RP: NSS Altomir [Mission 1.1] Gathering the Bearings

Alexandra looked at Marsh, scanning him from head to toe. In the fight earlier he seemed to know his bearings. When he was told to hold, he held. When he was told to charge, he charged. Alexandra looked at Bernie with smiled under her helmet. Maybe Marsh was new, but he was still trained marine.

"Oh well, let's hope Marsh knows ho to shoot." She said and chuckled. "Not to mention Phaedra is hardly only good shooter amongst marines."

Her head then turned to Devlin. "Okay Marsh, this is what I want you to do. You take that cannon in your head and you aim at the that large minigun that Render has. It might enough to get through its shields and disable the weapon. Then fire at its face or something. Got it?" She told him, hoping it would work. She had no idea what kind of shields Render has, but it won't stronger than Ravagers and if Bernie said, that MPR penetrated Ravager's shields, it should penetrate Render's too.

"Got it," Devlin replied with a brief nod. He took to the window in strides as his hands circled around the rifle in a protective grip. He had never come close to a gun of this caliber in boot camp, but he would never admit it to the others, for fear that they would take away the big beauty. It had known only neglect before he had found it alone in the truck, left to waste with the wrappers by a soulless glutton, and he was not about to let it slip away so easily after giving it a second chance.

Cocking his arm, he punched through the window pane and cleared the glass out with hurried hands, making a space for the bipod attachment, along the framework. He settled into a comfortable position along the stock of the MPR, making sure that the tungsten rod was chambered in and that he had a clear vantage point over the Render's approach without putting the civvies in danger. "Oakey dokey, I'm locked and loaded," he called through the Hostile's helm.

His monoeyes honed in on the impending Render. Not taking chances, he enabled the SAVTech's aim assist functions to help plan the first shot. "I have eyes on the Render, but I'm having a problem finding its mini-...oh. Nevermindfoundit." Devlin bit down on his tongue to fight the rising snicker as he took aim for the mech's ding-a-ling, waiting for the signal to fire.

As the marines hastily got into position, the vehicle and its pursuers continued to advance towards them at break-neck speeds. A good mile or so from the intersection that the subway station rested upon, the Render began to spin its gatling gun once more, pelting the asphalt-paved street with a stream of gunfire. The bullets thumped into the ground, sending chunk of black pavement sprawling up in small clouds of dust, centered around the speeding vehicle as the Render and its small escort gave chase.

However, unlike the previous times, the Render's gunfire struck the side of the rear left tire. The large caliber of the weapon easily pierced the speeding rubber tire, shredding the tire completely as it spun. The vehicle began to swerve harshly as it neared the subway station's exit, with marines watching from both below and a few stories above. Behind the vehicle, one of the Rippers flew to the side of the offending Render and gave it a harsh shove. The Render instantly corrected the sudden movement, shoving back at the Ripper and sending it back into line with the others, the quartet of them continuing to boost forward in short spurts while their prey's path wavered in increasingly frantic directions.

Alexandra kept aiming at the front Ripper. Setting her sights on the metallic beast. She breathed in and held her breath waiting for the time to shoot. Towa will give the order soon surely. A Ripper punishing the Render fro actually hitting the truck, made it clear it was a trap. But Alex was okay with that. She was not gonna let NMX hurt those pople.

"OKay Berni, front Ripper." She said again to make sure they will both fire at the same target. "Steady," she added and held her breath again.

"Front Ripper, aye," Bernhard took up position at another window Alex's left. He brought up his HPAR and sighted down it using the combination of the armor and gun's networking. The software allowed him to see what the gun saw. His shots would fly truer this way.

It was the perfect shot too. The Ripper was such an easy, unsuspecting target. It just crunched forwards, completely unaware that Bernhard had it in his sights and a finger on the trigger. "When do we shoot?"

The tire bursting caused the truck to swerve violently as the driver tried to maintain control. There was a screech of metal against ground, the rubber tires shredding from the wheel. Sparks flew from the rims and the truck tried to make one last desperate turn before the driver lost control completely.

At this point, the driver's focus switched to making his impending crash less deadly for the occupants in the back.

He slammed on the brakes, trying to steer forward so that the face of the truck would hit the entrance to the subway. At least it would provide some cover, and prevent the truck from hitting it by the side, likely killing the civilians in the back on impact.

"Get down!"

He aimed...

CRASH!

Violetta gripped the rifle that she had received from Saveli, following closely as the others gathered at the front of the stairwell. The female officer made sure to stay a good distance behind them, however; she wasn't clad in as much gear as the marines she was commanding, and although she was well-trained, direct combat was never one of her strengths.

---

The efforts of the driver were rewarded; the truck, swerving at a rapidly slowing speed towards the Liganda Subway Station's main entrance. The vehicle mounted the curb quite easily, bucking upwards a bit and vaulting over the blotchy pavement, directly into the subway station's access stairwell, currently populated by a number of Nepleslian marines.

Violetta De Luca noticed the vehicle coming just in time; wide-eyed in sudden shock, the woman regained her focus and deftly leaped to the side out of harms way, quickly looking behind her as she lay flat on the ground to make sure that the others had made it out of the path of the speeding vehicle. After that, her eyes narrowed and moved out into the street, expecting the NMX to be hot on the trail of the crashing vehicle.



---

The truck sailed down into the descending escalators, the massive bumper hitting the partition wall separating the two stairwells. The velocity that they had been traveling, as well as the reliably solid Nepleslian design of the vehicle, allowed the truck to easily smash its way down through the thin wall, leaving dust and rubble in its wake. As the vehicle finally hit the ground from its downward plunge, the front tires wrenched themselves further up into the undercarriage of the chassis in a short, sudden spurt of grinding metal and snapping supports. The truck impacted the bottom of the stairs into the subway station with only the rear wheels intact, the bumper scrapping the floor in a shower of sparks and ground stone. The vehicle showed no signs of stopping as it slid towards the center fountain.

---

Behind the vehicle, the quartet of NMX armors boosted up to the center of the street, halting their advance as they witnessed the truck take its crashing dive. Coming to rest, the three of them stood stationary for but a moment, no doubt communicating between one another for what to do about their trapped prey.

"... Commander." said Saveli, pressed against a wall, resisting an urge to ask for a sense of normalcy. He let that hang for a moment, before crawling up the stairs, doing his best to make as little noise as possible as he pulled up to the edge. The wary Cohronl kept his low, though, making sure his profile wasn't betrayed to a certain line of sight. "Should we... check on that truck? Or are we taking the advantage?"

Saveli clutched his rifle, awaiting orders in a very ample position to fire forth.

Thinking quickly, the marine who was driving the truck quickly smashed out the windshield in front of him. Then he turned around and opened the hatch door connecting the cabin of the truck to the flatbed.

"Get moving! Into the subway!"

Stepping into the street would be instant death for any of them, so using the truck itself as shielding and moving underground was the best chance they all had for survival. While he was covering the exit of the civilians, the marine took his gun into hand and covered them from the door. His intentions were purely defensive: at the earliest opportunity, he would leap into the subway as well.

Bernhard kept his finger on the trigger but didn't pull on it. He wanted to but knew well enough to hold it until the order was given. To fire prematurely would give away their position and waste this opportunity to eliminate the NMX. One concern he had, though, was whether they had enough ammo to take out the Render. But, that wasn't his job to worry about those details. Yet.

For now, he threw a glance at Alex, waiting for a signal from her or someone else in command.

A finger hovered just above the trigger of her HPAR even as the Monoeye's optic camera focused on a Ripper. Had there been one of the things Yuriko would've gone out there and simply gotten into a fist-fight with it. Would've saved precious ammunition and allowed her to vent pent up frustrations on an enemy she preferred to fight.

"Try not to get the Civilians and Marine in the crossfire, pick your targets, down them and then focus fire on crotch-cannon toting Mech." Yuriko then added, "And pray they don't call for backup."

Let off of his leash, Devlin responded with a splitting "Aye!" and fired an EMP-tipped rod at the Render’s minigun (Attacks: ???). The mech was turned toward the station, effectively hiding the impressive woo-hoo from prying eyes, but the marine hoped the tungsten rod’s unconventional length would be enough to cut into the back of it and jam its firing mechanism.

Devlin spun away from the window when he felt the rifle jump in his hands. He set up position a couple windows down and used the SAVTech's aim assist to manipulate his aim during the MPR's five second delay. When the next round chambered, he released his breath and fired at the Render's back cannon (Attacks: ???). Nerves were rattled and palms were sweaty, but he hummed an encouraging tune to keep his spirit up.

Devlin's position a couple stories above the street level gave his shots a slight advantage. The large, unwieldy rifle primed and lurched back with his first shot, the loud report ringing out through the empty, silent streets. The round, normally able to tear through armored personnel with ease, soared through the distance between the target in a fraction of a second, colliding with the back end of the mounted minigun. The penetrating power of the round easily pierced through the conforming shield of the small NMX mecha, striking the weapon with a small shower of sparks. The round ripped through the weapon entirely, embedding itself into the paved ground a few feet in front of the Render. Beyond the noticeably large hole that it had left in the minigun, there was no further ways of noting the damage at that moment.

The reaction from the NMX was instantaneous as the shot hit its mark. The Render and its three Ripper escorts immediately whirled around towards the direction of the abandoned office building that Devlin, Bernhard and Alexandra were occupying. The Rippers raised their arms forward, spraying small blueish white beams of aetheric energy from their forearm-mounted light aether cannons, while the Render attempted to return fire with its minigun. The weapon beneath the Render spun for a moment, a coarse grinding noise emitting from the weapon as it failed to fire, the cannon's barrels spinning in a wobbling, uneven fashion.

Devlin's second shot was, unfortunately, not as successful as the first. With the element of surprise gone, and with the Render suddenly realizing that its mounted minigun was apparently no longer usable, the mecha boosted off to the left, narrowly escaping Devlin's second MPR shot. The foot-long round slammed into the street yet again, kicking up asphalt and leaving behind a small broken impact crater. The Render and a single Ripper utilized their thrusters to make a sudden advance to the southeast down the street, while the remaining two Rippers moved in the opposite direction, down the northwestern street, all the while littering the front of the office building with deadly energy.

---

Noting that her marines were alright, Violetta De Luca glanced up just as Devlin's first MPR shot landed. Her eyes flashed with sudden ferocity, her lips pressing together as she turned around and nodded at the soldiers hiding on the stairwell. "Alright marines; engage! I will make sure the civilians are taken care of! You must dispatch them before they are able to alert more of their allies!"



---

Down in the subway station, the truck carrying the civilians had come to an abrupt stop a few feet away from the rock fountain, where Flint Vanderhuge continued to remain seated. Despite the truck's appearance and close proximity, the large ID-SOL had remained still, even as a small shower of glass rained down in front of him from the marine driving the truck, only to watch the man disappear into the back of the vehicle. The Grand Admiral sat with a placid look on his face, sighing slightly as he watched things go on through analytical eyes.

As the Hostile-clad marine entered the rear of the truck, he would notice that the civilians, although severely shaken, seemed to be mostly unharmed. Three Nepleslian men in brown coveralls, one Delsaurian male in street clothing, and one Geshrintal woman, carrying an infant wrapped in a green sheet and sobbing softly. They followed the marines orders with hesitant nods, watching as he moved to the back end of the truck.



The marine opened the rear end of the truck just as Admiral Violetta De Luca arrived, having hurried down the wreckage to reach the interior of the subway station; no small effort, considering she was still wearing her uniform officer short-heels and the rubble was the picturesque interpretation of rubble. "Soldier, report!" Violetta called out, the NMX rifle in her hands lowering as she halted a few feet away from the rear end of the truck.

"Okay let'em have it!" Alex shouted at Bernie. "Also change of plans Bernie, kill the Render!" She said, aiming her HPAR set on full auto at the large beast, as her SAV-tech started targeting procedure for her mini-missiles. She frowned though, as the new guy did what he should, thought some co-ordination with her and Bernie would be nice.

Alexandra aimed her rifle at upper part of the Render, hoping some of her rounds will hit those two large energy guns on its back. She then put her leg on the window-frame so she could fire her last few DART missiles. Without the shields, the Render will be more easy to kill and her last three DARTs will be good for that. She fired them all and then quickly bolted back into the room, expecting the return fire from the NMX:

"Bloody hell!" Bernhard cursed. First his original target had moved and now he had to shift towards the larger Render. It was a right mess. Just like 87I. Absolutely no coordination.

And he hadn't even fired a shot yet. The large Render was a difficult target to miss but since it had not been his original one, Bernhard had not scoped it for weak points as he had the Ripper. Any attack he made without thought would be hasty and not as effective as a well aimed shot. And considering how little ammunition he had, it was necessary to make each coin count.

He was on Alex Mayhew's left, giving him the best view of the Render. Thank God it wasn't a Ravager. He sighted down the HPAR again, looking for the Render's weakest spots. In flight, and a moving target, Bernhard disliked his chances of hitting the right spot.

"Moving!" he announced, working his way to the right, along the wall to catch the Render when it landed.

After helping the civilians out of the back of the truck, the marine took his HPAR in hand and hopped to the ground.

He saluted the grand admiral before him and sent a request to link up his armor with hers and whoever she was with.

"Ma'am! Private Third Class John Davis reporting, ma'am," he said. His voice carried a genteel nature to it, along with the slightest touch of a drawl. "I discovered these unfortunate souls briefly after landing upon the surface of this planet here and was trying to get them to safety when I was ambushed, ma'am."

He nodded again, his salute still held firmly. He spoke quickly, which was necessary for the situation at hand.

"If I may say so, ma'am, I am awfully glad and thankful to make your acquaintance! I fear we would have not been long for this world otherwise."

Alexandra's spray of HPAR fire whittled against the armored exterior of the Render mecha. The constant bursts of movement allowed it to avoid a majority of the marines fire, although a few of the superheated bullets managed to strike against the thick hull. They glanced off, unfortunately, but the few strikes made revealed noticeable damage amongst the armored plates; small caved-in areas along the points of impact, still slightly discolored and glowing from the heat of the rounds.

The marines DART missiles, however, were not as mildly successful. As she attempted to fire them, nothing emerged from the small honeycomb at the Hostile's hip. A small red notification at the edge of Alexandra's visual HUD confirmed her suspicion; a unknown malfunction with the weapon was keeping it from unloading its final three DART rounds.

In the wake of Alexandra's and Devlin's attacks, the four NMX had traced the origin of the rounds back to a general point of origin amidst the multitude of windows. The quartet immediately adjusted their fire, suddenly pelting the broken window and ledge that the marines were using for cover with aetheric beams. Bernhard's movement, for the moment, placed him out of immediate harms way.



---

Violetta looked over John Davis and the civilians under his wing with a quick concise glance, nodding in approval as her suspicions rang true; men and women with little to no combat experience, and one with an infant no less. "No need for pleasantries, marine," Violetta said in a commanding tone, looking at the soldier through her slightly dust-fogged spectacles. "Your fellow marines will need your help up there; we have to make sure that the NMX following you don't alert more of our position. I will make sure that these people get somewhere safe."

Flint Vanderhuge watched the proceedings from his seat, sizing up the small group of civilians. Although he seemed somewhat interested, his eyes following the mother and child, as well as the men in work uniforms, the stoic ID-SOL remained seated and silent.

Saveli gave his thrusters a little boost, to push up the edge of the stairs. He caused a bit of wrecking noise as he pushed, but nothing more than what could be heard over the blazing gun-fire. Just over the edge of the stairs, he could see the four units focusing fire on the building ahead. His HUD markers showed that for the most part, the NMX soldiers were landing shots in the ballpark, but weren't actually striking any of his fellow marines. That'd change, though, if they were given enough time to tear into their cover.

The Cohronl's vision settled on the Ripper standing next to the Render in the parking garage. His ever-helpful SAVtech highlighted the signature on the Ripper, and marked it for the rest of his fire-team to see. With a hand flat over the pavement, Saveli pushed himself up a bit to slide out from the entrance to the sub-way a little more. He leveled his Impaler, and squeezed the trigger, aiming for the armor plates in the base of the beastly armor's back.

Des used her vantage point to open fire on the rippers between herself and the parking lot and gas station on the other side of the street, before either enemy could advance on the station or duck out of her view. She let loose the pod of DARTs from her left leg, aimed for the two rippers in front of her. Des readied her HPAR, hoping the DARTs would do enough damage to the rippers' shields and systems so she could follow up her attack with healthy round of HPAR fire.

Devlin had expected a chorus of shots to follow, just not in his direction. "Incoming!" He boosted a short jump backwards from the window as enemy fire smothered the area, landing in a crouch to keep his head clear of the angled suppression. There was a nagging voice in his head that something had gone horribly wrong with his actions, but it was drowned out by the adrenaline. The Hostile turned its head and went right, remembering Private Mayhew's explicit orders to take out the Render's face-thing. Its head will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine, he vowed in a hushed tone.

He kept low and made an arch toward Greer's position, stopping in the adjacent window. He aimed within the four yellow lens, but refrained from firing while attention was on the office building.