RP [Operation La Prossima]Tana del Diavolo, Part 1

Briefing room

A little part of Suzume died the longer she sat there. near the back most seats she sat, legs together, back straight, hand raised with a single raised finger only for it to shoot back down at every non sequiturs and outburst that each tore away a small piece of her assumptions and expectations of this motley crew.

There was shouting, wild gesturing, talking over one another constantly, a lack of rolecalls and very clear rank disparity violations. When she had taken her seat she had expected a quiet and professional briefing where they all listened attentively and took notes and waited until the end where they would ask clarifying questions to fill in context in a professional manner and maybe might be at least a single cliche wisecrack or two.

They didn't even have instant coffee and pastries.

It was like everyone in the room was Kaito Hinata with the sole saving grace that at least none of them were flirting with her father.

Willing to give the benefit of the doubt, Suzume leaned forwards to ask the next closest person if this was the norm, one of cousins from the main family if she remembered him correctly only for him to shout at the top of his lungs and drop the pit in her stomach from butterflies to a feeling of dread.

"Im going to die... Again..." She murmured to herself, making a mental note to record a warning message to her future self when they revive her to be better prepared for this nonsense. And also to bring her own coffee before briefings.

Steeling herself, Suzume raised a hand again, single finger raised, and spoke out as soon as she could find an opening.

"Bozu." She spoke towards Barone waiting for his attention before continuing. "What are the parameters for mission failure and what contingencies can we expect?" She tried to get a more broad answer than what she had heard so far. And most of all, she wanted to make very sure that if this time one of their own ships was going to level several square miles around them to excise the theater of operations she would have a head start and not be told she simply looked up to wonder why the sky had gotten brighter.

Charaa said:

As their teammate Tsumenaga tried to shepherd her and the others out, Ryuko moved forward towards Barone. She planned to leave, of course, but she wanted to ask him something first. "Boss-man," she began, "from what Thorn mentioned earlier, can you really teach me this psychic combat? And do you have any data or books on it?" Ryuko's voice was eager and determined. "Ryuko wants to be useful, and if that helps, She wants to do it. Also, which Mindy suit is Thorn going to be with?" she added for good measure.

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"I'll teach you a few things on the way," Barone answered, "I'll be carrying Thorn's chip in my leader support pack. That'll give her limited access to everyone if you need support. She'll be primarily using our electronic warfare systems to keep the enemy from picking us out of the crowd."

Charmaylarg Dufrain said:

Briefing room
"Bozu." She spoke towards Barone waiting for his attention before continuing. "What are the parameters for mission failure and what contingencies can we expect?"

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"Ah contingencies. To start, if we fail to disable the weapon we're not going home and Resurgence doesn't get to get footage for the recruitment thing they're doing. Get the weapon down and Resurgence does its thing. About that time Presage of Nashoba, who's recording Resurgence looking cool launching torpedoes from forever away, will proceed closer to the planet while the Rikugun are marking priority targets for exfiltration. If we all die it'll just glass the planet. Oh and in the event the enemy has a bunch of reinforcements show up we're on our own because it's like Jinja said. We don't come home until Zaxylbrph is dead."

An MP crackled open the door with a subtle knock, "sir, they're almost ready."

Barone nodded, "alright, the MPs are bringing us to the armory. We'll talk more on the ship. Report to the hangar and suit up. I want to personally ensure we have all the kit we need before we leave in the next two hours. Let's go." Pocketing his communicator he lead the way out from the office, one MP for each member of the team personally escorting each member as they headed down the hallway and into through the building's exit. The transition from artificial light to the star that light the day at high noon was blinding as they exited the climate controlled office and embarked on the reasonably short trip to the hangar just across the street. Two MPs stood guard by each and every entrance while two more in armed Daisys stood watch inside. Security was tight as was always the case when such a challenging mission was being commenced from a base like Black Sands.

Just outside the hangar sat a black painted Type-31 dropship on its landing gear, a similarly painted Type-41 Main Battle Tank and TASHA being loaded onto the dropship. The guards opened the door and stepped aside and they entered through the small door beside the main hangar door, the view of their armor hanging from their racks coming into view along with the diverse arsenal that was their equipment. For the members who'd had items on order sat the items they'd requisitioned still fresh in their packaging marked with PRIORITY stickers. A handful of technicians stood by to ensure all went smoothly.

Barone approached the locker beside his armor rack and promptly began undressing, folding his clothing neatly as he did so before closing the door and bouncing himself up and into his armor with the practice of a soldier far too familiar with the system, the suit closed up and the rack lowered him to his feet. His M2-4ix stepped free of the station flexing it's detachable black wings before folding neatly under the pair of capacitors on his shoulders and flying sword hovering just behind him like a faithful pet. The Offensive Augmentation pods on his legs were new, the pod doors opening and closing as they performed their system checks. Some writing could be seen on the inside as the doors closed, but it was too small and the doors closed too quickly to read. Opening the armory gate he removed the Butt Pack with his name and opened the flap inspecting the six large magazines for his AHAMR within. Closing the pack he clipped it in place over his behind where it belonged and hefted his anti materiel rifle off the shelf, easing it onto his shoulder. Ready for action he turned to see his team, eager to the rest of their first full team suit up.

Miko grinned when he seen the Type-41 Main Battle Tank also known as the bulldog. This pleased him greatly knowing that he was part of the Saint yard dogs. Though for this mission they were going to be more like moles. This enemy had gone done too far and it was up to them to slap them back in line. The team looked to be gearing up for a fight to rival all fights. Miko knew this was a mission that would prove this team had what it took to call themselves Saint. To be the ones who lurk in the shadows, taking out the enemies of the empire so the Empress could relax enough to get her nails done. He knew unlike his brother who stood out among the ranks, Miko was but a whisper in the night. This is why his enemies from his prior life gave him the nickname of smiles. For all they would see before their end was his bright smile. Alastair had the gaze that makes everyone weak in the knees, Miko however had the smile that would strike fear in those who knew what was about to come.

"Glad to know we are risking our lives so Star Army can get a recruitment poster. I will be sure to flip the bird towards the sky so they get a real good image of some badass." He laughed out loud. "Heck, Zaxylbrph gunna get so dead he will come back to life just so he can die again. There isn't a hole deep enough for them to hide in that we will not find them. Best they can do is sit in an open office and just accept they are a dead person walking." A smile then crossed his face. He was ready to gear up and be on his merry way.

"I see Barone-Heisho heard my plea and recruited a medic to put us back together after the snake chops us up." Oodori said this with a smile, before donning a pair of sunglasses for the brief trip across the bright, open area. This allowed her to dramatically remove them a short while later, upon catching sight of her new Mindy. "Woah, it's already ready already!"

Tsumenaga had cleared all the training and certifications, and even sat through the armor fitting, but she still hadn't quite expected to actually be assigned her own 4IX so soon. The Shadow Mindy certainly lived up to its name, with that black on black exterior and slim, wingless profile when compared to the standard Mindy. Perhaps the silhouette was slightly ruined by the aether blade folded up to attach to one shoulder, but even that had received a black paintjob to better fit in.

The tall Neko would spend a few minutes looking over her new suit, double-checking that everything was just as promised, before disrobing to begin armoring up. Once her large personal katana was retrieved and attached, and her uniform neatly folded and put away, she was ready to go. There was no real reason to bring the butt pack this time. Not only was it one more thing to worry about while trying to remain stealthy, but it wasn't like she'd survive very long on this hell planet outside of her Mindy.

Taharial had ignored the ushering for a moment as she had her head in her notebook "Okay, this is going to be interesting then, maybe I can find some of that stuff out." She paused as she looked up "oh yea, better to and plan out what medical supplies we will need." She stop up and quickly moved as she hugged herself with her wings to keep them from brushing against people as she mumbled about medicine and doses.

She had found a quiet place to start her work, as she found something to write on, for this, the written word was the best way for her to organise her thoughts. If looking at the notes there was number4s everywhere, short words in bulleted lists, like Type 31 with a x 5 scribbled out and a x10 next to it instead, all this time Taharial was mumbling about what was in each kit, what was useful to have onboard in case needed, what would benefit the wait for the strike and then what she could carry in her power armour. "If we have a forward base I can take more and have it ready for use, but if not better not to take too much." She put her pen down and stretched "oh god, I need to think about this, I can set up a forward base myself and if that is the case, then I can drag others to help out and they can run it while our squad goes to do tasks, if this lasts as long as it could..."

She looked at her list and used it to write out a proper presentable list of medical supplies they would need as she smiled and thought "if they say no, I will be in trouble." She walked to the armoury to check on her armour and weapons, making sure to get her duffle of her personal stuff on the way.

• Type 31 Medical kit x10
• Type 32 First Aid Kit x5
• Type 32 Trauma Kit x5
• AFF Medical Pack x5
• .....

There was 2 A4 pieces of paper with stuff written on both sides as she handed it to people in the armoury "I require all of this as I do not know how long we are going to be and I don't want to run out of important medical supplies." She left the people to scrabble to get her required list as she checks her armour was operational, she hadn't used it for awhile but made sure it was here with her. "feels good to be going out to do something again." She laughed as she noticed her stuff being piled up, she kept an eye on it to make sure that it wasn't too much as it could fit into a few boxes, it was the kits that were the biggest things and they seemed an okay size overall. With this she stretched and relaxed a little and made sure she had a few games for the group to enjoy in the radioactive soup they would be living in for awhile.

Armory

Suzume stripped. Well used to changing around others she stowed her uniform and changed into one of the tailored bodysuits Hinata had made for her; Little more than a black synthetic single that covered everything save for her feet, hands, and head above the neck. It did little to protect any modesty she might have; The material so tight but not constricting that it fit so well to the form it left nothing to the imagination.

The barely extra layer of skin-thick bodysuit It made it easier and more comfortable for long deployments where she might need to be armored up for days or even weeks. Comfortable and anti-chafe she could barely feel it save for the cool kiss of the material on her dusky-olive skin.

Next she moved to her cradle. Unlocking and appraising the sleek, black Shadow Mindy before her, only slightly bulkier than the others with it's SAR exoskeleton and equipment folded over the armor just barely increasing the profile nominally. She carefully, methodically ran her hands along it's face, under its arms as she raised them, looked intimately into the faceless visor as she pressed her forehead to its own and enjoyed the almost imperceptible cool feeling as she carefully removed each piece that was required and began to fit it onto herself. As expected it took little more than a few shrugs and adjustments before the negligible weight on her conformed to just being an extent of her body as Suzume carefully stretched and as she did so ran hands over her armor feeling it and re-acquainting herself to it's shape.

Done with that she continued on to the rest of her routine. Through the various bunkers and lockers she acquired her arms.

Twelve little finger-length nodal bits that she slotted into the dorsal apature.

Ten small minimissiles into the same on one leg.

Her Turbo Aether Shotgun she placed on the floor, delicately.

The Heavy Aether Pistol maglocking to her thigh.

A wicked Durrandium combat knife into a thick sheath on her hip.

And finally the very same Ke-m4-w4000 Power Automatic Rifle she had carried for so many years as she mag-locked it to the mount on her back shoulder as a secondary.

Several trauma kits and applicable medial related tools and supplies for her SAR. And her go-kit.

She examined each and every piece, sitting cross-legged in her armor on the armory floor but for her helmet placed in her lap before, being content that all was double and triple checked spent a rather lengthy forty minutes as she from her belongings she had brought removed a small single-hair brush and small ink well as well as a just under a dozen small 2x2" pieces of off-white tea-paper and, much to her escorts chagrin, closed her eyes and began muttering as she hovered the brush blindly over the paper and began muttering those mantras she had learned and made her own from Father Lucas, from Jo Midori, From even The Immortal and many others as she empowered herself mentally back into the embodiment of strength that was the Shrined Maiden.

Her mind finally settled and focussed she folded up each piece of paper three times without looking at the concept written on any of them and snapped the brush in half with one hand as she slipped each one into a their own tiny red silk bag and pulled the drawstrings closed before rising to her feet, collecting her weapon and helm, and allowed herself to be escorted to the dropship.

She, however, did not enter at first. Instead waiting at the opening she would hand one each of the charms she had made to her new team or find and give them one if they arrived before her, one for herself as well that she tucked underneath her armor where she could feel it between her bodysuit and chest-piece right at her collarbone. They would endow each of her new eccentric comrades with the concept inscribed upon each when they needed it most; Even if she knew not what character she had written and would not make an omen by checking any of them.

Power, Luck, Pluck, Zeal, Prosperity, Rage. Any such thing and more would they receive from her as Suzume less handed them out to her new team as they arrived but more forced the charms at them expectantly.

She wondered how to give one to the tech-ghost...

Orianna followed everyone out towards the Armory where they would get their gear, still thinking to herself what was going to be needed, The issue was if everyone was in a XI version the stealth would be great but they would have to be very careful of getting into any prolonged fights, the Teleportation baffle system would keep them quite, but at the same time she wondered what would help with the mission over all.

As they walked out into the sun she continued to think, only squinting a moment to adjust to the sun as she followed behind everyone, though getting a bit of guidance from the briefing room and seemed to just let Oodori guide her to the armory, but eventually they got there and Orianna looked up at the others getting their kit, as they did so she went over what would be needed and walked over to her own armor.

"Okay in case for emergency gonna need the SLAM fully loaded, won't build up to much heat thankfully, but taking the eight gauge cannon off for it, don't want to many ammo heavy weapons just in case. Keep the Scalar Machinegun, since a rapid fire weapon is always handy" she muttered as she took the time to switch out the weapons herself, calibrating things before moving to the legs.

"Change out one offensive pod for a Counter measures pod, if we get in a fight we need to be able to break contact" she continued as she detached the pod on the left leg and placed the counter measures pod there instead, making sure to calibrate and adjust it's position, taking a moment to consider what other changes as she stood there looking at the plasma shotgun.

Thinking about it she looked at the loadout for the group and realized what was missing, Barone had the only sniper weapon, and while he was likely good, a second extreme long ranged weapon like that would be a good Idea, so she took the Plasma shotgun and the Heat discarding mediums and put them back on the racks before grabbing a ke-w5-1a light armor tactical rifle, and taking a total of five long mags, one in the gun and two extra long Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot, and two long mags of the High-Explosive Aether Incendiary, just in case. putting those on the ammo storage sections on the hips.

With that decided she made sure the Reactive armor was on properly before stripping down and donning the proper suit and getting into her 2M-4B Mindy, the armor closing up on her and sealing her in as the system came on line, as it closed the back unit, the Teleporter pack was attached to it, and the Butt pack she took with her was the Honey Fabricator unit and her premium Repair kit all contained into a butt pack in case they needed the gear.

With all that decided the dorsal pack was added onto the Mindy. She opted for the Ke-M2-P4003 Power Armor Teleportation Unit so she could have teleportation ability once more, and it took a moment for the refit but she quickly got it done, with that out of the way she nodded to herself and looked at the group as she followed them out "I got everything we should need... wait.."

Looking at everyone's gear she shook her head a second "Taharial! I think you should change your back unit for the Teleportation unit... here I can help you swap it out, You are likely going to need that once we are on planet" she told them as she gestured for her to follow so they could re-equip her Power armor with the unit needed.

Though when she was handed one of the little pouches she looked at it a moment then to Suzume "Thank you" she nodded to her and decided to put the talisman in to her armor as she helped Taharial with her Teleportation unit.

Thorn's presence flicked across the armors like a ghostly touch, carefully storing loadouts and ammo counts at the edge of her consciousness as a tiny piece of her voice broke off in each armor, working its way into the system to link user information with her stored round counts. Each suit would tell her what was fired and when. What was hit, what was captured. It was actually similar to the NDC combat AIs in a lot of ways. But it lacked a voice of its own.

All it was was a little script to casually link ammo and damage information to Barone's systems. Really, to hers, if she was honest. As the systems started delivering their data, Thorn found herself flooded with information, almost losing herself in waves of complex system information at terahertz bitrates she wasn't prepared for. If she was truly honest about this, she had expected a Mindy to be a simple thing like the first generation Revenant she had helped design. Barely able to hold a simple AI, designed to keep the pilot aware and alive. She hadn't expected such a complex AI to already be managing systems, sharing data across a squad network, and even providing such detailed awareness support. Had she a flesh body right now, she felt the sheer volume of data would have hurt her quite badly, not left her near drowning in the confines of her current core unit as its memory cards effortlessly sifted the data and dumped it, eventually levelling off as she found her footing. Shaking off the feeling, she keyed her comm card, finally speaking.

"Green across the board, sir. Load outs and ammo logged, systems look good." Her avatar popped up in the center of the room as an active display artifact in each visor, looking at each suit with a soft smile. "You're all good to go. Already ordering resupply modules to be dropped from orbit when available. And logging info. Everyone who can have one has a fresh ST, yes? Ir not, I'm gonna hijack your SPINEs to take one right now. Well. I'll go get Shinobu to get me the codes to do it, anybody got momma Tasha's comm codes if I have to bail and she turns into my rescue?"

Oodori dutifully stood still and let Orianna hem and haw over her armor for a few minutes, checking and double-checking the panels and attachments, before sticking with what she'd already selected. Once the armorer was distracted by other targets, the tall Neko gave the new suit a test run out of range of the others. The same projected Yamataigo characters appeared as the last time she went into battle, before Tsumenaga occupied herself performing Shigin. What seemed like a typical martial arts 'kata' performance was accompanied by the Sedoka poems being projected around her suit, usually focused on her arms and shoulders.

Once she was satisfied, Oodori headed to the dropship with the others, accepting the charm from their newest recruit with a solemn nod. Everyone had their own rituals, it seemed.

Taharial jumped a little from Orianna as she started a conversation, her mind was a million miles away so this shook her back into reality. "Oh hello Orianna, yes thank you, I appreciate the help, I have rarely gone out on missions with this suit, it has more gathered dust since I got it.." With this she gave a small giggle and watched what Orianna started and helped them, she made sure to not get in the way though, her suit was a little bulky with the area for her wings.

When she got given the little pouch she smiled kindly to Suzume "Thank you, I will treasure it always."