Robotech - Southern Cross Adventure

[WlfSamurai]

Dr. Lawrence smiles up at Cpl. Kerensky and gives a slight wave. "These cases have enough flu vaccine for all three towns you are going to. It is simple enough to inject, so you can rope in some helpers to deliver the medicine to those that want it and help keep the locals safe and healthy."

“Understood, Doctor,” says Alissa. “I’ll make sure the locals get the vaccine and take care to spread it correctly. Thank you.”

* * *

Alissa sits in her tank with her hand resting on the guardian lever. If this force ahead showed hostile, she’d be ready.

While she waits, she uses her other hand to work her sensors and do a sweep. Constant surveillance is the best way to keep the convoy safe. And perhaps they had missed something.

 

[Psychie]

As the squad approaches, a man in camouflage comes out in front. He is armed only with a pistol on his hip, unlike the other men in the group that are packing energy rifles and AK-47's. He stands in the road, obviously expecting you to come to a stop before running into him. Once you get close enough to him to hear him, he shouts out in accented English, "Halt! You will show us your identification papers before being allowed to proceed." He does not look or sound immediately hostile, and you can see he is looking at the tanks in front of him with curiosity.

Being this close to the road block and the camouflage netting on the sides of the road, you can see glints of metal through the trees, showing you that there are some kind of vehicles hidden away, out of sight.

Spoiler

[Perhaps we should establish of the 4 trailers, who is hauling the surveillance gear, and who doesn't have a trailer being towed. I presume either Deunan or Alissa are trailer free and either Neo or Marlon have the mission-critical gear since they have the most expertise in setting that sort of thing up.]

Deunan is the one without a trailer, and currently Marlon has the radar set.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan will pull up to a stop a short distance away from the man in the road and settle the tank down onto the earth, but leaving its power on. "Good morning. I am Sgt. Deunan Conway with the 3rd Heavy Recon, of the Army of the Southern Cross." She pulls out her identification card and leans out of the cockpit of the tank to offer it up to the man. "We are hauling water purification systems for several towns up the road. I trust that everything is in order?"

 

[Psychie]

The man is joined by two other soldiers, these both packing rifles slung over their shoulders and carrying small computers. The fellow with the sidearm walks up to Deunan's tank and reaches up to take your Id card. "That remains to be seen, Sergeant." He hands the Id card to one of the men with the computers and looks over the tank. "What is this vehicle? I have never seen this before. You say you are hauling water equipment? I would like to inspect it, please."

 

[Sherwood]

Climbing down, Deunan will begin to walk over to the trailer being hauled by Alan. "Of course. Please come with me." She indicates the tank that they were approaching, and says, "This is the latest combat vehicle out of Monument City for the ASC. It is the Spartas Hover Tank. A real beauty, don't you think? They are a real pleasure to operate."

At the trailer, she will open it up wide and let the soldier look inside. "What is the reason for this road block? Surely you can see that we are not Zentraedi Malcontents. Is there something we need to know about?"

 

[Psychie]

The trio follow you to the trailer, and they stand back out of the way as Deunan opens it up. One fellow leans in to look at the water pumps and filter equipment while the second fellow is obviously running your Id through some sort of database. He gives off a slight nod, and speaks in Spanish to the man with the pistol, handing the identification card back to you.

"It is a combat vehicle? Good. You will need it out here. Not only are there the giants, but there are bandits that seek to rob and plunder their neighbors instead of working for what they need. That is why we are here, we are looking for those criminals to try and protect our people out here." He looks at the man digging in the trailer as the fellow straightens up. He, too, speaks in Spanish, and the man with the pistol nods, and you can see that what little tension in his frame seems to fade away.

Offering you his hand, he says, "I am Captain Carlos Mendez of the Brazilian Regular Army. Thank you for your cooperation here, Sergeant. It makes life out here so much easier when our interactions with one another does not end up in some pissing contest, especially when we are all on the same side. Everything seems to be in order. I wish you safe travels."

Stepping back, the Captain waves his hands over his head, and one of the APCs starts up with the roar of a big diesel engine and it shifts out of the way on the road, leaving a open path to be able to head on your way.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan takes her Id back and slips it back into its pocket. "Thank you, Captain Mendez. I do hope you have a quiet day, and don't have any surprises to deal with out here. We'd best be on our way. This equipment won't deliver and install itself."

Heading back to her own mecha, she climbs back up into the cockpit and engages the hover jets and slowly weaves her way through the opening in the road block. On the squad radio channel, she says, "We are in the clear. This bunch is looking for bandits on the road. Routine stuff. Come on through."

Assuming that there is no issues with the others, once everyone is through the barricade she will throttle up to a safe cruising speed for the trailers and keep on their way to the first of the towns.

 

[Psychie]

On the way once more, you arrive at the small town of Passo Fundo. Small town life looks pretty much the same, no matter where you are. Kids playing in the streets, dogs barking, and people running their errands. As you pull up along the main drag of the town, you are met by a group of men that direct you to a small town square. They all welcome you as the crowd around you starts to grow.

In thickly accented English, one of the older men welcomes you. "You are a sight for sore eyes. Please, be welcome here! Your arrival has helped to save this town from going thirsty. For weeks we have had to haul drinking water miles up the mountain. Now, we will have a working pump once more!" He moves from person to person of the squad, pumping your hands in a strong grip. "Thank you so much!"

Unpacking the first trailer is simple enough, just takes a bit of elbow grease to pull everything out and get set up.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Alissa dismounts and helps unpack the water purification equipment. As she works, she takes note of the living conditions and the health of the people they encounter.

When the equipment has been unpacked, she collects one of the cases of flu vaccine and sets up a medical tent. With scanners and field equipment, she plans to not only vaccinate the town, but take note on the medical condition on every patient the vaccinate. It would be good to have a database of the townsfolk and where they stand health-wise.

 

[Rykon]

Alan unhooks the trailer from Freckles and pops open the back to unload the purifier. Assuming the machine was not completely pre-assembled, he'd help heft out what parts he could before moving to wrap up assembly. Otherwise, he'd make use of what machine lifting he could. Veritec mode was a worst-case scenario assuming a Spartas could reach in and get a decent grip on the purifier without damaging it.

Once the pump was installed, Alan ran over to join Alissa in administering vaccinations. Though the suit was mitigating the vast majority of the climate's insufferable heat, Alan removed his helmet to better focus on the task at hand. Man, I don't know if I'll ever get used to this boiling pot of a territory.

 

[D. Rex]

It was a good thing they only knew about the water purification systems. Not that it would have been a problem to have had the radar, but the less people who knew about it the better. A wise move on the Sergeant's part.


Once he and Alan finished putting together the purifier, Marlon took some time to show the villagers how to run and maintain it. As well as giving them the manual. With proper care, it should last them a while. But with the jungle mud in the waters, the would get clogged up quick if they took it for granted.


After putting up his tools, Marlon went to go find Deunan. He didn't know anything about medicine, or giving a shot. He'd excuse himself from that task last he screw that up somehow or be in the way

"Well Sergeant. What are your thoughts? " He asked.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan does her best to keep up with the handshaking that is going on, reassuring the townspeople that the ASC is there for them as needed. There are many times that she has to stop and remind a speaker that she does not speak Spanish beyond ordering a meal at Taco Bell, but she is doing her best to be patient.

While the others are pulling out supplies to assemble the water system and the small tent for the inoculations, Deunan looks over the town that she can see and will take note of anything out of place that might suggest potential trouble for them in the near future or more long term. Once the assembly of the water pumps is well underway and their resident doctor is busy giving out shots to those that want them, she turns her attention to Marlon.

"This kind of work of helping people out is a big part of what I signed up in the ASC for. Not that being the tip of the spear in the war against the insurgents is not important, but doing stuff like this," she motions with her hand at the work being done, "is just as important. It gives me a good feeling in my heart to be a part of work like this."

After a short pause, she looks Marlon in the eye. "By the way, you did good spotting the camo netting in the trees back there at the roadblock. If that was not a legit bunch of people, and we had missed that hidden armor, it could have been ugly for us. Not that we wouldn't have gotten out of it in one piece, but it could have messed us up a bit. Thanks."

 

[Psychie]

Deunan's keen eye looking over the square around you shows a pretty typical small town, and from here at least, there is nothing out of the ordinary. There are a handful of older men and women that are looking upon the 'gringos' with suspicion, but they are in the minority of the people here. Most of the crowd look to be very positive in their response to your team being there.

When Alissa unpacks the tent and starts to give out flu shots, you also find that there is a supply of candy to go to the children to help make the pain of the needle go away. Medically speaking, the people you are treating show that they are in fairly good health. A few need some medicine to help out a case of pneumonia, but you have enough antibiotics in your medical bag to give them a shot to boost their recovery.

For Alan, the work of assembling the water pump goes quickly, especially with the aid of a few of the more mechanically inclined citizens of the town. The whole project to get finished takes just under twenty minutes, faster than Alissa's work to give out the shots.

As everyone is finishing up the work on both the water pump and filter and the flu shots, you are given a basket of fresh tamales to eat as a way of saying 'thank you' from a town that has little else to offer up.

Next up on your goodwill tour is the town of Canoas, and you should be there in about two hours, depending on the road conditions.

 

[D. Rex]

"I know what you mean. And I'm inclined to agree." Marlon said. "I'm glad you look at it like that. A lot of people from the outside look at war, and see combat as prominent. It is easy to miss that many of us do just want to help. And that many of us do value those we are trying to protect."

At the compliment, he smiled."Thank you. But maybe you should thank luck instead. If I didn't have the image of the netting fresh in my mind from when I loaded some up, I probably would have missed it entirely. And it was your smooth talking that got us through the checkpoint. They seemed pretty on edge. I think they really appreciated a bit of understanding. Let's hope our other visits go just as smoothly."


___



( Psychie ) Before leaving, Marlon would ask some of the locals about the next town and the route there. To see if they had any insight that they could make use of. And what sort of reception they might expect. As well as inquire about some of the mountains of the region and their peaks.


And of course thank the people for the tamales. Of which he would take go sit in his tank with a couple, waiting for the orders to move on.

When Duenan would get back to her tank, he'd pull up the radio. "Sergeant. I've been thinking, them folks and the Zentraedi. They both were pretty keen on hiding in the foliage. Using the jungle to their advantage is likely tactics as well as guerilla doctrines, is stuff we should expect pretty often. And maybe also something we should think about employing ourselves."

"Aye, tanks aren't exactly the most subtle of beasts. While a camo refit isn't exactly in the cards right now, slapping some mud on the hull will make us stop looking like white shiny robot elephants. Perhaps later though, food for thought, when we aren't having to keep up appearances."

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan thinks about what Marlon suggests, then nods. "Yes, some kind of jungle camouflage paint would do us a world of good in trying to slip in and out of a place unseen. We'll have to look into it once we get back to Anton-17. We may not be as pretty, but I'd rather be alive in a ugly tank instead of dead. At least we're not as large as those older style Destroids. Those things are real beasts to try and hide."

 

[WlfSamurai]

Alissa packs up and secures the excess supplies. She saves a copy of her notes and counts on her terminal locally. Then she transmits them back to the base.

Later, on the road in her tank, Alissa considers the work she had done in Passo Fundo and what the Sergeant had said about it being necessary. She feels good in a way she hasn't ... well ever really. Alissa had started her "adult" life in the service, just like everyone else. War had become a fact of life on Earth a long time ago. And she was born into it. Just like everyone else.

Passo Fundo was different. It feels different even now, thinking on it. A form of contentment has taken residence in her mind. Vaccinating a town had been a tremendous amount of work. Yet somehow, it had passed quickly. It wasn't until later that evening that Alissa had taken notice of her body protesting.

She eyes the road and soaks in the excitement she feels for the next town. Alissa let's that drive her attention and she keeps her head on a swivel.

Spoiler: OOC

Rolling in case you can use it.

 

[Psychie]

(@Psychie ) Before leaving, Marlon would ask some of the locals about the next town and the route there. To see if they had any insight that they could make use of. And what sort of reception they might expect. As well as inquire about some of the mountains of the region and their peaks.

Checking with the locals, they tell you that they traditionally have had good relations with their neighbors, but lately there has been little to no contact with Canoas during the past few months. Other than that, things are good.

Once you get on the road, things once more go smooth. I have rolls from WlfSamurai but could I have some from Rykon Sherwood and D. Rex please?

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan will once more take point as they travel down the road, going a safe speed for the road conditions.

Spoiler

At least I made a Detect Ambush roll for once.....

On Foot:
Number of Attacks: 5
Strike: +7
Parry: +9 - +12 with Heavy Combat Shield
Dodge: +10
Roll: +6
Perception: +12
Initiative:
Damage: +2 from Ps

In the Hover Tank:
Number of Attacks: 6 - +1 attack per melee round at levels 1, 3, 6, 10, and 14
Strike: +9 with Cannons, +10 to HtH, +11 with EU-11 (+2)
Parry: +13 (+1)
Dodge: +13 (+1)
Roll: +9
Perception: +12
Initiative: +2 (+2)

APFSDS: 30
Plasma: 5
MPAT: 10
Smoke: 3

Left Shield: 500
Right Shield: 500
Main Body: 475

 

[D. Rex]

"By the way, Sergeant. The the townies said that they have barely heard anything from Canoas in a couple months. Not quite sure what it means. But when people stop being so social, there is probably reason."

 

[Rykon]

Hearing the rest of his squad revel in the satisfaction of a job well done left a subtle, yet irremovable smile on Alan's face. He never had any intention of becoming a soldier as a kid, nor as a teen, but here he was trying to drown the frustrations of yesterday in a hail of gunfire, steel, shrapnel, and now apparently road trips through the Brazilian countryside. He turned to Alissa on their way back to the tanks, "Thanks for takin care of the bulk of the vaccinations Alissa. I wasn't intending to leave you with that much work alone. Thanks to you as well Marlon."

When Marlon and Deunan talk of repainting or camouflaging the Spartas tanks later on, did get another part of him curious. Other than the intentionally silly name I picked, I can't see a reason not to. We're a recon squad, not a frontline bulwark. He looked up to the variable mass of steel and couldn't help but mumble his thoughts. "Couldn't hurt to try, I reckon..."

Back on the road, Alan kept scanning what bits of the horizon he could see, trying to recall the contrast of camouflage netting against the tree line at the last roadblock. Surely the actual hostiles would be doing the same,

 

[Psychie]

As you are driving down the road towards the next town, it is Deunan that spots a odd sight. Up ahead and to the left side of the road is a large green shape in the midst of the trees, much larger than a typical Battle Pod (wrong color, too, since it is a dark green). It is about 300 feet long, 200 feet wide, and it rises up above the trees 50 feet taller than the jungle trees next to it. It is showing on your radar, and there are several smaller metallic objects near the larger object.

In order to try and identify it, you'll need a Sensory Equipment roll.

You are currently 5,000 feet from it.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan orders a halt. "Hold up, everyone. I'm seeing something up ahead, roughly a mile away on the left. Pretty big, too."

Spoiler

On Foot:
Number of Attacks: 5
Strike: +7
Parry: +9 - +12 with Heavy Combat Shield
Dodge: +10
Roll: +6
Perception: +12
Initiative:
Damage: +2 from Ps

In the Hover Tank:
Number of Attacks: 6 - +1 attack per melee round at levels 1, 3, 6, 10, and 14
Strike: +9 with Cannons, +10 to HtH, +11 with EU-11 (+2)
Parry: +13 (+1)
Dodge: +13 (+1)
Roll: +9
Perception: +12
Initiative: +2 (+2)

APFSDS: 30
Plasma: 5
MPAT: 10
Smoke: 3

Left Shield: 500
Right Shield: 500
Main Body: 475

 

[Psychie]

The only thing that your combat computer can link to what you are seeing is a Quel-Quallie Theater Scout, also known as a Cyclops. It is a sensor platform that the Zentraedi military uses as a command and control unit, and it is never deployed alone. It will most likely have several flight capable mecha as escorts for it.

What do you do about it?

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan starts to swear. "We have a problem. If that is an enemy unit out there, I don't know that we can hit it hard enough to destroy it before it can fly off. I'm thinking that this is time for a artillery strike." She shifts her radio to call out. "This is the Third Heavy Recon calling at grid square [insert numbers here]. Are there any allied Zentraedi units in this area? We have visual on a Cyclops Recon unit on the ground with several escort units along side."

 

[Psychie]

The reply from Anton-17 is quick. "That is a negative, Third Heavy. You are the only allied units on the ground in that area. Use extreme caution, but if you can take it out, do so. That is a priority intelligence asset, and needs to be splashed."