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

YSS Yukikaze Bridge

Sakurai Mizuki impatiently sat in her command seat as Mister Guthrie adeptly maneuvered the ship around the anti-ship fire coming from the Sakura Fleet Depot. The Kuvexians obviously were expecting to keep this system to themselves with such investments. Mikzuki's mind focused back to the present more when the ship was rocked by weapons fire. She had completely ignored the message coming from Hanako's World.

"Focus main gun on emplacements #5 and #6! Link with the YSS Kamikaze and YSS Shimakaze to provide additional firepower!"

"Yes Captain!" Itoh Tomoko responded back. As Task Force 501 got nearer to the planet, they had shifted to a standard CFS profile to prepare to unload their Rikugun complements. The two Chiaki Destroyers maneuvered to flanking positions with the Yukikaze before beginning to open fire.

300mm mass rounds, positron energy, and the Yukikaze's aether shock array began raining down on the locations. After two volleys, the Kuvexian weapons were nothing more then molten slag, creating an opening for the ground forces to enter. Shuttles containing Special Operations Fire Teams (SOFT) started to leave the Task Force's Destroyers before they started to assume picket duty for the gunships. They needed to get closer to combat drop their larger complements. The Destroyers were also tasked to keep the Kuvexian fighters off the Uchuugun power armor coming to assist.

"Yukikaze actual to Rikugun detachment, 10 minutes to drop zone. Give them hell." Mizuki said over the Power Armor Bay's comm speakers.

YSS Yukikaze Power Armor

Mikael Harris' fire teams had been briefed on their target areas to neutralize or capture. Since they were not going to occupy the territory, they only needed to soften the Kuvexians that stubbornly remained at their former depot for regular Rikugun forces that should soon enter the system.

"It's show time people. We are green and very mean." Mikael said, 10 minutes later once the Yukikaze had reached the destination. He exited the ship first before the rest of his subordinates, joining the 800 or so other Giretsu Infantry pouring out of the Task Force's 7 other gunships.

"Banzai!!!"

YSS Presurgence Bridge

"That... was a very interesting communication from Hanako's World ma'am. It has been recorded for future SAINT analysis." Tomomi said as manned the ship's communications and sensors station. She then focused on making sure the ship's old sensors continued to operate at maximum efficiency. Or rather, helping the ship's AI focus on the most important aspects such as tracking and Tomomi just handled the less important tasks.

"Holy-look at them go!" Steiner snorted as the Stonewall continued it's steady flight, drifting just outside of the lead flotilla-at least they hadn't been blasted into scrap yet, "Armor's headin' towards the planetoid, got a lot of fighters swarmin' em though." Steiner wondered how many of them would touch down on the planetoid, and how many families would be grieving tonight as the day was won. "Though it looks as if though might be an opening right in the middle of the formation."

"Wanna us to try n' set down? It'll be close, but we might be able to follow em through." Steiner considered it, and let out a grim chuckle. "I suppose that is why we came here, isn't it?" He charged the Helstrom. "If you could captain, please depressurize and activate the cargo lift; I believe the added firepower may be of some benefit." There was a mutter on the other end, which was followed by a grunted "All hands to battlestations-prepare for immediate contact, shields an weapons at maximum power." Followed by a "Alright you crazy bastard-but I'm holding you responsible if my ship gets blasted to scrap."

"Then we had best hope we are of better quality than our opponents." Was the only reply he could really muster. The lift hissed as klaxons blared and all the atmosphere was sucked out of the relatively empty cargo bay as the Warden sealed itself. Steiner had started to fabricate a number of space capable drones- ten in total, equipped with small nano-fabricators that could work over the hull of the cargo ship while keeping him supplied. Some of them were carrying spare tanks of fusion gas to keep his cannon firing. He just hoped it would be enough. "Alright, lift's opening now. I sure hope you know what your doing." Engaging the mag-locks in his feet, he braced himself. The drones save for the trio of ammo carriers immediately set off, scanning the hull for damage. The ship's mass drivers began their deadly chant, the reverberations sounding through the hull of the craft as the gunners set about their bloody work. "Lift cleared, raise it now." The lift simple withdrew in response.

Despite the chaos around him, the silence of space was eerie. A grim determination set about Steiner as he cleared the lift, anchoring himself firmly to the hull of the craft as a fighter-believing the them to be easy prey made a beeline for them. He lined up the shot, and let loose a blast. The Helstrom, despite the weapon's advanced age-was as deadly as the day it was made. The muzzle flash was brilliant, illuminating the hull of the ship as the blue-white beam found its mark-whatever shielding and armor the craft had relied crumpled as the shot connected with the nose of the craft-depressurizing the cockpit and sending secondary thermal and electrical damage as the beam violently detonated-though without shockwaves moving through the air, whatever secondary damage inflicted by the blast would be minimized. Steiner felt more than a bit of satisfaction at watching the fool reap the rewards of his folly, but quickly quashed it. 'Seek no glory or thrill in battle, for it is yet another task to be accomplished, not it is not a joy to be sought, but a necessary evil that must be carried out with the utmost efficiency.' He reminded himself as he prepared to fire again-the second shot clipped another fighter, forcing it to withdraw as several of his wingmates realized that there was a very threat in their midst and had started to scatter and try to reform a defense against both them and the armor.

The heat levels rose in his machine despite the chill of the void-with no air or atmosphere, the cooling systems would be taxed by the cannon's fire even more than usual. "Damn, keep that up, and we might just make it!" Reinhart's enthusiasm was noted along with the whooping of the crew, to which Steiner replied "Overconfidence is the surest way to an early grave-we need to focus on the task at hand." A brief series of impacts scattered against the shielding of the craft followed by three craft making a pass-one of them sustaining damage from the ship's crew-a fire had started aboard one of them, and was quickly vented into the vacuum. "You certainly know how to kill the mood there mister, have a little faith like you've been telling us." Steiner simply laughed in response-a sound he had grown accustomed to hearing less and less over the years. "Very well Captain, but I ask that you all curb your enthusiasm for the time being-our hosts have noticed us." He made a note of a four armed unit slicing a craft to pieces, and saluted them before turning back to the task at had-sending another blast-that while missed entirely, had been enough to scatter the wing of craft in various directions. Perhaps they were seeking easier targets, realizing that the ship might be more trouble than it was worth.

'Or perhaps considering swarming the ship.' The voice said, to which Steiner couldn't help but to agree. He made a note of any contacts that may possibly be heading his way as he switched the radar to active mode. '29 shots,' He noted, checking the levels in the loaded gas canister, 'I will need to ration them carefully.' He waited for the next group of hostiles to engage them.

YSS Tokyo
Bridge

Eri nodded as she processed Katsuko's orders, making sure to call back her escorts and defensive groups, and at the same time relaying the orders to the Mazu, Sakura II, and the Mindy teams that would follow the two gunships to take on the fleeing ship that seemed to be singled out. As Eri finally put two and two together as to why Katsuko seemed so interested, she sent ahead a message to the captains of the two ships to make sure they understood the importance, at least the captain of the Sakura II would understand it easily enough.

After the orders were relayed, Eri continued to process and pass on information where it was needed, keeping lines open between the ships, the captains, and some power armor wings. She made sure that the others were told to cover where the other wings had vacated, to make up for the gaps in the protection.

YSS Tokyo
Outside - Hull

Datenshi's group for the most part had done there job. What they could shoot down ordinance wise was handled, and the group was efficient and tactical when it came to any armors. She gave those in the bay a heads up, passing on information and diagnostics when any of her wing had needed to return for repairs, none suffering more than some light repairs save for one or two that had unfortunately lost limbs. Thankfully between their own regenative abilities and the medical uses of the Mindy themselves, they were safe.

But then came the order, and 'Tenshi couldn't help the grin that spread wide across her face. Her visage popped up in the screen of every one of her wing as she gave them a wind and spoke up.

"You heard the boss ladies, let's go have our fun with a little hunt!"

Datenshi had signaled her wing to the ship and after a second to relay her orders to some of the other wings around her so they knew where her group was headed and wouldn't be caught unaware, she made sure her group and turned and took off. Already her suit charged, along with the others in her group, and one moment they were there, the next as they began to close the distance, they weren't, only to reappear a ways off in formation. It seemed her crew had all packed the teleportation mods on their suits, and as they shot off, again when the suit had charged the teleportation mods, then popped out then back into view, closer and closer each time. Between the full blast of their suit's propulsion systems and the jumps, they eventually caught up to the Mazu and requested clearance to land in the bay as they closed the distance. Yet even as they waited, 'Tenshi and her squad, all used to their fiery squad leader's personality, all jammed out to some hard rock music that blasted through their shared squad communications.

"Jump Dragons requesting orders from the YSS Mazu. We are here to tag along and have some fun." It was clear from the hunger in her voice she was ready for a more intense fight and she prayed she got it here.

Kozakura chuckled at herself lightly, of course she had been assigned on as a musician. Though she still had a funny feeling about seeing a musician with a weapon, the thought of it was likely to quickly pass once they got into the thick of it. For better or worse, they'd all be finding out in a moment how well they all stood up in the face of real danger. She nodded to Kwabba-an, "I appreciate it, don't know if the big boys will but I'll combine my footage with your music."

Turning to Sanda she smiled behind her helmet's faceplate, "I've been a student of the Twin Dragons style for some time now, whether that translates well to these aether weapons I don't really know. So we're both about to find out." Her words left a wry grin upon her lips but deep down she was terrified in such a way that it threatened to creep up and paralyze her legs. However upon seeing Kwabba-an jump into the thick of things she just laughed at herself, after all what excuse could she have if the timid bug was going to be the first one out there. Upon taking a deep breath she let her armor do most of the work, carrying her with every step towards the exit of the bay until finally sound faded away while she passed the blue threshold. Of course once she was in space the lack of natural sound was quickly replaced with Kwabba-an's music and a plethora of warning sounds from her Mindy.

Thrusters kicking into gear as she moved out to Kwabba-an's side while her camera rolled, capturing everything. The sight of weapons fire being exchanged, the movements of the fleets, but not least of all Kwabba-an's first kill. The thought that another living being was inside that thing barely crossed her mind at the time, her adrenaline was running high and before she could even begin to think, her mind was filled with Kwabba-an's voice.

"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!"

The song left Kozakura chuckling to herself in the isolating vacuum of space. That was at least until Kwabba-an jetted off again following in the foot steps? no, the after burn of Sanda. As they began to descend towards the surface of the nearby planet and ultimately towards the danger that was the depot, she focused her cameras in on the structure. Not only sending images of the defenses back to the "Presurgence" for analysis but also in another channel the data was sent to Maru's databanks. In addition to the footage going to the drone's databanks she recorded a brief voice over, "This is santo hei Tatsugami Koazkura, reporting in to you from the Scrapyard system where the joint fleets of the Kikyo sector are working together to take back the system and the Sakura Fleet Depot. As you can see below the depot has intense fortifications but, those of us who fight under the standard of Yamatai will not rest until we have secured the depot and pressed on to win the war."

With her voice over finished she cut her personal audio channel but kept rolling as she continued to get closer. Her eyes drifted to look briefly at Kwabba-an as Sanda had gone ahead a while ago. "You're full of surprises, I like that," she said over a connection opened between just their two armors.

"Kwabba-an," Sanda's words sounded in Kwabba-an's ear, causing her music to lower in volume for the duration of the transmission. "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."

"Roger that," Kwabba-an tried to think of a nickname for Sanda but failed. Instead, she gave a lyrical flourish to her reply. "May your knife be never dull, Sanda Hoshi."

She cut her speed, then was pleasantly surprised to find Kozakura join her. Her tune changed back to the hopeful melody she had played when she saw Kozakura again for the first time. The lights of the battle were still flashing around them and, through the simple visual to audio circuit in her armour, were also resounding in her ongoing musical transmission. But most of the fighting seemed to be concentrated back towards the fleet or down on the surface ahead of them, so her music was notably quieter than before.

"You're full of surprises, I like that," Kozakura's voice once again caused the sound of her music to quieten further. Kwabba-an's fingers slipped on her instrument, but she managed to only miss a couple of notes before getting back into the rhythm. A familiar sensation came over her. It was the feeling she normally felt in any social situation outside of a performance. Except that it felt a little different, like the difference between fear and excitement. Also, she was performing, so this was far from normal.

The insectoid woman looked to Kozakura and wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to respond. Outside of a performance, this would be expected. But now? Why weren't the words coming? She could feel the excitement starting to turn into fear as she knew that she had been silent for too long and had to say something. She replied over the same private connection back to Kozakura with the first thing she could think of.

"I think I am pleased to hear you say that."

Sakura Fleet Depot

Hiroki screamed a glorious "Banzai!" like his comrades as he departed the transport. The depot was immense and full of warehouses and production facilities. Multiple hostiles who were either brave or foolish enough to stay behind had either taken up position behind anything that yielded useful cover or were still in the process of setting up hasty defenses. The gunfighting began and drowned out any other sound in the depot. Among the desperate defenders were a few small bipedal construction mechs. While they were not effective in combat, they were assisting in setting up defenses or throwing large heavy objects at the attacking forces.

One of the construction mechs picked up a container and brought it down on Hiroki who used his thrusters to jump aside of the attack. The crash of the container against the floor left a sizeable crater and the container itself was severely damaged, though it did not deter the pilot from trying to use it once more as a club. Hiroki eyed the mech's pilot, who was a Kuvexian in a worker uniform and was protected only by a glass dome on the cockpit. Before the mech could try to smash away his allies, Hiroki fired a burst of AP rounds at the pilot that tore right through the window and into the pilot's torso. Blood against the unbroken parts of the window was a sign that Hiroki had hit his mark.

Hiroki jumped away from a goo grenade seconds before it detonated and fired his forearm cannons at the one who he believed to be responsible. The defender was able to step behind a stack of crates to avoid getting killed however. His life was ignored in exchange for the life of another enemy who thought that his height advantage on the upper catwalk would give him an edge over the boarding party, only to tumble over and plummet to the floor as a gunshot wound took the place of where his heart would be. Hiroki continued to stick with his team for the firefight, ready to make these theatrics the best that they could be.

NSS W.ON taskforce"wolfpack"
Location: near 2nd assault fleet

The bridge was buzzing to life, communications coming in as their systems began to pick up chatter from the Yamatians battle.technicians running to and fro, confirming the repaired ship systems were still nominal. As the larger Carnivore class cruiser came into the sector, it was noted that several other ships began to trickle in, joining the grand admirals flag ship. Before too long there were over a hundred ships in total. A fierce sight to behold seeing the many Bastard class light and Bastard MkII heavy cruisers. As well as two additional carnivores. As other ships joined it was apparent Irene meant business. Despite her opinion of the Yamataian's ways of diplomacy.
As the ships began to fall into a formation, at its center was their flagship. Though unassuming. It blended in with the greens and greys of the Other ship. Standing up from her Captains chair on the Bridge, looking out to see the ships of her comrades holding the line. She smirked,"Sergeant, patches me through to Grand Admiral De luca." With a few moments passing an encrypted channel was made. Connecting Irene nodded to the Sergeant."Grand Admiral Violetta De Luca, this is Grand Admiral Irene Barná. Taskforce Wolfpack has been assembled. We will assist in catching any strays the cats miss. The third Assault fleet will show our support."

(Here is the list of ships within the Taskforce.)
Construction
x10 Longsword Class Frigate
x15 Cobra Gunship
x20 Warhawk Class Frigate
x3 Carnivore Class Cruiser
x10 Bastard MkII Heavy Cruiser
x15 Bastard Class Light Cruiser
x60 NAM-LFS-CIV Red Hill Light Transports
x15 NAM-HFS-CIV Warhorse Heavy Transports
x15 NAM-S1-01a Hray Stealth Gunships
163 total ships

NSN 3rd Assault fleet, taskforce "wolfpack"

Sakura Fleet Depot

With the nature of SOFT, Mikael did not really need to micromanage and guide his fire teams like he had to as a standard Giretsu Infantry Century. This he opted to be a floater moving amongst both his subordinate infantrymen and allies.

Loaded primarily with HEAP 20mm rounds, his Heavy Armor Rifle was not lacking in targets as lightly armored opponents simply went splat as the explosive charge exploded in them. Their makeshift defensive structures didn't help much either as the other sides simply became shrapnel, dangerous to all but the most heavily armored.

A scream for help got his attention, along with another fire team of Keiko he was tagging along with.

Also the Sakura Fleet Depot

The chance to fight in honorable conditions excited the remaining Ehlen mercenaries that decided to remain behind. As far as they were concerned, their names would finally be worthy enough to enter the honored halls of their clans. They were warriors despite what their higher leadership back home might think.

Equipped in their power armor that would be considered compact mecha by Kikyo standards, the various squads waited for their opponents like their tree pouncer ancestors. Another was tasked with the brave task of driving their prey into the awaiting team. Though in this case, it was more acting as the bait as they knew the Yamataians were out for blood.

An overeager pair of Giretsu Infantry fire teams of the reformed Giretsu Century of the 2nd Legion seemed to be the targets of choice. Out for revenge due to the loss of honor at the Battle of Hanako's Star, the 8 Mindies shot and chased after the lone strange Compact Mecha that only occasionally let off potshots to keep them engaged.

"Where are you going coward!" one of them screamed as she let off a round from her aether beam rifle. The beam drilled into the Ehlen's shields and scored a hit on her left arm, invoking a scream of pain that only enticed the Nekos chasing.

Then it happened, coming of hiding the 4 other Ehlens jumped down in silence and rained heavy aether fire on the unsuspecting Nekos. Half were instantly killed or gravely wounded, with the remaining scattering to attempt to use their superior maneuvering to their advantage.

"Where did they come from?! Fire Team 2-2-A requesting support!!"

The fighters at the time were preoccupied with the various armors swarming around them to get to plant. Though the presence of the Stonewall had not gone unnoticed, any fighters who came too close quickly learned to fear the ship's guns-powerful mass-drivers tearing through their armor and shields, however Steiner could've sworn that he'd seen beam weapons occasionally,. Though at the moment...

The ex-mercenary growled as he splashed another fighter. This one had attempted to use what he thought were anti-capital ship missiles and had very nearly scored its mark-the ordinance streaking off just a few feet in front of him and detonating some distance away from the battle after flying overhead-given the brief scrambling of his radar even at this distance they must of either been nuclear or worse, anti-matter. "Captain, we need to make planetside." He radioed, narrowly avoiding a collision with a small cluster of armors, two supporting a wounded comrade-it looked like the thruster unit was damaged and red splotches on one arm. They made eye contact-or at least what passed for eye contact on his end, and Steiner nodded to them. The one had what looked like a shoulder cannon trained on him, but didn't fire. When yet another fighter attempted to make a pass on the craft-Steiner made a point of standing between the trio and the aggressor-taking several hits from anti-armor weaponry-the NDS activating and covering his armored frame in a silvery shell while the self repair systems kicked in, mending the fractured composite armor and monoplate. Steiner's own response was to raise his cannon-but the Stonewall's guns drove the craft off. Well, that wasn't the effect he was hoping for.

He turned and raised his other arm-a thin stream of nanites began to assess the damage-while he was unfamiliar with the flight system used-it was at least able to mend some of the damage-filling in the gaps and forging themselves into the perquisite martials, matching them on the atomic level-though the feedback he got indicated a lot of non-standard ones; he'd need to look into it later. The wounded one's thruster unit sputtered a couple of times, and finally kicked on-but the output was weak. The unwounded ones had clearly been ready to pounce, but had relaxed after he finished his work. They limped their friend along, guiding them-as he watched them go-making aboard the safety of one of the ships, the captain finally responded. "Yea, I'd reckon so-we following these Star Army boys down?" Steiner considered it, and shook his head. "No, I would rather them not shoot us by mistake when we try to land-see if we can land north of them." Not like they weren't already taking the risk as it was running into an active warzone, and as it seemed no one knew they were here for the most part-all it took was one misstep to lead to tragedy.

"I'm coming back in, send up lift." That drew a chuckle. "Finally had enough?" Steiner shrugged. "No, my machine is not rated for atmospheric re-entry." When the captain chuckled, confusion went through him. "What?" Was the only response he could muster.

"Scrapyard I ain't got no atmosphere." Oh-perhaps he should've studied this further before coming to this place. "I see, still, it would likely be wise for me to refit and re-arm."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Steiner, just stay clear of the lift."


As the aforementioned lift came up, he scanned around for any further hostiles; the fighters seemed more preoccupied-he hoped-with the main battle-though he was forced to drive a squadron off again, plasma cannon blazing though he'd missed both his shots as the Stonewall clamed two of them. At least they didn't volley missiles at them. When they showed no signs of returning, Steiner returned to the cargo bay bringing the drones with him-it re-pressurized, and helped bring the temperature of his machine down rapidly. "We'll land on Scrapyard I in five minutes, best get whatever rest you can." Steiner grunted, and used the drones to replace the partially spent fusion gas canister. When the ship started to shake violently, he immediately radioed Reinhart "I thought you said this planet lacked an atmosphere?" He inqured conversationally, doing last minute checks of his air supply and life support-he'd only been out for less than fifteen minutes, so he would be good for just under the five hour limit. "We've got a bunch of goddamned AA guns-gonna hafta' set down." The captain's tone was a combination of anger and worry, "We're gonna be cuttin it close in terms of landing zone 300 meters, but if you wanna get off this planet, we're gonna need those guns gone." The ship landed with a heavy shudder, kicking up clouds of dust.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do, but I may need assistance." Once again, Steiner found himself stepping into the airless void, but at least this time it was a planet and not the hull of a ship. There was a pause. "I can't really spare anyone at the moment-we need all everyone here incase they try to board us, but my recommendation is to use the battle as a distraction-it'll make your job a lot easier."

'No, really?' He shook his head, realizing it was unfair for him to ask any more of the captain than he already he. 'These men have followed you of their own accord. They did not have to bring you as far as they have.' He chastised himself. "I will keep that in mind, Stay safe Captain."

"You too Mr. Steiner." And with that, he set about his grim work-he had to first locate the AA guns, then bring them down; he had no doubts this would not be an easy feat, but it had to be done.

Sakura Fleet Depot
Santo Hei Sanda Hoshi

It took hardly anytime for Sanda to reach the depo. With her stealth mode activated, she was able to drop right into the base without being detected. That, and most of the base was looking the other way. One thing that captured most people's attention was the enormous space fleets engaged overhead. But more pertinent to the supply depo was the incoming of Mindy suits and drop ships. Sanda scowled at these and bit out a curse. Yamatai had such numbers here and they were just throwing them at the enemy. Why not take a little more time, send in some scout troops, mine side of the base so your troops can enter more safely and take the base with as far less loss of life and the depo itself more intact. Well, those fools can come storming down under AA fire if they wanted to, Sanda was going to make sure that her friends had a safer way down.

Within 5 mins Sanda had planted her packs of explosives on AA emplacements and a huge tower that had not only AA guns but some heavier cannons as well. "Y'all have a nice day." She said and flicked the detonator. The explosion was magnificent. The tower began to lean, farter and farther and farther over until in came crashing down on top of something that made another very loud boom. Sanda, laughing with mannitic delight dropped her stealth to activate the guide beacon that would bring Kwabba-an and anyone else she had managed to gather down to the surface where there were no longer any AA guns scanning the skies. She was still laughing when bolts of plasma and bullets began flying her way. Seems like the depo's owners were taking exception to her bringing down their buildings.

Sanda raised her plasma rifle and was retiring fire as she moved to find cover. Ducking behind a forklift, out of sight, she reactivated her stealth suit then moved around the attacking soldiers. There were five of them, blasting away at the forklift like it they were Nepleslian grunts on a firing range. When the forklift exploded they crept forward to check their kill. Sanda waited until they all had their backs to her before pulling out her Plasma revolver with her left hand and starting blasting with both Plasma rifle and revolver. Materializing seemingly at out thin air, the Daisy suit was surveying it's handiwork when a shadow seemed to fall over top of it. Sanda turned around then had to look up as the giant power suit stood over her. "Uh-hu." She said. "You're a big boy aren't you?" The 50mm Gauss Cannon attached to her shoulder suddenly flipped around. As soon as it was pointing at the giants head Sanda fired. It was basically a point blank shot. As soon as she had fired, Sanda hit her thrusters and rocketed herself to the side, trying to put as much distance between her and the giant thing.

NSS W.ON taskforce "wolfpack"
Corporal Caffran Canterbury

Corporal Caffran Canterbury clenched his teeth again and stared up at the ceiling of the Nepleslian Dropship. He hated space. He hated flying. Right now he hatted just about everyone in the Galaxy. He couldn't wait to get his boots on the ground. He didn't care where it was as long as it was on the ground. Caffran was a recon scout, and a damn good one too. He was also a close combat specialist, which was why he was on a shuttle ready to be dropped aboard an enemy ship or the depo on the planetoid. He was wearing Raider light armor with his own signature Camo-cloak draped over one shoulder. This one however was an experimental cloak that he was testing to see how it would perform with a power suit. His LAC was clamped between his knees and his Straight Silver attached where he could easily access it. Another jolt shook him and he let out a startled gasp as he tried to keep himself together. The worsted part was, he wasn't even sure if the damn shuttle had even left the hanger bay yet!

Sakura Fleet Depot

Hiroki witnessed a portion of the Neko squad get eliminated by their Ehlen ambushers. A fury rose within him about how these cowards had the gall to attack their opponent when they were least expecting it. He was prepared to dart over and assist them when he felt something strike him in the head and knock him down. He peered up to see a QM-305 power armor standing over him. Hiroki launched his forearm blasters at it, but it was able to deflect them using its shield though it did slide back several feet from the impacts.

The enemy power armor pointed its coilgun at Hiroki just as he was hopping to his feet and fired off a few rounds, forcing Hiroki to use his thrusters to take to the air and get out of the way. When an opening was present, Hiroki fired a burst at the QM-305 with his own bullpup, but they glanced off of the side of the opponent courtesy of its armor. A grin morphed on Hiroki and he muttered, "So that's how you want to play? Okay."

He activated the 20mm Gauss Cannon on his shoulder and the beam erupted before the QM-305 had a chance to react, its punishment a gaping hole in its torso. Like a tower on unstable footing, it fell over to the floor and purple blood pooled around its corpse. Hiroki's attention was turned to a Kuvexian sniper on the catwalk who was working to pick off his allies. He took aim at the enemy sharpshooter when he noticed too late a moderately-sized piece of machinery flying at him. As a consequence, the debris smashed into the left wing of his Mindy and caused it to dent inward. Hiroki used his thrusters to slow what would of been a dangerous descent to the depot floor.

It did not take long to locate the culprit, another construction mech that was picking up an even larger piece of debris to hurl at Yamataian forces. Hiroki bit his lip and a shot from his gauss cannon hit the mech center mass and caused it to explode in a fireball. The erupting shockwave and scrap flying at deadly speed took out several defenders who were unlucky enough to be near it. Hiroki returned his focus on the sniper who had now relocated to the leftmost position on the catwalk. A few well-placed shots struck the sniper and caused him to do a backward flip over the railing to his demise if the initial gunshot wounds did not kill him already.

Scrapyard System
Independent V6B
Some time just after the NDC fleet arrived, a Ke-V6-1B "Hayabusa" Starfighter obtained from the YE 42 salvage giveaway arrived in the sector. There wasn't much info on it besides that it was identifying itself as an ally and calling itself "RADIUM". "Radium" wasted no time, heading to land on the planet, being sure to steer clear of AA guns and anyone that might mistake them for an enemy. Upon the fighter descending down to its landing zone, its pilot stepped out. "RADON ONLINE," it beeped. It appeared to be a yellow robot, but really it was Antoinette in her recently restored R4D0N armor under a new identity. She had come here for one reason and one reason alone: to kill every Kuvexian in sight. It was rare that she got the opportunity to kill something without consequences, and Strontium intended to savor every moment of it.

Omega Leader took note of the kills they’d made and her computer calculated how much they needed to go before they could take down all of the Kuvexian fighters, but the Leader was pleased that they could show off what they were capable of. Her Team, HUD showed that almost half had been damaged and their shields were depleted. She knew it would be a risk for them if they continued to fight but so far all they had were structural damage to their hulls.

“Omega Wing, excellent work Ladies, now let’s continue to show these greedy natural borns what we’re made of. Execute plan delta 2, “She ordered and watched as their thrusters were once more activated and it brought them closer together in a formation that would make them almost like a weird reverse flower. The ones with shields used the new connection to form a shield around all of them, leaving the cannons unshielded as Plasma soon shot out each of the cannons at once towards the rest of the Kuvexian fighters.
The plasma beam merged into one huge beam for extra damage due to how close they were.

Whether or not they took out the rest of the Kuvexian fighters would not matter, as the next order Omega Leader will give is to return to the ship for repair.

NDS Valiant
Flight Bay

Kirameku Enki, on loan from her duties as a bodyguard for Noval Heavy Industries, strode the flight deck in a tight white and red bodysuit. Two pilots fell in as she walked, similarly garbed.

"It's still a hot mess out there, Enki," said one of the pilots.

The other pilot nodded in affirmation. "Were hearing that Kuvexian forces are starting to pull out, but our forces are still under heavy assault. It's a good opportunity."

Enki stopped and considered the machines arranged in front of them. "Good," she said simply.

The three fighters in front of them were more than what they seemed. Three helmets formed around their heads, sealing the atmosphere within with a soft, audible kshh.

***

The three fighters shot away from the carrier at near top speed. They weaved and zagged to dodge incoming fire until they neared their desired area of operation - close to the NDC fleet, but far enough out to effectively intercept incoming fire.

"Strike Formation," commanded Enki. "I'll focus on our defense. Heagan, Kamara, you're on interception."

Affirmatives flashed up in her view.

All at once, the three fighters began to spin and pivot. Arms and legs took the place of thrusters and intakes. Humanoid shapes now occupied the space that the fighters had a moment before. In their hands were huge rifles or beam cannons.

Two Sparrowhawks and a Banshee joined the fleet's fighter screen in a group that was being tentatively called a lance.

As a hail of projectile fire drew near, the Banshee's two wing drones opened up with a hail of thin energy beams and destroyed the rounds on approach.

The Sparrowhawks took hold of their rifles with both hands and opened up on the larger missiles and weapons fire.

In a sea of weapons fire, one small area became a little bit less turbulent.

What the-?

Steiner had figured he'd start by entering the south side of the base and had yet to make contact with most of the hostile forces were focused on the fools rushing headlong into anti-air fire, when a tower had detonated in the distance. Saboteurs perhaps? No matter, it made his job simpler. Deciding to move on, using the few warehouses at an attempt to emulate stealth. He spotted one target-an AA Battery located on a fixed position near a warehouse. It looked to be projectile based based, sending deadly payloads from a sextet of barrels at the descending armors-and judging by the look of it they were actually scoring some hits. Though the way they were handling it seemed off-the motions of the weapon erratic.

He shook his head, and took aim. Just as he was going to fire, someone spotted him-energy bursts spattered against his electromagnetic screen-interfering with his cameras-again. 'Thought I fixed that.' He growled internally However it was just enough to make him miss his intended target-the i-beam punched through the hardpoint's interior-the detonation vaporizing a good chunk of its external armor while the arcs from the beam's travel left glowing slag where they touched-he could see the side starting to melt. Cursing as the cannon brought it's deadly guns around, a series of secondary explosions suddenly rocked the position. He must of hit the storage for whatever ammunition the weapon used-or they cooked off. When it had finished, all that was left was a some rubble and a fair sized crater.

'What dumb son of a bitch stores their ammo with out some kind of containment equipment in the event of a detonation?' He thought dumbfoundedly, stunned at the sheer stupidity of store that amount of explosive ordinance. At least, he hoped it was ordinance...

Dismissing the thought-he knew it wouldn't be long before someone noticed the mecha stomping around-perhaps it would be wise to be gone before then. "I have destroyed one gun, and it would seem someone else has seen to a number of others." He radioed. "Good to hear, but you need hurry it up-looks like more troops are landing and I'd rather not be any closer to the fighting than we already are." The worry was evident in the man's voice. "Alright, I will conclude my business here soon."


He hoped....

YSS Presurgence

Tomomi sat in her seat more rigidly when her sensor sweep picked up the civilian "freighter". "Wha.. What are they doing there?" She said, mostly to herself. With all of the chaos going on, she didn't think it was quite important enough without additional information. Especially as the 7th Fleet didn't seem all that bothered by the vessel either. Then she watched it land on the airless world.

"Ma'am, we have a civilian ship landing on Scrapyard I." she said in utter disbelief as a portion of her mind remained tracking the Kuvexian masses that still remained.

YSS Tokyo
First Expeditionary Fleet
Tokyo Expeditionary Battlegroup and Taihō Expeditionary Strike Group

The battle was beginning to wind down in space, it was up to the teams consumed with retaking the depot. "Eri, Have our battlegroup pull back to the staging point with the rest of the fleets. The Taihō Expeditionary Strike Group can remain in this position to mop up and continue to provide cover fire for those armor teams, join Tokyo-Chusa and I when you're done." Katsuko ordered as she stood from the command chair and disengaged the SPINE. She descended the platform to where Himawari was and asked, "What does our damage look like? How many ships did we lose from our two groups?" Himawari pulled up the damage control reports and the volumetric overlay of the Tokyo and motioned to their so far superficial damage, the status on the patch on the turret cooling, and then brought up a secondary screen with a list of ships lost. (3 x Chiaki-class (1B) Escort Destroyer and 2x Azusa-class Light Gunship)

Katsuko's fuzzy blue ears twitched as she weighed various decisions, they had managed to pull through this conflict with relatively small losses, and considering what they were about to face in the next part of this, it was for the better they were doing better than she had expected. "Not bad for a fleet of vets and cadets, We can dispatch crews to pick up escape and survivor pods," she ordered. "Hai, Taisho," Tokyo Himawari replied. The Tokyo had done its job for sure, it had soaked fire and provided an exponential amount of fire and kills on the KIN. "I will pass some encouragement onto the crew shortly," Katsuko added.

The fleet had a group of three Shuryoku-Class Super Freighter on reserve with resupply outside of the Diachi System in case they needed it when they got back through the wormhole, but for now, their levels looked good. The blue-haired Taisho reviewed the rest of the charts and data, she would have a lot to go through after the fact. She had the PANTHEON systems on her ships vigilant in recording relative battle data due to a need to evaluate the very newly built vessels and their crews in combat.

Katsuko sent a text-only message on the encrypted channel to Taisho Yui (@Wes) on the YSS Battle of Yamatai, "We're ready for the portal when you and the Essai are, our accompanying Expeditionary Strike Group is helping mop up and then will pull back with us to the position once the teams at Sakura Depot have wrapped up. x. Taisho Ketsurui-Motoyoshi Katsuko."

It was quiet in the section of the depot he was in-he was examining an abandoned anti air battery, debating whether to take it for salvage before he left when he caught movement off to his side. He couldn't see what it was, until a series of shots impacted his screen-a number of sleek looking armors suddenly jetted into the open, spacing themselves out and dividing themselves into groups of three-spraying blasts of cyan energy-he noted that shields were actually depleting quite rapidly

'Jump infantry' Steiner growled, 'Wonderful.' And he didn't have support. His response was to open fire with the chainguns-the muffled thumps being the only sound as one the of the figured collapsed-purple ichor spraying the ground-the first trio, after watching their friend go down moved to cover, laying down short bursts of fire. He wasn't having it-he charged as one of the armors jetted away-but their companion was not so fortunate-a massive fist sending them flying. The second immediately drew what he initially thought was a sidearm, only for a beam of energy to suddenly spring to life as it flew forward. A quick check of his auxiliary cams indicated the the others were already streaming towards him with the same weapons drawn.

'They baited me and like a damned fool I fell for it.' It was a common enough tactic back home-lure a walker in, then swarm it with infantry if you didn't have armor or other mechas. His weight and mass were simply too much to stop on a dime. So instead-of out of an instinct honed out of over five decades of experience-he pivoted using the the momentum to force a snap turn, his slide kicking up dust and gravel. The maneuver caught his opponents off guard-even more so when a combination of chaingun fire and a plasma beam hit them-the beam simply vaporized the one caught by it-while the 35mm rounds caught two-one's head was taken off above the nose, the thruster pack simply pattering out, landing gently-while the other recoiled under the impacts as one round caught them in the leg. They would likely go into shock, and if the blood loss didn't finish them, he would.

The two remaining soldiers didn't flee as he'd hoped-instead split up and leapt forward, coming at him opposite angles-the Helstrom wasn't cooled off yet and he couldn't do the same maneuver-not without overbalancing. Lashing out with his battlefist-he caught the one-crushing it in a vice-like grip while the other's blade found its mark. Dozens of alarms came through his feed back as it the energy blade deep bit through the monoplate and composite armor. It should not have done that kind of damage-monoplate was damned near invulnerable if made right, while the composite was solid enough to take hits if the plate was breach. Tossing his latest victim aside he instead brought his arms around in a crushing bear hug-his opponent realized what he was doing and attempted to only to be enveloped by the machine's arms. Squeezing down-he heard the dull snapping of bone through his unit as the suit struggled against him. Slowly, the struggles got weaker and weaker...then ceased.

Letting his opponent's lifeless body crumple to the ground, he radioed Reinhart. "Captain-get the ship ready to go-I have salvage for you." Fabricating several drones and setting them to work getting the AA gun and bodies ready to go-he investigated where the armors had come from. "Salvage-you ain't lifting Star Army gear are ye?" Reinhart didn't sound too pleased, "I don't need that kind of trouble."

"No captain-I have several enemy power armors that are more or less intact-thought they will need to be properly cleaned out. Also have one of their AA guns." He replied. The armors had likely come from one of the warehouses. "Kuvvie power armor? Ain't them boobie trapped?" That was very good question. "I honestly had not considered the possibility. Perhaps it would be prudent to break them down instead?" A pause, "Nah, we'll see about turning em over to someone who can make use of them. Ain't the first time we've had to transport sensitive cargo, got the bay prepped for it n' everything."

"Alright, I am marking the area for pickup-it is relatively clear of anti-air defenses." He spotted the Stonewall lifting off in the distance. Smashing open one of the warehouse with a massive fist, "What?" Despite the damage and sudden exposure to vaccum, what was inside resembled a small barracks and armory. Mostly empty racks, save for some weapons and armor that had been left behind-likely when the attack began and the Kuvexians began their retreat, footlockers that had been hastily emptied, beds unmade. "Forget the damaged armor captain, I have intact kuvexian equipment here-prepare for salvage."

The armors, four in total, were gently pried from their mounts, while the weapons for them were loaded into one of the footlockers. "Bah, we'll take it all, more coin for us." He agreed with that sentiment.

A few minutes later, their prizes loaded on board with several techs looking over the armor to ensure that no surprises that could disrupt or even damage the ship; the damaged seemed to have actually fried their systems somehow, while the intact machines were inert. Writing off the damaged ones for scrap materials but retrieving the the weapons, they had a total of over a dozen infantry weapons with the four intact suits and the AA gun, the ship began it's ascent. The crew had loaded the damaged and intact ones into a special, shielded containment system. "Managed to get Zesuaium and Leptonium for the plating on that that thing-got shields on it too in case we get any nasty surprises the armor can't stop." While he wasn't sure what kind of materials they were, he suspected that there were sturdy, but the shielding seemed overkill; it made him wonder just what kind of cargo the Captain ran that would warrant the use of such a system.

More importantly-when he said his ship had teeth, and formidable teeth they were-further added to this-a mystery for another time."So, where's we headin'?" The old man was looking up at him. Steiner considered this, the Kuvexians had been driven from the system, and what forces were left were in the process were being routed as they spoke. But you didn't gather this many ships together to retake a single system. "I believe it may be prudent to linger for a time, at least until we assess what the fleet's actions are-I trust the salvaged equipment will be enough to convince you?" The captain "hmm'd" for a moment. "Alright...you ain't gotten us killed yet, so I spose the salvage is payment enough. I'll radio down if anything happens." He turned and started barking orders at his crew as they scattered and left for their posts

Steiner nodded, and began to conduct repairs, reflecting on what had happened. "What kind of weaponry could go through mono-plate like that?" He muttered to himself, staring at the long, deep gouge the blade had left. Something told him the Warden's current capabilities may not be enough, and wondering when his luck would finally run its course-those power armors should've had him dead to rights-but they didn't; not swarming him the way they should have-hitting him from all sides and then using explosives to deal with the machine.

Perhaps anti-mecha tactics were actually different here-either that or they hadn't expected to deal with a walker...he awaited word from the captain as to what the fleet was doing-and whether he should leave or stay.

Sakura Fleet Depot

Still in outer orbit around Scrapyard I, Kozakura looked back to Kwabba-an as a timer on her HUD reached zero and began counting up. Her eyes glanced black to the enhanced feed of the depot and noted the various explosions around the base and the guidance beacon the suddenly came to life. "That's our signal, see you down there," she said to Kwabba-an with a certain false confidence meant to convey a sense of comfort in case her compatriot was feeling as nervous as she was. With a simple impulse her thrusters fired up and she began the last leg of the descent to the depot below. As she descended her cameras picked up a flash of fire from the area where Sanda was. It was hard to make out but it appeared to be the fight between Sanda and larger powered suit. Though she quickly lost track of the action while focusing on her own descent.

After several minutes of a controlled but albeit sloppy descent, Kozakura arrived on the surface of Scrapyard I within the outer fortifications of the Sakura Fleet Depot. She panned around, taking in Sanda's handiwork. Her footage would reveal the destruction of the main tower on this side of the facility and the destroyed anti-air emplacements. "Hoshi-hei, this is Tatsugami, I've touched down at the landing site with no sign of resista...." the androgynous dragon woman was suddenly cut off as a spatter of weapon's fire landed next to her. Dashing around to take cover behind the remnants of a destroyed forklift she unhooked her A/S submachine gun from its shoulder mount and readied her weapon before peaking out. Her HUD quickly highlighted the foe in question, a lone enemy who had come to investigate the damage or check on the fallen perhaps?

Kozakura shook her head, those thoughts didn't matter, they were armed and had tried to shoot her. She looked around for another piece of cover that was closer to the target, and upon spotting it dashed out while shooting off a controlled burst of suppressing fire. It must have worked because there wasn't any return fire. Now somewhat closer and still in cover with her heart pounding within her chest, she tried to clear her thoughts and focus on her next move. "Xuralkhi-hei, the beacon's compromised careful on your descent!"

YSS "Presurgence" Flight Deck.

Russ was waiting by his craft waiting on the crew chief. Before he was able to launch the craft had suffered a malfunction in its engine and already was being worked on. As he waited impatiently in the cockpit he would look back and see the Neko's tail flare in annoyance. As he tapped his fingers on the controls he heard from the rear of the craft "You know pilot you can always grab another craft!". Shouting back in frustration "No it has to be this one Chief!".

In response the Neko walked over wrench in hand looked coldly at the pilot. As she slammed down her wrench "Why this one pilot out of all the craft we have why is this one so damn special?". Russ looked at her and tried to keep his cool and temper from flaring. He knew his request was unreasonable and that the crew chief had humored the pilot so far was abit of a miracle. Speaking calmly "This was the craft that got through Nataria, the first craft I flew on the Sakura my first posting, she has saved my life more then I can count". Letting out a sign "I know its unreasonable but I want to fly her one more time cause I think its the only way i'm getting home".

The crew chief seemed to bow her head in defeat before resuming work. As he heard renewed work and even a few smacks "You should be glad I like werid fly boys otherwise I would of thrown you off my deck!". Letting a brief smile happen as he waited further the little joke calming his impatience for now.