RP: NSS Acadia [Mission 1] A Side: "High and Dry over Golding"

While everyone else in the team was busy doffing their suits, Anselm was getting cut out of his. Nude from the waist up, the pale-skinned and well built marine had two mechanics working on removing the armor from around his welded knee joint, having just dismembered the rest of his suit. "Son, you're lucky you aren't charcoal" one remarked, cutting away the thigh plates while the other worked at his shin.

"Yeah, sure, save the scolding till after I get some more painkillers and can't remember anything important" the PSC grumbled holding his bandaged right leg where several pieces of his Hostile were still embedded.

Talbain waited a moment before entering the armory for the released marines to suit up and leave. He unsuited from his Aggressor after getting the attention of a technician and telling them to make sure no one ran off with his PA.
Approaching the snack bar the ID-SOL dug around for a moment, coming up with four RED RAEG stimulant drinks. "Chief, Anselm heads up." was the only thing he said before tossing a can to Fian and then the Albino.
Afterward he wandered deeper into the armory looking for ammo for the AMP while shotgunning the other two drinks.

Anselm caught the can and downed it, a slow smile spread across the marine's face "much better". The mechanics finished cutting away most of the leg's armor so he could slip the flash-welded knee off. The marine slipped out of the rest of his suit and prowled the snack bar for energy bars and drinks before joining Master Chief Vel Steyr on the couches with his bounty, offering a can and a bar to Viktor on the way.

Once all the prisoners had been freed, Trey came out from around the corner and into the armory, stepping out of the suit. He was glad for a break, but wanted to be sure the suit could be ready in case he needed it, so the Sniper asked a technician to reload it and replace the shield generator, at his leisure, of course. he sat down on Fian's other side, telling the group "Good job out there guys, we managed to not die" with a bit of a chuckle, wondering what the Master Chief's next idea was.

Fian eyeballed the can as it flew across the room and grabbed it with a backhanded swing. In one quick motion he snapped the tab and downed half the drink. The ultra sugary and stimulant laden liquid burned its way down his throat, but in this current situation it was manna from heaven. He also spotted Viktor Kingston being the only guy in sight still in his Power Armor and started chastising the marine while red in the face from the sugar rush "By the Maker, Viktor! Get out of that suit and sit down before you wind up like Henry."

Speaking of which, the marine was nowhere to be found, the station crew must have carted him off somewhere on a stretcher. The group certainly didn't get themselves killed, but there were both physical and mental injuries of the unavoidable and avoidable kind. "Well." The Master Chief sobered momentarily. "For a ragtag group I can say that's quite an achievement. However once we settle down on the Acadia proper..."

He then downed the rest of the can in solemn silence, the reddish glow then returned to his face as the seriousness faded away. "Ahahaha!" What the Master Chief was laughing at, nobody knows.

Meanwhile, Harrison had since settled down in a quiet little corner nursing his own energy drink, resting his head against the thigh of his FIRE1 armor, wearing his uniform shirt and pants untucked.

"Ahh..." He sighed, relaxing as he took another swig of the drink. Life was good right now; everything was all quiet and he was feeling alright about the mission. Thus far he'd only been hit once or twice, and the damage done had been negligible to the "borrowed" armor. Of course, by this time, the ashy remains were wiped clean from the surface of the FIRE (which, as he noticed, had pretty interesting designs on it left over from its days of piracy), leaving only the two tiny holes that Trey's EAG had punched in the torso.

"Say, Chief." Harrison said, turning towards Fian. "What do you think's gonna happen when we get back to the Acadia?"

Viktor's solemn expression was replaced by a smirk when he was proffered food and gave a nod and a thanks. He was biting into the half-unwrapped bit of goodness when Fian demanded he undress. "Yes sir." Setting the provisions aside, he took the WATER armor off in short time, and had it set against one wall, ready to be rearmed at a moment's notice. Then he was joining the other PA pilots for a moment of relaxation. He sat against the right arm of one sofa, the energy can in hand and the partially eaten bar on his lap.

"What do you think's gonna happen when we get back to the Acadia?"

Click to expand...

"By the Maker again, can't relax, can't you?" Fian sighed. He stared at his empty can and tossed it over his shoulder haphazardly. Feeling bored that nobody bought up any topic of conversation, he took advantage of all the sugar in his brain to think. A solemn realization crossed his mind.

"They could have completely filled the Yui-4 with stolen Power Armors by now, SMoDIN reinforcements could be here any minute. Why are they still sending out Jimmies in suits?"

Viktor was chewing the remnants of the energy bar and mulling over the thought in his mind. Quite honestly, he didn't have a clue. Two options came to the forefront of his thoughts, however: the ship was a decoy or there was a big weapon/assault they were planning to unleash.

The ID-SOL appeared from around a pile of containers with a pair of panzerfausts on one of his large shoulders and a small bag in his other hand with a bomb emblazoned on the side. Clearing himself off a spot on the snack bar he set to work disassembling the warheads on the anti-armor weapons. And unwrapping a two meal bars, one to eat and another to use for a mild adhesive.

Fian watched with mild mixed feelings over Talbain's work. One part fascination over the creative use of the meal bar, the second anxiety that the warheads might just go off in a roomful of explosives. After a while he distanced his mind from this and continued.

"They want the S1 Hrays in the docks. No one pulled a raid of this magnitude before, why settle for just plain Power Armors? A state of the art stealth gunship can escape the security dragnet SMoDIN will use, and would sell for an obscene sum of money on the black market... Or even to Yamatai." The Master Chief sighed. "Do what you need to do. As soon as Rico comes a knocking, we are leaving."

A tech had replaced the damaged chestplate on his AIR-R. There seemed to be more Power Armors in the armory than when they first entered, as the marauding marines bought back packed suits they had found to be prepped by the sizable engineering force they had also freed.

Anselm perked up at Fian's talk of moving out again "you think we'll have time to outfit the PAs to our personal tastes?" the marine was specifically thinking of getting extra missile launchers strapped to an Aggressor, and getting a nastier melee weapon than the vibrosaw that came standard on the new-gen armors, he definately wanted a bigger sword. Not waiting for an answer he snagged a passing tech and made a request for an Aggressor with the following loadout:

-NAM Assault Ordinance Projector AOP-01a with (DR9) super heavy rounds and five extra clips of the same (36 rounds total).

-NAM Light Submachine Pistol LSP-01b (DR5) replacing the NAM VCBS Vibrosaw Knife VCS-03b strapped across the Aggressor's chest with five magazines placed under the skirt armor (1200 rounds total).

-NAM Extended BOLT Rack EBR-01a on both backpack hardpoints (480 BOLT missiles total).

-NAM VBCS Sword-Short VCS-01a (DR6, FIRE/WATER weapon) strapped to the Aggressor's hip hardpoint, replacing the standard NAM Light Submachine Pistol LSP-01b.

The ground rumbled for a moment as a large M4 EARTH1 stomped its way out of the armory, brandishing a huge PPG-powered hammer. The few empty cans discarded by the marines fell off their surfaces and hit the floor with a clang. Fian looked over his shoulder to see Anselm swapping his ruined Hostile for a similarly bulky armor, an M8 Aggressor.

"Well well, if you don't get those new suits, they'll run out soon." He motioned to those still on the sofas.

The tech Anselm gabbed returned with a trolley-full of ammunition requested by the Albino. It was loaded on the cart by powered-arm workers on the other side of the armory. Everything was accounted for except of the AOP rounds, which were the basic HE ones instead of the vaunted Anti-Starship Antimatter rounds. When asked, the tech simply thumbed towards the exiting EARTH1, which turned the corner and disappeared from sight soon after.

"Pfeh." Harrison looked over the men trading in their old armors for the newer, bulkier versions. He looked at them odd before suiting up in the "liberated" FIRE1.

"You guys go ahead and play around with your new toys," Harrison chided, "I'll keep to what I know."

"Hrrrmmm..." Trey muttered, thinking a bit, before getting up and going to the WATER2 he had been piloting, liberating it of it's LBR and walking to a Hostile M8 PA that was racked up nearby. He stowed the HPAR on one of the racks then mounted the LBR on it , Improvising a mount for the weapon's ammunition storage. the former tech sentry got a little happy with his modifications; he attached a second armored case to the arm, which he could simply switch the tube to in the event of running out of ammunition. While it limited his range of motion slightly, and made his right arm a juicy target, he wasn't expecting to be too too close to the combat or needing to be that mobile.

After telling one of the technicians to leave it alone (the man was looking worried about the two antimatter tanks on the arm), Trey returned to the couch, announcing "I got mine"

A speaker near the snack bar tuned to the Station's internal channel crackled to life. The sound quality was below average, but one could hear the sounds of hurried footsteps in the background. An authoritative female voice spoke.

"This is Captain Vera Cabana of the NSS Emden, the pirate Yui-4 laying siege to the dockyards has moved on. My crew and men are staging a breakout to board our S1 Hray and fly it away from enemy hands... Or engage them if possible. Requesting that any available marines near out position assist us in doing so. To the crew of our sister ship the NSS Acadia, I advise that you do not miss out on this opportunity as well. Good luck, Vera out."

Fian tapped the armrest of the sofa in distaste. "Geeze, where are all the men captains? Out own Captain Esther is enough trouble already." He lept out of his seat, refreshed and signalling that he intended to answer the call. "Come on, lets find something to do. Get in your suits!"

Anselm saluted the Master Chief and jumped into his new suit with glee "Ready when you are, Master Chief" he replied, punching a drum into his AOP for effect.

"Ready for service with a smile, Master Chief." Harrison said as he stood up from a corner of the room, already back in his FIRE1.

Trey hopped to, Quickly rushing to the M8 he had modified, but not before muttering a 'Sir!' to Fian. The Sniper suited up quickly, checking to make sure the LBR's Antimatter tanks were secure on the arm of his unit. Satisfied, He formed up behind Harrison , who was back in the FIRE1 Trey had nabbed earlier.

Looking at the other suits, Viktor froze, both surprised and in awe. Slowly, a smile spread across his features and he hopped up from the couch. In no time, he was claiming one of the two M7 VOID Power Armors and requesting a loadout for the FGL: six rounds of HE and EMP, five WP, and 3 Subspace Particle Bursts just in case. Then he swapped out the SBR for a LBR. While the equipment was being fetched, he began to climb in when the suit demanded a password. He caught one of the techies and asked what it was. "Black hole," was the password, and the entry hatch sprung open. He clambered in and hooked up key components of the life support while the hatch closed. By the time he was done, his requested weapons had arrived. He moved toward Trey, getting a feel for the suit. There was obviously more weight, and there was also a lot more power in the suit. Twin UCF-4s could do that, though. It seemed a bit more flexible as well, and Private Kingston greatly appreciated that. He felt at home in the suit already.

He'd been waiting so long to finally get his hands on one of these suits... and now he was about to try it out in combat for the first time. If it weren't for the helmet everyone would have been able to see an almost childish grin on his face. "Ready to go, sir."