Robotech - Southern Cross Adventure

[Rykon]

Alan doesn't seem too surprised, "That explains pretty much everything I was fussing about earlier. It does beg the question of why they never found the insurgent after we reported this a long time ago. Notably while the First Sergeant was present, mind you. I'm not going to condemn her off hand, but jumping to defend her seems just as hasty too. Let's stick to the facts and follow the trails, that's how tracking works. I want in on this once our work here is done, boss. I have some ideas on whittling down our perp fairly."

 

[D. Rex]

When the Staff Sergeant began talking, he once more crawled out of the Spartas and listened.

"This PPC wont work on the Ajax as it is now. The installation kits that came in the convoy are for the Spartas." He explained, "A mounted PPC for an Ajax is something that would need to be tailored for the Ajax, as it would have it's own aerodynamic and power hurdles that need addressed. As nice as it would be, we sadly cant just attach anything to anything, not without a lot of other things to take into consideration."


When told that he was going to be assigned the other Particle Cannon, Marlon deflated a little. He was hoping it would go to Alan, whom he felt was a better shot. And that Marlon liked having the versatility of shells. Maybe it was just because he was comfortable with them. Marlon did eventually nod. "Aye. It will give me a chance to observe and test it in the field." He admitted.

"As for repairs, we are doing those right now. This is yours, given the damage, it needed stripped down anyway so installation now only made sense. Ryuko's Ajax is next, followed by Neo's Spartas. Alan's, Alissa's, and mine are field ready as they are. Just need ordinance topped off, but can be sent off now in an emergency. I have the full status summary on my clipboard if you need it. After all repairs and reloads, I'll bring in mine for the fitting."




At the news of the suspected traitor, he crossed his arms and looked down. He really hadn't expected it to be the First Sergeant. "No rumors from me, Sergeant. Though I really cant see this helping tensions any. Even if we say nothing, the loss of a Zentraedi First Sergeant is going to get around. I don't know the count of Zentraedi on base, but I can expect them to start getting a side eye. And those of zeek relation." He said, implying those like Neo, whom he most certainly did not like the idea of anyone doubting.

"I also agree with Alan, especially about rushing to defend. I'd also hesitate to assume there is not another spy."

"Hey Alan, if you want to help the Sergeant, I can handle things in the hangar with Rosy. The software work was a big help, and I might ask for you again when my Spartas is in for the install."

When Deunan addressed Marlon, he kept from sighing and just nodded."Yes, Sergeant Conway. Don't worry, I'll keep to my work."

 

[Purr]

Rosy, I have already gutted the ammo storage.

"Rosy," Sgt. McKinney had called her. Gabi grinned. Getting a nickname this early was a good sign.

"I am working my way your direction, so I'll have the wired pull for the full connection by the time you are ready to connect. We will move on to the next part from there."

"You got it," Gabi replied. She touched nothing he didn't wanted touched, and focused herself on completing the job as if someone's life had depended on it. Because it did.

"I don't know what started this fight, and right now, I don't care. If I hear another word out of either one of you that is not mission oriented or ends with 'yes, Lt. Danfield', you will both end up on my shit list, and if you don't think that is a bad thing, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

Gabi visually frowned when this Lieutenant Danfield entered and started handing out the butt-chewings. And the threats. Bad enough Ryuko was clashing with the new unit, worse still in front of S.Sgt. Conway, and worse still it had gotten so bad the lieutenant felt he had to intervene. Gabi thought if Ryuko kept this up, she might get transferred to another unit. And that would sadden Gabi a great deal.

Before he leaves, Lt. Danfield spots Deunan, and gives her a look like, "Deal with this, or I will!" Then, he stomps off to find another mecha that needs his touch.

Gabi hoped Ryuko would apologize at least to S.Sgt. Conway because that was good form in the military.

We will not spread any rumors that might inflame tensions between our Zentraedi allies and the human crew in the base. Am I clear on that?"

"Yes ma'am!" Gabi nodded. Then Gabi just kept her head low and marvelled in her opportunity to help install a brand-new PPC on her CO's Spartas. Gabi was new to this outfit and the last thing she wanted to do was make waves.

 

[Sherwood]

With things now going well in the vehicle bay with the repairs, Deunan thinks to her orders to investigate the bombing and the disappearance of Antonia. "Ok, I will leave the work on the repairs to your capable hands. In the meantime, I have to look into our missing First Sergeant and see if she is the one that did this to us. I'll be working on that if you need to get ahold of me."

 

[Purr]

"Hola ("Hello"), Sergeant Conway?" Gabi called and waved, repeating voiced thoughts from Alan and Marlon. "You wanna take Alan along with you, ma'am? He expressed interest. Besides, McKinney and I got the PPC installment and the repair and rearms handled."

She looked at Alan and McKinney and gave a brief grin (an assurance of camaraderie really). "Don't we?"

Besides, she thought, right now, the more weight I can take off these guys's shoulders, the better. They look like they could use a break.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan nods. "Sure. I certainly could use all the help I can get. C'mon, Alan. Lets get some work done."

 

[Rykon]

Alan nods, leaving the terminal as it was. "Sounds good to me, the order for replacement armor plates was sent to fabrication, they should be gettin some new plates ready once the PPC is fully installed." Turning back to S.Sgt Deunan, Alan started at a light jog to catch up. "Alright Boss. Let's get this knocked out."

 

[Psychie]

Inside the base, where do Alan and Deunan start their investigation? There is her room, or you can start your examination in Operations. What's your plan?

Up in the mecha hangar, things are proceeding quickly with the repairs on the various damaged mecha, and by now, Marlon and Gabi have finished their work on Deunan's tank to get the new main gun wired in. Now all you need to do is to give the weapon a live fire test and it should be all ready to go.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan looks over at Alan. "I want to take a look in her computer to see if there is anything there that looks out of place. Why don't you see if there is any radio logs that you can find. There may be a digital trail for us to follow."

With that, she heads for Antonia's room to begin her work on the personal computer of the Zentraedi suspect.

Lets try some dice rolls.

 

[D. Rex]

Is there an appropriate area on the based where tests are to be performed?

 

[Psychie]

Anywhere outside the walls. Just make sure you give a heads up that you are performing live fire tests or else you'll start a panic.

 

[Rykon]

Rolling Computer Operations for digging up log files.

Alan will be looking for any communications that seem out of the ordinary.

 

[D. Rex]

So far he was actually liking Rosy enough to have stopped looking over her shoulder. She seemed to know what she was doing and respected what he asked. While he still might double check her work (since he'd probably be held responsible if something went wrong) he was keen enough on her that he appreciated her help. So when she shot them the grin, he was confident in her that he gave a smile back along with a nod. Yeah, they could indeed handle it.



As their work on the PPC wrapped up. It was time to give it a test before they put the armor back on.

Marlon went to go find Lt. Danfield to get clearance for a live fire test. And once clearance was granted and confirmed the area was clear, he would pilot the spartas outside the walls with Rosy.

Once switched to guardian mode, he turned to his companion. "Alright, Rosy, care to pick me a target?" He asked.

He would then jump on the open radio. "This is Sergeant McKinney, commencing live fire exercise of a particle projection cannon to the east of base. Firing three blasts, will recharge, then fire another three blasts."

 

[Purr]

Gabi scanned the clearing with a Recon Patrol eye. She picked a target that would provide the enemy any kind of advantage, especially cover, confident in the particle projection cannon's ability to destroy it in a single hit. In most cases (including this one), particle cannons fired in single, gigantic blasts just like the Zentraedi Battle Pods or the RDF Tomahawk. There was only one example she could think of where they fired bursts (the Zentraedi's stock particle rifle their grunts used was burst-capable). Regardless, these blasts were loud, bright, and devastating.

"There," she indicated to McKinney a treeline that needed "trimming." "The less cover the Malcontents have the better, you know?"

 

[D. Rex]

(Meant three blasts, not a burst of three. Just to clarify.)

 

[Psychie]

In the Operations Center, Alan is working on the computer, trying to find any clues to the identity of the saboteur. It is not easy work. First, several of the terminals were damaged, and will need to be repaired before they can be used. Then, there is the sheer volume of radio messages that you have to go through. Finally, it seems that several of the messages were deliberately deleted, and it will take some time to reconstruct the files from the hard drive. But you can tell that you are on the right track, because there are several odd messages for you to look into.

Deunan is now pixel deep in the personal computer of Antonia. There are a lot of files to go through, but you are seeing that someone has done their best to wipe out large chunks of data. You are certain that there is at least some data that can be recovered. With a program that you know, you start the process, but it will take some time; perhaps many days to be able to get any answers.


Outside, Gabi and Marlon are moving Deunan's upgraded Spartas out to a open area for the first test firing of the new weapon. Shifting into Guardian mode, the particle cannon is now exposed and ready to fire. Lining up the shot on the tree, you pull the trigger and the two of you are rewarded by the bright flash of light as the stream of supercharged particles fly out and blast the tree into toothpicks. The damage output is respectable, and the weapon cycles up for shot number two very quickly, followed by number three.

After a few seconds for the PPC to cool, it is ready to fire once more, and Marlon is able to fire off another three shots from the weapon and blast several more trees. From what you see from the readouts, the weapon is working just fine.


Gundam Watcher 27 What is Ryuko doing during this time?

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

Psychie

Ryuko had been off doing what she did best when fed up with assholes like Malron. She drank. She had to ask for directions from one of the personnel, who directed her to the cafeteria. She bowed in gratitude before leaving to her destination.

Entering the cafeteria, she was trying to figure out where the bar was.

 

[Rykon]

In their downtime of waiting on computers to process Alan began to voice his plan. "Just looking at all of this it seems obvious that there is a substantial degree of foul play. I'd be shocked if the network administrators didn't have access to unmolested copies of her data. Then again, it appears far too much fell between the cracks after we reported the breach. Assuming what we find here is inconclusive, we should lay out all of the information breaches and relate them to who had the capability of accessing that intelligence. Each and every item. As Marlon says, we have no clue how many accomplices are skulking about the base waiting to kill us in our sleep. Having a profile set of potential threats will be crucial to rooting out the insurgents. Before all of that though. I want access to a canine and a blacklight before some numbnut mucks up the crime scene and our trail. You up for a good ol' fashion fox hunt?"

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan leans back in the seat and stretches her back to the sounds of several vertebrae popping. She looks over at Alan and says, "Well, what we have here is someone's serious attempt to wipe out any trace of some files. I can probably reconstruct some of them, but it will take some time. Right now, it is not looking good for Antonia, unless someone has done a damn good job to try a frame job."

 

[Rykon]

"Either way, I'd like to try and physically track her down. If we can get a trained search hound and some basic tools, I can try and walk through where she may have gone and see if there are any other surprises left around here." Alan said, growing tired of watching bars fill on decryption. "Think they'll let us search the command room for signs of other tampering in our network?"

 

[Sherwood]

"Can't hurt to ask, and it might keep us from getting screwed over again if there is some secret code implanted to shut us down. Besides, Lt. Hulsizer has given me the green light to look where I need to in order to try and determine Antonia's guilt or innocence. One way or another, we'll get our answers." Deunan grabs her coffee cup and heads for the door. "Lets see how bad it is in there."

 

[D. Rex]

Marlon nodded at Gabi."Yes. You are absolutely right. Let's see what we can do."


With that, he pulled the trigger. Though rather than watch the result of the blast. His eyes were focused on the readings of the Spartas. Making sure everything read safe and normal. After he aimed again, and fired two more blasts, and everything read normal. He watched the recharge. So far so good.

Then the second batch of three. This time he watched, and made sure that Alans calibration work hadn't been disrupted. Sure enough everything seemed on target.

He grinned as he looked downrange and the damage to the treeline. "You know, Rosy, I think Deunan is gonna like this."


"We did good. And twice as fast thanks to you. Hop on up, let's get back to the hangar." Holding out his hand to help her up in a sign of friendship. She really was helping a lot with this work. He was actually expecting this tank alone to take a couple days, but together they finished in one.


"And hey, if our military career bottoms out. I now have a pretty novel idea for a toothpick company."

 

[Psychie]

In the dining hall, Ryuko makes the horrifying discovery that the old Captain kept the base alcohol free. The closest place to get some hard liquor is in the nearby town of La Fuente, but with the base being hit so hard, any off post leave time is on hold until the damage is repaired.

That fact does little to stop the troops and auxiliaries in the place from noticing Ryuko as you sit staring glumly into your coffee cup. This is hardly unusual, and with your good looks, you are used to getting lots of attention from the guys (and some of the ladies, too). Not all of the looks are friendly; several of the women in the hall are giving you glares for being so attractive and drawing away the men like moths to the flame. But you do get a few people that approach you to say welcome to the base, and thanks for your timely arrival that helped to save the bacon of most, if not all, the people in there.


In the Operations Center, Alan and Deunan see that there is a whirlwind of activity as damaged terminals and systems are being repaired or replaced, trying to get the early warning sensors and the guns working again. You are able to squeeze in, but much of the forensic evidence that you may have been able to find has already been wiped out as the repairs are underway. It will take you several days of hard work to try and find anything of interest in the data files.

There is something of interest that you do find. Yesterday afternoon, Antonia did sign out a hover cycle with the listed destination of La Fuente, and according to this record, she never returned to the base. It could be a simple oversight, or the 1st Sergeant went off post and never came back.


Gabi and Marlon are greeted in the vehicle bay by Lt. Danfield as you come back in from your test firing of the new gun. "Sounds like you plugged it in just fine. Everything dialed in right with the new targeting software? Get those energy bolts on target?" He nods in satisfaction. "Good work, you two. Now we just need to do it again in the next tank with the second PPC. But first, you two need to take a break. You've been at it for hours, and if you are too tired, mistakes can happen. Get some food and a bit of rest. We can hold the fort down while you are gone." He gives you a grin and a thumbs up. As he says that, you realize that yes, you are hungry and tired as hell, and getting some time to eat, sleep and get cleaned up will be a good thing.

 

[Rykon]

Alan makes a point of exporting surveillance camera data from the last three days to a portable drive before leaving the command room. He also made sure to document the identification number for the hovercycle to see if there was any means of tracking it down, gps ping or otherwise. "As I thought, getting hard physical evidence is going to be a nightmare because no time was given to do a proper sweep of the place. Looks like we'll be relying on Brazilia Base to cover our asses while this place gets back in order. Let's hit the mess hall and grab some coffee before we start the long hours of reviewing the footage and old records."

 

[Purr]

He grinned as he looked downrange and the damage to the treeline. "You know, Rosy, I think Deunan is gonna like this."


"We did good. And twice as fast thanks to you. Hop on up, let's get back to the hangar." Holding out his hand to help her up in a sign of friendship. She really was helping a lot with this work. He was actually expecting this tank alone to take a couple days, but together they finished in one.


"And hey, if our military career bottoms out. I now have a pretty novel idea for a toothpick company."

Gabi grinned at the praise and took his hand up. Today felt good, but it did little to dispel a small worry of hers. "Yo, McKinney. Level with me here, compañero ("buddy"). Just how is Sergeant Conway to work under? And how does she do during combat? Don't wanna trip any of her flares, you know?" Gabi wanted to know if there were social tripwires that belonged to S.Sgt. Conway as to best avoid them. Plus, she and Conway had a difference in age between them and Gabi was curious about how someone like Deunan held up to a guy like McKinney. Then, speaking of flares and tripwires, she saw Lt. Danfield approaching.

Gabi and Marlon are greeted in the vehicle bay by Lt. Danfield as you come back in from your test firing of the new gun. "Sounds like you plugged it in just fine. Everything dialed in right with the new targeting software? Get those energy bolts on target?" He nods in satisfaction. "Good work, you two. Now we just need to do it again in the next tank with the second PPC. But first, you two need to take a break. You've been at it for hours, and if you are too tired, mistakes can happen. Get some food and a bit of rest. We can hold the fort down while you are gone." He gives you a grin and a thumbs up. As he says that, you realize that yes, you are hungry and tired as hell, and getting some time to eat, sleep and get cleaned up will be a good thing.

The moment she saw Lt. Danfield, she remembered him as the guy willing to chew Conway's rear end off for the altercation between Ryuko and Marlon. She straightened up immediately (but not obsequiously) and kept her eyes forward when he spoke. Then she was how pleased he was with their work and allowed herself a small smile. Inside, her heart swelled with great satisfaction not only to witness installing a new particle beam cannon into a Spartas, but to have been part of the process. Days like this was one of the big reasons she joined the Army in the first place and she felt that she was indeed putting more into the universe than she was taking.

But remembering the lieutenant's earlier verbal napalm strike, she replied only with, "Yes, Lt. Danfield." Then she remembered to return his thumbs-up (it didn't seem right to leave him "hanging" without returning one). She helped McKinney with locking Conway's Spartan down, making it safe and secure and "looking good as a professional should" before leaving. Gabi found herself looking around for Ryuko, wondering where she had gone off to. Once Lt. Danfield was out of earshot, she spoke in a low but friendly tone with McKinney. "No way in hell S.Sgt. Conway's gonna catch hell because this soldier was lazy, you know?"