Thinking back, there were so many things wrong with his original plan. It had worked well enough, though, and two years later...
Sai looked at his group with the pride of a parent. The hundreds of men who stood alongside him had risked everything, defecting from the military to join a cause, his cause. It was mind-boggling.
Of course, it wasn’t really his group. It had been his originally, but she had done it all. It was to her that the men (And this was a lie; there were approximately thirty women within the group) showed undying loyalty towards. Except it was more of a shared custody. Sai was sometimes just one of the guys; she’d rallied them together, made them feel like scum and then recruited them. She made sure that everyone was provided for and felt safe; as safe as anyone could feel in a rebel camp. A big rebel camp, but still a rebel camp.
Kalio was Mom. Assuming that Mom had a laser-guided sniper rifle that could take your head off in a single shot. And she never missed.
Something odd twisted in his stomach these days, watching her order people around like a pro. She could guilt-trip anyone into doing anything, with a little work. She’d made him clean the barracks last week, and he hadn’t even thought of resisting. Kalio was scarier than ever. And there were missions of a sort. Times where they had to lead squads out into the unknown, battered weapons at hand. They’d established themselves as a nuisance; a big one. They trashed bases, stole supplies. He served as leader, for whatever reason, the pillar of strength. He couldn’t help feeling like a hotshot. He gave the dramatic, awe-inspiring speeches. And while he did so, his skin crawled; because whenever he looked, she was there in the corner, leaning against the wall with blue eyes affixed to him.
He was the youngest male in the entire group. Over two hundred men, and he was the youngest. It was a bit frightening; at age eighteen, he was leading a rebel army.
Not to mention the mutation he still hid.
Kalio didn’t care. She’d driven that point home several times. She also felt that everyone else wouldn’t care. But still, it worried Sai. Everyone else within the camp was a normal human being.
Today, they were going out on another strike. He’d left the dented metal podium (His pride and joy, if Kalio was to be believed) after addressing the main group, informing them of their mission. He was dragging out squad four with him, and hopefully everything would go off without a hitch. Now, he shouldered his favoured weapon, a battered but serviceable Uzi, and watched Kalio carefully assemble her sniper’s rifle. He rooted through his clothing, making sure each bullet, serrated blade, and throwing knife was in place. He buckled on the holstered that contained two pistols, as well as the backup grenade he’d never used.
Kalio sighted carefully and shot at a conveniently placed rubble pile. It wasn’t that conveniently  placed; the base was settled firmly in an area formerly used as a scrap metal dumping site. The bullet popped like a firecracker, and ‘tang’ed against a shiny bit of metal untouched by rust, leaving a deep dent and a scratch. The girl grinned faintly. Kalio was an excellent shot with a rifle, and passing well at hand-to-hand combat. Sai would know, she’d kicked him in the face before. However, her aim with knives was poor, and she had trouble adjusting to the kick of smaller guns such as his pistols. To make up for it, perhaps, she wielded his Uzi with deadly accuracy that matched his own.
Sai himself was well trained in several forms of combat; his aim with knives was unbelievably accurate, and his shots came so close to the mark that it didn’t make any difference.  He had enough muscle to pack a severe punch, and backed up those blows with speed. Kalio had beaten him up once. She was faster and stronger than him, sometimes, and it was a bit unnerving. Even worse was that he’d noticed a pattern in when she became inhumanly strong, and how long it lasted. It happened almost like clockwork. Four to five days a month, she could easily destroy anyone else in the group. Then whatever crazy high she’d been on dropped into a low, and she crashed; for a day after that she was completely useless. Also, during this time, she was very irritable, so it was hard to avoid a fight with her. Sai always hid during that week, until she crashed, and then he felt secure enough in his masculinity to leave his room. For a few days afterward she would be the sweetest thing, and he couldn’t avoid her when she was acting like that. It was like some insane magnet... and then the crazy strength came back around and he holed up again.
Sai wondered what this strange situation was and if it had to do with menstruation.
It still startled him to see her kicking around new recruits. She did so quite often, and her kicks held a lot of force. He saw several grumpy looking men with bruises on their cheeks; James was purple still, and Alexander had finally fought off the black eye she gave him. She kicked all the men at some point; it was another reason they feared and respected her, the youngest member of the group. And a woman to boot. She was seventeen, and a menacing fireball of self-righteous fury.
Now, she grinned at him, lowering the rifle and fiddling with the scope. Sai felt an odd mix of relief, anxiety, and embarrassment. Also, he was afraid she would beat on him. He snapped out of it when she spoke. “Almost time, huh?”
“Yeah,” he replied, adjusting the shoulder strap of his gun in the restless manner of one waiting intently. “As soon as they touch down.”
Soon, the whirr of rotor blades could be heard.