Launching and Lunching

Log Title: Launching and Lunching Characters: Carly Witwicky, Cookie, General Hawk, Hi-Tech, Kamakura, Lifeline, Marissa Faireborn, Poise, Roadblock, Sgt. Sideswipe Location: The Pit Date: June 21, 2019 TP: America Burning TP Summary: The Joes launch a rocket with a weapon specifically to take out BATs, and afterwards, some of the younger ones get some food. As logged by  Cookie

Log session starting at 20:41:58 on Friday, 21 June 2019.

'''At the shuttle launch pad next to the Pit, Hawk is overseeing the last of the completed satellites being loaded into the Crusader. The modified BET is positioned in a fortified location to begin the tests once they have been deployed.'''

'''The team's resident alien, which is now a thing, is Poise, the Nebulan who has totally been destroying Earth fashion since she made the decision to help the Terrans and guide them into the greater galaxy. She's wearing a pair of aviator goggles that are down, that nifty camo jacket she picked up, and recently, some thigh-high boots, all of which go over her silvery-white jumpsuit. It'd offend anyone in high couture. "Reminds me of an Ith-Yak leaving its nesting hovel." she says to nobody in particular. A bubble then pops from her chewing gum.'''

'''Hi-Tech is on the scene. His AJ^6 cyborg head implant glows green as he checks over each satellite individually. Leaving nothing to chance, he's suited up to take the tech into space himself - nothing quite like on-site tech support. He flashes a smile at Poise before turning to Hawk. "Everything looks good here, sir," he reports. "All quiet on Cobra's front? I'd like to get these in the air before they see us coming."'''

'''The oddly elusive Dr. Steen, code-named Lifeline, is here as well. Rumors have it that he's been over in the Democratic Republic of Congo as of late, assisting Doctors Without Borders in their perilous efforts to stop the spread of the current Ebola strain. But apparently he's been called back to stateside duty. He looks on at the satellites, quietly stern as he seems more attuned to possible trouble.'''

'''Cookie stands back, watching the techs prep the launch. It's not Cape Canaveral, but any launch is fun to watch. She's fairly relaxed, only the occassional glance at the horizon to indicate that she's alert for interference as well.'''

'''Kamakura comes into the area, looking about. He notices everyone lining up for the mission and nods. "So. Go in, get the BATs, come back out. Piece of cake, right?"'''

 Three Star Gorilla General Hawk says, "Cobra has invaded America and taken over about a dozen cities. The Joes have worked up a plan to modify the prototype Broadcast Energy Transmitter into a collector, and the satellites we are launching tonight will be aimed at the areas they have. Cobra is relying heavily on their BATs to hold the territory, so we're sucking out all their power, put the Cobras in the dark and remove their strength, then swarm their strongholds and kick them out of the US."

'''General Hawk looks up. "So far, things seem quiet. Hopefully they'll stay in their little dens. When the time comes, I want to personally grab Cobra Commander out of the Oval Office and toss his ass into the Potomac." he says, checking over a clipboard in his hand. "I think we're just about ready to get this candle lit."'''

'''Poise sidles over towards Hi-Tech, since he was on the design team and everything. Her arms are crossed as she benignly watches. "I know its kind of rudimentary to hit orbit over in my part of the galaxy. Its generally more common than your fried-swine parties, but I guess its kinda nice to see it happen. Especially knowing that the optical system I built in there is going to do some good."'''

'''Carly is standing by, she is manning a computer system trying to keep a watch out for anything that might be trying to sneak up on the operation. " I am on stand by, hollar if you need me. It looks clear from my view point."'''

'''Roadblock rolls in on his motorcycle as quietly as he can. He puts the kick stand up, cracks his knuckles, and then hoofs it about a half mile to join his friends. He didn't want to alert anyone to anything so he was trying to be careful. He gets to the main group and stands at attention and salutes the general, saying quietly in his sexy cajun accent "The Block is reporting for duty, sir."'''

'''Hi-Tech nods. He reaches up and touches his implant before nodding. "I'll get suited up," he announces and jogs over to the nearby control shed, slipping into the rest of his flight suit. "Ace and Payload are on standby to cover us in case we get made before we leave orbit," Hi-Tech reports to Hawk. '''

'''Once ready, Hi-Tech strolls back over to Poise. "Yeah. It's become more routine here than it used to be, but the 11-year-old kid in me is still pretty excited." He glances over at Carly as she checks in and then at Roadblock as he makes what, for him, is a quiet entrance. Hi-Tech beams. Excited indeed.'''

'''It hasn't escaped Dr. Steen's notice that a lot of the Joes' better plans run with luck as a large component. He could personally see how this could all go wrong, especially if they have overestimated the number of BATS holding positions. But he has a lot of faith in the technical prowess of the team. As Roadblock arrives, Lifeline glances over toward him, still keeping his concerns to himself. After all, he's only there to clean up.'''

'''General Hawk returns Roadblock's salute. "Good luck, Hi-tech. The sooner we get these satellites in orbit, the sooner we start running the snakes out of our country."'''

'''Poise says, "Nifty." She can't really say anything more about the 'majesty of entering low orbit' really. Its just one of those things that you take for granted when you're a few eons old. Poise opens her mouth as if she's trying to think of something more to say, then refrains, "Just watch out for those 'OpFor' guys." She pulls her shades off, and reaches back behind her head to pull her suit helmet up and forward. "Aw geeze, you guys haven't developed total inertial compensator fields, have you?" For once, she looks a bit squeamish, "Okay, this is going to be a bit more of a thing than I expected.""'''

'''"I won't let you down, sir!" Hi-Tech promises Hawk. Hi-Tech waits for Hardtop to finish the last preparations for launch and then boards the shuttle, strapping in next to Space Shot and waiting for Poise to join them. He gives the other Joes a thumbs up before settling into his seat and staring straight ahead. "Once the satellites are launched, I'll run the energy readings down to Dr. Witwicky." Hi-Tech silently thanks the old gods and the new that Carly could step in after the loss of G.I. Jane.'''

'''Poise climbs into the shuttle, and straps in. She's pretty much just there in case the new systems need some on the spot recalibrating, and also because, well, she's pretty used to zero G. Poise gives a thumbs down, though she meant a thumbs up. "Okay, Candles Lighting and Thunderbirds are going. Or whatever you guys say." She pauses, then adds as an explanation, "I can't just say 'I'm Green', because OBVIOUSLY..."'''

'''"Remaining on stand by rig is set waiting for the readings. Just give them a good kick in the seat for me guys." why yes, Carly stilll has that fire about her even if she is in a very professional position in life.'''

'''General Hawk taps his radio. "Mission control, start the count down." he says. "When this thing goes up, if anyone's going to take notice, it'll be then."'''

Hi-Tech nervously starts humming, "I'm a Leg" by The Shake Ups, not even realizing he's doing it.

'''Countdown starts the countdown. He sounds like an Imager character name joke, but he really is just that generically codenamed.'''

'''Roadblock just waits, tapping his foot, still at attention and saluting because Hawk didn't tell him to go at ease. He thinks to himself "This gonna be some fucked up shit."'''

Lifeline settles in as the countdown begins, giving a sidelong glance to Poise and Hi-Tech before returning to stoic contemplation.

'''Lifeline watches the shuttle from the safe distance of the viewing area. He may or may not know an actual operative named 'Countdown', but that's classified information. He glances over at Hawk briefly before turning back to stare shuttleward.'''

At T-minus 16 seconds, the massive sound suppression system begins to drench the Crawler trenches with 300,000 gallons of water to protect the Crusader from damage by acoustical energy and rocket exhaust reflected from the flame trench during lift off.

'''General Hawk glances to Roadblack, grins a bit. "At ease. If this works, we're gonna need a picnic, hope you've got some good BBQ recipes in mind."'''

'''The three main engines start at T-6.6 seconds. At T-0 seconds, the 8 frangible nuts holding the Solid Rocket Boosters to the pad are detonated. The engines cycle up to 100% throttle and the SRBs are ignited. By T+0.23 seconds, the SRBs build up enough thrust for liftoff to commence, and the Crusader lifts off, carrying the small team of Joes to orbit and their hopes to bring freedom back to the United States of America.'''

'''Poise looks over the control station in front of her, and gives it the once over, then pauses. This was important, and more importantly, this was Terran tech, which was far from perfected, which meant that you couldn't just holophone it in. Poise redoubles her instrument reading focus, going through it slower. "Trajectory looks good. Thrust projection too. Everything's looking solid."'''

'''Hi-Tech holds onto the edge of his seat as the Crusader takes off. His eyes are wide behind his visor and his grin is a mix of excitement and terror. "WoooooooOOOOOHOOOOOOO!" he yells over the radio, abandoning all pretentions of professionalism. "Tell me you haven't gotten bored with this sort of thing, Poise!" Hi-Tech yells, afraid to turn his head to look at his flight partner.'''

'''The roar of the old timey rocket actually sort of snapped her to the present, her eyes open a bit wider as she tenses. Its a rock polisher flight without proper kinetic dampeners. As she jostles in her seat, she replies as best she can, "T-t-they don't make e-e-e-m like this-s-s-s anymo-o-o-re"'''

'''General Hawk pulls out a tablet and brings up a feed of the Pit's radar. "So far so good..." he says. "Hopefully they're more interested in polishing their BATs then watching the skies tonight."'''

'''"Well, that's good news." Dr. Steen finally speaks up, answering Hawk. "...I've already prepped the infirmary, though. Sooner or later, they all check in."'''

'''Marissa Faireborn, the adult daughter of Flint and Lady Jaye, watches the shuttle launch from a short distance away. Although technically part of the G.I. Joe family, she spends most of her time with the Autobots and is therefore not very close with her parents' friends. Although she has space flight experience, she volunteered only to witness the launch - not take part in it. As the Crusader dwindles to a fiery speck above, Faireborn steps from the shadows of the nearby control shack, hugging her arms around her waist, lost in thought.'''

'''Cookie stays to watch the launch until it gets out of unaided visual range. It's impressive, and makes her wish she had time to add more hobbies to her list. Like, say, model rocketry. But in the meantime, there's vehicles to maintain and food to cook.'''

Sgt. Sideswipe watches the launch as well - standing by for any medical help that may need to be implemented.

'''Kamakura has been keeping quiet near the back of the group. He relaxes, a bit, just waiting until launch. He stretches. "So um..what shall we do with ourselves?"'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe shrugs. "Well, I know now, hopefully - it looks like there's little chance for anyone being hurt now that the shuttle's deployed."'''

'''Marissa Faireborn looks up, finding herself amongst her parents' friends at a work function. Awkward. "Um... is there any place to grab something to eat out here?" she asks. "I haven't had anything since lunch and it's a bit of a drive back to Autobot City." As she's here informally, she's in neither her Navy uniform nor her EDC flightsuit. Instead she's wearing a plain black T-shirt and blue jeans held on with a loose belt.'''

GAME: Sgt. Sideswipe PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of High difficulty.

'''Cookie chuckles. "Not much way out here, but I could whomp something up if you give me a few."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe nods at Cookie. "I can assist." he looks over at Marissa. "So...you're like part of EDC, right?"'''

'''Marissa Faireborn smiles thankfully. "I'd really appreciate it. I hate to impose, but... I haven't been feeling that great and some real food - just anything not from a drive-thru - would go a long way." Marissa gives Sideswipe a smile. "Yeah. Spike and I head the EDC. I heard about what happened to General Colton and his wife. I'm so sorry," she offers the other Joes.'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe nods to Marissa. "The veterans here are still shaken up about that." He looks at Cookie. "And don't worry - I'm not big on sugar, or fat, or empty calories." He looks around and frowns "I knew I should have brought some wheatgrass."'''

GAME: Marissa PASSES a LEADERSHIP roll of Average difficulty.

Marissa Faireborn manages not to roll her eyes at Sidedwipe, although it takes some effort.

Marissa mutters to you, "I suppose bacon is out of the question, then?"

'''Cookie grins. "Why don't we head down to the galley and see what's in there? Could probably throw together a stir fry." She leans towards Marissa. "I have even better- the other day I made bacon -jam-."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe frowns slightly. "That's good...I guess. Only problem is that you've blown your salt intake away for the entire day."'''

'''Marissa Faireborn's light eyes widen at the mention of bacon jam and her stomach audibly growls. She looks up at Sideswipe. "There's not a lot of day left anyway," she rationalizes.'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe continues to walk with Cookie and Marissa. He looks over at Marissa, curious. "So...Autobots, huh?"'''

'''Cookie shakes her head as they head towards the entrance, still smiling. Health nuts the world over.'''

'''Marissa looks over at Sideswipe and chuckles. "Yeah. You know, we have a Sideswipe, too. He's less interested in healthy food and more interested in killing, though. Funny."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe breathes out and looks at Cookie. "We have some of those here - which I guess you have to have - after all, it is a military organization."'''

'''Cookie chuckles. "Yeah, and they're my little murder babies to take care of." She winks. "Just don't tell Wet Down I called him a murder baby."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe frowns slightly "Don't worry..." Wet Down is one of his more hardcore hazers.'''

Marissa says, "Murder babies? Oh, my God!"

Marissa laughs, covering her mouth.

'''Kamakura snickers "Murder babies. Nice." He walk salong, b eing quiet for once.'''

Sublevel 4 - Mess Hall / Quarters - Pit III

'Sublevel 4 is the living area for Joes assigned to the Pit. One half of the level is devoted to troop quarters - private rooms for officers and married couples, and shared rooms for enlisted men below a certain rank. The other half of the level is the mess hall and off-duty area, where tables and couches are set up for eating and relaxing after hours. A 60" plasma screen TV plays movies and news, and a serving line is set up at mealtimes to feed the hungry Joes.'

'''Upon reaching the kitchen, Cookie grabs an apron and gets right to work, pulling out vegetables and containers that are labeled with a china pencil. "If you want to try the bacon jam, I'd recommend it on a burger, but as that would probably be terribly unhealthy, I'd be willing to go for a sensible stir fry instead. There's even a brick of tofu in here. Put the right sauces on it, you'll never know it's good for you."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe smiles and gives an 'easy' gesture to Marissa. "Just...easy on the soy sauce. Again...salt." He goes to get a wok and puts literally a drop of peanut oil in the wok, and carefully rubs a peeled garlic bulb all around the wok, somehow extending the oil's reach with the technique.'''

'''Marissa sighs. "I guess I do need to start eating better," she admits. She touches the top of her jeans, which are looking a little snug, to be honest. "I'll stick to stir fry for now and try the jam next time. Thank you," she smiles. Looking around the mess hall, she asks the other Joes. "What do you guys do for fun around here?" As she watches Cookie and Sideswipe cook, she admits, "I'm just getting out of a relationship and I have some vacation time coming up and frankly... I'm a bit lost."'''

'''Cookie hehs. "This pretty much -is- what I do for fun. My -job- is maintaining the equipment up in the motor pool." She scrubs her hands and then carefully selects a couple of pastes and a container of some kind of broth, sliding others away. "Anybody have allergies?"'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe nods and begins to chop up some scallions, carrots, onion, and tofu. He frowns and says "Sorry to hear - " He looks at Cookie and says "Just a codeine allery for me, but I'm guessing you're not cooking with that."'''

'''Marissa smirks. "Cooking with codeine? Now THERE's a fun away to pass the time!"'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe frowns slightly at Marissa. She's a little rough around the edges. He continues to stir the vegetables around the wok. "So...was that guy kind of a jerk, or did things just not work out?"'''

Sgt. Sideswipe pauses and looks at Marissa "Oh! I'm sorry! That was a personal question...you don't have to answer...obviously - "

'''Cookie whoofs. "No, codeine and sharp objects definitely don't mix. Even if somebody insists they feel totally fine." From the sound of it, this is something personally experienced or witnessed. She pushes over the sauce ingredients towards Sideswipe. "My station's been taken," she comments wryly, and collects some of the containers to put back away, then gets out a kettle and begins warming up water while setting up bonito flakes and some kombu. A few green onions and some noodles get staged.'''

'''Marissa takes a moment to realize about what Sideswipe is asking. "What? Oh! Heh, well. No. Not really a jerk. Well, yeah, a jerk, but at least an honest one. About being a jerk, anyway." She sighs and shakes her head. "It's not really his fault." She frowns and looks from one Joe to the other. "Oh, geez. I'm sorry for going on like this. This is what happens when your only friends are giant robots and their ambassador to Earth!"'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe shrugs and smiles, doing some quick work on his station - the secret to less oil is heat - lots and lots of heat. He quickly takes Cookie's sauce and incorporates it into the stir fry. "I think all of us have dated someone we probably shouldn't at some time or another." He lays out the finished product on a communal plate.'''

'''Cookie pours water over the bonito and kombu, then some more over the noodles in a separate bowl before she finishes cutting some veggies. She grins at Marissa and produces the glass jar labeled "bacon jam", holding it where Sgt. Sideswipe can't read the label. "Well, come on. If you can't talk about these things here, where are you going to talk about them? I'm guessing your dating scene comes with a clearance level attached."'''

'''Marissa chuckles, watching the two Joes cook. "Yeah, no kidding," she admits to Cookie. "This guy - he's not even human! I feel like I turned 'Earth Girls Are Easy' into a galactic truism," she smirks ruefully. "At least, I think he's not human. He LOOKS human but claims to be from another planet. He DOES have a spaceship. Ugh! I feel like Trillian from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy." She shakes her head. "How do I even get myself into messes like this?"'''

GAME: Sgt. Sideswipe FAILS an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Sgt. Sideswipe gets the Trillian reference, but doesn't ... what exactly did she say. "Wait...did you just say?" He shakes his head. "You..." He adds "You like LITERALLY... an alien?!"'''

Sgt. Sideswipe says naively "I mean, I dated a Scientologist, but...wow..."

'''Cookie lets out a low whistle. "Okay, that's the weirdest ex I've heard of," she admits. "How bad was it? I mean, did he just ghost you, or was there a chance to yell at him over it?"'''

'''"Hey!" Marissa snaps, laughing. "He's cute, OK? Like, young-Burt-Reynolds-meets-Bruce-Campbell cute. And I'm the one the broke up with him. It just got... complicated. I'm not sure we're on the same side of the intergalactic war... these aren't things I'm used to having to put on my OKCupid profile, you know?" She blushes. "Besides, he seemed normal... no tentacles or anything...." Navy Lieutenant Commander or no, Marissa turns red up to her ears.'''

GAME: Sgt. Sideswipe FAILS a LEADERSHIP roll of High difficulty.

Sgt. Sideswipe looks at Cookie and Marissa and says sheepishly "Sorry...are we prying?"

'''Cookie serves up noodles and green onions into bowls, pours some dashi over them, sets them out by the stir-fry, then opens the jar of sweet bacon goodness and puts a deliberate spoonful each on two of the bowls of noodles, pushing one over to Marissa and taking the other for herself. "We are," she says to the sargeant. "Feel free to tell me to fuck off if it bothers you," she tells Marissa.'''

'''"Gah!" Marissa blehs. "No, I'm unloading. I'm sorry. I just... I don't have a lot of people to talk to. To be honest, I came to this hoping to see my mom, but of course, she's away on one mission or another. I'm sorry." She shakes her head. "I should probably eat and go. These totally aren't your problems." She quickly takes the proffered food, however, enjoying it like a college student home for break.'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe gives an alarmed look. "No! No! I mean...we can switch subjects!" He gives a friendly smile to Marissa. "I'm glad you're here."'''

'''Cookie serves up some stir-fry, too, having a little bit of each dish before answering. "Look, I joined the Navy at seventeen. There's no drama quite like deployment drama, with all the crushes and break-ups and people getting mad at each other. Everybody needs somebody to dump to that's not going to run off and cause trouble with it later." She shrugs. "Besides, I don't get much girl talk here."'''

'''Marissa looks up from thoroughly enjoying her meal and gives Cookie a smile. "What - no ninja drama from Scarlett?" Marissa glances at the unusually quiet Kamakura and then presses the back of her hand to her forehead. "'Snake-Eyes cancelled oan me to go chase Storm Shadow across th' rooftops ag'in!'" she wails dramatically. "'What on Uth does that whahte ninja have to offer him that Ah cain't?'"'''

'''Kamakura chuckles. "Beats me." He says, with a shrug. "Its always been that way with those two. I never understood it myslef." he admits.'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe says sympathetically "Sorry...I don't really KNOW Snake-Eyes, but you shouldn't feel bad. Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow's relationship is..." He pauses for a second. "...complicated."'''

'''Marissa shrugs, slurping down the rest of her food. "To me honest, I only know what I've heard from mom and dad, but it does sound like it used to be endless drama, back in the day."'''

'''Cookie hehs. "I can't help you much there.. I'm still pretty new to being a Joe, myself." She looks over at the only ninja visible in the room.'''

'''Marissa smiles. "Well, you're in good company and I personally appreciate the addition."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe carefully eats his meal with some chopsticks. "It's weird...we're like...the next generation here."'''

'''Kamakura shrugs "Been doing it for a while but you know. Still one of the babies." he looks around "Its pretty weird isnt it?"'''

'''Marissa nods and sighs. "Yeah. I can't believe you guys just lost the old guard, too. Makes me worry about my own parents even more." She pushes away her empty bowl, full but melancholy.'''

'''Kamakura looks around "Makes me wonder if I should settle down and train an apprentice.." He blinks. "Oh god. ITs not that time already.'''

'''Cookie grins at Kamakura. "Just how do you pick out an apprentice, anyway?"'''

Sgt. Sideswipe looks at Kamakura "Yeah, I always wondered that too."

'''Marissa looks up at Kamakura and smirks, raising a delicate eyebrow. "No matter how hard you try, you always turn out like your masters, right? 'Now I understand what it was like training me...'"'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe gives Marissa a sympathetic look. "Your mom and dad were pretty brutal in that department?"'''

'''Marissa smiles at Sideswipe. "I was just being silly." She turns back to Kama, curious about this apprentice-search process as well.'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe blinks and says "OK." It didn't SOUND silly. But...okay. Again, she's kind of rough around the edges.'''

'''Kamakura pauses. "I dont know to be honest." He says, sounding a bit embarassed for a moment. "I guess you just look for someone you think has what it takes. Course with me it was a little more personal. My sensai is Snake-Eyes. He served with my father in 'Nam." He says. "I first talked to him through a letter, when my dad told him I was joining the US army, after a while serving..." his voice trials. "Now thats a long story. But yeah. Thats how I met him. Through a letter. Next time we talked I was in SpecOps. How it got from working together to being his apprentice..well thats another long story." he says.'''

'''Cookie huhs. "So.. could be anybody you take a shine to, then.."'''

'''Sgt. Sideswipe smirks. He loves the workouts for the type of training Kamakura puts his proteges through, but he's fine being a medic.'''

'''Marissa pushes herself away from the counter. "I'd love to hear it sometime, if you don't mind telling," she smiles. "But tonight, I'd better get on the road. Thanks for the food and the company, Joes. I definitely appreciated the ears."'''

'''Cookie smiles and begins to stack up dishes. "Anytime," she says.'''

'''Kamakura shakes his head. "Its more then that. Anyone that..you know. Its not easy whaat we do. Its a life of harsh discipline and focus. You're as much a part of the clan as you are the Joes- if you're a Joe at all." he says. "I had a good talk myself but I honestly...when I have free time I like to do the most luxurious thing I can think of. Sleep." he chuckles. "Sounds awesome doesnt it? For a full four hours or so."'''

Log session ending at 00:56:04 on Saturday, 22 June 2019.