RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 5] The Secret Battlefront

[Wes]

The sky wash was awash and alight with particle weapon blasts from the larger Mishhuvurthyar ships. Eucharis and Starling fired on the carrier as it spewed out battle pods and power armors by the hundreds. Another direct hit, but its shields held. The ship jolted suddenly as enemy fire slammed into the main sensor dish, causing it to explode into shards. More hits peppered the ship's underside as it passed over the enemy to make another attack run. There was some damage, mostly to miscellaneous systems on on the lowest deck.

Meanwhile, the two Mishhu gunships concentrated their fire on the Aurora, managing to hit it repeatedly in the wardroom area. The damage looked deep, probably down to the recreation room level. One of the enemy gunships, however, paid the price, exploding in a huge fireball as the Aurora's wingman, the Nadeshiko, exacted vengeance. The remaining Xianthrafruglu spun around to fire, but the Nadeshiko slammed into the partially charge main cannon, losing its own main weapon in the process. Both ships spun out of control for a moment.

Hanako got the spinning enemy in sight and vaporized it with a main cannon blast. The Eucharis fired all weapons as it then strafed the large carrier again, followed by Starling. The second carrier fired everything it had, pummeling the two ships as well as the other SMX carrier.

Eucharis shook violently as it took hits on the starboard side. Sparks flew on the bridge and several small fires broke out on the ship.

"Just the two big ones remaining," Hanako said to herself. The Eucharis pushed through the clouds of enemy drones, power armors, and battle pods and back out into open space, moving closer to the planet. The shields were partially offline, making it a bumpy ride.

"Misaki, scans of the planet show many escape pod signatures, as well as what looks like dozens of downed spacecraft. There is also a planetary installation with a strong shield. If you can disable the shield, we should be able to orbitally strike the installation's defenses and get in to rescue the prisoners. Get ready to proceed with that mission. You will have to go around the shield by landing a couple days away and then move through the jungle to sneak in and disable the shield generator. I will have the squadron feign retreat and hide Eucharis. Then, we will make a quick pickup, hopefully with allied support."

 

[Miyako]

Misaki picked a landing site that looked like it would provide clearance, and quick cover that was far enough away from everything else. She set the landing zone, and figured with the DAISY inside Pineapple's shuttle they could make entry more quietly if not unnoticed.

Things were bad, worse than she'd thought but like clockwork the cool thrill of being where she belonged seized the NH-27 up like some child's toy.

Her finger pressed the intercom, "All hands, all hands. Alpha assemble in the shuttle. Engineering ensure damage control is assigned as needed."

Relaying a few more commands to the ship, in fact preparing for the maneuver the CO described Misaki closed out her station and paced over to the command chair, rubbing where a spark had burned her cheek some. "They'll call in reinforcements if they have any in that time I'm sure, so get a lot of help if you can send the Aurora back? They need to get out before it gets worse." The YSS Aurora was the favourite of the Plumeria class in the Squadron after the Eucharis. She was always interested in the Asamoya, and wondered what the updated Himiko would be like to command compared to the sleek gunships she grew up on.

However, the Eucharis was home and doing her mission justice meant heading out the launch bay. When a pause in the fighting presented itself, the XO impulsively pressed her lips to Hanako's own, whispering, "Itekimasu." While they pulled back. Her helmet was on before she brought the MINDY to full life and jetted for the rest of the team. If the SMX remnant was down there, rescuing, or killing anyone they couldn't help had to be done as soon as possible. Things had turned from a rescue into prisoner and, as she thought from experience, torture victim extraction mission.

 

[Eric]

Karei headed to the shuttle that would take them down to the planet. He was already in the power armor and suited to leave. He was recalling his training in power armor and its functions. He’d done well, enough to be called “suitable.” It was a sort of rescue mission, and he knew that his intelligence skills would come to good use. An eye for perception would be put to good use, he was quite sure. At first he’d been nervous, but that was now fading away. He had nothing to fear, he was not an infantrymen but he was a soldier and thus he would do well enough.

 

[Wes]

Blueberry, dressed in an AMES suit, opened and closed blast shutters as she made her made her way down the main passageway to the damaged section of deck six. Deck six had lost its atmosphere and was flooded with lingering gamma radiation. Blueberry put her toolkit down on a mangled set of pipes, closed the blast shutter above her, and began working as quickly as she could on repairing the damaged systems, paying special attention to the power cables for the combined field system emitters. She hoped Yaichiro, Nana, and Kumiko were doing their jobs on those fires.

 

[Wolf Ward]

After the briefing, Hotaru headed down to her DAISY and suited up. Mentally running through her pre-mission checklist, everything appeared to be ready.

Hearing the 'All Hands' announcement, Hotaru double checked her weapons and ammo and went towards the stern to take up position near the shuttle they were due to use for the mission.

 

[Kimberly M]

Kurosora had been waiting near the shuttle, fully suited up in her DAISY armour and simply counting time as it passed by, awaiting the order to head planetside. From the vibrations which rocked the ship from time to time, the soldier could only assume the mission was going to be dangerous and "hot" from the very start.

At the "All Hands" message, Kim pulled on the helmet and jumped into the shuttle, running a final diagnostics check on the Armour and once satisfied that everything was running smoothly, she took a seat and waited. She was yearning to get down planet-side and start making herself truly useful.

 

[Konoka Miyazawa]

At the "All Hands" message, Konoka was stricken with worry. Things were about to get a whole lot worse. Someone could...no, someone WOULD get hurt. Oh no...by the ears of all the Empresses....

She ran a check, and got ready at the shuttle. She was thinking, her head buzzing with worry. This was BAD. People were 100%, garunteed, going to get hurt. There would be trouble. She was very, very worried. "At least I'm here...." she muttered to herself.

 

[Aendri]

Kumiko ran back down to the engineering section, grabbing her tools as she went, and grabbing some more once she reached engineering. She quickly ran a download of current information about the Eucharis's status, and sent a quick message to Hanako.

Taisa:
Do you want me to stay in engineering for now, or should I go ahead and get suited up for the mission?

 

[Wes]

Hanako had to switch the ship to automatic pilot for a second to answer the Kumiko. "Damn it!"

She looked through the lists Misaki had made for Alpha and Bravo teams, and found Kumiko wasn't on Alpha. She sent Kumiko a text message.

You are not on Alpha Team and therefore are not boarding the shuttle. Initiate damage control and get further orders from your boss, Chief Engineer Yaichiro.

A massive jolt threw Hanako from her seat onto the red bridge carpet, and sent things and people flying throughout the ship, slamming them into bulkheads and whatever was around. Alarms went off on the bridge.

The ship had taken a bad hit in the engines of the starboard pylon, cutting off power to the CFS array on that side, and completely destroying the engines and positron array on that side. A trail of anti-matter shimmered behind the blackened engines for a moment before disappearing. Meanwhile, the Eucharis was just arriving at the planet...and Hanako was having a hard time slowing the ship down normally.

Taking manual control again, Hanako spun the ship to decelerate the ship with its remaining STL engine array. Everything loose was now suddenly hugging the rear of the ship. Then, another spin as the ship came in contact with the atmosphere and righted itself (going forward again), beginning to glow in a halo of orange flames.

Hanako grabbed her phone and dialed the shuttlebay intercom. "You are clear to launch."

Pineapple, her nose bloody from being thrown against the dash, in the pilot's seat, looked back through the doorway into the passenger area to see if everyone was there...

 

[Aendri]

Kumiko went straight to work at the response, heading for what was reading as the most damaged area. She also sent a quick message to Yaichiro.

Sir, I'm headed for the starboard engines to see what I can do there. Is there anything else you need me to work on, or shall I continue what I'm doing.

 

[Wolf Ward]

Hotaru was just entering the shuttle when the ship lurched throwing her forward into the side of the shuttle. Standing back up, she fully entered the shuttle and prepared herself for the launch, looking at the other members of the team.

 

[Toshiro]

Yaichiro wiped his head of blood, and tried to rise...to find he'd been nailed through the shoulder to a bulkhead. Wincing in pain, he grabbed the shrapnel, and tugged on it hard, giving a loud grunt when the chunk finally popped free.

He shakily rose, and replied telepathically to Kumiko.

The Pylon has priority. Do everything you can to get it working. Our shielding AND our FTL propulsion are useless without it right now. If you finish that, work on the Positron Array. It's the most important anti-Power Armor defense we have after shields and our own Power Armor. Put out any fires you see.

He took a roll of an odd prototype adhesive, and taped his wound shut. Molecure Tape wasn't originally meant for medical use, but it would certainly hold until he could heal.

He ran a systems check and gave a heavy sigh...Hanako's recent habit of causing serious damage to her ships was not unfounded. The bottom was peppered with holes, the main sensor array was gone, and all other kinds of problems were visible.

Nana, go around and put out the fires on the ship! Do what you can after that to get the miscellaneous systems working.

He half-ran to a console, favoring his shoulder, and began to type into the console...some of the hits had damaged power distribution nodes rather than dealing direct damage. He typed in commands to re-route power, and a few systems in the bottom and starboard side of the ship successfully reactivated...but started fires all over the place.

The main sensor array and the nacelle worry me...If the damage is in the pylon, we can fix the CFS, but maybe not the Positron Array... Yaichiro thought to himself.

 

[Aendri]

Kumiko stumbled, hitting one of the bulkheads as the ship bounced around, but she kept moving, trying to keep from hitting anything sensitive so she could work quickly once she got to the Pylon. At the pylon, she ran a quick diagnostic to figure out what was left of the systems, and what she could fix most quickly in her limited time span. Upon discovering the engine itself had taken damage, she ran a more detailed diagnostic, and ran over to the engine core, to get it up and running as soon as possible, though full power would be impossible with only field repairs. She set up bypass wiring, to make Yaichiro's job easier, and then got to work on fixing up the CFS array, at least partially.

 

[Wes]

Down below, Blueberry cursed and struggled to regain her senses from the ships' jolts and clamored desperate to get out of deck six as jets of high pressure flame erupted from small hull breaches like cutting torches. Leaving the "oven" for the main passageway, she pressed the panel that shut the emergency blast shutter between the two decks. Panting due to the pain and the situation, she clung to the red loops of cloth just staring at the shutter for a few seconds before looking over her badly burnt and irradiated environmental suit.

"Yaichiro this is Blueberry...I think every thing...on deck six...is a loss."

- - -

"Yaichiro, get those fires under control!" Hanako ordered at the same time, weighing her options as the ship bounced off the planet's atmosphere and sailed into space again. If Eucharis was going to stay around and hide, it would probably need to either hide behind a moon or large object of some sort, or go underwater on the planet, or get the combined field running again enough to use stealth.

The lack of Combined Field System support was really hurting. The damage to the pylon had physically severed the super-energized lines to the shield-like array at the end.

The other Star Army starships were now gone, escape from the two SMX warships. The gunships had been fairly easy but the huge carriers were soaking up the damage too well. Hanako activated Eucharis' Hyperspace Fold Drive as well, appearing to evacuate with the other ships...however, the Eucharis reappeared a short distance away on the opposite side of the planet from the two SMX carriers, where it could not be detected.

Again Eucharis went into the planet's atmosphere, descending rapidly until it was lopsidedly skimming over the ocean.

"Are you ready this time, Misaki?" Hanako asked over the intercom.

- - -

In main engineering, the power troubles of the ship were growing worse. It seemed as though the planet was equipped with some sort of aether interference device, causing main power to be irregular. The ship was having trouble keeping aloft.

- - -

Hanako changed course and followed along a shoreline.

As the ship grew slower and lower, she had Mango and Blackberry open the rear cargo door and roll the ground vehicles off the ramp to land on the beach. The Akira hoverbikes automatically balanced themselves, while the STV landed with a mighty bounce (but seemed in good condition) and the light utility truck slammed into the wet sand on its "ass" and did a flip to land upside down, causing a facepalm gesture or two.

Next, the two nekos dropped a few boxes of Type 30 Field Rations, a few crates of grenades, and ammo for the LASR. Hopefully the team could recover it on its journey.

With that accomplished, the door was shut and Hanako began looking for some shallow water to land the ship in...

 

[Miyako]

"Are you ready this time, Misaki?" Hanako asked over the intercom.

"I'm wearing clothes, at least." Misaki replied. She peeked inside the shuttle to make sure all the team was accounted for, then spun her finger at Pineapple and stepped back out. They would launch together, though she was going to vanguard out. The plans relayed inside, the door to the shuttle sealed, and there was silence inside for a bare ten seconds.

When the other cargo started to be dropped, the XO of the YSS Eucharis sent the deploy command to Alpha. The deck bathed in light from the planet, and a single MINDY 1H shot out from the aft to be followed some seconds later by the shuttle. Misaki swept her sensors at the landing site, bringing the suit close to the treeline. "Set down as close to them as you can, Pineapple." It was better not to put the only form of conveyance out on the beach to make a huge target.

Misaki kept ready to fire, with a dull vibration the shuttle set down parallel, and tucked up against the tree and opened up. "All right Alpha we've hit the ground. Everyone out and into the trees, column along the treeline. We're waiting for the Eucharis to clear, then we'll move supplies and set up base. Pineapple, will you be able to camouflage the shuttle if we move it farther in? The original plan won't work. We can't let them see us coming, the shuttle would make a better base camp for now."

It was a pretty planet at least. Misaki could give it that, she hoped their arrival wasn't noticed by the installation. How many times had she had to rescue her sisters from the SMX? That reminded her to brief the team for what they could expect to see. Vomiting inside a PA helmet on a mission made bad situations into nauseatingly worse ones.

 

[Wes]

Shortly afterward, the Eucharis slowly skidded into the water and sank slightly offshore, about 10 meters beneath the surface of the water, where it was hidden by murk and mud coming from the outlet of a nearby river.

On the bridge, Hanako breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be out of immediate danger. At the same time, however, this had not been her plan. She wasn't even sure if the Eucharis could take off again. The water presented its own challenges as well. Some of the ship's damaged compartments would probably flood, at least partially, making repairs difficult. Corrosion was also an issue for the long term. The ship might have "issues" for a long time.

- - -

At the edge of the beach, there was a small ridge behind which a thick swampy jungle began. Filled with gnarled trees, waist-deep pools of murky water, big leaves and big vines, the jungle grew in height as it got deeper. The sound of the life within was pretty intense.

Between the armor teams, communication and scanning was difficult. A system of powerful jamming satellites covered most of the planet.

 

[Toshiro]

Yaichiro had begun fighting the fires across the ship, trying to be careful how much water he used. After all, they couldn't get the water OUT once he was done...as he did so, he communicated to Nana and Kumiko.

Kumiko, get that CFS online ASAP. We need to shield ourselves. Nana, fix the Aether Generator. You and Nana, when you get the chance, get force-fields set up over the hull breaches. If that fails, you'll find a stockpile of a new type of tape in my quarters which may help. Ask Hanako-Taisa for permission to use Power Armor if you must.

MEGAMI, once power is restored, begin growth of Yamataium on the hull wherever you can to seal the smaller holes and cracks. Begin fabrication in the fabrication bay of high speed industrial pumps and replacement hull components for the larger holes.

 

[Aendri]

Kumiko wiped her forehead. Despite her hopes, it was looking like getting the CFS running again would take more time than they could really afford. If Nana got the Aether generator running again, that would help, but that might take some time. She looked up, and saw a small drip in one of the more damaged areas of the room. She sent a quick query to Yaichiro.

Sir, is that tape waterproof? I may need some to patch a hole to keep the CFS from becoming more damaged than it already is.

 

[Kimberly M]

As the shuttle hit the ground, Kim was quick to open the door, and made a dash for the treelines, the weapon's safety turned off. Crouching down and turning around, the soldier brought the weapon up, ready to fire at any incoming enemies, and provide covering fire for those still in the shuttle.

"Kurosora-hei in position, Kurusu-chusa." Kim sent telepathically to Misaki, her nerves and senses heightened by the adrenaline rush, making everything seem to go a little slower. What the hell is taking so long... get out of that damn shuttle, you're sitting ducks... Kim thought for herself, silently praying nothing would notice the shuttle before the others had time to exit. The mission would get a hell of a lot more difficult with only her and Misaki.

 

[Wolf Ward]

As soon as she felt the shuttle land, Hotaru began to open the doors but Kim dashed past, beating her to it and out of the shuttle. Hearing the XO's command as she followed Kim out of the shuttle and into the tree line, clearing the ridge near the top. Assuming a defensive position she informed Misaki, Yamamoto-hei in position, Kurusu-chusa, as she began scanning the area to get a better picture but with all the interference it was proving a difficult task.

As she was scanning the area and keeping a lookout, the others were exiting the shuttle and heading to the tree line around her. Out of the corner of her eyes she thought she saw something twenty metres or so inland. Swivelling around keeping her LASR targetted where she was looking, Hotaru tried to get a better look while concentrating what scanning ability she had on the area, unfortunately she failed to pick up anything.

Thinking about it for a few seconds, she decided caution was the way to go at the moment and sent a mental query to the XO, Kurusu-chusa, requesting permission to head inland 200 meters or so. I cannot be positive but I believe I saw something a little deeper inland and would like to check it out and attempt to confirm if something was there or not.

While she was communicating with the XO, Hotaru kept trying to fine tune her DAISY's sensors to operate more effectively in the current environment.