RP: 4th Fleet (NSN) [Mission 4.1] In Before the Close

Rita turned around and headed away from the door so the Staff Sergeant could blast it open, jogging back over to Phaedra and Bernhard. She approached Bernhard and put a hand on his shoulder. "There's an old pirate saying: 'The serious die, and the cynical survive.' It means if you don't get dramatic and you laugh in the face of hell, lady luck won't bite you in the ass. I know Laura's your friend, but you shouldn't get worked up worrying about her. The Sergeant will be pretty pissed if you lose your cool and fuck up in the middle of a fight."

Once she finished chastising Bernhard for bringing himself bad luck, she turned back toward the door and waited for the Staff Sergeant to set off the explosives. She loved watching things blow up, and she was going to have a front-row seat to the demolition of the doorway. "Make it a big one, sarge!"

"You have a valid point, Greer." Cedric looked over his shoulder in Bernhard's direction, despite using comms, "However, we don't know what is inside this place. If I knew the general interior layout, then sure: I'd prefer to come in from above." He shrugged, now looking up to the roof, "Things as they are, we might just blast at the top of a load-bearing wall, and then we'd be all out of luck while trying to scramble around that fun little fiasco. Or we may just find impassable terrain below and so we've blown it with nothin' to show for our effort."

He glanced to the corner of the building at his right. He approached the corner and looked down that side of the building for any doors. However, given satalite imagery he doubted there were any doors, and so he was more looking for windows. Bernhard's final comment brought a further reply from Cedric across the entire group's comm-channel.

"I agree with Private Greer, rookies. You probably haven't realized it yet, but those flashes on the horizon are people dyin'. I think it'd be in everybody's best interest if you cut with the pillow-talk, and focus on doin' your jobs." He moved down the compound's right wall (in relation to the Marine firing line), still looking for entrances, "Otherwise you might lose track of somethin' and end up with a bad case of 'dead'. Then Greer has to take time out of his day ta' revive your collective sorry asses. And he's busy enough as it is."

He then keyed Phaedra's private comm, "Sargn't: I'm seeing if I can find another way in ta' this place, or a good place to set a charge. I'll keep ya' posted."

He'd stop at the next corner and send his observation probe out (above him, obviously) to see what was going on behind the building.

"Aw, c'mon!" Matteo called out to the naysayers.

"We all know this is the real deal." the marine pointed out. He checked over his HPAR and stock of missiles to make sure everything was working fine, considering they were about to do a breach and storm in. "It's just us grunts blowing off stress and steam with the cheesy jokes and banter." Matteo explained.

"I mean, it's better than complete psychological breakdown in the middle of the field right?"

"Greer family saying: 'Shut up and do your job.' Joking and cynicism doesn't help a patient and it doesn't see the mission complete. Nothing we do determines our luck so there's no point in superstition. Stress relief can be done after the mission. If you have the energy to do that, then you'd best be served keeping watch. Unless you want to end up like the dead Marines out there," Bernhard said coldly, pointing eastwards.

He tuned his radio frequency to allow other squads' chatter and noted that the other four squads were still in combat. Whichever squad that the incoming Marines were from was definitely out of the fight.

This was hardly the time for banter and goofing off. NMX units were engaging Marines less than half a kilometer away.

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On the roof, two aether cannon turrets rose up from the floor and fired at Samuel, dropping his slowly recharging shields down to 20%. As the two Marines scrambled to get off the roof, they realized that more aether turrets were rising up. Someone had obviously activated the base's integrated defenses.

As they landed on the mid-level roofing, Alrik and Samuel saw that there was a hatch for power armor entry. They also saw more aether cannon turrets rising up to gun them down.

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"Sergeant Volkov, all other Marine units are presently engaged. Breach and enter the complex to achieve your objectives," Admiral Valken spoke to Phaedra.

Lisa frowned upon being ignored, but Laura had other troubles. She could also do easily without those extra bots, it would just make things more safe for the team. She looked in the direction of firing. It not very far. "Sergeant," Lisa started comming. "I can give fire support to those marines. It is not very far and my mortars won't be very useful once we are inside. I just need them to paint targets for me and I can do some bombardment." She pointed out.

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Alexandra was moving towards Phaedra. "Roger that Wolf, we are on the move. ETA one minute. Also it seems you got yourself a chatty bunch to lead Wolf." She reported, ending the report with little joke.

She then looked back to Henry. "Okay Henry, we need to move our butts. Seems like Cavaliers already hit the target and Wolf wants us to link with them."

Alrik scrambled after the aether turrets started to spawn from the roof's floor, he tried to fire multiple shots at the aether turrets as he scrambled to get off the roof. Noticing the hatch for the power armor, Alrik would try to make a mad dash for it, hoping it was closer than the side of the roof.

Samuel was not expecting the turrets at all. He took the first few hits on his long-suffering shields as he and Alrik scrambled down to a lower level. They came across a hatch, guarded by even more turrets. He and Alrik fired on the turrets, doing their level best to hold them off, but before Samuel could do anything about it, Alrik made a move towards the hatch.

"Hey, wait a minute!" he called out; it was going to be same as that one simulation from a couple days ago, he was thinking. Someone does something stupid, I'm right behind them, and I get wiped out for it. He whipped around and covered Alrik's back with shotgun blasts to the turrets as Alrik inspected the hatch. "How's it look, can you open it?"

Henry had remained quiet, polite and in the background in Alex's shadow to this point. He was testing to see how far he could push the VOID's Snakeskin and Mass-Mesher functions. He loved doing it, but he had to shimmer into view eventually as the only other Marine that survived the hit from the NMX. He had a HPAR in his hands.

He gave Alex a curt nod and then gave the remaining injured marines of his former squad a nod, "I'm right behind you, Alex," He took a moment to examine the rest of the squad that he'd fallen into with former comrade Volkov at the helm. They were quite an interesting bunch, oldbies, newbies and otherwise. He had some comfort in knowing that former Acadia crew were with him.

"I can cut the hatch open, but I'm going to need time and concentration," He then looked to and marked the two Aether cannon turrets, "Focus on getting them down. They're bad for my concentration."

He was referring to the Condensed Fusion Cutter, an indispensable tool for combat, for rescue and for cutting things open. With time and effort, even a starship could be cut to pieces with it. With those turrets though, it'd be a bit of a difficult proposition. He didn't want his armour to get damaged.

He let loose nine shield drones and sent them to whoever was engaging the turrets to cover them in triangular configurations, "Shield drones, going up!"

"Sorry, I'll try to follow your standards of professionalism from now on, Private Greer." Rita emphasized the word "private" to bring to Bernhard's attention that he wasn't in a position of authority over her in the first place, but the rest of the comment was said in a surprisingly sincere tone of voice. Rita did as she was told and stayed quiet and still, waiting for her commanding officer to give her an order.

"BREAK, BREAK; Now I know I ain't in charge of ya'll but I'd advise you to cut the chatter, who knows what the damned squids are capable of and I'd prefer not to have these constant broadcasts just blaring our damned positions away." Sawyer said, as he broke into the radio chatter. With that he checked on the others in his fireteam and made sure his AOP was properly loaded with a full cylinder of RED rounds to ensure the best effectiveness for the close in fighting he was sure to follow their breach of the enemy facility.

Victor watched as the shields drones placed themselves neatly on the roof of the complex. It quickly drew some attention to the turret festival going on up there. But he couldn't clearly make out what was going on. Which made it very difficult not to simply charge into the fray. Personally, he drifted in and out of the ongoing conversation about minding ones bearings in a combat zone. He grasped the notion just fine, he simply just didn't hold that keeping relaxed was mutually exclusive to success. Not that talking about the matter was helping anything, and while he didn't think twice about the other squads being wiped out he did feel lousy about one of their own being injured. Far more relatable than flashing lights in the distance.

Of course Victor wasn't a veteran his opinions on the matter weren't formed where it mattered. It could be just one more layer that he needed to work on to separate his mindset from that of a regular Nepleslian to that of a Marine. With that said , it didn't exactly mean he felt it was something that would be a priority anytime soon. Counting dead squids was oh so much more fun. Towing the line and following orders made things simpler and allowed for more chances of Squid broiling. Continuing to keep a vigilant watch while pulling security he did contemplate that it would be ironic if simply walking through the front doors would have ended up being the safer route. Multiple points of entry as opposed to one and all that jazz.

Examining the right side of the compound, Cedric was disappointed at not finding any other nearby entrances. The second of the two front entrances seemed a bit unreliable, being much smaller than the one which Cedric had rigged to blow a hole in. He headed back to the front and looked at the Marines who were on the ground, while watching flashes of fire from the roof. He wasn't too worried about the two on the roof. Phaedra undoubtedly had her mind about them, and if the turrets were still firing then that meant the Marines were still alive to be shot at. So Cedric casually retrieved the detonator for the RX33 on the door and shot a glance in Phaedra's direction: indicating to the detonator casually with his other hand.

"Do you want me to get the squad ready to blast the door, Sargn't?" He asked over a private comm-link.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll keep the chatter down, but you and I have to have a word later." He replied to Bernard. Though Sawyer further reinforced the point, Matteo was not a happy marine.

The cheesy, corny dialog was a staple of the marine corp! Though taken over the top in the movies and whatnot, it was still a part of real life, and was there for a reason. But what really bugged him was that what Bernard asked for was borderline unreasonable. And he didn't seem like the unreasonable type. It wasn't like they were at the scene where some scrub joked around too much and ended up with an energy beam through the helmet.

Matteo's thrusters came to life as he quickly dashed to the side of the building and under the turret's gun depression; they couldn't lower the guns any further as the building itself got on the way, or their safety mechanisms prevented them from going any lower and so on. it was common sense with all turrets; unlike people, they really did have their limits.

See? This wasn't the movies at all. Matteo kept his rifle at the ready and called over the comms.

"We're safe for now under the guns' blind spot, but I don't think we should sit forever sirs."

"Romero's away, Sergeant. Wouldn't it be easier if we went in through the roof than the front door?"

"Roger that, Bernhard.

"Sargn't: I'm seeing if I can find another way in ta' this place, or a good place to set a charge. I'll keep ya' posted."

"Hurry, the longer we wait the more time the Squids have to prepare."

"Sergeant Volkov, all other Marine units are presently engaged. Breach and enter the complex to achieve your objectives," Admiral Valken spoke to Phaedra.

"Affirmative Admiral," she replied.

"Sergeant, I can give fire support to those marines. It is not very far and my mortars won't be very useful once we are inside. I just need them to paint targets for me and I can do some bombardment."

"Certainly a valid suggestion, but we do not have the time; we will be entering the facility shortly."

"Roger that Wolf, we are on the move. ETA one minute. Also it seems you got yourself a chatty bunch to lead Wolf."

"Roger that, Mayhew. Also, cut the chatter people; this isn't vacation."

That was when Phaedra heard the turrets begin firing on the roof.

"Rita, help out Alrik and Samuel with those turrets."

"Do you want me to get the squad ready to blast the door, Sargn't?"

"We need that door opened yesterday! Breach it!" she said over the private channel.

"Alpha, Beta, prepare for entry!" said Phaedra, moving up to hug the wall of the building, the MPR in her hands.

Very quickly, as Phaedra spoke it felt as if she began to pick up tempo, and started barking out orders rapidly one at a time. Cedric grabbed his shotgun and took position on the opposite side of the breach from Phaedra. He waited until those on the ground had stacked up and then, firmly, he squeezed down on the detonator trigger. He moved to be the first man through (though the whole was intended to be wide enough for more than just one person to get through at a time), with his shotgun raised, and he would cut to the right as soon as he entered to "pie" the corner of the door.

He had a feeling Matteo, Phaedra, and he were about to show some greenies how to clear a room Marine-style.

Alrik would fire off a volley of ARROW Missiles from his calf hardpoint at the array of aether turrets that lined the roof, firing at them with all intent of destruction of the two PA's. Alrik would then move to try and open the hatch, trying to find some way of getting out of the turrets field of fire.

Alexandra did not have anything to say. She followed Henry closely, as he was in reality leader of the duo. Soon they were with others and Alex checked all the other marines. "Anyone injured Wolf?" she asked.

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Lisa frowned to Seargeants response. "Ma'am, it is not even kilometer. Just mark target with your sniper rifle and I can puff one quick shot to help our comrades out. We still have time til Staff Sergeant makes an entrance." She respondend, disliking hte mention of not helping other marines.

The hatch refused to budge for Alrik, even with his power armor's strength. The only result was for both he and Samuel to lose their shields and take hits before Henry Morris' shield drones arrived. The reprieve from the aether fire allowed them to check their damage.

Samuel's right mono-eye suite was damaged resulting in a reduction of capability. He also had several pieces of melted armor plating on his armor that revealed servos and wiring.

Alrik, likewise, had several pieces of his armor plating melted and revealing the armor's inner systems. His shoulder mounted Pulse Laser Array had also been destroyed by the aether. A few centimeters to the right and it would have been Alrik's head.

Henry Morris' work with the Condensed Fusion Cutter was going slowly. Whoever had made the hatch had designed it to be near impossible to open or cut apart. All around him, shield drones were absorbing aether fire from the turret cannons.

The ARROWs he fired destroyed three of the six turrets firing at them. However, as Alrik tried to interfere with the hatch, he crashed into Henry Morrison's VOID, sending both Marines sprawling onto the rooftop.

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Bernhard watched the fighting on the roof. Hadn't the Staff Sergeant just explained why they weren't making a roof entry? What were those idiots trying to do? Four Marines up there, two of whom from another squad. This was far too strange for Bernhard's comprehension.

So much so that he ignored what Rita had said. Were they concentrating on the ground level entry? Whatever. He was assigned to follow the Staff Sergeant so he would do that. HPAR in hand, Bernhard stacked up behind the door rigged with RX33.

He did catch Matteo's words but chose not to respond.
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The door exploded, first seemingly going inwards then shooting outwards as the vacuum of space sucked up the air. As Cedric, Bernhard, Phaedra and Matteo entered, they found themselves in a small, short corridor with another door in front of them, identical to the one they had just destroyed.

"Makes sense they'd have an airlock..." Bernhard commented.

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Above them, Green Squadron craft flew past heading towards other skirmishes. The four other Marine squads were still locked in combat and being pinned in place by NMX forces.

Aboard the Dauntless, Dominic Valken watched the Marines entry and sighed in exasperation at the sloppiness of the Cavaliers' entry. If they were going to go in from both entrances, they should have done it simultaneously. He would have laughed at Private Wolf's crash into Private Morrison if it wasn't so sad knowing they were his own fleet's Marines.

"To the four Marines on the roof, this is Admiral Valken. Is the entry into the complex via the roof feasible within the next five minutes? Or should I look forward to more damage to state property before you figure out what to do? Because I am not amused that the rest of the squad has entered the complex and you are falling over each other."

Sawyer stepped to rear of the squad to make sure that they were covered from any kind of sneak attack from the rear. He slung his AOP over his shoulder and pulled his AMP out to give him yet more firepower towards the rear. "May as well try to keep this place as unholed as possible" he said as he looked at the others.

As vacuum rushed in around him, Cedric led point in to the breach, but didn't even lower his shotgun as he was confronted with what appeared to be an airlock. He looked to the far door, weapon trained on it for any enemy activity as he watched it carefully. He stepped out ahead of the rest of the group and spared a glance back over his shoulder at Phaedra as the Admiral came over their radio. He opened up the private comm-line between he and the squad leader.

"What the hell does he mean by 'state property'?" He asked.

However, while he waited for an answer, he addressed the medic, and said the rest of what he had to say over squad-level comms (if only to throw off any possible suspicions of the NCO's doubts), "You're right, Greer. I should have realized that." He looked to the door again, "Sargn't: do you want Matteo to try hacking that thing or do you want to blow it open, too?"