RP: New Dusk Conclave Expanding Horizons: Vale of Discovery

Armoury

Obviously he couldn't just go up and demand it of her, no, he was smarter than that - he needed to bide his time and do a bit more digging before even considering such a bold move, he had spent all this time holding out and watching his back, to screw it all up now would be idiotic~

He sighed as he entered the armoury, a somewhat tall and rather pale man with a slender appearance, the slight moisture on his skin and the way his shirt was a bit clingy to the pale man's lightly defined torso was indication enough he had just stepped out of the shower moments ago - he seemed very Nepleslian though a bit pale and skinny mayhaps, at least part Nepleslian nonetheless - Sam stood at 6'2" with curly dirty platinum-blonde hair and piercing green eyes that seemed to sparkle, for a guy at least, he was real pretty and might even look elven with his angular features until you realized his ears were rounded.

Sam sighed as he crossed through the doorway, rolling his coat-covered shoulders and clearing his throat before approaching the seemingly rather popular Exia, one hand gripping his ushanka as the other reached into his grey woolen coat to retrieve something, "Lady Exia Pine I hope? I'm here to pick up one 7.7x15mm revolver that needed new batteries and a firmware update? Should be under Samuel Castor~" the man spoke, a faint Kuznyetski inflection to his words as Sam pushed through the forming crowd a little to hand Exia the paperwork for the maintenance that had been performed, a little folded piece of paper the quartermaster had printed out when he handed the gun in for repairs.

Hangar 2A

Sharlett was at aw in her new surroundings. While this was not her first time on a ship of this size it still never got old how impressive they are. Being from a small farm town he never imagined that one day she would be sailing the stars.

The words sank in of Zeke correcting her that he is not a commander. This caused her to blush slightly and tail to fluff out in embarrassment. Her ears started to flatten when she heard Nyx greet her. This quickly changed her mood as she was completely aw struck by how cool Nyx looked. Her tail pointed straight up into the air as did her ears. "Oh my gosh, you are so cool looking." Sharlett said as she rushed over and started to look Nyx over from head to toe. Just as she was about to reach out and touch Nyx, another person greeted her. She continued to be in complete aw as another robot sounding person talked. "Oh my god, this is like the coolest thing ever." She wasted no time this time to start patting Chlorate on the head. This took some doing since Shar was a good six inches shorter. She had to stand on her tip toes in order to give a pat. As she did this her tail danced happily.

Armory

Something massive loomed for a few seconds in the doorway as it slid open and revealing some grotesque, monstrous shape. Smaller than the tsumi yet bearing a momentous weightiness to its eight foot frame, the creature seemed unreal and unnatural in the depths of the enormous vessel; a dark blot of bestial primitivity and invertebrate foulness staining cold steel purity. A fleshless face trapped in an eternal empty stare observed the room behind the sleek translucent domes off near the sides of its face. A strange smell followed him; his first sounds were not greetings but a slow and wet crunching, almost angry in their slowly mounting tension and deep, buzzing tone. Some furred shape emerged from behind a labyrinth of mouthparts; mandibles, graspers, clasping appendages, palps, even centipede-like creatures wrapping around a saliva-stained mass slowly being chewed and mushed into an unrecognizable bolus, bones gradually breaking beneath the factory of hunger and disappearing into the depths of its mouth.

Little sound other than the stowaway vermin's consumption followed him. Eyes swivelled behind the domes that covered them and his footfalls were near silent and delicate; the practiced rhythm of a predator that knew and preferred to be unseen. Even amongst those already there, Zvraciek seemed almost unaware, passing them by and letting the fresh, wet smell of his impromptu meal speak for him. His attention was elsewhere; those nearest to him could see the eyes behind those domes swivelling and jerking about like caterpillars electrically shocked, tense and slender shapes silhouetted against the translucence. Rows and rows were swept by his gaze, his head slowly turning left and right and a few pairs of mandibles grinding audibly against one another. Something skittered and clattered; not in the room but in his carapace. Many somethings - thousands of little footfalls like crunching leaves and the sound of chirping and high-pitched squeaking, as if there was some chorus for his apparent frustrations.

Slowly, he began to turn towards the armourer. Very, very slowly.

Hangar 2A

Lena sat atop her Hydra tank, just forward of the closed pilot's hatch, one leg dangling from the hull of the machine as she watched the sparse movement of techs and others in the hangar bay go about their duties and other business; anything to keep her mind off the FTL jump that the ship's PA kept incessantly counting down to. She let out a shaky breath and turned her attention to the tattoo on the back of her left hand, flexing her fingers. The broken black blade writhed on the field of red around in as her tendons moved, the flash of memory of holding the blade came to her, but not the battle it had been a part of, much to her relief.

3...2...1. Jump.

Lena felt the ship tremble as the jump commenced, and let out another breath she didn't realize she had been holding, relaxed some. She looked back out over the hangar bay at the small clusters of people, idly watching them once more, especially the growing group centered on the mecha pilot, amused by the diversity among those gathered. This outfit sure is an interesting bunch...

Hangar 2A
The veteran soldier felt the subtle shifting of the ship as the jump was made, even through the boots he was currently wearing over his hooves. Certainly this body was much more sensitive than his old one, Aztec mused, as he made his way around the hangar, observing the controlled chaos of the various ongoing preparations. He had already sorted his own gear and weapons, having donned his combat suit other than his helmet, which he held in his hand. There wasn’t really a need for him to be here, but talking a walk around the hangar beat standing around anytime...

BRIDGE
The other operators all extended the Elysian a kind hand to shake, all offering greetings as well. "Lady Isabelle is also our department head of engineering, meaning she is part of the governing council. Also, don't take the Admiral's words too harshly, she's only strict because she doesn't like a operation to not run smoothly. It may seem like perfectionism, but she's only trying to ensure minimal lives are lost, and success is obtainable. We've lost many over the last two years, more if not for her leadership.", one of the ensigns added after introductions were made. "Lady Ironhart was the head for advanced research, but she teaches now. Mrs. Cerulius has that honor now, also Elysian like Lady Isabelle."

"FTL exit ETA 30 seconds!"

Alice gave a nod to the navigational specialist and operators, "All hands be ready, we have no idea the condition of the system since the last sweep a week ago. Remain vigilant, you know your assignments. Gunnery stations, stay on your toes and guns at the ready, I don't want any outlaws thinking they can get us by surprise. Comms, relay to the rest of the fleet to do the same, and have troops ready to scout the base once in range."

A call of echoed confirming shouts were heard from all stations as space opened up and pulled them back into normal space. But all was not right as the faces of those at the sensor station looked shocked, "Admiral, contacts! Counting 55 signatures in total, most behind the target planet. IFFs not registered, hull silhouettes unidentifiable!"

"Incoming weapons fire detected, impact imminent!", another operator called as the rounds of rail guns and torpedoes struck the shields of multiple vessels a moment later. Most damage was weathered, a few of the civilian ships however, taking damage. Several took enough to have to pull back smoking, one close to the valiant having taken three torpedoes and a rail round. The commercial freighter's shields failed, and was then rocked as the torpedo shunted off course, then as the rail round ripped through it's center, the ship a now disabled wreck as it belched atmosphere and emissions into the black of space.

Alice was quick to stand, a look of anger on her pretty Geshrin face, "Escalate to red alert, weapons return fire, and sensors tell me how the hell they got the drop on us!" To which one of the operators turned around, "Admiral, our sensors were still recalibrating from the exit, and they must of fired as soon as they detected the exit wormhole. But we have no idea why there's such a large fleet here."


ARMORY

EXIA
Exia started to look nervous as she was surrounded and bombarded with questions, or looks. "Woah woah woah, guys, give a girl some room to breath. Mr. Castor, your weapon is just in the locker there, 21c. And yes Adria, but shake Miss Rossi's hand first and say hi, she's saying hi to you. Yes Miss Sareash, indeed I am, and very sought at the moment heh. What does an ISD agent require of me today?", the clone said almost without stopping for breath as she addressed everyone in turn as best as she could. Though the figure entering and slowly turning towards her, made the nervous look grow, as she had no way to tell their intentions, or mood. That thought was side tracked as the alert rang out in the armory though, causing her to almost completely change tracks as troops rushed in to gear up, "YAY! ACTION TIME! Come on, time to suit up for kicking ass!"

CEILIA
Ceilia meanwhile had given the woman a holographic pat on the shoulder, "They'll be here momentarily as I went ahead and did so. Also nice history piece there, who are you heh. Ketsurai Jones, raider of the lost colony?" she said with a giggle. "Sorry, but I have to poof for a bit, but if your boots arrive before then, come meet me in the hangar, then I can give you a real pat on the shoulder with my organic body." With that, the AI faded, before waking up in a dark place.


HANGAR 2A
Thorn would find the details of her objectives for this contract inside the pad, as well as a note of love from a special someone. It also noted that the ship AI would be her contact, or well, the main AI. If one looked, they were everywhere, and in everything.

CEILIA
The chest of the XM1 her body had been resting in, split open like a blossoming flower as the pilot casket opened. The metal shell around her body opened, allowing her to hop out of the seat dressed the same as her projection, giving a few stretches before walking towards the Oracle. Coming around to Thorn's side, the brunette with tired blue eyes, offered the shorter woman a hand. "Ceilia Ryzka at your service Lady Ironhart," she offered in greeting, "Lady Pine asked that I be your contact for this one, and will be handling things as your comms line operator, and logistics support." The inflection of her voice was the only indication as to which Lady she referred to, but the two knew exactly who.

ZEKE
"Indeed, and I'm not one to turn down a helping hand. Though I was not suspecting to have a flock of people show up just to see little old me heh. Warms the heart of a old mercenary like me to think some still think I matter. But yeah, my old Oban here has been having a bit of trouble of late, her poor actuators have almost seen their last battle. The parts are discontinued too, so I've been having to fabricate them myself, or as close to spec as I can. Jack offered me one of the honeycomb things, but I keep telling him I'd rather buy stuff then be handed it without compensation," Zeke said almost prattling on as he politely accepted the tool from Nyx, his hands plunging back into the internals of the mechanized arm like a surgeon.

A technician ran up behind the group, out of breath as he waved a path, "Mr. *sucks wind* R-rykiel, there was a delivery made before we left port. I-I've been looking for you."

The spiky blonde looked up, "Could have sent the order form to my Geist, but what is it?"

Straightening up, the technician finally caught his breath and cleared his throat. Holding the pad in his hands, "One M3 Gekido custom, dubbed "Onyx", has been delivered as per purchase by one Zeke A. Rykiel. I am merely here to inform you, it is in alcove 13-2c, fully loaded and ready for if needing deployment."

"Hell yeah, now that was something I was dying to hear. Tell the other technicians I'll take over maintenance."

LENA
One of the engineers who had been working on the tanks at the end of the hangar, many new and covered over with types, walked up to Lena's Hydra. "Excuse me,but I've been asked to have you temporarily assigned to one of the other tanks for this operation. You've been handed clearance to unit 89, it's one of those new Centaur models. We'll be deploying troops to the surface base in advance of any ships to ensure it's secure before docking. Please go inspect it now and ensure the system is operating to your liking, and second operator will be there shortly," he said before handing her the pad with the specs. It was a very versatile platform indeed, sporting an arsenal of weapon systems, one for every range. It was treaded, plasma powered drive, semi-regenerative ERA, and plated in aegium for fine MBT it was meant to be.

CREW
As the alarm sounded, the ship vibrated from impacts against the shields, the crew pausing only momentarily as they figured out what was happening. "All hands to battle stations! Prepare mechs and fighters for launch, repeat, prepare mechs and fighters for launch. Large hostile fleet detected, prepare for battle!"

XM1s armed up and strutted to the catapult stations as the hangar doors opened, like those across the ship. Civilians who weren't militant, were moved out of the way for their safety. The tall armored figures were launched one by one, thrusters igniting as they flew into defensive positions are around the ship. Next, fighters were lowered to the tracks, Sparrows loaded with missiles and auto-cannons, rocketed out into space to form up into formations. Unlike the mechs, it would be a while until all craft had been launched.


SPACE
Ships began to come around from behind the planet, the optics of the NDC fleet zooming in to show hulls adorned with the insignia and flags of brigands, slavers, and pirates. The presumed to be the possible flagship, had a crudely painted banner on it, kuvexian in style. The faint flashes of more weapons fire marked the launching of another salvo towards the colonization fleet. With a message, the civilian ships moved back to the safety behind the more militant ships. Fighters and mechs joined in formations through out the friendly fleet, ready to take on this sudden threat, one they had never been expecting.

Nyx
As Jack Pine’s Gynoid daughter stood there, listening to Zeke speak, the servos within her mouth, got to work moving her mouth into that of a smile which only widened as Zeke was speaking about how happy he felt that so many were interested in him. She was pleased with her part in it, and after Zeke took the tool from her and began working, she would have watched him work if it were not for Shar’s moving in to greet her. The cheeks around her faceplate began to change to show off a blush when she was told she looked cool.

She remained still to let her take a look, also bringing out her wings to put on more of an impressive display before Chlorate had arrived. Her wings went back down as she smiled “hello Chlorate, how are you doing today?’ she asked and she couldn’t help but smile when Shar tried to pat Chlorate’s head, it was rather cute if she would say so. She looked amongst the ground and turned to Zeke to give him something else when things got shaky.

She was still standing thanks to the spectacularly Isabelle made machines within her doing so and she reached out to grab for any who needed help being stable, to prevent falls. “What was that about?’ she voiced out loud until the announcement came on. Mother’s hands! she said in an exclamatory thought in surprise. She moved forward, then stopped as the realization that her sister was there on board. “Shards!! My sister’s here, Adria isn’t a combatant” she said out loud as she ran as fast as she could before her wings opened up, and she took off flying. “This is Enzero Pine of Saber, what is the location of Lady Adria Pine, is she safe?’ she sent out the message on her Geist.

"Adria's fine," replied Istrossi via her ear piece. The tall woman had grabbed hold of the few people nearby who had looked like they needed it, and her outstretched hand had been closest to Adria. Off the network, she added, "She's tougher than she looks."

Coming from nearly 12 feet of dense muscle, it wasn't a shabby compliment.

She released the girl and grinned over at Exia, sharing the other woman's excitement. "Alright, folks, you heard the lady. If you're a combatant, let's get our gear on and get ready for whatever's stupid enough to bring the fight to the NDC."

Armory

"Woah woah woah, guys, give a girl some room to breath. Mr. Castor, your weapon is just in the locker there, 21c. And yes Adria, but shake Miss Rossi's hand first and say hi, she's saying hi to you. Yes Miss Sareash, indeed I am, and very sought at the moment heh. What does an ISD agent require of me today?"

Sareash wanted to respond about the fact that she was there for an armory check until her process of thinking was interrupted that made her look to the side where the alert was going off loudly "I guess that can wait of what I wish to discuss with you, Miss Exia" She looked at the security personnel that were a bit stunned of the sudden change of alert sounds "Battle stations everyone!" She wondered if it was a battle drill of some sort, she actually hoped it was a battle drill and not an actual battle that was being unleashed at them.

"YAY! ACTION TIME! Come on, time to suit up for kicking ass!" followed by Adria "Alright, folks, you heard the lady. If you're a combatant, let's get our gear on and get ready for whatever's stupid enough to bring the fight to the NDC."

The energetic of this woman, was remarkable but cheerful as everyone responded to her flow of energy and got excited. Saraesh took a deep breath ad nods to them "Indeed, let us get suited and protect this fleet! Move it!" Sareash stated rushing herself towards the armor gear locker and quickly get into her own gear. While she has no neural link, she requires to make use of a synaptic helmet that she grabbed out of her locker and rushes to the mechs. Seeing everyone boosting out of the hanger, it was quite a show to see it happen. Looking back at the XM1 that was waiting for her, it was huge, 14 meters long and quite a weapon to use. She quickly got into her mech and starts up the systems as she follows the rest outside.

Space

Letting her XM1 hover in space as she needs to get used towards the helmet and taps the communications to contact the bridge "This is Warrant Officer Cathetel to Command, Mechs are standing by for your orders" She turned her head as the camera view went towards the planet seeing the ships "My... thats lot of ships" She mutters to herself as it was indeed an impressive sight to see what was out there. The ships of the colonial fleet changed positions so that the military ships took lead as Sareash took position in a mech formation and held her position waiting for confirmation from Command on what to do next.

Armory

The creature strode towards her with those same long strides and emotionless intensity it had entered the room with. Its massive size became apparent along with the raw bulk of the creature yet it moved too quickly to properly lumber as more bodies rushed into the room. Even then from behind its dome-like helmet, Exia would be able to see its facial features watching her closely from now two smaller domes where eyes should be. Mottled dark green, purple, and black exoskeleton sleek cold be seen through the protective covering on a head elongated and slightly flattened as if like some predatory beetle along with a mouth best described as a toolset of uncomfortably pointed and multi-jointed orally mounted limbs.

They all moved with each sound of his rumbling, distorted voice and the heavy syllable-blurring accent.

"Submachine gun rounds." It didn't boom but trembled and shuddered, as if the maw from which he spoke was a chasm deep and dreadful. The timbre was best described as barbed wire and the tone dense and authoritative. "I require a large portion. 11 magazines. Now."

HANGAR 2A

Thorn gave a soft smile to Celia, and a nod. "Thank you. I'll be wanting to..." The ship vibrated under her feet, and her eyes started glowing, her mind focusing.

"I need a rapid refuel and a mosquito with Starfire shells on my ship in five minutes." She recognized those slaver markings, several of those rings she had broken up before. And so a message was sent to the Captain directly. "Ironhart Research flag vessel requesting flight and engagement clearance, plus torps and mosquito gun pod, 50mm Starfire shells. Oracle to engage slaver warships, disable, and collect Nepleslian and Yamataian bounties on freed slaves and slaver heads."

The hate and bitterness in her voice was clear, shocking to even herself as she turned and pushed off, guiding herself into the Oracle's cockpit. A small twist of her tiny body and a few touches to the screen glass of her canopy lset the reactor whirring and screaming to life as Thorn stripped, sliding into her vacuum suit with practiced ease. This would be the first time the Oracle had ever been loaded out as a combat vessel, and the computer protested, complying with her pilot.

BRIDGE

Rose's eyes narrowed in hate as she recognized a slaver flag, and she looked back into the hologram, noting hostile ships and their flight paths as she started the computers on calculating a brutal, no quarter firing solution. Mechs and fighters would have to burn hard to stay clear if her firing solutions were to be implemented, but her eyes scanned through the formations, her eyes glowing with a Geist fuelled rage, flight paths blinking in the three dimesional space. "Get me Eye class stealth ships out there for targeting support, I want to tag one og those slaver fucks through the windshield and let him see the nuclear hellfire coming his way. Burn them all."

ARMORY


" Yeah, yeah. Go ask Jack about it, he'll tell you the whole story about how I used to dodge some big giangtic stone balls while grabbing some diamond skull and some chest from old ages. Dang, I forgot my whips! "

Sasha grinned as she held her GP-1 rifle, holding it like as if she was about to start shooting it from the hip. Just holding the raggedy old rifle comforted her like a baby holding her beloved toys. Except this toy had more than just a choking hazard.

" Alright, I'll meet ya down there, or up there. "

Sasha then waved her hand as AI disappeared, before beginning to whistle as she patiently waited for a drone to drop her boots off. Darn high heels and dress codes, since when did they start issuing uniforms anyway?

As soon as a drone's buzzing noise was heard from distance, Sasha got off from the chair and slowly turned her head to a drone with her combat boots were buzzing from. As soon as the drone reached her, Sasha quickly shook her foot to get those darn high heels off of her foot, then took the boots from the drone.

" Thank you kindly."

Not forgetting to thank the drone, Sasha hurried to place her old combat boots on again. Then, she began to walk toward the hangar with her rifle slung across her shoulder.

Armory
Adria grinned with her cat-toothed mouth when Istrossi commented on her toughness and was quick to shake her hand. "Does this mean... do I get gear too? Maybe some armor and guns?" the flat-chested hothead asked, atingle. She didn't consider how unlikely it would be they would've just happened to have armor compatible with her huge, delicate, and unique butterfly wings on the spot, so she had not yet shot down her own hopes. With her cat and bug genes enhancing her sense of smell, however, she was very quick to smell the odor of the massive approaching bug creature. Her grin quickly turned into a grimace of confusion as the blonde remarked "What's that strange smell?"

Bridge
Alarmed, Isabelle backed up to the center of the bridge and asked "What?! What's happening?" It soon clicked in the Elysian's head that this wasn't a mere malfunction or an anomaly on the scanners. "Who are they? Why are they here?" She was extra surprised, as this was an exploration mission. She wasn't expecting to get attacked, most certainly not before they reached the planet.

Hangar 2A
Chlo beeped when her white-haired head was patted by Sharlett. "I am doing optimal," she replied to Nyx. In a strange way, Chlorate was able to sympathize with Zeke's mech. As a robot, she too had actuators that needed to be serviced every now and then. She concluded that, since he referred to the Oban as "her", it must actually be a sentient AI. "Oh no, does this mean she is hurt?" She felt compelled to help this very large gynoid (as she presumed it was, even though it was a mech). Seeing that Nyx had to leave, she decided to help Zeke with the tools. "I shall assist-" she began, removing the toolkit from the Oban so she could hold it closer to Zeke, noting how it seemed to want to stay on the armor. She didn't realize this was due to magnetism until it was too late, and could feel it acting on her gynoid body. Not accounting for this, the toolkit very quickly pulled itself towards her metal and plastic chassis and magnetically clamped itself to her robotic thigh. In the process, she had managed to get her metal hands stuck to it too and was unable to move them. Fortunately, she had been using her gravity manipulation system so she didn't fall, but this certainly was a predicament. She blinked, and stated "Umm... Uncle Zeke? I require assistance."

Valiant
Bridge

One thing that Arria's fellow operators would have noticed is that the Elysian's hands were... unusually soft. Extremely, unusually soft, like she'd barely used them. Too bad they didn't have the time to ask her about it, because an enemy fleet decided to start knocking on their hull!

"Welp, nevermind, time to greet our neighbors! They're throwing quite the welcoming party," the... Suddenly-rather-eccentric angel claimed as she cracked knuckles and wrists, setting the ship's various gun turrets into motion. Then she realized that there were.... A few more than she'd expected, and she didn't have the time to organize firing groups. "Fire at will, prioritizing denser clusters of ships. If someone breaks off far enough, I'll light 'em up so hard the star'll be jealous."

Hangar 2A
Rihanna, despite the sudden alarm and degeneration of the general situation, still tried to hide a laugh at Chlorate's amusing problem. "Here, let me give you a hand with that..." she managed to say, though not quite without a grin splitting her maw. She approached Chlorate and shortly, she had both freed the gynoid's hands and the tool kit from her side. "There we go. I'd suggest being careful of magnetic tools in the future though..." she said before addressing Zeke. "Looks like you'll need all the help you can get, luv. What do you need?"

If the sudden alarm wasn't enough, the sudden, almost panic like shuddering of the deck beneath his hooves told Aztec that, once again, things had gone south. Seemed to be a regular thing with NDC... At least this time he wasn't stumbling out of a cryo tube in a body vastly different than the one he'd been used to. However, in this case there wasn't a great deal he could do here, they weren't being boarded....for now. The equine marksman made his way to the troop ship he'd been assigned to, Razor 3. "Back in the shit again, eh Aztec?" came a familiar voice. "There any other kind, sir?" he replied, walking up the ramp and swinging into a jumpseat. "Besides, we've still managed to come up smelling reasonably good still, haven't we?"

Armory
"Ah, hell!" Katja exclaimed, the alert jarring her ears. She quickly changed mags, loading a fresh one before safetying and holstering her sidearm. Cleaning would have to wait. Fortunatly, the hangar was nearby. Katja gave a quick nod to the group in the Armory as she exited the range, dodging around the odd, buglike creature standing just inside the doorway. The rest of the way was pretty much the same, at least until she reached the hangar. She already had her flightsuit on, climbing up into the catwalks above the hangar, where the strike fighters were held. She climbed into her ship, "Stargazer", grabbing her helmet from where it lay on the seat. Powering up her ship, she went through the preflight checklist "Talon 6, everything in the green" she said over the squadron channel, then listened as the rest of the squad called in.

"Talon 4, green across the board"

"Talon 9, ready to roll!"

"Talon 12 is green"

"Alright squad, Talon lead here." Came the voice of Captain Rhysman, an experienced pilot and CO of Talon Squadron. "The short of it is, we've been jumped. Brass doesn't know how, but that doesn't change the fact there's a lot of pirates and slavers out there looking for an easy score. We are tasked with interference, keeping their fighters off of the civilian ships. Leave the larger ships for the rest of the fleet. Weapons free as soon as you've cleared the hangar. Stick with your wingman and we'll get through this."

Armoury

Sam offered the bouncy shotgun-lover a small grin of appreciation before letting her deal with the others who demanded her attention, the beautiful man with his alabaster skin slowly sauntering across to open up the locker and retrieve his relatively new sidearm, slipping that Ushanka onto his dirty-platinum-blonde hair with yet another sigh as the weapon's weight filled his palm - the pale stranger broke open the cylinder and gave it a few spins before snapping it shut with a satisfying click of the latch locking into place, the laser activated as Sam gripped the weapon proper and aimed it into his locker, the sights seemed just how he'd left them and the gun's mechanisms felt a little slicker, something he discovered by dry-firing it six times before the alarms blared.

"Gavno..." he muttered under his breath, the Kuz curse a little internal monologue more than being directed at any one person, causing the pale stranger in his coat to blink those beautifully sparkling green eyes a few times before his brain was up to speed with it all - Sam shoved a hand into the pocket of his grey coat and thumbed past the speed loaders as well as the speed strip until he had a handful of six rounds, which the pale beauty began to thumb into his revolver's cylinder one at a time after breaking it open against his thigh.

The metal clinks were drowned out by all the sudden commotion that came with the explosion of activity though despite it all Sam's movements were slow and methodical, precise as the cylinder was filled and the revolver snapped shut in one fluid motion.

Best to save the speed loaders for when I need them Sam thought to himself as he stuffed the loaded revolver into his armpit and looked around for the closest person in uniform, sticking two fingers in his mouth and whistling to get their attention before calling out to them, "Hey! where are the contractors expected to be?"

Hangar 2A

Lena leaned back on the sloped turret of the Hydra slightly, then cocked an eyebrow as one of the deck crew came up to her. A Centaur huh? she thought, remembering the shiny new tanks tucked away in one part of the hangar. Nodding to the engineer, she hopped up and took the spec pad from her. "Thanks. Know who my partner will be on #89?" she asked before heading to the rack where the vehicle was located.

Upon seeing the tank up close and personal, Lena was struck with an awe she had not felt since her days with The Green Machine back in the Nepleslian military. She nearly dropped the pad she was carrying as she rushed around the tank to take it all in, mind already filling with ways she could personalize the shiny war machine. She clambered aboard the vehicle and slipped into command seat, sitting back and just getting the feeling of the Centaur. Part of her was a little hesitant to take something so new to her into combat; the rest of her, of course, was raring to go.

A trial by fire was always the best test, after all.

HANGAR 2A

Sharlett wasted no time to leap behind the closest person as the alarms went off. To a normal person they were loud. To her it was skull shattering loud. Her ears instantly flattened to her head to try and cut down on the noise. "Oh my gawd, what is happening, I can't hear myself think." She yelled out to the group. It took her a few moments for the ringing to die down enough she could focus. Which was just enough for her to make way towards an armor she could use. She figured the noise would be much less inside an armor of any kind.

HANGAR 2A
"All defense units deploy, strike wings, prepare for immediate launch!"

Those who had mounted their fighters already and shown green for launch, would find the magnetic launch rails narrowed in to catapult them into space. The lights above shown a constant red, lighting up one by one, until all three were red, then simultaneously all becoming a brilliant green before the crafts were slung into the void. Plasma based thrusters flared as drives ignited and the fighters sped off to clear the way for the next behind them, and flying away from the ship to form up in their assigned wings.


Zeke gave a quick check of the roster with his implant, seeing where people were needed most, and what units seemed to be lacking in number. "Chlorate honey, there's a tank unit at the end of the hangar that needs operators. Can you go down there and fill in where they need you? Stay safe, otherwise your father would never forgive me.", the blonde mercenary said before turning to Sharlett with a look of kind sympathy. "Miss Sharlett, how about you take my M3 Gekido? You have experience as a test pilot as well for them, and you can't fly a Possessor. Wouldn't mind having some backup out there, and Nyx here is going to be my co-pilot. But, come on, we all gotta move. No standing still while the enemy is knocking at the door." He pointed to the units in question, signalling the cockpits to open on them both before pointing Nyx to the possessor, "Mind getting our unit through the final checks and warmed for your old uncle Nyx?"

With a chuckle and a grin, he then turned to Rihanna, "Going to need your help getting both mechs loaded and ready for the ramp. Once were away, they'll likely start preparing landing vehicles, the station on the local moon is the objective to secure after all. So we're all about to really earn that pay today, ready to get your hands dirty Rihanna?"


ARMORY
"All troops arm and armor, prepare for combat drop! I repeat, all units move to Hangar 2B to load onto landing crafts!"


Exia sighed as the alarms and PA announced orders continued to blare, "Come on pirates, slow down so I can get some of ya, geez." she mumbled with a bit of a pout. Stepping around the large insectoid individual, the clone stepped into the back again, leaning in through the door as she grabbed a small crate marked as some sort of ammo. Setting it down before the bug man, she popped the latches and then the lid off to reveal the contents to be neatly packed 45 acp pistol rounds. There had to be about 1,000 in the crate, which she tossed the lid aside before simply saying, "There you go, please put my hard work to use. I spend all day making ammo in my free time, so hopefully this works for what you need."

Rejoining Rossi and Adria she handed the girl an access key, "Even better, your father arrange your own private tank for you, modified to fit your wings in the cockpit. I'm so jealous, you get the big guns. So, my lovely niece, how about we go give these pirates a few AP rounds for their ignorance. Me and Istrossi will have your back if you need us, you'll be working with a whole tank unit. Come on girls, let's have some fun!" She said it so giddy like that it might have creeped a few out who weren't use to her personality, or attitude, but it never bothered her if it did. After all, she was a girl of simple pleasures, which was clear as she motioned to usher both women towards the announced hangar with a sense of gusto.


SPACE
The gap was beginning to close between the two fleets, as intercepting vessels, cruisers and frigates were sent in advance. There had been fighter escorts already deployed, but obviously not all of them, but as a target presented itself, they began to disgorge from flight bays in great number. Microscopic red dots at the current zoom level and scale of the bridges' tactical holo-maps, swarming out like locust as if coming to ravage the fruitful harvest of a farm. This was how such renegades lived, swearing off all authority, but their own of course, and stripping everything clean that fell prey to their sights. The swarm began to collect into organized groups, several wings of strangely designed fighters, protectively collected around bomber wings given the size of the craft.

Forming wall like that of a net in the way they shaped their formation of small and larger craft, the enemy approached, fire continued to be volleyed at the NDC exploration fleet. They may have been a large group of ruffians, renegades, and degenerates. However, they were an organized one, and there fore a much larger threat, even to the NDC fleet's superior firepower and technology.

The exploration fleet's own fighters and smaller craft, formed up in wings, spread out in front of and between all the ships. Mechs clung near to the hulls, using the vessels they sought to protect as stabilizing elements to aid in the endeavor. Hydras additionally to those preparing to be deployed to the moon, were sent out, their mechanical legs carrying across the hulls of the ships that were not military, to act as defensive turrets. This would hopefully spread the fleet's defensive capabilities to not only just the military ships present, to those who also needed the means to protect themselves in this battle.


BRIDGE
"Why can't anything with this nation every be easy, really getting tired of shooting down pirates, mercs, and crazed cultists. I mean come on, don't these guys ever learn? Do they just have a hate b-?"
"Shut up Steve, and get back to finding those targeting solutions. The faster we survive this, the more legitimate of a reason you'll have to bitch about it later where none of us have to listen to it."
"Yeah Steve, don't want to start sounding like Carl do you? Besides, I doubt Miss Arria needs you complaining while she's trying to work with us."

The weapon operators all bantered as they worked at their stations, commanding the various weapon arrays of the super carrier, a few muttering something about being a suck up to the last comment said. Arria would find she had the forward weapon arrays, while two of her current comrades had those on a side of the ship each, the fourth keeping track of target count, calculations, and position of friendly forces in relation to all that data. Out of the three main gunners, she had the most target rich field of view, her guns in deed seeing a network of clustered ships. The net the enemy had formed in a wall before them, overlapped shields over lighter units where the formations met at their nexus. It would make taking out all the ships in the formations at these points rather difficult, then there was the threat of the bombers who were spread throughout the net.

Alice stood from her chair still, contemplating their next move, the battle seeming to continuously stack against them as it progressed. "Send a order to all ships, have the carrier use their main guns to cut a path through the middle of the advancing enemy formation, and all other ships target the conjunctions of the formation with their main guns. I want firing solutions immediately and firing to commence once all are ready to fire. Arria Hei, you have the main gun, please commence charging of the main plasma cannon. We may be a carrier, but that prow gun has the power of a dreadnought. Please show them we aren't afraid to use it."

Turning to the two women present on the bridge, "Lady Pine, please find a seat so you remain steady, and direct the engineers on the ship if damage control is needed. Lady Ironhart, please continue to refine our tactical and navigational data, both efforts will cut down the delay in our reaction time, as well as the accuracy of our actions and maneuvers."

Hangar 2A

As the Winged Gynoid observed the accelerated rate at which the pilots ran to their fighters, her mind calculated, and took mental notes before she placed her attention back to where it belonged all within a nanosecond as Zeke began speaking. Chlorate was to go to the tanks which the Gynoid knew her cousin would love, while she, Nyx was to serve as her uncle's copilot in their Mech the Possessor.

She turned to look at the big thing and smiled before she shot to where she can transfer herself to the Mech as the co-pilot. Her body dropped to its knees as if kneeling down. Once she successfully got in she began the activation sequence, and she saw how big she was to them all. She started to get feelings for Mechs similar to Chlorate’s feelings towards tanks.

Once the activation was complete she ran the final checks to make sure everything was ready to go. “Final checks have now been completed, Uncle Zeke, the Possessor is ready kick ass and say hello to our neighbors.” she sent through the geist, all the while trying to keep her excitement down. She knew the situation was serious but being in a Mech had excited her.