Flight of the Nightingale

[Stormtrooper1990]

After freeing Miranda from custody, Vesper is taking Miranda to meet the Mysterious 'Mother' , the leader of the Shadow Initiatives group 6. There she will make a choice that will change the entire course of her life. No without any further ado...

It had been a long drive for Miranda, sitting next to a silent Vesper, still wearing her stolen uniform. Since the ambush, the blonde assassin had barely said a word, the subject of Miranda saving her life was still raw. As she looked out the window, Miranda noticed that they were driving back to the city. " You do know that you just broke me out of custody, the city is the last place I should be." She really wasn't expecting an answer, but was surprised when Vesper gave her one. " They have no idea that the bus was attacked, I took care of the only witnesses. Besides the NYPD's response time is one of the worst in the country." Miranda just shook her head. " How can you be so calm, you killed three people just to break me out." Vesper kept her eye on the road. "Says the woman that killed that guard back there." Miranda shrugged " I did what I had to do, It was either her life or yours I chose yours. Now I'am beginning to think I made a wrong choice." Without taking her eyes off the road, Vesper laughed. " And you needed a change of clothes. Don't think we are any different, and don't presume you know me." Miranda could 't believe anyone could be that cynical, so she tried a different tact. "I take it 'Vesper' is your code name right. So what's ---" Before she finished her sentence, Vesper cut her off. " Here we are." As they drove into an underground parking structure, beneath a skyscraper. Miranda could make out a curious sigil, a stylised phantom with the initials SI inscribed into the centre. Vesper pulled into a empty parking bay, and turned off the engine. " Get out and follow me." With out any protest Miranda did as she was told, following Vesper as they both entered the lift. She pressed floor 40 on the display

Finally, after what seemed like forever the door lifts opened. In front of them stood two guards, one male, one female. Both garbed in black tacsuits, with matching military caps. The same insignia on both their cap and left shoulder, both had sidearms holstered at their thighs. The female guard nodded to Vesper. " Greetings, Operative Vesper. Mother is expecting you both in her office." Vesper exchanged a nod and lead Miranda past the checkpoint, there they entered a large room, there were multiple screens surrounding a large screen with digital readouts of the world's timezones above it, in front of them. With a large holographic table, which curiously had an image of a race track, in Miami hovering above it. The bullpen was a hive of activity, with suited men and women going backwards and forwards, looking rushed. Vesper lead Miranda past the bullpen, to a nondescript door. Vesper knocked and waited, Miranda could hear a conservation beyond the door. A women's voice." First Miami, now Paris. Dalia Margolis and two civilians dead, one half of our information network comprimised. We are under attack, and we don't even know who our enemy is. I want answers, dismissed." The two women, shifted to the side and the door opened as a group of harried men and women filed past. At her desk, sat the woman who could only be the 'Mother'. She was a middle aged woman with shoulder length blonde hair, and blue eyes. Her face was lined but still retained her youth. She looked up. " Ah, you must be Miranda Frost. Please take a seat. Thank you Vesper, give us the room." It seemed she was a follow Brit. Vesper nodded and shut the door. After she had left, it was Miranda who spoke first. " You went to a lot of trouble, to free me. Why?" Mother laid her fingers in a steeple, and looked at Miranda. " I have my reasons, and I will share them with you, when you are ready. But suffice it to say, we have been watching you for some time, Miranda." Miranda shook her head. " First Vesper and now you, everybody is a little cryptic today." Mother poured a glass of water and passed one another to Miranda, who accepted it. " You have quite the impressive resume; enlisted with the Mercian regiment, two tours in Afghanistan, decorated twice for gallantry and you even attempted to pass SAS selection. But failed. You were--" Miranda put her hand up," You don't need to rattle off my greatest hits. Just get to the point, why am I here?" Mother took a drink of her water, showing no sign of irritation at the interruption. " The Shadow Initiative, needs women like you more then ever before. Someone with your skills , shouldn't be allowed rot in jail. If you join us, you will become a ghost. Your criminal record expunged, you will not be on any database save ours, your name will only be used by your team members. We can give you a second chance, a purpose. But first you must do something for us." She handed Miranda a file. " Usually, there would be a month of vetting and additional training but I think we can bypass all that." Miranda opened it, and scanned through it, as Mother gave her the briefing. " This mission is on behalf of the NCIS. The man in the photo, is USMC SSGT Brandon Dawes, he is suspected by the NCIS of illegal trading of US military hardware to radical militia groups. They hired us after two of their undercover agents, turned up dead in Norfolk Naval harbour both executed. We have received word from our client, that he will doing a business deal in three hours time. Your assignment is to infiltrate the dockyard, where he does business, plant a tracker on the weapon shipment and find evidence that implicates him in the illegal trading. Dawes as a small team, that is loyal to him, but the client as requested that no US service personnel be killed on site. Vesper will take you to the site, and will be your exfil. Good luck." Miranda shook her hand, " Just like that I become an operative, no strings attached. What is your angle?" Mother let go of her hand " No angle, just that we need all the help we can get". As she turned to leave, Mother called back " And another thing, get yourself some clean clothes. Take that guard uniform off."

An hour later, Miranda and Vesper were on another road trip, this time towards Norfolk Naval Dockyards. " I see she gave you some grunt work, as your 'test'." Miranda now wearing a skintight leather catsuit replied " You make breaking into a warehouse, full of corrupt marines sound easy." Vesper merely scoffed " Any idiot can break into a warehouse, plant a bug and rifle through documents, a true test of an infiltrator is an assassination." Miranda rolled her eyes, there was no getting through to her. In the next half an hour they where outside the perimeter fence of Dawes' warehouse. Vesper got out and Miranda followed her to the trunk. Vesper opened it to reveal a veritable array of weapons, she pulled out a gun that looked like a long barrelled tranquilliser and handed to Miranda. "This is a shock pistol, fires shock bullets that keeps a target under for at least 8 hours. Not really our thing in group 6, we prefer to keep it lethal. Don't worry about the noise, it has an internal suppressor." Miranda took the pistol and placed it in her thigh holster. She then handed Miranda a small circular device, in a plastic case. From her time as a MI6 field agent, she knew a tracking device when she saw one. Vesper then took a strange looking gun from her coat pocket, and handed it to her. "What's this, looks like something out of Men in Black." Vesper smiled, it seemed a strange look for her. " This is what we call the mimic gun. This was how I was able to talk to you, wearing your lawyer's face. Just hold it up to the targets neck, take some of her blood, and stick it in your neck. You become them, beware though it only lasts for a couple of hours. So steal a uniform, complete your objectives and exfil before it wears off." Miranda looked at the strange gun with scepticism "then took it. Sounds totally safe, any more advice." Vesper shut and locked the trunk. " Yeah, when you stick that thing in, try not to scream, the pain is... indescribable." For a moment, Miranda thought she could she a shade of vulnerability in the blonde assassin's face, but she returned to her usual stoic self. " One more thing Croft, good luck." As she got back into the car, Miranda believed she was being sincere.

Miranda, crept silently along the perimeter line of the warehouse, finding a gap in the wire fence she rolled on through underneath. She crouched low, behind some crates and heard footsteps in front of her. She peered over the crates. It was a young female marine, she looked young fresh out of highschool. She wore the standard marine forest digital camouflage uniform, matching short sleeve shirt and bottoms with beige combat boots, a matching marine cap with the marine insignia pinned on the front and the girl's rank, a PFC, below it. According to her uniform, her name was "McLaughlin" slanted upwards on her left breast. She was carrying a M16 assault rifle with an acog sight. She was pretty, with hazel eyes, firm lips and shallow cheekbones. Her short brown hair, done up with a small ponytail at the back of her head. She wasn 't far away from Miranda's size, her uniform barely hiding her slim, athletic curves. Miranda smiled, pulled out her shock pistol and aimed dead centre at her chest.

Private Samantha McLaughlin, was tense. She had been since Dawes had those two undercover NCIS murdered. Sure the extra money on the side was good at first, it would pay for her college tuitions once she mustered out. But she had not signed up for murder, this shit was way over her head. She had half a mind to turn Dawes in, but maybe she would be the next body, floating face down in the harbour. Before she could think anymore on the subject, she felt a sharp pain in her chest then a small electric surge up her body. Before she collapsed on the floor unconscious, like a puppet with its strings cut.

Miranda, holstered her shock pistol and grabbed the unconscious body of PVT McLaughlin, dragging her out of sight behind the crates. Miranda dropped the unconscious marine and stripped completely naked. Kneeling beside the unconscious girl, she began to strip her. She first took off the marines cap put it to one side . Miranda then unbuttoned the marines shirt and hoisted her up in a seated position, slipping the shirt off her slender shoulder's. This revealed a olive green vest, that didn't hide McLaughlin's well developed and rounded C-cup breasts, the nipples peaking through the thin fabric. Miranda pulled it over the marines head, letting the girl's sleeping body hit the gravel. The young marine did have a nice pair of perky breasts, with dark pink areolas. Miranda pulled on the vest and unlaced the combat boots removing them one foot at a time, along with the black socks the marine had worn underneath. After slipping on the socks, she unfastened the unconscious marines camo trousers and worked them off her shapely hips, pulling them down her legs and off her body. Miranda then slipped off the girl's olive military undershorts, and pulled them around her bare arse. Miranda found it curious that the marine had chosen to shave her vagina, leaving a small, cute woman hood. On the whole, military training had made the girl athletic and fit. She finished dressing in her stolen uniform, pressing the cap on her head, leaving the unconscious marine completely naked. Miranda then knelt bedside the naked woman, pressed the mimic gun to the girl's neck drawing blood. She pressed against her own neck and pulled the double trigger "Here goes nothing." What Vesper had said was an understatement, Miranda felt pain coursing through her body like she had been struck by lightning. It took every ounce of her willpower not to cry out, as she felt her body shifting changing into a copy of PVT McLaughlin. After what seemed like an eternity of pain, it was over. Miranda looked down at her hands, they were lighter toned and her face, hair and voice was different. She removed the hair tie from the unconscious marine and tied her up in the same way. She then scooped up the unconscious naked body of the Private and dumped her in a crate. She stashed her catsuit and guns into the crate next to the sleeping girl. After closing the lid, she swung the M16 rifle around her shoulders, put the tracer in her stolen trouser pocket and proceeded into the warehouse.

As she entered the warehouse, Miranda could see SSGT Dawes, bellowing orders to his men. "Come on, look lively. The West Virginia people's militia will be in five minutes. I want this shipment prepped now." She recognised the blonde hair and chisel jaw from his dossier. Miranda walked towards the pallet in the centre of the room, stacked with ammo crates containing M4s, M16s, boxes of 5 56mm ammo and other assorted small arms. She knelt down, while she pretended to adjust the straps, Miranda activated the tracker and clipped it between two boxes of 5.56. As she got up, Miranda unslung her rifle to ready position, to the other marines it would look it she was a patrol sweep. Keeping her head down and using her disguise, opened the door. According to the file Mother had given her, this metal staircase !ed up to Dawes office. If his information was anywhere, it would be there. Shouldering her rifle, she took the stairs two at a time. Eventually coming to a corridor, the first door on the right had a sign on the door that read "SSGT Dawes" Miranda quietly opened the door, finding the room empty. She approached the desk, which had a Laptop perched on the top switched on. Miranda rummaged threw the desk, and found a USB dongle, and acting on a hunch plugged it into the side of the Laptop. Bizarrely, Dawes had forgot to lock his screen, his session was still open. Miranda smiled, at the man's utter incompetence. She couldn't find any file named 'ledger,' but she did find something named 'acquisitions'. Clicking on it, she found a list of every deal Dawes had made, and his client list. This was it. Miranda hurriedly downloaded the entire file on the dongle, then she put the dongle in her trouser pocket and left the laptop how she found it. She then exited the office, now to exfiltrate before this disguise wore off.

As Miranda, was halfway down the stairs, the door at the bottom of the stairs opened. It was a female corporal, the name on her breast read Carter. " There you are Samantha. You decided to sneak in a piss too." Miranda saluted and nodded. "Couldn't hold it for much longer, Corp." The corporal flashed a sympathetic smile. " I'am just going myself. Between you and me private, dealing with these militia whackjobs makes me sick. Well you better get your ass back on your perimeter sweep. You now how Dawes can be." She crossed the stairs and bade Miranda farewell. Not wishing to ride her luck any further, Miranda crossed the warehouse, just as three hummers containing militia drove in. Leaving the warehouse behind her, Miranda returned to the crate where she had stashed the unconscious naked McLaughlin., and retrieved her gear. After stashing the rifle in the crate, she threw her gear over the fence, rolled underneath the perimeter wire and scooped it back up.

By the time, she found Vesper, she was leaning against the hood of the car, talking on her phone. As soon as she saw Miranda, she bade the caller farewell and turned to her. " In and out in 30 minutes, we will make an operative of you yet. That was the client, they have a strong signal and are tracking the buyers. I assume you have the evidence" Miranda pulled out the dongle from her trouser pocket and tossed to Vesper. " Well done Private McLaughlin." She mocked a salute which Miranda returned. " You know Vesper, when you said 'indescribable'. You were not kidding." Strangely, that drew a sympathetic smile from Vesper " I remember, my first time. It felt like all the bones in my body were breaking, then I felt relief. It does take time to get used to believe me." Before Miranda could reply, the phone in Vesper's coat rang. She answered it and tossed the phone to Miranda, it was Mother. " Congratulations, on a job well done, Miranda. Or should I say Operative Nightingale." Miranda grinned, she liked the sound of that.

[pc305435632]

In "Hitman 2: Silent Assassin", there is a requirement that UN soldiers should not be killed.

[meditions142]

Really enjoyed this chapter as the take out of Private Samantha was really well done.

I also really like the way we get a glimpse into Samantha's thoughts right before she is taken out. I always enjoy getting a sense of what an unsuspecting sentry is thinking about before she is taken out. I really like the idea a girl is lost in thought and totally unaware she is being targeted.

I also like the fact you describe what Samantha feels after she is hit but before she is knocked out by the shock bullet. I also like that earlier in the story it is revealed that the shock bullet knocks the victim out for a least eight hours.

So we know the bullets use electricity to knock out the target. It is interesting that the shock is able to keep the victim asleep for so long. Does it have some kind of continuing effect that keeps woman asleep or is the initial shock just so powerful it take eight hours to wear off?

[Stormtrooper1990]

The shock gun serves like a taser in gun form, but delivers a high intensity shock, enough to overload the CNS. This paralyses the victim, leaving them unconscious, for a very long time. The residual charge left over induces sleep, tricking the brain.

I was thinking of introducing a mk2 variant, with a higher magazine size and chargeable internal battery so not only is it a tool for infiltration but a self defense weapon too.

I wanted to present Samantha as slightly sympathetic, she hates running errands for her corrupt superior but doesn't see much of an alternative.

[meditions142]

I like your description that the shock overloads the victims central nervous system, paralyzing her and then leaving her unconscious for a very long times.

The fact it keeps the victim asleep for eight hours is intriguing. Does it continue doing something that that keeps woman asleep or is the initial shock just so powerful it take eight hours to wear off?

And I do love how you made Samantha a sympathetic character. She doesn't like what she is involved in but is stuck. I also like that based on your description of her she sounds like quite a sexy thing.

[Stormtrooper1990]

The initial shock is enough to render the victim unconscious, then the residual electric charge tricks the brain into entering deep sleep, so essence it's like a hard reset.

I think fear that private Sam, will most likely be dishonourbly discharged along with the rest of the marines following SSGT Dawes. She could try the SEB, but she will be out of a job anyway, poor kid

I always like to make my victims as sexy as possible, makes the story more satisfying and sensual.

[meditions142]

The initial shock is enough to render the victim unconscious, then the residual electric charge tricks the brain into entering deep sleep, so essence it's like a hard reset.

Very cool weapon. Obviously very powerful. I guess that is why, as you explained in the other story, Gina and Abi were going to wake up with headaches.

Glad to hear you are working on a new version of this cool weapon. Looking forward to seeing more stories with it.

Thanks again for all your stories. Really enjoying them.

[Stormtrooper1990]

Your welcome meditations, I'am glad you are enjoying my stories.

In fact, the mk2 shock pistol will feature in my next story, in which Vesper and Miranda must outrun a team of assassins sent to kill them and escape Israel.

[meditions142]

In fact, the mk2 shock pistol will feature in my next story, in which Vesper and Miranda must outrun a team of assassins sent to kill them and escape Israel.

Great. Looking forward to that indeed. And hoping that in addition to the assassins they run into some random sentry girls as well!

Thanks again for all the stories!

[Stormtrooper1990]

In this tale I plan to feature everybody's favourite USB victims, flight attendants.

The assassins will feature later on, but there will advanced team of assassins as enemies on the road.

And, oh yes there will be sentry girls, Darkwatch does have it's own private army, and SEB castoffs.