Robotech: UEEF Saga

@Epiphany The famous humor of the Zentraedi had struck again. In battle, the aliens weren't all that different from humans, only that every single one of them seemed to be a natural fighter. It were moments like these where the differences really did shine. "Quite a shame. If something's strong enough to make one of your giants drunk, I'd certainly like to taste a timbleful of it."


@Sherwood and all: With the 2nd Lieutenant leaving most of the communication to her, Miu made sure that only the most lively and loud titles of the playlist saw play for more than a few seconds - no point in anything else lulling her to sleep. Overall, the selection wasn't half that bad, though - not Mius personal preferences, but close enough to kill some time.


Three hours and eleven minutes, to be precise - or at least that was the flight time shown on her monitor when the Raven announced incoming action.


"Understood. Preparing to change our course if needed - all weapon systems online, ready to engage."


There was nothing to be said about what her thoughts on Danas question were. Stealth missions had always been the ones where she finished below average for her standards, and that was for a reason. "They'll find us sooner rather than later. Sounds better to strike before they notice us."


There was a part in her that just wanted to take complete control over the combined craft to intercept them right away, but it was not her who had gotten the command over the squad - experience had been weightened over grades on the academy.


Adjusting the speed so that they could close in to the Raven as it seemed appropriate, Miu made sure that they always stayed in front. In case something interesting happened, she certainly didn't want to be the last one to react. Apart from that, there really wasn't much more to do than to wait for her squad leader's commands. "We should be close to one of the ships if they're floating around here, right? Wouldn't make sense if they spread out their remaining forces too much. Is six pods a usual number for a patrol, Neqel? In the simulations, it always looks like they'd only show up in groups of three dozens."
 
Just a quick note: so long as you are within 800 miles of the Raven, you benefit from the C3 computers onboard helping vector you into the fight, giving you one additional attack per melee, +2 to initiative, +2 to Strike, and a +3 to Dodge. These bonuses are in addition to your personal bonuses and those gained through your MECT training.
 
3LT Neqel Amherst


The blue-haired pilot in her cockpit quirks a faint smile at the other lieutenant's...eclectic taste in music. Like many Zentraedi, Neqel found music incredibly compelling and very emotionally evocative. It just made her feel, so intensely.


After the three hour mark, and the alert from the Raven, Neqel's unrelenting gaze at her sensor panels finally pays off. At the mention of the Regult Battle Pods, she bears her teeth though she represses a snarl. Finally.





She frowns a little as she consults their position relative to Crimson Squadron, and relative to the asteroid fields and planetary bodies. Intrigued, Neqel lets her Alpha pilot partner steer their joined ships while she concentrates on doing much as the Raven would do; plot the Zentraedi battle pod's trajectory and probable origin.

[dice]23812[/dice]


Thumbing open the squad radio channel, Neqel says quietly "Be on the watch. That class of Battle Pod is a short range attack craft. In space, they're typically used for boarding action of larger capital ships, given their relatively low delta-v and top flight speed."


"I don't like it," she says a moment later, biting her lower lip and rolling the lip ring she wore there. "We shouldn't see these out on their own without a larger support ship. If this is their form of Combat Air Patrol, they should be using their Gnerl Fighter pods who have thrust more comparable to our veritechs." After another moment of thought, Neqel adds "Careful though. They may have a Del Regult among them with a full sensory suite. They could be deploying them as a kind of cheap warning system. Hopefully the Raven can get us a nice long look at their profile from range, see if we can spot a Del Regult or not."


She switched off her radio and sat back in her seat, still studying the sensor feeds. It covered up an inner confusion. 12 years ago, she'd been little more than a tank-bred clone battle warrior. Not this introspective planner calculating strategy and risk. Neqel made fists with her hands and gripped her flight seat. Hopefully they'd join battle soon. She needed real combat to know if she was still who she'd been bred to be. To see exactly how much 12 years had changed her.


@Sherwood


When Lieutenant Simms speaks up, Neqel replies as well. "Regult Battle Pods are rarely far from a warship. Whether they're coming or going, our target is close."


@Silanon


Neqel smiles to herself at the other Lieutenant's admirable remarks. "Let's see if they have a Del Regult with them, see if the Raven can spot one. If not, they will be low-risk targets with little chance of alerting their Thuverl Salan. If so, we might consider seeking out the Thuverl Salan that deployed them, slipping their sensors and perhaps boarding our target by surprise."


At Miu's other questions, though, Neqel frowns once more. "No, six pods is a light deployment. Which is why I wonder if they're an improvised sensor net instead. Or perhaps they're being used as makeshift mining mecha instead of proper ancillary craft. Those Thuverl Salan did look to be in poor shape..."
 
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2nd LT Miu Ueno


At first, Miu hadn't been all that excited about having one of the Zentraedi in her first squad - when you left the academy after spending years by shooting at them in the simulations, you didn't really expect their kind to suddenly sit in the Beta fighter next to you and wait for your orders. In fact, Miu had even considered rejecting the assignment, thinking that too much blood had been spilled to ever make it work. Especially since things had been getting even worse when she had realized that Beebe was not just some nickname that had made its way into the individual files, but the name of another alien as well - as if the Zentraedi alone didn't keep them on their toes already. But with no achievements other than her degree, the choice had been more or less to either bite the bullet or stay on earth and wait for death to come - by another attack or pure boredom. With the pictures of her bombed family home still in mind, there really only had been one way to act. She wouldn't be the one dying crouched on the floor while waiting for others to decide on her own future.


If it had to be on her to lead them into battle, she'd use the opportunity to show them how it looked like to fight for your people's destiny - that had been pretty much her thought process right before she had signed the papers. As it had turned out, at least Neqel hadn't needed any kind of advice in that regard. In fact, she had been a true challenge to overcome, acting as if there was nothing else left for her other than fight the wars of mankind. There had been more than enough moments where Miu had been happy to have both of the aliens on her team, and this certainly was one of them. No well-informed and experienced pilot could ever have had as much insight of the enemy's thought process than someone who had fought under their command.


"Raven-2, can you spot anything unusual? I'd prefer taking them out before they can notice us by accident. Even if they use them as a sensor net, it'll probably take them a few moments to notice their losses and react accordingly - hopefully enough time for us to locate their main ship. Any response of the MacArthur so far?"


As Dana had noted, they'd have to get rid of the pods at some point, and she preferred dealing with a problem as soon as possible - chances to catch the Zentraedi by surprise in the end were rather slim anyway.


"Crimson squad, stay close to the Raven until we have insight on whether they have access to relevant sensor systems or not. If they're blind, we'll strike before they can see us coming."


She certainly hoped that there was none of these Del Regults with them - it was about time for a fight to happen, finally.
 
"Raven-2 here. MacArthur signals that the priority is to locate and identify the Destroyers, but the CAG understands if we need to take out their Combat Patrol of Battle Pods. We can block transmissions from the Pods to their ship for a short time if you decide to engage, but I must stress that you'll have to take them down quickly. We can vector you into an intercept course that will give you the advantage of surprise. Sending new flight paths now."
 
2nd Lt Jedidiah Turner


The old man thinks. Tactics and consequences unfold like a tree before his mind as his synapses fire in judgement. Every second the ships didn't know the rescue mission was approaching was valuable time. These pods might be mining or scouting but either way there would be some level of communication with their mothership, but depending on the state of their communications system, that could be a scheduled return. In short, taking them out would start a timer of unknown lenght before the ship they were heading toward would be sure there were more enemies in the system. Not something that they wished to do rashly.


"Keep an eye on them, but we're going around. We won't engage unless they see us. Be ready to cut their radios if they do." He ordered curtly, his choices solidifying into a plan. "They are not our objective here, and we shouldn't risk the primary mission just to engage them."
 
"Copy that. Raven fight is setting an evasion course around the pods. Moving out." The recon ship shifts its route, and the flight of veritechs follow along in choose formation.


Backtracking the path of the Zentraedi units, you fly for another fifteen minutes before Raven-2 calls out, "Crimson Squad, we have another contact. This one is much larger; roughly 7,500 feet long. It has an 85% match to a Thuverl-Salan destroyer, but with all of the high iron asteroids around here, we need to get closer for a positive id. Let's see, there is a swarm of smaller contacts around the large signal. Could be patrol units, so watch yourselves. Signaling the MacArthur now with an update."
 
3rd Lt Miu Ueno


Staying rather quiet for the time after what clearly felt like a missed opportunity, Miu focused on doing her part of the mission, only communicating with the short, precise words the Lieutenant knew quite well from when the training sessions had collided with something she much rather would have been doing - which didn't happen all that often, fortunately. Managing the engine's power as smoothly as usual, she helped directing the combined aircraft along the new flight path, always staying close to the Raven until the personnel detected what probably was one of the ships they were looking for - hopefully the one with the missing crew, or at least one with a decent amount of operational vehicles.


"Understood, Raven-2. Preparing to intercept whatever they might send in our direction." The more, the better. With her fingers dancing over the various buttons, she made sure that all systems were functioning properly. Not that there was any reason why that should not have been the case, after avoiding the easy prey they had passed a few minutes ago - but there was nothing else to do so far, really.


"All systems online. Beebe, Neqel, Dana - everything fine on your end? Might be that we're getting something to do in a few moments." From the sound of her voice, she wouldn't mind that all too much.
 
"Dana here. All systems green in my Valk. Missiles are ready; loaded with my forty six anti-aircraft short range missiles and eight long range ship killers. If the destroyer is as damaged as the scans showed it to be, my eight Reflex Multi-Warhead loads will do sizable damage to it. We just need to confirm which ship we have in front of us. I don't want to be responsible for firing on the one that has our captured crew. Raven-2, how close do you need to get to get a readout of the ship's electronic signature?"


"Crimson 5, we need to be within eight hundred miles to get a good look at the ship. Any farther back than that and we just don't have the power in our radar and other sensors. Wait! We have new activity around the main target. Four of the smaller contacts have broken off and are now on an intercept course with us, speed Mach 18! Scans indicate that they are four Gnerl Fighter Pods. We cannot outrun them, and we still need to close in another couple of hundred miles. Crimson Squad, you'll have to keep them off of us as we make our sensor sweep. ETA to missile range is one minute! Get ready!"


@Silanon, @BeebeTheWarrior, @Epiphany, and @vinom, I need initiative rolls please, using a d20 with any bonuses listed on your character sheets and the description of your Veritechs. If anyone has a question on where to find the bonuses (if any), let me know.
 
"Crimson-2 here. We'll blast them out of the sky before they pose a danger. 16 high explosive and 36 mini-missiles ready to go, and forty more waiting to become usable."


[dice]23947[/dice]


OOC: Since we are close to the Raven, the Ini bonus should be +7. This would mean a roll of 21.
 
Order of battle:


21 - Miu


17 - fighter pods 1-2


15 - Dana


12 - fighter pods 3-4
 
"Crimson-1, ready to engage target. Maintain fire control people. At a minimum we desire enough explosives left over to disable the destroyer's drive system and any back ups. We can come back to an immobile targets later if we need to bug out or the tactical situation changes." The second lieutenant lays down orders and tactics. The whole flight are trained officers, and perhaps they have a tactical reason to disagree, but for now they have four bogies to bat down. His knuckles crack reflexively on his still flesh hand as he readies himself for another combat. His old war wounds, the sockets of his mechanical limbs, all the aches are pushed away; just irrelevant noise to the old soldier once again made fresh by battle.


[dice]23949[/dice]


That isn't counting the +2 from Mecha Combat training, which I forgot nets a bonus in my Alpha.
 
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3LT Neqel Amherst


Her CO's decision to bypass the combat patrol brings a faint scowl to Neqel's face but she's too well trained to argue it. Too well bred, for that matter. Zentraedi followed orders.


The encounter with the Thuverl-Salan destroyer returns a pleased look to Neqel's expression. A faint tension radiated up her spine and across her shoulders as she realized the amount of debris in this system meant they'd have to pull close enough to look for the Zentraedi CAP to potentially spot and intercept them. Finally. Finally a chance for battle, her first in over a decade.


Her Beta's engines thrummed with power as she provided motive power for her joint Alpha/Beta craft. Her partner, the strange alien named Beebe, was in the Alpha so it meant he was driving them both. Neqel for her part was content to run another diagnostic and confirm all missile batteries on her Veritech were ready to launch at a moment's notice.


@Silanon


The radio chatter, and particularly Miu's question, brought Neqel back to being part of her squad.


"Crimson 4, everything's fine at my end," the blue-haired Zentraedi answers back, calling out her own designation before her actual reply. "That Thuverl-Salan looks promising. Simulators are useful but there's no glory in destroying rendered hostiles."


@BeebeTheWarrior


Then Raven 2 reports the four incoming space fighters.


"Crimson 4 to Crimson 3?" she asks, redirecting her conversation to the Alpha pilot in front of her. "I'll boost our Veritechs to combat range with those Gnerl Fighter Pods. It'll be your decision if you want to split our ships to go after them or if you want me to remain engaged to provide you with better thrust. Let me know what you decide, I'm ready for anything."


[dice]23957[/dice]
 
@Epiphany


"I'm here Crimson 4" he replies "I think we should stay together till we get closer to engage an attack" he replied steering the ship closer to the approaching fighter pods
 
Order of battle:


22 - Jedidiah


21 - Miu


17 - fighter pods 1-2


15 - Dana


12 - fighter pods 3-4


6 - Neqel


Just need a roll from @BeebeTheWarrior to out you into the combat order.
 
((OH I GOT 10 i did it in out of character while silanon taught me how))))
 
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Just saw the other thread with your roll in it. Thank you.


@vinom is up first


Order of battle:


22 - Jedidiah <====


21 - Miu


17 - fighter pods 1-2


15 - Dana


12 - fighter pods 3-4


10 - Beebe


6 - Neqel
 
Jedidiah steers himself and Miu toward the incoming attack pods. "When we get in range, I'll detach. Bank and provide fire support as I engage in melee in Battloid Mode. We should force them apart for Crimson Three and Four." He said, bringing them in, ready to deploy himself like just another munition from her gunship's wings. These foes would not have much experience fighting adaptive robotech, and applying different forms of pressure on them would be adventitious.


[Can we get in melee range this initiative pass, or should I use my action with the Alpha's guns?]
 
Even with the fighters slowing down, you are going too fast to be able to engage in melee. You are better off with either guns or missiles.
 
You are dealing with speeds in excess of mach 20. While that will do a sizable amount of damage, you will be at minuses to hit. Also, at this speed you could tear your own leg off from the force of the impact. You would be better off to use your gun pod or missiles.
 
7 kilometers per second relative velocity... Ya that does sound untenable. How do I gunz?
 
If you use missiles, they have a bonus to hit of +3 or +5 depending on what kind of warhead you use, and you cannot make an aimed shot and your personal strike bonuses do not add in. A salvo of four or more cannot be dodged, but you know that the fighter pods have chaff/flares that can spoof missile fire.


Alternately, you can use the gun pod. That fires have the benefit of having all of your strike bonuses add into the roll. Of course, a natural 1-4 is a miss, and a 20 on the die is double damage.
 
Keep in mind that the missile load is your primary weapon system on the Alpha, and the gun pod is a secondary, backup weapon.
 
Hmm, if I'm getting this correct, I would have a +11 to hit bonus with my gun pod. But it has a range of 4,000 feet... Is that applicable outside of atmosphere, and does that apply a penalty per increment or is that the maximum?
 
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