Robotech - Southern Cross Adventure

[Psychie]

Rolling Perception...

Alan gets a 28!

Perception roll for Deunan.

Looking out, you can see three large deuce and a half trucks pulling up, each one with several people both in the cab and in the back. Each of the trucks has a weapon in a turret on top of the cab; one looks to be .40mm grenade launcher, a second is a .30 caliber M-60, and the last one has a venerable .50 caliber, all of which are currently manned, but the gunners look bored, expecting no trouble from the simple farmers here. From the lead truck, the passenger in the cab jumps down with three men climbing out from the rear of the truck, leaving the men in the rear two vehicles still sitting.

The men that have gotten out all have MDC body armor on, but it is shoddy in design and not well cared for, being just an armored vest (Effectively an Armor Rating of 16 to be able to target them and not hit the MDC armor). Each one is also armed with a side arm, and two of the three men from the back of the truck have Wolverine assault rifles slung over their shoulders. One thing that you also spot is that there are several open bottles of hard liquor in hand and being drunk straight from the bottle, another indicator that these are hardly well disciplined men.

Mateo can be heard talking to the men, asking why they are here, since his payment has already been made for this month.

The man that seems to be in charge replies in a muffled voice, but you can still hear what he is saying. "There have been reports of some crashed ships in the area that the Invid are looking for. Could be real trouble for anyone messing with them, if you know what I mean. Especially if there are anyone harboring any fugitives from the Invid. You wouldn't know anything about that, do you? Have anything to tell us about?"

Mateo shakes his head, saying, "I am no fool. My family and I keep to ourselves and just try to make a living out here, and no one has spotted anything that I've heard of. You can tell Santos that we don't want to cause trouble."

"Wise of you. I do want to say that if there is any reports of fugitives that get turned into Mr. Santos, it can be very rewarding to you if you were to be the one to turn them in. Keep that in mind."

"I understand."

"Good. I don't suppose that there is any need for us to look around, is there? We won't find anything, right?"

"Of course not. I'm not going to cross you and put my family at risk."

"Well said. We have other stops to make tonight, but we'll be in touch."

With that, the thugs in the caravan turn back to their truck and once more take a seat, and the three vehicles start up once more and slowly pull out of the farmyard. Soon, the sounds of the trucks fade away into the night, leaving you in silence once more.

Mateo comes back inside and lets out a deep breath of relief. "That could have been bad." He looks over at the three ASC soldiers in his living room and says, "You are all in danger here. Word of a reward will spread, and soon you will have a sizable price on your heads. Where is T'kar? He's in danger, too. For your own safety, you should keep a low profile, but you are welcome to stay here. I remember my friends, and will do what I can to help you."

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan lets out a long whoosh of her breath, having been holding it in for a long time. "Mateo, we will be moving on as soon as possible. I don't want to put you in a position to place your family at risk in order to try and protect us from these men. But we will be back, and there will be an accounting made of these traitors to humanity. T'kar? You are welcome to come with us tonight to the bunker. It is a secure location, and in the morning we can start the process of getting your salvageable equipment moved. It might take some time, but we can secure everything that survived the crash and get any repairs done that are needed."

 

[Sherwood]

Rykon D. Rex Purr Does anyone else have anything to say?

 

[Rykon]

Alan puts away the wolverine rifle, relieved a firefight didn't break out this close to civilians. "It's sad to watch that trash continue to parade itself around here, but at least there's no collateral damage. Whatever we do next, let's just do it quickly. I'll sleep a lot better when they're dealt with."

 

[Purr]

T'kar smiles in appreciation, but shakes his head. "Thanks for the warm welcome, I've got a job to do here before I do anything else. I've got to get the Marine material out and secured, not only for the sake of my personal honor, but the thought of those traitors... getting their hands on all that UEEF gear first? The gear that belonged to my guys and gals?" T'kar's bear-hands squish into mighty fists. "Ohh, just shoot me dead. As the last Marine alive down here, I couldn't live with myself. Honey and I have got to get it all moved - tonight. And I can do it."

"Here, take my comm channel." If Conway and team are open to it, T'kar tests out the radio channel to make certain they can communicate well.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan nods in understanding. "Do you need some help? I don't know how much you have to move, but a few extra bodies might make it easier. I don't know much about operating a Destroid in a fight, but I'm sure that we can get one moving well enough to get it to a safe location."

 

[Purr]

T'kar looks sheepish; an odd look for a muscle-bound, heavily-armed and armored bear capable smashing a car into uselessness with one focused blow. "I... Uh... wasn't going to ask. Were you, Honey?"

"Nooo," Honey replied with a shake of her hovering body.

T'kar nods. "Yes, I accept with gratitude - and don't worry! I'll teach you enough so that you don't permanently injure yourself or anybody else! I even spotted a place that can fit most of it and the rest can probably be dug out. I imagine everything will be very new to you."

T'kar relaxes a moment, looks over Conway's team one by one and adds, "Listen, Army. I've already buried everybody who died in the crash. I, uh, have their personal effects for their families. I just have one major roadblock - I may be the last Marine left." Those words do not come easily. "I can only imagine the hell you guys have been living with since before we touched down. So yeah. Let's get this done and see what we can do about this Mister Santos and his band of human traitors, shall we?"

 

[Sherwood]

T'kar nods. "Yes, I accept with gratitude - and don't worry! I'll teach you enough so that you don't permanently injure yourself or anybody else! I even spotted a place that can fit most of it and the rest can probably be dug out. I imagine everything will be very new to you."

Deunan nods in acceptance. "Sounds like a plan! But just so long as we are not going into a fight with your Destroids, we should be able to pilot them to the hidey hole you have for them. We can either hike out to where they are now, or if the terrain is ok for them, we have our hover cycles. Just depends on where the mecha are now."

T'kar relaxes a moment, looks over Conway's team one by one and adds, "Listen, Army. I've already buried everybody who died in the crash. I, uh, have their personal effects for their families. I just have one major roadblock - I may be the last Marine left." Those words do not come easily. "I can only imagine the hell you guys have been living with since before we touched down. So yeah. Let's get this done and see what we can do about this Mister Santos and his band of human traitors, shall we?"

With a more sober look on her face, she says, "I understand. I think we may be the last ASC squad in this region that survived the attack, and half of that was just pure luck. If there is anything that I or my people can do to help out with that, let us know."

She then turns to Alan and Marlon. "Ok. I hope you got your beauty sleep earlier, because I think we have a long night ahead of us."

 

[Psychie]

T'kar would know that the hover cycles would be able to get out to the cargo containers without too much trouble; your three helpers will just have to travel carefully to avoid slamming into a tree in the dark, even with the headlamps on the cycles. If you go too fast, it might end up like this:

At the first of the cargo containers, Deunan, Alan and Marlon get their first look at the mecha of the UEEF. Between the two different containers, there is the following mecha and weapons:

One Bioroid Interceptor with only cosmetic damage done to the paint and minor dents (T'kar's mecha)
One Bioroid Interceptor with 50% armor damage to its main body
One Valiant that has been ripped in two, but its weapons on the upper half of the Destroid are recoverable
One Valiant with 50% armor damage to the main body
Two Spartans with 25% damage to the main body
One Defender with 50% damage to the main body

Eight VR-038 Light Cyclones
Sixteen VR-052F Heavy Assault Cyclones

30 suits of CVR-3 body armor

200 mini missiles of various warhead types

Once T'kar gives the three of you a quick lesson in the differences in operating a Destroid compared to a Hover Tank in its Battloid mode, you are able to start moving the various Destroids to the hiding place that T'kar found earlier. At the moment, it is not large enough to fit all the salvaged gear unless it is dug out first, but it can hold a good number of the mecha. It will take most of the night to get what you can fit moved over.

 

[Sherwood]

Being very careful to pay close attention to the quick lesson in how to operate the Destroids, Deunan will follow along behind T'kar to the hiding place he has set out for the mecha in one of the Spartans. His comment that there will need to be some work done to enlarge the cavern makes her think that the powerful hands of the mecha will be able to help dig out the cavern to make room for the rest of the equipment.

After taking a break to grab a quick drink, she decide that it is going to take a bit more help to get all of this done before the Invid or the bandits discover them, and she sends out a scrambled radio call for Neo, Cooper and O'Brien to suit up and head out to assist them in moving all this.

Once she has that done, Deunan comments to T'kar, "We have some repair equipment and armor plating in the Bunker that should work well enough on these Destroids to get the light armor damage fixed up without a problem. All we would have to do is get them back there unobserved."

 

[Psychie]

After taking a break to grab a quick drink, she decide that it is going to take a bit more help to get all of this done before the Invid or the bandits discover them, and she sends out a scrambled radio call for Neo, Cooper and O'Brien to suit up and head out to assist them in moving all this.

Neo replies quickly with, "We've been on pins and needles waiting for your report. Quick question: are you wanting us to take mecha or hover cycles out? If you want us to, I can ride with either O'Brien or Cooper in their Valks and we can fly out and be there in a few minutes."

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan says, "No, take the hover cycles or one of the cars. We need your skills as mecha pilots to help move these recovered Destroids, and I don't want to leave the Valkyries sitting idle while we do that. Just to give you a bit of warning, the pilot we found is not human or Zentraedi. He's from another planet called Karrabara, and looks like a Kodiak bear wearing MDC armor and packing some big guns. He's very friendly, and I have a feeling that we'll be getting along just fine."

She then contacts Marlon, Alan and T'kar. "Guys, we have some helpers coming to make this night go along a little faster. I called in the rest of the squad, and they will be here in about an hour, three more mecha pilots to get this gear moved out of these bunkers and out of sight."

 

[Psychie]

Neo replies, "Copy that. Friendly non-human giant teddy bear with firepower is now on the official 'don't shoot' list. Is there anything you need us to bring along besides our good looks and charm? If not, we can be on the road in five."

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan says, "No, just suit up in your armor and make sure you are armed. We have a problem with some bandits out here, and if we run into them, I want to make sure we win in a firefight. The sooner you get out here the better. We have lots of gear to move and the Invid might show up at any time."

 

[Psychie]

"Understood, Cap. We will be there ASAP." With that, Neo signs out to get on the move to your location.

As time goes by, T'kar is the first to spot on his radar two different returns; one on the ground that matches a hover car and the second is airborne, and you instantly recognize this signal as three Invid Shock Troopers and five Armored Scouts. The Invid are over five miles out, so at this point they should not have detected the distinct emissions of the Protoculture reactors in the active mecha that you guys are moving, so you have time to duck under the treeline and power down.

T'kar does know that the typical hover car is not fueled by Protoculture, but the Invid may swarm on them if they are discovered on the roadway.

 

[Purr]

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... What have we got here?" T'kar pauses as the information comes in. Instantly, Marine training and combat experience kick in. T'kar is on the squad channel in moments. "Army, heads-up! We got three crawdaddies and five... uh, er, allow me to start again. Check your radar, the Invid are here. 3 Shock Troopers and 5 Armored Scouts. Maybe you wanna tell your incoming crew to get off the road and hide? As for us, well, I bet you all know what to do when Invid are around, right?"

T'kar brings Mister Freedom about and prepares to hide and shut him down, but he holds off long enough to hear Conway's reply.

 

[Sherwood]

When T'kar warns her of incoming Invid, Deunan reacts quickly. "Everyone! Time to hide with pride. Get under some trees and shut down all your power systems to keep from being spotted. Neo! Pull that car over and sit tight until you are clear. I don't want to lose you three to an Invid attack."

 

[Psychie]

It doesn't take long for Neo to reply. "Got it, boss. Pulling over now. Thanks for the warning."

With your mecha shut down, you are not able to keep track of just where the Invid patrol is in relation to your position, but it doesn't take long before yo can hear the sounds of their flight engines approaching. Looking out of the cockpit, you can now see that the patrol is not far from you; less than a thousand feet out and flying slow - just fifty miles per hour. It would seem to indicate that the patrol is not on a combat footing, since if they were they would be flying in fast with guns blazing. But that can change in a matter of mere moments if they spot you.

What do you guys do?
Sherwood Purr D. Rex Rykon

 

[Purr]

While thoughts of building a separate battery system inside Mister Freedom that ran the radar fly through T'kar's furry head, he gets down to the one thing he can do - collect intelligence. T'kar slipped his binoculars from their hard case, took one glance to make certain their lenses were clear, then zoomed in on each of the Invid to see what his eyes could tell him. Were they old-looking or new? Any battle damage? Markings? Why did they seem to be in this area? What did they appear to be looking for and that sort of thing.

"Somehow," he muttered to Honey while he looked on, "I don't think they're here for a picnic."

"Nooo," Honey mechanically replied.

"Zoom in and commence recording."

"Yeees," Honey turned toward the Invid and did some visual zooming in of her own.

 

[Rykon]

Alan moves his machine under foliage as best as he can in the moments they had to prepare and powers it down. If other members of the team are struggling to find concealment, he will assist them as well.

Rolling Camouflage...

 

[Psychie]

While thoughts of building a separate battery system inside Mister Freedom that ran the radar fly through T'kar's furry head, he gets down to the one thing he can do - collect intelligence. T'kar slipped his binoculars from their hard case, took one glance to make certain their lenses were clear, then zoomed in on each of the Invid to see what his eyes could tell him. Were they old-looking or new? Any battle damage? Markings? Why did they seem to be in this area? What did they appear to be looking for and that sort of thing.

A visual inspection of the Invid mecha shows that none of them are showing any more than cosmetic damage to them, putting their armor at full strength. They are obviously patrolling and not on a direct attack run, or else they would be flying much faster and firing their weapons already. There are no markings that you can see.

Purr There is one thing that you know of the Invid from your many years of experience in dealing with them. The lower castes of the organic Invid mecha, such as the Scout, Armored Scout, Trooper and Shock Trooper, are very stupid in regards to other kinds of mecha and equipment that are not being actively powered by Protoculture. It has been shown many times that if you 'play dead' with your mecha and power it down so it is not using its reactor, the Invid will frequently not recognize the Earth-made gear and simply fly on past. The higher castes of Invid, like the Enforcer or Soldier, have a much better chance of identifying the fact that this is a threat and can respond accordingly.

The Invid mecha are getting closer, but they are not on a direct route to your position. At the moment, you can see that they are now less than a thousand feet out from where you are.

 

[Psychie]

I forgot to add that T'kar is in his Bioroid Interceptor, Deunan is currently in a Spartan with some main body damage (only 355 MDC on its body), Alan is in a Defender with 50% body damage (only 175 MDC left on its main body), and Marlon is in another Bioroid Interceptor that is also down to 175 MDC on its main body.

All vehicles are fully loaded with their appropriate ammo supplies, so you are ready for a fight if one breaks out.

 

[Purr]

T'kar looks out of his cockpit as best as he can. If he and his new-found teammates are in good concealment, then T'kar is content with that (especially with Alan's use of Camouflage).

"Hey, Army," T'kar calmly addresses Conway and her team. "Looks like we have a squad of the dumb ones - they'll probably just patrol on by unless one of us powers up. I'm not doing that unless one of Mateo's sloth, one in your own sloth, is endangered. Remind me to put together an alternate battery pack to power the sensors in these units. It irks me not to have radar at the moment. I think we should just wait 'em out, but this is your planet. What's your take on this?"

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan can feel the tension starting to rise in her. She's heard reports over the radio of some squads pulling off a shutdown and hide maneuver with the Invid and getting away with it. But there have been reports of people trying it and things ending badly, with the Invid attacking the powered down and helpless mecha. "T'kar, it may be my planet, but I have a feeling you have more experience dealing with the Invid than I do. I am open to your input. Do we prepare to fight, or hold still and wait? Remember that we are in borrowed mecha, and are not going to be as skilled in them as we are in our Spartas mecha."

 

[Purr]

T'kar didn't say it out of respect for Conway's team and lest he be taken as a high-minded know-it-all, but he did think it - Oh, not only do I remember where you're at, but I may be ahead of you on that front - not only are you in new UEEF mecha, they're also torn up from the Horizon crash (some of them badly), plus we have yet to train and fight as a team. Oh, and did I forget to add that we are outnumbered, they are all in undamaged units, and we have no idea if they have reinforcements just beyond that five mile mark?

What came out of his pie-hole was, "I think we should continue to play dead, Captain. Those guys? Those are dumb Invid. Playing dead should work. No way should we start shooting unless we have no other choice, because If we have to fight under these circumstances, I think it's going to get real messy for both sides. Plus, we don't know what kind of buddies they have within their contact range. Know what I mean?"