Operation: Ice Breaker

[Jack Pine]

188604/ Section 6 fleet/ USV-Hammer

Jack stood in full Revenant PA, his helmet under his arm atop a stack of crates watching over his gathering troops and other personnel. The flight deck was filled as he called them together to say a few words before they began this war they knew had been coming for a long time.

"Friends, comrades, and family. Today we hit a point where history will be made back home. It is up to us if we succeed, or fail. I know some of you have never experienced war, and let me tell you that this will only be a shadow of true war. War is a terrible thing that makes good people do bad things. It leaves it's Mark on everyone, and is never forgotten. But it is caused by good people standing up to fight evil men who would wrong, or harm us and our families. Some of us have been brought to this point for that reason. My own son was taken from me by Psychopomp, as well as countless others for void only knows. But that stops today, Psychopomp will feel the consequences as justice is struck true. And we will help deliver this blow. Now tell me. Who will stand with me and help leave cut the head from this venomous snake?"

Cheers and cries of accepting the call echoed throughout the hangar.

Mark stood at the back of the assembly, kitted in his Revenant undersuite, black cargo pants, boots, a tac vest plate carrier, his red iroma cloth blade worn like a sash around his waist, and his helmet under one arm. With a hand on the hilt of his plasma katana he spoke to Sae, "Today is the day, ready to jump feet first into hell?"

Neera was suited in full Revenant, a Maverick held in her hands as she watched from behind her visor, Wondering if she was ready. "I wish Beaumont was here, I could use a famous pep talk."

 

[Res'sh]

https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=characters:yamatai:jace_white_wolf#jace_white_wolf
Jace was against the wall in the back arms folded and a foot to the wall, he was there for a job nothing more, he didn't care who he was fighting, he didn't wear the same gear as the others, he valued him mobility over lots of armored plating, though he did wear some, thigh plating shin armor and steal toed boots where his lower armor. The upper was a set of armored shoulder plating and a chest plate with some forearm guards. he had a black and red trimed short sleeve hooded duster that went down to just above his ankles it was make of exotic fibers to aid in protecting him he saw the two that were talking to each other his purple cat like eyes looking at them he pushed off the wall his spear clanking on the wall as he did and walked passed them "speeches and pep talks are useless the outcome will be the same with or with out" he was heading to get the rest of his gear from his lock box behind them

 

[club24]

Kryss stood by Jack and Mark tapping away at a data pad she'd had mounted to a bracer leaving the hand free to hold the coffee she had brought with her, the strike team may as well have been on a different planet to her as she worked on patching all the power armours into the local network running Dawn experimental v2.0.4 and didn't bat an eyelid through the speech. "Alright you two I'm headed to the control deck, all the suits have been patched in to the local network so we'll be receiving all the statistics from the armour and letting Dawn analyse it. As agreed we won't interfere however should Dawn create a suggestion I'll have it checked for plausibility however I doubt that will occur."

Moving to leave the hangar she turned back to look at the assembled group, she barely knew many of them and this resulted in an expected slight lack of care, however she was concerned for them due to all she'd heard of PsychoPomp. “And Directors, try not to get killed down there, it would be bad for business after all.” Kryss strode out of the large space and made her way up to the war room.
“Everything set sweetie?” Riccard asked from his seated position with several monitors around him.
“Yes sir, all the suits have been linked but could we stick to formality when on the job, we don’t need any extra distractions.” Kryss replied taking her own seat and motioning for the two techs with them to boot up the local AI.

 

[Zack]

Vier never seemed too far away.

Doubley so now, as she was actually near the front of the crowd, waiting for Jack to finish his speech. The woman's normally mute colors were hidden by a tactical-looking power armor'd frame while a head to toe riot shield quietly hovered nearby. The front of the tapered shield having some bulky plating, while the rear had some storage space for an extra pressure suit and some ammo.

"Moral focused initiatives can improve aggressiveness in operations."

It may not have been abundantly clear, but she was talking to Jace.

"I am sure Jack's speech will have the intended positive effects."

Her attention would then turn to Jack himself.

"Though I do not have any drones I can allocate to this operation. I will be here to assist with piloting the breaching pods, and securing Amit's return."

 

[Reynolds]

The sound of energetic honking could be heard at the back of the crowd gathered for the pep talk. It had begun near one of the entrances, the repeated sound more insistent as it moved closer to the center of the flight deck. Whatever was causing the disturbance was apparently too short to be seen clearly, although its path was clear, as crew members and soldiers scattered out of the way.

"Oi, one side, furball." Neera heard a familiar voice addressing her by what was by now clearly her nickname, as what seemed to be a driverless Desert Rider wiggled its front wheel and nudged its way past her. "Quit faffin' about ya chav. Hook it!" The bike kept honking as it nearly bowled over Jace, momentarily delaying him from retrieving his gear before it passed, the disembodied voice still hurling insults as it continued on. "Barmy munter!"

Eventually the customized motorcycle pushed past the onlookers to reach Jack, it's front wheel thumping against the lowest crate in the stack. "Oi, gaffer! Get down already you knobhead!" A few final honks ensured the voice wouldn't be ignored, before Essex herself finally made an appearance. The oversized gun popped halfway out of some sort of slot it was shoved into to let it connect to the Desert Rider. The panel on the closer side of the bike was just barely able to flip open, displaying her avatar with a look of distress on her face. "It's that git! The one you wanted me to shoot!"

Her avatar pulled an antiquated wanted poster up from off screen, waving it about. A volumetric projection appeared, with Mark's face (well, Jack's face, just with black hair) in the middle of the poster, a red crosshair focused on him. Underneath it said: LAZARUS, WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE. With the 'alive' part crossed out with a big red X. A moment later a big red arrow replaced the poster, pointing back through the crowd to where she'd seen Mark as she was entering. "Just point me at 'im and I'll paste his mush 'cross the floor for ya, boss!"

 

[Res'sh]

Jace didn't look to Vier but did acknowledge her "ill archive that for a later date" he grumbled and just as he was about to open his lock box when the riderless motorcycle nearly ran him over, he got out of the way as it spewed insults "over designed bicycle watch where your going" he went back to getting his gear, it was a Snapshot PDW with Custom Flash Hider and a Sitanin Zbrojovka Model 79 model P2, he slung the PDW over his shoulder and holstered the pistol after grabbing the clips

he watched as the bike made its way to the front and then a gun popped out as the talking was going on he thought to himself this will be an interesting job he made sure that his weapons were ready he looked to Neera "my apologies, i'm still getting use to some things" he said the tattoo designs on his synthetic skin gave the android a bit of a dark and intimidating look to his facile features though probably nothing a trained soldier would be bugged by

 

[Jack Pine]

"Thank you Vier, it means more than you know.", Jack said to the deadpan woman before turning to Essie, "Essex, that's Mark, not the same guy. He's my non-psychopath brother. All you need to know is people thought I died on a previous mission, and I didn't. So now you got two of me."

Mark heard the bike, "Hey, don't compare me with scythe wielding fuck! I wasn't grown in a lab like some evil science project."

Neera hopped out of the way as Essex came through, "Hey! Who let her out of the armory?!"

"Oh, don't worry about it, weird is the norm here. That man up there is my dad.", Neera said to Jace.

 

[Reynolds]

"...you what, mate?"

The arrow turned into a large red question mark for a moment before the projection disappeared entirely, the poster in her avatar's hand dropped to flutter off screen. "Just 'ow many of you lot are there?" The panel with her screen on it kept trying to twist and turn towards other voices, while the motorcycle idled. "Oi, what's wrong with growin' up in a lab? Sod off!"

The Desert Rider began trying to back up and turn around, likely intending to move to confront Mark. Or anyone else who upset the rather contrary AI. "Just look at furball here, I'm sure she started out in a petri dish meant to fulfill some mental bloke's beastly fantasy. And she turned out alright!" There was a pause. She probably realized that had almost sounded like a compliment. "...I mean, she ain't the the fittest bird, seems like a dodgy shag, but I never claimed I understood the kinda shite you're into, luv."

 

[Kim]

Saesal stood near Mark in the Revenant undersuite with her molded breast plate and her reinforced boots, her own helmet was tucked easily under her arm. "Hell is actually nice this time of year, it's mostly casinos and parties," she replied with a soft smile, pushing a lock of blonde hair back behind her elven ear. Aside from the bracer with knives slide into it and the drop holster that hung firmly against her thigh from the gun belt secured to her waist, she was relatively unadorned. She checked the various pouches to ensure that she had enough ammunition for her MacKinnon Monster and the Maverick. "... I know that's not what you meant, Mark. But yes, I'm ready." Her Maverick was leaning lightly against her right leg as she made the adjustments to her other gear.

 

[Res'sh]

Jace looked to Jack then back to Neera "I'll try and remember that so as not to piss off my employer" he chuckled grabbing a standard issue USO-MWS1-MAVERICK set in carbine and slung it over his shoulder he took his spear and retracted the blade to make it a staff and safer to hold "I need to report to my CO it was good talking to you" he said holding his hand out to shake "and good luck"

 

[Zack]

"Will the motorcycle be joining us inside of the facility?" Vier asked.

She couldn't take her eyes off the thing. Part motorcycle, part gun, the AI certainly had a lot of features that her father had been wanting to develop.

It would only be polite to share data.

Vier would reach out, sending a request to share visual and sensory data with Essie.

 

[Noodlewerfer]

Adria had managed to sneak aboard (despite her dad's wishes) by stuffing her small form into a crate. Thanks to her butterfly wings it was a tight fit, cramped, very uncomfortably wrapping her wings in front of her, but at least she managed to get on the ship (even if it was debatable whether or not she could get out again). She had her very long tail all curled up and piled onto her lap, trying to remain silent and resisting the urge to respond to her squished and forcefully curved wings.

Chlorate moved to stand between Mark and the motorcycle, glancing at Mark and asking "Father, is this motorized two wheeled vehicle of transport causing you to feel threatened?"

 

[Ace]

Planet Spora Orbit
When the ship would arrive at the planet several civilian ships would be floating in orbit around the planet their engines powered down and distress beacons activated. Scans would show that no life signs would be on board and some of the ships had Psychopomp's logo printed on them. All the ships appeared to still have power and maneuvering capabilities but were strewn about in a sort of field over the planet.

When the ships would drift close to each other both would explode their reactors overloading. Romanov had set up a minefield by sacrificing his old ships. He had moved all his forces to the planet's surface and seemed to have already set up defenses and countermeasures against his 'guests'. He had caught wind of USO coming from his spies back on 188604. "Let them come we all knew this would eventually happen." Kristen would say to his troops through a holo projection. "Remember if you fail here there will be consequences."

 

[Jack Pine]

"Alright! Suit up, stock up, lock, and load people! We jump in five. We're bringing the fleet, but expect trouble. We know there's a small orbital defences platform, but there could be a supply fleet that visits.", Jack shouted to the amassed group as he hopped down, "Mark you have team Osiris. Sael, Neera, Jay, and Chlorate, you guys are included with them. Jace, Aster, Essex, and Vier. Your with me. Mark, prep the Possessor for launch. You'll be marking defensive targets for our guns in orbit once we have control of space. Once all defenses are eliminated, that's when the landing force goes. Frigates and landing craft only. Everyone to assigned teams and stations!"

Mark gave a grin before walking the short distance to a large tarp covered piece of equipment. "Hey Chlo. Ready to be my copilot? Come on and climb in.", Mark said raising the tarp for the Android to move under and board.

Neera gave the man Jace a smile, "You too. I look forward to seeing you again." She said before shaking his hand then leaving to group with the rest of the team.

The fleet began to move forward into the void of space away from 188604. Jump drives spooling up across the amassed ships. The fleet consisted of 37 ships, numerous frigates, and some cruisers gathered around the two massive battle carriers at the group's center. Faint flashes and distortions of space marked their jumps as they each zipped to faster than light speeds. Closing the distance to their destination within a couple hours.

The same flashes and ripples erupted as the ships seemed to pop into existence in the space not far from Spora.

"Status report.", Jack asked from his command chair on the bridge.

"Orbital unit detected."

"Wait.....Sir! Numerous ship contacts detected in proximity near the planet in orbit! More showing up! They seem to be forming a field around the planet."

Jack listened to his bridge crew, "Fuck! How did they know we were coming?! Are they reacting to our appearance?"

"No sir...... they're just sitting there. No life signs detected. There's traces of particles leftover from a few drive detonations."

"It's a damn minefield.", Jack said cursing before opening a ship wide comms, "To all hands, condition yellow. I repeat, condition yellow. Additional forces detected, they know we're here. The mission hasn't changed, we will still succeed. To your stations. Fighter escorts deploy, indigoes spread out and prepare for barrage fire commencement. SS1s assume defensive posture. Landing parties move to ready status, all security forces prepare for possible boarding actions. They may not be moving, but doesn't mean they're not hiding."

 

[club24]

Kryss had been monitoring Dawn when the reports of the minefield came in as they jumped into orbit around the planet containing the home base of PsychoPomp, "And they said staying on the ship would be safe, I hope the pilot can avoid some drifting ships spacewalking isn't on my to do list today." she spoke more to herself than her father who had a set of headphones over his ears listening to his favorite tracks as he dealt with any minor programming issues. Turning back to her screens the corporate blonde found herself looking at the first combat suggestion made by their experimental build of Dawn, an unexpected event considering they had barely even started yet.

Spoiler: DAWN Readout

DAWN BUILD (EXPERIMENTAL): v1.5.3
Task
- Navigation of minefield

Suggested actions
- Utilise weapons array, destroy obstacles
- Maintain distance, await obstacle self destruction
- Utilise disposable ship, manually set off a chain reaction

Projected outcomes
- Danger rating 2, 35% chance of debri damage to this hull, outcome = positive
- Danger rating 1, 10% chance of debri damage to this hull, outcome = positive
- Danger rating 3, 23% chance of debri damage to this hull, loss of one ship, outcome = positive

"Already thinking are you." Kyrss tapped away archiving the suggestions and projected outcomes as well as all the input the program had received to make them, while the files were compiled into an aptly named group "Situation 1 readout" she opened her pad and quickly sent the info to Jack and Mark along with the message. "Surprising first calculation, I'd ignore it for now this is just a heads up that it's doing something at least." After that was sent she stretched her arms before setting to work scouring the algorithms to make adjustments for the data it would receive when the army made its move, "Someday we will have to add a no casualty policy to your suggestions Dawn."

 

[Immortal Cyan]

Surface

As she jogged among the deployed Psychopomp ground forces, along with everyone else in the vicinity, Valentina was preparing to mount a defense for the facility. It was likely they would face orbital bombardment, and she would need to take cover within the shelters in order to wait the barrage out, before directly engaging the enemy. Of course, there were plenty of countermeasures on standby, but orbital defense was an imperfect science, and no platform was truly reliable in the face of a prolonged assault. Regardless, she trusted that the bunkers would protect her from the worst of the assault, before any of the USO ground forces arrived.

When she arrived at the bunker, she executed one more weapon and systems examination, before finally sliding them within her holsters. Her primary weapon was a carbine variant of the ZA-FWR rail rifle. At her height, the size of the weapons that she utilized was a constant concern, so much so that she had thought to take a PDW instead. However, the needs of the operation called for high-powered and long-ranged weapons, and she didn't want to be stuck with a weapon that would leave her outgunned. In spite of the size issue, strength wasn't an issue for her. Her SHAM made sure of that, often to a disturbing extent. She wore a massive Styrling man cannon on her thigh holster, a Origin melee weapon in a sheathe on her hip, and two sonic grenades at her waist. After performing a check on her armor, a downsized 'Wind' series model with Gust attachments, Valentina looked through one of the outside cameras, awaiting the moment when it was time to directly engage the landing forces.

 

[Reynolds]

The Desert Rider was pointed away from Jack and his soapbox, front wheel twisting as it seemed to contemplate what direction to head. "I can't drive and shoot at the same bloody time. When I meet the numpty that bodged that job..." Her voice trailed off as the request for a connection drifted out to her.

"Oi, what's this then? What the hell are you? Ain't this a corker!" Essex accepted the connection, although it seemed to be a one way street with her. She was happy to get an extra set of eyes, as the motorcycle performed a tight turn to ensure the protruding weapon was visible to Vier. But she didn't seem interested in sharing her own data with Vier. At least not yet. "Cozy little setup you've got here, luv. I might just tag along, if you stay in range..."

"He'd better feel bloody threatened, else he's off his nut!" The voice piped up externally again, as the new face moved between the motorcycle and the latest variation of Jack's face. Thankfully the announcement split them up, before Essex could make any particularly disparaging comments to Chlorate. "Try not to cock up, ya shiny duffer. And I'm watchin' you, Jack-off-brand." Well, except for those.

"Looks like I'm stuck with you. Until the gaffer gets back." The Desert Rider parked itself next to Vier expectantly, the screen closing on the oversized handgun, letting it slide firmly back into place once more. "I'm driving. Things go pants, just point me in the direction of the ruddy problem. I'll solve it. What kinda recoil can that fancy suit of yours handle, luv?"

 

[Res'sh]

Jace nodded to Neera "same" he said as he walked away doing to his intended area, he sat on one of the free seats checking his gear one last time and logged in to the troop manifest "Jace signing in, cereal number 5566-28, requesting data connection with team vitals" he looked around seeing his squad mates "so who thinks were going to die in space before we hit the ground?" his asked not really asking anyone in general as he made sure his equipment was up and running. He tagged his team in his organic HUD as friendly, he liked it, it showed his operational status and when linked with a team it showed their's too, for this alone he liked it

 

[Kim]

USV-Hammer

Aster took a moment, as she stood in her Revenant armor, her helmet was in her hand, she looked determined but she was incredibly nervous as she stood beside Jay. This was her first mission with Saber and it was important to her but she was going with Jack instead of with Jay, like she had hoped. There would be other missions. She gave Jay's hand a quick squeeze before she started to move away, heading to her assigned battlestation. She wanted to do more, but they were doing something more important than them. She lowered her voice and spoke in Yamataigo just loud enough so Jay could hear her over the rising din of movement, <"Don't worry about me, I will come back to you. I'll find you when this is over."> She offered him a hopeful, loving smile.

Saesal followed after Mark, pulling on her helmet and flipping the rifle up onto her shoulder, "Let's get rolling then!" She watched the interaction between the young woman and the white haired Saber officer from behind her tinted visor. She remembered that feeling, the apprehension of the first mission and the vulnerability of a first love. Both seemed like a life ago for the elven contractor and in sense, it probably was. She internally mused about more youth gravitating towards life at one end of a gun or another. Sae supposed that Aster was probably Amit babysitter or something, the missing child was in that right age range for a teenager like Aster to take responsibility for and from the look on the girl's face, she had.

 

[Zack]

The Deser Rider would receive a large amount of indexed, streaming, data from Vier, with the most relivent information being flagged as priority. Essex would be able to see through Vier's own eyes, as well as the sensors mounted on her weapon...

... and the sensors onboard the starship.

... and of the rest of the ships in the fleet.

... and from the light-year array, sensor drones, and nearly every other ship that worked with the USO, all of which was also being piped into one large composite picture of their surroundings as the ships tried to put together an image of their targets and the interior of the nearby objects.

"The suit and this body are not rated for more than human-normal ammounts of acceleration." Vier explained, "This body was not intended for combat operations, it is merely repurposed for this task. You should consider my position as a payload specialist rather than as actual infantry.

I am not familiar with your capabilities."


---

Meanwhile, outside of the ship, Vier would launch a pair of dark grey U-1 fighters armed with a mini-missile pod, gun-pod, and two EMP pods. The two fighters would spread out as they approached the ships above their target, firing short busts from their cannons to nudge them out of the way of the approaching Section 6 craft.

"Jack, we should not waste time with the attack. Further delays could result in additional casualties if they are able to reinforce.

I suggest you start using the ship's main weapons to clear out the ships in your path."