#giant sparrow games
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graceandtheidiotsquad · 2 years ago
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What Remains of my sanity.
Day one of posting this FANTASTIC What Remains of Edith Finch/Unfinished Swan play through in the hopes that either someone who knows about these games will interact with me (please I’m DESPERATE) or I’ll drag new people into the fandom that can MAKE MORE CONTENT.
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dynamos-games · 2 years ago
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currently downloading What Remains of Edith Finch. I trust Annapurna to not disappoint with this one, and I’ve heard it’s pretty interesting.
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graceandtheidiotsquad · 2 years ago
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I've never read To Kill a Mockingbird but-I DO Have an answer to your question about Milton-Giant Sparrow's previous game, 'The Unfinished Swan'-I know a REALLY good playthrough that points out some details some folks might miss if you're really digging into the lore!
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Here's the playlist-! You can skip right past the Edith Finch stuff if you want-it should be right there!
I just finished playing What Remains Of Edith Finch for the first time and you cannot convince me that these Finches and the Finches from To Kill A Mockingbird aren’t the same fucking family.
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thecrazyandtheweird · 3 months ago
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Questions I have surrounding Milton Finch
(if anyone has answers please feel free to share)
1: How did the door only work for him?? We see the aforementioned painted door in his room, but the design is different and worn down. Is it even the same door? Idk
2: Monroe's mother: How did Milton meet her? If he had the ability to return to the real world and sire a child, why didn't he ever use that world-hopping ability to look for his family? Did he just assumed they all would have died? This is the biggest question for me; like how he came back, for what reason, and then why he abandoned both her and his son. How old was he even?
3: How could Monroe's mother have a magic paintbrush that she left to her son if Milton already had it in his kingdom? Were there two? Did he make her one of her own to make up for being an absent father?
4: Hell, he knew about his son, right? He seemed to know who he was. Why didn't you want to be in your child's life?? You gave him another paintbrush, more questions, and a half-hearted admittance to being a crap dad, then told him to leave where he'll never see him again.
5: (Throwaway Question) Would Dawn (before her death) or Edith ever find out about Monroe? Assuming theres DNA in this world, who's to say they couldn't trace the Finch relatives and reunite them. They could even have took Monroe in after his mom's death. Plus it would have been both curious, (now they know Milton didn't die) and therapeutic (having at least a piece of Milton back)
Its just plaguing my mind, I'm deeply obsessed with these games now unfortunately
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anolis3 · 8 months ago
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"What Remains of Edith Finch", by Giant Sparrow.
"I thought it was time I heard the stories for myself. And found out what happened to everyone else. But now I'm worried the stories themselves might be the problem. Maybe we believed so much in a family curse... we made it real.", from What Remains of Edith Finch.
"I remember asking Mom once about where Walter had gone. She said after Barbara died he got as far away as he could. If there's a pattern in all these stories, I think it's that none of us has gotten very far.", from What Remains of Edith Finch.
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trendynewsnow · 21 days ago
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The Visionary Journey of Ian Dallas and Giant Sparrow
Ian Dallas, the innovative founder and creative director of the acclaimed video game studio Giant Sparrow, often finds himself discussing culinary delights, yet his gastronomic preferences mirror his unique design philosophy. “I’m always interested,” he remarked, “in what’s the strangest, new intense experience that I can have.” This quest for the extraordinary is vividly reflected in Giant…
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noisemx · 2 years ago
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Laura Illustrates (Laura Langston) -
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What Remains of Edith Finch is a game you should play.
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sin-scape · 2 years ago
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What Remains of Edith Finch
What Remains of Edith Finch is a collection of strange tales about a family in Washington state. As Edith, you’ll explore the colossal Finch house, searching for stories as she explores her family history and tries to figure out why she's the last one in her family left alive.
Just play it. Best experienced in one sitting so make sure you have at least five hours of no interruption.
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froggywentaprincin · 6 months ago
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Types of TikTok’s EAH characters have
Sparrow: 30% band promotion, 70% random fuckery
Hopper: poetry, frog content, complaining about his love life
Daring: those tiktoks where guys basically do NOTHING and get hundreds of thousands of likes
Madeline: tea recipes, tea shoppe promotion, answers comments asking about wonderland but her answers seem to make no sense
Briar: get ready with me, tiktok dances
Lizzie: fashion, sewing, wonderland bragging
Apple: a day in the life of
Raven: experimental videos to find what she likes, makeup, spells, rebel advocating
Darling: subtle how-to content for damsels who want to save themselves, snippets of wonderland with no context
Ashlynn: gf/bf content, nature aesthetic, hauls, has a second TikTok specifically for her shoe store
Hunter: archery, those how-to videos from buff guys with their shirts off that totally aren’t looking for compliments
Humphrey: rapping, makes fan edits of his own music, statistical probabilities
Dexter: fan edits, story times
Chase: videos of battle training
Kitty: pranks, duets people just to giggle snidely
Duchess: dancing videos (her own, not tiktok dances), bragging story times (mostly things that didn’t actually happen)
Justine: dancing videos (her own AND tiktok dances), ballerina content
Ramona: duets and judges/taunts other people
Cerise: athleticism, pranks, duets videos of people cooking meat
Blondie: basically the same as her mirrorcast, tiktok trends
Cupid: love advice, makeup videos
Cedar: art projects
Rosabella: womens rights, animals rights, disability rights, background characters rights,
Courtly: clowncore
Ginger: baking content
Nina: perspective videos
Alistair: travel content, duets those see-if-you-can-find videos
Bunny: plays filter games, duets satisfying content
Meeshell: asmr
Faybelle: pranks, cheerleading
Holly: hair business content, turns into gossip
Poppy: hair business content behind the scenes
Farrah: transformation videos
Crystal: makeup, snowy aesthetics
Jackie: pranks
Northwind: snowball fights
Melody: MUSIC, her remixes, requested remixes, tiktok dances
Jillian: athleticism, doing dares, parkour
Tiny: advocates for giant-sized accessibility, prospective videos, you still can’t see his giant face because his phone is so small everything’s blurry
Gus & Helga: sing if you would eat it
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peacekeeperangel · 9 months ago
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The CRK Pirate OC Challenge!
Hello everyone! So I've set up a little list of prompts for writing/drawing for all these Pirates I've been seeing wandering across my field as of late. But I'm going to make it a little more interesting.
If possible please either pick up four Six-Sided dice or use this dice generator and roll out a random number- that number will be your prompt! Cause pirates live on chance y'see?
If you take this challenge please do not read your options before you roll, but if you are uncomfortable with the result do go ahead and re-roll. Thank you and I hope you enjoy these prompts
1. Lunch! Your crew is having a meal in the ship’s mess. Do they behave themselves? What are they eating? BONUS: you show either the Cooking process or the cleanup
2. Dead End Race- your oc is sailing in competition with other oc pirate crews! (Bonus: What is the prize at the end?)
3. Your Crew have somehow made it to the Vanilla Kingdom! Costume swap for the win? (Note: If you don’t follow the CRK game/lore feel free to re-roll)
4. Soon May the Wellerman Come~ pick an appropriately sea-themed song for this prompt!
5. UNO REVERSO! Your OC has done a complete 180! What do they look/act like now?
6. Someone on the Crew has done a Naughty. How does your OC punish their sailor? 7. Sea Monster Attack! It’s up to your OC’s crew to save their ship. How does it go?
8. Your OC has gotten sick. Who looks after them and do they behave as a patient? BONUS: How’d they get sick anyway?
9. Your Crew have somehow made it to the Hollyberry Kingdom! Costume Swap for the win? (Note: if you don’t follow the CRK game/lore feel free to re-roll) 10. Someone needs to look after the Cannons. Does it go well or does it go poorly? 11. Bananas and Coconuts. No I will not explain further, your OC must deal with Bananas and Coconuts.
12. Your OC encounters a pool of water that turns everything it touches into solid gold. How did they discover it and how do they deal with it? 13. Your OC encounters a very snooty treacherous noble who has your OC dead to rights. How does your character Jack Sparrow their way out of this one?
14. Draw your OC as a human/meme. If you’re doing this as a writing challenge then you must write a story with as many dad jokes as possible!
15. Drinking Contest! Team up with a friend and have your OC’s in a drinking competition! Decide the winner by rolling a six-sided die, the winner will be whoever rolls higher! (Note: if you’re too nervous to ask anyone, please re-roll)
16. Your OC got into a bind and now must use their Charisma to escape. Are they successful or cringey?
17. Your Crew have somehow made it to the Dark Cacao Kingdom! Costume Change FTW? (Note: if you do not follow the CRK game/lore feel free to roll for a new prompt!)
18. Things are getting Lovecraftian around here. How does your OC cope with the squishy horribleness of it all?
19. A Captain must go down with their ship. Depict the last stand of your OC
20. Mutiny on board! What does your OC do? 21. Your Crew has Made it to the Golden Cheese Kingdom! Costume change for the win? (Note: if you don’t follow CRK game/lore feel free to re-roll)
22. GIANT BOULDER! AKA, your OC’s Indiana Jones moment. How do they handle it?
23. Depict your OC’s proudest moment.
24. Time for bed. Depict your OC sleeping (Bonus: Make it Wholesome/spicy as you see fit) EDIT BONUS: If you have Completed all 24 Prompts you must have the dreaded CABIN FEVER! Draw/write your OC concequences suffering Cabin Fever
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graceandtheidiotsquad · 2 years ago
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HOW THE HELL DOES THIS HAVE 49 NOTES I DIDNT THINK THIS MANY PEOPLE LIKED MY STUPID SHIT
What would be really cool to see
You know what would be really cool to see more people in this fandom tackle? How Milton’s dissapearance affected the COMMUNITY. I mean-most of the town where they live know about the curse presumably-did they join Dawn in looking for him? What if there were search parties-people in the community, running around the woods and the beaches trying to find this missing boy-
Maybe they try to send a signal out tangled-style on the anniversary of his dissapearance every year-or simply leave little memorials for the boy who dissapeared. Hell, for all we know-in modern times there may even be PODCASTS or radio shows with conspiracy theories about what ACTUALLY Happened to him-
I know, I know it will likely never happen in CANON but now that the fandom’s getting bigger-it would be REALLY cool to see more people thinking about this! ANGST, MYSTERY, CONSPIRACIES-It would be REALLY fun to tackle!
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idonthaveanyurlideas · 1 year ago
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25 animatics 2 and a half years 1 hour, 20 minutes and 39 seconds Approximately 5852 frames 349 unique characters appearing a total of 982 times
have what will most likely be my final blaseball animatic, a self-indulgent goodbye to all my beloved beams and a whole bunch of other players
Music is Celebrate the Reckless by Magic Giant - design credits below the cut
Credits: Randall Marijuana by alienmandy_ - Pangolin Ruiz by Mortimer_Mekhane - Dunn Keyes, Ramirez Winters and Pedro Davids by glassgoblin - Cory Ross and Grollis Zephyr by saltbuzzard - Lucas Petty by Dorito - Logan Rodriguez by Monthenor - Zephyr McCloud by dreambaot - Steals Mondegreen by 510five - Spears Taylor by Bells - Jessica Telephone by telekeys - Randy Dennis and Niq Nyong'o by tiny_revel - Kelvin Drumsolo by Australia-Hungary#9082 - Haruta Byrd and Erin Jesaulenko by miasmajesties - Justice Spoon and Edric Tosser by necromngo - Isaac Johnson, Gita Sparrow, Dunlap Figueroa and Mullen Peterson by _waalkr - Rivers Javier by toadparty and sidoopa - Baby Sliders by samiratu - Alvie Kesh by quilyn - Alexander Horne and Wyatt Mason VI by Fancymancer - Forrest Bookbaby by bugsbenedict - Helga Burton and Helga Moreno by electricgaunt using picrew by r4tist - Andrew Solis by rabbittraps_ - Rhys Trombone by Ephesos - Esme Ramsey by HetreaSky and grr - Mickey Woods by sol - Bright Zimmerman by staradavid - Iggy Delacruz by Karagna_ - Rey Wooten by dipppitydoop - Ziwa Mueller and Richmond Harrison by avery_helm - Workman Gloom and Beasley Gloom by shenaniglenn - Snyder Briggs by mensisritual - Jasmine Washington, Donia Bailey, Jasper Blather and Hops Chen by desmodusrotunds - Avila Guzman by jaungeedraws - Richardson Games and Hiroto Wilcox by CurseOfScots - Cornelius Games by kyl_armstrong - Nicholas Vincent by Hazel Cooper - Eugenia Bickle by awhekate - Fran Beans by thr33h3addrag - Valentine Games by deerstained - Magi Ruiz by Nofacenerd - Tiana Takahashi by VHS_DREAMER - Tillman Henderson by cryptmilk - Mcdowell Karim by ferretrix - Sebastian Woodman by Starfauna - Yosh Carptener by gfclass - Aldon Cashmoney by occultclassic - Donia Bailey and Hiroto Wilcox by crickadelic - Jasper Blather by nel using picrew from astrolava
Wiki Pages: Eugenia Garbage - Rivers Rosa - Stevenson Heat - Qais Dogwalker - Margarito Nava - Lou Roseheart - Beck Whitney - Nic Winkler - Neerie McCloud - Blood Hamburger - Kennedy Rodgers - Nagomi Meng - Lachlan Shelton - Kichiro Guerra - Fletcher Yamamoto
Other: Emmett Internet - Priya Fox - London Simmons - Cravel Gesundheit - Willow Dice - Xanthe - Jorge Owens - Carter Grimsley - Kajjala Aliyev - Guozhi Ong - Grizz El Sayed - Thomas Marsh - Amos Parveen - Kaj Statter Jr. - Anastasia Isarobot - Zack Sanders - Özlem Suttner - Malik Romayne - Sigmund Castillo - Son Jensen - Jayden Wright - Paula Reddick - Sandoval Crossing - Velasquez Meadows - Hahn Fox - Howell Franklin - Miguel James - Passenger - Nagomi Nava - Wyatt Mason VII - Wyatt Mason III - Wyatt Mason V - Dudley Mueller - Joe Voorhees - Harriet Gildehaus - Phineas Wormthrice - Elvis Figueroa - Borg Ruiz - Tot Best - Lars Taylor - Nerd Pacheco - Hendricks Richardson - Kaz Fiasco - Hank Marshallow - Beans McBlase - Sutton Bishop - Quack Enjoyable - Guy Gulp - Siobhan Chark - Alaynabella Hollywood
Unsure: Mooney Doctor - Wyatt Mason IV
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pandaemoniumminiatures · 5 months ago
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Hi all, I got back from UK Games Expo on Sunday - a fantastic weekend!
So great to spend time with good friends playing games, chatting and laughing. I travelled up with close mates and we stayed together in an Airbnb apartment which proved to be ideal (and far cheaper than us all getting hotel rooms!).
Our intention on the Friday was just to scope the place out and play some board games, which we did (though I did splash out on a paint set too), and very early on reached the Fighting Fantasy stand where I bumped into my friends Dave and Chris, which was great timing! It was lovely to chat with Ian Livingstone and Jonathan Green, and also Dan at Blue Giant Studios again and talk about the upcoming Fighting Fantasy Fest in September, the special miniature I'll be painting, and see that they've put my painted Bloodbeast on the box!
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Ian also let me know that there will be a gallery of the FF minis I did for him in his forthcoming book, so that was an amazing surprise!
Another highlight was that I got to chat with Gav Thorpe and Andy Chambers and try out Zeo Genesis , their new sci fi skirmish game, which was a lot of fun - I got to take a free mech suit mini too!
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I had lovely chats also with Bad Squiddo Games, Blue Giant Studios, Cerberus-studios, Realms of Tiberium, Moonstone and Louis Downs (Louis and I have been trying to meet up at the last 4 shows!), MODIPHIUS, Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy, and finally got to meet Man O Kent Games, Mike Hutchinson (Gaslands), Jon Hodgson Illustration, Lost Haven Art (who produced my logo and business promo material) The Thornless Rose, Rolltex Texture Rollers, and my friends Gonders, Julian Sparrow and Geordie Calgar who I know through Twitter etc. On the Saturday night, some friends and I had a big game of Grimdark Future One Page Rules, with Luke pitching his Ork horde against mine and Saul's Rebel Guerrillas:
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A great game, very hard fought, and eventually the orks victory came down to one dice roll to see if a squig was shaken after losing a combat - it passed and so finished by contesting the objective on our side of the table!
Purchases...
I decided to mainly buy things I had been promising myself for a while, and take advantage of show discounts, so in an effort to divorce myself from Citadel paints, I got the Monument Hobbies Pro Acryl base set from Element Games, and a rechargeable lamp from Daylight, which will be so useful when I'm painting at shows! I also picked up The Art of The Miniature Painting Tutor from Warlord Games  because I had heard so many good things about it. I did get a few minis, but deliberately kept that to a minimum as I genuinely want to clear my backlog... (yeah, I know...) so I got a couple of brilliant new Halflings from Bad Squiddo Games, one of Duncan's Sir Coats minis, and after my painful experiences with those Anarchy stencils a few weeks ago, I was determined to get some diamond stencils from Steel Harpy!  Also, as well as the  Zeo Genesis mechsuit, I was given a free mini from the Onepagerules folks. And given all that, I'm actually not feeling too bad this week - I'm continuing work on the Striking Scorpions and I've finished the first five, with the others well on their way, so I would think they'll be ready to photograph later today:)
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thesmumbo · 2 years ago
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Smumbo's top 10 games he happened to play in 2022
Not necessarily games that were released in 2022, just my favorites that I played for the first time last year.
10: Night in the Woods (2017)
by Alec Holowka, Scott Benson, and Bethany Hockenberry
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Peak fall vibes game. Night in the Woods features a compelling mystery and some great spooky moments. The setting and characters really resonated with me, so I got a lot out of it.
9: The Pedestrian (2020)
by @skookumarts
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Pleasant puzzle game inspired by the signage that surrounds us in our day-to-day lives. Some of the puzzles were quite difficult, and I kind of dislike the direction the game took in its last act, but it was still a very fun and unique experience.
8: South of South Mountain (2022)
by @colorbomb
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Cute & hilarious visual novel with a fantastic art style. I could not stop laughing throughout the whole experience.
7: Portal Reloaded (2021)
by PORTANIS
From a pure gameplay standpoint, this was a very satisfying sequel to Portal 2, and it's possibly the closest we'll ever get to a Portal 3. Portal Reloaded introduces a third portal which allows you to travel to the same place at a different time, so certain things have been moved/removed. It gets really complicated, and I’m amazed this was able to be created as a free standalone mod for Portal 2.
6: Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery (2022)
by Grace Bruxner and Thomas Bowker
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Approximately 3-4 hours of pure, unadulterated joy and whimsy. I can’t believe it took me this long to play Frog Detective, but I’m so glad I did. Everything about these games resonated with me strongly.
5: OneShot (2016)
by @girakacheezer, @nightmargin, and Eliza Vasquez
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A transcendent experience. Explores the unique ways in which video games can tell stories, and the nature of free will. Features some interesting meta game mechanics which require you to interact with files outside of the game. The visuals and soundtrack are spot-on as well. Weird how there’s so many great RPG Maker games which work so well in spite of the engine.
4: Scorn (2022)
by Ebb Software
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An incredible audiovisual experience. I liked the gameplay too, even though it seems like a lot of people were disappointed by it. I'm amazed that a game like this even exists. Absolutely oozing with atmosphere and symbolic meaning. The story spoke to me on an incredibly deep level despite lacking words, or even any semblance of humanity.
3: What Remains of Edith Finch (2017)
by Giant Sparrow
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One of the greatest games ever made. All of the vignettes and set-pieces throughout the game are flawlessly paced, with a wide variety of gameplay and visual styles. Packed with detail, made with love, and so emotionally resonant. I loved this game.
2: Bloodborne (2015)
by From Software
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For years, I would try to play Bloodborne whenever I had access to a PlayStation 4, but I wasn’t able to do a full playthrough until 2022. It lived up to the hype. This is my favorite From Software game, and it’s already one of my favorite games of all time. I really hope this gets a remaster/PC port some day. It’s a masterpiece.
1: SIGNALIS (2022)
by @rose-engine
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One of the greatest horror games I’ve ever played. Amazing visuals and atmosphere, fascinating world and lore, and a captivating, mind-blowing cosmic horror sci-fi story. I especially loved the evocative UI designs throughout. Highly recommended if you like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Dead Space, PS1 style games in general, or if you have even a passing interest in survival horror. This is my #1 game of 2022.
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revnah1406 · 1 year ago
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Operation Kingslayer: 2/?
Warning!: This chapter contains specific violence, and a detailed description of torture methods.
(All locations and places that appear in this Fic are fictitious and based on the Ghost Recon Wildlands video game)
OCs:
Hannah "Sparrow" Clayton - @revnah1406
Alyssa "Aly" M. - @alypink
Captain Arjun - @welldonekhushi
Mandy Macfie - @alidravana
Charlotte "Jade" le Jardin - @sleepyconfusedpotato
(I'll bring more OCs soon!)
- Operation Kingslayer's playlist here! 👀✨
<- Previous chapter Next CHapter ->
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Ch: 2/?
The sound of the helicopter's blades was the only thing that could be heard in the dark Bolivian sky. Inside the chopper, Jade observed the landscape that was presented below her feet, several meters below. Dark mountains full of forest and jungle, deep valleys, and huge swamps.
"Bolivia is a country with a great diversity of landscapes. Surely we will have to visit many of them during our stay here" Aly's voice was heard through Jade's headphones.
She looked at her partner who was sitting next to her and nodded. "I have a feeling we won't just have to fight the cartel" Jade commented looking into the deep forests of huge trees.
"Wolves, jaguars, piranhas, giant snakes and a huge number of alligators…" Sparrow who was sitting in front of Jade sighed also looking in the same direction as her. "Let's just say it's not going to be a walk in the park"
"Have you been to the Bolivian Andes, Sparrow?" Aly asked.
"No... I don't know this region of the Andes... But I was in Chile with my older brother and in Argentina by myself, where I climbed Aconcagua a few years ago..." answered Hannah.
"We're getting closer, the meeting point is a few clicks away" Mandy's voice came over the radio. She was flying the helicopter at a low altitude, avoiding the skyward glances of hostile onlookers.
"Copy that, Macfie," Arjun replied.
As everyone left that bar ready to take down a second drug cartel, Laswell made one last call to Canada. They were going to need a reliable pilot, Nikolai and Isobel Williams were too busy working with Farah and 141. So their only option was Mandy Macfie. They had worked with her on many occasions. Mandy had saved the team's lives on more than one occasion, always arriving at the most opportune moment to perform an emergency extraction.
"Prepare your belongings. Bowman will be waiting for us at the indicated safe house, but we better not trust ourselves, we don't know what we'll find, so keep your weapons up and the trigger ready. We will enter through different points, Sparrow and I will enter through the main entrance announcing our arrival. Jade and Aly, you'll be in the back in case the situation becomes compromised."
Everyone nodded to Captain Arjun's instructions. They began to organize and load all the belongings. They were going to be alone in Bolivia against an entire cartel. The only thing they could take was what would fit in their backpacks and tactical vests. Ammunition, provisions, first-aid kit, weapons... Everyone carried at least two long weapons that they carried on both sides of the backpack, a sniper rifle and an assault rifle. In addition to their pistols and the knives of preference for each one.
What would define their life, their home and their survival would be carried on their back or in their vests. Unlike the Las Almas Cartel whose headquarters were in Las Almas city, the Santa Blanca Cartel was spread throughout Bolivia. Having bases and headquarters in various regions and provinces of the country. They didn’t have external support for the moment either, it was the five of them against an empire. So they would have to move fast and carry light luggage.
"I have visual on the landing zone," Mandy announced.
"Copy! We'll get off the chopper in two" said Arjun.
Jade nodded as she finished packing her Karambits into the small of her back, Sparrow screwed the silencer onto the barrel of her sniper rifle, and Aly finished checking that the mini surveillance drone's hardware was in good order.
"We're ready," Hannah said determinedly.
Arjun nodded "Okay, get ready to act. Keep your radios on at all times."
Mandy landed the chopper in a clearing on top of a hill a few hundred yards from the safe house, everyone waiting for the chopper's engine to go silent, watching outside for any possible threats. The forest was quiet, the night was dark, only the silhouettes and shadows of the trees could be seen.
"Come on." Arjun ordered getting out of the helicopter followed by Aly.
Before leaving, Sparrow stuck her head in through the cockpit door.
"Thanks for the ride." Sparrow bumped fists with Mandy.
Macfie smiled and nodded again. "Always a pleasure, Sergeant."
Jade also appeared who offered Mandy a pistol.
"Stand by until we make sure everything is calm. If you hear shots, prepare the engines"
Mandy nodded and accepted the gun. She checked the bullet cabin, making sure it was loaded.
"You have to be alert, for the moment the entire territory of Bolivia is considered hostile. If you hear something or see something that we haven't reported, shoot" Jade advised.
"Copy that, be careful out there."
They both went outside, Arjun and Aly standing guard, pointing their rifles at the tree line and the house.
"Ready to board," Sparrow announced, grabbing her weapon as well and touching her captain's shoulder indicating that she was right behind him.
The moment Jade's boots came down from the helicopter and touched the ground, they all started moving towards the safe house. It looked like a hunting cabin in the middle of the woods. It was made of logs and stone, had a front porch, and small windows. There seemed to be a dim light inside.
They all moved in formation, muffling their footsteps on the ground. When they got to a close distance Arjun waved for Aly and Jade to part ways. Both women surrounded the house, avoiding the windows and watching the corners, always with their weapons raised. They reached the back door and waited for the other two members of the team.
Arjun and Sparrow approached the porch. Hannah peeked out of one of the windows, looking inside. It looked like a hunting cabin inside too, everything had a very rustic feel to it. It was in the dark, the only source of light was a lamp on the table, it seemed to illuminate some documents and plans.
"There's no one… but I have visuals of possible useful intel" she said through the radio attached to her vest.
"Get ready, on my signal we board" Arjun ordered, moving to the side of the door. "Sparrow, do the honors."
Hannah returned to her captain, stood in front of the door, waiting for the order.
Arjun pushed the button of his radio. “now”
Hannah kicked the door hard, Arjun came in raising his rifle pointing in all directions.
By the second team. Jade slowly opened the door, signaling for Aly to wait and watch her back. Aly nodded and stood in the doorway, eyeing potential blind spots in the cabin's interior layout.
Arjun was the first to enter, pointing in all directions, watching his steps. Sparrow followed, gun raised. They found no one in the room.
"Hall clear" Arjun reported
"Captain." Sparrow called to him.
Arjun turned to the sergeant. Sparrow was looking at a huge proofing board on the wall just above the fireplace. There were photographs, maps with marked places, transcripts of telephone conversations, coordinates, newspaper clippings…
"Looks like Bowman has been doing her job…" Sparrow muttered.
"This will make things easier." He answered.
Arjun walked over to the table where a study lamp illuminated some plans for unfamiliar installations. He was going to comment something else but a slight sound was heard, perhaps it would have gone unnoticed by someone normal. But as soon as he heard it, he raised his rifle in that direction.
Sparrow was quick to react when she saw her captain raise his weapon.
A woman was at the door leading to the corridor. She appeared to be in her forties, with blue eyes and blond hair. She was pointing a pistol at both soldiers.
"I suggest you get out of here or the consequences will be fatal." The woman threatened.
"You are in no position to make demands, ma’am. Put the gun down." Hannah ordered.
Arjun aimed between the woman's eyes, he discovered the small detonator that she was hiding in the other hand.
"You underestimate me" The woman smiled confidently.
A karambit poked out from behind the woman and rested its curved point on her throat.
"You underestimate us" Arjun replied as Jade slowly pushed the knife towards the woman's throat, without saying a single word.
There was the sound of a loaded rifle, behind Jade and the Woman. Aly was taking aim from a distance, in the darkness of the hallway.
The woman smiled wryly and raised her hands slowly in surrender.
"Alright, you got me. We don't have to figure out how this situation will be resolved."
"Are you Karen Bowman?" Arjun asked without lowering the gun.
The woman looked at him, studied his stoic expression, and finished by nodding slowly.
"You must be the ones Kate sent me."
Arjun gave a slight nod, ordering Sparrow to lower her weapon. Hannah compiled but the guard kept her up. Jade put the knife away and Aly stopped aiming, moving closer until she was next to her partner.
"I didn't expect you so early." Bowman commented, putting the gun in the waistband of her jeans.
Arjun bowed his head "We go where we are called"
Bowman nodded "is it just you four?"
"For now...we have a pilot too." Arjun mentioned.
Aly switched on her comlink "Mandy, it's all clear, we've found Bowman."
"Roger, I'm on my way." Mandy replied.
"So…" Bowman paced the room, examining each of the members. "Laswell believes that you can take down the Santa Blanca cartel…"
"That's why we're here, right?" Sparrow raised her chin but kept a serious expression.
Karen raised her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly. "It remains to be seen what you are capable of"
Jade started flipping through the evidence board.
"This is from the previous task force?" She asked, looking at all the information.
"That's right. Months of research." Bowman sighed "I'd better bring you guys up to speed. The sooner we start, the sooner we can take down these sons of bitches."
"Entering the house" Mandy's voice came over the comms.
"Copy, Macfie. You may proceed inside" Arjun replied.
The pilot entered the safehouse. Sparrow gave her a slight nod in greeting. Mandy moved closer to her, scanning Bowman and the situation with her eyes.
"I have a feeling it wasn't the best welcome." she whispered.
"You have a good feeling" Hannah replied.
They both returned their concentration to the CIA agent. The team surrounded the table while Bowman went to the proofing board and tore off a few photos.
"The Santa Blanca empire is supported by four main pillars."
Bowman posted a photo of a man who looked like a Christian bishop, with a huge golden Cross hanging from his neck and a serious expression, then a second photo of a somewhat ostentatious-looking young man smirking into the camera.
"The First Pillar: Influence." Bowman began to explain "Santa Blanca’s trying to win the love of the Bolivian people, they fill their brains with false promises and lies." She pointed to the man dressed as a bishop promising the locals the entrance to paradise and the eternal and divine forgiveness of God if they collaborated with the Cartel. The drug traffickers are great devout Christians, but above all they have a special fondness reserved for "La Niña Blanca."
"La Santa Muerte…" Aly murmured.
Bowman agreed.
"This is one of the first ways they have to win over their followers. The other is by following in the footsteps of Pablo Escobar, building houses for the poorest neighborhoods, giving aid to families... in short... creating a good image of the cartel. Everything to sweep the shit under the rug and avoid prying eyes."
The CIA agent put another photo on the table. It showed El Sueño shaking hands with a man who was dressed as a military general.
"The second pillar is Security. El Sueño has been in charge of reducing the military and police forces of all Bolivia based on bribery. So do not expect support from the government or the army."
"What about the rebels?" Arjun asked.
"The rebels are a large group of Bolivian guerrillas who have been fighting the cartel for years. Pac Katari is their leader, I know him well, but you will need a good victory if you want to earn his respect and trust. He will not welcome you with open arms at first. I advise you to make yourselves heard, that the voice spread among the Bolivian people, and that your deeds reach their ears. Only then may you get rebel support."
"So…if we do their job, we will get their attention?" Sparrow rested both hands on the straps of her vest.
"The rebels are also in charge of helping those most in need in Bolivia. If you locate stores of supplies, weapons, ammunition, fuel... mark them with location beacons. So that the rebels can find them, it is also a good way to announce that you are their allies." Bowman replied.
"And the other two pillars?" Jade asked.
Karen nodded and placed another photo on the table, this one showing a very beautiful woman with a little girl by her side. The photo appeared to be taken from inside a car. The woman and the girl were walking through a wealthy neighborhood surrounded by bodyguards.
"The third pillar: Smuggling. This woman is the mastermind of all smuggling operations. You could not imagine what she is capable of inventing to be able to get cocaine across the borders. She manages to send and export to more than sixty percent of the entire globe. They didn't earn the title of one of the biggest cartels in the world just like that."
Bowman took two more photos. It showed a very old man, wrinkled, graying hair, brown skin, and sun-spotted. And in the other, a young man in his early thirties with features similar to those of the older man.
"And finally, the fourth pillar and the base of the entire Cartel: Production. Bolivia has been a great producer of the coca plant, for cultural and medicinal uses, but it was illegal. Although with the arrival of Santa Blanca it has become massive The cultivated fields are full of forced laborers."
"Labor slaves." Mandy gritted her teeth.
Bowman nodded again.
"The trafficking and kidnapping of people is an open secret. Santa Blanca claims to ensure jobs for all Bolivians but they only force them to work until they die. The cartel blames the rebels for the Bolivian deaths, trying to give them a bad name."
Bowman put her fists on the table.
"If we can knock down one of these pillars, we can shake the cartel and make Santa Blanca weaker."
Arjun looked at his team for a few seconds, then looked back at the CIA agent.
"Where do we start?" Arjun asked decisively.
Bowman dragged two photos to the center of the table with her fingers.
"We'll start with Production." Bowman began to explain.
Aly took the photograph of the older man and looked at it carefully.
"He is Rodolfo Yana. But everyone knows him as "El Yayo", unlike the rest, he is Bolivian, he is about seventy-three years old, but don't let his age confuse you. He is the main cocaine producer for Santa Blanca. Before El Yayo was a coca union leader but his ambition brought him to work with Santa Blanca. He is willing to work with the Cartel in order to protect his people and their customs. Thanks to Santa Blanca, Coca crops are legal and they are protected. Many say that he is a traitor, others define him as a true survivor."
Aly passed the photo to Jade, who stared at it for a while.
"This is our first objective?" Jade seemed somewhat confused, she didn't expect to have to go after someone so old.
Bowman agreed.
"El Yayo is a great defender of culture and traditions. At first, El Yayo got stable and well-paid work for many cocaleros in Bolivia. People treated him as a savior for giving work to so many people. But the demand for Cocaine for part of Santa Blanca just grew and grew. Good paying jobs turned into forced labor." Bowman sighed "El Yayo is a man who prefers to make agreements than use violence. So maybe we can negotiate with him…"
"How did we get to him?" Arjun asked.
Bowman put the second photograph next to the one of El Yayo.
"This is his grandson, Gonzalo Yana, he is about 25 years old, they call him El Emissario. He is the manager and head of production of cocaine. His grandfather knows how to grow coca, and he knows how to process it. He is actually a spoiled child. He is arrogant, carefree and does whatever he wants, hoping that his grandfather or other underbosses will bail him out. Don't be distracted by his behavior, Gonzalo is a genius when it comes to processing coke. With the knowledge inherited from El Yayo and his master's degree in chemistry is capable of processing the purest cocaine on the entire market."
"How did we find him?" Jade crossed her arms.
"To get to El Yayo, you first have to find his grandson. It will be our trick to find him." Karen explained, "We had Gonzalo caught by the balls a few months ago, but he fled the country like the coward that he is. Luckily we know that he returned to Bolivia a few days ago, knowing that the old task force has been taken off the game board." and taking into account that he cannot leave the production of Cocaine unattended. El Emisario or The Emissary believes that he is now safe and that he can return to business without problem." Bowman paused. "Now we just have to find it. We know it's in Ocoro, but going door to door into every cocaine lab in the region would be a waste of time. The cat would never catch the mouse."
"I can check all the radio and phone stations and channels in the area. Maybe I can intercept something." Aly suggested.
"That's why I love you, Aly." Sparrow joked. 
"Might be a good start. Let's get to work then" Arjun said, beginning Operation Kingslayer.
"Let's go for that bastard"
___________
The helicopter was flying over the Ocoro region. The night was moonless, it was the perfect time to act. Sparrow loaded her assault rifle. Arjun was at her side readying his gun as well.
"Okay, let's go over the plan. Aly, you're going to overwatch from a high point with the help of the surveillance drone. Keep the sniper rifle ready, I'm sure we'll need it. You'll be the one preparing our entrance."
"Got it" Aly was sitting in the cockpit together with Mandy. She had the exact coordinates on her laptop. Thanks to hacking and intercepting the radio channels in the Ocoro area, she was able to listen to a conversation with Gonzalo Yana and was able to triangulate his exact location.
"Sparrow and I will board through the first floor, while Jade will enter through the roof. We will take Gonzalo Yana out through the roof"
"Roger." Jade responded by assuring that the blade of her knives was properly sharpened.
"Okay, we'll look for Gonzalo Yana, remember that we need him alive. If the rest show resistance, you have full permission to shoot."
"We are arriving." Mandy's voice blared over everyone's comms.
"Understood! Everyone get ready"
When they reached the agreed point, they all prepared to slide down the rope. Sparrow leaned back into the cockpit.
"We are ready."
Mandy nodded. "Go carefully."
Sparrow gave Mandy a fist bump and patted Aly on the shoulder.
"Be our eyes, Aly." Sparrow smiled confidently.
Aly smiled and nodded.
"I'll watch your back"
"Sparrow let's go!" Arjun was ready to go down the rope.
"Copy, Captain!" She turned to her two companions "take care of yourselves, my ladies." the sergeant said goodbye.
Jade, Arjun and Sparrow slid down the rope.
When they all reached the ground Mandy piloted the helicopter to get Aly into the most suitable position to observe the facility from a distance but also to be close enough for her to connect to the main network and work her magic.
The team wasted no time, and began moving in formation. Taking care not to make noise.
The Ocoro region was a rural area. Mountainous, with small forests and numerous cultivated fields. The team walked a little further until there was an old industrial warehouse between the trees. There were huge outdoor spotlights illuminating the darkness of the night and a wall enclosing the restricted area.
They reached a high position to be able to observe the facilities well. The darkness covered them and prevented them from being seen.
"What do we have here…" Sparrow muttered, taking out the binoculars. "There are few entrances. Four floors, I suspect they will have a few more floors in the basement." The sergeant began to explain "Small windows and concrete walls… it's like a fucking fortress."
"Containment measures? Guards?" Jade asked. Who began to enlist her gear  to be able to make her entrance. Putting the silencer on her pistol and securing her bulletproof vest.
"There are a couple of machine guns stationed at the main entrance, snipers on the roof and in the watchtowers. Heavy armored guards at each corner, they wear ballistic helmets, we won't be able to take them out with one shot."
"leave them to me"
"Alyssa what is your status?" Arjun spoke into the comm.
There were a few seconds of silence.
"In position and waiting."
Aly was about 300m away, in an elevated position and perfect for providing overwatch. She was lying on the grass with the sniper rifle slung over her shoulder, peering through the rifle's telescopic sight. Next to her was the drone ready to be sent and the laptop that showed on the screen the synchronization with the central electrical system had been completed.
"Do you have visual on the target?" Arjun asked.
Aly looked through the windows of the building. Until she finally found a lighted window on the top floor.
"I have visual on Gonzalo Yana. Fourth floor, last room on the right."
Sparrow pointed the binoculars in the same direction.
"Affirmative. I see that bastard." Sparrow confirmed.
"Alright. Whenever you want Alyssa." The captain spoke.
Aly looked away from the scope for a moment and focused on her laptop, typing for a couple of minutes.
"Starting attack in three, two, one…" Aly hit the button "Lights off. All security systems disabled"
And suddenly, all the lights that illuminated the facilities went out. Everything was left in complete darkness. The guards outside were confused and kept alert for a long time. Until one of them mentioned that it was a simple blackout, and that it was normal in this region.
The team waited until the guards calmed down and went about their business, waiting for someone to fix the electrical system.
"Jade." Arjun whispered.
The named one nodded, clutching her pistol with the silencer attached in one hand and a karambit in the other.
"Good luck" Sparrow spoke "We'll be waiting"
Jade smiled and patted Hannah's shoulder before walking off down the hill. Stealthily approaching the entrance of the facility.
When she reached it, she put her back to the wall and waited silently for the guard to get close enough. She adjusted her grip on the handle of the knife, and when the guard was at appropriate distance, Jade clamped a hand over his mouth and buried the knife in his neck, between his shoulder pads and helmet. Carefully she dragged the body to a safe place so they wouldn't find it. But as soon as she put the body on the ground, another guard appeared walking casually without noticing what was happening around him. But he would end up noticing if he kept advancing in the direction of Jade. She wasted no time, grabbing one of the knives from the dead guard's tactical vest and throwing it with such precision at the guard that the knife sliced ​​through the air to slam into the second guard's face. The man fell backwards like a sack full of stones.
Jade sighed quietly in relief. Wasting no more time, she hid the second body next to the other and continued advancing. Jade melted into the shadows, using only her knife.
She would stab a guard in the neck and with two silent shots finish off the second. The bullets were always perfectly accurate, one in the bulletproof vest and one in the face. It ended with the vast majority of narcos who were standing guard abroad. She took care of those who were positioned behind the fixed machine guns and those who guarded all the entrances. And nobody noticed what was happening.
Jade was cleaning the blade of her knife on the clothes of the corpse of one of the guards, when she spoke through the comms.
"Aly, the sniper on the watchtower could compromise my position. To the east."
It didn't take long for Aly to aim the sniper rifle where Jade indicated.
"Got him"
As soon as he was in her sights, she held her breath, made some final calculations, and pulled the trigger. The enemy sniper disappeared into the darkness after being shot in the chest.
"Enemy sniper is down." Aly reported on the radio
Jade was able to continue creeping through the darkness around that drug lab until she found an emergency ladder that led to the roof. She climbed them carefully so that her boots did not make noise against the metal of theladder, she knew perfectly well that company would be waiting for her up on the roof.
When she got to the top, she saw two snipers walking around on the roof. Light-footed and keeping low, she took down the first sniper without a problem, but the second one apparently turned around ahead of schedule. Jade had to react quickly, with the pistol pointed at his chest and fired a couple of times. The sniper's bulletproof vest retained both bullets even though both shots nearly sent him to the ground.
The MI6 agent pounced on him when she saw that he was trying to communicate by threadbare. Jade wasted no time in pulling out her knife and making two quick slashes, the guard was able to defend himself by covering his face with both arms. Jade took the opportunity to kick his stomach hard, making him lose his balance and make him drop the sniper rifle to the ground.
The angry guard lunged at her, but Jade was faster and dodged without a problem. They kept up close combat for a while, the sniper throwing hard, heavy blows, while Jade moved nimbly, brandishing her knife, slashing across his arms. She would shift the knife from one hand to the other, changing the position of the curved blade, and every time she found a gap to get through his guard, she would not miss the opportunity to try and stab in the neck. In the end she managed to slip over the side and quickly rolled across the ground and made a quick, deep gash behind the knee. The man fell to his knees because the tendons could no longer support his leg.
Jade wasted no more time, she was tired of playing. With her other hand she drew a second karambit and using all her strength stabbed just below his jaw. The curved blade of the knife pierced the roof of the mouth while the first knife slashed across the throat.
When Jade pulled out the knife the soldier fell to the ground bleeding to death. She wiped at the blood splattered on her face, then hit the button on her communicator.
"I'm in position." He announced looking at the corpse of the guard.
"Roger that, I'll let Macfie know so she can have the helicopter ready for extraction" Aly replied.
While Jade dealt with the guards outside, Sparrow and Arjun moved through the compound, ready to enter through a back door that led to the facility's warehouse.
Arjun cleaned the blade of his knife on the dead guard's clothing while Sparrow stood guard, making sure no one approached them unnoticed. The captain managed to pick the lock on the door and opened it carefully.
"Come on, Sergeant." Arjun whispered.
Sparrow followed him into the facility.
The building was dark as expected. Both soldiers moved through the corridors in silence, Arjun taking the lead while Sparrow brought up the rear. Thanks to the silencers they eliminated any hostile people they encountered.
"Shoot carefully, there are civilians in the laboratories" Arjun said.
"Roger"
They found the stairs and went up to the second and then the third floor, leaving not a single living guard behind. They entered a room that appeared to be a communications room. There were computers, shelves full of documents, and radios with different comms channels. Some guards could be heard talking on the radio.
"First and second floors are the laboratories… The third is the offices?" asked Sparrow, puzzled. "This is not a normal cocaine lab…"
Arjun returned to her when he was sure the room was clear.
"This is a gold mine, we could get information from here." Arjun commented. "Sparrow, make a Backup copy of all the files on the mainframe. Alyssa can process the data later."
"Ok."
"Arjun, Sparrow! The guards have found one of the corpses." Aly announced agitated. "They're starting to go up the stairs!"
"Bloody hell… we should have hidden the corpses better." Sparrow cursed.
"We didn't have time for that, our priority is Gonzalo Yana…" Arjun leaned his back against the wall right next to the window and leaned out slightly to see what was happening outside. The guards seemed to be flustered, looking out the windows of the building and running all in one direction.
"Jade, what's the situation outside?" Arjun asked.
"Everyone is very nervous, they are entering the building." Charlotte replied.
"Understood. Aly, how much time do we have?"
"A minute at most." she answered.
"Fuck…"
"Sir, Gonzalo Yana will escape if we don't hurry." Sparrow nervously said, shifting her weight from her leg.
"I know." Arjun closed his eyes and pondered for a few seconds what to do. They couldn't leave without the information from the central computer, and neither could they leave without Gonzalo Yana. So he only had one option left. Trust his teammate. Arjun knew full well what Sparrow was capable of. It was not their first mission together, he was aware of the skills of the sergeant and that he could entrust the fate of the mission to her.
"Captain." Sparrow eagerly awaited further orders.
Arjun took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
"Focus on the computer and make sure you extract all the useful data. Client lists, contraband, locations of other labs…everything." Arjun walked towards the door. "Make sure they don't kill you, sergeant."
"And what are you going to do, sir?" Sparrow asked.
"Jade, get ready." Arjun ordered over the comms and then looked at his sergeant "I'm going to get that rat out of his hole." Arjun left the room and without wasting any time ran towards the stairs leading to the top floor.
Sparrow wasted no time too, pulling out an external battery to power the computer and a flash drive from one of her vest pockets, and began backing up all the files.
Gunshots could be heard inside the building, surely Arjun had engaged in combat with the remaining guards on the upper floor. Sparrow ignored her desire to go help her captain and watched as little by little the percentage bar on the computer screen filled up.
"Sparrow on your six!" Aly's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
Hannah spun around as she saw a huge soldier lunge at her with a knife. Sparrow had to drop her weapon to use both hands to prevent the knife from plunging into her face.
Sparrow was between the table and the attacker. She used all her strength to get that guy off her. She pushed him away from her and punched him in the nose. The guard swayed slightly, holding the bridge of his now bleeding nose.
"Puta zorra…"
Sparrow wasted no time, as the man lunged at her again, Sparrow raised her fists, punching him again in the face and then in the ribs. She moved swiftly across the room, dodging the knife that the man swung dangerously from side to side. Sparrow had to admit that this man was tough to beat, no matter how hard she hit him, it seemed as if he wasn't affected. Even though his face was covered in blood.
Sparrow took a quick look at the computer, five percent left for the backup to finish. She had to hurry, she had to finish this jerk and get back to Arjun as soon as possible.
"Come on… I can last all day." Sparrow waved a hand, signaling for him to come closer to continue the fight and further anger the guard.
She was walking slowly back towards the window. As the guard ran towards her to punch her in the face, Sparrow dodged quickly, managing to get behind him. As the guard turned back to her, Hannah kicked him in the chest. Causing him to stagger a couple of meters away from her.
The man was ready to attack again, but suddenly, a sniper bullet broke the window glass and went through the guard's head. The man collapsed on the ground lifeless and staining the ground with his own blood.
Sparrow smiled at the corpse at her feet, then looked at the hole in the window.
"What would I be if it wasn't for you Aly?"
Aly watched through the scope of her sniper rifle as Sparrow waved to her from across the room. She smiled, happy to see her friend safe.
"You know it's always a pleasure to watch your back, hermosa"
Sparrow looked away from the window when she heard the notification that the backup had finished. She rushed to grab the flash drive and the battery, then grabbed her weapon and ran to the top floor.
Along the way, she encountered several enemies and didn’t hesitate to shoot. She finished with any obstacle that was found along the way. When it came to dealing with firefights, there was no better soldier than her. She eliminated all the guards until she went up to the fourth floor.
Suddenly Sparrow, between the shots, saw Gonzalo Yana being thrown into the air, out of a room. Arjun came out soon after, his expression completely serious. For a moment Hannah felt sorry for that Narco, when Captain Arjun was angry, he was a scary man.
Gonzalo Yana began to flee in the direction of the stairs that led to the roof. But it seemed like Arjun didn't care, in fact he cared more about taking down the remaining guards in the corridor. Using only his pistol, a knife and a perfect aim, he finished off all the guards. When silence finally reigned in the place again, Sparrow was finally able to get out from behind the wall that she used as cover.
"Are you okay sergeant?" Arjun asked, although he didn't physically show it, he was worried about Sparrow.
"Affirmative sir." Hannah hurried over to him. "What's with that asshole?"
Sparrow was still confused, Arjun had let Gonzalo Yana run away.
"The Rat is cornered. Let's go for him"
Arjun walked up the stairs leading to the roof in no hurry. While they watched the Narco run up them so fast that he almost tripped more than once. Arjun didn't need to chase him, he knew exactly how this was going to end. It was like when a murderer knows that he doesn't have to waste energy running, he knows perfectly well that he will find you, no matter where you hide.
Gonzalo Yana banged open the door leading to the roof, but as soon as he stepped outside. The point of a karambit landed on his neck, so stealthily that the man seemed to him that he had been cornered by a ghost. He was petrified with fear.
Jade held the knife to the target's throat when Arjun and Sparrow appeared on the rooftop shortly after.
"We have the target." Arjun announced through the comms.
"Roger, Macfie is on her way." Aly replied.
"Who are you?!"
"You're not the one asking the questions here, kid" Arjun replied with a sinister tone.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into! Do you have any idea who I am?!" Gonzalo Yana seemed to be on the verge of hysteria.
"Oh, we know that very well… Sparrow, knock him out."
"It will be a pleasure"
___________
When Gonzalo Yana woke up. He found himself tied to a chair in a small room with no windows, just a light bulb hanging from the ceiling above him.
There was a red-haired woman sitting in a chair similar to his. But she wasn't tied down, in fact, she had a grim look on her face, kept silent, deep in her own thoughts.
"We don't have to make this any more complicated than it already is." Arjun's voice was heard behind Gonzalo.
The captain had his back against the wall and his arms folded.
"Don't waste time lying or hiding information from us. It will only make it worse."
"I would rather die than tell you!" Gonzalo Yana seemed to want to hide his fear behind his anger "You are naive! You don't know what you are getting into…"
Arjun ignored the Narco's words, kept calm and kept talking.
"Rodolfo Yana." Arjun mentioned the name of El Yayo. "Where is he?"
It took Gonzalo a few seconds to understand what they were asking of him.
"The old?" He laughed "No, you'll never find him. Listen amigo…you're not aware of how deep this shit hole is. You're just foreigners who think you can come here and remove all the shit and get out of it unscathed. The simple fact: If you touch a single hair on my head, you’ll mark a cross on your back. La Santa Muerte will come for you and will hunt you until the end of your days."
Suddenly Arjun grabbed Gonzalo Yana's hair and pulled his head back, forcing him to look into his eyes. The light from the ceiling made Gonzalo only see a dark silhouette of a man.
"I think you already disappointed me. You already were, not to me but for everybody. Because of your "pathetic" self.. decided to choose this path with your family who had nothing to do but to cause suffering." Said Arjun, in a tone capable of making anyone's skin crawl "we are not what you see... we are not what you think. I could snap your neck right now and end your poor, pathetic life. But no, you have a much bigger purpose.." Arjun brought his face close to Gonzalo's "when we're done with you… you'll wish I'd snapped your neck."
Gonzalo Yana had not realized that he was sweating and trembling the moment Arjun let go of his head.
Arjun walked towards the door, but before leaving, he patted Jade on the shoulder.
"It's all yours" and left the room.
When he stepped outside the safe house, he found Sparrow, Aly, and Mandy waiting outside. Crickets could be heard in the bushes and a cool breeze blew gently.
"There is no turning back." Arjun mentioned. "Jade will get us the information we want."
Aly sighed in concern. "Jade is good at what she does, she's an MI6 agent after all but…this will affect her."
Sparrow nodded, agreeing with her.
"If we hurt Gonzalo Yana…" Mandy had a serious expression like everyone else. "We will send a clear message to El Sueño."
"Sir…I understand this is a covert mission. But we really don't know where we're going. We don't know what El Sueño is capable of." Sparrow spoke. "You saw how many guards there were in just a cocaine lab in the middle of nowhere."
Arjun nodded understandingly. "I'm aware, Sergeant. I'll talk to Laswell, maybe he can pull more strings. But for now, we're the only ones who can stop this madness."
"And what about the Rebel forces?" Aly asked.
"They will be considered hostile until proven otherwise. Although Bowman is an old friend of Laswell's, I don't trust her." Arjun crossed his arms and looked at his boots "We'll figure something out. But for now, we're dealing with this jerk."
Meanwhile, inside the Safe house, Jade and Gonzalo Yana were left alone in the room.
Jade was silent, she was terrifyingly calm. There was no emotion on her face.
"We can do this by hook or by crook." She began to explain. "I just need you to tell me a place and a time."
"If you think I'm going to tell you where my grandfather is. You're so wrong, puta."
Jade spent some time studying the man's body language. He was scared, but he hid it well. His hands were restless despite being tied. He kept his head up and still but his eyes were unable to maintain eye contact with Jade.
"We know that you recently returned to Bolivia, and we know that you have conversations with your grandfather. He is always the one who has to save you, right? You always end up in trouble and make El Sueño angry. But Rodolfo Yana is always there to protect you." Jade explained.
"That doesn't matter…you're not going to get me to talk. It doesn't matter what you do." Gonzalo Yana smiled sideways.
Jade nodded a few times and sighed. She got up from her chair and walked over to him.
"I see you made up your mind."
She rested her hand on Gonzalo's temple and looked at him for a few seconds.
"I will ask you a question. And you must answer honestly." Jade spoke again "Where is Rodolfo Yana?"
"Fuck you, pendeja."
"Wrong answer"
Jade pressed into the space between the eyebrow and the eyeball.
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
Jade closed her eyes and continued pressing on one of the most painful points in the body, there are many nerves in that area and it causes great pain and discomfort when pressing on it.
The screams echoed through the room, so loud that surely the people outside could hear them.
"Let's try one more time." Jade eased the pressure but didn't pull her hand away. "Where is Rodolfo Yana?"
Gonzalo was breathing heavily, he looked like an animal. But still he said nothing. He kept silent.
Jade, getting no response, pressed again. The screams resounded throughout the place.
The interrogation began to be a game of tug of war, Jade asked questions, and Gonzalo did not answer what she wanted. It seemed a bit like a game of cat and mouse. But this time the Cat played with the mouse until he died from exhaustion.
"Please! I don't know! I don't know!"
"No I don't know's. Just answer my question. It's easy, come on."
The game continued, gradually escalating until Jade decided to use more effective methods. She didn't want to come to this, but he gave her no choice. It was time to pull out nails, Jade started with the toes. She wrapped the toe with a rubber band to reduce the flow of blood, neither too tight nor too loose, she wanted Gonzalo Yana to see the blood but not bleed to death. Then with a toothpick she inserted it between the nail and the finger.
Gonzalo Yana screamed in pain. The nail was separated from the toe. Jade looked at the Narco once more waiting for an answer but he just whimpered. So she ended up ripping it off.
Gonzalo was dying, tossing and turning in his chair. He seemed like an animal dominated by hysteria and fear.
"Please, please! I already told you I don't know!"
"If you so much as breathe another 'I don't know’, I will rip another one of your nails. Think. Remember. We could do this all night." Jade stayed calm. 
The hours passed, until finally the cat caught the mouse. The screams stopped instantly.
Everyone waited outside. Sparrow paced back and forth like a caged lion. Arjun was thoughtful with his arms folded. Aly was trying to clear her mind and ignore what she had been hearing for hours trying to decipher the information Sparrow got from the lab's central computer. And Mandy going through the topographic maps of the area.
The door to the Safe House opened. Jade came out wiping her hands on a bloody rag. She approached Arjun without saying a single word and handed him a piece of paper with the exact location and time where Rodolfo Yana could be.
Then she left, without saying a single word. She entered the forest and disappeared into the darkness and the undergrowth.
"Jade…!" Aly tried to follow her but Mandy stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Sparrow walked over and shook her head. She knew that Jade needed to be alone. She had to collect her thoughts and deal with her internal struggle.
An internal struggle that the whole team had.
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the-light-finds-its-way · 8 months ago
Text
Every year on April Fools, Cayde has played some sort of prank on Magnus. It's completely unexpected every time. It always catches the Titan off guard and is harmless completely, but it's time for payback. Absolutely.
So this April Fools, Magnus sets a trap SUPER devious, for his husband, as revenge.
Cayde visits the Tower to go to his Vanguard post. But as soon as he arrives, he finds dozens of Guardians riding various sparrows around in a circle while... is that It's a Small World being sung by every Guardian all at once offkey?!
Cayde cautiously makes his way to Zavala and asks what's going on.
"Nothing. Nothing at all. Why do you ask?" Zavala replies.
"Uhh. The Guardians. Singing. Riding sparrows."
"Huh? What Guardians?" Zavala looks around questioningly.
Cayde throws his hands toward the circle of singing Guardians. "RIGHT THERE, ZAVALA!! THEY'RE PRACTICALLY IN FRONT OF YOU!! THEY'RE SINGING IT'S A SMALL WORLD!!"
Zavala frowns, crossing his arms. "I neither see nor hear anyone besides you screaming at me."
Cayde almost explodes at this. He storms off to find Ikora, and forcefully drags her to the main portion of the Tower. "THEY'RE HERE!! CAN'T YOU SEE THEM?! HEAR THEIR AWFUL SINGING??!!" he cries.
Ikora sighs. "Cayde. Stop playing games. Get back to work. Nobody is there."
Cayde is so angry at this point. He rushes home to Magnus, and grabs him by the arm as best as he can grab a giant beefy Titan by the arm. "Please!! Honey!! You have to believe me!! They were singing!! Riding sparrows in a circle!!"
Reluctantly, Magnus goes along with his husband to the Tower. And the Guardians are still riding around singing offkey.
"PLEASE TELL ME YOU SEE THEM!!!" Cayde begs.
But Magnus shakes his head. "Is this another one of your April Fools day pranks?" he asks. "Because if it is, it's your worst yet." Magnus turns away and walks off.
The ceaseless circle of singing Guardians still continues. And Cayde goes to everyone in the Tower asking if they can see or hear this at all. A Cabal looks angrily at him at one point, then does the big stomp and sends him flying. Eliksni chitter and scuttle away from Cayde as soon as he asks the bizarre question. Everyone denies confirmation that this circle of Guardians is there. Nobody can see or hear them besides Cayde. But nonetheless the Guardians continue riding and singing all day long. Nonstop.
That night, the Exo returns home and flops face first into the sofa, groaning loudly.
Magnus approaches. "What's wrong, babe?"
"Nobody. Not one person believes me when I ask if they see or hear them..."
"Maybe it'll be gone tomorrow. Maybe things will return to normal by then."
Cayde groans even louder. "I hate this!! On my favorite day of the year!!!"
"Your favorite? Why? What's so special about today?" Magnus asks.
"It's April Fools. I should've spent the day playing a prank on you. But it feels like the universe is playing pranks on me. All my efforts coming back like a sick joke torturing me endlessly."
And there, Magnus grins wide.
Cayde looks at him. "Wh... what? What're you doing?"
Magnus giggles uncontrollably.
Cayde's eyes widen. "NO!! NO WAY!! YOU DIDN'T-"
"APRIL FUCKING FOOLS IDIOT!!" Magnus bursts out in complete laughter and doubles over, unable to contain himself any longer.
Cayde tackles him to the floor and is BEAMING with frustration.
Magnus smiles and lifts his head up, then kisses his husband. "Hope I did a good job. I was afraid I'd never outdo your legacy, or even reach it. But hey. It was my first prank ever. I love you."
"You outdid me by light-years," Cayde tells him. "I'm so proud of you!!!"
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