Robotech - Tales of the UEEF (Main)

The Thing launches a pair of missiles, and they home in and slam into the Odeon with a resounding explosion. But with as big of a blast as there was, the damage is minimal compared to the heavy armor of the Inorganic.

The last remaining Odeon raises up its blaster and fires a shot at Grumpy, but the attack falls short and is ineffective.

Psychie is up

Initiative order
19 - Grumpy [3]
16 - Alex [1]
14 - Bella [3]
13 - the Thing [2]
10 - Bishop [out of actions; bomb run uses all attacks for the melee]
9 - Odeon 2 [2] damaged
8 - Scorch [1] <====

Keeping her altitude low and moving fast, she targets the last remaining Odeon in that hidey-hole, locking on with a six pack of love in the form of some HEAP missiles.

It would appear that our dice roller is back. Psychie it is up to you. Do you still wish me to roll for you?

I'll roll it. Thank you.

Um, you forgot to roll to hit....

I was just testing you.

The barrage is just barely a hit, but just barely is enough when dealing with a mass of HEAP missiles. They fly down and slam into the Odeon, and under the combined impact of the various missiles, it shatters like glass. But just barely.

Just when you think that you've gotten the upper hand, the ground below you erupts with not just a few, but a solid flow of hundreds of Inorganics! A moment of quiet falls over the airwaves, then a voice can be heard, "All units! Pull back! Pull back! Artillery, all guns, open fire! Air units! Watch for incoming fire!" From their prepared gun emplacements, dozens of the M.A.C. III mecha start firing their 40cm cannons as fast as they can, all the while multiple Phalanx missile units ripple fire their medium and long range missiles. The massive projectiles and missiles begin to rise up from their launching units and begin to arc over before coming back down to cause catastrophic explosions.

The very ground shudders under the force of so much ordnance going off, but despite the damage done, there are still more Invid coming forth. A different, much calmer voice hits the airwaves: "Stand by. Orbital bombardment is commencing. All air units clear the space." Seconds later, far above in high orbit, the massive guns of the Fleet open up. The lush valley is soon transformed into a savage hellscape of death.

While all of this is going on, Alex starts to hyperventilate. "Oh my God! No! Those mecha on the ground on the front line! They're still down there!"

"Sweet fucking christ jesus murphy son of a bitch, MacArthur come in now theres people down there god damn it! I repeat theres friendlies in the bombardment zone!" Grumpy was shouting over the coms like nobody's business.

"The frontline mecha are still down there! We have to do something!"

Not stopping to think, Thing guns his Valkyrie, and heads to the ground to try and save some of the ground Mecha, if he can.

Hearing the comms chatter, Bishop guns his engines and heads toward the closest friendlies. He's looking for any troopers out in the open he may be able to assist.

If there's anyone that fits the bill he'll engage guardian mode for a quick landing/embark and transmit, "Room for six, get into the bomb bay, go go go"

Not worrying about her own safety, Scorch works her controls to accelerate her way over to the nearest friendly, transforming into Guardian mode as she does so. A part of her mind is convinced that she is about to get killed as she sees the effects of the heavy guns on the Invid and the surrounding landscape. All it will take is one lucky hit to vaporize any one of us. This is pointless; everyone down there is probably already dead.

Slamming on the brakes before hitting the ground, Scorch does her best to avoid the incoming fire while searching for any living things to try and rescue.

Putting aside all fear or desire for personal safety, the Strom Dragons explode into action. Bella lets out a wild yell as her Alpha burns into the bombardment zone, one of a warrior that has seen death come for her but will not let it put her aside from her chosen course of action.

All of you, please give me three Pilot Veritech rolls. There are minuses, so roll good.
Orikanyo Nokie Psychie Red Shadow Claws

Making the rolls now.

Oh, dear. This is not good.

Rolls

Grumpy prepares to pilot through hell.

Rolls

It is a bombardment unlike anything you have ever seen short of the Global Assault on Earth, and you are only on the outer fringes of the attack. Grumpy sails through the devastation with Alex calling out directions to evade the worst of the fire. As you race forward, you see Cyclone about to be overrun by a pack of Cougars that somehow have managed to weave their way through the artillery barrage. In a flash, you are able to dive down and snatch the operator up and break out of the kill zone. Looking out your canopy, you can see that you have sustained some damage across your Veritech, but you are still in operational condition.

Grumpy is the only one to come through the bombardment relatively unscathed.

Bishop takes his Beta into the maelstrom and is immediately hit by a blast from a heavy laser that rips into your armor, doing a tremendous four hundred MDC to your main body. This almost knocks you out of the sky, but just before you slam into the ground, you are able to regain control and safely land next to a trio of infantrymen. They manage to pull themselves out of the trench they were huddling in and dive head-first into your bomb bay. "We're in! Go go go!"

The Thing gets slammed by a missile that impacts on your upper thruster pack, saving your main body armor from heavy damage but destroying your thruster pack and wiping out your supply of short range missiles in it. Regaining control, you continue forward and spot a pair of Paraxians being battered by the massive shockwaves of the moment.

Scorch doesn't fare as well. Initially, you make good progress getting past the worst of the bombardment, but then a heavy laser hits her Valkyrie, knocking you out of control as your armor is boiled away for three hundred fifty points of MDC damage. Just when you think that the worst is over, a 40cm artillery shell hits your already damaged armor and punches deep into your mecha, destroying the Valkyrie and sending it crashing into the ground.

With the Beta in tatters, Bishop verifies the bomb bay doors are closed before lifting off and skidaddling out of the bombardment zone ever fearful of swapping modes in case she just crumbles to pieces. With a quick shout, Bishop also verifies the trio is hanging in there. Once clear of the fire area Bishop will rally with his squadron mates preferably at an allied base. Failing that, any quiet piece of real estate without Invid will do.

On the radio, "If anyone survived that hell storm, rally up!" Hoping at least someone answers the hail.

Rolls for piloting, instruments, and detect ambush/concealment.

The Beta's controls are a little sluggish responding, but you are alive and can maneuver, and with just a bit of a wobble you are able to set down at a Forward Operating Base. Ground crews come running up and stop short when the see the massive blast damage done to your Veritech. One looks up at Bishop as you sit in the cockpit and call out, "What the hell, man?!? Are you freaking nuts, flying into a bombardment zone like that?!? Are you hurt? Jesus! I've never seen a Beta take a hit like that before! Hell, its a bloody miracle that you're alive after that. I don't know if the High Command will bust your ass down to buck private or give you a medal. Get a medic over here and check these men out!"

Orikanyo Red Shadow Claws What are the two of you doing?

"Grab who you can and hurry the hell out we don't have time!" Grumpy was practocally ready to start heaving out his lunch the moment the moment they hit ground Head count whos still here? Bella? Thing? Bishop? Scorch?

...Scorch...?

Loxley you better fucking answer me!

Amanda!"

Grumpy kept calling, keeping his eye on the world around them and the landscape being torn apart with fire raining from the sky, where was this girl? Are there others down there he could save? Fuck, god damn it say something!

"Who the fuck thought this was right? There was men down there! I'll skin their hide and turn them into a fucking coat.

Fucking hell answer my damn words Storm dragons! Answer and form up or so help me god i'll gut you first!"

Thing guns the engines as soon as the Paraxians are on board. He does his best to weave between the oncoming missiles and lasers, hoping to bring them all back as safe as possible.

While he does it he answers Grumpy "Thing here, am on my way back"

With the bombardment done, the smoke begins to clear to reveal a cratered Moonscape in front of you. The ground forces begin to probe forward, looking for signs of resistance, and the hope that there might be some survivors from the fringe of the barrage. The good news is, the rush of the Inorganics seems to have been stopped. The bad news is, there are few survivors of the attack, from either the damage done by the Invid or by the mass of artillery that rained down.

The few members of the Storm Dragons that managed to get through the attack in relatively one piece start to move out to locate the missing pilots of your team. It does not take long to locate Amanda's crashed Valkyrie. It has taken critical damage, with several deep holes blasted into it before the stricken aircraft plowed into the ground. Amazingly, the woman at the controls is still alive, even though she has taken quite a beating. The pilots compartment was not breached, but the force of the impact on the ground is what caused her body to be shattered. In fact, it is amazing that she's alive at all, and upon discovering her, medical teams appear in force to begin the process of cutting her out of the Valkyrie. Even if she lives, it will be a long time before she is medically cleared to fly once more.

Bella has also been hit hard, and her Alpha is a total loss. The proud Paraxian has been battered a bit, but the most grievous wounds are mental, not physical. The entire experience of getting shot down has gotten her rattled, and the entire idea of going back into the cockpit has her going pale. She will require extensive psychotherapy before she will ever get into the cockpit again.


But Bella and Amanda are not the only pilots to have a bad day. In her first major flight, Pyrrah also managed to get shot down by the Invid. She was on the move heading back to allied lines in her back-up Cyclone when the Inorganic rush began, and the order for the general artillery strike went out. There was no way for you to make it out of the hot zone before getting hit, but then a insane pilot in a Valkyrie comes flying through the steel rain of missiles and capitol ship weapon fire, swooping down to grab you up and jet out to safety. The unit insignia of that pilot is known to you from the renown of the team, both from their work capturing the Robotech Factory, and for being one of the few outsiders that have the Blessing of the High Priestess of the Temple of Life.

At the moment, the UEEF has control of the valley, letting the battered forces lick their wounds and regroup.

Amanda was safe, and so was Bella, at least physically. The breath of relief that came from grumpy when the news was given almost took all the air from his lungs.

Scorch would survive...

And he didn't loose his first rookie, well, aside from the ship but you can replace metal, not people.

The captain put a hand on the ship that shuttled him through hell, a mixture of pure luck, bullshit, and Alex's calls on incoming strikes were all that kept them alive... Maybe some of his piloting skill as well but you never know. He lingered near the large machine, it was warm still but he didn't care.

He used the valkyrie to keep standing for awhile longer, rattled, shaken, but he will be okay... After he throttles whoever gave the command to fire all the shit they have...

Wait... what happened to that cyclone wearing person he saved?

Pyrrah disengages the Cyclone armor and pulls her helmet off with an angry yank to let her long red hair spill free. This was her first real mission, and she ends up getting shot down! Worse yet, when she get her Cyclone out, she looks up at a never ending swarm of Invid coming out of the ground at her, followed by the order for all the big guns to open up on her very position! She was staring Death in the face, fighting back the fear that was trying to crawl up her spine. I may be young, but I will stand tall and embrace my fate.

Then, just as the explosions start to rattle her, knocking her flat, she could feel herself being picked up and hauled out of there at high speed! One glance up at her savior showed her that it was a UEEF Valkyrie, one belonging to the well-renown squad known as the Storm Dragons! She could see the pilot in the cockpit glance down at her once, and the man in the back seat gave her a friendly wave. Pyrrah tries to wave back, but her arms are pinned in the hand of the mecha, so she settles on a nod.

Once she was dropped off, the Valkyrie pilot once more bolted out into the kill zone, looking for the Goddess knows what, once more risking his life probably trying to save others. Pyrrah can feel a sense of wonder come over her as she watches the Veritech burn off. Either that pilot is brave beyond words, or is the craziest ptahk that I have ever seen! Either way, I hope that those two live. I owe them a blood debt.

Time passes, and it becomes clear that as of now, the day has been won by the Expeditionary Forces, giving them more time to bring in more heavy ground forces to make sure the place is secure. This will give me some time to go and find that pilot and offer my thanks in person. Now all I need to do is find her. Heh. With my luck, it will be a male that I owe my debt to! With that, the young Paraxian goes looking.

Soon enough, she gets directions for where the members of the Storm Dragons are currently at. When she get there, she sees a quartet of officers, one Spherian and three human males. Pyrrah holds her head up high as she approaches the four, snapping to attention and giving a crisp salute to the Captain. "Sir, I am Lt. Pyrrah Nikos, a pilot that was downed in the middle of the hot zone. One of your pilots came flying in at no small risk to themselves and saved me while I was in my Cyclone. I would like to speak to this pilot and thank her- I mean, him, personally. Do you know which one I owe my life to?"

Grumpy took a moment to look up from his self mental medication to look at the startling red head before him. He glanced at Alex, before looking back at the crimson haired Paraxian, so this was the person he saved? Talk about a fox.

"Good to see you are doing well Lieutenant, was somewhat worried my extraction was abit rough.

I was the one who brought you out of that hellhole, damn near close to loseing you down there i'd say... Almost lost two of our own so don't take this to heart." Wait... what was that last part she said?

Owe her life to? He began to wonder what she meant by that. "Should mention, I am Captain David Darwin of the Storm Dragons. Craziest sons of a bitches in the fleet."