2020-04-10 - Posse's Round Up, Sum Up, for the Impending Dust Up (in the wake of the Screw Up)

Summary:

Mission briefing for the rescue, the team hopes, of Domino who has been MIA for some few days.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Fri Apr 10 00:00:00 2020
Location: RESCUE - Conference Room PG-01

Related Logs

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Theme Song

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toni-hoveronica-kelseyhank-mccoyhisako-ichikiposse

It's only an hour later that finds Posse standing at the head of the Proving Ground's Tactical Operations Center (TOC) beneath a trio of monitors showing maps, diagrams, and weather telemetry. The sergeant turned chief of security for RESCUE is garbed in a tight black suit with a thin armored vest, grayscale facepaint, and a healthy supply of gear strapped to her top, belt, and thighs - including one exceptionally long black pistol. Missing is a helmet, her entire cybernetic suit, and in fact several of the larger pieces of kit normal for the obsessively-prepared woman. Despite appearance, she's packing light. But then, the mission is in their own backyard.

"File in and find a spot to stand or sit. That paper being handed out is your ground reference graphic - GRG. Study it, learn the landmarks, and keep it with you just in case," she introduces in a direct and no-nonsense tone. Along with space for the TOC's new additions, four REACT are already standing or sitting in various spots throughout the room, with four more to form an even eight walking in.


Toni, sitting in a back corner, already has the graphic entered into her smart glasses so she can bring it up on the fly, so to speak, though she at least has it projected as the briefing is going on as she yawns, before sipping from her mug of coffee. The side reads 'The World can be Saved by STEAM!' and has some steampunk machinery on he side that turns out to be a huge coffee machine, with a stick figure with einstein hair with fists in the air in front of a tiny cup of coffee.


On the image on screen, one of the feeds shows an odd flare of red light, and then returns to normal. Chen speaks up, "Ma'am, we just got a laser flag from a position on the ground near the rally point. Advanced image analysis says there's something moving incredibly slowly, and very well disguised, down there on the ground. The ping of light came from that moving position."


One of the last to enter is the rolling form of Veronica Kelsey. No kit. She is not suited up. But she is here. "Sorry. I'm here." she murmurs quietly, not wanting to interrupt. SHe accepts a copy of the map and looks it over, then starts scanning that into her tablet just in case.


Hank studies it, committing the graphic to memory, he has a VERY good memory. He's currently leaning against a wall, studying the print outs. He's dressed in what looks to be simply a sturdy pair of shorts and a pouched belt. Then again, he's a fairly powerful mutant, and very physically capable, and furry…which was the deciding factor, comfort! His glasses are currently in the visor configuration though, so he could very easily be recording things, and reading other things at the same time. Or both.


Hisako studies her copy of the GRG as if she's going to be tested on it … which, in a sense, isn't that far from the truth. She's standing near Hank, although not quite holding up the wall like he is.

Chen's mention of the 'laser flag' gets Armor to look up. "'Slowly' doesn't track with what we know about the 'Hounds,' does it?" 'Disguised' is … questionable. It sounds more like what was seen was simply movement - not *what* was moving.


"Good," Ava purrs to the update as her painted lips curl into a smile. "I knew my date would be early. Give it space. That's our Hunter - last time a drone buzzed her she scrapped it."

Looking over the assembly, Ava makes momentary eye contact with each member of the room until she sees the last one present with paper in hand. Then, she begins.

"At fifteen-oh-two comms got a ping from Neena's badge GPS along with the message CHALK as Morse code. No clue what "chalk" means yet but it gives us a possible location to find her." The cyborg points over her shoulder at a sky view of the disaster zone with the RESCUE HQ highlighted along with a mystery node in red. After a moment's pause, the image begins to zoom in, showing what used to be a subway station.

"Coords are the old E&M subway station, underground - just under five klicks from us and eight klicks from her last-known. Nothing we can reach from the air so that means CQC through fortified fighting positions, which is cluster imminent if we go in guns blazing."

"To avoid that," her green eyes pass over Hank's towering form, "Hunter and I will conduct intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance - ISR - along with an overflight of humblebees. Karl and Boulder you're backing us up. Everyone else rides in style by Bearcat as assault and extraction elements to get us and Spot out of there if she's located."


Toni raises her hand distractedly. "Would it be easier then if we just made you a hole in the roof you could drop down through?" They have means for such things. "I mean, without collapsing it, obviously. Too much."


Veronica does not interrupt; this is and must remain Posse's show, 110%. But after everyone else has weighed in, she does speak up to offer, "I will make sure the Bearcat has a full S&R loadout, including drillipedes and ramblers, in case we have to do any digging. And two backup flights of humblebees so that you can rotate out for any damaged or lost." She waits a bit, and then asks, "Do you think you'll want me there?" To be fair, with Iron Patriot on scene, Roni herself doesn't add much, except for her decidedly less-lethal hardware. And her medical skills.


'Chalk,' thinks Hisako. Maybe it was Domino's way of cluing RESCUE's people in that it was her, or maybe a deposit of the mineral below ground? But neither of those —

"That's it!!" she suddenly exclaims, then flushes pink as she realizes she just blurted something out mid-briefing. "Sorry … um, didn't Domino mention a contact by that codename? 'Chalk'? Maybe she ran into him … or …" She trails off, her expression darkening just a little. She hopes her suspicion is wrong.


"Chalk is an individual that makes arrangements for others, Posse." He nods to Hisako's exclamation. "An albino, actually, and the source of Neena's contract for the Hounds we ended up hunting together that resulted in us being buried alive." And so much more. Hank's lips thin a bit when the chief gives him that fairly oblique censure, and he sighs, though Hisako might well hear a low growl first, it is very swiftly suppressed and wasn't very loud. Hank dips his head in acknowledgement of the subtle rebuke, he had it coming. Still, all he can do is do better. "Neena extracted the intel that led her to the Kennel."


Posse's head turns at the outburst, though Hank's follow-up seems to rescue her from any rebuke. "Good catch. So with that, there's more evidence it's her… or a trap. With Spot's luck - both," the bionic commander considers, taking the update in stride. "Either way we'll want to put eyes on that coord."

"Roni I'll want you and Toni on standby here; it's half a minute by Bearcat and you two can make it at least as fast while presenting smaller targets. Situation depending, recon team will call you in for ISR with your sensors, as well as casevac if things go straight sierra," she answers smoothly to the seated doctor before moving last to the purple-haired scientist with not nearly enough coffee in her system.

"Yes to a big hole but they'd hear the jet, the hole would alert them, and we'd be dropping in blind. One RPG from the perimeter could make that a short flight, and I plan to fight dirty with 'em. We've got the element of surprise right now. 'Sides it could just be hobos down there until we get a positive ID."


Toni frowns thoughfully. "…stealth, right." she murmurs. She makes a note: shields for Bearcat - install full generator for force field?' But other than that settles back to listen, frowning a little uncomfortably. To her, REACT is not a special ops unit…hearing it to be used in that way bothers her on several levels. But it's for Domino, and she's one of theirs, so…


If it were just hobos, thinks Hisako, then Domino wouldn't have to hide - she could either walk out, or simply send a straight-up SOS of some kind, along with more information than a cryptic reference to a mercenary contact. If this is another outpost of the 'breeders,' then they *will* have a fight on their hands. And if it's underground, they may be in even closer quarters than at the lab.

She's not especially looking forward to a repeat of *that* incident … but with any luck, it won't end with an explosion (or two) and the seeming death of an ally.

Hisako stops her train of thought there, turns the thought in question over, and files it away until after the briefing.


"Alright. We can wait here, suited up and ready to go." Veronica answers Posse. "I know we won't be fully in control of how this situation unfolds. But I would much rather not see this devolve into some special operations bloodletting. I would really rather we find a way to just get Domino out of there, and be done with it." She's a pacifist. She's a doctor. She doesn't want more people to die. There's been just too much goddamned killing already.


Hank will raise his hand to get Ava's attention, and then looks the cyborg in the eye. "And what role did you have in mind for me, Chief?" He asks quietly, wondering if she's benching him. That would absolutely infuriate him—mostly at himself, and not surprise him in the least - this debacle is largely his fault to his mind…in fact it seems to be so to Ava's mind as well.

Regardless of her answer, he adds. "Before any extraction attempt is made, there's another party we'll want involved, her name is Thea Harmon, she's an expert on the Hellkitty and should be invaluable in helping with that aspect of things. Obviously we have no intel at all on what's down there. If I might suggest something? Odds are decent that the tunnels are at least somewhat intact some distance out, perhaps burrow into one at a safe distance and approach that way."


If Posse has any concern for how she's re-appropriated RESCUE's equipment and personnel it doesn't show in the cyborg's demeanor. But at the very least she's assigned most of them to the less dangerous jobs… relatively speaking. Tapping a small remote in her hand, the third monitor zooms in on the subway then fades to a computer-generated floorplan while the second screen marks a mid-point between RESCUE HQ and the red dot. "Recon team will conduct a basic offset infil from three klicks south once night falls, meeting Hunter at the RP one klick north and proceeding two klicks from there. We'll be slow and quiet, and after clearing the perimeter we'll clear the interior and locate Neena. Hunter and I will be in the one and two positions." The chief's attention falls upon the two suited up REACT members who, suddenly, are in the spotlight. "I don't want to throw you two in the deep end without floaties, so we'll run two-person clears and you just run rear security and horseshoe behind us for moving concealment."

The mention of a ''special operations bloodletting'' draws a sharp expression from the impassive vet, and Ava stares the doctor down for several seconds before gathering a reply and softening her gaze back to its attentive neutral - though on the eve such a mission, there's a heightened intensity to the woman's features that's rarely been seen otherwise. It's evident from more than just preparedness that she is taking things deadly serious.

"Why yes, Doctor. I'm aware our goal is to do no harm here, and I'm not changing our standing rules of engagement; RoE is still proportional force. We take a lethal shot at a lethal threat and everyone's primary weapons are non-lethal arms. A perfect op is our recon team comes out with full magazines one albino heavier. But," she impresses, firmly, "Hunter's out for blood and I think she's going to have it no matter what. I've got a non-lethal kit set aside for her, it just needs your signature for check-out since she's not got the clearance to go AWOL with it."

Making her way around to Hank, Ava's expression stays neutral but the general pre-mission stress is palpable on her scent. It's excitement and tension, and a singular mix of fear with… eagerness? "Your role is in the Bearcat, and if Hunter bails expect me to call on you sooner rather than later. You're best equipped to find Neena in a hurry if we have to come and go loud and fast. Wake up Thea and see if she can be pulled into some kind of standby to give intel, and if there's anything she can do once we've got Neena secured and back here."

It's brief, but the cyborg even smiles as she adds, "And that's a good plan for tunneling. I'll have Chen check the layout for an insertion point. I sometimes forget how many fun toys ya'll build."


Toni mms. "I might be able to rig up a few things that are portable that could help. I'll need to see what I've got the batteries to power that are small enough to be helpful without a power suit." she admits.


Veronica sighs and lowers her head a bit. "I apologize, Ava. I am sorry." That said, she goes quiet; they have all said what actually needs saying, and now they have to do what is necessary. "Toni, why don't we coordinate. Whatever power requirements you have in mind, I would venture to say we have a few energy cells that should measure up, at least for a short period of time. Let's work out the equations."


Hank nods once. "I'll be in the Bearcat, ready for deployment in an emergency when called, understood." Nope, he's not used to being the reinforcement…but Hank /is/ used to working with teams. Further, he realizes that Hunter and Posse have advanced recon training that he simply does not. Sure, he can be stealthy, but he doesn't have their experience, and frankly he's certain that Hunter's senses are keener than his, even in her smoothskin shape. "I'll contact Miss Harmon directly."


Posse nods to the responses she receives and the camouflaged cyborg returns to her briefing, progressing the screens with another tap to show a series of lines linking the rally point to their objective. On the third monitor, a topographical map of the subway station and its immediate surroundings is presented with additional markers.

"Screen three shows the ORP - Objective Rally Point - where we'll stage prior to scouting the perimeter and conducting the infil. If we can switch to a tunnel route this route will become plan B. The green circles spaced around the objective are the HLZs for casevac. If the whole op goes whisper-silent extraction will be the offset point nearest RP-alpha." Posse scans slowly across the room as she gives the information a couple seconds to sink in before continuing.

"This will be a night op from start to finish, that's the lowest chance of detection and heavy resistance. That means NODs-down for everyone and light and noise discipline for the recon team. Our egg-heads have produced some pretty high-speed night optics so I'm not too worried about ya'll fallin' into yardholes, but keep an extra eye out. Karl and Boulder, I'll help PCS your gear for light and noise pollution. Everyone's also getting a ration of glint tape so you shine in IR and as usual, friendlies will show in the REACTnet HUD. For those not familiar, tape goes on shoulders, helmet rear, chest, and back so you're visible from all angles. If you want a snack go for protein over carbs and keep light on the caffeine so you don't get the jitters and runs. Otherwise," Posse finishes, allowing herself just a bit of a grin at the motley assembly before her, "enjoy the ride."


"Should we assume you will be on communications blackout while you are scouting? What are your expected signals if something goes wrong, and you need help to extract?" Veronica finally asks after some long consideration of the rest of the briefing. "I assume that we should not simply rely on our communications being stable and secure, so some degree of contingency planning and alternative communication strategies is recommended?"


"Chief…are you going to be taking the full team into the hole, or just you and Hunter?" Hank nods to Roni's question, that's a very legitimate concern. "I wish we had a team telepath, that makes things so much /easier/ in a field op." He says wistfully. And really? Team Telepaths are a thing? Wow!


It might be that a doctor with spectacles and blue fur is saying it but Posse takes the telepath revelation in stride. "The recon team will move together but everyone traveling by Bearcat will move as far as it takes to extract us and no further. We can't send comms during a radio blackout but we can monitor a heartbeat signal from the humblebees to gauge if we're passing out of range. Anything we do send will be from the situation going tango uniform - we'll blast that at full power."

"If we don't return from visual and comms blackout," the cyborg addresses, her grin once again replaced by flat seriousness, "Your role is to engage PCB and whatever super-friends you have in your pocket, and hold clear of the objective until the pros can organize a real rescue op. I'd like to tell you to bring heavy ordinance and apply vigorous pressure to the front of their position until something squirts out, but with unknown teleporter tech and a tunnel network they could squirt through solid rock without you ever getting a shot at them."


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