It was another day like any other. The trees were molting there auburn leaves and the birds were flying South for winter. It was nothing new for this time of year. A lone woman sat on a park bench wrapped up in a warm coat. She sat alone reading a small book she had bought a few days ago and still tried to finish the texts inside the novel dripping with excitement and drama. Alas just like every other time she went to read it a man walked by sneezing.

As he sneezed a small envelope hovered its’ way to the ground. The man quickly scurried off as if this was intentional. The woman leaned over seeing the envelope was a drop off for her. She was told to be at this bench at a certain time to receive her next mission. It was a hopeful mission of something more exciting than recon and just watching men walk around full of themselves while an assault rifle clung to their backs.

The woman picked up the envelope and walked out of the park as if nothing had ever happened. The sun was slowly setting and the wind chill was steadily dropping the temperature. As she made her way home she kept hoping in her mind for a real mission. One she could sink her teeth into and really do something. Her feet could not move fast enough to get to the rundown apartment she had for a safe house.

After withdrawing the keys and opening the door, she locked the door behind her as she quickly disrobed the coat and gloves from her body. A smile of joy crossed her lips as she opened the envelope. Her heart sank as the mission required her to stay under cover and await further orders. A mission had gone south not far from her and she may be needed for assistance in a quick pick and delivery mission. She had trained so long to be a sniper and just looking through the scope was not enough for her. She wanted to get back into the missions where she could pull the trigger. The thrill of the bullets recoil into her shoulder, the smell of the gunpowder, and sound of the bullet escaping the chamber of her weapon was an excitement.

The top of her class for several years and few could out shoot her. A gentle tap on her door dragged her out of her inner thoughts of actually shooting again. As she walked to the door a small piece of paper from under the door slid into her dwelling, the words embossed on the paper clearly said, ‘Meet me in the park 0630 hours, signed, Gene Cross.”

Gene Cross was a codename for a mission statement drop off and it was strange to receive one shortly after receiving another. She blew it off thinking it was the pickup mission in need of her assistance. Radio silence was at the utmost importance so she could not call in to verify the status of any mission. This was a dangerous time for anyone who wielded a weapon for hire.

The night was maddening as her mind was plagued with the new mission pick up time. Her instincts kept screaming something was amiss. Tossing and turning as the night went on. Finally time came and she went to the meeting place. Rustling of the leaves drew her attention quickly. Suddenly a distant scratching sound of a radio being used echoed in the breeze. Something was definitely wrong. She stopped dead in her tracks and waited. A man sat at a park bench and motioned her to sit next to him.

“Ну моя дорогая, я скучал по тебе так. Ну поговори со мной и дайте мне знать, как вы были ?” ((Come my darling, I have missed you so. Come talk to me and let me know how you have been?))

She sat next to the man as she kept her eyes scanning the area for anyone else as she spoke quietly, “Ах да, я скучал по тебе, а “ ((Ah yes I have missed you as well.)) The man smiled at her. His was a very distinguished looking man and far from the typical soldier. He spoke very well and even his demeanor was high class. Possibly a spy she thought to herself.

“У меня есть трудная задача, к вам. Я слышал, вы хорошо с поиском кроликов из укрытия.”

((I have a difficult task to ask of you. I hear you are good with seeking out rabbits from hiding places.))

“Я очень хорошо.”

((I am very good.))

The man chuckled as he handed her his business card.

“Хорошо. Хорошо. Встретимся здесь, чтобы мы могли обсудить мою кролика проблемы в дальнейшем.”

((Good. Good. Meet me here so that we can discuss my rabbit problem further.))

The woman took the card and got up to walk away. She was refraining from leaping for joy. The words he spoke were all code for a full on sniping mission. She would finally be able to shoot something. The two parted from the park. Now was time to prep for the mission at hand. The business card had a strange print on it and upon inspection it peeled apart revealing a coded message. It was quickly deciphered. The one known as Silver Fox had been activated for a mission on the front lines.

Something had to have gone really wrong for her to be summoned to the front line due to her skill sets. Explosives and sniper abilities made her a huge asset in any situation. That and she was as cunning as her codename presumed. Silver Fox sighed heavily as she striped her rifle down to its’ bare essentials to clean the weapon. As quickly as it was taken apart it was put back together. The rendezvous point was several meters away from Paris, France. Silver Fox would have to take a train to Paris to receive further orders.

A few days had passed and Paris was just ahead. Silver Fox moved quickly trying to not disclose her whereabouts to anyone. She kept her nose clean and remained anonymous as much as she could. There were several soldiers walking around the train platforms at each stop the train made and somehow none even glanced her way. Paris was getting their first snow of the year by this time. Unfortunately Silver Fox would not be there long enough to enjoy the perks of this time of year.

The train stopped in Paris and she excited the train to find a man waiting for her. “Are you the one looking for the lost rabbit?” Silver Fox nodded as the man quickly gathered her bags. The two moved through the train station into a nearby taxi. The man sat quietly next her as the taxi drove down the streets to a seedy side of town. They exited the vehicle just outside the burlesque district and went into a rundown hotel. The man turned around and kept eye balling everything around them. “Here are your orders. Big Boss said he needed reliable eyes and ears on this mission and named you personally.”

“I’m flattered!” She spoke sarcastically as she thought this was another sit and watch mission.

The man blew off her sarcasm and handed her the dossier to let her know the mission. Silver Fox skimmed through the mission statements and a face caught her eye. It was a well-known General entering a base. Fox Hound had been requested to infiltrate the base, but they needed to know everything about it first. Silver Fox was to be the eyes and ears for the upcoming mission as a sniper and advisor. Her heart leaped as she thought of what would happen while on this mission. She was set to place herself within the forested area and watch the activity. Report all she could see and remain there until the mission and the soldiers involved evacuated. Silver Fox was a last resort person in case things went wrong, she could snipe or help aid the escape of her allies. After many weeks her codex communicator would become active once more to fulfill the needs of the mission.

It was a real mission and not one of just watching. She had the chance of actually doing more.

Mission Time

A few days had passed and each day she watched carefully reporting all activities she could see. The based was reported to make and distribute illegal weapons on a biological level. People went in, but few came out. Here she sat perched on a hillside deep within the South American jungle with the one the most dangerous fauna surrounding her. It did not make her uneasy in the least. Her training came in handy along with her synthetic suit. It molded to her skin making her more mobile and capable of withstanding the jungles trivial dangers.

The time came for the real mission to start. Instinctively she tied her hair back into a pony tail as she kept one eye through the scope. Silver Fox watched as a group of soldiers from her unit enter the base. All was going well so far. No alarms sounded off and no soldiers running like ants in a disturbed ant hill. Her scope did not reveal anything to risky either.

A Z-9 Helicopter brandishing a Chinese emblem near the back rotor blade caught her eye. Silver Fox used her codex to radio her fellow troops of the helicopters landing. Something felt off about this. The only people who went in were locals and a few unlucky souls captured by the local guerrillas. A man stepped out of the copter in a pin striped suit and greased back hair. His face was hidden by his body guards who exited the plane. None of the soldiers had anything on resembling a normal Chinese uniform. Silver Fox radioed back into base and a familiar gruff voice echoed in her ear.

“Stay put. You need to assist them when they come out. They will be in your view soon. The success of the mission is a greater concern than who is in the chopper.”

“Copy that.” Silver Fox took a deep breath causing her heart to beat slower and steady her hands. The scoped moved slowly as she looked for her allies. An explosion appeared just a few clicks from where her scope was. She put her attention there and saw a group of men. Quickly discovering they were her fellow soldiers she watched through the scope to aid their escape.

Silver Fox pulled the trigger to stop an enemy from firing an RPG toward the men escaping. She quickly made the shot right between his eyes and he fell like a bag of bricks causing the RPG to go off at his feet killing more of the enemy. Through her scope she witnessed the man on the roof quickly make his way back to the helicopter. Before anything could be said or done it took off. Her gut wrenched at her as her instincts cried out to take down the chopper. That was not her orders. It angered her to know she could not take it down. She had to keep her position secretive to help aid in the mission success. The other soldiers relied on her to keep their escape route clean.

Silver Fox gathered up her weapon as she prepared to meet up with the men. They entered the meeting point with some resistance.

“Holy crap it is a woman I thought it was bad juju to have one on a mission.”

“Fortunately for you, this woman helped save your asses. So you can continue to gawk or I can get you to the extraction point.”

The men nodded and she could see a few of them were injured, but nothing serious. She guided them to the hidden plane on an abandoned air field. Silver Fox pulled the limbs that were hiding the small craft to be able to begin lift off. Everyone boarded the plane as one of the men used his codex to report their status. It was almost a huge relief to all that the mission was a success. Silver Fox however did not consider it a success until everyone made it back to headquarters in one piece.

Mission Overview

Silver Fox got the men back to base. The plane was in serious need of repair due to gun shots. While trying to take off stray bullets ricocheted killing a few of the men. Each member of the mission had to report their statements. When it came time for her, she refused to go in. When asked why she only said that she told over the codex what she saw and what she knew during the mission and there was no need to waste her breath. Some would view it as defiance, but her commanding officer knew her all too well.

She did not like to talk too much and repeating herself would only make her more aggressive. Silver Fox walked down the hall and a picture on a board caught her eye. The Z-9 she saw in black and white. There were other documents stapled to the board, but the door closed hiding them from view. She knew there was more to the craft than she was told. The unit was full of secrets and soldiers were sent to die to keep them or to take them from others. It was a vicious cycle.

Silver Fox traveled to North America and faded into the crowd awaiting her next mission.