RP: NSS Acadia [Mission 4]: Heads of the Beast

"Sir."

The Chief sat down next to Fian, coughing to clear the phlegm from his throat. Finishing up a piece of toasted bread and juggling the twin vices of smoking a cigarette and sipping spiked coffee, the Chief just kinda sat there, allowing a few awkward seconds to pass.

"...About the recruits. Is there gonna be problems with my ordering them to stab knives in the deck?"

"Hey I'm not picky." Kajiim said as he passed his meatball pudding to Alex since she likes it so much and nodding a hello to Sam.

After finishing his eggs and drinking some coffee Kajiim allowed a few seconds to pass before openly asking amongst all the privates, "So does anyone know why we're all here at the same time??" Kajiim looked around the table for any signs of info taking another drink of his coffee.

"Yeah, sure you're not." Jack once again gave Kajiim a smile.

As Kajiim posed his question, Jack visibly paused to consider it. It did seem odd that they would so suddenly be breaking the normal routine for something like this. The hangar bay had been restricted to the ship's marines, the 'special training' received by the green-horns like Jack had been canceled, and now every single squad of Marines was being called in to the chow hall at one time. Going over any minute possibility, Jack quickly narrowed it down to the two most likely ones.

A: there was an announcement.

B: they were about to be flung in to hell, as per normal marine mission standards.

"Probably getting sent out on a mission." Jack offered.

"...About the recruits. Is there gonna be problems with my ordering them to stab knives in the deck?"

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"Oh don't worry about it." Fian Vel Steyr waved off his second in command. "Nothing as serious as say... A routine hard landing from a shuttle. It's being fixed right now as we speak."

"So does anyone know why we're all here at the same time??"

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The MC soberly raised his hand and then put it down. "The ship is currently patrolling the Colonial Expanse, considering we've been in the hotzone since day one, High Command has been nice enough give us something cushy while we bring the kids up to speed." Here he nodded towards the general direction of the four greenhorns. "In the meantime NAM has sent a team of Repre- Ahhh."

Even if the marines weren't knowledgeable to figure out what the word the MC didn't finish implied, Fian had certainly slipped something. He quickly finished the sentence. "I mean, mechanics to overhaul and upgrade our Power Armors." In a displacement activity, the black haired Nepleslian took a sip of SPEED. "They've got all their specialized gear set up downstairs so I don't want any of you guys interrupting them."

The MC brought out and consulted a Datapad. "We are looking at underslung F/UMD launchers under all HPARs, HPAR compatibility for all ELEMENT-type PAs, and official FIRE1 Plasma Artillery Launcher compatibility for M9 Aggressors. Also, Techies and Medics take note, MED and TEK support for M8 Hostiles." He then tapped the screen once. "They've also sent me unofficial proposals to attach SSP-01as on the underside of NIGHT1 MPRs so if need be both weapons can be fired at once. Snipers, Yes-No?"

The Datapad bleeped, Fian read the message impassively. "They are also taking suggestions for further modifications. I know P3Cs are not supposed to carry any non-official mods, but you can suggest them now and mount them later when you move up the ladder."

Sam nodded in return to the two new recruits before her eyes swept over to Fian, who was giving a small speech, as he was wont to do. She brightened somewhat as he mentioned adding additional munitions to the NIGHT armors, and even more as he asked the snipers themselves for approval.

"Hell yes, sir," she replied cheerfully. "More guns!"

Suku sat comfortably at a rather bare table at the edge of the room. As usual she seemed to carry out her meal in solace away from the other Marines. As a doctor, and navy personnel, it probably shouldn't have seemed unusual, with the exception that she also kept her distance from navy personnel as well. When she caught sight of Ran, she was reminded of what Sam had told her a few days ago. It was an appointment that needed to be taken care of, and luckily the Chief was due for an appointment. So, she pulled out her DataJockey and composed a message to the Chief.

Hey, Shithead.

You're due for your cybernetic attachment after breakfast, so don't fuck around too long.

Nonsincerely,
Suku

P.S: There's something I need to talk to you about, so we'll be speaking after/during the operation.

P.S.S: If you're late, I'm going to skip out on the painkillers.

P.S.S.S: I fucking mean it.

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When Viktor Kingston made his way into the mess hall, he scanned for Sean Masson; he wanted to talk about a possible rematch in the future. He wasn't present, however, so Kingston got himself one of those wonderfully random rations before taking a seat in time to hear MC Vel Steyr's explanation starting with, "...mechanics to overhaul and upgrade..."

Inside the Nepleslian War Ration the Private First Class found a boneless breaded spicy chicken breast, F***ING GREEN BEANS (Hot DAMN!), a Kennewessian cigar and THRUST protein bodybuilding soda along with the other usual items. Lastly was a small jerry can of transmission/brake fluid, which he simply left sitting on the table, unmindful of its existence. You really couldn't expect a much better pull than this. He finished the chicken and green beans by the time the Master Chief was asking for suggestions, and tucked away the cigar for a later date.

"The VOID is a rather handy all-around support craft, but it'd be nice if they could find a way to give it greater capabilities for long range combat. Otherwise, I have nothing to add. Sounds great." He didn't sound particularly elated, but his mind was elsewhere.

Oh! MED! That will be great. It will make any attempt to do her job much more easier. Now she only needs a bag for heads of downed marine and everything will be just peachy. But that was not something she would pull out here. It was depressing and bad for morale. Also MC could just tell her to sod off. Maybe she will ask later. Or she can ask Suku what would she use. There is no time to remove spider in battle after all.

And HPAR with grenade launcher. That is nice upgrade. Those rippers withstood HPAR, but now they will have it harder. Alex wondered if there will be any AP grenades issued with it. But standart HE should be enough.

Sean made his way to the mess, just barely catching the MC's explanation, though he didn't pay attention to the slip of the tongue. He noticed Kingston looking around from behind him, and followed him to a seat, not paying much attention to what exactly he got in terms of food. He thought about possibilities for a possible upgrade to his Hostile while he was eating. He offered an idea of his own. "How about a possible melee upgrade for an Aggressor or Hostile? Nothing big, but something small as a counter for Rippers in close."

Chad sat there and listened with nothing to add............

Russel heard the slip up made by his squad leader but paid it no mind, simply eating and sipping at a cup of coffee while the Chief talked, and listening to the upgrades that were being made to the armors.

The attachment of MED systems would prove helpful for Jack when he went out in to the field. He would be provided with what was essentially a small field hospital to stabalize the wounded, and then be able to get them on the nearest ride out of the fighting, or just back in to the fighting if possible. A stretcher, a set of defibrillators, a surgical laser, a medical kit, a small assortment of various drugs, and a stretcher for any marines Jack might have to move. It would definitely make Jack's job a whole lot easier when treating somebody outside of a Drop Triage.

Besides that, the HPARs were getting underslung grenade launchers. They were probably going to seriously mess up the Mishu with those. Then the Chief made an offer to the green-horns like Jack about possible unofficial modifications that they might be allowed to mount on their armors later if they suggested them now. Jack, being a medic, couldn't think of much else besides the MED attachment ot improve his armor at the moment.

"Well, if we added a high output flamethrower mounted somewhere on the the wrist then that would allow us to smoke out any hiding enemies from say dense jungle, and in addition," Kajiim drinks some coffee, "when reduced to hand to hand we would have an ace up our sleeves, at least for those with the modification." Kajiim thought out loud to himself about his HOSTILE.

"Done and done." The MC intoned as he keyed in the requests and sent it on its way. "Is this all? I heard these guys are really good at jury rigging things, you might not have another opportunity like this in the near future."

In the meantime, a channel surfing caretaker had settled down to a live volu-cast of the latest senatorial debate. Figures and visages of Admiral Davis, Patrino Roachmere, Melchoir Vel Steyr, Haytham Quezzil and Drake Regneir who were the only parties who had spoken so far dominated the screentime. The 'action' was played out by volumetric representations of the senators projected onto the stage.

"Oh, look who that is." Fian mumbled to himself.

"I'd suggest building something like the hypolathe in to the Hostile but I don't think that could work." Jack suggested idly "Just something in the hand or arm area that would either make a place to keep one or to have it actually built in."

It was at that moment when the senatorial debate appeared on the screen. Jack had seen almost none of these in his time during training but for the sake of necessity he had been taught how the senate was supposed to operate and other such business. He watched the displays appear intently, setting his food aside, and leaning forward with his hands to support his chin as the debate was broadcast. It was obvious what it was about, they all were arguing over whether or not to move the capital away from it's current residence to another planet.

Jack honestly didn't know who to side with: the old and defiant like Senator Roachmere or the 'new age' of the senate like Senator Regnier, Senator Haytham, and Senator Melchoir. Either way it seemed that Senator Roachmere was in the minority amongst the senators who had currently spoken on the issue. Jack continued to watch intently.

"Hmm..." Kajiim sipped his coffee quietly as he watched the proceedings. "I think the capital should be moved." Kajiim commented. "It's vulnerable where it stands and the Colonies offer a safe haven from the front to conduct the empire." Kajiim being a colonial was slightly biased in his thinking, "And the boosted economies from the Colonies could possbily increase the production of arms to fight back." Kajiim said before going back to drinking his coffee.

This is what Chad had been waiting for. Nothing so far in any conversation possesed any relevence, but this debate would change everything. Hell, his brother & co. would have to pick up and plant base out in the colonies with this. These were some hellish kinda politics. Chad then looked over at his roomie Kajiim, " And what about the Yamatians? If Nepleslia falls to the NMX man, they would have a straight shot at the center of all space lanes. They could easily then cut Elyasia from the main portion of there Empire, and then our colonies wouldn't have anything to hide behind. The Yamatians are already divided by space, this would only make it worse." He said this with relative sterness, which was something he wasn't used to doing.

Next he looked at the MC and spoke his peice, "Chief Vel Styer, if possible, could you get them to detach the forearm from the elbow on a AIR-R, and then ask them to replace it with a .50cal 5-barrel chaingun? Then on the shoulders and shins, place a hail-fire missile box on each. In the chest, where the top two anti-missle laser deals are, leave the bottom ones, but replace the top two with small .455 vulcan machine guns." He finished and took a breath, " I know its a lot, but if these are placed on the Armor, you won't need anyone but me for air support in the entire squad." He said this looking at the MC knowing he was giving up a lot of mobility for even more firepower. But Chad knew he was right and if this was given, he could take down more squidies than any other AIR pilot before him.

Alex nod a little watching the holo. She had not interest in polictics and she didn't udnerstand them. She was kinda confused with everything. At first moving capitol to colonies seemerd like retreating, but when it was said that or fleets will guard old worlds as they were until now she was not that sure. She didn't understood economics adn such.

After a minute of watching it bored her and she was thinking about something else. One of the politican's surnames was Vel Steyr and Alex wondered if he is family with MC.

She then looked at MC and listen to what Squidgleff had to say. Her eyes got wide open when she heard about all that stuff he ordered for himself. First he took AIR and now he wants it to make into gun-platform. "I would say it would be easier to put that stuff on Aggro," she said out loud. She was deep in though and didn't notice she actually said that. "Also I am not sure if it will ber very effective. He would very expensive sitting duck with no mobility." She ended her chain of though.

But by that time she something of hers on mind, but she was going to wait for MC to answer Chad. But she believed there is no chance he will get any of it.

Responding to Chad, "They're not gonna just leave the old empire defenseless thats the front, but you can't run the empire effectivly from the frontlines.. you need to have a wider perspective. The boost to the colonial economies can increase our military production capacity then they could hold the front at the very least, without jeopordizing the command structure."

Sighing, Kajiim continues, "Look if the capital stays and we lose it then we fall, we wouldn't be able to reorganize to counter."

The MC had to stifle a laugh and an urge to hit Chad over the head out of incredulity, he had no idea where to begin breaking down the greenhorn's request. "Firstly, the AIR-R only has a pair of Twin Scalar Arrays, those two pairs of things you are talking about above and below the suit are actually P/p rods. If you're going to remove those, then you might as well stick to a Hostile."

Fian realized that this was most probably because the Training Camps have stopped using the old ELEMENT-Series suits now that the MALEVOLENT-Series is now standard. "Secondly, your fifty-cal chaingun is most likely going to be a Solid-Ammo Zen-Arms Type 1 which is inferior to our Semi-Plasmic HPARs. I don't know which elbow are you going to give up or both, but are you willing to lose the finger manipulators, the Forearm Mass Driver and/or Push/Pull Guard for that?"

"Thirdly, contrary to its name, AIR-Types are better closer to the ground or other surfaces than flying through the air. There is no cover in the air, and if there is no cover, you're better off using an M-Type."

"Fourthly, have you seen how pac-"

"I have already ordered the NSS Acadia to make way here before we scheduled this debate."

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Fian froze in terror at the mention of the ship. Normally it would have been an absolute honor to be mentioned and in service to the Senate, the supreme authority of the Nepleslian Empire. Except this time there was one fatal flaw...

... They were nowhere near the coreworlds. Admiral Davis's order never reached them and nobody realized it. Everything since Golding Incident was clicking into place. Is this the cumulation of the Mishhu's efforts at infiltrating the Nepleslian military machine? Is this why the squids were so desperate to capture a Hray-Class vessel?

... Were they successful on both counts, and now they have an 'NSS Acadia' hovering over the Senate, like a Sword of Damocles?

*WAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOONNNN*

Alarm klaxons rang throughout the ship, not just the kind that called the marines to battle stations, but also the kind telling them to brace for an extra long, extra fast and extra dangerous Hyperpulse jump. The electronic howl was punctuated by the sounds of chairs and benches being pushed backwards.

"THIS IS CAPTAIN PETERS, MASTER CHIEF FIAN VEL STEYR, REPORT TO THE BRIDGE IMMEDIATELY"

Fian, now barely capable of keeping his composure over the implications, of the immediate danger to the entire senate and by implication the entire empire, and also the immediate danger to his flesh and blood brother, things that he had sworn to do when he joined the army. He grabbed Chief Ran by the shoulder with a shaky hand.

"C-Chief! Get everyone suited up in the Hangar Bay IMMEDIATELY. Tell the NAM Reps in there to sod off and get out of the way. I have to see the Captain!"

"Motherfucker!" The Chief tossed his spiked coffee to the ground and stood up immediately, putting his body in the doorway leading to the Bay. "Suit the fuck up everyone! Hurry your asses there but make sure you don't trample any motherfucker! FUCKING MOVE, DOUBLE PLUS FAST."

Heeding his own advice, the Chief sprinted off down to the Hangar Bay, tackling a NAM Representative who failed to clear the doorway for him. "I need a fuckin' Hostile right now! We're getting ready to kill some fucking sq-" The Chief froze, looking at what appeared to be a sea of armors, most of them in varying states of disassembly.

"What is this fucking shit?! Why are all of these suits disassembled? WHY ARE YOU CARTING THESE PERSONAL WEAPONS AND ARMOR AROUND. WHY ARE YOU HANDING ME BODY ARMOR AND NOT A HOSTILE." The Chief screamed at a nearby worker, who had thrust his personal Styrling CQB Armor into his arms.

"We're fucking working on it, asshole! You guys will just have to fucking cowboy up and deal with it! Fuck!"

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The worker stormed away, as several others started wheeling out several crates, filled with weapons and ammunition, as well as two rather large crates with "STYRLING" marked in large block letters, filled with Styrling-produced weapons and body armors that the Quartermasters mercifully bought and stockpiled a few missions back.

"Shit. Fuckin' bullshit, man." The Chief grumbled, pulling out a CQBS-A2, loading up 5 magazines with slugs, hooking the shotgun to his armor. A UCK-M01A went to the left side of his waist, secured in place behind the NAM RPB, its grip facing outwards.

What worried him the most was a unopened crate, marked "PANZERFAUST" in block lettering. "Holy shit." Was his only reaction, and with him fully geared, the Chief simply stood there and motioned for everyone with experience in heavy weapons to grab a Panzerfaust. "Bring a shitton of grenades too, guys!" The Chief swore, feeling a small amount of perspiration gather at his neck collar from the urgency of it all.