Robotech - Tales of the UEEF (Main)

[Sherwood]

On Paraxis

Rammi lets out a little chuckle. "You are a bit red in the face. Are you ill? Feeling a bit hot?" You can hear her shifting around in the tub until she is sitting next to you, and you can feel her smooth skin brushing up next to yours. "I have seen men from a distance before, but before you came here,I had never met a man in person. I was curious to see more of you." Her hands suddenly find their way to your chest, rubbing your form. "Interesting. You feel so different than what I had expected. Different in a good way, I assure you."

"You are also rather jumpy. Are you tickleish?"



On the Atlas

The two rookie pilots look at Charlise with a disbelieving gaze. "The Storm Dragons? C'mon, really. Which squadron are you going to?" One reaches out and grabs the data pad and quickly reads. "Oh. My. Gawd! You lucky dog! How did you manage that one? That is soooo cool!"

The second woman lets out a startled gasp. "Holy crap on a cracker! You are moving up in the world, I tell you what!" They spend the next few minutes oohing and aahing over your new team assignment, wistfully wishing that they were heading out to a squadron, too. Soon enough they let you get back to your packing in peace, but they are quickly replaced with others offering their congratulations for your lucky draw.

Finally it comes time to make your way to the shuttle bay, where your gear is loaded into the cargo bay with the other bags of the new pilots heading off to the MacArthur. Everyone is quite excited about the transfer to the new assignment, and the short flight to the Command Cruiser is over before you know it. You are met at the hangar deck by Commander Holston, the ship's CAG (Commander of Air Group). His position is one that puts him in charge of almost 400 Veritech pilots, and is one of the highest ranking members of the ship.

"Welcome aboard. pilots! I am the ships CAG, and as such, you will all be reporting to me. I am Commander Holston, and I look forward to having you as a part of my team. We will get you in processed over the next hour, and will be getting you in touch with your squadron leaders. If you ever need anything, my door is always open. Any questions?"

 

[Orikanyo]

"I just... Ww-well. Don't often get this close to others when it comes to baths... Actually generally we don't... take baths together... Actually can't remember the last time I've had a bath... Erhmmm..." he was twitchy and abit jumpy under her... Inquisitiveness.

Inside his brain, his brain called a council.

His military etiquette cared nothing about this, staying neutral.

The brain down below wouldn't stop screaming for drastic action in the best way that shall produce the wished for.. Outcome..

his conscience was trying to rationalize that maybe it was a cultural thing and how he should play it off and cool down!

The brain down below then commented how more may join then.

To which the conscience back fired with various rationalizations, to which the brain down below still did it's best to push forward it's agenda.

Not that the brain has a choice in the matter, as problems arose with or without central command's... err.. command.

The arm made a decisive decision, of going around the intruder/welcome visitor depend on who you asked in the brain.

The tongue however had no orders and stuttered alongside the mouth's indecision, resulting in a bitten tongue.

Stomache didn't care, and put in an order for room service.

legs still remained crossed and covered, kinda.

"Yy-y-yyou yourself look very.. Uhh... Uhh... Statuesque... To be truthful."

All hands on deck took a pause, abs were a thing any and all could appreciate and eyes were giving full reports.

 

[D. Rex]

That was indeed a prominent question. How did she manage it? Sure the Captain had said test results and stuff, but still...

But still, a part of her was a bit excited about it. Or maybe it was just the enthusiasm of her peers that was rubbing off on her. By the time she did reach the ship, she felt a bit more determined about the situation than she had. Finally having wrapped her head a bit around the idea. Well, that wasn't entirely true, but at least she was no longer in shock because of it.

Then came time to greet the Commander. He was a veteran of the fist war! And she held him high regard, and was sure she would be confident in his leadership. Charlise saluted and stood at rapt attention.

Questions. She responded with a simple, "No sir." Questions... to be honest she could probably think of well over a dozen questions. Two dozen, easy. But she didn't think any of them were appropriate or worth the Commanders valuable time right now. Besides, he had an open door policy. Very respectable! If she thought of anything important, she could ask. (If she could work up the nerve to enter his office for such a petty reason)

 

[Sherwood]

On Paraxis

Rammi seems to be enjoying the discomfort that she is putting Grumpy through. She says, "I am disappointed in you. I have been sending signals to you all day like some besotted little girl, but you either never noticed or are ignoring my interest. I will have you know, I am not accustomed to not getting what I want." She suddenly shifts herself up and swings a leg over you, taking advantage of your surprise to grab your wrists and pin you back against the edge of the tub. Pressing herself up against your chest, she leans forward and whispers into your ear, "And right now, I want you."

Fade to black.


On the MacArthur

In processing is the typical routine for you, and you get your room assignment. As you are getting settled in, you find out that for the next few days you have the room to yourself; the rest of the Storm Dragons are down on Paraxis enjoying some shore leave. Until they return, you will be pulling regular duty shifts on the ship, keeping you busy but overall, it is light duty and it gives you time to do some exploring around the ship.

The Command Cruiser is much smaller than the Atlas, but the Fabricator Ship had much of its internal space dedicated to manufacturing, so the crew spaces are not that much bigger. The main difference is that the Mac is a dedicated warship, not a floating dry dock, and is designed to be able to deliver her cargo of Veritechs and Destroids to the fight and make it back in one piece.

As you walk about, you hear that the Fleet is preparing to make a Fold Space jump in a week's time, moving out to the next planet that is currently under the control of the Invid. The precise destination is a secret, but that doesn't stop the rumor mill on the ship to speculate.

You are also able to find out that there is a bunch of new technology on the ship being kept under high security. You spot this when you make a trip down to the hangar to look over the shiny new Alpha fighter that has been assigned to you. A good portion of the hangar deck you are on has been cordoned off and has been placed under guard, making even more rumors run throughout the ship. The prevailing theory is that this tech has been provided to the Fleet by the mysterious Haydonites; out of all the alien races that are on the Mac, there is only two of the strange creatures in the fleet.

The Haydonites made their presence known when several teams of Marines and VF pilots were suddenly kidnapped and sent to a obscure alien world to face off against the Invid. The Storm Dragons were one of these teams. This ended in the Dragons being able to move a nuclear warhead into a Invid hive, whereupon they were rescued by the Fleet after their positions were provided by the Haydonites. It seems that this was a test, and the Earth forces passed. As a result of this 'test', the Haydonites provided the Shadow Stealth technology that is able to cloak the Protoculture signature of your mecha and ships from detection by the Invid. The R&D department has been working overtime trying to incorporate other items of advanced technology into the Fleet, and most feel that this is another nugget of something new and shiny to use against the slugs.

 

[D. Rex]

Charlise didn't mind pulling these shifts in the least. She was happy to be kept busy, and it gave her a bit of time to adjust to the ship before meeting her squad. When she did have free time, she liked to take walks to familiarize herself with the ship and her new veritech fighter. It looked like it had come right out of the box! She couldnt wait to see how it was configured. But even more amazing was the rumors surrounding the secret tech. Namely the though of being able to hide protocol ture signature. Having been trained in reconascience, this though especially appealed to her. To be able to hide and watch, and the chance to lay proper ambushes. Sneak attacks, flanking, tor catch them with their pants down! If these rumors were true, this is the sort of technology that could help to not only turn the tides of the main assault against the invid, but also to help hide and save countless lives of civilians on earth.

But, that was a high hope. If this was indeed new technology, especially one from an Inhuman race, such a full scale implementation would not come quickly. There would be reverse engineering, reprogramming, deciding on the uses, drawing up drafts, making prototypes, testing prototypes, scrapping said prototypes because they weren't good enough and trying again.

Charlise sat close by her Alpha, looking out over the rest of the hangar. With that sort of Shadow technology likely some time off, it did make her wonder, what changes would they allow her to make to her own to make it more recon friendly, and that maybe she should start planning now so the was no rush when the time came to deploy.

 

[Sherwood]

Over the next two weeks, the group enjoys the sights of Paraxis, and everyone gets a lot of relaxation in to help recharge the batteries. Grumpy doesn't get as much rest as everyone else, but he is quite well compensated for his efforts. When time finally comes for the group to return to the ship and take on the title of Storm Dragons once more, your hosts give you one last feast, and pack up some goodies for the road.

The return trip to the spaceport is quick and uneventful, and soon you find yourselves loading up into a shuttle for the flight up to the MacArthur. Looking about on the shuttle, you can see that you were not the only team enjoying shore leave. Everyone on the shuttle is happy and relaxed, ready to return to the grind.

It is a smooth flight up with no issues, and soon you are off loading your bags and returning to your rooms. When you get there, the team can see that there is another person set up in your squad area. A quick check on your roster shows that your team has been expanded by one.


For Charlise, you have been keeping an eye on the return date for your squad, and you know that today you will get a chance to meet your squad. When you get off of your duty shift on the Command Deck and return to your rooms, you are confronted by the hustle of your team carrying their bags and starting to unpack.

 

[Orikanyo]

"Another recruit..." Grumpy gazed at his datapad, in truth he was... Very sore... Quite so. Sore in a good way and in ways that he really never expected by the end of this week. He was drained, kinda beaten, but he, as always, gave as good as he got.

He may not have been a veteran in such ways but his opponent was breaking new ground as well, so he held the higher ground.

But his opponent was a persistent as they were energetic.

But he endured as he always did.

Endure is a poorly choiced word for he wasn't a unwilling participant. But he was required to bring forth fortitude not normally had...

But nonetheless, he had a new recruit to see and figure out. He was certain they would be interesting nonetheless, they always were.

"Charles...? No Charlies? Charlease? Charlise... Yes thats it... Wonder what their like..." the man commented, rings around his eyes from lack of sleep the night before they left.

 

[Psychie]

Pyrrah looks over at Grumpy with a grin. "Good! At least I won't be the newbie of the team anymore. When will we be getting our new nugget?" She looks at the newly made bunk in the girls room and says, "Oh, well, nevermind. It looks like we have our new arrival now. She's just out of the squad area at the moment, maybe on a duty shift."

 

[D. Rex]

Today was indeed the day. After dutifully doing her duty on deck, she was looking forward to finally meeting her squad. She didn't hurry though, as she made sure she was dismissed before going back to the rooms.

She could hear them talking as she reached the door, and recognized both of them from study on the datapad. Standing in his doorway she looked from one to the other. The man. He looked tired and battleworn, she could only imagine what horrors he went through to still look like that after a leave at shore.

Then there was the female. Charlise didn't realize she was pharaxian. Giant woman. Downright amazonian! Compared to her, Charlise felt shorter than she normally did...

"Captain Darwin, Lieutenant Nikos. I am Lieutenant Charlise O'brien. It is a pleasure to meet you both." Said the mousy girl with a quiet voice. And trying not to sound nervous. Standing up straight and proper. "I am honored to be assigned as your squadmate."

 

[Psychie]

Pyrrah offers up a hearty handshake to Charlise. "Hey there! Good to meet you, Lt. O'Brien. Please, call me Pyrrah, and I'll call you Charlise. Unless we're around the big brass, then we can go back to the formal names." She gives a winning smile to the smaller woman. "What do you fly? I'm looking to be assigned to either a Alpha or Beta, so it's probable that we are going to be paired up and flying together, with Grumpy and Alex in their Valkyrie along with The Thing. You'll meet him later on, I'm sure. He's one of the Spherian Stone Men. and he's a pretty good guy."

The Paraxian flops down on one of the couches and leans back.

 

[Orikanyo]

"it's a pleasure Lieutenant O'brien. it seems you will be joining us henceforth, i hope to see great things from you in the future." the man stated as he immedately went for a cup of coffee. "Judging from my recent recruits, you'll do well, Pyrrah here was our newest up until you joined us." the very, very tired looking man rose a cup in an inpromptu toast to her before drinking... An alarming amount of coffee, coffee was not actually one of the things that was easy to get down on the planet.

And he was feeling the shakes.

Amongst other things.

"As for me... Everyone calls me Grumpy, or David..." or some other names that the Nikos household heard in the night. "All I ask from you is to do your best, have a spine and maybe be ready for the occasional "We have to save the day" type of scenario that tends to happen weekly.

Though... it seems we'll be heading out to a new planet, exciting, if it wasn't just another invid nest to clear out." he sipped his coffee and looked his recruit over. Young, attentive, nervous, anxious... Well filled out... Suddenly the corner of the room became very interesting as he put down his empty cup. "Alex should be along, a guy who looks roughly 30 years older than he really is and my co pilot. he could have been my alpha or beta pilot but I'll be damned if I get myself torn out of a valkyrie." he slipped next to Pyrrah on the couch, his cup refilled and life returning to him again.

 

[D. Rex]

Charlise tried to shake the large woman's hand with equal vigor, though such energetic greetings weren't quite her specialty. "Well, um... hello then Pyrrah. I suppose you can call me Charlie, then... if uh, we are using informal addresses. I don't mind."

"I think pairing up would be a great idea. Especially if you can pilot a Beta. I am a recon pilot, and specialize in flying the Alpha. They have a new one waiting for me in the hangar." She said with a smile. "I bet a well armed beta with a support Alpha running sensors and laser guidance, working in tandem could do a lot of damage to the invid." Charlie said optimistically.

She then turned to the Captain and gave him a salute. "I will try my best, sir. And I won't let you down." It might take a little getting used to calling her Captain "Grumpy", but if that is what he preferred than so be it. Though, she wasn't quite expecting the Storm Dragons to seem so laid back.

Alex and... The Thing... those must her other squadmates. Though Thing already seemed to be quite an oddity...

While the two others plopped down and got comfortable, Charlise tried to do the same, sitting at a chair. However remained to have a proper posture as her hands rested tidily in her lap.

 

[Sherwood]

It is as if speaking their names summons them: Alex and the Thing come walking into the squad common room. Alex stops short as he spots Charlise. "Hey there. I'm Alex Kilgore. Good to meet you." The Thing is more sedate, and simply gives you a nod in greeting.

After a few minutes of idle chit chat, Alex suddenly turns to Grumpy. "I almost forgot to tell you. I heard that we are getting ready to Space Fold out of here, heading for the industrial system of Karabarra. Also, we seem to be getting some new technology from our 'good friends' of the Haydonites." He says this with no loss of love in his voice. "So far, the details of just what that tech is is being held close to the vest, but it is supposed to be some game changing stuff that we will love to see in action."

 

[Orikanyo]

"Will the new tech teleport us into a jungle again or maybe we'll be transformed into living walking mecha ourselves." Grumpy seemed less than enthusiastic about it.

"Well, at least their giving something up. About time they did something. Beyond stand at the sidelines ominously..."

 

[Sherwood]

Some time is spent getting acquainted before everyone takes their leave of the common room and head to bed or the rec room. The retuning members of the team once more settle into the routine of daily ship life as the last of the ground units are brought up from the planet, along with a large amount of supplies and a fair amount of fresh recruits. Finally, at the end of the week, the Fleet has wrapped up operations and is preparing to move farther out into the system to make the next Fold Space jump.

The high command is still keeping the destination held under the strictest of confidences, so when the fleet finally makes the transition in to Fold Space, the word finally is able to spread through the ship that you are on your way to . . . . Karbarra! The home of the big, fuzzy Bearmen, Karbarra is an industrial powerhouse, once for the Robotech Masters, and now, for the Invid. The planet's main economic product is the mineral ore called Sekitan. Sekitan is an energy-supplying ore, and while not as powerful as Protoculture, it is sufficient to power the planet with ease.

This ore is also responsible for the high levels of pollution in the planet's atmosphere, making it necessary for all non-Karbarrans to have to wear breathing masks in order to survive. Without a mask, it will cause suffocation leading to unconsciousness and eventually, death. The good news is that the air is not immediately lethal, and you can breathe it for upwards of an hour before any deleterious side effects set in. Because of this, all mecha are being equipped with extra breathing masks that can filter out the harmful waste in the air and give the wearer sixteen hours of fresh air before the filter needs to be replaced.

It is now time for some secrets to be made available. Two days before the Fleet is due to exit Fold Space, the Storm Dragons are called down to the hangar bay, along with several other elite teams. You are met at the part of the hangar where several armed guards are waiting, along with the ships CAG and Major Claudia Grant, the Chief of Security. Before you are allowed into the secured area, everyone has their identity verified by a quick DNA test. This is a new layer to the regular security checks that you are used to, one that hints at the sensitive nature of whatever it is located beyond the wall.

Once you are all given your security pass to go in, you can see a several weapons that you have never seen before, weapons on a hover platform that are about the size of a old style 105mm Howitzer. There is also a Alpha and Beta fighter, both of them have a extra set of armor attached to their backs, similar in style to the Super Valkyrie.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take a seat." This comes from a man in a lab coat standing at a podium. He waits for everyone to be seated before going on. "Thanks to our Haydonite allies, we are now ready to unveil the latest weapons in our fight against the Invid. First, we have the Synchro Cannon." He points at the weapons on the hover platforms. "The Synchro Cannon is a devastating weapon of unrivaled power. Similar in design to the Main Cannons of the old SDF-1 and our own SDF-3, it fires a blast that is capable of punching through Invid like a hot knife through butter, and Hives offer no safety to the enemy. It is capable of totally destroying the heaviest of the Invid Inorganics with a single hit and keep on going." Considering the fact that the Odeon has more armor on it than any allied mecha of any kind, that is quite a statement."

"These Syncro Cannons are going to be used in cracking hard targets like the massive force field domes of the ground based hives. As such, they are extremely valuable assets that will require the highest level of security in the form of both air and ground support."

"As exciting as this is, that is not the only new item that we have to show you." He turns to look up at the up-armored Alpha and Beta. "In the same vein as the older but still effective Super Valkyrie, we present to you the Super Alpha and Super Beta." At this point, he has the complete and total attention of all the pilots in the room. "Each mecha is equipped with extra missiles and a micro sized Synchro Cannon to provide an extra level of firepower. The model on the Alpha fighter is smaller than the Beta's of course, but it is still an increase in the overall output of fire for the mecha.

"The model on the Alpha is capable of firing three times per fifteen seconds, making it a bit slow to depend upon as your primary weapon, but it has a much greater range and punch than the standard gun pod. The armored boosters also house an additional ten missiles, and increase the stand alone speed of the Alpha by an additional Mach 1."

"The Beta, being larger and more powerful, has a larger Synchro Cannon, but it has a much larger power drain and can only be fired twice per round, but the cannon does more damage and has a greater reach than the one of the Alpha. Its also benefits from an increase in speed, reaching just over Mach 8. The downside to the Beta's boosters is that it is unable to use the MM-16 missile launcher in Jet and Guardian modes, but the boosters do add ten short range missiles to replace the lost firepower in flight."

"I will try to answer your questions now."

Spoiler

I will be adding the game mechanic details in the Lore section probably by tomorrow.

 

[Psychie]

Pyrrah feels like a kid getting a birthday gift as she looks up at the Super Beta. Hmmm. The armor pack blocks the pop-up missiles from the MM-16. But it adds ten more missiles that can be used in their place. I can accept that for the extra punch of this Synchro Cannon on my back.

She raises up her hand to indicate she has a question. "Can the Beta's new cannon fire while linked up with the Alpha Fighter, or is it disabled like the center gun pod?"

 

[Orikanyo]

"Tech is all well and good." Grumpy stated from his seat, he was leaned back, legs and arms crossed. "But our friends have been very quiet, the technology is helping no doubt but why don't they come forward?

Aside that, I am impressed with the new weaponry and ships, a long range hive bursting cannon is certainly better than crawling inside with a nuke on our backs."

 

[Sherwood]

The scientist at the podium looks at Pyrrah. "The mini Synchro Cannon on the Beta can be fired while attached to the Alpha. We made sure of that. Good question, though." He turns his attention to Grumpy. "I don't know why the Haydonites are so reluctant to get directly involved, but we could not have built these new weapons without their help so I'm not going to complain."

 

[D. Rex]

This was incredible. Charlise was very excited to have been granted the security access to see all of this. The veritable evolution of veritech combat.

Then came the offer of questions, and she had so many. She took a deep breath and raised her hand, and made a deliberate attempt not to speak too fast and jumble all her words together. And also to sound professional and not like an excited newbie.

"How are the mini synchro cannons powered? Do they use energy cells or are they powered by the Veritechs own protoculture engine?

Are the weapons able to be used by the standard Alphas and Betas?

Have any features other than the armor and thrusters been upgraded, such as the sensor pod and internal systems?

How will the main Synchro cannon be transported?

What is the top speed of a Super Alpha Super Beta link?

And will we be escorting the test pilots during this field test? Assuming it is a field test."

She tried and probably failed. But she did at least remember to take a breath and not talk herself blue. As well as censored herself from asking more questions than she already did.

 

[Orikanyo]

"...Yea know... probably a better name to call these things than super whatever... Same for super valkyrie..." Grumpy mumbled, looking abit catty... Like... Charlia and Delta...

 

[Sherwood]

The man at the podium chuckles at Charliese's excitement. "Well, lets see here. The armor packs come with an additional power supply to help supplement the power requirements of the Synchro Cannons, but they also feed off of the power supply of the mecha they are attached to. These armor packs are modular, and can be attached to any of the Alphas and Betas in the arsenal, but at the moment, there are only a handful of the packs available at this time. There are plans for future packs for the Alpha and Beta that will replace the Synchro Cannon with a highly powerful radar system, but the recon pack is still in development. Uh, what is next? The top speed of the linked Super Alpha and Super Beta is roughly Mach 8.5, and these armor packs have been tested on Paraxis, so the first set are ready for deployment in the field. Your various squadrons have been selected for the first trail runs in combat."

 

[D. Rex]

No more clips, meaning that they would no longer be helpless when out of missiles and ammo. Making deployment time effectively as long as it takes. And the entire thing was modular, with the promise of their being more types of packs to come! This could change so many things.

Even more exciting was that these were ready for combat! And they were going to get to pilot them! Wait... they were going to get to chance to pilot them... top secret and likely incredibly expensive equipment of very limited numbers and likely might still be the prototype models, and that damaging or destroying would mean the loss of a very limited supply...

While once at the edge of her seat, Charlise suddenly felt a little bit more subdued.

But she did have one more question, "Sir, what is the effectiveness of the mini Synchro cannon against missile volleys? Did the penetration and wider prolonged beam offset the lack of a high rate of Fire in using it defensively?" She asked. She would assume yes, but she wondered how different it was. If she was going to be piloting it, such information could prove useful beforehand, rather than risking it in the heat of battle.

 

[Sherwood]

The man at the podium looks over at Charlise once more. "As of this moment, none of the Invid mecha that we have come across are missile equipped. But, in the event that you do encounter a target using missiles, your heavy cannon is not an ideal weapon to use against them. Using one of your own mini missiles as a anit-missile would provide much better results."

 

[D. Rex]

Charlise nodded, and remained silent, having no further questions at this time. All that remained for her was to waiting until the briefing continued.

 

[Orikanyo]

"Would it be possible.. to strap one of these on a valkyrie? Perhaps a super to allow more space or carry capacity?" Grumpy eyes the large cannons... "If so, we could have Alex fly alone." he softly mutter udner his breath "For once." then continued. "And field another good sized cannon."