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  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP The golden band: Into the unknown

ShadowWalker

Well-Known Member
RP Date
YE44
RP Location
Edge of The golden band HQ
After many months of securing funding and ships, gear and provisions the golden band expeditionary fleet was moments away from venturing into the unknown. Ty stood at the bridge of one of the Terrene Assault Transport he named The Lazarus out of both respect and luck of an old friend. Looking to his helmsman a fair skinned woman from what was once Dovainia. “Helmsman open communication line with the other ships.” Ty ordered, Without missing a beat the communication line was established and Ty would begin his speech.

“Men and Women of the Golden Band, Today we leave behind our homes our families and the terrestrial land we walked on since we were young to venture out into the reaches of this unexplored void we call a galaxy. To find untold secrets, riches and possibly new homes for our peoples back home. I wont lie to you all, it will be a difficult journey, we don't know what's really out there. But I believe in ever last one of you and I fully believe in each and every one of you to aid in accomplishing our goal. From this day forward The golden Band leaves for the unknown as explorers but when we return we will be lords of this unknown universe.”

Before exiting communication lines He called for all hands on deck as they take the first step into the unknown With Ty leading the first jump into uncharted space.
 
Lilith groaned at the annoucement, she was already in the kitchen, gloves. apron and a hair next all on as she worked. She had promised that since she had some cooking experience from her mother that she would help cook for the people of the golden band. She had prepared the food for the next meal as she stretched and cleaned up as she washed her hands and took off the apron she was wearing. She looked over the feast she had prepared for the others and smiled, she slowly took off her hair net as she then stretched again and relaxed back getting ready to go to space again, maybe this time actually finding a true home this time and not just another place to rest and move on from.
 
An average looking and sized woman sat alone looking at an open case that containing the pieces of her armor. She looked up in the direction of the projected voice as Ty's announcement was being broadcasted. She listened intently and then looked back down when nothing much was really said that interested her.

The close victory over the Kuvexians and the knowledge that there was life elsewhere in the galaxy seemed to prompt a growing movement to do what the Kuvexians had attempted to do: colonize into the Great Unknown. If the recruiter had mentioned that she was going to be working with and around the Greens, she might have reconsidered the offer. She knew Yugumo and the Ryu Keiretsu were hiring for exploration expeditions too.

But she was a paragon of professionalism, so she just considered it another hurdle in her path she needed to overcome once her origins were discovered by others. She didn't exactly hide it with the necklace of the Tymian Star she worn around her neck and a few other items of Red origin she possessed.

She sighed to herself as she picked up the hornless Ryu Heavy Industries Type 43 Yuuki 1B helmet to inspect it. She had an equipment advantage over her peers if it did get nasty, all of them had massively out of date military surplus equipment.
 
The former red soldier didn't have to wait long for someone to appreciate their unique equipment.

Some kind of off-brand Mimicom nurse was walking through the barracks confirming specific medication assignments- Pausing and waiting patiently when the announcement was made. During that process, however, they lifted their face slightly, and turned to look directly at the rather advanced Ryu Heavy Industries helmet clutched in the woman soldier's hands.

A soft, pale face, dark eyes, hair a simple grey bob- But the rest of the features of their body like incredibly glossy carbon fibre, vibrantly reflecting yellow-blue from under a thick sheen of semi-transparent skin. The plain white of their non-descript medical uniform made it look like somebody forget to take the packaging off of some new car parts.

"...Did you know that model of helmet is powered by a GH micro core?" Spoken in that clinical, demure tone, now pointing at the back of it with a rather archaic fountain pen. "...This device... has cold fusion properties... Please let me know if you develop a loss of appetite, or sudden nausea after use."

Normally you could pass that placidity in the face of adventure as, well, an android being an android, but... that knowing smile... Was this thing sentient, or not?
 
The red tipped ears of the Shukaren Daur perked up. She was looking forward to getting back out into the black once more. After being stranded on this planet and finding odd jobs to make a living she was ready for the ship life. More importantly she was ready to be back in an armored mech. She had grown fond of being a pilot and missed the rush of being in armor.

The tail of Sharlett swished back and forth, happy as can be. In these parts her kind was very rare to come across. Which made it hard for her to not pull the gaze of those around her. Though the attention at times was a nice welcome. The unwanted advances however were not. Either way she looked forward to making new friends. Once her work was complete she made her way to get some food.
 
12 hours into the Unknown

It was no shock to Ty that after their first several jumps that concerns on their Steller or rather lack luster equipment that they were given as "starter" equipment. enough mothballed GP-1's that were probably older than 90% of the crew and enough flak jackets to go around wasn't exactly giving the forces a vote of confidence. Especially if they ran into anything worse than a pirate, on top of the hefty lone that was taken out and with only a year to pay it off left Ty feeling the crosshairs of debt with every jump.
They needed to find something for a payday, and they needed it fast or all the buildup would be for nothing. Ty opted to stanch the bleeding of debt with the assistance of a


Senti scrap cruiser when he was putting together the golden band but that would only help so much. Ty was brought out of his thoughts when his helmsmen made him aware of something on the radar according to the scans and their allied Senti Scrap cruiser, they had stumbled upon a dead Senti Flotilla, coming to a halt he would raise the Senti Scrap cruiser.
Ty opened up a coms with them and after discussing it for a bit and working out the specifics. closing the coms, he keyed the coms in of his ship. "I want all combat capable forces geared and in their hanger bays on the double." Ty called out over the coms.

Ship hanger
With the various troops standing with their individual squads Ty would stand Infront of them and broadcast a message to the other troop transports. "Alright listen up, we have a dead Senti Flotilla floating out there with a lot of unknowns in place but possible chances of survivors. If successful with what is going on we might possibly have a payday right here, plus get some better weapons armor and technology out of this with fuel top off. we will be splitting into three separate forces to cover more ground being dropped off and three different spaceports on the flotilla, mech pilots will be given some old Hades Corp light Mecha to assist ground forces. we don't have a lot of them so try not to wreck them. Your tasks are Recon, and report try to lockdown your Lz and wait for further instructions if need be if you have any questions ask them now if not get with your squads and board your transports ROE is don't fire unless fired upon."

 
Vedica looked over towards the Minicom and smiled. The minicom was the first entity that had spoken to her, even if it was just a simple(?) drone. "I thoroughly read the technical manual included with all of this. Would make getting replacement parts and maintenance hard if I don't know what is what." she continued.

She nodded her head at the suggestion of reporting to the nurse if not feeling well. Then she noticed the ever so slight smile of the minicom. She slightly raised an eyebrow at that.

Hanger Bay
Vedica stood out amongst the crowd since she was one of the few mercs that brought along modern military gear to this. She looked around with her Yuuki helmet and could feel the hostility towards her. Not that she paid too much attention to it, there were plenty of other reasons for them to hate her. Once the command to load up was given, she silently made her way to her assigned craft.
 
Hangar -> Infantry Transport

Despite the ad-hoc organisation, and general feeling of last chancer independents looking for that one big break, Lumine XG-42 saluted the imposing cyborg Captain Ty Sibo fully, and generally regarded the situation with a great deal of pomp and ceremony. The mimicom was a hand-me-down from another organisation themselves, after all, so they were rather content with the change of pace by itself.

The flak jacket was standard issue, but the outfit was adorned with more mechanical relics- A shinny GP-16 plasma pistol paired with a Emrys EM-W2 model, both mounted in armpit holsters. A large boxy protuberance on the underside of right wrist, actually a folding Dämon M-23 Vibroblade... Not that they really needed a melee weapon, given that the heavyweight medical case they held in the opposite hand was bulky enough to kill a man by itself.

Totally unergonomic. Visually looked like they were just serving as a pack mule for somebody else, just standing there with that distant, calm smile still on their face. No helmet or anything.

Pure coincidence they ended up on the same transport as Vedica. And, well, as an infantry medical tech, they were probably going to keep bumping into each other anyway. Considering how abruptly the last conversation between the two of them ended... Is this what the organics called 'awkward'?...

Habitually checking on the radiological emissions of the transport vessel, they ducked into the gloom and found a seat briskly, catching that dismissive sort of ire when the small robot bumped into meat-bodies much taller and brawnier than them. There was one gaunt-looking red haired guy in particular who gave them the most disparaging of glares, whilst they pulled down the roll bars to the crotch-level connector, and tied themselves into the seat.

"Really pulling out all the stops, huh?" He remarked, basically to himself, but not lowering his volume. "Couldn't even afford to give us a real medic..."

She turned her head just a little, the doll projecting that same, perfectly placid, dark-eyed smile.

Was the organic feeling it? That sensation that his life was in her hands, regardless of his petty complaints? Lumine wanted him to. It made the spite taste so much better.
 
Hanger Bay

Lilith had slid into the Hanger bay and behind the others as she listened to the mission debrief and smiled, lost ship, yadda yadda yadda, stuff her mother use to go on about as well. Well at least here she wasn't alone so wasn't scolded at for getting lost in the smells of the room. She decided to follow the most interesting smells for her to find the group she would be with, easy enough for her. She walked over to two other individuals and sniffed again with a nod, Her armour a little on the old side but it didn't look like it bothered her, some places restitched or patched up, the rifle slung on her arm at the moment just looked basic as well, well kept though. The main thing of interest was the pistol strapped to her side an NSP, just there for everyone to see.

She looks at the others, one an average woman but smelt different to Lilith, she stared for a bit, her pure icey blue eyes looking like they were staring into someone's soul as she blinked and turned to the other thing, smelt of metal and something else, something that made Lilith think of a fresh kill in a rainstorm and the final person, the smell was hard to place and she couldn't tell what it was. She liked all of what she was smelling as she slid into the vessel with them being part of their group now and heard the remark from the one "Hehehe, well I'll watch your back if you watch mine, then maybe we won't need the medic." She smiled kindly as her two pointed ears twitch, the smile looked more like what someone may say a canine smile would be, all sharp teeth.
 
Hearing they would be getting some Hades Corp light Mecha made Sharlett very happy. Her tail was really moving side to side, unable to contain her excitement. "This is so cool, time to go on an adventure." She shouted out as she lifted her hand into the air. Since she was a little late to the party, she ended up towards the back of the group. She took notice of another and was curious to learn more about them. She walked over towards Lilith to give her a greeting.

"Hiya, nice to meet you. Names Sharlett. Who might you be?" She asked of the tall lady who stood almost a foot taller than Sharlett.
 
Vedica's strange looking Yuuki helmet looked over towards the red haired guy. And then to the rest of the personnel that were glaring at the android but had the common sense to keep their mouths shut. She just shook her head ever so slightly.

"Given the state of all your equipment, you are lucky they were kind to send any kind of medic to you. Worry less about what daddy didn't give you and more on working as a team. Because if we encounter anything hostile over there, you are going to be relying on the man and woman to the right and left of you."

Vedica's distorted voice said in a cool tone. She then eyed the tall alien cautiously, hidden and sealed within the Paradin Infantry Kit's Megumi Heavy Combat Suit and the Yuuki helmet.
 
The soldier would start to seem visibly uncomfortable from Lumine’s doll-like smile. Only to seem slightly Calmer at the interjection of Lilith, “Y-yeah I’ll watch you back.” The shuttle ride for the Various Battalions would seem uneventful. Packed like a can of meat into a shuttle with a bunch of green PMC forces who didn’t really have all that much experience outside of maybe one or two years of PDF experience. A grizzled looking Neplessian would strap himself into the seat next to Vedica. It's really no surprise a number of their more experienced soldiers within the PMC Were ex Neplessian soldiers, TGB seemed to even take up a similar rank structure for easier transition into the PMC force. The man looked over the Group in the shuttle before looking to Vedica. It was clear He didn't like the idea of the green as grass forces either, but he understood the reasoning. “Radcliff, I need a Captain until you're dead or I find someone better understood?” He before returning his attention to the rest of the group.

As their shuttle lurched forward as it took off the speakers on the shuttle kicked on. “Alright Passengers. I’m your Pilot, spooky If you look out the porthole to your left you will see the possible hellhole Ty might be dropping you into. If you have any question, please direct them to your battalion commander with the permanent pissed off look on his face next to the stern looking girl other than that I hope you have safe travels and thank you for riding air spooky.” the pilot stated in a jovial and wise ass manner.

Sharlett Would find her hades Corp Light mech already secured to the back of the shuttle after climbing into it she would find it to have a pressurized and sealable cabin capable of surviving the vacuum of space. But also, the lack of heavy weapons. Two chain guns capable of dealing with medium power armor as well as a few mini missile pod tubes. Were all the armament this thing had. Its armor seemed to have seen better days, but it was still passible for a light mech. However, the interesting features of the light mech was its impressive sensor system and high mobility.
Once the Shuttle landed however Sharlett would need to detach her mech from the back of the shuttle so that the rest of the forces could get out.


Senti ship

Upon entering the Senti ship through the various hangers. The first thing to take note of was the unbelievable dead environment which was once bustling with life was dark cold and quiet, the lingering smell of burned-out oil coated the room. Using their weapon mounted flashlights and the lights of the shuttles sent in, they could notice The Senti's oil-based blood coating the floor; its origin seemed to come from the twisted and mauled remains of Senti. Men, women and children didn't seem to be spared whatever fate befell them.

Being split into 3 Battalion of 300 PMC operators with 1 Hades Corp light mech each, there was a lot of ground to cover especially due to the unstable nature of various portions of the ship, movement would be slow and methodical. Battalion Alpha and Bravo were attempting to link up with each other, as their LZ locations where close by each other. Allowing them to secure a lot of ground as they linked up. Battalion Charlie however was a good distance away as they were given the task to scout ahead for the other two platoons.

As battalion Charlie moved across their point of insertion it was clear a battle took place, casings of various calibers littered the floor of each hanger given that this wasn't a Senti warship that meant it was an opposing force that much was clear what wasn't clear is how a lot of the Senti bodies were mangled and torn open line a busted tin can. Charlie Battalion would eventually make their way outside of the LZ to what was most likely a junction leading to Hydroponics. Busted out walls leading into residential areas for the crew assigned to this section of the ship. Much of the same was littering the floor. Smoldering embers of what was once a fire dust the walls of the junction. Though signs of battle were a bit more recent.



Ty Sibo wanted to Go down with his forces however remained in the bridge of the ship Begrudgingly at the suggestion of his advisors. As things were unfolding and radio transmissions were reporting what they were seeing. He would Call into Charlie Battalion.

“Charlie Battalion Report in, I need to know what we are dealing with over.”

Just as he would say this however Various members could hear the sounds of gunfire further in the ship along with panicked screaming. The platoon commander with them would Call over to his appointed officer. “Officer Radcliff, call it while the rest of you spread out to secure this junction.” as they would move out, the sensors of The Hades Corp Light mech that Sharlett Piloted would pick up a group of no more than 10 heading their way through by their formation according to the sensors They weren't civilians as they were heading to her position in a wedge formation.
 
Vedica bent down to observe the remains of a Senti child. A burning hatred she like to call her "Red Rage" she always felt when there is injustice started to burn within her. But she breathed to stop herself from screaming. Assuming it wasn't some force of nature the Senti had stumbled on, who would go so far as to snuff out such young lives? Only something that needed to be purged with extreme prejudice.

She looked up at the platoon commander when addressed and nodded her head as she rose up from her position and unslung her Bushi Carbine into the low ready.

"Charlie Battalion here, we have embarked and moving into what appears to be the ships hydroponics.
/break/
There are signs of a battle here, both in the past and currently now.
/break/
Gunshots can be heard as well as screams. Moving to investigate. Over."


She had never expected that she would be placed into such a position. She was going to be applying her military-grade Gendai-Sensō training a lot sooner than she expected.
 
"Scrapper Dusrura, here. Keep in mind, hydroponics are spread throughout the Flotilla's hull. We have identified this Flotilla as Janik. Two thousand year old daughter of Turassiel. The population is mostly farmers, shipbuilders, and mechanics. If you're near a fuel refinery, I could tell you where you are, If you were near the Grand Library or the Reactor Tree, maybe the Coreship. All we know is where you went in. Please tie in all sensor feeds to this comm channel so we can guide you remotely." The voice over the end of the line was a little bit too sharp, too calm. Vedica would have known this voice, one of the friendly comm operators aboard their joining scrap cruiser. Now, though, his voice was filled with a cold rage and fear. Then again, Turassieli tended to handle fear with cold resolve, so that was normal. "All signage should be in Turassieli or a dialect. I'll upload the translation packets to you, now."
 
Vedica merely clicked the channel on a few times in binary code to acknowledge. She was merely reporting what they were seeing. Not their fault that none of the recruits had any equipment to pinpoint more detailed information that would have been actually useful besides their Light Frame.

"Pilot, link your sensors to this channel and to my suit." Vedica said, still not aware of the sensor contacts that Sharlett had detected. She waited for the translation package to be sent to her suit before installing giving it to her DaphNE OS running her digital mind to handle installing it.

She motioned the platoon commanders to move up the grunts tactically to get a better look.
 
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Senti Ship

For Priscilla, the Golden Band was more than just a new job.

Mercenary work was an untreaded path for Priscilla, as she had spent her entire life until only a few months before in the Duskerian Legion, serving the nation that had given her life. However, after deciding not to reenlist, Priscilla had left the New Dusk Conclave not only to avoid the ignoble fate of a Vagabond, but also to pursue advancement where none had come to her in the military. To that end, she had invested in herself, drawing on her savings to make herself stronger, faster, and more lethal via advanced augmentations and weapons.

No more would she find herself caught in limbo, paralyzed in stagnation.

However, while Priscilla had invested in herself, it was immediately obvious that most of the other mercenaries had neglected to do so or simply lacked the means. It went without saying that everything in her kit, from her katana to her armor and her weapons had been incredibly expensive, enough that Priscilla herself needed this expedition to yield success, or else her finances might suffer. Fortunately, after being assigned to Charlie Battalion, the ex-NDC Infantrywoman realized that she wasn’t the only one to have equipped herself with more advanced gear than what was issued. There was another one, who her helmet’s systems quickly identified as Vedica Radcliff.

Immediately, Priscilla decided that she might benefit from following her.

Scanning her surroundings, Priscilla quickly examined the Senti corpses in the area, taking note of the fact that the enemy seemed to be using kinetic weapons. From there, the group moved into the hydroponics area, which had even more recent signs of battle.

Then, gunshots.

Priscilla’s ears twitched at the distant weapon reports, but the ex-NDC Sniper wasn’t green enough to panic. She instead brought her rifle up to position, senses and muscles primed to engage!
 
<"Acknowledged Mister Dusrura, thank you for the data."> Lumine also digitally reached out to Sharlett's mecha coms unit, unaware that Vedica was also attempting to set up such a link. It was, perhaps, to be expected that this disorganised formation was also lacking in the command & control sector. <"Pair into my system if you need to, pilot. My eyes have biometric sensors you may find advantageous.">

The medical android, was, of course, occupied with processing the lethality of the environment since the very moment they had stepped out of the shuttle. Their artificial skin seemed to glimmer in the dark, absorbing information from airborne chemicals and radiological waves alike. The breathing medium for the organics was passible, apparently with the oxygen processors still running, and obvious toxins absent. The presence of rapidly cooling civilian bodies, however, might present a morale hazard for the squad...

And then there was the aggressive formation heading towards them, as seen through the light mech's more powerful sensors.

"My diagnosis is that these people were systematically struck with firearms, either of the energy or chemical explosive variety." She spoke with a blank expression, though it was phrased to gently suggest action. "I would suggest against standing around in the open. They didn't even line these people up for a correct execution, which suggests they won't hesitate to fire on this deployment of outsiders..."

Lumine, with a gait much too calm, trudged towards the wall adjacent to the junction, in search of a discarded crate or the like for cover. She'd use a body, if she had to.

A subtly as the manipulation of a medical tool, her hand slid her plasma pistol out of her holster, then sparked the small arcane thing into life...
 
Senti Ship

Sharlett was hoping that she would have time to get use to her new crew and mech before getting tossed into a fight. At least this is what it looked like given the wedge formation and speed of haste from the incoming bogies. She was then hit with messages from different people trying to setup com links. She did her best to turn this into a three way call. First battle out and already things seemed to be in a messy state. "Uh, hello...team. So, I got some bad guys I think. About 10 of them coming my way." She paused for a moment while she made for cover. "A little help please." As she finished the team came into view. She wasted no time to put rounds down range towards the incoming enemys.
 
Lilith paused as the new person ran to them, she was not used to people just coming up to her "Sharlett, I am Lilith, um I look forward to working with you." This person Sharlett smelt completely different, like a night in the wilds when she was young, it was distracting a little, but could be used for her advantage, it was a very strong smell for her, so if she got lost, could probably sniff them out.

Senti Ship

Lilith touched down behind some of her squad, she sniffed the air and coughed. Nothing but death, fear and gunfire, she had experience with similar things as she looked around and got down low to the floor, her comms flaring to life with everyone talking, with a quick hiss from the sudden loud talking in her she returned to keeping an eye on the surrounds, moving slowly moving to a better point, with everyone out in the open, the squad of ten her team mate talked about could just spray and pray and get a good chunk of them without worry. She also favoured getting in close with her claws, As she waited the smells got stronger of the dead around her, she never could get use to the smell of gunshot and the dead together, it made the kill smell horrible.

She took out the pistol, she had strapped to her thigh and watched, where the mech was looking, rememebering how those things worked. She smiled as she saw the first bullets being fired, they were close, she could almost taste the attackers, maybe she would, but that would be for later. She ready her pistol as she waited to get a clear shot on anyone coming in.
 
Decked out from head to toe in NAM gear: Golem Assault Armor (Not for private sale… yet), and a carbine length M3 AWS (base price at 350 DA a unit*) Ian, explored the Senti ship with the rest of Battalion Charlie. His rifle sported a slew of attachments of varying utility he’d’ve thought long and hard about carrying in his Marine days, being paid a fraction as much as he was now to hump gear. He was more than just another rifleman in the stack. His chosen loadout was a product demonstration. An underslung shotgun (100 DA), suppressor (100 DA), a flashlight redundant with his HUD system (10 DA), 16in bayonet (50 DA, and finally a 50 round drum mag for people who couldn’t be arsed to reload (200 DA). Whenever he checked his blind spots, he was pointing 810 DA of gear downrange. For just 50 DA more, he could be mounting a 40mm grenade launcher. The shotty was more eye-catching though. With a bulk discount, if he could convince the band to buy one fully kitted rifle for each of their PMCs NAM would pull in 800,000 DA right there. The real money would come later with replacement parts, ammo, and the continued success of the band letting them buy more expensive gear.

His radio crackled to life. The mech-pilot Sharlett’s voice came over his helmet comms. Looks like it’s time to earn our pay, he thought as the mech dumped tracer fire into the darkness. Ian found a bit of cover, and turned up the light capture on his HUD. Time to kill some bad guys and sell some guns.


*Price negotiable.
 
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