FourtyTwo

The Conflict

@Starlance

Not massive, probably a 12 inch with a holster.

The Conflict

Bit of a longer post and I feel I might have jumped us forwards a bit too fast! Feel free to add some exposition if you like - I have set it up a little bit fast to add some surprise (lemme know if it's too soon- left some scope for adjustment ofc if you have plans Big!) - but yep, putting it all together.

The Conflict

The drive was eventful to say the least, the sight of the dirty mess reminding everyone just how unforgiving this place could be.

Sean looked at the scene before him, the gunfight on the side of the road a stark reminder. These lower level mercs were like gang fighters, just picking away at each other. It was only a matter of time before they went from the sticks and stones their AKs were to something far, far more serious- and The Hyena had the power to make that happen. The couple remaimed quiet in the car, only inputting when it came to sharing phone numbers, and getting a feel for it. Hayden and Yekatarina said it all really- the slum was rough, vicious and like something they had seen on TV back at home. Unlike Juarez, it felt like it was even poorer, even more desperate, not fuelled by drugs but instead by desperation. Humanity scratching anything it could to survive another day in squalor.

Sean had something to add to Hayden and Yekatarina's debate, leaning forwards between then.
"Chances are we'll steal this thing and there won't just be a drug gang coming after us, any local who wants to scavenge might try and vulture us. Driver sounds valuable too...I'm guessing what we're stealing isn't just guns lads...speaking of, yeah, stealing those will help. Anything with range will beat these shooters for distance." Sean noted, as he saw Hayden's tomahawk in his jacket side.
"Fucking hell, Hayden. You gonna go Last of the Mohicans on these poor bastards?" The Irishman commented with a hint of ignorance, whistling at the sight of it. He checked his own tool, kept on his belt and by his side, the machete still a little wet from clearing the jungle branches and leaves, holding it up.

"Cos I'm saying to you now, we might be able to shit them up." Sean gave that same crazy grin back, seeing Yekatarina's tool as well, a car-breaking axe no less. Pulling in the slum, they had the chance to take stock, and Sean had the chance to cock his P226 as they came to a halt, chuckling as he put the P226 back into his holster, ready to go. Yekatarina's offer was much appreciated, as he took the halligan over from her when offered, smiling at the sight of it.

"Not a bad tool. I'll trade yas too." Sean replied to her, fliping the machete back around its blade and offering it to her, the last parting gift he had before he left. After all, he had her axe, a tool to smash the window in so it made sense. Bethan sighed, looking back to the team in the car, nodding before they got moving.
"Alright everyone. No time to fuck this up. Like Hayden says. Find the truck, let's get in contact with each other and then, we get on with it." She added, nodding to Bethan, agreeing with her partner's thoughts, not a grin so much as a wry confirmation, sliding across the seat.

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With the team now split, the Ulsterman got out of the car and followed after the Canadian, trying to act as incognito as he could. This section wasn't busy, but soon enough, there were bustling crowds of people up ahead, and they were white men sticking out in a fucking slum, a bird given to the car as they went another direction from it.
"Jesus. This is rough." He simply commented, moving through the slum, making sure to not make too much effort pushing through the crowd in the busy street, the bustle of kids, mothers carrying dirty water on their heads, and mopeds like something out of a documentary. He'd seen poverty in Iraq and Afghanistan, but these people had literally nothing, they looked feeble and like they had barely skin on bone, malnourished and broken. It was easy to be sympathetic, and no doubt, they had nothing to lose if they wanted to tear apart the two whites in their hood. But so far, they were moving too fast to be of any notice, and realistically, given how many mercs were in country, were not going to be messed with. Incognito it wasn't, but they could at least move through the tracks, making their way down the blocks. Kids bumped off of them, running around excited, as Sean kept an eye to Hayden.
"Let's keep it going. Once this goes off, be ready to run like hell."

--------

Meanwhile in the Caddy, Bethan had shifted over as Yekatarina had gotten out, sliding into the driver's seat and getting a feeling for the pedals, putting it into gear and sighing.
"Fuck, no kidding, this is crap." Bethan added, taking her phone and punching Sean's number, getting it onto speaker, quietly so as to at least hear if he was gonna get shot and it wouldn't alert anyone outside.
"Yello?"
"Right, don't put the phone to your ear, keep it in your pocket kept quiet and keep moving. We're rolling around behind you, can't get visual on you." She replied, looking to Yekatarina, sighing as they moved along.
"Nothing yet." Bethan added, Sean replying on his head.
"Yeah us neither." The Ulsterman replied, as Bethan looked to Yekatarina, putting the phone's mic on mute as she crawled the car along, knowing the Russian was keeping a 360 on their surroundings too, barely multi-tasking in her spare hand, looking across to the brown-haired Russian. She was of a similar age, a woman of a similar type to Bethan and someone she could definitely have a lot in common with. Apart from her shitty man, that was.

"Just so you know...me and Sean, we're in the middle of some complex shit at the moment, if you can't tell. He is a fucking arsehole...dragged me into this because of some stupid shit back home he did. He sold drugs, mostly coke and heroin...by choice too as far as I can tell. Bullshit me it was needed to pay for where we were living at the time when I found out....and when he got caught, turns out the people that sent us here thought they could get me for it too. Total fabrication, but hey, you make of that what you will. Can't tell if it was him or someone else...though to be honest, maybe he thought he could get off easy if I was helping him." Bethan simply said, the moment while they were moving forwards a chance to tell Yekatarina in private, away from her partner what the reality beneath was, even if brief, sighing as she looked over to the Russian.
"Not that it makes him any less capable. Guy has done his fair share of violent shit. He isn't gonna let you down in a firefight, I know what he did in the Marines. But in every other way, be fucking careful. Don't fall for any of his shit." She said, interrupted suddenly as the phone went live, Bethan unmuting it.

"Guys, eyes on. Truck at a stop, half a block ahead. Driver looks like he's getting fuelled. It's definitely it, definitely it." Sean replied, Bethan sitting up in almost a bit of shock horror.
"Fuck, already?"
"Yeah, but he looks well supported. Guy's got a lot of armed guards at his truck stop, they look like they're protecting the tanker they're at. No way we are taking that on, there's at least six. Recomend we wait till they move and hit them after. Gets us time." Sean replied, as Bethan put her foot down, accelerating a bit harder but not going flat out, wanting to get to their block. And lo and behold, around the bend was the truck, Bethan slowing down, eyeing it up from the side, aware that two girls in a Caddy might get away, not in that they would look armed, but they would be of note.

Checking her Glock by her side, she wound down the window, not wanting to make a mess of the Caddy, even if it was a horrible hunk of shit to drive. The guards did see the Caddy, but given the distances, couldn't tell the green shirt that Bethan had on, nor the pistols and tools they had their disposal as they went onto the small clear road ahead, able to go 100m down the road and out of sight, in position ahead.
"I'm gonna keep us here, in front. Yek, think you can get out and be a charmer once I'm past? Go help Sean when he makes that move. I'll stall that thing. Make sure he don't fucking write off that load."

-------

In the meantime, Sean had the chance to turn to Hayden, nodding to the sight of that truck.
"Thoughts on how we do this? I'll smash that window I guess, I got the tool. You want to run security- just in case those boys come after us?"

The Conflict

Ah splendid. Got us moving, @Starlance I've tacked onto where you are, @BigPapaBelial feel free to point us from there on out!

The Conflict

Bethan nodded to the two amazons, chuckling to the reply. Something gave her a feeling she might be seeing them again sometime. They seemed to be disaproving of their boss, like they knew the reality even more than even the merc did round here of how it worked and why, but charmed enough to stay by his side, loyal as ever. With a polite nod, she acknowledged them, a silent communication, beyond language just saying that the respect was there, and after the merc had left with his two bodyguards, the Welsh woman knew the plan she'd come out with may have sunk a little in. It was passable, but then again, nothing ever worked to plan here, as she stood up, following along with the team, listening and absorbing what they both had to said. When it came to ammo count, she gave the reply for him and Sean:

"Oddly enough, yeah. Both of us are using nine mil, Parabellum. I've got a Glock and Sean a Sig, eighteen in each mag, one mag spare each." Bethan replied, following along, taking in what both the two of them had to say about the plan. To say the least, as per her prior thoughts- yeah, more could be done, and it would have to be the flow of it. In her head, if they could at least get the truck to slow, hitting it from another angle was a possibility, a half-chance, but one they could exploit. Shooting the driver with pistols would be risky as hell, but...well, it left some creativity to mind. Some she could already start clocking on her head, replying to Yekatarina first.

"Hmm...well, I do have another idea. Stopping that truck will be tough, likely they won't have any reason to...slums are busy but that screws our escape too. If we can slow this truck down in the open, one of us gals driving the Caddy can slow down the truck, Yekatarina probably, then one of these two lads can clamber onto the passenger side of the truck from another angle. Smash, or shoot out the passenger window somehow. They never said it had to be intact. They'll be a release to open it, and maybe, maybe, a 20 second window we can put a gun to his head and the rest of us can leap aboard, the Caddy can follow. Floor it and if anyone follows, we can put foot to floor. Driver might not cooperate, so one of us is likely on hostage duty, the other is flooring it." Pointing to Sean and Hayden, Bethan knew the reply she'd immediately get.

"Really, you suppose I'll fucking grab the mirror, hang on for dear life and just point a gun at a guy who's driving a truck with valuable cargo?" Sean angrily replied, Bethan shrugging in reply.

"Fifth time today, I'm telling ya Sean...got any better ideas?"

"I was literally thinking you two got your tits out and the guy might stop. There, missy fuckin' smart. Don't fucking say I don't think for myself. Way I see it, we're gonna get into a feckin' shootout no matter what and if there's a truck and a driver left alive, we're gonna be fucking grand." Sean couldn't help himself, knowing that while she might want to pop him right here nad now, he felt it was worth just throwing it back now.

"Jesus, Sean. You really are a cunt. That's why you're nominated. The rest of us can buy us time before you get capped." Bethan wryly chuckled, annoyed yet somehow, a little amused at this, as she looked over to Yekatarina and Hayden, adjusting the boonie cap she was wearing, aware when they got out she'd have to take it off to fit her part.

"Shit, I don't know what else then. Let's see what we can do. And let's find this car. Though...wait, Katarina, you've got a fire axe, right? That uhh....might be another idea." And on that note, they rounded the corner, walking towards the outer edge of the compound, looking for the ancient Cadillac that was promised. A luxury vehicle by the standard of this place, it felt like, the atmosphere felt like poverty and the air thicker than blood that would fill the streets when, not if, the war went really hot.

So far Bethan and Sean could just feel it was tentative, the comings of a fight that was going to blow open the moment someone got a feeling they could do some real damage. No news would want to report on this mess...a lot of people could die and people who had nothing were going to have everything that they had left taken from them. Bethan felt sorry for them. Sean didn't. He couldn't help but feel that while they were sorry bastards, so were they in this point in time, and they'd be joining in. He couldn't say he had the same empathy, because it beat prison right now, and he had very little to lose. His partner didn't particularly care, and to be honest, he knew the anarchy that was coming might be something he might be a bit more accustomed to than a normal fight.

--

The Caddy wasn't the prettiest, but it would do, Bethan whistling as she saw it, opening the passenger door and leaping in. Bethan had the chance to check under her seat, finding a small dossier folder, showing it across to the others.
"Hmm. Interesting. It's an orange MAN. Looks like it's from 20 years ago, looks...well, like an utter piece of shit. Has Dry Trail markings all over it. Recon photo looks like it isn't too older either. Canvas-topped, so has some room to squeeze in the back." She commented, Sean pulling a map from a book holder in the back, dusting it off and bringing it to bear.

"Got a map here, Yekatarina. Alright...where are we...right, got us. So head out of here, I think we're close to the center, main highway down towards Balilon, take it for three miles then take a right and it should put us straight into the middle of what looks like the slum, and the main road out to the south-west. Slums change a lot, so we'll look like we stick out like a sore thumb when we arrive. Faster we find this thing the better." Sean added, flicking through, pointing out the highway, and a rough route into the slum- the map not showing the horrid mess that was the shanty town, but the rough tracks and trails that would likely cut through. Adjusting his baseball cap, he folded the map over a few times, sliding it through and over towards the Russian, knowing it was probably better for her to have it to hand now than him, then looking to the Canuck with a resolved glance, thinking about what this would turn into if it all went pete tong.

"Yeah, but remember we're all poorer than them right now given our current predicament, so let's not fuck this up. What we thinking, Sean and Hayden bail, then us two keep going when we're in position?" Bethan retorted, checking her Glock and rechambering the mag, giving a subtle cock, tsking audibly.

The Conflict

Posts look good! Yekatarina is pretty much what I imagined- but good to put some visual to it! I'll add Bethan's/Sean's in shortly from my intro.

Will post tonight

The Conflict

@Starlance

All yours if you want to go first!

The Conflict

Happy to provide!

It's been an awesome post flow so far- I've been pretty shocked how symbiotic we've been. Threw a bit of an idea for a split within the slum to see how they can steal this truck- though of course, nothing's that easy...

Always looking forward to seeing what comes next.

The Conflict

Sean nodded, pouring another glass himself, the whiskey's golden brown filling the hazy glass as he took a wick himself, nodding to both Hayden's and Yekatarina's backgrounds.
"Yeah, same- it helps when she ain't pulling rounds out of us. And they told me all Ruskies were scary. Then again, GRU...you guys weren't fucking around, weren't ya now? Door kicking in Chechnya, must have seen some shit. And anyway, I've done the same in fighting with Londoners. Trick is, they're worse in a bar fight. They can't stand a chance against the Irish." Sean added, glass raised to her as he sipped, a wry smirk on his face, knowing there was no bad blood from his end to Yekatarina in this setting. It was a mutual respect for the fact that before now himself, Bethan and Hayden had half a mind to the fact that the Ruskies were going to be the next enemy they faced in a potential world war. Not that it was gonna happen, but it was always that classic paranoia, wondering if it might happen and they'd be back into the 80s all over again.

"Same for you, Hayden. You're not fucking around. Special friggin' Forces. And able to pick good whiskey. Can't go wrong a man like that, d'yknow?" Sean simply remarked, knowing those CSOR lads weren't half bad themselves in Afghanistan. Less smug than the Rangers and other US Marines, in that they would probably apologise if they could to the Taliban's families. So the joke went back in Bastion.

Bethan sighed, nodding to the other woman at the table, and other at Hayden.
"Sounds like you've got your uses, Yekatarina. You keep trucks moving, I keep you moving. I've pulled enough shrapnel from people to know that bit can be worse." Even Bethan seemed loosened up, her own remark coming right as Hayden took his own drink, and the group only then realised who was coming behind. Bethan had spied it in the corner of her eye, the man with a wry smirk on his face and the two girls that seemed to even make her athletic physique look relatively tame. And any girl willing to tattoo most of the side of her head, or wear a necklace like that wasn't doing it for fashion purposes, they did it to prove a point- the sorts of girls that looked more Wonder Woman than soldier. A point Bethan knew this man, who introduced himself as Victor, was very much making- with the wrong attire but a diamond-sharp mindset. Herself and Sean stayed quiet, listening to him introduce himself, and the opportunity that was presented.

Stealing a truck, and the driver inside would be an interesting ask- not the hardest job in the world, but then again, so had the idea of killing this Hyena been when they were sold on it back in the UK. If it had soldiers inside, or was escorted, it made it a tricky job. But then again, she knew how quickly they could make something happen, as a team, if they got clever about it. It was better than being in a meatgrinder, running logistics, or guarding a post. There was no doubt it was doable, but Bethan had a feeling the law of the jungle meant you had to be fast, both mentally and physically, to get away with a truckjacking in an African slum. As Victor finished, the guards gave an apologetic look, the look of a set of guards who felt embaressed to have their employer go off the rails a little with excitement.

Looking at Yekatarina first, Sean piped up, hearing her comment and feeling like he had some input, silly as it was.
"Look around you. I don't see anyone setting prices for anything....dollars are worthless, diamonds could be too, and I know too easy you don't ask, you don't get. I'm sure we can always work something out- they're worth something disproportionate here. Nothing to lose apart from getting clapped, right?" Sean sounded like he knew what he was doing- though unlike Yekatarina, he was talking out of his ass, and more likely than not, it showed. It was an educated guess that diamonds probably had some worth, enough to get them tooled, but 20 wasn't going to be a lot in the scheme of things. Perhaps it was more the drug deals or illicit work he had done that taught him that, but still, it was probably bullshit.

Bethan couldn't help but know it was, but held back on calling him on it, looking to Hayden. Deep inside, she knew this could all go haywire, but then again, they had nothing to lose. If they did this clean, it wasn't so much the money, it was more the trust they could gain, Bethan looking to Hayden first, then to Victor.

"Well then...I'm in. I agree with Yekatarina, it'd be nice to know what we're risking our lives for, and who it might be. Though I mean far as I can tell, you probably get we're not packing a lot of heat and you expect us to come back. Fuck it. I say let's go get ourselves a truck. Get us a lift and we'll go from there." Bethan said plainly, the ex-Sergeant collected in her mannermism as she nodded to Yekatarina on the first part of her comment, then looking over to the Canadian, the more qualified operative more likely than not aware of what could be involved in this.

"Hayden, how do you want to do this? We'll need to hunt it down in the slums, but keep in mind we're all pasty as fuck and armed with nines. They'll know how to stop carjackings. So....my thoughts are we split up when we arrive, me and Yektarina try and aim to stop it when we find the truck and you and Sean support us from another angle. Try to uhh...not gain too much attention. Clap anyone else watching while we....convince this driver to take us here." Bethan suggested, a brief but short plan for now, Sean looking across with a bit of disbelief.

"Sure staying seperate is a good idea?" Sean seemed a little puzzled, wondering if already, this was some passive aggressive move on his part.

"Yeah, because you two meatheads might look intimidating to a supply truck and two women don't. And jesus, Sean, we have gone through this before. We're in a third world shithole, don't act silly with me what they think here. Unless you're those two girls there. Holy shit. I need whatever diet you two are on, you certainly look the part." Bethan replied, nodding across to the two women next to Victor and raising her voice on the last bit, hoping the compliment came through honest.

The Conflict

@Starlance

All yours buddy if you want to post- sorry I've wrecked the order a bit! Feel free to post and I'll follow you and then go back to the usual.