Seaddle Briefing

[11:13] <~Blackout> [All of the assembled personnel have just arrived at one of the the Installation's main briefing rooms, a large conference table is set in the middle with chairs running down either side and a projector mounted to the cieling. Inside currently are twenty DCR rangers not including officers, who haven't arrived yet, the PMCs are also there, rangers on one side PMCs on the other.]
[11:15] <Snowshoe> The strangest pair stand together, toward the end of the table. One is a broad, dark blue earth pony, bald with a short, silver tail. He's dressed in thick barding and is the utter opposite to  his companion. His company is a short, lanky unicorn stallion, pale yellow, with a bright blue mane and tail, both styled flawlessly. -c-
[11:16] <Swept_Wing> Provy is there! Sitting in the back.
[11:17] <Snowshoe> The bright unicorn is wearing lighter barding, and a strange battle saddle. One side is dominated by a massive machine gun, a hulking M240B tha tlooked bulkier than the stallion, while, attached by a flexible ammo chute, the left side had a case of ammo. A smiling sun graced his flank, and the lanky stallion was smiling just as brightly.
[11:18] <Swept_Wing> 17 pilots come trotting into the room, all dressed on similar EAF barding. The ones to note are 20/20, Golden Star, and Swoop. They take their seats.
[11:20] * Adagio is present and is absentmindedly checking her armor over, making sure the seals, clasps, and armored plates were all in order, she continues onto touch each phial and bottle on her bandoleers, the octet of knives and leg blades checked next for poison load and sharpness, her eyes are closed to the merest slits to avoid the glow from being to obvious,
[11:22] <Snowshoe> The broad pony, Midnight Runner, takes it all in in a few glances, mostly standing still and waiting for something to be said. Brightwork, his companion, is looking around with rather wide eyes. He still hadn't even comprehended the tavern before he was yanked off to here.
[11:24] * Blackout trots into the room about five minutes later flanked by Major Reverie, both are wearing their DCR heavy combat barding, but neither have their kits assembled yet on them, aside from their sidearms. One of the rangers sees the entrance and hops to his hooves raising his voice above the crowd. "Room! Attention!" with lengthy emphasis on the 'atten'. All the rangers snap to attention in an instant.
[11:25] <Snowshoe> Midnight immediately offers a salute. Sloppy in comparison to the rangers, but still distinctly military. Brightwork just...stares, and then stands up a little straighter.
[11:25] * Adagio snaps to and gives a rather smart salute, she'd been learning very quickly how these things worked.
[11:26] * Swept_Wing comes trotting in right after them, Aviators planted over his eyes. All of the pilots followed suit of the Rangers, snapping to attention as well.
[11:27] * Blackout looks around, scanning the room, noting the new faces. "At ease, take your seats." The rangers do so, and Reverie moves to join them.
[11:27] <Swept_Wing> Provy waves a little at Reverie, sitting down.
[11:28] * Adagio sits in a nearby seat
[11:29] <Snowshoe> Midnight lowers himself into a seat. Brightwork does as well, shifting his a bit toward the dark blue pony...until a look from Midnight casuses him to lean back with a bit of a smirk. He unlatches the battle saddle, floating the massive machine gun away in a soft purple glow.
[11:31] * Blackout looks to Swept_Wing. "Care to start this carnival off?"
[11:39] * Swept_Wing nods. "Sure thing sir." He slips off his Aviators, hanging them off his uniform. He addresses the room. "Good evening mares and gentlecolts. In case you don't know yet, the reason you are here is for what essentialy is a tech recovery op." He says. "To summarize before we get into details, we will be flying out to Seaddle, to Shadow Field, to recover some vital Vertibuck components, and possibly some Vertibucks themselves."
[11:40] * Blackout nods to everything the LT says and waits quietly to see if more is on the way.
[11:42] * Swept_Wing pauses, looking to Blackout. "Bring up the route map please Captain."
[11:43] * Blackout nods, turning off the lights and flaring the projector to life, a map flickers and appears on the adjacent concrete wall in good clarity.
[11:44] <Snowshoe> Brightwork blinks, leaning over to look at the projection. "Cool."
[11:52] <Swept_Wing> The map depicts the area of land from Moosecow to Seaddle, a yellow line representing the flight path between the two cities. Swept reaches into his pocket, taking out a pair of regular glasses, which he rarely if ever wore, donning them. He picks up a pointer, tapping the yellow line. "This is our proposed route, as determined by my Staff Sergeant on his scouting runs. The flight will take roughly 1.5 hours, depending on wind conditions."
[11:53] <Swept_Wing> conditions."
[11:54] * Blackout is studying the map, nodding along to everything that made sense to him. "How many verts?"
[11:54] <Snowshoe> A pale yellow hoof extends in the crowd. Leave it to Brightwork, the newbie. "Question. I get how you can do the flight, but...I ain't got no wings." "I told you, we are using flying machines," Midnight grunted. Brightwork blinked. "I...thought you were kidding."
[11:55] <~Blackout> [There are facehoofs that can be seen and heard from places in the crowd.]
[11:56] * Adagio looks over the route, she's not entirely familiar with the areas marked, she slowly raises a hoof,
[11:58] <Snowshoe> Judging by the facehooves, the broad stallion had not been lying to Brightwork, who frowned a bit. "Flying machines...right," he mumbled, sitting back in his chair.
[11:59] * Swept_Wing looks at Blackout. "We will be taking three Vertibucks. One with the pilots, one with the Rangers and PMCs, and the third as additional fire support." He turns to the assembled ponies, answering Brightwork. "They're Vertibucks, and you don't need to be a pegasi to ride in one." He looks to Adagio. "Yes Specialist?"
[12:00] * Adagio puts her hoof down and speaks up, "Should we be expecting any hostiles in flight, or can we assume that the trip will go smoother than the last time I flew?"
[12:01] <Snowshoe> "Vertibucks." Brightwork knew of the word, and raised an eyebrow. "That's...that could work. I'm not going to question how you got that many working ones, though." He looked at Midnight. "I'll chalk it up to this buck's magic bar."
[12:01] * Blackout shakes his head. He quietly wonders why he hires PMCs. Oh, that's right, amusing and possibly effective.
[12:03] * Swept_Wing chuckles a little. "There shouldn't be any hostiles in flight. 20/20 can attest to that, right Sergeant?" The orange pegasus known as 20/20 nodded. "That's right LT. Me and Dark have had no resistance during our recon flights."
[12:04] <Snowshoe> Midnight Runner coughs, a few words that sound suspiciously like 'Finagle's Law' can possibly be heard within.
[12:04] * Adagio nods, "Understood,"
[12:06] * Blackout nods. "Indeed." he stands again. "Here is how this works for us grunts. We keep the wings safe and get the pilots in and out." he looks over at Swept and then to all the pilots. "Don't try to play hero, at all, even a little. That's an order, we're already overstepping any bounds we had before." he pauses to wait for a response.
[12:07] <Swept_Wing> "Now, that being said, we're still going in with a full combat loadout on the Verts. You never can be too sure what'll creep up on you." He nods to Blackout. "That's right. We're there to make sure that any of those flyable Verts get back, that's it."
[12:08] * Blackout nods to the nods. "On that note. This is a dead op. Tear off any emblems you have, ranks, symbols, idealouges. All of it off, verts included."
[12:09] <Snowshoe> This time, Midnight Runner raised his hoof. "May I ask why?"
[12:10] * Swept_Wing nods to one of his pilots, Dark Cloud. "Corporal, get on that once we're done here." The pilot nods. "Yessir."
[12:13] * Blackout looks at Midnight. "Command doesn't want anypony to know who ran off with all the military tech. We don't want enemies right now."
[12:14] <Snowshoe> "Fair point," the Stalliongrader conceded. Brightwork was taking it all in, looking a lot more focused now that the briefing was truly underway.
[12:15] * Swept_Wing gazes over the assembled ponies. "If there's no more questions, we'll move onto the next slide."
[12:16] * Blackout looks around the crowd, preparing to move onward.
[12:17] <Snowshoe> Both of the strange stallions from the Manehattan area shook their heads. "Onwards then," Brightwork said.
[12:17] * Swept_Wing nods. "Next slide Captain."
[12:18] * Blackout clicks moving it to the next slide. "Done."
[12:19] <Swept_Wing> The next slide shows an ariel photograph of Seaddle, with several areas circled. Shadow Field is on the south end of the city.
[12:23] <Swept_Wing> "This, mares and gentlecolts, is the fine city of Seaddle, or what's left of it at least." He gestures to the picture with his pointer. "The city had been completely overrun by raiders. Estimates place the number well into the thousands."
[12:23] <~Blackout> One of the larger stallions sitting with the rangers coughs. "Daisy. *Cough* Cutters..."
[12:24] <Snowshoe> "I hear they had really great coffee shops before the war," Brightwork mused. Midnight Runner shot him an odd look, and looked back at the map. "Any chance they will be shooting at each other, not us?" the broad stallion asked.
[12:26] * Adagio nods at Midnight's question, "It would be pretty crazy if that is a unified clan,"
[12:27] * Swept_Wing chuckles. "Unfortuneately, we're already flying heavy on two of the three Verts, so we'll only have one." He adresses Midnight. "20/20 witnessed some small skirmishes between several groups, but there doesn't seem to be a major conflict within them."
[12:27] <Snowshoe> "Well I like to shoot raiders as much as the next pony but that is a lot," Midnight said, frowning a bit. "I don't think I am liking the odds."
[12:28] * Blackout interjects. "Fifth DCR rule Midnight!" The DCR present respond. "Fuck your odds. We have guns and know how to use them."
[12:28] * Adagio chuckles, "Use the element of surprise to make a snatch and dash?"
[12:29] * Swept_Wing chuckles. "And, we have several things in our favour. One is yes, surprise. The other is that the majority of the raiders are clustered in the norther half of the city, away from the base."
[12:30] <Snowshoe> "Da. You have guns. They have guns. They also have more guns, typically guns that make a lot more dakka." Midnight shrugged a bit. Brightwork was squinting at the map. "A diversion might work. Blow something up big enough in the opposite direction of where we need to be?"
[12:30] * Adagio smiles thinly it never reaches her eyes, this had the possibility of getting very ugly very fast,
[12:31] * Blackout stands now. "Here is basic plan. Reaper and Renegade are on point for this mission, Reaper is running security and Renegade is running technical. Both are running interference for the fliers. PMCs will be assigned or with me. As the LT stated, raiders are away. And you think they have more gun? You would be mistaken I think." he chuckles thinking of the obsurd amount of firepower the verts possessed.
[12:32] * Swept_Wing nods. "Yes, I'd like to see how many raiders can stand up to a trio of 20mm gatling guns firing at 6,000 rounds per minute."
[12:33] <Snowshoe> "I have seen a Vert up close. But unless you are all planning on towing the parts back in the Verts, at some point we need to get out." "Though, I have to say, as retrievals go, this seems nice and simple," Brightwork added after Midnight was done. "Famous last words though, right hun?" he said, looking at Swept, who he guessed was the pilot and leader of this op.
[12:35] * Adagio chuckles at that, "Ask the captain how the last simple retrieval went," she smiles and nods to Blackout, "Sounds great on paper, contingencies?"
[12:36] * Blackout looks crosswise at Adagio. "It went well considering there was no way to even fathom that nightmare. And as plans go, they are meant to be broken. But the rules are non negotiable. Listen to your Squad Comms and anything either I, Swept, or Reverie say. If shit hops into hell we improvise."
[12:38] * Swept_Wing nods. "Couldn't have said it better myself Captain."
[12:38] * Adagio nods, "Understood," she looks over at Swept_Wing and nods to him as well,  the last op had nearly cost him and Golden a lot more than just some down time, she was indebted to a lot of good ponies here,
[12:40] <Snowshoe> Brightwork raised an eyebrow at the banter about the operation. "If shit goes wrong, way wrong, that's why I'm here. Snowshoe got a hold of me specifically because I can fix wounds like it's nothing. At least, according to my stallion companion here..." Bright reached over for a one-legged hug. "Don't touch me." "Roger," Bright said, leaning back.
[12:41] * Blackout nods. "Armory and storage is open to PMCs and DCR, take what you need, but if a PMC, I expect to see whatever you take again besides ammo." he looks at the PMCs. "Do not lie, cheat, or steal, I'm not tolerating that shit even a little. We clear?"
[12:41] <Snowshoe> "Da." "Yessir, Captain Blackout sir."
[12:42] * Swept_Wing nods. "Any more questions before we move on?"
[12:43] * Adagio looks at Blackout, "You know me Captain, no guns here..." she shakes a bit at the thought, "Rather they go quietly, and a blade with neurotoxin makes far less noise than a gun."
[12:44] <Snowshoe> Brightwork looked strangely at Adagio when she said that, eyebrow raised. "...Damn, filly."
[12:46] * Swept_Wing nods to Blackout. "Next slide."
[12:46] * Blackout chuckles. "This room is filled to the brim with trained, legalized killers." he moves to the next slide.
[12:47] <Snowshoe> "Not me! First, do no harm, baby." Brightwork looked at the fuckmassive M240 (in comparison to him) that rested in the corner, attached to his battle saddle. "...Second, kick some flank," he said with a smirk.
[12:48] <Swept_Wing> The next slide shows a detailed view of Shadow Field AFB, with an inset detailing the airfield. ( http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/ff472/spw6/ShadowFieldMap_zps90578d09.png ).
[12:48] * Blackout laughs waiting for the next part. "Whoah whoah whoah, badass here!" he jokes.
[12:49] <Snowshoe> Brightwork leans back in his chair, spreading his forelegs. "Come at me, bro."
[12:50] * Blackout chuckles. "Challenge accepted." he dissapears, reappears thwacking Bright on the shoulder, before disappearing again popping into existance in his original spot.
[12:51] * Adagio chuckles that trick never got old,
[12:51] <Snowshoe> The lanky stallion's hooves pinwheeled as he fell out of his chair in surprise. Midnight chuckled, grinning at Blackout. "Bozhe moi."
[12:51] * Swept_Wing chuckles. "Alright, enough you two."
[12:53] * Blackout nickers. "Oh yes LT, please continue.:
[12:55] * Swept_Wing taps the northern end of the base, where the barracks were located. "Our recon has confirmed a small group of raiders that are set up in the old barracks. When we come in, it will be in classic Steel Wings style. 20 feet, 200 miles an hour. They won't what hit 'em." He grins.
[12:56] <Swept_Wing> won't know*]
[01:02] * Blackout is now known as Reverie
[01:10] <~Reverie> Blackout considers. "Is there any quieter way?"
[01:11] <Snowshoe> "Weren't you the one advocating for a couple'a fuckhuge bombs to be dropped?" Brightwork asked, climbing back into his chair.
[01:11] <Swept_Wing> "We could stay at altitude and drop in through the back, but if we mistime it we hit mountiains."
[01:12] <Swept_Wing> "And Seaddle is foggy as shit."
[01:12] <~Reverie> Blackout nods. "Meh, I didn't recommend anything, personally I think loud in this case might be better, plus Reaper with some HMGs can cover us really well."
[01:13] <Snowshoe> "I for one am voting against mountain," Midnight said with a shrug.
[01:15] <~Reverie> Blackout nods. "Yes, indeed, Swept I think your idea stands. Anyone else have suggestions there?"
[01:15] * Adagio crosses her hooves and looks thoughtful for a moment, "Why not have a stealth raid on the barracks, kill as many as possible before the vertibucks ever arrive?"
[01:16] <~Reverie> Blackout blinks. "Like a HALO drop?" he smiles widely.
[01:16] <Snowshoe> "The main problem is, sound carries. No matter what we do, once we go loud, we're going to be on a timer," Brightwork pointed out.
[01:17] * Adagio shrugs unsure as to what a HALO drop was exactly, Blackout had mentioned it before but she couldn't remember what it was, "I guess?"
[01:17] <Snowshoe> Midnight for his part let out a bark of laughter at the idea of a HALO drop.
[01:18] * Swept_Wing chuckles. "That could work, but the weather is the big issue here. Visibily in Seaddle is generally poor to complete shit, IFR all the way down to about 2,000 feet at least, if not lower."
[01:18] <Snowshoe> "Visibility...do these raiders have access to vehicles?" Brightwork asked.
[01:19] <~Reverie> Blackout laughs. "And you think here is much better this time of year? I see it as feasible."
[01:20] * Adagio idly pats a dose of rainboom, "I could clear the area but it'd pretty much throw stealth out the window," and it'd leave her sore for a week,
[01:22] * Swept_Wing nods. "We don't want to send every raider in the place headed towards us, so we're going to want at least some stealth."
[01:22] <~Reverie> Blackout considers. "Two options, either a HALO drop or the verts dust the crops. LT I leave it to you."
[01:23] <Snowshoe> "I still vote for a distraction," Brightwork said with a shrug. But as a lowly medic, not even part of this little group, he knew he'd get veto'd.
[01:24] * Swept_Wing hmmms. "We're gonna dust 'em, because if we do a HALO, we're going to burn too much fuel maintaining a holding pattern until the raiders are wiped."
[01:25] * Adagio thinks for a bit, "Well I could cause that distraction," she nodded, "and I think solo I'd have the best chances of getting out again... I can't believe I'm saying this," she looks at Swept_Wing, "If you want a distraction I'm your mare."
[01:26] * Swept_Wing nods slowly. "Go back a slide please."
[01:27] <~Reverie> Blackout sends it back a slide.
[01:27] <Snowshoe> "The distraction could be as simple as throwing a few flares out the back of our verts as we fly in. Nothing very big, just enough to have the raiders looking anywhere but at the airport," Midnight said with a shrug.
[01:29] <Adagio> "I think a sonic rainboom would be better," she chuckled, "Get every last one that isn't deaf to be looking for me, leaving everyone else pretty close to free and clear to do what needs to be done,"
[01:30] * Swept_Wing turns, studying the layout of the city for a second before turning back, tapping his pointer on a large building in the center. It looked like a needle "If you want to go in solo, we'll drop you here, over the Luna Needle. The largest concentration of raiders are centered around it."
[01:30] <~Reverie> Blackout lets all the talking happen, get dem' creative juices flowing.
[01:32] * Adagio nods, "So drop me over the Luna Needle, then once you're clear give me a signal to start the show?" get some attention break the remaining glass in the city center and possibly kill some raiders just from concussive force, nice!
[01:33] * Swept_Wing nods. "How will get back out though?"
[01:33] <Snowshoe> "That...could work. Adagio, I assume if you can rainboom, you can fly like a Wonderbolt. All those tall buildings...you'll be leading the raiders on like a schoolfilly at a dance," Brightwork said with an idle nod. "This could work."
[01:33] <Swept_Wing> will you*]
[01:36] * Adagio taps a simple injection rig on her left foreleg, the lettering on it spelled out, OH BUCK!, "Combination of stealth, speed, and a whole mess of drugs..." she shakes lightly at the thought, "The crash from it later'll leave me a quivering mess but that takes about 48 hours,"
[01:38] <~Reverie> Blackout considers. "Drugs... meh." the soldiers seem to carry the same sentiment.
[01:38] <Snowshoe> Brightwork winced a bit. "Out of curiosity, what's in that little concoction?" the medical pony asked. He even had a real medical licence, too.
[01:39] * Swept_Wing nods. "If you're willing, then we'll do it. So as we come over the city, we'll drop you at about 10,000 feet. I'll give you the signal when we're on our final approach to the base."
[01:39] * Adagio looks over at Blackout, "Need I remind you of what I'm capable of when properly, dosed?" she raises a single eyebrow as if to say, 'you're kidding right?'
[01:41] <~Reverie> Blackout shakes his head. "No, I would rather not have to shoot at you with tanks." he teases lightly. "Just be careful yes?"
[01:41] * Adagio looks back to Swept_Wing, "Agreed, do you have any more detailed maps of the city, preferably recent with potential blockages marked?" she looks over at Blackout, "That didn't work out so well for an Ultra-Sentinel,"
[01:42] <Swept_Wing> "Those maps were recent as of two days ago."
[01:43] <~Reverie> Blackout chuckles. "Poor sentinel. Alright, so are we now set?"
[01:44] * Adagio looks at Blackout, "I'll do my best," she turns to face Swept_Wing, "I'm going to need a copy of the maps you have, better to know the layout beforehoof than get caught unawares,"
[01:46] * Swept_Wing nods to Adagio. "Talk to 20/20, he's got the copies." He looks at Blackout. "Yes, I think so. After all of that, we'll land on Runway 12/30 in front of the entrance. The Vertibuck hangars are only accessible from within the base itself, so we'll have to go through it to reach them."
[01:47] <~Reverie> Blackout nods. "Roger, Reaper will stay at the entrance and plow over any combatants. Renegade will move inside."
[01:48] * Adagio nods noting 20/20 as a pony to talk to after the briefing,
[01:49] <Snowshoe> Midnight raises a hoof. "I know Moosecow has become irradiated craphole, moreso than it was Pre-war-" he exchanged a grin with Blackout. "But what about Seaddle? Are we expecting to be face anything non-pony?"
[01:51] * Swept_Wing nods. "I would not be surprised if there are feral ghouls roaming the lower levels of the base where radiation seeped in."
[01:53] <~Reverie> Blackout writes something down. "Alright, extra AP rounds then with standard cartridges."
[01:56] * Swept_Wing nods. "That's all I've got. Any last questions?"
[01:56] <Snowshoe> Brightwork nodded. "I want a pair of those glasses, where's the closest place I can get some?"
[01:58] <Swept_Wing> "The Aviators? Well, these I got mine as a gift from Commander Dash back during the War. As for here... Captain? You know?"
[01:59] <Swept_Wing> cut mine*]
[02:00] <~Reverie> Blackout considers. "Definitely Consortiums Consortium. Down in market sector."
[02:00] <Snowshoe> Midnight rolled his eyes and stood up. "Don't take too long, I'm your ticket out of here and I want to get some rest before this mission," he said. Brightwork saddled up, literally, seemingly unaffected by the 30lb weight hanging from his right side. "Cool," he said. "Lead the way."
[02:01] * Swept_Wing nods. "That's all for tonight then. Dismissed!"
[02:02] <~Reverie> Blackout blinks. "I'm not a tour guide, follow the signs." he says after standing, the soldiers stnd as well and head for the exits.
[02:02] * Snowshoe ([email protected]) has left #DeadCityOps ()
[02:03] * Adagio stands and trots over to 20/20, she nods down at the maps and waits patiently for a set,
[02:03] * Swept_Wing dons his Aviators, slipping his regular glasses back into a pocket. He turns, and trots out the door.
[02:05] <Swept_Wing> 20/20 pushes up his glasses, sifting through a stack of photographs, pulling out several and hoofing them over to Adagio. "Here yah go. There's a detail view of downtown in there, as well as the rest of the city, with an overall view on the bottom."
[02:08] * Reverie ([email protected]) Quit (Connection closed)
[02:08] * Adagio looks at 20/20, "Thanks," she collects the pictures and slips them under a wing, she trots away thinking out loud, "Who knows maybe I'll actually make it out of this like I want to..."