Roy looked at the maps, scowling thoughtfully.  "Do we have maps of those tunnels?  Be nice to block their escape before they even realize they need it..."  He rubbed his chin for a moment, adding, "Make it look like the initial attack is coming at them from the tunnels, flush them out of the house and let snipers take them down as they come out the doors."  He glanced over at Cross and grinned a little.

"Be even better if the groups hitting from the tunnels had some kind of livery or patches...something that IDs them...when we hit Tak and Logis, make it look like the initial assault is being done by Femal's people...reverse that when we hit the Occui.  Give any potential survivors good reason to try and take each other out as revenge.  We can decapitate the organizations, chew up their upper ranks, and let the lower ranks ravage each other for a while."

He grinned at Cross and added, "That's the thing about these greedy bastards...you can never be sure when one of 'em decides they want YOUR piece of the action, as well..."

   Cross chuckled, I like those ideas. But you know   what i like better. is killing them myself.. that way i know that the Job gets   done

 O'day  says, them Tunnels.. wouldn't  take  much  to drive a  van  or  truck  into the  tunnels  and wreck them,  cause  a ruckass, may be a wee fire?..smoke .. Then  they  decide to Bail.. if the  decide to stay in fight..well..dead is dead, it  depends  how hard ya  wanna  work on it?

 Hemsly says..I ', thinkin'  a vave  or   car,,  run it  right through  any  gauards. so's they start shootin'.. the    the C-10 we  packed in there, we  blow up.. Kill ' bunch of bad   folks, destrou thier escape, so's  they have  ta  run away.

 I  would not   mind  sniping   people  who come out...it is  easy. lirg  smiled

 LT Hirr  Looked  at Yotolia..we could be   waiting on the  Grounds.. they would not   think of  Felrites   pouncing on them

 NA-CE listened she wasnt a strategist, high ranking Enlisted or an Officer, she was just a combat med tech, she just paid attention, tried to burn the marks faces in her mind and she listened carefully about the intel of the marks. NA-CE would just listen nothing was directed at her, and she has never been here before, so she wasnt going to add anything unless asked.

Yotolia looked up to Hirr with a nod before reaching into her hoody to rub at her ear and hummed to herself. She shook her head visibly before piping up. "Do we know if they hold the captives in the tunnels? Would be bad to blow them up if the goal is to save as many as we can no?" She asked still rubbing her ear as she looked to everyone. "And what if in this time of ruckus, they decide to dress these slaves up as them to flee, and the sniper starts shooting?"

Yotolia wasn't a hundred percent that what she was asking would happen, but she had seen plenty of earths old films of such situations happening that she couldn't hold her tongue on the possibility,

  Hemsly  shrugs...we  save folks  when we  can..we  can't  save them all..This is  wet works.. we are here to  kill them threee and anyone who helps them

Roy gave Cross a feral smile.  "I thought that was a given.  The rest of this is just dressing on the salad, so to speak...odds are good, in both locations, there are so many people involved that we're not likely to get them all..."  He gave a shrug, and added, "I lack Shadow's appetite for wanton destruction, or else we'd figure out some way to just deliver air strikes on all the locations and then go in and mop up any survivors.  But I don't know how we'd get a torpedo bomber into those areas effectively.  So, the plan is to give them a scare...the more carnage you lay down on the way in, the scarier it is.  And, hopefully, the boss at those locations panics and makes a run for it, with the loyal troops standing rear guard.  It's like using a dog to flush game out of underbrush so you can get a shot at it."

He shrugged and added, "But if there's another way out, or too many of them make a run for it at the same time, we're likely to miss someone.  So, I'd prefer them thinking it was one of their own that did it.  We get them pointing fingers at each other, they'll still be shooting at each other long after the Hermes has moved on...Gresh's people won't need to burn anywhere near as much effort because they'll be shooting at each other...even if they don't manage to kill each other effectively, that will still be like sending up signal flares for Gresh to know who's still out there and how active they are.  And if they give enough lead time, his people will be standing on the sidelines and throwing rounds into the mix to up the bodycount without advertising that they were there."

He looked at the others who'd chimed in.  "I like Hemsly's option better.  We get the benefit of the blocked escape, AND they're immediately under attack and know it.  This is one of the rare times that we want them to know someone's there to make trouble.  And I'm thinking maybe four snipers per location...so, we'd need six or eight where the Nivarian and Roussian are so close, because we need to cover both at the same time.  Four to launch the attack and cut off their tunnel escape.  Everyone else is either on the grounds or right outside when things start going boom, and they have two jobs...spotting for the snipers, as far as picking targets, since they'll be close enough to notice right away if the mark exits the building, and trying to quietly take down as many more as they can.  If the initial wave of...well, let's just call them rats, for a multitude of reasons...if they get shut down and the initial assault team finds that they're meeting heavy resistance, the snipers can move in closer, and the infiltrators on the grounds can move into the buildings and hit the resistance in a flanking move, while the snipers make sure they don't get outflanked and caught unaware."  He looked around at the group.

"Plenty of work to go around.  Everyone gets a piece of the action."  He turned to Yotolia.

"Collateral damage is always a risk.  We try to minimize it, but it happens.  Tunnels would be a bad place to keep slaves, because you don't want to clog up your secret escape route with a bunch of enclosures, so not much chance of that...and I'm betting that they're more interested in trying to get away from the known threat of someone attacking than they are in taking the time to dress up slaves as decoys.  If I'm wrong?"  He shrugged.

"At least the slaves get a quick, clean death, instead of wondering how long it is before they end up on a Demon dinner plate or incubating Creshian hatchlings that are going to eat them alive from the inside out.  One of the reasons we came early, though, is because they might think of that kind of a precaution AFTER they hear the Hermes has docked, because they know there's a chance they're going to be targets.  So we're hitting them before they get the announcement that the Hermes is coming to Fuji...before they've had times to set up countermeasures against a Delta Night."

  Gresh  looks  around the  table...The  Rossian and the  Nivar, are about a Mile or so a way...if the entrance to the stem  wouth be  a   clock, and the entrance is  12:00..they would be  at 10;00..If  all yournpeole what to hit them  first, we can send  watchers  to the Uppers, to watch the Occui.

 Cross  and O'day both Shrug...sooner  we start, the sooner they get dead.

 Jax  smiled a bit...Nifty said,we  don't have to do anythign stupid like  warn the  boss  bad guys,,right?  if  we  see them, we can drop them, right?

 Lirg says..so? how do we go...

Roy looked at Nifty in consternation.  "Why in the world would we want to warn them?  That's the whole purpose for coming in early, so they don't get any warning. If they're really lucky...IF...they'll have heard that the Hermes is still a day or so away, so they might be shutting down some operations, pulling people in and spreading people out, trying to get a head start on Delta Night...but the pattern's been established, and we saw that the last couple of times we went out.  The Fleet docks, there's a big event of some sort, usually a ball, and THEN things go bad for the bad guys.  So they're not too urgent about clearing out or digging in until the Fleet docks.  We know, because we've caught them in the act the last couple of times, now."

He grinned, and added, "Welcome to the wonderful world of covert operations.  Playing by the rules here means fighting dirty, and there's no longer any such thing as "gentlemens' rules"...anyone who insists on using them is just asking to catch a bullet between the eyes or have someone drop a grenade on you while you're at the doorstep delivering your warning message."  He shook his head and added, "We've had people, here and there, try using a warning as a ploy to flush out the bad guys...it's never worked particularly well.  You want their first warning to be the fact that some of their guards have mysteriously gone silent...or, in the case of what we're planning tonight, something blew up right at their back door.  The whole idea is that, by the time they realize we're there, it's already WAY too late for them."

He glanced over at Lirg.  "Our usual method of deployment is via generic, unmarked hover van, unless there's some specific reason to try it another way.  We've had a few people try hovercycles in the past...problem with that is, hovercycles are enough of a rarity that the sight or sound of one attracts attention.  Hover vans?  People hardly even look twice.  Probably need four...the assault team needs one to load up with explosives, plus one for extraction if things go really sideways.  Infiltrators can be dropped off in the vicinity, but it'll be easier to have the snipers paired off with a van for each pair.  Each sniper teams drops off infiltrators, and then moves to find their position to sit overwatch and wait for the fireworks to start.  If the infiltrators need extraction, one sniper team has enough room in a van for all of them, so they can swoop in while the other team provides cover."

He grinned and looked around at the group, which was decidedly heavy with snipers.  "What we need to decide is, who goes in with which team?"

  Nifty seemed  happy he could just shoot folks and not worry about  being a foolish hero.

  Hirr  smiled  at  Roy,you should have  had  Angel, AZ-EL come, she is  very good sniper  as well

 They all waited for the  marching orders  while the  Demo team set up the 'bomb van'

Roy glanced around at the group, noting that Hemsly, Brooks, and Karson had all effectively assigned themselves to the assault squad by virtue of wiring up the van.  "Cross, O'Day, go with the Demo team.  After that van they're rigging goes up, they're going to need some extra firepower."  He gave a gesture with his hand, indicating they should at least move in that direction, and then scrutinized the rest of his team.

"Lyri, you and Lirg are Sniper Team One.  Zob and Nifty are Team Two.  The rest of us will hit the grounds just after the van goes up."  He indicated himself, the two Felrites, and Vaka.  He looked at the two Felrites and the Occui.

"We want to keep things quiet and not advertise our presence...UNLESS one of our primary targets shows.  If that happens, see if a sniper team has a shot.  If not, do whatever you need to do to eliminate that target, no matter how much noise it makes."  He gave a nod, and patted one of his machine pistols.  "Got it?"

 NA-CE listens and pays attention and will wait for her orders, she was medical backup she presumed, but she would wait for further orders.

  The groups  began to  spread out Lyri said...Drop us off at the fire escape on  the  west side of the tallest Building on the west side of  our  Mark's places.. we'll get to the  roof  and   spread out there...

 Zob and Nifty  would  do the East side  of the  two mark's buildings...

  Hemlsy   and  brooks  finally set  up their  trigger  wires. Karson  spliced them together.  He handed   Triggers outHemsley , You  have the clearing  charge..  when   any guards   show  up, you   Trigger them, the   array will  send  some  C-1o  cubes  at them and Go off.. Brooks... your  trigger will  send the   Van   at top  speed   into   whatever    is in front of  it... when  it  crashes... I hit  my  triggers, that  should Blow up the  dors.. and cave   some of the tunnel.. if they have other  cars  parked there,  the fires and explosions  should fracture  the Powercless... No one will be using that tunnel for week.

Roy grimaced slightly.  "I had envisioned you...both sniper teams...keeping the vans and dropping us off...but we can go the other route pretty easily, I suppose."  He'd rummaged through his gear bag, selecting what he needed for this particular operation...his sniper rifle would be staying behind, as would the assault rifle...but both machine pistols and the Verian hold-out pistol were going with him, along with his kabar and kukri.  His plan, personally, was for mobility and concealability...he was willing to sacrifice a little firepower.  If there was anything the machine pistols couldn't take down...well, that's what the snipers were for...

He turned to Gresh.  "Anywhere in the vicinity of those homes that it would safe and innocuous to park a hover van?"

  Lyri looked at Zob, who shrugged.we can  do that?..  both teams   just land their   vans on the  roof  top , towards the  back... Zobs Van  can drop you off  in the  alley in front.. and go to thier  Roof.

 Twitch  will guide the bomb van to the   tunnel..She is not to go in.. she will  Guide  you.. tell you  were the closest exit is, then go  into the streets in case she is needed..Is is  12?  there is no need  for her  to be in a Tunnel that will be blown up.

 Hemsly  nods...Right then?  I'll drive....

a chorus  of  .NOOOOO..was heard, Karson took the  bomb van driver  seat.

As they headed for the various vans, Roy caught up with Karson and Hemsly.  "Now, this shouldn't need to be said...but it's you two, so I'm going to say it."  He didn't wait for a response.

"You be sure and WAIT until the sniper teams are in place before you light the candles down there, okay?  I don't want our marks sneaking out the front door because you got too excited and popped off before we've got the exits covered.  Do I make myself absolutely clear?"  He wasn't angry...but there was no doubt that he was not just joking or teasing.

  Karson looked a6 Hemsly..Hemsly nodded.. Just have them COM us   when they are  ready..when we get  both, we'll enter the Tunnel..

A  thin  grill  ith  short hair, she  looked like a Nivarian/human half breed. I'm supposed  ta  take   some people to the  exit  tunnel near the   stem?  M'name's  Twitch? she was dressed  like a stem kid, except her  pants  were more  durable, and the   long sleeve  pull over  , didn't have  holes. a weapons  belt  was  diagonal  across her chest, with  Largran 'luger' type  side  arm and  three  ammo pouches for  Mags.

 Karson   nodded to Hemsly  and he waved   the kid to follow  them..looking at Roy.. Karson added,I'll COM when we are there.... I'll COM  when the snipers both  call in..annd  I'll COM  when we enter.....Once we are in..the first  explosions  will be  that array , to clean out  or  force retreat... anything afte rthat  will be  the  Van and  the  triggers..

  Lyri's  van lifted  off , headign  to the  west..staying street level  until they were a good  4 blocks  away, then  rose  into the  air to get above the lights., but below the  main traffic streams.

  Zob waited  for Roy  and Karson took his     Van  to the   north east.... Zobs  van would be , more or less in the same direction. save  for  dropping the  ground team off.

Roy gestured for the girl to go with Karson.  He looked around, taking a deep breath that was almost a sigh as the vans scattered.  One day, we won't need to do this... he told himself, without truly believing it.  If that day came, it wouldn't be in his lifetime.  There was always someone greedy enough to try and screw over their entire race...or the entire APF...for personal profit.  And unfortunately, it seemed like some of them were always charismatic genuises who could win over the 'true believers' that didn't like the way things were being run.f

He gave a small shake of his head.  "Okay, Zob, let's hit it.  Don't want to leave those guys sitting at the tunnel mouth waiting on us..."  He gestured for his team to head for the remaining van, where Nifty had already laid claim to the front passenger seat.

   10 Minutes...Lyri and   Lirg  where  on the  roof   with their weapons searching.. the  Grounds  of the Nivarian  mark.

 Long Shot in place.. 8  cars on the  law.. whole bottom f;loor  is  lit up.. Wolf  says  the   Roussian hpouse   looks the  same.

.........

15 minutes  after leaving.

 Nifty  here.. dropping off   some pedestrians   now....

.................

 18 minute s after leaving..

Switch here.. we are at the Opening with the Guide, The Guide  will leave  when  we  enter..

 ..............

2 minute  after    Bomb check in

 we  are in Place..  Temper  sees.  4  guards  walking arpound the   cars on the front Lawn...

...

 we  see the same... light guards   for a big wheel party?

Roy nodded as the comms calls came through.  "Copy that...stand by..."  He muted his comm for a moment.

"Okay...when we hear the boom, Hirr and Yotolia get in or over the fence whatever way is fastest for you.  Liggins, you and Na-Ce are with me, we're going to be walking down the street like we're out for a nice evening stroll or something...keep it looking innocuous until the last minute.  Let's go..."

As he headed for the main street between the houses with the two women, he commed, "Hot Shot's a go.  Send in the party favors..."

 NA-CE listened closely and then was excited as they headed for the marks. She was dropped off and then Roy said she was with him, she gave Vaka a smile when he left, and she walked with Roy and Liggins down the street. She had her weapons hidden.

   Vaka  walked  down the street, he  kept to the  outside , away from the fence ..you think, how many   bad people we kill, in everything  we do...and there are always more? how do they keep popping up?

 liggins  snorted..No matter what Race, what planet, what country. there are always  those who are weak of  mind, or black of heart, who will side  with evil , if they think they will get value  from it, and they care not, who gets  hurt. we have seen it on earth..everycoutnry?...at least out here, its  easier to understand  why aliens  do it.

 Hirr   gave a hiss at that,there  are those who should not be who they are, they are so dark inside  they  can't use the excuse that they were 'tricked"  . they  want to be   on the side of evil... we have  culled many of our  own, for just that.

............

 every Minute. Lyri or Zob  would  say the count of  guards..it never changed...

Then the word from Karson..Little guide is off and running..said something up us  having  back up..there are two hatched  for us to use..we may have to use the  one  two block back.. i want to use the one  1 block back... it  comes  down to the Blowback...Hemsely?

 right....so..on  3..the   array  goes  off......1.......2........3....

inside the Tunnel   the van 'drove  down  with  Brooks steering with a Vidboard.. there were two Guards  and   4 fancy  Hover cars parked, two on each side of the   doors..  they saw the van coming  one man lazily held up  his had  for it to  stop..that's when the array  went off... the cubes of   C-10  bounced   around   and the triggers swent off  5 seconds later.. the Explosions  tore the guards  apart, Blew up  on car  , which Blew up the Nex  car.. the power cells  fracted.. the other  two  cars  burned.

 My turn..got a  clear path for that  door...

 he might have been hasty, but considering the   plan the   Van ,m it didn't matter  much...just..missing  dead  center,  the   impacted  Buthe Door the Powercell fractured  and Karson hit the switch.. from where they were, Zob and  Nifty  saw  a  Down of  Earth and  dec plates    rise, then   fall as the tunnel collasped.. lefting a  somokign carter  and   hundreds of  alarms going off  from cars and Buildings.

 Nifty  Grinned as he  sighted in on a Guard...Zob did the same..Nifty  fired   and   the  Man's chest  blew out  his back

 Lyri called into the COM...show time!  her   rifle  coughed , a second later  a  guard  at the west  end  of the Building, flew  back into the  flowers..

 The two Cayts  headed for the   inwrought  fence , climbing over with ease.

"C'mon.  They've got this one covered, let's get over the fence for the other one..."  He jogged to the fenceline of the other property they were looking at, dropping into a crouch with his hands cradled to boost the other three over the fence.

"Let's go, we want to be on the ground and ready before they make it out of the building!"

  There was the   sound  pof a Hatch spin  a block away.. Hemsly and the rest of their  team came out..

  There was  a  cry from the west  as Lyri's  team took out another guard... the  cats  were on the ground headed to the last two.

    Roy and his folks  mounted th fence..two round   zipped  from Zob's  roof.. one guard  went  down...an some gu  coming-out the   main  door, was  splattered  over the foyer, someone slammed    the door  shut

 Lia  and Catty on the  way,, we are going tio srt  to hit  windowns....

 ...  there  is one guard  let.. Temper  tagged  a guy comign out the  door

  we'll coming out the  hatch way.. smoke and fire  below.

"I'm not one to opt for Shadow's preferred techniques...but in this case, if you can't get in safely, torch the place.  Once we go inside, we lose sniper cover and we also face odds anywhere between ten to one and twenty-five to one.  I'd rather light up the furniture and pick them off as they stagger out of the smoke..."  It wouldn't be fast...but with the emergency exits below blocked, if the structures were on fire, there weren't many viable options to get out.  And most living beings would rather take their chances against a sniper bullet than be burned alive...

"When you get out of the hatch, back up Cat.  We've got more firepower on the ground here."

Yotolia followed behind Hirr closely, mimicking her movements, as they moved, stopping when she stopped. The young ferlite watched the vet for signals or signs of what she needed to do. Her heart was pounding with some excitement, as she started feeling the nostalgic feeling of an early morning hunt, and she smiled to Hirr as she waited for her orders