IC-Ep 4-Team Building(Chad/Leonek/Tobias/Valerie/Hale)

[Mr. Handy]

UNIT HQ - London, England
8:30 PM - Thursday, September 5, 1985

Sergeant Valentine Hale knocked on the door of the office of Brigadier Charles Crichton, where he had been summoned. Dr. Valerie Kirby opened it from the inside. UNIT's new scientific advisor had gone missing a couple of days ago, but he had heard that she had just been found and returned to HQ. "Come on in, Sergeant," she said with a smile, stepping aside to allow him into the office.

Also present, sitting in chairs arranged in a rough semicircle in front of the Brigadier's desk where he sat, were Flight Lieutenant Chad Engraham, Private Leonek Novak,Assistant Technical Advisor Tobias Maddox, and Mrs. Valerie Soames.

"Ah, glad you could join us, Sergeant Hale," said the Brigadier, returning his salute. "As you were. Take a seat and we'll fill you in on the operation." He then focused on Chad. "Yes, we'll definitely need heavy weapons. I'm thinking antitank rockets and a flamethrower."

Whatever operation they were planning, it sounded huge to Valentine - and he was no doubt going to be a part of it.

[Airbornexo]

Sgt. Hale strode into the room, his head clicking from side to side taking everything in and mentally noting faces and names. "Sir, thank-you sir," He replies to his commanding officer in a deep and cultured English accent from the home counties in the south of the country. He sits down, huddled forward slightly, legs slightly apart, elbows resting on his knees. "What is the mission sir?"

[aine]

Tobias watches the new arrival without enthusiasm; just another meathead soldier. Mind you, the soldier looks handy and god knows, they're going to need heavy military strength against 'Rover'. Tobias wonders idly if Sgt hale is handy with a rocket launcher.

ooc,Welcome Sergeant Hale!

[Mr. Handy]

"We've got a nest of Sea Devils in Dunwich, Sergeant," said Brigadier Crichton. "They've been there about forty years. What's worse, they can apparently interbreed with humans from what Dr. Kirby tells me. Many of the people there are hybrids."

"You can usually tell by looking - or smelling," added Valerie Kirby. "However, the Sea Devil traits don't start appearing until some time after they reach adulthood. Eventually, they can transform into full Sea Devils. They've established a beachhead in Dunwich, as part of what I believe is part of a long-term plan to eventually breed humanity out of existence by contaminating our gene pool with their own DNA."

"Quite. And we're going to stop them cold. Our rough plan is to travel to Dunwich in force, cordon off the town, secure the civilians, and then clear out all the hostiles. We'll have Royal Navy support: one destroyer and one submersible."

[Airbornexo]

Hale doesn't quite know what to make of the talk of devils. He had heard that UNIT were into some weird crap, but didn't take much stock in it. It was a pay rise and an elite force after all, just the step his career needed to boost him into the officer cadre if he played his cards right.

He assumes that the Brigadier is referring to some terrorist cell or a group with a genetic abnormality. He focuses instead on the mission brief, 'just deal in the facts for now' he tells himself.

He scans the room, looking at the others faces for a hint of whether they find the news shocking or not. He notes in his small pad with a worn nub of pencil the basic mission specs and then looks to the Brigadier again, "Yes sir, sounds like a delicate mission, when do we move out?"

Another thought crosses his mind that he vocalises: "Do we know if this Devil's group will be armed sir? A destroyer and a submersible in support suggests these boys are packing some hardware?"

[MikeTheMoose]

Chad looked at Sergeant Hale, and was somewhat bemused by his non sequitur referral to the Sea Devils "Group". "Ah yes the Sea Devil's military capability. Good point of discussion Sergeant. I guess I should debrief what we've encountered. Sea Devils themselves have ranged from 7 to 9 feet tall and are quite physically formidable and possess physical fortitude to match their size. Being aquatic creatures they clearly have the advantage while in the water, being able to breath without tanks and all, but let us not forget they are also amphibious, and are quite physically capable on land as well. They tend to retreat to the sea when wounded. The full Sea Devils we've encountered so far have been armed with nets and spears, and of course their own claws. The webbing on their hands and size of their claws would make it difficult to operate standard human small arms. We've encountered some small arms in the possession of hybrids from Dunwich, who themselves aren't any tougher than ordinary humans. Noticeable traits of hybrids is the beginnings of webbing on the hands. The real issue we encountered, that forced our retreat Sergeant, was a creature the Sea Devils referred to as 'Rover'. It is a creature apparently in the service of the Sea Devils by virtue of training and domestication, or choice, we didn't get to determine how intelligent Rover was as having a chat just wasn't possible. It didn't seem particularly more intelligent than a dog though. When we had a confirmed encounter with Rover near some of the Ruins of Dunwich which stood over the sea caves the Sea Devils were using as a staging area. Getting a good size estimate on Rover is difficult, as it seems to have the ability to increase it's size, in fact when we encountered it, it was taller than the ruins, roughly spherical, covered in eyes and mouths, and chased us by rolling. Small arms were not effective at stopping it, or really even slowing it down. The only time it even showed pain was when Private Novak hit it right in one of its far too many eyes. Another creature, similar to the Sea Devils, but larger, 12 ft say, we encountered in the tunnels; It had multiple tentacles along with the standard array of arms and legs. Were didn't have the opportunity to assess the fighting capability of this creature. I don't have a good estimate on the number, or pervasiveness, say into local law enforcement, of the hybrids in Dunwich. Furthermore, I don't have a good estimate on the number of full Sea Devils in and in the waters around Dunwich; we only encountered a handful in the sea caves. It seems though that "Rover" is unique and the only creature of its type in the area. Yes Brigadier; I think along with our regular combat complement, antitank weapons and a flame thrower would be prudent sir. "

[Mr. Handy]

The Brigadier nodded. "We're not taking any chances," he said. "Better to go in with more firepower than we need than less. In answer to your question, Sergeant Hale, we go in day after next. I think it best we enter at night. We surround Dunwich first and then secure the Ship Inn. It's the only inn in town, and all the tourists should be there late at night, so we can better protect them and keep them out of the line of fire. The Ship Inn should also make a good field HQ from which to direct our operations. Everyone else here just got back from Dunwich, so they'll know more about it than you or I would. I'll let them fill you in on what they've discovered. We'll need to plan the objectives we'll want to take after the inn. The caves will be a key one, and I'm thinking of a two-pronged attack. Your group will enter from the sea, Sergeant, and another will enter via the ruins. That will ensure that nobody escapes. The Lake Manor is another important objective, and I'll personally be leading the assault on that."

Valentine could see that none of the others in the room were not surprised by this discussion of large aquatic humanoids called Sea Devils.

[Airbornexo]

Hale looks a little non-plussed, confused at the briefing that seems to have slipped into science fiction. "I'll assume you are not joking about this sir," he says to the Brigadier, "I'll do my best not to let the team down whatever we face!"

"These monsters you describe - the Sea Devils, seem at home in the water, so tackling them on the land like you suggest is our best approach. Would it be prudent to leave a team on the beach, covered by the navy boys in order to cut off their retreat to the water? This rover seems a different kettle of fish, but heavy weapons might be the best way to go...I'm not a specialist in either AT or man-portable flame units myself, more of a close quarter wet-work specialist if you catch my drift."

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," said the Brigadier. "Plus, the Sea Devils could get reinforcements from the sea, and we'll need troops in place to cut them off. We have some heavy weapons soldiers available for this mission that are specialised, so you don't need to be. Your greatest strength is in leading a squad - though I hear you're excellent with a rifle and hand-to-hand combat as well."

[aine]

Tobias smirks to himself at Hale's mention of 'Wetwork'. If only he knew what was in store. Tobias starts a list of gear in his notebook that he needs to collect before the mission.

[Airbornexo]

"Yes sir you can count on me sir!" He stands and smartly salutes the officer, "If there is nothing else sir, I'd like to go and introduce myself to the boys?" The ice-cold exterior doesn't flinch, but inside Hale's stomach and mind were churning with the bizarre information he had just learned.

[Mr. Handy]

"Of course," said the Brigadier. "In fact, you should play a large part in choosing your team. All of you should have input there as well. Feel free to look through the personnel files too. Mrs. Soames knows her way around them."

"I'll go examine our...guest now, sir," said Dr. Kirby. "Anyone who wishes may come with me."

[aine]

Tobias flicks shut his notebook. "I'll come along." He gets to his feet.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,[b]Tobias[/b] is moving to the thread linked below.

Something Fishy

OOC,Everyone else is moving to the thread linked below.

The File Room