Chapter Six: All Hands on Deck

[Purr]

Something in Toph's inner-mind seemed to call to her and her hands and eyes listened. It was as if the Meltrandi part of her knew the dodging strategy of the Zentraedi pilot and where he would be if she shot... just... about... now!

The twin EU-13 bursts spat out bright lines of laser energy at the dodging Male Power Armor. True to her feelings, Toph watched as the Male Power Armor seemed to fly right into both of her bursts! The power armor flared with fire as Toph's lasers stitched its searing beams of light across its chest.

Spoiler: Psychie

White d20 roll = 17
Zentraedi roll = 1
Damage dice = 3 + 3 for 60 M.D.!

Cera cheered. "Hah! The EU-13s are synchronizing perfectly!" Then Cera pulled the trigger on her Blaster Cannon and scored a perfect hit right in the Male Power Armor's chest interlacing her laser fire with Toph's own.

Spoiler: Dice

Teal d20 = Natural 20!
Zentraedi roll 1 (again!!)
Damage dice = 2 for a total of 80 M.D!

Plumes of smoke rose from the now-battered Male Power Armor. The pilot flew in a disoriented fashion. In pilot talk, he was "open."

It became Elinor's turn to act.

 

[Kaerri]

Elinor grinned in satisfaction as the entire volley of incoming missiles exploded into flame. "Physics," she muttered to herself, and turned her attention to a target that wasn't on a predictable trajectory (guided or otherwise, they were still missiles, after all...). She aimed her EU-13 at the Male Power Armor that Toph and Cera had just nailed (Bogie #4) and fired another 5-round burst.

 

[Purr]

Elinor's EU-13 burst reached out into the sky at the speed of light, but this time the Male Power Armor had recovered enough of his wits to dodge in a different (and life-saving) fashion. For the second time, that bogie had successfully evaded Elinor's fire.

Spoiler: Kaerri

Yellow d20 = 11
Zentraedi Automatic Dodge roll = 19

Mack raised her GU-11 up and steadied her Super Valkyrie for a burst. BRRRRRT! The 55mm shells tore through the air and nailed the power armor and pilot perfectly! The armor exploded brilliantly into a violent eruption that echoed across the battlefield. "That's what I call teamwork, Wild Cards!" Mack beamed a beautiful grin.

Spoiler: Dice for Mack

Red d20 = Natural 20!
Damage roll (2D6) 3 + 3 for a total of 120 M.D.!
Zentraedi Automatic Dodge roll = 17

The last Bogie seemed to float uncertainly in the air some 1,400 feet away at about 500 feet off the ground. It became Mario's turn.

 

[Sherwood]

Seeing the target is out in the open, Mario decides to trigger off his six Plasma rockets.

Spoiler

Number of Attacks: 6
Strike: +8
Parry: +13
Dodge: +13
Roll With Punch: +5
Pull Punch: 0
Initiative: +1
Horror Factor: +3 to Save
Perception: +2
Critical Strike From Behind
Critical Strike on a natural 18-20
+3 to Hand to Hand Damage

Main Body: 525

6 Plasma rockets / 0
6 HEAP rockets / 0
12 High Explosive rockets.
12 Chaff/Flares for Missile Defense

Anti Vehicle Laser: 1d4x10+20 MD per blast - 4,000 ft range

 

[Purr]

The sextet of rockets set off on cones of fire. At first it seemed as if the Male Power Armor was going to try and dodge the volley, but then a hail of speeding grenades left his chest-cannon in response to Mario's volley. They zoomed through the rainy night at Mario's volley and exploded in great 15-foot bursts. The first missile in Mario's volley exploded. A moment passed and the other five missiles continued to race through the grenade-explosions and struck the Male Power Armor in a chaotic series of plasma-heated blasts. Covered in fire, the Male Power Armor then exploded and began to follow its cohort to the earth below.

Spoiler: Sherwood

Orange d20 roll = 14
Zentraedi missile attack roll = 16
Damage to missile = 80 M.D.
Percentile roll to destroy all missiles (75%) = 84%
Damage from missiles remaining in volley (5D6x10) = 260 M.D.!

"Hoo-rah! All Bogies down, down, down!" Mack cheered telepathically. "Wild Cards, move out to the barn! I've got your backs!"

Cera laughed, pounded her controls, and made several disparaging remarks in her native tongue that cannot be repeated here on RP Nation due to forum guidelines. (Ha ha! =) )

With combat over for the Wild Cards, we return to out-of-combat time (or Exploration mode if you like the Pathfinder term). =)

 

[Sherwood]

Mario sends out the thought through the Nexus, "Lt. Hall, thanks for the rocket support there! I was crossing my fingers hoping that the countermeasures would do the trick. Glad that we didn't have to test out the armor on these babies. Lets get our passengers dropped off so that they can get to the Colonel before its too late." He sends the Mjolinr forward at a run, keeping an eye open for any other targets that might pose a threat to the Wild Cards.

 

[Kaerri]

"Yes!" Take that, jerk-faces!" She grinned at Cera, sharing in her joy at their enemies' defeat. "Anytime, Zuko. Be a shame to scratch the Mjolnirs' paint so soon, wouldn't it?" She patted her console affectionately. "Now then, time to head inside. Won't even have to knock, with the tank there. Hope whoever drove it isn't too trigger-happy."

 

[Psychie]

Toph gives Mario a thumbs-up as they charge forward. "I'm all set to go inside. Hopefully we won't have to use deadly force against our own people in there."

Spoiler

On Foot
Number of Attacks: 6
Strike: +11
Parry: +14
Dodge: +14
Roll: +3
Initiative: +3
Perception: +6
Damage: +2 / +8 total
Critical Strike on a natural 18-20

CVR-3 Armor
Main Body: 90 MD

Two Gallant H-90 Pistols
Weight: Pistol: 2 pounds (0.9 kg). Rifle 7 pounds (3.1 kg)
Range: Pistol: 800 feet (244 m). Rifle: 1,600 feet (488 m).
S.D.C. Damage: 2D6 S.D.C. for a single shot, 5D6 S.D.C. for a three round burst; same for pistol or rifle, only range differs.
Mega-Damage: Pistol: 1D6 M.D. for a single blast, 3D6 M.D. for a three round burst.
Rifle: 2D6 MD.. for a single blast, 6D6 M.D. for a five round burst.
Rate of Fire: A single shot or burst counts as one melee attack, but a burst has a much lower bonus to strike.
Payload: Protoculture Energy Clip that provides 2500 .S.D.C. bursts, 830 single M.D. pistol shots, 415 single M.D. rifle blasts or 83 M.D. rifle bursts per PE-Clip. Note: This weapon runs on Protoculture Energy Clips and can be sensed, seen, and tracked by the Invid the second it is turned "on."
M.D.C. of the Weapon Itself: 40 M.D.C.


In the Tank
Number of Attacks: 6
Strike: +13 / +3 with EU-13 Gun Pods
Parry: +14
Dodge: +14
Roll: +3
Initiative: +4
Perception: +6
Damage: +2 / +8 total
Critical Strike on a natural 18-20

EU-13 Gun Pods
4D4 M.D. per single blast, 1d4x10 M.D. for a five round burst.
Payload: 100 single shots or 20 five shot bursts per Protoculture magazine.
Capacity: The Mjolnir carries 4 spare magazines.
Left: 100 charges / 90
Right: 100 charges / 90

 

[Purr]

With such a surprise volley, even Mario (the non-helicopter pilot) could see that at least two of the Ajaxes would have been blown out of the sky from a hellstorm such as the Malcontents had unleashed. "In honor of Lord Khyron!" they yelled. "Death to the enemy!"

Cera grinned back like a little kid when Elinor used the word "jerk-faces." "My Mjolnirs are better than anything the Dolza-Zentraedi have to offer! But... why do these Zentraedi praise Khyron the Backstabber? It makes no sense."

"Later!" Mack ordered. "We have to get Colonel Sharp outta here before those flyboys or the Zentraedi make it here!"

Your mecha thundered out of the concealment offered by the trees and toward the big red barn where the rain hammered and the winds kicked up all about you. In moments, you were before it. Cera, Mario, and Mack remained vigilant as Toph and Elinor grabbed their new guns and exited Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder. In mere moments, their new and futuristic ebony mega-suits were glistening with rain. Their boots sank into the mud as they crossed over to the M1A3 Abrams. It was still running. Its massive engine, even idling, was loud enough to cover the sounds of Toph and Elinor's cautious movements.

Both Elinor and Toph could see past the remains of the smashed front door. The Abrams had really done a number on it. Now all the door was good for was scrap metal. The inside of the barn was wide, tall, and very spacious. Elinor knew the type well-enough; a barn of this size could hold two dozen adult horses on the first level and enough hay to feed them for half a year on the second if things were stacked up that way. Sounds tended to travel very well inside such a structure, the Georgian-born farm-girl knew.

Inside, only 30 feet from the front of the mud-tracked Abrams and another 30 feet from where Toph and Elinor stood was the equally-muddy Janissary APC. It had no military markings. Its rear hatch was down. You didn't hear the sound of its engine running.

Inside the back of the Janissary, a weary-looking figure wearing an all-black male-fitted A.T.A.C. mega-suit with colonel's rank etched proudly on its well-kept helmet and shoulders. He was sitting in a rather bored-looking posture on the floor of the Janissary with his hands behind his back and his legs out in front of him. There was light all around the lonely-looking figure, provided by the APC's interior. Outside the APC, a handful of pale lamps lit the barn casting shadows all over. It was a clear shot from where you were to the Janissary and you heard no sounds except for the Abram's chugging engine.

Suddenly, the figure looked up and appeared to notice you. He looked to his left and then to his right, then nodded eagerly in your direction.

What do Toph and Elinor do?

 

[Kaerri]

"Careful, Toph," Elinor warned. And thank the Lord for Iris and the Nexus! "That could be anybody in that suit. Let's approach, but eyes open and to all sides, including up. Somebody drove the APC, and somebody drove that tank. That's at least two people that should be visible -- and aren't."

 

[Psychie]

Toph looks at the figure in the back of the APC and raises up her hand in a 'shush' motion. "I concur. I was personally expecting underground access in here, and if there isn't, I'll be quite surprised. Why else bring the Colonel here, if it is not for some secret prison? Unless the plan was simply to execute him out of the sight of the rest of the base? Lets clear the room. I'll angle to the left, you take the right, and always be careful!"

Spoiler

On Foot
Number of Attacks: 6
Strike: +11
Parry: +14
Dodge: +14
Roll: +3
Initiative: +3
Perception: +6
Damage: +2 / +8 total
Critical Strike on a natural 18-20

CVR-3 Armor
Main Body: 90 MD

Two Gallant H-90 Pistols
Weight: Pistol: 2 pounds (0.9 kg). Rifle 7 pounds (3.1 kg)
Range: Pistol: 800 feet (244 m). Rifle: 1,600 feet (488 m).
S.D.C. Damage: 2D6 S.D.C. for a single shot, 5D6 S.D.C. for a three round burst; same for pistol or rifle, only range differs.
Mega-Damage: Pistol: 1D6 M.D. for a single blast, 3D6 M.D. for a three round burst.
Rifle: 2D6 MD.. for a single blast, 6D6 M.D. for a five round burst.
Rate of Fire: A single shot or burst counts as one melee attack, but a burst has a much lower bonus to strike.
Payload: Protoculture Energy Clip that provides 2500 .S.D.C. bursts, 830 single M.D. pistol shots, 415 single M.D. rifle blasts or 83 M.D. rifle bursts per PE-Clip. Note: This weapon runs on Protoculture Energy Clips and can be sensed, seen, and tracked by the Invid the second it is turned "on."
M.D.C. of the Weapon Itself: 40 M.D.C.


In the Tank
Number of Attacks: 6
Strike: +13 / +3 with EU-13 Gun Pods
Parry: +14
Dodge: +14
Roll: +3
Initiative: +4
Perception: +6
Damage: +2 / +8 total
Critical Strike on a natural 18-20

EU-13 Gun Pods
4D4 M.D. per single blast, 1d4x10 M.D. for a five round burst.
Payload: 100 single shots or 20 five shot bursts per Protoculture magazine.
Capacity: The Mjolnir carries 4 spare magazines.
Left: 100 charges / 90
Right: 100 charges / 90

 

[Kaerri]

"Agreed." Elinor moved to their right, rifle at the ready, and scanned everything she could see, keeping part of her attention on the APC and its lone occupant as long as he was within her line of sight.

 

[Purr]

Toph looks at the figure in the back of the APC and raises up her hand in a 'shush' motion.

The figure "shushed" immediately and slumped down in a manner that relieved pressure from the arms when they were bound behind one's back.

Elinor and Toph entered the open air two-story barn lit by the pale lights coming from the lamps. From where you were, you could see the ceiling of the barn and parts of the second floor easily. You got about ten steps in when Toph noticed something odd on the top of Elinor's head.

It was a single green electronic dot.

The very moment Toph noticed this, the person in the APC began slowly nodding again.

The dot vanished.

"Oh, hey kids!" came a male voice that echoed so much, it seemed to come from the barn itself. As you looked about, someone made deliberate movement and creaking noise from the wooden boards above and behind you from the second floor. From behind one of the lamps, wearing aged but well-kept desert fatigues came a man also aged but well-kept. He walked into the light and into your view, lowering a high-powered laser rifle.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Wild Cards," said Colonel Sharp as he chewed on a blue crayon. "You look good for dead people!" he grinned handsomely.

Spoiler: Music that Sharp likes

"Jumpin' Jack Flash" by The Rolling Stones. "But it's all right. In fact it's a gas!"

 

[Kaerri]

Well, if he's got a gun, then the good guys have control of the inside, at least, Elinor figured. She relaxed her own stance slightly (there were still enemies in the area outside, after all) and grinned as she saluted. "Colonel, sir. You're looking pretty good yourself. We heard you might need a lift to a, um, 'healthier locale,' and as it happens, we've got one available. Introductions now or later, sir?" She nodded at the figure in the APC.

 

[Psychie]

Toph keeps her eyes open wide as she keep watch out for other hostiles in there, but smiles wide at the Colonel. "Good to see you, sir! Are there any others in here that we need to worry about?"

Then she sends the thought through the Nexus to all the others, "The Colonel is alive and safe! Stand by!"

 

[Purr]

"Introductions now or later, sir?" She nodded at the figure in the APC.

Colonel Sharp switched off his green laser sight. "None needed. I believe you know each other?" Looking back inside the Janissary, Elinor and Toph noticed the figure in the A.T.A.C. Colonel's mega-suit pull their hands around to the front as they had not been bound at all. In one hand was a laser pistol and in the other a grenade. The person carefully replaced both and took off the helmet.

"Look, I'm glad you two are eager, but you really didn't need to go to all this trouble for me to lead another work-out. I'm sorry! It's just not the time or place!" The sound of Hitomi's laugh carried over the Abram's engine. Her long black hair had been tied carefully to fit inside the helmet and you noticed as she stood that she wore the armor just well enough to pass for Colonel Sharp. Posing and waving at you with her cheery smile, she copied his natural body language to a tee.

* * *​

Toph keeps her eyes open wide as she keep watch out for other hostiles in there, but smiles wide at the Colonel. "Good to see you, sir! Are there any others in here that we need to worry about?"

"This is the only one I'm worried about!" Colonel Sharp chuckled and pointed at Hitomi. "We are clear for now, but that's not going to last." he added.

Then she sends the thought through the Nexus to all the others, "The Colonel is alive and safe! Stand by!"

"Already?" Mack replied happily. "My, the two of you work fast! Well, get him out here and into a Mjolnir already!"

Cera peered through her scanner with maximum magnification. "The human and Dolza-Zentraedi forces are at a stalemate! It may last several minutes or far longer."

 

[Psychie]

"More good news! We have Hitomi!" Toph sends the thought out to the others with relief. "The TASC forces out there are in the midst of a scrap with some Malcontents, so we are going to be clear to get you out of here for a short time. Lets get moving! We have a lot to go over with the two of you!"

 

[Kaerri]

Elinor returned Hitomi's wave. "Good to see you too. Ought to be time to fit in a few sparring matches later, once we're all safe. And there's someone I'd like you to meet. Well, several someones, but one in particular, which reminds me -- if it's all the same to you, sir, would you stick with Toph and I'll take Hitomi? It's my pilot I'd like her to meet."

 

[Psychie]

Toph nods. "If you would, sir, please come this way? We have many surprises waiting for you, and a great many questions, too."

 

[Purr]

Colonel Sharp's grin remained. "I don't doubt that at all, lieutenant, except things are not exactly as they seem. See, I'm on a rescue mission too."

Hitomi hustled over to an old, rusted trough surrounded by bits of hay and dirt. "Sweethearts, he's actually here to rescue me. Which is fair of him seeing as how I took his place as prisoner in General Steele's armored paddy wagon here and kindly laid unconscious the two soldiers that got us here." She waved one hand toward two unmoving forms in the front seats of the APC. "They'll wake back up in about two hours." The gorgeous Japanese-American sifted carefully along the edge of the trough.

"Which is how we found and infiltrated Steele's safehouse here in the first place."

"Yep! My mission is infiltration and after what the professor and I have recently learned about that fink, I am not about to give up an opportunity like this." There came a clicking sound from behind the trough and suddenly, the entire Janissary APC began a descent under the barn by way of a hidden elevator. "Besides, we have the company of one of the best people on Eglin to help us."

From underneath the slowly-lowering elevator came the gruff and wholly impatient grumbling of a grizzled Southern man. "Dagnabbit, jus' who in tarnation is holdin' up this here elly-vater?"

As the Janissary began to disappear into the barn floor, Colonel Sharp quipped. "May I have my body armor back now, miss?"

"Mister, you just like looking at my legs," she said as she handed him his helmet.

"An accusation I won't deny." Colonel Sharp chuckled and looked up to you. "Are you two coming?"

 

[Kaerri]

"Slight change of plans," Elinor informed the Nexus. "Colonel Sharp has a bit of a job for us in here before we leave. We'll try not to keep you waiting long." Having "reported in" to Mack and the others outside, Elinor joined Sharp and Hitomi and replied with a smile, "Might as well, since we're here. I'm thinkin' I'm still owed an intro, sir, unless that's Doctor McCoy* you've got down there."

Spoiler: *

Who's been holding up the damn elevator?

Find video clips by quote. GetYarn.io now.

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[Psychie]

Toph lets out an internal sigh. Of course it couldn't be this easy to just get in here, get the Colonel, and get back out again. Ah, well. You only live once. With as much of a positive attitude that she can come up with, she says, "I will gladly come with you, sir. I was thinking that this barn had to be just the tip of the iceberg, otherwise why bring you here?" She looks around, trying to spot what is probably a hidden entrance to an entrance to a underground facility.

 

[Purr]

Mack replied, but each of you could feel tension over the Polyphonic Nexus as she watched the battle using the Super Valkyrie's sensors. Mario and Toph were able to watch and keep a lookout too, but the weather was harder on the Mjolnirs's sensors than the transatmospheric Super Valkyrie. "Got it. You have for as long as the Ajaxes can hold out, then we're leaving. Still, it's hard to watch them fight against the Zentraedi and not... Heyyyy, now... Hold up a sec'..." Shirley thought a moment. Her Valkyrie's arm pointed. "Mario? What size rounds are in that M1 Abraham Lincoln or whatever its name is?"

* * *​

(It's story time!)

Having "reported in" to Mack and the others outside, Elinor joined Sharp and Hitomi and replied with a smile, "Might as well, since we're here. I'm thinkin' I'm still owed an intro, sir, unless that's Doctor McCoy* you've got down there."

As the elevator continued its descent, Elinor and Toph learned that ornery voice evidently came with good ears. "Godammit, Sharp! I'm an engineer, not a doctor!" The Janissary-dominated elevator came to a gentle stop revealing a long, wide corridor easily able to accept the APC and then some. Perhaps to the Wild Cards's surprise, under the big red barn was an underground parking garage complete with concrete walls, mega-damage reinforced supports, three steel bunkers, and armored laser cannons aimed at the elevator. Thankfully, the laser weapons were not manned. There were also two roads that led off further into the darkness. Whirring sounds told of generators moving and air conditioning flowing down here below the big red barn. Most of the area appeared well-kept, but not new. A pair of heavy-duty mega-damage cargo trucks, a staff car with a star on it, and a pair of stylish black hover-bikes filled about half of the parking spaces. This "little safehouse" was holding some mega-damage-sized secrets.

There at the controls to the elevator stood a man wearing the well-used mega-suit of a Tactical Corp Master Sergeant with its faceplate up and an odd blue and white insignia of some kind on the armor covering his left bicep.

Spoiler: Odd insignia

(Image credit:KissPNG )

He seemed around Col. Sharp's age. The owner's leathery-skinned Caucasian face stared from behind a thick, bushy brown-and-white moustache over a hard chin and tough features, but it was his most-unusual stare that tended to capture attention. This old war dog seemed to possess such a dreadful fire in his spirit as could frighten a Baptist preacher off of his Sunday morning pulpit. He hardly blinked as he first examined your mega-suits then Hitomi, then Col. Sharp, then back to you. His eyes were like spotlights, for there was a feeling of vulnerability when under them.

The old soldier stared at Elinor something awful. When he spoke, it was loud and in the manner of an old badger who was darned used to being on a battlefield. "'Scuse me, but I ain't in the habit of saluting walking dead women! The way I see it, if yer dead then ye'll soon be answering to a much higher authority than little ol' me!"

With a hand from Hitomi, Colonel Sharp put on his armor and gazed curiously around the garage and fortified bunkers. "Lieutenants, this odd duck is my right hand on Eglin base! Meet Tac Corp Master Sergeant Tom Murphy, or as we old soldiers like to call him, 'Murph the Smurf!'! When it comes to engineering, there's just nothing Murph' can't put together, take apart, or figure out. He's got a strange sense of things, but try not to let his unusual mannerisms bother you."

His unusual mannerisms came out lightning-fast.

"You!" he stabbed a finger at Toph. "Yer half-Meltrandi!" This he said as if it were as factual and clear as the air you were breathing, but that might not have been what shocked Toph. In Toph's entire life, only a handful of people besides her doctors even guessed she was something other than human, and then they used words like "Zentraedi" or "alien". This was the very first time someone just came out of the blue and knew what she was at the very first glance. It was uncanny but also probably a bit unnerving. M.Sgt. Murphy shook his head in absolute defiance at her. "Sharp, there ain't no way I'm sidin' with the likes of her!"

Hitomi interjected. "What? Come on! She's my student and my friend!"

"Don't matter!" He put his finger straight in Toph's face. "Her momma and alien alien women just like her momma came to Earth to kill me and everything I hold dear and they damned near succeeded in killin' everybody!"

"Sergeant, she's an Army of Southern Cross officer! Or... was!"

"Couldn't care less! Just the other day, her kind was trying to blow up babies on Interstate 10! Babies in school buses! I was there! And I say she was born from a Robotech Master's slave and those Robotech Masters are the devil's own children, I'll bet'cha solid gold!"

Colonel Sharp leaned forward. "Smurf..." he spoke softly and meaningfully. "That's Hiroshi's kid... and these ladies are with me!"

Hearing this, Murphy's eyes locked onto Colonel Sharp's like a starship cannon. Hiram Sharp just slowly grinned at Murphy and nodded. Murphy stared back at Toph with his half-mad glare for what felt like a very long time. It was like looking down a pair of shotgun barrels. Loaded shotgun barrels. It did not take Toph's natural gifts in perceptiveness to realize the wars this man had seen had likely taken their tolls on him and he very likely wasn't anything close to normal before that.

"All right," he said slowly and lowered his hand. "But only because yer Hiroshi's kid an' Sharp is speakin' for ya. And besides," he added, "I made the casket yer daddy's restin' in. He was a damned good man." Then he waited for Toph to have her say.

 

[Psychie]

This is not the first time that Toph has felt the ugly scourge of racism in her life, and with a sigh, she knows it won't be the last. She looks at this fellow Murphy with a feeling of sadness, not for her, but for him. But she is still upset. "Sergeant, when this is all said and done, we can have plenty of time for your petty -- No. I won't go there. Too much rides on us being able to get this done to let it all fall apart now over this. For the sake of my father's memory, I will forgive your hatred. Just remember, humans were not the only defenders of the Earth when Lord Dolza ordered the Rain of Fire."

"Many Zentraedi and Meltrandi lost their lives fighting along side humanity, trying to save this world from total destruction. As a child, I could hear my father trying to comfort my mother as she cried in the night over the many valiant members of her squadron that did not get through the fighting alive. So don't even try and tell me that you are the only one to have lost dear friends, and if we cannot learn to move past it, this . . . hate . . . will just fester like an open wound and it will never heal. After all, it was my own father that died at the hands of the Malcontents, shot down over the Control Zone. If anyone has a reason to hate the Malcontents, I am right at the front of the line."

Toph looks at him. "I never knew that you were the one that made his casket. For that, I thank you. Now, lets move past this, and when all this bullshit is over and we've all made it out of this mess alive, we can share stories of my father, and have a few drinks in his name, so that our memories of a good man will not be forgotten."

 

[Purr]

M.Sgt. Murphy stared at Toph and listened to her every word like a soldier during pre-mission. His stone-faced, fiery-eyed expression did not change. Even Toph's medical training could discern no particular emotion from the man. Just quiet intensity. While she spoke, it was like she was feeding information into a machine for all of the body language he returned. He did not seem to be doing this to intentionally make Toph feel uncomfortable; it seemed to be just who he was.

After all, it was my own father that died at the hands of the Malcontents, shot down over the Control Zone. If anyone has a reason to hate the Malcontents, I am right at the front of the line."

"They killed yer daddy!" he agreed. "But don't you worry none." Right then, for one long chilling moment, an unseen cloud of stark and utter gloom hung around Murphy like an old, familiar friend. It was like Death itself had come to put his arm around him. Again. "You don't need to avenge Hiro, young'un. That's there's been tooken care of." He whispered like a ghost. "Tooken care of real good..." Then he cloud faded and Murphy returned to his old odd self.

"Don't hate you. Don't hate yer momma. She could drink and she could shoot. Just hate any Zenny I see unless somebody I know kin back 'em up."

Toph looks at him. "I never knew that you were the one that made his casket. For that, I thank you. Now, lets move past this, and when all this bullshit is over and we've all made it out of this mess alive, we can share stories of my father, and have a few drinks in his name, so that our memories of a good man will not be forgotten."

"O.K." He said it like a man accepting a military order and stared at Toph for one more long and strange moment. Then, M.Sgt. Murphy turned away in his own odd fashion and, with his eyes following something in the metal ceiling above you, he began to walk swiftly. After but a moment's study, he shouted, "Sharp! I betcha it's in here!" Like a hunting dog, Smurf headed straight for one of the three bunkers like a man on a mission.

When the Master Sergeant was out of hearing range, Colonel Sharp stepped up beside Toph and spoke with his eyes low. "Lt. Kirin, please accept my most personal apology. I... didn't think. I should have realized your heritage would set old Murphy off! I should have warned the both of you." He sighed. "As for Murphy, he was there when your father was killed. They were squadmates. After considerable risk, Smurf's the only reason we got Hiroshi's body out of Brazilian territory."

"Sharp!"

"Be right there! Excuse me, lieutenant." Colonel Sharp raced over to join Murphy as quickly as his bones would let him.

Then Toph found Hitomi (and very possibly Elinor) beside her. "You okay?" Hitomi quietly said to Toph as she watched them go.