[h2]KAITIAKI[/h2] Skye sipped the whisky, enjoying it, rather than shutting it. A drink like this had to be appreciated, savoured, somewhat kept in. The evening had been a busy one for people arriving, coming in, doing things on the island of. A helicopter, boat and other things no less. [@PerfectThought] The Mancunian (of Manchester) was rather differently dressed to the Highlander, his pyjamas a bit of a contrast to the sports casual of Skye, the Scot already knowing he was a well-to-do middle aged rich boy that reluctantly, she couldn't deny the talent of. Made bloody good work of people with that rifle and anything that got in the way of it, while being capable. She may not of worked with him much, but Stafford was the kind of person she could bring to hunting game with, but perhaps not drinking whisky with. A gentleman who would be laird of his own estate, but Skye would be the one out there scalping the land, living it, breathing it. Well, that was harsh...but then again, it was the natural inclination of any Scot towards "the English". But he wasn't that bad for one, she had to admit. Even if half blind, he knew his shit, and got the job done, and well, was an ally to have in her previous work. The smell of herbs was clear off him, and while most operatives were clean-cut, cold professionals, Stafford was a chunk of the old life kept banging alive. [color=C9C9C9] "Thought operatives like yous were considering retirement. Or would have failed a drugs test by now." [/color] Skye barbed back with a wry smirk, which turned quickly as it did watching as he took the bottle, pouring himself a glass. There was no hiding accent now. [color=C9C9C9] "Weel, ye've fair fucked [b]me[/b] aff at the least wi' that glass o' whisky. That's a vintage... dinnae gang chuggin' it doon. ppreciate it, cos' you wee English dinnae do tha', oh, and ye dinnae want tae ken hoo muckle effort it takes tae mak' this expensive dram get 'ere."[/color] Her accent no longer bore any civility, because she was direct now, clear, a completely barren look on her face that spat iron, before she cracked, gaggling in a smirk herself, clinking his glass, sipping a little more herself. "Slàinte, Stafford. Good to have you back." Skye didn't hide her thoughts and instead returned a warm glow, the elder operative one she might have had some underlying wobbles with, but still, showed her complete colours with and threw the shit back just as well. The juxtaposition of her being brutal, yet warm to the feel was odd, yet a charm that kept most on side when she needed them. [@LadyAmber] Hearing the call of the other operative, she saw Captain Chaos, Sam Dalton herself. Ex-CIA asset, and the calling out of the American, dressed in a sports-casual the same as Skye, looking about and no doubt off her long flight from the States to here. She had to admit, jetlag mostly neutered people, but not Sam, the excitable operative one that was just as capable in the field. Someone Skye trusted, the silver-coloured hair of the hacker come all-around support member one that Skye could always find something to get stuck into, hearing her snicker as she dropped her bags. [color=C9C9C9] "Whisky, for now. Wee fella here didn't ask, but I'll offer you one, grab a glass and savour it, because it's good to see you Sam. Not like your wee' little bourbon 'shite. Now this is a taste of something that'll really make you feel in a place. [/color] Skye replied to Sam, chuckling, knowing her stoicism was a bit of a pushback to her excited nature, but no less, Skye knew how to use it. She was unbound at times and a little too relentless too, so she understood how to get the most out of Sam, just like she would with anyone in the team. After all, half the battle was fighting well herself- the other half was getting the team to their potential too, as Skye finished pouring, firmly placing the glass on another coaster across the table of the sofa, the scarlet-haired Scot warmly smiling at the silver-haired American, knowing no doubt it was a long way to come and finally be back in the game. [color=C9C9C9] "We'll get some grub on in a bit. It's my rotation so don't go drinking the whole bottle, I've got lamb to cook in it....if I say so myself, it's something special." [/color] Skye added, inviting Sam to grab a seat and join them, and enjoy the views, as well as the fine drink they had. [color=C9C9C9] "Ah, nearly forgot to say. Your room's down the hall. You probably know the code and all, but make yourself at home...your weapons, tools, and armour all came through, oh, and I did leave a welcome gift too. Same goes for Stafford, actually. Don't say I don't think of you all, I got you something particular you'll like." [/color] Skye smiled, knowing as harsh as she could be, she did look after her team. Well, most of the time when they weren't up to no good... [@BigPapaBelial] The loud rumble suddenly echoed off the walls, shaking the very glass of the building structure, enough to make most jump, yet enough to make Skye just simply scowl. [color=C9C9C9] "For fuck's sake, Freya! There's a wee kiwi sanctuary on that island, you can't just zap them! What did they do to you anyway?!"[/color] Skye yelled out knowing full well Freya hadn't heard, the shockwaves vibrating the whole building, and probably, half the island with how loud the coil gun had gone off, and the big smouldering mark it had made into the distant grassy patch of land. Sighing, Skye shook her head, looking to the other two with a "can you believe this shit" face, before sipping more whisky that had somehow not been spilt out of her glass. [color=C9C9C9] "Anyway. That is probably Dr Freya Kaantario, redhead heavy, doctorate of Physics and energy weapons expert, and currently, will be a MASSIVE paperwork issue I have to deal with. If her and Asim don't kill each other within a week, that would be grand too, I guess....Sam, just so you know, as Stafford does, the more paperwork I get, things don't end well. Then the whisky is the last of your issues." [/color] Skye retorted, chuckling, knowing full well Freya knew what she was doing, and had done it anyway in spite. She had chosen Skye's wrath then, it seemed, but no doubt, Freya would be smart enough to deal with it. For such an intelligent person, she seemed to be wrought on destruction, scorching everything yet. [@ReusableSword] Speaking of giants, the other one made an entry, with Asim making an entry, the cybernetically, genetically modified giant a presence and a half, even if he didn't have the raw height of Freya, he looked like a brick shithouse with legs. A force that could take down many a foe, using a variety of weapons, and even without armour would be a fierce opponent to take on. [color=C9C9C9] "Good to see you, Asim. The rations look good though knowing you roughly, I'm hoping the portion I'm making is enough. You'll like this place, I think. There is a lot of flora out there you won't find anywhere else in the world. And hopefully, while Freya doesn't destroy it all with her "frickin' lasers", it should be a good ground for you to explore." [/color]Skye warmly replied, the team mum vibe of her knowing he probably hadn't met some of the team yet, nor seen this site so far. Giants were a different breed, they were anomalies in the scope of most combat operations, yet coming across one in the field was usually terrifying, especially if they were carrying heavy weapons. Not invincible, mind. Skye had killed one, a North Korean who had certainly given her quite the fright- but Skye knew that while they may be tough, they were still flesh and blood beneath whatever armour they had on. You just had to fight smarter, find ways to whittle them down, and take them out. They may have been bullet sponges, but the right munition, the right place at the right time made any giant stoppable. And that was why Asim and Freya probably knew that too, and weren't silly themselves, which Skye was rather glad to see was on their side rather than the other one. [@Awesomoman64] [@Theyra] And then speaking of destruction, the tinnie flew with a loud "FLUMP", like a grenade launcher being fired except the contents of the beer were decidedly not explosive at all. They were refreshing for the Australian no doubt, who overengineered everything, except his personality. Xander was the biggest pain in Skye's ass, she'd decided so far at least. He always seemed to ask for forgiveness, not permission, and yet somehow, the bastard just kept going. But good hackers and fighters these days, well, you just had to take your selection of a small pool, and he was very combat effective from their last outing. Mateo joining too was good to have, the Colombian operative time and time again proving his lethality with optical cloaking and being able to sabotage, take down and eliminate things with ease. He made it silky, and she hadn't forgotten her promise to him either, chilling as he did, yet Skye giving an almost impressed scowl. [color=C9C9C9] "The fridge isn't meant for launching cans of beer, what is this, a frat house? The beer's gonna be all shaken up anyway, too foamy for my liking." [/color]Skye wrly responded, looking across to Mateo with a "can you believe this shit" look for the second time in five minutes, knowing the Colombian was a man of few words, and enjoyed the whisky at the least too. All in all, a fairly diverse team. And as the sunset on the horizon came lower and lower, they had time to get to know each other, before Skye cooked up some food, and they'd then have their briefing. [hr] [h2][b]DOWN TO BUSINESS[/b][/h2] Once enough of the team had gathered, had some food, the now slightly tipsy unit and slightly tipsy Skye made their way to the briefing room, the redhead still in her casual garb, a sign that well, this team didn't do things like the special forces might. It wasn't ranks and formality, it was to the point, more about get shit done than anything else. The room itself was buried a floor down, with a slick holographic projector and beanbags, which really was the opposite of most briefing rooms at all. That said, it still retained the fundamentals, including a board, gear listing and Skye's scribbled thoughts. [color=C9C9C9] "So, most of yous' are a new batch, so I'll keep it simple. Last week our team captured a senior ranking officer of Artemis Group, the terrorist force made up of we still don't know what, shadowy politicians, PMCs, all sorts of baddies that want to really fuck over the world. So far we thought we were limited to just small-scale money grabbing operations, but the more we find, the more sinister it seems to be getting. Nothing good is gonna come of it. You're on a need to know basis, but I'm going to tell you now, they are using advanced weaponry, and other systems at the top end of the price list for militaries. Some experimental stuff, including at least a couple of Class 2 mechs we've killed before. And fuck knows where they got them from, but they could have more." [/color] Clicking the slide, the next picture came up, of a rusted old cargo ship, in the middle of the desert. [color=C9C9C9] "From what we found out from a raid in Cape Verde, we now know there's a major arms deal about to happen in Aralsk, Kazakhstan, thankfully, not in bloody Uzbekistan. We know that Artemis want to get their hands on something, but we don't know what yet. Considering the shopping list they normally have access to, something tells me this deal is much more significant. So it's worth us stopping and retrieving whatever they have. Like any wee drug dealer would tell you, the best people to steal from are the people selling the illegal, dodgy shit there is and that's our gold mine for information." "We'll all roll in with DPVs, and gear up. Once we get some recon in, we'll make our move to grab what intel we can, and stop the deal. We'll use infiltrators to take down the defences inside, anything harsh that could stop us, then the rest of us, we're going on an assault, full frontal. I know, it's risky, but we'll have the element of surprise, and a hell of a lot of firepower to bear. Gets it done quicker and gives us less preamble." Once they're there, we'll have limited time to mop up and clean the deal, and get the fuck out before they get reinforced. Grab any intel we can, laptops, servers, any details of what they are using, planning and who the sellers are." "I know you have a lot of questions. The nuts and bolts are of it, we're going to go and crash their little party, and if I'm honest, we've got the firepower to go and give it to them." [/color] Skye gave one fiery look at the team, taking them in, and for a moment, thinking about the whole setup. There was no way in a million years she had thought they'd be in a situation like this, yet here they were, the resources, place and unit to go and get things sorted. She had felt what it was like to be alone, to be a lone wolf out on the road and taking these people down, and while she almost loved that part of the life, it was good to have comrades, almost she would call them friends, to go out there and take them down with. They were a unique bunch, but she wouldn't have them any other way. [hr] [h2]PARTYCRASHER[/h2] The group that had gone out for recon had given a good assessment of the situation, and Skye barely needed much more information, given the extent she had gotten back from the group so far giving her something to play through, watching through her glasses and playing it out, alongside her innate-know how, the Scot leaning against the DPV. [color=C9C9C9] "Right, looks like plenty. Cheers for your eyes." [/color] Skye added, rolling through the footage, using the pad on her left arm to flip perspectives, views and angles. [color=C9C9C9] "Ah, fuck. We have a problem. Multiple, actually." One, that is set of submarine-spec, nuclear fuel rods I've spotted that they are....wow, uhh, they're all getting cancer off that if the idiots currently holding it are handling it like that. Like really, you're gonna have a slice of pizza after moving that assembly, and not even wash your hands? Can't be Artemis's bunch if they're that stupid, or they really have started running out of people to recruit." Anyway, We hit that with a drone, this place gets even more toxic than it already is, and it kinda feels like an 4chan thread with how toxic it is out here anyway. We are going to have to grab that, immediately, or else fuck knows what is gonna happen. They're just inside the hull of the ship, looks like it's about four storeys or so, with most of it hollow. There might be more about, so we'll need to check." "Two, that a 12 foot Class 2 mech with an autocannon on it at the side of the ship, and what looks to be rocket tubes of some sort. And about 40 well equipped soldiers, with a an ADATS combined AT and AA platform on the ship itself. A couple of them have exos like mine, damn, old ones but they'll pack a punch. Which means they really don't want visitors, and... "Three, that is a Mi-24 Super-Hind just coming across the horizon, which none of yous' can hack or even try and tap into. They clearly didn't think an automated sentry was worth the hassle, so I guess we'll have to go analogue too. That will need to go, or get stolen by one of us. So yeah, it's a pucker factor 8.9 of a Thursday, or I think Friday now. " [/color] Skye added with a certain level of hesitancy, sighing as she watched the drone, the optics of the other team members and other feeds through her glasses, taking in the scene, and quickly conjuring a plan, her ability to do so. After all, she may have been lethal on her own, the others too, but her point was to make sure the chaos stayed directed, controlled and more importantly, somewhat productive, addressing them on the comms and taking a look over them, the team in combat garb a hell of a sight. From Mateo's cloaking kit to the sheer size of Freya and Asim, it was a wild bunch, but they all had their roles to play. [color=C9C9C9] "Alright team, we're gonna alter this a little. We need to soften them up a little before we hit them. [@Theyra][@PerfectThought] "Jaguar, get yourself in close and start gathering intel, whatever you can. Give me updates on any movements, vehicle roll ins, what's going on inside that ship, if it glows, you tell me straight away and stay very careful around it. If they have anything sensitive, grab it first. I know, I promised I wouldn't send you in alone as much, but we'll be right behind you if anything hits the fan. Just keep moving and sabotage any AT assets, line up and take anything you think that can stop us attacking. You'll have Stafford able to pick off anyone too, but because of how overpenetrating that thing is, it will fuck up whatever it hits." "Stafford, find a spot to set up with that rifle of yours and you're gonna need to be ready to punch that mech on my command. It has a Trophy System and fairly advanced optics package at the very least which will basically whip any anti-tank missiles out of the sky. You need to be incredibly careful shooting it, or will turn you into a pink mist if it picks you up. Try and pick up the guidance or weapon system first, and do not stay in one place when shooting, especially that thing. You won't be able to kill it wholesale with that rifle, but you can at least minimise the amount it can do to us when we get close. If Jaguar has the close-in recon, you've got the wide lens so work together to pick off assets in and out, you're both on that. Once that's dead, shoot anything that looks armoured, and anyone else that isn't is. You know the score." [@LadyAmber][@Awesomoman64] "Chaos, Glitch, get me control over their EM systems and let's turn whatever else they have back in on themselves so it won't be a threat to us. Radio jamming, any sentry guns, be creative but don't get lost in it and work together....or just try not to get in each other's way. Then I need you both on the assault with me. I might have a plan for that Hind, but we'll need to see where we are when we get in closer. We also need to take down that mech, ASAP. If we can't hack it to neuter it completely, I'm gonna see if I can try something else." [@BigPapaBelial][@ReusableSword] "Ogre, Frigga, you two are on assault duties....and Ogre, hate to say it, but you're the CBRN expert so you're on the rods. Once we get there, you take those rods while Frigga covers and turns anything inside that ship into superheated mass. Lay down some heavy firepower if there's massed troops, take the heat but don't get too hot. Get back to the DPVs, and as soon as we do, we're going to twat' the wee fuck out of their shit and fuck the wee' twat out of the drone munition we have." "I'll drive you Frigga, while Ogre, you're in with Chaos and Glitch. Let's get on it, team, no time like the present and I want to get my morning coffee in without it being plutonium-enriched." [/color] Skye gave out orders to the team as best as she could, cutting the feeds as she looked across at the assembled force that was with them, and got ready to go. Heading back to her DPV, she clambered into the driver's seat, and stowing the MG3 on the side bar of the vehicle, started watching the team get to work from her arm-mounted display, as well as her tactical glasses, the Google-Lens styled device allowing her to flip through and pick up an oversight of the setup. Thanks to some networking, Skye had the benefit of the various systems the team would use, from optics to VI, drones to cameras. Leadership relied upon information, and her team would get to work doing what they did best. As always, she just needed to use their assets to her own advantage, and make sure they knew the score, watching as they all got set. Looking back over her shoulder at Freya, Skye craned her neck up at the large giantess who was riding in the back, set to go. [color=C9C9C9] "If you're gonna cloak up, give me a heads up. You scared the shit out of me last time I bumped into you, girl." [/color] Skye called out to her with a wry grin, knowing as clever a woman Freya was, and prudish too, she did sometimes zone into that efficiency a little too much. Saw the world as a canvas to do science on, or, just roast literally everything. The post-modern pyro, as Skye thought of her, and Ogre's heavy munitions would come into play similarly to just inflict a lot of damage on defenders not yet used to the idea of being kerbstomped by one or two people. Once the hunter-killer team of Stafford and Mateo had gotten themselves ready in the manner of their choosing, and started to get to work, Skye knew it would be time to hit the road, and start the attack as soon as the anti-tank defences were dead. And with a rumble of the engine coming to life, Skye gave a thumbs up to Chaos, before putting foot to throttle and pinning it down. The DPV roared as it cleared the ridge, clattering down and then catching air again over another dune, the suspension fully bottoming out and throwing anyone foolish enough to keep on gas around, yet that was what was needed to make sure they hit quick and fast. And that would be the plan, because they were coming in hot, and on the offensive, the dawn chorus about to get a lot louder. The Scottish operator just had to pray that Chaos and Glitch weren't cranking a mixtape to this, Frigga wasn't going to set everything in the DPV on fire, and that the defenders weren't going to spring another surprise on them. Yet confidently, Skye knew no matter what, they were back, and roaring into business.