RP: YSS Miharu Mission 3: The sound of machina

"I want to take out the shuttle traffic first with transphasic aether warheads to minimize the threat they'll pose to Hoshi later. Their blast radius will have to be calculated so that they cause minimal damage to the planet while doing enough to clear the cloud cover for Hoshi's entry."

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Calculating the optimum placement of a spherical blast so as to have a maximum coverage of the shuttles but a minimum intersect with the planet? Miyoko was in heaven. Math was one of her strongest points, but somehow, the army had had little use for combat mathematicians. She quickly plotted out a few potential trajectories--with the Miharu's abundant computational power at her hands, it was practically trivial--and requested the Miharu to adjust her projections as the situation changed. Out of the options that she came up with, she chose one that would put the most area of the blast between the Obakemono and the surface. The potential of momentarily disrupting the enemy communications or catching any quick-responding reinforcements on their way between the ship and the planet couldn't hurt, after all.

Nyton took in a deep breath at the sound of the alarm. He held it for a second before slowly releasing it. By the time he was done his face had become like solid rock. It was not even comparable to the cool neutral he usually had. This was the war face of determination as hard as the steel will he possessed.

"This is it people. Shoi, once we are seperated from the main body it will be up to you to fly us down as close as we can to the enemy's base. Let our escorts clear the path and seize the initiative." Nyton said to Sora.

"Chui, our turrets will be useless once we break atmosphere so focus on diverting power to shields and propulsion. We will still have the CFS available to project beams but keep it's use to a minimal. Let the weapon pods do most of the defensive work that gets past the escort." he then told Aoiko.

With that Nyton then sent a message down to the Armor Bay.

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"Armor Teams begin forming up. Remember your places and mission as per the brief." came the announcement in the Armor Bay.

Mara looked back at Rin and gave her a huge grin. Despite carrying the ordinance on her back she shook with excitement and clenched her fist. "Alright! This is it! Let's give'em hell!" she said to Rin before clapping her shoulder.

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Ichigo almost jumped but to her surprise she managed to maintain composure. "Hai, Freeman-Juni!" she said in agreement, following him and wielding her own LASR tightly.

"Yes, Claymere-Taii," the young Shoi responded sharply as she tried to ignore the fluttering of her stomach at the alarm. She nodded her recognition of her orders for this mission.

This isn't the first time I've seen combat... why I am so scared? She wondered as she heard Sumaru's telepathic message to her.

Hasegawa Sumaru said:

"No matter what happens, I will see to it that your desires are accomplished and your soul still flickers life."

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She felt her pulse quicken and her chest tighten, still very uncertain of herself and her feelings. But, she knew that now wasn't the time to dwell on such things... there'd be time to sort out her relationships and her emotions later wen everyone was back on Miharu safe, and the mission accomplished.

"Be safe, Hasegawa-Juni, I'll see you when you get back. Happy hunting and good luck, may Sharie guide you and Chiharu shield you," was the simple reply she sent back, uncertain of what to say to him after their... argument earlier.

With the time of their departure rapidly approaching, Takuma quickly ran through his equipment by touch to make sure they were stable. Attached to his backpack was the Ke-M6-W3000 50mm Gauss Bazooka, which loomed over his Daisy's head. Two magazines, consisting of armor piercing and high explosive rounds, hung snugly at his side.

On his opposite side hung a single reserve magazine for the LASR which he currently held in his hands. Mounted next to the rounds was a small datapad, which he hoped to have if his armor decided to blow up again. That way, if he was separated from his armor or if there was any error with his armor, he would have a simple and quick data backup.

Upon hearing Nyton's message, Takuma formed up with the assault squad and stood ready. "Hey AIES," the technician said, out of curiosity and as a time waster. "What should I call you? It just occurred to me that if I want to talk to you, saying 'AIES' is a bit too dull and generic. Since you probably don't have a specific name, you could always shuffle through your memory banks and pick a word at random. I don't know, it just feels too distant calling you 'AIES' since my life depends on you and all..."

Takuma's ramblings seemed to fade off into mumbling, not sure why he was even talking to the computer anyway. Maybe this one will hate me. I wonder how easy it would be to upload a personality onto an armor...

"However you like," the power armor's onboard computer answered Takuma. "My behavior was set to anticipate and cooperate well with your decisions and responses by Hoshi's computer system based on your ST Backup data. By default, I should be somewhat similar to the software that was present in the last Harpy armor you used, with most of your preferences taken into account in my operating system. Calling me 'Hey you', 'A.I.', 'Suit' and such would totally be appropriate on your part."

Rin returned a nervous smile. "Un. Yeah, let's."

She was on the support team, meaning cover the assault team and then escorting the prisoners. Well, great. More lives that she could screw up with. She took a couple more deep breaths. Being nervous wasn't going to help anything. No stupid mistakes, none, would be tolerated. No mistakes at all.

The Mindy power armors Masako was leading moved into the main hull, leaving room for Black 1, the T5 Cougar tactical shuttle, to skim forward on anti-grav into the port bay.

The aerospace craft shared the arrow-shape of the T4 Fox shuttles, but had a heavier rounded frame thanks to the yamataium armor that covered it and the mini-missile blisters that rested over its dorsal side and to the top and bottom of each of its winglets. The two aether cannons Tom's team of sprites had modded on the shuttlecraft peeked out from under the nose. A low hum escaped the twin gravimetric drives at its rear as it warmed them up for its launch.

Shortly afterwards, each of Hoshi's launchbays became separated from the larger fighter bays inside the Miharu's main hull as shutters slid across the large openings, bringing them to a close. Inside the ship, airlocks and vacuum sealed door came shut in preparation of impending combat and separation of the auxiliary craft.

On the bridge, Kotori looks over her displays once more and, after a long pause, finally said: "Bringing Miharu's aether generators up to military power. Saito-Heisho, raise regenerative shields and confirm me target lock for the first transphasic warheads. Suzuka-Shosa, bring all drive units out of silent running mode. Seeing that we are 20 AU away, I want you to prepare a 10 000c FTL jump to get us under one second to a 10 light-second distance of Epsilon 1."

"Acknowledged," Yukari said sharply. The CDD took on a larger power draw and began to rise well above the "silent" running status. Waving her hands a little at glowing blue volumetric controls, she prepared the CDD system to leap at 10,000 c until the Miharu was a mere 10 light seconds from the enemy vessels.

The gravimetric drive units also began to draw power to aid her with any navigation she might need.

* * *

The samurai and her two charges had already donned armor in the Armor Bay. Yuri had taken an Atmospheric Plasma Rifle; Kei, a Mk. I with SLAG. Kôsuka had taken the rifle as her secondary weapon, with the Gauss Bazooka as her primary. She also carried an Armor Service Pistol, as Kei did.

"Nakamura-Hei, Mizuno-Hei — form on me, please," Kôsuka said. "Kimura-Heisho, you will serve with Yuri and Kei. I expect you to lead them."

My armor has access to my ST backup... Takuma thought worriedly. "So you can get pretty close to reading my mind... Shouldn't there be some kind of encryption on those, or did I sign my entire life to be publicized on the network when I wasn't looking?"

Before the pointless question could be answered, his team leader's voice came through and informed him of leading two fellow crew mates. Takuma sent an acknowledgment text message in response to the order. Something in the words "I expect you to lead them." sent a shiver down his spine. Perhaps it was that it came as a direct order from a samurai, or that he was leading two novice samurai, but he didn't want her to sense the chill that came from it, hence the data message.

A deep breath; a chance to clear his mind. "Alright," he said, messaging the two armors in his group. "Double check your equipment and get ready for action!"

Takuma's Daisy processed through a new diagnostic checkup at Takuma's words. "To answer your question," the AIES began replying, "I do not possess an actual replica of your ST Backup. I was merely adjusted as befitted the ship's CIES - whom has access to such private data - to best serve your needs. A default set of preferences within my operating system was approximated as the best for you. The recording of your mind, personality and memories in themselves remain safe and private."

Sora connected to the helm control via her SPINE, watching the system read-outs on the floating volumeric screen in front of her eyes. She took several deep breaths as she watched and waited for her turn to take control of the Hoshii .

She continued feeling the butterflies in her stomach as she waited for the separation... she had never actually seen the Himiko-class escorts divide before and she was excited to see it happen. She was terrified of having to pilot the auxiliary ship even more. She was definately out of her element and she prayed for the mission's success.

"Hai" Kai responded to Kosuka, Forming up on the Samurai as requested. this was somewhat unexpected, and he hoped he could preform to a level that would be satisfactory for her much higher level of experience. "You ready for this, Yoro?" the young Yamataian queried his fellow soldier.

Yoroko formed up on the samurai, slowing her breathing to deal with the stress that was about to come. "Ready or not, we're doing it." Yoroko replied. We can do this. It'll be ok. Yoroko tried to calm herself as she felt the panic rising within her. You've handled situations like this before and always come out fine. You'll be able to do it again.

Fred said:

"Saito-Heisho, raise regenerative shields and confirm me target lock for the first transphasic warheads."

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Miyoko quickly verified that her planned trajectory was still valid for the newest projections of enemy movement, then locked in their course before raising the shields. "Prepared."

With shields and engines primed, Miharu was already being registered on the sensors of the enemy by now. The crew of the Obakemono was likely scrambling to react to the unknown contact they registered at a 20 astronomical units distance. With that in mind, Kotori brought back Miharu's sensors and fire control system to full efficacity.

This was it. "Torpedoes, fire," the Taisa ordered.

Nyton listened as the sounds of activity alerted to the beginning of the engagement. The monitors told him that the ship had just locked onto an enemy and raised shields. The sensors were now at full status which told him they were on the cusp of the attack.

"Hinoto-san, route scans to the tactical console. Murasaki-Chui, give me word when those weapon pods have been configured. Ketsurui-Shoi, get ready. When we're given the order to seperate we need to fly at full speed."

Miyoko hesitated a moment, poring over the displays in front of her in search of any possible mistake she could have made--being at the control of weapons capable of rather thoroughly destroying half of a planet brought out the cautious side in her. Still, this was no time to hesitate. After allowing herself to double-check for the briefest of moments, she tapped the holographic button in front of her, launching the torpedoes. Almost immediately, she was loading the second volley of warheads as Kotori had requested.

The moment the torpedoes had left the ship, Yukari started Miharu on a shallow drift toward the port side of the projectiles' path. She angled the shielding toward the Ayame cruiser, even as she seemed to be flying away from it. Her displays traced the path of the torpedoes, near-instant though it was, and her display blotted each minor target to keep track of whether the torpedoes were successful.

Maybe it was luck, or plain insight from Kotori or just good timing on Miyoko's part, but at that time the 7 Lion shuttles - Alpha 1 through 7 - had all been in transit. It took half-a-second for the two torpedoes to reach their intended target point and release the scalar discharge necessary to fill a 20 000 kilometer radius with aetheric energy.

On maximum magnification, two white spheres blossomed into place, swallowing the Ayame-class command cruiser, the small craft inbetween it and the planet, along with nipping slightly through the atmosphere of Bowhordia itself.

"Interdiction and comm jamming are to be triggered after our FTL jump," Kotori warned before the explosions abated.

And then they were gone. The Ayame's combined field system bubble crackled in blue fire to the aftermath of the explosion while the Fire Control System reported targets Alpha 1 through 7 as grey - destroyed. There was a vacant hole in the stormy cloud cover of the planet beyond.

"Kick in maximum STL thrust toward Epsilon 1 after jump," Kotori instructed sharply before ordering: "FTL jump, now."

Yukari flicked her wrist, and Miharu leaped toward the cruiser. She backed the gravimetric engines up with energy to produce a hard burst of thrust when they exited. She wanted as much power to the shields as she could have.

Her communication jamming presets were ready as well.