Robotech - Tales of the RDF

[Purr]

Staff Sergeant Taniya


Taniya raised The Beast's right arm in salute to this Sgt. Oroke as a greeting between warriors.  "You may have them, sergeant, but I warn you to bathe them for they reek in the deep stench of cowardice."

 

[Sherwood]

The large man lets out a bark of laughter.  "I'll make sure to spray out the choppers once we are done transporting these losers.  As for bathing them, I'll leave that to the MPs at the holding cells to deal with.  Alright, you apes!  Lets get this cargo loaded and move out."  The troops begin to round up the prisoners and moving them into the pair of helicopters. 


While this is going on, Barbara is busy doing some data mining.  "Boss lady, I am wondering just what we are dealing with when looking at that massive set of blast doors.  That size of a construction project must be a result of post-SDF-1 work, probably a bunker of some kind to protect something of interest.  The problem I'm running into is that there is fragmented data left over, probably lost during the Global Assault, and I might have to actually find an archive with paper records to figure out what was, or possibly, still is, inside those doors.  Its either that, force our way in, or leave it alone."

 

[Soviet Panda]

"Oh goody, it looks like another mystery that we get to solve." Connor muttered as he sat in his Defender. "If you need to go to the archives, give me a shout, Barbara. I'll give you a hand. Unless something comes up, which I kind of doubt. And I doubt the enemy didn't happen to just miss this door. I'm willing to bet that they knew it was here, and that on the other side is something they don't want us to find. I don't know what, because everything that's coming to mind is kind of stupid." Connor said into his comms as he looked at the blast dooor.

 

[Sherwood]

Barbara muses, "Well, another option is that I could try and hack the door mechanism and pop it open that way.  I may not be able to remotely, but I could give it a shot.  I may have to physically access the door to try and work a bypass, and that would require me to get out of my mecha or talk Eadric in his Spartan how to hot wire it.  Either way might work.  Want me to give it a shot?"

 

[Purr]

Staff Sergeant Taniya


Taniya motioned for Zaile to follow as she reunited with the rest of the squadron.  "Tolson, I had wondered about hacking in too.  If you think you can without danger to yourself, then proceed.  The rest of us will guard you while you are outside of your machine."  Taniya proceeded to do just that.

 

[Epiphany]

Corporal Zaile Alencar


Satisfied with their victory, the blue-haired Zentraedi nods to herself and follows on the heels of Sergeant Taniya's mech, trusting their friendly Micronian ground forces can handle the captured hostile Micronians.  


Talk about hotwiring makes her frown but she doesn't directly add a comment until Taniya mentions guarding.  She switches her attention to her radar, keeping a careful eye out for any movement out there, any potential ambushes.  The Zentraedi solution for dealing with those blast doors would be to...well...blast them.  If Micronian ingenuity could get them open, though, that was fine with her.  

 

[Sherwood]

Several minutes go by as Barbara tries to send various signals to open the door remotely, all without success.  With a frown, the young woman says, "It looks like I'll have to manually work the controls.  Keep me covered, ok guys?"  She climbs down from her Defender with a toolkit in hand and heads over to examine the keypad on the side of the doorway.  After taking it apart and working on the guts of the panel, a green light flashes on and the massive doors start to slide open slowly.  Barbara runs back to her mecha and scrambles back up into the Defender.  There is a slope leading down deeper into the ground at a gentle angle, easy enough for wheeled or tracked vehicles to traverse as well as mecha.  The corridor extends deep underground, disappearing into the blackness.

 

[Purr]

Taniya grinned at the sight of the doors opening and her squadmate returning to her mech safely.  "Fine work, Tolson."  While she covered Tolson's back, Taniya contacted Port Carlson on the most secured channel she had.  She tried to get into contact with one of the leaders they had met, and if successful, she updated them to their situation.  Now that the doors were open, she had only one question but it was a big one.


"What are our orders?"

 

[Kaerri]

Eadric Braidwood, Field Scientist


Eadric watches as Barbara goes to work.  He'd almost volunteered to do it himself, but she seemed confident enough, and there was no need for two of them out of their mechs in a hostile zone.  When she got down to work, he placed his Spartan between her and the outside area, making her not only hard to target but also hard to even see.  Once she was safely in her mecha, he backed off so that all of the team could see in, then turned to Taniya.  "What next?"

 

[Sherwood]

Several long moments go by with no answer from the naval base. There is probably a wild scramble to find a person in authority to say yes or no to making an entrance into the underground area. Finally you get a signal, "Red Pandas, you are a go to proceed with caution into the tunnel. Evaluate the situation add report back on what your find. Authorization comes from Sergeant Major Wilcher himself. A relief column of ground units are being dispatched, but won't be on site for an hour, so while you are underground, you are on your own with no air support."


Once the signal ends, Barbara says, "I got to give the old man credit. He is not afraid to make a call and stick his name to it. Let's go."


Doug steps forward in his Tomahawk. "I'll take point. If there is anything hostile, I'll light it up."

 

[Purr]

Staff Sergeant Taniya


"Let's go?"  


"I'll take point?"  


These thoughts tumbled through Taniya's mind as she discreetly fought back the urge to laugh.  At the same time, she found herself wondering how some RDF mecha pilots found themselves so comfortable as to call the shots regardless of their rank.  As if their leader were supposed to just fall in line.  Was this common in RDF squadrons?  It was a human trait she had seen time and again that sent a bright signal to Taniya in displaying just how different Meltrandi and humans truly were, for nearly every Zentraedi followed chain of command, often upon threat of pain or destruction.  What Zentraedi Lord would take this from those beneath her?  


This, then, Taniya decided, was the largest significant difference between the two cultures could be summed up in one word - discipline.


Born to obey, the Zentraedi were created with it.  Most humans went through life with the option to practice it or push it aside as they saw fit, or so Taniya currently believed.


Taniya's tone was firm but not unfriendly.  "Dorsey, request denied.  Consider.  The very idea behind an ambush is to surprise and then do as much damage to the enemy before they can return fire.  Who usually takes the worst of an ambush?  Most often, the lead element.  Look around.  The only things 'lit up' I see around here are our enemies and your damaged Tomahawk.  


"While I appreciate your, how do the Marines call it?  'Gung ho' attitude?  I would see how another fellow Red Panda fares up front.  We are descending into an enemy building of sorts, a complex with walls, corners, and unnatural elements.  Hmmm.  Close-quarter fighting works to our advantage here.  Braidwood will take point."  She motioned toward Eadric with her cannon.  "Zaile will watch our rear.  Fall in and follow our 'point panda's' pace."


(OOC note to everyone.)

Spoiler

Just a disclaimer - the above is Taniya's lifelong Meltrandi point of view, but not mine.  Though it's a little difficult to tell from the writing, Doug may be making a request.  But, given his wording and action, Taniya wouldn't see it that way.  Had he phrased it in the form of an obvious request ("Sergeant?  Mind if I take point?"), she probably would have.  =)  


Also, having Zaile in the back is probably the best place for her given that Pips is busy in Real Life and if I can help make things a little easier here, I will.  =)

 

[Sherwood]

Dorsey nods and steps back to let Eadric take point with a humble, "Yes, ma'am. As you say." 

 

[Kaerri]

Eadric Braidwood, Field Scientist


Interestingly, Eadric's thoughts were following the same line as Taniya's, though of course neither of them knew it.  Raised with a firm respect for military discipline, he had just shaken his head (inside the mecha, not the mecha's head) at Barbara's and Dorsey's comments, though he didn't think either one was being deliberately insubordinate.  Rather, he interpreted their remarks as a reflection of their getting caught up in the moment and forgetting that they needed to request rather than simply state what they were going to do.  Nevertheless, Taniya's command that he take point caught him rather off guard, though he didn't disagree with her reasoning.


"Yes, ma'am," he replied over the radio.  He raised a hand in thanks to Dorsey as he passed, then readied his short range weapons, including the Spartan's hands, and focused his attention on keeping aware of the surroundings he was about to enter.  Himself and his mecha ready, he walked carefully through the doorway, remembering to look up and down as well as to the sides and down the hallway.  He had no desire to get blown up by any booby-traps.

 

[Sherwood]

Under normal light, Eadric doesn't spot anything out of place, but something tells you to check under  infra red light. When you do, you can see a network of IR light beams that criss cross in front of the entrance. They go from floor to ceiling, and are a tight enough grid that makes it impossible to enter without being detected. It also indicates that there is an active power source. 


At this point, you see any active weapons, and there is no way of knowing what kind of an alarm might be raised, or even if there is anyone paying attention to it. What do you do?

 

[Epiphany]

Corporal Zaile Alencar


"Yes, sir!" the Zentraedi said, when ordered to take rear.  It wasn't as prestigious of a position as point but it was a vital spot.  It would fall on her to protect the whole squad from a devastating ambush.  And given they were entering the belly of this beast, there could be hostiles in there with prepared fortifications who might exploit their home territory advantage to horrifying effect if she was inattentive.  


As the squad moved in, she moved into the back and toggled up the gain on her active radar, probing the path behind, trusting in her fellow soldiers to kill anything that might come at them from the front.  

 

[Kaerri]

Eadric Braidwood, Field Scientist


Eadric halted before he triggered any of the beams. "Ma'am, there's some kind of alarm system set up.  No way we can enter without triggering it, I don't think; there's a fairly tight network of infrared beams covering the hallway.  Whatever's in here, it's got power.  However, I can't tell from here whether it's just an alarm, or if crossing the beams will set off an automated defense."  He paused, then added, "My guess is that it's just an alarm, but that's only a guess.  Shall I test it?"

 

[Purr]

Staff Sergeant Taniya


"What do you mean by, 'test it,' Braidwood?  If you say it is a trap, that is enough for me."  Taniya switched on her infrared and examined the area, looking for a computer that perhaps a Micronian could operate.  

 

[Kaerri]

Eadric Braidwood, Field Scientist


"Well, ma'am, if it's only an alarm, I don't know that it's something to worry about.  We're going in anyway, aren't we?  On the other hand, if it triggers some kind of automated defense, we'll want to know that before we start taking serious hits."  He shrugged, forgetting she couldn't see it.  "Breaking the beams with a rifle muzzle or something similar would allow us to remain at a safer distance until we know which it is."

 

[Purr]

Staff Sergeant Taniya


"I am on infrared now, Braidwood.  I would prefer we do our best to silence or otherwise bypass the alarm, setting it off only as last resort.  Options, Red Pandas?"

 

[Sherwood]

Barbara looks doubtful.  "The grid is tight enough that the mecha cannot go through it without tripping a sensor line.  I might be able to run a loop on it, so when we walk thorough it doesn't even see us, but there is no guarantee it will work.  Second option, haul some ass forward and hope that whatever reception we meet is caught off guard and we sweep them.  Your call, boss lady.  Do you want me to try and bypass that?"

 

[Purr]

Staff Sergeant Taniya


"Give it a shot, Tolson."  Taniya performed a sensor sweep of the area paying special attention to her optics.  She also turned up the microphones and listened for any unusual sounds while Tolson worked.  If worse came to worse and they had to set off the alarm, Taniya was ready to have Eadric go outside and grab a large piece of scrap metal and carefully toss it across the floor while the rest of the team took cover with guns ready.  

 

[Epiphany]

Corporal Zaile Alencar


Meanwhile, Zaile kept all her attention on the way they'd come.  If she were the would-be ambushers, this would be an amazing ambush opportunity.  Box in the invaders with concentrated fire and force them back into the potentially automated defenses.  It fell to her to keep that from happening.


Her fingers lightly caressed the triggers of her particle cannons.  And, quietly in the privacy of her cockpit, hummed Minmei's It's You to herself.

 

[Sherwood]

Barbara once more gets out of her Defender and slowly approaches the IR grid with a toolkit in hand.  After a few minutes of poking around at one of the sensors, she shakes her head.  "I don't see a way for me to bypass the signal from here.  It looks like we may be tripping an alarm if we advance any farther.  Sorry, Taniya.  Looks like I crapped out on this one."  She quickly makes her way back up the leg of her mecha and locks the cockpit closed once more. 


Doug sits quietly in his Tomahawk, continuing to keep a watch.


From her position at the rear of the group, Zaile doesn't see any signs of movement.

 

[Soviet Panda]

"If I can make a suggestion," Connor said, chiming in from the middle of the pack. "How about we just fire down range? I mean, if we're going to set the alarm off, then might as well send a surprise with it." Sure they didn't know how long the corridor was or if they would hit anything, but if they did hit something then it would catch that something off guard and do a real number to them. "I have some flak that I could use. Shrapnel will do a lot to anything that's down there, and it'd probably actually be hit." Though tungsten rounds were powerful, they were only one thing, not ideal for hitting multiple targets unless they were all lined up and had armor thin enough to be penetrated.

 

[Purr]

After a few minutes of poking around at one of the sensors, she shakes her head.  "I don't see a way for me to bypass the signal from here.  It looks like we may be tripping an alarm if we advance any farther.  Sorry, Taniya.  Looks like I crapped out on this one."

"You made the attempt and gave your best effort, Tolson.  What more could a leader ask?  Besides, there may be no way to physically bypass the signal from here."

"If I can make a suggestion," Connor said, chiming in from the middle of the pack. "How about we just fire down range? I mean, if we're going to set the alarm off, then might as well send a surprise with it."

"A fine recommendation, McKinley.  If there is no way around the alarm, then let us take that approach.  Your airburst rounds may wreak havoc.  But before we reach that point, allow me to make one more attempt at solution.  Taniya sat back in the chair of The Beast and mused.  "There is an air filtration unit inside this base from the sound of it.  That means something down there requires air.  There is electricity to run the system.  Perhaps whatever is down there requires a radio code with password or something similar to turn the IR sensors off."    


Taniya took up her radio and attempted to contact Sergeant Oroke.  If she could raise him, she made a request.  "The prisoners we took; some of these I take it were mecha pilots we left alive in their reinforced pilots' compartments.  Others were of the APC crew.  If there is a way inside this base, they will likely know the way in.  Sergeant, could you get one of the prisoners to 'volunteer' said information?"