July 29th 2075; Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens]

Elaine Wolf-Blood paced back and forth in the briefing room. The repeating click of her combat boots lost in the echoes of the empty room as she set up her display. Quickly files transferred from a data chip she installed in a secure terminal, enslaving the wired trid and AR systems in the wifi inhibited room.

Schematics, assault plans, OpFor estimates and the likes streamed from the chip into the terminal, all ready for display once the briefing began. Ms. Wolf-Blood took a seat beside a podium and looked out at the arrayed seating, awaiting Bravo Team's arrival.

<<text message @Bravo Team-- Reminder, meeting and briefing at 0800, 20 minutes>>

Requiem
[July 29th 2075; Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens]

Requiem stalked in to the briefing room before the appointed time, briefly regretting his decision to step out of the shadows (at least partially) for more consistent work...at least the hours had been more to his choosing, his bones ached in the mornings and he felt all of his years despite his apparent youth.

Shelby Jackson, aka Joke, 0755, July 29, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Walking into the room, Shelby wonders how this job will be different from the last. It would be interesting to get something new to do.

Glancing at the screens, and those in the room, Shelby sits in the second row.

Thordrim "Clutch" McHale, July 29th, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Thordrim was hard at work in the hangar when he received the message about the briefing for Bravo team at 0800. He noticed the message icon pop up in his AR display and pulled his head out of the engine compartment of the Dragon he was working on, dusted himself off, and headed for the briefing room. He stopped at a vending machine along the way and picked up a can of Soy-Cola, then entered the briefing room just seconds before 0800.

Thordrim bee-lined for the nearest seat to the door, and immediately started opening various menu screens in his AR display to record the briefing and collect and sort all of the data they were going to be given. He gave Elaine a friendly nod right as she was about to begin.

July 29th 2075; Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens]

Giving a brief smile towards the assembled team, Elaine quickly stands in front of the podium and slightly dims the lights before a Trid layout of what appears to be a 1950s lumber mill appears in front of the seats from the projector inlaid in the floor. Floor schematics open up on the walls behind her, while a series of aerial and satellite photos appear on the left with OpFor information on the right. AR overlays allow for more detailed information to be accessed as well.

A quick smile crosses the woman's lips before she gets down to the business of addressing Bravo Team. "After sifting through multiple contracts we have been hired on for an asset demolition mission. For the most part the job is rather straightforward."

She quickly steps to the side as the aerial and satellite photos float over and appear as AR overlays beside the Trid projection.

"The target is a former lumber mill in the California Free State. It has been used by several groups over the last century for legitimate and illegitimate purposes, and is currently being used by a group of smugglers and pirates as a secondary base of operations and storage depo for stolen and smuggled goods. The site is in a large tributary river, allowing water access, as well as rough road access and a landing pad for VTOL and rotor based vehicles. The primary objective is the total destruction of the compound, above and underground. Basic schematics have been provided with the intel packages, but the interior layout is only reliable for the main floor. The worrisome element here is a underground basement level. Our employer is unable to gain access to the layout of the area, but it is estimated to be large, twice the size of the main building, with a secondary entrance in the water itself, evident from the presence of fresh water merrow entering and leaving.

"The territory is claimed by a small time 'warlord' who the local government hasn't had the time nor resources to remove from power, so official response teams will not be coming to hamper our work. As well, the warlord leaves most of the area well alone for his customers, so any military response from him will be a long time coming, giving us roughly one hour before advance forces will be on scene."

The AR overlay quickly changes to show the OpFor information, with both image and text heavy overlays present.

"The opposition here are members of a piracy and smuggling based organization in the CFS, locally famous for preying on denizens of the flooded El Inferno region as well as shipping concerns in the area. Satellite and aerial sweeps have shown there to be usually between 8-14 metahumans on site at any one time. Primarily human, with meta presence being primarily Ork and several trolls have been seen among the group. Primary weapons are military surplus assault rifles, combat shotguns with basic armoured jackets due to the heat. As for the merrow, it seems to be either a small tribe or just several members if a tribe acting as a go between, usually 3-5 on scene, though they have been scene with near milspec gear, primarily water adapted rifles.

"As far as Intel had shown, the group based at the mill has minimal magical capabilities, as well as matrix abilities, with the site being primarily physically protected."

"Any questions?"

Thordrim "Clutch" McHale, July 29th, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

"Oh I got one," Clutch chimed in awkwardly, "If total destruction of the place is the aim here, why not just put a volley of bunker-bustin' JDAMs on top of it, and burn out any survivors with incendiaries?"

Clutch then looked over at the rest of the team with an exceedingly sarcastic grin; "Or would that be a tactic outside the operational budget for the contract they offered, sir?"

Requiem
[July 29th 2075; Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens]

Where's the catch? Requiem mused to himself, thinking despite himself as a runner, we swoop in, stomp on them hard and then get to dance on their graves. The thought of that nebulous basement made him shudder...too many he'd seen had Bugs in them (it was even capitalised in his mind's eye), even after his time in Firewatch...

Shelby Jackson, aka Joke, 0805, July 29, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Reading through the shown data, looking for the ways in and out, counting bodies shown on the trid, and estimating her needs, Shelby pipes up with...

Yeah, here's my question - do we have to worry about survivors?

July 29th 2075; Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens]

Pulling out a few AR files from her 'link, Elaine puts up a legal, redacted, contract for their operation from the CFS government.

"That possibility crossed our employers minds mr. Clutch, but their application to use those heavy of ordinance in another jurisdiction, in this case California's, was denied since this isn't considered an active warzone."

"As per the Seretech decision, the employer is allowed to use deadly force to protect their bottom line, with this case being their elimination of active pirates and smugglers. They have also received legal permission to due so through a security third party as per the legal requirements through the Mercenary Act from the local government. Which means we get the work and any good or bad PR, they get the results. Everybody is happy".

With a quick smile she then addresses Shelby, "To be honest, no legal SINs have been noticed so honestly none of the deaths will be illegal. Though executing SINless may be a bit... bad for publicity. To be honest, if survivors escape it is completely acceptable and fine, the only objective is the sites destruction. Casualty count is irrelevant."

Shelby Jackson, aka Joke, 0808, July 29, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Musing to herself, "enemy" survivors irrelevant, check...okay, need to get explosive ammo for the Alpha...how far away is this place...do I need to pack anything but ammo?...I hope someone here is good with explosives for the basement...grenades will only work so much for demolition...

Great, so what resources do we still need to acquire before setting out? I'm not a demolitions expert, so someone here better be able to set lots of explosives for that basement. Oh, and how long is the trip?

Shelby Jackson, aka Joke, 0809, July 29, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Thinking more strategically, she interrupts with more questions...

How big is our strike team, and who is leading this rodeo? Are we being dropped in a distance away, and hiking/swimming in, or do we get dropped on their own landing pad? Is there enough of us to make a two-prong entrance: one via water-basement and one on land through the front door to meet in the middle?

Thordrim "Clutch" McHale, July 29th, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Chuckling to himself at Elaine's response, Clutch studied the layout of the facility in his AR display. It never ceased to amaze him as to how many rules the powers that be made about how exactly you were allowed to blow somebody up.

Clutch looked around the briefing room after hearing Joke's inquiry about the size of the strike team, and said with a shrug, "I think this is it; which might spread us a bit thin if we tried a two pronged attack."

"Given the terrain, it looks like an Aerial insertion would be best," Clutch stated, highlighting the map through AR as he spoke. "We could use the Dragon to drop the strike team a couple miles out to maintain the element of surprise, while I deploy my recon drones to scout ahead. I will stay in the Dragon and run Comm Control, and provide fire support from the air once the team is in place."

While waiting to hear what they thought of his plan, he added curiously, "By the way, who is footing the bill for this gig?"

Shelby Jackson, aka Joke, 0810, July 29, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Please tell me I won't have to jump-you'll land the, what did you call it, Dragon, before I have to get out!

Thordrim "Clutch" McHale, July 29th, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

It was too good to pass up...

"Actually I was thinking about a HALO jump, Shelby," Clutch said as matter-of-factly as he possibly could, "High-Altitude, Low-Oxygen. I'll take us up to an altitude of around 10,000 meters before we make the jump."

Seeing Jackson's face go slightly pale, Clutch continued.

"Two things, remember to bring your respirator and dress warm. Its bloody cold up there and there ain't much air. You need to free-fall for 7,000 meters or so before pulling your slowdown chute, and remember, don't pull the main parachute! At the speeds you will plummeting to the Earth, have you heard of terminal velocity? Nevermind. Well the force of your main chute deploying at that speed could snap your back and leave you paralyzed, and gently land you somewhere 100 kilometers off-course. Maybe you should be writing this down?"

Shelby Jackson, aka Joke, 0812, July 29, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Not knowing this guy, Shelby doesn't know how serious he is, so she looks around the room, looking for other reactions to his explanation....

Somebody, please tell me he's joking.

Deciding he is making fun of her and her fears I mean hesitancy, Shelby says to him I don't like people making fun of me. This is your only warning.

Shelby starts to get flashbacks of the guys she used to work with and their practical jokes. They realized early on that she didn't take to jokes or pranks very well and gave her the nickname of Joke because of her bad reactions every time they tried something.

July 29th 2075; Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens]

With a shake to her head, Elaine pipes up again to answer questions, and head off any 'heated discussions'.

"That's enough Mr.Clutch."

"As for team layouts, it is solely Bravo team entering this contract, so 5-man point team assisted by drones. And no, there will be no HELO drop, too risky. A conventional approach by either APC it Dragon Roto-craft will be the best entry points. As for explosives, we have several caches of high grade plastique and C4 to be brought along, so don't worry about that. Any non-standard ammunition can be purchased at cost from the quartermaster pre deployment. Mission is expected to last less than 1hr so survival supplies aren't needed, as transport to the deploy site is being provided along with rations and the like en route."

Addressing Clutch, Elaine brings up the copy if their employment contract through the mercenary guild, "As it says here in the files available for download, the bill is being footed by S-K prime. Seems that the smugglers and pirates have been hitting heavy into the bottom line of not only their west coast operations, but hampering and disrupting their operations all the way to the CAS. 75% of funds up front for contract acceptance and the remainder on completion."

Shelby Jackson, aka Joke, 0815, July 29, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Deciding to ignore the situation, Shelby downloads all the applicable data for reviewing later; maps of the area and available facility plans for likely encounters being her main interest.

Giving Clutch another dirty look, she turns to Elaine, So, when do we leave? I know I need to acquire some additional ammo before takeoff.

Requiem
[July 29th 2075; Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens]

Damn, he knew he should have brushed up on demolitions again, there just wasn't much call for it as a runner, at least with the pro team that he had had the honour of working with. Requiem knew enough to lay breaching charges but brining down a structure was significantly more difficult. Ah well, in this case, the bigger the bang the better...as long as they were well clear when it went off of course!

Shelby Jackson, aka Joke, 0816, July 29, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Uuhmm - You didn't answer my question of who's got demolitions expertise. We are taking along all these explosives, but they won't get placed on their own. I don't mind pulling the trigger, in fact I'd love to push the button, but you really don't want me being the "man" on the ground responsible for getting them set up.

Thordrim "Clutch" McHale, July 29th, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Thordrim had to hide his grin after the chiding from Elaine, but it quickly disappeared when he heard her mention that this run was for Saeder-Krupp. Years of fighting against S-K during the Siege of Berlin had taught him well how cold-blooded a Megacorp could truly be.

"I still think we should use the Dragon," Clutch stated, playing along that he was actually serious when he had suggested the HALO jump. "It will allow us easier deployment as well as superior extraction capabilities."

Double Post, my apologies.

July 29th 2075; Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens]

Taking a look over at Joke, Elaine chuckles. "True enough, the demolitions and matrix over watch will be provided by Officer Delant, who is coming over from our Securities department, while magical support is being provided by an outside operator named "Raptor". And yes the name is stupid, but we needed some magical support for this job to bring Bravo back up to full strength, so don't harass the man until after the mission is complete. .

Shelby Jackson, aka Joke, 0818, July 29, 2075, Phoenix HQ, Puyallup Barrens

Looking around the room, considering the known players...I hope the "old" man can keep up...I really don't want to have to hurt Clutch...

Getting antsy, and wanting to move this along...Shelby has never been one to over plan...She's got the basics...Destroy the entire building, upper and lower...Take out those who resist me, but don't worry about those who escape...Need to get more ammo before takeoff...Wonder if they will let me push one of the buttons...That decker better be good, I don't want my devices touched...Let's get a move on...

Are we going to meet the new guys on the tarmac or what? I really do need more ammo... With a "smile" on her face...I forgot to stock up after the last run...