Emerging Conflict IC, Fast Paced, Rules Light - Single Mission (Recruitment Always Open) Options

[Aria]

Catherine “Kit” Sharp
[19:57 22 Aug 2070 – Deep Watch Briefing Post, Fort Lewis, Seattle]

She stood on the landing strip in the late evening sunshine and watched the organised bustle of pre mission prep. After the last two months of mounting tensions it would be good to finally be doing something proactive. The memory of last night, her quiet suburban street erupting in to violence as a mob dragged one of her neighbours in to the road for being one of these elusive Technomancers, well it would be good to be able to wash that kind of thing away. Lone Star had finally intervened but it was probably far too late for those involved.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts as she mentally called up the flight checks Sticks was running on Sultan. This still left her with plenty of time to observe…

The runners stood in a group off to one side. She was glad to see that they didn’t exhibit any of the posturing she might have expected from the way the media portrayed them. Perhaps they really were professionals. It didn’t exactly sit right that Deep Watch needed them but with personnel spread so thinly at the moment and the urgency of this task she supposed they were a necessary evil. She just hoped they didn’t compromise the success of the mission.

Over to her left she watched as Outlaw spun up its engines. Dozer and his squad where exercising their machine suits, spinning their weapon mounts through a strange series of katas. She shivered, he was unnerving, something about him made her skin crawl and she was glad that he was in reserve for this task.

Armored and Tantilla were discussing the mission brief with their squads whilst they all ran equipment and comms checks. Captain Stern was on the steps to the main building surveying the organised chaos much as she was. It was nearly time and she could taste the adrenalin in her mouth...

"We mount up in ten. Final checks people, I want is ready to roll when we get the call from the forward teams."

OoC Thread

[sabs]

Corporal Steve Gallaway "Sticks"

[19:56:45 Aug 2070 – Deep Watch Briefing Post, Fort Lewis, Seattle]

Even before the briefing had ended he'd sent his pre-flight instructions to the Sultan's Pilot program Farman. The fuel levels were at optimal, the safety checks were slowly coming in. There was a problem with one of the sub systems, and Sticks was trying to work on the system's interface while the mechanics made sure nothing was physically wrong. His Terrier was riding up the loading ramp, his own pilot Nancy was handling the operations because Sticks was lost deep inside the inner workings of the Sultan. He always loved that feel of jumping into a system and experiencing the freedom it promised.

<<@Kitt We're looking in good shape. Can you start the Weapon Turret diagnostics, I have to trace this power fluctuation bug down. Make sure it really is just a bug.>>

<<@Captain Daniel Stern Captain we are awaiting our final green light, but we are on track for wheels up in 10. It's probably a good time to get strapped in, and in the cocoons.>>


He dove back into the power conduit system, letting his senses fill with the engineering beauty that was the Sultan.

[klinktastic]

Quinton "Armored" Greaves
[19:57 30 Aug 2070 – Deep Watch Briefing Post, Fort Lewis, Seattle]

Reflexively checking his the clip on his Ares Alpha, "Armored" surveyed his team. This was to be his first combat command upon receiving a promotion to officer. He still couldn't believe he'd been selected amongst his comrades for promotion to Lieutenant. He felt a slight discomfort in the fact, he was now responsible for the lives of his squad. "Mick", "Ash" and Archer were solid, sharp soldiers. He knew deep down, they were professionals, and wouldn't need coddling, but still a slight anxiety creep through his body. Words barely formed in his mouth as he turned to his team, "You heard the CO. Mount up in ten."

[AStarshipforAnts]

Dahlia Bekhit
[19:57 22 Aug 2070 – Deep Watch Briefing Post, Fort Lewis, Seattle]


Dahlia stood off to the side with the rest of the runners hired to make up Deep Watch’s numbers, waiting for orders. If anyone looked out of place among the Deep Watch personnel, and even the other runners, it was probably Dahlia. Even with the body armor, Ms. Bekhit’s body language and grooming probably screamed ‘academic’. Really, if the woman’s goggles had been replaced with a pair of wire-rimed glasses, the look would have been perfect. Even if Dahlia noticed how she didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the mission’s personnel, she didn’t seem to show it. Either that could be chalked up to a strong sense of self-confidence, or the fact that ‘fitting in’ was so far off in her peripheral it might as well be irrelevant. It was probably the latter.

Waiting for the rest of the FB C 2 to start moving, Dahlia took one last look over the contents of her bag with a rather distracted smile. Glass clinked as she thumbed through a collection of neatly-labeled vials.

[Aria]

Captain Stern
[20:13 22 Aug 2070 – Sultan C&C, Fort Lewis, Seattle]

Settling in to his cocoon he listened to the secure comm chatter coming in on his feed and then switched the channel to address the mission…he suppressed any excitement and ensured that his voice was calm as he spoke to everyone

<<We have confirmation, forward teams are on target, we are leaving in two so get your arses online now>>

“Ok Sticks, smoothly does it, let’s not spook Control…”

<<Tantilla, Sticks, I want forward observation up asap...>>

[sabs]

[20:15 22 Aug 2070 - Sultan C&C, Sorta Fort Lewis, Seattle]

<<@Farman You heard the Captain. It's time to rock and roll. You feeding all our sensor data over to Archimedes? Want to make sure that TacNet of his is running smooth as silk. You know how he gets.>>

Sticks/Sultan stretches like a big predatory cat ready to pounce and then smooth as silk it's thrusters kick in. The LAV rises up till it's just clear of the buildings and into the actual air space over Fort Lewis.

<<@Outlaw See you guys at the hot zone. Try and keep my babies nice and safe. We're gonna need em.>>
<<@Control Permission to leave Fort Lewis Air Space requested.>>


Control
<<@Sultan Permission Granted Sultan. Good hunting. >>

With those words, the Sultan leaps forward like a Predator on the scent. It's a good thing most of the passengers of the LAV are in Cocoons because Sticks certainly likes his acceleration.

"Course Plotted Captain, ETA to Hot Zone is 35 minutes."

[klinktastic]

Quinton "Armored" Greaves
[20:13 30 Aug 2070 – Arc LAV, Fort Lewis, Seattle]

"Alright boys and girls, mount up!" Lt. Greaves shouted to his team. One by one the commando team settled onboard, nervously waiting for some action like a boxer before a fight.

[Branmac]

Lt. Brian “Tantilla” Martin
[20:13 35 Aug 2070 – Sultan C&C, Fort Lewis, Seattle]

"All right now, lets take this by the numbers when we get on site. Don't forget they have plenty of mystic support just like we do so nobody get cocky. Remember, a fair fight is 3 of us on 1 of them."

Settling into his cocoon and checking the readouts to make sure everyone is secure he sends Cpt. Stern a all clear and ready signal.

"OK, once we get closer we are going to need an astral check. Expect there to be wards and possibly watch spirits."

<<@TantillaWhen we reach the ready point to start the astral check of the DZ let me know sir. We are ready when you need us. Also we have spirit support for concealment of the LAV as requested and are ready to order it's activation whenever you need it.

[Aria]

[20:38 22 Aug 2070 – Flying below radar, ETA to target 10mins]

Despite expert pilots at the helm you are bounced around as the LAV and VTOLs are jostled by the late evening thermals coming off the sun heated ground. Flying out of the metroplex area you leave the grime of the sprawl behind and whip over forest and the foothills of the Cascades.

Stern’s clipped voice comes to you over the comnet

<<Look sharp. Tantilla, I want Second squad to secure the LZ as soon as we set down. Get that spirit cover up and I want the sentry guns at twenty meter intervals, then you and Lee can give me an astral view. Armored, move First squad out but don’t get too close to the target just yet, let’s see what’s moving out there. Sticks let’s get our eyes in the sky. You all know what to do!>>

[klinktastic]

Quinton "Armored" Greaves
[20:38:30 Aug 22, 2070 – Flying below radar, ETA to target 10mins]

Quinton receives the message from CO Stern and pulls up his MapSoft of the Stillwater Community DZ for the FB 1 Commando team on his orientation system in his left arm to visualize his objectives.

<<@FB1 Team - Alright, you know the drill. We're to drop off at the DZ and move into position for some quick recon and observation. We relay the information to our other teams and await secondary orders. Hold you fire, we want to hold the element of surprise as long as possible.>>

[sabs]

Cpl. Steve "Sticks" Gallaway

[20:50:10 August 22, 2070 - Landing Sultan at Forward Operations Point Alpha]


Sticks gears up the ECM and settles the Sultan into a gut wrenching drop landing, calculated for optimal stealth. He grins to himself, as he hands the controls over to Farman so he can move back and begin the Drone Deployment.

<<@C&C Sultan is deployed at Forward Operations Point Alpha Tango Niner. Bringing up Sensors and ECCM. Switching to Drone deployment mode.>>

<<Kit, come give me a hand with deploying the drones from their crates. >>

With a mental command to Nancy, directing her to navigate his Terrier over to the Drone Storage Area.

First to be unpacked is the Armadillo. "Come to Papa, you beautiful Girl. Go see what's out there." Using the Onboard Nexus he slaves the Armadillo directly to it. The Armadillo flies out the back cargo door and skims it's way towards the StillWater Complex under radar. It will act as a forward relay point for the other drones. Allowing Sticks to control the closer in drones without having to get the Sultan any closer.

The two Optic-X surveillance drones follow suit. All systems are checked out and the drones fly up and forward to begin the long process of obtaining solid, current intel.

The two ferrets and the Auxillia come next. Kit and Sticks really have their work cut out for them unpacking and deploying all these drones. The Auxillia will make it way to Armored's DZ to provide access to the toys stored inside of it. And allowing for the centipedes to be released into the EcoTower should it come to that.

The Ares Centaur and the three Roto drones are deployed last. The Ares Centaur deploying forward to find a good sniping position from which to provide long range support fire. The Roto drones establishing a defensive flight pattern around the Sultan.

All in all this entire deployment will take a good 20-25 minutes.

<<@Kit Good Job Kit, go and take over from Farman while I start going over the data from the forward drones.>>

[AStarshipforAnts]

Dahlia Bekhit
[20:12:04 12 Aug 2070 – Buzzard, Fort Lewis, Seattle]

Dahlia didn't even bother trying to follow most of the jargon being thrown around the Buzzard, settling into her seat for a quick cat-nap until the FB C 2 hit the ground--or they got some word from the forward team. After all, there was going to be quite the hike ahead, and Ms. Bekhit wasn't exactly the athletic type. Even though she wouldn't have to carry the bulk of her supplies, it wasn't exactly going to be a leisurely stroll. At least with all of the mages around in the Buzzard they'd know if something was coming.

[Aria]

[21:23:10 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

Stern's voice comes over the comm...

<<Excellent news, the forward teams are reporting successes on the secondary targets. Team one is progressing to the reserve position one and team two are following up on a lead on the Balefire hacker in Renton...>>

Sticks
[21:23:10 August 22, 2070 - Optic-X F7]

Soaring over the trees you gain height to avoid detection from the ground. You feel the thrill of riding the flimsy airframe in to the zone over the target. Thermal scans begin to relay back to the mission tactical feeds...there seems to be some sort of meeting over in what is identified as an old school building...

Tantilla
[21:23:10 August 22, 2070 - Astral space]

The astral here is heady with power, you can feel the flush of it coursing through you. To the north east of the target zone there appears to be some sort of magical ritual beginning...you can see threads of power reaching out to form some sort of mana line in a triangle with the tower and a spot over the lake...

[Aria]

Sticks
[21:27:10 August 22, 2070 - Optic-X F7]

You call up a sub window in your vision as you track F7’s sensors across the terrain ahead. The armadillo’s info blinks across your sight at the speed of thought. As you might expect this far from civilisation wireless traffic is almost non existent around the Stillwater area…you are glad that you have access to the nexus and retrans drones to support your information needs. Close in however there appears to be a mesh of nodes spread fairly evenly across the area. Too evenly in fact to be commlinks, and you suspect that they represent a drone observation network.

Closer to the target zone the level of wireless activity increases dramatically. The tower itself is ablaze with digital signals, almost as intense as a downtown core, several of them appear to be satellite uplinks and you suspect there is a dedicated microwave uplink heading off somewhere towards the metroplex area. There are also significant concentrations of signals around the former school building and at a point on the southern lake shore.

Squad 1
[21:27:10 August 22, 2070 – En route to target, ETA 33mins]

Tactical data streams across your AR huds as the various surveillance feeds begin to come in. Analysis indicates that there may be a drone network in place ahead which will need to be avoided or subverted in order to minimise the chances of spooking the enemy too soon. Although the terrain is still fairly flat here the woodland is encroaching rapidly and the going is slower than you might have anticipated. It is almost as if this is virgin forest rather than the tamed pockets of trees indicated on your data maps. The air smells fresh and is filled with the sounds of trickling water and insect noise…

Squad 2
[21:27:10 August 22, 2070 – En route to target, ETA approx. 48mins]

Leaving the comparative safety of the LZ you move away from the abandoned light industrial unit and head out after Squad One. For now you will stay sufficiently far back that you minimise the chance of detection but be close enough to assist if the point men run in to trouble. Spreading out in to your three man fire teams you cover a wide front, the runners left free to fill the gaps as and how they want for the moment.

[sabs]

Sticks
[21:27:13 August 22, 2070 - Optic-X F7]

Sticks' mental fingers fly as he starts marking points of interest and priority targets up for the Captain on the TacNet.
<<@TacNet: Captain. You seeing this? That tower is lit up bright as Downtown. And that Drone network's going to be a bear. I could jam it, but that's obvious as can be. You want to send in the hackers? >>

Sticks maneuvers the Armadillo into a good position to start trying to capture some of that wireless traffic and see what's going on.

While he's doing that, in another AR window he starts to cycle through all the other drones. Making sure they are following protocols and approaching their designated locations properly.

[klinktastic]

"Armored"
[21:27:13 August 22, 2070 - 2 Clicks Outside Stillwater]

Reviewing the information flowing through his AR, he signals his team over to him. "Ok crew, we got some survellance drones coming up. Let's stick to the woods and make our way to here," Armored said, pointing to the old school building. "We can use the build as cover to make our advance."

[Aria]

[21:58 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

Stern’s voice fills your speakers once again…

<<Ok Sticks, Signals are ready to spoof any drones that get walked over. Squad One prepare for insertion. Watch your backs out there people. Squad Two, keep it tight, I want you on hand. Insertion pattern Gamma Three, by the numbers.>>

With your drones circling overhead, the enemy drone net mapped on your tactical overlays and a constant bombardment of live information on position of hostiles streaming in, you begin your approach to the Stillwater territory…

<<Watch the gathering outside the school. I want a full assessment before anyone engages. Use your judgment about the merits of engaging the hostiles now or continuing past but leaving them at our backs.>>

Squad 1
[21:58 August 22, 2070 – Outside target zone, ETA 2mins]

Moving even more cautiously now you whisper through the dense undergrowth towards the target zone. Startled by something a deer bounds out of a thicket and races across your path but otherwise everything seems calm. To the left of the furthest fire team an abandoned house looms out of the dusky light. The roof has collapsed and trees can be seen growing up from within the teetering walls. From within it you detect the sound of movement and then hear a short laugh followed by a whispering giggle…

Squad 2
[21:58 August 22, 2070 – En route to target, ETA 17mins]

An owl ghosts overhead with an eerie hunting call and the insect life seems to pause for a moment in anticipation. Tantilla can feel the prickle of power now from whatever is going on up ahead. His senses seem amplified and he can almost smell the tang of each individual pine needle as it crumples underfoot. Dahlia is perhaps less enamoured of this trek, she has pine needles down the back of her neck and the fresh air smells distinctly unlike the processed laboratory air she prefers to immerse herself in.

[AStarshipforAnts]

Dahlia Bekhit
[21:58 August 22, 2070 – En route to target, ETA 17mins]

Pulling her goggles into place, Dahlia found herself wishing she had opted for the thermographic option instead of microscopic. Then maybe she'd be able to see a damn thing aside from vague, shadowy forms and the occasional bright face of an owl. At the very least, she figured that these military types would broadcast notification of any suspicious behavior over the network. No doubt her earpiece would be squawking all night the moment the action hit.

She kept to one general side of the moving Squad Two, opposite the Deep Watch combat medic and hanging towards the rear. By then it was painfully apparent that Dahlia didn’t do much marching, she did manage to keep up with the rest of the squad. It helped that she didn’t have nearly as much heavy gear to carry. But, the tangle of undergrowth was incredibly inconvenient to navigate, especially for someone used to a completely sterile environment or paved streets.

[sabs]

Sticks

[21:58 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

Flows of information, the pulse of each individual drone doing it's duty. Sticks, while keeping one eye on the ever expanding TacNet display of information is moving his drones in like chess pieces.

The Auxilia is trailing about 500 meters behind Squad 1, the Ares Centaur, moving with it to provide protection. While the two ferrets are slowly making their way towards the old School house, weaving between the drone net.

Sticks was moving the last two slowly, and carefully. He had the exact route they would take, down to the nearest centimeter.

<<@C&C All looks good so far Captain. How are the boys making out with this Matrix Traffic>>

[klinktastic]

Lt. Armored Greaves
[21:58 August 22, 2070 – Outside target zone, ETA 2mins]

Noticing the sound of two potential hostiles in the building near his squad's position, Lt. Greaves moves his left hand up in a fist, signaling his team to stop. Pointing to his ears, then tossing two fingers up and pointing to the building.

<<Sticks - Need a drone scout in building near my position @ S4B2 Building 6 on the HUD map. Report if we should deem hostile.>>

Still crouching, he let his assault rifle fall from his grasp, contained on the sling and pulls out his silencer Predator IV with Stick n Shock ammo while thinking, Probably two kids just having some fun. Damn if it's not the wrong night to try and get laid.

[Aria]

Squad 1
[22:03 August 22, 2070 – S4B2 Building 6]

The Ferret crept its way silently through the tangle of growth around the side of the house, its sensors picking up first the heat traces and then, as anticipated, a lowlight image of two teenagers fumbling through the initial stages of a romantic liaison…

[Aria]

Cpl. Simon Bow – Forward Team 1
[22:12 August 22, 2070 – Downtown Seattle]

He gasped for breath as he bounced off the door frame and flung himself out on to the fire escape.

<<@Control: FT1 request extraction. It’s all gone to shit here!>>

Everything had gone well and the runners had performed above expectations. They had successfully planted the evidence of Humanis involvement and then made a sweet kill shot on Engles and tagged that runner bitch Whisp. The little girl who’d been on the podium with them had been a bit disturbing as she hadn’t been mentioned in any of their briefing material but how much of a threat could she have been? They had successfully exfiltrated and been on the way to the rendezvous location when Engles’ security detail had started crawling all over them. As far as he knew the runners were dead or in custody, he hoped the former, and he was running for his life.

At the bottom of the stairs he narrowly avoided careening off a dumpster and then headed with more stealth towards the mouth of the alley. Behind him he heard the unmistakable crank of a shotgun and then felt a stinging pain under his ribs. He crumpled up in a foetal position in a pile of stinking debris. A sec agent moved towards him still cradling the smoking shotgun followed by Whisp who was thoughtfully training a taser at him, the green laser sight playing across his eyes. Out of the shadows stepped the little girl who pointed to him and said something to a figure beside her…it was Engles…oh shit…

Captain Stern
[22:13 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

He looked up from his comm station in concern…something had gone wrong with Forward Team One, they’d lost comms about eighteen minutes ago and nobody had been able to raise them. He checked in with Forward Team Two and they confirmed that they were moving on to secure the hacker Aria at a second location in Renton. Squad One were moving to engage hostiles and this might be an opportunity for some live intel.

<<@ Tantilla: Move Squad Two up to S4B2 Building 6 and join Squad One. They may have some hostiles for field interrogation shortly.>>

<<@ Sticks: Signals are analysing the data feeds from the Armadillo now. The bulk of the info seems to be streams from news sources and other public information. There also is a range of fairly typical communications you’d expect from a community of this size. There are, however, some signals that we have so far been unable to decrypt. These might be part of the evidence that we need that there are A.I.s at work here. I will keep you posted.>>

[klinktastic]

Lt. Armored Greaves
[22:04 August 22, 2070 – S4B2 Building 6]

Pointing to Cpl. Archer, Lt. Greaves motions for her to come with him. Shifting his eyes and fingers to Mick and Ash, he points to his eyes and then to his back to indicate they are to watch their backs. Viewing the couple in the house via the camera feed of the drone, Lt. Greaves identified the two targets, assigning Cpl. Archer the female and himself the male. Holstering his gun, he charged up his shock glove, showing it to Cpl. Archer. With a quick twitch of his shock gloved hand, they proceeded into the house to neutralize the two (un)lucky teens.

[sabs]

Sticks

[22:14 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

Using the data feed back from Sgt Reid Sticks and Nancy start weeding out the channels that aren't interesting and focusing in on the data streams that /do/ have useful information. He passes the running program over to Nancy, and switches his focus back to the Drone Net and the unfortunate teenage trist.

Sticks continues to move the Auxilia and Ares Centaur up following the careful route that Squad 1 is taking just several minutes before hand. He retains a respectable 300 meters behind the main squad. Close enough to provide access and a hard point should they have issues, but not so close as to compromise their stealth and security.

Like a chess player, he moves all of his drones into the positions where they can do the most good. The OptiX observation drones are obtaining operational data for the squads. Feeding them real time location, and images of the School and Arcology tower. He's keeping the combat drones held back for an emergency while he waits to get the Auxilia close enough to deploy his centipedes.

<<@Kitt How's the old girl doing?>>

[Aria]

Squad 1
[22:05 August 22, 2070 – S4B2 Building 6]

With their chameleon suits making them practically invisible, Archer and Greaves ghost over the wall without the slightest chance of the teenagers detecting them. The two youngsters, a pretty boy elf and an almost equally pretty human girl, both around fifteen, sixteen, have eyes only for each other. They are both in various stages of undress but seem unsure what to do next as they sit staring at each other. The girl’s eyes widen in surprise and then glaze over as Archer drops down behind her, clamps a hand over her mouth and places a tranc patch against her throat…