RP: Battlegroup Warden [Battlegroup Warden] Mission 1: The Battle for Trinity

Beads of sweat betrayed the calm upon Aliasse's visage as her neatly arranged readouts continued to give her complete status reports of her ship, interrupted by the message of commendation from the Immortal She, and pinning orders on them to keep H4 under observation. A click of annoyance was her signal for her sister to acknowledge the message in hear stead.

"Acknowledged. If it shows signs of life, it's gone," Rosetta responded. With people under her command, Aliasse had little issue addressing them. Whatever impressions she leaves them are slowly tempered with her actions and she trusted the bonds that get forged naturally by being stuck on the ship together. But with other ships' crews, she couldn't risk such freedoms as there was just too much distance with them and she couldn't handle the social upkeep of building rapports. That was where Rosetta shined.

"Aww, look at that, they've decided to point back at us!" The pilot said, almost delighted as he gripped his controls tighter. "Adjusting orbiting pattern to the negative in five seconds," he announced, more as a heads-up for the gunners. "Let's see that soft belly."

The Sagacity continued to rise, letting the enemy ship roll. And when the time ran out and the first few shots were fired at them, the gunship pulled up and rolled, making a quarter of a figure eight so it could make an arc that brought its trajectory down, before rolling back and giving all guns a better shot at the underside guns while H2 attempted to correct its course, aiming to take out its guns as previously ordered.

"We have shield impacts!" came tactical's report. "Try not to get us shredded, yeah?"

NSS Rafela
Bridge

Glover nodded to himself on the bridge of the Rafela as he heard reports of the battlepods being thinned out. “Align toward the target H2, ready everything for a full blast onto the enemy ship H2, target exposed gun turrets if possible” Glover would announce as he looked over toward the fire control, as the Warhawk class ship rolled and pulled its nose upward flipping it about as it lined the nose up in the direction of H2. Another said, “Sir, the target ship is rolling and attempting to target the NSS Sagacity.” With a nod, he says “Right, how far are we from them currently the NSS Sagacity? “We are about 10km and closing, Sir? Are you thinking of blocking the incoming fire?“ Glover shakes his head and then says, “No, I was thinking of trying to scramble to target the NSS Sagacity from H2, but I do not think we can get there in time. Fire everything targeting the turrets and exposed weapons on H2. All weapons except the Scalar field, I want that seeking out battlepods and ordinance fired at us. “Yes, Sir!” the bridge crew responds as the missiles, torpedoes, and energy blasts from the charge lance and the heavy pulse laser Vulcan fire and rake over H2’s turrets and exposed weapons. 103 different projectiles all fire from the NSS Rafela toward the NMX Escort Destroyer, trying to disarm it before it can start to hammer the friendly gunship.

NSS Invictus
"Excellent work weapons, keep up the fire. Talk to me damage control." Lysander asked.

"We managed to rotate fresh sections during that last barrage, but they’re still flickering as we are taking fire from the smaller ships on that side. We’ve rerouted auxiliary power to stabilize them for now. Armor plating’s torn up bad. We’ve sealed the bulkheads and patched the worst of it it so far."

Lysander pursed his lips as he considered this, the big ship was his priority, but with their main weapon hit, they were less of a threat. But they needed to put them down completely. "Maintain fire on H1, secondary batteries that can't engage H1 should attempt to target H2." He instructed his crew.

NSS Immortal She

"Ahead Full aye!" The helmsman repeated the command as the She momentarily increased it's internal G's as it went from deceleration to acceleration with a violent rocking motion as the frigate completed it's maneuver and her radial signature shrank. It was both stressful and exhilarating to fight the frigate like it was a fighter but was both stressful to the health of the ship and crew both over extended periods and would require time to tell if anything had shaken loose in the process.

"Status on H1." Miska demanded, his own readings visualizing in realtime as it was fed his way threefold from his interface, the talker, and the ships ACE forming a three dimensional picture on the holo display of the bridge.

"H1 is deadlock-engaged, waters are muddied!" Gunnery declared as Miska also noted the amount of ordinance in the ink between the cruiser and flagship and H1. Crossfire ordinance from the She would have a negligible chance to do so but it wasn't impossible for interception fire from the angle the She had to disrupt or even have a non-zero chance to hit friendly fighters or ordinance in flight let alone bypass the already doomed ship and travel endlessly for thousands of years only to come back and hit something eventually making the end of a fight both as desperate as it was a wind-down.

"Change priority to intercept, Scalar to full on incoming ordinance and be ready to intercept if Sagacity or the Invictus have need. Helm, plot a wide arc on H2 and send our course to the flagship incase the Admiral has need of us in the short term." He ordered as the She came up to speed.

The fight wasn't over yet. But the She was out of place after their strike on H3 and instead of zig-zagging between equally inevitable outcomes the Longsword would take a wide-arcing path onto H2's flank. Either the She would intercept them if they tried to run, or if the enemy destroyer managed to notice them through their ECM would be forced to come about to face the She or risk getting hit in her flanks but would also be exposing it's flank regardless in doing so.

Fire poured out from all the Warden vessels, targeting the final two ships. They never stood a chance. After the salvo from the Spirit, Invictus's bombardment shredded H1 to bits. The vessel's interior rippled with secondary explosions, sending bits of H1 in all directions.

H2 was also in a bad spot. The combined fire from Sagacity, Rafela, and Invinctus's secondary batteries was causing massive damage. H2's weapons were each targeted, blowing each to pieces. In a desperate attempt to flee, H2 turned and ran towards the planet. Aboard the Spirit, Braun cursed. "Oh no you don't. CAG, direct all remaining squadrons to break off and target H2. We can't let it make for the planet. Helm, move us forward to play fly swatter. Tactical, you know what to do. Execute!" The flagship's drives flared to life as all her fighters broke away to chase after H2. The Spirits point defense batteries went to work, tearing into the chasing battlepods. The fighters caught up quickly with H2 and released their remaining payloads directly into her drive section. Just like with H1, H2's hull rippled with explosions, tearing the vessel into three sections.

Valentine watched the plot. H2 was destroyed; however, they needed to ensure the falling debris wouldn't damage the planet below irreparably. The two atmo-prepared squadrons launched, heading down towards the planet's surface. Nodding to the comms officer, the fleet-wide channel opened. "Warden Actual to all ships. H2 has broken up, but she's still too big. If any of those sections make it to the planet below, we can kiss taking the planet goodbye. Work together and turn H2's hull into stardust!" He ordered. He turned back to the comms officer and addressed him once more. "Tell the marines to make preparations for planetfall. Once H2 is completely obliterated, we begin handing out eviction notices to the NMX below." The comm officer nodded. "Aye sir. I will inform the Colonel." He replied before turning to make the call.

Sagacity

"Affirmative, Warden Actual," Aliasse responded, already picking the sections as priority targets. "Gunners. Break up those sections so they burn up in the atmosphere. Helm, keep us in range." With the combat drawing to a close, the officer ever so slightly leaned back into her chair, allowing her nerves to relax a little.

"Tactical," she spoke up once more, this time the sense of urgency having left her cadence. "Confirm ship status."

"Minor damage to the front armor. Three impacts. No internal damage."

"Very good."

Getting away with just minor damage was a good start, but they needed to be more evasive than that. The impacts may have been small that that still took away from the ship's structural integrity. No internals were damaged, but any imperfection on the surface was going to cause some drag on the ship once they enter the atmosphere. They won't be able to buff it out on such short notice and there is a chance that wind resistance might rip out a panel or two. Its hard to tell without having someone to inspect it.

"Would you like me to compile combat data, Commander?" Tactical asked.

"Make it so. Be sure to include Warden ships in the report so we can better calibrate our maneuvers."

Rosetta leaned over the command chair and tapped her sister's head playfully. "I'd say this was a successful first outing with our new group. What do you think?"

Without her eyes straying from her screens, Aliasse replied with a flat, "There is potential. But we had time to coordinate this strike. I'll withhold judgement until I see how well we perform on the receiving end of an ambush."

"You're always so grouchy."

"And you are distracting me."

The younger sibling chuckled as she leaned forward a bit more, pushing the chairback into her sister who remained stoic and focused.

The Sagacity focused all its fire at the closest ship section, holding at maximum range on the off chance a turret might fire at them again. And of course, it kept H4 on the periphery. It wouldn't do them any good if that one decided to wake up and manage to line up a shot at the small gunship.

As the last ship suddenly loses all its weapons Glover smiled and then seeing the fighters and weapons fire hit the drive section he frowned. " not good! Where was that ship heading?" someone spoke up " it was fleeing the battle toward the planet Sir!" that bright flash as the ship died and broke apart. " Nodding as he said " Will it hit the planet or miss the fragments?" it didn't take long till the command came in that they needed to break up the remaining pieces of H2 before it fell into the planet. "ok move in closer and break up those large fragments so they will burn up Target fragments at key locations to break it up with minimal ammo usage. We have to be ready for another fight. "

The Rafela's drives flared as it came in closer and baby torpedos and energy fire lashed out at the remaining fragments of H2 breaking them into smaller pieces if not vaporizing them. Spinning around to look once more at H4 that is drifting nearby locking it with weapons no longer used for breaking up the remains of H2. " give me a scan of the remaining target, I want to know why it went down, where they are going and how soon till repairs bring them back up!

Immortal She

"We're in the reeds, Skipper!" The sensors tech announced as the She began to decelerate with the last enemy ships destruction putting it in a precarious position as the frigate began a slow, methodical corkscrew search pattern both reducing it's sensor profile but also lowering it's ECM metric and black veil as well putting the Immortal She in the place between safety and danger as it assumed a search pattern for hidden vessels, escape pods, and beacons from the enemy or the pilots of the few craft that may have been damaged or destroyed from their own side or that of the enemy now that there was no active vessels to recover them.

Miska assumed they were safe. But refused to let his guard down.

"Send on an encrypted tight-band my congratulations to the Admiral on his victory as well as a munitions, power, and damage report to the Tactical commander as we move into position to provide support." Miska ordered. The She was one of the closest to H2 and the planet's atmosphere but was one of the least-suited for close-in lance work due to having mostly charge-lances and missiles which half of her complement would lose efficacy in high-orbit but joined in on the cutting work alongside the rest.

Spirit

Valentine watched the plot as the debris fell towards the planet. They were moving incredibly fast, carried by the momentum the ship had managed to impart as it made its desperate bid for escape. Luckily though, with the help of Sagacity, Immortal She, and Rafela, the remaining pieces broke into smaller and smaller pieces. Soon, the planet below was illuminated by thousands of burning hull sections. The senor operator tuned to the rear admiral, relief on his face. "Sir, the pieces should all burn up in orbit. Those that make it through will be too small to cause any real damage!" A cheer took up the CIC as the crew of the Spirit celebrated their win. Valentine smirked, nodding to Braun, who smirked back. They let the revelry continue for a little longer before the rear admiral reigned in their celebrations. "We aren't done yet, people. Comm, fleet-wide channel."

The comm officer nodded and opened the channel. "Warden Actual to all ships. Well done, but the party isn't over yet. We still have a planet to clear. Officer meeting in five mikes. Actual out." With that, Valentine made the sign to cut the channel. "Captain Braun, with me." He said, striding from the CIC and towards the ready room. Braun stood. "XO, you have the con." The XO stood from his position and moved to the captain's chair. "Aye, Ma'am. I have the conn."

5 minutes later:

Valentine stood before the holo screen once more, addressing the officers. This time, however, there was another man in the room. He was a massive ID-SOL, dressed in an NSMC officer uniform. He towered over the naval officers, his grey irises piercing as he glanced at each officer. The rear admiral cleared his throat and began the meeting. "For those who haven't met, this is Colonel Hall of the 101st 'Raider' Brigade. They will be the ones fighting on the ground."

The colonel stepped up and nodded to the assembled officers. "We will make landfall here, " he said, pointing to a section of the planetary map. This archipelago is where the NMX has set up its primary operation. The largest island is where the command bunkers are. The smaller islands surrounding the main one hold smaller outposts. We are going to launch simultaneous strikes on the surrounding outposts, then move on to the main island once they have been secured, " the colonel explained.

The rear admiral stepped back into view next to the colonel. "The Spirit will take up a geosynchronous orbit over the marine's AO. I want the Invictus to assist in orbit. Immortal She and Rafela, I want you two to board H4 and secure any intel you can find. Sagacity, I want you to dock with the Spirit. The colonel has a special assignment for you." Valentine added, turning to face the Sagacity's command crew. "Let's get to work people. The sooner this is done, the sooner we can stand down from combat operations." The rear admiral ordered, cutting the connection.

Sagacity

Seeing the debris burn up, followed by the admiral's call for a meeting, Aliasse sighed in relief as she leaned back in her chair and visibly relax. With the calm settling in on everyone, the bridge personnel let out a few cheers, complimenting each other on a job well done as well as playfully throwing shade on missed shots or bad maneuvering. There was no ill will meant though the words still had bite.

That's when Rosetta stepped in to keep it light. "Don't get too rowdy now, we can't have you guys breaking out into a brawl when we still have a mission to see through." The parties involved broke into light-hearted chuckles with reassurances that it was all in good faith. Neither of the sisters doubted that, but it was good for everyone to say such things out loud, lest the shadow of animosity rears its ugly head. Much like how dogs when they play rough, they do a little sneeze to reassure their playmates that they were just playing.

As this was going on, Aliasse had wiped the sweat off her forehead and made herself presentable for the meeting, though she looked to her sister almost pleadingly. The response to which was a shake of Rosetta's head. "You're in the seat. You get to sit through the boring meetings. Ciao!"

Rosetta gave her sister a wave and practically dashed out of the room before the older sister could protest. Aliasse sighed, looked at her watch and counted the seconds until the time for the meeting. Ten seconds before that mark, she flicked a button and joined the conference. "Sagacity reporting."

The meeting was quick and to the point, much to her relief. When the objectives and assignments were sent out, Aliasse raised a brow at her ship's orders. She had expected to join in on the raid considering the Sagacity's armaments, but instead was ordered to dock with the command ship. She knew better than to question orders however so she simply responded with, "As you command."

As the meeting came to its conclusion, Aliasse signaled to her helmsman. "Plot a course to the Spirit."

Invictus

Lysander nodded, considering the tactical map. With the enemy ships destroyed, it was time to put the boots on the ground to evict the NMX from the planet. He gave a slight smile. "Helm, put us in orbit with the Spirit. Weapons, prepare for orbital artillery assistance. Operations, send the colonel a 'dinner menu' with the 'courses' we can serve. While we wait for fire requests, let's clean the ship up. We took some damage, let's make sure nothing is going to cause more ongoing trouble."

Showing up for the briefing Glover nods at the others and listens to the commands and what is going on, hearing his order he nods and then says " Aye aye Sir!" Once the briefing was over he called a meeting of all department heads to pass on the news and to also get the troops onboard ready for possible hostile boarding and intel recovery operations. In the meantime the Rafela starts to make its way over toward target H4.

Miska leaned against one curled knuckle against one cheek as the meeting went on. A slightly red tissue hung out of one nostril as he listened, soaking up his bloody nose while the early headache of coming down from an adrenaline high began creeping behind his eyes and was only kept at bay via a thermos of nearby coffee. He listened quietly until it was time to give his report and when the link finally closed, allowed an exhilation of breath with a sigh being too inappropriate in front of his bridge crew.

"The cobra isn't participating in the marine action?" Ajax asked, clearly not understanding.

"Shes made to deploy and support marines but with her driver' is also the best atmospheric fire support platform the fleet has." Lt.Wolf, the marine-forces commander supplied his take before waiting on a nod from Miska to continue.

"Fifty more marines wont make much of a difference even in powered armor." He said, outlining the mostly marine-crew of the vessel. "My guess is the Admiral wants to keep the Cobra in reserve and provide fire support while using its marine contingent as QRF."

"But not us?" Miska queried, the Shes' 30 marine compliment being just a bit under that of the gunship as the Longsword came about and fell into formation with the Rafela.

"The Warhawk has boarding torpedoes and interdiction utilities. Shes made for boarding but has half as many boots as we do." Ajax, offered, having more experience in marine actions than his captain. "We have more guns than her too incase we get caught out while vulnerable and boarding."

"Not to mention our fighter craft..." Miska murmured, starting to see the logic as his frown pulled straight into the slightest twinge of a smile. "The surprise is the same class as us and wanted the glory of a boarding action but I spoke against it. Now we have that honor; The carrot and the stick, eh?" He wondered to himself, not adding aloud 'Val you sly bastard.'

"Suit up, wolf." Miska ordered as her marine forces commander saluted in response. "Team one and two are already suited. They will EVA onto our exterior to counter anti-board when the Rafela breaches. Team three will board the Zatch and prepare to SABO behind the Rafelas marines, Send to Captain Glover our intent to cover his board and support with rear-action."

Spirit

As the Spirit and Invictus burned to make orbit, the Sagacity docked with the Spirit. Once the seal was confirmed, the hatch opened to reveal Valentine and Hall standing on the otherside. Once aboard, the pair met with Sagacity's CO and XO. "Sorry for the cloak and dagger but it's important." The Rear Admiral said gesturing for the Colonel to explain.

"To make a long story, Sagacity was made for this exact job. I have a recon squad for each island. The recon teams assigned to the outer islands will be dropped off by standard drops ships. However, we need recon teams on the main island to start scouting out the enemy's positions and transmitting targeting data to the ships." Hall added, turning to reveal several squads of NSMC marines in M10 Raiders. "I need your ship to fly in low and fast to insert my teams at these two points." At this, he handed the XO a data jockey with the location of the two landing zones. One on either side of the island.

While the Sagacity recieved their marching orders, the Spirit's fighters began landing to make the switch to atmospheric operations.

H4

The damaged destroyer slowly spun on its axis. There were multiple points that the borders could attempt to breach, however three were the most viable. The first was near the drive section, the second was near midship, and the final one was near the forward mass driver. It was up to the Immortal She and Rafela to decide where they wanted to try and enter.

Sagacity

As the ship made her approach, Aliasse retired from the command room to her quarters to groom herself to be presentable. Her sister was already there, datapad in hand.

"Felicity sent in the detailed damage report," Rosetta said, eyes not lifting from the screen. "Nothing a few welds and a coat of paint can't fix though. She's already got a team out to do some repairs and a few spot checks as we speak. We still have a good ammo count for the mass driver, but she says the Svarog wasn't 'singing' as it should, so she's planning on doing an inspection after the operation."

As Rosetta did her report, Aliasse washed her face with a damp towel, taking great care not to get a single drop of water on her uniform before restyling her hair. "Very well. I believe it was due for maintenance anyway? Put a pin on it. With any luck, we'll have enough time for it before the next operation."

Through the intercoms, the helmsman announced that they were beginning to dock with the Spirit.

"That's our cue. Lets go what the Admiral has planned for us."

When the airlock opened, the sisters saluted the awaiting admiral. If he was already there, then this was going to be time sensitive. Rosetta took the data jockey after the plan was laid out for them and copied it to her pad, eyes lighting up with an enthusiastic "Ooh".

"Your marines are in good hands," Aliasse swore with a nod. "Once we have both teams deployed, the Sagacity will lay low and make ourselves available as a support platform if needed."

NSS Surprise

The Surprise followed the Spirit and Invictus to make orbit around the planet. Jack sat in his command chair reviewing some of the battle details and making some notes for his own use. He glanced at the overall battle plan as the She and Warhawk made their way towards the damaged Mishhu ship. The big man chewed on the inside of his cheek then went back to the task at hand. His four squads of Marines were loaded up on their shuttles and ready to go. Lt. McCain had everything in hand.

His navigator called out that they would be entering the atmosphere in 30 seconds. Jack leaned back in his chair and watched the count down timer. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Despite their element of surprise... hehe...Surprise... And swift attack things were going a little too easy for a system that the Mishhu had owned for as long as they had.

NSS Rafela

Rafela receives word that the NSS Immortal She will provide covering fire for the upcoming mission. Glover smiles and then says, "Alright, we are going to be the tip of the sword here." There is a pause as he looks over to the individual who was trying to assess H4's current status and is informed that it is slowly spinning on its axis. Multiple points along the borders present opportunities for breaching; however, three locations stand out as the most viable. The first is near the drive section, the second is midship, and the final one is near the forward mass driver. Glover nods thoughtfully and then states, "Right, I want the boarding tubes loaded as fast as possible. They are to be fired to breach near the drive section first with two salvos. The next two should be aimed at our best guess of landing near the bridge, and then two more should land near the forward location. We will initiate a boarding attempt at the midship location. But before we fire the boarding torpedoes, I want any remaining turrets that can shoot them down to be destroyed. The boarding torpedoes are to be fired and charted so that they all hit as closely together as possible; then we will breach."

There is a pause as Glover looks up. "I want this done as fast as possible. A third to half of the boarding team will go to the drive section to prevent any scuttling, while the rest will head for the bridge. The Rafela will hold at the breach point for as long as possible until we receive word that we have taken it over or forced to fail back and the teams have been recovered." Standing up, Glover looks to the communications officer. "Notify the NSS Immortal She on a close-range band of our intentions and where we plan to board, along with our intent to destroy the remaining turrets on the target. We are not trying to destroy the entire target." The officer nods and heads out to relay the information to the NSS Immortal She.

Glover then stands up and looks to the crew as they nod in acknowledgment. "Okay, let's get ready. I want to be on approach and opening fire in no less than 45 minutes from now, with boarding to occur in under 90."

Immortal She

Two teams of eight marines clad in powered armor ranging from agile Slayers all the way up to Hostile and Agressor suits deployed from the She from their launch sectors like hornets exiting their nest to swarm. Flying in eccentric patterns around the frigate one team matched pace with their decelerating vessel while the other touched down upon its hull to maglock as the two teams stared at a HUD icon hundreds of Kilomiters away but could not see the actual hull of as the Zatch shuttle departed from the Immortal She and under their watch burned out of sight beyond just a wash of afterburn within moments before being followed by one of the frigates two Sabre fighters.

Inside was a third team, an SBAT detail all EVA clad as eight men checked their axes and rifles, A combat specialist arranged the shells for her shotgun, and one marine casually held a breifcase-sized antimatter charge with a .5kt yield under his booted foot as though it were a matter of course.

"Love 1, ETD thirty minutes." A voice came in to the boarding support teams genal frequency as the home-frigate tracked their progress.

"Lust-1 and Lust-2 are on standby for counter-board. Love-1 is outbound; All teams on point, Skipper." The tactical coordinated reported to Miska, his eyes tracking the icon for the shuttle and its escourt while at a separate axis angle the larger icon for the Rafela loitered on a firing arc for their boarding torpedoes.

"Understood. Mark the time and send to the Rafela we will commence operation on her mark." Miska ordered, as he watched with pulsing eyes his marines icons and the single red triangular one between the two ships of the enemy vessel.

P2

As the recon teams loaded their gear aboard the Sagacity, fighters launched from the Spirit and burned their way down through the atmosphere. Shortly after, multiple Zachitnik-class shuttles began launching from the Spirits now opened flight decks. As the fighters and bombers entered the AO, their systems began blaring radar warnings. They were being painted by targeting radars. The comms traffic was chaotic as pilots began taking evasive actions. The Spirit's CAG broke through the cacophony of voices. "All pilots, lower altitude! Make it fast!" At that exact moment, all four islands began launching missiles. Fire came pouring out of the vegetation.

"Invictus and Suprise, this is Spirit Tac-Ops. The NMX has turned those surrounding islands into giant pill boxes. From what we can gather, they have fortified fighting positions and are using Flayer Tankettes as mobile AA batteries. Sending you our targeting data now." The plots updated to show the suspected tankette positions. "Orders are to commence saturation attacks on the islands to give our flyboys some breathing room. How copy?"

Aboard the Sagacity, the Raiders had finished stowing their gear. "Ma'am, we are all set down here. Ready to depart." The recon commander informed. "Advise taking us in as close to the deck as possible, there seems to be a lot of flak on approach."

H4

The derelict remained dormant as the She and Rafela's teams approached. The Rafela quickly destroyed the last of the turrets, the only response being H4's spin changing with the impacts. As the boarding parties made their way inside, the ship was silent—the fleshy interior of the vessel flash-froze when exposed to vacuum. The only light emitted was the boarders' suits and weapon lights. Strangely enough, the boarders did not come across any bodies as they began making entry.

NSS Sagacity

As the Raiders loaded their gear into the gunship, Aliasse headed to the bridge to lay out the plan to the crew present, meanwhile Rosetta coordinated with Sagacity's own marine squads decked out with the Golem Assault Armors. They'll be on standby to provide ground support if the Raiders needed it, and to cover them as they were being deployed. As antsy as they were to join in on the insertion, the Sagacity's orders were simply to drop off the Raiders for their scouting mission. They were all ushered to the vehicle bay as they'll be using the elevator for a quick deployment.

Once the insertion team was all set, the Sagacity detached from the capital ship and headed for the planet's surface, following the fighters. With the anti-air tanks being painted out, the Sagacity had a general idea of the hot zones. The fighters just needed to hold out until the ship can get down to the surface, at which point, they can stay low and minimize their presence until the scouts are deployed.

"Understood, recon. I advised you brace yourself for turbulence as we enter the atmosphere," came Aliasse's voice. Soon after, a different voice went over the intercom. "One minute until planetfall. All crews brace for re-entry."

The Sagacity's marines present on the lower deck assembled at the elevator, three on each corner deploying shoulder-high stationary shields for cover. Out on the far side of the vehicle bay, the crew of the "Super Maximus" were sitting upon the tank, ready to deploy at a moment's notice. Like the marines, they were also a bit antsy on getting in on the fight.

Rosetta gestured to the recon team, beaming them with a giddy smile. "Okay, whichever squad wants to go first, just step on to the elevator, choose a spot and hang on. Our marines will keep an eye out for welcoming parties. But keep arms and legs within the ride until we've come to a full and complete stop!" She herself wasn't on the elevator, but was accompanied by two other marines stationed at the controls.

The ship began to rumble as the Sagacity entered that atmosphere, and those on the lower level could start hearing explosions from outside. They weren't hits, but they'd be able to tell they were targeted. The shields were given extra power to weather the assault, a fact that is more noticeable to the crew as the sound of the Vulcans's firing sounded slower.

The voice from the intercom sounded off again, "Re-entry successful. First drop off point in 30 seconds."

Rosetta had her datapad out and tracked their location. She raised her hand and the marine at the controls started prepping the elevator. The sounds of anti-air fire faded as the ship got lower to the ground. The raiders could feel the tell-tale sign of the ship slowing its descent, even through the artificial gravity of the gunship.

As Rosetta lowered her hand, the marine at the controls sent the elevator down. Within a few seconds, the scouts were at ground level.

"Area clear!" the Sagacity's marines announced, as they had not seen an enemy at the landing site, but that may not be the case for long. All the more reason to fly off to the next point. The plan was to go straight for it, avoiding direct contact with the anti-air tanks. Even if they were spotted, that would divert attention away from the scouting team. Maybe they could even patrol the island and take out the AA.

Once the first squad was out and in the clear, the Sagacity took off before the elevator was even fully closed. Were it not for the possibility of the units getting blown off, it'd remain open with all of the recon team there for even greater deployment speeds.

Aliasse then came through the remaining recon team's radio. "We're taking a detour to avoid AA fire. ETA is 2 minutes. Sit tight and don't lose your lunch on my ship."