[u][h1]Interlude: The Bones Of What You Believe[/h1][/u] [h1][color=RosyBrown]Adam Stanislaw Kajtanowicz[/color][/h1] [h1][color=Goldenrod]Athena Anna Kanataario[/color][/h1] [h1][color=Chocolate]Purna Chai Gurung[/color][/h1] [h1][color=Honeydew]Antti Järvinen[/color][/h1] [img]https://peakvisor.com/photo/Poyrisjarvi-Wilderness-Area-Finland-hetta.jpg[/img] [h2]Camp Hannula, Pöyrisjärvi National Park, Finland[/h2] [h2]0500 Local Time[/h2] The A400M landed down, the slushy and gravelly runway making do for the large aircraft, inbound and coming to a fast stop on its Antarctic-reinforced tyres, coming quickly to a halt. The other vehicle, a Land Rover on site, drove across the slushy snow, coming to a stop. A platoon of armed men stood there also, around various vehicles, fuel supply and other equipment. The dawn was beautiful- the aurora dying out slowly as the light came in, and would replace the yellow glow in the sky with an orange one in due course, the woodland surrounding the airstrip and the base covered still in snow, melting as it might. As the plane came in, there stood Athena, wrapped up tight in her red puffy jacket dominating the main group, her thermal tights on as part of her full designer yellow and gray body thermals that just about took the modesty out of her, and a necessity in even the thawing snow, flanked by Antti, in his own parka and traditional Finnish huntsman garb, Purna, in a gray puffy and wearing a hat and his mountaineering trousers, and Adam, in a military WZ.93 Panthera camouflage jacket and trousers, perhaps the most tactical of the bunch, and it sort of represented the four nicely. As the plane came to a halt, they looked back across to the Land Rover behind them, as well as the two Unimogs and a HEMTT truck to help offload materials from inside the A400. As the door opened to the Land Rover, out he stepped. "You're all keen." Imran said, Oracle himself on hand to witness this. He walked with a certain passion, a limp, but still going strong. "Leave her to me. Don't do anything dumb, any of you. I have had enough." Imran called back at them, Adam giving a nod, even Athena giving a nod. They didn't dare talk back to him. As the ramp opened to the plane, the five stood there, almost in anticipation, the other Blue Sword mercs holding back for a moment. They would be headed out of the back of the plane and into the lights of the cars, the scene a rather tense one yet. As the plane engines died down, one by one, Imran looked around, commanding in his presence, not wanting to beat around the bush. There was only one person he stared at, and it would be the first time Sam would have dealt with him. She would recognise the voice, the one she couldn't exactly get a response from over the pole on radio silence en-route to the base. "I seem to notice you're lacking Queen, the missing Skye Rosalind Lyons." Imran said, with a certain levity to his voice, looking specifically, dead at Samantha Dalton. "Care to explain?" He asked, a little more questioning this time, Tahlia looking across to Sam, moving first. She felt strongly on this, in agreement, and while it was out of place, well, she felt like helping her friend. "She's got her reasons. Hardly like we'd let her rot in a cell." Tahlia interrupted, standing right by her side, and between her and Imran. "I didn't ask you, Miss Harris. I was asking the now former Team Leader. Whom I trusted." Imran once again said, walking forwards, heading straight towards Sam, barely a glint in his eye, Adam following, Athena lurking. "I'd like to hear a single reason why I shouldn't put you in a brig right now. Not just the fact you let her go, but everything back at New Zealand. How much are you keeping from us? Right or wrong....you think we don't know?" Imran added, as Adam walked across, putting a hand up to stop Tahlia coming in too close. "Not worth your fight." Adam simply said, as Tahlia looked scornful. "Not worth the fight? Fuck you, we did our jobs, we did what we did and if not for Skye, we'd all be fucking dead right now. We all nearly go down and this is how you treat us? How about you, where were you?" Tahlia replied, knowing it was escalating things, but no, she wasn't bearing bullshit. With that, Athena looked over, walking into the fray, Sophie and Raph, and likely, the others out now. "Skye went and turned Raven inside out, years of what Blue Sword, you, everyone in fact, is gone to hell. So we picked up your pieces. And my sister is hurt. So yeah, it's how we treat you. You're in no position to talk, any of you. I want to talk to her before maybe I reconsider before Oracle does." Athena added with a cold glare back at Tahlia, the giantess likely countered by Chuck, as Freya would still be sitting inside. She wanted to go past them, right now, and charge inside, and look at her. But right now, she was needed here. "So now what? You think we're done? We're complicit? She's gone. And Skye wouldn't listen to us. We tried to stop her, no avail. Sam couldn't." Tahlia replied, as Imran shook his head, looking to them all. "I don't think you're all really understanding the gravity of the situation. Chaos theory or not, or whether you're lying or not, Sam, we will need to kill anything that looks like her. Blue Sword, and anyone who we work with, will treat her the same. You have attachment to your old Team Lead, I understand how it is. I managed a team like you once. But the rules are the rules. We had a chance to keep her alive. Now, she is a threat on any SIGINT hit, any Echelon call, anything that can even vaguely connect her, or her doppelganger, to anywhere. Perhaps even a chance to kill Rose with what she had. Now, we have to trust your blind faith will pay off, even if she made an almighty racket doing it and made it very clear she's the real one, to anyone that was watching. And in experience, that is not a good thing." Imran said to them all, walking up and down, sighing. "It's a complication we do not need. However, we are running out of time. You were compromised under no fault of your own and you fought well, got out of there and did what was needed. And your combat reports read well. So you will stay as you are, but will be led by Captain Kajtanowicz, until I say so. Athena Kanataario here, will deal with Blue Sword's element, which will be working in support. We are guests of hers and Antti's here in Camp Hannula, and only because we are here to stop the end of days." Imran called to the others, as Imran looked to Adam, who stepped forwards. "We will debrief the details later. But I want to sit with each of you. I want full details of your role, equipment, tasking, and speciality, including any changes since the log I have in front of me. I want all of this, and we start in an hour's time, as I trust you are all rested now. I will ping each of you on your personal communication devices. I run a tight ship. And we cannot afford now for any of that to change, because I will not be accepting any changes you make behind your team leader's back, any longer. Are we understood?" Adam called, the last part a bark, a howl from Wilk, the Wolf, himself. This was like bad cop, bad cop, bad cop. Adam didn't really give a shit that they were probably battered after everything- he just wanted to get to the point, and get on with this. He felt frustrated, and whilst he gave a shit about her, end of the day, there was work, protocol and a task to follow." The scene felt tense, until in that moment, Antti stepped into the side of the frame, sighing. "We are all cold here. So either we shoot each other now, or go and get a warm cup of coffee. I think we all need coffee, because it is minus ten, perkele." Antti added, sighing, disappointed, if anything, looking around. Stating the obvious really, given the formality of it was done. There's this air of almost completely lacking fucks for one's own safety, in a moment like this. Anyone, literally anyone, could have told Antti to get fucked. But yet they didn't. They just didn't somehow, the older man just somehow respected for saying what felt like something that had to be said. "I will fire up the Unimog. Tahlia, with me. They tell me you can work. I will need help for this many of us. Hilmar, Athena, help out Sophie to get Freya into the back of the truck. We shall get her healed up." Antti added, the base liaison clear in the way he spoke as he called to two more people, Athena following, now just going through anyone to run up and up to Freya, wincing over. "Fuck, sis. They did a number on you. We're here to help. And your boobs are showing.....that's sorta my department for the mercs, Freya." Athena called out, seeing her, but saying the rather obvious thing, even despite the blanket it being clear as day with her half out of her armour- a light chuckle and reprieve of sisterly love. And with that, they were to help Freya get back out, in her partly-disassembled suit, and back out to the vehicle, and then onwards for proper treatment. [hr] [h1]It's Boreal[/h1] [h2]0600 Local Time[/h2] [img]https://cdn.thespaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Holiday-home-of-the-week-A-minimalist-Finnish-mokki-16.jpg[/img] [h2][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmEd4pJZrEU]Evergreen- Duke Boara[/url][/h2] The Pöyrisjärvi Wilderness in itself feels like a very weird world. Finland was something most would associate with big, dense boreal woods and lakes and literally nothing else, but this place, this lied at the northern frontier of a wild, untamed wilderness only a place like northern Scandinavia could accomodate, stretching from Karelia through to Norway, Finland and Sweden. A land of Sami reindeer herders, and you could see the packs of cute reindeer jaunting across the snow-bank ridden road, out of the way of the rolling trucks and Unimogs, that crawling their way towards the distant base itself. Dawn was golden with a tinge of pink on the landscape, a beautiful reflection of snow-covered trees and mossy wilderness, and beyond it all, the lake. Jarvi translates to Lake in Finnish, and well, Pöyrisjärvi was one of the tens of thousands of lakes that dotted the Finnish landscape, just about melted with chunks of ice in it. The far shore was barren, revealing snow covered mountains, and wild hills and tundra-like land, with occasional trees and shrubs breaking the landscape up. Here on the nearshore, was a large boreal conifer and deciduous forest that was thick, and the drive was barely a minute until they went past a checkpoint, manned this time, with a guard in a heated cabin, the encampment fenced off completely. The radio played away, playing some Finnish 80s music, of some poor description on the AM radio. Through the base itself that could be seen through the just about defrosted windows three concrete barracks existed, old ones yet modernised heavily on the inside, with lodgings for Blue Sword troops, as well as a concrete bunker-like structure that seemed to contain heavier storage and a more general store for the base. A wooden and metal framed shed, almost like a warehouse joined with a lumber mill in appearance was on the lakeshore, and a dotted set of cabins joined it, some small, some larger. The other vehicle parted off, taking the support crew to a barrack, whilst the core of Raven headed on. Freya would be taken to the medical bay, and Athena was with her all of the way, whilst Sam, Chuck, Ebrima, Adam and Purna were headed up to the base proper. Oracle, or Imran had disappeared again, likely on the phone once more and dealing with the next play. And the final piece, on the far side of the base. A converted wooden storehouse built into the side of the hill, perched on a steep hillside by the lake, facing across the shore with a window looking into the base. It seemed modernised, in particular, modern glass adorning it, looking like a storeroom that had been modernised and made much nicer. A side door existed at the side, as did a garage up a small drive, left open and containing what appeared to be an older British Army Jackal, an-all terrain assault vehicle and a large garage for Javi to work with. Not a bad shout really, but what was interesting was through the next door. This was an odd school of architecture, but it was built for insulation in the ground, and to blend with the landscape. Clearly, Blue Sword had wanted this to be a rather extravagant base, but it was not so. Their own little lair, not bad at all. "That is your home." Antti remarked, and with it, the team disembarked as they parked up, the clack of Tahlia's legs following Adam, Athena and Purna, the Gurkha remaining silent. He looked across the team, taking it in. He saw Boaro's Kukri pretty quickly. Noted. Nothing needed to be asked, yet, but he'd ask. Why. Why did he have that? Sharp eyes on him picked that up. Heading inside, Antti stayed in front. The room was a large common area, albeit a little less modernist and instead, having a large fireplace in the corner not currently burning logs, a glass front, and some sofas with no less, a singular less fridge that didn't hurl cans of beer. That would be missed from Kaitiaki, no doubt. "Okay. So that way are your quarters. Adam, Purna, you have your rooms. The rest of you, take a room each. I would suggest you figure it out among yourselves which is which, but the heavies have their own rooms marked with red paint. Top floor is Adam's office, and the briefing room, below is the armoury and Heavies armoury, and the gym, for both heavies and all is down that corridor there at the end. I am over in that hut down there. I am sure you will have questions, but I have few answers for now. I will let you figure it out for now. I will let Adam make arrangements." Antti spoke, the hardy Finn not using long sentences, not because he couldn't speak, but more because well, little else needed saying. He left silently, almost mystifyingly, and everyone was no doubt confused. Adam stepped into that void, looking around, getting an eye of the remaining team. Not many, but enough. "I'll ping you all when we need to chat. Dismissed." Adam said, and with it, the team broke. Purna headed down the corridor and looked across to Sam and Ebrima. "Don't worry. He calms down." Purna said to Sam and to Ebrima, the small Nepali walking alongside the American's side and the Cameroonian, looking across to Sam first. "Purna Gurung, infiltrator. Adam is a bit of a bastard. But you get used to him." He said, having little to say in his plain Nepalese accented English, walking alongside, then looking at them Sam, then Ebrima. "Look, irrespective of what happened. You worked with Skye Lyons, and she liked you. That is rare. You must be rather good. Ebrima, I know you joined recently, but I read up on you too. I know your score. And the blade too. I will not talk of it yet, but you should have a good story to tell, yes? Just.....make sure it is good." Purna commented, knowing Sam wouldn't think much of good news now, and was likely pretty fucking broken after all of it. Ebrima would be freaked out by it, but he just put it there for now, wanting to make no scene yet. "So just let him say what he says. After that, he'll calm down. And we'll be back out again. Your drone tech, I would like to also know more for my own reasons too, Sam. But I'll leave that to later. I'll be around if you need me." Purna added to Sam, on that note, leaving Sam to it, curt and to the point, the smaller Nepali infiltrator making his own way off. ---- With it, the team had the chance to settle in, Purna returning to his room, the glass window pulling in the dawn light and revealing the bedroom, en-suite, and general quarters that were here. He kept little, a singular small suitcase, and with it, had the chance to at least get in a quick shave and a wash. He was off thankfully from the debrief, considering that Adam ran a ship tighter. So much so, it was basically not describing in this context what it was like or really playing this out- imagine what it's like to get a performance review at work, and well, it was basically that. No fucks thrown, professional, and sombre. Adam drilled Sam, annoyed, pissed off more than anything. Adam wasn't happy, and well, hearing her version of events, the events that everyone had seen on that plane in plenty vision, were just taken as that- end of the day, it was what it was and now, consequences were borne. He wanted no trouble from her, and more to the point, accepted that Skye was held responsible for all that happened- he accepted that fact now, from earlier and right now, but was still unhappy about it. With Chuck, less to say, given he'd just arrived, but more mutual an understanding. Ebrima? Again, same thing. Dude just got here, no point going too hard. They were dismissed, and told to rest up, recover from jet lag, and get used to the base for the brief moment they had to share. The team had the chance to decompress, Tahlia following on Antti, and helping unload supplies from the plane, getting things rolling, and it was being shipped in. Raph was off with the small remnants of the support team to the Signals Post, one of the huts by the lake, and with it, some basic kit was rolling in like fatigues, weaposn and a few other bits picked up on in Japan. In the meantime, the team were able to do their own thing afterwards, given the morning off, a rare benefit to heal up, rest and recover themselves. A chance to at least enjoy the Finnish morning, considering the insanity. Set up their gear in the armoury that had come in on the A400, and the limited weapons pool already available. Adam had paperwork to catch up on in his office, Purna was sharpening his knives and going through team data in the common room whilst cooking up brekafast, and Athena....well, she was with the one person she wanted to be with for the time being. ------ In the medbay, Sophie had joined Doctor Hilmar Ori Palssson as his badge identified, a handsome looking Swede, from what Athena could read his accent to be. Hot, but nah, there were way better guys out there. And anyway, priorities. She had her sister to look after, who was now in an oversized bed, upright and getting her stitches looked at. "I can't fucking believe it. You're so clever sis, but not worth that. Please, please don't do that to me, JamJam or our parents again." Athena added, her tone sorrowful, yet stern, cutting in. "They were so proud of you. Would not ever stop talking about you. I would squeeze you so tight if I could avoid hurting your arm. And ribs. You know, I actually worked out a lot more while you were away. Thought you might need some extra help so perhaps it was worth it." Athena added, smiling, chatting away. She wouldn't shut up, wanting to talk, and well, slide herself in, the coat removed and just her full body tights on, without the coat, less compressive and revealing her own tree-trunk like bronzed forearms. It really was rather a bit Pata-gucci, a high end make that wasn't military but more luxury, effective sure yet.....well, not anyone else's choice. "It's weird you're here. But you're here, you know? And we will get things okay. You get to rest up, Jamie will take the slack, and I'll be there to help them. Shit, I'll even sit on Skye's head and crush her like a bug when I see her. Right?" Athena asked, the look on Freya's face likely to paint another story, as Sophie and Hilmar got to work, immediately containing the job Sophie had done to get her through, and getting to work on at least setting her shoulder straight, painfully. She was hasty to blame Skye, but then again, couldn't really find the emotion or maturity to blame you know....actually Skye, to be fair, but the other version of Skye. See, this was confusing for someone that wasn't a PhD holder. "Right......you don't seem to think that's a good idea. Please don't tell me Skye has nothing to do with this. That will be really awkward." She added, her usual charm cracking a little, only a little, in front of Freya in that moment.