RP [Open RP] Seizing The Opportunity (Kuvexian War Final Battle/Battle of Glimmergold)

[Commissar Farzi]

Spoiler: OOC

I know my char doesn't have much reason to be here, but there's some upstart aliens that need a good stomping.

'Why am I here?' Steiner thought as he sat aboard a small cargo vessel trailing the fleet, running through pre-combat checks. 'These are not my people, nor is this my war. There is no pay to be had here, nor do they know that we following as of yet, have I come here to help put down a dangerous menace, or am I just a battle seeking old fool? ' He'd read over the old news articles, seeing the havoc that these 'Kuvexans' had wreaked; it reminded him too much of home. On an impulse after hearing rumors of where the combat might take place, Steiner had managed to arrange transit after conducting extensive repairs with his fabricator to a spacer's craft that was having trouble as their tech guided him, and in a moment they would likely be in range of the ships. They had gone unnoticed so far, but would likely change soon enough.

"If we are hailed, please relay the transmission to me." Steiner requested to the captain, a heavy set, balding man dressed in a dark shirt, trousers and a duster, a cigar clinched between his teeth. "Yeah, will do," The man replied, his voice reminding him of someone who had spent a lifetime gargling glass, "But why the hell did you have me come out all the way out here-especially with the massive fleet here-I don't like the idea of risking my ship near an active warzone." There was honestly little that Steiner could do to assuage his concerns, but he made the attempt anyways. "Have Courage Captain, Courage and faith in the strength of your armor and your crew."

 

[Andrew]

Scrapyard System
YSS Tokyo
Bridge

The celebration of the first major kill of Scrapyard was short-lived, the destruction of a KIN Battleship had invited the swarm of revenge upon the YSS Tokyo and her escorts. They were in the thick of it now. Tactical screens updated, the heated successions of orders and confirmations moved through the members of the bridge crew and the intensity of the small fleet that had thrown themselves into the fire first was at its peak. Katsuko's perched pose in the command chair remained focused and upon the resolve. "Eri make sure Chiaki Defense Group stays with us," she updated the orders of their escorts that had begun to scatter in their formation beyond where she wanted them. There would be lots for Dentenshi and their Armor pilots to do now as the KIN's armors moved in from their carriers.

"Damn it!" Himawari cursed, she turned back to Katsuko and yelled, "Dorsal Turrets are having cooling issues again, those damn technicians at Luna Bianca didn't fix it! Dispatching Sprite Teams." Tokyo's avatar was innodated with what she needed to do.

Katsuko updated the formation, she pulled two of their Yamato-Class Flagships back in their positions to help cover the dorsal facing surface of the Tokyo while they tried to solve the turret issue. AIM Missiles blasted from the Ke-B5-W3906 Type 39 250mm Heavy Anti-Mecha Missile Racks and flooded into the formation of KIN ships that were inbound towards them. The splash total of impacts registered scrolled down the screens.

The Tokyo's bow section turned, as the massive Dreadnought turned broadside towards the incoming waves of ships. Fuji-Class Expeditionary Gunships moved to keep up with their Plumeria Squadrons and the YSS Mazu that remained ahead of the Tokyo which was now on selected station, it's STL engines ceasing their powerful burn as the power of the Tokyo remained focused on the formations of KIN vessels. The ship's anti-armor and anti-fighter turrets fired nearly continuously, as they poured out the fire and waited for the armor teams to launch.

 

[Commissar Farzi]

Independent Cargo Transport-Stonewall

"Ey, that one Dreadnought in th' lead elements, it's turnin'." The captain's voice came across Stiener's comm, "Got a lot of excess heat coming from them guns on top-lightin' up like a Christmas tree on thermals!" That could not be a good sign. "Its status?" He inquired, moving from his docking bay into the gate in front of the cargo hold. "Under eavy' attack-looks like them Kuvie ships is moving to engage, one of the other ships is movin' ahead of it." So it begins... 'This is not your battle,' Someone noted in the back of his mind, sounding akin to his old master, 'You owe these people nothing, they are not of the company nor the people you were sworn to protect.' The tone was scathing, belittling him. 'I am a Sentinel-there is no other reason needed.' He shot back, racking the auto loader on his chainguns. 'So you are going off to die then-perhaps not out of duty but shame? That you did not fall with the rest of us-that you fled like a coward and never looked back after you stole the sum of our knowledge?'

Steiner growled, his massive frame shaking slightly as his patience was sorely tested-he did not need this, not before a battle. 'If you have nothing useful to contribute, then begone.' When the voice did not respond, Steiner decided to shrug it off as pre battle jitters. "Captain, I believe now would be the time to do something." He heard a scoff on the other side. "Don't get me wrong Mister, my ship's got tha' teeth fer smacking down space pirates, but we ain't equipped to fight a whole navy." Once again Steiner could sympathize, he was trying to do right by his crew. "I do not expect you to-try to get as close as you can, but do not needlessly risk yourselves-and see if you can hail someone to let them know we are here." The man hesitated for a moment, then grunted an acknowledgement. This was moving far faster than he had anticipated, and that damned voice was back-his battle jitters seemed to make it worse for him, either that or perhaps his tank's fluid needed changed again. It had been quite some time since it had been properly cleaned and re-filled.

'Damn you,' The voice growled, 'Damn your cowardly hide and the bitch that whelped you into this world! May your fall be inglorious and you die an ignoble end-your memory ground to dust and ash! '

He almost missed the sound of the engines rumbling over his own mounting anger as the ship began to pick up speed. 'Discipline.' Steiner thought, 'Discipline and duty. This is our way. Without Discipline, we would falter and fail. Without Duty, we would have no purpose.' It was a mantra, one of many he had repeated over the decades to keep himself from simple casting off his title of Sentinel and simply becoming another mercenary in a dying galaxy.

The voice did not respond.

 

[Alex Hart]

"Signal all ships to enter the outskirts of the Scrapyyard system, eliminate all threats, and have the Rikugun retake the Sakura Fleet Depot. Reclaim this system for Yamatai."

NDS Vanguard

Vice Admiral Dozier sucked in his breath through his teeth when he received the signal from the Star Army. He wasn't surprised that the larger nation expected others to fight for its own benefit; power often made those who possessed it expect sacrifice from others. He glanced to a starmap of the sector. Scrapyard was far from the current Yamataian borders, and retaking it could prompt years of aggressive re-expansion. That could threaten the nation he was sworn to serve.

However, Scrapyard was in the opposite direction from his small home nation, and there was no indication of Yamatai pressing for more space rimward where the NDC was located. As he looked to the tactical map of the Scrapyard system, he saw the Nepleslian fleet hanging back, not moving in with the Yamataians. Were that we had that option... Dozier thought.

He knew that he could not compromise the tenuous relationship between the NDC and Yamatai by appearing to snub the latter, he'd been briefed on Yui's outburst during the meeting that his superior had attended, and knew that the warlike Neko's opinions changing could sever the ties of diplomacy in an instant if inclined, so was the power of the Star Army itself to influence the Yamatai Star Empire.

"All ships, advance towards the first planet in the system, do not approach closer than one Astral Unit. We will provide fire support to the Yamatians." He ordered, and the small fleet turned inward towards the fleet depot, plasma engines roaring silently into the vacuum as it trailed the cornflower blue Yamatatian vessels from a distance and nearly ninety million kilometers to the side.

Kuvexian Fleet

The Kuvexian fleet in Scrapyard was certainly no match for the main Yamataian fleet, but several enterprising commanders, including one Noro Starbaron Drawrimnt, whose forces, along with several other squadrons of warships, veered their ships away from the Yamataian force and headed towards the smaller target. Forming a blob of some one hundred or so ships, each captain and each squadron commander above them was hoping for a quick kill or two and an even quicker escape back to the Kuvexian homeland for a payout.

"Faster!" Drawrimnt urged on his squadron of cruisers and the crew of his battleship, "But remember to remain agile. We must be ready to pivot and hit the ground running to adapt to the changes of the battlespace."

NDS Vanguard

Admiral Dozier watched the tactical map as the group of Kuvexians broke off to attack the NDC forces, and began to issue orders to the fleet. "All ships, fire when ready at the incoming Kuvexians, cut them down. Patrol fleet 1, maneuver upwards on the solar plane. Patrol fleet two, maneuver below it. Create a crossfire. All vessels, launch fighters but hold them in reserve, I repeat, do not deploy fighters except in defensive action.

As the Duskerian fleet's fire began to strip away at the Kuvexian numbers with positron shells and battlecarrier main battery fire, the Kuvexian ships grew ever closer, firing all the while, though the unexpected fleet movements of the NDC vessels allowed almost all ships to avoid any kind of critical damage, though as the damage reports rolled in many reported their shields failing and hull integrity dropping. Kuvexian fighters began to dart towards the formation.

 

[Charaa]

NDS Vanguard

Omega Wing

Previously

The 8 Pilots of Omega Wing transferred from their other bodies to their main ones in the [[URL:’ https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=faction:ndc:starships:aifighter’]Starbreaker[/URL] it took only a moment or them to gain control over their Fighter forms. Aelitra was always the first to complete the transition from robot to AI fighter, and she watched as her squad transitioned to their own Starbreaker. Omega Leader ordered a final check to make sure everyone was secured and snug in their Fighter forms.

Now

Omega Wing shot out of their carrier like wasps of a disturbed hive with their weapons armed and ready. “Orders are to hold in reserve, but if we have to act it must be in defense” Aelita relayed to her girls. “Copy Omega Leader! Copy Omega Leader! Copy Omega Leader!” he heard the responses of her Squad until it was their cadet’s turn who remained silent. Aelita noticed that the cadet’s sensors were being used to look at the enemy, and she had a feeling that Honor wanted to fight. “Cadet! Acknowledge the Order” Honor turned her attention back “Yes, ma’am, Copy Omega Leader!” “The battles just started, so we may yet get our chance to fight, but remember, don’t act foolishly, and before you get destroyed, activate your Anima, so that you can be returned to safety. “

Omega Leader Allitra knew that her squad would be smart, but the Cadet was new. She had a chip on her shoulder and it was a concern, but she had faith in her cadet.

At the sight of the Kuvexian Fighters approaching, the Starbreakers activated their thrusters that allowed them to travel towards the enemy fighters ready to defend the NDC against them.

 

[Cowboy]

YSS "Presurgence" Power armor bay

"Ranger Santo Hei Hoshi Sanda, this is control, Acknowledged. As soon as we're in range we will launch you ahead of the shuttles and Mindy's on the West side of the base just outside of what we believe to be there defense range. If you can infiltrate and take out some of the anti air defenses we'll be able to deploy much closer to the base." Sanda listened carefully to the reply. It was a sound plan, one that she had pulled off successfully many times in Ranger school. But this wasn't a drill or exercise, this was the real thing. "Control, Hoshi-Hei. Roger that. Keep me informed of any developments or intel from the base."

Sanda removed her helmet and set in on the deck. Her removed the tie from her pony tail and let her dark curly hair loose. She wanted it retied tighter before she was launched out into space. As she worked with her hair to get in back under control she glanced over to where she had left Kwabba-an and noticed another Mindy had joined her. This one also had a familiar profile. Hair tie still in her teeth she walked forward the the pair. "Movie Star?" Sanda gritted out. She had finally got her hair under control and took the hair tie out of her mouth tied her hair up tight. "That's better." Giving her head a shake side to side to make sure all was secure. "Kozakura and Kwabba-an." Sanda smiled revealing her straight white teeth. "It's good to see you two again. Come with me. I've got to grab a few more things from the Armory before I deploy and I want to hear what brought you to the Presurgence?"

 

[Commissar Farzi]

"Them carriers is launching armor!" Space faring power armor? While most armors were sealed against vacuum, launching them into space sounded plain foolish. But the Kikyo Sector's myriad inhabitants continued to surprise him, which in turn brought him to another cause for concern; If they were anything like the jump capable armors back home-they were likely trained in anti-mecha tactics-which meant dealing with swarms of troops looking to plant explosives between his armor plates-either that or they had dedicated weaponry meant to tackle such threats. "Also got a bunch of kuvie ships breakin off to engage one of the smaller fleets." So perhaps they were looking to inflict damage and perhaps cut off the main force-this couldn't stand, but at the same time, if the main force fell whatever actions taken.

'Still believe that it is your 'duty' to fight for these people.' The voice mocked. Steiner bit back a growl and turned his attention back to the captain. He would handle the armors when the time came. "Alright, how close are we to them?" A pause, followed by the man sighing. "We're close, bout ten standard minuets, but if we change course now we'll be headin' straight into them other Kuvies."

Right. "Then hold course, if you can get me in there, I may be able to assist with whatever problems that they may be having with their weapons." If it was possible-it may force the fleet trying to engage the smaller one to reconsider. The man grunted, "We're trying to raise em' now so they don't blast us to scrap, but I don't know if it's gonna go through-lots of interference on our end."

"Keep trying then," He encouraged, this was not his area of expertise, he fixed machines-people were beyond him, "I have faith in you and your crew's abilities." He just had to hope the man didn't lose his nerve and decide to flee the battle. "We appreciate it Mister, but a lot of good that's gonna do if we get swarmed, but I'll see what I can do-we ain't been seen yet, so we've got that going for us at least." A small miracle, but he expected their fortunes turn sour sooner than later.

'They will likely destroy you on the spot.' It was likely, given the timing of his arrival that they may just decide better safe than sorry and blow the craft into so much space debris.

Some how that did not bother him as much as it should have.

 

[Andrew]

YSS Mazu
First Expeditionary Fleet

The aged Takumi ECC bore it's battle scars as it had during it's prime, the refitted ship, took heavy fire as it plowed through the KIN wave ahead of the YSS Tokyo. Kaoru watched the updated screens carefully. "Motoyoshi-Taisa, I have a possible escalation contact. A group of ships moving to escape the system. One of them is not like the others!" The screens updated and Kaoru's heart just about jumped from her chest. "Mazu, Patch me through to the Tokyo, private text channel directly to the Taisho" - 'She's here, breaking off to pursue. Need more armors.' Kaoru knew the rest of the fleet was locked into the fight, they had to stay the course and she was about to take the fire from her mother, but it had to be done. "Signal Legacy Squadron, have the Sakura II follow us, we're going after her. Full STL, keep a lock on that group!" she ordered, the tactical data flashed on the screen, the information on the Akuro III, the renegade white whale of the traitors, was joined by a group of other KIN ships ( which likely included Baron Kordoon's Flagship) that it was trying to escape with.

The YSS Mazu and the YSS Sakura II changed course and peeled off from the line, in full burn towards the group that was in an attempt to flee the system. The rest of the First Expeditionary Fleet stayed with the joint armada in preparation to go to Glimmergold.

YSS Tokyo
First Expeditionary Fleet

Katsuko received the message, a look of frustration was painted on the Taisho's face. It was the right call, she assured herself, and then responded back. 'Kaoru, go get her. Do what you have to do. May Yui guide you.' The Taisho continued to give orders, which included the one to Datenshi's Wing to immediately launch and go with the Mazu, the Tokyo had more than enough armors to spare, plus their freighters were close to arrival. The Dreadnought's turrets continued to fire in near-continuous barrage as it exchanged blows with the Kuvexian ships on station in the system. This was just the warm-up, Katsuko was sure what awaited for them in the actual Glimmergold System was probably a lot worse than this. She glanced towards Eri briefly and had KAMI relay an update on the private exchange. Hopefully, Kaoru was about the lead what would be the end of a hunt that had lasted for too many years for her other traitor of a child.

Tokyo's bombers and fighters which included the 17th Dragons launched from their hangars to provide fire support for the armors that would hopefully retake the Sakura Depot.

 

[Yandere]

YSS "Presurgence" Power Armor Bay

Noticing the shift in music caused Kozakura to smile behind the face shield of her helmet. A hand was placed on the shorter woman's shoulder, indicating a certain perhaps overly ambitious wish for the two of them to be friends. "Me too, though I gotta say I'm pretty shocked to see you here. What sort of assignment did you get?" The woman was having a hard time picturing Kwabba-an fighting but then part of her remember how strong she was at least physically. Beneath that timid outer personality she must have had a really strong core. Though before Kozakura could voice any of that a familiar voice that made her brow twitch grabbed her attention.

The dragon woman's tail swished about albeit not that fast and in a pretty small arc, her tail armor was proving not to be the most flexible of things. Either that or she just wasn't used to having powered armor plating covering her whole tail yet. Removing her hand from Kwabba-an's shoulder she just shrugged, "Well when I enlisted my contract included an assignment to the Resurgence. Guess they wanted someone to document the whole grand journey of it. Didn't really think I'd end up here though to be honest." Though she'd follow Sanda to armory as she herself needed to grab some weapons. She'd always felt kind of naked with just the Mindy 4's built in armaments. So it was that when they reached the armory she'd first grab two aether blade katanas, slotting them into mounts on her outer thighs, before then grabbing an A/S Sub Machinegun which was promptly attached to a shoulder mounted docking port.

 

[Wes]

KNS Ahoszubewpar
Bridge

The Kuvexian commander, Lord Admiral Bustenas Vlon Spaarksnuffer, Greater Baron of Roanellar and the Swooeo Expanse, was scowling at the news that Scrapyard was under attack by a huge combined fleet of several different factions. This had been Kuvexia's worst fear realized. They had tried to attack only Yamatai, and had started the war slowly and cautiously, and manipulated factions against Yamatai for years, and done everything to divide and conquer to the Kikyo Sector's nations, starting with Yamatai because it was the strongest and had to be hit first so it could not grow while watching other nations fall. Instead, the forces of the Kikyo Sector were more unified than ever. Worse, those meddling Essai and their computer planet associates had joined them. He put down his tea and brushed aside his concerned-looking slaves who loitered on their knees around him.

"Mee lord," creaked his twenty-eyed translucent purple hunchback advisor, "Dy eneemy ships are teeeking over dy Scraaapyard Ssssystem," he hissed in his strange accent. "Wee heff dy 3,000 ships here and dy eneemy has 20,000."

Spaarksnuffer grumbled. "It is ridiculous that the crown has not yet purchased our reinforcements. They set me up to fail! We haven't been able to set up our local shipyards yet! What about those hundreds of thousands of corporate ships and mercenaries we came with? What do you suggest, advisor?"

"Mee lord, many heff begun the trip home due to lack of contract renewals and payments thereof. With these odds wee must evacuate. Fighting isss a waste of time and money now."

Just then Yui's request for surrender came in.

Spaarksnuffer's blue face contorted into disgust. "It may be over for now but am not going to surrender to that woman. Get all the fleet Navy ships en route to the Roanellar system and pull out of here. Recommend that the planetary governments evacuate or declare neutrality as civilians to try to save themselves."

Kuvexian Navy ships across the sector began to pull out in a sudden and almost disorganized way, as did many mercenary ships. What was left was a whole bunch of desperate and poor speculators, scrappers, space pirates, business Kuvvies, and other opportunists who had followed or been dragged along by the invasion. There were also some die-hard corporate paramilitary forces who were determined to stay and wage little guerilla wars on local corporations and take over the business way. But as suddenly as it has escalated, the invasion was finally over.

- - -

Taisho Ketsurui Yui watched as the fleet started its successful attack on Scrapyard and began the process of liberating the Sakura Fleet Depot. "Once the system is secure I need a smaller Star Army division to hold it. When that's done recall all soldiers and fighters and signal the Essai we're ready for the portal."

 

[demibear]

Communications

An open broadcast began after Yui's order of surrender for all to hear. "Is fhis fhing on? Good, good. You may sit down slave. Ahem... I!" A heavily accented Kuvexian voice started to speak before there was the sound of something crashing. After an exchange of energy weapons discharging, a series of deep roars, and what could only be described as gurgling noises as someone tries to breathe; there is a brief period of silence.

"Sir, *incomprehensible alien but oddly familiar to Yamataigo speakers*" a deep voice spoke after some shuffling.

"This fool reneged on his contracts. As such I, Wing Wanjyu Ngan Cheongk, am taking over governance of the world you called Hanako's World. I declare we are neutral from this day forward... I, my brothers, and my sisters will fight to the bitter end for our new home.

And to you fools next door in system 2 (OOC: Himiko), we are coming for you too!" Wanjyu, in a deep and heavily accented Yamataigo speaking voice said before terminating the connection.

 

[hyralt]

The ant-like musician continued to repeat her lick as first Kozakura asked her a question, then Sanda asked a question, and the dragon woman replied. Easily visible even under her armour, Kwabba-an tilted her head and followed the movement of the woman's tail, then tilted her head the other way when she removed her hand and replied to Sanda. Following the other two, she waited for an appropriate pause in their conversation, at which point she spoke up.

"My assignment is that of musician, of course," Kwabba-an replied to Kozakura's question in a surprised tone. In doing so, she changed what she was playing yet again. "I am broadcasting on a channel that you may mix into your audio feed if you wish. You will find that my music is simple now, but will be quite something to hear once we are in combat."

Finding herself now in the armoury, she looked around at all the different options for weaponry and started to feel overwhelmed. Looking for guidance, she investigated her companions to see what they had chosen. Sanda seemed to have a rifle in one hand, a blade attached to her opposite arm, and a knife strapped across her chest. Kozakura, on the other hand, attached a pair of long blades to her legs and was carrying what looked like a shorter version of the rifle that Sanda had picked out. But when she looked closer, she realized that it wasn't that it was shorter, it just seemed like the handle was closer to the shooting end. Looking back at the assortment of weapons around her, she saw the same weapons that her compatriots had chosen, but yet other options. There was one weapon that seemed like it was a pistol attached to a long blade, another that was by far the biggest rifle she had ever seen, and yet another rifle that seemed like it was somewhere in between.

Kwabba-an thought back to her training. Was she notably good at any kind of combat? Certainly compared to nekos, she wasn't particularly good at anything. But she thought to how she compared to those who hadn't been designed to fight. In terms of marksmanship, she hadn't been either good enough or bad enough to stand out. However, in terms of close-quarters combat, she had excelled.

With this in mind, she picked up one saber-rifle, plugged it into the side of her armour's forearm, then performed an awkward motion to do the same thing with a second saber-rifle in her other free hand. "Let those who follow in our footsteps sing of our glory."

 

[Commissar Farzi]

"They're withdrawin'!" He chuckled at the man's jubilance, the captain whooping over the speakers, "The kuvvies are packin' up n' leaving-though it looks there's gonna be a few stragglers here n' there." Steiner shook his head, the warden mimicking the motion. "Were you at least able to get through?" He asked. 'Yes o' mighty one, join the battle after it has already been decided.' The voice snarked. Steiner rolled his eyes as the captain reported that they had caught up to the fleet.

'The battle for the planet has yet to be won.' At least he wouldn't have to deal with an overly large space battle, a small comfort indeed, but a comfort none the less. "Yea, I got their general frequency, hold up...this Captain Reinhart of Cargo Transport Stonewall-we're a little late, but got someone ere' who wants to talk to ya's-patchin' him through now."

"This is..S-" He paused, the words catching in his throat-even if you still call yourself that, the title is a meaningless one. He began again, clearing his throat, "This is Albert Steiner-I have come to provide some assistance in driving these Kuvexians away, though it seems the battle has already been decided-are their any in need of repairs?" The explanation sounded rather idiotic to him, but simple enough to perhaps avoid destruction for the time being.

The best he could do now was hope for some kind of response-preferably one that was somewhat reasonable.

 

[Cowboy]

YSS "Presurgence" Power Armor Bay

Sanda listened to her companions as she grabbed a 50mm Gauss Cannon and attached it to her left shoulder hardpoint. Though not a stealthy weapon by any means, it would pack a punch once the battle started in earnest. She then grabbed half a dozen Plastic explosive blocks. That should be enough to make a hole in the defenses and allow the Calvary through. She noticed with interest the aether blade katanas that Kozakura picked. "Any good with those?" asked Sanda. "When this is over we should do a little sparing."

Sanda shook her head when she heard Kwabba-an say that her assignment was as a musician. A musician wasn't going to be much help playing a song on the battlefield. Sanda saw her pick up two saber-rifles and attach them to her forearms. At least she was packing a real weapon, though it remained to be seen how well she knew how to use it. "Let those who follow in our footsteps sing of our glory." Well, Sanda couldn't argue with that.

 

[hyralt]

Kwabba-an started playing another thundering lick that always made her feel brave, and lifted off the ground in her Mindy. She twirled in the air gracefully, then made for the open wall at the far end of the power armour bay at roughly the speed of a quick run. As she passed through the blue graviton field, the sounds of the bay cut away entirely and she spent a moment in silence. The sudden quiet allowed the fear of her imminent demise to fill her with tremors again before she switched over to a radio preset that would play her bass transmission but still allow other transmissions to cut in. After a moment, the tension faded away again.

Suddenly, she remembered that she was in a battlefield, and looked around at the ships that surrounded her. The silent beams of light that shot from one ship to another immediately started to daze and confuse her, until she switched on another simple custom circuit that she had asked a technician to wire into her armour when it was being custom-made for her body. The circuit took the raw signal from her imaging arrays and fed it directly into her audio mixer. The effect was that whatever flashes of light she was able to see were turned into sound.

Just as she started hearing the cacophony that the circuit was now feeding into her audio output, some kind of weapon fire started streaking past her. She turned to see a golden-hulled ship in the distance that was now speeding in her direction. Her perception of time slowed down. Its weapon fire was getting closer with every blast. Suddenly, her highly-trained ear started to discern patterns in the noise, and without thinking, she used her bass to fill in the gaps. The noise became music, and she understood where the melody was going.

Just as automatically as she had started playing her bass, she kicked on her Combined Field System, pushing her at its maximum rate of acceleration away from the weapons fire that was steadily drawing nearer. The enemy started turning harder to compensate for her movement, but she was able to stay just ahead of it until it was close enough, at which point she flicked on her teleportation module and disappeared.

Kwabba-an re-appeared just a few metres ahead of the fighter, too close for the fighter to react, but far enough away that she was able to light up the aether beam sabers she held in two of her hands and slash them across the hull of her enemy as it passed. The flash of light that her sabers caused as they tore through the hull was her cue to change her tune yet again. She began to sing into her open channel as she accelerated towards the only planet in the system.

"We are the daughters of Yamatai
We're here to make all of the Kuvies die
So watch out for our Aether blades
And run away when we yell Banzai!"

 

[Andrew]

YSS Tokyo
First Expeditionary Fleet

As the KIN began to pull ships out of the system and the YSS Mazu and it's escorting YSS Sakura II left in pursuit of the Akuro III and Baron Kordoon's Flagship. Katsuko watched as the Star Army's armors poured towards the Sakura Depot. The screens changed, tactical overlays updated. The massive First Expeditionary Fleet Flagship had been engaged since the order was giving, with its powerful turrets and missiles raining punishment upon the KIN ships. "Focus fire on ships that look like they aren't leaving, and have our escorts give us a little room so they can help provide cover for armors headed to the Depot," Katsuko took a deep breath as the intensity of fire began to die down. There was almost a foolish bravery left in the Kuvexian ships that remained though, they remained a threat and she knew her captains would not yield until the enemy either surrendered, fled, or were destroyed.

Himawari and her sprites had fixed the cooling systems on the dorsal turrets which freed up the Yamato-Class Flagships that Katsuko had moved into positions to compensate for the lapses in their field of fire. The Tokyo had sustained some damage, but the Dreadnought was tough as nails and was nowhere even close to being out of the fight. The fight had pushed the ship a bit deeper into the system than Katsuko had wanted, but they were still in a good position. Thankfully Scrapyard was not a huge planetary system.

Now was mainly the time for decisive cover fire and the wait for the depot to be reclaimed. She kept tabs on the armor teams from Tokyo and the other ships in the armada as they went about their mission. The slight lull gave the crew time to do some damage control to the slight wounds to the beast of a ship.

 

[Alex Hart]

NDC fleet

As more Kuvexian ships began to flee the system, the small group that had chosen to try to score some kills on the New Dusk Conclave continued its assault, ships closing to within a few light seconds of each other as the Kuvexian fighters began to dart in and amongst the Duskerian formations. The task force's split in half lead to the Kuvexian fighters themselves splitting, each seeking hunting grounds with the least competition.

As NDC turrets spat lasers at the fighters and the Kuvexian small craft targeted Duskerian fighters and frames, a squadron of Kuvexian fighters began to attack Omega Wing, their aether cannons flashing and bringing down the shields on Omega 3, 6, and 8 in the blink of an eye, passing through the Omega formation and turning around to attack from the rear.

 

[Charaa]

NDC fleet

The systems registered the hits to their shields, but they remained unafraid, as they began firing back, and immediately they did an about-face as their sensors picked up the Enemy fighters attempting to attack from the rear. Each fired with either Cerberus cannon or missiles as they targeted their enemies. Their Thrusters activated allowing a burst of speed as they got close and quickly pass to turn and attack the shields.

For every hit that they had taken, they wanted to give three times as much back.

 

[Alex Hart]

NDC fleet

The Kuvexian warships had closed to inside half of a light second, at this point all turrets were opening up and firing on the Kuvexian ships, and the Kuvexians were answering in kind, being forced to split their fire between the two NDC fleets as the NDC forces moved above and below the Kuvexian battlegroup, weapons fire catching the gold ships in a crossfire, cruisers exploding under concentrated fire and battleships beginning to limp from the damage they had taken.

Meanwhile, Omega Wing's fire and maneuvering cut down half of the Kuvexian fighters, autocannons and Cerberus cannons flashing silently in the void. Their swift and decisive maneuvering had helped them evade a great deal of fire, however not all of it could be avoided, and almost all of Omega Wing had either had their shields stripped to nothing or had been damaged in some way. Thankfully, none of them had been hit in any critical locations, and any damage was structural.

YSS Presurgence Power Armor Bay

Sanda listened to her companions as she grabbed a 50mm Gauss Cannon and attached it to her left shoulder hardpoint. Though not a stealthy weapon by any means, it would pack a punch once the battle started in earnest. She then grabbed half a dozen Plastic explosive blocks. That should be enough to make a hole in the defenses and allow the Calvary through. She noticed with interest the aether blade katanas that Kozakura picked. "Any good with those?" asked Sanda. "When this is over we should do a little sparing."

Matsuvo Shinomori had been pulled from Fort Minori for this operation; this let him know how dire the situation really was. The Star Army was banking everything on this last push to end the war. They're even pulling has-beens like me out of the forts. He thought to himself as he moved through the power armor bay, observing one pick up several blocks of explosive, and another with a custom four-armed Mindy. I didn't even know we made those.

Not that his own loadout was any less strange. When he'd sent the paperwork to the ship's armorers, he'd had to spend nearly two hours explaining what he'd done during his tour on the Eucharis and afterward. He could swear he had seen the armorer's blood pressure at least double. On its own, the Mindy itself was little more than a highly customized piece, no big deal. Most soldiers tended to heavily customize their armor after four years.

What had been the kicker was the Kalamari manipulator that he'd mounted, the six limbs modified to be able to operate power armor rifles. He'd known that he'd be going into a hectic battle, and had requested that they mount more weapons than usual, and shields. All in all, as he attached the manipulator pack, his bulk almost doubled.

"Good luck, Hei" He said to the soldier that was still in the bay as he made his way out of the massive shielded doors of the Kyoto class carrier, and was almost immediately thrown into the thick of things. Muscle memory returned as Kuvexian fighters began to swarm and he began to fire beam after beam from various weapons, damaging almost a dozen in the first ten seconds after leaving the ship.

 

[Cowboy]

YSS Presurgence Power Armor Bay

Sanda had just picked back up her helmet and was about to secure it when she saw Kwabba-an hover into the air then go flying out the bay doors. Sanda stood with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide, her brain refusing to process what she just saw. "What the Feth." Then her brain finally got the traction it needed to start operating. She secured her helmet, picked up her Plasma Rifle and sprinted towards the hanger bay door. She literally dove through the door's shielding before activating her thrusters. Like a projectile she was flew in space, the only sound her own breathing and the open channel.

Her first thought was she had to find Kwabba-an. That little music bug had no business being out here in combat. She could hardly carry on a conversation without being overwhelmed. Sanda wasn't even sure why she cared so much. Sure they had shared a drink several months ago but that hardly warranted this response from her. It was probably their talk about loyalty and someone having your back. And Sanda was nothing if not loyal. Sanda's Daisy suit was a M6-1C variant, which, along with the stealth ability, had a far stronger sensor and radar system than your average Daisy or Mindy. In very little time she had located Kwabba-an. To her even greater shock, she watched the little four armed ant woman maneuver around an enemy fighter and take the thing out with her aether blades. To top it all off, Sanda began to hear her singing over the open channel.

"We are the daughters of Yamatai
We're here to make all of the Kuvies die
So watch out for our Aether blades
And run away when we yell Banzai!"

Sanda could only laugh out loud. "I'll be damned Kwabba-an, if you didn't just score first blood." Sanda again activated her thrusters and turned in an arch to follow Kwabba-an. Her scanners were already picking up all kinds of enemy targets but Sanda was focused more on the depo itself. It was huge, with massive towers covered with anti-air and anti-armor batteries. Not to mention some big anti-starship emplacements. The place also looked like an ant hill that had been kicked over. Troops and workers scrambled everywhere. But Sanda saw what she had been looking for. On the west side of the depo the ground rose high up, almost on the level of the outer wall of the depo. If they approached low enough from that side, the land would block them from most of the AA guns until they reached the ground. Sanda opened a channel to her companion. "Kwabba-an, I think I've got a safe way down to the planetoid that avoids their AA guns. Hold here for 10 mins while I check it out. I'll active a beacon to guide you down once it's clear. If you can gather a few more troops together we'll be able to crack this nut quick. Good hunting Music Bug." With that Sanda activated her stealth mode, making her invisible to the naked eye and all sensors. She gunned it as fast as she dared towards the planetoid.