LadyAmber

DELTΔ HYPER (Anti-Gravity Racing, Cyberpunk/Solarpunk RP)

Sunday August 22nd, 2094
Moa Tempest, Hawaii

Alexander had watched Paul struggle over the weekend. Dorian was thriving and managed to win the race. Alexander was puzzled as Paul should have done similarly well. It was unlike Paul to be short with the press. He knew for a fact that Paul had been looking forward to this race. He had not expected to get the opportunity to race in Hawaii. The last minute change up was something he was looking forward to. This circuit should have played to his strengths. This was the first time Paul’s interviews had ever shown any hint of frustration or anger. He was usually quite gracious and eloquent when on camera.

Alexander didn’t ask Paul to join him. He went in search of him away from cameras and other team members. Alexander knew Paul well enough to know he was isolating himself. Paul was always harder on himself than any other critic. Alexander found him where he thought he would. Paul was in the data center trailer. The team was still working on packing up the paddock equipment. Alexander paused in the open doorway and watched Paul for a few minutes. Paul was pouring over the data from the race. Paul’s body language was rigid with tension. His face showed frustration and his eyes flashed in anger and impatience. Alexander’s shoes made a scuffing noise on the floor as he stepped into the trailer. Paul didn’t even turn away. He just scowled and called out in an angry voice. “Go away!”

Alexander smiled and raised an eyebrow. This was a side of Paul he had not really seen before. “I won’t leave since I came to check in on you. I can see that you are already spiraling and acting like the spoiled prima donna everyone accuses of you being. Just because you have raw natural talent doesn’t mean that a career in racing is going to be easy for you. You have something to prove to yourself but your performance is not consistent. Why do you think that is?”

Paul had whirled around at hearing Alexander’s voice. All that rage and anger was focused on Alexander now “Don’t stand there and act like you know what it is like to be me. You might have been my father’s best friend but you are not him. You can’t replace him in my life. Stop acting like you have that right.”

Alexander let the words wash over him. He had a feeling this would come to a head at some point. There were things about being a professional Formula AG Racer that no one could prepare for. This was a make it or break it moment for Paul. He would either use this to push himself forward or he would fade away as has been and almost star. He would have to live with the regrets of never knowing if he was truly good enough to make it.

Alexander straightened and stood tall. He squared his shoulders and looked Paul directly in the eyes as he spoke. His voice was direct, ruthless, merciless as he told Paul what he needed to hear. He didn’t hold back and coddle him. He was brutally honest with him. Alexander’s eyes narrowed a little as he focused on Paul. “Paul, if you want to rise to be a champion it takes more than talent. It takes drive and grit. No one who is competing with you on that track is just going to hand it to you. You are going through the motions of what you think it takes. You are eating right. You listen to your trainers. You spend your time in the simulator. You pour over the data from your races. You listen to your engineers when they talk about strategy. You do your best to ensure that you are on good terms with everyone in the team and the media. Champions don’t get frustrated when the work gets hard. Champions push the team and lead the team in the direction they want it to go. The team looks for the pilots to lead them to victory and do their part of it. But you have to want deep in your gut. You have to know what you are willing to sacrifice and give up to get there. You have had a fairly easy life even without your father. You have not had to struggle to get to where you are.” Alexander paused as he saw Paul rise to his feet and take a step towards him, his hands balled into fists at his sides.

Paul’s voice lashed out in anger as his body shook with fury. “Fuck You! You have no idea what I have gone through because of my father dying. I have had to fight to be seen the same as every other pilot on the track. I had to do it with accusations of nepotism and buying my way in the whole way. I work harder than Dorian on my training and fitness. You do not have the right to try and tell me that I don’t want it bad enough. That I am not motivated enough. Who the fuck do you think you are?!” Paul took another step towards him.

Alexander used his voice like a whip as it rang with truth, authority, and experience. “I am your team principal! I decide who gets the seat in your ship. You should remember that before you speak to me that way. You asked me not to baby you. Well I am giving it to you straight Paul. You still haven’t figured out your why. Why do you race? Don’t give me that bullshit line about being closer to your father. Deep down in your gut… why do you want this? You think you are doing everything you can, yet you are inconsistent as hell. What has changed from race to race Paul? The only thing that has really changed from race to race is you. Some races you have the focus and drive, other races you seem distracted and lost and make mistake after mistake. When you can answer why… then you will know how to fix it.”

Paul looked thunderstruck and confused as the anger and rage seemed to drain out of him like a balloon with a pin hole in it. Realization was setting in that he had just been highly insubordinate the man who could yank him out of the ship.

Alexander slipped his hands into his pockets and just watched as Paul seemed to be unraveling before his eyes. He nodded once before continuing. “You need to do some soul searching and decide if you really want this. Because I have other drivers that would love to have your seat. You need to get your shit together. I know you can do better Paul. I have seen you do it. You need to be willing to give it your all like you did at Spa in every race. Not just the ones you deem important to you. I better not hear of you taking your anger and frustration out on the team.”

Alexander left Paul with that and turned and left him alone. All Alexander could do was wait and see if things changed. In the meantime, he still had a whole team to run. He had other people who needed direction and time as well. Paul didn’t even seem to notice that he had left.

---

Factory Settings

Aurora: "Alexander, Paul, thanks for the invite! I was recently at the Carrera Condor factory, who appear to be fast growing to be challenging you, alongside the historic Zygon and Al-Saqr teams. What are your thoughts on how you're being pursued, and how do you plan to react to make sure you keep up the heat on the top three in the constructors this season? Are you looking to continue snatching wins when you can at circuits that suit you, or do you think it'll be a different approach needed for the rest of the season?"

Alexander nodded to Paul to answer for himself.

Paul: “My goal is to try to win at every race. Just like the other teams, we have circuits which our ship is better suited for. I continue to try to identify where I am weak and how I can get the most of the Team Valkyrie ship. All I can do is train harder and try to turn my weaknesses into new found strengths.”

Alexander: “We will continue to snatch wins whenever we can. Team Valkyrie is in a year of growth and change that started with them hiring me. The goal is to focus on long term growth and stability for the team. That has been the goal all along. I am sure Delta Hyper is aware of the changes to Team Valkyrie’s Junior program and new sponsorships. We are trying to rebrand our thinking to give the fans of Formula Ag the most we can for their support. We are building and doing our best to position ourselves in contention for this season with an eye on championships next year.”

Age of Broken Shackles(Closed: See new thread)

Daxini, Lokoid, and Pirates, Oh My!

Collab with Daxini and Lokoid

Soundtrack: Xmillsa - F-777 Space Battle

---

Lokoid operations had already begun a few cycles ago as soon as they arrived via wormhole jump. The ships immediately began salvage operations with hundreds of small drones working around the clock to gather up what they could. Large asteroids were broken apart and processed, derelict ships were torn apart and melted down for parts, and deactivated droids were sent back for assessment and reactivation if necessary. However, lingering munitions did pose a problem as there were already a few drones that had been lost because of volatile substances contained within ship holds or floating missiles that had hit their targets but failed to detonate or homing space mines that had simply continued to float never having been triggered. These accidents were minor, however, unpleasant as the cleanup meant that not everything could be salvaged and therefore some losses could not be recuperated.

Despite this, Kajuto’s salvage operations continued on schedule and he cooperated closely with the Hunter hierarch when searching for pirates to hunt down and destroy. However, there was one derelict base that seemed to be a hive of scum and villainy worse than any other Pirate haven – a Lokoid pirate haven. It was one thing to fight fair and square Lokoid who could be turned away at the very notion of unprofitable outcomes, but it was another to fight cutthroat Lokoid pirates with no backing and nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Initial drone scouting revealed that they were already aware of Kajuto’s presence, but were not aware of the Hunters observing them at all. The Hunters could engage, however, they could not guarantee that they’d be able to take out the outpost shielding and the outpost itself before pirates could launch their own drone swarm attacks. Judging from the collection of ships small and large making up the outpost, some fairly recently acquired, suggests that the pirates are more adequately armed than they first seem. The outpost itself is massive with several corvettes and destroyers of different make, manufacturer, and origin docked all around its rugged exterior.

Hunter Hierarch of 289th Tactical Hunter Taskforce, Urta, a female Lokoid chittered her chelicerae and clicked in frustration. Simply put, the pirates in the region were expected to be smaller sporadic groups that the Hunters could’ve handled on their own with minimal support from the destroyer groups, however, this was a distinctly different outcome from their expectations and presented a tactical and strategic difficulty that they simply had not prepared for. What was worse was the Hierarch council had declared that the Hierarchy as a whole would have a zero tolerance policy towards piracy. It was simply not good for business nor was it good for client trust if the Hierarchy could not defend itself from piracy. The Annihilator Dreadnought could have been the perfect battering ram if it did not have such expensive and sensitive modules for salvage operations onboard. Any damage sustained to the dreadnought, while in the grand scheme of things would be minor, would still be an expensive risk, one that the Hierarchy would rather not take.

“Suggestion. Must request heavier reinforcements.”

Kajuto could not quite refuse, however, “Not feasible. Arrangements for immediate reinforcements would take four cycles. Cannot waste time. Pirate activity abnormally low. Attack probability high. Attack imminent, likely.”

Meanwhile in the same region of space, Commander Lennnox had reviewed the after action reports submitted by the battle group commanders. Lennox pondered if there were more pirates in the area who might have their coordinates. The signal transponder that had been planted on the Adventurer’s hull had been disabled. It also demonstrated that there might be other groups of pirates in the area. After giving the matter some consideration, Lennox decided to move the battlestation back to the area around the Vulcan. The Vulcan had excellent shields but was lightly armored and had no real offensive capabilities. The large mining and refinery station was meant to be deployed into secure space. The battle station would be able to protect Vulcan station, freeing up their ships to explore the area. The Vulcan had been hard at work and had made considerable progress in processing the debris cloud around the location they had come in.

Lennox had received a communique from the council, they were extending their orders. They would send supply ships in a few weeks. The council felt the advantages of recycling the material in the area was worth pursuing. They were hoping that they would find lost tech that could be reverse engineered from the debris. Lennox had sent back a report detailing the issues that the battle group had run into. He also sent Narrel’s more detailed report of the pirate attack and the pirate station they had found and the information they had gleaned from the contact.

Now that the battle station Leviathan and Dreadnaught Gallant was covering Vulcan. Lennox ordered the Stormbringer, Xi’s Axe, Iron Talon, and Scimitar to begin exploring and building navigational routes through the debris field. The stealth ship Adventurer was sent back to keep an eye on Black Cloud Station. They were under orders to maintain stealth and track who comes and goes from the station. The two stealth ships, Shadow and Nightweaver were sent back out in new directions to explore. The stealth ships, Lucky and Viper, were sent with the battle group to provide stealth operations if needed.

Images of T’Klanak and Stormbringer

The Flight Chief of the destroyer Stormbringer, T'Klanak, was put in command of the exploration battle group. T’Klanak had taken the lead towards where their astrogation experts believed was in the general direction of one of the planets in the solar system. Their records of the area were outdated and old. The heavy debris certainly made trying to pinpoint a location in the system difficult. The debris field was so thick that spotting any navigation points such as a star, planetoids, or known oort fields was almost impossible. Sensor data was almost useless as the debris field blocked signals from going out very far or sent back corrupt data with overlapping ghost signals. The smaller battle group was making faster progress by leaving the two stations behind. So far other than some larger derelicts, they had run across nothing of interest. They had seen further signs of pirate activity along the way. There had been some newer ships among the debris field with signs of battle damage.

Unbeknownst to the Stormbringer would find itself in the middle of a collection group with several unmanned drones breaking down asteroids, large metallic debris, and desolate hulks of abandoned ships, what’s more, they were being escorted by very fresh looking Lokoid interceptors and two destroyers. However, what really would bring awe would be the super dreadnought looming in the background, so large as to completely make miniscule the interceptors and destroyers nearby it. Upon closer inspection the collection group seemed to be one of many working all around this area and indeed the sensors would soon show.

The ship hierarch aboard one of the destroyers immediately issues their declaration through a filter that translates their transmissions. The Lokoid were aware of the Daxini’s efforts and the Daxini were aware of the Lokoid’s efforts and they’ve both tried to stay out of each other’s way. However, it seems today is the day that formal contact may occur.

“Daxini vessel…” The transmission started, “... Identify yourself and state your purpose or face appropriate action.”

The Lokoid were not exactly good communicators, this was a well known fact, translated further for the common folk, the Lokoid would have meant, “identify yourself and state your purpose, we are on high alert and you are not supposed to be here.”

To anyone that did business with the Lokoid, the Lokoid usually attempted to sound less hostile despite it not being in their nature, this heightened aggression in communication already would show that there was something that had rattled the hornets nest and the hornets were still thinking about what they were supposed to do.

Aboard the super dreadnought with its title proudly painted in Lokoidian as “K’rattak Nak Ur” which in commons would be, “The Forge” Kajuto and the second in command of the fleet, Urta was informed of the Daxini pushing into the Lokoid’s area of operations. Almost immediately they tuned into the conversation, ready to intervene to avoid complications regarding the future engagement with the pirates.

The Daxini Battle Group had slowed to scan and explore some of the more current wreckage they had found. The technology in the ships was more up to date than the older derelicts around them. Interestingly enough, the ships had been scavenged. Their engineers had noted where weapon systems, reactors, and engines had been removed. The carbon scoring on some and plasma scars on others indicated that the battles had happened less than a year ago.

T’Klanak stood on the bridge in his dark grey work uniform with his rank insignia on the collar. His reddish brown and gold feathered wings framed his body. He had reddish brown feathers layered with off white feathers off the back of his head and around his neck. He had a sleek sharp looking beak. He didn’t bring his ornate silver colored clan armor with him on missions. He had a spacesuit for combat that doubled as armor while he was on the ship which was much more appropriate to the setting. His clan armor was not designed for the vacuum of space.

T’Klanak had that itch between his shoulder blades that he couldn’t explain. He always got this feeling just before a battle. It was a feeling as if he was being watched or stalked by a predator. It was always accompanied by a sense of impending action. T’Klanak snapped his beak at that thought. Whatever was stalking his group would soon find out that he was no prey. Still he had enough experience to be cautious. He knew there had to be others in the area. The main battle group had been attacked by a pathetic excuse for a pirate group. There were obvious signs of hostilities in the area. The Scorched Line had been a battle zone between two of the larger nations in the last reclamation war. He was surprised that there had not been more nations investigating the area.

T’Klanak’s instincts were proven to be tried and true once again. The battle group came around the edge of a large piece of debris and sensors began sending up alerts. The bridge crew came alert and stiffened as adrenaline flooded their systems.

T’Klanak’s communication officer was the first to speak. “Contact commander. The Lokoid are hailing Flight Chief. The message translates as “Daxini vessel…... Identify yourself and state your purpose or face appropriate action.”

The Tactical Officer was the second to speak. The man’s voice was calm but held a note of uncertainty as he reported what his sensors were telling him was out there. “Flight Chief, we are registering multiple contacts of Lokoid design. Multiple Interceptors, two destroyers, and one Super Dreadnaught sir. We are no match for that much firepower, sir.”

T’Klanak retained his calm poise. He was not surprised to find Lokoid in the area. The only thing that did surprise him was finding a Super Dreadnought. He almost laughed to himself since he had thought that the council sending a Battle Station and the Gallant was overkill. He could admit they heeded their wisdom and experience for a reason. He had assumed that they would run into a group of them eventually. Besides, the Eagle Eye group off the Adventurer had reported seeing Lokoid on the station they visited. The Lokoid and Daxini knew of each other but they were so far apart in known space, they rarely interacted. T’Klanak was grateful they taught Xeno Relations and diplomacy to their officers. He would be out of his depth without it.

T’Klanak nodded regally to his communication officer. “Open a video channel to the Lokoid command vessel. Include full translation protocols.”

T’Klanak waited for the transmission to connect. He bowed his head in greeting to the Lokoid on the screen before introducing himself.

T’Klanak: “Greetings. I am Flight Chief T’Klanak. I am commanding this Daxini Group. I am the Flight Chief on the Daxini Vessel Stormbringer. We are conducting salvage and search operations in the area. I apologize for not greeting you sooner. As I am sure you are aware, the debris field does a good job of bouncing sensors and signals around. To whom do I have the honor of addressing?”

The Lokoid were already gathered around the holotable and the projection of the leader of the Daxini battlegroup appeared to them. Kajuto, being the ranking officer of the Lokoid collection and pirate suppression force in the area, was clad in armor himself, his prosthetics and battle scars still visible as he did not have a helmet on.

Kajuto: “The hierarchy’s greetings K’tanak. You speak to Kajuto, assigned fleet hierarch of the Lokoid salvage fleet and overall commander of anti-piracy operations conducted by Lokoid special operations forces in the system. You have come at a time where we are on high alert.”

Urta by Kajuto’s side was a younger and more junior officer, she didn’t understand why communication with people that weren’t even connected to the Hierarchy either as friends, trade partners, or allies was worth their time. This showed even with the manner of speech that Kajuto addressed the Daxini. Most Lokoid commanders are harsh, however, the fleet hierarch was as respectful as a hierarch could be.

T’Klanak didn’t take offense to the fact that the Lokoid got his name wrong. He knew things didn’t always translate accurately. But he did feel the need to correct him.

T’Klanak kept his tone firm but respectful. “My apologies Hierarch but my name is not K’tanak it is T’Klanak. I would hate to be confused with someone else.”

T’Klanak paused for a moment before continuing. “I understand no offense was meant. The Daxini battle group was attacked by a small pirate flotilla near here. We captured a few pirates and destroyed their ships. We have seen evidence of additional pirate activity in the area.”

He offered up a bit of intel that they probably already knew. After all, they were operating in the immediate area and had to have seen the same battle damage his group had found and reported on.

Kajuto adjusted himself as he had blundered the man’s name.

Kajuto: “Understood, T’klanak. My speech is not as coordinated as it used to be…”

The battle hardened Lokoid paused to show the left side of his face had been mauled by weapons fire and parts of his jaw and chelicerae that he used for speech had been damaged beyond feasible medical repair. The Lokoid then returned to face the well dressed feathered Daxini,

Kajuto: “... Piracy is rampant in this sector of the scorched line. We Lokoid have discovered another source of piracy –”

He turned to Urta for her to step forward still clad in power armor and transmit a live feed from the stealth cruisers monitoring the large pirate structure they had discovered.

Urta: “Intelligence and observation show that this is the strongpoint of pirate activity in this sector. It is made up of several derelict hulks and littered with guns. Further observation shows the use of drone swarms utilizing Lokoid technology. We believe this to be the hideout of a rogue Lokoid commander turned to piracy that escaped into this area three cycles ago. Activity also indicates that there are several destroyer and cruiser sized vessels in the vicinity indicating that a small flotilla may be present. Number of ships is, unfortunately, unknown”

Urta further transmits additional visual information through the supplemental feed to show the Daxini commander what they’re up against.

Urta: “We have several destroyers and cruisers acting as escort for the dreadnought. We cannot commit forces against the pirates. The dreadnought contains sensitive equipment. Costs of damage is high, operations in the area will be slowed, and cannot afford to commit dreadnought to combat unless there is no choice.”

T’Klanak watched the Lokoid on the screen. It was the first time he had met any personally. He had seen pictures of course. The Daxini knew of the Lokoid through second hand accounts. T’Klanak knew they had a very structured hierarchy to their society but not exactly what that hierarchy looked like. T’Klanak’s instincts were telling him that it was rare to speak with a Lokoid as high in rank as Kajuto. He also found the information they shared disturbing. He looked down at the screen at his station as he looked over the data they had sent. T’Klanak didn’t believe that his battle group was a match for an entrenched Lokoid pirate position and an unnamed number of large battleships. T’Klanak stilled as he thought through the implications of his group running into those ships and why the Lokoid would share that information so freely with them.

He tilted his head to one side as he regarded Kajuto and Urta on the screen. He decided to be direct and ask. “I appreciate the Hierarchy sharing this information with the Daxini. May ask I why you have shared it? I must admit I don’t believe my group is a match for an entrenched Lokoid position and an untold number of destroyers. I have one destroyer, one cruiser, and two light cruisers. What are you proposing Kajuto?”

The fleet hierarch said simply, “Piracy is everyone’s problem…”

Kajuto understood that it might be a stretch to say that they together could handle the pirate threat, however, leaving the threat alone would open them to attack. With an unknown number of ships and drones, there was no telling how much damage they could wreak and how far. Kajuto continued, “... I propose a temporary alliance against the threat. In exchange, half of all salvage from the battle is yours barring any ships from our battlegroup that may end up as casualties of anti-piracy operations in this region.”

Kajuto was also straightforward, he did not mince words, he did not say anything that was out of line for him or his battlegroup. Urta, however, was surprised at how quickly the Hierarch proposed such a thing knowing that their battlegroup had classified technology being field tested for battlefield use. It was not a good idea to allow a potential future foe to know their capabilities. But Kajuto looked to Urta and instantly it was clear to her – Kajuto did not care about secrets. To the fleet hierarch, a veteran of war, he knew that no matter what would happen the Hierarchy would adapt.

T’Klanak waited to hear out the Hierarch. He watched the two Lokoid carefully for any microexpressions or body language that might help him understand them. He thought that Urta might have been surprised by Kajuto’s offer but he didn’t know the very alien looking Lokoid well enough to make that decision. His brain caught up with processing what Kajuto had said. His eyes widened in surprise at the offer to team up to take care of the pirates. It was a generous offer that T’Klanak couldn’t overlook. He knew his group by itself would be no match for a pirate group of that size. He would need to clear this through the chain of command though. He was inclined to take the Lokoid up on the offer but he would have to run the offer past Commander Lennox.

T’Klanak inclined his head respectfully to Kajuto. “That is a very respectable offer, honorable Kajuto. I will need to contact my commander and run this proposal past them. I will be in touch with an answer after I have conferred with them. I hope that is acceptable?”

Kajuto twitched his antennae in agreement, “That is acceptable. Let us know at your earliest possible convenience. We will prepare our forces to be battle ready by the time you have a reply. Regardless of the decisions you may come to, we must eliminate the threat to our operations. We will begin operations in earnest within two galactic cycles.”

One of his many arms simply made one gesture and Urta retreated out of view of the holotable and was immediately moving out of the bridge. She was heading to the hangar to grab her fighter and move back to her ship as soon as possible.

T’Klanak nodded his understanding even as he verbalized unsure how the gesture would translate. “Thank you Hierarch Kajuto.” He gave a hand signal to his communications officer to cut the feed. T’Klanak took a seat in his chair. This was a lot to take in. He took a deep breath to center himself allowing some calm to wash over him. The tactical officer reported a shuttle sized ship leaving from the super dreadnought. T’Klanak acknowledged the tactical officer’s report before he looked at the communications officer once more.

T’Klanak: “Get me Commander Lennox.” T’Klanak waited as the communications officer sent the request over the secure quantum link to the Leviathan. He didn’t have long to wait before the Commander was on his screen.

Commander Lennox; “I understand you needed to speak with me Flight Chief? What have you to report?”

T’Klanak straightened a little as he gave his report. “Yes Commander. Our group ran into a Lokoid battle group. They are doing the same thing we are. They have several salvage drones, Interceptors, 2 destroyers, and a super dreadnought. They are conducting salvage operations in the area and are hunting a group of a Lokoid Pirates active in the area. They freely shared that intel with us. The Lokoid Pirates have made their home in several derelict hulks and littered with guns. They are using Lokoid drone technology for salvaging the ships they take out. They shared that they believe it to be the hideout of a rogue Lokoid commander. They said there is an unknown number of Lokoid pirate ships active in the area. They had seen activity that indicated several destroyer and cruiser sized vessels. They asked for our help in attacking this pirate base. They offered half of all salvage from the operation barring their current active ships. I told them I would need to report back to you for clearance.”

Commander Lennox looked surprised and thoughtful. “This is the first time the Lokoid have offered any kind of an alliance to the Daxini as far as I know. That Lokoid pirate group makes that rabble we took care of look like school bullies. What was your impression of the Lokoid and your feelings about this matter, Flight Chief?”

T’Klanak looked thoughtful before he answered. “The Lokoid I spoke with was an Hierarch named Kajuto. I got the impression that it is rare that a Lokoid of that rank would speak to outsiders. They did say they can’t afford to commit the Super Dreadnaught unless they have too. I think that this is an opportunity to get some help with these pirates. I am not sure I like our chances without the Lokoid and this gives us something to build future diplomacy on Commander.”

Commander Lennox nodded before coming to a decision which you could tell as she stood her posture straight, her arms tucked behind her back. “T’Klanak, commit your forces to help with this pirate hunt. I would prefer we do our reconnaissance to determine the exact numbers we will be facing. Send a stealth ship into the coordinates given by the Lokoid. Then plan the assault with them but only if you feel the odds are favorable after you know exactly what you will be facing.” Commander Lennox gave T’Klanak a bright smile. “Good job T’Klanak. This will be a mission for the books.”

T’Klanak was grateful his face was covered in feathers and he didn’t blush. As it was his feathers ruffled slightly in pleasure at the confidence Commander Lennox was showing in his judgement and leadership. “Thank you Commander Lennox. T’Klanak out.”

T’Klanak turned to the communication officer again. “Get me the Flight Chiefs for all the ships in the battle group.” T’Klanak waited till he had all the ship commanders on a conference call before he began to fill them in on what had been going on and what their new orders were.

T’Klanak: “The Lokoid are conducting salvage operations in the area and are asking for help with a rogue Lokoid Pirate Fleet in the area. Commander Lennox has approved the temporary alliance. The Viper and Lucky will be heading out towards the coordinates given to us by the Lokoid to scout what ships are in the area. The Lokoid said they had evidence of activity but didn’t know the exact number of ships or the make. I would like that information before we commit to a battle we can’t win. This will be a joint operation with the Lokoid. I will transmit more details as I confirm them.”

The commanders signed off and T’Klanak once more asked his communications officer to contact the Lokoid Hierarchy. He waited patiently for the call to connect. He asked to speak to Hierarch Kajuto. “Greetings Hierarch Kajuto. I spoke with Commander Lennox and they have agreed to a temporary alliance to eradicate this pirate threat. However they didn’t like the vague nature of the intel. We will be sending two of our stealth ships in to get better intel on what ships are in the area so we can develop a good plan knowing what we will face. I am to pull our ships out of the operation if I deem it an unwinnable scenario. Are you comfortable with this compromise?”

Kajuto’s reply came plain, “That is acceptable, our electronics officers will initiate handshake procedures to connect command and control. Please standby.”

As he said that several destroyers that have been conducting salvage and escort operations started to move towards the staging area where the dreadnought was stationed. Several drone interceptors were launched from the dreadnought’s limited hangar space.

Urta reappeared on comms through the Lokoid network, she was aboard her ship now, “IFF requires an electronic handshake procedure between our systems to synchronize battle data. It would be best to make sure our ships do not mistakenly target any of yours.”

T’Klanak waited patiently for the Lokoid’s answer. He would leave their area of operations if they didn’t agree. He knew he didn’t have the firepower to take on their battlegroup. He managed to withhold the breath of relief even as the amenable answer caused relief to sweep through him. He had been worried that the Lokoid might try to conscript his ships forcibly. They were not the friendliest of nations and somewhat mysterious. There was no denying that they were a major military player in the region. T’Klanak was grateful they were seeking a willing partnership.

He was a little concerned about the request for an electronic handshake. He gave Urta a strong look as he said. “One moment please.” He made a gesture to the communication officers to mute the channel and put Urta on hold.

“Isolate our systems but set up the handshake. Make sure the incoming signal can not infiltrate our systems. I don’t want any nasty surprises later. Make sure they can’t implant any kind of tracking or viruses that we won’t be able to disable later.”

The communications officer worked with the tactical officer to set up the necessary protocols to link their tactical systems and IFF with the Lokoid but in a way that kept them out of the main ship’s systems. When they were ready, the link resumed.

T’Klanak’s hands were folded in front of him as the call resumed. “My apologies for the delay Urta. We needed to prepare our systems so that we could make that work. My communication’s officer is ready to initiate that link with the Lokoid systems. Once that is done our stealth ships will immediately head out to recon the pirate base. They will communicate that information back to us. They are faster than our larger ships. We should have access to that information before the main battle group arrives. On your mark. Urta.”

The Lokoid begin creating the link via the electronic handshake and marking friendlies on their holomaps and ship displays. It was relatively simple really and something that would have been done for any occasion. Urta then looks towards T’Klanak and says something that only the Lokoid and their close allies would’ve heard since the last conflict.

“Link established. Hunt well and may the ichor flow...”

Interestingly, aside from the additional destroyers from the Lokoid fleet’s escort, the handshake revealed that there were three other Lokoid ships that were showing up on sensors that were not there previously – Urta’s hunting party. They were loitering in stealth just a hundred kilometers off the bow of the Daxini battle group.

“... My squadron shall join your scouts.”

She then looked to her crew, “Ready all weapons. All pilots standby for immediate deployment. We will bear our mandibles to the enemy. The hunt begins!”

As Urta’s stealth ships move, the light distorts the images around the hull, if one were to look closely, the ships were at least were cruiser sized and yet slender and narrow all along the length like a knife cutting through space. These were optimized to operate as hit and run ships dedicated for small bursts of firepower. They seamlessly moved into the Daxini scouting party’s formation and spaced themselves accordingly.

T’Klanak watched as their integrated systems filled in the holotank in the middle of the bridge that marked ships and objects in space around them. He didn’t manage to hide his surprise as the Lokoid stealth ships appeared near his group. He managed not to show the depth of his surprise but he didn’t relish feeling like prey. He preferred the role of hunter. He appreciated the phrasing the Lokoid used about hunting. It was an area they could find common ground on.

T’Klanak was pleased to note how easily their two groups merged and took off in formation. The Daxini stealth ships were very different than the Lokoid. Daxini stealth ships were designed to seamlessly fit into civilian trading traffic. They looked like normal ships such as small freighters. They had hidden weapons, sensors, and stealth systems. They had a stealth technology that refracted light away from the ships and things like heat sinks and shielding to hide the ship’s power output. Clearly the Lokoid had better stealth technology than they did. They focused on technology to hide their ships where the Daxini’s approach was to hide in plain sight with additional options to support their crew on their information gathering missions. The Daxini ships would not engage their stealth modes until they were closer to their destination.

T’Klanak gave a regal nod to his communication officer. “Open a channel to all ships.”

He waited for his officer to indicate that they were ready.

“This is Flight Leader T’Klanak. May our hunt be fruitful and prove us worthy of remembrance.”
The Daxini Battle Group ships joined the larger Lokoid formation. The Daxini ships seamlessly slipped into the formation and locations that Urta had indicated. Together the battle group left for battle.

As the stealth ships moved closer to the pirate's location, the looming shadow of the outpost came into view. It was the size of a small space station, its structure made up of a hodge podge mess of ships and debris wrapped around an asteroid. What was worse was the patrolling formations of drones. On the scanners it seemed to be about ten flights of five fighter sized craft. Floating around it were several destroyer and corvette sized vessels. The station itself looked to have several hardpoints for defensive emplacements. This was as well guarded as a minor Lokoid military base. All of it scavenged from this scorched battlefield and made to work through sheer Lokoid ingenuity.

How did they know it was Lokoid? Simple, the transmissions from the outpost were not as well encrypted, the language heard in the intercepted calls – calls that the scouting party are now privy to at that very moment – are in Lokoid. The transmission they intercepted talked about a new haul of weapons and parts from a nearby derelict battleship, what stood out was that the main cannons from the battleship were intact and could be made operational to further bolster the station’s power.

Urta had her comms officer send an encrypted message to the fellow scouts in the formation and indeed, to the rest of the allied battlegroup skulking behind them, “Capital class weapons en route to station, must strike now or additional investment must be made to dismantle them later.”

T’Klanak was seated once more on the bridge as their battle group made their way towards their destination in conjunction with the Lokoid ships. Their stealth ships had moved ahead of the main group and were sending back telemetry on what their ship’s sensors and scanning technology was picking up. They intercepted the unencrypted transmission from the Lokoid base. Urta was quick to send an updated translation about what they had discovered and were worried about.

T’Klanak was reviewing the information with his tactical officer. They were confident with the Lokoid’s help they could take out the target. T’Klanank accepted suggestions from all the ship’s commanders.

T’Klanak opened a secured and encrypted communication channel to Urta.

T’Klanak wasted no time with responding to Urta’s urgent communication. “I agree with your assessment Urta. We need to strike now. One of my stealth ship captains had a question for you about a possible tactic to use against the facility. You know your own technology much better than ours. While they are using Lokoid technology, they offer the observation that it’s implementation is not as well done as it could be. They took shortcuts in places. In your opinion, would it be worth pursuing tactics to disable the base such as an electromagnetic pulse? Would it impair their abilities by cutting off power or shorting out equipment? While the base is well fortified with weaponry our scans are not indicating any kind of shielding on the facility. One of my flight chiefs believes that they can rig one of our defensive EMP missiles to overload creating a stronger EMP pulse. They can get in close to the facility before firing the missiles. If it works, it should disable anything not shielded in the area. That would reduce the danger to our group allowing us to deal with the ships before going after the base itself. I am sending our proposed targets and telemetry. I await your response.”

T’Klanak ordered the battle group to battle stations knowing that battle was imminent. He just wanted to make sure before they went in that everyone had a target and knew their field of fire. T’klanak sent Urta the proposed allocation of Daxini ships with targets for approval. The Stormbringer would go toe to toe with one of the destroyers. The cruisers would each take on one of the cruisers while the stealth ships would try to confuse and eliminate the drones. T’Klanak was sad that the Daxini Battlestation was not with them on this attack. Their fighters would come in handy taking out those drones. It would have been a glorious battle for their fighter pilots. Alas they were not with the current group and wishing about it didn’t make it a resource he had access to at the moment. Now that the battle was upon them he was eager to get on with it. He agreed with Urta that this pirate group could not be left to continue to grow.

The Daxini were correct in their assessment. Finding a working shield generator that hadn’t overloaded through the sheer volume of fire seen during the battles on the scorched line would be near impossible. However, Lokoid ingenuity always found a way. They may not have a shield generator, but they must have redundant systems of some sort. The best the Daxini attack would do is give them a moment. However, a moment is all that the task force needs to inflict withering damage.

Urta replied, “There may be redundant systems on that station. We may only have moments before they bring command and control back online. There is also the back up logic cores onboard the drones that will allow them to operate semi-effectively without orders. With that being said, they’d be a lot less coordinated. However, in that moment we would have a chance to strike would be enough.”

Urta similarly had her force split into firing positions for their graviton torpedoes targeting the fleet of corvettes and destroyers loitering around the station. They had six launch tubes each. They would have to partially drop stealth and appear on scanners for the moment of firing and disappear again. Additionally, she also had them prepare the cluster missiles to target the hardpoints on the station. It is likely not all the hardpoints would be destroyed or damaged as there are likely hidden weapons emplacements all over the damned thing.

“T’Klanak, once the systems momentarily go down, my group will destroy and disable what we can of their ship fleet and the hardpoints on the station proper. However, this will only be enough to prepare the hammer blow that will be the main battlegroup. My group will engage and launch fighters first. We will be vulnerable for whilst we conduct launch operations. We request your cover.”

T’Klanak acknowledged Urta’s response. “I will send out the timing of the operation so you know when the strike will occur. The larger Daxini ships will move in to help cover your ships as you launch your fighters. May our mutual hunt be successful.” T’Klanak gave Urta a respectful gesture as he signed off and gave the orders to move the ships into position. He coordinated the attack across his group and included a kickoff timer for the Lokoid so they could follow and know the timing of the attacks and when the missiles would strike.

The larger Daxini ships didn’t have any stealth. Their shields could block some sensor readings but they didn’t have active stealth shielding like the smaller stealth ships. The larger Daxini ships were hiding behind Lokoid ships of larger size or were using the debris ridden environment to confuse sensors as to where they actually were. The stealth ships could get close enough to deploy their EMP missiles. They would be close enough to their targets that evading all the missiles should be almost impossible. T’Klanak did his best not to leave things to chance.

T’Klanak had the Viper target the station and the Lucky target four of the largest Lokoid pirate ships. Each stealth ship would be able to fire a single volley of four large EMP missiles each. The crews of the stealth ships tinkered with the missile’s payload hoping to make them more effective. They would release an explosive package prior to contact to penetrate into the ship or station. They boosted the EMP output to increase the range. T’Klanak wished his ships luck as they moved into position.

T’Klanak snapped his beak as he gave the attack order.

The Lucky and Viper were in position and fired their missiles. All the ships had the countdown and tracking data as the rest of the Daxini battle group moved quickly into blocking positions to protect the Lokoid ships as they deployed. Four missiles hit the pirate base targeting what they hoped would be power and the control center. One EMP missile was sent to 4 separate Lokoid destroyers. They had a better chance of evading or stopping the missiles but even if they missed the noise from the radiation should help confuse their sensors and communications.

The EMP knocks out several key systems on the station, it appears the desired effect was indeed achieved and for a moment, the command and control of the drone fighters was disrupted. Urta used this opportunity to clear out the field for the main force.

Stealth was disrupted but for a mere five seconds, but in those seconds, eighteen gravitic torpedoes and countless high-yield swarm missiles flew out of Urta’s three stealth cruisers. The high powered particle lances also fired, cutting through four of the visible destroyers and rendering them inoperable. This also allowed them the opportunity to launch their hunter squadrons. Three flights of fourteen ace pilots flew out of the stealth cruiser’s compartments and locked their wings into attack position almost immediately.

The Gravitic torpedoes hit several destroyers and corvettes whilst also pulling apart and compromising the structural integrity of the station. However, whilst the damage was substantial, it was not enough to stop the analog defense systems. Several manned defensive turrets rolled out of hidden doors all over the place. Some were ballistic in nature, others were energy weapons that had fortunately been shielded from the EMP.

Urta swiftly ordered a return to stealth and activating electronic warfare to confuse anything that would target them. They once again entered stealth, the optical camouflage concealing them from view and electronic warfare systems messing with enemy sensors and generally creating havoc amongst the defenders.

The main force slowly maneuvered around the debris and began to engage as the pirates themselves reorganized their defense and began launching their small destroyer squadrons to strike at the combined Daxini-Lokoid force. Additionally they launched squadron after squadron of drone fighters. They all had automated logic cores that allowed them to operate independently from the command and control systems fielded by the station. This meant that while these drones could fly, they were severely limited in tactical and combat ability. Despite that setback, the pirates still had numbers on their side as the first salvo of missiles, ballistics, and energy weapons fire were exchanged between both sides.

Urta once again addressed the task force, acting as a adhoc Spaceborne Warning and Control System (SWACS) for the entirety of the task force, fully utilizing the highly sensitive and sophisticated sensor suite that her cruisers could afford her. One of these warnings was for the Daxini’s lead ship, “T’klanak, inbound, destroyer group heading for your side of the formation. Torpedo attacks are likely given the vector. Fighter-Bomber escorts are present, two flights of five. Coordinates are on grid X-112, Y-031, Z-240 relative to your ship. Two allied Lokoid destroyers are nearby to assist but are currently engaged. Do you need them?”

The Daxini ships worked together on cue. As the stealth ships fired their EMP missiles at their targets, the larger Daxini ships moved into blocking positions ahead of the Lokoid ships. Their shields have been increased to maximum, their anti missile point defense lasers were all active and tracking any incoming missiles. The Digital Entities on board the ships took control of these point defense systems and worked. The tactical officers focused on the overall battle plan and the offensive side of the Daxini battle strategy. The tactical officers fired antimatter warheads targeting the largest Lokoid destroyers and cruisers. The Daxini targeted different ships to the Lokoid. They wanted to spread the destruction around hoping for a disabling strike for each target. T’Klanak knew that was too much to hope for but it was necessary to disable as many of the pirate ships as possible. The initial response from the Lokoid pirates began to come in as they began to see manned firing turrets revealed as they came out of concealment and began to fire at the battle group. T’Klanak was watching the holotank as sensors with the help of the Kronar on board filled in the data as soon as they were receiving the telemetry. T’Klanak had just noted the incoming group with Urta offered assistance. T’Klanak used the priority command channel link that had been set up for all ship captains in their combined force to use to answer Urta. “Negative Urta. Our shields are holding so far. We have a surprise for those drones.” That was a Daxini version of the human’s “Hold my beer.”

T’Klanak had the stealth ships follow up by firing prepared tactical nanite missiles towards the oncoming drone swarm. The missiles hit just in front of them releasing the nanites to create a swarm that the ships would fly through. The nanites were programmed to attach to the hull and begin working on hacking into the drone’s command systems and set up communication between the drones and the Kronar in the battle group. They would attempt to take control of the Lokoid Pirate drones and use them for their side, turning them on the pirates. In the meantime, T’Klanak gave the order for the troop carrier on the destroyer to launch for a boarding action on the pirate station. Xi’s Axe would provide cover fire and support to get the troop transport to the station.

T’Klanak watched the shield numbers carefully. They were holding steady but were slowly being chipped away at. The point defense lasers had begun targeting incoming torpedoes while the Stormbringer and the Scimitar continued to fire antimatter warhead missiles at enemy ships along with their railguns and plasma cannons. The combination of attacks was taking a toll on the pirate vessels. The Daxini were moving to the next target as soon as a ship was confirmed to be disabled. They were also trying to use precision targeting on drive systems and power systems to disabled the ships. Only time would tell whether the Kronar Digital Entities would be able to take control of the drone swarm using the nanites as a communication bridge for them to hack into the Lokoid pirate systems.

Urta watched carefully as the Daxini’s weapons turned old Lokoid tech against their owners. The destroyers the drones were escorting quickly fell apart under the barrage of plasma and high yield bombs that were being peppered along their hull. In the meantime, Urta repositioned her cruisers for another decapitating strike. More drones would be joining the fray now as the field of battle became increasingly chaotic.

Pirate destroyers returning from patrol began to join in the fray, whilst Kajuto and Urta’s forces continually pumped out more fighters and continued to lay down withering fire against the pirate scourge. From when the battle began there were now hundreds of contacts all over the place, not including the debris. However, Urta and the other Lokoid SWACS kept the entire fleet appraised and informed on what was happening. The Lokoid battle order had turned from hammer stroke, to maintained battle flow. They kept the pressure high and maintained the advantage that was afforded to them by the joint surprise strike that T’Klanak’s Scouts and Urta’s Hunters had dealt them.

The Hunters stalked the field completely hidden and moving between the missiles and gunfire. They had identified the most problematic gun batteries on the station. There were three swarm missile launchers harrying the Daxini’s right flank, and a high yield beam pressuring the shields of the Lokoid main force – priority targets. Additionally, Urta had been monitoring the battle for a while and had identified several leading vessels, one of which was the spearhead of the station’s defense – she would decapitate the beast.

She alerted the whole force, “Prepare. Their defense shall fall in a moment.”

Her ships once again decloak and a barrage of torpedoes, missiles, and high powered beams struck their primary targets whilst also forcing the pirate destroyers to refocus their engagements. However, by the time they had gotten their guns on target again, Urta’s hunters had once again cloaked. This broke the center of the Pirate formation and significantly reduced the pressure coming from the station. Things were progressing smoothly as Urta’s elite ace pilots weaved into the gap and further damaged the ships lying behind, weaving through the enemy’s point defense systems.

Things were looking as if they were coming to a close for the desperate pirates. But it was too soon to count them out. In a flash, Urta noted an energy spike – capital ship yield beam cutting straight through the battlefield, three of the Lokoid ships had been hit and destroyed whilst others had to pull back due to the intense energy output.

Urta monitored the pirate comms again and made a chilling report, “Capital ship class weaponry online with mobile powersource. They have modified it on the spot for the emergency the station is in. Advise all ships to spread formations immediately.”

Another energy spike, “Alert, pirates are recharging their weapon. Estimated time for firing is twenty seconds.”

T’Klanak snapped their beak in excitement and pleasure as their tactics bore fruit. Some of the Kronar in the battle group had managed to take control of that initial drone swarm, turning them into a weapon for their side. The drones were used to get close and disable the pirate ships that had been relying on the drones for protection. No battle plan survives contact with the enemy. Their initial surprise attack had damaged the ships that had been at the station or around it but as the battle continued, Lokoid Pirate ships continued to join the battle. The incoming pirate ships were coming in fresh to the battle while those who had already been fighting for some time were starting to show the damage from battle. The Daxini battle group fought on as they were fully committed. The battle became one of attrition as the Daxini focused on disabling ships before moving to the next. All the while the Daxini fleet was being pounded by the pirates and their drone swarms. The Kronar were limited on how many drone swarms they could control and maintain the rest of their duties on board the Daxini ships. Just as the battle seemed to be coming to a conclusion a Lokoid Pirate vessel managed to fire capital ship weapons of high power at the fleet.

T’Klanak didn’t hesitate. “Target that ship. Full salvo!”

Talon Squad Chief Prarrel

Kronar Brayden on Stormbringer

Talon Squad 2nd Chief Rayorten

In the meantime, Talon Chief Prarrel was leading a team of Daxini ground troops in the boarding action against the station. Prarrel was a tall lithe muscular figure with sharp claws and teeth. His battle armor was in good repair but scarred from past battles. Prarrel was from the Rapaxani clan but his squad was a mix from all the clans. The troop drop ship had landed at one of the pirate base’s airlocks. They could have landed against the hull and blown an opening into the station. They were trying not to do the kind of damage that would kill everyone on the station not wearing a space suit from explosive decompression. The Axe had given them cover fire all the way in. The Axe had knocked out a few automated turrets that were in position to give them trouble while they were docked. Obviously whoever was in charge of the pirates didn’t trust that everyone docking with the station would be friendly. The Axe communicated they were rejoining the battle now that the troops were on station.

Prarrel ordered his troops ready to move. One of the troopers attached a communication device to the control panel that would open the airlock door. One of the Kronar in the battlegroup used the device to hack the door for them cycling the airlock. The Kronar, Brayden of the Stormbringer, informed the trooper that there were troops waiting on the other side and showed him what the station’s cameras revealed to him. He set up a simple menu for the trooper holding the tablet so he would be able to open doors and access the cameras on the station. Then Brayden withdrew his focus back on the battle the Stormbringer was fighting. The battle for the station began as the Daxini troops charged into the ambush planned by the pirates as the two sides exchanged fire. The Daxini’s heavy combat armor gave them a slight edge on protecting them from the heavier energy weapons. The Daxini troops closed to go paw and claw with the pirates. Some of the pirates had armor but not all of them had armor that offered the same level of protection as the Daxini.

T’Klanak hadn’t lost any ships yet but the Axe had taken damage as it gave supporting cover to the Daxini Troop Ship on its way to the station. The Axe had returned to re-engage in the battle. They had been hit from debris that had flown off one of the Lokoid vessels hit by the capital ship weapon. The Axe’s power systems were damaged and their shields were failing as power began to fluctuate on the ship. The Axe was withdrawing from the battle limping away at a slow pace as the other Daxini Cruiser, the Iron Talon, gave them cover on the way out of the battle. The Iron Talon fired at the Lokoid ship with the capital weapon on its way by. They had shunted extra power to shields on that side of the ship as they hoped to get the Axe past the ship and away from the battle.

Urta made no hesitation in reorganizing her ace pilots. At this point, none of them had taken damage and they had conserved their ordnance well.

“All squadrons redirect efforts. Take down that capital weapon.”

As she spoke through the radio, another high energy burst sliced through the void, melting through debris and searing the surface of ships that had managed to maneuver out of the way. Fortunately, the blast only hit the Lokoid’s drones. The ace fighters moved independently from each other. What was to be noted was that each fighter never slowed, flowing into each maneuver and completing high G-turns despite the strain it would cause the pilot. They were darting across the holo maps as if they were themselves highly sophisticated drones. They were able to weave through the thick debris, complete bombing runs whilst avoiding enemy fire, and leave only destroyed drones in their wake. One of them, under the callsign Arrow, had flown through one of the open drone hangers inside the station. The hangar was a through-and-through construction allowing the fighters to flow through the station wherever they needed to deploy. Arrow lined up the bomb to drop right in the middle of the hangar, it wasn’t required of him, he simply did so because they were trying to stop the flow of drones.

His actions rendered the drone hangar inoperable as the bomb detonated in his wake destroying the outgoing drones and the deployment mechanisms. As he flew through the station, he received the order through his squad leader.

“Steel Squadron, redirect. Kill order priority on enemy capital ship weapon. Hierarch Urta is updating our radar now.”

Steel squadron and Arrow redirected themselves to intercept the capital ship weapon several hundreds of Kilometers away. Another pack of drones were coming their way, these ones were more sophisticated and yet, the squadrons broke into their respective packs and tore into the enemy. Arrow however focused on evasion – he was looking for another killshot. Arrow queued up whatever was left in his arsenal, he was running low on munitions after destroying several drones and engaging the station’s gunmounts. What he still had were a pair of low yield, anti-fighter missiles.

Listening to his Hunter Hierarch’s updates, he awaited for the moment the weapon was once again charging. Incoming fire from friendly ships bombarded the enemy capital vessel, which was no problem for Arrow, however, he’d observed that the oncoming fire wasn’t doing anything to the capital ship weapon. It was basically being towed by two destroyers and jerry rigged to the weapon were capital ship grade reactors and shield generators. While the weapon charged the shield gradually weakened but never really went down. Arrow had reckoned that the shield being this strong with a makeshift system meant that it needed to be lowered for a moment of firing.That was the moment Arrow had to wait for, the moment where the weapon had to contain a volatile amount of energy and disrupt it with two well placed missiles.

Meanwhile, the battle inside the station would be fierce as pirates from within battled Prarrel’s forces. The pirates would be pushed back further inside preparing more ambushes with heavier and heavier equipment. This was also around the time the Kajuto’s boarding forces arrived. Several squads of Mk.1 and Mk.3 combat automatons. The Mk.3s were a mix of Melee, Fire Support, and Standard patterns. They had breached from another part of the station and had informed over the shared network that they would be working towards rendezvousing with Prarrel to reinforce his team.

A Mk.3, CA-KR-11521 otherwise known as Unit-0 for this operation, was leading the assault. They had taken some damage from determined pirate defenders. Some of the pirates were armed with their own power suits and high powered weapons making the boarding action fiercely brutal. However, replacements for the automatons had started to steadily flow into the station. A squadron of Lokoid destroyers had secured a corridor for transports to flow in. Remaining Lokoid forces around the station pivoted towards combating the Pirate vessels and assisting the Daxini. That being said, several destroyers and cruisers had already needed to be pulled back after being rendered combat ineffective from the combined firepower of the station and its ad hoc fleet. Kajuto had calculated that at least a quarter of his forces are still combat capable, however, if things don’t turn around soon, he would have no choice but to commit the K’rattak Nak Ur into the fight. He turned from his thoughts to look at the holoprojections on the bridge and observed the battle in order to determine when it is time for the Lokoid’s Super Dreadnought to come into play.

T’Klanak watched the battle unfolding in the bridge holotank. The fighter designated as Arrow drew his attention. T’Klanak remarked on the pilot’s performance to Urta even as he once more wished the Leviathan had been here to take part in this battle.The Daxini starfighters deployed off their mobile battle stations. The Leviathan had been left to guard the Vulcan though and was not available for this attack. “My compliments to your pilots, they are excellent in battle. Arrow serves the Lokoid with honor and distinction.”

T’Klanak was debating what their next move would be. They needed something decisive to break the pirate’s number advantage. The Daxini were already fully deployed and all the Lokoid had left to deploy was the super dreadnought. T’Klanak’s thoughts were interrupted by Brayden the Kronar in charge of computer systems on the Stormbringer.

Brayden: “Chief T’Klanak, Talon Prarrel reports that there are injuries in his squad. They have made progress deeper into the station and are coordinating with the Lokoid for support. His team has not found the control center yet but request Kronar support. If Kronar are able to hack into their systems they might be able to shut them down remotely. Kronar Vilkas is available for this task. The Axe is withdrawing from the battle due to damage they sustained. Engineers have managed temporary field repairs but they report the repairs will not hold long. They are operating at 25 percent power. Vilkas is currently powerless to help them since he is operating on portable battery power from his AI core pod. It is possible to have Vilkas transfer to the Iron Talon sir before the two ships pull away from each other. Time is of the essence chief.”

T’Klanak nodded understanding what Brayden was telling him. “Brayden, send the orders to Vilkas and Firehawk. Get the transfer done as soon as possible so that the Axe can leave the field of battle. Tell Vilkas he is ordered to devote his attention to bringing down the weapons on that station and supporting the boarding parties.”

Kronar Vilkas

T’Klanak smiled as Brayden’s mechanical tones indicated some pride and eagerness to have his plan implemented. T’Klanak was always surprised by how much some of the Kronar who served with the fleet looked forward to battle. He turned his attention to that ship with the capital weapon that was putting holes in their side. He had ordered a full salvo at the ship. The ship had shrugged off the plasma and laser cannons. The rail gun had hit and some minor debris showed that the ship had taken some minor damage. T’Klanak grinned and turned to his tactical officer. “Continuous rail gun fire on that ship with the capital weapon. Keep it on target until we have to shut it down due to heat. Use the plasma and laser cannons to target the surrounding ships. Keep us in dancing and set the shields to alternating frequencies. This is no time to get complacent. Let me know when shields fall to 25 percent.” T’Klanak noted that the Strombringer’s shields were at 63 percent.

Viltas was elated to be able to help out and the transfer to the Talon was completed quickly using a small drone flown by Viltas himself. He had plugged his core into the drone and launched off the Axe. The drone was small enough and agile enough not to draw much attention from the pirates. The Axe was relatively close to the Talon as it was providing covering fire. It only took Viltas a little over 5 minutes to make the transfer. The Axe continued its slow progress away from the battle. It had picked up a little speed as the engineers on board managed some quick field repairs. Viltas was quick to get to work. He had plugged his core into a docking station near engineering that was designed for that purpose. Viltas used the encrypted communication link to chief Prarrel’s tablet.

Viltas’ voice came out with a slight growl of eagerness as he let Chief Prarrel know that he was joining him. Viltas: “Chief Prarrel I have been sent to support you. My orders are to try and hack into the weapons systems on the station and support you. What do you need me to do?”

Chief Prarrel had been firing at an entrenched Lokoid pirate location when he was startled by the Viltas’ voice over the comm line. He recovered quickly as he managed to hit a Lokoid pirate who had popped up to fire over their barricade.

Prarrel: “I need you to give us an idea of where the pirate reinforcements are coming from. Monitor any surveillance cameras to let us know what’s coming and share that intel with the Lokoid boarding forces.”

Viltas’ voice was full of satisfaction as he growled back to Prarrel. “My pleasure Chief.” The digital entity immediately saw that the hack that Brayden had done had been detected by the Lokoid and shut down. Viltas began his own hacking and was faster to respond than the Lokoid pirates trying to keep him out of the system.

Kajuto had deployed several companies from the 782nd Rak’aru Automaton Legion stationed on board the dreadnought. The automaton companies had begun spreading out in platoon strength and had ground through the pirate defenses working their way towards Prarrel’s approximate location whilst attempting to overwhelm and stretch the pirate defense effort. Whilst mass produced and simple, the Mk.1s still had basic tactics programmed into them, they also had more sophisticated and heavily armored Mk.3s with heavy weapons, some modified with better predictive A.I. and strategic computers that greatly increased the effectiveness of a large formation of combat automatons. These acted as squad leaders with independent networks from other automatons making it more difficult to simply hack through the network. The pirates certainly tried, however, this was premier Lokoid military technology, electronic warfare suites had been installed on select units for the purpose of dispelling these attempts.

However, the rogue pirate commander still had tricks up their sleeves. Older generation, SDS-40A1 ripper drones had started to be deployed as a countermeasure against the Lokoid military’s own Automatons. No doubt Prarrel’s boarding forces were about to encounter these buggers soon. Measuring in a foot tall and a foot wide armed to the teeth with little tools to literally rip apart mechanical components and strip flesh, these were the horrors of the Scorched Line battlefields for infantry, tanks, and even spaceborne fighter units as even one of these rippers were enough to seriously injure personnel or severely damage mechanized components.

Kajuto’s forces suffered setbacks and were pushed back to the initial breach they had made. More boarding forces were being funneled through and mobile sentries were fortifying their landing zone. Unit-0 reported the setbacks to Prarrel, “Warning, SDS-40A1 Ripper Drones have been deployed in swarming fashion. Lokoid Boarding Force repulsed and delayed. Be prepared. Pirates are attempting to delay the advance with more expensive equipment. Denser fortification preparations are possible. Pirate actions indicate desperation, HVT escape possibility at 36.580%, possibility of pirates destroying the station rising as HVT escape possibility lowers. Prioritize Armory and Reactors as high priority targets.”

Meanwhile, Arrow had been dodging fire and weaving through debris waiting for his time to strike. The Daxini assault on the super heavy particle lance barge had doubled. The shields were starting to falter as rounds penetrated through and scratched the weapon’s surface. However, the destroyers and cruisers towing the contraption had been disabled. The weapon lurched to one side using thrusters to adjust its aim, it once again charged its beam gathering energy deep within its focal point. Arrow positioned himself several meters in front of its gaping barrel locking on to the heat signature deep within. Usually, capital ship weapons like these had fail-safes or physical measures to stop the weapon from being destroyed by oncoming fire, but this stripped down particle lance was reconstructed and it had not been put together with safety in mind, but rather to get it working as fast as possible. The pirates did not count on several squadrons of ace pilots to cut down their escorts and weave through their point defenses like they were nothing and certainly not a lone craft barreling towards the business end of the lance, but it happened. At the pinnacle of the weapon’s charge, the shields went down and just a meter away from the tip of the barrel, Arrow released his last remaining pair of heat seeker missiles. Arrow vectored away from the weapon as the missiles met their mark and the particles being accelerated within were released wildly in all directions breaking the machine apart from within.

The aces break off once again and execute evasive maneuvers as they return to the fight against the station proper and defensive fleet. The pirate’s reinforcements had started slowing down and with the particle beam gone, the Lokoid and Daxini forces could now reorganize their formations to properly destroy the pirate force in front of them.

T’Klanak squawked in victory as he saw the capital weapon go up in a glorious cloud of destruction. He turned his attention to the bridge holotank as the field of battle updated. T’Klanak knew now was the time to press forward. He hoped that Prarrel would be able to complete his objectives without further casualties.

T’Klanak began to issue orders. “Stormbringer is to move up and engage that destroyer on the right. Hammer an opening with the rail guns followed by targeted laser and plasma blasts. Target their engines and power centers. Have Scimitar and Talon work together to target the destroyer closest to the station.”

Meanwhile on the station Prarrel’s wounded had been stabilized by their field medic. They were able to offer ranged support but were no longer mobile. The Daxini forces had set up a mobile shield barrier to protect them as they held an intersection in the hallway shooting around the edge of the wall. Prarrel had gotten word that the pirates had sent a swarm of ripper drones after them. He had cursed before asking Viltas if there was anything he could do to stop them. Viltas: “No, Lokoid ripper drones are hardened against these kinds of attacks. I will try to keep you in front of them. I have identified one of the high priority targets. You are close to the reactors. They are a hundred meters from your location along the corridor. You will have to cross the intersection to the other side to reach them.”

Prarrel considered his options and looked at his remaining squad. They were being held in position to stall them. He gave a decisive nod before he began issuing orders. “Half the squad will remain here and hold this position. If the opportunity presents itself, take out that enemy position. 2nd Talon Chief Rayorten will be in charge here. I will be leading the team to take the reactors.” Prarrel pointed to who he wanted to take with him. He was taking 6 heavy fighters with him and 6 of their fast strike team. He left the remaining squad here to hold the corridor.

Prarrel looked at the squads. “Rayorten, on the count of 3 your squad will provide covering fire as my team moves as quickly to the other side as possible.” Rayorten acknowledged his orders with a simple head nod. The teams got ready and were in place. Prarrel gave the countdown as they all surged into action as one unit laying down suppressive fire as the infiltration team sped across the hallway and were already well on their way towards the reactors. The push had taken two more pirates out but they seemed to be getting reinforcements from behind them someplace. As soon as they took someone out, another was there to take their place.

Rayorten sent a message back to the command team. “Please advise the Lokoid that we have run into an entrenched enemy position. They seemed to be getting reinforcements as fast as we could take them out. Chief Prarrel has taken a team to try and capture one of the reactors.”

The combat automaton forces were now pressing hard against the ripper drones. The column of automatons marching down the halls and firing volley after volley of withering fire had whittled down the enemy resistance. They were well on their way to cutting off the enemy reinforcements giving Rayorten so much trouble. With the Lokoid’s automaton forces flooding into the station, it was only a matter of time before the pirate captain was apprehended.

Outside the station, the battle continued. Arrow and the other Hunter squadrons were now slaving allied drone fighters and organizing them into smaller fighter squadrons. They were now picking apart the enemy formations. Urta reorganized the Lokoid formation and redoubled the effort in surrounding the station. Once again, several missiles and torpedoes flew from uncloaked cruisers devastating their targets once again. Ship Hierarch Dek’an reported that their destroyer squadrons had neutered the station’s final hardpoints leaving the station relatively defenseless.

Urta was pleased with the progress, “Fleet Hierarch Kajuto, permission to scour the debris with my squadron to hunt down remaining pirate ships?”

“Negative. With primary threats dealt with, reinforce the boarding action. Be aggressive and strike deep. Let the ichor flow Hunter Hierarch.”

To Urta these words were just as welcome, she addressed all ships, “Attention, my second in command will take over SWAC duties. I and the other Hunters will be boarding the station. We shall make the ichor flow, the final hunt is upon our foes.”

The Urta headed off the bridge and made way for the armory, by her side were trusted Hunter commandos ready to don their power armor. These tier-1 warriors were to board the station and slaughter any in their path, they were well armed for it. Their armor amplified their already heightened awareness, speed, and strength. Armed with wrist mounted blades and coil guns and a singular back mounted heavy plasma cannon, these heavily armored veterans of the firestorm wars that created this scorched line were now arming themselves once again for something all too familiar, boarding actions against an entrenched and prepared enemy.

Urta could still remember it. Back then, the Hunters didn’t have as many fancy toys, boarding with only the old commando armor used by Lokoid shock troops. The ship-to-ship fighting against the Augustans was brutal. Urta could still remember the shock on the Augustan’s faces every time her team would enter their reactors to set a graviton demolition charge amidst the chaos of disposable automatons boarding alongside them. Their methods were considered, necessary losses. They were now going to do what they had done many times before and break through enemy defenses to capture a rogue officer.

Unbeknownst to both forces, the rogue officer had one last trick up their sleeve. They were making their way to a hangar that had yet to reveal itself to the outside. It would take time to power up their corvette that would speed through the Lokoid-Daxini blockade of the station. To buy himself time, the heaviest of his outdated automatons had gathered here and prepared a bastion for a final stand. Two stripped down heavy assault walkers, four anti-personnel assault crawlers, and ten mobile sentry bots bolstered by a hundred and twenty outdated Mk.1 Combat Automatons, only half of which are armed with ranged weaponry, the other half had makeshift melee weapons.

With the rest of the station’s defense forces still active and the ripper swarms still doing their work, the rogue commander may still eke out a narrow escape.

T’Klanak received the message from Rayorten and informed Urta of what was happening with the Daxini forces inside the station. He then turned his attention back to the holotank on the bridge as the destroyer being targeted by Stormbringer hit the reactors causing a chain reaction explosion that blew the destroyer in half. It was listing badly and floating along the trajectory of kinetic energy from the blast. T’Klanak clicked his beak in pleasure at having taken out one of the last targets of concern to the squadron. There was a large explosion off the back of the second destroyer as the other two ships managed to take out the ship’s engines.

T’Klanak sent an update to Urta. “The remaining two heavy destroyers have been neutralized. Since the Lokoid are moving to support the boarding parties. The Daxini ships will begin targeting any remaining pirate ships. We will look to disable first. Happy Hunting!”

T’Klanak ordered the Daxini ships to begin taking out the smaller pirate ships that were now trying to flee the field as the heavier hitting weapons had been neutralized.

Meanwhile deep inside the pirate station, Prarrel’s team had made it to the reactors. The section of the station was being guarded by a group of Lokoid pirates. Prarrel’s team charged into the group of five soldiers. They put up a good fight but ultimately the well trained Daxini troopers in heavy power armor took the day. Their armor reflected the heavy fighting with scarred pot mocked surfaces. One or two troopers’ armor had black scoring from laser fire and smoked in a few places. Prarrel pulled out his tablet and searched for a good place to plug it in so that Vilkas could take control of the reactors. Viltas informed him that their plug systems were not compatible and guided Prarrel through how to pull the panel apart and hardwire a connection for him. While he was doing that, the men were applying first aid to those who had sustained injuries from the heavy fight for the reactor control room. Viltas confirmed his connection as he began to work on infiltrating deeper into the station computer systems now that he had a hard connection to their network.

Prarrel left Viltas to work as he used his encrypted communication to report to T’Klanak his progress. “Chief T’Klanak this is Prarrel. We have successfully infiltrated and secured one of the reactor control rooms. Viltas is hardwired into their systems and is attempting to infiltrate.”

Prarrel ordered Viltas to shunt all power from all systems but life support and gravity. Viltas began to execute his orders as power for weapons systems and the like were shut down. Lights dimmed as power was reduced in that section of the base. Armory doors were locked out and could only be opened by prying them open using manual overrides.

As Urta arrived with her several fireteams moving quickly with their power armor through the corridors of the now darkened sectors of the Space Station, they were met with several pirate automatons and ripper drones that were cut off from reinforcing the rogue commander. They reacted to Urta’s fireteam but were too late, as the moment their weapons were leveled, Urta had closed the distance and began ripping through them with their claws. The mass of their armor smashing into the lighter Mk.1s and pushed them down onto the floor. Urta’s second came in and followed up by stomping one ripper drone as he moved up and raised his arm cannons to blast whatever came to rush them in the dark.

Urta then updated Prarrel as they continued to swiftly clear a way to Automaton taskforce.

“We are making good time. We are on our way to push into the fortified hangar. Our sensors indicate several power signatures there. A host of automatons and a few larger signatures, vehicles and ships. Heavily entrenched position.”

As Urta spoke, the second team had landed where the Lokoid automaton reinforcements were flowing in from and had taken control from Unit-0. “Hunter unit 02 and 03 are now in position. We will converge on the hangar, Hunter Hierarch.”

From there the Hunters began to break up the Automaton squads further and lead them through flanking positions and rendezvous with Prarrel and Rayorten’s squads.

“The final hunt is upon us.” Urta spoke, cutting through squads of pirate automatons. Their armor was state of the art at this point and had proven itself in this operation alone by taking heavy hits from Lokoid pirates using heavy weapons emplacements. Urta’s back mounted plasma cannons had proven far more impactful as the gun crews were reduced to ash and melting flesh. Urta’s fireteams and their leadership among the automatons completely turned the battlefield situation around faster than what was projected from the usual tactics that the Automaton leader, Unit-0 predicted. The impact of their actions could instantly be felt as the shock of seeing elite units within the station could be heard on pirate communications. The panic and fear became very real for the holdouts with many either surrendering outright or attempting to flee as they sighted the crimson painted composite armor of the Hunters turn their corner. The remnant pirates and their automatons were being torn apart and hunted down like animals – mercy was not shown to any pirate, their punishment for resisting was death.

T’Klanak received the reports from Urta and Prarrel. T’Klanak responded to Prarrel first.

T’Klanak: “Understood Prarrel. Support and share information with the Lokoid who are infiltrating the base in support and search of their rogue commander. Have Viltas share any tactical information over our shared link with them.”

T’Klanak then responded to Urta.

T’Klanak: “Understood Urta. Prarrel’s teams on station will support yours. You should have some tactical support feeds coming to you as Viltas has managed to gain control of the station systems. Camera feeds are on their way. The Daxini teams have locked down all power to the station except for life support and gravity systems.”

In the background Daxini ships continued to mop up the space battle as they hunted down the pirate ships now trying to flee the area as the tide of battle had turned.

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP) (COMPLETED)

Fireteam Anvil

Chuck "Boomer" Simmons

Freya "Frigga" Kanatariio

Homecomings and New Beginnings

Chuck had been rushed into trauma surgery as soon as the mission had concluded. He had lost a lot of blood from the hideous wound. He had one hell of a scar but he had been lucky that Ingwe’s spear had missed most of his vital organs. Sophie had come to the hospital to supervise the surgeon that had been brought in to handle the complicated surgery. Chuck’s injuries were bad enough he stayed in the hospital for a week while the doctors used advanced techniques and nanites to help restore the damaged tissue and speed his healing along. The medical staff had been shocked when Freya showed up the day after his surgery with Duke. The doctor was not amused and tried to have Duke removed from the room. Freya had sweetly asked to speak to the doctor in the hallway. Chuck was not certain what happened or what was said as Freya had closed the door behind her, leaving Duke enthusiastically licking Chuck’s face and sniffing around his injured side. The canine had obviously missed his handler. When the doctor finally came back into his room later that evening, Freya had taken Duke with her. He needed to be fed. The doctor looked nervous and looked around the room as if waiting for something to jump out at him. Chuck just smiled and decided he would get the whole story from Freya later.

Freya have been a bit getting there, she’d been rescued somewhere in Sweden, somehow her cobbled together hadn’t broken up on reentry, somehow it had hit a body of water and somehow her and her sister had managed to find somewhere with a phone. Hadn’t that been an interesting thing to explain to the confused countryside farmer couple when two giant women had walked in through the wilderness, battered but grinning.

The trip back had taken a bit, Sam and a few others, with a Blue Sword QRF had managed to find them.

A few days after getting home Freya had heard where Chuck had been taken, she’d retrieved Duke and the pair had strode in together. Shouldering past protocol and the like, finding out which room Chuck is in.

Together the proud woman and pulling at the leash canine had walked in, “There he is!” And let Duke’s leash go. She isn’t too far behind as the big canine noses and nuzzles at his handler and best friend. Freya crossed to the other side and leaned down, “I’m the only one who gets to hurt you from now on okay?” She’d whispered while hugging him.

When the doctor had tried to boot Duke she’d gotten up and pulled him aside. The click of the door had hidden the words she said.

When she returned she took his hand, “All’s been taken care of. Rest and Recover.” The visit had been sadly short as Duke needed a feeding and a proper walking. She’d left promising to visit again.

---

Chuck then spent another month in physical therapy at Blue Sword with the Kanatariio family. As Chuck focused on his physical therapy and recovery, Chuck got to know Freya and her family better over the next four weeks. Chuck was fully recovered when he asked Freya to accompany him on a trip home to Jacksonville, South Carolina.

After they both almost died saving the world, Chuck did not want to waste any more time. They had spent a lot of time talking and learning more about one another. They talked about what they wanted to do in the future. Chuck had told Freya that he wanted to be with her and that his place was at her side. If she wanted to be a scientist that was fine with him, he would run her security. If she wanted to be a field operative, then he would be at her side kicking ass with her.

Chuck had a private conversation with Freya’s parents and told them he planned to propose to Freya and was taking her home to meet his family. He invited the Kanatariio family to come and meet his family. He asked her parents if they wanted to be there when he proposed. He wanted a little time alone with Frigga on the trip and then a few days with his family while he set up his proposal and picked up the ring he had custom made for her.

Both Victor and Natalie had sat with Chuck, and laid out that they are glad to see the pair are working well together. Absolutely one hundred percent glad to see one of their children have found someone they can truly be with.

As the days of therapy pass, and the packing for the trip to South Carolina had set up. The family had headed north once more. Jamie disappearing almost as soon as they landed, a text message saying he had seen an outdoor weight park while they were landing and he wanted to go check it out. Athena jumping on a plane to go find Eloise.

Leaving the elder Kanatariio’s, Freya and Chuck to meet his parents.

Chuck knew it was time to introduce her to his family. He had called his mother to let her know his intentions. His family was excited to have him come home for a visit. Chuck had not been home to see his family in almost a year. His mother and grandmother had asked endless questions when Chuck informed them he was bringing his girlfriend home and that he planned to ask her to marry him. His mother had promptly informed him that this called for a family BBQ and that she would get the rest of them home for his visit. His grandmother reminded him to extend that invitation to her family which Chuck had already done. Chuck was grateful that they had been promised some downtime from the Team. It would be easier to get time off together and potentially get a few of Freya’s siblings to join them and meet his family.

---

Chuck didn’t want Freya to feel uncomfortable around his family. He knew they would pry and be invasive as hell. He wanted her to have a safe quiet space to retreat to and booked them a hotel suite in a beautiful historic boutique hotel in Jacksonville close to his parents house. The hotel was an old sweeping plantation house that had been converted to a hotel. It had large manicured lawns and gardens with magnolia trees dripping in spanish moss. The trees close to the hotel had mason jar lights hanging in them adding a touch of southern whimsy to the beautiful old building. The hotel was painted a creamy white with black shutters and had a huge wrap around porch with padded seating arrangements and antique rockers dotted around the area. There was a large circular drive and the old carriage house had been converted to a parking garage. He hoped Freya liked the choice of hotel. Chuck had rented a large all wheel drive pickup truck for their stay. Chuck was simply too tall to drive a small vehicle. He also hoped to show her the backcountry while they were there. That meant off-roading. Their luggage was in the back of the truck. Chuck pulled up at the entrance and hopped out and scurried around to help Freya out of the truck like a gentleman should. He offered her a hand with a big grin.

As Chuck helped Freya out of the truck, a bellhop came out and took their luggage from the back of the truck. Chuck had called ahead to let the hotel know that they were on their way to have the rooms ready. Chuck knew the bellhop would take their luggage up to their rooms and it would be waiting for them.

Chuck: “I hope the hotel meets your approval.”

Alone…how did it go from the whole family to alone? Freya a blushing woman almost innocent, seeming for abit. She knew her parents were in the building. And Jamie would catch up in time, but it felt incredible to be with this man now. As a woman of her stature and status she never thought to meet someone who could keep up, and even surpass her in someways.

She turns to him and hugs Chuck, “I love it. Fantastic choice my dear. You have fantastic taste.”

She smiles, “I look forward to the itinerary, there’s some trails out there I’m sure are calling our names.”

Chuck smiled and snaked an arm around Freya and smiled as he pulled her to him. He smiled down as he looked over her face and met her eyes. “Don’t worry I booked a suite. We have separate bedrooms for now. Your parents have the suite across the hall. I want to show you around the area where I grew up. My brother and sister won’t be here for a few more days as well. Everyone is flying in on Friday for the family BBQ on Saturday. Are you okay?”

Freya smiles and wrings her hands, “Yeah I’m okay just…amazed. After everything being out here with you, my family is okay…sure we lost Skye…kinda wanted her here as one of my brides maids someday. But well can’t have everything I guess…just shocked and amazed. Things are turning around. And I’m a little giddy.” She chuckles, “I don’t think I’d ever use the word giddy to describe how I feel.”

She walks up to him then and hugs him, “Thank you for…confessing…sure it was before a massive fight, and you got my parents blessing…and your parents are okay with us too which is incredible.” She rests her head on his shoulder, “I’m happy, beyond happy.” She nods “So am I okay, sure. Am I one hundred percent prepared for the future? No, but I’m looking forward to it!”

Chuck smiled happily as love and adoration filled his gaze as he hugged her back. He took the opportunity to steal a kiss. He held her as her head rested on his shoulder and held her close. He chuckled a little but understood how nervous she was.

Chuck’s voice was serious and full of humor and concern as he tried to help her process everything. “It is okay to be nervous. I was very nervous about having that talk with your parents and brother initially. I was worried I wouldn’t walk away intact. Your family is fairly intimidating. My family is eager to meet you. Especially my mother and grandmother, they asked me a billion questions about you. They are so excited to have me come home for a visit. But make no mistakes here my darling, you will be the focus of this visit. But they are going to love you as much as I do. This is why I decided to book a hotel. I want you to have some private space to retreat too if you need it.”

The big woman chuckles and gives him another great big hug. If he didn’t know better he might think she’s trying to strangle him. She sighs happily, just holding the man, he’s been so accepting and willing to give her time. And he gives the most fantastic hugs.

He just held her close for a minute. His voice turned sad and introspective. “I didn’t know Skye as long as you did but I miss her presence. I am sad she can’t be with us on this part of our journey. We will find a way to honor her.”

Freya then sighs deeply, a melancholy hitting her, “Skye…Skye was a diamond. And I lament that she was not with us longer. But she had gone through so much. I am trying very hard to tell myself her fall was probably a good thing. Knowing what’s happened. What she had to do, what we had to do and what those around us had been brought to do. She was troubled, but she was a good woman as well.” She frowned and hugs him even tighter, “She’ll be missed I had wanted her to be part of my wedding.” Then she giggles and kisses him on the chin, “But then I guess she is in a way. Not like she’s forgotten.”

Chuck gave her another hug and then took her hand. “Let’s go for a walk while they get our room ready and talk about what you might want to do first. They have lovely gardens here. I can use some stretching after the long flight. I don’t feel like being inside right now.”

About that time Duke had stopped being patient and gave an impatient bark and wagged his tail even as he licked Freya’s hand. He was acting like an over excited Chihuahua trying to get attention. Chuck laughed and recognized the signs. Duke needed some activity as well. “Well Duke seems to agree with me. I swear he loves you more than me. He doesn’t get this excited over me.” Chuck smiled at his dog and gave him a playful rub between the ears. Duke was practically vibrating with excitement.

Freya grins and turns to look down, “Oh no…I just realized, I now have two new amazing men in my life. The furry kind and the handsome kind.” She gives Duke a scratch on the head, then playfully reaches over and scratches under Chuck’s chin, grinning broadly, winking at Chuck affectionately, as Duke huffs happily, “Alright! I’ll find his leash, you get ready. Let’s get this great furred beast out of here and out for a walk.” She giggles and heads for their luggage, unable to remember if she packed Duke’s leash in her bags or if it’s in Chuck’s. When she comes back she places a kiss on Chuck’s cheek then leans down…perhaps mooning Chuck in the process…and gives Duke a kiss on the nose.

---

Chuck and Freya had taken Duke for a walk around the hotel before checking in. They took a nap after the long flight. They met up with her family for dinner at a local restaurant. They all had a good time. The staff of the restaurant had been shocked by how much the giants could eat. They had gone to a BBQ place that had one of those contests where if you could eat it all your meal was free. The owner had been a good sport about it since everyone at the table took it as a personal competition to prove they could meet the challenge.

Jamie had given Chuck a competitive smile before yelling “Bonzai!” as he dove into a platter of ribs.

Not to be outdone Victor let out his own challenging cry before tearing into a whole chicken.

Not to be outdone by her husband and son, the family matriarch just smiled as she delicately cut into ribeye steak with her knife showing precision. “I live with barbarians.”

Chuck had enjoyed the experience since he was not the only one at the table eating with gusto. For once he didn’t stand alone in a crowd. He grinned and tapped a chicken leg against Freya’s in salute with a wink. Chuck looked around the table and laughed. “I guess that means challenge accepted.”

As the family left the table, they left behind the remains of a meal that looked as if it could feed an entire professional football team. The table had plates with the remains of the meal, platters with rib bones and chicken bones piled high on them, a few lonely half eaten bread rolls, and the demolished remains of a bushel of corn on the cob. Chuck took pity on the owner and tipped him what would have been the cost of the meal. They had all left with their pictures being taken for the wall of fame and t-shirts that read “I survived the meat tsunami!" Chuck couldn’t help thinking that the owner was thinking that he was glad his restaurant survived the Kanatariio family.

---

The next morning Chuck took Freya out into the back country. Duke came with them and rode in the backseat. He sprawled out and was so big his head could hang out the window. They explored the dirt roads and went mudding.

Chuck had swapped out the rental for his custom truck, he left at home in the care of his mother. The truck’s roof had been raised to give him more headroom and the driver’s seat had been pushed back along with the seatbelt. The whole cab of the full size pickup truck had been extended by 3 feet. The truck was cobalt blue with chrome trim. It was an all wheel drive vehicle with a heavy engine and tow hitch. There was a rack in the back window that held one of his hunting rifles and a collapsible fishing pole. There was a large galvanized steel tool box across the front of the bed of the pickup truck that locked. The truck had beefy suspension and sat high.

Chuck had grinned at Freya as they hit the dirt roads. It had rained late last night and some of the roads were still muddy. He grinned and whooped for joy and hit the gas. The truck plowed into the middle of a large muddle. The truck powered through easily throwing muddy water in all directions away from the truck leaving a dirty rooster tail behind the truck. Duke barked excitedly as the truck hit the mud and vibrated as it made its way through the obstacle. Chuck slowed down after they left the puddle behind him. He glanced over at Freya.

Chuck: “That is one of the things that we do for fun around here. It is called Mudding. What do you think?”

Freya hangs on tightly to him as they churn through the countryside. She lets out a surprised shout as they go. Sure the truck is hefty and they are enclosed, but she still lets out a lusty shout of shock and surprise as they rocket through the countryside. She should be used to something like this. Blue Sword is in the Perth backlands. The Outback within spitting distance. But for some reason rocketing through the countryside sends butterflies through her stomach. With a giggle she latches onto Chuck's arm as they fly through a stretch of the path.

As they curve around she looks the way they came, “We need something like this at the Blue Sword base…the outback would be a great place to try this.” She smiles, “This is great fun. Thank you for taking me along!”

She keeps and grabs a hand hold and Chuck's arm again as they drift through another trail turn. She lets out a giggling screech as they do.

Chuck pulled off the dirt road a few minutes later. He followed a worn track and there was a glint of water through the trees. He finally parked the truck and in the shade of a mesquite tree. He wanted to show her around his favorite place. It was a tranquil pool at the base of a small waterfall over tumbled boulders. The water moved lazily along in dark muddy green reflecting sunlight. The banks were covered in cotton tails and lilies. Grand old oaks, mesquite trees, maple trees, flowering dogwood trees, and magnolia trees are all dripping with Spanish moss in an ever changing variety of colors along the banks. He helped Freya out of the truck before he set up their picnic lunch.

The big woman unboarded the truck. And with her side pressed to his, she followed. As they walk she looks around and smiles, “this is beautiful.”

Finding a good place she observes her man spreading out the picnic blanket. And she can't help but giggle at the display.

Chuck began setting up a nice little love nest and place for them to eat their lunch. He had brought a picnic lunch in a cooler with them. Chuck set up a picnic blanket on the bank. He unloaded the cooler and pulled some large cushions out of the truck bed to add some comfort.

Chuck smiled and gave a gallant wave of his arm to one of the large plush cushions on the picnic blanket. “Here let me help you take a seat so I can feed you some lunch.” He kept ahold of her hand running his thumb caressingly over the back as he helped Freya sit down and get comfortable.

She takes a seat and leans back smiling at Chuck, “Such a romantic man. I'm keeping count, you know.” She grins, “every romantic moment is another year of skimpy lingerie.” The look on her face is playful and caring. Is she trying to keep him interested? Is this her showing a rare moment of insecurity?

Freya smiled the motions soothing and healing. Behind the giant girl boss is indeed a woman with a heart.

Once Freya was comfortable, Chuck took his seat on the other cushion and began working on serving up the lunch from the cooler he had brought. He smiled at Freya as he served her a large plate of food with fruit, cheese, potato salad, and chicken salad sandwiches. Chuck threw a large bone to Duke as a treat while they ate. Chuck smiled at Freya as he put together his own plate and began nibbling as he told her why they were there.

Chuck: “When things got hard when I was growing up, I would run out here from the house. I would sit and watch the water. Listening to the sounds of nature until all the noise in my head settled and I could think again. As the only giant in a smaller town, I was teased a lot growing up. People treated me differently.They acted like I was some kind of monster. That just because I was big that I would hurt them. I struggled to make friends as a child. I was blessed to have siblings but I always longed for friends of my own. I love being outside. I prefer being active. I wanted to play sports but the school was worried I would hurt other children. They were afraid of my size and strength. It pissed me off that my sister could go out for soccer, cheerleading, and basketball. My brother is tall but not as tall as me. They let him be on the football and baseball teams. I loved baseball. I really wanted to be on the team. I tried out and was good but the school told me no. My mother argued with the school but it was no good. This became my place to get away and think. I wanted to share it with you. It’s special to me.”

Freya watches Chuck then leans in and helps out, helping to bring out the food. “Well look at this. A man who can make a good meal. You know if there were back sometime in the past, my parents would expect a bridal price out of this. But you being able to make a good meal would go a long way to making the price smaller.” She winks playfully at them.

Then the story, of how he was treated poorly. She frowns and snuggles up close to him. As he tells his story of rejection and marginalization she winces.

After abit she leans against his chest, “I get how that feels Chuck. I do. I was lucky, all my family are Giants. Even my non big extended family are large in aura and spirit. Uncles Ross and Carl, Uncles Nolan and Andrew. Even our extended extended extended family like Auntie Svetty and Auntie Antoine, Auntie Auntie Antoine is barely 5 foot 5 inches tall but she’s big in soul. Probably helps Auntie Svetlana and her are an item.” She smiles abit, “But even with a Tall family…there were people who saw me, a big woman, who thought I’d have to be dumb too.” She sniffs and watches Duke tossing his bone like a toy, “I kinda had to act like that. Like a big Dog with a toy I had to work at. I proved them all wrong. A big girl with brains too. All my detractors shut right the hell up once I got my PHD and started Jotunheim.”

Freya smiles happily, “I know how you feel…I really do.”

Chuck smiled and soaked up the warmth from Freya’s attention. He gave her a gentle squeeze before continuing. “I always came here for peace. Nature has never judged me or treated me any differently. I think that is why I hate being inside. I wanted you to know that I will share my special spot with you if you want to visit. You are the only person I have ever brought here other than Duke of course.”

He chuckled as Duke was content with his bone. He turned his attention back to Freya. The sunshine dappled over them as it came down through the leaves of the tree.

Chuck looked down into her face. “Freya, I enjoy being with you so much. You are beautiful, intelligent, and fun to be with.” He swallowed thinking of all the times women had rejected him. He had tried dating but it often felt like a merry go round of expense and painful awkwardness. “You always make me feel seen and valued. I treasure that more than you know. I love that you are not afraid to joke around with me or smack me upside the head if you need to.” He grinned at her mischievously. “Not that I give you very many reasons to do that. My size is never an issue with you. I can just be me which is very relaxing. I didn’t realize how much I edit what I want to say because of what I feel other people will think or do because of my size. Being around your family is a joy for the same reason. I hope that I make you feel just as special as you make me feel.”

The big woman leans back against Chuck, quiet for a moment, “You know…I never ever thought I’d find someone I could even fathom spending the rest of my life with. I honestly…well on the plane…I took a chance and figured you wouldn’t even remotely continue the pursuit.” Freya sighs, “I’m glad I took that chance. Not only did I learn you were serious, I learned you have a heart big enough. And a patience strong enough to put up with me and my family.” She turns her head up and smiles at him, “You aren’t afraid of my intelligence…and no I’m not trying to sound like a bitch with that comment…I know I’m smart. I’m not trying to boast. But that’s turned away more than a few people in the past. They at first see a big woman and think, “easy pick” then they learn how much I make, what I make and what I do. And they run. You though…saw all that…still made a pass and then stuck around. Dates, and conversation, and you managed to survive my siblings and parents.”

She smiles and kisses his chin then nods, “You make me feel like I belong, and I hope I make you feel like that too.” She leans her head back on his chest, “You do make me feel special, more then just one of the most intelligent people on the planet, more then a physics guru, more then a walking tank in armor. You look past that and see the girl who needs an anchor in a sea of cutting edge.” She closes her eyes briefly, “And that makes me feel cared for.”

Chuck felt a tension release deep inside him that he had not known was there. He had been so worried that maybe he was projecting his feelings onto Freya and that she didn’t really feel the same way. He pulled her harder back against his chest and hugged her from behind. He felt a warmth deep inside him spreading outward in a deep sense of rightness in his world. He belonged here with her. His deep voice vibrated his body and hers as he continued the conversation. He smiled and kissed her on top of the head. “Freya you are the whole package, beautiful, intelligent, and fun. I see and admire all that you are. I want to walk through life with you at my side. It doesn’t bother me that you will always make more money than me. I am not interested in your money. I love that you are smarter than me. It just means that I have an excuse when you start spouting scientific jargon and my eyes glaze over. It is not that I don’t care but more that I don’t understand what you are talking about. That doesn’t intimidate me. That is why you have friends like Sam who can keep up with you mentally. I am more interested in being that person that lives in your heart. Darling, you already live in mine.” Chuck captured her chin and tilted her head back, capturing her lips for a steamy kiss.

A squeak of surprise a very un-Freya sound as Chuck tugs her close and then a moan that would likely cause any man to have a rush to the other head feeling. She shivers abit as he hugs her, and catches that kiss meant for her forehead on her lips, “Emmm, charmer.” She oofs as Duke lands on her legs, “Both of you.” She grins, “Oh Manitou thank goodness.” She then smiles, “Don’t worry I’ll have you speaking science gobbledegook in no time.” She giggles and sighs, then almost moans into the steamy kiss that follows.

She kinda whites out, the kiss, the personal place, Chuck against her back, Duke over their legs, it almost feels like finally finally life is falling into place, and she couldn’t be happier.

Chuck felt as if he couldn’t ask for a more perfect day as he spent some alone time with Freya in his favorite place. He enjoyed the solitude and peace. He felt Freya would appreciate some space from her family where they didn’t have to worry about how much noise they made. Duke getting cuddles and play time before taking a nap as he was ignored by both of them for more personal pursuits.

---

The day of the family BBQ dawned bright with happy sunshine. The muggy heat of a North Carolina summer muted by the soft breezes and the shade from trees that surrounded the backyard of Chuck’s parents home. The large backyard had a large outdoor kitchen and deck off the back door of the house. The wooden fenceline had beds of colorful flowers. The back fence had three large glorious Magnolia trees in full bloom. Chuck’s sister, Annabelle, was helping his mother and grandmother. His brother, Blake, had strung lights along the patio and along the fence for his mother. His father had set up horseshoes and a corn hole bean bag toss game off to one side.

Chuck’s grandfather, Dave Simmons, was sitting next to the BBQ grill helping Chuck’s father, Tom Simmons, man the grill. He had been joined by Victor after a heated debate that involved some tong sparring. His grandmother flitted about making sure everyone was having a good time. The backyard was full of family and extended family. The Kanatariio family towered over everyone but Chuck. The men in Chuck’s family were tall but not abnormally so. His father and grandfather could have been professional basketball players at almost 7 feet tall. They didn’t come close to Chuck’s almost 8 foot. There was a long table with a red and white gingham tablecloth covered in food and drinks. There was a pitcher of sweet tea with lemon slices in it next to a glass dispenser full of lemonade. There was a cooler at the end of the table full of soft drinks and beer. Country music played in the background was not loud enough to cover up conversation.

Plates had been filled and refilled as the pleasant day continued. The families had been getting to know each other. Chuck had been surprised when his single sister had taken to teasing Jamie as if she was interested. Chuck just laughed and warned Jamie that his sister had ideas. Chuck had introduced his parents and grandparents to Freya’s. Chuck looked around the backyard with a relaxed smile and a beer in his hand. He felt lucky and thought this was going to work out. He saw his sister Annabelle trying to teach Jamie some country western line dance. Jamie had an uncomfortable expression on his face and had shot Chuck “save me from this” looks from time to time. Chuck had just grinned and pointedly ignored him. He felt it was only fair after diving under the table and leaving him to face the Kanatariio family matriarch alone. His brother had tried to rescue Jamie by challenging him to a game of corn hole. His sister promptly claimed him again after the game was over.

Jamie had found a place off to the side and decided to just watch. But then Chuck’s sister had sidled up, and the encounter had begun. He’d been a little slow to respond at first. But as things went on, both families got to see Jamie in a different element. While Chuck’s sister had ideas Jamie had a hidden rizz. As good as she gave, as good as he gave back. A few times she’d get blushed into silence. And a time or ten he sputtered at some remark. It’s unsure if this is the start of something. But Natalie who is seated with the older ladies looks rather amused.

Freya watches from where she’s sitting with Chuck’s mother and grandma. Trying her best to keep a straight face as the two are almost picture perfect to her own mother.

She casts a look around the yard. Victor is over with Chuck’s father, both of them with a drink in hand, both working at the grill. There had been a brief altercation, Chuck's father having made the assertion that he has seniority, with Victor saying it’s not fair that only one person be at the grill. It almost looked like it was going to come down to some contemporary samurai duel with tongs. Until Victor had offered his recipe for both Australian Barbeque, and Mohican dry meat recipes. At about then the two are a captain and a first mate. Who is the captain and who is the first mate is up for debate.

Chuck was glad that his mother and grandmother had taken to Freya just like he thought they would. They had not even tried to be subtle as they began to question her about her life and what she wanted from their relationship. They had asked the typical questions about how they met. He hoped Freya was doing okay with the third degree. He thought that now might be the time to rescue the women he loved. He crossed the yard after dropping his beer bottle in the recycling can. He smiled as he inserted himself in the small circle that included Freya, his mother, and his grandmother.

Chuck’s mother was named Georgellen but everyone called her Georgie. His grandmother was named Charlene but everyone called her Charlie. Freya had been attempting to explain what she did for a living without giving away any national secrets.

Chuck’s mother smiled at Freya. “How wonderful! I don’t understand much about science. My calling has been more in the social work arena. You know I used to worry about Charles. He had such a hard time meeting other people and dating.”

Chuck’s grandmother laughed at her daughter in law. “Georgie the boy just had to find the right girl. He did it right too. She is here with her family.”

Chuck interrupted the two headstrong women in his family. He loved them but he knew they would try to mettle, it was in their nature. Chuck slipped his arm around Freya’s waist and pulled her into his side in an affectionate gesture. “Freya they aren’t telling you stories are they? Don’t believe them!”

Charlie’s eyes lit up in amused pleasure with a wicked gleam. “Oh you don’t want me to tell her about the time you got poison ivy on your ass and had to ask me and your mom to doctor it for you? Or how about the time you rode your bike off that drop off into the river?”

Chuck blushed a deep crimson and looked embarrassed. His voice vibrated with embarrassed panic “Grandma! You are embarrassing me!”

Charlie just laughed with a mischievous smirk. “It’s a grandmother’s prerogative dear.”

To his absolute horror his mother joined in. “Or I could tell her that adorable story about your promposal to Cindy Jackson the head cheerleader your freshman year. And how it went horribly wrong.”

Chuck turned and buried his face in Freya’s shoulder. He whispered in her ear. “Are you having a good time?”

And then there is Freya, blushing at seeing her attending family so easy. And the other side of the family giving as good as they get and giving it back. As stories are traded. One very scathing one about Freya as a kid making a gasoline powered rocket and it’s incredible explosion on the base one day. And her scorched hair after. She manages to latch onto Chuck once he comes over, “Oh geez the stories hun…” He chuckles, “I’m fine. I’m having a great time…it’s just…so amazing.” She smiles and Victor starts it, “Kiss…kiss!” Jamie looking over and joining in, “Kiss…kiss!” Soon Natalie, Georgie and Charlene are joining in.

Freya blushes then sighs, “Gotta give’em what they want.” And places a great big kiss on his lips. Complete with overly loud and unnecessary lip smacking.

Chuck was laughing and his ears were bright red with embarrassment. Chuck was not used to being the center of so much attention. His heart swelled as Freya pulled him in to give the crowd what they wanted. He allowed himself to be pulled into the moment. His heart soared to have her claiming him in front of both of their families. He couldn’t help that feeling of all was right in his world. He held everything he wanted in his arms. HIs lips curved into a smile under Freya’s as they played it up for their families. Chuck pulled her closer and dipped her dramatically in a dance-like move before setting her back on her feet. His eyes sparkled merrily as he looked down into Freya’s eyes.

He smiled at her as he kept her hands in his as he slowly lowered himself to one knee. “I love you, Freya Kanatariio. I love your big beautiful mind and heart.” Chuck released her hands as he reached into a pants pocket and pulled out a black velvet jewelry box. He opened the lid of the box as he looked up into Freya’s beautiful eyes. “I want to spend the rest of my life walking at your side as your partner in life. Will you be my partner in life? Would you make me the happiest man on Earth by giving me the honor of becoming my wife?” Chuck waited with a nervous smile on one knee for her answer. He was oblivious to the nervous excitement, whispers, and hope as the family reacted to what was happening.

The big woman giggles as Chuck sweeps her and the pair pose for abit as she rests in his arms, “You dramatic…romantic…oh…you make a woman think silly things.” She’s on her feet then Chuck kneels.

Freya’s eyes go wide.

Jamie goes quiet in the middle of some odd little rizz debate.

Natalie leans forward and smiles, in the exact same way Georgie and Charlene do too.

Victor turns to look.

All that’s missing is Athena, but somewhere she likely feels it on the wind.

Everyone is quiet and watches.

Then Freya reaches down, the traces of tears in her eyes, with a care that’s spectacular for her size she reaches down, takes his hands cupping that velvet ring box.

And the world is still briefly before she says, “Yes…with all my being yes yes yes!”

Jamie decides to break the moment by whispering, “I thought the word yes like that was meant for the bedroom?” Freya throws an apple at him then grabs Chuck up in a big crushing hug, “Yes you big handsome wonderful man I will marry you!”

Chuck’s relief was profound as that yes seemed to echo through his head. Joy and elation swept through him. Chuck allows himself to be swept up in a hug from Freya. He crushes her to him with the largest dopiest smile on his face. He swings her around and plants a kiss on her lips. Duke is barking and jumping around them thinking this is the start of playtime.

Chuck grabs her face with his hands and gives her a deeper, more heartfelt kiss before slowly breaking their kiss. He leans his forehead against hers and savors the moment. He takes her hand after retrieving the ring box. He pulls the ring out and snaps the box closed, pocketing it once more. He takes Freya’s hand in a caressing motion. He slides the ring he had made for her onto her finger. The ring is sized to fit her. It is a large princess cut diamond inlaid into a wide band surrounded by other diamonds to make a beautiful sparkling star cluster that catches the light. The band has a titanium core covered in platinum. He wanted it to hold up to her strength so she could wear it when she wanted too.

He raised her hand and kissed the one with the ring on her finger. He smiled as he looked into her eyes. “You shine brightly like a star. Now you will be my North Star. It has a titanium core so that it should be able to stand up to your strength.” He waited anxiously to see if she liked it. “Of course if you hate it, we can get you something else…” He sounded just a tad nervous.

Tears fall freely. From several members of both families. The mothers and grandmother trade handkerchiefs, the fathers toast the pair. Jamie grins, “About darn time sis.” Chuck's sister leaning forward, “When’s your turn big guy?” Making Jamie cough and blush.

Freya giggles swept up in the moment, the hug, the spin the kisses. She almost moans at the deep heartfelt happy joyous kiss. When it’s over she looks a little lost. Dopey and muzzed out a little. Soon she comes back offering her hand, blushing then giving a very girly squee as the ring slides onto her finger. Mothers and Grandmother joining in. Victor ducking, “Last I heard that it was a rocket barrage precursor…” Chuck’s father looking at him oddly reminded that this family that is joining them is a family of mercenaries.

Freya smiles looking at the ring then at Chuck, “Don’t you even think about it…you beautiful man. I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s perfect.” She holds it up to the light.

Already the mothers are discussing venues and items for the wedding. Colors and who to invite, who to think about. Freya looks up at Chuck and gives him a soft kiss on the lips, “Thank you for making me the most happy giant in the world right now.”

Chuck’s smile was blinding as Freya assured him she loved her new ring. He returns her soft kiss. “Thank you for making me just as happy.” He smiled as their families erupted into congratulations and happy energy around them. He grinned as their mother’s and his grandmother immediately began making wedding plans. He just shook his head with a rueful smile. “I don’t think we will get away with eloping. I am ready to sneak you off to Vegas to do just that if it is what you want. We can make a break for it while they are distracted.”

Before Freya could even respond Chuck’s grandmother lovingly smacked him upside the head. “Charles! You will do this right and let the girl have her day in the sun. She deserves all the pomp and ceremony of a properly planned wedding. The challenge will be the logistics. I look forward to seeing who wins the battle of where the wedding will be. My money is on Freya’s mother.” She winked at Freya.

The Giantess sighs then giggles and does a little wiggle dance, “I’m getting married.” She cheers and hugs Chuck, “Listen to your grandma Charles.” She says his full name playfully, “No Eloping…maybe for our second pledging you can whisk me away somewhere.” She sighs, then looks at her mother and his mother already in a heated debate over where, when, how and how much.

---

Chuck and Freya had been neck deep in wedding plans. They were unwilling to wait six months to get married. Money made a lot of things possible. Chuck’s grandmother won the bet as the wedding was being held in Europe. Chuck’s family were flying in for the ceremony. Chuck and Freya wanted to keep it small with only family and close friends. That helped with planning it faster. The only thing that really held up their wedding plans was giving Freya time to have her dream dress made. The designer needed some time and fittings. They were also trying to track down the team which had splintered and taken off all over the world. They wanted the team to join them for their special day. They were working on finalizing their wedding plans when they got a phone call and email from Samantha about Skye’s memorial service. Chuck knew that they would be attending and simply made the travel arrangements.

They had arrived on the Isle of Skye together with Duke. Duke easily kept pace with the two giants. He seemed to sense their mood and was quiet and well behaved as they trekked into where the ceremony would be held. They had both been somber as memories of Skye went through them both. Chuck had not known her as long as Freya had. He knew Skye had been more than just a leader to Freya, she had been a close friend, almost a sister. He knew her death had hurt Freya. The wedding had been a great distraction and positive force when grief and sadness threatened to overwhelm him. He had so much to look forward to. He wanted to be the rock and support that Freya needed. He hoped she would get some closure with the memorial service.

She’d wondered when this was going to happen. She arrived with Chuck, wearing the engagement ring prominently. Sam had done a good numbering reaching out and getting into contact with everyone. She leaned on Chuck’s arm as they walked up, looking at the memorial. The tomb holding the remains, and the set up for the get together.

She took a moment to look over where Ban sat, in seiza, dressed in a long flowing White kimono, with white headband and full white outfit. Draped with white silk strips with Skye’s name and the teams names on them. Ban was doing a whole thing by the look of it…

Chuck had given greetings to his teammates that were somewhat subdued by the reason they were all there. He kept an arm around Freya offering her his strength and emotional support if she needed it. Chuck was dressed in combat boots, black tactical pants, and a soft turtleneck cashmere sweater. He had a backpack stuffed with supplies. Duke happily greeted everyone in the team with excited barks, nuzzles, and licks.

Chuck had greeted Samantha with a hug. He was glad to see her. He knew that their last mission had been hard on her. He smiled as he thought about their little trip to Colorado. He had enjoyed working with Samantha on their little side project to wrap up the loose ends left behind them. He was curious what she had been up to since then.

Freya had dressed herself in a long and casual outfit, still respectful but there’s some care placed to not look like she’s going hard into this. She wants to project that this is as much a celebration as it is a sending off.

Even as Ban goes through a very old ritual of mourning and funerary rites.

Freya stands as a show that the future is there still and waiting to continue even after a great loss.

Chuck listened as Samantha started the service. He listened respectfully as memories washed over him. Skye had been one hell of a warrior. He didn’t know her very well but he knew the caliber of loyalty and the people who had followed her. That spoke volumes about the kind of person she was. When the time came for him to speak, he had been waiting for the moment. He unzipped the backpack and pulled out some paper cups and a very expensive bottle of Scottish Whisky.

“Skye Lyons was one hell of a warrior. She would not want sad faces here today. She always went in at the shit end and knew that her ticket could be punched at any time. I think she would kick our asses if we didn’t at least have a drink in her honor.” He began pouring cups of whisky and passing them out. He then held up his cup. “To Skye Lyons. She was an honorable and fierce warrior and just as fierce a friend to those who were lucky enough to call her friend. You will be missed.” He saluted them with his cup before taking a drink of the smoky fiery whisky. It provided a pleasant burn all the way down. He then turned to the little memorial stone and poured a measure out for Skye. He hoped that wherever her spirit was that she appreciated that he got the best whisky he could find for her.

Chuck gave Samantha a nod of respect and appreciation. She had done a nice job of carrying out Skye’s final wishes and managing to get the entire team to join them for her memorial. Chuck gave Samantha a mischievous grin as she asked if they wanted to join her team. Chuck spoke loud enough the entire team heard them. “Well maybe. It will be up to Freya, she is the boss. We cannot join you until after the wedding and our honeymoon. You are all invited to the wedding of course.”

Freya sniffed and rubbed her cheeks, shaking her head, “Ahh...glad I didn’t doll on any makeup.” She can’t help but smile at Sam, “All natural sweetie.” She giggles.

But then serious, “Skye will be missed. You know she was always so…geared up about what we all did. She took an interest you know? When I would speak about some other crazy thing I was cooking up with Jotunheim, I think she really fought not to have her eyes glass over when I got technical, but she cared. She could be a bitch but she cared.”

She sighs, “On other topics, we’ll be on this side of the pond for the wedding, My mom won out in the debates, and we’re going to have it over here. Dad’s Norwegian ancestry and Mom’s Russian ancestry won out so we’re going to have it over here, maybe somewhere near the the borders of both lineages. Everyone is invited.” She smiles, “Please…I hope you’ll all come. I want my real family and my friend-family there too. We all went through hell together…you’re all my family.”

---

Chuck and Freya’s wedding day dawned bright and cheerful. There was a sense of optimism and hope for the future in the air. They had decided to have the wedding at the Denisova Family Estate located about 36km outside of Moscow. The Denisova Family was a by-product of Russia’s Military past. The family for as long as could be remembered had been military, and Natalie, Jamie, Athena and Freya been the most recent by products of such. Their wealth had come from hard work and sweat. The family had never believed in paper money and had their wealth tied up in land, oil, and gold. Careful power and wealth had allowed them to maintain the old beautiful sprawling estate which consisted of a large stone manor house, a white stone cathedral, and a large manor with a few staff for the elder Denisovas. The grounds had beautiful manicured gardens with curving winding paths and patios throughout. There was a swimming pool, pond, and lake on the vast estate. There was a large long driveway of cobblestone with a more modern cement driveway that ended in a large eight car garage.

The family matriarch, Freya’s grandmother, was delighted to be asked to host her granddaughter’s wedding. Without having to wait for a venue, planning the rest of the wedding was a breeze. A chef was hired to cater the event and temporary staff hired from the village nearby to help out. A florist was hired to handle the flowers and decor. The family retained a priest to man the cathedral on the property and host services once a week. The priest was willing to marry them. The marriage would take place in the family cathedral with the reception being hosted in the ballroom of the manor house.

The cathedral needed little decor as the beautiful stained glass, old carved hardwood designs, and gold inlay shined and shone with craftsmanship and love that was timeless. The decor was kept simple with sprays of white and light blue roses with crystal accents and pearls dripping down from the flowers, creating a soft romantic look that framed the altar. The feeling was timeless class and chic. The cathedral was full of family and friends. The cathedral was small and wouldn’t hold more than 100 people. It was the perfect size for their wedding. The guests had already been seated while a pianist accompanied by a cello and violin played soft classical music to entertain guests.

Chuck had arrived at the cathedral and was wearing his Marine Dress Uniform with all his ribbons and medals on display. He adjusted the ceremonial sabre nervously. He greeted the priest with a quiet word and a handshake. His brother was serving as his best man and was dressed in a charcoal gray tuxedo with a light blue vest. Duke was sitting next to him as he waited for his bride at the altar. Duke was looking dapper with a light blue bow tie around his neck. The wedding processional music had begun to play. Chuck swallowed nervously as his grandfather escorted his grandmother to her seat followed by his father escorting his mother. His sister was waiting with Samantha to help Freya with her grand entrance. The entire church stood and looked towards the entry way as the wedding march began.

The big day had finally come. Finally! The families had all met up, everyone seemed to like each other. Jamie still casually flirted with Chuck’s sister. Athena seemed to have roped Eloise in…in more then one way. Teasing had somehow dug up one of the other roping each other down…literally!

And now…finally.

After much logistics, a huge party was set up by her people at Jotunheim, and most of them then flying out to the Russian countryside.

The families are here.

Freya had spent hours that morning getting done up, but in a tasteful way. She’s pretty, well okay some would say a drop dead bombshell, but she didn’t want to overdue it. She’d spent time on make up, nails but had opted for a gentle, hairdo, that had her locks cascading down her shoulders and back. And a beautiful blue and white wedding dress.

Chuck and her had even done the around the corner meeting briefly. She’d placed a kiss on his knuckles, her words had caused a few people to burst into tears, “Thank you Chuck…for once again making me the happiest giant woman in the world today.”

She’d watched Chuck’s cars pull out first. Then barked, “Alright girls! Let’s get cracking!”

A few moments later, her own cars roll out.

Less than 15 minutes later, as Jamie is making sure some of Chuck’s medals are on straight, everyone watches as Victor, big, burly grey at the temple Victor steps up to the gate leading into the room. Sam and Chuck’s sister open the doors. To a near divine view of Freya in her wedding dress.

Victor takes her arm, and the wedding march plays on a brass and strings ensemble.

Not a few people seeing that Freya has eyes clear as day for Chuck. Soon Victor delivers Freya to the dais, turns to Chuck and gives him one single profound nod.

The officiant then cleared his throat.

Freya and Chuck turning…

Tactical Breach Wizards: Fireteam Hex (Military, Modern, Fantasy, Action-Thriller)

Day 1
The World's End Pub
Village of Pristupin, Libor Province
Republic of Polavia

---

Soundtrack: Elton John- Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting

Rowan had breathed easier once she crossed the border into Polavia but she pushed deeper into Polavia. She wanted to move away from the border. She decided to avoid the larger cities where it was more likely she would be recognized as they received news from other countries faster. She might be noticed in rural areas as well but it was less likely that the folks living in those areas would connect her to events happening in other countries so far away or care. She was careful to stick to roads traveled enough to have gas stations. She really did not care to try and carry the few possessions she had managed to take with her. She could and would rather sleep in her car than on the ground. Rowan had gone through boot camp and had been trained in survival and had slept on the ground and dealt with the ick of mud and insects that came from the great outdoors. That did not mean she liked it. Rowan appreciated and liked modern conveniences such as running water and electricity. She knew that being on the run would force her to deal with fewer luxuries that she was used to. Damn Reactor!

She had been inside Polavia for a few days when she ran into another former Reactor agent. She had stopped in the small village of Pristupin in Libor Province. She had refilled the gas tank on her Mercedes and was seeking some food. She was hungry and she thought finding a pub or bar to get a bite to eat was a good idea. She could glean some information about what was happening in Polavia and how bad her situation really was. Did she just need to lie low for a while or was she here to stay? If she was here to stay, what kind of work could she find? It wasn’t much of a plan but it was a direction and a step towards a plan. She had been walking towards the entrance to the pub when she ran right into Borys. She recognized him as a former Reactor Agent. Reactor Teams had sometimes been on missions together and sometimes they ran into each other at headquarters. There was some competition and rivalry between the teams which each had their unique abilities and strengths. Rowan decided that there was some safety in numbers. A familiar face was a welcome surprise. They had exchanged greetings before agreeing to finish catching up inside.

Rowan was dressed for traveling. She would have loved to break out her more fashionable clothes but she was on the run. She felt like she needed to be able to blend in to the locals or at least look like other tourists. She was wearing her combat boots, black skinny jeans, and a long flowy purple tank top. She had a backpack purse that looked high end designer in black leather with a shiny gold icon on the side. Her wand was inside with essentials. She had left her weapons and tactical gear in the car. Locked up in the trunk out of sight with a protection ward guarding her gear and valuables. Her dark red hair tumbled down the center of her head in a waterfall of loose curls that tumbled down her back. Her hair free from the tight braids she used when going into battle. It was her attempt at fitting in as a tourist instead of a mercenary.

Borys had been sharing how bad the alcohol was here as they went through the door. She was disgusted by his description. Maybe this had not been such a good idea. Her own alcohol was probably much better quality but she didn’t have much with her until she found a new home base to set up in. As they walked through the door a loud angry feminine voice was yelling.

"BORYS, KURWA! YOU DWARF MIDGET PRICK, YOU OWE ME A HUNDRED CROWNS, YOU CHEAP BASTARD!”

Rowan looked on in amusement as the dwarf was confronted by yet another former Reactor agent. She was highly amused as the woman grabbed his ear intent on taking him with her when the dwarf picked her up and carried her across the pub. Rowan followed along in the wake of them both. This might have been a good idea yet. She was surprised to be greeted by name. She had not thought her team had gotten as much exposure as others. She did recognize the man greeting her, Felix Lyons. His story had been the hottest rumor around Reactor for at least a month after it had happened.

Felix greeted her and seemed to know who she was.

"I think they may know each other, I can't recognise the language. You did a lot of chemical warfare related stuff in Reactor, it's....Rowan, right?"

Rowan nodded as she took a seat next to Felix Lyons. She kept her voice low enough not to carry in the loud tavern. She was still being cautious. You never knew who was looking for you and might be listening in. She was well aware that some witches had scrying ability. She didn’t think she attracted that kind of specialized attention yet but a little caution never hurt.

“Yes Rowan Morgana, Chemical Warfare Witch, former Omega Team lead.” She gave him a polite nod in greeting.

Felix offered her a drink.

"Vodka shot? That is Oksana, and I'm Felix."

She decided it was probably best not to inhale. The smell from the drink might turn her stomach. She lifted the glass in salute and slammed the homebrewed vodka down. It burned going down and made her eyes water. She gasped and coughed as she wiped at her eyes.

“Holy Shit! That crap could be used as paint thinner!”

She was oblivious that she had just insulted the bartender. She took a moment to recover from the nasty drink. She wasn’t so sure about food now. She hoped the food was better than their alcohol. She looked around the noisy pub and the people in their group. She recognized that there were more Reactor Agents there and she suddenly wondered why so many of them were here in Polavia at this little village in this particular pub. She then remembered the news and what was happening in the DSR. Reactor had been laying off agents and teams for a few months now. Just like herself many agents were fleeing as they were now wanted for war crimes or by numerous countries. It certainly explained why there were so many of them in Polavia but not what had drawn them all together at this particular time and place. Rowan had a gut feeling that other forces were at play. Maybe it was logical as she had followed the most likely path out of the DSR and kept off the main roads but kept to minor roads that would have what she needed as she made her way deeper into Polavia.

Rowan waved down the waitress and put in an order for something more substantial than bread. She decided to try the loaded potato skins and asked for some wine hoping it would be better than the vodka. They sounded safe enough and at least there would be some protein from the cheese and bacon that was supposed to top them.

Rowan looked around at all of them. “I want to ask the obvious question. I know how I ended up here. Why are all of you here?”

Tactical Breach Wizards: Fireteam Hex (Military, Modern, Fantasy, Action-Thriller)

Rowan Morgana

Tag: Chemical Warfare Witch

Name: Rowan Morgana

Age: 32

Gender: Female

Nationality: D.S.R. born and served

Craft: Witch

She is a witch who uses her mana abilities with tools to cast spells, create potions, and absorb mana from others spells, and fly.

TLDR: Broom Use: Rowan can use her witch’s broom to get around. Other uses for her broom is clearing away magic from other casters. She can literally capture the mana left behind from other spells and runes cleaning up the magic residue left behind. The broom can use this stolen mana to recharge itself. Her broom has to be recharged occasionally. The longer she uses the broom the more energy it will take to recharge it. There is a limit to how far she can ride it in one day. Like all her magical abilities it can be taxing to use it resulting in headaches and fatigue.

Potion Making: She can use a cauldron to make potions. The drawbacks to that is that it might take her some time to gather the ingredients needed for the potion or time to brew the potion. Some potions may require special or rare ingredients that are hard to get. Potions are usually prepared in advance as she might not have what she needs to make a potion. It takes imbuing mana into her potions during the process of making them to get the intended effect. The stronger the potion the longer it takes to make it and the more ingredients or the more powerful ingredients required. Impromptu or panic potion making can result in chaotic or unintended effects of rushing the potion. It can be done… but it is not usually a good idea.

Spell Casting: Her spell casting is often not very strong but she is limited only by her imagination and the amount of mana she can handle at one time. The stronger the spell the higher the mana cost. The higher the mana cost the stronger the spell and the faster she will fatigue. Casting takes a toll on her mental energy and comes with fatigue and headaches if overused.

Rowan is a human but hiding her abilities as a Witch can be difficult to do when you can never be apart from the vessels necessary for your craft for long. If Rowan is separated from her vessels, the link to her magic can weaken over time. The result would be having to recharge and link them again which can be an exhausting and time consuming process. Having tools that are charged with her energy and linked closely to it makes spell casting easier. Rowan’s tools of her trade are wands, spell ingredients, a witch’s broom, a cast iron cauldron, potion bottles, and kitchen tools such as a mortar and pestle. Her tools are bulky and easily identifiable. Traveling light is not really an option. She usually needs a home base to work from.

Of course she can go on a mission with what she can carry with her, but one does not typically run into battle with a heavy cast iron cauldron strapped to your hip or back. Hence she makes her potions ahead of time and carries those potions in a bandolier. Her wand is built into the stock of her pistol. She has a second wand built into the hilt of her whip. She also carries a backup wand in case she is separated from her primary weapon wands. She does carry some spell ingredients in small pouches on a utility belt lined with small pockets. She also carries spell chalk and paint for those occasions where she might need to use runes to empower a spell.

Vessels Carried
Rowan seeks out common items for her craft that make it easier and less draining on her not to make it herself.
Spell Chalk: Mana infused chalk for drawing glyphs and runes.
Spell spray paint: Mana infused spray paint for drawing glyphs and runes.
Travel Cauldron: Used for potion making. Very small cast iron cauldron that holds a cup of liquid.
Potion Bandolier with Ward Glyph: She has a potion bandolier that is worn slung over the shoulder and across the chest that will hold up to 20 potion bottles. The bandolier is made out of leather and has runic glyphs carved into the leather and dyed with mana ink to imbue the glyphs with power. The glyphs are a low grade ward that makes it harder to hit her or the potion bottles.
Witches Broom: She uses her broom to get around and captures mana from other sources. The broom handle is made out of oak but the broom section is made of carbon fiber with obsidian and quartz crystals embedded along the shaft above the broom section with copper wire holding the gems to the shaft and the carbon fiber broom. There are runes engraved up the shaft that are carved into the shaft and filled with powdered quartz crystals sealed in resin.
Potion Bottles: Bottles for potions. They are glass bottles that are spelled to hold any kind of liquid or powder without breaking.

Channels Carried
Full size cauldron: Travels with her but remains where she is staying. Large cauldron the size of a large stock pot. Used for potion making.
Spell Ingredients: She carries some common spell ingredients with her such as salt, a variety of crystals, a variety of herbs, string, wax, candles, steel wool, flint, copper, feathers, a variety of animal bones, glass, a small mirror, water, alcohol, cotton, wool, ink, sand, small pieces of elk, deer, and ram’s horn, ash, vinegar, bell, small lump of clay, coal dust, cork, leather, small folding fan, seeds, nuts, nutshells, and a few different types of tree bark.
Backup Wand: Backup wand is a long hand carved wand from Bloodwood with a quartz crystal embedded into the tip with an onyx arrowhead wired to the side of it with copper wire. This wand allows her to perform spells on the fly. It channels her powers more smoothly for spells outside of elemental spells.
Pistol Wand: She has a wand embedded into the grip of her pistol. The grip is made out of Ebony Wood with runic glyphs carved into the sides with powdered semiprecious crystals embedded into the carved runes and sealed in by resin epoxy to protect the glyphs. The wand is tuned to elemental magic and makes elemental spells easier such as lightning, fire, water, and ice.
Whip Wand: The whip has an Oak Wood Wand handle with runes carved into it. Embedded into the handle are chips of quartz and obsidian crystal. The treated leather covers the wooden hand and is woven into a whip with stainless steel barbs woven into the tips of the whip. The Whip Wand is strong stable base for channeling various elemental effects such as lightning, fire, ice, and wind.
Witch Broom: It has a Walnut wood handle with a carbon fiber broom section. There are runic glyphs carved into the handle of the broom that are filled with powdered crystal sealed in resin once more. There are pieces of obsidian and quartz that are embedded into the handle and connected to the carbon fiber broom piece with copper wire.
CBRN Suit: CBRN suit tailored for her as a witch with runic glyphs that provide additional durability and clean air. The CBRN suit takes the form of a floor length cloak with the special respirator attached to the face of the hood.

Appearance:

Images-AI Generated-WIP

Rowan Morgana

CBRN Suit

Rowan has curly red hair that cascades from the center of her head with shaved sides. She often braids the back close to her skull on missions to keep it out of the way. She has very fair skin and is very white. Her eyes are a luminous green color that almost seem to have an ethereal glow to them.

When she is on a mission, she often wears body armor with tactical pants, combat boots, black leather gloves, with a long sleeved black t-shirt underneath her body armor. Slung from one shoulder at an angle is a potion bandolier. Slung across her back is a cloak that has magnetic seals that can be used as a quick chemical shelter in the field. The cloak has a hood with an attached gas mask that is CBRN rated. She has a utility belt with a holster on her left hip for her Springfield Armory Hellcat pistol and her whip on her right hip. She wears her whip on her right hip and her pistol on the other.

When she is off duty, she wears regular clothing like any other woman. She does tend to prefer natural fabrics of cotton, bamboo, silk, and wool.

Bio:
Rowan is very intelligent and has a sassy snarky sarcastic sense of humor. She enjoys what she calls her little pleasures in life which would be just about anything sweet. She is very serious about her sweet treats. Don’t ask her to share. And whatever you do… don’t take her last chocolate bar. Rowan’s preferred method of relaxation is baking or potion making followed by bubble baths. Like any good potion maker, Rowan likes to brew her own alcohol.

Rowan is a grouch first thing in the morning. She is not civil until she has had her first cup of coffee or tea. She has a dry pessimistic view of the world. She feels that the world is going to hell in a handbasket and she is merely along for the ride. She has no desire to die but she feels like anything she does is merely putting on a band aid on the problems facing the world. She doesn’t see that she will make a difference in that. She often comes across as a grouchy bitch with an attitude. She doesn’t want to watch the world burn but feels that it is inevitable so she might as well have a ringside seat. Rowan does not forgive and forget easily. She is vengeful and is not shy about seeking vengeance on those who piss her off. Beware irritating the chemist.

Lines that might exemplify her personality: “What is in it for me?” “Let’s have some fun and see what this does?” “Hey watch this, hold my beer!”

History:
Rowan was born in the D.S.R. to middle class parents. Her father was a career military officer and her mother was a teacher. Her father was often gone for long periods of time on deployment. Her mother was left with the bulk of the work raising her. She never worried about where her next meal was coming from but she learned to be self sufficient from a young age. Her mother spent so much of her time at school and helping her students, Rowan wondered if she would see her more if she was in her class. Rowan was a typical latch key kid. She walked herself to and from school. She did her homework and prepared her own afterschool snacks. By the time she was a teenager, she was a decent cook. Her mother had long ago turned over cooking dinner to her as a chore. Rowan loved to cook but excelled at baking especially after she got into chemistry.

Her parents harped and preached about her getting an education, that they wanted her to do better than them. When her father was around, he spent time preparing her for the future he wanted for her. He taught her strategy games and tactics. He forced her to go jogging with him and enrolled her in a basic martial arts class. Her mother forced academics and science on her from a young age. She resented her parents' focus until they gave her a chemistry set for her birthday one year. Her world opened up in new ways. She found the interactions between chemicals fascinating. She found it useful after she got even with her class bully by turning her blonde hair an ugly green color.

Rowan graduated top of her class but had no money for college even after her parents had prepared her for it. She went into the military because they promised her an education in her field. She attended a military academy right out of high school where she went through basic training. She then entered a special program for officers and scientists. She was trained in Chemical Biological Radiation and Nuclear operations. She was trained in CBRN defense and response. After nearly four years of training she was finally a certified CBRN Specialist. She spent the next two years as the CBRN Specialist working in a special forces group that was sent in to neutralize threats to the country. Rowan was good at holding her own. She was definitely better at close quarters combat than distance. She was a fair shot but still preferred a shotgun. She didn’t have to worry so much about aiming as just firing before the other guy. The shotgun was destructive enough to end the other person usually.

She was injured in the field and had required some long term rehabilitation. While she was undergoing physical therapy to strengthen her shoulder and improve her range of motion in it, they assigned her to a military research and development team. She had been working with the team for over six months and was cleared for fieldwork once more. She was told she would be reassigned when the next mission came up. In the meantime, she was to continue what she was doing. The team she was working with was trying to develop a neutralization agent for the latest mana infused chemical agent to come out of Polavia. There was an attack on the facility as they were testing the latest iteration of their neutralization agent. The facility had been infiltrated and bombs had gone off during the testing setting the neutralization agent free. The compound was not having the intended effect because there was no other agent for it to interact with. The mana in the neutralization agent was acting like a chaos factor changing from moment to moment what it did. There was a thick toxic smoke haze in the air that kept changing colors from black to gray, then there was lightning through it, then it switched to red glow as flames lit the edge of the expanding cloud. The others on her team had died in the explosion. She was trapped in the lab that was burning all around her. The ceiling had caved in and there was a heavy beam blocking the door. There was no clear path through the concrete slabs and steel beams that had fallen from the ceiling. She was desperate as she started to get dizzy from the lack of clean air as her breathing apparatus filter was being overwhelmed by the thick toxic smoke in the air.

She thought about her chemistry set from her childhood. She took in what she had to work with. There was not much left after the explosion. Her eyes landed on the beaker of powdered mana that was laying on its side. She knew that sometimes mana could be used by non casters through vessels. She hoped she could make the powdered mana work. She focused on the concoction she was making hoping it would save her life. She started to mix together things that she thought might work. She was guided by instinct as her hands wandered over the remaining supplies in the lab. She combined her knowledge with an innate knowing as she felt a tug of electric warmth through her hands as she settled on the right ones. She attempted to make a bomb. She hoped to blow a hole in the wall of the lab or dislodge the beam so she could get out. As she focused on the concoction in the beaker, she felt a spark ignite deep inside her. She felt a sharp pain stab through her forehead which began to throb with her heartbeat. She felt a warm heat flow from the center of her chest out to her extremities. The concoction began to glow a soft blue. She noticed it was getting brighter even as she felt her strength leaving her and then her nose started to bleed. She couldn’t wipe her nose to clear the blood without exposing herself to the fumes. It just added to the sensation that she was struggling to breath. She thought it was the bad air as she got dizzy and the headache got worse. She was out of time and threw the beaker at the outer wall as she ducked down behind a turned over stainless steel work table.

The resulting blast knocked the table back into her, knocking her out. When she woke up, she was in a military hospital with a killer headache and bruised ribs. She was debriefed on what happened. It turned out that the facility had been infiltrated by spies that had planted enough explosives to take out most of the facility. The only reason she had survived was that the lab she was in had reinforced walls and ceiling and her makeshift bomb had opened a hole in the wall to the outside letting in fresh air. It wasn’t until she was being debriefed that she figured out she had activated her mana skills. She was suffering from Mana Fatigue as well as a concussion. The military wanted to keep the incident hush hush and gave her early retirement. They offered her a generous severance package. They wanted her to quietly disappear. They didn’t quite trust her after the infiltration attempt that had blown up the lab. Even though she had been cleared of any wrongdoing, they felt it was best to part ways. Rowan was pissed about this after spending all her adult life in the military and sacrificing for her country. Now they wanted to throw her away? She came from a military family and had never done anything to give them cause for alarm or to doubt her. She went on a bender that lasted a month.

Reactor had heard about the incident and offered her a job. They were eager to employ someone with her skills and qualifications. At first Rowan declined, they had approached her while she was still working her mad out. She was mad at the world. Her father believed she had done something wrong which was why she had been offered early retirement and kicked out of the military. Her mother was disappointed in her. Her parents had stopped talking to her at this point. She woke up in jail after starting a very destructive bar fight. Part of her sentence was to find gainful employment. She called up Reactor and they were still eager to hire her. She decided it was not working against her country’s interests if her country didn’t trust her to work for them. So she dove into her work with Reactor.

She was soon with a team traveling from country to country hitting hot spots. As her skills were developing she needed to find a way to include her wand in her weapons. When she checked out the black market to see what was available, she found a pistol that felt perfect and surprisingly a whip. She began to practice with both to improve her skill with using them. Along the way, she began to develop more skills as a caster. Her potions were a hit with her team. She began to study and learn. She researched the folklore around witchcraft and what others were doing. She tapped into those instincts that had guided her first potion. They guided her in developing her skills. She had become a good jack of all trade caster that provided a backup support role in her team. She could make potions to buff her team, help them breathe underwater, or boost their strength. She had developed several spells but they were on the weaker side for repeated use. She was often tasked with getting the bird's eye view of a situation on her broom. She liked her team and the work she was doing was fun. She was getting well paid. She had broken ties with her parents and simply lived life to the fullest as she sought out her next adventure.

Then Reactor sent them on a mission into the Holy Land of Kalan. They had been sent in to neutralize a new WMD developed by the church. It was a new drug that combined hallucinogenic materials with mana that effectively brain washed a person. It took away their ability to think and made them susceptible to suggestion. It was a way to pull the masses under their control and make resistance to the Church’s rule harder. If the church was successful, the resistance movement would end over night and give the Church a much stronger hold over their people. It would then allow the Church Leaders to turn their attention outwards. The DSR and other countries didn’t want that to happen. They were not prepared to fight religious zealots that would die for the cause. Reactor had been tasked with shutting the project down.

Of course that had to be the mission where it all went to shit. They managed to neutralize the agent but proof of the team’s action was caught on camera. The Church unleashed their forces on them. Kalan Church forces had orders to shoot her team on sight. Their faces were all over Kalan newscasts. The Church was pushing their faithful to report any sightings of their team or to shoot them on sight for a reward. They had to fight for every inch of ground that they retreated. By the time they had made it to the border of Kalan, most of her team had died. The fallout over that mission was out of her control. Reactor couldn’t distance themselves fast enough from the team. They were labeled rogue operatives and left to die in the field by Reactor. Reactor had abandoned them to their fate. They had stopped providing support. They had pretty much told the team they had to live with the consequences of their failure.

By the time she made it out of Kalan, she was feeling the need to lie low. She was being hunted and was not really welcome anywhere. She used a potion to hide her face to slip back into the DSR. She made it home and packed up what she needed and quietly slipped out of DSR before they could come ask her questions she didn’t want to answer. She didn’t feel like replacing all her tools. She took as much of her fashion collection with her as she could. She needed to pick up the money and resources she had been stockpiling and saving. She had some money in the bank too but she was not confident she could withdraw it or use it without drawing attention to where she was. She was going to need those spell ingredients on the run and the cash she had been setting aside. She loaded everything into her late model Mercedes and took off for the border. She did her best to hide her witch tools by burying the broom at the bottom of the trunk with only the carbon fibre bristle poking out around the boxes and bags of clothes. She hid her cauldron in a carton of cooking utensils and kitchen stuff so that only part of it was visible and looked like a cast iron cooking pot. She had her spell ingredients buried in with spices from the kitchen cabinet. She again used the potion to temporarily change how she looked. The potion turned her red curly hair into black straight hair. It turned her green eyes brown and darkened her skin tone to a dusky rose color. She also used a confusion potion on the border guard. It simply made him see what she wanted him to see. It blurred his conscience allowing him to believe the story and lies that she was presenting to him. He didn’t glance twice at her broom, cauldron, or spell ingredients. She let out a breath of relief as she crossed the border into to Polavia where at least her status as a witch wouldn’t mean an automatic death sentence or hauled in for questioning or a torture session.

Weaponry (including Channels):
Primary Long Gun: Mossberg Pump Action Shotgun. Standard shotgun. Can handle spelled ammo.
Primary pistol: Springfield Armory Hellcat pistol: The pistol shoots 9MM rounds and is a semi automatic with a 13 round magazine. It had an ebony wood grip and were a matte black. It was a custom piece with runic glyphs embedded on the wood grip. The glyphs reinforced the pistol so that it could handle runic ammo and improved aim. She could pick up 9mm spelled ammo at any good underground gun dealer who sold it. Elemental spells seem to work best with her pistol: fire, electricity, wind, water, ice
Whip: The whip has a Oak Wood Wand handle with treated leather woven into a whip with stainless steel barbs woven into the tips of the whip. The wand handle allows her to do things like add an elemental effect as the whip strikes such as electricity, freezing, or fire.

Other gear/weapons/equipment:
2004 Mercedes Benz E-Class Sedan - color black with black leather interior.
Tactical Backpack
Combat Knife
Broom
Back Up Wand
Spell Ingredients
Potions
Potion bottles
CBRN Suit
Whip
Wire cutters
Radioactive sensor tags
Screwdriver
Duct tape
IFAK First Aid Kit
Emergency Rations (This means chocolate chip granola bars and peanut butter protein bars.)
Thermos bottle filled with coffee
Minor healing potion
Zippo lighter
Matches in a waterproof container
Metal canteen full of water
Potions: Confusion, Acid, Poison, tornado, illusion, disguise, look away potion, Fire (napalm), Ice, Throw Sound. It varies by mission. These are some ideas for potions she might be carrying.

Other useful information:
Rowan loves to cook and bake. She can often be found puttering around in the kitchen. She also likes to brew her own alcohol. She finds it is a challenge that matches her chemistry skills with her cooking skills. She can be seen as very old fashioned and girly in some respects as she enjoys her femininity. She likes to wear and collect beautiful clothes and enjoys a good bubble bath and a romcom. She rarely gets the opportunity to indulge in fashion much as she is traveling constantly for work. She also likes kicking ass and taking names. She works best in close quarters combat versus ranged. She is an interesting mix of competing interests, forces, and attitude. On the other hand, she practices martial arts daily as her fitness regime. It has saved her life enough that she puts effort into it. She can be cranky, snarky, and downright mean at times. Life is not a box of chocolates, it is rushing from one crisis to the next. Her world view is glass half full.

Likes
Baking
Cooking
Fashion
Dancing
Classical Music
Folk Music

Dislikes
Being told what to do
Bad Fashion
Religion
Getting dirty

Tactical Breach Wizards: Fireteam Hex (Military, Modern, Fantasy, Action-Thriller)

Rowan Mogana

Tag Chemical Warfare Witch

Name: Rowan Morgana

Age: 32

Gender: Female

Nationality: D.S.R. born and served

Craft: Witch

She is a witch who uses her mana abilities with tools to cast spells, create potions, and absorb mana from others spells, and fly.

TLDR: Broom Use: Rowan can use her witch’s broom to get around. Other uses for her broom is clearing away magic from other casters. She can literally capture the mana left behind from other spells and runes cleaning up the magic residue left behind. The broom can use this stolen mana to recharge itself. Her broom has to be recharged occasionally. The longer she uses the broom the more energy it will take to recharge it. There is a limit to how far she can ride it in one day. Like all her magical abilities it can be taxing to use it resulting in headaches and fatigue.

Potion Making: She can use a cauldron to make potions. The drawbacks to that is that it might take her some time to gather the ingredients needed for the potion or time to brew the potion. Some potions may require special or rare ingredients that are hard to get. Potions are usually prepared in advance as she might not have what she needs to make a potion. It takes imbuing mana into her potions during the process of making them to get the intended effect. The stronger the potion the longer it takes to make it and the more ingredients or the more powerful ingredients required. Impromptu or panic potion making can result in chaotic or unintended effects of rushing the potion. It can be done… but it is not usually a good idea.

Spell Casting: Her spell casting is often not very strong but she is limited only by her imagination and the amount of mana she can handle at one time. The stronger the spell the higher the mana cost. The higher the mana cost the stronger the spell and the faster she will fatigue. Casting takes a toll on her mental energy and comes with fatigue and headaches if overused.

Rowan is a human but hiding her abilities as a Witch can be difficult to do when you can never be apart from the vessels necessary for your craft for long. If Rowan is separated from her vessels, the link to her magic can weaken over time. The result would be having to recharge and link them again which can be an exhausting and time consuming process. Having tools that are charged with her energy and linked closely to it makes spell casting easier. Rowan’s tools of her trade are wands, spell ingredients, a witch’s broom, a cast iron cauldron, potion bottles, and kitchen tools such as a mortar and pestle. Her tools are bulky and easily identifiable. Traveling light is not really an option. She usually needs a home base to work from.

Of course she can go on a mission with what she can carry with her, but one does not typically run into battle with a heavy cast iron cauldron strapped to your hip or back. Hence she makes her potions ahead of time and carries those potions in a bandolier. Her wand is built into the stock of her pistol. She has a second wand built into the hilt of her whip. She also carries a backup wand in case she is separated from her primary weapon wands. She does carry some spell ingredients in small pouches on a utility belt lined with small pockets. She also carries spell chalk and paint for those occasions where she might need to use runes to empower a spell.

Vessels Carried

Rowan seeks out common items for her craft that make it easier and less draining on her not to make it herself.

Spell Chalk: Mana infused chalk for drawing glyphs and runes.
Spell spray paint: Mana infused spray paint for drawing glyphs and runes.
Travel Cauldron: Used for potion making. Very small cast iron cauldron that holds a cup of liquid.
Potion Bandolier with Ward Glyph: She has a potion bandolier that is worn slung over the shoulder and across the chest that will hold up to 20 potion bottles. The bandolier is made out of leather and has runic glyphs carved into the leather and dyed with mana ink to imbue the glyphs with power. The glyphs are a low grade ward that makes it harder to hit her or the potion bottles.
Witches Broom: She uses her broom to get around and captures mana from other sources. The broom handle is made out of oak but the broom section is made of carbon fiber with obsidian and quartz crystals embedded along the shaft above the broom section with copper wire holding the gems to the shaft and the carbon fiber broom. There are runes engraved up the shaft that are carved into the shaft and filled with powdered quartz crystals sealed in resin.
Potion Bottles: Bottles for potions. They are glass bottles that are spelled to hold any kind of liquid or powder without breaking.

Channels Carried

Full size cauldron: Travels with her but remains where she is staying. Large cauldron the size of a large stock pot. Used for potion making.

Spell Ingredients: She carries some common spell ingredients with her such as salt, a variety of crystals, a variety of herbs, string, wax, candles, steel wool, flint, copper, feathers, a variety of animal bones, glass, a small mirror, water, alcohol, cotton, wool, ink, sand, small pieces of elk, deer, and ram’s horn, ash, vinegar, bell, small lump of clay, coal dust, cork, leather, small folding fan, seeds, nuts, nutshells, and a few different types of tree bark.

Backup Wand: Backup wand is a long hand carved wand from Bloodwood with a quartz crystal embedded into the tip with an onyx arrowhead wired to the side of it with copper wire. This wand allows her to perform spells on the fly. It channels her powers more smoothly for spells outside of elemental spells.

Pistol Wand: She has a wand embedded into the grip of her pistol. The grip is made out of Ebony Wood with runic glyphs carved into the sides with powdered semiprecious crystals embedded into the carved runes and sealed in by resin epoxy to protect the glyphs. The wand is tuned to elemental magic and makes elemental spells easier such as lightning, fire, water, and ice.

Whip Wand: The whip has an Oak Wood Wand handle with runes carved into it. Embedded into the handle are chips of quartz and obsidian crystal. The treated leather covers the wooden hand and is woven into a whip with stainless steel barbs woven into the tips of the whip. The Whip Wand is strong stable base for channeling various elemental effects such as lightning, fire, ice, and wind.

Witch Broom: It has a Walnut wood handle with a carbon fiber broom section. There are runic glyphs carved into the handle of the broom that are filled with powdered crystal sealed in resin once more. There are pieces of obsidian and quartz that are embedded into the handle and connected to the carbon fiber broom piece with copper wire.

CBRN Suit: CBRN suit tailed for her a witch with runic glyphs that provide additional durability and clean air. The CBRN suit takes the form of a floor length cloak with the special respirator attached to the face of the hood.

Appearance:

images

Rowan Morgana

CBRN Suit

Rowan has curly red hair that cascades from the center of her head with shaved sides. She often braids the back close to her skull on missions to keep it out of the way. She has very fair skin and is very white. Her eyes are a luminous green color that almost seem to have an ethereal glow to them.

When she is on a mission, she often wears body armor with tactical pants, combat boots, black leather gloves, with a long sleeved black t-shirt underneath her body armor. Slung from one shoulder at an angle is a potion bandolier. Slung across her back is a cloak that has magnetic seals that can be used as a quick chemical shelter in the field. The cloak has a hood with an attached gas mask that is CBRN rated. She has a utility belt with a holster on her left hip for her Springfield Armory Hellcat pistol and her whip on her right hip. She wears her whip on her right hip and her pistol on the other.

When she is off duty, she wears regular clothing like any other woman. She does tend to prefer natural fabrics of cotton, bamboo, silk, and wool.

Bio:

Rowan is very intelligent and has a sassy snarky sarcastic sense of humor. She enjoys what she calls her little pleasures in life which would be just about anything sweet. She is very serious about her sweet treats. Don’t ask her to share. And whatever you do… don’t take her last chocolate bar. Rowan’s preferred method of relaxation is baking or potion making followed by bubble baths. Like any good potion maker, Rowan likes to brew her own alcohol.

Rowan is a grouch first thing in the morning. She is not civil until she has had her first cup of coffee or tea. She has a dry pessimistic view of the world. She feels that the world is going to hell in a handbasket and she is merely along for the ride. She has no desire to die but she feels like anything she does is merely putting on a band aid on the problems facing the world. She doesn’t see that she will make a difference in that. She often comes across as a grouchy bitch with an attitude. She doesn’t want to watch the world burn but feels that it is inevitable so she might as well have a ringside seat. Rowan does not forgive and forget easily. She is vengeful and is not shy about seeking vengeance on those who piss her off. Beware irritating the chemist.

Lines that might exemplify her personality: “What is in it for me?” “Let’s have some fun and see what this does?” “Hey watch this, hold my beer!”

History: A brief overview of your character's past, from pre-Reactor, time in Reactor, and then how she got to the bar. Give detail, but don’t give too much, as you'll share this in the story.

Rowan was born in the D.S.R. to middle class parents. Her father was a career military officer and her mother was a teacher. Her father was often gone for long periods of time on deployment. Her mother was left with the bulk of the work raising her. She never worried about where her next meal was coming from but she learned to be self sufficient from a young age. Her mother spent so much of her time at school and helping her students, Rowan wondered if she would see her more if she was in her class. Rowan was a typical latch key kid. She walked herself to and from school. She did her homework and prepared her own afterschool snacks. By the time she was a teenager, she was a decent cook. Her mother had long ago turned over cooking dinner to her as a chore. Rowan loved to cook but excelled at baking especially after she got into chemistry.

Her parents harped and preached about her getting an education, that they wanted her to do better than them. When her father was around, he spent time preparing her for the future he wanted for her. He taught her strategy games and tactics. He forced her to go jogging with him and enrolled her in a basic martial arts class. Her mother forced academics and science on her from a young age. She resented her parents' focus until they gave her a chemistry set for her birthday one year. Her world opened up in new ways. She found the interactions between chemicals fascinating. She found it useful after she got even with her class bully by turning her blonde hair an ugly green color.

Rowan graduated top of her class but had no money for college even after her parents had prepared her for it. She went into the military because they promised her an education in her field. She attended a military academy right out of high school where she went through basic training. She then entered a special program for officers and scientists. She was trained in Chemical Biological Radiation and Nuclear operations. She was trained in CBRN defense and response. After nearly four years of training she was finally a certified CBRN Specialist. She spent the next two years as the CBRN Specialist working in a special forces group that was sent in to neutralize threats to the country. Rowan was good at holding her own. She was definitely better at close quarters combat than distance. She was a fair shot but still preferred a shotgun. She didn’t have to worry so much about aiming as just firing before the other guy. The shotgun was destructive enough to end the other person usually.

She was injured in the field and had required some long term rehabilitation. While she was undergoing physical therapy to strengthen her shoulder and improve her range of motion in it, they assigned her to a military research and development team. She had been working with the team for over six months and was cleared for fieldwork once more. She was told she would be reassigned when the next mission came up. In the meantime, she was to continue what she was doing. The team she was working with was trying to develop a neutralization agent for the latest mana infused chemical agent to come out of Polavia. There was an attack on the facility as they were testing the latest iteration of their neutralization agent. The facility had been infiltrated and bombs had gone off during the testing setting the neutralization agent free. The compound was not having the intended effect because there was no other agent for it to interact with. The mana in the neutralization agent was acting like a chaos factor changing from moment to moment what it did. There was a thick toxic smoke haze in the air that kept changing colors from black to gray, then there was lightning through it, then it switched to red glow as flames lit the edge of the expanding cloud. The others on her team had died in the explosion. She was trapped in the lab that was burning all around her. The ceiling had caved in and there was a heavy beam blocking the door. There was no clear path through the concrete slabs and steel beams that had fallen from the ceiling. She was desperate as she started to get dizzy from the lack of clean air as her breathing apparatus filter was being overwhelmed by the thick toxic smoke in the air.

She thought about her chemistry set from her childhood. She took in what she had to work with. There was not much left after the explosion. Her eyes landed on the beaker of powdered mana that was laying on its side. She knew that sometimes mana could be used by non casters through vessels. She hoped she could make the powdered mana work. She focused on the concoction she was making hoping it would save her life. She started to mix together things that she thought might work. She was guided by instinct as her hands wandered over the remaining supplies in the lab. She combined her knowledge with an innate knowing as she felt a tug of electric warmth through her hands as she settled on the right ones. She attempted to make a bomb. She hoped to blow a hole in the wall of the lab or dislodge the beam so she could get out. As she focused on the concoction in the beaker, she felt a spark ignite deep inside her. She felt a sharp pain stab through her forehead which began to throb with her heartbeat. She felt a warm heat flow from the center of her chest out to her extremities. The concoction began to glow a soft blue. She noticed it was getting brighter even as she felt her strength leaving her and then her nose started to bleed. She couldn’t wipe her nose to clear the blood without exposing herself to the fumes. It just added to the sensation that she was struggling to breath. She thought it was the bad air as she got dizzy and the headache got worse. She was out of time and threw the beaker at the outer wall as she ducked down behind a turned over stainless steel work table.

The resulting blast knocked the table back into her, knocking her out. When she woke up, she was in a military hospital with a killer headache and bruised ribs. She was debriefed on what happened. It turned out that the facility had been infiltrated by spies that had planted enough explosives to take out most of the facility. The only reason she had survived was that the lab she was in had reinforced walls and ceiling and her makeshift bomb had opened a hole in the wall to the outside letting in fresh air. It wasn’t until she was being debriefed that she figured out she had activated her mana skills. She was suffering from Mana Fatigue as well as a concussion. The military wanted to keep the incident hush hush and gave her early retirement. They offered her a generous severance package. They wanted her to quietly disappear. They didn’t quite trust her after the infiltration attempt that had blown up the lab. Even though she had been cleared of any wrongdoing, they felt it was best to part ways. Rowan was pissed about this after spending all her adult life in the military and sacrificing for her country. Now they wanted to throw her away? She came from a military family and had never done anything to give them cause for alarm or to doubt her. She went on a bender that lasted a month.

Reactor had heard about the incident and offered her a job. They were eager to employ someone with her skills and qualifications. At first Rowan declined, they had approached her while she was still working her mad out. She was mad at the world. Her father believed she had done something wrong which was why she had been offered early retirement and kicked out of the military. Her mother was disappointed in her. Her parents had stopped talking to her at this point. She woke up in jail after starting a very destructive bar fight. Part of her sentence was to find gainful employment. She called up Reactor and they were still eager to hire her. She decided it was not working against her country’s interests if her country didn’t trust her to work for them. So she dove into her work with Reactor.

She was soon with a team traveling from country to country hitting hot spots. As her skills were developing she needed to find a way to include her wand in her weapons. When she checked out the black market to see what was available, she found a pistol that felt perfect and surprisingly a whip. She began to practice with both to improve her skill with using them. Along the way, she began to develop more skills as a caster. Her potions were a hit with her team. She began to study and learn. She researched the folklore around witchcraft and what others were doing. She tapped into those instincts that had guided her first potion. They guided her in developing her skills. She had become a good jack of all trade caster that provided a backup support role in her team. She could make potions to buff her team, help them breathe underwater, or boost their strength. She had developed several spells but they were on the weaker side for repeated use. She was often tasked with getting the bird's eye view of a situation on her broom. She liked her team and the work she was doing was fun. She was getting well paid. She had broken ties with her parents and simply lived life to the fullest as she sought out her next adventure.

Then Reactor sent them on a mission into the Holy Land of Kalan. They had been sent in to neutralize a new WMD developed by the church. It was a new drug that combined hallucinogenic materials with mana that effectively brain washed a person. It took away their ability to think and made them susceptible to suggestion. It was a way to pull the masses under their control and make resistance to the Church’s rule harder. If the church was successful, the resistance movement would end over night and give the Church a much stronger hold over their people. It would then allow the Church Leaders to turn their attention outwards. The DSR and other countries didn’t want that to happen. They were not prepared to fight religious zealots that would die for the cause. Reactor had been tasked with shutting the project down.

Of course that had to be the mission where it all went to shit. They managed to neutralize the agent but proof of the team’s action was caught on camera. The Church unleashed their forces on them. Kalan Church forces had orders to shoot her team on sight. Their faces were all over Kalan newscasts. The Church was pushing their faithful to report any sightings of their team or to shoot them on sight for a reward. They had to fight for every inch of ground that they retreated. By the time they had made it to the border of Kalan, most of her team had died. The fallout over that mission was out of her control. Reactor couldn’t distance themselves fast enough from the team. They were labeled rogue operatives and left to die in the field by Reactor. Reactor had abandoned them to their fate. They had stopped providing support. They had pretty much told the team they had to live with the consequences of their failure.

By the time she made it out of Kalan, she was feeling the need to lie low. She was being hunted and was not really welcome anywhere. She used a potion to hide her face to slip back into the DSR. She made it home and packed up what she needed and quietly slipped out of DSR before they could come ask her questions she didn’t want to answer. She didn’t feel like replacing all her tools. She took as much of her fashion collection with her as she could. She needed to pick up the money and resources she had been stockpiling and saving. She had some money in the bank too but she was not confident she could withdraw it or use it without drawing attention to where she was. She was going to need those spell ingredients on the run and the cash she had been setting aside. She loaded everything into her late model Mercedes and took off for the border. She did her best to hide her witch tools by burying the broom at the bottom of the trunk with only the carbon fibre bristle poking out around the boxes and bags of clothes. She hid her cauldron in a carton of cooking utensils and kitchen stuff so that only part of it was visible and looked like a cast iron cooking pot. She had her spell ingredients buried in with spices from the kitchen cabinet. She again used the potion to temporarily change how she looked. The potion turned her red curly hair into black straight hair. It turned her green eyes brown and darkened her skin tone to a dusky rose color. She also used a confusion potion on the border guard. It simply made him see what she wanted him to see. It blurred his conscience allowing him to believe the story and lies that she was presenting to him. He didn’t glance twice at her broom, cauldron, or spell ingredients. She let out a breath of relief as she crossed the border into to Polavia where at least her status as a witch wouldn’t mean an automatic death sentence or hauled in for questioning or a torture session.

Weaponry (including Channels):
Primary Long Gun: Mossberg Pump Action Shotgun. Standard shotgun. Can handle spelled ammo.

Primary pistol: Springfield Armory Hellcat pistol: The pistol shoots 9MM rounds and is a semi automatic with a 13 round magazine. They had ebony wood grips and were a matte black. It was a custom piece with runic glyphs embedded on the wood grip. The glyphs reinforced the pistol so that it could handle runic ammo and improved aim. She could pick up 9mm spelled ammo at any good underground gun dealer who sold it. Elemental spells seem to work best with her pistol: fire, electricity, wind, water, ice

Whip: The whip has a Rowan Wood Wand handle with treated leather woven into a whip with stainless steel barbs woven into the tips of the whip. The wand handle allows her to do things like add an elemental effect as the whip strikes such as electricity, freezing, or fire.

Other gear/weapons/equipment:
2004 Mercedes Benz E-Class Sedan - color black with black leather interior.
Tactical Backpack
Combat Knife
Broom
Back Up Wand
Spell Ingredients
Potions
Potion bottles
CBRN Suit
Whip
Wire cutters
Radioactive sensor tags
Screwdriver
Duct tape
IFAK First Aid Kit
Emergency Rations (This means chocolate chip granola bars and peanut butter protein bars.)
Thermos bottle filled with coffee
Minor healing potion
Zippo lighter
Matches in a waterproof container
Metal canteen full of water
Potions: Confusion, Acid, Poison, tornado, illusion, disguise, look away potion, Fire (napalm), Ice, Throw Sound. It varies by mission. These are some ideas for potions she might be carrying.

Other useful information:
Rowan loves to cook and bake. She can often be found puttering around in the kitchen. She also likes to brew her own alcohol. She finds it is a challenge that matches her chemistry skills with her cooking skills. She can be seen as very old fashioned and girly in some respects as she enjoys her femininity. She likes to wear and collect beautiful clothes and enjoys a good bubble bath and a romcom. She rarely gets the opportunity to indulge in fashion much as she is traveling constantly for work. She also likes kicking ass and taking names. She works best in close quarters combat versus ranged. She is an interesting mix of competing interests, forces, and attitude. On the other hand, she practices martial arts daily as her fitness regime. It has saved her life enough that she puts effort into it. She can be cranky, snarky, and downright mean at times. Life is not a box of chocolates, it is rushing from one crisis to the next. Her world view is glass half full.

Likes
Baking
Cooking
Fashion
Dancing
Classical Music
Folk Music

Dislikes
Being told what to do
Bad Fashion
Religion
Getting dirty

DELTΔ HYPER (Anti-Gravity Racing, Cyberpunk/Solarpunk RP)

Sunday August 22nd, 2094
Moa Tempest, Hawaii

Race

Paul had spent the evening in frustration as he went over his data from qualifying. He compared his lap to Dorian’s. He rewatched the videos from qualifying. He worked with Carmella, his race engineer, to review the ship's setup. He couldn’t pinpoint anything in particular that Dorian did better than he did. He had no idea why he was performing so much slower than Dorian. It was frustrating him to no end. Paul struggled to sleep. He kept tossing and turning. He had stayed up late using the simulator. He practiced with the ELS and overtaking in the tunnel sections. Paul was up early the next day. He was tired and cranky. He was in a foul mood.

Paul didn’t want to lay the blame for his lack of performance in Hawaii on anyone else. He could blame his poor performance in Germany on the ship setup that Dorian had talked him into. He knew that Cavan and the team had rebuilt the ship. Dorian had taken P3 in qualifying and he had taken P9. Paul was younger and spent just as much time on his fitness and in the simulator as Dorian if not more. How was Dorian outperforming him? Paul tried to not take his mood out on anyone else. He retreated to the pilot’s ready room and tried to meditate and calm down. He was really struggling mentally about what happened during qualifying. Why was it that every time Dorian was doing well he seemed to do poorly? Why couldn’t they both get on the podium together. The press had been particularly vicious about his performance during the qualifying race. Paul knew his head was not in the right headspace and he was feeling the pressure to perform well. He tried to push it all away and stay in the moment but he was failing.

Then it was time to start. Paul had gone through his prerace ritual and checklist with Carmella. He felt jittery and on edge. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through him as he hit the throttle as the race started.

Paul just couldn’t seem to get into the rhythm of the race. He felt like he was having to force the ship into submission. It was not the effortless dance it had been at Spa where he had slipped through the field with ease making his way towards the front of the pack. Paul was passed by Hamid and Nora. His performance seemed to get worse as the race went on. Paul had cursed up a storm when Hamid passed him. He had tried to hold Nora Kelly but she managed to get past him as well. In the end Paul had slid down to finish in P11.

Paul had pulled his ship back into the paddock. He had climbed out the ship and for once said nothing. He had retreated to the pilot’s ready room where he pulled his helmet off and threw it across the room. He cursed up a streak in very colorful language where he had some privacy. Paul felt like slugging something. He settled for punching the throw pillows on the couch. It was not nearly as satisfying as throwing his helmet had been. Once he had calmed down. He took a quick shower and changed before heading over to the Delta Hyper set.

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Twelve: Hot Like Lava

---

Paul showed up at his Delta Hyper interview with his hair wet and darker with the water in it. He was wearing sneakers, jeans, and a team polo shirt. He took a seat on the Delta Hyper couch and gave Aurora his standard charming smile.

Aurora: "Paul, it just didn't play out the way you expected! Despite a solid platform, how did the positions slip?"

Paul’s expression turned serious with hints of anger in his posture. His voice was gruff as he answered.

Paul: “It is not what I had hoped for. I honestly have no idea why I ended up where I did. We all have an off race every once in a while. This was not my race. As I said before I can’t win them all. You can damn well bet I am thinking about nothing but how to change this in the next race.”

Paul didn’t wait for Aurora’s response or anyone’s dismissal signal. He simply stood up, pulled off the microphone that they had clipped to his polo shirt shirt and left. He didn’t yell, scream, or stomp but the tension in his body and the clenched fists combined with him grinding his teeth all pointed to a simmering explosion waiting to happen.

---

Social Media

Team Valkyrie AGR: @TeamValkyrie

Help us congratulate pilot Dorian Hornfleur on his podium win in Hawaii! Paul Mulder finished in P11.

HydrofoilHater Another poor performance from Paul Mulder while Dorian Hornfleur finished in P1. So much variance from the same team. What is going on with Mulder?
ThrusterJester:@HydrofoilHater 100% agree with you. Doesn’t make sense. They have the same ship and Dorian took first place in the race and Paul didn’t even break the top ten to bring in points. What’s wrong with that picture?
QuantumQuokka:Mulder always seems to choke every other race.
Bertha:Mulder fails again.
ValkyrieFan56:Good for Dorian Hornfleur! Showing he still has it even if he is retiring at the end of the year.
Nana2050:I don’t understand why Paul Mulder didn’t do better.
MulderMuse:Paul Mulder is still my favorite.
Paulmulder4eva:@MulderMuse Paul is still my favorite too. He could always turn to modeling if racing doesn’t work out.
RumorMill:They had the same ship setup so how did Mulder end up in P11?
DantheMan: Obviously it was pilot error of some sort. The team hasn’t announced there were any technical issues.
RumorMill: Heard that Paul choked and failed to use his ELS efficiently.
LegacyStan94:That makes sense for what we saw on the track. You would think he had enough races behind him not to choke by now.

---

@FourtyTwo

Saturday 20/8/2094 21:32 - To Paul Mulder (Belgian Waffle) [Batt: 69%]

Wedge Yoo, just wanted to check in with you as we're team-mates next year! Got a quick question- how the fuck is Dorian still that fast despite being 40? Just checking, he isn't a cyborg is he, cos I'm gonna need to adjust to that ship?

Also, pls make sure you ask the canteen to stock schnitzel, I've becoming uncannily addicted for it in my protein allocation while in Lucerne after the Nürburgring interviews, thanks :) (I'll find something better than Hersheys to bribe them with because I know you hate it and think it's an affront to God despite it being the best thing on Earth)

Saturday 20/8/2094 22:02 - To Wedge (BBQ NUT) [Batt: 54%]

Paul
Dorian is not a cyborg. He has fewer enhancements that most pilots. You will adjust to the ship easier than you think. Hershey is a foul word in Belgium! I am glad you understand this. Think Belgian Chocolate! Try Godiva is pretty easy to get ahold of. As for Schnitzel, all you need to do is tell Chef Jacques what you want. He will be sure to run it past the nutritionist and make it for you.

Team Valkyrie Characters

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zrLx5…

Tactical Breach Wizards: Fireteam Hex (Military, Modern, Fantasy, Action-Thriller) INTEREST CHECK

Hello FourtyTwo,

You know I am interested!

Ideas so far include:
Spy Witch
Army Combat Medic Potion Master
Chemical Warfare Witch

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP) (COMPLETED)

Farewell and Starting the Next Chapter

Samantha "Chaos" Dalton

Chuck "Boomer" Simmons

---

Samantha had come back to Earth in the escape pod with Ebrima and Eloise. As soon as her communications connected she had contacted Mission Control to let them know that Ark Angel had been destroyed and that Freya and Athena were forced to build their own escape pod. She had no idea where it would land but it would absolutely show up on radar. They needed to begin searching for their pod and initiate immediate rescue.

They needed to get to them quickly if they were to survive against all odds. Samantha had no idea if their pod would survive on impact or if they landed in water. Samantha had hijacked the communications of the team that had been sent to pick them up. Samantha used the communications and the hacked telemetry feed from Bob to the teams on the ground. Samantha calculated the pod’s course. “They are going to come down somewhere in this part of Sweden.” Samantha didn’t waste words as she turned to the QRF team that was responsible for recovering them and demanded transportation to Sweden. They needed to get to their team, they were close enough to get there quickly by aircraft. Samantha used her authority and know how to cut through the red tape to get what she wanted. She had given Adam the broad strokes of what went down. She confirmed that Sol Hestia was on the escape pod that had been sent into the sun. The Ark Angel Station was incapable of sustaining orbit and was breaking up. Queen had been killed by Rose in action during the mission. She informed Adam that many of the team had some injuries with Ebrima having a broken arm. Adam helped her pull rank on the QRF force so that she could find and retrieve Athena and Freya.

Samantha stayed on edge until she had connected with the missing members of her team. She had hugged both of the giantesses. She then let the QRF dictate the terms and transport back to base. Samantha was sure it would be quick because Oracle was already chomping at the bit for his debrief. He had been constantly breaking into her communications and interrupting her as she tried to take care of the team first. She had gotten a quick update on the rest of the team from Adam. Ban had been injured and had already been patched up by Sophie. Chuck was in emergency surgery and Sophie was on her way to supervise. Samantha wanted to be at the hospital but Oracle insisted she return to the base to debrief first. Samantha had lost a great deal of respect for Oracle. She still believed in Raven’s mission and the need for the team. She understood the politics at play but she felt Raven should be above that. It was issues like the ones they faced with Zhao and the PLA that caused some of the situations they had to resolve. How could they trust Raven to continue its mission if even they had to bend to global politics? Yes they got intel from Zhao. So he gets to live yet he wanted to kill Skye who had proven her loyalty to protect his secrets. Why was Zhao still breathing if they had gotten all the intel they could from him? She felt as if Oracle had compromised his ethics. That made her distrust him. She could work with him but it would be on her terms. She had told him after the debrief was over that she was taking some time off. She told him point blank that she would contact him if and when she was ready to talk to him again. Her anger still burned hot just as her grief over losing a dear friend burned a hole in her heart. She had been relieved to learn that Chuck and the remainder of the team would make a full recovery, even the grumpy Cameroonian.

Samantha disappeared off everyone’s radar. She wanted some privacy while she decided her next steps. Samantha was hard to track and a ghost if she wanted to be. She had left the base and instead of flying out she had driven. She had stopped just outside of Finland at a small hotel. She checked in and stayed the night. The next day she used electronic check out and left the vehicle in the parking lot. Samantha had turned off her phone and put in a small faraday cage to prevent any tampering or signals from it. Samantha had changed her appearance to that of an older woman with a cane. Samantha looked every inch a sophisticated older lady. She was wearing a long sweeping dress in a dusty pink with a white cardigan. She was wearing a high quality real hair wig that was salt and pepper with the hair pulled back into a low bun with wisps framing her face with pearl earrings and a pearl necklace that topped off the conservative look. She had on stylish silver framed eyeglasses with a delicate chain attached to catch them and keep her from losing them. She was wearing comfortable orthotic style shoes that managed some sense of style in a maryjane look. She was traveling with one bag that carried her laptop, a few clothes, some make up, and other odds and ends. It looked like an oversized lady’s purse in white leather that was high quality and designer. She had then boarded a train to Estonia where she had purchased an airline ticket under an alias name. Instead of hacking airport and train station security cameras, Samantha used all her tradecraft to hide her appearance and disappear. She used foam prosthetics, makeup, eyeglasses, and wigs to change the shape of her face and silhouette to make it harder for facial recognition to track her and find her. She traveled as an older woman using a cane and hunching over to hide her height. She used an alias she had set up with full documentation with a real ID that she had never used before. It was one she set up on her own. The CIA, Raven, or the US Government had no idea about it. It was not on her previously used aliases list. She had a handful of alternative aliases just like this one that no one knew anything about. Samantha had sadly learned her paranoia after investigating her father’s death was deserved. People might not be out to kill her but she knew there were parties interested in tracking her whereabouts. They wanted to know where she was and what she was doing.

---

Los Angeles, California, United States

Samantha flew home. She felt a burning need to check in on her grandmother. Samantha felt the need to connect with this last person who knew her past. Who had been there through her struggles and trials. She felt the need to share all the love and everything she had kept bottled up and separate. Samantha had to admit that losing her mother the way she had made it difficult for her to open up to other people. Losing her father the way she did seemed to reinforce that trauma that everyone she loved would be taken away from her. Skye and Freya had taught her that she could confide in the right people and let the right people. Then Skye had been killed on the mission. This triggered that trauma all over again. It was one of the reasons she was so careful coming home again. She didn’t want anyone interested in tracking her to know about her adopted grandmother.

The visit had soothed the depth of pain she felt over losing Skye. Her grandmother seemed to know just what she needed to begin healing. She had slept for almost 12 hours before waking up ravenously hungry. She had then spent some time catching up with her grandmother. She told her everything that she couldn’t before. She didn’t care about operational security. She knew her grandmother was a vault. Her grandmother had been surprisingly stoic about the whole thing. She had told Samantha that she didn’t care about the details that she trusted her to do what was right. She had assured her that she would always be there for her even after she passed away. She told her grandmother about the near death experience and passed on the messages from their loved ones. They had cried together. Then they held their own ceremony at the family shrine inside her grandmother’s apartment. They had prayed and lit candles and incense over the photos of their loved ones. Samantha cried as she added a photo of Skye to the shrine. Her grandmother had held her hand and nodded her head in approval. Samantha spent a month at home. She didn’t rush into any decisions. She practiced in the dojo and meditated. She tinkered in her garage. She took her bike out for a run through the city. She spent some time at the beach looking out at the ocean pondering where the world would take her next.

---

Tokyo, Japan

She had finally turned her phone back on after going through it with a fine tooth comb and changing the signal encryption to one that moderated and changed every few seconds. She did her best to make the signal untraceable. Her phone blew up with messages from the team. The smile on her face was big and bright and the first in a while. She smiled as she saw happy videos from Freya and Chuck that included Duke antics.Chuck included updates on his recovery. There were videos and messages from Athena which included Eloise on a beach somewhere. Athena looked happy. Samantha smiled and examined how she was feeling. She missed the team. She missed being around them. She finally checked her work email to see what had come in that she had purposely ignored. She noticed that Imran had reached out in a few emails wanting to know where she was and how he could contact her. She flipped past those emails for now. There were the typical pleas and bids from governments and large corporations seeking her time and talents for their projects. She sorted through them but found she was struggling to stay motivated. None of it interested her.

She thought of Ban, one of her newest friends. She wanted to do something more for him. He had gone out of his way to help Skye and the team. She wanted to do something that would help him out. Samantha locked herself away with her laptop. She began pulling up all the stored data she had in her databases about the criminal underworld in Japan. She hacked into the Japanese law enforcement databases easily. She pulled dossiers and got an overview of what was happening there. Ban’s family might be involved in criminal activity but he was an honorable man. She would rather have an honorable family that would keep the others in check to prevent the worst atrocities from happening. When the powerful were taken down there were always more willing to step into their place and some of them were even worse. She decided to set up Ban and his family as the new criminal underground overlords. She put on her black hat and happily gathered information and set things in motion for him.

Samantha flew to Japan and used her trade craft to gather blackmail material on all his enemies. She put together a comprehensive plan with the information he would need to take down each of his rivals. She compiled dossiers and evidence on all of them. She gave him the details of how they ran their businesses and what they were into. She gave him the details on all their operations. She then hacked into what they thought were their secured and personal accounts. She took most of his enemies' assets. She left enough for them to survive but it took away the excess that catered to their depravity and extravagant lifestyles. She transferred all the money into multiple accounts bouncing it all around the world. Samantha donated some of it. She kept some of it. She set up retirement accounts for the entire team. They were modest retirement accounts with 2 million each. She set up a private secured account for Ban that held half of what she took from his enemies so he could use it to restore the honor of his clan. She viewed her actions as reallocating funds and ensuring a peaceful turnover in the criminal underworld in Japan. Well there might be some violence but with their economic assets pulled and the operations infiltrated and secrets known, Samantha had pulled their fangs and handed them to Ban. She would eventually get around to letting everyone know about the secret accounts.

She then contacted Ban with an invitation to have dinner with her. Samantha arranged for a private dining room in an upscale award winning sushi restaurant. She knew Ban would appreciate excellent food. She enjoyed dinner before surprising him with a very elegant leather briefcase with his family’s insignia embossed on the side. It had a custom bio lock that was keyed to Ban’s DNA. Inside was hardcopy dossiers on his competition with all the information Ban would need to take down his enemies or black mail them into doing his bidding. There was also a secured encrypted hard drive with detailed accounting information, photographs, videos, and more. There was information on how to access the secured account and the balance for Ban as well. Samantha told Ban she only had one condition. No human trafficking. It was one thing if a woman chose prostitution for herself. But no one should be forced into that life including children. She knew some of Ban’s enemies included human trafficking in their business model. She had smiled and told him to call her if he ever needed anything. She hugged him and left.

---

Colorado, United States

She was surprised to see a text message from Adam asking her to meet him in Colorado with Chuck. Samantha contacted Chuck and asked him to join her for the meeting in Colorado.

Chuck had been surprised when Samantha contacted him with her request to meet her and Adam in Colorado. He had made the trip and laughed when the rental car company tried to rent them an economy size car. Chuck had waited with the luggage while Samantha went inside to rent the car. When he walked in pulling their luggage behind them and asked Samantha what the hold up was. He could see the humor dancing in her eyes as she pointed to what he assumed was an unhelpful rental car agent.

Samantha: “He is trying to convince me that they only have economy size cars and anything else would be too expensive. That I would do fine with a small car.”

Samantha was watching the guy’s face go pale as Chuck raised an eyebrow and simply glared at the guy as he asked the man.

Chuck: “Do I look like I would fit inside an economy car? Besides that fact, the lady didn’t ask for economy. I know for a fact that she asked you for a full size sedan or pickup truck. So what is your problem?”

The salesman gulped and swallowed hard before he gave Sam a weak smile and replied. “My apologies for the misunderstanding. I will get that for you right away.”

Chuck shook his head thinking the guy was an idiot. The clueless salesman had no idea that Samantha was way more dangerous than him. Sure Chuck could probably flick his ear and take it off with his strength. But Samantha could hurt him physically just as easy and faster and then get creative with ways to torture him. Chuck had a healthy respect for Sam’s skills and her creativity. The guy didn’t know he had dodged a bullet.

They were finally on their way after the rental clerk gave them the keys to a full size pick up truck so Chuck would fit in the rental vehicle. He had the driver’s seat pushed back as far as it would go. Samantha didn’t mind him driving. She chuckled as his head barely cleared the ceiling of the extended cab truck. He might need a helmet, a good pothole and he would be bonking his head.

They had met with Adam who turned over intel on who had betrayed Chuck’s unit. Adam hinted that the same people were responsible for the terrorist attack that had killed her father in Los Angeles. Samantha was somewhat stunned. She had not expected anything like that from Adam. Adam basically told her that Raven still wanted her and that she was right not to trust anyone. But he also pointed out that she still had family with Raven if she wanted it.

Samantha thanked Adam and returned his hug.

Samantha: “Thank you Adam. I will stay in touch. I appreciate this intel. I need a little time before I am ready to talk to Oracle. I am not sure I want to continue full time. I have some things I need to do before I have that talk with him.”

Adam seemed to understand and left them as fast as he had showed up.

Samantha and Chuck had checked into a large hotel under aliases. They met in Samantha’s room as she started going through the intel. Samantha verified the data and started following the data to new connections and laid it all out for Chuck.

Samantha pulled up pictures on her laptop as she built the dossier on who they were up against.

Samantha: “Do you recognize this man?”

Chuck: “Yes that is my former commanding officer Major James Butler.”

Samantha brought up another picture that was obviously a reconnaissance photo showing the Major with another man.”

Samantha asked again. “Do you recognize this man?"

Chuck’s brow furrowed as he tried to place the man. He didn’t know the man’s name but he was trained to notice details. He had seen that man’s face before. Then it clicked for him. His eyes widened a little as he responded. “I remember seeing him in Kandahar speaking with a group of security contractors that my team didn’t trust. There had been questionable actions that they always seemed to have an excuse for.”

Samantha smiled as puzzle pieces started clicking together for her. Samantha pulled up another photo that showed a younger version of Major Butler with a handsome man in a university sweatshirt. The two men were standing with beers in their hands at what looked like a frat party.

Samantha smiled and put the pictures up next to each other as she began to explain. “From the information Adam gave me and the digging I did based on that, I think I know what happened. James Butler went to college before enlisting. He went to Duke University where he met and was friends with future senator Bradley Shephard and owner of Black Diamond Security Morgan Kingsley. The very same company your unit tangled with in the middle east. Black Diamond Private Security Contractors were on contracts from the USA. Senator Shephard is on the Armed Services Committee. All three of them are listed as members of the Lambda Phi Epsilon Fraternity with Shephard listed as the president of the fraternity during their tenure at Duke University. I kept digging and there Butler got a big promotion in rank with a letter of recommendation from Congressman Butler three years after graduation. Shephard was instrumental and argued in favor of Black Diamond Security’s bid for security work in the Middle East being accepted. That approval and acceptance was rammed through the Armed Forces Committee that is currently being chaired by Senator Butler.”

Samantha waited while Chuck processed all that information. Samantha’s look turned feral as she pulled up pictures of Senator Shephard and Pavrel Andros together. She pulled numerous journal articles where Shephard was connected to some of Andros’ work and vice versa. “They were all working together. I found the bank accounts. Shephard and Andros called the shots with Kingsley and Butler getting paid for services rendered. Shephard was a greedy bastard and it was all about the money and power trip from what I can find. Andros as we know had ties to Artemis. You know before Artemis trusted him with their secrets he had to do stuff for them to prove he was worthy to ally with them. Butler connects to this backwoods militant militia group of home grown terrorists. The types who want to make America white and enslave people of color once more. They want to shove their doctrine down everyone’s throat and reinvent America but in their image. They have some radical beliefs, Christianity should be the only allowable religion. They want to deport anyone who looks Latino or Mexican back to Mexico. They feel the government no longer works and is too liberal. So they want to hand pick who sits in congress and in the White House. In order to fund their activities, they provided the weapons for the terrorists who attacked Los Angeles. They used the money to fund their training camp.”

Samantha finally had some answers. The reason her investigation had been shut down into the attack was because Senator Shephard had been tied to the group that had sold the cell the weapons. That was the missing piece and who had shut down the investigation. Sam waited to hear Chuck’s thoughts.

Chuck was struggling with the emotion he was feeling. All his men’s lives and it was all over money. He could almost have respected a terrorist who thought they were fighting for some kind of right or justice. But to know they died over money. It made Chuck furious. The men and women of his unit had suffered and bled and died to protect their country while its leaders were selling them to the highest bidder to line their pockets. Chuck stood up and began to pace. He needed to bleed off some extra energy.

Chuck turned to Samantha, his voice deep and vibrated with the strength of his emotions. “I want them all dead. Starting with Major Butler.”

Samantha nodded as her mind kicked into high gear. “I say we visit this camp and take them all out. Then we take a sniper rifle and go hunting for the other two. In the meantime, I will find their bank accounts. We will reroute that money to help their families. It is the least we can do for those men.”

Chuck gave her a feral smile and nodded. “I like it. Let’s go tomorrow. I am sure we can pick up what we need at the local army surplus store.”

Samantha grinned and winked at Chuck. “I have contacts. We can get what we need. It won’t take us long to take out their training camp. Let’s go shopping!”

---

The next day at the crack of dawn Samantha entered from the west and Chuck entered from the east. They quickly over ran the cabin. Samantha didn’t bother with a gun. She used her knives. She had taken down three of them with knives to the throat while Chuck had taken out the other two with shots to the head. The cabin was covered in blood splatter. They dug through the papers scattered everywhere.

Samantha: “Adam wasn’t joking. These guys have no clue about operational security. All there intel is here for the taking. I guess they thought since it was on paper it would be secure from people like me.”

Chuck smiled as he raised an eyebrow at Samantha. “Normally I would say that is true but Chaos you have skills that go way beyond the standard hacker. Take that as a compliment. You are not a pasty skinned smart nerd hiding in a room and unable to jog a mile.”

Samantha smiled and winked at Chuck. She found a map with their new larger training camp on it. That was their next target. “Looks like they tried to mimic what the terrorists are doing in the middle east. They are hosting a pop up training camp for new recruits. And look at this agenda. Looks like Mr. play soldier Kingsley is supposed to be there to teach it. Ready to go hunting?”

Chuck just smiled and nodded. “First let’s dispose of the evidence. Go outside with Duke while I take care of that.”

Samantha shrugged and went out and over to the treeline where Duke was waiting and tense. She gave him a pat and told him in a soothing voice that Chuck was okay. He seemed to settle and some of the tension left his posture. Chuck came jogging out of the cabin.

Chuck: “We might want to back up even more.” He pulled out a detonator and pushed a button. The cabin exploded into a fiery ball. The fiery debris landed in a cloud around where the cabin used to stand and everything was on fire.

Chuck: “Give me just a minute to make sure none of the debris causes a forest fire. I just need to make sure the embers in the tree line don’t take.”

Chuck started to jog around the perimeter. He left the cabin debris burning and only put it out if it was in danger of spreading. The damp conditions from a recent rain helped contain what might have been a bad forest fire. Once he was satisfied he jogged back over to them.

Chuck: “I think it is safe to leave it now. It should burn itself out.”

Samantha smiled and nodded. “Well let’s recon this camp and have some fun with Mr. Kingsley next.”

---

Samantha was using binoculars as she looked out over the tent city that had been set up in the forest clearing in another part of the rocky mountains. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the cliche’d drab olive green cloth tents. They wanted so badly to be taken seriously. They wanted to think of themselves as an army. They were such pretenders though.

Chuck was using his own set of binoculars and thinking similar thoughts. “Sheesh the sentries are so busy talking to each other they are not looking out for any incoming threats. The encampment is set up haphazardly without any real planning at all. The only thing they did right was the command tent in the center. Yet all the other tents face in as well. There are no sentries on the outskirts of the camp. There is no barrier or fence surrounding the camp to keep out critters. Their trash is out in the open in cans without lids. Even if there are no bears in the area, there are definitely critters like raccoons and wolves or coyotes to deal with.I guess it is possible they have some in the tree line but there are none on this side of the camp on the backside as far as I can see. I will take a jog around the perimeter with Duke.”

Chuck whistled for Duke and gave him a hand sign to patrol with him. The two of them took off at a job and disappeared into the trees. You would think that would be hard for a man as tall as him. But he easily began to blend into the nature around. He was quiet and hard to hear. He watched where he planted those big feet of his. Duke padded along just as silently. The two fell into a familiar rhythm. Chuck almost smiled when Duke alerted on a guard ahead. Good they wouldn’t make it too easy for him. Chuck slowed down and moved forward cautiously. He found a guard that had wandered to take a piss. He snuck up behind the guy and wrapped his arm around his throat cutting off his air. The man panicked forgetting he had a gun and a knife on his belt. Chuck whispered into the man’s ear as he struggled to pull his arm away.

Chuck: “Men like you make a mockery of real soldiers who put their life on the line to protect this country. Boohoo you don’t like following the rules. Boohoo you might have to work with someone who looks different to you.” The man was really panicking now and was shaking his head no. Chuck squeezed tighter so that the man had an idea of his strength. “If you wake up, thank God for your life, turn over a new leaf and help your fellow man. Stop being a whiny bitch and accept that God wants it this way. He has the power to change it. Who are you to say this is wrong? Did you know your leader did all this for a fucking paycheck. He doesn’t believe the crap he is spouting. He wants you to do his dirty work for him. He had this group attack American Citizens. AMERICAN CITIZENS Where is the honor in that?” Chuck growled the last statement into his ear. He held on long enough to put the guy out for a while. He hoped the guy took the lesson and learned from it.

Chuck continued his jog around the camp. He had decided to plant small charges that would be just a small explosion. They would be all light, noise, and bang. Enough to topple some trees. It wouldn’t be enough to start any fires though. By the time he reached Samantha again, the entire clearing was full of bobby traps left behind. He grinned at Samantha and set up a camera to record the event so they could watch it later. He pulled his rifle out and automatically checked the loadout and touched where he had extra magazines stored. Samantha checked that her pistols had full loud outs but reholstered them. She twitched her wrists and dropped the longer blades along her forearms into her hands. She nodded to Chuck that she was ready.

Chuck got the party started as he sighted the sentry guard at the camp entrance and promptly put a bullet in his head. Before the man he had been talking to could respond to that, Chuck had put a bullet in his head. The loud report of the rifle had stirred up the camp though. Men came pouring out of the camp looking all around. Their guns waved wildly, often crossing the body of their own men. Chuck sighed in disgust. He took out two more as he ran towards the fight. Chuck was about 50 yards away before anyone finally spotted him. Their aim was shit though. Chuck just kept on running. Samantha streaked past him with Duke at her heels. Duke took down the guy in the lead. Samantha waded into the crowd her twin blades singing as she stabbed and slashed her away through the men. She proved to them why kevlar was no use in a knife fight. As she stabbed right through their body armor. Duke was keeping pace with Samantha and his teeth around the throat of another man shaking him like a rag doll. Chuck had switched to his pistols and was cleaning up quickly. It was over in minutes. The twenty men that had run out of camp were spread out in front of the entrance in various states of injuries and death.

Samantha looked over the faces and looked over at Chuck. “Kingsley is not here. Five bucks says he is hiding in the command tent.”

Chuck laughed and moved to step over a body. “No bet! Let’s go find him. Shall we?”

Chuck led the way into the camp. He had his rifle back up and his head on the swivel. He and Samantha fell into the same old routine like it hadn’t been a while since they did this together. Chuck went left and Sam went right. Duke moved to Chuck’s side. Chuck gave Duke the hand sign for Seek. Duke took off at a lope and turned immediately for the large tall square army green tent in the middle of the camp. Duke paused outside and pawed the ground in an alert signal. As Chuck approached he could hear the whisper of voices inside the tent. Chuck smiled and slipped around to the rear of the tent. He took a knife and was prepared to slit a hole in the back of the tent. He was willing to bet they were all facing the tent entrance. Chuck very carefully and quietly slit a hole in the back wall of the tent. It was big enough for his rifle and for him to see through to aim.

There were five men in the tent. They were dressed in Black Diamond uniforms and must be Kingsley and his men. The uniforms were black and grey urban camp with the security company’s fancy logo on the sleeve. Chuck waited and when Samantha came into view he used the team’s hand signals to let her know there were five men in the tent. Samantha mimed going in the side of the tent while Chuck fired from the back. Samantha grinned evilly and carefully cut a slit along the side wall of the tent. She indicated to give her a minute before attacking. She only cut a slit big enough to crawl through. She carefully crawled into the tent. Chuck sent Duke in after her. Chuck kept watching through his scope. He could see Samantha was in position knives at the ready. She gave him a nod. Chuck took aim and opened fire at the two men in the very back of the tent. Samantha was a whirling tornado of steel that hit the men from the side. The men were yelling and screaming at one another as they tried to defend themselves. They had some training but they were not even close to matching Samantha who had taken out her two in the same amount of time it had taken Chuck. Duke had gotten the real prize. He had Kingsley by the throat. Kingsley turned out to be all talk and no skill. He was just like his men, panicking and forgetting he had weapons of his own. Not that Duke gave him much chance to do anything else. Samantha politely unarmed him before putting her boot on his chest. Chuck had run around to the tent entrance. He smiled as he saw Samantha standing over Kingsley with Duke growling at the man who was holding his throat. Blood was all over Kingsley’s hands.

Chuck grinned and called Duke off. “Good boy Duke.” Chuck grinned at Samantha. “Now what to do with this fish?”

Samantha winked at Chuck. “I don’t think it is big enough to catch. We could throw it back but it seems kind of sickly. I don’t think it would survive in the wild very well.”

Chuck laughed before he pulled out his cell phone and turned the camera on. He crouched down next to Kingsley.

Chuck: “Mr. Kingsley, did you and your employees kill civilians, steal antiquities, and arm terrorists while working in the Middle East?”

Kingsley at first tried to look mad and like he was in charge but a sharp bark and snapping of teeth from Duke had him nodding. He gave a raspy “Yes.”

Chuck wanted to reward Duke with a steak after this mission. He was such a good partner. “Did Senator Shephard cover up your actions for money from the transactions.”

Kingsley looked truly terrified now and was adamantly shaking his head no.

Chuck pressed on. “Senator Shephard is on the Armed Services Committee and was instrumental in your company receiving lucrative government contracts. Is this correct?”

Kingsley’s eyes widened further in fear and was still shaking his head no.

Samantha spoke for the first time with a shrug. “I have already found the paper trail Kingsley. You are going to die here today. Any last words?”

Kingsley stared at Samantha and saw the truth in her eyes. He looked resigned and angry. “Yes it was all Shephard’s idea. It was stupid of him to trust Butler. The man was always an ass kisser and bootlicker. The man couldn’t be trusted with the simplest stuff.”

Samantha looked over at Chuck. “Are you satisfied?”

Chuck stood up tall and shook his head. “NO. I won’t be satisfied till Shephard joins these sick fucks.”

Chuck casually shot Kingsley in the head. Radio chatter filled the air from a hand unit that they had missed on Kingsley’s belt. “Hold on boss! We are almost there.”

Samantha smiled and looked at Chuck. “Well isn’t that lovely! We are going to have company.”

Chuck gave Duke a hand signal. “Come on, let's go wait for them and see who all shows up.” Chuck grinned. “My surprise won’t be a waste after all.”

Chuck and Samantha retreated to where they had set up their camera to capture the camp. They had taken any relevant information from the command tent. Samantha had shoved some laptops and cell phones into a tactical backpack she had carried. She grinned at Chuck as she pulled out what looked like a 4 inch metal cylinder. It had lights and circuitry down the side. She pressed a button on the end of the tube and it began to slowly glow as if charging from the base up with a yellow light.

Samantha reached up with her other hand to the necklace she was wearing that carried one of her mini drones. She activated it and tossed it up into the air. Now they had some aerial reconnaissance. She pulled out her laptop and activated a program. This would have been more fun if they had their armor but that was something Raven kept on base. They hadn’t been allowed to take it with them. That didn’t mean Samantha was ever without any toys. She shared the laptop with Chuck.

Samantha: “Now you can watch. Here, take the laptop. I want to wait till the right time. I developed a new toy that was inspired by you.”

Chuck laughed as he took her laptop and kept his eyes on the screen as the drone flew around the clearing in every widening circle. Chuck smiled as the drone caught the movement of a group of ten more men coming in fast on dirt bikes cross country.

Chuck: “Our company will be here in about 2 minutes. The drone got high enough that I caught the movement in the trees. They are on dirt bikes. Probably took that access road like we did and then cut through the forest to this location.”

Chuck looked over at the tube and wondered what it did and how he had inspired it. He would have to wait for a demonstration. He noticed that the yellow glow on the side had almost reached the entire length of the tube.

Samantha sighed “I am still working out the design issues. The only challenge I have so far is that it takes so long to charge. It is not as fast to deploy as I would like.”

Chuck nodded sagely. “I am looking forward to what it does. Meanwhile, it is almost time for fireworks.”

Chuck held up his cell phone and grinned as he pulled up an app and hit a button. “I love technology. It really helps me with my job. I always love the toys you give me.”

Samantha chuckled as he realized Chuck had downloaded the AI she had created for his armor into his cellphone. She watched the screen from the drone as the bikes split up and were trying to enter the camp from multiple directions. The explosions started going off. Some of the men were startled and ran into trees as they tried to dodge explosions. They were going off all through the trees around camp. Samantha cringed as one had a tree fall on them.

Boomer smiled and waved his hand like he was conducting an orchestra. The men coming in were screaming and disoriented and trying to figure out what was happening. It was clear they were trained but had never been this deep in the shit before.

Samantha snickered at Boomer’s delight in the chaos he was causing. She smiled at that thought. He was her brother in so many ways. He was the perfect chaos causing partner. Duke whimpered a little but Boomer had put a muff over his ears to reduce the noise so it wouldn’t hurt Duke’s hearing. It wasn’t his armor though. So it wasn’t as good.

Samantha grinned as she noted her new toy was ready. She turned to Chuck and waved it dramatically.

Samantha: “I call this Firefly. Watch what it does.”

Samantha twisted each end of the tube in opposite directions. She then pulled the ends out to reveal there was something inside. It was glowing yellow at first. Then a swarm of small insect-like drones began to take off. They had a glowing yellow light on the end that resembled a firefly. They looked like fireflies as they began to fly around the clearing.

Samantha explained to Chuck how it worked. “These are microdrones that are being controlled by Bob.” Samantha didn’t need to explain that Bob was the name of her AI as Chuck was familiar with him.

Bob’s mechanical voice came over the laptop. “Fireflies have locked onto targets. Beginning bombing run.”

Samantha continued her explanation for Chuck. “They hold a new liquid explosive compound that glows. Each one of those drones has the explosive power of a small grenade. They have a tiny guidance system chip which allows Bob to control them. They don’t have much range, about 150 meters. Bob can use them for intelligence gathering as they have pinpoint cameras on them for eyes and a tiny transceiver. He can also set them to blow up.”

The fireflies began to magnetically lock onto the remaining security personnel that were attempting to save their boss who was already dead. The fireflies locked onto the frame of the bikes and began to explode. The motorcycles began to explode. Bob had waited till they had been in the clearing before setting off the explosives. A secondary fireworks show began that rained metal and blood. Samantha chuckled as her aerial drone caught it all on camera for Chuck. There was nothing left moving. Their work here was done.

Chuck gave a delighted laugh and whistled. “You know Sam, you really are my sister. You get me. I am glad we can share this. You make me the best toys.”

Samantha examined the results as two thirds of the firefly swam returned to the docking port. She twisted the ends back together and pushed the cylinder closed once more.

Samantha grinned and passed the cylinder over to Chuck who turned it over in his hand with a look of wonder.

Samantha smiled. “I was trying to develop a better battery for my drones and stumbled into this explosive. I hadn’t decided how to use it yet. Then I thought about you. I was like how could I turn this into smart grenades for Boomer. Then I thought about your southern roots. It all just came together. I will have to install a software patch on your AI to control them.”

Chuck just smiled and leaned over to give her a hug. Samantha looked like a child standing next to him. Chuck was almost 3 feet taller than her. Chuck was amused that someone so tiny got him in ways so many others didn’t. He always marveled at the creative destruction she managed to wreak in her own ways.

Chuck: “I love it! I repeat you make me the best toys.”

---

Washington DC, United States

A few days later, Samantha and Chuck were watching Senator Shephard’s lavish home in Washington DC. This was where he stayed when in Washington. He was the elected senator of North Carolina.

It pissed Chuck off that the elected senator for his state was responsible for the deaths of US Marines. He saw the obscene wealth on display and it sickened him. This man was a traitor to his country. He had sold out his fellow countrymen for a buck. He was a paranoid bastard. There was a small army of guards on the perimeter around his home. He was right to be paranoid after all the crap on his hands and the type of people he dealt with. Chuck smiled at the idea that their work in taking down Artemis and Andros made the good senator nervous.

Samantha noted that his security was good. Electronic gate with two guards. Roving guards on the grounds with one stationary on the roof. Samantha had already hacked the plans for the building. The security company who installed his alarms and surveillance systems wasn’t the best. Their internal security was laughable. It is obvious to her that the senator went for the cheapest bid on his security. His guards showed some training but they were not up to their level. Samantha sighed and turned to look at Chuck.

Samantha: “This is not going to be that difficult. The only real question is how covert do we want to be?”

Samantha tapped a finger against her chin in thought. “Why don’t we go full covert on this one? I will infiltrate and take out the good senator. You provide overwatch. Those poor guards didn’t do anything except pick a scumbag to work for. They probably have no clue how dirty the good senator really is.”

Samantha dug into her tactical backpack and pulled out a magazine of special ammo that was designed to go into Chuck’s rifle. “Tazer rounds. But you will have to aim for the head or clothing. It won’t go through body armor. What do you think?”

Chuck sighed. “I want him dead but I agree with you. This one is yours. It is much more suited to your talents. I will provide overwatch. Make sure you raid his safe and secrets so we can expose him afterwards.”

Samantha smiled and nodded. She was already prepped for this mission. She was wearing black yoga pants, a black hoodie, and black combat boots. She had her knife bandolier on under her hoodie. She had a black tactical backpack with tools and her laptop in it. She had a pistol but didn’t really want to use it on this operation. She wanted to go stealth and get in and out without being seen if she could. She grinned at Chuck. “You can trust me I won’t forget a thing.”

Samantha and Chuck had gone all around the property. It had a wrought iron fence with security cameras every fifty feet. The company who installed these cameras and security systems had obviously never been up against someone of her caliber.

Samantha moved fast and dashed up to the camera sitting in the corner of the fenceline. The camera faced in and didn’t cover the outside. She climbed up and slapped a button sized device on the side of the camera. Samantha trusted Bob to take control of the cameras as she went and loop the feed. She would be a ghost. Samantha had already figured out that there were blind spots among the camera feeds. She was already moving away from the fence heading towards the next one. Now all she had to do was avoid the guards.

Chuck followed Samantha through his scope as she made her way towards the house. He could appreciate her skills. She seemed to disappear into the shadows and blend. He didn’t understand why she was taking the path she was but he was sure she had a reason. He chuckled as he watched Samantha follow a guard through the side door. She slipped in right behind him. He couldn’t keep following her with his scope so he watched the guards for signs of alarm.

Inside the house, Sam slipped in behind a guard so she didn’t trigger any alarms or sensors. She stayed right behind him as he moved further into the house. Sam could hear other voices. He must be heading to some kind of guard break room. She saw a hallway to her left and went down it. She found the grand living room. She carefully made her way up the stairs. It didn’t seem as if he had guards roaming around inside his home. Samantha smiled as that made her job easier. She quickly snuck upstairs and went directly to the senator’s home office. This was almost too easy, she thought. She slipped inside the dark room. She sat at his desk and pulled out Bob and connected him to the senator’s computer. She began to copy and build a ghost drive of all the senator’s data. She also uploaded a program that would delete all the surveillance and replace it with doctored footage that only showed normal activity. She knew the senator had the cliche wall safe behind the painting behind his desk. She smiled as she punched the code into the digital lock. The senator had graciously written it down on a post it note that was under his keyboard.

Samantha quickly inventoried the safe. There were stacks of cash, some antiquities, jewelry, and some watches. Samantha took most of the cash. She didn’t want authorities to look at his death too closely. She took the files out of the safe and took pictures of the contents. Oh the senator was stupid enough to keep files on his deeds and partners at home. He probably thought they would never be found. Samantha changed her mind and took all the cash. She put the files back in the safe with the jewelry, antiquities, and watches. She left the painting safe open so it was easily seen. She booted up the senator’s computer and opened some of the encrypted files that he thought he had hidden well. She left the documents opened in tabs but minimized them. She set the computer to not turn off or go to sleep due to inactivity. She simply turned the monitor off. She smiled and then packed up all her gear. She then listened at the door before slipping back into the hallway.

Samantha listened at the Senator’s door. She could hear him talking on his phone. She smiled as she overheard the conversation. The senator was informing his guards that he was expecting company in thirty minutes of the prostitute variety. She waited till he was off the phone. She slipped quickly through the door. She moved quickly across the room and punched the senator in the throat so he didn’t scream for help. He doubled over trying to breathe and she threw him into the chair. She used the bedsheet to tie him to the chair. She stuffed a pair of his socks into his mouth for a gag. She had him subdued in under 2 minutes.

She pointed her camera at him and began to record. “Your guards don’t even know I am in the house. I have disabled your security cameras and systems. There will be no recording of how I got in. Your safe is open as is your computer with all your secrets there for the taking. Now Senator I am for a very specific reason. I am here to charge you with treason. You Senator Bradley Shephard have used your position to promote Major James Butler and send business and government contracts to Morgan Kingsley who owns Black Diamond Security. A simple nod for yes and a head shake for no will do senator. We can’t have you screaming for help until we are done here.”

Senator Shephard shook his head no and if looks could kill she would be dead. She smiled as she told him. “I already have your paper trail and documents senator. Lying will not help you now. You should know that Kingsley and Butler are already dead. Now let’s continue.”

Samantha was gratified to see a sliver of fear and uncertainty in the man’s eyes. “Senator you got into business with a very dangerous group that supports global terrorism called Artemis. You were introduced to this group through Pavlel Andros. You arranged for your militia friends to arm the terrorists that you help smuggle into the country with real visas provided by your office. This terrorist group was responsible for the terrorist attack in Los Angeles at Angeles Stadium. Is this true Senator? Yes or No?”

The senator once more shook his head no. Samantha was growing angry now. “Isn’t it true Senator that you arranged for your buddy Kingsley to steal antiquities for sale on the black market from the Middle East? That you silenced and arranged deaths for US Marines that tried to report Black Diamond’s activities? That you pocketed a share of the cash from these illegal sales?”

The Senator was looking terrified now but was still shaking his head no. Samantha’s expression hardened. She slipped out of the room and grabbed the contents of the safe. She flung them at the senator one of the time. He flinched in pain as she nailed him in the crotch with a heavy bronze statue.

Samantha’s voice hardened with fury. “You killed American Citizens for money. You deny your actions when the proof of your crimes are right here in your home! Let me make something perfectly clear to you Senator. You are dying here today. You are not going to live. I hope you feel pain and despair just like the US Marines you ordered killed to line your pockets and protect your secrets. You are no public servant but a leech and a disease. Well I am here to eliminate that pest. You are sworn to protect America’s Citizens and you paved the way to let the butchers into our home. You invited them in and armed them to kill us… for money. Do you know how many people died Senator?”

The Senator now looked even more desperate and just kept shaking his head no. Samantha stifled a scream of rage. She turned off the cell phone. He was a cowardly piece of shit that probably still hoped he would live and his guards would get here in time.

Samantha stood before him and looked him in the eyes. Fury and tension screaming through her body. “You killed my family in that attack, senator. You killed the soldiers in my friend’s combat team. For those crimes against American citizens, I sentence you to die.”

Samantha stabbed a knife into his throat and pulled it sideways. She held it there until she was sure he was choking on his own blood. She ungagged him now. She took a snapshot as proof of his death for Chuck. “I hope you burn in hell, bastard. This was too fast for you. You should have suffered more but I am out of time.”

Samantha retrieved her knife and wiped it clean on the bedsheets. She wiped as much blood off as possible and pulled off the bloody gloves and pulled on another pair of black latex gloves. She then quickly backtracked her path in. She dodged the guards and retrieved her device on the corner camera as she went over the fence. She crouched and made her way back to Chuck.

Samantha met Chuck’s eyes and she had a wild unsettled look in hers. Her emotions were high and she had tears running down her face. She gave him a nod.

Chuck wrapped her up in a hug. “He’s dead. He can’t hurt anyone else.”

Samantha finally let all that rage and pain over her father’s death go as she collapsed into a weepy bundle on Chuck. Chuck patted her back awkwardly offering what comfort he could.

Samantha finally got control of herself. “He died too quickly. He should have suffered more like his victims. He refused to admit what he did wrong. I even flung the evidence in his own safe at him and he denied it.”

Chuck gave her another little squeeze. “I am satisfied that the threat has been removed. I have only one complaint... I didn't get to shoot anyone. We can hurt him more by attacking his reputation and legacy. Let’s leak his activities to the press. We know his death will be investigated since you decided to opt out of full stealth there at the end. The authorities may try to cover it up. Let’s make sure the public knows what kind of dirt bag he was.”

Samantha laughed as Chuck complained he didn't get to shoot anyone. Then she simply nodded in agreement with his plan. “Thanks for helping me with this. Let’s get out of here.”

Chuck laughed and they began to make their way back to their rental vehicle. Duke trotting contentedly at their side.

---

A talking head on the television.

“Law enforcement have confirmed that Senator Bradley Shephard was brutally murdered last night. They say that the investigation into his death is just starting. However, multiple news agencies have come forward with information and documents that they say came from an anonymous source alleging that Senator Shephard was involved in a host of illegal activities and abusing the power of his office. The documentation ties the senator to atrocities committed in the middle east by Black Diamond Security contractors including the unwarranted death of peaceful civilians and stealing of antiquities for sale on the black market. There are documents linking the Senator to Andros and Artemis, the global terror network that has recently made headlines. There was evidence that the senator ordered the death of American troops deployed in the middle east to keep his dirty secrets.Yet another news agency directly linked the Senator to the terrorist attack in Los Angeles at Angels Stadium. Our news agency reached out to the FBI and Washington DC police department for comment or confirmation about this information. The only statement that was given was that it was under investigation and they could neither confirm or deny any information at this time. They had no comment.”

---

Somewhere in Europe in an undisclosed location

With Shephard’s death, Samantha had finally begun the process of purging all the pent up pain and sorrow she felt over losing her father and grandfather. This helped her with moving on from losing Skye. She blamed Shephard and Artemis for that too. It was men like him that created a need for Raven. He might have been small potatoes compared to General Zhao but it was still necessary for someone outside the system to step in and end those atrocities. When money and wealth created a system that allowed those with it, to ignore the consequences of their actions, it became necessary to have a force that has the will and ability to act. Samantha had done a lot of soul searching. She had spent more time in her garage, in the dojo, and meditating. She had no need to work ever again if she didn’t want to. Samantha still had that burning need to provide justice for those who were too weak or lacked the power to seek it on their own. She finally agreed to meet Oracle and have a conversation with him. She laid her feelings out for him.

Samantha: “I don’t trust you. I don’t trust you to have my back when I need it. I don’t trust you to tell me the whole truth. I expect you to lie to me to get what you want and need from me. You have shown me that this is what I can expect from you.”

Samantha met his eyes calmly. He could read she meant every damn word she said.

Samantha: “I also recognize that if you step down, others will take your place. And they might be worse. I accept that for now you are the lesser of two evils. I want you to know that I will only take missions that I can independently verify what’s going on. You can offer missions but the team will only take the ones of our choosing. You can build other teams but if you want me to lead a team, then I chose. I chose who is on the team. I chose how the team runs. I chose where the base is. I want you to understand that I will withhold anything that I feel you should not know. Like Sol Hestia. It is too dangerous. NO government or organization should have such a powerful weapon. It is simply too destructive. So I made sure it went into the sun along with the research on it. I don’t regret that decision. I won’t apologize for it. The Earth is safe from that threat. Skye Lyons gave her life to ensure that goal. The team will get more down time between missions. They are all great operators but the best equipment breaks without maintenance. For the team, that means time to properly heal and decompress. I will be your conscience because I cannot trust you to use yours. Do we understand each other?”

Samantha merely stared Oracle down. She would walk away and it wouldn’t bother her. She could still tackle the world’s issues. Her little extracurricular activity with Chuck proved that. Law enforcement knew that someone had killed all those men they had no or proof of who. The truth was that Oracle needed her more than she needed him. Oracle simply nodded. Samantha nodded and handed him a piece of paper. “A dead drop secure email you contact me at. I still have one last piece of unfinished business. I need Skye’s fiddle.”

Oracle’s eyes widened in surprise and a little unease. Obviously he knew about Skye’s last message but didn’t know that it had made its way to her. Samantha gave him a knowing smile as he sent a message to a flunky who returned with the violin. Samantha accepted the instrument in its case. She turned and walked away without another word.

---

Isle of Skye

Samantha had sent out the invitation and the message to the whole team. She had arranged a memorial service for Skye. She had sent them directions on how to find the site where Skye wanted to be laid to rest. Samantha had gone ahead of time and found the place. She had spent some time meditating there. She had noted the coordinates for the others who might not be as good at reading a map or navigating the terrain. They would be laying Skye to rest on the last day of summer. Samantha had taken a piece of granite and engraved Skye’s name on it with a queen’s crown above her name. Beloved friend and leader below it. She had carved a message into the back of the stone, "This stone commemorates the life of the woman who saved the world". The granite stone was flat on the bottom with the top shaped like a heart with wings.

Samantha was wearing all black. Black jeans, t-shirt, hoodie, and boots. Her backpack was set off to the side. The stone had been placed exactly in front of the stone circle with the wildflowers around it. The fiddle rested next to it. Samantha waited for the others to gather. She chatted quietly with the others while they waited for everyone. She was not surprised that most of them came.

Samantha took her place next to the stone.

Samantha: “We are all here to remember a remarkable woman, Skye Lyons. She was my friend, my leader.” Samantha’s voice caught and she took a deep shaky breath. “She died saving our world. She deserves to be remembered. In her last message, she asked this of us. She wanted her fiddle left here with a rock with her name on it. I did a little better than that. I would love to have scattered her ashes but they will probably never give up trying to understand the secrets that died with her. I hope Skye finds peace and love in the afterlife. I know she didn’t have much peace while she was here. I created her headstone. It will be a place we can come to remember her sacrifice and the amazing woman that not many were privileged to know. Do you have anything you want to share?”

Samantha left space for them to share their thoughts and feelings. She smiled, cried, and laughed with the rest of them.

She turned to face the stone and laid some wildflowers in front of it. “Rest in peace, Queen. May your heart and spirit fly true.”

She then stood and faced the team once more. She gave them all a cocky grin. “Well I heard from Oracle. Would anyone like to be on my new team?”

DELTΔ HYPER (Anti-Gravity Racing, Cyberpunk/Solarpunk RP)

Saturday August 21st, 2094, 16:20
Moa Tempest, Hawaii

Qualifying

Paul’s qualifying lap started. He pushed the pace as fast as he could. The handling was back after resetting the ship. He pulled through the corners trying to find the optimal racing line. The track still had some straights and the loss of energy forced the ship to keep a more moderate pace. It was different when there were other ships on the track that he could potentially leach energy from. Qualifying it was you against the clock. Paul found a little extra speed by taking advantage of the lava tunnel sections. Using the antigravity generator to go up and over in a corkscrew pattern. Gravity assisted the ship speed as it came back down. Paul used the return kinetic energy into the ELS system on the straights but he could sense it was not going to be enough. He pushed his skills and ship as hard as he could. Paul could sense that there was something he was missing but couldn’t really identify it.

He was shaking his head in disappointment when he pulled his ship back into the paddock. He climbed out and looked around at the mechanics and Carmella his race engineer. Paul was frustrated knowing Dorian had an exceptional qualifying run for him. It left Paul measuring himself against Dorian. Overall Paul had been outperforming Dorian in areas. It seemed he did well on tracks where Dorian struggled and Dorian struggled on tracks where he did well.

Paul's voice was laced with frustration and seriousness. “The track requires handling and stability with all the corners and chicanes. It also has straits in it where we lack the speed advantage of the other big teams. The ELS is going to make or break me at this track. Is there anything that can be done to improve the amount of energy being saved or leached from the track? I will do my best to steal it from other ships but that is where I am going to struggle on this track. I will also put in some more simulator time before tomorrow. Maybe I can work out a better strategy for the Mag sections. Carmella can you do a preliminary data comparison between mine and Dorian’s qualifying run. Maybe you can find something I can use and implement. I will check back in with you after the Delta Hyper interview.”

Paul looked around at the mechanics and engineers who were all nodding their heads in agreement. He could see the same frustration on their faces and the apology. He nodded. “I appreciate your hard work. I just wanted to lay it out there. I will do my best but any little tweaks you can think of before tomorrow would be welcome.” He smiled at his team before running through some more performance questions from his team. He finally managed to slip away. He sighed acknowledging that Hawaii might not be one of his races, which was frustrating. Paul thought about the fight with Bea at Spa and a smile came over his face. He would like to make a similar showing here in paradise. He was enjoying the people here very much. There were huge crowds and they were energetic but it was all about the sport not him as a pilot. He was enjoying the change of pace here. Paul was loving what they had going on in the fan zone here. It was different but he liked it.

He wondered how Dorian had done it. What was it about this track that had him doing so well? Maybe he would review Dorian’s qualifying data and compare it to his. Maybe he would find something to help him out at the race tomorrow. Before he could put in some time analyzing that data he had to do his mandatory interview for Delta Hyper. He headed for his trailer so he could take a shower before his interview.

---

Paul showed up at his Delta Hyper interview wearing some high tech sportswear shorts and matching t-shirt and sneakers with the team’s colors and logo on them. He took a seat on the Delta Hyper couch and gave Aurora his standard charming smile.

Aurora: "Paul, it looks like despite your result today, the grid being so tight here. How are you feeling about tomorrow, and how have you found the lap so far?"

Paul’s expression turned serious as the question mirrored his thoughts about tomorrow. “Well Aurora, the grid is very tight. There were a lot of upgrades to ships over the summer break and we are seeing the outcome of that. I believe tomorrow’s race will be about upgrades and skills. There is the possibility of overtakes but not as many opportunities as I would like. It is going to take pinpoint precision and knowing where I am in conjunction with where my opponents are. All I can do is go out and give it my all. The team has done a great job of fixing the issues we had in the last race. All I can do is go out tomorrow and run my race. I can’t win them all.” He gave her a confident grin. “Although I will always try!”

---

@Starlance

Saturday 08/19 18:28 the Guy in Front of You [Batt: 98%]

———— Today ————

Paul Mulder Hope you are okay? I also hope your mechanics and engineers can get you in the race tomorrow. I expect you to at least catch up to me! Let’s have a repeat of Spa.

Team Valkyrie Characters

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zrLx5…