RP: LSDF Val'ta [Expedition 1] - One from Another

LSDF Val'ta, Launch Deck

"Well I guess I'm always sometimes this way," Akemi shrugged. "Aren't you glad you've got someone so fearless and unpredictable by your side? The enemy'll never know what I'm thinking,." He continued to grin knowing exactly how worrisome his words could be. At least he wasn't demeaning the value of foot soldiers by saying they didn't protect people. That to him was more of a problem given he was at least jokingly acting incompetent. He couldn't wait to hear what mister super serious had to say in response. Maybe he'd inquire about another execution.

Tange IV, Misato City, A Clearing by a Shack and a Wreck a Park

The figure in the clearing lifted up its head and tilted their hat back to see better. They focused their eyes on the silver object and whistled. It looked like it was time to go home, they hoped. Tilting their hat back, they grabbed a staff nearby and proceeded to check the sheep locked in a make-shift barn for the cold winter. They had to get busy now that guests might be coming.

"Well, well, well," they said as the locked the barn and turned to move back to their little cottage. "I should put on a tea. Manners maketh man after all. And my gun as well. One needs to be ready."

With that, the figure walked back through the doors of the shack, and closed the doors behind him.

LSDF Val'ta, Launch Deck

Ash gave Akemi a flat stare as she did her level best to be civil, somehow she knew this was going to be a long day, "I think you are either very serious, and possibly in need of psychiatric intervention, or a very great liar... And make this stuff up as you go." She simply closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. She always had a chipper attitude about things and open mind, however, Pointing a rifle at her head tended to ruin her day a bit. She ran her fingers down her face as she held out her hand, "I'm Ashlinn, by the way."

LSDF Val'ta, Shuttle - Awaiting Launch

"My goals? Serve the Matriarchy as best as I possibly can, as men of my clan have done before me. Honor is something held in high regard by my clan, and to me it means everything. I would rather die with honor, than to live in shame. I hope to one day serve as a guardian to an important figure, as a champion of sorts. I feel there is no greater honor to be had then to live to protect that which is, and those that are, important." Ix'ion spoke with a quiet yet unshakeable passion in his words to the dreadlocked Nepleslian across from him.

LSDF Val'ta, Launch Deck

Akemi's hand naturally shot out to give an enthusiastic shake. "I'm Koga Akemi. How about you just think I'm a great liar? That sounds better." He chuckled almost inaudibly. "So, what's it like having a cute tail? Was that your decision or is that just how they're rolling us out now?"

LSDF Val'ta, Launch Deck

Aran'ya gave a quick chuckle to Ny'za, "Ah, well it's a date then. We've got a lot to catch up on, after all." The L'manel then added a bit darkly under her breath to the two girls, "And no cats allowed, mmm?"

She then gave the frame pilot a wave as she departed to prep her Whirlwind for the launch catapult, Aran'ya soon following suit into the shuttle set aside for the specialists team. The Trooper took a seat opposite of Er'red and crossed her legs, her shifting irises seeming to enjoy watching him squirm a bit in the tight WIND suit in the moments she wasn't doing a last minute check of her own stonethread medical bag. Such little distractions kept her calm outwardly, though inside she was still a mixed bag of anticipation.

LSDF Val'ta, Shuttle - Awaiting Launch

"That's a pretty admirable goal there, Corporal." Menelik said, before offering Ix'ion his hand. "If there's anything I can do to help you achieve it, don't be afraid to ask me, alright?" His hair seemed to bounce a bit as he looked at Ix'ion, his locks floating around a bit as if to resemble the mane of a lion.

"Provided offering help isn't an insult to your honor, of course."

J'ann was equipped with his Wind gear and his Stalwart and. . . not much else. But nevertheless, he waited for Porrim at the shuttle's entrance before following her in and taking his seat.

"Well, this will be a simple trip, I'd think. The cold makes it hard for organization to thrive, so all threats will be isolated," J'ann said, remembering his learnings about winter campaigns on Northern soil among other places. Granted, half of the lessons were legend, so it was a little harder to take seriously.

LSDF Val'ta, Launch Deck, Shuttle 1
Porrim gave J'ann one of those looks of motherly disappointment in the either zeal or innocence of the entertainer's drive to join the trip. "Honey, you're making assumptions. This may not be simple. Hell, we've barely even gotten into our shuttles..."

The hatches begun to close as everybody piles in and the engines begun spooling up, helpful indications stating that oxygen levels were adequate, and to strap in. "...and there's already been a potential diplomatic incident I can't be fucked doing the paperwork for if it escalated."

"This is Curator Alpha, taxiing into takeoff position," the pilot in the shuttle called out across radio as the vessel begun to float, turning around and aiming for the row of lights along the launch deck that pointed the shuttle towards the planet. "Thrusters on, and commencing launch in three... two... one..."

Over the radio, Shuttle 2's pilot started talking. "Curator Beta, moving into takeoff position." As Shuttle 2's occupants begun moving, Shuttle 1 took off. The whole cabin and its occupants shook as the shuttle went through the hardlight barrier that separated the void from the Launch Deck. Then freedom into space, beautiful, endless space to be explored, on a vector for Misato City.

"Curator Gamma," Shuttle 3's pilot announced as Shuttle 2's engines wound up and let fly, going into space, "moving after Beta launches."

Outside meanwhile, pit staff were directing the Whirlwinds to queue up for the catapult with marshalling wands to direct their movement as the third shuttle launched. "You'll launch one at a time, after the shuttles are clear." Sensors and the waving wands of the marshals closer to the exit confirmed things were ready to roll after a moment. "Shuttles are clear of the launch area. You are clear for takeoff."


Tange IV, Misato City, Wrecked Town Square
♫ Risk of Rain - Aurora Borealis ♫

Once upon a time, tens of thousands of pairs of feet walked across the grass grouted tiles and cracked asphalt in this town gathering area. Surrounding it upon the empty mixed-development buildings were large billboards, formerly electronic and lit up to advertise all the perks of a new life. The advertisements were right, but the new life of the previous inhabitants wasn't going to be here. Instead, living the dream were gnarled trees and tall grass, now no longer being pushed down by maintenance.

The air was crisp and misty, visibility ending at about a kilometre as calm winds brought snowflakes with them, sprinkling gently against the carpet of white that some of the plants had been able to survive. One plus of the infrastructure was that the gently heated walkways still seemed to be working, giving the plants a guaranteed place to grow without the snow interfering.

A moment later, the wind became turbulent as one shuttle, then two, then three were hovering about thirty metres over the town square. They had been looking for a large enough spot to touch down on together, and something close enough to all points of interest. They were staying well above the city too, trying to avoid running into buildings or disturbing the less structurally sound looking ones. The last thing they needed was another building going down.

Slowly, they begun descending together in a tight group, occupants inside now undoing their restraints and getting ready to move. "Curators Alpha, Beta, Gamma, provide overwatch with the Mecha team once we leave," Porrim directed as she watched the altitude drop steadily. Once it reached ten metres, the hatch begun opening and the shuttle continued moving down. The captain stood up and squatted at the exit, looking outside and down before there was only a metre between her and the ground.

She jumped out first and landed gracefully, large wings guiding and softening her fall. She took a few steps ahead and out at the other two shuttles, whose hatches had opened and were hovering a meter above the ground steadily. Pleased that the landing had gone well, Porrim looked at her map and re-evaluated the points of interest that were found from closest to furthest away from the group's position.

Porrim's Field Datapad said:

• City Park - Distress Beacon? Farm? - 3KM NNE
• Collapsed Skyscraper - Worth Investigating? - 4KM SE
• Carpark with Shacks - Odd. Maybe deserters, survivors or remnants. - 5KM NWW
  
• Aoi Tanaka Radio Station - Could be interesting. Surviving AI? - 3 KM NW

Click to expand...

She watched her breath in the air as she waited for the rest of her team to disembark. She still had to split them and dismiss the shuttles for patrol duty. She also looked skyward for the Mecha. Three Whirlwinds should've been hovering over the ruined city too.

Tange IV, Misato City, Wrecked Town Square

Akemi being Akemi, decided he'd be the first from his shuttle to hop out and look around. When the Neko disembarked he decided to gently float to the surface using his innate inertia control and slowly turned in a circle scanning the entirety of his surroundings for anything of interest. Hopefully there were some entertaining people about. Some amusing still operational attraction would be nice too. He wondered how strict the guidelines of their exploration would be.

An eruption of snow, a puff which exploded on impact, annouced the arrival of "Ghost" Petra.

Paradoxically, she promptly began rolling around in the snow. The reason for this became apparent shortly thereafter; her Wind took on the color of the local flora and fauna, or lack thereof, and the thermal regulation actually allowed some of the snow to clump on her shoulders, her pack, and around the base of her tail, a 'protection' all its own. With her hood up, she could have sat down and appeared uncannily similar to a weirdly formed snow drift.

She stood back up afterwards, holding the matte silver stave and looking up to the comparatively monsterously large Porrim.

With dignity, as though she hadn't just rolled around like a dog, she stated; "Captain, Ma'am."

Then, she looked back to the shuttle for J'ann.

The doctor, shorter than Porrim was surprisingly close to her as she emerged from the shuttle - shadowing her with quite a professional air of feigned disinterest. She felt her feet sink against the snow some, eyeing Porrim and then squinting to see the tiny shape of the Va'lta in orbit above them gleaming through her artificial augmented eyesight - then the frames, still on their way down.

My'ean and the large frames held their airborne position on landing approach, encircling those who disembarked beneath with one last pass to make sure there was nothing strange on the horizon. The heat of the re-entry was still burning about the blocky edges of the frames, the friction of the cool air through the atmosphere releasing steam that came off in dizzying slow plumes from the metallic bodies as they cooled.

Onboard the lead and content with the basic stats she could make out about her team in the command-readout and their relative positions, My'ean felt the air was a tad still and called out -- eyes on the ground team beneath as she reduced her altitude some, approaching the ground: thrusters flaring as the massive Whirlwind lit the ground beneath it before feet struck it with a resounding thud. The shaking surprised her at first: a steady reminder that she wasn't in a light frame but what the LSDF classified as a standing tank, taller than some fighters and starships were long: a nostalgic reminder of her days with the older Bringer of Thunder during her deployment in Operation Fallout - one of thirty or so operations on the eve on what would be remembered as the formation of The Occhestan Republic - an ongoing thorn religious extremism of terrifying proportions in the Matriarchy's side nearly a decade ago that most considered a distant memory of the former era. YE 29 had been an interesting year. The first contact with the Freespacers. Lor getting chummy with the Nepleslians who permeated their society. The strange creatures that now existed in most of the technology she'd spent the last ten years testing...

Heavy stuff. Deep sigh.

My'ean had to get her head out of the clouds.

While the other two were standard models, My'ean had gone to the trouble of procuring a spare AMX style cockpit, fitting it in place of the standard cockpit. It wasn't a particularly difficult modification to do but rather, one which suited her preferences better. Most would consider extra space in the cockpit a boon on a mission like this but she couldn't stand it: the less space there was between her and the machine, the better.

"Pitch, Mirage" she announced; "maintain telecom and data-link and report in; chatter authorized over secure line C" the communications system stepped in and made the appropriate adjustments with a fuzzy click - the hardware a touch older than what she was used to. "So what do you think?"

LSDF Val'ta, Shuttle - Awaiting Launch

Ash managed a smirk, "Some of histories greatest orators were great liars, Hai?" She had to fight to keep a straight face while she shook Akemi's hand. The inquiry about her tail made her pause, "It's handy, The added balance makes a wide range of motions easier, But personally? I requested it. Some are made with then, some not." She hadn't given her tail much thought, It was part of her. Simple as that. And right now it was securely wrapped up in segmented grey armor.

Tange IV, Misato City, Wrecked Town Square

Disembarking the shuttle behind Akemi gave her two perks, One: She wasn't the first on the ground, and two: The heavy impact of her hitting the ground made a simple statement, She didn't have time for showy entrances. her helmet snapped open briefly as she inhaled the air and got a good look around with her unaided eyed. Then it snapped shut and she retrieved her rifle and took up a passively alert posture that let her scan their surroundings. She was resisting the urge to make a snowball and pelt Ghost with it when she saw the smaller woman, Professionalism won out as she offered Ghost a friendly wave.

Er'red pulled down the hem of his stonethread bag a little and looked away under Aran'ya's eyes, shifting in his seat. The doors opening couldn't come fast enough. Hurriedly Er'red stood and scooted to the exit, turning back to the rest of the shuttle.

"W-well. Let's go then." He said, clearly trying to sound tough before jumping the short distance down into the snow and landing easily bending his knees.

He stood in the snow looking around himself at the surroundings, taking in the scenes, trying to figure out where to huddle near the middle.

LSDF Val'ta Launch Deck -> Misato City, Ruined Town Square

Ny'za walked her whirlwind onto the catapult when it was her turn and followed launch procedure. She was a little worried about the larger cages, but they were not designed like the smaller ones that were in the hip compartments. Because these larger cages were exposed, they were made durable enough for reentry and fitted with their own life support, already calibrated to Tenge's atmosphere. So they were more like mobile pet homes than a cage.

Thanks to the technology involved, the entry into the atmosphere went smoothly, the machine was no WINTER, but it would do, considering her secondary objective she was happy a larger frame was available for more carry capacity. Either way she followed after My'ean and used her sensors to track the shuttles to make sure they stayed on course. Once at the square she moved a little away from the path My'ean traced, and went to land in a way so the three frames could encircle the shuttles for protection until they got off the ground again. However her landing was not as smooth as her squad leaders, she had made a small mistake in correcting for the gravity and she touched down a little hard, but nothing dangerous. The large frame stumbled however and there was a strange cracking sound.

The Lmanel quickly righted the frame before anyone could notice and lifted its foot to see what it had stepped on. A poor unsuspecting bench had met it's end to her piloting, thankfully it was empty and the material was probably synthetic anyway, no great loss. After evaluating the damage she gently stepped to the side and kept the frame erect, pretending like nothing ever happened.

"Rhiq would be laughing at me if he saw that.."

As if on cue she heard a familiar snickering chuckle from within the cabin. She looked around quickly to find it, but the source found her instead. Rhiq had crawled out of a hiding spot within the cabin and moved onto her shoulder. This made Ny’za blush darkly, cause it meant her poor landing did not go unseen.

Before she was teased again though the squad leader spoke over the radio and Ny’za replied. “Understood, communications on line C...the planet looks strangely beautiful though.”

Tange IV, Misato City, Wrecked Town Square

Aran'ya came next out of the specialists shuttle behind the scurrying nurse Er'red, landing in the town square with a slight puff of white powder that announced her touchdown. She held her body low to the ground for a moment or two longer in a crouched position with one hand bracing it with the cold ground, allowing the WIND's systems begin to adapt to the snowy landscape she found herself in much like Petra had done. Though she preferred warmer biomes, there was still a certain still beauty about the ruined city center the medic had to admire, something made a lot easier by the thermal controls in place that kept her nice and toasty inside the suit while outside it was frigid.

As she stood, Widow took a handful of snow with her in her gloved hand, packing it tightly into an iceball and juggling it idly a moment as she spotted the floating form of Akemi rushing out to be the first of the infantry team to survey the planet's surface. Even if he couldn't see her face, the Neko probably knew his favorite L'manel was staring at his back when he rotated the other way. I'll give him an egg, alright...

Nailing him with it at that moment did seem pretty tempting... although she thought better of it with Porrim watching.

J'ann left his shuttle, wincing as his eyes adjusted to the bright landscape around him from the relatively darker interior of the shuttle.

"It looks positively peaceful out today!" he declared.

He barely gave Elm the time of day.

Tange IV, Misato City, Wrecked Town Square

Despite mind reading being beyond the scope of his psychic abilities, Akemi may as well have picked up Aran'ya's thoughts as he too picked up a handful of snow. Unlike her he hesitated only a moment after condensing it before he weakly threw the harmless projectile her way with a silly, ineffectual overhand throw, his arm held cocked, upright in front of himself while his wrist did all the work. His arm looked kind of like a snake leaning backwards ready to strike when he released it. Naturally his shot had been aimed at her head.

The thought had passed his mind that the captain might be bothered but he reasoned a snowball was a snowball and if she didn't want one thrown her way she shouldn't be so flagrantly brandishing her own.

New Tange IV, Misato City, Wrecked Town Square

The hope that Akemi would behave himself on a potentially hostile planet, and that Aran'ya would stop encouraging him, was quickly and brutally murdered in Menelik's mind as he dropped from the rear of the shuttle, his substantially heavier armor landing with a *thunk* and spray of snow. No use getting upset or angry about it, he had a job to do. The Hostile's sensors immediately began passively scanning the area as Menelik looked around with intent eyes, his HPAR shouldered and finger resting on the trigger guard. If they were ambushed, which seemed unlikely, he'd be ready for it.

Tange IV, Misato City, A Clearing by a Shack and a Wreck a Park

The figure walked out of the shack again, walking few meters to the mould of snow. In their hand was a cauldron, made from the hull of the ship. The figured digged into the snow using the cauldron filling it. At that time a roar of engines could be heard by sensitive ears. The figure tipped their hat back and saw three shuttles in the distance. It looked like a landing run to them, few kilometers south-south-west from their cottage.

"Well I'll be," The figure said to themselves. "The sure ponied up to get here so fast. Well they are just over the yonder, I better hurry." With those words the figure turned around went back into the cottage.