RP: YSS Aeon [Mission 3.0] Pickets and Surveys

Aeon Bridge

Katae was in a mood for blood, her ship had been assaulted from the inside. The Aeon which earlier was able to avoid the graviton beams easily now wallowed and responded sluggishly to her commands. She was controlling the gunship via her SPINE interface.

"Usaga-Heisho, what's the status on the auxiliary engines." She sent across the intercom.

"Taisa, the explosion was redirected the Zesu in the armory walls, it went thru the deck into the maintenance conduits... Its a mess in there, I'm trying to reroute power, but its going to be at least 45 minutes before I can get both pylons restored..." Hisa replied.

It as at the moment that two graviton beams from the surface latched onto the gunship. It had the effect of stopping the ship in its tracks as effectively as if it hit a wall. Katae immediately applied as much reverse thrust as she could get but without the auxiliary engines the Aeon was stuck... no correct that... they were losing ground as the ship fought valiantly to resist the pull.

Katae with Eternity's assistance made quick work of calculating their situation. The ship did not have 45 minutes... "Usaga, we do not have that much time, at the current pull we will be pulled into the atmosphere in 30. Keiko, Kahen-Juni, get down to Usage-Heisho and help expedite repairs."

She switched to the Away team frequency.

"AEON to Away Team... Ship has been grappled by two graviton beams... unable to break free... auxiliary engines offline due to explosion. Repair estimate is forty-five minutes before we have the auxiliary engines. We have thirty minutes before we are dragged into the atmosphere.

Kim-Shoi you are in charge down there, get things moving. You have twenty-five minutes to disable or destroy the Intellicus before I commence planetary bombardment with remaining weaponry. I will commence bombardment at t-minus twenty-eight minutes from my mark. ...... MARK."

At that point a count down timer appeared on the away team's helmet huds. 27:59... 27:58... 27:57...

"Son of a bitch!" Arkase said after cutting his comms for a moment. Turning them back on, he rounded on the Away Team.

"We have to go now! Get into the LUT! The ones the Kim-Shoi called out need to stick with her! The rest of you -- HURRY THE HELL UP!" He had told himself that there was no time to spare before: but now, there was no time at all. Could they do it in less than thirty minutes?

They had to try. Arkase threw himself into the LUT's Drivers seat and -- not wasting a second -- gunned the engine.

"Send the VCMAD-S now." He sent to Miki.

"If you didn't catch the LUT, fly! Flying is faster anyway -- just don't waste your Daisy's batteries, and wait for the entire team to arrive before engaging Intellicus!" He sent at his "Assault Team".

Just before Aeon's Lone Ranger Heisho speed off into the sunset, Kame grabbed any other people and jumped literally onto the top of LUT carrying with her anyone that had managed to get out LUT, besides of course Trowa-hei and Gustav.

She wanted to make sure Gustav-hei and Yamantao-hei knew about the bomb issue. Therefore, she quickly sent a message back to the Shoi and the others.
Looking at her companions especially Arkanse-Heisho, she pulled out of her pack the detonating cords and two blocks of explosives she was carrying herself.

Then she mentioned, “So umm... I have a few explosives, but what exactly is the plan? Moreover, who is doing demolitions? I only really have a little experience... it’s not my forte” With shy chibi puppy eyes, she pleaded with the others, hoping she would get luck and it be someone else that was already assigned.

Eun-Kyung started to curse but the phrase merely twisted itself into an inarticulate snarl as the message came through. Oshiro seemed to have the assault well in hand so far, so she turned to her selected QRF.

“Juni, make for the Diligent. Hole up inside and blast anything that comes for you, but avoid a stand up fight. If you make enemy contact, scream at us on comms and we'll make all speed for your position,” she said before turning on the Nepleslian.

“Yamamoto-Hei, you just have a Daisy, so stick to the ground. Follow the Heisho's LUT at a distance on his right flank. I'm going to take to the skies on his left flank. Remember, we're looking to harry any forces and keep them from following the assault element. Shoot, move, and communicate. Oh, and don't worry about O'Kutsuu's message for now, unless you've got something you can do very quickly. We'll deal with the prisoners after we eliminate this Intellicus.”

She glanced back in the direction of the LUT, now tearing off toward the target, and powered up her CFS. As she started to rise into the air, she opened up her long range comm.

The CFS now at full power, she cleared the tree tops and began skimming along them at speed. Her full spectrum of sensors was powered on and lashing her surroundings with active emissions, searching for a target, any target, that she could bring her Saber-Rifle to bear on.

Kyoka, thankfully, had never left the LUT, so she continued to sit in the back, keeping her Aether gun at the ready in case they encountered something nasty.

"So, what is the plan? Guns blazing or engage at a distance?" The Neko asked, watching the road behind and to the sides from her seat in the truck bed.

Asine had never quite gotten out of the LUT when they arrived, so when Arkase gunned the engines to head for their target. He had the Styrling Longbolt he'd grabbed slung up on his back, with the 4 spare mags of ammunition for it stuffed in various places around his armor, while the Aether/Scalar Submachinegun was in his hands. Until he knew what exactly they were dealing with (or more specifically what he was going to be shooting at), he would rather have the potential overkill of the aether fire ready to go. He definitely wanted to know the answer to Kyoka's question though. If they were assuming that everything was hostile, it would make his life much simpler.

"We're going for the kill." Was all Arkase said as he entered the treeline with the LUT.

"Miki, can you give me an update on that VCMAD Drone?"

On Arkase's screen a reply came via Laser.

VCMAD-S said:

Drone Alpha paralleling your position, at altitude of 25 meters. Awaiting orders.

Click to expand...

"VCMAD-S Drone, approach --" Arkase forwarded Intellicus' rough position, "-- and then report back to Kim-Shoi in the air. Give her control."

Forced to slow down slightly by the trees, Arkase nevertheless pressed on. They had to kill Intellicus. They had to stop the Aeon's descent from orbit. If their ST Backups were destroyed, death was permanent on this sorry excuse for a world.


He needed to say something. Just one word. A word that had been said since long before Yamatai had reached its hands to the stars.

He flipped on the all-comms frequency. "Crew of the Aeon -- BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!"

Eun-Kyung had barely had time to read the Heisho's message before his voice filled her helmet's speakers. The cry was a little gung-ho for her taste, but maybe that was what they needed at that moment.

"BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!" she cried, joining Oshiro's chant on the net.

She smiled, a moment of levity before it really hit the fan. But she had work to do. A new icon in her display indicated her new telemetry and command link to the VCMAD-S. It was already enroute to the general vicinity of Intellicus so she left it alone for the moment, but she did tie its sensor data into the return of her own armor's scans.

Zipping onward, she composed a brief reply to Oshiro.

Kame winced slightly at the Heisho’s and then Shoi's joy. While crew morality was a good thing, she prayed silently that the enemy did not hear Arkase shout over all military communication frequencies. After hearing the officer not reply to her earlier question, she shrugged and repacked the demolitions she had brought with her. In the mean time, she readied her Atromos particle sniper rifle, for when the enemy was in range, and strapped it to her back. She then followed Asine's example by re-arming her sub-machine gun and making sure at least two extra magazines for it were in easy reach. She decided to go with the machine gun for now unless Heisho stopped early. As they drove she thought, Seriously though what kind of name is Intellicus? It sounds like it’s a name out of a Call of the Cthulhu roleplaying game or one of those Pakamon creatures that kids are playing with these days.

The VCMAD-S provided information on the area around the Intellicus. It showed a line of eight turrets 500 meters in an arc between the Away team and the complex that housed Intellicus. It would take the Away team five minutes to get close enough to that facility.

Two large vehicles were also detected leaving the complex and heading towards the line of turrets.

------------------
Diligent

Josea watched as the expanded away team sped off to confront the artificial intelligence that threatened them and their ship. He opened the door to the Diligent and as it opened several of the mechanic insects came out. No way I am staying in there. I'll take my chances on the top of the shuttle. He then proceeded to climb up to the top of the shuttle and kept watch.

Trowa looked up into the sky, as if he could see the Aeon in trouble. He gritted his teeth and clinched his fists. No way he was going to let some bloody bugs bring down his girl. He had jumped out of the LUT with both the plasma scatter gun and the assault rifle and was just able to grab an extra box of ammo for both before the LUT was gone.

Trowa slung the scatter gun and shouldered the assault rifle. "Aye aye Ma'am. Moving out." At Eun-Kyung comment he glanced towards the prisoner and shrugged. Yea, I can put them out of their misery by shooting them. The Nepleslian thought. Out loud he said, "No ma'am, I can't do anything quickly." Trowa began moving along Heisho's right flank, keeping his eyes open for anything that even resembled a bug.

Upon receiving the VCMAD-S telemetry, Eun-Kyung reigned in her forward velocity somewhat as she processed the developing situation. The defensive line was troublesome but not necessarily unexpected, nor were the mobile units moving out. Still, they had reacted a little faster than she had hoped. Pushing her systems back up to increase her speed, she sent the recon data packet to the AIESs of the entire away team with the points of concern highlighted.

“All units,” she said over the team-wide net. “Enemies are moving. Watch your plots and stand-by for contact.”

She quickly flipped over to the frequency she had designated for her diminuative QRF. “Yamamoto-Hei, watch those vehicles. If they move to flank, we'll need to hit them hard enough to buy the Heisho's element a gap.”

Hearing Kim-shoi's warning, Kame clipped her short-ranged assault weapon and quickly pulled up the scope on her rifle. The first thing she noticed was a sizable network of holes in the nearby cliffs and hills that the LUT passed. She also began to spot the first turrets less than 1 km away. However, at the speed that they were going at, they would be a normal visual range shortly.

She immediately shouted out, "Heads up Heisho, we may have... What the Hell…!? Sloth Turrets from Neko Wars V…!? Where are the people arming those things? ... Err..." After composing herself, she added, "Sorry Sir, hope you’re good at evasive maneuvers. It looks like we are coming up some kind of unknown turret defense system, which looks like it’s straight out of a movie. I only spot two so far, but supposedly there are at least six of these things."


Kame quickly braced herself into a firing position the back of LUT to prepare for very sharp turns and flips. She nodded to her other companion in the back to brace himself or herself. They were heading into a very dire situation.
Next to a small camera like sensor, a single barrel protruded from the large single turret, which was fixed to an immobile tower. On top were a small, closed operator's hatch and a spinning weather sensor. The bottom of the turret was covered in small holes. What looked like an armored blast gas chamber was on the side of the turret. Indeed the turrets themselves looked to be straight out of Neko Wars V.

"Thank you, Kame-Hei." Arkase said simply. He had gotten the same message, but would lecture the Hei on repeating things later.

That aside, he did react: by revving the engine and rushing forward as fast as the LUT could take them. He needed to get as close as possible before bailing out.

"Assault Team, when the enemy begins to fire on the LUT, bail out and begin firing: We'll blitz our way to Intellicus. Let the rest of the Away Team handle the ones we pass."

"Acknowledge, Sir. I am switching to shock troop tactics. I'll try to provide an initial covering barrage for our assault on these bugs,” replied Kame. Quickly she shouldered her sniper rifle and unpacked most of her grenades. She made sure they were within easy reach on her body on the opposite side of her power armor gun. She then picked up her gun and readied herself to jump.

22:30

When the LUT was 500 meters from the turrets swung in the direction of the LUT and started firing. Pulses of red destructive energy struck the ground around the vehicle.

The two large vehicles split up when they left the complex. This put one of them on either side of the Away team at 750 meters. The vehicles were 11 meters long and 4 meters tall. Two turrets were visible on the top of the vehicles.

Eun-Kyung flinched mentally at the near hits by the LUT, but she knew the turrets weren't her problem. Oshiro's element was going to have to break through on their own, because her attention was about to be focused on the nearest vehicle. The sharper scans now showed both the true scale of the vehicles and the weapon mounts atop them. Still, there wasn't anything for it but to charge in and so she shifted her vector to intercept.

“Yamamoto-Hei, take the right-most vehicle. I'm hitting the one on the left. Don't let them get any closer to the LUT's flanks.”

Zipping closer, she activated her left forearm shield and steadied her Saber-Rifle with her right arm. With a slight increase in altitude, she had a good angle on the turrets and sighted in carefully. After a moment's hesitation, she called out on the team-wide net.

“Engaging.”

Then, she let fly, loosing the first of many aether beams.

And there it was. The enemy fire splashed all around the LUT as he rushed it forward. It was time to bail.

"MOVE IT!" Arkase roared.

That said, he leaped out of the LUT and used the Daisy's systems to jet forward through the air as he fired a stream of Saber-Rifle shots at the nearest unfriendly thing to him.