| Log Title |
| Summary: | The Gemenon Mission is fraught with dangers, Marko consults with Vandenberg to prepare for some of them. |
| Date: | 14 May 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | Gemenon Mission Stuff |
| Players: |
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| Flight Simulation |
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| Condition Level: 3 - All Clear |
| A training room specifically dedicated to honing aerial skills, this area is equipped with several flight simulator pods that allow the pilots to practice maneuvers and tactics without being in a real live plane. The Viper-pods are installed on one side of the room with a little space between them, an attempt to provide a realistic feel for close-range wing training, while a smaller number of Raptor sim-pods are installed on the opposite side of the room from the Vipers. A central computer terminal and overhead display screen sits at the head of the room, where one can input exercises and data to be run in the sims, scroll through score records, and control the training modules. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #441 |
Marko starts the clock on the Raptor's FTL, counting down to his 'pilot' "Jumping in five…four…three…two…one…Jump!" he says, twisting the Magic Key as the clock zeroes. Had this been a real jump, there would've been a flicker of pseudo-motion, that strange, twisty-bendy effect that FTL has on visible light that usually makes one feel like they're being sucked into a corner, then…."Jump complete!" he reports as the craft breaks out into the atmosphere over Gemenon, rapidly descending to 2000 AGL as it approaches the IP "Thirty seconds to release!” he calls, wincing as the craft buffets in a computer-generated rainstorm.
Vandenberg, still sweating from something, is in her tanks and green duty pants when she wanders into the Flight Sims. She heads towards the control panel and looks it over for a moment before finding the radio piece and speaking into it. "Lieutenant Scaurus, Captain Vandenberg. I'm here when you finish." She inserts the piece into her ear to listen in and watches the Raptor sim and the readouts - not that she can read much of them.
"Abort, abort, abort." Marko calls over his headset, shutting the simulator down via voice command. The sim body ceases it's slow, languorous dance as the hatch pops open with a soft hiss. "Hey, LT. Thanks for meeting me." Marko calls, climbing out, looking a bit bedraggled his own self. Someone's been here for a while, and it shows. "I wanted to talk to you about the load out on the Raptor." he says, patting down his BDU pants until he finds the right pocket, from which he retrieves a handwritten list of equipment and supplies, a _long_ list.
Van removes the radio piece and steps around the console towards the ECO. "What's up?" she offers easily. The Captain seems to be in quite a good mood. "Load-out on the Raptor. Wouldn't that be a job for the deck, there, el-tee?" she offers easily. The list is taken and she looks it over.
It has nothing to do with the gear on the bird itself, this list is about what Marko wants to take _inside_ the bird, and, at first glance, it looks like he's planning to touch down in the middle of an active war zone. Tools, rations, med kits, weapons, ammo, NVGs, you name it, it's on that list somewhere.
"I've got a twitchy feeling in my gut about this hop, LT." Marko says simply. "And it's not just the Chicken Pie they had in the wardroom tonight."
Vandenberg's expression darkens a bit as she looks the list over. She takes a few steps to the side to lean against the Raptor and takes a long breath. "This is one helluva list, Scaurus." A hand lifts and she flicks the top. "We're packing a lot of this gear but in much more mobile amounts. You expecting a combat resupply? You realize there is -no-place- to land where we are going, right?"
"Just trying to be thorough." he replies simply. "All it's gonna take is one thing to go wrong, and we're gonna find ourselves so deep in hostile territory, we might as well start speaking Binary." he says flatly. "If the fit hits the shan, and Jugs is half the pilot I know she is, provided we're not vaped once we hit the initial, and that might be a one hell of an _if_. She'll find a place to park the bird, count on it." he explains. "That's the case, the more gear we've got, and by 'we', I mean me and Jugs, the better off we are. Your own load out’s your business, you're the pros, we're just the flight team." he explains. "What I'd really like is if you'd take a look at what I've got and gimme a critique." he adds. "I went through E and A training, but that's all about running and hiding, did pretty good at it. I was one of the six guys in my class that didn't get picked up." he grins proudly. "Of course, when they gathered us all up at the end of the seventy two hours, we got bussed to the Prison anyhow…." he sighs, shaking his head and chuckling. "But, you take my point."
Vandenberg takes another long breath when Marko finishes and she looks down to the kit request. She silent for nearly a minute while she thinks this over. "If you can't land, the Raptor is blown apart and all of this is lost. For good. Though.. I have seen Raptors survive some hellacious crashes." There's a memory with that one. Aerilon. She blinks it away. "Look, your best bet is to run light. When you weigh yourself down with gear, your ability to E and E goes to crap. You move slow, you increase the chance of injury, and you fatigue much quicker - unless you strength train like we do." She clears her throat, still looking it over. "You guys should have a medical kit in your bird, right? Tell you what, I can get you a pair of rifles, assault vests, and about two hundred ten rounds each for the rifles in loaded mags. We'll have radios down there but.. man if we jump into a shooting gallery, frak it. We'll get you. We will have radios. I'll give you guys a couple smoke grenades. The NVG's, though.. I dunno. You ever used them before?"
"Once, during Ground Combat Training…..about a thousand years ago." Marko replies softly with a rueful grin. "I remember they made my frakkin' head hurt." he chuckles. "I dunno…I'm just….I dunno…..Something about this Op's giving the the freezing willies." he admits finally. "I know it has to be done, hell, I've been banging that drum since day one, square one, but still….Now that it's here…." he shrugs expressively. "It would be nice to be able to live through it, ya know?"
Vandenberg watches the ECO wit ha studious eye. The light smile is gone. This is serious. Once he's done, she looks back to the equipment listing. "Alright, tell you what. You guys fly with those floppy armored vest things, right? See if you can fit some of our body armor assault vests over your flight suits. If you can quadruple secure those guns, then it won't be a problem if you eject. They should stay with you no matter what. You can pack shit like frags and smokies in there, too. But you'll be f'd for a helmet. Make do without - if these even fit. That's the best I can do, probably. I'd love to be able to give this all, but I just don't think we can risk it. Besides, we're jumping with a Corpsman. We should be okay."
"Copy that, LT." Marko replies, equally serious as he nods, motioning towards her for his notes to make amendments. "Helmets optional, Rodger." he adds, nodding. "This is kind of a command performance, ya know?" he explains once more. "Due Diligence and all that."
Natalie smirks. "Its actually 'Captain' now, Marko. Got promoted a few weeks back." She winks at him and looks back to the list. "Oh this will probably be the single most important thing we've done so far. My entire investigation is pointing us to this place. We better be at the top of our game. I'm trying to keep this simple as possible, though. When you add complexity you sacrifice flexibility. There are too many unknowns here to get complex. But I figure if you all can get those things to fit, I'll get you some kit."
"Hey! Congratulations, sir!" Marko replies, coming to attention suddenly and snapping off a salute before offering Van his hand in congratulation. "Nobody deserves it more." he grins. "And yeah, you're right, sir." he adds, sighing a little. "Okay, so I got a little paranoid…can you blame me?" he asks, chuckling a little. "This _is_ the Cerberus, after all." he points out with a wink.
Van looks a little sheepish with the congrats. "Heh. Thanks, Marko." She returns the handshake easily and then the paper with it. "And no, I can't blame you. Unknowns do this sort of thing. Get people fired up and playing head games with themselves. But in this case? Anything is possible. Try it out. This is the Cerb." She returns his wink with a smirk. "Anything else the Marines can do for you today?"
"Heh, I'd ask ya to help me hold my liquor and throw a decent punch, but my guess is, you don't have that kind of time." Marko chuckles self-deprecatingly. "But thank you for the consult, I'll run all of this by Jugs so we can make plans accordingly." he says, nodding. "Just one more thing, Captain." he says at length. "Be _damn_ careful down there. If the Intel we've got's correct and the Cylons are choosing up sides, the opposition's going to _have_ to come after Gemenon." he says simply. "And _if_ the oppo's aware that we've had dealings with the Cylons there before…..well, you're a very smart lady, sir, you can plot that course easy as me."
Vandenberg chuckles. "Not today I don't. I gotta go talk to Trask and hear something out about extractions. And no problem on the consult." There's a firm nod to go with that. She nods with the last. "When I first heard about a potential rift in their ranks I've been waiting for the Cylons to take a few shots at each other. Gemenon is a good point for them to hit. And with Rejn downloading, they would know we've got Intel trying to get us to Gemenon. I don't just think its possible, I'm waiting for it. If they haven't hit it already."
"Yep." Marko replies, nodding. "It'll be one hell of a mission, one for the books." he grins, trying to sound confident and not show how truly, deeply nervous he really is. He nearly pulls it off. "We wanted answers, one way or another, we're going to get them." he smirks. "Let's just hope we understand the questions."
"Could be worse. You could be jumping out of a perfectly good Raptor to put a couple boots on the ground." Natalie grins. "The questions don't make me as nervous as the implications for answers. If we find them, there's no telling where it might send us." She stands off her lean, smiling. The Captain claps him on the shoulder as she passes. "Good luck, el-tee."
"You too, Van." Marko replies, nodding politely before taking her hand in his and squeezing it firmly. "Let's hope we're all ready for what we find."