Mission 1

[dakota]

Ramirez shrugged," My gear's packed in the hold, just in case, but I learned my first tour in the sand box that you use what you have until you run out, then start taking theirs. I think I used AKs in Kuwait nearly as often as anything I was issued. "And you all can base where ever you want, but when we aren't on the job, my ass is headin' for home."

As the plane rolled to a stop and the door's opened, a single figure stood at the bottom of the step. Major Randle waited patiently, his arms folded behind his back. " Sorry about the trip folks," he saluted," but it was imparative we mobilized you as soon as possible. Once deputy director has things finalized, we'll have a more permanent home of operations."

[sasqaricious]

Hearing the end of Ramirez's comment makes Alex thinks to herself I wish I had a home to think of to go to.. As she grabs her one bag of stuff and debates on the stack of comics but realizes that she was bade welcome to them so quickly unzips her bag and puts them in for use later or to give back from the Lieutenant.

Alex upon stopping heads down the stairs and stands immidiately to the side and salutes, dropping when protocol dictates but stands at attention as not given leave to do so otherwise.

[lwcoyote]

McKenzie nods to Xander, half envyingly. "Anchorage is a long ways off, but really the Army has been my home since I enlisted." she replies. "Still, given enough leave I like to go back to visit my folks from time to time."

Following Forbes out of the plane (letting him go first), McKenzie offers the Major a crisp salute then falls into a comfortable at-ease position. "I can't speak for the others, Sir, but I'm always up for serving my country."

[Tori]

Forbes was not in uniform, so he did not salute, but he did come to near attention seeing the major.

"Very well, Major. I'd introduce the team, but I am sure you know them all better than I. Some of us will be needing civilian wardrobe, so a stop at the BX may be in order. We'll also be requisitioning some gear once we're briefed on the op."

[Dome]

Being in uniform, Simmons snaps to attention and returns the salute. Not saying anything as he lets the LT speak for his team or until he is addressed directly.

[Mierin]

Julia remains silent as the conversation goes on around her, not having much to add. When the plane lands, Julia unbuckles her seat belt and gets up and exits the plane. Not being in uniform, Julia doesn't salute but does stand at near attention, listening carefully to the Major tell them what the situation is.

[dakota]

Ramirez slipped on a pair of iridian lensed Oakleys as he exited the plane last, standing at the top for a momnet and looking out the huge bay doors. The plane looked tiny in the huge hangar, easily big enough to house a B-52 if need be. It was otherwise empty and rarely used judging by the extremely cleanliness of the floor. Once Xander was out of the way, the flight crew exited the plane, offered a salute to Major Randle despite civvie attire and exited the hangar.

Randle returned offered salutes," That's the last time any of you do that to me. From here on in, you are operating under the NSA, with assistance from all branches of the armed forces, CIA, FBI and FEMA. But keep in mind, they only assist, not interfere. Xander, no comments."

"Wouldn't dream of it, sir." Xander replied flatly, though indicating he wanted to say more.

A refeuling truck pulled into the hangar. " It will take them an hour to reprep the plane for flight. MacKenzie, you can handle one of these birds, can't you? If not, I can but it means the in flight breifing will have to be over PA."

As the refuelling truck halted and a team began to check the plane while a maitenance crew began to check it over, an extended chassis Humvee pulled into hangar and the driver joined the maitenance crew. " Xander, you drive. You've heard both of the answers already. Everyone else load up, we'll do your BX and armory shopping here if we can, if not I'll have special requests waiting when we touch down."

"Which is where?" Xander asked.

"Let's get the prelimaries out of the way first, okay?" Randle replied, opening the back door. " mount up and let the questions fly. I'll do my best to answer them."

[lwcoyote]

A brief nod to the question. "I.. uh.. wasn't re-certified after my stay in the hospital.. but I should be able to manage." she replies, feeling confident and shooting the Major a little grin. "I appreciate the opportunity, sir, thank you." the aviator adds, refraining from saluting again. A glance at the team re-prepping the Lear for the next flight, she then turns her attention back to the officer. "Our stowed gear will be safe? I'm sure some of us are bringing along toys onboard that would make a sky marshal shit bricks."

When the humvee pulls up, McKenzie pulls herself up onboard easily, then offers hands to those that might need help. "My main question is, what sort of support can we expect, and when do we get to start?" she pipes in when Major Randle opens the door for questioning.

[Janxi]

(Thanks for letting me take over!)

Lane jumped in to the hummer beside McKenzie. She liked the woman already. Women in intelligence and special operations were few, far between and usually dismissed as an officer's girlfriend. McKenzie seemed to be able to handle herself in any situation, and was no window dressing.

"I'm wondering the same. We aren't at war with Mexico, nor has congress authorized any direct action. I'm guessing this is going to be very black, or else we will be operating on behalf of ICE or the DEA.

"Oh yeah, I'm Lane Isaacson, by the way. Central Intelligence Agency. Nice to meet yous guys."

[Dome]

Simmons jumps into the Humvee, "is there any more information on what we are dealing with sir? I think we can all better make special requests and pick our gear if we know what to expect. Are we going in overt, or covert?"

[sasqaricious]

Alsx grabs her duffel and also jumps on the vehicle ready to move out still not convinced of the entire ordeal. It almost seemed to good to be true.

[Tori]

Forbes returned his bag to the plane, knowing it would remain safe. There was no need to bring anything since the same aircraft would bring them to their destination. Instead, he grabbed his suit coat, pulled it on to conceal his weapons. He knew his rifle was in the hold, along with his other dangerous toys, clothing, uniforms, toothbrush and toothpaste.

"Lane is correct. We will need some law enforcement credentials, and a mutual operational agreement with Mexico. Otherwise, we're breaking at least 73 federal statutes, and 132 statutes in the state of Texas.

"McKenzie? How does an M32 MGL sound? And for you, Mr. Simmons, yeah, XM500 is appropriate. For lesser encounters maybe an XM2010?

"McKenzie and Simmons, if you please, a moment? On your off time, meaning not now, I'd like you to prepare a debate between a common primary and side-arm vs. personal weapons. I'd also like you both to suggest a common primary and sidearm for the team.

"McKenzie, your report, when ready, will be about unique and idiosyncratic weapons for every team member, with no enforced commonality. Tell me why it is good.

"Simmons? I would like you to tell me why everyone should carry the same side-arm and the same primary. You need not tell me now, but just consider why this is an advantage. This of course need not include special weapons like sniper arms, grenadier weapons, machineguns and support weapons.

"Please do not respond now, but contemplate the question. Think of situations where a common weapon set is good and when bad. Think when a mixture of weapons is good and bad. We'll discuss it at some point.

"For now, I think we best take what we like best. But first, attention to orders."

Forbes pulled on his own pair of Oakley's. The frame was worn and abraded by sand. The lenses were brand new. Pretty much anyone who did time in the sandbox had a pair of Oakley's that was his own, and would never be parted with. He took a seat in the first Humvee's shotgun seat.

He fumbled his cigar case out of his inner pocket and stuffed a Fuente Hemmingway between his teeth. He wanted to smoke, badly, but knew it was against regs. For the time being he knew there was no smoking. He looked at his own reflection in his boots, yet avoided his own eye contact.

[dakota]

As they loaded into the Humvee, the group soon learned it was no ordinary vehicle and was more like a combat oriented limo. " they use this thing for visiting dignitaries no one wants to know is here."

Xander started the the engine ," they move the armory or PX since '06?"

"No, same place." Randle replied as they started to move. " No problem MacKenzie. worst case, I'm certified on just about anything with wings, I'll leave the whirlybirds to you though. and your gear is fine. That hangar ioff limits to anyone without clearance, which you now have, and the AP have orders to shoot first. I'll be frank though, this it beyond black ops. If support is available, it can be called in by secure sat phone, but you'll have to learn to rely on yourselves for the most part." He smiled, " You started the moment you got on that plane."

Major Randle looked at Lane for a moment. " Mexico? who said..., Ramirez must have been flapping his gums on the flight in. fine, I'll cut to the chase. Xander's home town woes will be your first assignment. I'll cover all the details and hand out the dossier deputy director Chamlers has compiled once we're airborne again." He turned to Simmons, " All I know for certain is you can count on being outnumbered. Cartels have lots of cash to flash around and hire good people, sometimes even some of ours. This Bleeder as they call him is a new player, but he's into more than just drugs. The team of his that got taken out in El Paso was guarding a shipment of RDX, with a street value of somewheres between ten and fifteen million dollars. Problem is, no one knows where to find him, or what his real name is."

"no one told me anything about explosives." Xander grumbled.

"For good reason." Randle replied. " You'll have to come up with your own gameplan how you want to play it once you locate him, but I'd count on cracking a fortress of some sort." his attention shifted to Forbes," You'll have a full credential package including diplomatic passports in case you need them. It should be waiting for me to pick up when we land in Texas."

Xander piped up on the request for a debate," ain't gonna be no debate, LT. I'm not giving up my thumper."

"good god, would you stuff it about your stupid shotguns?" Randle sputtered. He thumbed over his shoulder towards Ramirez, " the guy's got an AA-12 with a 203 mounted on it he bought from that gunshop with the Discovery Channel show. We had to pay the network not to air the episode. but they do nice work if we need custom gear for any of you." The rant told Simmons why Randle seemed familiar. Randle had been an Air Force jockey tagged Dragster back then because his fellow pilots swore he'd take his F-4 low enough that it left skidmarks when he pulled up. anyone who took the time to look up Randle's record would know it as well.

Xander was chuckling as he stopped to let a group of LAVs go ahead.

[Janxi]

"Personally, I am happy with my gear. It doesn't stand out in a crowd. I could be a terrorist, a cop, a soldier, a mercenery, a bodyguard or anything else. Plus there are millions of uzis and hi powers in the world, so there's nothing unique."

Lane grinned. "It's what I'm paid to do, you know. These groups are getting pretty brazen to operate on our side of the river. Still, they are likely to rest and recuperate in Mexico, where they think we won't bother them. Pay off a few federales, and they have immunity. As for cracking fortresses? Maybe he'll invite me in for a drink," said the spy with a flirtatious wink.

"Oh, and we may need some commodities to barter. If he is looking for explosives, maybe we could ask if anyone would like some Semtex. It would allow us to make contact with his organization and learn more about his plans."

[Dome]

Simmons climbs into the Humvee and looks around, "nice ride. What do you think chica," he says nudging Alex.

At the request for load out reasoning, Simmons raises an eyebrow, "is everything getting homework or just me because I was a school teacher," he asks jokingly falling into a more comfortable manner after listening to the Major. "That you Dragster? Never thought I would run into you again," he says to the Major.

"That sounds like a nice gun Xander, stay close to me and I can help you extend your range and keep the same punch."