The Steel Frontier(Sci-Fi)(Mech)(Open/IC)

[Spindle]

Julia Lionhardt
Maintenance Bay
SLS Duty's Fist

Julia watched as the paint dried and ran on the canvas. She was supposed to be producing a piece showing a vast battle, stretching from one horizon to the other with the glorious dead and the heroic living on both sides - the perfect death for so many. But it came out...wrong. Faces were distorted, over-sallow and grimacing dourly, tanks seemed to flow and meld into the ground as if they had been half-melted, mechs were hunched and disfigured looking down on the insectile soldiers which scurried around their cumbersome feet.

Her hands were shaking as she set aside her palette and sank down onto her bed. It always ended like this. Malformed, dysfunctional paintings, hardly holding the high standard which the Corps expected of true art. Less even than a facsimile of the Supreme Commander's glory and ultimate authority, they were...wrong. There was no glory in them, nothing gained, just an endless loss of life stretching as far as the eye could see. That wasn't right - she'd seen it herself, there was more to it than that. There was more. There had to be more - why else could war be so common?

Her fingers brushed against smooth, cold metal and she felt the jitters fading away. It was one bad painting, nothing more. She could do better. She would do better. She would capture glory and death and honour on canvas eventually; she would prove herself as more than just a pilot and-

"All mech pilots please report to the brige, we will be entering real space in a matter of seconds."

Half-jumping, Julia glanced up at the walls before sprinting past the still-drying canvas and out into the corridor. It took her a split-second to recall where the bridge was before she was moving again - a few of her fellows were also stumbling out of their quarters, and after a moment they joined her. Take the left, left, right, present palm for the scanner then continue along the central corridor. Dodge the other crew-members, and then to the last door. Presenting her palm again she watched as the last set of doors slid open to reveal the bridge beyond, filing in with a handful of other pilots before snapping briskly to attention and saluting the Captain as he turned to greet them. There was a stony silence as they awaited instructions.

[Flarbinia]

"My squad lost a pilot and mech taking out Fort Hadrian, Quetzalcoatl needs to be rearmed, the rest of the RCMC's coastal defenses are falling as we speak, and Caligula has been captured by the 14th Atzlan and the 52nd Cao Cao." "Vegas" said to "Six" as Elvis, his mech, picked up the repaired mech. "Running diagnostics. One moment please. Everything is in the green. I thought for a second that they might have to tow Wuhan back to the Oberon for additional repairs, but it looks like the parts from Jackson fit like a glove. We should head back to the planetary command center, wherever that is, and await further orders." "Pigsy" said to the others as another barrage of flares lit up the sky, the squad leaving the area.

[Xichung]

The Captian

he was tugging on his grey beard one hand behind his back as the pilots filled the bridge, a holo table in the center with the map of Oranda Prime. they all saluted and did so back "at ease" he had this cold glare on his face "alright we have a new mission from the leader" the soon entered real space "we are going to meet up with a ship called the destiny's bride" anyone with any kind of experience can take one good look at the table and know that is also the place nicknamed the death trap "you will need to capture the Alliance base or destroy it"

[Spindle]

Julia Lionhardt
Bridge
SLS Duty's Fist

Julia felt dread starting to crawl through her flesh as her eyes darted over the holomap. The defences surrounding the planet were...formidable. Realistically they were going to need a full battlefleet - at least, if there was a proper supporting fleet - and two ships? There had to be something more than this to it. There had to have been some form of infiltration, or that this was only a diversionary attack or something. A suicide attack against that wasn't something anyone would ask a subordinate to do. It couldn't be.

Her fingers brushed smooth metal and her eyes focused. If she died, that was her duty. That was her glory. Just as long as the attack went through successfully, that would be enough. That would be all that mattered. She knew that - she'd always know that. She couldn't give up on it now that her chance had arrived. She wouldn't.

"What's our plan of attack, Sir?"

[Xichung]

The Captain

“Glad you asked” he pressed a button on the table and the map enlarged and floated above for all to see “if you all didn’t we have access to an orbital drop system” he used his hands to pull the map to forest clearing “Well we will be using this clearing to infiltrate from while a secondary force pulls all gun attention with a mobile wall” the mobile was literally a medium sized steel plate that folded out when placed making a piece of cover that can be thrown out. He then refocused the map on the base “due to multiple attempts this fortress is beefed up with a nice bit of anti-mech weapons, but we were able to gather enough info to find a weakness in the armor” he stroked his beard “no one has been able to get inside due to their weapons, but we also learned they can’t shoot inside” he moved the hologram to a side of the base where there is a large sewer tunnel “this is where two mechs will enter while the rest of the force pulls gunfire from both rail cannons and mechs, so any noise you make below will be masked” he then turned the hologram to look above “one of you will carry a heavy duty termite charge while another will have an engineer torch” they would be reaching the station for refueling and arming “one will need to cut the grate blocking the sewer while the other will use the charge to blast a hole from below, from there it will be your jobs to take out the rail cannons” the map changed to a list of mechs and pilots on the ship, Julia and the other captain’s mech where highlighted “you two will be the infiltration team, the rest distraction”

[AHSCA]

Nutella checked on Kero running a couple quick systems checks and inspecting the armor "Everything is looking right." She told to the maintenance crew but then the announcement came out a call to report at the bridge. Setting her tools and equipment aside she made her quick moves down from her mech's cockpit down to the floor and along the bridge. Mission time, and go figure it was a capture mission, how fitting she just ran a Capture the Flag scenario in the simulator. The Holomap showed what kind of area they'd be up against, and it wasn't going to be easy. Kero was really going to get its endurance test again but if the sim checked out she at least knew how far to push it. And so happened Julia and Nutella were selected for infiltration. The universe is a strange mistress at times. "Yes sir!"

[Xichung]

"Miss Nutella, you will be leading the distraction, while captain Anderson will head the infiltration." the captain said "your mech is large and too bulky for an infiltration, you will be the one with the mobile cover" he stroked his beard "the reason for my choice of Anderson over you Nutella is simply cause of experience" he pressed a button the table and the map returned to normal "now go get supplies and munitions"

[Flarbinia]

Fort Marius. Diocletian. Titus System. The next day
In the captured stronghold of Fort Marius, "Pigsy" was chowing down on Teriyaki Burgers in the mess hall, getting Teriyaki sauce on the Bacon Taco that "Tenochtitlan" was eating, the only thing preventing them from fighting being Connor Jax's stare, both pilots remembering the beating they got when he broke up their fight on the fifth moon of Artemis III. Once they stopped looking at each other, Connor Jax resumed feasting on his Odysseus Game Hen. "Vegas" entered the mess hall, disappointed by the mess that "Pigsy" had made. "Alright. We are expected to be in the briefing room in five minutes, so any food that doesn't end up in your stomach is going straight in the trash. That includes you, Pigsy." Vegas said to the rest of the squad before leaving the mess hall. "Pigsy" was disappointed to throw away good food, but he knew that Connor Jax had zero tolerance for disobedience, so he complied. They all headed towards the briefing room to be informed on their next mission.

[Xichung]

Six was standing there, his mask covering his face and his swords at his sides “good work boys, sad to see a comrade fall, but that is the price we pay” a holo table came up from the floor next to six “our next operating will be to alphis, it’s currently a strong arms manufacturing planet” the holo table shows a map of the planet “I’ll be joining you, but there will not be a second wave, this will be the first wave strategy” he started to go into details of the attack while keeping his hands behind his back

[Sraelyn]

Léon de Nevaur
AIP Stronghold of Oranda Prime

Léon sat on a small bench outside the canteen. It was pleasently cool this late at night, an almost surreal silence permeated the place, as activity on the base had slowed down almost to a crawl. He took a drag of his cigarette and let the smoke out into the soft breeze.
Why the fuck was he assigned to defend this place? It was clearly a strongpoint, deep within Alliance territory. Even if the planet had been attacked recently, the rail cannons should be able to take care of most raiding forces. What even was the purpose of bringing the Silver Guard here? An elaborate plan to bore them all to death? He would have much rather be somewhere else, like at Diocletia, joining the assault.
Léon leaned against the wall behind him, taking another long drag followed by a swig from his flask,  the clear liquid burning his throat. The was no sense to keep thinking about it. Maman had decided the Guard was taking this job so there wasn't much he could do about it. Hopefully the following days would come to pass rapidly, and they would be able to rejoin the rest of the fleet in the nearby system, leaving for another place and taking another contract, such had been the life among the Silver Guard for years.

"Fils de pute, so this is where you were." Said a voice to his side, startling him a bit. Damien sat down at the bench next to Léon, and took the flask from his hand, taking a swig for himself from it. Damien was a fellow pilot, 2 years older than him, they became close friends after years of training and fighting together. They made a great team together, Demian usually being the calmer and more rational one in combat, keeping Léon away from his worst tendencies.
"I know you hate it here, but it's just a few more days and we'll be gone. You know, some of us actually enjoy a bit of respite from the war, and the easy pay is a plus."
"I know, I know. You're right man." He said defeated.
"C'mon" said Damien standing up  "it's already pretty late, let's get some sleep. Tell you what, why don't we fire up some simulators tomorrow? That should keep you from sulking around the base." A grin plastered on his face.
"Fuck. You." Said Léon with a chuckle, standing up and joining his friend already strolling towards the barracks.

Maybe if they were lucky, something interesting would pop up in the next few days, if not, the sims would have to suffice. He felt something wet fall on this head, then another, and another one. The sky was rapidly turning dark as they moved towards the barracks, rain would soon begin to pour down.

[AHSCA]

Miss Nutella, you will be leading the distraction, while captain Anderson will head the infiltration." the captain said "your mech is large and too bulky for an infiltration, you will be the one with the mobile cover" he stroked his beard "the reason for my choice of Anderson over you Nutella is simply cause of experience" he pressed a button the table and the map returned to normal "now go get supplies and munitions"

"Yes sir! I will not fail." That was fine, Kero could take the punishment while her comrades took care of the capture. She wanted to be on the capture team sure but she wasn't going to question orders. Nutella nodded and made her exit from the room. Heading to munitions depo she gave the needed instructions of what Kero's armaments needed. Returning to the maintenance bay afterword she asked "I want one more diagnostics run on the systems and on the armor enforcement."

"Systems looking green ma'am, you're all set for combat."


Looking at her kit she wondered if she should dump it, every ounce of weight added up "Survival rations. Hmph, I don't intend to be taken prisoner." She'd rather die then become a POW but still she packed it anyway into her cockpit. More likely though she'd be shot in the face and instantly destroyed rather than get a moment to eject or be forced to eject anyway. "Keroberos, it's gonna be a tough one, we gotta hold off the enemy and make a diversion. Hope you're up to it." Her watch looking device buzzed with an incoming call.

Putting on a smile, a rare smile she answered it. The gram of a cute young lady appeared "Hello, Nutella, are you there?"

"Ah yes, I'm here. It's good to hear from you again, Chi."

"It's good to hear you too! But I thought you were going to call me yesterday, you never did..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, training has been back to back and it's been tough to get even a moment of free time."

"You never change, Nutella, always training or working at something. Is everything else okay with you?"

"Things are fine. But what about you? I think I see a bruise on your left cheek..."

"It's fine, I took a tumble trying to find my way around. Careless morons who left stuff in the middle of the road again."

"You're really insistent on still using just a cane and sense to find your way around?"

"Of course I am. We all have our ways of coping right? If I rely on tech or droids I have no incentive to try anything myself."

"Just be careful. Listen, I gotta go. I'll be sure to call you again, I'm sorry you had to go to the expense and trouble."

"Don't worry, just hearing your voice is great. Take care, Nutella, don't let them train you too hard."

"As if I have a choice." Nutella smiled again, shutting off the video phone. Returning to her serious business she made her last round or preparations before deployment.

[Xichung]

The duty fist would soon enter warp heading to the location it needs to be to meet up with Destiny's bride. a white ship with its captain a very famous man among the RCMC. he was the face on a lot of propaganda posters and the reason behind a lot of recruitments.

[Flarbinia]

Fort Marius. Diocletian. Titus System
After "Six" was finished explaining the plan to take Alphis and asked "are there any questions?", "Vegas" stood up and cleared his throat. "So what you are telling me is that command is abandoning Diocletian? I mean no disrespect, but we only control the coasts of the supercontinent. The Corpsmen still control the majority of the planet's landmass." "Vegas" said to Six, anger in his eyes. "Normally, I would ask for permission to speak freely, but since you opened floor to questions, I have only one thing to say: wasn't the entire point of sending troops to this Ra forsaken Hellhole to capture its cities, refineries, and fuel reserves? I can't deny that the alliance has made significant gains, but the RCMC still controls most of the planet's resources and cities." Connor Jax said to Six.

[Xichung]

“It’s being captured, while you were sleeping off a minor scraping we managed to capture half the planet, but in order for this assault to go through we must cut off reinforcements” he started to walk towards them his steps soundless “I’m currently taking primary control of the fuel plant, while you sit here and bicker with a hologram” it turned around “but you can choose to follow my words or not, I personally don’t care, but if the mission is compromised cause of you” he turned around “I’ll cut all your heads off, then I’ll call you happy, do you understand” they been working with the mercenary long enough to know that is the price of failing him, even understand that it is because of that why most of his operations are successful

[Flarbinia]

"Minor scraping? One of our pilots was killed and his mech was destroyed. That is not a scrape. That is the loss of a man and billions of Creds worth of equipment. As for Alphis, if the assault fails, it is on you, not my squad." Connor Jax said to "Six" before he and the rest of his squad left the briefing room. They reached the hangar, the maintence crews refueling, rearming, and repairing their mechs, the rest of the mechs that were not being loaded onto one of the Ticonderoga-Class Frigates in preparation for the upcoming invasion of Alphis having been redeployed inland. "You should be good to go in five minutes, not counting the mandatory one hour Pre-Flight Check." One of the maintence workers said to "Vegas" as the pilots began getting back in their mechs. "I know. I was the one who recommended that policy after the Hojo Offensive at Six's request. Too many casualties caused by technical difficulties that could have been fixed prior to deployment if the pilots were more diligent." "Vegas" said to the maintence worker as the last missile was loaded and the fuel lines were removed. "Legs. Check. Arms. Check. Lights. Check. Targeting systems. Check. Reactor integrity. Check. All clear." "Vegas said to the maintence worker before Elvis was loaded onto the frigate, the rest of his squad following suite

[Xichung]

six

He had the hologram of him standing in the hanger “one lid for a thousand, that is a minor scraping, we loose mech each day along with their pilots” the decoy dispersed as the real one was dismantling a mech on the planet “the facility is almost under our control” a mech large mech with what appears to be a machete coming out the facility it’s speakers turning on “you must be six, my boss will pay me nicely if I take you out” the mans mech is covered in heavy armor plating, its only weakness is the joint. Six laughed and bowed “your first attack will be your last”

[Flarbinia]

"If he wasn't so high up in the chain of command, I'd splatter his brains all over the goddamn wall." Connor Jax said in anger. "You are not alone, Connor. Captain Ahab is a very unpopular commander. There are plenty pilots who wouldn't hesitate to frag him at the first opportunity." "Vegas" said to Connor Jax, Connor Jax surprised by the response. "Don't worry. This is a scrambled frequency. An old one, but it is enough to guarantee privacy." "Vegas" said to Connor Jax. "I know that your call sign is the name of an ancient city associated with gambling, but the unauthorized use of scrambled frequencies will get us two weeks in an interrogation room and six months in solitary confinement, Mitch." Connor Jax said to "Vegas". "Only if we get caught. The rest of the squad hate Six as much as you do, but we will need to work with him until the 52nd Cao Cao is transferred to Jade Turtle Fleet. After that, he won't be barking orders to us anymore." Mitch said to Connor Jax before ending the transmission. A new transmission came over the comms, this time from Major Yuan Lao, the supreme commander of the Cao Cao armored divisions assigned to Angel Fleet. "We shall be leaving in an hour. Have you been briefed?" Colonel Yuan Lao asked Rebel Yell Squad. "Other than a death threat and brushing Kong's death aside as a minor scrape, all Six said to us was that we were supposed to attack Alphius." Connor Jax said to Yuan Lao, the Major's face turning red with rage. "I will give that piece of mercenary garbage a stern talking to once Alphius is taken. You may be wondering why we are attacking a manufacturing world instead of a fortress moon or agricultural world. There are two reasons. The first is that its orbital shipyards are manufacturing Oceanus-Class Carriers for the RCMC. If we take those shipyards, we will not only reduce the number of carriers the Corpsmen can utilize against us, but we will finally be able to replace the Ticonderoga-Class Frigates. The second reason is that security in the Aristotle System has increased tenfold in response to our victories on Hojo, Cyprus, Sequoyah Station, and the Moons of Sydney. The automated defenses will tear any invasion force we send to shreds unless we have the correct clearance codes. Intelligence has discovered that the databases that contain the codes are located on three planets: Wallachia, Cicero, and Alphius. Cicero and Wallachia are located too far behind enemy lines for an attack to be feasibly possible, so Alphius is our best bet for getting the codes. The fleets and regiments assigned to this assault will be divided into three battlegroups: Alpha, Beta, and Delta. The 52nd Cao Cao is a part of Delta, so you will be participating in the invasion." Major Yuan Lao said to Connor Jax before ending the transmission.

[Spindle]

Julia Lionhardt
Launch Tube
SLS Duty's Fist

The kick of acceleration hit Julia as Nightswan shot out of her parent ship and into the endless void swallowing it up entirely. It always took her a moment to adjust to that, to the sudden weightlessness which gripped her and told her that she was falling in no direction. There was a slight thrill to that moment, before her mind disciplined itself and she was merely floating, travelling through an endless sea of stars at the controls of one of the most destructive pieces of hardware ever created.

"Nightswan, away." She reported, dragging her mind away from her surroundings, "Taking up position now."

She activated her suit's thrusters, felt another kick of acceleration as she swerved away from the flight path the other mechs would be taking. A quick rotation and they were now "above" her, the Duty's Fist suspended at a jaunty angle to her left while the other ship - the Destiny's Bride? - was practically upside-down to her right. Two quick bursts shed her velocity and spin relative to those two markers and she glanced around. There wasn't anything on her passives just yet. With the reassuring buzz of her comms, she relaxed a little in her seat and drank in the sights before her.

[Xichung]

The captain of the Destiny’s bride

He exited into space, his mech covered in white and red, Octavia was its name. It was an interceptor mech that was highly flexible to any and almost all scenarios. Equipped with thrusters that kept it moving at high speeds almost all the time and an almost endless supply of electric smoke grenades, the mech could head into a zone with nothing more than a knife due to its cloaking system, An almost perfect assassin. The captain contacted Julia “good evening madam Julia, for this dance I shall be your partner and we shall dance the magnificent dance of death” he gave a light laugh as his mech floated to the nightswan “now then let us return to the transport while my lovely co-pilot take over my ship, then we can truly dance” he was smirking trying to seem innocent, but the scar along his face made him seem otherwise

[Spindle]

Julia Lionhardt
Void
Oranda

Julia saw the flicker in her R-HUD and shifted her attention to the communications window opening in her periphery. For a moment it was simply blank space, then a face appeared and she saw an ident-tag appear just below the window. Octavia. It seemed an...appropriate name for his suit. Glancing away from the video window for a moment she checked her EMDAR - there was the barest flicker coming back from Octavia, and only a little more on passives. That was something she could work with.

"Of course, Sir." She nodded simply, "Synching propulsion cores now. Bring us in."

[Xichung]

“Oh yeah I almost forgot, madam Julia, I’m Nicola” his mech flying past in a matter of seconds, soon entering the transport vessel, the captain of her vessel calling her “return to ship, orbital drop is about to begin”

[Flarbinia]

The ships that were assigned to attack Alphius prepared to jump to warp, ships being magnetically sealed, hangar doors closing, the mechs assigned to the ground assault being sealed in metal egg shaped pods and placed in launch tubes, the crews turning the dial on their gravity boots to maximum, all target practice being cancelled, all unnecessary weight being jettisoned into space. "I don't understand why we don't use teleporters? Have they not been invented yet?" "Pigsy" asked the rest of his squad, his squad mates simply laughing at him. "Qing, teleporters are a hackney plot device used in science fiction to save time and special effects budget or simply for the sake of rule of cool. It is simply too dangerous to be used in real life, even if it doesn't cause an existential crisis in morons who don't seem to realize that you can't copy a person's mind and/or soul." "Vegas" said to "Pigsy" before ending the transmission.

[Xichung]

one of the robots got on coms. its name was Eva-05 "please keep radio chatter to a minimum" she was the pilot of a mech to take kongs place "i am sorry to hear about your friend's death, may we kill some corp in his name" she was one of few self aware machines, let alone one allowed to pilot a mech. She pilots a mech named riptide, a heavyweight artillary mech design for recon and assault operations. The cockpit is specially designed for her so that she essentially transfer her mind to the mech.

[Flarbinia]

"They made an android a pilot?" "Tenochtitlan" asked in confusion, having noticed that the voice that came over the comes was robotic. "An Eve Series A Model, to be precise. They were librarians until the RCMC began burning any books they could not edit. They are said to have enough processing power to win seven out of ten chess matches against three time champions." "Pigsy" said to the rest of his squad. "Your generous offer is acceptable and you will have plenty of opportunities to honor the dead with Corpsmen blood, but here is your first, last, and only warning: use any member of my squad as pawns, myself included, and you will find yourself reactivating in a trash compactor. Is that understood?" "Vegas" said to the android. "You will need a call sign. Check should suffice for now." Connor Jax said to the android, Stark simply listening to the conversation.

[Xichung]

“Check is an acceptable call sign, thank you, but don’t worry Jax I’ll treat you all as if you were kings” she checked her systems “all systems are clear and ready to go, jax I’m going to ask you favor” she began connecting her body to the mech “please don’t threaten me, that would increase our survival chances greatly”