𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙻𝙳 𝚂𝙾 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙳

Operation Crusade

Victor lets out a yawn as he stepped out onto the promenade of the ship, once again being enveloped in the winter air. Adjusting a large pack on his back and holding his carbine rifle in his hand, he gazes out to the sky behind the ship, noticing a pink and orange hue invading the dark blue of the dawn sky from below the horizon. From down the ways of the deck, Aiyana's ear flicks at the sound of approaching boots. She turns her head to see Victor approaching her and the rest of the team as they stood by a ladder alongside the ship. Aiyana smiles to Victor, placing her hands on her hips.

"Almost missed the boat, Mr. Churchill." She asked, smirking to him as he approached her side.

Victor chuckles. "Sorry, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." He answers through his face covering, placing his hands behind his head over his hood, Aiyana giggling softly.

As Zeus talked to naval personnel and Volkov stood by his side, Daniel turned his gaze over to Victor and Aiyana. "You two have fun last night?" He asks, crossing his arms.

Aiyana turned her gaze to Daniel. "I don't know what you mean by that, Daniel." She answers, rolling her eyes.

"You take me for some kind of idiot?" Daniel asks, chuckling.

Victor looks over to Aiyana, waiting for her retort.

"Yeah, I do actually." Aiyana answered, crossing her arms and smirks smugly to Daniel.

"Whatever. Just don't let the captain find out." Daniel says, adjusting his pack and looks over to Zeus and Volkov.

"What the captain doesn't know won't hurt him." Aiyana says, adjusting her stance.

"If that's what you wanna believe." Daniel says, waving a hand dismissively to Aiyana.

Victor looked over to Aiyana, raising a brow before and gazing over to Zeus and Volkov. As he did, he immediately took notice of a firearm case on Volkov's back. The naval personnel salute to Zeus and turn to walk towards the bridge of the ship. Both Zeus and Volkov turn to face the other three and stroll over towards them.

"Alright, intel believes that the city at the mouth of the west bank of this lake is After Common Era's entire base of operations." Zeus says as he and Volkov stopped in front of the others. "Our primary objective is to get to the city and find out exactly how they operate and sabotage it."

"We are going to be infiltrating through the mountainous terrain to our northwest. Which means we will be going on a full day hike to reach our objective due west." Volkov says as he points behind him to the mountains that rose over the lake.

"A little hiking excursion, huh?" Aiyana says, placing her hands back on her hips. "Would be a lot more enjoyable if it wasn't the ass crack of winter."

"I suppose we'll just have to make do, won't we?" Zeus asks with a smirk, looking to Aiyana. Aiyana simply rolls her eyes and crosses her arms once more. He then peers over the side of the ship to see a smaller vessel emerging from around the stern and beginning to pull up alongside the destroyer.

"Once we get back on shore, absolute radio silence. We cannot risk any kind of traffic compromising the mission." Volkov then says, gazing among the rest of his team.

Daniel, Aiyana, and Victor nod before they looked over the side of the ship as well, watching as the small vessel stopped at the foot of the ladder.

Zeus then adjusts his pack and climbs over the wall of the ship and begins to descend down the ladder, Volkov and Daniel following suit.

Aiyana then looks over to Victor. "After you." She says, smirking to him.

"Ladies first." Victor replies, gesturing his hand.

"Age before beauty." She chuckles, gently running her fingers through the fur on the side of her neck.

Victor laughs softly, rolling his eyes and placing the strap of his rifle under his shoulders, placing his carbine flat across the top of his pack. "If you insist." He says before advancing to the ladder and climbs over. He climbs down, watching as Daniel steps down onto the boat below. He turns his gaze back up for a brief moment to see Aiyana above him.

Aiyana giggled softly to herself as she saw Victor gazing up at her. "Watch your step, sergeant."

Victor chuckled and adverted his eyes back down before eventually planting his boots onto the boat and taking a seat on one of the benches of the boat's stern. Volkov had taken a seat on the deck in the back of the boat near the engine as Zeus stepped inside the cabin. Daniel sat on the bench directly across from Victor, watching as Aiyana took a seat next to the man. Victor looked to the cabin for a brief moment, noticing Zeus glaring to him and Aiyana. He turned his gaze away upon meeting Zeus' eyes.

Volkov looked over to Victor and Aiyana, letting out a soft smile.

"Woah, sir. Is that the crack of a grin I am witnessing?" Aiyana gasped sarcastically as she noticed him glaring at her and Victor.

Volkov instantly wipes the smile from off his face and clears his throat, gazing up to the ship that towered next to them.

"Negative. Just, wind in my eyes." Volkov lied.

Daniel chuckles. "Well, looks like the lieutenant has a soul after all." He says, crossing his leg over his knee.

"Quiet, Daniel." Volkov says, side glaring the feline.

The three laugh out softly before Zeus reemerges from the cabin. "As of this moment, the operation has begun. Remember, watch each other's backs, stay hidden, and we'll all go home heroes." Zeus said as he took a seat next to Daniel.

The engine of the boat roared back to life as the naval captain of the ship turned towards the mountains on the horizon and sped towards the shoreline.