Psychie
Princess Psychie
Toph is gripping her seat tightly, not used to being in mecha at such speeds when she is not the one at the rudder! This is not too different than Nap of the Earth flying in my Ajax, except I'm usually the one steering.
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Chapter Six: All Hands on Deck
- Thread starter Purr
- Start date
- Status
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
A valuable lesson in technopathy...
Mario had traversed with Toothgrinder. Mario applied the correct control on the Mjolnir in order to make the jump. But nothing could have prepared Mario or Toph for the incredible jump the speeding tank took on! With a touch of the pressure-sensitive thumb control mounted on the driving stick, Mario and Toph were thrust back into their chairs as if a full-sized Meltrandi had pushed them. The monitors showed that they had lifted off from the street, easily cleared the tractor trailer and flew well over what looked like a tank-sized sinkhole hidden just beyond it! As gravity pulled them back down to Earth, the Mjolnir touched down at a comfortable angle and continued to zoom along the street while never once touching it. It had all happened in the span of a few heartbeats.
Behind them, Cera and Elinor had apparently the same experience as Cera followed Mario's move. "Waaaaooo!!" Cera mentally shouted in surprise and delight as Toothgnasher sailed through the air and back down again.
The lesson? Just because your characters knew the tanks inside and out mechanically, you still had no life experience inside of them. Unlike the mecha you had trained heavily on to earn your Mecha Elite Combat Training certifications, such a thing did not exist for the Mjolnir. The Wild Cards saw the lesson firsthand - nothing could take the place of real training, though technopathy gave a person one hell of an edge!
In the rear of both tanks, Shirley was having issues of her own. The Super Valkyrie, even in its most-stable veritech form in Guardian mode, wavered and wobbled just enough to show that her pilot did not have full control over the gigantic flying machine. While neither the tractor trailer nor the sinkhole posed any threat to Shirley or her modified Valkyrie, anyone watching her could tell she had her hands full like a cowboy riding a bareback bull in a rodeo. Still, you heard no complaints through the polyphonic nexus nor over the radio - there was just an awful lot of silence from her cockpit as your three transformable mecha hurtled down the wet streets of the as-yet-unnamed Floridian city.
Directly ahead of you were four mecha-sized shapes in the dark of the night. The slashing rain further obscured their features, but they appeared to be vaguely shaped like RDF destroids. At a distance less than 500 feet ahead - you would be upon them in mere seconds. And you were flying right at them. If you continued, your route would take you down the streets they were facing and their line of fire, but nor did they seem to be in an ambush position. In fact, except for a spinning radar atop one of the Defender-like mecha, they had not yet moved.
There was no time for discussion.
Mario was driving point where Mack trusted him. As such, she had put him in charge of the situation. The call was his to make. But if they slowed down, there would be consequences. Toph, too, had a decision to make. As gunner, she could open fire if she so chose.
Mario could speed past the quartet, or he could slow and take an alternate street in an attempt to avoid them, or perform whatever maneuver came to his mind.
But whatever they did in the Toothgrinder, they had to do it fast!
Mario had traversed with Toothgrinder. Mario applied the correct control on the Mjolnir in order to make the jump. But nothing could have prepared Mario or Toph for the incredible jump the speeding tank took on! With a touch of the pressure-sensitive thumb control mounted on the driving stick, Mario and Toph were thrust back into their chairs as if a full-sized Meltrandi had pushed them. The monitors showed that they had lifted off from the street, easily cleared the tractor trailer and flew well over what looked like a tank-sized sinkhole hidden just beyond it! As gravity pulled them back down to Earth, the Mjolnir touched down at a comfortable angle and continued to zoom along the street while never once touching it. It had all happened in the span of a few heartbeats.
Behind them, Cera and Elinor had apparently the same experience as Cera followed Mario's move. "Waaaaooo!!" Cera mentally shouted in surprise and delight as Toothgnasher sailed through the air and back down again.
The lesson? Just because your characters knew the tanks inside and out mechanically, you still had no life experience inside of them. Unlike the mecha you had trained heavily on to earn your Mecha Elite Combat Training certifications, such a thing did not exist for the Mjolnir. The Wild Cards saw the lesson firsthand - nothing could take the place of real training, though technopathy gave a person one hell of an edge!
In the rear of both tanks, Shirley was having issues of her own. The Super Valkyrie, even in its most-stable veritech form in Guardian mode, wavered and wobbled just enough to show that her pilot did not have full control over the gigantic flying machine. While neither the tractor trailer nor the sinkhole posed any threat to Shirley or her modified Valkyrie, anyone watching her could tell she had her hands full like a cowboy riding a bareback bull in a rodeo. Still, you heard no complaints through the polyphonic nexus nor over the radio - there was just an awful lot of silence from her cockpit as your three transformable mecha hurtled down the wet streets of the as-yet-unnamed Floridian city.
Directly ahead of you were four mecha-sized shapes in the dark of the night. The slashing rain further obscured their features, but they appeared to be vaguely shaped like RDF destroids. At a distance less than 500 feet ahead - you would be upon them in mere seconds. And you were flying right at them. If you continued, your route would take you down the streets they were facing and their line of fire, but nor did they seem to be in an ambush position. In fact, except for a spinning radar atop one of the Defender-like mecha, they had not yet moved.
There was no time for discussion.
Mario was driving point where Mack trusted him. As such, she had put him in charge of the situation. The call was his to make. But if they slowed down, there would be consequences. Toph, too, had a decision to make. As gunner, she could open fire if she so chose.
Mario could speed past the quartet, or he could slow and take an alternate street in an attempt to avoid them, or perform whatever maneuver came to his mind.
But whatever they did in the Toothgrinder, they had to do it fast!
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Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario quickly sends out the thought through the Nexus, "Heads up! Destroids to our front! Breaking left!" Working the controls of Toothgrinder, he banks the tank more like an aircraft than a ground vehicle, feeling his stomach drop as he jinks the heavy mecha to the side to avoid running into the assorted Destoids in their path. "Anyone have any kind of idea on who these jokers are? Are we dealing with scavengers, or are these actual RDF personnel?"
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
Mario quickly realized that the Mjolnir hovertanks were more agile than anything he had ever piloted. As he took the corner to the left, a pair of thrusters burst to life on Toothgrinder's right-front area. That added thrust allowed him to take the corner in a way no wheeled vehicle could. Before he knew it, he and Toph were barreling down a side street and taking up both lanes doing it. The rain continued to come down, but the slick, shiny streets did nothing to impede vehicles that flew over them.
Toph hastily punched in the IFF request. Her monitor, on some kind of default setting, asked if she wanted the information in Ura-Meltrandi or American-English. Whichever she selected, the data quickly appeared on-screen. "MECHA IDENTIFY AS NON-RDF. PRESUME HOSTILE." In Toph's educational background, that meant only one thing.
Scavengers. And you were in their territory.
* * *
Toph hastily punched in the IFF request. Her monitor, on some kind of default setting, asked if she wanted the information in Ura-Meltrandi or American-English. Whichever she selected, the data quickly appeared on-screen. "MECHA IDENTIFY AS NON-RDF. PRESUME HOSTILE." In Toph's educational background, that meant only one thing.
Scavengers. And you were in their territory.
Psychie
Princess Psychie
Toph sends out the thought over the Nexus, "Be on the alert! The Destroids out here are scavengers! Probably piloting Frankenmecha!" Shit. What can go wrong, will go wrong.
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
Not a moment later, your communications monitor pinged a notification - you were being hailed via radio. In your minds, you felt the tenseness of Lt. Mack's voice. She was still focused on keeping the Super Valkyrie between the buildings (and not smashing into them). "I'm game for hearing what they want, but that doesn't mean they have to learn a thing about us, including what we sound like."
After a long moment, Shirley opened a channel but said nothing. The moment the channel opened, a gruff and young-sounding male voice with a strong Hispanic accent came over the line. "'Ey! 'Ey, we see you got some fancy robots, no? Well, we don' like trespassers in our town, you hear? Pensacola might be one big dirty toilet since they evacuated it years ago, but it belongs to Los Scavengers now, comprende?"
Shirley let him eat static in reply.
"Oh, you don' wanna talk? Hokay, hokay... Just as long as you are leaving, I will tell you - a whole platoon of Diablo Gigante jus' north of the city about 30 minutes ago. They are all dug in. They got Battle Pods an' they're gonna ambush any gato loco they get in their sights. Maybe they got their eyes on you, huh, fancy pants?"
Shirley keyed her mike twice. In aircraft combat pilot language, it was a quick and voiceless way of saying, "Copy" or "Will do." Any mecha pilot with military experience knew this including yourselves.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Adios, fancy pants."
Shirley ordered Mario. "Take the next right onto the highway and kick it up a notch. We have to make up time."
After a long moment, Shirley opened a channel but said nothing. The moment the channel opened, a gruff and young-sounding male voice with a strong Hispanic accent came over the line. "'Ey! 'Ey, we see you got some fancy robots, no? Well, we don' like trespassers in our town, you hear? Pensacola might be one big dirty toilet since they evacuated it years ago, but it belongs to Los Scavengers now, comprende?"
Shirley let him eat static in reply.
"Oh, you don' wanna talk? Hokay, hokay... Just as long as you are leaving, I will tell you - a whole platoon of Diablo Gigante jus' north of the city about 30 minutes ago. They are all dug in. They got Battle Pods an' they're gonna ambush any gato loco they get in their sights. Maybe they got their eyes on you, huh, fancy pants?"
Shirley keyed her mike twice. In aircraft combat pilot language, it was a quick and voiceless way of saying, "Copy" or "Will do." Any mecha pilot with military experience knew this including yourselves.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Adios, fancy pants."
Shirley ordered Mario. "Take the next right onto the highway and kick it up a notch. We have to make up time."
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
(Heya Gang! Just for funsies and to save you from having to ask, here is a little background your characters would know.)
Pensacola, Florida.
You had heard of the place while you were sweating it out in A.S.C. training. It was the city closest to Eglin A.S.C. base and therefore closest to dangers west of it. Before the Rain of Death, it was a bustling little city full of tourist attractions, hotels, good fishing, farming, and great food. After the Rain of Death, a whole lot of people realized that there was nothing between them and the Arkansas Protectorate, Texas, and all the new no-man's lands the Zentraedi and bandits like the Scavengers were burning.
So, for the large part, many folks fled Pensacola. They headed eastward down the Florida panhandle where at least Eglin A.S.C. base was between them and the rest of the blasted-out former United States. They knew their chances against the alien marauders weren't good. Much of these folks moved to Tallahassee, the next biggest city east of Eglin and the former capital of the state of Florida. The rest spread into the rest of the former state or into Georgia. The folks that remained in Pensacola were a loyal and hardy few. But it was only until this time that any of you had heard of the Zentraedi coming this far east. Eglin, being something of a front-line military base now, knew quite well that they would be hit first by any Malcontent attack. Mario and Shirley had seen the very first of these attacks just two days ago when the tornado hit.
But that tornado did a lot more than just stir up things. The Malcontents have never ever penetrated this far southeast into the former United States before. Florida is one of the few places where humanity is strong in number, unlike most of the other states, many of which were virtually blown off the map. Such a move implies either desperation or great military advancements among the Malcontents. Perhaps both.
From what the Wild Cards learned in A.S.C. training, the Malcontents are out for two things only - death of their enemies and food. The latter feeds the former. And boy, can they eat! Many Floridians said it was just a matter of time before the Malcontents came walking into Pensacola looking to make slaves out of humans. Slaves that could feed the 40-foot-tall alien giants. Now that time has come. But the Army of Southern Cross has its hands full in Eglin A.S.C. base. Especially now thanks to the chaos the F-3 tornado caused. The Malcontents' timing could not be better for them.
Now that you are here, you see first-hand a different story since before the tornado. Pensacola, even during this stormy night, appears to be mostly intact. You haven't seen anyone on the streets, especially Zentraedi, but a force of them are indeed present outside of the city. That force is likely the same group intent on hitting the convoy carrying Colonel Sharp.
Meanwhile, Pensacola, it seems, belongs to the Scavengers now.
Pensacola, Florida.
You had heard of the place while you were sweating it out in A.S.C. training. It was the city closest to Eglin A.S.C. base and therefore closest to dangers west of it. Before the Rain of Death, it was a bustling little city full of tourist attractions, hotels, good fishing, farming, and great food. After the Rain of Death, a whole lot of people realized that there was nothing between them and the Arkansas Protectorate, Texas, and all the new no-man's lands the Zentraedi and bandits like the Scavengers were burning.
So, for the large part, many folks fled Pensacola. They headed eastward down the Florida panhandle where at least Eglin A.S.C. base was between them and the rest of the blasted-out former United States. They knew their chances against the alien marauders weren't good. Much of these folks moved to Tallahassee, the next biggest city east of Eglin and the former capital of the state of Florida. The rest spread into the rest of the former state or into Georgia. The folks that remained in Pensacola were a loyal and hardy few. But it was only until this time that any of you had heard of the Zentraedi coming this far east. Eglin, being something of a front-line military base now, knew quite well that they would be hit first by any Malcontent attack. Mario and Shirley had seen the very first of these attacks just two days ago when the tornado hit.
But that tornado did a lot more than just stir up things. The Malcontents have never ever penetrated this far southeast into the former United States before. Florida is one of the few places where humanity is strong in number, unlike most of the other states, many of which were virtually blown off the map. Such a move implies either desperation or great military advancements among the Malcontents. Perhaps both.
From what the Wild Cards learned in A.S.C. training, the Malcontents are out for two things only - death of their enemies and food. The latter feeds the former. And boy, can they eat! Many Floridians said it was just a matter of time before the Malcontents came walking into Pensacola looking to make slaves out of humans. Slaves that could feed the 40-foot-tall alien giants. Now that time has come. But the Army of Southern Cross has its hands full in Eglin A.S.C. base. Especially now thanks to the chaos the F-3 tornado caused. The Malcontents' timing could not be better for them.
Now that you are here, you see first-hand a different story since before the tornado. Pensacola, even during this stormy night, appears to be mostly intact. You haven't seen anyone on the streets, especially Zentraedi, but a force of them are indeed present outside of the city. That force is likely the same group intent on hitting the convoy carrying Colonel Sharp.
Meanwhile, Pensacola, it seems, belongs to the Scavengers now.
See that dotted line on the far left, west of Pensacola? That's the Alabama/Florida state line.
(Image credit:CNN.com)
(Image credit:CNN.com)
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario frowns as he continues to race forward. Damn scavs. If they only used their skills for the greater good, we all would benefit from it. Instead, they set up little kingdoms of their own, ruled by fear and intimidation. Bastards. "Copy the directions, LT. Moving out, and increasing speed. Keep frosty, everyone."
Psychie
Princess Psychie
Toph nods. "Got my eyes wide open, Corporal!" Keeping to her word, she continually scans the heads-up display for radar returns, infrared signatures, or anything visible with the good ol' Mark One Eyeball.
Kaerri
Dannigan's Lady
It was a very strange experience, being in a tank in the first place, much less one being literally dropped into flight like a pre-space jet fighter. Tanks weren't meant to fly! And yet here they were, maybe not flying exactly, but close enough for the record books. It was also very strange being in the "backseat" of an aircraft. Though she'd chosen the position herself, Elinor had to work to keep her hands from reaching for controls that weren't at her station. Trust in Cera, she told herself. Which you do, which is why she's driving and you're gunning. This is her craft, moreso than any desk-jockey engineer! Self-scolding over, Elinor let herself enjoy that wild ride down (or almost down) to the ground and off down the roads of west Florida.
Elinor also let out a whoop of exhilaration as they cleared the obstacle. Cera could really fly this thing! She also remembered something she'd come across in an old book: The map is not the territory. The file is not the man.* It meant that you could study all you want, but reality was more than any books could tell you. She grinned to herself. That, after all, was why test pilots were needed! And here she was, helping field-test a completely new mecha. Life was good.
Elinor nodded, though of course he couldn't see her, and added by way of reply, "Cool as cucumbers." Privately to Cera she continued, "He means that we should all stay calm and alert. It's not an order, because he doesn't outrank us; it's advice and camaraderie, squadmate to squadmate."
* From one of David Weber's space opera books, though the title escapes me at present.
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Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
Cera grunted as she kept her focus on the controls of the speeding Mjolnir. "Agreed, dentella. It cannot be an order because he is not leader. No male should lead an Ura-Meltrandi. I just wanted to know what a cucumber was..."
Cera did not hide the statement but thought it openly where all in the polyphonic nexus could hear the simple seriousness in her tone. She did not hate Mario, but nor could she deny what she was. Whatever their differences, Cera felt they were both Wild Cards and that meant Leader Mack and Dentella Elly Nor had commanded she work with him. If he were completely inept, she considered, he would not be a Wild Card but something lesser. She held to her earlier feelings - they would know each other in combat. For Cera, a one-of-a-kind tank-bred clone from a future age, it was the way she had been programmed to think by War-queen Taniya and people Taniya trusted. And she would hold onto it until it proved untrue. She doubted it would. War-queen Taniya had followed the Ura-Meltrandi way and she was the strongest, most-competent being Cera could imagine save for the Empress of the Ura-Meltrandi herself. Perhaps one day Taniya would take that title for herself? But instead of daydreaming further, Cera focused back on the now.
Cera took the wide right turn onto the highway behind Mario. Soon, you were rocketing down rain-soaked streets with no further contact from the Scavengers. "Why do you not speak with these... Scavengers? If you are enemies, then why did he aid us with intelligence?"
Elinor, Mario, and Toph found the Mjolnir controls downright pleasant to work with. Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder were made for ease of use to someone who understood both the Ura-Meltrandi and the human mind; Cera had made the vehicle as a merging of both and that showed in the handing and almost-simple understanding of the tanks' controls.
About 10 long minutes passed as you flew down the highway doing just over 100 miles per hour. What broken-down cars, rubble, and lack of road made little difference to the Mjolnirs. At your command, they blazed over and past these obstacles that would have slowed a purely ground-based vehicle. You believed the colonel somewhere ahead of you, alone and on his way to something less than a man like him deserved. The fast-moving storm flashed overhead, filling the sky with both dark and light with ominous clouds all pouring streaks of rain.
It was Toph looking through the Mjolnir's vision signatures coupled with the Lisara-Meltrandi gift of unreal perception that found the quartet of Ajax in helicopter-configuration low in the sky. Infrared had proved nigh-useless with its 500-foot range, but night-vision was another story. The quartet were at the very edge of the night-vision's sensors range of 1,200 feet. Toph noticed they were armed fiercely with twin ion pulse cannons, the like of which she could not procure from General Steele before the mission yesterday. You had just come around a bend on the highway and there they were, flying parallel to the Wild Cards in a well-disciplined box formation at perhaps 200 feet in the air, an altitude that would likely keep them too low for radar detection. They were traveling northbound and out of the city of Pensacola at an easygoing pace of about 40 miles per hour. Toph could not see the vehicle they were protecting, nor were there signs of Zentraedi. You had not been noticed apparently.
But the keen-eyed Wild Card had spotted something else too. Behind the quartet of helicopters, a tank was crashing through the Pensacola streets about 1,000 feet behind the convoy. It did not seem part of the convoy, but it was earnestly chugging along behind it, a lone M1A3 tank in the rain. From its position, the convoy would have had a hard time detecting the military vehicle, but it could not escape Toph's perceptive gifts.
One moment later and Toph spied the prize. There directly in the middle of the box made by the Ajax veritechs was an armored personnel carrier of Army of Southern Cross design. It was an M2200 "Janissary" armored vehicle and its tracks were carrying it along at what was probably its top speed.
The rest of the Wild Cards had seen none of this. Their eyes were either on the road or looking elsewhere. Lt. Mack's Super Valkyrie was flying behind your Mjolnirs in Guardian mode about as safely as a thing that size could. Toph knew you would have to slow your speed or you would burn past the convoy as they traveled out of the city. Then it would be time to try and hail Professor Stein again as was your deal.
Psychie
What action(s) does Toph take?
Cera did not hide the statement but thought it openly where all in the polyphonic nexus could hear the simple seriousness in her tone. She did not hate Mario, but nor could she deny what she was. Whatever their differences, Cera felt they were both Wild Cards and that meant Leader Mack and Dentella Elly Nor had commanded she work with him. If he were completely inept, she considered, he would not be a Wild Card but something lesser. She held to her earlier feelings - they would know each other in combat. For Cera, a one-of-a-kind tank-bred clone from a future age, it was the way she had been programmed to think by War-queen Taniya and people Taniya trusted. And she would hold onto it until it proved untrue. She doubted it would. War-queen Taniya had followed the Ura-Meltrandi way and she was the strongest, most-competent being Cera could imagine save for the Empress of the Ura-Meltrandi herself. Perhaps one day Taniya would take that title for herself? But instead of daydreaming further, Cera focused back on the now.
Cera took the wide right turn onto the highway behind Mario. Soon, you were rocketing down rain-soaked streets with no further contact from the Scavengers. "Why do you not speak with these... Scavengers? If you are enemies, then why did he aid us with intelligence?"
Elinor, Mario, and Toph found the Mjolnir controls downright pleasant to work with. Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder were made for ease of use to someone who understood both the Ura-Meltrandi and the human mind; Cera had made the vehicle as a merging of both and that showed in the handing and almost-simple understanding of the tanks' controls.
* * *
There are lots of details below, folks. If you have questions on them, fire away in Fat Gandalf's Bar & Lounge with them. =)
About 10 long minutes passed as you flew down the highway doing just over 100 miles per hour. What broken-down cars, rubble, and lack of road made little difference to the Mjolnirs. At your command, they blazed over and past these obstacles that would have slowed a purely ground-based vehicle. You believed the colonel somewhere ahead of you, alone and on his way to something less than a man like him deserved. The fast-moving storm flashed overhead, filling the sky with both dark and light with ominous clouds all pouring streaks of rain.
It was Toph looking through the Mjolnir's vision signatures coupled with the Lisara-Meltrandi gift of unreal perception that found the quartet of Ajax in helicopter-configuration low in the sky. Infrared had proved nigh-useless with its 500-foot range, but night-vision was another story. The quartet were at the very edge of the night-vision's sensors range of 1,200 feet. Toph noticed they were armed fiercely with twin ion pulse cannons, the like of which she could not procure from General Steele before the mission yesterday. You had just come around a bend on the highway and there they were, flying parallel to the Wild Cards in a well-disciplined box formation at perhaps 200 feet in the air, an altitude that would likely keep them too low for radar detection. They were traveling northbound and out of the city of Pensacola at an easygoing pace of about 40 miles per hour. Toph could not see the vehicle they were protecting, nor were there signs of Zentraedi. You had not been noticed apparently.
But the keen-eyed Wild Card had spotted something else too. Behind the quartet of helicopters, a tank was crashing through the Pensacola streets about 1,000 feet behind the convoy. It did not seem part of the convoy, but it was earnestly chugging along behind it, a lone M1A3 tank in the rain. From its position, the convoy would have had a hard time detecting the military vehicle, but it could not escape Toph's perceptive gifts.
One moment later and Toph spied the prize. There directly in the middle of the box made by the Ajax veritechs was an armored personnel carrier of Army of Southern Cross design. It was an M2200 "Janissary" armored vehicle and its tracks were carrying it along at what was probably its top speed.
The rest of the Wild Cards had seen none of this. Their eyes were either on the road or looking elsewhere. Lt. Mack's Super Valkyrie was flying behind your Mjolnirs in Guardian mode about as safely as a thing that size could. Toph knew you would have to slow your speed or you would burn past the convoy as they traveled out of the city. Then it would be time to try and hail Professor Stein again as was your deal.
*This can be found on Robotech: Masters Saga Sourcebook on page 84. Each of your characters would be familiar with the Janissary except for Mario who would know it down to its combat statistics and different variants. It makes for an excellent mobile transport of high-level prisoners, the kind you would not want traveling in a two-person Ajax veritech if you get my meaning. =)
Psychie
What action(s) does Toph take?
Psychie
Princess Psychie
With an excited mental 'shout', she sends out, "Eyes on target! Four Ajax Veritech mecha flying over a Janisarry armored vehicle, speed approximately 40 mph! Also, there is a M1A1 Abrams combat tank roughly 1,000 feet back, keeping on their tail. We need to slow down ASAP or we'll zip past them. No sight of the suspected Zentraedi ambush we were told about."
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario nods as he looks where Toph was indicating. "Got it, Lieutenant. Reducing speed." He throttles back to 40mph and lowers the tank down to keep from being spotted visually. "We still planning on waiting for the Zentraedi ambush before heading in, right? I don't want to blow our best shot at this and get the Colonel killed in the firefight."
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
Lt. Mack's Super Valkyrie set down and ran along behind you without the sound of its space-capable engines giving your squadron away. She sounded determined as she came over the nexus. "No way the General's goons or the Malcontents are going to take The Colonel away from us! We do this right, then we get him to pay for another barbeque meal for us. This time with a nice sunny backdrop on a rockin' coastline somewhere. You follow my thinkin', you wanna-be beach bums?" Lt. Mack turned her GU-11 in the direction of the helicopters but she could not bring herself to aim the 55mm cannon at them. "This is the part where we call The Professor and hope he picks up. He gave us this intel with the agreement that we would take this mission on his way, whatever that is."
Lt. Mack made the call. The Professor answered. Lt. Mack put him on speakerphone and after a bit of fiddling around with the new armor, turned her helmet's microphone gain to maximum. She spoke quietly as not to blow out your ears.
"We're flying undetected, in large part thanks to the darkness and this storm. You're on speakerphone so I'll be talking low, all right?"
The Professor's voice sounded as wise and as passionate as ever for the big old fellow possessed no shortage of either traits. "Fine by me, young lady. While you all were doing what you do, I found out a few juicy mission details worth sharing. Turns out there is some kind of 'safehouse' out here. A hidden mega-damage garage of sorts; the pricey, well-stocked variety that can maintain armored vehicles and keep people inside probably indefintely. My guess is this place is where your delightful general keeps company he wants out of the public eye though why he would take his most-trusted officer to place perfect for interrogations is beyond me. Then again, to place Colonel Sharp under house arrest like this already baffles the mind.
"Now here is where it gets interesting. According to local sources, the Malcontents somehow found out about this hideout. They believe there are resources inside worth breaking into, but they cannot make the attempt, not with four Ajax veritechs watching over it. Hence the ambush. I believe they are going to lure the Ajaxs away with a decoy and then storm the place with a smaller force to raid the place and make off with whatever they can find. Malcontents these days do not have the option of being choosy.
"So here is what you must do! Let the ambush take place. Let the Ajax helicopters move away from the safehouse and engage the Malcontent main force. By that time, the APC should be inside the safehouse. That is where you, my dears and fellow, come in. The Wild Cards need to accomplish two tasks at the same time - stop the raiding Malcontents from reaching the safehouse while going in and getting General Steele's prisoner out."
"All right then," Lt. Mack replied. "Wild Cards, here's our play. When the General's Ajax squadron takes the bait (and here's hoping they do!), we move in on the safehouse! Drivers, stay with your tanks and hold off the Malcontents. If the safehouse gets blown to pieces then we probably lose anyone inside. Gunners? Get out of the tanks and into the safehouse, preferably before they lock the place up tight! We'll buy you time against the Malcontents until you can get The Colonel out! Got it?"
Lt. Mack made the call. The Professor answered. Lt. Mack put him on speakerphone and after a bit of fiddling around with the new armor, turned her helmet's microphone gain to maximum. She spoke quietly as not to blow out your ears.
"We're flying undetected, in large part thanks to the darkness and this storm. You're on speakerphone so I'll be talking low, all right?"
The Professor's voice sounded as wise and as passionate as ever for the big old fellow possessed no shortage of either traits. "Fine by me, young lady. While you all were doing what you do, I found out a few juicy mission details worth sharing. Turns out there is some kind of 'safehouse' out here. A hidden mega-damage garage of sorts; the pricey, well-stocked variety that can maintain armored vehicles and keep people inside probably indefintely. My guess is this place is where your delightful general keeps company he wants out of the public eye though why he would take his most-trusted officer to place perfect for interrogations is beyond me. Then again, to place Colonel Sharp under house arrest like this already baffles the mind.
"Now here is where it gets interesting. According to local sources, the Malcontents somehow found out about this hideout. They believe there are resources inside worth breaking into, but they cannot make the attempt, not with four Ajax veritechs watching over it. Hence the ambush. I believe they are going to lure the Ajaxs away with a decoy and then storm the place with a smaller force to raid the place and make off with whatever they can find. Malcontents these days do not have the option of being choosy.
"So here is what you must do! Let the ambush take place. Let the Ajax helicopters move away from the safehouse and engage the Malcontent main force. By that time, the APC should be inside the safehouse. That is where you, my dears and fellow, come in. The Wild Cards need to accomplish two tasks at the same time - stop the raiding Malcontents from reaching the safehouse while going in and getting General Steele's prisoner out."
"All right then," Lt. Mack replied. "Wild Cards, here's our play. When the General's Ajax squadron takes the bait (and here's hoping they do!), we move in on the safehouse! Drivers, stay with your tanks and hold off the Malcontents. If the safehouse gets blown to pieces then we probably lose anyone inside. Gunners? Get out of the tanks and into the safehouse, preferably before they lock the place up tight! We'll buy you time against the Malcontents until you can get The Colonel out! Got it?"
Heya! Remember when I asked what kind of adventure you wanted next, you decided on mecha action combined with personal in-your-face action? Well, here it is! Hope you like the scenario. =)
Kaerri
Dannigan's Lady
"Remind me later and I'll show you," Elinor replied. Time was a bit tight just then.
Elinor answered for Mack, who had other things on her mind. "Well, there's no point giving them information they don't already have. Scavengers aren't on anyone's side but their own. They're a bunch of thugs who don't care what happens to anyone except themselves, so they kill and steal from anyone weaker than they are." Her contempt was plain enough -- she had no respect for lowlifes like that. "I don't think he was so much giving intelligence as taunting and hoping we'd go after it, so he and his could pick up the scraps of what was left afterwards."
"Yes'm," Elinor replied. "Muppet and I go inside for the rescue while you, Cera, and Mario take care of the heavies outside. Got it."
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario grins. "You got it, Lieutenant Mack. We'll bring the hurt to these Malcontents with our new mecha, thanks to Cera. No worries here."
Psychie
Princess Psychie
Toph nods. "It looks like I need to pack some accessories." She then checks her sidearms, taking a moment to familiarize herself with the new weapons and being careful not to fire them. Sliding them back into the holsters, Toph takes up the gunner controls once more. "Don't worry, Mario. Elinor and I won't show you ground pounders up too much!"
Can you give me some idea of what kind of pistols I'm packing, and how many spare E-clips that I have?
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario pauses, then asks, "Does anyone know if these Malcontents are equipped with the standard gear of the Zentraedi of our time, or are they remnants of the Zeki-Zentraedi ship like that Beastmaster that Lt. Toph took out? It is always good to know your enemy."
Psychie
Princess Psychie
Toph feels a slight chill go down her back, thinking about how close things came to a bad end. "I don't think we'll know until we are actually in close quarters with them. In any case, we have a job to do, and by God, we'll do it! Just be cautious out there."
Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
Toph looked down to her hips to discover there were no holsters because there were no sidearms. Out of the corner of her eye, she did spot two side-by-side storage lockers. One door opened both lockers unless they were separately locked. A single glance told her they were unlocked. In there (so her technopathy told her) there were two survival packs and rifles with ammunition, but hadn't Spaceman Sam "said" something about that? Reaching over,
Toph opened the lockers and found the survival gear in perfect condition and expertly-packed, though it seemed like the kind of survival gear one might use... if, say, they were not in a different climate, but on a different planet. There were a few high-tech gadgets in there she could not readily identify. But then she spied a weapon.
It was a high-tech rifle! It had a removable stock and a strange barrel all with military-grade crafting, polish, and machinery. This rifle was unlike any energy weapon she had ever seen and years beyond the latest high-tech weapons she had been trained with! What was it called? How exactly did it operate? She didn't know. She only understood its basic operation (how to operate the safety, switch out energy clips, use the sight, set the multiple fire settings, understand what the flash suppressor and cooling nozzle did, fire the weapon in a safe manner, basically maintain the weapon, and use the shoulder strap to best advantage). The rest was beyond her (and yes, there was more - she could tell that just by looking at it).
Behind the rifle, she found a pair of pistols in excellent condition that looked very much like the rifle. These pistols were held in matte black adjustable kydex hip holsters. They matched the mega suits she and Mario were wearing.
With these weapons were a total of 12 energy clips, 3 of which were inside the weapons meaning that with a flip of the safety, they were loaded and ready to fire.
* * *
Hearing Toph's voice, Professor Stein replied over the speakers with mock-gruffness. "You don't think you will know what? Are you replying to someone you are hearing, little Miss Muppet? Don't think I don't hear you!"
Lt. Mack spoke up. "Mario wants to know if the Malcontents in the ambush are armed like Zeki or Dolza's people."
Cera blasted Mario, but she did not sound altogether serious as she did before. "Well then, er, then our dull male is confusing Dolza's sad and honorless Malcontents with the much more powerful Zeki-Zentraedi! Until this age, these factions have never met! To mistake one for the other is an error only our Mario could make!"
Lt. Mack scolded Cera. "What did I tell you about treating your squadmates, especially our 'male', with respect?"
"Leader Mack! I was attempting to tease him as we Ura-Meltrandi do. Was my attempt too strong?"
The feisty Californian grinned. "Let's find out! We can spare a moment for some corporal bonding! Zuko! Tease Cera back! That's an order!"
Then she added. "Anyone else have any bright questions?"
"I have one," Professor Stein said.
"What is it, sir?"
"Are you young Wild Cards always this zany?"
"Only on days that end with the letter 'y'!
Psychie
Princess Psychie
Toph marvels at the smooth construction and the fine lines of these new (to her) weapons. After examining them, she closes her eyes to try and Traverse the pistols to be fully in tune with what they can do. Visualizing the now familiar blue field, she presses forward, trying to reach out to the heart of the weapon. Energy weapon, I am Toph, your wielder. Show me your status for battle.
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
As the trio of mecha ghost alongside the four Ajax, the APC, and the Abarams, Mario goes over the weapon systems of the tank in his head, trying to keep a good feel for what he will rely upon the most since the main gun is currently unloaded. "Sorry, Professor. I'll try to make sure to talk out loud to let you hear the conversation. Anyone have sight of the Zentraedi ambush yet? I'm getting antsy to try out this baby in a fight!"
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Mario had almost missed this command as he was so focused on the mission, but Mack's voice snapped him out of it. "Yes, ma'am! Hmmm. Don't worry Cera. I promise not to make you look too bad out there when the bullets start flying. After all, between the two of us, I'm the one that's responsible for firing off those nukes to kill that Assault Scout in the middle of battle."
Psychie
Princess Psychie
Toph rolls her eyes. "Oh, Lord! Its not like there was no one else on that ship, working their asses off, to get the job done! Watch how big your head gets, Corporal, or you may not be able to fit it in your helmet!"
Kaerri
Dannigan's Lady
Elinor was enjoying the banter, but at the moment, had nothing to add, though she smiled when Cera joined in. While she listened, she opened her own locker to find her "assigned" weaponry and familiarized herself with them. She didn't try technopathy, however, as she didn't want to risk getting "lost" while Cera was distinctly unavailable to help guide her back. For their purposes, what she could see from conventional inspection should get them through fine*, or so she assumed.
*I'm assuming the info she knows about her weapons is the same as Toph; are the weapons themselves the same also?
*I'm assuming the info she knows about her weapons is the same as Toph; are the weapons themselves the same also?
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