Wastelands, Bunker C-17 [IC]

[ITOS]

Vehicle Bay

"Although the fire truck may seem nice my self preservation routine tells me to avoid it ... and I can't say I'm a big fan of Ray Bradbury." Johanna said and rolled over to the ex-military one.
"This one would be good if you could paint over the military markings and remove the bumper. Alternatively, you could move as much armor plating as possible to the standard one."

[Boog]

Dr. Nick hunched his shoulders in what would normally be taken as a humorous sulk. He was laying it on fairly thick, on the basis that this mission would undoubtibly be stressful on all those involved. All the personel sharing that small a space ensured heightened blood pressure, stepping on each other's toes, and overall a mindset that could be just as lethal as anything else he would be called on to treat. Best try to keep things friendly. In truth, he agreed with Jo about the firetruck, but still found the concept funny (insofar as he was able to find anything funny using a criteria he'd set up based on outlandishness, wit and timing).
"Well, I've obviously been outvoted. Gotta agree about the military markings though. Any of these would stick out like a thing that sticks out, but we can at least go with the one that doesn't look like it's actively seeking a fight." He followed Eph inside and looked around. "So, this isn't the finished product, right? Before we get going we're going to add things like a water bed and spinning rims, right?"

[bill]

Vehicle Bay

Jean, standing near the entrance to the bay, chimed in.

"Just wondering, folks, how much resistance are you expecting to find? I mean, it's a bloody wasteland, huh? We really need to, uh, overdress, as far as weapons go?"

[Arcalane]

Caden nodded to the overseer and turned quickly, dashing off towards the armory.  With a few moments of negotiating the halls, Caden reached the armory in record time. 

He nodded to the person on duty, provided his ID and signed the required paperwork.  Entering, he set to immediately examining the manifest for a listing of what was listed as being stored. 

He turned to the duty person and made gave him a slight smile as he spoke, "I need a sniping weapon of some type if you have any, as well as some light or medium armor and a sidearm.  I may also need a standard rifle weapon for regular engagement actions."

The Technician - a fairly generic looking fox - on duty rummages around for a few minutes before pulling a battered old L-AR out of a crate and giving it a once over.

"This old thing should do the trick. Old Beta-Pattern Sentry Laser Rifle. Beam's coherent at up to 500 meters straight off the shelf although this one's seen a bit of work I must say. Powercell should be good for another two hundred and fifty shots, and the stock holds two spares."

He then snatches up something else from inside the crate.

"Hmh. And a Viper, too. If you're not familar with that, it's a Military-grade Plasma Pistol. Little more oomph than what you might have handled before. Cell should hold for fifty shots."

The tech puts both down on the desk in front of him and grabs three spare cells for the Viper, setting them down next to it as well.

"As for armour, check the fourth locker on the left side, Row C. There should be some old Fahlburg Light Infantry Div Armour in there. It might be a little beat up but it'll save you from most kinetics and lasers. Plasmas not so good but in this day and age I doubt plasma guns will be very common."

--

Having toured the bay examining each vehicle seperatly, Spork approaches one of the technicians.

"Hello, do you by anychance know the technical specifications of the very intresting modification to this trucks hose assembly?"
He asks, indicatng the ex-firetruck with a quick gesture.

"Nah, I don't `ave the specifics `on `and, guv." the technician states in a thick, almost Cockney accent. "All I know is dat Jimmy 'n' th' lads rigged up last Friday like. I `fink dey said somethin' `bout fuel bein' hard ta` find, an` I don't doubt `em meself. Might `ave a kick to `er but that thing's a deathtrap waitin` to `appen."

[Malakin]

"Indeed.  Is there anything of note that we should know before departing in one of these vehicles? Any quirks or problems you have had in the past with them?"

[Arcalane]

"`part from the fact they ain't been used in who knows how long they should all be good to go." replies the Technician.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Vehicle Bay - Ex-millitary Truck

Moving further back and into the sleeping module, Ephrael dropped her duffel on one of the top bunks. Walking back out to the driver's cab she patted Dr Nick on the shoulder. "Sure! why don't you go speak to the overseer about getting them fitted." She said with a cattish smile.

Jumpping to the ground she saw the tech that was talking to spork. "Excuse me," she said as she walked up. "Do you have a paint gun and black paint I can borrow?" She put on her innocent little girl act for the tech.

[Somber]

Outside

Terra sighed as she gave up on the wires, leaving the battery connected as she stood and walked out in front of the gate.  Either no one was home, her plan didn't work, or they didn't care to come out and stop her.  She hopped up and sat on one of the security turret drums, sitting cross legged as her chopped tail twitched back and forth behind her.  She didn't want to give up.  Her tail was a reminder not to give up.

She remembered back when she was eight and had been selected for engineering training.  Her instructor was a ferret, Colonel Marcos Deesaid.  She'd been marched out naked with ten other 'cadets' in front of the entire engineering squad and told to fix a truck.  Of course it wasn't possible.  The engine was dead as dirt, but they hadn't known that.  The lession was simple.  Failure was unacceptable... but giving up was intolerable.  One by one the cadets had given up, were strapped to a pole, and whipped.  She'd been the last.

"It can't be done!  It won't work!"  She finally said.

"you know the punishment-" the colonel had begun.

"Fine!  Lets see you do it!"  She had yelled at him.  The silence had been overwhelming.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a missing part, walking to the truck, replaced it and fixed the wiring, and then started the truck.  They'd asked for parts to fix it.  Some of them had begged for it.  But she knew the score and walked to the pole and grabbed it, waiting for the lash.  She didn't have to wait long.  By the time they were finished her back was raw and bloody.

"And a special lession."  The colonel had added, grabbing her tail and taking out his knife.  She screamed then as he sliced off the first inch of her tail.  The first of many such lessions.

Now staring at the door she felt like she was back at that truck.  There was a system in place to make it work, and she was missing the key to open it.  Only this time, instead of facing a flogging, she was looking after death of dehydration.

It would be a refreshing change of pace.

[ITOS]

Vehicle Bay

Johanna's camera was still hovering over the Mike who had now dismantled the panel.
"It stopped." She noted. "Did you manage to track it's source?"
Johanna didn't like this, there was too many unknown factors. The message was fragmented but didn't seem hostile. If it was a trick to lure them out the best thing would be to postpone the operation for a while. If it wasn't it would be better to try to get out as soon as possible.

Control Center

"Sir." Johanna's camera said to call the attention of the Overseer. "We might have some people outside the bunker doors. I would like to send out one of my cameras to scout before the rest moves out."

[Azlan]

Armory

"Beta-Pattern Sentry Laser Rifle, check.  One cell loaded, two spares.  Are these cells rechargeable?"  Caden checked the stock to see if it was loaded with spares already or if he had to search some out.

"Viper series Military-grade Plasma Pistol.  One loaded cell, three spares, check."  He tested the weight holding and aiming before placing it back down.

The jackal padded over to Row C and found the left side fourth locker.  The old Fahlburg Light Infantry Div Armour was indeed present, a tad bit banged up, but functional.  Pressed for time, he strapped it on as he queried the fox, "I'll need a field kit for the armor, basic minor patch and care stuff.  Just in case, I'll need something technologically simple, like a slug-thrower style firearm and some ammo if you have any.  That just leaves an all-weather sling case or such for the Sentry, to keep the weather off.  He strapped on the holster for the Viper, grabbed a pack for the ammo, sundries and the other gear he will pick up at his room.

[Malakin]

"Could you ..."
Spork starts, however his sentace is interupted by Ephrael's request, he turns to face the distraction.
"Ah, Ephrael... I take it you have similar plans to myself for the military variant; painting over the external insignia, yes?"
Spork turns back to the technician:
"Yes.. Could you please retreive.. Two.. paint-guns and a supply of black paint for each, your assistance so far is greatly appreciated."

[Arcalane]

There are indeed two spare cells in the Sentry's stock.

"They should be rechargable from most standard outlets, and the Sentry itself has an adapter port for most non-standard power sources hidden inside the grip and an adapter cable stashed inside the stock as well. The care kit for that armour should be in the footlocker beneath it, plus a beatup old P67K in the one next to that, along with ammo. Case for the Sentry should be in the very end left locker at the start of the row, as it were."

~~

The Tech eyes the two for a moment, then yells something in an odd language that neither Ephrael nor Spork can recognize. A few moments later, a pair of Technicians come running over, carrying the desired items, hand them over and then head back to their duties.

~~

[Jo, the automated sentries should be fitted with cameras. Try using those, if they haven't rusted shut already.]

[Paladin Sheppard]

Vehicle Bay

"Thanks!" She pecks the tech on the cheek, and picks up one of the paint guns.

"I'll do the right side and work my way forward, you wanna do the left?" She said to Spork.

[Boog]

Nick's CPU was, in the opinions of some, a little outdated, and only now had remembered to bring up his own checklist. He'd need supplies if he was to do anything useful. He beamed a quick inventory request to the nearest computer that would know what he needed to know, in this case Jo and her uplink to most everything in the base.
Query: Medical inventory and supplies list. What shall I have to work with?

[Malakin]

Spork collects a paintgun and replys with a stiff nod,
"Yes.. That sounds like a resonable distribution of effort for the task at hand."

He then procedes to his left hand side of the vehicle and starts work from the front to back..

[Azlan]

Caden examined the Sentry as indicated and located the adapter, the cells were fully charged and ready.  Retrieving the case and armor kit, he quickly, but carefully packed the Sentry away and stowed the kit in his pack. 

Pulling out the P67K, he checked it out, "one round chambered, clip full, safety on."  He stowed it and its case of extra ammo in his pack.  "Thank you for the assistance, here is all the requisition paperwork for the files.  Thanks again."

He exited the armory and headed straight for his room.  The door slid open with a hiss and he stepped in.  Pausing for a second, he dwelled on the fact that this may be the last time he crosses this threshold, ever.  The weight of the weapons he carried reminded him of the dangers that might await him.

He dropped the gear near the door and systematically began pulling out everything he owned.  Securing his survival knife, basic field kit and goggles, he packed them away in the backpack.  He even found a few surplus military rations from one of his survival drills.  Picking up his pocket digital assistant, sunglasses and chronometer, Caden cleaned up his room and packed away his non-essentials.  Carefully rolling his many spare outfits to easily fit in his duffel (a technique learned in boot camp), he carefully folded and vacuum sealed a good set of clothes and even a dress uniform in case it was needed. 

Shouldering all his gear, he locked up and headed over to the vehicle bay.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Vehicle Bay

Donning the apron and goggles that came with the paint gun, Ephrael starts to black out the markings off the truck.
Reaching the front she starts coating the bumper spikes with a fresh coat.

"How are ya going Spork?" She called out.

Spotting Caden as he walked in she grined and waved.

'Weeeee we get to leave the bunker!' Her currently hyper brain thought.

[ITOS]

Receiving Nickolas request, Johanna accessed the inventory files and began filtering out and categorizing what could be usefull for a medic. She wasn't sure if Nickolas intended to bring any weapons but added a section with less lethal and light weapons for selfdefence before sending it to him.

While doing this, Johanna continued talking to the Overseer.
"I can either send out a camera or you can grant me access to the sentries but I wouldn't recommend sending out an organic into a potential ambush."
Johanna didn't have so much trouble endangering hardware since she didn't risk loosing her software. That was a big downside with being an organic, you only have one body.

[Arcalane]

[I'll have Mack wire you through now, Jo. This might feel a little... unusual. The sentry units are armed, but won't fire unless you sent an Override 7-7-0 through Port 50. They're little more than oversized armoured bins with popup turrets inside.]

If an AI had a spine, it would feel a distinct shiver run down it as the new network was opened to it's attentions. Whilst the Sentries were usually under the control of Mack ("That's General Mackintosh to you, son.") - a military defensive AI who spent most of his time impersonating Fahlburg Generals and chewing on holographic cigars - he had been rather bored as of late with nothing to shoot.

[A`ight kid, you're wired into the sentries. Don't break anythin' or anyone, ya hear?]

All the sentries showed green across the board, right up to the two Titan sentries that guarded the main gate, disguised as guard post towers, the secondary Goliath sentries at the wall corners, again disguised as guard post towers, and the numerous Terrapin (known amongst infantry forces as the "terror-bin", due to their accuracy and rate of fire) sentries littering the courtyards and also built into the walls as defensive measures.

[Malakin]

Having just finished spork puts down his paint gun and wipes his hands on the discarded apron next to him.
While he does this, Spork takes a step back to consider the truck, thinking of ways to make the pintle mounted guns less obvious.

"I have finished applying paint to this side of the vehicle. Do you require any assistance?"
He answers in response to Ephrael's query.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Vehicle Bay

"Nah I'm done here." Ephrael says as she finishes. Turning off the paintgun, she takes of the goggles and apron and hangs them back on it.

Returning the equipment to the tech she thanks him and walks back to the truck.

[Somber]

Outside

Terra shivered despite the hot, dry air.  She could feel spiders running along her spine and slowly turned her head towards the abandoned guard towers.  Was it just her imagination or was did her ears detect the soft grind of servos moving?  She slipped off the turret, moving into the middle of the court yard as she looked for the source.  Fahlbergian defense technology had been a nightmare for the less technically advanced Protectorate.  Difficult to detect, deadly to recieve, it had kept the Protectorate firmly out of the conflict until the end when everything broke down.  Rumor had it that it took an orbital ballistic kinetic kill weapon to smash the Fahlberg central command.  No one knew for sure.  No one had gone that deep into the badlands as far as she knew.

That little survival instinct in the back of her head was now firmly informing her that now would be a good time to walk slowly away from the bunker.  Reason argued that with her lack of water, where could she go?  The instinct then began to scream incoherantly about how she was going to die.  Still, she remained where she stood.  She'd wanted to get the attention of some one inside.  Besides, how threatening could she be?  Sure, she wore a protectorate uniform, but no one with sense could confuse her with a soldier.  She had holes patched with duct tape!

She swallowed her throat hard several times and then called out as loudly as she could, "Hello?!  Is anything listening?"

[Boog]

Nick was suprised at the list of light weapons, but somewhat saw the necessity. After all, the most integral aspect of healing is prevention of damage in the first place. Thank you, Jo. He cut off the link as Eph reentered and headed toward the sections in the back, to check out all those nifty rooms that the Overseer had promised. The crane looked like it was in decent condition, but then the good doctor was more of an expert in bone and sinew than motors and steel. He could barely repair himself on a good day.
"By the way, I call dibs on one of the top bunks!" The bot joked. Keep the good mood going, things will be fine.

[ITOS]

Johanna was familiar with the feeling of having a new network opened up to her. Her secondary function was to rebuild such networks.
"I'll hand over control to Mack if it comes to shooting." She said and took a look at the layout of the defences. She wanted to reveal as few of the guns as possible but still cover all angles.

The servos of some of the Terrapins began buzzing but the turrets didn't move. The joints were probably a bit stiff from all the years just standing there. Johanna increased the power to the servos and the lids were slowly forced open with a creaking sound. As soon as the sensors could peer outside it was clear that someone was out there. A female, protectorate uniform, lots of technical equipment. The rat girl didn't look so threatening, more like ... Johanna did a more detailed scan, more like ready to collaps or flee. After making sure there was no more people around Johanna activated a speaker.

"I'm listening." She replied, with her usual calm voice, to Terras question. "So speak."

[Somber]

She jumped as the voice squalked out, then clenched her jaw and took a deep breath.  "Hi.  I am Terra Sheer and I am formally surrendering to the Fahlberg republic.  As a prisoner of war I an entitled to subsistience until I can be returned to the Chalen Protectorate.  Particularly water."  She added as she smacked her dry lips, putting her hands up.  "I'm alone and unarmed... and if you guys would rather I go away... well... give me a few containers of water and I'll be off.  Don't even have to waste the bullets."  She took off her jacket and tossed it aside.  "I'll even strip if you want me to prove I'm not carrying an IED."  Yeah, she REALLY wanted that water.

[ITOS]

This was a problem. C-17 was a civilian bunker, not a POW camp and from what Johanna could tell Terra wouldn't be able to get to the closes military bunker without help. Moreover, they couldn't just hand out suplies to everyone that came knocking on their doors.
If Johanna had been an organic she would now had sighed.

Control Center

In the Control Center a view of the courtyard and Terra was up on one of the monitors.
"Sir, there is a chance you won't like this suggestion but... " Johanna took a short pause going over the possible reaction that could come from the Overseer before she continued.
"We can make her a deal. We let her in and give her water if she helps us scavenge. That way we won't hand out supplies for nothing. Before we return we drop her off near a military bunker where she can surrender. That way we don't have to turn this bunker into a POW camp. Unless we want her dead it seems like the best solution."
Over the network Johanna asked Mack if this would break any regulation. She was a bit worried that Mack would just want to shoot Terra on the spot but since she had surrendered it seemed unlikely that he would be allowed to do that.

[Malakin]

Spork, finaly making up his mind, collects the painting gear and returns it to the Tech.

"Hello.
Do you have a tarpaulin or similar covering at your disposal?
It is required to be large enough to cover the pintle mounted guns on the military variant.
We also require a means to fasten the tarpaulin to the vehicle that is quick to remove."

[Azlan]

Caden had a lopsided expression across his muzzle as he stared at the painted truck and wrinkled his nose at the paint fumes.

"So when do we leave?"  He put his gear down and had a seat.  He had skipped breakfast in his fervor to gear up and was tired of lugging it around.

[ITOS]

Vehicle Bay

"Nick and Jean have to get their stuff first and... " Johanna hesitated. Should she tell them? She has to at some point, might as well do it now. " ... and there is a visitor outside the bunker doors. She is from the Chalen Protectorate but wants to surrender. She shows signs of dehydration and will not make it to the nearest military bunker without help. I have suggested that she could help us in our mission in exchange for water and a ride to the nearest military bunker but I guess you should have a word in this too." Johanna sent the summary through the speakers in the vehicle too so that the others could hear too.

Outside

"This is a civilian bunker." Johanna said. "Please hold while we decide what to do."

[Somber]

She blinked in the direction of the speaker.  They'd taken her seriously about surrendering?  Fahlberg was gone.  Blasted.  Nuked.  Cratered.  Gone!  Didn't the people inside realize that?  They had had chunks of real estate relocated into orbit!  You can't get more gone than that!

"Look.  All I really need is water and any anti-radiation stuff you can spare.  I'll trade in information and be on my way."  She put on what she hoped was her most convincing smile, "Trust me.  The sooner I'm out of the badlands the better."