Silver chugged back and forth in the sea, as Cat leant back, supporting herself with her arms behind her, and stretching out her legs. She toed the sand with the tips of her cloven hooves, wiggling them and smiling at the sensation as she listened to Max.
She gave a slow nod in agreement with the lion's observation.
"Aye, I thought-" she cut off as a spasm of coughing caught her mid-sentence and her voice turned more raspy. She held it for a moment before trying again, grimacing briefly as she touched her throat where the shemagh-style scarf covered it, keeping it on even with her BDU shirt removed.
"I thought I was done for myself." she said with a thoughtful air. "But no, glad tae be still here and bein' a big hoofin' nusiance to all of ye wherever I can," she grinned sidelong at the lion and chuckled softly at the thought. "My brother came to visit me when I was in the hospital recovering, and the cheeky bastard said the only reason he reckoned I didna die is because I'm too bloody stubborn to go. Or like you said," she said with another lopsided smile across her broad, squarish muzzle. "I'm sick of seein' the other wankers gettin' it wrong all the time and need ta shown 'em all how it's done proper like".
She tilted her head back and looked up at the sky again; her long red hair, pulled back in her characteristic braid swayed a little in the breeze. The grey uniform T-shirt clung to her far-more-than-ample curves, emphasising how big she was in all dimensions; the cow wasn't thin, nor petite, but her carefree and confident demeanour matched up well with how well the bovine wore her weight - and size.
She looked back to Max after a moment, looking down as she curled one of her thick, powerful arms and gave a small smile. "I'm near back to fightin' fit," she commented. "Before too long, I'll be back on the front line wi' the rest of you, and then I'll really get tae showin' yeh how it's done all right".
She looked back out to the water and her long ears flicked in amusement, piercings gleaming in the sunshine. "Look at the boss go," she said with a smirk. "D'you think he got an outboard motor fitted when they put that arm on?"

Max smiled, chuckling at her comment about getting it done proper. Max had to empathise, Cat had some stones about her and well, didn't mince her words She seemed considered, profound and thoughtful in what she said and thought. The sheer size of Cat reminded him that when kicking down a door, someone like her was not gonna ever be an easy fight- but her warm nature made conversation soothing. The lion smiled, as she mentioned coming back to fitness.
"You'll be kicking in doors, GEAR or not all in time I bet. Can't keep us down, can we?" Max added, giving a light laugh as he brushed his eyes out of any sand, shaking his hair to get any more out. It caught a little from lying here, and whilst he was used to it, it wasn't a nice feeling for anyone- Max aware more than just most as he sat up a little. The lion's slender, optimised nature seemed almost what you would expect from an operator of his type, used to the long slogs of recon rather than the confines of a GEAR and heavy arnaments. His golden eyes and hair blew in the wind cooly, as care-free as the operator who had let them grow out. He knew of no lion with a particularly short mane, but his was surely one of the wilder ones, well, given he hadn't bleached it or done anything truly unruly to get him kicked out of his position.

Watching on at Silverwind, the older fox was letting himself go as he swam in the ocean, Max chuckling as he heard Cat's next comment.
"Who knows....he probably had an insight into it's development, I mean, if you're gonna have an artificial limb, may as well get something else put into it, right? With him, nothing suprises me anymore." Max said, shrugging, watching him go.

"Remarkable for his age, really. Guess we're all a crazy breed. All fighters." The lion commented, smiling to Cat, letting his own side down a little, yawning as he stretched out a little, his lean, well chiselled physique on display. He seemed balanced, but knew that comparitively, someone like Anna took that even further. While she was shorter than both him and Cat, there was no doubt in his mind that the jaguar was almost twice as terrifying, someone who had been forged by the operations she'd gone on, and her own unbreakable nature. The black feline was like electricity in pace, quicker and somewhat more applied in her brute force, a needle rather than a hammer. Size mattered in CQC, but sometimes, it was the cerebral that sometimes won fights too.

Checking his Pebble, Max tapped through a few, realising that their GEARs were getting worked upon, given the diagonstics nearly coming to a close. It wouldn't be too long till they were done- but the lion knew that moments like these were going to be far and few between. With that in mind, he rested his head back down, and exhaled, smirking.
"Oh, this is the life."

Cat grinned and gave a nod of agreement to Max's comment; this definitely was a welcome break. After the last few months of frantic action, twists and turns of conspiracies and mortal injuries, it was a much-needed moment that had none of those things, just a simple, peaceful reminder that there were other aspects to life and society than horrible people doing miserable things to each other, and living with stress, pressure and secrecy as the normal day-to-day. The huge bovine gave a relaxed sigh and stretched back, supporting herself on her elbows and stretching out her legs, looking up at the sky and letting the sun warm through her fur and hair.
"It's nice to just be lazy," she commented to Max and Anna after a few moments, without looking to either of them. "I needed a moment like this, and I hope we don't have to wait too long for another one".
Silver waded out of the water and made his way back up the beach to the group, shaking his fur out en route; the saltwater would dry his fur out fairly raggedly too. But there'd be time to shower before they embarked on the mission and he had to change into his pilot gear.
He sat down on the side alongside the others, smiling over. "That was... refreshing," he said with a chuckle. "Can see why ya did the jump in, too," he commented to Max, as he sat with his elbows resting on his knees and let the sun dry out the rest of his fur, and enjoying the peace and quiet. The same thoughts that Max and Cat had discussed wove their way through his mind too; the peace and quiet was there to be enjoyed, and the moment was a breather from the bouncing from mission to mission of the normal daily routine of his life. How long since the last proper break? Even this was a snatched moment between other things. The thought was a wince-worthy sting, and the silver fox resolved that soon, as soon as he was able, there'd be time for himself.

Max chuckled, watching as Silverwind came back up the beach, sitting down as he lay out himself too.
"Yeah, nothing like the sea! Let's enjoy it while we can...I hope we get another, but if things go well, I have a funny feeling we might not..." The lion commented, yawning as like Silver and Cat, he was just enjoying this peace and calm that compared to going out there and operating. The calm of the waves coming in, and the occasional call of birds while lying on the soft sand was good enough for him.

It would only last a couple more hours Max mused to himself, time to get away and get some proper rest in. Just as Max put his head back, shutting his eyes, he heard something ambient on the horizon, something that instantly caught his ear.
"Hang on...the fuck is that noise?" Max commented, the sound of a quiet whine getting nosier and nosier- the lion already half wondering what the hell it was. It was high in pitch, but still quiet, enough to catch his particularly sensitive hearing, as he turned and saw just what it was. Almost as if on cue, Max sat up, his jaw open, watching on as the black silouette darted past the sun, dropping altitude over the sea and travelling at a rapid rate. That was what she had meant by a quiet afternoon in....of course.

Anna had to admit, finding them hadn't been that hard but hell, it'd been the journey, not the destination that had mattered for her. After all, when you're using a jet-powered wingpack and you're about to do some infiltration using a piece of experimental equipment, nothing like a dry run to calm your nerves, right? She thought to herself it was probably better this way she didn't tell them- well, apart from dropping in just now. Her natural flair and control let her almost get on level with the sea with the wingpack, barely on the throttle before hitting the brakes, not even needing her parachute here to stop herself. The amount of thrust she had at her disposal made it easy by being able to flare out the wingpack, almost like how a VTOL would pull in to land, a clean and gentle flare to stop and land with the jets helping to basically slow her decent down.

Landing on the beach with a gentle stomp, the jaguar pulled her tinted helmet off her head and cut the jets, the wings folding back in as she laughed like a schoolgirl, almost running around in front and definitely on a high that Max could only tell was rare for the team's infiltrator. Anna may have been loaded up with an operational loadout, but there was no doubt for Max that she was having fun while doing so.
"Oh my.....this thing is just crazy!" Anna yelped, Max standing up as he could only admire it, chuckling equally in response. She certainly had an experience with that thing- given the fact she'd basically landed precisely in front of them, no parachute needed to Max's eyes was insane- and he had no idea how much that might have messed with Cat and Silver.

"Bloody hell...okay, that was cool. But you know you could have just come with us to the beach in the jeep if you really wanted to come, right?" Max cooly replied, winking to Silver and Cat as he did, Anna sighing as she still was catching her breath, almost consumed by what this thing could do. Vertical take-off and landing, plus covering ground like a minature jet fighter was just lucid to her, and Max couldn't say he wasn't pulling her strings a bit as the jaguar sighed, uncertain just how to reply.
"Yeah, but this is way, way cooler."
"If you say so..."

Silver's ears flicked and he frowned, and looked around curiously as Max pointed out the sound, with Cat soon doing the same thing. She sat up, shieding her eyes with her hands and squinting up into the skies, while Silver did the same thing from his elbows-back position.
Both looked on in amazement and interest as Anna swooped over the beach, performing her elegant and spectacular manoeuver, before coming in for a dramatic landing. Silverwind applauded with a grin, while Cat gave a whistle of appreciation.
Like Max, the pair stood up, dusting the sand off of themselves and moving closer to get a better look at the powered wing suit. Silver moved around Anna as she spoke to Max, admiring the suit and getting a closer look.
"No kidding that's cool, Anna" he commented after she and Max had said their piece. "I can already imagine how much it's gonna change things... and how much fun it is," he said with a grin and a wag of his tail. "We're all going to be flying everywhere pretty soon," he said with a shake of his head. "Changing the way we do things fer sure".

Anna chuckled, looking across to the Colonel as she turned, looking at her wing before back to the vulpine in command, clearly a little more opened up by the whole thing.
"Maybe not too soon....this thing's an absolute nightmare to pilot. I might make it look easy but what can I say, if I wasn't a jaguar I'd be a falcon, maybe. But hey, I'm sure they'll sort you all out soon enough." Anna commented, chuckling as Max in turn chuckled, shaking his head.
"And I'd be a jellyfish but here we are. Not a bad way of making an entrance. Now this is a bit of kit I need to procure. Not for operations, but just...you know, because." Max commented, Anna pffing in response, shrugging as she chuckled to herself, looking on.

"So how about the three of you then? Were you having a calm time before I came and interrupted?" Anna asked, Max nodding, Anna sighing a little as Max laughed in response, patting her shoulder as she looked up, sighing.
"Absolutely. We were doing absolutely nothing....then you flew by. Literally." Max added, chuckling, Anna shrugging as she looked back to Silverwind and Cat, sighing a little about Max. She was a little too serious sometimes, even if right now she was a little euphoric about how this thing worked.

"Yeah, I have that effect. Anyway, the system all works. Allows me to carry the usual, Colonel. So consider me good to go." She said, nonchalantly taking the topic back to their operations, an effect perhaps Max didn't really appreciate as he himself walked around her, then back at the cliffs, sighing.
"Shit, you really never stop, do you? Silver, as I said, there's your person who can infiltrate anything, but R&R is way too difficult for her..." Max mused, Anna shrugging as she widened her stance, flicking her wings out again. Ah, so she was going just as fast as she arrived, Max realised. Scooping her helmet back over her head, she chuckled back to Max, giving a menacing grin.

"Yep...and on that note...I will leave you to what do you do best then, Max!" She called out, the jets starting up with a gentle whine again as the sand kicked up, Anna running down the beach as she slowly cranked up the volume, before turning it up to pull her away, the wingpack acting effectively as a jetpack, and pulling her over the waves, before she cranked up the volume literally and metaphorically. Max's mouth was ajaw, watching as she casually went from a slow hover into a fast flight, climbing in speed and acceleration at a rate that must have been simply searing to watch from the shore. Max had to admit, as much as Anna pissed him off, she had a talent for these things. Turning to the Colonel, Max shrugged, sighing. With Cat and Silver, he felt more at home enjoying the rest of R&R, and while he understood her intentions, and just how phenominal she could be, especially now, making easy what probably no Arvaran had done, it was dealing with her quirk that could easily irk some.

"She's bloody difficult, Silver. But you know what they say. Best assets are the ones that are your most difficult, or in Anna's case...well, she has her way."

Silver held a hand to his brow to follow Anna's progress as the jaguar took to the skies and climbed away, letting out a low whistle and shaking his head, waving as she circled back around and then flew away. He turned back as Max spoke nodding in understanding.
"Ehh, yeah; and sometimes the more difficult ones are worth th' effort an' all too," he said with a smile and a shrug. "She might be a l'il frosty now an' then, but she's warm enough on the inside, I reckon".
"Aww," Cat said in an amused tone, patting the fox on the shoulder from behind. "Boss, I think ye might have a soft spot for all of us after all".
"Oh shut up," he said dryly with a smirk back to the big bovine. "You know I do".
He sighed and stretched his arms up over his head, before standing with hands on his hips. "Reluctantly, I think the flying cat might have had a point about something; while we have a while, th' mission's callin' an' all. An' I dunno about y'all, but I've got a mighty hunger. What say while we're at liberty, we go get some decent chow from somewhere that ain't a mess hall 'fore we have to head back to the base and put on our professional faces?"

Max chuckled, nodding to Silver as he agreed with what he had to say. She may have been cold, calculated and ruthless in her execution of work, always obsessed with it, but deep down inside her there was someone he cared about, and vice-versa. While some friends would let him die in some hellhole, somehow Max would always guess that someone like Anna would crawl through hell to get him out, just so she could keep ripping him a new one.

That was a good friendship to have, between the both of them.
"Oh yeah....she will happily kill in cold blood, but honestly, when you figure out that all it takes to make her super exited is when she nerds out over kit like that? Yeah, it gets easier, I supppose."

Anna's wingpack disappeared into the horizon, heading back inland as Max nodded to Cat and Silver, agreeing that food sounded like a great idea right about now. Cat's teasing of Silver had gotten that out of him- he did care, on a deeper level, and it was a warm feeling to have knowing full well that there was that almost family-like aspect to them already. It was the way it was in special forces, and Max was glad it was the same here- as aloof as he could be at times, it was good to have that level of trust.

"Aye, me too, I could seriously do with some sea-food here, I bet it's delish....I mean I see food, I eat it, if you get what I mean"? Max added with a chortle, knowing full well that on this op to come going back to MREs and crappy rations was gonna be a rarity, compared to this. Heading off the beach and back up the bluffs, they were quickly able to get back to the military jeep, sitting there on the afternoon sun and awaiting their taking. Walking up, the lion looked back across to Silverwind and Catriona, the lion stretching out as he yawned a little, covering his gob as he did so before he spoke.
"There was a local village near here, can't remember the name, but they do a lot of good food. Silver, as our CO, want to take the pick?"

Cat climbed back into the rear seats of the jeep and sprawled out again, big as she was it was well-sized for her. Silver took his seat back in the front alongside Max and gave an enthusiastic nod at the idea.
"Heck yeah, that sounds good ta me. Let's go take a look at the place an' see what we can find. I'm already thinkin' of something in th' shape of a burger"
Cat piped up from the back seat, leaning forward between the pair of them. "Hey, as long as it's got somethin' fer me as well as you two meat-eaters, I'm happy."
Silverwind nodded in agreement. "I reckon we oughta be able to find somethin' that suits us all. Let's get going. Lead on, driver," Silverwind said to Max with an amused smile.

With that, Max pulled out as the engine rumbled into life, the dirt kicking up from the dusty track they had come down to these cliffs from the rear tyres. It wasn't a comfy ride, but this thing was meant for getting the job done, not exactly entertaining foreign dignataries Max thought to himself- and well, you got used to it after enough time driving buggies smaller like this faster over even rougher terrain. His old team had made a habit out of it- a lightweight vehicle and a GEAR made a great hunter-killer combo, allowing for speed and precision firepower to blend perfectly. Well, when you had the upper hand, it usually worked at least.

Taking a pair of sunglasses out of his uniform's chest pocket, he put them on, sighing as he leaned back in the seat, taking in the coastal road's views, winding along to a small settlement down the road, their last little resort before going back into the fray of things.
"Now this is quaint. If it wasn't so bloody fickle here, what a holiday destination this would be..." Max commented aloofly, slowing down a little on the tight bends coming into the village, gently dropping the throttle in full awareness that his CO was in the car. While Silverwind wouldn't give a shit, he felt it was half an idea not to break local laws while out on R&R, even if minor...

Pulling into the village, Max was able to find a spot to park on the main street through town, remarkably enough, a spot that had no restrictions or meters, or anything. Damn, not a half bad find. Now, just to find a place to eat....and almost as if by cue, upon getting out of the jeep, Max could already see something.
"Hmmm....that looks good. What about that cafe over there, boss?" Max asked, pointing it out across the road, the cafe having a sea-view and an area outside to eat, the place looking like it offered local delicacies from what Max could make out of the sign.