Realistic or Modern Their Time in Yellowstone (Open and Accepting!)

[NanLia]

Zahra followed along the site tour with mild interest - it wasn't far off from the station she'd been a part of just the day before and the building certainly wasn't complex. She didn't doubt she'd find her way around with ease. As they were dismissed for free time she made her way back out to her Jeep to grab her bags. She'd only packed the items she would need, without a doubt, over the next few days. Everything else from her previous dorm room had been shipped.

As expected she was easily able to retrace her steps back to where Elias had shown them their rooms, finding her door she pushed it opened and dropped the kickstand, leaving the door open wide whilst she went about unpacking the few things she had with her for time being. Satisfied her things were in as much order as they would ever be she decided she should wander the compound again, orient herself with her surroundings and try and learn a bit more about her new team mates.

She was lucky enough to cross paths with several of them in the common area and kitchen, a few snacking and two she had not seen during orientation. She meandered into the room and dropped down onto the couch, crossing her legs beneath her. "So what's the plan then? Since we're not on duty tonight, we heading into town for drink? I'm Za, by the way." She waved at the two newcomers.
-ferret- Safton Pastry Shadow Cat

 

[Shadow Cat]

​

Riley looked up as the man from before walked into the kitchen with her and she stepped aside to allow him entrance to the fridge, not paying too much attention. As he stood up with a package of apples and caramel, however, she found she had to incline her neck at least forty five degrees to look up at him. "Woah, tall." She said without thinking. Then quickly shook her head and added, "Sorry, name's Riley. Nice to meet you, Garcia-" She stopped as she watched the man bang the package of apples on the counter and held back a good-natured laugh. "Let me get that for you," she said as she took the package from the counter and opened it quickly with her small, nimble fingers.

She handed it back to him, turning her attention to the man who had just walked in, one she had remembered seeing just before the orientation. "Hey, Owen, right? Yeah, there's plenty." She turned on a dime and opened the fridge back up, tossing him one of the apples over her shoulder before realizing she had no idea if he had good reflexes or not. Well, she didn't hear the apple hit anything breakable, anyway, so that was a good sign.

By the time she had turned back around, she could see over the bar that separated the kitchen and the common room that two new people had joined the activities. One she hadn't seen at orientation, and another she had. "Nice to meet you Minnie. Name's Riley. You picked a good day to be late. That orientation was... well, it was something." She then turned her attention to the girl sitting over on one of the couches. "Honestly, I'd be up for some celebration. There's a bar just outside the park called the Mangy Moose. Name isn't all that appealing, but the drinks are great, and they've got the best wings you'll find anywhere."

NanLia -ferret- Safton Pastry

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

Devin shrugged. "Suit yourself, Laxalt." He couldn't tell if she were just shy and his extrovertedness was offensive, or what.

He gave up the drawer as bad job and moved on, pulling out the bundle of personal items from his bag and scattering them across the top of the dresser as he unwrapped them from his rather frayed and faded trans pride flag. One of his many acquaintances from his infrequent chances to haunt Seattle during his time in the Coast Guard had scribbled FUCK THE CISTEM on it in Sharpie at a carnival-themed bar one night during pride, and it still smelled a little like vodka. He shook it out and hung it up over his one window like it was a curtain before going back to the dresser and arranging the things that had been wrapped in it: a St Mary prayer candle (unscented), a second candle in a travel tin that smelled mostly like eucalyptus and musk, a box of matches, the water stained deck of playing cards he'd found during an adventure at Pike's, a bottle of his favorite cologne, and his little fix-blade utility knife. Once he was satisfied with their arrangement he lit the scented candle in hopes it would make the room smell less musty and abandoned.

There was also, now that he was mostly unpacked, the stash of food. "Hey! Hey Laxalt!" he called, leaning out into the hall and waving a handful of candy bags at Julie. "Do you like chocolate or gummy worms better?"

Maxilgal

 

[Pastry]

Though she was smaller than him, he had a feeling she had a place of authority around Flashpoint. She seems comfortable and charismatic, the small comment on his height made him grow a big smile. Thomas knew this was a good group, judging since one wasn't stuck up and strict. He smiled, then quickly dunked a couple of apples into the caramel and stuffed them into his mouth. The sweet and cheap decadence of this dessert only lasted for a short while, until he was finished with it. He looked down, frowned, and then threw away the garbage. He looked up and noticed a man. "Cowboy guy! I assume that's your truck out there?" He said, crossing his arms. The guy was almost to his height, and by the looks of him, he seemed to be well experienced in his field. He noticed the apple go flying through the air. He noticed two new people enter the common area, so he waited for them to settle and introduce himself before he began. "Hi!" He started with a short, single direction wave. "My name is Thomas Garcia. Elias gave me a handful, so I thought I needed to act professional around everyone." He listened to Riley speak, and as soon as the mention of wings comes out of her mouth, his mouth started watering. "Junk food... Yes..." He muttered under his breath. "I am beyond okay with that. We can carpool if we want, I've got some room in my car." He smiled as he spoke, putting his hand behind his head and scratching it. I cannot wait to go to eat. I'm starving! I probably should get a minifridge or something to keep me up... He thought.

Shadow Cat NanLia -ferret- Safton

 

[Maxilgal]

Julie sat up at the sound of her name. She paused a moment before getting up and walking to her door frame. Devin was leaning out of his room, coaxing her with bags of sugary sweets, and damn if she wasn’t bought.

“Er...gummy worms. I don’t eat chocolate. Makes my stomach upset.” She took a step outside her room and plucked a big red one out of the bag. “Thanks...I’d offer you something but...I didn’t bring anything with me really.” She chewed and savored the artificial cherry flavor for a moment before feeling awkward. “I uh...like your flag.” She vaguely recognized it as a trans flag. Her eyes focused on the candle on his table. “Are you Catholic?” She swore at herself in her head. It was such a weird question why the hell would she ask someone if they’re Catholic. Still, it made her feel a little more connected to Devin in a weird way. She had her candle with St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes on it back in her room at home.
wickedlittlecritta

 

[Safton]

​

"Cowboy guy! I assume that's your truck out there?"

Owen chuckled, rubbing at the back of his neck as Riley began rummaging through the fridge. "Yeah, guilty as charged."

"Hi, guys! I'm Min-sun! You can call me Minny though if you want!"

Coop nearly jumped out of his skin by the sound of the voice next to him, not having noticed the entrance of what seemed to be yet another one of his coworkers that hadn't made it to orientation. He turned back from the newcomer just in time to see something flying at his face from the direction of the fridge. He reacted on instinct, one hand flying up to snatch it from the air before it made contact -- though it didn't keep him from flinching. Any annoyance he might have felt about nearly getting a black eye was put aside as he realized just what he had caught -- a honeycrisp apple, courtesy of Riley and her suspiciously powerful arm. "Thanks," he said, nodding to the woman before turning to Min-sun and offering his hand. "I'm Owen. Owen Cooper, but feel free to call me Coop," he remarked, extending the greeting to the absurdly tall man across the kitchen as well.

Around that time, someone he did recognize from orientation strode into the common room: Zahra, who proceeded to plop down on the couch and broach the subject of going to town tonight. The idea seemed to be received well by Riley and Garcia both and Coop couldn't say he disagreed. He had spent the last week or so "roughing it" -- living either out of a motel room or his tent out in the Park proper. In that time he hadn't really bothered trying to absorb the night life, such as it was. Besides, even from a purely practical perspective he recognized the utility of team-building and bonding. Goofy orientation icebreakers were one thing, but time spent naturally -- as personal acquaintances or even friends -- was something else altogether. These were the men and women he would be trusting his life to and vice versa over the course of the next season and possibly for years to come, after all.

"I wouldn't mind getting one last taste of civilization before the start of wildfire season," Owen admitted. "If there's not enough room, I can take my truck and anyone else who wants to tag along."

Shadow Cat
Pastry
-ferret-
NanLia ​

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

"I'll remember that," Devin said, about her disagreement with chocolate. "And don't worry. I brought plenty of candy. I can only stand so much roughing it, you know? What's the point of living if you don't have gummy bears? And thanks. I like your flag too." He didn't recognize it, but it was very festive Christmas colors, so he could dig it.

He blinked a little in surprise at the Catholic question. "Uh, sort of? I...have a complicated relationship with the Church, but like. Mary's my mom, you know?" He paused, chewing a gummy worm thoughtfully, and said, "So I guess the short answer is 'Yes, but you couldn't pay me to actually go to church'." He looked at her with a grin and said, "So if you knew I was Catholic from a single candle I'm assuming you're also Catholic?"

Maxilgal

 

[Maxilgal]

"Yeah I get that...I'm not really devout either. And I get that about Mary. I have a special relationship with her too." Julie paused for a second or two before continuing. "That and like, a few saints. My grandma got me a medal for St. Bernadette for my Confirmation. Even though I don't really believe in the Church anymore, I still wear it." She pulled the small medal from her shirt to show Devin. "It's kind of comforting. My aunt got me a St. Florian* medal but I think I'm gonna stick with Bernadette. She hasn't failed me yet so." She shrugged and took another gummy worm, green this time. "Also I wouldn't exactly call this 'roughing it'. We still have beds and running water." She looked back over at her room and rubbed the back of her head. "I better finish packing...I'll uh...see you later then." She turned and shuffled back into her room, closing the door behind her gently. Well, she thought, that wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.
wickedlittlecritta

*St. Florian is the Patron Saint of Firefighters.

 

[Shadow Cat]

​

Riley stepped out of the now slightly crowded kitchen, throwing herself down on the couch in the common room as the group got close to reaching a consensus. It was starting to look like they would be going to the bar tonight. A small smile graced her lips at the thought of going back to the Mangy Moose. She hadn't been there since last season with Carson.

Her smiled faded quickly at the thought of the young firefighter, so charismatic and hopeful. He had been what many considered the glue of his team, and she had the same opinion. Carson had been trained in a number of peacemaking tactics and was excellent in defusing conflict and keeping everyone happy and cheerful. The boy had been reckless though, and headstrong. He hadn't known what the word "can't" meant, and it showed. And it had cost him everything.

She shook the memory from her head, looking up as conversation hushed and she noticed Elias had walked into the room. "Ah!" The large, burly man exclaimed as he entered, his voice reverberating in the relatively small space. "What a coincidence! I was just making my rounds to assign teams. In fact..." He held up a clipboard, making a show of flipping through the pages before finally flipping back to the top page and looking around. "Great news! Everyone in this room is on the same team! Teams are military alphabet of course, and you're all team Whiskey, along with Murphy and Laxalt." He announced the extra two names loud enough to be heard in the next state over, and then continued, "Riley, you'll be team lead. During fires, multiple teams will go out to help, but during smaller emergencies like search and rescue or animal attacks, only one team will respond. So my advice is to become friends now, because you'll be stuck together all season. And I might like soap operas, but I do not like drama." He paused for an ironically dramatic effect and then continued, "That's it! Have a nice night!" Before abruptly turning and walking out.

"Well..." Riley drawled, "Nice to meet you all. Looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other. Glad to have such a capable team to watch my back."

 

[Safton]

​

Owen once again nearly leaped in place as a loud voice boomed throughout the room -- this one much deeper than Min-sun's had been. At this rate he'd be out of adrenaline by the time they got their first call-out. He turned toward the entrance of the common room and the owner of said voice and wasn't surprised that to see Elias standing there with a clipboard clutched in his hands like a king wielding a scepter. Owen leaned against the wall, watching as the burly supervisor reviewed his documents (though Coop didn't doubt for a second that he already knew every bit of what was printed on them).

Elias gave the news of assignments along with the advice (or perhaps a warning?) to make strides to get along with one another before leaving. Owen nodded to himself as he surveyed the common room that currently held all of his teammates save Devin and Julie. It was far too early to form any opinions about his newfound comrades. That would only come with time and fieldwork. For now, all he could do is trust that anyone here had worked every bit as hard as himself to get here and focus on forming a decent rapport with them... or at least learning to tolerate each other, if it came to that. Owen could afford even less to let personal conflicts form and erode any foundation of trust, given his job as a medic. Speaking of which...

"Likewise," he said with a polite smile toward Riley. He wondered how much of that comment was lip service on her part. The suspicion had nothing to do with Riley's character; Coop simply knew how tough it could be trying to build meaningful bonds with a new team full of people that you didn't have any common ground with (yet) and whose experience you couldn't vouch for. He pushed it aside to continue speaking, "By the way, Riley, before I forget: where's the supply closet? I want to do inventory on our medical supplies before lights out tonight. Force of habit," he said with a shrug.

Shadow Cat

 

[Pastry]

Thomas was excited. His first mission since being a firefighter in Colorado. That was basic firefighting, small jobs. And now, his new role in Yellowstone was much more significant. Yellowstone was prone to wild rescues. He felt prepared for this new chapter in his life. As Elias entered the bustling standard room, he turned to his attention. Crossing his arms, he listens to Elias as he explains the team as well as becoming friends quickly. As Elias announced Riley as the team leader and finished his spiel on friendship and trust, Thomas realized how much is needed to trust the people that were on the team. Fewer than 12 hours, he would have to learn to trust six people with his life.
I don't know ANY of these people. He thought, soon turning his attention to the redhead who reassures Thomas of his hesitation in trusting these strangers. "I wouldn't 'go at it' with anyone else!" He chuckled and shook his head, drawing his eyes to the floor, though his enthusiasm in his dialogue wasn't what he was feeling inside. His stomach churned at the thought of one mistake costing a life, but he pushed that feeling back. Nervous is a good thing, right? His hands dropped from his crossed arms, one grazing his side, where a small scar was the result of trust broken. I trust these people; I trust them with my life. Thomas repeated this mantra in his head to convince himself that he was ready to take on the next day.

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

Devin smiled at the medallion Julie pulled out. "I get it. Mine's Brigid." Someone had once told Devin that there was no such thing as an ex-Catholic, and it was true in as many ways as it wasn't. "You can never go wrong with the saint you know, I think."

He grinned wider at her comment on roughing it. "I'm a simple city boy, if there' s no public transportation, we're roughing it," he said, only half in jest. He'd been camping properly, he knew how it worked, but anytime taking the helicopter was the fastest way to get somewhere, he was going to count it as roughing it.

"See ya," he said, as Julie retreated back into her room. He stood in his doorway a moment longer, eating another handful of gummy worms.

Breakfast at six am. Terrible, he thought, before returning to his own room to finish his own unpacking.

Maxilgal

 

[NanLia]

Zahra drew delight hearing just how many of those gathered in the common room were happy and ready to head out for a last night of respite before duty called. Thomas and Owen were quick to offer their vehicles for rides to the bar - only slightly disappointed that the pair would not be drinking with them so as to give them a ride home, but she wouldn't press otherwise. She hardly knew them, Thomas less than Owen since the other man hadn't been at orientation for the awkward lies and truths being shared. She was about to announce which vehicle she'd ride in when Elias arrived.

She nodded along to Elias declaring their team name, Whiskey, of course. She was gladdened to hear that the other team members were those that she'd come to know a little bit better than others so far; it didn't make much difference to her if they were friends or simply coworkers, Za built her reputation being able to work in the hardest of work places, socially and physically. She'd spent plenty of years serving under a Captain she didn't like as a person but certainly respected as her superior. Hearing Riley announced as the Team Lead gave her a little relief; the woman had been kind thus far and seemed knowledgeable. She didn't doubt they'd get along famously.

With Elias exit she sat forward and clapped her hands. "Well, I guess its a good thing we're going to get to know each other very well tonight!" She stood. "I'm going to go get dressed and ready, meet you all ... " She paused, glancing at Owen and narrowing her eyes playfully. "Y'all down stairs in a few."

-ferret- Safton Pastry Shadow Cat

 

[Shadow Cat]

​

The morning came much to early for her liking. After a long night drinking and talking and laughing at the bar, she woke up feeling like she had gotten less than no sleep. But her alarm blared on, and Elias was not happy with late risers, no matter who you were. So she climbed out of bed slowly, groggily, slipping on her outfit for the day and pulling her hair back into a neat pony tail in preparation for the likely rigorous training they would have to do.

After all was said and done, she ended up making it to the cafeteria five minutes until six, and spent the extra time grabbing a mug of coffee in hopes in might do something to the sleepiness still weighing down her eyelids. Ten minutes later, she was still sitting at one of the many lunchroom tables in the cafeteria sipping at the coffee, only halfway through it by this point. The room had begun to fill up as time ticked on, though there were admittedly a few people she noticed who were still absent.

Even through the crowd, though, Riley didn't miss Elias walking into the room, shoulders tensed and mouth set in a hard frown. The elder man scanned the crowd, finally spotting her and gesturing for her to walk over to him. She did without question, suddenly awake at the possibility of trouble.

"Riley," Elias spoke as she approached, voice hushed. "Good morning."

"What's wrong?" She felt no need to mince words. Something was clearly off.

"You never were one for pleasantries, were you?" The man gave a halfhearted chuckle before the frown settled back onto his face. "Listen. There's an issue at the Canyon. Some hikers went out on one of the closed trails."

"Shit." The word left her lips before she could stop it. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was massive and ancient, and as such, many of the trails were closed to hikers due to damage from rock slides and flooding. Every year without fail, however, a few hikers would stray from the path and have to get rescued. "How many?"

"Four."

"Ages?"

"One eighteen, two nineteen year olds.... and one thirteen year old."

"Fuck," she cursed. "Who the hell takes a thirteen year old on a blocked off trail in a canyon?" She paused a moment as she shoved the anger back down, saving it until she got the chance to criticize the teens later. "Where are they stuck?"

"The Shelf."

"Oh my God." The anger dissipated immediately, replaced by a cold pang of fear. "How in the hell did they get all the way down there?"

"Riley," Elias replied, "The new recruits here haven't gone through any training for this type of situation. You're the most experienced one here. I need you to take your team and-"

"Say no more," Riley replied, worry lines etched across her forehead. "QUIET!" She shouted across the lunchroom, listening as the overwhelming volume dropped to basically nothing in the span of a few seconds. "Team Whiskey!" She yelled in the eerie silence, making sure she was heard. "Congratulations, you get to skip training today. Suit up."

Safton NanLia wickedlittlecritta -ferret- Maxilgal Pastry

 

[-ferret-]

Min-sun desperately wished there was a Korean market around somewhere. Unfortunately he didn't know the area, didn't have a car, and didn't have time to make his eomma's famous haejangguk, a spicy Korean soup made to help hangovers. Luckily though, all Min-sun had was a small headache that would likely go away with a Tylenol and some food in him. So he didn't waste time popping one in his mouth and draining a whole glass of water. He then got up and stretched his muscles in all sorts of ways. He was pretty flexible and prided himself on being limber and twisty so every morning he had a stretching routine to loosen up his limbs for the day. It didn't take long, maybe fifteen minutes, to complete his routine. He then slipped on a pair of black joggers and a graphic tee before making his way to the cafeteria. Despite being short and skinny, Min-sun could put away a lot of food. In Korean culture, food brought people together, so his eomma often made a lot of it. She had wanted a lot of children and a big family, but unfortunately her husband died before that could happen. That meant that it was just her and her son. To fill the void her husband left, she took to being a very caring and protective parent, always urging her son to eat more so he'd grow big and strong. It's not what she got, but Mrs. Park loved her son nevertheless. So Min-sun could now put away quite a bit of food, trained by eating everything his mother gave him.

He stumbled sleepily into the cafeteria and padded his way through tons of other people. He filled his plate with tons of food, sausages, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, orange juice, syrup, and even a bagel before seating himself at an empty table. He might've looked for his squad if he hadn't been so focused on eating. He was about halfway done when the chatter abruptly ceased with a loud yell of: "Quiet!"

It caused Min-sun to jolt in his seat, a little more alert to his surroundings. All movement had stopped and all talking had immediately quieted down.

"Team Whiskey," Oh shit, that's me!, Min-sun thought. He was even more alert now, searching for the voice. He assumed it was probably Riley's. "Congratulations, you get to skip training today. Suit up."

Crap! I'm not done eating! He hastily shoved oatmeal and waffle in his mouth, taking a big swig of orange juice to wash it down before grabbing the last of his sausage patties, shoving them in his mouth and chewing.

"I'm coming!" He shouted with a full mouth, hurrying to find the rest of his squad and suit up.

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

Devin was not a morning person, and to compensate he had routines that he could do only half awake, his body carting him along until his brain decided to show up. Whine at the alarm. Roll out of bed. Bathroom. Wash face. Fix hair. Brush teeth. Back to bedroom. Get dressed. By the time he stumbled into the cafeteria for food, he was mostly awake. He took a rather large plate of breakfast and then poured himself a cup of suspect coffee, squinting into it as the bubbles moved slowly to the edge of the mug.

"It's going to rain later," he announced, and the person behind him gave him a look. Devin failed to elaborate, instead taking his breakfast to an empty seat. He could have explained that barometric pressure changed how the bubbles in a straight-sided coffee cup behaved, but that would ruin the fun of being cryptic. Anyway. He didn't particularly mind the thought of training with the copter in less than ideal weather--he'd be out with it in worse for real, he was sure, and he'd like to have an idea of how it would handle first. He'd gone out and peeked at it late last night--a Bell 205A-1, big for a mid-sized civilian copter, smaller than the Jayhawk he'd mostly flown in the Coast Guard. He'd known the Jayhawk's moods well, and was excited to learn the Bell's.

His thoughts about helicopters were interrupted by Riley's shout, and Devin looked up and across the cafeteria at her over his cup.

So much for testing out the copter before he had to use it for real. Ah, well. Semper Gumby. Devin stood up, downed the rest of his coffee, and then went to clean up and get his gear.

 

[Maxilgal]

Julie was an early riser. It came with working on a ranch most of her life. Here, at Flashpoint, it was no different. You wake up, you do your job, then you can rest. It took her no time at all to get ready. She prided herself in getting ready in no more than 10 minutes most days, and today was like most days.

Except that instead of looking forward to farm work she had a whole day of training in front of her. It wasn’t exactly getting her pumped, so she found herself moving a little slower towards the cafeteria. Once in, she attacked breakfast with tactical efficiency. Bacon, pancakes, juice, milk, coffee, a bowl of Corn Flakes, and a corn muffin. She sat down and began to devour her meal. She watched as her crewmates trickled in, some looking half dead. She had heard some of the firefighters had gone out drinking. She hadn’t been invited but then again she didn’t want to go anyways. It still would’ve been nice to be invited, she thought. She was slowing down, now just gently sipping her black coffee when Riley called out.

Suit up.

Julie didn’t need to be told twice. She chugged her juice and headed straight to the equipment hold. She managed to catch up with Devin, who she gave a nod to. She didn’t say anything, just gave him a serious look and a nod, but to Julie she didn’t need to say anything else.
wickedlittlecritta Shadow Cat

 

[Safton]

Owen had driven his truck to the bar with Zah in tow. The night had been fairly tame, all things considered, with Coop electing not to have any hard drinks considering he was the designated driver. They returned late that night, forcing Owen to put off the task of inventorying their medical supplies until the next morning. With that task on the agenda, he hit the proverbial sack the moment he got back to the Flashpoint, having set his alarm far earlier than he otherwise would have. He awoke the next morning, fighting off the grogginess with a shower and a coffee.

Early days held nothing new for him. During the 9 weeks of hell that was Pararescue Indoctrination, he and his classmates had woken up at 4:00 AM daily before being forced to jog half a mile through the dark with a rucksack nearly half their own body weight... just to get to the chow hall for breakfast. After that came PT -- dozens of pull-ups, stretches, push-ups, and flutter kicks until the various muscle groups felt like they might fail with one more rep -- and all of that was merely a warm-up for the worst part of all: The Pool, where Coop and his teammates had been forced to enter the freezing water and endure hours of swimming drills. Weight belt relays. Donning or ditching your SCUBA tank and mask while blindfolded and underwater (sometimes preceded by having to sightlessly diagnose and untangle one's own oxygen line). Then there was "drown-proofing", where the wrists and ankles are bound before being pushed into the deep end. Once Coop had passed out in the depths of The Pool and would have drowned if not for the instructors yanking him from the water, giving him a few huffs from an oxygen tank, and sending him back into water to continue training. In the end that was only half a given day's work and this same torturous routine went on for weeks. There was a reason over 90% of Owen's classmates that he began the course couldn't hack it 'till the end. Coop nearly ended up contributing to that particular statistic.

Shaking off the memories, Owen went about his task of looking over the supply closet's array of medical supplies with a clipboard and a critical eye, making notes of anything they might end up needing more of depending on how quiet the season was: everything from gauze and splints to spinal boards and saline solution. More or less satisfied, Cooper finished his inventory around the same time others had woken up and were filing into the mess hall. Owen followed them. Already thoroughly caffeinated, he settled for a bowl of whole grain cereal, a banana, and bottled water. He was just finishing up when he heard Riley's now-familiar voice ring out, filling the hall: "QUIET!" Coop instinctively spun around on his chair to find the redhead at the other end of the room as she continued. "Team Whiskey! Congratulations, you get to skip training today. Suit up."

Owen just about levitated from his seat as he shot up and quickly disposed of his bowl before dashing through the hall toward the supply room in order to gear up. He was wide awake now in a way he couldn't contribute to the coffee as his nerves took on a familiar and surprisingly welcome edge, his hairs standing on end in a way that had always served to remind him that this was where he was meant to be in the rare moments of self-doubt about his path in life. It took him all of a few minutes to dress out in his blaze orange jumpsuit, hefting a trauma kit alongside some climbing & rappelling gear (after all, he couldn't be sure of the nature of the mission and it was better to bring too much and ditch what wasn't needed rather than leave something vital behind) with him as he went to meet up with the rest of Team Whiskey.

 

[Pastry]

Being cramped into a bed that was too small for Thomas wasn't ideal for him. After a night of stuffing his face of hot wings and drinking with his newfound coworkers, he developed trust for those who went to The Mangy Moose. As he came home and stuffed himself into his bed, he realized his room was going to need an upgrade once he got his first payday. His time in absolute darkness was interrupted by his alarm. After the third or fourth ring, he rolled out of bed and slapped his hand down on the off button. Stretching his sore body from the cramped bed, he quickly got ready. Garcia showered, washed his face, and then brushed his teeth. Dressing in a tight muscle shirt, sporting leggings underneath his shorts. Thomas Garcia was prepared for his first day of training. Arriving early, Thomas had enough time to eat an ungodly large breakfast. He set his alarm up at about 5:00, which made him up and ready at about 5:45.
Waking up on time made him have enough time to load up his plate with bacon, eggs, sausage, a massive bowl of yogurt filled with every berry and granola he could find. On top of the pile, he gingerly placed a small apple atop his pile. Grabbing a couple of drinks, he settled in the cafeteria, shoveling food into his starving body. As he was just about to start on his favorite- yogurt and granola, Riley announced for silence. "Team Whiskey! Congratulations, you get to skip training today. Suit up." Garcia flew up and put his dishes away, trying to stuff his face with one spoonful of the sweet decadence before chucking it into the dirty dishes and heading out to the supply room.

"So... What are we doing?" He said to no one. Poking around the supply room, he tried to limit what he needed to bring. If it were a wildfire, there would be multiple teams dispatched, so he ruled that out. He decided to grab his already prepared bag of binoculars, whistles, various dust masks, and tools used to wedge and jam. Mechanical means in the more substantial portion of the pack. He looked over at Coop, who was grabbing rappelling gear. Looking past him, he saw a machine used to tow firefighters down the side of a cliff. It can be hammered down into a piece of stable rock, and it pulls up people, stretchers, so the firefighters don't have to tire themselves by pulling up their coworkers. He yelled loudly. "I'm taking the- the people tow!" picking it up the massive piece of gear and setting it next to his bag. To operate this piece of equipment, he needed to get a sledgehammer and put in his mechanical bag and the pegs to weigh down the tow to hold up more weight. He knew if they were climbing, he would be able to help pull them up and carry. He would also volunteer to take any person. He was glad to have more hours in the gym than his time in school. My first day as a spotter, calm,and collected Garcia, you can't fuck this up.

 

[NanLia]

Zahra's night out with the team was a blast - from what she could remember of it at the very least. It reminded her of home, or at least her old home, where her team worked hard and partied harder. She danced and sang, drank and laughed with her new team. At the end of the night they'd arrived home and she'd done her best to remain quiet so as not to distrupt the other teams though she was certain they're return had been a cacophony of noise and hushed laughter.

She'd made a point of drinking a litre of water and taking tylenol before going to sleep and slept soundly until her alarm. Elias may have set an early morning time frame but she had always been an early riser and so when her alarm went off an hour and a half before they were due to be up. She hit the gym, despite the raging headache and the showers to arrive at the cafeteria a few minutes before they were due to meet.

Za grabbed a coffee and dropped down onto a bench beside her colleagues but sadly didn't have the opportunity to indulge when Riley was calling out her team to action. Like the others she headed to the equipment room but only gathered the gear she was certain she could use. As the HotShot on the team there was limited things she would have been assigned to do. She selected some climbing gear to go along with her basic pack before leaving out to meet the team.

 

[Shadow Cat]

​

By the time the crew reached the helicopter, it was already pouring outside. The rain hammered down hard and merciless, clanking angrily against the rotors of the chopper, and the sound was only magnified by when one stepped into the giant metal deathtrap. It made her anxious not only about the ride there, but also what they were going to do when they got there. The ground was already heavily saturated, enough that rivers of run off were running along the craggy ground. Trying to shove the tower into the soil anywhere near the top of the shelf wasn't going to work. No, they'd have drop in from the air to grab the civilians.

She had been on plenty of helicopters before in her years at Yellowstone, sure. But no matter how many times she stepped into one, she wasn't any less unhappy about it. Nor was it any less loud. No, she much preferred to jump from planes than from choppers.

As the team buckled in, she tossed a headset to each member in turn before putting her own on, the sharp roar of the rotors starting up still cutting through the noise cancelling headphones. "Alright, here's the deal." She said, her voice taking on a distinctly metallic sound through the headphones worn by her crew. "Four civilians are stranded in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. You all have probably heard of it. A couple hikers get stranded somewhere in there every year without fail, no biggie. What you may not have heard of is an area near the falls there we refer to as The Shelf. It's an area of extremely unsteady ground near the right side of the falls about 150 feet down. There's where they're at. Ages 18, 19, 19... and 13. The thirteen year old has his leg trapped under a rock from what we can gather from the rangers."

She paused a moment as she waited for the news to sink in before continuing. "With this weather, and that location, we're going to need to be extremely aware of what we're doing. The plan as things sit is to have me, Owen, and Garcia descend to the Shelf from the air. We'll latch up the first three and send them up and then work to free the kid. Now, if the river above the waterfall gets too high, it'll flood the shelf, and then we'll all be screwed. So Min-sun, I need you and Zahra on the ground above the falls, watching for flood waters and alerting us if you see anything unusual. Devin, you'll man the chopper, as expected. And Julie, you'll remain in the chopper with Devin, administering first aid as the civilians come up."

She looked around, and unusual sobriety to her eyes. "I don't need to tell you all how dangerous this is, especially for first timers. Please, be careful."

After a brief moment of silence, she broke it with "Any questions?"

 

[Pastry]

Garcia climbed into the helicopter, he sat next to Riley. Storing his tools and tow next to him, he realized that there would be no need for most of them. He stretched a pair of headphones over him and listened to the briefing. "This is the worst weather to do this shit." He said, though his microphone was muted. Young kids, new rescue team, pouring rain, could this really get any worse? He reminded himself that he wasn't an amphibian, and can't breathe underwater either. It's the first day and it's already going so great! He thought sarcastically. They better give me 3 pounds of wings after this one. There's so much pressure on me.

Shadow Cat

 

[Maxilgal]

Julie tried not to let her nerves get to her. She wasn’t exactly a person who enjoyed helicopters. She preferred transport that was lower to the ground, preferably a horse or a truck. She had been getting mentally prepared for the last few weeks for her first ride in the helicopter, but this was still a little fast.

But once Riley started briefing them, a switch turned on in Julie’s head. Now was not the time for being nervous. This was a mission and people needed help. Nerves could wait for training. Flooding was the biggest risk right now, in her mind. Riley’s serious expression only confirmed that. Julie had seen the dangers of flooding rivers first hand.

“Do we have any information on the condition of the civilians?” Julie tried to look at where they were heading, but the rain was too heavy to really see much from her perspective.

“Two are mostly unscathed, save for a few scratches. One has a possible sprained wrist. We don’t know how much damage the 13 year old’s leg has yet. All of them are borderline hypothermic.” Julie nodded, and checked her pack again. Thankfully, she had grabbed her compact emergency blankets.
Shadow Cat

 

[wickedlittlecritta]

Everyone else had gear to worry about, but Devin really only had to worry about the copter.

Only.

The ground crew was already working on pre-flight checks, and Devin found the foreman easy enough—he was the beanpole of a man with the clipboard, who made Devin feel even smaller than he was.

“You the Lieutenant?” the foreman asked.

“No, I just stole the badges. Don’t tell anyone,” Devin said. The foreman favored him with a slow smile, and then pushed him into the fray of pre-flight checks, which, despite the outward frenzy, were soothing.

He never got tired of the sound of rotors coming to life.

“Ground, this is Yankee Whiskey, requesting take off,” he told the radio once Riley confirmed they were all on board.

“Granted,” said ground, and then they were rising.

When he was small, Devin had thought God lived in church. That was where it was easiest to feel God, to hear people talk about God. He imagined that God lived in incense and Latin and stained glass, in ceilings that reached up to heaven.

Then he got older, and he thought God wasn’t real. Nobody lived at church but hypocrisy and meanness.

And then he got older still, and he found God other places. God was too big to live only in churches, and God was too small to be caged. God was standing knee deep in the Pacific, watching the sunset turn the ocean to gold. God was kisses at three am that tasted like cigarettes and vodka. God was making your best friend breakfast while she sang Fall Out Boy badly back at you.

And most of all God was the moment your helicopter crested the tree line and you saw the world spread out in front of you, like God must have when God made it. And God saw every thing that God had made, and, behold, it was very good.

It was good. Even under the soft gray light of a cloudy, drizzly morning, Yellowstone was beautiful. And you saw it, real and 3D, like you never saw in a plane.

The rain came down heavier as they went, but it wasn’t the worst he’d ever flown in. He kept his eyes on the rain and his ears on Riley’s brief.

“It would be weird if I didn’t stay here,” he agreed brightly when Riley told him he’d be staying with the copter.

 

[Safton]

​

Owen helped load the gear onto the waiting chopper amidst the pouring rain. It didn't take a trained professional to know that the latter was going to make this operation all the more tricky. If there was a God out there somewhere, he had apparently seen fit to ensure that Team Whiskey was got their baptism by fire today. Or lightning, as the case may be, he thought dryly as a bolt cracked loudly overhead, signaling an even more intense downpour. Cooper climbed aboard the helicopter, taking the offered headset. He had lost count of how many times he'd been aboard a helicopter (or rappelling out of one) in his life. Hundreds, at least -- either on training exercises or overflying the mountains of Kandahar. Most of his military experience had been with the HH-60 Pave Hawk, but the Huey descendants of the venerable old Huey like this one weren't unknown to him. It was a moot point, in any case; regardless of the type of craft, he had to trust Devin to handle his responsibilities as pilot and focus on pulling his own weight.

The briefing brought a hushed curse from his lips, though he had his mic muted as he uttered it. Trapped kids, possible flooding, an injured and immobilized victim... this operation kept getting better and better. All the same, he nodded as Riley laid out his responsibilities. It was something theoretically in his comfort zone: deploying from a helicopter to rescue isolated victims. He'd done it dozens of times in training and many more in the field... but never in these conditions or anything close to them.

Hearing the array of injuries sustained by the hikers, Owen processed the information before once again nodding, this time to himself. Sprains and scratches were the least of their worries. It was the 13-year-old he was most concerned about. The level of injury he had sustained could be anywhere from a minor fracture to a compound break and massive internal bleeding. They just wouldn't know the full extent of it until they got there to assess it firsthand and possibly not even then, which left the possibility that when they freed him from the rock they were simply starting a timer to get him to definitive care at the nearest trauma center or else risk losing him.

Coop turned toward Julie, clicking his mic on. "Jules," he said to get her attention. "When we get the kid free, I'll do an assessment and let you know what we're dealing with. There's a good chance we'll need to use a spinal board. I'll do what I can to stabilize him before the hoist up. Clear?"

Maxilgal