Bethan lobbed Hayden the keys, quite astonished with the haul that was in the truck. High explosives no less, a shitload of mortar rounds, mortars and then some. The sort of firepower that was more than just a gang war, it was conflict-brewing and no doubt going to set the seeds of war up in this crumbling state. As Hayden got the keys, she looked at him with a grimace, sensing more was going on. But for a moment, Bethan had a calm about her, almost a mum-like reassurance, like she was looking directly into that damaged soul that she had seen reflected back at her.

"Don't lose yourself, Hayden. We've all got demons, all we can do is go on better. We're here to kill one man and anyone that stands in our way to him. The others are distractions. The Caddy's yours." Bethan said, sighing as she walked to the front and knocked on the cab, AK in one hand as she sighed and then went back to take a seat, on top of one of the crates. 

The dusty kickup from the truck blew into the road, and into her blonde hair, as she sighed once more, head resting against the canvas, for a brief moment, alone. Bethan's character despite being strong, internally felt conflicted with all she was seeing now. She had fixed people, put people back together and saved lives in Afghan. Bethan had done that without question, and doubled down on her talent. She had been highlighted as being up to SFSG operator standard, and no doubt, she would have made it. Bethan always held that bitterness, that bullshit stopped her going forwards and it just had to be something she swallowed. So it meant her then settling for a mellow life. Nursing, putting old people back together in a hospital in a remote bit of Wales. Running up and down mountains like there was no tomorrow. Some part of her knew what it was to be here, yet she felt like an alien to be back to this, away from the routine job. Like it wasn't her world at all. Bethan with that C8 in her hands in the early morning felt like she knew exactly what she was doing, back at just being an operator again. But here in the bustle of the city and working with other mercs she felt detatched, like the rules were twisted and there was no good to be found in this place. Only the people next to you mattered, and right now, she was even wondering about that. Perhaps it was why SIS had sent her too, a shakedown to see if she had the fortitude to cut it mentally working for them if this panned out. The most fucked up job interview there was perhaps. In her mind she wondered if they wanted to see if Bethan wasn't just a good soldier, but someone willing to do what nobody else did. The more she thought about it, the more the distant Caddy behind the truck came back to mind, as she gulped, realising that Hayden was corresponding more to the outcome that reality more than Bethan wanted to admit. He didn't talk a lot about his past. And Bethan now understood more why, her smarts coming to that conclusion as it began to turn in her head.

But there was no other choice, Bethan reasoned. She had to adapt to this, bite down, and be a good girl about this. It'd work out in the end, it had to. So long as it got her home and out of this mess.

--------

Letting Yekatarina drive, Sean had time to at least think through the mess that had just happened. He kept his pistol at close reach, aware that he would react faster if the man in the middle tried anything, no doubt because he had just winded him and realistically, the guy wasn't gonna get more than one of them. Sean reminded him of that, as Yekatarina seemed quiet, at least for the first bit, winding through traffic. The Russian was quiet, Sean reasoned, well, focussed at the least on the job at hand. Well, until she broke that ice again, asking about what happened. Sean didn't know how to react. He felt like he'd changed, rolled along with what had happened, followed Hayden's lead and well, followed up. He couldn't help but be more rational though, and as fucked up as it was, what she was asking was certainly touching on somehting that he could tell she had gotten direct from Bethan.

"Hah, she told you about what happened? Well...she probably left out the bit where she never asked where the money came from while she worked a job for fuck all money. I never said I was a good guy....but then again, you find a Marine who is. Most of my friends are fucking addicts, homeless, dead or working some mundane 9-5 where they're trying not to let their PTSD kill them, Katarina. Bethan pretends that's not real. So I decided to put my skills to use and be better than that for the sake of us. And it wasn't enough, Katarina. She got tired." Sean asserted, sighing, knowing it was bullshit, but it was half-true. And that was enough for him at least, to keep him going. The other half of it felt like it would come through better to Yekatarina though, easier than it did Bethan. Perhaps the Russian would make her own take of this.

"You know what though, selling drugs....I was good at it. Most dealers are fucking terrible, using their own product, never actually knowing how to think shit through. At the end of the day, it's a product that will never stop being bought, don't matter who supplies it. Anyway, I never wanted to stay in the county lines game for long, I wanted to move onto security for the cartels, had some fellas that were asking about me. They pay a lot for Westerners, a fucking whole lof of money and it's a good life. Coke is very, very lucrative...Bethan and I were already arguing over me looking at contracting work, and we split long before she even knew about what I really did. I got caught because I made the wrong call. And fuck, I wish she wasn't here now because of it." Sean didn't hide any detail now, sighing as he looked to Yekatarina, knowing she would roll her eyes, or perhaps tune into why he had his reasons, poor as they were, moving to the other part of her concern over Hayden.

"Anyway, we did what we needed to do. Not ideal but he did it without saying it, taking prisoners would have been difficult. I reckon we can all work together, keep each other on a lead when we get further into this. We still got a lot more to fucking do, after all. Besides, I can see the fire in your eyes y'know. You seem to get why, like this seems more normal to you than it does her back there. It's a funny world, but a fucked up one we seem to be in." Sean retorted back, watching as Yekatarina took them back towards the compound, back on the smoother roads and back into the confined parking lot. 

Stepping out, Sean pointed his P226 at the former driver's head, motioning him to get out, and the man did as he was shown, quiet but now compliant realising that him and the crew hadn't fucked around. The SAMC mercs that were tarping the truck came over and cuffed him up, applying a zip tie behind his hands and with that, he was gone. The prisoner now gone, Sean had the opportunity to walk back over to Yekatarina, hearing her ask about hierarchy and staying quiet, as Bethan hopped out of the back, following suit to meet the group. While it seemed like Yekatarina was fairly calm in her approach to Hayden, Bethan knew under the surface she had a point- a lot of different plans.
"It seems like the situation evolves here fast. Kinda like the contents of what the gun trucks are bringing. I say we get paid before those munitions start getting used, then get to those discussions eh?" Sean asked, a wry chuckle as he knew that as novel as this Mosin was, he wasn't sure if he'd keep it or get some resale from this rusty piece of crap.