IC

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Tyner lets out a long, low whistle when he sees the Cougars.

That's one hell of a vehicle. Byers must really be spooked. Better safe than sorry.

"That damn thing must get about one mile per gallon," he remarks to a passing soldier. "I wouldn't mind having one of those during rush hour."

I wish I felt as lighthearted about this thing as I'm trying to sound.

[Mr. Handy]

Craig can't find anyone willing or able to decode the notebook, so he leaves it to Alex. Like Rahimi, he also only takes body armor, a pistol, food, and water, though he also takes a medical kit and night vision gear if it's available. Failing that, he'll settle for a flashlight.

OOC,Bureaucracy roll (30% skill) to find someone to decode the notebook: [dice]0[/dice]

[Cotton]

Night Vision Goggles are easily available.

Also I realized I forgot to put this in my previous message, but having a medical kit will add 20% to any two first aid rolls.

[maelstrom]

Spoiler:

bureaucracy 40%[dice]0[/dice]

Alex tries to find anyone willing and capable if decoding the note book, but like the others he draws a blank.

Alex will take the offered armour, rifle, pistol and knife. But shakes his head when shown the grenades. " I would probably be a bigger danger to us than whomever I would be throwing it at". NV goggles, maps of the area, rations and a spare med kit will round off his kit.

Alex looks over the vehicles and assembled soldiers. Takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly " Ready as I'm ever going to be"

[Cotton]

Alex Baxter, Craig Reynolds, and John Tyner:
You meet in the motor pool of FOB Turner. Despite the earliness of the morning the summer heat is already oppressive. Rahimi, Bryant, Booker, and a third solider who introduces himself as Private Gibson all await you by your Cougar, their gear already equipped. Booker is leaning against the vehicle looking relaxed, but you all notice that Bryant seems agitated. You see the group of soldiers who are acting as your escort are already loading up into their vehicle. Before leaving you are all informed that the seven of you will be designated by the callsign BEACON for over the radio communication and tactical purposes. So, since the three of you are the ones who are in charge of investigating Ellis' disappearance, one of you must be appointed team leader (BEACON ONE) and another one of you second-in-command (BEACON TWO). That choice is yours.

[Mr. Handy]

"I don't particularly think I should be in charge," says Craig. "I know this country, but I'm a civilian and not really trained for command."

[maelstrom]

"Im not sure any of us are trained for command, just like none of us planned for being here doing what were doing now. We just roll with the punches and make it up as we go along and hopefully we wont make too big a mess of it."
Looking at Craig and john, " At least you two are professional types, before DG I was Yogi bears nanny!" Alex says with a grin, a cold feeling settling into his stomach. operation is getting close. "What says you Doc?"

[Victoria Silverwolf]

"Age before beauty, I guess," Tyner says. "Just call me Beacon One. Since I don't hear any volunteers, I'll name Craig Beacon Two, just 'cause he knows the country and lingo. Any objections?"

[Mr. Handy]

"That's fine by me, Beacon One," says Craig.

[Cotton]

In that case the order will be: Tyner- Beacon One, Reynolds- Beacon Two, Baxter- Beacon Three, Booker- Beacon Four, Bryant- Beacon Five, Gibson- Beacon Six, and Rahimi- Beacon Seven. You all mount up. Booker is in the driver's seat and Tyner is riding shotgun; everyone else is in the back of the MRAP. You are informed that your escort's callsign is BABBLE, and that their lead, Babble One, is named Sgt. Ryan Harding.

You set off from FOB Turner heading North through rough, hilly terrain. It's about an hour's drive before you reach the hillside sprawl of poor stone
houses and huts that makes up the village of Quluj Khel. What, if anything, do you talk about on your journey?

[Victoria Silverwolf]

When Tyner gets a chance, he leans over to Bryant and says "You seem tense. I don't blame you. You want to talk about it? Maybe you'd like a trank from the medkit?"

[Mr. Handy]

Craig strikes up a conversation with Rahimi. "What can you tell us about Quluj Khel and the elder, Zahir Quluj?" he asks.

[Cotton]

John Tyner:
Bryant replies,
"No... no I can't and none of you should either. We gotta stay sharp out here. I'll be fine, just didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night."

Craig Reynolds:
Rahimi replies,
"Quluj Khel is not unlike a lot of the smaller villages dotting this province and my own. The people there are all a part of the Quluj clan; they are nice but very isolated. As far as I know they've never had any ties to the Taliban. They probably don't even think of themselves as Afghanis, probably just as Quluj. Elder Zahir is a very nice man, he'll probably be waiting for us, its pretty easy to spot vehicles coming from there."

[Mr. Handy]

"We'll need to ask him about Ellis," says Craig. "He's almost certainly been to the village and spoken to Elder Zahir before, and possibly others here as well. He had to find out about that place somewhere. It'll be interesting to know who he spoke to, what questions he asked, and what the answers were."

[maelstrom]

Alex sits listening to the conversations going on in the vehicle.
Bryant worries me a bit, he either knows more than he is letting on, or hes scared and on the edge. neither is a good option if things head south rapidly. Tyners picked up on it as well, we will just have to keep an eye on him..
Turning to face Rahimi, " How long has the village been there Rahimi, do you know?"

[Cotton]

Rahimi replies,
"I don't know exactly. But it is not unusual to run into some very very old and secluded villages out here, you'll see that the members of the Quluj tribe has kept to the same traditions as there ancestors have been doing for centuries."

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Tyner asks Booker (at a moment when he's not busy keeping his eye on whatever passes for a road around here), "Does the CO always send out the heavy armament just to go out to a friendly village? Are there a lot of unfriendlies out there?"

[Cotton]

Booker replies,
"There are definitely unfriendlies around here, but they usually travel at night since we're almost always better equipped. The original team that went looking for Ellis spilt into two groups and weren't in Cougars, which is probably why the one group got attacked. He's also probably paranoid about losing the government people who got sent after the original government guy who went missing. Quluj Khel is definitely a friendly village, I don't think that we or the ANA have ever had problems with them."

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm hoping they can also come with us after Quluj Khel, when we eventually go searching for Ellis," says Craig. "Where he went is decidedly unfriendly territory, and we'll need the backup and the armor."

[Cotton]

Booker replies,
"I know that Bryant, Gibson, and I were given orders to escort you wherever you needed to go to. I imagine that the guys in Babble were told the same. Like I said, the Captain doesn't want us splitting up anymore."

Hearing this Gibson starts to nod emphatically, and agrees with Booker's statement. Bryant continues to sulk.

(OOC: So right now you guys are traveling at the speed of plot. Whenever you're ready your convoy will arrive at Quluj Khel.)