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Breaking Point


Krayzikk

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IC: Casey tried to ignore the corporal as she stepped through the door. This was hardly anything new to her. Military training required discipline and being able to get hard on raw recruits was a job requirement for being a drill instructor. This also had the slight downside that it was not so unusual for soldiers to resent drill instructors, Being criticized by people of lower rank was nothing new. 

 

Casey found herself entering a long grey corridor. She was alone. She even looked behind her to make sure the Lance Corporal hadn't tried to follow her. After all, she might have been used to people criticizing her training methods but that did not mean she liked it even if she had gained experience in concealing her irritation with those moments. 

 

Casey made her way to the locker room. There was little in the way of personal belongings to consider. She had left behind most of what reminded her that this military life was not always who she was. As she wandered into the locker room, she looked around. Nobody else was present at this point. Casey was just glad she did not have to share a locker room with any of the enlisted soldiers that she knew despised her. For the first time since she got out of bed, she removed her cap and approached a large mirror, in front of which was a sink, with a row of toilet stalls behind her, as well as a few urinals.

 

Casey simply stared at her reflection in the mirror. A tall, thin, cold woman with short disheveled raven hair stared back at her. Casey ran her hands under the water in the sink and began to wipe the sweat off her face. She momentarily looked toward the door. Nobody was coming in. She was alone. For a brief moment she stared into the mirror again before putting her cap back on and turning away.

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-==IC: Chloe==-

 

Chloe noticed PJ's eyes through the side of the sunglasses, and elbowed him. She then, however, walked up, and looked over Sam's shoulders. "Must be some bicycles." Chloe said with a bit of snark, an amused smile on her face.

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IC: Freddie Hitcherson - Ambiguous Cafe, interacting with Susan

 

Freddie's incessant foot tapping ceased for a moment when he heard someone talk. He turned his head towards the lady, and smiled. "Ah, just having a cup of coffee before the parade starts. Been a while since I had a good cup of joe. The stuff on base is pretty awful."

1Ydp0mg.jpg


Steam name: Ehksidian

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IC: "What, foindin the rate of differentiation for an engine's rust buildoop?" The Irishman smarmed, clearly not believing her.

It was around that time that Chloe elbowed him in the side, and she recieved an indignant glance for her efforts.

"Point is, I can't see how that's a way ta be spendin' yer day off. Is readin' a book about calculus honestly yer oidea of foon? Because Oi can't believe that." He stated, looking back at the engineer.

Interestingly, the bluster seemed almost muted compared to normal conversation, as if peeling off a layer of cocksure egotism to expose genuine concern underneath.

Could it be that at the end of the day, behind all the arrogance and bravado, Patrick James was actually a decent man, with a sense of right and wrong and caring for his fellow human being?

No way, right? Nobody could possibly stand acting so full of themselves.


OOC: Mobile again.

Edited by Tsumugu Kinagise

helo frens

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IC: Casey opened a door and stepped into the mess hall. She paused for a moment and looked at the men and women who sat crowded around the small tables talking among themselves. Many of them were joking, several of the jokes likely directed towards her. She paid little attention to their conversations and made her way toward the counter and approached the cook who stood there. Without a word, the cook handed Casey a tray containing a simple army meal: a bowl of soup, some potatoes, a single piece of bread, and a glass of water. Casey could not remember the last time she ate anything other than army rations. She barely recognized any sense of taste anymore.

 

Casey took her tray and looked around. The other soldiers had not seemed to notice her yet, or at least were pretending not to see her. She looked around, noticing a single empty table in the far corner. Casey moved toward it, she sat down and placed her tray on the table. Eating alone was normal for her. Casey had no intention of mingling with any of the recruits sitting around her. She also hoped none of the other non-commissioned officers would come and try to sit with her. She was not one for social conversation. She picked up the small spoon at her side and began to eat.

 

OOC: Casey is open for interaction, but it seems like every military character is on leave right now at some sort of party so I'm not sure how that would work. I guess I'll have to find something to do while waiting for everyone to get back.

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-GM IC-

 

It was a holiday recognized by every member state of the Federation, and one that many had off from work. Even Federation officials and soldiers were permitted the day off to celebrate, save for the most essential personnel.

 

OOC: So, yes. Every military person is on leave right now. And the city is the party!  :)

 

IC:

 

Well.

 

That sucked.

 

Huffing, Gwen turned on her heel and stomped off, thinking about all the brilliant things she should have said to that meanie Maxwell.

 

That took a good while, and by the time she was finished compiling her list, she was already back to where the parade would be starting soon. And ooooooooooooooh!

 

"Ben! Lucas!" she hollered, waving her hand in the arm trying to signal them. "SOS guys! We've got a girl here who's in critical need of cheering up!"

 

-Void

 
 
[ BZPRPG ]

 

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IC:

 

"Would explosions work?" The Lance Corporal asked, really hoping the answer was 'yes'. He waved at the approaching Cloudcuckoolander, grinning as he took a long sip from his coffee. Guinevere Talal didn't need coffee herself, and truth be told, Ben wasn't convinced she didn't manufacture caffeine internally. Girl was always energetic, and coming from the pilot that loved to be awake at all hours, that was saying something.

 

"Hey Gwen."

fK5oqYf.jpg

 

On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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OOC: Right, now I think I'm starting to understand.

 

IC: Casey stood, having finished eating and, as quietly as she had entered, stepped out of the mess hall seemingly unnoticed. Not one of the soldiers there had so much as glanced at her, or if they had they were discreet about it. She did not care at all. Being a part-time drill instructor meant she would experience some resentment from those lower to her. Mockery and disdain were perfectly normal occurrences among them. It was not like her superior officers treated her much better on the rare occasion she got to see them.

 

Casey continued to wander around the military base. Very few soldiers remained. Most of them had taken leave due to the city-wide festival going on outside, something which she felt little excitement or enthusiasm for. She could not see what it was that made everyone so excited. Instead she had always had to stay behind and take care of everyone else's chores. Only a handful of people remained. A small fraction of the soldiers had stayed, most of them celebrating in the mess hall. There were a handful of commissioned officers still present but only two or three other non-commissioned officers like herself. Then there was also her group of recruits. 

 

Beneath her cold exterior, there was one thing that struck Casey as something she wanted: a mission. All her hard work and training for special forces and it had been some time since she was last able to use her skills. A mission would have hardly been any more exciting than this. She probably would have been seated in a conference room, given some important task that she would be told "does not exist, nor will it ever exist" and be ordered no to ask questions before carrying it out. It would have been routine for her, but at least it would keep her occupied.

 

Casey began to make her way toward the barracks. There was not much else to do, she thought to herself, she might as well do whatever she can to get those recruits a little closer to being soldiers. Now that irritating Lance Corporal was gone maybe she could get some work done. Casey's mind thought about that woman. Her mind especially recalled the rainbow-coloured hair, a stylistic choice Casey thought violated every military regulation she knew of. Finally, she reached the door to the barracks and stepped inside.

 

"TEN HUT!" Casey shouted. Almost immediately the recruits inside moved into formation, standing firm in front of their bunks. There were about thirty in total, evenly balanced: fifteen men, fifteen women. Casey stepped into the barracks. "Since I'm here, I'd better give this place an inspection."

 

Casey paced down the long narrow room, walking between the rows of bunk beds. She stopped in front of Burette, approaching him coldly. The young private struggled to keep his posture as Casey stared him in the eye. He was sweating visibly. 

 

"Private Burette," Casey said, for once not shouting. "Are you okay?"

 

"Ma'am," Burette said with a clear stammer. "Yes ma'am."

 

"Oh," Casey muttered.

 

Burette nodded, trying to contain his obvious fear.

 

"You want to be a soldier, don't you?"

 

"Ma'am, yes ma'am."

 

"WELL START ACTING LIKE ONE!"

 

Burette nodded. 

 

Casey turned toward the other recruits. "You've had your time to celebrate. Now get into formation and get back outside. Don't forget your rifles! Oh, and I went easy on you last time. If Burette messes up again, I will make you do double the pushups and you will be running."

 

The recruits proceeded to form two lines. They then began marching out of the barracks. Casey watched as they left, until she alone remained. She sat down on the bunk immediately behind her and removed her cap, exposing her disheveled hair. Her eyes were starting to water, and a few tears poured down her cheeks. For a few minutes, Casey sat there, unsure what to do. She then placed the cap on her head, wiped the tears from her face, and stood up. She then marched out of the barracks to join her recruits.

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IC:

She could hear the meaty thud of the girl's elbow connecting with PJ's side. She allowed herself a smile, hidden as her face was from the duo. Elbow and knee based CQC really was something, she could almost hear the lectures from that Munewhatsit girl's brother on the fundamentals, clear in her mind after all these years.

 

Abruptly folding the book closed and pushing herself to a sitting position, she grabbed her sunglasses and put them on.

 

"I think you might be reading too deeply into this, PJ. But I guess I'll bite, what've you got planned?"

...but close to it

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IC: Casey stepped out into the courtyard. She looked around momentarily, seeing no sign of the rainbow-haired lance corporal that had irritated her earlier. The thirty recruits stood at attention. A few obstacles had been set up for the recruits to face. The obstacles varied in size ranging from tall structures to low-level 

 

Casey stared momentarily at the recruits as they stood at attention. "This is a basic training exercise. You'll work in groups of five at a time to get through this maze. Keep your rifle on hand. If you fail to get over an obstacle, you start over. If anyone is injured, someone will have to carry you. If anyone gets left behind, you have to start over. Are we clear."

 

"Ma'am! YES MA'AM!"

 

"Good," Casey turned toward five of the recruits, three men and two women, including Burette. "YOU FIVE! GO!"

 

The recruits began to charge through the obstacles. First they climbed over a short wall. Next came a sideways ladder placed a few feet above the ground. One by one the recruits had to climb over top. Then there was a taller obstacle, a large structure. One by one the recruits began to climb over it. She could see Burette following in the end with some difficulty. A female recruit had stopped at the top, trying to encourage him to move, but Burette was struggling. He could not seem to find a good footing, barely making it more than a few feet off the ground.

 

Casey immediately approached the obstacle. She grabbed Burette by the collar and pulled hard. The young recruit fell to the ground almost instantly. "DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO CLIMB?" She yelled at the young man. Casey looked up at the female recruit who sat on top. "YOU HAVE A NAME!"

 

"Ladelman," the female recruit replied.

 

"PRIVATE LADELMAN! CAN'T YOU SEE ONE OF YOUR OWN CAN'T MAKE IT UP!"

 

"MA'AM! YES! MA'AM!"

 

Burette began to sit up, only to be knocked back down when Casey kicked him in the chest. He groaned in pain from the impact of her thick boot.

 

"YOUR MAN IS WOUNDED! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO LEAVE HIM BEHIND?"

 

"Ma'am! No ma'am!" Ladelman shouted.

 

"THEN YOU'LL HAVE TO MAKE SURE HE GETS THROUGH THIS!"

 

Ladelman began to climb down the obstacle. She remained quiet, though she clearly resented Casey. As soon as she reached the bottom, she bent down towards Burette, pulling the young man over her back. She grunted as she struggled to support his weight, before starting to climb back over the obstacle. Casey turned away from the recruits and approached the other 25.

 

"I TOLD YOU IF BURETTE MESSED UP AGAIN I WOULD PUNISH YOU! GET DOWN AND GIVE ME 200!"

 

The recruits immediately got down and began to do their push-ups. Casey watched, cold as ever.

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OOC: Um... okay, though I'm not quite sure how explosions are supposed to "cheer up" someone like Casey. She is after all in special forces, so seeing something blow up is probably nothing new for her. I'm also not sure how exactly they could cheer up someone as messed up in the head as she is. I presume that will all make sense eventually?

 

IC: Casey watched the recruits as they performed their 200 push-ups. Ladelman finally finished her drill and approached Casey, Burette still strung over her back. The young woman slid him off and onto the ground as she struggled to catch her breath. Casey approached the young soldier who seemed tired and in pain. She stared at her coldly. Ladelman knew almost immediately something was about to happen.

 

"Never leave anyone behind," Casey said. She may have been hard, but that did not mean she lacked standards. "No one gets left behind" had been a common phrase in the military for decades, if not centuries. She was familiar with that rule. Burette started to get up off the cold ground. Casey turned toward Ladelman.

 

"Ma'am," Ladelman said. "I suppose you'll be wanting me to join them, ma'am!"

 

Casey thought for a moment. "No," she said. "I promised that if Burette messed up again, I'd punish you. You did almost leave him alone and injured, too."

 

Ladelman stood firm, nervous about what was to come.

 

"GET BACK TO THE BARRACKS AND GET YOUR TOOTHBRUSH!" Casey said. "THEN I WANT YOU TO SCRUB OUT THE LATRINES! ALL OF THEM! I WANT THEM SPOTLESS BY THE TIME MY RECRUITS GET BACK! UNDERSTAND?"

 

"Ma'am, yes ma'am," Ladelman replied. She turned to leave the square. Burette was getting back on his feet, still groaning in pain from the kick to his chest.

 

"YOU STAY RIGHT THERE!" Casey yelled. "I WANT THE OTHER RECRUITS TO SEE YOU!"

 

She turned toward the recruits, who were just finishing their push-ups. "ATTENTION!" The recruits immediately got to their feet and stood firm. 

 

"12 laps jogging around the compound! If I catch any of you slowing down you start over. NOW MOVE!"

 

The recruits immediately began to shuffle out of the square to conduct their exercise. She turned toward Burette. "As for you... go back to the barracks and stay there. You are not to speak with any of your fellow recruits until you see me again, understand?"

 

"Ma'am! YES MA'AM!" Burette shouted. He turned and left the square. Once again, Casey was alone. She took a moment to catch her breath as she stood in the open space. She stood for a few minutes before she began to march back indoors. 

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IC: "We was gonna tour the town, take part in whatever festivities we may find, find some good food to eat... You know, enjoy the holiday." he eloquently replied, masterfully covering up that he was really just winging it and doing things on a whim.

helo frens

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IC:

 

"Probably not of the military-grade kind. If we want to keep our jobs. It's Colony Day, though, and I'm certain there's some fireworks store around here." 'Beni' commented, thinking about the question for a moment. "Could see about tracking that down."

fK5oqYf.jpg

 

On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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OOC: Oh wow, lighting fireworks at the army base? I'm sure that will end well. I'm still not sure I understand how this is supposed to help Casey. I suspect there's something you haven't told me yet.

 

IC: Casey stepped back into the compound. There was little point in checking to see if her orders had been carried out. Those recruits were scared of her, they'd do as she said or risk incurring her wrath if she found out they disobeyed her. Ladelman was probably busy cleaning out the latrines and the others would have been doing their running drills around the building, not an unusual sight for any army post. Instead, Casey moved toward her quarters. 

 

It was a short narrow corridor where her room was located. Non-commissioned officers had their own rooms, though not as fancy as those belonging to the officer ranks. That hardly mattered. It suited everything she needed. She stepped into her quarters, which consisted of very little. There was a bed, a desk, and a small cabinet. She opened the cabinet, inside which was a few cans of beer for special occasions. Little else was present in the way of personal possessions. 

 

Casey took out a can of Heineken beer and opened it. She took a small sip as she looked toward the window near her bed. It offered a view of the city, and served as one of the few reminders of what went on outside this single army base. Even in private, she displayed little enthusiasm for her beverage of choice, all that she could think of was what must have been going on outside. Most of the staff was probably out there, maybe even one or two of her own recruits had tried to sneak out, though as they had left without her permission they would technically be deserting, and she would make sure they faced the consequences. Maybe even that irritating rainbow-headed lance corporal was out there; that Casey would not have minded so much.

 

She pulled the blinds over the window,  and sat down on her bed. She removed her cap once again, and unbuttoned her jacket. Taking it off to reveal a plain light green t-shirt. She then reached for her Heineken and took another sip as she sat against the wall.

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OOC: This is gonna sound really selfish, but Gwen was actually referring to herself when she was talking about "a girl needing cheering up." You're not the first person to have been confused by that (sorry Kray ;~;), so I'm sorry about the ambiguity of that statement.

 

You can officially stop living in suspense.  :P 

 

IC:

 

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Gwen said, smiling back at Lukas. "Time for the Three Musketeers to a-go go!"

 

-Void

 
 
[ BZPRPG ]

 

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OOC: This is gonna sound really selfish, but Gwen was actually referring to herself when she was talking about "a girl needing cheering up." You're not the first person to have been confused by that (sorry Kray ;~ ;), so I'm sorry about the ambiguity of that statement.

 

OOC: Okay, that makes a lot more sense. I thought fireworks seemed like an odd choice for trying to help a disturbed army veteran. So you weren't planning some kind of strange party for her after all. That clarifies a lot of stuff. Now I just need to find some things to do since I suspect it's still going to be a little while before any of the military people come back to the base, unless of course anyone has a character who also decided not to take their leave for this festival but it doesn't look like it.

 

IC: Casey took another sip of her Heineken. She sat on her bed, curled up in the corner. Her head rested against the wall. There wasn't much else to be doing right now. She'd managed to keep her latest batch of recruits busy and being one of the only ones to stay in the base meant taking on other people's responsibilities to keep things running. She ran through her mind of chores that still needed to be done, even going as far as to contemplate offering to help the cook. She had no interest in the festival, never understood why everyone was always so keen to go to it. The extent of her celebrations amounted to being able to sit in her room and drown her frustrations in alcohol. At least the latrines would be clean once everyone got back.

 

After a few minutes, Casey put down the Heineken and stood up. Her attention was drawn momentarily to the noise of an engine coming from outside. She peaked behind the blinds to see a large FAW-022 Raptor flying past her window and toward the hangar, probably another pilot finishing  an important task before leaving for the festival.

 

"Horizon," Casey muttered to herself. "%&*$. I'm still in Horizon."

 

She turned away from the window and sat down against the foot of her bed. She ran a hand through her short disheveled hair as the thought of what she felt she wanted came back to her. "I need a mission," she said to herself. In truth, she just wanted something that could distract her from what was going on outside.

 

OOC: I should probably find out, what time of day roughly is it now? It's just that it might help if I knew whether it was day or night. Normally I'd just make an educated guess but I get the feeling everyone else has a pretty clear idea.

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IC: He shrugged noncommittally, and as if it had never left, the cocky grin returned.

"Was already payin' for two anyway, what's one more? I'm smart with me money."

That is, when he wasn't out on the town. Save it for big days like this, understand? There's no point to save if you never spend.

"Welcome to the team, Sam."

helo frens

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OOC: Okay, I'm just assuming it's roughly somewhere around late afternoon/early evening? Is that correct?

 

IC: Casey stared blankly for a few minutes as she sat against the foot of her bed. A few memories began to creep into her head, memories of what she once had. The problem with being in special forces for many is that it often costs that which is closest to the people involved. For Casey, that meant alienation from everyone she ever knew. Home was here, in the base, in this tiny room with only a bed, a cabinet, and a washroom. Her eyes began to water again. She started to feel anger and frustration. Those recruits of hers must have had families. Most of them were likely only going into general infantry, perhaps they wouldn't have to endure what she did.

 

Casey stood, she reached for her Heineken and took a large gulp of it before throwing it on the ground. She walked into the bathroom and leaned on the sink, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her reflection stared back, cold and heartless as ever. Casey looked her reflection in the eye, and without thinking flew one large fist into the mirror. The mirror broke almost instantly. Casey backed off, startled and shocked. She could feel an immense amount of pain.

 

There was a large open wound in the back of her hand. Casey grunted in pain as she moved toward the cabinet. She opened it to find a few roles of medical bandages. Immediately she grabbed one of them and began wrapping the bandage around her hand as tight as possible. The tears began to come back as she fell against the side of her bed. This time, Casey made no real effort to suppress them. None of the other non-commissioned officers were even in the building, and it was not like any of the officers or enlisted soldiers ever came this way. She knew nobody would hear her if she started crying.

 

OOC: Bonus points to anyone who spots the reference.

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IC: Casey had started to calm down. As she had hoped, none of the few people still in the base had come down the hallway and heard her sobbing. The last thing those recruits needed was to learn that she had been found crying in her own room. Once again, she pulled aside the blinds and looked out the window. It was mid-day, the sky was blue and people gathered in the streets below. Right in front of the building, she could glimpse some soldiers guarding the entrance. Two officers were meeting, shaking hands; likely discussing plans for the festival. Casey stepped back, removing her hand from the blinds and turning toward the door.

 

She stepped outside and began to wander toward the front entrance. Her recruits were likely completing their running drills right about now. She would have to give them some new instructions. The hangar would have been largely unused, she thought to herself. If she could get a pilot maybe she could borrow a dropship or helicopter and take some of the recruits into the field for what she would have considered real work, let them get a sense of what it was actually like to be a soldier. She had a feeling Burette would certainly not enjoy this one.

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IC:

 

"Aye aye, ma'am." Benjamin replied with irreverent cheer, grinning as he turned off of the main street and down one of the side roads. The engineer seemed to have an idea of where he was going, though he didn't say much in the way of directions.

 

"Should be down this way. Somewhere."

fK5oqYf.jpg

 

On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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IC: The five recruits looked at each other, dressed up in their full combat armor, something far bulkier than the fatigues they were used to wearing. This was no longer the simple green jackets over green t-shirts and green caps. Now they were wearing heavy armor. All of them had their guns ready. They were in a helicopter, flying at a high altitude. The city was no longer visible below them. 

 

"How long have we been out here?" Burette shouted from his seat on the edge of the chopper, trying to make himself heard over the rotors.

 

"I don't know," Ladelman replied. She had been fortunate enough to get a more stable seat near the back, where her risks of falling off were lower. 

 

"PRIVATE BURETTE!" Casey shouted. "STAY FOCUSED!"

 

Burette raised his gun and kept it aimed toward the ground.

 

Casey stood at the front of the chopper, dressed in her own set of battle armor, more or less the same outside of the presence of a sergeant's insignia on her shoulder.  She turned toward the five recruits: three men and two women, who made up the chopper's occupants. "AS YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THERE IS A MAJOR HOLIDAY GOING ON RIGHT NOW! YOU THOUGHT YOU'D BE GIVEN TIME OFF TO CELEBRATE? YOU WERE WRONG! THE ENEMY DOESN'T CARE WHAT DAY IT IS, UNLESS IT BENEFITS THEM! WAR DOESN'T WAIT! YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOUR SERVICES WILL BE REQUIRED! SINCE I HAVE SOME FREE TIME I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE MY STUDENTS SOME EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD!"

 

Below them was a large and dense forest. From here, Horizon was just a barely visible glow in the distance. "I've called in a few favors to get you a mission on the ground. The first task is a simple one, all you have to do is find the targets in this area while also remaining unseen. You need to learn to use the environment to your advantage. The five of you will also be working as a team, you will have to strategist. I'll be on the ground watching. If I spot any one of you, you're dead. You come back to the chopper and wait for the rest of us. The rest of the team will have to go without you. If all of you die, the mission is over, you go back and I give everyone else 300 pushups."

 

"YOU DON'T WANT THAT!" Burette shouted. He was somewhat ruffled in appearance. 

 

"What happened to him?" One of the men on the helicopter shouted.

 

"Blanket party," yelled the other woman.

 

"What?"

 

"They held him into his own bed with a blanket and slapped bars of soap over him."

 

"Who did that?"

 

"Some of the recruits?"

 

"Thanks for reminding me," Burette said.

 

The idea of a blanket party was nothing unusual. Casey knew this kind of thing might happen with her tactics. It was a simple method: make the others resent one recruit, it motivates him to shape up. Unfortunately, raw recruits who had not been fully disciplined yet did not always have the best ways of venting their anger.

 

"You didn't do anything to stop it?"

 

"Why didn't you?"

 

"I was asleep."

 

"You liar," 

 

"Shut up, Pikerton."

 

The woman ignored him, and turned toward the open side of the chopper. They were coming closer to the ground. 

 

The woman turned toward the open door at her side. The helicopter was going down slowly and carefully. It landed in a small clearing, blowing a cloud of dust in its wake. "OKAY! LET'S MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"

 

The recruits began to climb out of the chopper. On one side, Burette climbed out. Then Ladelman and Pikerton followed, along with the other two men.

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GM IC:

 

The parade was in full swing, and it was a lively one at that. For the thirtieth Colony Day everyone was putting on their best show. Floats, balloons, a few Walkers marched in single file as a show of the military’s presence. Citizens had turned out in droves, watching the parade and milling about the streets from store to store. There was hardly a business to be found that wasn’t dealing with booming traffic, restaurants full near to capacity and store clerks overworked to the max. Federation soldiers were intermixed with the rest, spread out across the city and enjoying their leave of absence.

 

“Thirty years ago today,” Horizon’s mayor began, as soon as the parade had begun to die down. Standing on a platform in Times Square he was beaming ear to ear as he addressed the gathered crowd, and filtered through TVs all over the city. “This city didn’t exist. Our spaceport was only a few years old. Many of you weren’t even born yet!”

 

The middle-aged man chuckled, and a few people in the crowd laughed with him.

 

“That changed thirty years ago, with the first colony. I know we have them nearly as far as Mars today, but back then? This one was just past the Moon. An almost insignificant distance to travel, even back then, but this event was monumental. The very first permanent settlement off of our surface. Self-sustaining, self-dependent, and safe. Whether they realized it or not the Dyson Foundation’s experiment had sparked global change.”

 

“Today we have many, many more colonies. They stretch farther than we would have thought possible. They have pioneered technologies the world has never seen. They gave us the Arsenal Walkers, and all the advances that technology has brought. Their proximity to other worlds has given us access to more resources. Humanity’s growth has spread to the stars, and given us ever further space to colonize.”

 

“No matter the tensions between our Federation and the Ark Union, this stands as a lasting achievement for the people of Earth, and beyond i-”

 

No matter the tensions?” A loud laugh echoed through the base’s control center. “Hey, Major, you getting this?”

 

“He’s a politician, Noah. And it’s a holiday. He’s not exactly going to talk about how we’re scared they’ll attack, now is he?” The Major, a tall, brown-haired man replied, glancing at the Lieutenant that had spoken. A grin crossed his face. “If I’m lucky, they’ll attack after the docs finally tell me I’m too old for Walkers.”

 

“Shouldn’t that have happened twenty years ago?”

 

“Don’t be a smart###, Lieutenant.” McKinley growled, though he couldn’t keep a straight face. “I’m only forty three. What’s our status?”

 

“That new Federation warship is an hour out. It’ll be stopping here to pick up supplies, and then it’s headed up to space for its maiden voyage.” Glancing at the readout on her monitor, the Lieutenant leaned back in her seat and glanced over to her CO. “We’ve got a few passenger transports taking off from the spaceport, and we have a ship coming in from New Berlin. It’ll pass into Earth’s atmosphere in about half an hour. Other than that, nada.”

 

The Major nodded, putting his hands behind his head. Things had been pretty quiet for quite a while, but as enjoyable as Colony Day was, it put him on edge. The Federation was worried about the colonies. The Ark Union was so spread out, and so far away, that the colonists could have brewed up almost anything and the top brass wouldn’t know a thing about it. And relations had been very frosty for almost ten years, and they just kept getting more tense. If ever there were a day to attack and make a statement… It’d be the thirtieth anniversary of Colony Day. And there were still malcontents to the sou-

 

“Uh, Major? We’ve got some pretty big heat signatures to the south. Not picking up any IFFs, but they look like Walkers.”

 

McKinely was sat upright immediately, all traces of relaxation gone. It was only a moment more before he pushed himself out of his chair, and stalked forward.

 

“How many?”

 

“Thirty, looks like. And they’re moving quick. Only Scouts, maybe Raptors should be getting this kind of speed. Sensors indicate there might be some smaller vehicles with them. Twenty minutes out. No idea how they got this close.”

 

“Recall all Walker pilots and base personnel, now. Get a recon drone over there to get us a better idea, and notify the Colonel immediately. Get a message sent to the Feddie brass, and make ###### sure we’re not caught with our pants down.”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

And somebody, Patrick McKinley added to himself. Tell me when these guys got brave.

Edited by Riku Tryon
  • Upvote 1

fK5oqYf.jpg

 

On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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IC: "Sure ting. Why don't w--"

BZZZZZ

BZZZZZ

BZZZZZ


"..."

Fishing his oPhone out from the depths of his pockets, the grin faded as he recognized the triad of short buzzes that only one thing sounded like on vibrate, and was replaced by nothing but stone as he read the contents of the automated message.

"...Of course it's fookin' today." came the low, calm, and uncharacteristically cold mutterance.

helo frens

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IC: Susan

Susan wasn't sure how to respond, having blanked out for a moment.

 

*****************************

As the Lance Corporal watched the parade, she heard a very distinct vibration pattern coming from her pocket.

 

"An attack?"

 

Susan immediately began running back to base, wondering why she had chosen to wear her dress blues on this day.

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