Celestia's Finest: The Wasteland Wailers

[DigoDragon]

Happy looks around and puts a hoof to her chin. "Um, I was gonna organize my stuff in the ship. But the ship's not here yet. So..." She shrugs. "Sit and sing campfire songs? It'd be good to practice before we have an actual campfire."

"Well, let me give Star a call and see where she's at." Rose gets on a line to the Thunderbird. "This is Rose to Thunderbird. Checking your ETA to arrive at the helipad?"

[Elbeyon]

Spoiler: OoC

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Is wing commander a military rank or an "organizational/courtesy" rank? Should Love be saluting kittyhawk right now?

Love smiles at Seafire and waves away the apology like it's unnecessary.

She chuckles at the wonder question. "It seems hardly fitting to use a sword that carved itself on my heart. I think, I'll go with the less lethal options if at all possible. I can't see myself charging a living target with a melee weapon. I'm more into guns than swords." Love flashes a smile at Kittyhawk. "I hope I haven't given you the wrong impression."

[Miltonian]

Angel Wings nods. "Very true." They both exchange glances and look at Sniper awkwardly. This is the strange part of a conversation where neither party knows exactly what to say.

Ace clears his throat. "You play cards?"

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"Another half-hour. Should give us time to load her up," Star says, "Finishing getting her fueled up right now."

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Spoiler

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It's a courtesy rank. It means she's the lead pony in the wing. Not that she has more authority than you.

"Oh it was a fantastic impression!" Zero says with a snort.

"Zero," Kittyhawk says warningly.

Seafire smiles weakly. "Guns are nice. Means you don't have to get close." She looks around Love. "By the way...where is Brazen?"

[DigoDragon]

"Another half-hour. Should give us time to load her up," Star says, "Finishing getting her fueled up right now."

"Understood, Star. Thank you."

Rose turns to Happy. "Well, about 30 minutes until the ship arrives. I'm not that good a singer though. Fair warning."

[userpay]

"Right here." Brazen walks over from the corner he'd sidled up to, tucking a cell phone into his vest. He'd been crunching a few numbers for the coming op. So far from resupply he'd have to make sure to stock up on enough power cells along with ammunition. There is a wide grin across his face upon seeing Seafire however. One that had been there since he heard she'd be coming along.

[D.KnightSpider]

Headshake to the negative.

"Sorry, I've always been more invested in war games. Although, I figure there will be plenty of opportunities to learn over the next few weeks... Just don't expect me to go betting any paychecks any time soon." Sniper smiled to indicate the joke. "What's your game of choice?"

[Miltonian]

Spoiler

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THE RETURN OF BRAZEN! ALL HAIL THE CHIN!

"That's okay!" Happy says, "I'm not very good either. But if you sing with enthusiasm and really get into it, everypony laughs too hard to be annoyed. I'll teach you!"

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Seafire's face morphs into a grin to match his. "Hello there," she says with a purr in her voice, "It's been, what, ten hours?"

Zero lightly smacks the back of her head. "Focus, Sea."

"Ow!" Seafire rolls her eyes. "Fine. I'll be good. When we're on duty."

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Card shrugs. "I'm good at Poker, of course, but it's a bit too cliche to be my favorite. I prefer Hearts, though I do know Bridge too. Spite and Malice as well, but that's not a gambling game."

[Elbeyon]

Spoiler: OoC

Show

The mighty chin!

To Zero, "Oh! Thank you. I didn't realize I had made a fan. Play is all fun and good, but I do take my work seriously. Perhaps, we should have some fun off the clock? It'd be a real party entertaining three Wonderbolts."

"Hey, Brazen." She says as he joins the conversation.

Spoiler: Influence Rolls

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Seafire
(3d6)[10] vs 14 (Diplomacy p. 187) +1 (Charisma p. 41) +1? (Rank p. 29) +2? (Multimillionaire p. 29) +/- Other(s)
Kittyhawk
(3d6)[6] vs 14 (Diplomacy p. 187) +1 (Charisma p. 41) +1? (Rank p. 29) +2? (Multimillionaire p. 29) +/- Other(s)
Zero
(3d6)[11] vs 14 (Diplomacy p. 187) +1 (Charisma p. 41) +1? (Rank p. 29) +2? (Multimillionaire p. 29) +/- Other(s)

+?? Reputation

Reaction Rolls p. 495
Influence Rolls p. 359
Reaction Table p. 560

[D.KnightSpider]

"I recognize a few of the names, so at least there's that. I might have messed around with Hearts on a computer program a few years back. You know how that goes: computers aren't the same as a live opponent."

Sniper shifted his gaze to Red Tape and Angel Wings in an effort to pull them into the conversation.

"How about you two? Do you have any interesting past times to share?"

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler

Show

THE RETURN OF BRAZEN! ALL HAIL THE CHIN!

"That's okay!" Happy says, "I'm not very good either. But if you sing with enthusiasm and really get into it, everypony laughs too hard to be annoyed. I'll teach you!"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

And there was much rejoicing. Yay!

"Alright, which song are we going to use?"

[Miltonian]

Zero hesitates and exchanges glances with Kittyhawk. “What sort of fun do you mean?” she asks warily. “If it’s anything like Commander Dash’s ‘off-the-clock-fun’, then we’ll take a hard pass.”

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Card Ace grins. “No, it isn’t. Sit down at the table with me and I’ll show you just how different.”

“Me?” Angel Wings says, “Oh. I, er, like...” She avoids his eyes. “I have a couple friends who like cosplay. And I like making their costumes. Made a few for myself too, every now and then.”

“Steady hooves make for a good surgeon,” Red Tape says, “For my part, if you want to have a fun night out, don’t go drinking wine with me. I’ve developed a bit of a critic’s palate and it’d be hard for me to drink mediocre wine without ruining it for everypony else.”

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Happy grins and starts belting out, “Ole MacDonald had a farm! Ee-eye-ee-eye-oh!”

[userpay]

Brazen laughs. "Ain't like we need to be on guard right now. Knowing them details are practically already sorted and we're just waiting for the word to go." Granted they would need to watch the antics out on the field but that was another matter entirely. "As to fun ah don't think you'll have to worry. We don't tend to use off the clock time for trainin unless we gotta or at least ah don't."

[Elbeyon]

"Ah!" Love claps a hoof to the other in reaction to Brazen's enlightenment. "I most certainly did not mean training." Love smirks. "I enjoy a good workout though. I meant something a bit more typical like drinking, movie, games, food, etc. You know, fun things. What do you do for fun? We're going to be on a mission for a while, and we're packing now. Perhaps, I could slip a little something in for the three of you while I'm at it."

[DigoDragon]

Happy grins and starts belting out, “Ole MacDonald had a farm! Ee-eye-ee-eye-oh!”

Rose joins in, singing along while waiting for the Thunderbird to arrive.

[D.KnightSpider]

Card Ace grins. “No, it isn’t. Sit down at the table with me and I’ll show you just how different.”

"I'll be looking forward to it." Sniper matched the grin.

“Me?” Angel Wings says, “Oh. I, er, like...” She avoids his eyes. “I have a couple friends who like cosplay. And I like making their costumes. Made a few for myself too, every now and then.”

"There's nothing wrong with that." Sniper said. "I have a few acquaintances who work in fashion and design-- putting together outfits always seemed like solving a puzzle to me. It's good work and if you enjoy it then so much the better."

Sniper filed a mental note.

“Steady hooves make for a good surgeon,” Red Tape says, “For my part, if you want to have a fun night out, don’t go drinking wine with me. I’ve developed a bit of a critic’s palate and it’d be hard for me to drink mediocre wine without ruining it for everypony else.”

"I might be able to tolerate that, given that I don't drink.

"For my part, I write. Pulp fiction, mostly, but I've been branching out into other genres lately. I find it a good outlet."

[Miltonian]

The three Bolts snicker, as if sharing a joke. But nothing seems particularly funny. "Not quite what we meant, hon," Seafire says, "But hey. I'm down for a game or two."

"No drinks, though," Zero says with a hint of reluctance, "A drunk pegasus with rockets strapped to her side is bad news for everypony."

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Rose is the first to spot it. The ship comes towards them at speeds bordering the ludicrous. Star is having fun. With a flourish, the Thunderbird lands perfectly on the pad. Happy squeaks in alarm and jumps behind Rose, but there's nothing to fear. A few moments later, Star opens the rear loading gangway and descends with a grin on her face. "Cut two minutes off the ETA," she says, proud of herself.

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Ace looks him over critically and nods. "I can see it." His horn glows and he slips into his pack. "Anywhoo, we'd better get going, I think. You all set Lts.?"

"I already loaded all I will need on the ship this morning," Red Tape says, "And checked it twice."

[DigoDragon]

Rose is the first to spot it. The ship comes towards them at speeds bordering the ludicrous. Star is having fun. With a flourish, the Thunderbird lands perfectly on the pad. Happy squeaks in alarm and jumps behind Rose, but there's nothing to fear. A few moments later, Star opens the rear loading gangway and descends with a grin on her face. "Cut two minutes off the ETA," she says, proud of herself.

Rose checks her watch. Huh. "Yeah, you sure did. Nice parking job there too! Wanna help Happy and I start loading the ship? I don't know if you have a system with it."

[D.KnightSpider]

Ace looks him over critically and nods. "I can see it." His horn glows and he slips into his pack. "Anywhoo, we'd better get going, I think. You all set Lts.?"

"I already loaded all I will need on the ship this morning," Red Tape says, "And checked it twice."

"Indeed. I arrived ready for deployment." Sniper said. It helped that he traditionally traveled light. "Just have to load up."

He bid the others a farewell and then left to collect his gear. From there, it was off to the helipad.

[Elbeyon]

"Now, I have to know what you meant by off the clock fun!"

Love nods. "No drinks. I'm afraid to ask if that lesson was learned from a past experience. I did get drunk off the clock and cut my own heart out to show my girlfriend. Alcohol and swords. Alcohol and rockets. I hope the tale isn't too bad of one. I avoided a bade fate with mine."

A few text message shakes her phone awake. "One moment." Love checks. "We should be leaving soon."

[Miltonian]

Star nods. "Sure. That's the next step. Everypony has their own space for supplies, so let me show you yours." The interior of the Thunderbird has been rearranged a little for this mission in order to provide maximum cargo space. The little areas under the floorboards are especially enlarged, at the cost of some of the internal armor it had under there. Hopefully that won't be an issue. When Sniper arrives, Star shows him his space as well.

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Seafire is about to answer, but Zero butts in first. "Then you should ask Commander Dash about it sometime," she says.

Seafire does answer the next thing though. "Oh no. Nothing happened. It's just, well, you don't aim very well when drunk. So if we had to scramble into combat, who knows what we could hit." She jerks her head over her shoulder. "We got our supplies already loaded. Security took it over this morning. We'll come with."

[DigoDragon]

Rose helps Happy load the ship. "So apparently the EDF has a second team now, and they're joining us. Either of you know anything about them?"

[Elbeyon]

Love smiles. "Alright, alright. If it's that juicy, I wouldn't want anypony getting in trouble for spreading the news around. I'll see what I can do to find out." She smirks.

"I don't aim well when I'm drunk too, not that I would know either. No story to tell there." Love starts heading up to the Firebird.

Fourteen ponies, huh? The commander too! She wonders how much commanding he'll do. A shiver runs up her spine. A scary thought.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper took a few moments to send off messages warning his friends and relatives that he'd be incommunicado for a few weeks. A few more moments of agonization resulted in a tweak to his automated message service. If he didn't cancel the order within five months, then a final message ethos be sent to his contacts under the assumption that he was dead.

That unpleasant job completed, Sniper began loading his gear. Lassie wouldn't be making the journey, of course.

He answered Rose's question.

"Card Ace plays cards. Angel Wing sews and designs cosplay costumes. Red Tape happens to be a wine affectionado. Overall they seem like a dependable bunch."

[DigoDragon]

Rose turns around when she hears Sniper. "Not the skills I was hoping to hear, but I guess a good game of Rummy can win a fight."

[D.KnightSpider]

"If you're going to challenge death, then you could do worse than fielding a card shark." Sniper pointed out.

He continued stowing away his gear.

[userpay]

Brazen raises his eyebrows over the banter of what Dash considers off time entertainment. Even this was getting him rather curious now. "Sounds like there's ah story behind that. Could help pass the time in the ship though don't know if everypony would find it as amusin... Lots of ponies on board with this one." He scratches his chin. "Speakin of the mission... It was mentioned that what passes for armor for the wastelanders is piss poor. Wonder if droppin me on one to crunch it would be fun."

[Elbeyon]

Love is offended by Brazen's joke, but she tries to hide her reaction. She hopes it was a joke. "Let's try to stick to conventional tactics for everyone's sake. We are trying to make friends out there."

[DigoDragon]

"If you're going to challenge death, then you could do worse than fielding a card shark." Sniper pointed out.

"What I meant by my original question is that do any of these new soldiers have any interesting historical points on their record?" Rose clarifies. "Like me with losing my legs from an airship crash. Stuff you get known for."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Eh, I don't know that one. I only spoke to two of them for a few moments and that was an attempt breaking the ice. The question of physical or mental trauma didn't come up." Sniper said.

That would have been an awkward introduction: 'Hello, I'm Sniper Scope of the infamous inner conflict over ability to kill. What's your emotional baggage?'.

[Miltonian]

Seafire nods. "It's a tactic. Think we'd have better luck smashing through the roofs of shacks or something. Dramatic repositioning."

In short order, the entire complement arrives and begins packing things in. With so many ponies, the interior of the Thunderbird is very crowded. But it is a bit exciting too. There is grim intent in the everyponies' busy-ness. Soon, the ship is prepped and ready for takeoff.

"Everypony take your seats," Star says, "Takeoff in five minutes."