|
| "You're listening to Mowgli Radio. Caller, what's on your mind today?"
| ________________________
|
________________________ | "I̴.̶.̷.̷ ̸t̵h̶i̷.̴.̷.̶ ̵.̶.̷.̸r̸k̷i̸n̷g̴?̷ ̷T̴e̷s̶t̷i̴n̸g̴,̵ ̷.̸.̵.̶e̷s̵t̵.̵.̸.̴,̷ ̷.̷.̶.̸n̸e̸,̶ ̶t̴w̴o̷ ̷.̴.̶.̴ ̸.̷.̴.̷m̶m̷,̸ ̸a̶ ̷l̸i̸.̵.̸.̶ ̶.̶.̶.̷e̴r̸ ̵.̶.̸.̶" | |
| "Hang on; something's up with the feed. Let me see if I can just ..."
| |
| N̴o̶ ̴n̵o̶ ̶n̸ ̸.̴.̵.̴ ̵.̷.̴.̸n̵'̵t̶ ̴t̷o̷u̸c̸h̶ ̶.̵.̴.̴y̶t̷h̶i̵n̸g̸!̵ | |
| "Okay, okay, geez. Just tryna help ..."
| |
| S̶o̶ ̸o̷b̷v̶.̷.̶.̷h̵e̴ ̶c̴o̷n̴n̶e̴.̷.̸.̵i̸s̶ ̵t̷h̸e̶r̵.̵.̸.̶i̵.̷.̶.̷u̴s̴t̶ ̷w̴e̵.̴.̷.̷.̶.̷.̸.̵.̷.̸.̸.̷.̸.̷a̶m̷ ̷I̴.̴.̸.̸t̷h̵e̵ ̶w̷r̶o̶n̴.̶.̶.̵.̵.̵.̶e̸l̸,̵ ̸o̸.̶.̷.̷s̷ ̷s̴h̶e̸?̷ ̶.̴.̷.̵.̶.̵.̴e̶ ̶j̵u̷s̵t̸ ̸c̶h̶e̸-̴-̴-̷y̶e̶a̸h̵,̷ ̴t̷h̷i̸.̴.̷.̶.̵.̶.̶.̷c̶o̷r̷r̶e̸c̷t̴,̷ ̵a̵c̸c̵o̶r̸d̴i̷n̴g̸ ̴t̸o̷.̴.̵.̵.̷.̵.̵.̸.̸.̴a̶t̷ ̵t̵h̷e̶ ̴h̴e̴l̶l̴?̵ | |
| " ... "
| |
| "G̸.̴.̷.̴n̷n̶a̴ ̸h̷a̷.̶.̸.̵ ̵b̸r̷u̶t̵e̴-̴f̵o̵r̷c̴e̷ ̸t̵h̶i̸s̸,̵ ̶o̶r̸ ̶.̵.̴.̷ ̴n̴ ̵t̶h̸e̶r̸e̶ ̵m̴y̶s̸e̸l̴f̶ ̸.̴.̷.̵ ̷s̷t̶.̷.̵.̷i̷d̶,̸ ̴s̵t̵u̵p̵.̸.̴.̷ ̷e̵p̶o̴r̷t̶,̸ ̴f̴r̶e̷a̴k̶i̷n̵'̵ ̷m̶i̷n̷.̸.̶.̶-̵w̴.̵.̵.̵g̸e̷ ̷ braindead freakin' idiots ... oh. Oh it's much better on my end now, much less feedback. Hello? Are you receiving this?" | |
| "Um ... yes, actually! Loud and clear-ish!"
| |
| "Great! Hey, sorry about that. I think someone knocked your variable capacitor out of tune at your last electrics checkup. Either that or there's a typo in the report and I was surfing a different channel. I swear. That's what minimum-wage data entry gets you." | |
| "It happens."
| |
| "Well, if you've got your own channel now ... (even if it’s the wrong one) ... then you got your callsign, too, right? Are you still using the one from your Coalition days? Let’s see: 'Mowgli,' right?" | |
| "Yeah ... (Seriously, you get scratched in the eye by a cat ONE time, suddenly everyone's ...)"
| |
| "Huh? What was that?" | |
| "NOTHING."
| |
| "Don't worry. Every callsign in every PMC is like that. Hell, someday you can ask me why I'm called——uh, on second thought, never mind. Anyway, I'm Druid. Handler, eye-in-the-sky, and all-around tech-mage. I do all the background checks for the Artaxerxes, so I've already seen your files. I also keep your lines clear and your battle-map updated while you're pounding dirt planetside. Sat-link, neurosync, comms, you name it, if it's twitchin' and glitchin', I'm the guy who plays with the bunny ears and kicks the TV until the picture's back.
"... That was a joke, by the way. Please don't kick the equipment. VERY expensive." | |
| "Oh, please. I wouldn't have DREAMED of touching your precious stuff."
| |
| "OUR precious stuff. Remember, these machines keep you alive, AND provide your livelihood. The least you could do is respect them, as you would a cherished pet, or a ... little sister. Yeah, But yes, don't break my stuff." | |
| "Heehee. I'll try."
| |
| "... Anyway, normally we'd have beer and pizza ready for you in the briefing room, a sort of welcome-aboard party. But as you can see, everything's a bit hectic. We were hoping to do a fly-over and gather some intel by satellite, but, well, look out the portholes and see for yourself. Ain't no signals getting through that soot-storm. We're playing fast and loose on this one, so you'll just have to get briefed on the shuttle down." | |
| "I don't know what 'pizza' is, but if it's served with beer it must be important. Get my briefing during the drop; got it."
| |
| "Wow, you definitely aren't from Earth, huh; guess they can't grow tomatoes where you live?" | |
| "What's a tomato?"
| |
| "... Okay, so you're fucking with me, right?" | |
| "Yes."
| |
| "... Moving on, our comms frequency is 141.92, callsign 'Jetlag'; that's G-T-L-G. Think you can remember that? I hear your Talarius RSS9 'Fire Ant' is spearheading the alpha-phase of our approach, so the others will be waiting on our call. No delays once you're in the decel stage: tune to that number and shoot me a wave ASAP." | |
| "I'm ready."
| |
| "Glad to hear it. We're already in L.E.O. over Triton-5, so you're ready as soon as you've got your parachute and jump-pack. You get those on the west end of the hangar." | |
| "Alright."
| |
| "And don't forget that signal! As soon as you lose the shell and enter free-fall, start transceiving at the frequency I gave you. Okay?" | |
| "I got it. Thanks, Druid. I gotta go ... get my equipment now, I guess. Talk to you in a few minutes? Have that pizza ready for me when I get back."
| |
| "Sure thing. Good luck, Mowgli. And hey. Welcome to Fireteam 9." | |