RP: Rescue Rangers

[ltcol_flyboy]

John finished tightening the straps on his tac-vest, wiggling a bit until it settled comfortably over his combat uniform. He inspected his side-arm, making sure the clip was filled and secured before holstering it. He snapped his P-90 into place after a similiar inspection and doubled-checked all his pockets to make sure their contents were correct

Comments

[ltcol_flyboy]

Once John's sure he's got everyone's attention, he begins. "At oh-nine-hundred yesterday morning the Apollo began receiving data-bursts and confirmed its source as being the house that I cased an hour before," he says, tapping the house on the map. "A scan of the area showed an underground tunnel system that had three points of egress along the ridge behind the property. We have teams in position to infiltrate those access points five minutes prior to us moving on the front door."

He glances around at everyone to make sure they're still with him. "We have snipers in position to take out perimeter defenses so we can approach undetected. Our intent is to distract the enemy with the teams taking the tunnels while we move in. We have shoot-to-kill orders on anyone who opens fire on us first, save for one man."

Here, he tosses a photo of a well-dressed gentleman. "This is Dorian Drayen, suspected member of the Trust's upper-echelon of operatives. There's a cell deep inside Area Fifty-One for this guy, so if you have to take a shot at him, please don't kill him."

He turns and nods to Ronon, who begins handing out a small, gun-like weapon. "There may or may not be replicators inside this place, boys; use the ARGs if you encounter one, but use it sparingly. We have no idea what modifications they may or may not have. Any questions?"

[lt_wes_janson]

Wes had understood the basics if not some of the specifics of what had been said. Kill anything that shoots besides the guy in the picture, but mild maiming was acceptable for him if needed. That was pretty much all he needed to know as far as most things were concerned.

However as the big guy hands him the small weapon and Wes takes a moment to examine it so he'd have a basic knowledge of how it worked, a question does come to mind. "Is a replicator anything that doesn't go down the first time I shoot it?"

It was important to know these kinds of things when a guy hadn't ever laid eyes on one before.

[ltcol_flyboy]

From the looks of about three or four others, Wes isn't the only one wanting an answer to that question. John smiles, though there is no humour in it. "Human-form replicators have super-human everything, and normal bullets won't do anything but blast chunks of nanite blocks off of it. And since they looks every bit human, you won't know until you shoot one and it spews tiny hunks of metal and not blood. The guns you hold are anti-replicator technology. They break the bond between nanites, effective dissolving the thing into a pile of tiny bricks. That being said, they have the potential to become immune to the weapon if too many are hit, as they communicate over a collective link with each other."

He pauses to catch his breath. "Reports only indicated one human-form replicator running around on earth, and that one was destroyed several months ago by yours truly. However, a lot can change in several months, so we're opting to be prepared for anything."

[lt_wes_janson]

In Wes' mind that makes it a weapon of last resort, but he slips it into a place in his belt that will make it easily reachable just the same. Just because he doesn't think he'll have to use it, doesn't mean it shouldn't be readily available if that doesn't end up being the case.

[ltcol_flyboy]

"You all have your group assignments and remember our primary objective is to capture Drayen alive and to extract Miss Jesbar. Bryce and his team will be taking point, along with Michaels' team; Michaels you'll secure the upper levels, while Bryce, you take the main floor. Ronon, Wes and myself will go in after and head for the basement. The rest of you will break up into your teams and secure the grounds and perimeter. If no one else has any questions or concerns, then we're mission go in..." he checks his watch, "five minutes. Dismissed."

[lt_wes_janson]

As soon as John gives the time, Wes looks down at his own watch to confirm the time. He doesn't actually walk away though, instead he takes a few moments to really study the map and the picture of the asshole they're not supposed to kill. He'd really hate for there to be any unfortunate mistakes.

[ltcol_flyboy]

"I plan on turning it into a dartboard target once we're done," John says, seeing Wes's focus on the picture.

[lt_wes_janson]

"Nice plan, but it would be a hell of a lot more fun to use the real thing."

Of course his government probably wouldn't let him have that kind of fun, but that was beside the point.

[ltcol_flyboy]

"Tell me about it," John agrees. He waves Ronon over, knowing that it helps to at least be introduced to the people on your immediate team. "Not a lot of time for formal introductions, but suffice to say Wes, this is Ronon. Ronon, Wes."

"Hi," Ronon says holding out a hand.

[lt_wes_janson]

Wes looks up at Ronon as he takes his hand and shakes it with just enough pressure to be manly without seeming like he was trying to prove anything. "Hey."

[ltcol_flyboy]

Ronon seems satisfied with Wes, if the fact that he accepts the other man's presence. If Sheppard trusted this guy, then Ronon would trust him until proven otherwise.

John glances at his watch. "I am so ready to do this," he mutters. "Damned waiting."

He turns to the group-at-large and calls out, "Two minutes, let's form up."

[lt_wes_janson]

Wes watches the group for a moment as they go about getting into position. It's a rather bittersweet experience really, and it reminds him of how much he misses his previous life sometimes.

He shakes it off quickly however. There's a mission at hand, and he starts flicking the mental switches in his mind that put him in that mentality.

[ltcol_flyboy]

Right before the two minutes are up, John adds a, "Radio silence from here on out, save for emergencies only."

A quick pause, as he seems to switch to a private radio channel then he;s giving a quick acknowledged, Sheppard out before he closes the line and gives the hand-signal to move out.

He waits for Bryce and Michaels to take point and lead the way as they creep through the trees towards the target estate. He falls in knowing that Ronon's hot on his heels and taking it on faith that Wes is following likewise.

[lt_wes_janson]

Drawing his blaster, purely out of habit, Wes falls in as well. He continually scans the area for possible threats/targets, while making sure to come back to John after every sweep to check for signals.

[mia_j]

Bryce and Michaels lead their teams inside while the others secure the grounds. Most of the guards are taken out quickly and quietly, at least at first. Until one returns fire and alerts the others on his radio. He's taken out quickly, but the damage is done. The other guards begin mobilizing quickly even though it's early morning.

Meanwhile, Mia's been up all night (not by choice), "working" on the encryption matrix, while making sure the data bursts get sent every once in awhile and adjusting things to keep them hidden. That data not only proves her innocence, but tells them where she is, as did her message sent with the first data group. She's as certain as she can be that they're receiving these, but it's been almost 24 hours and nothing's happened. She wonders how kriffing long it can take them to look at the data and realize she's innocent? Or maybe they don't realize. Or maybe they don't care. And maybe no one is coming. Maybe he was right. Maybe they've left her to the wolves now, no matter how much data she sends them.

Whether anyone's coming for her or not, her time is running out since this encryption matrix is supposed to be done soon. And if no one's coming for her, whether because they can't or they won't, she needs to find a way to get out before her job is done and they kill her. She has to keep telling herself to not give up hope. There could be a dozen reasons for delay, right? She knows this. And she knows she needs to give John a chance. Provided John even knows what's... Dear Force. Maybe he's not even aware. She's had these kinds of cheery thoughts running through her head all night, and the exhaustion and lack of food just make things worse.

To top it off, their computer guy is either an early riser or a huge night owl. He did one of his surprise checks on her work and noticed some strange goings on with the servers. She's spent the last while arguing with him and telling him he's reading things wrong.

The computer guy's about to have the two guards in the room summon the main guy, when suddenly the guards' radios go off with the warning that there are intruders and they need backup.

Everyone hears it, including Mia, and everyone freezes. Mia glances casually over at the computer guy, but he's staring at the computer and she can see it all over his face that he realizes instantly what she's really done and what those anomalies were that he's been seeing.

She can hope all she wants that those intruders are the good guys who also believe she's innocent. But she has to act now. The computer guy starts to give the guards orders, but Mia's faster. Fueled by adrenaline and her fight response, which she's been holding back for days, she elbows him in the throat and quickly grabs him to use as a human shield in case those guards decide to fire. Things just got interesting.

[ltcol_flyboy]

The fact that there's little to no resistance as they emerge from the treeline many minutes later means that the advance teams in the tunnels have done their jobs and drawn away most of the guard on the house. Hopefully no casualties resulted in the ruse, and hopefully they managed to arrest a whole lotta people. Their advance through the main gate, up the grounds and in the front door goes unchecked, which is nice for a change.

However, John knows better than to think that this going down without shots being fired is even a remote possibility. No firefight outside simply meant that it was going to be a close-quarters shoot-out, which was more dangerous in many respects. Some moronic thug was going to get trigger happy, and for once the bad guys didn't disappoint him. Once they've been discovered there no reason to maintain radio silence, so John keys his radio and warns the groups outside that they've hit resistance and to keep an eye out for anyone jumping out of windows, coming around from the back or trying to play sniper.

As he, Ronon and Wes cover Bryce's team, they encounter more than a few guards who try to shoot back. John fires to wound before verifying that the assailant isn't their target. Then he administers a kill-shot, where necessary.

As he sidles up to the basement door, Bryce's team provide cover while he motions for Ronon to take point and for Wes to follow while he takes the rear.