Elsbeth looked up from the pieces of the receiver and barrel that she was inspecting, when Poppy made her assertion about the Praetorian's physiology.  She quirked her head to the side, and stated simply, "I may just as engineered a being as you are Ms. Poppy, but I bleed the same blood as any Tae woman or the same as Mr. Victor Grym.  Ice water would be dangerously low temperature for his physiology to work properly."  She sounded quite serious.

"Hmmm...." Elsbeth's brow furrowed, "I am surprised, Ms. Poppy that you claim to not know much about guns.  You handled your allocated firearms very well in the assault on the air defense towers."  She popped the receiver with its firing mechanism back into the housing and secured the barrel with a practiced ease, while she continued, "Often enough, it is not the weapon itself that is truly dangerous, but the hand that wields it."  Elsbeth glanced at Victor, her experience with him spoke to that assertion, "Though Mr. Victor Grym might quite like his specialized sniping weapon - and who wouldn't, he could still kill with great ease given any of the rifles here."  Still, the Marine had to concede, and she did so without any trace of irony, "Of course, his sniping weapon with it specialized, explosive ammunition only serve to make him even more effective..."  She shrugged slightly, and by the time she had finished her short musings, yet another rifle had joined the stack of others in the 'passed inspection' pile.

HE gave a slight smile at Poppy's comment which broke into quite laughter at the all to literal marine. "I think she was more commenting on our personalities, rather than what runs through our veins. And you are quite right, any of these weapons in here I could pick up and kill a person with. But it is that ice water, that makes my rifle and my skill with it such a scary proposition to our enemies. If given a chance and the right conditions I would take the shot to end this. That queen bitch dead in my sights would very soon simply be dead." He answered as he moved on to another crate of weapons, sorting them out and creating a list of what they could use to arm the colony.

" wow..Ummm Okay lets stick to knock knock jokes for now... Poppy looked confused for a moment then shook her head slightly."well everyone is a little engineered, even if they are Tae they still got a teeny bit of tinkering way down deep from way back when."

   " I really dont know that much about guns, I just know how to use them. and where to put the bullets to do the most damage... I can tell you nine times out of ten if a person is going to fight or run, i can even guess which way he'll duck if i shoot at him... Put me up against a Cyberoid, or one of those Marduk and I can tell you what they are going to do before they finish their runtimes....Guns I don't know.. I can only make them hit where I need them to hit..most of the time....the rest is just files in a database to me... if I want to clean a M-451 i have to stop look up the manual and do it by the numbers. I cant tell you which way they pull, or if they will malfunction in different atmospheres....any of that stuff Just point it and pull the trigger."

   "If she's the one that gave the order to kill my friends I want to hand you the bullets..." Poppy worked as she talked hands moving with mechanical precision as she stripped cleaned and reassembled weapons. stopping to eye one or two critically and tossing the into the parts barrel. when she spoke about the queen her features lost any emotion even the slight mischievous gleam normally in her eyes went away for a split second...in it's place pain, loss, and sadness too deep to be a simple emulation " Wow Sorry got all talky on you guys again..I promise i will let you get a word in."

T'risa walked into the galley focussed entirely on a 3-d plan of the local area. She reached out touching some notes she'd placed as tags on the topography of the town, utterly absorbed, she almost took no notice of anyone else in the room.

"Hello everyone. Things are coming along. Poorly in some areas, but still any advance is better than none. Maran, once you've helped Balkiir with his cooking and it is all done and clean sit with me, and we will begin your training."

 Star hopped up onto the table and walked around the display once or twice before hopping down into T'risa's lap curling up into a ball and purring slightly as she settled in.
   " Ugh those tablets are positively ancient, my tail has better data fluidity than this thing."
    Maran might know the area a little she has been in the area a while...maybe she can help you. while shes peeling the veggies.a soothing sensation radiating from star as she touched both Maran and T'risa with her mind. ~Thats a lot of information to try and soak up at once.~ the sleet of data began to form in the minds eye of T'risa the hiss and crackle of the computer code became a soft whisper more like soft music than the ear grating sound of a data stream. T'risa no sooner thought of a bit of data she needed than star pulled it out of the files and presented it.
  The rough holo of the area formed into a nearly perfect image in full color rotating and zooming in in full detail as she focused on the images. <i>~our very own AI assist is definitely worth a bit of scratching right behind my shoulder blade wouldn't you say~

The visions appearing in her head startled her so much she nearly choked until she realized that the cat was sending them to her directly. Still, it was strange and a bit difficult to grasp at first, then she took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes. That seemed to help some and she started seeing differences in the images, though it was hard at first trying to convert the images in her head comparing them to her memory of the dig site.
 "Some of that's not right. There's places where trenches were dug that don't show up there."

T'risa started petting Star, scratching between her shoulders as she envisioned the site. "Maran explain to Star where the trenches are. Make the map as complete as you can with Star's help. It will help our planning to know everything possible. It's a shame we have no way to run some sensor drones in the area to capture more data. Thank you Star. Any other tricks you have that can help us?"

Deciding to head to where poppy, Victor and Elsbeth are M'kira leaves Maran's lesson in T'risa's capable hands. Besides she had Bright star soaking up affection which should keep her plenty happy. That was important to M'kira making her smile at the fluff ball as T'risa scratches between her shoulders.

Making her way to Poppy and friends she smiles hearing them talking about guns amongst other things. Noting Poppy looking sad she lightly places a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Actually I like it when you talk Poppy. You tend to make me smile though I can't speak for everyone else. In my opinion I think your very well liked here. I am glad you can probably shoot a flies wings off at twenty feet."

She winks at poppy with a gentle expression and a twinkle in her eye as she hopes to cheer the woman up. "Besides you know I want to go shopping with you sometime. I think it will be a lot of fun. So what's on the menu for today? Are we taking inventory or something?"

The tall Marine merely shrugged to Poppy as she made her second apology, quipping afterwards, "Your speech does not bother me, Ms. Poppy.  Feel free to continue your stream of consciousness ramble for as long as you wish and are able."  Another disassembled rifle made its way into the separate scrap and spare piles.  "As for knowledge about various firearms..." Elsbeth shrugged again, followed by the rather uninspiring opinion, "the manual is fine place to start.  The rest merely has to do with first-hand experience.  Much of which you seemed to have experienced... um... first-hand."

Noting the presence and words of M'kira, Elsbeth nodded to the statuesque Valkiir woman.  "Yes, Inventory, then Distribution, Gunnery Sergeant." she noted dutifully.  "We are approximately 46.8% done with the inventory portion of the task, Gunny T'shal."  Elsbeth regarded M'kira for a moment, the beautiful blue woman was amazing to her, she seemed oddly at ease in all situations, social or battlefield.  An attitude and an aura that Elsbeth was envious of, though not covetous - it merely seemed an unattainable state to her; something that she was not really geared for properly.   She pointed to another section of crate that had yet to be cracked open, noting, "Those stacks have yet to be done.  Your help would be appreciated, but is not necessary.  You likely have other more pressing duties; which we would not want to keep you from."

Conrad works on any final repairs that needed to be made on either the mecha's or any random vehicle that needs some tough up.  His pace today has decreased since there wasnt a rush to get things done.  He even takes some time to play with Tiny and adjust the mecha.  As Conrad works, he seems to always be in thought about something.  Conrad was getting ready to get off of this planet and start building prototypes.

Trey, failing to find his old suit - which isn't necessarily surprising considering he lived in it for a month or so and then brought it aboard Aziza's ship - falls back as a second fiddle for Conrad. Not out of inability so much as inexperience; Slaves aren't allowed near war-time material, for obvious reasons, but he picks up with surprising speed. Of course, a lot of his training was more of the classic 'dropped on a planet now build me a colony' kind, but that just makes him resourceful.

Part of the appeal of the clone series, and what makes them still cost effective, is the ability to quickly adapt. Despite his mannerisms, he's anything but stupid.

"Con-Raid.." Begins Trey, seeming to be in the midst of giving one of the mechas a rather invasive colonoscopy. He grunts as his hand is pinched, jerks his arm to get more leverage, and continues working.

"Con-Raid, yah nevah said. Why yah be all up in dis place wit' dem blue sistahs? I an' I meanin' no mouth, mon, but yah don be strikin' me as a soljah boi, noa."

M'kira Smiles at Elsbeth as she opens up a crate in the specified area. "Actually at the moment I am free to lend you a hand. Your all making great progress with this task."

With practiced ease M'kira begins to skillfully assist with the inventory. She's careful to work as a team with everyone else so they wouldn't break stride. "We will probably check out that crashed dreadnought in the very near future. Ought to give all of us some excitement and who knows what we will find. It will probably be You Elsbeth, Poppy and I in the lead with grym playing the grim reaper if he can line up shots. Just in case theirs something unpleasant that might try to say hi to Conrad and Trey. Could be wrong on the team make up as I haven't got the official word yet."

Elsbeth tilted her head as M'kira describes the next objective in the on-going campaign to survive and get off of this planet.  Her hands didn't stop working, but her brow furrowed for a moment.  "I'll be ready for the mission, if chosen to go, Gunnery Sergeant." she stated simply. adding, "I'm sure that I'd enjoy the chance to serve along side of you."  As for what was troubling her, it was inconsequential, or at least that is what she told herself: it had been a while that she had to actually had to protect, i.e. bodyguard someone - and though she was bred for it and old habits die hard, something deep down gnawed at her.  In some ways, she had failed in epic fashion that last time she had attempted such things.

It had always struck Elsbeth as ironic that of all of her clutchmates that she should survive the longest.  Nothing in her genetic code nor in her training would have indicated such.  And such are the vagaries of Fate - at least, that is what she presumed.  Another cleaned and inspected rifle joined the stack with its brothers ready for distribution.  Elsbeth never let her mind really wander, there was no place for it to wander to.  Generally, when she hit her rest cycle, there were mind clearing and focusing exercises for her to do - a number of simple mantras that she repeated over and over.  A seemingly peaceful, or at least inwardly focused state that allowed for rapid healing and rejuvenation of the body.

In a rather clumsy attempt to get M'kira to divulge more detailed information, Elsbeth asked, "How long ago was that dreadnought shot down?  Presumably, that mission will not happen today, but tomorrow perhaps?"  There was the click of another bolt sliding into place as Elsbeth inspected the breach and checked the firing action on another salvaged weapon.

 " I'm glad I dont get on your nerves. I know I get on my own nerves sometimes." Poppy shrugged, signed and went back to work. When M'kira came in she smiled brightly." Oooo crepy abandoned alien ship.... Sounds fun, thank goodness i am 100% alien parasite proof... You ever watch one of those old flat vids...alien ship, sexy space babe, and big burly marines. Just add slime dripping chest bursting alien parasite for maximum funnage... well I guess in this case it have to be some cute wide eyed space boy and sexy marines..."<blue> M'kira glanced at Grim. <blue> we have our quota of men of few words though. but Its the strong silent ones that usually save the day anyways.... alien horror about to eat the face off of someone and BOOM headshot!"

   I sneaked a look atht eh shootdown footage. two on one in the atmo slugging match between dreadnoughts.... thats not ever good for the insurance rates. Well really anything Kronos took the time to personally smack down can't be that good. He just sits out there in hyperspace, only pops up for a show or to transmit his latest album. Probably writing new songs and getting cozy with his captain. I don't even want to know how that works. i mean I'm all for mixed relationships but wow...
This message was last edited by the player at 18:34, Tue 05 Apr 2011.

"Hmm? oh the dreadnought was shot down by Chronos while we were actually here. I hear there is ancient yet advanced tech at the dig sights. From whatever race was on this planet before it became a dead planet. Something drove the entire planetary population to flee this world. At the moment we are thinking it's this queen entity."

She shakes her head speaking softly. "To go back to the original question not to long ago since we were here when it happened." Looking at poppy she smiles at the cyberoid woman. Then looks up at any security equipment that might be monitoring them. She laughs for a moment shaking her head again. "Your thinking about eye candy during a horror flick poppy? Either your braver then me or you have a stronger libido. During horror movies im to scared to think about that and usually clinging to someone. Though it's only movies that do that to me. Mmm careful if Aziza hears you talking about alien parasites and chest bursting she might get out the medical probes."

M'kira laughs and smiles when she mentions the Dreadnought Ai getting Cozy with the captain. "That does remind me of a old flat vids. The strong handsome captain and his female AI warship. They just had to touch on romance. It was kind of interesting. Guess the captain of the Kronos likes her men big and sexy. Doesn't get much bigger then a dreadnought." She laughs again with a amused expression. Not that she minded Kronos had his own personality. If this captain worked with him every day they might really develop a close relationship.

In reply to T'risa K'mahda (msg #21):

 She did her best to try to show her where the trenches and other additions were, but it still looked strange from above so she wasn't sure she had them all 100% right.
"I think that's it. I may be off a bit though since I never saw it from above."

He gave a dry chuckle at Poppy's flavorful comments. Stuck in an old horror vid, if they could only be so lucky. He moved on to the last and final crate and began once again to sort and count. Keeping an ear on the conversation but choosing to remain quite. He had learned that a wise man listened before speaking, words he had tried to adhere too. Listening was just as important in his craft as knowing how to shoot. To avoid the tunnel vision of the scope and forget that there were others around who could wish you harm.

Like Victor, Elsbeth remained quiet during the exchange between Poppy and M'kira.  She had not seen the dreadnought battle footage, nor did she know anything about this Kronos AI and its relationship to its humanoid Captain.  She shook her head, Elsbeth may be a product of very specific bio-engineering, but what Poppy was proposing made little to no sense to her at all.  Either that or it was all so disturbing to her that images were instantly banished from her mind.

So, instantly banished that it left a bit of void.  Which probably explained the rather vacant look on Elsbeth's face for the briefest of moments.  Once the moment passed, Elsbeth shook her head for another moment, as though clearing cobwebs from her eyes.  Having finished with her crate and seeing Victor start in on the last create, Elsbeth began to distribute the various piles of weapons into sets for each defensive position.  But before the distribution was finalized, Elsbeth looked at their ex-Marine sniper and moved to stand next to him.  "Mr. Victor Grym," she asked while looking at the various piles, "Which set of armaments do you want to reserve for the sniper team?  I'm afraid that we will have to retask some of the assault rifles - though we may be able to retool and fit some extended barrels on them and smooth out some of the action on them."  While her facility in the machine shop was limited, she did have some experience.  So, retooling the barrels and receivers on the assault rifles might actually not be outside of her limited abilities...

In reply to Trey Uv'secks (msg #25):


Conrad listens to Trey carefully... still not use to his thick accent.

"Oh... well... er... I fear for my life.  One can mind rape me and the other could blow me sky high... and neither are in a good way.  But if your looking for a little something, I'm sure you could give Poppy a pretty new gun.  Some like diamonds... she likes weaponry."

Conrad gives a slight mischievous grin knowing damn well that if Trey actually tried that he would most likely get shot by Poppy.  But Conrad could always use some humor around here.

T'risa encouraged Maran to look all over the battlefield. "Details are important. Feel free to look around and explore. Star has created a wonderful workspace for us here. Details help us set up good defensive positions, ways to set traps for anyone coming towards us....." T'risa paused for a moment. "Conrad...how easy is it to make mines and claymores, preferably that can read an IFF transponder." before returning to Maran "and mean less of our people get hurt. The goal is to come back from every operation with as few a casualties as possible, but understand that every operation might have a moment where someone is required to make a sacrifice so everyone else lives. It's a hard life....to lead. Every person is special."

T'risa sipped at a cup of coffee "Now, we both know you are psychic. I am not really aware as to how different the human mind is in comparison to a Tau. The first thing we need to work on is communication. It is much easier to communicate with people you know. So....what we will do here, is have you probe my mind. Don't probe for personal information. Just probe to find the unique characteristics that make me me. Feel for the space I inhabit." T'risa pored over the maps. "Let me know when you think you are ready."

 She did her best to remember and imagine what things would look like from above so she could let them know what she could. The fact though that she never thought about needing to know that stuff didn't help. Only because she'd explored some areas that weren't used much allowed her to help identify some things they needed to know at all.
 "I'll do my best, but I wasn't paying that much attention to that kind of stuff."
 When she was told to try to sense who her fellow companions were, she looked puzzled a bit. They were who they were, right? A chocolate bar just was, wasn't it? It tasted like chocolate, and nothing else tasted exactly like it. It was the same way for people, right? They all had their own particular "taste/scent/visual/sound/spiritual" aspect that made them them. She had never really thought about that either, before because she hadn't realized it was any different than what everyone else sensed. She nodded and concentrated upon the woman, trying to sense who/what/when/where she was. She wondered if they had a name for the whole being encompassed with psy sense.
 "Ok, I'll try."
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:03, Fri 15 Apr 2011.

He looked over the small amount of weapons available before turning to the marine. "Honestly a true sniper team will not be an option. The weapons and the training time are unavailable. I was thinking of simply pulling a squad of men and training them in a more designated marksman role. Quick, mobile and able to disrupt enemy advances easily in a more urban setting. That I think would play more to the strengths of the settlement then a true sniper. If they have need of that, hopefully I will be around and can fulfill that." He answered her as he set aside a few assault rifles.

Conrad pauses for a moment when he hears voices in his head.  Oh no... she heard me... i'm doomed!  After listening to the mental message... he ponders the question and replies back to T'risa.  "Um, shouldn't be too hard.  When do you need the final product?"

T'risa looked at Maran winking as she responded to Conrad "As soon as it doesn't interfere with more important work. Use your best judgement. Mines are superb defensive weapons, but they are no good to us unless they're safe for our people to cross."

Elsbeth nodded to Victor - an eminently, pragmatic answer.   She watched him pull aside a certain number of rifles and mentally categorized that number.  "Are you thinking of a single or double fire team, Mr. Victor Grym?  In any case, I'll keep on the look out for appropriate personnel while going through the drills with the colonists."  She rubbed her chin for a moment, then added, "I also know a little about skirmishing and harassment tactics as per Recon - though that is through the filter of the CMC's Force Recon units."  A slight, crooked smile passed by her lips, "  If you require any additional support with training or equipment of your special squad, Mr. Victor Grym, just let me know."

Elsbeth began to stow the sundry loads of ammunition, magazines, various accessories and cleaning kits into duffel bags for easy transport with their respective weapons - each bag labeled with contents and desired location for easy sorting and distribution.  Elsbeth intended to load everything onto one of the vehicles for quick distribution before then making the rounds to each station to start training personnel.  She mentally queried T'risa, Marshal K'mahda, we are almost ready to start moving the first set of weapons to their emplacement locations.  Are the personnel already in place to receive them and begin training or do I need to get in touch with the Operations Chief to set that up?