Chapter 7

The helicopter banked and slowly landed in the field that we had taken off from earlier. Agent Lowe wished us good luck and slipped out the doorway as two men climbed in.

Nick said, "Kyle and Cory I presume?"

The shorter one nodded, "Yep nice to meet you. I'm Cory and this giant here is Kyle. I assume since you're here you accepted the offer?"

Nick nodded, "Seems like it. We were told you two would take us where we need to go and get us situated."

Cory smiled, "That's what we're here for. We'll also be your support team and backup in case you need it. We're both ex-Rangers so we can at least not shoot you in the butt."

Corbin laughed, "No you'll miss us totally. Rangers can't hit crap."

Kyle smiled and cracked his knuckles, "Want to test that theory?"

Corbin smiled, "Nah it's all good. I imagine you all aren't too bad if the President vouched for you. We'll put up with your sorry asses."

We all laughed as Cory and Kyle smiled. I broke in, "Anyway boys, can we get this show going? I'm happy to listen to you bicker but I'd rather not do it in a field in rural Virginia. You know where we're heading?"

Cory nodded, "We've got a couple options. We've got three bases set up currently for our use. Miami has a penthouse with a few boats and such but really isn't that big. New York City we've got a three level penthouse with a redundant underground bunker that is shielded and will be where our techs work. We just finished renovating a hillside mansion in Los Angeles that should be sufficient too. We've never been there though. It's your pick really."

I shrugged, "Might as well at least meet the rest of our team first, that's if no one has any objections?"

Everyone nodded and Cory tossed a GPS device to me. "Coordinate set 1 then."

I tossed it to Nick and he climbed into the cockpit and started it up. I waved Cory and Kyle over to the seats by me, Caroline climbing into my lap. "So how long have you been on this project?"

Kyle took this one, "We took a discharge from the Rangers a year ago after Bob approached us. We've been working on setting up off the grid residences mostly. A little time spent checking on the techs to make sure they're good as well. It's bit boring after Iraq but both of us agreed that we didn't want to stay in after an ambush took out the rest of our team while we were on scout duty. Bob's offer just gave us a cause instead of us being useless."

Caroline and I winced, "Sorry about your team. We haven't lost any of our team but we've lost friends. It's hard."

Kyle nodded, "Nothing quite like it. Hard to loose the guys you depend on day in and day out." Cory nodded solemnly in agreement.

I let the silence reign for a few seconds before asking, "So can you give us a little more intel on what exactly we just stepped into?"

Cory shook his head, "Neither of us are really qualified to do that. To be honest, most of that shit goes over our head. We just shoot what we're told too."

Caroline laughed, "Yeah that's pretty much us. Except for Corbin who prefers to blow shit up."

Nick banked hard right then and we all cursed as we were flung around. "Hey keep it level ass hat!"

Nick yelled back, "Sorry! Fucking pelicans."

I continued, "I guess we'll find out more when we meet the techs. What are their names by the way?"

Cory answered, "We've never really dealt with the tech teams so not sure there. Ryan and Elizabeth, who we call Bit oddly enough, are both young hotshots that Bob assigned to our group. They both came in after stumbling across the problem we're working on and trying to raise awareness. Bob managed to squash their efforts and bring them in quietly before they created any problems. I think Bit is 19 and Ryan 22 so a bit in the middle between you all and us."

Caroline replied, "That's good. Nice to know we won't just have to deal with you old farts all the time."

Cory snickered, "Yeah yeah we're old. But to get to business, we've got some basic kit stashed in the houses right now but do you guys have preferences on y'alls kit? Right now they're stocked with simple M4s, basic Glock 19s, and not much else."

I said, "Caroline and I aren't too picky, we'll run pretty much anything. Corbin and Nick are better people to ask that of. Corbin!"

Corbin turned around and leaned over the seatback, "Yeah what's up?"

"We're talking about what kit to bring in. Preferences?" His eyes lit up. "Within reason please. We won't be buying any tanks or Stingers thank you very much."

His eyes dimmed a little but he replied, "Well ideally I'd like to run a bunch of HK416s. Chris and Caroline tend to prefer shorter barrel lengths where Nick and I like the normal carbine lengths. If you can get a bunch of the various models they make that would be a good start. MP7s and Kriss Vectors are good for travel and close protection details. Glock 19s, Glock 21s, and M&P Shields for side arms. M110s for sniper rifles. A few Barrett .50 cals tossed in there just in case. Along with the normal flash bangs, grenades, etc."

Kyle and Cory nodded, "We can do that. Nothing in that list is too hard really. Excuse me." Cory got up and dialed a number on his phone as he slipped into the back row.

Kyle said, "We can have most of that in your hands in a day or so. The Barretts and M110s may take a little more time. We'll make sure those are sighted in and ready to go before delivery. Wouldn't want you to miss whatever you want to hit."

I joked, "Ehh Emily and Corbin miss most of the time anyway. Maybe you shouldn't sight them in, might improve their accuracy."

Corbin's eyes darkened, "I haven't forgotten this morning asshole. You'll get yours soon enough."

Caroline laughed as he dropped back in his seat and Kyle said, "Man, he didn't look happy."

Caroline nodded, "This idiot here set off the emergency alarm to wake up everyone this morning."

Kyle laughed, "Ahh I see. I'll remember to lock him out of that option when we arrive. I like to wake up peacefully."

I shrugged, "It's not me you should worry about. Corbin, Nick, and Emily are the ones you should be watching."

Cory joined us again, "I'll remember that then. Kyle and I give as good as we get though. And we're the ones ordering the toys." He said as he leaned over the seat and smiled at Corbin and Emily before sitting down. "Talked to supply, we'll have what you asked for delivered tomorrow. M110s and Barretts will be the day after."

Nick's voice came over the speaker, "We're approaching city limits now. Can someone come up here and help guide me in?"

Katie got up and headed to the cockpit, "Got it."

We all turned to the windows as Nick banked over the river and headed into Manhattan, settling on a building with a view overlooking Central Park.

I asked, "Forget to mention something guys?"

Cory shrugged, "Hey you didn't ask where the place was. Didn't think it mattered."

"Sure, it doesn't matter that we have a three level penthouse overlooking Central Park. Not a big deal at all. Next you'll tell us there are a few Lambos in the garage for us to use, no biggie."

Kyle shook his head, "Nope no Lambos. One Ferrari, two Teslas, and a bunch of armored Tahoes but no Lambos sorry."

I smiled as we all climbed out the helicopter onto the rooftop-landing pad, "I think I'm going to like you guys."

Corbin piped in, "I'll like you guys when I get my C4."

All of us rolled our eyes as Cory typed a code into the panel by the door, having it slide open and reveal an elevator. He stepped aside and said, "After you all."

We all clambered in and dropped a few floors and the doors opened to a huge entryway, staircases climbing both sides. "Holy fuck..." Corbin muttered.

Two figures appeared at the top of the staircases, guns pointed down at us. The six of us dove for cover but Cory and Kyle just yelled, "It's us guys! Relax."

All of us slowly stood up, weapons drawn still but relaxed a little more as the figures called down, "Sorry about that! Can't be to careful."

Ryan and Bit came down the stairs and extended their hands to us as Bit apologized again. "So sorry about that guys. We're a bit paranoid when we're by ourselves here. This place is huge and noises get a little creepy."

I laughed as I shook her hand, "No apologies necessary. I'd rather you guys be a little jumpy than complacent. Hopefully we won't be leaving you here much in the future though."

Ryan looked at me, "And you are?"

I laughed, "Oh sorry about that. Guess you pointing guns at us kinda interrupted our introductions ... Anyway I'm Chris."

"Caroline."

"Nick."

"Katie."

"Corbin."

"Emily."

Ryan and Bit looked at each other and then laughed. Ryan managed to stop long enough to ask, "Did you all practice that?"

I smiled, "Nope, just becomes habit after you do it a lot. So you're Ryan and Bit?"

Bit nodded and extended her hand to shake mine, "That's us. Sorry about the welcome. If it makes you feel better, we were more likely to shoot ourselves than y'all."

I frowned, "We'll have to see about fixing that later. I'd really rather you not shoot each other ... Well as much as I enjoy being greeted by the barrel of a gun, Cory said you guys could give us a better idea of what we just signed up for. Care to brief us?"

Ryan nodded, his face hardening. "Sure. Follow us and we'll give you a basic run down." We climbed the stairs to the second level and into the den. "Grab a seat and give us a second."