They stood at the ready now, the sky hanging over them in perpetual overcast.

To be fair, the weather being 'against them' wasn't all bad.  This dingy, dirty, wet and soggy day with no sunlight to speak of would do nothing to illuminate them.  They would not be loud, and what little noise they might make would not carry.  Furthermore, they looked about as uninteresting and uncatching of the eye for the most part that the enemy would have to have a pretty good and far from miserable eye to spot anything.  So, on those grounds, this job had its merits.  It was not suicide, out of hand.  It was only suicidal in the [i]general[/i] sense, because of how immediately life-threatening any gunfire would be, whether it was shot out at random to spook people or done with purpose, once they were spotted.  You never can tell where things are going to go.  Isaac personally hoped that the Imps were just as low in moral as their enemy, and that that would allow for this other part of the plan to take place.  He didn't so much as want Middleton's plan to [i]succeed[/i], you understand.  Just for people to not DIE in the process.

Speaking of Captain Grumpus, he was now addressing them as the fog began to thicken heavily.  When he got to the part about not waiting for the trench raiders, Britta gave Isaac a knowing look and he nodded.  They were probably going to ignore the [i]order[/i], not the team.  If they saw people trying to pull themselves out of the fire, there was going to be some damn cover from the other side!  And frankly, no one was going to believe the faux concern Middleton spouted on the same breath as 'ignore the other team', so he could stuff it.  The only person Middleton really cared for was Middleton.  Anything else was pure speculation and coincidental self-service.  People wanted out of this war.  Isaac never wanted to be in.  They'd made this thing a part of his life, and he hated it.  It was stuck to him, like glue, and he wanted nothing more than to go home and wash it off.  The only good thing to come out of this were the people that he hoped would survive to carry on their lives.

But let us not dwell now on the state of things and the what-might-bes, for now.  Time once again to stand aggressively in the present, to see nothing but what is in front and be in the now.  Their focus was needed to keep the squad safe, as Jean addressed him and Britta both.  They knew what they were doing, but they followed Jean's words with the respect he badly deserved.  They knew what was at stake, and would keep their shots to a minimum, where possible.  Their [i]real[/i] commanding officer also instructed them all to take a small log out with them for the posts of the wire fence.  They'd need that, and the Gunners had no issue with the added baggage.  Ever since the change-up of the machine guns, the packs were a little lighter and less cumbersome, and with these, they barely noticed at all.  Also, when Jean mentioned the need to keep low in case they could be spotted from the sudden unrest of the trench raid, Isaac chimed in, as well.

[color=f7941d]"And be just as careful yourselves so that our presence doesn't cause them to spot the raiding team ahead of time.  They need the quiet and everything as much as we do."[/color]

[b][color=ed1c24]"We [i]are[/i] good to go, though, Jean."[/color][/b]

They ascended, assisted by Jean with logs somewhere on their person.  Lucia was the one with the wiring, someone not on Gunnery duty would help her set.  With that in mind, he and Britta both spread out.  The classic pattern for the two of them was for a Gunner to be at either side of the group - rather than taking point and taking rear - with these positions giving them a wide area of fire without being bunched together.  The rest of the team would spread out anyway to prevent everyone getting shot up or blown to pieces, anyway.  However, it should be noted that this setup was rather common, and in anticipation of the idea that the Imperials would start thinking to aim for certain people right off to be sure, Britta had elected to use her lighter equipment to the fullest.  Namely, she could get around the battlefield more.

Once she was a further onto the right, she was down even lower than all of them, with the RAR dangling under her.  Moving around the low cover with little concern of potentially getting bogged down by weight - because she wouldn't be - Britta was be just a little ahead AND off to the side to perk her ears up and keep her eyes pealed for the enemy.  Isaac was the main protection, while she was the anticipation and the unexpected strike from an angle you weren't a keeping watch on.  It took them time, but they were all soon in position, at this...the shambled remains of a barb wire fence, the likes of which would probably be eliminated tomorrow.  Nevertheless, the two Gunners watched the area with intent, that intent being to kill if anything Imperial showed themselves.  Britta was positioned to get the first shot while away from the group, while Isaac was the overall protection.  Should her position need to be given away, she wasn't near the group and she could reposition to prevent any personal injury.

And now...we wait with bated breath for the outcome under the rain.