RP Expanding Horizons: Vale of Discovery

[HarperMadi]

The ramming pirate ship would simply stop accelerating as a plume of thermonuclear fire bloomed in its aft, Oracle's gun swinging around to gain a target lock on one of the fighters harrassing the mech squadron, but the movements were too unpredictable at this range, out of range of omnimaser, and too high risk of hitting a civilian ship. So she started broadcasting on all channels.

"Pirate vessels. This is hull number 2274-DS7D, ISS Oracle of Ironhart Research. You are ordered to power down your weapons, surrender, and prepare to be boarded." She bet on her infamy among slavers, throwing a sensor shadow of a ship far larger than Oracle decloaking. Hopefully, they would come after her to recoup.

 

[AntediluvianIntransigence]

BGM:

The rifle blared, firing a messy barrage of energy towards the attackers. Others, partially shaken out of the terror-filled paralysis that had overtaken them, joined in the attack. Their numbers, they hoped, would be sufficient to deal with the insanity that was this new enemy.

The Rixx's final words were answered by a round slamming straight through its skull, sending a spray of brain matter, gunk, chitin, and grey-white fluids in a wide radius. Dreadful voices, those rix he spoke as it sunk into one behind it. A burst of force and orange-red flame vanished its upper torso. Much prefer the sound of falling meat.

It was good that Zvraciek's mere presence drew so much fire. He was but one warmachine but a whole squad of soldiers followed in his wake; black spectres in the wake of the nightmare, a feeding frenzy of armour piercing rounds and high explosive grenades punishing those who chose to defy and doing worse to whomever broke rank. To the Kuvexians before it seemed a grisly end simply came if one so much as looked at him; plasma splashed agains his armour, bullets cracked against him, a few desperate knifes dug grim wounds across it and all responsible found themselves forcibly rearranged so their internal organs were now external ones.

This was as much a psychological tactic as it was one of risk and reward. They were outnumbered and as tough as NDC troopers were, they were not made of the same thing as their leader was. Multiple organ and organ-organism redundancies, internal damage control parasite colonies, regenerative fluid storage, nerve feedback moderators, and the years of experience spent fighting forces greater than himself - he insisted on taking the vanguard to ensure the survival of as many of his own as possible.

An altruist's calculus and a barbarian's honour. Old words from old friends.

A quiet order was swept through their internal communication channel. On their battlemaps and their HUD's, a series of travel paths were marked in red. Each one lead to an orange area marker in the shape of a diamond.

It was simple but clear; let none escape.

The hellhammer continued its uninterrupted speech and the viscera and bodyparts of his enemies continued their pitter patter against the ground.

 

[SensualCoder]

Hanger 2A

Lena had had her fair share of weirdness over the years, but nothing had struck her quite like the small clanking android who was to be her pilot. Despite being unnerved by Chlorate's robotic nature, Lena tried to take it in stride and ended up awkwardly patting the android on her head before hurriedly climbing into the Centaur's turret seat and familiarizing herself with the new vehicle. While awed by the new tech, she found herself wishing for something more familiar... armor and crew alike.

Moonside
Kuvexian Orbital Defense Encampment (Ruins)

As the first barrage of fire from the enemy blasted one of the Hydras into so much slag and burning wreckage, Lena cursed and swiveled the gun turret toward the junk armors coming into the clearing. Trial by fire, she thought wryly as she locked onto one of the mecha and squeezed one of the triggers, rewarded by the satisfying thump-thump of the autocannons firing.

 

[Whisper]

Space

The various pirate ships weren't entirely sure what to make out of Thorn's statement. Sure, many of them had heard of her - hell, a few had their own bones to pick. What held them back was their rapidly thinning numbers.

Were they being paid well? Yes.

Would they be paid more if they won the battle today? Also, yes.

Did they think they would live long enough to spend that money? Probably not.

Not wanting to deal with the sudden, well-known threat and the sizable fleet that they'd been mixing it up with, many of the pirate vessels began to turn and head for the system's border at full speed. The few that stayed behind had weighed their options and decided that old injuries were more important than their own well being.

As the ramming ship continued towards the Valiant, now carried only by its momentum, the other ships made a mad dash for the Oracle.

Over the open channel, one of them yelled, "You shot down my brother! You're gonna pay for that!"

---​

The fighters in the One Leaf Gently Blowing group were having the time of their life. They'd taken out scores of fighters while dancing with their opponents, who had not yet been able to make a real dent in their fighting strength. The prospective credit reward for their performance today was truly something to look forward to.

So, when the squad leader saw all of their support ships begin to retreat, she cursed bitterly. Cowards! Wage slaves! She slammed her fist against the side of her cockpit in frustration. She was this close to setting a new squad record.

The elefirn thumbed open her comms. "Squad, looks like we're pulling out." She gave the others a few moments to gripe, then continued. "Let's get back to the carrier before the enemy decides to turn all of their anti-fighter weapons on us."

She looked at the approaching Possessors with regret, pulled hard on her stick to break away. One hoof pushed down, sending her thrusters to max power.

Ground

Unlike the retreating ships in orbit, there wasn't anywhere for the ground forces to go. The Kuvexian leader spat as he received more and more news of pirates retreating. He shook his head, regretting that he'd ever agreed to pay them up front.

His new priority was to survive. He, along with the few others who weren't caught in a firefight, made for the bunker. In truth, it was an abandoned facility of some kind, left here by Yamatai some time back. It was the Kuvexian's main interest on the moon, though they hadn't had time to really get a good look at it.

"Let's get these blast doors closed!" he yelled, motioning for the lesser species to do all the hard work. He hadn't gotten to where he was today without knowing how to delegate.

---
​

Frustrated was a good way to describe the mood of the collected Rixxikor and Graxlat as they attempted to kill Zvraciek. The ... thing ... simply refused to die. They had shot it, stabbed it, and whatever else they could think of (including some truly excellent name calling on the part of the Rixx), but nothing seemed to faze the monster. It would have been a different story if they'd been wielding some of the better weaponry - but why bother carrying that around when the enemy hadn't been anywhere nearby?

More bullets sprayed against the insectoids. The "pirates" knew that if they didn't kill these attackers, and soon, there wouldn't be any of them left. One Graxlat, showing surprising initiative, emerged from a nearby building with a golden, glowing cannon. He hoisted it up and fired a brilliant purple lance at one of the monsters. The beam struck and shot out the other side, scorching some of the nearby trees.

One of the nearby Rixx raised its arms up in a cheer. "FUCK YEAH! GET WRECKED!"

The Graxlat, looking more confident than it had before, turned the weapon to fire on the next of the invaders.

---​

Rossi did not hear the sound of other Storm Rifles behind her. She didn't risk looking back, unsure of why the others hadn't followed, but hoping they were well. She gritted her teeth as her barrier fell, then her shield began to flicker.

Well, I knew it was a risk.

Her shield fell just as she clashed into the enemy line. Warning messages were blaring in her helmet as she began to tear into the enemy. Pain flared in her side as a blast got through her armor, but she was a Tsumi - injury was just a part of any good war. She pushed through it, hurling one of the enemy into the alien who had shot her.

She roared as more blasts, superficial and not, struck her armor. By the time she finished her assault, none of the attackers remained. Istrossi, drained and heavily wounded, was left face down and bleeding out on the damp grass.

---
​

One of the crude mechs lit up with cannon fire. Smoke proceeded a brilliant explosion by bare seconds. The boisterous man gritted his teeth, wondering where their air support was. There would be time for blame later. His ammo indicator ticked back up to '1' and he took another shot. His attack didn't destroy the Hydra it struck, but it was sufficient to knock its shields down. The next attack from one of the other surviving mechs, however, did.

"That's another one, lads!" he said, faking the bravado more than feeling it. His confidence in his own survival was beginning to fall sharply.

A warning symbol on his HUD caught his attention. His gun was..jammed? He shook the mech side to side, attempting to resolve the issue, but nothing changed.

Fuck!

The man checked his options. He'd forgone nearly all of his other weapon options for the one large cannon; all he had left was an over-sized combat knife.

Knowing that retreat wasn't an option, he solemnly ordered the mech to draw the weapon. He released the cannon to the forest floor with a thundering whoompf. The mech followed his commands, tossing the blade from one hand to the other. The mech's arms were diminutive, meant more for repair jobs than actual combat, but it's what he had to work with.

He pushed down on the gas pedal hard, tank treads squeeling in protest at the sudden increase in torque. From the forest's edge, the crude, scrap-armored mech burst forth and barreled straight towards the nearest Hydras.

"Avast, ye hearties! Death comes for ye!"

If he had to go out in a blaze of glory, he might as well do it in character. There was always the chance that the Kuvexians would pay extra for the show.

---​

GM Note: My current plan is to wrap things up on this thread with the next post. We've got another system to claim and have been working on this one for a long time! Any available enemies are yours to do with as you'd like.

 

[HarperMadi]

"Pirate ships, your engine signatures have been logged and disseminated with contacts on Shurista, Turassiel, and Katamura Flotillas. Your jump signatures will also be shared if you attempt to escape. Power down your engines and prepare to be boarded." Like many things Thorn did, it was a bluff, and her Mosquito lit off once, twice, three times, slamming oncoming pirate vessels with her thermonuclear shells as her engines lit, Oracle continuing to throw a sensor shadow of a larger NDC warship.

"Under the First law of the Senti, section 3, under the Constitution of Yamatai, and the Duscarian Sanctions, you are under arrest for slavery and piracy in the first degree. Power down your weapons and shields and prepare to be boarded."

 

[RaWolfe]

Space

The battle was going smoothly into their favor, NDC was winning space and the ships were retreating to admit their defeat. Sareash was pleased that their hard work, their determination and motivation was pushed through and didn’t break the pilots spirit. She was not a religious person, but this was one of these flights that she had someone watching over her shoulder.

“SOS, this is the .... ship... we require backup...”

Turning her XM-1 into the direction of the signal, she could see the trail of parts and a ship getting thrashed by enemy fighters picking the bones of its prey. Without a second to think she boosted the maximum amount of power into her engines and boosted towards the situation that had missed the NDC eyesight.

“Ma’am wait for backup!”

Sareash narrows her eyes and gets ready for the combat “Negative, if we wait longer those civilians won’t have a fighting chance, they will die”Her voice was bitter and frustrated as she felt partly responsible for it. She should have seen come, these bad yards would hunt down the weak for their own enjoyment. With an impressive entree Sareash manages to slash one fighter right I to the middle as she twisted around and opened fire to blow up the other.

The fighters were not going to back down as they were not done feasting and turned their focus on Sareash. Getting hit on various locations in a short amount of time, Sareash could see her status dropping down faster then a child could say mama. She choose to ignore it and kept avoiding the shots and taking down another target. The system began to give off alerts as she could feel blood siping down her head over her cheek. When did she get hit? It confused her for a second as she quickly ,out reflection, defended against a counter attack that destroyed her mech arm.

Sareash felt that one and knew this was not going to hold out long. Taking a look at the moon that was close by, she nods to herself and boost to it. The two fighters followed her as a spread of wild gunfire followed her. She tried her best to avoid everything, but still gets hit “Fuck I won’t hold this...”Her communication was a wreck and with that she twist around taking quickly another fighter down.

Gravity was taking a toll on the mech as a Sareash tried her best to keep it up. Looking on her radar she saw that the last one was following her and trying to get a lock. Taking a deep breath, she knew that she had one shot to do this. Sareash had some sadness on her face as she manage to tell her feelings. Hearing the alert of the lock, Sareash turned quickly around as she fired her shots she saw the incoming missiles on route. Her flares were defect.

With a loud bang the last fighter explodes in orbit of the moon as Sareash manages to avoid one missile but sees the other coming right for her “I’m sorry Alice, that I never told you that I love you...” She closed her eyes as the missile slams into the mech and explodes pushing the machine with its enormous to the moon surface. It didn’t take long as the mech slams the first time into the surface and again.... and again leaving a trail of the landing behind.

Broken, alerts going off, Sareash head was laying on the side with blood coming from a head wound and out of her mouth as her eyes were closed. Most of her bones were broken, internally bleeding and her wings ripped that would take long time to recover. If help was not send, she would die, alone, in the cold... time was ticking.

What were these images, these sounds, the warm feeling mixed with cold. A tear rolled off her cheek as she narrows her now watery eyes. Ah it’s not the pain, it’s the memories of what she had with Alice, that secured feeling, that passion and trust, that common sense of connection. She looked Upwards, unable to move, barely able to speak as blood was in her mouth. She coughs it up as she slowly mutters with bubbles of air mixed with her blood “Alice... Alice I’m... so ... cold”

 

[Noodlewerfer]

Ground
Creepily enough, Chlorate's head limply tilted to the side when patted. The motion of the tank caused it to lifelessly flop around on her neck as well. When the Hydra exploded, the Centaur swerved to the side. She was not making any comments about the pirates' shouting, but she was trying to dodge the incoming fire, particularly from the weapon that destroyed the Hydra, and making her movements less predictable.

The blonde butterfly princess gasped when she saw the Hydra blow up. THAT WAS THE SAME TYPE OF TANK AS HERS! The little hothead didn't like that, she elevated the main gun to aim at the mech that destroyed the Hydra and fired.

Valiant Bridge
Isabelle could see the pirate ship coming in. This wasn't good, it was too close. The odds didn't look good, their best shot was probably to get out of the way. The cerulean-winged woman had to say something. "It's still coming in too fast! We need to move this ship, NOW!"

 

[Jack Pine]

Valiant Bridge
Shock, fear, and general sense of no control.......these were things the older Geshrin had not felt since her younger years as a hei in the days of the Grand Star Army. She seems to freeze as those words were broadcast to her, coming from a fear she had hoped, no had trusted would never come to pass. But here it was, leaving her like a dear in headlights as she looked down to her report panel to see those dreaded lines of text scrawl in the feed as the only movement felt was the tears now trailing her cheeks. Still reported by the programmed VI, as diligently without a care like every other line it printed to the screen.

>>>>Alert<<<<
[Unit: Arrow L3-TAU1]
[Pilot: S. Cathetel]
[Status: Full system loss]
[Med: Critical]
[Action: Unknown. Med Retrieve: Uncertain]
[Retrieval Team: Unavailable]

"AAAASSSSHHHHH!!!", she felt her lungs scream with her voice as the trance was suddenly broke, and reality came harshly crashing in.

Ceilia was quick to move back to the bridge, jacking into the ship's helm controls. With the struggle of controlling it herself alone, like having her arms tugged on by great resisting chains. The AI girl took the wheel with great effort and pulled on the chains as hard as she could metaphysically in her own digital perspective, the engines reacting as they burned hard to move the great warship. The rear thrust was cut as all power went into the left side thrust, moving back to the rear at full force once the Valiant was no longer allied with the oncoming hulk. With a grunting cry of effort and strain, she burned hard as the ship desperately cleared from the path, the hulk impacting the rear back corner of the ship, taking an engine with it as the ship violently rocked from the impact.

With damage teams rushing to handle the damage which could have been catastrophic, Ceilia took host of one of the autonomous humanoid drones on the bridge. The machine body stepped up to the Admiral's chair before giving the shocked woman a rather cold slap to the face.

"People are going to die if you do not act, lead! Now pull your shit together bitch, and start giving orders, I'll send someone after her.", came Ceilia's electronic voice from it before she moved back to the ship's systems. "Mrs. Pine, the engineering teams will need direction as well."

The sting pulled Alice from her despair as she did her best to steel herself, making no effort to dry her eyes as she now had an angry glare. "Thank you Miss Ryzka, please so to her safe return immediately. Order out all reserve units out on retrieval duty for survivors. The battle is won and over, we have them on the run, so we must take this time to regroup and minimize any further losses.", the Admiral thanked even as she commanded, ushering one more order with that. "Weapons! Make sure our passing foe has no chance to be a working vessel again. Full nuclear salvo, all guns with a line of shot are weapons clear. Make it rubble. Smith Hei! Keep the main gun firing, keep them running, keep those too late to flee from ever learning from their error. The NDC will not tolerate the merciless killing of the innocent, let them show the same level of mercy in kind."

her voice was solid even as hit still held onto such strong emotion, letting her sorrow fuel her hate for their enemy. The Admiral was infuriated, even in her measured hate, many of their foe would be made to pay this day.

Space
"Hey fly boy! Take the princess and retrieve the remains of Miss Cathetel's unit. A few targets are still too close to the crash for comfort, you have clearance to eliminate with extreme prejudice. Once she's retrieve, help with mop up, got it?", Ceilia's voice now came over Zeke and Nyx's comms.

He virtually looked back to Nyx even as a salvo of their rockets brought down another enemy before he gave a nod to her avatar. "That's understood, we're heading that way now at full speed. We're going to need a resupply on return though.", Zeke answered back before moving their machine towards where Sareash crashed on the moon at full burn.

"Just get it done." click

"Hear that honey, looks like we got some rescuing to do. I'll fly, you gun as usual?", the blonde mech pilot asked his gynoid co-pilot as they entered the moon's outer sphere, their targets within range as they descended. He'd leave their demise to Nyx, focusing on landing, and on reaching their ally. With a dusty thump of a landing that vibrated the machine, he was quick to move to the wreck, gently having the armored giant of a machine scoop up the shattered remains of Sareash's own machine. "Target retrieved, returning to the Valiant, have emergency medical teams ready. She's not reading as doing to well.", he confirmed before lifting off again. "Nyx, make sure no one get's in our way."


Planetside
Exia had gotten lost in the fray, her programming taking over as she moved, fired, reloaded, repeat. For her, it was the dance she was born to do, knocking off each target without hesitation, without remorse, and to make sure that victory was assured. The bugs were such soft targets, so much less a threat when it was one on one, but a threat nonetheless. Their better equipped pirate allies, were much more so, but they all died when you shot them. At this point for the woman, it was as simple as watching a movie, just along for the dark ride.

Seeing fallen allies was regrettable, and something to be mourned, but only when the battle was done. She had no time to feel sad for them yet, not while more may die as long as an enemy still remained present. They were desperate, rabid, fearful of the coming tide of NDC troops. This battle was there's, even if that had to be force into the minds of their enemies to the bitter end. She left her dying and fallen prey, moving on from her stretch of land that her brothers, sisters, and comrades had left only occupied by them as the living.

But that was where the ride stopped, as the adrenaline and instinct faded, as her breathing returned to being noticeably tired. She turned her regained focus to the surrounding field, and felt a missing presence. Looking confused as she turned her helmeted head towards one of her fellow soldiers, "Where's Rossi?...........She was right behind me before."

"I don't know ma'am, she may have gotten separated and charged on when we clashed with their line. Tsumi are crazy bastards like that."

She turned away to look about, making sure there were no bodies she could identify as her new acquaintance before moving ahead to look for the Tsumi woman. "You are far too rude. One should not speak ill of those we fight along side of, what friend does that?" Exia said simply before moving on without waiting for the soldier's reply.

Her boots pounded dusty dirt as the lower gravity made the jog feel like doing so through water almost. With somewhat floaty steps, she kept going until she found the trail of bodies, letting them lead her. Finally, she found the familiarly large armored figure, the IFF confirming the identity for the Fenrir clone. Slinging the shotgun which was dirty and splattered, she knelt next Rossi's form. Seeing the holes, the girl drew a knife, and began to what one might almost consider blood letting. Except this was not deep to puncture down to her own skin, but only deep enough to bleed the suit's sealant compound before smearing it into the holes.

"You know, you shouldn't be so reckless, someone might miss you if you were to go away. Rest, our part of this battle is over, leave it to the rest. I'll call more to help me carry you back Rossi.", the clone said using point to point, her tone oddly caring and soothing. It was a shift from the detached warrior she had been earlier, now there caring for a wounded friend as some of those she had left came jogging their way to help. "Time to go home."

 

[Charaa]

Space
Through the Mech’s scanners, she saw the tank get hit, and she gave a virtual jerk at the thought of her sister getting hit. She wondered if she was in one of those tanks, fortunately, the battle seems to be slowing so the chances of her sister getting hurt will be lower much lower. She hoped this to be true as she looked over to Zeke and nodded silently in acceptance to the new orders. She was mildly surprised by the nickname he received but she did not comment on it.

“Got it, I’ll leave the flying to your capable hands, personally I wish to say hello to these guys so that’s fine with me.” She told him as she once more took control over the behemoth machine’s gun. “Hello! I am Nyx, please note that when you’re in the afterlife whatever the hell that is for you, tell them, Nyx the Gynoid goddess of Night and Death says hello” she said before the targets that came within range disappeared in a bright light of explosion as they were destroyed. “Much appreciated” She added finally before she smiled genuinely as Zeke reporting that their target Sareash was retrieved, and the call to medical. “don’t worry uncle, nothing is getting in our way,” She said as she kept her eyes out for more targets to take down.

 

[Arbitrated]

Valiant Bridge

Arria's eyes narrowed into harsh, cold slits of metallic yellow, as she had to effectively convince the firing computers inside of the many, many nuclear torpedoes fielded by the Valiant to do what she wanted. She had an idea, but it took damn near too long to actually get her cards in order. Now she was rolling her dice... All sixes, she hoped. Engines roared to life within the Valiant's tubes, a literal swarm of nuclear missiles flaring out and briefly obscuring the carrier with their own signatures, burning bright and fast towards the reckless, ramming rogue, screaming through space - not like anyone would have heard. The front of the pirate vessel groaned and started to split as it took a direct hit from several positronic rounds, which were followed by a handful of missiles slipping inside, while everything else the Elysian had sent out missed.

This was all visible from the command center of the Valiant. Then, they heard her speak: "Slagging the diver." It was certainly... Eccentric, her timing, but it was effective. The missiles which buried themselves in the charging, ruined starship detonated, their nuclear yields nearly evaporating the front of the vessel while a couple other missiles curved around, having passed their target, and exploded brilliantly against its engine housings in the rear. Even if the ship was somehow still intact, the shockwave and surging payloads would cripple its systems beyond repair.

The pirates who decided to flee didn't get to enjoy the lightshow for free, however, as whatever remaining missiles didn't get shot down by point defense or sent into the belly of the ramming vessel were still burning bright, burning hard, and burning fast, directly towards the remains of the firing line. They were preceded by the hailstorm of positronic shells which shredded armor like paper, evaporated bulkheads, and shook the bones of whatever crew was unlucky enough to not get caught in the direct explosion. This was, of course, preceded by the lance of plasma which fizzled shields and burnt through anyone not prepared for the force of a star itself.

 

[AntediluvianIntransigence]

It seemed the tide of ravenous blackness had finally met genuine resistance. As bullets, knifes, laser bolts, and grenades consumed hapless lives with locust savagery one pirate had taken upon himself to stand where others fell and retreat. A golden cannon that also gleamed even amidst the ominous clouds of smoke under an overcast sky. A heroic weapon for a revolting, grubby, foul mouthed being.

His first shot had taught the nearby trees a rough lesson but with the black clad NDC humands advancing, seemingly made of the same foul anatomy as their brutish insectoid leader, he was not lacking in targets. More beams pierced through chaos, into armour, and unto flesh. Cries and screams rewarded his marksmanship as much as it did his tenacity as once beleagured allies found old courage and steady hands, taking advantage of the sudden shift in fortunes.

His true aim however, was Zvraciek. Huge as the creature was, it did not remain still. As a flash of purple caught the corner of his eye clusters, he tossed himself behind burning wreckage as the beam tore throug dirt and metal washing him with sweltering heat.

A series of orders were transmitted; clicks and hisses random to outsiders but to trained human ears a change in the wheels of their aggressive strategem. Under the cover of a barrage of withering retaliatory fire the wounded were pulled back as canisters rolled into the no man's land between them, swallowing sight lines in pinkish-red gas. Microparticles released within jammed sensors and visual modes, momentarily darkening sight for both.

However, if there was one thing that let Zvraciek know Graxalat were near, it was the reek of both its foul body and the piercing scent of oxidized air from its cannon.

A plasma grenade was placed against his shoulder and a caterpillar-like face with claws around its edges pulled it within his body. A cylindrical tube lined with cuticle-like ridges emerged and swivelled into place as his sensory analytic and targeting systems coordinated, coordinating with visual memory to get an idea of the area of his target.

He fed in three extra grenades. More shots fired; blind fire was better than nothing. It hid the sound of a quartet of *SHRLA SHRLA SHRLA*, a series of grenades falling over the smoke. Four hellish blasts sounded as concussive force and plasma heat jerked the curtain of smoke like fabric rippled by the wind followed by a chorus of screams and sizzling, melting flesh.

Zvraciek reloaded his cannnon-rifle and advanced unto the disarray - an impressionist nightmare of craters, half melted smears, wretches missing legs and arms, and the reek of bowels emptying as the blast-scarred monstrosity advanced, his oration of armour piercing high explosive shells returning to its steady, consistent rhythm.

The body of the grax lay before him, his cannon sparking by the upper half of his body, the lower little more than a frothing soup of murky viscera.

The nightmare continued for the kuvexians. Black clad NDC soldiers, their armour modified with almost ornamental razor edges and curved alien geometry, followed in his wake.

 

[Steeljaw36]

Planetside

"Nomad, Reaper actual" Aztec kept his eye looking through the scope of his well used Harbinger rifle, as he keyed his helmet's comms. "Reaper actual, Nomad. What do you need?"

"Got a tasking you could lend a hoof with."

The equine sniper suppressed a sigh, that was still a terrible joke, though Harris insisted on using it at every opportunity. "What do you need, Actual?"

"Need a set of eyes on grid 79- 43-5. Transport overflight showed enemy activity there, and command thinks they may be trying to bring their artillery back online."

<Huh. That's odd> Aztec thought, then replied. "Already have eyes on that grid, Actual, can confirm. Not sure about the heavy guns, but they are trying to reinforce the area and are digging in. Was about to call it in myself. Want me to keep watch?"

"Standby one, Nomad"

The decision didn't take long. "Nomad, stay on site, Reaper is inbound to clear the site, ETA-" Aztec never heard the rest, as something smashed into his helmet, a sudden pain, then blackness.

"...Swear he said that NDC prick was here!"
"Think he missed?"
"You want to tell him that? Find the fucking body!"

The voices brought Aztec back to consciousness. He opened his eyes, seeing a spiderwebbed cracks across the armored faceplate, then closed them as the light sent a stab of pain through his head. Blocking that out, Aztec quickly took stock of his situation. He'd been hit, for sure, though it seemed his helmet had taken most of the impact, though it was still enough to knock him out of his position, someone over there has a hell of a gun...

He heard a branch snap nearby. Right, he had at least two enemy actively hunting him. That's a problem...

A quick search found his rifle lying a few feet away. He wasn't going to get it before they were on him, though he still had his sidearm and tomahawk. He also wasn't going to be able to move away before the pair found him, he'd have to play dead and hope they didn't think to shoot him again before they got close. Well, that is going to suck. He lay his head back down, trying to stay still, which incidently, reduced the throbbing headache he had.

"There he is! About fucking time!" Aztec kept still as the pair approached. "Looks like he got the bastard after all....wait a minute, is that a horse?" Aztec realized one of the pirates was looking through his broken visor. "Looks like he got sent to the glue factory!" Aztec tried hard not to react to the terrible joke, as the pair laughed, apparently thinking they were clever. The laughter faded after a few moments. "So what do we do with him? Is he dead?"

"No, he isn't" With that, Aztec smashed his helmet into the unprotected face of the pirate leaning over him, knocking him to the ground, gritting his teeth as the headbut sent a spark of pain through his own. Forcing the pain back, Aztec focused on the second pirate, who was raising his rifle, Aztec swept his leg, catching the legs of the other and dumping him to the ground, then Aztec pulled his tomahawk and sidearm, rolling on top of the pirate he'd dropped to the ground, planting a knee on their throat and burying the spike end of the tomahawk in their head. Putting weight on his leg, he turned bringing up his Wraith and putting two rounds into the second pirate's chest, putting that one down for the second, and final time.

Making sure the pirate under him was dead, Aztec tried to key his com. Nothing. Damn, that hit must have been a lot harder that he thought. Well, shit. He got to his hooves, pulling off his helmet as he collected his rifle. He also pulled a small earpiece, hooking it into an external power pack he kept in his combat's pocket, the whole thing was a secondary radio, something he'd had made soon after landing on Sirris VI, since his helmet was rather specialized, if it was damaged, he'd be out comms, something that was less than ideal. So, the backup radio was made. It had less range and power than the built in system, but it was better than nothing.

"Reaper actual, Nomad"

"Nomad?! Where've you been?!"

"Took a hard hit, knocked me and my radio out. Woke up to a pair of enemies I had to neutralize. Think i'm still combat effective"

"We can use your help, sniper's got us pinned here!"

"On it, i'll flush them out."

Aztec's ears perked, hearing the rifle fire from both Reaper and the enemy squad. Obviously he wasn't going to try to use his former observation spot. Aztec thought he'd be able to make his way to their flank, hopefully the enemy thinks he's dead, or at least are now focused on Reaper squad.

Aztec had to move.

"Reaper actual, Nomad. In a new position, you have overwatch"

Aztec was on the scope before he finished the report, searching. Whoever it was, that enemy sniper had a damn good eye, spotting Aztec earlier. Hopefully, they were otherwise engaged. Searching the enemy positions, Aztec was looking for a rifle, anything. Wait. There! Aztec saw the movement on the destroyed ground gun. If he hadn't been sweeping across when the Kuvexian moved, he'd have missed it. Even still, he was well hidden within the remains of the gun, he'd even camo'ed his rifle's barrel to look a part of the artillery piece. The sniper in him was impressed, then his finger squeezed the Harbinger's trigger, sending the 7.62 round directly into the Kuvexian's unarmored head. He watched the body fall from it's place.

"Reaper, Nomad. Sniper's down, going for other targets."

"Much obliged, Nomad, we've got it from here."

Indeed it was true, the rest of the fight was short and over fast, the few pirates that weren't killed fleeing. Aztec moved in, meeting with the rest of Reaper squad.
"Holy hell, big guy you weren't kidding!" W.O. Harris said upon seeing him. "That's a hell of a mark there. You sure you're ok?"

Aztec shook his head. "Not sure, sir. That hit knocked me out for a bit and actually did my helmet in. That sniper had a good eye and a powerful gun. Unfortunatly for him, he decided to not wear a helmet, and I didn't."

Harris nodded "Rodregiez! Need your medic skills up here!"

"Think I can wait until he gets done with any other casualties, sir"

"There aren't any. Not as serious as you, anyway"

Rodregiez showed up at that point, Aztec sat down back against a hastily dug dirt wall so the medic could get an easier look at his head. "Minor skull fracture and a cuncussion. You defenatly got lucky, Aztec, though i'm sending you back to medical to get that taken care of" she said, giving him a stern look. Aztec shrugged, he'd expected as much already, he was just glad he hadn't been disabled by that shot.

"Fair enough. Still, i'm going to make sure that sniper's actually dead..." he replied, standing up and walking over to when he'd seen the Kuvie fall. Sure enough, they were quite dead, a pool of blood forming under the corpse's head. "He would've been a problem. Guy had a good eye to catch me out."

"He hit you with this?!"

Aztec looked over toward the voice, seeing one of Reaper standing over where Kuvie's rifle lay. "Yeah, he must have." as the soldier handed him the rifle. Aztec cycled the bolt, clearing the unfired round. "Huh" Aztec didn't recogonize the round, certianly wasn't an anti material round, but as he could attest, it hits like a truck. "Haven't seen this before, seems like a hell of a round."

"What'll we do with it?"

"Not going to leave it for them to retrieve, though it's likely it was built for him. Still, better to take it back with us..."

"True enough" Harris replied. "Right, let's disable what's left here and move out..."


Space

Kat fired, a smug smile forming as her shot sheared off the pirate fighter's wing, sending it careening into another the razor sharp wings tearing each apart. She opened a channel to the transport that was being harassed by the pair of ships. "Arwin's Glen, your clear. Do you think you can make planetfall?"

"Yes, we should be able to land, thank the goddess for you, Talons!"

"Anytime Glen. Good luck" Katja replied, then turned to the squad frequency. "Talon 8, Talon 3. How're you holding up Jonas?"

"Still good, Kat! Gonna need a weapons recharge soon at this rate, but i've still got enough to go a few more rounds."

<Let's hope we don't have to...> Katja thought, though it looked as if they might not need to after all. The pirate fleet was running, and it looked like the battle was ending. However, a glance at her HUD gave her a chill. Wait, that couldn't be right. Equus, please let that be wrong...
"Talon 8, are.....are any other Talons showing in your HUD?"

"Ah.....no...."

"Talon 3 to any other Talons, we've lost you on the HUD, call out your status"

No answer

"Talon 3 again, any friendly Talons, status chack!"

"Kat.....I think they're gone, girl..."

 

[SensualCoder]

Groundside

"Split and stay mobile!" Lena yelled over the comms as the Hydra detonated, cursing and working with the Centaur's systems to get a bead on the mecha and light them up with her autocannons. As she scanned the available enemies, she froze. She had thought she had seen everything over the years, but seeing on her screens a charge on her armored column from a mecha wielding only a combat knife had to take the cake. For a moment, the soldier contemplated getting Chlorate to turn and meet the charge, something to give the mecha pilot a little even ground. The thought passed just as quickly, and she rotated the main turret to lock on to the offending mech, and feeling like a gunslinger staring down a man brandishing a sword, squeezed the trigger for the main cannon.

 

[Whisper]

SX-01 "Vale" System
Third Moon of the Second Unnamed Gas Giant

Groundside, Near the Abandoned Base
The Kuvexian leader felt relief as the blast doors began to close. He wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this with the NDC forces closing in on him, but he was smart. He'd think of something.

He began to turn to address the others who had made it into the bunker with him when a massive hand took hold of the door and wrenched it back open. A four-armed demon, covered in blood and power armor, stared the alien forces down with a red-glowing visor.

"Stand down," she said through gritted teeth. Rossi's job wasn't done, not yet, and so long as she could keep convincing Exia to keep her upright she could use her imposing form to close out the battle. "By order of the New Dusk Conclave, this moon and the system it resides within have been placed under our control." The Tsumi paused, waiting for the text on her HUD to catch up. Like hell she'd put all of this together herself.

"All noncombatants are to be taken into our custody and will be treated with appropriate dignity."

The dark emphasis on 'noncombatants' was enough to drop whatever weapons - and resistance - the group had left. The Kuvexian leader took a step forward, diminished but not cowed. "I trust the accommodations will be fitting for one of my standing?"

"Fuck if I know," Rossi grumbled. Other soldiers walked past to collect the discarded weapons and new prisoners of war. She slowly slid down against the wall. She gave the princess an unseen smile. The job was done.

Nearby, the other NDC forces were on mop up. The terrifying sight of Zvraciek's squad had done significant damage to the enemy's morale. Only a handful of hard-headed stragglers were putting up any resistance at this point. It would be over soon.

Groundside, Armor Line
The Hydras and Cerberus had turned the tide swiftly in their favor after the initial assault of the pirate ground mechs. Things were looking up until one mech had burst from the line with a blade in its hand. It had taken canon shot after shot with hardly a stagger.

By the time the mech reached Lena's hydra, so much of the armor had been blown off that she could actually see the crazed pilot within. His broad, maddened grin and eyes bore straight down on her as he pulled the controls to ready the blade. In the last moment before the blade struck, her Hydra's cannon ripped through the mech.

A hole where the pilot had been, and straight through, was the reward for her good timing. The enemy mech stopped where it was, blade just feet away from the Hydra's turret.

Reports began to come in from the other armors. The enemy had been routed; what few hadn't already been destroyed would be hunted down by aerial forces. They had successfully held back the pirate's ground reinforcements and saved the soldiers from untold damage.

Comms from above would confirm what the other armors had spread - the pirate forces were falling back or surrendering en masse.

Space
The shock of the collision was reverberating through the Valiant in more ways than just the physical. For many of the soldiers, starship operators, and support crew, this had been their first battle. A flag ship was supposed to be safe. It would be weeks before the psychological damage of the enemy pirate ship's ramming action had fully been processed, and yet..

That ship had been just one in many. On the large scale, the NDC fleet was in decent shape. The civilian ships, while wounded, had been spared from destruction. The Valiant had taken the worst of it. She would need repairs to her engines before she could be considered front-line material again, but her scars had been earned.

The threat of wide-spread military and legal action against the pirates had been enough to cause many of the enemy vessels to power down their weapons and submit to boarding actions. Others, either too scared to turn themselves over or too smart to believe Rose's bluff, had continued their exodus out of the system.

Among those ships was a small squad of fighters, who were feeling just a little down about the early exit from the system...

***
​

"..That's not all, Kat. We've got an enemy squad nearby" Talon 8 said, pinging the squad on the HUD. "I've caught bits of them around, that group's been tearing us up bad..."

Katja had also seen this group, and Jonas was certianly right about them. She checked her own stocks, still green on fuel and shields, but weapons were yellow. If they got into this fight, they'd have to end it fast.

"I see them" she replied. "Question is, are they going to come after us?"

The Elefirn squad was busy heading for the safety of their support ships when one of the squad members called out. "Uh, Averwin? Those fighters we were pursuing earlier might be following us."

The squad's ace looked over at her instruments to see if that were the case. It wouldn't make sense for them to dive back into the enemy's fleet, but a dog fight in open space would be just fine by her.

"Kat....they are coming for us..." Came Talon 8's voice over the squad net. Katja could detect a hint of panic in it, something she could emphasize with, as the enemy fighters turned, eerily almost all at the same time, toward them.

A quick glance at her HUD told the equine pilot running wasn't an option, they'd be shredded before her and Jonas could get under the protection of friendly guns.

"Jonas, we're going to have to face them, we're too far from the fleet to run, we either draw them into the fleet ourselves, or we buy as much time as we can for help to arrive!"

Katja sent a silent prayer for Equus to watch over her, then switched over to the fleet's open comms. "Talon 3 to any friendly units, requesting urgent assistance. We are outnumbered and engaging an enemy squadron, repeat requesting assistance."

She heard acknowledgements, while help was on its way, for the moment, the last of Talon squad were on their own.

The "pirate" squad's thrusters flared brilliantly as they closed the gap. A pair of twin cannons on each opened fire, sending out a hail of brilliant energy. The fire struck a nearby fighter who hadn't been quick enough on the uptake and pierced straight through it. The Conclave forces' instruments reported the tell-tale signs of aether weaponry.

The squad leader grinned, juking her craft from side to side to maintain a swift, yet erratic, approach vector. "Now then, let's see what you've got." She turned her sights on one of the few remaining fighters, Talon 8.

Katja rolled her fighter, avoiding the enemies fire, as well as putting her ship closer to Talon 8's.
"If we can stay close, we might be able to use each other's shields..."

"I think they're going to have something to say about that, Ka--wait. I'm getting a targeting warning, they're coming for me!"

"Jonas, you gotta stay with me, bud! All we have to do is delay them until help arrives. We can do this!" Katja hoped her words sounded more reassuring than she felt.

The enemy elite pilots were practically gleeful. They'd been so sad before at not getting to finish the fight. One of the squad, a newer member, decided to plow forewards and take the glory for themselves.

The elite's leader just shook her head. 'Youth', she thought. The rambonctious young pilot would either earn some glory and survive or.. not.

A minigun-like rain of fire soundlessly lit up space between the newbie and the NDC fighter's wingman. The aether weapon had little trouble with the craft after all the other glancing shots; Talon 8 lost control, tumbled, and winked off the list of active craft on Katja's HUD.

The kill was a surprise for the squad leader, who had eased off her own attack for a few precious seconds to give the newbie a chance to prove themselves. Her joy turned to panic as, in their own personal celebration, the newbie extended entirely too far. She looked at her hown HUD, seeing that they were perilously close to the weapon range of the NDC fleet.

"Squad, we've got to turn back!" she yelled out, breaking the others out of their congratulatory spree for the new doe. The squad leader hit her reverse thrusters, hard, to ditch speed. The other, more seasoned members of the squad were used to the maneuver.

The new kid was not.

"Jonas!" Katja cried out, as the incoming fire forced her to dodge. She couldn't see the moment Talon 8 was killed, however his HUD icon went dark, telling her all she needed. "NO!"

She didn't have time to dwell on his death; weapons fire flashing by her cockpit and the targeting warning going off, that pilot was now trying to kill her.

Katja cut her ship's thrust, pulling back hard on controls, expecting the other pilot to mirror her actions, to her suprise, they didn't, they're ship shooting past hers. Katja's suprise was only momentary, she punched Stargazer's engine, dropping her nose in pursuit of Talon 8's killer.

The fight was short and brutal, the enemy pilot apparently not as experienced as Talon 3. Katja finally caught them in a turn, her weapons drilling through the cockpit, killing the pilot, though their ship drifted, no longer under control.

Kat scanned for the rest of the enemy, part of her wondering why the rest hadn't jumped her. Her HUD put them off a ways, still holding off. The why was soon answered, as Katja was now within range of the fleet's guns.

Their plan had worked, though too late to save one of them...

END

​

Thank you all for participating in the 'Vale of Discovery' plot!

I apologize for the various delays in GM posts while we got things sorted out on our end. It's been a pleasure to have you all along for the ride with me as I took up the reins for the plot. Battles on this scale, and with this many players, can be daunting, but I've really enjoyed it. I hope you have, too.

The NDC will be turning towards the Nethys system's planet "Daichi" next. This next leg of the plot will be more infantry and ground forces focused and will take place after the colonists have begun to establish themselves. I plan to get it started within the next few weeks, once I've gotten sufficient interest.

Other NDC plots are also cooking, so please keep an eye out.

Thank you again!

- Whisper