Chapter Two: Into the Maelstrom

[Kaerri]

Elinor obligingly tilted her Valkyrie (in Guardian, as ordered) to get Mario, and then the cameras, the best view of the shiny new road and the still-damaged vegetation. It was an odd sight, particularly knowing what had happened here just yesterday. She shook her head wonderingly. "Really good magnets? That doesn't explain the road, though." After another few moments of staring, she added, "Weird as it is, ma'am, daylight's a-wastin' still. Base has the report and the vids now. Time to move out or is there somethin' else you want done while we're here?"

 

[Purr]

"Weird as it is, ma'am, daylight's a-wastin' still. Base has the report and the vids now. Time to move out or is there somethin' else you want done while we're here?"

Mack could not help but feel completely stunned. Even before the war, she didn't believe there was a road crew alive that could repair that much damage so soon and without anyone apparently noticing. This was impossible. And yet, proof of the impossible lay before her eyes and those of her squadmates. One glance to the west, however, proved Elinor right. Daylight was draining away and slowly leading into another dark Floridian night.

"Mario?"

In an effort made only possible by a communications-trained person, Mario successfully gathered all of the video resources and made contact with Eglin Tower all at the same time.

"Eglin Tower back to Cpl. Zuko. Copy-all. Ready to receive intel."

What Mario was attempting would require the communications of Elinor's Valkyrie to its utmost. If Elinor's flying broke contact during the transfer of information, the data would be lost and another attempt would have to be made. Thankfully, Florida was mostly a long, flat sandbar and as long as Elinor maintained altitude, there would be no physical obstructions between Elinor's Valkyrie and Eglin ASC Base some 60-odd miles to their southeast.

The minutes passed and the transfer was successful. "Eglin Tower to Cpl. Zuko. Information packet received. Who do you want this delivered to?"

 

[Sherwood]

Mario responds to the Tower, "Get that data to Colonel Sharp. He'll know what to do with it. Thanks, Eglin. Zuko out."

Back on the squad channel, he says, "LT, I have a confirmed receipt of the signal from Eglin, with instructions to deliver the data to Colonel Sharp." Finally, he says to Elinor, "By the way, Lt. Hall, good flying. You helped me get our signal out neat and clear."

 

[Purr]

Eglin Tower replied with a "copy" before Mario returned to the squadron channel. As Mario advised Mack, she gave a sigh of relief.

"That's what I needed to hear. Good work, Mario."

At Mack's order, the Wild Cards were once again back in jet mode with their noses aimed westward. The sun was now a half-circle of furious orange dominating a glowing horizon. The veritechs of the Wild Cards screamed off the highway and over the forested landscape. Everything beneath them became a mass of colorful blurs and fluid swirls.

As the sun had nearly completed its daily retreat into the west, Toph, Elinor, and Shirley were greeted by a panorama of wide, flat buildings and long, winding streets where nothing living appeared to stir. This, according to the data they possessed, was the town of Milton, Florida.

It seemed like little more than a ghost town.

Tragically, the First Robotech War and its aftermath had made many Miltons across the former United States and worldwide. Numerous were the reports of destruction on mega-damage scales. The losses to humanity leapt far beyond the catastrophic and into the unimaginable.

Even in present day, no force on our wounded world had a precise number for the billions of lives lost. Some said, there were not enough people left alive to count all of the dead.

Milton was unusual in that the town itself seemed to have been spared. There just seemed to be no people about anymore to enjoy the fact.

"Darn it," Shirley vented. "We're beginning our search with maybe 15 minutes of daylight left? How are we going to find this base? It's not like they're going to leave out a giant red neon sign for us saying, 'Enemy Base Here!'" She let out a frustrated sigh. "Everyone, keep your eyes peeled - um, except you, Booty."

MechaKitten stuck his head up far enough to look at the ground. He peered about with great curiosity.

Shirley's Valkyrie slowed and suddenly sprouted arms and legs as it transformed into Guardian mode. "Circle the town. Look for anything unusual and remember that everything can see us and hear us up here."

(Heya folks! Please give me Perception colors in Far Gandalf's. =) )

 

[Sherwood]

"According to the map, there looks like a basin or small lake on one side of the town. That works be a good place to hide; underwater. What did you guys think?" Mario ponders the map as he looks out on the town.

 

[Psychie]

Toph asks, "How large is this basin? Could it hide a starship? Even a Zentraedi destroyer is over a mile long, so it would have to be a big basin, unless its a scout ship. In comparison, they are fairly small."

 

[Purr]

"According to the map, there looks like a basin or small lake on one side of the town. That works be a good place to hide; underwater. What did you guys think?"

As the sun set, call it bad luck, poor visibility, lack of familiarity with the terrain and area or all of the above - none of you were able to detect anything that even remotely resembled a Zentraedi base. There did not seem to be anything that appeared to be Zentraedi whatsoever. Not even the footprints of foot soldiers.

However, one thing Toph spotted with her sharp senses were the wide, instantly-recognizable track marks of R.D.F. mecha traveling down the east-to-southwesterly highway through Milton. After a pause above the area, Toph and Hercules had evidence to believe that roughly 6-8 such mecha had recently been in this area and were traveling westward.

Shirley could not help but voice her frustration. "Great! Now that the sun has gone down, our chances just took a nose dive... Wild Cards? Anyone have any ideas?"

There isn't going to be some big red billboard with neon lights waiting for us saying 'Enemy Base Here!!'

(Shirley sez) "How are we going to find this base? It's not like they're going to leave out a giant red neon sign for us saying, 'Enemy Base Here!'" She let out a frustrated sigh.

As if on cue, something came to life just west of Milton. Something bright and red that stood out clearly in the evening sky...

Spoiler: Followed by mood music

A BIG neon version of this sign. It's even blinking.

(Image credit: TheSlyder - DeviantArt)

As she spotted the sign, the unmistakable sound of Shirley's facepalm against her helmet came over the channel. "Unbelieveable! I mean... you have got to be kidding me!!"

(EDIT: Changed post to past-tense instead of present. Whoops! =) )

 

[Psychie]

However, one thing Toph spots with her sharp senses are the wide, instantly-recognizable track marks of R.D.F. mecha traveling down the east-to-southwesterly highway traveling through Milton. After a pause above the area, Toph and Hercules believe roughly 6-8 such mecha have recently been in this area traveling westward.

Toph doesn't pay too much attention to the giant neon sign, but instead is focused on the tracks. In an excited voice, she calls out, "Cygnus Two here! I spot tracks of multiple friendlies, heading westward. By my estimation, we have six to eight ground units leaving their tracks. I'll tag their location with my laser designator. How many mecha were with the team that got jumped? This might just be the proof of them being here. Aside from the giant sign over there."

 

[Sherwood]

Mario slaps his hand over his face. "Oh, man! You have got to be kidding me! Even Zentraedi can't be so friggin' clueless as to announce where their base is! That has to be a trap. Right?" Then, he hears from Toph that she has found some tracks. "How many units were in Bravo Team? Let me do a quick check to see if I can get that info."

OOC Do I need to make a roll to recover that info? If so, I'll request a green die.

 

[Kaerri]

Back on the squad channel, he says, "LT, I have a confirmed receipt of the signal from Eglin, with instructions to deliver the data to Colonel Sharp." Finally, he says to Elinor, "By the way, Lt. Hall, good flying. You helped me get our signal out neat and clear."

Elinor smiles. "That's what I do, Corporal. Nice work yourself, keepin' all informed and up-to-date."

As if on cue, something came to life just west of Milton. Something bright and red that stood out clearly in the evening sky...

"What the..." Completely unintentionally, Elinor's next words are exactly in time with Mario's. "You have got to be kiddin' me!" She chuckled ruefully. "Yeah, I'm with Corporal Zuko on that. If that's not a trap, drinks are on me when we get back." She listened to what Toph said and nodded. "Well, there's that, too. An' they're even pointin' the same way."

 

[Sherwood]

Mario ponders. "The first rule of disarming a trap is to know of its existence. We see it; and now can react to it. I, for one, do not want to trigger off a massive firefight without the support of those VHTs. I say we stealth up and see if we can infiltrate the place until we find our missing tanks. Of course, the final call is not mine to make."

 

[Psychie]

Muppet calls out, "In a typical Zentraedi ship, the sensors and security measures are geared towards opponents of a large size; such as other Zentraedi or Meltrandi, or mecha trying to get on the ship. I can't comment on what these Red Zens have set up, but if they follow their habit, it should not be too difficult for a micronian sized person to just be able to sneak inside, once we find the place for certain."

 

[Purr]

"Cygnus Two here! I spot tracks of multiple friendlies, heading westward. By my estimation, we have six to eight ground units leaving their tracks. I'll tag their location with my laser designator. How many mecha were with the team that got jumped? This might just be the proof of them being here. Aside from the giant sign over there."

Shirley followed the designator and saw the collection of tracks with her own eyes. She switched to night-vision to get a better view. "R.D.F. mecha? Out here? Col. Sharp didn't say anything about any buddies in Milton." Shirley got on the horn. "Eglin Tower, Cygnus One. Do you read me?"

"Go ahead, Cygnus One."

"Wild Cards are scouting Milton. We've found tracks of R.D.F. in the vicinity. Do you have any friendlies logged in this area?"

There was a pause. "Cygnus One, can you clarify? Who are the Wild Cards?"

The squad heard another face-palm. "Oh! Sorry. That's our new squadron name."

"Copy, Wild Cards. Congratulations on the formation of a new squadron. As for friendlies in and around Milton... that's a negative. The last friendlies reported on public channels were Bravo Squad from A.T.A.C. Bravo Squad has since RTB'd*."

*(Spoiler)

Spoiler

(RTB = Returned To Base)

Shirley considered, then said, "Thanks, Tower. Moving to investigate. Cygnus One out."

"Copy all, Wild Cards. Good hunting."

Shirley came over the squad channel. So much to do! This leadership thing really took coordination! "Guys? Whomever they are, they're not ours. Eglin's the closest base to Milton. So who are they?"

A deeply-relaxed voice came over the squadron channel. It was Cpl. Booty. "Only one people it could be, loo-ten-ant. Scavengers."

"Scavengers? This close to Eglin with that many mecha? How do they maintain them? And what are they looking for?" Shirley, having had some time in Eglin, had heard the scuttlebutt from her fellow pilots and close air support specialists. Scavengers were crafty, hardy people who tinkered with darned near anything. They were known to be out and about the Arkansas Protectorate, hundreds of miles west of Eglin and Milton. Here in former United States, tech-savvy Scavengers put together parts from whatever they could find to form Mad Max-style vehicles and mecha that did not follow any line of thinking but their own.

"Don' know, woman, but Booty know dis - ain't no Zentraedi good at makin' nuttin'. Me guess scavengers also make de blinky-blinky sign."

Shirley looked back toward the sign. It was good mile and a half west outside of Milton. "Well, we're sitting ducks up here in the open. What do you guys say we--"

SSSHAKOW!!

Without warning, a bright blue and white pillar of particle beam death lanced out from the vicinity of the sign. It lit the night like a shooting star. That beam shot across the Wild Cards airspace - a warning shot. The beam continued out past Milton to the east, glowing for but a moment. Every Wild Card knew, each of you being mecha pilots, it was the signature blast from a Tomahawk R.D.F. Destroid. No other cannon on Earth made a blast quite like it, for either it hit something or it kept on going for about 20 miles. Even over 20 years old, it was the farthest reaching energy cannon possessed by Earth mecha forces. Time had not dulled its deadliness.

"Hard cover, Wild Cards!" Shirley shouted to you over the squadron channel. Shirley dove down into the town and out of line-of-sight of the neon sign. Once down between the lifeless buildings of downtown Milton, she growled. That feminine growl was something to hear.

A harsh male voice snapped over the Army of Southern Cross radio distress channel, a channel mainly used by civilians to call for help. "Back off, you lousy ASC bastards! This here old base is our find an' our salvage! An' everythin' in it! Try an' take it an' we'll blow your pretty little wings right outta the sky! So FUCK OFF!"

Shirley steamed. "Great! We're outnumbered and outgunned and they're at our base! Any ideas, people?"

 

[Psychie]

Toph keeps her speed up to better evade any incoming fire, then drops down to put the buildings of the town between her and the enemy fire. "Well, we have lost any chance for surprise, that's for damn sure. I am wondering, Bravo Squad reported a nasty reception from the Zentraedi here. Can these scavs take on both sets of guns, ours and the Zentraedi? Either case, we can't let the Southern Cross mecha fall into their hands. We have to either recover them (preferred) or destroy them (not optimal)."

Edited

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Hercules lurched in his seat as Toph jinked and steadied her mecha from the warning shot.
"All due respect, uhhm, Ma'am, if they have a Tomahawk, they'll only know that there were three air mecha. Just because your birds are two-seaters, doesn't necessarily mean they have two on board.. I suggest we tankers disembark and attempt to flank the enemy. If we can get around them, maybe we can infiltrate the base while the Kakopoioús* are looking your way, grab the VHTs and either knock out their mecha or force them to withdraw."

*Scavengers

 

[Sherwood]

Mario calls out, "Lt. Hall, I'm going to try and get a read on the location and numbers of mecha out there, just so you know what I'm up to."

OOC I'll use an Action Point on my skill roll to locate and identify the bad guys. Red dice, please.
AP Left: 5

 

[Sherwood]

Mario lets out a growl. "Damnit. The only way to get more info on the disposition of the enemy is to pop up and get a better look, but then we are in the line of fire for that damn Tomahawk. Not a good idea. Sorry that I can't give you more, guys."

 

[Psychie]

"Muppet here. Perhaps we need to let the ground pounders infiltrate, using their jump packs to move in quickly. That way, we get the Hover Tanks back and can gather our intel on the Red Zens."

 

[Purr]

If we can get around them, maybe we can infiltrate the base while the Kakopoioús* are looking your way, grab the VHTs and either knock out their mecha or force them to withdraw."

Shirley remained silent as she pondered this course of action. Then she spoke. "So... you're recommending sending three foot soldiers into an unknown Zentraedi enemy base without backup? If those tracks Toph spotted are right, we're outnumbered at least two to one. You guys sure you wanna get out of one perfectly good mech without another in sight?"

 

[Sherwood]

Mario voices up, "Ma'am? We have a real threat on our hands, and I don't see any good way out of it. That Tomahawk has a range of twenty miles and the best we got to fight back is 4,000 feet to one mile. We have no way of knowing just how good the maintenance is on the mecha in front of us; for all we know, they might be on the ragged edge of functionality. I've seen how good a Veritech can evade; perhaps that is the edge we need over the scavengers and their mecha. Take them out, one at a time with focused fire to disable them."

 

[Psychie]

"And we can't leave with those hover tanks in the custody of the Zentraedi, and possibly, taken by the scavs. As much as I hate going in blind, we have to make a move on these guys."

 

[Purr]

"And we can't leave with those hover tanks in the custody of the Zentraedi, and possibly, taken by the scavs.

Shirley replied, "Oh, that much is clear. I'm just worried about splitting up our team, sending in three mech-less guys on their own into the unknown, and going in outnumbered. You think these Red Zens are just going to kick back once we duke it out with these Scavs?"

Booty asked. "What other choice we got, loo-ten-ant?"

Shirley mused. "A Zentraedi base has got to be a big place. Why not use the Scavs as a distraction? If we go in Battloid mode and search around, not only will we not give ourselves away in the sky, but we might find another entrance into this base. Besides, while the Scavs bonk heads with these Red Zen guys, maybe if we don't find another entrance, we can come in and take on the losing force fresh. Otherwise, we risk being the losing force up against a fresh force if these Red Zens take us on after we've dealt with the Scavs.

"Guess I'd just rather go in with you tankers into the unknown. Know what I mean? Does something like that sound good or do we try going balls-out through the front door?" Shirley monitored her instruments while staying low.

(EDIT: Shirley had a little more to say so I added it. =) ).

 

[Captain Hesperus]

"Again, ma'am, no disrespect, but you've got three extra crew twiddling our collective thumbs when we could be either running interference or using the distraction of three ASC flyers to get past the opposition, be they human or Zentraedi, to get our mission objective.", Herc responded, "It's not a matter of sending us into the unknown, we'd have to dismount anyway. The only difference would be that if you engage while we're still aboard, you might have to attempt a hot landing to allow us to get into the base. If we drop now and foot-march it while you exchange pleasantries with the Scavengers, even if the Zeds get involved, we're still more likely to get to our objective."

 

[Sherwood]

Mario cuts in, "I gotta say, he's got a point. We're not earning our pay sitting on our asses in the back seats of these Valks. Lets get to the ground where we can use our size to our advantage against the large targets looking for mecha, and we can then hoof it in and use our Traversing powers to get us into the base and get to those tanks."

 

[Purr]

Shirley's tone was thoughtful. "No disrespect taken, Hercules. I want you dudes to speak your minds. If your plan works, then cowabunga, we win. Super! But... like a bad horror flick, this plan splits us up. Let's say you do get in. Tanks or no, if you three get in over your heads, we can't miracle a way inside to back you up. You're on your own. I'd no intention of dropping you dudes into a hot LZ. I'd rather find another Zeek-sized entrance and get us all to the tanks together. What do you say, Booty?"

The big Jamaican grumbled. "Whateva plan get me boots on de ground soonest..."

Shirley consented. "O.K., Wild Cards. We try this the A.T.A.C. way. Follow me."

Shirley transformed her Valkyrie into Battloid and moved through the town as stealthily as she could. GU-11 rifle at the ready, her veritech crouched as it moves carefully between the silent three-story buildings.

"Tankers? Looks like we can make it to the edge of Milton with cover. There's not much mech-sized cover after that. How far from the big glowy sign do you want to be dropped off?"

(EDIT: Condensed sentences into paragraphs.)