Event #03: WAR ORDER - EXTERMINATION PLANNING PHASE

[vivalamods]

EVENT #03: WAR ORDER - EXTERMINATION PLANNING PHASE

The interrogation of Lord Gundhir is a tense affair, the room and surrounding area silent, save for the ever-present explosions of bombs falling above the Vault. When the interrogators emerge, there is a flurry of panicked activity as messages are sent and contacts are made. Soon, the grim news has spread - the Empire is attacking. The Corsairs act quickly. The mine shall be abandoned. They make a stand at Flotsam. A rising din engulfs the entirety of the Corsairs as they prepare to meet a Legion in pitched battle for the first time.

CORE MISSIONS

This week, there are no Core Missions to complete - instead, players may make whatever preparations they believe are appropriate to ensure the safety of the people and that defenses are ready. Here are a few recommendations, but players are free to use this time to do whatever they wish.

Evacuate Civilians: Evacuate civilians from Flotsam and the mine to keep them out of the fighting.
Hide Vital Infrastructure: Sail the infrastructure ships Flotsam relies on into hidden areas to protect them.
Prime Mine for Destruction: Prepare explosives and other items to ensure the mine is destroyed.
Prepare Defenses: Prepare defenses for Flotsam including more cannons, mustering troops, and the like
Automate Mine Defenses/Expand escape routes: Guns were set up in the mine, Corsairs may attempt to either automate them or create escape tunnels that feed into the primary underwater escape tunnel within the mines so they can be manned and offer resistance to the legion but abandoned safely when the time comes.

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QUESTIONS

[vivalamods]

FINAL PLANNING

[vivalamods]

Prime Mine for Destruction + Prepare Defenses

[redprayer]

Fire in the Hole | Hesaeth Mine

"{Lighting.}"

As Rezo casts the spell, a ball of light forms above his hand and then floats to hover over the group inside the mine. While it's of no use to Rezo himself, for the sighted members of the group it's necessary and less potentially volatile than carrying a lamp and matches around with all the boxes of explosives they're hauling in.

"Right then," Rezo says. "Are we ready to proceed?"

Goodwill, Unity, and Welcome | Flotsam

Over in Flotsam, Rezo is helping to set up designated boats to serve as field hospitals during battle. Mostly this involves setting them up with some supplies that combat medics can grab as needed, but they also need to be cleaned and sanitized, and prepped for the tricky task of manoeuvring a naval battlefield.

As he and another Corsair are stocking the cabin, Rezo remarks to his companion "One thing I'm concerned about is the durability of these boats. They'll be tempting targets for any bombers who realize their utility."

FIRE IN THE HOOOOLE

[purplexing]

There's various emotions he's been feeling ever since the news about the impending attacks, a blend of things so intertwined that he's not sure how to identify them. There's certainly some upset about having to abandon the mines after the work they'd put into getting them, but Donnie also knows that it's something he and others have more or less anticipated. Why else would they have set up defenses and dug out an underwater escape route?

He doesn't particularly like the unsettled feeling that's plagued his stomach, but keeping busy helps keep his focus off of the things he doesn't know how to deal with, his expression deceptively calm as he waits with the others while Rezo does his thing. One might not think a pack of explosives is comforting but the weight is grounding, the task before them clear.

Donnie lets out a breath, nodding before he adds aloud, "Ready."

[redprayer]

Rezo has his own share of concerns about the upcoming battle as well, but of course it isn't the time for anyone here to languish in their worries. They have explosives to plant.

Without entirely meaning to, Rezo winds up at the front of the group. He has far more confidence in navigating a cave where the acoustics give him such a clear picture of his surroundings, and his height naturally adds length to his stride.

That said, Rezo's acting as more of a supporting unit for this venture, and once they're deeper into the cave he'll look to Donnie for guidance on where to plant the explosives. "Is this the right spot?"

[purplexing]

Donnie's been keeping mental track of their progression. He studies the walls, stepping forward as his eyes seek out- ah, there we go.

"This will be a good spot. We'll use the support beams as rough markers, and if we have material to spare, we can set up charges along the ceiling between each or every other span."

Taking out the support beams themselves wouldn't guarantee a collapse, but they'd need to optimize their explosives. "Top corners, I think," he suggests to the others along with them, stepping aside as a ladder's brought over so he can climb up to start.

Goodwill, Unity, and Welcome

[spacetogrow]

"Disguise them? Or make them more resistant to capsizing?" Ilphyl suggested. They are still trying to figure out if they are more useful as a healer or on offense.

[redprayer]

Illusion magic is Rezo's first thought when it comes to disguising the boats, but he doesn't know if he has enough strength anymore to sustain that kind of illusion while also working as a combat medic.

"We can perhaps try to make the boats appear plain and uninteresting," Rezo says, his tone a tad dubious. "But even then, that would only help with the dull-witted and unobservant. It wouldn't be wise to assume our enemy is incompetent. As for the other idea... I admit I don't know enough about boat engineering to know where I'd start with that." But he's not rejecting it either.

[spacetogrow]

"Neither do I," Ilphyl said. "I suppose the other option is having decoy hospital boats'.

Evac Civilians + Prepare Defenses

[tisfinished]

In the inventory - Clack clack

Senshi is busy putting together care packages for the civilians to be evacuated, measuring by the day. He’s starting with a list of what he thinks essential.

Water, two gallons. Small beer, one quart. Rum, one pint. Limes, 2, fresh or candied. Salt pork, one pound; salt cod, one pound; dried pease, one pound; potatoes, two pounds; dehydrated vegetable stock - tea - coffee - lump sugar - milk powder. And hardtack, inevitably hardtack, useful in the last resort as a throwing weapon if not soaked to make it edible…

“We need enough of these for two days for as many evacuees as we can get,” he tells anyone volunteering or volunteered to help him. “Family by family, ship by ship. Higher on the list it is the more it’s needed. Any questions?”

Well, are there?

On Deck - Blast, Build, Battle

Senshi is no artillerist. He isn’t about to aim the cannons. But he was a silver and ether crystal miner, in a previous life, and he knows enough about gunpowder that he volunteered to clean and help load the things.

While it’s difficult to tell his expression behind that beard at the best of times, Senshi seems particularly terse and tense now, as he brushes the inside of the colorfully named artillery pieces: Jumping Jack Flash, Black Betty, The Skipper, Old Hateful, The Winepress…

“Waltzing Brunhilde should be battle-ready,” he grunts. “Should we test-fire her?”

On Deck

[newmemorywhodis]

Link isn't an artillerist either. But he's used zonai canons before. Tossed flower bombs at enemies. Generally made things explore. So he's rather more relaxed around the cannons than Senshi is - and is far more willing to try out firing them.

Link nods. Picks up a canon ball, and waits for Senshi to move safely out of the way before loading it in.

Re: On Deck

[tisfinished]

Senshi steps but very carefully out of the way, handing Link a lit torch with a nod.

Fire at will.

[newmemorywhodis]

"At will" as it turns out, is almost immediately. Senshi is barely out of the way before Link is lighting the fuse.

A few moments of tension, as Link jumps back and the fuse burns down. And then...

BOOM!

The canon fires! It launches high into the air, before coming down into the water with a splash.

But it wasn't quite perfect - the canon had jerked to one side as it fired. Link hadn't been aiming to hit anywhere specific, but if he had been, the shot would have gone wide.

on Deck

[freearcadia]

More loading cannons by hand. It did annoy him mildly that he and Donnie loaded up the mine's cannons with a good chance of it not being used, but it's tempered by the very real fact that they are getting ready for a defensive battle.

The pet names did bring something akin to a flicker of a smile on his face, before steeling himself. "They should be working order, but it wouldn't hurt - shouldn't do doing it with all of them, might draw too much attention." Those things can be quite loud.

Re: on Deck

[tisfinished]

“I’m confident the others will work as well as they ever do - which is to say, save time and load Winemaker with grapeshot to begin with,” Senshi says.

He lifts his torch. “A single firing then.”

Inventory

[relentless_sentinel]

Well, packing stuff isn't precisely new to the Sentinel, but perhaps in this capacity it is. She's looking over Senshi's shoulder as he lists stuff, nodding wordlessly as she reads along, an empty box in her arms, about ready to start grabbing items. Especially any that are high up, she's good at that.

"Naw, don't think so, an' can't think o' anythin' to add yet from the pantry...actually, wait. That per person or...?"

Preparing Post-Battle Medical Stations

[lightnovelexperiences]

Deedee Yeowoo has posted a message to the network, done what she could in the backrooms of her spa, and is ready to hurry up and wait.

In addition to the perfumes and skin softening creams, she's stockpiling actual medicine: aloe vera lotion for burns, gauze and bandages, extract of willow for pain, antibiotic creams, lancets for draining abscesses. She's not capable of real surgery, of setting bones or removing bone fragments. But she can take her chances with taking out bullets and applying her healing magic, and she's getting everyone else who can prepared for it too.

Can you help her with her makeshift first aid beds?

[newmemorywhodis]

The extent of Link's medical knowledge is largely the sort of thing any soldier would know. Simple first aid, how to patch himself up. That sort of thing. He wasn't going to be on the med stations in the upcoming battle, and he knew it.

What he was, however, was the kind of person who would silently and without complaint help with any kind of menial tasks that someone needed done. So he diligently helps Deedee with her beds, setting up each one.

They're not the neatest beds. But they're adequately made.

Evacuation

[singlemilletgrain]

Given her insistence across the ethernet earlier, Shu has taken it upon herself to take an active role in the evacuation of the civilians of Flotsam. As 80,000 people needed to be sheltered in the Vault, this is not a process that could happen in a single day or even a week. Most importantly, the Empire's eyes could not be allowed to catch a glimpse of this process, else the Vault's defenses would be compromised.

It is decided that each ship in the flotilla of Flotsam will be assigned a departure date spreading across two weeks. Civilians would evacuate and be replaced by a skeleton crew of combatants able to man the ships and maintain the integrity of the fleet. In the meantime, the people of Vault were called upon to volunteer to host evacuees in their homes for the remainder of the month. Throughout this, Shu and a large number of other Corsairs attend to various tasks ranging from creating evacuation routes and physically guiding people off the ships to something as menial as sweeping empty homes in the Vault in preparation for incoming guests.

prompt 1; In the evening, Shu is high up in the crow's nest of an empty boat, looking up at the stars with lists of family names and parchment marked with evacuation routes scattered around her.

"4,536 people transferred today. We are behind schedule... I very much fear this will not be sufficient."

prompt 2; Shu is holding an elderly woman's arm as she gently maneuvers her down a (seemingly unbearably long) path towards the warp platform. The woman is loudly going on and on about how in her day, she would have held off the Empire alone with a gun in each hand and how her no-good son wasn't even going to participate in the fighting and if she didn't have her sciatica, there would be no possible --

"Yes, Grandmother. Of course, Grandmother. Please watch your step here, Grandmother..."

prompt 3; Shu is in the Vault, inside a depressing looking tiny room that resembles a cell or a large closet, holding a broom in her hands and dubiously reading off a list.

"...A family of seven is supposed to stay here. Four children from 2 to 12 years old."

3

[redprayer]

Rezo isn't best pleased himself. "We can certainly pack them in," he says with a sigh, "But not only is the battle itself going to be a hard one, but with these conditions I expect we'll have an epidemic on our hands shortly afterwards." Not necessarily a deadly one, but cramming two different populations together in such a tight space is definitely going to result in colds and flus running rampant among the more vulnerable citizens.

[singlemilletgrain]

"An epidemic -- ?"

Her eyes widen in surprise momentarily, taking the term with its worst possible meaning, before she sensibly realizes what Rezo is trying to say.

"I understand. You mean the cramped living spaces and the inevitable breakdown of hygienic standards. Then we must stock more medication from Elysium." She shakes her head. "These people must have some furniture. Or at least some mats. They cannot sleep on the bare rock. The logistics of this operation are overwhelming."

They were doing their best, and yet it was simply impossible for things to go smoothly under such a tight time constraint.

Escape Tunnel Digging

[minorinasskicking]

Upon hearing that the Corsairs stationed at the mine wanted an escape tunnel dug before the Empire showed up, Gohan volunteered. He had heard stories from both his father and Krillin about the training they received under Master Roshi's eye, which included digging furrows for farmers to plant their crops with their bare hands. And while Gohan knows his strength has been reduced in this world, he's also confident that he's stronger than they were when they underwent that training.

And so, Gohan spends much of the time in preparation digging an escape tunnel by hand. So far, he's managed to get started on a tunnel about ten feet in diameter, all without the use of a shovel or any other tools. He's not even wearing gloves, because he expects they'd just fall apart due to friction. Despite that, he's making good progress, and not even rock has been able to hinder him -- all it takes is a few punches and the occasional ki blast, and it turns to rubble. The only real downside is having to get the material he's dug out of the tunnel. He opted for a tub rather than a wheelbarrow, since it'd be faster for him to just carry the material out than to wheel it out.

He doesn't work constantly, of course. He takes breaks on a regular schedule to avoid exhausting himself, and during those breaks, he can be found either outside the tunnel and drinking water, perhaps with a book open in his hand, or in the canteen, rapidly devouring a multiple-course meal.

At some point after she's helped Harlock and Link

[relentless_sentinel]

Most of Nephenee's time has been spent helping with the defenses at Flotsam and the evacuation there, but during a lull there, when her energy is high and she desperately needs something to do, she shuttles off to the mines to see what she can do there to help. Granted, she doesn't know much about what they're doing, but the hasn't stopped her from making herself useful before!

It's during one of Gohan's breaks that the soldier comes upon him, clad in her blue & teal armour and with her lance and shield on her back. Huh, she's...seen this guy around, but hasn't actually spoken to him (though that's not a short list...). Curious, and eager to help, she walks over.

"Hey...Workin' on mine stuff?" She asks, before realizing with an internal groan and facepalm that the question's awfully silly.

Nephenee's good at conversation, honest.

[minorinasskicking]

Upon hearing Nephenee's voice, Gohan opens his eyes and pulls the water bottle away from his mouth. He's probably had enough water for now, anyway.

"Hm? Oh, yeah." Gohan looks toward the tunnel he's been digging, and motions to it with his free hand. "The staff here needs escape tunnels, so I've been helping by digging them myself."

Of note is that while there are a few digging tools strewn about the area, they all look clean except a single tub made out of aluminum, which has some dirt caked on the inside of it.

Expand escape routes + Hide Vital Infrastructure

[spacetogrow]

The Mines
Ilphyl moves through the mines like a ghost. They can see in total darkness, so unless they need color vision, they aren't bothering with a lamp, or their magic.

Instead, they are using magic to slowly shape stone into new tunnels. They have a map -- and had worked out a plan with other miners -- and are using existing passages when they can or offering assistance to carve intot he rock so that charges can be set, but it is slow work, and Ilphyl has spent more time practicing their shapeshifting than other magic. So, they are currently tucked into a corner, taking a rest in the dark (to the surprise of anyone who might not realize anyone is down here).

"Sorry, didn't realize anyone was down here."

If you brought a light, you can see them. If not, it's just the change in the air and the voice that pipes up.

Flotsam
Wind and water mages aren't in short supply in Flotsam, but Ilphyl can still occasionally be found helping move ships. They are still a novice sailor, but they can follow instructions and help deal with treacherous currents by using their own magic to smooth them out. Best to save that.

Currently they appear to be either deep in thought or in the trance-like state they do instead of sleep, in an isolated spot on the deck.