[Mission 2.0] Changes and challenges

"All right, you heard the man! Get up and get on board!" Yoshiro said but admittedly he was a bit nervous about his first command of troops. He wasn't a general but he knew that if he made a mistake in anything, he would get reamed out for it. "Let's go you apes, do you want to live forever?!" He checked their gear as they went by. He made sure that his wristblade and his aether beam saber-rifle were in working order as well before sitting down.

Hanager Bay

Hanager doors are opening for launch. Stealth systems are operational at XO discretion.

Yoshiro would see display to the tactical data and the crew.

Keiko Gi lifted the shuttle from the deck and rotated it to face the doors. She then flew the craft through the hatch. The Stealth system was working properly. She then started a tactical descent vector.

She turned to Yoshiro. "ETA to target is 27 minutes unless you wish to change the vector."

"No. Keep your current vector. Unless you encounter an emergency or an enemy stay on this vector." Yoshiro said and kept his eyes on the display. "When we land or if we have an emergency let me or the XO know what is going on." He turned away from the display and sat down, suddenly nervous about his first command of his squad.

Diligent

Trowa watched Yoshiro as he ordered his troops to board. The man was obviously nervous about his first command. Trowa was a little nervous too as this was his first command as an executive officer but was obvious a lot more in control than Yoshiro. But Trowa had every confidence in the mans ability. He was sure that once they reached the surface that training would kick in and Yoshiro would be fine. It was the pre-mission jitters that got to people more often than not.

Trowa eyed the sensors as the shuttle descended. "How's it look out there Gi?" Trowa asked the pilot.

Diligent

Gi did a quick visual scan of the shuttle's performance. "We have clear flying for most of the descent. Two thousand meters is when the weather is when visibility goes." She tweaked some of the avionics. "It will be a bit bumpy as we make the landing. It should not be too much trouble with the crew being in combat gear."

Diligent

Trowa smiled. He knew Gi was a great pilot and had 100% confidence in her ability to get them on the ground safe. Trowa glanced back to see how the squad was doing. McBruntil, Fossman, Alers, Jirai and Garnet were all suited up and looked ready to go. McBruntil and Fossman were talking quietly. Garnet and Alers were playing rock, paper, scissors while Jirai just watched with a bemused smile. They all looked ready to go.

Turning back to the readouts before him, Trowa did a scan of the area. He compared it to drones readings earlier and to the recorded scans of the Aeon's last time here.

Diligent

Trowa stroked his beard thoughtfully as he studied the readouts. The drones readings showed a large dig site with heavy defenses set up around it and a large base. But they weren't picking up a lot of life forms. Not as many as you'd expect so large an operation. The topography was playing with the scanners so they would need to go in for a closer look.

"Gi, let us down a few klicks from the first dig site. We'll go in on foot." Trowa ordered. "Aye aye Sir." the purple haired Neko responded.

"Heisho." Trowa turned to Tanaka. "Take the squad and do some recon of that dig site. I want to know what's going on there. Scanners aren't picking up much in the way of life and that doesn't add up for an operation this size. Keep your eyes and ears open."

"Roger that, sir!" Yoshiro said and turned to his squad. "You heard the XO, ladies and gentlemen! Let's move out and recon the area. If the Kuvexians are out there, waiting to start another incident, I would like to know what they are planning!" He led his squad out and started to recon.

On the ground

Tanaka and his squad had some decent cover to chose from. About three klicks away from where they stood, at the top of a rise they could see a weapon emplacement. Looked like a SAM. There were two approaches the squad could use to get closer. One was a straight route, directly towards the SAM emplacement and the camp beyond. That path had reasonable cover, but there were a few spots were the ground opened up and they would be completely exposed for about 100 yards. Another option was a ravine that looked like it ran straight to the camp, but they really couldn't see it all from where the shuttle had dropped them off at. It might just end. Also, there were places were they would be completely surrounded by cliffs at least 30 feet high in some places. Prefect ambush spots. Fossman looked over at the Tanaka and asked, "Which way Heisho?"

"We use the ravine, Fossman." Yoshiro said. "If you have a better idea, I am willing to listen." Yoshiro said as he continued along the path. He was willing to listen, like he said. He didn't want to be a commander that forced his orders on his subordinates but he wanted to complete missions that he had to do as well. "Any suggestions, Fossman?" He says after a few moments of silence.

On the ground

Fossman shook his head. "No Heisho." McBruntel spoke up. "I'll take point."

The ravine allowed the squad to make good time and offered concealment from the enemy base, but there wasn't the best cover if someone started shooting down from over the rim. Nevertheless, the squad didn't see any thing until they suddenly came upon a rock fall that was blocking their path. From the topography data the shuttle was sending they had to be within 100 meters of the edge of the camp. Wando took a closer look at the fallen rocks. "Heisho, I think these rocks were blasted." The ravine they had been following was very narrow where they were but on the other side of the rock fall the land opened up. It almost looked like someone had blasted the opening to the ravine on purpose to block the path.

Space En Route to the YSS Aeon II

"When was this shuttle's last inspection?" Effy asked pointedly as she noticed a warning label peeling from its position near her arm rest. She pressed it down with a thumb as she looked at the pilot next to her, whose shadowy expression told her nothing as she slumped in her seat. "It'd make me a lot more comfortable if you knew... Ah well."

As the shuttle approached the green livery of the YSS Aeon II, the elf sighed, anxious to get off the shuttle and on to her first and only starship posting. Though the intelligence agent had a few missions under her belt now, the YSS Aeon had been her first starship assignment before most of them. The namesake starship was more than another place to be thankful to be out of a small craft, it was a formative place for her that she respected for its long and storied career. Lifting a duffel out of the back and exiting quickly, she couldn't wait for the shuttle pilot to open the door before she had, wanting to deliver the information SAINT had sent with her and touch the more solid flooring of the Aeon as soon as possible.

YSS Aeon II
Shuttle Bay

"Effy Penihatolapsoa-hei, reporting." Effy said aloud to the MEGAMI as she touched the temple area of the golden tiara that sat against her forehead, shinier and a bit different than it had been during her first foray on the ship. As the neural connection was made, it cycled in to the digital frequencies that allowed her to telepathically communicate should the ship or other personnel need to do so with her. "Eternity, is the Taisa on board or is there someone better to deliver these mission imperatives to?"

YSS Aeon II
Shuttle Bay

"Penihatolapsoa-hei," Eternity the Aeon's MEGAMI replied. "The Taisa is on the bridge and is eager for your report. Please follow Kahen-Chui. She will escort you to the Bridge." Kahen-Chui, a green paneled neko with matching green hair and eyes stepped forward and greeted Effy. "Welcome aboard Penihatolapsoa-hei. We'll get your gear stored later. We're actually in the middle of a mission which is why your intel is needed." As Kahen led the way she brought Effy up to speed.

The Aeon II was checking up on Genous, a planet the original Aeon had surveyed. They had encountered some kind of super computer that could take control of its hosts using small robotic insects. The computer had been destroyed. Now, years later the Kuvexians were reportedly excavating the planet in several locations. Intel was little better than rumors as to why but the idea that they were looking for evidence of how the super computer took control of its hosts. Regardless of the reason, no one wanted a potential staging world or strong hold for the Kuvexians.

Bridge

Kahen led Effy to the bridge where Taisa Katae Isa was waiting, The Taisa stood from her command chair as Effy and Kahen entered, the later briefly bowed before returning to her station. "Penihatolapsoa-Hei, it is good to see you again. We have an away team on the surface now let by my XO. They are approaching one of the Kuvexian dig sights now. Perhaps you could share with us any information SAINT might have?"

On the Ground

Fossman and McBruntel moved over the top of the rock fall. Slowly and with Rifles raised. When they reached the top they got their first look at the camp. There were a bunch of Kuviexans wondering around aimlessly. "What are they doing?" McBruntel wondered out loud. Trowa's voice came through over the intercom. "Report?" Fossman spoke up. "Sir, we have a visual on the camp. Lots of Kuvies, but they're not doing anything. Just wondering aimlessly." "Give me a visual." The XO ordered.

Trowa pulled up the visual that Fossman sent him on the shuttle's viewscreen. It didn't take long for the XO to realize what was going on. He had seen it before. Quickly, he opened a channel to the Captain. "Captain, Yamamoto. Looks like what we were afraid of. The Kuvexians have been experimenting with the Animus and Anima. From the visuals, I would say that something went wrong and the whole camp has become infected but are lacking control. I advise wiping the whole camp off the map from orbit." There was a moments pause before Taisa Katae responded. "It may come to that but I want confirmation before I level the camp. Move in and neutralize the camp and brig back any intel you can find. If things get too hot, fall back and the Aeon will deal with it." "Aye Aye Ma'am."

McBruntel stood to move to a better position and loosened some rocks. They went tumbling down with a loud crash. The automated defenses began to come swing around and at least a dozen Kuvexians began to move towards them. Tanaka ordered the squad to open fire.

It was hardly a fight. Only a few automated defenses could swing over to where the away team had entered and the Kuvexinas did little more than rush them. Trowa and Joto Hei Rose "Red Hot" quickly moved in from the shuttle and added their firepower. Fossman found and disabled the automated defenses generator bringing all the enemy emplacements off line. After that it was a slaughter. Trowa knelt down and examined one body and found the wound where the Anima had interred and took control of it's host. There was no choice but to wipe out every infected individual.

After about 30 mins over 100 Kuvexians and their slaves were dead. Tanaka found a few uninfected individuals who had managed to barricade themselves in the barracks. They confirmed what Trowa long suspected. It took a few hours to clean things up. Every body was checked to make sure the parasitic was dead and all intel was purged. Then the survivors were gathered together and taken into temporarily custody. With the War being over, they weren't really prisoners, but they would still need to be processed then sent to wherever they wanted to go. Looked like the SAINT operative would be busy on the return trip.

Trowa took one last look around the sight before returning to the shuttle. The Aeon was almost in position to destroy the site. Trowa thought back to his first time here. Just a young Nito Hei on his second mission. Now, years later, he was an officer. A Taii and XO. Maybe the next time he had to return to this planet he'd be a Taisa in command of his own ship. He chuckled at the thought. "Sir, it's time to go." Tanaka called from the shuttle. Trowa turned and boarded the shuttle. It was time to head home.

OOC: Plot concluded in memory of Nashoba.