Alex Rider pays a visit to Brecon Beacons...

Now look who's boss!

Two years later...
Viper stood, hunched over with his hands on his aching knees. The rushed sound of panting and dripping sweat filled the air. Alex had now been in the SAS for two years and three days exactly. In these two years Viper had completed twenty-three successful missions and, naturally, no unsuccessful ones. He was twenty now, and had only been twenty for a week and three days. It was now February the twenty-third and Alex was recovering from breaking all the previous records on the record list. He looked in wonder at it now.

1. Viper- 9:57
2. Hunter- 10:03
3. Wolf- 11:21
4. Cheetah- 11:57
5. Rat- 12:43

Alex recognised Hunter as his father, who when working with Scorpia called himself Hunter. Obviously the name came from his time in the SAS before he worked for MI6. Alex was out of energy after besting the record that his father had set over twenty years ago. Wolf had only held his for several years but so far no one had beaten either record. Until now.

The assault course was a beast, and Alex knew that. He had pushed himself to the limit after Wolf saying that his 'frail body couldn't complete it in twenty minutes'. However, look how wrong Wolf had been! Viper had beaten him by one minute and twenty-four seconds! The new record holder took a long swig of water from his army-issued bottle and wiped his mouth with his sleeve before turning slowly and deliberately around, smirking, to face Wolf.

"It appears my 'frail body' can complete it in twenty minutes! In fact, I think I might have broken all the previous records! Oh, look at that,"- Viper pointed, grinning now, behind himself to his new record-"it appears that I've just broken your record as well! How amazing is that?" Viper deliberately made the sarcasm drip from his mouth in a waterfall. Wolf stared at him, not comprehending what Alex had just said. When Wolf finally snapped out of his dazed state, his face immediately morphed into one of shock, surprise and pure hatred.

He opened his mouth to speak but before he could let loose a string of colourful swear words, the sergeant shouted, "K-unit is to report to my office immediately!" Wolf turned to look at the sergeant, expecting an angry man staring at him but instead found the sergeant strolling away, shaking his head slowly and muttering quietly, a slight tone of amusement detectable.

Viper smirked at Wolf. "Look who's best now. Maybe it's your frail body that can't complete it in twenty min-"

"We better get going then Viper, Wolf. We don't want to be late!" Fox's statement was met by four simultaneous nods. Fox gave Alex a look that clearly said it was for the best that Alex hadn't finished insulting Wolf, the shorter man had a tendency to get revenge sooner or later.

Eagle, ever the baby of the group, started whining. "Come on, we really can't be late!" He then started dragging the group hurriedly towards the sergeants cabin, across the base. Along the way, the group wondered about why they were being summoned. Eagle was convinced they were being told of and perhaps binned, not that they were aware of any recent antics the hyper soldier had been up to. Wolf thought that perhaps they were being sent on a mission while Snake had decided they were being given leave for some reason, despite none of them having injuries or requesting any. Fox and Viper just kept quiet, contemplating their own reasons.

Finally they reached the cabin, nestled in the woods, where they all stood to attention in front of the sergeant and a visitor. Alex, of course, recognized the visitor. He narrowed his eyes at her, thinking about why she was here, parading her grey suit and stiff, tight-lipped features around camp. Usually it was because he was being sent on a mission, but the whole unit never attended those meetings. He decided to wait and see and on the sergeants command of "At ease soldiers!" Viper relaxed slightly with the rest of his unit, though not completely, he was still wary. "Now, you're probably wondering who the visitor is. I understand Viper and perhaps Fox know already. Please, introduce yourself." These last words were directed to the visitor only. Meanwhile, the remaining members of K-unit were all staring at either Alex or Fox. They were confused and curious, though starting to out the pieces together.

They were all snapped out of their contemplation by the woman's voice piercing the tension. "I am Mrs Jones, deputy head of Military Intelligence Sector Six, Special Operations division. I am here to notify you of the arrival of twenty-four MI6 and CIA operatives who will be here for a month, training for their missions. If you want to know, there are ten female members, while the rest are male. Two large barracks are being used for housing them." She remained eerily emotionless throughout her speech, despite the soldiers reluctant reactions.

"Thank you, Mrs Jones. Now, Viper will be in charge over all of the operatives as he has the most experience of being here as a spy. Fox, you are deputy. They are staying in barracks number 391 and number 1396. As there are twenty-four of them and five of you, D-unit will be helping. One of their members, Shark, sustained a wound in a previous mission. He is currently in the infirmary and the other three can't go on missions because they're one member short. Hyena, Bear and Hawk will be helping you deal with them. They are arriving in.... ten minutes. Good luck. You're going to need it. Dismissed." The sergeant  turned away coolly, ignoring their presence and reorganising his desk, a typical sign they should get the hell out of his office. Jones remained as impassive as ever, staring at Viper with cold eyes.

Outside the cabin, Wolf was furious. "Why on earth is Viper in charge? I'm the team leader!" Wolf's face was a deep shade of crimson and a frown was permanently painted on top of the deep colour.

"It's because, Wolf, Viper is a lot more experienced in the art of keeping cool in situations. As is evident in front of us." Fox was gesturing towards where Wolf, in all his impressive fury, stood next to a perfectly calm Alex. "Viper, unlike you, knows how it feels to be a spy in a camp full of soldiers. He is also experienced in dealing with the bullying you would receive when you come here." What Fox was saying made sense, there might be many more spies coming this time, but it was a universal agreement in soldiers that the spies would never be one of them. Unless, of course, they proved themselves, which was exactly what Viper had done not a month after joining the camp, in his first mission with the unit in Manchester. Saying the assignment had gone south would be an understatement, but miraculously Viper single-handedly got them out alive, earning him respect from the camp.

Fox was right. Alex had been, for the second time, called double-0-nothing. This time it was Monkey, L-units leader, who called him the crude insult. Soon the whole unit was calling him it. Although they all eventually stopped when Alex returned from his first solo mission, a week after the event in Manchester, with a broken arm and dislocated shoulder along with a new bullet wound and numerous cuts, but still made Alex disagreeable at best when they mentioned it. The argument came to an abrupt stop when the loud rumble of a coach came into earshot, and soon after, a coach full of chatty, excited spies. As the doors opened, Alex stepped onto it and was immediately given silence. The coach had typical patterned seats, a filthy floor, and was half filled with young men and women, excitedly glancing at Viper and the camp visible outside. They had no idea what they had coming. Viper coolly addressed the operatives with his famous death-glare. "I'm Viper. Welcome to hell."

_____________________________Authors note
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise from the Alex Rider books.
I've just edited and improved this chapter, and I'd like to ask you, the readers, what you think I need to improve on in this story. I'm not going to completely rewrite these earlier chapters because I'm lazy but I wanted to know what to focus on in new chapters! I was thinking more about Alex's thoughts and his relationship with the unit? But maybe you want something else, interactions in camp, the sergeants/Jones point of view? Please review, I'll read it and reply!
Date published: Tuesday 5th July 2016
Date edited: 11 April 2020
Word Count: 1486