Futuristic NCQuest: Mecha flavored action, Story

[Viper Actual]

As soon as her metallic feet hit the ground Peyton steered Mirage into cover. With eerie agility the mech grabbed hold of its sniper rifle and crouched down into cover behind a sand dune. Shortly after Alice's voice echoed over the comms; "Incoming communications from the Coast Guard, patching through now."

Jennifer listened silently to Commander Fischer and made sure to make mental notes on specific points of interests though if she knew Alice the handler was already writing everything up. Once the intel was complemented with sensory information and IFF-tags several rough plans were coming together in Peyton's mind- not to mention Alice's.
Glancing at Hardpoint briefly Peyton then began to study the surrounding environment. Lots of camouflage but not a lot of reliable cover. Had the operation been infantry-focused then the terrain would have been favored but at this size, range and caliber the plethora of trees-alien or not- would offer little in the way of ballistic protection.

"Understood commander," said Alice. "We'll deploy right away."

There was a pause. Alice was no doubt still thinking. "Mirage. Hardpoint. You heard the odds. It's not an optimal situation but at least we have some numbers to work with. I have a couple of ideas but I reckon I'd listen to what the two of you have to say first."

Jennifer cleared her throat. "I could use my ECM tools in a small-scale capacity. Disrupt singular targets, set them up and let Hazel clear the lane before they're back in action. Alternatively we could just harass the enemy and soften up their defenses and follow up with marking targets for the Coast Guard. Hazel?"

SkyHawk MK IV​

 

[AnonyMouse]

Episode 3Operation 2B: Perfect Water
This was different from the first mission. Definitely different. Instead of being loaded onto flatbeds, the NCs were taking to the skies. While her NC completed its boot-up procedure, Cammy could hear the sounds of thrusters above her as her comrades lifted off. As the industrial elevator carried Raijin to the surface, Cammy caught a final glimpse of Hardpoint and Mirage disappearing into the clouds, growing smaller with every passing second. Three stars in the distance suggested Emperor, Vanguard, and Whats-His-Face had already done the same. Three teams, each headed to their own corner of the world. The city was under siege. She already didn't like this...

What the hell are the Sons of Zeus really after? Which warzone is the true target?

"Doesn't matter," Camille said to herself as she floored the pedals. Raijin's jet turbines rose from a low, rhythmic purr to a dull roar and, at last, a mighty rumble as the afterburners engaged, violently punching the NC's mass into the sky. To conserve fuel, she quickly throttled down and let the built-in thrusters take over once her unit was airborne. The base's lights fell away behind her, forcing her to rely on the HUD to navigate the dark night sky. She fell into formation with Samaritan, slightly behind and below him, following the waypoints as Halliwell's face materialized on her viewscreen.

"Comm check," the woman said.

"Raijin, checking in," Camille replied. They both waited for Niko to do the same before proceeding.

"Welcome to Operation Perfect Water," Halliwell said. "I see you both have the coordinates I sent you. Good. Continue to follow them while I explain the mission parameters."

She appeared to be using a tactical headset with a camera. The image was mostly fixated on her face, but provided enough peripheral vision for Cammy to see Halliwell was moving around a darkened room as she spoke, illuminated by the dim glow of various maps, computer screens, and data logs. There were many other people there, seated at their personal terminals and occasionally speaking into headsets of her own, but the handler seemed to prefer to stand. Actually, it would be more accurate to say she preferred to roam, basking in the various streams of information flowing into the hub. It gave the impression she was the conductor and everyone else in the room merely a member of the orchestra. The conductor does not sit.

"As you already know, New Maryland's infrastructure is under attack. The hostage situation in the SuperFreight tunnel is merely the tip of a three-pronged attack and the situation is still developing. Currently, you are tasked with defending New Baltimore's inland water treatment facility. The engagement zone puts you far from any major residential areas, so there is minimal risk of civilian casualties... other than the plant's staff, of course," Halliwell said, with emphasis.

"Radar is spotty, due to the weather situation. Fog appears to be clearing, but don't count on full visibility, and expect lightning strikes if you chose to remain airborne -- that means you, Samaritan. A properly-maintained NC is shielded from electrical discharge, but it can catch a Linker off-guard in the heat of battle. Don't panic," Halliwell warned. Had this warning come from anyone else, Cammy might have thought it slightly condescending. But there was something in Halliwell's tone that made it seem as if she was merely trying to cover all bases.

An image appeared on Cammy's display: an aerial shot of the water treatment facility. The picture's clarity suggested it was taken before this week's inclement weather. The site itself was much more spread-out than Camille expected, with a large, windowless rectangular building, presumably housing the pumping equipment. There were enormous pipes everywhere, of various colors, all leading into or out of this structure. Another structure, nearly as large, but exposed to the elements, was a mixture of scaffolding, covered catwalks, chemical tanks, and machinery, and looked awfully similar to the oil refineries Cammy had seen out west, but much cleaner, and likely served a similar purpose. This was probably the purifier itself.

Most of the pipes exiting the purifier traveled to a series of large, cylindrical tanks -- nearly a dozen of them -- before then traveling to the pumping station, which then sent clean water back to the city. It was all arranged linearly. Cammy's mechanical intuition tried to read the flow and connect the dots. Dirty water comes from the city, passes through the pumping station to the holding tanks, to the purifier, back out of the purifier to clean holding tanks, and back through the pumping station to be sent to New Baltimore. If that's the case, the holding tanks are the least necessary component. They only exist to regulate flow between the other two stages. The facility can function without them, if absolutely necessary. They're also the least complex and cheapest to repair or replace.

Large reservoirs visible further out to the 'sides' of the facility, supported her theory. These were probably either sediment ponds for holding gray water, or emergency outflow if the holding tanks filled up. Cammy deduced the site's basic functions in about ten or fifteen seconds and became somewhat bored as Halliwell continued:

"Early reports suggest multiple airborne bogies, mostly composed of low-cost, delta-wing drones affiliated with the Reavers, a well-established group of Atlantic pirates. In the past, standard armament for drones of this type deployed by the Reavers have consisted of guns, rocket pods, and bombs. However, inclement weather makes their exact number and loadout difficult to ascertain. What is clear is that they are flanked by a larger aircraft, believed to be a bespoke manned gunship armed with long-range artillery and underwing weapon pods. It could potentially be controlling the drones, which are currently engaging the water treatme-"

"They're attacking now? Well, shit, why didn't you lead with that?" Camille said, throttling forward and accelerating Raijin, despite the darkness and continuing rainfall. She began to overtake Samaritan, but still didn't use her jet thrusters, which proved she wasn't completely impatient and still aware of the thin line between 'necessary haste' and 'unnecessary recklessness.' "Shouldn't the air base be dealing with this?" she commented.

"Damages to their facilities are hindering takeoff, but expect backup eventually," Halliwell said, far too calmly. "I will be in contact with them and keep you updated. Maintaining air superiority is your responsibility, until they arrive... if they arrive. Furthermore, the Reaver forces you will be facing have branched off from a larger landing force on New Maryland's coast, equipped with long-range artillery and cruise missiles. It is currently unknown why this group is cooperating with the Sons, but there's that. Hardpoint and Mirage are currently engaged there, so if a missile falls on your heads, you know who to blame."

"Ha fuckin' ha," Cammy said dryly. "Pey's got this. I ain't scared."

"Good. The gunship is yours, Raijin. You stand the best chance of penetrating its armor. Hunt it down, intercept, and terminate."

"Aye," Camille said.

"Samaritan, you're on drone duty," Halliwell said, sending them both some blueprints of past Reaver drone designs. Apparently, the pirate group had a habit of using these, but there was no way of knowing if this matched what they would encounter today. "They're small, agile, but predictable, as most drones are. Theoretically, your weapons should be effective against them if you pick your shots wisely. Their intakes are vulnerable and their lightweight design means the goo could throw them off balance or affect their flight surfaces. But the Reavers like to employ them in groups. Don't get swarmed, dear."

There goes that word again, Cammy thought, rolling her eyes.

"Any questions?" Halliwell concluded.

 

[Windsock]

Episode 3 Operation 2B: Perfect Water
Waypoint after waypoint broke way for the last team to launch, a flying duo that was reaching the area of operations with a rapidity unique to the pair. The two contrasting flight regimes, well-honed aerodynamic forces versus trusting thrust alone to hold one aloft was a sight for anybody who could pierce the fog and gawk at the two machines causing an ear-splitting ruckus that seemed to linger long after the culprits have already moved on. Further from the city, they eventually reached a spot only slightly inland, a spot where if the fog cleared the local capital itself could be seen as a distant spot of rising concrete peeking over the horizon.

Reaching their spot, the Raijin and Samaritan both could see through the local mists to recognize the facility from their in-situ briefing: the linear series of purifying equipment already host to small gouts of flame clinging to the building like parasites before being slowly extinguished by the particulars of the environment. Pinpricks of light shone through the fog like beacons, before withering away and leaving only slight imprints of flying lights that seemed to be dispersing from a previous pattern in the distance. Before anything truly happened, a communique request was detected and accepted with the wordless help of MAVERICK's resident communications expert back at base.

The man was obviously young: who must've been a youthful buck straight from college or something like that judging by his waivering voice, like the words of a deer caught in headlights. "H-hey, are those new engine noises you Linkers we were promised...? Situation is getting bad. We were talking to the the air defence force already and they said they're almost ready to go. We just have to hold on, right? You guys can definitely help handle this, right?"

The man took a moment to continue, likely finding the need to gather up some more strength to suck it up for the sake of keeping face. He managed to convey some decent intel this time, showcasing a little bit of bravery under fire. "Right, that big one... It's big. Like.. it could take up one of the Chesapeake docks big. But, we think it disengaged to reload its internal magazines, or something. Maybe if you guys could find it it'd be real vulnerable right now? But, all we can say is that it went east...", the young manager explained, evidently trying to find something else to share on the line before the tactical situation changed.

One single specimen of the identical brotherhood of distant lights broke through the drifting fog, a single-engined triangular wing on an attack vector. Screeching down like a dive bomber from a war long gone, the drone disgorged a volley of explosive rockets which impacted the main facility with a creeping bombardment, a textbook line-up of a shot that visibly rocked the building before the drone broke off from its attack and returned to level flight, a split rudder on its side causing it to yaw about the central building. The line to the treatment plant director was cut off, with a gasp, another take of the explosion and the sound of an impacting radio suggesting he wasn't going to get back to the Linkers anytime soon. All this happening in a few seconds, the drone was quickly met by two more lights in the distance: themselves breaking through and following their newfound pointman as the supporting corners of a thrusting triangle.

Even without the sensory information of an NC, it was obvious the drones were analyzing their newfound contacts like hunting dogs that saw a strange lifeform enter their masters' grounds. Quickly concluding the two were a threat, the trio activated afterburners and left lingering trails in their wake as an invisible stream of thrust turned to a series of bright blue and red thrust-diamonds, more and more dots of brightness in the distance slowly changing direction to meet their kindred.

The two Linkers at least had time to figure out the three immediately in their presence, as they rocketed at an upwards canted angle before reaching some predetermined point to level back about and sprint straight for their newfound prey. Apparently calculating that the Raijin was their easiest target, the three broke off on seperate attack runs after their complete modal switch to air-to-air. The lack of active radar warnings or missile trails was welcome, the drones evidently stuck with autocannons they would need to close range for, in nice, predictable lines.

Still, the threat of their evident leader was palpable even if the flying boat itself wasn't present. If the young facility manager was right, the gunship was likely watching all this unfold as the crew swapped out belts and loaded shells...

Spoiler: Mentions

Tanya Degurechaff
AnonyMouse

 

[Aldur]

Episode 3

Hadrian Fosse​

​

Janus barely affixed itself on the ground before the peaceful rain turned into a thrashing tempest. The situation devolved in all the terrible ways that Hadrian expected. He stood still for a moment. In between the panicked orders of the Chief and Emperor's laying of battle plans, Janus changed position. It lowered its core and raised its arms slowly, anticipating. Janus waited for Emperor to finish, out of courtesy. The only thing on his mind was his entry point. When Emperor stopped, Janus' mechanism kicked into motion. He grabbed the auto-cannon as it detached from his hip and loaded the belt coming form the magazine mounted on his triceps. When he cocked the bolt back, his legs fully extended and propelled him into the air, aided by his jet pack. The trajectory was calculated before the jump was commenced.

After reaching the high point of its leap, Janus' jet pack worked to slow and eventually break the fall. Janus piloted through the air with peerless precision. The other NCs might have trouble with the landing, but Janus was an expert by this point. Everything in its design caters to taking off and landing, more than it does to keeping flight. Janus' legs contracted and then relaxed as he was now reaching the endpoint of his leap.

A relatively graceful landing resulted in a limited ground quake at the impact zone. Janus was now standing a good 10 yards away from the entrance. Janus reviewed his squad's situation and noticed Vanguard had engaged the enemy. In response, Janus' auto-cannon began whirling with anticipation. The mechanic and faintly electric drone of the three barrels rotating together often worked as a warning as well as an intimidating apparatus. Analogous to this, the drone calmed Hadrian's nerves. He would be prepared.

Before he could advance, his comm links came in again, but this time it was Richard.

"Come in, Janus. This is Knight. Be advised, we are reading strange thermal readings emanating from the tunnel you are about to enter. Intel tells me these might be armored OPFOR moving around the tunnel. However, I'm not buying it. It's got trouble written all over it. Be cautious. I'll relay this information to the others as well." And with that, Richard sent everyone the blueprints to the strange tunnel, with the addendum that there are strange readings coming from one of the tunnels.

"Keep your eyes peeled. - Knight"

"Copy." said Hadrian, promptly.

He advanced towards the tunnel. Half-way through, he activated the IR thermal overlay. The song of battle, carried out by Vanguard were faintly audible to Janus, who clutched the cannon tighter. It was ready to fire at a moment's notice. He cautiously made his way to the entrance of the tunnel.

Interactions: Malphaestus YsFanatic Windsock
Mentions: N/A

 

[SkyHawk MK IV]

Episode 3: Operation Tomahawk
With Hazel joining Mirage in cover, drawing her auto-rifle as she headed into similar cover to Mirage. Listening to the new information, and checking her surroundings, Hazel chewed on the possibilities for a while.

Running though the problem, Hazel scored out the use of demolition tool. Useful as trap but anyone with half a brain would spot a large lump of explosives which it had no place being in even if the fog was thicker than usual...or maybe that was the idea? Stealth was also another option with greater success of getting close to the primary targets as possible before decimating them with the rotary grenade launcher and cleaning up the rest of the hostiles. The 30mm could easily wipe away and infantry and cruise missiles that thought about getting close or away from them, though couldn't do two at once.

In addition to this, Hazel considered Peyton's plan as well. Hazel herself wasn't a master tactician and while she'd love to lead in a operation, Peyton was the obvious 'lead' for this upcoming challenge.

Finally reaching a conclusion, Hazel spoke "Got a plan or two. First one involves directing the bad guys through a set route with my demolition tool as a way to force them into a choke point or away from our friends. We can then pick them off slowly, though I'm unsure how long it'll be until those cruise missiles go over our heads. My 30mm can take care of them initially, though I'll struggle with multiple in bounding missiles. This'll make it easy for out friendly forces to handle smaller amounts of hostiles instead of swarming into a certain point, plus I can detonate the explosive putty at any time."

Hazel took a quick breath before continuing on "Second plan is to stealthy get ourselves close as possible to the primary targets and rush them before they have the chance. The foliage should work in our favour, though you'd have to lead, Mirage. When we hit them, we can easily wipe them out and then clean up the rest of the hostiles as we see fit, letting friendlies deal with any runners heading mainland if they can get there of course. If any missiles do fire, again, 30mm can take care of them and friendly AA should smack them out of the sky if I miss any."

She wasn't confident as much in her own plan as she'd hoped "Think that covers everything that I thought about." Hazel added "Though if I've missed anything, feel free to clarify"

With that, Hazel checked her systems before the final plan was set in stone.

Viper Actual​

 

[Windsock]

Episode 3: ResumeOperation 2A, Grecian Hostage
As the Vanguard inched closer to the SoZ's main force in the tunnels, and the Emperor lead the charge for the military police before being blockaded by a stretch of anti-tank mines, the Janus was similarly stopped by a suspiciously open stretch of tunnel, as Richard Knight was blessed by the maintenance team attached to their operation with blueprints of the tunnel itself. The situation maintained a distinct hostilility, and the tunnels were likely still full of traps even besides the ones already visible, and worst of all the Sons were still in possession of a few hundred souls and likely preparing to kill them off. Time right now was of the essence.

What was particularly difficult was that there was another significant factor the team was quite ignorant of, rushing quickly to the combat zone; but that was still a long while away. Right now they had to deal with the brewing clusterfuck in front of them.

Operation 2B, Perfect Water
With the 'fast-response team' having arrived at the water purifier and come to be aware of the enemy's main force of drones, the three drones involved began their maneuvers in a simple, but single-mindedly ferocious way, with rough, but straight jousts to the enemy as their autocannons readied to fire, having no specialist air-to-air munitions of their own. With one distinctly leading the charge against the Raijin, the other two followed suit, each taking their own particular attack run in an effort to surround the Raijin in a wide angle and cut off her ability to dodge the coming volleys.

As they were so focused on the Raijin, the Samaritan was, at the moment, effectively forgotten by the simple minds of the enemy; but both Linkers were well aware of the unseen leader of the group, a particularly large and vicious gunship that was biding its time.

Operation 2C, Broken Tomahawk
Contrasting their distant allies in this combined defensive operation, the members of the assault-in-stealth fireteam were still preparing their specific assault; slowly wading through the thick, overbearing foliage of the seaside ecosystem that linked New-Maryland's land and sea territories. A thin mist helped to hide their otherwise hulking frames, as the Hardpoint and the Mirage continued to plan out their ambush. Currently, they were musing over two plans of attack: Luring the enemy into a prepared length to pick them off with the help of set explosives, or to get in as close as possible and usher in a short-range firefight that would hopefully result in a quick if painful end to the threat of the cruise missiles.

Further out there, on the shore, the two leading ships of the landing force were silently waiting. Preparing the final pieces of their plan, whatever the particulars were. As soon as one alarm was tripped, the entire enemy force would certainly be alerted; so whatever they did, they'd have to pull it off well.

Spoiler: Mentions

Malphaestus , Friedrich-Alexander von Streuben
Viper Actual , Jennifer Peyton, Alice Ericsen
SkyHawk MK IV , Hazel Scott
YsFanatic , Adam Davion
Tanya Degurechaff , Niko Lancelot
AnonyMouse , Camille Azata, Elena Halliwell
Aldur , Hadrian Fosse, Richard Knight

 

[Windsock]

Episode 3MAVERICK Command Center, New Baltimore
Oswald, self-proclaimed provisionary commander for the current clusterfuck, gazed over the current residents and equipment inside the top floor of New Baltimore's resident MAVERICK facility. Several rows of computer banks, set aside just for data related to each Linker, communication arrays, and multiple workdesks all centered around a slightly raised section of the floor that he took liberty to command from, able to gaze about the whole room. Each quadrant, already built to be lightly partitioned from the others, was being specifically used for a certain mission; each operation had its own corner of this dimly lit nerve center, as Handlers and a few other support personnel focused on providing service and monitoring data. 'Separated organs, but all part of the same organism.'

He was reminded of that explanation, which one of his superiors used when Oswald was a new hire, as he looked over at his own portable terminal. Being one of the more seasoned Handlers, Oswald had plenty of friends in the other branches of the organization, in a variety of places too, which occasionally let him have access to information that was technically not his business. One of the transactions he was particular about making was receiving tip-offs of what other MAVERICK branches were doing.

Oswald meandered over to Sarah, resident communications expert, and motioned for a squad-wide address. Switching to a squad-wide channel, he notified the Linkers of recent developments.


As every fireteam continued their operations, a high-level alert was sounded, and soon afterwards Oswald's voice revealed itself again over their airwaves.

"Oswald heah. Jus' got a message from a li'l bird of mine...", he seemed to check something, just to make sure. He sounded a little exasperated, but maintained his cool for his provided revelation. "...A neighborin' base just sent out 'several' Linkers. Presume hostile intent. Guess this is gonna be all your first times fightin' other Linkers. No idea what their gig's 'gun be, but we'll be track'n everythin' we can and give y'all a heads up."

Malthus, hearing this in-person, chuckled over the airwaves. "Thought there were rules? Guess they don't count, huh?"

Oswald, groaning, left the greater squad with a reminder. "Urg, Jus'... don't let'm get in the way. And, try to keep the paperwork simple, do y'best not to kill'm 'less it's absolutely ne'ssary, sure? You gotta what you gotta, but I don't wanna deal with the Regional Director 'less I absolutely have'ta."

"Continue y'alls missions. Good luck."

Spoiler: Mentions

Malphaestus , Friedrich-Alexander von Streuben
Viper Actual , Jennifer Peyton, Alice Ericsen
SkyHawk MK IV , Hazel Scott
YsFanatic , Adam Davion
Tanya Degurechaff , Niko Lancelot
AnonyMouse , Camille Azata, Elena Halliwell
Aldur , Hadrian Fosse, Richard Knight

 

[Viper Actual]

Peyton and, by extension Mirage, continued to slowly wade through the alien-like wetland terrain covering most of the shoreline with Hazel and Hardpoint right behind her. Her eyes darted between the screens in front of her to one specific one reserved for her onboard sensory systems while her ears listened to Hazel's suggestions. As her teammate finished Peyton sighed and as the Mirage came up to a small sandbank covered in driftwood and other flora the nimble NC took a knee and propped up its large weapon in its lap- almost like a Human soldier taking a knee while waiting for orders.

Thinking through the options, odds, advantages and disadvantages at hand Jennifer was about to deliver her response when Oswald spoke up. Shit. Hostile linkers?

"Sounds like our decision was made for us," muttered Peyton. Mirage turned slightly as if glancing back at Hardpoint. "We'll try the stealth approach. Hopefully the enemy linkers will be less prone to engaging here as long as the Sons of Zeus thinks they still have the advantage. Stealth followed by shock & awe will be our best bet, unless we want to end up in a dragged-out firefight."

Holding up its SMG and tilting it slightly the Mirage gave the magazine a slap at the bottom to make sure it was properly loaded. "We'll continue to move up. Once things get hot I'll send out a jamming pulse to scramble their comms and other systems for a few seconds while you unleash all holy hell on them. Sound good?"

"I don't like this," said Alice over the comms.

Peyton grunted. "Me neither."

SkyHawk MK IV​

 

[AnonyMouse]

The dim glow of flames came into view long before the purification facility itself materialized on their viewscreens. The attack was already well underway. Cammy immediately grimaced, not in horror or disgust, but in frustration. This was only her second mission. Twice now, MAVERICK had failed to deliver adequate intel. For what was supposed to be one of the most powerful, well-connected organizations in the world, they seemed awfully good at getting caught with their pants down and throwing Linkers into situations where they had to grope in the dark with limited information or charge in blindly to mop up a shitshow-in-progress.

A young man, presumably a worker within the facility, tried to give what intel he could, but was clearly in over his head. Cammy couldn't tell if he was actually in charge or filling in for a dead man, but he at least pointed them in the right direction: east. Cammy began to adjust heading, ignoring the trailing lights of the drones as they broke away from one attack run and began to line up another. Halliwell had told her to focus on the big bird, so that's what she would do. She had to at least give the illusion of being able to follow basic directions.

"Raijin, moving east. Gonna find that gunship and make him pay," Cammy said, but the words were dull and soulless, devoid of her usual enthusiasm. She was clearly just going through the motions. Vengeance was her favorite dish, best served hot. But turning her back on the burning facility and 'retreating' into the clouds gnawed at her conscience in a way she couldn't just ignore, partly because she knew it was the wrong move and partly because she knew there was no right one.

"On second thought..." Cammy said, noticing the afterglow of thrusters arcing toward her in her peripheral vision. It seemed the drones had decided who the biggest threat was. Or maybe they decided she was easy prey. Either way, she had their attention and now had an excuse to disobey an order...

"Change of plans," Halliwell quickly said, before her client could take another step. "Ignore my previous orders. Raijin, engage the drones, defend the facility. Samaritan, you're on gunship duty, seek and destroy. In the meantime, I will try to re-establish contact with someone --anyone-- within the facility. We need a damage assessment."

"Bitch stole my thunder," Camille muttered under her breath, but couldn't help but smile a little as she banked toward the incoming drones.

"What was that, Raijin? Please repeat," Halliwell said calmly, her face still a mask of absolute professionalism and calmness.

"Nothin.' Raijin, engaging targets." Cammy's fingertips drummed on the control sticks as she closed distance on the drones. Or, perhaps, they were closing distance on her. Hard to say who has the advantage, who is the attacker, who is the predator or who is the prey...

Oswald's voice, his familiar drawl and mannerisms, filled her ears as the first volley of autocannon fire glanced off Raijin's carapace. Cammy barely heard the man, but she caught the important bits, as she barrel-rolled through a barrage of hot lead. Turns out Raijin and barrel rolls don't go well together. She shed altitude and tumbled from the sky, lethargially spinning like a whale performing gymnastics in slow motion. While she wasn't quite out of control during the maneuvers, it became instantly clear she wasn't going to be dodging anything up here, so Cammy leaned into the spin and let her NC take the dive.

"Enemy Linkers... like I give a fuck they're Linkers," Camille muttered through gritted teeth as the terrain raced up to meet her and g-forces buffeted her body. "An enemy is an enemy. Someone tell Lard-Ass to get off the mic. I'm trying to work here."

"He didn't say 'enemy,'" Halliwell pointed out. "Be prepared for anything."

"I always am... or at least know how to wing it when I ain't," Cammy said as Raijin slammed into the ground, its hind legs absorbing most of the impact before its front 'paws' crashed down, digging deep gouges into the rain-soaked earth. She literally hit the ground running, and promptly arced around and ignited the two massive jet engines, to begin putting distance between herself and the purifier facility.

For added measure, she lined up a shot and lobbed an armor-penetrating shell at the swarm of drones, to ensure she still had their attention. She had no intention of actually hitting them (yet); the shot was mostly for range finding purposes, and the AP shell's lack of an explosive warhead meant it wouldn't cause too much damage if it landed in a field someplace miles away.

Windsock

 

[SkyHawk MK IV]

Episode 3: Operation Tomahawk
The news of other linkers was a shock to Hazel, which added more complications to the operations like chefs adding more ingredients to a soup; Just more fuck-ups waiting to happen. The original stealth plan was good as any and Hazel wasn't contesting it. She checked all the instruments for signs of anything before moving on, telling herself that it was better safe than sorry though something in the back of her mind was telling her she was overreacting. Either way, Hazel checked the ammo for her rifle and made sure everything was in place.

She nodded at Peyton's response, with Hardpoint mimicking similar movements "Sounds good. Just hope these other linkers don't fuck things up or else we're fucked." Hazel sighed a little, taking in the situation a bit better after Oswald's warning "I'm not gonna lie, feeling a bit fuckin' nervous." Hazel had felt the slight anxiety in the back of her head, clawing it's way to the front. Before any questions were asked, Hazel added "I'll be good though, just need to get into the zone a bit." This was followed by an awkward laugh which she cut short. Hardpoint had now began to trudge through the landscape, now alert for anything that might be hostile.

A small voice appeared;

"Don't fuck this up, kid."

Viper Actual​

 

[Windsock]

Episode 3
Operation 2B: Perfect Water
As the Chimera flopped through the air like a gorilla with a rocket lodged in its ass, the pursuing drones were evidently calculating the best point of attack; rudely interrupted by the artillery-mech's attention-seeking round of AP coming through their mist. Hardly even clipping their maneuverable frames as expected, the immediate trio broke off from their planned attack run and began to freestyle; taking on more independent maneuvers to harass the most active target as gleamed from its sudden counterattack.

Breaking from their planned multi-angled attack, they broke from the closing formation and independently targeted the NC from seperate altitudes; as one headed for the ground, another stayed level, and the third began to climb, while each maintained a gentle bobbing and weaving and drunk maneuvering. Coming into range, they started firing short, precise bursts from the bottom to the top; a flurry of autocannon fire coming from below, then to the Chimera's side, and then from a topside angle. Foregoing the coordination, it was a blunt and unfocused stream of firepower, sound in principle but entirely without imagination or gusto, befitting drone fighters. Against a warrior such as the one in Chimera, it was almost certainly insulting.

As the Samaritan concurrently received new orders to hunt the gunship, a slight shimmer in the easternly distance revealed itself; as a pair of similar triangular drones came into the combat area. Alarmingly, this duet began to set off heavy radar lock alarms on the more agile machine. The intel explicitly said not to expect any serious air-to-air armaments! If the allied planes got involved any time soon, it'd be much more than just a turkey shoot they'd get into.

With Samaritan locked quickly, the closer of the two drones fired off a barrage of four short-range munitions, one after another ejecting themselves from the bomb bays, before each ignited with the ferocity of a solid-fuel rocket booster. Their highly-agile jets vectoring to meet the equally agile Samaritan, a quick, witty response was needed before the impact of these interceptors harmed his ability to take on their hidden boss; the gunship he was assigned to destroy.

Operation 2C: Broken Tomahawk
As the two hunting women of Broken Tomahawk committed to a stealthy approach, the directly furtive member began to note faintly notable samples of communication as she lead her companion through the forested sandbanks. Finding distinct lines to snoop into was easy, but just like last time the difficulty of tapping into military-encrypted channels would've been notable, if it weren't for Peyton's more familiar grasp of the protocols in question due to a shared intellectual history with the encryption schemes in question, on top of a natural skill on the matter at hand. Being related to your enemy in a sense of a shared past employer had upsides, evidently.

As the Mirage worked, the Hardpoint's own sensors would bring report of vague movement in the distance, as the giddiest hints of sunrise still failed to reveal themselves in the very early hours. Still, in the darkness and the thick, alien foliage of the ocean-side forest even the Hardpoint could see the shimmer of distant, conscious movement; heavy enough to suggest the presence of enemy armor in the distance.

Finding purchase, the Mirage was rewarded with a direct feed of the enemy's network, listening in on their current conversation.

"-All teams, we just received word that MAVERICK has gotten involved on multiple fronts. Allied forces confirmed to have Linker assistance on the way, but enemy Linkers have been confirmed to get on the scene first. Expect enemy Neural Combatants. Allied Neural Combatants are Kugelblitz, Rampage, and Outlaw Ranger. We're sending IFF codes, so no need to visually confirm. If it's an NC and it doesn't show up as a friendly, shoot it."

Well, identities of the enemy Linkers is a valuable piece of intel; worthy of disseminating to the rest of the team, if possible. Continuing to listen in, the apparent acting commander of the opposing operation received an elucidating question.

"Captain, are any of those assigned to us? Where are they all going?"

"No; the other teams have already confirmed NC opposition. Apparently New-Maryland's MAVERICK base decided to launch everyone they have, so there's three enemy NC's in the tunnel, and two at the water plant. We don't have confirmed enemy Linkers, so we're second-priority."

The soldier scoffed. "Damn brigade commander... Just cause I said I'd die for the cause didn't mean I fucking want to."

"Don't act like we deserve any better. Fall in line, and finish your patrol."

What a strange conversation. Still, that meant their operation wasn't in any immediate jeopardy of getting a surprise visit. That was good news.

Another voice came on the radio, another henchmen. Alarmingly, it came with another suggestion of movement on the horizon, the meandering becoming a little more focused. "Team Oppenheimer reporting; anomalous thermal signature. Checking it out.", before the man skipped a few beats.

"...This is Oppenheimer, false alarm."

The Captain, audibly sighing, gave another piece of intel. "Goddamn... I'm sick of these 'false alarms'. Shihei pieces of shit..."

A clue on the specific model of the enemy's hovertanks, which were still unidentified. With a manufacturer named, it could be easier to dig something useful up. Plus, the movement in the distance was an obvious indicator.

Spoiler: Mentions

Viper Actual Jennifer Peyton, Alice Ericsen
SkyHawk MK IV Hazel Scott
Tanya Degurechaff Niko Lancelot
AnonyMouse Camille Azata, Elena Halliwell

 

[Viper Actual]

Freezing as soon as the enemy communications were locked on to Peyton and her NC hunkered down next to a rather wide bank of sand while motioning for Hazel to do the same.
As the communications proved to be of rather good quality Peyton shared it with both Hazel and Alice.

"They don't sound too motivated, do they?" Said Peyton, almost whispering. "Zero NC resistance is positive for us."

"I'll relay that intel to the other teams. Hopefully it's not too late," said Alice over the comms.

Peyton grunted. "Mind giving us everything you have on Shihei hovercraft and related armored vehicles? It's been a while since I had a look at one of them."
Jennifer paused and glanced at Hardpoint, making Mirage turn its torso slightly.

"Might give us the edge we need."

SkyHawk MK IV Windsock​