Athena: Beijing Mission IC

[Brusia]

OOC

A few hours quietly passed by as the V-44 headed towards its target. As they neared Beijing, Gordon stood up and activated a small holographic display in the center of the craft

"All right" he said "Let's get started" he then pressed a button on the display that brought several skyskrapers into view and pointed at the largest skyskraper in the middle "That, ladies and gentlemen, is the China World Trade Center Tower III: the tallest building in Beijing. Our intel suggests a cloaked alien craft recently set down somewhere inside Beijing, and that a number of aliens disguised as Chinese police officers carried a large object into this building. Naturally, we're worried this object might be a bomb, so our primary objective is to find this object and, if necessary, diffuse it. Stealth will be critical until we find the object, as being detected by the aliens might cause them to detonate the bomb early." Gordon then opened a nearby compartment which contained a number of silencers "If you didn't grab a silencer from the armory I recommend you grab one from here before we touch down." He looked around at the team for a moment then asked "Any questions so far?"

[Generailia]

V-44
Recruit Chris Ackermann

For the first few hours before the briefing began Chris did all he could to keep himself awake. After some time the exhaustion slowly faded away until he felt at least somewhat awake. He still needed to struggle to keep his eyes open every now and then but his current state is little to nothing compared to how he looked when he first entered the V-44.

Chris hardly talked to anyone throughout the slight and instead spent most of his time either day-dreaming or thinking back to random moments in his past to try to get himself ready for whatever was to come once the thing landed. He even decided to check out his ARX of which lay in front of him due to the sling he put onto it. He picked it up and examined it. The laser-sight was still there and after flicking it on then off he noticed it still worked fairly decently. He then lifted the rifle up and looked through it's scope and noticed the red-dot sight he put on the thing still worked. Then he felt the bottom of the rifle where he noticed that the MASS was still there as was everything else on the rifle it seemed. Satisfied Chris gently lay the rifle back in front of him where it lay comfortably ready for him to pick it up whenever he felt like doing so. Then Chris started going back to daydreaming when Gordon stood up and gave them the briefing for the mission.

Once the man finished the briefing by asking if anyone had any questions Chris waited for a bit before he began to carefully unstrap himself from the seat and once he finished he after made his way over to the compartment that the man who Chris figured was their commanding officer opened and after some searching through the compartment the boy was able to find two silencers that looked like they would fit onto both his rifle and his handgun. Once he picked up the silencers he decided to grab a few other just encase he was wrong in assuming that they would fit onto his rifle. Then Chris went back to his seat where he sat down as slowly as he could and placed the rest of the silencers onto his lap where he began attempting to put them onto his rifle. After a few attempts to put the thing on and a few silencers of which didn't fit Chris was able to shove the thing onto his ARX-160. Then Chris pulled out his HK-45T and attempted to put a silencer onto the handgun also after figuring that since he was more familiar with that type of weapon it might have been better for him to have a silencer on it then not. After he put the silencer onto the handgun he struggled a bit with putting the thing back into his holster yet once it was there Chris carefully got up and after making his way back to the compartment he dropped the silencers back into it and made his way back to his seat where he then strapped himself back in.

Once he was back in his seat Chris thought to himself. A fucking stealth mission?! No..not only that but with a damn bomb involved?! Shit! Why couldn't it have just been a run in and run out while occasionally shooting some fucking aliens kind of mission? Why the fuck do they need me here?! Yea I have sneaked around every now and then but nothing this fucking serious and I'm sure as hell I wasn't facing anything that wasn't human. Well fuck..better calm myself down before I damn well start to jump at every fucking shadow. Chris then sat in his seat with worry and fear clearly visible on his face for a bit yet after awhile he was able to calm himself down. Once he did so Chris then silently waited for someone to speak up wither it was to himself or someone else as he attempted to fully calm himself down since he already felt the fear creeping back on him as he waited.

[Vacif]

V-44
PFC. Vince Farkas

For the past few hours, Vince had either been inspecting his equipment, going over the information he knew about the aliens, and their weapons, or simply day dreaming. The seats were comfortable enough for hours of waiting, but just short of sleep inducing. The interior was at the same time more than he expected, and less than he expected in the sense that it had a lot of things like compartments, electronics, and other equipment, but at the same time, felt very bare, and utilitarian.

Vince snapped out of his line of thinking when Gordon spoke up, and went over the mission details. 'A stealth mission? Been a while since I ran a live one...well, I'm sure I'll be fine...' he looked at his weapon. 'Why would they need a grenadier on this mission? In case things got hot, and they needed extra firepower maybe?'. When Gordon finished speaking, a number of others went for the silencers. Vince raised his hand. "Sir, I was not aware the aliens could pose as human beings, I thought they were large blue robots, and short little grey men? Also, have Chinese officials cordoned the area off? No doubt the Chinese must of been notified about our presence?" the PFC asked.

[Pan Asian Amercian Coalition]

Recruit Edgar Allen-Montgomery

The interior of the V-44 was pleasantly warm after a few hours of flight. The waning anxiety of an upcoming mission and the lack of sleep from the day prior made it difficult for Edgar to stay awake for long. Just as he was beginning to doze off, being lulled by the incessant drones of the engines and being kept awake only by his hatred of flying and the gnawing worry of an upcoming mission, he was awoken by the Lieutenant with a briefing.

Edgar's eyes opened wide once they were hit with the bright digital light of the V-44's computer display, which was showing the crystal glass towers of the Chinese world trade center, and focused on the tallest of the of the shown skyscrapers. His ears perked up after his eyes did, so he missed the first few words of the briefing, but was awake enough to hear everything important. Why a rocketeer was needed on a stealth mission was beyond him. From the briefing, it seemed it was probably going to be exclusively infantry-size grays. While he mulled this over after the briefing, he responded to the notion of a quiet mission and stood up to get some silencers for his weapons. He was screwing on the suppressor onto the barrel of his handgun when one of the squaddies asked:

"Sir, I was not aware the aliens could pose as human beings, I thought they were large blue robots, and short little grey men? Also, have Chinese officials cordoned the area off? No doubt the Chinese must of been notified about our presence?"

Good questions. After attaching the silencer to his handgun, he took a rifle silencer and sat down in his seat while he waited for the lieutenant to answer the questions posed before Edgar began asking his own.

[Brusia]

Gordon listened as one of the team members asked a question:

"Sir, I was not aware the aliens could pose as human beings, I thought they were large blue robots, and short little grey men? Also, have Chinese officials cordoned the area off? No doubt the Chinese must of been notified about our presence?" the PFC asked.

"We only just found out they can pose as human beings ourselves. This kind of technology isn't really my field, but my best guess is that they're using some kind of portable holographic projectors to mask their actual appearance; that, or this is some new kind of alien we haven't encountered yet. In either case, this certainly makes our job more difficult. They may have been disguised as Chinese police officers when they entered the building, but we have no way of knowing what they look like now. In answer to your second question, yes the Chinese government has been notified and the area has been cordoned off. The locals believe this is due to a possible "structural instability" in the World Trade Center Tower and that the Tower might be at risk of collapsing, so civilians have been evacuated out of the area as well."

Gordon looked around the craft at the team again, hoping he adequately answered the PFC's question, then continued:

"Does anyone have any other questions?"

[Camicon]

Sergeant Chloe Hath
V-44 Raven, en route to Beijing

Chloe chose to forego adding a silencer to her rifle. If a hostile was too far away from her to line up a shot with her handgun, then it wasn't a shot that should be taken. Silently killing a hostile was all well and good, but the important part was ensuring that no other hostiles were alerted to the kill. In any case, she wasn't about to be setting up in a perch on top of a nearby building while the rest of the team clear the AO; sure, silent kills at long-range had their place, but inside of a building was not one of them. She watched one soldier carry and armful of silencers over to his seat, as he tried to figure out which ones would attach to his handgun and rifle. Either the boy - for he was a boy, she judged by his youthful complexion - was suffering from a complete and utter lack of sleep, or he was horribly inexperienced. Chloe made a mental note to avoid being near or in front of him during the operation, if at all possible. She caught the attention of Sergeant Tine, and nodded in the boy's direction with a look that said "what is he doing here?".

"Do we have any additional tac-lights or laser sights? If power is shut off in the building then it could help our movements about the Trade Tower, and could potentially make it easier to spot alien infiltrators. Their holograms might have trouble adapting to rapidly changing light exposure, or replicating low-light conditions. And do we have a way to check for abnormal infrared or ultraviolet light signatures, or something else that might indicate the presence of an alien hologram? Do the Chinese police have K9 units on hand that we can use to screen individuals at the scene?"

[Vacif]

PFC. Vince Farkas
V-44

Vince made his way over to the bin to grab few silencers for his guns. He debated detaching the grenade launcher, but they may need it, also it was screwed on, and he didn't have a screw driver, so he'd just have to watch where he aimed. He went back, and sat down in front of the kid who had since then screwed on his own silencers. He had struggled a bit, but he managed. Something told him by the end of all this alien stuff, he'd be a fine soldier. While he screwed the assorted silencers onto his guns, he listed in on the sergeant's questions. These were good questions, things to consider. Looking around, he'd noticed the rocketeer, while he wasn't sure why he was there, maybe the man also specialized in other things such as EOD. But considering they were fighting aliens, and dealing with an unknown entity that could be a glorified food processor, he wasn't very sure what a human explosive's expert could do to an alien device. He finished screwing on all 3 silencers, and made sure that they were on there tight with a few firm twists. If they had brought silencers, they probably would of brought these additional gadgets. His mind briefly wandered off to what fancy gear RnD would cook up for them in the future, but quickly banished said thoughts. He was on a serious mission.

[Pan Asian Amercian Coalition]

Recruit Edgar Allen-Montgomery
V-44 Raven, en route to Beijing

Edgar was quietly attempting to screw the suppressor onto his rifle, repeatedly failing to get the threads to mesh in any meaningful way, as his groggy mind tried its hand to think up anything that needed clarification. This boded well for the team; their explosives expert could barely handle the simple task of righty-tighty and lefty-loosey in his current mental condition. After several too many tries, and several curses muttered under frustrated breath, the suppressor finally co-operated and fit snugly on the muzzle of the rifle. A few rotations later, and it was locked in place. Lifting his weary eyes towards the rest of the squad in the dimly lit aircraft as an inquiry had at last flashed across his mind, and he began to open his mouth, but another trooper beat him to the punch.

"Do we have any additional tac-lights or laser sights? If power is shut off in the building then it could help our movements about the Trade Tower, and could potentially make it easier to spot alien infiltrators. Their holograms might have trouble adapting to rapidly changing light exposure, or replicating low-light conditions. And do we have a way to check for abnormal infrared or ultraviolet light signatures, or something else that might indicate the presence of an alien hologram? Do the Chinese police have K9 units on hand that we can use to screen individuals at the scene?"

Well I'll just shut my fucking mouth then Edgar thought to himself as the Sergeant asked her questions. The weariness of travel, plus his admittedly irrational hatred of flying made him rather tense, and ended up setting him a little more on edge than he wanted to be.

Delving deep into his cargo pockets, he retrived something he had taken with him from the barracks vending machines during his first hours at the Ooster base. It was a can of generic brand energy drink, with bright fluorescent labeling that proudly displayed the beverage's quantities of caffeine and guanine and all the various stimulants a weary soldier needs to perk up and stay alert before battle. At this point Edgar didn't care if drinking this would get him into disciplinary trouble, as he needed the boost to get through the upcoming mission. With a smooth, practiced motion, Edgar whipped the can out of his cargo pocket, opened the tab and lifted the bitter elixir to his lips. His head slowly titled back before shooting nearly vertical has he shotgunned the disgusting brew, which he drank with the vigor of one thousand parched fratboys and the loud gulps of particularity thirsty horse.

He finished the entire 8 oz drink in less than twelve seconds, before repeating the process with the smooth, crisp motions of a well oiled machine with a second can. He polished off this can and set the two between his boots and let out a relived sigh, wishing yearnfully for the mission to begin.

[Altito Asmoro]

Lance Corporal Lei Chen
V-44 Raven, en route to Beijing

Lei took a silencer from the cache near them and put it on, both on his sidearm and on his SAW. He never use silencer before on SAW, especially on SAW, so this is new for him. On the other hand, now they are in Beijing, his nation, China. He didn't mentioned it already, about the possibility which his superiors told him by last time they met, that the government of China will probably send in their own team. And this mission will be a lot more dangerous than the already-dangerous mission.

"One question, sir," asked Lei to Gordon. "Is there any possibility that my countrymen, the Chinese, the soldiers will be send to the location too?"

[Socarux]

Patrick checked his equipment, packing it in his pockets in an organized fashion. While patting himself around he found that he still had his satellite phone on him and he dialed the his oldest daughter Sandra's number and wired it to the aircrafts headset. It ringed and she picked up.

"Hello?"
-"Hey buttercup."
"Daddy?"
-"Yeah, its me hun."
"I hear a lot of noise on the line, where are you?"
-"I got called into work hun, I am going to Beijing. I most likely wont be home for a few days."
"Ohh... Ok... you have been acting strange lately dad, its not like you to be so weird. You usually tell us weeks ahead of time before you go on a trip. Also the sudden move and long hours. Coriolanus, Thor, Freya, and Alexa have all been crying. They miss you already."
-"I know Sandy, and I am sorry. Be good, take care of your little brothers and sisters, and please put me on speaker now."
"Ok, your on speaker."
/all "Daddy!"
-"Sandra's in charge, listen to the staff and behave."
/all "Yes, dad...."
-"I love you all."
(Sobs)
"We love you too daddy."
[End of call]

With that Patrick grabbed a photo of his kids and briefly fell asleep. When he came to, the briefing had just started. He paid close attention to the brief and quickly got himself silencers for guns that he had not already had them for. While he had waited in line, he looked around and saw some people who where practically asleep and as soon as he obtained and screwed on his silencers and screwed them on he went to the aid kit in the cockpit and came back holding a medicine container. He stared at the man glared at the man drinking energy drinks like a monster and turned to the recruit placing it on his lap. "Here kid, this is Dextroamphetamine, pilots use this all the time for long, missions, so does special forces in the states. Take one pass it on to the next sleep deprived person you see, pass it back to the pilots when your done."

He then strapped himself back in and asked the CO, "Sir, whats our strategy? I think we should have a four man infiltration team, supported by a two man team keeping distance to allow us to Exfil in case the situation goes south. I also think we should have another two man team in an overwatch role." He grunted and then asked, "What is the Exo's current known strategies and combat effectiveness. I personally don't know the mistakes made by previous teams, but I want to know what those mistakes where to try and not make them myself." He pointed to his Chinese squaddie and said, "I would also be interested in knowing that good mans question about his countrymen as it could be difficult for us otherwise."

[Tiltjuice]

Sergeant Tine Lorenzen
V-44 Raven

Standing, Tine secured for herself a silencer each for her rifle and pistol, tucking them away in a pocket of her cargo pants. The aliens had trapped themselves in a fixed point; strictly speaking, the extra equipment wasn't needed. Inside a building, however, sound tended to reverberate, and she opted to spare her ears as much as she could. Making a mental note to sweet-talk the quartermaster for some earplugs for herself and anyone else who wanted some, she resumed her seat.

As she affixed the long metal tubes, she caught Sergeant Hath's look of consternation. Tipping up one shoulder in an answering shrug, she sat back and listened to the others pose their questions to the lieutenant. It seemed likely that Beijing SWAT would be responding, since the Chinese government was aware something was happening. If she had to wager, though, she felt the Communists would think of a local revolt by a police commander who'd gone off his rocker before widening their imaginations to include extraterrestrial invasion.

"I have a question as well, actually. Do we know how many of the aliens there are? The more of them there are, the more likely the Chinese will respond in greater force. Will we be able to coordinate with them, or are we expected to work around them?"

Both Chloe and the last man to speak up, whose name she didn't know, had good points, and Tine was beginning to feel more comfortable at least with them.

Still, watch your back, Kristine.

[Tiltjuice]

"Beijing SWAT is on scene, having established a perimeter. Beyond them on scene, there are regular Chinese police in uniform keeping order and making sure members of the press aren't around. There aren't yet K9 units at the Trade Tower, but I'm told they'll be available for us if we ask, along with camera-equipped Cornershots, which will probably have IR or UV modes. There won't be any communication difficulty with the SWAT officers as most of them speak English, but LCpl. Chen might have to interpret for others. They've also agreed to cut the power if we need it."

Gordon took stock again of the strike team's members. Socarux and Ackermann for infantry. Farkas and Allen-Montgomery to use and handle explosives. Chen had a heavy weapon and Hath and Lorenzen would be the quickest in and out.

"No word yet on the exos' tactics. These went into the building with their unknown object. Two of them apparently came outside at one point and exchanged energy weapon fire with the SWAT perimeter force. We have no other word on their number other than they are more than 6. As for our own, we'll be making landfall at Beijing International - how long?" he addressed this last to the pilot, who held up his left hand.

" - Five minutes. We'll be going in via subway, direct into the World Trade Center stop. The station's 'A' exit is also sealed off by Beijing SWAT, and we'll meet them there to get any other equipment you all feel necessary. Based on Sgt. Socarux's suggestion, what makes sense is to have Hath, Socarux, Ackermann and myself as our infiltrators. Lorenzen, you and Chen keep on overwatch and coordinate with the locals. Farkas and Allen-Montgomery, as our explosives team, you'll be our QRF if things go south. You'll also disarm if we confirm the aliens brought in an explosive, and the infiltration team have cleared out the building enough."

Gordon closed the briefing as the X-44 touched down on the tarmac and handed out maps to the team. As they left the craft, an idling bus right outside the exit met their eyes. The driver waved at them in a "hurry up, please" gesture and greeted Chen in Mandarin, asking him what he was doing with a bunch of foreigners.

[Altito Asmoro]

"Beijing SWAT is on scene, having established a perimeter. Beyond them on scene, there are regular Chinese police in uniform keeping order and making sure members of the press aren't around. There aren't yet K9 units at the Trade Tower, but I'm told they'll be available for us if we ask, along with camera-equipped Cornershots, which will probably have IR or UV modes. There won't be any communication difficulty with the SWAT officers as most of them speak English, but LCpl. Chen might have to interpret for others. They've also agreed to cut the power if we need it."

Gordon took stock again of the strike team's members. Socarux and Ackermann for infantry. Farkas and Allen-Montgomery to use and handle explosives. Chen had a heavy weapon and Hath and Lorenzen would be the quickest in and out.

"No word yet on the exos' tactics. These went into the building with their unknown object. Two of them apparently came outside at one point and exchanged energy weapon fire with the SWAT perimeter force. We have no other word on their number other than they are more than 6. As for our own, we'll be making landfall at Beijing International - how long?" he addressed this last to the pilot, who held up his left hand.

" - Five minutes. We'll be going in via subway, direct into the World Trade Center stop. The station's 'A' exit is also sealed off by Beijing SWAT, and we'll meet them there to get any other equipment you all feel necessary. Based on Sgt. Socarux's suggestion, what makes sense is to have Hath, Socarux, Ackermann and myself as our infiltrators. Lorenzen, you and Chen keep on overwatch and coordinate with the locals. Farkas and Allen-Montgomery, as our explosives team, you'll be our QRF if things go south. You'll also disarm if we confirm the aliens brought in an explosive, and the infiltration team have cleared out the building enough."

Gordon closed the briefing as the X-44 touched down on the tarmac and handed out maps to the team. As they left the craft, an idling bus right outside the exit met their eyes. The driver waved at them in a "hurry up, please" gesture and greeted Chen in Mandarin, asking him what he was doing with a bunch of foreigners.

Lance Corporal Lei Chen

The Beijing SWAT had appeared on the ground as well as the police officers. They will be able to provide assistance if the ATHENA soldiers ask. On the other hand, does this means the Chinese has no ulterior motive beside extending their hands on the ATHENA soldiers as of now. Gordon had ordered for him to overwatch and coordinate with Lorenzen as the rest go inside to try to take the aliens down, this could be fun.

Interpreting the words of Chinese can be trap to the ATHENA as it means he has the possibility to confuse the ATHENA soldiers and giving advantages to the Chinese, but on the other hand he is no longer the soldier at PLA and now a soldier at ATHENA, he's torn between loyalty for his nation and loyalty for the agency.

When they went down, he and Lorenzen are at behind them, and then a driver at a bus asked "What are you doing with a bunch of foreigners here?" and he said, in Mandarin, "There appeared to be some terrorists here, and an international team is asked to take care of this problem," as he went on to follow the rest.

[Camicon]

Sergeant Chloe Hath
V-44 Raven, Beijing

Chloe nodded at Lieutenant Gordon's orders. It seemed a sound strategy: send in a smaller strike team to scout the building (she would be taking point, no doubt), have the explosives experts on stand-by in case they needed a creative exit or to defuse a bomb, leave Lei behind to coordinate with Chinese LEO's, and Tine as backup and support as needed.

"Best to have power cut to that building just before we go in, it'll keep whatever hostiles are in there from acclimating to the dark before we do. And getting those K9 units on standby outside should help keep people calm; locals will be assured the police are doing something, and the police won't be as likely to let their idle hands guide their actions. We don't need friendlies raiding the WTC while we're in there, place'll turn into a shitshow if they do."

When the V-44 touched down, Chloe wasted no time in boarding the waiting bus, noting the suspicious glances the team received by their 'welcoming committee' of police and SWAT officers that were milling about the tarmac. Though she wasn't a pasty-white Caucasian like the rest of the team (excluding Lei), she also wasn't ethnically Chinese; if anything, her vaguely Japanese features seemed to earn her even more hateful glares, despite the Canadian flag emblazoned on her shoulders and back. She hoped none of the Chinese police tried to start something with her, as the outcome would inevitably hurt relations between the PRC and ATHENA, which wouldn't be good for anybody.

[Generailia]

V-44,Beijing
Recruit Chris Ackermann

Chris was silent for most of the ride but throughout the trip he did his best to take in his surroundings and carefully watch the other people in his squad just encase they did anything interesting. Chris could have sworn he was being watched at some random times but by the time he turned in the direction of which he thought the person to be in he noticed nothing out of the ordinary. He did his best to keep himself awake but occasionally he got lost in thought and was brought back to the real world when someone decided to speak up. He was somewhat annoyed by a man who needed to drink some energy drink as if it was his first drink in fucking years but Chris simply shrugged the feelings off being how he believed he had far more important things to worry about. Then some time afterwards a man offered him some odd looking drugs yet as soon as Chris saw them he ignored everything else the man said as he waved his right hand in a motion that made it quiet obvious that he didn't want anything to do with the drug. The main reason why Chris rejected the offer was that he hardly knew the man and he learned in the past that he shouldn't accept odd looking and sounding things from strangers..even if they are your comrades. The boy then kept to himself and simply eavesdropped on whoever spoke up whenever he wasn't daydreaming for the rest of the ride.

When the V-44 touched down and after his role in the mission was given Chris quickly got off the V-44 and some time after his feet touched the ground and he was handed his map Chris let out a somewhat loud yawn as he stretched slightly. Then when he finished he looked around and then noticed one of the people in his squad move onto the bus so Chris silently boarded the bus himself in a slow walk as he decided to take the first seat he saw. Then when Chris sat down he began to daydream just as he did on the V-44 while also doing his best to listen for both someone to speak up and anything that sounded abnormal to him.

[Socarux]

The kid had refused his offer but he didn't mind, after all he wasn't there to push drugs on anyone. When the bird had landed and his boots hit the familiar feeling of asphalt like it had a thousand times before, Patrick could feel that this time it was different. He put the pills in his med pocket as he started walking. He looked around at the bustling city of lights with worry that he was fighting an enemy completely unknown to him. It was foreign, it was alien. What ever it was he has to put his family fist. He will get back, though he was a bit concerned by his unknown foes, he had fought this enemy within many times. From fear grew courage. He saw a squaddie who was getting a lot of stares from the locals so he patted her back and walked next to her to show some support. A bus pulled up and he walked in as if on auto pilot, he heard words but they where garbled as he was pensive about what would be in store for this team.

He sat down in the middle of the bus (wanting to make a bond or two with his new team) and said in an accent that was possibly somewhere from the US but was influenced by a slew of Belgian Dutch mixed with a cuban tang, "Well it seems as if we all have a bit of time before shit gets hot, how bout a quick meet and great? I'll get it rolling, my name is Patrick Socarux, I am both a US citizen and Belgian Citizen. Probably the old fart on the team." He said, the last part in a light chuckle as he awaited their responses.

[Vacif]

Private First Class Vince Farkas
Beijing

Nodding at his orders, Vince pulled up his face guard, and adjusted his goggles. The ramp lowered, and Vince clambered down the ramp. When the bus pulled up, Vince climbed aboard, taking the third seat on the right. While he waited on the bus, he went through the plan one more time, and checked his gear. He didn't want to have to grab the team, only to realize something in his kit wasn't right.

Despite being clad in heavy armor, combined with the humidity of Beijing, and the bus, Vince was relatively cool. He hoped that the mission would go relatively smooth. While he didn't want to be pessimistic, there was one concerning thought about the possibility of a bomb threat. Allen-Montgomery, and him may be trained with explosives, but they were trained with human explosives. They could be taking a large chance, like in Independence Day. There was no way to know if the Alien's mainframe would be compatible with the virus, likewise here, what's to say alien bombs operate on the same basis as human bombs? He sighed, and hoped it just wasn't a bomb. Although if it were a beacon, that'd probably very bad. Less so if it were some kind of transceiver. He let out a small sigh, and waited.

[Pan Asian Amercian Coalition]

Recruit Allen-Montgomery

Edgar sighed a breath of relief once the team touched down. The flight was over, and he could walk away from the landing was just icing on the cake, and his demeanor instantly improved as his boots clacked against the Chinese tarmac. The plan laid out by the Lieutenant was simple, but the simplest plans were easier to un-fuck once things go ploin shaped. He was going to wait with Grenadier Farkas until they were needed, which was either until the bomb was found or the team hit a rough spot and needed a quick exfil. The modus operandi of the QRF was a simple one, to be sure, but an important one.

Six xenos vs seven of the most highly trained, well equipped, motivated and mean S.O.Bs on Earth, not including the police who surrounded the building. Edgar was feeling confident, despite not knowing exactly what he was getting into with this mission. Was it a bomb, or something completely different, a device unknown to human knowledge? Who knew, and hopefully they could bring it back intact.

The stimulants of his energy drinks finally made their presence as he felt his muscles tense and writhe as he strode to the bus under his heavy armor and explosive payload. He could feel the scrutinizing eyes of the Chinese on him, with American flags proudly displayed on his shoulders, but he ignored it. No-one was going to try and start something with this bunch. Edgar found himself a seat in the median between the center and rear of the bus, and eased into as he rested his precious rocket launcher and replacement shells in the seat next to the window.

"Well it seems as if we all have a bit of time before shit gets hot, how bout a quick meet and great? I'll get it rolling, my name is Patrick Socarux, I am both a US citizen and Belgian Citizen. Probably the old fart on the team."

Not a bad idea, considering Edgar only knew the names of the others by overhearing others give them orders and such. Edgar was far from the shy type, but he would wait until the bus started moving before he began.

[Tiltjuice]

Sergeant Tine Lorenzen
Beijing

Tine brought up the rear, feeling somewhat put off by the way the Chinese were scrutinizing each and every member of the team but paying particular attention to Chloe and herself. For the most part they stayed quiet, though one said something in an unpleasant tone as Chloe left earshot and she drew near. That one immediately got barked at by another of the SWAT officers, though whether it was to save face or an actual reprimand Tine had no way of knowing.

The airport shuttle began to swing into motion with a loud rumbling from its diesel engine. Up front, the bus driver occupied himself by chatting up a storm with Lei, or tried to. "Terrorists? Islamic terrorists? Why can we not handle this ourselves and call in so many foreigners? GET OUT OF THE WAY, BAGGAGE HANDLER!" The vehicle swerved abruptly, pushing everyone back into their seats as the driver leaned down on the horn, even though the baggage handler was far back in the distance, half-hidden by the cloud of diesel exhaust. She saw Gordon throw a hasty worried look at Allen-Montgomery's rocket shells and tensed. Blowing up on the way to the site wasn't what she had in mind at all. Was there a reason Beijing SWAT hadn't sent over one of their transports and given them an airport bus instead?

Deciding that continuing with the introductions as if nothing had happened was best, she cleared her throat. "Tine Lorenzen, from Denmark," she said, giving her preferred shortened name, and then turned to look at her new teammates to better remember their names and faces.

[Vacif]

Private First Class Vince Farkas
Beijing, Bus en route to China World Trade Center

After letting go of the seat fabric, Vince eased himself out of his seat to meet his squad mates. As a show of common courtesy, he pulled down his mask, adn pulled up his goggles to show his face to the others. "Vince Farkas, Private, First, Hungarian Ground Forces. I'll be your grenadier for the duration of this mission." he said through his medium-thickness accent. He looked around to get a good look at who was fighting at his side. Like he'd done before, he placed the facial obscurities back into position, covering his face again. The bus shook slightly, so he lowered himself back into his seat slightly.

[Generailia]

Beijing
Recruit Chris Ackermann

Chris thought that the Patrick's idea for introductions was a fairly decent one so when he gave his name Chris leaned out of the seat slightly in order to get a better look at the man's face. But when the bus started moving Chris was caught off guard and nearly fell out of his seat. But the kid was able to catch himself in time as he laid back into his seat and went back to listening for any new introductions when he heard two people speak up.

Then after doing his best to remember their faces as they spoke Chris took off his own helmet when they finished and said simply in his still somewhat slow and tired sounding voice. "I'm Chris Ackerman from the U.S and if you give a shit about which state I'm from then feel free to ask. But I'm sure it's really fucking obvious that I'm a Recruit since I made an ass of myself already. Sorry if I pissed you guys off earlier by the way. It's honestly been a really damn weird time for me so far. Oh shit..sorry about getting a little carried away there. I'll shut up now." Chris then put back on his helmet and then sank deeper into his seat. Once he was comfortable he decided to listen in for any new introductions or anything at all really that he would find to be worth his attention.

[Tiltjuice]

The rest of the bus ride passed in relative silence, the driver having given up badgering Lei. At the end, the man tried to hand the team surgical masks from a box on the bus' dashboard, against Beijing's notorious pollution. The waiting policemen, however, gave him little time and moved the team along. Courteously, but still with little ceremony: "Please follow us to the subway station."

The station had been evacuated for the team's use, as well; all that greeted them were bare white walls, the glinting lights of electronic displays and billboard ads, the echoes of their own boots, and some curt-sounding Mandarin dialogue. It was an eerie feeling for a city with Beijing's population, and the complete lack of tourists at the airport's subway stop spoke volumes about the efficiency and power of the Chinese government. Two groups of black-clad SWAT officers were escorting them now, one in front, one in back. Gordon glanced sideways at Lei, hoping he could or would mention what was being said, but it was only orders to keep focused and ignore any perceived insult by having foreigners deal with "terrorists" on Chinese soil.

"We will need to change trains," one of the officers in the lead group said, turning back to address Gordon. "Once your team is in the World Trade Center station, we will give the command to stop power. The dog handlers have also arrived. It will be no more than 15 minutes to arrive."

Both legs of the trip passed swiftly, as promised. At the other end, both groups of policemen now led the team up escalators to emerge at a barricade manned by a dog handling team. The K9s sniffed curiously at the troopers, but otherwise didn't react. As they passed through the checkpoint, two tables lined with fiber-optic cameras and Cornershots came into view.

"Use what you need, but please return it when done. Our supply officers would not like it and I think you know how that is," the SWAT spokesman said again, with a dry tone.

"That happens everywhere," Gordon agreed, and then nodded to the others to pick up any of the equipment they thought useful.

"Don't worry too much," Tine said to Chris. "We'll be in and out, and then we can clear our heads back at base." It was a weak response, but all that she could muster for the time being. Hoping he didn't take it the wrong way, she stepped back and alongside Lei. When ready, they would move off to the police's command unit outside.

[Altito Asmoro]

Sergeant Tine Lorenzen
Beijing

Tine brought up the rear, feeling somewhat put off by the way the Chinese were scrutinizing each and every member of the team but paying particular attention to Chloe and herself. For the most part they stayed quiet, though one said something in an unpleasant tone as Chloe left earshot and she drew near. That one immediately got barked at by another of the SWAT officers, though whether it was to save face or an actual reprimand Tine had no way of knowing.

The airport shuttle began to swing into motion with a loud rumbling from its diesel engine. Up front, the bus driver occupied himself by chatting up a storm with Lei, or tried to. "Terrorists? Islamic terrorists? Why can we not handle this ourselves and call in so many foreigners? GET OUT OF THE WAY, BAGGAGE HANDLER!" The vehicle swerved abruptly, pushing everyone back into their seats as the driver leaned down on the horn, even though the baggage handler was far back in the distance, half-hidden by the cloud of diesel exhaust. She saw Gordon throw a hasty worried look at Allen-Montgomery's rocket shells and tensed. Blowing up on the way to the site wasn't what she had in mind at all. Was there a reason Beijing SWAT hadn't sent over one of their transports and given them an airport bus instead?

Deciding that continuing with the introductions as if nothing had happened was best, she cleared her throat. "Tine Lorenzen, from Denmark," she said, giving her preferred shortened name, and then turned to look at her new teammates to better remember their names and faces.

Lance Corporal Lei Chen
Beijing

"Well, the government didn't wanted to sacrificed the Chinese, and so we just have to let the foreigners like them killed." said Lei to the driver. What he said was actually a lie, but in truth, that's exactly what his superior told him when he was selected to be part of ATHENA and then he asked of the chance of them participated in the battle if the aliens came to China, and the exact words he said earlier was said by his officer.

After that, Lei decided to not told Chloe about what the officer said earlier, it's too harsh.

"Don't worry too much," Tine said to Chris. "We'll be in and out, and then we can clear our heads back at base." It was a weak response, but all that she could muster for the time being. Hoping he didn't take it the wrong way, she stepped back and alongside Lei. When ready, they would move off to the police's command unit outside.

"Don't say something that is should not be said, Sergeant Tine. We don't know who's allies and who's enemies when we are here in China. The government doesn't act nice here." whispered by Lei to Tine.

[Pan Asian Amercian Coalition]

Recruit Allen-Montgomery

It was going to be difficult to constantly run in this barely recognizable Beijing atmosphere, where it seemed smog had replaced nitrogen as the primary component of air. Edgar chuckled to himself at a mildly amusing thought, and then promptly began coughing loudly as his lungs staunchly refused the foul air. He lacked time on the bus and on the trains to properly introduce himself to the squad with the hustle, but there would be time for that later. Now was time to send ET his bomb or whatever packing back to mars. Quietly hoping that this mission went quick and quiet, he walked over to Sergeant Tine with an inquiry. Edgar understood he was on the QRF, but he was unlike these special forces types, he needed instructions. Plus, he was new, as were they, and his barely perceptible nervousness prevented him from thinking as clearly as he wanted to.

"Sergeant Tine, Ma'am" he said after Lei had finished whispering something to her "I was wondering what about the specifics of my assignment. Just what exactly am I supposed to do, Ma'am?"

[Socarux]

He saw many fine warriors clad with weapon and armor in the bus around himself. He nodded each one introduced themselves, taking note to remember their faces. He ignored the cries of the driver who apparently was bad at his job, but hey what can you expect from a bus driver? With the ride over he grabbed a mask and put it on. (He really wants to live as long as possible.) The way to the CC was dull and mildly uncomfortable. Upon hearing of the power to be cut, he responded out of turn "It may be best to keep someone on standby in regards to that switch. We should also increase water pressure inside that building to 150% to make us some noise until then maybe even better if we can leave minimal power on and maybe give ourselves more of an environmental advantage." He stared silently and grinned sheepishly when he heard about the supplies, "What supplies exactly has your most generous government have available for us exactly?"