Merlin gave a hearty, strong chuckle, as he looked across to Tyler, the bearded West Countryman standing a good head above the Canadian, as he gave a confident nod.
"They'll punch a hole through whatever it shoots, and 7.62mm is fun for that. I'll give it a go, Tyler." The British Captain replied, as he munched his burger down a little, letting the others self-serve, as he turned to the others that had come out. Olivia had finished up, and the Anglo-Chinese Sergeant was serious, though Merlin knew that in R&R, they could at least let their hair down a little bit. Adjusting his fearsome beard a little, Merlin took a seat on a plastic chair, and looked back as the others mingled around, from the Norwegian medic to the Czech rifleman. Good people, all of them. He had a good selection, and they were operators he could trust to do what they had to, in the same way they held faith in their Wizard. Merlin did wonder, if over 15 years of work in the forces would wear him out, and it was a slow effect, though he felt inside like it was always going to be the precision application of a scalpel to the back of some terrorist's skull...and the business still needed someone like him to direct said scalping and show the rookies how it was done.
Finishing his burger, he put the plastic plate down, looking over at the others coming in above, and the sudden sight of canopies that filled the sky.
"Here's our airshow."
---------
Nikolaj separated off from Dominique, turning before tucking his arms closer to his side and pointing his toes, tracking off away from it, watching Aleksandra do her own thing, just enjoying it all, and Dima sail on by, his near-vertical dive hurling him fast, before he made it to 600m. Looking at his altimeter, he checked his airspace, before arching once more, turning a little and then throwing his pilot chute out.
The canopy roared open, and it was rough, though it was open. The sprawling Devonian coastline stretched below him, and he could almost see Land's End in the distance, with the island of Lundy visible on his right, as he steered towards the east. The airbase was below, as he spiralled the canopy down, whooping loudly as he knew he was flying it like he stole it, and aiming for his landing area, right where he knew Merlin was expecting them.
Gliding in gently, Nikolaj flew the olive-coloured parachute as best as he could, landing on a patch of grass in front of the BBQ area, a little closer than expected, but where he had originally planned to put himself down. The material coming down, he wrapped it up, and slid his helmet off, a shit eating grin on his face.
"It's Jamie Fooking Lannister." Merlin said of the Dane in the heavily accented West Country accent, as he slid the rig off his shoulders and legs, the others already coming down, and in the area. As much as Nikolaj wanted to go for dumplings, he fancied this BBQ, for the moment being at least.
"Hey, I thought I'd only drop in. And you're already there with the jokes." Nikolaj said, taking his goggles off too, as he dragged the canopy and the rig over his shoulders, putting it down on the concrete where the others were by the barbecue.
"We saved you burgers, Nikolaj. Looks cold up there." Merlin added, as the Dane nodded, lobbing his pair of gloves off too as he looked at the fearsome grill.
"It is, and the formation didn't work. How's the Sergeant getting on?"
"Olivia's fine. Handles an ACR like she should. You should ask her." Merlin replied with a cheeky nod to Olivia that seemed suitable to alienate Nikolaj just a tad, as he flipped a patty into a bun, Nikolaj grabbing it as he took a seat, Merlin looking across at the others, who were generally milling around. He didn't mind a small group going off to go get some food elsewhere- after all, they weren't here that often for this long a period of time, and they could see what they could soak up of rural Devon, Merlin said to himself, that would be really nice....a simple buzz in his pocket said otherwise.
"Sorry, Olivia. Good to hear you're getting on well." The First Sergeant said, as he took a seat, Merlin hearing the buzz once more as he stood up as Nikolaj didn't take the notice of Merlin.
It was a quick glance at the phone, but it was barely one that would have easily registered. Before the other operators had noticed, Merlin was already walking to his office, and it was already a reaction that he had made to pick up the call.
---------
Merlin stepped into the quarter, and the phone was tight against his ear, the smartphone an old model, but one that did what Merlin needed it to, without any of the terrors of having it easily hackable or vulnerable to those who wanted to peer.
"Captain Bastion, have you seen the news?" With that, Merlin was round at his desk, his computer from the last decade running in standby, as he punched in a ten-key, mixed number and letter password, the two-monitor setup flashing up mostly papers, but now, he had BBC already running. The scene could only be described in a four-letter word, and while Merlin was used to news like this, it was the sheer rapid response of what it looked like and why he held a phone to his ear right now looking at this that made it so clear. Shit.
"Scores Dead in Barcelona After Bomb Blast"
The article barely took seconds for it's main content to be scanned by Merlin's eyes, as he replied into his phone. The scenes, the sights, the imagery. It was a bombing alright, and the scene looked horrifying. It looked major, and while this wasn't an unknown, it was a connection. A bad one. It was almost certainly PETN, or at least, the same type of explosive. A cafe had been blasted apart, and it looked like on a good sunny day, where many Catalans were out for lunch or socializing, this had happened. Casualties in the dozens, clambering already.
"Seen. I'm looking at it now....you're sure it's connected to our batch? Somali variety?"
"Wouldn't call otherwise, it's the same material composite, we're running preliminaries now. Whoever this is, they have it in continental Europe, and under our radar in a significant quantity....this wasn't a trace amount. We have problems."
"That was fast.....okay, what's Thoraux's call on it?"
"We're finding out where, when and what. Give us eight hours, Captain. It isn't going to be long haul, wherever the hell we're going to find it. Once I call, be ready."
"Fucking hell, that could get messy fast...."
"I'm only calling the best in being messy to solve that problem, Merlin."
"Got that fucking right." With that, Merlin put his mobile down, and exhaled. The door was still open, as he headed out again.
They'd know in time, he'd pass it on when they needed to know. For now, it meant using up the last of this R&R, and he still had a burger or two to devour, Merlin said to himself. Barcelona did not look good. The fact that somewhere, there was a terrorist site that was holding a stash of it was even more worrying. And however much it was, it was in Europe, and it could be in the quantities that would have been alike to what Nikolaj had dealt with. And somehow, Merlin did not like the fact that it had happened like that. It was too organized, it was smarter than usual, and it was an uncomfortable feeling. As for the man on the other end of the phone, it was another contact in the ISA, or the Intelligence Support Activity, attached to Echo and a get-between that would keep Merlin in the loop of what the hell the task force was involved in. And indeed, this was a rare occasion, a response like this wasn't the norm. But it seemed that the previous connection had played to this, and that was why Merlin was in the know, and why it would be of particular interest of them to respond. He headed back to the BBQ, and took a seat, grabbing another burger, garnished liberally, as he took a bite, knowing a couple were looking on.
"We've got a couple hours more of R&R, then I'll run a brief at 2200, I'll get the others notified of that....there might be something that's come up of importance for us. Shame we didn't have more, but work is work." Merlin added, knowing whoever was left by the BBQ would know that for the moment, while the others would find out in good time.
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(I'd recommend wrapping up any sections on anyone else, I'll advance it through briefs and so on. Expect the unexpected.)
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