Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
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Robotech: UEEF Saga
- Thread starter Sherwood
- Start date
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Onboard the Command Cruiser MacArthur, it has been a long eight months of routine ship life. You are currently a part of the 3rd Heavy Armored Division under the command of a tiny woman named Admiral Natasha Kerinsky, a former Valkyrie pilot of Russian descent and veteran of the First Robotech War. The MacArthur is her flagship, but the ship is under the direct command of a career officer named Captain Alexi Kutuzov, another member of the former Soviet Union that has been hand picked by the Admiral to command this ship. The Captain is a poster boy of the typical Russian officer; jovial and boisterous. Don't let his demeanor throw you for a loop, though. He is a skilled tactician, able to process displays showing hundreds of ships and fighters in action without losing track of a single crewman. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.
As pilots, the officer you have the most direct contact with is the ship's CAG (Commander of Air Group), Commander Ellen Holloway. One of the few high ranking officers that is not a transplant from the old Soviet Union, Cmdr. Holloway is a native of the now destroyed city of Los Angeles on the west coast of the North American Quadrant. She maintains an open door policy for all of 'her' pilots, but heaven help you if you disturb her for something trivial that should have been taken care of by your squadron leader.
The 3rd HAD consists of two Ikazuchi Class Command Cruisers, two Arc Royal Class Escort Carriers, two Northampton Class Stealth Frigates, eight Garfish Class Troopships, and one Fabricator Ship, built into a hollowed out Command Crusier with all of its fighters and weapons removed to make room for a limited production facility capable of making veritech fighters and mecha of various types, missiles, and personal weapons and equipment. The Fabricator Ship can also extend a collapsible dry dock around other ships to perform repairs, but it is not capable of building capital class starships.
Yours is a five man squad of two Alpha fighters, two Beta fighters and one Valkyrie, reciently placed under the command of 2nd Lt Jedidiah Turner. As of now, you have not as yet had any combat time under your belts as a team, even if some of you are veterans of various conflits, and because of that, the CAG has ordered your squad to spend some time in the flight simulators, working on building a spirit of unity amongst you.
It is three hours into your 'mission' when a real alert signal echos through the Mac. You hear the familiar voice of one of the bridge crew calling out, "Standby alert. Standby alert. All crews to their stations. This is not a drill. All crews to your stations." In the simulator room, the lights go to full and pods begin to open up, showing you that yours is not the only ones getting some extra 'flight time' in before running into the Robotech Masters. Your Valkyrie pilot, Dana Simms, stretches and you can hear her back pop and crack from the time she has spent in the sims so far. "Well, that's one way to end a sim. Standby alert. No immediate danger, but someone on the Command Deck is worried about something. I wonder what's up?" Since everyone is in the same boat of your ignorance, she just shrugs and starts to head to the hangar bay.
As pilots, the officer you have the most direct contact with is the ship's CAG (Commander of Air Group), Commander Ellen Holloway. One of the few high ranking officers that is not a transplant from the old Soviet Union, Cmdr. Holloway is a native of the now destroyed city of Los Angeles on the west coast of the North American Quadrant. She maintains an open door policy for all of 'her' pilots, but heaven help you if you disturb her for something trivial that should have been taken care of by your squadron leader.
The 3rd HAD consists of two Ikazuchi Class Command Cruisers, two Arc Royal Class Escort Carriers, two Northampton Class Stealth Frigates, eight Garfish Class Troopships, and one Fabricator Ship, built into a hollowed out Command Crusier with all of its fighters and weapons removed to make room for a limited production facility capable of making veritech fighters and mecha of various types, missiles, and personal weapons and equipment. The Fabricator Ship can also extend a collapsible dry dock around other ships to perform repairs, but it is not capable of building capital class starships.
Yours is a five man squad of two Alpha fighters, two Beta fighters and one Valkyrie, reciently placed under the command of 2nd Lt Jedidiah Turner. As of now, you have not as yet had any combat time under your belts as a team, even if some of you are veterans of various conflits, and because of that, the CAG has ordered your squad to spend some time in the flight simulators, working on building a spirit of unity amongst you.
It is three hours into your 'mission' when a real alert signal echos through the Mac. You hear the familiar voice of one of the bridge crew calling out, "Standby alert. Standby alert. All crews to their stations. This is not a drill. All crews to your stations." In the simulator room, the lights go to full and pods begin to open up, showing you that yours is not the only ones getting some extra 'flight time' in before running into the Robotech Masters. Your Valkyrie pilot, Dana Simms, stretches and you can hear her back pop and crack from the time she has spent in the sims so far. "Well, that's one way to end a sim. Standby alert. No immediate danger, but someone on the Command Deck is worried about something. I wonder what's up?" Since everyone is in the same boat of your ignorance, she just shrugs and starts to head to the hangar bay.
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Silanon
Four Thousand Club
3rd Lnt. Miu Ueno
Right before the missiles, lined up like a shoal of fish in the Pacific ocean, slammed into the aircraft and Miu could claim another kill, the monitors turned black, with the lights going to full and a well-known voice calling out a standby alert out of the blue. Damn - the scores would have been great for once. It took her more time than expected to get used to her new team mates, probably due to the squad she had ended up in - an old man, two aliens and a recruit from Mars were quite different from what she was familiar with from flight school.
With her pod opening, the young woman followed the example of her team members, hopping out of her seat. The maneuver looked rather inelegant, though, due to her cramped legs almost letting her down. A clear sign that she probably had spent too many hours in the simulations the last couple of days. Stretching and squinting in the sudden brightness, Miu took a few moments before she stepped up to the others. "They probably just messed up a routine scan or something, if you ask me. Quite a shame, I was just getting warmed up." Pointing in direction of the hangars, she nods to Jedidiah Turner. "Right behind you, squad leader. It's not like we'd get clearance for take-off without you."
Right before the missiles, lined up like a shoal of fish in the Pacific ocean, slammed into the aircraft and Miu could claim another kill, the monitors turned black, with the lights going to full and a well-known voice calling out a standby alert out of the blue. Damn - the scores would have been great for once. It took her more time than expected to get used to her new team mates, probably due to the squad she had ended up in - an old man, two aliens and a recruit from Mars were quite different from what she was familiar with from flight school.
With her pod opening, the young woman followed the example of her team members, hopping out of her seat. The maneuver looked rather inelegant, though, due to her cramped legs almost letting her down. A clear sign that she probably had spent too many hours in the simulations the last couple of days. Stretching and squinting in the sudden brightness, Miu took a few moments before she stepped up to the others. "They probably just messed up a routine scan or something, if you ask me. Quite a shame, I was just getting warmed up." Pointing in direction of the hangars, she nods to Jedidiah Turner. "Right behind you, squad leader. It's not like we'd get clearance for take-off without you."
Epiphany
Proverbs 17:9
3LT Neqel Amherst
The Zentraedi of the squad had scored well in this most recent bout of simulated training. She greeted the shut-down of the simulators with a glare at the now-blank screen before sliding out of the booth and falling in with the rest of her squad. Neqel reflexively stands in parade rest, waiting for the LT before moving towards the hanger.
She might wear the UEEF uniform like a Micronian but her height coupled with her dark blue hair make her 'ethnicity' unmistakable. Neqel has much of the reflexive dour and reserve many Zentraedi had despite years of exposure to Micronians. Integration hadn't been easy or all that successful. Still, she lifts an eyebrow at Dana Simms and her speculative question before considering it seriously.
"It's hard to say," Neqel ventures at last to her squad. "I don't think we expected to run into anything on route to the Masters. Might be a recon of theirs? Maybe other Zentraedi? Or one of our...their enemies?"
Her eyes shift to Miu as the other woman hopped out of her seat. A slight smile gave a little warmth to Neqel's otherwise glacial expression. In the decade she'd lived among the Micronians, familiarity hadn't bred contempt after all, only understanding of their differences. And their similarities.
"Could be," she acknowledges. "LT?" she adds, waiting on her immediate superior to provide direction.
The Zentraedi of the squad had scored well in this most recent bout of simulated training. She greeted the shut-down of the simulators with a glare at the now-blank screen before sliding out of the booth and falling in with the rest of her squad. Neqel reflexively stands in parade rest, waiting for the LT before moving towards the hanger.
She might wear the UEEF uniform like a Micronian but her height coupled with her dark blue hair make her 'ethnicity' unmistakable. Neqel has much of the reflexive dour and reserve many Zentraedi had despite years of exposure to Micronians. Integration hadn't been easy or all that successful. Still, she lifts an eyebrow at Dana Simms and her speculative question before considering it seriously.
"It's hard to say," Neqel ventures at last to her squad. "I don't think we expected to run into anything on route to the Masters. Might be a recon of theirs? Maybe other Zentraedi? Or one of our...their enemies?"
Her eyes shift to Miu as the other woman hopped out of her seat. A slight smile gave a little warmth to Neqel's otherwise glacial expression. In the decade she'd lived among the Micronians, familiarity hadn't bred contempt after all, only understanding of their differences. And their similarities.
"Could be," she acknowledges. "LT?" she adds, waiting on her immediate superior to provide direction.
2nd Lt Jedidiah Turner pushed himself out of the pod with a bit to much force. Art-grav isn't perfect he reminded himself, as he took the excess movement and used it to break into a swift job right from the pod. They had a ways to go to their ready stations in the bay, not to mention suiting up. "I'd rather we get ninety nine orders to standby when nothing's wrong then the bridge not calling once when they should have. Now come on, we need to be ready to launch in ten seconds notice two minutes ago." He shouted, picking up the pace.
Some would argue he had an unfair advantage with his robotic leg, but most of him had seen decades of combat and he felt the leg slowed him down a bit.
Some would argue he had an unfair advantage with his robotic leg, but most of him had seen decades of combat and he felt the leg slowed him down a bit.
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
The hangar deck is awash with activity as pilots and deck crews move to prepare for launch. As you move to your Veritechs, you can hear the other pilots and deck crews all speculating on what is going on. It seems that no one is aware of why the alert was called, they just know to get everyone ready to launch.
As you are running through your pre launch checklists, Dana gives Jedidiah a quick call on the radio, "Sir, I don't know if you have seen what the crew is loading on my wings. Normally I'd have packs of mini missiles good for fighter to fighter combat. But now I have a set of long range missiles on my hard points, good for anti ship combat. What could we be running into?"
As you are running through your pre launch checklists, Dana gives Jedidiah a quick call on the radio, "Sir, I don't know if you have seen what the crew is loading on my wings. Normally I'd have packs of mini missiles good for fighter to fighter combat. But now I have a set of long range missiles on my hard points, good for anti ship combat. What could we be running into?"
Jedidiah takes a moment while checking the seals where his flight suit secures to his artificial arm and leg. "At this time I do not have any more information then you do. Just make sure those missiles are linked into your plane's systems properly." He said, as he reviewed not just his own craft but everyone's. He was in charge of this small squadron, and just like the squads he led as a Sargent, he'll do all he can to ensure they make it back.
In his own head he's wondering what this might be about... clearing minor space rocks was more routine then this and large ones should be detected far ahead of time. If they were intercepting a warship, he'd have wished for more time training with the squadron. He would also wish for indestructible planes for everyone and cake when they get back, but wishes didn't win wars.
In his own head he's wondering what this might be about... clearing minor space rocks was more routine then this and large ones should be detected far ahead of time. If they were intercepting a warship, he'd have wished for more time training with the squadron. He would also wish for indestructible planes for everyone and cake when they get back, but wishes didn't win wars.
Silanon
Four Thousand Club
3rd Lnt. Miu Ueno
With the squad leader being busy not only with his own craft, but also with those of the others, Miu made sure to have a closer look at his systems as well - after all, she'd be dependent on their proper functionality herself. If they really lifted off, that was - Miu had made these routine checks too often without anything happening. And while it certainly helped her to speed through them rather quickly, it also made her expect another disappointment rather than an actual mission. She hadn't joined the UEEF to try new flight simulations til the end of time, but up to a few routine missions, that had been exactly what she'd been doing so far.
"Seems like everything is in place, or is at least about to get there", she announced through the team radio, "now all we need to do is to wait for them to send us back to the simulators."
With the squad leader being busy not only with his own craft, but also with those of the others, Miu made sure to have a closer look at his systems as well - after all, she'd be dependent on their proper functionality herself. If they really lifted off, that was - Miu had made these routine checks too often without anything happening. And while it certainly helped her to speed through them rather quickly, it also made her expect another disappointment rather than an actual mission. She hadn't joined the UEEF to try new flight simulations til the end of time, but up to a few routine missions, that had been exactly what she'd been doing so far.
"Seems like everything is in place, or is at least about to get there", she announced through the team radio, "now all we need to do is to wait for them to send us back to the simulators."
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Green lights flash on across your control panels and now, you wait. Soon enough, a signal comes down from the Command deck. "Attention all squadrons. We have received a signal from the Garfish cruiser Rhabwar. The recon flight into the system ahead of us have run into a group of Zentraedi destroyers. Two of the Garfish were damaged but were able to engage their fold space engine. The third ship has been disabled, and at last contact, they were being pulled into a landing bay on one of the destroyers. The Rhrabwar and her escort ship are due to exit fold space in ten minutes, and we are ready in case they are being tracked. Stand by."
.
.
Epiphany
Proverbs 17:9
3LT Neqel Amherst
The blue-haired woman falls in with her squad leader as he shouts and urges them on to the hanger deck. This part at least is familiar, a pattern of activity literally bred into her by the cloning chambers that'd manufactured her 13 years ago. Despite the difference in hull design and technology, this was the sprint of warriors eager for battle.
Neqel smiles, once, at the sight of her Beta Veritech on the flight deck. Having only been recently assigned to the ship and to her own plane, there'd been limited opportunity to customize it. Still, it bore the name of the Allison. That'd been her dead husband's favorite name if they'd had a daughter, if they'd had any more of the kids they'd hoped for. With him dead these three years, the least she could do is honor it here.
She runs through her own preflight checklist in rapid, efficient order, with the total concentration every Zentraedi had instilled in them from the tanks. As the pilot of a Beta Veritech, she'd be providing the thrust for initial velocity to her Alpha counterpart, leaving the actual piloting to her partner while she concentrated on weapons lock and missile systems. At least until they split once combat was joined. So she checks her list against her partner's before turning the list over to Jedidiah Turner and sliding into the cockpit.
@Silanon
"Seems like everything is in place, or is at least about to get there", came the voice of her squadmate, Lieutenant Miu, through the team radio, "now all we need to do is to wait for them to send us back to the simulators."
"Ready here," she says, toggling her own squad frequency. "I'm in no hurry. If nothing else, my ship smells better than those simulators."
The news of Zentraedi destroyers out here wipes away the elation of actually seeing battle for the first time in years. If her foes were Invid or other enemies of the Robotech Masters, she would be delighted. But killing her own people didn't sit well with her. Still, orders were orders.
"Ship to ship with capital elements? LT, I'm loading up with a mix of High Explosives and Armor Piercer missiles unless you have other orders. At least there's no risk of collateral damage in space."
Reaching into her flight suit, Neqel produces a photo of a ten year old blue-haired boy. Her most recent picture of her son, Nathan, and probably the last she'd ever have of him. And so she passed the time until launch orders were given, looking fondly at her boy.
The blue-haired woman falls in with her squad leader as he shouts and urges them on to the hanger deck. This part at least is familiar, a pattern of activity literally bred into her by the cloning chambers that'd manufactured her 13 years ago. Despite the difference in hull design and technology, this was the sprint of warriors eager for battle.
Neqel smiles, once, at the sight of her Beta Veritech on the flight deck. Having only been recently assigned to the ship and to her own plane, there'd been limited opportunity to customize it. Still, it bore the name of the Allison. That'd been her dead husband's favorite name if they'd had a daughter, if they'd had any more of the kids they'd hoped for. With him dead these three years, the least she could do is honor it here.
She runs through her own preflight checklist in rapid, efficient order, with the total concentration every Zentraedi had instilled in them from the tanks. As the pilot of a Beta Veritech, she'd be providing the thrust for initial velocity to her Alpha counterpart, leaving the actual piloting to her partner while she concentrated on weapons lock and missile systems. At least until they split once combat was joined. So she checks her list against her partner's before turning the list over to Jedidiah Turner and sliding into the cockpit.
@Silanon
"Seems like everything is in place, or is at least about to get there", came the voice of her squadmate, Lieutenant Miu, through the team radio, "now all we need to do is to wait for them to send us back to the simulators."
"Ready here," she says, toggling her own squad frequency. "I'm in no hurry. If nothing else, my ship smells better than those simulators."
The news of Zentraedi destroyers out here wipes away the elation of actually seeing battle for the first time in years. If her foes were Invid or other enemies of the Robotech Masters, she would be delighted. But killing her own people didn't sit well with her. Still, orders were orders.
"Ship to ship with capital elements? LT, I'm loading up with a mix of High Explosives and Armor Piercer missiles unless you have other orders. At least there's no risk of collateral damage in space."
Reaching into her flight suit, Neqel produces a photo of a ten year old blue-haired boy. Her most recent picture of her son, Nathan, and probably the last she'd ever have of him. And so she passed the time until launch orders were given, looking fondly at her boy.
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Second Lieutenant Tucker had the foresight to hit a small switch and mute his mike before loosing a torrent of swears. This was the first engagement of the convoy's flight, and it would have to be with the one that netted the most mixed emotions. There were Zentraedi all over the fleet. His memories of the men working with the Soviets they were fighting against during WWIII told him there would still be animosity and suspicions. Combine that with a Zentraedi opposition and men he'd be relying on would be rather off their game.
The comment snapped hI'm back into focus on his roll. A few clicks, and his voice is being relayed up the chain of command. "If they have one of our recon ships, we'll need tactical insight on its location and how to disable that vessel without costing us our allies." He said, tactics already being drafted in his head.
The comment snapped hI'm back into focus on his roll. A few clicks, and his voice is being relayed up the chain of command. "If they have one of our recon ships, we'll need tactical insight on its location and how to disable that vessel without costing us our allies." He said, tactics already being drafted in his head.
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Ten minutes go by slowly. Finally, the two damaged troopships emerge from fold space. Video of the ships is being transmitted to your fighters, and the ugly scars of laser fire can be clearly seen. From the pounding that they took, it is a miracle that they got away. Tensions remain high as the two ships begin to limp to the Fabricator Ship's dry dock. Finally after a half hour goes by, your squad is given the all clear to stand down from alert status, but stay close by.
Dana looks over at her Valkyrie, then at Neqel. "I wonder what happened to the third ship. If they were taken prisoner, wet can't just leave them behind. The admiral knows that, right?"
Soon enough, you hear the announcement come over the p.a. system. "Stand by for fold space transition. Jump in five minutes. Pilots to the briefing room."
Dana looks over at her Valkyrie, then at Neqel. "I wonder what happened to the third ship. If they were taken prisoner, wet can't just leave them behind. The admiral knows that, right?"
Soon enough, you hear the announcement come over the p.a. system. "Stand by for fold space transition. Jump in five minutes. Pilots to the briefing room."
Silanon
Four Thousand Club
Zentraedi. Once again, they proved to be a threat, showing their destruction potential quite clearly by the heavy damage caused on the UEEF's ships. One day, we'll be the one tracking you down. And we'll repay our losses, that's for sure. Of course, Zentraedi was quite a wide generalization by now, with a few of them seemingly willing to change fronts. But that didn't change the facts. They had attacked the UEEF once again, potentially capturing one of the ships - or worse. She didn't know what Zentraedi did with captives, or if they even bothered taking prisoners. In any case, Miu wouldn't stand back while they wreaked havok. As it seemed, she wasn't the only one thinking like that, with her direct superior already asking for more details. And even the Zentraedi in the team stated to be ready, even though the outlook to fight her congenerics made that certainty rather unreliable. Dana spoke out what, hopefully, everyone on board thought, and moments later both a fold space transition and a briefing were announced. Let's hope we're moving the right way and don't flee like cowards. We're here to fight, after all.
The young pilot left the seat in her vehicle, closing in to the others. "Sounds like we'll finally get some work to do, Lieutenant. I'd take that over those damn simulations any day." While turning towards the briefing romm, she looked for the blue-haired squadmember that probably could answer her question the best. "Any idea what would wait for us there? Can't say I've ever been on a ship that got captured by Zentraedi, but maybe some of you have."
The young pilot left the seat in her vehicle, closing in to the others. "Sounds like we'll finally get some work to do, Lieutenant. I'd take that over those damn simulations any day." While turning towards the briefing romm, she looked for the blue-haired squadmember that probably could answer her question the best. "Any idea what would wait for us there? Can't say I've ever been on a ship that got captured by Zentraedi, but maybe some of you have."
Epiphany
Proverbs 17:9
3LT Neqel Amherst
Forty minutes of waiting can dull the sharpest blade. Neqel keeps herself focused by rechecking system readouts and simply waiting. In her experience, Micronians didn't handle waiting well. Not like Zentraedi. Not when it came to imminent battle, anyway. It still took an act of willpower to sit through a 2 hour movie. But when it came to waiting for the first appearance of an adversary, Neqel could lie in wait for days without losing her readiness or desire for bloodshed.
The all-clear that goes through and Neqel exhales a pent-up breath. Popping her canopy, she snatches up her photograph of Nathan and drops to the hanger bay floor with the rest of her squad before carefully, very very carefully tucking it back into its protected pocket to make sure she doesn't bend or crease it.
When Dana looks her way, Neqel raises her eyebrows inquisitively. Then she shrugs. "They probably were taken prisoner. The Zentraedi out here in deep space have never seen or heard of you Micronians. Only those of us who were ordered to chase Zor's Fortress to your sector probably have any idea you exist at all." She smirks slightly at Dana and adds "They probably think you're aliens. How do most Micronians treat aliens?
"But no, I'm sure we won't leave them behind," she adds, all trace of the smirk vanishing. "There are many ways the fleet might deal with this, especially since you have Zentraedi among you. I have great respect for your military minds. I'm sure the play will be a good one."
When Miu addresses her, Neqel shrugs again. "It depends on the type of destroyer. It's probably a squadron of half a dozen Thuverl Salan-class capital ships. I was born aboard one. They're our most common ship. And yet they failed against the Fortress. Surely they'll fail against our combined fleets."
The blue-haired woman looks briefly pensive just then before she says "I'm not sure I answered your question, though. Zentraedi don't, as a rule, execute unknown aliens. We capture and study them. They are likely being studied and then interrogated. It's not unusual for such examinations to take days or weeks, even months." A bit sympathetically, she adds to Miu, "Our crewmates on the captured Garfish have time for rescue," before she pauses and adds a bit fiercely "and if they don't, those hajoca will regret what they've done."
Forty minutes of waiting can dull the sharpest blade. Neqel keeps herself focused by rechecking system readouts and simply waiting. In her experience, Micronians didn't handle waiting well. Not like Zentraedi. Not when it came to imminent battle, anyway. It still took an act of willpower to sit through a 2 hour movie. But when it came to waiting for the first appearance of an adversary, Neqel could lie in wait for days without losing her readiness or desire for bloodshed.
The all-clear that goes through and Neqel exhales a pent-up breath. Popping her canopy, she snatches up her photograph of Nathan and drops to the hanger bay floor with the rest of her squad before carefully, very very carefully tucking it back into its protected pocket to make sure she doesn't bend or crease it.
When Dana looks her way, Neqel raises her eyebrows inquisitively. Then she shrugs. "They probably were taken prisoner. The Zentraedi out here in deep space have never seen or heard of you Micronians. Only those of us who were ordered to chase Zor's Fortress to your sector probably have any idea you exist at all." She smirks slightly at Dana and adds "They probably think you're aliens. How do most Micronians treat aliens?
"But no, I'm sure we won't leave them behind," she adds, all trace of the smirk vanishing. "There are many ways the fleet might deal with this, especially since you have Zentraedi among you. I have great respect for your military minds. I'm sure the play will be a good one."
When Miu addresses her, Neqel shrugs again. "It depends on the type of destroyer. It's probably a squadron of half a dozen Thuverl Salan-class capital ships. I was born aboard one. They're our most common ship. And yet they failed against the Fortress. Surely they'll fail against our combined fleets."
The blue-haired woman looks briefly pensive just then before she says "I'm not sure I answered your question, though. Zentraedi don't, as a rule, execute unknown aliens. We capture and study them. They are likely being studied and then interrogated. It's not unusual for such examinations to take days or weeks, even months." A bit sympathetically, she adds to Miu, "Our crewmates on the captured Garfish have time for rescue," before she pauses and adds a bit fiercely "and if they don't, those hajoca will regret what they've done."
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
When you get to the amphitheater used for a briefing room for the MacArthur's pilots, both Captain Kutuzov and Admiral Kerinsky are there, along with the CAG, Commander Holloway. The large viewscreens at the front of the room show several images of a pair of Zentraedi destroyers. As you glance up at them, they flicker to a different view showing the ships firing their batteries at the camera POV, and finally, a final image of a Garfish troopship taking heavy damage from a formation of fighter pods and the destroyers themselves.
The Commander steps up to the podium and touches a control to dim the lights and the low murmur of conversation among the pilots ends. "Ladies and gentlemen, these are videos taken by the Rhabwar. As you can see, the recon ships encountered a formation of four Zentraedi Thuverl Salan-class capital ships, commonly referred to as the destroyer and the most numerous of the Zentraedi ships. From the reaction of the Zentraedi, the presence of the UEEF ships at the same location of their emergence into normal space was a complete surprise as it took nearly a full minute for them to begin to sortie Battle Pods and open fire with the secondary batteries. That slow reaction time is very unusual for a battle ready combat force." Several heads in the audience can be seen nodding at this. The Commander continues her briefing. "All three of the Garfish Class ships were badly damaged before the Rhabwar was able to engage her fold engine, and the Saskatoon was disabled and unable to maneuver close enough to be included in the fold envelope. The last thing that was seen by the retreating ships is the Saskatoon being grappled and pulled into one of the landing bays of this destroyer. The capture of our people will not be allowed to go unanswered, and the Admiral intends on getting them back."
She pauses to let the import of her words sink in. Then, a technical readout of the Thuverl-Salan is posted on the display. "Our target is the workhorse of the Zentraedi military. At over 7,500 feet long, 2,890 feet wide and 1,345 feet tall, they are over three times the size of the MacArthur. Assuming a full complement of mecha and fighters, we are looking at 1,000 Regult Battle Pods, 250 Gnerl Fighter Pods, 300 Nousjadeul-Ger Male Powered Armor, and 50 Glaug Officer Pods. Compared to the flight wing on the Mac, we have 305 Alphas and 161 Betas, making us sizably outnumbered, and that is just one ship. We are facing four. Before you start to think that this will require the full force of the 3rd HAD, take a closer look at this." Holloway zooms in for a closeup of one ship after another to reveal that all four ships are suffering from major damage across the entire hull, and many of the weapon turrets are clearly disabled. "From the analysis of the data, it is clear that all four ships are far from mint condition. In fact, it looks like they are being held together by chewing gum and hopeful thoughts, and their mecha complement is seriously depleted. It is likely that the destroyers are trying to use the system to pick up some raw materials and a place to hide from whatever did that to them.
With that in mind, the Admiral has a battle plan in mind. First, we need to find them. This system has two asteroid belts, giving the Zentraedi plenty of excellent hiding places. Once a ship is located, we use their electronic signature to identify which one has our people. One by one, we use the main guns on the Northampton and the Bata Revo Stealth Frigates to blast them from a safe distance, using the flight wings of the MacArthur and the Arc Royal to keep their remaining mecha at bay. Then, we peel the last ship apart like an onion, removing its abilty to fight. Then we board the ship to rescue our missing crews. Admiral?"
Admiral Kerinsky stands and takes Commander Holloway's place at the podium. She may be a tiny woman, but there is a strength about her that is visible to you all. She stands silenty for a moment, then in a faint Russian accent, she says, "Failure is not an option. Every one of you will give me one hundred percent, because the lives of those men and women are in our hands, and we will not let them down. No one will be left behind on my watch." In a slightly softer tone, she says, "You are the very best that the UEEF has to offer, trained to a razors edge of skill, flying mecha that is a hundred times better than the best of the Zentraedi war machine. If I didn't think that you could pull this off, I wouldn't be standing here right now. We will succeed. Commander Holloway will issue specific orders to each squadron as to what you will be doing. Just remember that the crew of the Saskatoon is waiting for us to come for them all. Thank you, and God bless."
The tablet in Lt. Tucker's hand lights up with the assignment for your squad. After breakout into normal space, your team will be escorting a Raven-class EW ship on a recon flight around a part of the outer asteroid belt. The mission flight time, assuming no contacts with the Zentraedi, will be a full ten hour run. Lt. Dana Simms will be flying her Valkyrie with the Super VF flight pack added on to her back and a load of medium range missiles under the wings. Once contact is made with a destroyer, Simms is to be rearmed with long range missiles to engage vital targets on the ship while the rest of the squad tackles the air wing of the Zentraedi. If the ship happens to be identified as the one that has the crew of the Saskatoon, you are to be prepared to board the destroyer and get them out.
The Commander steps up to the podium and touches a control to dim the lights and the low murmur of conversation among the pilots ends. "Ladies and gentlemen, these are videos taken by the Rhabwar. As you can see, the recon ships encountered a formation of four Zentraedi Thuverl Salan-class capital ships, commonly referred to as the destroyer and the most numerous of the Zentraedi ships. From the reaction of the Zentraedi, the presence of the UEEF ships at the same location of their emergence into normal space was a complete surprise as it took nearly a full minute for them to begin to sortie Battle Pods and open fire with the secondary batteries. That slow reaction time is very unusual for a battle ready combat force." Several heads in the audience can be seen nodding at this. The Commander continues her briefing. "All three of the Garfish Class ships were badly damaged before the Rhabwar was able to engage her fold engine, and the Saskatoon was disabled and unable to maneuver close enough to be included in the fold envelope. The last thing that was seen by the retreating ships is the Saskatoon being grappled and pulled into one of the landing bays of this destroyer. The capture of our people will not be allowed to go unanswered, and the Admiral intends on getting them back."
She pauses to let the import of her words sink in. Then, a technical readout of the Thuverl-Salan is posted on the display. "Our target is the workhorse of the Zentraedi military. At over 7,500 feet long, 2,890 feet wide and 1,345 feet tall, they are over three times the size of the MacArthur. Assuming a full complement of mecha and fighters, we are looking at 1,000 Regult Battle Pods, 250 Gnerl Fighter Pods, 300 Nousjadeul-Ger Male Powered Armor, and 50 Glaug Officer Pods. Compared to the flight wing on the Mac, we have 305 Alphas and 161 Betas, making us sizably outnumbered, and that is just one ship. We are facing four. Before you start to think that this will require the full force of the 3rd HAD, take a closer look at this." Holloway zooms in for a closeup of one ship after another to reveal that all four ships are suffering from major damage across the entire hull, and many of the weapon turrets are clearly disabled. "From the analysis of the data, it is clear that all four ships are far from mint condition. In fact, it looks like they are being held together by chewing gum and hopeful thoughts, and their mecha complement is seriously depleted. It is likely that the destroyers are trying to use the system to pick up some raw materials and a place to hide from whatever did that to them.
With that in mind, the Admiral has a battle plan in mind. First, we need to find them. This system has two asteroid belts, giving the Zentraedi plenty of excellent hiding places. Once a ship is located, we use their electronic signature to identify which one has our people. One by one, we use the main guns on the Northampton and the Bata Revo Stealth Frigates to blast them from a safe distance, using the flight wings of the MacArthur and the Arc Royal to keep their remaining mecha at bay. Then, we peel the last ship apart like an onion, removing its abilty to fight. Then we board the ship to rescue our missing crews. Admiral?"
Admiral Kerinsky stands and takes Commander Holloway's place at the podium. She may be a tiny woman, but there is a strength about her that is visible to you all. She stands silenty for a moment, then in a faint Russian accent, she says, "Failure is not an option. Every one of you will give me one hundred percent, because the lives of those men and women are in our hands, and we will not let them down. No one will be left behind on my watch." In a slightly softer tone, she says, "You are the very best that the UEEF has to offer, trained to a razors edge of skill, flying mecha that is a hundred times better than the best of the Zentraedi war machine. If I didn't think that you could pull this off, I wouldn't be standing here right now. We will succeed. Commander Holloway will issue specific orders to each squadron as to what you will be doing. Just remember that the crew of the Saskatoon is waiting for us to come for them all. Thank you, and God bless."
The tablet in Lt. Tucker's hand lights up with the assignment for your squad. After breakout into normal space, your team will be escorting a Raven-class EW ship on a recon flight around a part of the outer asteroid belt. The mission flight time, assuming no contacts with the Zentraedi, will be a full ten hour run. Lt. Dana Simms will be flying her Valkyrie with the Super VF flight pack added on to her back and a load of medium range missiles under the wings. Once contact is made with a destroyer, Simms is to be rearmed with long range missiles to engage vital targets on the ship while the rest of the squad tackles the air wing of the Zentraedi. If the ship happens to be identified as the one that has the crew of the Saskatoon, you are to be prepared to board the destroyer and get them out.
Silanon
Four Thousand Club
3 Lnt. Miu Ueno
At least, there seemed to be hope for the crew - although the Lieutenants' description sounded as if they better hurried to rescue them, there was at least a distinct possibility to get to them in time. "Let's hope we'll be able to free them before their curiosity is satisfied", Miu answered, "I didn't join the military to recover corpses."
Taking a seat close to the podium, a certain tension reached her as soon as it became clear that her first real mission was approaching. All that training seemed to finally getting put to use - in a mission that pretty much seemed like a suicidal mission to begin with. Four giant destroyers, only waiting to tear apart whatever got close to them. Hell, they were unprepared and still almost managed to turn three of our ships to scrap. If that's not worthy for a first mission, nothing is.
It didn't take long before the commanding officers dampened her euphoria, though. Seemed like the Zentraedi had fought their own wars beforehand, and they hadn't done all that well themselves. From closer range, the damage dealt to their ships was undeniable, it almost looked as if they would fall to pieces in any moment. Maybe the marks of another human combat unit? There wasn't anything else out there, right?
"Seems like we'll do clean-up for someone else", she noted, a bit of disappointment in her voice. Not that it would be an easy task, but still - at one point or another, they'd have to fight the Zentraedi at full force, and she would have preferred to send a message right now, rather than sometime in the future. As the Admiral said, they were the best of the best. She herself had finished most of her training with excellent ratings, and the same held true for most of the others. It was on them to set an example, and freeing the captured men could only be a beginning for that. That said, the ships being damaged would certainly help in that regard.
The gleaming light on Lnt. Tuckers tablet ended her thoughts. "What's our mission, Lieutenant? Just back-up for the others, or will we finally join the real fighting?"
At least, there seemed to be hope for the crew - although the Lieutenants' description sounded as if they better hurried to rescue them, there was at least a distinct possibility to get to them in time. "Let's hope we'll be able to free them before their curiosity is satisfied", Miu answered, "I didn't join the military to recover corpses."
Taking a seat close to the podium, a certain tension reached her as soon as it became clear that her first real mission was approaching. All that training seemed to finally getting put to use - in a mission that pretty much seemed like a suicidal mission to begin with. Four giant destroyers, only waiting to tear apart whatever got close to them. Hell, they were unprepared and still almost managed to turn three of our ships to scrap. If that's not worthy for a first mission, nothing is.
It didn't take long before the commanding officers dampened her euphoria, though. Seemed like the Zentraedi had fought their own wars beforehand, and they hadn't done all that well themselves. From closer range, the damage dealt to their ships was undeniable, it almost looked as if they would fall to pieces in any moment. Maybe the marks of another human combat unit? There wasn't anything else out there, right?
"Seems like we'll do clean-up for someone else", she noted, a bit of disappointment in her voice. Not that it would be an easy task, but still - at one point or another, they'd have to fight the Zentraedi at full force, and she would have preferred to send a message right now, rather than sometime in the future. As the Admiral said, they were the best of the best. She herself had finished most of her training with excellent ratings, and the same held true for most of the others. It was on them to set an example, and freeing the captured men could only be a beginning for that. That said, the ships being damaged would certainly help in that regard.
The gleaming light on Lnt. Tuckers tablet ended her thoughts. "What's our mission, Lieutenant? Just back-up for the others, or will we finally join the real fighting?"
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Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Dana pulls out her own datapad and begins to call up the UEEF records of the internal layout of a Zentraedi destroyer. "With a ship that big, there are plenty of places to stuff our people into. If we are the ones to go inside, we'll have to be careful not to do too much damage to the ship and make it blow before we secure the prisoners."
Beebasaur
Probably Dead?
Beebe had jumped out of the simulator later than the others and watched as they took off without him. he hurried and scrambled towards the veiwing room after them using his wings to go faster.
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Epiphany
Proverbs 17:9
3LT Neqel Amherst
As the briefing got underway, Neqel studies the combat footage intently. She doesn't miss the extreme lag in response time, or the sizable damage to the hulls of those capital ships. The Zentraedi woman even winces slightly as camera footage gets a close up or two that reveal how badly pounded the Thuverl Salan's were.
The news of the Zentraedi fleet looking for raw materials for repair makes her frown, though.
She winces again at the attack plan, sighs a bit unhappily but nods. Negotiation probably was too much to hope for. For the Zentraedi she'd been, negotiation barely existed as a word in her native tongue and was never practiced. But just because the enemy didn't know how didn't mean the Micronians couldn't have managed it. Their culture and ways were vastly disorienting to an unprepared Zentraedi and, despite her race's warrior legacy, first contact situations didn't always end in automatic battle to the death. But then, these Micronians had lost so many of their people during the Zentraedi Holocaust, the great Rain of Death caused by millions of Zentraedi vessels firing on Earth at the end of the First Robotech War.
It shouldn't surprise her that these Micronians didn't trust her people. The Amhersts didn't trust her despite her marriage, despite the grandchild she'd given them. Why should the rest of them show compassion for aliens they didn't even know first hand?
@Silanon
Seated with her squad, Neqel glanced at Miu. "Be grateful someone else got to them first or this plan would never work. That said...it's a good plan. I believe we will accomplish it, just as they say." Her gaze returns to the briefing podium and their commanding officers, and she begrudgingly nods her respect.
@Sherwood
The blue-haired woman turns her gaze to Dana Simms. "There are, Simms. Perhaps I can...simplify things?"
She scoots closer and gestures the rest of the squad over as she points at the UEEF layout diagram of the Thuverl Salan. "As you can see, the top four decks in the superstructure look very uniform. There's a reason for that; they're crew quarters. Most of the top half of the cruiser will be nothing but space for Zentraedi troops including quarters, kitchens, sparring chambers and so on. Troops are the Zentraedi's first and primary resource after all. Our people won't be on those top four decks. Crew decks are unsecured, as my race has little concept of privacy, which makes these decks unsuited for holding prisoners."
"Likewise," she taps the bottom of the ship. "The bottom deck, the ninth, is mostly used as a flight deck for deploying Zentraedi attack fighters. And the eighth deck is where battlepods and power armor deploy are stored, repaired and maintained."
Neqel sweeps her fingers along the floorplan, highlighting decks 5-7. "The bridge is here, on deck 7. Engineering is back here, decks 5-9. If I had to guess, I'd place our people here." She stabs a finger in the middle of decks 5-7 and slides it back and forth, lighting up part of the ship on the display. "Zentraedi don't take a lot of prisoners so their security mostly consists of single locked cells with Zentraedi patrols to keep prisoners from escaping. As long as we aim for the middle, we shouldn't have too much trouble finding them."
"Evacuating them will be another matter. Though hopefully the Saskatoon is intact and we can get our people back to their ship."
As the briefing got underway, Neqel studies the combat footage intently. She doesn't miss the extreme lag in response time, or the sizable damage to the hulls of those capital ships. The Zentraedi woman even winces slightly as camera footage gets a close up or two that reveal how badly pounded the Thuverl Salan's were.
The news of the Zentraedi fleet looking for raw materials for repair makes her frown, though.
She winces again at the attack plan, sighs a bit unhappily but nods. Negotiation probably was too much to hope for. For the Zentraedi she'd been, negotiation barely existed as a word in her native tongue and was never practiced. But just because the enemy didn't know how didn't mean the Micronians couldn't have managed it. Their culture and ways were vastly disorienting to an unprepared Zentraedi and, despite her race's warrior legacy, first contact situations didn't always end in automatic battle to the death. But then, these Micronians had lost so many of their people during the Zentraedi Holocaust, the great Rain of Death caused by millions of Zentraedi vessels firing on Earth at the end of the First Robotech War.
It shouldn't surprise her that these Micronians didn't trust her people. The Amhersts didn't trust her despite her marriage, despite the grandchild she'd given them. Why should the rest of them show compassion for aliens they didn't even know first hand?
@Silanon
Seated with her squad, Neqel glanced at Miu. "Be grateful someone else got to them first or this plan would never work. That said...it's a good plan. I believe we will accomplish it, just as they say." Her gaze returns to the briefing podium and their commanding officers, and she begrudgingly nods her respect.
@Sherwood
The blue-haired woman turns her gaze to Dana Simms. "There are, Simms. Perhaps I can...simplify things?"
She scoots closer and gestures the rest of the squad over as she points at the UEEF layout diagram of the Thuverl Salan. "As you can see, the top four decks in the superstructure look very uniform. There's a reason for that; they're crew quarters. Most of the top half of the cruiser will be nothing but space for Zentraedi troops including quarters, kitchens, sparring chambers and so on. Troops are the Zentraedi's first and primary resource after all. Our people won't be on those top four decks. Crew decks are unsecured, as my race has little concept of privacy, which makes these decks unsuited for holding prisoners."
"Likewise," she taps the bottom of the ship. "The bottom deck, the ninth, is mostly used as a flight deck for deploying Zentraedi attack fighters. And the eighth deck is where battlepods and power armor deploy are stored, repaired and maintained."
Neqel sweeps her fingers along the floorplan, highlighting decks 5-7. "The bridge is here, on deck 7. Engineering is back here, decks 5-9. If I had to guess, I'd place our people here." She stabs a finger in the middle of decks 5-7 and slides it back and forth, lighting up part of the ship on the display. "Zentraedi don't take a lot of prisoners so their security mostly consists of single locked cells with Zentraedi patrols to keep prisoners from escaping. As long as we aim for the middle, we shouldn't have too much trouble finding them."
"Evacuating them will be another matter. Though hopefully the Saskatoon is intact and we can get our people back to their ship."
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Beebasaur
Probably Dead?
Beebe gasped when he watched the footage of the attack then glanced at Neqel wondering how she felt about this. This place needs me more than i thought He thought looking back at the footage
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Dana leans on over the display as Neqel goes over the layout, nodding. "Yeah, yeah. I see that, now. Well, one way or another, we'll get our people back."
The alert goes off once more as the MacArthur and her escort ships are nearing the end of the fold space jump. With all the pilots in their Veritechs, the ships break into normal space. After a tense few seconds, the all clear signal is given. From the Command Deck, you get the signal, "Recon One, prepare to launch with the Black Widow Squad. Recon Two, you will be taking to space after a second, short jump across the system with Crimson Squad. Stand ready."
Your particular squad is going to be escorting Recon Two, a Raven Class EW support ship. The Raven has a flight crew of three with a electronic support team of twenty, working a high powered Phased Array radar set that can track 700 targets at a range of 2,450 miles. The Raven has no weapons, but is capable of a flight speed of just over Mach 12, giving it the ability to maneuver and stay out of the radar range of the enemy and still be able to guide friendly forces into the fray.
In order to be able to keep pace with the Beta fighters, Dana's Valkyrie is being equipped with the Super VF Support Pack, giving her a top speed of Mach 8.4, making her the fastest jet in the squad. With her loadout of eight long range missiles on her wings, Dana now has an additional missile load from the Super VF Pack, arming her with 46 short range missiles to be able to engage either fighters or ships.
The second space fold takes place without incident, putting you in position for your escort mission. "Recon Two, Veritech Squad, prepare to launch in 3-2-1-now. Good hunting."
Recon Two's powerful computers begin the process of electronically linking everyone together. Once that is done, the EW team signals, "Veritech Squad, thank you for choosing Recon Two for all of your reconnaissance flight needs. Our in flight movie is the old Earth sci-fi classic Aliens, and our lovely stewardesses will begin our complementary beverage service momentarily, and telemetry from your fighters are coming in clear. In the meantime, our expected flight path is going to take us on an elliptical path over the second asteroid belt, and if there are no contacts, we'll be out here for a ten hour run, so I hope you had a chance to hit the latrine before we took off. Flight data has been uploaded to your systems, and should be on your HUD now."
Dana can be seen nodding in the video display. "Copy that, Recon Two. We have your signal clear, and your flight path has been compared and confirmed with our mission orders from the MacArthur. We are hitting the boosters now. And just so you know, I much preferred the film E.T. over the horror stuff, 'cause not all aliens are bad guys. Remember that for next time."
Good natured laughter answers her. "You got it, Valkyrie."
The alert goes off once more as the MacArthur and her escort ships are nearing the end of the fold space jump. With all the pilots in their Veritechs, the ships break into normal space. After a tense few seconds, the all clear signal is given. From the Command Deck, you get the signal, "Recon One, prepare to launch with the Black Widow Squad. Recon Two, you will be taking to space after a second, short jump across the system with Crimson Squad. Stand ready."
Your particular squad is going to be escorting Recon Two, a Raven Class EW support ship. The Raven has a flight crew of three with a electronic support team of twenty, working a high powered Phased Array radar set that can track 700 targets at a range of 2,450 miles. The Raven has no weapons, but is capable of a flight speed of just over Mach 12, giving it the ability to maneuver and stay out of the radar range of the enemy and still be able to guide friendly forces into the fray.
In order to be able to keep pace with the Beta fighters, Dana's Valkyrie is being equipped with the Super VF Support Pack, giving her a top speed of Mach 8.4, making her the fastest jet in the squad. With her loadout of eight long range missiles on her wings, Dana now has an additional missile load from the Super VF Pack, arming her with 46 short range missiles to be able to engage either fighters or ships.
The second space fold takes place without incident, putting you in position for your escort mission. "Recon Two, Veritech Squad, prepare to launch in 3-2-1-now. Good hunting."
Recon Two's powerful computers begin the process of electronically linking everyone together. Once that is done, the EW team signals, "Veritech Squad, thank you for choosing Recon Two for all of your reconnaissance flight needs. Our in flight movie is the old Earth sci-fi classic Aliens, and our lovely stewardesses will begin our complementary beverage service momentarily, and telemetry from your fighters are coming in clear. In the meantime, our expected flight path is going to take us on an elliptical path over the second asteroid belt, and if there are no contacts, we'll be out here for a ten hour run, so I hope you had a chance to hit the latrine before we took off. Flight data has been uploaded to your systems, and should be on your HUD now."
Dana can be seen nodding in the video display. "Copy that, Recon Two. We have your signal clear, and your flight path has been compared and confirmed with our mission orders from the MacArthur. We are hitting the boosters now. And just so you know, I much preferred the film E.T. over the horror stuff, 'cause not all aliens are bad guys. Remember that for next time."
Good natured laughter answers her. "You got it, Valkyrie."
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Silanon
Four Thousand Club
3rd Lt Miu Ueno
Of course, Neqel was right with her assessment - if the Zentraedi destroyers weren't damaged, things would have been rather difficult in comparison. Still, while Miu followed the explanations of the blue-haired pilot, she couldn't help but hope that the remaining Zentraedi forces would at least put up a good fight. If they think they can handle us in direct combat, they won't try any dirty tricks, too.
It wasn't long until things finally started off. Jumping into her Beta fighter, she once again checked all systems before calling her superior in the connected Alpha in front of her. "All systems checked, sky is clear to lift off. Get us on our flight path, I'll handle speed and all the minor stuff for now." After completing the takeoff, the Raven crew directly showed the kind of professional atttitude she liked. Both Aliens and E.T. were poor choices, though, at least if you had to watch them four times in a row. And clearly, the squad was in for the long run this time. Miu made sure that everything looked just like in the simulations before unmuting her mic.
"3rd Lt Ueno, reporting for duty. Signal is clear, please confirm that I don't mumble to myself the next few hours. Can we order drinks for when we're done with this? I'm expecting the crew of the Saskatoon to join us shortly, so better prepare a few more glasses than needed."
Of course, Neqel was right with her assessment - if the Zentraedi destroyers weren't damaged, things would have been rather difficult in comparison. Still, while Miu followed the explanations of the blue-haired pilot, she couldn't help but hope that the remaining Zentraedi forces would at least put up a good fight. If they think they can handle us in direct combat, they won't try any dirty tricks, too.
It wasn't long until things finally started off. Jumping into her Beta fighter, she once again checked all systems before calling her superior in the connected Alpha in front of her. "All systems checked, sky is clear to lift off. Get us on our flight path, I'll handle speed and all the minor stuff for now." After completing the takeoff, the Raven crew directly showed the kind of professional atttitude she liked. Both Aliens and E.T. were poor choices, though, at least if you had to watch them four times in a row. And clearly, the squad was in for the long run this time. Miu made sure that everything looked just like in the simulations before unmuting her mic.
"3rd Lt Ueno, reporting for duty. Signal is clear, please confirm that I don't mumble to myself the next few hours. Can we order drinks for when we're done with this? I'm expecting the crew of the Saskatoon to join us shortly, so better prepare a few more glasses than needed."
Epiphany
Proverbs 17:9
3LT Neqel Amherst
@BeebeTheWarrior
While Beebe watched the footage and eyed her, Neqel's face was grim. Somber. A little unhappy. It's a little hard to tell how she's feeling just from watching her but it's pretty easy to note that she seems pretty restrained, the kind of woman who keeps her feelings to herself. Even so, the Zentraedi capital ships attacking the cruisers makes her look dark, a little angry, maybe a little depressed.
@Sherwood
Once the alert goes off, Neqel heads to her Beta and straps in. Once more, the picture of her ten year old son Nathan goes up between a set of control panels. She briefly runs a finger along the edge of the picture before sighing and getting to work.
The launch is smooth. So is the linkup to Recon Two. Neqel takes advantage of the far superior sensory package of the Raven's, keeping one eye on the data being dumped to her own sensor screens while the other reflexively watches out the cockpit window. The Raven's crew's banter brings a small smile to her face, though. Richard had their sense of humor. She winces at the brief stab in her chest, the ache of her missing husband dead these past three years.
Thankfully, the flight is more than long enough for her to get her composure back, get bored watching sensor readouts and waiting for action. The Raven's sensors would give them a heads up on any incoming long before her own would. This was an escort mission, more or less. Might as well wait for the enemy to decide to show themselves or not. In the meantime, Neqel simply watched the sensor output and listened to any comm chatter. It was up to the Alpha pilot she was paired to when they'd engage anyway. A Zentraedi never relaxed but Neqel slowly settled into her seat, getting comfortable for the long trip.
@Silanon
Again, a slight smile creased Neqel's serious face at the lighthearted remarks made by her squadmate.
"It's too bad the Zentraedi have no vices. Otherwise I'd suggest we raid their stores while we rescue the Saskatoon's crew. That way, the drinks are on them!"
...It wasn't much of a joke, and not terribly good banter either. But if Neqel had never quite mastered Micronian humor, the memory of Richard and Nathan always motivated her to keep trying.
@BeebeTheWarrior
While Beebe watched the footage and eyed her, Neqel's face was grim. Somber. A little unhappy. It's a little hard to tell how she's feeling just from watching her but it's pretty easy to note that she seems pretty restrained, the kind of woman who keeps her feelings to herself. Even so, the Zentraedi capital ships attacking the cruisers makes her look dark, a little angry, maybe a little depressed.
@Sherwood
Once the alert goes off, Neqel heads to her Beta and straps in. Once more, the picture of her ten year old son Nathan goes up between a set of control panels. She briefly runs a finger along the edge of the picture before sighing and getting to work.
The launch is smooth. So is the linkup to Recon Two. Neqel takes advantage of the far superior sensory package of the Raven's, keeping one eye on the data being dumped to her own sensor screens while the other reflexively watches out the cockpit window. The Raven's crew's banter brings a small smile to her face, though. Richard had their sense of humor. She winces at the brief stab in her chest, the ache of her missing husband dead these past three years.
Thankfully, the flight is more than long enough for her to get her composure back, get bored watching sensor readouts and waiting for action. The Raven's sensors would give them a heads up on any incoming long before her own would. This was an escort mission, more or less. Might as well wait for the enemy to decide to show themselves or not. In the meantime, Neqel simply watched the sensor output and listened to any comm chatter. It was up to the Alpha pilot she was paired to when they'd engage anyway. A Zentraedi never relaxed but Neqel slowly settled into her seat, getting comfortable for the long trip.
@Silanon
Again, a slight smile creased Neqel's serious face at the lighthearted remarks made by her squadmate.
"It's too bad the Zentraedi have no vices. Otherwise I'd suggest we raid their stores while we rescue the Saskatoon's crew. That way, the drinks are on them!"
...It wasn't much of a joke, and not terribly good banter either. But if Neqel had never quite mastered Micronian humor, the memory of Richard and Nathan always motivated her to keep trying.
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
As the mission continues, Dana pulls out from her audio file collection a mix of various rock and roll artists, hoping to help the hours go by. It turns out that the young pilot has a old soul when it comes to music, drawing from the late 1970's and 80's for her playlist, starting out with some ZZ Top. If anyone complains, she is quick to change the song to something different. No need to offend her squadmates over something as simple as pressing fast forward on an iPod.
Keeping a loose formation around the Raven, you are able to focus on staying awake and letting the EW aircraft do the heavy lifting in the radar department. Just over three hours into your flight, the radio operator in the Raven calls out, "Tallyho! Crimson Squadron, we have multiple contacts at extreme range, bearing 136-74, speed Mach 8. Stand by for identification." A short pause as the computers crunch the data, then the radio operator continues, "According to their flight characteristics and EW profile, we have a flight of six Regult Battle Pods. Prepare to alter course to avoid detection, then we can see where they came from. The MacArthur has been updated with mission status."
Keeping a loose formation around the Raven, you are able to focus on staying awake and letting the EW aircraft do the heavy lifting in the radar department. Just over three hours into your flight, the radio operator in the Raven calls out, "Tallyho! Crimson Squadron, we have multiple contacts at extreme range, bearing 136-74, speed Mach 8. Stand by for identification." A short pause as the computers crunch the data, then the radio operator continues, "According to their flight characteristics and EW profile, we have a flight of six Regult Battle Pods. Prepare to alter course to avoid detection, then we can see where they came from. The MacArthur has been updated with mission status."
Sherwood
Luna's Concubine
Dana is quick to change course with the Raven, keeping pace with the EW ship. She calls out on the video to Jedidiah, "Sir, should we engage the pods, or just let them fly on? Our main job is to find the warships, not fudge around with the mecha. But, we'll have to take them on sooner or later, right?" She looks ready to fight, if the decision is hers to make.
