conversations.from: system
conversations.value: #AUGUST 1945
  
  The war was over.  
  
  Just three days earlier, the Japanese Empire had formally surrendered in a ceremony aboard USS *Missouri.*  In a recorded message, Emperor Hirohito ordered all Japanese soldiers and sailors to cease fighting and to lay down their arms.
  
  Not all of them listened.  Throughout the Pacific, Japanese strongholds that had been bypassed in Nimitz's "island hopping" campaign had remained untouched.  No longer capable of being supplied by land or sea, the Allies had simply allowed them to wither.  In the weeks after VJ Day, small naval task forces combed the Pacific, landing on bypassed islands and urging the Japanese holdouts to come out of their caves and be repatriated with their homeland.
  
  There was some resistance.  Some Japanese, their hearts still alive with the *bushido* spirit, would refuse to surrender, and would remain in the jungles for decades to come.
  
  There was one island in the Marshalls, however, where the Marines were greeted by their former enemies with a mixture of terror and joy.  There were only four of them, and they kept insisting--*begging*--that they be removed from the island before nightfall.
  
  Nearly seventy five years later, the details of what happened on Agrihan Island are still classified...
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You gotta stay alive!
  You *gotta* get home in one piece before the damn squids get all the glory...*and* the dames!
conversations.prefix: Get Home!:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Banzai charges?  Check.
  Kamikazes?  Check.
  Jungle rot?  Double check.
  Shitty c-rats?  Yeah.
  
  But I sure as hell didn't sign on for *this*...
conversations.prefix: What the Hell..?:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Let's just get the job done, Mac, OK?
conversations.prefix: How 'bout a nice cup of Shut The Hell Up?:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Sure, Gunny didn't say anything about killing undead Krauts or Nips back in bootcamp...but he *did* say something about "adapt, improvise, and overcome," didn't he?
conversations.prefix: Think, Marine!  Think!:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The real title is "gunnery sergeant," but hell, *nobody* uses that.
  
  You're the "Gunny," and the men will follow you through the gates of hell itself, if you're man enough to lead them.  
conversations.prefix: Gunny Sergeant:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You're a basic grunt.
  
  A United States Marine Corps rifleman.
  
  You and your rifle are the most deadly combination in the world...against *living* enemies, anyway...
conversations.prefix: Rifleman:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You are a gung-ho Marine.  You fought your way across the Pacific.
  
  Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Okinawa...
  
  You're battle-hardened and ready for *anything*...even the undead.  
conversations.prefix: Gung-Ho!:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: That's what we do in the Marines.
conversations.prefix: Improvise!  Adapt! Overcome!:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Guess what..?
conversations.prefix: "It's tougher if you're stupid.":
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: They didn't call it "PTSD" back in 1945, but everyone knew what it was.
  
  "Battle Fatigue"
  "Shell Shock"
  "The 2000 Yard Stare"
  
  Sometimes it hits you pretty hard...
conversations.prefix: Battle Fatigue:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Hell, who *wouldn't* be afraid of this shit?
conversations.prefix: Fear of the supernatural:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Using these are second nature to you...but will they work against *them*..?
conversations.prefix: Hand Grenade (US):
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: They work a little different...you have to slap down the knob on top to activate it.  Makes a hissing noise when the fuse is lit.
conversations.prefix: Japanese Hand Grenade:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: An obscure island in the Marshalls located north of Guam, it was bypassed during the island hopping campaign.  No American has set foot on it...until now.
conversations.prefix: Agrihan Island:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: If you don't have a wooden stake, this little baby still does the trick!
  
  *Hey, could this be made into a bayonett?* 
conversations.prefix: Bamboo Knife:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: LT Mick Flannigan, Chaplains Corps, USN has been with your outfit since Peleliu.  Though he never carries a weapon, he's always in the thick of things ready to 
  
  
  carry a wounded Marine to safety and--if needs be--administer the Last Rites. 
conversations.prefix: Chaps:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: When he was alive, he was known as Captain Ishiki Tonjo, the commanding officer of the Imperial Japanese Army contingent on the island.  Although his undead soul 
  
  is still imbued with the spirit of a Samurai, his loyalty is no longer to the Emperor.  The sovereign he worships now is a much *darker* character...
conversations.prefix: Ishiki Tonjo:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Although she was a civilian (back when she was alive), Fumiko Hanae could speak English with a near-perfect midwestern American accent.  The island had a 
  
  radio station used to broadcast propaganda messages.  Though nowhere nearly as famous as "Tokyo Rose," she now possesses skills never imagined by her former superiors at the Imperial Japanese High Command.
conversations.prefix: Fumiko Hanae:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Captain Ichiro Hashimoto is the garrison commander, one of only four (living) Japanese soldiers found on the island.  
conversations.prefix: Captain Hashimoto:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The four remaining Japanese soldiers present themselves to you.
conversations.prefix: Japanese Garrison...what's left of it.:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The LVT-4 Amphibious Tractor ("Amtrak") was a workhorse of the Pacific war.  Capable of carrying 18 Marines and equipment, it had armor which 
  
  provided some protection when hitting the beach.  If surf conditions were rough, it was prone to broaching and swamping, however.
conversations.prefix: LVT-4 Amtrak:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Standard USN issue.
conversations.prefix: Kapok Life Jacket:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Standard USN equipment found on any ship or watercraft.
  
  Don't let the squids hear you call them "ropes."  Everyone knows the proper term is "lines."
conversations.prefix: Ropes:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Based on old surveys and more recent aerial photography, it's a fairly decent topographic map of Agrihan Island.
conversations.prefix: Map:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Carried by officers and senior NCO's, the 1911 model Colt .45 has a lot of stopping power.
  
  Damn good kick too.
conversations.prefix: Colt 1911:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Model  M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle (usually just called the B.A.R.) It could fire 30-06 rounds at a rate of 500 per minute, though a typical magazine carried only 20 rounds.
  
  While most Marines carried the reliable M1 rifle, a typical squad had two BARs. One team would typically provide covering fire until a magazine was empty, whereupon the second team would open fire, thus allowing the first team to reload. In the Pacific, the BAR was often employed at the point or tail of a patrol or infantry column, where its firepower could help break contact on a jungle trail in the event of an ambush.
conversations.prefix: Browning Automatic Rifle:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: "This is my rifle.  There are many like it, but this one is mine!"
  
  With an effective range of 500 yds., the M1 was the workhorse of the Marines.  Its 8 round magazine fires 30-06 bullets.
  
  If the order is given to "fix bayonets," this rifle becomes a deadly hand-to-hand weapon as well.
  
  Make every round count, Marine!
conversations.prefix: M1 Rifle:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Usually called just the "Thompson" or "Tommy-gun," it doesn't have near the range of the M-1 rifle (only 150 yards) but it can spit out those .45 rounds at the rate of 700 a minute (though the clip carries only 30).
conversations.prefix: Thompson M1 Submachine Gun:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Most people would simply call this "a shovel," but to the Marines, it's an "entrenching tool."  
  The blade isn't any sharper than a regular shovel (although it *does* fold), but in the hands of a Marine, it can still 
  
  do some damage.
conversations.prefix: E-Tool:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: *Smoke 'em if you got 'em.*
  
  Share 'em with a friend.  
  
  (It's still 20 years until the Surgeon General's warning comes out...)
conversations.prefix: Lucky Strikes:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Although many K-ration and C-ration "delicacies" were barely identifiable as food, the ubiquitous chocolate bar earned its place in GI history for all the right reasons.
conversations.prefix: Chocolate Bar:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The first order of business is securing the beach.
  
  Always.
  
  Get it done, Marine.
conversations.prefix: Establish a Beachhead:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The company commander.  Annapolis Class of '42.  Capable and competent.
conversations.prefix: Captain Hank Jackson:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Maybe you won't need it, seeing that the war's officially over....
  
  **The card represents ammo for your particular weapon type.  You can "rewrite" it as your original weapon, or** 
  
  **you can simply play it as is, indicating that you're reloading and continuing to fire.**
conversations.prefix: Ammo:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: It might be real "meat" inside these cans...but it's probably best not to dwell on the contents for too long...
conversations.prefix: C-Rations:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Hector Hickum is the unit's corpsman.  His official title is Navy Hospital Corpsman (HM) Petty Officer Second Class, but everyone just 
  
  calls him "Doc."  He's been with the company since Peleliu, and there's many a Marine who owes his life to this man.
  
  *Helpful Hint:  Don't call him a "medic," or he's likely to give you a fat lip for insinuating that he's some kind of Army asshole!  He's a Navy Corpsman!*
conversations.prefix: HM2 "Doc" Hickum:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: All of Yablonski's bravado seems to have left him, although he is still fighting as if his life depends on it.  As your foxhole is swarmed, 
  
  though, Yablonski loses it.  
conversations.prefix: Yablonski (for Cohen):
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: These Nips seem *particularly* determined to get into hand-to-hand combat with you.  They're almost unstoppable!  *What kind of drug-laced Sake are they mugs drinking, anyway?*
conversations.prefix: Enemy Soldiers (Hammonds & Pickett) :
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: It's hand-to-hand trench fighting!  The Japs are on top of you almost before you know it..
conversations.prefix: Enemy Soldiers (McElroy):
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: "Chaps" doesn't have a gun, so it's up to you to stop these Nips before you're both gutted.
conversations.prefix: Enemy Soldiers (Gunny):
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Dawn breaks over Agrihan Island, signalling the start of another period of blessed daylight.
conversations.prefix: White Beach, Agrihan Island:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The vegetation is lush.  Well camouflaged enemies could be anywhere.
conversations.prefix: Agrihan Island:  The Interior:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Mission:  reconnoiter the area surrounding White Beach.  Get a body count.  Try to find Stoker, or at least try to find out what 
  
  happened to him.  Engage the enemy if you encounter him. 
conversations.prefix: Patrol (17 Sep 1945):
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The sounds of a firefight somewhere to the south are unmistakable.  The question is...who are they fighting?  It sure as hell isn't *you!*
conversations.prefix: Who are they shooting at?:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Yablonski seemed to get better right around sunset.  More calm, less agitated, more like himself.  You know...an *asshole.*
  
  But now...*this??*
conversations.prefix: Yablonski:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Up ahead are a group of soldiers.  They're definitely *not* United States Marines.  
  They see you .
  You see them.
  What now?
conversations.prefix: Japanese Soldiers:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The figures up ahead are definitely *not* United States Marines!
conversations.prefix: Japanese Soldiers:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: They're exhausted, malnourished, and obviously frightened.  You've stripped them of weapons, but *now* what?  Gunny said to treat them well.  Wonder what their names are and if any of them speak American..?
conversations.prefix: Your New Guests:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: One of the prisoners had a bottle of Sake on him.  That's some kind of booze, right?  Wonder if it's any good...?
conversations.prefix: Sake:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: As Chaplain Flannigan holds the crucifix before his face, Yablonski grows increasingly fearful and agitated. 
conversations.prefix: Yablonski (for McElroy) :
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The company commander.  Annapolis Class of '42.  Capable and competent.
conversations.prefix: Captain Hank Jackson (for GySgt Stillwell):
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: She is the Ancient One.  
  The oldest and most deadly vampire on the island, she is from the original generation of natives "turned" by whatever it was that arrived as unwanted cargo aboard a European ship a century earlier.  
conversations.prefix: The Mistress:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The combined force of US Marines and Imperial Japanese soldiers have erected a hasty defense which includes means both conventional...and those considerably *un*conventional.  Will it be enough?
conversations.prefix: The Defenses:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: One victim was not enough to satisfy their hunger.  The vampires swarm your position again, and while they do so, one of their number engages in a special attack of *her own*...
conversations.prefix: The Second Attack:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: An essential piece of equipment for clearing out bunkers and tunnels late in the war, the weapon's effects are horrific.  It was one of the most hated weapons from the Japanese perspective.  But it *is* good at burning things to a crisp.  Will it work on the undead?
conversations.prefix: Flame Thrower:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: There are probably no vampires lurking this close to the entrance, but do you want to risk your life on it?
conversations.prefix: Clear the Entrance!:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: They appear to be sleeping Japanese soldiers...peaceful but with the stench of *death* about them.
conversations.prefix: The First Lair:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: 
  Others may call it a retreat, but the *only* path to safety requires an "advance to the rear."
conversations.prefix: Fight Your Way Out!:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Taking your eyes off the treeline for a moment, you watch your reinforcements coming ashore.  Upon order from Gunny, you collapse your perimeter and withdraw to the waiting 'tracks.  What are your thoughts?
conversations.prefix: The Evacuation:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: He was your buddy.  You always thought the two of you would make it home.
conversations.prefix: Hammonds:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You've been through a lot together.
  
  The "Canal," Peleliu, Okinawa...it was hell on earth, but your leadership kept more of your men alive than anyone thought was possible.  
conversations.prefix: Revered by your men:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: If the something pisses you off...*really* pisses you off, you can get boresighted to the point where your judgement begins to suffer.
conversations.prefix: My way or the highway:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: This *isn't* the theater you wanted to fight in, but there's still a job to be done!  The sooner you get it done--and done right--the sooner you can get home.
conversations.prefix: No Nonsense!:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You've seen enough in the war that you have no illusions:  death is always lurking, ever only moments away.  This realization has made you cautious--perhaps *too* cautious--and at 
  
  times you hesitate when hesitation can be every bit as fatal as rashness.
conversations.prefix: Caution bordering on Hesitancy:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: This war--what happened to your people in Europe--well, that makes it *personal,* doesn't it?  You desperately wanted to fight in Europe to make a direct effort in defeating Nazism, but fate sent you to the Pacific.  Either 
  
  way, though, there are wrongs to be righted...and scores to be settled.
conversations.prefix: It's Personal:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Part muscle memory.  Part gung-ho.  All Leatherneck.
  
  Once the bullets start flying, things just happen automatically.
conversations.prefix: Born for Battle:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Visibility is poor, you're stiff from sitting curled up in your foxhole, and you're still half-asleep. 
conversations.prefix: Night Combat:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Revenge is a dish best served. Hot if possible, cold if not, but never a meal to be skipped.
conversations.prefix: Unforgiving:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Your faith was instilled in you by Father O'Connell at Our Mother Holy Church and you don't waver.
conversations.prefix: Good Catholic:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You lack some knowledge about the Japanese that could have proved helpful during the war, and that lack of knowledge isn't helping you now, either.
conversations.prefix: Japanese Knowledge:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Training and Discipline:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You're not always the sharpest tool in the shed, but you've got good instincts that enable you to take in the bigger picture.
conversations.prefix: The Big Picture:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Worried about where the next attack may come from, tension is high.
conversations.prefix: Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Sometimes shooting off your mouth should be done only after putting some thought into your situation.
conversations.prefix: Running your mouth before your brain is in gear.:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Even though these soldiers would have tried to kill you not too long ago, everyone deserves a second chance.  Right?
  
  *Right?*...
conversations.prefix: Second Chances:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You are not going to let something claiming to be "facts" interfere with your judgement.  If others prefer adapting a skewed view of reality, that's *their* problem.  
conversations.prefix: Stubborn:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Books take you to other worlds.
conversations.prefix: Well Read:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Everyone thought the war was over.
  *It isn't.*
  This is crazy and it makes no sense, but you'll be *damned* if you don't see this last fight through to its conclusion! 
conversations.prefix: One Last Fight:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Pappy was a grizzled, old marine.  He was tough, wise, and Mac's hero.  His grandfather may be gone, but he'll never be forgotten.
conversations.prefix: Pappy:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Although that cliché was still a year or two in the future, it seems to fit right here, right now.
  
  "Born in the jungle and raised in a cave.  Fighting an' killing is all I crave."
conversations.prefix: Another Day at the Office:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Until now, demons were just a concept.  A nebulous idea of something to be avoided lest your mortal soul become damned.  But now...  Now, the concept had manifested into something tangible...
conversations.prefix: Adapt to the New World:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: When you set your mind to a task, very little can lead you astray.  Stressful or not, you must stay *focused.*
conversations.prefix: Focused on the Task:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What you've seen here...
conversations.prefix: Never the Same:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You have to be honest with yourself, and then you can be honest with the world. 
conversations.prefix: Realist:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild: