Marked

[Reeves]

The trap was sprung, caught a lane away from Sugarland, the armored transport would come under heavy fire from multiple assailants. Despite being under escort, they were not prepared for such a display of brute force, criminals fought with desperation to free their brethren from hard time, but this was more than just desperation. The mole, conveniently positioned in his Liberator at the rear of the convoy stood by as his fellow officers were all surrounded and slaughtered. Slowly, he pulled away from the site of the engagement, intending to break from standard patrol routes and make his escape to the nearest Freeport. But a cruise disruptor to the engines, and the sight of an Eagle sporting an all too familiar Cobra on its hull put an end to that clever idea.

There were to be no survivors of this other than Sal's family, and the mole had outlived his usefulness, he'd also been part of Price's entourage. Something he initially neglected to inform Morreti about, from that point onward he was a dead man as far as the snake was concerned. With the Pelican disabled and Navy reinforcements on the way to disperse the rabble, the Xenos had to be quick with their boarding operation. There was no sense sparing anyone in police uniforms, especially not when time was of the essence. With the Pelican finally under their control, the raiding party split up and made a run for it in three different directions. One fled further into the field, one for Hudson and one for Virginia. Unable to consistently track the retreating terrorists given their seemingly disorganized formation, the Navy pursued pursuit the first until they stretched dangerously far off the grid. At which point they turned about and abandoned the chase, seeking to instead return and repel any further assaults which might opportunistically occur after this display.

Despite the overall success of such an effort, it was hardly without cost for the Xenos. Even if they vastly outnumbered the Police convoy and worked quickly, the retreating wing bound for Hudson still took losses and suffered harassment from Hunters that had caught wind of their antics. Of the five ships their formation initially consisted of, only two would make it back to Barrow. The primary force intended to board the ship bore the brunt of things, the Pilgrim liner that spearheaded the charge was on the cusp of decompressing if it endured any more punishment and even Morreti's own eagle was trailing an unhealthy amount of sparks. The operation's success kept morale at an acceptable level, breaking even with the losses sustained. Still, some pilots questioned the necessity of an operation like this on such short notice. If the various cells had been given more time to prepare and stock up on the supplies needed, they might have sustained no losses at all.

With Sal's family almost entirely accounted for, save his eldest daughter, the Pilgrim and its fighter escort made way for Fontana. A rest stop was very much necessary before proceeding back to base. There was also a discussion which need to be had in person on where the girl was, Morreti had assumed she'd have been part of the family and his sources on the ground confirmed that much. Something must have occurred last minute to warrant any changes on who was being transported. Despite the success in getting the others to safety, a lack of any idea of the girl's current whereabouts frustrated him even more. He was tired of this, tired of chasing leads and turning up short.

He had to hope Olivia would come through on her side of things and help put an end to this.

---

On indefinite hiatus because the current state of gameplay sucks - ping me over discord if replies are needed