[NSMC 309th] Mission 2: Creating Hope

Beneath the NSS Heckler

Fitz put her arm around Joe's shoulder as they watched the other women leave. She chuckled some and pulled him into a headlock and ruffled his hair. "You an ass man? That's why you're looking so long?" She eased up soon after but kept an arm on his shoulder as if to say she could get him anytime. "Don't worry, I'm sure you can buy a night in the city." She then gave him a firm pat on the back and began to walk. "Also, no stink bombs, we're in there too."

"Topless wrestling? Half of 'em have metal chests, you know..." Zhou looked off to one side and put a horizontal finger under her nose, as if considering the real dynamics of how a fight like that would work. The body language was that of a boxer, muscle memory idling over the daydream. "Like, I mean, they are 'borgs. Not that I wouldn't like to try..."

"...Well, fighting them. Normally. You know what I mean..."

"The tank crew seems neat. I like how they have a shrine and a name and an idol and everything already.... It's cute!" A clap of appreciation. "Plus the guy with the goggles and the ears is kinda fun to look at... I dunno if it's just his haircut or his moustache, but I feel like he should own a late night livestream show about the DIY or something... Or like, you know, one of those guys who does dumb funny science things in his shed for fun?..."

Crunchy footsteps approached, disturbing the gravel. Fang reflexively stood to attention without even really knowing who the Lieutenant was, actually taking him to be a logistics person they were after, for some reason. The rank pins on his armour cleared that up, but his biomechanical eyes and easy connection with Wilde only sought to intimidate the looming woman further...

Observing the conversation now. This man and their Private First Class knew each other? Of course, there was no question about Autumn taking the lead. They were more experienced with the terrain and the universe beyond the suburbs of Nepleslia, just in general. Even Kennewes, apparently... Fang could barely comprehend a career that lasted through all that...

"Yes, I am Private Zhou, Sir! Very nice to meet you, Sir!" Looking down a long nose with narrow eyes and a straight back made it super awkward, but this was simply how the woman was conditioned to show respect. A somewhat more casual half-wave half-salute accompanied this, unsure of what exactly to do with their hands. "As for the first engagement, well... The equipment was rather ad-hoc, but I think we pulled it together quickly where it counted, Sir."

Beneath the NSS Heckler, Near the Soko Neko.

Minnie froze at the practiced shout from a well used diaphragm most officers proudly toted from years of shouting orders. She practically slapped autumns rear when she snapped to attention, Throwing up a rushed and sloppy salute and squeaking out a quick "sir!"

Her eyes naturally made contact with his, Causing her to almost gasp. His eyes where cooler than hers! And only training and an awareness that causing a stigma with a new officer kept her from practically berating him with questions about his eyes, And who performed the surgery, and what they where capable of. Before all the information caught back up to her as Autumn took the initiative and Minnie quickly became confused...

Private Wilde Knows him? Whats that in her tone, Admiration or affection? She sounds so professional~ Hes a medic? Is he a doctor too? Is he better than me? Does he think hes better than me? He fought on Kennewes? They fought on Kennewes? Why is he bothering us, Is it because of her? Does this mean we cant go to a bar?

Remembering to drop the salute that she awkwardly held too long, Her eyes hyper adjusted against her will to look so close into Chiaki's eyes that it felt like he was practically inches away from her face, causing her to squeak out a rapid response that somewhat cut off fang a split second before she finished.

"Private Zhou cut her hair! And i think i killed someone. And it was very loud!" She ended with a much quieter addition of "sir" before she began looking for an exit strategy or downright sank into her armor somehow. Lieutenant Janus wasn't too bad. He scowled a lot and like to yell, but for the most part he left her alone. The new officer actively sought them out and caused one of her rambling fits in front of Fang and now even Autumn, Embarrassing her. And she couldn't even make an excuse to escape because at least being medically trained meant anything doctor'y sounding or that used medical jargon he would obviously see through.

Beneath the NSS Heckler

There was no response from the driver at Juno's orders. There a few seconds of hesitation before the driver's hatch opened up and a meek woman poking out, scanning the surroundings like a meerkat. She eyed the LT for a moment before ducking back in for a second before hopping out with a pair of headphones over her cover, her datajockey in hand, and the blue hair of a certain doll hanging out from her pocket.

Ella closed the hatch before hoping off the tank, not wanting to trust the troglodytes around here to keep to themselves. She glanced back up to Juno, wishing she could glare tanto's into him before turning to the datajockey and tapping the play button. She followed after the tanker Stacy and tanker Chad silently, hoping to at least block out the world with some music instead of the tank.

Beneath the NSS Heckler, with Thick Squad

The cyborg was taken aback by the immediate response he got, and returned their salutes with a sharp one of his own, but soon found himself blind-sided by Autumn. She looked good, and as enthusiastic as ever, if not appearing a little worn by the environment. He was happy to see her, and the smile showed it, until she started talking, that is. His eyes closed as she innocuously mentioned increasing intimacy with the local populous, nodding sagely to her professional suggestions. Then, his mouth flattened once more when she mentioned getting intimate with them. He took a breath, and his eyes whirred open on the hands comments, a hot pink color burning in the direction of the PFC.

Just as she finished speaking, he opened his mouth to remark, before Zhou took the floor. His eyes widened into a white color as she loomed over him, an intimidating figure to say the least. As she spoke about their prior combat, he could only imagine the woman swinging a large axe into the fray, despite how true that thought actually was. She seemed to remind him of a lot of other kinds of brawny Marines he knew that enjoyed boxing with dumb-bells in their hand. Though, Fang seemed a little brighter than that.

Again he opened his mouth to speak as he sensed the end of her explanation, before she was cut off by the small Private next to her. He went from looking up to looking down, and what he saw was a small Marine. Even in Golem armor she didn't seem to take up all that much space, though that might have been because she was standing next to Fang, who even made Autumn seem rather small. He eyed the small medic arm-band she wore, and found the article to be a bit nostalgic for him. Kokuten had worn one of those for almost a decade.

Those gunmetal eyes also noticed the dick magnet. Huh, that's different.

After the introductions, there came tense silence, which Chiaki answered by holding up his hands.

"Please, relax," insisted the Officer, throwing a checking glance to the tankers to make sure they hadn't gotten far before regarding the three of them, "We're going to be working together pretty closely over the remainder of this campaign. As PFC Wilde told you, I'm 2nd Lieutenant Chiaki, the unit's new XO. I'll be taking over administrative duties and the ground detachment, that means all of you."

He flexed his arm a bit, straining the joints in the glove to make them comfortable, his fingers bent backwards in a strange, fluid motion, before correcting themselves into a fist which thumbed at Autumn. "I know Wilde here pretty well, but it sounds like the two of you can hold your own in a fight well-enough. I read the after-action reports from the battle at Fort Puckett." Relaxing a bit himself, he smiled, "If the two of you can cut it through a meatgrinder like that, then I'm looking forward to working with you."

"For now, it sounds like it's liberty with a little bit of information gathering?" Chiaki asked, looking at Autumn with a questioning look on his face, "Wilde, you're in charge of accountability for Thick Squad, basic safe-liberty rules: No more than four drinks, and keep fights one-on-one. Unless the three of you have something for me, I'm going to go round up the tankers."

Beneath the NSS Heckler, with Thick Squad

Autumn enjoyed watching Chiaki's eyes change colors. It got more fun each time she managed it. "You got it, Lt. Actually, if I remember correctly, you owe me a drink and some time. We have some catching up to do," she said easily and casually with a smile. "But, you can ping me when you are ready to kick back and split a bottle with me. I'm hoping, that you could join us once you decide to pry yourself away from administrative duties- I can help you with the paperwork but the more the merrier, right? We need some intense squad bonding before we get too entangled," she winked at him and glanced over to the logistics guy they were going to talk to about an equipment manifest. "First up is getting a copy of the new equipment manifest, unless of course, you already have it, then we could just go straight to the bar?"

Beaneath NSS Heckler

Joe accepted the headlock and was rather pleased that he and the tank gunner was getting along, it would certainly make things easier in the long run since they would work so closely together. In response, "I do like a good ass and you cannot argue with any of the women in this unit, but I won't be needing to buy any so we can forget about that." He allowed fitz to steer him as they walked, "Fair enough, though I just heard the El Tee order her out of the tank...and here she comes." Joe turned and watched Ella approach, music blasting in to her ears, obviously wanting to avoid being social.

"Fitz, you're a Corporal, how do you think this assignment will match up to your past do you think? Or is that too forward? Is it too forward? I don't mean to be too forward," Joe stuttered almost becoming unsure what he was even talking about anymore.

Beneath the NSS Heckler, with Thick Squad

As Autumn worked to rope Chiaki their way to the bar, the Officer carefully eyed her with a yellow gaze. The colors of his eyes did seem to change with the passing seconds, but Wilde seemed to catch more colors of trepidation, caution, or embarrassment for as much of being a friend. In truth, and on any other day of the week, Kokuten might have been all for a roaring jaunt to the bar for a few drinks, but a part of him felt obliged to make it difficult. Partially, it was due to his status as an officer, and partially because Autumn had trained him to be on the defensive in all their conversations.

"I've got equipment allocations for our infantry detachment, but we need Lieutenant Rickett to sign off on the Platoon Manifest," resolved Chiaki, tapping the DataJockey slot on his armor, "consider yourselves free to proceed to the nearest establishment."

He quirked a brow at the shorter of the demolitionists, offering a little slack, "I might even tag along, but I'll need to establish accountability for the tankers, first."

Beneath the NSS Heckler, Lift

While the others went off to likely harass one man who was just doing his job as a pencil-pusher, Juno had made his way down the tank and over to the elevator lift as it set down again. This time it had ferried two supply trucks, the engines whirring to life as the wheeled vehicles rolled down and off. They'd likely be heading to the wall, where the platoon and its assets would be meeting once they got underway again. Juno moved onto the large lift, however, and straightened his collar out as the massive starship began to raise it once more. The others were hopefully not going to give his new arrival too much issue... but he was sure he could stay in contact with their comms thanks to the arrival of the ships to bolster and ferry NSMC signals.

Hopefully the local population could endure them as long as needed to get the details and updated status of the campaign. Based on how the local pair of women was following Chiaki and the large ID-SOL was sighing at the lack of getting to fight, maybe the rest of the locals could fare to withstand the wide range of stalkers, perverts, and horny soldiers under his command.

And as Juno reached to grasp his cap from his belt and set it atop his head, he felt more like a commander in Yamatai than one in Nepleslia. This squad was far from what he was used to in the well-oiled and efficient glory days of the 309th.

(JP period is startin' up. The IC timeframe will be 2 weeks have passed. Do not post here until December 1st at the soonest!)

Two Weeks Later

The truck ferrying the crew rolled up rather slowly, the open back normally used for carrying supplies allowing everyone to see out and identify the massive wall ahead. It looked a lot like the intel that the others had seen with the governer and up to scale with the images Chiaki had found on his tablet. It was easily thirty or forty feet tall, making the platoon's Maximus seem like a normal piece of equipment when comparing size. The top was lines with crews, dug-outs, and plenty of firepower watching the plains out ahead of the wall. The sun was getting low, however, and the militia were shining massive lights out over the distance to keep an eye out in the waning hours of light.

As the truck came to a halt and parked, they could see the platoon's work station nearby. They had relocated by now and redeployed into one of the guardhouses of the wall, a relay aimed up at the stars to grant them perfect connection with the Jackdaws that had retreated into planetary orbit to await orders. Juno was emerging from one large tent, a glimmer of a navyman's uniform through the gap as he made his way over to the truck.

"Glad to see everyone made it back to the frontline with their shit together! Hop out and grab your gear from the other truck!"

The pair of women had exited the truck cabin by now, the ID-SOL pulling up in a truck beside them. The Aggressor had been hefted up into the back, its head down and all the Golem suits around its feet. One thing they all noticed was what had led their gear to being recalled on the last day of their leave. The suits had been given bits of fur, likely re-insulated to better help them with the windy and colder weathers they would get as they pushed toward the mountains.

Big Wall

Sleeping Beauty had returned to the front line, having taken medical leave to evaluate a concussion and fractured skull. The younger McClosky hopped out of the truck with his field cap on as well as his dusty BDUs that seemed to echo his time in the field from battlefields past. To those he'd served with here, they might as well have been his bedclothes.

He somewhat jogged over to the back of the truck and grabbed his duffel bag and tossed it over his shoulder. He looked over towards Juno and gave a half-hearted wave. He then put his bag down and began helping someone unload the rest of the bags and gear so the truck could get freed up. It'd been a while since he'd been here, and he felt he hadn't left a good impression behind for being a crack gunner. He knew he'd probably been replaced, but his orders from the brass said he was still here.

He stopped for a moment to fix his jacket before sighing to himself and going back to helping unload.

Big Wall

The commander of Thick Squad rolled out with the rest. He had rode over with the rest of the Marines from the Hospital/Admin detachment. Notification of Completion for end-of-year trainings had to be submitted, otherwise the whole unit would have been dinq and it would have fallen on the already over-tasked shoulders of Lieutenant Rickett. Chiaki had made himself useful in the last two weeks in that regard, establishing a system of paperwork from the muddy bottom, all the way to the brassy top. Thankfully, he had a lot of help in that regard. Private Valentine kept the ward on lock-down and was more capable than he had ever been when he was in her boots. Then Private Wilde, now Sergeant Wilde, had been gleefully tuning up his administrative process and introduced him to the interesting world of hot-keys.

Now that they were back in the field, and moving again, Chiaki eagerly kicked along to the other vehicle. The steel-eyed commander turned his ever-glowing gaze on his own Golem, marked by a faded rank-bar on the fore-head, and a CHIAKI name tape on the back. He appeared amused by the extra layering and the tufts of fringe. He tugged at the stylish addition and looked to the others.

"Well, well, well! Rides to our action zones, on-time supply deliveries, and now fur coats?" chuckled the officer, his humor was a bit grim as he reflected upon the visor of his helmet. "I should've deployed out here years ago."

Setting the helmet aside, and moving behind the Golem to don it, he called out to Fang, "Private Zhou, load up in the Aggressor. I don't know if we're going to need it, but we're sure as hell going to use it."

Big Wall

Fitz had spent her short break enjoying herself in many different ways. Most of them were fine, but there were a few occasions where she nearly ended up in custody. That was all the past though, even if it did happen just the day before. But all things have their place, the moment she stepped on the truck she had gotten prepared for battle. She still planned to joke around, but lives were at stake and some sense was needed.

She stepped out of the truck in her crewman jacket. She, fortunately, did not have to make alterations to the uniform for the temperature as it already took the cold into mind, and she would not need to bulk up and make it harder to move within the tank. "No one messed with the gun right? I'll have to hit Joe if the gun is off alignment."

She did not have much in the way of combat gear with her since she would be inside the tank, so when she pulled her things from the truck she only had her sidearm and a small bag with a collapsible SMG in case they had to step out.

Big Wall

While others might have spent their time socializing and merry making on their leave. Minnie had spent the majority of her time, When she wasn't helping run an understaffed and overworked medical and surgical support unit. She was scrambling to relocate and re-hide a sizable and ever growing cache of medical supplies and equipment hoarded under a self manifested fear that what was arguably hers couldn't be trusted in the hands of the locals, And needed to be hidden and treasured in case of emergencies. The sudden event of having a medical trained and oriented executive officer thrust into her station left a mountain of forged and altered requisitions and inventories that wouldn't hold up to someone like lieutenant chiaki's scrupulous attention to detail who would quickly notice the gaps and discrepancies.

Despite all of that, Minnie had developed a growing sense of respect for her new executive officer. Even now he was laughing and poking fun at the alterations to their armor, Lightening the mood for even a situational pessimist like Minnie.

"I kinda like it." She retorted quietly without looking at her superior, Running a hand over the fur and wondering just what creature or synthetic material it came from before beginning the arduous task of encumbering herself with the golem armor, Her own slightly different in contrast from the others being fit to someone slightly smaller is size like herself and adorning an armband marking her as a member of the medical cadre.

"All it needs now is a fur cloak and a sword and we can scare all the fatnecks off world looking like some band of fantasy techno knights."

Big Wall

After the kerfuffle at the bar, Ella doubled her efforts to actively avoid everyone during the break. And she was doing good till the orders came down to get ready for the actual mission. Still, she managed to keep a fair distance from everyone in the truck as pattered along in the coming dark. But alas, all good must die young as she sat with the squad and could already hear the mongoloid LT from her seat.

She didn't reveal the slow internal emotional death. She simply hopped out as the truck stopped, grabbed what few items she had in her duffle bag, and waited for the next braying of commands.

Big Wall

The Geshrin demolitionist had been on cloud 9 since General Apollodorus Wiegand dropped in on her small advancement ceremony on the roof of the Knucklewetter. The sergeant bars on her shoulders still had that fresh out of the package sheen as she went about her duties with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. Sergeant Wilde had an over abundance of energy and an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards paperwork and inventory that bordered on medicated which had acted as a counterbalance to Second Lieutant Chiaki's dour reluctance towards it. She had spent a great deal of her time assisting Chiaki with his paperwork and teaching him how to use spreadsheets and database software to process it faster. The quick buttons and hot keys were the tricky part. Formulas were easy enough once you learned how to do them but the trick was knowing what to input.

Autumn was mostly glad to be reunited with her old friend. Eight years was a lot of history to share with another marine, even if you spent most of that time apart. You could never forget the people that you shed blood, sweat and tears beside. The NSS Alliance was a distant memory. The Aethersperm concert where she met her squad upon assignment to the Alliance seemed even further away. The past several years on her own had been incredibly lonely but now, for the present, she wasn't alone any more. She had one of her friends back... even if he had gone officer.

But all down time most end. And for all of the time she had been given to catch up with Kokuten, she was also glad for the chance to get back to being a Marine again. They did have a mission to accomplish. The order to retrieve their gear was a welcome sound. She followed after the other members of Thick to retrieve her Golem armor. She picked up the armor from the truck and examined the new insulation with its fur trimming. "It's going to be impossibly cold, otherwise this is going to be ridiculously hot."

"You picked the perfect time to join us here in atmo, sir," she commented with a smile as she moved away from the truck once more and pulled on her Golem armor with practiced speed. Her other gear was in a duffel bag on the ground beside her foot. "Paperwork is even being processed in a timely fashion! It just means we need to get rolling before they change their minds!" She grinned as she adjusted the straps of her armor into place until it settled snugly until all that was left in her hands was her helmet. Her floppy NCO cap shaded her eyes as she looked down at her helmet for a moment.

"Did you have fun, Private Zhou, Private Valentine?"

Joe hopped off the crew truck with a casual and calm face, he scratched his buzzed head briefly before doning his cap and grabbing his duffel. He had kept close to Fitz and made a parody of a shoked face at her comment, "You can't blame me if you can't shoot straight though I could give you private lessons if you need them."

He slung the bag over his shoulder and without further adieu walked to the tank patting its hull as he turned to watch the rest of the squad.

Big Wall

Having finished unloading the second truck, Tim grabbed his duffel and slung it over his shoulder. He gave a slight yawn and scanned the area for the Jackelope APC he had been given command of. He didn't know if the driver was already with it or whether they were with him now. His mind defaulted to going over and checking.

As he reached the massive box of a vehicle, Tim tossed his duffel on to the roof of the vehicle and gave a whistle. "Yo! Whose this vic's driver?" He looked around before asking another question, "And where the hell is the barrack?" Tim wasn't in a rush, though he was deftly curious.

Big Wall.

"Did you have fun, Private Zhou, Private Valentine?"

Click to expand...

"Not nearly as much as you it would seem!" Minnie grinned at Autumn, Casually referring to the night of wild drinking that she heard was her promotion ceremony. While she didn't know all of autumns exploits that lead her to a backwater like New Bernise, Word had it the promotion was well deserved and long overdue so Minnie found it hard to be jealous after the fact. "Now that you get paid more you can probably afford some good quality 'netics. And if you need a good surgeon you always know where to..."

About to offer a pamphlet and ramble on about her personal recommendations before someone passed into Minnie's field of view beyond Autumn and towards the tank, Forcing her to reluctantly abandon her sales pitch and job past her with a promise of reviving the conversation elsewhere.

Outside The Soko Neko.

"Duville!" She squeaked upon catching up to Ella, Casually cutting her off from the tank. General concern spotting Minnie's face as she engaged the tanks driver. She had an episode only a couple days into the squads R&R session, A passive breakdown that had her confined to the CCP for most of the night under Minnie's supervision. And while she tried to follow through with keeping an eye on private Duville, She always seemed to absent or indisposed of.

"Are you prime, Ella?" Minnie offered a warm and inviting smile towards ella, Hopping to reinforce the fact that she was there to help as both a medical professional with trusted discretion, And a friend.

Big Wall

Kim said:

"Did you have fun, Private Zhou, Private Valentine?"

Click to expand...

Private Zhou let Minne talk for a good few minutes, happy to be simply remain silent and unnoticed on the side benches of the cargo truck. Well, more like part of the scenery than being actually stealthy, really, looking bigger than ever in jumbo sized ID-SOL warm weather gear.

The medic left eventually, though, making sleep with her eyes open an impossibility.

"...Lord Slepp is demanding." Was the slow, wistful response to Sargent Wilde, though still offering Zhou's trademark doe-eyed smile. She said this clutching an ammo drum for the Assault Ordinance Projector like a favoured drink (or perhaps a stuffed animal), hunched over it and conserving as much warmth as possible. "...I hope I've done enough to earn his trust... This terrain is very cold."

The Aggressor had a couple of random white splotches of whitewash added to it for camo, and now had even more indecipherable ancient seals hidden away amongst the various joint fixtures and previous generation's kill markings. Wax residue was particularly obvious around the head, though the maintenance crew had clearly snapped the candles back off again before it was shipped out. Both the Vibrosaw on it's chest sling and the suit's main gun itself were not so lucky, seeing Zhou's own brand of personal blessing on the way over, and now had both wax seals and a few looms of parchment hanging from them. Combined with the newly added fur, one could only summarise that Fang had spent the entire break in constant arguments with the people who were actually supposed to take care of it, struggling to avoid it mutating into some kind of walking relic/magic space barbarian thing.

Reluctantly, they peeled themselves from the bench, and moved over to plonk the sanctified ammo drum into the metal golem's waist locker, and then popped the chest open. Zhou grimaced despite herself. It was already a walking fridge, but now it was a walking freezer...

She wanted to keep Second Lieutenant Kokuten happy, but Slepp was turning out to be quite the demanding war idol.

Big Wall
The Truck

Chiaki could feel the thickness of the cold-weather inlay press against his uniformed chest. The shoulder rig felt a bit heavier than it was before, but rid him of any doubts of the temperature. As he began to tug on the external shells, he began to appreciate the powered armor they wore in the olden days, and the simplicity of sliding into an armor rather than going through a twelve-step process. Though, he couldn't argue that the sounds of the locks and magnets were pretty badass, it felt tough. The carapace felt like it climbed on the body when you put it on right, and the straps were really the only hassle.

Thunk Thunk!

Testing the fit, his armor resounded with solid thuds to the sound of his fist banging on the chest plate.

"Maybe command can issue us some paper weights," laughed Kokuten, picking up his rifle and his helmet, "they'd keep track of things better while we're gone. I'm betting everything is going to be in disarray by the time we get back."

He set the rifle against the truck, and placed the helmet over his head, activating the on-board electronics. In the interior, his HUD sparked to life, giving him a map read-out of the surrounding area, as supplied by his DataJockey. The man busied himself by adjusting the squad's radio channels, linking up to the tank. On the exterior, his glowing eyes gave a faint light from under the visor, marking him in a way. One could see where he was looking by the two ghostly, green globes faintly shimmering behind the face shield. After a few moments of tapping buttons on the edge of his helmet, the globes turned in the direction of the tank.

"Soko Neko," Kokuten sent to the tank, "Radio check, how do you read?"

Waiting for a response, he glanced back around to the others to see where they had spread out. He had seen Valentine run up to the tank, she seemed happy when talking with one of the tankers in particular. Autumn was in high-spirits, and strapping on her own Golem as well, no need to worry about her. And Zhou was standing by and about to load up in their ...

... Aggressor...?

At that point, he had managed to get a closer look at it now that they had pulled some of the armors away from it. Chiaki's voice blurted from the helmet's external speakers, tossing a bulky, armored finger at the blessed armor, "What the? Has our Aggressor always looked like that? No... Who's been pouring wax on our equipment!?"