RP: 4th Fleet (NSN) [Training Mission 1.0] Welcome to Boot Camp. Again.

"Yes sir," came Stan's immediate reply as he began adjusting the relevant settings. He did not like the idea of stumbling around the jungle until they encountered the enemy, but he knew that he'd just have to suck it up and deal with it if he wanted to actually get anywhere. After all, they couldn't stay here - if they didn't find the bad guys, the bad guys would surely find them. And that was, in most military circles at least, considered a grave mistake.

Once he had finished with his sensors, Stan took a deep breath and coaxed his Aggressor slowly forward (it wouldn't do to be ambushed simply because he missed something in his haste), trying to find the best position from which to return fire if things suddenly went sour. Stan's eyes were practically glued to the sensor readouts and the environment, trying to ensure that if anything was going to happen to them, being surprised wouldn't be it.

Phaedra dropped down into the muck with the rest of the squad and turned her attention towards the nearby contact, which strangely had not moved despite the nearby presence of the Lancers. Phaedra had a bad feeling about this.

"My team, fan out and remain watchful," she said, slowly slogging towards Contact One.

"Sergeant Volkov, Corporal Kerr, we've arrived in your area. Report location and status, over."

"Cavaliers and Lancers holding southeast of your position, sir. Contact One to the northeast of your position. Contact Two to the far south has gone dark."

After hearing Bernhard suggest using observation probes, and then Corporal Morris order them, Phaedra agreed with this decision.

"We have deployed observation probes to watch for Contact Two, and have a squadron of gunships standing by," continued Phaedra.

"What are your orders, Chief?"

Bernhard deployed his observation probe and directed it southwards. Once it reached the 500 meter mark, he activated its active sensors. So far, nothing. Maybe they were outside of sensor range or something, he pondered.

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"Sergeant, deploy probes and secure the perimeter but lay low. We'll join you and consolidate our forces. Do not, I repeat, do not engage. If the contact moves towards you, disengage and move to link up with us. Kerr, get over here for pick up," Leon said to the two squad leaders.

Leon ordered the Marines around him to halt. "Ride's coming," he announced to them. "Say, Mid-Corporal, any particular reason for the all-white suit?" Leon asked Ran, only now noticing how contrasting the white was to the rest of the jungle.

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"Boy, ignore the sensors. Too much interference, too much moisture. Eyes and ears, boy," the surly Sergeant Rochester growled from his Aggressor. Without access to a VOID, the Renegades' sergeant had opted for overwhelming firepower.

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To Alexandra's right, a bright white-blue beam streaked and impacted in the mud. The aether beam boiled the mud and caused hot mud to be sent everywhere. "This is the Star Army of Yamatai, we have you surrounded! Drop your weapons and raise your arms! Surrender now and you won't be harmed!" The voice sounded exactly like a young Nekovalkyrja, loaded with the confidence of a predator with its prey right in its claws.

A quick glance at her sensors and the readings from Bernhard's probe confirmed for Alexandra that there was nothing on their sensors. But the warning shot was clear that they had the Cavaliers in their sights.

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"Sergeant, I don't think surrender is an option. Not with Chief Santiago on his way," Laura commented over the squad radio. "Permission to go to active sensors?" Bernhard asked tensely. "That'll alert the Contact One!" Laura protested. "So would the gunfire from any friendly exchange between us and the cats. Can we shoot them?" Bernhard replied. The way he spoke about cats and shooting them made it clear that he was like most Nepleslians in their dislike and distrust of Nekos.

Alexandra swiftly turned in the direction the blast came from. She turned her vision back to normal and tried looking around. She did not see anything. From what she know, she might only be seen by some small probe, while actual shooter first through foliage hundred meter away. Neko was talking in trade so she must knew they were Neps.

"Sergeant, I will lay my arm and walk towards them, trying to chat them up. Those cat-bugger might listen to me. Fighting them would be like doing job for the NMX." Alex called to Phaedra, while her HPAR aimed down into ground and her left hand was lifted up with open palm to tell the shooter she heard her well.

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Lisa turned around when shot was fired. She was looking around but could not see anything. She tried both thermal and metalic. Her AMP was ready in her hands.

"Sarge I can switch for AOP and set the whole jungle on fire. Just say the word and deed will be done." She said to her NCO.

"Alex, calm down. We can make this work for us if they turn out to be the genuine article," Henry was quick to advise the quick-mouthed soldier, he then petitioned Phaedra, "Sergeant, let me talk. We'll identify ourselves calmly and tell them that we're looking for the NMX in the sector too. I know enough Yamatai-Go to say so. Keep the guns raised in case they turn out to be impostors."

After all, the enemy of my enemy is a friend of mine. Classically, Yamataians and Nepleslians had a burning hatred for the Mishhuvurthyar and all of their machinations. On the other hand, Henry wasn't surprised that Yamataians didn't have a proper IFF for Nepleslian units, even though the two nations had declared themselves allies and that this was a simulation. Whether it was an oversight or subtle racism on the designer's part was entirely up to debate.

I need a fuckin' cigarette.

Ran itched a little bit in his throat, not bothering to suppress a light cough while he activated his active sensors, seemingly through muscle memory after the numerous times he'd done so on deployments. Keeping his AOP stowed away and keeping his AMP at the ready, intending on relying on it to provide suppressing firepower instead of single target destruction.

"Say, Mid-Corporal, any particular reason for the all-white suit?"

"Sir, white stains easily to the environment." Ran moved to a kneeling position on the perimeter, keeping his AMP at the mid-ready and scanning the tree lines. Turning back to Leon, he grinned behind his Aggressor's faceplate and said "Just kidding. I'm supposed to draw fire with my gun, and who do you think the bad guys are gonna shoot at first?" Ran pointed to his armor, and turned back to scan the tree line.

Opening up a private comm with Zyv and Stan, the Mid-Corporal growled, "Why the fuck is my fireteam not reinforcing the perimeter? I'm going to be pretty pissed off if I have to walk our way over because our ride got blown the fuck up."

"Sergeant, deploy probes and secure the perimeter but lay low. We'll join you and consolidate our forces. Do not, I repeat, do not engage. If the contact moves towards you, disengage and move to link up with us."

"Affrimative, Chief," responded Phaedra.

And that was when an aether beam blasted at the ground next to Alex.

"This is the Star Army of Yamatai, we have you surrounded! Drop your weapons and raise your arms! Surrender now and you won't be harmed!" shouted what sounded like a Neko's voice.

"Are you getting this Chief?" asked Phaedra, her eyes checking her sensors and scanning the jungle around her squad.

"Laura, Bernhard, hold your postion and stay on passive sensors for now."

Just as Alex offered to go speak to the Yammies, and Lisa offered to light the jungle ablaze, Morris cut in.

"Alex, calm down. We can make this work for us if they turn out to be the genuine article."

"Sergeant, let me talk. We'll identify ourselves calmly and tell them that we're looking for the NMX in the sector too. I know enough Yamatai-Go to say so. Keep the guns raised in case they turn out to be impostors," he said.

"Corporal, inform our guests who we are and the nature of our mission; investigating NMX activity. We have no quarrel with them. Everyone else, do not engage! Keep your weapons up, fingers off the triggers. This could be an NMX ploy, but this could really be Yammies as well; lets be smart about this."

"Besides, we still have the Chief's squad and the gunships to back us up. If they move to engage, fall back and link up with the Chief's unit to the west."

"Why the fuck is my fireteam not reinforcing the perimeter? I'm going to be pretty pissed off if I have to walk our way over because our ride got blown the fuck up."

Stan ground to a halt and winced silently as he heard the Mid-Corporal's rebuke. He had made a completely idiotic mistake, and obviously his superior wasn't going to let it slide. Not, of course, that he could blame him. Quickly but carefully retreating toward the group as he tried to find a suitable place to support the rest of the fireteam, the ID-SOL replied, "Sorry, sir. I won't let it happen again."

Stan hoped that his embarrasment at his ineptness wasn't too audible over the channel. Settling into position, he began to methodically scan their surroundings as he had been taught to do so many times before. He would have to be much more astute in the future if he wished to avoid being a liability.

So much for doing your best.

Zyv actually had to blink when the HUD changed from the menus soft glow to the tropical simulation, the sudden appearance in what was meant to be uneven terrain making him instinctively outstretch his hands to keep his balance, unnecessarily as the gyroscope would maintain balance for him.

Worried by the sudden problem, and almost hearing laughter at his expense, he went through the simulated PA’s systems to make sure everything was as it should be, the prospect of having to issue voice commands for everything or his IFF being faulty was not something he found appealing. Obviously he took to long with the actions as the corporals’ voice sounded over the comm.
‘How about because you did not give such an order?’ he thought in response but decided not to voice such an opinion, instead he reported back.

- ‘Roger that corporal.’

Even as he spoke he took position textbook distance from Stan, knelt and began observing the area.

"Surrender now! You will not be warned again!" the Neko demanded, as another couple of aether beams slashed by the Cavaliers.

Phaedra heard Leon begin immediately issuing orders. "Kerr, detach two tanks and begin circling the Cavaliers. Active sensors, find those Yammies! Volkov, do not, repeat, do not surrender. Move towards us and link up at your side of the river. If fired upon, you are free to defend yourselves!"

On the Cavaliers' sensors, the larger northern contact began moving ominously towards them.

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Leon cursed silently. This was exactly what he was afraid of. Both contacts reaching the Cavaliers at the same time. He saw both of Kerr's detached tanks speed back towards the Cavaliers with weapons scanning for hostiles.

He, Ran, Zyv and Stan boarded one of the K4 tanks. Stan, as the latest to arrive, was not allowed inside but forced to hold onto a rail for infantry riders.

Sergeant Rochester's squad took the other two tanks, with three inside and two holding on outside. This left Corporal Motoyama's squad to trudge as fast as they could towards the river.

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"NMX confirmed! Taking fire!"

Lancer 4 swerved madly above the Cavaliers as aether beams and hypervelocity gauss rounds tore through the air. "It's a Ravager!" The two tanks returned fire as they ducked and weaved in the air, trying to evade the incoming fire.

"Sergeant Volkov, best we can tell is that you're surrounded!"

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"Screw this!" Laura said as she switched her sensors from passive to active. Right away, the board became clearer. The Yamataians were definitely surrounding them as the ghost contacts flickered in and out around the squad.

She so desperately wanted to just start the shooting but her professional self restrained her. Orders. She needed orders from Sergeant Volkov. Laura looked to the sergeant briefly, waiting for anything.

"Just to hammer the point home..." Henry groaned as the Ravager made itself known on the sensors - he noticed something odd about the Yamataians - they didn't seem to bat an eyelid when the Ravager appeared. Surely they would've seen a contact that big and focussed on it too. "Phaedra, I have the feeling that these girls aren't the genuine article: First, they wouldn't discount the Ravager above unless they'd put it there."

"Second, Yamatai and Nepleslia are allies in words, their soldiers would've been taught to identify our armours and IFF signals. We're identified as Neutral, but nobody can make a gaffe this broad. We need to get everyone out of here, ASAP," He made a momentary sigh, "Damn shame I don't have my shield drones on me, but I'll take what I can work with." He did give himself a pat on the back for keeping up with the latest news, at least. He gave himself another few moments to send a single message... He was hoping that this strategy of verification would stick within the confines of this simulation. There was always a comm. line open to Yamatai's military for military inquiries from and to soldiers. Even if he got a 'can't say' response, it was still worth a try.

He then cleared his throat and opened a comm. line to the Yamataians, "We'd surrender - but there is a slight problem if we do so." Henry was very quick to point out in technically perfect, but lightly accented Yamatai-Go over loudspeaker, "I believe our collective target is right above us trying to destroy us both, an NMX Ravager Mecha. We are the Nepleslian Space Marines, Fourth Fleet, here to investigate NMX activity, like you, but... You don't seem too plussed about the fucking Ravager, do you?" His voice made a switch from Yamatai-Go to quietly furious Trade.

His sensors went to active and he raised his rifle towards the Ravager, "Prove that you aren't NMX first and let's get back to business, shall we? If not, let's see how you girls dance."

Henry was prepared to open fire with his HPAR at the Ravager, for what good it'd do, but he had his DARTS and BOLTS aimed towards the 'Yamataians'. With his Push/Pull system, he was also prepared to pull one of the girls out of the dirt and use her as a shield. All of this was carefully calculated, and his squad had to get out of there.

"Squad, follow my lead, or the Sergeant's..." He assured, realising that if they were real Yamataians, he just put enough egg on his face to make an omelette fit for the Admiral - On the plus side, he acted how they'd expect a Nepleslian to act.

Lisa was already taking breath to tell the Yammies what she thought about them over loudspeakers. Thankfully Corporal Morris spoke out before her, so she just bit her lip and decided to keep her mouth shut. She would only get things worse anyway. She was still a little sorry, because she had a lot of very ugly words prepared for Yammies.

Instead she turned her attention to the ravager that engaged with two of Kerr's tanks. She swiftly changed her guns. Her AOP was loaded with red shells and she knew very well of its targeting capabilities and the range of near 50 kilometers.

"Hey Sarge if those Tanks send me targeting data, I can start shelling that Ravager from here!" She said to Phaedra over the comms. In her idea it was worth a try.

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Alex got her HPAR at the ready she knew if anything should happen she will be first to buy the farm. She was someone who was already aquired by the supposed Yamatai troops. She took a deep breath hoping, they really are Yamatai and that they will listen to Henry. She meanwhile looke for a hole or big tree she could pull herself towards to get at least some cover.

Once the Ravager appeared, Phaedra's suspicions were confirmed; this was all a trap. Were the Nekos actually Yamatai, they would have reacted to the Ravager immediately. She was impressed with Morris' thoroughness in attempting to contact the Nekos, but that only further proved that their assailants were hostile.

"Give it a rest Morris, the Nekos are NMX! Active sensors! Lancers, see if you can paint Lisa a target and concentrate fire on the Ravager! Everyone else, open fire on the Nekos! Corporal Kerr, get me those gunships pronto!"

Phaedra raised the PLR and fired at the nearest Neko target she saw; aiming and firing several shots at its head.

Sawyer heard the command and hefted his forearm plasma chainguns and locked them and his shoulder mounted ones on one of the Neko powered armors and opened fire at max rate to try to quickly shred them before shifting fires to the next target.

Stan gripped the rail as though it owed him money, still keeping his eyes peeled as he briefly considered making a last check of everything. Yes, his equipment certainly seemed to be all in order, but there was always the possibility of there being a random failure at what could possibly be the worst moment. Unfortunately, it was a bit late to be contemplating such a thing in his current position - it was another oversight on his part.

For now, then, it was a matter of being both patient and vigilant. Stan felt somewhat exposed in his current position, but it was certainly better than the alternative of walking to their destination.

Wulfe had moved behind a tree, which he hoped would shield him from anything coming from the north, his HPAR pointing left and right as he tried to decide which one of the ghost signals in the radar he would fire at once push came to shove. The way he saw it, his squad was between hammer and anvil, and a crossfire would certainly be a bad thing from them, and the way he reacted to it –even though it was a simulation- was the same way he expected, the palms of his hand started sweating and his heart rate increased sporadically.

It was just a few seconds after that the order to fire was given. “Opening fire!” He radioed to the rest of the squad.

He switched his sensors to passive, deactivated the Snakeskin and picked the first target he saw on his sensors, he then brought the HPAR to bear and fired one burst at it, corrected his aim, and then fired again, and again, and a fourth time, just to be sure.

As he followed Leon and Ran into the K4 Zyv gave what he hoped was an encouraging rap of the knuckle against Stan’s Aggressor and fought the temptation of adding a verbal message, he assumed none of his superiors would appreciate him using the radio to engage in banter.

Taking his position the man sighed, truth be told he wouldn’t have minded being the one riding on the outside, you were more likely to survive your transport being hit if you were on it rather than in it.

Stuck in inactivity for as long as it took for the tanks to get them to their destination Zyv ran a last check of his systems, not finding anything amiss he shifted his attention to being ready to leave the K4’s interior as soon as the ramp opened.

With that one line of order from Phaedra, Henry was done with his verbal beatdown and about to do his physical beatdown.

His monoeyes were activated previously, and he held his push/pull device towards one of the NMX Nekovalkyrja: He pulled her in, stopped her halfway and fired a push to spin her around on her axis before pulling her into his grip and using her as a shield, grabbing her in a half-nelson with his armoured hand against her neck. It was a ruthless technique and probably against a few laws of war, but survival was paramount to Henry at this point: Surrounded and outnumbered, anything goes. He grimly contemplated.

Henry quickly squeezed her neck and swept his HPAR wielding hand downwards to knock out any weapons she was holding, and then levelled his HPAR and started taking single shots at the NMX Nekovalkyrja assembled. He couldn't afford the luxury of autofire or the gun would come out of his hands. Also due to his human shield tactic, he couldn't launch his DARTS and BOLTS, as anticipated since there was a Nekovalkyrja in a Mindy or Daisy in the way.

The volume of gun fire between the Nepleslian Marines and the Yamataian forces was so dense that trees were being felled by repeated hits. An aether beam slashes into Henry's shields, taking it down by some. But he saw his own HPAR rounds impact brilliantly on a weaving Daisy.

With the fight fully under way, both sides had dropped their cloaking devices to properly exchange warm greetings.

Bernhard watched his probe explode as he tried to retrieve it. In retaliation, he fired a volley of ARROWs into the spot he predicted the Yamataian responsible would be. To his dismay, the Daisy had already shifted using its powerful thrusters.

It was like the Chief said, the Yamataians would use their stealth, speed and mobility to circle the enemy and the destroy him with superior and unrelenting firepower. Just when the Marines had an idea where the enemy was, they had already moved beyond it, firing as they moved.

Bernhard dodged an aether as it slammed into a tree behind him. High explosive missiles exploded a foot away, knocking him backwards and into Laura, who had been hosing the area around them with everything she had. With little success, Bernhard surmised. "Oi!" she complained as she shoved him upright.

"For NMX, they're fighting like SAOY cats, Sergeant. We need support!"

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Phaedra's first shot was deflected by the Daisy's shields. Her second and third missed as the Daisy used its thrusters to jet to a new position from which it fired a burst of plasma fire from its rifle and three missiles from its leg mounted launcher.

Despite her best attempts to dodge, Phaedra only managed to avoid the missiles. She took the plasma beam full on and saw her shield strength drop.

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As a static target throwing out lots of firepower, Sawyer's Aggressor quickly drew the attention of his opponents. Using a handheld 50mm bazooka, one Daisy fired and hit him causing Sawyer to stumble. Quickly he opened fire on the location of his attacker, only to realize that it was long gone.

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Each of Wulfe's burst, despite how well aimed, missed. By the time the hyper-velocity rounds reached the placed where he had intended them to hit the enemy, the Daisy he was aiming at was already three steps ahead. And firing back. Mini-missiles slammed into him, reducing and penetrating his shields and damaging his armor.

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"Go faster, Kerr!" Leon yelled. "Volkov, get your squad moving. Your armors have thrusters for a reason! Use them!" he added to Phaedra.

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Just as Henry was feeling rather confident, he realized that his right leg had been penetrated?! The Daisy he was holding prisoner had activated its forearm aether blades and one had cut straight that leg. While he felt no pain, as he tried to move, the simulator worked sluggishly to simulate the damage. The Daisy used this moment of surprise to break out of Henry's grip and cut his HPAR in half with its other blade. For a moment, the Daisy seemed like it would continue to attack with the blades but then it jumped backwards and into the trees. Aether beams blasted out at the partially immobilized Henry, burning into his shields and armor.

It was approximately that moment that Stan realised that his merry band was probably about to be chucked into the thick of things. Stan swallowed hard. It sometimes took a while for what he was about to do to sink in, and although he had only dealt with simulations it always left him feeling energised with a subtle undertow of anxiety.

Of course, if anyone had been looking at the power armour clad figure hanging on tight to the tank, it wouldn't have been obvious. The ID-SOL within the Aggressor, meanwhile, found that he was having some trouble focusing. He figured that he might as well bite the bullet and try something to alleviate how nervous he was.

"So," he began tentatively over the radio to his teammates in the tank. "What's the plan?"

Stan figured that if he heard what they were going to do next, it might help him get over his jitters. He could start to prepare himself. Hell, it might even help anybody else who was feeling similarly to him, though Stan didn't hold his breath for such an occasion.