"I'll explain the battle plan to you on the way to our rendezvous with the main body of resistance forces, Colonel." Alex poked the button on the control panel he'd just closed up and the elevator shuddered back into motion. This time, they were going down. Back down from the sky and the roof which as silent, save for a the single crying salesman. Back away from the white serenity of that roof and into the blood-soaked ashes and charred corpse flavored rubble.
When they arrived on street level, the group re-boarded the truck. This time, Lucas drove while Alex sat in back with everyone. The blue led in his cybernetic eye panned across their faces as he spoke to them from between the seats, telling them of what was slated to be their first operation. Er,
intentional operation, that is.
"Okay!" He steadied himself against the tarp over his airbike, careful to keep it from taking flight in the wind. "We've got our money and a bit of a lead. I sent a message to the local resistance members while we were all still in Neppy's. I wanted them to gather a few blocks from here. We will be leading them in a convoy of trucks like this one, they will be the crew that mans our submarine. We have doctors, former soldiers, electricians, engineers, and even a few entertainers. Let's try to keep them safe as we make our way to the target. Once we get there, we will go out in search of weapons and intel. This is where Paragon will come in as well." He pointed a crooked finger at Lang, "Colonel Lang, I would like to purchase assistance gathering weapons and intelligence. I'd also like to purchase the whereabouts of that submarine. We know it's off of the Southern Shores Docklands, but where can we find it exactly? Can you mark it on the map on this datapad?"
Alex handed Lang a datapad with an overlay of the Southern Shores area. Several red dots covered the shoreline where Alex had at some point in his free time gathered all the information he knew about the boat's capailities and how it came to be dormant, and then used these statistics to pinpoint every possible location of the abandoned boat. He had drawn X's over the more probable locations; far away from police stations, closer to spaceports, crossing over common Red and Black hangouts.
After he passed off the datapad to Lang, Alex shuffled closer to the tarp over his airbike, stamping it down with an outstretched foot. He kept the tarp down and continued with everyone else.
"You three, marksmen." He pointed a sweeping hand across Alexis, Archie, and Cage, "Spread out over the vehicle, if you don't have your own. If you've got your own, and you're adept at firing while driving, say so now, and we'll pick it up from the Neppy's. Otherwise, spread out on the bed of this truck with your weapons.
"Chrys, Lang, you two are fire support." He pointed a finger from one hand at each of them, both hands stuck out for a moment before he finally let his foot off of the tarp covering his airbike. Chromed repulsors shone in the almost-setting sun, a red feuselage with tacky orange flames stretched back to a thick leather seat, and stylishly engraved exhaust pipes extended from the back with diagonally cut tips. There was a holster for the Alex's HHG on the side, and some kind of mounting rack on the handlebars. What was on either side of the bike was of even more interest. Alex had taken the time to procure two
Paragon MG-32 Medium Machine Guns while researching Paragon and Colonel Lang. Alex now slid them forward, bringing them into the center of the group.
"These are a little something I purchased while looking into Paragon. I have to admit, between these and Lucas' rambling about 'his old battle-buddy Colonel Lang' my mind was quite made up. Either way, they're efficient and powerful means of support and suppression. Lang knows this, but Chrys: You may want to take just a moment to familiarize yourself with the weapon."
Finally, Alex turned and stuck his head back up front with Lucas and Dimitri in the passenger's seat. "You guys sort out who's going to be driving and who will be the shotgun rider."
