Robotech: Army of the Southern Cross - IC Thread

[Psychie]

Sherwood

When Steven enters Medical, he can see that there are several walking wounded soldiers sitting in chairs around the room with a woman in hospital scrubs and wearing a set of corporal's chevrons on her collar talking to one of the men with his arm in a cast and sling. She looks up at you as you enter and gives you 'in just one moment' hand motion as she finishes her conversation with the man in the cast before he stands up and walks on out past you.

She finally approaches you with a curious look; you are clearly not hurt, so it is only natural for her to wonder why you are here. Then you introduce yourself, and her expression goes from curious to relieved, and she says, "I can't speak for Dr. Lawrence, but I for one am happy to see another trained medical officer here that is ready to help out, even if it is only in between your deployments in your mecha. Please, come with me and we can show you around and put you to work. Oh, and I'm Jessie Heers, one of the medical assistants here. Good to meet you, Corporal Bishop."

You are taken to see the doctor, a long-haired redheaded Lieutenant named Amanda Lawrence, and she gives you a pleasant but tired smile. "It is good to see you here, Corporal. I see that you are one of our new arrivals with the ATAC. Field surgeon, I presume? I'll have to review your files before I turn yo loose on any patients, but having the extra set of hands will be quite welcome."


GunMan2

With dinner over, Nova looks over at you and says, "I would suggest we get started soon. Where do you wish to begin? Hardware on the tower itself, or check the software of the transmitters? If there is something to be found, we will spot it."


Purr

What is Miya doing?

 

[GunMan2]

With dinner over, Nova looks over at you and says, "I would suggest we get started soon. Where do you wish to begin? Hardware on the tower itself, or check the software of the transmitters? If there is something to be found, we will spot it."

Barnes looks up from his empty plate of chicken he ate, the then intertwined his finger and rested his chin on them. He stood there for 5 minutes before responding "I will say check the hardware first as the transmitter. Just to be on the safe side, i suggest we take some of our personal equipment with us. A shock rod and a pistol should be enough protection unless we get attacked." He looked at the different people "I don't like this nova..." He left the rest unspoken as he got up and went to get his personal equipment "By the way, i hope this is not too intrusive, Nova. But the Zentraeti are able to do some mind tricks, is there anything equivalent to putting suggestions into ones mind?. He asked with curiosity "Or is it different depending on gender?"

 

[Psychie]

Barnes looks up from his empty plate of chicken he ate, the then intertwined his finger and rested his chin on them. He stood there for 5 minutes before responding "I will say check the hardware first as the transmitter. Just to be on the safe side, i suggest we take some of our personal equipment with us. A shock rod and a pistol should be enough protection unless we get attacked." He looked at the different people "I don't like this nova..." He left the rest unspoken as he got up and went to get his personal equipment "By the way, i hope this is not too intrusive, Nova. But the Zentraeti are able to do some mind tricks, is there anything equivalent to putting suggestions into ones mind?. He asked with curiosity "Or is it different depending on gender?"

Nova raises an eyebrow. "Now that is a rumor about the Meltrandi that I have not heard before. No, our people cannot sway the minds of others against their will, only through the same methods that your human speakers can; with charisma and eloquence." She checks her hip for her service pistol and says, "We have some daylight left to us to get the exterior of the radio system examined before we will have to rely upon extra sources of light. Let us make tracks."

The two of you now make your way out of the mess hall and up to the surface once more where you can see that the trucks of the convoy are all parked out along the inner side of the security wall, all emptied out and ready to return to Brazilia Base once more. There are a few people spending some of their off time in the sun; some throwing a baseball back and forth while others are at a small exercise area, pumping iron to stay in shape. All in all, things seem to be fairly quiet at the BSURP.

GunMan2 Please give me a set of three Basic Electronics rolls.

 

[GunMan2]

Barnes walks with Nova to where the external radio system is and begins to examine the entire control. With the use of specialized tools for scanning the radio waves for any unauthorized frequencies. "Well that is a relief at least. Means that if i meet someone like Sanchez, I can punch them harder then." He said with a bit of fire in his voice as him still being in full mode and not his usual low energy self.

 

[Purr]

What is Miya doing?

(OOC: In short? This. =) )

Spoiler

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.

"Your will, Sergeant," replying in the manner of the Meltrandi, Kitty cracks a mischievous smile at the state of her likely over-caffeinated squad leader. "Farewell, everyone!"

"Come now, Fluffy," she pats her immaculate holstered MP-84 pistol. "It is time to see what we can see."

Upon finding her way to 1st Sgt. Antonia, Kitty comes to attention and salutes. "Officer Miyazaki reporting for data-mining duty, ma'am." She does not move or speak until addressed. Antonia, she feels, is a fellow Meltrandi and, thus far, deserving of racial treatment fitting of their people.

If Antonia provides opportunity, Kitty begins to do what she was literally created to do - hunt down and find information, answers, targets - anything that can aid her squad.

In her past, Terror Team Six were specifically designed to track down and kill whatever and whomever their mistress desired. The harder the target, the better.

Kitty was one of two Meltrandi in the team designed to be responsible for picking up useful data to help the others find and evaluate their prey. Her other four clone-mates were the true killers of the team. In a way, Kitty feels she holds a like position here in 3rd JSOG with Corporal Barnes and perhaps Corporal Nova as her fellow data-gatherers.

She was ordered to data-mine by Sergeant Dorsey, but if the opportunity presents itself, Kitty goes farther than that. The GMP officer in her is hunting for hard evidence. Videos, audio logs files, data feeds, phone calls, encrypted messages, texts, anything.

She puts to use all of her skills in combination from intelligence to research to computer hacking and beyond. Kitty relentlessly attempts to follow every single lead they have been given from the manifests to Sanchez Construction to any unusual base traffic regardless of how it comes into the base.

She also asks Antonia if there are any persons she should talk to on the matter, any networks that might aid in the hunt.

3rd JSOG requires a trail to follow... so Kitty the Huntress, with Fluffy on her hip, is out for blood.

 

[Psychie]

While Steven is getting to know his way around Medical, Chris and Nova are examining the outside hardware of the main communications tower. It takes the two of you a good hour and a half of climbing over the array before Chris comes to the conclusion that there is no foreign hardware to be found. Nova gives a wave to get Chris' attention. "I don't know about you, but I've been all over the hardware and I've found nothing out of place. You spot anything?" When you answer in the negative, she looks tired but nods. "Good. Next step is to review the electronics and the communication logs, but I am ready to fall over. It's getting late, and we have been on the move for most of the day. I don't know about you, but could use some sleep. After all, we need to be prepared for combat at any time."


Inside the command center, Kitty is busy multi-tasking - on one screen she's monitoring the data feeds from allied AWACs aircraft that are monitoring the airspace and ground movement in the region, along with the current state of repairs of the electronic frontier sensor line to directly keep an eye on the immediate terrain around the base, and on the other screen is the electronic maze that she is in the middle of hunting through. Hours go by, and there are hints of patterns that begin to present themselves out of the chaos of the gigabyes of data. It is not enough to move decisively on, but you do have something to dig further into.

After a while, your eyes are feeling gritty, and there is a dull ache starting to build in the middle of your back from all the time you've spent up from this morning. The current head of the watch comes over to you and says, "Corporal, you look exhausted. I know you feel that this is important, but if you are too tired to think straight, you will miss out on some important data. Go get some sleep, and take this up again after a few hours of rest."

 

[Purr]

Hours go by, and there are hints of patterns that begin to present themselves out of the chaos of the gigabyes of data. It is not enough to move decisively on, but you do have something to dig further into.

This, Kitty feels, is sufficient. Shadows did not cast themselves but did so with the aid of something between the light and the shadow; there was something here, faint but present - and that was a lot better than what she had hours ago!

After a while, your eyes are feeling gritty, and there is a dull ache starting to build in the middle of your back from all the time you've spent up from this morning. The current head of the watch comes over to you and says, "Corporal, you look exhausted. I know you feel that this is important, but if you are too tired to think straight, you will miss out on some important data. Go get some sleep, and take this up again after a few hours of rest."

Kitty looks from the head watch-human and only then realizes that she has no idea when 1st Sgt. Antonia left the room. Kitty was absorbed indeed! She nods to the higher-ranked superior. "Your will, watchman. I am dismissed." Sgt. Dorsey did indeed indicate that she was to data-mine until dismissed. The time had come. Besides, her body required maintenance and rest.

Kitty moisturizes her eyes while hydrating herself. She gets some quality food in her if some can be found at that hour. Then she turns in but not before taking a (hopefully warm) shower until she gets the ache out of her back. She wanted to feel at full capacity in the morning. There was an opening in her psyche that told her she was finally ready to move on to the next plateau in life - the next level as some martial artists put it. Kitty was eager to learn how to increase her footwork, her balance, her punching ability, timing, and the other terrific benefits of practicing the ancient human combat form of... what was the word again? Oh yes!

Boxing!

As she rolls into her sleeping station, she lays Fluffy, completely covered by a towel, within her arm's reach. "Good night, Fluffy," she tells the machine pistol. "You, Maru, and I shall continue the hunt on the morrow." Then the Meltrandi began to practice her ritual for entering a deep sleep - low lights, meditation, deep breathing. Sooner than she realized, Kitty slipped off into the blissful realm all mammals reach for eventually - the wonderful restorative simply called... sleep.

 

[GunMan2]

While Steven is getting to know his way around Medical, Chris and Nova are examining the outside hardware of the main communications tower. It takes the two of you a good hour and a half of climbing over the array before Chris comes to the conclusion that there is no foreign hardware to be found. Nova gives a wave to get Chris' attention. "I don't know about you, but I've been all over the hardware and I've found nothing out of place. You spot anything?" When you answer in the negative, she looks tired but nods. "Good. Next step is to review the electronics and the communication logs, but I am ready to fall over. It's getting late, and we have been on the move for most of the day. I don't know about you, but could use some sleep. After all, we need to be prepared for combat at any time."

Corporal Chris Barns lets out a deep sigh as he could not find anything wrong which made the man more suspicious. *They might have used a computer bug then a listening device. God Damit, it seems that these days its all computers* He sighs as the days exhaustion is starting to to get to him and takes up Nova's offer of hitting the hay. "I agree. We done as much as we could today. Let go and get some shut eye then we can check the system with a fresh set of eyes." He said tiredly as the Corporal nods and leaves to her bunk.

The Colonel looks back a the main com's tower with narrowed eyes before heading back to the barracks. He learned to never leave all his personal equipment behind even if they were in base. Enemies like the Malcontent always attack at dawn and he had to be ready for battle at all times. He really hoped that the spartas tank lives up to its rep or else they are toast. Barnes keeps thinking back to his days at the RDF and the many people he meet and lost. Barnes goes into deep slumber with his pistol under his pillow, ready to be used should an attack happen. Before sleep could claim him an image of a zentraeidi family watching him in fear appears briefly before it diapers.

 

[Psychie]

It takes a good couple of days for the five of you to feel like you have caught up on sleep, but finally it happens that when the morning wake-up call comes around, you are no longer dragging ass out of bed and are feeling back to as normal as you can get. You also are starting to get to know your way around the base, and things start to settle into a routine. You get up, go through your basic morning calisthenics to keep in shape, hit the mess hall, and report in for duty: Steven is one of the new assistants in Medical, while Miya, Nova and Chris all have staggered shifts in the command center, monitoring communications and watching for any signs of trouble that might be heading your way.

When not on shift, you guys are free to relax and use the recreation facilities of the base as much as you'd like, giving you some time to train and hone your skills with some computer based education and everyone takes some time to put Miya through her paces in the gymnasium, teaching her how to keep her guard up in a boxing match. Dorsey is a good teacher, doing his best to show you not only the 'proper' boxing form, but also how to face off against an opponent that is much bigger than you are. He comments, "Just remember, in a real fight, there are no rules. Just so long as you win, that's all that matters. Punch, kick, bite, scratch, whatever you need to do to come out on top. But in a sparring match, we will conform to the regulations of the ring and show you how to do it right. Now, you are dropping your hand a touch, telegraphing your intent to jab. Bad habit to get into, so we'll break you of that ASAP. Lets work on that now."

Three days into your stay at Anton-17, the outer walls have been patched, the minefields refilled, and all of the mecha and vehicles are fully repaired, giving everyone at the BSURP a bit of stress relief as your ability to respond to threats has gone up a huge notch. Then, on the morning of day four, your normal routine is interrupted by a call to go to the briefing room. Lt. Hulsizer is there waiting for you as everyone arrives.

She gives everyone a nod and smile as you come in. "Good morning, everyone. Time to earn your pay out in the field. Today, you will be performing a patrol run, going around to a three different villages in the area and checking in on the locals. They know we are here, and Capt. Shumer has gone a long way to keep relations with them friendly, and they have been a good source of information for us. In order to help out with this, your mecha have had a slight modification added to them; a trailer hitch that can pull a small cargo container behind your mecha in your Transport mode. The trailers are designed to automatically disengage if you have to shift modes, so if a fight breaks out and you go into Battloid or Tank modes, you'll have to go back and reattach the trailer or you'll end up leaving it behind."

Dorsey raises up his hand, and asks, "Ma'am, what is in these trailers?"

"Medical supplies, food supplements, and tools to be able to do some minor repairs on the local machinery. Everything is free of charge, all to help build up some good will with the people here. Corporal Bishop can use his medical skills to give check-ups while Sgt. Dorsey does some repair work, and the rest of you can do some information gathering while you roll up your sleeves and help the people out as you can. After you spend a few hours doing some PR work, move on to the next village. Take your time and be friendly. Once you are all done, come on back to the base. Any questions or suggestions on stuff you'd like to bring along?"

 

[Sherwood]

Steven thinks for a moment, wondering if there will be any trouble on this trip out. "No questions from me, ma'am. I look forward to being an ambassador to the locals for the RDF and ASC, and doing something good for these people. Actually, I just thought of something. Is there any particular intelligence that we should be keeping our ears open for? Assuming that the villagers know anything of interest to us, that is." I'm sure that if anyone knows where the Zentraedi base is, that would be a high priority to get info on.

 

[Psychie]

Lt. Hulsizer nods. "If you get wind of any troop movements, potential targets for raids, or the location of any bases of operation, that is always a high priority to hear about. Other possible bits of information could include the location of any drug processing locations; there is still a continual problem with cocaine and other narcotics coming from the cartel, and if any of these locations are discovered, the local authorities can be alerted and move in to shut them down."

 

[GunMan2]

Barnes simply shook his head. “No Questions from me neither” Said the colonel as he saluted. “On the intelligence gathering leave it all to us. We will make sure to be discreet and avoid as much trouble as we can and see if we can find out about the malcontent movements, one of the villagers is bound to have seen something." He said in his usual bored, low energy tone. "Lets hope that it will only be some PR work and finish early."

 

[Psychie]

The Lieutenant replies, "Good. You have an hour to make whatever preparations for your mecha and draw your gear from stores before you should be on the move. If you have nothing else for me, you are dismissed to be about your business."

Assuming that there are no other questions, Doug nods. "Understood, ma'am. We are on our way." With a glance to the rest of you, he says, "Lets go. They ain't paying us by the hour."

Upstairs in the armored mecha bay, Chief Danfield is there waiting for you. He gives you a quick rundown on how the new trailer hitches work on your tanks, showing you how to attach the trailer to the mecha in the event of you having to shift modes and detach the trailer. It is a very simple task, one that can be done in just a minute of maneuvering and a little bit of muscle to line everything up. He then goes on to say, "If you want to change up your main gun ammo, let me know real quick or you're shit out of luck stuck with the standard load out."

 

[Purr]

Earlier...

Kitty feels the muscles on her arms and core as she finishes up from her boxing training. On a hunch, she visits the armory and after showing her credentials as someone weapons-qualified, asks to handle several heavy weapons. "Not so heavy anymore, are you now?" she says with satisfaction as she leaves the armory.

Spoiler: OOC

The prerequisite Physical Strength attribute for many heavy weapons is 17. Boxing increases one's P.S. by two taking Kitty from 16 to a very comfortable 18. I was looking forward to this. Consider both player and character happy. =)

When asked about the mission at hand, Miyazaki says what is on her mind. "Are the trailers armored? Also, might we be allowed to put trackers in the trailers?" Her white hair shifts as she addresses Sgt. Dorsey. "The Malcontents have proven to be competent thieves; if they get away with something this time, placing hidden trackers will tell us where they are taking it. In fact... perhaps we might go a step further and have a decoy trailer for that very purpose?" Miyazaki mischievously grins as she thinks aloud.

Presently...

"Chief Danfield," Miyazaki rubs her chin. "I take it you have practical experience here in Brazil. What changes would you suggest if you were taking a Spartas into the field, sir?"

 

[Psychie]

When asked about the mission at hand, Miyazaki says what is on her mind. "Are the trailers armored? Also, might we be allowed to put trackers in the trailers?" Her white hair shifts as she addresses Sgt. Dorsey. "The Malcontents have proven to be competent thieves; if they get away with something this time, placing hidden trackers will tell us where they are taking it. In fact... perhaps we might go a step further and have a decoy trailer for that very purpose?" Miyazaki mischievously grins as she thinks aloud.

The trailers are lightly armored, having a total of 50 MDC to the body and 5 MDC to each of the four tires. They are not meant to be taking heavy fire, but are able to resist some small arms attacks without putting the cargo in peril.

When Miya asks about trackers in the trailers, Dorsey shares her grin. "I like it, having some means of tracing the location of the trailers like that. It shouldn't take long to rig up a set of beacons for the trailers. Having a decoy trailer is a good thought, assuming that we are expecting to get hit again. But as far as I know, the medical supplies are not geared for a full sized Zentraedi, so the interest in stealing the supplies might not be all there."

"Chief Danfield," Miyazaki rubs her chin. "I take it you have practical experience here in Brazil. What changes would you suggest if you were taking a Spartas into the field, sir?"

The Chief scratches at his chin as he thinks. "Eh, no one has ever asked me about what gear to pull out. Let me think. If you are looking at your main gun loadout, the Canister rounds are the least effective against any armored opponents. I'd swap out a few of them for extra sabot or HEAP rounds, since they are meant to be your main go-to shells to wipe out the Zentraedi mecha. For your personal gear, you've got limited space to load too much in your tanks, but you've got room for your survival pack and your long rifle, whatever kind it is, and your sidearm on your hip. Maybe a few grenades to bolster your capability to do some damage out of your mecha. Any other gear you get will have to deal with the conditions out there in the field; lots of rain forecast for the next week."

Doug nods. "Yeah, I saw that in the reports. The good news is that the Spartas in the Transport mode is not tracked or wheeled, so we can hover over the worst of the mud bogs, and we shouldn't have trouble with those lightweight trailers being pulled along. I'd be different if we were escorting standard APC's or other ground units. That would really slow us down." He thinks for a moment, then says, "Chief, if you would be so kind as to swap out six of my Canister shells for the APFSDS rounds, I'd appreciate it. I want to keep a few of those shotgun shells just in case."

"No problem, Sergeant. It will take only a minute to make the switch. Anyone else wish to have any ammo loadout changes?"

 

[Purr]

Earlier...

When Miya asks about trackers in the trailers, Dorsey shares her grin. "I like it, having some means of tracing the location of the trailers like that. It shouldn't take long to rig up a set of beacons for the trailers. Having a decoy trailer is a good thought, assuming that we are expecting to get hit again. But as far as I know, the medical supplies are not geared for a full sized Zentraedi, so the interest in stealing the supplies might not be all there."

Miyazaki nods and raises one unpainted fingernail. "Perhaps not, but as has been pointed out before, they have human-sized Zentraedi and human allies. With human allies come friends and families and - just maybe - the need for military-grade medical supplies. That is, unless there are other armies near Brazilia Base that 3rd JSOG is unaware of?" This last comes without any sort of sarcasm but instead, real curiosity. Miyazaki was well aware that she had only been alive for two years and that this was her first time ever in Brazil.

Doug nods. "Yeah, I saw that in the reports. The good news is that the Spartas in the Transport mode is not tracked or wheeled, so we can hover over the worst of the mud bogs, and we shouldn't have trouble with those lightweight trailers being pulled along.

Kitty rubs her nose. "A pity the trailers are not hover-capable. All it takes is for one pair of wheels to stop moving for it to affect the entire team and Brazil is a jungle, not some flat desert or arctic wasteland."

"No problem, Sergeant. It will take only a minute to make the switch. Anyone else wish to have any ammo loadout changes?"

Miyazaki deeply nods in gratitude to the helpful chief. "All of Maru's canister rounds for silver bullets (APFSDS), if you please."

 

[Sherwood]

Steven thinks for a minute about the trailers, and then says, "Chief? Sergeant? If we are going to be doing this kind of supply run in the future, how hard would it be to get hover jets on the trailers? That way we can move faster than while hauling a bunch of wheeled trailers on our tails, and have better access over less developed roads. Is that an option?"

Anyone else wish to have any ammo loadout changes?"

"Yes, Chief. I'd like to swap six of my Canister shells for the sabot rounds, too. Sounds like a winning idea to me."

 

[Psychie]

Steven thinks for a minute about the trailers, and then says, "Chief? Sergeant? If we are going to be doing this kind of supply run in the future, how hard would it be to get hover jets on the trailers? That way we can move faster than while hauling a bunch of wheeled trailers on our tails, and have better access over less developed roads. Is that an option?"

The Chief thinks, then says, "Well, mechanically, it can be done. I just don't know if I can get a hold of a small enough power plant and the hover jets anytime soon. If I scrap a hovercycle or five, that would give me the needed parts, assuming that I can get the ok from the brass. Its not like we use the bikes a whole bunch. Let me make some calls and I'll give it a try."

 

[Psychie]

With no more questions for the Chief, he quickly has the tech crews make the requested changes to your main gun rounds. Within just a few minutes, you are all ready to depart, and you can see that Chief Danfield is already eyeing a group of hovercycles, the wheels already turning in his head as just how to rig up the hover jets in the trailers to make them float over the ground like the tanks.

As you power up your tanks, Dorsey calls the command center on the comms to get the armored door out of the base opened up, and the minefield on the road shut off, since the trailers might be heavy enough to trigger the explosives designed to keep armored mecha and vehicles at bay. Soon enough, the massive doors yawn open and the radio operator in the command center confirms that the no-man's land of the minefield has been deactivated for safe travel. With that, the five of you are now free to set off on your trip around the neighborhood to deliver your goodies.

Moving further into the Zone, the roads get a little rougher and less maintained, and with the trailers you are pulling, it keeps your top speed lower than fifty miles an hour or else the trailers jerk and bounce around too much and risk coming unhitched and tip over. Slowly making your way up the slope of one of the many mountains in the area, you have no contact with the enemy as you approach the first of the villages you are supposed to stop at.

The one street that leads through the small village is the playground of many of the kids of the place, and as the five of you approach, the kids quickly part ways to let your tanks into the village. Several of the parents come to their doors and look out at the sudden arrival of the armored column with curiosity, their fear diminishing as they see that you are not Zentraedi coming to town for whatever reason that they might have to raid this small place.

An older man with a thick beard and long white hair that makes him look like Santa Claus's Hispanic cousin comes up to talk. In thickly accented English, he says, "Yes? How can we help you?"

Doug jumps down from his tank and introduces himself and the team. "We are here to deliver some much needed supplies from Anton-17 in the form of some medical supplies and protein packs, and while our doctor is doing his house call, I can look at any busted water pumps or power generators that need some service."

The old man's face lights up at this. "This is good news, thank you. We have a few of our people down with a nasty disease, making them unable to work, and our town's water pump has been making an unpleasant noise."

Doug nods. "Not to worry. I'll look at it. In the meantime, lets get some strong backs out here to help unload the trailers." He then looks up at Steven. "Get your doctor's hat on and check out those sick people. Nova, you stick close to your tank to keep watch on the radar and give us some cover if a group of hostiles decide to show up. Kitty and Chris, you spend some time with the locals, getting to know them and see what they might be willing to tell us about the area."

 

[Purr]

An older man with a thick beard and long white hair that makes him look like Santa Claus's Hispanic cousin comes up to talk. In thickly accented English, he says, "Yes? How can we help you?"

What have we here? Kitty muses inwardly.

If the man resembles the unseen-but-definitely-felt human spirit of Christmas-time generosity, then he was far from thin in body. And here they were handing out protein packs along with the medical supplies. He has been eating well. Can the same be said for the rest of the people in this village? Kitty takes note of the state of the other humans this apparent leader shares his living with. How do they look? Are they well-fed too?

Kitty and Chris, you spend some time with the locals, getting to know them and see what they might be willing to tell us about the area."

Kitty crisply replies, "Yes, sergeant." Then she thinks back to her training in learning the Spanish language. While she realized most of the people here in Brazil would speak Portuguese, Kitty had studied Spanish with the understanding that she would be able to get by. So great was her proficiency (87%) that she could understand the different Spanish dialects (Castillian, Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and others). Her espionage training as a GMP officer dutifully reminded her that if she spoke only English and feigned not understanding Spanish, then she could learn what the people were really thinking. Besides, Kitty was aware of the stereotype she filled - "short Caucasian book-smart girl with a great figure."

But then something else in Kitty spoke up - perhaps the girl behind the Skills and heavy education - whatever it was, it overruled the GMP officer in her. Kitty felt if she began her relationships here as one who clearly and openly knows the native language and some of the customs then she might be seen as someone more trustworthy, or at the very least, someone more cultured than her English-only speaking fellow ASC soldiers many of whom these villagers had probably dealt with in the past. These humans, Kitty gathers, have every reason to be suspicious of others out here in a warzone where a small number of persons armed with Mega-damage guns could conceivably hold an entire village hostage if they were cunning about it. Kitty feels that Sergeant Dorsey had commanded her and Corporal Barnes to apparently "make nice" with these villagers. And probably for good reason. It seems to Kitty that Sergeant Dorsey was of a mind to make allies here. "The winning of hearts and minds" as the age-old military saying went.

That meant being somewhat open with the villagers instead of secretly spying on them.

"Beunos dias! Como esta?" (Good day! How are you?") Kitty opens with what she hopes is a casual greeting here with her practiced Spanish accent. When Kitty speaks Zentraedi, she sounds Meltrandi. When she converses in English, she sounds English (a native speaker). And when she speaks Spanish, she sounds Spanish as now. Using her charm to try to appear both attractive and approachable without overdoing it, Kitty maintains professional non-threatening body language, even friendly. She smiles and looks the villagers in the eyes treating each with open decency and respect.

But it is all a "test for echo." Kitty has often passed for pure human. But here? Would it make a difference if they knew what race she was? Or was it enough that she and her squad were not here to take advantage of them? Kitty feels this is something worthy enough to wonder about.

How do the villagers respond to her attempts at genuine friendliness? If they appear open to it, she asks about the local news, especially Malcontent activity, but she'll take anything. For information to Kitty was like having a collection of jigsaw puzzles. Things got especially interesting putting them together and even moreso when some of those pieces fit unusually well inside other puzzles. And if they overlapped? How things changed! But...

...you couldn't play the game until you started gathering pieces. =)

 

[Sherwood]

Steven rolls up his mental sleeves and climbs down from his tank, putting himself in a mindset to look at the sick and injured people here and hoping to be able to do something for them with what supplies he has access to. He looks around and says, "Can I have a place in which I can use as an examination room? I'd like to be able to get out of the weather in case the rain kicks up."

 

[Psychie]

A bump for GunMan2 .

 

[GunMan2]

Kitty and Chris, you spend some time with the locals, getting to know them and see what they might be willing to tell us about the area."

Barnes keeps an eye on the villager, not really one for social interactions and usually being quiet man in the group. That is not to say that he does not talk at all but he usually keeps to himself. His first hurdle being that he never knew any other language other than plain old English. So he follow kitties lead for the most part while he looked around the village and some tracks. Secondly, he kept a watchful eye for anything out of the ordinary in the village.

Otherwise he will try to get the people at ease by playing football or soccer that seems to be a popular sport in brazil. So entrtaining the local kids might put the adults at ease around the 'friendly' soldiers.

 

[Psychie]

Steven's request for a examination room is met with one of the homeowners allowing you to use his living room to see patients, getting you out of the heavy overcast even as a few raindrops begin to fall. There are a few people that are sick enough that they are not able to come to you, needing you to examine them at their places. If this were a larger town, they would be relegated to a hospital, but that is not an option here today. All three have a nasty pneumonia that they have been trying to treat on their own without much success. Fortunately, the medical supplies that you have brought along is just the ticket to getting them back on their feet in the next week or so. The rest of the village is in pretty good shape, with only a few minor ailments that need to be treated.


Miya's efforts to charm the locals is met with mixed success. There are some that are suspicious of her, wondering what her real motivation is for trying to be nice, while others are more open to accepting her efforts to make contact on a human level with them. It is not long before you have the attention of the person that is most likely the town gossip monger, a woman named Maizel. She tells you all about the various scandals of the town, all with the comments along the lines of, "I don't like to spread rumors, but . . . "

Most of what you are hearing is harmless stuff, but as she talks, there is the occasional nugget of gold that manages to slip out, mostly about Malcontent activity that people have noticed over the past few weeks. All very useful stuff, and it is just what you need to be able to start piecing together a picture of troop movements in the area.


Chris manages to spot a soccer ball out in the street that was left unattended when the squad pulled into the village, and after making a few fancy moves with it, you are able to quickly gather up a handful of youngsters that are quite excited to play with you. While it is hardly a regulation pitch to play on, the kids enjoy themselves and soon you even have a few of the older residents joining in the pickup game you've started. A lot of laughter and a few cheers later, and one of the locals manages to obtain a few bottles of beer, one of which he offers up to Chris as a friendly gesture. The beer tastes like it is most likely a home brew, but it is refreshing and quite good.

It seems that your efforts of diplomacy has scored a goal, going a long way to make new friends.


After about two hours of this goes by, Doug gathers up everyone to get ready to move out for the next village.

 

[Sherwood]

Steven does his best to be thorough with the injured and sick people that come to him, making sure that he is giving each person all the time they need to feel at ease with him as he gives them a check-up. The three that are bedridden are his biggest concern, and he makes sure that he gives their caregivers enough antibiotics to get them feeling better as soon as possible. He stresses that they need to take all the meds that he leaves for them, and then when done, he dictates detailed notes to himself just in case he needs to make a return trip to check on them.

When Doug makes the call that it is time to move on, he returns to his tank with a smile on his face, reporting to his commander, "I don't know about the rest of you, but this was a very productive trip, and I've been able to help out a lot of sick individuals. I have a lot of records to transcribe once we get back to Anton-17, but it certainly makes me feel good to help out like this."