You ... are demon from the pit."

Monroe cocks her head, and leads the first blade upward into a spin forth, ending in Libra grabbing a parachute just before the leap screaming "Fuuuuck Youuuu" while diving off the VTOL.

Annoyed clicks from Monroe as she watches from the edge ... she sheaths one and pulls up a nearly dead body running it through with the other, his cell in her hand as he drops.

The streets of Hong Kong in the rain as the Chief gets a text, "platform secured."  He looks up and sees Joe with that madness in his eyes, the thunder in the sky.

Chief - "Rendezvous' in eleven hours.  You gonna be there ?"

Joe stares ... then turns away into the rain, quickly obscured by the crowds.  The chief watches them all about their business of the day ... he turns the other way.
__

Monroe sets the engines to full stop, leaving it in a hover and sets up a beacon.  She then grabs a parachute and jumps after.

Crow pops her chute annoyed, then hears a banshee screeching in fast above.  Monroe blades though the chute and cuts the cords, Crow grabs her harness, reaches for her carabiner and locks them together, struggling against the swords.

A dagger's gash across Monroe's wrist loses its blade, but with some horror the Crow sees no blood pouring.

Crow - Twisting her look, "Foul creature."

Monroe lets the other blade drop then grabs crow's head, contorting it looking to the upcoming ground while working them both face first, death rattling in Crow's ear.

She struggles reaching for Monroe's cord and finally pulls it stopping them both just over the tree line.  Stuck in tall one, she cuts her own harness and drops to the branch below, looks up to see Monroe gone.

Looks around in silence, then to the climb down ...

Crow - To herself, "I literally paid them money for this."  Starts climbing down to the limb below.
________

________

Money - Watching a monitor data scroll, read as encrypted.  A brow raises in the middle, then surprise, then confusion.  "Alright kids ... we're rollin'."  The plane takes a turn, then to Able, "Take it."  He gets up and heads for the back.

In the bay ~

Money - "Mobile team, it is time for you to mobilize.  Ever drop on the deck of an airship before ?  We'll be needing the guns until we can verify theirs aren't filled with firecrackers."

Able - Looks of at the feed's addendum still encrypted, calls back.  "Got any experience with nuclear engines ... 'engineer' ?"

Money turns back from him to the engineer for an answer.  

Engineer - "Sir.  If I understand correctly ... sir."

Money - "That's not necessary."

Engineer - "Thank God.  So if I understand correctly ... sir ... we're to drop a tank and two jeeps on the deck of a nuclear airship."  ... a pause and a smile before the salute ... "Sir !"

Money - "Jesus for fuck sake Christ, yes.  Sir.  Colonel, how the fuck did you end up in the Air Force with that smart ass ?  You sound like a grunt to me.  Sir.  And that's what they just told me.  And this ONI motherfucker right here, just told us she's nuclear."
________

Crow - "You have no fucking idea."  Pissed as hell still climbing down but almost there ... she calls out, "It isn't talking to myself when I know you're out there !"

...

Muttering, "Why the hell doesn't she just shoot me !?  Oh no.  She has to make me climb down a fucking tree first.  Then she'll shoot me.  She probably thinks this is funny.  Unbelievable whore."

Calls out, "You hear that !?  Unbelievable, Fucking, WHORE !"  Drops from the tree and sees her own sword stuck into a cracked stone.

Crow - "Oh.  God."  A laugh to the side, she pulls her smokes and lights one, looks back to it.  "That's just ... "  Shakes her head with a sigh, she smokes staring at it.

A distance behind Monroe smokes watching her, mimicking her every move precisely, until adjust one on the side to perfection.
________

Engineer - "Ranked up through the engineering division, had retirement options and I took em.  Getting paid right now."

Money - "Sounds nice.  I'm currently the cheapest merc in town.  'Reinstated' for the duration of the mission, which is entirely undefined."

Engineer - "I know.  That they found you in jail for joining up with an anarchist black bloc and using a local mayor's car as a battering ram, against barricaded courthouse doors during an anti-war protest."

Money - Holding back an involuntary snicker, "That's classified.  And how the hell."

Engineer - "Engineer these days includes computer skills.  And as for our new Crow-ship ... I'm trained in shutting down nuclear power reactors in case of government shutdown scenarios.  One that powers a thing like that ... I'm ... sure I will recognize it as a nuclear reactor, yes."
________

Crow struggles on the ground with her feet on the stone rolled to its side trying to pull the sword.  It gives a bit, she wiggles it side to side and with a petty roar she pull sit out.

Leaps to her feat and brandishes, "Ha !"  Looks around ... a sigh.
________

Engineer - "I was glad to get the call.  I was la lab rat ... you know ?  This is what I signed up for, never thought I'd see it."

Money - "You know the funny thing about lab rats ?  They all say that.  And they always wish they didn't.  Once you have secured the platform with mobile team, you are to commandeer it.  There went the pension.  You've been reinstated too."

Able - "Ouch."
________

Chief - Takes the takeout, "Got that right.  What country you want the tip from ?"

Guy at the counter - "I've been far too light on you.  Let's say ... "

The chief reaches into his wallet with a challenging look, twiddling his fingers through the contents ...

Counter guy - "Kuwaiti Dinar."

Chief - "Bastard."  Hands it to him.

The counter guy smiles smiles him off then back to the kitchen, he gathers the parts of a meal, then to a finished plate made particularly well. 

Through the store room, to a section in back he sets the plate down in front of his reading son, and gives gives him the twenty dinar bill.  He looks it over with a smile then uses it as a book mark, lining up the sailing ship over the book's edge and begins to eat.
________

The plane circles the airship, Money and Able checking it over for signs of nothing.

Able - Examining through the glass, "Well, I mean we can circle and hope they hit that command center or they'll skid right off.  Do we have a hook for the rail maybe ?"

Money - "It'll shear if we tether at this speed, they'd have to deploy on drop ... we can come up with something ... we have ... duct tape.  How's our fuel for making rendezvous ?"

Able - "Meh."

Money - A look then looks at the gauge ... "Okay ... then.  Duct tape it is."