Rhona W

Thunderbolt Black (Fighter Pilot Mercenaries)

Well done Es, for slipping in just before the 7-day limit ;) Good post too, I liked the added complication of the A-10 running on fumes. I'll get a GM post up this evening that will deal with uniting all of us into a squadron, and letting everyone meet face-to-face. It'll also have the brief for our next mission. We're going travelling, yay! If there's anyone else hanging on (Patriarch, for example, if you're still with us?!) then now's the time to get your character in, before we take off for the first proper missions' main body of storyline and events. I'll also post up profiles for the Stormcloud and some background info on Thunder Island during the week, just to keep fleshing out the game universe. I also find that more 'fluff' can make the RP more immersive for everyone too, which is always nice.

Thunderbolt Black (Fighter Pilot Mercenaries)

I've been pretty busy in the evenings, or else I would've posted more in the OOC! Sorry everyone, I am a bad GM X____X I'm also waiting for a couple of posters in the IC too, before I move on - my usual rule is 7 days between GM posts, and then I move on and it's up to people to catch up on their own if they can be bothered to do so. It's Friday, and thus payday for me (AT LAST!) which is welcome. Bills to pay, and food to buy. Once that's out of the way though, I get to chill for the evening with a beer in hand and do whatever the hell I like. I will probably finish off a drawing I started, and watch some anime or listen to some music while doing more drawing. I got a couple of free beers off of my workplace, as we all hit our targets for the month. As it was Friday, they let us all finish work 20 minutes early, and crack open a couple in the office. I like my new job.

Task Force Lima (COMPLETED)

I've read almost all of Andy McNab's stuff during my four months of basic. Great for getting yourself pumped up for the next day's cycle of BS, but not exactly books I'd read over and over again.

I've read Bravo Two Zero, and then a few of his fiction books as well - the main thing I took away from them is that he can't write characters at all - they're not actually about the same guy... but they're totally about the same guy. The main character has almost all the same character traits and attitudes toward everything, and is generally kind of plain and lifeless. Like you said, they're okay, but not really engaging or memorable. Glad you all liked the little bits of humour I put in there - Scott's personality coming through. It's kind of based on ex-squaddies I've met and known. All of them seem to have pretty good senses of humour about even the most grim of things, so that's kind of worked into Scott as well.

Task Force Lima (COMPLETED)

I got another Scott Post up, linking me from the last one of King Konrad's to Skyth's post. Hope it's a good one! Had a good idea for a song once we're on the road too, that fits well in my head, either as background music or on the stereo.

Task Force Lima (COMPLETED)

"He brought me this. And I think he got you something in the back. Really fucking loves us. That's an FN P90TR, CompM4 optic, M952 Flashlight and silencer attached. 50 rounds of 5.7mm glory. Shit, it might not have much flesh power, but it cuts body armor like a saw, and there is an awful lot of it with high ballistic capability to more than make up for it."

Scott whistled appreciatively and nodded his head. He'd cross-trained with the P90 on several occasions, and had found the unusual-looking PDW a powerful, accurate and effective weapon. He'd be glad to have it in hand. At Jan's smile toward him, he couldn't help but return the same. It felt good to see him, and especially alive and in one piece. Even if the whole situation was fucked, at least they were fucked together. Still listening to Jan, he walked around to the tailgate of the land-rover and opened up the rear door, pulling the pile of gear and fatigues towards him and beginning to check through it, as well as getting changed out of his wet and travel-crumpled civvie clothes.

"So, how have you been these last few days?"

He sighed as he thought over the last few days, pulling on a fresh T-shirt and then buttoning up his fatigue shirt. "A bit shit, if I'm honest. I didn't react very well to being pulled off the mission and all our contacts being stonewalled and delayed. I got pretty much taken off of duty until our lady friend got in touch. By that point I was eager to find out anything and do something about all of it". He listened carefully and attentively as Jan spoke. It was a something they'd barely found time for what with running all around the globe for Lima's missions. The rare downtime had been spent on catching up with sleep, admin, or the basic necessities of life. He pulled on the rest of his clothing and shut the door; the assault kit could wait 'til later. No use being uncomfortable for hours on end. He climbed into the passenger seat of the landrover and looked out at the darkness and the sleet with Jan as the Pole opened up to him, describing his life and career, while checking through his equipment and gear. "I don't think," he said after Jan had finished talk, his voice more serious and quiet than his usual humoured, bombastic tones. "That anyone outside of our circles - Special Forces I mean - ever really understands it. The life, I mean. Our families love us, no doubt, and there are friends and others who think of us. Sure, there are documentaries and books, and stories people hear. But it's different to living it. Some of the blokes I've served with, they've been complete tossers. I wouldn't have given 'em the time of day if I'd met them outside of the service, or growing up, for example. But crawling through a mile of swamp, or humping your kit over a mountain range in horizontal rain in the middle of the night and knowing that even when you stop, there's still a whole countries' army looking for you, it makes things different. You end up having that brotherhood, like you say". He shifted in the seat, watching the rain drizzle patterns down the glass, before pulling his own kit over and giving the P-90 a thorough once over, unscrewing the suppressor and then checking the batteries in the light and the scope. "Can't say I'm looking forward to going up against the Danes either. Especially since, if everything was right, they'd know we were all after the same goal; stopping the bad guys. But if we do end up trading shots... well, they're like us - they signed up to put themselves on the line, and it's a shitty business. We can do what we can to avoid casualties as much as possible, but they'll be shooting to kill us, and we know that's what we're there for too." He fell quiet for a breather as he reflected on the rest, thinking about what Jan had said about his life and times, before he spoke up again. "As fer the rest, mate - I don't think any of us are living rock-star lifestyles exactly. Not all of us can be Andy McKnob and get a million-book deal and a film adaptation... We get paid a shitty amount to do shit work no-one wants to hear about. So we make the most of it we can, and most of the time it leaves us pretty much wrecks... best we can do is make the most of it with each other while we can." He looked over at Jan, worried by the fatalism of his words. It was a very Eastern European trait - maybe it had something to do with all the heavy poetry and suicidal novelists; he wasn't sure. Either way, he didn't really want to give in and let Jan go out in a blaze of glory, if he could avoid it. "I appreciate you saying you'll get us out of this in one piece too. For what it's worth, I'll do my best to see the same happens to you as well. Maybe we can all disappear and lie low for a while. Find somewhere warm, far away, and quiet to let it all blow over so we can start again. Open a bar and drink all the profits. Who knows, eh? Either way - you haven't done me wrong so far, Jan, and I'll give my word to you, too, that I'll do what I can as well. And I reckon you're right about Zhenya, too. It might not have come out well, or sat well with us... but I reckon he was probably being used, rather than doing the using. I'm sure we both know enough other people it's happened to". Another pair of headlights emerged out of the gloom, and the grinding of an engine came with them as the vehicle came to a stop. Squinting into the dark, the shape of another almost identical Land Rover could be made out - and then a familiar face climbed out from behind the wheel. Scott glanced across at Jan, before he opened the door on his side and climbed out, stretching as he did so and nodding to the Russian, and smiling warmly as he saw the teams' snipers back in one piece.

"Merry Christmas, Captain." Zhenya said with a nod as he climbed out of the vehicle, taking a folder while he was at it. It had been described as a 'present for Lima' by Katya, and contained almost every relevant document the SVR had on the TIAF's Copenhagen mission, as well as Medved's role and the limited support provided by the SVR. He walked towards the Captain and handed him the folder. "It will explain everything, and also, I found our snipers."

"Looks like the bands' all back together, Scott said, walking the short distance over to the others. He stood with his arms folded for a moment, before sighing and sticking his hand out to Zhenya to shake and nodding. "Good to see you again, mate," he said with a slight smile. "Merry Christmas an' all that too".

Task Force Lima (COMPLETED)

Good call - I'm a big fan of P90's as well. I blame Stargate SG-1 entirely for that. Definitely works!

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

I got an IC (not OOC! >.<;) post up, capping off the briefing. Hopefully I didn't miss anything else this time! Feel free to talk amongst yourselves IC, I'm sure you might actually want to say something. If not, you can all chase Silverwind into his office and bombard him with questions, or make small talk while he angsts over the burdens of command. It's a chance to actually get some IC character chat done - and if you don't want to, then I'll fast-forward to the funeral service, and the after-party, where there will be liberal alcohol and more chances to do things.

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

Silverwind was again surprised by the general lack of questioning to the mission. Though, it was such a potentially volatile mission that stunned silence was an entirely understandable reaction too. Naida up, and she held up a drive in one slim paw.

The entire crawler looked spotless, as if a military unit had lived there. We did not question it at the time since our mission was to save hostages. But now, we wanted to be sure to bring it up. Why would the crawler be cleaned up? I believe this may have the answer." She held the drive up to Silver "We recovered surveillance footage from the crawler's security booth before we were attacked on the bridge."

He took the drive in his left hand, the plastic fingers closing around the drive with a slight click against the hard surface. "I'll pass this on to the signals and intel department - they'll get further with it than we will, and they've got the equipment and expertise. Thanks for turning it over. Regardin' the Crawler - well, the other members of the crew explained the captain, who's still missin', is ex-military and had kind of a military attitude t' runnin' his outfit. All the same, I agree that don't account fer all of it. Mebbe yer right, and this will tell us a lot more." He cocked his head as Esailia continued, his large ears twitching as he listened to her words.

"What about the child we found with these undercover operatives? Or the janitors and the third civilian? Were they cleared?"

"The third civvie and her kid were just that - civvies, an' the rest of th' crew were legit too. Like most 'crawlers, they take on passengers on charter, and some of 'em were travellin' around th' place. Th' operatives said they were travellin' incognito to blend in and avoid too much attention. It's slower than travellin' by air, but less obvious to anyone an' theres a lot less customs ta go through as well". He grimaced as he paused. "I'm not sure why the Emperors' daughter an' her bodyguards are travellin' incognito an' without any kinda retinue, an' I am especially not sure why their own people are after 'em. But I sure as hell think it's somethin' that bears lookin' into. Especially since there's a third party involved too and they're tearing up bits of Landren over whatever it is goin' on. It's out here in the tail-end of nowhere now, but I don't wanna think about what happens if they get somewhere populated". He turned to Mike and Aiden as they both spoke up in turn. He shut the projection off as he listened, and the room lights slowly climbed up to normal levels again as he took their comments and questions.

"Sir, with all due respect-" he nearly bit his tongue as he wrongly formulated his speech intro, then quickly changed the subject "but I don't think you are accountable for today's tragedies. No one is. Throwing or assuming blames won't bring anyone back to life, but what we could do to honor them is to make sure their sacrifice was worthwhile and fight harder on the field. If things ran differently today, we wouldn't have become cautious for tomorrow's hardships."

Silverwind fell quiet for a moment, his muzzle pursing into a thin line at the medics' words. He didn't disagree, but the burder of command was a heavy one: Responsibility for actions was his, as he issued the orders that sent everyone into the field and dictated their tactics. Accordingly, it was hard for him not to feel as though their deaths were on him. But experience - thankfully not too much of his own, but learning from others - told him that Aidan's words were right: It wasn't all on him. "I'm in command," he said, not angrily, but matter-of-factly, and calmly. "Which means that when I order any of you into the field to carry out a mission or a tactic, then I run the risk that my information or judgement could be wrong about a situation. I misjudged this situation, and executed my strategy poorly. I should have kept the GEARs together and made better use of Ken's overhead surveillance when assaulting the valley. And I should've held us back and waited for the Landcruiser when we assaulted the mine: the GEARs could have been better outfitted to back up the Captains' team with heavy, short-range firepower and sensors, while they picked off any anti-armour snipers for us. But that's hindsight. "Would I have done it differently again? Absolutely. But that won't bring back either of them, and that's something I have to live with. The memory of that is on me, and I have to explain to their families or loved ones why they aren't coming back home. Their memories will mean I do better next time, and that we'll all be harder, tougher and better next time."

"How long'til we get to Martenstown, sir?"

He checked the PADD and replied. "About eight hours travel from here, accountin' fer geo-magnetic interference, dust-storms and any other Badlands weird-ass shit between here an' there, naturally. So... probably double that" Mike was the last to speak up after the briefing, the feline looking confused as Blade had felt reading the briefing notes when he'd received them.

"secret military sector with unknown tech, and expertly trained?" mike asked scratching his head. "If I didn't tango with them earlier id say you were a chemtrail chaser, no offense sir."

Silverwind gave a short bark of a laugh and wagged his tail in reply. "None taken - I don't blame you fer sayin' it either. It's like I said right back when we shipped out - there's a whole lot of weird shit out here. An' there's probably a whole lot more we don't know about. After all, there's the whole South ta start with." He shook his head and shrugged, his expression hardening a little as he did so. "More seriously tho, I can't say what we'll be up against, or who. At least we got some advantage in seein' some of 'em in action, an' maybe that drive-" he wiggled it in the air "-will have some more answers too that we can go on. Best we can do is try an' find out as much as we can to remove all the mysteries an' get ourselves some facts. In the meantime..." He stood up from his leaning position, and took on a more somber air. "A short service will be held at nineteen-hundred hours fer Lieutenants Michelete and Arcade. Dress uniforms. Captains' also said the wardroom is ours afterward too, until midnight. In the meantime, yer all dismissed. I'll be in my office wi' the door open, or on my PADD if y'all need me fer anythin'" He gave a nod and a wave to the others, and crossed the room to the corner door for his office. Stepping in, he left the door open and settled into the chair behind the smallish desk. Now he had to write euologies for two people he barely knew, but make it sound like he'd known them well. He tapped a control on the touch-sensitive desktop, and holographic screens blurred into life in the air above the desk, along with further controls. '"Net, bring up the records for Lt. Michelete and Lt. Arcade". "Yes, Colonel Blade. One moment please", the omnipresent 'net replied in the ever-familiar and unchanging tone. Moments later the service and citizen records for both pilots appeared in the air above his desk. Leaning back in his chair, Blade sighed, propping his muzzle on his cybernetic arm and darting his single eye between the photographic portraits of the pair. Myrina looked the same as always: unconventionally attractive, her independent and feisty streak showing through even in an archived photo. Arcade looked as he always had, for the short time Blade had known the man: Surly, introspective and grumpy. More so than himself. How do I sum you both up? he thought with a groan and continued to stare at the photos.

Thunderbolt Black (Fighter Pilot Mercenaries)

I've edited my posts so that I've magically been flying a Super Tomcat since the start of the game, and that it's also reflected on my character sheet. Also, my latest post in character reflects the arrival of the new characters during the earlier battle, and Scott speaking to them on the radio too - that way, everything should slot together neatly when the next round of posts go up. Hurrah for the edit button!

Task Force Lima (COMPLETED)

I was thinking I might go for an SMG again - they're one of my personal favourite kinds of weapons, and my airsoft G36 put me off of them a bit in general (though I know the real one is more capable). Maybe an MP5 again, as I'm fond of them. A UMP wouldn't be too bad either, though I'm not aware of the SAS using them to any extent. Sidearm wise, I'll stick with a Mk.23 as well, and whatever survival/combat knife I had before, and a suitable selection of grenades. Probably no need for AT this time, but I'll pack a LAW if possible, 'just in case'.