RP: OIF Atuan III [OIF Atuan III] Episode 1: On the Edge

[Kai]

The Further on the edge, the Higher the Intensity

The Atuan dropped out of FTL several hundred thousand kilometers short of what was immediately apparent as a battle going on. Feeds in the cockpits of the six Mecha getting ready to launch showed them that one freighter had been disabled and was currently swarmed by a number of smaller signatures; too big to be fighters, but too small to be ships, their power signatures were consistent with older Origin-made Aether reactors.

Nearer to the Atuan, several ships sat, dormant, in an Asteroid field which the Mecha carrier had stopped just shy of. After a few seconds, the alarms and warnings began blaring in the hangar, with the lights flashing red as the front of the hangar opened, the catapult deploying and readying itself. Two of the Mecha went forward, latching on to the catapult sleds and bracing themselves before being rocketed forward, hurled into space by what was essentially a railgun. Two more followed, and then finally the fifth and sixth made their way out into space.

Now, they were free. In open space, with as much room to maneuver as they wanted. They had been briefed- One of their cargo ships had been used as a decoy, to attract the Pirates. Pirates, whom flew in Mecha not too dissimilar from their own. Their orders were to chase off these pirates, and destroy as many of the mecha as they could. Hopefully, it would be an easy fight for their newer units, but only time would tell if the pilots were up to the challenge.


"Aaaaaaaaaaalrighty folks! This is it! We're finally out, free, in the cockpits of our Giant metal steeds of AWESOMENESS!" the chipper voice of Nora one-three called out over the comms as her Gekido Mecha sped forward, closer to the imminent battle!

 

[Luca]

Lucien was the de-facto leader, one of the first ones to have his Frame in the launch tubes. He gave his frame a name on Nora's insistence and for the sake of 'Awesomeness' - a concept that flew over his head a long time ago. Eventually the curmudgeonly Scot settled for 'Blazing Vanguard' since that was one of the monikers his alternate ego's Frame took in Ori-V-Frame. Some part of him dreaded fitting back into the launch tube and being fired out into space.

But, another part yearned for flight again. Too many hours in that voice booth made something grow in him that wanted out that ate at his mind from within with every animated sortie he watched and had to narrate for. He was no longer just 'testing'. He was part of a private security team in all but name. He didn't feel the guilt or jank of that image imposed upon him just yet.

"Frame Unit #01, 'Blazin' Vanguard' launched 'n' ready fer action," the Scotsman recited after clearing the tube and getting his bearings. He waited for the others and read over the brief again. It seemed sound, and he was doing the universe a favour by removing a few pirates and their ill-gotten frames and wears. He'd brushed with one close enough to know what they were like in the clinch - and their wounds only made the Scot angrier.

 

[Moogle]

"Told you it was a two-seater," Taela coolly said back to Mark as she helmed their Gekido. While in previous flights, even when she was calm before, she was very excitable and often ended up jerking about to match her Frame's motion. Now, she sat perfectly still, in some sort of Bushido-focus on her piloting. The only motions she made were of her ears, which twitched like a cat sensing its prey.

To say that the neko missed this was an understatement.

Her time on Communion Base was brutal, base, and a learning experience. But she never liked fighting the way she did there. Too up close. Too close to injury. Here, she was comfortable. Here, in the cockpit of a several-story-tall flying deathmachine, she felt safe.

"Mark, can you do the thing where you demolish the enemy communications?" Taela asked, baring her teeth happily.

 

[ShotJon]

"Hahaha it is time to kill again Lucien," Viktoria went on air, laughing into everyones comms. She sat in the new Gekido, but it was painted black, just as her old Asura. Blitzkrieg 2 was its designation and name. "Just like old times!" She laughed again and got comfortable in the cockpit. On her mecha's back was a big gun and she also made sure to have 2 chain-straights just in case. Loaded in her gun were standard GPAPHE rounds, but she had a mag of plasma rounds as well, just in case. The orders were to destroy, and Viki was very very good at that.

 

[CadetNewb]

Plain olive drab. Despite the mech belonging to their Squad Leader, it was just that. Drab.

And despite being designated as their new Squad Leader, the helmeted man hadn't said a word so far. The man had alternated between stoic silence and silent insanity when Kelly wasn't looking, and now that the man was gone? He had just gone about doing whatever it was that he did right up until the moment they were going to launch. Armed with a single chain-straight, rifle and machine pistol, the loadout he carried with him was the definition of generic mook loadout. In fact, with the way he looked, in that white uniform and helmet? It was a surprise there weren't a bunch more of him running around - he seemed the sort that only knew about white uniforms and shooting.

"Command, It sounds like we're ready to launch on your mark - they're excited to get back in the saddle by the sounds of it," a vaguely familiar voice spoke in their ears.

And in moments, they were gone. Just like that.

 

[Straken]

"Well, the trouser-jockeys 're off," Doran mumbled lightly as if he were passing a casual comment to his fighter. Nestled snug in his seat his hands patted a steady beat against his thighs as his head bobbed along to the rhythm whilst he counted down a mental timer. Once the mechs had been in vacuum long enough he cleared his throat before proceeding. "Ahem, Atuan bridge, the Rover an' Ah are getting mighty antsy ta get out there ourselves. Requesting permission to launch an' provide fire support for the Frame pilots," Doran said into his communicator before mumbling once more to himself. "'ere's hopin' the enemy doesn' pay me any mind, 't'll be more fun pickin' at 'em that way."

 

[Gwathdraug]

Thalath's unnamed frame stopped just outside of the launch ramp alongside the rest of the group. The giant green machine went through a series of slight hand and arm movements as the pilot inside familiarized herself with the upper body harness – a system that had not been utilized by the older styled Obans.


The Elysian frowned as she pulled her unit's main weapon – a plasma cannon of some sort that most likely meant she would be filling a support role in the battle – and watched Nora One-Three's Gekido create more distance between itself and the rest of its allies.


“Pilot Zaim.” Thalath's voice clipped out across the communications channel. The flat tone in which the former civilian pilot spoke mostly masked the dull throb of exhaustion that echoed across the Elysian's body. “Preparing to move forward and position to cover the Van.”


The Plebeian brought her teeth down on her tongue as she held back from asking on a confirmation of orders. No one seemed to have taken control of the situation yet and until someone did any and all unnecessary chatter was more likely to be harmful than helpful.

 

[Lamb]

Mark wiggled side-to-side a little, still getting used to the new cockpit layout. The comms channel, on the other hand; well it was like riding a bicycle. Once you get in tune with the rythm of battle, you never lose the beat. And this battle's opening prelude really laid down a sweet bass line or something like that. Chords, man, chords.

In response to Taela's inquiry, Mark made quick to start scanning the laserwaves for the enemy frequency, admitting, "I can demolish, hijack, or just listen in so long as I can find these fools."

 

[Kai]

Nora One-Three grinned at the inner cockpit of her machine, the integrated Helmet's visor up and out of the way as she found it a bit constrictive. "Let's do this, Bangarang!" she yelled at her Mecha, having just named it.

"Since nobody else is taking charge, I guess I will!" the excitable freespacer called out over the comms, despite being one of the lower ranks in the group. Her mecha racked the pump on her 300mm Gauss cannon and then she boosted forward, closing the distance between her and the battle ahead even quicker than before. "Everyone, follow me! Let's chase 'em offa the freighter first and then set about beating them to bits, yeah?" the irradiated girl suggested, looking over the sensor readout of the upcoming battlefield.

Ahead, they would all notice that there were six enemy Mecha; an even number for them to go after. Half of them seemed to be derived from Garuda Chassis, but were painted red and lacked the heavy cannons of the original, instead having been outfitted for Melee, which was completely anachronistic to the original design. These were attacking the hull directly, stabbing at its point defenses from inside their firing range, and quickly rendering the ship defenseless.

The other three looked to be high-end Ashigaru Knockoffs, and were providing perimeter defense for their companions. These three seemed to notice the incoming frame team and began to move into engagement range, hefting Hyper rifles. They opened fire not long after, sending the Origin Frame team something to think about as the closed in!

 

[ShotJon]

"Hey since you are the boss-lady now, how about me and Lucien rush in and break them apart, we are good at that." Viki called Nora, giving her some ideas. "Taela always worked best at the distance. It should work all nice. Hey Lucien you up for it?" Viktoria asked the strange accented nepleslian actor-mercenary in the end. Viki was really looking forward to the fight, she was already tracking targets, thinking about the strategies. The Atuan team did not have numbers on the enemy, but they had better mechas and equipment, it should work all out.

 

[Moogle]

"Mark, also, I forgot to mention. This frame I chose has two space rocket pods and two anti-air pods built in. I'm keying the controls of them to you so you can do a little combat whenever the jamming thing doesn't work," Taela told her partner, letting her scanners do the hard work of identifying the enemy. She smiled when she saw the analysis.

"Garuda refits? This will be fun!" she hissed evilly, checking her longsword and cannon's integration before raising the latter up and tracking one of the red melee units, then firing.

 

[Gwathdraug]

Thalath boosted her frame forward bringing it up to speed as quickly as she could. The Elysian clamped her teeth down with a hard clack as she kicked her forwards thrust and bled off speed before beginning a steady drift forward.


The gaunt-faced plebeian found herself reflexively placing a grimace across her face as her mind instinctively tried to make her face light up into a smile of pure joy. She was most certainly not in a simple Oban anymore and was a bit more than surprised by the weapon she was controlling now.


Checking her position alongside the others the winged pilot nodded. She was ahead of Taela and Mark's two seated but behind the rest of the group in order to take a medium range assistance role. The Elysian moved her own arms inside the cockpit and her machine raised its plasma cannon and sighted in on one of the enemy units on the perimetre guard.


As her shot lined up and her sensors zoomed in on Ashigaru furthest from her the Elysian defocused her weapon and panned it over to one of the Garuda's savaging the now defenseless merchanter.


“This is Zaim.” Thalath called out across the channel, her voice still flat and tightly controlled. “I am placing a priority on the safety of the defensive target until ordered otherwise.” The Elysian fired once and then once more, send a quick double burst at the melee-based frame she had targeted.

 

[Kai]

ON THE ATUAN

As Doran's fighter Idled, he could hear the chatter of the Frame team as they began to get into position, and the fighter pilot even got a feed of what their sensors were picking up as well. Unlike the Frames, Doran's Scimitar had to be manually loaded onto the catapult, which the Ground crew had just finished doing.

A light flashed in Doran's cockpit, indicating an incoming message from the bridge. With the push of a button, the voice message was relayed to him. "Rover, this is control, you have been cleared to launch. Catapult control has been slaved to your console- You may launch when ready. Good luck out there."

 

[Luca]

Lucien had kept some sense of familiarity with him on the last foray into frame fights that didn't involve a sound booth - this time though he opted for something other than a sidearm for ranged combat. Post-combat analysis of Lucien's fights showed that he would've been perfectly capable of handing a 75mm Gauss Cannon rather than just the 50mm, making him deadlier at range. The enhanced strength of the Gekido meant that he could twirl the sword with relative ease. His style of swordsmanship according to analysis seemed to favour long sweeps and heavy thrusts. Deadly if they hit the target, but telegraphed - however, telegraphy also made room for devastating feints and counters.

Meanwhile, his gunplay was very much hit and miss at any range - it seemed like madness for him to abandon the blade - so they made it easier for him to sheath and draw for long range engagements with larger weapons. It was why he kept using the 50mm - it was comfortable enough to aim with just one hand. The only things he could consistently hit with were missiles and that sword. The suggestions for missiles in this missile were the standard pair of SR pods and two AA pods.

"Y'know I commissioned me a bigger sword, but this'll have tae do!" he said as he held aloft his blade and piece. He took aim at one of the Ashigaru Knockoffs and started firing, moving in to engage at the front lines, kiting and zipping about.

 

[CadetNewb]

A figure, dressed in stark white and concealed behind a faceless helmet, sat.

This figure sat, arms crossed as he impassively watched. Arms crossed, in the cockpit of a frame that required the user to have his hands in the control yolks to use it fully. It was pretty easy to say he wasn't very concerned about what was happening, especially as this frame sat further back and out of harm for the time being. "Nora, you are hereby promoted to Squad Co-Leader," the Squad Leader remarked, voice faintly distorted by the helmet he wore. "This battle should be a relatively easy one, regardless of their upgraded equipment."

There wasn't much else said by this ever present entity that seemed to follow them.

 

[Straken]

Doran chuckled with a wide grin. With his fingers dancing on his controls and feet tapping on the floor he greeted the clearance to launch like a kid awaiting recess. "Control, Rover reads ye loud'n clear. Beginnin' launch now. Keep the lights on for us, shouldn't be out too late," he responded as his hands now firmly gripped the controls and his feet were in position, but his grin remained. After checking one last thing he activated the launcher and stared straight ahead as he was thrust forward out into the familiar void of space.

Once the black fighter exited the pilot pulled back on the controls, beginning a lazy arc around the area of operation. With the flip of a switch here, and the touch of a button there, Doran began settling into his own role on the battlefield as the frame pilots figured out their own. From his location away from the AO he activated The Rover's sensor booster along with releasing his twin LUCK drones to help him keep an eye on the engagement as it developed.

"Alrighty HAL and Arnold, let's see how the Mannequin Militia handles things," Doran monologued to the two mindless drones. "With luck they wont blow through this to quickly. It'd be nice if we were be able to spread our wings a bit, and handle the other portion of our 'support' role."

With the drones spreading out a little ways Doran kept an eye on his sensor readouts as well as the statuses and locations of each of the mechs; just in case anyone needed an extra hand.

 

[ShotJon]

With little response going her way, Viki just grinned, ignored the new 'squad leader' and aimed at one of the Ashigaru's Lucien was charging at. She lifted the giant 300mm gauss cannon shotgun and fired a nasty shells enemy's way. Viki was just sad, that the weapon did not do a proper blast sound, especially in space. As she fired, she hit her thrusters and charged away the enemy's way as well.

"Right behind you Lucien!" She said into the comms. "Time to kill some knockoffs, just like the old days!"

 

[Lamb]

"Oh, you're such a doll." Mark eventually replied when he could manage to find a signal to screw around with. It was his first time being thrust into combat without being in a frame that had a modified CECS, so things took a little more time.

"Aw, man, haven't uploaded my music collection to this thing yet, what a shame." He sighed, "Ain't got a thing t' broadcast for them..."

Neccessity being the mother of ingenuity, Mark found a spot to jam his communicator's memory card into on the console-- and let some magic start to happen. Broadcast so powerfully as to disrupt anything else on all frequencies currently in use for enemy communications. At high volume.

"Yes. Yeeeeeeeheeehees." Mark moaned, switching to the controls for the space-rocket pods with rhythmically swaying shoulders, "C'mon, honey, let the music eat your soul."

 

[Kai]

Victoria and Lucien would immediately notice an increase in the speed and maneuverability of the Gekido over their old Frames, and that basically every last thing had been updated, although the controls and cockpit layout remained relatively similar, with the few changes having been made in such a manner that their use was almost subconscious now- it felt almost natural. The rounds from the enemies' Hyper Rifles flew off into space, the pilots having expected to fight something that was much slower than the new Origin frames turned out to be- and these were just the base Models!

Nora was also having quite the time of her life, zooming in ever closer, with Victoria and Lucien on either side of her frame. "Yahoo! Let's get 'em, Guys!" she yelled over the comms, firing her own weapon to join in with their own fire. The Ashigaru Knockoffs found themselves under heavy fire from the three Origin Mecha, and were immediately forced to turn on the defensive as their shields started getting beaten down. Backing up, the enemy frames tried to keep their distance, while at the same time trying to fire wildly so as to keep their adversaries' head's down, and now that they knew the speeds of the Gekido were faster, they had compensated- Nora, Lucien, and Victoria all found that sporadic hits were scored on their shields.

Despite the power of Taela's Plasma rifle, she found her shot to have been nothing more than a show of force, as it fizzled out well short of her enemies- its 75 Kilometer range, even in space, Making it useless from where she was, near the back of the group. However, she would find her frame generally more responsive, and all of her readouts showed it was in fact tougher than her Garuda had ever been. Perhaps she and her passenger needed to move closer to the battle if Taela wanted to really show those Garuda knockoffs how she felt.

Thalath, as well, would discover that she was too far for her Plasma cannon to make much of a difference, and she would need to get closer as well. With the three front-runners rapidly closing with the enemy, it would not be difficult for Zaim and Kaila to both move within range without having to break the front lines, however.

Doran's Rover's sensor pod took in quite a considerable amount of Data from the battlefield. With such a small number of participants, he could not only track each and every mecha that was within range, he could also track the trajectories of all the munitions being lobbed in either direction. For the moment, nobody seemed to need any help, but with the front-runners engaged with the Ashigaru Knockoffs, and the back row too far to do much, Doran's custom fighter's vast range meant that he could easily snipe the frames that were currently attacking the besieged cargo ship. Of course, doing so would make him a target as well, but as small and quick as the fighter was, he would likely be safe- unless something unexpected were to happen.

 

[Luca]

The extra mobility had caught Lucien off guard - he notice that everything was just a little more responsive than before, and he'd gotten used to timing himself to think a second ahead. The extra mobility meant that he was executing his dodges and manoeuvres just a moment too early before the system accounted for it and compensated for his moves. It was an intelligent system - one which not only read all of Lucien's moves from before but applied them to him to let him ease into the newfound agility and strength.

The pilot determined that it was time to move in and seal the deal, thrusting forward aggressively with the acceleration. Lucien swapped his 75mm to his spare hand and drew his frame-sized Longsword from his MAGS. If there was a medium with which to let sound travel through space, the rasp of superheated nerimium as it left its sheath would've been heard as clear as day. He was using the semi-carbine as an offhand weapon as he engaged into striking range with the un-shielded Ashigaru knockoffs.

It was cathartic, considering that one of his most devastating battles that'd nearly killed him had been at the hands of one piloted by scum.