FourtyTwo

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP)

FINNISH ADDITIONS

Adam Stanislaw Kajtanowicz - "Wilk"

Name: Adam Stanislaw Kajtanowicz (Cpt)

Callsign: Wilk (Polish for Wolf, pronounced "Vilk")

Age: 34

Nationality: Polish

Appearance:



Adam stands at 6”1, with a strong build that reflects his disciplined training. He is shaven bald with a thick black bushy beard, and piercing green eyes contribute to a no-nonsense, professional appearance that looks comfortable in Afghanistan as much as it does in a hipster bar. While not as tall as Skye, Adam possesses a commanding presence that demands respect. His facial features are sharp, and a faint scar runs across his cheek, a testament to his experiences in the field. He’s clearly built more for power than for athleticism, leaning on the side that isn’t about speed but more about hitting hard.

His attire is practical and tactical, favouring a black and olive green combat uniform with the Polish flag patch on his shoulder as part of his exo’s setup. Adam wears a durable vest with various pouches for equipment and ammunition, and his combat boots are well-worn from countless missions. When on operations, he wears a dark, modernized version of the Polish woodland camouflage pattern. Outside, he often wears very practical clothing- unlike Skye, he is military to the point, wearing an olive wool sweater and tactical pants, with innately polished boots.

Personality:

Adam is a disciplined and focused leader, contrasting Skye's more charismatic and free-spirited approach. He believes in maintaining a strong chain of command and upholding the principles of duty and honor, and that the cohesion of the team is the only priority- he is not a lone wolf but an absolute believer in the unit. While he may seem more reserved than Skye, Adam's passion for his team's success burns just as brightly. He is known for his dry sense of humor and is not one to indulge in unnecessary banter. His leadership style is built on trust, discipline, and a commitment to getting the job done. He tolerates no fools, and everything for him is built upon honour, trust and conviction. There is no room for second guessing- he is hard, and does not exactly allow for the same degree of freedom that Skye allows, instead being significantly more to the point. While allowing him a great deal of authority, it perhaps is stunted by the fact that he can’t get as much out of operatives as Skye does, due to the cohesion compromise. He’s trying to reform operatives that clearly do not fit a typical structure. His loyalty to his squad is unwavering, and he takes the responsibility of command seriously- and that extends to on base behavior.

History:

Born in Rzeszow, Poland, Adam Kajtanowicz grew up in a family with a strong military tradition. His father served in the Polish Special Forces, and his mother was a linguist, fluent in several languages. Adam inherited a sense of duty and discipline from his upbringing, instilled with a deep love for his country. It was hard not to follow- it was a clear direction and put his restless nature into a direction that could work for him, working as a professional.

From a young age, Adam displayed some potential in leading and fighting, albeit not to his fullest potential. He was a troublemaker, until well, a few beatings from his parents later, and a lot of consequences, he reformed- becoming a strict disciplinarian and leader of men. He has a natural charisma that pulls people to him, and a natural aggression to just destroying and wrecking things. He excelled in his studies from then on out and physical training, earning him a place in a prestigious military academy.

At the academy, Adam's leadership skills quickly became apparent. He thrived in the structured environment, absorbing tactical knowledge and combat skills. His proficiency with firearms and strategic thinking earned him the respect of both peers and instructors. Graduating with top honors and following deployment in the Polish Army, Adam joined the Polish GROM, the elite special forces unit. He led fireteams, then squads, and led by example and by conviction.

Adam's early career in GROM saw him participating in various international missions, collaborating with other elite units from around the world. His ability to adapt to different environments and lead under high-pressure situations distinguished him among his peers. During a joint mission with British Special Forces, he crossed paths with Skye Rosalind Lyons.

Recognizing each other's strengths, Skye and Adam developed a professional respect that would later become crucial in the operations they did together in the field. However, their methods were different. Skye was much more independent, and he favoured structure rather than the lone approach Skye took. They didn’t agree- but stayed in touch over the years, as Skye headed to Raven, Adam ended up on another track and was kept in reserve by Oracle.

Over the years, Adam honed his skills in unconventional warfare, specializing in urban and asymmetrical combat- special forces work in the field where they shouldn't have been making him good at adapting and working on the fly within areas that are tricky to navigate. His service record became a testament to his dedication and unwavering commitment to the mission. Despite the challenges he faced, including injuries sustained during operations, Adam emerged stronger and more determined. He's been recently enlisted by Raven onto their rotation- and offers a similar package to Skye.

Skills:

Tactical Expertise:
Adam is a master tactician, drawing on his extensive military training and experience. He excels in planning and executing operations with strategic precision. He may overplan, but is happy to go with the flow and ensure that his team do as they need to, trusting completely in their ability through hardened discipline. Aggression and discipline are at the core of that.

Firearms Proficiency:
A skilled marksman, Adam is proficient with a variety of firearms commonly used in special operations. He prefers a balanced approach, utilizing weapons that suit the mission requirements. Similar to Skye, he's a Special Forces fiend, and therefore, uses a more conventional setup to get the job done.

Field Medic:
Dealing with injuries a lot, Adam has become a seconded Paramedic when required- and knows how to fix people up. In particular, he's quite adept with some of the drug cocktails teams use to keep going- and knows how to mix it right, getting the most out of his squad at the right time, as well as knowing how to patch up in the field beyond a typical operator's know-how.

Unyielding Discipline:
Known for his unshakeable discipline, Adam sets high standards for himself and his team. He ensures that everyone under his command adheres to protocols and operates at peak efficiency. Sometimes a bit much, yes, but also, it works effectively. The team know where they stand, and he will hammer it in.

Multilingual:
Fluent in Polish, English, Russian, German and a little Arabic, Adam's language skills contribute to effective communication in diverse operational environments.

Tactical Suit:



OsirisM2 / "Sokol" ("Falcon")- PL Variant

Similar to Skye, Adam uses an exoskeleton as a support tool to run, move and get across the warzone. While able to stop 5.56 rounds thanks to armour plating throughout the suit's chassis, covering the torso, legs and upper arms, he wouldn't want to remain under constant fire with this thing- it gives him a little more survivability just as she does. Adam opts for a faceplate over an open setup, using the optics and arrangement of it, coupled to the fact that he employs a slightly different tactical setup to Skye. The suit also comes equipped with a shoulder-mounted mini-missile system- almost akin to the heavies, but more more suited to much lighter targets, such as drones, jeeps and other light skinned vehicles. The exo comes with a red and white pattern on the frame, contrasting his usual camo and representing its Polish engineered origins. Whilst the Osiris programme may come from an American conglomerate, Polish variants have propped up and represent a new angle of attack for them.

Adam’s play with this armour is a bit different- and uses tech recently recovered from Rose Lyons, namely a field generator. Whilst diverting power and thus making leaps less effective, Adam can create a short term forcefield with the armor- literally creating a bubble of about two meters around him, deflecting everything but the heaviest rounds in bursts rather than continued actions. This can buy a little bit of time to reload, reposition and then fire, giving Adam some protection and those around him in the immediate moments.

The other real advantage of the exo is that it gives him a more disproportionate strength in lifting, moving and protection. Similar to Skye’s setup, it makes him capable- albeit hasn’t got the out and out aggression of the jump pack and exo itself due to the added weight from the generator and tailoring towards a more armoured package.

Weapons:

FN EVOLYS LMG, Chambered in 7.62mm
OR
Fabryka Radom MSBS Grot B (Bullpup), 20” Barrel, Silencer, Magnified Optic, Chambered in 7.62x51mm
Daewoo USAS-12
FN FiveSeven Pistol

Equipment:
Tactical Knife
3x Cluster Grenades
3x Flashbangs
Various Smoke Grenades
Various Flares
Quad-Optic NVGs
Jump-Pack
Arm-Mounted PDA

Hobbies:
Chess
Reading Military History
Trail Running
Cooking
Woodwork and Metalwork
Hunting and Trapping

Likes:

Precision and Order
Team Cohesion
Polish Cuisine
Polish Vodka and Beer
Lack of Ego

Dislikes:

Insubordination
Unnecessary Risks
Lack of Preparation
Lack of Humility
Loud and Abrasive Characters

Purna Chai Gurung - Viper

Name: Purna “Pur” Chai Gurung (fmr Sergeant)

Age: 28

Nationality: Nepalese / British

Voice Claim: N/A

Appearance:



Purna stands at 5"6, and on the face of it, doesn’t look as built or as incredibly athletic as someone as Skye- yet behind it, possesses a compact and powerful physique that allows him to run, leap and climb well, focussed almost entirely on cardiovascular- not an explosive power, but a long distance runner's. His lung capacity in particular is astounding- plenty of oxygenless climbs of mountains over 8000m make him a bit of a natural at zero meters. His skin bears the weathered look of someone accustomed to high-altitude environments, a leather-like tanned skin that reflects his origins in the Indian Subcontinent, but more specifically, that of a Nepalese mountaineer, often above the snowline. His head is clean-shaven, showcasing a few scars earned during his military service. Purna's eyes are a brown-gold, with the tiniest wisp of a mustache forming. Many who know the Gurkhas do not underestimate the fact that despite an unassuming look, someone like Purna is a warrior.

His tactical gear is a blend of modern functionality and nods to his Gurkha roots. In combat, he is usually clad in a full tactical suit that hides his origins, whilst outside of an operation, he’s often found wearing a puffy jacket and old worn trousers, often not going with the cutting edge unless he’s forced to blend in with a t-shirt, jeans and sunglasses. His ability to blend into crowds seems to be a little uncanny- considering his half-cast skin and his otherwise sharp eyes, his less sharply given features mean he can dissolve.

Callsign: Viper

Skills:

Close Quarters Specialist:
Purna is a master of hand-to-hand combat, trained in traditional Gurkha knife fighting techniques along with modern close-quarters combat styles. His agility and swift movements make him deadly in tight spaces. Highly aggressive, Purna will be able to weave his fighting into when he runs- contrasting his usually cool and calm demeanor, once he’s sparring, he is ferocious.

Stealth Infiltrator:
Trained in covert operations, Purna can navigate through various terrains with a level of stealth and precision that is characteristic of the Gurkhas. His ability to move quietly and blend into the environment makes him an ideal infiltrator- and less suited to out and out combat. Whilst he can hold his own, his loadouts are optimized to keep his stealth going- he would rather scoot then shoot rather than hold his ground. This also extends to infiltration by social stealth- Purna looks like he doesn't come from money, and can give off that look of a street worker far better than anyone else.

Survivalist and Mountaineer:
Growing up in the rugged landscapes of Nepal, Purna possesses exceptional survival skills and exceptionally good high-altitude performance. He can navigate and thrive in various environments, making him an asset in unconventional and challenging missions- and when it comes to ascent, he can plough on through wildly tough conditions. It’s a different kind of conditioning to Skye’s- he seems to have this ability to just never give up, rather than remain adept before cracking.

Fluid like Water:
Purna’s real grace is that he’s incredibly quick- the sort of operative you blink, you may miss him. With the combination of a grappling hook and wingsuit, as well as specialized climbing gloves brought into focus by his mountaineering talent, Purna has this ability to just evaporate when he moves through a landscape. Parkour, movement and general access for him is considered his strength- when you need someone to get somewhere, you get him in.

Multilingual:
Fluent in Nepali, English, Mandarin, and French, Purna facilitates effective communication in diverse environments, adding a valuable linguistic dimension to the team.

Personality:

Purna is known for his calm demeanour and unwavering focus which remains reserved yet loyal beyond belief, traits instilled in him through Gurkha training- even with the advanced equipment that basically turns him into Nepali Spiderman, he’s still humble and remains grounded. Despite his reserved nature, Purna forms strong bonds with his teammates, providing a stabilizing force in the team. He carries a quiet confidence, and his presence exudes a sense of reliability. Working as an infiltrator requires him to be a ghost- and therefore, it holds that he can be like that, knowing when to talk, and when not to. Of course, Purna has street smarts- and it can dissolve unexpectedly when he’s in a comfortable environment, a sure fire sign that you have gotten into him. He'll let you know he likes you, and will give a quiet smile and nod. He won't give much more.

He often finds solace in the tranquillity of nature, a connection rooted in his upbringing in the Himalayas.

Tactical Suit:

“Gryphon” Prototype
The custom adjusted Gryphon infiltrator kit for Purna enhances his tactical specialities of stealth and vertical maneuvering- turning Purna from just a good light into a very talented one. In its default setting, it's features bare minimum of military accessories- a thin layer of kevlar plating, with the suit virtually clinging to him like a wetsuit, and a small plate carrier with a few lug points for attachments. That’s because it comes equipped with an optical cloaking layer- turning him invisible at the flick of a switch, and into a shadow.

The tactical infiltration kit comes in Henry Ford's favorite color- jet black, with very little else in the way of colour, nor much in the way of armor on the suit itself. The cowl of it covers his hair, almost like a wetsuit of sorts, and is usually worn with a balaclava and night vision goggle setup providing an advanced optical arrangement that doesn’t compromise his usual vision. The suit has sound-dampening and thermal-dampening properties, making Purna quiet when sneaking around and virtually invisible to a thermal imaging camera without cloaking, and with it active, actually invisible with a thin blur. In short, she's a shadow with delicate angles. The non-reflective texture similarly dampens his presence- making hiding in the shadows and out of the lights a piece of cake. He uses his grapple on his left arm- the main motor located along his upper arm and the pivot near his wrist, allowing him to swing and modulate the way the hook works- it can be shoulder mounted instead with a gentle reclip of the hook.

Additional features can be quickly attached to Purna's suit, giving his vastly improved climbing abilities with increased grip strength and better grip through mag-gloves. In the hands of Purna, he can effectively climb any and all surfaces like Spiderman, but looking a whole lot better. A wingsuit to this complement, when combined together may make for a kit that is a bit too heavy on movement and compromises the amount he can carry- but safe to say, almost makes him unbeatable as a combination in an urban or mountainous environment. Alternatively, he can equip more kevlar plates and take a few more hits, albeit at the cost of speed.

Weapons:

Mk14 Enhanced Battle Rifle, with 12x Magnification (Thermal)/ Canted Red Dot
H&K MP5SD6
2x H&K USP.45 Tactical

Kukri Knife:
A traditional Gurkha knife, Purna's kukri serves as both a utility tool and a deadly close-quarters weapon.

Throwing Knives

Equipment:

Climbing Gear
Grapple Claw
Combat Medic Kit
Smoke Grenades
Flashbangs
Multitool
Survival Kit
Quad-Optic Night Vision Goggles
GPS Tracker
Wingsuit

History:

Born in Phera, Nepal, Purna Gurung grew up surrounded by the rich heritage of the Gurkha warriors, his father an ex-soldier, his oldest brother a Gurkha, and his other siblings married off to become wives of Gurkhas. Living in a poor house with seven siblings however, was no way to stay in the foothills of the Himalayas- even with the relative wealth of the Gurung family, he wanted to make something more for himself. From an early age, he displayed exceptional physical prowess and an unwavering sense of duty- coupled to a mind that very much enjoyed the outdoors and surviving it. He has summitted numerous peaks working as an apprentice to Sherpas, and well, come 16, he knew his path- and that was to fight like them.

Joining the Gurkha Regiment of the Indian Army, he quickly rose through the ranks, earning a reputation for his discipline and combat skills. A cousin of the Oxford lecturer, Imran Malik, Purna was able to use his connections to expedite a transfer to the British Army- where he quickly managed to create a reputation for himself. He was a wildcard, but the man you relied upon to get work done. There are many stories of Gurkhas going one man army against people, and it’s a certain kind of warrior-like creed that exists to the modern day- Purna slicing throat after throat in the darkness, in reports that increasingly got more and more redacted in missions that he was usually selected for due to scarce reports of a small Nepalese man doing a lot of damage. Purna’s relatively small stature yet unbreakable spirit seemed to fuel this- Purna of course believed in the mission as priority, and did not consider backing down an option. His own team in the SFSG left Purna to his devices and sat back as he did what he did- and well, the rest was history. Viper One gets the work done, and there are a lot of bodies after to clean up. You don't ask how he got past security, or the scores of men guarding. He just does the dirty.

He left the SFSG five years ago to work independently, and since then, became a mercenary for hire that specialized in assassination and wetwork- killing people, sneaking into places, getting the job done, be it hacking, IP theft, murder, or just straight up shenanigans between contractors. Purna’s USP was absolute secrecy- he was incredibly efficient, and an absolute ghost, able to fabricate death from nowhere, even in North Korea and within security arrangements that typically would not be easy to break. Purna’s aim was to support his family and his brother, who was maimed in a nasty wound- helping to support them out of poverty and survive a better life. He told them he was just doing consultancy. If they knew half the mess he got up to, they’d give it all up in a heartbeat- Purna knowing sometimes, the lies never found are the best ones to keep. He’s naturally quite cold, but knows that with the experience he has gained doing what he does, and the technology in his hands, he can do more good through being independent.

Purna's relation to Oracle was fairly obvious- and under a mentoring of Imran, ended up joining the team on a semi-permanent basis, often working independently as it was recognised this would be best for him. He's about to become relevant.

Hobbies:

Adrenaline Sports
Meditation and Mindfulness Practices
Mountain Climbing
Poetry Writing (Keeps a personal journal)

Likes:
Quiet Reflection
Community and Selflessness
Nepalese Cuisine (he makes a spectacular Gurkha Curry)
The Outdoors
Bouldering and Climbing
Setting up technical equipment
Testing said equipment

Dislikes:
Idleness
Alcohol
Anyone calling him short
Anyone stealing Gurkha Kukri
Anyone calling him Indian, Pakistani, Tibetan, Bhutanese....
Hot Temperatures (prefers cooler climates and mountains)

Antti Jarvinen- Finnish Logistics Man (NPC)

Name: Antti Hekki Järvinen

Callsign: Echo

Age: 48

Nationality: Finnish

Role: Raven’s Logistics Lead for Camp Hannula. Antti is responsible for managing and maintaining the outpost in Northern Finland, ensuring it operates smoothly and is well-stocked for Raven Squad's needs.

Appearance: Antti stands at a tall height of 6”4, with a sturdy and robust build. His short-cropped blonde to gray hair, fair complexion, and ice-blue eyes give him a distinctly Nordic appearance. Despite the harsh conditions of Northern Finland, Antti appears unfazed, exuding a sense of resilience and determination. His attire is a mix of practical outdoor gear and military-inspired clothing, emphasizing functionality over fashion.

Personality:

SATANA PERKELE….

Antti is a no-nonsense individual, known for his straightforward approach and unyielding work ethic. He is polite, beyond pleasant, but....

He is innately Finnish. No emotion is shown, no feeling (without a shitload of booze), he seems almost android-like to the look, because he captures zero fucks. Life is good, and life is ongoing no matter what. He seems completely unfazed by things, because well, Finns don’t need to tell people what feelings are like. Getting on with it is more important. This means that he has some incredibly dry humor, which out of nowhere, can hit. Even his stoicism makes Skye and Tahlia look chatty, but if Antti is angry, you know.

He takes great pride in ensuring that the outpost operates at its peak efficiency, leaving no room for error. Much like Tahlia, Antti is a natural leader who motivates his team through his own diligence and commitment. While he may seem stern, those who work closely with Alvar appreciate his reliability and dedication.

Antti is also well-versed in survival skills, having grown up in the challenging environment of Northern Finland. His stoic demeanor conceals a dry sense of humor that emerges in unexpected moments, providing a rare glimpse of warmth beneath his frosty exterior.

Background:

Born and raised in Rovaniemi, Finland, Antti comes from a family with a long history of outdoor expertise. His upbringing in the Lapland region instilled in him a deep connection with nature and an inherent understanding of survival in extreme conditions. Alvar's interest in logistics and organization led him to pursue a degree in Transport and Logistics at the University of Oulu.

After completing his studies, Antti joined the Finnish Defense Forces for his mandatory service, specializing in logistics and supply chain operations. His exceptional skills and ability to navigate the challenging terrain of Northern Finland caught the attention of Blue Sword, who sought an experienced and resourceful individual to oversee their outpost logistics.

Antti's knowledge of the local environment, combined with his expertise in logistics, made him the perfect fit for the role. While he may not be in the frontlines, Alvar's contributions ensure that Raven Squad has everything they need to operate effectively in the harsh conditions of Northern Finland whilst at Camp Hannula- he's the homesteader that you need and yet he knows how to get things into the far north.

Skills:

Cold Weather Survivalist:
Antti is an expert in surviving extreme cold weather conditions, utilizing his knowledge of local flora and fauna to sustain himself and the outpost.

Logistics and Supply Chain Management:
Antti's formal education and military experience have honed his skills in efficiently managing and optimizing supply chains, ensuring the outpost is well-stocked at all times.

Marksmanship:
While not his primary role, Antti is a skilled marksman similar to Tahlia, capable of providing support if the need arises.

Terrain Familiarity:
Antti's intimate knowledge of the Northern Finnish terrain allows him to navigate and secure resources efficiently, making him an invaluable asset in the outpost's operation.

Languages:
Antti may not say much, but he does speak Finnish, Swedish, English and a bit of Russian okay, holding his own on the languages front.

Equipment:

Arctic-Adapted Outdoor Gear:
Antti wears specialized clothing and gear designed for extreme cold conditions, providing insulation and protection against the harsh Northern Finnish winter.

Multipurpose Utility Knife:
A versatile tool for survival situations and practical tasks around the outpost.

High-Powered Binoculars:
Essential for observing the surroundings and detecting potential threats or resources from a distance.

Sako TRG M10 Sniper Rifle:
A precision rifle for long-range engagements. Just in case anyone else decides to come knocking.

Hobbies:

Ice Fishing
Skiing
Wilderness Photography
Sauna Sessions (a Finnish tradition)
Northern Lights Watching
Hunting

Likes:
Order and Efficiency
People who don't talk a lot
Traditional Finnish Cuisine
Midnight Sun in the Summer
Quiet Nights in the Outpost
Reliable and Durable Equipment

Dislikes:
People who talk a lot
Unnecessary Waste
Disorganization
Warm Temperatures
Overly Complex Technology
Unreliable Team Members

Athena Kanatariio - Valkyrie / #AthenaAwesome

Name: Athena Anna Kanatariio

AKA The Corporate Duchess

AKA #AthenaAwesome

Age: 24

Appearance:



Athena is an absolute bombshell, her striking beauty undeniable. She stands at an impressive 7 feet 7 inches tall, a testament to her giant lineage and Kanatariio blood. Her long, flowing apple blonde hair cascades down past the bottom of her shoulders and blows around her face, a beacon of radiance that complements her piercing green eyes- currently, she has streaky blue tips in it, a dark navy to match her armour.

Athena's physique is both toned and curvaceous, embodying the essence of a goddess- she seems significantly more plump than Freya is, in all departments, and the imagination can only boggle at how she stands in a doorway and blocks the light with her voluptuousness. Her well-defined muscles are a testament to her love of physical challenges and extreme sports, but with her plump nature, don’t make her look like a gym rat but more like a padded out sculpture. Despite her incredible strength, she retains her feminine allure, her features exuding confidence and sensuality. She often doesn’t wear too much makeup, though mascara and cherry red lip stain is always present, just adding that last five percent to her. She’s picky about it, and well, a girl’s gotta look good, even in combat. So far, she hasn't got any tattoos- keeps her clean for modelling work.

There is one important cardiovascular thing to note about Athena, however. She’s got a scar running down the nape of her cleavage, and it’s where a second heart has been placed inside of her. Athena, you see, didn’t exactly have one very well functioning heart that could keep all the insanity she was going so, under a fairly experimental surgery, she has another one that’s been exhaustingly transplanted from another giant- and rather than replace hers, acts as a secondary, pumping even more blood around her. So she has two working hearts, which in fucking with her adrenalin gland, means she’s basically continuously in need of action, and has become more hyperactive. This isn’t ADHD, this is straight up crazy fucking energy because she has so much going through her all the time. There’s no denying it but it makes Athena’s already gigantic ability even more uncanny- she seems to move faster as a result and without armour, a lot more explosive, particularly on lifts and carries, because she just has an engine that motors on. As a con however, having two hearts does mean it makes her more of a sprinter, not a long distance athlete- she can charge hard but her body will take time to refill and pound back at her lungs, which are in overdrive. It also has other interesting impacts upon her body- her more voluptuous nature somewhat helping her to absorb her body’s accelerated rate of calorie takeup, but she still has to manage it out.

In casual settings, Athena often dons tight-fitting athletic wear that accentuates her curves. She favors sports bras and leggings that showcase her physique. All of it. When in a professional environment, she opts for sleek, form-fitting outfits that exude both confidence and authority, wearing a powerful business suit, dress, or darkened tactical gear that cannot hide her endowments, albeit reinforces her position as a Managing Director and her status and wealth. Her choice of footwear ranges from sturdy gym shoes way oversized to match her feet to high-heeled boots, depending on the situation. She is a fashionista, and make no mistake, her choices are very distinct, and she is often posing for her socials as the great #AthenaAwesome with them on, for her various clients that she side-hustles.

Her accent is distinctly international, almost Mid-Atlantic, a strange hybrid of American and British accenting, with a dash of Swiss and Norwegian trickling in.

Voice Claim: Natalie Dormer

Nationality: American/Norwegian/Russian

Callsign: Valkyrie

Skills:

Adrenaline Athena: Athena has an insatiable appetite for adrenaline-pumping activities. Whether it's skydiving, base jumping, rock climbing, or racing, she thrives in high-risk, high-reward situations. Her fearlessness and love for the thrill make her an ideal candidate for missions that demand audacity and quick thinking. She's not one to back down, and unlike a berserker, doesn't see red, she just goes in feeling wild.

Firearms Proficiency: Growing up in a family of mercenaries, Athena received thorough training in firearms and combat tactics. She excels in marksmanship, handling a variety of firearms with precision and accuracy. Her knowledge of weaponry extends to unconventional and experimental firearms, a valuable asset in the field. Her Tesla Coil makes her exceptionally good at area denial, and particularly, zapping targets behind cover.

Twin Hearted Titan: Athena possesses a unique modification that gives her two hearts, providing enhanced cardiovascular performance and endurance- baked into her already towering and powerful physique from shadowing her siblings and parents as a gym bunny. This physiological advantage allows her to excel in physically demanding tasks, making her a formidable force in combat and strenuous activities- if Freya is more dainty, then Athena is explosive, running in full afterburn. Whilst coming with drawbacks where even her refined body can't keep up, it makes Athena an absolute animal- in continuous need of adrenaline and excitement to keep her hearts in optimum, it has turned Athena from a wildcard into a continuously pounding giantess. In hand to hand, while she may not have the advanced skills of Chuck nor experience of Freya, she makes up for it by just driving relentlessly.

Managing Director: With an MBA from a prestigious business school, Athena is a shrewd businesswoman. As the Managing Director of the family-owned private military company, she oversees the strategic and financial aspects of the organisation. Her keen sense of leadership and negotiation skills contribute to the success and growth of the Kanatariio enterprise of Blue Sword, and she is savvy around people- perhaps lacking in the intelligence that comes from academia but definitely having that wild and burning desire to make money, get shit done and get things over the line. She isn't interested in anything that isn't- when the switch is turned, it's about getting it done the professional way. She holds to that true personally- social media freak sure, but you gotta do it for real too. She has the command not of a Team Lead, but the respect as the Corporate Duchess. You don’t easily tell her no. She takes.

Miss International: Due to being internationally raised, Athena has picked up a surprising amount of languages. Fluent in English, French, Norwegian and Russian, she has this strange variety of tones, as well as having somewhat of a globalised understanding of it. Athena is well travelled, and she's seen all seven continents, and probably done something dumb there. Or got drunk there. Or killed someone there. In one night. Possibly.

History:

Athena was born into the Kanatariio family, a lineage known for its giants and warriors. Her parents, Natalie Denisova Kanatariio and Victor Kanatariio, instilled in her the values of strength, determination, and audacity from a young age. Growing up alongside her older sister, Freya, and Jamie, the middle child, she was surrounded by a culture of adventure and audaciousness. Freya of course was a genius, a PhD grabbing redhead that set things on fire and the physics world too. Jamie, a hardened warrior that went after his father, a soldier who kept it simple and kept up the tribal ways. Athena? Athena was a matriarch’s girl and Natalie spent the most time with her, teaching her how girls get it done, in business and everything else that mattered. Athena after all, was her mother's callsign- and well, a suitable name for a blonde goddess such as hers, perhaps lacking the intellect but having the shrewd know-how to run a business. She was raised in international schooling in Eton, UK, then more in Switzerland, leaving her with a plurality of accents that broadly sounds like an international one. She was destined to run the show, and Athena wanted it all for her to do.

From this, she went to study at HEC Paris, completing an MBA course in tandem with an undergraduate in Strategy and Business at London School of Economics (LSE)- so well, she was rounded alright, and possibly the most freaky student in the class. She was a socialite, and well, her little slice of fame came from the nights out, and the seedy things she got up to- mingling with the teens of the elite after all when you're over seven foot set her apart, and her social media fame is one that is baked in....and well, isn't really rivalled. After completing her MBA, Athena stepped into the corporate world, eventually rising to the position of Managing Director at Blue Sword, running the day-to-day of the operational business and taking over from Victor, her father. She excelled in leading teams, negotiating deals, and expanding the family's business empire. There may be a wild maniac inside Athena’s pounding hearts, but nobody can deny her talent at sealing deals, talking contracts, and getting it done. She can see through bullshit, and nobody wants to ever mess her around.

Separate from her MBA, she learned how to fight from Freya, Natalie and from Victor, and all of the team at Blue Sword. She learned how to be a merc- from martial arts to weapons handling and more, lifting, carrying, fighting and generally being Mommy's little warrior princess. Her combat training was rigorous, and she quickly became proficient in firearms and combat tactics. However, it was her fearlessness and adaptability, honed through years of extreme sports, that set her apart from her peers. A lack of fear, a few broken bones, well, they heal and then you get back to work. That said, it was noted at age 20 that she had a defect with her current heart- and following surgery, had a secondary one installed, taking the pressure off her cardiovascular system and giving her ... well, a unique bit of power. Athena was already wild enough, now, she could build up her cardio fitness faster, lift heavier stuff, hell, she was powering way above what she had before. Of course, being deeply out of breath and having to double her calorie intake followed as well as a few side effects, which has of course, offset some of the gain. That slight addiction to adrenaline became a full addiction, and there is no denying her. But Athena relished in it. It's a marketing tool to be so cool you need a second heart to keep going, right?

From an early age, Athena also exhibited an affinity for extreme sports and adrenaline-pumping activities. Her parents encouraged her pursuits, recognizing her natural talent for navigating high-risk situations. She excelled in sports like skydiving, base jumping, and rock climbing, consistently pushing her limits and seeking new challenges. These go on social media, and Athena is known to push her brand- yes, she has a brand. She is probably one of the few mercenaries to be able to get away with it, because well, someone as insane as her can. She makes no bones about the fact that it rules her out of the sort of work that Raven does- she’s absolutely a high flying executive, at such a young age, and well, enjoys the support work, and the high life.

Sometimes with Blue Sword that means getting direct though, and well, she is capable of that. Athena is no stranger to armoured combat as a heavy- and whilst she isn’t as perhaps experienced as others, she’s put to use her body and her capability well. The sight of Athena behind friendly Blue Sword mercs is a sight to see, because if the Boss is out, then well, shit is getting real. It often does. Athena was no engineer, she was pure business, straight and simple, and her Tesla Coil was adapted from an older design, blasting bolts of either concentrated shock electricity, or just wider sprays of shock. Same with her armour- a similar one to Freya's, yet taking elements from her mother's, and bolting on prototype elements that only someone as loud, proud and mad as Athena can make work. It’s a feeling that never gets old, and sometimes, the boss needs to go to work, if she’s not busy in a spa having her acreage of skin moisturised, or closing deals. Whilst she spends some time behind a desk, she’s often in a private jet flying from point to point, going to meetings, and you bet she’s sometimes taken the express down.

There’s no taming a girl like Athena. People like her believe they run the world, because when you have a sixty inch rear, maybe you think you do.

Personality:

Athena is a whirlwind of energy and audacity, constantly seeking the next thrill and pushing her limits. She approaches life with a bold and adventurous spirit, unafraid to take risks and embrace challenges head-on. Her fearlessness often borders on recklessness, but it's this very quality that makes her excel in high-stakes situations. A complete extravert, Athena thrives on being the boss, being the big bitch in every scenario and making you know. Of course, she’s also polite beneath- and with long held friends, calms down and matures, knowing how to play fair and enjoy.

Outside of her adrenaline-fueled pursuits, Athena is a charismatic and vivacious individual. She has a magnetic personality that draws people to her, and her natural confidence makes her a captivating presence in any social setting. She enjoys socializing with her teammates and friends, always looking for opportunities to engage in spirited conversations and share stories of her adventures. She is unhinged, but same time, embraces and is completely comfortable in her skin- she knows giants shoulder a lot of attention, so she reflects it like a mirror at everyone. This can make her arrogant, bitchy sometimes, but well, people with power can be. She’s not ashamed of her body, her assets, the looks she gets. She knows she owns it, she’s the big Goddess and anyone that is brave enough to fuck with her will get consequences.

Athena's loyalty to her family is unwavering, and she shares a close bond with her sister, Freya. Despite their differences, they complement each other in many ways, and Athena respects Freya's intelligence and scientific pursuits. She can be a protective younger sister when the situation calls for it, but she also knows when to step back and let Freya take the lead. They may clash over certain things Athena may end up doing, and my, does she do a lot of silly things. But, in the end, Athena means well and is just living hard, in her own way. Same with her brother- she'll give him shit for being quiet, but will hang out with him all the same, with the two plastered all over her socials.

Tactical Suit:

Valkyrie’s suit is aptly named the Warhawk. Quite a name for a suit. And it lives up to it, the Corporate Duchess herself needing something rather tasty.

The armour is heavily modelled on Freya’s, sharing much in common with the Gjallhorn. It's constructed from a combination of advanced composite materials, reinforced with carbon fiber and graphene nanoweave plating on top of titanium, ceramic and composite plating, with a built in exoskeleton within the frame. It clings to her form, and rather than being overtly robotic, almost looks melded, like the sheeting itself was pressed against her every being. While it doesn't have the optical cloaking system that Freya's suit boasts, it more than makes up for it in sheer movement and speed, having a slight navy blue tinge to it- it is almost this vivid shade of carbon honeycomb and navy blue, with yellow outlines on key areas of the electrical coils. The suit can withstand direct hits from small arms fire, explosives, and even some heavy weapons- and with a supporting muscular and pneumatic-hydraulic exoskeleton built in, as well as jump jets, turns it into a Warhawk that may not be stealthy, but can make Valkyrie able to leap, crash and basically play out like Skye's exo with an extra 400kg of weight. Oh, and of course internally, it’s laced with the finest of silks and cooling fans, with built in CBRN. Perfect, because Athena doesn’t do bodysuits as a glove to wear before getting into the suit. That isn’t how she rolls.

Where Freya's suit prioritises stealth and agility on the floor driven by a lighter composite using field generators and shielding, Athena's suit features a powerful jump jet system and makes as much noise as possible and uses traditional hard-hitting methods with heavier armour that contains electrical coils. Twin thrusters are mounted on the back of the suit, allowing her to leap incredible distances or reach elevated positions quickly. This jump jet capability aligns perfectly with her love for extreme sports, enabling her to perform breathtaking aerial manoeuvres during combat- she will ground pound and make an absolute dramatic scene out of things and blast electricity everywhere, because for her, combat is just a mere performance and SHE is the main star. This is of course, the worst thing you could give a hyperactive doll like Athena when told it’s even vaguely possible.

Warhawk's helmet features a heads-up display (HUD) that provides her with real-time information on her surroundings. It displays critical data such as enemy positions, ammunition levels, and the suit's integrity. The suit's visor is also polarized, adjusting to different lighting conditions and protecting her eyes from blinding flashes. The polycarbonate-crystalline reinforced visor comes with a golden finish, complementing the navy colour of the suit. It shimmers almost in look, and well, looks mean, with a large neckbrace, chinguard, and reinforced plating system. The suit comes with specialised gauntlets, which are less paw like and more finger-like for the use of her lighter weaopns, and comes with designer inspired boots which unlike Freya's, have zero sound damping.

A Trophy System exists on the left shoulder, and on the right, an integrated smart mini-missile launcher able to cycle through different rounds allowing her to lock, find and acquire targets- the same system as Jamie’s but using more in the way of anti-tank, rather than anti-personnel rounds. The hip (comically, mounted not too far from her rear) contains an IR smokescreen launcher.

Warhawk is equipped with a suite of combat utilities, including a retractable forearm blade for close-quarters combat on her left arm, magnetic grappling hooks for scaling structures based on her mother’s harpoon system on the gauntlets and on the abdomen of the suit and modular attachment points for carrying extra gear. While lacking in cloaking and a shield emitter, the latter is the next upgrade on her shopping list- though will slow the suit down considerably and limit her weaponry choices.

If Gjallhorn is the freight train you never see coming, Warhawk is the one you see coming from a town over. Her weapons certainly help.

Weapons:

Primary Armament:

Custom Tesla Coil

(looks sort of like this static.wikia.nocookie.net/isa-helghas…)

Athena's signature weapon is a massive Tesla coil, a marvel of cutting-edge technology that harnesses the power of electricity to devastating effect. Carried in both hands and triggered by a large stud in the chassis, with the suit linked in with various charging coils across the suit, the Tesla coil can discharge lethal bolts of electricity at her enemies. The weapon can be dialled down to deliver non-lethal electrical shocks for crowd control or turned up to fry enemy electronics and incapacitate armoured foes. The crackling arcs of electricity it emits serve as both a deterrent and a warning to those who would dare to challenge her. It’s described as such.

It can escalate from different modes- from a “Taser” level, to a “Stream”, a near continuously arcing ball of thunderous electricity, to the “Lightening”, a concentrated bolt, to then, the “Emission” - a concentrated force that is like turning the amplifier up to 11, and emits a large glowing ball of static plasma, basically evaporating anything it touches. It’s fucking terrifying, and will melt even armoured vehicle plating up in the process, frying anything it touches. A prototype mode involves the use of an EMP built into the suit known as the “Fryer”- but this of course, isn’t very teammate friendly and remains an emergency mode, for use only in killing everything within 200m of her.

Secondary Arnament:

2x Ingram MAC-10s with Extended Mags

Tertiary:

2x Shortswords

Straight up, Athena brought two swords and an electricity gun to a firefight. The “shortswords” are effectively the length of most people, considering her side, and she uses them when charging to hack. The Tesla Coil is exceptionally bulky, so these come in handy when in a closer quarters. Similar to her mother’s, they are made of an incredibly strong metal.

3x V40 Cluster Grenades
3x Thermite Grenades
3x Smoke Grenades

Hobbies:

#AthenaAwesome: Being a full time influencer and part time mercenary bruiser is work- and more than Freya, Athena makes it pay. Some people say that you’ll come for Freya, but you’ll stay for Athena. Athena is all about her- from beach trips, business work to wingsuiting down a mountainside through a teeny gap, Athena lives completely and totally on the edge of life, making sure EVERYONE knows who she is, as #AthenaAwesome. It’s not really much money compared to what Blue Sword pays, but she knows that nobody can really ignore her. Modelling work, motivational speaking, lifestyle advertising, you name it. She’s permeating into all of the other mercs feeds, because with a body like hers and bonkers insanity like hers, well, she’s gonna deliver. They know who she is when they see her, and well, her celebrity status always lives up to expectation. Even professionally- it makes her a motivational speaker, and well, if you ignore family money, she talks from a place of experience, adrenaline and living on the edge. Does this piss you off? Probably. Does it supply Athena with the supply of continuous adrenaline her hearts need? Yeah.

Extreme Sports: Athena's greatest passion is indulging in extreme sports and adrenaline-pumping activities. Whether it's leaping from a plane or scaling treacherous cliffs, she seeks out new challenges and thrills whenever she can. In particular, wingsuiting through a tiny crack in Switzerland (which considering her size, is more remarkable), a naked parachuteless skydive into a crash mat, cliffdiving in Mexico and dirt biking through a ranch in Upstate New York rank highly- so not exactly living life in the slow lane. #AthenaAwesome has zero time to rest, and when she has her downtime, she’s doing as insane as possible. Her parents, and her relatives are unsure how she hasn’t died yet doing this, even though they may have started this chain.

Networking: With her love for social media, Athena enjoys attending events, parties, and business gatherings, using these opportunities to expand the family's network and influence. Athena has learnt from her wise mother when to maybe amp herself up, and when to remain quiet and let them look. She’ll always get her way when it comes to a contract, tender or subcontract. She'll be there at parties. And while she may not be the cleverest, she's no doll. Apart from...

Fashion: She’s into fashion, big time. Heavies like her find it hard to find clothes, yet her time in Paris has made her connect with designers obsessed with using her for modelling, in exchange for new designs. New activewear to keep up with her activities, business suits and dresses, even some cutting edge technical designs for integration with her suit, on the sly. She wants you to know she has the most niche, gucci brand on the side because it’s what she’s in.

Business and Reading: Often found with a book in her hands on Business, Development, and even Business Development, Athena may be a silly and basic girl at times, but this girl knows how to hustle. She wants to make Blue Sword bigger, and wants the contracts that she hasn’t got out there to be hers. She is very aware of aggressive business strategy, because she’ll be there in the fore.

Likes:

Adrenaline-pumping activities
Socializing and making new friends (Extrovert)
Pushing her limits and embracing challenges
Frying stuff
Being the boss
Making money
Travelling
Her siblings (at times)
The High Life (Fashion, Money)
Showing off everything Athena-related

Dislikes:

Monotonous routines and boredom
Being told she can't have something
Her siblings (at times)
Being confined to a desk or a sedentary lifestyle
People who underestimate her abilities
People leering at Freya rather than her

Oracle

Name: Imran Malik
Age: 48
Apperance:
This
Imran is your average Sikh, but he is well built from years of training and service, being 6"6 and able to hold his own against most. He wears a dark navy blue Turban, which is not obtrusive to his role in combat and though hugely contrasting to his combat equipment, still makes him look meaner than anything, and keeps a mean, clean full beard. He has a tattoo of a Kirpan on his back, and though having a good number of scars on his back too, seems to be quite intact as a person.

Callsign: Oracle

Skills:
Unit Leader: Imran commanded Scimitar, a mean feat considering how diverse and skilled the team was. He keeps Raven concentrated on targets, and really makes sure they hit hard against them, also being able to keep a firm hold on the situation at hand. It plays well into looking after Raven as the de facto top-down controller of the unit.

Rather Clever: Imran is able to speak, listen, read and operate with others in many, many languages, from English, French, German, Russian, Urdu, Mandarin Chinese, Punjabi, Pashto and even Icelandic, a trait picked up after spending multiple postings as a mercenary and becoming a very fast learner of language. He understands technology and machinery well, though not as much as Li, and out of operations, training or anything to do with Scimitar, he is a keen learner, in almost everything that broadens his knowledge, both militarily and normally, and while not telling his comrades in the team, is working on a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Oxford part time, compiling his papers whenever he has the chance and being a keen Chemist. His upbringing is responsible for much of this.

History: Imran Kafir Malik was born in Lahore, in the Punjab region of Pakistan, to a British-born Sikh mother and a Pakistani father who was a politician, and thanks to tutelage, and his wild ability to quickly string together ideas, meant he was very clever for his age. In fact, he was a child prodigy, one among hundreds of thousands as having a high level of intelligence, being hailed as one of the cleverest children in the district due to his results on various tests and subjects, and adopted Sikhism- being a reasonably firm believer most of his life, though it has waned a little. He studied at the British School in Lahore, his mother telling him that children like him would be much better in the United Kingdom, to live and be educated. However, at the school, even with his intelligence, he never stood back and took shit from people- he ended up strangely beating up students whenever he was threatened, though he avoided expulsion on several occasions due to his status as a gifted child.

However, a tragedy struck when he was 12, almost weeks from leaving for the UK- a local gangster killed his father, and his uncle for refusing to give in to a local gang's demands. Imran was shocked and almost broken by this, his mother and him leaving right away, from the city that he loved and the people that he had known, to Bristol, England- based on her mother's English citizenship, Imran being allowed in. He carried on his education, and found a keen interest in the military, dreaming of becoming an officer in the British Army, despite the fact that almost everyone agreed that Imran was something very special in terms of his knowledge. By this point, he spoke five languages fluently, and could easily complete the work his teachers set him, whilst others struggled. He was given a scholarship by the British Army to pay for his Degree, in Chemistry at the University of Oxford, which was followed up by a Masters in Chemical Analysis, before he joined the military.

He went into the Royal Marines following Officer Training, being at first ridiculed for his "Oxford" background, his accent, and his religion, though quickly, he rose the ranks and became scarier, and scarier. He went into the Royal Marines Commando, and was feared for his brutality, as well as his sound head and vision that paired up with it that that made Imran and his unit so concentrated and vicious against an opposing force- channeling the rage and really bringing the best out his men in terms of combat capability. But something felt wrong, to Imran. He loved being a soldier, it was the one part of his mind that perhaps after his father had died, he had embraced from him- to fight for what he believed in. But he felt less and less inclined to Britain, and wanted to go back home, and make real change. He felt like he was undervalued, tasked with things that were not his endeavor- and was Honorably Discharged, at the rank of Major- commanding almost a full mechanized infantry company by the time he left, though he still fought side by side with his men, rallying them and showing considerable displays of valor.

One year later, and Imran was hired by MI5, to perform operations in Pakistan, killing specific leaders of the Taliban, who were escalating activities- learning over his hiatus how to fly helicopters, how to create IEDs and how to fight beyond his Royal Marines and previous streetfighting in Lahore as a child. He was a lone asset- and found this was more of his thing. He felt better to be working on soil he felt at home on, and found his revenge on the man who killed his father and his uncle very quickly- the decapitated bodies of almost an entire gang finding it's way into the Indus River. Though sometimes at odds with his superiors, he was a vital asset in eliminating key Taliban officers, and after two years of operations spanning the globe, was brought into the Black Ops of MI5, far deeper and covert than simple operations to kill a few leaders. He was acquainted with tactical exoskeletons, and was sent into West Papua to kill a terrorist leader, again alone. After a botched intel agent revealed how Imran was coming in, he was left to die, and barely made it to Papua New Guinea after escaping captivity, barely managing to salvage himself from what had happened.

He moved back to Oxford, leaving the service, and wanting to at least figure out his own life instead of doing what he did in covert operations, or commanding a unit, or whatever he did. He just wanted to study, and he was accepted for a Part-Time PhD in Chemistry, studying a specific analytic method that he had concocted. He was contacted before the other about Scmitar, by a contact known as "Oracle", who then put the wheels into motion, and him in charge of the team, due to his extensive experience in combat, and his intelligence. Imran accepted for some reason beyond even his mind- the call to battle was too much, and compared to times past, it felt like it was very, very different- the technology and extent of what Imran began to saw made his mind set on doing this. It felt like his personal call to fighting, and to leadership of the right kind, rather than menial commanding.

And Scimitar was quite something. He led the team for five years, and quit with a view to succession. It came and went, but Artemis hadn't died. In that time, they'd stopped a serious threat, but it turned out to be a rogue actor- rather than Artemis proper. A last-ditch attack on a missile silo in Idaho and Kerala stopped a near-sure war breaking out, and it certainly reminded Imran the world needed protectors. The Oracle to Scimitar team revealed themselves in turn, and well, Imran hasn't revealed who that was. But they passed down the reins- and Imran himself became the Oracle, the de-facto leader of Raven Squad.

Imran's role is shadowy- he'll mostly be known as Oracle to many, bar the people that know him directly in the role. His role is to facilitate the team altogether, when required- arrangements with other forces, updates from strategic roles, and so on. But he also plays a key role in ensuring the team continues to function- operationally, this is delegated to the Team Leader, but in an emergency situation, comes to him. He was a lecturer at Oxford University in their Chemistry department, and has on the part time, taken the study of Narcotics to be a pet projects of his.

Personality: Imran is confident, and weathered with experience, trusting his team but knowing when to hold them to account. He doesn't mind outsmarting anyone that he talks to, though he won't do it unless he is angered enough. He is mostly open, working together rather than putting up a front, unless he smells a rat. He has a vague Pakistani accent, and can be heavily accented when he likes- though he usually sounds quite English, hanging around with a lot of Oxford students after all.

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP)

Skye Rosalind Lyons

Somewhere above Wellington, New Zealand
Aboard an A400M Cargo Plane

Black Feathers

"Mon amis, this is Raven Airways, please fasten your seatbelts as we are taxiing for takeoff. For sudden decompression, hold onto the nearest object to you, for lack of oxygen, put your head between your ass and prey, putain. We are leaving the battle zone." Vincent called on the aircraft tannoy, giving a wry chuckle, as he turned up the power, and the plane pulled away.

The team was pretty battered after the entire experience, and as Vincent led the plane to the runway, he let Sam take lead, the F35 roaring back up into the sky following a refuelling, with the A400 ready to go the distance too if needed. It followed up on the runway pretty quick, the driving and pouring rain clapping against the cockpit, and with all engines at power, coasted the aircraft down the tarmac and into the skies, the combat pilot back in his element with headphones on and his breath only back now. He was back in a comfortable position.
"Chaos, this is Hawk, we're airborne. Now what?" Vincent spoke on the shared comms link, Oracle's voice picking up as he pitched the aircraft over the Wellington sky, and headed up to altitude, trying to get separation away from the war to the south, and the absolute anarchy they now had to flee.

"Hawk, Chaos, got the track on the aircraft. Friendly fighter support is en route, should help cap off any trails to you,. Rout yourselves to the navpoint coming through to your systems, Tokyo Haneda airport for refuelling- Chaos, leave the F35 once there with the JSDF squadron on the ground, and join Hawk with the A400 onward Pöyrisjärvi, Finland. We have contingency for the team set up at a site operated by Blue Sword. I will meet you there for a full debrief.....including a status update on Queen. We need her there, post haste. Artemis will be in disarray, but time will be limited. Out." Oracle called, Hawk nodding to an invisible person in response as he put hand to ear.

"Affermatif, we'll set course. Out." Vincent replied, turning the aircraft slightly,

"Chaos, heading on bearing three-five-zero, northbound. Fuel will get us there, very just. I will be the voice in your ears to keep you entertained. I can provide you with Skye's personal commline, if you need it too. I imagine the boss-lady, she may need to hear something from you." Vincent replied, as he turned the comms on for the inside of the plane, following the tanoy from earlier.

"So, we are now cruising at 15,000 feet, and we are heading towards our destination of Tokyo, Japan. We have no snacks, no drinks, but we are going to a location I am sure you will all find many of them on our involuntary layover. So sit back, relax to this flight now with no SAM missiles or cannon fire, and enjoy." Vincent's voice sounded like it should have been on a chilled music radio station, as the man who was visibly shaken took a moment in his Francophonic accent to give one last little remark, much to the chargrin of Skye, who sighed for a brief moment, apart of it.

------

Skye sat there staring into space, the team likely conversing between each other at this moment, as she took a moment to explore about, breaking out of her trance, trying to at least. She had to do something. Her head was spinning, ticking over lots, and well, it was shite. Roughly half of the aircraft in the back had the team in the jump-seat area, with the noise not so fun yet for a modern military dropship, probably better than half the Hercules that she'd flown in. Sitting up, after chatting to Ebrima, she looked to Freya, who looked hurty, very hurty.
"Nicely done. Glad Sophie had a look over you as well, by the way. Listen, whatever happens after, do rest up. I hope wherever we're going, someone will see sense that we give you chance to heal for a mission. Unbelievably, I agree with Sophie. But you did well. Thanks, Freya." Skye smiled, the redhead illuminated by the soft LED lighting inside the A400, as she made her way across to Chuck and to Tiny Nord, both giants imposing in the way that they sat.

"And you both too. Well earned beer after all of that. Nord, Sophie may need to borrow some of your supplies potentially. I know, you're a good medic, but I'll let the good Doctor have her time. If you can keep an eye on Freya, I'd appreciate it." Skye replied, giving Duke a stroke over his ears, a nice yelp coming back as she smiled, the rare break of a dog actually making her life feel a bit more. From there, onto the rest of the support team, who she found very exhausted, mostly asleep, so skipped by. Tahlia had her legs by her side and was out from the drugs that Sophie had given, her stumps swollen and her body hurting, with Raph the same, his laptop sealed on his lap. Skye went forwards through the cabin and into the sealed unit in front, a temporary hab it looked like, with a small briefing area on the left, and on the right, a makeshift spot for an armoury- which would be perfect as a mobile base it looked like. Beyond that was the front of the aircraft, and Skye poked her head through to there, seeing Vincent give a thumbs up, alone at the wheel but comfortable with long stints. With enough coffee, he'd be alright, Javi being parked up in the co-pilots chair.

Coming back in, Sophie managed to pick her up as she walked through the corridor of the hab.
"Right. We need to do that transfusion, when we get a chance. Thankfully, looks like Nord packed some bloodbags with him so I should be able to do it here and now." Sophie looked pressing, and Skye only obliged, as she walked back to her seat, and Sophie got to work, sticking the needle in.

It felt odd. All of this. Rose said she lived a parallel life to her, and Skye wondered how much of it was true. Rose had been in SIS too, same as Skye, and kept from her. By intent? It meant whoever was in charge was just as bad, just as culpable. Or perhaps, even worse. She never wanted to think too hard about the tentacles of Artemis, after all, people were corrupt all the time, but people who had been involved in that perhaps envisioned a better world. Even if they didn't agree, they were looking to make it right. And now, Artemis wasn't looking like a paramilitary with a perchance for disorder, they looked like they wanted to destabilise it, now with Rose perhaps getting Raven to decapitate much of their structure, they wanted to completely reshape it. Chile had gone, likely so had Corsica, so that left not much else at all, perhaps there was something else to salvage, but what there was, would take time. They needed leads, contacts, and more than that, support. No doubt that would come.

But Skye knew she was a risk to everyone now, everyone on this plane, beyond, and everywhere else. This wasn't about dying, however. She'd have to make a plan. And Tokyo, Japan....that gave her an idea. An idea that popped straight in. An old colleague was there, she knew maybe where to look, and what to do. It would be a risk. Oh, it would be massive. But when Rose chose to fight unfair, then well, Skye had to do the same. After all, she was good at being a ghost when needed. Doing what she would less expect was needed, doing more importantly what was needed to keep the team going with leads would be more still, she could do that.

30 Red Days - John Wick Universe

@Sho Minazuki

It's red, but suitably red for how bloody the RP will be getting. Nice stuff!

When's an OOC going up?

30 Red Days - John Wick Universe

@Sho Minazuki

First interest check in a while that has me. Coloured interested, and I have a couple of characters in mind.

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP)

Skye Rosalind Lyons

Rangitoto ki te Tonga / D'Urville Island
South Island, Aotearoa / New Zealand

Ka Kite Kaitiaki

Skye barked out rounds from the fifty mounted on the remote weapons station as the two heavies clambered into the back, the weight decidedly shifting as she took out a couple of incoming soldiers, the gun feeling like it was almost at boiling point when Boraro pulled them out of there and floored it. The remaining helicopters were too much in chaos to be able to do anything, and what Frigga and Tiny Nord had left spewed behind would buy them enough at least- luck was certainly on their side but then again, they couldn't leave the Heavies behind- no way in hell would Skye allow that, so some risk needed taking.

It wasn't pretty, but running now made sense, after giving them an almighty kick in the teeth. Rose probably wanted Skye's team quickly eliminated with a JDAM- but of course, their resilience wasn't something she'd bargained for. Sending this was a message, a pure detail that indeed proved the point- she'd gotten in close and gotten what she needed, and now was just ruining the rest. And as they left, Skye dwelled on it a little. Rose must have known everything. Been in there for hours, before they got back even? There would have been a way to wipe her tracks, after all. It felt like they were deep in the shit. It meant that the safehouse in Chile had been raided probably by Artemis, and that Spectre was dead or recaptured by Artemis. After spilling intel, likely the former- Skye knew it was nothing personal, and he would be compromised. It meant no more leads there, and worse, Rose now had everything in her hands. Time would be limited. They would be on the clock, and more than ever, in need to stop whatever she had planned. It was hard sometimes to put a face to evil, but in this instance....it was the one looking in the reflection of the display Skye was networked with.

Skye had to pull all the sinew in one way to keep going, and keep it together, knowing that full well that as that team lead, she'd be looked to for answers. There would be time for emotion, hurt later. Right now, not dying would be handy.

@Starlance
"Agreed, Boaro. We'll need any help we can get. I don't like this method of getting out....but we haven't exactly got anywhere to run. That's where Chaos comes in." Skye replied, the gunfire getting quieter as they bounded through the forest, over the ridge, and towards the other side of the island, to the dirt runway and docks. The message came in from Sam, as Skye adjusted her comms, getting back in touch.

"Affirmative, Chaos. Keep up the fire and keep me in the loop!" Skye called back, the fifty cooling down as she sank back down away from the monitor and joystick for the gun.

For a moment, the drive was quiet, the road back along now emptied of hostiles. Skye exhaled hard, leaning against the wall. Freya sounded exhausted, so did Sam, Oliver, Tahlia, all of them, to be honest. Before she could think too much, they had arrived at the dock, the two bundling out of the back and Skye following, abandoning the MRAP in favour of the boat. Seems like there were bodies here- Chuck, Tahlia and the forward team had cleaned up a bunch, and a few of them had been eliminated with the bodies that were left. Covering the area, Skye followed the same routine as Boaro, before bounding across and making her move to the boat.

Clambering aboard the vessel, Skye had a moment to catch up with various members of the team, even if little was said.
@BigPapaBelial@LadyAmber
"Cheers, Frigga, Boomer. Keep an overwatch, then let's get out." Skye commented, and walking up the plank, got into position to cover, eyes fixed on her from the bloodied, dirty and then across to Tahlia, who gave a silent nod, as did Sophie, Vincent and Raph. Everyone was pretty fucking ruined, so almost the words didn't carry well. As the Boaro covered sector, Skye set herself up, the MG3 perched, readied.

"All aboard!" Skye yelled, hoping Boaro would bound across from cover and reaching out, took a hand on Frigga's armoured form, a token gesture more than anything, as the boat rattled into life, and with Javi at the helm, and everyone aboard that could be at this final call, left the dock and headed out of the cove into a stormy, dark night in the Cook Strait.

As they set off, the fire seemed to drop back- the combination of the F35 and the straight up firepower of the team had knocked back the enemy. Skye didn't know where the Artemis team had come from- likely from somewhere to the south from the main part of the South Island coastline, using the jungles, forests and mountainous terrain to set up, prepare and spring the attack. But thankfully, their shock and awe hadn't worked- after all, New Zealand was remarkably far away from anything, and in itself, worked almost as a good deterrent. There wasn't much easy way to hide materiel or anything of that kind coming in- so Artemis had thrown the kitchen sink and collectively, Raven had baseball batted it out of the park.

She sat back down, Skye holding onto the side of the boat and coughing up a little, the dirt and dust lodged a little in her throat coming out now. Sophie walked across and with a gentle turn, sat next to her, bringing her medical kit to bear, a surgical kit that an actual doctor might want to use, rather than just one of the team members. Skye had kept going despite all of what had occurred- but the dump of adrenaline wearing down now was clearly having an effect, Sophie being acutely aware of the situation from what she'd gathered from the rest of the team. It was probably a good idea to have a review.
"Right. Let's take a look at you, shall we, now that we have a second." Sophie asked as Skye silently nodded, bringing an IV up into Skye's wrist and pricking it, the smart needle being equipped with enhanced diagnostics that would effectively be like plugging in a fault code recorder into a car. Now they were clear, this was important to check. After an event like that, Skye could be a serious risk to the team and herself- and with Rose's specialist blood, even Skye deep down knew there could be a risk of something like that being around, or perhaps in the toxin trace. With it, Sophie pulled out her tablet, a diagnostics for bloods, heart rate and a few other metrics- a more advanced tool than the one that Skye had access to in her smart AR-enabled telemetry. Sophie was an expert in these sorts of things- she was at the cutting edge of battlefield medicine, and keeping a team like Raven going required understanding drugs and medicine that kept the superhuman at that level. Even so, Sophie's terror at the killing was probably a rather normal response to a situation that was utterly FUBAR, and unbelievable. Back with Skye, she felt professional again, doing her job to distract from that.

"Wow. How you didn't die after that is remarkable. It is quite a potent mixture that's coagulated in your bloodstream. The antidote is real, so we can assume whatever you used, hasn't produced any adverse effects. I can't see it having any other effect on you. Long term, you'll need a transfusion to be safe, because you're going to feel quite messy and whilst I can't see any nanites in your blood, neurotoxins usually leave an effect. You're not seeing any blurring, limpness, anything are you?"
"Rose actually gave a shit about me.....then she's a little narcissistic to not put me to ashes. No, I'm okay. Just hurting, groggy, limp. Adrenaline spiked nicely to push through, but it feels like I want to be sick, Sophie." Skye retorted, shaking her head as almost a sombre reflection she internalised, Sophie nodding in response as she continued to go through it.
"Okay, that's not as bad as it could be. Let's not be sick, keep your fluids. Anyway, your bloods are alright. Adrenaline will wear and you'll probably pass out for a bit. Not much I can do, apart from hit you with more, but then you'll complain more about me. And....oerhaps Rose really didn't know what you'd do, genuinely thought she could change you. And thank you for earlier, by the way. Never thought I'd have to carry a gun, rather than a needle. " Sophie replied, Skye shaking her head, somewhat appreciative.
"That's okay, Sophie. You shouldn't have ever seen this."
"No, I know what I signed up to. Rest up. I'll stay with you and keep an eye on your vitals." Sophie replied, giving a rare smile, the doctor sitting by Skye's side, as she drifted to sleep, the boat on the rough sea peeling away and the waves crashing into the outside areas, the door beyond Skye getting coated in water.

Vincent in the meantime, caught the eye of the other African on the ship, his pastel-white skin something he'd heard of as a merc from back in the day. Boaro was a fearsome operative, a ghost yet you couldn't really avoid someone like this, not in the sphere that the Senegalese merc himself had worked in. Switching to French, the Senegalese no longer had that drawl in his accent, half glad to have a Francophone-speaking West-African on the team to compliment his own.
@Starlance
"Good to meet you, Ebrima. Shame about these circumstances, eh, but we move. I'm Vincent Cisse, ex-FFL, pilot extraordinare. Might have fought against each other someday, maybe togehter, but now, here we are." He commented, passing a hand out to the masked operative, the Senegalese pilot perhaps glad to have kin for once, of somewhat similar origin. The world as they knew it had collapsed, and everyone may have felt depressed, but in the moment, he knew to keep some spirit going, and well, this was as decent as he could be to keep matters at bay.

---

Meanwhile, Chaos's comms would flutter up with something else, probably not great timing considering she was dogfighting multiple bogeys, and trying to cover the team down below, but she would need to keep tabs on it.

"Chaos, it's Oracle. The New Zealand Navy have a frigate approximately 20 kilometres out from the zone that will clean up any remaining support ships and provide extra SAM support, and we have aerial assets from a nearby US Navy asset inbound for support, approximately 30 minutes out. I'm sending your team a navigation point. They're to head for Wellington Airport, aiming for the southern cargo area for the US Antarctic Survey hangars- get them to run the ship directly to the nav point, getting it aground and, then on foot to where they need to go. Until then, you are the only friendly aerial asset in the sky, keep eliminating any threats wherever you can. Artemis will be hurting and limited after being beaten back, but they will pounce if they can." Oracle called out on Sam's personal comms, taking a breather, knowing normally he wouldn't pause to give more detail, staying professional - except knowing that Sam was likely to be struggling with some of this and rather in shock with it all.

"Listen, for what it's worth, you're doing well. What's going on with Skye is beyond complicated....for now, you need to get her out. I've got some additional intel from Spectre, the data core and from historical records. I'll send an additional navigation point once the team get airborne and we'll go into more detail. Right now, just focus on what's in front and we'll catch up later. Oracle, out."

-------

Wellington Airport, New Zealand

Exit Strategy

The ship jostled through every single wave, every single hit blasting water over the bow in the pitch black- the team utterly and completely helpless out here if they took a hit- this was an inconspicuous vessel, but the fact Artemis knew was a concern. The ship team hadn't encountered any more fire or boats on their journey- the storm had cloaked them, and Skye had been even seasick, the Cook Strait's stormy and dark nature cloaking them as they rolled on through, the Scot asleep considering the state of her. The frigate hadn't seen them either, but in the distance, had probably kept an eye out for any other naval assets trying to make a play, and locked it down. Through a mixture of sheer luck and bad weather, the team had gotten their method out- and crossed into New Zealand's capital city, and headed for the isthmus that the city's airport sat on, a relatively small international airport yet with great significance for its location.

Running aground onto the foreshore, the boat rattled and slumbered over, Skye coughing from the dirt and dust in her lungs, looking down at the drop onto the adjacent rock groyne. With a gentle hop, she dropped down, offering a hand to Tahlia, before clambering down from the rocks and up the beach, towards the southern perimeter road of the runway on the isthmus.
"Fuck me." Skye could only exclaim, sarky and cold as ever, Tahlia shaking her head in response.
"I think you really shouldn't say that when you've killed your doppelganger twice in one day." Tahlia's dry, dark and deeply spirited response got a cackle from Skye, that weird bond between the two hitting so hard when she was at the bottom of her barrel, shaking her head as she looked back.
"Yeah....shame to lose home. Fuck, I'll miss it, weirdly. You holding up okay?" Skye enquired, the prosthetics of Tahlia clacking back, with her giving a quiet nod. She was feeling pretty weary with everything, and right now, didn't have a proper reaction for all that had happened. For now, she awaited Skye's response, as the team bundled down and off the boat, the Scot having some idea of what to do, from the memorised contingency plan. Chaos would brief the team on it, but Skye already knew it internally.

"Alright, team. That there, is our way out...I think I remember it well enough. I'd rather not bring any more Artemis attention to Wellington, or else they'll do that fine city what they just did to us. Let's scoot out of here and leave. She'll give us fire support if we need it." Skye called, and with it, the team kept their areas covered, albeit now they were very much in a civilian area- on an access road looping the airport's southern perimeter, and scaring the ever loving shit out of locals who were seeing almost two dozen personnel, including three giants and three very heavily kitted operators crossing the road.....which must have looked like the scariest thing that had ever happened in south Wellington, ever. As far as you could be from a warzone and that heavy a set of weapons, well, it was way worse than any gang warfare or drugs you could even consider in what was a relatively safe country. The reason Skye kept the team on alert was the uncertainty if Artemis might be here- there was a possibility a strike team could still be a risk- they were covering for good reason, and Skye knew they had no time to waste if they were getting out of dodge.

Bounding across, Skye took a relatively dim view of the gate allowing entry onto the taxiway by using a breaching charge, and well, from there, they had their route through. With a tactical run, the team cleared the cargo parking and taxiway, the shock of cargo staff being told by an invisible hand to do nothing, to sit still because there was a security incident going on that Raven were single-handedly in the eye of the storm for. The airport had been informed incredibly briefly of what was going on, the airport was to stand down- and well, to any civilians, it would be just an exercise, an unplanned security event....not the near end of the world coming down on them. The rainy tarmac mirrored the lights from the skyscrapers and hillside houses in the Wellington marina as well as the floodlighting all over the cargo areas between the 777s and A320s parked up, Skye bounding with the last remaining pace she had to get ahead and ensure that there wasn't anyone in wait when she got to where she was going.

Moving to the hangar, the dated lettering of "United States Antarctic Survey" could be seen on the hangar doors, as Skye headed to a side entrance, no longer having ID so instead, kicking in the door with the last vestiges of her exo's power supply. Heading in, she flickered the lights, and headed to the control for the entry, switching the hangar doors to open and revealing what was inside.

"Damn. Okay, that's not a bad choice. Chaos, keep the skies clear for us. We have our ride. Hawk, she is all yours." Skye whistled, looking to the others, the last part she could hold to a smile, that finally, fucking finally, they may have a ride out of here.

And what a transport it was. An Airbus A400M, a large prop-driven, grey USAF liveried aircraft that was parked up in storage, readied intentionally as a backup aircraft for Antarctic operations, containing a basic habitation unit at the front, and a cargo area in the back. A hell of an option for them in the short term, and while nowhere near as advanced as the prototype VTOL they'd recently been using, it would do the trick for the time being.
"Oh, she's quite something. Okay, all aboard. I'll run checks quickly and get us out. Fire up the APU, Skye, I'll get us moving soon." Vincent said, walking around and starting, Skye clambering inside and running to the rear, the APU flickered on and providing power as Vincent did his thing. The rear door opened up, and moving through the hab, she got to the seating all the way at the back and the cargo door, the wide space able to take the entirety of the team and then some. It would be a home from home for at least a few hours while they headed off, and given this plane was on standby, it was fuelled and ready for long distance.

Skye slunk down into one of the jump seats in the rear, and taking her helmet off, exhaled hard, head back and her body crashing out.
"Ebrima, you have absolutely golden timing. Sorry to put you in the deep end. You did well." She said, brushing her messy red hair with her gloved hand, checking out the Cameroonian following by, and the others beginning to shuffle in, only in utter disbelief of it all. She started to feel like she was melting, her hand on her face, her hurt definitely sinking. This was getting worse and worse. She had zero idea of what now. They would take off, and was she on the chopping block for Rose's actions? Was the entire team? Were they already too late, and Rose was rolling on whatever insane plan she had? It felt a lot more hopeless than even usual. In this instance, the hurt was still sinking, the bits of the neurotoxin that swirled about her still making her still feel a little lethargic and torn, when the exo wasn't basically carrying her willpower up now.

As the other members came in, Skye looked across, unable to stand yet happy to see them intact, at least somewhat after all of this.
"Apologies, everyone. I really, really hope it's not you lot that put a bullet through my brain, I'm not putting you through that." Skye commented, leaning in, off comms, aware that no pickup from Oracle was going to happen here. It was almost a half serious comment, considering the breach- and well, it would have been Skye/Rose that caused it, right? Something stark about that sat untrue, and she felt like she needed answers first, before she was going on that funeral pyre, if she was going that way. Nah. She was too stubborn to die. And she'd go out and kill the bitch a thousand times if that's what it took.

With it, Skye started to explain to anyone who wasn't there what had happened. The entire story. Skye's doppelganger, everything about Rose, what she had said, what she had done, what it meant. The stakes were decidedly high. Rose would come back, Skye was her genetic copy, and well, she'd now taken a lot of Raven's data- though had of course, been cocky and left traces behind they could work with. While physically she hurt, Skye held herself mentally and used it as a crutch to go logically and concisely through it. As she finished up, she knew they may have questions on what next, Skye not so sure now all things considered.

"The plan is a bit loose in my mind of what happens next. What should happen, is we'd relocate to another base run on Raven's behalf. There is half a chance the entire network will be compromised, even if Rose died there, she'll probably wake up sooner or later and find out how to get access through the backdoor. So it may mean we end up somewhere I didn't expect. Either way, we'll have a chance to talk to techs about recovery of equipment, any research, anything at all. It will take a little time, but considering what the stakes might just be, I think we may be thrown an awful lot attention more than what we're used to." Skye added, knowing the team were gagging for answers, must have been, and many more would flow through.

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP)

Queen

Boaro

A collab with @Starlance

Rangitoto ki te Tonga / D'Urville Island
South Island, Aotearoa / New Zealand

Toa!

The sound of the Cameroonian creeping in was an oddly reassuring one, considering she’d forgotten to even make an introduction. Then again, when new operatives rotated in and out, and rejoined the team then left, it was sometimes difficult to keep track. Ebrima was a wise head, a capable soldier that she was glad to have on side- Skye lowering her MG3 at the sight of him, the Scottish exo-clad operative a parallel to him.

Skye looked a little different to the other medium, his exo a cutting edge unit and shinier, hers a little more bashed, open, and more than anything, Skye’s face left open by her helmet with her tactical specs, MNVGs and comms framing her dirtied red hair and face- the navy shirt and jeans a weird combo outside of the frame of the exo’s relatively comprehensive plates. Skye should have gone for a faceplate really, but the tactical glasses and chops of the helmet she wore did most of the protecting work, as well as naturally benefitting peripheral. The damage she’d done to the team on her flank was appreciated, given she was getting surrounded rather quickly, and a face like his was never forgotten and never not appreciated when he could do what he did. A capable medium after her own heart, well, in killing people, that was.

Seeing him come over, Skye nodded in reply and nonchalantly walked over, bringing her PDA off her arm and without a reply, tapping a command into it, and tapping it against his chest, near where his own comms link would be, syncing it in quickly and clean.
“Now you can hear me. Good to have you, Boraro. Picked a time and a half to join me. Appreciate you taking that lot out..” She replied, looking keenly into his eyes, dry as you can imagine the Scot would be, her stern look turning to a wry smile, appreciating it, the look saying more than words as she peered at his visored face, barely able to see the operative behind them. She backed away, checking her own MG3 over, and the environment over, hearing the sound of booming come into sound, not of the enemy F18 Hornets, but of the F35 itself. Now the fight was on level. The submarine had gone up, the pier on the flank was clear, but the bastards were still coming up. It was a headfuck of a scene, but then again, when the war came home, it was getting a reply.

“Sit rep isn’t good. There is way more than I can even begin to explain right now, but Artemis is after us, and they are coming thick and thin. We’ve got a good chance to make a run for it back over the ridge through the woods. Sounds like if Chaos is airborne, we have a chance at not getting strafed or lit up. And my comms aren’t on lead…again, lots of factors..” Skye replied, the ardent Scot holding a certain kind of hold in her voice, one that cracked a little and clearly looked like she’d dealt with a lifetime’s worth of mindfuckery in the last twenty four hours. Even killing people as an operative for a living didn’t really compare. Her red hair, freckled face and all around well-looking demeanor couldn’t hide the weariness and prying away at her self, and she was glad he was here to help, because they’d need any advantage they could get, and he’d have the energy.

Friendly air was always good, he had been wondering where an F-35 came from all of a sudden and knowing it was on his side was the first bit of good news in the last 15 or so minutes. ”C’est la vie.” He shrugged at the bad sitrep. It sometimes came at you like that. ”If it’s just us, we can likely make it easy. That land rover will be a more visible target. But what if Chaos needs a hand?” He gestured vaguely to the sky. If that Lightning was the only asset covering their retreat, nobody was covering it and retrieving a downed pilot in the Artemis soup didn’t sound like it mixed with living to tell about it too well.

The last comment did warrant a raised eyebrow. ”Cliffnotes, then?” Abrupt leadership change was something that ranked pretty high on the list of things he wanted to know about, ”Who took over?”

Skye nodded as she pointed up at the Lightning, blasting past and with the sound of Chaos in Skye’s and Ebrima’s ears being rather….excited, yes, that would say a lot.
“Her. Oh, and riiiight….in a nutshell, there’s an evil clone of me that’s a crazy bitch, and I mean, she’s fucking mental. Like worse than me. And her blood has a tracker in it. Mine likely doesn’t, so her insurance policy is caving us in and well, trying to fucking kill us. Can you see what I mean?” Skye retorted dryly, looking around the corner of the concrete structure, keeping an eye on Freya and Tiny Nord, absolutely laying down all manner of shit down below, from the energy-based smacks of the AEW to Tiny Nord’s usual blasting apart with his fifty. And speaking of, they had their route out. With the prototype VTOL destroyed, the team evacuated, the two were now the last remaining hares. Now or never really, as Skye took a last moment to chat, knowing they’d need to get a move on.

“I’ll lead us ground based folk. But the link to Oracle, the drones, the lot, goes to her. She’s a smart lass. She’ll be right. Anyway, we have our bits to do. You good on ammo, munitions? Exo feeling nice?” Skye retorted, knowing Ebrima would want to skin her alive for her mannerisms, but then again, the Scot was beyond being particularly easy on the truth. To Sophie maybe, not right now when shite was getting real, albeit the last part, well, she checked in a little, twitching her NVGs back down, the quad-optical device covering her weary eyes back up as she switched to the thermal, before flicking back up, readied and prepared.
"Chaos, got Boraro on the line. He's with me, we're moving out to the exfil."

For a small moment, he wondered that maybe, just maybe, he should’ve shut up and done his time. Clones and blood trackers were something he’d have to learn to live with. ”Good for now, but conserve thermobarics. Get them clear and run?” He asked, taking two seconds to count remaining magazines, colored tape around their bases denoting different loads making it easy. ”After you.” He gestured to the furball, shouldering his shotgun. Really should’ve brought the rifle to the training outing.

Having Chaos in charge of the big picture brought yet another unwelcome input into the ‘what if…?’ scenario of the Lightning getting into trouble, though with a handful of Raven operatives being the only ones remaining in the fight and no support on the way, that was where she was most useful.

Skye nodded, beauty before age, or something like that she reasoned, taking point, heading out of the support site and up the hill, following the sinewing gravel track out of the exposed sheep-roaming fields on the lead up to the beach and up into the forested chunk, the comms messy and more going on than she could imagine. While the two Heavies would retreat one way, Skye and Ebrima had the other route to take, the Scot keeping her wits about her, and yet for a brief moment, the two pacing nicely on the track. The forest kept them out of view for the most part, and they had some reprieve, some moment to get a breath back, and at least take it in.
“Yeah, we’ll get them clear. You’re on the network now, so should be able to see where they are in your display. Two heavies together make one hell of a team, Tiny Nord and Frigga, if they ring a bell. I’d not be too worried, except for the fact that Frigga right now is running on an absolute cocktail of drugs. Trust me, that shit would send most people to the moon, stimulants. Once she crashes out after this, she’s gonna be like a fucking tranquilised elephant. You know how hard it is to move seven foot of a giant like that?” Skye retorted with that classic Scots charm, filling in Ebrima in, knowing full well the Cameroonian probably had little context, little idea and less belief in what the fuck was happening. That would come later- but could at the least punctuate something.

“Alright. Hold a sec.” Skye called in the comms quiet, as the sound of another MRAP, an ex-British Army Cougar of all things could be heard, the vehicle cutting the two teams into halves, given past this bit of the forested track, they’d be on the slope down to the beach, and where a fishing boat come emergency extract would sit. A risky option, but they just needed to buy time to fend off any more waves of Artemis from sky, and with the Lightning in hand and the combined firepower of the team, they’d probably stand some chance of crossing the Cook Strait and heading for Wellington. Skye had to wonder, they had a hell of a surplus from somewhere. But they had some exquisite buying power, and well, that got them some very interesting connections indeed, and people to maintain. After all, mercenary groups were more common in the contemporary security sphere, and if they had the dollar, they could get their hands on more than just a few Hiluxes and M4s, they could kit themselves out with the latest and greatest. The soldiers were well trained, likely ex-US Armed Forces, NATO and others- not all Russian or Chinese mercs, but a multi-cultural force of paid troops.

A group of soldiers clambered out, a couple exo-equipped in shiny looking suits a grade down from Skye and Ebrima’s, but no less capable, three more in the front as someone stayed on the mounted gun and drivers seat.
“Okay, that might be handy. Saves us a drive to the airfield if we can secure the MRAP, and we may even be able to scoop up Frigga and Nord, if it works out. Question is though ... .who you having?” Skye called to him, knowing that whilst they were being hunted, sometimes, it was good to have the advantage the other way around. In the foliage and in the dirt next to the road’s ridgeline type, she felt not like Frodo, but like someone else in the Fellowship in this part of The Shire….sorry, New Zealand. The dark rainy evening made things trickier for the Artemis mercenaries to spot them, so Skye knew herself holding was not a bad call. She looked on, before looking back at his face, holding her crouch and checking the German-made chainsaw of an LMG one more time, her explosive nature matching hers. Skye was a force on her own- with Sam, Freya and the others, she’d adapted her game plan to be the all-running team mum, bouncing between the two- but with a dedicated exo-carrying operative like Ebrima, she knew things could go much further. Someone matching her pace, aggression, fire. Quite a charm.

Ebrima indeed did not have the context for the situation, but what he did have was experience with drugged up combatants. Sicarios whose most protective piece of equipment were cargo shorts shrugging off jacketed rounds like BBs was bad enough by itself. Just the thought of someone that strung up in a heavy suit… oh boy. If he detested drugs among the enemy ranks, they didn’t get a pass on the other side of the barricade either though. People he had to trust doing who knew what to their bodies, for an impressive short term gain, maybe, but at what long term cost? That was of course assuming the giants even followed the laws of human biology.

And Skye nodded on that, moving around the rear and checking her MG3 over, and knowing she’d have to get in close. A batch of them were sweeping out, and Skye had her eyes on an exo and one of the men at the back.
“That works. I’ll try not to cover you in shrapnel either. All you, Boraro.” Skye responded, following the sunken part below the road, and ready facing the two troops at the back, the female merc in her exo considerably more fucking ugly than her counterpart next to him. Well, it’d be over quick. Exoskeletons were good, but this thing was a racket- the team locking the road down yet paradoxically, making their own trap. She noted the gun was active, so any fire would need to be quick, to then get inside the MRAP and evict the guy. And well, that was that. She unloaded her fire onto the two, and whilst the other exo managed to get a few shots off, from half-prone with an LMG that she could fire on the move, well, it was fairly easy how that went down. With a roar, Skye went from prone to upright, and moved around the other side and onto the next two, using the exo to leap hard upwards, and play her part.

Skye was onto something though. The MRAP, initially an obstacle, might have been a blessing in disguise. He withdrew his hand from the M25. The vehicle should handle shrapnel just fine, but why tempt fate? As long as Artemis didn’t look too closely. ”Divide and conquer?” He gestured for Skye to go around back, himself taking the vehicle’s front as long as they minded each others’ position. Friendly fire was not on the menu today.

He set out through the undergrowth, waiting for the MG to play the part of the starting gun. First order of business was the mounted gun. As its operator instinctively turned it backward to see what the machine gun fire was about, that was all the opening he needed to cross the bit of open space between him and the Cougar. The first couple of shots struck the driver, probably giving the Artemis mercs a nasty surprise. That sinking feeling that you were in a vice, pressure on two sides and hardly a way out. Now in the gun’s dead angle, he could finish the wounded one with impunity before the big show. The exosuits they used meant the grenades he had were out of the question, as much as he would’ve loved to chuck a smoke int the truck and let the guy stew, the situation called for something faster. With the two others now turning to him, he he flung the left passenger door open, something that took some effort usually made trivially easy by the exosuit, and unceremoniously emptied the rest of the magazine across the passenger seats, reasoning the turret operator had to be disabled, not necessarily dead. But that left him facing the two with an empty weapon.

Skye came back down on the other side of the bank, rolling out and blasting one of the men without the exo with her MG3 as she came back down off the part above the sunken road with just a satisfying drop, then slamming into the other like a sack of potatoes, punching the man hard in the head with a satisfying twack. She looked up like a rabbit in the literal headlights of the MRAP, exhaling hard, the MG3’s barrel cooking hot from the moment to moment, as she nodded to him silently, taking a breath back and walking with an intent back towards the MRAP. The Cougar was a 6x6 variant, an odd one to have somehow driven onto the island, but was clearly one of the more tooled variants that Artemis was trying to use.

“We make a team. Even held a door for me. Alright. Keep the wheel. I’ll get on the weapon. Looks like we have room on the back for the two to clamber into so we can make a pickup, albeit like a sandwich. Mind you, that’s like loading a tonne….we’ll see how we get on.” Skye retorted, dragging out the dead driver outside, and the gunner too whilst at it, manning an RCWS platform, a remote weapons station with an old-school M2 .50 hooked up to it. She shut the door in, the exo-clad form of Skye very cramped in the seat yet able to network into the device, using the joystick and haptic of her exo’s PDA in sync. The Scot would normally drive, but in this instance, knew the Cameroonian had his talent in that.

He expected he’d need to argue about not sitting in half a dead merc. ”Minor teething problems.” He allowed himself a rare moment of levity in such a situation as he swapped out the magazine, having been about to use the door as a shield. Maybe now that he was working for rich people with R&D, he could inquire about 30 round drums that worked. Not even an hour on the job and he was already making a shopping list. ”Let the team know we’re coming under enemy colors.” That wasn’t an accident he wanted to be a part of.

“Aye, I’ll agree on that. Smells bloody horrible here. Don’t want to add to that. Alright, all yours.” Skye called back, and with that, knew that Ebrima would be taking them down the road going back to the fire- the outline of Freya and Oliver soon to be seen, as she checked comms one more time.
“Frigga, Nord, we’re coming to you now in a commandeered MRAP. I’ll pop the door and lay fire out with the MG but you need to get the fuck in, stat.” Skye called, checking the area with the RCWS turret, the sound of gunfire calming down indeed suggesting that they’d at least held a wave for the moment being. It was a rare drop away, but there could be plenty more, and it sounded like Sam’s team had fought through hell to get to the exfil. Now they’d just have to join....no time to put the stereo on, but if there was anything playing, it sounded like Supremacy by Muse. Brooding, dark, deep. The way the Scot liked her rock music.

With gunfire coming in, Skye turned the turret and tried to pick up the angle, clapping a few troops further down the bare green hill, the plasma coating the retreat but giving Skye the chance to paste everyone else. The .50 barked, clapping out shell casings onto roof, as Skye kept up the fire till it could no more, the heavies closer, and closer.
"Hold here, I've got this." Skye called, leaping out, giving a wave, seeing the scorched look on Freya and the battering of Tiny Nord. They'd taken some hits alright, but thrown it back.
"Alright, get the fuck in!" Skye called, the twin doors at the back open, and able to fit the two inside the tight space, as with it, Skye banged the stock of the MG3 into the side of the wall, indicating once they were in, they were gone. She clambered back into the gunner's seat once more and started firing out rounds, lacing another buggy down the bottom, a few 40mm grenades blasting the hill around them too as she hoped this was it. They'd need to get to the runway and the boat there, and get going from that.

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP)

Very, very nice! Glad to have you on board @Starlance, post into characters and I'll have a play with how I can introduce him. One of the most unique characters I've seen in an RP for a very long time too- a very interesting origin for sure.

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP)

@Ariana Grey

Interesting! Drop me a PM with what you have in mind- I'd love to play with something to that regard as there's something inherently linked to what the main character I'm writing for is managing right now, and would be an interesting tie in!

Keen to see what you have in mind- I very vaguely remember Hanna (the film) - I will say it's probably one of those where the character would be slightly older just due to the level of intensity involved in parts of the RP, and what I may potentially have in mind!

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP)

Skye Rosalind Lyons

Kaitiaki Homestead, Raven HQ

Rangitoto ki te Tonga / D'Urville Island
South Island, Aotearoa / New Zealand

Running in the Shadows

The scene unpacked itself, as exos could be seen in the far end of the forest getting sniped by Freya, whilst the Land Rover was on the flank. There was too much going on. Explosions, shit getting blown up, it was utterly bonkers. The house itself had been hit, but in the forest below, from the hill downwards towards the beach, there were soldiers flooding in. Finding a suitably large branch, Skye laid herself down and sprayed with the MG3, blasting a group of enemies on the flank, watching Frigga set herself up by the base's supply point, further down the hill, then breaking after some sniping and going head-first into a whole group of enemies. She was doing her bit. Skye had to do hers.

"Frigga, I've got your flank, keep the breach going then let's get the fuck out of here!" Skye called out on the comms, knowing that Frigga was going straight into the mess of this- starting a fire and probably then some. With a jolt, the exo sent Skye much further down the hill, and a group of soldiers were quickly flanked, Skye picking them out. An exo lept the treeline, and with her now known ability to fight back in this regard, Skye rolled sideways, using her FNX to clap them with a smooth headshot, before rolling back up. Home had become a warzone, but defending was easier than attacking.

Skye herself could only duck as the house took another direct hit from a JDAM, the whole site blasting apart, sending shrapnel.
"Really!? That took at least a year to build!" Skye yelled, watching as another group came charging up the track, getting a faceful of lead from her MG3. The open field with Freya and blasting shit, clattering enemies, with Tiny Nord likely doing the same. It would hold the breach for now, as Skye had her work to get to.

The situation was tense. The hillside was swarming now with enemies, fire and rounds being sent up, a hell of a lot, and it was clear, that way was a no-go. The only way would be back- and towards the emergency RV point, where the airstrip and boat would be. They needed to get off this island- there was no way of putting it, support from the New Zealand Defence Forces wasn't going to arrive anywhere near in time, hell, they'd end up in the country capital faster than that. And that scared Skye. If they turned around, all shit would hit the fan. It was a scary prospect, so as many of them they could take now and delay, the better. While somehow making their own way out of the grinder. Skye knew Sam was in bits, but she was leading well- holding it together, and she just hoped, prayed that they would make sense after this. The members of Raven were exceptionally talented and physically conditioned, mentally so too, but most normal people would barely last a few seconds of what was going on. It was intense, and with what had happened with Rose, doubly so. Skye knew the team would have more questions than even could be answered, it was just beyond absurd at this point, and even more so, just wild. But the classic point in hand stood- survive now and worry about it later, or die thinking.

Exo-equipped soldiers were moving through the forest below the ridgeline the base sat on, up the sinewing tracks in the forested ancient woodland, whilst from above, the sound of 20mm rounds was ringing out, pattering the area down. There was no denying. This was Ragnarok, the end of things, but by hell, the team had the war direct to deliver. And they had plenty up their sleeves. Rose had found lots, but not clearly enough. Almost in a way, Skye was surprised- it was like the team had done something to home to make this better, without her knowledge. It wasn't for now to think about. It was their creativity, and she had to applaud that, even if it wasn't right. The good old ask forgiveness later, don't ask permission trick.....but well, who was to complain as the SAM took out one of the two Mi-28s, clattering it down with a massive explosion.

With it, Skye made her move towards the support area, the area made up of a couple of concrete pre-fabs. With Tahlia on the vehicle, Skye knew this one was up to her. The teams would be able to get out, thanks to the cover fire- but Artemis's troops had already made it here. They needed clearing, and with Frigga, Tiny Nord and the others absolutely lacing fire, she could get to work.

Making her way towards the supporting area, hearing enemy chatter, Skye stopped, holding short before moving inside. Leaning down, she took her frag and pinning it off a wall, lobbed it, before moving on the other flank, enemies scattering as she took nobody out with the grenade- but got the others once they split. Bit by bit, the German-made machinegun buzzed, rattling away as Skye clapped them down, the volume over accuracy doing the job as she moved through the supporting compound, aware the computers were frazzled, but likely, there were two members of the team that needed help. They were the only two that she'd know would have been here, in the situation that had been posed.

With the dust clearing, Skye moved inside, and called it out. They'd been pinned down, and so far, couldn't make their move to the.
"It's Queen, Foxhound!" Skye called, as Vincent, Sophie and Raphael made their way out, nodding to her, all armed. The call was good- just to avoid friendly fire considering they weren't on the comms network.
"Foxhound, we're ok." Vincent took the lead, the only one of the three with active combat training, carrying an H&K UMP.45 as did the other two, the spares for an emergency situation like this. It was always handy to have lead on availability, especially in this sort of place.
"Okay, what's the situation? Where the fuck are the others?" Skye called, barking the order direct, dragging whatever energy she had after the incident earlier.

"All in the tunnel, but we were pinned. Thank you for coming....merde, they are serious. I got one of them, but we're lucky not to be dead." Vincent called back, the body in the room evident of that, probably one of the forward team.
"Okay, entry to the tunnel is there, other block. I'll carve you a route out. Just move quick. Follow me." Skye called back, as Vincent took his hand on her shoulder before she hustled, looking into Skye's eyes, the one that was a little bloodshot considering well, neurotoxin after-effects. The t-shirt wearing Scot was soaked, her eyes resolutely with a distant stare, the emotion now only to save them, help them and get out of here. Vincent had something to add though, beyond just survival.

"The new VTOL, it needs to be destroyed....they cannot have it, mon dieu. Your Gustav will do the trick. Aim for the right engine, it's got fuel and it'll blow the rest. Merde, what the is going on...." Vincent said, his confusion making it clear, Skye coming back to sense and nodding back, the ginger-haired Scot resting her hand back on his broad shoulder, agreed.
"Got it. Too much to explain right now, just follow my instructions, and you'll live. Vincent, you stay on point, Sophie middle, Raph on the rear. I'll clear the inside, the hatch is underneath the fridge in the welfare room." Skye directly replied, checking her MG3's belt, and her clutch on it, the exo back on a regular setting once more on her arm-mounted PDA.

"Oui, Major. We have this. You go out there and make sure we can run." He replied, as with that, the team then did move.

Skye nodded back, and leaving the computer den and the support amenity, including Sophie's office, supply point and telecoms array, they moved across the courtyard, headed to the other building, Skye up first before waving to them. Stacking up, Skye heard voices inside, enemies. Looking to Vincent, she gave him a wry look, taking a grenade and with it, asking him to pull the door. As he did, she lobbed the grenade in, and well, concrete did the rest. The door blasted outwards as it blew up, Skye charging inside, and well, showing off her prowess in a situation like this. It's hard to explain what her ability was like, but when she was fluid, like a squirrel on crack, just faster and quicker and able to block out the other distractions. Only living in the moment and fighting back.

Spraying the room, Skye took a few rounds herself, knocking her into the floor as she coughed, back up again and moving into the next, kicking someone over and hosing them down, inside the large canteen for the support team. Looking around, she whistled, and the other three ran inside, Skye noticing the horror on Sophie's face- no doubt from all the chaos unfolding and what their team lead was capable of doing. This was not an easy business. Sophie was into saving lives, not ending them, and while she could deal with grizzly wounds, the horror of it being caused by their own people was always unnerving.
"We're going to be okay. Get to the other side, the others will meet you there. Fire up the boat and have it ready, we may need to go, quickly." Skye called to them, then looking to Sophie, who looked like she was on the verge of crying.
"Sophie....please, please listen to me, you need to pull through. I know this is difficult. Trust me. You're going to be alright. You have to keep going." Skye said, the silent look in Sophie's eyes vacant from the horror, the smell of bodies, the explosions and cordite, as another one boomed, interrupting the moment.
"Shit!" Skye yelled, as she moved through the room, the dust kicking up, Skye shielding her face before then looking back. They had to get them out. And with a kick only described as superpowered, kicked the heavy fridge out of the way, sending dozens of chocolate bars, fruit, milk and dairy everywhere, all over the room, making it even messier. It was almost a comical moment, a levity in the absolute dark.

"What a waste, but alas. See you on the other side, look after yourself, Skye. Do not go dying on us, eh?" Vincent added, giving him a smile, a reassuring one as she put his hand on Sophie's shoulder, Skye giving a wry smile and nod at his never-ending humour in a situation as bad as this. With it, they clambered down into the tunnels, which would lead them to the RV. Skye had done her bit. They were out, and aside from that, they all needed to leave. Things were getting spicier out there as a jeep rolled by, Skye ducking inside and switching to the Gustav, checking her backblast and.....BAM!

The jeep flew past with a large crackling explosion as the AT round detonating, as the one person wrecking crew came around and hosed down two more enemies, before being flanked by another, to which Skye turned and coiled down into the mud. With a hard turn, the exo-equipped soldier tried to go for Skye's head, but she'd had experience of that too. With a weave, Skye wrestled them over and shanked them with a hard hit of the soldier's own knife, standing up once more and reloading her Gustav in the rare opportunity. So much was going on, it was hard to track. That was why she did what she did, but still, a radio message would be good.

"Chaos, last batch of the support team are going to make a beeline through tunnel. Recommend we get the hell out. Frigga, Tiny Nord, cover each other and retreat, I'm going to try and lay down fire and cover you, just make a move and run. Do not get bogged down in fighting, clear who you have to, they pincer you and you'll be toast. There's a thin forest track we can use to get to the RV. Chaos, take your group and get to the RV with the Land Rover, disengage and get back. I've one last thing to sort." Skye added, drawing the Gustav, and with an adjustment of the optic, spied the VTOL further down the hill, in the clearing it always was in. With a gulp, she sighed, and well, clacked it away. The jet-equipped VTOL was state of the art, prototype for them in fact and an advancement of the V22- but they'd have to live without it now, as the round hit and detonated it. It gave Skye away for that moment, as she ran from where it was, gunfire now towards her, the ginger-haired rabbit now
"Fuck, there's a lot of you bastards!" Skye yelled, clambering a fence and rolling as gunship fire came in, with it making her way into the woods. She coiled over seeing another group come after Frigga's flank, and with it, laid down fire, clapping them out.
"Well come on then!"

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP)

Kaitiaki Homestead, Raven HQ

Rangitoto ki te Tonga / D'Urville Island
South Island, Aotearoa / New Zealand

Skye Rosalind Lyons

and everyone in Raven Squad

HEROES, PART TWO

“Fuck…..that was close. Sam, there’s a lump on her back. Quick, we have to check. That is her, no time to explain, but I promise, if you don’t trust me, that will prove it. It’s an upload node. I’m gonna stay here, I’ll hold it tight, just…shit, thank you, thank you, thank you….” Skye yelled back, cradling the device hard in her hand. Standing, she kicked over Rose, and well, it would be an incredibly subtle thing. Rose hadn’t seen it coming, but it was worth the gamble. Worth the punt.

More opportunities would come for Rose, none as good as this, but when risk was death, then any chance was risk free, right?

The implant would be a small protrusion- next to a vertebrae, a tiny little lump that would harness itself to the back of Rose’s ribs, and already there.

Samantha moved quickly and yanked up the woman’s tshirt as she began to examine her back. “There is a lump what I am supposed to do with this Node?” She was trying to understand what was going on. It was a lot to process and she was certain the explanation would take longer than they had.

Hyperventilating, Skye came down onto the floor, the neurotoxin slowly beginning to fugue in, Skye’s slurring increasing as her heart played all sorts of panic, and her body, brain and all of her was beginning to recoil. Whatever it was, the slow burn would have worked rather nicely. It would have made Rose look an absolute hero holding it tight, but right now, it was backfiring.

“She’s a genetic copy that can jump across to other bodies identical to mine, look…..I don’t have one, check. Sam, there’s a bomb in the kitchen, and she’s stabbed me with….I think that vial there, she said it was a neurotoxin. She has to have something on her, some cure, she said something about it, she was talking about keeping me alive if I changed my mind. Crap….you need to cut the connection to this, stat.” Skye yelped, looking across, on the other side of the floor to Rose,and spasming, tried to push in the trigger. She was struggling though.

Skye was definitely feeling it now- the trigger would go as soon as she fell out of consciousness, and that pressure had to be applied. A bomb needed defusing, urgently, and before that pressure went. However it had to be kept on, it had to be done, as Skye only prayed, prayed and prayed, Sam would have her back on this one. She was a clever girl, and right now, she needed everything from her.

Samantha was never more grateful for her big beautiful brain. She rose to her feet and lunged for the desk. She had helped review the digital security at the base and had helped install additional security into Skye’s office. She had built a faraday cage into the walls that could be activated with a switch. It was the ultimate protection against digital breeches in an emergency. She flicked the switch to activate it. That would shut down all incoming or outgoing signals. “That should shut down any transfer. Now let me get Boomer to take care of the bomb. Where is it?” She said that as she began to search Rose for any vials. She believed Skye because she could tell that she was fading rapidly. Skye was already slurring her speech.

“It’s….rec room, sofa. Shit….” Skye slurred more, the usually unstoppable team leader crawling on the floor, and looking back at Sam, watching as she looked through Rose, trying to find something. If Skye had last utterances to make, she’d make it now. Because it was worth it, protecting them, making sure the team had been at least alerted, stopped.
“Thank you.” She mumbled, the electromagnetic field allowing her to release the clacker but with it, fading fast from being awake.

Samantha found a pouch in Rose’s jean pocket. She found a vial there. But could she trust it was the cure? She didn’t know. She needed help. She did her best to tie Rose up. She picked up the phone and used the landline to call the recreation room. “Boomer, there is a bomb on base. It might be in the rec room sofa. It was on a deadman’s switch. I have the switch inside a faraday cage. It needs deactivated pronto! Send me some help to Skye’s office. I need medical.” She hung up the phone since she had a crisis to deal with. She would have to trust Boomer to take care of the bomb.


Chuck had been pacing and waiting as intel came back from the base. Tahlia made a great second in command. She jumped right in and started providing him with what he asked for. He trusted the Kiwi to have his back after the operation in Columbia. Guards had been reporting back that they had begun sweeping. No one had reported back anything of significance yet. He knew the base was mobilizing against the threat but full mobilization took time even with training. That is what made operatives like Samantha so valuable. They were in and out in the chaos with the goods before the target knew what was happening. He hated feeling like the target. Chuck was preoccupied with trying to figure out what was happening and had not noticed Duke pawing at the sofa. Chuck’s attention spun towards the intercom when he heard Sam call his name. Chuck catalog that important information. His attention spun to the sofa in question that Duke was doing his best to tell him had a fucking bomb in it. Chuck looked around the room. “Clear out of here. Tahlia get to Skye’s office to see if you can help with whatever Samantha needs. Get Sophie moving there as well. NO ONE gets back in here till I have cleared the fucking bomb.”

He moved to Duke and gave him a well deserved pat. “Thanks buddy. Sorry I wasn’t paying attention to the signs.” Boomer needed his bomb removal kit. But did he have time to retrieve it? He would make do with what was in the room. He moved over to the kitchen and bean to pull open drawers. He pulled a few knives out of the block. He found a screwdriver in a junk drawer which didn’t surprise him at all. This was a base of badasses used to maintaining their own equipment. He bet there was a bottle of gun oil hanging around too. The drawer had a few other items that might be useful. He looked around the room. The one thing he really needed was a mirror. He grinned as spotted a decorative mirror behind the bar. He frowned.it was too big. He sighed. He hoped it was not some irreplaceable antique or sentimental piece. He used the screwdriver to break it on the corner. He just needed a piece small enough to handle. He took the piece about the size of a cell phone. He went to the kitchen and pulled out a metal spatula and the duck tape. He taped the mirror shard to the spatula, leaving the center clear and free to use. He then began to carefully inspect the sofa. Once he was certain that the cushions were not wired in any way. He pulled them off the sofa. He called Duke over to check them. Maybe they made it easy and planted the explosives into the cushions. His luck never went that way.

Tahlia moved on call up towards the stairs and onto the office, security starting to sweep, the rain intensifying in the overcast yet evening sun, bounding her way up. Sophie could be seen outside, in the rain between the two bases making her way in.

Sophie joined in as well, turning a full 180 and headed up to the base again, the team doctor hearing the call. For what was supposed to be another day of moaning at the team, well, this could be getting more serious. She knew how to hold a pistol, but she was no soldier- and with what was going on, she prayed that the team would know how to handle this, and she could do her job too. It sounded like Skye was in dire need of attention, and that never boded well.

Samantha looked down at the vial. She couldn’t wait. Skye was already struggling. Neurotoxins worked fast. She had to hope this was really the cure. She took the vial and slammed it into Skye’s thigh. “Please be the cure!” She prayed verbally over her friend. She hoped the psycho that had been trying to convince her that Skye was her enemy wasn’t lying about the cure. She hoped she carried the cure on the off chance that someone turned the tables on her and shot her full of the neurotoxin. That made sense considering Skye and the team had already taken out Lynx.

Skye yelped, her lungs filling with adrenaline from the needle at first followed by the antidote, forming fully and the saliva and kick of the initial bit of the drug slowly trickling in. It would take time for it to counter, given there were probably mere seconds before Skye would have lost her cognitive ability and just died there and then, right in time for Rose to do her thing. But of course, with that plan foiled, not being dead was rather a perk. Skye felt the light come back in, the toxin neutralizing in a coloured haze, as she spluttered out, coughing and yelling as the light kicked back in fully.

“Ah!” She yelled out, looking around, seeing Rose on the floor, still in total shock on what was going on. Clambering onto her feet, she leaned hard against the table, still a little disoriented, feeling blurred, weird and like she’d drunk a lot of beer.

“Are we alright? You…..you didn’t shoot me. Cheers. I can’t believe we did that.” Skye mumbled, coming back to herself, albeit very confused, disoriented and unsure of what was going on- drunk almost. Rose had seriously underestimated Skye’s ability in fighting the neurotoxin, hoping it would have pinned her rather than made her fight- most people would have been almost instantly dead from that neurotoxin, but Skye and her particular nature now seemed to make a lot more sense- that resilience was baked in naturally, like it was her entire body pulling in one way to stop it slowly swallowing whole. Putting her hand over her back, she felt nothing there where the lump may have been, relieved and breathing a long, hard sigh. She knew it wasn’t. But it was always safe to check, almost like this wasn’t a dream.

Samantha looked on anxiously as she hovered over Skye praying that the cure would work quickly and not doom her friend to death. She let out a painful sob as Skye showed sounds of improvement. She hugged her friend tightly, grateful to hear her snarky Scottish accent. “Cheers?! I can’t believe you are still alive.” Samantha closed her eyes for just a moment, overwhelmed by all that was happening. She was almost dizzy with relief. She released Skye as she began talking again.

“I owe you so much after this. She said her name was Rose….she said something about blood. It tracks, apparently, so whoever she is, whatever is following her, will know where she went. We need to kill her, quick before she comes back awake, or we have trouble….verify it if you can, but likely she’ll have something to differentiate her, even tiny changes. Sam, this is surreal, but basically, she can jump bodies. She’s got a bank of them like me…and we just gave her everything, because she had all the permissions I did. Fuck, we might be completely, totally compromised…..damn, I can't even start to explain it all.” Skye uttered, looking over at Sam, in a total shock. First time this had happened, it had sapped Skye, but to kill her, in exceptionally warm blood while suffering from poisoning?

This was getting beyond ridiculous. And discombobulated. It felt like she was having an out of body experience, like a really, really bad fever dream. Like this was a fantasy, and she wasn’t even real, or in substance. Looking at Sam, she awaited a reply.

Samantha gave Skye a look. “I do believe that you're Skye but really? Kill her quick?” She shook her head and rose to her feet. “She is sitting in a faraday cage at the moment and can’t send or receive any signals.” She tried to reassure Skye that she couldn’t jump. She still wanted a second opinion before she put a bullet in the brain of someone who looked like her dear friend.

Skye nodded, looking across as she headed to the base of her spine, at the very least, taking a knife from across her desk and rather painfully to the unconscious Rose, knowing this could relapse her. She stabbed into the spine, and the node was there and then. With a yank, Skye pulled it completely out, keeping the knife in position against her, ready for Sam. A tiny plastic box, maybe the size of a matchbox followed, as Skye yanked, the composite severing from her spinal column.
“This is how we know it’s her. She would have followed us here, from splatter, and she’s just going to know where she went. Like her own personal chain… like crumbs for her to follow. Even with the Faraday Cage, she knows we’re here from entering. Only choice we have is to go before she can follow us up. Or, someone comes here following the signal.” Skye spluttered, knowing she was going to be feeling the effect, her head pounding with a head-splitting migraine, making her physically feel nauseous and sick, knowing Sam was going to get none of this.

Chuck called Duke over and told him search. Duke dutifully sniffed the cushions and sniffed. He went back to the sofa and sniffed all the way around it before sitting next to the side arm closest to the door and barked. Chuck nodded and told Duke “Good boy!” he moved the two cushions out of his way and then motioned to have Duke move. He pulled out his makeshift mirror tool and very carefully slid it under the sofa. Chuck laid down on the floor and pulled out a small pocket flashlight that he had found in the kitchen drawer. He clicked it on and froze. Sweat immediately began to pour from his brow. This was a very special bomb. How the hell had anyone had time to get that in there? How did they even get the parts on base? Chuck began to follow the wires. The set up was pretty simple. The kitchen knives would cause too much tension before breaking the wire. He needed something to snip it. He laughed as he pulled out a pair of fingernail clippers that had been in the junk drawer. He opened them up and then very gently clipped the lead wire. He breathed a sigh of relief and pulled the wire off the battery on the device and disconnected the cell phone that was being used as a receiver. He then lifted the corner of the couch carefully and gently pulled the bomb away from the bottom of the sofa.

The bomb was some kind of experimental explosive he was not familiar with. He didn’t know its properties. So he treated it cautiously. He set the bomb down gently on one of the sofa’s cushions. He rose to his feet and went over to the base intercom. He spoke into the com. “This is Boomer, Bomb in the recreation room has been disarmed. Be on the lookout for additional devices.” He took a deep sigh of relief. Damn all his support had gone. He needed to find out what was happening. “Duke, come and search.” He began to run towards Skye’s office. Duke at his side. Duke didn’t deviate so he hadn’t found any other devices.

Samantha was having trouble following Skye. She was still reeling from having to figure out who the real Skye was. She was starting to understand there was a lot more going on though. “Nanites? Those must be some special nanites to be able to transmit from such a small surface area. So we need to be sure none of that blood leaves the room. Shit, but that blood has already leaked the location of the base. We need to evacuate!” Anything that blood had touched had compromised safe houses, locations of where they had been. Artemis could have been tracking their operatives and equipment. That included the lab doing the analysis on the blood. This blood had handed Artemis an inside look and painted a target on their most secure and secret locations.

Skye nodded, as Rose yelped out, coming back to, but before she could, Skye did what any person with any left reason could considering Rose had tried to kill her. She pushed on the knife, and through her throat, tore the life out of her own copy.

Read that back a second. Yes, this is getting confusing. Skye’s killing Skye? Or Rose?

Well, it had to be done. Skye Rosalind Lyons, the version that Rose had called the defect, the version that Sam had probably not a full understanding of, wasn’t dead, but Rose, the version of Skye that was the original, albeit not the one the team had known, now was with a knife sticking out. So Skye nodded to that effect, knowing full well, they could still be under attack. Too much adrenaline was through her from the shot, so she had to keep on it, as best as possible. She used the knife to at least rip the tape off, the clacker now no longer active as a device given the defusal, and the faraday cage activation to cut out any EM signals.

“I get what she meant now. This is insanely complicated. But in a nutshell, you’re right. There shouldn’t be any in me, but you may need to run a check on my vitals with Sophie, completely run me through because otherwise, Oracle will treat me the same. She said I was inert, a defect of some kind. Sharing genetics, but beyond that, very little of actual substance. I can’t do what she does like that, switching bodies and all because I lack that. But I suppose that means I’ve actually got some humanity left. Shit Sam, she was talking a lot about some horrific, world ending stuff. Worse than a nuclear bomb. But if we don’t get out of here fast, we’re all going to follow her. Artemis may even be expecting Rose to deliver the goods….oh shit, of course. I didn’t even say. We gave everything to Artemis because of her, the intel, the drug…... All of it! She used us….knowing I’d fit perfect. Now it makes sense. Shit, shit, shit!” Skye yelled, her sadness conflated with how angry, and distraught she was about just how totally screwed they were.

A look of horror crossed Samantha’s face as she saw Skye push the knife through the imposter’s throat. The flow of red blood is so utterly bright in this dark situation. It seemed to highlight how ludicrous their situation was. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the blood pouring out of the neck of the woman who looked like her friend. Samantha was trying to keep up but it was hard with so many shocks in so little time. Sam closed her eyes and turned away from the sight. Samantha had taken lives before and spilled blood before. It was the shock of seeking someone who looked like her friend dying in such a way. It was a shock to the system. How does one deal with that and just move on? She had to keep moving. She understood better than anyone else on the team the breadth of information those nanites might have shared with Artemis. She took a deep breath and compartmentalized this trauma like a champ. “Nanites are like little tiny robots in her blood. Hers are evidently revolutionary. The only way I can see them working like she talked about was if they work together to amplify their capabilities, maybe using the iron in blood to boost the signal.”

Skye nodded, looking down at the version of her that was dead, the second in only 24 hours. You only lived twice? Well, Skye had no idea how that song played now.
“With a signal, they just need to emit anything on any broadcasted trace it can leap onto and transmit geolocated data to. So we may have half a chance they haven’t worked out exactly where we are. But I think they know. If she knows, whoever she might be with in Artemis that she convinced to her side after literally destroying their command structure will too.”

Samantha looked at Skye. “We need to make sure not one drop of that blood leaves this room. We need to strip and wash clean before leaving. We don’t want Artemis to have any clues as to where we have gone. We can destroy the blood with fire before we shut down the faraday cage. We need to evacuate as soon as possible. The VTOL will need to be abandoned. Anything that had her blood on it needs to be cleaned or abandoned. We need to regroup.” Samantha’s eyes widened in alarm as a thought struck her. “Skye they have already found us. The proof is dead at your feet! They know where we are!” Her voice rose in urgency and fear as the thought that attack was imminent rose to the front of her brain.

Skye nodded, looking down at Rose one last time, trying at least, before sitting up.
“Agreed...this is messy. Oracle....he wanted me to deactivate my data links. Basically lock me out because he said there could be a breach. Turns out it’s a physical one, with literally her!” Skye swallowed a very deep lump in her throat, thankful Sam had saved her, yet the situation became more, and more frightening by the second. She was realizing what it meant. This wasn’t even some simple situation of data transfer now. It was way, way worse.

“Artemis will be already on their way too, if Rose left last notes with someone, before she comes back again. We may need to get ready for a fight. There’s a series of tunnels that leads to an exit point near an old mine and runway for the support team, less so for us so we may need to go overland. There’s an F35, and a stashed patrol boat that can get us off island back to the mainland. Then from there, we can probably make our way through to an NZRAF base overland. I don’t know where after. But from here, you can’t trust anything I would think. Rose will know all my contacts, everything I am because she’d be me, and I have no recourse to respond. We just need to follow protocol now like I’m dead, until we get to safety. I’ll go through it with you now.” Skye’s mind raced, knowing shit was about to get real- the brief interlude the team had coming to an end.

“Sam….same way you got me, I trust you. We’’ll be on our own because once I tell Oracle what’s happened, he’ll go dark and I’ll tell him we’re in the Omega Protocol for a team lead. I’m going to give you a code. It’s a response for it, a 2IC code for someone to take over as if I was dead, or worse, compromised. Listen to me close. I’m going to need you to call out that code, and stay on the line to Oracle. Protocol is always to regroup and then, a new team lead outside the team will take over. I think the guy is a bastard if I know him, but he’ll do what’s right. I can’t work it out what I do. Either I need to disappear, or hope Oracle has some answer to this quandary we’re in..” Skye called back, moving along as she got to her desk, readying the comms, and the mic she had in place for the intercom.

“I’ll be there with you, I’ll try afterwards. We are a family, and till the end, that carries on.” Skye smiled, knowing that she had to hold back some of the worse news. Even in nearly dying, the reality was slowly fading in. Skye was no longer the team’s strength, she was their achilles heel, and right there with Rose dead, she was absolutely personifying it.

Samantha was shaking her head no. “Skye you do what you have to do. So we don’t use your playbook. We use mine. You come with me. I will keep you hidden and informed until we figure a way out of this bloody mess. Don’t you think you are going Lone Ranger on me!” She glared at Skye. She had a nagging feeling that she was trying to cut and run leaving them all behind. That made her angry. Even badasses needed their friends every once in a while. She glared at Skye with her hands on her hips. Not that her impassioned plea moved the Scot once she had made up her mind.

Skye noted it but in her usual focussed stoicness continued on, stuck in her mode of operating and trying to get the team together, for their ends, not hers.
“Team, all stations. I'm alright, no need for medical here right now. There’s a clone of me, verified it’s her, and verified by Sam, neutralised. Everyone, gear on, immediately, prepare for immediate contact. We have a critical situation, repeat, situation is critical. Support teams, head for Kaitiaki Centre, Raven Squad, I need you all ready to move on an emergency, full combat gear for potential attack. There’s a possibility we’ve been found, and that Artemis may be on their way, imminently.” Skye called into the base comms, the last thing to do, and with the bloody mess of Rose on the floor, they had no time to lose. Rose had gambled completely on this, but then again, what gamble wasn’t worth taking. She’d gotten all of Skye’s accessible data, and done absolute carnage with it. Finished what Skye had started. She had used Skye like an absolute fiddle, and now, everyone would pay that price. Not unless they could escape, because Plan B even seemed like an absolute win for Rose. Destroying Raven in the process? Perfect.

Samantha glared at Skye. She understood time was of the essence but if that damn woman thought she was going to fade to dark and disappear she had another thing coming! “I understand this is situation critical boss. But if you think I am leaving you on your own to deal with this, we are going to have an issue!” Her voice had risen as she made her feelings known. Samantha was breathing hard and her heart was pumping. She took a deep breath. Skye had said she was going to be there. For once the stubborn Scot did not take the expected road and try to say she didn’t need help. Samantha calmed down some but was still running on the edge.

Taking her phone, Skye made the call again, the last one she ever wanted to make, but right now, had to. This was it. Last chance saloon. The pickup was instant, Skye aware Sam was angry, fuming even. Skye was trying to play it out in her head, to say something. She would have to come up with it.
“Oracle, it’s Skye…..situtaion is FUBAR, Code Omega. Cut any link to me, I’m passing it across to a secondary. She’ll verify and you talk to her. Do the same with the data links with her, anything. I’m going to get the team out. I’m really, really sorry about all of this.”

“Affirmative. You have Artemis inbound, I have multiple radar signatures five minutes out from you, helicopters and air, likely to be a significant force. They are moving on contingency, so it seems like you actually killed the right one, Skye. Still makes things complicated, so agree with your reasoning. We’re getting more data in and we need to understand the situation better. I’m scrambling channel and awaiting a new signal pickup for someone in your team that isn't compromised. And we’ll speak later. Out.” The link died, as the phone itself bricked, dying out. Pulling a drawer cupboard open, Skye pulled out another device, the spare that she never thought she’d have to give. She also pulled out some hand gel, wiping her hands out after she passed it across, wiping her fingers clean with disinfectant.

“This is yours. The print on the phone will bind to you, and on it, a quantium-encrypted link to Oracle, not one through me, but through you. For now Sam, you’re the ears of the team, commander of Raven. For everyone’s safety, I hope this works. Oh….and for now, I am coming with you. You’ll need me and I’ll do my best till I do need to do that.”

Samantha took a deep breath and closed her eyes to cement the code words and memory for easy recall. A trick she had long learned to deal with her eidetic memory and to help with critical recall of details. She opened her eyes and focused on what Skye was telling her. She accepted the phone and told Skye. “I will do as you ask. But know that no one replaces you, my friend.” She looked Skye in the eyes. Her feelings about the Scot on display. If Samantha had to flee the base, then Skye was going with her.

Tahlia arrived inside following that, seeing Skye, Sam, and oddly, Skye on the floor, again, dead.
“Holy shit!” She yelled, probably in utter bewilderment seeing this for the first time.
“I’m going to assume this is way, way too complicated. Sam, Skye, what do you need from me?” She said, looking at Skye, then across to Sam.

“We have incoming. Aerial assets, and a shitload of Artemis are coming to us. We need to gear up…now. You too, and get security ready to take out aerial assets, and any contacts. Then we need to all run.” Skye looked blankly, and with a resounding nod. Walking out of the room, Skye led the way, no time to do anything more with the dead body of Rose, and certainly no more time to pack things up.

“Fucking hell, Aotearoa is not exactly full of military so they’ll stick out like a sore thumb off the island. Works to our advantage. There’s a tunnel network out of here, but we need to go to the bottom of the base to get support staff out, but we may need to fight them off to keep it open without them realizing we’re running. I’ve got a few tricks up the base’s sleeve, so they’ll be on our pitch.” Tahlia commented, falling in line, following as they made their way out of the office.

Samantha calmly walked over to the comms on the wall. She spoke into comms “Rafael, this is Chaos. Execute program Safestop.” She waited for Rafeal’s confirmation before turning back to the room. Rafeal had set in motion a program that Samantha had developed with him that would shunt all sensitive data to Samantha’s secure site before wiping all the servers and triggering the program that would have them overheat into slab. There would be no intelligence gained from the base from that area. She had set up this contingency with Rafeal without Raven’s Squad knowledge on the off chance the base was breached. She knew it could get her killed or backfire impressively when it came to light. She was very grateful she had done it though. There had to be more about Artemis that they could use to track them down and stop this madness.

Javi had been doing his best to honor the order to get to Skye’s office. He had gotten bogged down as guards seeing him with two others began to ask him for orders. It was like no one ever expected a breech and were reeling, forgetting their training. Javi began orders to have them begin the bomb sweep that he had heard Chuck order over the comns. He had sent the two guards to Skye’s office ahead of him. He had ordered them to follow Samantha’s orders. He gave orders to secure the garage and vehicles. He wanted to be sure if they needed them they were available. He finally managed to get free and began to head towards Skye’s office.

Freya for everything done so far had begun to get a little antsy. Skye had left awhile ago, and Sam too. The giant of a woman still in the mind set that she ought to be protecting her girls some. But then it’s like the accelerator had been pushed through the floor. Tahlia and the guards were moving. The big woman had ducked up and out of the way as Chuck jumped to his feet, the news of a bomb being passed around. Freya looked around, analytical mind jumping from place to place in the room, trying to get an idea. But Chuck is already at the sofa she had just been sitting on! Freya swore in no less then six languages.

She looked to the door and nodded, “Where’s Sophie? I’m going to need her help.” As she said that she’s pulled the medical robe she’s wearing down off her shoulders, damn modesty, she’ll apologize for flashing a full room later. With a pull and a rip the bandages on her shoulders come clear, revealing red and angry looking skin, covering the fractures in the bones beneath. Shrugging the robe back up over her shoulders she makes for the door, “I’m going to go find the Doc, then head for the Armory. I’m going to suit up. Someone hurt one of my girls. And I’m going to hurt anyone connected to them.” She growls.

You don’t mess with a Mama Bears cubs. Not unless you want to try and slow down the raging charge she commits to protect them. And Mama Freya is in that situation. Someone hurt Skye, again, and put Sam in danger. Then the rest of the team on top of that.

Freya stormed out of the room, and down the hall, and almost as if providence is with her runs almost into Sophie, bowling her over nearly. The wide smile on her face is…terrifying, “Doctor! Good. Come on. I need you to hit me with your most potent painkillers.” The big woman had dragged Sophie off then almost carrying her by the scruff of her neck.
Sophie was stopped on the stairs, as Freya nearly bowled into the Swiss Doctor, boobs first. For the shock of the situation, Freya had almost dragged her back, and with a wry nod, followed along.
“Okay, we can do that for you. There’s a drug I’ve left in your armory, it’s a mix of steroids and painkillers that aren’t exactly sanctioned, I can do that for you but after it will hurt. It’s a modified version of the blue blood I gave to Skye, you can use it to amp yourself up. Mein Leiben Freya, the things you make me do, but if it keeps us alive, it is ok!” Sophie yelled back, following Freya down, knowing that like Skye, Freya was a bit of an animal. A good doctor tried to help a patient, stabilise them and make sure they would do no harm.

Freya was going to do a LOT of harm, but to everyone else. That was the mark of a real professional.

—-

Maybe 5 minutes later, and herself tearing a empty syringe free from her back, Freya is in the Armory. The spot repairs on the Gjallarhorn will have to do. And even with who knows how many millileters of painkillers running through her system, and the growing adrenaline of wanting…no needing to protect the crew, she’s still slow as she gets her armour on.

"Okay, drugs are in you now, Freya. It’ll take a minute or two to kick in, but you’re going to feel particularly alive. Everything is going to be very focussed, sharp, vivid and you’ll feel more invincible than usual. The long term will mean you’ll hurt a lot more on recovery, but it’s a cocktail of adrenaline, painkillers, and a lot of material that’ll make you feel pretty superhuman. Don’t go running through walls though, because I promise the physical side isn’t going to heal. You’re just gonna feel really good, then you’ll hate me a lot later.” Sophia replied, in the heavy armoury for the rare occasion it was, seeing her get to work on tooling up.

Freya moved shakily at first after that injection. The door finishing it’s trek to open, “Running through walls? Me? Oh come now Sophie dear? I’m no Koolaid Woman.” She chuckled. She could almost feel it burning through her arteries and veins. That cocktail of chemicals and medicines and who the hell knows what else, “Thank you Sophie. I know you don’t like us operators doing even more damage to ourselves like this. But it’s imperative at this point. One of our own got taken right here in the base. Someone, somehow, set a bomb in the Rec room, a room we were all in for a time just recently. Listen, you need to get to the medical offices, tell your staff to lock and barricade the doors in, and only open them for one of the on duty team.” Sophie looked up at the giant of a woman. Then gasped as Freya slapped one of her larger then normal throwing axes into Sophie’s room, “Arm yourself and arm your people. Just in case. Gå min kjære, get moving.” Sophie taking off at a run then to get to relative safety, and to the support team, including Raph, who would need to head for the tunnels.

Palming the comm. Line button on her equipment table, “What’s the situation? Hows the bomb looking? I’ll be suited in a few moments here then I’ll head top side. I’ll support the guard contingent and provide first line defense. But how are we doing? I don’t like being in the dark over here.” Her words say she’s worried but her tone hides the fact she’s secretly horrified that this could happen to them. They were supposed to be safe here. The base just like the compound that Blue Sword operates out of, should be a place where the team could be isolated from their enemy.

So how did they get in? How and when and where.

She tried to keep it from showing in her voice, but the worry, and terror and horror is there.

Tahlia got on the comms, in contact with the security team, and the others.
“No contacts yet, but they’re coming for us, any minute. Skye is fine, but….shit, we’ll regroup in the armory, soon as.” Tahlia commented, looking to Sam and Skye.

Javi got to the office and felt ridiculously late as everyone appeared to have gathered there and were looking ready to move out. “I won’t ask. Just tell me what you need?” He looked at Samantha for orders as well after flicking an apologetic glance to Skye.

“Come with us, stat. We may need the Land Rover, compadre, part of our defence. For now, we just need to kill lots of people. Same thing as we usually do, but they came here to pick a fight.” Skye called back, the aggression back in her system as she felt the haze clear a little, the mindfog give way again and with it, Skye Lyons was back in some sort of semblance, as the whole group moved together.

Samantha nodded and motioned towards Skye. “She is still the leader as far as I am concerned. We need to get out of here. Artemis is coming to end us. We need to live to fight another day. Gather up. We need to stop by the armory and get everyone’s gear. We need that. We need to protect the base long enough that personnel can evacuate.” She gently nudged Skye. She knew that she was struggling to process everything. Hell she was too! But time to hit the gas. Actions were needed.

Chuck had shown up shortly after everyone else. He was one of the newest members of the squad. He knew the shit was hitting the fan. He would ask questions later. Now he just needed to know his job. He got the gist of it. Their base location was compromised and they had incoming and needed to evacuate the base. He kept a close eye on Duke. He relaxed after Duke sniffed Skye and rubbed his body along her legs as a greeting. That reassured him more than anything that he was looking at Skye. Chuck and everyone else to the armory.

--------------------------------

Part Four

Kakari (Fight)

Moving downstairs, the team went at a pace- Chuck, Sam, Skye, Tahlia, Javi, Oliver together. The security team was just doing its gig, to hold the line, and monitor, and watch. But in the face of what was coming, there was a chance they wouldn’t last, not until the rest of Raven came out fighting.

“All yours, Sam. Code’s on the phone, repeat the six digits to Oracle and he’ll set you in.“ Skye called, as they headed down, and into the armoury room itself. Freya was standing tall in her armour. With it, Skye ran across to her section, yanking the MG3 and ammo pod, and began to start gearing up, not even taking fatigues, just the exo, gun, MAAWS and her pistol, taking the critical essentials here and now. She looked across as the others geared up, Skye putting her helmet on, syncing up her PDA to her combat glasses, offline from the team and now just set for diagnostics. The exo felt good, the t-shirt wearing, part-armoured operative ready to get back out there and respond. As bleary as it all felt, she had to find a way.

“Freya, you ready to go?” Skye called, watching as Javi grabbed an M4A1, Tahlia a Steyr AUG and her Ballista sniper and the two taking plate carriers, helmets and ammunition, being ready for a fight even despite the fact neither of them weren't exactly soldiers by usual trade.

Freya shrugged her upper suit on and then stepped up and hissed as the leg portion snapped closed, reaching up and palming her helmet on, “Ahhh Skye.” She gulped and as the legs hummed to life then crossed to Skye, their Queen. Screw protocol, she grabbed Skye up into a hug, and maybe made it awkward as her upper armor is not fully closed, and she had taken the robe off, she doesn’t even have her usual body stocking on under that thing, so Skye gets a face full of Freya’s boobs in her face, “I’m glad you’re okay.” She says. The sets Skye down, going over and grabbing Starbreaker, hooking it over her shoulder, attaches the Stars Core, and pulls the AEW down, and finally with careful clicks the new shield module on the front of her armor after she’s sealed up the upper portion, and the new sniper attachment for the AEW.

The Battle Goddess Frigga turning, “Ready.” She says with a finality to her words.

Samantha entered the armory and headed to her locker. She took a moment to do what Skye had asked her to do. She hated every minute of it but she did it. She pulled the phone to her ear and lied her ass off to Oracle in a hard voice. “This is Chaos. Confirmation code…” She rattled off the code that Skye had given her. Oracle wanted to know the status of Skye. They were demanding a status update. With tears in her eyes and a crackled voice loaded with emotion Sam replied “The Queen has fallen.” The words tasted like ash in her mouth. She hung up on Oracle demanding answers. She had a base to protect. She looked over at her friends gearing up for war. She wiped away the tears. She turned her back on the room as she got ready. She needed just a tiny moment to pull herself together. She quickly pulled on her armor and all her gear. She strapped it all on. She made sure her laptop was slotted into its protected spot in her armor. She pulled the helmet on. Her systems integrated and she heard her AI “It is a good day for a fight Chaos. Syncing with a new line from Oracle. Special com line added.”

The radio for Chaos flickered back on.
“Chaos, Oracle copies. You’ve got the line in. Skye will tell you what to do, but I can tell you the situation, secure to you now she may be compromised for Raven’s systems. We’ve got at least six V22 tiltrotors with full combat teams and vehicles, a couple of Mi-28 attack helicopters, two F18s and it looks like they’re trying to bring everything more than that to the fight, but they haven’t all made it yet. You may need to hold the bridgehead for the support crew, then move the team out. They have more coming, so resist what’s coming, then use the rest. I’ll leave the rest to you. Get to the boat, get offshore and head for Wellington, and I’ll call in the next part of the plan.“ Oracle called, now coming through to Chaos’s helmet, pinging data, feeds, everything across. She’d feel like she had the insights that Skye had, albeit in a way that would ensure that Skye was now no longer able to be compromised by her literal twin.

Samantha took a deep breath and stepped into the role that Queen had asked of her. “Oracle, Chaos acknowledges incoming enemy forces.” She sighed and switched com lines. “Raven Squad we have Artemis inbound. We have a shitload incoming, six V22 tiltrotors with full combat teams and vehicles, a couple of Mi-28 attack helicopters, and two F18’s. We need to hold the line until our forces can evacuate the base. Emergency evacuation protocols in place.” She then deferred to their actual leader for Skye to determine where she wanted them. Samantha was gratified when her work on their SAM emplacements proved to work. She had rigged each one with its own targeting computer system separate from the base. She had thought about that after the havoc she had caused in the Aral Sea when she co-opted their own defenses. She didn't want that to happen to Raven Squad. She heard the thump as the SAM launchers began to pelt the intruders with missiles.

Skye looked at this situation, and herself taking a deep breath, looked on, watching everyone gear, ready and tool up. She appreciated Freya’s hug, one hell of a lot, all geared and ready, the warmth of Freya’s boobs reminding her that indeed, Rose probably had every right to probably be obsessed about the tech-giant’s bones. Blimey, that was…whimsical. And yet, a moment of comical giddy, as she looked to the others one last moment.

The sound of a massive explosion hitting the base above almost sucked the air out of her lungs, but it was expected. First hit, but the armoury was at least safe, the walls shaking with the impact, the SAMs engaging with air and starting to pick a few out of the sky, unexpectedly to the attack team, and the sky lit up with flares, as some dodges, weaved, and some blew up, creating one hell of a scene. But that meant they were here. Bringing jets, VTOLs with combat troops and no doubt more moving vehicles and jeeps, they were on full attack. There was one problem for Artemis, of course.

They were fighting a battle on Raven’s home turf.

The forested fields and green hilly fields on the lush green soil of D’Urville Island’s rainy evening just got a lot more interesting, and Skye was already ticking through her brain of what to do. She wasn’t done yet. Neurotoxin or not, and her official comms line cut off, she knew she had to give the team direction, or at least, an idea..
“Alright. We need to fend them off. Nord, Frigga, blast anything helicopter or heavy, hold the line. Chaos, Boomer, Javi, I need you in the Land Rover on the vehicle pool level, relocate and find another position to flank them from. We need to make sure we fire on them from an angle they don’t expect, and more firepower from somewhere else, we can at least catch them out as they try to rush the base from a flank. Use your initiative on that one….there’s more assets down the other end which you may be able to use. Taniwha, need to make sure the rest of the support team escapes, including Doctor Keller, Vincent and Raph. Protect them and stay with them in the tunnels, and get to the other side of them. Does that make sense?” Skye called out, giving everyone a specific set of instructions.

“Frigga, I’m with you. I’ll take out any armored assets and exos, just focus on the bodies they’re gonna throw….they are going to hurl themselves at us. Let’s fucking show them you can’t kill us that easy!” Skye called coldly, her voice holding firm, despite every cocktail of emotions going through her wanted her to stop, she had to fight, and keep on.

Chuck had gone with the team to the armory. He had quickly opened his locker. He put Duke’s armor on first. He then quickly got into his armor and carried as much gear and ammo as he could. He focused first on getting his canine companion protected. Then he focused on gearing himself up for the action to come. He then attached all his guns and shoved as much ammo as he could into his armor and pouches. He then made sure every weapon he had was on the tactical sling or stored in his armor. He was ready to go by the time the Queen began giving orders. She wanted him to go in the Land Rover? He wouldn’t fit in the Land Rover! He was going to have to do something he didn’t like to do. He went towards the motor pool. Once he got there he realized that the Land Rover had been customized and he would fit. He brightened up. He motioned Duke up inside. He looked over at Javi. “I will take the back.” He climbed up into the back of the vehicle and settled into place.

Samantha nodded and took off for the garage. She ran to meet Javi. She hopped into the front seat next to Javi. She had her visor down and her HUD up so she replied on team coms. “I’m ready let’s hit it. Maybe we can find a hill top to rain pain down from. I would be more effective in the sky though.” She didn’t have an armed and ready aircraft at hand that was not being flown by other operatives at the moment. “I will just have to make do.”

Javi had grabbed what he could of gear leftover in the armory and then made his way to the garage. He hopped into the driver’s seat automatically. Chuck gave him a heart attack when he opened the door and let Duke in. He forgot how tall he was. Then you put that man in heavy armor and it was the god of destruction that had loomed over him. Duke gave what sounded like a happy bark. He hoped the dog didn’t get car sick. He had managed to snag a set of the special coms that Chaos had created for the team. He was grateful since he needed them today!

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“Who has seen my box of manpads?” a stumbling hulk of an armored suit said coming out of a slowly increasing hole where a door once was. He turned around, and slowly placed the door back into the spot it was meant to be, and turned back around. “I know I had a box of manpads somewhere, and I think they would come in use right about now?”

Tahlia looked over as Tiny Nord came out, the titan a hulk as he was barking it out loud, admittedly so considering how mad the situation was.
“Right there, shitload of Stingers, all yours, Tiny Nord. All geared for you to go!” Tahlia yelled back to Oliver while pointing out the crate at the far end of the armoury, nodding to the commander, and the other one on the line with Oracle.
“Affirm, boss.” She called, and with it leaving Tiny Nord with Frigga, aware that the two giants probably hadn’t fought before together- but well, it was likely that they would shred things up.

“Right on then,” the mountain said as he lifted up the box, “wont do shit for the F18s, but that’s what the other box is for.”

Tiny Nord, lifted up the second box as he rolled his shoulders a bit, the other much smaller box, well crate just jingled with a bunch of his other things, and on the side was strapped his shield. He rested it against the door, and he smiled a bit.

“Well, if you need me call, I’ll be outside having fun.”

Freya then makes for the door, and the outer sections of the base. Time to protect their home. And even then, this place may not survive. She turned to peer back at tiny Nord, “You know, we haven’t maybe officially met yet.” Her helmet still open so he can see the smile, “I’m Freya Kanatarrio, Physics PHD, CEO of Jotunnheim Energy and Defense, and resident Heavy dealing with Energy and Theoretical Physics attacks here on the team. Pleasure to meet you Mr. Black. Though really you can call me Frigga on the field, so I’m looking forward to working with you out there Tiny Nord, I’ve only ever heard good things about your work.” She gives him a wink, “So what do you say? Ready to go and blow some people up?”

”It’s what I’m here for.” Tiny Nord said nodding towards the woman, “No where near the titles of you, but I am glad to know you’ve heard of me. Now, I know I had iglas around here also, back when all of these things were made, they made them to fight their own countermeasures, not their opponents. So, hopefully there wont be many Russian attack helicopters about, but hopefully we can get rid of the F18s with something else…”

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Javi waited until Tahlia had made it into the vehicle. She had slid into the backseat with Duke. Chuck was standing in the rear holding onto the cross brace across the roof. He made sure everyone was braced and hit the gas. “YeeHaw! Isn’t that what you yankees say Samantha? I always wanted to be a Cowboy!” The Land Rover flew out of the open door of the garage and bounced like a tiger on the attack as it rocketed away from the base.

As Freya's climbing with Tiny Nord and Queen she radios Jotunnheim, “Freya here, Black Level incident. Get to the test site near Kaitiaki, liquidate everything! Get it to site Tertius, bypass Secundus entirely. Contact my parents in Perth, tell them I may be going dark. And for fuck sakes make sure to tell tell my mom and dad to keep my brother and sister on a short leash for now!”

And by then Frigga reaches the surface level, looking around, and calling to Tahlia, “Sit Rep? Contacts? Potentials?” She scanned the horizon, scanned the skies, this is the kind of nightmare scenario every operator has night terrors about. Your home base, your safe place, has just been lit up by the enemy, brighter then the Luxor Pyramids apex light. Now what do you do?

“Shitloads, helis and a lot of infantry with modern kit and exos inbound!” Tahlia stoically replied, being thrown around in the Land Rover.

And indeed, so many. She can see rotor vehicles in the skies approaching low and purposefully. There could be dozens of men in each of those tilt rotors. And those MIs were going to be interesting to deal with. Frigga takes a few steps over and braces her AEW on a boulder. And never gets a shot off at the start as a pair of jets scream over head. She follows their path, “They have fast movers too? Who the hell are these people? Attack rotors? VTOL tilt rotors? Fast mover jets? Who has the time and money for this?” She growls, “Not in my house!”


Skye had too many feelings. Everything. The two titans in front of her, gunfire and missiles flying into the sky, the sound of the hillside getting bombed, the base getting attacked, the security team trying to fend off in vein as the VTOLs landed in at the bottom of the island and flew out, firing close air onto anything, the sight of armoured jeeps, infantry, exos, all kinds being thrown up. At the top of the hill, it was like they were in a castle, except all on show. Skye stood valiantly, looking down at the world that she knew crumble. And yet, it felt….sweet.

This was Raven Squad. And no thing, person, anyone, was going to rip them apart. Not even Skye herself could. Cue the music. Because from one childhood memory, to another.

Skye hummed it, the other song that was on the radio before Heroes had come on. The Chain, by Fleetwood Mac....and that riff. That sound. It was like a trigger in her head, instead of this time being bad and overwhelming, just pounding out the adrenaline inside of the Scot's mind. A reminiscence that sort of harkened back. Defect or not, real or not, one or many, no, Skye Rosalind Lyons was ready, and for one more roll, ready to do her bit and counterattack.
“....keeps us together.....” Skye broke into a smile, tapping both Tiny Nord and Frigga on their gigantic armoured shoulders.
“Pride before beauty, come on then, let’s go get the bastards and make them work for it!”