Four Spirits, One Soul

The Sparrows' Hive

TW: blood, mentions of death, guns, darkness, cussing

Author's note: Chapter is a little shorter then the average 4000 words, but I didn't want to cut off awkwardly lol. I'm sorry for not updating for a while, a lot of stuff happened with my family and finals were kicking my ass, but I'm back and I bring the boys :]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

POV: Poltergeist

Me and Archer waited until we saw all the surviving Shadows leave before approaching the scene. Dead bodies scattered around, roughly 10 from a mix of the team's handiwork. Scavenging through the bodies while Archer kept watch, I found several sets of medpacks, a few canteens, plenty of ammo, and a few guns. The arsenal of functional armor, weapons, and general gear would help, sure, but now the rest of the team had been taken and we had no idea where they'd been heli'd off to. That was, until I found a still-functional radio. Retreating with as much gear as I could carry and the radio, I met up with Archer at our makeshift campsite. She was already setting to work setting up our packs. I fiddled with the radio in the meantime, managing to catch traces of "back in a day", "bodies need to be recovered", and finally I landed on the secret Sparrow radio frequency.

Fine-tuning in, it wasn't long before a scratchy voice broke through the speakers. "4587." I chuckled, before responding with, "0912. Codename: The Beast." A relieved noise broke through the channel, before the static cleared and I heard Teeny's voice come through the radio. "Thank fuck, Boss you're alive!!" A loud clattering in the background, and I couldn't help a laugh. Suddenly many many voices broke through the speaker, before I heard a noticeable and deep, "Alright alright, everyone clear out!" Another chuckle. Teeny sure knew how to clear out a room. "Sorry 'bout that boss." I smiled, nodding to Archer at her questioning gesture to the guns. "Quite alright Teeny. Listen close now, I don't know how long this line has before it triggers a system alarm." A rustle of paper, and then, "Ready at your leisure boss."

"I need a heli and team sent to my location as soon as possible. The 141 have been captured." I heard an agreeing grunt. "No shit. Our open locations have all been attacked within the last week, one after another. We've managed to get into contact with Laswell, but Price and the rest of the 141 have been unable to contact. Shadow Company's decided we're a national threat." I grimaced. "I need you to transport me, Archer, and Laswell to the Hive. Post-haste. We've got a team to rescue and several names to clear and ruin." A low, vengeful chuckle, and the comm line went dead. Me and Archer set to work waiting and preparing for the Sparrow's arrival, and the moon had barely reached the midnight point when we were on the heli.

-sometime later-

I sighed, trying to shoo away Goliath as he fussed over my burns and wounds. It was a miracle I was still standing, much less able to brush away the 4-foot hunk of muscle that was the lead medic of the Hive. "I'm fine Goliath, I swear on it." Short brown curls bobbed as he huffed and glared at me. "You're lucky you're standing with the amount of blood you lost." I rolled my eyes, getting up despite his grumbles and muttered cusses that were sent my way. "I've survived worse and you know that. Besides, I need to debrief everyone." A half-hearted smack on my arm and he sent me on my way. As I walked through the Hive's hallways, I thought on what I was to say. I had to tell everyone about the Twins' deaths, that much was sure. Only Archer as of right now knew. 

Then there was to plan for freeing the 141 and clearing our names. Teeny had debriefed me about the losses we'd sustained in the Shadow's attacks. Only 24 dead, a net win considering each base attacked had only 10 people and 12 had been attacked. Our numbers had gone down considerably as a result, nearly a fourth of the outside base's force had been eliminated, about 6 having been taken as prisoners. Their tags had gone dead a mere 2 days later. Only 2 hadn't, and their locations were being tracked and planned against. There was no telling where Shadow Company had hidden the 141, but at the very least we could free our people. I turned the corner towards my office, comforted by the familiar stones of the ground under my feet.