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Robotech: Army of the Southern Cross - IC Thread

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Chris smiles as he limbers up Might as well we only live once. Let see if these old bones still got it. He took the token and put it in the machine, and choose the song..



"Ok, kitty time to show me your claw or this old dog will eat you up." And the final dance competition begins....
 
By this time, your antics on the dancing game has drawn a crowd, cheering and clapping as you guys nail the moves. While Miya has the better prowess, she has gotten a bit worn out by now from having multiple dances, and it has the effect of slowing you down just enough to have Chris take the win. Several people give you a congratulatory slap on the back as another pair of worthy dancers try their luck against one another.

Doug gives a laugh, then says, "I seem to recall that food was mentioned earlier, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to nosh. I saw a TGI Friday's restaurant nearby. That sound good to everyone? Lets get some food."

Assuming that there are no objections, you amble over through the parking lot and end up snagging a table and ordering some food. Things get quieter as everyone tears into their meals.
 
Inside, Miyazaki is reeling from her efforts. She had meant for Chris to take her last token to play a game on his own, but he had instead challenged her and what Meltrandi could say no?

As Chris takes the lead, Miya can't help but smile. When she finally catches her breath, she curtsies. Proudly, she says, "Well done, Chris! The crown goes to you!"

Doug gives a laugh, then says, "I seem to recall that food was mentioned earlier, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to nosh. I saw a TGI Friday's restaurant nearby. That sound good to everyone? Lets get some food."
"Food, please! Yes!" Miya staggers. Once the food is ordered, she dives into it daintily but somewhat ravenously. Miya feels especially lucky. She is in a team of people who seem to accept her for what she is while she can easily return the favor given the decent people her squadmates are. "Best to enjoy this kind of cuisine while we can - I don't imagine there will be much like it in your Southern American continent?

"Which reminds me - I've been meaning to ask," she asks everyone between bites of her shrimp, vegetables, and pasta. "Why did you join the Army of the Southern Cross? And why your particular branches?"
 
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Between bites of bacon cheeseburger and fries, Steven says, "Well, it was a real no-brainer for me to go into the service, and I wanted to make my own path instead of following my brother into the RDF Destroid program. For me, the ATAC is the tip of the spear, the real front line to keep this world safe. Not that I have anything bad to say about the other branches of the service. I just found my home here and I plan on putting in my time until I'm too old to drive the Spartas anymore."
 
Nova suddenly says, "I hate space flight. The weightlessness, the whole thing. Even if I was good in my Queadluun-Rau armor, I never liked deploying in space. But I still have the 'needed skillset' to be a mecha operator, so the ASC wrangled me into the Spartas to go along with my intelligence training. It is a good fit for me, and I hope that it means that I get to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground from now on."

Doug lets out a chuckle. "You do realize that you've just jinxed yourself? Our first mission will undoubtedly require us to go into orbit! If that happens, I'll make sure to blame you and you'll never hear the end of it!"

Nova gives Dorsey a glare, then says, "What about you, oh Fearless Leader? What brings you here?"

He says, "I started out in the RDF, operating a Spartan. It was a good run, but I wanted something a bit different. I went with the Spartas because I wanted to be able to make a difference, and the new tanks have a ton of firepower and armor, giving them a lot of punch for their small size. Besides, the move to the ASC got me my chevrons and a squad command, so I'm a happy camper."
 
"For me, it was a misplaced sense of patriotism and ignorance of youth as well as a bit of wanting to pilot a giant robot." Said Chris as it seems that everyone is sharing. Might as well do before they descent to the hell of the battlefield.

"I worked for the RDF for about 10 Year before transferring here. However, back then things were quite different than how they are now." He had ordered himself some chicken burger with fries. "Glad i got out, never want to see Major Winifield ever again." He said chuckling awkwardly.
 
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Miyazaki's incurably-curious mind cannot help but look back and see if, by some chance, she remembers any RDF major by the name of Winifield. And if she comes up with nothing, well, it was worth searching for anyway.

She pushes a forkful of vegetables through the sauce on her plate. "I for one am glad to be in a squad with so many combat veterans in it, especially for my first time in the field. Nearly all Zentraedi have no fear of how they'll do under fire for we come extremely well-equipped to handle the stresses of combat. From what I gather, it's usually the humans who flinch or hesitate or show signs of self-doubt. Joining a group of people with combat experience gives our enemies one less edge to use against us and one more edge for us to use against them. Those are the kinds of odds I like."
 
Sherwood Sherwood GunMan2 GunMan2 Dannigan Dannigan

Time goes by, and stories are told around the table about past events to bring a chuckle or groan to those listening. Soon enough, you look at your watches to realize that it is getting late, and you all have much work to do in order to pack you gear and personal effects to prep for the long flight to Brazilia Base. It would seem that now it is a good time to head back to the barracks and wind down for the night with the final order from Dorsey to start thinking about a cool squad name to use besides the 3rd JSOG. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it is not as cool as some others, am I right?

The following morning starts bright and early with your standard PT call out, followed by a shower to clean up and breakfast soon after. Then your morning is taken up with filing and receiving paperwork to take with you to your new duty assignment. Luckily for you, much of what needs to be taken care of is now handled on your personal datapads, but some traditions of filling out reams of paper still hold firm, leaving you all with aching hands from signing your names to different sheets of paper for the the millionth time since you started your trek around the records office.

One bright part of your day comes when you are officially assigned your very own Spartas tank instead of using the training company's workhorses. Giving your new rides a full inspection takes several hours of tedious work, but it is work that can very well save your lives if you manage to spot a problem before you go into combat with a defective tank. Fortunately, all the issues discovered are extremely minor and are quickly fixed up by the techs in the motorpool. Nothing to keep you from having your mecha ready to deploy for tomorrow's flight out.

The final part of your day comes with the need to pack your duffel bags and get everything ready for an early start to the day. Your flight down south is set to be wheels up by 0730, so you'll need to be at the airfield early in the morning to get checked in for your long flight. It wouldn't be so bad if you were just flying straight there, but since that flight path would take you right over the bulk of the Zentraedi Control Zone in South America, your cargo flight with you and your tanks are having to divert out to the east quite a bit over the Atlantic Ocean to keep the cargo lifter from getting shot down with you in it, and that adds several hundred miles to your trip. At least you'll be able to sleep on the flight.

Morning comes early with you being rousted from your bunks in an almost friendly manner by the training cadre. No longer are you guys a simple bunch of maggots; you have all graduated as tankers, and have earned the respect of the Drill Sergeants as one of the elite. The senior Drill Sergeant of your platoon takes a minute to give you all a friendly punch in the gut and a few words of encouragement, telling you to continue to do him proud, and if you are ever back at Monument City, look him up for a beer.

Weapons are assigned to you, and you all feel a bit like turtles with all of your gear weighing you down as you hike up the boarding ramp into the belly of the Tunny transport aircraft where your tanks are already strapped in for safety by the aircraft's loadmaster, taking up the bulk of the Tunny's cargo hold. You are all sent to the upper personnel deck for your flight out, along with at least fifty to sixty other soldiers on their way to their new posting of Brazilia Base. Once your gear is safely tucked away and you've taken your seats, you can feel the pressure difference as the air transport is buttoned up and pressurized for the high altitude flight.

As the transport taxi's out to take off, you can all see that Nova is a bit jumpy. She gives a sheepish grin and says, "It is one thing to be behind the controls of my own mecha, flying off into space, but it is a very different animal to have some other person with their hands on the stick and throttle that I have to depend upon to get me where I'm going in one piece. I don't like it, and I probably never will."

Luckily for everyone onboard, the flight is relatively smooth and uneventful, up to the point that the aircraft makes its final approach to Brazilia Base for landing. The members of the 3rd JSOG are instructed to get into your tanks and prepare to drive them out of the aircraft, and the loadmaster informs you that if anyone makes the mistake of putting a dent in the side of her Tunny, she will cut out the spleen of the offending party and feed it to you, and everyone has the feeling that she is not entirely joking.

Once each of you is given the ok to power up and slowly drive out, you can see that the activity on the flight line is coming to a temporary halt as the various ground crew get their first look at the shiny new mecha that you're piloting, since this is the first time that the Spartas has been deployed here. Curious looks eventually turn away as the work of the day still has to be done.

A fresh faced PFC comes over to round you up. "Sergeant? I'm PFC Hawkins, and I've been directed to escort your team to your bunker. If you would please follow me? The Captain is looking forward to meeting you." He moves out to a waiting staff car and heads out across the tarmac, directing you to a heavily reinforced building with mecha storage located underground. The mecha bay is huge, with several dozen different Destroids, conventional tanks and APCs parked in their various stalls, some showing signs of battle damage and are being worked on by the ground crews and technicians, moving with a purpose to get them back up to 100% and ready for combat once more.

According to your orders, you are to report to Capt. Emil Cruz, the CO of the company you have been assigned to.
 
Charles watched the man leave. As he took his things and began to walk, apparently the concept of 'jet lag' is foreign here. At least they got to the Brazilian base in one piece without getting shot witch was a plus in his books. He knew that flying close to the Zentraedi lines could have them be shoot down. He looks to Nova and Miyazaki thinking how people both like and hate them since they got mixed with their own soldier.

He was no history nut but he still remembers some things from history class about what the Zentraedi's or as the more common folk refer to them as Zeek's. Didn't all that happen like thousands of years ago. He then turned to his otherwordly and human teammates "So anyone want to bet of what flavor of CO, mr.Cruz is?"
 
Steven shares Chris' curiosity about Capt. Cruz, and says, "Well, I just hope that he's got his head screwed on straight and that he's not an asshole. But in any case, we're going to give our best for our new CO and show these RDF pukes how the new ASC does things. But just to sate my curiosity, let's see what the public records have on our new commander." He pulls out his datapad and does a quick search for what is available to the public on this Capt. Emil Cruz. What kind of background does he come from?
 
Miyazaki clasps her hands behind her back and quietly muses upon what has been said. When she concludes, her tone is thoughtful and confident. "To paraphrase and use a lesson from your martial arts system of Jeet Kune Do, I am going to 'keep my cup empty' and see what kind of individual Captain Emil Cruz is. I am interested in his background as Steven is. But were I in Captain Cruz's position, I would want to be seen for what I am and not from any preconceived notions or opinions. Let me be seen for who am!

"But that just might be the Meltrandi in me speaking. Surely, it's the same for humans? You know. Wanting to be seen more of a person and less than just a figure standing in a pretty uniform?"
 
From Steven's quick search, you can see that Capt. Emil Cruz is a forty-six year old Destroid pilot that has served in the RDF for over fifteen years, some of that time was while he was stationed to Macross Island before the SDF-1 made its space fold attempt which ended up bringing the whole island with them out to the orbit of Pluto. That he was able to survive gives some indication that he is, or at least was, a skillful pilot of the heavy mecha, and he served with distinction as a leader of a platoon of Tomahawk and Spartans. His current billet is as the commander of a reinforced armored company of heavy infantry, tanks, APCs and Destroids.

PFC Hawkins offers to assist in guiding you through the maze of corridors of the bunker to the company headquarters where you'll find the Captain. It does not take long before you are in the outer waiting room as a half dozen staffers go about their work in the office, making calls and keeping track of the status of the repairs of the damaged equipment you saw down below. After sitting for a few minutes, you are shown into the Captain's office where you get your first look at the man. The best word to describe the Captain is squat. He's short and stocky, with dark colored skin that shows his Hispanic heritage. Even though he now rides a desk instead of running around in the field toting a rucksack and rifle, he appears to be in remarkable shape.

The Captain looks up at the group as you enter, motioning for you to have a seat. He takes a long look at the five of you, his expression unreadable, before he says, "So, you are my new mecha drivers. I've heard about those little toys of yours, and the ASC seems to think that they hold a lot of promise for our efforts to put a stop to the insurrection we are facing with the militant forces of the Zentraedi camped out in the Control Zone. Personally, I'm not as sure that these Tonka tanks will be all that they have been hyped up to be, since engineers like to promise the world, but your presence here has been decided at levels above my own, so I'm now going to be putting you to work."

Dorsey nods. "Understood, sir. We are looking forward to it."

"Good, because it will not be long before you are all dropped into the meat grinder. The Zentraedi in the Zone have been making themselves out to be a bunch of tough hombres, and they are hard to pin down to be able to deliver hard firepower to wipe them out. Ever since their new leader, a Zentraedi Warlord named Galt camel along, the Malcontents have been more focused and much more deadly. We suspect that they have several bases of operation in the Zone, but intel has not had any success in locating them. The territory is extremely dense, and our heavier units are experiencing difficulty getting into the heart of the Zone to search for targets. That is where your toys come in. As small as they are, they shouldn't have as much trouble getting in and out of the bush that the Destroids are experiencing."

"You are going to be forward deployed to one of the Border Surveillance Posts, Anton-17, that has recently been hit pretty hard and is in need of resupply to keep it running. A convoy is being put together as we speak, and you will be providing some of the escort needed to deliver that gear to the BSURP along with a handful of Destroids and armored vehicles. There will also be a pair of Commanchero helicopters providing air support. It is vital for the continued security of the region that Anton-17 gets their replacement parts and mecha. Am I clear?"

Once more Dorsey nods. "Crystal, sir. We'll get the convoy through."

Capt. Cruz leans back in his seat. "Good. Now, are there any questions for me before you are dismissed?"
 
Miyazaki raises her hand and waits to be called upon before asking. "What is known about Warlord Galt, sir? Is he a new name or does he come from another Zentraedi-held territory? Why would the Malcontents target this Anton-17? Does it guard resources the Malcontents are after, perhaps?"
 
Miyazaki raises her hand and waits to be called upon before asking. "What is known about Warlord Galt, sir? Is he a new name or does he come from another Zentraedi-held territory? Why would the Malcontents target this Anton-17? Does it guard resources the Malcontents are after, perhaps?"
Capt. Cruz looks at Miya and says, "Warlord Galt was one of Lord Khyron's hand-picked captains of one of the Command Ships that served him in his squadron. During the final assault against the main Zentraedi fleet, he stood out as one of the few ship captains that was able to come through the assault with a ship that didn't have to crash land when the fight was over. At first, he seemed to be able to acclimate to living in our human culture, acting as a senior military advisor to the RDF, but something happened to drive a wedge between Galt and the RDF command. He promptly vanished from sight to suddenly appear in the Control Zone, back at full size from his previous micronized status. That tells us that somewhere in the Zone he has access to a Protoculture Chamber, and has been restoring other micronized Zentraedi to their original size at an alarming rate. He is a skilled tactician, and has rallied the Zentraedi in the Control Zone to pull off some rather impressive attacks against strategic targets of both the Brazilian military and the RDF, and as such, is on the top of our most wanted list."

"It is not just Anton-17 that has taken a hard hit, even if they were hammered pretty bad. Anton-17 protects a critical bridge over one of the many rivers, and guards one of the primary routes being used by the military heading into the Zone. Other posts have also been targeted, and the alert level in the whole region has gone through the roof as the RDF scrambles to replenish the losses suffered during the attacks. I know that there are other convoys heading out, but the one on its way to Anton-17 is where my focus is at the moment."
 
"I see. Thank you, sir." Miyazaki nods in gratitude as she digests and correlates the information he has so freely supplied. Glad I asked, she thinks to herself. That protoculture chamber has got to be taken out of Malcontent hands.
 
Steven thinks for a moment, trying to digest the news that the Malcontents have a Protoculture Chamber somewhere out there that they are using to literally grow their numbers. Not a good thing. He then asks, "Sir, what are we looking at for the contents of the convoy, and exactly what security are we looking at for it?"
 
The Captain says, "You will be escorting three fuel tankers and eight cargo trucks, along with four APCs carrying infantry, two Spartans, one Defender and one Tomahawk. Then you also have the two helicopters providing air support. The cargo trucks have a little bit of everything from food, spare parts and ammo. As you can see, this is an important delivery."
 
Miyazaki looks back into the lore and tactics of her own people and says, "I imagine impoverished Zentraedi might go after the ammo followed by the food probably proceeded by some sort of distraction. If they can't take it away, I bet they'll try and destroy it so as to deny our people its use. Especially the fuel unless they've captured humans and vehicles to make use of it. Either way, count me ready to bring our troops those supplies intact." Miyazaki puts her fist into her open palm with a smack.
 
Doug then asks, "Sir, who is in charge of security of the convoy?"

"That will be Master Sergeant Cooper in the Tomahawk. He will have full discretion on your deployment, but the 3rd JSOG is still your responsibility. He is also going to be understandably ignorant as to the capabilities of the Spartas, so make sure you are in communication with Cooper to give him your input as to the best way to deploy your team."

"Understood, sir."

With a glance at his watch, the captain says, "You should have had plenty of time to rest on your flight over, so you shouldn't have any trouble getting your mecha ready to deploy with the convoy. Make sure you are ready for action out there, and keep your eyes peeled. The insurgency has been hitting targets all over the place, which is why we are putting so much armor with the convoy. These supplies need to get through. Now, if there are no other questions?"

GunMan2 GunMan2 anything from you for the Captain?
 
Being a farm boy for most of his life, Chris don't really have much in the way of smarts but if its about creating a big boom then he is the man for the job.

He decided to ask more the more important question first: "Are there any other know paths that lead to Anton-17? and What sort of ordinance is readily available?" Asked the heavy weapons experts "If what you say about the bigging tanks is true and we need to get rid of them. We will need a lot of boom to do that. Or..." He turned to Miyazaki "How big could those tanks be?"
 
The Captain looks over at Chris and says, "Unfortunately, the heavy fuel tankers and cargo trucks don't have the same off road capabilities that the mecha do, and will be confined to the roads on the way to Anton-17. Fortunately, most of the way you are traveling is in relatively secure areas, and it is not until you are closer to the Zone that you will have to worry more about an ambush. As far as assigned gear, you have your personal weapons already stowed in your tanks, and you have your mecha's standard ordnance to get you through a fight. That, along with the rest of the escort force, should keep things from getting ugly out there."
 
He turned to Miyazaki "How big could those tanks be?"
To Chris, she says. "I don't know but we'll certainly find out."

To Sgt. Dorsey and Captain Cruz, she says, "No further, sirs. Ready to deploy!"
 
To Sgt. Dorsey and Captain Cruz, she says, "No further, sirs. Ready to deploy!"
Capt. Cruz gives a half smile as he says, "Then why are you warming my seats when you should be on the move? Dismissed."

It doesn't take you long to work your way through the corridors of the bunker to once more get to the mecha bay where your tanks are waiting for you. A small crowd of people are standing around the tanks, eyeing the new arrivals with curiosity. One of the NCOs standing there is a Master Sergeant in neatly pressed BDUs with a Destroid Pilot's patch on his shoulder, and you can see the name 'Cooper' on his chest. Dorsey says to the group, "That must be our convoy lead. Lets go check in."

He strides over and says to Cooper, "Master Sergeant Cooper, I presume? I'm Sergeant Dorsey of the 3rd JSOG."

Cooper extends a hand and says, "Good, good. I was waiting for you to get done checking in." He glances over at the nearest Spartas and says, "So these are the new hover tanks that we've heard so much about. Smaller than I had expected. Are you sure that they are going to be able to handle the mission out there in the Zone?"

Doug nods. "Master Sergeant, don't underestimate the tanks for their small size. They pack a whole lot of butt-whoopin' in a tiny package. They'll do the job no problem."

"Good to hear. I fully expect to be dealing with some shit out there on our way to Anton-17, so keep your eyes open. We have a lot of cargo to keep watch over, and I want to deliver our goods to the BSURP in one piece." He pulls out his datapad and presses a few keys. As he does so, he continues with, "I'm sending you comm codes to be dispersed to your people so we can all keep in touch out there. Once we get past the outer marker of the Zone, I want things to be kept tight. Assign three of your tanks to take point, and the last two can bring up the rear. Our Destroid force will be spaced through the middle of the convoy, along with the APCs, and the choppers will range back and forth overhead. If there is any sign of Zentraedi activity, I want us all to lay down the hurt on them hard and keep the attention on us and off of the transports."

Doug takes his own datapad and looks it over. "Signal codes received. I'll assign my lead units as soon as we're done here."

Cooper says, "Good deal. I want to be on the move within twenty minutes. The sooner we can get those supplies through, the better off it will be for the base. I have to check in with the rest of the convoy crew. Go ahead and prep up to roll out."

"Understood, Master Sergeant." Dorsey waits for Cooper to head off before turning to look at the rest of the team. "You guys heard all that? Good. For our operators on point, I want Barnes, Bishop and Miyazaki up front, and Nova and I will bring up the rear. Are you guys going to be up for it? Keep watch for IEDs or any signs of an ambush. I'd rather have to signal a halt to check the territory ahead of us a dozen times instead of having a bomb go off and ruin someone's day. Remember, ATAC is, er, rather, the Spartas is the point of the spear, and we will show these damn Malcontents what for if they try to mess with our delivery."
 
"You guys heard all that? Good. For our operators on point, I want Barnes, Bishop and Miyazaki up front, and Nova and I will bring up the rear. Are you guys going to be up for it?
"Yes, sir," Miyazaki replies firmly.

Remember, ATAC is, er, rather, the Spartas is the point of the spear, and we will show these damn Malcontents what for if they try to mess with our delivery."
"Yes, sir!'

"Grimes - We Appreciate Power (Lyric Video)"

"and if you long to never die
baby plug in, upload your mind
c'mon you're not even alive
if you're not backed up on a drive"



Once dismissed for mission prep, Miyazaki meanders toward the Spartas tanks murmuring while thinking aloud. "Really now. If these Malcontents are even half as eager as the captain sets them out to be, then isn't it really a matter of 'when' and not 'if'? I mean, they are awfully good at playing soldier and kamikaze-bandit, but since they can't create, what choice do they have but to kidnap and steal from humankind?" She pauses a moment and examines her odd reflection bouncing off of the Spartas's hull. "If only the this Warlord Gant and his Malcontents would just wise up and join us already, people on both sides wouldn't have to get blown away and they wouldn't even need war-machines like me and Maru! Oh, hi Maru!"

Miyazaki waves to her Spartas. She stands there a moment admiring small and powerful frame and all of the ingenuity that went into developing it.

VHT-1-Spartas-Veritech-Hover-Tank-86.jpg
(Image credit: The excellent Mecha Journal)

Then she gets to work and begins mission prep as if she were born for it.
 
Barns nods as he goes to his own Spartas hover tank. Entering he looks around the machine and all the screens and flashing lights. “So much money is spend to make these death machines. Seriously those mecha shows really don’t show how much really goes into these machines.” He continues his musing as the machine powers up.

Each screen begins to show a series of data to the pilot that would go over a civilians head. Yep way too understated. As the last of the screen he activates the sensors and radar and then waits for the other to be done before rolling out
 

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