Shadowrun OOC:: In the Dragons Secret Service-Team Gold

3278 · Post by **3278** » Sun Sep 01, 2002 5:41 pm

Does anyone have an estimate on the losses, say, Seal Team Six sustained in any given three-to-five-year period? Did they lose two-thirds of their men?

I'm just curious what must have happened to have sustained such major fatalities over such a short span of time. It's not like we're on missions every day, either; this would have to be a very few missions that I managed to get so many people killed on.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sun Sep 01, 2002 5:50 pm

SEAL Teams have a normal 'job' outside of being a SEAL. Plus, they are volunteer. They retire from SEAL teams whenever they want. So, in theory, there are no lifers. However, SEAL training has a 60% drop out rate. People don't remain SEALs for very long. The casualty rate is not very high, but members do need to be replaced from time to time, due to the voluntary nature of the program. There are only 6 active SEAL teams right now. Each one has a pool of member from which to draw upon. One deployment will consist of one to 3 squads of 6-8 men each, depending on mission needs.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Sun Sep 01, 2002 5:50 pm

I've edited my post to remove Valor, who, as a former member of Team Red, wouldn't be accepted as a Gold Lebenslänglicher. Though he's certainly a full member of the Team, and everyone accepts him fully as a comrade, there are some bonds tighter than the service.

Cash, if your character turns out to not be originally from Team Gold, please let me know, ASAP, and I can clean up my post. Sorry for the short shrift you got in my post, but without knowing anything about you, I couldn't write you in well. Sorry!

Everyone save Doh and Arista is free to get to the meeting however they choose.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Sun Sep 01, 2002 5:58 pm

So turnover is most likely from people quitting, and not from casualties? That's almost worse.

I'm a bad commander. I'm going to nip off and shoot myself.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Sun Sep 01, 2002 6:08 pm

Yes, turnover is mostly from retirement. It has nothing to do with bad command...it's more from the old cliche: The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long.

People get promoted, take newer jobs, become administrators, etc. It's difficult to be a top field operative and stay alive for more than 5-10 years, even if you are the absolute best. However, remember that while casualties are not high or super-frequent, they are /fairly/ regular. Otherwise, the U.S. Navy wouldn't need to train new SEALS every year.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Sun Sep 01, 2002 6:40 pm

3278 wrote:Is it just me, or are there really only three people who went to the War College in their youth, were in the same Class as Aleixen, and were assigned to Team Gold? And actually, I'm still just guessing on Doh.

Are you asking who in all is a lifer? Or simply on Gold Team, Earl? Sorry...I've been up for too long, and I'm not tracking that well. Those numbers do seem low though, don't they?

3278 · Post by **3278** » Sun Sep 01, 2002 7:12 pm

Just Gold Team, and just people who've been in Gold Team from effectively Day One.

Wildfire · Post by **Wildfire** » Sun Sep 01, 2002 8:08 pm

Yes, three, Cash mentioned he was a lifer in Gold. As for the low rate, we are one if not the best of the Dragon teams

Alexien's a bit demanding, and at least Arista doesn't have any level of comittment between 'not trying' and 'going all out', its expected that at least a few got killed, injured, or broke down mentally under the pressure.

Salvation122 · Post by **Salvation122** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 1:55 am

3278 wrote:All of this brings up an interesting point in character creation; Aleixen is 27, which means he's been in command of Team Gold for a few years now. What the fuck happened - and how incompetent a commander is he - that there have been /so many/ openings in his Team? Did we get /nuked/ or something?

Keep in mind that class sizes for a group like this are almost certainly very, very small. To use the Ender's Game analogy, Ender's launch was a little larger than the regulation Battle School army, which consisted of forty people - figure sixty kids tops, and that was when the government was basically drafting every kid that met the qualifications, which probably wouldn't happen here. (End massive run-on sentence.) Figure that the class suffered some casualties in training - before they got to operational status - that some kids are in command or members of other teams, and that some kids have gotten killed in combat, and, if you've got four or five teams (at least), four or five members of the same class in a team would probably be the norm.

Of course, that hinges on the age at which trainees reach operational status, which I'm guessing would be around eighteen or so.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Mon Sep 02, 2002 6:40 am

3278 wrote:So turnover is most likely from people quitting, and not from casualties? That's almost worse.

I'm a bad commander. I'm going to nip off and shoot myself.

w00t! Field brevet time!

Just kidding, Helm looks like a great commander.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Sat Sep 07, 2002 3:18 am

Hey Paul, can you take a look at this sporting rifle? I made it up from the base Cannon Companion rules.

"Evolved" Rifle - this sporting rifle is everything that a fully chipped user could want. It's small, light, quiet and takes full advantage of Smartlink II technology to the point where there's no longer a physical trigger.

Sporting Rifle Damage 7S, Mode SA, Capacity 10(clip), Concealability 3, Weight 3.5, Recoil Compensation: 1

Notes: Bullpup, Smartlink II, Silencer

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Sun Sep 08, 2002 6:58 pm

Umm, Jinx, looks like more bad luck, mostly those darn hallucinations you're having of the rest of the team being in the briefing room/HQ.

So far as I can tell, you're the first person there. Heck, Cash hasn't even posted yet, the gimp.

Jinx · Post by **Jinx** » Sun Sep 08, 2002 7:31 pm

Heh, well, they were on there way, excuse me for trying to moves some things along.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Sun Sep 08, 2002 8:17 pm

Sure, I've got no problems with excusing you, so long as you post to what's actually going on.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Tue Sep 10, 2002 2:49 pm

Paul - can we assume that the call to duty had any information about the upcoming mission? I'm just trying to do another post for Droz.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Wed Sep 11, 2002 3:18 am

No Caz. In fact the call only went to team leaders, which is why my general puzzlement at some of the posts.No one is really wrong, after all the call will go out to you, but by team leaders, and I did say post. So keep posting, I will assume Team Leaders will cover contacting you. As for now we can assume not all posts are linear. Sound good?

JohnnyRico · Post by **JohnnyRico** » Wed Sep 11, 2002 3:26 am

Luckily I covered that part in my post, with the calling in of the troops. And, while it's not stated, the general idea is that Tyler and Alexis are going to his place to join the initial breifing that William is going to give by speakerphone. Then they're going to meet us at the main breifing's site before the entire team goes in.

Eliahad · Post by **Eliahad** » Wed Sep 11, 2002 7:01 am

Rico: Tyler and Alexis are already in Essen, I don't know if the best course of action is for the two of us to go to Bremmerhaven to meet you if we're already at the location of the briefing. We can still speak via confrence call and whatnot. And I don't mean to step out of line, orders are orders and I'll comply, I'm just making sure.

Guardian · Post by **Guardian** » Wed Sep 11, 2002 9:02 am

For what it's worth, Guardian intends to show at Williams flat as well, it's just going to take him a little longer to get there.

He's not going to be humungously happy with life - sixteen hours till breifing time means he could have had a last night off and Tatiana is going to give him hell about skipping out on her - but when da boss calls...

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Wed Sep 11, 2002 9:17 am

I'll go either way, by whatever the bossman says. I just have no idea how long it takes to drive from Essen to Bremerhaven, so I've no idea if I'd make it in time.

JohnnyRico · Post by **JohnnyRico** » Wed Sep 11, 2002 2:58 pm

JohnnyRico wrote:And, while it's not stated, the general idea is that Tyler and Alexis are going to his place to join the initial breifing that William is going to give by speakerphone.

Maybe I should clarify that. The word "his" in that sentence means Tyler's place. I wouldn't tell someone in Essen to come to Bremerhaven, only to go back to Essen in a few minutes. Alexis and Tyler should stay in Essen and wait for William to call. They will probably talk for a few minutes, then the Bremerhaven group will head for Essen, while the Essen group will leave for the meeting point in time to have the entire team arrive at the same time.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Wed Sep 11, 2002 10:55 pm

Do we have a rigger? I'd like to get at least one post from everyone before we move on. Cash?

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Thu Sep 12, 2002 2:12 pm

Okay Cash ahs unfortunately dropped out. This means Team Gold is with out its Sixth member. As soon as the Gold Team leader PMs me we will begin discussing replacements.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Thu Sep 12, 2002 3:32 pm

Cazmonster goes to get a lead bat and the address of Pinkerton central.

Evil mooks! Give Cash back his uberjob!

3278 · Post by **3278** » Thu Sep 12, 2002 3:42 pm

God damn it. PM on the way.

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 1:37 pm

Yo? I hear that you're looking for someone.

I'm in if you want to be.

My character? Pure SK bred. Born into SK to serve SK.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 2:34 pm

3278 wrote:God damn it.

Now you sound like a real Catholic yo.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 2:37 pm

Uhhh Ohhh.... Flameblade may be playing.

Cazmonster cripples his enthusiasm with a lead machete before it breaks loose, flips out, and kills shit (with the shirt and everything).

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 4:38 pm

FlameBlade has indeed roped the spot in. (Sorry to Salvation122 who was specifically asked, but FlameBlade responded first.)

FlameBlade will be on Team Blue, Jeff will be moved to Team Gold. I will have Team Golds Rigger be an NPC unless Jeff can produce one real damn fast. (Which he doesn't have to do.)

Team leaders herd your cats appropriately.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 4:48 pm

Since I've been good and not read any Team Blue stuff, what was Jeff's original concept?

Wildfire · Post by **Wildfire** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 6:59 pm

Fuck. Paul...sigh...if Jeff's on Gold, 32, him, and I will need time to do a serious re-work of our backgrounds, Jeff's splitting from Gold was a major incident that affects our personalities and such...

JohnnyRico · Post by **JohnnyRico** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 7:18 pm

Uhm, yeah. Paul, moving Jeff to Gold essentally scraps a lot of stuff. Me may have to throw the Pause button up to rework things then, and it could take a few weeks. You're the boss, but I'm thinking it would be a not-so-good idea.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 7:22 pm

AAAARGH!!

WTH is with you people? Can't you just get a character, give him a background that isn't a novella and get to? I'm dying on the vine to get my ass dropped in the sharp and pointy end from the top of the atmosphere.

Cazmonster grumbles, and tries to figure out if Droz can spot the 'PC Halo on Valor from where he is in the story.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 7:27 pm

Can we hang on for two days until Paul gets here Sunday? I'd like to think about how we do this, and do it in the way that causes the least amount of fucked-up shit to happen. Agreed?

Wildfire · Post by **Wildfire** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 7:28 pm

Definetly. Didn't know he was out til then, but, yeah. The less scraping of stuff required, the better.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 8:00 pm

Ah, Paul must be away on an Attica reenactment retreat.'

Cazmonster is unsure how to feel about the Attica Riots, now that he found out that they came to a head The Day He was Born.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 8:02 pm

Wildfire wrote:Definetly. Didn't know he was out til then, but, yeah. The less scraping of stuff required, the better.

Oh, he's not, but I am, and he'll be here face-to-face on Sunday, god willing, so it'll be easier and faster to take care of.

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 8:34 pm

Um. No real need to move Jeff. I'm going to make a rigger for all that matters.

I asked Caz ahead of time to see what is team makeup, and I figured that rigger would the best choice for the team. No real need to jolt things around here. I'm going to specifically talk to someone soon, so I can see if I can do anything.

Also, I do not have rules book with me...I'm cursing college here, and I'm also cursing at myself for not bringing it here...just that I didn't expect that I would be doing anything.

In other words, I'm going to create a character that is very damned simple. Only thing that he would be thinking is SK there and here.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 11:22 pm

Okay, I may have to reconsider some things. As it stands FlameBlade will be on Team Gold, and Jeff will remain on Team Blue, and since Flame is playing an riggerI will not introduce a rigger NPC.

Edit::Cause I am stoopid!

Wildfire · Post by **Wildfire** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 12:29 am

Serious Paul wrote:since Flame is playing an NPC

Wow, Flame, what talent

Sorry, that was too funny not to pick on

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 2:47 am

Okay, I'm still confused as to what the hell is going on, but just tell me where I am. If I need to change background, so be it. I'm flexible. Just let me know which way I should take it.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 3:29 am

Not to be an irrational out-of-the-box thinker or anything, but since Flame's playing a rigger, and Cash was playing a rigger, and Flame doesn't have the books, and we've already mentioned Hooman Goh in posts, why doesn't Flame just play Hooman?

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 5:10 pm

Point me to Hooman Goh, and I'll decide if that is viable option.

Thanks for help.

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 5:12 pm

That sounds like a jim crackin' dandy idea, given that Goh was to be a member of Battle School and all.

Cazmonster goes and gets a gold star and puts it up on 3278's line of accomplishments. Granted, at this point, it just adds a little more sparkle to the solid bar of gold to the right of 3278's name.

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 5:21 pm

found hooman goh, seems that he matches what I want for my human rigger, but now I need a list of his stats or so.

Primary Specialization: Rigging+drones, control of enemy drone network, communication
Secondary Specialization: Electronics, Heavy Weapons.

That's all I know about Hooman Goh.

Salvation122 · Post by **Salvation122** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 8:53 pm

Serious Paul wrote:(Sorry to Salvation122 who was specifically asked, but FlameBlade responded first.)

Fuck fuck shit fuck. When did you ask? I don't remember being asked.

(I'm not all torn up inside, but am slightly miffed.

Still, no big deal.)

Edit: Never mind. Found the PM. Somehow, my "pop up new window on PM" was turned off, and I didn't catch it. Such is life.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 10:14 pm

Hey Sal for what it is worth thanks anyways. I do appreciate it.

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 6:18 pm

While I'm waiting for stats...I'm setting up mindset of my character...just wanted to give you guys update on what I am doing

Cazmonster · Post by **Cazmonster** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 6:32 pm

Talk to Jestyr, I hear she has Cash's undivided attention.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 10:48 pm

Let me know when you get the stats and your background, Flame. I'd like to hold up posting until you're there. Unless anyone has another suggestion?

Shadowrun OOC:: In the Dragons Secret Service-Team Gold

Gun for approval

Reality Check