The Vanguard Vixen

Bloodhounds (Two)

The rotors of the helicopter whirled into life. Adrian subconsciously buckled himself in. Once they were airborne, Turana came to where he was. Fancy thing about taking aerial routes, no traffic, no obstacles. Insert coordinates into the system and all you had to do was to handle the takeoff and the landing. The flying would all be taken care of by the amazing i-tech.

There was a whole seat opposite, but the Colonel sat right next to him, brushing her shoulder against his as she strapped in. Adrian extended away from the contact but he got a whiff of...was she wearing perfume?

On a mission of this kind?

A mission alone with him, a voice in his head reminded. The President had given them seven days to track and find Vivian. Turana had said she only needed four. That had not surprised him.

Neither had the President.

But she had asked a vital question.

"Three days, Commander Colonel, you say, but then what happens when you find her?"

Even he had waited to hear her answer.

" I have analysed all her mission video records. We have at most five seconds to subdue her at normal strength. If she is using her traits, three. But injured as she is, maybe eight."

"That is a very small window, what happens if you miss it?"

Turana's answer had been direct.
"We die."

Looking at the smile on her face right now, Adrian didn't see the signs of someone who knew she was flying to her death. She looked confident, so she probably had an ace up her sleeve.

The Commander knew of only one ace that could trump the F.O.X card.

The nanotechnology card.

Which was the main reason as to why they had to leave immediately. Two nights before, three secret Vanguard nanotechnology laboratories had been hit by nuclear missiles. An inspection of the wreckage showed the missiles had been made in Vanguard, and records showed they had been deployed aboard one particular W7 warship. The same warship that had stopped transmitting a signal the same night the attack happened. Commander Adrian knew it was Vivian who had somehow hijacked the warship and got hold of the secret locations.

 If the attack had been anywhere else, it would have been possible to blame it on another territory. But a direct attack on specifically those labs pointed to only her. Vanguard had lost billions worth of research and weaponry, not to mention the personnel that made them. It would be a while before they could start on that particular project again.

The situation had been both good and bad, mostly bad. The good part was that no more nanotechnology weapons were being made. The bad part was that the President had ordered her 'best Commanders' to leave as soon as possible. Second, Vivian would know that he knew about them. 

She wouldn't be happy. Years ago, when she was sent on a mission that if successful would make her the last of her kind, she had forced the Harbor to abandon all their nanotechnology research and destroy their weapons, or she would do it herself. They had done that, but the President, being who she was, ordered for the project to be secretly restarted. Commander Adrian was not to say a word to his operator. Parts and personnel had been brought in from London. It had all been going on smoothly until now.

"...Yes, we'll be there in an hour."

Turana took off the earpiece.

"That was Admiral Nora. She recovered the wreckage of two Vanguard choppers and a rogue ship. Smugglers, since it was loaded with narcotics. She suspects they hijacked the ship, with help from the vixen of course, and left with it."

"And the soldiers onboard?"

"Divers found some items. Sharks in the water ensured no corpses. She believes the captain to be alive though, he is the only one that can sail the warship."

She saw the somewhat confused look on his face and explained.
"W7s are coded to their captains."

"Can she track it?" Adrian asked, this time with actual worry. He had told her to hold back, but in the space of a week, she had successfully assassinated a Prussian general and hijacked a half a billion credits warship. Vivian wouldn't be on the warship if they found it of course, but the people there would be her friends. Well, not exactly friends but more of connections.

Turana huffed. "If there is one person in Vanguard who can track that warship, it's Nora."

Adrian couldn't have said otherwise. Years back the Vanguard had been unable to achieve a navy squadron half as good as London's worst with their own soldiers, so the President did what she did best, manipulated. London too suffered from aerial weakness and a deal was struck. One beautiful bold Fleet Admiral for one expert experienced Air Force General. 

Neither territory was short of replacements, and it was how Eric Reede, who had been only a Lieutenant General then, had been promoted to Air Force General. A few jets were sent along with the previous Air Force general, and the Vanguard received their Admiral with her own fleet. Neither officer had been happy with being treated like a commodity, but the added signing of a peace deal between the two territories, and a possible future alliance in case of another Great War was a chance to go down in history that was too big to pass up. Their names would be set as heroes of their countries.

On her arrival, Admiral Nora was immediately added the title of General, which made her the highest-ranked official in Vanguard apart from the President herself. High ranked didn't necessarily mean most important. She was always going to be in the shadow of a mere Air Force General, but apparently, the President slept better at night knowing the Vanguard waters were held by a competent officer.

Commander Adrian had talked and listened to her a few times, mostly staring sometimes, but he was sure Vanguard had got the better part out of the deal. Her war expertise grew the Vanguard Navy to what it is today, and from the various war plans simulated in the Vanguard Navy war room four, she had their backs covered if any territory, except London of course, tried an attack over water. It helped that she had a fancy London accent too, which made her demonstrations much more amazing to listen to.

Whoever the current holders of the missing W7 were, they didn't stand a chance. Adrian feigned a smile and looked at Turana.

"So, you owe me a story."

She smiled back, genuinely he felt. "First thing I would do, is to analyse the build and setup of the F360s."

She scooted next to him so their shoulders and arms were touching, and he didn't push away this time. If he was flying to his death, he might as well spend his last hour in the company of a beautiful woman, listening to a super war story.

******
What will Vivian say or do when she meets these two?

Will the highly decorated Admiral General find the crazy Captain Luke...And Kai?

Thanks for reading!
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Ryder Out!