runmakitarun | As with most things, there is a beginning

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oom,
war in bahamut

As with most things, there is a beginning

Earlier today Makita spoke to the people on her team she could find, and left notes with Bar for those she couldn't. Today is the day. It's time to go back.

While she's spoken to her team about what to expect, at least to some degree, no one's gotten a full briefing yet. She's pushed some tables out of the way to form a sort of open space in one corner of the bar, and as people begin to arrive she's starting to unpack the five military-style duffel bags at her feet, laying the contents out on the tables nearby. Grenades, mines, boxes of ammo, and a few guns are slowly spread out like a deadly little buffet.

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The last of the team arrives before Makita finishes unpacking her final bag, so she takes a break. "Okay, this is everyone. I know some of you already know each other, but some of you don't. We're going to be working together, so introductions all around."

"You all know me," she shrugs, "but I'm Makita. Fast, quiet, good with a pistol. And I know the terrain way better than the Reds do. I'm also the one who knows the most about killing them, though Miho," who gets a nod, "has fought them before too."

These people are capable of handling introductions. She already knows them, and she knows why she picked them to come, so she turns to finish unpacking the last of her gear.

The final duffel bag doesn't take long to empty. The last box of rounds (explosive) is set on the last of the clear table space, and Makita turns to the people who have agreed to fight and bleed for her family and friends.

"You know why we're here, but I figured it'd be a good idea to go over it, in detail, one last time." Her eyes sweep over everyone, and her voice and stance reveal the slight discomfort she feels in a leadership position.

"The door will open into Bahamut, Nokgorka. Time is frozen on the other side until I open the door, but once it's open we're on the clock. Currently the door opens into an old apartment building. We'll come out into a third story bedroom overlooking the square that the Reds are moving through. The way the buildings surround the square cuts down on the wind, so they should be visible. You'll have a chance to see what we're up against."

"We'll be going in in the middle of a storm. A bad one. In the open, when the wind is up, visibility will be down to a few meters. The real problem this presents is that if we let the Reds get to far ahead, the storm may cover their tracks and we could lose them. I think I know where they're going, so it's possible we might be able to get ahead of them, but..." She shrugs.

"We're up against what looks like a Red assassination team. Six sorceresses each accompanied by a their personal Guardsmen. Six Guardsmen would be bad enough on their own, but I've never even heard of a six-sorceress strike team. They've gotta be headed for the command center, and if they get there then they can probably take out all of the elders."

"I'm hoping that we can catch them by surprise with our first attack. I doubt we can get them all in a single ambush, but if they don't know we're coming we can probably get some of them. That means no communications gear. We'll be relying on primitive communication like word of mouth and signaling attacks by opening fire." That part makes her grin a bit.

"I think we can ambush them and take, maybe, three or four of them out. The rest will scatter in teams of at least two a piece: no Guardsman will leave his assigned charge by choice. We'll probably have to split up to get them all."

Makita's eyes sweep across the people gathered around her, "Any questions about what we're doing?"

"I know most of you have your own gear, and that's fine," Makita waves a hand to take in the stacks of equipment on the nearby tables. "But if anyone wants to grab anything, feel free. It's there to be used. If there's something you're looking for, let me know."

She turns to Krauser, "I've got something for you," she nods to one of the tables, "I think you'll like it."

Once everyone has whatever gear they're going to grab Makita walks over to the door. "Okay people, let's do this thing. Don't screw up and you'll probably make it back."

And with that, she opens the door to a blasted out apartment building and leads the way through (http://runmakitarun.livejournal.com/7114.html).

Mel's lounging against a pillar, waiting for people, and gives them all nods. She knows most of them, though to different extents.

"OK, someone tell me how to work this tech?" Mel asks the group in general. She's keeping her gun and scythe, of course, but has set her sight on grenades, which she's packing into the pouches on her belt.

Makita's grin isn't happy so much as vicious. "Red Fleet fragmentation grenades. Simple." She picks one up to illustrate, "Safety pin, actuating lever. The lever stays locked as long as the pin is in. Once you pull the pin, if you let go of the lever you have three seconds before it explodes. If you've taken the pin out... well, don't drop the grenade."

Mary Anne offers up a small wave.

"Hey. You pretty much all know me, but in case you're feeling forgetful, I'm Mary Anne."

"Three seconds, huh?"

The ones at home had a five second fuse; Mary Anne makes a mental note so she doesn't end up losing a hand.

She selects a few grenades, then joins in the weapons browsing. "What about these?" she asks, holding up a mine.

The Reds don't really believe in safety margins.

"Directional mines, remote operated. You set them up with this end toward your target zone," unlike claymores these don't have a useful "THIS END TOWARD ENEMY" label. "When you pull the firing cable," she points it out, "you get detonation. You can use the cable as a trip wire too."

Makita likes doing that.

Trip wires in a jungle were interesting; in a blizzard should be a whole other level.

"Fun," she says, grinning, and tucks two into her bag.

Amongst her other kit, Goldilocks is toting the unwieldy Red Fleet Dragunov sniper rifle with her when she arrives. On the clothing side she's sporting a gray-white patterned Arctic combat jacket with matching pants, fingerless gloves, and a scarf. There's also a very Russian-looking fur hat under one arm, not unlike Makita's.

She looks a bit flustered.

"Hello all. Sorry I'm late; Steph was doing her insufferable Mother Hen thing."

"I'm Goldilocks, but you can call me Goldy," she adds for the benefit of the team member she's not familiar with. "Fable, immortal, markswoman, assassin, yadda yadda yadda... nice to meet you."

She glances at Mel and wonders how she managed to dodge Steph's pre-departure fussing over suitable warm clothes and the like.

"Baseline humans, right?" Mel asks. "I mean apart from the magic. I hit them, they stay down?"

"They're tough, and driven, and can take a beating, but yeah. They're as human as I am."

Mel rubs the back of her neck.

"Mike says hi," she tells her. That's an answer to a question not asked.

Goldy's mouth opens in a silent 'ahh' which is accompanied by an enlightened nod.

"Steph says don't get dead," she replies.

"Good to see you, Hot Stuff," says Goldy.

She moves alongside Mary Anne and garnishes the remark with an unsubtle ass squeeze—pretty inappropriate in any public circumstance, not least a tense combat briefing. Goldy has never been one to get overly worked up before a life threatening situation. Nor has she been one to adhere to the rules of propriety.

"Did you tell her she should stop making it look so fun?" Mel asks, then slides her small backpack off her back. "That reminds me, I have something for you..."

Goldy's expression is less than satisfied.

"You don't have any secure comm-links?" she queries.

After a little chuckle and a shake of her head, Goldy's demeanor turns inquisitive.

"You do?"

"Yep."

Mel's beaming by the time she pulls out a small package wrapped in saran wrap, which she hands over.

Goldy might just have enough time to discover it's a round of PB and jelly sandwiches on white bread with the crusts cut off, before Mel's other hand comes forward to present a Bionic Woman thermos, which inspection will reveal is filled with milky tea.

"He wanted to do rounds for everyone, but I didn't know who else was coming."

"Secure comms are handled with protokols. They're usually pretty good, but there's a slight chance that a sorceress could pick them up. And there are six of them out there. We could probably get away with it, but... if they spot us..."

Goldy snerks a little. "Spoken like a true leader."

After a quick assessment of the climate beyond the doorway, she begrudgingly puts her fur hat on, pulls the flaps down and tails the group as they pass over the threshold...

Goldy lets out a resigned sigh.

"Fair enough, I suppose. Better safe than sorry."

"Yeah. We can't afford to screw this one up." Makita doesn't look happy about the no comms thing either.

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Page 1 of 5

As with most things, there is a beginning

Introductions

Briefing

Gearing up

Into the breach

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Re: Gearing up

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Re: Introductions

Re: Briefing

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Re: Introductions

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Re: Into the breach

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