Macabee approaches the target he dropped, attempting to verify that it has been neutralized. Upon reaching the target he slowly scans the target's form, starting at the feet, watching for any movement. As soon as he reaches the head of the target, however, he relaxes. The round passed cleanly through the apparent helmet and it is currently draining a read liquid from both holes onto the ground. It looks suspiciously like blood.
Trout hops over the row of buildings, angling for an attack on the fleeing target. Just his luck! The target has effectively moved right into his line of fire! Unfortunately, it seems Trout is relatively shaken by his recent revelation because it only glances the target.
Just then the voice of Ens. Fujikawa breaks over the tac net; "Foxtrot-Three-Delta-One, Mjolnir-Charlie Three you've got hot incoming in 30 seconds. Looks like a full wing of aerospace fighters. Mjolnir's Beowulfs are doing what they can, but expect a majority of them alive and kicking when they get there!"
Ok, so here's what's happened. I treated both Mac and Trout's most recent posts as their next actions. The final post I had made in the last thread ended the last round and Mac technically starts off the next round. I may have double-acted someone and if I did, I apologize - been a long week, heh.
The good Doctor should have the drones up by the time your guests arrive, which should be helpful.
Icarus’ eyes widen for a moment as he hears thirty seconds to incoming. “Holy shit has it already been five minutes?” he exclaims, quickly placing a hand over his mic. Reaching over distractedly, he turns to the map as he flips the switch to finally seal his cockpit, deciding the usefulness of the tactical displays would far outweigh his personnel preference. “Oh shit.” He exclaims with his hand still covering the mic as he assesses their current situation.
ReplyDelete“Alright fellas listen up, we have a real fluid battle field here, and shit is changing by the second so we need to adjust accordingly.” He begins calmly, having switched his comm to platoon frequency as he pulls up a complete list of the Mechs still available in the hangar, and secondly not being utilized across the island. “Trout, Mac good job on the east but I need you to wrap it up and hit the targets on the runway, we aren’t gonna get a better chance to lay them out than this. Dr. Sasche, I have absolutely no idea if what I’m thinking is feasible but if you can somehow move all of the Thors and Beowulfs out of the hangars and into firing positions we could utilize the anti-aircraft missiles of the Thors and the triple A fire from the Beowulfs against these fighters. Both Mechs should already have the appropriate tracking software loaded so all we would have to do is provide targeting data… which surely Mjolnir control or even our own radar from the tower would be able to provide. Program them to prioritize targets at three quarter autocannon range and half distance missile range for the Thors; break their targeting sectors into appropriate segments to form a three hundred and sixty degree field of fire… finally if you could get them to return to their hangars once their ammunition is expended that would be desirable but unnecessary… it would keep the brass from reaming my ass out for “Misappropriation of U.N. property” but I’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission.” Icarus decides after a moment of sucking his teeth and staring at the tactical displays.
After his moment of respite from his current predicament he looks over and nearly slaps himself for his stupidity. His first instinct had been to ride into combat with a greater view than the Mech had offered but had completely forgotten the advantages… including the enhanced sensors package revealed once the cockpit sealed shut with a hiss. He flips two switches, infrared and magnetic resonance with no hesitation and overlays the images. With a profound smirk he leans his Thor around the building corner seeking the distinguishable Giant silhouette through the smoke before unleashing another volley of coherent energy from the beam cannon into its center of mass.
Macabee surveys the damage that his gunpod did to the target, shaking his head in disbelief. "My God, it's a guy the size of a Mac truck!" He then catchs himself, realizing that he had said that out loud and over a live comm. "Control, I am confirming that these targets are not, I repeat, not Destriods. They are ten meter tall biological soldiers in body armor! Trout, let's finish this last one before the rest of his friends join the party!"
ReplyDeleteMac hits his trottle, taking advantage of the guardian modes VTOL ability to skim over the ground. Drawing on his experience as a combat helicopter pilot, he approachs the last bandit low and fast, and then jumps to attack. Sighting on the enemy's center mass, he pulls the trigger, and sends screaming death toward his victem.
[OCC: Like I said, going after the last of the eastern targets, and firing gunpod at full ROF]
((So do i get to post an action? if so, when does it occur?))
ReplyDelete((Sure, post away. Mac technically started the round, and I believe the action I posted for you was in the last round. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.))
DeleteAerospace elements. Dogfight. Familiar territory.
DeleteForcing the small voice whimpering in panic to the back of his mind, he gains altitude while continuing to set up a crossfire on the target with Macabee. His hand hovers over the control switches that will return his VF to a jet fighter, waiting only for signs that the enemy target is dead.
Take out this target, then we'll show 'em what happens when they think they can take the air from the UNS Navy
((shoot, gain altitude. next round, assuming the target's down, will switch to jet mode for dogfighting))
Macabee skims around the southern corner and unloads the remainder of the GU-11's current clip into the target, reducing it to a fine red mist. One could almost sense a measure of surprise from the target before the 55mm Vulcan rounds slam into it at various critical locations.
ReplyDeleteAs Trout clears the buildings near him, his targeting computer suddenly goes silent. Glancing towards the target for visual confirmation shows a red haze and crumpled bits of armor where the target once stood. As the mist clears he can clearly make out the smoking barrel of Mac's GU-11 and the gleaming ostrich that is Mac's VF-1S.
Icarus leans out past the building, aiming at UT-001 in an attempt to core the target and catch UT-002 as a bonus. The new sensor overlays completely negate the guess work involved with targeting something in a smoke screen. The giant beam cannons begin charging energy, then discharge with vehement fury towards the target. As soon as the cannons fire, though, the computer squeals a diagnostics warning. Apparently the targeting computer fritzed during the shot and has entered auto-diagnostic mode. The resulting near-miss causes the targets to jump and dive for cover.
[OOC: Basically this is a push without collateral damage. The diagnostics will be finished by next round so doesn't really impact you beyond the miss]
UT-001 dives to the north while UT-002 dives to the south - both appear too concerned with getting the fuck out of dodge to worry about returning fire at the moment.
"Foxtrot-Delta-Three-One, Mjolnir-Charlie-Three - I'm reading another pair of wings detaching from the orbital battle and headed for us. We've got a squadron of Valkyries in pursuit, but ..." Fujikawa's voice trails off as she's evidently distracted by something. "... Kami no haha" she says in a small voice. When she speaks again her voice is stronger and transmitting on the UN emergency frequency. "Mayday, Mayday, this is the Mjolnir. We have three hostile enemy vessels descending from orbit. Current approach vector indicates contact in one mike thirty. Evacuate Macross Island, repeat, evacuate the island. All civilian shelters will auto-seal in one minute. The Mjolnir will attempt to intercept prior to ground contact."
The frequency goes quiet, as do all frequencies used by the UN, for several moments. Then, just as suddenly as the comms went quiet, they light up with hasty orders being issued at all levels of command.
"Delta-One-Alpha, Delta Actual", comes the voice of Cmd. Brinks on the platoon frequency. "Your new assignment is to assist the Mjolnir with it's interception of the enemy craft. You are authorized for scorched earth scenario. Full environmental containment is encouraged. Following your acknowledgement of orders you will be on your own until the immediate situation has been resolved ... God speed 1st Platoon."
The Mjolnir begins to rise; slowly, every so slowly, and yet graceful for a vessel of such mass. Above Macross the sun is slowly being blotted out by three massive shapes surrounded by an aura of what could be described as a mass of angry bees.
[OOC: Anyone not in a mecha will probably want to make sure their combat armor is sealed (the light composite I mentioned at the beginning is full EBA - Environmental Body Armor. It has an air supply good for six hours, two under strenuous activity).
I am aware that half the team is currently earth-bound - don't worry, there'll be plenty for you to do and, as you might imagine, shortly it'll be a moot point :p]
Icarus didn't know what a wing consisted of, but he decides it sounds fucking terrible. Quickly looking back to the Tac-Map he lets out a slight grunt of satisfaction noting the last target on the east.
ReplyDelete"Mac, Trout, you heard the Commander get vertical and keep those fighters honest. Doc, I'm moving back to your position... I hope you're alright, if you can hear me get inside and zip up that suit, I'll be there in just a moment just hold out. Good luck up there guys." Icarus radios over the platoon frequency.
Five hostiles still on foot to one, and that still wasn't shit compared to the airborne hostiles Mac and Trout would have to face... *Last Stand* pops into Icarus' mind, causing him to laugh to himself as 300 the movie was the only thing his mind equated those words to. For the first time in months he let out a content sigh, feeling incredibly relaxed as if the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders as an alien armada crashed down on the earth.
"It was good to know you guys... thanks for putting up with me." He whispered as an afterthought, not truly wanting them to hear but wanting to say goodbye all the same as he peeled the Thor away from the wall and swung it around to the north and took off at a dead sprint, still questioning whether the Doctor was even alive.
Move and shoot, that was his plan as soon as he hit the runway. Just fire as much smoke onto the runway as he had left and drift through the smoke picking off targets one by one. An Energy Beam at each of the farthest targets and he was bound and determined to torch the closest one the moment he heard Dr. Sasche was safe.
Icarus skates around the Mjolnir's bow and unloads his smoke into the runway, obscuring the northern most targets. The targets are blind but Icarus, using IR targeting, can see them just fine. He lines up his two PBCs at UT-008 and UT-009 and strokes the trigger. Several things then happen at once - UT-008 is impaled on a lance of iridescent light, UT-007 begins diving for the ground, and the second PBC explodes! Fortunately Icarus is able to roll the Thor with the blast, mitigating the effect. The Thor's left PBC is now gone and the main body has some slagged armor, but otherwise Icarus and the Thor are unharmed. The cockpit is filled with the screeching sound of damage warnings and system diagnostic error klaxons.
Delete[OOC: The second attack roll was a botch (rolled all 1s). This was then compounded by penalties from multiple actions. I figured loosing the offending PBC to overload or some similar malfunction was the most cinematic outcome. You got a defense roll (with further penalties) against your botched roll to figure your margin of failure and therefore damage to the Thor - you had an MoF of 1. The PBC DM is 20, so it was not enough to actually penetrate your armor of 30]
Mac shook his head, thinking rather impolite thoughts regarding party-crashers and other uninvited guests. He quickly swapped out his gun-pod's clip, and then hit the transformer switch. Instantly, his bird changed, once again becoming the slick fighter meant for dogfighting. "This is Mac, aknowledging new orders, proceeding to cover the Mjolnir's ascent. Let's go, Trout, it looks like the dance floor has moved to the sky."
ReplyDeleteMac goes to full burn, gaining alitude quickly while manevuring for attack position on the on-coming enemy fighters. He know that Trout was right behind him, for despite his handicap in being Navy, he was a good wingman. He switched from his gun to missiles, and began to hunt for the tone that meant lock-on.
[OCC: As soon as my sensors tell me that I am in missile range, I will be looking for a good shot. That means a solid lock-on tone. Please let me know when I have, as I will be launching.]
As Mac approaches the furball that is already in motion he pops off a couple of missiles at the nearest non-friendly target. The computer tones briefly, goes quiet, then pulses with a solid lock tone. The missiles streak to their target who is apparently pre-occupied. The small fighter craft disappears in a small explosion.
DeleteTurning his attention to the rest of the furball, Mac notices seven friendly markers on his radar. At least one is Trout, so the other six must be additional air support.
While assessing his success and the addition of more backup, several of the group to the right of the Mjolnir decide that he's more of a threat at the moment than the other three VFs they've been playing with recently.
DeleteF-015, F-018, and F-020 attempt to flank Mach with one high, one low, and one dead on.
Mac manages to dodge the fire from F-018 and F-020 quite handily. Unfortunately this means he was successfully drawn into F-015's fire - rapid bursts of lasers penetrate the nose cone of the VF, knocking the nose lasers offline and effectively eliminating the VF's re-entry capabilities.
Mac blisters the comm with a series of cursing that would make the most seasoned of Marines blanch in response [OCC: As a kindness to all involved, I will keep my sick and twisted thoughts to myself, as well as keeping this blog to at least a PG-13 rating ]. Well, he thinks to himself, at least those nose lasers weren't worth the bother.
Delete"Control, this is Macabee. I'm hit, and have taken damage. The VF is still air and space-worthy, but I have lost re-entry ability. I am still in the fight." Mac begans a series of evasive manuvers, fighting to get position on F-015. "Come on, you bastard, let's see how you like it! Give me that sweet, sweet tone!"
[OCC: Mac is now in full dogfight mode, and is looking to ram a missile staight up F-015's six. He will perform evasion until he can get position, and then he will seek to lock up F-015 for a flight of three missiles.]
As Mac slams the bird around with a few gees worth of pressure, he sees his intended target trailing smoke from its cockpit as it plummets to the earth below.
DeleteThe group has dispersed a bit, and Mac finds himself in a target rich environment. F-018 has separated from the squadron compared to the rest of them and seems a likely target. F-021 seems to be a choice target as it banks towards the north. He waits for the happy tone and thumbs the release. A trio of missiles streak to their target and leave only pieces in their wake.
Great. Alien spacecraft. For someone in the Mjolnir to be spooked, they have to be at least the size of the ARMD platforms. Wonder if our loadout has any ship-killer ordnance? And what kind of point defense systems do these aliens have?
ReplyDelete"Trout, acknowledged."
His hands dance across his console, flipping switches and moving levers. The VF's legs tuck back under the craft's body as it becomes a traditional fighter jet. Back on familiar territory, he eases into support position behind Macabee, scanning his instruments for signs of incoming hostiles.
((Keeping a lookout for enemy aerospace fighters, move to intercept them and keep them off Mac's VF. Also, what kind of missiles do our fighters have? Could they conceivably take out a space ship?))
[OOC: The VFs are currently equipped with short range HE warheads. Essentially an Air-to-air load out with dogfights in mind. Starship killers also count as WMDs, so they aren't typically loaded unless contact with an enemy ship is confirmed or guaranteed.]
DeleteTrout puts his VF into a tight climb in order to keep up with Mac. Above him he can see the ominous shadows of whatever those enemy ships are slowly descending towards the Mjolnir. In fact, he's so preoccupied he almost gets pasted! [OOC: botched the initiative roll, gonna assign a -1 to all actions for this round only]
Two of the group ahead of the Mjolnir noticed Trout on his way up. Peeling off from the attack run against the Mjolnir, they attempt to persuade Trout to shuffle loose his mortal coil. Trout recovers from his almost fatal distraction just in time to bank the VF sharply to the right and away from the attackers. Dipping the nose and putting on speed, he then pulls himself vertical. Glancing out the top of his cockpit canopy he sees his attackers attempting to compensate. He continues his loop until he is horizontal again, but upside down. With a flick of the stick he rolls the VF back onto its belly. A textbook immelman turn. As he noses towards his attackers one of them manages to graze his left wing. No real damage, but the hangar rats will not be happy trying to buff out the dents!
((Man, I do a lot of crappy rolling for the initiative. Oh wait, no I don't, YOU do :P ))
Delete[OOC: Yeah, sorry about that =P Not doing it on purpose, I assure you :) I'm assuming you wanted to engage one of the bad guys, probably the one that took out Mac's nose. Apparently I forgot the "intercept" part of your action description, sorry =S We'll assume the Immelman turn was done from north to south, rather than south-east to north-west.]
DeleteIgnoring the hail of bullets coming from behind him for the moment, Trout zeroes in on the bandit that put rounds through Mac's nose. Half a heart beat later the lock tone sounds and Trout gently depresses the trigger. A single messenger of death streaks from his wing to the enemy and impacts the cockpit directly. The fighter craft is still mostly intact but rapidly loosing altitude; it is streaming smoke and flame from the cockpit.
As the furball continues the Mjolnir takes a few minor impacts from airborne missiles. F-017 is taken out by the V-005 group while the V-002 group manages to take out F-005. Sadly, V-002 is shot down in the process. The Mjolnir's point defense batteries claim two additional aliens; F-003 and F-012.
ReplyDeleteThe air is thick with lasers, slugs, and missiles. The occasional explosion lights the sky as the furball rages on.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Dr. Sasche has gained control of the drones and is ready to put them to use!
"That's somebodies ass if I make it through this..." Icarus mutters grouchily as he silences the klaxons and jettisons the dead weight of the mangled PBC with an explosive crump as the shaped charges at the Mech's elbow detonate. He reroutes the left side PBC's generator to the right PBC, knowing that while it wouldn't increase the damage output it might potentially incease the enormous weapons rate of fire.
ReplyDeleteSatisfied his Mech is still operational after viewing a diagnostics screen he returns his attention to the battlefield and immediately begins lofting flames onto the prone target from the projectors located on Thors chest while marching cautiously into the smoke.
The flame throwers illuminate the battle scene in a hellish light as they burst forth in roaring gouts. The target is ensconced in flame, burning and roasting. It thrashes on the pavement of the run way for several long moments, and then is silent. The flames continue to burn ...
DeleteUp in the air the battle rages. F-018 comes around for a pass on Mac and comes up short - barely. Mac can see tracer fire whizzing past his cockpit!
ReplyDeleteF-019 decides that Trout is a definite threat and veers around to attempt to remedy that. The bandit dips down and attempts to come up at Trout who nimbly inverts around the target and gives it the finger a la Top Gun.
The additional air support has their hands full with the other enemy squadrons and one of the northern VFs gets his tail shot off. No sign of the pilot ejecting ...
The southern squadron, being relatively unmolested, prepares for a bombing run on the Mjolnir. The AA crews try valiantly but only manage to waste two of the seven. Explosions rip across the surface of the remodeled alien vessel and it begins to loose altitude ...
((Sorry all, I was at Dragon*Con))
ReplyDeleteWith a sinking feeling, Gregorov lets his obscene gesture drop as he observes his instruments. There was no telling what kind of weaponry the enemy could bring to bear. So far, it had been purely conventional explosives along with reactive technology energy weapons on par with the Mjolnir's. But if the Mjolnir had a cannon that could level a mountain, then it stood to reason that the aliens could as well.
Gloomily, he realized that his own loadout wouldn't make much of a dent in a ship Mjolnir's size. If the incoming ships were to be fought, it would have to be the Mjolnir doing the fighting.
"Mac, bogeys on the Mjolnir. Take them, I'll cover you."
Letting whatever response was in store tune out, he juked his bird's controls to center the missiles over the enemy craft between his wing and the UNS flagship.
((Going to use missiles to make F-020 and F-019 stop living))
"Affirmative, Trout. Check your fire, Control, I'm coming in to clear your way." Mac "turns and burns", performing a series of evasive manuvers to break contact with his current dance partner, and works on getting a lock on one of the bandits attacking the Mjolnir. While doing that, he checks his inventory; by his count, he should have 3 missiles left.
DeleteThe good doctor finally emerges from his fusion with the Drones, and gets them launched and headed toward the new bogies. He dazedly gets a download of all that's happened, and as a civie, really dosen't get it. "Vectoring in, activating IFF. Requesting video of the BEMS"
ReplyDelete((OOC) BEMS?))
DeleteMac pauses a moment in acquiring a new target to look puzzled and ask, "Doc, what the hell are BEMS?"
DeleteIcarus stalks his last target in concealment... the grin returning as he sits and just studies the alien for a moment, basking in the fear the giant was surely feeling. Highly trained, surely the vanguard, commandos even of the alien invasion; likely with a superior attitude due to their space-faring technology... All of that confidence surely washed away in the rapid destruction of its team. A quick glance in the rear-view display furthered the grin, still burning corpse, slight red tinge to the smoke weighing heavily in the immediate area, he didn't know what alien hell was but he sure hoped it was red too.
ReplyDelete*Fuck the Geneva convention* He thinks, hoping his next target can smell whatever burning alien smells like followed by a rumbling in his stomach as images of pulled pork pop into his mind when he realizes he hadn't eaten in... hell he didn't know. The thought becoming all the more unsettling when he makes the connection that burning human flesh smells too much like a ruined barbecue.
"No, no, no, no." He begins muttering, these were the thoughts of the other Icarus again he tells himself as his left shoots up from the now defunct left PBC control to the cross of his new-found religion around his neck. *Heh, New-found religion* he scoffs remembering how he had tricked the quacks into thinking he was fit for duty by adopting a religion, at the time any religion would have done but the Chaplain in Germany just happened to be Catholic... still for some reason it calms him, at least enough for his hand to go straight to the two prescription pill bottles velcroed in his right shoulder pocket. pulling back his sleeve he checks the watch face on the inside of his right wrists, tucking the hospital band it concealed back underneath the strap as he realized he needed to take his meds soon... either that or he was nearly twelve hours overdue as the nights and days seemed to blur together when only slept when sheer exhaustion overwhelmed you.
After what felt like an eternity the second hand on his watch finally snapped forward and resumed its normal inexorable march forward audibly. Regardless, he would take them when he had a second to breath he thought shaking his head and centering his crosshairs on the last target on the runway, lining up the PBC. after this one all there was to do was wait for the last known targets to close on his position. Hopefully by then the smoke hadn't dissipated or they had vision correcting technology they simply hadn't thought to use yet.
"You still up there Noriko?" He asked imparting equal amounts of confidence and concern into his voice, attempting to make her think he was worried about her well-being and he was downstairs simply conducing business as Special-Forces usual... In all actuality he just REALLY felt like he needed to talk to someone right then.
[OCC: And people say that I have screws loose!]
DeleteThe beam from Icarus' cannon flies true, piercing the alien in the abdominal area. Now missing a circular area of its body, the alien slumps forward onto its face. Meanwhile, there's nothing but static on Icarus' radio ...
ReplyDeleteUp above, the battle rages on. Doc's drones send back the following visuals:
Mac angles in to lock on to F-026 and F-027. Receiving the tone, he thumbs the trigger to send hot death at his enemies. The remainder of the group on the Mjolnir let loose with another round of explosions as the great ship continues to loose altitude. Both Trout and Mac notice that the attacks are focused on the anti-grav generators located near the surface of the hull - they're trying to force the Mjolnir back to the surface without undue damage!
As he is noticing this, Trout acquires a lock on bogies F-019 and F-020. The missiles track true and Trout is rewarded with a couple of very satisfying explosions.
Clean up continues F-002 and F-011 tag teaming V-001 into a falling, flaming pile of scrap. V-005 gets revenge with a pair of missiles into F-002 and F-011. V-006 plugs a missile into the tail pipes of F-022 and F-004. AA fire from the falling Mjolnir takes out F-006, while V-003 and F-006 end each other in mutual flaming destruction.
Doc's drones account themselves fairly well, all things considered. Both F-009 and F-010 fall to little buggers. There's something to be said about a fighter craft with stealth tech and a cross section that's literally a fraction of the VF's, let alone what the stealth tech does to it.
The remaining enemy craft bug out, rapidly gaining altitude and apparently heading for the large shadows above the island.
Suddenly, the radio crackles to life with the voice of the Mjolnir's commanding officer, Captain Gloval. "*shhk* Dis is Mjolnir on all Allied frequencies", comes the voice heavy with a Russian accent. "Ve haf sustained heafy damage and are in a controlled free fall. My bridge crew haf been seriously vounded. Clear the are surrounding the Mjolnir's cradle as soon as is possible, ve'll be coming in hot!"
Shortly after Cpt. Gloval's transmission, the voice of Cmd. Brinks cuts in. "*shhk* You heard the man, Delta. All ground personnel need to get the hell out of dodge. The garage is designed to be an impact shelter in the event of a kinetic-kill bombardment - it should hold against a controlled impact of something the size of the Mjolnir. There are other impact shelters scattered throughout Macross if you can't reach the base in time. Good luck, Deltas. Semper Paratus."
Thinking on the fly while steering the Thor back towards the hangar Icarus brings up a screen displaying the Mjolnirs estimated time of impact. Then switched quickly to the IFF ground map ticking off seconds in his mind and searching for the Doctors position.
ReplyDeleteHe diverts the Thor towards the Doctors position stopping it a safe distance from the man before popping the hatch, tossing the rope out, and then rappelling down in one smooth movement. Laser Rifle in one hand he grabs one of the Doctors sleeves and begins leading him roughly towards the nearest bunker, failing to greet him as he continued to countdown out loud.
His priority was to get the Doctor to safety... Having accomplished that by handing him off to one of the grease monkeys he hightails it to a VF intent on getting airborne, hastily warming up the craft, skipping pre-flight checks, and hoping he didn't choke and forget even the basics of operating the vehicle... The bunker may have been "rated" as crash capable but there was no way in hell he was getting buried underneath the Mjolnir, not while a war was on. If he was interested in it he'd ask the Doctor to describe the experience after they dug them out.