In progress

[smelltheashes]

The door opens from Milliways onto the narrow metal passages of a ship's interior. "Told Ms. Vance we'd meet her here," says Shephard, "'n then we'd git you together with our froggy wannabes. I reckon I don't got to tell you 'bout keepin' your point of origin out of the conversation."

Comments

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo blinks. Not even a hint of sarcasm? We're sorry, but he only had so much to go on.

He shrugs it off, though, and nods. "Pleasure as always. Leatherneck here told me you guys needed some combat swimmers."

(OOC: Tagged early because Voodoo was kicking around in my head all night going WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOOOOOR.)

[vance_prime]

Just polite pleasantries, nothing more. Alyx is capable of being civil when the situation requires it.

"Have you been briefed on where you'll be swimming to?"

[boston_bruiser]

"Not really, but I'm guessin' it's that offshore desalination plant you guys told me about."

[hecu_marine]

"That'd be the place," says Shephard. "It ain't somewheres we got nearly 'nough info on, unfortunately. Mostly just the sort of shit you c'n gather from shore with high powered binocs, which ain't much considerin' how fuckin' nasty the Combine get 'bout bein' watched sometimes."

[vance_prime]

Alyx nods. "I'll get you a compilation of what information we have," she says, "but for the most part you'll be running blind. Sorry, but those are the breaks."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo pauses. "Can I at least squeeze in a recon dive on the place? I'd be fine with an hour or two. Thirty minutes, if you're really down to the wire."

[vance_prime]

Alyx considers this for a long moment, then shakes her head. "I'm gonna have to say no. We haven't got the time or the resources for it."

[hecu_marine]

"If we had a boat or a chopper or somethin' maybe," says Shephard. "fuck, I'd fly one if I had to, to keep 'em off your back."

[boston_bruiser]

"Waitasec," Voodoo interrupts. "You guys don't have boats? How far offshore is this thing?"

[hecu_marine]

"Only boat we got's the one we're on, and she ain't quite active just yet," says Shephard. "Less'n there's somethin' been fixed when I wasn't lookin', Ms. Vance. Far as the distance goes it's less'n less each day. Combine've dropped the fuckin' water levels so far they left most boats high'n dry long ago, 'n took a couple hunnert feet of water out of the entire fuckin' water table for this part of the continent."

[boston_bruiser]

"So long's it's not something like a mile or two, we should be good. Anything else I need to know?"

[vance_prime]

"The quicker you can get this done, the better," says Alyx. "Every hour we spend here makes it more likely that the Combine will spot us and take us out."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods. "Got it. Where're the volunteers?"

[hecu_marine]

"We got 'bout fifteen people who've signed up," says Shephard. "Reckon we got 'bout enough equipment for ten, so might as well just pick the good'uns."

Thank God for Milliways.

"Got 'em down by the galley."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo smirks. "Give me 24 hours and I'll give you your ten. Where's the galley?"

[vance_prime]

"Down one floor, third door on the left," says Alyx, pointing. "I've got to get back to work on the computer systems, so if you could see him in, Sergeant-Major..."

[hecu_marine]

"Will do, ma'am," says Shephard smartly. "Let's go git us some selectin' done."

And he starts off on his way.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo follows, returning the odd glance or stare afforded him by the crew. "How many people are in the loop about all this? Besides you, Freeman, n' Vance, I mean."

[hecu_marine]

"'All this' bein' Bar shit?" asks Shephard. "Ain't many. Couple of senior scientists. Buddy of mine from Mexico, he did some surveillance work with a dragon from Milliways a while back. Might be somebody fought at City 17 who knows there was weird-ass shit goin' down in that battle but fuck, I was ass deep in the middle of nowhere tryin' to git Chell back here. She ain't on the boat, though, she's back with my momma in Rowlesburg."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods. "Any real wide-open space onboard I can PT them in, or will we have to go outside?"

[hecu_marine]

"Got some space on deck three, but it ain't the best for distance running," says Shephard. "Might do if you ain't happy with the Australian summer."

[boston_bruiser]

"Believe me, the Australian summer'll do just fine."

[hecu_marine]

Shephard laughs. It's not a very nice laugh.

The fifteen people gathered in the galley don't look particularly soldierlike, for the most part. Oh, the three Indonesian-looking women on the end know how to carry themselves and their weapons, and the straw-haired short fellow in the middle looks like he's been fighting all his life, but the rest of them....

"Most of these folks're here 'cause they've used SCUBA shit," says Shephard in a low tone that doesn't carry far. "Jimbo there, he's Aussie Resistance. The women on the end were police divers back in Jakarta before the war. Those two there, they were dive instructors in Fernando Noronha. Lady with the red hair told me she worked for Disney, used t'do SCUBA shows at Epcot or some kind of shit like that... 'n then we got Freeman, he wants in on it too."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo turns his head at that. "Freeman, huh?"

He crosses his arms and looks at the group, mentally sorting the likely graduates from the likelier dropouts. It's mostly guesstimation - guesstimation drawn from years of experience, but still guesstimation.

"Well, if he thinks he can handle it, more power to 'im. I ain't one to stop 'im."

He looks over the group again. "I'd like to talk to them for a bit before we get this thing going. Just so they all know what they're gettin' into."

[hecu_marine]

"He ain't the nerd he looks like," is all Shephard says before falling back to let Voodoo look over the candidates. (Freeman's about three from the left, currently wearing his civvies. He looks, frankly, like a dog chewed on somebody's math teacher. And he's got his crowbar through his belt.) In the end Shephard nods, making a 'be my guest' gesture.

The talk should be interesting.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo looks over the candidates for a few moments more before clearing his throat. Those that aren't already looking at him turn around in their seats.

"On behalf of Miss Vance, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to welcome you to Naval Special Warfare 101. No one invited you here. No one requested you attend this course. You volunteered. And you can volunteer to leave us any time you wish. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day. All you gotta do is raise your hand, yell 'I quit', and you're free to go. No questions asked. You'll be free to go back to doing whatever fucked-up shit you were into before you came here. It's that easy."

He unslings his machine gun, sets it down on the table in front of him. "In the next few days, we're not going to try to train you. We're going to try to kill you. We're going to ask you to do things you think are beyond the limits of your endurance. You will run faster, swim farther, and dig deeper than you thought humanly possible. When you are tired, you will be pushed. When you are hungry, you will go without food. When you are cold, the wind will be your blanket. You will suffer, you will sweat, and you will bleed."

He looks over the class again. "When and if you graduate, you will become part of a brotherhood. You will become the eyes and ears of this Resistance. You will meet the enemy where he does not expect you. You will hit hard, hit fast, and most of all, you will make sure that no donkey-dick Combine motherfucker gets another 40 winks so long as he lives."

A beat.

"15 people comprise this class. Maybe two or three of you clowns will make it. The rest of you will drop out or receive serious injuries in the course of training. If there is any doubt in your mind as to whether or not you want to go through this course, do yourself a favor, do me and the Sergeant-Major a favor: drop out now."

There's no response.

He paces the length of the galley, then stops.

"So. Nobody, huh?"

Again, silence.

"...so fucking be it. Salt flats, people. Let's get there."