[h2]Kaitiaki HQ, New Zealand[/h2]

[h2][color=lightblue]Skye Rosalind Lyons[/color][/h2]

The crew around certainly were getting in on this late evening, from the quiet infiltrator to the hacker couple that Skye was trying her hardest not to ship. Irrespective, they were coming together as a team...oh, and then behind her, the voice of rage, like a bear growling could be heard.

[@BigPapaBelial]

Freya's rage bubbled, and the poor bastards on the other end were going to be working hard as hell in response, no doubt of that Skye thought to herself, watching the team's heavy finish the call. Skye had to remind herself very quickly again- Freya was over seven and a half foot tall as the other redhead stood up from her place in the corner, and there was no part of that which was ever going to be normal. Quite possibly, she would be close to one of the tallest women to have probably ever lived, and as she stood, there was no mistaking it at all. She wasn't some hunchback, she was proud, tall and in every sense of the word, a woman who looked like she could pull you limb from limb like pulling candy floss from a cane. Even a slightly wounded Freya was virtually unstoppable, every part of her like some kind of Athena on steroids. If Skye seemed a little warrior-like and to her own thoughts even close to androgynous in the field, then Skye would look up to Freya like something that fell out of Asguard, or the Pantheon- and certainly, while she wasn't without fault, might usually was quite right. Fuck the pen when you had plasma and a significant amount of ballistic armour...

Skye had run into a giant of her type before, and the amount of rounds she'd expended to take them down without even armour on was slightly ridiculous. The giant in Raven seemed almost beyond that, and hey, while she was a fellow redhead and had her nerdy side, a fine girl no less with plenty of smarts, Skye always made a mental note- cardio would pay off if it ever came to a fight because she'd seen enough of Freya's work to understand people didn't always stay in one piece in a fight with her. It was why Skye needed Freya close, and in particular on the next op, knew there was something she spotted in the next target's retinue- a reason to bring Freya along for a social occasion. Her smarts as a researcher were impressive irrespective of her body, but beneath it all, Skye knew there was something else in there that knew how to raise hell. 

In the here and now, Skye had other plans. Giving sarcasm to Freya was like hanging a sack of juicy meat out of reach of a starving lion.

Well...even for Skye, it was simply too fun not to.

[color=lightblue]
"No problem, shite happens. On the positive side, there is distance between here and that lab before you sort them out. And we might have some grub inbetween, which usually helps. You know, there's more kiwis that aren't getting iced now too, ey!"[/color] Skye commented, watching her take the bottle and like no other operative in the team could, just swig back. Giants did need a hell of a lot more to feel anything, and she seemed to savour it, Skye leaving her to that portion at the least.
[color=lightblue]
"You did well on that last one, Frey. Took a hell of a beating, and kept a lot of heat off us when we needed it. Really are your parents daughter, and I can only imagine they're proud of you tearing everyone a new one."[/color] Skye did have something nice to say, because in spite of the sarcasm, as always, she couldn't let the mother's charm out.

[@Theyra]

Then there was Mateo, who had come in too, the quiet Colombian infiltrator one that never said much, yet always felt like Skye could spot, irrespective of his quiet or not.

Mateo's story was one she kept dwelling over. Ex-Colombian intelligence, and had treaded well to keep himself alive. He was near silent, and like his callsign, the shadow you couldn't ever see coming. Lethal, and able to go anywhere, do anything, and yet remain completely in the shadows. Someone who was the polar opposite of Freya, but unlike the woman that could smash anything to bits, it always felt like with Mateo you never knew exactly what and where he was. Even without the cloaking, it was the same feeling. Just that he would be there, and he'd find a way in. She was yet to see what he was truly capable of, but then again, Skye wondered, perhaps that was the point- she never saw it and never needed to. It was almost good enough for her mentally, and knowing full well his talents, knew she had to keep him backed up. He couldn't do it all alone, but he did a bloody good job with it. They were a team after all, and having another infiltrator on support, even to shadow him, would be something she would need to keep in mind. But he was a professional, that she had to give. Well, apart from one thing.

Right now, she didn't want to let him in on the fact that at the next op, there was a good chance he'd run into someone from the Tejedor Cartel. Need to know basis and all that. It would be a distraction, at this phase of planning, she knew either he would figure this out already the moment the team got briefed, or she'd tell him in time. Well, when the time was right, he'd know, but that didn't need to be now. Going after their target was critical, and he was professional enough to understand they'd get what they need. She'd promised him that much, there would be a lead, but in time. It was the rare promise Skye had to make to get him on the team, given his skillset. One of the few she made. Men like Mateo had a past that whilst he would keep silent to all, yet was laid bare from the very moment she'd met him. She knew him, understood that mentality, it was closer to her own than she would let on. He may not have said it, but the Scot had the same. Hers were just a lot harder to find.

[color=lightblue]
"Not so bad. Surviving, I guess, I had a couple of ribs hit but it's....well, just inconvenient. I was just saying to the others, combat effectiveness on that one was good. I saw what you got up to, and as always, it's impressive."[/color] Skye responded to him, the laconic Colombian getting an equal reply, the redhead nodding back to him as she opened the case and put the instrument she had held in her hands away, the fiddle back into place.

[@LadyAmber]

As for the other two, well, Sam was the first that came to mind. Injured as she was, Sam was capable. Yet similar to Mateo in some way given what she was trying to deal with Skye knew full well the potential lay beneath. A person who needed purpose, family, a home. Perhaps she was finding that here. In some ways, Skye was glad for it- it kept her mind off things, and while none of her old targets were there, it was part of the wider network. Doing good reminded Skye why she was in this - Sam almost reminded her of a younger version of herself, someone who had that heart and more than anything, kept up their humanity. Excited, yet broadly talented, and growing in capability. And the foil to the team's Aussie.

[color=lightblue]
"Sounds rough, but you'll heal up. Bones break, but so long as your head's intact, that's the main one. Aye, and that intel would be useful. Much appreciated, Sam. Food wise, that'll be on that man over there tonight."[/color] Skye added, pointing across the room to Xander, watching as he came in alongside- about time now given that they were all pretty starving.

[@Awesomoman64]

With Xan- well, what had been thought and said about him, he'd said himself, or Skye already had. The motherfucker...he'd turned that fridge into his own peripheral too.

Son of a bitch.

She almost wanted to say the words, but the sarcastic energy wasn't even there. She had to save that, given there was a briefing. Xan was cheeky, and no doubt still a pain, but he was capable when shit hit the fan. He fought well and his tacit knowledge of extremely advanced kit was always helpful to have on hand. The sort of guy who didn't just disassemble robots, but could probably lay his hand to making a better model. His Dingo was proof of that, and in some ways, unlike either Mateo or Freya, his capability was one that existed into a very different layer of the battlefield. Still, pain in ass, prank playing, co-opting fridges, you know, the usual Bogan.

[color=lightblue]
"Professional, my arse....and aye, burgers sounds good. I'll come and help yous in a second. Tahlia tells me the beef is straight from her farm so I'll be impressed to see it. Real farm to fork and all that!"[/color] Skye replied, smiling back at Xan, his mischievous demeanour enough to break even Skye down a little, warming her heart of somewhat damp Scots. Even if it meant a prank at some point. Christ, now that would be back soon...and she wasn't ready for that shit again.

Introspectively, Skye had certainly many things that currently didn't sit well. She couldn't entirely show it, nor display that on the surface. That was the thing about someone like her- she'd spent enough time in the game to see this stuff. Felt a lot of pain, yet it all felt like it was going numb. She knew operatives like Sam, Xan, even Freya to some extent had been fighting for a while and were capable, but beneath Skye's charm and warmth, there was a certain kind of detachment. The kind that suggested a certain wear, a certain burn that carried thin. Even for 30, nearly 31, Skye seemed to have had a few lifetimes of this. A rare thing to observe, but it made her who she was, and it didn't seem to stop. Even if she felt she wanted it to.

She couldn't let it stick, so as Xan headed over to start getting ingredients, Skye sat up, and turning to the group, pulled out her phone, getting a few things ready.

[color=lightblue]
"Anyway....not sure about you lot, but I find recovery works best when you have targets. Like, who to punch the lights out of that caused it in the first place. So let me introduce you to that target. It's no brief, just a starting point."[/color] 

As the augmented-reality device clacked on from the table, the glass window lit up with the display, Skye aware that while Xan might not have eyes on this, he may have been able to pick it up. A face appeared, the bearded man looking less like some foreign terrorist, even in spite of the fact he was tanned, and well, looked like something you'd almost caricature of some kind to what he would be. The sunglasses and stare, yet the sharp-dressed suit he wore clashed against the water and enormous private yacht behind him. The kind of guy that was almost a Bond villain, yet young enough to be something worse. A tech CEO.

[color=lightblue]
"That is [b]Pavel Andros[/b], Slovenian-Cypriot billionaire, or as you might know him, the founder of [b]Vale Systems[/b], tech firm that is currently the wet dream of every Silicon Valley frat fuck there is, yadda yadda, you know the type. The sort of guy who goes on about AI whilst planning some mental geo-engineering a way out of our fucked up state of affairs. Self-entitled prick, if you ask me, but even worse, his fingerprints are all over Aralsk. 

"The hack was messy, but it points to the fact whoever did it was using something high level, with way more computational power than Artemis would have. Something only this man would be able to pull off to break our encryption, or someone he knows. There's nobody hijacking his network. This is his...and we don't know how." [/color] 
Skye's opinion came out pretty vehemently what she thought about him- people like that, in her opinion, weren't exactly clean themselves. 

Even in fighting terror cells, or foiling various plots, people like that left her uneasy- they were all so charming yet her experiences of them had taught her well, to never trust a single word of those who were supposedly on the other side with that level of money. It stank of lies, and all sorts of stuff that put her nerves to edge. Not that she wanted to change the world or something, just that she'd seen enough to suspect too much and know these things never went to plan. Especially if he was tied in some way to what had happened to them.

Pavel was a clear example of that, the Scot internally mused. The modern world was full of complexity, difficulty and hardships. Climate crises, inequality, the visible problems that the world faced had no clear answers, apart from people like that throwing shit at the wall till it stuck. Skye hated that idea, but then again, Raven was probably some funded part of that problem. Either way, it was unsettling- and with problems in the world getting worse, she forgot sometimes they lived on a remote island on the far reach of the world. Artemis didn't have some strong overarching political aim, but from what she understood of it, somebody was trying to take advantage of the chaos. A couple decades ago the world was occupied with one kind of issue rather than the state of affairs that seemed to be bubbling up- and Skye could only dream that they went back to that kind of stability again. The kind that right now, she didn't want to dwell on to herself.

She took a moment in her head before continuing, clicking onto the next slide using her phone, bringing up a map and the interface of their next operation.

[color=lightblue]
"None of this makes sense currently. So, given what we know, I'd like an audience with him because of the fact he tried to fuck us up, yeah? A wee one-to-one he wouldn't normally agree to getting, given he thinks he's above everything. Raphael's found out he has a party at his offices in [b]Singapore[/b] in two weeks, and it's not an internal thing, if you were curious. Looks like he wants to invite lots of his other shareholders, and a few subsidiaries too. Quite the list, and surprisingly, no Kazakh arms dealers. More esteemed members of society, if you can believe it..."[/color]  Skye added with a tinge of sarcasm, looking around the room, bringing up the location.

[color=lightblue]
"It's being hosted at his residence on the roof of the [b]Tsai Wen Tower[/b], right in the CBD of the city, but he's got exclusive use of the whole top floor, with a bar, penthouse, and then some above the Asian offices of Vale. Like I said, he's the kind of arsehole who lives this idea of putting his home on top of his workplace. It's impressive really. But quite not a fortress. Just very, very high up with a few towers around it to keep it company. Not many ways in, not many ways out."[/color]

Skye began, taking in the team, before clacking on again. The table was now lit up with the layout of the area, a mostly redacted guest list, and a variety of intel that the team could interact with. Even for a non-briefing room, this little site was a good place to show off data, information and set up operations, the AR allowing the whole thing to be interacted with. 20 years ago they said this shit would actually be real, and lo and behold, it was there, natural as could be, not some weird uncanny valley. They had that at least, Skye pulling a few layers aside as she looked back to the crew.

[color=lightblue]
"Which from that, leads to our little job. To start with, I've got some tasks to keep you all occupied with while you heal up. No rush, but I'll leave the finer details to you."[/color]

[@Awesomoman64][@PerfectThought]
[color=lightblue]
"First, I need an invite to his party. Stafford, Xan, see if you can get me one, or make me one. We'll also need you in the party too but I'll leave that up to you how you do it...Raphael might be of help there. You'll also need to figure out a way to get in yourselves along with Stafford and Mateo, either by invite or other means. Working, or perhaps infiltrating. That, and a way to get out. Parachutes, ropes, whatever gets us out of there as a contingency. Come back to me with some ideas and we can take a look at it."[/color]

[@BigPapaBelial]
[color=lightblue]
Second, Freya, you're with me. He has security and if I'm going in there unarmed, I'm going to need backup in case things go south. So you're my plus one...and at the least, it gives me some air of legitimacy if they realise you're someone who would go to something like this. They know you. But if Pavel's security is as tight as it is, I can't take chances- I could use some help on what the security detail is, so Sam and Xan can probably get you that. And whatever you need to do to keep them occupied, do it."
[/color]

[@LadyAmber][@Theyra]
[color=lightblue]
Third, once we're in, there's more to do. A server farm would be a good hit, but I need more intel goings on that we can extract from the site....and that'll come from our last mission, because there's a lot of connecting information. Sam, Mateo, I'll pin you with those. Figure out what secondaries we can find, just so we can back whatever bullshit I might get from big Pavel to figure this mess out."
[/color] She chuckled, knowing the team would have a variety of thoughts on that - it was multi-layered, social and more importantly, an actual night out for the team. 

[color=lightblue]
"Lastly....anyone got anything else to add, or ask? It's a social occasion, so I'd hope we have no gunfights....because I feel like we've certainly hit that quota already for this month. We can look at this better tomorrow. But have a sleep, get some ideas, and we'll start when ready."
[/color] The Scot put the question out to the team, knowing that they'd no doubt have plenty, Skye standing up and heading over towards the kitchen, knowing questions would be asked away, as the team took it in.

[color=lightblue]
"Pepper's on the far side, Xan. Those burgers are smelling mighty fine. You don't want to ask how many favours I get the logistics teams to run for us. Won't someone think of the taxpayer...." 
[/color]
Skye mentioned, picking up the griddle and gently dusting some layers of halloumi off to the side, the sizzle on the griddle cooking away, the redhead turning to face the team, whilst keeping half an eye on the burgers below, gently heaping on onions and flipping a few of the burgers he'd rolled. She didn't need to ask if she was helping him- she would just do it, that was her character, and it was just how she seemed to be. Intrusive, maybe, but no doubt without a word, knowing her team and knowing the state they were in relative to her.

She was about to relax on that note, before any questions realising she'd left one thing out.

[color=lightblue]
"Ahh, that reminds me! Right, Tahlia was by earlier. She's headed to the armoury and I think she's gotten you some upgrades. Suits, equipment, that kind of thing. Cutting edge research, so it might take some time to get used to, but I recommend you play with it when you're feeling more fighting fit." 
[/color]