RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 11.1] The Torchbearers

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

"Roger" Mikael said as he turned the tank in the direction of the site's nav point on the map display in front of him. He then punched the tank to a high enough speed without worrying to much about rolling it over.

"So Inoue-Hei, what do you think of your first combat experience?" he asked over the team's radio channel. He didn't really expect her to have even heard him considering how intense the fighting has been. But he was getting bored sitting in the cockpit by himself and not inflicting any destruction upon the NMX.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Bravo Team - Power Bay

This whole damn situation is degrading rapidly. How is that the NMX can find us constantly, but we can not even detect them until they arrive in system to engage. Now the Task Force is being decimated, and Alpha Team has come under attack. So far, a classic Eucharis mission, though how we will make it out of this. I have no idea. Sune thought to himself as he considered options.

"Bravo Team, you have your orders Deploy. Blueberry, have Pineapple get to the Shuttle and launch. By the time she gets it launched we should hopefully have the situation either in hand, or soon to be."

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

YSS Eucharis

"Wilco, Shoi," Chui Blueberry responded. Pineapple was already in the armor bay and it only took her a moment to get into the Raccoon T7 Transport Shuttle NG-X1-408-10 Telemachus IV. She remotely triggered the opening sequence for the aft launch door.

- - -

Alpha Team

"I think it is obviously the best option to do a tactical withdrawal," Hanako replied to Helen. "I can call for reinforcements but they will not be able to make it for at least a half hour. We will all be dead or at least stranded here by then. So our mission is to grab and go. Unfortunately we lack the resources to rescue the hundreds of escape pods. Their occupants to will have to evade the NMX until a rescue can be mounted."

The Taisa called down to her driver. "Mikael! You are doing a great job. Have you done this before? Put us between the new NMX ground attack and the crash survivors so Bravo team has a chance to rescue them."

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

"Not really ma'am, these controls just remind me of a forklift I used once. Manipulating these tracks doesn't seem to difficult so long as I don't try to overcompensate on this snow." Mikael said in response quickly, being to foucsed on not screwing up.

He located where the two elements mentioned were located. He turned the two joysticks to pivot the tank yet again as he slowed down to turn. He sped up back to the fast crusing speed after completing the turn. He did his best to ensure the tank's base had as much cover and concealment as possible, while still ensuring the turret had clear sectors of fire to lay waste to the NMX forces.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Michael's Hikael sped along with the rest of the convoy, his rifled at the ready position as he retook the point position. So far, this mission had been a clusterf*ck of massive proportions. To make matters worse, in attempting to rescue the few survivors on the planet, they had ended up stranding more people on this planet.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Manabu hit the ground with reasonable grace, considering the pandemonium raging all around them. If he had felt a little out of element before, coming in fresh to the Eucharis, it had all but faded now; these weren't kids playing at war planetside, and Manabu wasn't a boy. He was a trained SAINT operative. Time to act like it.

"Kakita on-ground and in position near the crash site. Engaging." Bringing the LASR to bear, he affected an evasive movement pattern that took him ever closer to the site while he drew a bead on the first NMX "Ripper" to catch his eye and squeezed the trigger.

Then, he moved onto the next, slaver or squid, never firing unless he was sure of his shot, as his Mindy screamed on towards the site.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

"Cease fire on those civilians, Manabu!" Mango yelled. "They are not targets unless they the make themselves targets!"

The two-cooks took cover near the tank and began firing on the Rippers. The Rippers were tough nuts to crack. With nearly three times as much damage-absorbing capability as the Star Army's standard Mindy. It was taking a lot of fire to take each down, especially with Hanako's tank and the tank robot temporarily caught up duking it out with their NMX counterparts.

The battle buggies sped forward, passing Hanako's tank and moving around the slaver camp attempting to run over anyone in sight using the tusks on the front of the vehicles, while taking pot shots with their bubble cannons.

"Grab and go!" Hanako reminded the crew. "Focus on the objective."

From overhead, the Eucharis fired, incinerating the tanks and a couple of the buggies with its AA guns.

More NMX foot soldiers charged into the area, lobbing grenades at Alpha Team's positions.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

"Hai, Mango-Joto Hei," Manabu intoned, whirling about to join the combat-cooks in laying a steady, rhythmic stream of fire on the Rippers and not missing a beat. Instead of joining them in cover behind the tank, he continued on past in his meticulously erratic pattern.

He squeezed off a few more shots and hoped the mild crossfire would provide a little more confusion and damage, drawing enemy fire instead of seeing it concentrated. It was an unwelcome surprise to Manabu to see in practice the Ripper durability. He took great pains to try for weakened areas in structure or joints but generally just landed a shot wherever he could, figuring combined fire from all three would do the job.

"Acknowledged." It was proving fairly difficult to gain much ground, but inches were better than nothing.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Deciding that her efforts on the ground weren't being particularly fruitful thus far, Kumiko took off again, reactivating her camouflage. As soon as she was up out of the fray and had a clear line of sight around the moving combat, she opened fire with her gauss cannon and MSAP missiles, trying to pick her targets as best she could to help the squad as a whole move towards their objective, though she made sure to spare a few missiles for any more heavily armored targets she spotted. She held of with her beam saber for now; utilizing that would make her a more appealing target for the enemy then she cared to be. "Taisa, point out any targets you need me to fire on specifically. I'm airborne again, so I can spot as well." That said, she started charging her teleport pack as well, because she had the feeling that she might need to disappear soon.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

"Get the slaves, Endoh," Hanako grumbled. She didn't want to waste time waiting for more Mishhuvurthyar to arrive.

By now the Eucharis had eliminated all of the NMX ground vehicles and wandered off to attack the lading ship that had dropped them off. That left three Rippers (two were down already) and a scattered group of NMX Nekovalkyrja.

Manabu felt a sharp pain in his right hand. Looking down he could see it was totally mutilated by a railgun shot from one of the Rippers.

The TASHA had run out of machine gun ammo by now and was limping around with one leg burning, firing on the remaining Rippers with the aether gatling gun.

"As soon as the landing ship is disabled, land Eucharis so we can drive aboard," said Hanako.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Alpha Team

Takeyu spun around and brought his Ke-M2-W2909-RGL 50mm Rapid Grenade Launcher to bear on the approuching NMX soldiers, he waited for a few moments for his drone to send him the details he needed, then started rapid firing grenades at the soldiers.

He didn't wait to see whether those rounds did anything, he switched back to his rifle and began to lay down some fire on the enemy soldiers.

Crashsite

"Hold still," said the Yamataian boy as he ripped a part of his shirt and made a crude torqucete for her shoulder. Though she had now stopped bleeding, probably thanks to how cold it was, it didn't make her feel any better.

She and the boy had moved themselves behind some ship debris, which was actually a part of the armor plating that covered the ships stern - the least defended area. Those slaves that weren't being used as shields were now huddled behind anything they could find, be it a rock, debris, or even the food chest which had taken some hits just moments ago.

"Hey boss! We have one of them coming at us!" shouted the sniper slaver over his radio as he watched what appeared to be an approuching PA.

"NMX or Yammy?" asked the boss.

The sniper changed the resolution on his scope and got a better look. "Yammy from the looks of things, can't tell much else, want me to give them a surprise?" he asked.

"Not yet, besides, I'm more worried about the NMX, who would you rather be in jail for. NMX or Yammy?" the boss asked him.

The sniper glanced away from his scope, that was a pretty easy question to answer. "Yammy in this case, I've heard to many gruesome things about NMX captives. At least in Yammy hands we might get to live in some capacity," with that he sighed. "Fine, I'll focus on NMX targets, however, if they fire on us I am shooting," he peered back down his scope and looked for NMX to shoot.

"Fair enough," said the slaver boss. He didn't particually like the Yamataians, but he did perscribe to the old notion of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' but that didn't mean he was going to let 'all' of the slaves live.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Mikael pivoted the tank from its stopped position to expose the front of the tank to incoming fire. One part to shield any more survivors if they had to enter the tank. He also did it to keep the passengers safe since the front had the most armor and all of the equipment in the cockpit plus himself would stop any fragments from the armor.

At least that was what he knew about most tank designs. He didn't really browse deeply in the tech manual in that section when he downloaded it.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Pineapple's shuttle touched down a little roughly with a thud and she opened the rear door and ran through the seat-filled rear compartment and around the corner of the shuttle and started yelling at the slavers and slaves. "Drop your guns and get in!"

Between the tank fire, the TASHA aether spray, and the armor team's aimed shots, the last three Rippers were quickly pummeled with holes and explosions and were stopped in their tracks, falling to the ground lifelessly. The NMX infantry soldiers remaining began an orderly retreat, knowing they were beat. On their way to cover, one of them dropped a container.

From this container, small but very fast armored slug-like creatures emerged and took off flying through the air at the slaves and slavers.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Manabu was making progress, so to speak, but it seemed as if the battle was finally winding down. He continued to direct fire on the remaining NMX forces, though there was an uncomfortable niggle in the back of his head, wondering after the slavers at his flank. Still, so long as they were all shooting at the same thing --

An eruption of pain burst from his right hand, nearly stopping Manabu in his tracks and out of cover. Biting almost through his bottom lip he whirled on a dime and threw himself behind some debris before taking a moment to consider his wound.

Well, his right hand - at the moment, hardly worthy of the name - wasn't in superb condition, to say the least. Manabu took a deep breath, and began to survey the field:

Slavers and slaves alike, dropping weapons and rushing for the shuttle...

NMX infantry, orderly rout, fleeing the field, dropping some container...

Soaring, speeding slugs and they didn't seem particularly friendly. Heading for the fleeing civvies didn't do them any favors.

"This is Kakita-hei - right hand is disabled, intercepting creatures." Time wasn't exactly of the essence, and didn't leave him much time to consider whether or not they could penetrate the Mindy as he hurried to interpose himself between the two groups. And as much as it sickened him to do so, he hefted the LASR in his left hand and hoped he didn't have to wield it like a club. But those parasites were fast and there wasn't much choice.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Zip! The creatures went past Manabu at highway speed, slamming into some of the civilians with a painful smack, causing a lot of panicked screaming as the things burrowed into their victim's bodies.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Kumiko decided that at this point, she felt the slaves and slavers were moving more then a bit too slowly for her tastes. The ground forces may have been eliminated, but they still had a rather immediate problem looming in the skies above, and that was a problem she couldn't do much about. That in mind, she teleported herself down among the slaves (avoiding the one the creature had hit, since she wasn't sure what that creature was) and got a hold on as many as she could, teleporting straight to the shuttle doors before releasing them, and starting to move back towards the remaining slaves. "Taisa, something hit some of the slaves. Should we bring them anyways?"

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Most of the the slaves and slavers were knocked off their feet by the defeaning and searing hot blast of the teleportation and fell to the ground with bright pink burns or blinded eyes, making them somewhat easier to scoop up.

"We can treat them, but mark the infected ones if possible. We will need to scan them all when they are on the ship," Hanako replied.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Crashsite

"Let's go," said the Yamataian boy as he helped the injured girl up. They moved slowly toward the shuttle, even when he had seen a flash off to his right and noticed a power armor appear, scooped up some slaves, and then disappeared. They were close to the shuttle, but still a good distance away.

When the bugs had appeared, he was thankful they either didn't notice them or were more concerned about the 'heartier' slaves than two kids. The slaves who were hit were terrified, screaming in agony, some even wanted to be shot - not wanting to succumb to whatever fate may await them.

Still, those who hadn't been hit and weren't blinded by the power armor teleporting in, started moving at a quicker pace toward the shuttle. The slaves who hadn't dropped their weapons, being those furthest away from the shuttle, did so when they saw the bugs and started moving at a much quicker pace toward the shuttle.

The slaver boss boarded the shuttle, and rolled his eyes as he looked over at the pilot. "No idea why you're bothering to rescue the merchandise, it's not like they are worth anything anymore," he said in reference to the slaves. He then made himself comfortable, not having a care in the world for the slaves.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Anyone else might have been dismayed with proving so ineffective. Manabu wasn't necessarily pleased, either, but every mistake or misfire found itself filed away as information to be recalled, information to collate and hone as a sword in the future.

New order of business: ensure such a future, and not die ignobly planetside your first day on the Eucharis.

The creatures thankfully seemed to ignore Manabu; perhaps they had some level of intelligence, or at least the primitive drive to hit the soft and easy targets. Manabu spun and saw the last few howling victims drop while the lucky ones rushed for the shuttle.

Manabu glanced back, the aching in his right hand turning to numbness little by little. The container that, well, contained the creatures looked to be only one of it's kind, and seemed emptied. Nothing else looked to be stirring...

"Contact! Two slaves, children. Retrieving and delivering to the shuttle." With a burst of speed, Manabu pushed the Mindy as fast as safely possible towards the two child slaves before coming to a stop at their back and dropping to a knee. "Hi. You'll forgive my taking any liberties with you --," and trying to lift them with his arms, held them much as one might hold a breadbasket before hurtling towards the shuttle.

Re: [Mission 11] The Torchbearers

Yaichiro made a choice after keeping an eye on the sensor readings of the site, deploying without Sune and launching his NSDs. Things were changing too quickly on the battlefield, and though he was supposed to launch with Sune, the current plan was a complete bust.

"No more time to talk, Sune-Shoi, and the plan is no longer viable given the situation. Looks like we'll have to wing it. I'm covering the shuttle. Maybe the Mindy 2As can use stealth and teleportation modules to help get the ones that can't make it to the shuttle."

With a greater familiarity with the NSDs than before, Yaichiro started to take down parasites when possible -- focusing his efforts on keeping parasites out of the open rear of the shuttle. He kept his Power Armor's sensors tied to those of the Eucharis; so as to better detect hostiles to take out with his other weapons should they get too close, as well as to better gauge speed for his firing solutions. He also kept an eye open for anything looking like the Rikei's SS Pod on Eucharis' sensors.