Frontiers and Pioneers (sci-fi, NSFW(violence,possible teases), robots)

@Coriolanus  
“Todd, sir! And you’re…Ram…Ramesh…Rameshevara?” Close. Nevertheless, he offers a hand-paw shake as they walk. Ahead is the station, and an observant shark would spot the Chief slapping her hand on the RFID pad to open the door, in place of a usual RFID badge.

@EclecticInspiration  
Accepting the handshake in earnest.  
“Pleasure to meet you Todd, and please, call me ‘Ramesh’; I’m often loquacious by habit, but no need for formality.”
 
Now turned to and approaching the chief. “Miss, chief of security?”

@Coriolanus  
She cringes and turns to see the two, the door almost closing on her.  
“Please, just Olive or Riggs. I don’t mind another head honcho calling me by my name. Come inside and I’ll see what can I do for you.”

@EclecticInspiration  
Following her into the office while offering a handshake.  
“We haven’t met, I’m your equivalent, over in the R&D department, Professor Rameshvara V. Katalin; you may call me just Ramesh if you’d like. As you know, my boffins were tasked to find ways to re-suborn or pacify the rogue synthsectoids.”
 
“I’m keen to look into how the colony’s standing forces’ll do their part in the expeditionary action into the north, and am concerned with likely obstacles encountered, once we’re up there within the glaciers. I’d, eh, like to discuss our given charges, how they’ll synergize, and see if I can assist in solving hurdles likely to be faced by the PMCs.”

@Coriolanus  
She sighs quietly, titedly, nodding. “For sure- come in and we can talk.” Again, she’ll gently slap her hand on the reader, causing it to register her badge in spite of her not carrying it.  
After entering, she takes a seat behind her desk and kicks out a chair on casters for him.  
Todd, meanwhile, returns to his duty.

@EclecticInspiration  
Seated, “You, eh, seem fatigued, Ms. Riggs. Combat drills and the like?”

@Coriolanus  
“Those too.” She gets her laptop booting up. “Had to straighten-out our PMCs so they’d stop bullying the others. Three hospital visits and some paperwork later…” She groans, then sits up straight, composing herself. “But that’s okay. I signed up for every bit of it. Things been OK on your end?”

@EclecticInspiration  
“Could be better…”
 
“Recently learned there’s plans for a starport to be built; not too far from where my secluded lab is away from this hub. On one hand, I wouldn’t mind expanding into spacecraft design, but on the other, that’d, be… a l o t, of ‘round-the-clock noise pollution. Also a bit concerned the alien monument that’ll neighbor the port might react in some way to all the air and space traffic.”
 
“In regard to whatever is lurking in the glaciers north, sometimes I get intrusive thoughts of wildly worst-case scenarios.”

@Coriolanus  
“The first will need to be taken up with Amy and, as a result, her androids.” If he’s privy to rumors, he might recall hearing Riggs doesn’t trust tech, and synths fall under this category. “As for the second…I’m sure I can ease your fears to some extent. It’s about those stone things, right?”  
Finally, her laptop boots up. She pulls up a document and, rather than emailing him a clean-cut version of it, she slides the laptop over, revealing a messy document of ideas and notes. After a pause, she states, “the best is at the bottom…” A timestamp on the document shows it to be started at one in the morning. Ah, this makes sense now.

@Coriolanus  
(on the one hand i want to cut in with a few things that should be adressed, on the other, i don’t wnat to interrupt since you both have a good thing going here. eh, i can defend the choices of my characters later, carry on citizens.)

@EclecticInspiration  
Face scrunches slightly confused, hands adjusting slowly to the old haptic interface, i.e., the keyboard. Scrolling manually, he starts transcribing the document, mentally sorting contents into individual cases and sidebars.
 
“…Super-frigid climes can be handled with parkas made of aerogel, but how familiar are the PMCs with tunnel-fighting?’’  
_{^{( + ) ( + )}}

@Coriolanus  
a number of files from APEX corp on Riggs’ datapad would inform her that those in particular had experince with deployments in large systemic refineries and sludge reclamation facilities, and had with or without their mechs all performed excellently. up to a pipe diameter of only half a meter. they were also used to dealing with environments that required fully sealed suits, as these locales were filled with argon gas regularly as fire suppression.

@Coriolanus  
“The regulars should’ve been trained in it at one point, although I’m more than willing to refresh their memory. I didn’t have to much so I didn’t think much about it.”

@EclecticInspiration  
(psst. the one above you.)

@Cerebrate @EclecticInspiration  
“The ship’s intranet has something relevant, what with these guys here. Take a look,” turns the laptop back around.

@Cerebrate  
(They’re not all PMCs tho)
 
@Coriolanus  
She squints and reads. “…Oh yeah. I did read that…at some point…”

@EclecticInspiration  
@Coriolanus  
apparently the tiger she had talked to earlier literally earned his stripes on that particular op.

@EclecticInspiration @Cerebrate  
“I know the glacier’s entrypoints are pretty narrow from watching footage of Sada infiltrating into the place. To carve open up the entrances more, I could offer up for use a half-dozen of what are… well, basically ice-saws on tanktreads. They can double as fast transports too, since there’s two sets of teeth on each blade; one for cutting, another that’s essentially a row of icepicks.”
 
“If the colony’s official security and the PMCs besides these APEX guys decide to go in too, I’d recommend you bring what’re basically, like… essentially, imagine laying down on a skateboard to roll fast through narrow spaces. You’ll also need suppressors and earplugs for loud noise if gunfights occur, portable comm transceivers about the size of soda cans, and some good smart-fluid body armor if ricochets ever start to occur: frag grenades are practically suicide.”
 
“As for not getting lost if it starts to become like a maze, as a lowtech choice, you could take some fabric brightener from the ship’s laundromat, paint the stuff into arrows and warning signs across walls, then bring UV illuminators, along with multi-spec goggles. The hightech alternative would be like… some sort of ‘breadcrumb’ system occasionally dropping an ample-enough trail of transeivers, maybe a whole lot of cheaper smaller ones than the can-sized comm ones.”
 
“I see in your document, there’s a requisition for anti-material rifles; I’d suggest you bring bullpup-type guns, maybe even with extendable barrels, though, maybe look into frangible rounds that disperse into dust after penetrating, useful to switch to once the surface is secure and the fight’s gone inside the glacier. Might also act like a shotgun-blast through a synthbug’s internals.”
 
“As for how our own synthsectoid hive queen Cais-01 will be partaking in this, she’ll be directing these;”
 
On the laptop screen, an image is brought up in a window of what appears to be a large walking tank.
 
“…I had these planned as sentinels for when our own bugs are out working. They’re outfitted with larger versions of the engines like what I flew here on, so they can keep up pace on the way there despite all the harsh terrain. I highly suggest we send them in first ahead of everyone else, both as walking shields, and to suborn as many rogue synthbugs as we can, maybe even turn them on eachother so your folks don’t have to work as hard.”

@Coriolanus  
“…That’s…a lot to take in…” She blinks. “I do not feel as though I’ve been briefed properly for this. I was informed, as strange as it sounds, we’d be fighting beings made of stone. I’d planned on using hardened steel-core ammo. The lead jacket would get smashed and the steel would cause the penetration damage. With it being hardened, it’d shatter. If we’re fighting bugs, I should have rifles in the back with integrated shotguns. A pain to carry two types of ammo but that’s what ammo bearers are for. Mechanical infantry never really was my forté so perhaps these aren’t bad ideas. I’d planned mostly to focus on transportation, then lug along some heavier machines to do the heavy lifting if it came down to it.”

@EclecticInspiration  
“‘Beings made of stone’… I’d wanna say bring something acoustic that’ll reduce them to cement-powder, but, weeell… most of you folks in the colony’s standing army seem to be flesh and bone. If you used acoustic disassemblers in enclosed spaces, even if you wore full-body armor, the soundwaves could rebound back off targets and walls, then through the protective suits, and well, then, you’d wind up with alot of people either suffering nausea, comatose, and broken bones, or’ve been completely reduced down to a soupy mess of bone-splinters, loose fur, and curdled protein.”
 
“When synths get shot by acoustic beamers, they just get weird tingly feelings, and hear funny warbling noises…”  
_{“Just sayin’.” ^<-<}
 
“The engineering shop has plasma cutters, but I’m not sure that may be a good idea when inside tunnels made of ice.”
 
“…I think I can recall a very ancient patent for a rock drill that used ceramic bullets fired in bursts, so it could shatter through and pass tough stone. Perhaps something like that may provide a safe and effective extra edge to resort to.”

@Coriolanus  
“We have synths,” she says defensively before sheepishly adding, “I think. I’m…not actually the one that picked them. It’d be better to have a sizeable force, though. I had considered ceramics- they’re harder than steel, so it’s certainly a thought. They wouldn’t have to travel tremendously fast, either. The other thought was…what was it called…reduced uranium? Depleted uranium,” she corrects, “though I think it may just be denser. I can’t make anything capable of shooting ceramics right now. I don’t have the head for it, for one- shattered ceramic is still something to fear for organics. You’re here- you could try, if you felt like it.”

@EclecticInspiration  
“That pulse rifle I gave during the voyage might come handy for shattering them. You could even scrape and melt ice off the walls in the glacier for propellant, and put amply-sized pebbles into some kind’ve desktop-sized fabricator that rounds them out into the shape of bullets. The only caveat is plasma ablation from hitting targets might fry comm-receivers. Depleted uranium sounds like a suitable idea, it’s just… wear a gas mask, and a hazmat suit. And resist using the rounds at close ranges… that stuff is just plain nasty. It’s toxic, and explodes into thousands of microscopic razor-sharp needles… that are on fire.”
 
“…Now I’m remembering how squishy I used to be, before I became an immortal all-knowing smart-arse.”
 
“Sure I can simulate gustatory perception, but sometimes, I miss real food and drink… ^%.__.%”

@EclecticInspiration
 
@Coriolanus  
Jade: “notification, on mention of depleted uranium protocol dictated that i inform Amy of nuclear weaponry being mentioned, if you do not consider this a private conversation she would like to weigh in personally.”

@Coriolanus  
“I meant so the ceramic wojld shatter well-after they’re a concern for me or whoever’s using it. Those and the steel core are sounding like the better ideas so far…and perhaps the bullpup rifles, although my shoulder hurts just thinking about such an AM rifle. We have a woman who wouldn’t mind, given she wears an exosuit and is plenty large wituout a mech, but…I feel like I’d be wasting to just print one instead of several. Not that it matters.”  
That unit sounds like the one that stared him down on the way in- the heavy weapons unit. The species was hard to tell but facial recognition might mark her as Ginger, an odd hybrid noted to have some ‘griffin’ and dog immediately present.

@Cerebrate  
“Depleted uranium isn’t fissile miss, unless it were irradiated, I think… on the topic of WMDs though, I wonder if we can scrounge together enough tantalum-180m for a gamma-ray bomb just in case… It’d be just like those archaic neutron bombs used to sterilize cities without causing widespread physical damage, but way more efficient.”
 
@EclecticInspiration  
“There’s a way to mitigate that recoil enough to fire a gun that size off one hand… whoa-boi, that’s a wave of nostalgia, for old snuff-films of firefights that took place in the martian outback. No idea why that memory’s tied to this, anyways… here’s a file on MR recoil-dampeners. It’ll reduce kick down to nil, though it might also make full-automatic fire cycle faster.”
 
At that moment, a blueprint for odd firearm receiver parts is sent to Riggs’s laptop. Easily manufacturable by the colony’s gunsmiths, the parts seem to be applicable with almost every firearm design brought to this new world.