<div class="floatleft">(http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01671/SNN1201AA-_1671482a.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Jodie Tough (NPC)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>In the shack</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>the IF team</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Bluffing</td></tr></tbody></table><br/><hr/>Jodie had almost reached the top. Only one turn and she would have the entire area spread in front of her eyes. Just as she was about to get out of the turn, the short-range radar of her bionic eye detected something. At the same moment she saw two camouflaged persons stand up on each side of the road. At the same moment it felt as if her bike had hit an invisible obstacle. Feeling the front wheel pushed aside she strongly counter-acted the movement to prevent the bike from falling. At that moment she heard a high-pitched squeal coming from the rear wheel while sparks splashed from it in all direction. There is something stuck in the wheel! she cursed.<br/><br/>There was nothing she could do. The powerful bike fell on the flank and skid for another 10 metres on the pavement before coming to a halt. As soon as she saw that it would be impossible to redress the bike Jodie kicked it and ejected herself. She absorbed the impact of her fall by rolling a couple of time in the grass by the side of the road. The kevlar of her outfit had efficiently protected her skin. At the same time her cranial implant was vainly trying to send an emergency message to the securized communication system of the Château. Something was wrong. Normally, she would be well into the range of the antenna.<br/><br/>She knelt up, her head spinning. Fortunately, her bionic eye was not affected by the weaknesses of the inner ear and its short-range radar had already picked up all metallic objects in her field of sight, those looking like weapons were flashing in red. There was a girl in the process of shouldering a sniper's gun. she would probably need another second or two to adjust her aim. The second one was more immediately dangerous as he was running at her.<br/><br/>Mechanically, Jodie's hand had moved to her hip and drawn her handgun. Her bionic eye had already targeted the one who was running. As she aimed her gun at him, the system indicated how to adjust her aim, which was a bit off due to her dizziness. She shot three times in quick succession, aiming at the face, reducing it to a mangle of blood and bones.<br/><br/>She then turned toward the sniper who was releasing the security of her gun, the barrel of her gun nearly reduced to a single black hole. Jodie rolled sidewards twice to break the Asian's aim. She knew that snipers were usually working from afar, unseen, calm. In a face-to-face duel, they could be too stressed to act normally. At least she hoped so...<br/><br/>Kneeling up again, she stabilised her armed arm on her knee, and shot two more bullets at her enemy, once again helped by her targeting system. The first bullet must have entered the barrel of the sniper's gun as she suddenly saw it exploding. She still shot a second bullet in her heart, just in case.<br/><br/>At that moment she felt a brutal yank on her hair and she was thrown on her back. Before she had the time to react, something heavy landed on her chest and pinned her down against the road. Her head banged hard against the ground, making her see stars. The first thing she saw when he vision cleared was the muzzle of a gun pointed at her nose. Behind was a woman, straddling her upper chest, her knees pinning her arms down.<br/><br/>Jodie Tough had been in too many fights not to recognize and expert when she saw one. She also knew that her situation was hopeless and resisting would only get her maimed or killed. Her feeling had been right. There was something amiss, but now this was hardly comforting her.<br/><br/>She felt a hand in her hair, grabbing it, and just as Lawton lifted her butt slightly off her torso, Jodie was yanked to her feet, grimacing from the pain in her scalp. The handgun and knife she carried on her belt were taken from her and she was hurried into the shack, bent over, yanked by her hair.<br/><br/>Thanks to her years of training the mercenary was remaining calm. A plan was forming in her brains. But the order she was given took her aback.<br/><br/>"Why?" was all she managed to find to reply to the order of remove her kevlar, tight-fitting outfit.<br/><br/>She looked at Lawton. Might she be a Lesbian? that was quite probable. As she reflected about it, Lawton hit her with her gun and Jodie felt pain in her cheek. Without a word, keeping her glaring eyes fixed into Lawton's she brought her fingers to her cheek and briefly glanced at the blood on them.<br/><br/><strong>"Calm down. In a moment, seeing that I do not answer to their calls, my comrade will know there is something amiss, and they you'll be in deep shit up to the eyes. Whatever you do now, your mission is a failure. You may pour your frustration on me, but you'd better disengage and disappear while you still have the time to do it."</strong><br/><br/>She spoke in a very calm voice as she exposed her bluff. She had been in such missions. She knew how it felt to be discovered when everything rested on secrecy and surprise. Surprise was everything in such cases. In similar occasion she had herself given the order to disengage just because surprise had been lost, to save the life of her men and hers. This woman here would probably act no differently, or at least so Jodie hoped. But she must convince her that their presence would soon be known.