Army of the Southern Cross

[Sherwood]

The Blue Bioroid accelerates up to try and rendezvous with the dropship that carried it down to the planet's surface, dodging as it goes. The enemy is maneuverable enough that it is able to evade Heinrich's shot as it flees.

If you don't take it out by the end of this action, it will be inside the dropship and out of the line of fire to be targeted.

AldarisLordOfLight is up next

Order of Initiative
22 - Heinrich [4] 0/20/0
17 - Adrian [5] <====
15 - Moira [4]
12 - Marcus [3]
11 - Blue 6 [4]
10 - Eric [4]
7 - Fia [3]

 

[AldarisLordOfLight]

"You are not getting away from me. After pulling something like this, you're not leaving here alive." Adrian gravely as he took his aim with his cannon. He trained his eye towards the fleeing Bioroid and fired.

"Be true." He prayed...

 

[Sherwood]

The shot flies out, and catches the fleeing Bioroid square in the back causing a massive explosion, sending a spray of rubble and debris raining on the tarmac around you.

Moving out of combat time.

Across the base, the attacking Robotech Master forces have been beaten back or destroyed. Overall, there is little damage done to the base facilities, and only a few casualties on the allied side. Even the Hussars have taken only minor damage, with just one light hit to Hienirch's armor. Capt. Cullen pulls up in his hover tank. "Excellent work, Hussars! What is your status?"

 

[Silanon]

"Looking good, at least for now - only the sarge took a little scratch. As far as I'm aware, we're ready to go whenever and wherever our guns are needed; just let us know." She pauses for a moment, then her curiosity takes over. "I didn't misperceive that we fired the first shots, right? Orders, or personal stupidity? Not that it matters in the end, but the world should know - and now is as good of a time to ask as later."

 

[AldarisLordOfLight]

His gripped the controls of his Chimera tightly. A sigh of relief can be heard before he relaxed ever so slightly. "Thank the gods for steady hands and luck." Adrian said as he took a couple of deep breaths.

Hearing the Capt. Cullen and Fia over comms, Adrian replied, "Hostiles eliminated. Minimal damage sustained. No Casualties. I have to agree with my teammate on this one, sir. Did they fire first or did someone lost the plot and buggered us all?"

 

[Orikanyo]

"As the drop pods were coming in there was a signal on the command circuit telling us to engage, missiles and AA fire seemed to be the first to strike the targets... I cannot be certain where or why that command came through. Once shit hit the fan they swarmed like a hive of angry bees." Heinrich remembered the moment and felt to small scar upon his chest armor. "barely a scratch from the hover sleds, they fired some sort of discuss. Atleast we know our armor is more than enough to take it."

"...Where in hell did that command come from?"

 

[Sherwood]

Capt. Cullen lets out a relieved sigh. "From what I saw from my position, it looked like it was a missile battery that launched prematurely, and that set off everything else. I'm just glad that it was a missile system of some kind. That absolutely rules out any of our mecha as having made the first shot against orders. I hazard a guess that the CO of the launching unit will be transferred to the artic research station to count polar bears or something equally miserable."

As he talks, a second hover tank comes up, this one with Lt. Zyonra in it. "Sir, I can say with confidence that it wouldn't have mattered if we fired first or not; the Robotech Masters are not here to play nice with us. We would have been trading blows with them sooner or later. The only thing that would have been different if they did fire first is the PR angle of Earth being hit with another unprovoked attack. In my opinion, its best that we start this fight off on the right foot."

The Captain doesn't seem convinced, but he lets it go. "In any case, High Command will want to have a look at your gun camera footage, not only to rule you out as the ones that fired the first shot, but also to get some intel on the capabilities of these Bioroids and their equipment. Get those recordings uploaded ASAP."

 

[Orikanyo]

"Understood Captain. We will upload all of our camera footage as soon as possible." Zyona was quite the martial type of person, and had strong feelings towards the robotech master, but considering her people's history with them, it was understandable. he wondered what everyone was doing, scrambling around to find out why they were here, perhaps the High Lord Serena knew something? They had only quelled that threat a few weeks ago...

"It was a terrible move... To walk so easily into hostile territory without so much as a communication before hand... What purpose were they here for? And why did they make such a mistake? We weren't exactly hiding in wait for an ambush." the lieutenant rattled off some questions bothering him. "Even if they were brazen enough to try and attack without a word... Something seems off."

 

[Silanon]

"They might just have thrown these first ships at us to see how we react - test out our defenses before actually trying to overcome them. I'm pretty sure we mobilised everything we had to offer; maybe that's what they wanted." Fia looks up to the sky. "In that case, they'd better have more to offer than just those few suits, and I'd prefer to not see what exactly that is." She turns towards Zyona, hoping for a better explanation. "Do they always fight like this? You know them better than we do, lieutenant - are they fools, or masterminds?"

 

[Sherwood]

Zyorna lets out a bark of laughter. "They are arrogant, pompous bastards that feel that the whole galaxy is a plaything for them and that all other races are their inferiors that deserve to be under their direct control. But that being said, they are far from stupid. I think that they were just doing some light probing of our defenses. If this were a full out attack, I don't know how well the new ASC would be able to hold up against it with so much of Earth's firepower gone offworld. We need to be ready for their next move."

 

[Orikanyo]

"then we should make due with what we can... they were so kind to give us their tech to take a look at, figuring out what makes them tick and what we can salavage for our own means may work in our favor... If theres anything we've become good at, it's reverse engineering." he examined the wreckages before them. "i would also like to see the face of these Robotech master, unless these are unmanned drones."

 

[AldarisLordOfLight]

"Know the enemy, eh? Good plan." Adrian nodded as he observed the wreckage around them. "If this is a light poke at our defenses, then we might be entering a storm soon. Even if this is just a taste of what is to come, we'll fight back with all we have. Victory or death, after all. Victory or death. Focus on the victory part and not death, eh?"

 

[Psychie]

Moira nods in agreement. "Never underestimate your enemy. The Zentraedi did that with humanity, and look at how that turned out. In any case, lets see if there is anything salvageable out there for the R & D guys to poke around in. Lets get as much info on the Masters that we can." With that, she transforms her tank into Battloid mode and moves out on the hunt for the least damaged Bioroid to bring in.

 

[Silanon]

Some light probing. Even with how well the first encounter went, that sentence alone is warning enough. If they can simply throw away these to test our defenses, how many more of them are up there, waiting for their orders? Following the example of the others, Fia does her best to get as many detailed shots as possible - if this is going to be the confrontation everyone expects right now, she'll better make sure that command gets the best material possible to work with. "Feels weird - not only the whole situation, but to stand here and look at the first things we'll ever get to see from them. Makes me wonder what they're looking at right now - probably these mechanical beauties, right?" She thrums on the panel in front of her as she positions herself to get a better picture of what seems to have been the red-painted attacker.

 

[Sherwood]

Under the watchful eye of the hover tanks, several mecha recovery units come rolling out and start to gather up the remains of the Bioroids for analysis. From the reports you are hearing, Monument City was not the only target for the probing attacks. Brazilia Base was hit, along with a base in Japan. Casualties were light, with only a few losses on the allied side. The biggest issue was the level of property damage done in the defense of the various bases, but even that wasn't very much when you consider the level of harm that Mega Damage weapons can do.

Once the rubble of the enemy mecha has been gathered up, the team's computer tapes are downloaded for the R and D teams to look over in an attempt to measure out the capabilities of the enemy. According to the analysis of the tapes and the overall effectiveness of your weapons, some numbers can be determined. The Blue Bioroids possess very light armor, having around 100-150 MDC on the main body of the mecha, making it susceptible to a one shot-one kill hit from the hover tank's particle cannon. The Green Bioroids have heavier armor, somewhere in the neighborhood of 160-200 MDC points on the body. Surprisingly enough, the Red Bioroids seem to have less shielding on their torso than the Green ones, with a rating of 140-160 MDC. What they lack in armor is made up by their excellent maneuverability, though, so they should not be underestimated.

From both looking over the gun camera tapes and the examination of the rubble, it would appear that the Bioroids do not have any internal weapons, but instead depend upon a hand-held gun pods and the weapons built into the hover sleds. The Blues were all armed with a weapon pod that does damage on the order of 1d6x10 per burst, with the Greens and Reds using a gun pod that has a bit more punch doing 2d4x10 per burst. The range on these weapons are in the 1,800 to 2,000 foot area, making the hover tank able to engage at a much longer range, an important fact to keep in mind for future engagements.

There are several accounts of the hover sleds piloting themselves once the Bioroid pilot has either jumped down or was blown off by weapon fire, the exact control method is as yet unknown.

No prisoners were taken, but there are many bodies recovered from the mecha. Autopsy results indicate that the pilots are humanoids, similar to a micronized Zentraedi warrior. Reports from the allied Zentraedi all say that the citizens of Tyrol are all clones of one another, usually in sets of three. These clones are all very human in appearance, and other than a wide range of skin and hair color, the pilots of the Bioroids could pass for human. This is a very disturbing fact for the GMP to be dealing with, and the order goes out that all military personnel are to make sure that they always carry their identification on them and be ready to offer up their papers for scrutiny at any time. Security is tightened up across the board, with many checkpoints and foot patrols being set up.

 

[Orikanyo]

"Clones... Sets of three." heinrich poured over the reports like a dog chewing on a new bone. he remembered reading the in depth look at the Zentraedi when he finally got his hands on it, how similar they were, but still quite different, was extraordinary. He remembered how intimidating the High Lord was, he wondered how much worse she could be if he WASN'T in armor... Well,in truth even when turned into a smaller body they still cut an impressive strength, hell some still looked massive in compairison.

But yet here the Zentraedi were now, fighting alongside humans.

Perhaps, he wondered, that if they won this war the survivors of the Robotech masters would join them as well?

They';d have to win this war first... And see what kind of hellish dogs they still haven't unleashed upon Earth. The other bases were holding up for now, and his theory on possibly no true communication had been establish had been, regrettably, pushed to the side for more plans on how to defend against this incursion.

"So very similar to humans... Colorful, if anything. guess we're going to have to keep close watch on those around us." He continued to eye the document again, disgesting the material for the fifth time.

 

[Silanon]

"Kind of funny how we imagined alien life to look like for all those years - and now, they all turn out to be so damn similar that we need our ID cards to tell the difference." Fia did what one might expect - scanning through the new information, digging for any little information that'd either be able to save her squad's lives - or at least make up for a decent article later on, when this threat was dealt with. Not too many things caught her attention; lots of numbers that didn't mean a whole lot to most people, herself included - she was no scientist, after all - but it certainly was more detailed than expected.

 

[Psychie]

Moira laughs. "You need to see some of the races that the Zentraedi conquered in the name of the Robotech Masters. There are a few out there that look pretty different than a human, Zentraedi, or even a Tyrolian clone. But I can understand your thoughts. It is frustrating to be faced with an enemy that can infiltrate our lines so easily. At least when we fought the Invid, we knew how to spot the enemy. We'll just have to get used to having our Id's on hand at all times."

 

[Sherwood]

Over the next several days, General Anatole Leonard, the founder and leader of the Army of the Southern Cross, makes several speeches extolling the Earth defenders to stand strong in the face of the current wave of alien invaders. For all of his arrogance, he is a very dynamic and charismatic speaker, and after hearing his words, there is a newly found wave of confidence to be seen from the troopers in Monument City, and the base defenders are ready to face off against the expected waves of enemy attacks with weapons in hand.

Three days after the initial attack, the ASC launches a probing counter attack against the fleet group that has positioned itself over the North American sector, trying to get a feel for the defenses of the Robotech Master ships. This light strike is repulsed by the Bioroid defenders before the attackers ever get close enough to the new alien ships to gage their abilities. In response, the invaders fired off a counter strike of their own that was much larger and more aggressive than the first light strike you helped to repulse with a mixed force of Bioroids and Zentraedi Battle Pods. This attack caused quite a bit of property damage in the outer sections of the capitol, but thanks to the well drilled population responding quickly to the air raid sirens and the quick response of the Civil Defense Unit, civilian casualties were very light.

A much larger counter attack against the Robotech Masters is now being planned, this one is much larger than the initial strike. This attack is also going to involve the use of ground units, including the Winged Hussars and the other squads of the 15th TAC. In order to be able to function in space, your tanks are being equipped with a Orbital Maneuvering System that is basically a backpack that goes on the mecha in its Battloid mode to give you space propulsion. While wearing the OMS pack, you will not be able to transform your tanks in to your other modes, leaving you to rely upon the EU-11 gun pod. The big guns can be fired in Battloid mode, but you do not get your usual bonuses. It is just not as accurate in that mode.

The OMS has enough onboard fuel to give you eight hours of combat flight at speeds of 220 mph, with a one time booster that can accelerate you up to Mach 2.1 for up to fifteen minutes. After that, they are automatically jettisoned to save on weight.

 

[AldarisLordOfLight]

"It's just like we're fighting a hornet's nest with them. We take a small poke and they'll send in a swarm. I'm bloody grateful that there were little casualties on our side." Adrian a sigh of relief when the lull in the battle at hand greeted them for the day.

"This really feels like a one-way trip with those things," Adrian said with trepidation as he pointed towards the mechs with the OMS being installed, "and with only our Gun Pods to keep our foes back? It's gonna be one bloody fight."

He turns to the team and asked, "So how are we doing this? Enter through the hangar bay after punching through the defense net or we'll make our own entrances around the target?"

 

[Orikanyo]

Heinrich read over the missions details even as the Captain had given them, effectively they were making pigs fly with the OMS system, not only that the system prevented them from using their main cannon with the accuracy they were used to. Not to mention the cramped corridors.. or.. so he thinks, would cause quite a problem in regards to usual maneuverability, though utilizing cover would be best naturally.

"Are there any specific targets we are to hit when we get inside? Any specifics?"

 

[Sherwood]

Capt. Cullen consults a datapad before answering. "It would appear that our target will be one of the Zentraedi warships in the battle group over Monument City. There is a single Nupetiet-Vergnitzs class vessel up there, better known as a Zentraedi flagship. There are several reasons that we are targeting this particular vessel. We know what it is capable of, and also have a general layout of the interior to stage a raid. Taking this one out of the fight will be a significant blow to the enemy, along with sending a message that we are more than capable of bringing the fight to the Robotech Masters. There are a variety of weapons that we are being loaded up with, including a nasty computer virus that we can upload into the operating system if we have the chance to do so. With our main guns, we'll target the engine room and the bridge in a rapid raid, planning on doing as much damage as possible before bugging out. Just remember, I want us all to come back from this mission with a zero casualty count."

As he talks, you can see the tanks being loaded into a series of assault shuttles for the ride up into orbit.

 

[Orikanyo]

"A computer virus, heh, we're making this an attack to remember." the man took a look over his files on the zentraedi flag ship. "I wonder if we could break the shackles of the people they have enslaved with this war, surely there is some way to reach out once we establish our strength.

These Robotech masters came to our door step, barged in and now try to take our home? Let's show me how we deal with rude guests eh? Hussars! It's time we meet our new enemy properly!

Let's make some history!"

 

[Psychie]

Moira nods, a wicked grin on her face. "Just remember, these Zentraedi haven't been exposed to Earth culture, so they should respond to human music and images of intimacy with shock and repulsion. I say we blast some heavy metal out of our mecha's external speakers as we engage. Distract the crew and if we manage to slow them down even a little, hell, I'll take that edge and any other we can come up with! Lets rock!"

 

[AldarisLordOfLight]

"Shock and awe? Brilliant as always, War Girl!" Adrian said with a hearty laugh. "That will surely loosen the pressure we might face as the operation begins, maybe get a few surprise shots against the defenders too with this. Right, let's load up as much speakers our machines can carry and win this day!"