Ch 3 The river flows to the ocean

[Tori]

"Plants have nutrients?" Unlike Janxi, Tori would eat a few vegetables. It helped her digestion, but she knew little about nutrition. Her diet was mostly fish, if she could pick, and chicken, beef or pork when there wasn't fish. Cats were much different than humans and could get what they needed from a carnivorous diet. "I like that we always have meat. It means no nasty MRE's. As far as broccoli growing wild, I would rather have a trout or a good Wing Shack. Want some sauce?"

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates shook his head. "The wild will smell it on your breath a mile away, and I need to keep my helmet open."

[Janxi]

"It ain't that bad, Soc. It's better than a beagle in th' rain or a basset with an ear infexion, I know that for sure!" Janxi said as she chomped down another rib, leaving the bone denuded. She thought about cracking the bone and enjoying some marrow, but didn't want to shock the humans with cat behavior.

"Hey Smurfette," Janxi said to her petite partner. "Y'know, I think that's just been our first enemy encounter. We done broke our cherries! Yeehaw!" Janxi was straight from her Recon qualifications, and Tori was in observation in Iron Heart, she knew. This was their first fight with an real enemy. She didn't get a kill, but suppressing two fish-bots was pretty foxin' cool. She hi-fived the little cat. "Hey, Capt. Sam, you gonna put us in for our field-ex badges now?"

She licked the tangy sauce from her lips and tore off another rib from the rack, and began to gnaw.

[Tori]

"Hooya, Sasquach," Tori said as she enjoyed her chicken, then high-fived her partner back. "We're lifetakers and heartbreakers. Hey Doc, c'mon over! Will ya write some badass and hardcore words on our helmets?" She reasoned a doctor might know letters and maybe words. IF anyone could write macho slogans, it would be Autumn.

"Someone tell them dinosaurs Pebbles and Bam-Bam are comin' to town. And Capt'n Sam? We might wanna think out our marchin' order, once we get our feet dry." She pronounced "dry" as only a texan could, with two syllables. "Draa-ah."

"'Better talk about usin' dat rubba boat, too. We're gonna need it! Is it got an engine, or are we usin' paddles?"

[dakota]

Shep finally joined the others. He removed his helmet, and had a bit of a greenish tinge but was holding his own for the minute despite the pitching. "All right, lets stop talking about food for a bit, and stuff that smells. Please, you call that field experience? That was nothing. We get through this mission, then you'll have earned some badges."

He looked at Sam," Capt'n Sam, I like that one ." He grinned, despite looking ready to vomit at any moment.

[Renekin Skywalker]

"Yar." Socrates agreed, tonelessly, between bites, to Shep's assertion. "Though, it'll get her killed if you say it in the field." He added, generally. More facing Shep to be snide then to warn the cats.

"But, you should be kinder to them, Shep. They've never actually killed before." He added after a moment. "It takes time for us purpose-bred creatures to get used to the fact we're doing what we're supposed to be doing."

[Tori]

"Jan gave those fish what for! Damn, we're smooth!" said Tori. Shep was right, they would need to survive the mission to get any badges, but for a first combat, she thought the Shagcat team proved effective. They weren't turret gunners, however. They were guerrilla warriors. They did their best work on foot and in small units. The swamp would be their real test.

"A little ginger-ale might soothe that sad tummy, sir," Tori said. She took a little delight in seeing army guys get seasick. In her mind, at least, it showed many humans just couldn't hack the life they created her to live. It validated her feeling of superiority. Still, she tried to sound a little sympathetic to a "superior" officer.

"Try to fix your eyes on an object outside the bubble and watch it pass. It cuts down on motion sickness."

[Janxi]

"Not as long as yer thinkin', Socrates," Janxi answered. Big cats were wild animals a lot more recently than domestic dogs. In her mind, food was everything from an ibex to a capybara to a human. The leap from wild animal to anthromorph was more dramatic than for a domesticated animal. War was just another hunt to her.

They didn't have the domestication of a dog. A good dog was a good friend and a member of a family. That meant a bad animal maybe bit a postman on the ass. A really terrible dog, one bred for fighting, might mistake a child or a little old for a target or a rival.

For big cats, and just maybe little ones, killing was all about eating. It was why she loved bow-hunting, or running down a white-tail just on her feet., and killing with her teeth. Even using a rifle was a fun hunt, but made the job too easy. The hunt was never bred out of a cat. Nobody brought them bowls of kibble in the wild. When some guys with blonde hair and capes got killed doing their magic show, because their "pet" tiger didn't want to jump through a hoop, she laughed. Cats aren't cocker spaniels. Even domestic cats loved to prowl for mice and birds. Their love of killing a human's vermin made an easy food source, and a second pet for a human.

"Killin' a man, or a vamp or an ogre or a dragon ain't no different than killin' a deer, Socrates. The only thing is a deer ain't gonna shoot back or hocus ya! You ain't gotta pity us newbies. We know our purpose real good. We ain't in this for the money, so gettin' us more on a level playin field with Shep and Capt'n Sam is the best we can hope for. Gettin' our ex-badge means we don't gotta take as much shit."

[Mierin]

Sam gets herself something to eat and eats quietly as she listens to the conversation going on around her. She nods at Tori and says "Yes, we should definitely be prepared for when we are going to be disembarking the sub."

Sam smirks at Shep's comment as she replies "That figures." Knowing from experience that protesting a nickname would make it stick even faster, she thinks to herself, 'It could be worse.'

[Tori]

"Well, Six," Tori said to Sam. "An outboard is gonna be better than paddlin, especially against rips. Outboards are a lot louder than paddlin', if it's gas powered. If it's 'lectric, we should be ok. If we gotta paddle, we're going to hit some terrible rips. Best thing to do when we start to wash out is turn perpendicular, paddle longitudinally along the coast, and turn into an inbound wave.

"I still like me and Janx swimmin' ashore and pullin' y'all in on a rope. Whatever happens, y'all should tie down on the inflatable, because these waves are gonna wash you out quick. Even if we capsize, we're gonna be ok holdin onto the raft til we get it upright cuz of our armor. If this sub has any sleds, we can tow you in, if we have to. I dunno, Janxi, you got any ideas?"

[Renekin Skywalker]

Socrates listened quietly. He was fine swimming on his own, and he was going to be the first on land, anyways. Certainly the first to go inland. "Given that we're doing this in a hurricane, I doubt the presence of a combustion motor will change things." He added. "In terms of sound."

[Tori]

"I'm with you Soc to a point, but a motor will help us fight the current. Sound travels differently under water, though, and I ain't sure if any underwater enemies like those fishbots, or a water dinosaur would hear a mechanical noise even with wind, waves and a lot of rainfall."

[Renekin Skywalker]

"Right." Socrates said. "Having a combustion motor in the middle of a hurricane wouldn't make much difference in terms of sound. Now, it could be they can hear it, but who wants to go after a moving target on the surface with the storm hurling debris around?"

[Tori]

"Maybe not dinos, but those tin fish we saw are faster than an inflatable. They can also set their sonar to filter out low frequency noise like waves and rain, and seek high frequency, like an outboard. It works kinda like an EQ on a stereo. With debris and storm noise, a gas engine, unless muffled, is gonna stand out to a degree.

"Being amphibious borgs, I would assume they have sonar. I also noticed their propulsion is a lot faster than ours in this sub, and would run circles around a Zodiac. They know we're here, and may still be lookin for us. Why are they after us in the first place? No idea, but they were. Animals can discern hi-pitched from low frequency noise too, Socrates. That's kinda how a dog whistle works." She shot Socrates a wink.

"I ain't arguin' in favor of paddlin' in. That's gonna suck and be dangerous, but I'm sayin' if we got a gas motor, it's not gonna be without some problems, too. We gotta make a plan now, and unless any of you know about boats, like how to pilot one, that, I guess it's gonna fall to me to drive.

"Hell, I don't even know if it's gotta motor or not. If not, we're debatin' over nothin. If it's electric, we're gonna get to shore quick and quiet. We've asked what the inflatable has got, and still don't know. Maybe, we oughta check out the boat."

At that, she rose and walked over to the inflatable. She looked first, if it had a CO2 or nitrogen bottle to inflate the boat. Using a foot pump on a pitching deck was ludicrous, but an air tank from armor or a scuba tank should make short work. There might even be a compressor line on the deck. Second, she looked for propulsion, be it paddles, gas motor or electric. She inspected to make sure handholds had cleats to lash passengers to and the condition of the rubber, for punctures, wear and tear and any other problems. She studied the size of the deflated boat to make sure it could hold everyone, with a full war load. The little cat last inspected the boat, assuming it had a motor, for a fuel supply, gas or an electric battery. She checked any and all batteries for charge, if it was a means of propulsion or just to crank a gasoline engine. Lastly, Tori checked for extra supplies like rope, an anchor and a sea anchor. Flare guns, water, and a first aid kit.

She wasn't trying to argue this time. As a SEAL, and naval coxswain, she had experience with small boats and insertion. She was using this to make recommendations to Sam and Shep so they could decide how to get in. Electric motor was best. Gas would get them to shore fastest and safe in terms of the storm, but risked some detection. Paddles meant hard work, and a risk making it in, but it was quiet.


She mostly hoped for an electric motor.

[dakota]

Shep chimed in his two cents," I'll take my chances with the fish borgs if it means getting back on land, but will an electric motor have enough power against the surf?"

Tori soon found that despite things were not what they had expected out of the mission so far, the insertion kit was prime gear. It looked like a regular inflatable, but the material was solid enough to take a laser blast or two before puncturing. The motor was electric, but was a fairly powerful one to ease Shep's fear. The only thing that wasn't present was an inflation source. It did however have a tab with words on it Tori couldn't read.

Shep pulled out his map, and studied it," We hit the shoreline, we need to be ready for anything. That means those of you that have it using your psi like radar. Soc, is your sniffer gonna work in this storm?"

He looked at Sam and grimaced, "Sorry, but it seems like focusing helps take my mind off getting sick, Cat'n Sam." He grinned