RP: NSS Acadia [Mission 3.5]: Back into the Frying Pan

Keladrian watched as Anselm slid down the hill, a cloud of dust trailing behind him. "Good luck out there. To both of you." Kel said into the comm. He looked towards an area where an explosion sounded in the distance. 'How far away are the Mishhu forces?' He wondered, trying to compute the distance the sound traveled. However, he couldn't see the blast, so there was no way to be certain. "Eh, I'll find out eventually." Keladrian muttered to himself, gripping his HPAR tighter.

Henry eventually touched down near Keladrian, wearing the VOID Tactical armour he'd favoured. He was also listening to the chatter on the open communications channel, he had this to say to Sean, "Sending one person in is not a good strategy, unless you're mad, crazy, or that Pavone fellow my brother keeps bugging me about."

He was mostly spaced out for the briefing, still miffed off about how the IPG were playing the platoon for rubes, "Kel, do you think there will ever be a time when the IPG says something honest?"
He sat down and prepared strategies for his shield drone, as well as what to do when the Mishhu came around. He'd also taken the liberty of erecting a spotting drone to follow him and provide him with extra monoeyes.

That aside, it was appearing to be another bang-up day of shooting things, reflecting on circumstances, and jury rigging.

Alec found herself behind cover few meter away from Phaedra. She was scopning area for enemy movement, but it was calm for now. That can always change any second. Okay then.

She linked a personal communication line to Phaedra. "Hey Wolf. I know you are sniper and lone wolf and all. But if you won't get any orders from MC try stayin closer to us. I don't to see you outrunned and outnumbered by Mishu." Her voice was full of worry.

The area below the hill and between the two defence lines were pockmarked with craters and twisted metal.A suspicious signature caused one of the Monoeye drones to fly closer to the ground and actively scan a crater... And was promptly shot down in a flurry of scalar beams. The 'wreck' it found turned out to be a fully functional Ripper pod in a low-power state. The dirty deed done, it remained in the relative safety of its hole, hoping nothing else noticed it.

Tough luck. Around 100 meters away the MC made a gesture to have the squad members following him to take cover immediately.

"Harrison, it looks lonely, give it a PAL." Fian radioed.

"The rest of you, cover that and the other craters. Blow its head off if it decides not to share the crater with its new friend, or its other old friends shows up."

Meanwhile...

Avel and Anselm passed an exchange between the pilot of a landed shuttle and a chief just before the Power Plant.

"The marines of the NSS Voytek regrets not being able to come, but they've sent down a supply of shells for the artillery. So what are you sending up?" The Pilot asked.

"I sent a message to the powerplant workers to come down but they have not responded yet... I think they have already left. I'll tell the med corps they can use your shuttle for medivacs."

Click to expand...

The barricade that their mark set up was visible just ahead, and behind that was the large heavy lead door that protected the powerplant from the outside and the outside from the powerplant.

"The rest of you, cover that and the other craters. Blow its head off if it decides not to share the crater with its new friend, or its other old friends shows up."

"Affirmative." Kel said, taking cover behind a large boulder about 15 meters from another crater. His 'Eye-in-the-Sky' scanned the surrounding area. "Coast looks clear sir. Other than our friend in the crater over there." Kel said, switching to his AOP. He checked to make sure he had an explosive clip in the gun; he did. 'Man, I love blowing stuff up.' He thought to himself, silently daring a Ripper to pop its head out.

Sean followed suit, finding a nice chunk of what was most likely a former wall to cover behind. He checked the action and magazine on his HPAR one last time. I'd be totally fucked if my gun just happened to jam in the middle of something now, so lets just make sure everything's working one last time... With that check done, he poked his head around the edge of the wall, deciding that staying in cover until he had a target was a better idea then being set to fire. His armor was good, but there was no point in making it take more punishment then necessary.

Kingston's traditionally curt response cut cleanly over the com, "Sir." Seeing as how the enemy was now a confirmed presence in the area, Kingston also deployed his observational probe. He put it on patrol around the barricade set by the previous defenders, and considered it their first breech line. If the Misshus made it there, they hadn't been doing their job. Viktor would be alerted, should such a scenario arise.

While the probe floated away, the VOID pilot was training his LPA on the crater known to be inhabited by at least one squid.

Alex moved out with others. They moved closer to the enemy and into cover. Alex found nice cosy crater for herself and jumped in. SHe knelt and aimed outside for any enemy. She could she crater where pod is supposef to be, but she was there only for covering fire. Harrison is supposed make the squid inside cry like baby with his heavy guns.

Alex put a minimap on HUD with location and status of others. As a medic she wanted to be sure if everyone is okay. I hope my skills won't be needed. SHe thought for herself. No dead, no injured. That would be so sweet.

Avel glanced at the power plant warily. "The front entrance is barricaded and the workers aren't responding. Doesn't take a genus to see where this is going." She walked past the barricade and pressed the button that opened the door, her HPAR raised at the ready. When the door opened she saw why the workers hadn't responded. "Guns at the ready, we aren't alone in here." She spoke to the three behind her and stepped over a body.

Click to expand...

GM note: Post suspended, see OOC.

Talbain watched the shuttle come in with relative disinterest. He was still in fighting shape and planned to stay fighting as long as he could. After all he was a bit pissed about being knocked out by explosions earlier and losing track of the squad. Not very soldierly in his manual. That all changed when he saw a the White PA and the One-armed wonder coming out of the back of the shuttle. Between the Air-R's grace and paint job and the Aggressors "enthusiasm" it had to be the Chief and Anselm. Weaving through the terrain and entrenched Nepleslians with his blackened and pitted Aggressor The ID-SOL called out on the squads frequency. "Talbain reporting Chief. Medics cleared me for combat with only a concussion. Where do you want me Chief." Taking a moment to point out the red PAL now on his shoulder where his BOLT racks used to be then pointing back to the direction he had come from. "The worst of the wounded are over there if that shuttle is going back up too Chief."

The sound of more approaching power armor jolted Ezra out of his unintended nap. The endless hours of combat were starting to take the toll. He sighed, then lifted himself up from his resting spot on the dead Aggressor's foot. He tightened his grip on his Styrling but kept it at his side as he slowly walked toward the incoming armor. "Might as well go greet the little bastards. No point in dying sitting on my ass."

He was greatly releaved to see that the approaching armor wasn't another mishu fire team, but a pair of Nepleslian armors - a shiny new Aggressor and a Hostile, both heavily armed to boot. Without his armor's systems, he had no sure way to identify them, but assumed them to be reinforcements from one of the other holdouts scattered along the defensive line.

With a smile, he waved them in and over towards the massive door leading to the power plant to welcome them and catch them up on the situation.

"Aye, firing." Harrison grunted. He looked at the crater where the drone had exploded and quickly crunched some numbers in his head. He raised his PAL and looked, gauging the distance. He was always nervous about wasting a shot with the artillery launcher; his big gun took a bit of cool-down time between rounds. He really wasn't looking forward to waiting twelve seconds as a horde of Rippers bore down on him-

"Ah, fuck it." Harrison said quietly to himself, and pulled the trigger. The bright ball of energy sailed off towards its target.

"Knew something like that wouldn't get you down!" The MC exclaimed, giving a friendly knock on the Aggressor's arm. "Find a high spot, and ready your PAL"

*FEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.....CHOOM!*

Harrison's Special sailed overhead the marines in cover and then landed comfortably in the target. The upward curving shape of the crater directed the plasma upwards into a fire-pillar, it looked as though a volcano decided erupt there and then. The Acadia squad thought they saw the Ripper being carried upward in the flames, but when the fire dissipated there was no sign of the pod in the air nor remains in the hole.

"And thats how we do it." Fian exclaimed smugly, impressed by the fireworks. "There are more craters than we have PAL shells though, so spread out and manually check each and every one them for other Mishus. The joint chiefs (Here referring to the NCOs and low level COs still planetside, as opposed to the 'official' joint chiefs) believes that the whole lot of them hiding in here are just waiting for the next attack to start so they can pop out and raise hell."

"Once ANY of you find one, ALL of you fall back into cover and call P1C Harrison or P2C Talbain for a PALshot. If it comes out of the crater, bring it down with concentrated fire or force it back into the hole for the plasma ball."

"Lets start with the closest three." The MC highlighted three holes a little further away from the crater the mercenary turned into a BBQ pit. "We don't have all day, we have to clear out as many as we can before the attack arrives. Even if scans show nothing, make sure you eyeball the insides of each hole before you move on. Each crater will be automatically labelled by your SAVTECH so you'll know what to tell the shellers." Fian boosted over to the still smouldering Alpha hole and waited for the rest of the squad to check on Bravo, Charlie and Delta. He'll play reserve for now while the Marines get used to it.

"There are more craters than we have PAL shells though, so spread out and manually check each and every one them for other Mishhus."

"Yes sir. I'll look into Baker." Kel said, pulling up his AOP. He moved stealthily. Well, as stealthily as one could in an Aggressor, and peered into the crater. His finger twitched as he poked his head over the lip. If anything was in there, it was going to get a face full of High-Explosive AOP rounds.

Avel glanced at the newcomer. "I take it you're Private 3rd Class Ezra Brand? I need you to lead us to the main control console of the power plant's fusion core." She said as she pressed a series of buttons on the wall and the door opened. "I have orders to rig this place to blow right after we leave, allowing us to escape and vaporizing a few million Mishhuvurthyar in the process."

Kingston moved forward steadily with his VOID. "On your six, Santhis," he informed his fellow combatant, then offered advice of caution. "Let's not get hasty; we've got the support if we need it. Slow and sure is best."

"Hey Wolf," said Alex on a private channel.
"I know you are a sniper and lone wolf and all, but if you don't get any orders from the MC try stayin closer to us. I don't want to see you overun and outnumbered by Mishu," she said with a worried tone.

Phaedra was pulled out of her brooding by Alex's message. She quickly composed herself and replied to her squadmate.

"Don't worry about me," she answered. "I won't stray too far away." But her reply came off sounding less then sincere due to her monotone way of speaking. Phaedra took cover in a crater on the hill overlooking the power plant. She covered the squad as they advanced with her MPR, scanning for any signs of movement near the plant.

"The last thing I need is someone worrying about me," thought Phaedra.

A bright flash went off nearby as Harrison's PAL detonated.

"There are more craters than we have PAL shells though, so spread out and manually check each and every one them for other Mishhus," said the Master Chief.

"Affirmative," said Phaedra, slowly advancing to support the rest of the squad.

"I'll take Delta," said Alex and crawled out of her crater. She started moving towards the crater with rifle aimed. She was trying to be aware of other craters withing firing range. It is no good to focus only on one thing in the battle.

She was walking to peep inside crater ready to popp any ripper with full burst from her HPAR and jumping back from squids line of fire. There is no need to risk, let Harrison do the job with the big gun. OH let there be no squid please.

"I take it you're Private 3rd Class Ezra Brand? I need you to lead us to the main control console of the power plant's fusion core." She said as she pressed a series of buttons on the wall and the door opened. "I have orders to rig this place to blow right after we leave, allowing us to escape and vaporizing a few million Mishhuvurthyar in the process."

Click to expand...

"Private 3rd Class Ezra Brand, Rok'veru Planetary Defense Garrison, that's me. How'd you know?" Ezra looked around the area to make sure no one else was coming. "And whose fucking orders are these?" His voice carried a bit of an edge in it, "Last I heard from garrison HQ we were supposed to keep this place up and running. Just who are you guys?"

He was silent for a long moment, calming his rising temper. He spoke in a much colder tone: "I don't suppose it matters though, does it? If you're doing this for an escape plan, then HQ must've finally decided to abandon the planet..." He took one last look at the battlefield in front of the plant before turning towards the pair. "We keep this shit up, and there won't be an Imperium in a couple months..." he added, mostly to himself.

"I can get you down there, but I suggest we leave a lookout or an observation drone up here. There're squids all over the place and more of 'em filter in by the hour. I'd hate to rig this place up only to be greeted by Rippers on the way out." He reached down into one of his pockets and fished out his Data Jockey. "I'll see if I can upload the building layout to your computers. Structural damage shouldn't be too bad, but those bombs have been hitting awfully close so there's bound to be something."

"I'm ready to move out whenever you two are," he said, chambering a round in his pistol.

"They gave us your face and I'm pretty sure the Fleet is about to abandon Rok'veru's airspace, so we'd better hurry up," Anselm grumbled, prefering to be outside the plant clearing out Mishhu rather than playing guard-dog. His only real pet peeve was that he couldn't use his PAL cases inside the plant, but the prospect of having courtside seats to the finale did something to ease the marine's itchy trigger finger. The Albino set his accompanying probe to watch the main entrance and alert them of any intrusions.