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[This is a monthly Raid RP. Participation is limited to those who signed up in advance. Have fun!]


The day had come. Finally. The week since Star's arrival at Team Rocket moved slowly. The Ex-Galactic stayed confined to his temporary quarters for a while, but he'd managed to squeeze in a few outings. Enough to meet some of Team Rocket's Agents (and instruct most of them on how they should treat him once he was their boss). Rumors about whether or not his promise of finding the ship had any validity didn't take long to surface. It wasn't hard to question Star's word. He'd betrayed his own team, after all.

But the day had come. And like clockwork, at the moment Star had promised, his beacon successfully signaled the Galactic airship's location. This had been minutes ago. The chosen team had already been assembled before the signal was received. Now that they had their location they could finish the mission briefing and leave immediately.

Gathered in one of the typical pre-mission briefing rooms, Inigo, Arcadie, Alba, Faleen, Frost and Rory awaited the arrival of the mission leader and their final instructions before departure.

Always punctual, Elite Agent TRP appeared shortly after the Rockets had taken their seats. Strangely, she didn't assume the usual position at the head of the room. Instead, she eyed the Rockets and sat alongside them, then turned her attention back to the door.

Said door swung open a moment later, admitting Lucere.

The boss crossed the room to stand before the gathered Rockets. Star entered after him, looking extremely important tailing their leader (or at least like he thought he looked important). When Lucere stopped, Star stood to his right and folded his hands behind his back, turning a smirk on the group.

"Considering the nature of this mission.. and what's at stake, it seemed only appropriate that I should be the one to address you today." The boss's sharp gaze drifted to the face of each Rocket in the room. "As you all know, moments ago we successfully received coordinates from Mister Sager's tracking beacon. He assures us that the broadcast was brief enough to not attract Galactic attention. They should be unaware that they've been found." Lucere cast a momentary glance at Star as he said this.

Star offered a nod, looking confidant and very proud.

Lucere's attention turned back to the Rockets. "The explosion he set off blew out a large section of the ship's port side. It constitutes a substantial security risk and will be the source of heavy surveillance. Ian." Lucere eyed Star expectantly.

Star nodded again and, with a sweeping gesture, pressed a button on the nearby podium. The lights dimmed and basic schematics depicting the airship appeared on the projection screen behind him and the Boss. Star had no doubt drawn these up. A section was highlighted in red, indicating the explosion damage.

"They will have started rebuilding already. The damage is, without a doubt, their sole focus. The airship is too important to the success of the team. It must be repaired as quickly as possible. This will work to your advantage. Their focus is on the explosion site, so you'll enter where they're not focused." Star stepped up to the screen, shifting his weight from one hip to the other as he stretched a long arm and pointed at the top of the schematic. "This will be your entry point. One of the ship's few unguarded entrances is a small hatch at the aft top level. On the roof. Under normal circumstances very thorough sensors and surveillance would prevent intruders from getting anywhere near the hatch, making guards unnecessary." He smirked, "Lucky for you, I'm intimately familiar with Team Galactic's sensor grid and I can instruct you on how to approach." He chuckled and smoothed his long coat, "You'll be coming in by air. Flight happens to be a specialty of mine. I'm what you'd call an expert in the field. In fact, one time I-"

"Ian." Lucere was glaring at the taller man, arms folded.

Star blinked, arms frozen mid-gesture. "Er.. right." he cleared his throat and continued, "You'll come in on flying pokémon. A vehicle's surface area is too large. They'd detect one of your helicopters. But a human on a pokémon is notoriously difficult for radar to pick up. Bird types or any other pokémon with a minimal vertical profile while in flight will work as long as you lie flat on approach. Mister Temero has informed me Team Rocket has more than enough pidgeot in supply for those of you without appropriate mounts."

He reached for the screen again, tracing an angled line toward the rear of the ship, "You'll fly in from this direction, angled, toward the rear starboard side. The ship's stability fins provide some radar interruption here. As long as you don't come in dead on straight from the rear and you don't show the broad side of your pokémon on final approach you'll be fine." He tapped the top of the ship with a long finger, "The hatch is here. It's small and round. It'll be locked but you should be able to cut it open with a welding torch." He smirked again and adjusted the collar of his coat, "Simple."

Lucere nodded, "Thank you Mister Sager."

"Of course." Star offered a graceful bow, "I'm only happy to be of service."

Lucere stared at the flamboyant gesture without emotion, then turned his eyes back on the Rockets, "That covers your approach and entry. Any questions so far?"

Rory listened intently to the information coming from Ian. When he mentioned how they were going to get inside, his heart started racing.

Flying pokemon. Flying in on pokemon. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his heart from leaping out of his chest. He could do this, everything would be fine. It was just birds.

When Lucere asked if anyone had any questions, Rory timidly raised his hand. "What can we bring along with us?"

Alba tightened his jaw as he listened to the briefing. Birds? From the air? His still healing injuries almost hurt just thinking about it. There were more important things to think on today, though. "No questions here, sir."

Finally, they were going to get the others back. Alba had spent every free moment he had in going through reports from every region. After a week of coming up empty-handed (and trading his crutches in for a cane that was currently propped against the wall back in his room), he wasn't about to pass up the chance to finally put himself to actual use. That's what Arceus invented pain medications for, after all.

Uniform was pressed and clean, dark blond hair was tied up firmly at the back of her hair, keeping any obstructions out of rested and determined hazel eyes.
Her best team was placed neatly along the strap on her thigh.

This was the day they had all been waiting for, and she was more then ready for it.

Agent Faleen was waiting quietly in the briefing room for the assigned Elite to arrive.
when TRP did enter, Faleen sat up off the back of her seat, only to do a double take and stare when the Elite did not take the expected course to the front.

Instead she sat down among the lower ranks that were gathered.
Faleen probably looked as puzzled as she felt.
the doors opened again and someone she did not expect entered the room.

The Rocket boss, who crossed the room and took the head of the room followed by the ex-galactic.

... The Boss was going to conduct the pre-mission.

She was taken aback by this, but when the boss started talking, she understood the reasoning.

It really impacted how important the success of this mission was.
They could NOT mess this one up.

Faleen listened to the breifting, feeling a nervous knot in her stomach when they were informed that they would be flying on pokemon.
Letting out a soft breath, but not complaining... if thats what this mission called for, then thats what she was going to do.

when asked if they had any questions, Faleen remained quiet. glancing around at the others who did have questions.

(and back to work. all could get out now XD might edit later)

Well, that was interesting to watch. Alba could almost feel a smirk coming on as Star took a seat, but managed to keep his composure. He shook his head "no" when Lucere asked for questions again, adding a quiet, "No, sir."

Rory nodded as Lucere answered his question. He mentally took stock of what was in his room and what he had access to. He wondered if his sword would be too cumbersome to bring along. He wasn't very skilled with fire arms so it was the only weapon he knew he could handle.

The new guy was coming with them? The guy looked suspicious to him but if the boss trusted him to lead the group to the captured Rockets who was he to complain.

Star looked up at Frost's questions. His lofty flowing mannerisms had been reduced to a hunched, twitchy posture. "They'd be in a storage room near the Brig.. it's only a couple doors away." He turned his eyes hopefully to Lucere, "It's easy to find. All of it is. I can give simple instructions I don't have to come."

Lucere settled a glare on Star, then looked back at the Rockets. "Departure is in fifteen minutes. Meet in the hangar. A helicopter will fly you to Sinnoh, close to the airship's current location. You'll take pokémon the remainder of the way." Lucere nodded, folding his hands behind his back, "Dismissed. And good luck." There was a surprising genuine quality to his voice as he said this.

- - -

Precisely 15 minutes later the helicopter was prepped and ready, waiting for the Rockets.

TRP was standing nearby, waiting for the team to arrive and distributing poké balls containing Rocket pidgeot to anyone who needed them. When Star entered she arched an eyebrow. "....are you serious?"

In addition to his typical uniform, the ex-galactic was wearing his knee-high, heeled metal boots, elbow-length metal gauntlets sporting elongated claw-like fingers and the most recent addition to his personalized gear set, a stylized metal chestplate with red accents, worn over his shirt but under his jacket. His flight helmet was tucked under his arm.

"What?"

"..nothing, Mister Roboto." TRP gestured at the helicopter.

With fifteen minutes to get everything together, Rory ran back to his room. He grabbed some of the treats to put in his pocket for the captured pokemon. There was a chance they would be skittish when they found them, maybe the treats would calm them.

As he was about to leave the room he turned back to the closet. He grabbed the sheath and strapped his sword to his belt before heading back to the hanger. When he arrived, he noticed one of the agents there waiting.