RP: 4th Fleet (NSN) [Mission 5.5] The Digging Cavaliers

"Roger, drone out." Ice replied, moving towards the door as she released the sensor orb. It bobbed quickly across the Neko barracks, before cautiously floating up the stairway. She remembered the combat sim, and kept the drone carefully concealed by the lip of the floor and the stairway as she sent it up. For now she crouched by the doorway, keeping most of her attention on the drone and its' readout. But she was ready to move down the shaft if she was ordered to.

"Change of plans, Morris. The fuel depot that Motoyam and Holmes were going to hit is swarming with an NMX battlegroup. And they're getting reinforced by the minute. We're going to need to hit them before they hit us or the 3rd Marines. Get all of your asses into Kerr's tanks. Tell Simmons, leave that gear here. Get on the horn with Romero and transfer those drones to her. You'll meet up with Holmes, Motoyama, Hardman and Toby. Hardman will have command.

"Rochester, abort your mission and move to my position. I remember your report saying that the facility was already damaged so it is no longer strategically important.

"I'll hold the exterior until Rochester's boys get here. Go kill the bastards, Morris."

This caught Phaedra's attention. It meant a sudden, radical shift in the dispositions and strategies.

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Ice's drone floated up the stairs, scanning as it went. There were no traps placed on the stairs. However, there were multiple heat sources above them. Its video camera turned as it reached the top. Only to be grabbed by something and then violently shaken before being smashed repeatedly against the floor. From the poor imagery, the attacker was a Neko but she wasn't dressed in a traditional NMX uniform.

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Talbain's descent through the elevator shaft was uneventful. His landing was a giant crunch atop a ruined elevator and amidst numerous mangled corpses, twisted metal and broken machines. But he could also see the open tunnel in front him, blocked only by some destroyed NMX power armors. "So how'd I do, Corporal?" Laura asked.

He could see a Neko crawling on the floor. But beyond that was clouded by dust and debris kicked up by the twin crashes.

Francis was the last to leave the supply room, as he wanted to make sure that his squadmates got out safely. As soon as they were out, Francis left the room and headed out into the corridor where the rest of Cavaliers were. He got out just in time to see Laura send the elevators on a one way trip down. Francis stood there, waiting for Talbain or Phaedra to give him orders on what to do, all the while looking about for anything dangerous.

"Stones, Wreno, down the shaft," she said, motioning for them to follow Talbain. And then she heard Leon's announcement.

"A change of plans, Cavaliers. The Minutemen need to go reinforce Holmes and Motoyama's squads. The Chief is going to watch our backs while we wait for Rochester's squad."

"Daniels, Lasalle, back the Chief up outside until Rochester arrives, then follow us down the shaft," she said, pointing for effect.

"Plainsview, you are up next. Did your drone find anything?"

"Roger that, ma'am." Stones said.

The marine moved up towards the elevator shaft, watching the cut cables dangle with their tips still red hot from the plama that had cut them and looked down. He could see the two wrecks down below with his monoeye, as well as the corporal and his Agressor.

He took a step back and then jumped, his suit's Savtech already had calculated the descent for him, activating the thrusters to slow down his thrice-fast descent, landing amidst the broken elevator, ruined corpses and behind the corporal.

Having made his way to the wreckage at the bottom of the elevator Talbain took a moment to survey his surroundings. The wreckage from the elevators suggested that they were carrying enemy combatants. And the neko crawling on the floor didn't strike him as a immediate concern.

"Fifty percent good, fifty percent lucky, Romero. Everything in the elevators was enemy combatants. No POWs by the looks of it. Other than that we've got wreckage in the tunnel. Checking it now."

By this point Stones had joined the ID-SOL at the bottom of the elevator shaft. Motioning for the P3C to keep watch Talbain proceeded to advance into the hall, checking the area with his suits monoeyes active. Specifically the neko. He didn't need them to be hiding explosives.

"Neko. You are being offered a chance to surrender as a noncombatant." The sound of his voice over the suits loudspeaker overpowering the ambient noise of the tunnel. He paused in his scans to see what it's response would be.

"Yes ma'am," said Francis in response to Phaedra's orders. He turned around and boosted his way back to the door that he had come through. He called for Luke to follow him as approached the door. Francis switched out his AS4GS for his HPAR as he left the mining facility. When he had gotten outside, Francis' monoeye scanned around for both enemies and any sign of the Chief.

"Just going up now Sarge." Ice said as the drone floated up the spiral staircase. She had half a second of live video before... "Contact! And... shit. Drone's down. Looks like a fuck'n neko mistook it for a ball of yarn. We had multiple contacts up there on the thermal, at least one neko confirmed. Didn't look like an NMX uniform."

"Understood," Bastilen answered as he tromped over to the elevator shaft keeping his rifle in tow, and craning his mono-eyed head around for further threats. Things had been going swimmingly thus far. Yet, that was bound to change considering the silence they had been awarded thus far. If fishing rebels out of holes taught him anything, even the most surprised enemy was capable of having a counter-attack ready.

That sort of thinking was for the Sergeant anyway.

Further, he had been slagging behind, Stones was already at the bottom of the shaft. So, Bastilen instead made a jump into the shaft, and let gravity carry him to the bottom. Mid-air he raised his rifle in the air, while his thrusters adjusted his descent as he fell, and calculated his distance from wreckage below. At a few meters above the bottom, he fired his PPG into the ground.

THOOM!

He reduced his inertia instantly, rocking his body inside the armor, but allowing for a sudden landing. There also might've been a bit of splattering among the corpse and wreckage as well, but all of that was worth a quick way down, to Bastilen at least.

"Damn." spat Bastilen, as he got up from one knee, "I can tell this model isn't designed for hot drops."

At least the clearing of the bottom floor went fine, thought Stan as he followed Phaedra out of the room. He found himself curious as to what, exactly, was up there, but the ID-SOL knew that it wasn't for him to find out. Keeping close by, the P3C kept a steady scan of the area around them, intent on avoiding a rerun of the lack of situational awareness he had displayed outside.

Speaking of 'outside', his thoughts now turned to how the Minutemen were faring. Hopefully things were going smoothly for them, even if things hardly ever seemed that simple. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do to help them - all he could do was do his job to the best of his ability.

Though he would have liked to stay with the squad to be in the front lines, Luke was relieved he was able to leave the mining area for a moment. He didn't like being so confined. Taking out his AS4GS, he made his way out of the mining facility with Francis. When he was out, he checked the area with his monoeye for any enemies.

"Roger that," replied Phaedra to Ice.

"Plainsview, Brandt, follow me down the shaft. Capturing the facility is priority one. We can deal with that room later."

"Talbain, more of us are coming down. Move out!"

With that Phaedra hopped down into the mineshaft, using her thrusters to slow her descent. She was careful to direct herself away from her squadmates at the bottom to avoid any collisions.

"Yes ma'am." Ice said after a second. Her urchin senses told her not to leave a guard between her and the exit. But then, she was still more urchin than soldier. The Sergeant probably knew better than she did about this sort of thing.

"Ma'am, should we let the Minutemen know about the guests in the attic?" She asked, glancing back towards the neko barracks as she followed the squad down the shaft, avoiding the twisted wreckage that Romero had dropped to the bottom of the shaft. She ignored the neko's oozing gently out of the remains of the elevator car, advancing to take cover behind a tunnel support and bring her AS4 to bear down the dark maw of the mine.

Laura bounced happily outside, skipping, SKIPPING in her VOID to join Chief Leon Santiago. She was the only one who was going to control the shield drone.

"It don't matter, Corporal. Dead squids and cats means I did good!"

She was followed by Luke and Francis. "Hey, Chiefy. How's the gut?" she asked Leon.

"Hurts like hell, Romero. Thanks for asking," was the reply from the Chief as he stood next to the shield drone controller thingy.

Laura moved over to inspect the machine.

"Daniels, Lasalle, get to checking the perimeter for any underground tunnels. I don't want any surprises," Leon ordered Luke and Francis without even turning to face them. He continued to stand facing one direction, with his HPAR ready.

Laura switched to a private channel, "I got some Clem if you want to turn off the pain, Chief." He was usually less grumpy and more jokey. Maybe he really wasn't fit enough to come on the mission? Her suggestion was met by silence.

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Underground

The crawling Neko turned slightly, as if she had heard something but didn't know what. Talbain could see that her ears were bleeding and her eyes seemed focused on nothing. She had no weapon, despite her NMX uniform.

Labyrinthine tunnels, lined with metal sheet walls, stretched out beyond her. The dust was starting to settle. And no other NMX troops presented themselves.

Talbain advanced enough into the tunnel to be on the far side of the crawling neko standing in it's path and posting security down the tunnel. At this point it could be an asset and he intended to make sure it was protected if more enemy troops came down the way. As for Romero's comment that irked the ID-SOL considerably, but he would have to come back to it.

"One enemy noncombatant and a mess of tunnels." Talbain had no interest in having to stumble along the tunnels, but that's where the asset came in. "Bastilen, I have a challenge for you. Can you attempt to contact the neko using wireless communications? It should have a way to listen to distress frequencies if nothing else."

"The rest of us down here are to provide cover from the tunnel approaches."

"Yes, ma'am." Stan made one last sweep of the corridor - it didn't hurt to make sure - before following Plainsview and Volkov, firing his thrusters early to ensure that he wouldn't land at the bottom of the shaft too hard (or, for that matter, land accidentally on one of his fellow Marines).

Once he touched down, he moved to an appropriate spot of cover and kept an ear out for updated orders, occasionally looking around himself (and especially upward) in case the enemy made an unwelcome appearance. You needed to keep your head on a swivel, to say the least.

"Wireless Communications?" asked Bastilen with a curious chime in his tone. Communicating wirelessly with a Neko? There weren't many devices other than other Nekos and Yamataians that could do that. The encryption in those fuzzy eared heads were tighter than Abjection's doors. A single hacker couldn't just pry it open... Was Talbain really asking him to do something so difficult? If so, he was rather flattered, but if not... Wait... Of course! Talbain was obviously just being figurative.

"Oooooh!" spoke Bastilen, starting to nod his head and point at his superior enlisted, slinging over his HPAR to his shoulder, "Wireless Communications, I gotcha."

The private stormed over to the wounded, dazed Neko, and grabbed her jaw by with his free-hand. With his thumb, he pressed into her cheek to wedge her mouth open. Then, with no small amount of force, he pushed the barrel of his LSP into her mouth.

"Alright, Cat. You've got ten seconds to wire all the topographical and architectural data of this area from that A.I. you're connected to. That, and report all current chatter you can pick up."

There. Wireless Communications.

Wulfe moved forward and out of, what little remained of, the elevator.
AS4GS pointed down the hallway while he covered the approach from the rest of the squad.

"Could those be the only enemies down here?" He asked in the squad channel.

It somewhat set him on edge that no one had come to check the elevator, but the place was empty, and made him think at someone or something might show up any minute from the other end of the halway to check it.

"She can't hear you, you know." Ice pointed out to Bastilen as she kept her shotgun pointed down the tunnel. Even she knew that bleeding from the ears likely meant ruptured ear drums. Nekos weren't that different from other biologicals.

"You got it, sir" Francis replied to the Chief. He raised his HPAR, set his monoeye on a scan, and signaled for Luke to follow along. He moved out to the perimeter of the facility and began to walk slowly, keeping his head on a swivel and looking for anything that seemed out of place. Francis kept his finger on the trigger as he continued his sweep. Hopefully, nothing would happen and the two could return to the rest of the Cavaliers.