RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 7.1] At War - Battle of Nataria

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

Tasuku barely looked at the Mindy armors as he rushed over to the same black armor he had arrived in less than an hour before. He quickly opened a small panel on the armor and forcibly seemed to jam a datapad inside. Strangely enough the some of the armors systems started to come online as he did. Tasuku slipped inside the black armor with practiced ease and quickly pulled its helmet over his head.

The rack of somewhat unfamiliar Mindy accessories didn't look very promising to Tasuku. His 'imitation' Kylie wouldn't mount most of them without modifying the armor, and he didn't have the time for that now. Seeing the Taii's choice, and having few other choices he grabbed an aether saber, and an extra battery pack. Then in an odd display he reached his arm up and somewhat behind his head, in an instant one of the wings on the back of the armor seemed to be latched onto the armors left forearm and was pulled around to the front becoming a shield. At least I can get some use out of my flight pack... he thought to himself.

"Armed and ready, Taii," Tasuku said, as his armor completed the last of its start up diagnostics.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

"While that may be true," Hanako told Ramiro, the security key must be physically obtained.

Hanako's mind, mostly in the PANTHEON network, focused on the Ayame cruiser for a moment, until it agreed to shut down its power systems. She avoid rest of the attacks on Eucharis with sheer speed, switching the new STL engines to burst and heading straight for the defensive wall, where a second later, Eucharis, her shields focused to the front, slammed into the distortion like a ballista bolt, tossing aside shuttles, power armor, and whatever was in its path, while focusing the full wrath of its AA turrets on the Mishhu boarding pods.

Anyone not secured with a harness was probably thrown forward against the nearest bulkhead. Because of the jolt, the ship's blast shutters automatically activated, sealing off various sections of the ship.

Eucharis emerged from the outer cloud of ships and normalized her shields, still racing in a jagged pattern. She would soon reach the long lines of mothballed ships, which would provide some cover.

"Where is Starling?" Hanako suddenly blurted out? Eucharis had lost her wingman in the fray.

"Busy!" Starling responded. The ship was in combat, holding back Eucharis' pursuers.

Hanako looked to Ramiro and Nika. "I am going to have to concentrate on the computers, so I need you to take complete control of flying the ship. Can you handle it?"

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

Junko shook herself as the wild acceleration and jolts faded. She had barely had time to brace herself between a bulkhead and a coolant tank, but now she raced back over to the main displays. As the diagnostics came back all green, she sighed in relief; the systems were designed to handle such situations and recover. Indeed, the recovery was quite evident as she watched the shield status bars return to full and the indicators on some of the reserve capacitors return to standby. Junko, really, was amazed. The capabilities of the Eucharis and the skill of her crew were both superb, but it had to have taken a bit of luck for the ship to have come through without even a single, minor system failing. Certainly, the maintenance and refit cycle would probably have to be advanced after the abuse the systems had been through, but that was a small price to pay. Satisfied for the moment, Junko returned the displays to the standard damage control screens; she still wasn’t really sure what was happening, even who they were fighting, but she was content, for now, to occupy her thoughts with the running of the Eucharis.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

The forward display of the Eucharis very briefly illuminated the entire bridge in a brutal flash of light.

It only took nanoseconds for the flash to fade into oblivion. Torpedoes - thousands of them, accelerated by the repulsion fields surrounding the NMX carriers - followed the natural waves of gravity and hurtled at light speed the several thousand yards between their point of discharge and the hull, shielding systems, and bodies of the Eucharis's associated squadron trying to follow through the hole the Eucharis had punched.

While the Eucharis might have avoided the timing of the discharges by fractions of a second with a daring frontal assault, there was little hope for the ships following it.

The results hurtled forward past the Eucharis in peices that bounced ineffectually against its shields and spiraled off into the empty cold of space.

Outside of the first layer of NMX, the Irim-class had broken free of the repulsion field perimeter and was now leveling its full ordinance on the resisting Starling. The Ayame-class cruisers had stalled in space, but the Irim was fresh and running strong. With damaged shielding systems, the crew of the Starling could only hope to prolong the inevitable for so long.

There were several explosions, but they sounded only distantly, as if they were from a long way away, and were barely heard. The real weight was in the silence that came afterward.

The second squadron had been broken.

The Eucharis was alone.

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On the ship...
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The Taii had, somehow, managed to stop herself from hurtling into the forward bulkhead. She was now hovering slightly off the ground, in preperation for more collisions she instinctively knew must be coming. When the silence overtook the ship, she relaxed slightly, but remained hovering.

The strange feeling of anticipation was broken by the hurried footsteps of Pineapple and Hotaru, entering together. The Taii looked at them. They looked back, then at everyone. Wordlessly (since exasperated sighs are not words), they began undressing and getting into their power armors.

Shizu took a shield from the wall after a moment of thought, holding the Aether saber in one hand, and the shield in the other. It was best to be safe, and the new guy had given her an idea she felt bordered on clever.

She took one final look over the assembled team, and thought to herself, 'This has to do.'

"Bridge, this is Hamada-Taii. Boarding team, manned and ready."

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

Sune managed to absorb the worse of the collision by grabbing a bulkhead with both hands and using the Mindy's systems to keep him from bashing into the wall. Grateful that the suit had enough internal padding to keep him from being injured by hitting the inside of the armor itself. I do not know what that was, but I seriously doubt it was good. He waited a moment to hear any additional alarms such as hull breach or other indication of damage, and was grateful when none sounded and the ship seemed sound. I wonder if there were any injuries from that collision, Miyazawa-Hei will have to handle them. he thought. Releasing his grip on the bulkhead hee reslung his LAS-Rifle over his shoulder and took up a position near the Taii, waiting for the order to deploy.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

Nika watched in awe as Hanako skilfully avoided most of the laser fire and began to dash at the NMX wall. Breaking from her distractions, the neko resume her work, keeping the shields up as much as possible by distributing power much from the weapons to the propulsion and shields. It was then when the Eucharis was about to break through the NMX wall, Nika concentrated all shields to the front.

Breakthrough was a success, but it hurled the ship even deeper, losing contact with the rest of the squadron.

"Shields knocked out from the collision Taisa." Nika furiously tapped into the console, "Systems all intact. Shield restoration should recover soon."

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

Ramiro was thrown against his station as he had forgotten to strap himself in. He rubbed his head as he sat back down, making sure to strap in, and ran quick diagnostics. At the Taisa's order he responded with a quick, "Yes ma'am," and opened the interface to control the ship. He continue the ship in a roughly straight pattern, dodging this way and that to avoid any obstacles.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

"Where's the Nadeshiko? Already out with the Aurora. Damnit!" Misaki swore, knowing the Starling Didn't have long. The Aurora was already being looked after by the Nadeshiko, and couldn't help them.

"Starling. Retreat to the Ikoi if you can, as fast as you can." The veteran's mind was telling her to get her out, and every other part was, too. They would pick off the weakest ships they could first, like a pack of drones.

Speaking of, the flash of incoming torpedoes caused the XO to point with her whole hand to Nika, though she didn't forget helm. "Spin us around while maintaining current vector! Once we fire, put us and the biggest ships you can find between our approach to target and incoming fire!"

"Spread shot, main cannon! Target the torpedoes! Fire!" She relayed the fire orders to the Nadeshiko In case any went their way. They couldn't risk the remaining ships for it.

The fleet will need every one they can spare now...they're never going to leave us alone.

Blueberry looked up to Misaki, and announced what their minds were working on together with the ship, and her steady knowledge with sensors and astronomical anomalies. "Taisa. The distortion appears to be part of their standard gravimetric repulsion fields being stacked together."

"Acknowledged, boarding team. You may sortie when we're under cover, and have met the torpedo threat. Good luck, may the wind of the Empire be at your back." Misaki responded, looking to Hanako in a spare split-second she had. We have to punch them down quick, if we lose too many ships it will endanger the course of the war, Hanako.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

The main cannon was all prepared to fire and Nika did so, switching it to spread shot and triggered its energy release. "Shields are back up and rising steadily." The neko announced, "AA guns and Aether pods ready to take on remaining torpedoes if they got too close." She went through the weapon systems once again, "Main cannon recharging..."

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

Hanako was off in her own little world, moving through various codes, trying to make some progress on the computer side of things. With Charisma's help, the Taisa was able to contact Aries station's powerful PANTHEON computer, which oversaw the legions of ships in storage.

"Can I help you?" the station system asked.

"I need you to self-destruct the ships in storage," Hanako sent back.

"The ships need to be activated before they can initiate the protocol," the computer replied. "I am not authorized to activate them, by order of former Emperor Uesu."

"The ships attacking the depot are from Uesu's fleet and may claim to have access, but their codes have been compromised and should not be accepted. I can prove this with the codes I am sending now, which come from Taisho Yui."

"Your codes are accepted. The PANTHEON network will now disregard Uesu fleet codes throughout the network." There was a short pause. "Also, this Star Fortress will self-destruct in one minute, due to orders of the Chujo based on catastrophic damage and imminent invasion."

"Please assign Charisma as your secondary authority for this network," Hanako requested, sending some more special authorization codes.

"Your codes are accepted. You are now able to activate the ships. However, to issue commands to the ships, you will require a physical communications security key matching the Nataria Fleet Depot's encrypted emergency storage channel. I cannot read or transfer this code to you."

"I understand," Hanako said.

"Once activated, the ships will in neutral startup mode and will be waiting for commands. Be advised that activating the ships and failing to establish control over them could result in aiding the enemy's attempts to capture them," the PANTHEON computer warned.

Hanako looked to Misaki. "I am aware what is at stake."

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

Residual Aether washed over the shield systems of the NMX holding the line. They flashed brilliant colors, and the explosions of the torpedoes and missile ordinance that had, mere milliseconds ago, rushed to destroy the Nadeshiko and the Aurora exploded in thousands of flares, sending ripples of material out through space.

Some people claim the gods play games with the lives of men, women, and certain other select species of the universe. Nobody quite knows what games they end up playing. Nor do they know who are pawns, who are kings and rooks, or who the little towers that sweep cleverly across the board at critical moments, destroying entire space fleets in the process, actually are in the real world. But this is immaterial; there are no gods watching over Yamatai. Therefore, some Mishhuvurthyar god had just rolled snake eyes, and was swearing profusely because of it.

The Nadeshiko and the Aurora survived, but had taken several direct hits. They limped along after the Eucharis, trailing the high-pressure contents of several internal piping and fuel systems in a fine, rapidly crystallizing mist.

Ahead of the Eucharis, ships were beginning to move. Thankfully, they were paying more attention to the battle that raged in orbit, as opposed to the supposedly insignificant drama behind them. Scans would show that the chaotic battle of Yamataian vessels in front of them was gradually coming to a close, with the Mishhuvurthyar coming out the victors. The wall of Mishhu that had been monitoring this chaos began to advance.

The overall effect of the second wall breaking was something like watching a solid turn directly into a gas, on an atomic level. The moment one of the NMX ships in front of the Eucharis pulled out, the gravitational projections dropped completely on all ships, allowing the fleet freedom of movement.

The NMX began to fire into the commotion.

The sound of explosions was deafening.

Behind the Eucharis, several NMX heavy cruisers were breaking out of formation. Liquidlike, the collective gravitational fields emitted by all the other ships compensated, and several replacement ships drifted into positions behind them.

Three ships of an unidentified ship class engaged their STL drives and took up pursuit. Several of the small boarding craft followed as well, skirting around the engine arrays of the much larger vessels.

Missiles chased the Eucharis, but that couldn't have been all the ordinance the Mishhuvurthyar had to offer. Rather than attacking the Eucharis directly, they seemed to be heading in the same direction.

The race had begun.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

Ramiro watched as the NMX battleships broke formation and started heading toward the Eucharis. "No, no, no, not good!" His console beeped at him to alert to incoming missiles. "Nika! Incoming missiles, we need countermeasures." He quickly swerved the ship to the side to avoid blaster shots from the enemy cruisers, sending objects sliding in different directions. His mind raced as he wondered how long the ship could avoid a direct hit. He then sped the ship forward in order to put distance between them and the enemies that had just scattered everywhere. He then checked nearby space to discover that there were three enemy ships in pursuit. "Taisa, radar shows that the enemy is following close behind, orders?"

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

"Proceed past the active ships into the inactive depot ships," Hanako ordered. "Move as fast as we can, evade if needed. Watch your WARMS readout. We are not here to fight, this time."

In lieu of a formal briefing, Hanako got on the intercom. "We will board one of the dormant ships, visit the computer room, and acquire a communication security key. The key should be in the form of a clear, red slide-in card in one of several slots behind a locked mesh panel near the entrance to the room. It will be labeled 'FLEET DEPOT' one a white sticker at the top. Hamada-Taii is in command of the away mission."

Hanako then sent Nadeshiko and Aurora brief orders: "Rescue Starling."

The Taisa hoped by now everyone had made it to the medical lab and got their mental backups made.

NMX fire was almost all on the captured (?) Star Army ships at this moment, giving Eucharis a brief opportunity to get where she needed to be without being melted into slag. This was Yamatai's once in a lifetime chance to slow the NMX advance and it was all up to this moment, this ship, and this crew!

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

The sudden jolt of the Eucharis nearly sent Tasuku flying into Shizu, but he managed to stop short of her with the help of his armors gravitic systems. Still floating a few centimeters off the ground he ran a final systems check on the armor, all systems were still 100%.

As the lights of the Eucharis flickered a part of Tasuku wanted to be back on HX-12, his exile there had been fairly uneventful, and sometimes almost peaceful in its own strange way. However deep down a second part of him needed to be in his armor at Nataria, the first war with the Mishhuvurthyar had never ended for him, he knew nothing of the interlude of peace; when he found himself facedown in an AMES suit in a hell with no name Yamatai was still at war, he had no way of knowing if the empire had fallen or if they had managed to turn back the Mishhu hordes; this was the part that had eaten at his conscience every day.

He was ready, Nataria was the only battle for him now, it was only thing he knew. I gotta do this..., the thoughts screamed in his head as he clenched down on the grip of the aether saber.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

They have cleared the torpedoes... Now they have to keep the enemy busy while a shuttle crew was prep to launch for extraction of data on one of the 'friendly' vessel.

Taking the initiative, she stopped the Main Cannon's charge and directed the power to the rear Shields. At the same time, AA guns accompanied with Aether pods rained down 'distractions' at the pursuers and other projectiles to slow them down.

"Missles knocked down, shields holding up well..." Nika went through the ships status report, "Hull taken light damage mainly from the collusion, other than that the Eucharis is still operational."

"For how much longer..." She wondered.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

Ramiro continued speeding the ship toward the depot as he diverted all of the ship's unused energy to the engines, hoping he wouldn't overheat or overload them. As a shot from a cannon from an enemy ship sped towards the ship Ramiro sounded the collision alarm and spun the ship down and to the left in order to avoid the shot. "If anyone has a prayer in mind, now would be the time!" As he continued to fly the ship he honestly wondered whether his joke should be taken seriously.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

The Aurora and Nadeshiko, along with Eucharis' pods and gunfire, faced the pursuers head-on. They didn't have enough firepower to total the ships, but they managed to knock out the enemy's shields and tear up some main weapons.

Starling ended up moving in the direction of Eucharis as it was forced to flee the edge of the sphere of enemy ships surrounding the battle. The NMX warships continued to take pot shots at it as it limped after the Eucharis, burning and trailing anti-matter and debris, its mangled hull torn in places and pocked with holes.

"Not doing well here," Taii Nishiyo sent. "We've got a lot of casualties from the aliens and the damage. I think there's only five of us left alive onboard. Hull breaches and fire everywhere." The flickering video feed showed the bridge full of smoke with debris piled on the floor. " Our sublight engines are trashed and our CFS is almost dead too. I am considering abandoning the ship if you can pick us up. Starling can't get through that line."

Luckily, Aurora and Nadeshiko (damaged but doing relatively well) were able to get to Starling and bring her towards the depot area where Eucharis was just entering.

"Is the boarding team ready?" Hanako asked Hamada over the intercom.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

"As soon as we bring them online, I suggest we augment lost pods for the squadron with ones from the vessels if possible. It can provide a better screen for incoming fire." Misaki nodded, she knew Hanako understood as well she did, but felt better when she heard it from her directly. The battle left her no time to do anything but feel the rush so much training, and battle gave her.

Things were hellish. If she was going to die, it was going to be there. Like this, right here, with Hanako, and our precious crew. I'd rather live with them...keep at them, everyone! Let them die for their cause. We'll fight another day. She remembered the first person who died under her command. Everyone since then, that she didn't get a backup for, she remembered. The limbs she had lost in fights. While she wanted to go boarding with the Lieutenant, the tension before the Second Officer had been given her tasks stopped her. She was needed where she was.

"Hang in there, Nishiyo-Taii!" The Chusa exclaimed from behind Blueberry. "I think we should bring them in. She can try and relay the rest to Starling's AI from here, if it's not shot too. Worse comes to worse, we could ram her into something. The other course of action would be to try and limp her towards the far end of the depot area, and wait for a chance to get her out." Misaki suggested.

If the Starling had to be sacrificed, best she went down with anything left she had being thrown at the enemy.

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

While waiting for the order to deploy, Sune started rethinking over some of the conversations of the past day. One item stuck in his mind. It was something that Hanako said when he asked about how the crew interacted with the squadron.

"Standing orders for them are to amplify our firepower by targets the same enemy we do..."

Click to expand...

"Ketsurui-Taisa, may I make a suggestion. instead of just destroying the mothballed vessels, why not slave a portion of them to the Eucharis under Charisma's guidance. It would in your own words, amplify our firepower by targets the same enemy we do and it would allow you to use the unmanned ships to help provide protection for the Eucharis. For that matter, the same principle could perhaps be applied to the other ships in our squadron. Seems a waste of material to not use at least some of them to blast the Mishuu back where they came from."

Re: [Mission 7.1] Universe at War - Battle of Nataria

Ramiro kept veering this way and that in order to avoid being hit. He wiped some sweat off of his forehead as he pulled up a separate screen, showing the distance to certain key point.

"Taisa, we need that boarding party ready now! We should be in range of the depot with the next 120 seconds and we don't want to wait for those NMX cruiser behind us to catch up."

Ramiro turned back to his console and started extracting the extra energy he had put into the engines to make their trip shorter, and started diverting the energy to the rear shields. He hoped that this would give the boarding party enough time to finish getting ready.