A
Alex Hart
Roughly 100 miles of sector two a transmission was detected as a ship entered the lower atmosphere of 188604. The transmission was an open band greeting which quickly said "We like this desert. Come say hello!" Then it cut.
Nearly 3 years traveling in space left the Gartagen vagabonds who heeded the rebel CORES little choice but to consider abandoning the exodus fleet. The choir since the exodus had been in disagreement on what to do. The majority formed a miniature fleet and opted to restablish the choir and return to the home world. Others opted to continue pushing into deep space, and those one by one set off alone to form small diaspora colonies built around their ships.
In this case, it was a full Tyrant Battle cruiser that appeared above USO and initiated atmospheric landing. The ship touched down deep into the sector 2 desert, and almost immediatly the space sickened gartagens burst from nearly ever hatch and immediatly began setting up a make shift village in the shadow of the landed star ship.
Roughly two years had passed, and the new settlers, which were composed of the ship's naval crew, their immediate families, and their RRF detachment with their kin had formed something of a small settlement composed of about 5500 individuals was bustling with activity. Farming had commenced, as had signs of industry. The new colonist appeared determined to settle, and were thus far off to a good start.
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Uso had sent out Alex and his U-1 to scout ahead of a troop Ragnarok PMC soldiers. As Alex approached, his U-1 Variable fighter approached the scene, a few minutes ahead of the group of U2ACM APCs carrying the soldiers. He hoped he wouldn't have to fight.
The site of the landing looked to him more like a crash, with small bits of metal littering and leaving a trail along with lots of carbon scoring.
He circled around the site before pulling into a nosedive down towards the sand near the settlement.
As the ground approached, he folded the legs of the mecha out from its plane form, flared them, and came to a landing amidst a cloud of sand, the nose of the mecha along with the cockpit slightly above the desert floor.
The greeting Alex would receive wasn't much. The people in the make shift village were well practiced and had on news of the approach. The ship's anti fighter point defense weaponry was alive and aiming at the craft.
Alex's communicator would chime as a hail was sent from the ship to him. He was greeted by a smiling blue skinned female gartagen woman. "Hello traveler, we great you in the name of peace. Welcome to our new settlement which...we havent quite named yet. Please, state your intentions?"
Alex opened the cockpit and hopped down from it. "Hi there! I've been sent out here to scout ahead of the force coming to see whats up. There's a bunch of soldiers on the way, since we don't really know what the deal is yet. You have to admit, it sounds a little strange to greet someone in the name of peace after landing a warship on their planet."
"Well you would know we weren't peaceful if the war ship had glassed the planet first!"
Alex and the new visitors would hear a deep rumble as 4 corona heavy gunships flew in at low altitude. The dropships were flying in a standard diamond formation as they soared over the ground. Cyrus looked over his squad in the lead ship. "Drop in 3...2...1... GO!" With that Cyrus and the rest of his power armored soldiers jumped out of the ships. The PAs landed in several plumes of sand.
After the dust settled Cyrus and his soldiers formed up in a loose formation and began to make their way in towards Alex and the newcomers.
A formation of three Origin tanks and several support vehicles wasn't far behind. Corgan sat in the Commander's seat of the tank leading the formation. It was painted in desert camo except for a big black skull and crossbones on the front. "No one fires unless Cyrus gives the order." He ordered the Reavers.
"Surrounded." The female Gartagen said. A holographic projection forming in the sands before the man of the woman. "I mean, somebody said this was a good place to settle. So we decided to settle. But if there is going to be a fight over it..." she wrinkled her nose and looked around.
The gartagen RRF soon rose from the sands on top of the troops that had surrounded their ships. No one had fired yet. It was all light infantry, and they were in a skirmish style formation, judying by the crescent they formed around the area, they had dug in make shift defenses.
Alex sighed.
He made a gesture to the U-1, and it rose, pilotless, transforming into mecha form. To the Garts it looked like a giant in archaic armor, with a horn sticking out of its head.
Alex spoke, and his voice boomed from the U-1 simmultaniously.
"All right folks, lets calm down here. No one wants to hurt anyone."
"Wouldn't have to do anything Kid if they hadn't landed a warship on the planet." Cyrus said over a priavte channel. "Alpha Company, Delta formation. Colonel, move up your tanks to support my infanty, nobody fire a shot and no one raise your weapons. We are only here to make sure nothing happens." He ordered over the Ragnarok tactical command channel.
The vehicles stopped a few yards behind the Ragnarok infantry. Corgan stood up to get a better look. His vision zoomed in on the image of the one Alex was talking to. "I've always wanted to meet a Gartagen lady. Think I might have a tail fetish?" He asked on a private channel with Cyrus and Ragnarok.
Cyrus smirked behind the helmet of his hostile. "No Corgan, you have a fetish for anything that moves and the correct anatomy." He quiped back.
"You can just use your transmitter, nobody in the ship can actually hear you..." The Gartagen said with a soft sigh.
"I mean we don't really want to fight, but we will mount a defense. So....our intention is to settle, not fight!" She said cheerfully.
"Hrm, well we have 3600 Gartagen females onboard. Half of which are single and of mating age."
Alex shook his head slowly. "I think we may be getting off topic here. I've been sent out here to handle figuring out what your deal is anyways. Who are you folks?"
The holographic protection frowned. "Oh..."
"Okay that is a pretty valid question. We are Gartagens. This is our ship, the Sypio. It is a Tyrant Class Battle Cruiser formally of the Gartagen Union navy."
As she spoke the holographic Gartagen woman changed into a holographic projection of the Gartagen Union. "We originated in the Shara Star system. We then made an Exodus with other star ships and some CORES to find a new home. Well, we discovered the galaxy is a rather barren and desolate place, so some of us went back to Shara...and others scattered here in the Kikyo cluster. We heard a rumor from a trader that this world wanted settlers. So we came. Found a nice empty spot, and set down."
"What made it so that you had to leave the Gartagen Union and its navy?" Alex asked. "What is a core?"
"The CORES broke the choir, and seperated. They asked for people to join them so we did. It was kind of a rash experiment...one we regretted in the long run. A CORE is a living computer. Gartagens who plug into our systems, and run our technology from the inside. They are modified and trained from an early age to do this."
"Well, you're welcome here on the planet. We haven't exactly given it a name, and there really isn't any government, but it works for us so far. The only real requirement for being around is that you help out where you can. Do you have any kinds of services you can offer us?" Alex said. It was all true, the fact that there was no centeral government, and no real obligation for loyalty aside from mutual trust.
The hologram tilted her translucent head. "Well we were building forges and farms, we have craftsmen, miners and robotics experts on board. As well as a division of RRF...you'd call them marines and their equipment. So we can contribute to defense. This ship may be a boon, as well as its fighters and support craft."
"That sounds great. Would your personel be willing to teach some locals about trades like mining, farming and forging as well as other crafts and robotics? Maybe also instruct them in combat?"
"Yes. I do not see why not. We were not hiding!" She said with a smile. "You can talk to our RRF commander if you want to coordinate with our small army here."
"Oh we even have a few scientists and some medical staff."
It then looked like she nodded her head to whom ever on the ship. "We are standing down our defenses. I hope we did not offend you."
"Not at all."
Cyrus looked around to his men and held up a hand. "Stand down everyone." He ordered, looking back to Corgan. "Go have fun Corgan. Have a nice chat with the locals. Just don't bring back any new STDs." He said as he ordered the dropships to come back around.
Corgan nodded. "Looks like we don't have to shoot anyone today. Head back to base, I'm going to go talk to some people." He told his formation. The man climbed out of the tank and jumped down to the ground. He was wearing his signature outfit. A brown duster, red shirt, and a pair of camo pants.
"So do you have a name for this town?" Alex asked inquisitively.
"We have been calling it Sybio, after the ship." The RRF that had popped up had slung their weapons over their shoulders and would begin to advance to start greeting their new....comrades.
The hatches to the Sybio would open up and the civilians would begin to trickle out of the ship.
The holographic projection would fade away, and Alex would see the actual Gartagen woman he had been speaking to walking over to him to say hello. Large powerful mecha would some come lumbering out of the holds as well, to continue the construction process that had been started.
"When we detected your approach, we were in the middle of building some new houses, and an irrigation well...there is a rather large water supply under this plot of land..and we chose it to take advantage of it. Mostly to cool our reactor."
"Smart thinking." Alex nodded and approached the woman. He extended his hand in greeting, and prepared to shake hands.
"My name's Alex. Welcome to the planet."
"Thank you. I suppose since the planet hasnt been name we should name it. Planet Alecks it is!" The woman said with a bow.
Walking up behind Alex, Corgan waved. "We've been calling the place 188604, or Usotzka. I'm Corgan, by the way."
"Hmm, that is far too complicated. We will update the intergalactic navigation website. Planet Alecks! Home to the unwanted! It is an honor to meet you Sai Corgan!"
Cyrus watched 3 of the 4 squads boarded the Coronas and took off, leaving Cyrus's personal squad with him. He removed his helemt, his cybernetic eye acting as his HUD now. He followed behind Corgan and nodded to the group. "And I am Cyrus Marshal, leader of the Ragnarok PMC. Think of me as a General if you will."
"Oh. So when the NMX return, you will be the man who gets us all turned into sex slaves! Im honored to meet you Sai Cyrus!"
"That is not going to happen on my watch." Cyrus replied flatly. "It is nice to meet you as well. Now that you are settling down here, Ragnarok will proctect you." He added
"I'd have to agree. I recently helped put together a bunch of ships. We have a sizable fleet for defense. We'd appreciate help training locals to operate them."
"Well we will lend any assistance we can. The former RRF we have were professional shock infantry. So we can aid in helping get a planet side militia going if you need it."
"We can also reproduce some of these EXO's to give more of a heavy infantry presence."
"Do you have any tanks? I'm in charge of the armored ground forces, unless Cyrus is around to take command." Corgan explained.
"We have a single heavy walker. You could call it a tank."
"Those EXO's look like they'd be great for mechanized infantry forces." Alex said. "How soon can you start to teach people to farm and use technology like mining and advanced manufacturing?"
"Well, the Earth Dancer is the main fighter. It has the rifles, and missles. The Heirophant is heavier...but at the same time much faster. It is melee oriented." She said pointing out examples of each. "As soon as they show up, we teach by experience."
"Great!" Alex said. "Do you mind introducing me to some of the people in charge here?"
"Not at all!"
"I am Tursay. The cheif diplomat on board the Sybio. Our leader is the CORE, but she resides inside of the ship and doesn't come out very often."
"Our militia commander is Tyrus Lenz. She was the former officer of the Rapid Reaction force before we left. Now she pretty much has the same job, but no longer holds any rank."
Lenz approached, and unfastined her face mask revealing a purple heart shaped face under the armored helmet. "Looks like you pinkies cobbled together a decent military. You should be proud. Not many ground militaries are willing to send troops to confront a landed war ship. And this mech. A variable? Is that native to this system?"
"I designed it. It's the first of its kind."
Cyrus smirked. "I like you already Lenz." The nepleslian said walking up. "The names Cyrus Marshal, leader of the Ragnarok PMC. We are tasked with planet side defense as well as bolstering USOs ground forces."
"I don't really hold a rank." Alex said. "But I was adopted by the woman who seems to be in charge of all this. Her name's Uso Tasuki, and she's calling herself empress. The title doesn't really to be much more than a title though."
Corgan walked up beside Cyrus, offering his hand. "Corgan Garret. I am basically a Colonel in Ragnarok although we don't have formal ranks yet."
Lenz bowed lightly. "Pleasure to meet ya"
Lenz advanced. "Yea, it was an ambush if yall were hostile. While the ship pelted you with armor shots, we were going to knock the treads off of those tanks, and block you from manuvering. It was a risky move, but when your home base has your friends and family and cant' go anywhere, desperation can be the best motivator for tactics."
Tursay smiled. "You may want to consider producing more of them. Such a device isnt heard of in the Kikyo cluster or beyond!."
"It hasn't?"
"Nope."
"Huh. Well, anyways, aside from training personel, craftsmen and some mining, do you think your people would be willing to build ships with us?"
"Build ships? That is an oddly specific question. But...Yes. Much of this ships crew have training working in outer space. So. If that is a request to employ people, we have people with experience working in space."
Alex thought for a moment. "Actually, would your people be comfortable helping crew some ships that are already built?"
"You are having a crew shortage? We could offer some crew. they would need to learn your systems but. If anybody wants to go and work they are free to do so."
"Not a crew shortage so much as a trained crew shortage." Alex said. "The locals pick up fast, but we do need some hands to help protect the system for the time being. Are there some designs you have you can build on the ground down here that they would be more comfortable using?"
"Well, we do not have ship forges and scaffolding to construct a full on warship. We do however have a compliment of fighters and drops ships that may be able to lend you some aid, as well as trained pilots."
"I mean we have rescources, and maybe with some assistance we could get this battlecruiser spaceworthy again to aid in your defense."
"Well, we're lacking ships that can help to support ground troops at the moment. We also have begun to produce a version of my fighter that we can help to train your pilots on if you're willing to lend them."
"I'm sure our pilots would be more than willing." The woman kind of paused, and then looked down at her data pad. Her clawed fingers slide around on the device and typed in a breif message. She then turned back to alex. " I have asked our pilots to assemble out here for you in proper formation.
As she spoke the pilots and support crew came trickling out. 61 pilots in total, along with the crew responsible for handling and maintaining the craft, about 180 non combat personel lined up in a larger squair next to the pilots.
"This here is Mr. Alex. He is uh.....some kind of prince, I think." She smiled at Alex flashing a mouth full of sharp pointed teeth. "He has something he'd like to say to you."
"Its nice to meet you all. First, I'd like to welcome you to the planet. Second, I'd like to ask, who wants to fly?" He said, gesturing towards his Mecha which knelt down, and transformed into a gleaming aircraft. The cockpit opened, revealing that there was no one inside it.
The pilots and crew were silent. But all eyes were on the craft. A hand in the crowd shot up. It stayed up until Alex called on him to speak. "I have a question!"
"Sure." Alex said, amicably.
"Thanks!." A small blue skinned Gartagen male stepped forward. "Its pretty neat, the woooosh and chichichichi, and then walking, but what does it do? Like what is it good at?"
Alex nodded. "Good question. Its good for lots of things. This craft, which we call the U-1, is highly modular, which makes it easy to customise it for any type of mission. There are also modules to carry cargo, drop off APCs and booster packs to improve speed."
One of the drop ship pilots shot a hand up. "I uh...haves a questions." She said stepping forward." A peach colored Gartagen woman.
"Okay."
"Sos, if'n this transsfermer is ina race against say uh..ones ov our drops ships is it goin do better? Kause ya know, its good to have sommin that can does it all, but things that do one thing fantastic is usually betta. Less ur on a budget."
"Well, that all depends on how fast your dropships are. And we were on more of a budget than we are now when these were designed. But it really all depends on what you meant by race."
"Well, da Gumia can do .01 speed of the lights. and can hit speeds of mach 4 in da airs."
Another peach colored Gartagen stood up. The tattos on his arms matched that of the woman who was speaking. "Sooooo whatshestrinnasayizdatyashipbekoobutainfregginholdinmushinna way ofcompetingainstovafingmadetadodajobbetta innit?" He spoke extreamly fast to the point it sounded like gibberish.
"Well, The U-1 can go 0.4 the speed of light out of atmosphere and mach 5 in it. However, its not as good for carrying large forces as a dedicated dropship."
A booming voice broke the Q and A. "Thats just the fighter mode." A harsh masculine voice called up over a speaker.
A Heirophant thundered up...its movement were organic. "But. This is Kikyo sector. We have fought and seen Mecha, monsters and horrers. They will try to come here one day. But air combat doesn't happen at mach speeds. Or at speeds breaching the speed of light. And eventuall those feet are going to have to touch the ground."
The torso of the Heirophant opened. Alex, who clearly had an eye for mechas, and the mind of an engineer. could see the Heirophant was well armored, and engineered. More so the scaring from repairs showed this large stoud mecha was tested. The pilot was...similar to the mecha. A stout, hard looking Gartagen woman.
"You're right there. And the U-1 isn't especially great in a stand up fight without any added armor. But you and yours seem to have that covered pretty well. We'll need both pilots in the air and on the ground. You already have pilots for the protecting and fighting on the ground, but I'm looking for pilots who want to fly above it."
"Its moving on its own from automation. But what will it do when a serious threat. An NMX pod suit, or what ever the squids call it get in its face." The Heirophant hit its boosters and was looming over...Alex's amazing machine.
The armored fist of the Heirphant came down and smashed into the ground causing the earth to rumble. "But. It turns into a walking machine. To fight like a soldier. That means when we need to hit cities it can act like a soldier. Could it face this Heirphant and prevail? Would you bet your life on it?"
Alex nodded.
"Armed or unarmed. Take your pick."
She smirked. "Well, I imagine you wouldnt go to a fight unarmed. So I'd say armed."
Alex shook his head. "Any mecha pilot with experience should know that their craft alone is a weapon. You're never unarmed."
She smashed those armored fists together making a thunderous clang. "Yea, you said that to the perfect machine. This one doesnt typically have a gun. "
"Should I get in my machine, or control it from here?"
"It's your machine. " The Heirophant closed up. And it assumed a battle position. Legs spread and fists raised ready to punch.
Alex's enchanced musculature did its work, and he leaped into the air about five or six meters, at which point the U-1 transformed into an intermediate mode, with legs and arms out, but with the cockpit and structure of a fighter, and seemed to swipe at him.
As Alex leapt the crowd and town in general watched on in utter silence. The Heirophant pilot had seen this manuver in the past. Leaping into the machine.
The machine's hand came to a halt right below him and he landed upon it before dashing up its arm and sliding into the cockpit.
It then transformed into mecha mode, nose sliding back and folding, plates resting above it as armor, and assuming a similar stance to that of the heirophant.
The Heirophant surged forward, suprisingly fast. It was a large bulky mecha, but the speed of it was like that of a light mech.
The Heirophant reached out and grabbed the U-1 by the robotic crotch with its left hand, and then that right fist came around and began sending 3 rapid blows into the left knee. Then the powerful Heirophant would pull the U-1 by its crotch and release, sending it into a tumble forward. The Heirophant sprinted about and allow Alex to recover. "In a battle or war I'd have kept swinging, But mecha sparing should be a sport!"
The U-1's left knee was damaged, and unresponsive. It no longer moved, but its engine functioned enough to hover above the ground. The U-1 was large and light on its feet, and Alex prepared for the next clash.
"So I'll turn it up." Like a raging bull the Heirophant sprinted once again. Those heavy feet smashing the dirt and causing it to crack and burst open.
However, as the heirophant came in for its next attack on him, Alex swung around it on his thrusters. He was suddenly behind the gartagen mecha, and his one good leg lashed out, striking at the left, then right knees of the heirophant, sending it to its knees.
He then continued to circle until he was at its side, and the leg lashed out again, slamming against the torso of the heirophant and knocking it flat on its back.
The right hand of the Heirophant had last out and hit air, Alex's blow hit the back of the right knee and the machine tilted to the left dropping. When the blow hit the armored torso it sounded like thunder and the Heirophant went down on its back.
With out missing a beat this seasoned warrior did a kip up, and was Heirphant was back up on its feet and in the face of the U-1. She then hit her thruster, and sending a an armored right shoulder into the belly of the U-1.
Alex was stuned for a moment, but then grabbed the smaller mecha by the offending shoulder and forearm, lifted the heirophant's arm, then ducked underneath it and smashed the elbow joint in.
The arm sparked and popped. then hung limply having its joint shattered. The Heirophant stepped forward, and dropped to a knee. "Red lights, micro shortages. Internal repairs kicking on, diverting life support."
"Well you've got the stuff..." She said over her voice projector.
"If even half of the other pilots are as good as you, and can also learn to pilot this, we'll be in good shape." Alex said, opening the cockpit and hopping out, walking over to the heirophant.
The woman hopped out. She met Alex half way and held out a clawed hand. "Count me in. I'll fly for you."
The crowd of gartagens began cheering loudly "I'll fly!" "Me too." and pushed forward swarming Alex. He got him some fresh pilots. All of the tech and pilots volunteered.
Alex shook her hand. "Glad to have you on board. Lets get you folks some fighters."
Nearly 3 years traveling in space left the Gartagen vagabonds who heeded the rebel CORES little choice but to consider abandoning the exodus fleet. The choir since the exodus had been in disagreement on what to do. The majority formed a miniature fleet and opted to restablish the choir and return to the home world. Others opted to continue pushing into deep space, and those one by one set off alone to form small diaspora colonies built around their ships.
In this case, it was a full Tyrant Battle cruiser that appeared above USO and initiated atmospheric landing. The ship touched down deep into the sector 2 desert, and almost immediatly the space sickened gartagens burst from nearly ever hatch and immediatly began setting up a make shift village in the shadow of the landed star ship.
Roughly two years had passed, and the new settlers, which were composed of the ship's naval crew, their immediate families, and their RRF detachment with their kin had formed something of a small settlement composed of about 5500 individuals was bustling with activity. Farming had commenced, as had signs of industry. The new colonist appeared determined to settle, and were thus far off to a good start.
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Uso had sent out Alex and his U-1 to scout ahead of a troop Ragnarok PMC soldiers. As Alex approached, his U-1 Variable fighter approached the scene, a few minutes ahead of the group of U2ACM APCs carrying the soldiers. He hoped he wouldn't have to fight.
The site of the landing looked to him more like a crash, with small bits of metal littering and leaving a trail along with lots of carbon scoring.
He circled around the site before pulling into a nosedive down towards the sand near the settlement.
As the ground approached, he folded the legs of the mecha out from its plane form, flared them, and came to a landing amidst a cloud of sand, the nose of the mecha along with the cockpit slightly above the desert floor.
The greeting Alex would receive wasn't much. The people in the make shift village were well practiced and had on news of the approach. The ship's anti fighter point defense weaponry was alive and aiming at the craft.
Alex's communicator would chime as a hail was sent from the ship to him. He was greeted by a smiling blue skinned female gartagen woman. "Hello traveler, we great you in the name of peace. Welcome to our new settlement which...we havent quite named yet. Please, state your intentions?"
Alex opened the cockpit and hopped down from it. "Hi there! I've been sent out here to scout ahead of the force coming to see whats up. There's a bunch of soldiers on the way, since we don't really know what the deal is yet. You have to admit, it sounds a little strange to greet someone in the name of peace after landing a warship on their planet."
"Well you would know we weren't peaceful if the war ship had glassed the planet first!"
Alex and the new visitors would hear a deep rumble as 4 corona heavy gunships flew in at low altitude. The dropships were flying in a standard diamond formation as they soared over the ground. Cyrus looked over his squad in the lead ship. "Drop in 3...2...1... GO!" With that Cyrus and the rest of his power armored soldiers jumped out of the ships. The PAs landed in several plumes of sand.
After the dust settled Cyrus and his soldiers formed up in a loose formation and began to make their way in towards Alex and the newcomers.
A formation of three Origin tanks and several support vehicles wasn't far behind. Corgan sat in the Commander's seat of the tank leading the formation. It was painted in desert camo except for a big black skull and crossbones on the front. "No one fires unless Cyrus gives the order." He ordered the Reavers.
"Surrounded." The female Gartagen said. A holographic projection forming in the sands before the man of the woman. "I mean, somebody said this was a good place to settle. So we decided to settle. But if there is going to be a fight over it..." she wrinkled her nose and looked around.
The gartagen RRF soon rose from the sands on top of the troops that had surrounded their ships. No one had fired yet. It was all light infantry, and they were in a skirmish style formation, judying by the crescent they formed around the area, they had dug in make shift defenses.
Alex sighed.
He made a gesture to the U-1, and it rose, pilotless, transforming into mecha form. To the Garts it looked like a giant in archaic armor, with a horn sticking out of its head.
Alex spoke, and his voice boomed from the U-1 simmultaniously.
"All right folks, lets calm down here. No one wants to hurt anyone."
"Wouldn't have to do anything Kid if they hadn't landed a warship on the planet." Cyrus said over a priavte channel. "Alpha Company, Delta formation. Colonel, move up your tanks to support my infanty, nobody fire a shot and no one raise your weapons. We are only here to make sure nothing happens." He ordered over the Ragnarok tactical command channel.
The vehicles stopped a few yards behind the Ragnarok infantry. Corgan stood up to get a better look. His vision zoomed in on the image of the one Alex was talking to. "I've always wanted to meet a Gartagen lady. Think I might have a tail fetish?" He asked on a private channel with Cyrus and Ragnarok.
Cyrus smirked behind the helmet of his hostile. "No Corgan, you have a fetish for anything that moves and the correct anatomy." He quiped back.
"You can just use your transmitter, nobody in the ship can actually hear you..." The Gartagen said with a soft sigh.
"I mean we don't really want to fight, but we will mount a defense. So....our intention is to settle, not fight!" She said cheerfully.
"Hrm, well we have 3600 Gartagen females onboard. Half of which are single and of mating age."
Alex shook his head slowly. "I think we may be getting off topic here. I've been sent out here to handle figuring out what your deal is anyways. Who are you folks?"
The holographic protection frowned. "Oh..."
"Okay that is a pretty valid question. We are Gartagens. This is our ship, the Sypio. It is a Tyrant Class Battle Cruiser formally of the Gartagen Union navy."
As she spoke the holographic Gartagen woman changed into a holographic projection of the Gartagen Union. "We originated in the Shara Star system. We then made an Exodus with other star ships and some CORES to find a new home. Well, we discovered the galaxy is a rather barren and desolate place, so some of us went back to Shara...and others scattered here in the Kikyo cluster. We heard a rumor from a trader that this world wanted settlers. So we came. Found a nice empty spot, and set down."
"What made it so that you had to leave the Gartagen Union and its navy?" Alex asked. "What is a core?"
"The CORES broke the choir, and seperated. They asked for people to join them so we did. It was kind of a rash experiment...one we regretted in the long run. A CORE is a living computer. Gartagens who plug into our systems, and run our technology from the inside. They are modified and trained from an early age to do this."
"Well, you're welcome here on the planet. We haven't exactly given it a name, and there really isn't any government, but it works for us so far. The only real requirement for being around is that you help out where you can. Do you have any kinds of services you can offer us?" Alex said. It was all true, the fact that there was no centeral government, and no real obligation for loyalty aside from mutual trust.
The hologram tilted her translucent head. "Well we were building forges and farms, we have craftsmen, miners and robotics experts on board. As well as a division of RRF...you'd call them marines and their equipment. So we can contribute to defense. This ship may be a boon, as well as its fighters and support craft."
"That sounds great. Would your personel be willing to teach some locals about trades like mining, farming and forging as well as other crafts and robotics? Maybe also instruct them in combat?"
"Yes. I do not see why not. We were not hiding!" She said with a smile. "You can talk to our RRF commander if you want to coordinate with our small army here."
"Oh we even have a few scientists and some medical staff."
It then looked like she nodded her head to whom ever on the ship. "We are standing down our defenses. I hope we did not offend you."
"Not at all."
Cyrus looked around to his men and held up a hand. "Stand down everyone." He ordered, looking back to Corgan. "Go have fun Corgan. Have a nice chat with the locals. Just don't bring back any new STDs." He said as he ordered the dropships to come back around.
Corgan nodded. "Looks like we don't have to shoot anyone today. Head back to base, I'm going to go talk to some people." He told his formation. The man climbed out of the tank and jumped down to the ground. He was wearing his signature outfit. A brown duster, red shirt, and a pair of camo pants.
"So do you have a name for this town?" Alex asked inquisitively.
"We have been calling it Sybio, after the ship." The RRF that had popped up had slung their weapons over their shoulders and would begin to advance to start greeting their new....comrades.
The hatches to the Sybio would open up and the civilians would begin to trickle out of the ship.
The holographic projection would fade away, and Alex would see the actual Gartagen woman he had been speaking to walking over to him to say hello. Large powerful mecha would some come lumbering out of the holds as well, to continue the construction process that had been started.
"When we detected your approach, we were in the middle of building some new houses, and an irrigation well...there is a rather large water supply under this plot of land..and we chose it to take advantage of it. Mostly to cool our reactor."
"Smart thinking." Alex nodded and approached the woman. He extended his hand in greeting, and prepared to shake hands.
"My name's Alex. Welcome to the planet."
"Thank you. I suppose since the planet hasnt been name we should name it. Planet Alecks it is!" The woman said with a bow.
Walking up behind Alex, Corgan waved. "We've been calling the place 188604, or Usotzka. I'm Corgan, by the way."
"Hmm, that is far too complicated. We will update the intergalactic navigation website. Planet Alecks! Home to the unwanted! It is an honor to meet you Sai Corgan!"
Cyrus watched 3 of the 4 squads boarded the Coronas and took off, leaving Cyrus's personal squad with him. He removed his helemt, his cybernetic eye acting as his HUD now. He followed behind Corgan and nodded to the group. "And I am Cyrus Marshal, leader of the Ragnarok PMC. Think of me as a General if you will."
"Oh. So when the NMX return, you will be the man who gets us all turned into sex slaves! Im honored to meet you Sai Cyrus!"
"That is not going to happen on my watch." Cyrus replied flatly. "It is nice to meet you as well. Now that you are settling down here, Ragnarok will proctect you." He added
"I'd have to agree. I recently helped put together a bunch of ships. We have a sizable fleet for defense. We'd appreciate help training locals to operate them."
"Well we will lend any assistance we can. The former RRF we have were professional shock infantry. So we can aid in helping get a planet side militia going if you need it."
"We can also reproduce some of these EXO's to give more of a heavy infantry presence."
"Do you have any tanks? I'm in charge of the armored ground forces, unless Cyrus is around to take command." Corgan explained.
"We have a single heavy walker. You could call it a tank."
"Those EXO's look like they'd be great for mechanized infantry forces." Alex said. "How soon can you start to teach people to farm and use technology like mining and advanced manufacturing?"
"Well, the Earth Dancer is the main fighter. It has the rifles, and missles. The Heirophant is heavier...but at the same time much faster. It is melee oriented." She said pointing out examples of each. "As soon as they show up, we teach by experience."
"Great!" Alex said. "Do you mind introducing me to some of the people in charge here?"
"Not at all!"
"I am Tursay. The cheif diplomat on board the Sybio. Our leader is the CORE, but she resides inside of the ship and doesn't come out very often."
"Our militia commander is Tyrus Lenz. She was the former officer of the Rapid Reaction force before we left. Now she pretty much has the same job, but no longer holds any rank."
Lenz approached, and unfastined her face mask revealing a purple heart shaped face under the armored helmet. "Looks like you pinkies cobbled together a decent military. You should be proud. Not many ground militaries are willing to send troops to confront a landed war ship. And this mech. A variable? Is that native to this system?"
"I designed it. It's the first of its kind."
Cyrus smirked. "I like you already Lenz." The nepleslian said walking up. "The names Cyrus Marshal, leader of the Ragnarok PMC. We are tasked with planet side defense as well as bolstering USOs ground forces."
"I don't really hold a rank." Alex said. "But I was adopted by the woman who seems to be in charge of all this. Her name's Uso Tasuki, and she's calling herself empress. The title doesn't really to be much more than a title though."
Corgan walked up beside Cyrus, offering his hand. "Corgan Garret. I am basically a Colonel in Ragnarok although we don't have formal ranks yet."
Lenz bowed lightly. "Pleasure to meet ya"
Lenz advanced. "Yea, it was an ambush if yall were hostile. While the ship pelted you with armor shots, we were going to knock the treads off of those tanks, and block you from manuvering. It was a risky move, but when your home base has your friends and family and cant' go anywhere, desperation can be the best motivator for tactics."
Tursay smiled. "You may want to consider producing more of them. Such a device isnt heard of in the Kikyo cluster or beyond!."
"It hasn't?"
"Nope."
"Huh. Well, anyways, aside from training personel, craftsmen and some mining, do you think your people would be willing to build ships with us?"
"Build ships? That is an oddly specific question. But...Yes. Much of this ships crew have training working in outer space. So. If that is a request to employ people, we have people with experience working in space."
Alex thought for a moment. "Actually, would your people be comfortable helping crew some ships that are already built?"
"You are having a crew shortage? We could offer some crew. they would need to learn your systems but. If anybody wants to go and work they are free to do so."
"Not a crew shortage so much as a trained crew shortage." Alex said. "The locals pick up fast, but we do need some hands to help protect the system for the time being. Are there some designs you have you can build on the ground down here that they would be more comfortable using?"
"Well, we do not have ship forges and scaffolding to construct a full on warship. We do however have a compliment of fighters and drops ships that may be able to lend you some aid, as well as trained pilots."
"I mean we have rescources, and maybe with some assistance we could get this battlecruiser spaceworthy again to aid in your defense."
"Well, we're lacking ships that can help to support ground troops at the moment. We also have begun to produce a version of my fighter that we can help to train your pilots on if you're willing to lend them."
"I'm sure our pilots would be more than willing." The woman kind of paused, and then looked down at her data pad. Her clawed fingers slide around on the device and typed in a breif message. She then turned back to alex. " I have asked our pilots to assemble out here for you in proper formation.
As she spoke the pilots and support crew came trickling out. 61 pilots in total, along with the crew responsible for handling and maintaining the craft, about 180 non combat personel lined up in a larger squair next to the pilots.
"This here is Mr. Alex. He is uh.....some kind of prince, I think." She smiled at Alex flashing a mouth full of sharp pointed teeth. "He has something he'd like to say to you."
"Its nice to meet you all. First, I'd like to welcome you to the planet. Second, I'd like to ask, who wants to fly?" He said, gesturing towards his Mecha which knelt down, and transformed into a gleaming aircraft. The cockpit opened, revealing that there was no one inside it.
The pilots and crew were silent. But all eyes were on the craft. A hand in the crowd shot up. It stayed up until Alex called on him to speak. "I have a question!"
"Sure." Alex said, amicably.
"Thanks!." A small blue skinned Gartagen male stepped forward. "Its pretty neat, the woooosh and chichichichi, and then walking, but what does it do? Like what is it good at?"
Alex nodded. "Good question. Its good for lots of things. This craft, which we call the U-1, is highly modular, which makes it easy to customise it for any type of mission. There are also modules to carry cargo, drop off APCs and booster packs to improve speed."
One of the drop ship pilots shot a hand up. "I uh...haves a questions." She said stepping forward." A peach colored Gartagen woman.
"Okay."
"Sos, if'n this transsfermer is ina race against say uh..ones ov our drops ships is it goin do better? Kause ya know, its good to have sommin that can does it all, but things that do one thing fantastic is usually betta. Less ur on a budget."
"Well, that all depends on how fast your dropships are. And we were on more of a budget than we are now when these were designed. But it really all depends on what you meant by race."
"Well, da Gumia can do .01 speed of the lights. and can hit speeds of mach 4 in da airs."
Another peach colored Gartagen stood up. The tattos on his arms matched that of the woman who was speaking. "Sooooo whatshestrinnasayizdatyashipbekoobutainfregginholdinmushinna way ofcompetingainstovafingmadetadodajobbetta innit?" He spoke extreamly fast to the point it sounded like gibberish.
"Well, The U-1 can go 0.4 the speed of light out of atmosphere and mach 5 in it. However, its not as good for carrying large forces as a dedicated dropship."
A booming voice broke the Q and A. "Thats just the fighter mode." A harsh masculine voice called up over a speaker.
A Heirophant thundered up...its movement were organic. "But. This is Kikyo sector. We have fought and seen Mecha, monsters and horrers. They will try to come here one day. But air combat doesn't happen at mach speeds. Or at speeds breaching the speed of light. And eventuall those feet are going to have to touch the ground."
The torso of the Heirophant opened. Alex, who clearly had an eye for mechas, and the mind of an engineer. could see the Heirophant was well armored, and engineered. More so the scaring from repairs showed this large stoud mecha was tested. The pilot was...similar to the mecha. A stout, hard looking Gartagen woman.
"You're right there. And the U-1 isn't especially great in a stand up fight without any added armor. But you and yours seem to have that covered pretty well. We'll need both pilots in the air and on the ground. You already have pilots for the protecting and fighting on the ground, but I'm looking for pilots who want to fly above it."
"Its moving on its own from automation. But what will it do when a serious threat. An NMX pod suit, or what ever the squids call it get in its face." The Heirophant hit its boosters and was looming over...Alex's amazing machine.
The armored fist of the Heirphant came down and smashed into the ground causing the earth to rumble. "But. It turns into a walking machine. To fight like a soldier. That means when we need to hit cities it can act like a soldier. Could it face this Heirphant and prevail? Would you bet your life on it?"
Alex nodded.
"Armed or unarmed. Take your pick."
She smirked. "Well, I imagine you wouldnt go to a fight unarmed. So I'd say armed."
Alex shook his head. "Any mecha pilot with experience should know that their craft alone is a weapon. You're never unarmed."
She smashed those armored fists together making a thunderous clang. "Yea, you said that to the perfect machine. This one doesnt typically have a gun. "
"Should I get in my machine, or control it from here?"
"It's your machine. " The Heirophant closed up. And it assumed a battle position. Legs spread and fists raised ready to punch.
Alex's enchanced musculature did its work, and he leaped into the air about five or six meters, at which point the U-1 transformed into an intermediate mode, with legs and arms out, but with the cockpit and structure of a fighter, and seemed to swipe at him.
As Alex leapt the crowd and town in general watched on in utter silence. The Heirophant pilot had seen this manuver in the past. Leaping into the machine.
The machine's hand came to a halt right below him and he landed upon it before dashing up its arm and sliding into the cockpit.
It then transformed into mecha mode, nose sliding back and folding, plates resting above it as armor, and assuming a similar stance to that of the heirophant.
The Heirophant surged forward, suprisingly fast. It was a large bulky mecha, but the speed of it was like that of a light mech.
The Heirophant reached out and grabbed the U-1 by the robotic crotch with its left hand, and then that right fist came around and began sending 3 rapid blows into the left knee. Then the powerful Heirophant would pull the U-1 by its crotch and release, sending it into a tumble forward. The Heirophant sprinted about and allow Alex to recover. "In a battle or war I'd have kept swinging, But mecha sparing should be a sport!"
The U-1's left knee was damaged, and unresponsive. It no longer moved, but its engine functioned enough to hover above the ground. The U-1 was large and light on its feet, and Alex prepared for the next clash.
"So I'll turn it up." Like a raging bull the Heirophant sprinted once again. Those heavy feet smashing the dirt and causing it to crack and burst open.
However, as the heirophant came in for its next attack on him, Alex swung around it on his thrusters. He was suddenly behind the gartagen mecha, and his one good leg lashed out, striking at the left, then right knees of the heirophant, sending it to its knees.
He then continued to circle until he was at its side, and the leg lashed out again, slamming against the torso of the heirophant and knocking it flat on its back.
The right hand of the Heirophant had last out and hit air, Alex's blow hit the back of the right knee and the machine tilted to the left dropping. When the blow hit the armored torso it sounded like thunder and the Heirophant went down on its back.
With out missing a beat this seasoned warrior did a kip up, and was Heirphant was back up on its feet and in the face of the U-1. She then hit her thruster, and sending a an armored right shoulder into the belly of the U-1.
Alex was stuned for a moment, but then grabbed the smaller mecha by the offending shoulder and forearm, lifted the heirophant's arm, then ducked underneath it and smashed the elbow joint in.
The arm sparked and popped. then hung limply having its joint shattered. The Heirophant stepped forward, and dropped to a knee. "Red lights, micro shortages. Internal repairs kicking on, diverting life support."
"Well you've got the stuff..." She said over her voice projector.
"If even half of the other pilots are as good as you, and can also learn to pilot this, we'll be in good shape." Alex said, opening the cockpit and hopping out, walking over to the heirophant.
The woman hopped out. She met Alex half way and held out a clawed hand. "Count me in. I'll fly for you."
The crowd of gartagens began cheering loudly "I'll fly!" "Me too." and pushed forward swarming Alex. He got him some fresh pilots. All of the tech and pilots volunteered.
Alex shook her hand. "Glad to have you on board. Lets get you folks some fighters."
