NOVA
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14/01/2003
Panay, The Philippines
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"What the fuck happened?" I seethe, striding over with Lisa to where North is stood. It's only now that I realise Leo is stood right next to him; holding some man down with his boot pressed between his shoulder blades.

"Hijack." He murmurs, glancing at me in his peripheral. My eyebrows furrow as I glimpse down at the man, kneeling to his level.

"You're coming with us, you piece of shit. You best fucking believe we're wringing you of every last drop of information." I hiss, grabbing the back of his hair and forcing his head upwards.

The bastard spits at me. I grimace, wiping the splat of saliva from my face as Leo suddenly kicks his head back into the ground with fury.

"We lost Rhys." North sighs solemnly as a frown twists onto my face. Rhys was a good guy.

"Damn it." I mumble, shaking my head and standing back upright.

"How did you know we were here?" Leo asks, gazing down at me fully this time instead of with a side eye.

"Marcus radioed us as soon as things started turning to shit for you guys. We-"

"Nova?"

I halt my words and glance backwards when I hear the familiar voice of Tara. She comes jogging over and gives me a hug immediately.

"I'm so relieved to see you right now. The whole transportation plan got fucked up big time." She mumbles, pulling away from the hug.

"I'm relieved that one of them is alive, gives us a good opportunity to get some intel."

Tara nods in agreement. Lisa is herding some of the groups into the SUV's, although it's going to be significantly more cramped since one is now laying in a goddamn ditch.

"What about the other drivers?" I ask nobody in particular, getting an answer from North.

"We don't think they're in on it, but they're coming with us anyway. Better to be safe than sorry after this fucking palaver." He grimaces, pinching between his eyebrows.

"And Rhys' body?"

The question sparks an intense silence as they all glance at each other. Leo is the first one to break it.

"We're bringing him to the base, nobody gets left behind." He says affirmatively. I turn around and see two men who I haven't met pulling his body from the car, opening up the trunk to put him in. Not the most respectful fucking sight to see, although the only other option is for him to be sprawled across us. I get a glimpse of the back of his head; or lack of.

I nod slightly, looking back down at the terrorist, who is hopefully the pathway to the hostages. Leo yanks him up to his feet aggressively, leading him to one of the SUV's that is still in shape. I hop back into the drivers seat, earning a confused look from him.

"Why the fuck are you driving?" He hisses, making me roll my eyes.

"Because I know the way to the base since I've just fucking come from here." I seethe back at him, driving the car back into a straight line instead of it being sideways in the middle of the road. I wait until most of the other van's have filed behind us before starting up the engine.

We only got here today, and already one of our team is dead.

How many more are we going to lose?

—

The base is actually up to good standards. A slightly different layout to the ones back in the US; the 'cabins' are barracks made of steel instead of wood, although the perimeter is surrounded by the same barbed wire. It is a military base after all. It's springtime here, a stark contrast to the icy weather we flew out from.

All of the vans park up once we're through the gates, everyone getting out in unison. I watch as Lisa and a man I haven't met open up the trunk and carry Rhys' body out, laying him on the ground. We all naturally take a respectful minute of silence. One of the Falcons medics, Emilio, goes inside to grab a body bag. How many body bags did we bring along?

"This wasn't the start I was expecting." Vincent mumbles, shaking his head and gazing at the ground. The most worrying fucking thing is that even the Commanders seem to be thrown off track entirely. Everyone slowly disperses from the scene, the two new groups going to find where they'll be sleeping in the barracks. Tara lingers next to me.

"They obviously know that we're here, but how? We're supposed to be fucking covert." She mumbles, a frown still evident across her face as she gazes off into the distance.

"Honestly? I have no idea how they found out. They were so organised, what happened again?" I ask, glancing over at the side of her head.

"We all got off of the plane. North and Kingston went to check the van's for any weapons. They didn't find any, but turns out three of them had a hidden compartment underneath the footwell. The van in front of us just swerved off route, that's when we figured out there was something wrong." She replies solemnly, shaking her head.

It is a huge fucking problem if Atashih knows that we're here. The biggest issue is going to be finding out how they know. Secret intel? A spy?

A traitor?

Surely not. That's the type of plot twist you'd see in a movie, not in real life.

I start my walk towards the barracks, until I feel somebody grab my arm. Turning around and looking up, I'm met with the hardened gaze of Leo.

"Yeah?" I speak irritatedly, yanking my arm out of his grasp.

"How've you been holding up?" He says quietly after a few seconds of silence. So I'm not being called an annoying bitch? Surprising.

"Fine." I say confidently, crossing my arms over my chest. He looks me up and down for a second before his gaze rests back on my face.

"You cut your hair." He mumbles.

The fuck?

"It was getting in my way." I say bluntly. It's true, my hair had been practically down to my waist and it was pissing me off, so I chopped half of it. He just nods slowly before turning around and striding away.

What a confusing man.

—

Everyone is sat chattering in the mess hall that night. Most are expressing their views on the most common question, 'How do they know we're here?'.

"We've got a long road ahead of us, I bet." Lisa sighs, finishing off her soup and earning a nod from the others sat at our table.

"We've got officers guarding the perimeters, right?" I ask, the question immediately popping into my mind. I don't think I've ever been on more high fucking alert than I am at the minute. She nods, "yeah. We're alternating at 1am, I'm part of the next team."

"Christ, better make sure you don't fall asleep; jet lag and all." I chuckle, everybody is obviously drunk on lack of sleep, "where's the terrorist being held?"

"The last building in the row. Leo's with him, keeping an eye out." Tara informs me, slurping some soup off of her spoon. I glance down at my empty bowl, resting my spoon down and standing up; stepping over onto the other side of the bench.

"I'm going to go and see if he's managed to get anything out of him."

Before anyone can reply, I'm already halfway out of the mess hall. It's pitch black outside, the base only lit up by the constellations hovering over us and the odd flickering lights dottered around. For a completely fucking awful situation, the sky's calmness brings a sense of serenity.
—
1983

"See that one, Nova darling? That's Orion, the hunter."

I follow my Mom's finger up and into the sky, noticing seven bright stars. They seem so close, like I can simply jump off of the ground and catch one.

"They're very pretty." I mumble in awe, an excited grin across my face.

"They're beautiful just like you, sweetie." She says softly, pinching my cheek with a grin.

"Can you travel to the stars?"

"No, honey. But, when we pass away; we each become a star. That's how I like to see it. Each glimmering star in the sky was once a life, now they're watching over us."

—

Orion. I can see it so clearly tonight, almost stumbling over my feet as I gaze up at the familiar constellation; seven glimmering stars forming the outline. For years I'd thought that my Mom was most likely one of those stars, watching over me.

Instead, she just left.

I push open the door of the final building in the row, labelled 'C' by a steel sign. There's a small corridor, voices coming from the other end. I follow the sounds until I'm stood outside of another door, pushing it open slightly.

Leo turns around at the sound of the hinges creaking, "what are you doing here?"

"The same thing as you." I mumble, glancing between him and the terrorist, who is chained to a water-pipe.

"Good luck, the bastards only said two words. I'm guessing they're 'fuck you'," he mutters, shooting a frustrated glare at the terrorist. Leo has a Filipino translation dictionary opened in front of him and is glaring at it as though it's a threat in itself.

"Where'd you get that?" I ask, my legs finding the chair next to him as I lower myself down.

"North brought it. Thought it would come in useful." He murmurs with a shrug, flicking the pages aimlessly.

I think for a second, "Can I talk with you outside of the room?"

He glances over at me and gives an affirmative nod, standing up as we both head outside of the room; locking the door.

"What is it?" He grumbles, seemingly still frustrated.

"We need to manipulate the information out of him, doesn't look like he's going to talk otherwise." I sigh, earning a confused expression from him.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"We can pretend that we're going to offer him a reward if he assists us. Play as though we're his new allies. If he cooperates, he goes free; providing the information is correct, obviously." My suggestion lingers in the tense silence of the corridor, Leo's gaze burns into my face until he looks away with a nod.

"We have to run it by the Commander's, but I suppose it's not an awful idea; for you, that is."

And there it is. Once again, he can't talk to me without being an arrogant prick. But he smiles, ever so slightly.

"I've had plenty of great ideas, it's just that you have chosen not to listen to them in the past." I shove his arm lightly, maybe even playfully.

"Whatever. I'll go and run it by North and come up with a specific plan. You alright to take over in here for a little bit?" He says quietly, earning a nod from me.

"Yeah, fine by me." I speak confidently, unlocking the door to go back inside. He takes a breath as though he's about to say something else, but then he just turns and strides down the corridor.

Walking back inside the room, I decide to play 'Officer friendly'.

"Are you hungry?" I ask softly, although he seems to have absolutely no fucking idea what I'm talking about. I make a gesture with my hands and pat my stomach, which seems to work since he starts nodding. I radio for a comrade to bring some food over to C, lowering down into the chair Leo was in.

There's an intense silence until there's a knock on the door. I push myself back up and pull on the handle, revealing Lisa on the other side as I close the door behind me.

"We aren't meant to be offering him hospitality." She mumbles, passing a can of beans to me.

"If we play nice, there's a better chance he will slip up on some information; rather than us just screaming at him." I explain to her as she steps back, nodding after a few seconds.

"Alright, I understand. Just play it careful as well, okay?" She says in a hushed tone, making me grin a little.

"I'm always careful." I reassure, patting her arm. She gives another small nod before walking away back down the corridor as I enter back into the room, food in hand. The prisoner seems to jump slightly at the mere sight of a can of fucking beans, wracking his hands behind the water-pipe to try and get them free. He resembles some sort of rabid dog.

"Oh no, I'm not untying you so you can eat." I warn, kneeling down a few feet away from him and cracking open the can; shovelling the spoon in before leaning it in his direction. He gives me a look of sheer disgust, to which I roll my eyes.

"Look, you can starve if you fucking well please. It's not like I want to be doing this either." I mumble, pulling the spoon away which is when he starts frantically shaking his head. I'm gaining some sort of leverage over him, a good sign. I shove the spoon back at his mouth, grimacing at the fact I have to even do this. I'm a special-op, not a nurse.

After about ten minutes, the door swings open urgently; revealing Leo and North.

"Are you-! Wait. Why the fuck are you spoon feeding the terrorist?" Leo utters, a look of sheer confusion engrained in his face. I can't help but snicker a little at his comment.

"It's a trust tactic. If he thinks we will help him, he's more likely to help us." I explain, seeing North nod in my peripheral.

"It's a good idea, well done." He congratulates me as though I'm some kid in elementary school who just passed an exam.

"We were trying to radio you, you weren't responding." Leo mumbles, making me glance down at my comms.

"Oh, I had it muted. My bad." I shrug, discarding the empty tin to my side.

"I thought something had happened," he sighs, shaking his head, "you need to keep the volume up at all times."

"What could have happened when I'm literally sat in base, with the only threat chained up in front of me? You say it like I can't handle myself."

He doesn't say anything, just scowls and shakes his head before striding back out of the room with North.