Wapsi Held Hostage - Day 14 (was Castela Notice 2015-07-05)

[DilyV]

SECTION!!!! Fire for effect!!! Three rounds!!! HE Quick!!! Charge seven!!! Deflection, 2781!!! Elevation 0893!!! Fire when ready!!!

When I was in the Army I used to hang around with one of the Team Leaders... he was an old infantryman and had done time with 81mm mortars when he was in the Guard before he came active duty... we'd have events on post where the different units would set up displays. He used to show me how to work the mortar and the Bradley... I loved it, knowing that as a woman I'd never get to use that stuff, but I got to learn how it all worked. The infantry guys were in awe that an MP knew how to work their shit... but then ol' Sarge was like that... pulling knowledge out of his bag of tricks and leaving people with their jaw hanging open at how much he knew. He taught me things that helped me survive the sandbox...

[illiad]

Perhaps I should have a ... friendly... little chat with the cable people- I am sure we can come to a ... reasonable... understanding...

Bravo Base, this is Bravo Charley- will send co-ordinants for primary target to Bravo Delta and Bravo Echo- as soon as registered, have standby for fire for effect, over,

You and I are on the same page.

well it could be summat to do with lawyers in the building / council he is in?? They have been told they need to dig up the area, but they wont agree, and ALL just cannot see what the REAL situation is!!

Sgt. Howard, would you have a spare ICBM to 'wake up' My UK ISp ????
Re my comment...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2188&start=20#p52375

I could paste the lot over here???? : P

[oldmanmickey]

oh boy oh oby oh boy, i get to launch a bird, i get to launch a bird. keys and codes are ready, all i need are targeting coordinates. they dont need to be percise, like we used to say close only counts in horse shoes, hand grenades and ICBMs. count down on hold waiting for final go no go conformation. we gonna wake somebody up for sure.

[Leak]

Someone get a Kickstarter together to pay for Pablo's legal bills - and enough CAT30 line for him to get a dedicated internet connection...

Maybe that's just me being here in the middle of Europe, but if something like that happened to me (knock on cable modem) I'd just tether my PC to my phone and use that while I wait for the situation to un-mess itself; any ideas why that's doesn't seem to be an option where Paul lives now?

(I mean, I wouldn't want to surf the web on my phone all through the day...)

[shadowinthelight]

Maybe that's just me being here in the middle of Europe, but if something like that happened to me (knock on cable modem) I'd just tether my PC to my phone and use that while I wait for the situation to un-mess itself; any ideas why that's doesn't seem to be an option where Paul lives now?

(I mean, I wouldn't want to surf the web on my phone all through the day...)

American cell providers hate phone tethering and charge exorbitant amounts if they allow you at all. It cuts into their ability to sell separate data plans for your other devices.

[Leak]

Maybe that's just me being here in the middle of Europe, but if something like that happened to me (knock on cable modem) I'd just tether my PC to my phone and use that while I wait for the situation to un-mess itself; any ideas why that's doesn't seem to be an option where Paul lives now?

American cell providers hate phone tethering and charge exorbitant amounts if they allow you at all. It cuts into their ability to sell separate data plans for your other devices.

Ewww... that %#*& wouldn't fly around here - people are too used to buying a SIM card and doing with it whatever they want...

So mobile phone plans in the US are *still* stuck in the dark ages?

[AmriloJim]

So mobile phone plans in the US are *still* stuck in the dark ages?

Not all. My carrier is flat rate $35USD/month, taxes included, for unlimited talk/text/data with no restrictions on tethering.

[Julie]

*sits back waiting for the fireworks show with a bucket of popcorn* I love the people in this forum. I don't ever have to rage. They do it just fine without me.

[AmriloJim]

My apartment includes basic cable and wifi.

Speed test to local wireless server via the cable wifi:
76ms ping, 10.73Mbps D/L, 2.24Mbps U/L.
The tethered cell connection:
60ms ping, 0.80Mbps D/L, 10.84Mbps U/L.

Switching to the cable company server:
12ms ping, 11.62Mbps D/L, 2.23Mbps U/L.
The tethered cell:
70ms ping, 0.80Mbps D/L, 6.24Mbps U/L.

I knew the cell connection was slow... the U/L speed is a surprise.

[chicgeek]

*sits back waiting for the fireworks show with a bucket of popcorn* I love the people in this forum. I don't ever have to rage. They do it just fine without me.

Julie, the grey haired woman next to you grins. "Mind if I have some of that popcorn? As a civilian, all I can do is sit back and watch the show. All I could do here is cuss out those mangy s.o.b.s, but I'm pretty sure the military folk here have that covered, too."

[Sgt. Howard]

*sits back waiting for the fireworks show with a bucket of popcorn* I love the people in this forum. I don't ever have to rage. They do it just fine without me.

Julie, the grey haired woman next to you grins. "Mind if I have some of that popcorn? As a civilian, all I can do is sit back and watch the show. All I could do here is cuss out those mangy s.o.b.s, but I'm pretty sure the military folk here have that covered, too."

Until you can profane well enough to peal paint, you are NOT promoted to Sargent.

[GlytchMeister]

GlytchMeister wrote:
The End of Wapsi?
Glytch's head snapped up, and he paused mid-stroke with his sharpening stone. "Well, now... We can't have that." His voice was suddenly deep and quiet, and his face betrayed no emotion. His eyes, however, seemed to sink into his skull, and they all but disappeared in shadow as he drew up his hood.
He calmly but quickly packed a few choice items in his small pack and approached Greg with long, quick strides. "I need a parachute, a pilot, and a plane to fly me over the target area."
Greg stared at him, completely taken aback. "I'd advise against skydiving into a killbox, boy."
Glytch smiled. "Then don't shoot until I leave. I'm going in to make a different sort of... Impression." The hooded youth twisted and pulled a white feather from his pack. "Ring any bells?" His mouth twisted with a lopsided smirk.


"Son, you might want an experianced fellow on 'point'- I know I am a bit long of tooth, but the old skills are still there- do you know how to handle a square 'chute?"
"Uh... no..."
" 'Round will get you down but square will get you there'- heh- no worries, but I think we want to do a mild 'halo' on this... and I know a square rigger that is user-friendly to a beginner. Jump at twelve, open at half and hit the target from eight miles lateral- that way the bird is not precieved as a threat. Not high enough to ABSOLUTLY need oxygen, but we don't want to linger at altitude,"
"Jump at...what?"
"Twelve thousand feet, open at five hundred- four thousand five hundred feet of free-fall. You can 'bullet', right?"
"Bullet?"
"... have you ever jumped?"
"Uh... no..."
There was a bit of a pause-
"Well then- I have less than no time to turn you into an 'airborn'... yes... I've handled worse... c'mon son, we've got some training to do-"
Greg looked Glytch up and down to get some vital measurements- then he reached inside his overalls and pulled out an empty folded dufflebag.
Unfolding the bag, he started pulling out a set of woodland cammo BDU's, a pair of jump boots, socks, an M17 Gas mask, an old steel pot helmet, a web belt with suspension... right on down the line... everything looked brand-new and about Glytch's size.
"We ARE going to do this RIGHT, of course,"

Glytch shook his head upon seeing the gear Greg was pulling out. "That stuff may be right for open woodland warfare, but we're going to be infiltrating an office building to find an address and then a house. Camo, bucket helmets, and shitkicker boots don't work for that. Especially since the office is just west of the metropolitan area of De Moines, Iowa."
John looked at his phone, pulling up a map of the target area. "See?' The coordinates are just south of Drake University. I don't know what you plan on firing out of those cannons, but I sure as hell hope you can hit a single building in a city. We don't have a beef with the whole area. Oh, and let's not forget Paul is currently living there."
Glytch smiled and, just as Greg sucked in a breath to speak, he continued his speech. "I know you're an experienced soldier. I respect that. But, keep in mind, this youngster has some experience of his own. I didn't learn to carry a big-ass knife with me wherever I went by being a goodie-two-shoes all my life."
Greg frowned and narrowed his eyes. "And just what do you mean by that?"
Glytch let a dangerously villainous laugh escape him. "I helped keep my hometown free of organized crime when the cops failed. I know a different kind of warfare." Glytch swung his pack off his shoulder and opened it to reveal the climbing gear and rope, a bandanna, mechanic's gloves, his trusty steel pipe, a spare dagger, and a few flashlights. "This, and the stuff I have in my pockets and on my back are all I need to perform the mission after landing, if we don't come up against anything extraordinary. In urban areas, blending in is key. If we try anything wearing soldier uniforms, everyone who sees us will watch us. Not. Good."
Now Greg shook his head. "I doubt you'll be blending in much after jumping in street clothes. These are made for that. Your clothes will be destroyed by the winds, especially in a bullet dive. Those shoes will be gone in seconds."
"Oh, a bullet dive? Why didn't you just say so? I know how that works." Glytch tapped his head. "I may not have any real experience, but you'd be surprised by how much random crap I know. Anyway, how about a compromise: I'll wear your gear on top of mine, but once we land, We lose the camo. Good?"

[Opus the Poet]

My first "up" was with The Company, blowing up infrastructure and leaving captured Soviet brass and Russian cigarette butts laying around to make it look like Soviet-backed Commies were causing a ruckus. I used to be real good at making explosives from local chemicals that were normally used for cleaning supplies and running motor vehicles and getting just enough "oomph" to take out the target without taking out the neighborhood. Also the infrastructure we were sent against was stuff that had already been slated to be replaced within the year so we made a mess but didn't cause any long-term disruption.

You say we need to take out an office building without scratching the neighbors? Or just a floor on that building? Don't want to take out just the one office, that would be just a bit blatant. Scare the company, but don't threaten any individuals.

[GlytchMeister]

If an apocalypse happens, I know what website to recruit my post-apocalyptic survival team from... In addition to some IRL friends. Y'all are welcome to bring your buddies along, too. I know a fallout shelter big enough to house a lot of people down in Bloomington.
@ Opus: I've been looking for a certified demo man.

[Dave]

Have y'all thought about something effective, but decidedly non-lethal?

Like, plant a really putrid stink bomb in the building air conditioning? A little tetramethylenediamine, a bit of pentamethylenediamine, some thiols for good measure...

"Your customer service stinks, dudes... both figuratively and literally!"

[GlytchMeister]

I've got something far more frightening in mind. Stink bombs, no matter how chemically advanced, are college frat-boy-level pranks.
*evil laugh*

[Dave]

He was cut short by a jarring tremor that shook the stout ship from stem to stern.

"My God!" the Captain shouted, bolting for the door, "we've struck! All hands on deck!"

They reached the deck a second behind him. Instantly an overpowering stench enveloped them body and soul, searching out the secret convolutions of their brains with a sense-destroying, paralyzing nausea. Hardened old whale pirates were leaning over the rail in a paroxysm of the extremest misery. On the less calloused members of the expedition the effect was instantaneous and drastic. It was complete. No chemist in the distorted ambition of his wildest nightmare ever dreamed of a smell such as that which defiled the very soul of this night, otherwise so beautiful and serene.

A full moon silvered the calm meadows of the sea. Nature, dead and living, lay peacefully asleep. Athwart the silver road through the ripples floated majestically the vast corpse through whose middle rottenness the sturdy ship had churned her filthy way. Four pillars, two at either end, towered up in the mystic light like the ruins of a shattered temple on a hill in Greece. These were the creature's legs. What else of it the moonlight revealed had better be veiled.

"There's your immortal whale, Captain," the Doctor sobbed when from very emptiness he ceased his calisthenics.

"Whale be blowed. That carcass is the size of four whales. It's one of them."

"I believe," said the penitent Doctor, "smelling is a severer test of truth than seeing. Lead us below and give us asafetida from your medicine chest to take the taste of truth out of our mouths."

Returning to the Captain's cabin they sought forgetfulness in rum, tinctured with Jamaica ginger.

"How shall I ever get it out of my hair?" Edith wailed.

"Shave your hair, dear," the Doctor prescribed, "and then boil it in lye."

John Taine (Eric Temple Bell), The Greatest Adventure, 1928

That's kinda what I was thinking about. A bit difficult these days to find a suitable steamship-sized rotten dinosaur to use as raw materials, though.

[GlytchMeister]

If that's what you're going for, might want to look up thioacetone.

[oldmanmickey]

*sits back waiting for the fireworks show with a bucket of popcorn* I love the people in this forum. I don't ever have to rage. They do it just fine without me.

Julie, the grey haired woman next to you grins. "Mind if I have some of that popcorn? As a civilian, all I can do is sit back and watch the show. All I could do here is cuss out those mangy s.o.b.s, but I'm pretty sure the military folk here have that covered, too."

Until you can profane well enough to peal paint, you are NOT promoted to Sargent.

And each progressive rank requires at lest one new language cuss term. For instance i can start a fight or enter a business deal a lady in 4 other languages besides English.

[oldmanmickey]

If an apocalypse happens, I know what website to recruit my post-apocalyptic survival team from... In addition to some IRL friends. Y'all are welcome to bring your buddies along, too. I know a fallout shelter big enough to house a lot of people down in Bloomington.
@ Opus: I've been looking for a certified demo man.

Why on this good green Earth would we want to ride out an ELE in Bloomington? In my case at lest i am at lest 50 miles from any wave 3 target, at 350 feet above sea level tidal waves and sea level rise is covered. Abundant food and water, no humans closer than a mile. Nearest nuclear facility is 70 miles south east so prevailing winds got that covered. You come down here, lol