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

Ah. SHIT! Fian dived to place an arm between Carina's head and the cold hard deckfloor. The situation shunted his mental capacties to the instictive and subconcious, the temporary loss of long term planning and thinking reinforced by the pain of hitting the floor so aggresively. It took a few moments of lying face-floor before he managed to still his nerves and think.

I can't expect a kid to comprehend a situation like this! Who the hell is in charge of her? I'll kill that bastard! The Vel Steyr ignored the pain in his arm to lift the tyke to eye level. The bruise didn't look life threatening. There were no obvious clues that would help him but she looked somewhat familliar, he looked around the deserted corridoor hoping that someone specific would pop up saying "Awwwright!" in a very specific tone to remind him exacly who she resembled, but he saw no one.

"Damm, everybody's got their own problems. I bet the Captain does too, gotta put you somewhere safe till its all over." A double-sealed door at the end of the corridoor looked secure enough to him, thumbing the escape pod access, he nearly slipped on something inside but managed to place the little girl down gently lying down on the curving bench made for fifteen. As an added security he removed a card shaped device from his pocket and put it into hers. There, safest place on the ship.

Closing the doors, he looked around to make sure nobody was around to see anything before darting down the hallway at top speed, the viewports to his left showing the damaged station. The sooner that mess is resolved, the sooner he could come back to this one.

"I swear, if any of them die right now, I'm going to make sure that their CC data doesn't make it to the cloning tanks. They should have all been here ten minutes ago."

Esther grumbled, tapping her foot impatiently. It was to her understanding that you were briefed on the mission before equipping yourself, though she didn't really know how the average Marine thought, being a civilian captain, and a Naval Corps officer. I guess it's not like it matters at this point. I was going to send them to suit up at the armory anyway, and they've got good instincts.

Fian froze outside the lounge as he heard a familliar voice. Grabbing an ear unit, he turned up the sensitivity to hear Commander Belmonte grumble to herself through the coridoor walls. Quietly he stepped away further down to avoid being overheard himself as he pressed another button to dial Ran Rui's and Adrian's datapads. He then spoke in a soft, but agitated tone.

"Bloody hell, the Commander is waiting for all of us in the lounge, I don't know why. Get everybody together on my position, we'll go in orderly."

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Rico was content to sit in his front-row seat in the lounge, tastefully reclined back in his chair with his feet rested upon the back of the seat in front of him. There were a few soldiers in there with him...but not as much as were in the mess last he saw. 'Day-um' Rico mused to himself. 'guess I ran too fast. Ain't nobody here yet.'

The captain was there, though. Rico flashed her a grin and half-hearted wave from his relaxed position.

Trey also was in the Lounge, his stuff having been in there. He sat down somewhat near Rico and watched as Esther became more and more perturbed.

Harrison sighed. He was holding a combat shotgun, his two revolvers and his service pistol and wearing a light ballistics mesh vest. He scratched his head with a knuckle-gloved hand before placing the shotgun on the rack again and walking back to the briefing room.

He took a seat near the front and rested his chin on a balled fist.

Autumn was sitting on a chair next to Rico, idly twirling her beret on one of her fingers as they waited for the briefing to start. "Feel the excitement in the air, Sarge? I wonder where everybody went?"

Ran pulled the data pad out of his back pocket and read Fian's message. Frowning, the Chief set the device back into his pocket and put the shotgun back on the rack.

"I want everyone in here to stow your weapons away for now. Commander wants us for a briefing and I don't want a squad of armed Marines in front of the CO. We fucking jumped the gun and armed ourselves before we got any orders to."

The Chief lit up a cigarette, and took a nice long drag, burning it halfway down so that he wouldn't be finishing it up when he was in the CO's presence. "Let's get going." At that, he made his way towards the lounge.

"Alright, everyone." Esther sighed happily as the rest of the crew filed in, her initial infuriation vanishing. From the reports she had gotten from the Dust Devil's communications operator, this wasn't going to be easy, and they might not even be able to do much more than hold out until reinforcements arrived from nearby garrisons. "Since we're all here, I'll cover the basics."

"The station has come under siege by a pirate who calls himself 'The Red Hand', or something as stupid. We think he might be a Red sympathizer or remnant officer, who happened to purchase an Ayame-class cruiser. They've disabled communications, propulsion, station defenses and cut life support to certain sections of the station to limit the movements of unarmored personnel.

Normally, this wouldn't be much of an issue, but Starbase Golding was being used exclusively as a shipyard, and hadn't even received its Marine or Naval complement, yet. So it's just us, the station's engineering and command crew and a few unlucky marines that were serving security detail.

There are a few vessels in port when we arrived, but they're locked down and most of their crew were rounded up and are under guard. From what we can tell, the enemy force around the station consists of mixed Generation One NAM and current-issue Red Faction powered armor, with Jimmy Combat Droid auxiliaries.

Just be glad that the station's central network hasn't been destroyed or subverted yet, or I'd be sending you guys in blind. Any questions before I proceed?"

Adrian smirked as the situation was laid down by Esther. The medic raised his hand when she finished. "We get our own armor, right? Also, where's this asshole's ship? It still floating around here waiting to fuck us?"

"That's where things get interesting..." Esther said uncomfortably, relaying the information to the datapads of all the marines present at the briefing. "We only have a handful of armors, but the station's schematics show that there's an armory nearby. So I've decided to have the Master Chief sortie with a squad of his choosing while the remainder of our unit infiltrates the station and breaches the armory."

"At that point, you'll escort me to the Acadia so I can get some heavy Nepleslian firepower on that guy, and launch out to support Vel Steyr's squad.

It's all I got right now, and the rest will have to be decided as the mission progresses."

((I suppose I ought to reply.))

Amelia listened with a neutral expression. Infiltration and stealing the station's own armors? That was interesting. Though if they could make it to the armory, why not just retake the control? Then again, depended on how much resistance they were met with if any. She was one of those that thought that the marines could overcome pretty much anything.

She looked around the room again. She still hardly knew these people. And knowing both how she was and the typical amount of time their job took out of their day, that wasn't likely to change anytime soon. Hopefully this wouldn't affect their cooperation negatively.

Also, 'as the mission progresses?' That wasn't a very reassuring thing to hear. She shrugged it off, not wanting to believe intel could be like it had the previous mission. Surely they learned from their mistakes... right?

Amelia took out a small pill she had been carrying and popped it into her mouth. This was supposedly her medication to keep her from changing personalities mid-mission. Hopefuly that wouldn't happen again either...

"Who will be heading the infiltration squad, ma'am?" Hopefully someone of rank would accompany them. Having just the 'remaining' marines go in just by themselves wouldn't go over too well. Of course, she was sure they already had that in mind. She felt better about being part of said team though. She would hopefully be of more use there...

Viktor smirked, but remained silent. It sounded like something out of a B-rate video; a bunch of Marines coming in to save the station-turned-hostage, overcoming an unusually well trained ragtag bunch of mercenaries, and eliminating a crazed idealist after some drastically drawn out battle. Viktor was just hoping that the raid would be absolutely nothing like those B-rate movies, and more like a quick and efficient surgery. He was also craving the opportunity to get into one of those Power Armors and prove himself a worthy addition to the NSS Acadia's squad.

Pretty ballsy, eh. This pirate. But I'll only really hand it to him if he gets out of this alive.

Fian observed the station's schematics, enemy numbers and positions and then back to their own current assets. With the station's sensor systems still active, it would be so very easy to know and hit them where they are weakest and then pull back when enemy reinforcements arrive, rinse and repeat. But with hostages and the situation still developing, time would be of the essence. If only we had more suits...

"I suppose drawing out and taking out the enemy Power Armors in the area around the armory would be a top piority, as the infiltration team won't be able to deal with half a ton of steel crashing in on them." He deduced. "With the extra suits, taking back the station would be a lot easier."

The Master Cheif's datapad showed 3 WATER2s and 3 DDs (Including one SDD) onboard the Dust Devil. He remembered seeing one of the Dark Demons being nothing more than a pile of junk, effectively limiting his squad size to five. Mentally reserving those he knew and trusted to the more important mission, he picked two who had an impressive record but never fought under him before, one person he could count on and one new guy for the kicks.

"I'll take S1C Harrison, S2C Morris, Trey and S3C Kingston if there are no objections."

After listening to the situation, Trey felt relieved to have been picked for the armor team. Seeing as last time he fought Reds without any armor, they man had lost an arm and come fairly close to death, the Yamataian bodied Nepleslian was glad to have something substantial between him and any enemies. Trey let out a quick "Yes sir" in confirmation of the Vel Steyr's choice, and immediately became more alert, ready for any more information he might need.

Rico was listening intently as Fian calmly announced his crew, not bothering to turn around in his front row seat but instead leaning back, reclining laxly, letting his ears do the work. Of course, he himself expected to be the first pick, no doubt for his renowned skill and solid friendship with the Master Chief...but then, Rico's name wasn't called out first. Or second. Or even fifth. Oh no no no...Fian Vel Steyr had not chosen him at all, and thereby directly denied Rico a headfirst-dive into the action he so deliciously craved.

'. . . THAT LOUSY SONUVA BITCH!!!'

Rico, having nearly lost his balancing act he was performing on his chair after his silent, infuriating outcry, had to restrain himself from standing up, turning around and giving the Master Chief a few shiny new bruises. Rico settled for just standing up, which was abrupt enough to garner a little attention from the noise alone.

"Captain!" Rico said, saluting as he stood. "Volunteerin' to lead the second team to the station's armory!" The fiery anger burning through his veins gave his tone a decisive severity and seriousness...not surprising, as this sudden turn of events was led by one singular purpose.

'Beat Fian Vel Steyr...no matter what!'"

Harrison briefly scratched his chin in thought. He had only once piloted a DD before and never touched a WATER2, so he figured a refresher course was in order. If he was going to deploy into a hostile environment without proper knowledge of the enemy forces, he might as well do it in something he knew how to pilot.

"Master Chief Vel Steyr, I'm ready to serve. I'll provide squad support with the Super Dark Demon."

Viktor grinned and saluted, trying hard not to laugh at Rico's outburst. "No objections here, sir." Finally, he thought, a chance to show what I'm made of. Can't fuck this up. Can NOT fuck this up! He took a deep breath and glanced toward Rico, wondering just what his problem was...

That was the problem with being new: you didn't know how big a stick everyone had stuck up their asses. He tried to distract himself with more important thoughts. Like the Power Armors. "What are our options as far as Power Armors, sir?"

Ran had been hanging in the back of the "briefing room", accumulating a pile of cigarettes next to him. Seeing that the Master Chief had already selected a squad and that Rico had volunteered to lead the infiltrating team, the Chief simply did not pursue the subject of leadership further. Instead, he'd simply make sure of a few things.

"Ma'am, what sorts of infantry weapons to we possess that allow for anti-PA use? There's not enough suits to supply both teams with."

"Master Chief Vel Steyr, I'm ready to serve. I'll provide squad support with the Super Dark Demon."

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"I would suggest you read up on the M2-2 instead, S1C." Fian looked at Harrison with piercing eyes, suggesting that his suggestion isn't something the soldier could choose to decline.

"What are our options as far as Power Armors, sir?"

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"Not much." The Master Chief tapped his datapad, indicating that the information is available from the ship's network. "I hope they taught you how to use enemy armors in basic, S3C." He then turned his head away from the greenhorn to hide his displeasure at his own words. You would be safer in the M2, but I cant afford to spare them right now...

"Volunteerin' to lead the second team to the station's armory!"

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Oh, I know that tone... Fian Vel Steyr had flashbacks to the VR simulator training where him and Rico Sanroma had earned their first extra stripes together on opposite teams. Ahh, do we have to go through all that again? The black haired Nepleslian had a long history with the cassanova and in fact was only recently hurt by Rico, but Fian loved him so much that he would never seek to be in competition with each other. However if push came to shove, he would definitely shove back.

On top of the other probability scenarios he was running in his head relating to the immediate objectives of the mission, he started thinking of Rico's chances... And they were pretty good. The infiltration team had the more skilled and experienced marines including the grizzled Cheif Ran Rui, and when they do make it to the armory, have access to a more varied and advanced selection of Power Armors (Perhaps even including the new AIR-R, both his and Rico's specialty suit!). This is of course IF they aren't prevented from making it to the armory...

...Oh what am I thinking!? You can't take out a personal grudge on a mission! He shook his head to clear the thought.