Ch 1 The Next mission

[dakota]

" Not anymore." Shep replied, folding his arm and shaking his head. " You might want to tell that boytoy luietenant of yours where we're going though. He's liable to get worried about you."

The doctor scowled slightly as he realized which patient Sam was referring to. " Be more than happy to be rid of him, but he needs a release from Major Windsall because of his injuries. she should be in her office." He motioned the way he came.

* * * * * *

" you're flying first class." Col. Wallace replied. " Skylifter 137 leaves here at 0800 for CS Arkansas to pick up supplies for Ft. Machias. You'll have plenty of time for this unit to gel prior to arrival. The base there is laid out very similar to all the other CSOG (pronounced see-sog) bases, except the humidity is very high. You may want to draw extra clothes."

[Mierin]

Sam shakes her head with a smirk at Shep, in too good a mood to let him bait her that easily. "I'll take care of that in due time." she replies. Turning to the doctor, she says "I'm going to go talk to the Major. He is not to leave the hospital until I have clearance from her. Restrain him to the bed if you have to." Sam then heads over to the Major's office and knocks on the door to get the Major's attention.

[Dome]

Corporal Richardson sits back and crosses his arms. He can't help but think, 'whats with all the questions? They'll tell us what we need to know. Just tell me what to blow up.'

[dakota]

" Restrain me? Hey wait a minute..." was the last thing Sam heard from Shep after a " Come" was heard from inside the office and Sam let herself in.

seated behind a cluttered desk was a brute of a woman who looked more suited for MP duty than a surgeon. She looked up from the notes she was entering into her computer," Yes, can I help you?"

* * * * * *

" Allright folks, not sure if Capt. Fraser will want to meet with you tonight or if she'll do her meet and greet on the flight south. She couldn't be here to do this herself because she had to get her XO discharged from the infirmary. Between the captain and Specialist Trassk, your in good hands. If no other questions, you're free to go."

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates, in fact, had many questions, some regarding the nature of the universe, others questions of clarifications on CS military policy Dog Boys weren't supposed to ask about, and so on. But those, he had learned, don't get answred.

So, Socrates stood up to attention quickly. "THank-you, sir." He said to the Colonel, adding a salute. When completely dismissed he still waits for people to start moving. Pack mentality and all. Also, he does not want to appear eager to leave the new group alone, since he was the only one of them who has worked with Trassk and Fraser before.

[Mierin]

"Excuse me, ma'am," Sam says to the Major as she enters the office, "I'm Captain Fraser. I'm here about getting medical clearance for a member of my squad, provided he is fit for duty." Standing in front of the desk, "the officer in question is Carson Trassk."

[sasqaricious]

Autumn does not want to be seen as the first to leave as seeing nione no who she is that could be interpeted wrongly. So until then she continues typing away on her personal computer about simple observations she made on everyone from the meeting.

Psychology - [dice=100]/60%[rand=0747638270130766657954559861332772605013885779618730902719357093]

[Tori]

Tori lept to attention on dismissal. Once the order was given, she barked the Navy battle cry, "Hoo-ya," before grabbing her rifle and slinging it back, combat style, over her shoulder. She waited for her partner to collect her things, and meet her. The nip was back in her hand to pass to Janxi.

Like most cats, Tori was ready for chow. It was hard for human chow to satisfy her appetite, but she would take triple portions of meat, calcium supplements, and usually some fiber to maintain digestive health, often lactose-intolerant yogurt for dessert. MRE's rarely had such delacacies, and were all carbs, which made for obese monkey-faces and dogs- cats, too. Maybe chow would not come from the chowhall, but from a pond, or a stream, or from a good hunt with Jan.

She saw Soctates waiting as well. As she was now under arms, she put on her soft cover, a boonie hat, as per naval regulations. Then she greeted him with a nod, maintianing eye contact, than gave a slow blink. Her ears were at a relaxed forward, and though with tail errect, the tip hooked over. None of it seemed aggressive. In fact, she seemed a bit shy.

[Renekin Skywalker]

"Tori." Socrates said, politely. "You should remember that keeping the catnip in the field is not safe."

He never broke the cat's gaze. He didn't see a need to, really. He figured the cat would have had the sense to know this, but he didn't want to take the chance.

Autumn's observations on Socrates would have shown a very typical dog-boy, except for the eyes, which didn't have the empty obedience most dog-boys had.

"I take it you and your friend have served together before? Every with an army squad?" He asked Tori.

[Tori]

"Sorry, Corporal. I didn't know 'nip was off limits. Nobody ever tells a cat nothin'." Though amicable at first, she did not like being told what to do, especially by a dog of the same rank. Though staying polite, and keeping her ears in check, her tail began to swish slowly, and her eyes dilated a bit wider. "Every cat in Lone Star 'nips, and you don't get hooked like a mon- I mean man -on dip. I guess you ain't met many cats."

True the first time she nipped, she might have flopped on her back for 15 minutes, and rolled around. After that, her human genes asserted themselves and she got a mild buzz akin to a human smoking a cigarette or having a dip. It was the same for most cats, including Janx. Some were not affected at all. It would be another couple of hours before she would be able to feel another nip, and she might not even want one.

She again blinked slowly, and was trained, above all, to be a good sailor, but did not break the dog's gaze. Her tail stopped its slow side to side movement as she continued.

"Me and Jan have been training to operate as a joint Navy-Marine independent field fire team for the last three months, as part of a program called Team Shagcat. A scout cat and a kill cat are trained to operate together as hunter-killers independent from a larger unit. Anytime and anywhere, we're ready to get some." She did not add that the program was all female, as males would have seen each other as rivals, and a male-female group usually saw mating, or a lazy male making the female do all the work.

"We thought we would be sent to Minnesota for Tolkien cleanup, or to Pecos for snoop and poop. We didn't think we'd be serving with soldiers. I guess you soldiers needed some SEALs and Recon. You got the right cats."

Autumn would see Tori to be very feline. She loved solitude, and only shared it comfortably with Jan. Like any SEAL, she enjoyed combat, challenge and danger. She had an arrogance about her, as most operators did, though her anti-social tendencies hid it well. Body language indicated as much, and that she considered herself to be as good as a human, if not better, and certainly above dogs and non combatants. Again, these traits were common to both felines and elite troops. Provoked sufficiently, she could be highly violent, though very cool under fire. There was little chance anyone would be respected that did not respect her. She would follow orders as a loyal soldier, but if given orders she did not agree with, she might be unreliable. She was probably best suited for the Shagcat Program, where she would be away from humans and dogs, and allowed to hunt with her partner. She would be most effective given a free range and a list of targets or missions with Janxi, operating in tandem, but away from the rest of the unit. Janxi and Tori seemed to identify with each other as lionesses of equal stature within their two lioness pride. Though trained to accept and work with others, for now Tori seemed only to trust her partner fully and completely.

As Janxi approached, Tori greeted her with a feline nuzzle. The two looked almost like a mother with a kitten given their size disparity, but it was clear the to saw one another as peers by body language. "I'm thinkin' we need fresh meat this afternoon."

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates smiled. He could smell was Tori was trying to do. However, he remained comfortably firm that Sam would sort it out, when she got the details.

"You didn't answer my question, though." He said, sighing disappointment.

His gaze didn't leave hers until she changed to address Janxi. At which point he departed for his quarters, since he had nothing to do until someone gave him something to do.

[Tori]

She looked at Socrates, wondering which she didn't answer. Maybe she should put it simply for the leg-humper. "Sorry, Corporal, I thought I did. Janx and I have been training, and no we ain't worked with the army, 'least I haven't." She watched him go and looked to Janx with a shrug.

[Tori]

(I am posting on behalf of my sister, who is still less-than-mission-ready, when it comes to her computer. She is clearing browser cache and will either post at work or on another computer in her house)

Janxi rose with her massive frame to attention. Even with a feminine voice, the roar could not be disguised in her "Oooh-rah." As she left the briefing room, she spotted Tori jawing with a dog. Even at polite tones, she heard the mutt, another corporal, chiding Tori on 'nip. She could tell the little cat was not taking the lecture very well.

As the dog left, confused by Tori's answer, she returned the greeting with a feline nuzzle of her own. Then, she took the can of nip helping herself to a pinch. "Bet nobody ever told him that about sniffing underwear," Jan added once the dog was out of earshot, just quietly enough for Tori to hear.

As for psychologically, Janxi seemed to be a bit angrier than tori, though hid it quite well. Anger and violence were neither unusual or uncommon in Marine recon, especially bored recce troops and kill cats bred for aggression. Instead of lashing out wildly, Janxi appeared to have the ability to focus it onto a target or targets, though the attack would likely be fatal, and any survivors would be emotionally scared for life. She seemed to have the same relationship with tori as what was reciprocated. Yet, there was a bit of a maternal instinct, even a bit of an overcompensation for maternalism. Like her partner as well, she would not tolerate disrespect, and seem to fully grasp that humans created her to compensate for their own weaknesses. Deep down, though, she was loyal to her partner, her Corps and her nation, in that order. Still, something beyond that seemed to drive her. A hunting and killing instinct. A warrior spirit.

"Yeah, T-Bone, a hunt sounds good." Janxi pulled on her black watch cap, a token of Marine recon. On her sleeve, she wore a corporal's stripe and a 1st Marine division emblem with a scull in the center. All in subdued colors.

"Let's get our suits and bows." She led the way out of the room, tail raised, with tip going from side to side to denote happiness.

[Tori]

Tori followed her friend back to their billet. As soon as they were gone from the briefing room, she began to softly sing, in her native accent:

"Well I ain't never been no Barbie doll type.
No I can't swig that sweet champagne,
I'd rather drink beer all night
In a tavern or in a honky tonk
Or on a 4 wheel drive tailgate.
I've got posters on my wall of Skynard, Kid and Strait.
Some people look down on me,
But I don't give a rip.
I'll stand barefooted in my own front yard with a kitten on my hip!

Cause I'm a redneck woman.
And I ain't no high class broad.
I'm just a product of my raisin'
And I say "hey y'all," and "Yee Haw!"
And I keep my Christmas lights on, on my front porch all year long,
And I know all the words to every Charlie Daniels song.
So here's to all my sisters out there keepin' it country,
Let me get a big "Hell Yeah" from the redneck girls like me,
Hell Yeah!"

With that, she shot a wink to Janxi.

Arriving in the billet she went straight to her field pack and grabbed her riot armor, painted to match her naval fatigues. She pulled it on, as sometimes, in this world, hunters could turn into the hunted in a matter of seconds. Best to be prepared in the field. Then she pulled on a ghille suit on top of it. The ghille suit was a fabric mesh, with hood, and strips of fabric hanging off. It disrupted her silouette, and allowed her to add vegetation and other components of the environment to "localize" her appearance. In a "stalk" she could cross a bare field probably without ever drawing notice. Of course, it might take her a day to do so. Best of all, the suit was made of Scent-Lok. It wouldn't hide the two cats completely from a deer, but it helped them smell less predatory, and nearly impossible to see.

She reached into her pocket and produced a pair of amber shooting glasses. They were polarized, and cut down on glare something fierce. Finally, she went to her bow case and grabbed her bow, and her two quivers. Again, the heavy arrows were for close encounters with something nasty. She checked her pistol, and returned it to her holster, then gave her silenced bowstring a test draw. Her powerful arm and shoulder pulled the string the full length of the draw, cam working perfectly.

The high-tech bow, primitive beside a laser weapon, seemed almost an extension of dense muscle and claw of the fishing cat. Indeed, she was a manufactured weapon system, one of the most efficient devised in the genetic factory of Lone Star. She and her partner were two of the best implements of death in the Coalition States. She returned the bow string to its resting position and smiled to Janxi. On her loadbearing gear was a Trident combat knife. A second Mk-III knife was strapped to her boot. On her forearms she locked on her retractable vibroclaw vambraces- her favorite weapons of all.

"I'm ready to get some. Please tell me we ain't gonna cook it this time."

[sasqaricious]

Autumn stays in the room until the last person leaves the room. She finishes up on her notes she is taking on her personal computer. She knows that no one would go out of their way to talk to her, especially the mutant animals. From her experience a bunch of them do not like her services unless injured. The only other human seems to be a man of few words as well, and specialize in explosives. If he was not an explosives expert I would kinda think he was cute. Those two Cats and the dogboy to be honest I am not sure what to make of them. The cats, I know experienced them before are kinda scary and seems to be some rivalry between the cats and the dog. Hopefully it will not affect their performance. After everyone leaves she gets up and collects her things and starts heading towards her room slowly.