Mission Log #1

[modaccount]

How It Works

Welcome to the first mission log in Annexed!

How Mission Logs Work: There will generally be two main missions per month, with different focuses tailored to different skillsets (usually stealth vs. fighting, though other skillsets will be tapped on). Each mission will be posted in phases, with a prompt for the start of each phase. The plotting post will give you a rundown of what the missions are, how they might go, and what might be discovered. Characters may partake in whichever pat of the operation they choose, whether it's a large prominent part or a more supporting role. Characters may participate in both missions, and as many phases as they wish.

Mod Guidance: Players may request occasional scene-setting when they hit a point where they're unsure what might happen next in a log or what their characters might encounter. There will be a "Mod Guidance" comment that players can reply to in order to request this kind of scene-setting.

Completion of Missions: There will be a submissions comment for anyone who's threaded out a portion of the mission. Once a thread has been completed at least halfway, please submit your character's progress and plans for the thread to the submissions thread. These submissions are the main way that the mod will decide how the mission went in the next month's wrap-up post, so they are very important!

Plotting Post: Here!

The Cure For Immunity

The Witches have received intel through their spies in Zephyr that a lab located just outside the outskirts of the city is engaged in experiments on sentient beings to create a serum that will change those people who are incompatible with Sylphid reproduction. This serum would allow the Sylphid to take over the bodies of people who would usually be fatal to them.

The serum is said to function at a 45% success rate already.

Obviously this would be a major blow to all life on the Broken World, as 70% of the population is immune to being taken over by Sylphid. This serum would allow them to increase their population numbers exponentially and turn a powerful takeover into a nigh-unstoppable one.

The Witch will be calling a general meeting at the Command Center where she will explain the situation and the proposed missions to stop it.

Mission A: Into the Lab

Mission Appropriateness: Chipped or Stripped
Mission Focus: Stealth and recon.

This mission will focus on stealth and recon, with operatives conducting surveillance on the lab to work out the rounds of the guards and other staff so they can infiltrate and take the information on the Sylphid serum in order to reverse engineer it and hopefully make a serum to make everyone immune to Sylphid takeover. The Witch passionately states in her opening speech that this would be an immense blow against the Sylphid and is a very important mission.

PHASE I
Nestled in the jungle a few blocks outside city limits is a low cement building with a high barbed-wire-topped chain-link fence around it. The lab is built like a fortress with thick walls, very few windows, and a thick roof made of cement and tile, almost bomb-proof. All in all, the Sylphid aren't exactly subtle, the place might as well scream 'secret lab to create top-secret serums.' There's also a regular round of security guards accompanied by guard dogs that make their way around the perimeter, and security cameras at every entrance and exit.

There is plenty of cover around the building for operatives to watch the rounds of the guards, the way the cameras swivel, and get a feeling for what kind of people enter and exit the building. Surveillance can be conducted the old-fashioned way, by just watching the building from many different angles and sharing observations by camera. They can also be done in a variety of other ways, depending on individual powers and abilities - want to pretend to be making a delivery so you can scope out the front desk? take photos or videos of rounds or entrances and exits to study? draw a rough map of the grounds to show everybody? Go for it!

There are a variety of ways to get into the building, but surveillance will boil down to four main routes of entry:

⇝ The first is a direct frontal entry, where characters may bluff their way inside the building in a variety of ways including pretending to make a delivery, taking down a single guard and stealing their uniform, or otherwise working out a ruse to get inside.
⇝ The second is a through a single bulletproof glass skylight in the roof of the building, directly above the mess hall, which should be empty just after lunch time. There is a strong lock on the skylight, but it can be picked and there are no traps.
⇝ The third is through the back entrance, near where the guards' staff room is, in a secondary building. This route will require taking out several guards as silently as possible and entering disguised as guards.
⇝ The fourth is through a ventilation system that can be accessed by a panel high up on the wall at the one side of the building that is facing the jungle. This one will require some acrobatic skill and flexibility and might be best for a small character.

PHASE II
There are four major routes of entry into the lab, and characters who try any route of entry should keep in contact with people outside via radio or network to relay information found out during the infiltration phase. The rebels are trying to get as much information about the internal layout of the lab as possible in case the Sylphid opt to reuse it for another purpose in the future. They would ideally like to be able to map the entire internal structure of the facility. In all cases, photos, videos, and sketches of the inside of the lab would be welcome to the rebels.

⇝ Frontal Entry: Characters who opt to enter through the front via some kind of ruse and who gain entry will find themselves faced with a maze of corridors and rooms. This may be difficult because anyone who is allowed entry into the building generally knows their way around. Success of this particular route of entry will depend on confidence and being able to keep the ruse alive as the characters run into various different people - scientists, guards, deliverypersons, janitorial staff, and other staff. Keep the ruse up for as long as possible and make sure you get as many details of the inside of the building as possible to relay to your colleagues outside as possible.

⇝ Skylight Entry: Characters who opt to enter through the skylight will find themselves faced with a heavy lock as their first obstacle. The lock is able to be picked or hacked, depending on the characters' skillset. Once the skylight is open they will have to lower themselves into the room underneath, a mess hall for the staff in the lab, and subdue the cafeteria workers. From this point, they will need to keep themselves hidden from passers-by in the hallways, and rely on stealth and silence as much as possible while mapping out the inside of the lab, and keep in radio or network contact with those on the outside.

⇝ Back Entry: This is the method of entry that requires the most fighting. Characters will enter the back area of the building where there is a smaller outbuilding that is used by the guards for a sort of staff room while they are taking breaks, and subdue several guards to take their uniforms. After the uniforms and keycards for the building are secured, they can enter through the back door and maintain the ruse of being guards that are patrolling the building. This is where knowledge of the guard rounds comes in handy, and all that surveillance will certainly help. These characters will have to be careful to avoid the real guards as they will be able to clock that they aren't their coworkers and the "I'm new" story will only work so many times! Characters in guard uniforms will have an easier time communicating out loud on radios and the network as they're expected to be communicating by radio, and will also be able to give spare walkie-talkies to those on the outside.

⇝ Ventilation Entry: This is the most physically challenging method of entry, but a very valuable one. After accessing the ventilation system, characters will be able to crawl through the duct work in a virtually undetectable way and take photos, videos, or sketches of the rooms they can view through vents. The duct work goes everywhere throughout the building and mostly poses obstacles in the form of the mazelike system of them, occasional fans and other blockages in the ductwork, and dust and debris in the ducts including possibly rats and spiders. Some of the spiders are poisonous, as jungle spiders tend to be, and anyone bitten by the spiders will experience pain and hallucinations that may hinder them. As with all other entry methods, the people in the ventilation system should be communicating with those on the outside by radio or network.

PHASE III
Phase III is more straightforward than the other phases of this mission - once the infiltrators have mapped out the inside of the lab, they should locate the central computer banks and anyone with the technical expertise should make a copy of the databanks. This will require some hacking and all characters doing infiltration will be provided with a device that will allow them to hack through any passcodes required by the computer to access the information inside. Copying the database will take at least a half hour, so characters may have to create diversions, talk themselves out of hot water when people come to stop by the computer room, and otherwise distract the true staff of the building from entering the room and catching them in the act.

Once the computer banks have been copied, characters should use another device they will be given before infiltration to plant a virus in the computer banks that will corrupt everything in them. The virus will take about 10 minutes to get to the point of critical mass, a guaranteed disruption of the whole system. This phase of the mission will take at least 40 minutes total, during which characters are going to have to keep any of the real staff of the lab out of the computer room through whatever means possible, making it the point in the mission most likely to go off the rails.

After the computer system has been disrupted by the virus, characters will have to escape the building without being caught by the Sylphid staff, and may leave through any exit available so they can melt into the forest and make a clean escape.

ADDITIONAL MISSION
Characters infiltrating the lab will discover several rooms where sentient test subjects are located. Some of them will be in very ill health due to side effects of the treatments they've been enduring, and all will be very willing and eager to be rescued. While some characters stay with the computer banks to copy and sabotage them, other characters may go find these rooms full of test subjects, about 45 in total, and smuggle them out of the building. Once the rebel force has been alerted to the presence of test subjects, they will send a truck to wait near the back entrance, and operatives will simply have to cut the chain link fence to make space for the subjects to get into the truck to be transported back to the Witches Camp. This mission will likely involve having to subdue several guards as the back entrance is near the guards' room.

Mission B: Disrupt The Supply Chain

Mission Appropriateness: Chipped or Stripped
Mission Focus: Recon and open battle.

This mission will focus on open battle and guerilla tactics, with operatives locating and disrupting the supply chain to the lab. It will focus on identifying shipments of equipment, food, and other supplies to the lab and interrupting them, destroying the vehicles, subduing the enemy, and taking whatever supplies they can back to the Witches Camp.

PHASE I
The highway leading past the lab is a seldom-used four-lane highway that snakes its way through the jungle in a mostly uninhabited area. While there are a few scattered farms and other occupied areas, most of the highway is bordered on by wild jungle, which provides a lot of cover for surveillance of the delivery vehicles that approach the lab to drop off supplies. Most of the trucks will contain food, equipment, and other sundries for the function of the lab. The trucks can be wheeled or hover, and will have various brand names emblazoned on them. Characters tasked with surveillance in these areas will settle at safe and well-hidden spots in the jungle to watch the roads and keep detailed notes on which trucks with which brand names enter the lab to deliver supplies. They will also need to keep in close contact with home base to relay this information, with notes on the times the deliveries happen and what sort of supplies may be being delivered, based on the logos on the trucks.

Characters will discover that there are actually several routes delivery trucks are taking to get to the lab, contrary to previous intel-gathering, which pointed to the quickest and most obvious route being the one the trucks used. Some trucks are taking side streets through a nearby occupied area, at the center of which is a rather skeezy truck stop where drivers stop for food before completing their deliveries. Characters will need to spread out to cover these additional routes in order to make sure they don't miss any delivery trucks.

Additionally, the truck stop may become a good source of intel, with staff being amenable through convincing, coercion, or bribing to give information on the drivers that stop in on a regular basis, what they haul, and what their timetables are like. Players are more than welcome to NPC some of the staff at the truck stop for mild interrogation, including waitresses, cashiers, station attendants, and janitorial staff.

PHASE II
As Mission A moves into its final phase, and much more likely to be discovered, phase II of Mission B will go into full effect. Operatives will have discovered four routes that trucks are taking into the lab, and will need to cover all of them for both surveillance and to blockade them or sabotage them and stop the trucks.

⇝ Route 1: The main and quickest route that trucks are taking to the lab, which is directly down the highway and off of it into the lab driveway. This will be the toughest one to blockade due to the size of the highway - four lanes, though seldom used, is quite a distance to cover.

⇝ Route 2: A winding side road that goes over a small creek and then beside it, only two lanes across and through a mostly uninhabited area. Because it's uninhabited and a smaller road with less traffic, it will be easier to blockade and is also the second most used route by the trucks.

⇝ Route 3: A relatively direct route from the truck stop through some back streets that straightforwardly traverse farmland. There is more traffic on this road that is civilian because of its proximity to farmland, and will require a bit more effort due to this civilian traffic.

⇝ Route 4: Another straightforward route, though this time through a civilian-occupied area, and close to a school for the small community surrounding the truck stop. This will be the most difficult to blockade without doing too much collateral damage to the civilian area around it and the school.

Characters will have been given bombs that they may use to destroy the roads themselves as well as access to heavy machinery they can use to move cement blocks into the roadways to block traffic from getting through. Once the roads are blocked or destroyed, characters will have to subdue the Sylphid staff on the trucks through force, which might be a significant fight, as all Sylphid, even down to truck drivers, are well-trained in combat. These drivers are also well-armed, considering the mission they're on to supply the lab, which is one of the top priorities for the Sylphid as of now.

PHASE III
Phase III is relatively straightforward compared to the rest of the missions - unload the trucks and carry the supplies back to the Witches Camp via truck or hover-ATV, then destroy the trucks. This will mostly be through demolitions or by setting the trucks on fire, leaving them as a signal to the Sylphid that they can't go about their research without being challenged.

Characters may disable the trucks in whatever fashion they wish, so long as it leaves a good, lasting message to the Sylphid. The Sylphid drivers that aren't killed should be captured and bound and loaded into a truck to be taken back to the Witches Camp to be interrogated or used as bargaining chips for the more diplomatic side of the rebellion.

Damage to civilian property or injury of civilians, especially children who may be playing at the playground by the school would be seriously looked down on and a huge blow to the rebellion's reputation, so characters are encouraged to keep destruction to a minimum on Route 4 in particular. In fact, the rebellion would prefer if operatives could load the trucks onto heavy machinery and take them to the Witches Camp for demolition instead of leaving them on Route 4.

Additionally, operatives along the routes will find that some of the trucks contain caged and restrained test subjects. Once these are discovered, they should be taken by truck back to the Witches Camp. Unfortunately, these test subjects can't be returned to their families in Zephyr because their chips would immediately mark them for death - the Sylphid would, without thinking twice, kill people that were marked as test subjects who escaped, especially after being rescued by the rebellion, in case they were corrupted by the rebellion. These test subjects will have to be comforted and brought back to the Camp to either join the rebellion or be civilians in the Camp.

NAVIGATION

Comments

Sarah Alder 𖤐 Mission B — Phase II-III

[songmother]

𖤐 ᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ʙ — ᴘʜᴀꜱᴇ ɪɪ — ʀᴏᴜᴛᴇ ɪɪ

↠↠ ʀᴇꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇꜱ: ᴀᴜᴅɪᴏ &⃣ ᴠɪꜱᴜᴀʟ (ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱᴏᴜɴᴅ) &⃣ ᴠɪꜱᴜᴀʟ

Alder and a few small truck loads of other conscripts were driven miles from the base to a neutral point in-between where they would be splitting up and going by foot to one of the four routes they had been debriefed on. Sarah and her smaller unit made their way through the dense jungle to Route 2, with a plan to blockade the narrow, winding, secondary route frequently used to supply their very obvious target: a heavily reinforced and guarded Sylphid lab. They were to wreck the 1-3 supply trucks taking the route and try and salvage as many supplies and/or possible prisoners as possible.

The objective, which she had put together off of the information they were given and resources available to them was simple enough in concept, but she had managed to swallow her pride and bitter taste at her previous forced retirement and ask permission. Their unit was split in two. The first half would trek through the jungle towards the rendezvous point with her, and prepare an ambush and act as the vanguard, close-range and mid-range combatants. She wanted only volunteers (among the otherwise involuntary conscripts) for this group, cowards and those lacking experience would jeopardize the entire mission.

The second, made of those who were valuable at reinforcing or long range combat, as well as those with minimal armor or experience, would take a supply craft with concrete barriers and a resupply cache along a side road and come out a bit ahead of where the first group set their ambush. They would set the concrete barriers and block the route, out of sight from trucks traveling through until farther up and around the bend than the ambush would allow them to get before the fighting broke out. It was imperative that the blockade not be visible from the ambush-point, which made using the barriers as a defense wall inaccessible to those fighting at the actual ambush point - if the convoy saw the barriers, they would not fall for the ambush ruse.

Inexperienced or weakened conscripts could stay as an additional level of assault and use the barriers as cover, but the goal was to stop the trucks from getting that far, and if they were lucky, there would be a slight distance between the transports. Most members of the second group would be expected to rush up to backup the ambush group or line the dense foliage around the bend as a secondary sort of ambush or for ideal cover for sniper as long-range fighters as a support to the first group. All were expected to fight, in some capacity.

The third option for those staying back by the barriers as a last line of mission success was to plant smaller, disruptive homemade EMP and nonlethal (to vehicles but not people) landmines leading up to the concrete barriers. She hoped the rebels were listening when she specified - if you are joining the first group ambush from the second group after the barriers are placed, come from the forest-cover along the side of the road. Emphasis on because landmines. She didn't need an entire unit blown up due to negligence on her conscience already. They should know, though, they were the ones setting them.

The first group would initiate the ambush, signaling the attack. The first group, since traveling on foot, would arrive after the second group was already setting the barriers - in theory. The first group was also informed: do walk on the road up to the second group and barriers unless you want to explode; the point of landmines is you can't see them. She would rather seem repetitive and obnoxious than realize later one of the conscripts had absolutely no combat knowledge or survival skills.

Upon arrival, her smaller unit secures positions nearby in the cover of the dense jungle road-side foliage, preparing to jump out and join her assault as soon as she gives the signal by attacking. Sarah, civilian clothes (leather ensemble from the second visual aide), dark hair loose with a braid in the top back, readies herself to straggle out and feign being lost and wounded. It doesn't matter to her what the drivers think - whether they think she is a random civilian in the way, actually show concern that she is wounded, or suspect she may be some kind of escaped prisoner (though she isn't wearing the prison garb or any kind of obvious rebel uniform or any armor at all, with no visible weapons, which helps) - she is prepared to deceive and subdue them by any means necessary to stop and secure those trucks.

Sarah touches her breast-bone, activating eight hours of Mage Armor (second spell of the day), and goes over her acting plan while she waits for some sign of the approaching truck or reported convoy. Her plan is to feign being wounded, while stumbling to the ground and fake-wincing in pain, she will use a cantrip by casting Thaumaturgy (to increase the volume of her voice, which will significantly increase the power of her vocalization-based inherent 'magic' power from her world), act trusting and vulnerable while she flags down the drivers, telling them she was attacked by rebels, and attack them instead. This will be her queue for the others to join the ambush, and wham bam thank you ma'am, the battle begins.

𖤐 ᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ʙ — ᴘʜᴀꜱᴇ ɪɪɪ — ʀᴏᴜᴛᴇ ɪ &⃣ ɪɪ

↠↠ ʀᴇꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇꜱ: ᴠɪꜱᴜᴀʟ (ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱᴏᴜɴᴅ) &⃣ ᴠɪꜱᴜᴀʟ (ᴄᴡ: ɢᴏʀᴇ)

After being on comms all morning with various rebels from Mission A, and having a long time to think as she traveled out for the second and third phase of Mission B, as well as a successful ambush of a convoy on Route II (and way too much time to be in her head full of triggered memories, angst, and fully enraged from both this and the fighting), Alder is ready to stop holding back and let loose.

In truth, she was looking forward to this part all day, and had specifically chosen to avoid Routes 3 and 4 so she could let loose and not worry about collateral damage, civilian casualties, or holding back decimating the trucks due to not knowing what valuable supplies or rescues were within. This stage, she got to take out her anger and loss destroying the looted trucks and killing any enemy soldiers who they wouldn't be taking back as hostages.

Sarah Alder was here to leave a message. We will challenge you, we will stop you, and your invasion of this planet will fail.

𖤐 Comm chatter tags are welcome!
𖤐 Available as Phase III of above Phase II Route II mission.
𖤐 Available to relocate to backup ending of Route I disruption and move to Phase III there.

comm chatter (phase iii)

[batleths]

Checking in, you still alive out there?

[songmother]

( hacking through jungle with an old machete )

We’re approaching the ambush point. Nothing unexpected so far.

…Wouldn’t mind less bugs though.

[batleths]

Yeah, I don't envy that.

Walk me through the plan again.

[songmother]

My group reaches ambush point, hides and prepares. Second group sets up road blocks and reinforces along perimeter.

When the first truck is spotted in the distance, I stumble onto the road feigning helplessness and injury and flag them down, lure them out of the truck. Take out the enemy, minimize damage to vehicle cargo. Hopefully no civilians picked today for a scenic road trip.

[batleths]

Bit by bit.

( any mission is always easier if you take it step by step, right? tick each bit off as you go. or something. she's an engineer, tasks have steps )

What injury you feeling?

look at her manage a first name and honesty all in one go!

[songmother]

( simplify, adapt, overcome - or some such )

Physically? Good exercise.
Mentally? …Let’s just say it’s good to hear your voice, B’Elanna.

i'm so proud of her

[batleths]

I meant your fake injury but noted. ( pause. awkwardly. she might get it but-- ) I think when this is done I owe you a drink.

[songmother]

( oh. awkward. she brushes it off. )

Ah, well. In that case, I intend to feign abdominal injury and ramble about a rebel attack on a neighboring village. It may cause them to radio in and send troops away from the other missions.

( a pause ) I’d gladly take you up on that offer, when I make it back.

( projecting confidence, it’s a skill right? )

[batleths]

Getting hit somewhere's easier to fake than being shot.

( and no one needs to make a fake injury real just to be convincing.

also time to... attempt the distract for a minute? )

I've tried the coffee here, it's not bad. Hopefully the alcohol's as good.

[songmother]

I’m partial to the rebel’s home-brew whisky and the Zephyr Vodka, myself.

( a few minutes later )

We’re here. Scout is checking to make sure the second group is where they’re supposed to be and that everything is still on track.

Time to wait.

[batleths]

( b'elanna hopes that whiskey is half-way decent but for post-mission drinks they can't complain too much.

she misses the replicator )

You'll have to introduce me to them.

( clearly this is how you pass a few minutes time whilst everything gets checked )

Stay safe. Don't actually get hurt.

Phase II-III, en route to the ambush point!

[scathes]

Leaks isn't amongst the most willing volunteers for this mission — but he is here, nonetheless. For someone who's clad head to toe in body-tight leather, he looks surprisingly comfortable traipsing with the rest of them through the humid jungle thicket on their way to their position, his ears flicking under his hood, alert to his surroundings.

A lesson in teamwork, is what he'd been told, and the thought still makes him huff contemptuously through his nose. If he had all his magic back, things would be different, but... here he is, preparing to take his anger out on the only thing that he can without recourse, and forced through this tiresome ritual of obeying orders to do it.

Of all the things about this situation that rankle him, there may be nothing more oppressive than the presence of so many other bodies around him, all these hierarchies, the expectation of obedience, the obligation of others. It's unfamiliar and unpleasant, and the sheer density of life at the Camp is as overwhelming as the most bustling city from his home. Here, surrounded by a small collection of fighters, is only slightly better.

This particular assignment happens to be coordinated by this... Sarah Alder. A Two Canes, by the look of it, and curiously in possession of two names. She had carried herself with great authority while she gave out their instructions, and now she walks a little ahead, though it seems like she's often checking back as they make their way towards the ambush point.

Leaks looks steadily at her, his mouth set in a thin line.

He isn't incurious about her, or about the situation that leads her to coordinate the rest of these strangers so matter-of-factly... but at least for now, he doesn't really allow himself to show it. His pride won't let him be seen to care.

But he does draw up next to her, muttering under his breath.

"... Aren't you over-cautious, bringing this many of us to do what one effective cat — person — could."

Can't quite get used to saying 'person', just yet.

[songmother]

Alder, previously keeping up with comms chatter to avoid dwelling on two horribly traumatic memories that jungle warfare and trucks full of possible prisoners dredged up in her mind, had fallen off the wagon a bit in that effort. For the last few minutes, trudging ahead and occasionally lucid enough to check back over her shoulder at the others, she had been struggling to avoid memories washing over her as if the video was playing in front of her eyes. Her body surged with sensations she did not ever want, but couldn't afford at the moment as she lead people into danger. I need to calm myself, focus.

Sarah began to use her work, humming to create an area effect around herself that would help her focus, but mostly calm her busy mind (not too much though, considering) when one of the others drew next to her. She had noticed him before, intrigued by his familiar fashion choices, and of course, as he reminded, the cat person thing.

She looked at him in acknowledgement, then kept her eyes in front of them. "I have learned never to underestimate an enemy, or the presumed simplicity of a mission. I am also not a fan of the jungle, truth be told."

Glancing at him again, a subtly curious expression this time, "What can your people do? I've never met such a person."

Realizing that sounded less pleasant than intended, Petra and Anacostia's voice somewhere in the back of her mind reminding her that her tone is often not what she intends, she added, "Though, I do have a fondness for cats."

[ooc: you can have him be effected or say he's outside the area of effect. whichever works for you! i'm doing it for her bc this lady - i am really downplaying how much she hates where they are right now so this is my alternative bc i don't wanna write heavy ptsd stuff until after the mission. :) ]

[scathes]

Leaks snorts softly at that; he doesn't know much about his ancestors, those smaller cats that must have existed at the same time as humans, but he knows that they were just a primitive species before the goddess Ribika's intervention. How much can they really have in common? If the cats of old were anything like his own loathsome species, this woman surely wouldn't say she was fond of them...

Leaks is too engrossed in his own misgivings to notice Alder's tension, the brusque edge to her voice that she's trying to temper. In some ways, that curt, clipped tone seems to suit him. A perfunctory attitude is an honest one, in these circumstances.

"Other cats... They're mostly worthless. I only speak for myself." Leaks's pupils dilate a bit as their path winds, peering around a tight enclosure of trees. Although he's hardly one for conversation, talking isn't an unwelcome distraction, allowing him to focus on just one person in this all-too-tightly-enclosed group. "You are fortunate. You've acquired the only one worth having, so even with the rest of these weaklings, this mission will be..."

He notices as soon as that soft vocalisation begins, and his own voice drops off abruptly. Magic. He can feel it like an expanding bubble from her core, the space sharpening around her, a resonance that seems to bring an aura of clarity to his own surroundings and thoughts. A support spell... and a song. He looks at her sharply, slightly breathless with surprise as he asks, "sanga?"

It's out before he means to say it.

[songmother]

In her world, the original ancestors of her people appeared human, but were not. They split and went to settle among humans and give them the gift of language stemming from their own. As such, in modern time, witches proficient in Mothertongue could understand and communicate in any language they encountered. But here was different, and the words of unknown other languages fascinated her.

That word, however, did not require translation. It sounded virtually the same as the word for Singer, in the country she was born and had to flee, which would later become Germany.

Sarah faced him more attentively, blinking, face relaxing both in hearing the word and as a result of her Work.

“Yes. I always preferred the more accurate and poetic Sänger to ignorant mobs spitting Hexe at me while waving torches in my face and dangling nooses behind their backs.” Perhaps a tone of bitterness slipped.

“Later they called us witches in America. We built a life for ourselves there, and reclaimed the word. But it is all just a name they call us.” She could go more into detail but all in good time.

As she finished hacking the last bit of verdant obstacle and they entered the clearing before the road, she titled her head curiously back at her companion. “You are…familiar?”

[scathes]

For all that gets lost in the small gaps between their experiences and words, they're somehow still able to communicate a similar sentiment. It comes as a surprise to Leaks as much as to Alder, and he responds to her more focused attention with his own intrigued gaze. He hadn't given anyone any mind, here. He hadn't expected anything. Perhaps he'd been too dismissive too quickly?

It's a homonym, clearly; Hexe, America, it means nothing to him, but he understands enough to follow her story. Sänger and witch... based on her description, it's not necessarily like a sanga alone, after all. It's something he understands even more intimately than that.

The thought feels almost uncanny, somehow. Like he's seeing it from the other side for the first time.

"'Familiar'... in my own way."

It's on that thought that they stumble into the narrow clearing, twisted roots and vines and jungle encroaching across the overgrown path. As the small group begins to disperse around them, finding their positions and following the strategy outlined at the briefing, Leaks gives Alder a close, scrutinising look.

He's still not sold on the notion of a hierarchy, of serving a higher ideal... but at least now, there's something he's interested to see. He smiles thinly.

"We await your signal, correct? You've established a high standard of expectation. I'm interested to see what you can do, if anything."

Inside him, a familiar resonance begins to sound — quiet enough that only the two of them can hear it, for now. It's a decidedly dark, dissonant song compared to Alder's clear tone. The feel of his magic, even after an incredibly brief reprieve, brings a comfortable familiarity to things, but it certainly isn't pleasant to the ear.

Within a moment, Leaks abruptly vanishes from sight.

[songmother]

Alder ignores his scrutinizing look while she observes everything falling into plan and stays back for now, as intended. Attitude she can take, people wasting time questioning orders she cannot. Leaks already reminds her peculiarly of a woman who once served with her, with whom she needed to resolve things, or end them, depending on circumstance.

She knew which she would prefer though. Nicte was her most capable comrade and the closest friend she had ever had in centuries and somehow she had managed to turn her into a villain and an enemy. But there was always hope. She could not lose that.

When Leaks admits he is curious to see what she can do and tacks on ‘if anything’ at the end she gives him a look she hasn’t given anyone for some time. There’s a little bit of ‘I don’t have to explain myself to you’ but also ‘Bitch please, try me’ energy behind it, but she answers simply, “Correct.”

The sound of his own magic reminds her of the grating, forbidden, off-canon work of the same woman she had only been thinking of with increasing frequency the entire time they trudged through the jungle, and for that, she blinks in surprise. Putting off vulnerability for now, she instead says curtly, “Perhaps you will be useful after all. Since no one can see you from the road, and are clearly more than competent, I need you to ensure the other half of the unit with the road blocks is in position.”

And then she added, attempting sincere eye contact, “Come back as soon as possible. I will need you.”

[scathes]

It's his turn to bristle slightly when she shoots back that 'after all' in response — but he laughs. Sincere or otherwise, there is something about it that still feels ever-so-slightly mocking.

So, she takes as good as she gets.

He may have disappeared, but Leaks's voice is still close to her when he answers:

"I know you will."

It's a small journey along the path to the other group, and Leaks's feline agility carries his booted feet over the bracken in near-silence. It's evident on arrival that the other group have done their best to keep to the schedule and make good time, despite less than ideal conditions; little work remains, but the evidence of fatigue is already there. They've had to prepare for much longer than the second team, after all, and the murky, humid environment isn't making their labour easy.

A small incantation, that piercing dark song, and a number of trees break and fall at their base, collapsing into the concrete-laden path and finalising the impenetrable cradle for anything that comes through. It also requires more than a handful of the current team to move very swiftly out of the way — and while he's not utterly feckless about it, there's more than a little confusion and complaint about it. (Sorry Sarah.)

He makes his way back to Alder's team. There, the group has started to quiet and everything has become quite still, with even the wild birds' cries growing distant. Leaks responds by keeping his own steps light as he walks up to Alder, his black tail twitching behind him in anticipation.

He doesn't say anything. His return makes the message clear by itself: that they're ready.

Just as well. The time is growing near.

mission b phase iii

[stargazed]

Mikumo has done a round or two back to camp at this point to help carry supplies - she was already used to driving in forest terrain, and while jungle is another step up, the more used to it she gets, the quicker it goes each time. She's doing a pass down this area with an empty ATV just to double-check that there's nothing left that needs carrying back or no rebellion members that need a ride when she hears the telltale sound of trucks being annihilated, and pulls up for a minute to avoid the risk of any flying shrapnel.

With her dampened to human hearing, though, it takes her a moment longer to pick up that there's song underneath that destruction. It's an unfamiliar one to her, but she can't help but be drawn to it regardless - even if she disdains the idea of using song as a weapon herself, perhaps this is something from another world that's a little more complicated than that.

She waits until there's something like quiet again to bring the ATV closer, steering it with a casual skill as she eyes the woman who seems to be at the center of what's going on here. There's a curiosity about it, and despite the situation, a slight smile turns the corner of Mikumo's mouth, as if she's relatively at ease.

"That's the most interesting song I've heard since I arrived here," she says, tone mild but unmistakeably looking for more.