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[Grunhill]

Do you have any kind of e-books for free download? And the H.M.R.C. pantheon that you gave Lars in a virtual format. I really want to read something while waiting. Preferably books about weaponry and tips on assassination.

Send message to AM. Keep watching the gate.

[IronyOwl]

In a rather dangerous move, considering how quickly he is moving through the streets, Stacy decides to type up a statement to dear old Faith.

Dear Executive Equipment & Expertise Evaluator,

I am sorry to say that I have currently wandered off to keep an eye on the two less stable individuals in our merry venture in crowd pacification. I am sure I need not provide specific names. In lieu of my presence, I can tell you that I have a Microwave Field Manipulator, a 1/8th kiloton nuclear explosive charge (grabbed it from Sandy in case things got really, really, unsalvageably bad) and a MKII spacesuit. I am reasonably competent in the use of manipulators, and I am familiar with the operation of the nuclear charge. The MKII, to my knowledge, operates itself. I could be wrong. Through the application of my rather reasonable intellect, I am reasonably able (or at least not cripplingly incompetent) in tasks involving work with machines, medicine or software. I am also not entirely terrible at talking to people and making up on-the-spot odes to women, and am rather flexible both in terms of drug experimentation and in the general moral sense. I was also chemically altered by Sandy (the nice armory lady) to have a compulsive need to either dance or sing, and I can switch between these two modes. I hope this is enough information, dear Executive Equipment & Expertise Evaluator.

Sincerely yours,
Stacy Buttle.

Once he finally looks up, he observes that he hasn't missed a thing.

Faith stared at Stacy's response for a good while.

Thank you, yes. Your MKII operates itself normally, but can be manually overriden for rare, specific purposes. Please do not under any circumstances use the 1/8th kiloton charge. I find it very difficult to imagine a situation where that would make things better rather than worse.

Thank you for keeping an eye on our less stable members.

On a related note, please try to keep casualties to a minimum.

I have an amp. I have basic medical training. I am familiar with basic equipment. I am neither a technician nor a medic.

Thank you, Lyra. What kind of amp is it, and are you familiar with its use?

Just a humble Bureaucrat, here.

Faith winced. Great...

That's unfortunate. Do you have any useful skills outside bureaucracy? What is your current equipment?

I'm a former psychiatrist, I'm good with persuasion and communication. Currently, I am equipped with a remotely-operated rifle.

Your skills may be very useful on this mission.

Please try to avoid casualties with your rifle if possible, however.

"Miss Faith, you wanted to know what I can do?"

"Yes. Is there anything you're good at that may be helpful on this mission? What equipment do you have?"

Have painkillers. Blood stoppage meds. Have pyrokinetic amp.

Handy. Any medical training? How proficient are you with your amp?

I'm an (almost) trained medical professional with a toolbox, some medical supplies, a scout eye that is currently trying to get itself stepped on, and a pyro manipulator.

Faith thought back to her experienced with scout eyes. Or as she thought of them, portable ramming drones.

...probably best not to risk morale.

Be very careful with your scout eye. They are very, very fragile and can be hard to control.

How familiar are you with your manipulator's operation?

Renen here, I have two kinds of swords plus a knife and a piece of rope. I'm good at swordfighting and only at that for now.

Faith cocked an eyebrow. Renen was the Doctor's disciple now, wasn't he...

Thank you. Please try to avoid casualties if possible; we're hoping to scare and inconvenience, and I would prefer not to make martyrs or reinforce our position as the enemy.

I've got an MK II, an MFM, a Kinetic Amplifier and an emergency medical thingy, though I don't know how much of it is left. And I have a gun, with four shots left. And a megaphone. I also make good Pizza and currently have 90,000,000,000,000 views on my online sex tape. 

Faith regarded May's message with a bit of dread, before realizing it was fairly informative and sane. Her face did briefly twitch at remembering her leaving Charro to die in a nightmarish alien shadow world, but quickly returned to normal.

Thank you. Please try not to disturb the locals too badly; we want to convince them that we're dangerous, not hostile.

[GreatWyrmGold]

"I'm really good at making stuff and have this repair kit!" He holds up the repair kit to show Faith.

[Lenglon]

I have an amp. I have basic medical training. I am familiar with basic equipment. I am neither a technician nor a medic.

Thank you, Lyra. What kind of amp is it, and are you familiar with its use?

Look up at Faith for two seconds before typing on my wrist-comp

Microwave Amp
I am familiar, but no expert. I would prefer to avoid using it if possible.

after sending the message, look back up at Faith, my head tilted to my right.

[Kriellya]

I've got a handle on it not exploding immediately right now. I figured out how to get those little legs on the bottom going, hence why it's trying to get stepped on instead of trying to ram the walls. About to set it up as a stationary camera over the wall for now.

And I'm familiar enough with it to know I probably don't want to do anything more than fiddle with it's cover menacingly unless I am uninterested in the continued survival of anything nearby me.

Look for somewhere to setup the scout eye where it can see the stairs up to the gate, somewhere either hidden or out of the path of traffic on the wall.

[Xantalos]

Reasonably proficient with amp. Don't malfunction catastrophically. No medical training; meds mostly to stop pain if injured long enough to incinerate assailant.

[ragnarok97071]

"Blast... now... what was that woman's name again... I know I remember someone... Katherine... Quatherine... Caethareeene?"

Continue to search for my contact.

[Harry Baldman]

Thank you, yes. Your MKII operates itself normally, but can be manually overriden for rare, specific purposes. Please do not under any circumstances use the 1/8th kiloton charge. I find it very difficult to imagine a situation where that would make things better rather than worse.

Thank you for keeping an eye on our less stable members.

On a related note, please try to keep casualties to a minimum.

Stacy was glad to see his message answered, but there was the matter of the bomb, still. Before going to the shopkeeper, he types out a message once more.

Dear Executive Equipment & Expertise Evaluator,

Thank you for replying to my message with such alacrity and diligence, it is much appreciated. Anyway, my idea for the 1/8th kiloton charge was to use it if we are surrounded by riotous barbarians at the end of our tenure here and a peaceful solution seems unlikely - in that case, we may detonate the charge in a large crowd to both break the morale and thin the numbers of the rioters, not to mention irradiate a wide area and make it unsuitable for further riotous behavior. This would, naturally, be an "enemy at the gates" situation. I am still considering the best way to apply it in such a case - a ground-level detonation would be easier to achieve, yet waste a lot of energy and create fallout, while an airburst would be more difficult, but better for sustainable development of the area in the future. An airburst also solves the problem of somebody stealing or sabotaging the charge beforehand, so it seems to be the more attractive option.

Naturally, this would be a gruesome act of terror and mass murder, but I presume we may reach a point where such means may be justified, no? For now, murder would certainly cause more trouble than it would solve, albeit if carried out under reasonable secrecy, might be helpful against any rebellious elements in the city. And I will try to prevent it until a point where it becomes useful, as decided by you, dear Executive Equipment & Expertise Evaluator, or a similarly authorized person on the chain of command (do we have one, actually?).

Sincerely yours,
Stacy Buttle.

He almost marvels at his own typing speed. The governmental clerk days just seem to be rushing back to him, really.

[Toaster]

((You've been here- what, two days? - and are already making plans involving nuking the city.

I see everything is up to spec, carry on.))

[Harry Baldman]

((You've been here- what, two days? - and are already making plans involving nuking the city.

I see everything is up to spec, carry on.))

((Well, I do have a nuke. What use would a nuke be if I didn't plan to use it for an extremely dire, worst-case scenario version of crowd control?

I stand by my statement that the 1/8th kiloton charge is extremely good value for your money, once you get an idea of what the blast would be like.))

[PyroDesu]

I stand by my statement that the 1/8th kiloton charge is extremely good value for your money, once you get an idea of what the blast would be like.))

((Here's one for how the blast would be like: That thing is simultaneously smaller (just a bit, though) than and 6.25 to 12.5 times as powerful as the M-388 warhead that the Davy Crockett nuclear recoilless rifle used.

You would, with an idealized ground detonation, get overpressures at:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

15 psi (Complete destruction of reinforced concrete structures, such as skyscrapers):0.08 miles
7 psi (Severe damage to complete destruction of reinforced concrete structures):0.11 miles
5 psi (Complete destruction of ordinary houses, and moderate to severe damage to reinforced concrete structures):0.14 miles
2 psi (Severe damage to ordinary houses, and light to moderate damage to reinforced concrete structures):0.25 miles
1 psi (Light damage to all structures, and light to moderate damage to ordinary houses):0.36 miles
0.25 psi (Most glass surfaces, such as windows, will shatter):0.93 miles

So, damage out to about a mile, but only major damage within about a quarter mile. Not counting thermal or fallout effects.))

[Grunhill]

Thank you. Please try to avoid casualties if possible; we're hoping to scare and inconvenience, and I would prefer not to make martyrs or reinforce our position as the enemy.

Don't worry, there won't be any casualties if they don't ask for it.

[Harry Baldman]

I stand by my statement that the 1/8th kiloton charge is extremely good value for your money, once you get an idea of what the blast would be like.))

((Here's one for how the blast would be like: That thing is simultaneously smaller (just a bit, though) than and 6.25 to 12.5 times as powerful as the M-388 warhead that the Davy Crockett nuclear recoilless rifle used.

You would, with an idealized ground detonation, get overpressures at:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

15 psi (Complete destruction of reinforced concrete structures, such as skyscrapers):0.08 miles
7 psi (Severe damage to complete destruction of reinforced concrete structures):0.11 miles
5 psi (Complete destruction of ordinary houses, and moderate to severe damage to reinforced concrete structures):0.14 miles
2 psi (Severe damage to ordinary houses, and light to moderate damage to reinforced concrete structures):0.25 miles
1 psi (Light damage to all structures, and light to moderate damage to ordinary houses):0.36 miles
0.25 psi (Most glass surfaces, such as windows, will shatter):0.93 miles

So, damage out to about a mile, but only major damage within about a quarter mile. Not counting thermal or fallout effects.))

((And that's for structures. I plan to use it to eliminate an unmanageable crowd of people if I need to. Considering that 1 psi does light to moderate damage to ordinary houses, people aren't likely to do too well in about 1/3 mile to half a mile radius, if not further.))

[piecewise]

((Not so! One swift strike on the right person's head, and it all crumbles in a bunch of civil war.))

I believe Princip's backup weapon was a garden hoe.

Walk up to one of the frightened shopkeepers, switch to uncontrollable dancing.

"Greetings, my friend! You seem rather uncomfortable. May I ask what the problem is?"

Consult phrasebook for some of the more common phrases in Pharsec - greetings, proper methods of address and expressing gratitude, that kind of thing.

"No problem. No problem." He stammers and tries to look busy and avoid eye contact. Occasionally he glances up to make sure you're still there.

You run through the guidebook and find several phrases you think will be helpful in the future; greetings, methods of addressing others-they have nothing regarding addressing those of lower rank- various polite words and actions. You make sure to note the rude gestures as well, just to make sure you don't do them.

Look around for further signs of dissent with Glorious Leader.
Smile reassuringly at shopkeepers.

Your smiles do nothing to abate the fear and distrust of the shopkeepers. As you and the patrol party walk down the center of the street, people part in front of you and give you a wide berth. As you continue down the loosely paved road, you come to a small grassy, open area. There's a small crowd in the center of the area, and you can hear shouting in a foreign tongue.

Find nearest residential area and snoop around.

There are no residential areas around here, unless you count the homes of the shopkeepers that you occasionally see built near their shops.

Do you have any kind of e-books for free download? And the H.M.R.C. pantheon that you gave Lars in a virtual format. I really want to read something while waiting. Preferably books about weaponry and tips on assassination.

Send message to AM. Keep watching the gate.

You yawn and lean against the wall while writing your message.

I've got a book about assassination and the Pantheon is available too, if you want them.

I've got a handle on it not exploding immediately right now. I figured out how to get those little legs on the bottom going, hence why it's trying to get stepped on instead of trying to ram the walls. About to set it up as a stationary camera over the wall for now.

And I'm familiar enough with it to know I probably don't want to do anything more than fiddle with it's cover menacingly unless I am uninterested in the continued survival of anything nearby me.

Look for somewhere to setup the scout eye where it can see the stairs up to the gate, somewhere either hidden or out of the path of traffic on the wall.

The top of the wall here has small, flat stone ridges running along it's sides. You think the scout eye should be safe on one of them; assuming no one goes out of their way to find and destroy it.

"Blast... now... what was that woman's name again... I know I remember someone... Katherine... Quatherine... Caethareeene?"

Continue to search for my contact.

[will:6]
"Oh my god, I'm completely insane. There's no contact here. I'm not even a Bureaucrat...My name is William...I'm a dentist...I killed my wife...everything is a lie. Everything is a lie."

You blink and then smile.

"Oh, I know, I should find that messenger guy."

I stand by my statement that the 1/8th kiloton charge is extremely good value for your money, once you get an idea of what the blast would be like.))

((Here's one for how the blast would be like: That thing is simultaneously smaller (just a bit, though) than and 6.25 to 12.5 times as powerful as the M-388 warhead that the Davy Crockett nuclear recoilless rifle used.

You would, with an idealized ground detonation, get overpressures at:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

15 psi (Complete destruction of reinforced concrete structures, such as skyscrapers):0.08 miles
7 psi (Severe damage to complete destruction of reinforced concrete structures):0.11 miles
5 psi (Complete destruction of ordinary houses, and moderate to severe damage to reinforced concrete structures):0.14 miles
2 psi (Severe damage to ordinary houses, and light to moderate damage to reinforced concrete structures):0.25 miles
1 psi (Light damage to all structures, and light to moderate damage to ordinary houses):0.36 miles
0.25 psi (Most glass surfaces, such as windows, will shatter):0.93 miles

So, damage out to about a mile, but only major damage within about a quarter mile. Not counting thermal or fallout effects.))

((And that's for structures. I plan to use it to eliminate an unmanageable crowd of people if I need to. Considering that 1 psi does light to moderate damage to ordinary houses, people aren't likely to do too well in about 1/3 mile to half a mile radius, if not further.))

I keep reference data for exactly this sort of thing.

[Harry Baldman]

I keep reference data for exactly this sort of thing.

((Ooh, educational!))

"You need not fear me, good sir. I'm not one of the violent types, not at all. I only use violence when other methods have utterly failed, so your safety is not compromised in any way whatsoever. At least, if things continue as they are. I was hoping to ask you a few things in a strictly unofficial capacity. Is this agreeable?"

Question the shopkeeper... unofficially and kindly.