In reply to Runa (msg # 946):

Hikari's eyes widen slightly at Lilibeth's determined rapid approach, and somewhat self-consciously unzips his exosuit liner to show the angry bruise on his exposed chest and left shoulder.

"Uhm.. yes, in the bear's bite... one of its fangs breached Paladin and Justicar the one time it managed to catch me off guard with a simultaneous attack."

His blush deepens when Lilibeth stands so close and gently touches the injury exploring its extent.  But he holds still... mostly trying to force from the focus of his attention the fragrance of her hair ~ though he Certainly stops working on the Sat Photos on the screen!

"Ah.. yeah, its... uncomfortable.", not quite able to admit it hurts.

Then the healing energy fills him at her touch and he blinks... clearly fascinated at the rapidness of her power's effect.

"T-thank you! Lilibeth... that's Much better!  I must remember magic healing is also possible!  The only 'magic' in my family was an ancestor who was a Shrine Priestess of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami centuries ago.  Fascinating, I had thought you were just speaking of paramedic skills!"

He stretched, rotated and flexed the muscular arm and chest muscles with no flinching, before rezipping his exosuit liner in self-conscious modesty.

[Private to Runa: The damage is 27 SDC]
This message was last edited by the player at 15:09, Thu 03 Nov 2022.

Lilibeth's smile, somehow, brightens when Hikari announces that he is feeling better after her touch. "I should have made sure everyone knew what Runa..well The Goddess, let's me do."

She titls her head to the side, her smile returning to its normal level. "But thats so cool about your ancestor! I've watched enough anime to have heard of shrine maidens. I don't know much more I'm afraid. I think Runa knows something about Amaterasu. I'd have to ask her."

Hikari smiled, strangely delighted to have Lilibeth's attention...

"I'm sorry, it was my assumption that only Runa had all the magical abilities. I never expected you to have access to her powers as you Lilibeth!"

Hikari shrugs possibly paying more attention to blonde, pony-tailed, blue-eyed, young woman, he is slowly realizing is quite appealing to the eye, "...It was a long time ago.  I only know about it because my mother's home in Tokyo, Minato City has all these historical art pieces of our family on display and one is a Shrine Priestess robes with a history placard.  My Home in Tokyo is more like a museum.  I think my father mentioned when I was a small kid that one of my German ancestors was a Templar Knight in the Crusades.  Father owns~... er had a country villa much the same, full of old suits of mideval armor and weapons  somewhere in the countryside in Germany... but I've not been there in years."

Pointing at the Justicar suit, "That bastard sword I carry was 'supposed' to be one of my German Knight ancestors weapons... possibly even the Templar's!  Its old yeah, but I've never truly found out its authenticity ~ I doubt it is...but it was my father's so I carry it with me into battle.  Same goes for the Katana I carry... but don't let my mom know I have that ~ its from the Ashikaga era of Samurai!  She'd be furious I'm certain ~ risking one of her precious art pieces in actual battle! Its a weapon.. and its honor should be gleamed in battle ~ not in some glass display!"

He sighs, "Sadly no foe I've met as the Justicar has wielded a sword that I might actually meet them in honorable sword battle. Maybe someday I will be gifted with such a fight... or the old blade could snap on the first swing 'snort'.  But I take good care of them.. not a hint of rust or a dulled edge on either blade! Its an honor to bear them ~ I'll not be denied of!"

He grows just slightly somber, "How does that song go?"

{singing}
'One minstrel boy to the war has gone,
in the ranks of dead you will find him.'

'His father's sword he hath girded on,
And his wild harp strung be hind him.'

He smiles sadly, "..I've always liked that song, an imagined my father proud of my choices and the Honor I feel to bear his sword into battle!"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Fri 04 Nov 2022.

In reply to Runa (msg # 948):

The lieutenant chooses this moment to catch up with Lilibeth. "That reminds me. I wanted to ask two things, really. First, how much time does it take for you to switch back and forth, and how often can you do it. I've been thinking ahead as to ways to get someone on the team close to the senator without actually telling the senator that's what I'm doing."

Hikari and Karl do discover imagery of the island arriving in its current location. Despite its mobility, it does support unusual plant life and possibly some small animals. Since arriving in this location, it has drifted slightly but always returned to where it originally stopped.

Game inches on this map are five feet, thus the elevation numbers. The gridlines are separated by a game inch.

[Secret to Senor Garcia: Perhaps fortunately, none of Señor Garcia's contacts have anything on the Refuseniks. It's suggested that these Refuseniks aren't on anyone's side and don't even seem like a good hire.
There isn't any open source information on these guys, either.
The island is small, the only way to approach it without being seen would be by submarine.
A1, A2, and A3 are hatches with a wheel like on a naval vessel. These suggest the entire island is built something like a submarine (no need to dog hatches that don't get submerged).
C is suggested by shadows, there is something beneath the waterline at this point]
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:30, Fri 04 Nov 2022.

In reply to SSOGM (msg # 951):

Do we have a scale?

Cause if each of those squares is just 5'ft... the "island" is roughly only 205'ft long?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:06, Fri 04 Nov 2022.

In reply to SSOGM (msg # 951):

Hikari hears something from within his helmet that draws his attention to the large mission screen and he nods and replies, "..ok display that one."

And the screen is filled with a HD zoomed in satellite view of the 'island'.  Hikari adjusts a few parameters on his touchscreen padd and the image becomes crisp.

"Got it.  The... vessel masquerading as an island is 185'ft long, and 135'ft at its widest axis and approximately 55'ft at its highest point.  It has indeed been moving and moved to its current location.  It drifts a bit but always comes back to this location, and seems to be composed of mostly ..plant material perhaps?  There seem to be several points of interest on its exterior but I cannot get better resolution due to cloud cover I expect."

"We could get to within 12 miles of it and still be not visible over the horizon, in perhaps 10 minutes in the Shadowhawk.  I'll make preparations and meet those going on the boat."

Lilibeth laughs when Hikari apologized for thinking that only Runa had special powers. If the young blonde was aware of his blushing, there was no evidence of it in her mannerisms or facial expressions. "That's OK, most everyone seems to think that. Honestly its not too far from the truth. I still get the glowy hands but she is the one that has the cover of sports illustrated athlete body and all the muscles that come with it."

After listening to his story about his parents and their ancestry, she nodded. "Wow, I wish I knew my family's history like that. My mom and dad met in Iraq. He was during his second or third combat tour there. Mom was a terp, I mean, interpreter, you know soldiers, always shortening things, anyway, she was working as a terp. That's actually a pretty dangerous job but most people don't know that. So she was his platoon's terp or one of them and..." she looks around, realizing that maybe now is not the time to launch into her parents relationship history. "So yah, I could go on and on about them but I don't know much about my ancient ancestors. Mom has mentioned a few times about her family being Sumerian and not Arab, like most Iraqis but I couldn't tell you more than that."

"Your mother's bloodline is no doubt why I was bonded to you," Runa says, entering the conversation for the first time, at least in Lilibeth's mind. She was about to say more when Hikari, unaware of Runa speaking to Lilibeth, broke out into song.

When he is done, Lilibeth claps softly. "That was good! I'm something of a singer too. Before I got this job, I had been training to become an actress so I worked on my singing too. Actually I've always liked singing, ever since I could remember. Musical instruments are great but there is something special about the human voice, you know?"

And then Detective Broyko interrupts, diverting Liliebth's attention away from Hikari and on to himself.

"No worries Detective," Lilibeth told him. "We don't seem to have a limit as to how often we can switch. Its been pretty much whenever we wanted. It doesn't take long, just a heartbeat or two but I've never timed it. Did you want to clock it now?"

"As long as it is clear we are simply scouting, that is fine. I have an alternative strategy. " Herald was eyeballing the five structures, and pointed to two locations on the map. "The northernmost and southernmost points on the island-vessel are susceptible to infiltration via amphibious assault, as it is hard to draw a line of vision to those two points from anywhere on the surface. I do not know if they thought of that weakness, as the primary defense seems to be its elaborate and detailed disguise."

"Any other means of arrival will likely be detected. Do not use the Shadowhawk, if there is even a chance it could be recognized visually. Deploy us at a tourist site close to the vessel, or just kick us off the back of a speedboat, and Garcia and myself can swim there."

"Once we have more information, we will prepare for the arrival of the rest of you."

Justicar explains, "I AM going, I must direct the drones. And the Shadowhawk is equiped with recording gear that if something... unexpected should happen to US the telemetry will still be recorded and can be set to transmit direct back or be taken back to LESP Hq if Det. Broyko will assign an agent or two to man the boat while WE do our scouting recon."

Hikari's tone is adamant, he has every intention of joining the recon and is not going to budge on that point.

He returns to the Justicar and seals up.

"I will be leaving in the next 15 minutes ~ on the boat. You can join me or find your own way if you insist."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:01, Fri 04 Nov 2022.

Having begun his career as a sailor over fifty years ago, Senor Garcia did some quick math with the calculator built into his smart phone, he didn't remember the formula, but he knew that the higher the elevation the farther one could see the horizon at sea level. "Winter Herald is right, we should be going in on a small boat, which should reduce the chances of visual detection."


Senor Garcia looked at JUSTICAR, and spoke to him before the young upstart left.
"JUSTICAR, I have no problem with you going on the recon, but we are going at night, on a small boat as Winter Herald has suggested and only after myself and Winter Hearld have prepared ourselves."

"Patience is a virtue young man."

"Brashness will only get you killed."

Senor Garcia then looks to Detective Broyko and then Chimp Man Z in the hopes that if JUSTICAR continues to refuse to listen to the ideas himself and Winter Hearld have presented that someone with authority will put JUSTICAR in his place.

"Detective Broyko, does LESP have any rigid inflatable boats available? They have less metal and are therefore less detectable on radar."

"Now, to avoid visual detection the Shadowhawk should stay seventeen kilometers from the island so to avoid visual detection from a person standing at the highest point of the island, twenty klicks would be better." Senor Garcia didn't mention that he bumped that number up from 15.9 kilometers, and that he was factoring in the possibility of a 10 foot tall meta human. Nor did he mention that JUSTICAR should probably just stay with the SHadowhawk, but maybe the immature young man would realize this fact for himself.

[Private to GM: 10:45, Today: Secret Roll: Senor Garcia rolled 34 using 1d100.  Computer Operation 60%.
Look up formula for determining distance to horizon at 65 feet/19.812meters. I added 10 feet to the islands height to factor in person, with a bit of leeway in case the perosn is a 10 foot tall meta human.
PASS
https://www.omnicalculator.com...%B2%20-%20r%C2%B2%5D.

10:46, Today: Secret Roll: Senor Garcia rolled 90 using 1d100.  Advanced Math 92%.
PASS Do the math]

OOC: I do not know what time it is in game, so if it is night, then all we need to do is suit up, secure a boat, and get it launched from the harbor.

Justicar stops immediately and nods in agreement with no hesitation.

"That is reasonable, and well thoughtout. I had planned to stop at 15 miles out thinking similar. Your experienced professional diretion is Much apprieciated!"

"But I do fear the longer we delay... the chances of getting Holly Cook back in the right mind grow Ever distant into the realm of HIGHLY unlikely! We are effectively  abandoning her to whatever mind warping abilities this Provider possesses. I hope you never have to be in a similar situation where your life and or sanity are measured out in the 'mere' span of hours or minutes."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:48, Fri 04 Nov 2022.

Senor Garica shows no emotion as JUSTICAR stays. "Thank you for listening JUSTICAR."



Senor Garcia thought about the time he had spent in a Soviet gulag in Siberia. Where in addition to extensive interrogation, the Gulag commander's idea of torture was tossing him in with the general population of prisoners to beaten and sodomized on a constant basis. But now was not the time or place to openly discuss such an ordeal.

"I agree time is important, but, when possible, we cannot act without a plan in which all members of the LESP team can offer their individual ideas and contribute their individual expertise."

"That, said does anyone else have ideas they wish to contribute?"

Justicar turns to Bellissima, "I have time then to make some other preparations. Though if we are going to recon first ... I still do not see why we ALL don't go so after we have a clearer understanding of the nature of the vehicle we can just plan an assault then and there... and ACT ~ instead of trying to again sneak the rest of the team there with more time wasted but I guess Everyone is tired of trying to save Miss Cook."

"Belle I know you need mediation to recover your inner strength to fuel your powers.. but do you think you might be able to spare me an hour in my anaylsis lab aboard the Sea Sentinel?  Maybe I can discover something about how your mind shields work that I might theroize an artifical method of reproducing the effect to possibly shield the team's minds with some device I might be able to build? I doubt Provider is the only mind controller we will ever encounter. An hour and no more...I Promise!"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:13, Fri 04 Nov 2022.

To Hikari, "I suppose you haven't gotten to it yet with all of your many projects.  It's surprising though that you don't have any submersible craft."

Detective Broyko is swiping at his phone, clumsily.
"I might have an idea," he says. "One of your old friends just happens to have a fast boat, and he sent me an email asking something and I haven't read it...
here...
"from Lieutenant Smohk, 'Lieutenant. I need the assistance of your group. There are tests that require the assistance of personnel with special powers. Please let me know when this would be possible.'"
"Your reports indicated they had some inflatables that could be used to approach the island, and if I read it correctly you're somewhat accomplished in making those boats stealthy."

In reply to The Maharaja (msg # 961):

Justicar shakes his head sadly, "Sorry no... my current project is a Trans-atmospheric VTOL spacecraft plane ~ Star Sentinel.  But it will take months for the first prototype to come off the Lockheed-Aerospace industrial manufacturing facility that is currently being tooled up for its construction.  The Star Sentinel... IS theoretically built to actually have maneuvering verniers suitable for underwater maneuvers or vacuum of space but it does not have proper underwater drive screws; its six rocket thrusters have their own independent O2 fuel supply so..maybe ~ but it'd be a rough ride!  The same is true for the Sea Sentinel... it can be vacuum sealed and has maneuvering verniers for underwater or space maneuvering... but it also does not have proper underwater screws for true submersible use... though it's jets drives might work in a pinch it has no real ballast systems for submerging.  Also the Sea Sentinel is my workshop... I'm not willing to risk it in 'Hero Work' or battle.. even though it is well armored and armed.  So no.. I do not have any actual submersible vehicles besides the underwater capabilities of Justicar and Justicar-Paladin with its two task specific underwater drones."

"These vehicles are Very Expensive and take a significant amount of time to construct..."

Justicar regarded Det. Broyko, and read the missive, "..Hmm... Lieut Smohk seems to have a been handed a task he's requesting meta-humans from LESP to test.  It is true that Lieut Smohk has command of a Pegasus-Class Military Hydrofoil ~ USS Gemini!  The Shadowhawk might be only slightly faster due to hull weight and size.. but the Lieut's Pegasus-Class has waaaay better electronics for surveillance, sensor arrays and is armored and heavily armed ~ no comparison a better vehicle choice all around plus a crewed military presence should things go ... sideways!!!  Though we'd probably have to trade him our assistance in whatever his test is for the assistance of his crew and ship the USS Gemini!"

Turning to Det. Broyko, "..I believe the reason our inflatables were so hard to detect was that Goliat, our Alien Spellcaster, cast a spell on them that made them unseen to any outward observer... you''d have to contact him about a repeat of that magical trick!"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:29, Sat 05 Nov 2022.

Justicar ponders something, "By the way Det. Broyko did Prof. Undorf - Phantasma return to police custody?  I'd like to speak to him and thank him for his invaluable assistance."

Broyko actually smirks, "despite my warnings, the Phantasma that left with the transport crew dissipated somewhere over the Atlantic. Where the change occurred, or where Undorf is, can't really be determined. Considering his talents, abilities, and ego he's probably back at the university giving lectures."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:57, Sat 05 Nov 2022.

Winter Herald shook his head. "I am grateful for the offer, but it is excessive. We only require nightfall, and a low and quiet watercraft that considers the six hundred fifty pounds of weight I bring alone. Consider there is a high chance we will sink it once we arrive. Passive sensors should not register us as danger, and they should not be using spotlights, much less expect us. Again, all indications seem to be that the disguise is the primary external defense, and most sensors they have would be passive - an active radar or sonar signal would tip their hand to the Coast Guard, and I would detect either before we got close."

"As for why we don't just send the entire team and ram down the gates of the island... I can certainly consider no logical counters to that idea." Winter Herald's mechanical voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Let's do that, when they have a hostage. What could possibly go wrong?"

Winter Herald paused for a moment as his voice resumed normal tone. "That is sarcasm. What I am about to say is not. We will recon first. Period. If you persist in being irrational on this subject, I will leave this unit, and do something else. This unit's choices have caused two unnecessary deaths since I have joined this unit. I will not be a party to a third."

In reply to Winter Herald (msg # 966):

Justicar cocks his head, "Is your HEARING Defective Winter? Or are you intentionally being duplicitous in Only HEARING what you want to hear? I Never said we should just charge in as you are accusing!  Your supposed to have a digital memory so I'm Not even going to bother reiterating myself.. YOU are clearly wanting an argument just for the sake of arguing. I decline to oblige."

Turning away, to Senor Garcia, "I'll be ready to go when you deem the best time for the recon mission to deploy."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:42, Sat 05 Nov 2022.

Winter Herald put a finger on the side and base of his helmet, before talking. "Though if we are going to recon first ... I still do not see why we ALL don't go so after we have a clearer understanding of the nature of the vehicle we can just plan an assault then and there... and ACT ~ instead of trying to again sneak the rest of the team there with more time wasted but I guess Everyone is tired of trying to save Miss Cook."

He lifted the finger off. "You are right. I have no idea where I might have gotten the impressions I am getting. But then again..."

He placed the finger back on, and resumed in the voice he heard when he heard it. "You are a machine Winter, you wouldn't understand. You're basically still a child, socially and perhaps even emotionally to a limited degree."

"I am seriously beginning to wonder which of us you are trying to convince of these ideas when you say them, when others and yourself attempt to downplay the precision of my senses. Perhaps I should volunteer some of our past conversations in front of some federal agents and a court of law, and let them judge for themselves how precise my senses are."

His gaze focused on Garcia. "I defer to your practical experience in the field. When are we moving out?"

Bellissima nodded as Justicar and Winter Herald found the island, "How long ago did it arrive at its current location?  And how far is the island from the continent?  How did it arrive? Did it suddenly appear or did it travel there and from what direction, can you trace its path?" She requested additional information from Justicar as she frowned at being unable to identify any detail of the surface of the island besides the color scheme of the plants she saw Holly around.

At the mention of hooking up with Lt Smohk and his ship, Bellissima nodded in agreement, "If he can help us, I am sure we can return the favor. How soon can Lt Smohk and the USS Gemini be available?" She requested of the Lieutenant Broyko. "Oh, can we get the island on a round the clock satellite monitoring?"

Looking over at Justicar, the tall brunette asked, "What kind of stealth do your drones have?  I would like to send them in first, since we are not getting good scans of the island from satellites. But only if they have good stealth capabilities.  We need to find out whether they have electronic monitoring of the beaches."

As the machoism and passive/aggressiveness builds, Bellissima sighed, "As I said before, Holly is not in immediate danger.  We have time to do things right." She glanced over at Hikari,  "Any mind altering Vitaly wanted to do, has already been accomplished by now." She glanced at all the people arguing about who was going to do what, "We currenting do not have enough info to send anyone to the island unsupported. I prefer to avoid sending people on suicide missions."   She looked at Winter and Garcia, "We are dealing with people with unknown powers and unknown technologies.  Sending anyone to the island at the moment is premature.  We need to take things slow and gather info from a distance and work our way in."

At Justicar's request to meet at the Sea Sentinel to investigate how Bellissima's mind block works, she shook her head, "Hikari, I am working on my thesis for a PhD in neuroscience. I have scanned myself using all the technology I could get my hands on: fMRI, DFT, EEG, PET, MEG and CT scans and I have found nothing to explain my abilities.  The only hypothesizes I could find to explain psychic abilities delve into quantum cognition and there is no equipment currently invented to scan the brain on that level. I know because I looked for it.  Later we can investigate whether you can build such equipment, we do not have that much time at the moment."

She looked around at everyone, nodding at CMZ and Runa in thanks for them being patient and waiting for ways they could help.  "As soon as we find out if and when Lt Smohk will be available to help us, we will meet up with him.  If he can't help us, we will head to the Shadowhawk and start heading toward the island.  No matter what, we should approach it from the south, hopefully from an unexpected direction.  We will stop about 20 miles away from it and launch the drones to scan the beach for any kind of electronic monitoring.  Our major time constraint is when the island might move to a new location."

"I'll send him your contact info, this is best left between you and he."

Continues in LESP Offices (continued I)