FourtyTwo

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

Longer than usual post- please don't feel like you have to write reams if you don't want to! I just wanted to give a bit of a setup for this next mission- this is a bit more exotic as I feel the setup is a bit goofy, but honestly might be a barrel of laughs to see how they pull it off.

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

Hearing her comment, Tobias gave a chuckle, looking up to the tall frame of his Firehound's black-grey armour, the lukewarm feeling of the carbon-titanium composite skin something like a Formula One car would have, albeit the skin only masked a cold, armoured core that could withstand a beating. A slight variation to the Stormhound, but one that had a different heart, a different idea. But no less relevant as a prototype, one that was going to get
"Not yet...but with enough creativity and a bit more mechanical torque I'm sure it'll happen in time. For now, it'll skewer nicely." He looked at it one last time, following Alex and Gabby over to her suit, listening to her upgrades. It seemed like she had gotten a new series of tools, even from afar. Tobias whistled, seeing the cameras pop out of the Stormhound, quite impressed with that feature.

"They literally gave you eyes in the back of your head....and your hand. That is kinda cool. Gonna be super weird, but then again, what isn't in this line of work...that'll help with any breaches." He commented, looking around the Stormhound as Alex continued, showing the rest of the performance upgrades off, oh, and the taser. Damn, now that was a cool tool...no doubt they were going to develop that one further, given it was mostly a stun-based weapon. Good for crowd control, but even his engineer's mind was whirring away with how to develop, change and make it even more exotic than it already was. Safe to say, no contact-tasing sounded like one hell of a way of putting someone down, if a swipe of an arm couldn't. Alex's last comment made him chuckle though, that was for sure. Tobias gave a disapproving, yet warm sigh, looking up to the Israeli with only a slight disdain.
"Shit Gabby, don't give the game up! That's something I'm working in my shed! Wait, did I say that out loud?" He wryly commented, laughing as he sniggered too, Alex looking on with a bewilderment, the kind that came with dealing with the two of them being the kinds of people that weren't classical engineers by trade.

"Riiight....anyway, that's all your upgrades, you two. Should have some more coming through soon after your next op. I believe you're needed over in the briefing room. The one that isn't upstairs. So I'd assume it's something fairly important...it's always a pleasure, you two. But bring them back in one piece, please?" Alex replied, putting the tablet away into the pouch as the ginger-haired girl packed up her other tools and cables for the diagnostics, the Cornishman giving a firm nod and taking a look at his watch, then back to the two.
"We do our best, but you know the score....thank you, Alex. Cheers for sorting this out with the team, much appreciated. Anyway, that meeting sounds like it could do with the next op on the horizon. Come on, Gabby, let's get going." Tobias commented, Alex giving a casual salute as the Cornishman led their way out of the room, giving one last glance over his shoulder at the Firehound, giving quiet, approving look at the thing that had stopped him being turnt into Swiss cheese not too long ago.

Walking inside the small briefing room adjacent to the suits, the sight of Bluestone sat in a blue-collared shirt and a pair of smart trousers and shoes, or as he really was outside of the field, Gavin de Vries- a tall, blonde-haired mid-40s something former operative, and he was the sight of someone who proved that old men in a field where it was likely to get killed were people you feared. He wore a pair of designer glasses, and an expensive watch on his wrist- an obvious statement of the fact that you made money in this game. He had given up that life of being an operative given he'd made his money doing stupidly risky shit and survived- so now as a team leader, he knew he got more than enough to support his lifestyle doing this sort of work. He didn't even have to manage too many people. Just two assets with an incredibly expensive pricetag attached to them...no pressure, right? So unlike the stereotypical South African merc who was utterly scary as shit and made every other reference to being a complete badass, Gavin was actually calmed down, if anything, impassionate yet caring. Gentle, but always with a good sense of humour behind him because of it. He'd probably take a few more years of this, retire and enjoy the quiet life. Maybe run a vinyard back home, on a nice, quiet farm.
"Afternoon, you two. How are we? Grab a seat." Gavin asked, his Afrikaner accent still strong, even in spite of the fact he'd lived in the UK for the best part of a decade now, and always giving Tobias the feeling he was definitely in a stereotype of some kind.
"Caffineated. Not dead. S'ppose that's alright." The Cornishman replied, taking a seat and pouring a glass of water for Gabby and himself from the jug on the table, watching as Gavin fired up the laptop across the desk from him, already connected up to the interactive whiteboard.

"Marvelous. So, Papua worked out very nicely for you, eh? Diagnostics from our meeting earlier seems to say your suits performed admirably. The client has already settled up with us nicely, as we expected- so no doubt they'll keep us on their list for future work. Wanted to start with that. You definitely earnt your paycheck this month. We appreciate it." He started, sipping down his water as Tobias did the same, taking a gulp.
"Cheers, Gavin. We do our best." Tobias replied, as Gavin nodded, seeing the PC fire up and finally boot up the briefing, the main bit he wanted to come onto. He wanted to get pleasantries out of the way- because what he was going to give them was going to be a bit heavier, and something he needed buy-in into.

"Splendid. So, we have another contract that has come through...lucrative, but way more sensitive. They're not all as easy as Papua, after all." He added firmly, as he pulled up the map on the interactive whiteboard behind him, bringing up the Eastern Med, and in particular, zooming in on Cyprus, bringing in a UAV reconaissance shot as well.

Zooming the map in, Gavin highlighted a large villa on the northern coast, the part Tobias knew was in Turkish Cyprus. The part that had been left behind after the Turkish invasion, a chunk that sat in legal no-mans land, even after decades of disputing. It hadn't recovered, if not, it had become worse, what with companies using small chunks of Northern Cyprus as a "R&D Zone" and effectively fencing off their chunks for labs, research centres and weapons-based facilities. More than just a bit of private land, it was theirs to do what they wanted with- beyond rules, law, and order. A part of the world that nobody wanted anyone to pay much attention to, even if it was so glaringly obvious to look at from the Israeli or western side. While it didn't compare to the DRC's, Greenland's or Central Asia's zones, which were enormous and allowed private firms to do far more, it did show an influence- the Turkish had ceded private companies the ability to run riot, if it brought in jobs and the ability to draw down their troops in a cold warzone, they would take it.

"This isn't going to seem like much, but this one will be a bit of a bastard. The man who owns this big coastal villa here is former General Mehmet Ali, a retired fella from the Turkish Army. Retiring in fact, from pretty much everything. Our client wants him captured, not killed, and a laptop taken from his office. Can't tell you what's on it, all you need to know, the client wants this, badly enough that they went to us very directly."

"What you're allowed to tell us? This sounds spicy. Definitely not our usual."

"It is...and don't read any more into it, Tobias. Now look, I know you two are specialists in blowing things to pieces, and this job doesn't fit your usual MO of killing insergents and taking on lots of them. But from what I can tell, he is well defended and most wouldn't be able to crack this nut. Not unless you get someone to infiltrate it....far too high a risk though. He has a platoon of troops on station given his connections and his need for security, automated sentry weaponry, and worse, the area he's in is a Centurion Security R&D area- small as it is, they have a QRF that would be on station if someone intruded on their land. And they aren't a farmer with a shotgun, as you know....turn that platoon into a couple of companies within an hour. They aren't protecting him- they just don't want any armed personel sniffing around, and if they see you...you will have a fight on your hands. It won't be easy, given a proper aerial or naval intrusion just won't be an option, and unless Centurion were willing to fuck over their reputation, they aren't going to want to hand this on a silver plate to us." Gavin began, zooming in on the villa, and the approach road it had up to the coastal villa.

"So, our plan instead, is to get you in as close as possible via other means. Mehmet has some building work going on at the bottom end of his villa, and his builders are bringing in an ISO-standard container....our client has pulled a few strings, and you can see where this is going. Before you can even say Trojan Horse on a greek island....yeah, we know. Our intel on this one from the client suggests they don't perform checks until his front gate.....at which point, you basically are going to have the chance to spring the trap on them. Get up the drive, clear the villa, find the General and grab him. And his laptop, and any dossiers, or paperwork. He'll likely hide in his safe room neext to his office...which given it's mostly bulletproof glass, you'll have no issue ripping him out of. There's a dock at the bottom of his villa you'll need to wait at once you get out- we'll have a boat get you out of there and back via the south." Gavin went through the plan, the look on Tobias's face firstly of shock, knowing this seemed a bit...well, out of wack compared to their usual insertions. Out of an aircraft, or in a mlitarised truck, it made sense but a cargo container? It seemed preposterous...but their boss hadn't let them down yet.

"What, and that boat will be fine? After a massive firefight in a remote villa? And Centurion are gonna just be fine with Operation Trojan Container?" Tobias asked with an enquiring look on his face, as perplexed most likely as Gabby was, the insertion one he still couldn't quite grasp.

"Yeah, that's one to write down for the actual op name, cheers Tobias. But yeah, it'll be fine. We can't insert you on a boat given you will get shot on sight from the compound. But given Centurion don't have a heavy amount of naval assets on station, we'll be able to get you out. I know it seems a bit insane, but given your armour, the fact they won't be expecting a threat like you, and the fact you'll be past most of the perimeter defenses, it plays into your hands nicely. Speed, aggression and clearing out the garrison will be key." Gavin reiterated, the enigmatic Bluestone knowing that it was going to be a difficult one to convince, but at the same time, their best play of action.

"Right, that works. Anything else?"

"I'd advise you don't take weapons that blow things up or shred things too much, and you go lighter than usual for this one- automatic shotguns and LMGs might be a better call for this run. Be ready for close-quarters fighting, basically. The soldiers guarding it are competent, they aren't skinnies with AKs, they have grenade launchers, LMGs, even light anti-tank weaponry, fuck, they're just about ready for World War Three down there. But no doubt your anti-personel loadout is something more than that. So you'll need to have the firepower to basically level them, but also something to work inside the villa with. Ah yeah, it is all plasterboard by the way....so you should be fine breaking through walls if your frames don't make it in his doorways. There's one area that isn't going to be accessible to either of you- the top floor of the villa sticks out of the hill he's had it built on, and if there's any hostiles in there, one of you will need to go on foot in there with cover." Gavin started, as he adjusted the map's zoom.

"Oh yeah!" Tobias said, with the accental voice, knowing the reference might be lost on people- what of breaking through a wall like the Kool-Aid guy. He felt the judgement from Gavin, as the South African shook his head, bringing in the map one more time, sighing.
"Right...Gabby, any questions?"

Burning Rubber Three (Bee and kingkonrad)

Hugo chuckled, shrugging to Kasumi's knowledge that indeed, the car wasn't going to go far. But they could try, and pull off some kind of upset. He felt good working with her, knowing that whilst most drivers would fight against each other and be total rivals even in the garage, sticking away from each other and only working for the team on the track and in debriefs, the two were actually alright with each other. Better than that asshole, Laurent. He was genuinely despicable, and worst of all, actually a talent. The money coming in from his family made him a necessity at Haas, and while he was good, the attitude of smarmy rich prick resonated far beyond just his own pit box.

"Oh yeah, too right. But then again? Just climb into that car and treat it like F2. We got this. What happens, happens." Hugo added, responding to her first question, then listening to her next after clicking through the telemetry, taking in a few early brakes and late deployments of ERS.
"Yeah....mostly. Just trying not to think too much about it. It's just a racing car....that goes faster than any other. It'll be fine." He commented, the response half there, but enough in his mind.

He would be there when he put his helmet and gloves back on- after all, you didn't get into F1 by being second best. You got there by being elite, and age was not a factor in that. That was what seperated most people from racing drivers, and most racing drivers from Formula One. A level of athletic fitness, cardio, mindset, conviction, and absolute talent. Hugo knew you got this far by being absolutely cut-throat, relentless and totally, totally trusting in your will to win. Even in a car like this- it was knowing the limit before the limit, and getting the best time possible. There were 20 other people that wanted that too.

With a data debrief over, Q1 was fast on the horizon. It was going to be a tough session, but they had to make the most of it, the two of them debriefing and getting ready to go out onto the track once again. Helmet and HANS device on, Hugo slowly did up his Alpinestars gloves once more, before clambering back into his machine, surrounded by a small group of engineers and other pit personnel. Taking a moment, he shut his eyes, visualising the turns for almost a solid minute, opening his eyes at the bright white light outside the doors. There was no time to think about what was going to happen. Just to execute it.

"Alright Hugo, nice, deep, breath. You are out first. Q1 starts in 90 seconds. We want to put your car on a banker first, then we'll go for another once we see what your time looks like. Let's see what this machine can do, Hugo. Nice and steady." His engineer called out, as Hugo exhaled, leaning back, shutting his eyes for a second and opening again. The engine roared into life as the mechanics pulled everything away, and on the chatter in his ears, he got ready to go. He was going in front of Kasumi on this run, and on the unrubbured track, he knew it would be poor. But it was worth a shot, as he pulled out of the garage, lulling slow in the pit lane, before planting his foot at the end and letting the Honda power unit roar.

Juggernauts (BigPapaBelial and kingkonrad) IC

The shot was a tough one to make, and Andrew could see it just as much as Nolan. There was a messy crosswind, and the shot was going to be a difficult one to pick out. Listening in on Nolan's call, he readied up, the Kiwi getting ready to fire the DSR's .50 round straight into the poor bastard.
"Shot is crappy. I'll agree with your callout, that wind reading seems good. It's got some intermittency to it...hold your shot till the wind really dies on the last crosswind. That one I cannot fucking get a bear on...alright, steady." He said, tapping Nolan on the shoulder, hearing his confirm, before exhaling and firing.

The shot wasn't clean, and went straight through the man's shoulder, knocking him down but not killing him- ripping pretty much the entirety of his shoulder and arm out in a particularly gruesome fashion. .50 left nothing to the imagination- the guy would be dead of bloodloss anywhere else, but he wasn't dead, and a repeat shot with Osprey so close was too risky. Checking the bolt, Andrew muttered a curse, annoyed but focussed still on the job at hand.
"Osprey, you might have to finish the bastard before he screams..." Andrew called into comms, aware the Canadian infiltrator would do the job, and finish up the laying of the explosives from here on out.

----

Overhearing Carl's comment, Natalie gave a wry grin, looking to Victor, then back at Carl, camera in hand.
"Good, Carl. Keep it as a memory, a reminder. If it ends up anywhere, you heard our bossman's command. You don't have to imagine. But for you, maybe I'll make it comfortable, yes? Don't get any ideas in that suit of yours....I hear it's very difficult to scratch an itch." She gave a wicked giggle, picking up the GAU and checking her feed, lugging it over as she brought her helmet in tight, the feeling of being back in action always pumping the adrenaline, something that was unassailable, almost as if it was never ending in this fight.

Natalie stood right by Victor's side as he spoke, amping them up. She let him go, knowing his warrior's chant would get them going, the voice and echoing deep bellowing he had of a voice just enough to make her hairs stand on edge. She had nothing to add, aside from an icy, following stare, the moon-painted girl in armour by her Mohican-Norwegian's side following him on this gig, 15 minutes out.

Looking across to the two giants, Ross could only watch in awe, truly taking it in as he glanced out the window, the icebergs and the giant mass of ice now coming closer towards the horizon, before turning back to Carl and Vicky, knowing the two of them were likely as pumped as him after that. Another gear check, what felt like the millionth time.
"One more time, into the breach eh?"

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

Tobias led the way back in, feeling a little more bouncy just like Gabby did, high on the sugar and caffiene that felt like it was fuelling him on a dreary morning like this. Enough to put him back in motion, and enough to get him back into some sort of state of affair, as he led the way back, and in through the door of the office with a swipe of his keycard. The office hum was the same as it was before, as he headed through the corridor, checking the time on his watch and their next meeting. They had a bit more of a practical session to attend- new attachments and upgrades, as well as a bit of a running brief on their next deployment, or at least, forecasted one. Things could change so much in this industry- possible operations fall through, but then new opportunities arose. They had to be ready for them, because when it came, the company's payday was always good.

Stepping into the lift, Tobias pinged the button, the doors closing as they headed down to the basement again.
"This shit never gets old...back into the fray." He added, giving a gentle yawn as the doors opened, the slick and clean facade of the basic office up top giving way to the concrete hallways, and the black, yellow and white coloured walls and bare concrete among it making the scene far more stark to the relatively warm office above. This felt technical, cutting edge, and like the money was spent on the essential in the rooms and labs. But their one to head to was where the suits were stored, the lack of personel masking the fact that they were mostly working on their two. Approaching the secured door, Tobias provided a retina, finger and card swipe to get the door open, a feat that Gabby would have to follow to gain entry through the double-layered door, with a second through a small atrium. The cargo exit was much the same, a lead that would make entry just that slight bit more hard to reach a pair of very, very expensive exoskeletons.

Coming through, the black chassis of Firehound and the green-black of Stormhound were perched up on two racks, being worked upon by a few engineers and techs. Being one himself, Tobias enjoyed tinkering too, more to make the suit fit his legs more than anything else. That the techs didn't understand- but he did, and knew how working his prosthetics or stumps inside would actuate the suit's legs. It wasn't a remote toy, it felt like an actual extension, a genuine piece of metal in his legs...that weighed far more and could pound dirt. The sight was something to see, as one of them clambered off the Firehound, the sight of the short ginger-haired Scottish gal a sight for sore eyes.

"Hey up Gabby, Tobias! You two alright? Here to have a look at the upgrades? It's been four days, I know, but these have been saved up, and your lass here can shit miracles, you know!" She asked, with a charm of Alexandra Maclod something Tobias found endearing. A mechanical engineer by trade, she seemed to be the link between the R&D, and the actual mechanics that went into making the suits sharper, twitch, and actually work when the components were made, fitted and intergrated into the complicated mechanics of it. A team worked with her, but she was their main liason- the go-to person to ask about things. Blunt, eccentric and unintentionally humorous would describe her well.
"Yeah, not bad Alex. You good?" Tobias asked, as Alexandra nodded, looking back.
"Yeah, we're good. Both of your suits didn't take any major dents, I'll give you that. You know I get pissy when you bring it back and it has lots of bullet holes and dents?"
"The feeling is sort of mutual, Alex. Though it's what they pay us all the big bucks for. Saves us from getting full of holes with em on right, yeah?" Tobias added, Alex nodding as she gave a wry chuckle.
"Yeah, but your suits would at least be here, getting clean and polished...but ah yeah, of course you guys are important too! So anyway, upgrades upgrades upgrades." She said exitely, walking around, looking back to the Cornishman.

"Tobias, I saw the requisition you put in. I've set up a pnumatic harpoon on that left arm, as requested. System can't carry the weight of the suit yet, so you aren't climbing up walls with it, but it will go through a couple of inches of steel, and people, like butter. Retratcts with a cable linkage, and it has at least a handful of uses on it before the blade and firing mechanism is fucked. Doesn't add much to the arm, but like I said, I'll try and get a motor on it in time. Get you reeling in, and pulling the suit in no time." She said, pointing it out, Tobias giving a quiet whistle, the tungsten-black point jutting out nicely.
"Splendid. What else?" He asked, taking it in, the imposing stature of the towering armour always bringing out the kid in him.
"So harpoon...ah yeah, the entry mechanism. Set it up now a bit easier for you to clamber in when you're in field. Yours immerses more than Gabby's by design, but I know you said you want to actually go stretch those titanium legs of yours. That I wanted to sort for ages, you too, sorry for the wait on that one. And lastly...there's an improved servo in the legs. The Firehound's Overcharge is a bit more powerful than the Stormhound, so thought you might like it. Means when you overcharge the suit it should have a lot more linearity to how it applies force. Meaning you don't jolt as much when you sprint, basically and it goes a bit harder." She explained, Alexandra one of the few people to show genuine child-like exitement at times, though she said it all as succinctly as possible.
"Nicely done. You've earned yourself a cuppa with that one."
"A bit more than that, surely?"
"Fine. Get the guys to get you a pack of Bourbons too." Tobias wryly said, giving a grin to Gabby, sighing as he eyed up his suit, then looking to Gabby's.

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

Thrown in a bit of an NPC there for us to share- feel free to have her introduce! Alternatively, feel free to have a tech specific to Gabby's suit- feel free to run with some light upgrades- maybe holding back from flight just yet (I want to save it for another op for both of them) and I'll warm us up to their next op!

Burning Rubber Three (Bee and kingkonrad)

Hugo paced another lap around Albert Park, the car now feeling a little more like it read its trend in the corners, through entry and exit displaying its true form. After all, practice programmes were set up that way, and the data coming in now was a true test of the car after pre-season testing a few weeks back.
"Right, nice qualy run and we'll bring you in. Qualy run, Hugo, confirm?"
"Confirm." The Portuguese replied, crossing the start finish and giving it his all. The car at 90% felt ridiculous compared to Formula 2 machinery, and to think this was even slower still than the Ferrari he had done some light testing with. It was a strange feat that he had gone through the programme so far, and now here he was, at its sidelines- cast away. Out of money, he shouldn't have been here. And yet here he was, the talent he proved in F2 and the surrounding backing he had, well, what was left of it, backing him into a Formula One seat. On qualy pace, he was proving himself nicely- the car set up neatly complementing his style. He never had the absolute focus in qualy, it was something he was working on, a real thing he put a lot of time and effort into- his racepace and elbows out approach was what made him spicy more than his absolute pace, something Kasumi would likely have the better effort of him. Still, he could put in a competitive time, and with practice coming to an end, he had a few more scenarios to run.

---

With practice now over, the Portuguese clambered out of the white, green and red coloured machine, the end of Practice 3 now showing up Valkyrie's pace- it wasn't as bad as initially thought, but even Hugo knew it was going to still be tough. The big talking point on the paddock was the simple truth of an 11th team- they had to score more points than Williams or Haas, in order to get in for the prize money. Top 10 after all got a payout- and any less than that meant nada, which was effectively economical suicide for this young, fledgling team. It was why F1 never really had more than 10 yeams- but here Valkyrie was, a risk and a brave, bold one among many trying to survive. Taking on the teams that were established in the sport would be tough, but they had no option but to succeed, and no doubt the owners had put it all on black, taking on Hugo and Kasumi to deliver. Though Hugo knew he and Kasumi had talent, this was the big game. Up against Russell, Magnussen, Grojean, they were going to be stripped back and fighting hard against players that had been here at least a year, the latter two almost a decade. Oh yeah, that and Laurent Pascal, someone he wasn't going to want to come across in the pitlane...

Stil, stepping back, Ray had some helpful insights for him, Hugo thought to himself. Pointers on what FP 1, 2 and 3 sessions had yielded- the car was shit, the performance was worse than that of the Alpha Tauri due to the customer PU, the grip was good but only just better than Williams, making for a car that on delta, would score 18th on the grid in race conditions. Lot of work to do. But it was what it was. Handling the media had gone well, Hugo and Kasumi answering the questions well, responding in a PR-driven, reponsed measure that the team would need to give answers for. It all went well, and here they were, sitting in the lull before Qualifying here in Australia. And in that pit-box, Hugo was taking a moment to go over the data one more time, seeing Kasumi do the same.
"Hey up, you all good over there?" He asked, aware his team-mate was someone he talked to from time to time- while in his own bubble, he had a care for her, and even in spite of the more forced social media stuff, he could talk to her not as a rival, but as a friend.
"How you feeling, Kasumi? Caraho...I can't believe this is real. Here we are though...no great expectations of us. But we get into Q3, one of us....I think we're gonna be beers in, no?"

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

Tobias chuckled, sipping down a bit more coffee, agreeing with the Israeli's sentiment, giving a gentle nod to agree as he swallowed the boiling beverage.
"Yeah, I was gonna say, you cops do a lot of that...if we do more, that's something hey." The Cornishman commented, looking at his legs, then back at Gabby. He had to admit, this made for a welcome change from sitting in the office- even if it was a regular haunt, it was at least a change of pace, a change of scenery from the constant crap that was going on in there. Still, much as it was boring at times, it allowed them to do the work that they did, advanced as it was.
"I mean, it'd be easy to kerbstomp a perp with one of those things. Who needs kevlar when you've got several inches of titanium and composite plate, hah." He wryly chuckled, knowing that with Gabby's physique, it was hardly like you wanted to be on the other side of an arrest from her. That'd be an asskicking and a half, Tobias had to admit...though he was enough of a scamp in his younger days to know you didn't have to fight, you just had to run.

"But yeah...that kit...it's the only way I'm in work I guess. No chance I'm working any other security work with these legs. I'm just enjoying the ride while I'm here, I suppose. But I guess I'll find a way to land on my feet if I did end up out of work, right?" With that, he clacked his metal legs, and gave a shit-eating grin to the god-awful pun he'd just played, knowing he'd almost certainly get a sigh out of Gabby. While she likely did that, he sipped down the rest of his brew, clearing his throat as he looked back across to the HQ, across the far end of the car-park.
"And on that note...wanna get back? Now we might be done with this paperwork, we might get to go actually have some fun today." He retorted, wiping his stubbled face with the napkin he'd gotten with his coffee, wiping any marks from the coffee off his face.

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

Tobias rose his eyebrows, almost as if to comedic effect with her last sentence, holding back the chuckle.
"Holiday? What's that?" He sarcastically asked, chuckling as he gave his coffee a sip, a gentle one as it was still roastingly hot, as he concurred, knowing she had a point. They had seen some serious shit together, some very exotic places too- and while many of them were just cleaning out insergent attacks, sometimes it did amp up bigger than that. Tobias couldn't help but feel with all the different moves mercs were making, they were going to be kept busy, and flushed with cash as he turned back to Gabby.

"Yeah, I know how you're feeling. Time away from this would be pretty decent....anything wtih a decent riptide would work wonders." The Cornishman added in a resigned manner, sipping away before continuing.
"I suppose there's plenty of places they could send us, but the list seems to always change of late. I remember getting into a firefight with a bunch of mercs back when I was in Greenland running a security detail on a mine there. Without the armour, of course. Made me think....they can send us to some war-torn shitholes, but it's only a matter of time till we end up toe to toe with people who might actually be better trained, in places where there's shadow companies. You know, people who might actually mgiht be a serious threat..." Tobias added, sipping down a bit more coffee as he looked dead into Gabby's eyes, deadpan as he could be.
"Though mind you, that'd be a really fucking bad Monday for them when we turn up." He gave a wry chuckle, knowing sure, it was important not to downplay other people in their profession, it was worth remembering they might have had a bit of an ace up their sleeves.

Finishing up the donut and putting the paper wrapper back on the table, he gave another gentle swig at the coffee, Tobias leaning back as he checked over his phone quickly, skimming through the headlines and then looking back to Gabby.
"Shit, do you remember when we first ended up in this company? All fresh faced, unsure what we even signed up to....makes me wonder, going back to regular infantry work someday is going to be surreal. That is, if we ever do..."

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

Apologies on my delay there- been a little uncreative lately, but back on it now!