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Aberrant: War Journal - War Journal OOC


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Okay, now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty, folks!

All of your characters are going to be part of a newly formed Expeditionary Team, the fourth team, to be exact (written either 'X-Ped 4' or 'X4'). The Expeditionary Teams were devised as a way for Greens who didn't fit in to the traditional battalion strucuture, or wanted new and exciting challenges, to work 'outside the system' as it were. X-Ped teams have more autonomy than any other group - yes, they are frequently given assignments, but they're given free reign as to how they complete them. They are also allowed to investigate situations on their own and travel freely, as long as they periodically check in. Many apply for transfer to the X-Peds, but few make the cut; you are the elite, the best of the best!

However, X4 will be a little different from the previous three teams - as part of a new plan devised by Major Kendall of the 8th Infantry Battalion, X4 will have both a permanent home base and a small group of personnel to aid them in their missions. Both a four man Fire Team and a four man Support Team will be on call 24 hours a day, and your team is encouraged to make good use of these personnel.

The newly-renamed Base X4 is located, like the vast majority of Green bases, under the Cascade Mountains, specifically Mount Aix; the two teams in place are familiar with the area, and will help you settle in to your new assignment. You will be the senior officers at X4, and you will recieve your orders (when orders are given), directly from Major Kendall. Seeing as many of you are probably coming in almost straight from the field, you will need to restock your ammunition and personal supplies; Transport and Supply at Warpstation Bravo will provide any and all items you require at your earliest conviniece.

A Note on Punchcards!

The Greens are essentially a cashless society - military personnel are paid their monthly wages in the form of crude light green punchcards, roughly 3" by 5", that bear the familar logo of the Greens (two interlocking gears, one slightly larger than the other) and the numbers 1 through 24. Items at T&S have their cost listed in punches; the clerk simply punches out the appropriate numbers, and hands the card back. After 24 punches, the card is simply cut in half, which counts as the 25th 'punch'. Lower ranks get 1 card a month and officers get 2, but extra cards are also awarded as a bonus for good work or exemplary service. Also note that in the Cobras, Team Leaders hand out punchcards like candy!

Even though the prices for items are clearly posted, clerks are human - they get flattered or p!ssed off like anyone else, so items can cost more or less than listed. Treat your clerk with respect, but don't go too far!

The cards are an important part of Green life - people gamble with them, write notes on them, save up to buy expensive toys, etc. Some people press 'em in books, others bundle them up with rubber bands, and some folks just jam 'em into the pockets of their BDUs. While you're on base, all your needs are taken care of - regular food deliveries come through the t-ports - but out in the field, the stuff you pick up at T&S can mean the difference between life and death.

I'll keep track of your punches just like I'll monitor your XP, health levels, WP and QP.

And one last final note: look at the Glossary and figure out where you were stationed before arriving at X4. Pick one of the ten battalions from the four areas listed (The Core, The North, The South and Colville) - this is not ground-shaking information, and if you don't pick one it's no big deal, but down the line this could provide story hooks or even unforseen benefits for your character. If you pick one, I'll send you a brief PM listing any interesting factoids I've come up with related to that battalion.

The 10 battalions are technically Infantry, but since they outnumber everyone else, all Regs, Scouts and Cobras are attached to one of the battalions for organizational purposes. And for the record, you'll be in the land of the 8th Battalion at the start of our story.

And now, at long last, the intro post! See you in the new thread!

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Im from "The Core". Oh yea!

Or Le Coure, as Frenchie might say ::biggrin Frenchie's probably tossed a couple tanks in his time.

He walks over ot the woman closest to the TPer (colby I assume) and bows in an extravigant way (which is remarkably fluid for such a musclear man) then takes her hand and lightly kisses it. "Why, hello. Mah name Is Jean-Claud Renee. People I dont like call me Lt. Renee. People who I respect can call me Jean-Claud. My friends can call me Frenchie. You however...can call me anything you like." He gives her a quick wink and before she can respond, he looks around. "I hope I can count on the rest of you to call me Frenchie...or at least Jean-Claud."

Um, not to nitpick, but your an SSO - while it's dot-wise the same as lieutenant, you're still refered to as 'Sergeant'.

Last time I ever start a game with ranks ::blush

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The others may have heard of Raphael in passing, if only enough to know that he is an unapologetic member of the Teragen and the One True Cult from the Core, and one of the few Cobras with the capacity to open warps in space-time.

I was actually thinking of taking that...im glad I didnt now.

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I guess it's 'cos he's 1.8 meters with bent knees & hunched over (he'd be taller if he stood straight), & also has 'bulging muscles'. He's just generally big (& loud ::biggrin ), rather than monstrously tall (yet... ::lookaround ::wink ).

Oh, & I'm guessing that Rex comes from the 'Core' - although I don't know which battalion (what are the differences?).

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Oh, & I'm guessing that Rex comes from the 'Core' - although I don't know which battalion (what are the differences?).

In terms of general areas:

Colville is a mountainous forested region in NE Washington State, which puts it close to the border with Idaho, one of the Blues' mightiest strongholds. Actually, there are several Blue enclaves in Washington, too, all just across the Columbia River. This is the home of the Scouts; their secret HQ 'Mount Doom' is here, and most of them train here as well. There is not a large military presence, but Blues from over the river often sneak in to raid, rape and kill the 'Abbie scum and their baseline whores'.

The RA's 1st, 2nd and 3rd Infantry Battalions are located here, with 1st (AKA 'Richter's Raiders') the closest to the Blues, and the other ones heading out West in numerical order. The Raiders are one of the most respected/feared units in the Greens; they took the brunt of the damage during the bloody Battle of Kettle Falls. The 2nd are their comrades-in-arms, but troops of the 3rd, which is technically outside of the Colville region, are seen as desperate clingy wannabes.

The North, home to 4th and 5th Battalions, is the area closest to the border of Canada in the Cascade range - it is the farthest from any of the ground fighting (at least with baseline forces), though the Navy does periodically fire cruise missiles into the area from Puget Sound and Navy pilots sometimes bomb or strafe as well. This is what passes for 'quiet' in the Greens ::wink As it is slightly more tranquil, this is where Regular Army training usually takes place. There are also a lot of Green-sympathetic towns and campground 'villages' here, and when the Greens take any prisoners, they're usually kept up here as well. Because of this lack of combat, folks from the North are thought to be 'soft' and/or 'lazy' by those who fight elsewhere. The 4th actually is pretty sleepy, probably due to the fine Canadian marijuana they smuggle across the border; the 5th tries to distance itself from its errant sibling, pointing to the impressive new Warpstation Delta as evidence of their commitment to the Green cause.

The Core refers to the heart of the Green Movement, where General Chimera led her mercenary band after leaving Africa in 2044. They set up a training camp at Stevens Pass (which is now a weird sort of 'monument'), and spread over time from there. The 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions are located here, and this is where most of the Cobras do their work. The Core gets it from both sides, hammered by the Army's III Corps (based near Seattle) from the West, by mixed Army and Directive, American Division forces (based near Yakima) from the East.

The 6th Battalion is almost ceremonial, largely protecting General Chimera and her staff. The fact that their bases are old and outdated doesn't help either; Warpstation Alpha, for example is claustrophobic logistical nightmare, with poor ventilation and Intelligence officers forced to sleep in bunks crammed into curtained niches.

The 'Bloody 7th' is aptly named, probably having done more killing than any other battalion, since their bases straddle the Yellow Brick Road (I-90), the artery through which so many US troops and supplies flow. Their reputation, however, is a little unsavory; horror stories of what they do to captured soldiers may or may not be exaggerated, but everyone's too afraid to ask ::devil ::crazy

The 'Crazy Eights', whose lands you're currently in, are known for their excellent recon skills - there's a bit of a friendly rivalry between Major Kendall's boys and girls and the local Scout population.

The South is where the brightest minds seem to gravitate - the Engineers, who think of Warpstation Bravo as being their unofficial home, are always coming up with new devices that the unfortunate personnel of the 9th and 10th Battalions get to test in the field.

The 9th, under Major Schwab, is something of a 'hard luck' unit - closest to Yakima, they seem to have drawn a disproportiate amount of hostility and ordinance into their lives. The other Greens often tire of hearing pathetic 'Schwab stories', even though conditions there are truly quite grim. Last year Warpstation Charlie, once their pride and joy, was mercilessly pounded by a barrage of missiles, bombs and artillery fire, and then ultimately atomized by an OMEN skystrike that leveled Tieton Peak. The resulting wasteland, known among the troops as the 'Charlie Badlands', has a dark reputation that borders on the mythological ::shocked

Things are far more cheerful in the 10th, the southern-most battalion. The boys and girls at WS Bravo serve all of Greendom south of I-90 with a smile, and apparently the mood is contagious; troops from the 10th have volunteered to serve all over, even warping as far away as Colville to bring food, medical supplies or just a helping hand whenever it's needed. They may not be the most battle-hardened unit, but folks are always happy to see them.

The Scouts and Cobras have their own unit designations (1st thru 5th Scout Battalions, 1st thru 3rd Cobras) but the Infantry Battalions are the building blocks around which the Greens are built.

Each Scout battalion is spread over 2 Infantry battalions (1st Scouts works with 1st and 2nd Infantry, etc., with one Scout for each Infantry platoon), with a six person recon/infiltration unit assigned to each Battalion HQ.

The Cobras are built around packs of 5-man strike teams based at the three warpstations for rapid deployment (1st at Alpha, 2nd at Bravo. 3rd at Delta), with one solo Cobra attached to each Infantry Company (three companies to one battalion).

Whew! Didn't mean to go on for so long, but most of this I'd never written down before, just rattlin' around the old skull.

How public are our abilities? To each other I mean?

Should I mention that Mike's nickname is "Kaboom" because of his demolition skills/powers?

None of you have ever met before, but Frenchie's got a bit of a rep, even outside the Cobras; word of Rex and Raphael might have gotten around, too. Otherwise, your powers are probably not known, not due to secrecy, but just not moving in the same circles. And if you want to share, feel free!

WTF!!

I'm absent for a day and there're 20 posts in the War Journal game!!! This is gonna kill me when I start reading posts again in a week or two (or three, ya never know...*gulp*)

I know the feeling ::laugh It also doesn't help that my intermitant posts are also huge.

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Yeah, he's a Cobra. I was following this bit...

The 10 battalions are technically Infantry, but since they outnumber everyone else, all Regs, Scouts and Cobras are attached to one of the battalions for organizational purposes.

... have I got that wrong, then? Now I'm more confused than ever... ::confused

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Yeah, he's a Cobra. I was following this bit...

QUOTE 

The 10 battalions are technically Infantry, but since they outnumber everyone else, all Regs, Scouts and Cobras are attached to one of the battalions for organizational purposes.

... have I got that wrong, then? Now I'm more confused than ever...

He'd be part of 1st Cobra Battalion, attached to the 7th Infantry Battalion, probably seving as Company Support for either Alpha, Bravo or Charlie company. This would mean he would be the only Cobra in the company, working with mostly Infantry grunts, carving a bloody path before him.

I don't have time to do a full IC post, but I should be able to do one later tonight. Ciao!

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Sorry to be away for so long - the Bandwidth Wars got a little ugly for a few days ::unsure

Maybe Raphael should be the Cobra attachment to the First, or a former member of one of the Warpstation teams? If he had been on the Charlie team, it would explain his displacement to the X-peds.

A former warper from WS Charlie has lots of dramatic potential - you could have been bravely rescuing people as the ceiling was crashing down all over, and warped out the last group ::teleport2 just before the skystrike hit: THOOOOM!!!!!! ::shocked

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Do the Greens use the term 'battalion' in the usual sense - i.e. an infantry unit of about 1,000 men, made up from several companies? It's just that 3,000 odd Cobras, plus Novas from the other branches as well, seems like the proverbial sh!tload of Nova troops! Do the other 'sides' have as many troops? Are eruptions pretty much a day-to-day occurance during the War setting? Just how many Novas are there (well, roughly speaking, at least) worldwide now? Just trying to get a feel for the setting really - are the PCs rare as Pax's hair, or are we closer to being 'mere' elite troops?

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The South is where the brightest minds seem to gravitate - the Engineers, who think of Warpstation Bravo as being their unofficial home, are always coming up with new devices that the unfortunate personnel of the 9th and 10th Battalions get to test in the field.

The 9th, under Major Schwab, is something of a 'hard luck' unit - closest to Yakima, they seem to have drawn a disproportiate amount of hostility and ordinance into their lives. The other Greens often tire of hearing pathetic 'Schwab stories', even though conditions there are truly quite grim. Last year Warpstation Charlie, once their pride and joy, was mercilessly pounded by a barrage of missiles, bombs and artillery fire, and then ultimately atomized by an OMEN skystrike that leveled Tieton Peak. The resulting wasteland, known among the troops as the 'Charlie Badlands', has a dark reputation that borders on the mythological 

With Mike's engineering background and fondness for suicide bombs this sounds like a good place for him. His backstory/eruption sounds similar to the "Warpstation Charlie" incident.
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Do the Greens use the term 'battalion' in the usual sense - i.e. an infantry unit of about 1,000 men, made up from several companies? It's just that 3,000 odd Cobras, plus Novas from the other branches as well, seems like the proverbial sh!tload of Nova troops! Do the other 'sides' have as many troops? Are eruptions pretty much a day-to-day occurance during the War setting? Just how many Novas are there (well, roughly speaking, at least) worldwide now? Just trying to get a feel for the setting really - are the PCs rare as Pax's hair, or are we closer to being 'mere' elite troops?

Oh, man! I just lost a truly massive post that answered your questions point by point - "Damn you, Internet Explorer! DAMN YOU!" ::angry ::crazy

Okay, we'll do the el cheapo, quickie version:

1. Green battalions = very, very small. There are less than 2000 military personnel in the Green Machine, just under 4000 nation (world?) wide total if you include non-combatants (family members, sympathetic townsfolk, etc.).

2. There are several million US troops in toto, but only a few thousand in your neck of the woods.

3. The Blues are freaks, and basically start training their young'ens in the womb. Total Blue pop. in Rockies and Northwest: approx. 6000. In the Midwest: approx. 7000-8000.

4. Yep, lots of eruptions - look at 'em go!

5. Guestimate, somewhere between 25,000 to 30,000 after nearly eight years of warefare, plus internal strife and such beforehand.

6. Novas make up somewhere between 1/4 to 1/3 of the Green population. Yeah, you're special, alright. You're all pretty much the highest rank that still goes out into battle.

7. I'll put a recreated version of the more complete structural breakdown of the Greens once I get over the loss of my beloved post.

(Oh, Postie, I miss you so much!)

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With Mike's engineering background and fondness for suicide bombs this sounds like a good place for him. His backstory/eruption sounds similar to the "Warpstation Charlie" incident.

Resounds with much coolness.

P.S. I don't think I mentioned this anywhere else, but there's a listing of all the official Forms of Identification used in the post-Omaha Declaration USA put up in the Fiction Database.

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So we have at least 18 'battalions' (including RA, Cobras, & Scouts - probably more with Support, et al, right?) & only 2,000 troops? So a battalion is maybe 100 guys, a company must be no more than 20 to 30 guys, a platoon will be less than 10, & a squad maybe a couple of guys, tops? Why have they chosen to name their units like that? Is it a morale thing (make everyone think they're in an important unit or something)? Or did they start off being bigger units, & get clobbered down to the currant numbers over the years? Or is their entire military system just different to modern day armies? ::confused

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So we have at least 18 'battalions' (including RA, Cobras, & Scouts - probably more with Support, et al, right?) & only 2,000 troops? So a battalion is maybe 100 guys, a company must be no more than 20 to 30 guys, a platoon will be less than 10, & a squad maybe a couple of guys, tops?

That's about right on the numbers - I got real specific on my late alment lost post (sniff!). As I said, I'll put the actual breakdowns up somewhere on EON soon. Basically the Support units (Engineers, Medics and Transport and Supply) are broken into battalions along groupings of three, five or ten. Med Corp refers to them as 'brigades' instead of battalions; Intelligence comes in 'units', and they are by far the smallest.

Why have they chosen to name their units like that? Is it a morale thing (make everyone think they're in an important unit or something)? Or did they start off being bigger units, & get clobbered down to the currant numbers over the years? Or is their entire military system just different to modern day armies? 

Basically, I started at the bottom and worked my way up, following the US Army structure as a basis, because that's what most American citizens are aware of; the less explaining to new recruits about structure the better: squads make platoons, platoons make companies, and companies make battalions. I could have have used regiments instead, but the US switched to a triangular structure after WWII and eliminated regiments from between companies and battalions, and now they pretty much only exist for historical purposes.

As far as why the Greens did it, I think it was primarily a morale booster; a lot of Greens have died, but not enough to have justified the terms being used in more traditional numbers. The Greens are a micro-army, run by three 'generals' with big egos, with Chimera's the biggest of all. If they weren't so determined and resouceful, they'd be little more than an embarrasment to the US, and would have been wiped out a long time ago.

The Greens are fighting to defend a little slice of dream, so is it surprising they have more than a few illusions?

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Ah, right you are then! So the big-wigs have super-sized egos which led them to name their units with terms that usually referer to units about ten times the size - I can see that ::wink . It helps to know the sort of scale we're working on - when it looked like everyone was in 'battalions' I started to picture battles with more extras than Spatacus! ::blink

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If anyone had any connection to WS Charlie, please PM me - there's a lot of 'unfinished business' involving the attack that we can tie into your background. Many bodies were never recovered, and there are all sorts of rumors as to the 'real' reason Charlie was attacked with such vehemance.

Also, when responding to prof's question about forces in the area, I forgot to mention the Directive, American Division (AKA DAD, Daddy, and Daddy's Boys).

Exact numbers are hard to come by, but in general Daddy's Boys fall into two groups, investigative and tactical.

DAD investigators (known as 'field agents') are most often seen in uniform, though they also work in plainclothes if the need arrises. They spend most of their time monitoring a community's incoming and outgoing communications, interviewing residents, and watching for any illegal activities. They're not unlike the Gestapo, and if they suspect you of having Abberant sympathies, owning contraband materials or worst of all think you might an Aberrant or even just related to one, they will make your life a living hell. Sometimes they shadow a suspect for weeks, sometimes they bring you in right away, and other times you just disappear. There are maybe 150 feild agents in the Yakima area, though they often go far afield looking for subversive elements.

The DAD Tactical units are more like a cross between SWAT, sinister ninjas and Macross transformo-bots. They use stealthy black liftcopters, synthetic eufiber-based camoflage gear and tactical powersuits to hunt out the mutant menace. DAD Tacticals work hand-in-hand with the armed forces to root out Abbies where they live, especially the Greens. The DAD has access to advanced technology developed by Registered Aberrants to scan for Abbies, and then send their heavily armed (and just plain heavy) proto-VARGs out for the hunt. There are about 375 DAD Tacticals based at Yakima, but only a handful of the tacsuits are operational at anyone time; as a new technology, they require constant upkeep, and the battering they take from pissed-off novas can be considerable. Mostly they rely upon their Blackstar suits, which can change camoflage patterns at the touch of a button, and their superior weapons to achieve success.

The DAD's main presence in the area is in the small fortified city of Yakima, some thirty miles southwest of Mt. Aix and Base X4. Home to the Army's Yakima Training Center, this small metropolis is almost more of an armed camp, though there are still a large number of civilians living there. There are orchards and wineries in the area, and after the devestating effects of the Blight, prime agricultural land cannot be allowed to go fallow. A form of collective farming goes on under the watchful eyes of the local EMD officers (basically military police).

Oddly enough, the war has turned Yakima into a city of intrigue, not unlike Casablanca during World War II. By day it's mostly local businessmen, trucks full of fruit pickers and unhappy Yakima Indians in the city, but at night, it's a different story. Restless soliders out looking for fun, black marketeers, spies for the Greens, Teragen and even the Blues, plainclothes DAD agents, hookers, drug and arms dealers and EMD officers in their Stryker APCs all move through the darkened streets after lights out, kicking up dust that makes the beams of their flashlights dance. You'd think with all the illegal activity going on that there would be lots of arrests, but underpaid EMD officers on the take keep all the gears oiled nicely.

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Don't we have at least 2 warpers in this unit?

Hey, Daniels is practically just a kid! Plus that's the way they usually do it, since they've never had an on-site warper before.

(plus I forgot ::blush)

While I'm on the subject, the t-ports aren't warps technically - they're superscience gadgets that replicate the Teleport power, with the limitaion that the can only send mass to another t-port station, the range is rather limited (200 km or less) and that they require large amounts of energy. Why else would there be an unlicensed hyperfusion reactor in every underground base? ::crazy

Warpers are rather rare (in my mind, at least), and the Engineers haven't been able to replicate their power technologically, so the Greens tend to keep them all together at the warpstations, using t-ports to bring personnel together, assemble them into teams, and then warp them out as a group.

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Our most worldly colleague, the Prince of Boredom, inquired to me about the Requisition background; seeing as many of you may not own the Trinity Player's Guide, I came up with my own version here. The items on the right indicate sample items available at each dot:

x = None. Just the gear you were issued

* = Minimal. Better armor or medium weapons (railgun, etc)

** = Useful. Thermopaq 'cool suit', Intel bugging equipment

*** = Dangerous. Big-@ss laser, flying robot drone.

**** = Deadly. Powered armor with big-@ss lasers for arms

***** = Horrific. Tactical fusion warhead

Hope that clarifies things a bit!

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For clarification's sake, here's our full cast of characters:

Name: SSO Jean-Claud Renee, AKA 'Frenchie'

Player: Bahamut

Name: SSO Sydney Freedman, AKA 'Sgt. Havoc' (who's running a little late)

Player: Ezekiel

Name: MS Jamie Jennings, AKA 'Jamie'

Player: Levinwurth

Name: MS Mike Roe, AKA 'Kaboom'

Player: Alex Green

Name: SSO Raphael, AKA 'That Teragen Freak with Two Voices' ::tongue

Player: Phoenix

Name: SSO Hank Wright, Jr, AKA 'Rex'

Player: Proff Potts

Name: To be determined

Player: Prince of Boredom

Name: To be determined

Player: Malkboy

Manly men, one and all!

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As I tinker with my character for the War game.. I noticed that the TS is attached to the RA.. so if you give your main section and then division in the initial form.. the Transport and Supply guys are.. RATS... Geeze that explains everything ::laugh

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As I tinker with my character for the War game.. I noticed that the TS is attached to the RA.. so if you give your main section and then division in the initial form.. the Transport and Supply guys are.. RATS... Geeze that explains everything ::laugh

Hah! You know, I never noticed that before ::blush Well, that means that someone IC has noticed it, if not several someones. Looks like someone might get some Creavity XP before he even starts! ::thumbsup

New slang for Transport and Supply? 'Pack Rats.' Thanks, malkboy!

BTW, for everyone else who's already at X4 and possbily hanging out in the break room, you all we're able to see Rex enter and leave the shower, and if you're sharp (or have Mega-Perception), you might be aware of his little walkabout.

Just sayin'.

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I figure most of us are asleep. Which in turn means that Mike might be asleep, but have a Clone wandering around keeping watch.

Which in turn means that Rex might very well go there only to find Mike waiting for him (what is the point of having Warp if you don't use it to make short cuts)?

Speaking of which, is local technology able to detect Warps?

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I figure most of us are asleep. Which in turn means that Mike might be asleep, but have a Clone wandering around keeping watch.

Which in turn means that Rex might very well go there only to find Mike waiting for him (what is the point of having Warp if you don't use it to make short cuts)?

Actually, that's a good point. If you want to have a clone meet him at the end of 'B' tunnel, go ahead.

Speaking of which, is local technology able to detect Warps?

If you warp into Rimrock, or within two miles, yeah, they'll know, but 'B' tunnel exits 10 miles away from their Aberrant Detection Electronics (ADE) vehicle, and the patrol is beyond the two mile marker, so you're fine.

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