Robotech - Southern Cross Adventure

[D. Rex]

Providing a courtesy knock on the door to Conways office, Marlon let himself in after a second.

Marlon would give her a smile, "Congratulations ok another successful mission. Regardless of the major snag... we did make it back alive."

Walking to the desk, he placed a staple couple of papers on the corner. "The demotion recommendation forms. Two ranks, back to corporal." He explained. "I have her standing statue at the hangar right now. I'll deal with her soon."


He looked her over, "Duenan. How are you feeling though? Aside from Ryuko." He commented. "Its an invasion, and wartime starts all over again. How are you taking it?"

Sherwood

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan looks up at Marlon as he enters, and gives him a tired smile. "Hey there, handsome. Come on in, shut the door, and have a seat." Before she answers his questions, she pulls out of one of her desk drawers a pair of glasses and a bottle of Scotch and pours the two of them a shot. Handing over the drink, she finally says, "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to live through another war, but I guess that was just wishful thinking. We are a war-like species, so if we weren't fighting aliens, we'd find a reason to fight one another. It's just hitting me hard. " Deunan takes a sip of her drink, swirling the beverage around the glass, looking over the desk at her friend.

Picking up the tablet with the demotion orders for Ryuko, she places her thumb on the reader to authorize the order with a disgusted look on her face. "I am just afraid of what that girl is going to do next if she can't get her head into the seriousness of the missions ahead, because I will be damned if I have to write a letter of condolences to her next of kin when she gets killed."

"What about you? You seem to be taking things well enough. What's going on in your head?"

D. Rex

 

[D. Rex]

Marlon took a seat and sighed, taking the glass of alcohol as what seemed to be tradition at this point. Which was fine by him. He could use it. "Calling us war like is a rather uncharitable position. Sure, we dont always get along. But the one thing the war proved is how unified we were willing to become. And this time ain't no different." He takes a sip of his scotch. "We lived through the last one. We will live through this one. At least this time we had a heads up." He reached his hand out to give hers a pat.



When she mention Ryuko, he waited a few moments before leaning back into his chair and took another tip. "Ryuko. Mmm. I dont think the issue is that she isnt taking it seriously. I'd wager it's the opposite." He said thoughtfully. "To the extent that she is losing perspective. Part of it is I dont think she is used to a ground squadron. Aircraft get the benefit of breaking away and regrouping quickly. And still have support close behind. I've noticed Gabi still gets the urges to do so."

"I think the issue for Ryuko is a bit more personal. It doesnt feel like she really understands what a squad really is. That we work together. Combine that with the apparent belief of hers that death is worth any victory... and you got a recipe for disaster."

"Furthermore, she has no respect for us. Or what we are capable of. And once she has a thought in her head, she isnt willing to compromise it. We had a plan, and she had hers. She wanted no part of it. She doesnt know us, and doesnt try to."

Marlon rubbed his face. "I want to give the benefit of the doubt that it isnt because she is a bad soldier. Maybe she hasn't moved on from the loss of her squad, or it still weighs on her that much that it clouds her judgement. And makes her toss out any value she has on her own life."

"She is trying to hard, essentially. Probably because she blames herself for her squads death. And it is probably something she is projecting on us. That we think she is damaged goods, and wont really care about her unless she can prove she is willing to die for us. It's not true of course. But her past squad meant a lot to her. If she had a close bond with them, it is easy to believe she is trying to get that bond of trust back... however it's with people she doesnt understand, in an environment she has acclimated to yet." He explained.

"And damn... i really dont think she understands what a missile or gun is for."





"As for me? I guess I sort of took it in stride. I mean, I signed up for war, I cant rightly shake my head at it when duty calls. Feels like another zeek uprising but on a bigger scale. That said... I think what presses my buttons most is that I was looking forward to having some down time with you. But no, these guys had to come and screw that all up." Marlon chuckled at the pettiness of it. "I have a good feeling about this one. We aren't that easy of a target this time. And once we finish these guys, we will make it loud and clear that Earth ain't a place to be messed with."

Sherwood

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan smiles at Marlon. "I like the way you look at life, my friend. Yeah, we may be outnumbered, but we have a bit more experience in using mecha than we did with the Zentraedi War, and we totally kicked ass against the whole damn fleet. We'll come through this fight, too. Our troops are trained to such an expert level, it makes the forces of the Zentraedi seem like a bunch of rank amateurs, and I doubt that the Robotech Masters are going to be any better."

She watches Marlon for a moment, then slams back the rest of her drink before standing up and stretching. "Ugh. I feel all sweaty. I need to take a shower." Deunan gets a sly look on her face, then says, "Care to come to my room and help me wash my back?"

 

[D. Rex]

"Ain't that the truth." He said with a smile. Glad to see her mood coming back up. A bright Duenan made the days go by a lot better. "And dont forget. The Zentraedi didnt have the misfortune of going up against Third Heavy."


In suit, he drained his glass amd set it beside hers. And then came the offer of a shower.

Marlon's eyes widened a little, and he gave her an incredulous like he couldn't believe what she was saying. "Really?" He asked. "You have your own shower?" Though his return smile and swift wink let her know it was all but a tease.

He got up and held out his hand. "I assure you, it would be my pleasure. Shall we?"


As for Ryuko? Well... she could wait at attention for a while longer yet.

 

[Psychie]

After a rousing 'shower', both Marlon and Deunan are squeaky clean and relaxed. It is not until much later that the two are called into Capt. Edison's office to talk to him.

He start out with, "First, let me say you did good keeping the amount of damage down to a dull roar. What little bit of property damage done was mostly contained to the fields and a few roads that took hits, and that warehouse was a minor loss. Next, I'm glad that your team was not the ones that fired first on the strange mecha that came down. Even though it seems to have been planned that they would attack, it has been confirmed that the opening rounds of this was a missile strike from one of our mobile launchers."

Capt. Edison takes a moment, then says, "Now, tell me everything that didn't hit your reports."

 

[Purr]

After Gabi finished up in the mechbay and completed her part of the mission paperwork, she got to thinking on designs for a longer-range weapon for the Ajax. Perhaps a boost to the damage of the head laser or a replacement for the ion cannons was in the future? It was no good for Ryuko and Gabi to have to hang back and fire only missiles when even the Bioroids had weapons that could hit them.

If time and opportunity allowed, Gabi approached Chief Hobbs with the problem. "Sir? What might we use that can equal or exceed the range of these Bioroids? As long as they can reach us without our Ajaxs reaching them, they have the battlefield advantage, you know?"

 

[Sherwood]

Capt. Edison takes a moment, then says, "Now, tell me everything that didn't hit your reports."

Deunan does her best to keep her expression neutral, but her mind is racing. What is he getting at? Is this about Ryuko? After a brief pause, she says, "Sir, there isn't much that was not included in my report; I do try to be thorough with my paperwork."

 

[Psychie]

The Captain looks somewhat unhappy about Deunan's reply. "Mhmm. If you say so. What about you, Master Sergeant? Anything to add?"

D. Rex

 

[D. Rex]

"No sir. I stand behind the relevance and accuracy of the Lieutenants report, sir." Marlon said without hesitation. Holding the same suspicions as Duenan, but the actions of the squad should already be filed. If it was about Ryuko, the paperwork for her demotion would not have been hidden from him. Plus the reports of the squad that took over. Duenan wouldn't have left stuff like that out.

"Is there anything specific about the report you would like us to clarify, Captain?" He asked, hoping to get to the bottom of what the Captain was implying.

Psychie

 

[Psychie]

Edison slowly shakes his head. "No, I suppose not. Very well. If you have nothing else for me, I'll let you get back to your team. Dismissed."

 

[D. Rex]

Once dismissed, Marlon would give the Captain a salute, and would follow Duenan out of the office. (Though would stay if Duenan stayed)


Once outside, and on their way, he would turn to her. "What do you think that was about?" He asked. "If there was something we did wrong he would have let us have it hard. Especially if it was something we didnt include. So I dont think it was Ryuko he was talking about." He pondered. It was on recorded. Being shot down is a big deal, and why is just as important. Not able to hide that. Plus the demotion and pay docking, that's also records and would need the report as reference.

"Maybe it was something about Captain Danvers." He suggested. "Given she was intel, could be she came in under his nose."

Sherwood

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan shrugs. "Who knows. Perhaps he has a beef against her, and was looking for some dirt on the woman? I'm just glad that everyone held their ground against these Bioroids and we kept our noses clean, keeping that industrial area from getting trashed." She pauses, thinking. "Well I'm going to go see how Chief Hobbs is doing getting ahold of another Ajax for our wild child. I don't want to be under strength when it is time to go back out."

 

[D. Rex]

Marlon nodded. "That we did." He agreed.


"I will come with you. I got to get something from the bay anyway. I have a lot of work to do with Ryuko. I'll have her official counsel scheduled for tomorrow, by the way."



At the engineering bay, he would make the request for a short range missile. One he could have. He would disarm it and remove the explosives. And after putting it back together, he would paint a little smile on its nose. Putting it under his arm, he would carry it back out to the air field where he had left Ryuko at parade attention.


He would ask around, to see if she had so much as coughed or wiped her nose. Anything less than being a perfect statue would get her in more trouble.

"DOWN ON THE GROUND AND GIVE ME PUSHUPS, STAFF SERGEANT." He shouted at her. "Count out loud and finish each number with a resounding MASTER SERGEANT!"

"Listen close! And dont stop counting! You have just proven yourself to be the biggest liability of our squad." He shouted down at her angrily. "You have FAILED us as a team mate. And you have FAILED yourself as a pilot. And right now you nothing more than a clown!"

"You had the gall to ask what damage you did. You got shot down because of your own god damned stupidity! And if I didnt knownany better, I'd wager you were hiding blonde under that ugly mop of hair."


"We had a plan, and we only succeeded in spite of you! You tipped that shuttle off and it almost got away. Do you know what happens when ships speed up? THEY GET AWAY! And I almost shot you again because of that dumbass stunt you decided was a good idea!"

Marlon's gaze went to two privates who were looking at Ryuko. Apparently havent seen a Sergeant get in trouble like that before.

"DOES THIS AMUSE YOU PRIVATES! GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE AND JOIN!" They gave each other a look. "NOW PRIVATES!"

They scrambled over themselves to get into position beside Ryuko and follow suit.

"YOU OUTRANK THESE TWO! RYUKO YOU HAD BETTER HOPE YOU STAY AT LEAST 10 COUNTS AHEAD OF THEM AT ALL TIMES."

"Do you know what we call your kind in the military, Staff Sergeant? We call you Blue Falcons. Buddy fuckers. But it is your kind that get your mates KILLED. AND that is going to be your callsign until you shape the fuck up. Staff Sergeant Ryuko "Blue Falcon" Nakutami."

"You are an absolute disgrace of a soldier. And you have no idea what it means to be on a team. You dont listen. You dont obey. And you are about as effective of some Rambo inspired civilian!"

Marlon gestures to the hangar, "How the hell are we supposed to trust you? Poor Rosy sure cant, cause you give her heart attacks every othe minute. Your supposed friend who you completely ignore. Cause you seem to want to get yourself killed. You want to get us killed. AND IF WE WERENT BEING INVADED, ID SEE THAT YOU WERE SUSPEND FOR SIX MONTHS!"

Marlon put a foot on Ryukos back, pressing down to add some extra weight to make things hard. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT A MISSILE IS, STAFF SERGEANT?" He demanded. "DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY MISSILES YOUR AJAX HAS? I DONT THINK YOU DO CAUSE YOU GO INTO BATTLE THINKING YOU ARE AS BARE ARMED AS A BABY!"

He sat the short range missile down I'm front of Ryuko. "This is Missy. Missy the Missile. She is going to be your best friend. You are going to keep her at your side at ALL TIMES. WHEN YOU SHOWER. WHEN YOU SHIT. WHEN YOU GO OUT TRYING TO BED SOME PRIVATE STARING AT YOUR BREASTS." His voice getting very dangerous.

"You will carry Missy around everywhere. And when you go to mess hall, you will fix her a plate too. You will talk to her. You will pet her. You will bath her. You will see that she is dressed up to code. If someone talks to Missy, you will respond as her in a silly little voice."

"More importantly. When I point at something and tell you to fire, you are to take Missy and throw her at the target with all your strength. If you miss. You make finger guns and go "BANG BANG" until you are out of ammo OR I SAY TARGET IS DESTROYED! AND WHEN YOU ARE OUT OF AMMO YOU GO HIDE IN A CORNER AND SUCK ON YOUR THUMB!"

"You will NEVER take an inch towards the target. And the only time you are to use your fists is when I tell you to, or I bring the target to you in your baby corner and it starts harassing the helpless you."

"And you better believe I am being serious. You will be on my shadow for the foreseeable future. And I will keep you so busy you will think you just stained the dress of the Generals wife."



Marlon would keep on screaming at her. His words becoming more venomous and hurtful as he did so. Going the hole full metal jacket routine. Keeping her on pushups until her arms were incapable of working any more. Then he would send her on a squat run around the airfield with Missy in tow. And he would scream at her and push her every onward till she threw up. And if she wasnt receptive to any of it... or tried to play it tough or cool... then God Help her... Because nobody on base would.

Only then would he send her back to the showers. Skipping dinner.


That was the worst part out of the way, right? Well... Ryuko was to have council with him tomorrow. Where he would sit her down and go over things in a much more civil manner. And that was likely to be the most peaceful event of tomorrow for her.


Gundam Watcher 27

Ryuko is now free to do as she pleases until the next day. If she wants to talk to Gabi or anyone. And don't forget to bring Missy along.

 

[Rykon]

Alan found himself curious about the nature of Gabi's work once the repairs were settled. If nothing else, diving into work was both a welcome and productive distraction from the punitive P.T. sessions echoing about the exterior of the hangar. "If you don't mind the intrusion friend, what kind of problem are you trying to solve for? Maybe I could be of some help." He offered.

He was reminded of the time him and Marlon used to work under Lieutenant Dan(field). Marlon worked like an oil-coated factory, Alan teased the officer with ice cream while butchering his name relentlessly... armor was mended, systems were calibrated, occasional glares were made... it was all good fun. Certainly a lot more fun than whatever was going on outside.

"Especially since I've... well... been hitting a bit of a roadblock myself. The software assistance has been taking a lot longer to learn than I'd like. With all that mess of malfunctioning cannons. It's a bad look for sure but the potential consequences are a lot less pleasant. Anything we can do to get a leg up, I'm all for."

 

[Purr]

Alan had caught Gabi in the middle of one of her genius-infused brainstorms.

"Yo, Alan! Lemme tell you something!" Gabi said while her feminine body language expressed approval for his assistance. , "Sometimes these P-beam problems are malfunctions; other times, they are just bad luck! But combat don't know the difference and the pilot can still wind up dead, so who is it up to make it right? Us engineers! The people who helped make the thing, you know? Just drives me loca ("crazy") when I can't figure out which it is!"

"If you want in on the Ajax improvements I'm attempting, you got the green light amigo ("friend"). You remember in that fight against those Bioroid-things how the Bioroids had a range advantage over the Ajaxs after we ran out of missiles, right? Well, what is a pilot supposed to do when there is shooting to be done, but your guns can't reach the enemy? I'm trying to find enhancements or replacements to work all that out!" Gabi made a thoughtful expression.

"Ion weapons trade firepower for range, p-beams cause great knockdown power but if human-made can only be fired so often. Lasers are nice weapons all around but don't specialize in any one thing and plasma weapons? Well we can't make any that are worthwhile so... maybe it's time to improve the head-laser (which we pilots use about as often as your Spartas tri-cannons), or maybe a substitute for the ion cannons, you know? Something that doesn't use ammunition because that's the problem we're running into with the missile system; once our racks are empty, we're pretty much useless outside of 2,000 feet. And that's sad!" Gabi cracked her knuckles, eager for a solution.

"Maybe a miniature version of the Zentraedi Battle Pods P-beams? Those cause great damage, can be fired often, and don't use ammo. But something that small isn't gonna cause no knockdown." With one hand on her hip and the other on her lips, Gabriela peered up to her returned-to-mint-condition Ajax.

"Maybe it's time for a change in design philosophy?"

 

[Psychie]

As time passes, the base stays on high alert. Chief Hobbs reports to Deunan that she has been able to acquire a replacement Ajax for Ryuko, and it will be delivered to the hangar in just under twenty-four hours to begin the warm-up process to get it ready to fly. In the meantime, it is common knowledge that the ASC is preparing a counterattack to be launched, but the exact time is a closely held secret for security reasons. Obviously, since the Third Heavy is mostly a ground unit, you will not be involved in this counterattack.

In the meantime, work continues on repairing the relatively cosmetic armor damage of the team, putting you all back up to full in no time.

 

[Rykon]

During the post-contact cooldown...

Alan had caught Gabi in the middle of one of her genius-infused brainstorms.

"Yo, Alan! Lemme tell you something!" Gabi said while her feminine body language expressed approval for his assistance. , "Sometimes these P-beam problems are malfunctions; other times, they are just bad luck! But combat don't know the difference and the pilot can still wind up dead, so who is it up to make it right? Us engineers! The people who helped make the thing, you know? Just drives me loca ("crazy") when I can't figure out which it is!"

"If you want in on the Ajax improvements I'm attempting, you got the green light amigo ("friend"). You remember in that fight against those Bioroid-things how the Bioroids had a range advantage over the Ajaxs after we ran out of missiles, right? Well, what is a pilot supposed to do when there is shooting to be done, but your guns can't reach the enemy? I'm trying to find enhancements or replacements to work all that out!" Gabi made a thoughtful expression.

"Ion weapons trade firepower for range, p-beams cause great knockdown power but if human-made can only be fired so often. Lasers are nice weapons all around but don't specialize in any one thing and plasma weapons? Well we can't make any that are worthwhile so... maybe it's time to improve the head-laser (which we pilots use about as often as your Spartas tri-cannons), or maybe a substitute for the ion cannons, you know? Something that doesn't use ammunition because that's the problem we're running into with the missile system; once our racks are empty, we're pretty much useless outside of 2,000 feet. And that's sad!" Gabi cracked her knuckles, eager for a solution.

"Maybe a miniature version of the Zentraedi Battle Pods P-beams? Those cause great damage, can be fired often, and don't use ammo. But something that small isn't gonna cause no knockdown." With one hand on her hip and the other on her lips, Gabriela peered up to her returned-to-mint-condition Ajax.

"Maybe it's time for a change in design philosophy?"

Alan gave a nod in response. "Well, I'm afraid inventing a perfect weapon is beyond me, but I can get to work on making your arsenal a bit more versatile. I'll dig through specs of known weapons and see what can come close to your needs here. No ammo, long-range capability. It's a tall order, but worth a shot."

He dug into his seat, browsing through the armaments database. He jotted down notes on ASC and Zentraedi weapons alike. Really it was looking like ion and laser weapons were the only fit he was coming down to. Particle beams struggled to reach ranges beyond 2000 feet without scale that would drag an Ajax down to the ground with the Spartas. At that point, what was the purpose of forgoing a tank for an aircraft?

Alan rubbed at his eyes in fatigue as he scanned over mechanical drafts of part assemblies in one CAD suite or another to look over the function of each type of weapon. Output for Ions seemed to be a matter of how much power you could pour into one raw energy projectile. Higher densities didn't seem to do much to range though.

"Y'know, if we're looking for a weapon that can adapt to opponents at range, perhaps we should stick to the no-frills lasers. We can try adjusting the assembly of your laser gun to swap lens apertures for different light focus settings. With a bit of a professional touch and precise machining, we could probably design a mechanism to cast the focus further down range but its overall intensity would decrease when it comes to damage..."

Alan shrugged. "Still, it's an easy setting to swap on the fly and gives you a reason to force them into range of your ion cannon. Thoughts?"

 

[Purr]

Gabi listened to Alan's thoughts and found herself nodding and agreeing with a few of them. With one hand absently playing with her brown hair, Gabi considered. "Amigo, I think it's a sweet idea to create an ion weapon that possesses different settings. That's just beautiful, man!"

She searched her mind and felt confident. "I gotta say, I am willing to try and invent something like that. A 'multi-weapon.' If it doesn't work with ions, maybe it'll work with lasers, or even plasma-energy. Each of them act so differently. I wonder which one will wind up being the most versatile? My guess is the laser."

 

[Psychie]

The next day comes around, and the group starts to hear word that a counterattack is underway from Monument City, aimed at probing the defenses of the alien ships up in orbit. It does not go well, and the hastily assembled force is quickly and easily repulsed, and casualties among the TASC forces involved are heavy. This does not do well for morale, and the overall feeling throughout Brazilia Base is one of anger, not despair.

It is at this time that Ryuko's replacement Ajax is delivered to the squad, and Chief Hobbs' team is now hard at work getting it prepped for action.

 

[Purr]

Gabriela spent most of her time beside her engineering resources working on the weapon upgrades for the Ajax. When she needed a break, she took herself to the gym, played around with makeup in front of the mirror so she didn't forget how to do that, and practiced her drone-piloting skills to keep them sharp too. She did what she could to practice her Recon Patrol skills.

Gabi made a point of spending some of her downtime recording videos for her family and sending them keepsakes from Brazil. She did her best to keep her family informed about the alien invasion as best she could without compromising ASC security.

Any time solid data on the Bioroids came up, she paid close attention and took notes. Anything suspicious or strange she reported to Lt. Conway.

Wherever she was, she did her utmost to make Third Heavy Recon look good.

 

[Psychie]

When Gabi looks over the incoming data about the performance of the Bioroids, you are starting to get a real good idea on the capabilities of the Robotech Master units. The gaps in the recorded data are filled in from the intelligence given to you by the handful of Zentraedi that have joined the ASC, giving some hard numbers on just what the Bioroids are capable of.

A second, larger offensive is being planned, one to include forces from Brazilia Base as well as Monument City. It is hoped that contact can be reestablished with Moon Base Aluce to be able to join in with a coordinated attack from both Earth and the Moon. As the plans for the attack are being made, the ground forces are once more put on alert, just in case the Robotech Masters take advantage of the weakening of the defenses on the planet to stage their own offensive.

 

[Purr]

If she had the means and opportunity, Gabi got to work creating a straight-to-the-point made-for-soldiers Powerpoint spreadsheet complete with videos and images for Third Heavy Recon with the goal of educating them upon what she had learned about the Bioroids. She not only wanted her amigos armed with knowledge, but if they approved, perhaps Gabi's video could help others at Brazilia base and beyond? In chaotic times of war like these, who would turn down a little engineering-blessed digital handbook entitled, "Battling Bioroids for Dummies - Basic Version"?

 

[Sherwood]

Now that there is some solid data on how the Robotech Master Bioroids respond in a fight, Deunan makes sure that the whole of the Third Heavy is up to speed on their capabilities. There cannot be too much useful information when it comes to winning this fight. After all, it is for the very survival of the Earth that they are waging war over.

 

[Psychie]

Over the next several days, there are several other incidents between the Robotech Masters and the Earth defenders, mostly focused on Monument City and the forces there.

It is during this time that the members of the Third Heavy are called into the briefing room by Capt. Edison. He is seated at the head of the table, and is silent as everyone enters and you take your seats. Once everyone is seated, he says, "Good morning, everyone. I have been given a special assignment by General Hawkins for you to carry out. We are in need of information, and the General has decided that the Third Heavy is the team to get it. He wants you to capture one of the enemy Bioroids with its pilot alive. It is hoped that we can interrogate a prisoner. How you go about getting this prisoner, and what kind of Bioroid you target to capture is up to you."

He pauses to let the order sink in, then continues with, "With the enemy monitoring our communications, we are going to plant a story that our air defenses have been weakened by the last attack, hoping to lure the enemy in. Once they have taken the bait, we will allow several dropships to come into our airspace with only light opposition, then once they deploy their troops, we'll slam the door shut and keep them from running away while you make your move. With any luck, we'll be able to get our prisoner with no casualties on our side."

"Do you have any questions?"