RP: 4th Fleet (NSN) [Mission 6.15] Housekeeping @ HQ

[Sigma]

Bastilen reported to the gruff ID-SOL who was in charge of the 4th Fleet HQ's security and the Fleet's intelligence. "The basic thing, Wreno, is this. We never confirmed that there were back doors. We only had everyone else telling us that there were backdoors without showing us where they were. So what Her Majesty Mini-Queen Cassefin from fair Cirrus Station did was create a software patch that blanketed the over the bits of programming where the holes were supposed to be. Specifically in the ability to link to other DREI units and other such interconnectivity. Then we had to install a parallel SavTech AI to monitor the DREI. I don't know what the idiots up on high think but it was stupid. Your job is to make sure none of those holes, which we don't know were there or not in the first place, are there. It sounds as stupid as it seems. That's why you're going to pretend to do it and figure out for me the best way to back up our data into cloud storage, nuke our current system and then reinstall it without tipping off the Admiral. Sound fun?"

Captain Darryl Murdoch smirked conspiratorially. The Admiral's concern was legitimate. His solution was terrible.

"You're with the Cavaliers. New blood coming in later for you Marines."

@Kokuten @Potato-Chan

 

[Potato-Chan]

Alexander arrived at the 4th Fleet HQ as soon as he could upon getting the transfer information, traveling from his regiments barracks to the Fleet's building in the middle of Prime City. Arriving at the building he first noticed the large combat ready tanks sitting on the lawn in front of the entrance along with power armoured soldiers and combat drones patrolling the rest of the facility, security was tight, far tighter than he had expected it to be as from what he had seen of the building in the news or from training footage he had be shown they never had tanks sitting out front and when they did it was an old mothballed model used for show.

Getting inside the building was harder than he had assumed as a large ID-SOL held him at the door as he seemed to check his documents far more than was necessary before handing them back to him with some vague directions to where he needed to go, when he got inside though he was thankful for them as he made his way through maze that was 4th Fleet HQ reaching a security desk manned by a few desk jockeys. "Can I help you Private?" a bored looking Sergeant asked without moving his eyes from the computer he was typing something into.

"P3C Alexander Reams, transferred in from the 432nd Training Regiment, reporting for duty" Alex said saluting the officer after handing the man his transfer documents, "I was ordered to the report to Captain Murdoch."

 

[Kokuten]

"Sir," answered Bastilen, who hadn't moved nary an inch since the tech-briefing began, "subverting the chain of command is grounds for treason."

The idea of having so much control over the systems in the 4th Fleet made his mouth water. There was a lot of potential in being responsible for the systems in place. DREI was a secure yet simple OS, but it was currently too much a security risk to keep running in place. Moving data securely was not too much of a problem, the issue was removing it from the network so that there were no connections into the cloud. Anyone monitoring the systems beyond them could notice if a large amount of files get moved around. This would especially be an issue considering the fact Captain Murdoch wanted to 'nuke the system'. Wiping the harddrive was one thing, but erasesing the established OS would be a red-flag for anyone working out of the system.

He gave it a little thought, considering the ramifications of causing so much damage.

Captain Murdoch didn't want to play around at all, and simply wanted to transfer the data and blow up what was left of the old system. The solution was quick and easy, and would likely move him out from under the admiral's gaze more quickly.

The Admiral had ordered him to find and patch the holes in security, and then attempt a security test against the IPG. This provided facts that would be useful for anyone encountering unmodified DREI architecture. If they scanned the whole system, they wouldn't need to replace the OS, and in fact, could write a patch that could be applied to all the DREI firmware and software.

The chemicals in his brain began firing off responses ot everything. Conflicting ideals of progress and loyalty made him sick, especially when it was over something of military standard, and doubly when it involved the IPG. Instead of pressing the topic further, he grimly stared down the Captain, waiting for his response.

 

[Sigma]

"You have an alternative, Private? I would love to hear it because I am quite sure the Admiral doesn't quite understand everything," Murdoch asked Bastilen. He wasn't goading the Marine, merely asking for an alternative in his normal gruff manner.

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

The Marines at the front pointed Alexander to where Captain Murdoch was.

He arrived right before Bastilen could respond, interrupting them.

"Lost, Private?" Murdoch asked, turning his baleful gaze towards the young man.

Then the building shook and rumbled. The lights went off momentarily and suddenly came back on at a lower intensity.

"General Quarters, General Quarters! All hands, man your battle stations! General Quarters, General Quarters! All hands, man your battle stations!" the ACE AI blared loudly. Murdoch had never once thought to change the alarm for a general assault on HQ, leaving it at the default for a warship.

The Headquarters building shook again. "Status report, Ace!"

"Indirect explosive weapons fire is being launched at the building. Munitions are being intercepted by armored units stationed outside the building. Volume of fire is increasing. No significant damage detected yet but probability of hit increasing exponentially as volume increases."

"Wreno, forget what I said. Get into the system and make sure this isn't a diversion for a hacking attack. You," Murdoch ordered Bastilen before pointing to Alexander, "Name now!"

 

[Potato-Chan]

Following the directions given he entered Murdoch's office interrupting the conversation he was having with another private, another new recruit maybe? Before he could get answer the officers question the building shook, lights went off and returned seconds later. The rest went by in a blur as the AI blared about an attack, he was going to follow the instructions and help in the defence when the Captain called him out, "Name Now!" he shouted at him.

"Reams Sir, Private Alexander Reams" he said saluting the senior officer waiting for whatever orders he had for him.

 

[Kokuten]

Wreno turned as quickly as he could to answer his orders. The Tech Expert settled down at an open console and began to open up a list of network IPs. First thing he needed to see was any new addresses listening or connecting to the network. The network here was private, so all local access terminals would have similar, static IPs, anything that stood out too much would be a red flag.

 

[Sigma]

"Get into armor. Corporal Holmes and his squad will be arming up now along with the Naval Security Teams. You're temporarily attached to them. Armory is on the 4th Floor. Prepare to repel boarders," he said to Reams.

"Ace, I want gunships launched from the NAM fields and Red, Green and Gold squadrons down here. Contact General Adrite and ask him to deploy the 505th Brigade here. And make sure the Police stay away."

The defense of 4th Fleet HQ was a serious issue. Three starfighter squadrons and a veteran Marine armored brigade as reinforcements.

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

Bastilen's actions were correct. The military IPs were easy to tell apart though many of the IPG's were either encrypted or hidden entirely from him. Their presence was slightly confusing as some were also masked as civilian addresses. Three of them, however, stood out as ones that were focused on the interior as opposed to the exterior. The first was almost definitely an IPG hacker doing the same thing as Bastilen. The other two were probing the network for entry. Firewalls kept them out for now as well as the adaptive network key coder system built into ACE. But if there were holes and backdoors leftover from the previous DREI, they could be exploited as easily as a broken down wall.

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

Alexander found himself in the armory as Marines in green uniforms and sailors in blue clambered into Hostiles and Raiders. No one in Corporal Holmes' unit used the larger suits and the Navy limited itself to the simpler Raider light armor. Still, a few free Hostiles and Aggressors were present. "Greenie, suit up and fall in behind Lestrade!" someone in a Hostile ordered as it passed by him. The name plate was stenciled in silver, "Watson, J." Its armored left shoulder plate had a detailed old-fashioned pocket-watch, obviously Watson's personal heraldry.

None of the available suits had heraldry, marking them as free for use.

"Please make your choice rapidly!" a Junker drone chirped loudly, pointing to the power armors. "It would be most regrettable for this facility to be demolished prematurely. It is rated for another fifty years of use before necessary nano-reconstructive maintenance and abiding the maintenance schedule would be optimal!"
@Potato-Chan

 

[Potato-Chan]

Alexander had followed the instructions given and raced out of the office, once he reached the fourth floor the armory was easy to find with nearly all traffic heading towards it. The power armour filled hangar was abuzz with marines following their training to the letter, it was easy to tell he was new just by looking at him standing there what to do next, luckily someone had noticed him and gave him quick orders to suit up.

A few free armours where left, a couple of Hostiles and Aggressors, he personally didn't have a preference for either of them but he really didn't have time to make a list of all their pros and cons. Looking at each suit for a few seconds he decided on the Hostile, it was smaller and more suited to fighting in the urban environment and he had more practice with the smaller model during basic training. Getting inside the suit as quickly as he could Alexander he raced to where Lestrade was waiting along with some other power armoured marines, collecting a rifle he joined them. All there was now were the orders from Corporal Holmes.

 

[Sigma]

"Marines, gather round. Our colleagues in blue will be holding the line while we push forward and link up with the Cavaliers. Expect lots of room to room fighting. Remember, fight smart and don't skimp. Use every advantage you have against these guys. Greenie, just follow Watson," the Hostile tagged as "Holmes, S." said. As the only Marine not part of the Corporal's squad, the squad leader knew that the man needed a steady hand. Everyone else could be relied on.

"We will have air support in a few minutes, the 505th Armored Brigade is on its way. Once we're clear, Fletcher's Coronas will take off and add to the air support. No prisoners but avoid civilian casualties."

Alex could also hear the sailors' briefing. "Remember boys and girls, there is nothing to fear except for Captain Murder! Get out there and protect the tanks!"

As the two groups gathered at the blast door to exit the building, Holmes and the senior sailor shook hands and nodded.

The smaller Raiders exited first, leaping from the blast door which opened into the streets below. "Nepleslia Forever!" one of the sailors shouted.

Next were the Marines, shouting "Uurraaaa!" They took running jumps out, adding to their momentum with their thrusters. The sailors, who would be on the defensive, didn't need to go far while the Marines who were on the offensive, needed to cover as much ground as quickly as possible.

In the sky, Sunburn and Viper gunships darted around the skies, dodging rockets and missiles from the roofs and streets below them.

"Reams, stay behind me," Corporal Watson ordered.

"Watson, take the Greenie and Lestrade. Hit the northwest intersection and hold it. Moriarty, take Wiggins and Baynes. Opposite corner, do the same. Everyone else, on me."

The street corner to his right immediately marked itself with a beacon on Alex's HUD. As the Marines landed with a crunch on the streets below, they started moving immediately. Four of them followed Holmes into a tall apartment complex, three peeled off to their left and two went right. One of them was Corporal Watson. Alex followed and soon found himself under fire from a quintet of men armed with energy weapons and a rocket launcher.

"Take them down!" Watson ordered, opening fire with her HPAR while continuing to move forwards.

 

[Potato-Chan]

Following behind Watson, Reams opened fire with her on the group. Aiming at the man armed with rocket launcher he fired two short three-round bursts at the surprised man who had only just got a chance to fire off the rocket with it going wide as his body crumples to the super-heated rounds being shot into him. Looking to help Watson & Lestrade deal with the rest of the group he had found they had managed to deal with them, the lack of cover in the space around them providing the more heavily armed and armoured soldiers come out with only some damaged on their shields, Watson taking the brunt being the first thing they saw come around the corner.

 

[Sigma]

High velocity liquid-metal rounds ripped apart the other enemy foot soldiers. The HPAR had been designed to destroy Yamataian and NMX armors. Using it against unarmored infantry was overkill but that was how Holmes' Irregulars liked it. Fair fights were painful fights. By using every advantage they had without mercy, the Irregulars could all go home every time. And this fight was special for them. All of them were ex-Paragon, men and women who had quit from the company in disgust at its policies. They had fought the prejudice from the Cavaliers and Admiral Valken and proven themselves in every campaign. Now they were once again under a cloud of suspicion. Here and now, each Irregular burned to show his or her loyalty to Nepleslia, not to coin.

More light infantry were in the apartment building ahead of them. Rifle rounds exploded against the Marines' shields. "ARROWs on my go. I want a full two dozen spread against the hostile emplacement to our front! Then we storm it." Watson paused, "Go!" Six dozen ARROWs erupted from the Marines, flashing through the short distance, and exploding almost simultaneously on the building's exterior. Fire and dust enveloped much of the building facing them as loose mortar crashed to the ground.

"At them!" Watson ordered them forwards.

 

[Potato-Chan]

The three power armoured soldiers burst through what was left of a wall into the apartment building itself, the damage the mini-missiles had done was more to the building causing sections to set on fire and sections of the walls to fall apart though plenty of the mercenaries had likely been taken down in the barrage. The building itself was now obscure in a cloud of dust and smoke that was beginning to ruin everyone's visibility, it didn't stop Reams and the two members of Holmes' Irregulars from doing their job as they moved in to finish off those still alive.

The first mercenaries they came across had only just began to recover from the attack and didn't have time to react to the Hostiles as effectively as they would have liked as they were cut down by them in a hail of fire, not giving themselves time to rest the group made their way to the nearest stairwell, this building was crawling with hostiles and one room wouldn't cut it, they would take this building floor by floor if they needed it.