Robotech - Tales of the UEEF (Main)

[Sherwood]

In order for Pyrrah to get in contact with her family on Paraxis, you'll need to go to the Communications Center and call from there. After a few moments of getting to the right frequency, you are able to get ahold of one of your Clan sisters. When you give her the idea of coming down to the planet and spending the next two weeks with them, she is quite excited. She says, "I'll have to get ahold of mother, but I don't see why there would be any reason that you and your squad can't come here. I'll call you back as soon as possible!"

During the next few hours, you all are getting ready for your meeting with the Admiral on the Flagship Lenin. There is a shuttle flight scheduled for the morning at 1100 hours and second due to leave at 1400 hours, giving you some options on when you can get there.

 

[Orikanyo]

"Soooo.... Pyrrah, whats your family like?" Grumpy asked as they waited for the shuttle. "Can't say much for mine. Folks are gone, brother is busy working away somewhere, sisters are busy as usual.

Should I know something since i'm your... uhh... Chien Na? Ain't gonna get challenged in combat or something yea?" The man, in his good uniform, looked like he gave two damns about his appearance for once. Shaved, hair cut, no beanie, eyes full of... Well not hope, more like a slightly elevated form of uncertainty.

 

[Psychie]

Pyrrah begins to describe some of the important women of her family. "Our Clan mother, Sunanj, is the rock our family is built on. She is very level headed, and will think things through before making any decisions that affect the family. Hmm. As a Chien-Na, you will be looked upon with respect, and since your rescue of me was while you were in your mecha, you will probably be able to avoid any physical challenges from any of my sisters - except for Pygar. She is rather . . . aggressive, and may want to test your mettle in combat to make sure that you are a worthy holder of my bond. Don't worry, though. It is unlikely that you'll be seriously hurt."

 

[Orikanyo]

"...seriously hurt, of course..." Grumpy seemed to grow slightly worried. "...Well at least I don't need to fight the whole damn household. So the mother is the leader? Or the foremost eldest?" He rose an eyebrow, eyeing the clock...

Even in the darkness of space, buses were still always late.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Thing was quiet and subdued after the events at the troopship. It wasn't the fighting, so much as him feeling like he had nearly lost control, and the almost casual ease with which he brutally murdered the mutineers.

He spoke very matter-of-factly at the bearing, and in a way it felt even worse describing impassionably how he bashed these humans like ragged dolls.

Trying to center himself once more, Thing opted to stay on board ad spend his time meditating and training.

 

[Psychie]

"Sunanj is the oldest of our family. Once she was a very formidable warrior; a true master of the battlefield. Now, her body is old and weak, but her mind is still as sharp as a spear point. Everyone respects her and loves her, and it is a rare moment when someone dares to argue with one of her rulings. The next in line of our family is Romas. She can be thought of as Sunanj's right hand. They are both good mentors, and should be very pleased to have you as our guests."

 

[Sherwood]

The shuttle ride over to the Lenin is quick and uneventful, not nearly as fun and exciting as a Mach speed attack run in your Veritechs. As you exit the shuttle, you are met by one of the Admiral's staff; a major named Michael Rutherford. He welcomes you, and escorts you to his office to go over the protocols of the awards ceremony. It is a very straight-forward affair, without too much fanfare, since Admiral Kutzuzov is not much for pomp and circumstance. You are warned that there will be members of the press corps there, broadcasting the event throughout the Fleet, so behave yourselves.

After the briefing, you are once more escorted through the ship by Maj. Rutherford to the room where the awards ceremony will be taking place. This event is being held in one of the pilot briefing rooms, able to seat over a hundred people at one time, and at this point about two thirds of the seats are filled.

You are whisked off to a side room to wait for the ceremony to start, since you still have about ten minutes before the ceremony is set to start. As you are waiting, the door suddenly opens up and you are now face to face with the Admiral himself. He steps in and gives each of you a deep, penetrating gaze that seems to take in your full measure in mere moments. He finally clears his throat, and says in his gravely Russian accent, "I wished to see you before we were in front of the circus out there. I am not much for fancy words, but I must complement all of you for a job well done. From what I've seen of you, I plan on keeping a close watch on your squadron, and I am expecting great things from you all." He give each of you a quick hand shake, then turns to leave. "Thanks to you, we have now seen a gap in our internal security on our ships. I have plans to close those gaps with a quickness to prevent this kind of tragedy from ever happening again. I was blind by my own dedication to duty to be able to think that even one of our own could ever be a part of such a crime, let alone several dozen. Even with all my years in uniform, I still have much to learn."

A few minutes after the Admiral leaves, a sergeant comes to gather you up. "Sirs? If you would come with me, please?" He leads you out to the briefing room where you can see that the entire room is filled with people, with several people standing on the stage waiting for you. Admiral Kuzuzov introduces you and has the squad come out to receive your awards. He gives a brief speech before turning to the squad. One by one, he comes to you and pins on a new medal to your chest, and the various 2nd lieutenants are now promoted to 1st lieutanants. When the Admiral gets to Grumpy, he pins your medal on and whispers, "Keep up this good work and you'll be a major in less time than I was! Good job!"

With the medals awarded, the gruff Admiral gives you all one final salute before he ends the ceremony.

 

[Psychie]

Pyrrah stands straight and tall as she looks out at the large crowd of people there to observe this wonderful event. If only it were for a better reason than stopping a mutiny! I am proud of what we did, but why couldn't it be due to some heroic combat mission that did not involve having to kill our own people? She tries to put her reservations to rest as the Admiral goes down the line, pinning on her medal and her new rank tab. "Thank you, sir!"

I wonder if I can get a copy of this for my family to see?

 

[Orikanyo]

"Heh, thats when my accent turns Russian i'd imagine." the man whispered back, before letting the rest of the ceremony roll over. He was happy to see his squad getting more and more prestigious, he wondered just how common.. or uncommon all this was... Were what they doing that... Earthshattering? Would anybody be able to do this? he was trained to be a glorified photographer... everything else he sorta just picked up on the way...

it was like... like...

...

As the cameras flashed, grumpy's face turned to immedate realization, his stern gaze solid upon the horizon as he realized....

That he was in a damn anime.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Thing was gruff and solemn. He wasn't paying much attention to these proceedings, lost in his own inner turmoil and grief.

 

[Orikanyo]

Once the squad were allowed off the platform, Grumpy noticed the press began to stir... Like sharks smelling blood in the water they would soon be at them.

Thankfully he had prepared himself for the situation, whatever questions they asked he could deal with... He just hoped they would play nice.

The man straightened out his hat as he walked, the captain's cap shadowed his eyes abit as he tilted his head down, not noticing the intimidating presence he pulled off as a ranking office of his caliber, surrounded by those who will be soon fellow storied veterans.

Could he consider himself a veteran now? Had he been in enough hell holes for that title?

Nonetheless, as he got into range, one of the rwporters shot up. "Captain Darwin if you have time!" "Captain Darwin, is the shield generator project still on?" "How has becoming the squad leader changed your outlook since Lieutenant Chen exchanged?" "Could you elaborate on the happenings during the mutiny?" "Is it true your newest recruit was saved from the Invid horde a few days back?" "Whats your relationship with your Co Pilot Alex?!"

Questions piled up... and it was worse than anything he could imagine.

He could dodge bullets on instinct, evade missiles and lazerfire in his mecha...

But... these were hitting home faster than he could dodge.

"I.." He started and cleared his throat. "The mutineers wished to take the ship to return to earth, something I cannot blame them for." "Does that mean you wish to return home?" "No! No... " he sighed, holding a hand up to stop the badgering. "To wish to return home is a natural thing, at times we all grow homesick, and that has happened to myself plenty of times.

When we were trapped in those jungles I wanted to be home, in that factory? I was tired and exhausted that i just wanted to go back to my favorite old bed.

It's a normal thing to want to return home, but I endure it because I know that the places I will see, the people I will meet, they will be far beyond worth the journey. I wont say it has been easy, hell I still have a long way to go, we all do if we want to see any semblance of peace.

From expanding on technology, fighting, to simply bonding with peoples we have only dreamed of meet when we were trapped on earth with no way of reaching this far. People wrote stories after stories of beings from beyond earth's grasp, the beyond always held out attention even harder than what lurked at the bottom of our own oceans.

For the record, i'd take space over deep oceans any day." This got a laugh from the crowd.

"And here we are, the first people to reach out, instead of being reached. And we are saving people's lives.

Zentraedi, humans, it doesn't matter.

In this story we came out here to be the good guys. So lets make damn sure we blow the stories of the people we meet out of the water eh? We're here to save the Paraxian homeworld, if we can do that then imagine whats next. Thats why I don't let my homesickness rule me, I continue to fight for the people who need me to, for the friends I will meet and protect and most of all I fight...

i fight for those who fell fighting for what they believe in.

Now, excuse me I have to go try some local cuisine." He turned to leave, getting a wave of questions which were ignored in his escape.

When he got away from the press, around a corner with only a squad and stragglers around, he pulled his hat over his eyes. "Gahhh, fuck fuck fuck! Fight for what they believe in what kinda cheesy shit was that fuck...

Uuuuugggh... god damn it...

Why don't I copy an action movie script while i'm at it, shiiiiit."

He was thoroughly embaressed.

 

[Sherwood]

Shortly after the awards ceremony, Pyrrah gets a short message from home that your Clan mother would be honored to host the squad for the duration of your stay on Paraxis. Knowing her, she waited to reply until after she had a chance to check out the Storm Dragons and saw the broadcast that was being made of your accomplishments. Sunanj is nothing if not thorough.

Even with Grumpy making every excuse he can come up with, it still takes about an hour for the group to be able to detach yourselves from the members of the press corps that was filming the ceremony. Lucky for you that it didn't take much longer; you had to catch your shuttle back to the MacArthur to be able to pack for your shore leave. Once more, the ride between ships is smooth and quiet, giving all of you a good chance to unwind from the whirlwind of questions and emotional high of the whole event. That all ends as you exit the shuttle, as you are met with applause and cheers from a large group of the pilots in the hangar.

Even your walk to your rooms is met with high-fives and congratulations from the people you pass in the halls. It would seem that the team is making quite the name for yourselves.


The next morning finds you with your bags packed and you waiting on the hangar deck for your shuttle to be ready to launch. Alex is quite excited to be able to see the sights of Paraxis without having to look out the window at Mach speed as you dodge Invid blasts. "Pyrrah, I want to thank you for getting your family to let us stay there with them while we are on our vacation. It will make for a much better time off than sitting on the MacArthur. This is going to be a memory to pass on to my kids, when I ever get some, that is."

Your travel itinerary has you landing at the spaceport and then taking a high speed MagLev train to the city that Pyrrah's family lives. That trip will take just under an hour, and soon you are pulling into the terminal.

As you step off of the train, there is a small group of three Paraxians waiting for you. Pyrrah recognizes them as members of her family, and they all swoop in to give their sister a big hug. After the brief reunion, they step back to take a look at the humans and the one Spherian that make up your team. One of the younger sisters lets out a snort. "Humph. They are shorter than I'd thought they would be."

"Minka! Don't be rude! You know that humans are about the same height as a Tyrollian, and they are shorter than us, too." Turning to face you, the older speaker says, "Please don't be offended by Minka's comment. She is young, and is still learning some measure of tact. I am Rammi, and this is Bella. Sunanj wishes to offer you her apologies for not being here in person, but wants to assure you that she is looking forward to meeting you. We have transport waiting. Please, let us take your bags."

 

[Orikanyo]

"Shorter...?" grumpy rose an eyebrow, already locking eyes with the younger one named Minka. "I was about to say the same about you skinny, sure you can lift your shield with those arms?" he smirked a toothy grin, already looking to play it seems. Guess all this time without scorch has left him without somebody to pick and prod at. Nonetheless he looked towards Rammi, the eldest of the trio... Though he wondered where Pyrrah stood among the sibling higherarchy.

"Pyrrah spoke highly of her, I am excited to meet the clan mother." he eyed Pyrrah as if to ask "Thats what shes called right?" before looking to the last of the three. Hasn't said anything yet... Perhaps she was just takeing them in? reading them?

In the end he had his one bag, guy packing, he had everything he needed as long as nobody cared if he wore the same shirt a few times and changed his pants... Whenever they get dirty he guessed?

He was still in his uniform and was dieing to get out of it... "So Pyrrah, where do you sit in the siblings eh?" he motioned as he gave his bag to the first to accept it.

 

[Psychie]

Pyrrah gives the three women in front of her a huge hug. "Oh, I missed you all! Even you, Minka!" She gives her a playful slug on the shoulder as her sister sticks her tongue out at her. "You'd best be careful with him; he may be smaller than us, but Grumpy is a true warrior and a crack pilot! He risked his own life to save mine from a massive artillery barrage, and his skills outside of his mecha are not to be overlooked, either. He could probably give you a run for your money in a fight! He is my Chien-Na for a reason, after all."

She looks to her other sisters and says, "Let me properly introduce you to my friends. This is Captain Derek Darwin, better known as Grumpy. Then, here is Lt. Alex Kilgore, Lt. Darius Caldera, callsign of Bishop, and this rocky fellow is The Thing. I have gotten to know them all well, and I trust them all with my life." Pyrrah smiles wide as her sisters look at her friends.

As they head off towards the car, she asks, "How is mother? I haven't seen her in a while."

 

[Sherwood]

Rammi guides you out to a parking area where a hover car is waiting for everyone. She climbs into the driver's seat and sets out at a brisk pace towards the Clan home. As she drives, she talks about how Sunanj is doing well, considering her age. "That stubborn old coot will outlast all of us at this rate. Seriously, she is in good health, and keeps the family under control."

After several minutes, the hover car is now racing along a highway heading out of the city where the train terminal is located. Alex looks out at the green hillsides with a smile on his face, and he asks, "Um, Pyrrah? I thought that your Clan was located inside the city we just arrived in. Where are we going?" The three Paraxians give off a chuckle. Bella says, "Our family lives out on a large horse farm, located out in the countryside where we have plenty of room to ride in peace."

Rammi says, "Don't let her simple description fool you. Our ranch is the largest and most successful one on Paraxis, and we provide thoroughbred racers and riding horses for the rich and influential all across the planet. Pyrrah, I'm surprised you didn't tell your squadron about this before."

Alex says, "She is a victim of UEEF training. It doesn't matter what you were before you joined up, as a member of the Fleet, you are treated as your rank, not any better or worse than what you earn for yourself."

 

[Orikanyo]

"All it takes is a walk through a couple hells, find old tech, being kidnapped and shoved into a invid infested jungle, reinvent a ship wide shield generator which i thank present company for, and maybe a few close shaves with death, do all that and you'll be promoted to captain in no time.

Or wait a few years for the clock to do the work." Grumpy rattled off the growing list... Before sputtering.

"Horses?!? Horses?!? You guys have horses?! Galaxies away and theres damn horses in this planet.

This I have to see." Grumpy was practically pressed against the window looking outside, waiting for the animals to show.

 

[Psychie]

Pyrrah looks at her commander. "These are not quite the same as the horses you have on your world, but they are similar. Much bigger than what you are used to. But I never wanted to try and put on airs ever since I joined up in the UEEF. I have happily embraced my role as a pilot and warrior with your people as we bring the fight to the Invid, and until this day, I have not looked back."

 

[Orikanyo]

"Well, this is your chance to open up abit, for these two weeks I hereby order each of you to not act as a member fo the storm dragons, but yourselves. Whatever that may be. We're on leave damn it, don't get stiff on me jsut yet!" grumpy barked, before trying his best to try and see these gigantic horses that pyrrah was talking about.

"Now your building them up, i've met a few hroses back home and they are a bunch of sweet hearts... Nerve had the never to ride one believe it or not."

 

[Sherwood]

The rest of the ride out to the ranch is fairly quick, filled with many questions about the UEEF and what war stories you wish to share. Before too long, you find yourselves pulling up to a large ranch with a great many horses out in the fields, with some being ridden by the women of the household, which shows just how large these horses are compared to the ones you've seen back on Earth.

As you pull up in front of the large home, several women come out to greet you. Several introductions are made, most of which you don't remember, and you are quickly invited inside. Once you get to a comfy sitting room, refreshments are offered and you are given a chance to relax. While you sip your drinks, a old woman in a hover chair comes into the room. Everyone there part ways to give her room, and she moves her chair up to you. Despite her age, you can see that there is a definite family resemblance to Pyrrah, and through the wrinkles, you can see that her eyes are sharp and bright, taking your measure.

With a clear, strong voice, she says, "I am Sunanj, and I wish to welcome you to our home."

Red Shadow Claws and Nokie Are you guys still with us?

 

[Orikanyo]

Grumpy was impressed, thoroughly, with all of this.

The horses were better than he imagined, hell he couldn't help but want to go see them immedately, but other things took presidence, such as the god damn gigantic line up of woman who look kinda like Pyrrah, one that was damn well near spot on. he couldn't remember her name but he remembered glancing back and forth between her and Pyrrah unsure if he should mention anything...

But nonetheless, the storied Sunanj came to greet them finally. "It's an honor to finally meet you. Your family had much to say about you I dare say I was excited to get the chance to meet you myself. David Darwin, I am Pyrrah's Commanding officer in this squad." he stood up , but still was dwarfed by many in the room nontheless... he could swear he hears snickering now and again and whispers...

 

[Sherwood]

The elder member of the family reaches her hand out to you. "Mr. Darwin, I have heard that you have been making a name for yourself here on our world, first in the Temple of Life in Tar Valon, then you risk yourself in a near suicidal run into the middle of an artillery strike to save my daughter. Either one would be enough to grant you a position of high honor in my home, but both together? Truly it is the work of the Holy Goddess that has brought you here. On behalf of all of us here, I thank you. Now, I know that you have been traveling for some time, and probably would like some time to refresh yourselves. Pyrrah, would you please take your friends to our guest rooms? David, we will be having our evening meal in one hour's time, and I would be very pleased to have you at my side at our table."

The guest rooms that you are taken to are not huge, but are nicely furnished and look to be very comfortable. Even with the furniture being slightly larger than you are used to, it is a pleasant change from the stark military look you are accustomed to. Looking out the windows provides you with a beautiful view of the rolling green hills, just the thing to help make your vacation memorable.

 

[Psychie]

Before taking the others to the guest rooms, Pyrrah will go over to Sunanj and gives her a warm hug. "It is good to be back, even if it is only for two weeks. I missed you, mother." With a final squeeze, she lets her go and gathers up the team. "C'mon, guys. I'll show you around a bit, and then we can get some good home cooking!"

Pyrrah is feeling very glad that her friends are being so well received by everyone here.

 

[Orikanyo]

Getting his work complemented like this was honestly doing more than the crowds were back on the ship. "W-well I'm happy to say Pyrrah has been nothing but a benefit ever since she joined us. It was abit shocking to hear her dedicate herself to my protection but I dare say i have much to learn about your customs. If you are willing to answer a few of my questions, that'd be wonderful." he shifted back into his more stiff way of speaking by the end, worried he may make a fool of himself.

But nonetheless Pyrrah saved the day by takeing them aside to their rooms.

And the first thing Grumpy did when he got to his room is flop directly onto his bed, which was massive when compaired to him. Had a nice smell as well.. Seems the family pulled out the stops, he actually feels rather relaxed here... Hopefully the family doesn't get to stiff around him.. He would love to meet new friends and... uhh.. get to know them better... Not that he was ever a casanova...

Hmm...

he wodnered what Enri was doing right now.. she'd probably kill to see this place...

"Wow! what a huuuuge bed!"

heh, yea she'd totally say that...

Hell he could practically hear her right now.....

....

"...Mr.Grumpy? hellooooo!"

...it was like she was here...

"HELLLLOOOOOOO!!!"

And had stowed away in his luggage ship to follow them down here...

"Come on! you can't fall asleep that quick."

"...Enri..."

"yea...?"

"WHAT THE HELL!?!"

It seems the group now has another person joining them, the totally an adult young garudian named Enri, who totally did not remove most of Grumpy's extra clothes to fit in his luggage. And whom is currently getting told off.

 

[Psychie]

When Pyrrah gets to her room, she drops her small duffel bag on the bed and goes to the closet to pull out some comfy civilian clothes to put on. After she's dressed, she pulls out a hairbrush and begins to straighten up her long hair when she thinks that she can hear Grumpy sounding upset, almost as if he's yelling at someone. This bears some investigation!

Crossing the hall, she pauses for a moment to listen. Yep, he's pissed off at someone. What's going on? She gently taps on the door, wondering what in the name of the Sacred Goddess is going on in there.

 

[Orikanyo]

"Eh?!?" Grumpy jumps at the knock. "Umm, just a minute!" He looks back to Enri, who was quite sheepish at the moment. "You have to go back now!" He harshly whispered.

"I can't!"

"Don't you have that Hin thing?"

"Well... uhh... i'm not that good at it."

"Certainly can use it to ambush me."

"Yea but..."

"Shiiit...."

There was a small silence between the two.

"Are... you mad?" The sound a sniffle could be heard. "No, no no... i'm not mad..." Grumpy's voice became soft as he patted the small garudian. "...Just ask first next time."

"Okay~!" The young cat person said... abit to cheerful... Perhaps those tears were but a ruse... Which grumpy couldn't help but fall for.

"Come in Pyrrah... Seems we had a stowaway."