Ch 2 headed to Dinosaur Swamp

[Renekin Skywalker]

"There are humans in there." Socrates says, glancing around the maps. "Which means that, more than just loud guns, too liberal use of explosives would lead to the target knowing before we get there."

[Tori]

"Agreed, Socrates. I think the need for stealth is right clear at this point. Better to have explosives and not need 'em than it it is to need and not have. We better keep them to a minimum, at least 'til we're at the objective. Whether dinos or a slave barge, we start with lasers if possible and escalate as needed. Nice thing is, a swamp ain't no place for a glitterboy." Tori thought that didn't need to be said, but Socrates seemed to need to say it. She was trying hard to be nice. If it were out in the fleet, she would buy him a Captain's Hat and draw an O on top. Her tail swished a bit.

"We still need meteorology, though, cuz I wanna know the diameter of the storm, its direction and speed of travel, cone of probability and strength. I know some old salts that have told me 'bout a 'cane comin' off the Atlantic, cross the peninsula, hit the gulf, then turn 'round and hook east to smack the peninsula twice. We need to know how wide the storm-wall is, and where the feeder bands are at. Otherwise, we might be waiting a long time for air support or extract. Best thing will probably be to get our POW's out in a SPIE (Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction) rig. We can lift the team and our objectives out in a hurry, but we'll need helos for that. We need to take some extra swiss seats and d-rings for the PW's, if we're SPIE riggin' 'em."

[dakota]

Shep sat with his hands in front of his chin listening." In sixteen hours we're going to be ground zero for a class three hurricaine. They get alot bigger, and it isn't supposed to make landfall until further up the coast. We can expect the winds as high as seventy miles and enough rain to wish we were all mutant ducks by the end of tomorrow." He set his comp on the table for anyone to read it themselves. " I tapped the pilots' feed when we landed, everyone knows flyboys get the best weather reports. I just assumed since you all know better than me and the captain that you'd already done the same." He smirked, and then glanced at Sam," Ready when you are, bosslady."

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates looked over at Shep, but didn't say anything. It was a hurricane. How were details going to mitigate the problem?

"Ready as well, ma'am." Socrates says. "And Shep, I'll need those swords."

[Tori]

"I would have taken time to go to the meteorologist's office to get the storm's diameter, and speed of travel, so we can know how long it will be blowing, but at least we know something about it. Little things like ambient surface water temperature that don't come in on the air farce's weather reports don't really matter, either, sir." Unless you want to find out if the storm is going to breathe in a lungful of steam over warm, shallow water and intensify. It was hard to convince a soldier of little details like this, so better to pass over the issue with haste.

"What is of concern is how we're gonna get from the boat to the beach in heavy seas and storm surge. Small craft ain't advisable, and I don't even think Janx and I wanna swim it in." Every hurricane in Lone Star brought out the daredevil in lots of sailors and marines. All were strong swimmers, and the quadruple-strong rips made them strong drowners as they tried to surf or kayak in two-story breakers.

"Cloud height would be helpful, too. We can laze tangos (targets) in the storm if strike jets can fly over the storm, and still get good effect on target with LGB's (laser guided bombs), sir. Or else we can designate for LRM's from a Mk-IX, from right here on post. If the mission, and our officers think we might need air or arty, that is, sir."

She inhaled a nostril full of nip, and looked over to Sam, looking fully grim. "If we're going two-if-by-sea, we need to get oscar mike by soon-hundred-hours to traverse the peninsula and be on-station by XO's time frame. The fastest boat is good for maybe 30 knots. We're looking at, by best speed, a 17 hour trip. Waves break when wave height exceeds depth, that means, once we hit the shelf, our sub is gonna pitch like a lil cork in a bathtub, even submerged. If we can beat the storm by taking a helo now, I would think that might be the ideal choice. IF we are committed by sub, let's allow some time to come ashore on the dead calm before the storm, sir.

"Otherwise, we're ready to kill on the word go, Six."

[Tori]

Tori had another couple of thoughts on the problems of seamanship. "And two more things XO. What I told you was based on runnin' at flank speed. The skipper of the boat ain't gonna run at flank speed because his sonars are gonna be worthless. His prop is gonna cavitate, too, meaning someone else with a sonar will hear him from 20 klicks away, plus his added reactor noise. The high sustained speed could damage his reactor, too. He'll need some time to slow up and listen, and if we have contacts, will lose time by runnin' silent.

"The Cape ain't far from the triangle, neither, meaning the boat has a better than average chance of findin' and fightin' a sea monster. I'm sure you allowed some time for that, sir. You've given us 16 hours for a 17 hour trip at full flank speed, calm seas, no surface or submerged contacts, and heaven forbid we should hit a sea monster right next to the Bermuda Triangle, sir." It was difficult for the army to grasp basic seamanship, but at this point, expectations were no longer improbable, but impossible. If they took a pre-Rifts sub, the reactor would go critical with six to eight hours of running at flank speed. Tori did not want to be on board.

The submarine was still a good way to travel if they allowed some time, and would leave them virtually undetected if they moved at a cruising speed, took sonar breaks, and allowed time to evade at silent running or destroy sea serpents in a duel. A mad dash could mean the CS is out another recon team and missing a sub.

"'Sides, sir. I can't read your comp beyond pictographs and numbers on the weather page. I don't know how to call it up, neither. No one learned me on computers beyond usin' basic picture pages. I can't tell what the air temp and water temp and windspeeds, and storm diameter is, nor speed of travel vs wind outside the storm wall."

[dakota]

" And here I thought cats were supposed to be laid back casual animals." Shep said with a shake of his head. " Look, if the powers that be think this is the safest way for us to get out there, they must be right. I know enough flyboys that are crazy enough to make the trip out to the LZ, but it's the trip back that's the problem. Even the bunch they've got flying out of here aren't that crazy."

Look, as much as I hate the idea of being stuck inside a bath toy, there must be some logic to it. Besides," he added as he stood up and did a quick hand check of his rifle's safety, "last time I looked, the navy didn't have anything that would operate in a river effectively, so either the skipper is nuts or there's something the Colonel forgot to pass along. I've been with this outfit long enough to know it's probably both. Those 7th Cav boys don't like waiting on ground pounders, so our ride is liable to be cranky."

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates had been ready and waiting the whole time. "I guess that counts as a go." He says, turning and heading for the tarmac where the first ride was waiting. He looked forward to seeing just what limits the the pilots pushed. Humans were interesting that way: they feared the unkown, but there was nothing to stop them from infringing on it on a whim.

OOC: Daks, is this the kind of tarmac that equals any flat paved area where a vehicle of the wheeled genus parks, or the kind of flat paved area where helicopters take off from?

[Mierin]

Sam nods quietly before saying "Ok, people, let's move out." Grabbing her gear, she waits for the others before headingo ut ot meet their ride.

[sasqaricious]

The good Doctor grabs all of her equipment as well and not knowing the direction waits for the rest so she can follow them out to the ride.

[Dome]

Richardson grabs his gear and follows along in silence. He needs to decide how he is going to schlep all this gear he wound up picking up.

[Tori]

"Jan, get the stuff together. I'll be right back to grab the long guns. We'll figure out how we're dressin' once we're on the boat."

With that, Tori sprinted through the chow line, grabbing two or three large helpings of dinosaur meat, chicken, fish. roast beef, pork chops or whatever sort of meat remained in the line. Most mess halls operated for a good portion of the day, especially in FOBs, where patrols came and went at irregular hours, and some soldiers' shifts ran long.

She wasn't exactly starving yet, but feline metabolisms were fast. Cats also existed mostly on protein, meaning little chance of getting sustaining energy from fruits or vegetables and carbs. A large feline like Janxi needed a lot of meat in one day, and an active one like Tori needed the same. She bypassed the potatoes and veggies, even rolls and dessert. Cats couldn't even taste sweets. With an infusion of human DNA, evolved cats (she did not like the term mutant, as she was manufactured to a high standard, and not a random mutation) could taste some sweetness, though most felines preferred meat, fish or poultry.

Before leaving the D-Fac, she pulled on her boonie and sunglasses. With a few large doggie-bags, and to-go packets of chipotle sauce, she grabbed Team Shagcat's long gun cases and was following the rest of the party to the tarmac. On the way out, she dropped two "flash letters," recorded letters with audio and video into a mail slot. One was addressed to L.Cpl. Mori at Fort Pinnacle, the second to SO-3 Edgar at N.S. Hannibal. Her penmanship was poor, being illiterate, but she could transcribe her sister's and boyfriend's name from a card she kept in her pocket, their postings and IC numbers. They were legible, but a few letters were backwards, and seemed to be written by a 5-year old. Tori was in fact 4. If censored, neither letter was particularly exciting, just made it plain she missed the recipients greatly. Her location and mission were never mentioned. Edgar and Mori were operators as well, and knew not to expect that from Tori.

She shot Janxi a wink aand returned to her side at a sprint singing their "Movin' out song." Strangely enough, it was not country. It had an aggressive edge to it, and was popular among Lone Star soldiers when they were pulling out to kill vamps in Mexico. Nobody knew quite where or when it was from. Most Lone Star types would know it and sing it for any LRP in fact...

"There's a crack in the mirror and a bloodstain on the bed.
There's a crack in the mirror and a bloodstain on the bed.
Oh you were a vampire and baby,
I'm walking dead
Oh you were a vampire and baby,
I'm walking dead!

I got the ways and means to New Orleans!
I'm going down by the river where it's warm and green!
I'm gonna have a drink, and walk around
I got a lot to think about oh yeah!"

Now she was all business. It was fast becoming time to kill. Too many questions were still unanswered, but it didn't matter. This was no assignment as a rescue swimmer-diver at Sault Ste. Marie. The mission represented all she was trained to do, and she was now loving every moment of it.

[Janxi]

Janxi belted out her favorite tune. She was loud and concise. she sang it with meaning and the whole time the puppy was in the back of her mind. Eventually his trainer wouldn't be there to protect him. Cats-1, Dogs-0. She gathered her things and followed Tori. Following the next verse:

"There's a rocking chair
by the window down the hall
I hear something there
in the shadow down the hall
Oh you were a vampire
and now I am nothing at all
Oh you were a vampire
and now I am nothing at all:

I got the ways and means
to New Orleans
I'm going down by the river where it's warm and green
I'm gonna have a drink
and walk around
I got a lot to think about
oh yeah"

[Tori]

Tori joined her partner for the last verse. Somehow, the two seemed very convincing as vampire killers. The whole thing seemed a bit nihilistic, these two cats were ready, willing and able to kill anything and everything.

They used to dance in the garden in the middle of the night.
Dancing out in the garden in the middle of the night.
Oh you were a vampire,
and I may never see the light
Oh you were a vampire
and I may never see the light!

I got the ways and means
to New Orleans.
I'm going down by the river where it's warm and green.
I'm gonna have a drink,
and walk around.
I got a lot to think about
Oh yeah!
Oh yeah!

[Dome]

Richardson shakes his head as the cats sang. He says with a chuckle, "no offense, but you two sound like a bunch of screeching cats." He then laughs at his own joke. If they look at him he will stick out his tongue trying to show he is just teasing them.