Operation: Pointed Spear

Bull reappears

Alik's pov
I looked at Thatcher as he spoke "we have a potential location on Bull, if we get our hands on him. It could lead to Feral" I asked "please tell me we aren't going in half assed?" He replied with a smile "I could, but I'd be lying" I sighed as he spoke "Harry wants us to pack light, I think he's expecting a trap and wants us to move as quickly as safety allows" I looked at him and replied "that applies for you, my kit isn't that heavy." He chuckled before speaking "go get ready, I'll let the others know" I walked through the abandoned halls heading to the dorm I'd spent most of my time in since this new rotation began. I looked around surprised not to see anyone in the halls until I noticed a C-17 Globemaster on the runway "huh, I guess the Poles are deploying. Interesting" as I shrugged the thought from my mind and continued through the halls hearing the clacking of my boots on the freshly cleaned floors, they echoed with interesting acoustics as a result of the decorations. Suddenly I realized, I hadn't seen any rainbow operatives either.
I walked into our dorm and woke up Corey "get your gear, we've got a mission" he nodded and began working his way out of Tina's bear like grip while I quickly changed into my gear before my curiosity got to me and I asked "hey, do you know why I haven't seen anyone in the hallways today?" He replied by asking "is today Tuesday?" I nodded after checking the calendar as Corey explained "the Poles are deploying to Syria" I nodded slowly before walking over to Anna and Gunther's dorm knocking and waiting until Zara opened the door and noticed my gear "mission?" I nodded as he spoke "I'll let Monika know, stay safe" I replied cheekily "I'm the safest person I know" she rolled her eyes smiling as I saw Thatcher and Bird appear down the hallway. I informed Mike "I already told Corey and Monika, Corey's getting ready now and I'm working on getting Monika away from her mother" he nodded and replied "briefing room 2, be there in 10" I gave a thumbs up as Corey walked out in his gear before jogging to catch up to the duo while I waited for Monika.
A couple minutes later she appeared as I spoke "you've got 2 minutes to get your gear on if we're making it to the brief on time" she looked alarmed before running to the dorm as I waited leaning against the wall with my arms crossed before I saw her burst from the room rushing past me as I called after her "Briefing room 2" as we ran through the halls quickly reaching the now familiar room seeing Harry and the rest of the team waiting as Harry spoke "you're late" I heard Monika "I'm sorry sir, my mother wouldn't let me go" he nodded before pointing a laser pointer at the map and explaining the plan while Thatcher glared angrily at the laser and before I knew it we were on a plane heading to a cave system in the San Francisco mountains of Arizona. I looked at Corey who looked excited to be heading back to America and asked "think it'll go smoothly?" He replied "of course, knowing our team well find the whole damn mask organization" I chuckled as Monika leaned over against me "es tut mir leid, I didn't realize it was that time sensitive" I kissed the top of her head "it's fine"
I looked at Mike as Corey offered "10 bucks say we run into a Skinwalker" Mike looked at him "you believe in that shite?" As Corey shrugged "you have to believe in something, why not a shape shifting native?" Bird just laughed as I heard Monika ask "why couldn't it exist?" As Mike replied "just doesn't make a lick of sense" as I asked "what about the beast of the Moors?" He looked at me and replied "that's just an urban legend" I replied disbelievingly "you've got to believe in something" he shrugged dismissively as I leaned on Monika and went to sleep deciding it was time to check out of this conversation. I got woken up several hours later as Monika spoke "up and at em, were almost at the airstrip" I nodded and yawned before pulling on my helmet and clipping it in place before shifting my rifle as I was shaken lightly by the plane touching down as we all unbuckled and got ready to exit the plane. I saw Mike grip bird's shoulder as he spoke "maybe the American should lead a team of heavily armed soldiers off the plane"
Corey shimmied past us and to the door making sure his American Flag patches were clearly visible before walking down the steps as we followed him. I looked around at the warm orange of the Arizona desert before Corey talked to the officer waiting for us until he spoke "this is our ride, the department asks it comes back in one piece" i chuckled as i climbed into the back and we started the drive. i asked again "Thatcher, you seriously don't believe in any of that stuff?" he replied simply "no, i don't." i blinked away my shock as bird asked on comms "Old man isn't your generation supposed to be really superstitious?" Thatcher replied "i'm not that old" i heard Monika "you always start off sim matches saying you've been doing this longer than we've been alive" he chuckled before Rodion spoke "guys, leave the man alone. he doesn't believe in it, he doesn't believe in it. so what?" i replied tauntingly "what? giving up on the idea already?" he replied "no, i'm just saving you guys from an 'accidental' blue on blue" thatcher replied "smart move" as Harry came over comms "there will be no blue-on-blue"
I heard IQ on comms "you're a buzzkill Watcher" as he replied "better to be a buzzkill than let the buzz take lives" we chuckled at his father like tone before falling quiet as we started getting in the zone. I looked at my watch and saw the time slowly counting along as the second hand ticked calming my mind. I heard IQ ask "so what are you doing?" I explained "every mission before we head in I'll count along with my watch, it helps me calm my nervousness and focus on the small things" she nodded as Bird racked his shotgun "so who likes close quarters?" I heard Rodion cheerfully reply "I do" as I pulled out a bag of cookies getting one last rush of sugary goodness before I walked into what could be my final day. I saw both IQ's and Rodion's hands reach into the bag grabbing several cookies eating them like they were their first meals in weeks as Bird, Thatcher and I just started at them like they were insane. IQ seemed to notice what she had done and smiled clearly embarrassed while Rodion remained none the wiser happily munching away, I could only chuckle.
Eventually Bird brought the truck to a halt at the foot of an old Navajo trail, we unloaded as I looked up the path to the entrances of the red cliffs. Thatcher spoke "this trail leads up to the entrance of the caves" I asked "how long do you think the hike will take?" As Thatcher replied "probably about 2 hours" I sighed as Rodion warned "make sure you've got a lot of water, it'll get extremely hot by the time we're up there" I double checked my water supply before Bird asked "time to go?" Thatcher nodded as IQ lifted her Aug pulling the priming handle and we fell in line and slowly started up the path. I asked "how old do you think this path is?" IQ shrugged "could be hundreds even thousands of years old, either way it's cool it's still here" I heard Rodion sigh "it's a shame the masks are tarnishing the history with their filth" Bird suggested "I guess we'll just have to clean up" thatcher chuckled and replied "you all sound like poorly written characters in a story" I defended "I rather liked that, it was nice" as IQ spoke "sure dear, whatever you say"
We laughed before falling silent as we continued on the path for a while until I felt like I was being watched causing me to stop and look around until my eyes landed on a lone Wolf out in the middle of shrubbery staring at me, I felt a chill run up my spine as it looked like it's eyes flashed green and I felt small and vulnerable under its gaze until Thatcher asked "Achilles, what's up?" I looked at him for a second before looking back where the Wolf was and saw it was gone. I blinked a couple times before replying "I don't.... I don't know" IQ asked "are you okay?" I nodded and replied "yea, I don't know what came over me" as Rodion looked around "we should get moving, I feel exposed here" as Bird rose from his crouch and started up the path again. I shook my head and pushed whatever I had seen into the back of my mind following IQ up the path, I asked "Hey Rodion, wanna enlighten me about the Skinwalker myth?" He replied "well the Skinwalker is a myth about warriors that took a forbidden ritual"
I asked "why's it forbidden?" He continued "you lose your soul. In return for losing your soul you gain the ability to shapeshift, most of the time you have to kill a family member to sever your ties to the human world and embrace the new ones to the animal world. They're evil beings that keep their human form as a disguise to get close to their victims, they're said to mimic your closest loved ones to they can steal your soul and turn you into one of them" I shivered as Bird joked "so they're shapeshifting gingers?" I chuckled despite myself as Rodion answered "you could say that but it's a gross over simplification version of it" Thatcher spoke "it's a load of bollocks" I didn't reply as IQ threw a worried glance at me as I nodded at her. She gave me a thumbs up before looking forward as we continued to climb up this deteriorating path all the while the feeling of being watched never leaving my body. I occasionally looked around fearing I might catch sight of that unsettling wolf, but never did. A couple minutes later I heard rattling as Rodion spoke "I was wondering when we'd find one"
Bird looked around alarmed before speaking "one what?" Rodion answered "the western Diamondback rattlesnake" as Thatcher leaned around me looking at the ground speaking "I don't see shite" Rodion picked up a stick and pointed it at an unassuming bush only for a tan shape to strike at it "see him now?" Bird started to move only for Rodion to warn "don't, let him move" Bird froze as Rodion slowly lifted the rattlesnake before tossing it into the wilderness dropping his stick as we continued up the path. I heard Thatcher teasingly "is that the standard procedure for dealing with Rattlesnakes?" We chuckled as IQ replied "ja, is it? Can we just throw the snakes around?" Rodion replied "we needed to move, we can't afford to let this Mask outfit stay in these caves. Civilians use these areas for recreation" I replied "well bag em, I'm stocked up on Mask Tags" Bird spoke "that was nerve wracking, Christ I was one strike away from dying" I nudged IQ and spoke "Zara wouldn't want that" birds cheeks flushed red as Thatcher spoke "Lads, can we take a break? I'm getting a bit too hot" Rodion nodded as Bird pulled off his bag using it as a seat as we all took off our bags and sat down. I looked around and saw a hawk sitting on a dead tree string at us, his eyes flashed green as my nerves started to fray.