[h2][color=lightblue]Skye Rosalind Lyons[/color] and Sam Dalton[/h2]
[h2]Closing the Net[/h2]
[@LadyAmber]

Samantha was in the secure data room at the base. Raphael was also in the center working on the data pulled from the servers at Pavel’s company. Samantha was sitting in front of her laptop with the hard drive that contained the cloned copy of Pavel’s personal computer. She sipped from a ceramic mug of steaming coffee. It was made just the way she liked it. She closed her eyes and savored the rich sweet creamy taste. That was the good stuff she thought with satisfaction. This was only her second cup of coffee this morning. She had her first one with breakfast. Someone had made pancakes and bacon. She had helped herself. She tried to eat healthy but she burned off most of her calories. Besides who turns down fluffy hot pancakes dripping in butter and real maple syrup! Her morning was starting out well. She had sugar, caffeine, and was carb loaded just what every respectable hacker needed.  

Samantha was proud of accomplishing her mission in Pavel’s office. It had its hiccups, but she got the data. She booted up her laptop and began the process of sorting what was on Pavel’s computer. She had managed to create her own security credentials so she could work with Pavel’s information but the paranoid bastard had hidden traps seeded all throughout his computer. She had gotten past his security thanks to Skye’s help in his office. She had cloned his computer. She knew he had added that final level of security to his files. Pavel had been a paranoid bastard although I guess it's not paranoia if everyone truly is out to steal your information. Pavel had motion and heat sensors monitoring his office, as well as cameras. It had required a retina scan, and a full biometric palm and fingerprint scan with a DNA positive result with a live heartbeat to open the computer. Pavel also had to speak a code phrase which would allow full access to the data on the computer. The computer was programmed to shut down and lockout if the code phrase was not given. 

She had lost count of the number of times she had to reboot and start over with a fresh clone of the man’s computer. Once she had finally gotten past all that then it was a matter of finding the trigger so that she could see his hidden data. That had taken more time but her patience was being rewarded this morning. She was using a faraday cage and air gapped network to ensure that no signals could be sent to or from the harddrive containing the data. She had a cup of coffee sitting next to her and a notepad. She wanted to note anything of interest and the file names and numbers so she can pull it up fast. She thought back to what his code phrase was. She typed in “I am God.” The screen flashed and showed an image of Pavel depicted in robes with heavenly light around him. 

Samantha rolled her eyes. “I will never get that image out of my head.” She grinned as she took another sip of coffee. She was working in the computer lab on Pavel’s information. She had isolated it just in case it had viruses. She didn’t want anything nasty released onto the base’s network. She started reviewing what she had. “Skye, I got into Pavel’s computer. Need your input on how you want the work split up. There are 50 terabytes of encrypted files to sort through. It is going to take some time.” 

Skye rolled her eyes, seeing the login open up, with the guy whose PC they’d copied coming to life, the Scot making her daily visit to the data room, mainly to visit Raphael and Sam.
“What a twat.” Her Scots mannerisms were clear regarding his self-worth as she sat down on a beanbag to the side of Sam’s workstation, watching the American benign tapping into it, knowing the isolation had at least kept it off grid from any prying eyes, Raphael keeping to himself at the moment with other work.
“Alright, anything you can get on contacts within Artemis, emails, messages, documents with people. And then anything to do with Vale’s black sites. He has his offices, but only he will have access to what we found earlier. It’ll tell us where the base station is we found in Aralsk of where Artemis are moving gear in.” Skye replied, knowing there was a hell of a lot to sift through, and no doubt, Sam was going to be a busy bee working away at it.

Sam nodded and hid a smile as she took another drink of coffee. “Right, just everything important. Well hopefully Pavel kept his files organized to make this easier.” She began searching the file organizer and began to pull out reams of data. Samantha began copying data to a file for Skye to use after checking it for malware, spyware, and hidden bots and viruses. “There is over a terabyte in saved emails. I have a feeling Pavel kept all electronic correspondence as reference material on those he was involved with. I will begin cross referencing that list against known Artemis contacts.” The list was building rapidly. She copied it over and sent it to the shared file on the base server so those working on the data could access it. “These are the emails I have identified so far.” 

Skye had a peer, picking up her tablet, the advanced, AR-equipped advice allowing her to start scanning through, taking a look over and starting to look over the people that might be on it. A lot of guests, clearly, but that wasn’t going to be anyone higher up. After all, it was a seemingly endless list of hydras, but someone had to be at the head of all of this. And it wasn’t certainly Pavel, because he could tell the emails that were coming from up on high from anonymised, unknown email accounts. His fear was substantiated, and it confirmed all he’d been saying, as she rapidly went through it, seeing that well, reference had been made. He had been a proxy to it all, or at least, his network had been used, but there was no doubt, the hack had come from his network. Skye was wondering again why she hadn’t killed him, but then again, that was heat that Raven did not need now. Besides, his “incident” had gone viral, enough to put him out of picture. 

“Right…” Skye seemed deep in thought, as she flicked it back down, looking across to Sam, deep in her own thought process of what this was, confirmation yet nothing too novel.
“Confirms a lot of what we knew, but we may need to keep going.” Skye added, looking to Sam, watching as she continued to scan.

Samantha began to put all the documents together and began sorting them into folders. She started with business documents from employees, email attachments from the cross-referenced list of Artemis contacts, business documents from others, and a patents and design folder. She started a file for pictures saved on his computer. The man had a ton of photos of himself meeting various celebrities and world leaders. The man was such a narcissist. She was sorting image files when she noticed a series of maps. She did a quick scan of the files to ensure they were safe to share. Her eyes widened at what she had found. “I think we hit pay dirt Skye. Take a look at this.” She flicked the file over to Skye’s tablet.

Samantha began to dig around on his computer for files associated with those maps and began to compile them all for Skye. She pulled in the communication and emails associated with files. She found shipping manifests and personnel requests. She found actual Artemis mission parameters for Aralsk. Her face hardened, somehow those bastards had known they were coming. Samantha began to put the pieces together with what Skye was saying. She began typing faster as she dove deeper into Pavel’s data and began putting items together in another file marked Project Mercury. Pavel didn’t have just one satellite, he had at least three satellites that could be moved. He had built satellites that intercepted communications signals and one thing that Pavel excelled at was breaking into other companies and nations’ secure systems. He had the perfect set up to hi-jack what should be secure communications. Those signals had to be fed somewhere though. Pavel had ground stations that were remote and secure. The stations were the hub of Artemis’ communication and intel network. The more powerful higher ups helped divert official attention in those locations away.

“Okay….oh, perfect. They’ve talked about a black site in particular. One that’s here.” Skye sat up again, swiping across and pulling a map in closer to Patagonia, namely, an isolated river valley near Puerto Natales, Chile.

“This might be it. It’s the Southern Cross Observatory, or Observatorio Cruz del Sur. Interesting. Not exactly a great place for a geosynchronous network, given the strength of the signals that it has to emit, but then again, it blends in. And if they are running it, which it seems like it is part of one of Vale’s charitable arms, funding it, then well…they have access to it themselves.” Skye noted, making some notes on the tablets, about roads, access, . It was modeled after the famous Pyrenees observatory of Pic du Midi, and sat on a large ridgeline, overlooking an incredible glacier and dense, boreal forest. It was an incredible place, with very, very few ways that weren’t guarded, or could see you coming from a mile out. It was a truly stunning location, and perfect to hide at the end of the world. It likely had access to a hydro scheme nearby, and likely would have excellent defenses by pure nature.

“That is one part of it. There seems to be this reference to Project Mercury, that must be the satellite network. Guess they want to keep reference to it to a minimum, because they say all the business related to it is there. Including their internal data for Artemis. Though if it’s stored on a satellite, we are going to need to figure out something creative.” Skye added, looking to Sam, brushing her red hair aside.
“This is good. Shit, nice work.” Skye retorted, before going back to the emails, scanning again at the other details.

Skye flicked over to it, eyes widening as she pulled it up. It was a picture of Pavel there, and another figure, in his 50s it looked like, with a white beard, and pale white skin.
“Dunno who Father Christmas is, but clearly he might know the score. Possibly someone in Artemis, but he rings no bells.” Skye added, making a note for later with the file, as she ticked across to the next, bringing in the patents.
“This is getting more interesting. We’re on an encrypted network built by a former member of Raven, the kind that is at the cutting edge, and Xan can testify to it. Even so, the base itself is airgapped to prevent our location leaking too, but we’re secure in the field. We are now reinforced to these attacks again. Because it looks like what Pavel was doing was not so much hacking, but just brute forcing commands in through computational power. If they can do that to us, they can do that to infrastructure, power grids, anything. Shit, this isn’t so much a hacking program as it is a sledgehammer. Crude bastard. I expected better, but then again, it makes it usable on anything. No programming needed, pick your target and fire.” Skye shrugged, pulling up the potential ground network, and then the satellites.
“No details on how many they launched, and their capability. Looks like they can point it at a radio or receiver frequency and they are in, but….shit, that still doesn’t make sense. That’s all been erased, and it’s confidential. Because it’s in Artemis’s hands. Sam, this is something they don’t even want him to know.” Skye retorted, sighing as she took the cold cup of tea and finished it, a little disgusted by the taste and sitting up on the beanbag.

“I’m no electronic warfare specialist, but in theory, with enough computational power, he’s giving Artemis an in on infrastructure without touching it, not just through computer networks but to overload their signals. Couple it to a conventional attack, and that’s what they’ll do next. It’s why they wanted the Wildspitze facility.” Skye said, noting Sam’s blank demeanor.

“Ah right, the server network half of the intelligence services of the west use. That one. We went in and stopped them from stealing any data or servers while you did the Devil’s Cooker. That would have given them a backdoor into it. We stopped them, cos you know, we’re pretty badass.” Skye added, guessing Sam was a little confused, but it would tie into her thoughts.

“So he made them this system and he’s basically handed them the keys. And there is no way to control it from his network, because of course, he can tell his fiends in Patagonia to do it. And now, who knows what’s next.” Skye sighed, as she stood up, looking out the window, and then back down to Sam again, grabbing a small jug of water and bringing it to the table, pouring herself and Sam a glass.
“Okay. This is good so far. I wonder, if we can get access at that ground station. Find a way in, get access to Artemis’s whole network, or at least, stop them from doing any damage. End this fucking mess for once. That said, given the access is hard, we might need to come up with some interesting insertion methods. I might need yours, Xan’s, and Javi’s help with that.” Skye replied, sipping down water, cautiously optimistic.
“See what else you can find. Actually….Tejedor. See what you can do if he’s in there. You might be able to bail me out with Mateo….and I think it may be worth looking up.”

She found emails routed through Artemis’ satellite network from South America from Thiago Tejedor. He seemed to be a relatively new player in their network. Artemis was using his smuggling network to get supplies and people in and out of countries around the globe. He also seemed to be supplying them with conscripted labor for a several large projects. The destinations of where these people were being sent will take a little longer for her to figure out. The data had missing chunks. It looked like those higher in the organization didn’t want Pavel to know everything they were doing. There was a drug formula attached to some encrypted communication from Tejedor. “Skye, this has the potential to be something bad. It doesn’t say what this drug does but Artemis wants it.”

Samantha pulled up the chemical formula. Samantha had some understanding of chemistry because she sometimes needed chemistry to temper a metal or needed to know the impact a chemical could have on a material she planned to use. She was not versed in biochemistry though. She had a basic understanding of what she was looking at. “I am no expert in biochemistry, but I can tell you this is a psychotropic drug of some nature. It has a biological component. It is not all artificially manufactured. It is more likely a combination between a natural substance and chemicals. No idea on the effect though.”

Skye looked it through, scanning it over, another site that was now of interest. Not another fucking evil project, she wondered. Cartels were evil as is, but if it had Artemis involved, Skye already had her concerns, the redhead Scot looking through it before turning to Sam.
“Shit. If it’s biological, or chemical they want to go down, then it plays into their anarchist’s beginner guide. But I don’t get it. That sort of thing goes noticed, and it’s why they haven’t done it, pandemics are far too uncontrolled unless they have a screw loose. Chemical attacks are too limited. So why are they trying to lace it into their drug network? They’ll just kill junkies with it, and opioids are too good at that anyway. Maybe they want a dry run. I know they’ve done worse. Might even give my ethically sourced, 100% wee fairtrade drugs a run for their money.” Skye wondered, pulling it up, finding the network and then pulling up another site.
“I need to chat to Mateo about this one. I think there may be a site we need to look at, and one where Thiago himself might even be. But Patagonia is critical for the main team. I may need some help on this one, and I might know who to look for. This one is important to him, Sam. In a way you probably know, but it’s his business. And I’m a person of my word.” She comfortably sipped down more water, the silver-haired hacker bringing out the goods now. Skye knew Sam herself had her own demons too- people that had screwed her over, and her family. It was tragic, and she knew Sam would likely be looking for them too. But in this line of work, it wasn’t always possible to get back straight away. And even if you did, the void was still left. What was taken was taken, and there was no way of taking it back, even if you had the skills. There was just moving on, and that had hurt Skye herself for years, because having the slate clean and the attention of Raven to work for made her life a little more directed.

“Thanks for this. Once Raph gets a look at the depth of it, we’ll know how far this will go. Chat to him if you can, though I do advise, he basically runs on coffee. If he hasn’t got a mug full of it, don’t talk to him.” Skye chuckled, sipping down more on the water, reflecting on Sam’s talent. She’d certainly made it look easy, but a CIA analyst always would pull the goods out. They knew how half the world did their business, so Raven must have felt like it was filling in the blanks for her.

Samantha thought about it but there were simply too many variables and scenarios to give Skye a reasonable answer. “I don’t think we are going to be able to figure that out unless we find something else out in the communication. There is an email noting that Thiago will be on hand to demonstrate this new drug for a member called Specter. This demonstration is scheduled to happen next week at one of Thiago’s locations near Cartagena. Evidently Thiago owns land around a small bay there where he ships product out of his private docks in Columbia to other parts of the world.” Samantha sent the communication and the details to Skye’s tablet. 
She understood what Skye was alluding to with Mateo. It made her wonder if he had lost someone to a member of Artemis the way she had. She didn’t feel it would be right to come out and ask Mateo. It was his business. If he wanted to share with her, he would. If Samantha could help him get some closure and a little payback, well she would help him do it. She would want someone to do that for her. “We will probably want to acquire hard intel on what this drug does and find out if there is an antidote or a way to counteract it. Thiago has already shared the formula with Artemis. We can’t put the genie back in the bottle. If something happens to Thiago, they don’t really need him to move forward with their plans. Whatever they are.” Samantha looked worried about what they could be planning with this drug. A group that would set off a dirty bomb would have no qualms using biological or chemical warfare against innocents.
“Then that might be the spot. It’ll be heavily guarded. Hard to get into, and well, zero support from any others. It’s a simple hit and run. Mateo will be personally invested in it, but he’ll want nothing more than to kill Thiago. It might cloud his judgment for what we need, and there could still be some info. But also, I’d want the bastard dead too if I were him, so it’ll come with the territory. Do that, then find the details on the drug.” Skye thought out loud, knowing this would be a tricky one to run on the side, and chances are, Oracle wouldn’t like the idea of Mateo in. But given the opportunity, Mateo probably knew the area better than anyone, although she wasn’t sending him alone.
“I’ll call a contact of mine. New to Raven, but no less capable to give him backup and heavy firepower if he needs it. And Tahlia has been doing well on the range. She can get him close, and get set down as a sniper. She might not be as mobile as she once was, but the less people involved in this, the better.” Skye added, looking across to Sam, seeing the worry on her face.
“Believe me, shit like this comes up from time to time. My concern is why he’s doing it this way. If they wanted a biohazard in their chain, they’d attack a secure facility and steal it, so why bother going to all that effort to kill a bunch of guys doing lines of coke?” Skye knew that again, Raven’s predecessor had stopped that sort of work - it came with saving the world as per usual, but once again, what that had was of concern. Coupled to the satellite network, she wondered about what they were trying to achieve, and do. The sooner they got answers, the better.

Samantha turned to Skye “Exactly, this feels out of nature for Artemis. Usually their connection to drugs is manufacturing them to fund their terrorist groups. It makes me nervous to see their interest in something like this. There are simply too many variables and ways it can go bad. We at least need to know what this drug does. We might be able to recreate it from the formula but there may be other things involved in how it is administered that might change the effect. If Artemis is interested in this drug, you have to ask what it does that would fit into their agenda. Anything I can think of is really bad and hard to fight against or prevent.” She shrugged as she knew she was always uncomfortable around drugs. Her worst fear was not being able to control her own mind and thoughts. It was why she didn’t like alcohol all that much. She craved control and hated feeling out of control for all her adrenaline junkie ways. “I am glad we are at least going to investigate.” 

Skye nodded, looking it through and knowing Sam definitely would want to get some answers given the work she’d been involved in too, and likewise the same for Skye’s own ends. All of these things going on, it felt odd that they were disconnected, yet part of a wider grid of things going on. Vale had clearly been involved in some of the agricultural setup here, through a shell and yet why would Pavel need to know? Maybe he was a cokehead and his dealer was just letting him know what was up, but irrespective, it still seemed strange. Irrespective, she made some notes before putting down the tablet.
“Aye, we can figure this puzzle out. Pavel’s belief might be a little more than wrong if they want to do something as fucking stupid as this. And that’s what worries me more, because there is more to it. I’ll let you crack on..” Skye stood up on that note and glugged the rest of the glass down, heading across the data lab and grabbing some fruit from the communal basket, looking back over at Sam. She was certainly getting in with the team, and any doubt of her combat ability, or ability under pressure had long since gone. The optimism drove Skye’s spirits higher, all things considered. 

“You know, your father and Takahashi-san would be proud of you. I’ve never seen someone hold onto their humanity so well in this line of work. Whatever you do, keep it. Gives you something to fight for beyond your trust in people. Once it’s gone, believe me, it’s really hard to find a way back.” Skye seemed solemn in her words, knowing Sam’s backstory well enough, and knowing who she was as a person. Analytical, and sure, a little high energy, but fundamentally, a good person. Irrespective of what had happened, and Skye couldn’t always live down the idea that she took not just the weight of the responsibility of the team, but sometimes, the morality that came with convincing yourself that you had to be right doing bad things. Much like Pavel did. She only hoped that ultimately, her gut was right and that narcissistic assholes like him were very wrong. Sam made her belief a little stronger, and for Skye, that sometimes for someone who looked invincible on a good day, was more than enough.

Samantha blushed as Skye told her father and Takahashi would be proud of her. Her mother had died giving birth to her. She found out at a young age that she was different from others. She had intellectual gifts. She had always strove to help people. She had always thought it was her way of balancing out the universe. Her mother had given her life to bring her into this world. She needed to help the world be a better place to justify that sacrifice. She had never told that truth to anyone. She knew it and understood it. Having a moral code allowed her to honor her mother. She had never known the woman but she lived on in her memory through her father’s stories about her mother. That was part of the pain of losing her only living relative that had meant anything to her. She had lost that last link to her mother. She would never share these thoughts with Skye or anyone else. She just nodded her head before replying “I hope so.” She turned back to the computer to escape the emotions that Skye’s observation and comments had 
dredged up in her. She went back to searching and sorting through all the data. She kept pulling the information together into files for Skye to review. 

—-------

[h2]Hybrid Mind[/h2]

Skye had been rather impressed about Sam’s progress on hacking, as she sat there in the office, still working away, reviewing the data herself, as well as a few bits from Tahlia regarding procurement- the usual crap. Her usual casual attire on, she didn’t really give that look of a super serious boss, rather one that just didn’t enforce too strict a set of rules on a group of people that didn’t do it. Work was work, and Skye hated being an office bound jockey, but at least the sound of Tame Impala’s “The Less I Know the Better” made the place a lot more funky, an old indie singer she loved and kept to heart. For such a badass queen of a woman that seemed almost like she would prefer metal and screaming classical, to see that was quite a contrast.

Samantha was still sorting through all the piles of crap that Pavel had stored on his computer. She had made a great deal of progress on discovering what was stored on it throughout the day. Most of it had been sorted in categories such as business emails, personal emails, and Artemis contact emails, purchase orders, calendar invitations, shipping invoices, and research. Items of interest connected to known terrorists or criminal parties were being pulled into their own files for review together. She had quite the overview of Artemis’ network because Pavel’s communication hub was at the center of their network. There was a great deal of  information there. Sam was sure some of it would be passed to other Raven teams  or the appropriate party to handle. Some she knew Raven would deal with personally to ensure true justice would take place.

Her conscience was bugging her though. Skye had prodded her gently about how she was feeling in regards to her father. She felt bad that she had turned to work and shut her out for the most part. She had not really re-engaged her in conversation since then. They had worked quietly next to each other for most of the day. Skye didn’t seem worried or upset but Samantha knew she had let her own insecurities push the other woman away. She struggled to talk about her feelings, especially the complicated ones regarding her family. Samantha had made tremendous progress at least sorting through the data on his computer. She had added another cipher to search for keywords in all his stored emails. She had included the address in Patagonia to see if anything popped out. 

Her conscience would no longer let her sit still as she had been fidgeting for at least a half hour. “Skye…” She really didn’t know how to start this conversation but she knew needed too. ”I owe you an apology.” Sam’s eyes were focused on the computer screen as her face flushed a pink tone. “I find it hard to talk about my parents. I appreciate that you were trying to help and check in with me about it.” She cut off obviously embarrassed. 

Skye reached over and flicked the AR device off, the music cutting out as Skye looked across.
“It’s all good. It’s not an easy one. Look….fancy taking a break from this? Get a moment away from it, grab a walk and have a wee chat. If that’s alright with you?” She suggested, the warm motherly tone implying that whilst Skye knew that Sam was comfortable hacking away, staying here was probably going to not be the right place to talk- while in the thick of it. The Scot could read Sam, and the nerves had come back in an unintended affect, and she felt a bit bad about it. Then again, Skye knew she had to bridge that gap, make sure she was there for her. It was the right thing to do. She didn’t want to delve more, but at least, address the burning thing in the middle of the room, and help.

Sam’s face got even redder but she nodded. She set the computer up to continue its work without her. She knew she could deny Skye’s request and that she would allow it. The truth of the matter was that Sam liked Skye and being a part of Raven. She wanted to be on good terms with her boss and team. The least she could do is see what she had to say. As she rose to her feet, her stomach rumbled. It had been a long time since breakfast. “As long as food is involved too, my stomach is growling.” She gave Skye a sheepish smile as she fidgeted like a toddler on a sugar high. “Lead on.” 

Skye nodded, as they got up and headed out of the office, Skye giving a wave to Raphael as they headed back out into the afternoon sunshine, looking back over at the American.
“Aye, I’m sure we could arrange that.” Skye wryly commented, chuckling, knowing it was probably about time for some lunch, and probably something as simple as could be.
“I might go tough on you all sometimes, but I’m here to listen, Sam. There’s a lot of stuff going on. Like how Mateo’s got things in his life. Freya might seem perfect, but I know how hard it is for her to keep that way given what typically a giant would have to deal with, and Xan in his ways. I might know a lot about your past, but what I need to ask is what I can do to help. That remains a mystery to me.” Skye calmly and gently said in her quilt-like accent, looking over out the sea as they walked down the stony track, the redhead looking back across at Sam, the tall Scot calm in her demeanor and open to things.

Samantha gave Raphael a passing wave of good bye as the two women left the secure intelligence room. She walked alongside Skye. Her eyes scanned the horizon. She appreciated the contrast between the dark blue sea with heavy gray clouds on the horizon and the green hills and trees surrounding the base. She took a deep breath feeling a deep knot of tension she hadn’t realized she was carrying began to unfurl a little. “I know we all come with our own personal baggage. Mine is no more or less important than anyone else’s on the team.” Samantha thought about how to put what she was feeling into words. She shrugged and grinned mischievously as she embraced the cliche. “It’s complicated.” She laughed a little at how it was such a simple phrase and  yet so true at the same time. 

“I have never known my mother. The closest I have is the elderly woman who taught me martial arts. Her husband was with my father at the game that day.” She sighed wondering for about the millionth time why this was so hard. “All I knew about my mother, I learned from my father. It was like growing up with a ghost I was supposed to know, respect, and love.” She paused a little before continuing. “He never stopped loving her. He never dated or tried to get to know other women. He would just shut them down gently. He was my link to her. I have no memories of my own. I didn’t just lose my father that day. I lost my mother, my father, and the man I considered my grandfather.” 

Her voice grew harder as thoughts of how she lost them pulsed through her awareness. “I need closure. I know they are dead and not coming back. I need to know that the people responsible for that act have paid for it. It is not about revenge. It is about being able to think about them without anger and rage. I should be able to remember the things that made me smile and love them.” Her voice cracked. She stopped talking and just looked off into the distance. “I know that Raven Squad will help me when the time is right and the information is there. In the meantime, I have to live with the knowledge that the only other person who really knows me, is an elderly woman who I love. But who will probably pass away in the next 5 years or so.” 

She tilted her head considering what Skye had said about Raven Squad. “I feel like Raven Squad could be my new chosen family. I am trying to build lasting relationships with people who I can trust to know all the parts of me. My rage, my crazy need to test boundaries and ideas, and my need to fight for the little guy. I watched all my life as my father endured having my mother talked down about because she was Hispanic. That he deserved being poor because he had embraced people not of America. Which is utter bullshit, my mother was a citizen. I watched him be pushed around by gangs, harassed by officials, and more. Justice means something to me. It means people don’t get to push other people around because they can. Someone who can fight back should step in the way and help. I want to be that person.” She nodded as if clarifying her own feelings and thoughts. She blushed as she realized how much she just verbalized to her boss. She looked at Skye for her reaction. 

Skye nodded, listening away, knowing that while she couldn't compare her own experience, she could understand, a certain kind of compassion she could put back and know that even if what she said wouldn’t fill that void, it would be something.
“It’s why you’re here, after all. Quite extraordinary.” Skye simply retorted initially, nodding, aware of the facts, the story, what had happened, and how it had happened.
“Justice is a tough one to give out. There’s none in this world apart from the kind we make, and then we live with it. And what’s worse, sometimes the one that pulls the trigger, or the knife hasn’t a clue why they did it. There’s always some bigger fish. And that is the bit that is really scary. Leaves things hard to see.” Skye added, knowing it wouldn’t give comfort, but at least, it would give some rationality to what she was thinking on her mind. Skye didn’t mind, if anything, she was happy to see her open up, the black box that was sometimes Sam now coming a little more alive.

“I guess I found what drives you. If Mateo’s is revenge, then yours is that. Compassion. And it’s a rare thing to have, especially doing what we do.” The Scot added, as they turned a corner, Skye instead taking them on a different track- not down to the base but away, down towards another patch of forest, a winding one down to a beach.
“Sam, you probably by now realize I’m not all a good person from some of what I did in Singapore. I don’t play fair, and that’s even by CIA standards. That I know, is that there isn’t a lot you know about me. From what you did before, and right now. But I may as well tell you too. There is a lot of blood on my hands. More than I can even recall. A lot of bad people, and a lot of them probably had families. Even some of them really didn’t deserve it. But it was me or them. And it keeps me thinking sometimes. I did it because it was service, duty, commitment. I was good at it. And still am. And yet that world of niceties isn’t one I can ever go into, Sam. It’s distant, far, and temporary. I can’t turn off. Let go of it.” Skye added, shaking her head, chuckling, knowing the weakness never came out, never really showed, the Scot baring her honest self.

“So like I said earlier, hang onto it. That bit of good. I meant it. You lose that, your night out with Freya last night becomes less about life and more about escape.” 

Samantha listened to what Skye had to say. She disagreed with her on some of it. “I am trying to let it go by throwing myself into work. It is hard to let it go when the pain still feels fresh. I know the work that we are doing will help someone else not lose a parent. She turned to face Skye. “I have taken lives and tortured people for information Skye. I am not as naive or innocent. I see the darkness of knowledge in your eyes. Of the things you have seen and done. We do them because we are strong enough to live with having done those acts to spare others. Some would call the act of simply taking a life evil. If taking that one life spares thousands of innocent lives, then I am going to pull the trigger. I think the difference between us is that I still know that there are good things in life from those who can accept me, friendship, love, a life of fun and companionship. I want my life to have meaning. I will bear what I must so that others will see justice. I used to believe that justice would come from the court systems or governments. I am not that naive anymore. I have found that working outside of those constraints suits me. If it looks like a nail and I don’t have a hammer but a gun, then it's okay to use the gun.” She shrugged, “I am okay with that. On the other side of that argument, I know that the woman I consider my grandmother, will never understand this side of me. I have found surprising acceptance and friendship among Raven Squad. I am in no hurry to leave.” 

Skye nodded, hearing the fire from Sam, almost hearing her words say it almost be that confirming, good piece that at least reassured her that the American was in control of her feelings. Saw this for what it was, rather than some fest it wasn’t.
“That’s fair enough. Just a fair warning, that’s all. And the team, they make it bearable, eh?” Skye added, chuckling as she walked down the steps, the track winding through the jungle and with a bit more walking, out onto a small sandy beach, as Skye found a small piece of driftwood, a log that had made its way back on shore, and sat on it, the wood dried from how long it’d been sitting in the sun.

“It’s a tough one, I guess. Meaning, purpose. This is quite a good one, as far as it goes. Get to adventure, travel, and do good. Not many careers like that.” She simply added on, thinking on the words of Sam, knowing she had plenty of wisdom herself, and perhaps, in another angle to help, she could open her own self up.

“My mother never would. She never really knows, to be fair. I feel awful sometimes, this alcoholic that practically disowned me. I did all I could, but the reality was, I never could help her. After she lost my father, there wasn’t much of a chance of that.” Skye solemnly commented, looking over at Sam, baring herself as she sighed a little, then looking back across to the sea.
“Never met my grandparents, on either side. My dad told me I was a Lyons through and through in spite of that, and while it was never a great clan, it was one full of a lot of pride, courage, conviction. Gave me a lot of these things, a childhood that was amazing, all of it. Then he just fucking vanished. One day, he’s there for me every moment, the next, gone. I don’t get it. They say he fell overboard, yet every time I try to figure it out, can’t.  Maybe I tell myself that because he couldn’t have had that happen to him. But I tried. And found nothing.” Skye sighed, knowing that emptiness of regret wasn’t like Sam’s. It was just empty, an acceptance that it was random, disorganized, nonsense.
“So yeah. This has meaning to me too. Helps give purpose when a lot of it’s random.” 

Samantha chuckled a little and shook her head. “Don’t go there Skye. Your mother made her own choices. You are not responsible for them. If she was shitty or abusive to you, those were her actions. There is no shame in not allowing yourself to be a verbal punching bag. As far as your father goes, maybe he meant to come back and couldn’t you will never know. I understand what that feels like. I will never have any first hand knowledge about my mother. I only know what she looks like through pictures. I will never know what her cooking tasted like, or what her hug might feel like, or what she smelled like. It is the same with your father. Unless some new evidence comes to life you only have what little you know which sucks. Like me you have to live with it.” 

She had walked down onto the beach with Skye. She sat down on the driftwood log next to Skye. “Raven Squad members have their own issues, yes. But they are going to understand what it means to do what we do. They will be there to support us during an op and after. Skye you just have to let us know how to support you. You are the leader, yes without a doubt. But leaders deserve support too.” She smiled as she playfully nudged Skye with her shoulder. 


Skye chuckled, wrapping her own arm around Sam, the feeling of warmth close as she held her close, looking out into the sea, then back down, for a moment taking this particular one in.
“True. You know, I never told anyone that. Not until now. I guess I don’t think about saying it. But sometimes it’s good.” She retorted, her husky Scots tone playing out, as she sighed, looking at Sam, then back at the ocean, vacant.

Samantha smiled as Skye put a comforting arm around her. She allowed the warmth to be shared and nodded as she listened to Skye. “I don’t usually talk about my mother either. I find it hard to talk about her. Most people just offer pity and try to understand but if I hit them with my truth they don’t know what to say. Thank you for listening and sharing.” She leaned into the side of the Scot and gave her a mischievous grin. “Great! Then the next time Freya wants to do a girls night out, I know how to guilt trip you into coming with us. She said I have to plan the next  one. How do you feel about a rage room? Do you think we can find one to withstand our battle goddess?” She tried to help Skye lighten the mood without breaking the moment. “I promise not to tell the guys that you have a heart hidden in there.” She winked at Skye conspiratorially. 

Skye chuckled, shaking her head and giggling, just envisioning the idea of Freya in a rage room. She didn’t need a room, she needed an entire town to contain her when the hammer was out, not one piece would remain unbroken.
“You’ll struggle to find one. Though saying it, we rather are in the business of it…and I’m sure they’ll all find it in time.” Skye giggled, looking back with her warmth back in again, like she was back in the room once more.
“No worries. It’ll be hard to understand, because it means different things. But I’m happy to be there.” Skye added, standing up as she looked across the waves, then back over to Sam, dusting her jeans off of sand and dust.

“You really should stop by Javi’s sometime. He is really talking too much about you. Though don’t give him more coffee. He has enough.” Skye dryly remarked, brushing the rest of the dust off her as she looked across at the blonde, former CIA-agent.

Samantha chucked at Skye’s answer. She pictured them having to find a small operation where they could turn Frigga loose to smash to her heart’s content. Maybe she could find a nice smuggling ring they could take apart for fun one weekend. They would need their gear. It wouldn’t be too dangerous for them. They probably wouldn’t have the kind of weapons that could touch Frigga in her suit. She pictured a beautiful drug runner’s estate with huge holes in the wall and a caved in roof. She might have to see if she could get Skye to approve that. It sounded like fun. 

She perked up at the mention of Javi. “Javi is the mechanic right? I have been meaning to swing by and see him about some vehicle designs. Ever since we have started narrowing in on Patagonia as a potential operations site, I have been thinking about an armored snow cat with a turret on the roof with modified heavy machine guns and grenade launchers. Snowmobiles with a front facing armor shield and mounted machine guns.They could be helpful in snowy terrain. Any requests?” She smiled at Skye looking like a kid who had been told they had an unlimited budget in the candy store. She followed Sky rising to her feet and dusting off the yoga pants she preferred when lounging around the base. 


Skye chuckled, very ornately aware of that fact that Sam would go wild once she gave the green light.
“Haha….well, it’s the forest I’m more worried about. Something gives me a feeling we may need to go quiet. But it wouldn’t go without help.” Skye retorted back, as they headed back up the track, slowly but surely, the Scot happy to share her time with one of the team’s hacker, and whilst it felt odd to share, it felt like her own load may be easier too.

------------

[h2]Kit Check[/h2]

With the computer work out of the way, Skye had made another detour as the noon turned into afternoon- back to the armoury.

With the fact that they were headed to Patagonia now firmly on the radar, Skye had time to at least prepare her equipment before the team would know about the further details. There was a lot to work out, but firmly, she knew it was good as time as any to start preparing her equipment. Her exoskeleton frame and the various ballistic plates across it's skeleton-like embrace held a snug, insulated MTP uniform that would be good for the forests and rocks of the observatory approach. 

Next to it was her SIG MCX, the customised and highly pimped out battle rifle sporting a silencer, thermal optic, secondary holographic sight, tactical grip and custom skeleton stock no less, a weapon that felt like a machined piece of Swiss elegance rather than the crude hose that the MG3 was in her hands. Magazines loads with ammunition, it felt ready to go, as did her helmet, plate carrier, and most of all, the sweet, sweet boost pack. R&D had managed to turn the double jump into something even harder hitting, and the exo wasn't much more faster, though it could certainly now more easily break into sprints faster than prior- the overcharge now coming in a little quicker. A few adaptations to her AR/holographic glasses also helped out too, giving her a little more insight into Sam, Xan and the team's other members when out on operation. It felt like a little extra something something, and the Scot loved her combat toys as she checked over the M32 MGL that was also ready to go, with a quick loaded set of 40mm grenade rounds, and a few utility ones too. 

The team would likely be keeping themselves busy on the island- either through setting up their own equipment too, enjoying the sunny environment and getting geared. They wouldn't have much longer to enjoy it, as Skye had informed the team they were getting briefed tonight, and already, the gears were slowly beginning to turn for the next operations. There wasn't just work to do in Patagonia- they had another target of interest, and the Scot had a promise to keep to the team's infiltrator, one she knew would be demanding answers sooner rather than later.