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

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.

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."

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.

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...>>

[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."

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.

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.

[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!>>

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.>>

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.>>

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.

[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...

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.

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.

"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."

[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.

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.

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>>

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.

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…

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.>>

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.

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?>>

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…

Lt. Greaves
[22:06 August 22, 2070 – S4B2 Building 6]

With the unfortunate teenages incapacitated, Lt. Greaves took out some plastic restrains and tossed a pair to Cpl. Archer. They quickly restrain the couple, gag them with their socks, and lay them down out of the way. Moving back to Ash and Mick, Greaves says, "Targets neutralized. Let's regroup here and check with C&C. Let's mark this 'Rally Point 1' and get support drones in here for now."

<<@Sticks: Thanks for the eyes. Bring our drones to the building for now. We're going to regroup here.>>

<<@Control: FB1 has established a safe zone at S4B2 Building 6. Identified as Rally Point 1. Regrouped and awaiting updated orders.>>

<<@Sgt. Reid: I've obtained a commlink from a resident of the Community. Please analyze and report any useful info. Sending note info now.>>

Sticks
[22:11 August 22, 2070 – S4B2 Building 6]

<<@Lt. Greaves Yes Sir, moving forward to establish a forward fire base.>>

Sticks maneuvers his battle hardened drones into S4B2 Building 6.

The Auxilia opens up it's bay doors and approximately 20 little arachnid like drones come crawling out of their special racks. Additionally, the extra heavy hardware requested for the mission can be seen, neatly racked inside the large Cargo Bins. The Ares Centaur establishes itself a good line of site position, where it's anti-vehicle/personell long range rifle can be of most use.

The arachnids make their way into the forested trees, heading towards the School building.

<<@C&C Captain. CreepyCrawlers are deployed. Building is established as Forward Fire Base Tango Niner>>

Captain Stern
[22:23 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

His fingers flew across the virtual keyboard in front of him like a virtuoso piano player as he was bombarded by a flood of realtime video, encryption protocols and other mission info. He began a series of mental gymnastics as he searched for the missing threads of communication.

<<Ok, you've got another five minutes at T9 to get anything from the enemy then I want you moving again. There's increasing risk that they will be missed if we delay longer and I'm worried about a communications glitch with both forward teams. Something is amiss and we may need to retask Outlaw. I will shortly be authorising Signals to begin their virtual penetration via the sat link feed from the tower but I suspect that the secure infomation will still be offline or within their private network.>>

[22:24 August 22, 2070 – Rally Point 1 / Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

Forward fire positions have been established and approach angles assessed. The fire base is as secure as it can be for now and your web of information is steadily increasing as the drones penetrate the target zone. The girl's commlink is yielding up its secrets to Signals much faster than the illusive feed from the tower but seems to be little more than you might expect in the hands of any adolescent. Given the apparant isolation of this community perhaps that in itself is telling...

<<Tantilla, you and Dahlia see what you can get from the captives...>>

[22:24 August 22, 2070 – MK Centipede, former school building]

The multiple drone feeds give back a picture of an eerily abandoned school, still with faded school work adorning the walls and the drip of water from a decaying roof. The double height main foyer however is different...there are people here gathered around the glass doors that lead out to the south and on walk ways looking down in to the space. There are three people standing in isolation in the centre of the room and they are marking out sigils on the floor which seem to distort the air around them, confusing the limited sensor package on the drone. One of the figures (Designation target 2 "Desire") begins to walk out of the doors trailing some sort of dust behind them. As she steps out of the building a cold white fire springs to life and briefly illuminates the markings before sinking in to the ground. As the fire disappears a burst of intense static briefly wipes out the signal from the drones in the vicinity...

Dahlia Bekhit
[22:24 August 22, 2070 – Rally Point 1 / Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

Orders received, Dahlia took a moment or two to catch her breath from the march before heading over to the captives. Now, Dahlia wasn't exactly an interrogator. But, she understood the sort of games she was supposed to play in these sorts of situations. The woman set down the supplies unnecessary for this particular purpose in an almost compulsively neat pile at the far end of the room where the questioning would take place. As she waited for Tantilla to arrive, Dahlia opened a smaller briefcase--revealing a bright array of vials filled with fluids of varying colors and opacity. In truth, she did have a couple doses of something very special for questioning people. But, it seemed to early in the mission. And what a waste it would be to dose a kid with Gamma-Scopolamine.

Lt. Greaves
[22:23 August 22, 2070 – S4B2 Building 6]

Lt. Greaves' s team had secured the perimeter, awaiting the arrival of the 2nd squad. From what he could tell, things had already gone to shit with some of the other teams at other objectives. He waved the 2nd squad in, nodding curtly to everyone. His eyes followed Dehila...and her tight backside. Her exotic look was intriguing. Shaking his head to clear mind, he pulled up his HUD to send a message to Command.

<<Cpt. Stern: Sir, FB1 and FB2 have converged. Moving out again at 22:29. Anything useful off that commlink?>>

Sticks

[22:24:10-40 August 22, 2070 – Floating in the Ether 6]

<<@C&C Captain, I've lost contact with the crawlers in the School House. I'm trying to reaquire. They set of some kind of jammer>>

Sticks is tweaking every protocol he knows, trying to re-establish control with the crawlers. A long 30 seconds of panic ensue for the Rigger. Until of course the connection returns.

<<@C&C I've reaquired all the crawlers. Orders sir? His ethereal voice sounds a bit shaken>>

Cpt. Stern
[22:28 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

He looked with disgust at the red telltales flickering across his display. There was still no communication with either forward team and nothing on the newsnets that might explain their disappearance. The hit had clearly succeeded on Engles as the press were screaming about political assassinations, Balefire were much deeper in the shadows and were less likely to cause a stir. Now to cap it off he was loosing contact with mission drones at the primary target.

<<@Sticks: Can you identify the source of the jamming? Did it affect any of the aerial drones?>>

<<@Armoured: There isn’t much on the commlink. I’ve identified the captives as Sarah Lenn and Jay Young, they aren’t related to any of the primary targets. There is mention of a location “Hobbiton” which may be significant?>>

<<Keep it tight people…I will not have this coming apart at the seams this early from mission start. Prepare to move on the school building. Keep it quiet but be aware you are authorised to use full personal discretion in dealing with the enemy. Just don’t allow any incriminating evidence to be captured, we may be working for the Man but there’s a reason he’s not sending in the grunts, this needs to be done with finesse…>>

Sticks
From your multi viewed vantage point above the target zone you can see the group of people around the school beginning to disperse…it seems that whatever it was they were doing there it’s over for now…

[22:28 August 22, 2070 – Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

You are spread around the building in a classic defensive position ready to move onwards once the interrogation gets something useful from the two kids.

“Sir, hostile contact fifteen meters and closing…”

You hear a noisy approach through the woods heading towards the house. A child’s voice pipes out

“Where are you…Sarah, I know you’re around here somewhere…you always come this way with Jay!”

Dahlia
For an unsettling moment there you thought you heard Asim calling to you…

Sgt. Gav Penray – Forward Team 2
[22:20 August 22, 2070 – Sunrise View Apartments, Renton]

<<Get ready to breach on my count. Let’s make this one as smooth as the last. Thermal signatures indicate a single occupant with a lower threat rating than that damn mage but I doubt it will be as easy as shooting their rigger was.>>

He watched as his fire teams slid smoothly in to place. Charges were laid and with a quick flick count of his fingers they stormed the apartment in a welter of smoke and debris. Although the door had been hardened against intrusion and there was a series of complicated countermeasures on the locks it was little match for the breaching charges. Through the door he jumped left as his partner moved right and swept the single room. His AR facial recog display confirmed the target’s identity as the hacker Aria with an eighty percent probability. Within the blink of an eye his smartlink interface lined up neatly over the forehead of the slovenly and obese looking human. But there seemed to be dust passing through the figure…he took a moment to double take and then stepped back in alarm as the projected hologram disappeared. With a barely discernable hiss the inhuman combat cyborg lifted itself off the protesting couch.

The thing somehow overrode his commlink and spoke directly to him

<<You are not welcome here…and you are the ones who killed my friends…>>

The last thing he was conscious of was the whine of high velocity slugs

Dahlia Bekhit
[22:28 August 22, 2070 – Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

Something tugging at the corners of her hearing, Dahlia paused in her assembly of a syringe. Out of habit, the woman whipped around, expression sliding into a well-worn look of familial concern. But, instead of finding Asim looking for a sandwich, the woman only finds the two teens who'd been found by the first team. No, both of them were still unconscious.

Confused, Dahlia walked a quick circuit of the room. Perhaps a minute or two later, she returned to her case of vials looking a little perplexed. How very strange.

Dahlia Bekhit
[22:28 August 22, 2070 – Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

One of the soldier boys comes in to the room you are in carrying a struggling boy of about Asim's age...come to think about it he even looks a bit like Asim...pushing aside any whispers of doubt you go back to your work...it's all about the nuyen, right?

Sticks
[22:29 August 22, 2070 - Floating Over Target Zone]

Sticks runs diagnostics on his drones, rechecking quickly their status and operational controls. Seeing the all green, and not finding a source for the jamming he sends the little creepers forward into the building to get better visuals of the post-ritual for Tantilla.

<<@C&C I'm sorry Captain, I cannot find the source of the interference. The areal drones are all fine. It seems to have been concentrated on the school, and occurred within a few moments of what ever ritual they were doing ending. Orders?>>

Still, using the Orbit-X's he's going to tag and designate all the people coming out of the school house and begin plotting indirect fire coordinates for the large caliber sniper rifle mounted on the Ares Centaur. No reason to take chances.

<<@Outlaw Be ready to release the Nimrods if we need them. I have a feeling it's going to get hot soon.>>

Sticks returns to the displays in his mind's eye, trying to get as much information as possible for the men on the ground.

[22:25 August 22, 2070 - Stillwater Community]

Feral looked up, sniffing the wind...something didn't smell right. They had been expecting something for days now, perhaps it was happening tonight...

"Look to the perimeter, I have feeling..."

[22:28 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

Tantilla stepped back from the boy shaking his head "I hate doing that with an unconcious mind, it all becomes so much weirder... This is Jay and it seems he and his paramour have snuck out whilst the adults are all distracted by the ritual we saw going on earlier. I couldn't get any details on it but he seems to think it has something to do with hiding the community? One thing that might be of use, it was quite vivid in his mind, there's another way in to the tower through an area they've called Hobbiton. Seems like they have a series of underground chambers to the north of the tower which give direct access to the lower levels. I'm not sure I could map it out for you but I could probably direct you once you have a visual..."

[22:29 August 22, 2070 - Floating Over Target Zone]

<<Outlaw to Sticks: Confirmed, drones are prepped and ready for insertion on your command...>>

[22:29 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

The captives are secure in the back room of the ruined house and with the tactical relay being fed to you from the drone network the squads are preparing to move on again. In the distance you can hear the sound of two engines approaching and an AR feed from the Optic-X provides you of an image of two off-road bikes weaving in and out of the trees along with optimum targetting data...

[22:25 August 22, 2070 - Stillwater Community]

Desire stretched and rubbed her back, sore from bending over the ritual circle for so long. She savoured the residual taste of the power in the air, like an elusive perfume. She looked over to Dr Finney and nodded and in companionable silence they began to walk back towards the tower.

Sticks

[22:25 August 22, 2070 - Riding the Ether]

Sticks tagged the creepy crawlers and sent them to swarm over the ritual site. Video of the residuals, the foci, anything that could be of use was relayed directly to Tantilla. His visual recognition picked up one of the targets and flagged her, and Dr Finney on the TacNet. He tasked one of the Optic-X drones to keep an eye on them both, and assigned a creepy-crawler to each one.

<<@C&C Captain, I have confirmed visual on Targets: Desire and Dr Finney. They are together walking back towards the Tower. Do you want eliminate, apprehend or observe?>>

<<We also have multiple inbounds on Motorcycles. Things are getting hot. Should we silence?>>

Sticks takes a bit of time to scan the motorcycles for wireless traffic and see if he can patch in on their communications.

[22:30 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

Storming into the room were the two captives are being held, Lt. Greaves nudged the two youths awake with is boot. Chambering a round into his Ares Predator pistol, glaring at the two of them. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but my patience is very thin at the moment. Sarah and Jay, we have been hired to rescue your community from some outlaws that have taken up residence in Stillwater. We need to find this criminals," he said with a sneer. Pausing momentarily, he continued, "What is this 'Hobbiton'? Is it a passage into the tower?"

Sticks
[22:30 August 22, 2070 - Riding the Ether]

<<@ Sticks: Negative, let’s not engage hostiles until we have to. Monitor those outriders and warn us if they approach the Firebase.>>

You home in on the signal traffic between the two bikers as they approach. It seems they aren’t aware of your presence yet but they are on alert and are homing in on the commlink of the teenagers at the fire base, presumably to see they get back to the tower safely without their parents getting too upset…

Armored
[22:30 August 22, 2070 – Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

The two teenagers are still groggy from the effects of the tranq and they look at you in a slightly bemused way…

“What, Hobbiton, yes it’s a way in to the tower, what’s going on? Who are you? If you tell the Wolves I’m sure they can deal with any intruders…”

<<@ Armored: Prepare to move your men out Lieutenant. If we can avoid those motorbikes we can be inside their perimeter before they detect us. Get a sniper and spotter team on the roof of the school and then move in with drone support. Squad 2 can follow in close order to provide covering fire. If the Hobbiton location offers a secure entry way undercover then that will get you out of the open sooner where their numbers will be less significant.>>

Sticks
[22:32 August 22, 2070 - Riding the e-Ther]

The AR images swirl around you in your comfortable cocoon, isolated from the discomforts of your meat. A subtle scent of jasmine overlays your SIM feed, designed to calm and focus your mind on the task in hand. As you monitor the multiple view points of your drone army you note that the two bikers have stopped...a quick check on their comm feeds delivers you a fragment...

<<There are intruders somewhere on the north east boundary...going dark...>>

Their commlinks are abruptly cut off and they move cautiously onwards on foot. They hardly move with military precision but they obviously know the lay of the land and the weapons they are carrying, what appears to be an older Ares Alpha and some sort of combat shotgun. They are scanning ahead of them with lowlite torches and making the most of the tree cover to stay out of sight.

You also see that the crowd of people who were witnessing the ritual at the school are moving back towards the tower quickly and some break in to a run.

Whilst your cover isn't exactly blown, somehow they know you are here!

Sticks
[22:32 August 22, 2070 - Riding the e-Ther]

<<The two outriders have triggered an alert and gone dark. They're heading your way Lt Greaves.>>

That warning said, Sticks dropped his conciousness into the Ares Centaur that was already tracking the outriders and mentally squeezed off two shots from the mounted silenced sniper rifle. Aim, Squeeze, Aim, Squeeze as the two outriders entered a blind spot in their Drone defense network.

Armored
[22:31 August 22, 2070 – Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

How do I get to this Hobbiton? Tell me landmarks and anything I need to know to get in! People's lives are at stake."

<<@Team 1 - Mount up, we're heading out to inflitrate the tower.>>

<<@Team 2 - We need to establish our firebase on the top of the school. Eliminate these inbound bogies , then clear and secure the school. You'll provide fire support and tactical flexibility should we get pinned down.>>

Sticks
[22:33 August 22, 2070 - Riding the e-Ther]

You watch with crystal clarity from your many view points as the high velocity rounds streak out of the centaur towards the designated targets. Despite the intervening cover, darkness and distance to the enemy you watch with satisfaction as first one and then the other jerk back and slump to the ground with gaping holes in their anatomy. There doesn’t appear to be any comm chatter and the kills are clean. You recheck their position against the sensor map from earlier and sure enough they are in a dead zone…

The Optic-X hovering over the tower provides another clear vantage point of the people flooding back into the tower. It appears that they are being martialled out of any of the isolated homes like feudal peasants fleeing to the castle in times of crisis. An interesting pattern is emerging, however, as not all of them are disappearing in to the riverbank complex and then across the bridge to the tower. They are moving into the trees to the north of the complex and you can see now that there are a series of lightwells dug in to clearings in the trees which presumably access this below ground Hobbiton.

From the Armadillo you suddenly receive a red telltale…it seems that starting at the tower, a glittering spider web of wifi signals has begun to spread out, filling in the blank spots on the drone map…it seems that the beast is awakening and you have an increasingly limited time before you won’t be able to sneeze without having to jam the resulting signal…conversely the signals between the tower and the metroplex cut off abruptly.

Armored
[22:33 August 22, 2070 – Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

As you stand over the teenagers performing your impromptu interrogation you are aware of the centaur firing off whisper shots into the trees to the north of the fire base leaving a faint smell of cordite in the air. Then you are hit, almost physically, by a signal gain from your comms that quickly ratchets up to painful levels despite any audio damping. Around you other members of your team are clutching at their heads until the violent white noise is replaced by a comm fragment

<<STOP IT! YOU’RE A BAD MAN!! YOU LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!!!>>

Sticks
[22:33 August 22, 2070 - Riding the e-Ther]

Your signal connection to the squads on the ground is momentarily whited out before returning as if nothing had happened.

Moving in the opposite direction from the pedestrian flow heading into the tower you see what can best be described as a squad heading out in the general direction of the school buildings. There are seven of them with an assortment of arms and armour and they are accompanied by a steel lynx and a pair of rotodrones.

Armored
[22:33 August 22, 2070 – Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

"What the fuck was that?" he exclaimed, as the sudden message. Looks like the girl might be worth something. "Did anyone else get that message?" He turned, glaring at the boy laying next to the girl. "Where are the technomancers son?" Looking at Dalihlia, he nodded, "See what you can extract from them. I have to get moving."

[22:34 August 22, 2070 – Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

Pulling up a window of a drone feed on his AR display, Lt. Greaves sees the patrol exiting the tower. His team, formed up around him, appears apprehensive, perhaps disturbed by the unnatural events occuring so far. "Alright folks. No one said this was going to be easy. Just remember, you can trust in one another to see this thing through," he looked into each of their eyes in turn. After the slight pause he resumed, "We're headed out to Hobbiton to try and breach the tower from a secret entrance. Odd are, resistance will be less than barging in the front door. Obviously there are a lot of unknowns, but we'll adapt as the situation deems appropriate. There's a patrol headed this way. We're going to skirt their advance while Team 2 handles them. Any questions? No? Great! Let's move out!"

As Team 1 moved out, Lt. Greaves ran past Lt. Tantilla, "Patrol inbound. Set up an ambush and gank them. Ask for hacker help, see if you can't turn their drones on them as the ambush is about to drop. Good luck!"

Sticks

[22:34 August 22, 2070 - Riding the E-Ther]

<<@C&C They've gone hot. Their perimeter security has gone active.>> Sticks spent a few moments updating the appropriate information for the TACNet, highlighting for Lt Greaves and his squad the lightwells delimiting the likely entrance to Hobbiton.

<<Good Luck L-T. Keep an eye on stuff, communications are hinky around that tower. They've just shut themselves off from the Metroplex >>

He prioritizes the squad into a list of targets. Facial recognition requests sent back to the Hackers working the C&C.

<<And we've got a medium armed squad heading towards the School house. I can provide cover fire for Antilla's team. But what ever we do, better make it quick.>>

Sticks puts up the countdown for the Drone net being fully operational on everyone's HUD. <<Once that goes up, we won't be able to sneak around.>>

Reaching back to the drones running patrol, Sticks moves two of his personal roto-drones forward to provide firepower.

Cpt. Stern
[22:35 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

Red lights began to flash across his AR display and he swore quietly to himself

<<@Sticks: I don’t know how but we’ve lost our satellite uplink. Reid will maintain comms here, I’m going virtual to try and patch the link or find another one. In the meantime I want you to extend our range with the retrans and try and pick up a wireless signal from Outlaw. Keep an eye on those enemy drones, without Signals to deal with them you may need to take them out yourself. Lt. Greaves has operation control while I’m away…>>

Sticks
[22:35 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

…”I will not let this fall apart on me now. The Forward Teams may not have been able to suppress their targets but I will not let a backwater group of hippies get the better of Deep Watch”

Your internal cameras pick up Stern muttering under his breath…

Dahlia Bekhit
[22:33 August 22, 2070 – Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]


By the time the sudden static died down, Dahlia was already leaning against the wall with one arm. In a slump, the woman briefly set her goggles on her forehead to wipe some sweat out of her eyes. What the hell was that? It took her a moment or two to register what Armored said. The moment passed, and Dahlia nodded and replaced the goggles on her eyes. She wasn’t exactly an interrogator, and didn’t really have much of an idea of what she was doing. But, hey, it was all part of the learning process. She could think of it as an…experiment!

As Armored left the room, and left the captives to Dahlia, the woman turned to her medkit and took out a clean pair of gloves. She took the time to rearrange her vials and clean syringes before turning to the children stuck in the room with her. Another handful of heartbeats passed in silence as Dahlia tried to think of a suitable question.

“Has anyone in your community been acting odd?” she asked before recalling the comm fragment. “Do any of you have siblings? Younger siblings?”

Dahlia Bekhit
[22:39 August 22, 2070 – Forward Fire Base Tango Niner]

Left alone apart from one of the other runners, Tirade, you try and tell yourself you’re not at all nervous and almost believe it. It seems to have become darker despite the summer stars overhead. The girl, Sarah, is sobbing to herself and Jay seems to be in a state of shock. The younger boy, and he seems younger than you’d first thought, perhaps seven, seems to be getting increasingly irate in his restraints…

“You leave my sister alone. You’re a bad lady…” and there it is again, the painful burst of static accompanies his scream, this time you are able to isolate yourself from your earpieces…

“My, my, two little lost lambs…” comes a voice from the darkness and then before you can even think to react you are sprayed with coppery blood. Turning, you see a matte black blade projecting from Tirade’s chest, rammed through despite the layers of body armour

“Run away little lamb…”

Sticks
[22:39 August 22, 2070 - Riding the E-Ther]

Approaching the tower from the south west you see Stallion helicopter inbound…

Armored
[22:39 August 22, 2070 – Northern approach to the tower]

You can hear the dull whisk of helicopter blades in the distance but otherwise the area is unnaturally quiet…

Sticks
[22:39 August 22, 2070 - Forward Operations Point Alpha]

As you briefly scan your internal cameras once more you see that Stern has begun to thrash in his restraints and then an alarming trickle of blood begins to leak from one nostril. Sergeant Reid has obviously seen it too as he runs an AR diagnostic on the Captain’s biomonitor. His pulse is seriously elevated and the brainwave patterns are erratic. Suddenly the Captain slumps forward and the familiar tone of a flatline accompanies the bio alert that flashes across your vision.