Jacob wasn't as surprised as the others probably were over Aimee's dramatic reveal of her true manner of speaking, as it was familiar to him. Indeed, upon her mentioning of Terminal Pass, he couldn't help but grin almost wistfully. He did remember that, after all how could he ever forget his first near-death experience? The Pass crew, as some of the others on the Assault team had taken to calling themselves, still occasionally got together during academy. Indeed, they had been known as one of the most damn effective Assault teams around, and given the incredible competence of most teams, that was saying a lot. However, for a moment as she drug him along to meet people, he was lost in how own recollection of events.

[hider=Flashback "Terminal Pass: Jacob Murphy"]
[b][u]June 1st, 2019, 0300 Hours[/u][/b]

[i]Smack![/i] The sound of clips being loaded into guns filled the chopper as the assault team got ready to move. Ten minutes separated them from their objective, a raid on an outpost in the middle of a canyon. They were all nervous, unsure of themselves because, this was their first operation together as a team. This raid would determine if they were cleared to operate as a team by the "top brass" back at the Academy. They all had to be ready and willing, and most importantly, they had to work together as a well oiled team. They'd roped a few students from other branches into helping them, a Dagula, a Lezzad, and the Logi flying them in now.

A sudden, disquieting sensation filled Jacob's stomach as he looked around however, and the feel of it was different from nerves. One of the others, however, put a name to this sensation. "[color=aba000]Shit! We're falling! What the hell's going on!?![/color]" A loud voice filled the bay, and all hell began to break loose. Jacob, however, heard the pilot's voice over the intercom, barely audible over the chaos of a bunch of assaults trying to escape the chopper. Ropes were being connected for a million-to-one jump, with one such line hurriedly clipped to Jacob's own belt by one of his mates. "[i][color=39b54a]Wait...she sounded pretty sure she could fix it, and she's a Logi, she's trained for this stuff...just like we're trained for combat.[/color][/i]"

The thought crossed his mind, and Jacob got to his feet and resorted to the most effective way he could think of to calm the team, calling out "[color=39b54a]Gamma Team, stand-to![/color]" The others, almost instinctively, shuffled into a line in front of the door. He then looked around and began to call out to his team-mates. "[color=39b54a]We're fucking Butei, we can handle something as easy as a crashing chopper! O'Brien, open the emergency panel beneath your seat. Wilkins, your pop was an electrician, get me an override double quick! Everyone else, sit your asses down and check your kit, we aren't done yet![/color]" The team seemed in shock for a moment at Murphy's booming orders, but got to work nonetheless, trusting him with their lives. This wasn't a weight Jacob wanted to bear, but that would just have to be how it was for now. He sat down, leaned back in the seat, and forced a facade of calm for his team-mates. Inside, however, he was terrified, praying for deliverance.

It was a terrifying 15 seconds before the sound of a falling helicopter became wild thrashing, the team being thrown about within the bay as the rotors suddenly powered back on and the pilot fought to decelerate the chopper and regain altitude. Anything that wasn't tied down, including Wilkins, went flying around in the chopper. Thankfully, she was caught by O'Brien, the burly Irish man making the catch of the smaller, almost mousy Canadian with ease. As the thrashing slowly eased back into flight, he released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and waited. It was ten more minutes before the call came, ropes were connected, and the team rappeled in. The breach was quick, effective, and the team worked together like a well-oiled machine. It took seven minutes to clear the three-story building, and then they were back on the chopper, heading back home.

[b][u]June 1st, 2019, 1900 Hours[/u][/b]

"[color=39b54a]Here's to Miss Aces! Flyin us into, and outta, hell with a broken bird! Best pilot we've ever seen, and a helluva woman to boot![/color]" Jacob called out with un-characteristic brusqueness, at least as far as a girl was concerned, but that didn't matter. This was a celeberation, a festival to celeberate them getting home in one piece, with an incredibly efficient operation to boot! He laughed and drank down the beer he wasn't quite old enough to enjoy, at least not back in America. The pilot, Aimee Askins, had already been branded "Miss Aces" by the drop team, and was the talk of the night. After all, she had basically worked a miracle with that bird, so it wasn't like it wasn't deserved. He was pretty sure he'd seen O'Brien looking to hit on her, though Wilkins had put the stop to that real quick. Amad had even shown interest, and not much got the serious Pakistani man's heart racing, not even combat. As for him, Murphy didn't try his luck, because he was pretty sure he'd seen her around with some German, so he would cede the opportunity to his team-mates and the German. For now, he drank, laughed, smiled, and managed to hold a coherent conversation about the mission and life with Aimee "Miss Aces" Askins.

All in all, a night to remember, so he made sure not to drink enough to forget

[/hider]

The memory came rushing through Murphy in the time it took her to drag him over to meet with Victor, Arryn and Deuce. He'd been drug all over the place by now, not that he minded. Miss Aces here was welcome to drag him wherever she felt like it, 'cept the bedroom. After all, sharing a near-death experience with someone tended to cause bonding, whether you liked it or not. He grinned as she gave a brief introduction to all of them, and replied to Arryn after she spoke "[color=39b54a]It's alright miss, I understand. I didn't feel snubbed neither. I talk a big game about gunnery, but I'm not rather proud of the talent either. Not really something that got earned, y'know? Audie Murphy earned it, I'm just ridin off his coat-tails.[/color]" He shrugged in response to that as he sat opposite Aimee and beside Deuce and Arryn. When Aimee offered to go get snacks, he replied with an easy smile "[color=39b54a]I s'pose I'll try a scone, never have had one before in m'life.[/color]" True to form, Miss Aces was back pretty quick with the foods promised. But, before he dug in, he shot her a grin and added "[color=39b54a]Oh, almost forgot to answer your earlier comment, Miss Aces. Us in the pass crew lived fer a reason, right? We're all certified badasses with enough luck to make a four-leaf clover look like a black cat covered in spilled salt walking under a ladder while breaking a mirror.[/color]" His little analogy done, he returned to business and at the scone in few quick bites. He couldn't help but grin more after eating it, it was pretty good for such a fancy food. He just have to return to this Starbucks sometime while they were here, see if the scones were always this good.

Then however, they were called over for the briefing, and he listened attentively as the TL went through the plan. He slowly nodded as, purely tactically, it was rather sound. Granted, he wasn't sure about Negasi's bloodline, but he didn't know the man yet, so he had no reason to distrust him in the field yet. He did, however, know the man wasn't an assault, and that Jacob was likely going to have to do the majority of the heavy lifting for the frontal assault team. He, honestly, would've preferred Suzumi as a partner, after all infinite suppression is always something you want. Though, based on the weapon preferences listed in the dossier, Negasi favored the MP5, one of H&K's best gifts to the world of special operations. The MP5 should lay down plenty of suppression, it would just be suppression that was barred by the laws of reality, unlike what Suzumi could provide. After the briefing, he was offered a COM by Arryn, which he accepted gratefully. Putting it in his ear, he walked over to his duffel bag and pulled out his M4, slinging it about his shoulder. He grabbed the tactical belt within as well and clipped it on, sliding his extra ammunition into their slots on the belt. He nodded and then double checked his 92FS, found it ready as ever, and gave a thumbs up as he said "[color=39b54a]Lineman is ready for action.[/color]"

He then walked over to Sloan, casually offering his hand for a shake as he said "[color=39b54a]We'll be hittin the field together Negasi, that means I'm puttin my life in your hands, you'll have to do the same. I'll keep you alive and you keep me alive.[/color]" that done, he then glanced over to Ellis, saying "[color=39b54a]Hey, uhh, Ellis right? Your piece is a 45, yeah? A revolver too. Plenty good for projecting an image, but maybe not the best for an intel man storming a building. If you want, you can trade me sidearms for this run. I can handle a revolver fine, but you may have more success with my Beretta in such close quarters.[/color]"