Robotech - Tales of the UEEF (Main)

[Psychie]

Amanda circles her Veritech, looking at the clean lines and shining metal of her Valkyrie. I still can't believe that I've made it! This is awesome! She makes a point to say hello to the deck crews that are prepping the powerful machine for flight, getting to know the hard working men and women that make it possible for her to fly with safety. Once her introductions are done, she starts her preflight checklist, inspecting the Valkyrie for any signs of trouble even when she expects to find none.

 

[Orikanyo]

Grumpy walked over to his machine, stareing up at the immense mecha. The EW pack upon it, the radar looking like a shell already. "Hmmph... Really am going to be having a tag along... Focus on not getting both of us killed and shoot... Guess thats my job." he was far from a bad pilot, he has had his fair share of skills in that regard, especially when it comes to actually shooting. He was familiar with the weapon systems of veritech mecha, portability in the changing process is paramount as you can't have the weapon cleaving off should you need to change to fighter, waddle around as a guardian or be fancy in battleoid mode.

He wouldn't be in one of those heavy armored packs, but EW had it's own benefits, plus, he had a second head in the machine for it. "Alright, lets get in, not everyday i get a passenger..."

 

[Kwops]

After the equipment installations, pre-flight checklist, and a quick stretch, Nathan opens the cockpit and jumps in. He waves from the open window and shouts "The Scrapwing Dragon is ready for takeoff!"

 

[Sherwood]

In Grumpy's back seat, Alex jokes, "Well, while I know how to fly one of these, you are going to be much better at it than I would be. Otherwise, we could switch places!" He reaches out to the control panel in front of him and begins to work his own checklist. "Comms check. This is Kilgore in VF-109 to the Storm Dragon squad. Do you all hear me?"

When Nate asks the deck crews to swap out his missile pack with the EW Recon one, they grumble a bit but otherwise, they move quickly to replace the gear. "Sorry for the mistake, sir. Won't happen again." Thanks to the modular nature of the FAST pack, it takes only a few minutes to make the change-out.

Spoiler

Just a reminder, you still have the six extra Short Range missiles located on your forearms, but the Recon Pack itself is currently unarmed. You still have your wing ordnance to be able to select for your choice of three Medium or fifteen Mini Missiles per hard point, and of course, the GU-11 Gun Pod is still there, too. Same goes for Grumpy.

As everyone goes through their pre-flight checklists, everything is showing green. Even though these are older models of fighters, these Veritechs are all fresh from the factory to upgrade their armor and engine thrust, and they still have that 'new fighter' smell to them. All have the very latest in technology, keeping the venerable Valkyries on the cutting edge of the spear.

While you finish up your examination of your birds, you get a radio signal from a Lt. Sandra Bellamy, the squadron leader of the Nova Cats; a team of three Alphas backed up with three Betas that have been on the MacArthur since her launch from Earth orbit. "Hey there rookies! I hear you are looking for some friendly sparring out in space. How about we see how well the Storm Dragons stack up against the Nova Cats? We'll go easy on you for your first official sparring run as a team, and we'll let the bridge crew play umpire for us. What do you think of that?"

 

[Kwops]

Nathan flips through his various displays - all systems nominal, EWAR capabilities online. "Yep, read you loud and clear, Alex. Wanna see how much these cats like fighting blind?" Without waiting for a response, he switches channels to address Lt. Bellamy. "Going easy on us? Aw, I was hoping to have an exciting first flight, really test out the Scrapwing. Ah, well. Should be fun anyways. Hope you like flying blind."

 

[Psychie]

Amanda makes a face. "Nate, you're not supposed to give away all of our secrets! Of course, it is a little bit hard to hide the fact that two of our birds have the radome on them, so I guess I can cut you some slack." She switches over to the other frequency. "Don't you worry about us, Lt. Bellamy! We can hold our own."

 

[Sherwood]

Bellamy laughs. "You got some attitude there, newbie, I'll give you that. You'll need it when we get into it with the Zentraedi again, and probably the Robotech Masters, too. Ok! Lets call up Combat Control and get a sparring area marked out for us, and we'll meet you out in the black. Good luck, Storm Dragons!"

Alex takes a few moments to make sure that the squad is fully interlinked with his own Command and Control systems in the Recon Pack, receiving your sensor data from the individual mecha and combining it with the signals from all the units of the squad, giving you an exceptional level of coordination as you all can see what each other sees.

A male voice comes over the comms; "This is MacArthur Combat Control. Storm Dragons, you are clear to launch. Coordinates are being broadcast to you for your duel with the Nova Cats, a short hop away from the fleet of about one hundred miles. That will give you plenty of room to maneuver at high speeds and not run into anything. Please ensure that all weapons are in 'safe' mode; we don't want any real casualties today. Combat Control will monitor the action and will be able to provide post-action briefings for both squads once you are done. Good luck out there, Storm Dragons!"

 

[Orikanyo]

"Roger combat control, weapons on safe." he'll admit, this was his favorite part of the whole thing, weapons and system check, made him feel so damn powerful knowing just what hell he could unleash... Even with a radar dish on his ass. "Squad lead, ready when you are."

 

[Psychie]

"Copy that. All weapons safe mode. Virtual combat only." Scorch double checks that her weapons are all locked down; no need to really blast one of her own side, right? "Lightning, ready to deploy."

 

[Kwops]

Having switched back to squad comms, Nathan runs through one more quick check, switching all weapons to safe. "Scrapwing nearly ready to go, just gotta finish loading missiles." Reopening the cockpit, he waves to the deck crew and shouts, "Can you guys load this thing up with missiles? 38 mini HEAP, 6 medium-range heavy HE, 6 short-range medium HE!"

Spoiler: Missile Loadout

8 mini HEAP Anti-Missile Missiles
30 mini HEAP Missiles - Wing Hardpoint Pods
6 medium-range Heavy HE - Wing Hardpoints

 

[Psychie]

Current missile loadout:
6 medium Multi Warhead
15 mini HEAP
15 mini Plasma
8 mini Fragmentation
46 short HEAP

 

[Epiphany]

Seeing her squad ready to deploy, Chen finishes her own preflight checklist and nods in satisfaction. The classic Veritech may be venerable...but that also meant it was extremely well understood. Years of field use had yielded considerable data on exactly how tightly it could handle a turn, how much thrust it could handle, how stable its avionics were after an impact. She looked forward to putting this one through its paces.

Smiling at the challenge, and at her squad's ready response, Chen says "Confirmed, Combat Control. Launch!"

As soon as the Valkyries clear the tubes, she toggles the squad radio and says "Storm Dragons on me. Those Alpha's are a bit faster and more maneuverable than us. Don't let them peel you off for immediate one-on-ones. Let's see if we can splash a Beta or two with some saturation. However that goes, we split into pairs. Scorch, Grumpy, you're Team 1. Stinger, Sykoros, you're on Team 2. Keep our specialists alive, Scorch. And I'll be watching all of your asses. Now, let's hit 'em!"

 

[WlfSamurai]

"Stinger, Control," Ty radios back. "Confirmed safe." He can't help but smile in his pilot's seat. It's his favorite place in the galaxy. The only true place where he's in control. And his life rides on him.

With the go-code and launch, Ty listens to his Lead. Team 2. Got it. "Copy, Lead. Team 2. Let's show these guys what real pilots are like."

Ty falls into formation and takes the front post in Team 2, ready to do split on contact.

 

[Kwops]

Nathan falls in behind Ty's right wing as they head towards the combat zone and accesses the squad's radio channel. "Scrapwing Dragon ready for combat! Sounds like the initial plan is to put some pressure on the Alphas and then split up from there. When that happens, mind if Team 2 goes Beta hunting?"

 

[Orikanyo]

"On it, I'll keep up support and provide long range fire as needed. I brought heat, just let me lay it." grumpy was, admittably, getting into it. It was hard not the let the adrenaline get to you, even when it was simply virtual... But in virtual he could fire off protons without care.

So that was a bonus.

"Alex, you ready?" grumpy kept in fighter mode, watching their targets and his allies alike. "Scorch you heard the lady, Don't you go awol on me."

Spoiler: Missile load

4. MDS: 8 HEAP
5.
Mount 1: 2 Proton Torpedo (heavy) SMART: 6d6x10 M.D., 1200 miles, 50 foot radius, 20 M.D.C.
Mount 2: 3 HEAP (medium)**: 3d6x10 M.D., 40 miles, 20 foot radius, 10 M.D.C.
Mount 3: 3 HEAP (medium)**: 3d6x10 M.D., 40 miles, 20 foot radius, 10 M.D.C.
Mount 4: 2 Proton Torpedo (heavy) SMART: 6d6x10 M.D., 1200 miles, 50 foot radius, 20 M.D.C.

 

[Sherwood]

Over the next hour, the two squads run through several mock combat runs against each other. During the various matches, the Storm Dragons strut their stuff and do very well, but the Nova Cats have much more experience than you and it shows. Out of the several combat runs you have, you only come out on top in two of them. The edge that the two EW Packs give you is considerable, and as you learn the best way to use them, it helps you significantly, causing havoc with the systems of the Nova Cats. As you all return to the MacArthur, Lt. Bellamy gives you all a handshake and a smile. "Good job out there! I thought we had you on that last pass, but suddenly my whole electrical system went screwy and I lost my tracking data. Poof! If it weren't for those damn jamming attacks, we would have cleaned your clocks in those last two matches. But I do have to say to all of you: With every twist we threw at you, you adapted to it well and learned from them. Lets go ahead and see the after combat report in one of the briefing rooms."

Once the data tapes of the last hour are downloaded, a member of the ship's bridge crew offers to assist you by going over your after action briefing. The general consensus is that the Storm Dragons did very well for themselves, even against the more experienced team. It takes another hour for the combat runs to be dissected in a three-D holodisplay, with the bridge officer and Lt. Bellamy's team offering up comments and suggestions as to what you might consider in that kind of situation in the future. By the end of the briefing, everyone is packing up and getting ready to go get some grub and you notice that you have an audience; Capt. Romanov. She must have slipped inside the room and grabbed a seat in the back without anyone noticing. She offers up a professional nod to the assembled pilots, then she stands and heads for the door without saying a word.

Lt. Bellamy looks over at Chen. "She does that a lot; sits in on pilot briefings, I mean. The Captain likes to keep her eyes on her pilots. It can be a little creepy at first, but you'll get used to it eventually." Sandra then gives you a playful punch to the shoulder. "By the way, your people have a lot of promise. Keep up the drills and training, and you'll be surprised at just how quickly the squad will come together and fight as one." She gives you another smile. "And anytime you have any questions about anything, come see me. I'll keep you up to speed."

 

[Orikanyo]

Grumpy felt good after that mock battle, lots of virtual explosions, lots of full, and it turns out his co-pilot wasn't as intrusive as he'd thought the man would be. Not to mention the illustrious captain had shown up again, right beauty that she was, it seems she was a watchful captain. He'd have to keep watch for more sudden appearances of the captain, lest he miss a good opportunity for a picture. Though he still didn't look quite happy, content would be a good word for it, he looked like a slightly less grumpy cat for the rest of the breifing.

"So, boss, lets see about the grub huh? The Nova Cats joining us?"

 

[Psychie]

Amanda feels both giddy and worn out from the time in the cockpit of her Valkyrie. It was a real blast to fly, and even more fun to turn and burn against another squad. Those Nova Cats are a top-rate team! It shows me that we still have a lot to learn. As they 'fight', she is surprised that the Storm Dragons manage to come up on top of the fight twice against the more experienced team, but, on the other hand, they have been taught well, and are flying a bunch of awesome Veritechs. We just need a little bit more time working as a cohesive team, and then we'll be the one's dishing out the lessons to the next batch of newbies. I can't wait! She gives a fist bump to the pilot sitting next to her as the replay shows a virtual kill, and sits up a bit taller in her seat as one of her own attacks manages to take out a Nova Cat fighter. Then, some humble pie as her own Valk gets hit and shuts down again. Still have a bunch to learn.

When the briefing is over and they begin to shuffle out, Amanda is surprised to see the Captain, and a bit pleased. A focused and dedicated officer, interested in the actions of her crew. I like that. "I hate to say it, but I'm with Grumpy here in saying that I am in serious need of some food. Let eat!"

 

[WlfSamurai]

"Oy!" Ty says stretching and walking up to the rest. Debriefings have always bored him. It's the worst part of a mission, he decides. "Food would be good. I always work up an appetite working in space." Ty notices the Captain for the first time when she is mentioned. "She came to see how awesome we are," Ty adds with a wide smirk. "The Nova Cats beat us, but not because they're better. Because they're more experienced. Pretty soon, we'll have them on the ropes."

 

[Kwops]

Nathan stretches and stands up. "Yeah, food sounds like a plan to me. I'm starving." As they walk to go eat, Nathan considers various modifications he wants to make to the Scrapwing, but he figures they can wait. He still needs to put up that rail on his bed.

 

[Epiphany]

The chatter of her pilots (her pilots!) made Chen smile as she lead them into the first mock combat run. After a few matches, it's apparent that defeat just makes the 1st Lieutenant focus harder and sharper. She's swift to praise good performance, particularly when the Storm Dragons come out on top twice. But she's also swift to correct a miscue, at least if it's brief. By the end of the hour, Chen's saved most of her radio dialogue for performance over critique. And even her critique is largely made obsolete once she has the chance to watch the after action briefing review, which had a much more objective lens for their performance.

Once they wrap up, Chen looks to her squad and smiles tightly. "We have a long way to go. I hope you all know that. I hadn't felt all that green to this point but I also haven't had a lot of chance to practice against more experienced pilots. I need to get better. We need to get better. I'll make you this promise now; I will match any of you hour for hour when it comes to training or practice. Any of you wanting to improve, you're not on your own here. The UEEF has invested a lot in us. I want you to know I'm investing a lot in each of you. So make use of me, okay?"

"That said...we did great! I see a lot of potential for EW turning the tide in future engagements. If we can bring our game up to match Lieutenant Kilgore over there, we're going to dominate anyone we go up against. Which is just the way I like it!"

"Now, pack it in and let's get some chow." She grins at the various remarks made by her squadmates, expressing their hunger. "You've all earned it!"

Duty done, Chen glances back at the door the Captain left through and shakes her head, feeling a little unsettled at her team's first practice session being witnessed by so senior an officer. Bellamy at least puts her at ease and Chen is only too happy to shake the other woman's hand. "Thank you, Lieutenant. For the practice, especially for the discovery. It's the first time we've worked together and the Nova Cats pushed us in all the right places to see what parts hold up under stress and what parts need reinforcement. I've got my work cut out for me!"

"Um, the Storm Dragons are getting some lunch. If you'd like to join us? I mean, the Nova Cats? Open offer." Chen smiles to show there's no expectation, conscious that however friendly the much more experienced squad is, elite teams rarely rubbed shoulders with junior teams like hers. "And thanks. It's nice to know I have someone to ask those questions I reeeeally don't want to ask the CAG, you know?"

Whatever Bellamy's answer, Chen is happy to follow her squad to the mess hall for some well deserved grub.

 

[Sherwood]

Bellamy nods. "I'm always up for some food. C'mon Nova Cats! Lets go. I'll show you guys the way. I have to give the cooks some credit; they do some good work keeping up variety of good food on the line for us to pick from. Keeps the boredom away." Settling down in the mess hall, you find that Lt. Bellamy is right in the fact that there is a good selection of food to pick from. As you eat, the two squads trade stories about training and the fun that you plan on getting into.

Over the next several days, the Storm Dragons learn their way around the MacArthur and start to get into the swing of things on the ship. In between some training times as a squad, you work some duty shifts on the ship, helping out with various tasks. It is during one of your off shifts that an alert comes into the ship, calling for all flight crews to go to their stations. After running to your fighters and sitting in the cockpit for almost a half hour, you get a report that the Mac, the Arc Royal, the Northampton and three of the Garfish troopships are making an unscheduled Jump into Foldspace, and all flight crews are to stand ready for contact. There is a bit of a lurch as the ship makes the Jump, and as you wait for transition back to normal space, you get some more information on what the alert is all about.

Long range scans show that the system up ahead is very rich in heavy elements that the Atlas can use in manufacturing, but before the whole battle group makes the jump into the system, a recon group of three Garfish troopships was sent ahead; the Alphonse, the Dennison and the McCarthy. They have been scouting the system to make sure that there is nothing that would endanger the unarmed Manufacturing Ship, but there has been no contact with the trio for several hours. So, the MacArthur is leading a part of the battle group to go hunting for the three missing ships.

The minutes tick by slowly as the six ships make their approach and prepare to reenter normal space, with everyone waiting to see if there will be anything waiting for you. Once the all clear is sounded, several squads including the Storm Dragons are ordered to stand down and report to the briefing room. As you enter, you can see that the CAG is already there, waiting for you, and you can see that the other Veritech pilots here are all assigned to recon fighters. Looks like you are going to do some hunting. "Pilots, take your seats." He waits for everyone to sit before continuing. "Ladies and gentlemen, several hours ago, three ships make their way to this system to do some recon work. They are overdue to check in, and it is now our mission to locate them. The problem we are having is that this system has two asteroid belts loaded with heavy elements, making it difficult to pick out a ship in the midst of all that heavy ore out there. It is going to end up on your shoulders to locate the ships out there." He taps a control on the podium and a three dimensional image of the solar system appears in the air in front of the group. Several recon paths are marked out. "Each of you have your own patrol zone to go through, with some promising targets to investigate. Squad leaders, you should be getting your individual assignments. Look them over and brief your teams, and pick your missile loads. Remember, we don't know what could have happened to our people, but they would have checked in if possible. Keep your eyes open, and stay in contact with the fleet. We don't need any more missing crew, so be careful out there. Good luck, and good hunting."

By looking at the route that the Storm Dragons are supposed to take through the asteroid belt, you can see that the fleet is scattering about the system, all launching fighters to help search for the missing ships. Your scheduled patrol route is set to take about twelve to fourteen hours, depending on your speed. You'll be dropped off by the Command Carrier at your start point, then the Mac will pop to another location in the system to deploy other fighters before going to rendezvous with you at the end of your flight. After your team is dropped off, you'll be out of radio range of the fleet, but you all have locations and times plotted out to be able to use your laser communication beams to send a message a much greater distance if you need to communicate something back to the MacArthur or any other ship that might just happen to be closer to you.

 

[WlfSamurai]

All of it was a blur and before Ty knew it, the CAG was assigning patrols.

Lone patrols? he considers. Out of comms range. Scheduled tight beam only? The Storm Dragons would be on their own for 12-14 hours in unknown territory with potential for running into ambush. And there would be no help for whatever scheduled time between tight beams.

Ty feels his exhilaration building with a small pocket of fear at the base of his skull. The idea of him and his squad running into combat invigorates him. He feels the tightness in his chest swell and can’t help a smile forming.

“If you and your squad are cut off,” Ty remembers his MECT instructor saying, “ use displacement and withdrawl tactics. Find cover and keep moving. If you’re in space, find the closest body of mass and use it to your advantage. Once you’ve broken away from the enemy, begin wide area scans and survival techniques.” Specifics and tactics had followed. And drills. So many drillls.

“We just won’t get cut off,” Ty says to himself under his breath. He would need to memorize the laser comm schedule. That was he squad’s lifeline and the only way the patrol can be useful to the rest of the fleet. A hope grows in mind, one of being first to find any of the missing ships.

 

[Psychie]

Amanda feels a chill. Three ships missing? That's a lot of people's lives on the line. We have to find them. And hours on patrol, looking for signs of the ships? Out of radio contact? Shit just got real. She turns to look at the others of the team and tries to put on her best face. No need for them to see her anxiety for their first mission, right? Amanda then takes her tablet and begins to put in an order for her missile payload from the deck crews.

Spoiler

6 medium Multi Warhead
15 mini Plasma
15 mini Plasma
8 mini Fragmentation
46 short HEAP

 

[Kwops]

Hearing the news of the missing ships, Nathan stops in his tracks. Wow, not a day into our assignments and we're already seeing action. I like it, but I'm not sure I or the Scrapwing are ready. Well, no time to think about that. We may have to launch any time now. He whips out his tablet and sends a message to the deck crew with the loadout and equipment changes he needs to the Scrapwing.

Spoiler: Equipment Order

8 mini HEAP Anti-Missile Missiles
30 mini HEAP Missiles - Wing Hardpoint Pods
6 medium-range Heavy HE - Wing Hardpoints
6 short-range Medium HE - Forearm Launchers