RP: YSS Miharu Mission 3: The sound of machina

Though looking chagrined and bitter, Hinoto's face smoothed and she began working on what Nyton had asked her. It wasn't long after that the Yui destroyer disengaged its anti-gravity systems and settled back on the hangar's floor.

"That was easy," Hinoto finally said in quiet surprise. "Sekkou's MEGAMI-IES has yielded to our control after I gave it our SAINT identification codes. I'm trying to access its log files."

"Hangar clear. Disengaging graviton beams," Aoiko reported after that.

* * *

Wish's sensors did not register any other lifeforms aboard Sekkou. The destroyers stealth plating wasn't hindering his sensors from inside the vessel, but this sort of ship typically had 37 crewmembers. If Sekkou had been run with a skeleton crew - which could have been possible - then the rest of the crew had to be somewhere else, or already dead.

* * *

The ports from which emerged the air-to-air drones suffered direct attacks from the Black Knight group while under fighter cover. Soon, the apertures were disabled, preventing the generation of new drones on the battlefield. With Miharu already providing orbital fire support, the remaining drones swarm that cast a shadowy pall over the mountain were mowed down.

Satisfied but cautious Nyton began to stand. "Also see if you can find the ST file for the crew intact. But stay sharp in case that was too easy for a reason. And tell Miharu that we have begun our infiltration." he warned. Taking a hold of his DAISY helmet he then looked over to Aoiko. "Murasaki lets go and catch up to the rest of the Armor team."

"Ketsurui, I will stay in direct communication but you have the bridge. I'll warn ahead if we need you in the medical bay. Allow the pods to continue pulling security and repairs." Nyton said as he began to don his helmet.

"Hasegawa-Juni, link up with us in the hangar. All teams are moving out." came Nyton's radio'd message to the Samurai.

"Assault Team deploy and secure the hangar. Support Team move in shortly after and cover their advance deeper. This is it folks, move out!" he then announced into the Armor bays.

"Hustle it Murasaki! We're on the move!" Nyton then said over his DAISY's speaker before he began to use the anti-gravity manipulators on his suit to begin flying out from the bridge towards the bay.

This was it! Kai hear the orders to move out, but waited for Kosuka to give him permission to go. He didn't want to rush out like a moron and get himself injured or killed, letting down the rest of his team. Killed. The word ran through his head a few times before the Yamataian shook it off, once again looking to the experienced Samurai for what he should do next. He would watch her example and try to to as best as he could, for anything less was to fail.

"Ganbatte, Claymere-Taii!" Sora offered the Nepleslian as he took his leave. She took a deep breathe and tried to let her body finally relax after what felt like a much longer ordeal. She knew she had to keep her guard up and be ready to run again.

This is the hardest part... waiting for everyone to come back...

Once the Hoshi was near the ground, Kôsuka opened her comm to everyone. "All of my assault units, ready primary weapons," she said calmly. "Disable video feed; audio only, please."

The bottom dropped out of the landing ship, and the Samurai's Daisy armor floated above the ground. "Nakamura-Hei, cover rear. Mizuno-Hei, point is yours." The paneled floor still had rust-red dirt across it, like a thin film; she could imagine tasting the iron on her tongue. "Switch to active radar." She hoisted the Gauss Bazooka around on her shoulder; the weapon was big for the small corridors she would be entering, but she was ready to ditch it as needed. "Kimura-Hei, the lower portions of the facility are yours. My team will complete objectives to the top." All of the transmissions were being double-backed to Nyton on the Hoshi.

Reddish dust lightly coated the air she flew through at about 10 kph. Kôsuka crossed underneath the Sekkou, arm shield at the ready.

"Understood, I will link up with the support team once I've completed one more task." The male Neko turned to the bridge door, then started out. Quickly he brought up a schematic of the Yui 5-class command destroyer, and then had his AIES map him a quick route to the ship's soul savior pod. It wasn't too far at all, only a few long paces from the command bay's entrance. In haste he rushed to the area where the pod would be, only to find it missing, his feral gaze shifted from one side of the room to the next, still nothing.

"Megami, you crew has been incapacitated. It is integral that these people be brought back. What happened to your soul savior pod?" Sumaru could only rely on this; if things took too long he would have to abandon any thoughts of the recovery of the pod. His primary objective was the protection of Sora, and his secondary objective was supporting the main assault team who were already progressing on with the mission, he had little time to waste. But still, he felt it necessary to find the pod so he could save those people who earlier he had to save from a life of no will.

After readying his rifle and setting the proper audio encryption for communications, Tom Freeman quickly ran through the tactical situation in his mind.

And, when he stood at the edge of the dropship's hatch, Tom turned his helmeted head back to face the rest of the support team.

"Everyone. Work together, trust each other, and we'll be fine. Ichigo-hei, Rin, I'll need you with me in case we have to do repairs on the Sekkou. Let's go."

Tom exited the ship carefully, taking point in what he predicted was to be a small umbrella formation.

"Uh, hai Freeman-Juni."

Uh oh. Rin had forgotten to pack a tool kit for repairs. She hadn't even gotten off the ship yet and she'd already done something wrong. At least the Sekkou would likely have some tools, or at least that's the idea that Rin told herself. Even if that weren't true... perhaps there would be enough tools and such to share? Oh great... that last thought hadn't helped her at all. But, she didn't have time to go grab one now... so....

The sprite followed after Tom. She could already feel herself quivering slightly with nerves.

Yoroko jumped out of the Hoshi and used her gravity manip to set herself gently down on the bay floor. "Understood." Yoroko said as she fell out of the ship. No more waiting. the Yamataian thought as she waited for the rest of her unit to follow. "Let's do this." Yoroko said over the comms, though she finished the thought internally, But let's not die.

The hangar was silent for the most part. The wrecked debris of the shuttles that had been sliced through by the Sekkou's unplanned return gave off a few sparks and shouts as their systems steadily died. Most of the noise seemed to come from outside as the drones were being summarily dispatched by the now overwhelming firepower coming from the Miharu, Mindy teams, shuttles and fighter. Data feeds were being forwarded to the Team leaders from the Hoshi updating them of the status of the now shut down Sekkou in regards to functionality. The amount of battlefield data would be overwhelming without cutting it down a bit due to personal configurations in the team leader's Daisy AI.

Five of the Hoshi's drones meanwhile had returned to their port for reconfiguration. This would take another thirty seconds, meanwhile the other five were scanning the hangar, both inside and out for hostiles to fire at. The rush of air from ourside was bringing in sand and dust but was far from becoming a visual obstacle so far.

Nyton meanwhile was fast arriving at the Armor Bay to begin disembarking. AIES would be alerting him to squad positions just as he was activating the enhanced sensor suite on his C model. The system was feeding him base layout data as the active sensors sought out information. While some of the Sekkou crew were dead that did not mean all of them had perished. There may still be others being held captive. Lagging back a little from a fairly concealed position Nyton waited for Aoiko to arrive as well as for the teams to begin advancing.

"Sensors are clear, Kosuka-san, go ahead and advance. Support Team watch their backs and stay ready." he ordered. No sooner had those orders gone out though then there were suddenly dozens of blips going off. Life detectors had found nothing, nor had energy detection. Motion sensors had just barely picked up the faintest of traces but there were so many of them that it had to be something. Before any warning could be given the floor burst to life as automatic weapons fire began to rain from every angle. The hallways into the base, ventilation ducts, access ports on the floors, and even crates burst open to reveal attackers. The enemies gave off energy readings but still no sign of life.

Suspecting some sort of drone it was surreal to see what appeared to be nekos dressed in anti-personnel body armor and carrying automatic weapons. The guns were not powerful enough to cause any damage as they were mostly submachine guns, and other light infantry guns. A few of them were holding fragmentation grenades and had begun to prime them. The fire was deflected by the Daisy's barriers giving the team members plenty of time to react. The nekos did not staying still for long as they began to press the attack despite not doing any damage to the invaders.

Scanners soon revealed that they were not nekos at all but rather androids shaped to resemble NH-17 nekos. They did not have any skin and were obviously metallic although the metal gave the appearance of a clothes wearing neko with pale skin and short white hair. AIES soon identified their opponents for ease of detection. The fake nekos could use gravity manipulation and were approaching from everywhere. The reason they had not been detected earlier was soon made clear since they were on low power mode to lay low in ambush.

"Return fire! Light them up!" Nyton yelled as he began taking aim with his LASR. Keeping an eye on his barrier status he waded out into the firestorm. Controlled three round bursts would catch a few of the androids after some effort. They were still very fast and agile. One was hit in the arm, removing it completely but still leaving it combat capable while two others were hit square in the chest, destroying them completely.

Hoshi's battle drones also returned fire and began laying waste to the androids. Also a little too fast for the drones, the androids were unable to cause any damage to the hull, focusing primarily on assaulting the Armor team.

The metallic Nekovalkyrja were an affront to Kôsuka. They were poorly armed and seemingly unorganized. The Samurai was more offended by the thought that someone believed Neko were replaceable with metalloid machines.

"Mizuno, eliminate the open targets! Nakamura, uproot blockaded ones!" The Samurai drew her Armor Service Pistol and aimed for one of the machines on the wall. With her Bazooka loaded with armor-piercing rounds, it was a waste to use on machines without armor.

She fired at the machine on the wall, and popped the energy turret on her forearm. Her Bazooka was locked to a slot on her back and she brought her forearm shield to bear -- it allowed her to fire the ASP and the turret from the same arm while protecting her front. She walked forward without fear.

Kai crouched down immediately on Kosuka's orders, manipulating his Zesuaium coated shield as a barrier of his own, and firing from behind it at any of the machines that he saw were trying to take cover. He dispatched his drones for a bit more sensor range and hopefully a little fire support, and hoped that their small size and armor would be enough to keep the two small machines safe.

Fake nekos? With assault rifles and SMG's? this is ridiculous. It can't be all that they have to throw at us the Yamataian thought, as he systematically fired upon any of his enemies whom were trying to hide. "This doesn't seem right" he said to Kosuka "This seems like a distraction while they get the big stuff ready"

Yoroko was slightly relieved that she didn't have to be shooting her sisters, instead hollow representations of them. Like Kai and others around her, her rifle sprang to life as liquid plasma spewed from its barrel hurling toward the oncoming slew of enemies. "Hai." Yoroko responded, unsure of what rank to call Kosuka. "Ano, what if they're here to slow us down?" Yoroko asked over the comm as she continued to fire.

Kôsuka blasted an errant machine Neko in the shoulder, taking out most of its arm. The glittering thing thrashed on the ground until it broke down and heaved a silent sigh. Another came close with an old GP-1 rifle; the Samurai held her forearm shield in front of her and let the rounds deflect off of it without a scratch. She shot it in the chest with her ASP and twitched her ears in annoyance.

"We cannot be sure what they are for, but they are attacking us, and we must eliminate them if the Support Team is to be guaranteed safe passage. Engage in hand-to-hand combat only if necessary."

The androids's bodies began to litter the floor of the hangar in various pieces. Some continued to try and fight while others were too damaged to do anything more than twitch helplessly. Regardless of the casualties though, they continued to enter the hangar, primarily from the two main entrances located on the far wall near the Sekkou and off to the left side of the hangar.

Kai's combined efforts with his drones proved effective in rooting out dug in defenders. By keeping a consistent barrage with his LASR the small drones managed to slip through the fire and close in on his target. Three androids were using a chunk of shuttle debris for cover. As they were busy firing on him and hiding from his return fire the drones flew in behind them placed well aimed shots at their head units. All three went down in a shower of sparks before the drones flew off to claim more targets.

Yoroko's plasma rifle was powerful and managed to down one android into a pile of melted slag quite well. However the slow rate of fire it produced was too slow to keep up with their speed and allowed a group of four to close in on her before another was destroyed. Yoroko found herself suddenly tackled by three of these androids. Two of the androids had latched on to her legs and torso with their arms while the third grabbed onto her waist with it's legs. The third android began to unload with a machine gun right at her chest as it attempted to aim for her head. The motion of the tackling however prevented it from doing that. No damage was being done and Yoroko's DAISY was unaffected by the attack aside from her sudden change in standing. More androids were rushing to try and take advantage of the situation, some armed with grenades.

"We'll need to secure this hangar if we are to get deeper inside the base. Kosuka-san, maintain fire while we come up with a way to seal off some of these accesses." Nyton radio'd to the Samurai. The sheer number of windows he had up were slightly overwhelming but he had trained himself to look at multiple screens. With his 360 vision he maintained many more now which were stretching the levels of his concentration. "Hinoto, have the drones focus on sealing off the vents and side entrance to the hangar. Slag them shut!" he messaged. During this he fired again at the ventilation duct above him, tearing the android apart in the exchange. Warnings came up as more androids approached him, some crawling low like insects to avoid the more waist level streams of fire. Nyton used his right hand to continue shooting from the LASR while releasing the grip with left. The 'hand' that had been holding it immediately shifted into four tendrils that immediately lashed out to strike the androids. Each android tried to avoid the fleshy matter but were unable to match it's speed of shift. They were either speared through the chest or grabbed by a limb before being flung into each other and smashed. Without shifting his arm's aim the VAW quickly lashed behind and wrapped around another that was in midleap at his back. Just as that one was being grabbed another one was quickly snatched by the same tendril as it reformed itself to grab it. They were both shredded this time as the VAW created saw blades within itself as it retracted.

At the ambush, Rin lost whatever confidence and concentration she had as she winced and froze up at the non-threatening bullets, almost about to cower. Her mind went blank. It took a few moments before she was able to regain the ability to think and realize... these bullets were doing just about nothing to their armor.

Breathing in quick short breaths from her panic attack, the sprite took a shaky aim one of the androids and fired off a three round burst from her LASR. After that, she changed targets to fire at others, on at a time. No silly scythe theory attacking. She neglected to make sure if her shots even connected and if the android she fired at was even dead, her slightly remaining panic forcing her to move quickly.

Nyton moved his position closer to Aoiko who had just arrived behind him and begun laying down suppressive fire at the androids. The androids were becoming too intermingled with their forces and Nyton had to turn this around while Hoshi's drones did their work of sealing off the hangar better. "Kosuka, form a perimeter with the Assault Team and keep more of them from entering our ground. Freeman, we need to clean up our side and secure our base before the Assault Team can press forward." he ordered while mowing down another android with his LASR.

"Yuri, Kei. Put pressure on the lower entrances to the bay. If they are stopped from entering, we can gain a hold on the situation. Kosuka's team should have the upper entrances."

Takuma leveled his LASR at the flood of mechanical warriors coming into the hanger. He tried to only fire when he was sure of a clear shot since his ammo supply was limited. His shots were also only single-fire shots, so they amassed to a fairly low amount of damage, only incapacitating one enemy at a time.

"I'll try to save ammo since I only have one spare LASR clip, so I'll leave the heavy suppression fire to you two."

"Understood."

Tom Freeman drew a bead on the enemies tackling Yoroko and took careful shots with his LASR to pick them off and give his comrade some breathing room to regain mobility. Meanwhile, his pulse energy weapons attached to his forearms sprayed fire at enemies that were threatening the perimeter that Nyton and his team were attempting to establish.

The enemies were pouring in from all over the place, but appeared to be lightly armed. Were they hoping to overwhelm their superior firepower with numbers? It seemed to the engineer to be a suicidal move, but it concerned him nevertheless. The enemy had two-thirds of what was necessary for a tactical victory: superior numbers and terrain advantage.

When was the enemy going to pull out their big guns?

It didn't take him long to notice Rin, who was standing near him, spraying fire erratically.

"Rin! Cover my back and I'll get yours! We need to establish our base!"

It was the best he could do to try to comfort the sprite.

"Hai Freeman-Juni," Rin responded, her voice just a bit shaky. Androids, Nekos, or whatever these were, they were still enemies and they were still being attacked by them. The sprite took a couple steps to get nearer to Tom. If she couldn't fight for herself confidently, then she'd do it for someone else.

Her aim focused in on any of the attacking party that even attempted to aim towards Tom or herself. She targetted carfully before firing, the fact that Tom was looking out for her calming her greatly, and letting her think clearly. No point wasting ammo on cannon fodder, they still had a whole base worth of foes to deal with.