Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded at the agreement of heading to the building in question before listening to Cass explain she had things to do with her helicopter, aka moving to a proper landing bay. It made sense she wouldn't get away with leaving it where it was and the possessiveness didn't go amiss on her either but said nothing as it wasn't her place and it wasn't exactly a new thing to come across. She let Rinaa give out the orders of what should be done and by who, before heading to the main building with the others whilst helping Rinaa out with the boxes. She noted how some were branded with the S.T.A.R labs logo and it made her remember how Rinaa had previously mentioned when they were on Sttil how she interned there in this timeline of hers. She could tell that Rinaa underestimated the weight of some of the boxes and it became one reason why she decided to step up and help get them inside. She also figured that doing her part may help in showing those who didn't know her that she was a team player and far from being a slacker.

Once in the building, she looked around noticing how basic but well stocked it was. It wasn't too much of a surprise that it wouldn't have a homely vibe going on as it wasn't meant for that. She looked at Rinaa as she explained which stuff is go to where, nodding and started putting the tech boxes down by the coffee table and on it, as Zion gave the answer to the question she was asking. "got it" she replied, putting her kitbag in the kitchen as instructed, then coming back out and helping Zion begin the process of setting up the wall they needed to use for the projected Skype briefing. She went to the wall art first and began taking it down, agreeing that Zion was indeed right, it was hideous and almost thought she was doing rhe place a favour by getting it off the walls, even if it was only temporary. However she was rather biased when it came to art and felt if it wasn't Elliott's or Kay's work then she didn't really like much. She put the pieces of art on the ground, stacking it all against the next wall over so it was out of the way.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Working from opposite sides of the room Fia and Zion would quickly strip the walls of it's 'artwork'. The two pinboards took longer to remove as both were screwed into the wall. Zion and Rinaa toyed with the idea of leaving them up and simply draping them with a spare bedsheet to prevent the text on the notices from distorting any text that might be projected up over the call. The bedsheet idea was dismissed when they realised they didn't have a way to hang up the sheet that didn't involve making a hole in the building. Zion had a multi-tool of his own to assist him with the task of unscrewing and once Rinaa gave her own Swiss-army knife to Fia. Her implement had noticeably more blades and tools than Zion's and if the scuffed, scratched casing was anything to go by, it was well used and well loved.

Rinaa kept the tech set up simple- a camera pointing towards them and a projector pointing away from them, both hooked up to a laptop. There was also a signal boosting device and portable wi-fi device (their chosen building was on the periphery of the base and she wasn't going to take chances with a dodgy signal). By the time Cass arrived the blinds were drawn in the bunker and not only had everything been set up, it was in the process of being tested. Rinaa was talking to somebody imaginatively codenamed 'Overwatch 1' who introduced himself briefly as the main man who'd be running comms and remotely hacking security camera feeds during the laboratory heist. Zion and Fia were quickly roped as 'test subjects' to check video and audio quality. The video quality was fine, but it became clear very quickly that the camera microphone was not sensitive enough to pick up everything they were saying and when more than one person spoke at once, things came through as garbled on the other end. There was a back and forth exchange of tech jargon and suggestions before Rinaa kicked back in her wheelie office chair, slid her headphones away from hear ears and declared "well... looks like we're routing it through the comms instead. Pass them over so we can work our magic."

 

[MzHyde]

With Rinaa's well used and well loved swiss-army knife, she gladly got to work with dismantling the pinboards with Zion and getting them off the wall once it was decided that was the best course of action to take instead of draping some extra sheets over them. She had to admit to herself that the knife she was borrowing was an impressive one, making her think if she was more willing to have such things on her at most times, or more to the point, had a need for such things this was something she would have loved to own. With the pinboards finally down after a few minutes of unscrewing each corner and lifting them off the wall, placing them beside the artwork they took off the wall moments ago, she then helped where she could with putting up the sheeting they needed whilst Rinaa set up the camera and projector side of things.

She kept out of the way initially when Rinaa was busy finishing up the last bits of setting up and talking with someone on the other end of the video call whilst Cass came back in. She barely acknowledged the woman's entrance, just simply giving a simple small nod of acknowledgement in th eprocess before she, with Zion became the 'test subjects' for audio checks and did so by talking all kinds of random shit with him, deliberately using this time to talk at the same time as him and after him to get the most results possible. With the necessary answers found, she gave a nod and took off her comms as Rinaa requested for them, wlaked over to her and handed hers over. "Here" she simply said. She had to admit, of all the things she's had to do in preparation of a heist, this was the most interesting and unique things as she never had to deal with team comms much before. It all just made her more determined to prove to the others that she could do a good job and work as a team without going rogue, even if they didn't know her to think such things, she knew at least ZIon was concerned about that, just because she was someone new.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The others passed over their own headsets without question. Zion's was the same style as Fia's and Rinaa's (all three were using the 'basic model' from the cache, Rinaa did have her own personalised headset, but it had been returned to the main vigilante base by Jay to sell the illusion that her daughter was really dead). Cass' on the other hand was a completely different model. Rinaa raised an eyebrow at her ex who gave a shrug in response to the unspoken question. "It works better.". Rinaa gave no reply, just spun around in her chair and turned back to her tech set-up and began talking to Overwatch 1 again. The process of connecting up the headsets to the main communication frequency didn't take very long, even with Cass' special headset. It was a pretty standard procedure and the bulk of the work had been done by the boat owner back at the cache when they were originally put online. This time Rinaa used herself as the test subject for each headset. "Overwatch says we're good to go" she told them taking off the last headset and passing it to it's owner. "Everybody's there on his end."

The couch was big enough to fit all four of them comfortably side-by-side. Predictably Rinaa sat as far away as possible for Cass as possible, plopping herself on the end of the couch closest to the side table with her tech set-up, leaving Fia and Zion to chose between which of the two middle positions they wanted. With everybody seated Rinaa joined the proper call, the audio feed kicked in before the video feed, so all four were initially greeted by the sound of Overwatch 1 telling everybody to 'shut up, the meeting's about to begin'. The room where the briefing was taking place seemed to be a cross between a NASA mission control centre and a semi-circular lecture theatre. Only three people there would be recognisable to Fia- Jay, Kane and Quin all standing together. Alternate Jay had changed little since Fia last saw her- she still had the short haircut and iron piercings, though today was wearing some kind of scrubs. Alternate Kane looked far older and far more stressed than the one in Fia's timeline, though just as smartly attired. Quin was by far the biggest change, gone was the buzzcut and the armour, instead replaced by a short ponytail and similar style formal clothing to Kane. As she was close to the camera her indigo eyes were just about visible. The others in the room (the members of team 2 and team 3 as well as those in Overwatch position) were surprisingly young, the oldest was maybe twenty-five. A loud whoop followed by various parties waving at friends/family they'd spotted ensued before Kane spoke up asking for silence.

He made his way to the front of the room where a large screen had been set up. "This" he gestured at the face of a man in his mid thirties wit wire framed glasses and a smile bordering on sly "is Marcel. Born in Chile into a mafia family, he now not only runs the family but runs one of the biggest South American crime syndicates. They specialise in the trafficking of drugs, weapons and people, more specifically meta-humans." A loud rumble of disapproval went through the main room, a sentiment reflected in Cass, Rinaa and (most noticeably) Zion's faces, the man balling one hand into a fist and digging his fingernails right into his flesh. "As usual all the major authorities knew this, but couldn't prove it. That changed five weeks ago when this crate was seized by port authorities in Gotham. Inside twenty metas were found, all wearing power dampening cuffs and all very much dead." Briefly a set of crime scene photos flashed up on screen, showing the container and the bodies all laid out in rows. "According to the papers this particular container contained 'specimens, supplies and samples' for KYX Labs- a subsidy of LexCorp." Another round of angered grumbling echoed through both rooms. "Exactly." Kane nodded. "The mere fact it's part of LexCorp tells you something illegal and/or dodgy is going on. It looks dodgier still when you realise that before KYX was bought up by LexCorp, it was owned by our 'friend' Marcel and he still has a majority share-holdership in the company. Over the past five weeks a chain of firm evidence had been painstakingly assembled linking Marcel to the trafficking of those metas and numerous other criminal activities. Tonight he's attending this" a gala invitation flashed up on screen "a red carpet, ticked only event for stakeholders and shareholders of major scientific and technological companies, before returning to South America. The American government can't extradite him once he's left the UK, so tonight is our best chance to get him. That's the job of team 1. We attend the gala and make sure he doesn't leave until the feds can come and arrest him. SWAT is there for back-up and in case things turn nasty."

 

[MzHyde]

Out of sheer habit (thanks to her parents and Jay always telling her to be aware of her surroundings 24/7) Fia made a mental point to check what kinds of comms everyone else was using when they handed them over to Rinaa and noticed how much of a difference Cass' comms was compared to the others, instantly recognising it as clearly being a personal custom piece and not a generic piece from a cache, like the others were. It was just a random observation she made and like everything else kept any opinions on it to herself, feeling more focused on letting Rinaa do what she needed to with Overwatch before Rinaa confirmed that all that needed to be done and handed back to the comms to each individual. With the comms back in her hand, she put it back on herself. She went to the couch and sat down next to Rinaa, letting Zion be the one to sit next to Cass, glad that she didn't even need to gesture or hint at either Cass or Rinaa not to be sat near each other. With Rinaa patching them all into the call properly, she heard Overwatch 1 tell everyone to shut up. On the projected screen, she took notice of the area where everyone else was, as well as noting Jay's, Quin's and Kane's presence. The fact that Kane was older looking didn't phase her as she was used to seeing him at the age he was from when she was hovering around Elliott at the diner and his mates turned up.

Jay's presence in this time still unnerved her and she could tell even in this method of contact that she had no qualms of ever getting rid of the iron that she wore, feeling glad that Jay was on the other team and not going to be near her. It wasn't that she thought for an instant Jay would risk compromising the mission at hand by attacking her or stabbing her in the back on principle with said iron, but that didn't do enough to calm her seeing the woman. She kept her worries about this Jay to herself, not letting any of it show, glad that her diguise look always brought her a sense of different confidence to her usual persona. It helped her not to show any signs that she wasn't who she was coming across as which for her was an utter godsend. Seeing Quin with long enough hair to need a ponytail was slightly disconcerting at first but as the meeting began and Kane began talking through the plan of action, she soon got used to the different look and thought nothing of it. She looked at the image of the target in question for team 1 and listened to why he was a target, instantly gritting her teeth angrily at what she just heard. The fact that it did not sit well with anyone was a good sign to her that everyone on this mission had some sort of morals to some degree.

She felt even more glad that she wasn't herself in this instant as her mind was filling with just as much distain and anger as the others, knowing full well what it was like to be wanted because 'her species is rare and considered priceless'. Her family had direct personal history of being hunted, and until she did the risky thing of going back in time and changing that very much, she knew what it did to people to have family members taken. Granted it was by demons, but she as the rest the Constantine-Hale family knew, it wasn't just demons that wanted her mother or her. Swallowing her own personal feelings down she continued to listen to the plan as it was said, every now and then seen nodding her understanding. Hearing that tonight rided on not just saving Elliott in the past, but also getting this asshole off the streets just made her all the more determined to help make this plan succeed. It wasn't a full surprise either that it would be Kane, Jay and Quin who were the team to go to the gala and make sure this Marcel didn't leave. If anyone could achieve that scarily well, it would be them.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa knew the container full of dead trafficked metas all too well. She'd been having dinner with her mother when the call came in and she'd never seen Jay's face drain so quickly of all it's blood, not even when Quin had showed up on their doorstep drunk and beaten nearly to death. Rinaa had many friends who were metas and had seen first hand the kind of discrimination they experienced on a regular basis. This kind of trafficking was something that horrified her to her core, she couldn't shake the idea of it being one of her friends lying there on the rain soaked docks of Gotham. She was all for nailing this asshole Marcel and making him pay, preferably by living the rest of his life out in conditions worse than those trafficked metas had died in. And Rinaa wasn't the only one on the couch with this opinion, fury could practically be seen radiating off Zion and when the photos of the bodies briefly flashed up he let out a gasp that was all pain. For him this was evidently personal, Cass laying a hand on his shoulder and murmuring "we'll get that bastard and make him pay" in a dark, black tone, her face contorted in an expression of anger. "Damn right we will. He's going to ROT for the rest of his life." Rinaa added with a matching look, on this point she and her ex could agree.

Kane continued, giving a brief outline about what exactly team 1 would be doing. Aside from him, Jay and Quin, there would also be a selection of undercover officers. The plan was to wait until the party was in full swing, then lure Marcel away with the promise of a lucrative trade deal. The main details would be finalised at the official briefing later in the day with SWAT and the government agencies involved. If things went wrong there was nothing teams 2 and 3 could do about it, they just had to get on with their mission. "Teams 2 and 3, your target is the high-end KYX Research and Development laboratories located in the industrial quadrant here." Kane gestured at a city map, which was quickly replaced by a set of blueprints and a computer rendered model of the labs. "Security is always high, but tonight most of the major department heads will be at the gala, leaving only a skeleton staff of lower-level workers in the labs and a smaller security team. It's the best chance we'll have to strike. Failure is not an option here, unlike other operations you may have worked on before, we can't simply just reschedule the heist at a later date if things go wrong. This is it. This is the only chance we have. People will die if we don't succeed." Kane's voice was hard, his face a sombre mask, every word solemn. It was clear to all he was no exaggerating and the earlier anger at Marcel's actions had been replaced by determination and in certain faces (Quin, Jay's and Overwatch 1's in particular) sadness.

It was at this point that Rinaa stood up and took over the briefing, minimising the video feed of the cortex to one side and swivelling around the main camera so that those on the other end could see the blueprints and maps she'd projected onto the wall. "It's for that reason that each team has been split into two sub-units. Zion and Ryker from 2, and Artemis, also known as myself and Storm from 3 will be making a HALO jump. Our landing target is the flat roof of the main labs here." She indicated a large, flat roofed building set slightly apart from the other buildings at the east side of the complex. "The second half of teams 2 and 3 consisting of Cosmo, Pharaoh, Hawk-kid and Sparky will be approaching from the ground. Overwatch will deactivate the fences and loop the external cameras, it's a simple over the fence and skirt in the darkness gig. The reason for splitting the teams is simple- if something goes wrong with the HALO team, there's still enough people to perform the heist. All going to plan, the HALO team will land first and send down a series of ropes for the ground team and then they themselves will descend by ropes to the necessary floors. If it goes badly it's grappling hooks and shitty Superman impressions for everybody on the ground." On screen a set of animated stick figures marked out Rinaa's plan. There was a slight chuckle at the joke, but it was a noticeably morbid chuckle. As Rinaa had begun explaining a visible change had come over her, gone was the teenager angry at the world and at herself, in her place was somebody calculating and authoritative with a visible fire in her eyes. Organising this kind of heist, executing it and making the right people, this was what she excelled at, what she lived for. "We have two main targets.... and there's a tertiary target to be explained later by Ryker. For teams 2 and 3 are seeking to steal two highly sophisticated chemicals that are the fruits of Marcel's criminal labours. He's not just a class-A arsehole who wants to profit from desperate people. Those metas that he has smuggled in? They aren't destined for the sex trade or a lifetime of indebted labour in some hellish sweatshop. It's worse than that, they're used as lab subjects in order to develop super drugs that mimic the abilities of metas."

 

[MzHyde]

Zion's reaction to the news on what this Marcel did to metas didn't go amiss on Fia either, if she knew him better she would have made more of a point to give him some kind of support, but she didn't really know him. Instead she just nodded her agreement as Cass and Rinaa spoke their agreement on getting the guy. "Damn straight" she finally briefly commented, before turning her attention to the rest of what Kane was explaining. She particualrly made sure to fully understand what her team was needed for, leaning forward in her position on the couch as she looked and studied the blueprints for where they needed to go and what their target was. At his words about how lives were on the line so failure really wasn't an option, she too had a flash of somber feelings flash across her eyes. She didn't want anyone else to suffer at the hands of extreme assholes, no matter if they're normal humans or part of the downworld or from Hell directly and if this Kane was anything like the Kane she knew, then she knew he wasn't lying or making it sound worse than it was. She knew he would only tell the truth on a mission this important.

As Rinaa stood up and moved the camera so others could see what she was about to show them all, Fia lifted one leg over the other, placing her ankle on her knee making sure to alter her sitting position in such a way that wasn't like the Fia of this time would do, to bring up any red flags for anyone else who didn't know she was here. She made sure to really look at the map and the landing target wanting to make sure she got it all logged in her mind correctly. She felt like so far the instructions were simple enough to understand and get, but she also knew no heist was 'simple'. Even the simplest of heists could be open to complications or things to go wrong which resulted in needing to improvise to successfully complete said heist. The slight joke that was made, brought a smirk to her lips but other than that tiny show of emotion, she kept pretty stoic and unreadable to absolutely everyone. She continued hearing what it was exactly they needed to steal and when she heard they were using the metas to synthasise a mimic drug she pressed her teeth tightly together, almost grinding them in the process.

For Fia that was far too close to home with why her and her mother were wanted in every single timeline and that certainly did not sit well with her. So she figured if being on this heist meant she could help make a stand in trying to put an end to such horrific acts, she was more than willing to do what it took and gained even more determination to do things right by everyone involved.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The reaction to metas being used abused in this manner to create super-power drugs was the strongest so far. Even those who'd known about this beforehand were filled with a visible rage. Zion looked like he was two seconds away from getting up and punching the people responsible for these horrific activities. For Rinaa, explaining just what was going on at the labs was a physically and emotionally painful experience. Before she'd been bitten she'd been against this kind of experimentation on unwilling human/meta-human subjects (consensual volunteer trials were different), but now that she had seen memories of flashes of what Sykes had been through in the military labs, she was more convinced than ever that Marcel and those like him needed to be stopped, and the metas whose lives he'd further ruined needed to be freed and re-rehabilitated. Her eyes flashed amber for a brief second, but before the wolf could take any kind of control Rinaa clipped her hand under the long-sleeved polo neck she was wearing and traced some kind of pattern on the skin of her fore-arm. The amber eyes faded away and she took a deep breath, before continuing speaking.

"Exactly. If we didn't already have a reason to go after Marcel, we damn well have one now. Regardless of whether we're meta or not, we ALL know this is all kinds of horrific and violating all kinds of ethical and moral rules. This kind of science is so fucked up and doesn't deserve to be called science. The point of this mission is to remove the two most dangerous, most potent drugs they have synthesised and destroy all traces of their existence in the labs systems. We will also be plugging into the main frame giving the Overwatch teams to the full files of the lab research. If they come across any other drug that should never be allowed to fall into the hands of government intelligence agencies or worse, people like ARGUS, it's our duty to steal it and dispose of the drugs properly and safely. We have a window of a few hours to do this. It won't tale long after Marcel is arrested for the authorities to make a move on the labs. We're relying on this kind of chaos to cover up the fact that these drugs have vanished."

"Team 2, your target drug is known by the code MW-76delta." A series of photos flashed up on screen. They were photographs of lab print outs roughly spread out on a table. They'd cearly been taken by somebody who wasn't supposed to be there, the blurriness around the edges suggested they'd been taken with a phone camera."This is a specifically targeted memory altering drug designed, depending on the operator to force memories to the surface or to change the neural pathways in the brain and bury the memories. According to data we've acquired, the subject is left in a highly suggestible state afterwards- ideal for implanting fake memories. It goes without saying how incredibly bad it would be if this drug and instructions on how to synthesise it were to fall into the hands of corrupt authorities and then used in interrogations. We believe it to be located here." The building blueprints once again appeared on the projected wall. "This lab has all the usual security, Ryker will be taking the lead on this, so I'll let her explain the plan of action." At those words Cass stood up and swapped places with Rinaa next to their projector wall. Cass first ran through the security they knew the lab to have, various blue-prints and specs flashing up on screen. This was followed up by the plan of attack, which involved entry through the window of the next door lab as opposed to the main doors of the target lab. The next-door lab worked with flammable materials and thus required to have the upper panel of all windows be one that could open fully as a safety precaution in case there was a fire in the lab and the smoke filtration system failed. From there the team could access the target lab through an adjoining room as both labs shared a high spec electron microscope. Cass took longer than Rinaa did to get comfortable speaking about her team's heist, she had experience, just not with this large a team.

With Cass' explanation finished and all questions answered Rinaa stood up again and addressed the rooms. "Team 3, our target drug is this one, known as Morph. The name is self-explanatory, it's a drug that allows the user to mimic the abilities of shape shifter metas and take on the appearance of other humans. While metas can do this by touching the person they wish to replicate, a non-meta user of this drug must ingest the DNA of the person they wish to replicate. Disgusting, but successful if the test notes are anything to go by. KYX Labs and LexCorp may be at the forefront of illegal scientific ventures, but what we've seen of their notes so far has been meticulous. We don't have as an exact idea of location for Morph as we do for MW-76delta. We believe it to be located in one of these two floors, but cannot say for sure. For that reason we will first be heading to the main server floor, located here. Plugging into the mainframe will give us and Overwatches an accurate location and from there we can work out our plan of action. For us it will be more of a 'tech talk us through it and we listen the fuck up' type of set-up."

 

[MzHyde]

Seeing Zion so close to losing his cool in front of everyone on this video briefing didn't go amiss on Fia and she couldn't blame him for feeling so passionately angry about it. If she could be more open about who she was, she would have shown her anger much more openly herself. She even noticed the anger of Sykes trying to break through in Rinaa's eyes, those golden eyes always giving off a haunting feeling to Fia, especially as she never fully made right with Sykes. She noticed the casual tic of Rinaa's to calm Sykes down and keep her from taking over Rinaa's conscious and body so she could finish what she needed to do and say in this briefing. She continued to listen, nodding in agreement that this Marcel guy and LexCorp sounded worse by the minute and was more than happy to be a part of bringing this whole illegal business down to its knees.

As Cass stood up to talk, she noticed how she didn't seem nearly as comfortable doing a public speaking stint as Rinaa did but kept jeering what was being said, what needed to be done before Rinaa took over once more and explained then what she and Rinaa had to do and what they needed to retrieve. Hearing that the one drug they were after was in an unknown location made her internally groan, always finding those heists so frustrating but this time there was a difference. They had comms and someone on the other end who could help by hacking into the computer's mainframe and giving them said location. Something she very much never had the benefit of in her timeline. She nodded in understanding and agreement, feeling pretty satisfied with everything that had been said and was now just feeling ready to get moving. "understood" she said to Rinaa.

 

[_gallifrog_]

While Fia groaned internally, the two other member of team three were far more vocal in their annoyance, groaning out loud at not having an exact location for their target drug. Hearing that the Overwatches would be able to figure out the location was a relief. "It's riskier than team 2's approach, but I see no other way around the problem." One of the guys replied. "I concur. We knew this wasn't going to be an easy B&E job. Overwatch know their shit" the other man agreed "If anybody can mine through data and find it it's the Overwatches and Gideon." "Good. This is a leave no trace operation. Casualties should be kept to a minimum, sneak up on people and knock them unconscious with sedatives, NOT punches to the head. Do I make myself clear?" There were nods from both rooms as Rinaa surveyed them, looking for any sign of disagreement. "We need this to look like they've fallen asleep naturally. Long work day and all that. No injuries that cannot be explained by somebody having pumped into something in the lab. We're only expecting a skeleton staff, most lab technicians and administrative staff don't work at night. The security is based outside the building and as explained earlier, will be much laxer with greater resources concentrated on the gala."

"Now that only leaves us with the exfil strategy. The plan is for all teams to rappel from the labs to the ground and leave the same way the ground teams arrived. The two drivers that brought the ground team to the site will be located here, just outside the complex and out of view of both cameras and guards doing their circuits. From there it's standard procedures- all team members will be taken back to either the cortex or their chosen safe location, all gear on loan goes back to the cortex to be redistributed to the cache at a later time- but with one slight twist. Ryker will not be joining us for the journey back." "Indeed. We have no way of knowing whether there are any meta-human test subjects on site at this moment in time." The way Cass spat out the words 'test subject' as if they left a bad taste in her mouth made it quite clear she was off the opinion that this kind of treatment was abhorrent. "But if there is, then they need to be helped in every way possible. The fact is simple, our network just doesn't have have the resources to adequately deal with who knows how many half dead and traumatised metas. This requires specialist help, they need the best treatment available, not just our group of medical students and doctors who work with us as a sideline business. After everything they've been though they need better. I know an somebody who has access to these resources and as an added bonus can ensure that people like ARGUS don't get their hands on the metas. The catch is that he's an outsider and one who should under no circumstances know about the existence of our network. I, like all of you, took an oath of secrecy and I will keep it. I will remain behind while the rest of teams 2 and 3 make their escape and then call my contact. By the time he gets there you will all be long gone."

"If your contact is who I think he is, can you say with one hundred percent certainty that he will never hear a single word of our existence?" Rinaa asked, crossing her arms and fixing Cass with her best 'don't fuck with me' look. "He is who you think he is, and yes, he can be trusted on this. Unfortunately this won't be his first time dealing with people who've been turned into lab rats." At those words Rinaa's glare lessened in severity and she gave a nod. "Of course." There were various follow up questions before the briefing came to an end having lasted well over and hour and half. Just as Rinaa was about to cut off the communication link Overwatch 1 piped up. "Don't cut this link just yet. I need to get Ryker up to speed on the prototypes. It'll only take a few minutes." Rinaa severed the links to all other comms including her own, before passing the laptop to Cass. "Overwatch 1, about the prototypes." She said, before making her way to the kitchen and grabbing a speedster food bar from her pack.

 

[MzHyde]

With the mention of how it should be a no trace mission, she remembered Rinaa telling her as such before they time travelling back to this timeline of Rinaa's, and just like back then, she agreed to those terms here and now. She knew that if casualties happened on this heist it would serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. If anything, she almost preferred the 'grab and go' heists, especially in her timeline as it meant she wouldn't have to try and come up with some kind of excuse as to where she got the scrapes or bruises from. That wasn't to say she didn't enjoy the fight if it came about however, but if it could be an easy in and out snatch and go situation, she welcomed it with open arms so to speak. It may not be necessarily an easy one, but one nonetheless. She was more than fine with if any altercation had to happen, it had to be strictly knocking them out with sedatives and not any injuries.

When it came to the exit plan, she listened just as intently as she did all the earlier information, knowing that that was one part of the heist she definitely needed to know. She felt perfectly content with the plan to leave via ground level and either end destination once leaving the area. She nodded in understanding once more taking a guess that herself and Rinaa would be going to the cortex as she was going to be wearing loaned gear completely on this mission. She rose an eyebrow when it was announced Ryker/Cass would be staying behind, looking at the woman as she disclosed exactly why she would be staying behind. It was then she understood why she would want to stay behind or felt like she had to stay behind. Letting the girls chat it over and end the conversation a short while later, she then realised just how long the briefing had been going on for. "I'm guessing we'll be getting kitted up and looking at heading off once Ryker has finished the private part of the briefing with Overwatch 1?" She spoke up to Rinaa.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Something along those lines" Rinaa confirmed, taking a bite out of the protein bar, grimacing slightly at the taste. They weren't a food that had grown on her, she found them just as foul tasting this time as she had the first time round. "We have about an hour and a half to kill down here on the ground before we really need to get moving." That elicited a surprised "really? I thought it would be less" from Zion. "Yeah well.... you can never tell how long briefings are going to take and out of all of us Ryker's the only one of us whose used a HALO suit before. I'm guessing, like with scuba, there's more to it than getting into a suit and slapping an oxygen tank on the back."

"From what Ryker said earlier on the flight over, I agree. It seems to be all about getting a perfect solid seal between the suit pieces, particularly the seal around the neck, so that the right pressure can be maintained, is the most important thing. We're jumping from what... 33,000 feet?" Rinaa gave a nod. "Well there's fuck all air pressure up there and even less oxygen. Last thing any of us wants to have is have a leaky suit. Once you get a proper seal, you keep that fucking seal until we're on the ground, those were her exact words." Rinaa couldn't help but smirk, that kind of bluntness was typical when Cass wanted to make a life or death point. "That I have no objections to. I take it these are the HALO suits?" she gestured at set of identical kitbags which had been unloaded from the helicopter. "Yep, suit for the three of us, helmets for the four of us as I believe you Storm, were outfitted at one of the caches?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded at Rinaa saying it was something like what she assumed, but gave a surprised look as she too was surprised at how long they had to be around the building they were already in before heading out. She just figured it would be alot sooner than that also, but it seemed Zion spoke out both their surprise before she could. As Rinaa explained how Ryker was the only one who had actually used the HALO gear before, she felt a little surprised by that remark also, as she just assumed from what Rinaa told her briefly back on Attil that she had used it before, but it seemed she was very much mistaken on that assumption. It did make sense that it would be a case of it took more to know how to properly use the gear than it looked, just like with as she said, scuba gear or astronaut gear.

She looked at Zion as he confirmed Rinaa's own suspicions and explained the situation of how high they would be jumping from, nodding in understanding even if it was now fully kicking in with the reality of what she was about to do. Sure, she had flown to rather great heights but she couldn't say for sure if she had made it that high to then dive downward toward the ground from. It didn't put any fear in her mind though, in fact it did the asbolute opposite, it excited her but she kept her face as unreadable as possible. The dive from great heights was always something that she got a proper thrill from and she knew that due to this time being without the use of her wings, it'd be even more of an internal thrill, but a thrill that wouldn't compromise her ability to stay professional. She looked back at Zion after she got out of her own little thoughts and nodded, "yeah that's right. Got everything in my kitbag ready to go" she confirmed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Zion gave a nod. "Good, means I've got the right info and you've got the right gear." "Outsider privileges." Rinaa replied dryly, to which Zion smirked in the way a person did when they understood an inside joke. The 'joke' here was that often, despite the best efforts of the cache keepers, missions were often time critical and outside agents would often end up with suits that didn't quite fit right and weapons that weren't properly tailored to their specifics. It usually hinder their skills, but as Fia would know, people were always more comfortable with their own weapons and clothing. "Yep, some outsiders do better than other though." Zion indicated with one hand in the direction of Cass who was deep in conversation with Overwatch 1, eyes flicking between the laptop screen and the contents of one of the prototype boxes. "That's because she's not an outsider." Rinaa tipped her head to one side, eyebrows furrowing as she tried to figure out the best phrasing, the one that didn't out her ex's second secret identity. Things were still rocky between them, but outing somebody's secret identity? That was a line Rinaa wouldn't cross. "Not exactly, she runs with two crews- the London network and another. She also has a hell of a lot of useful contacts in the legal world and in the underworld."

"Not to mention a seemingly infinite supply of cash and ....." Zion's sentence ground to a halt as he saw that Cass was finishing up with the call, pulling the headset from around her neck, exiting the call and putting the laptop into sleep mode. "Overwatch 1 says you and him need to have some serious words later." Rinaa grimaced ".....he's gonna chew my head off isn't he?" "Can you blame him?" Cass fixed Rinaa with firm look. "You're his number two, he misses his engineering nerd partner. You heard the speech, right?" A nod. "Well talk to the bloody guy then. If this is the end, make it a good one." An awkward silence fell over the two as both realised they weren't entirely talking about Overwatch 1. It was Cass who broke the silence with an abrupt subject change. "Anyway, HALO tac suits, you three get the main body pieces on, then I'll show you how to pressurise 'em properly."

 

[MzHyde]

At Rinaa's quip about outsider privilages, Fia didn't understand the quip at all but the fact that Zion smirked showed it was some inside joke and she was just going to let the remark fly over her head, instead she just previously nodded her agreement at Zion's first comment about being glad he got given the right information. She let the two of them talk, finding it curious that Rinaa was clearly mentioning about Ryker and she ntoed how she was purposely trying to not to let anything personal slip in her information to Zion or her. As mucha s she would love her own gear, she knew she didn't have anything appropriate as she, unlike Rinaa, didn't bring anything with her Attil that she didn't think she'd need as she knew she would be willingly going back to her timeline like nothing happened. Her motives for time travelling at the time were very different to Rinaa's. She listened to Rinaa explain how Ryker worked with two groups and glancing back at Ryker, she had that aura of someone who did a lot of work for many people because it either paid or kept them busy.

With Zion mentioning the infinite supply of cash it seemed she was partially correct and incorrect at the same time and looked again over as she Ryker finishing her private call with Overwatch and coming back over. She listened to the woman talk to Rinaa and even if she didn't know the full extent of absolutely everything, she knew enough of what she was implying to Rinaa to know the woman did have a valid point to make. She then nodded at the command to get kitted up so she could then show them all how to properly use them and pressurise them properly. She walked over to the ktichen where the bags were kept, and she grabbed her kit, changing into her kit whilst making sure to be in a corner that meant Zion wouldn't catch her changing out of her own jacket to the tactical jacket for the sake of hiding the voice changer band around her neck. She did not want any of that awkward conversation going on. It took her next to no tiem changing, and re-emerged fully changed and walked back out into the main where they were moments ago.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Both Rinaa and Zion opted to change separately in one of the other rooms, the ones used by pilots to crash in after long distance flights. For Zion it was because he was the only male and it would just be awkward to change in the same room as the others. For Rinaa the reasons were more personal, ever since the incident she'd always get changed in private not wanting people to see the ruin of burn scars that was her back. She wanted to avoid the inevitable looks of pity and horror were inevitable. To her the scars were proof that she'd been both weak and a victim and all her years spent convincing the world that she was strong and capable were for nothing. Out of the three, Fia was the only one to have seen the extent of her burns, Cass had only felt them, Rinaa never having gained the confidence to let her then-girlfriend see the extent of the damage. Cass didn't get changed herself, instead began to look over the oxygen tanks, checking that they were full and properly pressurised.

Rinaa and Zion entered the room a few minutes later. The tactical gear changed them both into something more formidable. Without the shapeless jumper it could be clearly seen that Zion had the physique of a swimmer. He'd smoothened down his mop of red hair with some kind of gel or product, adopting an outwardly business ready face, after his earlier outbursts he didn't want to come across as the extremely emotional type with the potential to become a loose cannon. He was comfortable in the suit, but Rinaa on the wore the HALO suit like a second skin. She'd unconsciously changed her entire body language in response to being in the suit. She didn't just walk, she strode like she meant business and when she stopped she adopted a stance that could only be described as 'warrior-like'. There was something very reminiscent of the way Jay acted when she was in full Isogrii mode visible in Rinaa in this moment. Right now Rinaa was entirely Jay's daughter, no trace of Elliott or Elliott's influence to be seen. Her basic suit was the same as Fia and Zion's, but she'd modified it, adding a utility belt with various tools and two shoulder guards made of some kind of leather- one was dark blue, the other was red, both bearing an engraved pattern that matched some of her Isogrii tattoos.

Cass made a point of not looking too long at the trio, instead getting right into the explanation. Using Zion as her demonstration model she first showed them how to properly seal the trousers and under-jacket garment together to make an air-tight seal. Then came the gloves and the boots finally, the most complex seal of them all, the helmet-neck seal. As the oxygen supply was connected just above the neck seal it was vital that it be perfect. Like with her earlier speech it was clear she wasn't used to instructing people in this way, but she did an adequate job of explaining

 

[MzHyde]

Fia knew exactly why Rinaa decided to go somewhere a lot more private and she couldn't blame her in the slightest. If she had actually thought about it she probably would have gone somewhere else to change but she just wanted to get changed and be done with it. She was surprised she was the first one to reemerge changed, but not for long as it seemed not long after she got into the main room near Ryker, did the other two appear fully changed also. She noted how different Rinaa almost looked in her tactical gear, gone was the girl she knew and here before stood someone was clearly ready for business, whilst looking in her opinion, uncannily like her mother Jay. It almost saddened her seeing what little of Elliott there was in her, disappear. She also noticed how different Zion looked, noticing now his actual physique and how he had gelled his hair down. It was honestly a good idea she thought if they were to be wearing helmets. She herself had braided her hair and then pinned it up round the back of her head, but low so it wouldn't be uncomfortable once the helmet would come on.

As Cass gestured for Zion to step up so she could use him as the demonstration mannequin, she listened and watched incredibly carefully on how to properly seal the suit up in the most important places. She couldn't help but noticed that even to just the three of them Cass was completely far from being a confident speaker to anyone. It always just seemed so curious to her that someone like Cass was so nervous speaking to more than one person, but she realised that this was another exmaple showing her that you really couldn't judge someone by their appearance. With the presentation being done, she managed to follow the rules easily enough and get everything sealed up correctly and tightly. She felt confident on her work getting all the correct parts sealed properly and then waited for the next part of what they needed to do.

 

[_gallifrog_]

With all three now suited and booted, Cass moved on to explaining the oxygen feed, both how important it was and how it worked. Even though Fia had opted not to use the oxygen tank it was still explained to her in detail anyway because, in Cass' words "if something malfunctions with one of our tanks, I want all three others to be able and confident they can fix it. The last thing I want to be doing while plummeting to the ground at ridiculous speeds is explaining the intricacies of the operation of an oxygen tank." Another point she repeated for emphasis was that they would be jumping from an altitude higher than the summit of Mount Everest and even though they'd be falling fast, it wasn't the kind of descent you could simply hold your breath for. Both Zion and Rinaa had previous experience with scuba-diving (and Rinaa even had experience with a space-suit), so not all of Cass' instructions were new to them, though they were useful.

The thing that was awkward was the positioning of the oxygen tank and the parachute, both had to go on the back of the jumper. There were special clips on the HALO suit for both, but it was a bulky load and wearing both simultaneously would make sitting down on the plane nigh impossible which was why Cass recommended that they waited until a few minutes before the jump to put the parachutes on. Zion took the oxygen tank in his two hands and lifted it up and down as if testing it's weight before nodding. "I'll have no problems with dealing with these after we land." "Well that's a relief, coming back to the roof to get them would be a pain in the ass and as much as I'd like to say we could just bung them in the bin with other gas cannisters from the lab, I know from my internship that the industrial bins of science labs are meticulously kept."

Now finished her 'briefing' Cass gave a smirk at Rinaa's comment, before schooling her features into a more neutral expression, clearly wondering if she had the right to smirk when her ex made a comment that was so typical of the Leah she knew. Instead she sat herself down on the couch again and rolled up her left trouser leg to the knee. Gripping just below her knee she twisted her hands anti-clockwise and the whole lower section of her leg came off in her hand. She set the prosthetic on the table with a slight clunk, then flipped open the prototype box to reveal a prosthetic leg, this one made of metal panels. It put the leg on the table to shame. The old leg was covered with some kind of plastic that didn't quite looks like skin, this prototype wouldn't look out of place on some kind of advanced warrior robot. The metallic panels gleamed even under the fluorescent ceiling lights. Lifting up the metallic leg caused Rinaa to gasp "oh that is GORGEOUS" and practically vault over the couch to get a better look. Her earlier plans of keeping her distance from her ex had clearly gone right out the window

 

[MzHyde]

Even though Fia didn't require an oxygen tank and was incredibly thankful no one questioned her on why, she still listened to the instructions so she knew how to help if something were to go wrong. She figured also that due to the height they would be jumping from she could easily under her breath make a small spell to help with her breathing if it came to it, but she had faith in her phoenix genes that she would be utterly fine with the aid of an oxygen tank. She continued to listen and watch as Zion weighed the tank in his hands before deciding that yes, they would be easy enough to hold onto and bring with them at the end. She smirked at Rinaa's retort, and noticed that Cass seemed to react to the retort also noting that it was the most emotion she shown toward Rinaa ever since they all congregated here.

When Cass sat down on the couch once more and lifted her trousers up half way up her leg, Fia was not expecting a prosthetic leg to become visible. She didn't ever recall Rinaa ever mentioning it, not that it was something worth mentioning to any of the group back on Attil or herself, but it was something that threw her off guard ever so slightly. She kept her surprise inside but did have to think that this made Cass all the more badass, even if she wasn't meant to have much of an opinion on the woman and was wholly on the side of Rinaa. What was more surprising however was when RInaa vaulted over the couch to see the newer prosthetic leg come out of its box and go close to Cass. She was convinced that Rinaa would do all she could to keep her distance, so to see her so willing to go up close to her was a surprise, and a surprise that couldn't be hidden on her face.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Zion almost jumped out of his skin when Rinaa vaulted over the couch to get a better look at the new prosthetic. One second she was standing beside him, the next she was a couch-jumping blur. He was of the same opinion as Fia, that Rinaa would spend the rest of the day and night making it her business to stay as far away as possible from her ex. He looked at Fia, checking for her reaction to the scene, at the same time flashing a look of 'what the fuck just happened?' in her direction. Casting his eyes back to the scene on the couch it would seem that Rinaa's love of beautiful engineering was the one thing strong enough to overcome her cold feelings towards her ex.

Rinaa's sudden appearance beside her initially startled Cass, the shock causing her shoulders jerking up towards her ears. Rinaa's use of the word 'gorgeous' and her unashamedly awed tone were what made Cass turn to look at her ex. Seeing that Rinaa was referring to the leg and not for some crazy reason Cass herself she turned her gaze away. Rolling up other trouser leg revealed her second prosthetic limb which she detached and placed on the table beside the first. She then opened the second prototype box, revealing another sleek metallic leg which she wasted no time in attaching to the connectors on and below her knees. (Both of Cass's legs had been amputated below the knee). By this point Rinaa had taken matters into her own hands (literally), by gently lifting the sleek metal limb from the box and turning it over in her hands, scrutinising it from every angle. Zion at this point also leaned forwards slightly over the couch to get a better view of the limb, letting out an appreciative whistle followed by "damn..... the makers have outdone themselves this time."

Cass hadn't intended to watch er ex, but there was something mesmerising (at least to her) about the way in which the awe-struck Rinaa was examining the limb. For Cass it was a reminder of better times, the times before she'd ruined the relationship between them and she couldn't help but watch on with a fond smile and softer eyes. "They really bloody have. I never thought his rough blueprints would turn into something THIS damned badass." Rinaa replied. Taking some kind of initiative Cass reached over wordlessly and ran her fingers across the smooth metal panels of the leg, if any of her fingers did brush for the slightest second off Rinaa's that was entirely coincidental. Her fingers pressed down on some kind of concealed trigger causing a blade shot out of the toe section of the leg with a metallic 'schick' noise. A different trigger caused another blade to shoot out from the heel. At the sight Rinaa's face split into a grin, a proper one where she seemed to smile with her whole body. "He got the crazy blades idea working!" she grinned, moving the leg around and running her fingers across the blades. Cass nodded. "He worked his bloody ass off to see if that headcanon of yours was possible. With some help from Kane and AJ I believe." The two women looked at each other, some sort of moment clearly happening before Cass continued awkwardly "um... I do kind of need my leg back now?" Rinaa nodded, her hands stopping their caressing of the prosthetic. The exact moment when she realised where she was and who she was beside was visible in her face and was followed by her abruptly standing up and moving away. An almost imperceptible sigh could be heard from Cass, who tore her eyes away from her retreating ex's back and back towards attaching her new leg properly.

 

[MzHyde]

When Zion looked at Fia, giving her the look of 'what the fuck?' she looked back at him and shrugged, not sure what to reply with as she didn't know what the hell was happening either. One minute Rinaa couldn't be further away from Cass, and now she was leaping over couches to be close to the woman's prosthetic leg and complimenting it and willingly being incredibly close to her. She watched Rinaa run her hands over the prosthetic that wasn't being connected to Cass, seeing her marvel at the work that was clearly seriously put into it and she couldn't help but wonder what Rinaa was thinking or more to the point, how Cass felt about this all. She had to admit it was incredible work and she could udnerstand why someone like Rinaa would be in complete awe over it, especially with her interests. She was just thinking of everything Rinaa had told her about her ex and how badly it broke off, which got her a little concerned for her cousin.

She listened to them all chat as they all looked at the prosthetic and when Rinaa saw Cass run her fingers down the prosethic also, Fia found herself paying even more attention to see how this was going to go. She didn't want any drama or something to break out before the heist, yet the moment all the hidden weaponry came into view her attention did get distracted by it, having never seen such a thing like that in her entire life. She noticed the look between the exes and had to raise a brief eyebrow at the exchange of looks before lowering her eyebrow once again to remain as unbiased as possible. She watched Rinaa suddenly come to her senses of where she was and how close she was to Cass and move rapidly away, whilst also noticing the sigh that escaped Cass' lips. She wanted to say 'well now that's dealt with, shall we move on?' but she didn't want to seem arrogant or similar. "you good?" she asked instead to Rinaa quietly.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa gave a half-shrug half-sigh in response to Fia's whispered query. She far was from okay, hadn't been for a long while and it would be a complete lie to say that spending time with her ex like this wasn't affecting her. It was, more than Rinaa expected it to, but she was determined to remain professional. She couldn't be the one breaking down and flinging herself at the hot girl, not after all the warning she'd gave Fia against doing just that. Rinaa was many things, and hypocrite was one she tried not to be. Though it did confirm a running joke between her and Overwatch 1, that if she had to chose between the hot girl and some damn awesome tech, she'd probably chose the tech.

Cass clicked her second leg into place, the connectors meeting with a metallic clunk. She then retracted the blades by pointing the tip against the floor and pushing the leg downwards, causing the blade to be pushed back into it's housing. After placing the normal legs into the prototype boxes for storage Cass pushed herself up off the couch, noticeably wobbling as they did so. In unison Zion and Rinaa shook their heads at Fia indicating that Cass did not want help in this current moment. Having no lower legs was something she'd dealt with for years, and like many amputees, she hated when her disability became her defining feature and hated being seen as some kind of invalid.

Cass grabbed her own suit bag and vanished into one of the bedrooms to change, remerging a few minutes later fully suited up. Her suit was completely different from a standard HALO suit, it looked more robust than the ones FIa, Zion and Rinaa were wearing. It was constructed out of panels of kevlar or some kind of stab-proof/blast-proof material, which matched the use of panels in constructing the metallic legs. There was a gradient to the suit from silver to dark, dark black, effectively disguising the transition between the prosthetic legs and the suit. At the waist was a full-on utility belt and even though this was supposed to be a no casualties mission there were weapons tucked into it, the visible tips of some kind of curved metal blades contrasting against the black of the suit. Intriguingly Cass had pulled on a black hoodie over the top half of the suit, concealing the torso section of the suit from view. On her unsuited frame the hoodie would have been baggy, but over the bulk of the suit it was a perfect (if ridiculous looking) fit. Seeing the strange looks she rolled her eyes "I'm not gonna do a full suit change in the middle of a top secret facility while waiting for my contact to show up and help free the metas. This is more convenient, even if it ruins the visual aesthetic of the suit."

 

[MzHyde]

At Rinaa's silent response, Fia patted her on the shoulder. A silent gesture of her own to say 'you got this and I got your back no matter what'. She didn't want to say anything in front of the others, so instead she figured the silent gesture would say all she needed to whilst looking like a simple act of a team mate just giving another team mate support in a professional manner. She looked back at Cass as she heard the clicking into place of the second leg then at Zion and Rinaa as they shook their heads after Cass wobbled a little bit as she got up onto her feet. She gave them both a simple single nod in understanding, trusting their opinions wholeheartedly in what would be the right thing to do in this situation, despite her initial brief thought would be to go and help someone. She could respect someone for not wanting help in this situation in refusal of their disability being the sole thing about them.

Like the other two, Fia hovered around as Cass managed to balance herself and go off to change in another room, only to re-emerge a few minutes later kitted up but with her hoodie on. She couldn't help but note all the differences to the woman's suit in comparison to the rest of the suits they were sporting, noting all the utility compartments and the sheer amount of blades she had kitted onto her, despite the rules of the mission. She looked at how the transition of colour was and how seamless but much more heavy duty it looked. It was quite the suit to see she thought but that was as far as her thoughts on Cass' appearance went. Even if the hoodie did look completely out of place to the rest of it. She listened to Cass' reasonings for her choice and just nodded, "fair enough" she simply replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"I know why, it still looks stupid." Rinaa replied, her tone going back to it's earlier abrasive nature. Zion couldn't help but wince at the tone, if somebody had insulted him as casually as Rinaa had just insulted her ex, he'd sure as hell would have hit back with something just as harsh, or worse. Cass however, kept her face professional and refrained from rolling her eyes. The jab about the hoodie was one she'd heard before, this wasn't the first time she'd had to conceal the chest logo of her supersuit, though it used o be delivered in with a teasing tone. Instead of replying she pulled out her phone. "Well you'll like this." Rinaa raised her eyebrows, scepticism written all over her face. "Penny has just arrived. He's going to be our pilot tonight, so no fear of him blabbing to anybody, that man can keep his mouth shut. Apparently our plane is already kitted out and fuelled up, we can leave..... basically now."

The quartet waste no time in leaving the pilot's building. It was winter in Rinaa's timeline (on Attil it was late spring early summer season), so it was already starting to get dark. All non-essential bags were put in the boot of Rinaa's mini which was being driven back to the city by a pilot loyal to the vigilante network. No words were exchanged between Rinaa and the young pilot, none needed to be. Armed only with oxygen tanks and two small backpacks they made their way to one of the hangers on the military side of the complex. Waiting for them was a military cargo plane, already loaded with crates. The four entered through the large cargo door (which dropped down to form a ramp) before climbing up into the seating area, a cramped space with six seats bolted to the walls. The parachutes were already there, waiting and acting on some kind of instinct or training both Cass and Rinaa went to check the chutes, inspecting them for holes, tears or other damages before neatly and professionally rolling them back up into the bags. "You might as well get belted in and comfy, it's a longish flight thanks to the arrangement of the new military flight corridors." Cass suggested, clipping herself into the five point harness and switching her headset to the frequency used by the pilots and ground control. Rinaa and Zion followed suit, the former closing her eyes and crossing her arms, the latter pulling out some kind of puzzle book and a well chewed on pencil.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia's eyebrow couldn't be stopped as it rose questionably at the way Rinaa made the dig at Cass about her hoodie in the most abrasive tone she had probably used yet, in her opinion at any rate. She couldn't blame Rinaa for going back to her abrasive nature with her ex, in fact she probably would have been in a similar status if it was an ex of hers, (not that she had anyway but the point still stood), yet she also found she had a bit of respect for Cass who just let the dig wash off her back like it was nothing, clearly having heard it many times before. It also made her all the more curious to why Cass was covering the top half of her suit but it wasn't her place to say anything so she wouldn't. Hearing that their pilot in question was now here which meant they were ready to go, she nodded in acknowledgement, grabbing the one bag she would need, and her other bag to shove into Rinaa's mini cooper on the way.

With her non essential bag dropped off, she walked with the other three to the plane and saw the plane that they would be using, noting how it was unsurprisingly a military cargo plane. Walking onto the plane, she headed to one of the seats available as Cass and Rinaa checked the paracutes meticulously, buckling herself in securely as Cass then proceeded to say about making themselves comfortable and folding her arms across her chest, kicking one leg out front ever so slightly as she usually did when sitting down somewhere for a long enough time. She didn't have anything to do like Zion to occupy her mind other than her phone, but considering they were in a different timeline, she didn't hold out much hope that it would work so she didn't even bother trying it. Instead she just figured she would just sit there and either mind her own business somehow or nap lightly for some of the trip to keep her mind calm and relaxed so she was ready for what was to come.