RP Mission 14: Walk In, Kick Ass, and Refuse to Elaborate

[Wes]

RP Date

YE 46.4

RP Location

Scorpio Star Fortress

YE 46.4

A few days after returning the Kikyo Sector, the YSS Resurgence was headed to the traditional "North" of the Kikyo Sector to an obscure Star Army base mostly run by the Star Army Research Administration. Known as Scorpio Star Fortress, it was the first of the Zodiac-class Star Fortresses and built in YE 27, meaning it would be 20 years old next year. Instead of docking at one of the usual docking stations on the docking arms, the Resurgence came to rest in one of the starship production areas where it would be upgraded with new features.

The crew gathered in the cargo bay for a brief address by Captain Aoba.

"Good morning, everyone. We are making a stop here at Scorpio to get a new teleportation unit installed that will allow us to travel from place to place without always needing to use a shuttle craft or a teleportation module, reducing the possibility to the Mishhuvurthyar capturing our means of movement. The module will be installed in the aft area of the ship that was reserved for future expansion. It's one of two prototypes to be installed. One will be from Ketsurui Fleet Yards, and the other from Apollo Corporation. We're going to be able to test it out soon. In the meantime, you can briefly explore Scorpio or stay and wait for Taisa Kessaku-Sakai Yuuko to arrive and brief us on the functionality of the teleporter device. Any questions?

"Do we have any idea if the Mishhu can detect teleportation patterns? They do have advanced tech and if I assume correctly, they may have something that may be able to disrupt teleportation." Yoshiro said.

"Unknown," Aoba said. "I will leave that question for the expert."

Kokoro bobbed up and down on a random crate she had managed to sit down on, before the Nekovalkrja's hand shot up, spurting out her question. She seemed rather excited to have some new experimental tech being installed. "Will we be recieving info or training on how to maintain and repair these new teleportation systems once they're installed?" Kokoro grinned, tapping her dangling legs against the crate.

Cheilith stood with the other soldiers. She enjoyed teleportation, as it allowed her to get to the battlefield quickly, so new innovations could be good.

Yayoi crossed her arms in quiet contemplative thought as she listened to her captain's words. A large part of her wanted to explore, but another part didnt want to be late getting back on the ship. But she found herself too late in making a decision as people approached.

After a while, the experts from SARA and Apollo arrived in the cargo bay to talk about the new technology.

The SARA expert was a busty, purple-haired Nekovalkyrja captain named Kessaku-Sakai Yuuko, who was an adopted member of the Kessaku family, mainly known for Anri, the Star Army's head of Technology, and Irim, the Star Army's head of killing, I mean the head of the First Fleet and former Mistress Taisho.

The Apollo expert was a Venis Separa'Shan named Vaitsa Balanophis, unlike some more familiar Separa'Shan she had scales all the way up her body and had a very snake like head. She mostly brown with a pattern of dark diamonds on her back. While she was here as a civilian, she had served in the army before going into the private sector for Apollo.

Yoshiro bowed resepctfully to the experts and to the head of the First Fleet.. He was surprised that people of their stature were here.

Yayoi much like Yoshiro had also bowed with respect to the experts.

Kokoro hopped off of her crate as she bowed in unison with the other resurgence crewmembers. She glanced towards Irim, swallowing a little visibly. Scary...

"Hello, crew of the Resurgence," Yuuko greeted them. "I have heard a lot about you and we're pleased to start introducing these new systems to your ship. Since we are still testing them, we're going to try two different models at the same time and collect feedback on both. We'll start with the KFY Ke-S3-P4600. The 4600 is a teleporter pad originally designed for intraship or inter-ship travel. It works by transforming objects and people into phased energy and casting it to the desired location where they re-materialize, which can be done by wire or wirelessly. The first big use case was quickly moving people around the YSS Battle of Yamatai, since it's enormous, but we then added the capability to do site to site teleportation. Essentially the range is limited to wherever you would normally be able to teleport to within about 5 AU or 750 million kilometers, it you can aim it. Teleportation is fast, relatively quiet, and more or less safe." Yuuko flashed a fanged smile. "There is just a little issue with finding targets..."

"Are we aware of any tech that the Mishhu have that could possibly that jam or disrupt our teleportation signals and do we have any countermeasures for that?" Yoshiro asked

"Yes, the Ke-S3-P4600 cannot teleport through intense gravity fields like those used in ship shields or in the vicinity of black holes or extreme disruptions to subspace or hyperspace. It can cause the teleporter to fail at calculating trajectories so we have placed automatic safeguards to keep you from killing yourself if you try."

"As long it works when I need it to, it will be fine for me. As long I get to do the job of killing Mishhu and protecting everyone I can from them I am glad to have and test this tech." Yoshiro said with a smile.

Yayoi listened as the expert spoke of the capabilities of the teleportation device they were going to test. When a shrill familiar voice spoke beside her announcing the presence of a certain Medic trainee. "wowee! that so cool! so while on our ship, we could visit another ship or even a planet, or gravity would be too much?" Yuri asked with wide interested eyes.

"Yeah!" Kokoro grinned at Yuri from her spot in attention. "I'm still wondering.. will we be getting training on how to maintain and fix the new systems up in case of damage? Id love to see how it all works!" The neko repeated her previous question, buzzing still.

"Yes," Yuuko told Kokoro. "Additionally, to solve the teleporter aiming issue, KFY has designed man-portable teleporter receivers that away teams can carry and set up for continuous operation, meaning an engineer will place a teleporter pad and it will act as a doorway to another pad. A big difference is," Yuuko said, "The KFY unit consists of multiple individual teleporters designed for personnel, whereas the Apollo unit is a large chamber that allows the transport of larger objects. I will let the associate from Apollo explain," Yuuko said.

"Thank you, Yuuko. The Teleportation Chamber is very similar to Ke-S3-P4600 in many of its capabilities. It has a similar range, but a different philosophy. The idea is to move units or large pieces of equipment in one jump rather than multiple individual jumps. However, due to the large energy requirements, it has a similar displacement profile to currently existing teleportation technology. That can so solved by using a pod within the chamber if un-shielded personnel need to be transported. It also allows for a team to have a pre-charged teleportation unit with them, to instantly pull out of a dangerous situation if needed." Vaitsa explained.

"The small scale of the KFY model allows it to be used more discretely, and in regular clothing," Yuuko said. "So it might be good for stealth missions. The Apollo unit may be much for useful for heavy hitting missions where you need to bring a lot of firepower and gear, or a vehicle."

Up above the crew, the two teleporters were being lowered into the ship as premade assemblies, after the "roof" of that part of the ship's armor and framing was temporarily removed. Once they were hooked up, they were ready to test out!

Yuuko set up one of the remote pads near Yayoi and Kokoro. "So...we have here one of the prototype remote teleporter pads. It's not a complete system on its own, but it has a unique locator feature the ship's system can use. If you step on this you'll vanish in a flash and reappear on the ship in the teleporter area next to the KFY and Apollo teleporter alcoves." A teal glow began to emerge from the pad and there were volumetric rings moving inward to the base to show it was an "in" and not an "out."

Yoshiro watched as they tested the teleporters. He was amazed at how everything seemed so simple yet complicated

Yayoi glanced to the remote teleporter pads placed near her, and moved herself forward, though she held a hand indicating Yuri shouldn't follow her as she stepped onto the pad, then saw the bright flash and a sudden change in location as she was teleported on the ship.

Yuri watched as her brave mother disappeared as she stood there.

In the KFY teleporter room there were two active pads, an "in" pad where Yayoi appeared, and an "out" one to another remove pad in the cargo bay.

"By the way don't stand on the pad when someone is coming in," Yuuko warned the crew. "It would be bad."

Yayoi silently examined her body as she stepped out of the "in" pad.

"Allright, everyone else we are going to take the Teleportation Chamber". The teleportation chamber opened to a large room with more than enough room for a team or two depending on how close people were willing to stand.

"Do you need to be in power armor to use the Apollo chamber?" Aoba asked Vaitsa, following her through the KFY teleporter up to the telepoter deck and into the nearby Apollo chamber.

"Yes, but notice the interior pod. It allows people to be teleported safely in much the same way that your armor allows you to be teleported safely." Vaitsa said pointing out a thin gap and two doors, one for the teleportation chamber and one for the pod.

Pidole looked at Kokoro. "I am thinking we can install the small teleporter pads in shuttles, one in, one out," she suggested. "Maybe we can also put them as rolling carts that can be sent through the Apollo to become field bases."

Kokoro's eyes were darting between the two teleporter pads as Pidole spoke, her head nodding along. "A teleporter inside a teleporter! Thats a little funny to think about" She chuckled. "The big apollo one is gonna be very useful for setting stuff up quickly, we wont need to rely on the shuttles that much!" The neko blinked, glancing back to the parked Beryl's of Fun nearby. "Not that shuttles are bad- you know what I mean-"

Yoshiro was amazed at the tech but truth be told it was beyond his comprehension. He was a soldier after all and not a engineer like Kokoro and the experts there. He was trained to blow stuff up and kill things. That is what he understood but to be able to do his job efficiently and without being detected sounded great to him

Aoba said out loud and via wireless so everyone heard him: "I am planning to immediately take us on a mission to put these to use, so get ready for a fight after we're done here," he told them with a hint of a grin. The element of surprise was a wonderful thing for a warrior.

Yoshiro smiled. "Oh yeah. It's about time we put these teleporters to the test. The Mishhu won't even know what hit them." he said with a grin. "Time for the noobs to get wrecked, Star Army style."

"Imagine how we can teleport ammo drops to away teams now," Cassie grinned. "It will be like power ups in a video game!"

"or medical aid?" Yuri asked Cassie with a smile on her face.

Cassie laughed. "You could set it up to teleport straight into the medical lab?" she shrugged. "The Poppyporter?"

Yuri giggled at Cassie's words, specifically The Poppyporter amused her. "yeah that works!" Yuri said as her mother joins her again.

"Sounds good to me. The Poppyporter, for quick medievac and teleporting aid to soldiers in the field." Yoshiro said with a smile.

"Good luck out there, and I hope you'll find these new options useful in the field," Yuuko said. "SARA, KFY, and the best of the Star Army Military Industrial Complex will be working hard to keep the improvements coming. I've sent the complete manuals to all the ship's technicians. Keep in mind they're classified."

"Arigatou!" Kokoro gave the representatives a salute, trying her best to hold back a grin. She couldn't wait to get back to engineering and absolutely gush over the documentation they were being provided for the new equipment...

Once the ship's framing and armor was back on her after section, and Pidole gave it the all clear, the ship was ready to head out. Everyone loaded up on the Resurgence and they were back out in space in less than an hour.

As they traveled the armor team began to suit up for the next adventure...

= = =
OOC: JP by Wes, Charaa, Liza, Yoshiro, Ametheliana, Yuuki, Soban

 

[Wes]

YSS Resurgence - Wardroom

Aoba gathered his crew at lunch time in the wardroom for the briefing for the next mission. "I apologize for the high optempo of sending you to dangerous missions over and over, but we must not relent on the Mishhuvurthyar. Every moment is a chance for them to build more ships, raise more troops, and claim more spoils in their quest for galactic domination," the Resurgence's captain told them.

"In the Concordia Sector," he continued, "the intelligence we gained from previous missions has led SAINT to the location of an active NMX forward base in range of Concordia Station. Star Army command wants to capture it to expand our foothold in the new sector. The base is heavily defended and the fleet doesn't want to approach until its defenses are softened up. You know where this is going. An experienced, elite team--that is us--has to infiltrate and shut down their planetary defense systems so the fleet can send in the Rikugun. Our new teleporters will be perfect from making a surprise entrance. We expect an enormous amount of planetary forces so time and the element of surprise is a major factor...

 

[Yoshiro Tanaka]

"How long is this mission expected to be? Do we have any Intel on enemy resistance against us?" Yoshiro asked. "I do not want to go in without knowing at least I have an answer to one of those questions."

 

[Wes]

"Acknowledged, Yoshiro," Aoba replied, "The mission is expected to be swift and precise, aimed at disabling the planetary defense systems quickly to pave the way for the fleet's advance. As for enemy resistance, we have gathered Intel on significant planetary defenses and troop numbers of approximately ten thousand, ear equipped with armor roughly equivalent to a DAISY M6, plus Rippers, tanks, spider tanks, and other assets, indicating a formidable challenge. However, the element of surprise and the strategic use of our new teleportation technology will be key in our approach. We'll adapt as needed based on real-time information during the mission. Remember the suitability onion: If you can't be seen, you can't be targeted. If you can't be targeted, you can't be shot at. If you can't be shot at, you can't be harmed, and if you can't be harmed, you can't be killed. If you are spotted what we can do is teleport you to a new location where you can start over."

 

[Wes]

MISSION 14

YE 46.4
YSS Resurgence Wardroom

"In order to do this, SAINT has identified a few key targets to hit, each of which could significantly weaken their defenses," Aoba continued. "If you can eliminate the power plant or its substation, the actual shield projector, or the computer that controls the anti-ship gun array, that would make a big difference. I've prepared packs of explosives for the former and a special AI that can take over the computer for the latter."

"I'll take a pack of explosives. Even if we can't get the AI in the computer, destroying it could work just as well." Cheilith volunteered.

"Yes, but we suspect if the AI is destroyed, the guns can be used independently," Aoba pointed out.

Yayoi listened as she stood there, the briefing seemed to be straight forward to her, a typical mission she supposed. She raised her hand, "how special is this AI? is it rather are they sentient?' she asked for clarification on the aI's specialness.

"Yes, and she's pretty feisty," Aoba chuckled. "I'm sure it's not anything you can't handle."

Yayoi's only response was to raise her eyebrows, in concern. "i see" she said softly.

"This is going to be fun." Yoshiro said with a grin "Time to teach the Mishhu a lesson and blow some shit up! Hell yeah!"

Chiheisen silently listened from a chair as she finished up her lunch. The Elysian seemed to not have any questions for the time being, her brow furrowing as she glanced at Yoshiro's grin.

"I'll be honest, given the amount of Mishhu forces present, there's a strong chance you may not come back," Aoba told Yoshiro, sounding deadly serious.

"It's a risk that I knew would happen, sir." Yoshiro said. "I am not going to take any unneccsary risks though. Victory is victory as far as I am concerned and as far as risks go I knew what I signed up for."

"Long as I wake up to victory, I don't care how much I remember it." Cheilith said.

Yayoi nodded her head in agreement. She was the same way, but she wondered how Yuri might react to seeing her in the tank. She shook her head to refocus herself.

Chiheisen blinked a little, before sighing. "No qualms here either, as long as we succeed."

"It's our ship doing this because we're the best," Aoba assured them. "We'll be sending in two teams, a main team, and our B team, which can act as a distractor to pull heat off the main team."

"Who is leading the teams sir?" Yoshiro asked.

"You get to lead team A and Sanda Hoshi will be on team B as the leader," Aoba said.

"Roger that sir! I will do my best." Yoshiro said. Truth be told he was a bit nervous as he never lead a team like this. "I hope that I can do some good. I am a bit nervous about this op."

Yayoi nodded her head in understanding. Sanda was a good soldier, and she was proud that Sanda, her Hermana would get another chance to lead. Yayoi glanced to Yoshiro, who she had to admit was unsure of but knows he did have experience.

Cheilith munched down on her cheese burger, "You'll do fine, I'll be behind you all the way. Well, mostly behind you, being a melee specialist usually means I'm out front."

"Thanks Chelith. I appreciate that." Yoshiro said to Chelith. Now he wanted to do his best because now he had people counting on him. He grabbed a catfish meal and ate concentrating on the mission before him.

Aoba gave everyone the chance to get a good meal before they all headed to the armor bay to get suited up for the mission.

While they were eating, Pidole said, "Hello, I am going to try to use the new teleporter units to safely place you behind enemy lines. I want to know what teleporter you want to use and what you want to send down."

"Thanks Pidole. I'll let you know what I need to teleport to our mission area." Yoshiro said.

In the background Bidole flew by with a burger clutched in their six legs.

Yayoi glanced to Pidole, and nods in acknowledgement of her statements. "right, the new teleporter." She said remembering having used one before back on the station. Bidole caught her attention next and watched as the tiny creature carried the burger. She wondered if all animals could be trained like Bidole and knew Yuri would be happy to have her Raccoon on the ship too.

"I think using the mass one is probably better, one teleport no chances of the team getting caught separated if they activate their shields." Cheilith suggested.

"Okay, but isn't that one the loudest?" Cassie asked, her mouth stuffed with catfish.

"Louder, it's about the same as if we all had teleporters and jumped in together. It is a lot louder than the one by one teleporter they have, but I think that one requires an exit." Chelith weighted the diffrent options they had.

"All I want is to get in, do the job we were sent to do and get out asap." Yoshiro said. "I want to make sure that we get in and get out."

"I'm just saying if it sounds like an explosion there's a chance the whole base will go on alert," Cassie shrugged.

"Well it is new tech for us and it is up to us to make sure it works and if it doesn't we tell whoever made these things how to fix any problems we find." Yoshiro said

"We could sense Bidole down first and have her scout the area and set up a teleporter pad," Euikoshi offered.

Pidole almost choked on her food! After coughing for a moment, and turning red, Pidole replied, "It's possible. It's just...risky."

Yayoi glanced over to Euikoshi and their offer, she was unsure how to respond to that, but she decided since Bidole belongs to Pidole, she'd let Pidole decide on whether to use her. 'Yugumo Corporation did create a stealth Quadcopter called Nightshade, if we need extra stealth options." Yayoi said sure that that would work just as well.

"I know Bidole's awesome and everything, but is she that sophisticated?" Cheilith asked.

"Yeah, on the machine moon of Samurr, we used her to scout paths under the floor and I was able to see everything through her eyes," Pidole explained. "But you could also send a FARS drone or something? Eh...."

"We could, it's a long way down there and pretty risky. I like the stealth quadcopter idea regardless if Pidole lets us send her beetle buddy down there." Cheilith said.

"Well whatever we do, let's make sure the Mishhu pay for what the have done. Justice is long overdue and well deserved." Yoshiro said as he goes to a computer to look at some tactical maps of the mission area they would be in.

"I'll call Sakuko and have her make an emergency order for some from Star Army Logistics," Euikoshi said. She immediately sent an update to the supply specialist and the wheels began turning on getting a ship from the Central Fleet Depot to bring them out to the YSS Resurgence.

"In the meantime, everyone prepare yourselves," Aoba told them. "If anyone needs anything I'll be on the bridge," he said, leaving the team to hammer out the details.

Cassie looked to Yoshiro, "I'll be on your team. Who else? Cheilith? Yayoi? Chiheisen? Koko? Any medics or techs, maybe to deploy the AI?"

Yayoi raised her hand silently then gasped when Cassie mentioned medics. she knew Yuri was a medic and she knew those higher ranked than her can order Yuri to go if Poppy doesn't.

"Yayoi is on our team and Chelith is too. Do you have any people that you would recommend Cassie?" Yoshiro asked her.

"Poppy," Cassie said.

= = =
JP END
= = =
OOC: JP by Wes, Charaa, Liza, Yoshiro, Ametheliana, Yuuki, Soban

 

[Wes]

YE 46.4


The away teams, once they had their power armors on, assembled in the new teleporter deck where the two teleportation systems were located.

"Okay, time to go to work."Yoshiro said to himself as he placed his sharpened sword in its sheathe. This was his first time commanding a team that actual objectives to complete. He was nervous and made sure that he didn't sound overconfident.

Yayoi silently stretched and blinked at how tame Yoshiro's words were though assumed he was speaking to himself.

Next to Yayoi, Chiheisen stood at attention, waiting for the time to move out via the new teleportation system. It had been quite a minute since they had undergone teleportation shenanigans, thats for sure. The Elysian grabbed her LATR and held it, pointing down for the time being.

Pidole went to the controls of the teleportation chamber. "The ship is going to go in stealthy and we're going to stay at the edge of teleporter range, which makes aiming a little difficult until we have Little Froggy recievers in place. Would you like a teleport into the enemy base or somewhere outside of the base?" Pidole asked Yoshiro.

"Okay team final equipment checks. Oh and make sure that we are teleported outside the enemy base, Pidole, I want to get the lay of the land before we start." Yoshiro said

"Roger," Pidole said. "We may be able to use the Apollo if you want to transport the whole team at once. Inside the base we should probably use the quieter teleporter one at a time."

Cassie nodded to Yoshiro.

"Okay sounds good. We'll use the Apollo for our infil...I just hopee this goes well." Yoshiro said. "Rules of engagment are as follows, only fire when we are under attack. Do not fire unless otherwise engaged."

"Aye aye," Cassie replied.

"Let's get it done." Cheilith said.

Euikoshi gave the team some environmental intelligence. "The surface is cool and primarily composed of rocks with a teal-colored moss growing in the more sandy places. It will be rainy and slick. The poor weather may help reduce enemy visibility. It's possible the teleporter sound may be dismissed as thunder."

Yayoi was nano-secondally distracted by how Yoshiro was acting before she focused on the mission ahead of her. She listened as Euikoshi gave them the Environmental Intel, and Yoshiro gave them their orders. "Copy that!" Yayoi said in response. She glanced to Chiheisen, and Sanda beside her.

"We are going to drop in, drop our enemies and drop out." Yoshiro said. "Who wants to live forever! Let's go you apes!" He was ready for battle now. and he grabbed a weapon off the rack.

"Copy." Chiheisen cooly responded, sighing under her helmet as she looked towards the squad leader, who was acting.. oddly profesional. Not that she was complaining.

Yayoi silently wondered if Yoshiro got a virus or something that changed his personality, but her thoughts were interupted as she went into Asakura Clan focus mode.

Cassie stared quizzically for a moment. She didn't like being called an ape. She was a cat! She went to the Apollo teleporter chamber and stood in the middle. "This is the right one, right?" she asked to be sure. "Hopefully our molecules don't come out weird."

"Don't worrry. It's Yamataian tech so we can trust it to do it's job....I hope." Yoshiro said with some confidence.

"We'll be fine, I just need to get whatever qualification it takes so that I have my own teleporter back." Cheilith said.

"We doing this?" Cassie said, checking her plasma rifle again.

"Oh yeah! Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!" Yoshiro said.

There as a flash of light and a loud crack as the team ended up on a sandbank on the edge of a stream on planet Acuna. There was exposed rock walls and boulders all around and it was night time with little light to be seen other than the occassional flash of lightning. There was heavy rain falling all around, and they could see the splatters and drops smacking on the visors of their power armor helmets.

"Anyone got any recon drones? If you do I need the lay of the land asap." Yoshiro said

"Sakuko said they're on order," Cassie said. "Logistics can't get stuff to us as fast out here in the new sector space."

"Deploying." Cheilith said, dispatching her NSBs into scouting mode.

"I can deploy NSBs as well," Chiheisen nodded towards Yoshiro as she crouched down a little.

"Do it. I am not going to risk your lives needlessly without intel." Yoshiro said. He was serious about what he had said and he would make sure that he kept his promise.

With a short nod, the Mindy clad Elysian deployed her NSB drones alongside Cheilith's, joining the neko in the effort of scouting out the area without giving away their element of suprise.

Yayoi silently deployed her own NSB launchers glad she'd added it as part of her loadout, as she readied her Aetheric Pulse Cannon just waiting to fire it. She deactivated her audio recepters leaving only sound coming from her Mindy's comms, as to not distract herself.

A deep rumble of thunder rattled the area. A steady breeze pelted them with rain coming down at an angle, making the mossy rocks into slippery deathtraps. Cassie tried her best to climb them anyway, as using anti-gravity could give away their position depending on how vigilant the NMX security was. It was slow and she slipped a few times going but eventually she got to the top of the small ravine where the stream was and got to see what the NSBs were looking at: In the far distance there were the lights of the base barely visible through the rain, mist, and darkness.

"Do not engage unless engaged first. we want to get in and out as quick as possible." Yoshiro said. "We want this mission to be as stealthy as possible." He scanned a route with his own NSBs and got intel back from where the enemy was.

Yayoi nodded "copy that" she said through the comms as she followed along.

He followed Cassie up the rocks where she was climbing as well. "You okay Cassie?" Yoshiro asked

"Just nervous about the odds," Cassie said. "We're badass but not us versus ten thousand badass."

"I'm that badass." Cheilith said.

"We're the Star Army, we have beaten the odds so many times. No need to worry about it at all." Yoshiro said confidentally. "We will always beat the odds, no matter who we fight against. We beat the Mishuu once and we'll do it again."

"Sometimes it's just not your day," Cassie said. "It's war. Expect the unexpected," she shrugged and began crawling towards the NMX base.

"Besides we are more likely to do it as a team." Yoshiro said "But you are right about expecting the unexpected, I mean I did have my hand cut off."

Yayoi chose not to comment on who was a badass, though she recalled Yuri saing that about her, that she was a badass for surviving Hanako's world.

Once they got about 500 meters out they were able to see the NMX had a large number of...what appeared to be either robots or small Ripper-sized mecha. They were bulky looking soldiers with non-humanoid heads, olive green armored bodies, and mustard yellow ponchos with the letters NMX on them in red. Each was armed with a large rifle. They traveled in groups of four or more. There were also scattered NMX "Flayer" Tankettes and flying drones of various models. Security seemed heavy. The outsided of the base was surrounded by a double layered chain link fence with piles of razor wire between them. Guard towers with anti-mecha turrets watched over the surroundings and shined search lights out into the rainy darkness, scanning for signs of hostiles.

"NMX Nekos?" Yoshiro asked as he was aware priority targets had appeared on his NSB viewer. He sent marks to these targets and sent a message with their marks on their volumetric displays.

"I haven't seen any out here yet," Cassie simply said.

"shame we cant hack the tankettes and flying drones" Yayoi murmered throough the comms. She knew attempting such a feat on a Mishhu would be foolish and not a good idea.

An NMX starship flew overhead, landing at a starport somewhere in the base. They could see the little battle pods escorting it.

"Be careful NMX Starship landing at the Starport." Yoshiro said.

"Copy that i see it," Yayoi said and knew Sanda likely spotted it before it even got close too. She watched the ship land, and made a mental note of the

Poppy crawled up behind the combat personnel, taking up the rear. She look a look at the big base and asked, "What's the best way to get in?"

"What if we toss the froggy over the fence?" Cassie suggested. "Or maybe there is a vehicle we can ride in...hey, I bet a rocky planet like this has mining opportunities. In the past we've seen the NMX always exploits its planets for resources. What if we find a dump truck coming in from a mine or something? Do we ask Euikoshi to scan for nearby mines and roads?"

"Find a vehicle and see if we can get in? Sounds like a good idea." Yoshiro said. "We need to secure entry but Yayoi what do you think?"

As the lightning flashed they could get a view of the anti-starship gun batteries for the first time, in the form of huge guns looming over parts of the base, pointing at the sky waiting for the Resurgence or another ship to get close.

They were also able to see a road where vehicles might travel into the base. "Hey," Cassie whispered to Yoshiro, "What if I just toss the teleporter into the back of the truck as it goes by?"

"Sounds good. we need to take down those guns and it's going to be hell once we do so we need to do this quickly." Yoshiro said to Cassie. "Do it and quick!"

"Cheilith can you find a place we can put our exit teleporter pad? Like behind a boulder or something?

Yayoi nodded her head "tossing one in might work, as long as we can do it quietly." Yayoi commented. Sanda said something in her heart language, but nodded her head too.

"Yeah, that and we should use it right away so it doesn't get dumped and end up upside down where we teleport into the ground," Cassie pointed out. "Pidole says that would be bad."

"As long as they do not notice. We need to make sure that the mishhu does not claim this technology.." Chiheisen mumbled over the comms, glancing towards the anti starship gun batteries.

It took 23 minutes before a truck came down the road, but Cassie's intuition had been right. There were mining trucks moving around down here. Cassie crouched on top of a huge rock near the road and, as the convoy of dump trucks used the road to the base, she frisbee'd one of her two teleporter pads into the gravel-filled bucket on the back of the massive vehicle. Then with the other, she set it up behind a rock and the Resurgence connected to them both.

They were able to walk through the one onto the Resurgence, and then out to the other one, ending up in the back of the truck. "Now you're thinking with tele-portals," Cassie chuckled, taking cover against the side of the truck's bucket. It followed the other trucks through the gate and began heading for an industrial area inside the base where there were large factories for the NMX war machine.They could see large power lines going into the factories.

= = =
OOC: JP by Wes, Charaa, Liza, Yoshiro, Soban

 

[Wes]

PLANET ACUNA


The NMX cargo truck came to a halt inside of a large warehouse building, where it backed up against a large pit area. The back of the truck began to lift up, and the cargo, which was large piles of phosphates mined from riverbeds, began to tumble back into a pit. If they let themselves fall, they'd end up on a conveyor belt. The factory, from what little they saw of it so far, was minimally staffed, mostly by thralls and robots. The thralls were dressed in simple, weathered clothing that resembled heavily used prison-wear. Below, the phosphates slowly rolled into a processor to be turned into fertilizer for the Mishhuvurthyar's many farm worlds.

Poppy and Cassie both held themselves in midair inside the truck's back looking for guidance on where to go next. Poppy hung on to the teleporter pad to keep it from falling into the processor. It was still glowing, serving as a doorway to the Resurgence.

"Ok, our job is to either destroy the power plant or the substation, shield projector or the targeting computer for the anti-ship weapons." Yoshiro said to his team. "We need to be stealthy about this and try not to raise the alarm so we don't get caught by the garrison."

"Yeah, I was at the briefing," Cassie chuckled. "We'd better keep the teleporter handy to get out because once they find us, it's gonna get real bad real fast."

"Just making sure we have our objectives straight. Let's get going and teach these guys a lesson" Yoshiro said with a grin.

"Using the teleporters, you can switch out team members at any time," Euikoshi's disembodied voice pointed out. She was anxiously watching the team from the ship.

"Roger that, Euikoshi. We are on the move." Yoshiro responded to Euikoshi. "Cassie, you ready to do this?"

Chiheisen floated silently in the air next to Cassie as the team got ready to move, her rifle still brandished in her hand. She hoped she didn't have to use it for the time being, but just in case. The Elysian nodded towards Yoshiro as he gave another quick briefing, quietly nodding.

"Roger, stealth activated," Cassie said, using her photonic optical camouflage. She hopped over the side of the truck and gently floated down onto the factory floor, moving to a position behind a crate of some kind.

Sanda came out of the teleporter, just a blur of movement as she flew by and landed almost unrealistically silent for Daisy suit. Her Daisy already had it's active camouflage activated. She had been leading the other team but because of the new teleporter module she could hop in and out easily. She it wasn't as useful as the Mindy's personal teleporter that was currently being banned but the Ranger had to admit that this new system had its advantages.

There was a metallic "SHING" sound as the teleporter activated, noticeable but not anything like the bang of the MINDY teleporter module. It sounded like something out of a horror film. Thankfully it was mostly masked by the constant crushing of rocks below.

Yayoi glanced over as Sanda appeared close by, and also took note of the difference in sound the teleporter had made. Yayoi saw how different it was compared to a Mindy's teleporter. She wasn't sure if she preferred this to the Mindy's though.

Cassie froze in place and stayed completely still as a patrol of heavy guards moved into the factory. They moved slowly and deliberately, in no particular hurry. It looked like the base wasn't on alert.

Yoshiro stood just as still as Cassie did, watching where the guards were going

Yayoi remained silently and still ready to pounce like a lion should the patrol become alerted to their presence. But she began to notice something.

The truck began to leave and Poppy was still in the back with the glowing teleporter pad. "Oh no," she whispered. "This thing isn't invisible," she noted.

Sanda looked around quickly for anything they could use to cover the teleporter. She noticed a hover cart used for pushing ore around the factory. "Toss it over here." Sanda said "We'll cover it up for the time being."

Yayoi moved fast to work with Sanda while thinking Sanda had the right idea. "Sounds like a good idea, the metal will just be assumed to be ore for refining." She said quietly through comms.

Poppy switched off the teleporter and rolled out of the truck near the entrance of the factory and rushed it over to Sanda's cart, covering it up with some bags.

The NMX patrol stopped and turned around. These green, mostly-machine infantry units were pretty perceptive. They began prowling through the area looking for anything unusual, pushing workers out of the way as needed. They were completely silent despite their bulk. Cassie hid behind the crate still, concerned about them using thermal vision or something. That's when she noticed the MINDY AIES screen reporting intense hostile telepathic activity. She wanted to say something about it, but she was on radio silence for now.

There was a close call where one of the NMX soldiers moved the cart, but they didn't see the teleporter because Poppy had put a fertilizer sack on top of it.

Sanda remained motionless, Her hand resting on her bayonet ready to draw it and silently strike the closest NMX soldier should it notice the teleporter.

Yayoi held her breath as if it helped as she remained silent when she picked up on the MINDY AIES report. Yayoi readied her hidden blades, ready to strike like Sanda was.

Chiheisen had remained hidden behind a pretty sizeable crate, considering how difficult it was to hide two 7 foot long wings (granted, they could fold, but still). The Elysian didn't even notice she too was holding her breath in, gripping her LATR tightly. She took solace in the fact that at the very least if she was found, the lucky NMX who found her would be rewarded with a blown off head.

After a few moments, the enemy patrol returned to its previous route and left the factory, heading back out into the thunderstorm.

Yoshiro took a silent breath as the patrol moved on in to the thunderstorm. "Shit, oh holy shit!" Yoshiro muttered under his breath.

"Eso estuvo cerca." Sanda breathed.

"tú me estás diciendo" Yayoi said to Sanda as she breathed glad that the patrol didnt find them.

"Those dudes look mean. Are they the new Rippers or something?" Cassie said. "I mean, this seems obvious but this factory is gonna need a lot of power. You think there's like...maybe an access tunnel for power lines we can take to the power station? Heck it might go to the anti-ship guns too. Oh hey, I'll ask Euikoshi if she can do some scanner magic..." she said, trailing off as she composed her request in text.

"Bravo team is heading to take out some of the powerlines to the AA guns. I also told them to place mini explosives on a detentator at verious places to blow in case we need some kind of distraction." Sanda shared. She looked at the factory again, taking particualar notice of the sack of fertilaizer that Poppy had used to cover the teleporter.

"Nice," Cassie said.

"Okay that's good." Yoshiro said

"I see what you're thinking," Poppy said, nodding her head. She was making a not bad face under her helmet. "A little organic chemistry knowledge goes a long way."

"Gran auge." Sanda smirked. "Especially if we can make it look like an accident."

Yayoi actually grinned "i like this idea especially the accident part, would be perfect to make them think that we werent here" Yayoi commented.

Chiheisen blinked as she listened in, the Elysian getting anxious the longer they sat still. "perhaps we should.. start moving." The birb suggested, with a bit of hesitation creeping into her tone.

Sanda looked over at the Elysian and nodded. Her Daisy now sported a teal lighting bolt over the helmet, just like the tattoo on her face. She agreed with the birb.

"Good idea. Let's move" Yoshiro said

"On you," Cassie said, following Yoshiro. Just then a large truck came by the far end of the factor and from a distance they could see workers began to fill it with processed fertilizer bags.

Yoshiro started moving to the objective but he stopped when he saw the truck. "Everyone hold." He said silently

"Away team, Euikoshi. Information: scans confirm presence of a system of underground tunnels for power distribution, over."

"There's pros and cons to being in confined space," Cassie said to Yoshiro and Sanda and Yayoi. "On one hand you can be the 300 Spartans, on the other hand it's a convenient coffin to be buried in. Thankfully we brought a portable exit door."

"Yeah... Euikoshi, are you able to peice together any routes the tunnels might lead. over." Sanda asked.

"Everything needs power on the base so it goes pretty much everywhere," Euikoshi replied. "I can add routes and maps for you."

"Yes, any intel you can provide us will be useful." Sanda acknowledged.

"Suggestions?" Yoshiro asked the team

"we could use the tunnels to disable power, causing a distraction and making the non combatants leave to make repairs for the Beta team to blow it up." Yayoi said in verbal though. "its what we did on hanako's world." She said.

Poppy thought of the base as a big organism, "The power plant is the heart, if we take that out, everything else will struggle to function, hopefully making it harder for them to detect us and respond. I mean, all the sensors and cameras and radios for controlling their drones are powered by electricity, right?"

"Right, but once we set off the explosives we are going to be attacked so be prepared for that. We are going to have to be ready to fight." Yoshiro said. "Get those explosives set and be prepared to take this place out."

"We take out the power to this base the Fleet can move in in force and take it out." Sanda replied. She looked over the scans that Euikoshi had send her. It took her just a moment to get her bearings. "This way." She said. "There should be an access point we can get to the tunnel and move to the main power plant."

Yoshiro followed Sanda and went with her to the main power plant. Yoshiro was getting a bit nervous as he was feeling this was starting to get beyond his control. "Sanda, where do you think that we should set the explosives? I want maximum effect on the destruction of this base."

Sanda silently groaned at the off duty way Yoshiro addressed her but didn't say anything. "I'm not Elster." Referring to Erica who was a demolitions master. "But I can do the job. We'll have to wait and see what the layout of things are when we get there."

Yayoi followed Yoshiro and Sanda silently and searched for the access point as Yoshiro asked his question, and momentarily she thought about what she and the resistance had done on Hanako's World.

Cassie followed along, lugging her bag of explosives she'd brought from the ship, similar to the one she'd carried to the desert planet of Koenic where they'd blown up the Necromisshu's lab. "Anyone else have a terrible headache right now?" she asked. She pulled out a small aether blade and cut through the lock on a metal grating, one of many meant to block intruders from moving through the tunnels.

As Cassie opened the gate she looked up a what was clearly a security camera pointed at it. "Hmm..." she nervously said. "It's as if they're paranoid about teams of catgirls sneaking in..."

"We should probably pick up the pace," Poppy said, glancing over her shoulder. "I got the teleporter again," she told the others.

 

[Wes]

Underground Tunnel in NMX Base on Planet Acuna

Eventually the team reached the basement levels of the main power plant, a huge aether generator with anti-matter generators. The tunnel opened to a large substation room where the raw power from the various turbines and plasma systems was converted into usable electricity. There was an overpowering steady buzzing hum to the room, and a lot of cabinets and cabling. There were warning signs all over the place warning of the dangers of arc flashes and electromagnetic fields. So far there was no sign of the enemy, and the room seemed to be unmanned other than some non-combat monitoring robots. Cassie rushed in and pulled out some duffel bags and started stuffing all the little robots in them where they couldn't see anything or mess up their plans, "Sorry dudes," she laughed. As soon as she was done she started setting up charges and passing out plastic explosives so the others could as well.

Sanda scanned the area for contacts. As she did so the scale of the room became apparent. It was huge. The idea of planting a few explosives and just walking out seemed less of a great idea. Would the exposion destroy the entire base making it unusable for the Fleet afterwards? Or would their explosion supply barely make a dent in this masive place and be fixed before the Fleet could land their forces. She was about to suggest that they teleport Pidole in to point out the best place to sabitoge things when the Ranger picked up a contact reading.

There was a lot of interference from the equipment but it seemed like there was, if Sanda's AIES was reading things correctly, multiple NMX guards outside of the main door into the room, but they had come from the inside through the tunnel.

Sanda waved to Yayoi and Cassie then pointed at the main door, indicating that she had detected hostiles from that direction.

Yayoi nodded her head in agreement. Her AIES had also detected the NMX guards silently like always she contemplated what she should do. Considdering her hidden blades she could walk out and use them, but like them, NMX had telepathy which would cause a alert she was sure.

Poppy looked at the team setting the explosives, then back down to her teleporter pad. She caught Sanda and Yayoi's attention by flashing the teal lights on her MINDY armor to pink and then made a proposal using hand gestures:

She pointed at her wrist where a watch would be worn. She pointed at the teleporter, then made a walking gesture with her fingers, then pointed at the sky and her YSS Resurgence patch on her shoulder.

Sanda looked back at the door way a moment considering then gave Poppy a thumbs up. She motioned for Yayoi and Cassie to fall back to Poppy while she covered the door with her plasma rifle.

Yayoi glanced over and nodded her head when she recognized what Poppy was trying to say. Yayoi pointed her Aetheric Pulse Cannons at the door as well as she moved back towards Poppy's side.

Cassie set a timer on the explosives for one minute and started it once Poppy got the teleporter connected back to the Resurgence. A teal glow emanated from the reciever showing it was active, with volumetric rings around it showing it was ready to enter.

Just when Cassie was about to hop on the teleporter pad, she turned around. "Huh...that's weird, my Mindy is picking up my old communicator here in the base...remember I left it on that Mishhu ship in the bar when we did that raid. Does that mean...?"

Chiheisen hesitated as she turned to Cassie quizically, hear head even tilting. The Elysian furrowed her brow under her helmet as she processed that, before asking. "From where?, can you locate it?"

Poppy tapped her watch area again, and stepped through the teleport reciever and was back in the teleporter room on the Resurgence, she didn't want to stick around to see the team's handiwork do its thing in person.

Go. Go! Sanda waved her hands towards the teleporter. She was still covering the main door but had moved back to the teleporter, waiting for the team to all enter before she did.

"Oh yeah," Cassie said, hopping onto the platform and disappearing. She made it back to the ship safely.

"so its here?" Yayoi murmered to herself at Cassie's words Yayoi moved to the teleporter then moved onto it, and soon disappeared.

Chiheisen stepped through the pad aswell, glancing back to the explosives on the door one last time.

YSS Resurgence - Teleporter Operations

Pidole was in the teleporter chamber monitoring the status on the wall. "Welcome back," she greeted, with Bidole waving a tiny leg back and forth.

Sanda was the last one through. First thing she asked as she came aboard the Resurgence was. "What is the status of Bravo team?"

"B team has a teleporter in place inside of the anti-ship gun. They're, uh, in a staff bathroom."

"Everyone needs a little privacy sometimes," Poppy smiled.

The tattooed Ranger was taken back for a moment then managed to bring herself back. "Let them know that things are about to get very loud and very acive at the base soon."

"Roger that," Poppy said, texting an update to the B team. "If you want to join them, pad 4 is active and will take you there."

"Do we have a way to retrieve the pad left behind? If it is not destroyed by the charge" Chiheisen glanced back to the pad the team had emerged from.

"can we teleport the pad before that happens?" Yayoi asked

"You know, that's a great question. I'll try it," Pidole said, running the calculations. In seconds a pile of explosives appeared on the teleporter pad. "Whoops," Pidole said, tossing them back through the teleporter. She tried again. This time the pad itself appeared and the connection to the NMX base's power room closed. "Got it!"

It was about this time, the explosives went off, creating a massive blast down on the surface, completely oblierating all the important power conversion equipment and plunging the base into darkness and chaos.

"So what's the call, are we going back down or bringing B team up?" Cassie asked.

"I think we should." Sanda replied. "I at least should be with them since I was origanlly placed in command of them."

Yayoi nodded her head in agreement with Sanda's words. "i'll come with to back you up.' Yayoi said, though she knew full well Sanda was a badass, she didnt need back up, much like Yayoi. But it didnt stop her from saying so.

One by one they ended up in a toilet stall, inside the bathroom where the B team had taken shelter. The lights were out and only a single battery-operated emergency light barely lit up the room. The B team, with Wando, technician Caihong, Simril, and Owens, was there with lots of explosives. "Hey," Wando said, standing by the sinks, giving a wave. "Base is in panic mode, we'd better move before the surprise wears off," he suggested.

"I hope you didn't forget to flush," Hayden Simril joked as Cassie came out of the stall.

"I only use litterboxes," Cassie replied.

Chiheisen stepped off of the teleporter pad right after cassie, LATR in hand. She made a (hidden) face at the jokes, priming her gun. "Ready. We should move." The Elysian replied coldly.

Yayoi blinked at the jokes. "dont have time, we've set off explosions at our mission." She said.

"What is your status?" Sanda asked, ignoring the bathroom jokes.

"We managed to sneak in successfully and we're ready to move and take out this big gun. Here's a map and we're right near the gearbox that moves the gun. Without it, it can't aim at the ships in the fleet."

Outside, there was a commotion as guards began to move throughout the facilities.

"LEEROYYYY" Cassie shouted, "JEEEEEEENKINS," she said, busting out of the bathroom and opening fire on the NMX soldiers, smoking two immediately with her plasma rifle.

"I wonder if we can take control of the big gun and hit one of their ships before we...¡Qué diablos Cassie!" Sanda yelled as her friend went bursting through the door, guns blazing. The tattooed Nepleslian woman didn't hesitate long before she followed firing her own plasma rifle.

Yayoi nodded if they secured the weapon, she knew that the Mishu wouldn't be able to use it. She was about to say something more when Cassie started moving. "they are younglings" Yayoi said to herself before she began firing her Aether Pulse Cannon, and her NSPs at her enemies.

B team pushed out, moving forward in a wave, efficiently providing plenty of covering fire and advancing in bounds. "It's on!" Colby shouted.

"Get some!" Owens taunted, trading fire with one of the new NMX soldiers. Gunfire was everywhere now.

Chiheisen resisted the urge to facepalm successfully as the group ran out. She used her Mindy to hover a little and give her rifle a couple of clean shots from behind the rest of the team. "What does 'Leeroy Jenkins' even mean..." She mumbled over the comms, a deadpan under her helmet as she shot another soldier.

"Killin' Mishhu makes my dick hard!" Hayden yelled.

"I think he was a famous Nepleslian?" Colby answered.

"It's going to be Cassie's new callsign after this." Sanda muttered as she pulled her shield off her back then used it as a club at a thrall that got too close to her.

"Seconded" Yayoi muttered to Sanda, and glanced to Hayden "don't tell me he's related to Yoshiro" Yayoi said to herself as she fired her weapons.

As the team advanced, and resistance became heavier, they slowly pushed into the gun's systems, where they were able to get to the main gears and the actuator assembly that controlled the guns. While it wasn't the control center for the weapon, there were computers here that might be able to control the gun in an emergency, and they appeared to be running on backup power: despite the lights being out, the orange controls glowed from the console.