Agent Cole

It's time to strap our boots on This is a perfect day to die Wipe the blood out of our eyes In this life there's no surrender There's nothing left for us to do Find the strength to see this through We are the ones who will never be broken.

[lyndon-cole]

charlottejmaxwell:

Charlotte smirked and then realized she had been spending far too much time with Jack and his dirty mind must have transferred somehow. Or something. “Yes, I get it. You like your meat,” she winked, grinning all-out before heading toward the vegetables, “I actually should pick up some chicken, too while we’re here. Um… if you need it I’ve got some cold packs in my pack so everything should stay nice and cold.” 

They hit the vegetables first and Charlie started right in on the ingredients for her bouillabaisse, then, after she had everything she needed for that, she got a dozen ears of corn. They were perfectly in season and very easy to freeze for the winter, so for the last two weeks, she’d been slowly stocking up and filling an entire shelf of her freezer with frozen corn and other vegetables. “Do you need anything here?” she asked as she made a small pile by the helpful woman at the cashbox, “It’s on me if you do. A thanks for driving me here and stuff.”

Lyndon lifted a brow curiously at her. He chuckled back at the comment about the meat. Everyone in this organization had the dirtiest mind. He thought it had been bad in the Air Force, but at least they were more blunt with their dirt. Here it was all innuendos and cheeky comments. “I’m a meat man,” he said, waggling his brow and playing along with the joke. 

Following her around the aisles, he looked over the vegetables that she headed to first. When she asked if he needed anything, he thought that he could buy a few things, but when she offered to buy it for him, he simply shook his head. “Oh, no that’s alright. I think I’m good for now. Interesting seeing what they’ve got here, though,” he said, looking over the produce they had for sale. All of it naturally and home grown. He’d have to remember that some of this stuff was here the next time he got fed up with the food in the mess hall. 

[lyndon-cole]

Sub-Op: Razorblade || Raina & Lyndon

[lyndon-cole]

raina-usilova:

Another Russian curse slipped past Raina’s lips when he had said that he had been out when they put the sensors on. It was official, if they did their job and made it out of this alive Raina was gong to grab every book and video on explosive she could find and commit it all to her memory. 

When explosives were thrown into the mix, she usually had at least one expert with her because they knew that they were going to be dealing with them before hand. But this time, intel never told them about the minefield. They never even alerted them to the fact that or saw in the video that the man they had to come and rescue was strapped to what felt like every primitive explosive device the IKGB could get their hands on. And with those curveballs thrown their way, why was it that they said that they couldn’t come in with comms so they could communicate with someone that would talk them through this?

There were so many questions going through Raina’s mind, but most of the blame she was dishing out, she was directing towards herself for not being better prepared. It was like her father always said, “Almost isn’t good enough.”  

Everyone in the room could understand how dire the situation was so when Lyndon started smiling as though everything was going to be fine, Raina couldn’t help but look up a bit shocked. But they all had their ways of coping and it did seemed to relax the soldier a bit. Her attention returned to Lyndon instantly when he asked her to be a look out. She wanted to stay that she’ll stay here because she knows exactly what he’s doing, but there’s no room to argue. Beyond the fact that he wanted her out of the room if things went south, she had to keep an eye out for the guards and cover him.

“Okay.” she said, her voice quiet as she nodded. She was careful to not to let it drift into a more somber tone because Raina refused to admit defeat. She, Lyndon and the solider were getting out of here alive and that was that. But even with that in mind, it doesn’t stop Raina’s features from softening as she looks Lyndon straight in the eye and places a gloved hand on his shoulder and saying “Be careful.” before she gets up and heads for the door and stands in the hallway.

Raina carefully shut the door behind her, but made sure it was left slightly ajar for them. At least to anyone passing by it would look completely closed and give him and solider something to hide behind. The time she spent out in the hallway seemed to go by painfully slow but the second she heard approaching footsteps everything sped up exponentially. She quickly took a few steps back and opened the door a crack again, “Lyndon, we got company.” she whispered. “Just keep working. I’ll hold them off.”

Raina quickly headed back outside and slipped into a tiny little alcove. There she gently placed down the assault rifle. Because as comforting as it was, firing a gun right now would be stupid. One shot could alert the entire compound and no one would be stupid enough to fire a weapon that close to a room lined with explosives. She’d just have to use her hands. And while the task might be daunting for anyone else, this was Raina’s speciality. 

As she lay in wait for them, Raina held her breath and assumed a crouching position. Just from the sounds of it, she could hear a total of four men approaching. Two new voices and the two IKGB she and Lyndon had run into before. Most likely coming to investigate them and this whole ‘changing of the guard’ story they conjured up. They were deep in the hallway by the time they reached Raina and once they were behind her, Raina sprang out and snapped the neck of the man closest to her. Before he could even hit the floor, Raina quickly unsheathed the knife from his belt and in one swift move sent it sailing into throat of the second, effectively silencing him forever. That left only the last two men who were hesitant to pull the trigger so close to the room filled with bombs. 

Lyndon appreciated the hand on his shoulder. Appreciated the words and the understanding that passed between the two of them. While he didn’t know Raina that well, there was definitely a camaraderie there that he appreciated. He waited until she was out of the room, looking out for anyone before he focused again at the task at hand. The soldier had his head tipped back, eyes closed and Lyndon thought he was praying. Couldn’t hurt, he supposed. 

He followed the wiring, followed the set up as he tried to figure it out in it’s entirety. He was starting to see a clear path and with his heart beat picking up, with those nerves and adrenaline starting to pump, his mind seemed clearer. More in control than the nervousness or doubt that seemed to steeple at the back on his mind. Pricking at his consciousness, it was easier to drown it out the more pressure he found himself in and he knew, without a doubt, that was thanks to his enhancements. It made it easier to spot the wiring that would trigger and the wiring that would free the man. 

With his combat knife out, he didn’t hesitate as he started cutting wires. The soldier lifted his head, eyes wide. “Don’t you need to, like...I don’t know hesitate and think, you’re going really fast and cut-happy there...” 

Lyndon smirked, glancing up at the man only briefly. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I was hesitant,” he said and snipped another wire. He nodded once he had it to the best of his ability. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do...” 

He didn’t get a chance to tell the man his plan as Raina poked her head back in, yelling that there was trouble. He cursed inwardly and smiled at the soldier. “Okay, when I say, you’re going to stand and run to the door.” The soldier looked at him wide eyed as he stood, leaning very close to put his knee onto the chair. He made sure to press into it, putting his weight against the pressure plate. “Go,” he demanded and the soldier did as he was told. Slower due to injury and he stumbled, not quite making it to the door. Lyndon waited until he was a good bit away before he slowly started to pull back on the pressure plate. 

From out in the hall, he could hear the sounds of a fight. It centered him, helped focus him and once the pressure plate clicked loose, and the room didn’t erupt in an explosion, he let go of the chair altogether, running pass the soldier, who’d stumbled to his knees. He gave the man’s shoulder a squeeze before slipping out into the hall. Raina had taken down several, but there were two descending on her. While he trusted her to be able to handle it, she shouldn’t have to if he was here to help. 

Knife in hand, he flipped it in his fingers, using expert moves to plunge it into the neck of one man while he kicked at the other to throw him off balance. He withdrew it and quickly with a sickening pop and slashed at the other man, who’d taken on a defensive stance. It cut up his arm and Lyndon threw a backhand at the man before he circled expertly and pulled him into a chokehold. The knife got plunged in up under his arm, a killing blow the only took a matter of seconds to bleed out, cutting vital arteries. 

He let the man down quietly, looking over to Raina. “We good?” he asked, already starting back for the soldier, who he knew he was going to have to carry over his shoulders. 

[lyndon-cole]

seraduncan:

“Yeah, yeah. Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever. I know the spiel.” She chuckled, heavily rolling her eyes. “Damn Lyndon!” Her chuckle turned into a full out laugh. “Alright, fly boy’s got some innuendo’s of his own, I can get with that.” She appreciated his good sense of humor and more so that he had the self-control to say no. “Yeah, man. Keep on like you are and you’ll become the agencies golden boy in no time.” While she said it as a joke, there was no doubt that it could become a very real possibility. “It’s too bad you can’t send your above average and super stellar evaluations home to mommy and daddy for them to hang on the fridge.”

“Of course I do,” Lyndon grinned. “Air Force isn’t all nice suits and aerial acrobats you know. We do know how to have a good time.” He grinned while he said it. That was an understatement. The Air Force, the time on base when there was’t life or death situations to be handled, were some of the best times of his life. He gave a chuckle when she said she thought he could be the golden boy. It wasn’t his goal, but he’d have no objection if it came to fruition. The next statement though had him shrugging a little. “Nah, I stopped writing home a long time ago anyway.” The smile faded somewhat, but not entirely.

[tsengmin-blog]

Cortisol :: Open

[lyndon-cole]

tsengmin:

Tseng swayed down the hallway with an attitude entirely appropriate for that early in the morning. At least, in her opinion. A small cup of coffee perched delicately in one manicured hand, and miraculously she didn’t spill a drop despite her sauntering gait. Turning the corner she eyed the figure at the end of the end of the hall, not yet aware of her presence. Smirking she softened her steps and slid into the shadows.

“Boo.” She tapped the unsespecting figure on the shoulder, holding her coffee carefully out of reach.

Lyndon stood at the end of the hall. A flight manual was his current form of entertainment. It was stimulating enough that he could actually pay attention. It wasn’t a new manual, but rather one from before the turn of the century. Interestingly enough, not much had changed. Except for the digitization of a lot of the instruments. He was completely and so deeply engrossed in imagining flying one of those older models that he didn’t hear or suspect the assault. And when the hand landed on his shoulder, he jumped. He’d be the first to admit. 

“Damn it,” he let slip out before he could stop himself. He turned, letting the manual hand down at his side as he tried to look unimpressed, but there was a curve of a smirk curling his lip. “Alright, that was a good one.” 

[lyndon-cole]

subject-eve:

Eve nodded, an innocent look on her face “Mhm, you’d be surprised - I make all the boring and obvious choices at scrabble,” Well one of the other recruits had pressed her into a match, even if she’d been a tiny bit competitive about the whole thing. To be fair, she was a bit surprised at her own vocabulary, she didn’t know that she knew that many words (well to be honest, Eve didn’t know much about herself at all).  “I suppose that would be less helpful in Battleship, people would be able to pick up where to hit really easily,”

The dark haired woman tilted her head to the side a little, watching him carefully and nodding seriously at his tips. “Got you,” she murmured, reaching for her own gun again, trying to copy what he’d shown as she fired off another shot in the direction of the target. “Better?”

Lyndon snorted. He was not and probably would never be a board game person. He remembered a time when he used to play them. With his brother. It was their Sunday afternoons for years. Maybe that was why? Maybe it had nothing to do with restlessness. He pushed the thoughts aside easily, because it was the less painful way to go to blame everything on these new enhancements of his. Adrenaline. Where was the adrenaline in board games? “Everyone cheats at Battleship anyway.” 

He watched her prepare to shoot again, watched her take aim and fire. He nodded his head. “Better,” he said, easily slipping into the role of an instructor on this matter. He reached out, straightening her wrist slightly. “One  more time,” he told her, making sure she stayed in the position he’d put her in. 

[lyndon-cole]

charlottejmaxwell:

Charlie kept her eyes closed and her head firmly between Lyndon’s shoulder blades throughout the ride. She was pretty sure having her eyes closed made it worse, since her imagination was running wild with every movement. She really wasn’t a fan of motorcycles, but at least she was reasonably certain Lyndon would do what he could to keep her safe. But she was more than grateful when they arrived at the farmer’s market. She took the helmet off and handed it to him so she could fluff her hair a bit (mostly an excuse to stay seated in case she tried to stand on too-shaky legs). Finally she got up and nodded toward the farmer’s market. 

“I need to hit the seafood and a few of the vegetable stands. Do you need anything? Or-” she wasn’t sure if he wanted to actually come through the market with her. She was meticulously slow about shopping, picking through everything to find the perfect things for her. She wouldn’t settle for anything less. Especially if she was cooking for more than herself. 

She kept an insanely tight grip on him the entire ride, but he wasn’t one to judge her for that. They’d reached their destination and while she fluffed her hair afterwards, he hung their helmets on the bike and stood, making sure she got off the motorcycle alright. She was tougher than she gave herself credit for, at least from what he’d seen. 

At her question, he nodded. “I’ll follow you,” he told her. “But eventually, if we make it to the meats.” He waggled his brow. He liked to come to these things because he could get fresh cuts. His diet consisted of chicken, mostly, but there were times when he treated himself to steak. Buying from these farmer markets often meant there were less unnatural steroids in the meats, even in this day and age. He still appreciated these old fashioned farmer markets very much for keeping himself healthy. “Lead the way.” 

[lyndon-cole]

hautebouture:

Pulling a face, Bo shook his head slowly and purposefully, but couldn’t hide the small smile. “Noooo, nothing like that… I mean, it can’t hurt, but that’s definitely not the only reason I’m inviting you.” He peeked at Lyndon with one eye, the other squinted shut against the harsh light. 

“Tell you what… next time I’m hitting up the bars, I’ll shoot you a message. Up to you if you wanna come or not, yeah?” He didn’t want to pressure the guy into coming: if he didn’t want to be there, it wouldn’t be fun for anyone involved. “And… yeah. Bonus for me is that you can drive my sloppy ass home at the end of the night,” Bo added with a laugh.

Lyndon eyed him carefully. He’d go, of course. If they invited him, he’d go. He wasn’t a complete prude and debbie downer. He still liked to mingle and have fun, he just had the ability to do so without clouding his mind with alcohol. “Yeah, alright,” he nodded his head, agreeing to those terms. 

“But I have to warn you,” he said, leaning across the table to point a finger at him. “I’m not one of those designated drivers who tells you to stop drinking. I’m an enabler. And I’ll make you drink more because I think it’s funny how drunk off your ass you’ll get.” It’s mostly true. He won’t push someone to lose complete control, but he also isn’t one to hold people back if it’s not to a point of hurting them. 

[hautebouture-blog]

Mr. Imperfect || Bo & Lyndon

[lyndon-cole]

hautebouture:

Standing beside Lyndon in the grass, Bo rolled his shoulders. “I don’t know… what does a man like you want?” He glanced over at his fellow agent, gave him a wink, and took off at a quick, steady pace without warning. Not like Lyndon wouldn’t catch up in a second or two, anyway.

Once they were both in their groove, Bo took the opportunity to strike up the conversation again, speaking between huffs. “Got to say, Abercrombie, you’re either the hardest guy in this place to figure out… or the easiest. Can’t tell. Too clean cut.” Glancing over at Lyndon, Bo was wearing an amused smirk. 

“You seem like someone who probably had their shit together before coming here, so… what was it? Better benefits? Got an itchy trigger-finger and this was the place offering a scratch?” Whenever asked about his own reasoning for coming to OpAscent (by someone he was certain didn’t actually know any details of his past), Bo usually went with the tried and true ‘didn’t have any other choice’ explanation. He had a feeling that that hadn’t been the case for Lyndon, however.

“Respect!” Lyndon yelled after him, the took off at his own run, easily catching up to Bo. He stayed by his side, because while this was a competition, he also wanted to make sure it wasn’t just solely that. This was a jog, a friendly banter between the two of them that Lyndon enjoyed. There wasn’t really an agent or support staff in the entire facility that Lyndon didn’t like. Some he didn’t know well, some he didn’t know if he’d ever want to go on a Sub-Op with, but none he downright disliked. 

He gave a laugh at the nickname and the observation. “I’m a man of mystery,” he said, mocking himself in the process because if there was anything he was not, it was that. He was an open book and if people asked him anything, he’d tell them. There was nothing really to hide in his past. Sure, some things that hurt, but even those, he took pride in how he’d stepped up and moved on from them. Why not be willing to share. 

The question came as if on cue. Lyndon smirked a little, keeping up his jogging pace to match Bo’s, so the man could dictate how fast they went. “Well,” he bobbed his head, how to explain? “The Air Force promoted me to test pilot. I liked all their new toys, don’t get me wrong. But I kept asking to be put back into combat zones and they kept saying no. Got tired of being told no, I guess. So when the job offer came...I said yes.” He looked over at the man. “How about you?” 

[lyndon-cole]

humanitas-ex-machina:

“Possibly,” August said thoughtfully, turning ideas over in his mind. “Heat-sourcing alone won’t do it, that would just pick up everybody. If the British Army have some sort of electronic tagging system, though, that would do it. All I’d need to do is crack into their databases, tune the microbot onto that particular wavelength, and the Irish bloke’s position should show up clear as day.”

He was, however, quite relieved to hear that the Sub-Op should be easy enough. It wouldn’t stop him from worrying, of course, but then again, very few things would.

“The surrounding forest may prove something of an interference,” August admitted with a grimace as he walked beside Lyndon. “But I’ll get a satellite moving overhead, that should help.”

As they stepped into the elevator, August got it going with an absent touch of his power, moving it toward Sub Level One. “Would it sound ludicrous if I asked you to look out for Raina?” he asked carefully, trying and failing to stop himself from wringing his hands. “It is ridiculous, I know, because you’ll do it anyway, and she’s quite capable of taking care of herself. And I know it’s silly that I’ll be asking her the same thing, in regards to you.” August was vaguely aware that he probably asked that of the agents every time they went out: his memory wasn’t entirely what it used to be, so he tended to forget repeating the same things over and over. “Nonetheless, do have fun. I’m sure skipping over that minefield will be, er, adventurous.”

“Do what you need to do,” Lyndon told him, smiling at the way the man’s mind worked. Even as a pilot, Lyndon would never have thought to go through someone else’s systems. He was trained to survive, trained to adapt, but there was still that level of technical prowess that he knew he lacked. He was more of a heavy hitter, of a stuntman than anything else, really. He knew his niche and how he fit in to OpAscent. And this sort of background detail was not his area of expertise. 

At the request to look out for Raina, he gave a small nod of his head. He didn’t even give a joke, but rather a quick, “Always.” He’d looked out for anyone who came with him on a Sub-Op. Any time someone put their life in his hands, it was all jokes aside, seriousness. That type of responsibility was not something he took lightly. Even if Raina could very well handle herself, could probably take him in a fight any day, it didn’t mean he still wouldn’t have her back out there. “Not ludicrous at all. You know I got her back. And yours. And everyone here.” 

The mention of the minefield had Lyndon curling up his lip. “Yeah, that should be...exciting,” he said. It was nothing he didn’t know how to look out for, how to get passed. Didn’t mean there wasn’t still a tendril of a thrill that spiked up his spine at the thought of it. The first signs of adrenaline pumping into his veins at the very idea of walking through a minefield. He tried to push it down, push it away, so he could concentrate on what was important right now. “And just look at it this way,” he said, turning to eye August. “If things go south, I’ll give you my boots.” 

[lyndon-cole]

Sub-Op: Razorblade || Raina & Lyndon

[lyndon-cole]

raina-usilova:

The moment that the key card left her possession, her hand returned to the assault rifle. Her eyes narrowed as she kept her sight trained on the hallways in front of her and her ears open for the sound of incoming footsteps. They had managed to slip in during that grace period  during the changing of the guards so it was only a matter of time before someone would come and if they were caught things would get complicated. The thought has the grip on the assault rifle in her hands and looking down and inspecting it for just a moment.

At just a glance she could tell that it was an Russian-made AK-104, possibly manufactured by the Izmash. With those detaisl in her head she could mentally prepare herself for how to hold it and how it could fire not only because of her ability that allowed her to physically copy how someone could fire a gun just from watching them once, but she had an extensive knowledge of weaponry thanks to her father. Guess that was one thing that she could reluctantly thank him for.

She can hear Lyndon move into the room behind her, but she didn’t bother to look back and kept her gaze looking outward. Raina might ass well be an unmovable wall standing between Lyndon and the solider inside, but Lyndon’s words had her turning around. Raina quickly lowered her weapon and went in after Lyndon and stopped in the door frame, her eyes widening at the sight of the explosive lining all the walls. “They really do love their bombs.” she whispered under her breath.

As she stood in the doorway, she could see the solider looking up at her his eyes wide with fear. And she couldn’t blame him. She was decked head to toe in the gear of the people that had captured him and tormented him. But before she could even say a thing to reassure him, Lyndon was working to help calm him down. She’s ready to cut him loose, but at the man’s warning had her stopping.

“They definitely failed to mention this in the intel…” she growled under her breath as she glanced over her shoulder and stepped into the room towards Lyndon and the Irishman. She lowered her gun and knelt at his side and inspected the bindings. He was right. The second they cut him loose this whole place would go and all three of them would be as good as dead. “There has to be a way to disarm it…” she said quietly “Do you remember anything in particular they did when they attached the sensors?” she asked the solider, her eyes darting between him and the door because the clock was ticking down before the next guards showed up. There had to be a wire or something that they could fire to disarm the bombs and get this poor man free. 

If the adrenaline wasn’t pumping before, he could feel it start to kick in now. There was the rush of going fast, of going hard, of danger all around him, and then there were rushes like this. Tense moments. Moments where staying in complete control didn’t mean gripping a steering wheel but instead meant not panicking. If he were the soldier in the seat, strapped to a bomb, he’d be having trouble with the idea too. But he wasn’t. 

He was the soldier who had to get him out of it. 

He listened to Raina try to get information from the man, but he just shook his head. “I wasn’t awake,” he informed them and Lyndon knew that would be no help. He ducked his head, crouching and laying on the floor to try and get the entire picture of the wiring. He knew a thing or two about electronics, about mechanics. He wished, more than anything, that he could get in contact with August, so the man could walk him through it. But the drone wasn’t a two way device. It hadn’t been built for that. That’s probably be his only suggestion to the man once he got back from this op. And he wasn’t going to question his superiors about the no comms rule, at least not out loud. 

“Okay, you know what?” Lyndon said, pulling himself up after he’d gotten done scoping out the entire bomb. He came back around, smile on his face as he spoke to the soldier and to Raina. “This is fine. It’s simple enough to get you out, don’t worry.” He crouched again at the man’s side, near the sensor he’d found. They weren’t attached to the straps around his wrists, but rather a pressure sensor on the chair he sat on. “I took a class once.” 

“Once?” the soldier responded. “Please tell me it was more than once.” 

Lyndon smirked as he started to follow wires, putting together the circuits and routing in his head, trying to identify the failsafe in a situation like this. “All you need is once,” he told the solider. “Almost passed it, too.” The soldier gave an exasperated noise from deep in his throat and Lyndon looked up at him, patting his arm. “Don’t worry,” he said, putting his jokes aside. “You’ll be home before the night’s over. I got this.” 

The soldier, despite the ill-timed banter, nodded and it was a whole new rush knowing that trust was put into him implicitly like that. He smiled at the man, wide and bright before his eyes went to Raina. ‘Can you be my look out?” he asked her. “In the hall?” he nodded his head towards the door, but then exchanged a look with her. It wasn’t that he needed a lookout. It was that he needed her out of the room. Because if things went south, he didn’t want to take her with him.

[yourarmiehammer-blog]

[lyndon-cole]

seraduncan:

“I’m sure that’s fun and all but damn Lyndon, you don’t have to be such a prude about it. It’s only sex in public places. I mean, unless…” She tried to hold back her grin, “Unless you’re a virgin.” She teased, almost positive that that wasn’t the case. “Nah, impossible.” She continued before he could answer. “You were a fly boy and chicks loooooove a man in uniform. You probably got laid all the time.” She said with a laugh, knowing it was true. “Yes, Lyndon, you’re not the only one who likes to live on the edge sometimes.” She said coyly, her bottom lip catching between her teeth. “I’d love to tell you…” She trailed off, considering for a second what she was going to say next. “But I’d much rather show you.” Her head tilted to the side with a soft sigh. “Either way, I’m not so sure your goody two shoes self would be able to handle it.”

The smirk that spread across Lyndon’s face at the comment almost turned into a full blown laugh but he was able to hold it back. He knew that she was trying to goad him, but he was a confident man. Even if he had been a virgin, he would have been confident in it. But he was not. By a longshot. “Yeah, they did dig the uniform,” he said, as though he were reminiscing. “Also like to see the cockpit.” There was a slight wink at the words. He gave a full on laugh finally when she said that she’d rather show him than tell him about what sex in a public place was like. As confident as he was, that wasn’t going to happen. He took it as a joke, Didn’t think she was really serious about it after all. Always with the goading. “Yeah, too busy reading my bible and cleaning my room. Got a reputation to uphold and whatnot.” 

[lyndon-cole]

charlottejmaxwell:

Charlie shook her head at his offer, “Nope. I’m gonna put that off as long as I can,” she grinned wryly, “This is going to sound stupid, but they kind of scare me?” She tightened her backpack straps before hesitantly sitting on the back behind Lyndon. She pushed the helmet down over her head (ugh, helmet hair) and wrapped her arms tight around his muddle.

“Anything even a little bit over the speed limit is too fast,” she grumbled, mostly to herself, but she squeezed her eyes shut and her arms tighter around him as they took off. Yep. This was exactly why she didn’t get her motorcycle license. She could memorize procedure, she could know everything to do in theory, but once she was actually on the bike? No way was she doing anything apart from holding on for dear life.

Lyndon chuckled. It wasn’t an uncommon feeling, to be scared of a motorcycle. It was in the news constantly, of bikers getting killed. It seemed that accidents with motorcycles were often times more severe when it came to the injury or mortality rate. Lyndon wasn’t afraid of them in the slightest. “Ah, you don’t have to be afraid of these bad boys,” he patted the bike, feeling her climb onto it behind him. She wrapped her arms around him and the tightness with which she held him had him grinning. She really was scared. “It’s the other drivers you need to look out for.” 

With that, he took off before she could answer. He knew where the market was. Went there himself for some fresh produce every once in a while. He liked to eat healthy, liked to keep his own stock of certain snacks sometimes and not everything in that mess hall was of the healthy variety. Lyndon kept it a calm ride for her. Mostly. A few times he picked up the speed, but mostly because he couldn’t help himself. He was 100% comfortable in the driver’s seat. Aware of his passenger, though, and it was a smooth ride all the way to the market. “See?” he asked when he pulled the motorcycle to a stop in the lot. “Like a dream.” 

[flyforpeace-deactivated20160302]

The windy moors || Open

[lyndon-cole]

clairedout:

Startled by the man’s words Claire turned around. It surprised her that there was no grumpy guard or furious handler standing there, but a sweaty, casual agent. He was one of those guys with the air rippling around them from respect. They had trained hard and reached the ranks that allowed them to be out there — in the world, fighting the good fight. Like guardian angels stepping down on earth. She was perhaps romanticizing them a little, but it was hard not to when they were so talented, respected and, most importantly, good-looking.

Claire stared at the man, unable to say anything as she felt the blush of embarrassment creep on to her cheeks. She hadn’t expected this turn of events. “Uh… Hi,” she breathed, eyes tracing down to his uncovered torso. Blinking she quickly looked up at his face again, giving him an unsure smile. “I thought… You’re not here for me?” she asked, glancing behind him to see if, God forbid, someone else had heard her blunder.

She knew that agents were allowed anywhere they wanted, but she hadn’t thought anyone would choose to come here. It was a scary, almost haunting place, this abandoned nuclear factory with the dead wastelands around it. One would have to be suicidal or just really into danger to walk around the place, which said something about her being there. And maybe he was the same? Maybe he didn’t mind the scary movie vibe? “Have you been jogging? Here?” she asked bluntly, curiosity finally taking over.

Lyndon smirked, continuing to wipe the sweat from his brow before he let his shirt fall back into place. It was a hot day and he’d pushed himself jogging today. Restless beyond what he knew what to deal with now that he’d just gotten off a mission. He shook his head a little. “Nah,” he told her. He wasn’t here to take her back inside. Hadn’t really come out here to scold her either. He hadn’t known she was up here until he’d actually come back from his jog. “I mean, I’ll probably walk you back inside, but no rush.” 

It was the most he could offer. He’d skipped the recruit portion of this gig. When he’d been offered the job, they’d promoted him straight to agent because of his Air Force training and because of how well he’d done when they’d put that training to the test. If anything, it had convinced him that the agent who’d first offered him a job had done so on a whim. That he’d see his jet crash and saw Lyndon crawl from the wreckage and that in itself had meant a job offer. Not his background, not his history, but survival. It’s what Lyndon was best at, apparently. Living through the things that should have already claimed him. Now that was an adrenaline rush. 

She seemed surprised that he was out here jogging and he gave a chuckle, turning to look behind him. Sure, it wasn’t the most scenic of areas. The houses manned by guards on the outskirts were about the only real scenery the area had to offer. But it was better than being a treadmill all day. Fresh air always did him some good and if he really wanted to see something interesting, he’d hop on a motorcycle and go for a ride. Or claim one of the dirtbikes and head to one of the tracks outside of town. Something to get the blood pumping. “Hey, it’s not much to look at, but it’s a good jog. I’d recommend it once you get promoted.” 

[lyndon-cole]

Sub-Op: Razorblade || Raina & Lyndon

[lyndon-cole]

raina-usilova:

There was a slight worry building up in her that the two of them had no idea when August’s little robo-child would get back, but the fear quickly dissipates when it comes buzzing in and gently lands in Lyndon’s hand. “Perfect timing.” she said under her breath. Raina is seconds away from asking how they were gong to figure out the layout when suddenly the holographic map appeared.  She could chastise herself for her moment of stupidity because she should have expected nothing less from August, but her focus was solely on the layout and then the sheer number of red dots that were appearing.

She shared a quick look with Lyndon and it appeared that they were on the same page on how they felt about the situation. There were more numbers than anticipated but all that meant was they just had to be more careful and get in and out of there as quickly as possible. And on the other hand, with that many people in the compound the two of them could blend in a bit easier than if there only a handful of people inside who would know each other’s faces much better. Her eyes fall on the small green dot that signified the solider. “Agreed.” she nodded committing the path and the map to memory as best as she could before standing up and slipping through the opening in the fence and taking point. “We had better get moving then.”

As Raina moved, she was sure to take it at the same pace as the man before, since his own pace often made it so he rarely crossed paths with the other guards at the front. With the pace they kept, it was easy to slip into the compound without being seen. Once inside she quickened her pace slightly and started down the hallways. And while the map they were shown outside, showed that there was no one in their path, suddenly she could hear footsteps approaching. Looks like someone had moved. “Damn…” she cursed under her breath. Instinctively she stepped in front of Lyndon and the grip on the assault rifle tightened ever so slightly. 

“Привет, Что ты здесь делаешь? (Hey What are you doing here?)” the first man called out as he approached while his partner hung back. 

“Создание раундов . (Making rounds.) ” Raina replied quickly. “Босс сказал, что это была наша очередь , чтобы посмотреть в плен в следующем. уда ты идешь? {The boss said it was our turn to watch the prisoner next. Where are you going?)”  She hadn’t spoken Russian in what felt like an eternity and yet the words flowed from her lips easily as if she had never really stopped. As the two of them continued their back and forth, she explained that there was a change in the guard schedule and that the people who were supposed to be there were taking the shift after them instead and given a key she and Lyndon were finally left alone and left to proceed. With that story it gave them a limited amount of time to move before the next guards came. “Alright he’s in there…” she said as she stepped aside and handed Lyndon the key. “He better see you first.” she suggested, thinking that seeing someone in a full IKGB uniform might make for more problems. 

Lyndon followed Raina’s lead on this one. He was thankful when they got inside, stepping in front of him as though her small frame could keep the other man from seeing him. He acted as normal as possible, looking disinterested in the conversation they were having and he listened to the influx of Raina’s voice to know when he needed to give pointed looks, like he understood what they were saying. He didn’t. He didn’t have a clue. Russian was not a language he knew more than a few sentences in and those sentences were broken and probably pronounced horribly. 

Whatever she’d said to him seemed to work as in the next moment, the man was nodding, handing over a keycard that he could only guess would allow them into the room with the Irish soldier inside.Things were going smoothly, traversing the halls and they waited for the man Raina had spoken to to leave before she inserted the card. The door clicked open and Lyndon nodded at her suggestion of him going in first. 

The inside of the room was dark. They hadn’t bothered to keep a light on for the man. Lyndon entered carefully. He could see the soldier sitting in a chair, tied to it more than likely. He was slumped to the side and there was a puddle of blood and sweat beneath him. That wasn’t what made Lyndon hesitate. It was the explosives he saw lining the wall. The wires he saw spiraling from the chair. He swallowed thickly. He’d taken a course, but he was proficient. 

“He’s rigged,” he whispered back to Raina, hoping the English wouldn’t attract the attention of anyone close by. But she was keeping watch at the door as he moved in, careful of where he stepped, careful of making too much noise or movement. He could see the camera they’d taped their hostage video with. Old fashioned, as was everything else in here. 

Coming to a stop in front of the man, he crouched, but the soldier’s eyes were closed, blood caking on the side of his face. He reached a hand out, touching the man’s arm. “Rise and shine, soldier,” he said softly, trying to get him to stir. He did and those eyes opened so wide and white that Lyndon was already whispering, “Easy, easy,” before the man could panic. He jerked in the chair, like the contact was supposed to be painful, like they’d beat him and tortured him and Lyndon had to try and still his beating heart because it didn’t matter that they didn’t wear the same colors or fight beneath the same flag. This man was a soldier. And this man didn’t deserve this sort of fear. 

“You ready to go home?” he asked and the man perked up at that. 

“Don’t cut me loose,” he responded, Irish lilt to his voice. “Sensors on the bindings. It’ll detonate.”

[flyforpeace-deactivated20160302]

The windy moors || Open

[lyndon-cole]

clairedout:

It had started as a test really. She just wanted to see how far she would get. Not that she was planning on running away. Wasn’t even thinking to go beyond the second level. It was a game, something for the adrenaline to kick in. And somehow she found herself in the sun. For some reason it had gone so easily and so fast, one floor after the other, one security border a time, and there it was — the great outdoors.

She knew shouldn’t have done it, but that was part of what made it special. The very air she breathed was off limits. The sky, blue and endless through the broken ceiling, and as the clouds parted she felt the heat of sunlight on her skin. It was perhaps because of the memory loss, but the last time she had been straight under the sun felt like ages ago. The light breeze came through the sheltered space she stood in. It reminded her of home, a boy’s whisper in her ear, her mother pulling back her hair into a braid, the morning chill on the way to school. Claire couldn’t get enough of it.

Footsteps against concrete were approaching. Someone had found her. Not surprising, she had a tracker on her after all. They would take her back, chastise her, perhaps even punish her for leaving the facility. Although, technically, she hadn’t left, only moved to the top of it. What worried her wasn’t the penalty though, it was that she would have to leave this little spot she had found, this little room in space and time where everything was peaceful, simple, cold and slightly unwanted, just like home.

Not taking her longing eyes off the sunny sky she said to the person, who had now reached her: “I know what you’re going to say. I’ll come with you, just… wait a little. It’s so beautiful.” She wasn’t counting on being allowed to stay another second, but it was worth asking for.

Lyndon was on his way back from a jog. Sweat beaded on his forehead, soaking his shirt. It was an every day occurrence for him, keeping himself in shape, working off that restlessness that had a tendency to settle into his bones whenever there wasn’t much to do. Luckily, he was still coming down from a mission. Adrenaline had pumped through his veins almost the entire time they’d been out there. Now, it was easy to fall into a state of restlessness. 

He didn’t expect someone to be on the grounds when he got back from his jog around the fields surrounded the OpAscent center. It was hidden enough and no one had told him to stop his jogging. The houses in the areas were all filled with agents, guards that watched for intruders. He would wave at any who passed because there was no point in pretending they didn’t know each other when Lyndon jogged here frequently. Anyone watching would think it odd that they didn’t know. 

A face he recognized, though not someone he had a lot of contact with. Not someone he knew or had many conversations with. A recruit, though he couldn’t remember her name. He had a tendency to be nice to recruits, but only get to know them when it was necessary. Not all of them made it to agents. He lifted his shirt to wipe at his brow, trying to get the sweat from his eyes as he walked up on her. 

The words had him chuckling. She wasn’t supposed to be up here, but it didn’t look like she was running away. He knew the recruits couldn’t leave the compound unless on assignment. But it was far from a prison. At least in his mind. They’d had the same rules on base. “Well, I was going to say hello, but if you want to just cut to the chase...” he grinned down at her. 

[lyndon-cole]

humanitas-ex-machina:

August could pretend that he never worried about operatives on missions, he supposed. He could try to play it cool, like so many of the agents did, and so many of the recruits tried to. But he’d never particularly been very good at that (although he had tried, for about six months, when he was new).

“I always worry,” August admitted ruefully. “It wouldn’t matter if you actually were Superman, complete with invulnerability to bullets and laser vision. Still,” his tone took on a twist of amusement, “your faith in both yourself and me is appreciated.”

He fussed over the drone one last time, and finally unearthed himself from the couch so that he could grab a small metal container from his desk. He put the drone inside, then handed the container to Lyndon–he had no doubt that the man would take every care not to break the drone, but precaution couldn’t hurt. “I have no other Sub-Ops on my schedule for the next two days, so you can be assured that you’ll have my full attention.”

He glanced over at one of the screens on his desk, calculating mission times. “You’re leaving now, yes? Shall I walk you to the jet?” August smiled crookedly, unhooking the USBs from his arm. “I’m sure you have ideas about how you’ll go about your initial approaching into the facility you’re breaching: if we walk and talk, that will give me time as you fly to get you the best intel I can.”

Lyndon’s smile falters for a moment before it widens. He’d been joking mostly, and leave it to August to turn it sincere. He appreciated it, though. There was something comforting in knowing that people at OpAscent, even support teams, didn’t think of their agents and soldiers as pawns. It’s what he liked about being in the Air Force. That they were more than their enlistment numbers like some people believed. That it was as much about the objective as it was the soldier at your side. It carried over to this organization and Lyndon would have it no other way. 

“Always got faith in you,” he said genuinely back to the man. He watched him turn and get the drone into a safe travelling case for him. It was going to be one of the very few tools and gadgets he was going to be allowed on this assignment. Small things that would let them get in there. He still didn’t understand the no communications, though he thought if the IKGB caught them, they could probably track the frequency back. At least, he thought that seemed like a smart reason. 

“Sure, let’s go,” Lyndon said, turning and heading out into the hall. He let August fall into step beside him and he turned the small case holding the drone over in his hands. He started talking about the op on his way. “Complex in the middle of the forest. We’re talking black forest on all sides, not too sure what their defenses will be like, but I’m not too concerned. The explosives in the video looked primitive enough to let me know they can’t afford laser grids.” He waggled his brow at the man, glad at least that that part was accurate. 

“I’m thinking...” he trailed off, holding up the drone to look at it and his mind was already moving, already planning. “...this is going to come in handy when we try to get inside the complex. Maps of the building show a couple different locations that could be housing our soldier. The idea is we move in and out before anyone even knows we’re there. Think this guy could pinpoint the Irishman?”