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Starship Kaiyō

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RP: YSS Kaiyō Mission 35: Kishi Kaisei

"Affirmative!" Sif said in response to her orders to hold enemy attention. And what better way to keep attention on her than to rampage through the ranks as they filed out of the base? It seemed as if the strike was going to be pushed back, and that thought gave Sif the cue to lift some restraint and charge straight into the enemy formation.

To Asuka, she said, "I'll engage the front liners in melee. I leave the outliers and stragglers to you." For the most part, if Sif kept herself fairly close and surrounded, the NMX Nekos would at least be hesitant to spray into their own crowd while she had free reign for a good few seconds to take a few out of fighting capacity. Tactically, not the most solid plan, but she had a Mindy, and she had worked with weaponry that was standard for the NMX grunts. She knew she could take a few good hits before she herself would be put out of commission.

Taking full advantage of the Mindy's speed, Sif threw herself at the enemy shield-first, got up close and personal in an attempt to get the NMX to panic. Her spear was unpowered this time, using the flat of the blade and the blunt end of the shaft to strike at enemies more than its edge and tip, though when she had to use the latter two, she aimed for the arms, the shoulder at the highest. She didn't want to outright kill them, it was either to just knock them out or to stop them from being threats.

However seeing them all up close did stir something else in her core.

"It's just a sparring match..." She told herself. "Just sparring..."
 
Molli had to hand it to the Rikugals; they knew how to stay cool under pressure despite their inexperience. She supposed that after being buried under a building and battled a Nightmare, something as mundane as an NMX turret wasn't frightening in the least. Either way, the three women's combined arms made substantial progress in breaking down one of the turrets, and the order came in to repeat their calculated pincer strike on another. "Cream!" Whoever the hell 'Cream' was meant to be, Molli didn't know, nor did she particularly care, she just wanted one of the Rikugals to respond, "Ahm awn th'righ', y'take th'left!" Her aether wings ignited with life as she zigzagged through the woods, unleashing aetherfire on the turret that kept pace with the Mindy's increased speed and agile maneuvering.

It stood to reason that with the sounds of Sif rampaging through the base, the need for hiding her wings had long passed. A part of Molli dreaded the thought of leaving her right arm's wellbeing in the hands of a rookie, but it wasn't the Nepleslian's place to defy orders. She just had to do her job and trust in the Rikugal to watch her longtime partner's back. "Sif! Uehara! Wotcherselves!" she called out over comms, "Donnae be reckless!"
 
"Got it!" Asuka said to Sif, licking her metaphorical chops. Mop up duty wasn't the most glamorous, but she had to admit Sif probably was better equipped to front line than she herself was. Probably. After following hard on Molli's heels it took a bit of adjustment to switch to Sif, but one team, one fight, as they said. "No reckless here, promise!" and she meant it. These were seasoned vets she was working with, and more than anything she didn't want to screw up and leave them having to rescue her again.

Instead she held back, hopefully far enough from the NMX that she could go unnoticed by them thanks to the spear-wielding Mindy crashing through their ranks. Her eye stracked Sif closely, partly admiring the skill and technique, but mostly to make sure nobody decided to sneak an attack in on Sif's flanks or rear, ready to put her rifle to work on anyone who threatened her. As for her own flanks, she cast about for cover in the form of an undamaged tree, as she kept watch for any NMX who chose to flee the field. Taking out any who ran would be priority, but at the same time she wouldn't hesitate to lay down suppressive fire if things got too dicey.
 
"Hoshi has not modified our orders," Aiko said back to William, her voice cool and unperturbed by the other team's combat chatter. "Until we are requested then I am confident she and Boss can cover the others sufficiently. Our new recruits should see that my Kirie and your Cyclops cannot always assist with their fight, too."

The coastline sped beside William and the princess as they proceeded further, its natural sandstone cliff face held up by the forest's roots that crept down deep from above and held at bay the erosion that continued unabated on the grander cosmic timeline of this world. Planet Rabaal had seen the Mishhuvurthyar infest its crust twice now, leaving the noble Qaktoro and Tula of the Hidden Sun Clan little time to hunt and steward the jungles and shores here. With any luck, the vile invaders would be ousted in short order.

"There," Aiko told her Nepleslian counterpart. She highlighted something within her CIES' HUD and sent the data to William's suit, as well as up to the Kaiyō for further dissemination. "Take the first one out with me."

Up ahead, two great anti-starship artillery batteries were stirring in their emplacements. Sitting atop a pair of seaward-facing casemate bunkers, each gun lay on either side of a small cove that cut into the coastal cliffs and protected what could be used as a small harbor. The data Aiko could skim included heat signatures that stretched underwater and indicated some sort of machinery or installation beneath the gentle waves there. The guns, each around 10 meters long, had clearly been called out in response to the famous Fuji-class warship's surprise strike only a few minutes before, and neither were prepared to fire.

Aiko moved in directly, activating her Kirie's right forearm weapon as an energy blade, and immediately thrust it into the weapon's rising barrel. She began cutting through it, intending to slice it off near its base, and moved around its circumference whilst dragging her aether sword along.

"Disable it at the lug, Wil," the princess suggested, knowing that destroying an energy cannon's barrel wouldn't necessarily disable it. "Ensure it cannot be aimed skyward today."
 
"Copy that, lets go to work." William replied, launching himself towards the first cannon. Scanning the weapon he noted the spot that Aiko indicated. Flying in close, he slammed his pile bunker into the lug and fired. A loud KA-CHUNK boomed across the shoreline. The compressed Nerimium rod punching into the armor. Pulling out the rod, he fired into the new opening the pile bunker created.
 
"Aye Peaches" Miori said with a little grin. She could get used the callsigns if they let her drop some formality sooner than she had thought would happen. Miori activated her DAISY's thrusters, glad she hadn't taken them off yet. Otherwise she would not have been able to match the speed of Byrne-Hei's MINDY. Careful to conserve power, Miori would flicker the thrusters to keep a high speed but also allow her to change directions quickly through the heavily wooded area. Thankfully the plasma bursts hadn't yet started any fires in the underbrush as far as she could tell at their quick clip. She repeated her zigzag motion she had used to approach the first turret keeping Byrne-Hei to her right and her shield towards the turrets location as she neared it.
 
Forest

There was a prowess to the way Molli and Miori got in close while shooting. The former’s was forged in the fires of her two years of combat experience while the latter had been born in this type of terrain and felt the currents the winds took and paths between trees like the back of her own hand. Both were able to strike in close and hard, taking minimal weapons fire as they did so.

With a wholly different approach, Hoshi took up the place where a scout had once been. Perched up high, she closed the large distance and locked in on the western turret with her sniper LATR. Preferring range, she was able to take out the turret and see Sif’s approach into the fray. The Neko’s shots into her NMX counterparts weren’t killing blows but were sparing shots with the intention of keeping the invaders alive. They were unable to shoot into Sif because of the specificity of Sif’s aim.

A lump formed in her throat as Hoshi realized she was without Aiko. She often leaned on the princess as the the voice of Yamatai. Surrendering to a Ketsurui seemed like a predetermined mandate. But Hoshi was less confident that capitulating to her would feel like such a natural conclusion to the enemy.

Regardless, she swallowed any speech she was readying when she noticed an Advanced Type slowly floating out of the bunker toting Impaler rifles and body armor. It was in fact on Sif’s flank and Hoshi marked it on HUD, but not faster than someone with eyes and gun trained on Sif’s flank like Asuka would note it.

“Things just got messier,” Hoshi spoke into comms. She shot into the armor with her heavy armor-piercing sabot, trying to create a place of fracture for the others to further break into. “I trust in you to take the Advanced type down from your positions.”

What she worried about was the NMX Neko they had pivoted to save laying down their lives for this Mishhuvurthyar. There were many such cases in the NMX’s storied histories.

Coastline

While Aiko had split open the barrel, splaying open the base with an unnatural ease, William took advantage of the opening in the massive turret she had created. Any wildlife still comfortably inhabiting the sandstone cliffs changed that quickly and disquietly when his pile bunker punched into the lug of the weapon. Inside, some unseen machinery began a small series of internal combustions, exploding out in a final plume.

The pair could easily account for the explosion and moved a reasonable distance away from it. Enough to see that the similar weapon on the other side of the cove sequestered into the cliffside was now fully erect, out of its mooring, and ready to shoot.
 
Forest

If there was anything that Molli could say about Miori, it was that she picked up on things pretty damn fast. Sure, it was a basic pincer maneuver, but the former Rikugun knew how to compliment Molli's speed and volley of fire without getting caught in it. The result was their target getting reduced to a pile of useless junk. That said, her cheeks were still flushing from Miori echoing Sif's completely made-up version of her callsign, which put a little too much emphasis on a saying that the rank and file on the ship coined about her: namely, that her only good side was her backside. "S'Momo," Molli snapped, not caring at all that she'd violated one of the core tenants of field command: don't contradict the commanding officer. "Ah'll forget y'said it cause y'were so...helpful," Miori could hear an indignant huff over comms.

Their reprieve from the turrets was brief; Sif and Asuka were still dealing with the brunt of the base's forces, and Hoshi had just pinged an even greater threat. "We're movin' t'assist!" Molli called out over comms, before flying over to the pinged target on her HUD. "Aim fer th'tentacles, don't let it grab ya!" The Nepleslian's chief worry was the crew escaping unscathed, so she had little qualms with gunning down any NMX that got in the way of that goal. Soaring above the base, she sighted the Advanced, and then swooped down like an eagle to make a pass at its tentacles with her sword at a velocity that could hopefully prevent it from getting a grip on her.
 
Forest

Miori suppressed a giggle at her comrade being a bit touchy over the new callsign. "Momo for me, Peaches for the Taisa, got it." She reflexively ribbed, momentarily forgetting the rank difference between herself and Byrne-Hei. "You can call me whatever sticks: Cream, Sugar, or even Later." Miori added excited to let out the punchline if Byrne-Hei asked the expected question. Though before that could happen, an advance-type appeared.

There was a split second where Miori's confidence wavered. Flashes of her previous encounter with one of these monsters flashing through her mind. For a split second Miori felt like she was being smothered again. Then the sight of Byrne-Hei's MINDY flashing by lightning fast broke Miori from her terror. She gritted her teeth and activated her thrusters, rapidly reforming up with her battle buddy. Using her shield to brace her rifle she laid down some covering fire as the two of them flew towards the target. Miori was smarter this time about keeping her distance from the thing, but was whole-heartedly prepared to draw her sword if need be.
 
Forest

"I'm not reckless, I got my shield," Sif responded to Molli in jest, though she would heed her friend's words of caution to the best of her ability. She knew this chaos wasn't going to be to her advantage for much longer as she thinned the herd. She could only be surround for so long before the enemy spread out too far to take advantage of. As the distance between her enemies lengthened, the more she had to rely on the thrust of her Mindy to engage the next closest Neko, incorporating more grabs and grapples to her attacks as hitting them with the spear or the shield, even when actively trying to be non-lethal, could lead to more danger for those on the receiving end thanks to the built-up momentum.

Although the appearance of the Mishu complicated things. "Ahh, the Overseer shows itself," she said, eyes momentarily locked onto the floating lump of tentacles. Getting in close was not going to be a good idea, not when there were still so many Nekos out. The tip of Sif's spear lit up with Aether as she started to calculate how close she could get. Molli's reminder to mind the tentacles, refactored the initial distance. Those things can reach her before she could reach the Mishu, so she had to take those tentacles out first.

As Molli charged in, Sif adjusted her grip forward on the shaft as she too charged the Advanced Type, wanting to follow-up on Molli's charge by attacking the tentacles first, attempting to do an upwards cleave on the Mishu's tentacles on whichever side Molli wasn't attacking, before she'd take to the sky and toss the spear down at it from above. She had to do it fast, capitalize on Molli's charge to do as much damage as they could.
 
Forest

Asuka narrowed her eyes. "Working on it!" she snapped, even as her LASR was already barking, the rifle spewing short, aimed bursts. NMX prisoners would have to wait; Sif's safety was paramount. Her first couple shots were at the tentacles themselves, but quickly she caught on to Hoshi's intent. As an added bonus, trying to crack open the Advanced's armor gave her less chance of a very unfortunate friendly fire incident. That was already tricky enough, given how Sif was darting about, but she was fine erring on the side of caution and holding her fire if she had any doubt her shots would land on the proper target.

Still, that Mishu was much too close to her new comrade for her comfort, and she willed her shots to break through any weak points. Periodically her eyes cast about; it wouldn't do to get tunnel visioned, and who knew if the Mishu had helpers lurking about. To that end she angled slightly, to keep an eye on the bunker exit, and with her pulse energy weapon directed a bit of suppressive fire into it, just to discourage any NMX who might poke their heads out. In an ideal world she'd lob a few grenades down there too, but in an ideal world she wouldn't have to deal with another advanced so soon after the last one. Every millimeter of them was repugnant, and she couldn't help but look at one and wish for something big enough to vaporize the enemy.
 
Coastline

Once the first Mishhuvurthyar battery erupted, Aiko soon set her sights on the next as her Kirie escaped the first explosion's blooming flames and left them behind even as the fire did its best to cling on to the mini-mecha's wake. Although the orbital artillery pieces were slow-moving compared to point defense turrets or a soldier's aim, the surviving gun was nonetheless now in the process of pointing itself toward her and William.

Aiko was confident her Yamataian suit could dodge its trajectory, and knew the specs of her friend's Nepleslian Cyclops said it could as well. But she refused to leave it to chance.

First gaining altitude above the big enemy gun, the princess flew in a wide arc that brought her back down even as it continued to traverse on-target to follow William. Satisfied with her angle, she then sped her crimson Kirie back toward the emplacement and slammed shoulder-first into the tip of the cannon. All 36 Advanced Maneuvering Thrusters embedded into the Thought Armor flared up in unison when she made contact and allowed her to push the gun's barrel out of alignment so that it was leveled down and inland, ending up looking toward the little cove's interior bluff.

"We have it!" Aiko roared, her simulated voice strained as she pushed against the heavy machinery's resistance. Even though her body was safely cocooned, peacefully asleep in her armor's pilot pod, she nonetheless felt the Kirie's struggles as if they were her own. "Now!"
 
Coastline

Leaping backwards away from the explosion, he turned to face the next target. Only to find it was already prepared to fire. With a heavy blast of his jump jets, he propelled himself forward towards the next cannon.

As Aiko slammed into the cannon, throwing off its aim and yelled out her command, William roared, driving the tip of his pile bunker into the top of the armored gun house. It fired, driving the spike in through the top of the armor. Prying the pile bunker from the armor, he repeated what he did with the last cannon and began firing into the opening aiming to destroy the internals of the weapon.
 
Forest

It seemed only a few of them were focused on capturing NMX Nekovalkyrja alive and, because of that and the enemy's will to die, many were mowed by covering fire. Molli had learned from her past experiences and when getting in close, knew not to stay there. Anticipating the Mishhu's tentacled grip, she was able to duck and weave out of it after her flyby

“What’s Momo to a Nepleslian but a nice juicy peach?” Hoshi asked Molli. “Cream gets it." She was switching out her magazine as she watched Asuka's shots as she swapped from shooting tentacles to the armor with her LASR. It looked like Miori wasn't the only quick learner of the pair.

"If we had a low angle, we could shoot into the fleshy bits," Hoshi instructed the new infantry woman, Asuka. "As it is, good shooting!"

"Sif-san, can you kite the advan—cuugh!" Hoshi had stopped distinctly talking to grumble as another Mishhu mosied out of the entrance. It was bigger than the Advanced and Hoshi recognized it as an Enhanced.

"Rendezvous to Chusa Ketsurui's position via teleport!" Hoshi ordered. "Kaiyo, prepare to blast the coordinates marked earlier." She didn't need to look at her squad with their less than immaculate shields and the NMX Neko strewn about to know the bid to take prisoners was futile with one of the most resilient and combat effective Mishhuvurthyar types unhurriedly preparing to fight them.

Coastline

"We wasted time and energy fighting there only to fall back. There was an Enhanced, but it was still my mistake, team," Hoshi said somberly as a distant high-powered explosion could be heard. The Fuji-class gunship could be seen placidly above the forest having shot into the bunker where the team just was.

"What have we got here?" Hoshi asked Aiko and William after the last of the away team had teleported in near her XO. The steaming wrecks of the hulking anti-starship guns nearest them was easier to decipher than the further one on the other side of the paradisiacal cove. The Kaiyo ship would not have been able to come in close if not for the William and Aiko taking the large cannons out while the rest of the team fought in the forest. But Aiko's readings streaming into Hoshi's HUD told the captain the ship wouldn't be able to be of much use here. There was assuredly an installation under the waves of the cove.

Hoshi pointed them out, "We'll have to get underground ourselves and blow it from the inside unless we want the Kaiyō to create an aether hole in the Poku's lovely planet. Any ideas on getting in?"

Sitting atop a pair of seaward-facing casemate bunkers, each gun lay on either side of a small cove that cut into the coastal cliffs and protected what could be used as a small harbor. The data Aiko could skim included heat signatures that stretched underwater and indicated some sort of machinery or installation beneath the gentle waves there.
 
"Those batteries Wil and I destroyed just prior to your arrival ought to have some form of access into the complex below," Aiko surmised, standing in her red Kirie near the edge of the cliff. "Even if they were automated guns, there will be maintenance passageways around here someplace. Fighting will be tight, but most of you are well experienced in such confines. I imagine it will be like when we boarded the Ghullfrashirv."

Her Thought Armor's CIES — a beefed up escort warship version of the same Armor Integrated Electronics System that Mindy armors came equipped with — continued to stream data into Aiko's consciousness, connected to her mind via the Immersion System that made the little mecha's senses as good as her own. And that data continually fed to the others now that they had all grouped up again, their AIES' and William's Cyclops networked to her suit's powerful sensors.

"Other options," the princess added, highlighting for everyone readouts of the subterranean thermal signatures that lay beneath the cove and indicated where the base's corridors and chambers were. "We teleport in and use the spatial displacement's explosive flash to stun whoever is waiting for us. Such a path is dangerous, for we do not have any precise mapping of the Mishhuvurthyar facility, but it is perhaps the most exhilarating.

"Lastly, I believe we could breach through the seabed," Aiko continued. "Although it will be another aether hole, as Hoshi-taisa wants to avoid, the entryway will at least be underwater. This will flood out any enemy infantry and make their bunker a watery grave. I believe this would be the safest route for us, but will do us no favors when it comes to convincing the Nekovalkyrja under Mishhu control to surrender and join us."

Until then, Aiko had been faced away from the others while peering through the eyes of her Kirie to gaze down upon the natural harbor below. Now finished sharing, her armor’s head turned to look over its right shoulder and toward the team.

"If there is another possibility I have missed then explain it now," she told them. "Otherwise, the squad is prepared to continue on your order, Taisa."
 
Asuka perked at Hoshi's compliment; the rookie soldier hadn't thought her new CO would have even noticed her existence, let alone how well she may or may not have been doing. and her lips curled in a pleased smile. As it was, she wasn't sure she was having any effect at all, despite how therapeutic it was to pour fire into the enemy. Still, with enough of them whittling down at the Mishhu, surely they could take it down together.

Her head snapped up as Hoshi trailed off; her first thought was a surprise round of counterfire, but when she noticed what had drawn her attention, she froze for just a moment. Deep down she hadn't believed a teleport would really be necessary; Rikugun didn't win many battles by running away. On the other hand, she didn't like the look of the even bigger Mishhu at all; she knew damn well that she wasn't carrying enough firepower to do anything meaningful to it, and if it chose to notice her existence, she had a sinking dread there would be only one outcome.

So she fled.

Once in relative safety, she looked down at her feet, pensive as she did a quick check of her armor. Just because running away was the smart thing to do--and more importantly, what she'd been ordered to do--didn't make it sit any better with her. Consciously she tossed her head, shaking blonde hair to make herself focus and listen to Aiko's briefing. The options presented all had their flaws and advantages, and she was just as glad to let the officers sort things out and tell her what to aim at. Teleporting in and hitting fast and hard with explosives seemed most appealing if she had a vote, though. As the princess pointed out, it would be going in blind, but at least they would have the advantage of the initiative, and surely they could follow up the flash with a bit of bang to shock any NMX into submission, or at least confusion. She bit her lower lip and gave her rifle another impulsive check; whatever option was chosen, she was sure it would be getting a lot of use.

"Wish we had enough people to do all three," she muttered to herself.
 
Forest

At speeds that shot the needle well-past safety, Molli roared past the Advanced, her glimmering blade a blur in the air that anticipated an interception -- and swiftly sliced the offending tentacle in twain for its owner's hubris and misguided belief that it could ever seize her. Not again. Never again. Just as she turned in midair, aether wings igniting the tree behind her with backblast, Hoshi gave the order to retreat, and Molli didn't have to search for long to see why. Without wasting another second, Molli primed her armor to teleport to Aiko's coordinates, and her explosive exit shattered the inflamed tree into thousands of burning, splintering shards that rained over the base.

Coastline

Molli kept an eye on the forest as she reloaded her weapons and took stock of her armor's system integrity. Hoshi and Aiko recalled the squad's mission, briefed them on possible areas of approach, and Molli felt something dangerous: an idea. In her years of service, she'd deliberately avoided trying to broach into the territory of smarter women with better plans than she could ever come up with, but one of Aiko's approaches inspired her to speak up. "Why not both?" she asked, looking between Aiko and Hoshi, "Y'think we ken set off some kinna charge...enough t'flood 'em, but...just a lil' bit," Molli barely touched her thumb and index finger, "Then, when they're investigatin' th'flood, teleport in...boom. Caught 'em wiv'er tentacles down." It sounded so simple, Molli actually felt foolish for bringing it up, but maybe they were on to something with their diversionary tactics from before.
 
Not quite used to commanding a team with Daisy armors that lacked teleportation modules, Hoshi nodded when Asuka arrived as if forcing herself not to dismiss the second mistake she had made in as many minutes.

"Sorry you had to hoof it here. My mind's elsewhere when it shouldn't be. Consider it unintended hazing." Hoshi apologized with a curt nod to Asuka, then Miori.

She had been listening to Aiko silently, puzzling over the options. But while the Rikugun engineer murmured and then Molli explored the same type of idea, she hummed as she thought, abuzz with a plan.

"We don't have enough people for all three, but those two we can do. It's a good way to avoid them armoring up before a fight and gives us a significant advantage," Hoshi said, patting the cybernetic arm attached to Molli's armor in a congratulatory manner. Her hand retracted and went to her chin as if in thought, though.

"I've read up that you're likely to have explosives on you, Uehara-hei? William and I will escort you down to the seabed of the cove and you can rig something underwater. That means the rest of you will need to stay concealed up here and teleport in en masse to my designated coordinates using the Kirie's heavy lift teleport.

"While up here, don't engage the enemy when they come to the cannons to minimize them sending their troops and resources to meet you. We need to assault as many of them on our own terms in the main bunker underwater. If that's all clear and I have read your dossier and assumed accurately, Uehara-hei, we'll move out and the rest of you will find cover now."
 
Forest - Moments earlier

Unable to match speeds with the clearly maxed out thrust of the MINDY, Miori followed up Byrne-Hei's sword slash with carefully aimed rifle fire. Attempting to confuse the monstrosity with the multiple attacks from different angles while still burning hard towards the target to use her own blade against it. The adrenaline of the high speed flight soaking her brain and filling her with a need to have a rematch. However, her Taisa's order to retreat came before she could get close enough. Biting back a small snarl she whipped herself around with a grace her mother would be proud of, maintaining her speed while changing her heading to the indicated position. Her retreat covered by the flash of her comrades teleports.

Coastline

Miori landed a few meters away as her thrusters ran out of energy. With a slight grimace she detached it and let it fall to the ground, marking its location in her digital memory for later retrieval. Thankfully she managed to reach the location in time to hear the brief. She had been thinking that a scouting mission before a teleport would be the best plan instead of blasting into the bunker with the heavy shipboard weapons. Before she could speak up, the others brought up their personal demolition devices. Which in Miori's opinion was the best of the given options. It seemed her Taisa agreed.

"Ma'am, Just a quick note, my thrusters ran out of fuel during my hard burn to get here. Had to drop them off. That also means I won't be able to maintain a proper formation should I be following a MINDY using their wings." Miori said a bit contritely. "Fortunately my camouflage system is fully operational however."
 
"Seems a little premature," Hoshi looked concerned as she spoke. "They should last a day or more. Well, don't let this be the reason you get creamed, Cream."

To Asuka, she said, "Switch to gravimetric engines, Uehara-hei. If your fieldmate's thrusters are any indication for your fuel levels, you should start conserving now."
 
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