UEEF - The Shadow Chronicles - IC Thread

[Random Word]

He could just be covering for his mistake, in which case she should drop it to let him save face, but he probably knows what he's doing - he's been doing it his whole life, after all, and her people do look remarkably like human women - and she's never going to learn this English thing if she doesn't ask. "Yes, sir. I see, sir. If I may, sir, what does it mean?"

 

[jaydude]

Ian let out a mental groan for ending up in this situation. Explaining human slang to someone who had possibly never heard it before was not something he'd ever envisioned himself doing when he signed up to the UEEF.

He shrugged his shoulders. "It's just a rather informal way of addressing another group of people on some parts of our planet." he explained. "I didn't mean to imply that you weren't female."

 

[Random Word]

Tisiphone considers this for a moment, then smiles excitedly, "So I can use 'guys' to refer to any group of humans, and 'guy' to refer to any human? Oh, this is going to be so much easier. Thank you, guy! Uh, sir." This might be the best thing she's learned since the instructors explained the arming switch. No more figuring out what kind of human they are, unless they're a superior officer.

 

[Rykon]

Jake observed the exchange with a growing grin, somewhat amused by the cultural clash. After a moment's inner conflict of whether to deliberately continue the exchange of befuddlement or move on he decided to let the appearance of professionalism go for the moment. After all, the goal was for the new pilots to be home in Manticore was it not?

The man in oil-stained, mechanic's coveralls oil stains spoke up, mimicking a bastardized version of an old Australian accent in part to lift his own spirit. "An' here ya' caught the boss man in an informal mood for once. You two must be top-notch recruits for old Gloomy here to be friendly of all things!" He added with a goofy smile. He cleared his throat and discarded the voice for the sake of an actual introduction. "Nice to meet you two. I'm Lieutenant Jacob McGregor. My old call sign before Manticore was Joker but I had to tone it down when the training officer almost shot me for a bad joke. Can you believe it? You try and share the pain of day-to-day drudgery and they want to end yours for your trouble."

He shook his head in mock disapproval to contrast a chuckle. "Anyhow, y'all can just call me Jake. I'm usually tuning up our rides when we're on standby or trackin down a good fishin spot on leave. Not much of that lately, let me tell ya. I haven't been riflin' through files or nothin, so how about you two? What brings you two to Manticore? Well, aside from the obvious 'because they told us to'."

 

[jaydude]

Tisiphone considers this for a moment, then smiles excitedly, "So I can use 'guys' to refer to any group of humans, and 'guy' to refer to any human? Oh, this is going to be so much easier. Thank you, guy! Uh, sir." This might be the best thing she's learned since the instructors explained the arming switch. No more figuring out what kind of human they are, unless they're a superior officer.

"Hmm...you should probably save it for those that you're close to. In terms of your relationships to them, I mean." admitted Ian, not wanting to get Tisiphone into trouble for either ignoring military decorum, misgendering someone, or just coming off as inconsiderate. "And don't use it for anyone who outranks you. And as hypocritical as this is going to sound coming from me, be very careful about using it around women. Some of them might not mind, but others may find it more than a little insensitive of you."

The man in oil-stained, mechanic's coveralls oil stains spoke up, mimicking a bastardized version of an old Australian accent in part to lift his own spirit. "An' here ya' caught the boss man in an informal mood for once. You two must be top-notch recruits for old Gloomy here to be friendly of all things!" He added with a goofy smile. He cleared his throat and discarded the voice for the sake of an actual introduction. "Nice to meet you two. I'm Lieutenant Jacob McGregor. My old call sign before Manticore was Joker but I had to tone it down when the training officer almost shot me for a bad joke. Can you believe it? You try and share the pain of day-to-day drudgery and they want to end yours for your trouble."

He shook his head in mock disapproval to contrast a chuckle. "Anyhow, y'all can just call me Jake. I'm usually tuning up our rides when we're on standby or trackin down a good fishin spot on leave. Not much of that lately, let me tell ya. I haven't been riflin' through files or nothin, so how about you two? What brings you two to Manticore? Well, aside from the obvious 'because they told us to'."

Hoping that he'd gotten the matter with Tisiphone cleared up, Ian let out a little laugh at Jake's remark.

"Don't let him fool you." he said to Tisiphone and Bracca with a smile. "Gloomy's a reference to my surname, not my typical behavior. I'm not the kind of guy who'd murder or maim you just for having a sense of humor. Mainly because doing so would most likely get me court-martialed here."

 

[Psychie]

Motoko laughs out loud at that. "Yeah, that wouldn't be too good there, boss man. Hey, instead of standing around on the hangar deck, lets show our new Manticore members the lay of the land." She looks up at the two tall aliens and asks, "Have either one of you ever been on a Ikazuchi Class Command Cruiser before? It is a 3D maze, but once you get the hang of it, getting around is not so bad."

 

[jaydude]

"Yeah, that wouldn't be too good there, boss man. Hey, instead of standing around on the hangar deck, lets show our new Manticore members the lay of the land."

"Not going to stop you there." replied Ian.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Bracca puts down his own thick paw, having saluted the officer on deck. He does his best to keep his own grin under wraps.

“Great to meet you, sir,” he says to the 2nd Lieutenant. “And the rest of you. Name’s Bracca. But you can just call me Brac.“ He eyes Jake in his mechanic’s coveralls. “And I can tell we’re going to be fast friends Lieutenant. I’m new to being a pilot, but I’m an old hand at repairing and tuning. Hopefully, you can show me the ropes.”

He turns to Motoko. “Nope. Never been on Ikazuchi Class before. I‘d kill to see her engine room. I be she’s gorgeous under the covers.”

 

[jaydude]

Bracca puts down his own thick paw, having saluted the officer on deck. He does his best to keep his own grin under wraps.

“Great to meet you, sir,” he says to the 2nd Lieutenant. “And the rest of you. Name’s Bracca. But you can just call me Brac.“ He eyes Jake in his mechanic’s coveralls. “And I can tell we’re going to be fast friends Lieutenant. I’m new to being a pilot, but I’m an old hand at repairing and tuning. Hopefully, you can show me the ropes.”

He turns to Motoko. “Nope. Never been on Ikazuchi Class before. I‘d kill to see her engine room. I be she’s gorgeous under the covers.”

"Engine room it is." said Ian, turning around and gesturing for the rest of the squad to follow him.

 

[Sherwood]

The walk through the corridors of the ship are uneventful, but Tisiphone and Bracca do get the occasional side glance as you go by. Not many people have had the chance to see any of your two species up close and personal like this, and even knowing that there are new additions to the crew roster, seeing in person is a whole new thing.

When you approach the doors leading to the main engineering section of the ship, you can see that there is a small security station covering the entrance, just like when you need to report to the command deck. There are four guards there; two just in their CVR-3 armor, and two in Cyclones. The Sergeant in charge of the four politely but firmly asks for your identification, and since you are clearly pilots and not a regular part of the engineering team, he asks what the purpose of your visit is. He does a quick check with his superior before giving you the green light to go in.

The chamber is very large, taking up three decks of the MacArthur. The largest single component in the room is a glowing sphere that you would recognize as the ship's fold space engine. It is a remarkable piece of technology. The rest of the chamber is devoted to the more mundane systems of the ship, running power from the main Reflex Furnace that is the heart of the reactor.

One of the things that stand out is that there are several other Karbarrans in the room, all dressed in their jumpsuits and working controls as a part of the engineering staff. And speaking of staff, there is a woman approaching your group, a Chief Warrant Officer with the name Goetz on her shoulder. She gives a friendly nod to everyone before saying, "I'm Chief Goetz, current watch officer for the engine room. What can I do for you?"

 

[jaydude]

Ian introduced himself to Goetz, before gesturing to Bracca and Tisiphone. "Our squad's got new members, and we decided to show them around. We thought we'd start off here, assuming you have no issue?"

 

[WlfSamurai]

Bracca nods and salutes to the Warrant Officer. "It's my fault, Ma'am. I couldn't help it. I find a warm sense of relief when I get to see the engine room of the ship I'm serving on. Like she's welcoming me in and I get to spend the evening getting to know her. I didn't mean to intrude on your operation. But, damn. She's a beaut'. Incredible."

He stands in utter awe of the chamber and its contents. The space fold engine in particular strikes Bracca the most. A real feat in engineering and know-how.

 

[Sherwood]

The Chief's somewhat stern expression softens at that complement to her engine room. She glances around at the various work stations being manned by the different crew members, then says, "Well, yes, the Ikazuchi class ship are the largest vessels, aside from the SDF-3, in the UEEF fleet, and as such, they are quite impressive. The Mac houses over ten thousand souls on her, and has enough firepower in her Veritechs to lay low a Zentraedi destroyer with ease, and keeping it all running is a big part of our job here in engineering."

Chief Goetz motions over towards the Reflex Furnace and says, "The power core puts off enough energy to run a city, and our fold engine lets us make jumps of many light years in mere moments, with longer trips possible, but those take a little bit of time." She points at some of the control panels and says, "Environmental, power regulation, aux security, all operated from these terminals. There is not an aspect of the ship that we can't run from here. Truly a remarkable piece of machinery."


Mineczka

Valriya has had a rough go of it lately. Upon deployment onboard the MacArthur, you have been a proud member of the Red Devils Squad, a trio of Valkyrie fighters, tasked to a ground support role in the efforts to try and establish peaceful coexistence with the Robotech Masters. When the fleet broke free from fold space and were immediately attacked by the Invid, things went pretty crazy for a while, but the hours of training the Red Devils had put in quickly paid off and the tide of the orbital battle started to shift to the advantage of the UEEF.

But perhaps things were going a little too well, because the ground war against the Inorganics went south quickly, and the Red Devils were flying constant missions dropping bombs and laying down the hurt on the Invid. It was during one of these bombing runs that your flight lead took a hard hit to the wing that caused him to spiral in and crash, killing him instantly. Then things go from bad to worse when your flight second is also hit, sending shrapnel through her cockpit, perforating her badly. At least she is going to live, but she's not going to be flying anytime soon, if ever again.

The icing on the cake is that when you were making your final approach to the Mac after your last attack run, you landed a bit too hard and broke your leg. It was a simple break, but you will be out of the cockpit for at least a month. Not your best day.

Right now, you are cooling your heels in the outer office of the ship's CAG, a woman named Commander Erin Reynolds. Valriya has just been medically released to be returned to flight status, but the UEEF doesn't want you flying solo, and you have to see where you are going to be assigned to now.

Finally, the sergeant that is Cmdr. Reynolds' secretary says, "Lieutenant? The CAG will see you now."

 

[Mineczka]

It was at times like this, a set of words that were once spoken to Valriya rang ever louder; Dying is easy, Living is harder. Those words especially rang true once the Zentradi pilot had been deployed to the MacArthur, her squadron, the "Mad" Red Devils, a Close Air Support for the ground forces against the Invid. Things oft went smooth in these runs, as the team battered the opposition in their way. Though said good times were not to last, as their last run turned into a bloodbath. First to fall was Alex. Valriya could only watch as the hit his valkyrie suffered had torn off one of the wings, sending him out of control to the ground below. Second was Amanda, whose damage, while not immediately lethal, had compromised her condition. Valriya had to evac both as soon as possible, covering the retreat all she could.

Topping a bad situation off, was Valriya's landing on the Mac. A sharp pain came from her leg as she set the battered Varitech down, leaving even Valriya injured in the failed bombing run. After a month of treatment, allowing her body to heal, Valriya was ready to fly once more, this time, under a new squadron gauging by the last squadron's untimely demise. Standing in the outer office, Valriya adjusted her glasses, waiting for Commander Reynolds to call her in. It felt like an eternity, though finally, the Sergeant spoke up,

"Lieutenant? The CAG will see you now."

"Thank you." A simple response from the Zendtradi, whom then approached the door, and eventually walking in, quickly changing her stance into attention, following the stiffened posture were simple words, "Lieutenant Valriya reporting, ma'am."

 

[Psychie]

Motoko is hardly the mechanic or engineer of the group, but even she has to admit that the engine room is an impressive sight. "Chief, this is quite the setup you have here. But, I'm more comfortable on the flight deck getting my Alpha ready for a scrap instead of pushing electrons here in the heart of the ship. I'll leave all of this," she motions around her with a hand, "to you guys."

 

[Sherwood]

"Thank you." A simple response from the Zendtradi, whom then approached the door, and eventually walking in, quickly changing her stance into attention, following the stiffened posture were simple words, "Lieutenant Valriya reporting, ma'am."

As you come in, Commander Reynolds looks up from the terminal she is at and leans back in her seat. "At ease, Lieutenant." She looks up at you, then glances down at the terminal again. "According to the doctor, you are cleared for flight operations once more. Right now, I have the problem of finding where to place you." The CAG then goes on to say, "After a bit of hunting, I feel that I have located the right squadron to put you in. Manticore Squadron will be your new home. There are other new arrivals to the squad, including one of the few Karbarrans rated for Veritech operations, and a Paraxian."

From what you know of the pilots of Manticore Squad, they have had both some great successes, and have also suffered a loss of one of their own in the fight against the Invid. Commander Reynolds next says, "I am sending word to Lt. Ian Grimsbury to come and meet you. He is one of the rising stars on the Mac, and I know that this will end up being a step in the right direction for you, especially after what has happened to your old squadron."


jaydude

As you are looking around the engine room, Ian gets a text message on your wrist computer that the CAG wants to see you again ASAP.

 

[jaydude]

As you are looking around the engine room, Ian gets a text message on your wrist computer that the CAG wants to see you again ASAP.

Ian looked at the message with a hint of concern, wondering why he'd be called out of the blue like this, then turned to the rest of his squad.

"Apologies, but something's come up. For the time being, I won't be able to join you lot for the tour." he explained to them. "Jake, Bigs, I trust you can keep an eye on our new members while I'm gone?"

He spent only a couple of seconds waiting for an answer, before heading off to where Commander Reynolds and Valriya were waiting.

 

[Psychie]

Bigs nods, "Of course, sir. We'll make sure that our new nuggets are well taken care of." She gives Ian a thumbs up, and waits for him to hustle off before saying, "I don't know much about Karbarran and Paraxian physiology to know, but I'm guessing you are the ones to check on this. Alcohol affects humans with a feeling of euphoria; does it do the same to the two of you? If so, we can return to the crew area and have a few beers while we wait to see what the CAG has in store for us this time."

 

[Mineczka]

A quick response came from Commander Reynolds, whose eyes left the screen she had worked and now towards the Zentradi in front of her. At the command, Valriya's stance shifted, as she listened to the new placement of the young pilot, she was to go to Manticore squadron. They had faced the same problem that Valriya had, having lost one of theirs, she was the replacement. As the commander finished her orders, Valriya spoke, her words felt as stiff as her posture, "Ma'am. If I may ask, how are Amanda's wounds?" Even though it was not her place, nor her concern to check up on the injured pilot, Valriya still wanted to know her fate, and hopefully give a visit at least sometime soon...

 

[Random Word]

Tisiphone looks nonchalantly around at the large chamber full of the machinery of the gods, but quickly gets bored. She isn't a priest, and while this whole ship is a weapon, this isn't the part that destroys the enemy. She perks up at the mention of alcohol, looking at Bigs with naked awe. You had to do something impressive to earn alcohol rations. To share them with your closest comrades was proper, but to have so many you would casually hand them out to near-strangers? This woman must be a living legend or incredibly generous.

"Really!?" she exclaims, delighted. Ah, but surely she's made a mistake. It would be impolite not to give her a chance to back out gracefully. She coughs and schools her features, "Ma'am, I'm grateful, but I can't possibly accept a gift like that."

 

[Sherwood]

A quick response came from Commander Reynolds, whose eyes left the screen she had worked and now towards the Zentradi in front of her. At the command, Valriya's stance shifted, as she listened to the new placement of the young pilot, she was to go to Manticore squadron. They had faced the same problem that Valriya had, having lost one of theirs, she was the replacement. As the commander finished her orders, Valriya spoke, her words felt as stiff as her posture, "Ma'am. If I may ask, how are Amanda's wounds?" Even though it was not her place, nor her concern to check up on the injured pilot, Valriya still wanted to know her fate, and hopefully give a visit at least sometime soon...

The CAG nods, saying, "Of course you can ask. I would be surprised if you didn't. She is doing well, recovering from her injuries. Unfortunately, she did lose her arm, but the good news is, she will now be a candidate for a cybernetic limb. It may be that she will be ale to get back in the cockpit once she is acclimated to her new arm. In the meantime, Lt. Grimsbury should be here any time now . . . "

And speaking of Ian, as you arrive at the office, you are quickly shown in, and waiting inside is the Commander, and another pilot that you recognize. One of the Zentraedi pilots that have joined the UEEF back on Earth, she is a Valkyrie pilot named 2nd Lt. Valriya. She's been out of the cockpit for a while, recovering from an injury that she suffered trying to get another member of her squad safely to medical after a bad hit.

Commander Reynolds says, "Thank you for responding so promptly, Lt. Grimsbury. This is Lt. Valriya, and she is finally cleared for flight ops again, and is in need of a new squadron to fly with, so I'm placing her with you. This will place your squadron with two Alphas, two Betas, and two Valkyries. Make sure that your team is ready to take the fight to the Invid. We are going to be making the jump to fold space soon, but you can spend plenty of time in the simulators to get your team flying smooth."

 

[WlfSamurai]

At home, Brac and his kind kept similar practices when it came to off-duty activities. The Sludge, as he heard a human Private refer to their drink, was something to be shared with comrades in a similar way. “Beer” itself wasn’t Karbarran, but he had heard enough about it while working with the UEEF to know what it is. This marks the first time I’ve been invited to partake, he realizes.

”Beers sound good,” Brac says with a predatory smile. “I’ve wanted to try one since I heard about them on my last ship. Let’s do it!”

 

[Psychie]

"Really!?" she exclaims, delighted. Ah, but surely she's made a mistake. It would be impolite not to give her a chance to back out gracefully. She coughs and schools her features, "Ma'am, I'm grateful, but I can't possibly accept a gift like that."

"A gift? Naw, you'll earn it big time as a member of Manticore Squad. Besides, I wasn't planning on getting everyone smashed; we have to be able to fly [insert next flight time here]. The Invid have been harder to dig out of this planet than a Louisiana tick. I am looking forward to seeing some time away from the constant sorties once we make the jump into fold space on our way to Karbarra. So! As we hoist our glasses, Bracca and Tisiphone, why don't the two of you tell us about your home planets?"

 

[Sherwood]

Over the next few days, the six members of the squad spend some time getting to know one another, and under the watchful eyes of the Mac's training officer, you spend some time in the simulators before getting some in space flight time together. All of this is going on during the time that the 3rd Armored Expeditionary Division is loading up supplies for the next step in the planet hopping campaign against the Invid: Karbarra. Elements of the other Fleet Divisions are staying behind to finish the cleanup work on Tyrol, freeing up the 3rd AED and other Fleet elements to fold space out.

During the time that the Fleet has been working to liberate Tyrol, the various engineers onboard the Atlas have been hard at work, incorporating new ideas and technologies into the front line combatant units, starting with the lightweight Cyclone. While the -010 series Rifleman Cyclone was expected to do well against Robotech Master Bioroids, the sheer numbers of Invid have rocked the light cycles back on their heels. Thanks to the brilliant innovations brought forward by the collaboration between the UEEF scientists and the engineers of the various alien races, a new line of Cyclones has been developed and is being mass produced for deployment to the front line fighters.

A variety of new models have come forward, including the new -030 series reconnaissance model, the -040 series Saber Cyclone, and the -050 series Battler Cyclone, including the Super Cyclone that is equipped with a heavy rail gun as its primary weapon. All of the new series' of Cyclones have more armor and are faster than the old Rifleman ones, and they are due to be phased out within the next few months. Only ones of the older models that are still going to have a place in the UEEF arsenal will be the Space Cyclones of the Nova and the Comet. [OOC the new Cyclones will be listed in the Lore section shortly.]

Next on the list for improvements are the larger Veritech fighters. According to the fleet scuttlebutt, the Haydonite ambassadors have said that they have in mind an advanced stealth system for the Alpha and Beta Fighters that will render them invisible to the Protoculture sensors that the Invid have, making it only possible to detect you by visual means. There is also word that there are some improvements that can be made to the main guns of the big ships, including advancements in the heavy Syncro Cannons that have proven to be so effective on the SDF-3 Pioneer flagship, including smaller models capable of being mounted on the Beta fighter in a detachable armor pack similar to the Super Valkyrie booster pack. Sadly, these improvements will not be widely available to the Fleet before the assault on Karbarra begins.


Soon enough, the 3rd AED led by the MacArthur are making their final approach in fold space to the outer reaches of the Karbarran system.

 

[Psychie]

Motoko is getting quite excited about the new Cyclones coming out, along with the promise of advances for the Veritech Fighters. While it is not necessarily a good to look forward to combat, after losing a team member to the damn Invid, it makes it a bit personal for her. And now, there is one of the Zentraedi in the team.

Bigs is not quite sure how to feel about that.

After all, three quarters of the population of planet Earth was wiped out in the Rain of Fire during the final days of the First Robotech War, including several members of her own family. But to be fair, the group of Zentraedi under the command of Bretai did defect to the side of Earth before that happened, and if it were not for their aid, the Earth defenders probably would not have survived to tell the tale. Besides, it was war, and in war, people die. Its not like Valryia was the one responsible for giving the order to attack.

When it finally comes down to it, how she ends up dealing with Valryia will have to depend on the woman herself. Hopefully she is not going to end up being a real bitch, and will integrate with the rest of Manticore well enough. Time will tell, and Motoko makes the decision to give Val the benefit of the doubt and see how she does.

But now, the 3rd AED is heading to a new world and a new set of challenges. Motoko hopes that the first hand knowledge that Bracca will be able to provide will help her team with their upcoming missions.