RP: 5th XF [Yugumo Mission 1] Day 1: Perdition's Flames

"Type-29s away!" Creighton shouted as the Yugumo made it's pass down the Blrakkrashiverinth. But, due to unstable firing solutions and the battleship's defenses the torpedoes never hit their mark. Instead they spun off into space before their timed detonators would destroy them.

Ignoring the shouting going on besides Kiyoko's commands, Creighton began charging all weapons. "Yugumo clear all Type-29 bays and load compressed antimatter torpedoes. Ready for Alpha Strike." Creighton's hands continued moving frantically across his console screen.

As the ship shuddered under another barrage, Creighton felt heat rising in his body. His hands felt clammy and strained, as did his eyes and mind. A brief moment of doubt and fear crossed his mind. It hung there like a phantom over him. I can't die... Not here...

Out of a frantic state of mind, Creighton keyed up a few hundred variable pods to fire on the battleship. The pods had little effect on the behemoth, which ended up soaking in most of the fire. Waiting for the word to fire, Creighton was on a hair trigger. His hands resting over the fire keys.

Compressed AM Torpedoes loaded... SEPCs charged... Beam Rakers charged... CFS ready on command for project energy barrage. The AI rattled off in time as each of the weapons systems called in ready.

"Alpha Strike ready!" Creighton called out desperately. "Awaiting fire command!" Creighton felt his entire body tense. He shot off a quick fire zone message to all the power armors and fighters, alerting them to the Yugumo's firing solutions.

Caine brushed his hair out of his eyes and looked at Dirj and smirked. "Good work man." he said to him and promptly issued the new tactics to the attacking sylphs to try to do damage to that section of the behemoth while avoiding the fire vectors of their home ship.

Xanatos continued to try to get the Yûgumo closer to the enormous battleship as well as giving Creighton the best firing angles possible. It was hard to navigate the ship in these conditions, but he continued to try his best. The ship shuddered once again, more violently this time. Xanatos accidentally fell out of his chair, but he managed to quickly recover his seat. Got to stay focused, he told himself severely.

Tesuro stayed unmoving at his station, constantly running scans over the main battleship, it being the only threat left. The destruction of one of the Sakura escorts did not seem to phase him, though there was no doubt it would later. For now his mind was completely focused upon his assigned task, filtering out all extraneous noise besides the voices of his superior officers.

Though the battleship was severely damaged, it was still holding its own against the Yugumo. Tesuro was frustrated; where was its weakness? There seemed to be so many given its weakened state, but none seemed any more plausible of a weak point than any other. One possibility that was ever-present when fighting a Blrakkrashiverinth was to fire directly into the main cannon, but given that the main cannon was already destroyed, the Mishhu would have no reason to reveal it. Ship generators were always an easy choice, but before Tesuro could even form another idea, Dirj announced the weak point he had found to hit the bridge and take out a vast number of the crew (an ingenious plan as Mishhuvurthyar ships did not carry as many crewmen as the Star Army of Yamatai's ships typically did).

Dirj had presented the best idea, and Tesuro simply supplemented upon it. From his terminal he highlighted the thinnest parts of the hull, ascertained from data collected from Blrakkrashiverinth and other SMX starship research in the database. As a backup, he took the liberty to highlight the ship's generators in case the assault on the hull was unsuccessful or if Creighton decided to go for an overkill and hit both areas at once. "The Blrakkrashiverinth's drives still shows no signs of activity. If we fire with Beam Rakers or Particle Cannons through the areas of the hull backed with more Yamataium than Zesuaium, then our assault should be able to slice right through them! And with failing shields and propulsion, they will fall." Tesuro announced. Assuming the enemy was not hiding any tricks up their sleeve, the plan appeared to be foolproof.

After advancing on his partner's well-devised plan, he patted Dirj on the shoulder. Rather uncharacteristic of him, but in his current mode he could be seen, in some ways, as an entirely different person. "You've a good eye." he said simply; his words were short, but spoke volumes.

Since the battle began, Nick had done his job, coolly helping to keep the line of communication between command and control on the Yūgumo to the numerous elements out there fighting the Mishhuvurthyar attackers. It was easy for him to keep calm at a time like this, especially with the ever-increasing amount of traffic to monitor and the bridge staff's orders and advisories to the other ships and craft. If not for his duty to keep him busy, perhaps the Geshrin would have been at least a little more frightened at the prospect of death despite it having become normality to him by now.

"All wings, be advised: new fire-zone warnings have been issued by tactical control,â€

Roken pulled back with the others, if I was planning to kill myself I would have just charged the larger ships, Roken though. "Under stood sir,â€

"Epsilon wing, split up and reinforce each fighter. We're not mucb on out own, so you guys minding our tails would be much appricated." Camellia said over a universal comm channel to the armors. Upon hearing the new fire warnings, she also kept her fighter back, relying on her fixed nose cannons and turrent.

Hyuga Wing was meeting heavy resistance, one by one dispatching the enemy; but their efforts were not in vain, dispatching most of the Frasworstch that had broken off to pursue them-however the Whifgurflumik had come along with a full wing of Frasworstch to settle the score, within seconds the officer and attack pods were on top of the wing of fighter's their weapon firing at will.

Click to expand...

Kiyoe choked back a scream as the first volley of return fire came from the pods, abruptly lighting up the sky with what seemed to be an impenetrable wall of destruction. As she desperately maneuvered, trying to avoid the worst of the attacks, the CIES rapidly discharged the fighter's entire payload of missiles as it had been ordered. The brief staccato of explosions that resulted within the enemy ranks helped her get back some of her courage. As she got back into formation with the rest of the wing as they relocated to avoid the new fire zones, she got up the nerve to begin fighting back again and resumed blasting the pods out of the sky with her aether cannon.

Kiyoko worked with the Yugumo combining the information relayed by Dirj, Tesuro, Akira, and finalized the firing package-sending the approach and target areas to Xanatos and Creighton and once again transferred temporary control over to herself. The Yugumo made a series of FTL jumps moving in random positions close to and away from the battleship, finally Yugumo was pointed upwards right beneath the battleships centermost ventral section, simultaneously the Yugumo fired her alpha strike, letting lose all that Creighton had prepared.

A unexpected flash filled the main view screen and Yugumo rattled and shook, The Blrakkrashiverinth had managed to engage its heavily damaged fold drives just in time, several of Yugumo's torpedos and beam rakers met their target as intended, but once the Blrakkrashiverinth slipped into hyperspace the remaining merely scattered across the emptiness of space. The Yugumo's bridge lights went out totally as the power systems tried to recover from the massive releases of power.

Kiyoko's mouth gapped, the Blrakkrashiverinth emerged from hyperspace a millisecond later, her hull pieces separating as if she was going to fire her main gun-Yugumo halted dead in space, her CFS completely drained from the maneuver before. Kiyoko's eyes shut expecting their destruction.

"CFS reinitializing in ten, nine, eight....â€

Caine looked over at Kiyoko and reached over to rest his hand on hers and squeezed it gently, trying to reassure her he still had hope that it'd work out. Intuition was screaming that this was the end and they'd all die but he didn't want to believe it. His features in the now dim lighting of the bridge were calm and collected but still quite determined. Caine kept his eyes open and focused on the battleship, if he was going to die he was going to meet the shinigami face-to-face. When death didnt' come the blonde visibly relaxed a bit and blinked at the sheer luck of it as the remaining sylphs were pickign off the pods attempting kamikaze run. The ones near the ship were still firing on the battleship to try and knock off their weapons in a last ditch attempt to save the ship.

"We have to be the luckiest crew ever!" Caine suddenly exclaimed followed by a nervous laugh. Caine's heart was hammering in his chest from the rush of it all and the stress of it. His hand going over his chest as he slumped back in the chair relaxing a bit. The armors were proceeding to scour the abandoned battleship to any straggler pods around it and the like as the ones that had been attacking were shooting down stragglers trying to escape.

Caine's attention was caught by damage reports flooding in from the effected areas of the ship. He would relay the order to send technicians to get the repairs on the power systems done as their first priority ito Poma and Plum. Next time, we need to use the interdiction field to keep them from avoiding it before we use the alpha strike tactic... he thought to himself. "I know that was hard but well done everyone." Caine said to everyone on the bridge that had all done the best jobs they could considering the situation.

Dirj saw the gargantuan battleship go silent and the Armor and Figher groups begin mopping up the last of the pods. His knuckles had gone white from gripping the controls tightly, and he realized he was almost standing up. He released the controls and collapsed back into his seat, letting out a loud sigh of relief. Dirj's fingers were trembling, not out of fear, but as a result of the sudden release of tension.

I'm not on the damn ship for a day, and look what happened.

He let out another sigh, looking back at the display as the last wave of red contacts faded into blurry clouds of debris. As an afterthought, he filpped the switch he had been shown earlier, returning the main volumetric display to normal. Then, Dirj rubbed at his temples, realizing that his work was not yet over.

"Shosa, permission to leave my post and report to Medbay?" he asked with slight weariness. "We'll have wounded..."

Caine looked over at Dirj when he raised his question and nodded, of course they'd have wounded from all the damage done. "Go ahead and go." he said. "We've probably already got more than a few people waiting for you there. so hurry." Caine said, brushing a hand through his hair, the dim battle lighting gleaming off the earring in his left ear as he did.

Ichiro was clutching his seat, breathing hard, his heart pounding. This was nothing like piloting a fighter or an armor. It was nothing close. Slowly his hands released their iron grip, as his body tried to relax. The only good thing that came from this for him is that he didn't wet himself.

Death had seemed imminent--it stared Tesuro directly in his eyes. Its cold breath danced across his neck and coursed through his veins. He stood in the darkness of the bridge, surrounded only by the vast emptiness of space around him he stood in pitch black. Aware only of himself; was this real? Had the Behemoth risen? Thoughts of death flirted with his mind, but he stood unwaveringly. Fear gripped him, but not in the face of death. Death did not scare him in the least. It was not bravery or courage--no, his death would have meant nothing. His death would not save anyone; so meaningless. The horror that gripped him was his passiveness.

"Why do I not tremble? Why do I not cry? Why do I not scream? Why when all seems lost my life does not flash before my eyes--remember those who I love and those who will miss me? When God holds my life in His hand and tilts it so that I may fall, why do I not desperately cling to its folds? My palms do not sweat, my heart does not race. Even in this darkness my eyes do not widen in a vain attempt to see all that surrounds me. Those who must embrace death with me. Who do I have to be here for? What do I have remain for? But I don't want to go. There is so much to be here for; worlds to explore and loves to be shared. Does that not amount to anything? Shouldn't I care? O sweet Life, I thought I embraced you, I know I do. Please hold me and let the fear of Death make me weep and tremble. Let me fall to my knees! Please!"

The power returned. The lights flicked on, though dimly. Tesuro's hands were balled into a fist, violently shaking in an attempt to make him feel something...yet nothing came. Though the threat of death left the crew of the Yugumo, his disturbing passivism to impending doom still lingered in his mind. He looked down at the floor, horrified with himself. Very slowly he moved himself back to his terminal, having stood up, looking intently at the enlarged screen on the main bridge. "They were no better off than us...their attempt to attack shut down their systems...", he said in an unrequested report to Kiyoko. The thoughts he had thrust him out of his "soldier conditioned" mode, and his tone and demeanor returned to his normal self. Shy and distant.

"They...can't fight back any longer. We're...we're safe..." His voice was dark and disturbed. Any listener would likely assume this was because of the close brush with death, but a more attentive person would hear the deeper self-concern in his voice. He listened to Akira's opposition to Caine, increasing his admiration for the man. In the back of his mind, he wished he could be so confident as to assume that their skill was what allowed them to live. But, having felt what he had just felt, he wondered what his motivation truly was. He knew this was not a question he could handle himself, but he did not fool himself into thinking that any other could help answer his question. He could not simply sit and write down his thoughts for this--this was much more complicated.

His terror-filled eyes rose from the ground and rested on Akira. Perhaps he? Tesuro's only other option aside from Akira was to talk to Kiyoko about what he had felt. But she had so much more to worry about--so many reports to handle and important people to talk with. At this point, he did not think he was any more than a one-night stand to her...why would he be anything else? Why would she want to hear about his foolish issues?

He sighed. "Just more fucking questions..." he muttered under his breath. Maybe he could talk to Akira; somebody on his own rank and the only person he had met up to that point who he actually felt he could speak with, though that thought was never advanced upon due to the blunder at the party. Something made him feel that the man would at least hear him out--at least not judge him too harshly.

Now was not the time, however. He knew he was not the only one on the ship who had thoughts to ponder and such. Perhaps after things had settled down he would approach the man...

Ichiro finally pried his fingers loose, and started relaying reports and communications as they came in. His breathing slowly returned to normal, as his body relaxed.

Dirj nodded once at the officer who had dismissed him, the XO, Dirj guessed, though it seemed about time to update his personnel image, as the roster had made him look even younger. Taking a deep breath, Dirj strode out into the passages, heading for Medbay. The corridors were crowded, but mainly with damage control teams, this time. Dirj had little trouble reaching the Bay this time.

As he strode in, he saw a scant few medical personnel hastily performing triage on the numerous wounded that had appeared. Another few were hastily tearing the wrappings off medical equipment and prepping the Bay for its first and untimely patients. Dirj scowled and joined the triage group, examining the first body he came to.

It was a Nekovalkyrja, still wrapped in severely damaged armor. It would likely have to be cut away. He passed a vitals scanner over the shuddering form. It told a not-so happy story. 3rd degree burns over 20% of the body, internal bleeding, numerous fractures. The left lower arm had even been shattered where the armor had been impacted inwards. Fortunately, the back and neck were intact.

Dirj quickly wheeled her over to the treatment tables. Anyone with much worse injuries would be dead. She definately needed immediate treatment. She was already in shock. He shouted for someone to bring over the armor cutters and began preparing a hypodermic solution to stabilize her.

(Note NPCing Creighton due to him being out for a few days)

Poma and Plum's job was far from over-repair crews were dispatched all over the ship, Plum reported to Kiyoko, "It will be at least six hours before main power can be restored, decks one hundred thru one hundred-fifty are totally dark, CDD will be at less than fifty percent until we can patch the starboard stabilizer blade; we are in bad shape but we are aliveâ€

Caine nodded to Kiyoko as she disengaged from the SPINE interface, he wondered for a moment if that had hurt her, being interfaced with a ship being damaged. He'd ask about it later when he got a chance. After she departed the bridge with Marks he turned to his console and brought up the damaged sections of the ship before turning to Poma and Plum. "We need that blade patched with Yamatanium as well as technicians to repair the HSCS breaches along the damaged sections of the ship.â€