REPORT 014 :: RAINFOREST // WRITTEN | VOICE

[daisy023]

[There is no hesitation once the voice transmission begins. Her voice is solid, almost commanding.]

This is Chief Petty Officer Daisy SPARTAN-023.

This is a quick guide for anyone entering battle. I apologize if this guide is not as throughout as it should be, but the quicker we get to plan things out, the less casualties we'll have there. I'll be taking a defensive role in this battle, and do what I can to be with those that may be unfamiliar with the environment, or are simply not combatants, but that will not be an excuse for you to be foolish when we get there.

A jungle is an environment that is host threats not only relating to the Third Party, but to fauna, and even the vegetation, where the unexperienced person may have a hard time adapting to. So if you're not familiar with rainforest and jungles, read this.


- For your health, request two sets of jungle fatigues and boots -green camouflage for the ecosystem. Better that they don't see you at all-, and keep the leech straps tied between them. Keep the second dry set of clothing handy for the following day. Likewise, request insect repellent against all sorts of bugs lying around there, water with salt against dehydration, dapsone and chloroquineprimaquine, and avoid infested areas as much as possible -lakes, swamps, any place where bugs may gather-. Keep your body covered, and hydrate yourself well.

For anyone tending medical positions or temporary headquarters, please request an insect bar or net.


- Extra equipment, if you don't have the magic to cast them, should include a compass, a flashlight with extra batteries, a first-aid kit, a water purification kit, and a watch. Keep posted to the journals if someone gets a map of the area. For your caution, make a brief map as you go, taking note of routes and notable elements. However, stay light. Whatever you request should be something you can carry through the days we'll spent there.


- Be hygienic. This will sound like a no-brainer, but keep this in mind: In my world's past, a whole lot of the casualties on the Pacific front on Earth's Second World War, and on the South-American Rainforest Wars, were not by combat, but by malaria and various illnesses. If you're hit by by them, chances are you'll feel headaches, nausea, fever, vomiting, and flu-like symptoms.

Don't swim nor use the water there. The jungle is host to various insects. Make sure the clothes stay clean, dry, and loose-fitting whenever possible. This all goes double if you're affected by shift incompatibilities. The Third Party will not be the only ones that can put you down.


- This has been asked regularly, but given where I'm from, I can say there's an untold amount of creatures that can be found there: Basing off from Earth, fauna ranges from mosquitoes, leeches, wasps, bees, centipedes, scorpions, and all bugs you can imagine; to snakes (also venomous – always treat all snakebites as poisonous), crocodiles, caymans, and big cats.

Most animals will stay away from big groups, since they will see a hard fight, but will go against people that may be alone, cornered, or wounded. A lot of them can be driven away by the sound of gunshots and battle -prey is of no use if they're dead-. They will usually prefer to stay away when the fighting starts, but still, keep your guard high, and don't lose your group.


- The vegetation there can also be venomous. Nettles, ringa trees, poison oaks, poison ivy, blackberry patches. If the leaves have a rugged shape, chances are they're poisonous. These dangers can be avoided by keeping sleeves down, using gloves, and keeping your body covered.


- Keep in mind Third Party tactics and their use of the environment. If what that woman told us is true, they are familiar with the territory we'll be fighting in. Be wary of leaves and foliage, and be aware that the trees will be so thick and so tall, sunlight could (and will) be blocked. The most common form of combat in jungles are through ambushes, and Close-Quarters Combat. Stand ready, and be vigilant.

Most of the combat in jungles are performed when there is the least visibility, so these warnings go double. You can perform more successful attacks when your group is the least visible, and keep in mind for trails in the ground. However, if you think you've found a false trail, always assume it leads to a trap. Don't risk yourself nor your group.

Higher ground within the jungles will be preferrable. Chances are, the territory will be uneven, so the more opportunity you have to ambush the enemy, the better. That's when range will come in handy, but don't get careless. The Third Party soldiers can turn airborne, so even on higher elevations should you all exercise as much caution as on the ground. They will also be able to place traps and ambushes there, so don't be negligent.


- Remain in groups. I can't stress this one enough. Battles are hectic enough as is it, but a jungle is a hostile environment to the unprepared person, as dangerous as the enemy. You can get lost, and in the worst cases, it won't even be the enemy who could take you down. Stay in a fire team -that is, a group of four members-, preferably with different abilities to make the shifters' job harder. Goes without saying that if you have a medic or a healer, protect him.


-Attached to this transmission is a document I found on the library and used the camera to scan. It's the nearest thing I found to a throughout guide on jungle operations. Barring things that could not be from some of your worlds, it's a good read, so use it. It has content on treating snake bites and poisoning, injuries related to jungle environments, tactics against both armies and guerillas of enemies, how to get your own food, and how to survive the environment.

If you know how to use firearms, keep the guide in mind. If you don't, don't even request a firearm, unless you can get an instructor to teach you in the time we have until the draft.


Above all, use common sense and caution. The jungle is a hostile environment, but it can be used to one's advantage if you know it well. Even against our enemies.

Good luck, everyone. SPARTAN-023, out.

[True to her word, at the end of this transmission is the Army FM-90.5. I'm not putting the link because, while it's obligated reading for anyone into Basic Training -probably qualifying as Free Public Content-, I'm not sure if it would be allowed by LJ TOS... But other than that, you can search it on google, and pretend Daisy put it in here.

UPDATE: Link seems not to violate LJ TOS, so here it is. Have fun, it's a pretty throughout read. Your characters will need that info!]


[FILTERED TO VALVALIS]

[The tone is softer. Concerned.]

Who will take care of Kirimi?

[FILTERED TO THE BLUE ROGUES]

Campfire?

Comments

[Voice]

[yellowthirteen.livejournal.com]

[He reads through Daisy's entry. He expected nothing less of an experienced soldier like her.]

Very well said. Hopefully your knowledge will save lives out there.

[Voice]

[daisy023]

[She calms down somewhat.]

Thank you, sir. With the troubles going around, figured people might need this.

[voice]

[sortabeautiful.livejournal.com]

[ he skims it. briefly. and then makes a note to read it more thoroughly. ]

Thank you.

[Voice]

[daisy023]

Thank you, Mr...

[Filter]

[aero-dienamic.livejournal.com]

My my, how thorough of you, Daisy.

To the best of my knowledge, Nel wasn't drafted. I think the girls will be fine there. Kirimi has plenty of older friends that could watch her as well, but I'll make a point to make sure she's cared for.

[Filter]

[daisy023]

I had to. Some people don't know what a rainforest is. It's worrying.

Nel wasn't drafted. [This calms Daisy.] She might watch over her, but... Thank you.

She's a well-liked girl?

[ voice ]

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue reads this. And then reads it again. It jives with what she's been able to extract from Wolverine's psyche so far.]

Thank you. That - helps a lot.

[It's a sight better than any information the so-called Commandant was able to provide.]

[ voice ]

[daisy023]

No problem, ma'am. I felt this was necessary.

[A little too much. She's had bad CO's before, but she takes the cake. Especially if she literally doesn't care about her unit.]

[voice]

[chikaidestroyer]

Very thorough. [He doesn't have much to say, but there's a tone of approval there.]

[voice]

[daisy023]

I wish it was more throughout.

[In her mind, there are still hundreds of factors to account for.]

[coolstempers.livejournal.com]

I thank you for writing this. I do have a few questions if you would not mind answering them?

[Yeah, excuse the poor guy from a not very technological world who doesn't understand some of those terms for items that should be requested.]

[daisy023]

Go on.

[Better to learn here than on the field, anyway...]

[realityanchor.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all of the information. I thought I'd been to all sorts of places, but the jungle sounds like its own surreal little world.

[daisy023]

...In a way, it is.

[Even over two milennia of warfare, Daisy comes to think.]

For all living things there, it's a competitive environment. Hence why a lot of things are things to be careful about.

[derek-bliss.livejournal.com]

((OOC: I've had a link to the Army Rangers special ops training page on Derek's journal page for several years now and never been called in for a TOS problem, or had the Rangers come back and say I need to take it down, so I'm pretty sure it would be safe to provide the link))

[daisy023]

((OOC: Good point. I'll publish it on the entry. It seems to be public content as I thought, anyway...

...BTW, can you pass me that, please? :D))

[Voice]

[mountain-sage.livejournal.com]

Ah...thank you for the information. If there are poisonous creatures out there, I should bring my Restore staff.

[Voice]

[daisy023]

There will be. Keep it handy.

[Even with the advice, a lot of people will get sick.]

[endgames]

Couldn't have said it better myself. [Having grown up in an area surrounded by forest, these are all survival tactics he's familiar with - especially the fire teams! - and he'd planned to give similar instructions.]

Only thing I have to add here is that given the enemy, we should be cautious even when using the high ground. We're fighting opponents who can fly, so it would be to their advantage to place traps there too.

[daisy023]

[Hum. Sadly an advantage for the enemy.]

Good point, sir. I still feel there's more to add, but I added it to the guide, nonetheless.

[Though if the goddamned mun wrote even more, he'd break livejournal.]

[Voice]

[fallenambitions]

[rainforest...definitely not terrain Alexei was completely familiar with.]

This was very informative, thank you Daisy. Good luck to you out there as well.

[Voice]

[daisy023]

Thank you, Mr. Denoia. And be safe.

[You were family, so in a way, she still cares about you.]

[Voice]

[hisdarkmark]

...thorough. And just how many times have you been to a jungle for battle? [It's good advice, sure, but he has to check credibility.]

[Voice]

[daisy023]

More than you'd believe.

[Being a child soldier is no fun.]

I was part of the utmost Special Forces of the UNSC, so war games in the jungle were a given during training. I've fought in dozens of planets in classified ops against the Insurrection. Places where they knew the territory and treated it like their homes. I've seen every trick of the book and more.

[It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.]

[voice]

[perplexme]

Hey, thanks a lot. This is really going to help out a lot of the people going.

[voice]

[daisy023]

I hope it will, sir.

At least, that they'll keep this guide handy.

[Filtered]

[hotheadedidiot]

[A rain forest is definitely not a place Stahn has much experience fighting in, so the guide was a handy read. ...Not that he understood much of it.]

...A campfire? [Campfiiiiire.] Yeah, sounds fine to me.

[Filtered]

[daisy023]

... Spartan slang, sir. Sorry. I meant a reunion. [Still something of a fish out of water, even among her most recent unit.]

ALAS MASAOMI IS TOO EMO TO REPLY

[hazelrink.livejournal.com]

...Wow, Daisy, you're really knowledgeable.

THERE'LL BE A TIME, I SWEAR TO GOD, WHEN THESE TWO GET TOGETHER.

[daisy023]

...Things I picked off from training and field experience.

[That, and there's others from her group that would probably know more about jungles than her. Her CO, for instance.]

[voice]

[fourteen]

[ This is quiet, but very sincere. ]

... thank you so much for all of this. It'll really help.

[voice]

[daisy023]

... Did what I had to do, ma'am. I hope it will.

[one-green-eye.livejournal.com]

Thanks, for this. [the distracted tone of someone already reading]

Some of these species I'm not familiar with... but knowing the potential fauna beforehand might make requesting the right antidotes easier. [not to mention the potentially thousandfold strange plants.

...Traveling and packing for rough, even swampy terrain Ginko knows how to do-- but not for anything close to military reasons.]

[daisy023]

Which of them do you need to know about, sir?

[Fortunately, some species of Earth seemed to have spread over through several worlds for her to be familiar with them.]