Mythril Aces (Re)Union: Real Robot RP - Federation Roleplay Thread

"Yourself and Valk are on distraction duty. Now that the Nirvanese are pulling back, we're only hitting walls back here. Angel and Tach you guys also need to assist. Perry, you're one of mine so I'm going to ask you to take a risk; rush for the cover the enemy abandoned, hunker down and start jamming. Your life may just depend on it. We'll be right behind you," Isra replied, "Snipes, you've got the best view of the situation down there; advise the rest of your group down there as you see fit. It looks like you're in a hotbed already and I don't want to be barking at someone who knows better than me.""

edited 19th Oct '14 5:35:40 PM by Fauxlosophe

"Sunrise! Are you completely out of your goddamn mind?!" Oliver snapped in annoyance. "I am going to be filing a formal complaint once this is over!"

As he calmed down, he suddenly realized what he had just said. "Wow, that was like a Crim moment there."

"So I'm supposed to lay down suppressing fire? Well it's a good thing I didn't bring a gun."

AP 1&2: Move left and down 3. AP 3: Grenade to Albatross A1 position. AP 4: Prepare Dodge Boost.

"Wha—what the hell—"

Graham was alternate between rage and shock now, but seemingly mostly shock as he was pale rather than red in the face. An ally had almost been killed, and not even by an enemy. Was this even an accident, or was his current protectorate simply insane? Did he pick the wrong person to be protecting? He shook off this rambling line of reasoning and returned his attention to the current situation. "What the hell do you think you're doing!? Someone take that rocket launcher away from her before she gets us all killed!" Were he her superior, she would certainly be facing disciplinary action. The situation being what it was, however, he would simply have to trust in the commander's judgement. "You're certainly gonna be hearing about this, Sunrise."

"Who do these kids think they are?" Lilith groaned, "telling me off for a little mistake."

She flipped on her radio, "Hey, Tachyon, why don't you shut up and let me do my job, yeah? It was a simple mistake, and we both know the blast probably wouldn't have killed you, anyway." She chuckled, "And you, pipsqueak. Take this rocket launcher away from me and we'll see where it gets you. I'll show you how dangerous I am when you're the one I'm aiming at."

Grinning from ear to ear, thinking God, I love being back here, she shot off a few rockets.

AP 1: Fire KRAG at Hive A3 AP 2: Fire KRAG at Clarent A5

Angus saw the plasma blast engulf Crim's frame, and didn't waste time holstering his rifle. The weapon dropped to the ground with a heavy thud as he broke cover, drawing his foam gun as he moved to save his CO. Judging by the rapid rate at which the plasma was melting through the frame's armor, though, he might already be too late. For what it was worth, he started applying foam as quickly as the tool would allow around the cockpit hatch, hoping to at least slow the plasma's destruction.

"Sir, are you alright in there?" he barked, dreading not getting a response. If Crim didn't answer within the next few seconds, Angus would have to pull him out of the dying frame by force before the plasma melted him along with it. He tried to remember whether the commander had been wearing his flight suit and helmet last time he'd seen him.

"Snipes, you've got the best view of the situation down there; advise the rest of your group down there as you see fit.

What?! His HUD snapped up from Crim's cockpit to survey the battlefield again. He was in charge now? Shit, shit! This wasn't supposed to happen!

"Keep it together, you bastard," he whispered to himself, wiping the sweat beading on his brow away with the back of one wrist.

The Hive that had just blown Crim away was standing just beyond the gap in the wall. A spitfire was coming in from the side, and another was behind cover at the far end of the chamber. All three were untouched. From his last view of the central chamber, there were at least four enemy frames still functioning.

"Circus, Rodeo, drive that Hive back! Tachyon and Rocketgirl, we need you down here! Give that Spitfire on the west side of the chamber something to worry about. Theia, the enemy's getting to cover out of your squad's firing line. Please advance or we're gonna be taking them all on by ourselves!"

"We're already advancing Snipes," Theia replied, "Tach is on suppressive fire for the flank, his position as is should suit; now is a critical moment; we can't have too many people repositioning or we'll be in trouble."

She paused and smirked, "You've got good instincts Snipes, but you'll need to think fast or you'll be one step behind."

After the comment, she paused and dwelt on it for a minute or two. She meant to be jockular but suddenly she was worried the last bit came out wrong and might be taken as mocking or questioning his competance. She paused before hitting the button again to apologize, hoping that he'd understand her intentions before she made a fool of herself.

For now, she would focus on the advance.

Roland had instinctively followed Crim's lead, shifting away from the blast and shielding his eyes with one arm. The smoke subsided to reveal the baleful glow of a charging plasma weapon aimed directly at him. At first, the sight didn't register. Roland stood stock still, staring down the barrel. Time had slowed to a crawl. The former pirate could've sworn he could make out individual motes of dust, drifting on the scant atmosphere of the asteroid interior. He would have liked to pretend he didn't see himself dying like this, but in this line of work death was always an option.

Crim's barked warning sounded like it came from a million miles away. In fact, at first Roland didn't even realise the call was for him. By the time he had fully processed it, the world turned a searing green-blue.

It took several moments for his eyes to adjust, but far longer for his mind to catch up. Chatter buzzed over the radio. An unfamiliar, melting form was standing in front of him - no, wait, Crim's Frame. Crim. Melting. He had to do something. Anything. He wouldn't let it happen again. Never again.

He shouldered the MFR-A. Looked down the sights, aimed at the Hive. Felt the trigger pressure. Squeezed. Kept squeezing. Alerts. For who? Oh, me. Ammunition warnings and temperature alerts for the Hive's plasma crowded out everything else.

Roland's jaw ached in protest at how tightly he was gritting his teeth. Die, you Cent bastard.

Fire MFR-A at Hive A3 [1], [2]. Reload [3].

Turn 5

• Map with names◊
• Map without names◊

No response came from the rapidly disintigrating Frame, the clinging, boiling plasma flashing with bolts of electricity and sparks as it burned at him - the metal by now was red-hot, and with a groan the Frame toppled to the side and backwards, effectively clearing the aperture.

The Frame's core could withstand certain extremes of temperature - it was designed for spaceflight, after all. But this... This left it unlikely, to say the least.

• Wolf Pup fires at Hive A3 with her storm! (Bonuses: | Penalties: ) [7, 7, 8] She deals 11 damage in total! (239 remaining)
  • Her Storm has five shots remaining.
• Theia moves out.
• Rocketgirl unleashes a hail of suppressing fire from her MARMAR! She hits no times, but Niot A8 is suppressed!
  • She replaces the heatsink.
• Tachyon launches a grenade at Albatross A1! It strikes the terrain and detonates, destroying the wall! The Albatross takes 22 damage. (199 remaining)
• Sunrise throws rockets around like Oprah and cars. One of them just so happens to be going right at Tachyon again. No way she planned that... Right?
  • Her KRAG has two shots remaining.
• Brick does nothing, apparently.
• Dr. Snipes begins to repair Crim's Frame! (101 remaining) Part of the plasma damage is dispelled.
• Rodeo fires twice at Hive A3 with his MFR-A! (Bonuses: | Penalties: ) [6, 8, 8, 12] He hits all four times, dealing a total of 58 damage! (181 remaining)
  • His MFR-A is out of ammo. He reloads.
• Dark Angel fires at Albatross A2 with his LFR-A three times! (Bonuses: | Penalties: ) [7, 11] He deals 39 damage in total! (105 remaining)
  • His LFR-A has one shot remaining.
• Valkyrie seems to take 'distraction duty' somewhat literally. She holsters her SURI-9 and draws her ludicrously enormous sword... And charges straight at the currently-suppressed Niot.
• Circus fires at Hive A3 with her MLW 4, then sets up her Jammer in wide-area mode!

The Hive wasted no time - in running. It retreated quickly, one arm raised up to shield itself from the sudden hail of fire coming from Rodeo, the plasma weapon forgotten in its haste to escape.

Its spitfire escorts, however, had no such compunctions - one unleashing a withering hail of bullets and the other hefting a much smaller plasma device in the Aces' direction.

• The enemy continues to retreat!
• Niot A8 reloads its longshot, but remains hunkered down due to the laser fire on its position!
• Spitfire A9 fires at Dr. Snipes with its Backblast! (Bonuses: | Penalties: Jammed) [8] Dr. Snipes takes 26 damage. He is melting! (174 remaining)
  • It has two shots remaining.
• Spitfire A10 fires at Dr. Snipes with its Cowl thrice! (Bonuses: | Penalties: Jammed -2) [6, 7] It misses most of its shots and only deals 12 damage. (162 remaining)
  • It has two shots remaining.

• Events:
  • The plasma continues to melt Crim's Frame. He takes 98 damage! The plasma dissipates, its melting complete... But his Frame is left a smoking, slagged wreck. Disabled is a mild term for it. But could the repairs have helped...?
  • Clarent A4 has escaped!
  • Aegis A7 has escaped!

• Flight One
  • Theia (220/250) / Shield Up
  • Wolf Pup (150/150) /
  • Sunrise (125/250) / In Full Cover
  • Brick (175/250) / Shield Up
  • Dark Angel (150/150) / In Full Cover
  • Valkyrie (209/250) /
• Flight Two
  • !!Crim has been DISABLED!!
  • Dr. Snipes (162/200) / Melting!
  • Tachyon (112/150) /
  • Circus (150/150) / In Full Cover
  • Rodeo (165/200) /
  • Rocketgirl (150/150) / In Full Cover

• Enemy Unit
  • Albatross A1 (199/250) /
  • Albatross A2 (105/250) /
  • Hive A3 (181/250) / In Full Cover
  • Clarent A5 (50/200) /
  • Niot A8 (200/200) / In Partial Cover
  • Spitfire A9 (150/150) / In Partial Cover
  • Spitfire A10 (150/150) / In Full Cover

"Rocketgirl, take out Sunrise's rocket before it does any further damage to the team," Isra sighed, "Sunrise, Brick, what are you doing back there? Didn't you hear my orders? Advance. And stop firing on your bloody team mates, Sunrise; you've done almost as much damage as your teammates as you have to us."

With that, Isra made the last few steps of her advance and opened fire on the Niot.

"Snipes, your discretion on the flank but Tachyon, I want you to assist with the take out on the Niot. We're in prime flanking position and if we can get rid of their saboteur, we can pin them down in the tunnels. Understood?"

edited 31st Oct '14 10:55:18 AM by Fauxlosophe

"Want me to take out Sunrise after I'm done with her missiles?" Becky offered airily. "She's totally the worst undercover Centauri agent ever."

3 AP Fire on KRAG Rocket 2 with Marmar. If it blows up in less than three shots switch to KRAG Rocket 1, just to be safe. 1 AP Replace Heatsink

"It occured to me," Isra replied in a deadpan tone as she maintained fire on the Niot, "But for now, I can't afford for two team members to be spending ammo trying to take out Federation Frames."

• AP 1: 1 East, 3 South.
• AP 2: Fire full burst on the Niot.

edited 1st Nov '14 5:15:15 PM by Fauxlosophe

"Do we not all wound our fellow man by our very existence?" Lilith asked, advancing steadily. "For to live is to die, and to die is to live anew. Am I not doing our enemies a greater injury by forcing them to suffer the pain and sadness of life for a longer time?"

She sighed, "Though I am close to eternal release, my mortal flesh desires to continue existence. I am conflicted, but as an Ace, I shall not allow my personal feelings to override my sense of duty. In the name of the Sol Federation, I shall advance, though it be towards certain death."

AP 1: 2 down. AP 2: 2 right

"Forget what I said Rocketgirl," Isra said raising her voice slightly over the the racket of gunfire, "Target Sunrise at your own discretion."

There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone but it was hard to tell with the way she was speaking to be heard over the shots.

edited 1st Nov '14 11:08:45 PM by Fauxlosophe

"Am I being targeted out of malice?" she asks, with a heavy sigh, "or out of mercy, that I may be freed? Izzy, I know not whether to curse you or thank you."

edited 2nd Nov '14 6:11:33 AM by renathearchmage

Graham's mind switched back to the current battle with a bit of a realization. Apparently this incident had consumed so much of his attention that an order had gone straight by him. "Understood, sir." He advanced his Frame forward after Sunrise, still casting a leery eye on her. He was itching to shut her down before anyone else became the victim of a stray rocket, and it seemed that even his commander was giving permission to use force. It would have to wait, though. If he took action right now, he'd look like a lunatic.

"No more playing around. I'm watching you."

• 4 down

edited 3rd Nov '14 12:45:58 PM by Fluid

48 Hours Post Mission

Isra closed her fists, took a deep breath and looked over the group.

It had been nearly two days since the outing. So much had changed in those last 48 hours. To think that they had lost not only Arath but so many others was still something that troubled Isra. She couldn't help but imagine the ways that they could have gone about things in order to help more or save one more life. Still, she could place no blame on any one before her; they acted as heroes. M'bala in particular showed leadership but Quinn, Frost, Harris, Smith, Hepner had all proved their mettle. Even Mac Donald, if only by happy co-incidence, had blown up the tunnels behind them to slow the advance of their pursuers.

She ran her right hand slowly through her hair as she set her elbow on the table, gripping her hair tightly and scratching her head as she pulled. She stretched her hair tightly until her hand reached the back of her head. Another breath.

She loosened her hand, and straightened her posture looking over the group.

"There is nothing we can do now to change the past and no means for me to excuse myself for the damage I have done in my personal failures on that field."

She paused and looked over them seriously. Though she was sincere, her tone was austere and unwavering.

"However, we must look forward and in that regard, reorganize ourselves accordingly."

"I have been assigned commander of the combined Flights and as such, I hope to take the opportunity to discuss our flight composition and arrangement that this situation will not repeat itself."

"For instance, in order to compensate for the loss of so many specialize and to balance out the Flight, I will be retiring my Hyperion indefinitely to the hanger. Instead, I have commissioned a Shark to serve in its stead in order to compensate for the loss of both Xing and van Owen. I've also commissioned a Genus; as it stands, M'bala is currently our only engineer and sniper and it would be wise to delegate somewhat there."

"Finally, we will allow you some time after this meeting to grieve in your own fashion and anyone who wishes to speak to me then, may do so."

"Questions?"

edited 14th Nov '14 7:13:27 PM by Fauxlosophe

Graham just sat there in quiet shock, still unable to comprehend what had happened. Their first mission together, and it turned into one of the worst slaughters he had witnessed in his career despite all of them being the supposed Aces of the Federation. It just shouldn't happen.

Something like it had happened once before in the Peacekeepers, when a raid on a surprisingly well-organized syndicate turned sour. Sure, everyone knew these criminals were tough, but their information had been direly lacking and they got swamped by far more troops than they had expected. People he had known for years let out their final agonized screams back then, and occasionally their voices still rang in his mind. The last thing he had wished for was being transferred to a new squadron, just to have the same thing happen all over again.

The worst thing was, back then he could at least shift the blame on their faulty intelligence. This time, he could only blame himself for being badly prepared. In hindsight, he should've known a sword wasn't going to be sufficient, and the others perished for it. He had only known them for a moment, but it weighed heavily on his heart all the same. Where did it go wrong? Should he blame Lilith, as he had been doing during this fated mission? No, the problem was bigger than that. The entire squad had been brought into disarray by an enemy that was better organized and had far more knowledge of the terrain. With ambush after ambush, it seemed inevitable that they would have been hopelessly routed.

Could he still go forward doing this, despite knowing it might end the same way? Just put all this behind him eventually? How many people would die if he fought, and how many if he didn't? Protecting people and keeping order had always been his mission, but now doubts started to arise in his mind what would be necessary to achieve that. He didn't know if he could take another massacre like this, regardless of how many people it might save.

Lilith grinned. It was an odd reaction, even she recognized as much, but she could barely help it.

"Good to see that nothing's changed in the last ten years," she said cheerily, looking around. "War is still hell, and rookies are still treating a few losses like the end of the world." She chuckled, "Chin up, guys, they probably had it better than we did, you know? At least they don't have to sit through another ceasefire (god forbid), right?"

She had been steadily drinking since the mission, and bad missions weren't anything new to her. They'd learn soon enough.

If it had been anyone else saying it, Becky might have agreed with Lilith's statement. She only felt bad about the loss of Crim because she was looking forward to the freedom now that he wouldn't be breathing down her neck over every little thing. And that weird woman who used the shark, what had she ever done anyway? She would miss Oliver but these things happened.

The important thing was that she'd survived herself; staying in cover and firing from long range was boring, it was also safe. And still more helpful than firing rockets randomly and then laughing about it because some people might have died.

Becky lept from her seat, fingers clenched into fists at her sides. Her eyes would have set Lilith on fire if she'd had the ability.

"Yeah, war is hell alright," she snapped. "The part I hate the most is when your own allies start trying to blow you up for no reason! If you're so envious of the dead why don't you try riding the next missile aimed at a friendly target? Then maybe the rest of us can actually complete a mission!"

One, two, three, four, five.

Kara Cheslock was, in her opinion at least, a very mature woman. She learned humbleness on Midgard after being shot down and then going to to barely keep up with her unit consisting of people with questionable sanity. She learned how to interact with, work with and-

Twelve o'clock, eight o'clock, two o'clock.

generally not piss off various kinds of people, and on Skallen she fought with, and occasionally alongside, various pirates, mercenaries, and shady mining companies. She even survived dismemberment and a year long stay in a hospital to receive prosthetics. So in her mind, Kara Cheslock, aged 32, Ace Pilot, survivor, proud owner of at least 2 motorcycles, and noted Grown-Ass Woman-

Point at clock, point at idle workcart, point at very confused crewman.

Had earned the right to stomp down a hallway like an tiny, angry child over being told to spend the next hour doing exercises to make sure her arm was working right. What did that doctor know anyway? It wasn't her fault her phantom limb acted up a week ago, sticking her in a medical bay for the entire duration of the trip here. And now she was on her way to shore up a unit that had just suffered losses.

At least my "Arm" isn't hurting anymore. She thought as she pushed open the door to the room she was told to meet her new crew in.

Salute.

No where to go but up "Lieutenant Commander Kara Cheslock reporting-"

Look at Lilith MacDonald. Look at the kid yelling at her over explosive friendly fire. Grab face. Groan very loudly

"I can't catch a break."

edited 15th Nov '14 5:47:08 PM by GIG

"Ah, Lt. Cmdr Cheslock," Isra welcomed the new arrival, "You've missed a rather... unfortunate skirmish. However, it seems you already know one of our own."

There was a hint of wry sarcasm in the last sentance but it was delivered in a largely deadpan tone.

Isra turned to the table,

"To the rest of you, this is Cheslock," Isra said, "She was transfered to the group and the paperwork confirming it was filed only an hour prior to the skirmish... I hope that in spite of circumstances, you will make her feel welcome."

edited 15th Nov '14 6:07:59 PM by Fauxlosophe

Kara pulled herself out of her hand and looked over the crew. Everyone of them looked like they had different thoughts in their heads, but there was no denying the undercurrent of shock and worry.

Most of them are still kids. She resisted the urge to shake her head and idly waved her false arm and smiled in what she hoped was a welcoming way. "Nice to meet you all. I hope I can keep up with you kids." She paused for a moment before continuing, "If any of you need to talk or anything, don't be afraid to come to this oldtimer for a few words."

God knows I probably have lived this a few times more than I want.

edited 16th Nov '14 4:41:44 PM by GIG

Lilith turned to the stupid rookie to yell back, when she was so rudely interrupted by some idiot walking in on their conversation. As she turned towards the door, her brow knit in confusion. She'd seen this person somewhere before, she was sure of it, though it had been many years. She looked vaguely like her aunt, but she knew it couldn't have been her.

And then, with the name Cheslock, it hit her. It couldn't have been, after all these years...

"Kara!" she shouted in an unusually high-pitched voice, "holy shit, you're back! Holy crap, you're actually back!" She stood and practically ran to her, "Hey, hey, let's ditch these rookies and go out for a drink, yeah? On you, of course!"

Kara stepped back and propped her hand on her hip. "I'm back, Lilith? Last time I checked, after you retired I kept getting hounded by people looking for you." She smiled and crossed her arms, "Former Captain Halyk, who's now a Vice Admiral I may add, is still holding a grudge over what you did, you know."

edited 17th Nov '14 5:46:51 PM by GIG

"Uh, I'm gonna take that as a 'meeting dismissed,' Commander?" Angus said, lazily raising a hand from the back row of the miniature amphitheater-like room. The slack gesture was at least in part due to the fact that he hadn't slept well the night before, as testified by the dark lines under his eyes. Several times he had started to drift off when the mental image of Commander Arath melting alive in his cockpit had jumped to mind and killed the notion of slumber as surely as the plasgun that killed Arath.

Poor bastard. Oh, Angus hadn't liked him in the slightest, but Selk, that was an awful way to go. "Damn things oughta be war crimes," he grumbled to himself, casually brushing his ear to skip his earpiece ahead in its playlist, looking for a cheerier tune. A somewhat lethargic jam about forgetting the week's worries came up that matched his mood perfectly, and he told the earpiece to put it on repeat for a while.