As he settled into the flight couch on the Gaia, Sci turned to Nat. "Anything I'm overlooking?"
"You probably should send General Cracken an update," she said, beeping.
"Good point," he said, and got to work.
Terra Group Mission Update: Operation Arrakis
Scifantasy, Major, NRIBriefing:
Mission:
Have recovered Agent Blade in Terran city of Jerusalem and tracked parts of primary objective, divided for OpSec on part of acquirers. Proceeding to Terran city of Baghdad to recover remaining pieces and prevent CultCont.Personnel:
9 (Boyd, V) MIA. Presumed POW. 5 (Nolan, J) and 11 (Lorrdain, S) injured each other severely in sparring. Subsequently, 5 (Nolan, J) found to still be suffering effects of indoctrination tape (cf Project Boussh), and 11 (Lorrdain, S) found to have dangerous "berserker" tendencies. 6 (Coghlan, N) dispatched to deliver both to NRI facility for TM/R. 11 (Lorrdain, S) being allergic to bacta also slated for reconstructive surgery. 6 (Coghlan, N) also assigned to ferry previously undetected EP prisoners (cf Stillwater) to NRI custody.Forces from Allied Country Mendellia, specifically Dictator Thayer Atner and Lieutenant Noreh S'ystirk, dispatched to assist by government of Mendellia.
Full disclosure within.
Special Encryption Terra-0-3-7
General Airen Cracken smiled as he saw that he had a comcall. "Patch it through, please."
Sci's face appeared on the screen, and he gave a quick salute. "Reporting, sir."
"Major. What's news?" Cracken smiled wider.
"Transferring a mission update now, sir."
Cracken opened the datafile and skimmed the briefing: Cheriss was back, they had lost several team members--one was MIA, another two were going offplanet for medical and psych work--with a third for transportation--they had backup.
"This all looks good...Wait a second. These team members dispatched for med work, where did you send them? Should I expect them here?"
"No, sir," Sci said. "I wanted them somewhere out of the way and private, so I had them sent to Perdition Base."
"They're WHERE?!" Cracken managed to keep his voice somewhat normal, but his face was strained, and it was clear he was caught off guard."
"Perdition Base, sir. Is there a problem?"
"...No. No problem. Very well, Major."
As Sci signed off, Cracken yelled for his aide. "Get me General Antilles, Captain Loran, and Major Janson. Now." He listened to the response, and snarled. "Well, find him! Look for any reports of bar fights, that should be a start."
Sci tapped out the flight sequence, engaged the cloak, and sat back as the ship lifted off the ground. As they cleared the ground he pressed a button and a heavy metal theme began playing over the speakers.
As Sci sat there, listening to the heavy guitar and the repetition of "E-X-Cuse Me," Kristy approached the door. She wondered if he knew she was there, but as she neared the door he abruptly waved a hand and spun around. As the music volume reduced dramatically he looked up at her. "What's up?"
"You beat me to it."
"Afraid that the mission is getting to me?" He shook his head. "I'm not worried."
"You're not worried. We've got one Josh gone, because he was going nuts, and the other one still here despite going nuts--and worse yet, slipping down a rather deadly slope. Our medic is likewise gone because she's dangerous, we have a missing Jedi, we have a semi-Force user so torn up he's going to quit after the mission ends, we have another semi-Force user who can't be trusted. One of our most stable teammates is gone with the crazy ones, we have a mission plan that involves trusting several known enemies, and our fieldable assets at the moment are several ground units, a couple of air units, and that's it against the military might of a country. And we have to keep opsec."
He looked up and counted on his fingers for a second. "Don't forget that several of those assets have romantic entanglements that make them unreliable," he said matter-of-factly.
"That was to be assumed," she replied, bewildered. "How can you be so blasê about this?"
Sci stood up slowly. "If it was easy, Captain," he said, "they wouldn't have called us."
"Yes," she said, "but..."
"Every time we fight, we fight overwhelming odds. I have confidence in my team, and I know they have what it takes. Take heart, Kristy. You're working with the best."
"Even the best may not be enough."
"In that case," he said, "we will die valiantly, and we won't survive to discover the results of our failure."
She shook her head, chuckling. "Are you always so...inspiring?"
"Only when I'm talking to others. When I'm alone I'm plagued with self-doubt and worry," he answered with a straight face.
She smiled and left the cockpit, and Sci waved the volume back up, trying to drown out the voice inside whispering the same thing Kristy had said to him. It's easier to deal with it when it's outside, he thought.