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From:	Mike Goldberg <michael.goldberg@*******.COM>
Subject:	A waking nightmare
Date:	Fri, 19 Sep 1997 00:39:02 MST

Message no. 1 ***** Internal: Croaker's Log
>>>>[ Let's hear it for the small blessings: War hasn't declared me
as his personal enemy; I get paid for doing drek like this; and
hell, I'm even still alive (although my head is still trying to tell
me otherwise).

Unfortunately, the babe scenery is migrating toward better pastures
in a matter of days if not hours. A double bad (at least for me) is
that Geiger wants to hire Jester. This will make my role less needed
because he will have (assuming Jester says 'yes') better talent in my
two fields of expertise: drones and decking. At least I have you, O
most quiet Log. Wait a sec -- that amounts to a bunch of 1's and
0's, doesn't it? Oh well, perhaps Geiger won't fire me once he
figures out that he has better talent. Oh! I know! I still have my
looks! Nobody but Geiger's going to top me there ... although Jester
does come near to me in that department. Sigh. I hope appearances
do count for something with Geiger.

I wasn't supposed to keep any records of this run, but wtf, I can
still describe what the hell happened. I would have to say this
group was more than a little mercenary combat experience heavy. You
had the former Legion members: War, Doomsday, Whirlwind, and
Midnight. You had the current blood of Legion members: Squall,
Chains, Moth, Reaper, Mom, Hanged, and Whipped. You had the former
pointman for the Wildcats, Shadowfox, who has also lead plenty of
mercenary action. You had Griffyn and Phoenix who I suspect have
gone through FRT security training, plus years of running experience.
You have Quinn who is British military, as well as Famine who I
suspect was British military also. And then there is always Death.

The grouping of the minds, which Geiger so-kindly provided me with a
vivid image that made it all crystal-clear to me, came up with a
beauty of a battle plan. Unlike the last one we tried to pull off,
this one actually worked -- well more or less at any rate.

Unfortunately, it didn't get us all out alive. Jester commented
afterwards, "Well if it was worth doing, then it was worth dying
for." I'm not sure I agree, but then again, what he stated after
that was something I couldn't even comprehend enough to write down.
Maybe I would agree with him if I understood it at least in part what
he said. Sigh.

We pulled the hit at the ungodly hour of 5am. Security detail on the
castle had me already tired from the previous night, but that didn't
stop us. Beforehand, Midnight gave a full Latin benediction in the
castle's chapel. The chapel had been previously repaired and cleaned
up by Midnight and War (when War showed up) in their spare moments.
Midnight encouraged everyone to be present. From what I understand,
the Legion takes 'before heavy combat' praying very seriously.
Midnight does have a beautiful voice, and was deeply sincere in his
prayers. After the Latin benedictions (of which I understood
nothing), Midnight lead the same service in English. I think he
really wanted everyone present to understand the words he was saying.

Before we entered the targeted combat zone, Midnight gave a small
prep talk. I wish I had a recording of it because it actually made
me feel peaceful and ready to brave the approaching storm with
excitement instead of dread. At least for me, that is no small feat.

The beginning of the plan went perfectly. Wrecker used a remote
controlled van to crash the gates. (The van was prepared by myself
and Doc as added surprise.) The tires worked perfectly in taking out
the spikes. Wrecker then rolled the van into the house. It absorbed
a lot of gunfire before coming to rest. Right as it came to a stop,
Wrecker detonated the van - blowing a huge hole in the wall. Keys
and Squall then brought in Alpha and Gamma teams respectively.

Alpha team was Griffyn, Easy, Doomsday, Whirlwind, Quinn, Gunner,
Geiger, Chains, Moth, Reaper, and Mom. Gamma team was Midnight,
Death, War, Shadowfox, and FireWraith. They faked going for the hole
in the mansion and then flooded it with a special Geiger brand of
tear gas. After a few moments before the gas would disburse,
FireWriath ignited it, frying several security personnel.

Meanwhile, both teams purposely headed toward the front doors.
Famine leveled the doors with an explosive grenade. The guards were
just preparing to attempt a flanking maneuver when Wrecker showed up
delivering Beta team (Blitzkrieg, Phoenix, Famine, Pestilence,
Geiger, Hanged, and Whipped). The flanking maneuver completely fell
apart under the watchers and illusional onslaught provided by
Phoenix, Pestilence, and Geiger. It didn't hurt that they backed the
magical distractions with a righteous amount of holy black rain.

The remains of the front door were finally taken out by a steamroller
named "Doomsday." Whirlwind then hit the entryway a fraction of a
second later, and together they laid down a suppression fire that
allowed the teams to enter. They only held the entryway long enough
for Beta team to catch up. FireWraith and Beta team pulled a
disappearing act right after entering the building.

At this point, the drone wave arrived. We (Trax, Puppet, and myself)
had several suicide drones prepped and we remotely denoted about a
third of them We then brought in our main drones and multiplied the
chaos. At this point, a helicopter started trying to approach. I
sent some of the suicide drones to deal with it. I ended up
detonating two by its rotor because we could not have reinforcements
coming. The helicopter went down hard. Oops, I felt so bad about
those poor defenseless drones! It was the biggest waste of real
talent that I've seen to date.

Oh well. By the time I caught up with the group again, they had
already made it (losing Whipped and Chains in the process) to the
basement. Some of the security was hiding behind a door, so
naturally, Doomsday decided to take them out. To do that, Doomsday
charged it (poor door, I salute you for trying to defeat impossible
odds) and proceeded to get into a fist fight with security
afterwards. It didn't last too long, but then again, bone lacing
seems to do that.

The penetration teams, meanwhile, got to the security command center,
as hostile reinforcements from all over the house raced to the
center's aid. Fortunately, our enemies got seriously distracted by
the mother of bad timing. Gamma (and Beta) team decided it was time
to go rescue the hostage and broke toward their destination. That
caused the enemy to pause, which was not good considering War was
leading the way. At the same time, Mom got himself killed saving
Moth. Moth then went ballistic screaming, "MOM! NOO!! THEY KILLED
MY MOTHER!! THOSE FRAGGERS!!" Alas, he went down pretty hard-core
after that -- but he went in serious style. Griffyn wisely used that
moment to decide it was time to look for kitty toys among the enemy.

As Griffyn was devastating the enemy on one front, Gamma and Beta
teams split up. Beta headed for the prisoner, while Gamma doubled
back on the enemy. Between Griffyn, Gamma team, and some magic from
Quinn, the major fight for the basement ended. Gamma team and Alpha
team mopped up there, and Gamma headed back toward the first floor,
as Alpha team prepared to buy Beta team some time in case another
wave came.

Beta team, thanks to Gamma (and themselves) didn't have too much to
clean up before getting to the target area. Famine and Geiger went
immediately to work on the bomb that was so conveniently placed to
encourage the prisoner to stay put. Pestilence began healing
Nightmare (which involved Nightmare throwing up a lot). The rest
guarded the one way in the room. To be extra safe, I stuck one of my
suicide drones in the air duct. (I warned Famine so we didn't have
the small inconvenience that was made last time.) They disarmed the
bomb about the same time that Pestilence got Nightmare into moveable
shape. Geiger supported Pestilence, and Blitzkrieg half carried --
half dragged his older half-brother out.

Meanwhile, Gamma team inadvertently (yeah, right) got in the way of
Sentinel. FireWraith found him first, and paid for it. Death and
Midnight were too late to save her from being banished (I think...
not really sure). Death and Midnight managed to catch Sentinel in a
crossfire and were wearing him down. Unfortunately, Death screwed up
when he got hit by a bullet in the shoulder. Instead of continuing
to pound Sentinel, he accidentally hit the already besieged Midnight
with a spell. Midnight went down hard. Shadowfox and War just got
back to the room at that point and opened fire on the slowly
retreating Sentinel. Death quickly caught off the Sentinel's escape
route, and then War surprised Sentinel and proceeded to cut his
midsection open viciously with one of his dikoted daggers. Sentinel
tried to resist, but War just pinned him up on the wall like a play
toy, using his knives as nails. I had never seen a live crucifixion
before. I now realize how scary War can be when properly motivated.
Death wanted to leave him to suffer, but decided to end it as they
heard more guards coming. Death slit the Sentinel's throat after
casting a spell on his katana and shouting something that wasn't
understandable. I'm pretty sure it had to do with revenge, but I
could be wrong. The guy died quickly because he was already low on
blood. (I can't imagine why. *roll eyes*) They retreated with
Shadowfox carrying Midnight away.

As Shadowfox and War tried to convince the enemy to go a different
direction, Death (after some moments of hesitation) healed Midnight
enough that he could move without hampering the others. Then after
giving them a few more moments to contemplate War's work (and the
gunmanship of War and Shadowfox), Death called out offering them
temporary peace. "I'll offer you this since your employer had an
unfortunate encounter with the wall! Leave this estate now, you get
to live! Stay longer, and ever single one of you will end up like
him! You got two minutes." Death then brought up a barrier so that
they would have warning if they didn't accept.

They thought about it and they thought about how efficiently we took
out the security center despite being seriously outnumbered (and not
having the element of surprise) and bolted. After Midnight,
Pestilence, Blitzkrieg, and Nightmare were evacuated. Shadowfox lead
a sweep through the whole house. Declaring it safe, they called in
the authorities (after taking down the Sentinel's body) and went
home. Midnight, while not happy, will live, although Pestilence said
he is probably in a worse state than Nightmare!

Shadowfox hasn't said to the group what happened to Midnight, and I
don't think I'm about to either. I warned Puppet and Trax not to
pursue it unless they took it up with Shadowfox first because of the
potentially bad politics that could result. Death and War left soon
after arriving at the Castle again. Famine and Pestilence will
probably stay only long enough to heal the injured.

The remaining Legion members said a prayer after the combat, and are
on the first available plane back to UCAS (after burying their
comrades).

We won. I think we've made the press already, but not as ourselves.
And as usual, we don't have any questions truly answered, but what
the frag ... we won. ]<<<<<
-- Croaker <06:43:19/20-SEP-58>

From:	"Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject:	Re: A waking nightmare
Date:	Fri, 19 Sep 1997 17:52:36 +0100

Message no. 2 *****PRIVATE: Charles Pendleton
>>>>>[My camera had a close encounter with something hard during the
action, but when I asked Easy let me have her footage instead. Hope it's
good enough.

+++++begin video
Easy is loading the extended magazines for her Beretta 92s, checking
each 9mm hollowpoint before she slots it into the clip: twenty-five per
clip, and a hefty stack of the black-steel magazines sit beside her. It
seems she doesn't underestimate her ammunition consumption.

She looks up as Quinn walks in, carrying a heavy holdall which she sets
down on the bed that is serving as temporary armoury. Beside the hunting
rifles and shotguns (some illegally shortened, but nobody's checking
here) the Coyote shaman begins to lay out altogether sleeker and
deadlier weapons: six HK227S submachineguns, stocks folded, smartgun
adaptors mounted above the breech and flashlights below the thick
muzzles.

"Merry Christmas! Or happy birthday! Whichever." Quinn says cheerfully,
as she checks each weapon's breech is clear and fires off the action
before placing them in a neat row. "When is your birthday anyway, Easy?"

"I have no idea." The Elven samurai shrugs. "Where did you get those?"
Phoenix wanders into the room and raises an eyebrow at the new weapons.

"If anyone asks, they were a gift from Renraku's Red Samurai down in
Reading." The submachineguns laid out, Quinn begins bringing out
magazines: six per weapon. Slings, cleaning kits, and two brown metal
boxes (whose yellow stencils read "CARTRIDGES FOR WEAPONS - 9MM SUBSONIC
- 600 ROUNDS" beside the diamond-shaped 'Safety Explosive 1.4S" label)
follow.

"Quite a gift. Your friends in MI5 again?" Phoenix asks.

"Of course not. Her Majesty's Government doesn't even know we're here."
Quinn grins. "But they are grateful for the assistance." She adds two
old ARWEN grenade launchers to the row, and a case of concussion
grenades.

+++++sequence removed for brevity

Easy is falling out of the van even before it's stopped.

Hitting the ground with bone-breaking force and rolling upright, the
HK227S protectively cradled in her arms. The crackle of gunfire ahead of
her seems to be shooting another vehicle into Emmenthal cheese, before
it explodes in a blinding pulse of light that overloads the low-light on
the samurai's camera.

Crabbing sideways in a crouching run towards the flame and smoke, Easy
fires short bursts at the flickering muzzle flashes in the castle
windows. The exploding van has blown a large hole in the wall: either a
massive charge, or a faux castle, you whimsically note, and Easy and the
rest of her team seem to be making their way for it.

Somewhere to her side you hear the popping sound of grenade launchers
rapid-firing, and the coughing thuds of gas grenades exploding. White
tendrils of smoke drift out of the rubble-lined hole before blasting
into flame, and half the ground-floor windows explode.

"Jesus H!" Easy mutters, glancing at the small LED to check the HK's
magazine before reversing her movement, heading for the main doors at a
run. She's still twenty yards short when the heavy nail-studded wooden
doors shudder in a smoky cloud of fire, and a second later - Easy
emptying the HK through a window at a moving blur - a huge Troll crashes
into them, shattering them asunder.

The Elf changes magazines, not bothering to retrieve the empty clip, and
follows: passing Whirlwind who is covering Doomsday's dive for cover,
firing down the hallway. Easy finds an alcove by the coat-rack and
shoots a silhouette at the top of the grand stairway, a howl of pain
answering the short burst.

She maintains a steady cover fire, as camouflaged figures pass the
periphery of the camera's vision: after a pause she follows them,
backing along the hallway with the HK227 still aimed towards the threat
(tripping over a body in Legion camo, without sparing it a glance) and
is the last person through the cellar door, bracing herself behind its
remnants as gunfire and screams drift up from below.

Seconds pass - she takes a moment to change magazines - before she leans
out and shoots into half-a-dozen running figures, knocking several back
before return fire drives her down the stairs. Someone empties a
magazine blindly around the corner, missing high, and Easy blows plaster
out of the wall as the shooter retreats.

A cacophony of gunfire from above and Easy takes the split-second to
check her target as it thunders down the stairs; holding fire as
Shadowfox passes her, followed by more of Gamma and Beta team, the last
few - Midnight and Death - covering the retreat from the head of the
stairs, Easy moving back up to join them. As Death steps back to reload,
Easy takes his place, the camera jammed against the wall as she exposes
as little of herself as possible to fire around the angle.

"You got it?" Midnight asks conversationally.

"Give me two mags and go," Easy replies, firing a long burst from the
suppressed SMG. She is suddenly alone, trading shots down the passage to
an accompaniment of firefight noise from below: turning to cover the
entrance hall as someone runs down the stairs into a burst of her 9mm
subsonics, turning back to finish the magazine into the smoke behind
her. A voice from below calls "Moving!"

Breaking cover as she sprays fast single shots, you see a shutterclick
images of armed men falling back, smoke and dust, before she's aided by
another shooter in the cellar doorway, as the exodus from the basement
begins, Beta and Gamma team fighting their way up the stairways as Easy
covers their movement with heavy, well-aimed fire.

Quinn joins her, firing two shots from her SPAS-22 and blasting fist-
size holes in the the expensive synthiwood panelling, while the Elf
changes magazines. "Having fun?"

"Running out of ammo."

"All I could get. Sorry." Quinn shrugs, firing four more shots before
twisting back to shove Eley Magnum #4 Shot into the magazine of the
Franchi, Easy letting the SMG fall on its sling as she draws her Beretta
automatics and directs a fusillade at a flicker of movement.

"We win down there?"

"Yeah. Can you hold them?"

"As long as you guys watch my back." Easy takes a split-second to aim,
fires one shot, is rewarded with a gurgling scream of agony.

Quinn cocks the shotgun, thumbs one last round into the breech. "Count
on it. Take care." And she's gone, firing as she retreats.

The carpet is burning, and choking black smoke is filling the corridor.
Easy ceases fire as she loses her targets, holstering one pistol and
reaching back over one shoulder -

Bullets snap past her and you hear running feet, and she presses into
the alcove; pausing a moment before slashing out with the katana in her
right hand, a howl of pain rewarding her as she fires two shots point-
blank into an Ork's face before charging past the fallen attackers. No
war-cry, no noise, just the faint clicking of her bootheels on the
threadbare carpeting as she sprints through the smoke-

She's suddenly amidst the enemy, and she has the luxury of knowing that
everything except her is hostile: they know there's one Easy and many
friendlies, and amidst the billowing black smoke they have no time to
tell friend from foe. Easy butchers half-a-dozen enemies in as many
seconds, before retreating back to her alcove.

The samurai is changing the magazine in her pistol as Death's voice
booms out, echoing through the house. "I'll offer you this since your
employer had an unfortunate encounter with the wall! Leave this estate
now, you get to live! Stay longer, and every single one of you will end
up like him! You got two minutes!"

There is a long and tense silence.

The silence persists, broken only by the sounds of bodies being dragged,
the cries of the wounded, and the noise of a hasty retreat.

Easy holds her position, the katana held low by her side and the pistol
covering the smoke-choked corridor. Shadowfox takes position opposite,
in the cellar doorway: HK227S also covering the threat. "You okay?
You're bleeding."

"Nothing I can't cope with. You?"

"We won. Pulling out." Shadowfox jerks his head. "I'll cover, move."
Easy retreats to the bottom of the stairs.

+++++memory exhausted
+++++begin new cassette

Outside the castle, dawn is breaking: it looks like it's going to be a
beautiful day.

The group has dispersed somewhat, whether from choice or the request of
the armed police and soldiers is uncertain. They aren't under arrest, if
the fact they're all still armed is anything to go by.

In the distance, the flashing blue lights of the emergency services can
be seen, stopped some distance back up the road. Ambulance teams are
moving wounded out, but the main other presence are half-a-dozen police
in black fatigues and body armour armed with a mix of IWS carbines and
Steyr sniper rifles - and nearly twenty soldiers in DPM fatigues and
sand-coloured berets. Quinn - dressed similarly except for the beret,
hers being a deep red - is conversing animatedly with one of them.

Easy limps out of the house, as one of the police marksmen walks over to
her. "Miss? Could I take that weapon?"

"Which one?" she asks.

"The smudge, Never saw the others." The policeman - a bearded man with a
friendly smile and a West Country accent - watches as Easy removes the
empty magazine from the HK227S, shows him the clear breech and hands it
to him. He has two others already slung over his shoulder, and adds the
Elf's SMG to his collection.

"How'd it look from outside?"

"Don't know, miss. We were grabbing the ones that legged it. Sounded
lively, though." The police officer moves off to relieve Midnight of his
SMG too, and Easy joins Quinn.

Up close, the soldier's cap badge can be seen: a winged dagger, point-
down, with a ribbon motto around it. She and Quinn break off from their
debate - something about "STABs stomping the Arabs during Ground Hog
Nine" - as the samurai approaches.

"How's the arm?" Quinn asks.

"Functional." Easy flexes it - the sleeve of her camo jacket is bloodied
and torn, but the blood is drying. "Thanks."

"Think nothing of it." Quinn sounds her usual manic self, though her
eyes are circled dark and her face is pale and waxy. "Easy, meet
Lieutenant Jane Schirrmacher of the Hereford Rifles. Jane, Elizabeth
Christine, better known as Easy."

"Hereford Rifles?" Easy asks sardonically.

"Sports and social club." Schirrmacher clarifies with a grin. "Chapter
22. You lot with Five?"

"You must know Pendleton by now." Quinn chuckles. "We have nothing
whatsoever to do. We are dread SAS assassins. Or that's what the media
will say by midday."

"Speaking of which, we're going to be knee-deep in news crews in about
five minutes." Schirrmacher says, "and your ride out is arriving. Nice
seeing you again, Suzy, probably kick your teeth in next time at
STANTA." The sound of rotor blades is growing, and an Army Air Corps
Kestrel buttonhooks in for a neat landing. The other team members are
converging on it: some walking, some being helped, a few being carried
on stretchers. Some of the stretcher cases are in black zipper bags.

"What about the rest of their kit?" Quinn asks.

"We'll forward it to Brize Norton and ship it back to the States."
Schirrmacher shrugs. "You, the gear, this, never happened. You know the
drill."

Quinn nods and motions to Easy: both of them jog to the helicopter's
open side door through the rotor downwash, Phoenix helping Quinn inside
and Griffyn offering Easy his hand to help her up. The loadmaster slams
and dogs the hatch, as the Kestrel lifts clear of the ground.

Inside, the group are in various stages of exhaustion. Nobody speaks:
several are already sleeping.
+++++end video

The Sports and Social were there when we got out, and the local
constabulary were holding the press at bay. We got out without leaks.

Good enough.]<<<<<
-- The Mighty Quinn <17:47:41/09-19-58>

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