WtDS - Beantown

"Katya is... special." Swaine wheezed between breaths, his fit finally at an end. It was rare to see him having an attack quite this severe and draining, but not unheard of. He straightened his posture unsteadily, grimacing as he glanced down at his phlegm... and blood coated glove. He slid it off and rolled it up, placing it on his desk as he returned to his seat. "Katya, Cotton, these red-haired ladies are the Beckerman twins. They're the ones with the job that needs done." Swaine swiped a bit of blood from his bottom lip as he fixed his gaze on Irene and Eileen. "Tell them about the situation at your ranch."

Steve's words gave Mireya a brief feeling of melancholy. They both knew about missing home, though their reasons for not being able to geet back were different. She shook it off though, bringing a broad smile to her lips as she finished hooking up a part in the engine block. She straightened up and stretched - being hunched under a hood so long left quite an ache in her back - and then broad the hood closed with a loud bang. She nodded towards Steve, gloved hands planted on her coverall shrouded hips as she spoke, "Well then, cher, I'd best give you all the help I can if I want to justify calling it 'our score,' eh?"

She lets out a throaty chuckle before she paced towards the driver's side door and climbed in. She reached up to flip down the driver's visor, catching the keys as they dropped down. The old fella who'd found the vehicle had found the key wedged under the driver's seat, and she'd been amazed that the keys had still been inside the van at all. Then again, if you were only scrounging for parts, why bother hunting for the key?

She glanced towards Steve and crossed her fingers at him before she stuck the key in the ignition, turned it... And gave an excited whoop as it started rumbling to life after a short sputter. "Oh yeah, baby. That's what Mama likes to hear!"

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Irene chuckles softly at Katya's comment and offers a polite nod, while both women eye Swaine as he tries to catch his breath - and Eileen's features colored with concern as she spotted the blood. But since he seemed to be in the mind to focus on the matter at hand, Irene related the information. "Over the last few months we've lost seventeen Bighorners. Started about six months back with two missing going missing after a bad storm one night - one of the gates seemed to have blown down in the night, and when we couldn't find them in the morning we figured they'd gotten off on their own and got picked off by predators. It happens... But it continued to happen every few weeks, on the darker nights, especially in stormy weather. Just one or two at a time... But who or whatever's been taking them is getting bolder - just last night they took five of them, and before that it was three bout two weeks back. We've got shifts of our ranch-hands on guard duty, we don't have many workers, and seeing anything in the snow at night is almost impossible..."

Eileen raised her voice then, clasping her hands in front of her, "We need to find out the cause behind our disappearing cattle and take care of it. Bad as last night's storm was, that many Bighorners have a tendency to leave a trail. Irene managed to track them to one of the main roads a few miles from the ranch before it got too muddled and we came here..." She let out a slow, deep sigh. "This has to stop. In addition to whatever the Captain Swaine is offering, we'll be offering an additional reward for solving our problem - with a bonus if any of our Bighorners can be recovered alive. Of course, we'll also be providing food, shelter, and extra supplies as needed."

"Hah! Now we're in business!" Steve said, clapping his hands together sharply. Although he was masked, it was clear he was pretty much ecstatic. Things were looking up; they'd have a hell of a haul on their hands, and a functional truck to haul the goodies back in!

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Katya listened intently to the explanation of the situation, clucking her tongue softly as the sisters finished speaking. She quirked a brow, glancing toward Cotton and then Swaine. "Alright...Sounds like my kind of job. Cotton here says he's a regular wilderness expert, to boot. He does the tracking, I do the crackin'. Skulls, that is...You pay me, feed me and tell me everything you can about the area, I'll be more than happy to come out and throw a light show off for whatever's been giving you guff."

"Still gettin' used to trackin' down things here up north, but it ain't all that different from doing it down south ways. Whatever is is takin' your herd, I'll find it." Cotton nodded with a warm smile to the twins. Swaine reclined in his seat. "I'd prefer an ambush, personally. The weather nerds at home base are predicting another snow front tonight. Not as bad as yesterday's blizzard, just an 'aftershock.' If we can catch them in the act, it would be much better fighting on home turf than in some asshole raider's cave or hideaway. I've heard enough stories of soldiers stepping on mines during bandit cleanup to know that following is risky." He opened up a drawer on his desk, fondling through an impressive amount of desk clutter in search of something. When he finds it, he sets it right on the table. Goggles, red-lensed with a small battery hooked up to the side. "If we can manage it, striking during the midst of the snowing will be easier with these. Thermal goggles, can pick out a white rat in the middle of a field of snow at fifty paces. I can pick up a couple more pairs - not many - at the Quartermaster's. Even if the idea of ambushing them right in the middle of your ranch is too unappealing, Ms. and Ms. Beckerman, these could be useful."

The excitement in Steve's voice only made Mireya's grow in turn. She shut the vehicle off before climbing back out, heading over to Steve to give him a tight hug. She leans up to give him a peck on the mask in the general lip-area. "Yeah, we're in gear. Gonna give her a good goin' over and some fine tuning, but I'd say we're just about good to go. You wanna get the supplies and my gear stowed in the back while I'm at it, it'll save us some time."

She smiled, giving Steve another squeeze before she withdrew and turned her attention back to truck. Her own mood was definitely rising with the thought of getting a good haul - more caps in their pocket and going in on a bigger place with Steve... Yeah, it was definitely looking up. As for her own scavenging gear and her shishkabob, those were all stored neatly against a wall, next to the spot where she parked her bike - easy to find, and ready to go when the need arose or opportunity abruptly knocked.
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Eileen was all smiles at the two mercenaries answer, while Irene's expression was far more guarded. It was good that they had people that could help take care of their little situation - but there was a lot that could go wrong. They listened to Swaine's idea for an ambush - and Irene eyed those goggles with a mild amount of longing - before either of them spoke again. And indeed, worry started to color Eileen's features, and Irene's brow furrowed with annoyance, but she offered a small nod.

"Can't say that the idea of having an ambush there is appealing..." Eileen said, clasping her arms around herself. "If fighting breaks out - if bullets start flying - we've got people and cattle who might be caught in the crossfire... We've got to be careful."

"We can control things better on our own land, though," Irene said, adjusting the rifle strap on her shoulder. "If we have to do it on the ranch, so be it... The problem is, we've not been hit two nights in a row before. There's no guarantee anyone will show up. Then the trail will be a day older and covered in fresh snow."

"What're the odds of us setting up more than just an ambush? You mentioned mines...Why don't we use some? Bury them along the perimeter of the ranch, all around the fences leading to the Bighorners. We dig 'em in, make a good, solid line...Frag mines are cheap and plentiful everywhere; we could easily get some from your quartermaster. Even if they don't kill 'em, they'll sure as shit wound them. It would also, probably, make them retreat. We have Cotton track where they came from; we find the paths they use and set up near them, but not on them. Your ranch hands arm up and wait for the mines to detonate; we watch for a retreat and then we cut 'em off. Minimize gunfire at your ranch while maximizing the kill-zone for your rustlers..."

Katya spoke like an old hand; she'd run ambush gigs before, and certainly knew a thing or two about what she was suggesting. She'd used the same basic tactic to handle a bandit raiding party just a year before; no casualties on her side of things, and no survivors for the bandits.

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Steve nodded briskly and ran over to Mireya's gear, gathering it up and climbing in the back of the truck to secure it all, making sure it was ready for the road. Steve's own gear was as good as gold, too. He stopped to ponder, briefly, just what else they may need to take...But then he shrugged. "So, what's first on the agenda, then? Once this thing is moving proper, that is."

"Mines, Katya? Really?" Swaine looked at her disbelievingly before shaking his head. "Too much risk. What if they don't trigger any mines, or even just don't trigger all of them? It would be an immense hazard. The Brotherhood only deploys mines in and around places we don't even intend to enter, these days. I wouldn't trust any smart mines, since at least one in ten are corroded enough that their friend or foe sensors aren't reliable anymore." He turns his head to the sisters. "I doubt you want undetonated explosives left by your ranch for a farmhand or a bighorner to step on. Just like I wouldn't want to order soldiers to risk their limbs trying to recover any mines that didn't trigger."

Both sisters seemed to turn a little apprehensive at Katya's mention of mines, and Swaine's countering the idea with talking about undetonated mines around their land, workers and animals seemed to discomfort them more. Irene's frown deepened, while Eileen shudders a little and shook her head. "No, sir, that's definitely not something we want. It'll already be tricky enough to deal with an ambush on the property and minimizing the things that could go wrong... And that's not taking into consideration that the Bighorners will probably get getting spooked by the gunfire. If enough of them panic and run towards the fences they may even break loose - which would make things all the more chaotic."

"And we don't need bits of Bighorner raining on us when this goes down," Irene said with a low groan, rubbing a hand over her eyes. "Need to either find a way to keep them calm, or keep them tied down... Have to figure out how feasible either of those options are."
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Mireya spoke as she moved back to the front of the vehicle, opening the hood again and going over everything one more time. "Well, we're going to stop real quick by Old Man Garrison's and let him know we're taking this fine machine for a "test drive" to see if it's in proper order - for his benefit, of course." She smirked a little to herself. "Then I figure if there's any more supplies we need, we grab 'em, and then we make tracks for your score. You fill me in on anything I need to know about the area on the way, if there's anything to know, and with any luck, we'll get there, grab the stuff, and get out without any break downs or trading bullets with someone out there." She said those last two things lightly enough - they were a genuine concern, but they'd be going in as prepared as they could be for those situations, and if you were afraid of other scavengers, raiders, or the various and sundry monsters (both human and not) all the time, you'd never make it far in their lines of work.

"Drugs. Animal Tranqs. You've got a running Chem Lab here on-site, don't you Swaine? I know there's not much call for sleep aids, so I wouldn't expect you to have much of a deficit on the supplies. Get the Bighorners in one spot, leash 'em down and dose 'em with a bit of sleepy-time, then they'll either be asleep or too groggy to break loose when the shooting starts. I figure, you keep a few of them awake out in the field to act as bait and we'll probably be able to keep the majority safe and sound, one way or another. Otherwise, we're going to need a lot of rope and some staff on hand to keep 'em calm." Katya scratched the back of her neck, frowning as she seemed to consider how many people they'd really need to secure the situation. "What's the size of your property? And did you bring maps? I need details; specifics. I can't plan a defense off words and good intentions. If I can't use live fire tactics for defense and interdiction, we're going to have to know how many people you have to help out, where your strongest points are, and whether the terrain will be on our side."

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Steve nodded along and grinned to himself under the mask. "Of course, of course...For his benefit. But yeah, the area's pretty safe, actually. It had been picked clean years ago by raiders and scavengers, so there's not much of note...But that container full of goodies; it WAS hidden, now it's all ours. It's a fairly recent discovery, so I think we should be pretty safe. 'Sides, even if we run into trouble, you can do the talking and I can do the shooting, if need be. Hopefully we won't NEED to, but...Yeah...Maybe if we even have some time we can swing by the spot I told Swaine about and see if we really can salvage something before he sends someone out...Not everything; wouldn't be right. But I'd really like to see if what I saw was a Plasma Turret or not...Never even seen one of those in one piece."

Swaine mulled it over for a few moments before nodding to Katya approvingly. "Tranquilizers would work. With the majority of the Brotherhood's forces in Springfield, plenty of chems the brass doesn't consider essential to the war effort are just sitting around, unused. Considering the level of firepower you tend to bring to the field, that's at least one blessing." He looked to his own rifle for a moment. "Ladies, I doubt your Bighorners have much exposure to being around Brotherhood weaponry. The sound isn't much compared to ballistics, but the light show would probably be just as apt to spook them. While Enclave lands are safer than the rest of the Wasteland, your herd getting free wouldn't be good for the Bighorners. To any mutants out there, it would be a domestic Bighorner buffet."

"If you can supply the tranqs," Eileen said, nodding lightly, "Then I think that's a workable plan. We've got a lot rope, but any extra restraints you can supply us with for this situation wouldn't be turned down, Captain Swaine... As for plans... Irene?"

Irene offered Katya a slight smile and a nod before she slipped a hand inside her poncho and the vest underneath and pulls out a sheath of folded papers. She moved towards Swaine's desk, unfolding them and setting them on top as she spoke, pointing towards points on the map with rough, charcoal outlines of the property and buildings on it as she went, "We've got about thirty acres of land altogether, and after last night, we've got about sixty-one Big Horners. We keep the nine males in a separate pen except for breeding season and bringing them out to feed. We've got all the buildings in the south eastern area of our land, nearest the road: Our personal cottage, the living quarters for our hands, work houses and storage... We've got another eleven people on the plot: All of them work for us in some way. Got two couples working for us with three kids between them - we've got a cellar the little'uns and anyone who needs to stay out of the way can lay low."

She pauses, rubbing her jaw in thought. "Cabin is two stories - kind of a loft thing, with shuttered windows. Might be able to set some folks there with some longer ranged rifles, perhaps - depends on what you folks think when you see the layout in person."
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"That'd definitely be bad business if you cleared it out before Swaine got there," Mireya agreed, but she was still smiling happily as she lowered the hood and moved to start getting out of her work gloves and coveralls. "But lookin' won't hurt, and Swaine won't know if we took one or two things... You think we can hit both spots, I'm in... And hey, hope for the best, plan for the worst. We cover our bases, we'll come out alright."

Katya looks over the charcoal map, grunting softly and running a fingertip over the surface. "Move all the 'Horners into the pens, as many as you can. Secure the, drug them, keep them in place. Set up any able-bodied men and women with weapons and medical supplies. We set up in the main cottage or living quarters. Lay low, use available cover, and wait for anything to come up or come out. Swaine, if you can get us anything with IR, that'd be great. A couple of varmint rifles with night scopes would work...Then as soon as we have sight of anything that needs to die, we have a couple of designated watchers pop flares. Military grade or naval would be fine; anything to cast a lot of light so we can see where we're aiming. Then we let 'em have it. Don't leave anyone or anything that isn't us and ours standing. Kids and anyone who shouldn't fight go in the cellar. Sound like a plan?"

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"Woman after my own heart, Mireya. You'd make a good caravaner, if you ask me. So, we about ready to go?" Steve sounded excited; he didn't get to go out and about very often; he was used to staying home in the most recent years of his life, keeping things close to the vest. His few sojourns to neighboring towns (one of which lead him to his recent discovery) had been exclusively to drop of a product or pick up supplies. This? This was an adventure.