**ACTION** - Fake French Foreign Legion (The Good Old FFFL)

Who: Most of the Blue Dwarf crew (with a few exceptions - those who
wish to stay aboard the ship)
Where: New France, French Foreign Legion Territory
When: During the mission to retrieve the Blue Dwarf's weaponry
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Military operations were not, by and large, what the crew of the Blue
Dwarf had been originally trained to do.
Certainly, over the years their priorities and skills had changed a
little. They had ship armaments, for one thing. Most people had a
gun of some form or another. They had some of the most advanced
technology in the Space Corps. They didn't do much in the way of
mining but, frankly, nobody really minded.
But even this adaptable (if a little unreliable) crew weren't exactly
ideal for quiet infiltrations of enemy territory.
"You've got it on upside down!" barked Jay irritably at the nineteenth
crewmember that day. The hapless security guard looked down at his
French Foreign Legion insignia, which was hanging loosely the wrong
way round from his jacket. Jay covered his eyes with a hand and
sighed heavily.
He'd flown a ship full of junior crewmembers down here about two hours
ago, the logic being that it was far safer that way than putting all
the officers into one ship which could, let's face it, easily be blown
out of the sky if necessary. What he hadn't realised was that this
would mean HE was the one who needed to get said junior crewmembers
prepared for sneaking into the French Foreign Legion outpost a couple
of kilometres away.
Two hours had gone by, and only one crewmember had NOT managed to
screw up their disguise. And that was the Big Pink Tree, which
required no disguise whatsoever and was now sitting a short distance
away, rustling happily to itself. It was on an adventure.
-- Another Two Hours Later --
The ships carrying the senior officers and most of the rest of the
crew had arrived, leaving the Blue Dwarf with only a skeleton crew for
the time being. Most people had, eventually, managed to look passably
French-ish, or at least passably generic-military-ish. The time had come.
"Now listen up, you lot!" shouted Jay, climbing up on one of the
crates being unloaded from a Starbug, subconsciously grinding his
teeth as he stared out over what could only be called a rabble, "This
is going to go SMOOTHLY, you hear me? We don't want anybody dying on
this mission, and THAT INCLUDES THE FRENCH! If any of them realise
what's going on, we'll be wiped out quicker than a valid medical
practice in Keto's lab..."
He paused, but there was no sudden cry of outrage. Dammit, the Doc
wasn't there.
"So," Jay continued, "The plan is for us to blend in with the French
Foreign Legion and get into their outpost. Scans say the place is
pretty big and complicated, so once you're inside make sure you stick
with somebody else and don't get lost! Get in, look around and find
where our weapons are being held. Once you find them, spread the word
around and everybody get them out of there. Then we leave. Quietly,
inconspicuously and with no violence if we can possibly avoid it.
This is an infiltration, not an invasion! Questions?"
There were none.
"Good. Alright. We've split you into groups of thirty or so, each
assigned to an officer. Everybody stick together until we're inside
and, for goodness' sake, don't screw this up. Ready? Everyone, MOVE
OUT!"
Slowly, the horde of crewmembers started to head across the plains
towards the distant outpost.
-- At the Outpost --
It surprised Jay just how easily they managed to get inside. The
guards at the front gate just gave their uniforms one simple glance
and then waved them inside. Even the Tree. A huge pink TREE got past
inspection. That pretty much guaranteed everybody else would get
through without a hitch.
The outpost itself was bigger than he had expected. It was surrounded
by thirty-foot high cement walls with a single pair of steel gates set
into them. The earlier scans had shown that inside it extended
downwards underground into a maze of corridors and rooms that would
take one person weeks to explore.
Fortunately, they had over fifty people. Admittedly, they were the
crew of the Blue Dwarf, but it couldn't take them MUCH longer.
"Alright," hissed Jay to his assembled group of Fake French
Legionnaires, "Split up into small groups, head off and scout out this
place. If anybody stops you, just play along. Don't let them realise
we're from outside. Find the weapons, then tell everyone else. Go."
The group scattered quietly in small clumps. Behind them, Jay could
see the next group being waved through the gates without so much as a
cursory inspection.
This could be easy after all, he thought.
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OOC: This Action posted by me on behalf of the moderators, who all
claim to be ill at the moment. T'ch. Lightweights. ;)
- Chris (JHXMT)