RP: 4th Fleet (NSN) [SMoDIN] Graduation Day

Naomi kept her eyes glued on the various doorways as Lucia stopped the raucous noise making.

"I'm fine!" she called back when the other Marine inquired. Then her eyes moved to the Marine whose legs had been injured.

"Sorry about that, buddy!" she called. "Didn't feel like dying this morning."

If she had meant to say anything further, it was stopped by the shooting up at the ceiling from behind the receptions desk and the bullets from the right-hand stairs.

"Crap!" She dropped down to one knee again, hearing the shout from the man behind the desk, followed by a second grenade, which was in its turn immediately followed by the man making a break for the stairs.

'Now this is just getting ridiculous!'

Naomi wanted so badly to take a shot at the retreating enemy, but he had tossed a grenade at just the right moment to save his skinny arse.

"GRENADE!"

Even as she hollered out the warning, Naomi had removed a hand from her MG and reached down to grab the offending object. Reeling back a bit, she hurled it back across the desk, dropping -again- to the ground in an effort to avoid a possible air burst.

Lucia popped a few rounds at the man as he made his dash from behind the desk. Then as Naomi hefted the grenade back at the desk Lucia dropped down along side of her to avoid getting caught as well.

Lucia would get to see their opponent for just a few moments as he darted between cover, her bullets slicing through him from the side causing the massive ID-SOL to fall forward and land face first on staircase. His right hand was missing entirely and several fresh bullet holes had been placed in his side just below his stomach. He had a belt of grenades strapped to him that were now trapped under his massive frame, the tattered grey and brown clothing he had on starting to turn red with blood as it leaked out from his stump and the large exit wounds on the side facing away from the Nepleslian Marines. His SMG and hand were still behind the desk along with the grenade, which after several seconds of the marines hiding behind things had yet to go off.

The marine who’s legs were still bleeding out would end up uncovering his head, looking over at Naomi before saying, “Uh, What now?”

Naturally, the Sergeant would be the first to answer, standing up, raising his machinegun upward towards the staircase as he stepped into the middle of the room, “GO FIND SOMETHING AND KILL IT.” He would look over at Lucia, “YOU TWO, RIGHT STAIRCASE WITH ME.” He would then look over at Naomi and the marines on the left side, “YOU AND YOU TAKE THE LEFT STAIRCASE.” He would then look at the remaining marine on the left side, “AND YOU MAKE SURE BLEEDY HERE STILL HAS SOME BLOOD LEFT AT THE END OF THIS.”

---

Meanwhile…

The NNN building was starting to gather more and more attention as its ‘Nepleslia has joined the NMX’ messaged continued to be broadcast to other planets as well as nepleslian’s still in funky city. The NSS Asp had made a pass through low orbit, dropping off one of its hover tanks so it could fall towards Funky City, its engines roaring loudly to slow its decent.

Inside were three representatives from the 4th fleet. Heram Wazu was sitting in the pilot’s seat, several different datapads in hand as he tried to co-ordinate NAM’s response to the destruction of water and sanitation facilities that serviced Funky City. Orchid Anson, a female nepleslian contractor, was left to sit in the command seat of the K4, behind Wazu, and Orion, a bulky free spacer, was left to stand in the back, having to hunker down to avoid scraping his upper arm along the ceiling, the machinegun he had liberated from the top of the vehicle laying on the floor nearby. Drei’s voice would then chime in over the vehicle’s speakers,

“20 seconds till landing.”

Wazu would then look up for a moment as the vehicle guided itself down toward’s funky city’s streets, slowing down for a landing near the NNN building.


“Once we have landed,” Wazu reminded them, “Find the marines and tell them to get you into NNN’s server room so you can fix this mess. Try and keep your head down too, I do not want to have to rebuild either of you.”

Soon the tank would come to a stop, spinning around so it could open its rear door towards the NNN building where several marines, and one guy in a taco suit, were standing around in a well shot up lobby, the largest of the group shouting out orders.

Orion simply sat down on the ground, legs spread, machine gun resting not too far from them. His mechanic upper arm was currently holding the ammunition belt of the machine gun. The cameras on his body shifted to look at Heram as he issued instructions. Orion felt the tank they were in had finally 'touched' ground, the descent being much, much slower now as it spun around.

It was time.

Orion stood up, grabbing the machine gun from the floor and keeping his knees bent to prevent his upper arm from hitting the ceiling. "Very well, Heram. May Karma watch over you! When we meet again, I will bring you a gift: the dead carcass of an NMX member!" Once the machinegun was securely in his hands, he stepped out of the vehicle slowly. Once on the ground and out of the tank, he remained ducked down and began running towards the nearest cover, next to some marines nearby.

He kept himself updated with the K4's sensors, having used his Polysentience Terminus unit to do so. Once on behind cover, next to the marines, Orion conveyed the message to the marines. "Good evening, warmongers! I have been ordered to enter the server room of the NNN building! I require you to escort me there, that I may hack into the systems, bring the NNN building back to Nepleslian hands and bring the Imperium news of our victory!"

He extended the long, huge W31, resting most of it on the cover he was behind, using one hand to hold it. Most of his body was behind cover, only the large hydraulic arm and the two cameras atop his body were peeking out from the obstacle.

“I don’t know how to use a gun, but if you have some tools I could use those”, She replied when asked about her ability with firearms.

Orchid stepped out of the tank behind Orion holding tightly to the datapad and tools Drei had given her. She did her best to keep her head down.

The Sargent was barking orders, but Lucia took nodded and formed up with the Sargent. "Ready to make shit dead Sir!" She said as she aimed her weapon up the stair case and made ready to storm it.

Naomi, ears still ringing from the second grenade, managed to catch what her Sergeant was hollering as she stood up from the floor, hands following rough patterns along the MG, and then reaching back to the rifle hung on her back.

"You got it, Boss!" she called back. She ran and took up a position to the immediate front of the left side grouping of warm bodies, but just as she'd begun to brace herself...

"Good evening, warmongers! I have been ordered to enter the server room of the NNN building! I require you to escort me there, that I may hack into the systems, bring the NNN building back to Nepleslian hands and bring the Imperium news of our victory!"

Naomi blinked, hoping she hadn't just heard that, but a quick look back to her rear crushed that last hope.

"Some days...," she said quietly, then raised her voice.

"You want me to take 'em, Sarge?" she called out across the room. "I'll keep them in one piece...I promise."

~Damn Aliens,~ The sergeant thought to himself as he stood in the center of the lobby, his own machine gun being held in his remaining good arm as blood continued to seep down from the wound in his left shoulder, discoloring the green uniform he had on. The massive ID-Sol would look over at Naomi, and then respond,

“Right then, Someone find the server room and take our guest.” He would turn over at look at the newly arrived free spacer, seeing a young woman following it, “Guests there.” He would then turn and look at Lucia, “You go with them too, everyone else get upstairs and start killing things.”

“YES SIR!” The remaining, standing, marines would shout, stacking up next to the right side staircase before advancing one at a time upwards.

Orchid looked down at the datapad in her hand. She was trying to figure out which way the server room was and the datapad did not contain that information. She looked around and realized there was a front desk in the lobby.

“You know, most receptionists have a map of the building to help visitors”, she said to no one in particular.

She went over to the desk and began to look through the materials there.

Naomi grinned as the newcomers and Lucia fell in on the left side. At least Lucia and one of the civvies had guns. More guns was a good thing.

Hearing the techie speaking about a map at the receptions desk, Naomi looked back at her, eyes taking in the fact that she wore no uniform, did not seem to be armed or armored and was not scanning her surroundings.

"There's an unexploded, primed hand grenade behind that desk," she said in a calm tone of voice. "If you want to go stand next to it and look for a map be my guest. Mr. Grenade is not your friend when Mr. Pin is gone."

Moving her eyes from the civilian, she looked back among all the gathered Marines.

"Lucia," she asked. "You want point? I'm feeling a bit conspicuous up here hauling this thing."

Her armed lifted the W31 as she spoke, making it obvious what 'this thing' must be.

Under the desk she would find a directory listing along with pamphlets about the NNN building.

The server room was listed as B 01 on the directory, the lobby as L 01, and the remaining floors listed as 2 – 50 with various news rooms, restaurants, and other smaller businesses that leased space in this structure.

The map also showed what was further into the structure. The two doors at the end of the hallway opened out into a gym. A large pool was in the center of the room with locker and shower rooms attached via entry ways on either side. At the far end were elevators and a staircase which led to the other floors of the building.

“Stay away from the damned grenade!” Lucia hissed at the mention of it. She was no sergeant, but she knew that a lonely marine was a dead marine. Lucia soon fell in over by the staircase, and held her gun ready at the door as she prepared to enter the pool area. Lucia wasted no time taking point, clearly wanting to kick some more asses.

Lucia lifted her weapon to the ceiling and yanked out a pair of ear plugs, placing them into her ears. “Naomi, get behind me, and hold that thing next to my head CQC is a real bitch, but the suppressive fire from that w31 will help.” She said with a nod.

Orchid was still wearing her well tailored suit she had worn to the interview several hours ago. The knee length skirt and buttoned suit jacket with a light brown vest underneath would not have been her first choice to wear for this particular task. The dark brown two inch high heels were comfortable for heels but she would take them off as soon as the appropriate opportunity arose. She glanced up at Naomi from the desk when she spoke then scanned the top of the desk quickly. She spotted what the soldier must have been referring to.

“I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that grenade still has the pin in it and I don’t see any others,” she said as she went back to looking for a map.

She found a directory of the rooms and informational pamphlets under the desk.

After finding what she was searching for she looked up at Orion, “It appears the server room is in the basement and the staircase is that way,” she pointed to the far end.

She decided to hold onto the map and directory in case they needed them later.

Naomi was somewhat taller than Lucia, but even so putting the W31 upon her shoulder, as she had requested, was just a bit awkward.

"Hold on a second," she said as Orchid returned.

"You know," she said, her voice still calm. "I think you have got to be the most idiotic person I've met since I was maybe seven years old."

Raising a hand to forestall a response, she continued relentlessly.

"You have no battlefield training, or if you do you are choosing not to use it. I honestly don't know which is worse, but let me explain something. When a weapon is pointed at my face, I assume it is loaded. When a grenade is on the floor, assume it is live. The enemy is not an idiot. His best is as good as ours."

Naomi stopped at this point, and took a breath.

"You're right about one thing, though," she said. "You're not an expert. Kindly leave decisions regarding matters of life and death to those of us a little more trained than you. Nothing personal. It's just good sense."

Her eyes softened just a little bit.

"And thanks for the map. We probably could have found one later with less risk, but this works."

Her tirade finished, she turned back to Lucia and patted the Marine on her back.

"Ready when you are."

Orion simply followed suit to the two women marines that had been leading the operation. So far, the situation had gone by without any casualties. In the meanwhile, Orion would be holding the large machine gun with one hand, aiming it into the open where the enemy was supposed to be coming from. As they planned strategies and set out to do them, Orion would be aiming to increase his performance. Through his Polysentience Terminus, he'd send Heram a text message to his DataJockey.

Text Message said:

From: Orion
To: Heram

Inquiry: I need to know which is the best source to receive field data from right now. I believe the K4's sensors are not satisfactory enough for this mission, but I doubt the NSS Asp's sensors are capable of reaching this far to give me live feedback of the situation. Are there any satisfactory sensor systems I can link to at the moment that would give me sufficient data to increase my performance?

Also, how strong are nepleslian females? A marine before me is holding a machine gun of the same make I have with similar ease. I find this to be impressive.

Please reply as soon as possible.

Click to expand...

As he wrote this message, Orion watched Orchid leave and come back with information, then the outraged, amazonian marine give her a scolding. After she was done, the Freespacer walked close to Orchid, taking the map and telling to her in a slightly low voice as so to not get heard by Naomi. "I thought that was rather brave of you, Orchid, but let us try to listen to the warmongers. I believe they have more know-how about this situation than we do."

He took a quick glance of the map, then directed himself at the two marines in a louder voice. "As my friend Orchid has mentioned, the server room is in the basement! We must head there and find the servers! Lead the way, we will follow!"

(The map, appended to the lobby area where everyone currently is)

Orchid listened politely and patiently to what Naomi had to say. She had attended school with members of some of Nepleslia’s most elite families but none of them had ever acted nearly as condescending or pretentious as this soldier.

When the girl was finished, Orchid responded, “I am an architect and interior designer. I am not exactly sure why I of all people was chosen for this particular mission, but here I am. I was told that you soldiers were our escorts charged with keeping us safe while we try to get the servers back online. Giving warnings of dangers after one has already encountered them is irresponsible. If there was a grenade back there and you knew it you should have given warning before I went back there. However, I was already back there when you decided to inform me of the danger so I chose to access the situation and found you ill informed. I am doing my part in this to the best of my ability; I strongly suggest you do the same.”

Orchid went back over to Orion, “Thank you, but honestly bravery had nothing to do with it”.

From: Heram
To: Orion

The Asp’s sensors can’t tell the building apart from the people inside of it right now, I’ll angle the ground penetrating radar on the K4 towards the building and have it send that image to you. I’ve also called in an E3-C, its thermal cameras should be able to pick up people once it arrives on scene.

As for Nepleslian women: those in the military have likely been using guns from before they could walk. They may not be ID-SOLs, but they do have muscle. A by-product of their upbringing.

Click to expand...

(Brown represents doors)

Outside the K4 tank would tilt its nose upward, balancing on its engine thrust as it focused the radar system on the underside towards the building itself, Drei quickly generating a 3d image of the data collected and relaying it through to Orion. The picture was fuzzy around the edges of the outline, but it showed roughly the same picture that was on Orchid’s maps however it showed two changes. On the right side there appeared to be some sort of desk on the other side of the doorway into the gym, perhaps a reception area, and near where the elevators were was a semi-circular mass just slightly taller than waist high barricading the entrance to the elevators and staircases which led down to the server room. There also seemed to be nothing between the desk and the barricade save for the pool and two rooms on either side that were marked as locker rooms by the map Orchid had found.



With the stairs on either side of the lobby going upward, the only way through to the server room would be to cross the gym.

Getting the renewed, much clearer vision of the building using the K4's sensor array and aligning it with his cameras' vision gave Orion an edge while within the building. Seeing that both of the marines before him didn't have any Power Armor, nor any visors for that matter, he proceeded to point out what he could see.

"I am currently linked to the sensors of a K4 outside which is using it's sensors to give me a reading on the insides of this building! The sensors show elevators and stairs leading downwards further that way, behind these doors", Orion pointed at both doors in the lobby that headed further inside, "across a large room with a pool in the middle! The door to the right is blocked by a long square obstacle on the other side, probably used for cover for hostiles, so I suggest taking the door to the left! I cannot see if there are any creatures on the other side, and am unsure if the sensors can pick them up! We should be careful in our approach!

There also seems to be a long semi-circular structure blocking the entrance to the hallway where the elevators and the stairs are located, which is facing the large room! Be advised, there may be hostiles taking cover behind that structure!

Issue orders! We will follow!" Orion took back a defensive position, holding the W31 with his right arm, aiming it at the door to the right. For some reason, he thought soldiers would pop out of it at any moment... or shoot through it.

Lucia waited for the other three members of the rag-tag squad to stack up. She hated this part. Holding her weapon in her right hand she positioned her self on the opposite side of the door and very quietly and carefully opened it. This would give the group a clear view of the room with out exposing them to fire immediately.

Poked her head in and aimed her weapon. If she started receiving fire she would strait back behind the wall and conceal her self from the bullets.