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RP [YSS Ranger] Of Victory and Defeat

Soban

Convention Veteran
RP Date
Mid YE 40
RP Location
YSS Ranger
YSS Ranger III
Mid YE-40

Shoi Singh stood at the front of his platoon of armored Mindy-4s in the Armor bay of the YSS Ranger. They were jammed in there with the rest of the Century waiting for the drop. His eyes roamed over the team of seventeen Nekos, a Separa'Shan, an Elysian, and himself, visually checking to make sure that everything was in order as they approached the drop zone. It was protected by an anti-teleportation field. Which meant that they would be doing things the hard way.

Taii Larsen was in the front, with her platoon, seven of whom were already outside, piloting Mamushi fighters. She saw the count down as well as Singh could. Singh felt a coolness radiating from her which helped to calm his own nerves. "All platoons, by squads. Prepare to deploy in thirty seconds." Larsen said.

The doors to the armor bay opened, and Singh could see the land racing past them in a dark brown blur. Taisa Williams had chosen to hug the ground rather than do a more traditional orbital drop. Suddenly where there had been ground racing past, there was a skyline. Return fire from their target was streaking past them as the first platoon disappeared out the door. All four of the remaining platoons moved up automatically and the second platoon disappeared. Singh stepped forward and flung himself out of the protective embrace of the Ranger on que.

As he fell towards the ground, he took evasive maneuvers as the turrets of the defending outpost tried to take out his descending platoon. It was his first chance to see the whole of the engagement. His HUD had told him what was happening, but it was different seeing what was actually happening. The Ranger, a Fuji class was banking in a high speed turn around the base to surround it with the infantry. It was firing its guns at the shields of the base. The base consisted of five turrets and a low wall surrounding a cluster of three buildings. In one of those buildings was the intelligence target that they were going to be extracting. There were a lot of enemy combatants in there that would try to stop them.

Even as he dropped behind some rocks, he could see the fighters hit a turret. The turret's shields flickered and failed, allowing the last fighter to put a missile directly into the turret, causing an explosion that lit up the valley. However, the base's main shields adjusted and held firm. However, the wreckage of the tower prevented a small section from coming back up. One of the fighters was caught by the remaining turret's defensive fire and was taken out of action.

"Looks like that's our signal. Go in fast and low, try and make that opening." Singh said to his platoon, darting out to lead the charge. All twenty went streaming for the small opening. Two enemies were working to clear the rubble that prevented the opening from being closed. A volley of return fire came from the wall and the opening. Singh opened fire with his rifle, the sound angry little thunderbolts filling the air as everyone who wasn't dodging or weaving to avoid the return fire opened up.

Two of the little dots that represented his platoon disappeared. Sisko and Sakura, two Nekos in the second fireteam. Then three more, Lucas, Goldwater, and Atworth quickly followed them as the gap closed. Fortunately, the two enemies had been standing in the hole were gone. The platoon streaked in and dispersed to find cover in the rubble. There was an explosion from behind Singh, and he turned to look behind him. There had been an explosion, clearing the rubble, and taking five more of his nekos out of action. Partly through the explosion, partly from the shield coming back up and then not having time to get through. Another half dozen hadn't made it through the shield but had been able to stop in time.

Only four had made it through, including him. They were not in a good situation. With most of the platoon out of action or behind the shield, he only had three others with him against a whole enemy base. It was not an enviable situation to be in. Singh acted quickly, "On my mark, Ashton, five rounds rapid on the wall. See if we can't punch another hole. Iaomai and Zoa, covering fire. Mark." He said, popping out of their cover to lay down a withering covering fire. Ashton's grenade launcher quickly fired into the wall nearby, creating an opening, but the outside of the wall appeared to be made of zeusainum. However, there was a hallway.

That hallway was going to be their salvation. They wouldn't last thirty more seconds out there with the small cover they had."By the numbers, covering fire and into that hallway." He commanded as he rose to provide covering fire for the other members of the team. There was a hail of return fire and Ashton was hit in the leg. Singh sprayed his return fire across the whole of the internal yard. Then they were all in the hallway. A surprised enemy lay on the ground where Zoa had caught him with her rifle.

There wasn't much time to think. "Iaomai, Ashton's leg, then follow us. Zoa, on me." He said, hustling down the hallway. There were small alcoves for defenders to shoot out. As they passed them, Singh shot them, but didn't slow down. The noise and confusion meant that they hadn't known that his team was still here. They still had some small element of surprise. Reaching the other end of the wall, there was a door that led into the tower next to the one that had been destroyed.

Zoa cut through the door with his aethersaber. It took a few moments, allowing Iaomai to catch up. The Elysian didn't have Ashton with her. Singh took a moment, and saw that Ashton was using one of the alcoves to shoot at the enemy who was trying to get at them through that end of the hallway. Iaomai popped out her NSBs to dart through the door the moment it opened.

Then they were through the door. Zoa went through first, using the cut out of the door to give him cover for those first few vital seconds. The NSBs spread out, firing at the control team of the turret as they did so. They weren't much more than a distraction, but their real work was giving the three infantry targeting data on everyone in the room.

Zoa shifted to the side, diving right for cover. as the door took several shots. Singh was in next, using the targeting data to give him a clear shot on one of the five controllers. That one went down as he dived left for cover. Iaomai came in last, leading with a variable grenade tossed behind the console that two of them were cowering behind. Zoa went over the console, his long Separa'Shan tail immobilizing one of the attendants and his aether saber slicing at another one.

"Where's the fire control? See if we can bring down that shield!" Singh exclaimed, scanning the room. He hoped that Iaomai's grenade hadn't cooked it already.

There were a few moments of searching, then Zoa exclaimed, "Found it!" Zoa said even as he settled into the chair and started to swivel it around, blasting away at the shield generator. There was an explosion that could be felt when the traitorous turret's fire found it's mark.
 
The thrill of victory rushed through Singh. "Good job, now let's see if we can blast some more of those armors." He said, glancing at the door. There was an enemy team starting to stack up outside the door to the courtyard, but they hadn't started cutting yet. His hud told him that Ashton was holding their rear just fine. The rest of the Century was assaulting the small base. D platoon had gotten a small foothold just before the shields went down.

"Everyone in B platoon, rally in the friendly turret." Singh continued, at the moment, his nine remaining soldiers would be best used keeping this turret from a counter-assault. Then he realized he only had eight, one of the five outside the shield had been taken out, Takeda in the fourth fire team. He winced as he realized that they had lost sixty percent of the platoon in the assault. It had worked spectacularly but at a high cost.

Singh shook his head and refocused. "Ok, so first fire team is Singh, Zoa, Erikson, and Ashton. Second fire team is Iaomai, Timov, Katsulas, and Jurasik. First fireteam, maintain control of the turret. Second fireteam, secure the other hallway, we still don't know what's down there." As everyone quickly reordered themselves, Singh considered the computer consoles. His auto-translation program wasn't able to completely tell him what was happening. However, there was a question, why hadn't they remotely shut down the turret yet?

Erikson, a short neko with blue hair stepped to him. Also looking at the computers and trying to decipher what was happening. While Singh looked at the screens, she looked at what was actually important, the wiring. There typically wasn't much of the heavy lifting done in the screens. There was one centrally placed console that was pretty heavily damaged in the assault. She flipped it open to find their answer, the antenna that the bunker used to communicate was damaged. "We hit the wireless antenna, isolating the turret." She summarized.

Singh nodded, glancing at the larger display. The assault team on the door hadn't gotten time to get through the door before C platoon had gotten into the courtyard. Caught in the open, they had quickly gone down. The battle for control of the courtyard was quickly being won by the other platoons with the fire support from their turret that Zoa was firing.

Iaomai for her part looked at the three nekos who joined her at the door to the other hallway. They didn't know what was behind it, she saw that Timov had a shield though. "Timov, you'll take point. Let's do this." Timov cut through the door and pushed it inwards. There wasn't any return fire as the door fell away. Something Timov was grateful for at the moment. It looked like the fire team was at the other end, with a destroyed turret, trying to flank C platoon in the courtyard. One of them was turning and she shot him as she strode boldly forward. The rest of the ones who had been in the hall turned, but it was too late as Iaomai led with a grenade. The grenade landed in the middle of the huddled group and went off on impact. Their bodies were thrown against the wall hard.

"Singh, I'm sending a couple of my techs to relive you on the turret. S platoon is going to assume perimeter security. We lost Jackson in D platoon, so I'm putting them under you. That will give you about twenty. We don't know what building the target is in. A, B, and C will each be taking one of the buildings. You'll have the largest, so you'll be taking Building one."

"Affirmative," Singh responded, his hud adjusting with the new names and statuses. He pulled up the schematics for A. There were three doors. One of them likely lead to a large warehouse type room. He had D's fire teams automatically reform and found he had six fireteams rather than five. Granted, one was only made up of three members, but it was enough. It was a surprise, but a pleasant one. He settled on a coordinated attack on the first floor. His own fireteams would take the warehouse and D's fire teams would take the two other entrances. He pushed the plan out to his enlargened platoon.

Minutes later, they had taken the building. There had only been three more casualties and the two medics were more than enough to take care of them. They managed to get a lot of what was described as 'targets of opportunity' unsecured information and a prisoner who said they had valuable information. However, the intelligence asset wasn't in their building. A platoon found it after a few minutes of searching. As they exited the building to board the Ranger which had landed to facilitate getting everyone back on board quicker. Singh was happy that they had managed to complete their mission. They filed onboard with Singh following his platoon and then Taii Larsen being the last one back on the Ranger.

Everyone began to take off their armor and rerack it. However, everyone paused what they were doing when they heard thier captain's voice over the speakers. "Now hear this. This is Captain Williams speaking. Mission accomplished. While they are still looking at our performance in the simulation, the preliminary results put us in competition for the top of the list. Thanks goes to Shoi Singh and B platoon for taking down the shield in particular. However, we also had heavy losses, so we have taken some penalties for that. Regardless, we've sent a reminder to the rest of the fleet that Ranger leads the way!" The Taisa's voice was cool and calm. Everyone in the armor bay gave a cheer at that and Williams knew her crew well enough to pause to let the cheer pass. "We'll be doing a whole ship debrief at 1600, once that is complete, two days leave has been authorized. Ranger Leads the Way!"
 
Hotaru Star Fortress
YSS Ranger

Taisa Williams looked at the mess of her hanger bay on the volumetic screens of the bridge and turned her cold eye on the Neko leading the workforce. "I was assured that you would be done by now. We're scheduled to leave in eighteen hours." She said crisply, a touch of ice in her voice.

The neko shook her head, "I don't know who gave you that estimate. We still need to put up a bulkhead properly and then re-arrange the racks. That's going to take at least six more hours than you have. Moving the Mindys and relabeling everything is probably going to take another two. What we're doing is custom work, not something you can just hotswap. Ma'am."

"Captain, we're receiving a high priority transmission from Chujo Fletcher and Shosho Quiux." Lief at communications announced before Williams could say anything. Williams turned her eyes to the main viewscreen. There appeared the tall dark skinned figure of Chujo Fletcher joined by her Squadron commander Shosho Quiux. Fletcher took on the appearance of a tall thin older man, but physically was young as any neko after having been restored from backup three times in his career. He was in charge of scout squadrons for the Seventh Fleet. Shosho Quiux was a purple haired Neko with light skin gold eyes.

"Chujo, Shosho, I take it this isn't good news. Word from the Ketsuri Millitary Sector?" She asked.

"No, we've just received word that Essia is under attack. The system is lightly defended and will fall before any significant force can reach it. The YSS Wyvern is in system, but is picking up VIPs that we need. They'll provide sensor support, but they are headed out of the system so that won't help for long. The Seventh Fleet has been tasked with repelling the invading force. We need eyes in Essia now. The rest of the fleet is mustering, but that will take a few more hours before we are ready to leave, much less get there." Chujo Fletcher explained.

"I know the Ranger is in the middle of down cycle, but the Chujo and I both agree that the Ranger is best suited for this task. You have fifteen minutes to get as many of your crew back onboard and then you are to leave for Essia. If any of your crew isn't onboard, leave them. We'll get them to you when the rest of the fleet arrives." Quiux explained.

Williams shot a look at Lief, who gave her a nod. Williams looked back at the screen. "I'm sounding recall now."

Hotaru Star Fortress
T-30 Hours before Recall

The bay doors of the Ranger opened into the hanger and the crew of the Ranger flowed out. There were some bored looking techs sitting on a pile of pallets nearby waiting for them to clear out so they could get started. Singh was surrounded mostly by his own platoon, this was perhaps more because of his promise of a free round of drinks at Sword and Sovereign pub on the station than anything else. Iaomai strode purposefully beside him towards the doors that lead to the main space station. Her pure white wings fluttered slightly as if she wanted to take off and fly. Following behind her was Timov, who kept glancing up at the tall Elysian with golden hair and striking blue eyes. Zoa walked with Ivanova.

When they arrived at the Sword and Sovereign, Singh grabbed the bartender while Iaomai requisitioned the back group of tables for the platoon. Zoa slid into a seat around a small four person table, using his tail to claim the seat next to his. Ivanova sat down across from him and Sisko claimed the remaining spot. Sakura reached for the chair that Zoa had claimed with his tail and then looked at him with a question in her eyes.

"It's for my husband, he said he'd be coming," Zoa explained apologetically.

Sakura nodded understandingly. "Ok, I guess I'll find somewhere else to sit." She said, pausing for a moment before scannign the rest of the tables. There still seemed to be some sort of question in her eyes.

"Something bothering you Sakura?" Zoa asked, concerned for the Nito Hei.

Sakura blushed slightly and looked down. "No, it's just..." There was a short pause. "I'm not sure I really understand the whole marriage thing." She continued thoughtfully.

Ivanova nodded, "It's a big thing."

Zoa looked at Sakura thoughtfully, "How are things with you and Kev?" He asked.

"Kev's great, it's just that I think he's..." Sakura trailled off again. "Clingy? No, that's not the right word. He's brought the subject up a couple of times and I don't know how to react."

Zoa glanced at Sisko. "Sisko, would you mind giving us a minute?" He asked apologeticly.

Sisko looked at Zoa and then Sakura, and nodded slightly reluctantly before standing up and heading towards an empty seat a couple of tables away.

"Thanks." Sakura said and Zoa echoed as she left.

"No worries." Sisko said as she disappeared into the crowd of Nekos.

Zoa looked around the bar as Sakura took her seat. He smiled as a large black furred Kodian entered the bar. He stood and wrapped himself around the Kodian as the Kodian gave him a huge bear hug. They held each outher for a long moment and anyone could see tension just melt away from Zoa. Finally Zoa turned back to the table, "Zhukov, I don't think you've met one of my squaddies. Sakura, this is my husband, Zhukov. Zhukov this is Sakura."

Sakura stood to shake the huge Kodian's hand, but disappeared into a warm hug. She was still trying to process everything that was happening. The Kodian's hug was somehow just right, not too tight, but tight enough that she felt close to him. That somehow, she wasn't sure how, she could feel his love, not a romantic or erotic love, but a solid brotherly love. A moment later, she stepped away more confused then before the hug. "Good to meet you." Zhukov rumbled.

Ivanova stepped in and gave Zhukov a hug as well before the four of them sat back down at their table.
 
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