Silverwind Blade

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

Gabby took her order and followed along with Tobias, taking a seat opposite him and leaning back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other as she picked up her muffin and started to peel the wrapper from around the base, her almond-shaped eyes flicking between the sweet treat and her partner as he spoke.
"Hmm," she said, plucking a chunk of the spongy confection off and putting it into her mouth and chewing as she thought. "Well, we always end up where the action is," she reasoned. "And more often then not, with corporate interests in mind, rather than governmental or national ones - though, who knows," she quickly added. "Given we're based in the UK, and the legalities that entails, there's a few places off the list; I doubt we'll be heading to Russia or China anytime soon for example. Or anywhere 'dictatorial'. But that still leaves plenty of hotspots". She ticked off places on her fingers as she set the muffin down and glanced out the plate glass window at the come-and-go of the business park.
"Central Africa, Central or South America, Eastern Europe, or East Asia again. They're all pretty likely".
She sighed and nodded in agreement lifting her cup and taking a sip with a murmur of appreciation at the sweet silkiness of it, though the lava-like temperature ensured it was only a short sip.
"Mmm, got to agree with that," she replied to his comment about staying somewhere longer. "Sitting on a beach, or by a pool in the sun, sipping something with far too much alcohol and fruit in it and watching the world go by from behind a pair of fashionably oversized sunglasses. Sounds glorious," she said with a wistful expression crossing her face.
"Of course," she said with a resigned smirk and another sip of her drink. "More likely, is we'll be going to some rotting industrial craphole to rescue a bunch of idiotic businessmen whose private security went to internet mall ninja training school, and all we'll see if out of the Osprey window and the airport. But" she shrugged. "I'm banking up all my pay for a long, long holiday somewhere".

This isn't working out: Part 2

<Snipped quote by Silverwind Blade>

An article: Crime Writer Stuart Woods Claims Women Keep Purses In Their...

And a link to the book on Goodreads: Desperate Measures (Stone Barrington #47) by Stuart Woods.

@ZAVAZggg

Jinkies. Well, thanks for the info, haha.

This isn't working out: Part 2

EDIT: Correction, I just recalled that one author who wrote a female character as carrying things such as credit cards in her vagina. That was the silliest shit I've ever read.

@ZAVAZggg

I hate myself for wanting to know more, but... what?

This isn't working out: Part 2

So, you're on your first date. No, you're on your second date. The first one went pretty well. They're funny, they have a nice job, they drive a prius (spicy~) and they take you back to their place. Only when you walk in, you see on their living room table, a book. And not just any book. A book by that author.

You know that this relationship just won't work, and you leave immediately. What author is it and why?

Bonus points if it's a certain book too.

@POOHEAD189

Dianetics, by L. Ron Hubbard

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

The tall Israeli drifted along in Tobias' wake, leaning on the opposite wall of the lift as it took them up from the basement to the main floor of the office, nodding as he spoke.
"I do wonder," she agreed as he made his comment about paperwork. "Half of it does seem like it's there to keep us nearby, rather than doing anything else more," she waved her hands in a circle as the pair crossed the office floor and headed for the buildings' lobby. "...Interesting, I suppose". Gabby cocked her head and listened attentively as he spoke about the unusual realities of their particular profession, and it was a point; theirs was a job like very few others. Even among private military operations, there was little that came close.
"Not just security, I think," she added, stepping through the door to the outside. A glance at the sky made her briefly shake her head in an ironic smirk, black ponytail swinging as she did. The weather and climate couldn't be more different to where they'd been four days prior. She looked back to Tobias as they crossed the car park towards the coffee shop. "All the advanced robotics and exo stuff we're using, as well as our control systems, the force-feedback, all of that side. I bet that will feed back into other technical areas too. Especially since we're 'stress-testing' all of it".
She cut off as they stepped into the inside of the shop. Gabby studied the menu with a frown, hawkish eyes looking eagerly over the sweet treats on the counter, before Tobias' look caught her eye and she gave him a warm smile.
"All right, not going to refuse that," she replied with a nod, waiting as he made his order, before chiming in with her own.
"White chocolate hot chocolate and a double chocolate muffin," she replied with a friendly smile to the barista and a thankful nod to her partner. "And next one's on me, of course," she replied with a grin and stepped to one side for the next customer, folding her powerful arms over her well-padded stomach as she waited for her order.

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

I'm going to be off camping from tomorrow for a week, so no posts from me until I get back (unless the camp site has some really impressive benefits, anyway)

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

It's all good, nice to see the other side of the organization as well. Bracknell seems like a perfect location too - I don't know if I mentioned it, but I went to college there and I've worked in a couple of places there over the years too. Don't live near there now, but I used to! Bit of an amusing coincidence to think of it.
No idea what it's like there now, but apparently the town centre has got a bit of an upgrade.

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

"You wish, you couldn't keep up," she replied with a snigger as he made his way up the ramp and then followed suit. She turned the Stormhound and watched as the ground receded, watching the beautiful landscape as it expanded beneath them, before disappearing as the ramp came up. She set the big suit into its' 'exit' position and hit the combination of commands to exit. The back opened up with a hiss and whine and the chunky Israeli pilot imagined a cloud of humid air exiting as she climbed out. The op had been a short one - much more so than some, and certainly a lot, lot less than some of the tests she'd done - but the pilot suit felt like the inside of a salami wrapper to her by now, and she could feel the bun she'd put her thick black hair into was now a slipping, frazzled mess.
Groaning, she sat on the fold-down canvas seats opposite Tobias, and plugged in a headset so she could hear anything said as she leaned back.

------------------------------------

Four Days Later
Bracknell, England
11:00

Gabby grumbled as she leaned over her desk, shuffling between paperwork. Her left hand tapped a pen against her thumb as she frowned intensely at the forms laid out in front of her, studying them for what seemed like the thousandth time. She sighed as she tentatively filled in some details, before leaning back with a sigh and massaging her temples. Flopping forward with a sigh and leaning on one hand, she flicked the bobblehead of a chibi Stormhound that sat on her desk.
"Ugh," she said out loud among the burble of the office. "I can't believe I drive a robotic armoured exoskeleton for a living, get half my intel from robot airplanes and still have to fill out so much actual paperwork".
She looked over as Tobias headed her way, sitting back up. "A brew sounds like it'd be a welcome break," she replied as she stood up a stretched, picking her jacket up from the back of her chair. "And I'm not sure about the hallucinations; I'm sure I've added up everything and counted five times, but there's still something that doesn't add up in my expended rounds". She shrugged and shook her head. "I'll look at it when we come back, I'm sure I can make it make sense". She followed along in Tobias' wake, heading for the lift up to the ground floor.

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

Gabby couldn't help but grin wryly in response to Tobias' laugh; it was a grim kind of humour at the realities of the carnage they'd wrought. Likely not one that would be understood by anyone outside of their field. As he dropped the joke about her being on the line, she chimed in with a fake prim voice. "Quite right, gentlemen. Mind your fucking language, if you please. And as the man says; clean up costs extra, pest extermination is just the basic package. Have fun, boys". She waved the suits' hand in their general direction as she walked alongside the somewhat smaller and more compacy Firehound to their LZ. The thudding clatter of the V-22's rotors caught her attention, and she watched as the aircraft swooped in and gently descended for a landing, touching down with a gentle bump. As the ramp came down, she smirked and gestured to Tobias in an exaggerated bow. "Quite right you are. After you, your ladyship"

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

As the remainder of the enemy ran for their lives - literally - Gabby couldn't help feeling the same kind of satisfaction as Tobias as she saw them rout in the face of what, to them, had to be like angry iron giants tearing through their operation. They'd dropped out of the skies, apropos of nothing, and arrived in a roaring storm of thunder, fire, smoke and death. They were like almost mythical figures, shrugging off firepower and near-effortless in dealing with any threat levelled against them.
It was dangerously intoxicating, she thought with a a sobering grimace. She looked down at the BTR's hull in its' drab and rusty metal under her suits' feet, cold realisation prickling all over her tan skin; she'd thrown herself into the moment and it had worked, but it had been an absurdly flamboyant approach, and could have ended up with her cut to pieces by autocannon fire.
She suppressed an involuntary shiver at the thought, and instead clomped to the edge of the APC's hull and jumped down with an earth-shaking thump, moving to stand close by to Tobias and look over the vista before them. It was impressive, albeit somewhat sad for the ugly scar the mine left on the tropical landscape. Although, luckily, being paid by their employers didn't come with the stipulation that she had to like what they did especially.
The urge to pop the suits' helmet was strong, but she resisted; the area wasn't secure enough just yet, and getting shot in the face by a die-hard sniper wasn't a good way to end the mission. Instead, she followed Tobias' example, checking over her weapons and systems as a kind of calming routine, as much as a necessity, centering her thoughts and emotions through the repetitive actions, before turning and falling into step with the cornishman back toward the other end of the compound.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, Tob. All that activity and adrenaline, I'm definitely going to have a crash on the way back as I come down from it all. And listening to the tech debriefs and the play-by-play with 'death by powerpoint' accompaniment... like you say, I get the point, but it sure as hell doesn't help with the fatigue." She nodded at his comment about better AC, wiggling a little inside her suit as his words provoked a sudden reminder of, now, how sweaty, itchy and uncomfortable she was inside the bodyglove and padding of the suits' interior. The result was the Stormhound itself doing an odd little dance move before picking back up and walking normally. "Yeah, got a few ideas I'd like to put forward myself after this op. Couple of things that would help with quality of life and efficiency... of course," she said with a snort. "When did the big brains ever listen to us?"