LadyAmber

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

Samantha Dalton - Callsign: Chaos

Chuck Simmons - Callsign: Boomer

Chaos Emerging

Souk Semmarine, Marrakesh, Morocco

1400 Local Time

---

Samantha took the corner that Purna had indicated. She continued to monitor the progress on the battlefield with the cameras she had slapped up and the drones she still controlled. She didn’t know how Boomer proposed to destroy these tanks but she wouldn’t leave until she had turned them over to him. She trusted his expertise to come up with something. She had been too busy in the last battle to appreciate the work the heavies did. Jamie, Chuck, and Oliver were beasts on the battlefield. They each had their own style that suited them. Nothing got past them and they each gave as good as they got.

The heavies had pushed their way through the gate and obliterated the forces arrayed there to stop them. They then pushed forward meeting the soldiers flooding into the area from the rear of the compound where the residence was located. Boomer and Scion were working like a team that had partnered in the past as the two of them pushed through the troops Artemis had coerced, bribed, or hired to stop them. Boomer and Scion were fearsome as blood, explosions, bullets, and body parts littered the path around them as they put their focus on destroying their opposition.

As they got closer to her location Boomer requested more clarification of where to meet her. She sent it to him. He and Jamie had gotten pushed to the opposite side of the compound and were angling back towards her location. Her eyes widened as she watched Boomer take out the pickup of armed men and weapons and then Jamie’s revenge on the guy who managed to put a vicious looking hook into his armor.

Duke had followed in Chuck’s wake down the field tearing out the throats of enemies that Chuck had downed. He made the enemy don't get back up to come after his master. Chuck was actually enjoying this mission. Once the civilians were out of the way he had been able to let loose without answering to finicky politicians and uppers about how he did his job. Raven just wanted the job done as expeditiously as possible with minimal harm to innocents and the environment. That was something Chuck could get behind. He felt like he was in the right place at the right time to make a difference. It was nice to feel like he was truly making a difference in the world once more. He had signed up to serve and protect his country. He felt like he was doing that once more. He was finding it interesting to work with fellow giants that could keep up with him on the field. It was a very new and enlightening experience for him. He was used to being the biggest strongest man around. It was nice to pit his abilities and strengths against someone who could be his equal. Chuck was laughing at Jamie’s tirade to the men they had routed as he ducked into the tent to find Samantha walking towards him.

Samantha heard new orders come over the comms from Adam just before Chuck and Jamie joined her and Purna at the tent.

“Roger that Wilk. I will join you after showing Boomer his target.”

She watched as Jamie and Chuck entered the tent. She relaxed and made her way quickly towards them. She nodded at them as they stepped into the tent. She couldn’t help but notice that they both had to duck even though the tent was probably 8 meters high at the peak.

“Thank you for joining me, gentleman.”

She gave Jamie a nod as she tried to answer his question.

“Well in case you missed Wilk giving new orders. He wants you to take the front with Tiny Nord to help him get the target out. You will be playing front guard and pushing to get the VIP to Athena’s location and out of the souk. Boomer, you are to join them after you take care of these canisters.”

Chuck had heard Wilk’s new orders over the comms just as they ducked into the tent. He listened as Samantha repeated them. He nodded and let his hand brush down Duke’s back.

“Okay show me where these tanks are.”

He followed her to inspect what he needed to take care of. He paid attention to the area around him and the equipment. This was a lot of expensive and valuable equipment for a makeshift temporary lab. Why was it set up in a tent?

She gave them a quick smile “You can tell me who won the bet later.” She turned and immediately headed towards the twin tanks.

Chuck blushed crimson and couldn’t help looking and feeling guilty. He felt like a little boy when his momma caught him doing something he shouldn’t. How did she know? No one was around when they made that bet. Maybe Jamie had left his comms live. Damn! Was he in trouble? Dammit Boomer get your head in the game. We have a job to do. Focus on personal issues later. He narrowed his eyes and swallowed and didn’t say anything. He tried to focus on what he needed to destroy.

She wasn’t sure there had been a bet but they just had that playful masculine energy that said they were enjoying this operation a little more than usual that gave her suspicions. She led Chuck to the tanks.

“Boomer, these tanks are filled with that poison that Rose has been extracting from her blood. We don’t have time to test it. It needs to be destroyed. We can’t blow it up because that might spread it. These tanks are pressurized and will blow if heated. The only way to destroy it is prolonged high heat. You can’t expose yourself to it or you might die. I hope you have some ideas, Boomer.” She gave him a searching look.

Chuck had managed to bring his wayward thoughts back to the issue at hand. He listened intently as Sam shared critical information with him.

“This shit is toxic. It needs high heat to destroy it. I can’t blow it up because it will spread before it can be destroyed. The tanks are pressurized and will blow if they get too hot. Did I get all that right?”

He waited for her to nod in affirmation.

“Shit that is going to be an issue.”

He took a moment to take a deep breath and think about what explosives he did have with him. He didn’t really have what they needed. He began to think out loud. Sam was his best thought partner for this.

“Do you know how high a temperature those tanks can withstand before they blow up? And will that be a high enough heat to destroy the toxin? What temperature can the tanks withstand before they blow up?”

Samantha didn’t even need to look the information up. She was a mechanical engineer. She knew this kind of information because she had needed it for a job. She didn’t hesitate or even blink as she told him 120 degrees fahrenheit. Water boils at 212 degrees fahrenheit.”

Chuck frowned; his idea of killing the shit in the tank wouldn’t work. Could he somehow neutralize the toxin another way.

“Would releasing the toxin or mixing with another compound neutralize it? What if we lowered the tanks into a vat or baking soda or something like that and then punctured the tank or triggered a release of the toxin. Would it still spread?”

Samantha tilted her head to the side as she considered it.

“Without further testing we don’t know what might neutralize it or even if it can be neutralized. Releasing it into water is a bad idea. It could hitch a ride on the water molecules and become an aerosolized weapon then. We might be doing their work for them at that point. It would have to be a viscous liquid, think goopy. Released at the bottom of a deep barrel or bucket. It would need to be released into a substance that doesn’t boil or become gaseous like water. The substance it was released into would have to reach temperatures over 500 degrees fahrenheit to destroy it.”

Chuck frowned at her explanation and then an idea sparked and he grinned.

“How about Napalm? We don’t have any with us but there is a fast recipe for one. I would need gasoline and sugar. Does the residence have a kitchen?”

Samantha didn’t trust that evil grin on Chuck’s face. He looked eager and excited. That made her a little nervous.

“Yes, the ground floor. I passed it on my way out. Right off the foyer. What do you have in mind?”

Samantha knew they didn’t have a lot of time. She wanted to make sure Chuck had a solid plan before she left him to it. She wanted to be sure they all got out of here. She knew enough about Chuck to know that he was not above sacrificing himself to the greater good. They still needed him dammit and she refused to let him do it on her watch.

Chuck smiled at her.

“I am going to need about 4 gallons of gasoline and as much sugar as I can find in the kitchen. Hopefully they have been cooking for the troops. I will need a heavy cast iron pot as big as I can find it or a steel drum. Oh and I will need that mini laser you carry in your tool kit. I am going to make homemade napalm. Set the tanks in the barrel of napalm. Then puncture the tanks with the laser punching a hole in the tanks so they leak into the napalm while the laser ignites the napalm. The barrel should withstand the heat until the toxin is destroyed. The tanks should withstand the heat enough not to explode because they will no longer be under pressure. I rig explosives to blow all their equipment to hell on a timer. While we are getting out of dodge, the complex will be blown on our way out. The toxin should be destroyed and unusable and neutralized. Do I have your approval?”

Samantha blinked as she processed what he planned to do. Everything sounded doable except the gasoline but hell there was the pickup he blew up. He might be able to find everything he needed to do it. If not it was a marketplace surrounded by homes. He would just have to hurry to find everything he needed. She smiled at him and nodded.

“Very clever Boomer. Permission granted. Hurry though. We are not leaving without you!”

Samantha took off leaving it in his hands. Samantha took off running for her new post. She used her pistol to shoot a few soldiers who thought she would be a good target of opportunity. She used her parkour skills to get up on the wall so that she could see what was happening around Athena. Wilk had told her to take out the mech. Where was Glitch when she needed him? Mechs were his thing. She sighed and knew she would have to get closer. She quickly bounced from wall to wall till she was on the ground. She would try to get closer and see what she could do about the mech. There was no way to take it out by hacking. The mech had hardened hardware and was not being operated over electronic airwaves. This was all manual with onboard hardened electronics. Artemis was getting better at countering her tricks.

Boomer got to work pulling explosives out of Duke’s saddlebags. He planted enough explosives to blow all the equipment up. He grabbed a large kitchen pot that was being used in the tent. It was a large stock pot of some kind and the tanks. He ran over to the truck that he had flipped upside down. He punched a hole in the gas tank and collected about 3 gallons of gas. It would have to do. He then made his way to the kitchen. Duke took out the only soldier that tried to get in his way. He began tearing open cabinet doors and rummaging over the supply shelves. He found a five pound bag of sugar. He was not sure that would be enough.

He found a massive heavy cast iron cauldron in a brick fireplace that looked straight out of the middle ages. The pot was massive and almost big enough to bathe in. It was perfect he began to dump ingredients in. He started with the gasoline and the sugar. He found honey and cooking oil that he added to the pot. He began to mix everything until the mixture was a thick goo with the consistency of thick honey. He set the tanks deep inside the mixture as close to the bottom as possible. Then he used the laser to puncture both tanks. The laser ignited the goo causing it to glow orange.

Boomer didn’t wait for the show. He whistled for Duke and took off running towards where the Blue Sword team was waiting for extraction of the team.

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

Collab between Boomer and Scion

Decimating the field

Souk Semmarine, Marrakesh, Morocco

1400 Local Time

---

Chuck had just finished reloading. He had taken down about 6 of their soldiers in a row but he was going to need to help to get through. He needed to clear a space for extraction and go take care of whatever it was that Samantha had found. He clicked on his comms and spoke into them as he continued to walk his gun back down the enemy line.

“Scion, I need some help. We need to clear a path for extraction. I also need to get over to where Chaos has something to destroy.” Chuck grinned as his competitive side kicked in. He was having a blast. He loved being off leash without all the restrictions he used to be held to. He liked his new job with Raven Squad. “Let’s have some fun with this. Who do you think can disable more of the enemy? Me or you? Winner gets a beer? Night out on the other guy? Name your stakes!” He continued to move his gun back down the line taking careful headshots. The enemy soldiers must really fear their commander. They were still running towards the heavies of Raven Squad.

The big smooth lines of Scion’s armor could contrast heavily with most types of armor his size maybe. As he hosed the approach up behind them. The occasional war whoop piercing the air during it. And the twinned Heavy Machine Guns just didn’t seem to slow down. The roar steadily.

But soon they do slow as he turns to Boomer, “Eh?” Then the grin in his voice is clear, “Oh a contest then? Alright.” He stepped up beside Boomer, “Night out? Or a Beer? I like the idea of my scotch being woody tasted. While pumping 400 pounds of iron. Alright. You’re on.” With that the other big man turned towards where Boomer is targeting. Calling into a two way comms channel, “Armor, activate kill counter. New count.”

Then hell came to this section of the souk, “Begin!”

Scion roared as he once again depressed the firing stud of his main twinned guns.

Chuck grinned as Scion stepped up next to him with a matching grin. Yes he could see he was really going to enjoy this. Chuck didn’t have a brother but he imagined there would be scenes like this in his life if he did. The closest he had to them had been in the Marines. But then his team had been killed in battle to line someone’s pockets. He still wanted to nail whoever that was to a fucking wall.

He had never had anyone in his life his size with similar abilities. This would prove interesting as Jamie could certainly keep up with him. He laughed as he heard Jamie tell his suit to keep track of his kill count. Chuck spoke to his AI. He would have to name this damn thing soon. “Computer, keep track of my kill count starting now.” He laughed hysterically as Jamie’s twin guns fired up to full speed and he began to decimate his side of the wall of bodies in front of them.

Chuck began to pick up speed firing as he went. He was going to run out of ammo at this rate. He grinned as he dropped his rifle as they began to close the distance to the enemy. He pulled Lucille free from the sheath on his back. Time to create some old school destruction. He let the heavy weapon dangle from the titanium chain as he began to spin it out in a widening arc as he approached the front line. Chuck called out to Jamie “Do I get extra points for style?”

Jamie cackled and swept his weapon in a short arc. Any man who crossed that path riddled with the cocktail of rounds in his weapons. AP, FMJ, Frangibles, Raufoss and a few others besides. A rich and deadly amount of lead. He watched his kill counter go up steadily too. Calling into the comms channel, “What sort of pull does their leader have on them that they come running? Like a tide on the St. Lawrence.” He staggered abit as an RPG round hissed by his shoulder. Turning and absolutely annihilating where the rocket had come from, the points are welcome, but he also wants this little moment to last. So stopping that will prolong it.

Turning back to the main fight he grins brightly, “Oh look at that a man after my own heart.” Followed by a growl when the first hopper of ammo ran dry finally, “Well, if you get style points. Then so do I. Say two times per melee kill?” At saying that, Scion swung his twin guns onto his back and from the small of his back drew The Throngler, “Agreed?”

And he too charged into the thickest number of enemies he could. A few of them pulling bats, or grabbing pieces of metal from the ground, worried about hitting each other with their guns as the pair of heavies waded into them like yapping dogs.

Chuck saw an older pickup truck with men in the back manning a large caliber machine gun. Several of the men had rocket propelled grenade launchers. Chuck kept up his conversation with Jamie over comms. “Typically I would only see this kind of dedication among religious fanatics. It does make you wonder what’s in the water over here.” Chuck targeted the fast approaching vehicle with one of his remaining missiles. “That sounds fair to me.”

As Jamie and Chuck added style points to their agreement. About that time, the missile hit the pickup truck which produced a louder explosion as the grenades on the vehicle went up with the missile in secondary explosions. The vehicle launched upwards from the force of the explosion and flipped landing upside down on fire. The men who had been in the back had been shredded by the explosion. With that greater threat eliminated, Chuck turned his attention back to the group of men he was fighting. His first swing had crushed one man and knocked him into 3 others, knocking them all off their feet. He pulled Lucille back to him with the chain.He held it by the handle with both hands as he began to lash out left and right as he waded deeper into the throng of enemy men.

The interesting things about melee weapons is that their naming scheme tells you alot. Take for instance, Dark King Fruntmore’s Edge of Dark Bloodletting. This naming scheme gives you the idea that there is more then one Edge of Dark Bloodletting, and that Fruntmore may not even be the first one to wield that particular blade. But Jamie lives on one fact, there is only one Throngler and that’s the only way you can get Throngled.

The double bladed axe cleaved through the air. And took one, two, three even four people at a time in one case. It’s not so much the killing edge but the sheer weight behind it, carrying one man along with it then into the next and the next. With a mighty cackling roar Scion finishes a strike and looks around. And this time just barely gets out of the way of the next rocket to come screaming out of a window. Just getting his hand up to push the rocket to the side and even then he gets dinged off the shoulder and pushed into a stack of pottery, that sends a cloud of red, blue, yellow and brown spices sailing up into the air.

A round of cheering going up, the fighters in that building thinking they scored a kill themselves.

But the cloud of joy and spices is quickly dispersed as eight hisses one after the other pierce the air. The spices clearing, Jamie holding his axe to his side as he empties the remaining rockets in his launcher on his shoulder into the air, which then rain down on the building. Bringing it down on those people still inside. He’ll write up a report later if that leads to civilian casualties but he was getting annoyed at that point.

With a grin he looks over at Boomer, “Do I count that as only one? Or can I say that’s ten as a good compromise?”

Chuck began to bat the smaller men aside easily with each swing taking someone out of the fight or outright killing them. The weight behind the weapon coupled with his strength and the speed at which he could use it crushed almost everything in his path. Ribs crushed and caved in, heads popped like overripe melons, and the bones in limbs were shattered and fell limp at odd angles. Screams of pain and fear rose from the front lines.

Chuck threw his head back and laughed as he heard Jamie as they waded into heavy fighting. “Well I would say just let your suit decide. The computer is impartial. I think I have to give you ten otherwise I can’t take credit for the 7 ment that were in that pickup truck. There had been two in the cab and five in the back.”

Chuck spun putting all his weight behind the kick he used to launch an enemy back into the ranks of her fellows. The man’s chest was crushed as he flew backwards; his momentum taking two more men with him before he fell to the ground. Chuck spun Lucille and used both hands as he swung in an arc taking 4 men down from the blow. He looked around to see where they were. “Chaos, Scion and I are moving towards your location. Please confirm where in the compound you are? We are currently wading through lines of our host to join you. We would hate to be late to the party.”

Chuck began to swing the weapon in a pattern designed to disable and knock the enemy to the side as he continued to move forward. It put all those lovely physics laws to work with him. It had a pattern and rhythm to it that Chuck found soothing and easy to sustain. As he began to make headway as the men around him began to thin out.

Scion fell into place to Chuck’s rear. Any that weren’t downed permanently by Boomer, Jamie finished off. His axe whistling through the air. Turning and catching, pulling and hacking dangerously. Leaving more then a few fighters behind them properly Throngled. Amidst a few missing limbs and rent open chests or backs. He turned to make sure their rear is clear, and lets out a grunt. Having turned in time to take an ancient looking billhook weapon to the chest rather then in his more vulnerable power pack. “Ah…well that could have been worse.” The fighter standing their transfixed that he actually hit. And Jamie feeling the edge of the hook stuck in the gap between chest plates.

The pair, fighter and giant stood for abit before Jamie let the Throngler fall and grabbed the billhook and tore it from the fighters hands, “Oh you are so dead!” He roared through the PA speaker on his armor. Before quickly redirecting power to his arms and turning up the power of the punch he unleashes to ludicrous amounts. If this were an anime the man surely would have folded over Jamie’s fist for a brief moment before the force of it sent him flying across the souk and into a pile of crates. Where he slumps to the ground, broken and probably dead. If not, then he won’t be functioning as a proper person for some time, “Ahhh that kinda hurt.” He growled to Boomer, as he picked his axe up again and turned to catch up with his teammate.

Chuck and Jamie had fallen into am easy battle rhythm together while they pressed the front line of soldiers. Chuck parted the front line like he was parting the Red Sea and Jamie was taking out the stragglers to the side as the pair decimated the front lines. Still the soldiers in the back pressed forward. Soon there was more room around them as the men began to thin out once more. Chuck had paused to get his bearings. He had fallen into a zone as they fought their way through. He needed to regroup and get his bearings on the field and where they were.

Samantha’s voice came over the comms. “Roger Boomer. Head for the large white tent just outside the residence in the back of the compound. You will find me there.”

Chuck replied with “Roger that.” He looked around and noticed they had been dragged slightly away from that side of the compound. He began to angle towards the tent. The men around them were finally breaking ranks. There was a path of broken and bloodied bodies behind them. He looked over Jamie as he heard him. “Are you okay Scion?” He noticed that he seemed to be moving okay. He chuckled a little as he offered “Need me to come help you kick his ass?” He knew he had already dealt with it but couldn’t help teasing the other man. “After this is over, I want to hear why you named your axe Throngler over a beer. I am happy to buy it. That story has to be worth a beer.”

Jamie grinned, “Oh Chuck you are so kind. A true knight in armor.” The grin turned into a cackle “I think he’s covered.” He nodded as he too got the information on the meeting place, “Let’s keep moving. But first.” He quickly changed out the ammo hopper for his rocket launcher. Shrugging abit and pressing a hand to Boomer’s armored back, “Let me just…speed this up.” Bracing he spoke out loud so Chuck can hear, “Armor, full dispersion, full roll, fire!” And all sixteen rockets flare out at once, the 30 feet or so in front of them immediately blooming with explosions. Throwing the fighters in that area around like pieces of trash. At least one of them disappearing in a cloud of red mist.

Scion nods, “I don’t get to do that near as often as I would like too. Come on we should get to the rendezvous.”

Chuck was surprised when Jamie grabbed onto his back. He had automatically come to a stop. He looked over his shoulder to find Jamie grinning like a loon. He was grateful for his visor as the missile all fired off so close to him. His AI darkened the visor to save his eyesight. He blinked still surprised. “Sheesh warn a guy would ya! Well you won this round fair and square. Let’s go find out more about what is happening to put a bee in Chaos’ bonnet.” His southern accent sounding strange and out of place with such a southern colloquialism here in the Souk. Chuck began to lead the way towards the tent. He looked back to check on Tiny. Jamie and Chuck had pulled most of the enemy to them. Tiny had enough to keep him busy but not overwhelm him. He should have thought to include Tiny in their contest. Next time.

He increased his speed as they approached the tent. The enemy was dead or fleeing. No one tried to follow Chuck and Jamie. He approached cautiously. He didn’t want to startle his teammate and end up a victim of their guns and skills. “Chaos, Puma, it is Boomer and Scion coming in.” He looked over his shoulder to check on Jamie. He slid Lucille back into its sheath.

Jamie followed along, sliding his axe back into it’s scabbard on his back. And briefly drew the Vepyr off his back and sent a few buckshot rounds after some of the fighters still in sight, giving them all the more reason to keep running. “That’s right you bunch of pricks! Run! Run! Tell them death came! Tell them we came! And brought hell with us!”

He would never know if they did tell the others obviously. He came up beside Boomer, “Sorry about the rocket barrage there Chuck, I just felt we really ought to speed up abit. That cleared the way didn’t it?” He chuckled, “We’ll talk about that bottle of scotch later.” He waved ahead, “Chaos! Purna! Hey! You called?”

Chuck couldn’t help the laughter as he heard Jamie calling out to fleeing soldiers. “That’s right you faced hell at the hands of Boomer and Scion and death by Lucille and the THRONGLER!” Chuck couldn't resist shouting and adding to the impact while subtly teasing his raid partner. Chuck grinned at Jamie. “Forgiven because it worked. Yes we will talk about Scotch and stories later. Now we have work to do.” He was still laughing and smiling as he pulled aside the tent flap and stepped inside as he ducked his head. His head sweeps to find Chaos and Puma.

Scion stepped up and slipped under the flap before it could fall all the way, “Yes, the operation isn’t done until we all get out alive.” He looked about and peered out the flap one last time before it fell, “There yes. What’s the plan?”

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

Welcome Czelsc! I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

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

Samantha Dalton - Callsign: Chaos

Stepping up the chaos

Souk Semmarine, Marrakesh, Morocco

1355 Local Time

---

Samantha had cleared the tent. She and Purna were the only two inside. She had slapped up cameras to get her eyes on what was happening so she could monitor the situation outside. Purna had taken the job of reporting into Wilk. Samantha took a moment to check in with Bob and the cameras. “The heavies had kicked in the front door at the gate. The natives are in full route. There are still operatives trying to reach us but the mass exodus of innocents is slowing them down. They are still trying to hide their activities from the locals.” Samantha found that tidbit interesting. There were definitely groups that Artemis had bought off. She had identified some known local criminal syndicates in the area. She had the intel from when she worked in the region. They didn’t seem to want the locals to know they had been bought. She would analyze what that meant later.

She turned her attention to the data that Bob was sending through her encrypted uplink to the dead drop server. She had set it up very carefully with Rose’s situation in mind. That dead drop server had a satellite uplink but was also in a faraday cage with a kill switch that would sever all lines of communication and power out physically. Samantha was taking no chances downloading a virus or worse yet... Rose’s personality laying in a buffer or server just waiting for an opportunity. She began to search for what they were doing in the tent. She couldn’t find any data on it. When she heard Viper talking about a bioreactor and scale she began to look more closely at the equipment in the lab. She looked at the two small tanks. She would have thought they had a much larger tank of the neurotoxin by now. The equipment was the kind used by scientists for DNA research and gene splicing. There were stainless steel lab tables with microscopes, centrifuges, a dialysis machine, and some other electronic lab equipment.

Samantha began to think out loud. “There are only two small tanks because they are extrapolating this from her blood. She can only donate so much blood at a time without dying. Unless she sacrificed one of her clones to harvest its blood. Even then though, the human body only carries approximately 2 gallons of blood. Once extrapolated, there wouldn’t be much. That might not matter if it is potent enough.” She took a moment to check the cameras and caught Chuck’s charge into the exo officer and winced as the man went flying. She noted that Nord was moving slower and something seemed wrong with one of the legs on his suit. It didn’t look like it was bending properly. Jamie looked like a metallic native warrior god dancing among peons. She would have to tell him later he deserved extra points for style.

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

Charles “Chuck” Simmons - Callsign: Boomer

Punching a hole

Souk Semmarine, Marrakesh, Morocco

1355 Local Time

---

The Souk had dissolved into chaos once the fighting started. The innocent people around them were fleeing and had already moved away from the garden. The chaos rolled out away from the garden as an undulating mass of people swept those before them as they tried to move away from the fighting. It was like watching a tide of people sweep everything in the path before them. Artemis’ assets that were located outside the garden were struggling to make it any closer, fighting to get through the panicked crowd of people fleeing in the opposite direction. Chuck relaxed as the chance for collateral damage fell. He would have to remember to buy Nord a beer later as a thank you. His plan had worked to flush the innocent people away from the garden and had caused an impediment to Artemis’ forces trying to converge on the garden.

Chuck was smiling and having a great time by the time the two MRAP’s had exploded. He was just getting warmed up. He began to laugh as he holstered Lucille. He grabbed a solider in an exo ripping his gun out of his hands even as he fired it point blank into Chuck’s chest armor. He grinned as he yanked on the guy's ankles and began to swing him in a large circle knocking down the guards running to engage him. He built up a good momentum and then let the guy fly towards another group that was heading towards him. Chuck laughed as the man in the exo landed sideways knocking the whole group over like bowling pins. “Bowling for Bozos! Strike! I win!”

The heavies had become the center of attention for guards on the ground inside the garden. There were guards converging on the trio from almost every direction. Chuck spotted what looked like an officer in an exo directing a larger contingent of soldiers from deeper inside the garden. The trio had punched through the barricade at the gate and had managed to move deeper into the garden about 50 feet. Chuck grinned and began to charge towards the exo clad officer. Duke stretched out into a run next to him.

Chuck took off running like a linebacker to intercept a quarterback down field. Chuck zigged and zagged to make hitting him more difficult as he closed the distance between them. Chuck could hear the hail of bullets pinging off his armor. He felt the wash of debris wash over his left side as a grenade went off a few yards to his left. Chuck’s eyes narrowed as he refocused on his target and picked up speed. This shit was personal now. That grenade might have hit his dog. The man in the exo had managed to get his squad all turned to face Chuck and they were bravely firing at him standing their ground. Chuck had to look like a locomotive of mass destruction heading towards the man and his squad. The man in the exo was the one who had launched a grenade at him.

As Chuck showed no signs of stopping or even slowing down, the men in his squad began to run away as he got within a few yards. Chuck hit the man in the Exo head on as he ducked a shoulder to launch the man high into the air using his momentum and strength to flip the man. The two came together with a loud crunch of explosive sound as the man in the exo caught some serious air and flipped three times before landing with a loud crunch. Chuck felt satisfaction flicker through him at the sound. The man didn’t move again. He pulled out his carbine and swapped to lethal rounds now that he was no longer worried about hitting innocent people. He slapped it home and began to fire at the fleeing squad of soldiers that had just been targeting him. “How do you like it?” He growled a little as he quickly eliminated them.

Chuck had gotten a little sidetracked and took a moment to reassess what was happening on the field of battle. The heavies were well inside the perimeter now. They had pushed in at the entrance and had spread out in an arc around the entrance on the inside of the wall. There were still guards moving towards them from the residence side of the compound. Chuck had eliminated the guards near him along the left side of the entrance inside the wall.

Chuck listened as Adam came over the comms with an update and orders. "All stations, this is Wilk, VIP secure. Team, we need to leave. Nord, Boomer, Scion, you need to push on, get through the house and head through the garden. I need EOD on on Viper and Chaos's position in the garden, ASAP. We need thermal charges to deal with the chemical tanks they've found."

Chuck blinked as he thought about what that meant. He needed to get to that tent and check out what he needed. If they found chemicals it meant some kind of bio weapon or chemical weapon. After recent events, Chuck just knew it had something to do with the situation they had faced with Skye. He whistled for Duke who returned to his side. He looked at the opposition between him and where he needed to go. All the troops moving towards the heavies were between him and where he needed to be. He cursed to himself “Well shit, this mission just gets better. No plan survives contact with the enemy. Time to improvise.” He keyed his comms before replying “Boomer acknowledges moving towards target.”

Chuck began to charge, planning to punch through the guard line moving towards him. He began to move deeper into the compound. He had his carbine on semiautomatic and was carefully picking targets. He went for efficiency and precision over spraying bullets. He began to target heads and moved from one target to another as he walked in a bent knee smooth gait for shooting as he moved. His training and experience on full display even as he made it look graceful in heavy armor. The soldiers he hit didn’t get back up again. They were dropping and tripping the soldiers behind them. He just kept walking his gun down the line. He paused and reloaded in a flash as he continued to push towards the heavy line confronting him.

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

Charles “Chuck” Simmons - Callsign: Boomer

Rocking the Doors Down

Souk Semmarine, Marrakesh, Morocco

1355 Local Time

---

Chuck and Duke had been squeezed into the back of the box truck that was dressed up to look like a local delivery truck. The back was a tight squeeze with three giants in armor in it. The upgrades Sam had made to Chuck and Duke’s armor gave the animal some cooling along his body to help him deal with the oppressive heat. Duke was lying quietly but his ears kept twitching. He could tell that Duke was picking up on all the noise around him outside the truck. Merchants hawking their wares to tourists and locals alike. Tourists bargaining for the best deals. The sounds of that much humanity packed into such a tight space. Duke was well trained though and was alert but calm. He was not showing any signs of stress or heat exertion. Chuck always hated that period of time on a mission when you were waiting for the action to kick off. You could just stay revved up and tense while waiting, you would wear yourself out from the tension. You needed to be alert and ready to go at a moment’s notice if anything went wrong. Chuck rubbed Duke gently behind the ears to reassure him that he was there.

There was a window with a sliding wooden panel on the front wall of the back of the truck that could be opened by the driver allowing him to see into the back of the truck. The wood slid open and the man spoke to them through the window in harshly accented English. The driver said, "Okay, go time. Front door is yours, boss man says raise hell."

The sounds of explosions was in the background as they were told it was go time. Chuck had been towards the back of the truck with Duke. Oliver was closest to the door which he easily flung open. Chuck was amused as Oliver made a point to mention there was no water. Chuck grinned having been on that op with Oliver at the end. Oliver had come to help them exfil on the Columbia operation and had complained about being on the boat the whole time. He liked the man but found his distrust of boats and being on water amusing. He almost wanted to yank his chain and remind him that the garden had a fountain in it and was a natural oasis. He decided now was not the time to poke the big guy. He followed Tiny Nord out the back of the truck. Duke jumped down easily and stayed by his side. He gave Duke the hand signal for guard.

Chuck was a little puzzled when he saw Oliver looking at his shield. He raised an eyebrow with a wry smile at the megaphone duct taped to the top of his shield. He winced as the megaphone made that loud thump noise as he tapped it and then did a high pitched squeaky feedback noise. Oliver then fired a few shots in the air as he drew the attention of everyone nearby. Duke’s ears lowered as he growled softly not liking the noise. Chuck put a hand on his back to reassure Duke as Oliver began to address the crowd.

"For those who wish to leave, you have five seconds to do so, if you don't feel free to shoot at me and see how well it goes!" It was as if the announcement was open season on Tiny Nord as the megaphone was shot to tiny pieces.

Chuck could not hold back the laughter as he listened to Oliver’s announcement and watched as his megaphone met a quick death. He stepped up next to Oliver. “Thank you for trying,Tiny. It was a good idea” Chuck watched as Tiny Nord set up his shield and rifle and charged towards the heavy on the barricade side of the entrance to the garden. Chuck thought it was a great idea. Maybe they didn't understand him. Chuck asked his AI to set his suit to transmit on high volume. He then began to speak in Arabic. “If you don’t want to be involved in the coming fight, flee! Attack us and you will become a target too.” He flipped off his impromptu megaphone system and charged into the fight.

He pulled Lucille from its sheath on his back and ran off behind Oliver towards the MRAPs. Duke charged hard at his heels before slinking away into the alleyways along the sides. Chuck dodged as best as he could. He still had admirable agility and speed in his suit with the extra assists that Samantha had built into it. He was still taking fire from the auto-turrets. His armor was shrugging off the automatic fire as bullets pinged off his heavy armor. He lifted Lucille high and swung it with all his might at the auto-turret on the MRAP in front of him which was to the left of the main entrance. The heavy club crushed the barrel which caused the gun to misfire and explode. Chuck didn’t waste any time as he charged towards the next MRAP to disable the automatic gunfire the team was taking. Oliver was tanking the heavy in the middle. That left the two MRAPs on the right for Jamie. Duke had lunged out of a dark alleyway taking down a soldier who had been firing at Chuck from behind with a gun. Duke had torn the man’s throat out before moving on to look for his next target.

The fight had just began. The streets surrounding the garden became a scene of total chaos as locals who were not part of whatever was happening with the garden fled the area in terror. Those who were part of Artemis or getting paid by them came towards the team of heavies working to remove the barriers between them and the residence. Chuck noted that Ebrima was correct. The locals were getting off the streets and moving away from the fighting. That made Chuck breathe a little easier. He hated it when the bad guys used innocents as shields. Raven Squad's attack had obviously caught them by surprise. They were responding but were unable to use those kinds of dirty tactics and hostages to their advantage. Chuck decided it was the right time to show them why he was called Boomer. "Hey Tiny didn't you say you wanted some fireworks? I would tell you to hold my beer and watch this, but you seem like the type to drink it instead." He grinned as his southern drawl was playful as he joined Oliver in taking the fight to the enemy. He fired a missile at the two MRAPs now that he had disabled their automatic turrets. The MRAPs showered the soldiers around them in shrapnel as they exploded.

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

Samantha Dalton Callsign: Chaos

17:30 Local Time - The infirmary

Samantha had been nervous facing Freya. She was used to operating alone and not having friends. Having friends and people who depended on her was something she was still getting used to as she got used to Raven. It was probably a big part of why she was so protective of Skye and Freya and so defensive about her decisions. Samantha had not exactly been avoiding Freya but she had been nervous about how she would feel about what had happened when they landed. She knew that Freya understood that Skye had made her decision and why Samantha had supported that decision. They had talked on the plane. Sam was grateful that Ebrima had suggested that they bring her some food. A bribe wouldn’t hurt, right?

For a giant, Freya looked wan and pale. There was almost a fragility to her along with a sense of enduring strength. She knew her giant friend had been going through a lot of pain. They were keeping her on a drip to accommodate her physiology and metabolism. She looked to be resting when they came in. Sam was almost sorry they woke her up. Relief floods through her as Freya greets her warmly with a smile. Samantha relaxed as she felt Freya arms fold around her in a hug. Samantha squeezes her gently in return.

She gives Freya a stern look as she begins taking the blame for her injuries. “Hey no one gets to talk about my friend that way. Not even you! I agree that you have a bodacious butt though.” She smiles playfully at Freya for a minute before allowing her face to fall into more neutral lines. “Seriously, you did it to save us all. I have some ideas on ways I can improve your armor so you can’t injure yourself like this again. We will talk when I get back from this next op.” She gave her hand a light squeeze so she could pull her table and the food closer so she could eat.

Samantha bit her lip and looked down as Freya addressed her yelling at her sister. She looked up to meet Freya’s eyes with a sheepish look on her face. “I already apologized to her and she didn’t flatten me into bug paste. I appear to have been forgiven. We will make it work. You just focus on healing. You take your time and do it right yeah?” She gave Freya a stern look. “I have your siblings for back up. Honestly I feel like the midget in the giant brigade at the moment.” She gave Freya a rueful smile. She chuckled as Freya thanked her for the food. “I can’t take all the credit. It was Ebrima’s idea to bring you the food.” She chuckled a little as Freya’s stomach growled. “Rest, good food, and listen to the doctors. They will get you back on your feet before you know it.”

She tilted her head to one side and tried to decide how to answer Freya’s question of where they were going next. Samantha had seen the intel. She had a good idea where the team was going next but it hadn’t been announced yet. “Adam has not given any official orders. Based on the intel I have been looking at, my guess is somewhere in the Middle East.” She looked at her friend and gave her a warm smile. “Enjoy your dinner. We have a briefing to get too. I will visit again as soon as I can, okay? You rest and get well. I will cover the team’s back on this one. It is my turn.” She gives Freya what she hopes is a confident smile. She then makes her way to the briefing room.

---

Souk Semmarine, Marrakesh, Morocco

1330 Local Time

Chaos in clear sight

Samantha sat with Purna in the little tea shop. They were drinking mint tea and seeking a respite from the sun and never ending heat. The streets that made up the maze like bazaar seemed to hold onto the heat like an oven. The warm breeze was almost non existent blocked by the buildings that lined the ancient marketplace. Samantha’s gray eyes picked up the color of the turquoise scarf and made her look even more exotic. Her face covering pulled down below her chin so that she could sip her tea. The little shop felt like an oasis of calm in the busy noisy marketplace. Sam’s eyes had taken in the interior with ease in a single glance when they entered. She had only spotted locals inside. None of the patrons had the bearing of a skilled soldier or cop. Samantha had been taught how to look for body language and posture that could give away a skilled operative or a person who had combat training. The patrons seemed to be shopkeepers and locals at the market for their own purposes.

Samantha smiled at Purna as he shared what would sound like a natural conversation to anyone paying attention to them. “It is lovely, Uncle. It is a bit sweet for my tastes as well.” She saluted him with her cup even as she replied in softly spoken Arabic. She kept to her role as the niece of a local shopkeeper helping her uncle with a market day. Samantha had watched careful for any signs of a tail or that they had drawn any attention at all. They had been accepted as one of the locals and blended right in. She had traded some common well wishes and greetings with other locals. The kind that they might offer a common acquaintance or someone they thought they knew. No one had batted an eye. She had trailed behind Purna at a respectful distance protruding a respectful and dutiful demeanor. Purna had played his part to perfection, acting the protective uncle to a favored niece. She nodded dutifully as he said it was time to leave. “Yes uncle.” She gave him a respectful nod as she answered in softly spoken Arabic even as her eyes twinkled mischievously. She rose to her feet and followed Purna out of the tea shop. She stayed a step behind him to his left. She didn’t want to be in the way of his weapon if he needed to draw it. She walked close enough to hear him.

Samantha listened to Purna describe his home. “I will have to visit your home at some point. It sounds like a fascinating place. I would love to see the history that I am sure is still evident in the culture there.” Samantha’s eyes followed the action as tourists were stopped by local military and police. Sam and Purna passed unmolested. She raised an eyebrow as she noted the t-intersection where so many of the tourists were being stopped. A gateway to other activities in the market perhaps? She casually stumbled and caught herself along the wall with a hand as she slapped one of her disposable cameras into place. She wanted to keep an eye on what was happening at that intersection.

Samantha paid attention as Purna went over the plan once more. Samantha was fine with this plan. Her skills were going to come in very useful for this op. She was glad to be paired with Purna for this operation. This kind of operation was more in her wheelhouse than attacking facilities. She was used to subterfuge and stealth to find the information she needed. She softly answered Purna again in Arabic in case anyone was listening. She wanted him to know she had heard him. “Understood.”

Samantha moved easily at Purna’s side as he held her hand. A way to signal to local men that she was under his protection as a family member. She understood that he was playing the part and this was expected in this part of the world. She kept a pleasant look on her face as she pretended to adjust her pack just like a native woman would if the load shifted. It added to their story. No one had tried to stop them or even sell them anything. The hawkers in the marketplace could be downright aggressive and were with tourists. Their cover as locals was holding up as they made their way through the Souk. Samantha easily picked out the armed men that were local military or police. The closer they got to the garden the more nefarious types of armed men began to show up. They appeared to be local muscle for the differing criminal elements around. She noticed the local military and police here didn’t seem to notice them at all. She did notice that tourists seemed to be stopped more frequently the closer they got to their target destination.

They approached the entrance to the La Jardin Villeneuve. What she could see of it through the opening was beautiful. There was a heavy presence of Morrocan Army soldiers at the entrance to the garden. Tall stone walls surrounded the garden. Across the streets surrounding the garden were buildings and shops in varying heights. There were tight alleyways between some of these buildings leading to inner courtyards behind shop fronts or residences for shop owners. Purna pulled her into one of these alleyways as if it was his shop. Confidence could sell that you belonged in a location. They went far enough down the alleyway to be out of sight.

Purna began to pull out his equipment. They were splitting up from here. She nodded as untied the fake cloth that covered her tactical pack. She unzipped it and began to pass him some equipment as she began to explain how to use it. “Wait, I have some gear for you. These are disposable button cameras. Just peel and stick and push once to activate.” She passed him a set of 10 cameras. “I will be able to watch their feeds and have my AI monitor them.” She passed him a small zipper pouch of buttons. “These can help disable cameras and electronic locks. Peel and stick. Press and count to five. It will deliver a small electrical charge that can short out electronics such as cameras, motion detectors, and electronic locks. They might also work on auto turrets that require motion detectors. It can prevent the lock from opening after being disabled. So use it carefully.” She dug back into her pack and pulled out one of the perfume bottles of knockout drops. “Spray in their face and it will put someone to sleep in a hurry. It's the same stuff as in the grenades but in a container for one on one use.” She gave him a grin as she watched him put it all away on his person.

Purna gave her a hug and she returned it. “Don’t worry. I will get in easily. I got your back. Be careful in there.” She released him and watched as he went forward and took off through the shop they had been next to.

Samantha put her pack back on and secured her look as a local woman once more. She walked out of the alley and passed the barrier in front of the garden. She deliberately walked past the guards and turned down the side of the garden. She grinned when she found what she was looking for. She turned down the alleyway next to a tall two story brick and clay building. The building had a flat roof with a terrace on top. The entrance to the terrace was from stairs from an interior courtyard that was hidden from the garden side of the marketplace. The shops all backed up together to create interior courtyards for the shopkeepers who lived above their shops. These interior courtyards became a communal outdoor living space for those who lived in that block of shops.

Samantha grinned as she ran and jumped up and bounced from wall to wall pushing up and over until she had landed on the rooftop terrace. She reached through the slit in her robe and began to slap button cameras along the edge of the roofline to give her a view of the street below. She then began to run and jump onto the next roof. She slapped cameras along the edge of the roof as she went. She went as far as she could before she ran out of rooftops that could take her weight. She knew if she landed on that tin roof she would fall through it. She accepted it. It was too far for her to jump across. She would have to get down and scale back up.

She climbed down and came out of the alleyway walking as if she had every right to be there. She had noticed there seemed to be fewer locals this close to the garden. She didn’t draw any undue attention. She made sure her face covering was on. All that was visible was a thin slit with her eyes showing. She walked to the far corner of the garden where the residence was. She quickly scaled the old wall. There was plenty of handholds for her. The wall was wide enough to walk on. She ran down the wall headed to the residence roof. She didn’t want to get spotted up here. She was fast. She thought for sure the guards below her would have spotted her. They had been looking the other way smoking.

She jumped over to the residence roof. She slapped a few cameras up as she climbed over the wall that separated the garden wall from the residence balcony. She ducked down below the balcony wall. She crouched low with her back to the wall. She pulled off the cloth and her tactical backpack. She pulled on her gloves and pulled off the turban. She pulled on her helmet. She rested back on her heels in a position she could move in a hurry if she needed too.

She was just getting started when she heard Purna tell her. "Inside, Chaos. We have a lot of hostiles here. Be careful."

Samantha kept her voice low so she wouldn’t reveal his position. “Chaos in position. Beginning electronic countermeasures.” She wanted him to know in case she kicked the hornet’s nest. She settled into the zone. “Bob begin scanning for accessible computer systems and signals. Deploying mini drone.” She touched her necklace and deployed the minidrone built into it. She began to scan the skies around the garden. She was surprised she had not been caught yet. She looked around and began to scan for drones. She laughed a little as she spotted them. No wonder she had not been spotted. The drones were hovering over the open main entrance that had all the soldiers and barricades. The other drone was hovering in front of the residence but had cameras that were stationary pointing down. They would have spotted her if the drone had been higher but it was just below the roofline. It was below where she had come in from. If they had another drone, she had not spotted it yet.

Bob reported back within moments. “Encrypted Wifi signal coming from the residence. Cellular wifi signals coming from multiple directions. Some are encrypted, some are not.” Samantha thought about that. It made sense a great deal of the merchants probably had cellular wifi for their businesses to take card transactions. “Disregard cellular signals and focus on the encrypted wifi signal from the residence. Show me the camera feeds.” For the first time since she slapped up some of the cameras she could see what they were capturing. The best ones were the ones she had just planted on the residence facing the main gate where all the soldiers were. “Bob monitor camera feeds and notify me of soldier movements at the main gate.”

Samantha settled into work. She activated her haptic gloves so she could interface with her laptop and went to work trying to gain access to the systems remotely. Who knew she might get lucky. She was ready to announce she was here just yet. She wanted to give Purna a chance to get in deeper before she let them know they were here. She sneered as a short time later she had managed to infiltrate the residence wifi. She had gained access to their network. Within moments she had managed to take control of the drones. She left them hovering but had lopped the camera feeds. She doubted the operators were skilled enough to pick up on that though. She began to have Bob go after the databases and download as much as he could. “Bob scan active cameras using facial recognition. Notify if any high value targets show up.” She keyed her comms and reported in. “Chaos controls the airwaves.”

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

Charles “Chuck” Simmons - Callsign: Boomer

Briefing Room at Raven’s Rock

1800 Local Time

---

Chuck was not surprised by how fast they had made it to the briefing room. Raven had been working on finding leads since they got word the base was under attack. Not to mention they still had all the data and leads gained from the observatory mission before the base was attacked as well. They also had whatever they learned from Rose’s autopsy and gear. Chuck knew things like this were dynamic and when big stuff was happening missions came hard and fast. He took a seat next to Samantha which happened to look a little taller and reinforced for people of his size. He could get used to this base. It was nice not being the only giant around. Duke settled between his and Samantha’s chair. He laid down and put his head on his paws. Chuck stroked his back to reassure him it was okay to relax. He gave Duke one of the ribs that Tahlia had cooked without seasoning for him to keep him busy. Duke immediately began to gnaw on it enthusiastically, stripping it of meat. His furry buddy would be going into battle with him soon enough.

Chuck paid attention to the briefing. This was going to be a tough mission to pull off without collateral damage. He frowned, not liking that part at all. He was fine with shooting people who were trying to shoot him. What he didn’t want to see was some innocent merchant or worse a child or woman hit in the crossfire or by unfriendly fire. The images of this place showed it packed to the gills with people. Then he remembered those new rounds that Samantha had developed and shared with him. He waited until Adam asked if anyone had any questions.

Chuck’s deep voice was rich with smooth warm tones from his southern drawl. “How do we reduce collateral damage from bystanders? I understand that not everyone there will be friendly, however that bazaar is packed with people. Not all of them will be an enemy.” He turned and looked at Samantha "Did any of that new ammo make it to the base? Would it work in the other’s gear?” He turned back to Adam and nodded his respectfully to Samantha. “Sam developed some new rounds for my carbine and sniper rifle. A taser round that shoots out a bolt of electricity and a knock out gas. She made grenades like that too.” He shrugged and looked Adam dead in the eye. “I have been on missions in the Middle East before. I don’t mind taking out those who mean us harm, but I don’t want to see innocents in danger from us either.” Chuck was a man of honor and conviction. He would get the job done but he wouldn’t take shortcuts to do it.

---

Armory at Raven’s Rock

0000 Local Time

Chuck showered and dried off pulling on clean underwear before climbing into his heavy armor. He could see the repairs Samantha had made and was appreciative. He pulled on the stretchy gel-lined undersuit that worked like a neoprene diving suit.He paused to get Duke in his armor and gear before putting on the heavy outer layer. Chuck noted the reinforcement on the areas that had worried him and smiled. He appreciated that Samantha took care of his and Duke’s armor without asking him. He loaded extra magazines of Samantha’s new ammo into Duke’s saddle bags. He also added in some extra knock out gas grenades. He had enjoyed using them all in Columbia. He put in some explosives and detonation caps in case those skills were needed on this op along with some detonation cord. He made sure they were stored in separate compartments so there would be no mishaps with the explosives. He then gave Duke another rib to chew on while he finished gearing up.

Chuck pulled the heavy outer layer to his armor. He stepped into the heavy shell sliding his feet into the armored boots. He tightened the straps around his legs that would work with the undersuit to help provide the hydraulic assists and the synthetic tendons that gave him additional strength and speed. Chuck didn’t understand how it all worked. He had asked Sam and got lost in the explanation after about 30 seconds. He didn’t need to know as long as he knew it did. He slid his arms into the sleeves and the torso section which opened like a sideways clamshell shut as he triggered a button that closed up the suit. There was a whir of noise as straps tightened and the armor sealed itself onto Chuck.

He began to load up the pouches in his armor with spare magazines and grenades. He planned to take just his carbine since he was not needed for overwatch. He didn’t need his sniper rifle. He made sure his tactical sling was working properly and attached his custom carbine to it configured with an underslung grenade launcher. He preloaded it with knockout grenades. If they needed crowd control it was the safest option. Samantha had altered his suit to include a new holster for Lucille that had it on a slant across his back. It kept the handle easy to reach near his right hip. The new holster kept Lucille from swinging into anything and damaging the missile system or the jump jets. He checked and Samantha had already reloaded his missile system. He then grabbed his helmet and tucked it under his arm. He looked down at Duke and gave him a hand command. Chuck took the bone away from him and threw it away. He had stripped all the meat off it already. He would be sure to get him something similar when they got back. He grinned at Duke whose tongue was hanging out of his mouth with a little drool. "I take it you like reindeer? We will have to go hunting again when we get back." Duke gave a chuff and wagged his tail.

He then looked around to see who else was ready. He had not paid any attention to anyone else while he was gearing up in the heavy armory.

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

Samantha Dalton Callsign: Chaos

Briefing Room, Raven’s Rock

1800 Local Time

---

Samantha took her seat in the briefing room as she paid close attention to the briefing. They had a lead and they needed to pursue it. She knew Skye was doing her part. She needed to do hers and pursue any leads Raven found. Samantha had worked on a program to find the lead but then she had left it up and running with Raphael to babysit it. She had needed to work on gear and armor for their next op. So was unsure of exactly what lead had been found. She was finding out at the same time the others were.

Samantha gave Adam her full attention as he began the heart of the briefing.

"We believe him to be in the heart of the Souk Semmarine, a hive of markets, stalls, courtyards and alleyways. What we do know is that whilst Artemis's on the ground presence is low from most perception, we think they have something in reserve. Bribed guards, military, and worse, a significant security presence rolled deep into there. The souk is a maze. It's nearly impossible to look inside of, and worse still, incredibly easy to hide in so it is easy for them to entrench and hide further assets. But we've found him. No Rose, but he's there." Adam pulled in the Augmented Reality-enabled map on the table, projecting it out, visible to the team.

Samantha winced as she was familiar with that area. It was a crazy hive of modern technology and goods crossed with ancient traditions and culture. The black market was hidden in plain sight in a bazaar that felt never ending with twists and turns and dead ends. It could be a tourist's delight or trap. People went missing there and some never were heard from again. If you want a place where anything can happen, this was truly the place. She turned her attention back to Adam.

"That is La Jardin Villeneuve. A little slice of greenery in the arid souk, connected to Maison Villeneuve, an abandoned art gallery. Inside of there, small signs can be seen of an Artemis outpost, and preparing what, we do not know. But this all appeared four hours ago. Intel points to the fact they kidnapped him whilst he was on holiday, and they wanted security in case the Gendarmerie came knocking. The one that isn't on the pay. The other part of his kidnapping may be they are looking to do something with his expertise, in plain sight. Somewhere nobody could think to look. This is obviously a problem, requiring an immediate fix. We lose Henry from here, we have problem."

Samantha studied the map that he was showing. She paid close attention to the pictures. She was grateful for eidetic memory that would allow her to recall this information easily. She paid close attention to the images they did have of the marketplace. There were no government or police cameras in this part of the city. If her memory served her right, different local families and criminal overlords had carved out pieces of territory within this maze. They policed their own turf. When they went loud, they might have to fight more than Artemis. It is possible that Artemis had approached many of these groups to gain access and security for their purposes. This was one part of Morocco that the government had trouble regulating and policing. This was one of those places where the government turned a blind eye because it was easier and cheaper to let the locals sort things out for themselves. They didn’t interfere unless there was a severe threat to the public.

She could see why Artemis would have chosen this spot. It is close to the heart of the maze surrounded by the security provided by these other groups. It is also the source of water which is very valuable in the dry arid country. Control of water sources was power in this region, one simply had to look at their Bedouin past to see that. They chose a strategic position well.

She listened to Adam’s plan and couldn’t really think of anything to add.

---

Armory, Raven’s Rock

0000 Local Time

Samantha was grateful that the container that had made it to the base from New Zealand had some of the gear she had developed for the Singapore operation. She had a tactical backpack that she was utilizing for now to store her gear. Surprisingly the base did have some of the local currency on hand. She shoved the hard cash and some American money in the outer pocket of the pack. She put explosives, detonator caps, and extra ammo in the bag. She shoved a large first aid kit in the pack. She also added some of the bottles of the knockout gas. She loaded the special ammo she had developed into the bag. She had two magazines of the knockout darts and two magazines of the taser darts for her pistol. She loaded in a magazine of high penetrating rounds and regular rounds. She added two stainless steel bottles of water and some protein bars to the pack. She wouldn’t be able to carry much more and move easily.

She had showered and put on clean girl boxer briefs and a sports bra before pulling on her armor. She had retrieved her laptop from the intel den and made sure it was charged before plugging it into its protected spot in her armor. She pulled the gloves over her belt and let them dangle held in place by the tension on the belt. She decided to leave her long guns here. She wouldn’t need them on this op. This operation was up close and personal. Her goal was to blend in and then move fast. She strapped her knives around her abdomen and clipped the sheath bandolier into her armor where they attached. She then strapped her equipment belt around her waist and threaded her pistol onto it. She filled the pouches with tools she might need: lockpicks, small one-use buttons that shorted out electronic devices by sending an electrical surge through them, she put about 25 disposable button cams in one, a screwdriver set, and a put a few spare magazines in the clips for them. Once she was satisfied that everything was in place and easy to get too, she began working on her disguise.

Tahlia had managed to source some Bedouin made female clothing from that region. She was grateful since the more genuine the longer she would blend in without being spotted by locals. She pulled the woven colorful robe over her armor. She wound the geometric mosaic patterned turban in blues and purples around her head hiding her short hair. She then left a section to hang that would eventually be pulled across her lower face. She picked up the Henna and applied some regional markings to look like tattoos to her face. She referenced some pictures she had taken when she had been on assignment last in Marrakech with the CIA. Once she was satisfied she cleaned the excess henna away leaving what looked like blue tribal tattoos. She then used Kohl to create an exotic look around her eyes, changing the shape subtly with the dark black eyeliner. She finished her look by adding in the necklace that hid the drone that she had made for the Singapore operation. She added some bangle bracelets and henna tattoos to her hands to sell the look. She had a long colorful turquoise scarf wrapped around her waist in the tribal fashion which acted as a belt. The bulky fabric hid her slender profile armor. She made sure she could reach through a carefully hidden slit in the robe that was hidden by a fold of fabric to reach her knives and gun.

She then clipped her helmet to the outside of the pack on a strap designed for stuff like that. She made sure her helmet was strapped down tight. She then zipped up the pack and began to disguise it as a pack carried by a local lady. She made it look like a folded and tied piece of cloth around her body. The bulk of the pack fabric helped hide the bulk of her shoulder armor. She did a little test jump. She made sure everything would not jostle or make much noise. She began patting everything going over a mental inventory. She looked around trying to think if she had missed anything. She didn’t think so.

She turned as Purna came in and gave him a mischievous grin. She spoke to him in flawless Arabic with only a slight hint of an accent. “Do I pass inspection Uncle?” She turned around and looked every inch like an exotic Bedouin native woman who was buying things at the market for her family.

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

Charles “Chuck” Simmons - Callsign: Boomer

Camp Hannula, Pöyrisjärvi National Park, Finland

Dinner is served!

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Chuck had spent most of the afternoon outside in the cold brisk air. He felt more relaxed and at ease after all the physical work and action. Duke was looking more relaxed too. He had lost that tension across his shoulders that was a tell tale sign of stress. He looked like any other dog in a room filled with laughter, conversation, and eating utensils hitting plates. His head would tilt from side to side as he listened in a curious manner. Duke’s eyes followed Tahlia as she moved around until she finally took a seat to eat. Chuck laughed knowing that Duke liked Tahlia.

Chuck took another bite of curry and watched the others. He could appreciate how preparing a meal and working together to set things right on the base had started bringing these different groups together. It was even more challenging when people came from different backgrounds and places. Chuck had an American Military background. Many of those around him came from mercenary backgrounds from all around the world. A few others came from different militaries. No matter the background, they all were seasoned warriors and understood the need for team efforts. He was glad the tension that had been present when they had landed had changed from that brooding aura of imminent violence to one anxious waiting. He was familiar with that tension of hurry and wait for orders to move out. They all knew it was coming soon but not exactly when.

Chuck gave Samantha a nod and an encouraging smile. He didn’t know her well but he knew she had been through a lot since he had joined the team. He didn’t know the details but he had read the after action report on the observatory op. That operation read like a bad action movie plot and it had really happened! He had heard through the grapevine that she had apologized for her behavior. He was glad to hear it. Chuck had been embarrassed a little by her unprofessional reaction to being questioned but at the same time he had given her mad props for it. How many times had he held his tongue over bad orders in the marines just to lose good men to stupid orders? He knew there was a time and a place for that kind of thing and that had not been the time. It was good to see her chatting with Ebrima.

Chuck finished his plate and rose to his feet. He scraped his plate and put it in the wash stack. He then began to walk around and introduce himself to those he had not met. He made his way over to Jamie. “Hello, I am Chuck. You must be Jamie, Freya’s brother.” He stroked down the fur on Duke’s back. “And this Duke.” He stretched out a hand offering to shake Jamie’s hand. Chuck's deep baritone voice is silky smooth with his Southern accent. The tone is warm and friendly.