"If the shields were down, I'm pretty sure Shofar can shred that hulk to pieces." Jess says the first part with some strong skepticism, but the second part with certainty.

"That would be great, but issue number one is getting close. We're going to need to split our interceptors between protecting the Enterprise and swatting the flies off the bombers. Not to mention clearing the path for your Warstrider's insertion." she says politely looking at Daniel.

"Are we aiming for a boarding? Inside a Buchenwald isn't exactly a hospitable place even by the standards of the black," Gabriel said at the mention of the warstrider, "Granted, probably easier to kill one Abyssal than take on the monster around him."

"Nothing's ever easy", , Daniel answers to Gabriel. "But Abyssal fleets tend to lean on their commander more heavily than ours, so taking them out should make for a speedy victory."

He pauses, thinking. "You're not wrong, of course. There's probably a shitton of angry ghosts, Voidtech and who knows what else to be dealt with inside."

He makes an effort to stay businesslike and stifle the shadow of a smirk tugging at his lips, but the zeal is palpable in the rugged man's voice as he continues.

"I assure you, though - I'm not gonna be stuck there with them. They'll be stuck there with me."

Jess smiles at the comment. She could trust Morningstar not to screw up. He honestly seemed perfect sometimes.

"I hate to add things to our plate, but there's the other matter we may need to consider. Namely whether or nor we can manage to kick any Abyssals that show back to their ship before we have it go nuclear. If we do get the opportunity, it may require some very precise timing. We may want to make an effort to establish communications with the insertion teams."

Jess considers the matter.

"Actually, we might want to make sure we can avoid total radio silence, even if an Abyssal doesn't show up. Once we do start tearing the ship up, we may not have a whole lot of time to wait."

Iapetus nods at Journeys and turns his head towards Daniel "Should we decide on boarding, I will join you in the elimination of the Abyssal commander and other key factors inside the ship. Otherwise, I will support the pilots with heavy artillery from the Enterprise."

"By boarding the Buchenwald we'd also create a distraction as their attention would be split between inside and outside of the ship. Also Lucifer has such a reputation that it'd really force the commander to pay attention to him."

Lyla adds while puffing out a nervous cloud of smoke.

"Should we not decide to board, I'm more than happy to jump past the frontlines and sabotage the officer ships on the backside."

Five Days Darkness listens with some exasperated amusement before he finally interrupts.  "Actually, the plan isn't that at all," he informs Daniel, "Because in case you haven't noticed, the Buchenwald is huge.  Do you think the Neverborn would hesitate to scuttle their own ship if there are multiple Exalts on board, especially Pre-Exodites?  We're not going to take that much risk."  He looks between Daniel, Lyla, and Endings.  "No, here's the plan."

The projector zooms out to display the Buchenwald, a vast black tumor of a ship without any visible bridge or opening.  Still, a section of the hull is highlighted in red.

"We know that the Buchenwald's a carrier, so we're going to be trying to enter via the hanger.  That means there's going to be a fighter screen.  We can assume, as usual, that an Abyssal will have several higher ghosts or even Imperators with them.  So, first off, the basics:

Charmer, your wing is on anti-fighter duty.  That means engaging the Abyssal and Imperators where you can.

In the meantime, Axehead and his bombers will be targeting the Buchenwald itself.  Our objective here is to damage it as much as possible, but I doubt your bombers will be doing much to it's shields.  Really, your goal is to LOOK like you're doing as hard as you can.  In reality your job is to act as a kill-team for any ship that jumps in to support.

Chupacabra, you're on anti-bomber duty, as usual.  If there aren't any bombers, support Charmer or Axehead wherever possible.  Think mobile reserve.

Now, for the rest of you.  Crimson and Blue Fox, I want you two specifically harassing the Abyssal and his entourage if they make a showing.  Here's the important part:  we know they can portal back to their ships, and we want to encourage this.  You are to destroy the Abyssal before the Buchenwald goes down.  This is extremely important.  Blue Fox, your job will be a bit harder because you're on reserve duty, which I'll talk more about in a second.

In the meantime, Forte is to act as a bulldozer.  You're to pave the way for Lucifer, who'll be pulling a small shuttle with Endings and Grunt inside.  Lucifer, you need to open up the hanger or a hole in the hull.  Endings and Grunt will enter.  Endings, your job is to protect Grunt, and the two of you are going to cut your way to the Buchenwald's bridge.  Once there, I need Grunt to use the laptop we'll provide to steal their data.  If you can, set a self-destruct, engage targets of opportunity, whatever.  In the meantime, Lucifer will be assisting wherever possible- destroying turrets, cutting open the hull, whatever he can do.  If there are other capital ships that need destroying, Lucifer, do what you do best.

If an Abyssal engages once inside, use your best discretion.  Making a fighting retreat is adviseable.  You don't need to go blow-for-blow with the Abyssal; if we manage to blow the ship up he's just as dead.  Once you make it to the exit point, Lucifer may not be in a position to haul you out.  Blue Fox, that's where you come in- swoop in, snag the tow cable with the hook we've installed on your ship, and get them back to the Enterprise as fast as possible.  You may also, at your discretion, act as personal backup for Grunt and Endings if they request.  I won't be happy about it but some risks need taking.

Once extracted, I want Lucifer to back away and Forte to shred up the Buchenwald in conjunction with Axehead.

Our objectives, in order of their priority:  Survive; destroy the Buchenwald; steal their data; kill the abyssal.  Any questions?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:33, Mon 12 Sept 2016.

Daniel gains a frown as the plan is laid out.

"We're only sending two Exodites inside?" He glances between Endings and Grunt, more concerned than anything. "Not to downplay their capabilities, but if they're going to infiltrate the bridge it's quite likely they'll run into the boss, and they're going to have to overcome it or at least hold their own for a good while in order to do any of the things mentioned. And that's supposing Grunt can still fight while doing the hacker business, otherwise it's up to Endings alone. Why not use me?"

"Because we may very well need you to take out enemy cruisers if they jump in,"  Five Days Darkness responds to Daniel, "Our bombers are good but you've proven yourself extremely adept at taking them out quickly.  If we can't, they'll gang up on the Enterprise and we'll have to jump out, leaving the Buchenwald and whoever's on it behind."

Daniel crosses his arms, frustrated but unable to contest the reasoning.

"I guess you're right."

He looks to Endings and Grunt with a gruff yet faintly paternal expression, then shoots a glance at Lyla and lets out a small sigh. He didn't like the plan, but he knew he wasn't the most brilliant of tacticians. "Just don't bite off more than you can chew. Call for help in time if you start getting overwhelmed."

"I'll be closer." Jess says, trying to sound more sure of herself than she really was. "If it comes down to it, and I don't think it will with Blue Fox in charge of the extraction, I can blast my way in and provide support. Make the hole big enough and I won't even have to widen it." It was a bad idea, but Endings and Grunt weren't what she considered acceptable losses. Not to mention that Daniel was a much more valuable chess piece than her. "It'll be risky, but what isn't about this whole thing?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:13, Mon 12 Sept 2016.

Lyla gives an assuring nod to Daniels glance, before shrugging off some ash from her cigarette.

"Trust me, I'll be there faster than you can even say my name," she notes to Grunt and Endings with certainty that shines through.

Turning his expressionless helmet-clad head to Daniel and Lyla, Endings' voice is steady "Worry not, we will be able to take care of ourselves and our duties, and should the situation turn dire, I will not hesitate to call for you to help us."
His turns his attention to Gabriel.
"What do you anticipate, Mr.Hockenberry, can you fight while stealing the data? Protection is not exactly my speciality, but I will do my best to keep you unharmed."

Feeling a little awkward watching the group speak, Jess keeps her expression neutral and glances over to Red.

The Red Queen does not look happy.  She's tapping her foot to a beat nobody but Jess could probably parse, her bright-red lips pursed in annoyance, her arms folded over her chest.  She's well aware that her part of the job is just the setup for the finish, and it's not sitting well with her.

Plus, Jess knows full well that the Red Queen has her own squadron of Dragon-Blooded sycophants to back her up.  She's got a lot of power and it's not being recognized.  It must chafe.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:04, Thu 15 Sept 2016.

"So how soon should we be out and in our suits?" Lyla asks, more in order to break up the awkward glancing around rather than out of curiousity.

"I wasn't given the callsign ironically. Any small problems fit in my bailiwick," Grunt replied, "Of the two of us you're a more valuable target. I'm going in with a laptop when I'd rather have, say, a big honking bomb but that's the nature of the mission. Once I unleash the digital dogs of war we'll have to protect the hardware because it's more fragile than either of us."

"Absolutely not," Five Days Darkness says to Jess, "Your bomber isn't fast enough and Endings and Grunt will be sitting ducks.  If Blue Fox can't do it, then it falls to the other Interceptors."

"I'm not picking up guys.  Chicks only."

"Ha ha, Chupacabra.  No, really, that means Crimson's squadron will perform the pickup if Crimson can't.  Do we understand?  I don't want five people all gunning for the Buchenwald at once, and then the Neverborn decide to just pull the trigger and blow it all up.  Am I understood?"

"Yes Sir,"  Pacifica responds.

"Crystal,"  Chupacabra sounds bored.

"Grunt, the laptop you're being given is one of a kind.  Secrets, Michael Florentine, and Smoker all worked on it.  Whatever you do, do NOT touch the Abyssal computers without at the very least touching your laptop's casing, understood?  The combat wards on it should protect you from the worst of things.

Blue Fox, we jump in two hours.  You should be combat ready by then, so it's up to each pilot to determine how much time they need.  The fighters are otherwise ready to go."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:04, Thu 15 Sept 2016.

"Objectively that should make me feel more confident about things," Grunt said with a nod, "I assume the thing is isolated in case they've got some nasty bit of chicanery waiting. Really don't want the Core trying to decide between keeping enough memory free for consciousness or life support."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:27, Thu 15 Sept 2016.

As a tiny bit of humour is introduced to the otherwise nerve breaking meeting, Lyla's smirk widens for a moment. Otherwise she just nods in agreement and understanding. Her part didn't seem complicated, only dangerous, but that's just the right way for her.

Daniel un-crosses his arms. His demeanour is focused as he eyes the people gathered once more, noticeably lingering a bit longer on the Exodites.

"Right. Let's do this."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:48, Thu 15 Sept 2016.

"Sir?"  Pacifica raises her hand, "Come to think of it, what about me?"

"Right,"  Five Days Darkness nods soberly, "My apologies, Tomato, I forgot.  Everyone, Tomato here is explicitly on reserve to hang around the Enterprise.  It'll be her job to stop anything from getting too close, say by crashing into our hangar."

"Got it."  She nods.

Jess nods respectfully to Five Days Darkness as he denies her offer. A weight lifts off, and she does her best to hide her relief. This wasn't the sort of thing Red Queen would volunteer for, but now that she'd been ordered, Jess knew she'd give it her all. Especially if she thought she was swiping the assignment from her rival.

"Yeah." she says after Lucifer finishes. It's far past time we gave them another broken nose.

Iapetus leaned back and stayed quiet for a while after Grunt's notion of differing values, but then looks at Jess after her comment on breaking a nose.
"And should we be successful, take their lunch money?"

"More like their diary", Daniel comments with a deadpan expression. "Which we'll use to find their secrets and destroy them."

He wasn't the best at lighthearted banter.