Chapter Nine: Prairie Fire!

[Psychie]

Toph lines up her Mjolnir's cannon and selects a Plasma round for it. "Plasma shell going out to join the party. On the way." With a roar, the mecha's cannon sends out the selected ammo on its deadly path.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Hercules was enthused by the second perfectly placed cannon round and the wave of secondaries it sparked off.
"Looks like these Zeki have a taste for MPAT. Don't worry, my big blue friends, Chef Hercules has plenty more of them in the oven, so the buffet tables are open!", he chuckled before lining up another one and sending it downrange at the exposed alien mecha.

 

[Purr]

Captain Hesperus Silanon Tag!

(Part 1 of 2)

Ylva... (sorry, Sil! I forgot to include this in my last post. Whoops! =) )

Spoiler: Oops!

I almost forgot to post Trouble's current favorite song. Rawr!
"Danger Cat" by Lone Wild

"Smoke's on the way." Trying to ignore the mechakitten's excitement for a brief moment, she adjusts the targeting systems to cover Adamantium's back, and sends her load of smoke missiles on their way. Then, her left leaves the controls for long enough to try to scoop up Trouble and drag him out of her immediate vision - and onto the arm rest where he might not be quite as irritating. Calm down. Where, exactly? Down there? On the ship?

It's a funny thing to have a telepathic cybernetic cat with a life purpose magnetically adhered to the inside of one's cockpit. Ylva could swear, in a less-dangerous situation, she could probably turn the Prototype Super Logan in any direction and Trouble would just kitty his way to the nearest spot between him and "the one that got away." Ylva could probably turn the vehicle in a slow 360 turn and Trouble would likely mew and scooch along the inside of the cockpit always keeping himself aimed at the right position.

"Reeeewr!" Trouble reewrs, his excited face and whiskers alight and animated. His tiny tail is waving all over the place. That boyish voice explains telepathically to all of the Wild Cards. "Nuuu! No kitty calming down until we find him! We cant loses him agains! He's past the big-big ship! It's really him! I swearz! Da Purr'fess'r will be so unhappies if we loses him again!" Trouble then proceeds to continue to energetically mew and meow but this time mostly to himself. He tries his level best not to interfere with what the Wild Cards are trying to accomplish in bailing Adamantium out of this sure-death situation.

Still, those bitty little eyes and paws of his stay dutifully aimed southward.

 

[Silanon]

Fire does the trick. So does the smoke, thus far. Good. Seems like there's a way to regain control of this mess. And heck, those tanks certainly pack a punch when they get to hit a target. The Swede adds her own form of destruction to the mix. Less of a punch, but maybe enough. If it allows Adamantium to get out of there alive, it counts. Only then does she address Trouble's excitement once more.

"We'll find him, Trouble. He won't get away from us. Just gotta do this first." A number of buttons demand her attention for just a short moment, interrupting. "Who's he, anyway? Friend? Foe? Something else? Any idea if he's danger - or in danger?"

 

[Purr]

Captain Hesperus Tag!
(Part 2 of 2)

Fire does the trick. So does the smoke, thus far. Good. Seems like there's a way to regain control of this mess. And heck, those tanks certainly pack a punch when they get to hit a target. The Swede adds her own form of destruction to the mix. Less of a punch, but maybe enough. If it allows Adamantium to get out of there alive, it counts. Only then does she address Trouble's excitement once more.

"We'll find him, Trouble. He won't get away from us. Just gotta do this first." A number of buttons demand her attention for just a short moment, interrupting. "Who's he, anyway? Friend? Foe? Something else? Any idea if he's danger - or in danger?"

Trouble takes a moment to look over his little shoulder at Ylva, his face shows alarm and he gives a little gasp. "Ree-wrarrr!" "Of course, he's not a daaanger! How could you think he wuz a daaanger? Miss Hitomi told The Purr'fess'r she 'checked him out' an' dat 'he was cleeean!' Which reminds me... dis here spot is diiirty." Trouble begins licking the canopy glass in an attempt to remove some stain too small for Ylva to see from where she is.

Trouble continues. "Da One Dat Got Away iz a Super Mister Smarty-pants from your world. Everybody at the conference was some kinda big-brain! So dat means he knows a whole lot about..." Trouble's whisker's flutter in thought, "... stuff! The Purr'fess'r an' Miss Hitomi reeeaaally wanted ta talk ta him, but things got all craaazy when da human pulled out da gun. Da show waz over after dat, it sure waaas! But we can't let him get away again! It could be reeeaaally bad if we do!"

Trouble gazes at Ylva, his golden kitty-eyes pleading. "My whole purposes here iz to track down Traversers! I can't stand having failed once, and mebbe we'll fail again? Oh, whatever happens, promise we won't let him get away again, Miss Ylva! You gotta prooomise!"

What does Ylva do?

* * *​

Spoiler: Instrumental Battle Music

"Legend of the Shadows" by Jack Wall (one of the big names that made Mass Effect's music come to life!).

Hangar Bay Bravo thunders with the sound of the Mjolnir cannon-fire as the Wild Cards send round after round into the burning chaos that they and First Flight have created. The plasma rounds and incendiary bombs continue to light the snows and earth beneath into great heaping walls of red-orange flame as if the sun itself had dropped the tiniest bit of its galactic power into a single smoldering mass there at the front of the Red Thunder cloud.

Still, the Wild Cards can see blast after blast from many enemies inside the cloud streaking at Adamantium's position despite the great colored smoke wafting through the air. Adamantium's radio channel is an absolute chaotic mess, or rather, it would be except for the calm voices trying to make the best of the pandemonium. The Wild Cards soon realize Adamantium is still taking fire and struggling to stay alive.

Mack clenches her teeth from within the Mjolnir she and Cera share. "There! I see you, you bastard. I'm gonna smoke you here and now!" True enough, the round is loaded, aimed, and expertly fired from the Broadsword's bay into the earth-shaking din of flames, twisted metal, and enemy fire. You see an Officer's Pod painted black and red. The flames from your plasma rounds chase away the cloud leaving it open, and here Mack's round strikes soundly right off its canopy - one hell of a shot given you are about a mile and a half away and closing...

...but the unit does not explode. In fact, there is no damage from the thing at all as Mack's round rolls off to one side... and begins emitting yellow smoke. "What?!" Mack gasps as the MacKenzie Curse raises its ugly head once again. "You gotta be kidding me! I shot a smoke round at it?!"

Spoiler: OOC

Once again, a Traverser lesson learned (I hope). Remember that the machines you are Traversing with will follow your every move, but YOU are the ones making the decisions and all of your gifts (and curses, which you can hear Mack doing some real cursing of her own over the polyphonic nexus) apply. Even with Traversing, there is no better way to know you and your machine than direct experience.

Probably thinking he's being marked for another bombing run (what would you think if it were you?), the Officer's Pod begins to retreat from the smoke and into the Red Thunder cloud. Except that part of the humungous cloud vanishes as Toph's plasma round strikes nearby, vacating all concealment and safety for the pod while also catching it in its tremendous blast! The rocked Zeki-Zentraedi mecha staggers and stumbles. At one point, the pilot seems to realize his mecha's legs are on fire, and in an attempt that can accurately be called both futile and humorous, the pilot begins to try to rub out the Mega-damage plasma round in what little ice and snow are around him. Each of you, with your education, know instantly that this has no chance of succeeding, yet there he goes trying!

Mario's round takes to the air and he plants a bullseye right on this unlucky pilot. The blast knocks the pod sideways and blows off a leg. It rocks around for a moment or two as the pilot appears to be attempting to make a mad exit from the burning vehicle, but then it explodes like the smallest of stars sending hot shrapnel in every direction!

Hercules' shot too causes mayhem as his MPAT round shoots out of his Mjolnir's tank-turret and sails across the Antarctic wind to the edge of the Red Thunder cloud that was just cleared by First Flight's bombing run. While Hercules does not detect any secondary explosions, the shot seems to hit a few somethings inside the cloud.

Looking to your right and left, you see several rows of beings rifle-laden beings in Predator Cyclone armor, each decorated in some way with strange paint, ancient-looking symbols, and artistic flashes of spiritual designs across their Mega-damage skins. The Broo are here! They have set up in prone position, about twenty of them to your left and almost as many to your right. They are taking aim at the Red Thunder cloud with large rifles (projectile if you had to guess) with what look like high-tech scopes and suppressors mounted on their elegant lengths.

You hear Flight Lieutenant Piper's voice come over your channel. "Anti-ship measures coming in! Where are my Beasties at?"

This produces a giga-ton of howling, screeching, snarling, savage sounds all over the channel until Captain Sharp's voice cuts in. "Anti-ship measures? What have they got?"

Then the Wild Cards see for themselves. First, a plume, a near smokeless trail lifts up and out from the Red Thunder cloud. At its head is some oval-shaped thing not unlike a missile, but altogether no missile at all. With your best zoom on, you can see digits willing and teeth snapping. Then you see another. And another.

"Incoming Wargoths, sir!" Piper replies.

"They're mecha-based, right? How are they a threat to the Broadsword?"

Piper's reply is steely-cold. "Wargoths can't be spoofed; chaff and flares don't work on 'em. In our last couple of fights, they were armed with Sheefers, sir."

"Sheefers?"

"Short for 'Shield Defeaters,' sir. They fly through shields like they don't exist. We don't know how they do it. Worse yet, if they make contact with the Broadsword, they can immediately go for our vital spots like all three of the hangar bays you, the Wild Cards, and the Broo are occupying. Just one Wargoth against one of our munitions pods might cause severe loss of life, sir." Piper's voice drops an octave as she sadly adds, "It's how they nailed the Battleaxe. She never flew the same after that."

"What can we do?" Sharp offers.

"I recommend you stay on your targets, sir! The Battleaxe didn't have Beasties! Let them handle the Wargoths!" Piper adds another problem. "We're coming up on one mile from Adamantium, sir! They're really getting hammered and their speed is slowing. No sign of Scary Jerry. They're hurting bad and requesting immediate evac. The Broadsword can come down and scoop them up, but then we are wide open for any surprises the Zeki might throw at us. Options?"

Captain Sharp comes up with one in a jiffy. "If there's one thing I know, it's tanks. We have the Wild Cards here. Can you drop us between Adamantium and the Red Thunder cloud? Our butts will be down there in the snow, but we can act as a barrier between the Zeki and Adamantium."

"Sir, begging your pardon, but what's this we stuff, sir? You can't go down there! You're the commanding officer on the ship!"

"Try and stop me, Piper! Those are my people down there and I've got a Spartas tank around me! Either we can keep firing from up here or drop down there and get some in person! Two roads but we can only choose one. One moment. I'll get back with you."

"Aye aye, sir!"

Over the polyphonic nexus, Cera cannot help but share her feelings with her fellow Wild Cards and Trouble. "This male... this... Captain Sharp. He is a fine human leader."

Captain Sharp does take but a single moment to come across the Wild Cards squadron channel where it is just you and him. "Wild Cards! You've fought against the Zeki before like no one else from the year 2025. If you've got any ideas, now's the time to speak up! Continue putting down fire and sound off!" As if setting the example, Captain Sharp's Spartas 105mm cannon barks out another round toward the Red Thunder cloud.

What do the Wild Cards do?

 

[Purr]

Captain Hesperus Psychie Silanon Tag!

(Bonus Part! Or... I forgot a couple of things like Ylva's attack Action and something with Toph! Whoops! =) )

Aiming the Prototype Super Logan's Tri-Cannon is akin to driving a car you know everything about but have no real time in - you know what every button can do, can accurately read every screen, and when Ylva turns the control stick and throttle control... it is still a bit of a surprise in how the Super Logan reacts like a high-performance Logan Veritech. The controls? Why, they're downright touchy! And Ylva knows that since she is Traversing with Munin.

It makes things easier, smoother, and perhaps the desire to fly more and traverse more increase as a result? Only each Traverser who uses technopathy can be sure.

There are subtle black shadows hiding inside the Red Thunder cloud, this the Super Logan's telescopic gun-sights can tell her. But which are shadows and which are real? Squeezing the trigger, Ylva looses Munin's Tri-Cannon at what might be a solid target and three powerful beams of plasma fire off together and into the mist cutting thin, neat lines into the crimson mist which stay there. The plasma blasts seem to stop and a shadow falls backward and is gone. Ylva cannot be sure what she hit, but she knows it isn't there now!

* * *​

While Toph is loosing round after round in the completely-familiar-yet-near-alien hover tank of Cera's creation, her perceptive senses pick up a scent - a scent that normally does not arise inside a Mjolnir's cockpit, but indeed it is here, outside of her Mega-suit and inside the Mjolnir's cockpit. Immediately, her nose identifies it. It is perfume. Chanel No. 5. Just enough for her to sense through her Mega-suit's air filters - a little something someone added perhaps in the hopes Toph would detect it... and smile.

 

[Silanon]

"Got... something. Hard to see what it was, but it's down." Ylva follows the Captain's example and scans the ground for additional targets - and fires away when the opportunity presents itself. Sure, words and decisions are needed, right now - but that's no excuse to not protect Adamantiums bacon as well as she can, from up here.

"Can't speak from much experience, Sir, but being down there might give Adamantium the chance to regroup. Seems better than what we have right now. Is there any chance to find Jerry, other than with pure luck? If he's not with the others, he has to be somewhere."

With that said, she mutes her voice once more, then briefly turns her attention towards the last somewhat urgent problem - Trouble. Or rather, the cat's news. "Promise, little one. Once we've cleaned up this mess, we'll be on his trail right away." For once, she does not take the bait and asks for details about what Trouble just hinted at. Stories will have to wait while lives are at stake. Plus, with all the guns blazing, the present is exciting enough as it is. She shifts in her seat, adjust the aim - everything just a little smoother than it should be, but that's easy to get used to, for once.

 

[Sherwood]

Mario speaks up, saying, "Sir, I've put myself between the bad guys and those that they are trying to kill before. Any damage that my tank takes can be repaired, so I'm game to get down there and get into the mix up close and personal to save our team members. Let's do this."

 

[Captain Hesperus]

"You know I'm there right beside you, Mario. Besides, we owe Adamantium for those delectable baklava.", Hercules chipped in, "Captain, the more we talk about this, the greater the risk of Adamantium getting picked off by the Zeki. We've bloodied their noses, let us go finish the fight off!"

 

[Psychie]

While Toph is enjoying the cloying scent of the perfume, right now is not the time to be thinking distracting thoughts. She says, "I agree. Lets get this show on the road and save Admantium! Then we can see to the person that Trouble is all worked up over."

 

[Purr]

Psychie "The question is how, lieutenant." Captain Sharp replies. "Is it better to continue laying down fire from up here or joining them down there and acting as a barrier? You know the Zeki-Zentraedi better than I do. Now's the time to use that information for Adamantium's survival. What's your take, lieutenant?"

 

[Psychie]

Toph ponders for a short moment, then says, "Sir, as a pilot, I am trained to engage from range and soften up the target before closing in. At this point, we've done quite a bit of the 'softening up', and I think that we need to go in close to provide active cover for the recovery of Admantium and draw fire away from them by giving the Zeki something much more important to target instead of the ground troops. I say we go in."

 

[Purr]

"Now that's an opinion!" Captain Sharp grins.

 

[Purr]

Captain Hesperus Kaerri Psychie Sherwood Silanon Tag!

(OOC note for all: There is a heck of a lot going on in this post so shoot up any questions in Fat Gandalf's if you want something cleared up!)

"Mack? Cera? What's it gonna be?" Captain Sharp's Spartas rocks heavily as another round leaves its cannon and flies out from the Broadsword toward the Red Thunder cloud.

Mack is the first to reply. "The more the Zeki have shooting at them, the less they'll be shooting at Adamantium. I say take us down, sir!"

But Cera has reservations. "Doing so takes out of the safety the Broadsword provides and puts us up against unknown numbers. The Red Thunder Cloud is now 1 km wide, 1 km long, and 500 meters high. This will place the Wild Cards and our commanding officer on more equal footing with the Zeki. In other words..."

"In other words?" Captain Sharp asks.

"... it is a trade-off, sir. We are definitely risking ourselves for Adamantium."

There is a moment of quiet over the radio then Captain Sharp comes up again. The Broadsword begins to descend toward the snow and ice. His Spartas transforms into Battloid mode, his EU-11 in hand as he walks near the edge of the hangar bay and the point of no return. Beneath all of you is a world of fire and ice and all manner of danger. There stands Captain Sharp, willing to be the first to go, to lead the charge. "Get us down to 500 feet!" he orders someone over the radio. "Put us right smack between the Zeki and our guys! Wild Cards! Get ready and drop on my order!"

Mack and Cera line up along the edge of Hangar Bay Bravo with you. You think you sense hesitation from the bridge, but you hear Piper's evenly-given "Aye, aye, sir!"

As you're descending, you look up and see that 3 or 4 incoming anti-ship Wargoths have suddenly become 13 or 14 anti-ship Wargoths! In curving eager trails, the green creatures seem to run through the sky with their grim payloads on their backs and their rockets propelling them easily away from the Broadsword's laser fire that tries to intercept them, but fails. Lying on their fronts or in sitting positions all along your left and right, some distance away from your loud and powerful Mjolnirs, the Broo Crew can be seen aiming their projectile rifles. There you can make out Chief Faydra in her all-black Predator Cyclone giving orders in what sounds like the Beastie's native language.

"OOCH-yar sayet!" she yells. "Kos?"

"Kos!" Every voice in both lines of Broo reply.

"Duskee!"

"Huh?"

"Kos?"

"Yah-yah! Kos!" Duskee repeats. All of the barrels on these rifles are turned to the left of the oncoming Wargoth line. They are getting bigger by the moment. But not Duskee's. Duskee is on the farthest right position and he is aiming on the right end of the Wargoth line.

Chieftain Faydra's shout as she lines up one of the Wargoth in her sights is as fierce as it is hate-filled. At her single word - "Safta!" - the entire line opens up with suppressed rifle fire and in as long as it takes for the rounds to get there, Wargoth begin exploding in howling eruptions of Mega-damage fire and debris!

On the right side of the Wargoth line, one explodes, followed by another, and after a few more tries, yet another and Duskee lets out a youthful howl! "Wetsuuu! I kill three! Yaaaah!"

Broo cheer all across the firing line, Faydra included. Howls and cries of "Wetsu!" rise up but the Beasties never change their positions, never look up, and never let up on putting out that hellish, almost quiet, fire loosing out of their suppressed Undertaker rifles!

As the last of the Wargoth wave disintegrates, you look down to see the snow and ice of Antarctica is getting closer and closer to you, the Red Thunder Cloud getting bigger and bigger, and the small white cloud of Adamantium leaving desperate trails in the barren tundra as they hustle along, some of them carrying each other. "700 feet," Piper's voice comes over the comms and Captain Sharp clasps his EU-11 rifle with both of his Spartas's hands now as he prepares to jump. "600," Piper calls. "500!"

A series of yellow alert lights along Hangar Bay Bravo shift color to all-green and Captain Sharp is the first one out of the Broadsword. "Gerooonimooo!" he yells as his Spartas thrusters come to life. Those thrusters are the only thing between Sharp either landing safely on Antartica or pancaking into a sudden death if they fail. One by one, so each of you have plenty of room, the Wild Cards bail from the high-up and see nothing but a huge red cloud full of missile and great gouts of particle beam fire ahead of you and solid sheets of white and gray ice if you dare look directly down. You light up your Mjolnir's thrusters, that is unless your name is Ylva in which case you fly down effortlessly in Munin the Prototype Super Logan, perhaps only the second of two of a kind Veritechs.

The earth shakes all around you! The world zips by faster than anyone in a giant metal anything should be speeding at! As you fall toward the tundra and your human senses - just for one nearly endless moment - remind you that jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft or spacecraft... is not a natural act! This is NOT something human beings are supposed to be doing! Some of you have left your guts back up on the Broadsword's sturdy deck to the cheers of the Broo who roared after you as you jumped out! Unless you have nerves of steel (read: a bonus to your Mental Endurance Attribute) or time in the air flying aircraft, either your hands are shaking, your gut is trembling, or you're sweating despite your Mega-suit's climate control, or your heart is beating so fast inside your chest you can positively feel it - or all of the above! Take your pick or add some if you please!

But in the end, there is nothing to fear from the 500-foot freefall. Not in a Mjolnir, there isn't. Despite all of your military training, despite the sure knowledge that Cera's beloved Mjolnirs can actually fly for a short time, despite being linked via technopathy to Cores that firmly seem to trust you, you are a human being and your logic and emotion do battle. That battle is different for each of you. Yet as your mecha's feet finally touch down on the snows, you look up to see the biggest wall of red death coming at you that you have ever seen! Autocannon-fire! Plasma blasts! Particle beam death! They all lance out as if the Red Thunder Cloud were just one big beast from some alien apocalypse! And you know - somehow you know - this... was the last sight some foes of the ever-militant Zeki-Zentraedi saw before they died. This was the last thing they ever saw.

But they weren't defending your Special Forces buddies on the Broadsword. They probably weren't defending Earth either. There is a warrior in each of you - and right now? That warrior is telling you to do whatever is necessary that you and your battle-buddies live!

Huge blasts of destruction, broad beams of light becoming highways of death - the Broadsword's own triple anti-ship cannons - fire from above you as the Broadsword gives you cover fire as best as it can while gaining altitude and seeking its own safety in the sky. Jet-fire roars above you along with gunfire as First Flight in their four giant Alpha-Beta aircraft shake the air above you and also provide cover fire.

You are now only 2,000 feet from the edge of the advancing Red Thunder Cloud! The huge Command ship dominates your view to your right while some 500 feet or so behind you, Adamantium limps and rolls and tries to desperately return fire for their very lives! The blasts from the Red Thunder Cloud are all over the place! This? This is not disciplined gunfire coming from within the cloud. You are military soldiers trained in battlefield-mecha combat and you know wild fire when you see it! Your instincts tell you that something is terribly wrong inside of that cloud! Perhaps the Zeki are confused? Perhaps they lack direction? Whatever the case is, they're shooting not at Adamantium or you or any specific targets - their unfocused fire is everywhere!

Unlike yours.

Over the din over a loud and crazy battlefield you have just left the safety of a shielded, armored, airborne starship to enter, Captain Sharp from his Spartas shouts out. "Give me plasma, canister rounds, or MPATs all along their front! I want their heads down in the snow or blown off! FIRE!" Once more, he is the first to follow his own order as a hot round rocks his Spartas and flies downrange!

How do the Wild Cards respond?

 

[Sherwood]

Moving his tank forward, the Italian plans on getting in the path of any fire aimed at Admantium and give the Zeki something else to shoot at. Mario calls out, "Whatever it is that has the Zeki so off their game, lets use this time to our advantage! Give 'em hell, Wild Cards! MPAT downrange!"

 

[Psychie]

Muppet lays down some more Plasma fire, trying to thin out the numbers of Zeki out there and give them a new set of targets to go after instead of the lightly defended Admantium team. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm running low on Plasma rounds. Make them count!"

 

[Silanon]

Where the other Wild Cards' entry is one of force - heavily armored tanks with heavy guns - Ylva's is instead a show of grace. Where the others land to shield Adamantium, she only allows her Logan to drop down half the distance before the thrusters let it pretty much hover in place. Close enough to be down there quickly; high enough for the better overview, with plenty of space for her to maneuver. The Logan's weapons spit plasma wherever the opportunity presents itself - offering covering fire for those below.

 

[Purr]

Captain Hesperus Tag!

From the Wild Card's perspectives...

When Toph puts her plasma round into the cloud, she gets the satisfaction of seeing two secondary explosions and a clear 50 foot opening as the Red Thunder Cloud parts and stays parted in all directions where her round hit. A Battle Pod on fire flips through the air and lands upside-down, its legs kicking aimlessly. Another damaged pod explodes brightly in an eruption of plasma-fire and Protoculture reactor going nova upon the ice of Earth's South Pole.

Ylva's cannon-fire creates deep streaks into the cloud as the plasma eats everything in its path, but there is no secondary explosion. Still, it stops short and Ylva knows that would only happen if it hit something solid. And made of hypercarbon (Mega-damage material)!

But it is Mario's MPAT that cleans the house! No less than five secondary explosions of red and orange erupt under his perfectly-planted MPAT! Many clouds of Battle Pod debris can be seen briefly spinning wildly through the air. Mario can bet his family's spaghetti recipe that this is the result of a critical hit! Sounds over the radio of "Good shot!" and "Damn nice one, Wild Cards!" come over the open radio channel from First Flight in crystal clear audio inside Mario's Mjolnir.

Still, something seems unusually off inside the Red Thunder Cloud. Half of their cannon-fire and auto-cannon rounds seem to be targeting nothing in particular. Wild shots if you've ever seen any. In one way, this is of tremendous benefit to Adamantium who, behind you and now only a quarter-kilometer away, are hustling and doing everything they can to return fire. From their little group comes a pristine example of quality training in action as five weapons, two of which you identify as Thundercrackers all raise total hell as they focus on one target while harassing others. Though limping and wounded, the sheer amount of firepower coming out from their team is nothing short of hellacious! It is like the Zeki are trying to chase down a pack of bleeding wolverines. Yet, neither force is yielding.

First Flight in their four huge birds continue to harass overhead. Captain Sharp hails them. "First Flight! Got anything left?" he asks in reference to their bomb payloads.

"Aye aye, sir," that female Scottish voice replies. "H.E. and frags. Where do ye want it?"

"Drop it all along the front of the enemy column, just inside the Red Thunder Cloud. Once you're empty, come pick up Adamantium."

"Sir?"

"There are four of you in those big birds, right? Piper tells me you can control the Alpha and the Beta veritechs simultaneously? That means you've got eight Veritechs with a total of sixteen hands. I want Adamantium in those hands and on board the Broadsword. Pronto!"

"Aye aye, sir! But who will be yer air cover?"

"We're tankers, miss. We cover our own. Now get it done!"

"Moving in, captain!"

Explosions lift more Battle Pods and Officer's Pods high into the sky as First Flight drops everything they've got left at the head of the 1 km long Red Thunder Cloud. You can see whole lines of pure explosive hell all in front of you. It is one thing to see a bomb drop from far away; it is quite another to have it happen in front of you. The ground shakes violently but you don't feel it in your hover vehicles and Super Logan. One by one, First Flight comes in roaring over your heads. Their super-long ships split in mid-air and become TWO veritechs with their guns placed along their forearms as they come down in Guardian mode. They have been covering you and the Broadsword from the Zeki horde; now it is clearly on you to return the favor now that they are vulnerable and on the ground behind you.

You hear all kinds of radio chatter over the open channel as First Flight begins their pick up of Adamantium.

As gunfire and particle beam fire zip past you, Captain Sharp comes over the squad channel. "Wild Cards! The bridge is telling me we've got a visitor in the form of an unknown-class Veritech fighter. Some kind science or reconnaissance vessel. We think he's with the UEG and 3 miles out. I want you to overhear this and somebody take over after I get some answers. The mikes are hot... now."

* * *

From Eadric's perspective...

A moment later after being addressed by the first man, there is the sound of another. This one sounds busy. And under stress. And as level-headed professional as a busy, stressed-out person in charge can be given the deadly circumstances taking place below.

"This is Captain Sharp. Buddy, you've chosen a heck of a time to go sightseeing. Mind telling us who you are and your intent?"

(OOC: The Wild Cards can hear all of this. Kaerri Feel free to reply in-character here now. And welcome to the main game!)

* * *

The Red Thunder Cloud comes to pause as its front is smashed to bits by your combination of fire and that of First Flight's. Somewhere in the snows ahead of you, a smoking wargoth comes spinning out of control, hits the tundra, and explodes into terrible flames. The cloud is about to advance again. Mack shouts out. "They're slowing inside the cloud! Maybe walking over their dead! Hit 'em with area-of-effect rounds!" The cloud still prevents you from seeing in clearly.

How do the Wild Cards respond to this order?

 

[Kaerri]

Spoiler: Lt. Eadric Braidwood

[URL='https://www.rpnation.com/threads/eadric-braidwood.507177/]Character Sheet[/URL]
Action Points: 9/9
Bonus Action Points: 0

"Lieutenant Eadric Braidwood, ASC, Extraterrestrial Affairs Liaison." He's not sure why he added that last, except that it seems fairly relevant to the current situation, or at least his presence here. "Apologies for crashing the party, sir. I've just been assigned to Antarctica Base, but owing to, er --" it'd take too long to explain "-- unusual events, I haven't been able to report in yet. Any way I can be of assistance here?" As if Eadric knew himself what he, or rather BOOP, could or could not do. Under his breath, hoping the veritech could hear but Captain Sharp couldn't, he asked, "D'you have full-sized weapons, or just the small ones for the mini-BOOPs?"

 

[Sherwood]

But it is Mario's MPAT that cleans the house! No less than five secondary explosions of red and orange erupt under his perfectly-planted MPAT! Many clouds of Battle Pod debris can be seen briefly spinning wildly through the air. Mario can bet his family's spaghetti recipe that this is the result of a critical hit! Sounds over the radio of "Good shot!" and "Damn nice one, Wild Cards!" come over the open radio channel from First Flight in crystal clear audio inside Mario's Mjolnir.

Mario grins, saying, "Thank you! Thank you! I'm here all week, and don't forget to tip your waitstaff!" He feels at home inside the heavily armored tank as he cycles the main gun for another MPAT shell. "Let's keep up the good work, Wild Cards! The Cap'n says to use AoE shells, and he's not a man you wish to disappoint! MPAT downrange, and get Adamantium out of there in one piece."

 

[Psychie]

Toph lets out a happy cheer as more of the enemy forces go up in flames, especially for Mario's efforts that take out so many of the Zeki. They won't stand in our way of getting Adamantium out of there, and they can't stop us from getting the Ice-9 for mom. I will get to give her a big hug soon.

Following orders, she cycles up another MPAT to try and wipe out the enemy forces in front of them. "Firing MPAT!"

As she does so, her curiosity is now running rampant wondering who is in the unknown Veritech. "Trouble, is that our missing Traverser out there?"

 

[Silanon]

"Could be. Captain, I'm ready to take over anytime - Trouble's with me." For now, Ylva lets Sharp do the talking, and focuses on staying on target; if the first volley didn't do the trick, the second might get there.

 

[Purr]

Captain Hesperus Tag!

"Lieutenant Eadric Braidwood, ASC, Extraterrestrial Affairs Liaison." He's not sure why he added that last, except that it seems fairly relevant to the current situation, or at least his presence here. "Apologies for crashing the party, sir. I've just been assigned to Antarctica Base, but owing to, er --" it'd take too long to explain "-- unusual events, I haven't been able to report in yet. Any way I can be of assistance here?"

Captain Sharp's response sounds about as open-minded as a man in his stressful position can be. "You tell me, son. I haven't seen a Veritech like the one you're in. Can you help out or is it better for you to get to safety?"

As if Eadric knew himself what he, or rather BOOP, could or could not do. Under his breath, hoping the veritech could hear but Captain Sharp couldn't, he asked, "D'you have full-sized weapons, or just the small ones for the mini-BOOPs?"

BOOP replies via the main monitor directly ahead of Eadric. There, from BOOP's perspective, Eadric sees a replay of himself and BOOP back in the base's hangar bay/schoolroom. Eadric has his bare hand near the keypad he was trying to access. Then the warm radiance appears and the temperature of the keypad rises to something far more comfortable than freezing temperatures.

A moment later, another shot. This one very recent. It shows a bunch of big, strong-looking hover tanks that Eadric sure as heck has never seen firing at a gigantic red cloud some 1 kilometer by 500 meters in size and 500 meters in height. When the tank rounds hit, some sail inside the cloud, swallowed up. But when the fire rounds hit, BOOP slows the video and shows it in thermographic detail. Reds and blues and yellows and greens dominate the screen and show the cloud retreating from the fire and, unlike natural smoke, it stays away... clearly from the heat!

BOOP then displays a highly-attractive picture of the GU-11-like Gun Pod currently mounted underneath it. BOOP zooms in. There is no tri-barrel 66mm cannon here, but a single darkly-polished glass that somehow does not seem to reflect light.

"BOOP?" comes the now-familiar sound into Eadric's ears. It sounds as if BOOP wants to know what to do next.

How does Eadric respond?

* * *

Mario grins, saying, "Thank you! Thank you! I'm here all week, and don't forget to tip your waitstaff!" He feels at home inside the heavily armored tank as he cycles the main gun for another MPAT shell. "Let's keep up the good work, Wild Cards! The Cap'n says to use AoE shells...

(ellipsis mine)

Except he didn't. =)

Mack shouts out. "They're slowing inside the cloud! Maybe walking over their dead! Hit 'em with area-of-effect rounds!" The cloud still prevents you from seeing in clearly.

This causes some good-natured chuckling to come from both the captain and the lieutenant. "Mario," Mack asks. "You get hit in the head or something? Captain Sharp and I sound nothing alike!"

Despite the stress of the situation, Captain Sharp finds a moment to add to the moment. "I could always give orders in a higher octave - like thiiis?" And for a single moment, your daring veteran tanker captain performs a ridiculous impression of what sounds like a 13-year-old choir boy in mid-song. "Okay, Wild Cards," he says, returning to a serious tone. "Keep those guns aiming at anything moving inside. Give First Flight the time they need to extract Adamantium."

As he is saying this, the extraction begins to take place. You hear thunderous roars of huge mecha engines coming down and you can feel an immense amount of activity going on not far behind you. But you dare not turn around to look, for the Red Thunder Cloud has been only momentarily daunted by your incoming fire.

Still, Mario's MPAT shell seems to have struck something other than ice and tundra. His round slips just inside the cloud and hits something dead-on which neither moves nor returns fire.

Following orders, she cycles up another MPAT to try and wipe out the enemy forces in front of them. "Firing MPAT!"

Toph's MPAT round flies straight and true into what appears to be the shadowy outline of some kind of strange humanoid-shape Zeki mecha. But the round seems to pass clean into the cloud and then its gone. No secondary explosions, no primary explosions. It is as if the round just vanished!

"Could be. Captain, I'm ready to take over anytime - Trouble's with me." For now, Ylva lets Sharp do the talking, and focuses on staying on target; if the first volley didn't do the trick, the second might get there.

"Copy, lieutenant," is all the time Captain Sharp has to answer with. But Trouble on the other hand (paw?) has all the time in the world to answer the question Toph just put out there.

As she does so, her curiosity is now running rampant wondering who is in the unknown Veritech. "Trouble, is that our missing Traverser out there?"

Spoiler: DISCLAIMER FOR EVERYONE

The following mini-scene results in no combat penalties for Ylva nor any loss in piloting skills. No Mewwoos or humans were harmed in the making of this scene.

"MMMMMEEEEEEEWWW!-CLANG!"

Yes.

That is the sound of a cybernetic kitten flying through the cockpit of a prototype Logan and magnetically-clamping his four paws to the side of Ylva's helmet. Everyone in Mack's polyphonic nexus can hear Trouble madly carrying on. "IT'S HIM! IT'S HIM! I RECOGNIZE HIZ VOICE! YLVA! YOU KEPT YER PROMISE!! AAAH!!"

Spoiler: For all

Trouble asked Ylva to promise that they would get The One That Got Away. Ylva promised. And here he is, in under a minute in game-time, en route to you! Right?

Welcome, everyone, to... The Easiest Promise Ever Kept!

Over the radio, muted and crazed slurping sounds, like some pink-tongued kitten affectionately licking the side of someone's helmet nonstop, ensues. Or is it just combat noise? You be the judge.

"What the hell is that coming over the channel?" Captain Sharp, who is not in the nexus, asks. You can tell getting a response for this is not high on his priority list, but still, a guy with his long battlefield history just has to ask.

Right then, Captain Sharp changes his mind. "Lt. Sveadotter, handle our new guest. If he can help, let him. I've got my hands full here."

What do the Wild Cards (plus Eadric) do next?

 

[Silanon]

Over the radio, muted and crazed slurping sounds, like some pink-tongued kitten affectionately licking the side of someone's helmet nonstop, ensues. Or is it just combat noise? You be the judge.

"What the hell is that coming over the channel?" Captain Sharp, who is not in the nexus, asks. You can tell getting a response for this is not high on his priority list, but still, a guy with his long battlefield history just has to ask.

Right then, Captain Sharp changes his mind. "Lt. Sveadotter, handle our new guest. If he can help, let him. I've got my hands full here."

"It's just the cat, Sir. Sorry. Taking over right now." With that, she mutes herself in that channel, then quickly turns her attention to the ominous background noises. Trouble, get off the helmet. That sound's irritating. We'll celebrate once he's safely with us. Another promise that - hopefully - will mean that this Braidwood-fellow won't have to deal with the same sounds. There's little time for the mechakitten to get off, though, since she quickly opens the channel to contact the new arrival directly.

"Lt. Sveadotter here, taking over for the Captain." She'd add more than her name, but it's not like she can just blurt out anything about the Broadsword; and 'killed in action' is an awkward profession if there's ever been one. "Sorry for any noises, got a bit of trouble. Stay away from the red insect cloud, they're bad news. Don't like heat, though. We won't refuse support - what can you offer?"

 

[Kaerri]

Spoiler: Lt. Eadric Braidwood

Character Sheet
Action Points: 9/9
Bonus Action Points: 0

Captain Sharp's response sounds about as open-minded as a man in his stressful position can be. "You tell me, son. I haven't seen a Veritech like the one you're in. Can you help out or is it better for you to get to safety?"

Perfectly sensible question, under the circumstances, and Eadric had been rather expecting it, yet half-hoping it wouldn't come (vain hope! who wouldn't be asking in a situation like this?). While considering how best to reply, he looked at the main monitor and found BOOP's answer to his own query.

BOOP replies via the main monitor directly ahead of Eadric. There, from BOOP's perspective, Eadric sees a replay of himself and BOOP back in the base's hangar bay/schoolroom. Eadric has his bare hand near the keypad he was trying to access. Then the warm radiance appears and the temperature of the keypad rises to something far more comfortable than freezing temperatures.

A moment later, another shot. This one very recent. It shows a bunch of big, strong-looking hover tanks that Eadric sure as heck has never seen firing at a gigantic red cloud some 1 kilometer by 500 meters in size and 500 meters in height. When the tank rounds hit, some sail inside the cloud, swallowed up. But when the fire rounds hit, BOOP slows the video and shows it in thermographic detail. Reds and blues and yellows and greens dominate the screen and show the cloud retreating from the fire and, unlike natural smoke, it stays away... clearly from the heat!

BOOP then displays a highly-attractive picture of the GU-11-like Gun Pod currently mounted underneath it. BOOP zooms in. There is no tri-barrel 66mm cannon here, but a single darkly-polished glass that somehow does not seem to reflect light.

"BOOP?" comes the now-familiar sound into Eadric's ears. It sounds as if BOOP wants to know what to do next.

How does Eadric respond?

Eadrice watched the first scene, one he was present for but now viewed from a different perspective. Yes, of course, that GU-11-like weapon of his that seems not to be projectile-based. Energy, apparently -- heat? Certainly it produced as much as I needed, and with exquisite timing and precision. The image on the screen shifted, and he saw the mysterious cloud retreating from heat-based rounds. Whatever that is, it's not on our side, and it doesn't like heat. Which I may be able to provide. And then the close-up of BOOP's gun pod. Eadric nodded and patted the console in thanks.

"Lt. Sveadotter here, taking over for the Captain." She'd add more than her name, but it's not like she can just blurt out anything about the Broadsword; and 'killed in action' is an awkward profession if there's ever been one. "Sorry for any noises, got a bit of trouble. Stay away from the red insect cloud, they're bad news. Don't like heat, though. We won't refuse support - what can you offer?"

Eadric accepts the handoff without question or comment. Captain Sharp, Lieutenant Sveadotter, and whoever else was out there obviously didn't have time for chitchat, not with all the fire they were taking (and giving). He adjusts his own transmission accordingly. "I don't fully know -- I'm quite new to this model -- but it has excellent imaging, and I believe its primary weapon to be energy-based, probably heat-producing." And seems to think it can help against the cloud, if I'm understanding BOOP rightly, but I can't say that without sounding crazy, or without long explanations that will sound equally nuts. "So, I think I can help against the cloud, or provide overwatch* if you'd rather."

*Overwatch: this is not a reference to the video game, but to the military term.