Captain Porter of the mobile infantry stood and nodded at the responses. "Good. We're going to continue then. You are all part of Operation Future, Master Admiral Robert Davis' mission to clean the streets of Nepleslia. You should all be honored, as you will be partaking in something much grander than yourselves, something that will make the lives of your friends and family safer and happier." He clicked a button on his mobile mouse to bring up a new screen on the display.
William saluted the captain again and said, "What is our misson exactly sir?"
Wazu was watching the display from a seat towards the back of the room, storing everything he saw on a memory device he kept on his body. The typical NSA uniform he had gotten used to wearing in training had been discarded in favor of black kaki pants and a black tank top covered by a black jacket.
The Captain continued. "This mission is primarily reconnaisance. Deep reconnaisance. It is extremely high risk as well." The image on teh display shifted to a zoomed in view of the northern sector of Funky City. "We believe this area to be a major concentration for criminal organizations, all headed by the blacks. The blacks, as I'm sure you know, run much of the drug operations and prostitution on this planet. They are run by a head figure who goes by the name of Joseph Claude. Reports have only confirmed his existence, not his location. Claude's organization murders thousands of citizens each year and causes billions in damage."
Wazu simply continued to listen to the breifing.
William sat back down and listened to the captain talk. He paused for a moment after Porter had finished and considered what he had been told, and then tilted his head in a thoughtful pose and asked, "And am I correct in assuming that its our job to verify the whereabouts of this Claude before the Police can move in and arrest him?"
"You mission is to infiltrate the blacks, find Claude, and, if the opportunity presents itself, eliminate him. You are to only take this opportunity if it is a guaranteed kill. You will likely only get one shot, and if you do not feel comfortable taking it, you will report Claude's exact location to the Nepleslian military. We do not expect this mission to be short at all. We have made preparations for you to be in the field for weeks, if not months."
"What are these preparations exatctly sir?"
"We have bribed a member of the blacks to provide you with an in to their world. He knows nothing of our true intentions, nor does he know that you are with the military. Be sure to keep it at that. His name is Sam Barber, streetname Diesel. You will be given a specific location in which you will report bi-monthly of your progress. You will also be issued street wear as well as equipment low-end criminals would possess on the streets, including a pistol, some illegal stimulants and a knife. You will also be given 2000 KS to spend as you see fit."
"If you feel you need anything else, please request so now."
"What cover story did you tell this Sam Barber?" Wazu asked from the back of the room.
William decided to let the others ask questions, as he started feeling uncomfortable saying so much as he did.
"Sam Barber was contacted via one of our undercover agents about a small group of individuals who wanted to make some big bucks and a name for themselves. Sam works as a recruiter for the Blacks. They do suffer casualties from their activities and through rivalries with other gangs, so they are almost always actively recruiting. You can expect your first two or three missions to be very dangerous."
William's eyes narrowed at the words missions and dangerous as it started to dawn on him what the good captain was meaning they were going have to do.
Wazu just nodded.
"I need not explain this last point any further..." the Captain began, his voice very low, gravely serious. "...but you are to do EVERYTHING that is necessary to gain the trust of the blacks. Only by being a criminal can you rise through their ranks. You will NOT be held responsible for your actions unless there is an irrevocable threat to the safety of our nation."
"Exceptions to this are reporting your true identity, which we will deny outright or performing something on the scale of an assasination attempt on Blackman or Davis."
"Understood sir."
"Understood," Wazu said.
"Again, if you do NOT feel capable of performing these duties, you are ordered to tell me now. Otherwise, there is no turning back from this point." Captain Porter stood silent, waiting.
Wazu did not object.
William stayed silent as well.
Jet sat back in his chair, his feet up on the table as he listened, sitting with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, thinking about what Portman was saying. "So Let me get this straight. You want us to dress as street punks with only a pistol, knife and a stimpack and meet up with Diesel and try to off this guy Claude if we can? What if we don't get a chance Sir?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, now looking at him with a lightish red eyes. "And while we're at it we're not responsible for our actions except if we irrecably threaten the nation?" he asked. "That the gist of it?"
"Well, if you had been paying attention earlier, Sergeant, you would have remembered that you are also allotted 2000 KS for any further expenses. You would also remember that if you didn't get a chance to kill Claude, you are to report his exact location to the military. And Yes, you are not responsible for your actions as long as you do not threaten the security of the nation. Is there anything else?"
William looked around the room to see if anybody was going to say anything.
Wazu's curiosity had been satisfied for the moment.
"I understand." he said with a nod and stretched his body in his seat, popping a few joints.
"Very well then. Sergeant Endurain will be in charge of the mission. You will be given acting rank of Master Sergeant. The man in the back over there, Sergeant Wazu will act as second in command. The chain of command follows from there. Because of the sensitive nature of this briefing, you will not be permitted to leave the premises until the mission begins. You will share the visiting quarters of the building. I suggest you get to know each other very well as you will more than likely be the only allies for several weeks. Inside the visiting quarters will be information datapads that will explain all the details of this briefing as well as provide you with maps of the city to study. Your equipment will be in chests in front of each of your beds. The datapads will erase themselves after 24 hours. After that point, you can use them for personal use. The meeting point for the bi-monthly reports will be at a secure phone in a subway station on the border of the northern and central zones of Funky City. Before you leave to your rooms, however, you are to proceed up one floor to the laboratory for ST backup. Good luck, soldiers. Make your country proud."
Jet stood up and salutes once again and stood up and sighed a bit and looked over the team-members present, trying to discern what their best roles would be. "Subway in northern and central Zones? gotcha." he said. "Just one more thing, when precisely does this mission unofficially kick off?"
"The mission begins tomrrow at noon."
William stood up and saluted Porter and said,"Ill do my best sir."
"Gives me time to get laid." The acting Master Sergeant chuckled with a joking grin, clearly not serious. He brushed his hand through his hair showing the scar on his forehead for a moment and looked at William. "You'd better."
With a nod, the Captain walked out to the elevator and left.
Wazu stood up once they were dismissed and headed towards his room to take a look at his datapad.
"Sir," William asking Jet, "Have you done a mission like this before?"
He looked at him for a moment and shook his head. "Don't be so formal, you'll blow any cover we get if you keep calling me sir. Just call me Jet." he said. "And I can't say I've done one on this scale." Jet said with a sigh. "you scared?'
"Not really Sir. Er Jet. I lived in what could be a bad neighborhood when I was a kid and am use to the streets... somewhat." William said somewhat uncomfortable being so informal with a superior.
Wazu reached his room and sat down on the small bed that was provided as he collected the data pad in his hand to skim through the infromation provided once before commiting it to memory.
Well try to keep your head attached to your body and your junk in your pants and you should be fine....maybe." He said and popped his neck. "Did you ever hear of any ideas how Blacks operate at all?"
"Only hearsay that contradicted each other from my friends. Those that I did know that would have an idea I kept away from."
"Well you're gonna be nose deep in it tomorrow." He chuckled a bit, amused at the concept.
"Well to be honest, I wasn't expecting this. I had joined the Star Army in part to get away from the streets. Not go back and pretend to be what I had runned away from." William replied in a wistful tone.
"Well that's how it goes. Once the shit hits the fan all you can do if get your umbrella." Jet said as he looked up at the screen thoughtfully.
"So why did you join the military, Jet?"
"I had nowhere else to go." he said. "Let's go get our ST backups."
"Aye sir." William responded, forgetting himself.
