Task Force Phantom Mission I Act I: WhereAngelsDareNotTrod

[SSharp]

Onboard the YSS Phantom
Two Days after Drill

At first glance, they could have been stars hanging in the sky. At second glance, they were satellites drifting across the abyss. At third glance, they were weapons of destruction. Messengers of death who flew quick and true, piercing the heart of the enemy with lances made of light. Angels of Death.

To Tachibana Hayate, they were guard dogs who had nothing to do. Nowhere to go. And so grew fat as they waited for the enemy to come to them. But when they came... Who knew what would happen? Fat dogs could not run quickly, and were helpless as the sheep were slaughtered by Wolves.

He had plans for them, but for now he had to focus on his own wolves. The tamed beasts ready to be unleashed on the sheep at his command. They waited patiently for him to give the command.

"Wild," He requested quietly from his seat within the Command Bridge, "Patch me through on a Task Force-Wide band so I may speak with the crew of all ships."

"Hai." The MEGAMI's voice whispered into his mind.

"Soldiers of Task Force Phantom, this is Tachibana Hayate-Taii speaking. I have requested and received permission to commence operations against the SMX and NMX forces. You have thirty minutes to prepare your crew and combat teams, and then we will fold to a secret location from which we may strike the enemy. For Yamatai! For the Empress!" He paused to let it sink in. "Remember Daichi, South Gate, and the cowardly assault on our forces and depots that began this new war. Remember. That is all. Tachibana-Taii out."

The transmission cut, and Tachibana was alone, smiling in the command bridge as ships began readying for battle.

----------------

As soon as Tachibana's speech ended, Wild appeared before Takeshi and Sakaki wherever they were aboard the ship while off-duty.

The MEGAMI's preferred volumetric projection was a Wildcat with long claws and scruffy hair. Its ears were trained forward in attention as it 'spoke'.

"Arkase Oshiro-Heisho requests your presence in the Power Armour Bay immediately. You are ordered to prepare for combat operations. You will be briefed upon arrival." And with that, the cat disappeared.

 

[Kaelaz]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Takeshi had been laying on his bed just relaxing after trying to get used to living on the ship, when the cat appeared infront of him. He had heared the speech and it had been great motivation for him. As the MEGAMI gave him no chance to reply he just nodded and almost jumped out of the bed. Quickly he grabbed the uniform jacket and his belt. After making sure everything was as it should he left the room. "This is it. Soon it will be for real not just a drill," he muttered as he walked towards the Power Armour Bay with quick and determined steps.

He thought of himself as ready, since the drill he had made sure the Power Armours were tuned to him and he had thoroughly cleaned his new Light Armour Sniper Rifle. Perhaps it would be used during this mission. As he walked towards the bay he could feel that a slight nervousness was creeping up on him.

 

[Scot]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

The Neko was working on her hair when the call came, she read it while she was transfixing the barrette on on hair. How are you doing friend, I should send a message sometime... she thought to herself as she walked up to her bed and picked up a little dog stuffed animal. She was tempted to bark at it, but even if only herself and MEGUMI knew about it, it was still embarrassing to actually follow through on that thought.

After some warm fuzzy thoughts, she picked up her holster and sword then headed off to work. Her thoughts now worked toward on how she would be doing her job, and what she had been reading up on since she left Senbu.

 

[SSharp]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Oshiro Arkase waited in the Power Armour Bay for the group to gather. Beside him, his Daisy waited to be used. Across the bay and already in their Power Armour, Sakamura Makoto and Nashiro Misaka chatted excitedly while they waited. They fell silent as soon as Sakaki and Takeshi entered, and Arkase beckoned the group to gather around him.

"Alright, as you know the Task Force is moving out. Our first official mission will be striking at a Misshu supply convoy."

Arkase sent a mental command, and a volumetric display of space appeared as the lights dimmed in the Bay.

The Task Force's position was lit up in green in orbit over Daichi. Surrounding them were blips colored in yellow, including a rather large outline of the 2XF's Chiharu no Iori Iori-Class star fortress.

"We're currently in orbit over Daichi. And in less than twenty-five minutes, we'll be folding and arriving..." The display zoomed out to reveal the entirety of the Kikyo Sector and the surrounding unexplored star systems. It quickly zoomed in on an unnamed star system in that surrounding ring to map's "Southwest" and "Down". "...there. Where we will await contact with enemy forces and engage."

The star system only had four planets, but three of them were gas giants with dozens of moons and in between each planet were rings of asteroids. The Task Force appeared next to one of the outermost moons of the second planet out from the star. To the left and slightly below them, pulsing in a menacing red was a curving line that showed the Convoy's path.

"The Power Armour of every ship will close and engage with the enemy. The people in this room, however, will support the YSS Starlight's Ashigaru Mecha in a direct assault on the convoy's leading ship." The display vanished, and the lights came back to normal.

"As soon as the Mecha make contact with the enemy ship's hull, we will commence a boarding action in which we will make our way to their storage area and figure out what they're carrying. If it's something we haven't seen before, we'll take a sample and extract ourselves. If otherwise, we set charges and bug out." Arkase said.

"Sakaki-Hei, I want you to carry the charges we'll be using during the mission. Takeshi-Hei, while the rest of the team boards the vessel you will perform a rear guard action with the Ashigaru Mecha. It's plausible that enemy Power Armour will try to work in through the hole we punch from outside, and anything inside will be our business anyway. Sakamura-Hei and Nashiro-Hei will be with the boarding party. Any questions?" Arkase finished.

 

[Kaelaz]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Takeshi had been listening closly to the briefing of the mission. So he would be acting as rear guard? That would be the best position for him to use the rifle. He thought about what sort of loadout he should use. He looked at Arkase and bowed before speaking.
"Any suggested loadout for the Daisy? I was thinking about bringing along a Plasma Rifle to use if the enemy gets in close. And be using the sniper rifle hopefully keeping them at a distance."

He stood straight again and looked very determined right now. As this would be his first real fight he would like to have so many advices as possible. Takeshi's gaze did move to rest of the group before it went back to Arkase. He would have to load the magazines with Armour Piercing bullets and the last five rounds in every magazine would be tracers to give him a warning when to reload.

 

[SSharp]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

"I want you in a Mindy. Ideally, using the "Shrike" anti-armour loadout. I also want you to bring your Rifle, Takeshi." Arkase said.

 

[Scot]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Sakaki had kept a neutral expression as she always seem to keep during the mission brief. This all felt too familiar, in fact it was similar to her first mission. She wondered if this would also be set to explode as well. Despite these thoughts, she felt a little warm and cozy that she was going to go into battle in a Mindy again, rather than a star fighter.

The Neko was a bit surprised though, though she supposed she didn't really need to be a demolitions expert to blow a small ship up. "I will probably go in something familiar this time if you do not mind," Sakaki spoke her mind in a sort of reply when she half turned to her teammate, and then had a follow up turning back to her commander, "what would be the opposition? Do we know what we are going up against?"

 

[Kaelaz]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

When Arkase told Takeshi that he should be in a Mindy instead of a Daisy as he first thought he was a bit surprised but found himself quickly. Because after a few seconds he had thought about the loadout and found that it would suit him just fine. Very fine indeed. With that setting he would be able to handle himself quite well, he hoped. Still armor piercing would be the ammo type for his magazines. He promised himself that he would not let the enemy past where ever his position would be. He did give a short nod to the Heisho while waiting to hear the response to Sakaki's question. Better to be quiet and listen then speak and perhaps miss something that could give him an edge in the up coming battle.

 

[SSharp]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

"We expect resistance from the ships themselves, of course. We expect a heavy battlepod presence possibly supported by enemy Power Armour. If there are Power Armour being used by the enemy, we can expected to see captured Mindy and/or Daisy designs along with the more typical Shocktroopers and possible Rippers."

 

[Kaelaz]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Takeshi did not wait for an order to get in the Mindy, walked towards the PA that now was his. He stopped infront of it, slowly he raised his hand towards the armors left shoulder to trace along the words etched there. How he had been trying to convince the technicians to do the etching for him yesterday. He had succeeded in convincing one of them but now owed him a favor. As he stopped and lifted his hand from the shoulderpad he noticed that he was trembling every so slightly. An observant person could see the trembling before Takeshi closed the fist and the trembling ceased.

"My uniform is a symbol of duty and valor both in peace and in war. I take up arms to defend what I hold dear. With this instrument of precision engineering granted to me, let me cast fear upon my enemies and let me not be consumed by fear. Let me strike down my enemies before they strike me down." While almost whispering those words he took off the helmet and took a step back to watch and wait for the power armor to fully open up for him. Those were the words his father had said before going out into a battle and now it felt right to say them before the battle ahead.

 

[SSharp]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

"If there are no more questions, suit up and get ready. We have ten more minutes before we fold." Arkase said, striding toward his own Mindy.

Sakamura and Nashiro began chatting again, at a more subdued tone from where they stood. Sakamura doing more of the talking, and Nashiro more of the listening than anything. The two Nekovalkyrja seemed to be good friends.

 

[Kaelaz]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Takeshi didn't waste much time getting undressed and then getting into the Mindy. He kept the helmet in one hand when the armor had closed around him. After grabbing his rifle he looked towards Sakaki.

"Sakaki-Hei I will make sure your back will be clear." He said while checking that he had put as many magazines he could in the slots of the Mindy's thighs.

 

[Scot]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Sakaki gave her commander a slight bow before gearing up her Mindy. She quickly stripped and found a good place for her katana to rest until she came back before jumping in. May the rising sun shine on the battlefield so that I can see the dead, she recited in her head of a story she had read.

Her build was the same she used for her service on the Senbu, based mostly on teleportation, though she did hope that it has been improved since then. She then picked up a beam rifle and the charges she needed for the mission.

The black haired Neko didn't respond to Takeshi, instead she moved to position to be ready to fly out.

 

[SSharp]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Tachibana didn't move when the countdown timer he had set up reached zero.

All he said was, "Fold." and then the YSS Phantom as the world knew it ceased to exist, blinking away at a thousand times the speed of light.

Immediately behind the Phantom the rest of the Task Force followed. The Starlight, carrying its great burden to the battle. The Mirage, a proud captain with a proud crew. The Victorium, who felt out of place amongst the other crews. A starbase, freighters, scoutships, soldiers, technicians, warriors and doctors. An army, going out to fight a grim, silent war.

When they fell out of fold several minutes later, the first thing to greet Tachibana's eyes on the display was the moon danger-close to the Phantom. Klaxons wailed, and Miyoshi smartly flared the engines to put distance between the Moon and the ship.

"Wild! Issue a warning to the ships as soon as they exit fold!" Tachibana yelled. "Move away from that moon!"

But the order did little for the Quest Knight. The Scoutship exited fold kilometers from the dead moon, and bleeding momentum carried it crashing into the gray, cratered surface. The ship bounced off the surface, and flew several miles before hitting the moon again. The underside of the ship was ripped apart, dragged for miles until finally coming to rest a vented wreck. From Sakaki's position at the exit of the PA Bay, the carnage was easy to see.

Other ships winked into experience, saved from the fate of the unlucky Knight. Without orders, the Tsukurite and Kangoshi Marus moved closer, firing off shuttles to search for survivors.

Tachibana sighed. Down a ship before combat had even begun.

"All Ships, continue with operation as normal. Endai, I want you to move closer in the shadow of that moon and continue with rescue operations. We will await contact with the enemy, and when the time comes we will crush them. That is all."

 

[Kaelaz]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Takeshi had gone down on one knee as soon as the klaxons had started to sound, one hand on the PA rack to keep steady if the would be hit by something. He looked towards Sakaki and the exit but couldn't really see past her and the other that were infront of him.

"What is happening out there?" He asked while rising still holding on to the rack. He had now put on his helmet and loaded the rifle. As he looked at Sakaki and the others he started doing a last check on the PA's system. He wanted to be sure he hadn't missed anything. The last thing he checked was that the two Gauss Cannons where linked to his optical sensors as he wanted. Now he could use the scope on the rifle to aim all his weapons. As he finished the check the cannons moved back into their "resting" positions.

 

[Scot]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Sakaki tends to take shock well, but this one blew her mind. It didn't help that she was imagining all those people dieing in a vacuum, dieing in such a way they would never be able to uphold their honor.

"I... I can't..." mumbled Sakaki, her facade breaking down. She took the charges off of her then found a place to sit, "I just... need some rest... I'm sorry..."

 

[Kaelaz]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Takeshi moved over to Sakaki to be able to grasp what was happening. As he walked up to her he felt a bit confused.
"Ushimo what's happ..." He said while walking towards her, his voice trailed of as he saw the carnage outside. His hands dropped to his sides and the rifle made a light noise as it touched the his leg. "What?" Was all he could say as he watched the events outside. He stood there for a second before he raised his hand and saluted the dead, paying a last respect for the unfortunate souls out there. Now he could understand why Sakaki had reacted like she did. Takeshi turned around and placed a hand on Sakaki's shoulder.

 

[SSharp]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Arkase cursed his luck. The only other person in the combat team to see fighting was having a breakdown now?!

"Nashiro-Hei! Take Ushimo-San to the infirmary, and then report back immediately. We don't have time to play around." Arkase said harshly.

The quiet medic jumped to obey Arkase's orders, shepherding Sakaki out of her PA and to the infirmary.

"Takeshi-Hei. Your job just got harder, I'm pulling some of the Power Armour I was going to request help you into the ship. Any problems with that?" Arkase waited a moment.

"Takeshi-Hei!"

 

[Kaelaz]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

Takeshi had been standing, back turned to Arkase watching Ushimo leave for the infirmary. He almosted jumped when Arkase yelled his name. Takeshi quickly turned around looking straight at the higher ranking soldier.

"That will be no problem at all Arkase-Heisho. I will handle my part regardless of the number of back-up." Takeshi pulled the handle putting a round in the chamber of the gun. Now he would be fighting for Sakaki and all of those that had died in the crash. He would make sure to take their hopes and the wish to defeat the enemy into the battle to come.

 

[SSharp]

Re: [Mission I - Act I] Where Angels Dare Not Trod

The minutes passed endlessly for Tachibana Hayate. He busied himself with maneuvering the combat elements of the Task Force into position behind the moon, hidden from the enemy that would arrive soon.

The Freighters and the Ikoi Light-Starbase Endai Maru finished rescue efforts -- there was simply no one to save. They would be able to gather salvage later, if they could.

More minutes passed, and the Task Force was ready to attack the enemy. Anti-FTL nets were set to drift into position and deploy, and none too soon: the NMX convoy fell out of fold on the other side of the moon.

A dozen NMX Freighters -- unnamed, and barely identifiable -- alongside half as many Escort Ships. The NMX didn't launch Battlepods, or even move. As if shocked, the NMX commander was confused and didn't understand what to do with his warships. There was no one in sight, who could have stopped them.

Tachibana seized the initiative. "All combat groups, commence operation. Engage the enemy, and launch Power Armour."

The Task Force ships snapped into an action.

To the NMX, they appeared like their namesake: Like phantoms appearing from nowhere, the Task Force materialized from behind the moon moving at combat speeds.

It was Group One who got a firing solution first, led by the YSS Shinkan. White lances of Aether flame speared into the closest escort ship, brushing aside the half-powered shields instantly, and tearing through the starboard armor of the bulbous engine section like tissue paper. The armor peeled back, and the NMX vessel visibly shuddered. The ship's forward nose opposite of the engine began turning to port weakly, affected by the concentrated fire of the Yamataian warships.

The next Escort Ship's commander was quick, firing out Battlepods and discharging its Anti-Starship Batteries wildly at the incoming Task Force ships. The Shinkan's shields shrugged off the sole shot that landed, and replied in kind to the enemy ship.

The Shinkan turned its bulk to bear its main cannon on the NMX vessel, continuing to slide on its starboard side toward the convoy. Another lance of flame shot across space to pierce the shields of the enemy ship, but the Vessel still held, readying for another shot.

Meanwhile, the other NMX ships had begun to move. The freighters were beginning to rush away while the Escorts closed the distance. The Task Force ships had the advantage in numbers and firepower, but it had to act quickly.

Tachibana had seen a distress signal fire off from the lead Escort.

----------

"Okay, we launch NOW!" Arkase shouted at his team.

He shoved Takeshi forward, and jumped out of the YSS Phantom's PA Bay into the darkness of space. Enemy Battlepods were already zooming around outside, engaging other Power Armour teams who had deployed faster than the Phantom's.

In Takeshi's helmet, a blip lit up nearby labeled "YSS Starlight" and a blip in the distance in a dark, angry red. "Objective One"