Strong Bob Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 XCR ROMMEL The doors to Colonel Dogget's ready room slid open. Joseph walked in alone into the office decorated with jet and starship models in cases. Chad Dogget was sitting down at a desk looking into a small box. Scott: You called for me? Dogget: (Shutting the box and procuring a small odd looking pistol from it) Yes... There was a moment of silence and Joseph got a little nervous. He was currently unarmed and the Colonel holding a gun like that made him uneasy. Dogget: You don't know what kind of pistol this is, I'll bet... Scott: No. I don't. Dogget: Of course not... It was invented years after the Patton disappeared..... It's a lawpistol developed by the Mega Police of Earth. The most powerful one handed ballistic weapon ever made. And it was useless... Scott: Excuse me? Dogget: Nothing. Forget it. (Puts the pistol back in the case and shuts it) I called you here because I need you and your squad. Val came to me earlier informing me of a Starspawn capital ship nearby. It sees us, most definitely. But it doesn't seem to know that we see it right now. Scott: So? With the firepower you've got, you could probably rip it to shreds. Dogget: I know. But I don't want to. In our time, the opportunity to capture the star maps of a capital ship was near impossible. But now I think it can be done, with the 'Spawn so far back in terms of technology... Scott: So uh... Why do you need us? Dogget: I'm reminded of the term, "Do not throw stones in a glass house." My men have no experience in capturing ships intact. And from what you've told me, you've done that quite a bit just to survive out here. Scott: You want us to capture the capital ship for you? My man, I'm afraid that we don't have the strength to do this for you... Dogget: I'm not asking you to do this without help. I'm going to give you our transport gunship and will order Roberts and Woolery to keep the ship busy. We have schematics... You can enter by cutting through the bridge's hull. Dropping in just outside the door. Scott: This seems too easy. What's the catch? Dogget: Nothing... Except you're not going with them... <<TO BE CONTINUED! AHAHAHA!>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ego Terrorist Posted February 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 Yorke lay on his back, things hadn't gone very well as of late, the meal every soldier under his command had willingly accepted the deal proposed by Dogget, Sergeant Howardson seemed almost too keen to volunteer his services to the XCR. And once the Sergeant had volunteered...most of the other soldiers present fell in line, until it was his turn to make his choice. In the end it would come down to the lesser of two evils, his gut was giving him a bad feeling about this whole thing. Though if he said no, he'd probably of ended up confined to his quarters, or the brig, that or completely unable to influence the events that could affect his colleagues. He'd made it quite clear that he was reluctant, but then again when the enemy CO also happens to be the only other human you've seen in a long time since the Kabron Pirates makes you an offer, effectivly at gun point, you feel inclined to accept. Though he doubted most of the others felt that way about the XCR and he didn't blame them, several years only raiding and on the defensive, with little hope, and no real chance of getting home, he'd want to accept this chance of a new hope, but something in the back of his mind was warning him about something... Well, he'd worry about that later, right now though he had some paper work to deal with in his new office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowBlade Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 <<NOTE: This takes places a few hours after today's (February 22nd) sim. Joint roleplay with Pickers.>> Jonathan and the rest of the team had had a very interesting mission today, his first against these Starspawn aliens. After leaving his combat equipment in the quarters assigned to him the the XCR officers and fooling around the Rommel, Jon set off to Lieutenant Yorke's new office. After wandering a while looking for the room, the young corporal spotted a door with the newly placed tag "Lieutenant Yorke" on it. He opened the door and found the Doc sitting on his chair, resting a bit apparently, since there wasn't much paperwork on his desk. Yorke looked up from his desk and smiled at the corporal. "Goorit, and what do I owe to the pleasure of your company?" -Ned said upon realizing Jonathan was in front of him. "Excuse me, sir, I have a doubt that's been troubling me for some time since all the revelations that took place the other day at the welcome banquet." -The corporal asked his commanding officer. The lieutenant raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. "Hmm? And what is that doubt of yours?" -The Doc inquired the uneasy corporal. "I don't want to sound inappropriate, but... is Dogget or any of you officers planning on contacting the Ascidian government about the origin of XCR, and to apologize for the recent misleaded attacks?" -Jon asked rather nervously. Shadow wasn't the only one with doubts, Yorke had been troubled since the meal, he didn't like the set up, nor did he like the situation, though when he heard Shadow's question he smiled half heartedly and sat up again and placed his elbows on the desk. "Good question - and no, you're not sounding inappropriate. I'm going to have to see if I can have a chat with Dogget and see about sending a transmission to Colonel Cyriacus." -Yorke replied. "I very much doubt Dogget would agree to a transmission apologising to the Ascidians, it was hard enough to get him to agree to cease attacks. But if I can get in contact with Cyriacus he can mediate between XCR and the Ascidian High Command." -Ned continued. "Good, I think that'd be most appropriate in this situation, I bet the Ascidian government is really upset about this seemingly unjustified assaults at their outposts. I found Dogget's reasons understandable since he thought he was fighting the same gits that allegedly invaded Earth several years into the future, but continuing the attacks would certainly be senseless. Luckily Dogget has agreed to stop these, so we can rest easy for some time." -Jonathan stated. "Aye yes. It's understandable, I suppose, though, his crew and Dogget himself are showing some rather dangerous xenophobic attitudes, which is fair enough, but right now it's not helping relations between the Ascidians and us. But yes, once communication is reestablished between us and the Patton we should be able to go back to the Patton though what happens after that depends on Dogget and Cyriacus." -The lieutenant agreed. "Okay, thank you, Doc. That'd be all, is there anything you want to tell me?" -Goorit asked since he was about to leave the office. "Not really...I'll want an incident report filled out by you and Necro with regard to Stalk's actions, but currently she's being confined to quarters until I've had a chance to review what ever the hell had happened. Bloody hot headed rookies." -Yorke shook his head when mentioning the last sentence. "Hehe, I know the feeling, sir, I've just experienced that myself. I was once very similar to her, but I hope I've gained more discipline by now." -Jonathan nervously added. Smiling Yorke nodded. Shadow had a lot of potential, and he could go far, but right now Stalk's actions were out of line and risked the team, she'd be in trouble for that, alot of trouble for that. "Aye that you have. But yes, no rush, get some R&R and get the report on my desk before lunch tomorrow." -The Doc suggested. "Alright, Doc. Thank you, I'm gonna get some rest now, I surely got my fair share of action today. See you at dinner, sir." -Jonathan said as he walked towards the door. "Aye, see you at dinner tonight, Goorit." -Yorke said and watched as the corporal left his office and then got down to doing some more paper work that had to be sorted out before the day was out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_175 Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 Necro was sat at his 'desk' in the canteen (in other words balancing his notes on his knees), when Yorke came in through the door and approached him. "Necro" said Yorke, "when you've got a minute can you fill in a report on what happened with Stalk the other day?" "erm, yeah sure Sir" replied Necro frantically grabbing at the paper that was sliding to the floor. "I'll have it done for you by dinner, oh and can you take a look at my leg, I think I've pulled something in it and its painful to walk on" "Yeah no worries Andy, stop by the med bay later and I'll have a look" said Yorke "ta, much appreciated" was the HWE's reply. Yorke turned to leave as he was about to exit through the door Necro shouted. "Yorke, what do you think about these 'future X-Com types? I mean at first I liked the idea, but now... I mean they suddenly show up, good food, nice wine, claim to be from the future.. It all seems a little to straigh from TV, and that robot creeps the hell out of me. I'm not sure whether we can trust them anymore Yorke" Yorke muttered something under his breath as he left the room, leaving Necro to pick up his papers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted February 24, 2004 Report Share Posted February 24, 2004 > Battle Plans XCS Peregrine, 13 November 2067, enroute to UGS Patton and NAO Ko found himself in the Cage again, looking over the weapons that would be necessary to use against the rogue X-Com agents. It was going to be a complicated mission, requiring a high degree of firepower from the Spec Ops team. He hadn't even thought about the specific unit he wanted surrounding the combat zone, but that probably would depend on the actual locale chosen. Was there anything else required? Ong had already loaded a large number of weapons onto the Aplomado, including the shotguns, grenade launchers, rocket launchers, and Alien plasma rifles. Ko checked the shelves to see whether another weapon would be worth having... The Ascidian plasma rifles were going to be used by other Special Operations teams, he figured, at least on a trial basis. Ko didn't think the rifles were great, but they were a source of plasma regardless. Ko had no intention of using the Carbine... too light. He was definetly going to deploying with his Combination Rifle. Depending on the strategy they used, he could either go with the shotgun or the plasma while on the ground... He wasn't terribly fond of either, but they had their advantages. Unfortunately, the shotgun lacked real armour penetration while the plasma rifle lacked mass, both of which were somewhat critical to the operation. The shotguns flechette rounds were something though... almost a crime to use in itself. It's low solid armour penetration was misleading - the flechettes had not penetrated the basic suit's plates, though they had stuck in, but had shredded the softer parts of the suit, required for movement. Every joint in the impacted area had been ripped apart by the little darts, and while it probably wouldn't kill another man outright, they would likely bleed to death or spend the rest of their lives maimed. Ko sighed. He didn't think he had the time to worry about such issues. Removing the enemy had to be top priority. As distasteful as he found it, he also knew that his duty was to uphold his and X-Com's honour. Loss and destruction would be far more shameful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strong Bob Posted February 24, 2004 Report Share Posted February 24, 2004 **XCR Rommel, Colonel Chad Dogget's Ready Room - After the attack on the Powerhouse** Joseph walked into Chad's office in a hostile manner, his pulse was high and he was real close to screaming in anger. Chad was calmly sitting down, looking blankly down at his desk while smoking a cigarette. Joseph made it up to Chad's desk and couldn't take it anymore. Scott: (Slamming his fist down on the desk) You f**king KNEW about them! Didn't you!? The Powerhouse had Sectoid Hybrids on board! Dogget: (Calmly looking up at Scott) Yes... Yes I knew. But wasn't completely certain about it to be honest. Scott: Why the hell didn't you tell us? Dogget: Lieutenant... In our time, everything is on a very strict 'need-to-know' basis. Besides, if I told you it might have caused unnecessary unrest. Scott: Bullshit! We agreed to join you, but keeping secrets like this was not part of the deal. Dogget: Alright Lieutenant... Chad put his shortened cigarette out in a small pewter ash tray on his desk and sighed, looking away from Joseph. Dogget: We've been out here a lot longer than you think, Lieutenant. In fact, we've been out here for a good 1 and a half months. Scott: What!? Dogget: Lieutenant... I'm afraid I neglected to mention a little something in our first meeting. I just didn't want to complicate things until we got to know each other a bit... Scott: Things are way beyond complicated right now... I want to know why you kept me here when my men boarded the Powerhouse! And why you felt this information was important enough to... Dogget: Lieutenant, what would you have done if I told you to board a ship filled with a new experemental strain of Starspawn species? Eh? Especially one that replaced the Ethereals with superior mental and physical abilities... Scott: I would've done it... I've gone up against far worse than bug eyed humans. Dogget: Well, I couldn't afford to take the chance you would refuse. I wasn't lying when I said my men can't do that kind of raid. They were never trained for that, nor do we have any technology on hand that's capable of what your "DDU's" are. Scott: Why the f**k did you keep me here!? Dogget: If your men failed and died, we needed someone to represent us and help us make peaceful contact with the rest of your troops and the Apemen. Scott: You used us... Dogget: And much to both our advantage. When you downloaded those starmaps on the Powerhouse, you got the location of every Starspawn vessel and structure containing Human Sectoid specimens. All we have to do is root them all out, and we change the future for the better. Chad gave Joseph a light smile of victory, expecting the old Lieutenant to be impressed. But Joseph was displaying more frustration than anything else. Scott: I will not be manipulated by you. That's the last time I let Alpha squad out without me on one of your missions. I agreed to waiting for the disruptor tech, you've crossed your line of trust. Dogget: Suit yourself... But know that we do this entirely for humanity, I am serving both our interests here Lieutenant. Scott: Is that so? Then turn this ship back in the direction of Arkunis IV, like we agreed when I you made me stay here... Dogget: Already done, Lieutenant. We should be there very shortly. I have what I need here... And I'm sure over time you'll come to the realization that we can be very good partners here. Chad smiled and pulled out another cigarette from his pocket as well as a small brass lighter. Joseph turned around and left the room without a word. He was too angry at how his squad was used to think clearly at the moment... **One hour later, Scott and Fléche's assigned quarters** Terra was asleep on the bottom bunk of her and Joseph's beds. It was late, and the lights were out. Joseph was sitting at a small computer terminal across from the bed, the monitor was lit up the room in dull blue illumination. Scott: I understand what he did... That's why I didn't punch his face in right there. I'm glad the new medic, Rebecca Stalk, went exploring against orders like she did. If she hadn't found that corpse we likely would not have found out about Dogget's treachery. Heh... She kinda reminds me of how I used to be... Joseph activated the long range transmission function on the terminal, he inputted the frequency of the UGS Patton. No one had contacted them in some time... He felt he should inform them of the XCR's arrival... Scott: (Talking into the comm terminal) Patton, this is Lieutenant Joseph Scott. Serial number JS-4T2. I'm calling from the XCR Rommel. We had been captured, but are now fine. We are in no danger and are in perfect health. The fraud X-COM soldiers we've been chasing all this time are our friends. We will be approaching NAO within the next two days. I will explain the situation further when we get there. It is recommended that Kappa squad be informed at once... Their assistance will be required upon our arrival. This is Lieutenant Joseph Scott, serial number JS-4T2, to Patton. Signing out. He ended the transmission and sent it. He was very tired now, he turned around to the bunk beds feeling the fatigue creep up on him as he looked. Terra was sleeping nice and sound. Something about the way she was sleeping gave Joseph worry. Scott: She sleeps so well and comfortable... Am I just being paranoid? Heh... So far, since we've made peaceful contact, nothing but good has come from them. I don't want to make the same mistake as Kacur, and go about everything so ignorantly, but maybe I should let go a bit. If someone like her can sleep so comfortably aboard a ship where the uneasiness is almost felt physically... Then maybe I'm being too uptight. Joseph climbed into his bed and layed on his back, still wearing his X-COM fatigues. Scott: Dogget is keeping secrets... But is that enough to call him untrustworthy? He fights for humanity of course... And even if it meant being his pawn, it would serve our purpose. Or would it? Joseph pondered for a while and soon fell asleep. The next few days were going to be long ones indeed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 > UGS Patton, 13 November 2067 Rallwell was busy tapping away on her keyboard beside Sinclaire when the communications program pinged. She had set the communications relay to automatically record incoming transmissions into a temporary directory. Her program was supposed to let her know when the directory had a new addition... it apparently worked. Patton, this is Lieutenant Joseph Scott. Serial number JS-4T2. I'm calling from the XCR Rommel. We had been captured, but are now fine. We are in no danger and are in perfect health. The fraud X-COM soldiers we've been chasing all this time are our friends. We will be approaching NAO within the next two days. I will explain the situation further when we get there. It is recommended that Kappa squad be informed at once... Their assistance will be required upon our arrival. This is Lieutenant Joseph Scott, serial number JS-4T2, to Patton. Signing out. Rallwell looked briefly at Sinclaire, then re-ran the audio recording. "Well, that's unexpected," Rallwell said. "Agreed. Can we run a voice verification on that?" Sinclaire wasn't actually asking; he had started the audio comparison software. The program ran silently as the two X-Com soldiers watched, and reported a match. "Well, that's interesting. Friends?" Rallwell shrugged and looked at Sinclaire. "This is unexpected. Within the last day, they've decided they are friends..." "Something to be wary of." Sinclaire forwarded the message down to Cyriacus. He tapped an additional note to append to the transmission. "Colonel Cyriacus will handle it." "Yeah. What do you think? Will Kappa respond?" Rallwell looked involuntarily at the screen, towards the previous transmission list, which included her last transmission to Ascidian central command and Kappa Team. "Maybe. Who knows?" Sinclaire looked at the data on his computer. "But last I checked, they weren't under our structure anymore. They might be on their way here now though, as part of their investigation..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 UGS Patton II, 13 November 2067 Colonel Brad Cyriacus was just working in his office on some reports from Ascidia about a research project he had been working on with the Ascidians. It seems the project was finished and currently being shipped to Arkunis IV. Then Scott's message came in. Surprised to hear from the Lieutenant, Cyriacus opened the message and read it. His eyes widened, and he frowned. He read the message again, as well as the comment added by Sinclaire, regarding the verification of Scott's identity and that in all likelyhood he also broadcasted this message without being forced to. "Why would these unknown X-Com forces allow such a message to be sent from their craft... perhaps they are friends, but I doubt that in a day they'd already trust the team so much to let them broadcast unmonitored... I wonder what these unknowns have in store, and what their story is. Not to mention why they attacked the Ascidians... friends don't generally blow the bases of other friends apart... I wonder what they want from us..." With these thoughts Cyriacus shut down his computer terminal and got up from his chair, and went out of his office towards the command center. "I wonder if these new X-Com forces are a blessing or a curse..." he thought to himself out loud. XCS Peregrine, 13 November 2067, an hour or so after Rallwell's transmission. Having just finished a meeting with Vash'uda'rus, Dmitri was walking through the corridors of the Peregrine, heading towards his quarters to get some sleep. After all, he'd better get all sleep he could before they reached NAO and would start on their operation. When he reached the door to his quarters, and was about to enter the door code, an Ascidian approached him. "Excuse me, Lieutenant, we have just received a communication from the UGS Patton II which was addressed to you and the members of Kappa team." The Ascidian handed Dmitri a note with a transcript of the message Scott sent out. Dmitri looked at it a moment and then looked at the Ascidian with a somewhat surprised look on his face. "Did they confirm this message was indeed sent by Scott, and not some kind of forgery?" "According to Private Rallwell, who sent this message, they have used all software at their disposal and as far as they can tell it is really Lieutenant Joseph Scott that sent this transmission, and his voice doesn't suggest he is stressed in the sense that he is forced to send this." Dmitri nodded and remained silent a moment overthinking things, before replying to the Ascidian. "How long before we reach Arkunis IV?" The Ascidian seemed to have something proud about him, as if he was pleased to be able to answer the unexpected. "Actually, we are entering orbit within an hour, we are approaching from the other side of the planet from Nova Alpha Omega base, so quite possibly they haven't noticed our approach yet. The UGS Patton II also seems to be orbiting the planet already, though probably most people have already disembarked to the base." Dmitri nodded and indeed seemed faintly impressed by the quick trip, though obviously he wasn't an expert in spacecraft, and as such had no idea what this craft was capable of anyway. "Okay, in that case I'm heading towards the communications center. Thank you for relaying the message..." He looks at the Ascidian's name tag a moment, and translates it for himself "...ensign." A few minutes later, in the Comms center. Dmitri sat down at one of the communications consoles, after the Ascidian set it up to send a message down to NAO. "Nova Alpha Omega base, this is the XCS Peregrine. Good morning Anne. Kappa team responding to the damsel in distress. We are currently entering orbit, and probably will arrive at the NAO base in a few hours at most. We received the transmission you forwarded from Scott as well, thanks for passing it on. I hope that besides this whole thing with the unknown X-Com forces, everything is going well down there?" <<tag DH if you want to respond here >> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 > UGS Patton, 13 November 2067 Rallwell jumped at the incoming transmission with the Peregrine's identifier on it. She scanned the message with a smile on her face and forwarded it to the Colonel below at NAO. The Peregrine must have been closer than she had thought. While she had kept relatively close tabs on what was going on, updates nowadays had been few and far between. She had known when their extended operation on Yurilis had started, when it had ended and the results, and their assignment to this case, but it was almost nothing compared to the semi-weekly updates she had been receiving before. She started to key in a transmission back to the Peregrine. "Peregrine, this is the Patton. Nice to know you're close; we'll have the beds made and the food cooked by the time you arrive. We're looking forward to seeing you again. Patton out." She hit the send button. It would be a pleasure to see the team again. She didn't have much contact with Chavez before he left, so he was more of a neutral party. She was looking forward to seeing Kaitlin though; she was her best friend in the team, definetly, and it had been a fairly rough parting. Dmitri had always been her confidant, as well. She didn't have much to hide now, but she would have to grab him to have a good talk... Maybe she could pry some confidential info out of him. Kevin and Derrick were also good for a laugh; their style of humour never failed her. Rallwell hoped ferverently that none of them had changed too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strong Bob Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 ... Do it Albino! Before he does it! ... ... But sir, he's got 'Liz by the neck... ... Albino, she's taken the same oath as you! Shoot him! NOW! ... *BLAM!* Scott: Ahhhh! Joseph woke up in his bunk in a cold sweat, letting out a brief scream that almost woke up Fléche sleeping on the bottom bunk. Scott: 'Liz... Out the window, Joseph suddenly noticed that the Rommel had dropped out of warp. Which could only mean that they had finally arrived in the Arkunis system. **XCR Rommel, Bridge. Twenty-five minutes later.** Dogget: VAL, what are those ships there? VAL-919: One appears to be a Patton Class War Cruiser. Heavily modified... I can not identify any of the modifications. It must be technology acquired from their alliance with the Apemen. The other appears to be a Wreaker class ship, used by the Apemen in the battle of Mega Primus... Only it's much smaller and does not seem as heavily armed. Dogget: Very good. Decloak and set a course for them, keep our weapons and shields offline and approach at a standard 'friendly' cruising speed. No need to make them uneasy. VAL-919: Aye sir. The doors leading into the Rommel's bridge open. Joseph Scott walks in, groomed and dressed. He looks suspiciously at Colonel Dogget and the rest of the crew on the bridge, and then sees the UGS Patton and XCS Peregrine magnified on the viewscreen. Scott: We're here... Arkunis IV. Dogget: (Suddenly noticing and turning to Scott) Yes. We made it in system just under an hour ago. I would've informed you, but I didn't want to interupt your sleep. A smile grew on Chad's face, but it only made Joseph angry for some reason. Scott: Whatever... You realize that no matter what you do, unless they get a signal directly from me or Doctor Yorke, they're going to open fire. Dogget: In that case... VAL! All stop. VAL-919: Aye sir. Scott: What are you doing? Dogget: Lieutenant, here's an idea. You should take yourself and your men back to your ship, the Patton. The Orca can be prepped within the hour. Scott: And then what? Dogget: Talk with your Commander. I want to meet with him. Perhaps we can sort out this whole issue in our accidental attacks on your "Ascadian" friends... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strong Bob Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 <<The following is a joint roleplay between Strong Bob (Joseph Scott) and Ghost (Brad Cyriacus).>> COL_Cyriacus-> ::watches as Scott enters the office and stands up:: Ahh, I see they finished checking you up. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I hope you understand we have to make sure that you are really you, and that they didn't send you in as a form of weapon, bomb or spy or something. Now, I believe we have a lot to discuss. ::glancing over towards the terminal screen which happens to be turned so that Scott can see a depiction of the Rommel on it:: Sit down Lieutenant, let's hear what you have to say about these... X-Com soldiers... LT_Scott-> Joseph looked inquisitively at Brad and then sat down on a chair in front of the Colonel's desk. He gave Brad a very serious expression. "These 'X-COM Soldiers' do not belong here. The reason they have such advanced technology and even their own capital ship is because... They're from the future." COL_Cyriacus-> The future... in some weird way that makes sense, considering we technically come from 7 years in the past. However, how certain are you that they speak the truth? Have they offered any evidence to support their claims, except their advanced technology? LT_Scott-> He let out a semi-frustrated sigh. "Nothing except a data disc they gave me... It's a brief history of everything that has happened since the Patton was transported away. But... I don't think anyone will like our future. The disc was taken by Rallwell when we were searched, she's likely analyzing it now." Joseph exhaled again. "Sir, they call themselves the 'X-COM Resistance' and attacked the Ascadians because in their time... The Ascadians were incorporated into the Starspawn genepool." COL_Cyriacus-> Hmmm, so you are saying that the Ascidians were likely defeated somehow in the future. And I would assume that somehow we are defeated in the process as well, as I think you would have mentioned it if they told you the Patton would make it home. ::Cyriacus stopped a moment to think, a frown on his face:: So... the Ascidians are hostile in their time... is that why they are attacking them? Have you tried telling them the Ascidians are our allies? LT_Scott-> "Oh yes sir. I have. And they've agreed to make a formal apology to the Ascadian government. I've been thinking about this, and I recommend that we hold a meeting in the Diplomacy Room. Mediated by Alpha squad, while Kappa squad represents the Ascadian government. The acting Commander aboard the Future X-COM ship has agreed to such a meeting, and will come unarmed with his first officer as escort." Joseph sighed and scratched his nose. COL_Cyriacus-> Hmmm... interesting proposition and yes I really would like to have the opportunity to discuss things with them, however, I do not think the Ascidians will really accept the people of Kappa team to act as their representatives. They have been working together closely, but that doesnt make them Ascidian yet... ::Cyriacus tapped some things on his terminal:: The Peregrine is in orbit around Arkunis as you no doubt noticed on your approach, and Kappa team is currently in NAO, taking care of some things. I believe one of theirs got wounded, Chavez, and is being looked after at the moment. I assume the rest of the team is still aboard the Rommel? Are you being treated well there? LT_Scott-> "No. I made sure everyone was brought back aboard the ship they lent us. I was hoping Kappa team could help moderate this situation, I'm not sure how Colonel Dogget will act when negotiating with something he's always known to be an enemy. Just imagine standing in front of a Muton and apoligizing for killing them sir. I think a human representative is a better solution." COL_Cyriacus-> Hmmm... well I'm sure Dmitri would agree in helping the negotiations, though eventually they will have to talk directly to the Ascidians to ensure the peace, considering Dmitri can only really listen to what it is they want and will need to talk to the Ascidians to hear what their response to that will be... Colonel Dogget, he is their commanding officer I assume. What kind of a man is he? If we are to negotiate with this man we'll need to know him, and his motivations too... LT_Scott-> Joseph sighed again. "Colonel Dogget... His strategy is very secretive. I'm not going to lie to you. I have a full report written on a mission he asked us to go on before coming here. He is on a mission, a mission to stop the Starspawn out here from making special gene strains that conquer Earth in the future. And he will stop at nothing to ensure that they do not come to fruition." COL_Cyriacus-> Hmmmm ::rubbing his chin a moment in thought:: So it sounds like it's personal somehow... like he lost family or loved ones to these Starspawn... did he tell you anything about how they got here? And if there is any way for him to return? Another thing being: Did they tell you what year they came from? How far in the future? LT_Scott-> "2095... Somewhere around there I believe. He hasn't mentioned anything about family. But he has informed us that his coming to this time was a horrible mistake. But... For some reason he sees this as more of an opportunity than a disaster. I'm not sure I would be thinking so clearly if I were hurled so far back in time... Even if the chance to damage the Starspawn significantly was in my grasp." Joseph started to look concerned. COL_Cyriacus-> ::nods, listening to Scott telling about these strange people:: Hmmm, that does sort of sound like a man driven by revenge somehow. Like someone that will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. It makes me wonder about his sincerity though. He seems clever enough to realize not to just do a suicide attack, but I wonder what his motives are for accepting to listen to the Ascidians... LT_Scott-> "Doctor Yorke and Sergeant Howardson spent some time convincing him to do so. He has agreed with us that it would be better if we were allies with the Ascadians and drove the Starspawn out of their territory, rather than annhilate the Ascadians completely, that they won't add them to their pool." COL_Cyriacus-> ::Cyriacus nodded and remained silent a moment, then looked at Scott again, a serious look on his face:: Lieutenant, tell me honestly: If these negotiations fail, how do you estimate our chances against them? And how many of our men would be tempted to join them, considering the time you spent with them? LT_Scott-> "I'm not going to lie to you sir. We'll be in deep shit if these guys deem us an enemy. They have weakness, there are witnesses that have seen their armor broken and penetrated. But only under constant barrages of plasma fire. Our only chance is to do our best to make friends with them... As for the men, they seem very undecided. I sense Yorke is also skeptical... But Corporal's Necro and Goorit are more than happy to team up with the future X-COM. I dunno if some of us are just being too paranoid... When it all comes down to it, if they become our friends, this would be the best thing that ever could have happened to us." COL_Cyriacus-> Perhaps yes, but I am trying to assess the risk of what could happen should we fail to enlist them as friends. LT_Scott-> "I don't think I need to tell you the damage they could do if we don't. Their ships have a highly advanced cloaking technology... Which means, there is no way we could ever see them coming. They could likely destroy the Patton and Peregrine in a matter of minutes." Joseph wiped his nose. "I'm not sure we want to risk that at all..." COL_Cyriacus-> No, we arent aiming for that goal obvious, however what do you suggest then? We oblige to everything they want because we can't risk turning them against us? LT_Scott-> "No. I say we try mainly to keep them from being the enemy, making them friends being our secondary objective. At least find a way to keep them the hell away from the Ascadians and keep their guns on the Starspawn. That should be our only real goal here... Besides, they really haven't asked for much just yet." COL_Cyriacus-> Yes, of course, however I doubt they will just oblige so easily in starting peace with the Ascidians, there will be terms no doubt on either side... it will take some arranging on both sides to get this underway though so I'd best get to that. LT_Scott-> "Yes sir." Joseph stood up. "Shall I request that Kappa team sends someone to represent the Ascadians?" COL_Cyriacus-> Okay, that sounds like a plan to me. You contact them and I'll contact the gits. LT_Scott-> "Yes sir. I shall send for them and inform Colonel Dogget at once." Joseph gave Brad a solute and marched out of the office. COL_Cyriacus-> ::As Scott exits the office, Cyriacus sinks back in his chair and wonders again if these XCR troopers are a blessing or a curse...:: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted February 29, 2004 Report Share Posted February 29, 2004 > UGS Patton, 13 November 2067 It was late when Ko made his unofficial call to engineering. Of course, all the formal greetings had been made eariler, and Lieutenant Ghost and Corporal Stone had gone down to the surface to meet with Colonel Cyriacus. That left Ong, Ko, and Chavez on the ship, with Chavez being watched over my machinery and Rallwell's help, for what she could do. For her part, Rallwell was in engineering working on more material analysis with the materials sent back by Alpha. They were certainly interesting, but she had no idea what actually gave them their extraordinary powers. FXC wasn't unbreakable... but they were damn close. Ko knocked lightly on the bulkhead as he poked his head into engineering. "Permission to come aboard, Private Rallwell?" Despite having worked together for so long, he didn't exactly feel like he was on a first name basis with anyone outside of Kappa Team. Rallwell smiled broadly at her former superior. "Sure, come on in, Derrick. And I swear, you call me Private Rallwell again, I'll hurt you." She shook her fist with mock threat, then gestured to an adjacent stool. "What can I do for you?" "Not much really," Ko said with a grin. "Don't lie to me. You're not my superior officer anymore, I don't have to take your crap. What's on your mind?" Rallwell put down her work and gazed intently at Ko. Ko felt like squiriming under the pressure, but decided not to. He didn't need Ong with more of his stories about his supposed crush on Rallwell; he was not one to talk, the way he went after Stone... "Ok ok. We're a bit worried about the disposition of the rest of the team. Maybe we're being a bit paranoid." "I'm sure Lieutenant Scott has the situation under control." Rallwell shrugged. "You have to trust your teammates, right?" Ko didn't give voice to his truth; that they may not be trustworthy anymore. "You're right, you're right. We're planning retaliatory operations regardless, as we can afford to get caught unprepared." Ko drummed his fingers against the tabletop idly. "Are you sure about that? If they detect your exercises, they might be offended... We're on a peaceful relation now." Rallwell frowned slightly at Ko's words. Practicality involved keeping XCR friendly to them. Ko didn't say anything. Offense or not, they couldn't afford to just take another loss. As far as he was concerned, it was a price of war. He had to believe, though, that the enemy consisted of something more than immature children in soldier's bodies. At some point, there had to be motivation - and in that, somewhere, there would be weakness and room for compromise. Compromise could not, however, come without respect, and that was something that had to be earned. All he knew for certain was that a passive defence would not provide that respect; it would only deliver scorn. Rallwell studied Ko carefully. Ko wasn't a diplomat, he was wide open. It was obvious he believed something else and wasn't concerned about the peace. "Do you want the killing to continue?" Ko shook his head. "No. But to call what we have a 'peace' is fraudulent; we are not at peace by any means. There are no agreements, no official contact. For all we know, XCR may come to destroy us; we have only Scott's word. They know we are hear, they don't want to contact us. We should be prepared, by any means necessary, for these invaders." "Derrick, don't be impractical. That's what you always taught, wasn't it?" Rallwell reached over to squeeze his shoulder. "We're soldiers, but that doesn't mean we kill all the time." Ko put his hand onto hers and squeezed it reassuringly. He looked into her eyes as he said, "No, we don't kill all the time. We need to be ready though; nothing is ever as it seems." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted February 29, 2004 Report Share Posted February 29, 2004 <<Joint post CPL_Stone (by Ghost) and PVT_Rallwell (by DragonHawk)>> Somewhere at Arkunis IV, Kappa mission training location, 14th of November 2067 Rallwell sat with a number of Ascidian officers, observing the combat. She could see Kappa and Rho teams exiting the mock warehouse now. It looked like they were discussing their forced entry... The whole situation made her uneasy though. Kaitlin was discussing the tactics of their building entry with one of the Rho troopers, who was moving a bit too visible and audible to her tastes. He was going to get himself shot that way. After a minute or so the discussion ended and she walked over to the observation area. Approaching the observation spot where the Ascidian officers and Rallwell were sitting she took off her helmet and smiled at Rallwell. "Hey Anne, came to watch us?" Rallwell grinned back, relieved to see her and not some other hairy Ascidian. "Yes. I'm curious to see how you're planning on breaking the XCR..." Rallwell frowned slightly. "I'm just worried about you, that's all." Stone raises an eyebrow as she puts her helmet on a nearby table, and sits down on a free chair near Rallwell. "Worried about me? Oh there's no need for that. I can handle myself quite well, really. 'sides, I'm not alone, we watch eachother's backs, though I must say I was a bit worried when I heard of Alpha team's 'capture' by these XCR people." "Not about you, per se..." Rallwell tried to form her thoughts into words. "The risks are a lot higher, this time." That was underestimating her real view of the threat, but she couldn't just go ballistic on Stone. "It's just... I don't like the risks. Why? There has to be another way." "There has to be another way for what? To resolve this without fighting? I'd wish, but at the moment the stance of those XCR troopers is that they can defeat anything we could throw at them, so most likely their demands would be insane. Believe me, despite appearance I'd rather not fight these people either. But if we do not break their superiority, we will basically have to live in fear not to upset them." Kaitlin looks at Rallwell while saying that, a look in her eyes saying, 'And I'm not going to accept having to live in fear every day again. I'd rather die fighting.' "I suppose so. But they're allies now, or supposed to be now, but you're right. We can't sit around, I guess." She looked over to where the rest of the team was chatting. "So how are the plans looking so far?" Shaking her head slightly, "Not allies yet, they have just agreed to cease attacking in order for negotiations to be possible as I understand it." Turning her head to a group of Rho team operatives that were discussing matters over a map a few metres away. "Slowly, but steadily. The main problem is that we dont know their exact strength and abilities. We dont know if our weapons will be sufficient to beat them..." "I can't help you there. I've run my materials analysis, and I'm not certain of the strength either. They must have weaknesses; if they don't we'll have some troubles matching them power on power." Rallwell's eyes swept over the warehouse again. "Is this the size of the nuclear facility, or is it just a training structure?" Turning towards the warehouse, she shakes her head slightly. "It's not entirely the size of a nuclear facility, but it matches the size and rough layout of the main portion of the building. The reactor areas aren't added yet though." Rallwell nodded quietly. "Do you think you can beat them?" That was Rallwell's biggest worry. XCR hadn't been defeated yet and showed little sign of that possibility. The possibility that this was just a suicide mission was something that tugged on Rallwell's mind since she first heard of it. Stone remained silent a moment, looking at the warehouse still and then turned towards Rallwell. "Yes we will. They are not invulnerable, there has to be a way to defeat them and we'll find it. Besides, it's not our objective to kill them all, we want to show them defeat, it's not a murder or massacre operation. We will deal as much damage as we can though." Rallwell looked at Stone. She looked serious, confident... Hallmarks of the people Ghost had chosen to represent X-Com in the Ascidian forces. It was something to admire. "I hope this is the case. A lot is riding on what we do now." Getting up from her seat and taking her helmet with one hand, she put a hand on Rallwell's shoulder, "Hey, not so glum, have a little faith. Dmitri, Derrick, Kevin, even Calvin, they know quite well what they are doing. Do you think they would be so foolish to just run headlong into a fight they know they cannot win? I need to head off again, we're doing another run. I'll probably see you again before our real op though, and otherwise afterwards." Stone smiles reassuringly at Rallwell before putting her helmet back on and walking off. Stone's words were reassuring, in their way. Rallwell nodded a brief salute to Stone and another to the rest of the team. "Good luck," she whispered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 > Nova Alpha Omega, 15November 2067 Ryan was relieved to be back in the comfort of the known, the Ascidian-turned-X-Com base of Nova Alpha Omega. Having been home for a good part of half a year, he felt comfortable, though not quite at home, in the bowels of the mountain fortification. His bunk felt especially soft now. His roommate, Corporal Paul, was sound asleep, not having gone through the tension that was their captivity. He was at peace with his world. Ryan was not. Despite his surroundings, he couldn't sleep. Everything was better, but things were different too. Now, his overactive imagination continued to think of the end of the world, the imminent destruction of most of humanity... It was a depressing thought. XCR had the capabilities to turn that around, or so Ryan thought. Their superior technology had swept aside both Ascidians and Aliens with ease. They could be the key to recovering the galaxy, soldiers with capabilities of the future stuck in what was, relatively speaking, a primitive past. His conversations with some of the XCR soldiers had led him to believe that while the soldiers were happy with their performance, they suspected traps around them. Ryan couldn't blame them, as it was TOO easy. But their confidence was growing; speaking to them, one would think that they were ready to take the universe, if not for the look in their eyes. They were still haunted by the past. Was Dogget also haunted by the past? This question, and others, assaulted his consciousness untill he fell into an uneasy sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 > XCS Peregrine, 16 November 2067 Angrily, Ko kicked the punching bag hard. With the Rommel in-system, training on the ground had been stopped while Ghost had been brought up to confer with Colonel Dogget. The Ascidian combat regiments had pulled back to their home bases and had gone to low-alert to wait out the Rommel's presence. The Peregrine was on combat status as well. This hadn't meant much for the operatives, as they had slept on shift anyway, but for the regular crew it meant that the activity levels were roughly the same at all hours of operation. Tensions were still relatively low, but it was early yet. "I should be happy," thought Ko briefly. He wasn't though. The Rommel made his skin crawl, and he was unhappy with the situation. The team had not yet heard back from Ghost, but the whole situation stank. They were taking a lot of risks, having the Rommel close to Ascidia. A cease-fire was in effect while things were being worked out, but Ko wasn't so sure that it would help. He wasn't convinced, at the basic level, that Dogget's motivations weren't still in force. It still felt wrong... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 > XCS Peregrine, 16 November 2067 Weindhoven strode through the corridors of the Peregrine rather uneasily. Despite having been in NAO for so long, Ascidian architecture still looked too utilitarian for him to feel truly comfortable. Still, he couldn't complain much... His past month had been spent with all manners of doctors. Mostly, it had been Yorke or his attendants, Fleche and Rallwell. Until he had been captured, Yorke had been running all forms of psychological and physiological tests on Weindhoven, trying to determine the source of the compulsion... Weindhoven could hardly remember the incident, it having been buried in his mind. The few Ascidian doctors that came to check him out, more out of interest than concern, had little to say, except that they thought there was no long term problems. Yorke had said something similar, but there was no point taking chances. That's what Weindhoven told himself, anyway, to keep himself sane. Even a month sitting in the brig was too long. Yorke had given him the green light to leave the brig, so he had been wandering around, but with Cyriacus officially in command, he had nothing of worth to do. He wasn't allowed to touch any weapons, that was for certain. The whole matter was depressing. Weindhowen had decided on visiting his former officers on the Peregrine. Of course, Ghost was still an officer and was a decorated one at that; even in the Ascidian forces, they recognized his abilities. Ong had his fall from grace, of course, but Weindhoven couldn't really fault Ong except for bad judgement in that one instance. Ko was always a problematic case, but he, like Ong, was loyal. Weindhoven had wondered how the two had fared after their demotions. A part of him had always worried that they would have taken it badly... and he had no way of knowing whether that would be the case or not. At least he wasn't under strict guard on the ship. The pilot, Corporal Evander, had just dropped him off in the shuttle bay. There wasn't even much of a reception, though Captain Yul'un'na had been on-hand to offer his welcome. It was a true ship without formalities, much Ghost's style. Ghost had to be the first on the list though, as the leading special operations officer on board. Weindhoven looked down at a poorly drawn sketch, courtesy of the chief engineer, and wandered down towards the strike team offices. >> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strong Bob Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 <<Sorry ol' chaps! My real life has been beating me like a ton of bricks lately, which is my lame excuse for the short roleplay here. >> **XCR Rommel, Colonel Chad Dogget's Ready Room** Chad sat at his desk, cleaning his antique Megapol pistol as VAL-919 stood in front of his desk, standing at full motionless attention. Chad had a concerned look on his face... Val just had a look... Dogget: Val, how long will it be before the alien Strain Ships will have completed their tests and move on? VAL-919: Four days, six hours, thirty one minutes, and approximately 9 seconds, sir! Dogget: These potential Apemen allies are taking too long. Those ships need to be destroyed before we need to catch another off guard. (Wipes off the pistol barrel and places it gingerly in it's box) Get Sergeant Woolery up here and prep the Orca for take off. I'm going to send you to find the capital ship performing it's tests near that system of gas giants. Make sure you move under cloak through the whole trip, I don't want you all caught. VAL-919: Aye sir! Is there anything else sir? Dogget: Just don't get caught, we have to keep trustworthy now, don't we? **Nova Alpha Omega base, Mess Hall** Joseph was sitting alone in the far corner of the Mess Hall. He looked down at his vegetable soup, it was pretty good stuff compared what was normally served... But not compared to those steaks aboard the Rommel... Scott: Have I made a mistake? Colonel Dogget is clearly hiding something, but so far has done more good than harm... At least since we've made 'peace'... Would it be a better idea for me to sit back and let things happen for once? I never did that with Kacur, and look at it all now... He's dead and I'm the Alpha squad CO... Standing by wasn't a good idea then. But this time I'm not even sure, am I really getting that jaded? He mixed his soup around a but and took a long sip from his spoon. He looked around the Mess Hall, finding several others there with him... Jackson and Necro appeared to be laughing and joking off in the other corner, Elyas Machera was entertaining John Goorit by playing a spoon bending trick while claiming he was using his psionics, and Samuel Howardson was alone right in the middle of the room... Sam wasn't eating, just brooding in his seat. Scott: Look at them... Save for Sam, nobody seems to have a care in the world. Am I taking my suspicions too far? When it was Kacur's inabilities, I was fully certain I should've stood out. But it's not so absolute here... Maybe I should forget about this, let Cyriacus handle it. I'm getting too old to be so f**king paranoid... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 > XCS Peregrine, 16 November 2067 Cmdr. Weindhoven: Weindhoven eventually found his way to Ghost's office, where he found the Lieutenant poring over some sort of document. He almost looked too busy... Regardless, Weindhoven put a smile on his face and knocked on the bulkhead. "Hey, Dmitri, are you busy?" Lt. Ghost: Dmitri was busy sifting through the replies the Ascidian command had given him in response to what Dogget told him in their meeting a little while back, and he was trying to get together a reply to them again when Weindhoven knocked on the door. He looked up and looked surprised to see the commander there. "Commander, it is good to see you are out to walk freely again. Come on in, it's been a while." Cmdr. Weindhoven: "It has been, indeed." Weindhoven didn't even want to think about what he had done... It was too depressing. "It's good to see that you're still well, and that the Ascidians haven't been throwing you away on suicide missions, like a part of me had feared." Lt. Ghost: "Fortunately they haven't, although some of the missions have been quite hazardous, especially some during our campaign in Yurilis. It seems the Ascidians are beginning to respect our method of doing battle though, mostly due to our successes." Avoiding the subject of what Weindhoven did, considering it wasn't that important really, Ghost gestured at a chair at his desk. "Take a seat sir, so tell me, what brings you to the Peregrine?" Cmdr. Weindhoven: "Not much, to be honest." Weindhoven took a seat in the facing chair. It was actually pretty comfortable, considering it should have come from a git stockpile... maybe Ghost had been successful in requisitioning normal items. "Doc just released me from containment, though I'm still pretty much on parole... With Brad in charge, I can't say there's much for me to do, so I thought I'd stop by and visit my former officers." Lt. Ghost: "Yeah, Brad seems to be doing a good job, though it's probably quite a hard time for him at the moment, with those XCR people here, and his team seemingly supporting them." He looked at Weindhoven a moment, "At least, I assume you have heard about the things going on with the XCR people, right?" Cmdr. Weindhoven: Weindhoven nodded, but kept his face neutral. "I have heard some things, yes. They are certainly... interesting characters, one might say. What's your take on the whole issue? You've probably had more first hand contact with this... Dogget. What's your impression; can he be trusted?" Lt. Ghost: Shaking his head, Dmitri sighs, "Difficult, very difficult. I can't get a good bearing on him. He seems genuine on the one hand, but on the other hand I have a gut feeling he seems to be just using us as a tool, only to dispose of us when we are no longer useful." Cmdr. Weindhoven: "That's similar to what Brad and Ned mentioned to me after the meeting as well." Weindhoven leaned back and steepled his fingers. "How far will Dogget pursue his war against the Aliens? Do you think he can compromise if it will help to achieve his goals? Overall goals here, not necessarily immediate goals." Lt. Ghost: Leaning forward on his desk a little he looks at the papers in front of him, and then at Weindhoven again, "Well, from what I gathered from what we know about him, he seems like a genuine zealot to me. I heard he lost his family when Earth fell. I would not put it past him to be blinded by rage in his goals, to simply destroy all his adversaries. I dont know if we can make him see the Ascidians are not a threat to him." Cmdr. Weindhoven: "From what I understand, the Ascidians may have actually joined the Aliens out of their own free will... Considering they are not currently conquered and will not likely be for another four or five years, that leaves maybe twenty-five years for them to be conquered and assimilated... could it be done that fast forcibly? I don't know." Weindhoven's brow furrowed as he thought of the possibility of Ascidian cooperation with the Aliens. Lt. Ghost: Dmitri nodded slightly, "Well, we have seen that some Ascidians are willing to work with the Aliens, or Starspawn. Namely the Black Spear. Maybe it is these Ascidians that manage to eventually convince the Ascidians to join the Aliens, but I doubt they would succeed in that as long as we are here to fight them. I am confident that if we can remove the powerbase of the Black Spear, the Ascidians are not likely to simply join in with the Starspawn. Not after the destruction the Starspawn have caused so far." Cmdr. Weindhoven: "Hmm... Maybe history is already different in our universe than in theirs. Maybe the Patton is destroyed over Mars in their history... It's feasible, I suppose. The whole time argument isn't really sitting well with me though, it's not an easy concept for me to wrap my head around." Weindhoven decided to change the subject slightly. "How are your troopers doing with respect to all this?" Lt. Ghost: "Hmmm..." Ghost thought a moment, and then replied, "Well it's difficult, the opinions are a bit all over the field, but the main consensus is that the Ascidians are our allies, they have protected and housed us, and we have helped them for all this time. There is no sense in abandoning all that now and turning against them." Cmdr. Weindhoven: "Fair enough judgement." Weindhoven nodded his head in approval. It was a stance that he had expected from Ghost and his team, but it wasn't one that Weindhoven had to have enforced for himself. He wasn't sure yet how to weigh the pros and cons of XCR... he needed more data on what they could actually do, and whether it was sustainable... "Where are your other troopers located?" Lt. Ghost: "Usually here, though considering we are currently orbiting Arkunis IV anyway, they're mostly down on the planet surface. Either to visit friends in NAO, or to do training moves with the Ascidian military, for worst case scenario's etc." Cmdr. Weindhoven: "Well, I hope someone's on board..." Weindhoven stood up and gave Ghost an informal salute. "Let me go around and see who else might be on board, and leave you to your work. Shall we meet for dinner?" Lt. Ghost: Getting up, Ghost salutes back to the commander and nods, "Sounds like a good plan to me. I'll see if I can get the others to join as well if you'd like." Cmdr. Weindhoven: "Excellent. I shall see you then." Weindhoven turned and left Ghost's office... where to go next? Perhaps Yul'un'na was free... Instead, Weindhoven started to walk back towards the troop compartment. He should at least check to see if any of the other human troopers were aboard first... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vikernes Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 << Pvt. McBannok >> The VTOL had begun it's descent quite some time ago, but while the altitude was decreasing, McBannok's adrenaline was increasing, and rather wildly. Most people were re-checking their equipment, he noticed, and so did he. He reviewed the mission briefing in his head as he checked all possible fixable malfunctions his laser rifle could have. When he moved on to the fusion pistol, he was shaken up by a clunk and his attention dragged back to reality, and not the meeting, in the safe room, away from all the aliens. The door opened faster than he would've wanted, and he rushed along with the team outside, with members in front of him and on his sides. He sent a hand to the backpack and found the DDU just where he'd put it. You could never be wary enough, so he looked permanently, always imagining an alien popping up out of behind a rock. They could be anywhere, this was their place! But his efforts and the team's proved worthless, and they began moving at the Lieutenant's orders, toward the gully just in front of them. He felt much, much safer now that he couldn't be attacked from all sides... there was the air to look at, but he could just stare upward and see both of the outcrops from the gully. He lept to the left of the gully as everyone moved forward, passing rock after rock, and wishing they would stop more often so that he could take cover. They reached the end of the gully, and there was something up front. A little shack. He ran for a rather large boulder near the left side, and knelt behind it after he saw Private Ryan dropping to the ground, and that assured him that he wasn't going to do anything silly if he hid. The lieutenant barely even reacted. He checked the Motion Detector and nothing was moving. Lieutenant Scott: "Alright, everybody keep down and silent... Hoz, Ryan... Get into a stealth position and get a good look at it with your binocs... The rest of you with me..." He saw the other two crawl away, and only then realized he should be following the Lieutenant. He had to sprint AND stoop, and almost lost his balance. Besides, the aliens would probably be bursting through the door and shooting them down any moment now, but he had to keep on. When he finally reached his superior, he noticed something on the ground. Marks, tracks, something. It could've just been the wind, there surely wasn't anything here that could stir the ground. Albeit this, he checked his surroundings again. When they finally reached the shack, it looked like it had been there for years without use. For some reason McBannok wouldn't ever find out, he circled around the shack, looking for the entrance, and back to the starting point. The Lieutenant checked for motion again, shutting everyone's movements. McBannok's hands trembled from the anticipation. It would barely have been noticeable, if he had not a rifle in his hands. He looked at the shaking rifle and took a deep breath and goes to one knee for better support. He just chanced to look up at the officer's face that moment, and he barely collapsed as he noticed his expression. "Oh, great. They're everywhere.... They're EVERYWHERE!", he thought as he regained his balance with a hand on the ground. He sent a "They're here..." pale nod to the others, who whispered something to one another and moved to the shack, at the same time as Yorke appeared through the gully and walked to them. Where the heck he had been, McBannok didn't know, but he could've put a hole through his knees. If anything had happened noone knew what to do with serious injuries. It was too much. "Sir...?", he whispered toward his superior, hoping for confirmation of his fears, or better, he dared wish. Lieutenant Scott: "Very good Doctor.", he said with a small smirk and a pause, " Alright, I'll be moving in first, followed closely by Howardson, Hoz, and Ryan. Everyone else move in after we're in. Got it?" He moved inside, followed by the others. The shots would be coming any moment now, McBannok knew. Only they didn't. He was happy he hadn't gone first, but he wasn't happy he was outside alone with the doctor... His eye began twitching again, he noticed. He really couldn't help it, and when he lifted a hand to try to stop it, he nearly punched himself. That was enough of being outside, he went inside, rifle in hand. Nothing had happened... there were just a few old dusty crates in the middle of the room. He moved next to Ryan, who seemed rather awake. The lieutenant takes Howardson aside for a few words, and McBannok is surprised by Ryan. Private Ryan: "I don't think Colonel Dogget's information would have included the internal layout of the basis. If only it were so easy... Gael, start looking at those crates while I check the bloody walls...or baseboard, or something. There's got to be a way." They both started working, Ryan along the walls and McBannok to the crates. He clicked the security pin on his rifle and let it hang by the harness. He unholdstered his pistol, and pointed it at a crate. He moved slowly, trying not to make any noise for no particular reason, an slid a hand towards the top of the first crate. With only two fingers, he opened it, pointing the fusion pistol inside, aiming at... buttons. There were buttons inside, one with arrows, up and down, and the other with 'a weird circle emiting something'. He didn't recognize it. And there wasn't much logic to it. One single button for up and down, and one for nothing he knew about.He let everyone know that he had found something with a whispery 'Sir!...', and Yorke approached him, as well as a few of the others. Yorke: "What you got?" McBannok was still pointing the gun at the buttons as if they were dangerous. He decided that they weren't much of an enemy, and put the gun back by his side, with the safety pin on. There was a bit of discussion that McBannok wasn't really sure he would be able to contribute to, and finally, Yorke decided to press the button... They all went against the walls as the floor moved, some faster, some slower. The floor had moved, but the dust remained there, hovering. McBannok snatches his rifle up and points at it. 'Eh... gravlift.', he remembered thinking, before an echoing syren went up down below, and the Lieutenant looked to his motion sensor, which was emmiting MUCH more light than usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strong Bob Posted March 24, 2004 Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 **One day later, back at NAO** Joseph walked down the hallway leading to the High Security area in NAO. The Floater they had captured on their attack on the alien laboratory was imprisoned here, and was currently the only source on info regarding the development of the Human/Sectoid Hybrids. Joseph didn't trust Colonel Dogget anymore, but that was up to Colonel Cyriacus to deal with now. Joseph was only meant to worry about Alpha squad now... Scott: They managed to escape us... A whole ship... After the fighting, a UFO departed the lab. It sped off into space, and an Ascadian fighter squadron tailed them in hot pursuit until it managed to evade them. The ship appeared to be of medium size, not likely an evacuation ship... Too small... But that was something to shake out of the prisoner. The doors into the containment area opened, right now there were only two single-cells occupied. The Aereon prisoner from a mission long ago was still there, Joseph hoped to commence interrogations a long time ago but time was not well. The Floater was placed farther down the hall... Scott: (Thinking as he approaches the Floater's cell) The bastard let himself be captured. Just threw his hands up as I executed his friends... I need to be careful about this one... The doors to the cell slid open, and the Floater could be seen standing upright on it's now non-functional hover device. The Floater obviously understood at least a minor degree of english, as it obeyed specific commands given by Corporal Goorit upon capture, but it either couldn't or wouldn't respond back in English. Scott: You... The Floater looked at Joseph with a blank stare. Scott: Ahem... I take it you can't speak english? Blink once for no and say 'hello' for yes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted March 24, 2004 Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 Mission Report UGS Patton, 18 November 2067 Ryan grunted as he helped Fleche lift Stalk's body onto a stretcher. The medic had been hit with a plasma bolt; she was fortunate to have gotten off as light as she did, Lieutenant Yorke was standing by, impassive as usual. "Get her out of here. Medbay, the usual preparations for plasma wounds." Yorke waved his hand at them in some level of urgency while he looked after stowing his kit. "OK, Beck, time to go for a little ride." Ryan lifted his end of the stretcher and looked over towards Fleche at the front. "We're good to go. Let's move." The mission, as far as he was concerned, had not been highly unusual, but every foray into combat carried in it the possibility of death. Ryan didn't particularly enjoy having to deal with that or the aftermath; the sight of Stalk's arm wasn't exactly appetizing. But, on the other hand, he COULD do it, which was better than a lot of other people. Ryan shook his head as he and Fleche entered the medbay. He let his mind run through the motions; it was nothing he hadn't done before. One, two, three, lift... Just follow the procedure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 XCR Peregrine, 19 November 2067 Lance Corporal Ko looked over the mission summary from the previous action. It looked like it had been a relative success; the base had been neutralized and its branch of research hopefully scattered to the winds. One question that pervaded his mind was whether the core of the experiments were anywhere in this vicinity. Why would the Aliens commit themselves to such important research in such an undefended location. It was nonsense, in a way, which meant that it was possible that the important research was going on elsewhere. The question was, where? The data obtained from the Powerhouse had indeed been a good starting point, but Ko suspected that the cutting-edge research was being done elsewhere. It wasn't the first time that the ponderous mass of the Alien empire had come into question. How big was it really? How far did it expand? For all he knew, the research could be going on all over the place, in every Alien owned system. He didn't think so though, for a number of reasons. First, research that spread out was garaunteed to be inefficient. The minor gains of parallel research would be offset by the losses in lack of easy co-operation. Second, the resource allocation and administration of the bases so spread out was likely to be a nightmare, especially in then numbers provided by the Powerhouse. Third, was research really that diversified? Ko didn't think so, and thus didn't think multiple facilities were justified, not so far from the Alien's territorial core. Short of a campaign into the Alien interior, what could they really do? To do that, they needed an Alien capital ship, navigational data, all sorts of things that would take time and effort to obtain. Ko paused, then started to prepare a memo for Lieutenant Ghost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonHawk Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 > UGS Patton, 18 November 2067 Pvt. Ryan: Ryan sighed as he stepped out of what was designated as the emergency section of the medical ward. The Patton's medical facilities were top notch, courtesy of Ascidian science, but the area still felt cramped. "There's just never enough medical equipment..." At least they could take care of Rebecca. Ryan was about to leave the medbay to grab some food when Shadow walked into the medbay. Cpl. Shadow: :: Walks into the medical bay, whistling quietly so he doesn't disturb the calm silence in the room. Then he sights Ryan and walks up to him :: Oh, hey, how are you, private? :: Smiles and looks around, looking for Stalk's bed :: Pvt. Ryan: "Corporal Shadow, welcome to medbay." Ryan nodded, but his initial grin faltered. "You're hear to check up on Rebecca? She's uh... she's doing ok, but the doctor is working on her right now, so you can't see her. Want to go get some grub?" On the off-chance things didn't go well, Ryan thought it best to leave it to Yorke, without having someone looking over his shoulder. Cpl. Shadow: "Um... Is that so?" Shadow said when he heard Rebecca was being treated by Yorke at the moment. However, he smiled upon Ryan's suggestion. "Yes, sure, I could use a good meal right now." Jonathan agreed, walking up to the medbay's door, waiting for the private. Pvt. Ryan: Ryan followed Shadow to the mess hall. He decided to lighten the conversation a bit. "So, how's the uhh... relationship going?" Ryan winked at Shadow. "You two seem to be pretty cuddly." Ryan grinned; there were always rumours going around the ship, and the Shadow-Stalk relationship had been no different. Cpl. Shadow: Jon was a bit startled by Ryan's comment. "Uh... you mean, me and Rebecca?" Shadow clumsily inquired because he didn't want to answer. He was a bit shy about that. "Well, things are going well, but we haven't got serious so far." The corporal stated, blushed a bit. He then waved the bartender for a drink. "But I don't know how will this relationship develop... Becky is quite careless in combat, and..." Shadow commented nervously, a bit sad. Pvt. Ryan: Ryan nodded in understanding. He ordered a burger and a drink and leaned on the counter to wait. "Yeah, I know what you mean, I think. You don't want to get too attached to someone who you might lose in the future... Not the safest business we're in." Cpl. Shadow: Jonathan ordered a cheeseburger to the bartender when he brought his beer mug. After that, Jon turned back to Jarl. "Yes, I know. But what really concerns me is that I may not be always around to keep her out of danger. And one of those days..." Shadow said, nervous about this grim future. "I really don't want to picture the situation in my head." Jonathan accepted. Pvt. Ryan: "Fair enough. But hey, enjoy the moment. It's rare enough emotion to come by nowadays, and I envy you in that." Ryan took a drink and shrugged. "Maybe you should set Rebecca up with one of the other guys for some extra training. Both Jackson and Necro are good all-round fighters; maybe they could teach her something." Cpl. Shadow: His cheeseburger is delivered to him, and he chomps a fair portion of it and swallows some beer from its mug. After his mouth is clean again, he speaks back to Jarl. "Yes, I've tried to teach her lots of things." Jonathan stated. "But she keeps getting into trouble once we're in a mission, and I don't know how to let her know that's going to kill her some day." Shadow shrugged and took another bite of his burger. Pvt. Ryan: "I assume she went through Basic like everyone else.... Or is she a civilian? I had never really thought about it, but..." Ryan let his voice trail off. If she was, bringing her into combat would be a bad idea, but it didn't seem likely. Her actions didn't exactly give her much credence though. Cpl. Shadow: "No, she is a soldier, but I dunno why does she keep doing the same thing every mission, even though I've stopped her most of the times." Shadow commented, disappointed, while he drank some more beer. "Why would she be a civilian?" Jonathan inquired, considering the possibility unlikely. Pvt. Ryan: "Why not? X-Com has civilian staff. Generally not in expeditionary units and not frozen, but they have it. It's expensive to put all these people through training when only a fraction will use it anyway." Ryan shrugged as he chewed another piece of burger. "Maybe she's just got no combat instinct?" Cpl. Shadow: "I don't know, but it's a plausible conclusion. Or she may be too overconfident of herself because she always manages to get out alive and kicking" Jonathan stated, but soon found relief on something he just realized. "I hope this injury and her time in medbay will aware her the situation could've been a lot worse. But it wasn't, fortunately." Shadow said, before chomping another piece of his burger. Pvt. Ryan: Polishing off his burger, Ryan wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I hope so too. Deaths are bad for morale, not to mention that we can ill afford the loss of too many soldiers. Kappa Team is taking some of the cryo pods onto the Peregrine, leaving us with even less." Cpl. Shadow: "Yes..." Jonathan finished off his cheeseburger, too. "And I've also heard we don't have many left." Shadow commented, nervously, thinking of the consequences X-COM would have to face when they ran out of cryo-soldiers. "And it's true, we have lost quite a lot of operatives throughout our campaign, and losing more of our men would endanger our existance here..." Jon stated grimly, wiping his mouth like Ryan and taking the last amount of beer down his throat. Pvt. Ryan: "Well, if the XCR boys are right..." Ryan didn't want to pursue that line of conversation though. There was little use contemplating the inevitable end; the best thing to do would be to let it come when it came, and do everything they could do to stop it. Cpl. Shadow: Jonathan stood up as the bartender took his empty plate and mug away. Then he turned back to Ryan. "Yes, I hope we're trusting the right guys." Jonathan said, wiping some burger remnants off his uniform. "Alright, I should be going now. I'm really tired, so I could use some sleep." Jonny smiled at Jarl. Pvt. Ryan: Ryan slapped Shadow on the back lightly. "Sleep sounds like a good plan, but I've got to take a bit of a later watch tonight. Take it easy, we'll talk again later." With a nod, Ryan took off for the medbay. He hoped it would be uneventful, but one could never know for sure... Cpl. Shadow: Jonathan also took off to his quarters. He was really exhausted and a good night's sleep would surely reinvigorate his strength by the next day's morning. He said goodbye to Jarl and soon they left the Mess Hall in different directions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vikernes Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 << Private McBannok >> McBannok was silent the whole trip back from the base. He got himself on a corner, and just stared at the ground. Once the VTOL finally landed, he took no rush going out, and just put his stuff stiffly on the armoury, walking away to his quarters. Before he could leave the hangar however, Rallwell (whom he hadn't even noticed) came rushing after taking a quick look to the others. "Was she expecting me?", he thought, as he heard her voice. "Bah, what does it matter, I screwed up big time."Amidst all the confusion of the captive being carried and the injured, McBannok still heard the tip-tap-tip-tap of her feet jogging, nearing him. "McBannok! Hey, McBannok". He forced himself not to look back. As he reached the door, he remembered again how he had managed to ruin the whole mission. He grit his jaws and punched the door on his way out, even if it did hurt afterward. He rushed to the locker rooms, to get the combat suit, and into his normal clothes. Rallwell decided to skip on trying to talk to him there. His failure was consuming him from the inside. He slammed his locker door to close it, and left at a quick pace, to his quarters. McBannok's days were spent as far away from Rallwell as possible (which wasn't much, since she was an engineer too), who was really the only one still trying to talk to him. He had to force himself not to answer back when she gave a shot at starting a conversation. He concentrated as much on job as possible, research and mending guns that were broken, cleaning stuff... anything to keep his mind off the mission. That failure, he was sure, would haunt him for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Warrior Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 << PVT McBannok >> McBannok paused for a while to examine himself in the mirror. The figure that stared back at him looked exhausted with his hair in a mess and dark rings under his eyes. He was about to turn away when he noticed that something was wrong....... His reflection in the mirror became distorted and blurred out for a few seconds. "I must be worse than I thought" He rubbed his eyes and stared at the mirror again and found himself again. He frowned at the mirror but his reflection in it had an almost comical smile on his face. Strangely, the McBannok in the mirror looked similar yet different at the same time. It was as if he had lost a part of himself and that part had become a different McBannok, one who led a different life and had other experiences. McBannok was almost certain that he was dreaming and decided to play along. He said something witty but was stopped by his alter-ego. "Hehehe, it's your turn to control this body" After his reflection had finished speaking, it jumped out of the mirror and disappeared into his body. He felt a sharp pain in his head as images and sounds of events that happened flooded into his mind. It was too much for him to take and he blacked out. When he opened his eyes, everything seemed to be back to normal. He shrugged it off as mere hallucinations but somehow he felt more complete and refreshed. He stepped out of his room and found some grafiti spray-painted on the walls by Jackson some time ago. It read, "Mirrors are more dangerous than television." McBannok laughed and continued on his way. "How very true! Wait, I'm actually agreeing to something that Jackson wrote.......I NEED A MEDIC!!" <<Alright, I'm officially passing this character to Vikernes. Have fun! >> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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