TWENTY-NINE

Leora

"It's simple really," Sebastian passed the potatoes to Delara and continued, "A massive shipment like the one scheduled for New York will have the highest security. It will also have their most capable personnel. I bet Jerome would be at the holding location."

"What are you betting?" Dylan smirked.

"A million dollars," Kabir chimed in.

"Pff…that's nothing," Sebastian huffed.

A round of laughs followed.

"Okay, Mr. Billionnaire," Delara swooped in, "What are our plans to find the said holding location?"

"Ask Zane," Sebastian sipped his wine.

Zane cleared his throat, "That's a bit tricky. I'm targeting all recently rented warehouses near New York in the past year. I have a list of companies that have rented them and running checks on those. So far, nothing."

"What's plan B? We only have less than two weeks now," Zarek asked.

"Plan B," Zane said chewing on his salmon, "Is to infiltrate their comms. Kabir and I are making tweaks to Sentrix as we speak. We should be able to override Crazon's firewalls soon."

I dove in, "So, once we have the holding location and the schematics, what are our next steps before the mission?"

" You will be training, Leo."

I rolled my eyes at Logan.

"Zarek and I have a plan," Sebastian said, "Once we have the schematics, it can be altered. But essentially we'll split into three teams. We need to secure the location and basically replace their team with ours. We'll need one secure entry-exit point that we'll use to extract Jerome. So, team 1 will secure the location internally and plant the explosives, team 2 will be responsible to guard the entry-exit point and act as backup, team 3 will be on extraction."

The whole table nodded. It made sense for us to split the team. I wondered who will be on which team. Before I could ask, Amelia beat me to it.

"What's the split?"

Zarek chimed in, "Sebastian, Delara, Kabir and I will be on one team 1. Logan and Dylan on team 3 for extraction. Amelia and her drones along with Leora on team 2. Zane will be on remote rescue in case all goes to hell."

"I'll bring in the bird as a fail safe," Zane nodded.

"I heard you have VR locomotion technology here," Kabir eyed Sebastian, "Can we play with it?"

Sebastian laughed but it was Zane who responded, "Once we have the holding location schematics, I plan for us to practice mock missions on it. We have twelve pods, should be enough."

"You and your fancy equipment, Seb," Dylan chuckled, "What don't you have?"

"A woman," Delara mumbled and everyone except Sebastian laughed.

After the laughter died down, the team remained silent. There was no sound save for faint clinks of the cutlery.

"I have some good news," Delara broke the silence, "My contact at Vortex Labs came through. We're getting their newly tested and approved military gear. The bulletproof lightweight bodysuit and their new tactical vest. I've ordered twenty of each. They're coming tomorrow."

"Excellent work, Booth," Sebastian smiled, "You're all also getting a wardrobe change, Squad Six. We have a habit of going in with style. So, expect your new gear in your rooms within 48 hours."

Kabir and Dylan were smiling at each other, while Logan wore his persistent scowl as he always did in Sebastian's presence. Amelia nodded at her plate as she chewed and Zarek remained impassive.

We all ate and talked more, and soon our conversations shifted from the heavier topic of Operation Icarus, to lighter topics of American football and ice hockey. The boys laughed and Amelia and Delara chatted. I took a few pointers but overall I remained quiet. Every now and then, I'd feel Zarek's hand on my thigh or a squeeze on my shoulder.

I didn't feel as much out of place, as I felt a bit intimidated. These were highly trained individuals. They were morphed into deadly weapons for their country, while I was sitting here, at the same table, training to be at least half as good as them.

???

The next day, I stepped out of the small conference room near our rooms. I had just finished my online written test and my nerves were still on fire. I had been extremely anxious, but as soon as I saw the test countdown, I used those five minutes to calm my nerves. I felt a bit relieved, similar to how I felt after a test during my university days. I was pretty confident that I had done my very best in the written test.

The morning sun filtered through the curtains as I entered our room, its early light casting long shadows across the floor. Zarek had been up with me earlier, offering quiet support before we parted ways for my test. Now, the room was empty, the quiet punctuated only by the faint sounds of the facility waking up.

Eager to shake off the last of my test nerves, I decided it was the perfect time to try out my new M18. I strapped on the belt holster and secured the gun, its weight familiar and reassuring against my side. With a determined stride, I headed to Blackthorn's gun range to get in some practice before my official training session with Logan later in the day.

I needed to be completely in sync with this gun. I needed to feel its rhythm, its vibrations, its recoil. I needed to know everything about it.

After turning the safety off, I practiced for three sprints using their practice magazines. With a satisfied grin on my face, I joined Logan near the range in the target practice room.

He whistled as he eyed my gun, "I heard you did some shopping with Zarek yesterday."

"I did," I smiled, "You like?"

"Yeah, it's beautiful. You know you can customize it. Spray it pink or something."

"Black is more my color, Lo," I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, honey, make it yours. Bedazzle it."

"You're weird today," I chuckled and flicked him lightly on his forehead.

"You'll pay for that," he raised his brows.

"Tell you what. If I maintain my high score of 19 over 20, or exceed it, you'll train me in the VR locomotive machine."

"And if you don't win?" Logan asked.

"Then I'll let you flick me on my forehead. Use all your strength."

"I think Zarek will murder me if he sees you need stitches on your forehead," he grinned.

"Fine, you choose."

Logan rubbed his jaw, "If you get anything lower than 19, you can't join Operation Icarus."

"What?" I almost snarled.

He shrugged.

"You don't have the authority to do that, Lo."

"Zarek owes me," Logan's face turned serious, "And I don't want you near a firefight."

"Lo, I am backup. You most likely won't even need me."

Logan looked away from me then and sighed, "I just…it's dangerous, Leo. You're not fully trained. We haven't even practiced full combat, with gear and everything. It's heavy and sweaty," he gave an ex aggerated shiver, "And itchy."

"I can handle heavy, sweaty and itchy."

"Fine, then today's training is you, in gear, doing a one-on-one drill. Shoot to kill, and resort to combat if you lose your gun. Blackthorn has a maze room. If you win, you join the mission. If not, then we're not taking you."

I hesitated, but I wasn't going to back down. I wanted to be on the mission.

"Deal. Who am I practicing against?"

Logan gave a sly smirk, "Delara Booth."

"Fuck."

"Indeed," I heard Delara as she entered the room.

"You planned this, didn't you?" I gave Logan a lazy smile.

"Maybe."

Logan left me and Delara in the target practice room. Delara wore a black t-shirt and gray sweatpants. Even though her outfit was casual, she still radiated elegance.

"I'll go change," she smiled smugly at me, "You should too, Doc. Your gear is in changing room 3."

Ugh. What a bitch!

I strode off muttering a string of curses. Why did it have to be her?

I entered the changing room and saw a pile of black clothing resting on the bench, along with a tactical helmet, goggles, boots and gloves.

I braided my hair, slipped on the balaclava, and started wearing the rest of the black colored clothing. I noticed there was no vest which made my brows shoot up. I continued with the boots, the goggles and then finished off with the helmet and gloves. One look in the mirror, and I realized I looked pretty badass. If I had the vest, it would certainly enhance the whole look. I smiled beneath my mask and headed to the maze room.

Delara was already geared up in a vest that had five sensors on her chest, two on shoulders and one on her forehead. She was holding a rifle that pretty much looked like a toy but similar in size in M5.

"Are we playing laser tag?" I asked dryly which earned me a smirk from Delara.

"Kind of," she said as she handed me my vest and the forehead sensor that clicked into the helmet pretty easily.

"Here's your rifle, rivaling an M5 in dimensions, recoil and…" she handed me the rifle and my hand dipped not expecting it to be as heavy as a real rifle, "Weight."

She then turned and headed to a door on the far end of the lobby.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Come find me, Doc," she said as she disappeared into the second door.

I exhaled once and entered the door in front of me. The door led me to a narrow white-walled path that turned left at the end. I took my stance, propped up my rifle and stealthily walked towards the left turn. Peering briefly over the corner and finding it clear, I strode towards the open room. There were walls everywhere, partitioning and blocking my view of what's beyond. I had no schematics, no backup, just me. And all I had to do was find and neutralize my frenemy, Delara Booth.