Here We Stand or Here we Fall, History Won't Care at All

[out_of_time]

WHO: The Dependables
WHERE: Iron Crown, North Pacific.
WHEN: Midnight August 1st [Dolvanian time].
WARNINGS: Absolute mayhem. Also violence.
SUMMARY: The raid on the terrorist gulag.
FORMAT: Paragraph to start, whatever works in the threads. Threads are posted for each objective, but the structure within them is completely open.

This year was the tenth anniversary of the terrible plague that had created Zero' Children in their hatred and anger. Within the Iron Crown fortress, it was another grim night. The prisoners moaned and wept within the dark, cold dungeon deep beneath the Earth. Above them, the day shift of their captors slept much more soundly. Outside, the soldiers currently on duty patrolled the ramparts with grim faces behind balaclavas. Searchlights swept the ground around the walls. To the north, below the castle, freezing men did the same on the decks of the big cargo ships that kept this place running.

The attack helicopter's rotors spun on its pad, warming up for night patrol. The armoured personnel carrier lurked in the vehicle depot like a guard dog waiting in a kennel. In the command centre at the top of the gulag's keep, the hardened older men who ran this base shuffled reports back and forth as they coordinated the group's global evildoing, counting narcotics trafficked, dissidents silenced, enemies crushed.

Whether hostage or terrorist, no one in the fortress suspected that they were in the crosshairs of the Dependables.

"We go loud when Seras drops the searchlights," Jack growled. He lowered his binoculars and stood up, machine gun slung across his shoulders. With his helmet, goggles, and black tactical gear, he looked downright sinister. "She'll engage the shooters on the wall while we get inside the base. Get past the wall any way you can, then split up and head for your objectives." It was a long, exposed run from the jumble of icy rocks that were the nearest concealment to the fortress. If they made it without getting shot, they would have to breach the gulag's outer defenses in their own ways: climbing over the wall, blasting a hole, or just old-fashioned trickery. After that, it would be into the maelstrom of the courtyard, the inevitable mayhem of crossfire and explosions.

Jack's own plan involved plastic explosives and the front gate. Once the alarms started to sound, the time for subtlety would be over. He could picture it now- all hell breaking loose with running guards, chattering machine guns, that helicopter lifting into the sky to rain death from above. No matter how much they could accomplish through stealth, he knew the team wouldn’t be getting through this without one hell of a fight.

"Hit your objectives, then push through the base to the far side. We rendezvous at the docks, then get us and the hostages out of there on a ship. Remember the lives of the people depending on you. Move fast, hit hard, stay focused, work together."

There was the click of his safety flipping off, and then there was nothing left to say. “Let’s do this.”

Comments

BREACH THE WALL

[out_of_time]

Anyone sneaking their way into the base had better have done it before Jack signalled Seras to start taking out searchlights and sentries, because the second the first light went out all hell broke loose. The fortress guards were well-drilled, and alarms immediately started to shriek across the base while rifles were aimed over the wall at any would-be intruders. Yet they didn’t have night vision, relying on searchlights to guide their aim- searchlights that were being shot out of existence.

The wall was ancient, thick, and strong. It didn’t matter. The Dependables were going through, no matter what.

OPEN

[out_of_time]

Sprinting as fast as he could with all his gear, Jack reached the wall with bullets kicking up snow at his feet. He ran up to it and pressed his back against the cold metal gate. He looked up saw white-masked enemy soldiers firing their rifles above him, and threw a grenade up at them.

The cold, clear midnight air magnified the sound of the explosion, and of the screams. One of the men was blasted clear off the wall, flames licking at his uniform. He hit the snow in front of Jack hard and rolled a couple times before coming to a permanent rest.

Jack thought he'd gotten at least one more, but had other things to do than count kills. He quickly put blocks of plastic explosive into place on the gate, rigged them for remote detonation, then ran to a safe distance, still hugging the wall for cover. He hit the button as soon as he was clear. The detonation ripped a ragged molten hole through the heavy gate big enough for people to climb through, and when he went to look at it, he saw the smouldering body of another enemy lying on the other side. He'd been blown several feet away when the gate exploded.

All in all, Jack considered it a good start.

[latrodectus]

Natasha hung behind, peculiar nightvision goggles obscuring "Yelena"'s face. She wanted to see what Jack did; "look before you leap" was and old wives' expression that she took to heart and kept.

After Bauer had cleared the area of enemy combatants, she saw her opening. But not the opening he had made— she ran straight at the wall, all intent and silence, with no sign of stopping. At a precisely timed moment, she lept, custom grappling hooks (old Spetsnaz issue) carrying her to the top of the wall, to the flickering shadows of the corpselight. Natasha liked the tactical advantage of the high ground, and she used it to pick her descent point carefully, landing on top of one of the soldiers with a hard pirouette.

[gofortheoptics]

There wasn't much that could have prepared her for having to roll around in the snow. She was glad that she'd taken Scatty's advice and only worn the one pair of socks -- and that she'd brought a jacket that was water-resistant. The extra time she'd taken last week to make sure she'd been prepared for the restraints of clothing had been worth it, and as she pushed through the gate after Jack with some cover fire, she couldn't help the slight smile.

It had been a long time since she'd been in a battle she felt good about, or that she hadn't been more or less forced into.

"Well, it's now or never."

Open for any fire support needs

[newbvampire]

It didn't take Seras long to finish off the searchlights. Even with a bolt action she was still brutally fast and now with no lights to deal with she could turn her attention on the guards. It didn't take long for them to break cover and try to spot a target. She made them pay for it, dropping two cleanly with bullets through their skulls. They others would rally again, but for the moment they were wisely keeping their heads down which was exactly what the team needed.

[out_of_time]

"Sniper, I'm moving into the courtyard." Jack avoided saying Seras' name as he eased himself through the hole in the gate and past the wall. There was no way of knowing who might end up hearing what. "Give me some cover."

STORM THE COURTYARD aka open fighting thread

[out_of_time]

Conquering the wall only kicked off the real fight. Between the wall and the base’s inner buildings was an open expanse of snow-dusted concrete with a great many irate terrorists firing from all angles at any possible target, with vehicles rolling out of the garage to add more firepower to the scrambling defenders.

There were tunnels, underground rooms and secret passageways running beneath the base, accessible from within the outer walls for anyone who wanted to reach their objectives more quietly. It was a good thing for the stealth-inclined, because any team members trying to push their way through the courtyard were going to be fighting every step of the way.

open.

[symmachy]

[Scathach had covered her bright red hair with a black bandana, and had, against her will, left her signature short swords in the City. But with a dagger, a bow, and her nunchaku, she was more than prepared to tear this place apart. Doing her best not to laugh (Jack had asked her not to, after all), she rips into the mass of foes, punching, kicking, stabbing a little bit. She couldn't help the grin on her face though, as much as she tried to keep her vampire teeth hidden.]

CUT THE POWER

[out_of_time]

Blowing the base’s power supply to pieces wasn’t a vital objective of the mission, but it would certainly make the team’s lives easier. It would cut the shrieking alarms and sweeping searchlights, not to mention the gulag’s interior lighting. The terrorists knew that full well themselves, which was why the base generators were contained within thick steel-reinforced concrete under constant guard. Getting past them to plunge the Iron Crown into darkness would be no easy task.

open

[redlooksgood]

[Jane wasn't kidding when she had told Jack this wasn't her first time at the circus. True the security was tighter and there was more of a chance of things going wrong with so many involved, but she was prepared to do what was necessary.

There was no signature red tonight; she's even opted for a horrible looking knitcap to cover her bright hair. Even her guns weren't her own having lifted them off a gang that really didn't need the added fire power. For now those guns stayed put as she made her way at the edge of the lights heading for the generators.]

[out_of_time]

[After many adventures between getting past the wall and making it across the courtyard, Jack moved to see how Jane was faring.]

Hey. [He spoke softly from behind her to let her know he was there.] You got a plan for getting in there?

RESCUE THE HOSTAGES

[out_of_time]

The great keep in the middle of the base housed horrors. The people the team had crossed the world to save were thin, bruised, sick, weak, and shivering. They were men, women, and even a few children, taken by the terrorists for intimidation and ransom, dressed in thin red jumpsuits and shoddy shoes to make escape even more impossible. Their only crime was being activists, authors, academics, and those who were worth something as leverage over someone else. They had been living their miserable lives behind ancient bars of iron in a stone dungeon as though it was still the Middle Ages, constantly watched by masked guards devoid of empathy or mercy.

One way or another, their suffering would end tonight. Either the Dependables would rescue them, or Zero’s Children would not hesitate to shoot each of them in the head rather than let them have their freedom again.

WHO'S WITH ME

[trueltning_fury]

The maze-like interior of the underground and the keep were refreshingly familiar to Geddoe. He plunged through them without breaking stride, keeping a steady loping pace as he navigated, backtracked, and cut his way through any pockets of resistance with cold efficiency. The katana was obeying his every request, slicing through flesh and even thick clothing like it was nothing. Only once in a while did he find the time to stop and loot a body, mostly when finding his way through the tunnels and corridors forced him to cross his own paths and find his own carnage a second time.

He almost blundered right around a corner into the main corridor of the dungeon, but held back in time, sliding back up agains the stone wall. The guards were thick on the ground, here, and on high alert. As much as he knew he could take them all with a quick Soaring Bolt, they weren't to use powers here. He would have to time it right in order to take down as many as he could before they could in turn stop him. First thing was first, though - how did the cells open, and how many would he have to cut through in order to get to the controls?

ME ME ME!

[newbvampire]

Seras was situated on the top of the tower now with a good line of sight on the cells. Reaching over she keyed her mike, hoping someone was standing by and ready to get to the prisoners. "Sniper in position to assist with rescue. Count six plus guards in the main hallway. Three plus guards posted next to the cells."

STORM THE COMMAND CENTRE

[out_of_time]

The top floor of the gulag’s keep, above the dungeon and the barracks, was a world apart from the ancient pit of despair below. It was a darkened room of computers and monitors and wires, hooked up to powerful antennae sprouting from the top of the building like urchin spines. Even by the fortress’ standards it was under heavy guard. The databases humming with information contained everything an enemy could ever want to know about Zero’s Children- their members, their history, their targets and rackets.

The singleminded fanatics who controlled the base from this room had made their orders perfectly clear: the centre was to be defended until the last drop of blood had been shed. If it seemed the enemy was about to triumph, there was to be no hesitation shown in destroying every scrap of useful information before it could be taken.

open;

[mocks]

Bobbi's plan is to be in and out as quickly as possible. Even with the heavy guards willing to fight this fight to the death, she has no intention of shedding any of her own blood in this battle. In fact, she's hoping she can avoid killing any of those guards personally, hoping to take them out with her preferred nonlethal methods.

Keeping calm and cool, she's ready to force the doors open. Armed with her staves (and pistols) she begins to override the security systems that are keeping the guards inside and the Dependables out.

hope this is okay

[prydes]

There she was, there it was. Kitty had made it there without making much of a sound, although she had had the sense to stop here and there to expertly knock out soldiers coming her way, or someone else's way, all while reminding herself why there was a time she was happy to be called Shadowcat.

Facing the command centre, she turned towards Bobbi. "We really have no time for that." Focusing on the security system, she quickly worked her way around it. "But for the sake of remaining covert, let's just say you're really good at hacking. I need a moment with the machine in there to get everything copied and shoot it to space for later recovery." A moment later, the doors unlocked.

"Although, of course, we are going to fight our way in, old school style."

Open;

[gofortheoptics]

The problem with having a command centre of this scale was that it was difficult even with the number of guards to defend against every single sort of attack. She skirted the edge of the top floor as best she could, waiting for the others to get the doors open and instead focusing on the remote data retrieval that she had on her omni-tool.

The others had plans for the physical data itself, of course, but the more eyes and ears gathering information, the more they'd end up salvaging.

STEAL THE SHIP

[out_of_time]

The biggest of the cargo freighters anchored at the docks was the best candidate for getting the team out of there alive with the people they were rescuing. Unfortunately it and the dock were crawling with heavily-armed Zero’s Children members, and the moment the alarms sounded heavy gun turrets were broken out on the deck of the ship, swivelling about in search of targets.

The docks lay to the north, far below the main fortress, in the small harbour that was the only seaborne access to the island. A series of staircases and freight elevators built into the sheer, icy cliff face connected the main gulag to the boats and their vital supplies. Getting down there was going to be hard. Taking over the ship was going to be harder. Actually getting the ship loaded and moving while still under fire... well, one thing at a time.

Open

[out_of_time]

Jack was the one who had spent sleepless nights trying to give himself a crash course in operating a Dolvanian freighter. It made sense that he would lead the push toward the ship once he was done cutting through the rest of the base.

He was making his way slowly but surely down toward the docks, edging along a narrow metal stairway. He would dash a few steps, stop as enemy fire ricocheted around him, aim and fire his rifle, then get moving again as another hostile soldier fell limp below him.

Jack had sniped three enemies so far, but there were a lot more where they came from, clustered around the ship. And it was still a long way down.

BLOW THE ARMORY

[out_of_time]

Zero’s Children’s arsenal was underground and heavily-guarded for good reason. Between the rocket launchers, demolition charges, grenades, crates of ammunition, and assorted other combustibles, it was not the kind of place anyone wanted to see explode. Unless of course someone wanted to send a massive fireball washing across the base on their way out after a daring commando raid. Then it was definitely the kind of place everyone wanted to see explode.

GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE

[out_of_time]

Jack ushered the last of the hostages below the ship’s deck, then slammed the thick hatch down behind them without ceremony. The boat was already moving, slowly, much too slowly, its engines still warming up. The propellers thrashed the water at a leisurely pace as the ship began sliding out of its berth, toward the open sea.

Far above them, the surviving guardians of the now-ruined Iron Crown stood at the cliff’s edge and fired down at their escaping attackers. Bullets cut through the icy water around the ship and pinged off its hull. Jack yelled at his team as he shot back.

“Is everyone aboard? We’re getting out of here!”

They’d achieved the impossible. Now they just had to make it out alive.

closed to jack bauer.

[symmachy]

[Scathach didn't have to be a master tactician to know that they weren't going to make it out of this if she didn't do something.

Jade eyes were focused on the pursuing ships, how quickly they were moving compared to their own. She knew that in just minutes, they would be overtaken, even with the head start. She was right beside Jack, firing arrow after arrow, knowing in her heart that it wasn't going to help. Though she didn't stop the assault, she spoke quietly:]

It isn't enough, Jack.

open

[trueltning_fury]

The last hostages were the two children clinging to Geddoe's shoulders like he was the safety bar of a carnival ride, looking terrified despite the fact that they had come through unscathed. Not so much their rescuer; he was out of breath and limping, and a bright red piece of cloth tied around his left arm showed where he had been hit. One of the prisoners had, in all the chaos, dared to take the time to rip off a chunk of her uniform and tie it over the bullet wound for him.

Dropping to a knee to unload the kids, who ran down into the lower deck with the others, Geddoe remained there for a bit, catching his breath. His hair was coming untied from the ponytail and there were burnt holes in his sweater showing where bullets had imbedded in his protective vest beneath, but he was alive and had delivered his cargo. That was all that mattered.

[undeadsidekick]

"They better be," Jason called back from where he was situated toward the back of the boat, shuffling with some of the freshly rescued hostages. "We've got about thirteen minutes and, optimistically, twenty seconds left before this thing blows sky high."

If he were being completely honest, it had been about a year since he'd rigged something on the scale of the bomb currently resting at the base of the compound less than two hundred yards behind them. As such, he'd gone big. As Jack had explained it, this wasn't the kind of thing where you wanted to leave footprints, and Jason trusted that well enough. If nothing else, no one would know they were there. It just might take them out in the process.

"This is probably a bad time to ask about the MPH on this tub."