[center] [img]http://i.imgur.com/r6aI2yV.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/bO2UWRJ.jpg[/img] [h2][i]The Gang's All Here[/i][/h2] [color=00aeef][b]Carmen - "Phoenix"[/b][/color] | [color=39b54a][b]Hakeem - "Magnum"[/b][/color] | [color=0054a6][b]Kevante - "Boss"[/b][/color] | [color=662d91][b]Sukaina - "Lightning"[/b][/color] | [color=B5B5B5][b]Victor - "Tempo"[/b][/color] | [color=B5B5B5][b]Liana - "Apex"[/b][/color] | [color=B5B5B5][b]Laurent - "Drake"[/b][/color] | [color=B5B5B5][b]Constance - "Jarhead"[/b][/color] Hudson Tactical Office - Hudson Valley, Upstate New York [i]One month prior to current events[/i] [hr] [/center] Things were just starting to settle down after a while. Out in the beautiful valley known only as Hudson Valley, quite a few miles north of New York City, resided a modern office building, situated in the forests near the Hudson River. The [url=http://rbblog.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/30-house-in-the-forest-view-1-juan-k-torres.jpg]building itself[/url] was large and modern, using the forest itself as cover and the architectural design to survive all kinds of stuff. A large parking lot and an underground garage had quite a few vehicles there, and at the front of the building had a massive sign that had the logo of [i]Hudson Tactical[/i], the owner of this large plot of land. It was quiet, and while there were quite a few vehicles that were parked there, there was barely any movement, except for a squirrel every now and then, and the wind of the trees. It was calm and quiet... away from everything, all in secret. A hidden drive that went through the forest went for at least a mile, that mile being watched with scrutiny from security cameras and sensors mounted on many different trees. The drive led to the parking lot, linking it to the outside world, on a small countryside road that led to the highway which led to New York City. Coming over the hill on the country road was a [url=http://www.cherokeeforum.com/attachments/f39/174741d1360909729t-stolen-black-1999-jeep-cherokee-classic-chicago-area-imag0629.jpg]black Jeep Cherokee[/url], driven by none other than Carmen Chavana herself. Sitting by her side was Hakeem Ansari, her new partner. Both of them were wearing comfortable leather jackets, the not-so-shiny but very tough kind, concealing their shoulder holsters that held their gear and .45 ACP-chambered handguns. While Hakeem wore jeans, Carmen wore black carpenter pants, as she preferred them to just about anything else. Making a sharp right into the hidden dirt path through the forest, the hardy Cherokee seamlessly and quickly drove into the forest, to disappear from the road behind it. [color=00aeef][b]"Man, it feels so nice to be back... man... feels like [i]forever[/i] since I last been here."[/b][/color] Carmen said with a refreshed sigh, having her windows rolled down as the Jeep rocked back and forth from the fast bumps in the path. [b][color=00aeef]"Man... never knew I was gonna miss this place so much."[/color][/b] [b][color=39b54a]"You Americans take your environment for granted."[/color][/b] Hakeem said, looking all around. [b][color=39b54a]"I've never seen so many trees... places like this are incredibly rare in Syria and Iraq... I don't think Egypt has any."[/color][/b] [b][color=00aeef]"Well you better take it all in while you can, we won't be around for long."[/color][/b] Carmen said. [b][color=00aeef]"We'll be doing a whole lot of our work in the hood."[/color][/b] [color=39b54a][b]"Yeah, I saw it... man what a huge place."[/b][/color] Hakeem chuckled. [color=39b54a][b]"It's amazing."[/b][/color] [b][color=00aeef]"You'll get used to it, and you'll start hating it."[/color][/b] Carmen chuckled. [color=00aeef][b]"Just watch. In a few months, you're gonna owe me fifty bucks."[/b][/color] Hakeem looked to Carmen. [color=39b54a][b]"Oh really now? You Americans are incredibly arrogant as well."[/b][/color] He said with a joking grin. [color=00aeef][b]"You say that like it's a bad thing."[/b][/color] Carmen smirked. [color=00aeef][b]"I call it [i]confidence."[/i][/b][/color] [color=39b54a][b]"Pfft. Call it whatever you like. I'm not gonna owe you anything."[/b][/color] [b][color=00aeef]"We'll see about that."[/color][/b] Carmen looked ahead. [color=00aeef][b]"Oh, here we are."[/b][/color] The parking lot itself was made out of dirt, and there were quite a few vehicles already parked there. Carmen parked near the entrance before unbuckling her seatbelt and exiting the vehicle. Shutting the door behind her, she walked up to the building, and buzzed herself inside. [hr] Meanwhile, in a large modern boardroom with a massive window in the back, and huge flatscreen TV in the front, Kevante stood at the front of the table, wearing a suit. Sitting at the table was Sukaina, Victor, Liana, Laurent and Constance, all of whom were the original members of Hudson Tactical when it recently started. While Sukaina was typing away at her laptop, everyone else was sitting around the oval table, paying attention to what Kevante had to say. They were all wearing various dark-colored shirts and jackets, some of them with the Hudson Tactical logo on them, others with their codename on them. Either way, it was one hell of a gang. [color=0054a6][b]"I brought you all here to address an important issue."[/b][/color] Kevante said, putting his hands together and rubbing them a little. [color=0054a6][b]"While are no short in resources of any kind, we're just kind of low on manpower, and as a result, we can't bring in as much contracts as we'd like."[/b][/color] Kevante said. [color=B5B5B5][b]"Yes, that is a problem jefe..."[/b][/color] Victor said, his spanish accent revealing itself with his deep voice. [color=B5B5B5][b]"... but how does that concern us?"[/b][/color] [b][color=0054a6]"I think it's mainly the fact that all of you have a stake in the company and are de facto CEOs, so you all pretty much have somewhat of a say of how I go about solving this problem."[/color][/b] Kevante explained. [b][color=B5B5B5]"Oh."[/color][/b] Victor said, pleasantly surprised. [color=B5B5B5][b]"Okay."[/b][/color] [color=0054a6][b]"But yeah, we're low on manpower, and we're going to have to recruit some more skilled individuals who could help us bring in some more contracts, and what I'm gonna need you to do is to refer this company to any trusted associate you have. Whether it would be fellow squadmates from your unit..."[/b][/color] Kevante said, gesturing to Constance.[color=0054a6][b] "... or trusted members of your gang..."[/b][/color] Kevante said as he looked to Victor. [color=0054a6][b]"... or even trusted associates that have done contracts with you."[/b][/color] Kevante said, eyeing Liana. [color=0054a6][b]"Either way, the work here we do is dirty, but we're doing the dirty work for the good guys. So while I do want tough motherfuckers that know how to shoot straight, I wanna make sure that they aren't hellbent on raping or murdering innocent folks or shooting those that we are doing our contracts for. Do I make myself clear?"[/b][/color] Everyone nodded slowly. [color=0054a6][b]"Now, I have another thing I'd like to address. Carmen is on her way here, and she should be here any min-"[/b][/color] The door slammed open, Carmen making a loud entrance into the boardroom. She walked in with Hakeem at her side, and after both of them stood there with hands on their hips, Carmen looked to everyone. [color=00aeef][b]"I'm back, fucknuggets~! Didja miss me?"[/b][/color] Carmen called out happily. Kevante stood there, stunned for a second before continuing. [color=0054a6][b]"Oh, uh... Constance, Laurent, this is Carmen, the founder of this group. Both her and I share equal power in this thing so you are to follow all of her orders as if they were mine. Understood?"[/b][/color] Both Laurent and Constance nodded slowly. Carmen smiled to the both of them. [color=00aeef][b]"Hey guys, welcome to the team, it's really nice to have you here, and I really mean it. I already went over both of your personnel records, and I am really happy to have you both with us on the team."[/b][/color] Carmen nodded to them, [color=00aeef][b]"I'll talk with you guys later, but for now I got some important shit to discuss."[/b][/color] She then turned to everyone else. [color=00aeef][b]"Everyone, this is my new partner Hakeem. This guy has the ability to create telekinetic bursts and shit. We won't test it in here as he might break something incredibly expensive if he did, but his power is awesome and we fucked up a shit ton of terrorists by working together."[/b][/color] Carmen explained. [color=00aeef][b]"And now that I'm back, we're gonna be busting ass for like the next few weeks, and we're gonna be forking in a shit ton of cash."[/b][/color] She said. [color=00aeef][b]"I'll discuss operations with you all later... and..."[/b][/color] She looked to Kevante. [color=00aeef][b]"What were you talking about before I barged in?"[/b][/color] [color=0054a6][b]"We were talking about how we should go about recruiting more people into Hudson Tactical."[/b][/color] [color=00aeef][b]"Oh yeah, right."[/b][/color] She turned to the others. [color=00aeef][b]"Yeah, we really, [i]really[/i] need to bring in some more operatives for this, and I can't stress this enough. Now that we can do the shit we normally do, but now with more cash and without legal issues, we can actually make a difference and earn ourselves shit tones of cash. So yeah. In short, while I'm back, Kevante's still in charge of shit around here, and we're expanding the fuck out of this bitch. And also please take it easy on Hakeem. He's new to this whole American Experience so don't pick on him."[/b][/color] [color=B5B5B5][b]"So was I. He has nothing to worry about."[/b][/color] Laurent's deep French accent spoke. Kevante looked to Carmen. [color=0054a6][b]"Before you go, I want to address one final thing."[/b][/color] He said. [color=0054a6][b]"Since we're expanding, we're going to have to purge a whole lot our nominal data. From now on, we're going to be using our codenames while on-duty. We'll be having another discussion on that later during the transition process. I'll have Sukaina make new IDs for you all in the process as well."[/b][/color] Kevante explained. [color=0054a6][b]"That's all for now. You're all free to go."[/b][/color] Carmen gave a knowing smile to Hakeem. [color=00aeef][b]"C'mon, hermano. I'm gonna show you the ropes around here."[/b][/color]