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Mission 01a: Standby Ready; surface sidestory
Topic Started: May 6 2009, 10:35 PM (477 Views)
Katyusha
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[Branch off from GLADIUS Mission #01: Deep Trouble]

[Surface Camp, Same Area]

It was a relief to get back to the surface she thought, having taken the slow service elevator on the way back up due to the injuries on 1 of the retrieved survivors. Marina was only too glad to take off the restrictive mask on the SCBA and get a breath of fresh air again. Well, not that it was all that Fresh. India and Pakistan were pretty industrialised afterall, so it wasn't at all like the cool air back home.

She avoiding griping about that as she stepped off the elevator and let the EMTs do their work, taking the others to the field hospital. As for her, the first order of business was to shed the now apparently unneeded NBC gear, with the remaining operators in the mine having confirmed that it wasn't spread via conventional means, and such gear was, while tolerable for extended periods, it was also far fro comfortable.

"Sir, check out your vest." mentioned one of the guards, pointing towards a spot on Marina's abdomen with a slight smirk.

The comment puzzled her for a moment, until she took off the vest and examined the spot the soldier pointed at.

"Heh, I didn't even notice. Careless of me." she admitted.

The ballistic vest had a trio of small holes in the torso. It wouldn't have been fatal, but it would have hurt. Judging from the size, it was buckshot from one of the SPAS-12s. A mere type-II vest wouldn't have stopped a 5.56mm NATO round from the HK416s in anycase.

"Looks like I'll need a new vest." she groused. Once hit, ballistic armour was considered ruined for further use. This one would doubtlessly go back to the manufacturer to study how well it performed.

"Looks like you got lucky there sir." the man chided.

"Maybe. I was pretty reckless down there."

At this point, all she could do was rest up and wait to see if she'd be sent back down there.
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Lawman
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Director
"Too close for comfort, I might add," Sergeant Bradley added, with the leader of the team of ATHENA division guards lighting a hand-rolled cigar as he and a few of his men took the time to chill out for the time being, at least until new instructions were given as the medical personnel took over from there; providing medical attention to the evacuated personnel.

"Get in line, boys - we've got another evacuation coming our way!" the sergeant gestured for two of his men to follow him as the service elevator began moving up, with another two of his men bringing Bai Ling up to the surface - while it was not a complete recovery, Liz had nonetheless made the medical team's job easier.

"Great work down there," Achilles spoke as he stood beside Marina, having left the command tent to personally supervise the evacuation process, although for the time being the former commander of GLADIUS turned his attention to the HERMES operative - after all, things did go pretty smoothly so far; no injuries have been sustained so far, and all enemy personnel have been captured alive. "You and Johnson should take it easy for the time being, you've earned it," Achilles nodded in acknowledgment before turning his attention back to one of the corrupted personnel who had been subdued and brought topside.

"We'll bring this one to the command outpost for interrogation," Achilles instructed two ATHENA division guards to take the male researcher who had earlier on tried to attack Johnson. Checking to see that the still-unconscious man's restraints were still secure, the guards gave Achilles a thumbs-up before proceeding to carry him to the command outpost for interrogation. While Bai Ling's account gave them a comprehensive picture on what went wrong during the expedition, it wouldn't hurt to find out exactly what was the enemy planning by interrogating one of their own. Well, one of the OASIS Foundation's own rather, before he fell prey to this unknown corrupting influence.
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Cypriss
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"Hmp.." Johnson rubbed his forehead. "Those stupid kids.. Still far too wet behind the ears.." He placed his hands in his sides and stepped away from the lift, having arrived later than Marina with his bound prisoners. He took them over to the holding area and placed them down for the boys up top to deal with. Meanwhile he wandered over towards where the Sergent was talking to Marina.

"I honestly can't stand missions like these..." He said frowning. "Shooting at my own guys.. Innocent lives being toyed with through bigger hands.. It's not like there's as time in my life of a cog in the military machine that I can truly say I'm acting all of my own volition.. But even so missions like this remind me how easy it is just to wind up toys in the hands of egomaniac puppet masters.." He said eying Achilles.

He reached into his pocket pulling out s pack of cheap cigarettes. "You did okay down there.. But, I'd not say your abilities are exactly what Unit 26 needs to round out it's skill set, so our search to fill the third slot will keep going I guess.." He said sticking it in his mouth as he turned away from her. Waiting on the mission to end. "More suited to ARES than HERMES.."
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Katyusha
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She had to smirk at Johnson's statement at the least. She would have laughed, but it was hardly appropriate.

"What makes you think I'd want to be part of it? I have my own unit assignment you know."
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Cypriss
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"Unit 26 was.. Intended to be a new kind of unit.." He said lightly. "A unit capable of acting under any mission circumstance we picked three boys capable in both heavy combat and stealth operations. We chose powers which complimented each other and trained them with everything we had..." He eyed the far side of the cap with a level expression. "A unit that could act independently of anyone else. .A three man strike team capable of taking on any circumstance.."

He took out his lighter and flicked it open, striking the flint. "Both ARES and HERMES.. Permitted to act on its own without field orders.. That was the intention. To create an autonomously acting group that could;d move about ass they saw fit and react to conditions with a certain degree of amnesty... It's clear why such a unit is both desirable and at the same time problematic.."

"Well... Anyhow.. Even now after the concept has been abandoned I'm the sentimental type who would like it to see completion.." The flame sparked to life. "For this goal.. I can of course have any suitable candidate reassigned.." With that he lit the cigarette, a red glow coming to life withing it's rolling paper. He exhaled smoke in a long plume. "It's not like either Cypriss or Beaumont chose this unit either.."
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Katyusha
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"There's already a special forces unit for that, but we're alot more expendable. Looks like your brainchild was born before you finished forming it then." she shrugged, not particularly caring until Johnson lit up his cigarette "Ach, you know, those things are going to kill you one day. Second hand smoke's not pleasant either."

For that brief moment, her normally flawless accent was marred, sounding almost typically German.
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Cypriss
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"Heh, are you kidding me kid? I've been shot more times than I care to keep count of. Not to mention stabbed, cut, burned, fling off roofs, kicked, beaten, tortured, blasted, flung out of a plane, pushed down stairs, poisoned, attacked in the hospital, comatose, and swallowed whole.. If I die from cigarettes I can't feel to upset having survived all that.." He said idly. "Besides, I have cell regeneration so most of the damage is repaired fairly quickly.."

He took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked it into the dirt. Stomping it out. "But you're right, I shouldn't force it on you.." He glanced down. "That special forces group is different.. I'm talking about an autonomous force it's.." He tilted his head a bit. "It's complicated.. The group you're referring to is just a special missions task force for particularly complicated matters that require a variety of skills..Black Ops... My group would have been a completely autonomous force capable of dealing with any threat while still maintaining a public existence...."

"Black ops is for assassination and incredibly difficult missions and has a high mortality rate, this isn't for that.. They would be a small group of specially hand chosen and secretly trained operatives given technology and access that is unprecedented in other groups.. Basically they'd specialize in anti-E's operations though. A unit developed with the ability to defeat just about any level of E's user or militant force without needing oversight.. Either way it doesn't matter. Our third was a failure and the project was put on hold due to concerns about the cause of the third's failure.."

"Still, Beaumont's pretty useful, right? Such an ability offers us some interesting combat superiority.."
Edited by Cypriss, May 7 2009, 07:15 PM.
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Katyusha
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"I suppose." she admitted "But they still have much to learn about working in the field."

She checked her watch, and simply waited, listening to the radio messages relayed between the team. Part of her was still wondering though - what the hell did this have to do with GLADIUS' charter? Afterall, as a UN-backed organisation, it had a very specific spectrum of powers, duties, and responsibilities.

Excavation on a cultural site was something more for UNESCO than the SEED Institute wasn't it? It didn't seem quite right.

...

She dropped it for now, taking in the overly warm air with each breath. She still found it pretty unpleasant.
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Cypriss
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He glanced her way as she spoke. It was little wonder she'd say something like that. She was probably referring to Cypriss' lackadaisical demeanor in the mission. But if she couldn't see through that then she must really be terrible with people...".. I suppose that's true enough.." Johnson said idly. "Cypriss is an odd person for this sort of job.. In time they'll adapt.."

He said tucking his hands deeper into his pockets as he waited. As aloof as he may seem he is actually a pretty cold person. Perhaps the logic was, so long as he was always outwardly kind then one would notice his lack of true empathy. Always the smiling kind friend.. But he killed his own partner.. Johnson wasn't sure himself what that boy honestly felt about those around him.
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Katyusha
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"I honestly don't think they're cut out for the sort of work you had in mind for them. At least, not the way they are now anyway. Also, I have a question for you, but it's abit crowded in here. Do you mind?"

She moved towards a more isolated part of the camp, and motioned for Johnson to follow.
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Cypriss
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He couldn't help but laugh a bit at her comment. She certainly was one to snap to judgments wasn't she? Without even seeing their real abilities she had already decided that they didn't have the skill set? Or maybe she thought it was their mindset that was the problem. Either way it wasn't an issue for him what she thought of the team. So he merely shrugged his shoulders in compliance with her remark.

"It's possible I suppose.." He said leaning forward to stand. She wanted him to come outside..? It must have been something to do with GLADIUS that she didn't want to share. He didn't mind it, she was his subordinate so this, too, was his job. He followed her out of the tent. He cut off his comm watch and looked around carefully. Following in her footsteps idly.
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Katyusha
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Well, here it went. She really should have dropped the subject, but she couldn't. Something seemed off about this. Marina stopped in her tracks when she was reasonably sure nobody was listening, and turned to Johnson.

"Sir, did GLADIUS know what was down there beforehand?" she asked flatly.

She looked at Johnson with eyes like flint - Dark, hard, and cold, but her face was placid enough. She was clearly in her professional persona at this point, and watching Johnson's body language with his answer.
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Cypriss
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"Heh.." He gripped his sides laughing a bit more. "Well at least you're right to it.." He said mirthfully. He glanced up, eyes meeting hers and growing hard. "Your question is pointless.. Being a soldier means following orders.. You'll be informed what you're entitled to know and what's necessary for the mission. Anything else is not of your concern.." He said sternly.

"To put that more clearly.. It's not something you or me will be informed of.. Nor should we try to learn it.. We're merely parts of a machine and thus we'll do our duties without asking questions.." He shrugged his shoulders. "That was what we each accepted with this job.." He turned away. "Was that all..?"
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Katyusha
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"Funny, I don't remember selling my soul." she mused acidly "This mission was a GLADIUS operation from the start, but until recently there was no reason to suspect any of this was Es related. Hell, it still isn't. It's not part of GLADIUS charter to do cultural excavation, that's UNESCO's bailiwick. We can't act unless something is Es related or if it involves us directly, and we couldn't have known that just on the word of a few miners. This is an area known for world heritage sites, so the fact UNESCO was never called in on this is suspicious."

Her eyes narrowed

"Sir, did you know about this or did you not? If you did, then you put in a strike team with no data down there and put lives pointlessly at risk. If you didn't, then something is up, and it is not acting in a capacity according to GLADIUS charter. It is my concern, and it should be yours, sir."

The way she said 'sir' seemed to be almost sneering at the rank, said out of protocol than any real respect.

It was always the little things. Marina hadn't even been born yet when one November day in 1970, the United States Military pulled off what was now known as Operation Ivory Coast - A daring raid on the Song Tay Prison camp in North Vietnam. Despite the raid's failure (simply because the NVA had moved all the prisoners some time before), it had gone off without a hitch.

The mission's greatest success however, was not the deep penetration and elimination of hundreds of enemy troops without a single American loss, but it's secrecy. Rehearsed and prepared for months, noone on either side except those directly involved in it's planning, preparation and action would have guessed what it was. That is, until the day of the raid itself, when a young Air Force Captain had found enough disjointed bits and pieces to paint a clear picture of what was about to happen, and ask his superiors about it.

It was things like that that were the stuff of nightmares for security and intelligence officers, but also all too often true. The problem probably lay in the fact that such black work demanded professionals, and professionals were often all too often intelligent and naturally curious.
Edited by Katyusha, May 8 2009, 09:25 PM.
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Cypriss
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He frowned deeply at her, not particularly liking the tone she had taken with him. "I don't see a particular need for a superior officer to answer to his subordinate." Johnson said sternly. "Either do your job or don't. That's the only thing that concerns me. You did your job so I've got no problem with you. And until you make yourself a problem I'll continue to use you.. Everything else is handled by the men above my pay scale." He said shaking his head.

"You're really naive if you think that we're going to get explanations behind the organizations actions, or even that these actions would be justified if they had explanations. And frankly.. If you don't tihnk you sold your soul when you made that deal to get out of jail and return here then you're mistake. We all have ties to bind us to this organization like duty, a debt to pay, a sense of idealized justice or just for the paycheck we accept that we'll have to act in ways that might sometimes offend our sensibilities.. If you think otherwise then you're kidding yourself. In the end it's simply not that pleasant in reality."

"Try to take some satisfaction in the fact no one has died during our mission today and we prevented further deaths in this incident, then go cool off that conspiracy theorist head with a drink.."He said before walking away from her. Digging his hands into his sides.
Edited by Cypriss, May 8 2009, 09:39 PM.
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