<div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">As you watch, a man with a rifle drags a woman out of a house, she's screaming as he takes her toward one of the trucks. A man, husband perhaps, suddenly runs forward, an axe in his hand. One of the gunmen unloads a volley of rounds into him, his body jerking with the impacts and collapsing to the ground, the men continuing their work without missing a step.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>J.D.'s hands squeezed reflexively into fists, so tight that his knuckles turned white inside his gloves.  Busy surveying the scene, he'd been caught off-guard by the burst of gunfire, and that hesitation had cost a human life.  He wanted to pull his own hair out or smash his skull into a wall.  Fortunately, there were enemies around for him to vent his turbulent feelings on.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">"JD, circle around clockwise, get in front of the trucks. Wait for me and Oscar to engage, then do what you can to disable the trucks ..."</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>The mask over his face concealed the youth's displeasure with Athena's orders, but by the time he had thought to protest, she'd already started walking away with Oscar in tow.  Another slow response, more lives put at risk for no reason; the speedster was beginning to realize that the biggest limitation on his fantastic powers was his own mind, which, in spite of his above-average intelligence, processed information at a snail's pace compared to how fast he could move.<br/><br/>It seemed, however, that the newcomer to the group was faster to assess the situation than he was, and she shared his opinion that it was a waste of his talents to have him standing around, waiting on the others.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">"... Can he not take out the soldiers and cars at one time?"</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Captain Keyes stopped in her tracks and turned back around to give Voltaje a most disapproving glare, saying with a level firmness, "We work in pairs ... <br/><br/>"JD, you have your orders. Go. ..."</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">"JD, take keys and lift hoods.  Sometimes they use tires that don't slash."</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>He cursed under his breath as he dashed off, without even thinking about Voltaje and whether she would be able to follow.  It was bad enough following hasty, unexplained orders from the team's leader, much less taking advice from some tagalong stranger.  He assumed again that it was his youth that made the others give him such short shrift.<br/><br/>Seconds later, Happy was hidden behind a concrete shed, just a few yards from the idling trucks.<em>'Why the fuck does she want me to wait around?  Damn tight-ass military with all their big orders, thinking they always know what's best.  Maybe Athena's not so different after all ... Shit!  I could have disarmed the whole lot of 'em by now!'</em><br/><br/>The youngster seethed quietly and resolved to make some Bolivian thugs pay for his teammates' bossiness.  Listening for the others to start their attack, he scowled and tried to ignore the right side of his field of vision, where someone's husband or father lay crumpled in a heap, amidst a spreading pool of red.<br/>