Merc/Story

Chapter I: ?
Lakewood, California, United States of America November 1, 2021, 0807 HRS

Bathed in the soft glow of the television, Aaron's unconscious form laid abroad the sectional couch in his mother's den with the television flipped on Nickelodeon's Spongebob Squarepants when the home phone rang.

The ring echoed through the house, waking him from his rest. Restless and agitated after only getting six hours and not being able to sleep in over thirty-eight hours, Aaron opened his crusted eyes and saw his sister Tijera standing over him with her three-year-old son in her arms.

"Hello?" she said, picking up the phone.

Aaron could hear a bit of chatter on the other end of the line, he heard his name being said and sat up. As he raised his hand for the phone, his sister handed it to him.

"It's for you." she said, stating the obvious.

"Thanks, Ti."

"And put some clothes on, would'ya."

He ruffled his nephew's hair and stood from the couch in his briefs and headed out the patio's slide door. As he closed the door, the tiled ground was cold under his bare feet but he bore with it, he took a breath of fresh cold winter air, and exhaled. "What you got for me, Moreno?"

Her voice was kind of loud, yet appealing and strangely similar to the actress Mila Kunis. "Got a mission for you, if you're interested. The money's good, so just let me know." she said, "Oh, and uhh, regarding that other thing you texted me about? I can't... I mean it was just supposed to be that one time, and uh... anyway. You want it?"

He hesitated, then sighed. Uh, ye–yeah, I'll take it. You call Brian, yet?"

"Already done, your flight leaves at ten sharp, L.A. Air Force Base in El Segundo. He'll meet you there."

"Alright, I'll be there."

"Details you'll get from Prescott when you arrive."

Without another word he hung up the phone and headed back inside. His nephew was sitting on the couch with his mother watching Spongebob and snacking on a baggy of Cheerios.

Tijera looked over from the television at Aaron. "Work?"

"No, that was my baby momma askin' about child support." he responded sarcastically.

The boy interjected and pointed his tiny index finger. "Storier."

"Hey, D.J., it's pronounced 'liar'," he said with a chortle, "I'm kidding, it was work. That means I won't be here for D.J.'s birthday party later, sorry."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not." he walked over to his pants that hung on the arm of the couch and pulled out a money clip and he counted.

"Hundred... two, three, four" he sighed, "five, five-fitty."

He pulled five-hundred and fifty dollars in hundred dollar bills and a fifty out of the wad and handed it to his nephew, who just glared at it, oblivious of what to do with it.

"What's that for?" she asked.

"Missing his B-day."

"Momma told you I was in a little debt, didn't she?"

"No..." he hesitated, "your husband did. Just be glad you're not in that deep, and don't get me twisted it is just a loan."

Aaron put the rest of his money back in his pants pocket and grabbed his duffel bag. "Gotta take a shower and go. I have a plane to catch. Can you call me a cab?"

"Sure."

Aaron nodded and paced to the bathroom, got undressed and hopped in the shower. He cleaned everywhere, scrubbed the 'vital' areas, making sure no scum was left, and washed his hair. He even brushed his teeth in there. When he finished, he dried off and got dressed, first pulling on a clean pair of briefs and dark blue Jeans before opening the door and heading back to the den.

"Hey, Ti, you know where my Old Spice deodorant is...?" Aaron stopped in his tracks when he saw five females, two of which were albino or very very light-skinned, staring at him and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. "Uh, hi." he said waving a hand.

Tijera came up behind him. "You remember Naye-Naye, Destiny, Deonna, Devonnie and Karen?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Hey, Mr. Six-Pack." Destiny said, sultrily.

"Uh, hey." he turned back to Tijera, "Seriously, the Old Spice, you know where it is?"

She reached into her purse and handed it to him. "Here."

"Do I want to know why it was in your purse?"

"D.J. was playing with it."

Devonnie cleared her throat. "So, uh, Six-Pack, when'd you get out of the military?"

"About eleven months ago."

"You kill anybody?" Destiny asked.

"Uh," he look at his digital watch: the time said 0845 hrs, "Sorry, ladies, I would love to catch up but I gotta go to work."

Aaron planted a quick kiss on his sister's cheek. "Tell momma I said bye."

"Oh, A.J. a man now? It feels like just last week you were that little boy that little boy who had a crush on all of us."

Aaron chuckled. "Yeah, seems like." he pulled on his black tank-topand then his gray short-sleeve shirt. He picked up his duffel bag, gave a dismissing wave and turned to head out the front door before stopping at threshold.

"Oh, and to answer your question, Destiny... yes I have, more than most are often willing to count." He pulled the door open and headed out. He walked down the driveway and saw the cab parked idly in front of the house; climbing into the back seat, he slipped the driver the address. The driver, a white guy by the looks of him read it and looked back at him. "El Segundo?"

Aaron pulled his phone from his bag. "Business."

"Can I ask what kind of business?"

Without moving his head, Aaron's eye looked up at the white man and smiled slyly, "You could but then I'd have to kill you."

They shared a short laugh and the cab driver pulled off, when the laughter died down Aaron whispered. "I'm serious."

The drive to the air base was uneventful, Aaron could only think of his deteriorating relationship with Jamie Moreno; the two had been best friends since their junior year in high school, promised to never stop being there for each other no matter what, even after she broke his heart, Aaron clung to that promise like a starved pit bull to a piece of meat.

When cab stopped at a red light barely two blocks away from the air base. He pulled up his menu and went to his contact list; he selected Jamie's number. He stared at her contact picture, hazel eyes, brown hair, and tan skin, beautiful like Kunis except for the slight full lips that he loved, which made her all the more attractive.

His fingers hovered over the letter keys, trying not to let his emotions run his motor functions. He was saved by the traffic light when it turned green, he sighed with relief, put his phone in his pocket and drove down the street until he got to the base checkpoint.

He climbed out of the back seat with his bag and paid the driver. When the cab pulled back out the MP standing guard glared at Aaron. "Authorized personnel only, civilian." the guard said.

Aaron removed his I.D. out of his wallet, flashed it at the MP and the guard waved him through with a salute. "Sir."

Aaron smiled slyly as he walked past the young man. "Damn right, 'sir', kid."

He immediately headed for the administration building, waved and smiled at the Hispanic receptionist as he passed her, she was very attractive, too bad she was Brian's sister.Aaron grumbled and grimaced at the thought but lit up with happiness when he saw his best friend leaning against the wall outside Prescott's office. It had been three months since he'd seen or talked to him. The friends clutched each others hand and gave a one-arm hug. "S'up man, miss ya." Brian said releasing his friend.

"Same."

Brian Ruiz was a big, stocky fellow, barely a few pounds larger than Davis himself. Eyes like the void of space and Caucasian skin.

Chapter II: ?
Lakewood, California, United States of America December 21, 2020 - 0142 HRS Aaron slept on his back in a old hammock in his mother's dingy backhouse, the inside was bare aside from a large black duffel bag and a window, the walls were mottled with fading beige and brown paint. He groaned when he felt something run across his face and mumbled, he groaned again this time louder when he felt it again. A moment later he reached up and grabbed whatever it was and open his eyes, it took another moment for his eyes to adjust to thedark.

He could make out a five foot-five figure in the darkness and realized he was holding someone's arm, a second later he took a guess. "Jamie?"

She spoke casually, like she wasn't interrupting anything. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to visited an old friend. I heard you were back."

She lyin'... something's up. He thought.

Aaron sat up, reached up and flicked on the dangling light-switch. He looked at Jamie, she was wearing a long purple shirt, black boy shorts and some brown Ugg boots. He noticed the black shiner around her left eye, and gritted his teeth.

The look in his eyes was fierce and focused. "Who did this?"

"No, it doesn't matter, you'll only make it worse. He was in the SEALs."

"And I was a Marine, so? Is that supposed to scare me?."

"He had more training, he said he was one of the guys who helped take out bin Laden. If he could do that&mdash;"

Aaron stood and pulled her in for a tight hug.

He cut her off and caressed her cheek with his index finger. "Doesn't matter, I'll handle it."

She tightly wrapped her arms around him and began crying, Aaron felt a tear run down his bare chest and pulled away slightly to wipe it away.

"Don't... I said I'll handle it."

She whispered a soft reply. "Okay."

"And your staying here tonight." He ordered.

There was no complaint. She let go of him and stooped over to take off her shoes before climbing into the hammock with him and laying her head on his chest. Aaron turned off the light and they laid there in dead silence for several minutes before Jamie said something. "Aaron?" She said.

He waited a second before answering. "Yeah?"

"Do you love me?"

Random! His conscience said in a sing-song tune. "No." Aaron responded, trying desperately to keep his voice level.

He couldn't see her face, but he could tell Jamie's eyes were trained on him now. "Aaron, you remember when you said you'd never lie to me?"

"Yeah."

"You just did."

He chuckled. "What makes you say that?" "Yo' momma told me last year."

And she wonders why I don't tell her nothin', dammit mom. He thought. "Well I've been since we were at Noah Yeun's seventeenth birthday. You know, five years ago, when you kissed me while you were drunk&mdash;and I mean you were shit-faced drunk."

She laughed, the sweet sound of her laughter made Aaron smile, though she couldn't see it. "I must've been pretty fucked up to wanna kiss my best friend, I wouldn't want to lose you if anything went wrong."

Aaron sighed. "Have you ever seen that show Friends?"

"With Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox, yeah, my parents got the DVD box set, why?" He sat up slightly. "Season eight, episode... uh, whatever, I'm going tell you the same thing Joey told Rachel when he told her he loved her but she didn't recuperate his feelings: 'you won't lose me, no matter what, you can't ever lose me'. I think I'm paraphrasing a bit, but you get the idea."

"Yeah... I do."

"You couldn't lose me even if I was shot and left for dead in some shit-hole. I'd find my way back to you."

Aaron felt Jamie climb out of the hammock. He couldn't tell what she was doing but something in the back ofhis cerebral cortex told him something was about to happen. It was a full forty-five seconds before she climbed back in the hammock.

0156 hrs
"Uh, Jamie?"

She didn't say a word as she climbed on top of Aaron. He felt something soft and warm on his stomach where she was sitting.

"Jamie... what is that?"

"Put your hand there and guess."

He did as instructed and felt the soft warmth of her pussy much to his surprise; Jamie gave a soft moan. She moved forward and laid bare-chested on Aaron's upper body, her nipples rubbed against his skin as she kissed his neck, he tensed up.

He struggled for the switch to turn the lights on and saw Jamie sitting on him, naked. Her nipples were a little stiff, her pussy slightly wet and her hazel eyes fixated on him.

"Let me ask you something." She said.

"Shoot."

"You ever thought of us having sex? And don't lie."

He hesitated for a few seconds before Jamie slapped him. "Ow! Okay, yes I have. A few times, but I never thought I had a chance. I had thought about few people I trusted, but none like you... I didn't want to ruin that."

"Do you still think about me in that light?"

"I don't know."

She leaned and kissed him full on his lips, in a second she really got into it, she introduced her tongue to his; she flexed her tongue and wrapped it around Aaron's. The kiss aroused Aaron and gave him a hard-on and she noticed it when it prodded her pelvis. "How 'bout now?"

His taut muscles relaxed and he was drooling at the mouth. "Oh, yeah." He brought her lips back to his.



Chapter I: ?
Lakewood, California, United States of America November 1, 2020, 0807 HRS

Bathed in the soft glow of the television, Aaron Davis' unconscious form laid abroad the sectional couch in his mother's den with the television flipped on reruns of Nickelodeon's Spongebob Squarepants when the home phone rang.

The ring echoed through the house, waking him from his rest. Restless and agitated after only getting a mere four hours and not being able to sleep in over thirty-eight hours, Aaron opened his crusted eyes and saw his sister Tiara standing over him with her six year-old son in her arms.

"Hello?" she said, picking up the phone.

Aaron could hear a bit of chatter on the other end of the line, he heard his name being said and sat up. As he raised his hand for the phone, his sister handed it to him.

"It's for you." she said, stating the obvious.

"Thank, Ti." He droned, still half asleep.

"Put some clothes on, would'ya, nobody wanna see your peter."

He ruffled his nephew's hair and stood from the couch in his briefs and headed out the patio's slide door. As he closed the door, the tiled ground was cold under his bare feet but he bore with it, he took a breath of fresh cold winter air, and exhaled. "What you got for me, Jay?"

Her voice was kind of loud, yet appealing and strangely similar to an actress he used to watch on TV, Mila-something. "Got a mission for you, if you're interested. The money's good." she said, "You want it?"

He hesitated, then sighed. Uh, ye–yeah, I'll take it. You call, yet?"

"Already done, your flight leaves at ten sharp, L.A. Air Force Base in El Segundo. He'll meet you there."

"Alright, I'll be there."

"Details you'll get from Prescott when you arrive."

Without another word he hung up the phone and headed back inside. His nephew was sitting on the couch with his mother watching Spongebob and snacking on a baggy of Cheerios.

Tiara looked over from the television at him. "Work?"

"No, that was my baby momma askin' about child support." he responded sarcastically.

The boy interjected and pointed his tiny index finger. "Storier."

"Hey, D.J., it's pronounced 'liar', this ain't Mon-Mon's house." he said with a chortle, "I'm kidding, it was work. That means I won't be here for D.J.'s birthday party later, sorry."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not." he walked over to his pants that hung on the arm of the couch and pulled out a money clip, he counted and handed it to his nephew, who just glared at it, oblivious of what to do with it.

"What's that for?" she asked.

"Missing his B-day."

"Momma told you I was in a little debt, didn't she?"

"No..." he hesitated, "your husband did. Just be glad you're not in that deep, but don't get me twisted it is just a loan."

Aaron grabbed his duffel bag. "I gotta take a shower and go. I have a plane to catch. Can you call me a cab?"

"Sure."

Aaron nodded and paced to the bathroom, got undressed and hopped in the shower. He cleaned everywhere, scrubbed the 'vital' areas, making sure no scum was left, and washed his hair. He even brushed his teeth in there. When he finished, he dried off and got dressed, first pulling on a clean pair of briefs and dark blue Jeans before opening the door and heading back to the den.

"Yo, Ti, you know where my Old Spice deodorant is...?" Aaron stopped in his tracks when he saw five females, two of which were albino or very very light-skinned, staring at him and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. "Uh, hi." he said waving a hand.

Tiara came up behind him. "You remember Naye-Naye, Destiny, Deonna, Devonnie and Karen?"

The memory of them was coming back to him. "Oh, yeah."

"Hey, Mr. Six-Pack." Destiny said, sultrily and with a flirtation twist of her finger.

"Uh, hey." he turned back to Tijera, "Seriously, the Old Spice, you know where it is?"

She reached into her purse and handed it to him. "Here."

"Do I want to know why it was inyour purse?"

"D.J. was playing with it."

Devonnie cleared her throat. "So, uh, Six-Pack, when'd you get out of the military?"

"About eleven months ago."

"Did you actually kill anybody?" Destiny asked.

"Uh," he looked at his digital watch: the time said 0845 hrs, "Sorry, ladies, I would love to catch up but I gotta go to work."

Aaron planted a quick kiss on his sister's cheek. "Tell momma I said bye."

"Oh, A.J. a man now? It feels like just last week you were that little boy who had a crush on all of us."

Aaron chuckled. "Yeah, seems like." he pulled on his black tank-top and then his gray short-sleeve shirt. He picked up his duffel bag, gave a wave and turned to head out the front door before stopping at threshold.

"Oh, and to answer your question, Destiny... yes I have, more than most are often willing to count." He pulled the door open and headed out. He walked down the driveway and saw the cab parked idly in front of the house; climbing into the back seat, he slipped the driver the address. The driver, a white guy by the looks of him read it and looked back at him. "El Segundo?"

Aaron pulled his phone from his bag. "Business."

"Can I ask what kind of business?"

Without moving his head, Aaron's eyes looked up at the white man and smiled slyly, "You could but then I'd have to kill you."

They shared a short laugh and the cab driver pulled off, when the laughter died down Aaron whispered. "I'm serious."

The drive to the air base was uneventful, Aaron could only think of his deteriorating relationship with his girlfriend Sarah; the two had been best friends since his junior year in high school, then he had to go and fuck it up by asking her out and promised to never stop being there for each other no matter what, even after she broke his heart, Aaron clung to that promise like a starved pit bull to a piece of meat. She was far away and he feared they wouldn't last much longer.

When cab stopped at a red light barely two blocks away from the air base. He pulled up his menu and went to his contact list; he selected Sarah's number. He stared at her contact picture, green eyes, black hair, and light skin, those same tranquil blue-tented glasses she'd worn since they had met, which gave her the sexy librarian look.

His fingers hovered over the letter keys, trying not to let his emotions run his motor functions. He was saved by the traffic light when it turned green, he sighed with relief, put his phone in his pocket and drove down the street until he got to the base checkpoint.

He climbed out of the back seat with his bag and paid the driver. When the cab pulled out the military police officer standing guard glared at Aaron. "Authorized personnel only, civilian." The guard said. He was so "cute" in his littleuniform.

Aaron removed his I.D. out of his wallet, flashed it at the MP and the guard waved him through with a salute. "I'm sorry, sir."

Aaron smiled slyly as he walked past the younger man. "Damn right, 'sir', kid."

He immediately headed for the administration building, waved and smiled at the Hispanic receptionist as he passed her, she was very attractive, too bad she was his friend Kevin's sister. Aaron grumbled and grimaced at the thought but lit up with delight when he saw his friend and partner leaning against the wall outside Colonel Prescott's office. It had been three months since he'd seen or talked to him. The friends clutched each others hand and gave a one-arm hug. "S'up man, missed ya." Brian said releasing his friend.

"Same, hermano."

Brian Walker was a big, stocky fellow, barely a few pounds larger than Aaron himself, eyes like the void of the sky on a clear night and skin like a caucasian&mdash;ironic, considering he was half-Hispanic. After a few moments Prescott opened the door and led the two young men back out the lobby; he sat into the front seat of the jeep that was waiting while they climbed in the back. "Let's go." he said. The driver started and went down the base's tarmac; Prescott explained the details of the mission as Moreno said he would, he offered an additional amount of fifteen thousand to whoever killed the target. Brian even stated that the bonus would be his after he killed the target. "Like hell you will." Aaron said. "You'd get you share," Brian said in relaxed tone, "Remember we split everything, bro." "We do, but there two things that I don't: women and money. That kill is mine." "It's free game my friend." Prescott chuckled. "Ah, the spirit of competition." Aaron immediately climbed out and headed to the side of the jeep when they pulled up on a ready-made Pilatus PC-12 plane. The colonel raised his sunglasses, his eyes were serious, even more so than the average army-lifer's was. "Any questions?" Aaron and Brian answered in unison. "No, sir." "Good." As Aaron turned to board the plane he noticed the colonel continued to talk to Brian, he didn't bother to eavesdrop and went to sit the in the passenger cabin. A minute or so later Brian came and sat opposite of him, kicking his feet up on the crate next to him. "Hey, what'd Sam say, any additional info?" "No, just a minor thing about a missing person?" "Shit. We're not saving the day are we?" "No. At least not yet." Aaron nodded as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his iPod, he put his earphones in and selected the first sing on the playlist, "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang. The twenty-three-year old relaxed as the plane's pilot started down the tarmac, he turned the volume all the way up and slumped down in his seat, dozing off into slumber for some much needed rest.

Nicaragua November 1, 2020 - 1438 HRS

Aaron awoke when Brian nudged him, he bitched with a slight groan. "Almost there?" "Just about. Come on, we got Jamie on sat-com." Aaron roll out of his seat and tossing his iPod and headphones back down he walked over the telecommunications laptop on the pull-out table. He smiled at the imagery of their contact on the screen, she returned a friendly grin until Brian interjected. "Dude, get laid on your own time." "Ha, ha." he said mirthlessly, "But hey, Jamie, I got tickets to see Five Finger Death Punch in concert." "If you're asking me out, you already know I'm so there. When's the concert?" "December second." "Pick me up." Aaron smiled. "It's a&mdash;" "Yeah, yeah, it's a date, now let's get back to business.

Chapter II: ? (Redo: In progress)
Long Beach, California, United States of America April, 2014 - 2212 HRS

Aaron arrived at Sarah's house

She leaned and kissed him full on his lips, in a second she really got into it, she introduced her tongue to his; she flexed her tongue and wrapped it around Aaron's. The kiss aroused Aaron and gave him a hard-on and she noticed it when it prodded her pelvis. "How 'bout now?" His taut muscles relaxed and he was drooling at the mouth. "Oh, yeah." He brought her lips back to his.

Chapter ?
Tokyo, Japan March 16, 2031 - 1911HRS Shühei swung the ninjaken sword at Shang.

Part One (V.3)
I STOOD looking in the mirror hanging on the wall in my old apartment, eyeing my reflection thirteen years ago, staring at myself in my little JROTC dress uniform&mdash;khaki collared shirt, black pants, glossy ebony shoes, a cover, and a tag with my surname and first initial of my given name on it: 'Davis, B.' to pull it all together&mdash;to be honest I loved the feeling of being in the uniform, it made me feel like I belonged to something and I didn't have to be different, just another generic kid, a freshman in high school with expectations of joining the United States military. Loved that idea. But as I grew, the expectations changed, my thought patterns changed, sometimes couldn't tell the different between ethical and unethical, a fact which has very well differentiated and somewhat isolated me from the rest of my family, and still does. With that in mind I was still convinced the military would a good place for me, specifically the Army; a fourth generation soldier in the family. Basic Combat Training (BCT) wasn't all that difficult; then again I wasn't too out of shape when I started, my main problem was keeping up when it came to running, but eventually I got through that and went off to start my Ranger training. Took some time before I could call myself a Ranger, well legitimately anyway, because by mid-2017 I was no longer an black civilian named Brandon Davis; no, I was an Apollo among Horae, all of which were children of Zeus, but I was more known than the rest, both a blessing and curse I might add. I was Corporal Brandon Davis.

Part I (V.4) (Started: 3/22/15)
Jai Courtney.

Prologue (v.1)
The Sofitel Rio de Janeiro Copacabana penthouse suite was eerily quiet, aside from The Lost Battalion playing on the sixty-two inch flat screen in the living room, bodies littered the floor around the suite, discharged bullet lined the walls and casings were on the floor. A tall male individual walked menacingly up a short flight of stairs, passed the laid out corpses from previous assailants and kicked in the locked door before him with unyielding force, a man cowered in the corner of the bare room holding his hands up to shield his face.

"Please." He said. The aggressor didn't hesitate to stand him on his own two feet and punch him in the gut, then follow it with a knee to the face. The man slumped to ground and grovelled, when he looked up at the man, he saw no mercy in his brown eyes. The aggressor grabbed hold of the man's collar and dragged him out of the room, once at the top of the stairs, he leaned the man against the banister, his crooked nose was bleeding and cheeks were dark red with bruises, the aggressor looked him dead in the eyes and punched him once more before heaving him over. The man yelled for a moment, and then there was silence.

The belligerent man pulled a small ear-piece from his jacket pocket, placed it in his right ear and activated his comlink as he started down the stairs. "Olivia, it's Jai. Targets neutralized, repeat: Manuel Vasquez and his lackeys are neutralized." When he made it to the bottom he walked over to the fallen man's body, his neck was crooked and at an odd angle, nudged him with the tip of his boot, and the man groaned softly. "Wait a minute, Liv..." Jai unholstered his sidearm and aimed down on the damaged man, and pulled the trigger, ending his miserable suffering. "Okay, Manny is definitely dead now."

A male voice responded. "Confirmed. Return to base when your able."

"Copy that." Jai deactivated his comm and walked to the couch and took a seat, he kicked up his feet on the glass table and grabbed the half bottle of clear liquor on the table. He tasted it and grimaced. ''Ugh! Gin.'' he thought to himself. "Gross. What were you guys thinking? Always stick to the Vodka when you have guests over." he joked aloud.

Jai pulled out a cigarette, he lit it and took a quick puff while staring at The Lost Battalion. Even though it was in Portuguese, he could see Major Charles Whittlesey protecting and fighting side by side. Jai sat there until the film ended and smiled. "That used to be me."

Jai finished his drink before leaving the suite, he locked the door and headed for the hotel's elevator, he smiled at the passing maid when she looked at him with a sultry grin. He pressed the lift's control button and waited; he briefly glimpsed behind him when he heard the maid scream. He quickly walked into the elevator when the doors open, he smiled at her again as they closed, there was horror in her eyes.

He relaxed against the wall, and realizing that he hadn't done so in weeks, his legs felt numb and he dropped to the floor. He stood back up when a Brazilian family clambered into the lift in a hurry, he smiled when he realized a four-year-old girl was smiling at him, but the grin faded when her father yanked her from the American by her wrist. "(Beeogola nechaska)." he hissed at his daughter in Portuguese.

Jai understood the insult directed at both him and the girl but chose to still his reaction.

"Wouldn't you rather die on your feet, fighting against those who wronged you?"

Jai curbed his lips. "I don't know..." he attached the holster to his hip, "But I'm willing to try."

Details
Before becoming a private military contractor, Aaron Davis had a dream of being a military "lifer"&mdash;someone who doesn't leave the service until death or late retirement. But something changed his mind. . . what was it?

Story
Location: Classified November 12, 2019, 1317 HRS "You want us to do what?!" Aaron said loudly. Catching a little attention from the crowd around them in the little cantina in Tijuana. His contact waited for the attention to divert away from them to continue talking. "We need you and your team to infiltrate an old missile launch site, we fear Russians and Al-Qaeda might be collaborating on this," the agent slid a file across the table, "See for yourself, lieutenant."

....

"This is James Moreno, she'll handle your missions."