Operation: Stunning sting

Return of the great

Viktor's POV(4 weeks later)
I walked mostly on my own with minor assistance from Erik to the medbay to get tested by Gustave to see if I'm in good enough shape to hit the field again, I pushed the door open and walked in to see Harry, Ela and Zofia waiting. I smirked and asked "to what do I owe the honor of having the director at my check up?" To which Harry smiled and jovially replied "I'm hoping my ace returns to the fold today" I joked "oh boss, you make me feel so special" as Gustave began "well I have several tests for us to get through so let's get started" I smiled and nodded "sounds good" as we started the tests. I pushed myself as much as I could and tore through the tests scoring lower than normal but still pretty high as Gustave looked over the results I talked with Ela, Erik and Zofia "so how was the mission?" Ela replied angrily in polish "gówniany program, wszystko, co mogło pójść źle, poszło źle, a maski są coraz lepsze(a shit show, everything that could go wrong did go wrong and the masks are getting better)"
      I sighed as Zofia explained "they're not as good as us but they're making progress, the playing field is starting to level and I don't like it" I looked at Erik and quoted our captain "If you're in a fair fight you fucked up before the fight began" he laughed and nodded "we need to start making new strategies, they're countering us and we're not adapting" Harry asked "so what do you suggest?" I looked over at him and replied "personally, I say we get a whole hell of a lot more aggressive. We hit them first, we hit them hard we dismantle their unit and we stomp out the ashes. No more of this reactive bullshit" he nodded and asked "so how do you think we should do this" I looked at Erik and replied "in all of my units you hunt the enemy, you find their hideouts and you destroy them. The Ghosts have taught me how to do so much more effectively, give me 3 days and a couple of phone calls and I can get positions of buildings pegged as Mask Strongholds" Harry looked surprised as Zofia asked "that fast?" I nodded before replying "just because the ghosts haven't been hunting the masks doesn't mean we don't keep tabs on them, there's been a lot of bigger fish in the puddle than the masks."
Just then Gustave to walk in with the results "well good news, you've hit the minimum score to be fielded. I do hope to never see you in here again" I chuckled as Harry spoke "Agony, make those calls. Get us some leads, I'll start organizing teams to be ready to mobilize at the moment" I gave a salute "will do boss, can I expect to be on one of those teams?" He nodded before replying "indeed, rest up, once we get the leads you're gonna be busy" I gave a nod as Ela called after Harry "I want on that team!" To which Zofia spoke "the hell you will be" to which Ela replied angrily "nie kontrolujesz mojego pieprzonego życia!(you don't control my fucking life!)" I responded by grabbing the back of Erik's shirt and heading towards the door "let's leave them to it before they bring us into it" he turned just as we reached the door I heard Ela "Viktor, Erik, hold on!" I pushed him through the door with a frantic "go, go, go, go!"
       Just as Ela reached me and grabbed me "Go! Survive for me! Flee!" He yelled back "I'll remember you!" As Ela spun me and asked "jak myślisz, kto ma rację?(who do you think is right?)" I replied simply "I plead the fifth" to which she demanded "answer the question" I smiled a charming smile and replied "my lawyer has advised me in the interest of keeping my friendship with the both of you, to answer no questions" she groaned as Gustave spoke from behind Zofia "Let him be, there's no winning in this situation. Ela, let Zofia be a part of your life. Zofia, let Ela live her life. Viktor, rum for your life" I nodded and spun rushing through the door and down to the lounge. When I arrived, I saw Craig(Blackbeard) and Masaru(echo) playing World of Tanks I slowly snuck up behind Craig and saw him speeding around the map in an M41 walker bulldog. I watched him fly past a tiger 1 pumping shells into the tiger's flank only for the player to get the turret around and turn his low health light tank into a burning wreck
      I spoke softly "you utter fool, German science is the world's finest" he jumped at my voice releasing a girlish scream before sighing "god damnit Viktor, you scared the shit out of me" I chuckled before sitting down next to him "well boys, I'm back in the field" to which masaru replied "thank god, the missions have gotten harder and Sam is trying to keep us in the lead but there's just too many people for him to effectively make us better" I nodded and replied "I'll talk to him about getting you guys split by teams and we'll focus on working on weaknesses" he nodded. I logged into my steam account and loaded up World of tanks "enough about work, let's play some world of tanks" I watched my screen seeing them pick their countries vehicles while I picked my Panther. I heard Craig "any reason you play German tanks?" I looked over and replied "I'm a nazi" he laughed before asking "is that why you hit on Ela?" I cocked an eyebrow "the fuck are you talking about? I haven't hit on her" he looked surprised as Masaru spoke "you're telling me you live with a woman that hot... and you haven't hit on her?" I nodded slowly "yeah, what's so weird about that?" They just laughed at my childlike confusion.
      I rolled my eyes and focused on playing my panther, I heard the door open 45 minutes later and heard a chair get pulled up next to me, I glanced over and saw Zofia "oh hey zo' what can I do for you?" She asked simply and sharply "what are your intentions with my sister?" I sighed and asked tiredly "why the FUCK does everyone think I want to be with Ela? What the fuck is wrong with you lot? You're top tier operators and you gossip like fucking school children, for Christ's sake Zofia let her live her life this is why she hates you" as I stood up logged out of steam and stormed off leaving the three stunned at my outburst.
      When I reached my dorm I ripped the door opened and slammed it shut before changing into my gym clothes, I walked back out of the bathroom and saw Ela "so what happened? You look pissed" I sighed and replied "apparently everyone is cock sure that I'm into you, so now Zofia is doing Zofia things and being overprotective and they finally got me to the end of my wits and I snapped. I hit some hard digs and stormed off" Ela looked less than pleased at the revelation Zofia was trying to control her again before she sighed "hitting the gym?" I nodded before replying "I want to push my leg, I'll be back before dinner. I still gotta make some calls" she nodded "I'll talk to you later then" as I headed out to the gym.
     A hour later my arms and legs burned while my knee felt like it was on fire as I pushed my limits until I heard Sam "vik, it's time to stop. You're going to undo all the healing you've done" I looked back and kept flipping the 180lbs tractor tire "I need to make progress, the masks aren't going to wait for me" he forced me to put down the tire "you need to stop or you're going to give the masks a bigger lead" I sighed before lifting a sledgehammer and starting to hit the tire with it "what do you need Sam? I'm really not in the mood for small talk right now" he nodded and replied "so I've been told, any reason you snapped at them?" I looked over and replied "any reason everyone keeps jumping to the conclusion I want to be with Ela even when I say otherwise?" He looked at the ground and replied "I get it"
     I nodded and replied "I would hope so, I'm just blowing off steam I'll be fine" he looked out the window at the storm brewing on the horizon "we need to get the operators whipped into shape, the masks are progressing faster than I thought they would" I spoke in return "I've gotta make a call and use some favors" he looked intrigued "why's that?" I looked over and replied "Harry wants some leads on Mask locations, he's tired of being reactive and instead wants a more aggressive approach to taking on the masks." He nodded as I pulled out my phone "I'll be back, just gotta make a call" I stood outside watching the storm as my phone rang until I heard the familiar voice of Scott Mitchell "hello? How'd you get this phone number?" I replied "oh come on Scott, I leave ghost recon and you already forgot about me?" He paused "Agony?" I chuckled "yes sir"
      He sighed in relief before replying "what do you need?" I looked over at the main building complex "intel" he sounded unsure as he asked "about?" I spoke simply "the White Mask" he didn't reply for a while before he spoke "son, I can't just hand out classified information" I replied "yeah? Well I have the clearance and I'm working at team Rainbow currently. Six wants the information" he sighed before responding "fine, I'll send it to him. Stay safe Ghost" I offered back "you too Scott" before hanging up and waiting until Sam walked out "come with me, I want to show you something" I motioned for him to lead the way before following him, intrigued with what he'd want to show me. I followed him to the training room as we climbed the stairs into the observation box and watched Ela and Erik pushing their gun skills so they had more control of their movements and reaction time. I asked "what're they doing?" Sam replied "they're trying to improve, everyone here wants to be the best. Right now you're the best we've got, they're gunning for your spot" I nodded as I watched.
"They make a lot of mistakes, nothing major but small mistakes add up" he nodded before offering "like how Ela struggles to control the recoil, or how Erik takes a couple seconds extra to make sure he's all lined up?" I nodded as I expanded "Ela's stance is loose, she holds the trigger for too long, she doesn't truly aim, her grip is loose and she lets the gun control where it goes" Sam nodded before he motioned to Erik "what about him?" I watched and replied "he's not in tune with his gun, it clears empty and he double checks it. It wastes time, he doesn't trust his gun to tell him the truth. his stance is good but the same deal he lets the gun bounce in his grip, his arms aren't stable either. He takes too long aiming, his bursts are too short." Sam nodded before replying "there you go, now you know what you have to fix. Just work your way through the operators, I'll be doing the same. Well have them all ready to go in no time" I glanced over before looking at the pair "I suppose we should get to work" Sam shook his head no "we'll start tomorrow, go spend time with your friends. We'll be busy in the coming weeks" I gave a thumbs up and stood with my arms crossed making notes about what the pair did wrong.