< @WanderingJester > Thankfully, Kelley's reconnaissance corroborated what the Trooper's radar said, Immediate area was clear. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dunni Hushion was panicked. The mission was down to hell, most of his teammates were out of action... This was not looking good. He soon arrived at the impromptu defensive line, and called to all the troopers: "I have a priority one order from Rider Kelley. If there are any technomancers in this unit, I need you to come with me now!" "Apologies, Rider Hushion, but..." The leader began to say "I, ah... I am a technomancer... I can help" Said one timid girl, her Rifleman Mecha coming out from the group. "Right, come with me! Hurry! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Kelley! I have one! Sending her to your position!" The Rookie flew to his position. When she saw him, however, she raised her rifle "Wh-wh-who are you? D-don't move, or I'll shoot!" This was bound to happen given the Mecha that Kelley was in. [Go ahead and emote as much as you want, Ending with the re-targeting of the guns. ]
The dual wielding riflemen scanned the area, with Kelley's observant eyes. His rifle pointed from his mecha's left arm while he held the sword at ready in the right. Just then a rifleman mecha from the UTC line flew over to Kelley's position. Kelley had expected a counter attack, so he almost blew the mecha's head clean off with the rifle. However this one was of the UTC colors, but had its weapons up and armed. The pilot's face flickered onto another screen. "Wh-wh-who are you? D-don't move, or I'll shoot!" Kelley maneuvered his mecha so that the weapons were pointed upward in a non-threatening way as his helmet slid back to reveal his face. The girl piloting the other mecha had pitch black hair while purple highlights along her long hair. Definitely not regulation length. "Easy there trooper, this is Rider Loren Kelley of Void Riptide. My FRAME is out of commission so I commandeered this mecha from the enemy. Are you the technomancer? What is your name?" In truth Kelley was just making small talk to relax the trooper. He could see the battle has strained her psyche greatly from how fast her eyes dart back and forth and the dilation of her pupils. It took a minute for his words to register, and another few minutes for the purple and black haired girl to calm down. When she did however, the pilot flushed to a crimson red. In truth she was one of the girls who had squealed at Kelley's performance in the simulator before the current mission. She stared down with her dark eyes, her face still red, and responded with a small voice. "I'm-I'm sorry sir. It's Williams. Private Michelle Williams." God he probably thinks she's an incompetent idiot! In reality however, Kelley didn't judge her incompetence or intelligence, or at least won't unless she fails at the task he's given her. However he did remember how Morain was treated in the past for being a technomancer and if Williams' squad didn't know about her abilities before, they certainly do now. He made a mental note to request a transfer for Williams to the weapons systems on Starrunner under Morain's command instead, but right now he replied over comms. "Well Private Williams, take a deep breath. That's an order." She does this, then he continued, "Now, I want you to hack into the surface to orbit guns over there and reprogram the targeting systems to aim at the enemy ships. I will guard you while you proceed with that task. Can you do that?" She nodded, gave a shaky salute then moved over to the controls for the guns. Kelley watched her work for a moment, then added as he turned back to guard the girl. "When you get back to the Starrunner, remind Veronica, my SOUL, to introduced you to someone." He closed the comms after, not wanting to distract the girl anymore as she worked. Pretty soon the surface to orbit weapons shifted their targets, and began firing on the enemy fleet in orbit with their salvos. Williams joined Kelley, who thanked her and ordered her to rejoin the group around Yalei and Kyras. She saluted, a bit more confident this time, and moved back to her group around the two wrecked FRAMEs, while Kelley stayed behind to defend the guns against any possible counter attacks.
Kyras blinked a couple times as his vision swam. "Im not dead yet, and somewhat combat capable. My everything hurts though. Still got my ROTC and tachyon arrow, so I'm not outta the fight yet" as he sent the reply, Seryu noticed his return to consciousness. She appeared directly in front of him, babbling apologies for not being strong enough. Her face was soaking wet, making it obvious she had been crying. It was at this point Kyras really wished she had a body. This situation required hugs, but they can't be given to a program. Standing up, he turned to quickly look around, then check on Yalei
< ORBIT TEAM > The troopers cheered as salvos of fire destroyed all Corvettes and Frigates. This advantage was to be short-lived, however as the Destroyer contemptuously fired a shell directly at the Gun emplacements, blowing them off the planet. The pace of battle had shifted; How the next attack went would define the outcome of this mission. Victory or Retreat was a tightrope, and the StarRunner was about to fall on one side or the other. < PLANET TEAM > < @WanderingJester > Kelley was blown back as an orbital strike destroyed the Guns after a mere 10 minutes of activity. It seemed that the Splinter did not care about the Colony anymore. The Trooper Mecha encasing Kelley slammed against a wall, disabling it but protecting Kelley, landing near enough to Void Riptide. If/when Kelley re-entered his FRAME, he would notice a message incoming from Kyras : "Im not dead yet, and somewhat combat capable. My everything hurts though. Still got my ROTC and tachyon arrow, so I'm not outta the fight yet" "Kelley, do we have an all-clear? Are you ready for a recovery team? " Called Lieutenant Moren. < @Xanxas > Kyras found himself in a courtyard surrounded by friendlies, Yalei next to him but still out. Kelley was not Nearby, and Neither Was Dunni.
It took a few tries, but Kelley finally kicked the pilot's cockpit doors open, getting the mecha to release him back out into the open. He looked at where the surface to orbit guns used to be, only to see a massive crater where they had situated. The rider shook off the stray wires the fell on him from inside the cockpit, and hopped down from the doors to a leg of the mecha, and then to the ground beneath. He saw Void Riptide still pinned beneath the building and headed over. He climbed back into the rider's chamber inside the FRAME. Veronica had kept the lights on, though when she appeared on screen her face had tears on them, as though she had been crying. But a small smile came to her face when she saw Kelley. Instead of walking to the rider's position in the middle, he moved his way around the fallen connector arms around the chamber to a single screen. Kelley began tapping through it, looking at the damage assessment on the FRAME and other data about the battle. He saw a message from Kyras. "I'm not dead yet, and somewhat combat capable. My everything hurts though. Still got my ROTC and tachyon arrow, so I'm not outta the fight yet." Kelley then typed out another message towards him (@Xanxas ). "Then help the troopers form a perimeter around the courtyard and await the evac team." Just then a comms window opened, and Lieutenant Moren's face appeared. "Kelley, do we have an all-clear? Are you ready for a recovery team?" Kelley sighed. "All known planetary hostiles pacified. Unless that battleship in orbit give you problems, I would say we are all clear Lieutenant."
"Mkay bossman" he replied. He walked over to the other troops only stopping for a second to give a concerned glance at Yalei, and prepared to defend if necessary. Now came the waiting, his least favorite part of anything.
< PLANET TEAM > Coming down from Orbit within 30 minutes was a team of Rescue FRAMEs, Non-combat FRAMEs with servo-enhanced arms designed to lift greater loads than the strongest standard FRAME. They were escorted by a small team of Troopers < @Xanxas > One came down to pick up Yalei, looking to Kyras he said "Mind giving us some cover? He asked, waiting for the troopers and Kelley to lift off before going. < @WanderingJester > One Rescue FRAME lifted the wreckage off Kelley. "Can you walk?" If Kelley could not move, he would be carried back to the StarRunner. [Okay guys, you two will be doing some post-battle interactions, but not downtime. You are welcome to lend help on the ship where needed, visit Yalei in medical, stuff like that. Kelley could introduce Williams to Morain, etc. Battle is not over, but you will not be piloting your FRAMEs anymore.]
"No problem" he replied. "I'm not in optimal condition, but I'll do my best!" He prepped for the return, and would move and cover the others as soon as they were ready.
OOC: Going to assume you meant Void Riptide. Kelley's not pinned nor connected to the Riptide at the moment. As the weight was lifted off Void Riptide, a head popped into its tider's chamber in the torso. One of the rescue crew looked around, with a headlight on his helmet, scanning the room. Upon seeing Kelley tapping away at one of the screens on a wall console, a voice spoke up. "Can you walk?" Kelley plugged a connector to an outlet on the wall, and waited for Veronica to transfer to his rider armor. Once that was done, he disconnected and turned to face the rescue crew inside his FRAME. "I am fine. Let us return to the carrier." With that the rescue crew member turned around and left the interior of the Riptide, with Kelley following him. Outside was a buzz of activity, with rescue crew and their equipment running around and doing a million things at once. Kelley looked back and saw two Rescue FRAMEs each lifting an arm of the Riptide over their shoulders and lifting off, along with several troopers with them, forming a guard formation against any possible enemies around. Some troopers remained though, probably to guard the remaining ground grew and the rescue shuttle that awaited Kelley in front of him. Over in a distance he could see a similar scene to him at the building complex where the rest of his team had fortified. Supernova had already flown into the air with several escorts next to it. Void Riptide's rider and SOUL walked forward, though at the moment Veronica was strangely quiet, perhaps reflecting on what just happened. Kelley stepped into the shuttle and saw an array of medical equipment from basic first aid to an operating room that was prepped and ready. He waved off one of the medical personnel aiming to fix his shoulder wounds and leg wounds. The helmet of his armor folded back, revealing his head. Kelley then grabbed a nearby digi-pad dropped by one of the shuttle's member as the doors closed and the shuttle took off. "Veronica?" Her face appeared on the digi-pad as he logged out and entered his credentials. "Please introduce Private Michelle Williams to Miss Dereso." She nodded and disappeared, and Kelley began filling out the proper transfer forms for Michelle Williams to be switched under Morain Dereso's command.
< @Xanxas > As everyone lands in the hanger, Yalei is taken out of her FRAME, and Kyras can immediately see she's in bad shape. Her right arm is burned and scarred, Her face burning in fever. It seems the laser-blast had grazed her pilot's section. As she is ran by Kyras by the Medical staff, she looks at him with pleading eyes, tears welling up and streaming down her face. < @WanderingJester > As the shuttle landed, Kelley was approached by a Medical team as Veronica appeared before him, making a fuss about getting him checked out. Veronica took this opportunity to Lead Williams down to the bridge. As Veronica walked onto the bridge, she spotted Morain and Morain Spotted her. She smiled, but her hand stayed on her command console "Hello, Veronica. Who is this? What do you need?" Her voice was polite, but strained as she concentrated.
