============================ BB Post in Progress =============================
Group: Repliforce
Title: Merry Christmas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christmas has once again arrived on the Fortress V. The decorations are very minimal compared to previous years, however, due to the high state of alert the ship has been on. This might remain the case throughout Christmas. Someone has erected a huge Christmas tree in the Sky Deck, and troopers are encouraged to decorate it when time permits. There is also a smattering of other decorations throughout the ship.
The most touching part of the decorations, however, is one section of the Sky Deck containing bags of letters all addressed to 'Santa Colonel, North Pole' from kids all over the world. Some children have asked for obvious things like Crazy Yoshi's BB Machine Gun, Playstation XXX (yeah, you heard me), Little Cinnamon Doctor Playsets, and Remote Control Valkyrie With High Powered Nerf Action. Others however ask for things like an end to the Robot Wars, stability in their native countries, or even the return of a parent or friend lost in random Neo Arcadian, Maverick, or Robot Master raids. Some children pour their hearts out to Santa Colonel.
Last, and possibly least, the bi-annual Personnel Performance Reviews have been released. The following Repliforce soldiers are included: Cortana, Dream Doll, Exploding Shark, Ebullition, Hippopressor, Isoceles, Jet Stingray, Mercurial Mongoose, Phase, Red, Rush Raccoon, Shield Shellfish, Slash Beast, and Wind Crow. Additionally, the following non-Repliforce dossiers have been updated: Alpha, Eugene Chaud, Jailbird Gier-Eagle, Kraft, Protoman, and Rock. As always, the reviews are available to the individual, as well as General and Colonel. Per tradition, he does not review those soldiers above him in rank.
The reviews may be viewed at: http://www.geocities.com/dmiasek/M3/m3_107
Cortana
Strengths: Subject has gone from an on-again off-again scientist to a full blown robot creator. Subject cracked the Reaverbot technology on behalf of Repliforce. She displayed considerable ingenuity with her creative solution to save the Hippopressor project when his personality became splintered.
Weaknesses: It has been suggested that Subject is partially responsible for Maverick Hunter Durandal's critical reactor shutdown.
For Christmas I have given you a book on parenting entitled Raising Kids The HeraCorp Way. It has received above average reviews.
Dream Doll
Strengths: Subject reminded me we have an Intelligence agency. She did an excellent job investigating the One True Cult. Subject then even reported back with her findings.
Weaknesses: I have only spoken with Dream Doll briefly on one occasion, and thus I have yet to find any noticeable weakness. Thus, there is no present I can give you.
Exploding Shark
Strengths: Subject enjoys his job.
Weaknesses: Subject enjoys his job a bit too much.
For Christmas, I have given you a set of 50 disposable black boxes designed to be attached to missiles and transmit the results back to a communications station. It includes information such as velocity, wind speed, turbulence, structural integrity, fuel exhaustion, turn ratio, infrared imaging, and playback features. This should allow you to review prior launchers from a scientific perspective in order to improve.
Hippopressor
Strengths: Subject is dependable. He is kind and seems to have a large heart.
Weaknesses: Subject has little to no fighting spirit. Were it not for the urging of his twin brother, he would be useless on the battlefield.
For Christmas I have given you the Tom Clancy Book Collection, including 15 of his best known war novels.
Isoceles Ibis
Strengths: Subject is an adequate waitress.
Weakness: Subject talks too much and is potentially filled with cheer.
For Christmas I have given you a book entitled Nineteen Eighty-Four. It is a dystopian novel telling the story of a totalitarian state in which the protagonist lives.
Jet Stingray
Strengths: Subject is charismatic, a natural leader, an above average combatant, and throws himself into his work. He has the respect and admiration of his peers. Subject is capable of performing tasks he dislikes, as shown by his ability to perform the more mundane duties, such as budgeting, economic forcasting, and administration for Atlantis. Subject's Suicide Stingray squad is highly capable.
Weaknesses: Subject is occasionally carefree. He can be too emotional.
For Christmas I have, per your approval, placed a Repliforce computer technician squadron on standby to install new accounting software into the Atlantis computer banks.
Mercurial Mongoose
Strengths: Subject is very enthusiastic. He is an above average combatant. He is a speedy mongoose.
Weaknessses: Subject is possibly insane. He demonstrated a strange habit of shouting 'surprise butt sex' when ambushing his enemies. Subject's competitiveness can be used against him. His attack style has been described by some as being disturbing. I find it difficult to tell when Subject is joking or not. Subject believes "plans are for sissies."
For Christmas, I am giving you the Idiot's Guide to Public Relations. I have highlighted certain segments for you.
OOC: Look, the entire fricking book is highlighted, alright? There, I said it. I hope you're happy.
Phase
Strength: Subject operated flawlessly with other aerial divisions during the final battle against the Alternate Universe Neo Arcadians.
Weaknesses: Subject constantly taunts and competes with Mercurial Mongoose. Given the latter's already tenuous grasp on reality, this seems a dangerous thing to do.
For Christmas I have given you a high speed neural camera capable of processing images taken at extreme velocities.
Red
Strength: Subject is a natural leader and a solid combatant. He was capable of extracting information from Gigabolt Man-O-War concerning the location of the Raptor II. Although the information has not been proven accurate, it seems likely. Subject was also capable of swallowing his pride and delivering an apology for prior actions.
Weaknesses: Subject is among the worst officers in the Repliforce in terms of temper, loyalties, and military discipline. He is a poor example of someone who is among those technically fourth in command of the Repliforce. His loyalty to his comrades outweighs those of his allies. A recent example would be that he and I nearly shot each other after my questioning of Wind Crow. Subject has also been implicated in the various secrets Prismatic Spider-operated operations of late, however this is primarily due to Wind Crow's involvement. His Red Alert walks a fine line between loyalty to Repliforce and actively disrupting it.
For Christmas, I accept your apology. As in your words, I hope we can pave a way that would improve our peer to peer relationship. Note I consider your present the best that I have given.
Rush Raccoon
Strengths: Subject's ship, the Valkyrie, has performed adequately, both when he is in command and when not.
Weaknesses: Subject has been seen much less of lately, and Repliforce has suffered for it. That said, Subject is technically in command of the Repliforce Intelligency agency, which is generally considered a joke. His handling of Intel has been poor, as he seems to be behind on recent events, as demonstrated by the recent turmoil involving Prismatic Spider.
For Christmas, I am giving you one IOU for a airship combat drill to be collected sometime after the New Year.
Shield Shellfish:
Strengths: Subject is courageous. She is also paranoid. Subject demonstrated an artistic side, as demonstrated by her Christmas gift to me one year ago.
Weaknesses: Subject's paranoia once drove her to attack three Repliforce soldiers that had been watching her. According to one soldier, she "was certain that she was only seconds away from killing him." Subject also keeps to herself, declining to share information with others that could be useful. I am deeply concerned for Subject's mental health.
For Christmas I have given you two weeks of mandatory paid vacation time, and must be used within one year.
Slash Beast
Strengths: Subject is an expert tracker and has above average intelligence, as shown when he discovered the Aleutian Base.
Weaknesses: I would like to see Subject be more active. Given his skills and intelligence, I feel he could reach a higher potential.
For Christmas I have given you an advanced GPS system. While you may already have one, this is designed to cut through considerable weather and EM interference. I hope it is an upgrade.
Wind Crow
Strengths: Subject is a solid aerial combatant.
Weaknesses: Subject is embroiled with Prismatic Spider's unauthorized secret operations. While I can give some leeway for 'just following orders', I have had enough of Wind Crow's sass, backtalk, and the general hostile fronting I experience with him.
For Christmas I have given you a copy of the Repliforce Officer's Manual, in case the standard one issued to you was lost.
Non-Repliforce Dossier Updates
Alpha: Subject is capable of singing "Pipiru piru piru pipiru pi" while performing a piourette.
Ebullition: Subject was/is attracted to Javelin Whitetail. Subject is an idiot.
Eugene Chaud: Subject needs to be able to choose his words more carefully. He spoke out against current Reploid construction practices. While this is fine, his comments included mentioning that newly constructed Reploids were "slaves." Given the moderate weight his words have, he needs to be more considerate about how what he says will be received.
Jailbird Gier-Eagle: I have never met Subject, and have heard from him on the alliance frequencies only several times. The only point of interest I have is that on December 13th of 2219, Bolt Kraken asked me if the Subject was a former Repliforce soldier. "He doesn't talk much about his past," according to Bolt. Whether Hunter Command is unsure of Subject's history, or if it was Bolt in particular I do not know. This warrants further investigation in the new year.
Kraft: Subject is an excellent combatant, a superb tactician, and a true gentleman. I was impressed that he had the foresight to acquire a license for his weaponry. I was disappointed to hear that he had decided to join the decidedly unlawful Maverick Hunters, however had high hopes that Subject would be a good influence on them, rather than they being a bad influence on Subject. Again, I have been disappointed.
Protoman: Subject has successfully been able to largely escape responsibility for his actions last year. He has already received two Maverick Hunter promotions - generally a difficult feat in the Hunters - and I fully expect this upwards trend to continue. Subject has also proven capable of disrupting the loyalty of Wind Crow and Prismatic Spider. While Wind Crow's loyalty to Repliforce has always been suspect, Prismatic Spider is another matter altogether.
I do not know whether Subject is charismatic enough to draw followers to him, whether this so-called conspiracy truly -is- traumatic enough that would make Prismatic reluctant to share his information and the identity of his associates with the rest of the Repliforce High Command, or if there is some other cause, or whether others simply desire the same shallow sense of 'cool' that Protoman is known for.
Whatever the cause, he, Prismatic Spider, and I have caused a division in Repliforce that I can only hope is repairable. He has already done this to the Maverick Hunters, who are still in danger of being torn apart. I pray Repliforce is wise enough not to follow down his path.
Protoman continues to be a dangerous individual, as evident when he attacked a Swiss transport without reasonable provocation, nearly killing a man. Were it not for the "masterful" job by Colonel to keep the situation from escalating, we may have had a new enemy on our hands.
Where Protoman goes, distrust, shattered friendships, broken ties, and destroyed loyalties follow. He is a serious hindrance to the forces of good and to the longstanding Repliforce/Maverick Hunter alliance.
Rock: Subject is capable of being as arrogant as any Hunter, as demonstrated by his insulting manner when I asked whether the Hunters had captured Elpizo in August of this year. Perhaps he had forgotten Repliforce are his friends. Perhaps it is a symptom of the general Maverick Hunter arrogance that has been growing for years. I am concerned that Subject has effectively lost control of his Maverick Hunters. Protoman has been running rampant either without Rock's knowledge or without Rock being able or willing to stop him.