RP: NSS Sledge Mama [NSS Sledge Mama] Ep. 3 - Into Steel

Max was relieved that he didn't have to drag Emi along. If he had known that there were other friendlies around he wouldn't have suggested it. Still he felt it needed to be said, like he owed her something for taking the shots that he should have. With that behind him, Max returned to the mission at hand. "Zero-G eh?" he said as he hopped into the shaft. "Well this will be fun" he joked quietly moving down the shaft. He knew they needed to be quiet because all it took was one lucky sentry to fuck up their day.

Ylfa gave a not-so-innocent, "Maaaaaybe~," to Richard as they all piled into the elevator shaft. With no gravity, it was easy to just grab a strut or support from the wall and move themselves along as they began to make their way down. Hearing his remark however, she added, "That's right - I think you mentioned something about being a football player the first time we met." Kelly soon began moving past them all with a breaststroke however.

"Swan-dive~," she sing-songed incorrectly. Passing Terrance, the tips of the 'Spacer's fingers just barely brushed his shoulder. "Squishies like you have it tough enough, so just use the meat you have in your head instead of your pants. And don't do that again, kay?" Kelly encouraged him, floating on by.

It wasn't far at all - when the Nepleslian marines made a level down, they found an elevator car already there. Popping the top hatch, the squad could already hear gunfire a few rooms away. Kelly went in first at Ylfa's command, and silently reconned it - as a Freespacer, it was unlikely they would shoot her on sight after all. They hoped. Soon enough, they were all inside the elevator car and the room beyond. What they found was a periwinkle walled room with an armory master's cage and desk at the center. Though autocannon rounds had blown clean through the transparent durandium, a handmade sign with the words "猫餌を与えないでください" under the cute picture of a kitten still hung on the armored pane however. This was flanked by a pair of armored vault doors which opened up to the sides - both had been literally blasted open, the edges smooth from plasma.

From where the Nepleslian marines were at, they could hear the distinctive thump of autocannons and a LASR's staccato reply. Both sides were linked to each other, and the marines could just barely see beyond the doors from this angle. On the left was a sliver of a peek at shelves on top of shelves of Yamataian weapons, while the right promised endless ranks of green power armors still standing in their racks. Guns and Daisies. "Let's hope they're distracted so we can grab the goods," Ylfa remarked. "Split up marines! I don't want us all getting mowed down as we move in there! Go, go, go!"

They had to get the goods, and fast, otherwise, they'd be caught with their pants down. Any marine going in had to prioritize either getting firepower or protection - no matter what, it was a tough choice.

"Someone holler at me if you find any of that armor in a big as fuck size," Mark called as he moved left through the door. The MG was good and all but a large energy gun sounded great, even if it was Yamataian. "Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better and I just want you guys to know that if I die here, don't let Terrence anywhere my funeral," he commented jokingly.

A small force against a ruthless enemy of unknown size and strength doesn't get away scott free. Mark couldn't help but think of a story he was told about battle long ago between a man named Travis and his volunteers and some Santa guy. He hoped things wouldn't turn out for them like it did for Travis but in the end he knew there were no promises.

Rachael had been silent the entire time that they had been walking and only kept following the group, paying attention to her surroundings in the process. She found it difficult to do so however with all the needless banter. She however stayed vigilant, and continued to stay alert. Eventually they had reached an armory of sorts, She listened to her superior officers orders, and decided to get closer to Richard, as she intended to go with him when they split up over the two other idiots in their group, she wasn't going to get killed for their stupidity.

Terrence looked at Kelly with a confused expression on his face, noting he as back to his old self now that he was confident of the Nekoes ability to protect Emi. "Meat in my- what's that supposed to mean?" Of course he knew what meat she meant, but it was more so out of who he would be thinking like that fo- "Wait a minute, we're not-... Forget it." Figuring it would be a waste of time to talk about such trivial matters, he floated down after the group, switching from the laser pistol to his new-found revolver. He looked on both doors, quickly deciding what he wanted. He strode up to the weapons room with his revolver at the ready, sweeping inside and clearing the area for anyone who wanted to choose firepower first. The thought process was that he shouldn't give himself anything to tempt himself with the opportunity of charging headfirst into enemy forces, something the others were likely wary of now. He didn't know much about Yammie weapons, but he knew that he would probably want the Service Rifle, as it seemed to be the rifleman's assault rifle in the YSA.

"When we make it out I'll tell you guys more about it over some beer." He spoke as they moved down in the shaft, the trip was short however so he quickly got back to his fight mode, readying his gun for when the doors opened. Thankfully there was nothing to meet them on the other side and they could move unhindered into the next room where they found themselves in a Power Armor Armory , which was exactly what they needed.

He didn't hesitate when he noticed weapons were on one side and armor was on the other, he went straight for the armor and began suiting up, thankfully he was within the size limits for a DAISY. If he could get himself in the armor it was unlikely that he would die in one shot and he could protect other's as he tried to get a weapon afterward.

They entered too fast and too hard to reply to each other's bantering so soon - it would have to wait.

When the marines poured through the two vault-like doors, the fight was too close for comfort; just a hundred meters off, they could see glimpses of five, maybe six Militants firing at an unseen threat, their backs turned to the Nepleslians.

Even then, stray bolts of energy sliced through cages upon cages of weapons and ammo as someone fought back, rounds popping off as ammunition cooked-off. Though a fire managed to start spreading, an extinguisher in that area suppressed it as Kelly crouched low and made her way forward, simply punching through the lock on one of the wire cubicles' entryway with brute, mechanical strength Mark and Terrance to follow after her. Though they found everything an infantry-woman could want besides weapons for power armor only a few items stood out as useful to them against the heavy armor they were up against.

"Quick, someone grab one of those rawket lawnchairs!" Kelly quietly told the two men with her. "I'll just grab, umm!" Though they were desperate for better firepower, now that it boiled down to it, there was too much to choose from. The gun-shielded autocannon and its tripod mount would do the job, but it was heavy and needed at least two people. And the box of Aether Grenades someone scribbled 'Count to Three!' on was out of the question! Her eye settled on something, yet still sounded uncertain. "Flamenwerfer?"

At the same time, a mini-missile streaked in and exploded amongst the rows of feminine armors Ylfa had lead Rachael and Richard into. Their hair whipped in every direction as ears rang, but there was plenty enough cover to avoid it all. Already, they were amongst the ranks of Mindy and both new and older Daisy armors. Pawing at one of the suits to try and open it however, Ylfa quietly cursed. "Shit, I can't figure out how to open it!" At that moment however, several of the suits nearby suddenly had their back plates release from the suit and fall backwards, revealing the interior to them. Unlike Nepleslian suits which were entered from the front, these were clambered onto and entered from the back. "Someone's looking out for us. You two get in quick and I'll look for a - " She stopped talking right then and there.

The Master Sergeant didn't think she would, but she found a suit for their ID-SOL after all; a modular version of the Daisy.

"Mark, your suit has a bigger rack than me!"

Richard was fumbling around with the armor himself until they opened up. He didn't waste any time though and quickly moved to get into one of the new Daisy's that was his size and fortunately had the male chest plate on it, a rarity in Yamatai. Hearing what Ylfa said at the end he decided to throw in his own two cents just for good measure. "Don't think that's possible Boss." He quipped before starting to close up his armor now that he was situated inside it.

Mark looked around at the weapons trying to decide what exactly he could actually take with him. At Kelly's order he quietly moved to grab a rocket launcher and stuffed his pockets with extra rockets. The sound of an explosion caused Mark to whip around and mutter obscenities under his breath.

Standing around glaring at things as he waited for the others to finally decide on a weapon selection, a grin split Mark's face when he heard that Ylfa found him some armor. He maneuvered to her location as quickly as possible while trying not to attract any enemy fire he stopped at the armor. "Top it's nice and all but I don't know how to operate that. Wouldn't it be immobile like a large coffin?" Mark asked skeptical to how this would function. He was never trained in the use of yammie armor and while he would probably eventually figure it out here was not where he wanted to do it.

Rachael followed Richards example and got into a suit, her suit however was better suited for the PA because she was a female. She took a breath and got to working on getting the thing activated, as she closed the back and slowly stood up in it. She checks diagnostics and nods a bit "Ready and Willing, Boss." She replied over communications.

It was surprisingly easy to stay uninvolved with the firefight a good baseball's throw away.

"Have you seen The NNN Girl private?" Ylfa replied to Richard over the autocannon fire. "She makes me look like a cat with a washboard!" the woman replied. With the Daisy by her ready, she brought her foot up to its hip and clambered into its open back, leaning forward to push her arms into the suit's own. The moment her fingertips fell into the armored gloves, the back sealed up on her like a clam-shell before she strode off the stand. "Wow. It fits like a glove - I actually feel really sexy in this," she remarked, tucking in her hair before donning the helmet. Just in time for Kelly to stumble up beside Mark with a large flamethrower in one hand, and a lighter in the other.

"Pleb, do you even sim-battle?" the Freespacer spoke up. With the gas hissing and the pilot light finally catching, she dropped the weapon to get into one of the suits herself. "After this, you and I are gonna play War Armor together and go up the Yammie Tech Tree. Daisy is easy!" the robot-girl added, the air around her own rippling as the shields automatically came online. Unlike the others though, she didn't bother putting on her helmet. With all the marines either suiting up, sticking to their guns or both, Ylfa quickly took in what they were up against as her suit automatically started receiving targeting data from someone else.

Furthest away from them, a lone Daisy was pinned down behind a wrecked Spider Tank, knocked out before it could even be brought online by massed fire. Though all the text on their heads up displays was nothing but 'moonrunes', the rest of the tactical info was obvious. One hundred meters down the rows and rows of power armors, six Militants were steadily putting short bursts into the ruined hulk as they tried to advance. Each time they did however, the Daisy would do her best to suppress and force them back, but they were steadily gaining ground. Already, there were several other downed units scattered along with a handful of other Star Army armors, some riddled with so many shells they were nearly unrecognizable.

"Listen up Marines! We got two forearm guns that that should shoot if you merely want them to, but if that doesn't work, the baton they started giving out will have to do the job!" Ylfa told them, the collapsing cudgel on her wrist flipping out into her hand at its mention. "Get in close as fast as you can, because if you can't fire your gun, you're either going to have to smash their heads in, or run into the weapon cages - now move! We gotta kill them as fast as possible before they realize what's going on. And remember - fire those rockets as fast as you can BEFORE we get too close!"

"CH@rG3!" Kelly yelled, taking off in a sprint!

Terrence played around the the Service Rifle for a bit, looking at each side to determine the various functions of the weapon. It didn't take very long to figure out which item did what action. However, his familiarity test prevented him from finding a power armor, but to be frank, he wouldn't be able to take himself seriously anytime in the future if he walked around in blatantly feminine equipment. The colonist switched off the safety and stacked up to the left of the entrance to the next room, where combat seemed inevitable. When the others exited before him, he laid the rifle against the door frame to steady his aim. He aimed for the Militant nearest to the approaching marines. He waited for the group to launch their rockets, in which his trigger finger rested in the appropriate position. He breathed in, and breathed out at the moment of release. With luck, it would take it out of the fight for as long as it suffered damage to any important functions in the extremity. At worst, the target would be knocked over long enough for another power-armor clad marine to finish it with ease.

Max suited up the best he could. This Yammie stuff was foreign to him. He had only ever seen them in the vids or in the sim from earlier. Still knowing that he was now in an armor made him feel a bit better. He would feel better if it had an actual weapon he thought popping out the baton. Perhaps he could pick up another rifle off the ground or out of a cage once the enemy was taken care out. Following Kelly's lead, Max charged down the hallway towards the militant. He raised his arm towards the enemy and thought about firing his forearm cannons, squeezing his fist together hoping that it would work. Failing that, he would simply go cavnep on the stupid tin cans and beat them to death with his baton.

Richard shifted around in the DAISY armor once it was on, though he was the right height saying it was a snug fit was being optimistic, Yamataian things just did not go well with his build. He thought a moment when Ylfa spoke and scratched his now armored chin, he couldn't remember the name for the life of him but an image, mostly of the chest came to mind. "I always thought those were fake, you mean they're real?" He stepped off the rack and looked at his wrist then at the weapons. He was fighting in tight quarters so a rifle would slow him down, and he knew aether wasn't exactly smart for indoors, so he opted out of grabbing a weapon and instead picked up a shield.

When Kelly chose to dash off in sprint he followed suit, keeping the shield in front and going for a bull rush. He decided it was better not to stop until he collided with the first IWL soldier he met up with, putting his previous career to use with a shield bash to try and knock them off their feet. He knew that wouldn't end a fight though so he quickly fired on them in whatever position they were in with his PEW letting out as many shots as he could.

"I never played Yammie in War Armour and I'm not sure if I really want to," Mark replied to Kelly, setting the launcher down and clamouring into the armor. After a couple of attempts he finally got the armour active and ready to roll.

Reaching back down for the launcher, Mark heard Ylfa's advice about shooting before the squad was too close and looked around to see everyone running off. "Alright clear the center of the hall because I'm firing this thing in 3,2,1," Mark warned taking a small pause to breath between each number of the countdown. "Firing," he continued breathing deeply before he slowly exhaled. When he was about half way out of breath he fired the rocket.

Rachael follows the group quietly, and upon reaching the combat she raised her weapon moving to the side, she allowed mark to fire the large rocket and Richard fire his weapons before she aimed carefully moving to take some pinpoint shots against key parts of the enemies they were facing particularly the arms and the head locations.

"Sometimes dreams come true!" Ylfa spurred Richard on.

A blast shot out of the back of Mark's quad-tubed launcher as the rocket screamed away, exploding in an oppressive fireball. Immediately, two of the Militants on the far left were knocked down, their casings cracked by the blast. Already however, they were scrambling back up to their feet as the rest of the team made their move. Fifty meters in, both of Max's wrist weapons rapidly strobed as automatic blasts of energy were sent downrange. The armor plating on the back of his target melted away under the barrage as the Militant to the far right took cover, its propulsion unit ruined. Aiming for the second to the right, Rachael's carefully aimed shots missed the all important belt-link as it turned to make for cover, however, its head jerked from several impacts; the stream of particle bolts walked up its side, burning glowing craters into its hull and damaging the optics.

Meanwhile, the shield in Richard's hand wouldn't quite mount! Unfamiliar with the design, he briefly fumbled with it before it latched into place, just as his shields were hammered by big, fat, heavy autocannon shells! A rapid fire stream of energy bolts quickly forced it into cover, his energy barrier half depleted from the tungsten hail. Just a few meters away, the Master Sergeant fired both of her wrist mounted SMGs, tossing away her chance of getting a hit for just keeping both her Militant and his behind cover. "Don't close into brawling range yet! Suppress them until Mark flushes the rest of his rockets!" Ylfa ordered them.

At the same time, Terrance finally brought the eighty-eight pound LASR to bear from where he was on the left of the Nepleslian formation. Taking aim with the weapon, he couldn't get a bead on the other four to the right due to their cover, but was already focusing on the one second to the left, just as it managed to stand. The periwinkle weapon kicked him like a mule as the muzzle of the weapon rose to the ceiling, toppling the marine over as its first round smashed into cracked armor plate. A plated arm crashing to the ground, the other two went high and embedded themselves in the ceiling as the two turned to fire on both Mark and Terrance!

"Then L34rN 70 PL4y!" Kelly's digitized voice gleefully hollered at them all - hearing the familiar tones, the kill-bots paused in killing the two, only for liquid fire to suddenly wash over their hulls. Unable to see, their thermal imaging saturated, autocannon shells blindly fired at Mark and Terrance, holes larger than their thumbs being punched into the walls and floor around them. "Hit them with the SPNKr again!"

Richard was not expecting his shield's to be battered and worn down so easily, but after getting into cover and making sure his shield was secure he took a moment to pause and collect his thoughts. After that moment he himself out from the cover and started firing with one of his wrist mounted guns. He understood now why the Sergeant wanted them to close in fast, but he needed to take a moment to recoup his shields before heading into that stream of fire again.

"OOH, SHIT!" Terrence cursed as he toppled over onto his back. He quickly brought the weapon back to his now smarting shoulder, and taking aim at the enemies on the ceiling without bothering to get back up. "Thanks, doc!" He proceeded to fire in single shot mode as not to break his shoulder and aimed for the closest Militant's belt link, stopping the recoil when the weapon reached it's head to fire again. He didn't feel like having his arms sawed off by enemy return fire, and there was no PA to minimize the chance of that happening. "Bounding!" He called to Mark, a stream of curses escaping the young marine as he stood back up and made a break for the closest piece of cover he could find. When he found it, he propped the LASR in his hands on top of it, firing in short bursts to assist Mark in fighting the elevated hostiles.

Max felt a sudden exhiliartion as his wrist lasers went to work on the enemy before it fell into cover. Seeing how effective they were and hearing what Ylfa told them, Max went to the right to find cover while still keeping a bead on his target. He squeezed his wrists aiming at the cover the Militant was taking. Without a clear shot on the militant Max focused fire on the cover piece, hoping to melt it away with his plasma fire and draw out the enemy. "COMEON GET SOME!" He shouted as he poked his hands out and fired on the militant, hoping to avoid return fire in the process.