Ace Goes Down Under

Ace Goes Down Under

Log Title: Ace Goes Down Under

Characters: Ace, Mara

Location: The Pit

Year: 2009

TP: Cobra Drone TP

As Logged by Ace - Thursday, February 05, 2009, 8:26 PM

Command Center - The Pit

This is the heart of the G.I. Joe base. It is set up almost like NASA's Mission Control Center, but on a grander scale. Instead of only one wall filled with screens, three of the walls have large screens that display maps and information.

Leading from the center of the room is a slope filled with rows of monitoring stations, where individual techs can watch just part of the world. In the center of the room is a raised dais. From here the command staff can watch the action and also address troops gathered along the fourth wall, which is set up like a briefing area.

All of the Pit seems to be accessible from various doors leading from the Command Center.

Contents:
 * Ace
 * Mara

Ace and Mara are talking in the Command Center.

Mara cocks her head. "Australia? Er, not really..."

Mara

Faction: G.I.Joe  Species: Mermaid Function: UNDERWATER OPERATIONS Rank: 1/E-2/Seaman Apprentice SA/US Navy - Navy/Coast Guard

Motto: "There are no friends in Cobra. Only convenient alliances. They’re all cannon fodder when it suits Cobra Commander. I learned that the hard way."

Note:  Formerly a trained Cobra Eel, MARA was one of the first tests of a Cobra experiment to integrate fish DNA into a human. The experiment partially succeeded, but partially failed. She grew gills, but her skin color changed to blue, and she was no longer able to breathe in the open air. Originally joined Cobra out of a 'hard luck' neighborhood, where right and wrong didn't matter, and no one was a friend. She found out that Cobra wanted more than they let on. Departed Cobra with help from GI Joe, during an incident where the Joes were attempting to find a stolen submarine. Has feelings for the one of the Joes. Shipwreck. Which makes her doubly unique, as the only girl who has. In fact, she's followed him now into the Joes. Has recently been fixed by the Joes so she can exist outside the water, though is unsuited to dry environments. She also still turns slightly purple when out of water, though not uncomfortable generally. She has earned some income previously by diving for wrecks and lost ships, both in salvage and hunting for treasure.

Ace says, "I'm thinking about going back to the facility where Cobra stole that drone -- maybe try to find out more about it, and what it's capable of."

Mara nods just a little at that, considering it. "Depending on how much they've modified it by now. Or tried to.?

Ace says, "I've sent some requests for information, but not gotten a lot back. I figure Cobra will try to modify it, but we might be able to better figure out what they might be capable of doing with it if we had some schematics of the base drone."

Mara frowns just a little and nods. "I suppose they don't want to send that information through any means that might get intercepted."

Ace says, "Yeah. They already had their DRONE intercepted. I'm sure that might make them a little jumpy."

Mara nods just a little bit at that. "Exactly."

Ace says winningly, "They stopped returning out calls when we failed to cough up the drone, but I'm thinking if we just show up, we might be a little harder to ignore." He grins rakishly

Mara nods just a little bit and ponders it. "You planning on going alone? Or wanting me along, then?"

Ace grins. "Well, beautiful company always makes a long trip more tolerable."

Mara offers a blush at that and nods just slightly. "Well then, when should we leave?"

Ace stands. "Well, no time like the present."

[G.I. Joe] Col. Ace says, "Wisp, what kind of aircraft do we have standing by for a... 'quiet' trip to Australia?"

[G.I. Joe] lil Wisp says, "I'll check."

[G.I. Joe] Col. Ace says, "Thank you, Captain."

[G.I. Joe] lil Wisp says, "how quiet are you looking for? If it's too quiet, I'd almost suggest not taking a military jet at all..."

Ace looks at Mara. "I'll pack a bag, and meet you on the tarmac."

Mara smiles and nods just a little. "I'll pack one as well."

[G.I. Joe] Col. Ace says, "Eh, that's true. I'll have Intelligence arrange civilian transport for two, under cover identities."

Ace looks Mara over appraisingly

Mara

The young woman before you has the general appearance of being around 25-26 years of age. She stands to a full height of 1.68 meters (5'6") tall, and her lithe form weighs in at approximately 52 kilos (115 pounds). Her figure forms a nice hourglass shape, with just enough at the shoulders to support the weight of her ample, full chest, below them. Relatively normal, yes? Or she would be... except that her entire body is an interesting shade of light violet..

Her form narrows dramatically towards the waist, the width of her hips only being two thirds, at absolute most, the width of her shoulders. The narrowness of the hips is offset slightly by the slender, but slightly muscular legs below them. The musculature of her legs and arms, and the narrowness of her stomach, indicate that she either works out a great deal, or does not gain weight easily.

Her arms, though visibly muscled, are narrow and slender for it, still, a tribute to her overall litheness in frame. She keeps her fingernails grown out to a half an inch beyond the tips of the fingers. The fingernails are kept unpainted.

Sitting atop her shoulders, she has a slender neck, atop which sits a softly rounded face. She has deep green eyes, which are accentuated delicately with black eyebrows, and dark, long eyelashes. Below the eyes, she has very high cheekbones, with a small, delicate nose between them. The cheeks are thin, below the bones, curving down succinctly towards her gently rounded chin, stopping only for her lush, smooth, full lips. Which are an even darker color than the rest of her face, a very rich violet.

Above her forehead, her hair flows, down the sides and back of her head, almost to her waistline. It flows out just enough around the head that it doesn't cover her ears up totally. Her hair is raven black, and flows down totally straight, though it seems to be teased upward just a bit at the front. It covers part of her forehead. If you look very closely at her, along the sides of her neck by her hair, you might just make out the oddest thing about her. Gill slits...

Right now she's wearing a single piece garment. And a completely skin-tight one at that. It's a wetsuit. It covers everything but her hands and feet, but shows off every last curve in her body. From her taut stomach, to the expanses of her chest, the smaller expanse of her rear. All the muscle in her legs and arms. It also shows her neck, and her face, fully.

Mara gets looked over. "I do have some other clothes. Don't worry."

Ace grins. "I was wondering more about how airport security is going to react to your skin color. You're going to throw the racial profilers for a loop." He chuckles

Mara laughs a little and shrugs slightly. "Yeah, I suppose so." Ace grins. "I'll get packing. Meet you in the motor pool?"

Mara nods just a little and smiles. "Meet you there, then."

Ace logs out and heads for the door. "I'll clear things with Link, too, about you leaving the base." He flashes you a smile.

Mara laughs a little bit and nods slightly. "Right..."

Ace heads out. He stops in his room to change and grab a bag and some fake passports. He then walks to the motor pool.

Motor Pool - The Pit

Leading through the forest, a trail brings you to what looks like an abandoned military base. The most direct entrance would appear to be a ramp that leads underground. What is down there is a large, mostly empty vehicle bay. Attached to it is a wide-open aircraft hanger, leading up to an airfield. An elevator near the back of the bay leads upwards into the main facility.

Contents:
 * Ace
 * Mara
 * 1976 Ford Bronco "Stampede" #1302

Ace strides into the motor pool, taking on his secure Blackberry

Mara stands waiting quietly in the motor pool, dressed in something far less... conspicuous. Though it can't hide her hands or her face. She smiles as she sees Ace, cocking her head a little bit. "Everything go smoothly?"

Ace carries a small, fashionable bag, and looks like an international jetsetter. He finishes his call, and hangs up, tucking the phone away. "All is good. Our car ready?"

Mara has a glaringly civilian duffel bag herself. She smiles, nodding just a little bit. "Should be..."

Ace nods. "Excellent." He collects Mara as if she is part of his jetsetter package, and heads out to where his driver is waiting with an armored limousine.

Mara laughs and rolls her eyes, getting collected and coming along quietly.

Ace leads Mara outside. They go to Outer Grounds - The Pit - United States.

Outer Grounds - The Pit - United States

This is nothing more than a small forested area, near the Fort Hood area of Texas. The only road leading to it listed as 'closed.' There isn't much noticable, though the road stretches beyond it quite a ways. At the far end, hidden by trees, is a checkpoint with sentries.

Contents:
 * Ace

Outside the night is cool and clear, and Ace's limo is waiting. The driver holds the door for both of them.

Mara follows right along, blinking at the limo and smiling just a bit.

Ace catches the look, and says, "Well, if we're gonna go, we might as well go in style." He makes an after-you gesture to Mara.

Mara blushes and climbs in carefully, settling into the seat gently.

Ace climbs in the back of the limo and looks you over, smiling. "You clean up well," he grins.

Mara blushes just a bit at that. "Why thank you..."

Ace is dressed in an expensively-looking but casual suit. He grins. "No problem. Helps my cover to have an exotically beautiful woman along."

Mara smiles at the suit and cocks her head a little. "You certainly look good. And like you've done this... a lot."

Ace shrugs. "My secondary MOS is Intelligence Operations... I've gone undercover a lot." He grins and waggles his eyebrows. "Shipwreck needn't worry, though -- smarmy cover aside, I know how to keep things professional." He makes a motion, and the limo pulls out, driving you out of the Pit grounds.

The limo takes them to South Central United States - North America.

South Central United States - North America

Lying in almost the dead center of the southern half of the United States, most of the area here is taken up by Texas. Easily one of the biggest states in the country, Texas is a major hub for US industries dealing in electronics and information services. Most of the farmland is used for raising cattle and growing cotton, and many also serve as dude ranches for vacationers looking for fun living like a cowboy for a few days. Massive oil wells rise over the landscape as well, churning with oil-pumping power. Above it is the smaller, pan-shaped Oklahoma, which is also rich with oil and farmland.

Mara laughs just a little and nods. "I'll try to keep the professional, of course." She settles into the seat and relaxes, closing her eyes.

Ace smirks. "I'm sure you'll be able to control yourself."

Mara laughs a little and nods. "Yeah, shouldn't be any trouble."

The limo brings them to a private, out of the way airstrip, where a Greenshirt Joe pilot in civilian attire awaits with a small non-military jet.

Mara smiles at that, stretching her legs and picking up her duffel. She smiles and heads for the door, to get out and to the jet.

Ace smiles and tips the driver, who is also a Greenshirt FBI agent in disguise. Ace waits to follow Mara up the small flight of stairs into the jet.

Mara smiles and walks up into the jet, settling into one of the seats to that as well, glancing about at the accommodations quickly.

Ace can't help but appreciate the view as he follows Mara up the fold-out stairs, but is sure to be looking elsewhere when she turns around. The jet is small but reasonably well stocked -- you get the feeling it may have been purchased second-hand after the economic downturn.

Mara settles right in and relaxes, leaning her seat back a bit. "Nice... least we'll be comfy along the way."

Ace says winningly, "Nothing but the best for America's undercover agents!" He grins, and fixes himself a small drink. "Want anything?"

The small crew close the door to the jet, and fire up the engines. Ace glances at the cockpit, suddenly distracted.

Mara keeps relaxed, but shakes her head.” No thanks..." She blinks at that. "Er, I'm pretty sure they know what they're doing, to be doing a flight with you on it..."

Ace glances back, and looks faintly embarrassed again. "Oh, I'm sure they do. I'm just a bit of a control freak at times." He settles back with his drink, strapping himself in for take-off.

Mara laughs just a little and nods. "Comes with your job, I'd think."

Ace chuckles. "Yeah. A lot of times I like to ride up in the cockpit and hang out even when I'm off-duty, but this time I think I'll just hang back with you and let someone else do the flying for a change." He grins, sipping his drink.

Mara laughs a little and nods, looking around. "Probably a good idea. And try to adjust for any jet lag that might hit from this long a flight."

Ace nods. "I have a contact in Australia that's making lodging and transportation arrangements for when we land. In the meantime, we have a lot of time on our hands. Want to play cards?" He grins

Mara smiles and laughs just a little, shrugging. "I really wouldn't remember how probably. I'm trying to remember everything I used to know, but it's taken time."

"I could teach you," Ace offers. "We have the time."

Mara smiles a little and ponders. "Well, if you're up for it, I suppose it would be good to waste some time with."

Ace grins, and immediately produces a deck of cards, as if from thin air. He says, "Shall we start with poker? Something simple, like Texas Holdem?" He smiles enthusiastically.

Mara smiles and shrugs slightly. "Sure..."

Ace grins. "OK. Great!" He starts talking fast as he deals out cards. "A round of Holdem consists of four betting rounds. Each player receives two cards face down, known as hole cards, and five community cards dealt face-up for all players to use. The player with the highest five-card poker hand at showdown wins the pot."

Mara nods just a little bit and considers it. "Right...

Ace fishes in his pocket and pulls out a coin. He places it on a small table between you.

Mara smiles and watches that, cocking her head and digging in her own bag for soe of her money.

Ace says, "A small dealer button identifies one player as the dealer. The dealer button moves clockwise to the next player after every completed hand. Of course, in our case, it's just the two of us, but you get the point." He glances as Mara gets out money. "We can just use token bets for now. We can save the strip poker until later," he laughs.

Mara laughs a little and blushes slightly at that, nodding. "Right..." She grins. "I'm actually a little shy about covering most of myself, though I did bring a bikini along for show."

Ace says, "Shy why? Your violet skin?" He pauses in his game instruction, looking at Mara with more serious curiosity

Mara smiles and shrugs just a bit. "Well, that and the fact that I wore the same thing for so long, and it covered a lot."

Ace ahs, and nods. He says, "Well, I was joking about the strip poker. Feel free to wear as little or as much as makes you feel comfortable."

Mara laughs a bit and shrugs slightly. "I figured, but I thought I'd mention it for the record just in case."

Ace grins. "No problem."

Mara smiles and shrugs slightly.

Ace resumes his instructional talk, explaining about enforced bets and the small and big blind bets.

Mara laughs and nods just a little, listening.

Ace says, "Each player is dealt two cards face down, called 'hole cards.' A player's hole cards may be used only by him, and are visible to nobody."

Mara nods just a little bit. "Right..."

Ace continues to explain the card game, taking time and being very patient with Mara.

Mara listens quietly, nodding and trying to remember everything,

As it's a long trip, Ace does his best to make sure Mara's an expert at Texas Holdem by the time they reach Australian airspace.