Voyage of the Andromeda IC

[Dunruffle]

Gerald Maupin stood on the bridge of the Andromeda inspecting his datapad, making sure there were no last minute emergencies. Around him the bridge was a hive of activity. Crew members rushed about preparing for launch while the bridge crew sat at their stations. The large holoscreens that showed various angles outside the ship gave view of tug shuttles detaching mag clamps and loader bots putting the last bits of cargo and supplies on board. The shipyard was a hub of activity as ships of all sizes were in various states of repair or dock. Squadrons of starfighters zipped passed while massive warships lumbered to their docking rings. Gerald looked up from his holopad and over at the helmsman, "helmsman Riktof! Status report!" Riktof looked up from his screen and nodded, "all is proceeding as planned sir. We should be able to launch in less than 15 minutes." Gerald nodded satisfactorily, "good. Sound the launch alert. I want us to be in light speed under the hour." Riktof nodded and turned back to his station, activating the speaker system for the entire ship. "All hands prepare for launch, departure sequence is initialized." There was a loud alarm as docking clamps were removed and boarding ramps detached as bulkheads and airlocks closed. A countdown timer appeared on one of the large screens as Gerald keyed the ship intercom to the engineering control room. "Miss Gutierrez! I need a status report!" He then turned to his intelligence officer, "Berkowitz! Do we have any information regarding our destination? The scout frigate Nimitz should already be on station for observation. I want a direct line to them before we jump to lightspeed." With a rumble the reactor kicked into high gear as the Andromeda began to slowly pull away from the space dock. Gerald nodded to himself his ship began to go farther out of the shipyard and keyed the comms for the entire ship. "Attention crew! This is your commanding officer Admiral Maupin. You have all been selected to be on this ship for her maiden voyage and I expect nothing less than the best from you all both in and out of combat. Our destination is the planet Antiaxis, it has recently been invaded by the confederacy and in dire need of assistance. When we arrive we will be the first in line to defend our territory. If you follow me I will make sure we emerge victorious. Welcome aboard." With a click, Gerald closed the comms and cleared his throat. Turning his gaze to his bridge crew, he made sure to meet everyone's eyes. "I am not one for speeches, but since this will be your first voyage with me introductions are in order. I am Gerald Maupin. You may know me for my actions in the past but none of that matters now. We are about to head into the crucible of war and your nerves and abilities will be pushed to the limit. My advice is to follow your training and instincts, but nothing happens without my approval. If you take care of me and the rest of the crew I will take care of you. Now, we have a planet to save. Riktof! Take us out!"

The massive hangar bay was a hub of activity. Mechanics rushed around checking vehicles as pilots checked their instruments. In the far corner, the rumble of bass could be heard as music emanated from a single dropship (freakshow by skillet). Erik stood next to the cockpit of his dropship putting the finishing touches on the painted name and symbol. "Not too shabby." He stepped back and grinned as he admired his handiwork. The words "Vomit Comet" were painted in bright red, above the picture of a bright green comet dripping ooze. Compared to the rest of the dropships on the line, the vomit comet seemed to be the ugly duckling of the bunch. While the rest were polished and gleaming, the comet was dirty and full of battle scars. Bullet holes and laser burns peppered the hull, as well as several ominous looking stains on the boarding ramp and skids. A burly mechanic stomped over and poked Erik's chest. "Riggs! Turn that noise off!" Erik turned around with a grin and took out a small remote and turned down the music. "sorry chief, am i disturbing your precious mech pilots? Wouldnt want them to be cranky now would we?" The chief growled and poked Erik again. "You keep your antics to a minimum Riggs. You may be a new face here but I have had the unfortunate experience to have served with you before. You are lucky you are a good pilot, thats the ONLY reason you are on this ship! Now get your shit together before I have to come back and do it for you!" The chief stomped off in a huff causing Erik to chuckle as he gave the chief a sloppy salute. "Aye aye chief!" As soon as the chief was out of sight, Erik turned the music back up and went back to working on his ship.

@Sir Pinkleton

 

[Wooness]

Quinn Tark Location: Hanger Bay

Quinn had been on the Andromeda for about a day now to make sure that her mech, Valkyrie, made it aboard safely. Valkyrie was Quinn's personal mech, a standard Alliance mech with a painted symbol down each arm with "Valkyrie" written above it.

She had had the mech since she graduated the academy, every mission she ran she used Valkyrie. If she was damaged Quinn repaired her personally, she let no other mechanic touch her as Quinn was afraid they would ruin the delicate calibrations Quinn had set. The Valkyrie was a well maintained mech, the mech had some battle scars but only in its paint job a number of scratches and dings but nothing serious. To the unknowing they would think the mech was piratically new. Quinn got it setup in the hanger she requested and immediately ran diagnostics on Valkyrie to make sure that nothing happened to her during the transit. A few minor systems were thrown off so that was what Quinn was dealing with now, Quinn was positioned near the top of her mech with a safety strap across her waist to make sure she didn't fall. Quinn had a diagnostics pad running next to her and she made some calibrations in a small panel that was responsible for Valkyrie's radar.

The hangar was filled with people scurrying about getting ready for the launch, and with that she felt a small but noticeable jerk throughout the ship. Guess we're underway then. Over the ships speaker system the voice of the captain chimed in giving a fairly standard "we're underway this is our mission speech". Quinn was trying her best to concentrate on her task at hand, while the standard clangs from the hanger were fine one pilot was blasting some awful music. Quinn glared at the pilot that was stationed across from her, before she began yelling at the unaware pilot another person went over to them and berated them. In the distance she could hear the man yell "Riggs! Turn that noise off!" Quinn couldn't help but smile that this Riggs guy was getting scolded for blasting that infernal racket. The music was finally turned off and Quinn went back to her calibrations.

A minute later the music resumed, it startled Quinn so much she dropped her tools and they went crashing to the ground. "GOD DAMMIT!" Quinn yelled, she unbuckled her safety strap and climbed down from her mech. She picked up her fallen tool and rushed over to Riggs. "Hey Riggs! Fun fact! I have two of these tools here..." saying this while brandishing the tool "...so I'm not afraid to lose one by shoving it down your throat! Turn off that damn music!"

 

[Wooness]

Clive Yarin Location: Corridor

Clive walked through the long corridor trying his best to weave in between the passing people running to their stations. Clive held his duffle bag close to his chest to help it not be in the way, Clive had only been on the Andromeda for about 2 hours now. The first hour was checking the armory to make sure his armor and weapons had made it aboard. Clive finally arrived at his destination, the soldier bunks. Opening the door and stepping in it appeared as if Clive was the first one in the room, Clive found his assigned bunk and locker and began unpacking his duffle bag. Clive pulled out a few photos some from past missions, some with old squad mates, and some of beautiful scenery from remote planets.

 

[Kazama]

"Alright, now look for a switch labelled 'Auxiliary'."
"I don't see it."
"You're at an engine control panel, right?"
"Yes, Ms. Gutierrez."
"Lucille. And if you are, I can guarantee it'll be there. It might be labelled AUX, just keep looking."
"Right, Ms. Gu- Lucille. Uuuh, there! Found it."
"Alright now, the switch will have two settings; Manual and Automatic. Switch it to Manual."
"Alright."
"Next, there should be something labelled CYCLE. Might be a nob or a button, but it should be there."
"I see it. But it's a button and a nob."
"What's the nob say?"
"PRE, FULL, and TEST."
"Set it on FULL and hit the button."

One of the engines on standby began to hum, but didn't start up. This was normal, since they weren't trying to start it, just run it through some last minute paces. Lucille glanced down at the datapad hooked up to a terminal that provided the status of each of the ship's engines. On the other side of the massive engine, one of her engineers followed her orders. He was new, very green, and still had a lot to learn. But he was a good kid and with time and practice he'd make a reliable technician.

Lucille brushed her hair out of her eyes, and a few beads of sweat with it. Her orange technician's jumpsuit was rolled down to the waist with the sleeves tied behind her, but her white tank top still wasn't enough to beat the heat. The engine room was always twenty or thirty degrees hotter than the rest of the ship, even with state-of-art coolant systems. Fifty or sixty if the engines were being pushed to run particularly hard. The simple fact is, engines heat up and while cooling systems keep them from getting too hot, standing next to one will never be comfortable.

As the engine was put through its paces, certain fields on her datapad lit up with the ranges. Temperatures, turbine RPM, coolant flow, and dozens of other little things. The numbers, at least, were all within expected ranges. The engine sounded good too. Steady hum, no sputtering or coughs. She disconnected her pad from the terminal and pressed the transmit button on her communicator,

"Alright, good. Shut it down and put it back on Automatic."

The engine's hum dropped in pitch until it went quiet. She was about to tell the young man to go get settled for departure when her communicator received the captain's request.

"Everything's green and normal, captain. We're all set for departure."

On a ship this big, every little thing working at once is something even the most naive technician wouldn't dream of. There were little problems here and there, but the captain didn't need to know about every sliding door with a grind in its gears or every room that was a little too cold or hot because of their life support vents. All the important things were sorted and that's what the captain needed to know. The rest would get sorted out as they came. In the life of ship engineer, there are always problems. Figuring out which ones were worth reporting came with the job.

----------------------------------------------

Paul sat at his console and sorted through his own problems at a much more relaxed pace. His uniform was a bit unkempt, with his jacket unbuttoned to reveal that he wasn't even wearing his dress shirt. Instead, a brightly colored t-shirt with a music group's logo took its place, keeping up with the theme that his hair set. He glanced at the screen in front of him, several of which had been taken from storage and rigged up above and beside his first. They all displayed various sets of information while his main screen established a channel with The Nimitz. On a ship in space; especially one as advanced as this; intertia isn't felt as prominently. When the ship started moving, its inertia dampening system meant you didn't feel much. What this mean for him, was that he had to flick the hula girl souvenir on his desk to get it to dance since the ship wouldn't do it for him. Three solved Rubik's cubes were piled up next to her. He'd been trying to beat his own record while the ship had been getting ready.

The captain's call came and was answered with as much snap as someone ordering take-out,

"Nimitz is in position, it's ready when we are. Captain Wu says hi."

Technically, it was Captain Wu's communications officer who said hi. But a message from a communications officer is as good as a message from the entire crew, considering they're often the only ones who directly communicate between two ships like the Andromeda. So Captain Wu might as well be waving to them all.

"Also, Nimitz doesn't wanna stay on stand-by for too long. Sooner we leave, the better."

He picked up one of the brightly colored cubes and began to scramble it as his eyes jumped from screen to screen. With just a quick study of each monitor, Paul was able to commit to memory the names and communication codes for each and every ship surrounding the Andromeda. Every repair shuttle, every fighter, every cargo transport, and if there was so much as a welding drone near the ship, he'd remember it and its serial number. He finished scrambling the third cube and added,

"And Gutierrez's reports comin' in. We're lookin' good." He turned and gave sprung a thumbs up to confirm what the captain had just heard from Engineering.

He leaned back in his chair began to examine the the cubes with a timer on his lap. He analyzed each cube and the shortest amount of moves for each one and began solving. Last attempt had left him a sliver of a second away from his record. He was getting faster, even if it was by a handful of milliseconds at a time. He put the last one down. Nineteen seconds. However, he wasn't going for the record of his fastest time. This was the record for the fastest time since he'd come onboard. They hadn't even left yet. And nineteen seconds was including the time it took him to put one down and pick the next one up. He was beginning to wish he'd brought a more complex puzzle.

 

[MUSΞ]

Yvette "Ivy" Lancaster
Occupation: Mech Pilot|Location: Hangar Bay

​

Humming softly, Ivy flipped a single page over with a long, manicured royal purple nail, as she read her favorite novel from centuries ago. The fictional book was about the future, near the year Ivy was alive now, and Ivy couldn't help but chuckle at how inaccurate the book described the distant future. It was all romanticized in a way, that of deep space and the planets, and how astonishing space travel would become.

"Too bad it isn't really like this," Ivy mused to herself, letting her body sink into the pilot chair of her newly assigned mech.

Her mech wasn't one of a kind, but a standard issue suit fresh off the factory line. While other pilots around the hangar began to personalize their mechs to their satisfaction, all Ivy has done was hang two fuzzy black puff balls attached to a golden chain on one of drop radars and taped photos of her previous life all around. Most of the photos were of her and her former husband at the diner she use to work at or of home on their farm. It was the few times in her life Ivy was generally happy and looking forward to the future. Now, she learned better. Life to her was seen only at the moment and of content. Nothing more, nothing less.

Zipping up the front of her red jumpsuit, Ivy stuck her head outside the cockpit of her mech. Erik, one of the drop ship pilots of the Andromeda, was blasting one of his odd songs throughout the hangar, disturbing some of the other pilots. It was a song Ivy wasn't familiar with, but she found herself bobbing her head to the beat with a small smile on her face. So far, she was one of the oldest mech pilots and maybe on the crew besides their captain. Thankfully, the crew was respectful with no one bringing up her age or her disabilities. It was hard enough being accepted on the Andromeda with her limited abilities, having to admit that she had a cybernetic arm that ran on an external battery pack and a bionic lung. Many would think this would give her an advantage to others, but the robotic parts were more of a pain. She had to recharge her arm weekly while her bionic lung needed constant electronic updates via a connection to a computer.

Ivy looked up at the announcement made by the Captain. She applauded, her long nails clanking against each other.

"And...we're off!" Ivy cheered feeling the ship begin to take flight.

She wasn't sure how the others were reacting to the speech, but Ivy was more excited than nervous. This wouldn't be her first fight against the Confederacy, but one of dozens on her resume. Experience was on her side, formally being a part of the Alliance. It had been a good few years since her last fight that caused her to be severely injured. As well as this being a new mech suit and not the one she piloted for years.

Ivy sighed, slipping back into the cockpit of her new mech. Maybe it was time to personalize this mech more. Give it a name, a symbol, a story, anything for it to be different than the rest.

"How about...let's see, Tula will be your name. Tula Lee Lancaster," her hand ran across the dashboard of the mech. "Your dad always loved that name.'

​

 

[Dunruffle]

@Sir Pinkleton
Gerald nodded as the reports came in that everything was good to go. "Good, helmsman Riktof! I want us in lightspeed as soon as we clear the gravity well." Riktof nodded the affirmative as a scouting report from the Nimitz showed up of Berkowitz's terminal.

Preliminary Scouting Report:

• Scouts on the ground have confirmed the actions of an attempted coup on the local government
• Colonial Governor Ashrad is currently sealed inside the panic bunker under the state house
• Local insurrectionist forces have been supplemented by CUS regulars from the 85th battalion
• Local defense forces have been ordered back to major population centers to protect civilians by the governor
• Planetary Air Defense Systems have been taken over by insurrectionist forces
• Capitol spaceport and local armed forces facilities are now under insurrectionist control
• Enemy forces include captured light armored vehicles, mechs, heavy tanks, and star fighters.
• Enemy reinforcements possible, advise immediate cordon action

Meanwhile in the engineering bay, the new shield generator started to fluctuate wildly from a slight overload of power. Without proper maintenace the shield generator could overheat and break. Several alarms went off in the engineering bay as alerts popped up on Gerald's datapad. "Gutierrez! I want that shield generator fixed ASAP! We cannot jump to lightspeed with faulty shields or we may get ripped apart!" Growling in frustration, Gerald turned to Paul. "Berkowitz! What information has the Nimitz provided? We need to devise a battle plan so that we can spring into action the moment we arrive."

@Wooness
Erik looked up to see the angry Quinn brandishing a tool. Smiling and turning down the music, he held up his hands. "Woah there missy, calm down. We are all friends here, I am just enjoying a little relaxing music. Now i know how temperamental you mechies are so i will do you a favor and turn off the music." He pressed a button on his remote and the loud music stopped. "Now why dont you put that tool down and relax a little bit. As i always say, "live every day like its your last." Because in our line of work it most likely is. So calm your tits and go work on your tin can or something." Giving Quinn a cheeky smile, Erik put on some headphones and turned around to go back to working on his ship.

Meanwhile in the barracks, the room had started to fill up with troops. Everyone rushing about to get their stuff unpacked and sorted out. A large man sat down on the bunk next to Clive and looked over at him. "Hey man, is this your first tour?" He held out his heavily tattooed hand to shake. "The name is Clyde, whats yours?"

@Pray4me
A young man climbed up the scaffolding next to Ivy's mech and looked into the cockpit where Ivy was sitting. 'Umm..hello..my name is Ron..Ron Wilcox. I am new around here and I heard from the other pilots that you were a vet. Do you mind if i ask you a few questions?" It was obvious the young man was nervous, he couldnt meet Ivy's eyes and he kept nervously rubbing his hand together. "If you are busy right now I can leave you alone...I just..I umm..I wanted some tips from a pro..this is my very first deployment and I am a little unsure about what to do.."

 

[Wooness]

Quinn Tark Location: Hanger Bay Interactions: @Dunruffle

Quinn stood there holding the tool, Riggs finally turned down his music and kind of apologized. Still slightly irritated Quinn replied "Thank you". Quinn lowered the tool and attached it to her work belt. Riggs was kind of right it would be good for her to relax some before all the craziness began. Quinn began to return to her mech when she heard Riggs smugly say "...So calm your tits and go work on your tin can or something." Quinn stopped in her tracks and bolted back to Riggs, ripping off his headphones "Listen buddy! First off I don't want to hear you mention my tits again! Secondly that 'tin can' is a top of the line Alliance issued Mech that is so finely tuned that if I didn't calibrate it for a year it would only be off calibration by 3%! It's been to hell and back and still lives to tell the tale! We were are hand selected due to our skills, you included, so I can safely assume you know how to fly your ship with some precision. The very least you could do was show respect for fellow pilots!" With that Quinn turned around and walked back to her mech, she climbed back onto it and resumed her calibrations while muttering "Calling you a tin can...son bitch...I'll show him a tin can...".

Clive Yarin Location: Barracks

Clive finished hanging the last of his pictures, a large man sat down at the bunk across from him and introduced himself as Clyde. Clive returned the hand shake and introduced himself "Nice to meet you Clyde, the names Clive! And no not my first tour, just got done putting up some photos of previous missions and planets I've gotten to go to. What about you? First time?"

 

[MUSΞ]

Yvette "Ivy" Lancaster
Occupation: Mech Pilot|Location: Hangar Bay

​

Tracing a manicured finger along the dashboard, Ivy lined out the beginnings of a symbol for her new personalized mech. The name was chosen, the story was burned into her mind, and now all that was needed was a simple drawing to paint onto the sides of the mech. The hangar had all the paint and equipment for her to do it herself, but she wasn't confident in her artistic skills. Hopefully, there would be a starving artist among the crew she could persuade to paint the symbol onto her mech once she thought of the design.

It had to be something simple, yet fun and whimsical that told the story that this mech symbolized the child she never had. Already, Ivy felt more attached to the standard issued mech than before.

"Mhmm?" Ivy looked up, her eyes blinking as a young pilot suddenly appeared next to her. She stuck her head out and looked down, never noticing the scaffolding next to her mech. "Oh...oh hun, why are you so nervous?"

She smiled softly at the man, watching him struggle with words and shift his body around. He looked so young to her that it was almost heartbreaking to know this would be his first time out at battle. There was such a high chance for him to never returning to the ship after the first battle. Ivy nodded to the man.

"I'm never busy to those asking for help. Come on, take a seat! Relax! I have all day to answer all the questions you like! You've already made a great first step into becoming a skilled pilot, asking an old veteran like me!" Ivy spoke warmly, patting the scaffolding closer to her for the man to sit. "Say, let me interrupt for a second. Do you by chance have any talents in art?"

Ron Wilcox was the first brave soul to approach Ivy. Deep down, she was very appreciative of the fact. Many based her purely off appearance, seeing her as a harsh, combative woman because of her choice of contoured makeup style, the big curls in her hair, and choice of a somewhat tight attire. There was also her size, being taller and mix of curves and muscles, that seemed to ward people away. In reality, she was a kind, motherly type of woman who kept to herself, but always enjoyed others around.​

 

[Kingmaker747]

Lieutenant Captain Eleanor Bose
Location: Mess Hall / Cafeteria

It was quiet in the cafeteria. Almost everyone else was doing their job on the ship except for Lieutenant Captain Eleanor Bose. El was pissed that she was in the cafeteria instead of the bridge to say the least. It was the Andromeda's maiden voyage, and who was sitting on the bridge flying the ship? It wasn't Bose, it was Riktof. I should have had first duty, what a rip-toff. El stopped herself from making any formal complaint. There would have been no use to angering the admiral by questioning his orders, especially because it's only El's first real mission.

El found herself wishing for a friend to talk to, someone she could express her frustrations too. It was a sad realization that El had no friends on the ship. Only a few people she knew from the academy were assigned to the Andromeda, and El wouldn't consider them friends. The silence and emptiness of the mess hall perpetuated El's train of thought. It was going to be a long and dark voyage.

--

Sergeant Jack Roland
Location: Barracks

The barracks was loud when Jack entered, plenty of soldiers unpacking their things. Most of them just threw everything into their lockers, Jack knew that they were just finding an excuse to take long looks at the things that reminded them of home. Jack didn't like thinking about home, bad memories bring nothing but bad attitude. Instead Jack focused on finding his assigned bunk.

There was two soldiers to his left making small talk. The bearded one had pictures of his previous deployments already hung up on the wall. Yet another Marine whose had an easy war. Jack didn't have pictures of the hell holes he's used too. Jack wondered if the Mechanized Infantry was purposefully thrown into the worst fights, he supposed he was going to find out what kind of battles the Marines fought now that he was technically one of them.

Jack had his own personal items, he took out the 2772 bottle of whiskey he had scored off grease monkey in a gamble from his bag and place it in his locker. It's one of the few items he posses that he considers worthy to keep behind a key-code. Jack left his only other piece of property on display on the pillow of his bunk, a set of cards.

 

[Thornapple]

[fieldbox="Scarlett Kassanov, red"]
Her eyes were closed. It wasn't something she was taught in the Academy, it was just instinctual to her. Had she left her eyes open, her other senses would dull and she wouldn't of been able to notice the subtle shifting sensation of a ship just beginning its flight. The feeling sent an excited tingle down her spine, and for a moment she let herself think she was free. Free from the burden of duty, from the ambitious demands of her family.

But her euphoria could only last a moment. "Reality is always a heartbeat away," is what her instructor had said every time someone lost focus in combat practice or lecture. And her reality was taking her to one of the most dangerous active missions in the galaxy. She opened her eyes and exhaled, allowed the din of the barracks to dissipate her brief meditation. Her father insisted -to her disbelief- she be housed in the officers quarters, that the Kassanov family can't possibly be on the same level as the common soldier. General Maupin declined and reminded her father that every soldier on this ship who returns will do so with honor and fame. There were no common soldiers aboard the Andromeda.

It was true. Looking around, she noticed a scarred faces of veterans who were just short of famous, and a couple fellow graduates who also received high marks in their respective academies. She studied the expressions of the veterans, looking for any hint of fear. She figured that if the vets were comfortable, this trek might not be the suicide mission her academy friends had warned her about. Most of them seemed neutral, some looked tired. A few were excited to show off to the green boys.

Her scrutiny was finally noticed by one man who was depositing his possessions unceremoniously onto his bunk adjacent to hers. A thin forcefield would normally separate the women's bunks from the mens, but because the ship was being loaded up all dividers were currently disabled. A quick glance at his uniform revealed him as Sergeant Roland. Instead of hastily looking away, Scarlett dipped her head in a respectful curtesy. Please don't say it. She thought, watching as his eyes dropped to her own name emblazoned onto her uniform. She sighed, "Kassanov, yes. But please call me Scarlett. I'm not one for grabbing attention."[/fieldbox]​

 

[Dunruffle]

@Kingmaker747
As the Andromeda cleared the gravity well, Gerald checked his readouts. "RIKTOF! We are askew from our jump point! You just cost is precious time that could be spent helping our citizens! Realign us and once we jump to lightspeed I want you to take a break to rethink your laziness." Riktof flinched and nodded apologetically as he frantically made adjustments. Gerald brought up his bridge roster and opened up the ship intercom. "Captain Eleanor Bose, report to the bridge for duty." Berkowitz then gave the scouting report to Gerald. Gerald looked it over then sent it to the trooper officers with directions of a battle strategy. Once Riktof realigned the Andromeda, Gerald gave the order to jump to lightspeed. The alarm sounded around the ship signalling the impending lightspeed jump. With a jerk, the ship shot off into lightspace. Riktof then ashamedly sat at his console waiting to be replaced.

@Wooness
Erik laughed as Quinn got in his face. Holding up his hands apologetically he grinned at her. "Sorry man, I was just teasin ya. We are all friends here." He chuckled as she stormed away. The crew chief ruahed over and yelled in Erik's face. "RIGGS! I dont need your antics causing trouble! Now quit it!" Erik simply grinned when suddenly the lightspeed alarm sounded, "well it looks like we are on our way."

 

[Dunruffle]

@Pray4me
Ron sat closer to ivy and blinked at her question. "Art? Well I was an amature artist during school...nothing really good though." Turning his gaze to her mech, Ron began to liven up. "So what is your preffered combat manuever to escape a target lock?" In the acedemy they said to strafe from side to side or find cover. But what if you are out in the open? I know the mechs have small thrusters that allow them to jump pretty high, would that work? Also, I heard that you beat up an enemy mech with just a steel girder when your weapon mslfunctioned. Is that true?"

 

[Dunruffle]

@Thornapple @Kingmaker747 @Wooness

In the barracks after the lightjump happened, there were loud whistles as commanding officers entered. With datapads fresh from their breifings, they began calling our names. One grizzled man walked over and read off several names. "I need Scarlett Kassanov, Jack Roland, Clive Yarin, and Clyde Bertson! Report to me now for your squad assignments!"

 

[Kingmaker747]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Sergeant Roland would have smiled, Jack would have smirked, but Jack Roland chuckled, "I suppose I could." Jack raised his eyebrows and spoke freely, "Don't imagine I'll be in your company long. The rearguard is going to fit you well." Roland stared her in the eyes wondering if she'll take it as an insult.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Jack grimaced when the Officers whistled their way into the barracks. After sighing and stretching his arms Roland went to stand attention before the Officers.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]--[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Captain Eleanor Bose, report to the bridge for duty."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]El was caught off guard, in the Academy her teachers were always very technical about rank. When she was assigned her rank, they specified that it was [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Lieutenant Captain[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent], and said. "Only Captains command ships."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Not sure if it was in her head, or if the Admiral had called her for duty, El told herself out loud, "No. Get over the bullshit. Report for duty." El stood, and she was Bose. The weird look from the kitchen staff that had entered the room quickened her pace.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Riktof's head could not be hung lower. Bose wasn't sure what was said to him, but she knew whatever it was has seemed to destroy his soul. Not wanting to be found staring, Bose stood at attention. "Lieutenant Captain Bose, reporting for duty sir."[/BCOLOR]

 

[MUSΞ]

Yvette "Ivy" Lancaster
Occupation: Mech Pilot|Location: Hangar Bay
​

​

"Mmmmm," Ivy hummed as she listened to Ron, her eyes staring upward as she thought about the answers to the questions. "Oh! A story about my days during the fight is circling around? I didn't know I was that well known..."

During her times in the Alliance, Ivy was more of a quiet solider executing her orders and always following what was told. Somehow she did attract younger soldiers with most seeing her as that mother figure they were desperately missing. It never bothered her, except during battles as many young soldiers would tag along during her flights. She knew they saw her as protection, but there was only so much she could do out in the fight. With every effort to protect her soldiers and complete the mission, many more lost the fight while following her. It stung at her heart each time she heard the announcement through her earpiece "XXX pilot down". Or, even worse to see the explosion out the corner of her eye.

"My preferred movement to escape a target lock? A giant loop straight up," Ivy demonstrated by swirling her finger in the air in a large circle. "No missile can fly vertical on point. They always have a wider arch to complete if needing to go up. Once skilled enough, you can maneuver your mech quick enough to the point the missile is still arching. And then, shoot it. Of course, you have to take in consideration your surroundings and how many locks are on you. If multiple, spin that mech and loop then shoot. Deploy your scatter missiles as well to catch the stragglers. But never forget to strafe as that's more of a for sure way."

Ivy nodded, placing her cheek in her hand as the elbow balanced on the sill of the window of her mech.

"I see the story changed slightly. It wasn't a steel grinder, but the cannon off a destroyed tanker ship. My weapon overheated after it becoming damaged. When I saw that drifting cannon, I grabbed it and started fighting pure melee. It's kind of a lost art, melee, so many don't expect it. I would never suggest it unless you absolutely need to. You are much better off to escape to the main ship and pilot a spare mech. My goodness, are stories really circulating about me?"

It was a nice feeling knowing she was still being talked about after having to leave the Alliance. Talking to Ron was bringing back many memories, both good and bad, during her time in the Alliance. Ivy sighed happily.

"I only ask about the art because I'm struggling on a design for my mech here. I'm terrible at anything artistic. Here's what, it doesn't matter to me if you see yourself as an amateur artist, I would love to ask for a commission from you. Paid, of course," Ivy offered. "We can talk about that after your questions. I'm sure you have more to ask."​

 

[Wooness]

Quinn Tark Location: Hanger Bay

Quinn finished her finally calibrations to Valkyrie and climbed down the massive mech to her stations tool station. She carefully returned each tool to its proper home all the while still cursing under her breath due to her interaction with Riggs. With each tool put away Quinn grabbed a cloth draped on top of the tool station and wiped her brow. Draping the towel around her neck she headed to the elevator and proceeded to the mess hall, Quinn was drastically out of uniform her jump suit was zipped all the way down with the arms tied around her waist so they wouldn't drag and all she had on underneath the jumpsuit was an old shirt with the sleeves cut off Quinn wore when she was doing mech maintenance. This attire was fine for the hangar bay but not the best choice of clothing for the rest of the ship. Quinn knew she needed to show and change before an officer saw her but she desperately needed food before heading to the washroom.

Clive Yarin Location: Barracks

Clive stood conversing with Clyde when what appeared to be an officer entered the room. Clive bolted upward and saluted "Sir!" the man stood there looking at a data pad "I need Scarlett Kassanov, Jack Roland, Clive Yarin, and Clyde Bertson! Report to me now for your squad assignments!" Clive stepped forward to the man "Clive Yarin, Scout, reporting for duty sir!"

 

[Thornapple]

[fieldbox="Scarlett Kassanov, red"]
The wave of relief that accompanied the veterans polite acceptance was short lived for Scarlett, as her name was called loud and proud by an officer she was already not particularly fond of. Heads turned, eyes stared. Ironically, the demeaning presence of the officers was also the reason no one dared to comment. She slipped in stiffly beside her shipmates and managed to reply to Sergeant Roland before the call to attention, "Perhaps. You may not see me, but you'll be glad I'm there".[/fieldbox]​

 

[Dunruffle]

In the barracks, the grizzled officer looked over the four soldiers standing before him. "Alright soldiers, my name is Captain Karsof. But you will either call me captain or sir. You four are going to be in the same squad so get used to working with each other. Kassonov will be the squad sniper, Yarin will be pointman, Roland will be squad leader, and Bertson will be the gunner. I expect you all to work together and keep each other alive. Now for your mission. You all are charlie squad. You are going to be part of the task force assigned to retaking the PADS (planetary air defense system). While the PADS remains in enemy hands it will severly restrict our air units from providing fire support and transport of heavy equipment. You all, delta, and echo squads will be the task force in charge of retaking and holding the PADS." He handed Roland a holo map along with a datapad with relevant terrain and enemy forces information. "Make sure to ingrain that info in your brain. It could be the difference between life and death. Make any preparations for wills or notifying next of kin. We deploy as soon as we exit lightspeed." With a final quick salute, the captain went over to a different squad to brief them as well. After the captain left, Clyde turned to his new squadmates and smiled. "Well I guess we are working together now. I already met Clive here, but my name is Clyde. You watch my back and I will watch yours ya know?"

On the bridge, admiral maupin turned to eleanor and nodded. "Captain Bose I presume." Gerald turned to Riktof and gave him a stern look. "Riktof you will now surrender the helm to Bose. Make sure to rethink your actions while you take a break." Riktof have a dull "yes sir" and stood up, he then saluted Eleanor and promptly scurried to the exit. Gerald turned back to Eleanor and looked her up and down. "While I am sure you would have made a fine captain of your own vessel, this duty of yours is no less important. I expect the best of you on this voyage." He gave her a salute then sat back down in the command chair and resumed reading his reports from all over the ship.

In the mess hall a tall man with a glowing red mechanical eye stopped Quinn. "Hey there miss, you are Quinn Tark right? Briefings just came down from command and all combat units are to be prepped for combat." He handed her a bottle of water and a ham and cheese sandwich. "My name is Logan, I am a mech pilot like you. I am gonna be your squad leader. But before we get into that we need to find the rest of our squad." He then took a gentle but firm grip of Quinn's arm and led her back to the hanger. Ron smiled and gave Ivy a nod. "Well...I was going to ask.." Suddenly he was cut off by a shrill whistle and a shout from logan. "Hey Ivy! You and your pet greenhorn get down here! I need to brief the squad!"

 

[MUSΞ]

Yvette "Ivy" Lancaster
Occupation: Mech Pilot|Location: Hangar Bay

​

Ivy leaned her seat back in the mech and kicked her feet up, enjoying Ron's company. She could tell Ron was slowly opening up to her, being more comfortable and showing more of his personality. Smiling warmly, she closed her eyes and was about to stretch until the loud shrill of a whistle made her jump.

"Looks like we're being summoned," Ivy squeezed herself out the side window of her mech, stepping over Ron. The scaffolding was in the way for the door of the mech to pop open. "That's Logan, right?"

Logan was the first person she saw when arriving on the ship. There were no time for true introductions as the ship was flocked with new crew members trying to find out where to go. That day was so hectic that Ivy was surprised she found her room and was issued a mech all on the same day. But, that was expected. Even now with things a bit calmer, there was still that hectic feeling around the ship with the upcoming battle quickly approaching. She could feel the nerves and excitement while climbing down the scaffolding and landing steadily on the metal flooring.

With a quick fluff of her hair with her hands, Ivy waited for Ron to land beside her before walking over to Logan.

"A briefing? Perfect, I think I have a notepad and pen somewhere..." she patted around her legs, finding a small notepad in her back pocket. Her pen was close by, sleeping in the pen pocket of her jumpsuit. "Will this be held in one of the main meeting rooms?"

She opened the notepad and scribbled the date on the top of the page.

"I smell food," her nostrils flared, picking up the scent of sandwiches. "A brown bag lunch for all of us? It's already reminding me of my time back in the armed forces."

Ivy smiled jokingly, spinning the pen in her fingers.​

 

[Wooness]

Quinn Tark Location: Mess Hall | Interactions: @Dunruffle

Quinn arrived at the mess hall with little incident and wandered over to get food when she was stopped by an unknown man. The man towered over her, which Quinn wasn't to surprised about but what did shock her was the glowing mechanical eyes the individual had. The man looked at her and said "Hey there miss, you are Quinn Tark right? Briefings just came down from command and all combat units are to be prepped for combat." Quinn gave a polite smile "Yes sir Quinn Tark mech pilot, pleasure to meet you." Before she could walk away to get food several items were pushed into her hands some water and a sandwich. Quinn gave the man an odd look at this gesture, the man continued "My name is Logan, I am a mech pilot like you. I am gonna be your squad leader. But before we get into that we need to find the rest of our squad." Quinn felt instant embarrassment not only was she out of uniform but of course the first person she meets is her CO, as far as first impressions go she nailed it. Before Quinn could muster some type of apology the man gently grabbed her arm and returned her to the Hangar.

Quinn Tark Location: Hanger Bay | Interactions: @Pray4me

Returning to the hangar nothing had changed really seeing as Quinn was gone a total of 10 minutes. Quinn's mind raced for a way to apologize to her CO for being out of uniform but her thought process was cut short by a loud whistle in her ear as Logan called down the other mech pilot. Quinn hadn't introduced herself to Ivy yet but Quinn knew about her. During her time at the academy she read many a field report about Ivy's heroics in numerous battles through the years. Quinn outstretched her hand towards Ivy. "Pleasure to finally get to meet you in person Ivy, I'm Quinn Tark pleasure to meet you, I read a lot about you during my training at the academy."