[center][h3][color=39b54a]Trevor "Shadow" Stevens[/color][/h3][/center] Trevor noticed how Maisy looked at him after the interrogation, [i]“something to discuss later”[/i] he thought as he got himself and his crew ready. A small strike team with him and Maisy, he only had a little objection from them as they got ready, but he assured his team that she wouldn’t be coming with them for the combat phase most agreed she would only get in the way. A harsh reality, but he honestly wasn’t going to say anything to her about it, he didn’t need another injury. They didn’t have to wait much longer before they headed out with the information gathered from the raider. It was a small team, the five from his team, himself, Maisy, and a couple of troopers who had proved themselves to be reliable and quiet. Their job mostly was just to stick with Maisy, Trevor couldn’t remember their names and just referred to them as Steve and Jeff. The road towards the barge was quiet, they road their mounts slowly taking a longer route across the high ground and through a few creeks. They had only been riding for thirteen miles east when they spotted the small plume of white smoke coming from a nearby park. They dismounted and left the troopers with the horses before approaching the small hill where the old train tracks rested, several old lumber carts still rested along the tracks a few hundred feet down the line. Specter was the first to crawl up to the berm and motion for the others to follow, with a low crawl they all popped their heads up, so they could see. A barge had been marooned and tied off to an old dock down on the shore of the old park. A few small Conn ex boxes rested on the old thing, their doors broken off or forced open and being used as shelters for what looked like a small camp of raiders. In what was once an old parking lot several mistreated horses wandered around a small area that was hastily put up. The small group being satisfied with what they saw slowly backed down from the berm and looked to each other, “[color=39b54a]what do you guys think?[/color]” Maisy was the first to speak up, [color=moccasin]“Now, Trevor. I don't give a rat's ass about any caterwauling hootenanny limerick Jain might have--this is my operation. You either have loaded guns or you dig. You always dig. I'm not planting anyone 'neath daisies but the yallers up there after what happened earlier."[/color] The others looked to each other than back at Trevor, "[color=moccasin]See those horses, Trevor? They'll dart off like a jack rabbit if we don't get 'em first. Think you can mop up their plates and keep my horse from being shot out underneath while I gather 'em up?[/color]" the girl sure did like her horses, even if to him some looked like they would be better for eating then keeping. The others looked to each other and shrugged, Trevor looked to Maisy and smiled, “[color=39b54a]Will do, but remember you’re on our schedule.[/color]” He didn’t mean to sound demanding, but he knew his guys and knew they didn’t have too much time, so he quickly put a plan together and looked to the others. “[color=39b54a]Alright plan is to drop back down the road a little ways and drop over the side to the river bank. From there we will work our way up river, low and slow like.[/color]” He looked around at all of them to make sure they were all listening and to give him a moment to think. “[color=39b54a]Maze once the killing starts, I’m going to leave it up to your best judgment of when to swoop in for the horses. I recommended doing it if they are alerted to our presence. That way you would be a distraction.[/color]” Again the man smiled and looked to them, [color=39b54a]“everyone good with that?”[/color] subtle nods of approval from his squad was all he needed to continue, “[color=39b54a]Alright then, let’s get this done and hopefully be done and back at camp by sunset.[/color]” The small group moved back to their horses, and he gave a wink and a smile to Maisy as him and his crew slowly trotted off down the high way. --------------------------------------- It didn’t take the team very long to get out of eyesight of the barge, the ground down to the river was loose with only a few stones rolling down the hill into the river below. The deep blue water of the shore line was rather clear and rocky, the water cold from snow melt made them breath deeper once they entered it. That cold shock that is responsible for many drownings because people can’t get their breathing right before trying to swim to shore or back to the boat. The group spent some time in the water, getting used to the temperature before moving out slowly up the river. The swim was rather nice but slow, there was a bit of wind on the river, so they didn’t need to worry about ripples but still had to worry about sound and sight. It took them fifteen minutes to get back up to the first dyke. The low vegetation provided ample cover for the ill prepared bandits over the next berm, a few small pine trees did give them good cover while they crossed one at a time over the barrier and back into the water. When they got to the next berm they slowly crawled up the embankment spread out carefully Siren and Ifirit had their short bows at the ready with Specter up in front and the rest with weapons drawn ready for a fight. Specter got to the top and could see a few of these raiders lounging around on the barge, some looked like they were napping in the sun a few others had fishing poles and seemed to be cleaning some of their things. A few others seemed to be patrolling around out front with spears and other crude melee weapons. But none of them could see what was in the containers they had opened, that would be difficult to assess. Specter slowly backed down and turned to the others making various hand signals to explain what he saw, from the weapons to how many they had walking around. Slowly they all looked to one another, the simple nods, facial expressions, and body language said a lot about them and how they were trained to carry on a conversation without a word to one another. Eventually they moved into position, Ifirit, Siren, Xena, and Specter would engage them at range until they got privy to where they were and draw them into Guru and Trevor who would be waiting for them to come in and attack. At that time Xena would then stop attacking at ranged and then come in to help out with the melee. It only took the team a few seconds to get into position before they started their attack, the first few shots were targeted. Shooting for the ones that were awake prioritizing the big guys or the ones with the good weapons. The first volley all found their mark, screams of pain and alarm filled the air as the ones that were hit and weren’t killed cried out. The second volley was the same, more hits, more confusion, and more death. It wasn’t until after the third volley that they started to take cover and notice where the arrows and bolts were coming from, but by that time their fighting force had been reduced to half. [@RumikoOhara][@Poi]