Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario adjusts his gear over his shoulder, thinking. "Sirs, I can't think of anything that I need, other than access to the tank that I'll be driving out of there. I say lets go rock and roll."
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Chapter Two: Into the Maelstrom
- Thread starter Purr
- Start date
- Status
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
Cpl. Booty entered his own room. Minutes later, he returned in well-kept and well-used heavy A.T.A.C. mega-suit complete with A.T.A.C. markings and Eglin ASC emblem on his left shoulder. His helmet in hand, it bore the crazily-written words in red, "AIN'T NO BOOTY LIKE FAT BOOTY!!" with a painted marijuana leaf in green on the other side.
Geared up and ready to go except for his gloves, he meandered over to Mario and Hercules. One glance at them and the fiery-eyed Jamaican's voice lit up. "Wat?! You ain't ready yet! Jamaican me crazy, boys! Get yo tanker booty ova to me workbench! Seein' if you kin improve de guns Booty lendin' you! Be makin' it snappy!" Although his words were directed at his A.T.A.C. brethren, he gave a sharp nod and glance to the T.A.S.C. lieutenants in the Wild Cards, granting equal permission.
(Game Master note below)
Geared up and ready to go except for his gloves, he meandered over to Mario and Hercules. One glance at them and the fiery-eyed Jamaican's voice lit up. "Wat?! You ain't ready yet! Jamaican me crazy, boys! Get yo tanker booty ova to me workbench! Seein' if you kin improve de guns Booty lendin' you! Be makin' it snappy!" Although his words were directed at his A.T.A.C. brethren, he gave a sharp nod and glance to the T.A.S.C. lieutenants in the Wild Cards, granting equal permission.
(Game Master note below)
SURPRISE, folks! =)
In other words, the Master Armorer is hoping anyone in the Wild Cards with Weapons Engineer or similar skills will take him up on his offer to retool and "spice up" their weapons using his own workbench. The workbench currently holds scopes, laser targeters, and a small variety of other items meant to improve your mega-damage pistols, rifles, and heavy weapons.
This is just a quick road to tricking out your weapons for the big missions. Take it or skip it as you please. =)
Anyone wishing to properly use this workbench should give me a shout in Fat Gandalf's. Tell me the color percentile dice you'd like to use; I'll make the roll for you.
Success means your character properly outfits a scope, laser sight, or other beneficial item to your character's pistol, rifle, and/or heavy weapon. Weapon Engineers (like Mario) can make these basic improvements without the roll, but if Mario decides to roll, he may improve the weapon in question one step further.
The following spoiler contains percentile dice-related information copied over from the Character Creation Guide.
Just remember - Cpl. Booty will be watching you. Closely.
In other words, the Master Armorer is hoping anyone in the Wild Cards with Weapons Engineer or similar skills will take him up on his offer to retool and "spice up" their weapons using his own workbench. The workbench currently holds scopes, laser targeters, and a small variety of other items meant to improve your mega-damage pistols, rifles, and heavy weapons.
This is just a quick road to tricking out your weapons for the big missions. Take it or skip it as you please. =)
Anyone wishing to properly use this workbench should give me a shout in Fat Gandalf's. Tell me the color percentile dice you'd like to use; I'll make the roll for you.
Success means your character properly outfits a scope, laser sight, or other beneficial item to your character's pistol, rifle, and/or heavy weapon. Weapon Engineers (like Mario) can make these basic improvements without the roll, but if Mario decides to roll, he may improve the weapon in question one step further.
The following spoiler contains percentile dice-related information copied over from the Character Creation Guide.
Just remember - Cpl. Booty will be watching you. Closely.
All right. Here is how this works. Since we lack a dice roller, I will roll my own dice here and thereby confirm, validate, or just plain say "Yes, he or she actually did roll that for his character." But you get a hand in this too! You select what color dice I roll. You'll have to make two selections - a die for the tens place and a die for the ones place (unless you want me to roll my big blue d100). Here are your color selections.
1. Light blue with white numbers
2. Dark blue with white numbers
3. Blue with white tint and gold numbers
4. Red with white numbers
5. Lava red with brown numbers
6. Brown with white numbers (a relic from my very first die collection)
7. Black with white numbers (no, this is not the infamous "Black Die of Death." That's a d20 in my collection.)
8. Yellow with black numbers
9. Light orange with black numbers
and finally, 10. My big blue d100 with white numbers.
Please provide your selection using this example:
Tens dice (insert color here)
Ones dice (insert color here)
or just say "Big Blue" and I'll roll the d100.
1. Light blue with white numbers
2. Dark blue with white numbers
3. Blue with white tint and gold numbers
4. Red with white numbers
5. Lava red with brown numbers
6. Brown with white numbers (a relic from my very first die collection)
7. Black with white numbers (no, this is not the infamous "Black Die of Death." That's a d20 in my collection.)
8. Yellow with black numbers
9. Light orange with black numbers
and finally, 10. My big blue d100 with white numbers.
Please provide your selection using this example:
Tens dice (insert color here)
Ones dice (insert color here)
or just say "Big Blue" and I'll roll the d100.
Psychie
Princess Psychie
Toph coughs in order to help cover up her chuckle. "I don't need much, but if there is some magic you can work on my pistol, I am in your capable hands, Cpl. Booty."
Kaerri
Dannigan's Lady
Elinor nodded her thanks once more and settled the LAR-12 and its accessories with the rest of her gear.
Elinor just smiled, touched by the other woman's concern but not wanting to break up the levity of the moment.
Elinor glanced at Toph and shrugged. "No sense in wastin' the opportunity, since we have it." She waited her turn at the bench.
Psychie
Princess Psychie
Upon receipt of her pistol with the added laser sight, Toph checks the new balance and weight of the weapon. With a satisfied nod, she makes sure it is properly loaded and on safe, then put back into its holster. "Thank you, gentlemen, for your good work. No offense, but I do hope that we don't run into a situation where my sidearm is the deciding factor between victory and defeat. I am much more comfortable in engaging the enemy from inside the cockpit of my mecha, not outside it."
Toph waggles a finger at Hitomi with a smile. "Don't you worry about that. I plan on coming back home, learning everything I can of your fighting style, then promptly give you a nice set of bruises as I happily kick your butt in a sparring match to repay all the lumps you have given me and Elinor!" She chuckles a bit. "As if that will happen anytime soon. But I'm still gunning for you, so watch your back."
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
Hitomi smiled and delivered a friendly punch upon Toph's arm. "That's the spirit, Toph! Just remember what you've learned thus far, especially about technopathy, and we'll have the chance to spar again."
Professor Stein stepped forward to Toph. The old lion looked down to her and put one hand softly upon her shoulder. Then he glared at her. "If you do not come back healthy and whole, Miss Hitomi will be the least of your worries." He winked. "Do your mother and father proud, you little Muppet."
Then The Professor turned and addressed all of you with a serious look. "Bringing back General Steel's stolen VHTs are one thing; bringing back any hard Intel about these new Zentraedi is quite another. What you bring back today may help all of humanity tomorrow. Hiram?"
Col. Sharp nodded. "Tankers, flygirls, there is one thing more I want you to do prior to deployment. Your squadron is new to one another. If you are to survive together, you're going to have to bond together.
"So, state your name, rank, where you were born. Then give us all the reason you signed up for the war and your most embarrassing moment in the Corp."
Col. Sharp and Prof. Stein looked around to see who would start it off.
(EDIT: Fixed typo.)
Professor Stein stepped forward to Toph. The old lion looked down to her and put one hand softly upon her shoulder. Then he glared at her. "If you do not come back healthy and whole, Miss Hitomi will be the least of your worries." He winked. "Do your mother and father proud, you little Muppet."
Then The Professor turned and addressed all of you with a serious look. "Bringing back General Steel's stolen VHTs are one thing; bringing back any hard Intel about these new Zentraedi is quite another. What you bring back today may help all of humanity tomorrow. Hiram?"
Col. Sharp nodded. "Tankers, flygirls, there is one thing more I want you to do prior to deployment. Your squadron is new to one another. If you are to survive together, you're going to have to bond together.
"So, state your name, rank, where you were born. Then give us all the reason you signed up for the war and your most embarrassing moment in the Corp."
Col. Sharp and Prof. Stein looked around to see who would start it off.
(EDIT: Fixed typo.)
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Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario is never one to let someone take point over him, so he steps forward first and snaps himself to the position of attention. "Sir! Mario Louis Zuko, Corporal, born in the old metropolis of New York City. I come from a long line of military men and women, so joining up in the service was a no brainer, especially when I lost my brother during one of the attacks on the SDF-1. Now, my most embarrassing moment?" He lets out a sigh. "In my fourth week of training, I had a run-in with Captain Nuniez, the commander of the training company I was assigned to. I was on guard duty during our first Field Training Exercise, and when the commander came to inspect the troops, he didn't have the correct password. I wouldn't let him in the company area, and when he turned to walk away, I tackled him to the ground and knocked him out with a right cross. Not one of my brightest moments. Drill Sergeant Seitz reamed me up one side and down the other, and I was certain that I was going to the stockade for assaulting an officer when Cpt. Nuniez stopped him. He actually commended me for thinking on my feet, even if the result was a scuffed up uniform and a black eye on my CO. For the rest of my training cycle, I was known as the meathead that slugged the captain. That was far from my finest moment, but thankfully, Cpt. Nuniez was a good man and a fine officer." He can feel the burning in his cheeks as he relates the story. "Ok, who's next?"
Psychie
Princess Psychie
She bows her head in memory of her mother, off to fight for Earth and win the freedom of all Zentraedi, and her father, who had been shot down years ago in the Zentraedi Control Zone. "Don't worry, sir. I won't try to do my best, I will do my best, not just for myself or the honor of my parents, but for the whole team that is depending on me to pull a 110%. We'll get those tanks back."
When Mario tells his story, Toph smiles and shakes her head. "Corporal, you have the luck of ten men to have gotten away with that and not be drummed out of the service for it. Well, I guess I'll go next. I am Toph Marie Kirin, a 2nd Lieutenant born in Las Vegas, Nevada while my father was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base there. I'll share a story from my training days, too. In my first live flight in a trainer jet, as I was landing, I applied the brakes a little too hard, and I managed to catch the tires of the trainer on fire. Ever since then, my callsign has been Scorch, in memory of that time. I still haven't lived that down, even if I like Muppet much more." Perhaps I can get a name change out of this squad! That would be awesome!
Kaerri
Dannigan's Lady
Elinor listened to the others tell their stories, wondering what she would say. She tended to view mistakes as things to be learned from, not as embarrassing moments. Though now that she thought about it, there was that one time...
She stepped up when it seemed to be her turn. "Elinor Jane Hall, also a second lieutenant. Born on my family's farm in south Georgia, up between Manor and Millwood. I always wanted to fly, growin' up. My Grampa Will, my dad's dad, he was in the Air Force back before the war, and he used to tell me a lot of stories about military life. Guess it just sunk into my bones all that time." She smiled and shrugged. "Anyway, here's where I am, and it feels like I belong here. I don't see myself doin' anythin' else." She paused for a moment, then continued. "As for embarrassin'... Not long after I got here, we had an assembly out on the tarmac, kinda like today's. Only that time, I'd forgot to put on sunblock. God made me to fly; he didn't make me to stand out in the sun all mornin'! I was red as a lobster by lunchtime, and oh did it smart. Worse, even with aloe I was peeling the whole next week. I hate it when my skin peels. So now I remember to 'block up,' as Mom always puts it." She grinned at Toph. "Guess I'm lucky I'd been tagged with 'Bruce Leanne' by then, or I'd'a been 'Lobster girl' or somethin'!"
She stepped up when it seemed to be her turn. "Elinor Jane Hall, also a second lieutenant. Born on my family's farm in south Georgia, up between Manor and Millwood. I always wanted to fly, growin' up. My Grampa Will, my dad's dad, he was in the Air Force back before the war, and he used to tell me a lot of stories about military life. Guess it just sunk into my bones all that time." She smiled and shrugged. "Anyway, here's where I am, and it feels like I belong here. I don't see myself doin' anythin' else." She paused for a moment, then continued. "As for embarrassin'... Not long after I got here, we had an assembly out on the tarmac, kinda like today's. Only that time, I'd forgot to put on sunblock. God made me to fly; he didn't make me to stand out in the sun all mornin'! I was red as a lobster by lunchtime, and oh did it smart. Worse, even with aloe I was peeling the whole next week. I hate it when my skin peels. So now I remember to 'block up,' as Mom always puts it." She grinned at Toph. "Guess I'm lucky I'd been tagged with 'Bruce Leanne' by then, or I'd'a been 'Lobster girl' or somethin'!"
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
Col. Sharp regarded Prof. Stein with curiosity. "Albert, just how long have you been calling her 'Muppet'?"
Stein stabbed a finger at Toph. "You imagine her at 3 years old with that pink hair done up in pigtails, sucking on a lollipop with a big smile, and come up with a better nickname!"
Col. Sharp studied at Toph for a long moment. Then he shrugged and sighed. "Muppet it is."
Booty spoke up strongly as ever. "Wat da bombaklat?! Woman want to be called Muppet? Call her Muppet!" He paused in thought then added, "Now somebody be comin' an' explainin' to Booty what be a Muppet?"
Reggie giggled and rolled up to his father to discreetly do just that. "Daddy, a Muppet is..." Their conversation descended into whispers. Mostly Reggie's.
Shirley eyed Toph and nodded with a girlish grin. "As my first act as Wild Card's CO*, I hereby change your nickname to Muppet!" As informal as nicknames were, this was well within reason for T.A.S.C. pilots like those present. After all, nicknames were something that the other pilots all agreed on calling the pilot in question...
(CO = *Commanding Officer)
*
Col. Sharp pointed at Shirley. "And your second act is to do as I've ordered, ma'am."
"Yes sir!" Shirley took a deep breath. "2nd Lieutenant Shirley Sharon Mackenzie. I was born in Huntington Beach, 'Surf City USA,' California."
Shirley clasped her hands. "I signed up as a Valkyrie pilot because of people like Max Sterling, Rick Hunter, and Roy Fokker. Pilots like them make history. I've loved flying since forever. It's either that or singing with me and since I can't make a career singing, I figured I'd make my name in the sky. I have a knack for flying Valkyries so I signed up for CAS* to help out where it counts. I seem to have made a name for myself here at Eglin doing search and rescues and other 'daring' stuff. I guess that's why they made me squadron leader."
(*CAS = Close Air Support)
"As for my most embarrassing moment... you guys saw it. Having to show up to The Assembly wearing what I wore." Her black curly hair hung low. "Of all days to have a fire in the barracks! If it weren't for Baby, I wouldn't have made it. That's my story."
She looked to Mario and Toph with a smile of hope and humor. "So, Mario, is the takeaway here that I'd better behave or you're going to sack me and give me a black eye? Toph, I bumped my own VF-1D Valkyrie into another while parking in jet mode during training so my first call-sign was 'Bumper' for 'playing bumper cars with the aircraft.'" She addressed Elinor. "Yeah, I grew up surfing. Anybody who came on the scene all red-skinned were dubbed 'Rock Lobsters' after the B-52's hit."
"What's your story, corporal?" Shirley asked Booty.
*
Booty and Reggie had listened quietly to Shirley's tale. Booty rose in readiness like a warrior preparing for battle. Being addressed by his CO, he stood at attention. His powerful voice was all-military and full of pride. "Corporal Maximus Oceanus Booty! A.T.A.C.! Booty comin' from his mama in Jamaica where every'ting irie an' blue! Booty was-"
Reggie raised his hand and waved it.
"What is it, son?"
"Daddy, these aren't island people. They don't know what 'irie' means."
"Oh! Lemme tell you." Booty relaxed though his voice lost none of its confidence. "Irie be from Patois.* When you irie, your heart be easy. Your mind be excellent! Irie is like ganja for de soul. One puff an' you feelin' betta. No anger. No nuttin'. Irie be like... betta! All good!"
(Patois* - Pronounced "pat-woh," this is a dialect spoken by many Jamaicans.)
"Like Booty was sayin', Fat Booty signin' up for A.T.A.C. because Colonel Sharp!" He indicated the colonel who just stood there respectfully. "Dis man tellin' Booty, 'Booty Best! Why you settlin' here designin' mecha on paper in Jamaica when you can do da real 'ting in Florida? Join A.T.A.C. an' me be your colonel! I askin' Little Reggie. Reggie say 'ya mon! Me love it!' so off we go! Me trainin' A.T.A.C. in Fort Benning an' reportin' for duty only few week ago."
"Den me havin' run in wit' General Steel. Booty tell you here an' now! Booty want to be dere when General Steel die of heart attack so Colonel Sharp can be General Sharp! Fat Booty be throwin' pretty flowers on General Steel grave an' salutin' General Sharp - him should be in charge! Not selfish Steel only 'tinkin' about himself an' nobody else!" Upon hearing this, Col. Sharp put one hand over his mouth, perhaps to hide a grin.
The large Jamaican flexed his muscular chest and arms expressively. "So Booty joinin' A.T.A.C.! He want ta be rollin' an' strollin', fightin' an' smitin' da Wicked Man whereva he slinkin'! No matter if Wicked Man six feet tall or sixty! Booty in A.T.A.C. to takin' him down be it on da drawin' board or in da Fat Mech with Da Big Guns!"
Booty looked to the Wild Cards. "What you gotta say to dat, mon'?"
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Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario listens to the stories from both his new unit commander and Cpl Booty with interest. It is always good to know all you can about those on your 'six', and from what he has gathered, not only are they going to be running into the Zentraedi, but some other Enemy that wants to destroy the Earth. I'm not gonna let that happen, not on my watch!
He looks over at the pair, and says, "First off, I have come a long way from the day that I sucker punched my company commander. I have absolutely no desire to revisit those days, so I guess what I'm sayin is, Lt. Mackenzie, you should be safe enough around me. And Booty, I'm glad to have you on my side in this fight. Hell, I'm glad to have all of you on my side, and I consider it to be one great honor to be considered to be a part of this team. Lets go rock those Red Zens up one side and down the other."
He looks over at the pair, and says, "First off, I have come a long way from the day that I sucker punched my company commander. I have absolutely no desire to revisit those days, so I guess what I'm sayin is, Lt. Mackenzie, you should be safe enough around me. And Booty, I'm glad to have you on my side in this fight. Hell, I'm glad to have all of you on my side, and I consider it to be one great honor to be considered to be a part of this team. Lets go rock those Red Zens up one side and down the other."
Psychie
Princess Psychie
Toph smiles wide at the proclamation that her new call-sign is to be her old knickname of Muppet. She says, "So, we have a Muppet, Bruce Leeanne, and Bumper, flying into battle, carrying a trio of takers as cargo. What can possibly go wrong?"
Captain Hesperus
Harbinger of the End Times and Apostle of Ghan
Hercules listened to his fellows talk, watching their animated discussions. He kind of envied Mario, he was so comfortable and at ease talking to the women in the unit. Just the thought of it made Hercules start to blush. But, Colonel Steel had given an order and an order that's just must be followed.
"Uhhm,", he began, unsure for a moment, "Hercules Popadopolis, Corporal, A.T.A.C.. I was born in Katerini, Greece. Right under the toes of Mount Olympus. Ahhh, I suppose the only embarrassing thing that comes to mind while I've been in the military was yesterday. I was cooking a beautiful fish when the power went out. When it came back on, I took a sip of the wine I'd been drinking while I was cooking and, BOOM!", he clapped his hands together for thunderous effect, "I collapse to the floor. Somebody had drugged my wine and one sip had put me out for the count. That's quite embarrassing, I guess."
He shrugged, lamely. His embarrassing moment was quite as humorous as the others present, but it was all he had. He hoped this moment right now wasn't going to be his new most embarrassing moment.
"Uhhm,", he began, unsure for a moment, "Hercules Popadopolis, Corporal, A.T.A.C.. I was born in Katerini, Greece. Right under the toes of Mount Olympus. Ahhh, I suppose the only embarrassing thing that comes to mind while I've been in the military was yesterday. I was cooking a beautiful fish when the power went out. When it came back on, I took a sip of the wine I'd been drinking while I was cooking and, BOOM!", he clapped his hands together for thunderous effect, "I collapse to the floor. Somebody had drugged my wine and one sip had put me out for the count. That's quite embarrassing, I guess."
He shrugged, lamely. His embarrassing moment was quite as humorous as the others present, but it was all he had. He hoped this moment right now wasn't going to be his new most embarrassing moment.
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario chuckles. "Hercules, just be glad that is the worst that has happened. It was probably a joke that one of your squad mates played on you."
Captain Hesperus
Harbinger of the End Times and Apostle of Ghan
Hercules frowned, the sunny Mediterranean sun suddenly hidden behind dark clouds.
"I wish it were so, Mario.", he rumbled his response, "The truth is, I was drugged and kidnapped by the AUL. They mistook me for Corporal Booty there.", he nodded in the direction of the burly Jamaican, "They already had young Reggie and were mistreating him."
For a moment, the feral Wolf crossed his visage, "That bad man will not be abducting or terrorising young men again."
"I wish it were so, Mario.", he rumbled his response, "The truth is, I was drugged and kidnapped by the AUL. They mistook me for Corporal Booty there.", he nodded in the direction of the burly Jamaican, "They already had young Reggie and were mistreating him."
For a moment, the feral Wolf crossed his visage, "That bad man will not be abducting or terrorising young men again."
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario suddenly feels bad for making the assumption that it was a colleague. "Well, big guy, it sounds to me like you did the world a service in taking care of them, and you got Reggie out of there and back to his dad where he belongs."
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
"Ack!" Shirley hopped. "Bumper was my old name! Kind of like your 'Scorch.' Now that I'm out of training, folks have come to call me 'Mack.' Short for Mackenzie. And apparently, my Ghosties are trying to get me called 'The Red Baroness.' As if I had the honor of matching that age-old legend..."
Prof. Stein stroked his beard and quipped. "Was it not you that led a massive amount of long-range missiles correctly to their destination destroying an entire Malcontent platoon in a single go? Or was that some other Shirley Mackenzie? As I read it, they did not even have the opportunity to deploy chaff and flares, much less shoot down the oncoming volleys."
Col. Sharp straightened a seam on his uniform. "How'd you accomplish that anyway, lieutenant?"
Shirley blew it off. "Oh... it's just an old NOE* trick. I just used the missiles the same way I would have used my Valkyrie if I had wanted to come in undetected. I flew both volleys in at just over 200 feet which was just above the trees - I figured there was no way the Malc's radar would pick them up in time. Guess I was right."
*(Spoiler provides definition for NOE)
Nap-of-the-earth (abbreviated NOE) is a type of very low-altitude flight course used by military aircraft to avoid enemy detection and attack in a high-threat environment. During NOE flight, geographical features are used as cover, exploiting valleys and folds in the terrain by flying in, rather than over, them. (Source: Wikipedia)
"Hah!" Booty barked at Hercules in approval. "Hercules hatin' de Wicked Man like a proper man of de islands!"
Booty addressed all of the Wild Cards in a serious tone. "You see dis man?" He pointed at Hercules. "Dis man save me boy! Me beloved Reggie! Some day, Fat Booty gonna return da favor somehow. Some way. Mark me words!"
*
Professor Stein nodded. "Hiram, it's time."
"Yes, it certainly is."
"If it is all the same to you, Reggie, Hitomi, and I will remain here, developing a new chair for the dear lad?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way." The two men shook hands, but that was not enough. They embraced as old male friends do when they are happy to see each other again and uncertain what the future will hold.
Col. Sharp turned to Reggie. "You're in luck, son. If anyone can create something wonderful as if by magic, it's Fat Gandalf."
Reggie just beamed at that. He had seen Professor Stein in action with his own eyes; it was nothing at all like he would have expected. Booty approached his son and they shared one more big warm hug before he went off to battle.
"Beat up some Malcontents for me, Daddy!"
"Booty gonna make it so dat Giant Green Wicked Men wish dey neva seen Mother Earth! OHH YESSS!!"
"Ohhh yesss!!" Reggie roared.
Finally, MechaKitten mewed a curious meow at Prof. Stein. "Meeoooo?"
Stein stood there, stunned for a moment, but his wits returned quickly enough. "Yes, you little devil. Yes." The old scientist and engineer strode up to the mechanical cat perched proudly on Hercules's shoulder. There, he spoke softly but meaningfully. "Now listen to me, you little beast. I know you're not telling us everything. You give some of that kitten luck of yours to these people and bring back a few secrets along the way."
"Mew!" MechaKitten batted playfully at Stein's outstretched finger.
"Play innocent if you like. You will not fool the likes of me." He pet MechaKitten until he purred joyfully. Fat Gandalf turned then to the Wild Cards. "He knows more than he's letting on and he can use technopathy. Do not underestimate him when he decides to speak his mind."
"Good luck, everyone!" Hitomi added with her terrific smile. "We'll be here monitoring you as we're able."
Col. Sharp boarded the lift. He took another look around the bare mecha bay. He sighed but he did not complain. "Murph should have your birds ready to go by now. Let's get you Wild Cards moving with a full deck, shall we?"
Hitomi, Reggie, and Professor Stein waved at you as you joined the colonel. The lift whirred mechanically as it rose up and up through Big Bunker until the Wild Cards were topside. Shirley kissed her Baby right smack on the steering wheel and told the car, "I'll see you later." A few minutes after that, you were flying along in the M-770 hover cars back to Eglin ASC base proper. With the airfield ahead of you, there were helicopters in the sky, roaring over your heads in formation. You passed busy men and women in uniform all going about their duties as you drove alongside the tarmac toward the T.A.S.C. hangar bays. Now that the tornado had come and gone, Eglin ASC base was returning to normal as only a military base can.
The skies had remained a beautiful cloudless blue since the big tornado had blown by. It was as if all of the clouds in their enviousness had raced after it for an autograph. The weather for flying was perfect, but the daylight was dying. In only a few short hours, dusk would be upon you and darkness with it.
As the staff cars came to a stop just outside the towering T.A.S.C. bays, Col. Sharp, with a spring in his step, was the first to enter the bays to see your pair of Valkyries and single AJAX all in fighter mode prepped and ready for take-off.
Except that was not the case...
"Murph the Smurf! My favorite TacCorp NCO! How are you, Murph?"
Standing before Col. Sharp was a short man in faded and bruised TacCorp fatigues wearing an old U.S. Army helmet with black sergeant stripes as if he were born to wear it. He wore a long bushy moustache under his tousled brown and gray hair. Round glasses from which his light blue eyes seemed to shoot lasers from, so fired up was the man. His tanned left bicep was bare from where he had rolled up the sleeve. There upon it could be seen a bold tattoo:
(Caution, folks: It has a white background that's rather bright on my screen.)
"Dammit all ta hell, colonel!" The southern fellow's voice might have sounded familiar to Mario... though Mario had probably never heard it in person until today.
"What?" the veteran tanker exclaimed. "Do you mean they're not ready?! Murph, it's a top-secret mission! These birds ought to be loaded and ready to go!"
"You're damned right they oughtta be! But noooooo! Instead we got us a direct order from yer boss ta make his staff cars look all shiny an' pretty instead! You see this shit?" The sergeant stabbed a finger at his entire crew who were all hard at work on their hands and knees scrubbing and polishing three black M-770 staff cars with a general's star upon them. "Ol' Steel's got some big-wig he wants ta impress tomorrow morning..."
"'Tomorrow morning?!'"
"Yer ears are on right!"
"Do you mean we have to..." Col. Sharp could hardly say the words, "...prep our own birds?"
Murph 'the Smurf' sighed and hung his head low. When he looked up at Col. Sharp, he muttered, "I got all the guns loaded up before I got the call. All that's left are the missile and rocket loadouts." The TacCorp sergeant pointed at the empty pylons on the beautiful birds and then the loaders nearby their neat stacks of clearly-labeled munitions. Each of the birds' pre-sanctioned load-outs were sitting and waiting to be loaded.
"Really?"
"Really."
Col. Sharp's iron-hard eyes burned. His mouth twisted into a smirk. Opportunity was knocking and Col. Sharp was heading to answer the door. "I'm going to take advantage of that."
He turned to the Wild Cards. "Wild Cards? Forget the pre-selected munitions. Choose your loadouts... Corporals, get in those loaders and make it happen."
"Yah, Me Colonel!" Booty was already running toward them.
"Fuckin' A right, colonel! That's the way!" Murphy gave a thumbs-up as he moseyed his way back toward his people.
Captain Hesperus
Harbinger of the End Times and Apostle of Ghan
Hercules was at first annoyed at General Steel's hubris, but as the situation unfurled, he could not help but let out an amused chuckle.
"Come along, lieutenant, the door to the goodie room is wide open and we're given free run. Let's not delay this mission any longer than necessary.", he laughed, hauling himself into another of the loaders and powering it up with ease.
"Come along, lieutenant, the door to the goodie room is wide open and we're given free run. Let's not delay this mission any longer than necessary.", he laughed, hauling himself into another of the loaders and powering it up with ease.
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario looks over at Toph, all business now. "Ma'am? Give me two shakes to store this gear in the passenger seat and then I'll be your man, loading your ordnance on the wings. Just give me the order, and I'll make it happen."
Psychie
Princess Psychie
Toph nods at the stocky corporal. "Go ahead. I'll have my list ready for you when you are done. Then I'll get to my pre-flight checklist and look over my bird."
She has done the checklist so many times in training that she can recite it off the top of her head, but even so, she doesn't rush. This is her first time in a real, live fire combat situation, and by God she is not going to screw this up over a stupid mistake.
She has done the checklist so many times in training that she can recite it off the top of her head, but even so, she doesn't rush. This is her first time in a real, live fire combat situation, and by God she is not going to screw this up over a stupid mistake.
Mini Missile loadout
15 Fragmentation 5d6 MDC
15 Plasma 1d6x10 MDC
30 HEAP 1d4x10 MDC
15 Fragmentation 5d6 MDC
15 Plasma 1d6x10 MDC
30 HEAP 1d4x10 MDC
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
(Mood music)
The engines of the busy ordnance loaders echoed off of the gray hangar walls as they moved back and forth from the missile bay to the three Veritechs sitting in jet mode. All the while, cursing could be heard from Murph the Smurf and his crew as they virtually spit-shined the general's staff cars while casting envious glances back the way of the A.T.A.C.-driven loaders. It was clear to anyone what they would rather have been doing.
Shirley watched with a mixture of pride and gratitude as her "Red Baroness" was carefully loaded up with live ordnance. In 24 hours, she had gone from being a semi-popular surfer-girl-become-close-air-support-specialist here at Eglin, failed professional singer, and lucky Valkyrie pilot to having command of her own squadron, all whom had these crazy powers whom none of them knew much about or knew quite what to do with. It was enough to make her head spin.
Once her teammates had pulled the loader away, Shirley "Mack" gave them a thumbs up. Shirley performed one more "walk-around" out of sheer admiration for her aircraft before she climbed up the ladder and into the comfortable leather pilot seat. She performed her cockpit pre-burn pre-flight checks casually and closely. Being in the Valkyrie cockpit was like being in a dream; her awful luck hardly ever haunted her here. It also avoided her when she was under the spotlight whenever she performed. Anywhere else though was fair game.
All is fair in bad luck and war, I guess, thought Mack. Here's hoping my bad luck keeps out of this mission.
Once she was convinced her "Red Baroness" was safe and able, she hopped on the radio and contacted Leanne and Muppet, confirming that their "co-pilots" and aircraft were in order and that they were ready to contact the tower for clearance. Before they did, a warm, familiar voice came over the squadron-only channel. It was Col. Sharp.
"Wild Cards, this is your colonel. This is it. Your first time out together. You know what you have to do and you know how to do it." Coming from a man like him, it was easy to wonder if someone long ago had shared these very words with a young tanker Sharp back when he was in the same age category as the Wild Cards. Whatever the case, he seemed to speak from his heart.
"Murphy and I have been talking. We'd like to get a picture of some kind from you, a Wild Cards symbol to have put on your ASC mega-suits and your mecha. Just get with Murph when you've decided and we'll make it happen."
Another voice, gruff and Southern-twangy, joined in. "Get you one'a them paint jobs with the beautiful honeys with the great legs! They say it's good luck!"
"Thaaank yoooou, Murph," Sharp said. One could almost see the old tanker rolling his eyes.
"Mack here. Murph, maybe you need new glasses, fella - we already have three beautiful ladies in the front seats!"
"You think I ain't noticed, hon'? I may be old, but I'll never be that old!"
"All right, Wild Cards," said the colonel. "It's time. Make us proud and roll 'em out!"
It was a tanker's phrase from a tanker's mouth, but Shirley knew an order when she heard one. The glass canopy came quietly down and sealed airtight-shut. As befitting a leader, she waited for Murph in the tug to pull her Baby-red Valkyrie out of the hangar. Certainly any of the mecha could have transformed and flew out of there, but not only was it bad form, it would have left more than one hell of a mess of things in the hangar.
The Floridian sun gleamed golden upon the aircraft of the Wild Cards as they rolled out of the hangar. Once the tugs were out of the way, they lit their engines. At the sound of that ever-familiar roar and the feeling of that shake of the aircraft as the engines came to life, each person aboard these aircraft was quickly reminded by the physics-that-be that now, in their pilot's hands, were thousands upon thousands of pounds of thrust behind them, ready to blast them off into the light blue sky.
The pilots performed the last of their checks. Everything looked good. They waited their turn for the tower. When it came, the tower and Shirley had a brief discussion, one they had shared many a time before.
When it was done, Shirley came over the comm to her fellow T.A.S.C. pilots. "Wild Cards. I am Cygnus One. Muppet, you are Cygnus Two. Copy?" Once Toph had, Mack said, "Leanne, you are Cygnus Three. Copy me?" When Elinor had done so, Shirley rolled up and the Wild Cards waited their turn on the very runway the Assembly had taken place upon.
"Hey!" Booty exclaimed from the backseat of Toph's shining AJAX. "Lookit dem tire tracks on da tarmac! Some crazy person be zippin' an' rippin' down de tarmac like a crazy man!"
"Or a crazy woman!" Mack chuckled.
Finally, the word from Eglin Tower came. "Wild Card Squadron. You are free for takeoff on Runway One Seven Left."
"Affirmative, Tower."
"Godspeed, Wild Cards."
"Thank you, Tower."
At your sole command, these mighty machines thrust forward upon shrieking engines, racing across the blacktop like the fastest of sports cars, except that your highway is the sky. As the world sped by you, as the G-forces pressed you back against your nice leather chair and harness. Then you pull the stick back... and the Earth as you know it goes up.
There is that crazy feeling when the wheels of the aircraft leave the ground, that feeling of "Oh, God, my feet are no longer on the floor. In fact... they are way, waaay above the floor... and everything else." One peek out of that wide, mega-damage glass canopy and you see that all of Eglin ASC Base, all of the Florida Panhandle, is below you as you rise up to a comfortable altitude of a mere 8,000 feet toward the town of Milton, Florida. The scene below is like some giant patchwork quilt. Chasing the slowly-dipping sun, you know you have about a little over an hour and a half of daylight left. Then night will cloak the planet with you in it.
What thoughts do you have or share as you ascend and leave Eglin ASC Base behind?
(Just a few thoughts from Your Friendly Neighborhood Game Master here)
"Your mech."
There is something special about being inside a mech you're about to pilot.
There is a feeling, a knowing, that this entire machine, this gigantic machine will respond to every little thing you do. Its survival depends on you just as much as you depend on it.
The machine doesn't care about the mission; it's there for one thing - to be everything you need to accomplish your mission. It's your suit of armor. Your horse. Your shield. Your sword. It will do anything you say, right or wrong.
Once you've gotten this deep, you'll learn there's another feeling down below this one.
After it sets in that this entire war machine is just one big protoculture-driven extension of your body, similarly to the way your body is an extension of your mind, sooner or later an important fact dawns on you.
This is as mighty as you are personally ever going to be.
No matter what else you do in life, no matter who you meet or where you travel, you will never be as strong, as fast, or as powerful as these precious moments when you are behind the controls of your mech. In here, you literally have the power to destroy a city. You can move like no other human-made vehicle on earth. You can do things that people only dreamed about in comic books and movies long ago, all while seated comfortably inside of a reinforced pilot's compartment designed to keep you alive should the worst come to pass.
In this cockpit, in some ways, you have never been safer. In others, your life has never been in more danger.
It's a hell of a thing, isn't it? =)
"Mighty Wings" by Cheap Trick (for the Top Gun Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Partial lyrics:
It's just a ball of dust
Underneath my feet
It rolls around the sun
Doesn't mean that much to me
I take a chance on the edge of life
Just like all the rest
I look inside and dig it out
'Cause there's no points for second best
There's a raging fire in my heart tonight
Growing higher and higher in my soul
There's a raging fire in the sky tonight
I want to ride on the silver dove
Far into the night
'Til I make you take me
On your mighty wings
Make you take me
On your mighty wings across the sky
Take me on your mighty wings
Take me on your mighty wings tonight
With just a little luck
A little cold blue steel
I cut the night like a razor blade
'Til I feel the way I want to feel
There's a raging fire in my heart tonight
Growing higher and higher in my soul
There's a raging fire in the sky tonight
I want to ride on the silver dove
Far into the night
Partial lyrics:
It's just a ball of dust
Underneath my feet
It rolls around the sun
Doesn't mean that much to me
I take a chance on the edge of life
Just like all the rest
I look inside and dig it out
'Cause there's no points for second best
There's a raging fire in my heart tonight
Growing higher and higher in my soul
There's a raging fire in the sky tonight
I want to ride on the silver dove
Far into the night
'Til I make you take me
On your mighty wings
Make you take me
On your mighty wings across the sky
Take me on your mighty wings
Take me on your mighty wings tonight
With just a little luck
A little cold blue steel
I cut the night like a razor blade
'Til I feel the way I want to feel
There's a raging fire in my heart tonight
Growing higher and higher in my soul
There's a raging fire in the sky tonight
I want to ride on the silver dove
Far into the night
The engines of the busy ordnance loaders echoed off of the gray hangar walls as they moved back and forth from the missile bay to the three Veritechs sitting in jet mode. All the while, cursing could be heard from Murph the Smurf and his crew as they virtually spit-shined the general's staff cars while casting envious glances back the way of the A.T.A.C.-driven loaders. It was clear to anyone what they would rather have been doing.
Shirley watched with a mixture of pride and gratitude as her "Red Baroness" was carefully loaded up with live ordnance. In 24 hours, she had gone from being a semi-popular surfer-girl-become-close-air-support-specialist here at Eglin, failed professional singer, and lucky Valkyrie pilot to having command of her own squadron, all whom had these crazy powers whom none of them knew much about or knew quite what to do with. It was enough to make her head spin.
Once her teammates had pulled the loader away, Shirley "Mack" gave them a thumbs up. Shirley performed one more "walk-around" out of sheer admiration for her aircraft before she climbed up the ladder and into the comfortable leather pilot seat. She performed her cockpit pre-burn pre-flight checks casually and closely. Being in the Valkyrie cockpit was like being in a dream; her awful luck hardly ever haunted her here. It also avoided her when she was under the spotlight whenever she performed. Anywhere else though was fair game.
All is fair in bad luck and war, I guess, thought Mack. Here's hoping my bad luck keeps out of this mission.
Once she was convinced her "Red Baroness" was safe and able, she hopped on the radio and contacted Leanne and Muppet, confirming that their "co-pilots" and aircraft were in order and that they were ready to contact the tower for clearance. Before they did, a warm, familiar voice came over the squadron-only channel. It was Col. Sharp.
"Wild Cards, this is your colonel. This is it. Your first time out together. You know what you have to do and you know how to do it." Coming from a man like him, it was easy to wonder if someone long ago had shared these very words with a young tanker Sharp back when he was in the same age category as the Wild Cards. Whatever the case, he seemed to speak from his heart.
"Murphy and I have been talking. We'd like to get a picture of some kind from you, a Wild Cards symbol to have put on your ASC mega-suits and your mecha. Just get with Murph when you've decided and we'll make it happen."
Another voice, gruff and Southern-twangy, joined in. "Get you one'a them paint jobs with the beautiful honeys with the great legs! They say it's good luck!"
"Thaaank yoooou, Murph," Sharp said. One could almost see the old tanker rolling his eyes.
"Mack here. Murph, maybe you need new glasses, fella - we already have three beautiful ladies in the front seats!"
"You think I ain't noticed, hon'? I may be old, but I'll never be that old!"
"All right, Wild Cards," said the colonel. "It's time. Make us proud and roll 'em out!"
It was a tanker's phrase from a tanker's mouth, but Shirley knew an order when she heard one. The glass canopy came quietly down and sealed airtight-shut. As befitting a leader, she waited for Murph in the tug to pull her Baby-red Valkyrie out of the hangar. Certainly any of the mecha could have transformed and flew out of there, but not only was it bad form, it would have left more than one hell of a mess of things in the hangar.
The Floridian sun gleamed golden upon the aircraft of the Wild Cards as they rolled out of the hangar. Once the tugs were out of the way, they lit their engines. At the sound of that ever-familiar roar and the feeling of that shake of the aircraft as the engines came to life, each person aboard these aircraft was quickly reminded by the physics-that-be that now, in their pilot's hands, were thousands upon thousands of pounds of thrust behind them, ready to blast them off into the light blue sky.
The pilots performed the last of their checks. Everything looked good. They waited their turn for the tower. When it came, the tower and Shirley had a brief discussion, one they had shared many a time before.
When it was done, Shirley came over the comm to her fellow T.A.S.C. pilots. "Wild Cards. I am Cygnus One. Muppet, you are Cygnus Two. Copy?" Once Toph had, Mack said, "Leanne, you are Cygnus Three. Copy me?" When Elinor had done so, Shirley rolled up and the Wild Cards waited their turn on the very runway the Assembly had taken place upon.
"Hey!" Booty exclaimed from the backseat of Toph's shining AJAX. "Lookit dem tire tracks on da tarmac! Some crazy person be zippin' an' rippin' down de tarmac like a crazy man!"
"Or a crazy woman!" Mack chuckled.
Finally, the word from Eglin Tower came. "Wild Card Squadron. You are free for takeoff on Runway One Seven Left."
"Affirmative, Tower."
"Godspeed, Wild Cards."
"Thank you, Tower."
At your sole command, these mighty machines thrust forward upon shrieking engines, racing across the blacktop like the fastest of sports cars, except that your highway is the sky. As the world sped by you, as the G-forces pressed you back against your nice leather chair and harness. Then you pull the stick back... and the Earth as you know it goes up.
There is that crazy feeling when the wheels of the aircraft leave the ground, that feeling of "Oh, God, my feet are no longer on the floor. In fact... they are way, waaay above the floor... and everything else." One peek out of that wide, mega-damage glass canopy and you see that all of Eglin ASC Base, all of the Florida Panhandle, is below you as you rise up to a comfortable altitude of a mere 8,000 feet toward the town of Milton, Florida. The scene below is like some giant patchwork quilt. Chasing the slowly-dipping sun, you know you have about a little over an hour and a half of daylight left. Then night will cloak the planet with you in it.
What thoughts do you have or share as you ascend and leave Eglin ASC Base behind?
*
(Just a few thoughts from Your Friendly Neighborhood Game Master here)
"Your mech."
There is something special about being inside a mech you're about to pilot.
There is a feeling, a knowing, that this entire machine, this gigantic machine will respond to every little thing you do. Its survival depends on you just as much as you depend on it.
The machine doesn't care about the mission; it's there for one thing - to be everything you need to accomplish your mission. It's your suit of armor. Your horse. Your shield. Your sword. It will do anything you say, right or wrong.
Once you've gotten this deep, you'll learn there's another feeling down below this one.
After it sets in that this entire war machine is just one big protoculture-driven extension of your body, similarly to the way your body is an extension of your mind, sooner or later an important fact dawns on you.
This is as mighty as you are personally ever going to be.
No matter what else you do in life, no matter who you meet or where you travel, you will never be as strong, as fast, or as powerful as these precious moments when you are behind the controls of your mech. In here, you literally have the power to destroy a city. You can move like no other human-made vehicle on earth. You can do things that people only dreamed about in comic books and movies long ago, all while seated comfortably inside of a reinforced pilot's compartment designed to keep you alive should the worst come to pass.
In this cockpit, in some ways, you have never been safer. In others, your life has never been in more danger.
It's a hell of a thing, isn't it? =)
Psychie
Princess Psychie
"Cygnus One, this is Muppet in Cygnus Two. My board is all green lights, and I'm ready to throttle up and get moving." Toph lets her hands rest lightly on the controls as she waited for her turn to approach the runway and lift off. There is a feeling that I get when I'm at the controls of my mecha, a sense of freedom that I get from no other source. You are one of the best that the TASC has to offer, sitting in mecha that is the true point of the spear. I am truly blessed to have this job! As she waits, she flips the switch to talk to her passenger. "How are you doing back there, corporal? We have nice, clear weather out this afternoon, so you are in for a treat of some great smooth flying."
Now in position on the runway, Toph glances out the canopy to catch a glimpse of the pilots of the two Valkyries flying with her today. They both look so confident and ready for this. I just hope that I can do my part and not let anyone down. She flashes a thumbs up towards her squad mates, then sends her acknowledgement to Eglin Tower. With a smooth motion, the Ajax responds to her touch and leaps down the tarmac until the gear finally lift off and break their connection with the ground. Toph is half tempted to do a barrel roll, but then remembers that Booty doesn't like flying, and doesn't want to freak him out. It does take quite a bit of willpower to keep the little devil on her shoulder from taking control to make a few maneuvers that would make an eagle lose its lunch, but somehow, the angel on the other side wins this fight.
Even with her focus on the mission, there is still a part of her that can't help but enjoy the view. This must be what my mother feels every time she would deploy in her FPA, and now, she is flying for the UEEF in one of their Veritechs. I wish she was still here on Earth to see me in my first squadron, flying off on my first mission. Yeah, and daddy, too. He would be so proud of me, for getting my wings. I miss you, daddy.
Now in position on the runway, Toph glances out the canopy to catch a glimpse of the pilots of the two Valkyries flying with her today. They both look so confident and ready for this. I just hope that I can do my part and not let anyone down. She flashes a thumbs up towards her squad mates, then sends her acknowledgement to Eglin Tower. With a smooth motion, the Ajax responds to her touch and leaps down the tarmac until the gear finally lift off and break their connection with the ground. Toph is half tempted to do a barrel roll, but then remembers that Booty doesn't like flying, and doesn't want to freak him out. It does take quite a bit of willpower to keep the little devil on her shoulder from taking control to make a few maneuvers that would make an eagle lose its lunch, but somehow, the angel on the other side wins this fight.
Even with her focus on the mission, there is still a part of her that can't help but enjoy the view. This must be what my mother feels every time she would deploy in her FPA, and now, she is flying for the UEEF in one of their Veritechs. I wish she was still here on Earth to see me in my first squadron, flying off on my first mission. Yeah, and daddy, too. He would be so proud of me, for getting my wings. I miss you, daddy.
Kaerri
Dannigan's Lady
Elinor nods to her teammates. "Thanks for the assist, corporals!" Gazing up at the Valkyrie for a few moments, she smiled and moved on to her pre-flight. It would save time if she and the mecha were ready by the time her passenger copilot and the missiles were, and she never skimped on pre-flights. If there was anything out of the ordinary, she wanted to know about it. And if there wasn't, she wanted to know that too. She patted the Valkyrie absently, as she would a horse she was saddling up. Grinning at the radio banter, she made sure Mario was settled in and then got herself set. "Leanne copies Cygnus Three. Muppet is Cygnus Two and Leader is Cygnus One. Board is green and I'm ready to roll."
Takeoff
Tower had given the word, and it was time to fly. Elinor smiled again. This smile was one only her mecha and her trainers had seen; one that said Now I'm doing what God always meant me to. Every time she lifted into the sky, she got that same feeling, and she never got tired of it. Her Grampa Will used to talk about how flying jets made him feel like a bird himself. Elinor knew exactly what he meant. She wished he'd had the chance to fly a mecha. She just knew he'd've loved it as much as she did. Jets were all well and good, but times like this, she was a bird - a big, mega-damage hawk soaring through the sky in search of prey.
Takeoff
Tower had given the word, and it was time to fly. Elinor smiled again. This smile was one only her mecha and her trainers had seen; one that said Now I'm doing what God always meant me to. Every time she lifted into the sky, she got that same feeling, and she never got tired of it. Her Grampa Will used to talk about how flying jets made him feel like a bird himself. Elinor knew exactly what he meant. She wished he'd had the chance to fly a mecha. She just knew he'd've loved it as much as she did. Jets were all well and good, but times like this, she was a bird - a big, mega-damage hawk soaring through the sky in search of prey.
Last edited:
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
(Mood music)
Toph's keen senses immediately noted that it sounded like Booty had the face-plate of his A.T.A.C. mega-suit open, as she could hear his bold voice quite clearly. This was nothing unusual as Toph's AJAX was not performing any high-G maneuvers; that was when one wanted the face-plate down to take advantage of the oxygen coming in from the mega-suit. Put plainly, it helped. But he sounded slower somehow. Smoothed out.
Toph's keen senses then noticed something else and this was quite out of the ordinary in her cockpit - the faint but unmistakable odor of burned marijuana coming from the backseat. No, there was no lit joint in her cockpit; the scent told of one already having been smoked prior to entry and her nose had detected the lingering scent much like that of tobacco on a cigarette-smoker's clothes. It was a simple matter to connect this odor directly to the Jamaican's serene mood.
Toph knew well that some pilots absolutely freaked out about this sort of thing. Unlike A.T.A.C. tankers who often fought in groups, pilots most often either had a wingman or they flew alone. Rare was the time one would see a half-dozen aircraft flying out to the same target. Because of this, pilots tended to act as if the aircraft they flew was their personal kingdom, each kingdom with its own set of rules, decided of course by the pilot. Clearly, Booty had no intention of putting the slightest finger on any of her controls; he seemed content to just sit back and enjoy the view. Also, there was the certainty that by the time they returned to Eglin, no tech could sniff out the substance without the help of a K-9, and Toph had never seen such a thing happen.
So how Toph reacted to this (if indeed she did) was solely up to her.
"Mew!"
Meanwhile, as Shirley's Red Baroness soared along, MechaKitten had plastered his little face and forepaws up against the glass canopy. The view was incredible from up here! The world just zooooooomed along! And with one of Feeesh God's gigantic paws wrapped around him, likely put there so he would not scamper and explore the cockpit, he felt safer and more secure had he been simply belted in. There was no breaking that mega-damage grip and he was not even squeezing! He had such a gentle Feeesh God!
Still, the world zoomed by. Feeesh God had not replied to MechaKitten's technopathy-provided question earlier. For all of his size, Feeesh God seemed to be incredibly shy around human females. And in this pride, there were three.
Were they entering the Maestrom? Only time would tell. Until then, MechaKitten satisfied himself by looking at the other two aircraft and behaving in a manner that would please Feeesh God. Preferably in a manner he would remember come dinner time. When he had more feeesh to share. With MechaKitten.
As your aircraft rocketed over the earth chasing the sun at speeds that would outpace a fired rifle round in motion, Cygnus One came over. "Level off at 7,000 feet, keep up the pace. We're slowly running out of daylight. The navpoint Col. Sharp supplied us is about 20 minutes out and it'll be twice as hard to find in the dark. If the Slayers' way in has been compromised, then we get to find our own way in without these Red Zen guys knowing about it. This means when we touch down, we pop to Battloid mode. Any other mode and the sounds of our jets or rotors will give us away." Shirley took a moment to let that sink in.
Then she added, "You guys have any thoughts you wanna share while we have the time?"
"Sounds of the Sea" by Stick Figure
The massively-muscled Jamaican replied in a tone that was as cool as ice. By his own definition, he was surprisingly irie given his earlier flight-related outburst in Big Bunker. "All is good in de world, wo-man." He used the word as a practiced title of respect. "Miss Muppet can fly us to da moon an' Booty be none da wiser."
Toph's keen senses immediately noted that it sounded like Booty had the face-plate of his A.T.A.C. mega-suit open, as she could hear his bold voice quite clearly. This was nothing unusual as Toph's AJAX was not performing any high-G maneuvers; that was when one wanted the face-plate down to take advantage of the oxygen coming in from the mega-suit. Put plainly, it helped. But he sounded slower somehow. Smoothed out.
Toph's keen senses then noticed something else and this was quite out of the ordinary in her cockpit - the faint but unmistakable odor of burned marijuana coming from the backseat. No, there was no lit joint in her cockpit; the scent told of one already having been smoked prior to entry and her nose had detected the lingering scent much like that of tobacco on a cigarette-smoker's clothes. It was a simple matter to connect this odor directly to the Jamaican's serene mood.
Toph knew well that some pilots absolutely freaked out about this sort of thing. Unlike A.T.A.C. tankers who often fought in groups, pilots most often either had a wingman or they flew alone. Rare was the time one would see a half-dozen aircraft flying out to the same target. Because of this, pilots tended to act as if the aircraft they flew was their personal kingdom, each kingdom with its own set of rules, decided of course by the pilot. Clearly, Booty had no intention of putting the slightest finger on any of her controls; he seemed content to just sit back and enjoy the view. Also, there was the certainty that by the time they returned to Eglin, no tech could sniff out the substance without the help of a K-9, and Toph had never seen such a thing happen.
So how Toph reacted to this (if indeed she did) was solely up to her.
*
"Mew!"
Meanwhile, as Shirley's Red Baroness soared along, MechaKitten had plastered his little face and forepaws up against the glass canopy. The view was incredible from up here! The world just zooooooomed along! And with one of Feeesh God's gigantic paws wrapped around him, likely put there so he would not scamper and explore the cockpit, he felt safer and more secure had he been simply belted in. There was no breaking that mega-damage grip and he was not even squeezing! He had such a gentle Feeesh God!
Still, the world zoomed by. Feeesh God had not replied to MechaKitten's technopathy-provided question earlier. For all of his size, Feeesh God seemed to be incredibly shy around human females. And in this pride, there were three.
Were they entering the Maestrom? Only time would tell. Until then, MechaKitten satisfied himself by looking at the other two aircraft and behaving in a manner that would please Feeesh God. Preferably in a manner he would remember come dinner time. When he had more feeesh to share. With MechaKitten.
*
As your aircraft rocketed over the earth chasing the sun at speeds that would outpace a fired rifle round in motion, Cygnus One came over. "Level off at 7,000 feet, keep up the pace. We're slowly running out of daylight. The navpoint Col. Sharp supplied us is about 20 minutes out and it'll be twice as hard to find in the dark. If the Slayers' way in has been compromised, then we get to find our own way in without these Red Zen guys knowing about it. This means when we touch down, we pop to Battloid mode. Any other mode and the sounds of our jets or rotors will give us away." Shirley took a moment to let that sink in.
Then she added, "You guys have any thoughts you wanna share while we have the time?"
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario does his best to sit back and let the pilots to their thing to deliver the three tankers safely to the target. While Elinor does her work in the front of the Valkyrie, Mario does his best to keep an electronic eye open on the radar and any signals that might indicate that they are being tracked by the Zentraedi. "This is Corporal Zuko in the back of Cygnus Three. Squad comms are up and everyone is on line, signals are strong. Scanning for any enemy signals. Stand by."
OOC I would like to try a Sensory Equipment roll to determine what might be out there, and using my Electronic Countermeasures skill, I want to make sure that the signals we are sending out are minimalized as much as possible.
OOC I would like to try a Sensory Equipment roll to determine what might be out there, and using my Electronic Countermeasures skill, I want to make sure that the signals we are sending out are minimalized as much as possible.
- Status