Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 2: Of Dire Tides

[Shin]

With reassurance from Buck that his rifle would be taken care of, there wasn't much more that Tarquin needed. "Thank you, that is all I require." Tarquin replied, feeling that Buck had perhaps a little too much energy for him to handle for a prolonged period. Already fully suited up and otherwise prepared, he approached his Velite to make the last on-board checks.

The unit had become rather familiar to him now, despite its similarities to the training rigs, it had taken him a little while to feel comfortable within it. Taking his seat, he booted up the launch protocols. Most of the work would be done for him, but never hurt to confirm that everything was functional. Whether it had been Buck or Avery, someone had done a lot to fix his displays - most of the monitors had blown during the previous mission. All the checks were showing systems were functional, it was now just a matter of time before they launched.

As anxiety inducing as space had been, it had been nice to be away from the Earth for a while. He'd never felt involved in the happenings of the events around him, and space let him get even further from them. With the global threat, Tarquin knew that he'd soon have to start trying to understand the world and how it worked.

[Nanami Touko]

Landing Zone

"At least we're coming into view of the base..." Jess sighed a relief on some part of their adventure, pleased to be under blue skies again, with friendlies in view. "Ensign, send an order for all suits to disembark. We're close to the eastern front, so we have to be overly cautious rather than reactive." Now she was back in her element. The lack of a response from Central was leaving her incredibly paranoid, gnawing at the back of her mind, but as long as she had reasons to stay pleased and calm, she'd do her best to focus on them. My stutter's gone again, at the least... I could use some speaking lessons to get rid of it entirely, huh...

"Aye, ma'am. Messaging all pilots," Tristan began, coming in over the loud speakers, "suit up and disembark the Riese. We're entering friendly territory, landing at Serpent Eye base in Iowa, and are to remain as a high threat level in case of Apotheosis attack. Please make sure your suits are equipped and ready to move." That was everything that needed to be said, the captain nodding at him with a small smile.

"Okay... Just, Central to worry about, now... And how Miller is doing... And how colony two is... You're going to overload yourself again, Jess, just give it a rest." She sighed and placed her face in her hand again, trying not to be this manic about things.

No rest for the weary.

"Captain, incoming message--"

"From Central!? E-Er... Uhm, g-go on, Ensign."

Tristan sighed quietly, and cleared his throat. "From the base. Officer Estephan Cabello would like to speak with you."

Jess sighed, fumbling with a strand of her hair. "L-Let him through."

A rather disgruntled and worried young looking man popped up on Jess' monitor, the tan skin under his eyes darkened with stress and a lack of sleep, his black hair unkempt and rather messing, strands poking out from his cap. He certainly looked older than he was at the moment, Officer Cabello being a rather young leader himself, only twenty four. Iowa had never been considered a stand point of necessity to the ANF, so they left their base there understaffed, with at least one certified officer at point. Estephan was their unlucky patron, currently far out of his depth. Jess could relate. "C-Captain Gefalscht, uh... To what do we owe the honor of the Riese's arrival here?"

"Officer Cabello... We're returning from our mission at Colony One and your base was the closest to a straight trajectory back down to Earth. Without any response from Central, we're running in the dark. With the eastern front already being pushed in, we felt it best to get as close as we could to the problem areas without diving directly into enemy controlled territory."

Estephan smiled wide, letting out a harsh sigh of relief and seemingly deflating. "Thank you so much. We haven't had any contact from Central either, we were beginning to worry if the wave sweeping across the ANF was going to wash over us, as well. Your being here brings more relief than I can fathom... We're rather undermanned, due to our position, but we'll provide whatever forces we can should the worst come."

"Well... Let's just hope the worst stays at bay, until we can all get some real orders. Your airstrip looks clear from up here, so we'll settle the Riese down and deploy our suits. We should have sufficient firepower to fight off any threats." I hope. If they're all flying in what Vera had, we're damned before we get to try... "Captain Gefalscht, over and out."

Officer Cabello saluted quickly, before disappearing off the screen, Jess slumping back some in her seat. "Navigations, bring the Riese down and set the engines to idle... We need to conserve whatever power we can."

These Riese continues its decent for a few minutes, finally settling, snugly, onto the airstrip of Serpent Eye base. The base itself was about half the size of Nevada's Dry Lake, and definitely more compact. Their base defenses seemed sparse, only touting a small selection of turrets, and from the view on the bridge, three Velite models. Having the firepower of the Riese at hand was likely giving everyone on hand something to smile about.

Float Ball

"Yeah, one of those! Just something to keep you company, waiting for take off... They're innocuous, don't take up much space, can be kinda funny sometimes... I guess I'm more asking for me, since I don't want to just be screaming and mewling back here..." Likely what's going to happen, if this thing takes a single hit.

"Messaging all pilots..."

An announcement came over the speakers, that sounded like they were ready to take off. Chrissy stopped her prattling and strapped her seat belt on, trying to rest back against the seat. "Kim? Do you... Mind if I focus on what you're feeling? I don't think it'll distract you, but... Being back here, staring at a grey wall... I'd like to close my eyes and try to focus elsewhere. Just that the T-Link doesn't give me much else to focus on..." It was a sheepishly asked question, and she hoped it wasn't too invasive. Who knew what Kim was going to be feeling, after they took off?"

[Juliette]

Back for Earth... but this time, fearful, not exciting. Juria took quite some time to make her way to the hangar, after she managed to forget where exactly to go- unusual for someone who had helped design the ship in question, but rather reflective of her scattered state of mind. Well, more scattered than most of the time.

She shuffled around across the hangar, but didn't seem to see Astin in the mech they were using before (or maybe she was better at getting lost than usual too). "Astin friend? Where go?" she asked, wandering and looking around cluelessly. "Need to be joining so ready for mission, Astin friend! No leaving without Juria, please!"

[Ether]

"Never really thought needed, but if think will help you, don't see problem... if asking, this means want stick around huh? Bold, more than expect, Chrissy." Kim replied, poking a bit of fun at her new co-pilot, as she pulled up her system and began to bring up the launch protocol... while this secondary hangar was fully functional, the crew would expect it to be unused and empty... luckily enough, pulling up a camera feed revealed that they had settled down on the airstrip, so her launch should be unimpeded.

"If helps you feel better, don't mind. Used to being around other TK, not bother." Kim replied as Christina asked if she could focus on her fellow pilot's feelings in order to keep herself calm. If she looked into Seung-Min's feelings at present, there would be little but focus and a bit of excitement, as her fingers assaulted the keyboard, digging into the launch routines to ready the Mk.III for launch... it took a bit extra, since the hangar was expected to not be in use, so the more direct links and commands from the bridge for ease of use were not yet in place. Still, they had been trained at the academy to be able to launch from just about any situation, with or without bridge support... it would just take a bit longer.

[scorri]

Astin heard the announcement and started to power up their mech and get ready to head out. They were keeping the same call signs this time around, so that was one less thing to worry about. Giving the system one final look over, they nodded. Everything was ready, they hadn't forgotten anythi--

 

And that was when they heard Juria. Right... Opening the mech back up, they called out "Err over here Juria. Sorry I forgot to tell you. We're switching mechs. This one fits my style a little better. Don't worry though, there's a seat for you still."

[Sandalphon]

Nikolai clambered into the mech, opting not to interact with his crewmates. He knew full well that they didn't care about him, and he did not care in return. It wasn't that they were intentionally malicious with their coldness, but that they simply had no reason to care for him. They were pawns, pieces on a chessboard, ready to be thrust into machinations beyond the scope of their control.

He was fine with that, it was the nature of things.

He wasn't quite sure what the strange stirring in his chest was as he seated himself in his cockpit, his body sinking into the vaccuformed seat. He chose to ignore it, assuming that it was perhaps a mere action of the Apparatus in his brain which was gently pressing against his flesh. The region was inflamed, but not at a critical level. As long as he kept everything under control, the pain would be tolerable...

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald was dissatisfied. Mostly with himself, if he was being perfectly honest, and there were a number of reasons for it, to be sure. He'd not bothered instructing the mechanics to refit his bot's weapons loadout during the free day, since he figured they had enough on their plates already and having discounted the likelihood of such a speedy return to earth--even though the topic had come up during his discussion with Roxanna, whose opinion was that they'd return sooner than later without any other special missions assigned to them. While it wasn't that it wouldn't work well on terra firma, let's be real the beam sword and gunlance were pretty solid all-rounders, he did miss having the trusty shotgun at his side, and since this wasn't an unsupported mission and the Riese would be around to provide support, he wasn't entirely sure how necessary the chaff and module would end up being in this instance. Still by the time their destination was set he couldn't in his right mind ask Avery to do anything about it, she looked strained to breaking already.

Then there was a part of him that was still hung up on how the finally decision had gone down. Yes, it had ended up going the direction he'd put his two cents in for, and yes he should be feeling relieved and happy... However there was something unsettling, some guilty feeling gnawing at him. The captain had chosen the way she had because of him. Not based on the merits of the case, but because it had been his preferred outcome. That was how it had come across loud and clear to him, and likely to the rest of the crew as well. And that wasn't how it was supposed to work, and he was frankly surprised that hothead Elaine hadn't already confronted him about it afterward, in private, after she'd failed to blow up over it on the spot. It wasn't unlikely that some of the others were displeased with how much influence he'd seemed to accrue, out of nowhere, without really asking for it--no that's not entirely accurate, considering how he'd sort of thrust himself into the middle, meddling with the bridge drama, maybe fallout like this was just matter of course. But regardless, he certainly wasn't even close to being their best pilot. He'd taken down relatively few enemy craft, certainly compared to an actual ace like Kim, and while he'd come back home in better shape than her--or indeed many of the others--at the end of the day, he wasn't sure he could rightly attribute that to anything other than Talog's timely interventions on his behalf. None of the deciding plays in the engagements really revolved around him at all, he'd just kind of been there, trying to keep everything from falling apart. He'd have to step things up, be more active, take a leaf out of that crazy viking woman's playbook perhaps...

Messaging all pilots...

Jess's orders to disembark, interrupted his struggling with the many and varied niggling doubts, restoring some clarity with a firm call to action. And then there was another reason to be disappointed with himself, for letting the Apotheosis invasion shake him to such an extent. Why couldn't he have taken this more in stride like the crisis on Colony 1? The answer was obvious, but still unacceptable. He had to be better, to set an example. And hell, with TKs on board, he couldn't even afford to be falling apart in the privacy of his own mind. A final deep breath, and flipping his eyes to the photograph mounted inside his cockpit and Thorvald regained his sense of balance. It really was such a centering presence for him, a shame Tarquin had seemed so dismissive when he'd tried to explain it.

"All right, all craft, moving out. I know some of you are testing out new toys, so take it slow and don't try anything too strenuous without working up to it and getting comfortable. Odds are, we'll just be patrolling this out of the way post until we get some real orders from central, but that's no reason to slack off or not take this serious. First sign of anything suspicious, no matter how slight, you radio it in. Rather we have a hundred false alarms than miss the one thing we shouldn't have, understood?"

With that message relayed to the team he was leading, Thorvald launched his Legionary out of the hangar, and set foot on the ground of the Iowa base, making his way over to start establishing a perimeter.

Edited May 19, 2017 by Balcerzak

[Juliette]

"Oh!" Juria turned around to see Astin in a changed-up mech from before, scurrying across the hangar to make it before it was too late for her. She put down Reo and gave him a brief pat. "Sorry, no cats in little robots Reo! Will be back soon! Be helping to Jess Captain maybe." After he left with a mewl, she took a few moments to climb her way into the new mech, taking her seat behind Astin. The controls for her weren't so different that they were very hard to adjust to. "Sorry, am not as fast as others, but ready now, Astin friend! We do very good together and help everyone!"

[scorri]

"Alright then. If you're ready, then it's time to go. Strap in, things could get dangerous quickly." Astin flipped on their com and called out to the rest of the mechs, "Oni Leader, moving out. Oni squad, follow me. I'll take point. Stay alert, we don't know when the enemy is going to arrive." No way of knowing... We just need to stay alert and aware... This is the first step to righting all of this.

Taking their thumb off the com button, they didn't wait for a response before turning back to their controls. They directed the mech out of the Reise, heading down to the ground and setting down, raising a cloud of dust around the mech. Time to wait...

[Sandalphon]

Nikolai grimaced, biting back the instinct to make some sardonic response to the unidentified voice over the comm units. He had promised to play nice in exchange for his not being jettisoned into the cold embrace of the void. He flipped some switches and pulled at some levers, triggering a series of pleasant mechanical hisses, hydraulics coming to life as the cool blue lights of the controls display cast dark, otherworldly shadows onto his face.

The time for trying to be a human being was over, he was to return to his status as a tool of war.

"Try not to die." He muttered bluntly, figuring the response was neutral enough not to be interpreted as a sign of either concern or dissent. A mere request for the listener not to inefficiently burden them with one less set of hands to shoot with.

He felt the thrust of the engines push him deeper into the synthetic material of the seat as the machine became an extension of him, hurled into the fray once more as was his purpose.

[Nanami Touko]

High Command

"Alright, let's go about getting the Riese restocked, make sure the mechanics have a hand in restocking all the missiles and--"

"Captain! Incoming message from Central!" Tristan cut off Jess' orders for refueling with something that was definitely more important than missile tubes.

"Wha-- p-put them through!" Jess slammed back in her seat, staring at her console, waiting for the video feed to pop up. No warning or anything!? Ugh! And I was just starting to calm down! Jess tried her best to take a deep breath before anyone came on screen. Hopefully it was Martinson, she could handle speaking with him!

"Captain, Captain Gefalscht, can you hear me?" A male voice came from the speakers, a feed slowly coming onto screen. It was Admiral Alphonse himself receiving the call, and from his face, one could already tell how distressed he was. "This is from ANF HQ. Have you caught on with recent events? We couldn't make contact with your ship for very long... you haven't been attacked by terrorist forces during this time, did you?" It seemed he was calming down bit by bit, some sign that his signal was going through must have shown in his end of the call. Still, it was certainly not enough to ease his worries in spite of everything.

Jess breathed a sigh of relief that it was Admiral Martinson, sitting up in her chair some. "Sir. We received the news earlier this morning, and made for earth immediately after the crew was informed. The Riese hasn't come under attack yet, we've just touched down in Serpent Eye base, Iowa. We... We saw that the eastern front collapsed entirely. We don't expect things to be calm here for long, uhm, h-how is the other side of the country holding up?" She wanted to know why it had taken Central so long to contact them, and the admiral seemed a bit stressed. Surely things were still fine over there...?

"That's good, so you're already informed." The Admiral nodded, listening to the rest of Jessica's report intently, a paused frown before he spoke again. "It's true, we had to give up the eastern front. The coast should be barren, we tried to move the citizens inland when we made the decision. From my last report, however, the terrorists are moving inland as well." The admiral seemed to give pause again as the considered how to reply to Jessica's own question. "We have managed to hold them back, so far. We've suffered losses, but we have too much of a defensive edge here." The Admiral reassured, small comfort as it were. "I can't imagine them able to wear us down faster with their toys, but if their eastern front managed to collapse, we will be in for much worse."

"Okay... Good. Good! The west is holding out... What... What are out orders then, sir?" Jess paused to study his face for a moment, hoping he had a direction to go in. "I can't imagine we want the Riese sitting out here in Iowa and waiting. Is there some place we should go? Some base to retake, a platoon to join? Something..." They'd come down from space with the hope of solving problems, after all.

"Your timing has been excellent, Captain Gefalscht. If we use the Riese on our efforts to protect the west, we might repel their forces after all, maybe launch a counterattack. I need you to head westward as soon as you can." The Admiral continued promtply, "They've managed to punch a hole big enough to squeeze into northern Mexico, but their aim truly seems to be our HQ. If at all possible, you should move out to aid the Seventh Platoon, and then move into California once we give the call. They are our highest risk areas as of now."

"Westward?" Jessica swallowed. She didn't want to disobey orders, but... "A-Admiral, sir... I... If the west is holding out, would we not be better served staying out here? Not... Here, specifically, but... On the eastern front, to prevent a pincer, or try to push them back... I... I just don't know if... I'm sorry if I'm stepping over my bounds, sir..." Jess sank back a bit, looking down. She didn't want to deny the only man that had believed in them upon launch, but at the same time...

The Admiral frowned, looking down for a moment, gaze away from the camera."...You could do that, but it would put the ship at a lot of risk." He seemed to be considering the idea, with a lot of concern. "Reclaiming the east will be complicated at this rate, your best bet would be to aid great lake base, and then we'll work from how well your results are." Despite the rundown, Alphonse still seemed a fair deal hesitant to give the go. "There is a chance they will focus your ship. I've been suspecting since we've been unable to contact you, they likely have you and your crew as threats, which is why I'd recommend westward, it'd be a safer route. Still, I can't deny the merits of fending off their east front, if you believe to be capable."

Capable... Jess didn't know how to answer that. "I don't know if we're capable enough, Admiral..." The hesitation was clear in her voice as she spoke. "We managed to stop the threat on Colony One, but... The crew has some bombshells among the pilots, some people unsure of themselves, a perfectionist... A-And me, worst of all. I don't know if I'm quite cut out to be captaining this ship, if I'm being honest... M-Maybe we should head back to HQ, and you can put a proper captain in place of something so important." Jess hadn't had time to send her writeup of her behaviour during Colony One's retaking to Central, but considering the circumstances, it wouldn't be the best of times...

Jessica's speech took the Admiral by surprise, an eyebrow raised as he heard bits of interpersonal information of the crew amidst her confession. He opened his mouth for a moment, considering a sentence he quickly cast away, back to a pensive stare at Jessica. "Hmm." The admiral almost seemed lost for words for a moment, "I understand your experiences were harsher since you left to space. Your self-esteem has crumbled, Captain. Most of all, it is an issue to the crew if you can't believe in them, or yourself."

"Admiral." A familiar voice spoke up, Roxanna herself, standing up from her seat. "Heading to the HQ just to get a captain and come back is too much time wasted. Let me command." It seemed she really jumped at every chance that she could get to become captain. Was she doing it for the sake of the mission?

"Executive Officer Martinson, please sit down." Alphonse quickly shut her down. "We made no mistake, Captain Gefalscht is one of our most competent young captains. The operation at colony one, despite being her first time, was exceptional. That is why I'm giving her the option." It seemed Alphonse was fully backing the captain's authority. "We put you on this ship because we believed your results. It has paid off so far. I wouldn't entertain the option if I felt you weren't capable, Gefalscht. It's all up to you."

"I... I'm sorry, I... I don't have anything else to say but to apologize, I--" Ah, there it was. Jess was wondering how long Roxanna's friendly truce was going to last, seeming to run out at a perfectly convenient moment. Jess looked down to hide a scowl forming, her brows furrowing beneath her hat. Even now, you're trying to usurp me... Just because I don't think I'm good enough for this, doesn't mean you are. Just...

Still, for whatever reason, still unknown to Jess, Admiral Alphonse was firm in his belief that Jess was right for this, so much so that he immediately shut down Roxanna. The reaction took Jess by surprise, quickly glancing over at the XO, not long enough to judge a reaction. With a pause, a pensive biting of her lip, Jess spoke up again.

"If we were to remain in the area, where would you suggest we head?" If she was to weigh heading back to HQ against pushing east, she had to know what was available for them. If there was no immediate need in the area, as much as it would pain her to leave this base and the fresh officer they had pleased so much by arriving, she'd head back towards central. They could stop anyone coming in from South America that way, and break the western front, before the east could catch up. That was their best shot to stop Apotheosis in their tracks...

Sticking Around

Chrissy pouted. "Don't get comfortable with me in here... I'll see if I stick around, depending on how this all goes. If I'm not traumatized by the time we get back, I'll think about it. And see if I can get one of the mechanics to toss together a haro." That was a comforting thought, for a moment. That everything would end up going fine. Kim was calmly setting up the launch, nothing was being shot at them, she was focused on her partner's slow excitement. It even made Christina crack a smile, seeing that Kim was more than a stonefaced professional. So she's happy about this new robot, huh... Or just stretching her metaphorical legs. Either way...

[riariadne]

It was far later than usual when Dwight emerged at the bridge, looking slightly weary. "My sincerest apologies, Captain Gefalscht and everyone else. I am incredibly late, especially by my own standards, but it was not a matter of my own volition that this was so. I saw the broadcast in the morning, the most dire of news indeed, but as I was preparing for my day I was immobilized by a bout of pain. My age seems to have caught up to me at a rather unfortunate time... however, I've managed to get it to subside, at least for the time being, and will be of as much assistance I can be during this mission. And I will see to some medicine to avoid incidents like this in the future." 

He was somewhat surprised to see Alphonse on the screen, giving him a nod. "I suppose I don't move quite how I used to, especially after so much downtime. Regardless, as I have less information about the situation at hand- I caught only part of the end of this discussion, and our travel to Earth has made our goal quite obvious to me still- but I am not in a position to advise yet when I know less. When we enter proper combat, that will be different. Admiral Martinson's advice is usually quite sound, either way."

[Phoenix]

Musings

There was no telling how long it would be before they were in battle again, so Megumi pulled up the vitals of the pilots like before, but also brought up a medical journal to read in the meantime. She hadn't gotten halfway down the first page before the call from Central came in. It would be interesting to see how the captain dealt with superior officers in a crisis situation, too interesting to ignore or even pretend to ignore. The doctor was watching intently from the get go ...

Jessica seemed fine at first. She even seemed relieved when the image resolved. Either she found authority figures comforting or she knew this one personally. Somehow the ANF had more or less stonewalled Apotheosis on the west coast but had gotten their fingers stomped on in the east. Megumi chalked it up to better entrenched defenses, since large scale warfare wasn't something she was well versed in.

Even if the captain wasn't overly comforted by her superiors, she still clearly relied on them, searching out guidance like a lost duckling. Unlike a duckling, however, Jessica was clearly put off by the Admiral's orders, somewhat funny given her pleading. Apparently beggars could be choosers ... and oddly enough, it sounded like her reservations were actually being taken into consideration. It soon came to light that the questionable direction of heading to reinforce the west was not only to help set up a counterattack, but also a defensive measure for the Riese, the ANF's trump card. They seemed to have this particular admiral's vote of confidence, but Jessica was slipping back down into that bottomless pit of self doubt. It was no wonder Roxanna was so inclined to replace her. She was asking for it, though that didn't make such attempts appropriate or productive.

Speak of the devil ... about as soon as Jessica had suggested being replaced, there was her XO, offering to save time by stepping in as the new captain. The Admiral shut her down right quick, and gave the acting captain some arguably justifiable praise. It was arguably justifiable because regardless of her anxiety issues, the crew's mission results were undeniable. Megumi still didn't think this particular combination of talent and dumb luck would last forever, though.

There was a brief break in the exchange when Dwight entered the bridge. He was quick to explain his absence, noting some pain that had gotten the better of him at the worst possible time. True enough. Megumi wasn't keen on throwing painkillers at seniors, but whether or not she did, she was obligated to look into this, despite the timing. "Are you sure you'll be fine during a battle?" she asked Dwight. She had more questions for him, mostly diagnosis related, but she didn't want to run into the same problem Apotheosis had in the west after putting in actual effort to address the problem.

Focus

A hundred false alarms? Brant smiled, doubing this team could even conjure up ten false positives before Apotheosis came rolling through the area, guns blazing, but the squad leader's point was understood. This was too important--and too dangerous for them to second guess themselves. Apotheosis was using equipment they weren't entirely prepared for. Instinct was going to play a big part in their upcoming battles. "Copy that," Brant replied.

Astin launched shortly after Thorvald, though not before announcing it. "Oni leader ..." Brant squinted. It sounded like the old callsigns were still in effect. "We need better ones," he murmured to himself. As much as he would have liked a change, this wasn't the time, so he didn't relay his thoughts. It was so trivial, he realized he might never bring it up at all.

Brant was content to launch after everyone else, if only to conserve a little fuel, but his number came up and he launched shortly after their newest recruit, Nikolai. From the look and feel of things, the weather was a bit poor for his usual shenanigans. The biggest annoyance about being the only skygrasper pilot on the team was that Brant was a tempting target for snipers. One way or another he'd probably be the first to know if and when Apotheosis arrived. There were steps he needed to take to avoid being unexpectedly picked off. Switching to a purely observatory role for the time being and staying at extreme altitude might do the trick. Being that high up, he'd have ample time to react to any incoming fire. Doing so might even discourage the attempt, which was just fine by him.

Brant stared at his main monitor, feeling a little irritable. It had been almost a minute since he began his steep ascent, moving to a high enough position to get a clear view of the entire region, as well as place himself well outside of easy kill range. Unfortunately, his prize from yesterday, the industrial printer, was starting to dominate his thoughts, again. He really wanted to get to work on his projects. He had plenty of problems to work out, what kind of battery system to use, as well as what materials would be best for the individual components. There was no guarantee he would be doing any of that today, though. There was no guarantee he would even be alive this time tomorrow. The best he could do was try to distract himself from ... well, the distractions.

"Staying focused really isn't my strong suit," he muttered, going through the menus on his main monitor. That was when another distraction ambushed him. "Messages?" Oh boy ... this really wasn't the time to be checking emails, but there were so damn many of them. He groaned, exiting that menu and got both hands back on the controls. "They're probably just freaking out about Apotheosis. I'll look into it after the mission." All the more reason to survive ... though checking emails felt like a petty reason for wanting to survive combat.

On the other hand, Brant had to admit, he wasn't well versed in 'the soldier's' warfare. These two days of frequent combat didn't give one a veteran's perspective. The veteran, or rather, his vague idea of one, was what had him rethinking those emails. There was fundamentally no difference between a digital message and the grimy, yet coveted letters of loved ones a soldier of the far off past might very well live for. Looking at it that way, it wasn't such a petty motivation. Brant hated the Alkaevs, of course, at least the older members of the family, so there wasn't anything from them he wanted to read on principle. He wasn't allowed contact with his parents, so he'd never get to read anything from them, so about the only messages from the Alkaevs that could put a smile on Brant's face as far as the elders were concerned, was news of one of them dying, or news about their latest mobile suits. Fate wasn't kind enough to grant the former, so Brant only looked forward to the latter. Once they sent the Regalia over, he could have the best of both worlds, the capabilities of a fighter and a mobile suit rolled into one machine. That wouldn't redeem the Alkaevs, not even close, but at least he would get something out of this, if not a modicum of freedom.

Brant finally leveled out the Accensus and had a look below. He was definitely high up enough to react to anything, now. If all else failed, he could also use one or both of his funnels as shields, like he'd done on the colony. He was also out of the MK.III's silencing range ... most assuredly. There was a downside to everything, though. This whole eye in the sky routine didn't just feel like an unusually heavy weight of responsibility given the situation, but it was also a bit lonely. Firmia was an excessively loud training partner, and she virtually always got shot down first, but her instability kept him stable. Her fear made him fearless. Her bad aim made his shots that much more accurate. Her panicked shrieking kept the distractions at bay. Brant laughed, picturing her piloting the Riese's spare Accensus in loose formation with him while rambling about something or other. That might have even been fun. Somewhere along the way, Brant had envisioned Christina taking the spare Accensus and filling that panicky void. She knew how to fly, but she had more important duties, now.

Brant's grip tightened around the throttle and stick. "Focus ..." He took a deep breath. "... alright ..."

Edited May 19, 2017 by Phoenix

[Shin]

It wasn't long until they'd landed, and been ordered to deploy. All of his sub-systems had loaded without any errors, his Velite was in full functioning condition. Serpent Eye Base was far smaller than Dry Lake, the crew's addition to defenses would probably be very welcome. Their designated teams from before appeared to remain true, Tarquin at least knew how his allies were likely to act. His synergy with Nikolai probably would have been better, but avoiding the potential disaster that was Elaine was more than enough to make up for their separation. Thorvald's warnings should have gone without saying, but a certain someone was fond of theatrics.

He followed Astin shortly after they left the hangar. The open area suited him well, the relative lack of hills meant his visibity would be good - meaning he could use his range advantage to the fullest.

"Copy that, Oni Leader. Oni 3 is prepared to embark. Long range observations commencing." Tarquin replied, acknowledging the request. With Brant in the sky and Astin more capable of dealing with anything close, it made more sense for him to keep an eye out for anything in the distance. 

[Dandragon]

Elaine had just finished manually assigning her teammates as friendlies in the suits data when the order to deploy was given out. She took a deep breath. Weapons prepared. Systems loaded. Everything's at top performance. Elaine followed the other bots our of the hangar and out into the open air.

Immediately, she took off flying to the sky, testing the new speeds that she could move at. And it felt great. She could easily keep up with Vellites, now, and probably run circles around anything slower. A familiar smile crept onto Elaine's face. She felt a freedom of movement that she hadn't had in a while, and was quickly getting back into the swing of things. And she was already getting pumped, too. "Ares 2, ready for action!" Her grin widened. This was gonna be fun.

[Ether]

"My piloting not that bad." Kim replied, cracking a smirk, not that Christina would be able to see it. As the rest of the Riese' pilots finished launching, Seung-Min finally managed to finish setting up her own launch routine for the first time, the Velite Mk.III moving along the elevator into the launch bay of the secondary hangar. It made her a bit curious, what the first radio chatter would be... the bridge should be receiving a notification right about now that the supposedly out of use Hangar B was currently launching a machine. Well, as long as they didn't immediately open fire, it would be fine. 

"Hold tight, Chrissy." Kim noted, as the Mk.III locked on to the launch rail, and began to roar towards the open air, engines revving and thrusters alight. Within moments, the prototype was jettisoned from the launch bay, and Kim could immediately feel the difference of this machine, once it was under her own power. Gripping the controls with a grin on her face, Seung-Min took a quick lap around the base in seconds flat... so this was what it felt like to fly in a fully functioning mech, not just a dogfighter... It felt damn good.

Setting down after her lap at the front of their formation, a gentle hover keeping the Mk.III above the ground, it's lithe frame poised for the incoming combat, as it's single eye released a deep, piercing glow.

[Xinnidy]

Direct Orders

A brief chuckle escaped the Admiral as his friend entered the room, though he quickly corrected it with a proper nod. "Hang in there, friend." It seemed that Alphonse paid little mind to Jess' continuous doubts in her leadership, he seemed content enough that she was considering the situation in weights, rather than thinking of her own shortcomings. "You would go south from where you are, the greatest losses have been on the coast, if you can go to Great Lake first, they should have full detail of the areas currently held by the terrorists. From there, secure a contact with our Gulf Hawk forces and plan a counterattack. That would be my advice."

Jess had to pause again. That was an option. The other option was to head back to Central. "...And where do you think we should go? In your opinion... is the Riese's power best served retaking the east, or breaking through the west?"

There was a notable pause as Alphonse took in Jessica's final question. "That's a hard one for me to tell you, if I'm honest. We don't know if this is the full extent of the terrorists' forces. There's a good chance it is not, I suspect." The Admiral sighed, for a moment looking away from the camera, as if something troubled him. "I'm positive some of the others will have my liver for suggesting the Riese away from the west side, but all things considered, if Apotheosis manages a pincer attack, our chances of winning decrease dramatically. I'd like to prevent this scenario at all costs." There was certainly a part of the Admiral's position in the current HQ command circle that seeped into the conversation, it seemed that despite all their interactions, his power wasn't sovereign or completely in like with the rest of the top brass. "I say help the East hold. Reclaiming out lost territory is probably too much wasted effort since we don't know the nature of our enemy, but preventing the worst case scenario should be top priority. For what it is worth, we are not the ones running against the clock."

Seeing the Admiral so... So worried, so distracted, it didn't bode well, and it tugged at Jess to head towards the west, but when his call to stay came through, she didn't fight it. Either was a good option for the whole of ANF, she couldn't let emotions sway her one way or the other. "Of course, Admiral. We'll head to Great Lake base, then. Godspeed with your endevours... And, please, promise me," she said with a small pause, then a sigh. "Promise me that we'll receive word immediately, should the situation change over there. That's.. That's all I ask."

"You have my word." The Admiral nodded, appeasing Jessica's worries. "With the Riese now on Earth, contact should be easier. We will speak again." It was time to let the crew be, and hope for the best. Certainly there was much on the west side to keep the Admiral busy. "If you need any help during combat, make sure to ask for Dwight's advice. His insight will certainly be valuable once you contact Gulf Hawk base. I'll see you all later." A salute, and the screen faded back to black. Orders were given and it was time to move out.

Back in her seat, Roxanna seemed discontent, but any sign of an outburst to come was absent. It seemed she had found the floor immensely curious to stare at. Her face was somber, mind clearly distant from the discussion starting at the point she was shut down. Roxanna certainly took it poorly, but her quiet resignation was almost unprecedent of her.

Look and Marvel

"Whoa..." Sometime after the descent, Makoto had sneaked into the Hangar. As usual, he was most interested in the mechs, seeming already sortied and outside. That's so cool~. What are these two? I don't remember them from yesterday! The boy couldn't do much but observe, he knew his boundaries, and considering the colony mission. It was probably for the best. We're on earth now, huh... I'm going to have to ask what's going on. It would be a predicament if he and his mom were to be stuck in a military ship for a while.

Though it'd be super cool if they let him watch the action from the bridge...

Edited May 21, 2017 by Xinnidy

[Nanami Touko]

Orders Received, Commander

"Over and out... Hooooo..." The video faded, leaving Jess alone with their decision. Restock, head south, head further south, fight what you come into contact with. Would it be that simple? It didn't feel like anything was simple, anymore, except for how much the Admiral believed in them. Does he know something I don't? We're a ragtag group with a few ace pilots, and I'm definitely not cut out for intense situations... I came to the bridge in my pajamas this morning, ugh. What am I even doing here? Why... Why did I want to be a captain... W-Wait, I... Jess looked troubled for a moment, before sitting up a bit, sighing.

"You wanted to help people," she muttered, almost instinctively. "You just didn't know you'd have to hurt others to do it. And how far you'd have to go..." A pretty excuse, but an excuse nonetheless. Nikolai's words came back to her, some of what he'd said. Had she really thought she wouldn't have to kill anyone, flying something like this? Maybe. That had been naive. I am naive. No wonder Roxanna keeps pushing to replace me. She's no better, though... She just wants the glory. I...

With a frustrated grunt, Jess looked back over at the Ensign, who was trying to focus on his control panel.

"Ensign," she started, clearing her throat. "Tell the mechanics to restock the Riese. Get the base to transfer anything if we need it, and..." Something caught Jess' eye, being notified on her control surface. "ANFMS-012P Velite Mk.III...? What? What's that? When did we--"

No sooner than she'd started questioning the serial number did the robot in question fire itself off from the deck, taking a lap around the base and settling at the forefront of the squad.

"Wha... Who's-- Come in, pilot, I... Kim?" Everyone else had called their take off, except for Nikolai and Brant, but someone had to be flying that Accensus, and Nikolai hadn't been given any special permissions. When did we even get that... Did we have that on Colony One? Why are there so many things I don't know...? It even seemed to be flying on its own, without issue. Did it have it's own personal V-Drive? Those things weren't cheap.

Joy Ride

"Holding tight... Ghhh...!" The momentum from take off was something she wasn't wishing to experience for a while, since her last take off. Yet here she was, in the cockpit of another mech, being launch into another battlefield. Could she keep pitying herself, having agreed to it? The momentum leveled out before it could cause her any further worry, and the flight quickly became calm and smooth, as she took deep breaths to try and get over her sudden anxiety. You're safe. You're safe. This is secure... You're safe...

Kim seemed to be enjoying herself. That was good... Did she enjoy piloting, fighting, being the star, as it were? Or was this just a job... She never could tell with these military types. Even being able to feel what Kim was feeling, she didn't know what it was directed towards. Humans are so curious, aren't we... I hope everything goes well. I want to keep talking to her. To Brant. Meet everyone else in the crew... So I have to do my best, right? I can't distract her... Make this harder.

[Dandragon]

Elaine kept flying through the air at a pace she had long since forgotten, when an unfamiliar mobile suit came speeding past. Definitely not one she recognized from the hangar, as it wasn't registered on her database as an ally. And yet, it wasn't currently attacking her, nor was it trying to interfere with her. Was it an ally? Elaine boosted her thruster speed in an attempt to follow it.

Upon finally catching up, she was finally able to get a better look at it. And it was...a Velite. At least, it looked like one, but it also looked so very different from one. Elaine started scanning, though it took slightly longer than she would have liked to get the results. Whether that was because it was new, or her own bot was so old, she couldn't tell. "Let's see here...Mark III?! Where the hell did we get this?!" The fiery engineer's jaw dropped as she saw the specs up on her screen. It was fast. Really fast. Incredibly fast! And it was loaded with weapons that she wished she had access to. The smile Elaine was once wearing had now changed to a jealous frown full of utter disbelief. And she frantically opened up her communications channel towards the new Velite to find out what was going on. "Right! Whoever is flying that thing, identify yourself so I can get your bot in this damn friendly database!" It was clear that Elaine was angry from whoever would be listening in. She just had to take the one made out of the old, outdated bot and someone else got the new, more powerful bot. Surely she deserved something like that, too, right?!

[Ether]

There were those transmissions, the Captain seemed to have picked her out by process of elimination, but Elaine hadn't managed the same. Perhaps it was because of the seething, angry jealousy that was emanating from Elaine's direction. Oh dear.

"Confirm, Captain. Oni-2, Velite Mk.III Unit-0, report duty. Unit cannot deploy without T-Link, had problem not fix until now."

[Nanami Touko]

Patrol

And Elaine was already shouting... Jess held back a sigh. There's that firecracker I was mentioning to the admiral... I had hoped her encounter with the Apotheosis Lieutenant on Colony One had calmed her down some, but maybe it just made her more testy... She shook her head. They could be attacked at any moment, it wasn't necessary to dwell on maybes. Elaine would do her duty as an ANF pilot... And things would be dealt with afterwards, if not.

Christina flinched a moment, with only one question to ask. "Why is she yelling...?" The anger didn't make sense to the girl, who was trying to ignore it, as strong an emotion as it was.

Jess focused on Kim. "I see... Please give me a full rundown of the machine afterwards, so we can put it in our database. Pardon my worry, I... I just have nothing on it. I'll start scanning now, to make sure I have the basics covered, at least." I'd best start getting used to surprises. "To everyone else, just make sure to keep on the base's perimeter. We don't know what's going to show up, if anything. We have a destination in mind once we've restocked and set up, so don't get too comfortable." She'd relay the admiral's talk after, not wanting it to dwell on the minds of everyone else.

 

Edited May 21, 2017 by Nanami Touko

[Balcerzak]

When Thorvald hadn't caught sight of Kim in the main hangar, he'd assumed she was still taking some time to recuperate her arm. It had been a pretty nasty wound, and even with today's medicine surely wouldn't have been a fun experience to heal up. But when an unexpected craft launched from a hangar he hadn't even been aware they'd had, well, there was only one conclusion to draw from the situation.

"Wasn't sure if you'd be joining us today, Oni 2, but having you out here definitely is good for peace of mind. If anything gives you trouble in there, give a holler. That goes for the rest of you in new rides too--Ares 2, Oni Leader--it isn't always easy to adjust immediately, and there's no shame in that. Those just the facts. Hopefully a little light scouting will get you well and accustomed, and then we'll be on our way and you'll be in tip-top for an actual engagement."

[Nanami Touko]

Suddenly

Jess was about to radio back into the base's Officer, as an alarm went off, sensors showing enemies seemingly warping in. "Wh-Wha-- A-All units! Confirm report!" She didn't really need it, she just couldn't believe they'd gotten that close without tripping any long range scanning. Five planes, looking like a new model, flying straight for the base. The next ping showed a land squadron as well, admittedly small, but still featuring models they haven't seen before. There were two re-purposed black Velites, and three... There was no information on them, at all. Jess paled.

"B-Battle formation!" The Riese was still restocking, so it would be a few minutes before they could take off and assist. They'd just have to fire cannons from long range...

Player Phase / Turn 1

Victory Conditions:
Defeat all enemy units

Defeat Conditions:
Any enemy unit crosses into the base

Battle Mastery:
???

Enemy Stats

Edited May 28, 2017 by Nanami Touko

[scorri]

And there it was. The call for battle formation. Sooner than expected, given the remoteness and relative lack of importance of the base, but nothing to be done about it now. "I hope you're ready Juria, because here we go." Opening up the com link, they called out, "This is Oni-Leader, I'm moving forward to engage the enemies further away from the base. Keeping it safe should be our priority. Ares-Leader, I would appreciate support from you. Oni-2, I don't know the capabilities of your new mech, so position yourself as you think best. Oni-1 and 3, hang back for now, lets see what their bots can do before we all charge in." That settled, they pushed forward, settling in among some of the trees surrounding the base. Time to see what this new mech was capable of.

Astin to 18 10

Edited May 23, 2017 by scorri

[Dandragon]

"B-Battle formation!"

Elaine looked out as she heard her stuttering captain from the communications channel, and saw several approaching robots, ACTUAL robots, as well as mobile suits coming from two directions. Immediately, she started scanning the group of suits, and while she got data on what seemed to be Velites, it was taking seemingly far longer to get data up on the other three. "Come on you hunk a junk!" She said, slamming her fist on the metal of the console. "Come on, already! ...Gah!" She gave up, realizing that this was probably not the best choice, and instead went to move at a spot where she would be in the path of both the incoming drones and the mobile suits. "Fine. I'll just have to learn the old fashioned way! Let's see what they got!"

Elaine to 18, 14