"Of course, shit is fluid right now but I'll give you a whistle stop tour. That MG3 is good, we need more MG firepower. Get it on the rear roof, we are going to need it if they decide to rush the rear gate. Tell the men that they do not fire unless fired upon or we have someone inside the perimeter, in which case, you've got clearance to mow down anything that moves. We have enough ammunition for around a couple of hours of sustained firefights, after which we're going to be out. Whatever supplies you have, get it off the truck, get it in- get magazine counts done, make sure your forces are tip top. Oh, and carry on wearing the blue helmets. It's probably keeping you more alive than ours." Lewis added, a little quick in explaining things, as he looked around at him. "We might be stupid...but we aren't giving in without a fight...at least for the people over there, we're keeping them safe." ------ Ochoa and Elizabeth walked up, headed back to her office, the ambassador frank in how she spoke to Ochoa. "Your position is frail, you know you put a lot of people at risk coming here. Lucky that they gave us the clear to let you in when things collapsed." She said, the wise woman knowing Ochoa was not going to like what she had to simply say. "Let me be honest, we only need time to re-organize a defensive of the city, the Palace is being watched, I swear. So from here, we can stop that bastard from advancing any further." He replied, Elizabeth shaking her head, as Ochoa turned to her. Walking into the room, Elizabeth drew a chair for Ochoa, as she moved around, the sight of the looming Russian bodyguard close to them intimidating Elizabeth a little. "Well, he made it this far. We can't let your democratically elected government collapse, it sends a message that we don't support our allies. I'm still talking to Washington, but they're not going to have anything to support you immediately. It's up to the UN to clean this up right now, it's a political nightmare." She said frankly, as Ochoa cursed. "Well, you must ask more! Cortes is working with the Cartels, he's pumping cocaine through my beloved country and ideas of Anarchy! Surely they must understand, he will turn the country to ruin, kill all the foreigners!" Ochoa exclaimed, as Elizabeth could only look back, feeling sorry to say it to her good friend. "I wish I could say it's going to happen, Augustin. But in the short term, we have to hold the embassy. Then, we can think about leaving . You're a guest here, and I protect those people down there as much as I will protect you. They won't storm this place, not without thinking twice about killing a foreign dignitary." She said, as Ochoa nodded, looking back across at the ambassador. "You believe so?" "They might be barbarians, but I believe we must stand firm. Not give in, or else you will end up dead." She was honest, but couldn't deny what was going on. "As far as I've heard from the CIA, you've got mercenary groups all over the place. You're paying people to fight for you. If they turn, you better not any backblast. You might be the leader of Valverde, elected and proud, but I've seen enough mercenaries defect." She added, as Ochoa took a cigar out, Elizabeth sliding a lighter across the poorly lit desk. "They will stand, the people will rally back once they know I am well and safe." Ochoa added, lighting the cigar, taking a strong puff. He offered it out to Elizabeth, but she put her hand up, rather sheepishly- cigars were not her play. "No, thanks. I suppose anything that works for you to keep your mind off it, Augustin. We will do whatever we can." The sound of boots around the corner echoed in the corridor, as Lewis ran in. "Ambassador, we've got a situation. I hate to interrupt, but we've got four British nationals with guns pointed to their heads, and they want Ochoa out if we do not comply in 15 minutes." "The fuckers! Okay, I'm with you, Lewis." --- 1103 The situation outside was one that immediately had escalated, and two minutes had passed. Already, the mobilized Marines and men were swarming, as Lewis could only look on at the front gate, not seeing their position. "We can't shoot them, Commander- Jackson guesses even if we kill Loos from a sniper round, we aren't going to stop their deaths." Sanderson said, the M249 carring Marine looking over at Lewis's concerned figure, as he looked back towards the gate, from this perspective in the lobby. "Fuck. Well, we haven't got much chance then. Loos won't get Ochoa, no matter what. Okay, what can we do? Fuck." Lewis thought, looking back, as he turned to Elizabeth, who was looking on at the whole scene with interest, just wondering and observing what could be done. "Last time a set of journalists was killed in Syria, we started to increase our airstrikes. However you feel about them, we're not giving in. They're not Americans, they're journalists for a Brit news room, being sent to a warzone with no understanding of how dangerous the situation is here. Four men for Ochoa, it's not possible. The BBC will feel guilty for sending them to their deaths, and any ultimatum they send to us will be something Washington can cover. They should be able to, at least. The British can hate us, but at the end of the day, they aren't on the ground helping us. Rees left three weeks ago with his whole staff, Special Forces in tow." She said, walking up to Lewis, looking over the balcony, the mention of the British ambassador rekindling a thought for Elizabeth. "If you can save them without compromising this embassy, you have my authorization, Commander. Do whatever is needed to get them on our side of the fence, but if you put a single person inside this embassy at risk, we need not talk of consequences. You best get to work, Commander, don't fucking spare them if you get the chance." She said, her tongue vicious, her occasional curse having a strong and passionate definition, with no understatement drawn from it. "Understood, Ambassador. I would advise you head to the safe room till we're clear, we'll do whatever we can to get them back." "I'm not heading to the safe room, I'm going to watch. Ochoa can if he wants, I'm going to observe the cameras, whatever have left of them." --- 1106 Time had ticked, and Lewis had rallied over a couple of the Estonians, including Eduard, assembling at least six other men including Eduard from various parts of the defensive, happening over barely a few minutes. He had two marines, and two mercenaries, the outfit looking exceptionally varied. "Situation is clear, we've got four hostages, and at least five men, minimum. I would guess it's a 20 man contingent at worst, armed with various rifles and SMGs, and they aren't fucking around. Grenades, knives. Loos isn't a local, so expect him to be trained. Crazy Dutch bastard." He said, as he loaded a magazine into his rifle, before pointing to the map of the Embassy, the high resolution floor plan and surrounding area map allowing him to get an understanding of minute, fickle positions. It was good that they had this- otherwise, they would be in the dark on what would go on beyond these walls. "So I suggest we make some smoke and mirrors. We'll need to dragnet Loos into the open, and take his eye off the ball. He seems like the smart one, the others, we don't know. But if we assume that he's the talker and thinker, the rest might be easy to snap up. Me and Ramon will head to the front gate, and negotiate. Sergeant Alvar, you'll take Pvt Hopkins, Cpl Harris, Pedro and your Estonian, head to the rear gate. You'll lob a smoke cover out, and my marksmen will get you out the back, there is a path around the barbed wire that means you won't die, and you'll need to clamber the gate- we've got a rope. You'll need to get around, and give a distraction. Me and Ramon will keep Loos fixed, and you'll outflank him. There is a strong possibility that if shit hits the fan, you're going to be on the other side of the embassy wall if this goes wrong, and or me and Ramon going to get shot at. But anything that takes their attention from those journalists is good. They're innocent fucking people, they don't deserve to be in the crossfire of this mess. Elizabeth may think little, but I am not letting them fucking die for the sake of some political bullshit, and we've got the clear for this. So let me be clear when I say we go and fucking save them." Lewis simply said, a corresponding nod from Hopkins and Harris, both armed with M4s. Looking across, he knew that two mercenaries, Pedro and Ramon, were probably not too pleased about this whole affair- and while only armed with MP5s, were still more than capable to go and get the job done. 1stSgt Bastion had learned that Alvar was an infantry leader from one of the other Estonians, letting him tell Alvar about himself, as briefly as they could in the twenty minutes that they'd spent here. "If all goes well, we kill Loos, or at the very least, make sure he backs off. Nobody needs to die, if you do it right. Use your better judgement, Eduard. Get them through the front gate, run back in, and fucking pray that they don't go back. If Loos is reasonable, he'll come to his senses. If not, a 5.56 or 7.62 will help clear his mind." He added, looking across at Alvar, his 2IC in this work. "So, you got anything to add? Grab whatever you need, our kit is yours, we might have little 7.62s but you can loot a mag or two if you need it." Lewis engaged the Aimpoint on his weapon, pulling the stock out a little, as he looked over to the Estonian.