21st of March

Batman, Turkey (I shit you not that is an actual city)

NATO Headquarters/Base of operations landing site

15:00 (3pm)

Five helicopters were flying towards the landing site. Each one was carrying its country's representative. Today was the day they would meet. All were excited. All... but one.

(CH-47 Chinook)

Franklin "TNT" Jones was riding in the back while writing a letter to his sister.

"Dear Jasmine,

Today is my first day back in the army. Well, sort of. An old friend had a job for me and I took it. You don't have to worry about anything. I heard the guys and gals I'm working with are tough but ain't nobody tougher than me. You take care of mom for me. I'll make sure to call when I find the time.

Love, Franklin

P.S. Stay away from Tyrone."

He re-reads the letter to make sure it alright.

Pilot:"Hey Frank! We're almost there!"

Franklin:"Thanks Jeff!"

Jeff:"So how's your sister doing?!"

Franklin:"Really?! You still tryin?! I already got one fool I gotta kill don't make me kill two! Plus she ain't into white guys!"

Jeff:"Ahh c'mon Frank! Can't you hook us up on a blind date?!"

Franklin:"You touch mah sister imma make sure you don't touch anything for the rest of your life!"

Jeff just laughs.

———————————

(Meanwhile)

(Wild cat mk1)

Victoria is riding in the helicopter reading Sun Tzu's "The art of war".

She looks out into the fields and thinks:"Hm. This is a beautiful country. I wish I'll never have to fight here. This war, it's really pushing us to try edge. Secret government projects, hand picked soldiers... this is like something out of a movie. I just hope it has a happy ending."

Pilot:"We're nearly there! ETA 10 minutes!"

Victoria:"Rodger that!"

She looks down at her book and reads a quote: "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

She then looks back into the fields:"I wonder which ones are we."

————————————

(Meanwhile)

(NH90)

Carla is siting in the chopper listening to Eminem-without me. She sings along:"Now this looks like a job me,

So everybody, just follow me,

Cause we need a little, controversy,

Cause it feels so empty, without me,

I said this looks like a job for me,

So everybody, just follow me,

Cause we need a little, controversy,

Cause it feels so empty, without me."

She continues to sing and dance along with the song.

Pilot:"We're almost there. ETA 10 minutes! Carla?"

He turns around and sees her with her eyes closed listening to music. He turns back:"Argh, why bother. I feel sorry for the dudes that have to work with her."

Carla just keeps listening to Eminem while popping her gum.

———————————

(Meanwhile)

(AgustaWestland AW101)

Takeshi was riding in the chopper while typing on his laptop. He was looking at the files the Japanese generals got from the other countries about his partners. He figured it would be best if he knew about his soon-to-be teammates before they engage in combat together.

Takeshi thought to himself:"Hmm, interesting. The Americans send out an explosives expert. Makes sense, that skill set would be useful. UK and Germany as well, a combat medic and a sniper are invaluable. This is a good setup so far. Just one thing is bothering me... the Russian. His story just seems off. He's very mysterious and strange. And why is he a private? Looking at this he should be an officer. Hmm, very strange indeed."

Pilot:"We're almost there! ETA 10 minutes!"

Takeshi:"It's 9 minutes and 26 seconds!"

Pilot:"How-"

Takeshi:"I could explain but we'll be there by the time I do!"

Pilot:"Hm! Ok then!" He whispers:"What a fucking nerd."

Takeshi:"Yuri Maksimov. I wonder what kind of person you are."

————————————

(Meanwhile)

(Mil Mi-26)

Yuri is sitting in the helicopter alone sharpening his knives. His cross is dangling from his neck. He takes it in his hand, looks at it for a few seconds and puts it back under his uniform.

Pilot(on radio):"Wes are nearing the landing site. ETA 10 minutes."

Yuri briefly looks at the cockpit. He then puts away his knives and pulls out his bible.

He closes his eyes and starts silently praying(in Russian):"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen."

"Oh Lord, grant me strength to defeat my enemies. Watch over the soles of the righteous, and judge those I sent out to your realm."

He crosses himself, opens his eyes and puts away his bible.

Yuri thinks:"This is just another war. It's nothing I haven't done before. I will fight, and I will win."

———————————

(Ten minutes later)

Landing site

Turkish commanding officer of the NATO base and future operations regarding Africa and the Middle East, colonel Mustafa Polat, is waiting at the site with his captains, Berat Kaya and Zeinep Yildiz.

The helicopters start landing. The first ones were the American and German.

Franklin gets out and takes a deep breath:"Ahhh, nice weather."

Carla gets out:"Yoooo, American! What's good man, I'm Carla."

Franklin:"Names Franklin."

They hand shake. Franklin was close to a foot taller so it was a funny site to behold.

Carla:"So, you like Eminem?"

Franklin:"Yeah, but I prefer N.W.A."

Carla:"Ahh, I see... Fuck the police comin straight from the underground! That kinda stuff."

They laugh together. Then the British and Japanese helicopter land.

Carla:"Looks like your colonisers are here."

Franklin:"And it looks like your Asian Nazi friends are here, too"

Carla:"Touché."

Victoria walks up:"Hi, nice to meet you I'm Victoria Hamilton."

Carla:"Carla Franberg."

Franklin:"Franklin Jones."

Takeshi:"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Yamato Takeshi." He bows in a traditional Japanese style.

Carla bows too. Franklin shakes his hand.

Victoria:"Well, looks like everyone's here."

Takeshi:"Except one."

The Russian helicopter lands.

Franklin:"Here he is."

Carla:"Eehh? Are the Russians giving us like a mech or something?"

Franklin:"It's probably just for show. Though I got no right to say anything."

The helicopter opens up and Yuri walks out. Everyone suddenly had a chill go down their spines.

Carla:"Uf, what was that?"

Franklin:"I don't know."

Yuri walks up to them. He looks at them with a cold stare and doesn't greet them.

Victoria walks up to him:"Hello there.", she extends her hand,"I'm Victoria Hamilton."

Yuri just keeps looking at her without shaking her hand:"Private Yuri Maksimov, Russian special forces."

Carla thinks:"Man, talk about edgy as fuck. Did he lose his dog or something?"

Franklin thinks:"Heh, so it's one of these. Trying to act all cool in front of everyone. Well let's see how long that lasts."

Takeshi thinks:"Hm, so this is Yuri Maksimov. Taller than I thought. I can tell he's serious just by looking at him. But something's not right. Did he just say private? His file mentions that, too but, for real?"

Colonel Mustafa walks up:"ATTENTION!"

The five of them line up and stand in a firm stance.

Mustafa:"Afternoon soldiers. My name is Colonel Mustafa Polat. On my right is Captain Berat Kaya and on my left is Captain Zeinep Yildiz. Welcome to your new base of operations. I, along with my captains, will be briefing you on your assignments. You will be living here for the duration of said assignments. You will have full clearance in this facility on my authority. Now, Captain Yildiz?"

Zeinep:"Of course.", she steps forward,"I will call out each country and the representative of said country will state their rank, name and army affiliation. In that order. Now, The United States of America."

Franklin steps forward and salutes:"Captain Franklin Jones, United States Army Special forces!"

Zeinep:"United Kingdom."

Victoria steps forward and salutes:"Lieutenant Victoria Hamilton, British army!"

Zeinep:"Germany."

Carla steps forward and salutes:"Gunnery Sargent Carla Franberg, German armed forces!"

Zeinep:"Russia."

Yuri steps forward and salutes:"Private Yuri Maksimov, Russian Special Forces!"

Everyone was shocked. Why select a private for such dangerous assignments? Something was off. Zeinep stopped reading but then Captain Berat called her:"Zeinep."

Takeshi thought:"So it is true."

Zeinep snapped back:"Oh right. Lastly, Japan."

Takeshi steps forward:"Master Sargent Yamato Takeshi, Japan Special Forces Group!"

Mustafa:"All right, now that that's out of the way, let's get you set up in your quarters."

Berat:"Please follow me."

They head into the NATO building. For most it was a familiar feeling, except for Yuri. He looked around, not knowing much about these places, as he spends most of his time in the fields. They enter an elevator and Berat presses the fourth floor button.

In the elevator, Carla pulls out a gum and puts it in her mouth. She offers it to everyone. Victoria and Takeshi each take one. When she offers it to Yuri, he doesn't react.

Carla:"Heloooo. Earth to grumpy Russian." She snaps her fingers next to his head, but he doesn't react, "I'll take that as a no then."

The elevator doors open and they exit. They walk down a hallway and reach a door with five flags on it, the flags of each of their countries.

Berat:"This will be your room."

They open the door and reveal a 7mx8m room with five beds and a wardrobe as well as a night stand next to each one. Two beds were on the left side and three were on the right. They entered and Carla immediately jumped on the second on the left yelling:"I CALL DIBS!"

Victoria:"Hmpf, well I like the ones closer to the door more anyway."

Berat:"Sorry for the simplicity, this was very... sudden. Plus this facility was never fully intended for housing. Here is a map of the building, if you need any further instructions or have questions you can ask me or Captain Zeinep."

Franklin:"Thank you Captain, that will be all."

Berat nodded and closed the door as he exited.

Yuri picked the bed on the far right, Franklin picked the one closest to the door and Takeshi picked the middle one. They each put their bags down and start unpacking. Franklin stood at the door reading the papers he got.

Carla blows a bubble while lying on her back:"Sooo, what now?"

Franklin:"Well, according to the schedule we will we briefed on our first assignment at 0900 tomorrow so we got time. Let's start by introducing ourselves. I know we already kinda did but I want us to have a good relationship. I'll start. Name's Franklin Jones, born in Detroit, my favourite food is well done steak and my hobbies are MMA and basketball. Who's next?"

Carla raises her hand:"Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-oH, pick me pick me pick me pick me -"

Franklin:"This ain't grade school! Go on."

Carla:"Well I'm Carla Franberg, I love music and shooting stuff, my favourite dish is pizza and I'm single." She winks at Takeshi.

Takeshi:"I can see why."

They start laughing.

Carla:"Ok ok, stop!"

Victoria:"I'm next. Hello, my name is Victoria Hamilton. My hobbies are jogging and history. My favourite dish is well done deer and I hope we can build a good relationship."

Takeshi:"Names Yamato Takeshi. Former free-Lance hacker now army/police hacker. I like ninjas and magic." He pulls out a coin and starts doing tricks. He puts it in his right hand, grabs it with his left, claps and the coin was gone. He then closed his fists, blew into them, clapped and then pulled out two coins.

Carla and Franklin:"COOOOL!"

Victoria:"Wow that's so nice. Can you teach me?"

Takeshi:"Sure. They're pretty simple."

Franklin:"Heheh, ok then! You're next Russian."

Yuri was unpacking the whole time, organising his clothes, knives, his icon of saint Michael.

Franklin:"The quiet guy huh? Lemme tell you something, that ain't gonna fly on my team."

Yuri (while he's unpacking):"Your team?"

Franklin:"Now I know we haven't decided yet, but since I have the most experience in leadership I should be the giving our orders."

Victoria:"I agree with that logic."

Takeshi:"Me too."

Carla:"Eh, whateva."

Franklin:"And you, Yuri?"

Yuri:"Age doesn't make you fit to lead. Strength is the only important thing when deciding leadership. And you... are not the strongest."

Everyone in the room was caught by surprise at his response. Even if what he says is true, Franklin is the strongest one in the room.

Franklin:"So you're saying you're the strongest. Come here and prove it."

Yuri:"No. we are under orders not to engage in combat between ourselves."

Franklin chuckles:"So you're afraid of the rules? That just contradicts what you said about strength. If you were strong, you wouldn't care."

Yuri doesn't respond.

Franklin:"And you know what? I'm tired of your 'edgy loner with a dark past' attitude. You think you're the only one who's been through a lot? You lost someone, is that it? So what?! We all did! But we got over it. The fact that you didn't, makes you weak."

Yuri straightens up and turns his head towards him.

Franklin:"Ah so that caught your attention didn't it! You act like you're the only one that suffered. Like you carry the weight of the world on you shoulders. That you deserve to be left alone. What? You lost someone and then you joined the army and became this one-man-army killing machine?! What kinda cliche bullshit is that?! And another thing, you-"

Yuri them throws a knife. The knife hits the door behind Franklin. Franklin puts his fingers below his left ear and on his cheek. His fingers have blood on them. Yuri cut him just enough to leave a mark. No one spoke a word. Carla's and Victoria's jaws dropped. Takeshi's eyes widened. Franklin? He stood there like a statue, not moving an inch.

Yuri slowly walked towards him. His footsteps being heard cause of the silence in the room. He stopped a foot in front of him and looked him dead in the eyes.

Yuri:"What was that talk about being strongest?"

Franklin's mouth twitched and he clenched his fists.

Yuri noticed that:"Make your move American. You will only get one, so make it count."

In that moment, Victoria gets between and pushes Yuri away, albeit hardly:"Ok! Ok!... that's enough! No fighting! Save it for the enemy! We're all friends here, right?!"

Yuri:"With friends like this, who needs enemies?"

Yuri takes his knife and grabs the door knob. Franklin and Victoria move and Yuri exits the room.

Franklin grabs the left side of his face:"Jesus Christ! What the hell?!"

Takeshi:"What? You thought he was trying to look cool? You might be older, but in terms of combat experience? He's got you beat."

Franklin:"Yeah. I looked into his files. He's been on active duty since he was 21 and even more so since he was 24. The guy fights more than he eats. I think it's best if we don't anger him."

Carla smiles:"So he likes it rough, hm?"

Victoria:"Don't do what ever it is you're planning to do."

Carla giggles:"No promises sister."

——————————————

(Facility gymnasium)

16:43

Yuri was in the gymnasium doing his usual workouts. He was wearing trainers that covered his whole body.

Carla is in the gymnasium, too, wearing her trainers and a tank top. She's pretending to exercise as she observes him.

She thinks:"Damn, what the hell is this guy? He's been doing Russian pull-ups for twenty minutes without stopping. How long can he keep this up?"

Yuri stops doing pull-ups and raises his legs. He then placed them on the pull-up bar and lets it go with his hands. He's now hanging on the bar and doing sit-ups.

Carla was even more shocked:"Jesus Christ, he just doesn't get tired does he. I mean I've seen some strong bodybuilders who can go for a while without stopping but this guy...wow." She smiles and puts her hand on her mouth,"I wonder how long he would last?"

She gets up and walks over to him and stands right in front of him. He sees her but ignores her.

Carla:"You must be pretty jacked. How bout you take those off and show me."

Yuri ignores her and keeps doing pull-ups.

Carla:"Oh I see. Won't do it for free huh? Well... you show me yours and I'll show you mine."

Yuri ignores her again.

Carla:"Oh c'mon say something!"

Yuri gets down from the pull-up bar with his back turned towards Carla and walks over to the hammer strength half rack, puts 35kg on each side and starts doing squats.

Carla just stands in front of him:"Really? You're just gonna ignore me? You're no fun!"

She heads to the running track. As she's running her... assets, are bouncing up and down. Some of the men stare at her. She looks at them:What are YOU looking at!!!"

They stop looking at her. She looks at Yuri who's still doing squats with weights.

Carla thinks:"Oh c'mon, not even a peep. He's not gay is he?"

(Ten minutes later)

Yuri puts the pole back, wipes his sweat off and leaves the gymnasium. On his was out, Carla jumps out of the corner. She's very close, with her... assets, pushing into Yuri. He puts his annoyed face on.

Carla:"See anything you like?"

He grabs her by her right shoulder and pushes her against the wall.

Carla:"Oh! So you do like it rough."

Yuri looks at her with a serious and menacing stare. All her self confidence instantly went away. She was feeling scared. No, not scared, terrified. Yuri had the eyes of a cold hearted killer. She knew that if she made a wrong move, he would kill her.

Yuri:"You are getting on my nerves. People who get on my nerves don't live long. If it weren't against the rules, I would knock you out for a week. Do not test me."

She was shaking. He was serious. Her mouth was twitching like she was trying to say something, but she couldn't utter a word.

He lets her go and walks away. Carla stands there with her arm on her shoulder. She was breathing heavily and her heart was pumping:"Holy shit. Victoria was right."

———————————

(Roof of the NATO building)

20:23

Yuri was climbing up the ladder to get to the top. He wanted some peace and quiet after what happened today. After reaching the top he found another person sitting at the edge. It was Takeshi. He was wearing a jacket and had his laptop in his lap. Yuri started going down the latter.

Takeshi:"Oh no, please. Sit. I know you don't really care about company but... it would be nice to have someone here."

Yuri hesitates, but this Takeshi seemed like a good fellow. He climbed up and sat two feet apart from him. After some time Takeshi decided to brake the ice:"So... I'm Takeshi."

Yuri:...

Takeshi:"Look, I know you didn't want to come here. I get it. You prefer to work alone. You don't have to care about others and you can focus solely on the mission. But being on a team is different. You have to watch over others and plan ahead what their gonna do. But in tern, they will do the same for you."

Yuri:...

Takeshi:"I don't really have the right to speak much about teamwork since I also like working alone. Don't get me wrong, I'm a friendly and social person. But when it comes to my job, I prefer to be alone. I read your files. Really good doesn't even begin to cover it. You're inhuman when you work. But you get reckless and that will be your downfall."

Yuri looks at him:..."So what do you want me to do?"

Takeshi;"Give a compliment once in a while, engage in a conversation, try to make others feel better if they mess up by saying something like 'You'll get 'em next time' or 'You did your best'."

Yuri:...

Takeshi:"I'm not saying you should stop being who you are. Just... give this whole team thing a chance. You might end up liking it. And also, don't be too harsh on Carla, she's just playing around."

Yuri sighs. He gets up and heads down. Takeshi keeps siting in the edge looking at his laptop.

Takeshi:"Yuri Maksimov. You are an interesting fellow indeed."

He opens a file that says *TOP SECRET* in Russian.

End of chapter 13

Thank you for reading, sorry if this took longer than usual.