LadyAmber

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

Samantha Dalton “Chaos”

Chaos is in the building!

---

Samantha had prepared for today’s op meticulously. Getting ready for the Singapore op had taken most of Samantha’s time lately. Well that and recovering from her injuries from the Aralsk operation. Samantha had been trained to be invisible and blend in her time in the CIA as a field operative. She carefully applied her makeup using it to visually change the angles of her face. This would not affect facial recognition programs that relied on bone structure points. Facial recognition programs relied on existing database matches. They needed something to compare the image to. She used some subtle latex foam prosthetics to widen her nose, add more of a point to her chin, and rounder cheeks. The changes were just enough so that any facial recognition software would get an inconclusive result. It was easy for Samantha to plant fake identification information into official databases for the team. If facial recognition is used, it will match the name on their fake ID. Samantha made sure the team’s real identities were there but buried beneath encryption and classified status.

Freya was the distraction while Sam needed to blend in and disappear in the crowd. Samantha applied fashion makeup over the prosthetics blending them until they were impossible to see. The makeup gave her that natural glow flawless look that was popular with women executives. She had chosen to wear a wig that was a chestnut color with golden highlights cut into a chic bob that framed her face. She had chosen to wear a champagne pink silk suit with a soft dove gray silk top that was low enough to show some cleavage and clung enough to entice men for a further look. Her jacket was unbutton and framed her curves tastefully. She looked every inch the conservative executive woman. Her jewelry looked simple but looked high end. Diamond stud earrings were paired with a custom heavy gold chain in rose gold with a stylized medallion in a matching color with pearls set into it. The center of the medallion is a large cabochon fire opal. A diamond tennis bracelet was on her right wrist. She was wearing designer 3 inch heels in a nude color. She was carrying a black leather designer bag with rose gold accents and a decorative chain handle. Her fingernails are tastefully done in a French manicure. Sam looks every inch a conservative wealthy woman with classic style and grace. Sam was wearing blue contact lenses which hid her gray eyes.Samantha’s tattoos were hidden under the sleeve of her suit jacket. Of course the outfit is the opposite of Sam’s personal style. She might wear hot pink but soft pinks and nude heels? She was more likely to be found sporting jeans and a vintage tee with her chuck taylors.

Between the makeup and the hair, Samantha looked convincingly different to those who were not trained in observation. She knew the team would still pick up on who she was. Samantha applied all that training from the CIA as she made her way into the party. She waited in line quietly tapping away on a decoy smartphone. Pretending to check her work email as she stood in line. It was finally her turn as she stepped up to a concierge style desk. There were two guards manning the entryway in sharp dressed suits. There were two more guards nearby in similar suits. Samantha’s eyes noted the open gun carrying guards. She kept her expression calm and bored as she appraised them with a critical eye. Security was tight and none of them were standing around looking bored. Their heads were on the swivel and actively scanning for issues.

A dark haired guard with a well groomed beard asked for her invitation and id. His voice held a hint of a South African accent. She smiled and nodded graciously to him as she handed over her invitation and fake ID. The man’s eyes lingered for just a moment on her cleavage before he handed her ID back to her and kept the invitation. “Welcome Miss Ashley Barrington. I am sure you just missed the notation on your invitation but I am going to need you to leave your cell phone with security. You will be allowed to retrieve it as you exit the party.” He held his hand out patiently. Samantha scowled at him “Surely that little clause was only meant for lower level executives or people from small companies. I represent Diamond Technologies.” Her voice read entitled West Coast elitist. The guard never lost his neutral smile but his eyes hardened and narrowed slightly in anger. “I am sorry Madame, but there are no exceptions per Mr. Andros’ orders.” He inclined his head and held out his hand in a clear demand to hand the device over. “Let me just lock and power off my device. I wouldn’t want any of my information or device to be compromised while in other’s hands.”

She made a big show of resetting the password and security protections before powering it off. Samantha hit the buttons in a special sequence that would trigger the device to turn on its microphone and transmit what it picked up while appearing off. The device would act as a communication router for the team strengthening their signal and connectivity while in the building. She handed the device over with obvious reluctance. She watched as he slipped her cellphone into a plastic bag and filled out the paper tag on it and tore off a receipt for her and passed it over. “Mr. Ardose hopes you enjoy his party.” He waved her on through. Samantha’s body language would read annoyed to anyone watching her. She made her way into the party with a confident step and an air of she was supposed to be there and others were lucky to be in her presence. She gave a small satisfied grin as a passing waiter offered her a glass of sparkling wine. That went perfectly and the device was protected and where she wanted it. They might even pick up some of the guard’s chatter or people passing through the checkpoint into the party.

Samantha began to note who was attending the party. Samantha recognized politicians of note from America, England, France, Finland, Poland, Russia, and Australia. It was no surprise to see power players from the tech industry here. She caught sight of George Conners, a tech genius of the start up company, Whisper Technologies. He was the latest innovator to rocket to wealth with his updates to cellular technology. She was envious of his jeans, blazer, pun filled graphic t-shirt and Converse sneakers. He was of average height with a thin and lanky physique. He was rocking a messy looking hairstyle. She found it curious that he was talking to Veronica Summers from Wurth Public Relations Firm and Don Timmons from Dragonite Security which was a private American government contractor. That was not a trio she thought would run in the same circles. She recognized criminal kingpins mingling with the crowd as well. She spotted representatives from the Russian Mafia, South American Drug Cartels, African Warlords, and Middle Eastern Dictators. This felt like a meeting between the criminal underground who got their hands dirty and the wealthy elite who used them for their own ends and protected them.

It was about that time that she heard Skye giving them orders over the comm system. She hid her smile behind her glass, happy to know it was working well so far. Samantha began to look around the room casually as if she was checking out who was at the party. She scanned for familiar faces and to check where her fellow team members were. She would make eye contact and then move on so they knew she had seen them. She tried to hide her amusement as Skye and Freya walked past her with an entourage. She had to give Freya props, the woman knew how to draw attention and keep it. She even spotted some women who followed the battle goddess with their eyes and moved towards her. She managed to keep a straight face as she heard Skye announce that had unexpected help on this op.

She spotted Michele on the other side of the room and gave her a subtle signal that told her she was going to start her run. Michele was her backup and lookout. They would start out separately to keep from arousing suspicion. Michele would catch up with her and help bug Pavel’s office while Samantha hacked into his personal computer. Their first stop though were the executive offices one floor below them. They had to retrieve their gear from Melissa Waymire’s office where it had been shipped. Samantha began to ease her way causally around the room towards the stairwell. The bathrooms were in the same corner of the room. How convenient for her. She made like she was heading to the bathroom. As soon as the guards were occupied trying to see what had drawn a crowd and if they were needed, she slipped past them. They were focused on the wrestling giants and placing bets on the men. She almost wanted to stop and put money on Freya just as a sign of feminine solidarity. She shook her head. The guards were obviously of the sexist variety where men were always better.

She still had her wine glass in hand. There were two more guards at the landing with the door to the floor below. These two stood relaxed with arms crossed in front of them. “Guests are not allowed in this area, mademoiselle. You will need to go back up the stairs and rejoin the party.” The guard had a heavy french accent and was shorter at only 5’6”. The man he was paired with was of average height but muscular. She smiled and sashayed drawing his attention as she moved closer to him. "Well maybe I was bored and looking for some fun.” Samantha leaned into his personal space and knew he could see down her blouse some. He automatically looked. She gave him a flirtatious smile. She handed him her wine glass. “Be a dear and hold this for me.” She began to dig around in her purse. “I mean the least I can do is give you my number. You have the most delicious accent. I could just eat you up.” She laid it on thick before grabbing a pen. She pulled out a notepad and began to write. She tore off the note and went to hand it to him. He was grinning thinking he was going to get lucky. His partner was rolling his eyes and sighing. Samantha hit the button to launch the barbed needle directly into his hand as she spun and hit the button again as she stabbed his partner in the neck with it and hit the button. Both men had just started to react when they both collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. The sleep agent on the darts was working great!

Samantha grinned and pulled a pair of gloves out of her purse. She pulled them on and activated her special contact lenses which displayed a holographic HUD over her vision field. She activated the haptic gloves that connected to her laptop in the office somewhere on this floor. She used the information provided by Skye to get into their camera feeds. She couldn’t stop the feeds because that would be noticed by Pavel’s automated security. Samantha accessed the cameras that were on motorized mounts and changed the angle so that they looked at the ceiling, after looping the video in the cache on the cameras buffers creating a clean image loop. She couldn’t review all the footage to make sure it was pristine first. Time was ticking on this op already. It would be enough to help their team get in and out though. Of that she was confident. They might get picked up on one camera out of 10 but the odds were in their favor before someone spotted them. She guessed they had about a 20 minute window before someone figured it out and raised an alarm.

Samantha checked the two guards for security key cards and weapons. She tucked one gun into the waistband of her pants and the other in her purse. She grunted as she moved the heavy lugs away from the doors. She didn’t have a handy room to hide them in. The best she could do was a shadowy corner. She then slipped through the door into the hallway. She looked both ways. She was grateful for the floor plans as she knew which way to go. She moved quickly towards the office she needed.

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

Samantha Dalton “Chaos”

Briefing

---

Samantha was feeling better and was excited about their next op. Her condition had improved quickly once she started physical therapy. She still had no clue what Sophie had done but she knew whatever process she had used, she healed much faster. She was full of energy and had been hard at work with Xander’s support on gear for their upcoming op. She was excited to share with the team what they had developed for them to use. She did her best to focus on the briefing. She found it hard to sit still after her injuries had forced a week of convalescence on her. It was like her subconscious wanted to test her body’s limits to prove they had healed. Her knee was bouncing up and down as she tried to bleed off excess energy.

Samantha was still pouring over the intel from the last op. She had found evidence buried in the hacking code that pointed to Pavel’s involvement. She had found some bits and pieces of router information that had allowed her to follow the route of the signal that had hacked their drone from router to router following where it had bounced from. There was some signal coding that allowed her to confirm that at one point the signal had been passed through a satellite in space. There was not enough information for her to triangulate the location of the satellite. The data had been corrupted enough that she was unable to take it all the way to the source. She could tell the boss that whoever had hacked their drone knew what they were doing and they were more paranoid than her. She had managed to trace the signal back through 57 different routers in 32 different countries before missing pieces of data broke the chain. She was proud of herself for managing to reconstruct it that far. She was still working on analyzing the huge amount of data she had sent back from the op at the beginning before their signal was hacked.

Samantha had to pause her work on the data to work on supporting their next op. Samantha had needed to do some necessary hacking to get the team invited to the party. Instead of hacking Pavel, Samantha hacked those she thought might be invited. While most of those companies had adequate cyber security, it was nowhere near good enough to keep her out. She had infiltrated emails at 50 different tech companies that she thought might receive invites. She found it child’s play to intercept the incoming invitations and confirm that executives so and so with company x were unavailable to attend but they would be sending x in their place. She simply replied as them, to insert their own people and then arranged to have couriered invitations rerouted and intercepted by Raven Squad. Now the team all had legitimate invitations for Pavel’s party. Pavel had developed a fancy card invitation with an embedded chip in it that contained the identity information of the person invited making them unhackable. He was right, they were pretty unhackable. That didn’t stop her from getting the real deal setup for their team. There was always a way!

Samantha had to develop fake identities for the team members who needed them. Along with fake ids, she implanted enough believable searchable history that their fake identities would pass a background check. Samantha had created backdoor access for herself with the social security agency, and the internal revenue service a long time ago. She created legitimate social security accounts, with fake work history and birthdate information. At the IRS, she duplicated the fake work history along with fake filed taxes. She created a fictitious social media trail with doctored photos to help sell the back story. She didn’t think guests would receive that level of scrutiny but Samantha was not taking any chances with her team. She had a lot of fun creating identities for the team. She wondered if Michele would get the reference of her fake id. She couldn’t resist trying to get a rise out of the quiet French woman. Spending time with Xander was rubbing off on her.

Samantha had managed to hack into some of the lower level employees' emails. She had managed to have a box of equipment shipped to the mail room and delivered to one of Pavel’s executives that was out on maternity leave. The box would be delivered to the woman’s office and sit there until her return to work in two months. It wasn’t a huge box and had to go through a security screening process before leaving the mail room. Samantha had to design a box with a shielded interior space to hide the weapons and electronic gear she wanted on hand. Pavel’s parties were famous for confiscating any kind of communication or smart device. He was right to be paranoid about industrial espionage as that was how he had made so many of his own breakthroughs. He had stolen them from his competitors. It was the only way she could think of to get her laptop past Pavel’s security screening. She had shipped hers and Michele’s wingsuits around the interior making it look like a clothing delivery to the office. I mean who hadn’t had something shipped to the office so that you didn’t have to worry about porch pirates intercepting your delivery?

Samantha paid attention to the briefing as Skye went over everyone’s role. When Skye was done Samantha popped up with a wide grin and rubbed her hands together. “Who wants presents?” She looked around at the team and winked at Xander. He knew what was coming since he had her develop and build most of it. She didn’t wait for anyone to answer. “Everyone is getting presents! But ladies first!”

@FourtyTwo
She handed a very fashionable purse which held the other items she had developed for Skye to use. “Okay boss, the chain handle can be used as a garotte or a whip. The keychain inside has a penlight charm that looks like a flashlight but doubles as a taser. There are three different unbreakable glass perfume bottles, Each one is a different shape, The square one has acid, the ball shaped one has a sleeping agent, and the octagonal sphere shaped one has pepper spray. The lipstick tube has a popup stiletto ceramic blade, the makeup compact can transform into a compact two shot gun. The extra bullets are in another bauble on your keychain that looks like a lighthouse.”

@BigPapaBelial
She smiled and turned to Freya with another designer handbag but this was scaled up in size to suit Freya’s larger frame and look more natural with her body size. “You also have a lipstick ceramic stiletto blade, a makeup carbon composite gun, a hidden taser on your keychain, the three perfume bottles, and the chain handle can be used as a whip or garotte.” She pointed out the large designer metal bauble hanging off the zipper pull. “This holds a collapsible asp hidden inside. Just twist the top and snap your wrist while holding the bottom which becomes the handle.” The bauble looked rounded 3d stylized P. The bottom of the P was obviously the handle.

@Wayward
Samantha grinned as she handed a different style of designer handbag to Michele. “Michele, I have some special surprises for you since you will coming with me to have my back. Like the others your purse chain handle can be used as a garotte or a whip. You have a taser hidden in a keychain charm. The lipstick tube has a popup stiletto ceramic blade, the makeup compact can transform into a compact two shot gun. The extra bullets are in another bauble on your keychain that looks like a heart. Instead of giving you a perform bottle, I designed a carbon composite needle launcher for you. It looks like a standard ink pen. You push the click button on the end of it and a small, barbed needle will shoot out that is dipped in a fast-acting sleeping agent. It is short range, but you can fire as fast as you can reset the spring-loaded firing mechanism and the pen can hold 25 needle darts. It can shoot up to 10 feet. There is a metal cigarette case for you in there. The cigarettes in the case are mini smoke bombs. Light them and drop them and they produce a smoky cloud of about 3 feet. The zippo lighter is a small torch. Just flick the dial the opposite way and a sustained flame about an inch long will be produced. It only has enough gas to burn for about two minutes though.”

@Awesomoman64 @Theyra @PerfectThought @ReusableSword
She then proceeded to hand boxes to all the guys on the team. “Each of you have designer looking belt buckles with hidden blades that pull out. If they wand you, they will think it is the buckle. It shouldn’t read though as the blade is ceramic. The buckle is brass. The metal cigarette carrying case combines with the zippo lighter will form a carbon composite gun that will hold 2 bullets. On your keychain is what looks like a small push button flashlight that doubles as a taser. Two extra bullets are hidden in the tech logo looking keychain. A steel cylinder hidden inside the beer can keychain can hold your choice of sleeping agent, acid, or pepper spray. Just press the top connector piece downwards. It has a little push button lock so it doesn’t work till you want it to. These are all items that can be carried in a jacket or pants pocket that can be quickly removed before stepping through the metal detector. Your wrist watches hold the circuitry for new encrypted closed team communication devices. The cuff links and tie bars hide tiny cameras and scanners. Ladies your communication circuitry is hidden in your necklaces. The matching bracelets have a small camera eye and scanner.”

Samantha paused to explain how the new communication devices worked to everyone. “The new communication devices are based on older cellar technology that was abandoned at the time because we didn’t have the technology to make it smaller and lighter. Now we do. I custom built the circuit boards and tuned them using circuitry embedded into a grown crystalline matrix for stability. The signal is run through an encryption filter and decrypted by the devices. The devices together create a closed network that only communicates with each other. It is experimental at this time but if it field tests well, we will be updating all Raven’s communication equipment. The devices will read as active electronics and put out an EM field which can be read by Pavel’s scanners. For this reason, there is an off and on switch embedded into them. Press the set button on your watches gentleman to turn them off and on. Ladies press the gemstone centerpiece down to turn yours off and on.”

She pulled out a pair of the newly developed earbuds. “The new earbuds work in conjunction with the circuitry devices and are smaller and more comfortable to wear. They are hard to see visually as they sit further into the ear canal. They allow you to hear everything else going on around you as well. I had to get creative with the microphones. They are tiny and printed into a silicone based sticker that should disappear on your skin and blend in. I suggest putting it somewhere on your throat or chest to pick up your voice. To send a nonverbal acknowledgement simply tap the microphone and it will send a beep.”

"I also have some miscellaneous stuff if anyone is interested. Pens that can be planted which contain hidden microphones and transmitters. Pens that have retinal scanners and dna collection devices built in. I have contact lenses that can change eye colors and provide a retina scan different to your own. Tie bars that hide a usb style connector and encrypted data link that is plug and play. It will allow remote access to the system using that device." She waved her hands out to indicate they were empty. "That's all I had time for." Samantha felt a deep satisfaction as she looked out at all of them. “Any questions?”

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

Raven HQ: Garage Workspace
Collab between Xander and Samanatha that happens the following morning

Samantha Dalton
"Chaos"

---

Xander Clarke

"Glitch"

---

Samantha woke up the following day her body in pain as her body reminded her of all she had put it through on the last op and all she had drunk the night before. She felt sick to her stomach and her head was pounding. She was dizzy and felt like the room was spinning. “Please tell the world to stop so I can get off!” She futilely told the ceiling. Some kind soul had left a glass of water by her bed. She sipped at it and her stomach rebelled at first. She sucked in a deep breath as she fought her rebellious stomach. Slowly the queasiness eased, and she managed to drink some more water.

She moved stiffly and awkwardly but managed to get up and take one of the painkillers and the anti-inflammatories Sophie had given her with strict dosing instructions. She made it into shower and let the hot water loosen tight muscles. She almost felt human after her shower. She pulled on a pair of soft lightweight sweatpants in a heather gray color. She pulled on another graphic t-shirt. This one had the Wonder Woman symbol on it. She pushed her feet into her slides before putting her arm back in the sling. She needed to wear it a few more days according to Sophie. She was moving better today now that her muscles had warmed up. She wasn’t feeling as stiff after the shower, but her stomach was still not a happy camper.

She left her room and made her way to the kitchen. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table to eat it. That was about as energetic and capable as she felt. When she was done, she rinsed her bowl and spoon and put them in the dishwasher. She had told Xander last night to meet her in the garage this morning. She had asked him to meet her before she had gotten drunk with the team leader after dinner. She would push through though. She wanted his help to design some new gear. She needed to rebuild her hacking rig. His help and experience would be invaluable. Together they had a working set of hands. They could at least plan and then begin to build as they got better. She figured she would be able to start building stuff in a week. She should be able to ditch the sling by then.

She headed for the garage. She couldn’t help but smile as she entered the area of the garage that Tahlia had told her she could use as a workshop. The smell of concrete, axle grease, and gasoline would forever remind her of her father. She grew up chasing her father around his automotive shop. Her smile turned sad as she was reminded of his death. She missed him. She sighed but headed to the workbench in the corner. Tahlia had managed to source what she had asked for. She pulled up the work stool and sat down facing the bench. She began to open boxes as best as she could as she waited for Xander. The parts for her new laptop were all here. Now she would customize it and put it all together in a cohesive package that could withstand most anything.

The next day, Xander found himself face down in his bed still wearing the clothes from the day before. He must have been so tired after last night that he passed out as soon as he made it back to his room. Every part of him was still tired and sore, but it was getting better. He begrudgingly took the prescribed medications, even if that did mean no alcohol today, then managed to undress and hit the shower. He was rather happy at that, as it was a task he previously struggled to do. Though the real challenge once again was getting dressed again afterwards. As for his outfit, he had promised Sam they would meet in the garage to work on some designs and gadgets today, so something casual and comfortable would do. By the time he left, he was sporting a pair of old washed out jeans and a loose fit gray t-shirt.

He was already running late, so he decided to pass on a normal breakfast and settled for a protein bar and a mug of coffee. It was a delicate balancing act to eat and drink on the move with one hand, but Xander was trained for this. Well, maybe not this situation specifically, but the same basic principles of swapping and using different equipment applied here. When he reached the garage, all that remained was the bar’s wrapper, and about a third of the coffee. He had his usual big smile painted on his face as he walked up to Sam.

“G’day, Sammy! Looks like you’re feeling much better. Want me to grab you a mug?” He cheerily greeted her and lifted his mug indicating he was asking if she wanted any coffee. “Hold on now. What's in those boxes? Don’t tell me those parts already came in! Now that's express shipping!”

Samantha had been struggling with some plastic wrap on a particularly stubborn box when she heard Xander’s voice. She turned on the stool and looked him over with a smile. He was moving better too. She was glad to see it. She didn’t know what Sophie had done but she did know that she was healing faster here at Raven HQ than she would have under civilian medical care. No one would hear her complain. She was not a good patient. She hated being a forced invalid.

She nodded her head at Xander. “I would love a cup. I believe there is supposed to be a coffeemaker in here somewhere. I’m not fussy about my coffee. Black and fully loaded makes me happy. If you serve me decaf, I will hunt you down and hurt you.” She gave him a mock fierce glare with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Xander let out a loud singular “HA!” at the decaf remark. “Oh please. I might pull my share of pranks around here, but I’d never do something that cruel!”

“It is good to know that something is sacred with you. Duly noted coffee is exempt from pranks.” She gave a big sigh and tried to look disappointed “I guess this means I need to give your beer the same respect. Which is hard for me. I don't like beer. It's disgusting!” She gave a repulsive shudder about the taste of beer. She watched him to see if he was buying her act.

He set his mug down on the workbench and began the quest to find the coffee maker. Despite the organization of the garage, things still managed to get lost if you didn’t nail them down; especially appliances. The Aussie started opening every drawer, container, or locker that might hold the coffee maker, while still maintaining the conversation with Sam. Sure he could go back up to the kitchen where he knew a fresh pot was, might have even been faster, but he wasn’t about to leave now that he just got here. And quite frankly, he had been looking forward to this morning. He really enjoyed Sam’s company and their banter. He’d rather take longer down here than go back up. She watched as he began to open every locker and cabinet looking for the coffeemaker. He continued to talk to her as explored explaining his own rig to her.

“You look like you're feeling better too.” She couldn’t help but grin as Xander commented on her current project. Not that she was getting too far with one hand. At least she still had her dominant hand to work with. She waved her hand across the boxes on her workbench. “Talhia was told that I lost my laptop on the mission before we made it back to base. She had some parts on hand as backup. She wasted no time in getting the rest for me. I prefer my own computer set up as I work to analyze the data found on the mission. I am sure you are more comfortable with yours as well.” She raised an eyebrow in response to him, as if daring him to reply. “You can help me build the new rig. I would appreciate your assistance and insight. Then we can brainstorm up some gear for the mission. I don’t think we have done anything quite like this before. Maybe we can build some cool gear to help out our teammates. What do you think?”

“I know what you mean.” He replied in reference to Sam’s comment about preferring her own computer. “I’ve me own rig in my room. It’s where I do most if not all of my programming. She’s pretty similar to what you were carrying in the field, except mines a full bloody tower weighing about 18 kilos. No way would I be able to bring that on a mission.” He explained getting a bit louder as his search had brought him to the far side of the room. “That’s why I made me tablet. A real thing of beauty. Weighs practically nothing. The UI is basically like a video game; Press a button it does a thing. And the universal cabling lets me plug it into pretty much any interface assuming I can get close enough. I’ve got plenty of spare parts to make a new one, but uploading all the software is going to take god knows how long.”

Samantha managed to hide her nerves. She normally preferred to work alone. She knew she was limited with what she could do physically at the moment. After working with Xander in the field, she trusted him. She liked his sense of humor. She found she enjoyed his company. She felt working with him would take her mind off what she couldn’t do at the moment. Plus he was fun to be around. She knew she wouldn’t be bored. “Just think of all the mischief, chaos, and mayhem we can cook up together.” She gave him a sassy look and a wink.

Sam tried to hide her amusement as he continued searching on the far side of the room. Her lips curved up of their own accord. She watched as he pulled the coffeemaker from underneath what looked like a workbench but was the kitchenette counter in the workshop. She could tell because it had a kitchen sink and faucet on one end. The deep utility sink was next to it along the wall with the CNC machine, laser lathe, and parts wash station. Some enterprising soul had commandeered it for additional space. Her smile got larger as she watched him struggling to hold a conversation and make her coffee.

Success! In one of the bottom cupboards of a nearby workbench was the illusive coffee maker! Though there was some assembly still required. Which obviously would take a bit longer due to his limited mobility. Though that did give him a good idea where to start for suggestions. “I suppose the main thing to focus on would be mobility. You’re a lightweight. Er, as a soldier I mean. You need to be able to move quickly while still being able to carry all your equipment. So ask yourself: Is there anything you can do to lighten that load? And if not, how can you more effectively carry it? Oh where the bloody hell are the cups?”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that. She rose to her feet and made her way over to him. She cleared a spot on the counter for the coffeemaker. She patted the empty space. “Put the coffeemaker here.” She then opened the cabinet above the sink and pointed to the cups. “This is the kitchenette not a worktable.”

Xander took a step back and looked the kitchenette up and down. “Huh. I guess. Maybe if I had taken a moment to survey the area, I could have saved a bit of time…” He stated, slowly getting quieter with each word. He was normally a very observant person. How did he miss the fact this wasn’t a workbench? In fact there was a lot of food and snacks down here, meaning he didn’t have to rush breakfast. Oh well, now he knew for later. He quickly shook off his embarrassment and placed the coffee maker down where Sam had indicated.

She talked to him as she explored cabinets this time. She opened the cabinet door next to the cups and found coffee, filters, sugar, powdered coffee creamer, granola bars, gummy worms, M&Ms, protein bars, and beef jerky. There were probably more things in the cupboard than she could see. She was impressed with the selection available. “I guess we don’t rate a k-cup coffeemaker in the garage workshop. It makes sense. They probably wouldn’t stand up to the debris in here. Oh looks! Snacks to keep hangry mechanics from breaking more than they fix. Sweet! Someone knows how to keep mechanics happy.” She winked at him before stepping up next to him. She helped him get the coffee started by grabbing the measuring pitcher for the water and setting up the coffeemaker for brewing. She found that spending time with Xander was easy. She didn’t feel that awkwardness that she felt sometimes with others. She didn’t find it necessary to fill the silence between them as they made coffee. It was comfortable. The coffee didn’t take long to brew. She poured a cup and only added a little sugar, just enough to cut the bitterness a little.

Together they had two hands. The two worked together to get the coffee machine all set up and filled. It was almost eerie just how well they worked. Only one mission together and now they were functioning as one, Sam’s good arm taking the place of Xan’s broken and vice versa. In no time Sam had her own cup of coffee, and Xan was freshening his up. Was two cups of coffee this early too much caffeine? Probably. Did Xan care? Nah!

She grabbed the plastic containers of M&Ms and tucked it into her sling to carry it back to the workstation. She grabbed her cup of coffee with her good hand. She grinned at Xander and waved to the snacks. “Did you want anything?”

He thought for a moment before replying “Yeah I’ll take some of them gummy worms.”

She waited for Xander to make his choices known before returning to where she left computer parts and boxes, some opened and some unopened. “I appreciate your set up with your tablet. I have found that sometimes hackers and security specialists are good, and I need to improvise. They are always copying my best viruses and code breaking programs. So I am constantly having to upgrade. That means I need computer power on the go.” She explained her thought process to him. She of course had a set of computer viruses and code breaking programs that would work on most equipment. It was that other 20 percent that she worried about like what was needed against Artemis on their last op.

Xander nodded along the whole time. He understood completely the reason why, and that in most cases her system outpaced his. The main difference was simply where they were usually placed in the field. “For sure. If I worked more covertly like you I’d have the time to crack most security systems; like what you did in Kazakhstan with that defense system you fucked up! But mine needs to be more quick and in the moment. I don’t have time to take down a whole system, I just need to bugger whichever lousy prick thinks he has the drop on me and turn the table. Hehe. It’s the difference between causing Chaos, and experiencing a Glitch.”

“My idea is to create a powerful portable rig that can go anywhere with me. My last rig was sweet but even with a reinforced case it didn’t survive that ground zero blast on the last op.” She frowned knowing none of them had expected their last op to go so sideways. She gave him a wicked happy grin as she continued. “Tahlia managed to get me a prototype miniaturized quantum dynamic cpu chip and motherboard. The developers have not managed to create a portable cooling system good enough to handle it. I believe I can use a liquid gel cooling matrix that is environmentally friendly. It should keep it cool enough without freezing up the moving parts.” She went on to explain. “You know those reusable cooling packs for first aid that you can buy. One time use right? Well they activate with a low voltage static charge. I can rig a sealed system to apply that low voltage to make it reusable. It will also act as sound proofing and kinetic shock control. What do you think?”

“Well that’s bloody genius!” Xan exclaimed as she described her new cooling system. Just need to make sure that low static charge is contained in the gel. If it has any sort of energy leak it could put the sensitive parts at risk. But you can manage that with pretty much any sort of non-conductive shielding.” Xander paused for a moment before continuing. “Which brings me back to my point; we need to lighten your load.” Xan continued his ‘lecture’ but all the while started helping Sam unpack the rest of her new parts. “The reinforced case was good and all, but everything has a limit. Take my Exo for example. It has armor sure, but only for standard rounds that I expect most blokes to have and hit me with. I could add more protection for 50 cal or higher, but then I’m getting close to heavy territory, and while there’s nothing wrong with our heavy mates, it would be pretty daft for me to sacrifice mobility for armor when I’m supposed to be compensating for their slowness. Basically, protection from EMPs and low caliber bullets should be fine, but beyond that you’re just making yourself a slower and easier target.”

Samantha nodded as she sipped her coffee and began to nibble on M&Ms as she listened to what Xander had to say. The chocolate, sugar, and fat from the candy helping her stomach feel less queasy. Her head tilted from side to side as she took in his advice. "Keep it simple. Make it durable and powerful without sacrificing weight and space." She nodded as her brain kicked into high gear. "I can do that. I will customize the pieces as I work to get them all to fit together." Samantha looked rueful as she held up her own messed up arm. "I am still in the planning stages since I need my other hand before I go wild on building."

Samantha pulled out a large sheet of blank newsprint from a tray under the workbench counter and grabbed a mechanical pencil. She began writing notes that included her ideas and Xanders. She noted the list of parts that Tahlia had provided. She wrote a label above that column that read Chaos' Laptop. She drew a line and then labeled the next section Xander's Tablet. She moved over to another column and wrote team gear.

"I wanted your help to brainstorm some ideas for gear for the team. I would love your help to build it. I should get my other hand back at the end of the week. Also I wanted to know how I could help you rebuild your tablet and what your ideas were for it." She gave Xander a bright smile. Talking tech was something she loved to do as a total gear head."Come on I want your most creative ideas. Anything you can dream up! Anything you thought about and didn't write down on a napkin. Let's hear it!"
Xander paused and thought for a moment. His most creative ideas, eh? Well he certainly had a few of those, and with Sam’s help they may actually be possible now. There was one idea he had actually been tossing around in his head.

“Well, one downfall with my tablet is that it still takes up both me hands to use. If I want to execute any hacks, I have to do so from cover which isn’t always readily available. However, I’ve been working on a way to wire up the ol’ exo, specifically in me left arm, so that I could interact with it by simple hand movements.” Xander explained while also demonstrating with his functioning right arm. His fingers began pressing points in his palm and even twisting his wrist a few times. “Wiring up the gloves and programming the interface is one thing, but the real trick is to find a way to make sure it knows the difference between when I’m trying to talk to it, and when I’m in the heat of things. Some sort of unique gesture that’s easy to do, but not something I’d accidentally activate holdin’ a gun or something.”

Samantha nodded and as she jotted down his challenges for use in the field. She started jotting down her own ideas to overcome his issues. She was thinking about upgrades she wanted to make since she had experienced some of the same issues in the last op. She stopped and stared at the wall in deep thought for a minute. Her pencil tapping against the paper.

"I had some of the same issues on this last op. I was thinking of developing a proprietary encryption communication chip that would allow my laptop to interface with the AI in my suit helmet. That way I can gun, run, and do basic hacks while running." She paused as she gathered her thoughts "My equipment was compromised when Raven's communication got hacked. My thought was paired proprietary encrypted communication that will allow my two devices to support and direct the other and if the communication source gets hacked then they will not be able to take over my system or get any data from it. They may no longer be able to send data out over that source, but they will still be able to communicate with each other. I was going to investigate early cellular devices and protocols and see if there is something in the early military applications that might be able to be improved that was abandoned. This way I can give voice commands to my helmet AI and the heavy lifting is happening to my paired laptop nearby."

Samantha jotted helmet AI and tablet pairing with haptic input gloves in Xander's column. "I am thinking we develop a similar system for you. I am rebuilding my helmet AI. I can create one for you that works off the same principles so you can give it voice commands. I can also develop haptic input gloves so that work with your HUD so you can use eye gestures to launch commands in your HUD or turn on your gloves to be used on a tablet overlay so you can input manual commands to your tablet without touching it. We could build an armored compartment that your tablet could slide into and integrate with your suit. What do you think?"

“I think you’re bloody brilliant!” Xan said with a chuckle. He could tell why Sam was brought on to Raven, no that he ever doubted that call. With their minds together, they could fix the world’s problems. Though for now they’d just have to settle on taking care of bad guys.

“Now, let’s move to the more immediate objective: our next mission.” Xan stood back up and sipped at his coffee as he began to pace the room. “We can’t take in most of our current equipment without immediately setting off every alarm. We need gear that’s functional, but also concealable. Shoe knives, exploding pens, laser watches, the kinda shit you’d see Bond use.”

Samantha chuckled at Xander's praise and preened a little under his gaze. She replied in a fake snooty tone, "Why thank you, kind sir!" Samantha watched as Xander began to pace the room with his coffee cup. Samantha went back to writing in the column team gear and began to write as Xander talked.

Samantha talked as she wrote down their ideas. She began to write “ceramic knives, embedded into shoes, such as stiletto heels, or hidden so they can pop out for the guys, hidden in belt buckles for the guys is also an option. Weaponize purses for the gals, chain straps with a handle that could transform into a garrote or whip. A heavy shiny designer looking bauble that could hide a collapsible asp for Freya. Make up that could be combined into a two-shot carbon composite gun, with bullets hidden inside a designer zipper pull. Keychains that looked like push button flashlights but doubled as a taser. Jewelry and cuff links that doubled as communications gear and mini drones. The ladies would have small perfume bottles that could carry acid, sleeping agents, or a liquid pepper spray. The guys could have metal cigarette cases that combined with money clips to form a carbon composite gun that could hold 2 bullets. The bullets could be hidden inside a metal keychain bauble. Cuff link cameras and scanners. Pens could be modified to be a taser, planted as a spy device with hidden camera, microphone, and transmitter. Pens could hide a ceramic stiletto blade, twist and out pops a blade, or pens could hide a camera and scanner. Watches could also host communications gear.” Samantha looked up at Xander “Watches are too small for a laser powerful enough to do much. We could pack them with a high explosive. Plant them and use them as a small charge for breaching a door lock.” Samantha waited to see if he would add to their idea list.

“Damn. All that just off the top of your head? You’re giving me a run for me money.” Xander said and shot Sam a quick wink.

” Well knowing Pavel, he’ll be up on his tech and have all the good stuff locked tight. We need to be prepared for security that can’t be hacked normally or even quickly. I’m thinking contacts that can mimic eyes and fool retina scanners, even false finger tips that can copy fingerprints. That should let you lot snag anything you need without having to resort to explosives, even if they are micro. Then we just whip up some smart glasses to give some of us on screen HUDs and video feeds, and I think we’ll be golden!”
Samantha laughed as she considered his points. "You can lift fingerprints with a makeup brush and some clear tape. I am not sure how hard it would be to build gloves with nanite finger tips that change fingerprint patterns. It’s possible. Not sure I could get that done in time. We will add it as a maybe." She wrote the idea down in the gear column.

She pondered how to get around a retina scanner. "The retina scanners are harder. We could hack the scanner and send it a file withe information it is expecting. The challenge with that is we would have to collect that data at the party which comes with some risk. If we can hack into his system or find his retina and fingerprints prior to the op, then we can print contacts with the information and create fake fingerprints on a set of gloves to mimic his fingers. The reality of us being able to find his biometrics on file somewhere will be difficult. I doubt someone who is so aware of cyber security would leave his information in a system he was not sure was well protected."

Samantha made some notes to look for Pavel's biometric information in the recovered data and search other possible sources for that information such as government databases. He might be on file with some of the government contractor work he has done. Samantha turned her attention back to Xander after taking another sip of her coffee. Her eyes followed his movements as she nibbled on chocolate goodness.

Xander paused his pacing for a moment as he considered Sam’s concerns. All of them were valid, especially with their time constraints. However, when she mentioned getting access to those things prior to the op, Xan got a wicked smirk. “Leave that to me. If things go according to plan, I should have access to the venue beforehand. Knowing Pavel, his prints and DNA will be all over the place. I can get what we need. Hell, I might even be able to confirm what kind of security he’s got and save us the time wasted in guessing.”

With that thought, Xander turned to Sam and walked over to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, then leaned in a bit to look at the list she had written down. After he skimmed their ideas he began to bob his head in a small nod. “Yeah. I think we’ve got a lot to work with. We’ll want to get right on those if we want to make them in time. But first, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about.” Xander turned from the list to face Sam as he grew a sly grin on his face. “A while ago you mentioned something about my beer launcher being ineffective. Curious what tips you had for me to improve that. I really wanna get that girl working perfectly.”

Samantha felt the warmth from Xander’s body and the weight of his hand as he leaned over her to review their list. She nodded, agreeing with him. “It is a lot of gear, but we can do it! Most of it will be printing or cutting pieces and then assembly. Planning and setting up the technical schematics and measurements is what will take the most time. I have to decide on the right materials as well. We should have what I need in stock. It is pretty basic stuff. The only parts that might be difficult will be the proprietary communication chips but since I plan to build them not purchase them. We should have what I need for that.” She met his grin with one of her own. “I like your thoughts about what you can find out about Pavel before the op. We will have to compare notes after we do some hacking.”

Samantha gave Xander a mischievous smile as she leaned closer to him. “Well I have not had an opportunity to really examine your masterpiece. Why don’t we go take a look and you can explain how it works. Then I will be in a better position to help you improve it.” She winked at him as she set the pencil down as she slid off the stool with a raised eyebrow in challenge.

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

Samantha Dalton AKA Chaos

---

Raven HQ: Dinner in the rec room

Samantha was happily eating her burger. She felt like a ravenous beast. Her body craving sustenance to help it heal after the long restorative sleep she had. She had already finished the glass that Skye had poured for her and didn’t notice when Skye refilled it. She almost choked on her burger as she heard the excited voice of Freya talking to someone named Pilar over the phone. She coughed as her eyes widened at him demanding a kiss from Freya and to attend her next lingerie photo shoot. Somone whacked on her the back between the shoulder blades dislodging the piece of her burger that had gone down the wrong pipe.

She wheezed for a minute or two as she recovered from almost choking. Her eyes were watering. She wiped at them. Her face incredulous as she turned towards Freya as she got off the phone. “Hold on! Lingerie photo shoot? Bribing the help with kisses? Freya! What else are you holding out on telling us?!” Samantha grinned at Freya realizing she was feeling hardly any pain and was moving better. Samantha really looked up to Freya. She felt Freya was a great role model. Maybe she would be willing to adopt a little sister. These thoughts were very foreign to Samantha, and she frowned for a moment as her alcohol and drug addled brain tried to think through where that thought had come from. She shrugged and turned to Freya with an expectant look.

Later that evening and several glasses of wine later…

Samantha had slid out of her chair and was currently laughing and rolling around on the floor as she listened to Skye’s story. “Remind me to tell you the story of the Arabian sheikh I turned into an asset. I couldn’t believe how easy he was to flip. He had this kink about wearing women’s high fashion in public but under a full hajib so no one could tell. He liked to walk around with... nevermind. He couldn’t find a way to buy his couture without his enemies finding out and blackmailing him. He agreed to share intel if I sent him a care package once a month.” She started laughing all over again as she remembered how ridiculous the guy was. His macho man public image didn't meet up with his private life.

Samantha’s eyes widened as Skye confessed, it seemed she had some attraction towards some of the team. Samantha smiled and winked at Skye. “I know what you mean. We have an awesome team. They are all pretty great.” She held a finger up to her lips like she was going to tell Skye a secret when Xander’s voice cut across her thoughts cutting off the fun. Samantha had never been this drunk before. She rarely drank because drinking made her feel out of control. She was a lightweight compared to most of the team. Samantha frowned and was disappointed that Xander was not trying to take her to bed. Samantha looked around the room confused for a moment. Her brain was definitely not firing on all cylinders as she tried to figure out why they were going to bed.

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

Samantha Dalton AKA Chaos

---

Raven HQ

Samantha sipped her glass of port as she listened to the team come together for dinner and an impromptu briefing by Queen. Her body hurt and felt foreign and stiff. She already felt better than she had yesterday though. She was grateful that the drugs Sophie had used with her helped keep her asleep. It had allowed her body to start healing and heavens knew she was grateful to not feel like a spike was being driven through her brain. Her eyes glanced around at her fellow teammates. Normally in a group setting, she would feel awkward like she didn’t belong or was on the fringe of the group. She had been subjected to the opposite end of the spectrum when she had been younger when people had fawned over her in wonder at the work she could produce due to her intellect. She was comfortable with these people and felt like she could be herself. She didn’t feel like she had to appear as anything other than she was. They all seemed to accept her as she came with gifts and flaws, simply human.

Samantha listened to what Freya had to say about Pavel and found that she was both furious on her behalf and amused at the same time. "Prick tried to cop a feel on me and one of my researchers last time we met face to face. His hand was up Kellie's shirt and almost up my skirt before I grabbed him and threw him through a glass wall. He was out cold when we left. We left a note." She would have paid good money to have seen that. She made a mental note to look into the connections between Vale and Freya’s project. If she knew Pavel, he had planted something to try and steal her research. Pavel was intelligent and talented, but his true success came from stealing the breakthroughs of others. He was very good at hiding his tracks and using his power to get what he wanted.

The information Xander shared lined up with what she knew about the man. Xander’s intel was a good idea. Maybe his friend had included a backdoor into that technology, that they could exploit if Pavel was the source of the hack. She made a mental note to check with Xander to get his take on this idea. She listened as Xander seconded Freya’s plan to go in with legitimate invitations.

Samantha took another sip of her port. The port sent warmth through her spreading out relaxing muscles that were tense and knotted from the abuse her body had gone through. It was a pleasant feeling. The smell of the grilling burgers made her stomach growl. They smelled delicious. Samantha tilted her head to the side in thought as she pondered Xander’s insight. She agreed with most of his points. She was slowly melding with the chair as her body relaxed with the combination of port and painkillers working their magic.

Her attention turned to Stafford. He was usually so quiet and reserved, she was a little surprised when he spoke up. If Stafford could land a legitimate invitation with a plus that got 4 members of the team inside the party. Her attention returned to Queen as she continued after the team had added their thoughts and intel to the mix.

Samantha couldn’t help but chuckle as Skye addressed what she had told her the rumor on the dark web had to say about Pavel. Samantha almost choked on her port in laughter at Skye’s joke that Raven Squad didn’t have a rocket program yet. “I will build you a space shuttle but only if I get to fly it, and I might need Freya’s help to power it.” She winked at Skye, humor lit her eyes wondering if she would take her seriously.

Samantha listened as Skye addressed Freya. It made her curious about what Freya’s family was like. Samantha had to agree that Pavel must have a death wish to try his sexist bullshit with Freya. But then her experience with Pavel was that he had an overinflated ego. He felt his money and connections made him untouchable and it was true to a certain extent. It was assholes like him that had her seeking out Raven Squad. She chuckled as Skye chimed in on what Freya should wear. Samantha couldn’t help but imagine what Pavel would go through facing Skye and Freya together. Maybe she could get Freya to wear a button cam on her power suit so she could record that for posterity and her own amusement.

Skye had acknowledged what Xander had to say about Pavel and asked that he keep her informed of what they were working on. She had addressed Stafford and encouraged him to join the op and get in on the action. Skye gave them some final orders as they ate their meal together. "Well.....that's no' bad. Eat up, team. We got some healing and work to do. Sounds like a few of us might have invites then. I'll get to work on a more concise extraction method tomorrow. In the meantime, install any of your upgrades, get back onto recovery, start figuring out your method in, out, and what we have on the line. We'll be there soon enough. For now, eat up, because that looks delish!"

Samantha’s eyes lit up as Xander carried her plate over to her and handed it to her. Her mouth watered as the burger looked scrumptious stacked high with grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, and sauce. She accepted the plate he extended to her as he spoke to her. "Oh, Sam. To answer your question from earlier; it's because she's our mum! She looks after us, keeps us in line, and of course.” He winked at her as he released the plate and told her "Keeps us fed." She smiled up at him and nodded back. “That makes sense. Thank you for cooking for me.” Her eyes lingered on him as he left to fetch his food. Samantha nodded thinking as she took a big bite of her burger. She was momentarily distracted as the sustenance her body craved made it one of the best burgers she had in a long time. Her day was looking up. She gave a welcoming nod to Hornet as the woman came into the room probably lured by the delicious aromas of the grilling burgers.

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

Samantha Dalton AKA Chaos

---

Raven HQ

Samantha found herself smiling at Xander. She enjoyed his sense of humor. Sam found that she enjoyed spending time with him. She laughed at his response to her question about Sophie. “What the doc doesn't know won’t hurt her, and I don’t plan to tell her as long as you don’t.” She shook her head as she replied before heading into the rec room. “If she hears about it, it won’t be because of me.” She grinned as he offered to cook for her. ”Heh. Deal. I’m sure there’s something in the kitchen we could scrounge up. Though it might take me a bit, given the arm and all.” Samantha had the fleeting thought that a man had never cooked for her before. She was a little jealous that he seemed to have more mobility than her. She had to be honest with herself, the soft tissue damage combined with the cracked ribs, not to mention the full scope of bruising from being hit by the blast had left her whole body achy and swollen in places. She never handled inactivity well.

Xander accepted his glass of port and offered a toast to Skye. “Cheers, mum!” Samantha looked over at Xander with curiosity “Why do you call Skye Mum?” Her eyes followed him into the kitchen as he began to look in the refrigerator. She snickered as Xander protested that he was always a professional. “Hey. I am always professional! Isn’t that right, fridge?” Sam couldn’t believe that he continued to mess around with the fridge as it nodded as if agreeing with him. She would have to look at how he had done it later. She nodded as he proposed burgers for dinner. “Burgers sound great. I do not want mine to moo or pass for charcoal.”

She looked around at the team that were in the Rec room. She listened as Xander replied to Mateo’s question about how they were feeling. She nodded thinking that was exactly about how she felt. “Well me arms busted, it hurts to walk or even stand for too long, and worst of all the doc has ordered me to ‘behave’ until I’m back in top shape. So you lot are safe for the time being. But mark my words, soon as I’m outta this thing, I’m gonna have something planned for all of you.” Samantha just shook her head laughing as Xander promised to prank everyone after he was feeling better.

Her eyes were pulled back to Skye as began to share information with them. In a rare moment, Skye shared how she was doing."Not so bad. Surviving, I guess, I had a couple of ribs hit but it's....well, just inconvenient. I was just saying to the others, combat effectiveness on that one was good. I saw what you got up to, and as always, it's impressive." She paid attention as Skye went on to tell her. "Sounds rough, but you'll heal up. Bones break, but so long as your head's intact, that's the main one. Aye, and that intel would be useful. Much appreciated, Sam. Food wise, that'll be on that man over there tonight."

Samantha grinned as her eyes lit up with the challenge. “I will start digging through the data tomorrow. Hopefully it will give us a few more leads. I also would like to work with Xander to build us some new hacking toys. I can’t believe I have to rebuild my rig all over again.” She frowned as her custom computer set up is part of what let her be so good at what she did. On the positive side, now she could see what was new and see how she could improve it before their next op. She gave a mischievous grin as she looked at Skye, “I will have to chat with Tahlia to see what kind of parts she can source for me. I heard rumors that there is a new quantum computer core small enough for a laptop.” She would have rubbed her hands together like a greedy miser but well her right one was strapped down at the moment.

Samantha couldn’t help but laugh as Skye picked on Xander some. "Professional, my arse....and aye, burgers sounds good. I'll come and help yous in a second. Tahlia tells me the beef is straight from her farm so I'll be impressed to see it. Real farm to fork and all that!" Samantha didn’t know that Tahlia’s family raised beef. She should have known, Australians are known to have some big ranches. Skye sat up and began to give them more information about their next target.

"Anyway....not sure about you lot, but I find recovery works best when you have targets. Like, who to punch the lights out of that caused it in the first place. So let me introduce you to that target. It's no brief, just a starting point." Samantha paid attention as a slick augmented-reality device came on. An image of their target came up. It was someone that Samantha was aware of, that caught her attention. The image was tech CEO Pavel Andros. "That is Pavel Andros, Slovenian-Cypriot billionaire, or as you might know him, the founder of Vale Systems, tech firm that is currently the wet dream of every Silicon Valley frat fuck there is, yadda yadda, you know the type. The sort of guy who goes on about AI whilst planning some mental geo-engineering a way out of our fucked up state of affairs. Self-entitled prick, if you ask me, but even worse, his fingerprints are all over Aralsk.”

Samantha nodded following along. As a tech junkie, she was aware of all the major and minor players who were on the cutting edge of breaking new technologies. Vale Systems had a hand in numerous industries. She had heard rumors that he was close to a breakthrough that would allow him to use AI controlled sensor systems on satellites to find rich ore and rare mineral deposits. Many didn’t realize the rare minerals used in cellular and miniaturized computer technology were worth more than gold in most markets. "The hack was messy, but it points to the fact whoever did it was using something high level, with way more computational power than Artemis would have. Something only this man would be able to pull off to break our encryption, or someone he knows. There's nobody hijacking his network. This is his...and we don't know how."

"None of this makes sense currently. So, given what we know, I'd like an audience with him because of the fact he tried to fuck us up, yeah? A wee one-to-one he wouldn't normally agree to getting, given he thinks he's above everything. Raphael's found out he has a party at his offices in Singapore in two weeks, and it's not an internal thing, if you were curious. Looks like he wants to invite lots of his other shareholders, and a few subsidiaries too. Quite the list, and surprisingly, no Kazakh arms dealers. More esteemed members of society, if you can believe it..." Samantha could only smile as Skye’s snark and sarcasm.

"It's being hosted at his residence on the roof of the Tsai Wen Tower, right in the CBD of the city, but he's got exclusive use of the whole top floor, with a bar, penthouse, and then some above the Asian offices of Vale. Like I said, he's the kind of arsehole who lives this idea of putting his home on top of his workplace. It's impressive really. But quite not a fortress. Just very, very high up with a few towers around it to keep it company. Not many ways in, not many ways out." Samantha reviewed the layout briefly following along as Skye took them through what was already available. "Which from that, leads to our little job. To start with, I've got some tasks to keep you all occupied with while you heal up. No rush, but I'll leave the finer details to you." Samantha perked up as Skye began to hand out assignments.”

@Awesomoman64@PerfectThought
"First, I need an invite to his party. Stafford, Xan, see if you can get me one, or make me one. We'll also need you in the party too but I'll leave that up to you how you do it...Raphael might be of help there. You'll also need to figure out a way to get in yourselves along with Stafford and Mateo, either by invite or other means. Working, or perhaps infiltrating. That, and a way to get out. Parachutes, ropes, whatever gets us out of there as a contingency. Come back to me with some ideas and we can take a look at it."

@BigPapaBelial
Second, Freya, you're with me. He has security and if I'm going in there unarmed, I'm going to need backup in case things go south. So you're my plus one...and at the least, it gives me some air of legitimacy if they realise you're someone who would go to something like this. They know you. But if Pavel's security is as tight as it is, I can't take chances- I could use some help on what the security detail is, so Sam and Xan can probably get you that. And whatever you need to do to keep them occupied, do it."

@LadyAmber@Theyra
Third, once we're in, there's more to do. A server farm would be a good hit, but I need more intel goings on that we can extract from the site....and that'll come from our last mission, because there's a lot of connecting information. Sam, Mateo, I'll pin you with those. Figure out what secondaries we can find, just so we can back whatever bullshit I might get from big Pavel to figure this mess out." Samantha nodded accepting her orders. She wanted to feel bad for Pavel knowing Skye was going to break him. But she couldn’t summon up the sympathy. Skye’s chuckle meant bad news for Pavel. "Lastly....anyone got anything else to add, or ask? It's a social occasion, so I'd hope we have no gunfights....because I feel like we've certainly hit that quota already for this month. We can look at this better tomorrow. But have a sleep, get some ideas, and we'll start when ready."

@fourtytwo
Samantha looked disgusted because she didn’t like Pavel. He was everything she detested with large tech companies. She took a sip of her port to moisten her mouth. “Rumors on the dark web say that Pavel has invested heavily in a new satellite-based sensor system to find rare minerals and ores that is supported by AI technology. He is looking for new mines to source the raw materials he needs for his products. They say he paid a Russian space tourism company to put the satellites in space in secret because he didn’t want his competitors or certain governments to know about it. It is possible that with his own satellites and altering that technology, he could pick up on encrypted communication systems and tap into them using cellular satellite networks. Pavel has a history of walking over others to make a buck. While his company appears to be environmentally conscious with equitably sourced materials, he hides the ties to his company through multiple shadow cut out companies.”

Skye had started helping Xander cook. She smiled as Skye joked about calling in a lot of favors to get them prime ingredients. The smell coming from the grill was making her mouth water. Her stomach rumbled in protest. She patted it with her good hand. It would get fed in good time. "Pepper's on the far side, Xan. Those burgers are smelling mighty fine. You don't want to ask how many favours I get the logistics teams to run for us. Won't someone think of the taxpayer...."

Samantha’s eyes gleamed and a bright smile lit her face as Skye shared her last bit of information with them. "Ahh, that reminds me! Right, Tahlia was by earlier. She's headed to the armoury and I think she's gotten you some upgrades. Suits, equipment, that kind of thing. Cutting edge research, so it might take some time to get used to, but I recommend you play with it when you're feeling more fighting fit." She raised her glass to Skye. “Thanks for the new toys boss.”

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

Samantha Dalton AKA Chaos

---

Raven HQ

Samantha moved stiffly without her usual grace. Colorful and deep bruising could be seen peeking out of the neckline of her t-shirt and creeping slightly up her neck on her right side. Her right arm was in a sling to help reduce irritation to her chest and shoulder and movement along her cracked ribs so that they would heal faster. She was grateful that the severe headache, blurry vision, and dizziness that had come with the concussion seemed to have cleared up while she slept. Her body was stiff and painful if jarred or if she moved too far in the wrong direction. She certainly felt more like herself. She hated feeling weak though. Samantha was fiercely independent and currently felt like a burden to her team. She needed to heal so she could be there for them when they needed her. It took her a moment to process that thought. Coming through the shitstorm standing shoulder to shoulder with the squad made her feel closer to them in a way she hadn’t before. She found she wanted to be there to lend them her support. She didn’t want to see any of them hurt or die because she had failed to do her job. Samantha was surprised at the depth and complexity of how she felt about the other members of Raven Squad. She had never felt this way before. She had always been a lone operator in the past. Is this what it meant to work with a team that had your back?

Samantha looked deep in thought as the sound of Xander’s voice brought her out of her deep thoughts. "Oi, Sammy!" His wave attracted her attention as she turned towards him. Sam’s eyes were drawn over towards the Australian and a smile appeared on her face. "How you holding up? Personally, I could go for a cold one. Maybe something stronger. And as I recall I owe you a drink as well. Care to join me?" She looked Xander up and down examining him. It was good to see him back on his feet and not bleeding. “You look better than the last time I saw you. It is good to see you recovering.” Samantha grinned at him mischievously, “Do you think Sophie will yell at us for drinking and mixing painkillers?” She winked at him as she told him conspiratorially “Let’s go give it a try. But you have to take me to dinner first. I need food.” It was like their commander had heard them from the hallway as she heard Skye call out to them.

"Four, six, eight weeks. Sophie is rather conservative I find with her recommendations, because she doesn't want either of yous doing anything shall we say, too wild? Like say, nearly getting blown up again. Or say, having a port while in recovery on some fucking awesome painkillers." Samantha looked at Xander and nodded towards the rec room. She made her way into the rec room. She was moving slow and stiff, but she got there under her own power. Samantha noticed Skye had poured them glasses. She carried hers with her and set it down on the end table next to a cushioned chair with arms. Sam gingerly lowered herself into a soft cushioned chair. She laughed and shook her head as she picked up the glass. “Thanks boss.” She took a sip from her glass as Skye continued.

"You'll be pleased to know the paperwork your end is done. Your combat effectiveness is high, remarkably so. Particularly you Sam, for a first op, it's 'not bad ey. You even made Xan look professional. First time for that. And that's even when you weren't intact. Job got done, and I already have some leads." Samantha’s eyes lit up with interest as Skye mentioned that they had some leads. “I can help sift through the data we collected to see if we can generate any additional leads. I might be stuck recovering for a few weeks, but they didn’t manage to damage my brain. Though they tried.” She winced remembering her helmet and the concussion.

"Good to have you in somewhat one piece." Samantha smiled at Skye “Appreciate that you pulled me out in one piece.” Her thoughts briefly went to all that had gone wrong on the op. She knew her injuries were not her fault but she still felt like had somehow let her team down or not done enough to support them. Samantha’s attention was turned to Freya as her voice rose. It sounded like someone had angered the battle goddess. Samantha winced. She wouldn’t want to be that person. She saw Freya rein in her temper and turned to apologize to the room. "My apologies..." Freya then moved to get a drink from the bar. Samantha gave Freya a sympathetic look. She had experienced the pain of seeing something special she had built lost to actions of other people or a catastrophic failure.

Sam’s attention turned to Mateo as he entered and grabbed a beer from the fridge. Seeing him grimace made her wonder if he even liked beer. She shuddered slightly. She was not a big fan of alcohol, but beer tasted like horse piss to her. She didn’t see how anyone could drink that. Mateo asked "How are you'll feeling? Better, I hope." Samantha gave him a mischievous smile “I feel like I was run over by a truck. I am doing better though. My head no longer feels like it was split in to two pieces. I feel like I could eat a whole cow though. I am starving. What's for dinner?”

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

Samantha Dalton AKA Chaos

---

Aral Sea, Leaving the Sandbox Behind

By the time Samantha had managed to get another rocket ready to fire all the IFVs were gone. Now it was just mopping up the troops they had managed to get into the field and extract. Samantha dropped the rocket and grabbed her machine gun instead. She began shooting at anything targeted their area covering Xander as best she could as he did his thing. Samantha pushed through the injuries and pain to do her job. She kept up a running mantra in her head, deep breath, sight, find a target, pull the trigger. The noise of the battlefield, the smell of smoke, the heat from the flames and the desert had faded into the background. Samantha was grateful for the extra ammo as she popped in her last magazine. She had just taken down a trio of soldiers who were trying to hit Xander from the sand outside of the ship through the hole he was firing through. She had turned to take a shot at another when her radio flared to life.

"Queen, Hawk is on station, is the LZ near your position clear, over?"

"Affirm, Hawk. Good to hear your voice. Team, rally on me and break from the fight, let's get to the bird."
The voices from the radio pulling her from the focus that had kept her operating. She trembled as she touched the mic at her throat to answer Skye’s summons. “Chaos acknowledges.” Samantha climbed shakily back to her feet. She went to see if Xander would need help getting out.

Samantha focused on putting one foot in front of the other as she kept her gun moving. Artemis’ soldiers had rushed towards the ship as the team began a tactical retreat. She took down soldiers trying to stop their escape. She fired to take down soldiers trying to get into a position to fire on them. She helped with suppression fire as they worked their way towards the LZ. She struggled through the sand as the meds she had taken began to run out and the injuries she had sustained began to take their toll. She kept moving and firing until she ran out of ammo. She then switched to her handgun. It didn’t have the range of her machine gun and with her shoulder mangled, she had lost accuracy. She finally clambered on board the V22. She collapsed into a transport seat along the wall and buckled her harness. She was covered in dust and blood and black soot. As the V22 took off and gained altitude, the pain and pressure in Samantha’s head exploded and she passed out.

Raven HQ

---

Samantha woke up to find herself in the infirmary at Raven headquarters. Her body ached from head to toe, and she had a killer headache. She felt groggy and sleepy still. The team doctor was standing over her. She had met Sophie when she had joined Raven Squad. Sophie had done her mandatory physical exam and an extensive review of her medical history. Samantha winced as the light above her bed caused pain to stab into her brain. She groaned and tried to talk but her voice was raspy, and her throat was dry. “Owe… can you turn the lights down Doc?” Sophie chuckled at her and dimmed the lights over her bed before replying, “Its good to see you are still with us.” Samantha let out a relieved sigh as the lights dimmed. Samantha just groaned before replying “Ok Doc, what’s the damage?” Sophie’s green eyes were warm but serious “You have a concussion, some cracked and bruised ribs, and some soft tissue damage in your shoulder.” Sophie patted her on the good shoulder. “I will need to wake you up every hour to assess your condition. Once you are past the concussion protocols, you may go back to your room. I have wrapped your ribs to support them. Now that you are awake. I will give you something for the headache I know you have. Once you start to heal, you will come back to see me for some physical therapy exercises to help your shoulder heal. You will be back in fighting shape in about four weeks.” Sophie turned and began injecting medication into her IV. Samantha only managed to get out a “Thanks Doc” before the pain medication swept her back to sleep.

Samantha spent her first night back at headquarters in the infirmary being woken up every hour. She was grateful when Sophie finally let her go back to her room. She climbed into her own bed and slept most of the day. Samantha’s growling stomach finally woke her up. She was starving. She took a long hot shower. The heat felt wonderful on her sore body. She was grateful she had short hair. It hurt to lift her arm on the right side. She was grateful she was left-handed. She didn’t bother to try, and blow dry it. She just towel-dried it and ran a quick comb through it. Her chest and shoulder were a colorful patchwork of deep bruises. She still had some swelling in her shoulder too. She slipped into comfortable cotton black yoga pants and a hot pink loose t-shirt with the saying “I never argue, I just explain why I am right” in big black block letters on the front. She slipped her feet into hot pink sports sandals since she couldn’t bend all that easily. She grudgingly used the arm sling that Sophie had given her. She had explained the least movement the better and the sling would lessen the strain from supporting her arm. She couldn’t deny that it felt better to use the sling.

She hated feeling like an invalid. She felt better today but her body still protested. Samantha felt like she had been run over by a tank. She left her room and began to make her way towards the kitchen. Samantha moved stiffly and she gritted her teeth. Every step jarred her aching body. It felt good to move even as it hurt. Her stomach let out an audible growl. She needed food.

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

Samantha Dalton AKA Chaos

---

Aral Sea, Blowing Up the Enemy's Toys

Samantha felt the tension rising as the enemy approached. She glanced over at Glitch and was gratified to see that the hemostatic powder she had poured onto his arm was working to slow down the bleeding. Sam understood from watching Xander and his explanation how the Javelins worked. She had never fired one before. She was kind of excited to play with the new toys. She just wished that she could use it the way it was intended. She sat down cross legged in front of the hole in the side of the ship she was using like a tripod that came with the javelin. She was grateful that the weight of the weapon was resting on the edge of the ship. She managed to get it set up so that she could duck under the weapon to put it on her shoulder without lifting it fully. She made sure the weapon was resting on her good shoulder. She began to look through the viewfinder as she looked for a target to track. Sam paid attention as Skye began issuing more orders.

"Eyes on that one IFV, Frigga. They've broken from the pack. That'll be be mine, so your fat cheeks will be covered...I hope your armour is holding up there at least or by Christ, I'm not gonna have time to contain the lot of the team if we survive this. Anyway, switch to your secondaries, or improvise something. There might be a mounted HMG in the ship with rounds in it you might be able to pinch, and it might dink the armour a bit to make them think twice. Or just smash it with a hammer. Either way, be ready when they come close, you and Ogre." Sam couldn’t help but grin at the snark coming from their exalted leader as she told Frigga that her butt would be covered. She looked over at Xander and rolled her eyes as she ordered her to help him with his arm.


"Oi, Love Actually, we got a minute or so to contact. Don't sweat the PETN, we won't have the range to get close or time. But I like the creativity. Both of you, if you can, get a hemostatic powder on Glitch's arm before we get started. It'll cull the bleeding for a few minutes before we can tourniquet it and pull that metal shard out, or else when that injector wears out, I'm gonna need to find him a bionic arm. And he does not need another appliance to start hacking...."

Samantha cleared her throat before replying. “Roger that Queen. The powder has already been applied. Bleeding has slowed.” She wanted to snark that they were just ducky but that was not really the truth. “Chaos is in position and ready.”

Sam paid attention to what everyone would be doing. She needed to know the whole plan.

"Affirm. Get ready to pick away, they'll be dropping troops off. Your rifle will come in handy. They won't see it coming. We'll strike when I get this isolated IFV. Then we start raining it down."

Sam was watching through the scope as Skye’s shot hit the lead IFV. She blinked to clear her vision as she pointed her weapon towards one of the IFV’s in the rear of the formation. She heard Skye call out over the comm. "Contact!" She cursed a little under her breath. She really missed her helmet. Her helmet had built in filters to protect her vision. The bright flash of light from the explosion was like an ice pick to her brain. She blinked her eyes and tried not to move her head. She was pretty sure she had a mild concussion from the blast. It didn’t matter though. If she didn’t push through, she wouldn’t be alive to complain. She saw spots for a moment and then picked up her target vehicle once more.

Samantha trusted her teammates to engage and help confuse the targeting systems on the IFVs. Sam took a deep breath to steady her aim. She took careful aim at the IFV in the rear right. She began to pace it, tracking its progress. She lined her shot up like she would a sniper shot. She tucked her body as close to the ship as she could. She pressed the button to fire the missile. She felt heat along her back as the rocket fired. The rocket flew away from her position on target to hit the IFV. Samantha felt the jolt through her whole body as the bulk of the energy was transferred down through her spine. Firing the Javelin jarred her injured chest, stealing the breath away from her for a moment. Samantha breathed through the pain and pushed it away. Samantha began loading another rocket before she even knew whether that one hit or not.

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