Fian took a brief detour to the washroom. While his hands were in the sink and his eyes on the mirror, his mind was somewhere else. It was in these moments away from the maps and tactical aids that he turned off his analytical mind and used his intuition and gut feeling. Would the new plan work? Gut feeling responded by the tap water temperature rising by a few degrees as someone else on the ship turned off the hot water on his side. Satisfied, the Vel Steyr followed suit.
Things might get hotter than expected, just like earlier. Keep an eye on everything, keep them together, and play everybody to their strengths.
Back at the cargo bay, the transport technicians did not find anything broken on both Henry's and Viktor's suit. Lacking the intimate knowledge of Power Armors that a full fledged military armorer would have, they did not re-calibrate the shields to optimum performance but topped up the Xenon tanks on the suits, it was the least they could do. The damaged faceplate on Harrison's previous suit was also replaced.
"New plan, people!" The Master Chief announced as he re-activated the tactical map display in the room. Having sortied with the men at least once, he took a more casual stance towards them. "Teleoperation is jack shit if the Droids cannot send and receive data to and from their ship. The best we can do with our current PAs is to rip or shoot out each individual communications antenna on all their suits. Which is why we are upgrading."
The volumetric map gave way to small representations of three different Power Armors. The first one was easily recognisable by some of the people in the bay as an AIR-type, it was the latest model in that series, the
'M1 Storm' to be precise. The other two were completely new designs, one bore similarities to the M1 AIR2 and the M2 WATER2 except it was labelled as a '
M8 Hostile'. The other, a large juggernaut in the vein of the M4 EARTH1 with M3 FIRE1 influence was tagged as a '
M9 Aggressor'.
"Previously Electronic Warfare in our PA based operations were conducted by supporting DD4s and LHAs. As our colonial territories expand, we cannot expect Capships to be available on site, our current situation is a perfect example. These three suits are equipped with a miniaturized NAM 'Noisemaker' jamming device, the larger real thing is standard issue on 'S1 Hrays', which is a good reason why they are keeping a heavy guard over the NSS Acadia." He then switched back to the map, highlighting the armories near the NSS Dust Devil.
"The large one here is Team Rico's target, we don't want to stir that place up until he gets near. The smaller ones 'might' have what we are looking for, but they are also guarded and being emptied as we speak. So, we have four chances to find what we are looking for. As they come looking for us, we will also accomplish our other primary objective of playing Decoy."
"We hit each location hard and fast as a group, and then hightail it before enemy reinforcements arrive."
Fian grinned for reasons only known to himself. "Any questions?"
