RP: 4th Fleet (NSN) [Mission 5.2] Playing Second Fiddle

[Sigma]

It was not often that Nepleslian Marines engaged in boarding actions. It was even rarer for Nepleslian sailors to take part in it. Both groups had trained in it but the rarity of using those skills caused everyone to disregard as nothing more than bar fight training.

Now, however, the situation called for Nepleslian sailors and Marines to turn away from their rivalries and focus on getting to grips with the foe who came between them. Shuttles stuffed with Nepleslian sailors hovered around the derelict NMX line battleships, waiting for their sealed hangar doors to open. As the shuttle pilots waited, anxiously eyeing the darting combats between 4th Fleet fighters and NMX battlepods, the sailors re-ran their weapon and equipment checks.

In one shuttle, the string of black Styrling Muur armor over blue uniforms was broken by a lone Marine in his green uniform. Like many of the sailors, he was clearly an ID-SOL. But because the 4th Fleet's armorers and junkers had been unable to find a power armor that would fit him and meet the ceiling limitations, Private Aleksei Voronov had been forced to join the sailors' boarding parties while the other Marines got the glory of being first into the NMX ships.

Then the pilots got the green light to approach. Aleksei's shuttle, amongst others, gliding swiftly into the cavernous maw of the XSS Momoranth's rear hangar. The doors sealed again behind them and atmosphere flooded into the hangar. As soon as the shuttle ramps dropped, sailors darted out, stern faced and grasping their weapons. All they found were dead NMX Nekovalkyrjas and NMX Mishhu.

"You!" an ID-SOL Petty Officer pointed at Aleksei, "Follow me!" The lone Marine joined a group of twenty armed sailors who began to dash through a corridor, past dead or dying NMX personnel. Most of the sailors were armed with shotguns or submachine guns as well as a sidearm and numerous close combat weapons. Aleksei could see that several sported electrified knuckle dusters, multiple knives or, in the case of some ID-SOLs, a VBCS knife. Several Yamataian-looking men and women also carried cudgels.

They came to a halt at a four way junction. "Barricade this position!" the Petty Officer ordered. However, there was not much to use. The bare hall was littered with a few corpses but nothing that would provide solid cover. There were, however, a few unopened rooms and the sailors quickly drifted towards those to look for fortifications.

 

[Fenix Aldaris]

Aleksei moved towards the first room that had been discovered with his Showstopper rifle raised as he followed the man in front of him. A glance behind him gave him the comfort of knowing there were sailors behind him as well.

'At least I won't get my ass jumped by the squids.' he thought to himself as he looked at the Petty Officer who had brought him along. "Shame. We might not get to see any action." he said as he motioned towards the corpses and dying NMX soldiers. On the outside he was the cold calculating weapon the Corps had turned him into. On the inside he nervous due to this being his first combat action.

Unsure of what they might run across, he ejected the magazine of HESH ammunition and replaced it with a magazine of I-SLAP. Aleksei gave the charging handle a pull before looking at a nearby sailor. "You boys sure you can handle this?" he asked him with a chuckle.

Reaching the door, he stacked up against the wall on the left side as he reached into his grenade pouch and pulled out a frag grenade and set the timer for 3 seconds. He would wait until the sailors had readied themselves before throwing the grenade into the room and rushing in.

 

[Sigma]

"This is an NMX battleship. The crew is over a thousand squids and cats and these corridors," the Petty Officer pointed to the flesh-like interior, "are made to fit a Ripper power armor. There's no way we're not shooting something. Don't they teach you Marines how to be patient?"

The tight constrictions that marked out the rooms opened, revealing themselves to be empty. Aleksei's grenade bounced for a moment before exploding amidst a couple of mattresses. All that survived from the explosion was a trunk about two feet high.

A sailor moved forward to grab it and the small thing out.

Others were returning with their more useful loot. Four sailors carried a large stove out, followed by a refrigeration unit carried by another quartet. A trio of Marines hauled out numerous small square storage blocks and stacking them up all around like building blocks. "It's a mini-fort!" one the sailors joked as he placed his load down before going for another one.

 

[Fenix Aldaris]

"They taught us to kill." he shot back in reply while he helped set up the captured pieces for the makeshift bunker. He shook his head as he hurried to help with another load. "I should be up there with the others. Not back here playing fucking house with the swabbies." he said out loud. His voice laced with frustration as he looked around for something useful to bring out.

'Blast it all.' he thought as he hurried back to the fortification. "What do you need me to do?" he asked the Petty Officer as he tightened his grip on his rifle.

 

[Sigma]

"Oh, they taught you to kill. Well, since that's all you know and you don't want to 'play with the swabbies,' sit there and be a good boy. And remember real good who runs this Fleet, cos it ain't a goddamn General," the Petty Officer said, drawing himself as close he could to his full height of over eight feet. He did not wait for a reply and returned to overseeing the makeshift fortifications.

The PO's outburst was well heard by every sailor in the group. The ID-SOLs and Nepleslians shot dark looks at Aleksei after that. The Jiyuuian sailors, for the most part, kept themselves separate for the time being. One Jiyuuian, with a Cadet's stripes, walked up to Aleksei.

"Don't overestimate your worth, Marine. We're here because we volunteered to be here. But all of us would prefer to be aboard the Dauntless, not out here, cut off from the warship. I may be a Jiyuuian but here, you're the outsider, not me. Remember that too," the smaller man, only about 5'6" tall said quietly to Aleksei.

 

[Fenix Aldaris]

Aleksei eyed the Petty Officer before turning to watch down the hall. His attention was broken when he heard the Jiyuuian sailor begin speaking to him. He looked down so as to look the sailor in the eyes as he listened to his word of warning. He finally nodded as the words sunk in.

"I've got nothing against the fleet. I joined the Corps to make a difference. I should be up there." he said to the sailor as he returned his sight back down the hallway. Deciding it best to remain oblivious to the animosity he had just gained.

 

[Sigma]

Just as the little fort looked secure, the doorway in front opened to reveal a squad of eight NMX Army Light Infantry armed with Impaler particle rifles, led by an officer Neko armed with a saber and a pistol. The group halted when they saw the Nepleslian sailors manning the barricade. For a moment, both sides stared at each other before the Navy Petty Officer and the Neko officer bellowed orders to their respective units.

"Gun them down! Kill the cats!" the sailors echoed, rushing forward to the section of the junction facing the Nekos. Shotguns and SMGs drew up, repeated chatters of the repeaters broken by the steady boom of shotgun discharges. Then the whine of particle beams charged and let loose. Blue-ish white beams sliced through the air, one narrowly missing Aleksei. One sailor fell back, his neck a smoking ruin as his life force ebbed away. "Man down! Petersen, see to him!" the ID-SOL in charge yelled.

 

[Fenix Aldaris]

Aleksei heard the air hiss as the beam narrowly missed his head while all thoughts other than killing the NMX soldiers flew from his mind. Raising his rifle and crouching with his rifle steadied against one of the crates of the makeshift bunker, he lined his sights up on the officer before squeezing the trigger, firing off ten I-SLAP rounds at her.

He didn't even wait to see if it hit the soldier before turning his aim to the soldier nearest the officer and squeezing off another five rounds.

 

[Sigma]

The officer and Neko beside her fell with several bullet holes that had bored clean through. Even biological supersoldiers could not withstand multiple hits to vital organs. But that hardly slowed down the NMX Nekos were firing and advancing.

Another sailor had been shot in the face whilst two more had been badly wounded by particle beams. One of the wounded had had his left arm burned off at the elbow and had fainted from the sight of it. None of the Jiyuuians or the ID-SOLs in the group had been hit. In fact, it was the three ID-SOL sailors who presented the largest and most dangerous challenge to the Nekos. The Petty Officer and his two ID-SOL companions had been firing their weapons and dropping Nekos.

The sailors had been armed with GSAR rifles, shotguns and an assortment of SMGs. Even with their casualties, they were putting out more lead faster than the exposed Nekos could.

Seconds later, all eight of them were dead having been peppered by buckshot and high powered bullets. But the Nepleslians hadn't gotten off easily. Three dead, three critically wounded.

"See to the wounded and grab more ammo. I hope to hell, Marine, that you brought plenty of bullets for your gun because none of us have any for you," the Petty Officer yelled first at the sailors and then at Aleksei.

 

[Brett M]

Stan grimaced as he moved through the corridors, feeling shot after shot of adrenalin course through his veins. He occasionally had the pessimistic thought that he'd round a corner only to have his face receive several new ventilation holes as one of the enemy spotted and shot him before he even had the chance to register their presence. But he couldn't let that get in the way of linking back up with friendlies.

The ship seemed endlessly vast, and as a result Brandt had gotten seperated from his group shortly after arriving on the XSS Momoranth. He cursed his incompetence time and time again. What a fool! What was so hard about following someone? He wondered briefly if his father had ever made amateur mistakes like he had just done. He shook his head. Nevermind, it was all water under the bridge. The Showstopper cradled in his hands felt reassuringly solid. Whoever decided to fight against him would find themselves on the receiving end of several rounds of HESH.

After several minutes of wandering (and pausing as he swore he heard something), Stan opened a door and found himself in for a welcome surprise - a few sailors and a Marine, apparently taking stock and dealing with the aftermath of a battle. Secretly, he felt a little annoyed at having missed his first taste of real battle, but he knew that there probably wasn't going to be any shortage of that here. Adopting a non-threatening posture and making sure the safety on his Showstopper was on, Stan moved toward the Nepleslian positions.

"Private 3rd Class Stan Brandt," said the ID-SOL, identifying himself. Realising that they might be wondering why the hell he was alone, he hastily added, "I got seperated from my own group - mind if I join in?"

 

[Fenix Aldaris]

"I've got enough ammo. Sir." he replied to the Petty Officer as he thought 'I hope to hell I do.' to himself. Conservation of ammo would be key at the moment and Aleksei hit the fire selector on his rifle switching it to semi-automatic.

He looked back down the hallway as he waited for the next run in with the enemy instead seeing a lone Nepleslian marine. "Petty Officer, sir. I've got a friendly in my sights. Seems he's alone." he said to the sailor. He turned his attention back to the marine. "How the hell did you end up by yourself?" he called to the marine.

 

[Sigma]

"He doesn't have any wiggly bits, that's good enough for me! Get on the firing line, we've got more cats!" a sailor yelled, pointing to NMX infantry approaching from three ends of the corridor.

The front and left sections held back, firing from cover whilst a large group assaulted from the right. The assaulting Nekos seemed to be working in a leapfrogging pairs, one would fire while the other scrambled forwards.

Most of the sailors shifted towards the impending assault, firing at will again. Both Nekos and Nepleslians were hit by the crossfire but the Nekos kept coming. A few more moments and it would be hand to hand.

A few of the sailors were trading shots with the NMX sharpshooters down the other two halls. The problem was that the NMX beams that missed them might hit someone else behind them. And a few sailors did fall to hits from the back. A Jiyuuian sailor who had been snapping off SMG bursts spun forwards as his back shoulder took a particle beam. As the only medic came to check on him, he was hit by a particle beam as well, crumpling forwards atop the wounded Jiyuuian.

 

[Brett M]

"Uh... well..." Stan felt himself stumbling. If he told them that he'd simply gotten confused by the layout of the ship, he'd probably never hear the end of it. Luckily for him, the sailors didn't appear to be interested in that but rather how he could contribute to the defence. Hurriedly taking up position, Stan took a sharp breath through his teeth as he noticed the incoming Nekos.

Admittedly, he wasn't as experienced as the other soldiers present, but as far as he could see it was a situation where you were damned if you did, and damned if you didn't. If he focused on the enemy attacking from the front and left hand side, he was just asking for himself to get gutted if the sailors didn't manage to hold back the others (which was looking like a fairly likely prospect). If, however, he paid attention to the assault, he might end up being hit.

As far as he could see things, since the Nekos devoted to the front and left seemed more cautious, if they could stall or knock them out quickly enough perhaps they could then focus on the assaulting group. His head seemed to crowd with thoughts, each beating their fists on his skull like a mob. If he miscalculated, everything would go to hell in a handbasket - not that it wasn't already, of course.

"Hey, you," he said to Aleksei. "I didn't catch your name, but let's try clearing those two halls." The ID-SOL indicated the relevant two groups. Since they were running short on time, Stan didn't wait for an answer. Taking a deep breath, he aimed down his Showstopper's sights and tried to hit some of the Nekos. Hopefully, even if he missed it'd slow them down.

It felt like time was both moving like molasses and going impossibly fast. So this is what combat's like? he thought to himself. This had better not be my first and last time - that would be a shame.

 

[Fenix Aldaris]

"Hey, you,I didn't catch your name, but let's try clearing those two halls."

Aleksei turned to see an ID-SOL a few inches shorter than him running to the other side of the barricade to begin firing into a group of Nekos. "Roger that." he yelled as he pulled the trigger five times before breaking off of his current position. That's when he saw the wounded Jiyuuian sailor and the medic.

"Man down. The docs hit, cover me!" the ID-SOL yelled to the sailors as he let his rifle hang from the straps. Reaching down he grabbed the two men by the straps on their armor and began pulling them to the rear away from the firefight. Taking a look at the two men, he realized that he had no medical training. "Shit." he muttered to himself.

He looked at the Jiyuuian sailor. "Don't worry, Mate. Someone will get you patched up. Try and stay awake." he said as he gave the man a pat on the shoulder before he stood and sprinted to join the ID-SOL marine that had called him over. Dropping to a knee next to the man, he sighted down his rifle and began firing at the Nekos.

 

[Brett M]

Stan winced slightly at the realisation that what seemed to be their only medic had been incapacitated, which had taken a moment to hit home. It certainly didn't make their lives any easier, and the way things appeared to be going would probably lead to further casualties. Sparing a sideways glance toward Aleksei, he said, "I sure as hell hope that this works - I don't know about you, but I don't want to be going back home in a body bag... or worse."

He swallowed before continuing - one of the few outward signs that the ID-SOL was feeling under pressure. "Just keep calm and maintain a steady trigger finger, I guess."

 

[Sigma]

A Neko slipped and crashed to the ground, riddled with buckshot. Another leapt forward, past her dead sister, screaming incoherently and was rewarded with another round of buckshot. The stalwart trio of Navy ID-SOLs were anchoring the sailors' defense. It held because those three were an obvious presence, clustered together. They fired and reloaded in the blink of eye with practiced ease and their condescension of the incoming NMX beams, which seemed to avoid them, inspired their fellow sailors to fight all the harder.

However, the positioning of the sailors meant that not enough firepower could be concentrated on the Neko horde charging down on them. Even with their ranks drastically thinned, the Nekos leapt over the barrier and turned the contest into a melee.

Stan managed to gun a Neko down as it jumped over a cargo crate but found himself facing two Nekos armed with knives. Like any NH-29, they had physical strength as well as agility. With predatory skill, they circled the Marine, still holding his rifle, and looked for an opening.

Behind him, Aleksei's frantic ministrations to the wounded were abruptly halted when he heard the death cry of a Neko right behind him. As he turned around, he saw a fallen Neko with a curved knife lying dazed on the ground. Towering over her, the same Jiyuuian he had spoken to earlier brought his cudgel down onto her, cracking her skull and causing brain matter to splatter around. None of it touched Aleksei but the detritus was within his reach. The Jiyuuian looked at Aleksei for a moment with a stern gaze before returning to the fight.

 

[Fenix Aldaris]

Aleksei gave the Jiyuuian a nod before he noticed some Neko troops attempting to get the jump on the other ID-SOL marine. 'Ah hell.' he thought to himself as he drew his combat knife and ax rushing the Neko nearest to the marine. "On your six, mate!" he called to the man hoping to get his attention.

He had decided he was going to attempt and drive the blade of the knife in the Neko's chin into the brain before attempting to slam the ax into the top of her skull.

 

[Brett M]

Stan found himself watching his first real life kill occur almost in slow motion. Somehow, he doubted that he would ever forget the way that the Neko fell as she cleared the crate. But he was forced to put such thoughts behind him as two more Nekos and the general tumult of close range battle made itself known. He eyed the two NH-29s warily, feeling slug after slug of nervous energy fill him.

Stan wasn't overly familiar with his opponents aside from what had been taught to him by his instructors - a downside of his inexperience - but although he knew (or at least hoped) that two on one odds were doable, if risky, he realised that it didn't pay to get cocky or careless. If he tried to grab a weapon more suited to close range combat, he was just asking to have the Nekos get a free hit in. Unless there was no other option, he also didn't want to test just how sturdily his Showstopper had been manufactured by using it as a makeshift club (though at least he'd have a better reach than the Nekos if it came down to that).

He hoped that the Showstopper didn't pose a risk to its' operator at close quarters, as simply shooting the Nekos in the head looked like the smartest option at this point. Thankfully, Aleksei picked this moment to attack. Praying that the other Marine's interruption would come as a surprise, Stan pretended to begin moving for his HHG (it never hurt to add an extra layer of insurance) before whipping his rifle upward and snapping off a rapid burst at the other NH-29's head with a yell that aimed to put the Neko on the back foot psychologically.

Admittedly, the shots probably wouldn't be as accurate as Stan would've liked (never mind the questionable assumption on which he had based his decision to shout), but he was banking on the element of surprise and aggressive action to win the day.

 

[Sigma]

As the axe-head came downwards, the intended victim dodged to the side with a single, graceful leap. She spun to face the new attacker with a hateful glare and kept herself in a ready stance to either pounce on Aleksei or dodge him.

This was the showdown. ID-SOL versus Nekovalkyrja. The original engineered super-soldier pitted against the Yamataian copy. The fantasy match-up most popular with Nepleslian nationalists, including samurai versus gangster or Yui versus Robert Davis.

Granted, there were no bookies around and these weren't Yamataian-trained (or owned) Nekovalkyrja. But the point remained the same. A faceoff between super soldiers. No guns, one on one, and a fight to the death.

Behind the squared off pair, Stan and his opponent were already going for each other. Like its partner, the Nekovalkyrja reacted swiftly. The moment that his hand had moved, she too had started moving. By the time that Stan had fired, she was half a step from where he had aimed and dipped lower.

His roar failed to elicit any emotion or reaction. Considering her masters, an ID-SOL was less fearsome. However, his howl of pain as she drove her knife into his left arm was rewarded by her own triumphal cry. The Neko was unable to pull out her blade as she dashed past him into the melee. In front of Stan, he saw a Navy sailor lying several feet ahead with bullet holes in her back. Blood pooled around the corpse. In the fight, none of the other sailors had seen it but this was clearly not the work of a particle beam.

 

[Fenix Aldaris]

Aleksei let a growl of frustration leave his throat. 'My first time in combat and everything seems to be wrong. No power armor. Close quarters and I can't even kill a fucking cat' he thought to himself as he grabbed his ax with his right hand. He glared at the Neko from within his helmet as he looked for an opening. Some indication of which direction she would shift when he attacked again.

Deciding that waiting any longer would only make the matter worse, he rushed at the Neko looking for his opening hoping to cut the cat in two.