Scene #1500: Situation Overview

Owner	Pose
Elise Leroy	Situation Room, Local time: 15:00 hours. Status: Alert Level Yellow, Operation in progress. Elise stands at the table in the Situation room, watching the map and staring intently at the pulsing overlapped symbols of an Abduction-class event, and the XCOM symbol marking a deployed Strike Team. Mission timer reads: 00:02:35, and already one vitals feed from one of the Rookie's suits has gone flatline. "Fuck... I should have deployed myself with Strike One... Why did I listen to them when they suggested send out one of the newbie teams?" The Sniper and Commander clenches a fist, helpless and out of touch.
Rebecca Kismarin	"You cannot safeguard them all..." Rebecca and her security entourage enter the Sitution room. The Lieutenant is in full dress uniform, and the security detail isn't hers. Her voice isn't meant to be cruel or disconnected. "Were there experienced members with them?" she asks, hands folded behind her back. She looks professional, eyes on the screen. "Commander," she turns her head towards the other woman, giving her a curt nod. She also looks a lot better since the crash incident. More collected. Cleaned up. "What is the situation report?"
Elise Leroy	A glance is spared. Elise has looked better. The weight and burden of Command seems to be weighing heavily on her. "Strike Four consists of Lieutenant Mariam "Boomer" Hariri. She was one of Viper's squadmates and went through basic with her. One of the newer Supports deployed too, Kate "Fast Lane" Crawford. Gifted if inexperienced... the rest are raw rookies." she explains, looking at the screen and the diconnected readout of the ground team. There's more than the usual six but the extras are marked with a symbol that might have cropped up before. It denotes an 'Elite'. They're marked by callsigns, Durandal, Samsara, Prometheus, Archangel, Wukong and Ghost. "They have Elite support... but Big Sky just called in, they got ambushed by Mutons at the drop point. Bradley didn't make it."
Rebecca Kismarin	"Didn't mix the squad, or is that not a part of the deployment doctrine?" Rebecca asks, gaze turned back towards the screen. "I admit that training and fielding Bioderms is nothing like training and deploying human combatants. Gifted but inexperienced. Does she have leadership talents?" Her gaze shifts to the second readout. "I regret not being able to assist in your deployment. The heavy lift vessel I used to salvage my units and crew was unfortunately on loan." The auburn-haired officer shakes her head, "Is there anything that can be done, or have you already expended your maximum resources to this deployment?"
Elise Leroy	"They're on their own. Big Sky is our only Dropship... one of a kind, custom built for the Project." Elise replies. "I trust Boomer with this one. She's not as impulsive as Viper is, more level headed." A shrug is given, and Elise straightens up, forcing herself to stand straight. "Strike Four is a new team. I weighted them with Boomer and Fast Lane, mostly because we lost the rest of the original Strike Four to a Crash Site gone south. Had to call in an airstrike to level it."
Rebecca Kismarin	Rebecca nods, "If you trust her, then," she states. "Level-headed can and does mean all the difference." She remains standing straight herself, hands still clasped. "I recall that you made mention of a weapons test. If this is not a good time, I can leave you to your command duties." She purses her lips, "My condolences for your loss of life. This is why we field Bioderm assets... machines can be replaced, 'derms can be regrown. Human lives, however..." she trails off, stifling a faint sigh.
Elise Leroy	"Bradford suggested we deploy a fresh squad to test the new Laser Rifles Vahlen finally finished in the labs. First batch rolled off the manufacturing line just before this alert went out." replies Elise, looking over at the Lieutenant. "I remember you expressing interest in our findings. We adapted a few design ideas from those Malignus lasers you gave us. Vahlen already has plans for a Heavy laser system and more Precision weapons for more specialized roles."
Rebecca Kismarin	"SC-400's. Compression lasers," Rebecca says with a nod, perhaps happier to change the subject. "ISI outfitted their Cybrids well. Compression lasers are some of the best laser tech we can field. It's good that they were compressions, not pulse. The mechanism in the C-class may have been easier to reverse-engineer for smaller scale use... At least, that's what the weapon techs told me when the message came that you had been prototyping the rifles." A smile tugs at the corners of the Lt's mouth, "I would have offered a sample of the armory of my base's security detail, but I am bound by policy and contract. UniTech designs." She directs her gaze towards the viewscreen and tips her head towards it, "Salvage rights, however... have no such code to follow."
Elise Leroy	"Vahlen said something about using design cues from that system in a new Interceptor fitting. Wouldn't need to scale it down too much, and the cooling system can be much bigger than our Squad-based weapons. Shen things he can adapt a condensed version down into our SHIVs too, but I'll need to allocate funding to the Research as well as the Development side of things there... Funding I'm currently lacking in." remarks Elise, turning from the Situation panel to look at the Lieutenant. "I can't do anything from here, and Bradford has the ground team covered... that's his job, after all. I just make sure the ground teams have the gear they need to come back alive..."
Rebecca Kismarin	Rebecca nods, eyes on Elise. "If you require more salvage, I can present opportunities. There are still resource rich deposits on the planets in Typheous we have yet to survey," she says simply. "Our competitors will surely be vying for the richest deposits, and with the loss of my ship and efforts in the tournament, I -am- somewhat behind in comparison. Or so I assume." She keeps her stoic expression, perhaps even standing a little straighter. "The burden of command. Though you are still allowed time in the field, yes? Your accompanyment on the defense operation was truly appreciated."
Elise Leroy	"I will not ask my troops to go where I fear to tread." she replies. "A Commander cannot know the situation of a battle unless they see it from the front line. A Commander who sits behind a desk in safety cannot hope to order a man or woman on the front line to their death." Elise sighs softly, shoulders slumping down a bit. "Now we have better equipment, and more specialized models in development, we will be able to offer a much more active role with your forces. We would be more than willing to perform some, covert reconnaisance for you, since you made it rather clear that the sensors of your world's craft aren't geared to pick up human-sized targets."
Rebecca Kismarin	"That's how I am with my crew. When the ship went down, I remained with them. Though, the majority of my people are non-combatant as well. We... do not anticipate engagements with our drop craft. The corporate war has some certain rules of engagement..." Rebecca says quietly, pursing her lips. "We will need to make adjustments. But..." she nods when the subject shifts some. It's obvious that she's not referring to her Bioderms at all, however, and only her human assets. "...if you feel confident in the abilities of your people to handle a HERC-sized ambush, I will not deny that your aid in recon operations will be greatly appreciated."
Elise Leroy	"Viper took out that one with magnetic charges. I think we can figure something out to take down something that size." replies Elise with the first sign of her old self since the Lieutenant arrived. "But, if I could give you some advice? Don't bring something that size back here... it's just asking to get bellyflopped again... if you can wrangle it, have a smaller lift craft to bring things over to help if you do, or just a small personal shuttle to come by..."
Rebecca Kismarin	"With all due respect, Commander," Rebecca says quietly, "I would prefer to track down and take down the ship that brought us down instead. And doing so would benefit us both. Something that size must contain a number of technological artifacts that will benefit your cause. As well as put a massive wrench in the xenomorph's operation. I have already annoyed them, if the Titan's Redoubt is any indication."
Elise Leroy	Elise shakes her head. "My Interceptors can't take something that size down... not yet anyway, and we would need to lure it into the atmosphere." she sighs. "I will not let you risk another ship, not after last time."
Rebecca Kismarin	"Then consider it a long term goal," Rebecca says simply. "Risking a ship at this juncture is certainly not something that I am willing to do at this juncture either. The expenditure of assets when there is not a high chance of victory isn't an idea the suits would like after that first incident." She steps closer to Elise. "But that doesn't stop me from inviting you to assist in my endeavors and offer my own assistance in yours. Our goals intertwine."
Elise Leroy	"Sure..." she replies. "Once we have weapons that can reliably punch through their hull plating, we can attempt to lure one of those big ones down low enough for my Interceptors to pounce on it."
Rebecca Kismarin	Rebecca unclasps her hands, letting her arms hang as she gets within reach of Elise. "Our ballistics tech is still lacking, but should we make any real advancements in armor-piercing, I'll let you know. With any luck our competitors may have similar edges and we can ... appropriate their advances for study. TekWerks and Sentinel are known for their think-tanks, the latter moreso for their weaponry."
Elise Leroy	Elise smirks, "Well, we have a cannon-type weapon, but it's unreliable and means our interceptors have to get close to use it... the Laser should have better range, though our pilots are still going to have to do some fancy flying to get close enough."
Rebecca Kismarin	"Hopefully your laser modifications and designs will punch through armor better than ours," Rebecca says with a nod. "Most of our energy weapons are geared almost entirely towards downing shields. Heat and pressure do token amounts of damage to plating, but... nothing substantial. You'll notice that's why we alternate energy and ballistics." Rebecca smiles, "...energy beat shield... shield beats ballistic... ballistic beats armor... armor beats energy. With any luck and enough funding, we'll change up the rock, paper, scissors game."
Elise Leroy	"We'll certainly try and help with that. Maybe some of our advances can be scaled up to fit on your mechs... We have a Railgun based off the cooling system for the Heavy Laser Vahlen's thought up. It's designed to use a shaped Alloy slug."
Rebecca Kismarin	The Lieutenant shakes her head, "We have gauss cannons. They are imperfect, but they do offer a small percentage of shield penetrative capabilities. Far superior range to ELF weaponry, but nowhere near the same penetrative power." Rebecca smiles at Elise, a proper smile. "Shaped slugs, however. That may be something to pitch to the research team. Aerodynamics and coilguns can be an issue, but rail accelerators do a superior job of hurling different shapes, yes? You seem more well-versed in the finer points of ballistics than I am."
Elise Leroy	A chuckle. "Well, when DEWs are a pipe dream, ballistics are kind of your only focus." she replies. "The only Lasers we had before the Aliens came were mounted on jumbo jets, static emplacements, or battleships." replies the Commander.
Rebecca Kismarin	"I can't remember a time when we didn't have directed energy weapons," Rebecca says quietly, that smile still on her lips. "The progression of different earth histories interests me, and I feel privileged to be able to help yours in dealing with its strifes." Her smile widens, "...the sort of weaponry we have that could fit on a battleship or a ship the size of the Redoubt... Well. The compression laser on the Malignus is nothing compared to what I could mount on an advanced HERC or tank chassis."