RP: NSS Acadia [Post Mission 3]: R&R (Rest and Rations)

Phaedra finished the run quickly and she stood at ease while she caught her breath. She watched with interest as various PAs were placed into the center of the hangar. Some of the armors Phaedra recognized from experience, such as the Ripper. But there were others she only read about in training, most notably the Crooked Demon.

"To know my enemy," thought Phaedra, recognizing the wisdom in the careful study of enemy weapons and wargear.

And then the Master Chief hurled a volumetric globe at Anslem's head.

"BAM! P1C Wyatt you just died! A Ripper is a psychological weapon, do not let it distract you from what you have to do! DROP DOWN AND GIVE ME TWENTY!" shouted the chief from across the hangar.

Phaedra cocked an eyebrow at the occurrence.

"Interesting..."

She rolled her shoulders and watched the Master Chief. She wasn't going to let him catch her unawares.

The push-ups were knocked out quickly then Private Kingston joined the huddle around MC Fian Vel Steyr. After seeing Anselm pegged for being distracted, he made sure never to take his eyes off the Master Chief again. For a moment he thought Chief Ran might also be a possible assailant, but a few moments of contemplation he realized Rui was just as in the dark as the rest- he knew because Fian had ordered Ran to make sure no one moved faster than a jog: he hadn't already known.

That was slightly comforting.

The Chief had used the jog as an opportunity to get used to his temporary leg, despite it still being rather tender from being amputated. During the jog, the Chief found no problems with its functionality, which was a major problem for him. It was terribly unsettling to have an artificial part of him, which was up until a few hours ago just inside of a cabinet, working perfectly with his body.

Bringing up the rear of the group, the Chief only had a few seconds to pull out and light a cigarette before catching a glimpse of Anselm being hit in the head by a volumetric sphere. Taking up a position at the side of the main group of Marines, he walked in a circle around them, hoping that the presence of a Chief behind the Marine's backs would force them into a state of alertness.

"Oh, volumetrics, how quaint!" Henry gasped as he continued his jog without interruption. He figured this to be an exercise in keeping focused, and got the idea quickly, keeping a steady pace. His few battles worth of experience had taught him to focus on one thing, and complete it.

"I'll get back to you!" He replied to Phaedra as a volumetric Ripper passed him by, waving its blade in his direction menacingly. The use of volumetric technology gave him an idea that he'd implement later on.

Hmm, could integrate into headset... no, that's been done before. Could integrate into... oh, yes. He had to write this down - but he couldn't whilst jogging (for obvious reasons), and kept the idea in mind.

Lucas gritted his teeth as the Master Chief's orders rolled over him like a tank; some part of him knew it was coming. He promptly dropped his kit, said a quick "Yes, Master Chief!" and dropped to his stomach. He knocked his reps out quickly, then sprang up into a jog following the rest of the marines.

"Pick up the pace, soldiers! TEN LAPS RUN 'ROUND THE DECK!"

Lucas broke out into a run, trying his best to at least close the gap between the marines and himself, as much to follow the orders as to prove himself. Not what I would call a good first impression... he thought to himself, now panting a little with the continued pace.

When the Rippers were rolled out, though, Lucas' breathing increased even more. He'd never seen a "squid" before, but he'd seen their armor back in boot camp where they were used for combat training; he knew what their capabilities were. He tried to make his gawking inconspicuous after the MC hurled that holo-ball at one of the other marines, but he couldn't help but wonder about the alien weapons.

Fian tossed a few more volumetric balls to no avail, everyone had wisened up after what happened to Anselm and were skilfully dodging the Master Chief's projectiles. Far from disappointed, the Vel Steyr was grinning from ear to ear. Of the thirty something marines that the exercise started off with, only twenty remained.

"All right." He proudly addressed the panting crowd. "Since the lot of you are now both physically and mentally alert, we shall begin Power Armor training." At the snap of his fingers the deck elevator on the marine's side of the deck started descending to allow access to the PAs stored below. "Get into something you're comfortable with and then fall in here."

The suits themselves were already neatly lined up in rows below decks, waiting for the men to bring them to life. Most of these were the latest models, namely the standard M8 Hostile followed closely by the heavy M9 Aggressor. There were older generation PAs too, all four M7 VOIDs present had already their pilot names stencilled on. The six stealthy M5 NIGHT1s and plasmic M3 FIRE1s were located way behind, waiting to support their frontline brethren. Lastly four venerable M1 AIR types, three of these the latest R-Series and the remainder a lone Lancer-Variant topped off the arsenal.

Viktor Kingston was one of the first below, and allowed a brief smile when he saw the VOIDs. He strode up to the nearest and was about to climb inside when he noticed a name engraved along the collar: Henry Morris. His head turned and he noticed the next in line was marked with his name. Another smile flitted into view as he opened up the back and fitted himself inside.

Sean just kinda shrugged. He hadn't done anything big enough to earn any special armors, so he went to the first Hostile in line, and opened it up, getting himself in and settled quickly. Wonder what he has in mind. We all have combat experience, save maybe the new guy, so he's gotta have something specific in mind.

Alex took few deep breaths and went for one of the hostiles. She liked that machine. Not too big, not too small. It was average. Alex liked average things. Beacuse they were neither too good in something but neither too bad. Hostile was the thing for her.

She climbed in and started AI, did a system check and when all was green she falled in with others. She was expecting for something to fly agaisnt them suddenly. Maybe very low energy PLA? Ot another holo-ball.

Phaedra walked past the rows of PAs and headed toward the back where the NIGHT armors were stored. There she spotted the armor she had claimed as her own, with its distinctive snarling wolf head painted on the helmet. She detached the helmet and then opened the suit, the panels unfolding to allow her to gain access. Placing the helmet on the deck, she climbed inside and then sealed each section shut. Phaedra waited briefly for the armor to power up before stooping to grab the helmet. She held the helmet under one arm and strode toward where the rest of the crew was assembling.

Lucas headed down to the lower bay with the other marines, catching his breath after the brief run. He was warmed up now, and ready for whatever else the MC had prepared for them. He walked down the rows of Powered Armors, stopping in front of one of the Hostile types. Touching the cold metal exterior briefly, he was reminded of the armors they'd used in boot camp, and smiled at the memory. He took the helmet off and started to suit himself up. Once he'd placed the helmet firmly back in place and the systems had started up, he moved over to where the others were

Anselm practically jumped into the armor bay and trotted around the empty machines until he found what he was looking for. His face displayed a shit-eating grin as the repaired Aggressor, his Aggressor opened up its torso cavity for the albino. The marine paused, pulling the chain knife off his hip and securing it to the PA's chestplate before climbing in and sealing the armor.

After the powerplant warmed up and diagnostics checked out, Anselm stalked over towards Phaedra and the rest of the squad. The unpainted replacement parts, the entire left arm; left pauldron; and chestplate shining olive drab against the darker and dinged up army emerald plating that had survived the Aggressor's last sortie. The right leg had finally been painted as well and bounced the bay lights off its fresh matte surface almost as well as the newer parts.

In addition to the microphone, Fian had also borrowed a mind probe and HUD Visor from the technical staff. Well, not exactly 'borrowed' considering that it came from his personal AIR-R which was under some serious structural overhaul due to damages suffered from the last sortie. The probe was a metal lattice that gridded the Master Chief's upper cranium, small blinking LED lights indicated that it was in operation, a fact compounded by the Zen-like trance the MC was in.

Nepleslian SMoDIN Marines were trained in the difficult art of Mind-Only control of NAM Power Armors as a redundancy measure. Mental noise (possibly from emotional baggages, parallel thought processes, sensory feedback and subconscious routines) gave Mind-Only control a large room for error, the pilot's own physical movement not only supplemented the Power Armor's movements, but also 'confirmed' orders received by the mind probe.

By routing the cameras and audio-sensory system of his controlled Ripper to his visor and earpieces respectively Fian had made this task easier. The Mishhu battlepod took slow lumbering steps that betrayed the inherent clumsiness of the design and the weight of its armor and arsenal. The Ripper parked itself next to the MC who had in turn popped off the top of the pod, revealing a pilot cavity just large enough for a human brain.

"Gentlemen." Fian grinned. "Say hi to Mike the Mishhuvatar Ripper Pod. He'll be your sparring partner and punching bag for today." The PA waved one vibrobladed hand enthusiastically.

The Chief had wasted no time in selecting a Hostile as his PA, not really expecting to be participating in this training exercise, noting that it was reserved mainly for most of the new members. Taking up his position at the right flank of the main group of Marines, but situated far from them to not distract them, the Chief simply looked to the Ripper, and back to the group of Marines.

Chad walked in the room at about the time that the "Mike" waved to the crowd. He was a little confused at the behemoth waving the humming blade around, considering the fact he just went through training to specifically destroy these things on sight.

"Uh, hi Mike", he said rather dryly. "Could you point me to the guy in charge of the Marines, I fell asleep on the shuttle and didn't wake up till they retracted docking, but the captain was kind enough to re-dock so he my ass off of that damn shuttle. The guys in the bay said that I could find you dudes down here. So sorry If I've missed anything too important". He said this with a little embarrassment, but knowing this wouldn't go over well, he simply smiled and gave a small chuckle.

Fian dropped the Mike act for a moment to turn towards Chad, the MC had a look of annoyance on his face. Considering the new Marine's questions were not specifically directed to him, he did not raise the issue of due respect, but the content of the marine's statement if true was evidence of complacency. "There are lots of people in charge of any one marine, soldier. And one of them is Chief Ran." He then nodded to his SIC maliciously. "Chief, show him who's in charge."

This done, he turned back to the marines to begin the lecture. "Mike here has shields and armor more than comparable to an M8 Hostile. This is unconditional." Volumetric panels displaying the raw stats of the Ripper were generated near the pod in mid-air to supplement the MC's speech with reading material. "What is conditional though, is its ranged weapons system. Sure it outshoots the mate* on a bright sunny day but war isn't all sunshine. Keep in mind the firing angles of its forearm and shoulder weaponry and its lack of a dedicated missile interception system and you will find openings to exploit."

Fian has somehow managed to summon up a volumetric walking stick which he then used to prod the Mike's large forearm mounted vibro-blades with impunity. "What is not conditional and also a blatant weakness however is it's melee weapons. It is bad enough that the basic Brain Slaves themselves are inherently clumsy, the blade's ungainly size and inability to retract makes the Ripper top heavy and unstable."

"Brain Slaves, being the simple creatures that they are, love to satisfy their basest animalistic love for violence by clobbering you with this weapon. Unless restrained by a Commander-Type, the basic Ripper will always attempt to enter melee range while firing their ranged weapons. Considering how much they outnumber us, it would not be uncommon to find Mike and his friends actually succeed in coming up and personal. By then, cover isn't going to do you any good."

"Remember what I said about Rippers in that they are mainly a psychological weapon. Do not fret, do not panic, today training will focus on how to quickly and effectively deal with a basic Ripper at close range."

Fian slapped the stick against the palm of his other hand, it disintegrated to nothingness. "Any questions before we begin?"

*M8

So small range to close combat with Ripper. Fancy. That could be fun. Alex looked quickly on toher marines looking at any type of shiver or other unusual movement, until it got clear that it is impossible to read body language in their armors. Well somebody muse be nervouss, Alec certainly was. A little.

Alex checked her armors knife with one hand as a reflex. She was not looking forward to hand to hand combat with ripper. Whether this is training or not. She was more of a shooter than slasher.

Sean cocked an eyebrow during the explanation, but went with it anyway until the MC asked for questions. "Are you planning we practice fighting them barehanded, or with a knife, or what? Just want to clarify, sir."

"If I may, Master Chief-" Viktor Kingston interjected before turning toward Sean. "The idea, I believe, is learning how to best utilize your preferred Power Armor against a Ripper at melee range." He knew it was a bit gutsy to assume he could answer correctly, but P1C Kingston was confident he'd read the introduction adequately. "And if I may, sir, I'd like to try my hand at this first." Might as well ride the wave, right? He always preferred to dive in headfirst rather than toe the water.

Henry, who'd suited up in his VOID tactical armour, his new armour of preference, due to the shield drones and weapon versatility it presented him.
"This is true. Their large, lumbering frame makes their melee capabilities quite daft. Blade yes, skill no," Henry gave a nod in Kingston's direction, before adding his own two cents, "And as the Chief said, they don't have the sense to intercept missiles. I vividly remember firing my forearm grenade launcher at the bastards. They took it like a - uh -"

The scholarly marine rubbed his helmet's chin, looking for something to describe the horrors, "-not a man, but not a woman. Not even an it, that'd imply that they're something fit to exist in this world."