RP: 4th Fleet (NSN) [Mission 5.51] The Watchful Minutemen

Blake walked with Noone towards the objective point. He looked at her and said," You keep your eyes right, and I'll keep mine left, ok?" He stared at his sister marine for a moment, and, quite resolutely, said," Hey sis, if I go down over there I want you to forget about me and get your ass back to Cpl. Morris. If you can take some of the 3rd Marine guys with you that's fine, but save yourself first, ok?"

The two marines continued to head to the ever present marker on their maps. Blake kept looking at his helmet display, hoping in the back of his mind that Cpl. Morris would recall Noone and him back to the rest of the Minutemen. He could tell they were getting close to the 3rd Marine boys. " Hey, get ready sis we're almost at the objective, sis. Keep you're eyes open and your rifle up. Let's do this quick, sis I wanna be home before they sound chow."

Having decided that staying under the radar near the rear of the squad and out of the sights of the corporal after the brief exchange on the ship before they started the mission, Aleksei thundered along at the rear in his Aggressor armor. Activating his snakeskin and gripping his AMP continuously monitoring the area.

'Well then. New to the squad and it seems they want my blood. Could be worse I suppose.' the rookie marine thought to himself as he dropped his massive frame behind one of the mining vehicles, his eyes peeled for some sort of trouble. The sudden need to redeem himself for the actions past filled his mind.

"Sir. Requesting permission to assist Noone and Blake with the rendezvous of the 3rd."


(Edit for Aggressor loadout:

Primary: NAM Assault Mass Repeater AMP-01a

Standard secondary weapons

Left Rack: BOLTs

Right Rack: BOLTs)

"Looks like a couple of Rippers, some smaller armors, cat infantry, and squids. Alrighty, Greenbeans, turn to heading 0-8-0. Green Six and Seven, show those mud puppies why it's always a healthy thing to eat their vegetables."

The squadron of fifty FA4s banked to their right as two broke off to make a bombing run. Two quartets of externally mounted 500kg bombs fell towards the NMX platoon shadowing the 3rd Fleet Marines.

Each bomb contained plastic explosives that would be detonated on impact. A single one was sufficient to severely damage a shielded power armor. Eight of them would be more than enough to put the platoon, lacking any cover, into disarray.

The pilots of the infamous Green Six and Seven felt pleased with their work, listening to the violent detonations of their munitions.

"Green Squadron, on our way out. Looks like we got some. Spitfire Wing will have a couple birds on station in twenty. Have fun, mud pups!"

------------------------

As Blake and Nina got closer, they could make out a a trio of Nepleslian armors. Two Hostiles supporting a third in the middle.

Henry was watching the explosions from a distance. All the responsibility of the pilot and his payloads falling from the sky and telling the Mishhuvurthyar exactly what Nepleslia thought of them. He had to blink beneath the Monoeye a couple of times before the image adjusted for brightness. "Beautiful." He mumbled. Sometimes some things just never got old no matter how long you were in the service. If you didn't stop to savour them once in a while your mind dry out and blow away in the wind - at least that was the case according to Henry.

"Roger that." Henry replied to the Green Squadron commander as he looked over to Lisa. "Any progress on the Drone Recharge station?" He didn't look at her, he just looked through her Monoeye to see what she was up to. "Need me to come over and help while there's calm, or would you rather I stream some instructional vids your way?"

He then made a quick call to the away party: "Blake, Noone, what's the status on our friendlies?"

For everyone else, this just seemed to be the inevitable calm before the storm. There was no overt threat just yet, and the patrol had to get started as soon as Blake, Noone and the friendlies were back.

"Corporal Morris! We've got multiple NMX positions surrounding the facility! Get the Minutemen over here now!" said Phaedra into the comm.

Henry's helmet could be seen snapping to action in an instant, he put a finger to his head and replied: "Phae, describe the number of hostiles and we'll be there." He broadcasted Phaedra's original message to the others to get an idea of what was going on. It seemed a bit strange on the second playthrough.

"Ladies, Gents we're up. Lisa, bring the device with you and stash it somewhere safe until the dust settles. Aubrey, pick up your guns go - hip fire if necessary. Noone, Blake, we're heading towards the facility - bring the newbies there and prepare to fight. Raikowski, stay back for the newbies since they might need medical attention - everyone else - get ready to follow my lead."

The thrusters on his armour got to work and flared up at triple their usual operation - the sort of thrust pulled here would probably take him into the stratosphere within a few minutes - but it was lifting his frame just six feet off of the ground thanks to the intense gravity. He had his LPA out and forward, anticipating trouble. A 4 drone wall of shield drones appeared to cover the Minutemen's advance under safety.

Of course, he'd start moving when Phaedra gave him a reply, because something just seemed a bit fishy about the whole affair.

Lisa was sitting on the ground making sure cables were attached to transformer properly. The transformer had to make sure not too much power would go into charging-station and damage the bots. Or not enough so they would not recharge. For that there needed to be two things. Cables had to attached well to it, and software had to run top-notch and they did not even start with software yet. Lisa won't dare attaching the reactor to the recharger, until the software will be done.

When Henry called on her and others she just shouted. "FUCK!" And put the half-assembled machine into the box with rest of the spare parts. "Geez were here for two minutes and they are already crying for help." Lisa said, taking safety off her HPAR, setting it to full auto, while she took the box in her other hand. Time to see how well could one shoot from HPAR one-handed.

Lisa liked having information about her surroundings so she set off her observation probe, sending it above to get some info of what they will go against. "I am ready to fire some mortars Hen- Corporal!" Lisa said into comms.

Sawyer got back out of his stabilized position, cursing at how the first squad seemed to consistently run into trouble even considering how minimal an amount of time had passed since initial landing. "Roger that Corporal, I'm ready to move when we need to" he commed as he hefted his AOP.

Max couldn't believe the situation he had gotten himself into. Military life was turning out to be everything that he had expected it to be. His hostile armor was great and his HPAR was much better than anything he had ever used on the force. And now he was watching fighters blow shit up! Being a marine was great!

Or so he thought. Maybe he enjoyed his new job a bit too much... As he looked back and Jim bleeding on the ground, he was reminded that war wasn't all about explosions. People died. Now there was the possibility that Jim could die because of Max's gungho nature. Max tried to block out the guilt of trying running ahead of the rest of the squad trying to take this position. It was a hell of a firefight and now Jim was wounded. Not the best start, but this was war.

As the smoke cleared, Max turned to see contacts on his HUD. They registered friendly and he hailed them over to his position.

"Hello, PFC 3rd Class Max Carter of the 3rd Marine Unit, 23rd Infantry Division. These are my squad mates, Maggie Meyers and Jim Calypto. My comrade Jim is injured can you assist?"

Asked Max, hoping that these new arrivals would have a medic in their squad.

"If you could help my teammate, I'd be happy to assist you in taking your objective. We got cut off from our squad I'm itching to get back into the fight" said Max with a level of enthusiasm typical in new recruits. He was ready for a fight and he hoped that he would get one.

No answer was enough of an answer for the young marine as he heard the order to move. Letting the barrels of his AMP give a spin to make sure it was in working order before moving out of his crouch to fall in behind the rest of the squad. Quickly checking the sides through the monoeyes on each shoulder before focusing back to the front.

Hearing the message from the Cavaliers squad leader, he quirked an eyebrow. 'Seems serious.' came the thought from the back of his mind, though he said nothing over the comms. 'Follow orders, do what you're trained to, live to fight another day.' came the addition from his mind.

"That was quick. I suppose even long range scans of the enemy positions were too much to ask." Claire was sure there was some sort of jammer preventing it, but once again it didn't add up in a point in favor for her captain. Regardless of all that, the call for help went out. Keeping her kegbuster on her shoulder at the ready, her suit's AI brought up the adjustment for thruster movement with the planet's gravity. She kicked the boost into high gear and followed Henry quickly with a short 'Yes sir.'

In the back of her head, she mused that if the distress call was out, they wouldn't likely be able to get into defensive positions before they engaged. She hoped the enemy wouldn't be able to move away from a kegbuster shot when they first engaged, hopefully even allowing her teammates to find cover by the distraction.

The Minutemen marched across the red dirt ground, hurriedly rushing to the aid of their comrades. Once they arrived, however, it was to find there were Neko bodies littering the ground and two burnt out AA turrets. All the Cavaliers had, by now, entered the facility.

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Max, Maggie and the unconscious Jim were easily visible to Matthew and Nina. And on their sensors, it was plainly visible to see a large platoon of unidentified units.

- ‘Roger that corporal.’

Zyv confirmed his new orders and boosted to join up with Matthew and Nina. With the view he had he realized he had to actually talk a bit more as he contacted Morris.

- ‘Corporal? Rakowski here. Sensors are picking up a platoon strength unidentified unit.’

That sent he made sure the channel was private and contacted the two marines.

- ‘Noone, if you could keep an eye out for any other movement I’d be obliged. Blake, keep an eye on these three muppets. With my luck they’ll turn out to be zombies, deserters or something else planning to shoot me in the back.’

Still moving towards the three marines who had now identified themselves as being part of the third fleet Zyv switched channels to contact them.

- ‘I’m moving up to take a look at your friend. First, tell me how he was injured. After that you can tell me in more detail why you aren’t with your unit.’

By that moment he was already with them and making his own assessment of the wounded marines state.

Sawyer would post himself up, activating his snakeskin camo system and taking a watchful eye with his AOP. "Corporal, I am in position, I'm ready to provide fire on whatever target you designate" he commed to Henry. He knew if a large force was inbound the team would need all the firesupport that he could provide.

Rather unsure what to do with himself, Aleksei observed the carnage around him before hearing the bit about an enemy platoon being inbound. Looking around him, he found what he hoped would be some decent cover, taking a knee behind it with his AMP up and watching his sectors.

'High ground would be preferable with the amount of fire this pig spits. Can't always get what we want though.' he thought before quickly making sure the PCT's on each shoulder were operational. Satisfied they were, he waited.

Max was a bit surprised when Private Rakowski bounded toward them firing questions. He thought the inquiries seemed a little serious, especially the part about them getting separated from their squad. But he supposed it made sense from their perspective.

He looked down at the scorch marks on Jim's armor. He thought it was pretty obvious what happened, but he figured he might as well tell the Private anyway. "Well sir, Jim here was shot by the enemy. One of their mortars landed not too far from him on his left side. His shield took most of the hit but he did take some minor damage to his armor. It definitely threw him for a loop. He's been out ever since."

Max stopped and glanced at Maggie before turning back to the Private who was examining Jim. "As for how we got separated from our squad, well we were on point scouting this area ahead of the main group. I wanted to get eyes on target so we could report back to our squad leader. However we got ambushed by those NMX guys the fly boys just blasted."

Max stopped and looked up at the smoldering remains of the NMX troopers to his front.

"We tried to call for help from our main squad, but no one answered. I don't know what happened to them so we hunkered down and held our ground, hoping someone would show up. Luckily fleet did and so did you. So here we are Corporal. Ready to get back into the fight if you could help us take care of Jim here."

Max stopped again to see if Maggie had anything to add or if the Private was going to give them new orders since the troopers couldn't get a hold of their main squad and were cut off on a very hostile planet.

Overhead, the roar of turbine engines momentarily drowned out everyone's words. Ten K4 hover tanks circled into two separate formations before dropping to the ground. One troop zoomed away from the Marines.

The other formation moved close to Zyv and his group. "Private Rakowski, who are these people?" the ominous interrogative voice of Chief Leon Santiago demanded. From where he stood, in his hastily-fixed Hostile, he read the names of the Marines from their IFF. Rakowski, Noone and Blake. The Drei AI pinged the 3rd Marines' Precipice AI and received their identities right away.

Leon looked at Private Daniels, Corporal Kerr's driver, seated in front of him. The tank jockey, not in armor, looked back at his towering superior officer without a word. The vehicle's commander, Corporal Tim Kerr, sat in the turret. "Guns are loaded and aimed, sir. Waiting for your orders," the young tank commander told Leon.

These were former 3rd Fleet Marines, tankers from the 242nd Heavy Division. Leon had hoped that they might know the Marines ahead of them. But neither had shown any recognition of the names as they flashed on their screens.

Five 80mm cannons, loaded and primed, were pointed at Zyv at the others. "Corporal Morris, confirm with me who you deployed to investigate the wayward Marines," Leon transmitted over a private line to Henry.

"I sent Private Zyv Raikowski, Private Matt Blake and Private Nina Noone, Chief." Henry replied curtly and with confidence to his superior. He gave the group a ping over their IFF's from Henry to doubly confirm that they were the ones he was referring to. "Don't shoot them or the 3rd Fleet Marines - that decision rests with me if they misbehave. Now piss off."

There was some venom in the back of his throat that had been simmering quietly against Santiago. All bark and biting the wrong places. He seemed to be playing favourites too - giving Phaedra more attention than the other marines. There was a time and a place for the sort of relationship they were having and this war simply was not the right time.

Discarding the thought now that it was off his chest, he then sent a message to the three amigos that were out and about. "Alright kids, get your asses back here before the Chief forgets who you are again. Get them to set their IFF's to this frequency, and to listen and speak on these channels."

For now, Henry touched down with the others and was waiting for the calm before the storm. Snakeskin was activated and he was in position. The fingers on his left hand drummed against the grip in anticipation as he moved from place to place on patrol with the others to keep the Snakeskin effective. His monoeyes were on passive mode, and his main concern was to make sure nothing was trying to sneak in to backstab the Cavaliers.

Winters maneuvered behind the frontline grunts, ready to support with a Kegbuster rocket on any groups or enemies behind cover when they showed up. She was fairly sure it was a question of when and not if, as their attack had surely gotten the attention of nearby forces and garrisons. She prayed that her superiors had enough sense to screen their attack with several others so they weren't the target of many reinforcement groups.

Her snakeskin activated, she looked over at Henry, wondering what sort of information he was receiving from command. When he passed by she gave him a nod to let him know she was prepped and ready for the attack, whenever it came.

Lisa followed Henry to the compound only to find... nothing. Just AA towers and few dead nekoes. An enemy single Aggressor could take out, while sipping tea. Why the hell should they hurry up so much in here when Cavaliers got inside without any trouble. Lisa sighed and found herself a nice hidey-hole. A small crater was perfect. She set her box there.

"Corporal, I will return to building the a recharger." She said and sat down, opening the box and taking her multitool to keep working. "Also I am transferring you the control over those extra shield-drones. They are fully charged so you can set them up. Then I need your help on this. I can do hardware part, but not software."

She took the semi, created recharger and went back to work. She activated one of her drones and checked the status of her armour to see how much juice it was getting during the recharging. She then set the transformer to allow that much juice through, but not anymore. Now it was time for electricity meter. Transfromer was hooked up to the reactor.

Lisa activated the reactor and then attached the electrometer to the transformer to check if the numbers were right. According to what she measured she fixed the transformer. She still needed the software though. That was supposed to go to spare-datajocked she had, which she planned to hook up with transformer. Sure she could just make it on/off, but she would rather have datajockey attached to it so she could watch the condition of reactor and the drones.