Max had finished up with the GEAR, happy with the state of affairs with his equipment. The webbing-styled equipment containers would be helpful to carry in more gear but mounted on a GEAR, he was aware of the effects it would have. Still, Max had carried worse under a GFDS, he had to remind himself of that. Despite being relatively young compared to the silver fox leading this team, he was aware of that bit of kit. He could leave it for now though, wanting to get a bit of time to himself- all his jobs for the moment finished. GEAR ready, weapons prepared, DZ discussed and any other bits of logistics organised. The team would have a vehicle to use when they were on the ground, and that trailer too would be a help for keeping the team armed up. Of course, Max knew that Viper would want to minimise it, so he could divide them into two- Anna and Logan worked well together as a hunter-killer team, with Maxine at the wheel of whatever vehicle they had. Heading inside the tiny room he'd been assigned back in the barracks of the military site they were on, he checked over his pilot's suit, the modified type he used when disembarking the GEAR, as well as a spare baseball cap to keep with him on disembarkation from the GEAR. He didn't like the heavy pilot's helmet for lighter infantry work, even though it could be a lifesaver in CQC situations- so it stayed on when he was breaching or entering buildings. For sniping, or any other type of marksman work he prefered the tan-coloured baseball cap over his faerie locks to keep the sun off his eyes and keep his hair from going everywhere. One disadvantage he reminded himself, of choosing the counterculture was that man, it was a lot of work. So much for sticking it to the man... With that, the lion made up his bed and threw himself on top of his sheets, leaning back against his pillow and looking up at the walls, sighing. This was the life he'd chosen alright, the one that involved putting himself on the line for Solernia. It never felt like that though entirely. It was more for the people he worked with, and because it protected people. In some weird ways, he was like his brothers and sisters, following their example. For the greater good, but in his own, chaotic and strange way. Perhaps that was why they accepted him for what he was, even as reluctantly as they did. Max didn't like to dwell on it much, given the fact that he had a mission coming up that was going to be rough as hell. Urban combat in a GEAR was not as easy as some people made it out to be, it was gruelling, tough and required a lot of mental willpower. So a bit of rest was gonna come in handy right now. The lion would happily kill someone for a couple more hours of nap time. But this was just gonna have to do. ---- A little later on and the rest of Viper were finishing up in the armoury and signing out their weaponry, the sight of them mean as they stood in their little corner. It was nearly go-time for this operation, and they were getting their last touches on after finishing up their work. Viper Team were clearly their own thing, an odd assortment of people Max had clearly trusted, even in spite of their flaws. looking on at Python coming in and grabbing their own small-arms. Without Max, the team kept to themselves but on this occasion, dared to venture over, the black jaguar, the flemish giant and the red squirrel tooled up in their battle dress. The grey-golden camoflage pattern was a little different, though not distinctive, the team tooled up in modular lightweight body armour and carrying their tactical combat helmets. "Hello, Python. Corporal Anna-Marina Caldeira, at your disposal. This is PFC Kestrel, and Specialist Maxine Pavard. Your reconaissance people. We'll keep out of your way, just don't make too much noise around ours." Anna was blunt, very couth yet almost direct to the point, the black-skinned jaguar as elusive as many had heard her out to be. Most CO's had lost patience with her- Anna was highly intelligent yet was almost to the point of running on absolutes, with a sarky sense of humour that pissed off a lot of people. It made her incredibly efficient at what she did as someone who often had to kill in cold blood, but there was a very good reason she'd never gone any further in the RSDF than she had. Her people skills were awful, especially with new people- her interactions were minimal and her circle of people she was willing to truly banter with was very small. Max was probably one of the few people that could tame her with his relaxed attitude, and throw just as much shit back at Anna that he got himself. She might have carried on, before Logan walked forwards, the team's squirrel nodding as he chuckled. "Don't mind her, guys. She's....well, a bit awkward? Cold killer cat, and all that. I'm the cool one." Logan added on, Maxine shaking her head, the team's rabbit walked forwards and introducing herself before Logan could do any more damage. "Speak for yourself about being awkward, Logan? Anyway, Anna's right on that one. She's our resident grenadier, and inifiltrator when we need her to help out. Incredibly talented at it, and as she says, Anna tends to work more in the shadows. I'm the team medic, whilst Logan mostly works with a laser designator and explosives. Been doing this for about two years with Max now- he spearheads what we do with a little more ranged firepower. So yeah, we're a little odd, but we're a good bunch!" She added to Python, Maxine's friendly demeanour almost at a direct contrast to Anna's sour-faced attitude, the jaguar sighing at Maxine's constant optimism. While Logan seemed to have a youthful energy that came wie, Maxine was more experienced and upbeat because she'd seen the horrible side of it. She kept upbeat, even though Max walked in mid conversation, looking across to Python as he grabbed his M23 ISS, the M8A variant he'd picked and the rest of the webbing that went with his pilot's combat suit from the racking, keeping quiet as the others chatted. He had to admit, it waas nice that "Hey up, Python. Hope they haven't scared you too much. I wouldn't call them harmless, the very opposite of it in fact. Don't be shocked if you see them following close to the end of your wing surfaces....so no sudden moves, yeah?" Max added, chuckling as Anna looked up to the tall lion, who took a seat on an ammo crate. "Drop point is gonna be interesting. It's a fairly tight LZ, more close in than I'd like, but it remains our best option for where we're going." Max started, looking across to his own team, before looking back to Python. "Just as a heads up with the kit we're using...the GDFS is a great tool, but remember, you're not a jet fighter in one. I know we've all trained with one, probably even used them a lot, but when you limber it with equipment and go through turbulent clouds into territory that might not be friendly, it's very, very different. The system glides very nicely, but only at a rate of three-to-one at maximum- so you'll fall out of the sky if you try and keep it too flat on the horizon...especially with the weight we're all carrying. "There's a lot of stabilisation tech that the GFDS module contains, but that only works when we don't do anything stupid, for three minutes we can all do that. No rolls, for fuck's sake. Also, don't be tempted to reach for the deployment handle too soon to put us into radar view- the parachutes can effectively deploy at 750 feet with plenty of time to spare, just under radar ceiling, and minimising the time you're gonna be helpless to AA, AT and anything nasty. Remember to bloody well pull it though. Metal box or not, the ground will make you go splat. Go over your drills if you have to on malfunctions and spins with the glider. I don't know much about GEARs, but I know that system like the back of my hand....so take that from someone who's done the mistakes already." Max commented to the team, hoping they'd heed his words. He certainly listened to Silverwind, but the GFDS was his little niche, like the Corvid, a niche that the lion had been involved with heavily. He looked across to Colonel Blade, and the rest of Python, Viper and Max both ready to get moving out.