RP: NSS Acadia [Mission 1, Briefing] The Dust Devil Cometh

As the voices and conversations echoed through the transport ship’s cafeteria, a lone figure silently slid across the walls. Rico’s initial search of the mess for his lovely captain turned up fruitless, and was only confirmed further as he heard her voice ring out through the Dust Devil’s loudspeakers. ’Aw shit…I must’ve jus’ missed her. An’ I bet she’ll be in the bridge for a while, too,’ the Nepleslian thought to himself as he pressed his back against the wall.

Although he saw a few familiar faces, none of them immediately jumped out at him. Granted, Rico wasn’t trying very hard to find his old acquaintances; he figured he would eventually return to being their fearless leader soon enough once they reached the NSS Acadia. After a more thorough inspection, however, Rico did spy a pretty face in the crowd…and he sure was a sucker for pretty faces. Especially one’s he already knew. The suave Nepleslian took a brief moment to make himself more ‘presentable’, before dodging his way through the crowd toward Autumn Wilde and her new acquaintance.

When Rico had made his way behind her, he paused for a moment and tried to think of the best way to reintroduce himself. Truth be told, the last time he remembered seeing Autumn…or for that matter, any of the old gang, was back on their last shore leave in Los Apagos. Rico needed a special introduction to break that kind of ice. A few moments of silent pondering later, a slick little grin played across Rico’s thin face.

“…AtteeenTION, soldier!” Rico proclaimed loudly behind Autumn.

Autumn jumped in a clumsy motion up from her seat and stood in the trained position of attention, her posture straight and her eyes looking forward. The voice sounded familiar but she was stuck waiting until the man announced himself. The Geshrin armorer mentally ran through the list of her male superior officers that might've fit the tone and tenor of voice but she couldn't immediately place the right one. She also speculated that it might've been one of the new officers or senior NCOs from the Acadia that she hadn't met yet.

Rico raised his chin a bit, almost silently daring to her (or perhaps just to himself, seeing as Autumn couldn’t very well see him) to break standard Nepleslian rank. Of course, she didn’t. Rico’s smile quickly mounded into a stern expression. “About face, soldier.”

She went through the motion, turning around to see a familiar blur of a male face. She didn't focus on it just yet, she just found the whole thing odd. Geesh, just who the heck calls one person to attention? Did I do something wrong? Damn, I just got here... She thought to herself as she waited.

When Autumn finally spun around, Rico did his best to look as serious as possible. He found it very difficult; it wasn’t often that he got to enjoy the benefits of his rank in a more light-hearted manner. The Nepleslia marine found that it was, indeed, futile to keep a straight face; his posture slouched slightly and that telltale sly smirk crept back onto his face as he gave the armorer a short laugh. “Awww, ya didn’ have to get up for lil’ ol’ me, sweet heart!”

Autumn's expression brightened as she got a chance to see and recognize the Marine's face. "Sergeant Sanroma!" Her posture immediately relaxed as she gave Rico a hug. "Long time, no see, Babe! How the hell have ya been?"

’Oooh, hey, still on a huggin’ basis. Can’t complain, can’t complain,’ Rico mused to himself as he patted her on the back. “Hey hey sugar, let’s have a seat an’ we can talk all about it. That is…” Rico said, wrapping a friendly arm around Autumns shoulder. He shot Viktor, the lone marine he spotted chatting with Autumn earlier, a wide grin. “…if yer new buddy here don’t mind me buttin’ in to talk to an’ ol’ friend for a minute. Think he will, gorgeous?”

"I dunno, should be all right with it, he was just asking about the old gang from the Alliance and the Nerkat," Autumn replied with a friendly smile to Viktor before she looked back to Rico. "You been staying out of trouble, Rico?"

Rico took Autumn’s answer for a definitive ‘yes’ and proceeded to have a seat at the mess table next to Autumn. “Me? Trouble? Aww, you know me, sweetheart! Lil’ ‘trouble’ every once in a while never hurts, huh?” The Nepleslian joked. “Nah, after the Kennewes shit settled down I got assigned to some patrol ships out in the Expanse. I had Gran under me for a while, but he’s stickin’ back there while I got assigned here again.”

Autumn continued to smile as she pulled her chair back to the table and sat down again. "I was wondering what happened to you and Gran. Was the Expanse duty any fun or did ya just miss the old fashioned bump and grind of being on the frontline?"

Viktor got a chuckle out of watching Rico run Autumn through a snap-time drill only to be turned face to face with an old friend; it almost made him jealous, realizing that he didn't have any friends like that, which was when he reminded himself that friends died when they joined the military. Either way, it was ugly. Viktor had actually been just about to say that he didn't mind, but Rico's forceful personality seemed to believe that Autumn's answer was good enough; the fresh marine sat back, folded his arms over his chest, and just listened. He was content to listen, partly because Rico and Autumn were two very interesting characters, and partly because he had nothing better to do nor knew anyone else. Just faces.

As the NSS Dust Devil emerged back into realspace, just inside of communications range with Golding, sensors immediately revealed something wasn't quite right. The station's defenses were neither inactive, nor powered up, replaced by small specks of radioactive slag dotting the massive starbase. Their communicatons relay was also crippled, and and many other subsystems that should have otherwise been active had been taken down.

"Uh... sir. We're not getting a clearance signal from the station, and we're detecting high level radiation pockets on the surface. Are things supposed to be like this?"

"Someone used nuclear warheads against a SMODIN installation. You do the math, son." Captain Reynolds barked at his sensors operator. "Take us in. We'll tell Esther to get her people ready."

"Aye aye, Captain."

This better be some asshole bridge operator accidentally spilling coffee on his workstation, because this does not look good if someone actually managed to crack into a SMODIN space station. He thought to himself for a moment. "Put us on high alert. Get our shields online, and keep trying to hail Golding. I want us docking on that station in less than 5, and there's no way I'm going to let the Dust Devil get her shiny metal aft nuked."

Get your men together. Something's up with the station and I want all available hands on combat status.
-Capt. M.R.

Click to expand...

"All hand on High Alert. We are entering a potentially hostile area."

----

Esther received a notice on her datapad, and noticed the warning coming in on the intercom. What the hell was happening? There was no way that a fully armed and fortified SMODIN space station would be a hostile zone unless... it had been taken over by the enemy? But even that was laudable. Starbase Golding itself probably had at least a thousand people crewing it, at the very least, and enough weaponry to take a small fleet down.

Still, it wasn't like she was going to let her marines sit on their hands all day. She stood up from her seat in the mess hall, and glanced at the crewmen in the room. "Alright, everyone. We're docking with Starbase Golding, but there appears to be something wrong on board. If we are able to determine that there is an actual enemy, you'll all be immediately briefed and suited up so you can do what marines do best."

At the same time, she sent out an audio recording of what she had said in the lounge to all the marines that had were around the ship, just in case.

"Oh fuck." Harrison said, suddenly on high alert. Every nerve in his body became acutely aware of everything around him as he sprinted to his bunk and began strapping on weapons and gear.

Autumn was surprised by Belmonte's announcement. She seemed rather pleased with the prospects of some action, no matter what the source. "I guess this means that we're going to be getting some new dance partners soon, I just hope they don't have any of those PAs with those claws again. On the bright side, we don't have to worry about sharks this time around if they do, right, Sarge?"

"What the fuck." Ran practically threw his coffee mug onto the table, causing a loud "CLANK" as it hit. "I bet they had a whole giant fucking contingent of fucking Caretakers on board, and their collective fucking bitching probably drove all the Marines on board insane." Ran stood back up, taking his beret out of his back pocket and placing it back on his head.

Pausing for a bit, he took one last sip of the coffee, looking directly at Fian while doing so. Ran placed the mug right back on the table and headed off to the cargo bay to get his pistol and ammunition. "So how is officership treating you?"

Trey Listened to the announcement, dumping the Tray on a table and exiting the room to go find his bag. The habit of not keeping his sidearm with him unless he was on duty suddenly seemed like a bad one, but he figured that he had enough time to go and grab it, which he did, quickly looping the belt around his waist then making sure the Firearm was in prime condition.

Fian was back sitting opposite Ran having no intention of touching the new food from the bad experience of the old food and the current state of alert. After tilting his head to the side to avoid the ricocheting cup, He got up to follow the Chief. "Pretty fucked up." He swore for the first time since boarding the vessel, a monumental occasion that the other marines had passed a long time ago while they were still on the ground. "It is more 'Office' than 'Officership'. Its so fucked up I swear I'll earn the rest of my ranks being a boot on the ground."

As they entered the cargo bay, the Master Chief glanced at the corner where the transport's own Power Armor were parked. After a brief silence he shook his head. "I hope the Turrets on this boat are better mantained. Lets get back on the Acadia quickly."

Adrian had been somewhat busy performing an impromptu biopsy of one of the more horrific bits of food on his plate when the Captain's message came through the intercom. A look of divinely-inspired happiness came to his face.

"Oh boy! We get to kill people! Hurray!"

The marine jumped up from the table and ran after his two earlier tablemates. "You hear that? We get to kill people!"

"Unless they are already dead, man. Then in that case you'll have a lot of work to do." Fian pulled out a Close Quarter Weapon (CQW) from a weapon's rack and started loading armor-piercing slugs into the shotgun, not that he didn't have a sidearm, but he wouldn't count on his ESG to fend off anything but an unarmed mugger.

He looked around at the other people arming themselves in the bay. As a superior officer he thought that this would be an appopriate moment to remind the men under him to take extra precaution, but unfortunately details concerning the situation has been insufficient thus the Master Cheif himself was unsure what to take extra precation against.

Nevermind. Take care of the soldier and the battle will take care of itself.

Adrian stopped and glared at Fian. "You don't have to rain on everyone's parade yet." The medic headed to the weapon racks and grabbed a GSAR. He shouldered the weapon, aiming at a wall, and looked down the reflex sight. He nodded with satisfaction, and slung the weapon as he grabbed a couple extra magazines of ammo.

To be on the safe side, he grabbed a knife to tuck down the side of his boot and turned to Ran. "Alright, I'm set to go. When do we head out, sir?"

Rico's expression beamed with devilish glee upon hearing the announcement. Truth be told, he had not seen live combat ever since the Kennewes Offensive ended months ago...and he was hankering for a good firefight. Just the very thought got his Nepleslian blood boiling back into gear.

"Hot damn!" Rico said, slapping his knee with a laugh before turning back to Autumn and Viktor. "Looks like we'll be havin' some fun after all! Let's hit the lounge for the brief, I wanna shoot some shit up! HAH!"

Rico jumped up from his seat and bolted for the door, one of the first ones there. In another moment, he was sprinting down hallways and around corners, the old spark in his Nepleslian spirit that craves a good fight bursting with excitement. As he reached the lounge and took a seat, Rico couldn't help but feel as though he had forgot something.

But that nonsense quickly sunk away behind his anticipation. It would be great getting back into combat, or better yet, getting back into combat with his impressive skills and subsequently receiving a big fat promotion.

"Let's get going then." Autumn nodded and more calmly jogged after Rico and the cluster of Marines that were hurrying out of the mess hall... well, the ones not rushing towards the ship's head anyways.

When the announcement came over the intercom, Viktor smirked. There had never been a better way to break a silence or an awkward moment than to announce a high alert. He was excited to get on the field with this group and see just how they operated. He was just a couple steps behind Rico and Autumn, hoping that he'd have a chance to climb in a Power Armor; after all, that was what had initially sparked his interest in the military. He enjoyed a straight man-to-man conflict, but he found much more pleasure in commanding a PA. Entering the lounge, he lingered near the wall and folded his arms over his chest, awaiting eagerly for the CO to start talking about the assault. He was still smirking about the idea of getting back on the battlefield.

"Later..." Henry mumbled to himself.

Then came the announcement. Hostile areas? Potentially hostile areas? High alert? All of it was music to Henry's ears after his shoreleave misadventure.
Fortunately, he was already wearing his uniform and suited up for combat. He was itchy for it. He felt like going and venting some foreheads to ease the stress.

Maybe it'd loosen his lips and get his confidence back together. Hopefully.

"High Alert? All hands?"

These ment nothing to the little girl... Truth be told, the change in atmosphere made her a little scared... But, she was soon left alone, having stayed right where Rico had said to stay put. Her stomach growled, and she made a small sound. Oh...how he had forgotten about getting her food...

"Hey, Henry, glad you showed up." Harrison said as he stepped out of a corner of the room.

"Toss me a shotgun, would you please?"

Upon grabbing a pistol and two magazines of ammunition, the Chief immediately racked the slide back on it, making a hasty check for any sort of fouling up of the inner workings of the firearm. Holding the hammer as he pulled the trigger, he holstered the pistol, placing each magazine into his front pockets. Can't have two magazines clanking together in his pockets to announce his arrival.

"We get to kill people as soon as the CO says so." He said flatly, pulling a CQW from the weapons rack and took three magazines filled with regular shells, doing the same thing with said magazines as the pistol magazines, placing each one in each of his cargo pockets and keeping one in his hand to load into the shotgun when ready.

"We should probably wait here until the CO tells us what's up. Then at least we're not in the briefing room looking like armed jackasses when she declares it's just a false alarm."

But there was one armed jackass heading to the briefing room. Fian Vel Steyr thought that he should leave Chief Ran to handle marines, him on the other hand would handle the CO, informing her of the capabilities of the men and reccomending the footsoldier solution to her problems if need be. Besides, he would prefer to be in the know as the situation develops, it gave him a little more time to think.

He noticed a stationary but moving shadow around the corner just off the main hallway though. Most of the marines are supposed to be in the cargo bay stocking up, and this being a state of alert, the other members of the crew would have their own positions to take. He would hate to think that the 'base' (A very important tactical position in his mind) is already compromised by a hostile force or saboteur even before the battle started. Because of this, he didnt go as far as to draw his gun but merely walk silently before getting a clear view of the subject at hand.

But the black haired Nepleslian was surprised anyway. Saboteurs were 'been there. done that' but little girls on a military ship during a state of alert unattended, unsecured and unauthorised was another thing. While he had nothing against underaged members of the opposite sex, he raised his voice and emphasized every word sternly to illustrate the poo-poo she was in together with the future potential problems she would cause him. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here!?"

Carina had been trying to stay out of everyone's way, they seemed fairly busy, and the looks on their faces told her it was serious whatever it was... The girl had been looking for a place to remain out of everyone's way, a place to hide, somewhere safe... at hearing the loud voice, she shrieked, having been startled. Being in mid-stride she lept up in the air, and banged her head on a nearby bulkhead as she turned her head to see the person behind the voice.

The girl's eyes rolled up into her head, and she swooned, her head lolling a moment before she teetered and fell like a sack of potatoes to the deck, knocked out, and now with a big welt on her head.