fandomhighdorms | Behind the Dorms, Tuesday Afternoon

Zack was a little more laid-back then usual today when he stepped up to address the members of the reserves. His arms were clasped behind his back, and he was all but standing at attention when he spoke.

"Today, we're going to discuss something a little more specific than usual," he stated, looking around at the group. "Search and rescue missions, in case somebody goes missing during a raid or invasion. I know, we can't get too greatly into detail, considering it's difficult to tell these things if you don't know the nature of your enemy, but I'd like to get into some generalizations, if we can. Basic stuff, like staying in groups, using our phones to keep in contact with a main party, maybe the support reserves, at specific times in case we go missing too. If there are people with better noses or tracking abilities, that's awesome. If anyone knows of anyone from the magic reserve with a sixth sense for finding people, that's great, too."

"It is also useful to review our maps once more," Arthur cut in. "I would suggest that you split off and scout out specific sections of the island in groups of two or three, so that when we have the need of a specific knowledge of a particular area, we'll have someone aware of the details. Which is not to say," he said, after a pause, "That we don't want all of you knowing the island's specifics to the best of your ability. Should a search and rescue mission be needed, we must waste the least amount of time on figuring out where on God's green Earth we are."

Beat.

"If any of you would like to volunteer to scout out the closest few acres of mainland, we could possibly use that knowledge to our advantage as well."

Zack nodded, and then swayed almost uncomfortably on his heels before he added, "and when we're done discussing that, I've noticed that a few of you have been kinda making faces and grumbling at the activities and discussions that we do here at the Tuesday reserves. If you guys have anything that you would like to see us doing more or less of, please, let us know, and we'll try to work it in. Leto, Arthur, and I all have very different experiences, so we understand that you guys probably do, too."

"Keep in mind that our suggestions may not always seem to make sense to you, but we do know what we're doing," Arthur added, "And for the purposes of this reserve, we'd like to assume you do as well in your own way."

That was... encouraging, Arthur.

[And open!]

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"I can do that a bit," Karla volunteered. "Certain materials hold emotions and impressions better than others. Not so useful in the forest where everything is alive, but if someone is lost and scared in town or the school? I can use the emotional imprints left in the wood and plaster of the walls to find them. If I get there soon enough after the emotions were imprinted I can pick up more information than just a trail."

She paused to nibble on a cookie. "I can also find people in a way that is similar--I think--to the Jedi. I can sense gender, age, emotion, and intent if I really want to, so I should be able to tell if the person we're tracking is a missing and scared little girl or a member of the invading force, even if neither person is known to me."

"I was thinking of you, actually," Tahiri admitted. "And you're set for the healing aspects of a rescue mission, too."

Thinking about the Wraiths and the way their squadron was built to cover the widest possible range of abilities in a small group of beings, she went on, "So tracking, medical, combat. What other skillsets do we want to include in these teams? Depending on where we end up, extraction abilities are going to be important. People who can pilot vehicles . . . steal them if we have to . . . to get us the kriff out of there in a hurry especially if we've got injured. Communications -- that's what the phone lists are for, and strong telepaths -- unlike me -- would help in case we lose phones or comlinks and need to get messages back and forth."

Karla nodded. "Depending on where they are and what the situation is, getting them out of there might be more important than just getting them healed up. Of course, depending on where they are would really limit what kind of vehicle was appropriate. Someone lost in a snowstorm will have very different needs than someone stuck in the middle of an enemy camp. I think during an enemy invasion, tracking, medical, combat, and recon--someone skilled at getting close, figuring out exactly what we're dealing with, then ghosting back to the main group. This way, even if communications are down and there aren't any strong telepaths in the group, information can still get back." She frowned. "It's slow, but possibly better than overburdening the group with contingency people who might not be needed. Especially if we have scouts strung out behind our lines, so the messages get back faster."

Tahiri snapped her fingers. "That's another thing we could do -- get a sense of who's more skilled in certain terrain, or under different sets of circumstances. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm not the first person you'd want trying to do rescue in a snowstorm, for one. Which also means, I guess, it'd be a good idea to learn this stuff from each other. We can't always count on everyone being there, after all."

"Whereas I'm used to snow and snowstorms and I'll probably laugh at everyone's definition of 'blizzard'," Karla said, grinning. "But, yeah, simulated practices in different kinds of conditions would be a brilliant idea. If someone gets lost in a snowstorm, they'll need to know how to survive and others should learn how to track in them." She gave Tahiri a big smile. "Smartypants."

Tahiri smiled self-consciously and shrugged. "When you hang around the kind of people I tend to, you pick up on these things, that's all."

Karla rolled her eyes but let the comment go. "Maybe we should suggest that then? Training to deal with different kind of weather? How to survive in it, track in it, maneuver in it? I mean, it'll be nice if we only get attacked during beautifully sunny weather, but also highly doubtful."

"And a mynock might fly out --" Tahiri didn't finish the sentence, mostly because she couldn't do it with a straight face. "We should probably remember to account for Fandom weather, too, like we were discussing a few weeks ago. Force. What if we had to rescue someone and it was raining something they were allergic to?"

"Mother Night," Karla groaned. "I hadn't even thought of that. Can you just imagine trying to rescue someone as they're sniffling and sneezing and walking into things because their eyes are swollen shut? And that's assuming it's not an allergy so bad they end up unable to breathe."

Tahiri stared at her. "Do we have to imagine that? No, dumb question. If we're trying to prepare for possibilities I guess we do. Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't."

"If I ever get people to agree to my supply caches, that's another thing to remember to put in. Something to help with an extreme allergy reaction," Karla said thoughtfully, calling in a notebook filled with handwriting. "What other crazy things can the island throw at us?"

"Everything," Tahiri said dryly. Helpful answer, Tahiri. "The teal deer could stampede or something."

Behind the Dorms, Tuesday Afternoon

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