RP: YSS Mikomi Mission 3: Part 3- Back on Planet!

Kestral watched the rest of them getting ready, feeling slightly agitated as he wanted to get out of the ship immediately. Tom was still down there, it was hard not leaving straight away to get to him. Tom had been there since the start, he had been at Tami with Kestral, and now he was here with him once again. He was not going to let him die.

"Right, let's go. We are ready, follow me out. We have little time, and an even smaller amount of time between the drones finding out that we are not on the Mikomi. Let's fly." While he had been waiting for the rest of his crew to get ready Suzi had lowered the ship and they were above cloud level by quite a way. The Phalanx could fly from here. After the let's fly shouts Kestral jumped from the armour bay and let himself drop for a few second. It felt good, dropping, relaxing in a way, but this wasn't the time. "OK, people follow me, but you have to keep radio silence as I'm sure these bloody drones can hear us. Follow me." With this Kestral shut his mouth tight and flew towards land.

Ghi was so uncomfortable at the moment, feeling so confined, that actually moving seemed to be an enormous release. As such she was the next out of the Power Armour bay, diving out much as a swimmer would dive in to a swimming pool, matching Kestral's speed and course. Well this was it, the next combat situation. Great.

"You're going to kill us. They're going to make you kill us. They want to kill you. That's why they're sending you here. Kill them. Kill them before they can kill us." The voice roared in her ears, as she ignored it as best she could. She wished she'd taken some calm before she'd left the ship.

Roken sighed and put his PHALANX back on and surveyed the systems. His suit was still combat worthy, but for how long he wasn't sure. He then tested movement in the suit and followed the other armor pilots. As he kept pace with the others he began to worry, they were unable to deal with the huge cannon or the rest of the auto turrets and there was no telling what other surprises in store for them.

When the order to deploy was given, Nick stood back for a few moments, allowing some of the others to exit the Mikomi before him. When he finally approached the armor bay's threshold, he anxiously grasped the opening's edge, looking out over the cloudy sky that seemed to rush past the ship. I've done this before, he thought, not wanting to hurl himself out of the ship for a second time this mission. Nothing to it.

Taking a deep breath, he attempted to hurl himself out of the airlock, but staggered as the final moment passed, stopping himself. He uttered a curse as he slammed his armored fist onto the nearby wall as more of his comrades effortlessly hurled themselves out of the ship. His back to the wall, the Geshrin communications technician inched himself over to the airlock, peering out again before snapping his head back. "Damn it all, he muttered quietly, closing his eyes, before quickly throwing himself out into the Bowhordian sky.

He fell in a panic, dipping into a cloud in an uncontrolled decent. A split second later, his armor jolted up from the cover amid trailing icy cloud particles, veering erratically as he engaged its propulsion systems. Just as Kestral's order to maintain radio silence came through, Nick stabilized his flight path, making his way closer to the group of friendly armors ahead.

"So, Tom, what do you have to say for yourself?"

The Geshrin's trembling hand barely held his sidearm.

"We all know you just LOVE to be the life of the party! Definately no party right now, though. Are you still lovable, amicable Tom Freeman, the guy everybody likes?"

Tom grimaced as he continued to talk to himself. Focusing on the pain kept him conscious, but the grip of delirium was slowly suffocating him.

"You're all alone, now. Nobody's watching you, but the spotlight is just getting hotter. The cute little picture you've painted for yourself is melting."

He let out a sarcastic laugh.

"You're a real coward, you know that? Does your identity truly rely so much on others? Without them, your world just falls apart, doesn't it?"

All the sarcasm in the world couldn't stop the tears from welling up in his eyes, though.

"Who the hell am I?"

Daduar stood on the cusp of the power armor bay, preparing to release himself below. â€

Kestral moved easily through the air, not really his doing but he loved it anyway. This wasn't the time though, they had been move quickly. He knew where he was going, at least he thought he did, but you can never plan for the unexpected. So this was why he had chosen radio silence to cut it down slightly, and another reason for the lack of planning. Well the lack of planning was down to him not wanting to think of the consequences of there actions. He was sure this was going to work though.

As he came out of cloud level he saw the dull landscape below, dotted with black figures. These figure where not big, but there were so many that he was like a sea of them. He aimed for the rocky patch of land, the area they were most likely to survive on. That was a horrible thought, but it was true. There was also less drones here, as they were still crowding the area they had been in before. It was then that the Mikomi played her part in the story. Beams from the ship came crashing down drawing all attention from them as Kestral came into land next to a huge bolder.

As soon as he landed he ordered the PHALANX to come off. This was done as he was sure the drones could sense them, another measure he wanted to take. He crouched there waiting for the rest of the crew to land, his xaser rifle in hand, and his pistol in the holster. By his calculation Tom's PHALANX was five boulders away, and this meant that he would be around them now. They were going to have to search for him. He gestured to the rest who were landing to do as he was, take the Phalanx of and crouch down.

Roken cut off his phalanx after landing and crouched near Kestral waiting for orders. After seeing the view from the air Roken was feeling very nervous about the mission. It wouldn't have been so bad if it was a large group, but right now it wasn't. He looked around at the landscape, the Mikomi had provided a distraction while the rest of the group made it to the ground. So now what?, Roken thought as he waited for the next orders from the team lead. Roken still couldn't figure out what the hell was with all the turrets and the cannon, the planet didn't seem like it was that important, but those thoughts were left up to the higher ranks and anyone with strategic experience, Roken was a grunt it was his job to fight and follow orders and that's what he intended to do.

Landing softly on the ground Ghi looked around her for any danger, scanning on every band that her armour posessed. She was amazed that Kestral had taken his power armour off, it seemed to her to be paramount to suicide, and she tried to contact him.

"With respect, sir, can I request why you've removed your PHALANX? With the power these drones appear to have you require every protection to give you safe, given that you are the captain. For your health if nothing else I would advise you keep the armour on."

Ghi herself would not take her armour off, it would make her a sitting duck. And she did not empathise with a sitting duck.

"This is good for you. They will kill him first, and you shall have time to escape. Keep your eyes sharp, they're coming." The voice whispered in her ear, and she couldn't disagree with its logic.

Kestral nodded at what Ghi was saying, however the only way they were sure to not be seen was if they didn't wear the Phalanx suits, this way they could not be easily tracked. "Take the suit of Ghi, we have to get rid of the other wise they will be able to track us. No questions, just do it please." He said this at a high whisper.

Everyone of his crew had now landed and were readying themselves to get moving. He looked back at them and gestured them to follow. Kestral looked around the bolder, there was no drones in sight at the moment. He moved quickly from one bolder to another, and then too another. They really needed to move quickly. He just hoped he was headed in the right direction, well, he knew were he was going really. "Keep low." He whispered behind to the next person.

"Sir, the likelihood is they will be able to detect us even without the suits. We've seen that these drones are advanced enough to destroy a Mindy. I can not believe that something that advanced will not be able to detect us as easily, or easier, than we are in Power Armour." Ghi responded, completely not understanding her Captain's logic here, "If we're out of our Power Armour we'll be slaughtered almost instantly if we run in to the Drones, and we'll loose most of our defensive and offensive force, as well as most of our ability to scan for Freeman. Please explain your logic sir, since I fail to see a single advantage of shredding our Power Armour."

"You see, he wants to kill you. As well as himself it seems." The voice said quietly.

"Ghi, now is really not the time to argue with me. You either take the suit of, or get back to the ship straight away. I will not lets us get in to a fire fight with these drones, so please stop going against my orders." He was still moving, but had stopped briefly to tell her this, she should know to follow orders and trust the Captain a little more than what she was showing him now.

Tom had to be around were they where now, he couldn't have got that far from his crash site. Where are you Tom? Kestral was beginning to get worried.

At least that wasn't as bad as last time, Nick thought, thinking back to his rough landing when the crew had made their first expedition down to the surface of Bowhordia. When the order came down to shed the protective ward that the armor provided, Nick was, for another time during this mission, dumbfounded by his Captain's orders, finding himself agreeing with Ghi's protests. However, he kept to himself, and removed his armor as ordered, breathing in the arid atmosphere that the planet provided.

Then, there was the matter of Tom Freeman. The thing that concerned Nick the most about shedding his armor was the fact that, when they did find the downed Sergeant, how would they quickly extract him in the event that they were spotted? It all just seemed poorly thought out to the young Geshrin as the group began to move. Hopefully, Kestral wasn't a madman and knew what he was doing, and, failing that, Daduar could save whoever would remain from that madman's failed plan.

Pistol in hand, the communications technician darted from boulder to boulder, clumsily stumbling over himself every so often. He felt somewhat over-alert, remembering the chaos that the drones had reigned upon them earlier, coupled with the fact that this time, no armor gave him and his crewmembers the seemingly little protection that they had previously offered. He only hoped that if combat occurred again, he could keep himself from cowering as the crew died around him, before meeting his own demise. Surely, that is what would happen if they were spotted. Given the multitudes the enemy, whoever they were, possessed, not even the Mikomi could save her crew from the firepower that would be brought to bear against them.

Daduar watched as the others arrived and wondered why Roken and Kestral had removed their PHALANX armor. The order to remove them came as a shock, as did Kestral's reasoning on how they would not be able to track them with them off. "Time to stand my ground" Daduar thought himself before he decided to disobey a direct order from his commanding officer.

"Sir, how do you know these things will not be able to find us without our power armors on?" Daduar spoke with confidence in his voice, still clad in the shell of his PHALANX. "I do not believe this would be in the best interest of the surviving crew, Chusa Bowman as we have already lost too many on this mission. Either you give us solid proof that these drones do not have the capability to track organic targets or I suggest we stay inside of our armor."

Daduar had to think fast, as this could be seen as an act of mutiny. He quickly sent a message to Ghi as she seemed to be the only one with a scrap of rationality amongst the group at the moment. "Ghi, I barely know you but I need you to trust me. I don't think Chusa Bowman is sound of mind at the moment, I believe that this may be a pre-existing condition which has only worsened due to his injuries sustained on our first journey to the surface.." The SIAR was kept on pulse mode, Daduar had no want to harm his commander, but he would do what was necessary to ensure the safety of those under him. Daduar stood his ground and awaited a reply from both Kestral and Ghi.

Ghi nodded, what Daduar said made perfect sense, "That is a possibility sir. Chusa Bowman was incapacitated for some time with what appeared to be either acute halucinations or night-mare, although he could still move and talk to some degree. I diagnosed it as a form of Sleep Paralysisi or a strange form of Hypnagogia, although the symptoms didn't fit perfectly. He seemed to be stuck in some form of fantasy world where people were being killed. I suppose this might be related, and I suppose actually watching members of our crew die might have brought on a relapse" Ghi took every measure to ensure that her communication with Daduar was private, and she made no movements to either return to the ship or dismantle her armour. If Kestral was halucinating then he could be a danger to himself and those around him.

"On a planet filled with creatures that wish to destroy you, with a commander who wants to expose you to them. I'd return to the ship." The voice whispered in her left ear.

For a few moments after Daduar's remarks, Nick couldn't find himself knowing what to do. He wasn't one to argue against orders, but the overwhelming sense of vulnerability he felt crouching here, without power armor, behind a large rock, surrounded by enemies, forced his opinion to surface. Protesting with the support of two others was much more comfortable than doing so alone, after all.

"Sir, I can't help but agree with Taii Cometblade,â€

Roken was leaning up against his powerarmor looking at the group he wasnt sure if all of them needed to remove the armor, someone would need to figure out where the downed power armor would be and weather or not any enemy units would showing up "we should at least have one person in armor just in case things get a little to much for us" roken whispered "and what if we can pull the pilot out of his armor, just a thought," roken felt he was speaking out of turn, they were facing a large attack force and only plan there leader could think up was to remove the only advantage they had.

This isnt turning into a serious problem, we need to get started or our fallen comrade wont last long out here, roken thought.

Great, he now had his second in command asking him questions as well and another of his crew. This really wasn't his day. Kestral sat down next to a boulder and looked around once more to make sure they were along.

"Daduar, Ghi, Roken and Nick. You have a fair point and I should really answer it. I have a feeling they can track our armour easier than just organics, yes taking them off gives us less protection, but this gives us some advantage over not getting detected. At the moment the Mikomi is taking a lot of fire you us, and is diverting their attention. This then gives us a clear path to finding Tom. I checked, and double checked that we are clear from drones here when landing. This doesn't mean they will not come, but it is less likely, and if the power armours give away our position, our advantage is no more. Daduar, we are soldiers and therefore there is a risk in the field, at the moment I believe they do not know we are on planet. Machines assess the level of threat and will prioritize their resources accordingly. At the moment the Mikomi comes first, then the PHALANX and then miles at the bottom is organics. Maybe you are right Daduar, some need to stay in PHALANX's. This way if we are detected they draw fire. I would like you to lead this group Daduar." Kestral sighed, he was sick of being made to look stupid by others and he should have explained himself properly.

"I'm sorry for not explaining my reasoning for this. This was due to the fact that I wanted to move quickly. Daduar I thank you for pulling me up on this. You will be a good commander. Risk is always necessary however." With a quick flash of a smile he stood up and crouched next to the bolder looking away from his crew and waiting for their reply.

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Tom had fallen to his knees and was mumbling to himself in order to stay awake.

While waiting for the reply Kestral knew how wrong he was. This had been a bad idea in the first place. He was a bad leader and should probably die for it. Oh whats the use? I should have just let Daduar stay in charge, he would do a better job than me no matter what. He was a mess, he wasn't sure why he had taken the Phalanx of although he reasoning for it did kind of make sense to him. I have to get Tom and get out of here. With all the crew alive. This is getting stupid. We have been fight these fucking drones for no apparent reason. Well something must be up with this planet if there are so many of the fuckers protecting it.

Kestral turned round and looked at Daduar and the rest of his crew. "OK, don't anyone take their Phalanx of. I'm extremely sorry if you have already. We are going to split into two's, and if you don't have a Phalanx on you go with someone who does. Now I want someone to see if they can pin-point Tom's location on their scanners." He was so tired, but he had to be strong and show some sighs that he was a worthy leader of this excellent crew.