Robotech: Army of the Southern Cross - IC Thread

[Sherwood]

Steven stands back and continues to maintain watch as the convoy prepares to move out once more. He lets the investigation fall to the GMP, since they have the resources and knowledge to be able to find out some answers.

 

[Purr]

"Consider it done, sergeant!"

Officer Miyazaki does her best to get the proper intel to the proper people leaving nothing out including her videos and her call with Carlos Sanchez.

 

[Psychie]

Miya is able to request an evidence team to be deployed out to get the jammer, and you are told that the recovery team will be airborne in a transport chopper in a matter of only a few minutes, ETA fifteen minutes once they get airborne. Cooper orders two of the APC's to stick around and keep guard on the truck while the rest of the convoy moves out once more. Anton-17 has a critical need to get the remainder of this gear, and by God he will make sure that the rest of the trucks will arrive in one piece.

With the convoy moving once more, there are no other signs of danger as you travel down the highway. It would appear that the only ambush was the one that you already encountered.

It does not take too much longer for the high plasteel walls of Anton-17 come into view, perched on top of a small rise above a bridge across the rushing river nearby. Even from this distance out, you can see that the walls of the BSURP have suffered recent blast damage, and you can also see burnt out husks of several Zentraedi mecha shoved into a large pile, along with the ruins of a pair of Spartan Destroids that are getting what usable gear stripped from them that is still good.

Cooper calls out on the radio, "Anton-17 Operations, this is MSG Cooper with your resupply convoy requesting that you disable the mine field frontier so we can approach safely."

"This is Anton-17 Operations. Please send your security codes for perimeter defense deactivation."

"Transmitting now."

"Stand by, MSG Cooper, while we verify your codes." A full thirty seconds goes by before they come back on the air. "You are a sight for sore eyes, Sergeant Cooper. Defense perimeter has been disabled. You are free to advance. Welcome to Anton-17. Looks like you have had some trouble out there. We were expecting another cargo truck and a third fuel tanker."

"Affirmative. We had a run-in with the Malcontents, but we were able to keep the bulk of your supplies intact with only minor damage to our escort force."

"Understood, Sergeant. Trouble with the Malcontents have been going around lately. Once you are across the field, the minefield will be reactivated, so don't dawdle or try to backtrack. Hustle on over and get your asses inside the safety of the walls, and we'll get you settled in."

 

[Purr]

Miyazaki makes certain her Spartas is one of the last in as even now she watches the jungle for surprise attacks as the JOSG enters the base.

"Good work, Maru!"

Only once inside does she let out a long slow breath of relief. "Well, everyone!" She says over the squad channel. "Let us hope our superiors see the value of our hover tanks in our performance. I only wish I were there to arrest this Carlos Sanchez myself! The loss of human life on our journey falls upon him and his treachery!"

 

[Sherwood]

Steven looks around as he catches his first glimpse of the border post, and a chill goes up his back as he sees the piles of trashed mecha that have been piled up and are getting stripped for usable parts. Casualties are piling up on both sides of this fight. More and more, the reality of this continued war is sinking in, and it is a sobering thing for the young tanker and medic. Right now, his concern is to get his tank into the repair bay and get his armor damage fixed up and his ammo stores topped off.

 

[Psychie]

As the convoy pulls into the large open gate, it is all hands on deck to help unload the cargo trucks and get the gear all stowed away, with forklifts and cargo haulers taking away the heavier pallets while the mecha are sent into a heavily reinforced and armored bunker. Inside the bunker there are several damaged Destroids with repair equipment lifting up and welding on new armor patches and making sure that their missile payloads are all filled up. Your hover tanks are directed to be transformed into their Transport mode and are slid into position next to a pair of Tornado Main Battle Tanks where a rather pudgy Chief Warrant Officer comes striding up, puffing on a cigar that is clenched in his teeth. He looks over the five hover tanks with an appraising eye before walking over to offer up a hand to Sgt. Dorsey.

"So these are the new Spartas tanks that I've had to have my people study up on, huh? Smaller than I expected, even after seeing the technical specs on them. I'm Chief Max Danfield, and I'm the head grease monkey here. Welcome to our little armpit of the jungle. Don't worry about putting your tanks into my guys' hands. We're all up to speed on their systems, and will have them kept up to one hundred percent readiness ASAP. And speaking of ASAP, here comes our XO, Lt. Hulsizer."

Sure enough, a slim woman in fatigues comes limping up, a fairly short brunette with her hair pulled up in a pony tail on the top of her head and a pretty nasty scar on the left side of her face, same side of the body that she's limping from. The wounds are all old injuries, having signs that they happened a long time ago. She offers up a smile as she says, "I see that Chief Danfield has already introduced himself to you as his excuse to look over 'his' new mecha. I am Lt. Elaine Hulsizer. Welcome to Anton-17. Come with me and I'll show you around, introduce you to the Captain, and get your gear stowed away. We can leave the Chief to his work without us being in the way."

Chief Danfield nods and makes a shooing motion with his hands, a grin on his face. "Yes, ma'am, we've got a lot of work to do to get the mecha ready to fight once more, so the sooner you are not under foot, the faster we can get this done. SAM! What the hell are you doing? My grandma can make better welds than that, and that ol' lady is blind!" He shakes his head in disgust and wanders over towards one of the other mechanics, insults being shouted back and forth.

Lt. Hulsizer chuckles. "Lets go before Capt. Shumer starts to wonder what happened to us, and the sooner we get you checked in, the sooner I can have your team's armorer working to help get these mecha up and ready for action."

Doug gives the Lieutenant a thumbs-up and falls into position behind the woman, looking around the vehicle bay as you go. "That would be me, ma'am. I will make sure that Chief Danfield has the best work I can give."

"Just to give you fair warning, he can be a bit grumpy at first. Once he sees you know your stuff, he should ease up on you."

She leads you to a wide stairwell leading down underground, saying, "I hope that no one is claustrophobic. All of the personnel portions of the BSURP are underground for safety under a thick layer of plasteel and dirt, and everything else is heavily armored to handle a bombardment, and things can get a bit tight in some spots. At least its cooler down here." She points out the barracks and mess hall, recreation room and medical facilities as she leads you to the command center. It is a dimly lit room with many display screens, some of which are camera views and one large radar screen, providing a low glow, shining on the faces of several computer operators working at their terminals.

Standing at the shoulder of one of the operators is a tall man with his head shaved bald and his uniform is neatly pressed with creases sharp enough to cut. Turning to look at the LT, he says, "You find our new arrivals? Give them the fifty cent tour of our digs? I am Captain Dale Shumer, the grand high poobah of this place. Welcome to Anton-17."

 

[GunMan2]

Barnes looks to every angle. The border post looks like it had suffered though hell with all the damages those Malcontent did. Which begs the questions: Why do this now?.

The coms officer shook his head as he cleared his thought; no this was not his job to think just make sure that the supplies arrived where they are needed and boy were they needed here. His mind was already working on plans to go see if any of the electronics are salvageable and maybe build a simple device to intercept zentraedi communications. On the way to their meeting with the Captain, the comms officer was trying to get a picture of a man running such a base and it was not a flattering one.

That image stayed with Barnes till he met the man in person. He imediately saluted the captain as did the rest of his team did. Its time to learn how bad the situation really is.

 

[Sherwood]

Steven looks around in curiosity, paying close attention to the layout of the place so he won't get lost the first time he's walking about down here on his own. When the Lieutenant shows them the medical bay, he makes a mental note to himself to keep that location in mind, since he fully expects to be spending a lot of time there when not in his mecha in the field. He keeps looking to the woman leading them, and he wonders just what happened to her to give her such scars, but he didn't know her well enough to know if that was a touchy subject or not to ask about, so he decided to just keep his mouth shut. Whatever it was that happened, it seems that her administration skills were still being put to good use being the executive officer here.

When they get to the ops center, Steven offers up his salute to the 'grand high poobah' of the place, doing his best to keep a smile from his face. No need to call attention to himself quite yet.

 

[Psychie]

Capt. Shumer gives a somewhat perfunctory welcoming speech to the five of you, seeming to be more interested in the status reports and updates of the repairs than to give the usual platitudes. It does not take him long to turn you over to the hands of his head NCO, a Meltrandi First Sergeant named Antonia. She takes you off to a side briefing room where she has you start to go through your transfer paperwork while she sits back and is there to answer any questions you have.

As she is finishing up signing her name to a half dozen sheets of paper, Nova looks over at Antonia and asks the question that seems to be on the minds of everyone. "What the hell happened here? I mean the straight truth, not the standard party line. What is really going on out here?"

Antonia tosses a pencil down on the table and says, "I'll tell you what happened. Galt happened. That son of a bitch came seemingly out of nowhere and killed his way to the top of the Malcontent ranks until he was the only one with any command experience left. Now that he is the one calling the shots, the Malcontents have become a whole lot nastier and more organized. Like the attack on us. They hit hard and fast, then faded out into the night like some of the ninjas of the human legends. They did some serious damage, but the attack seemed to be targeted against our outer walls and turret defenses, and once they damaged several turrets and disabled several Destroids, they pulled back. It would have been easy for them to press the attack, but for some reason they didn't, and the fact that they didn't makes me suspicious."

Dorsey frowns. "That . . . doesn't seem right. Why didn't they hit the comms tower? That would have isolated the base and kept you from being able to call in air support. Right?"

Antonia nods. "Exactly. Now you see why I fought so hard to get as many extra mecha units assigned here. If there is a plan involving us being understaffed, having the extra firepower of your hover tanks will help to offset that plan."

 

[Purr]

Spoiler: Pleasant upbeat instrumental mood music

To help me write to. I find Art of Noise is very good for that. =)
"Something Always Happens (Doc Scott Mix)" - Art of Noise

Earlier...

"Oh, you were simply splendid!" Kitty can't help but pat Maru as they part ways - the faithful little veritech hadn't even taken a hit to its body but suffered the damage upon its shields while protecting the humans with its excellent firepower. She will never know if she hit that last battle pod or not. There had been no secondary explosion, so she thought not. Still, perhaps it was better for one to get away to tell tales of Anton-17's mighty new little defenders. How Kitty wanted their first impression to be anything but little! She and Maru had so much to live up to!

She waves. "A pleasure to meet you and your 'tribemates,' Chief Dansfield! Please take good care of my brave little Maru!" She points to her tank and calls out as 3rd JSOG makes their way about Anton-17. The entire time, Miyazaki cannot help but note every strategic element in the place that crosses her eyes and ears, positive or negative. Her ears were listening. Always listening. Perhaps for the sounds of incoming artillery or helicopters or anything out of the ordinary. While she could not help but notice the looks on the faces of her human comrades as they took in the signs of battle from conflicts past, this, she felt, was where Miyazaki was made to be. So much better to be here on the front lines than back at the computer desks simply finding the information about the enemy, sifting and separating the facts from the chaff, disseminating the proper intel to the proper channels without hardly ever any kind of closure. When that battle pod she had dealt Maru's MPAT round exploded - there was closure - pure and significant.

Kitty stayed silent, attentive, and ever-watchful for anything out of the ordinary as they met Lt. Hulsizer, Cpt. Shumer, and 1st Sergeant Antonia. Being the smallest of their group, this was, she imagined, relatively easy.

Now...

Dorsey frowns. "That . . . doesn't seem right. Why didn't they hit the comms tower? That would have isolated the base and kept you from being able to call in air support. Right?"

Antonia nods. "Exactly. Now you see why I fought so hard to get as many extra mecha units assigned here. If there is a plan involving us being understaffed, having the extra firepower of your hover tanks will help to offset that plan."

First Sergeant Antonia is only the second friendly Meltrandi that Kitty has so far detected on Anton-17 and this discovery is a surprise she finds inwardly pleasant. Her people are rare enough as it is with the war in Brazil going on.

"Hmm," Miyazaki raises her fingers to her chin in thought. Pages and stories of military history, Tirolian, Zentraedi, and what human military history she has so far picked up. "I think either the enemy units were suddenly required elsewhere or after long travels through the dense jungle, they became too fatigued to continue. Maybe there is something in or on Anton-17 they want kept protected, or they might have taken on faulty intel that told them if they took on the base proper, they would suffer defeat instead of victory. A simple misreading and miscommunication of error, say a 24 in place of a 4, might give the enemy on a lawless and violent battlefield a very different look on things and even Zentraedi are capable of such blunders. One look into history will tell the tale - stranger things have happened in chaotic conflicts past and have altered the course of histories galaxy-wide."

Miyazaki couldn't help but ask their most-silent member. "Corporal Nova?" Kitty turns. "Of 3rd JSOG, I imagine you've known Zentraedi even longer and better than our esteemed Sergeant Dorsey. What is your take on why they pulled back instead of wrecking Anton-17?"

 

[Psychie]

Nova is silent as she ponders the question posed by Miya for a long moment, then she says, "It's because they achieved their objective, whatever it was. That is the only reason that I can think of for a large body of Zentraedi to not take advantage of an enemies' weakness. As a general rule, the Zentraedi that are a part of the Malcontent Uprising are more aggressive, more willing to strike at a weakened foe, than the average human. Even with the various air assets that had to have been responding to the attack, they would have had ample opportunity to do sizable damage before any allied reinforcements could arrive."

Antonia gives Nova a nod. "My thoughts exactly. But without knowing what the objective was, and to what scale it was achieved, we don't know how bad it was to us specifically, or to the RDF or ASC forces in general. We must be prepared for additional attacks all the while we take the offensive with your smaller tanks to try and hunt down the various base of operations that the Malcontents are using against us."

Dorsey starts to look uncomfortable. "The ambush of the convoy today. A good half of the offensive force pulled back and ran the moment the one trailer was grabbed by the two Male Powered Armor units. Almost as if obtaining that cargo was the actual goal of the attack. Sgt. Antonia? Can we access the manifest of the convoy and see what hardware was in that trailer? It might be something we can tie into the attack on the base and see what the objective is."

Antonia frowns, then says, "Yes, that information can be obtained." She grabs her datapad and begins to tap keys and starts to read. "Hmmm. I see that the cargo is still being checked in. It will take some time to get a completed record as to what was on that particular truck compared to what has arrived safely, but once that is done, we will have a list of what was taken."

 

[Sherwood]

Steven asks, "Sergeant, can you send me a copy of that list? Perhaps with more of us looking, we might be able to identify something of sufficient value that the insurgents would want to make a play for." Assuming that the answer is a yes, he takes out his own tablet and begins to scan the manifest for the convoy, trying to see if there is anything that jumps out at him that could be the target for the Malcontents.

If she says no, he lets it drop and instead asks, "What was the unit make-up of the attack the other day against the post? How much firepower did the Malcontents level against this place?"

 

[Purr]

Dorsey starts to look uncomfortable. "The ambush of the convoy today. A good half of the offensive force pulled back and ran the moment the one trailer was grabbed by the two Male Powered Armor units. Almost as if obtaining that cargo was the actual goal of the attack. Sgt. Antonia? Can we access the manifest of the convoy and see what hardware was in that trailer? It might be something we can tie into the attack on the base and see what the objective is."

Miyazaki latches onto Dorsey's train of thinking like two locomotives speeding down the same track. Kitty says with some amazement in her voice, "Sergeant Dorsey! You seem to imply that part of our offensive force may have been in on this? Either that or they acted on apparent cowardice? If they fled the Male Power Armor units on sight of that particular truck being picked up, this entire situation may go farther than Carlos Sanchez and his corporation!" Miyazaki breaks out her own tablet and adds what she has learned as if compiling her own investigation.

Steven asks, "Sergeant, can you send me a copy of that list? Perhaps with more of us looking, we might be able to identify something of sufficient value that the insurgents would want to make a play for." Assuming that the answer is a yes, he takes out his own tablet and begins to scan the manifest for the convoy, trying to see if there is anything that jumps out at him that could be the target for the Malcontents.

"I am with you, Steven. As an officer of the Global Military Police in response to this situation, I hereby request the same if you are willing and able to give it."

Kitty thinks aloud, her brain flying like a bullet train. "Everyone, Carlos Sanchez and his treachery is one thing. But f our own forces are in on this then the Malcontents pulling back from the destruction of Anton-17 begins to make sense! If the Malconents destroy this base, who else is going to send convoys and supplies for them to raid?" Kitty's fingers continue to fly across her tablet.

GunMan2 Without looking up, she asks, "Corporal Barnes? You have a background in communications - which you displayed quite well very recently! What is your take on this?"

 

[Psychie]

Miyazaki latches onto Dorsey's train of thinking like two locomotives speeding down the same track. Kitty says with some amazement in her voice, "Sergeant Dorsey! You seem to imply that part of our offensive force may have been in on this? Either that or they acted on apparent cowardice? If they fled the Male Power Armor units on sight of that particular truck being picked up, this entire situation may go farther than Carlos Sanchez and his corporation!" Miyazaki breaks out her own tablet and adds what she has learned as if compiling her own investigation.

Doug looks confused for a moment, then realization dawns on him and he shakes his head. "No, I think you misunderstood me, Miya. It was not the allied RDF force that pulled back, but the Zentraedi one, once they had that one trailer. All of our people stood their ground and fought well. Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression."

 

[Purr]

"Oh! Their offensive force? I beg your pardon and thank you for the correction."

She immediately begins to edit her latest scribblings in her tablet. "If what is in that manifest shows that captured vehicle to be the best of the lot, then the next series of questions I would like to follow is - who else was given this manifest? Who else knew?"

 

[GunMan2]

Kitty thinks aloud, her brain flying like a bullet train. "Everyone, Carlos Sanchez and his treachery is one thing. But f our own forces are in on this then the Malcontents pulling back from the destruction of Anton-17 begins to make sense! If the Malconents destroy this base, who else is going to send convoys and supplies for them to raid?" Kitty's fingers continue to fly across her tablet.

GunMan2 Without looking up, she asks, "Corporal Barnes? You have a background in communications - which you displayed quite well very recently! What is your take on this?"

Barnes thought for a moment, then answered "If its the same as that Sanchez fellow we might be in deeper trouble than we might have initially thought Kitty" He began he then listened to Dorsey's explanation and he responds "If that one truck was enough for them then that means that they are really desperate for supplies then. Additionally, if they manage to convert some people to their side be it human or Zentraedi then this warlord might be more dangerous than we though but and this is a big but, what if this warlord is getting help from a third party. One that is pulling the strings behind the scenes." Barnes said.

Response to Kitty "My take would be that they need this base to look damaged enough for us to send supplies here. Additionally, as Sargent Dorsey said there might be something bigger going on than what we know." He then turns to Antonia "If you permit, i would like to take a look at the comms tower and inspect it for any 'bugs' and will try to see if i can intercept some of their communications. The more information we know the better."

 

[Psychie]

Antonia continues to tap the screen of her datapad as she listens to the questions and comments of the team.

"I am with you, Steven. As an officer of the Global Military Police in response to this situation, I hereby request the same if you are willing and able to give it."

"I see no problem with that. It will just have to wait until the full inventory of what we have is entered into the logs, so we can compare it to what we ordered and see what's missing. At the rate that the trucks are being unloaded, it shouldn't be more than a half hour."

She immediately begins to edit her latest scribblings in her tablet. "If what is in that manifest shows that captured vehicle to be the best of the lot, then the next series of questions I would like to follow is - who else was given this manifest? Who else knew?"

"Most of the personnel here at Anton-17 are at least tangentially aware of the contents; food, fuel and ammo are always a high priority to everyone, but as for who would know on the sending side of the order, it would have to be someone with access to the Quartermaster's files to see what we requested, and I have only limited access to anyone that might be on that list at Brazilia Base."

Barnes thought for a moment, then answered "If its the same as that Sanchez fellow we might be in deeper trouble than we might have initially thought Kitty" He began he then listened to Dorsey's explanation and he responds "If that one truck was enough for them then that means that they are really desperate for supplies then. Additionally, if they manage to convert some people to their side be it human or Zentraedi then this warlord might be more dangerous than we though but and this is a big but, what if this warlord is getting help from a third party. One that is pulling the strings behind the scenes." Barnes said.

Antonia's face darkens at this thought. "If, and I do stress if, you are correct, then there are moles in the RDF that are actively working to supply information to the enemy. It could be Zentraedi, but the bulk of our people that are trusted that well left Earth with the UEEF fleet. I'm not saying it can't be a Zentraedi, but it is also quite possible that there is some human that has betrayed his or her race and is working with Galt's people. I somehow doubt that this mole is anyone here since we were all under fire together, but I will begin a quiet review of personnel files and checking on communication logs to see what information is leaving here and at what hands it is doing so."

Response to Kitty "My take would be that they need this base to look damaged enough for us to send supplies here. Additionally, as Sargent Dorsey said there might be something bigger going on than what we know." He then turns to Antonia "If you permit, i would like to take a look at the comms tower and inspect it for any 'bugs' and will try to see if i can intercept some of their communications. The more information we know the better."

"Instead of just looking at the tower, I want you to begin a full out inspection of the comms with me, from top to bottom. If there is any hardware that is not supposed to be here, I want to know about it."

She leans forward and looks at each of you with an intense gaze. "For now, these suspicions need to stay in this room, between the six of us. I do not need any rumors running rampant through the base that we have a traitor in our midst. Am. I. Clear?"

Antonia finally leans back and says, "Lets get you to your bunks and have you stow your personal gear. From the way you all look, you've had one hell of a long day, and could use some chow and a bit of rest."

 

[Purr]

"I'm not saying it can't be a Zentraedi, but it is also quite possible that there is some human that has betrayed his or her race and is working with Galt's people."

(quotations mine)

Indeed. Like Mr. Carlos Sanchez and his construction corporation? Kitty cannot help but think.

"Instead of just looking at the tower, I want you to begin a full out inspection of the comms with me, from top to bottom. If there is any hardware that is not supposed to be here, I want to know about it."

"Sergeant," Kitty puts her hands behind her back. "My skills as a Spartas driver are only recently learned. Prior to joining 3rd JSOG, I served in the Global Military Police as an information specialist and member of ESWAT. As such, counterterrorism is one of my specialties; computer hacking is another. With your permission and 1st Sgt. Antonia's, I would put those skills to use here."

She leans forward and looks at each of you with an intense gaze. "For now, these suspicions need to stay in this room, between the six of us. I do not need any rumors running rampant through the base that we have a traitor in our midst. Am. I. Clear?"

"Crystalline, 1st Sergeant." Kitty grins with that confident look in her blue eyes. "Even out here, you must be familiar with the GMP's strong reputation for... discretion."

This was Kitty's way of communicating with Antonia Kitty's absolute loyalties to the GMP. If Antonia had had any dealings with the GMP, the Meltrandi would very likely know that if ordered, Kitty would have to spill her guts on everything she has seen here, and likely in excruciating detail. Not that Kitty had any problem with this; she thought it is what she was designed for.

In Kitty's mind, she deems it quite possible, that while most soldiers have their specialties, Kitty knows more about the subject of counterterrorism and its connected skillsets than the vast majority of people who ever set foot into this dusty base - her fellow GMP personnel excluded, of course.

It didn't make her better than anyone else, not at all, but it did make perfectly clear to Miyazaki where Miyazaki's priorities lay.

And if Antonia didn't know about how the GMP operated, well,there was little point in telling her - it would only create needless friction.

"Your orders, sir?" she asks Sgt. Dorsey.

 

[Psychie]

Dorsey looks at the squad and says, "We know that any potential mole or collaborator is not in this team, so keep your ears and eyes open, and report back to me and 1st Sgt. Antonia with anything out of the ordinary. We all have talents to bring to this investigation, so use your skills wisely, and don't let yourself get sucked into any situation by yourselves if you can avoid it. Watch each others' backs. Remember we are a team, and work like one. Now, I don't know about you guys, but since I don't sleep well on aircraft, I feel dead on my feet and the day is still far from over. Lets find out where we're bunking, get our stuff put away, and then get some food while I get some high power coffee fed to me intravenously. By then, the inventory should be all checked in, and we can see what is missing."

Antonia leads you through the maze of passages that make up the underground portions of the base to the line of eight man bunk rooms that make up the sleeping quarters of the base, gender segregated, with rules in place about being in the opposite sex's room. Nova and Miya get put into a room with a group of five other women (one bunk is still empty) that come from the ranks of the infantry force and and the command center computer operators. Steven and Chris also get to bunk together, but your room has all the cots filled. Due to his rank, Dorsey gets to enjoy a smaller and more private two man room, bunking with another NCO of the base.

Everyone manages to get their personal gear stowed away then make your way out to the mess hall. It is a large room that can hold about a hundred and fifty people packed in at the various tables that doubles as a meeting room and a chapel for Sunday services. Right now, there is a group of forty or so in here, most of them are new arrivals to the infantry force stationed here that came in with the convoy. As you slide into your seats with your trays of food, your datapads give off a ding showing that you have received a text message from Sgt. Antonia with the list of missing supplies.

The cargo truck that was taken had been packed to the top with gear, most of it doesn't seem to be of a critical nature - stuff like cases of freeze-dried rations (not a big deal and easily replaced) and a small amount of medical supplies. It is not until you get a little farther down the list that you see that there are cases of LAR-10 laser assault rifles that total fifty of the weapons, hundreds of energy clips for them, and stacks of short range missiles. The final thing that looks of any interest to the insurgents is a set of four M-996 dual barrel 78mm autocannnons, the same kind of weapon that the Defender Destroid uses, to replace the damaged turret mounted laser weapons that were damaged in the Malcontent attack. Included with the autocannons are several thousand rounds of ammo for them and the advanced radar targeting and tracking hardware that makes the Defender so deadly to both ground and airborne threats.

Between mouthfuls of food, Nova reads the list of missing gear, and her eyebrows go up as she sees the military hardware. She says, "I think that the target of the raid was the autocannons and, more importantly, their targeting hardware. Think about it. The food supplies are insufficient to feed a group of forty foot tall soldiers, and the same goes for the medical supplies. We have reports that the Malcontents are using a Protoculture Chamber to regrow their troops to full size, so why worry about a handful of laser rifles designed for micronians? The missiles will be useful, but they are not that hard to get a hold of, and there is not enough in the cargo carrier to supply more than a few mecha. No, it only makes sense to me that they want the M-996's and their targeting hardware." She looks at the rest of you to see if there are any arguments regarding her line of logic.

 

[Sherwood]

Steven chews on his hamburger but hardly tastes it, his mind being so focused on the list and what Nova is talking about. He slowly nods. "Yeah. I can see that - to a point. Four of the dual barreled autocannons can't do much for them. It's not like they have the ability to reverse engineer what they've grabbed, so they can't make more, so it's not like the Malcontents will be fitting the guns on their mecha to be used against us. What possible use for the guns can they possibly have? Defense weaponry for a base of operation? Trying to lock down some area denial ability by shooting down any aircraft that comes over a particular spot?"

 

[Purr]

Miyazaki muses at Steven's line of thinking between bites. "They must have been after something they did not already have. That is logical, is it not? But if they are working with humans, including construction specialists like the Sanchez Corporation - keep in mind, those humans use heavy machinery every day! While the Malcontents can hardly create, perhaps they know humans who can do the creating for them?"

Kitty knew that all might be a stretch, but... stranger things had happened!

 

[GunMan2]

Barnes on the other hand had a different idea. “What is the job of a missile is to be launched and destroyed, but what if they simply skip the launch part and go only to destroy.” He bagan to think. “What could do is take a few of the warheads, detonators and fuel and create a makeshift demo bomb.” He took a bite of what he assumed to be a sausage or at least looked like one.
He kept thinking to one thing, that was strange. The macontent attack and subsequent retreat, it made nonsense. If you have the advantage you press it as much as you can. But they did not, why?

Was the attack a distraction to do what, smuggle someone in, maybe “Alternatively they could be using the hardware to make more freezers or at least weaponise them i mean if there are more like Sanchez then they might be making the bomb or a new mecha”

if anyone asks Barnes how he knows it, his response will be “gut feeling”

 

[Purr]

Between mouthfuls of food, Nova reads the list of missing gear, and her eyebrows go up as she sees the military hardware. She says, "I think that the target of the raid was the autocannons and, more importantly, their targeting hardware. Think about it. The food supplies are insufficient to feed a group of forty foot tall soldiers, and the same goes for the medical supplies. We have reports that the Malcontents are using a Protoculture Chamber to regrow their troops to full size, so why worry about a handful of laser rifles designed for micronians? The missiles will be useful, but they are not that hard to get a hold of, and there is not enough in the cargo carrier to supply more than a few mecha. No, it only makes sense to me that they want the M-996's and their targeting hardware." She looks at the rest of you to see if there are any arguments regarding her line of logic.

"Yeah. I can see that - to a point. Four of the dual barreled autocannons can't do much for them. It's not like they have the ability to reverse engineer what they've grabbed, so they can't make more, so it's not like the Malcontents will be fitting the guns on their mecha to be used against us. What possible use for the guns can they possibly have? Defense weaponry for a base of operation? Trying to lock down some area denial ability by shooting down any aircraft that comes over a particular spot?"

Was the attack a distraction to do what, smuggle someone in, maybe “Alternatively they could be using the hardware to make more freezers or at least weaponise them i mean if there are more like Sanchez then they might be making the bomb or a new mecha”

Kitty takes a long drink and absently surveys their surroundings, immediately noting the exits and turning to face them. Internally, she is taking notes. Faces, places, how people are acting, what languages and accents she hears, and most importantly - what data is crossing through the air by way of people speaking.

"I... find myself leaning on the targeting hardware theory - it appears to be the one thing we were carrying that they appear not to have nor the ability to create.. but for what? It is clear the Malcontents and the Sanchez Corporation are in... what is the word... 'cahoots' with one another - so what do they need that targeting gear for? To attack Anton-17 with some new menacing threat now that they have a strong idea of what we can do prior to 3rd JSOG's arrival? And afterward, perhaps even to attack Brazilia Base itself?" Kitty pauses in realization - she does not like where this train of thoughts is leading!

She checks her own comm system. Had she received anything from the Global Military Police?

 

[Psychie]

She checks her own comm system. Had she received anything from the Global Military Police?

So far, there is no message on your tablet for you. But you do know that the various investigations that are underway will take some time to resolve, and you are not that high on the totem pole so patience is the order of the day.

Dorsey seems to have recovered some of his energy after getting his IV infusion of coffee, and gets ready to go assist the Chief in the motorpool. Before he leaves, he gives out a few final orders, "Barnes, you have the go-ahead from Sgt. Antonia to inspect the communication system. Take Nova with you; her surveillance training will come in handy there. Bishop, go make nice with the sawbones here in Medical. I'm sure that they have casualties from the attack, and with your doctor's training, you will probably be spending your out-of-mecha-patrol time there, supporting our resident doctor. Miya, go check in with Antonia at the Command Center. I'm guessing that you'll have some time on one of the terminals, so try some data mining in between manning a screen until you are given the ok to get some downtime. Everyone, have a good night and get some rest. I have a feeling that we'll have a very long day ahead of us tomorrow."

With that, the big man takes one last slug of coffee and heads for the door.

 

[Sherwood]

Steven waves to Dorsey as he gets up from the table, saying, "Take it easy out there, Sergeant. See you later." He looks to the empty tray in front of him, and then says, "Well, I guess I don't have any excuse to sit here any longer, so I'll be on my way, too. I'm off to Medical." He stands and grabs up his tray and heads to the recycler before making his way out of the mess hall and on his way to report in for duty to the doctor.

Once he gets there, Steven steps in and looks around, seeking one of the staff that is on duty to check in with. "Hi there. I'm Corporal Seven Bishop, one of the new arrivals that just transferred in, and I was ordered to check in here to see if I can offer up any assistance to you. I'm a fully qualified field medic and doctor, so if there is anything you need a hand with, I'm your man."