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Small Beginnings
Topic Started: Jun 18 2014, 03:32 AM (1,181 Views)
Narrator
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Reaper of Player Characters
[ *  * ]
Time accumulates and consumes human civilization like the sands of a vast and terrible desert. Even the proudest of our achievement are hidden- invisible and indistinguishable to the wayward traveler. Perhaps the stars above, in their apparent perpetuity, will remember us. But even they are fated to vanish one day. In a universe bound by causality, nothing lasts forever- not even the hard earned peace every desired.

March 2nd of 87th year of the Universal Century calendar. For historians, this date marked the beginning of a turbulent period known as the Gryps Conflict. It was an attritional war between two belligerents: The Anti-Earth Union Group and the Titans.

The Anti-Earth Union Group, an anti-terrestrial organization formed in late 0085, began organizing a formal military in wake of the 30 Bunch Incident. Its founders capitalized on the discontent within the Earth Federation and the subjugation of the colonies. In the name of justice and sovereignty, they became the opposition.

For the AEUG's Sixth Replenishment Squadron stationed on the Geronimo, it was another day. The ship's deck crew were busy prepping their GM Rechts for a subsequent round of hard training sorties. The snipes were down below tending to the Minovsky reactor, and the bridge crew was keeping them off the rocks - something a little more tricky than usual in the Shoal Zone- with all the debris.

However, the pilots of the group were charged. There had been rumors for almost a week now that they were approaching 'ready' status, and it seemed the rumors were true: today was the day that they'd be getting a formal evaluation by a combat pilot in one of the other units. While their trainer, Eddy LeNoire, and most of the pilots had seen action before in the One Year War, there were several who hadn't - Petrenko and Finley. All of them were charged, ready for action, ready to show this 'Lieutenant Steiner' that she should pick them for the slot on the cruiser she was recruiting for.
Edited by Sovereign, Jun 18 2014, 06:07 AM.
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Quoz
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Cadet
[ *  * ]
"Ok, Marika, calm down. I'm sure we'll get the chance to see the new suit in action soon enough. But the suit isn't half as important as the pilot flying it. We've got a mission today and I'd rather fly my old Zaku into a firefight over a new suit I hadn't had time to learn." Which, come to think of it, was how I learned to fly the damn thing in the first place.

Emir finally gave the new mobile suit a quick once over. He did like the standard weapons layout - perfect for getting up in some Titan formations and smashing their faces in. Hmm... twin pistols and twin sabers. Looks like they may have gotten the power output for dual wielding. That will take some time to learn, but could be damn useful.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Emir finally let a bit of his emotion shine through and cracked a wide, slightly deranged smile as he turned back to their new evaluator. "Ma'am, if you're looking for crazy, I think you've come to the right place. We've got specialist in space and ground combat, Vets from both sides of Solomon and A Baoa Qu, and hungry young newbies to keep us on our toes. Hell, we've even brought the damn civie up to snuff. But the one thing everyone in this outfit has, down to the last man," - he made sure to give an inclusive wink towards Marika - "Is a set of steel-clad cojones so big that they have to recalibrate the ship's gyros when we all stand too close together like this. Whatever you have cooked up for us today, we've got it covered"

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Redshirt
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Ensign Expendable
[ *  *  * ]
Hilda couldn't help but laugh as one of them spoke up, mentioning how gutsy the whole team was. Sure, and I'm gonna single-handedly storm the Gates of Zedan, kid she thought, chuckling idly to herself. She was about to tell him as much when the PA system blared. "Lieutenant Steiner contact the Bridge immediately! I say again, Lieutenant Steiner contact the Bridge immediately!"

The hell... she wondered, frowning at the strong sense of urgency in the announcement. She picked up the phone, double-checked the dialer to get the Bridge's number, and spoke up. Those gathered around her would only hear her half of the conversation. "This is Lieutenant Steiner. Really? ... Sir, its Hilda. Wait, what! When did... are you sure? Really... that is interesting... no other teams in the area? Naturally. Well, consider it done, sir" was what the team would hear as she hung up the phone.

She looked straight to LeNoire, blue eyes boring right into his. Her voice was grave as it asked a simple question. "Lieutenant, are all of your pilots combat ready right now, yes or no"
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ZGMF-X28A Nu-Liberty
Nugget
[ *  *  * ]
As Hilda's icy blue eyes bored into his, Eddy decided to return the motion in kind, taking off his sunglasses for a moment so she could see his bright gray eyes returning the hard stare. His answer was rapid and final. "They're all ready to go full active, Lieutenant. I'd hoped to smooth out some rough edges today, but somehow I don't think that's an option. Am I correct, ma'am?" He slipped his sunglasses back on and waited for Hilda's answer.
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Redshirt
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Ensign Expendable
[ *  *  * ]
Hilda stared right back at him, expression hard for a moment. She then grudgingly nodded. "Very well" she said, shifting her glance. Each of the pilots in the squadron would get a few seconds of those cold, blue eyes staring them right in their own eyes as she took a silent evaluation of them.

She then smiled thinly. "This squadron is now active for combat operations" she said as easy as if stating the weather. Her thin smile was not comforting in the least to anyone who looked at her. "Seems to be that the Titans have a convoy heavy with munitions and no escort leaving Solomon sometime in the next several hours. Our job is to intercept and capture that convoy, depriving the Titans of much-needed weapons and supplies while bolstering our own loads. The Polaris group is underway from Granada to meet up with us, but they'll be a few days. This carrier and you pilots are the only ones in position to grab the convoy. We'll have a formal mission briefing as more intel is relayed to us. Captain Langstrom is on the line with your training ships and will have more for us. Get ready to fight, people" she said simply, waiting to take in the reactions of all those around her.
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VTyphoon
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Cadet
[ *  * ]
'Well said.' Roy muttered under his breath, nodding approvingly as Emir gave his glowing appraisal of their comrades. Fellow Zeon veteran or not, Faisal had long ago earnt his respect for being a driven and capable member of the team... The beard certainly helped too, attaining the brownie points the man's former allegiance wouldn't.

Al... Already? Listening intently to Hilda and Eddie's exchange, Roy's every hair stood on end, as he realised that they'd be seeing combat sooner than he'd thought. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second, before he forced his face back into an impassive mask. Excitement, joy, fear, it wasn't quite clear, but his mind was a blur from the sudden rush of emotion. At least until Hilda's eyes met with his as she looked at each of the pilots in turn, before making her announcement.

Without fear, a man can't truly be brave, and if that was what was coursing through him right now, he'd just have to swallow it down. So, as that steely gaze met his, he simply nodded, his expression betraying nothing but grim determination. He was ready.
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Kagezuchi
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Nugget
[ *  *  * ]
Marika nodded as Hilda fed her answers, the pistols were something odd in her opinion but the knowledge it did have a bazooka finally let Marika smile and spin around. It really was a Dom this was perfect and best of the best ontop of that was perfect! It was just right, she couldn't wait to have one and fly it around. Maybe they'd even let her paint it green that would be so awesome!

Her third spin was interrupted when Emir had to be a downer. "You don't understand Emir, the best way to get to know a mobile suit is in these kind of conditions! Pushing your skills and the mobile suit, pushing it's abilities to it's maximum and pulling results out of thin air!" Once again she was brought out of her high when the PA blared making Marika turn towards the speaker and then Hilda as she walked to make the call and then came the question. 'combat ready'

Marika's eyes widened at the implications and her mouth slowly opened. "We're operational?" She whispered mostly to herself and seemed more awed then worried when Hilda met her gaze.
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Blaze
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Nugget
[ *  *  * ]
One of the Zeeks, Emir, started going on about how awesome their entire team was, Fred wished he hadn't, but there was nothing he could do about it. The other man just made them all look like overconfident assholes, and Fred was expecting the rest of them to pay the price for it, but a call came in for Steiner to contact the bridge. He couldn't tell what she was talking about, but it didn't sound too great anyway, once she'd asked if they were combat ready, the line about no other teams in the area made sense.

But she didn't leave them hanging, as soon as LeNoire said they were ready, she'd told them what was going on, they were going after a Titan convoy to intercept and capture it. Even with that information, Fred had to keep himself from laughing due to LeNoire removing his sunglasses, and then putting them right back on when he was done talking. Considering the situation, Fred found that more amusing than it should be. He didn't burst out laughing, but the start of a laugh did get out and he couldn't stop himself from smiling, due to that and the excitement he felt about going into a real operaton instead of an evaluation.

This would be almost as good as an evaluation, but rather than fail, you'd die and lose your machine. It wasn't perfect, but there wasn't much they could do about it either, at some point the training had to stop and you had to use what you learned. He then looked at Chuck, "I guess you'll get your wish today after all." he said to the other pilot.
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Narrator
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Reaper of Player Characters
[ *  * ]
U.C. 0087.03.02, 0745 Hours

The Geronimo and her consorts had been underway for the better part of a day, clearing the Thunderbolt Sector proper and on their way to the plotted intercept point with the Titans' supply convoy.

The ship was almost unnaturally quiet. What had supposed to be a tough training cruise had suddenly turned into a combat mission. Sensor watches on the Bridge and CIC were tense, every tiny contact a possible hostile, since the group was well out of AEUG-controlled space.

The Sixth, meanwhile, had been drilled relentlessly for a day under the combined tutelage of LeNoire and Steiner. Steiner pronounced the group 'adequate' to their faces. One surprise, though, was Finley - he'd shown up sober, and had been his usual, non-cooperative self, but once he'd been let off the chain, he had always come away with kills in their 'worst-case' runs where the convoy had a heavy escort... including bagging Steiner once in a head to head. The Sixth was pumped, ready, and stuck waiting for the hammer to fall as they looked for any sign of the Titans convoy...
Edited by Redshirt, Jul 2 2014, 02:26 AM.
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Redshirt
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Ensign Expendable
[ *  *  * ]
Chuck sighed, sliding out of his cockpit and floating through the hangar as he finished some last minute adjustments to his unit. Locking out his cockpit with his personal code, he gently pushed off and floated through the hangar bay for a moment, looking over his assigned unit. Anyone looking in the hangar bay would see the usually drunk and boisterous pilot looking almost meditative as he stared at his unit.

____

Hilda was in the Ready Room, already in her normal suit, going over the roster that LeNoire had provided. Since Eddy had been training these pilots, she had elected to let him retain tactical command of the group in the field. He knows these pilots well; I've barely met any of them. Still want to know where that one civvie learned a move like that... one minute, he's in my sights, next thing I know I'm short an arm and he's all over me... she thought, shrugging it off. If his evals from LeNoire were any indicator, the man was an unrepentent boozer and troublemaker; a cancer to any unit he'd be in.

Sure, he can fight great alone, but its teamwork that wins wars.... I don't know if he has that in him she thought idly. If these guys can raid this convoy, though, then I think they'll do she thought, looking over the jackets on the Group again.

==Tag anyone for Hilda (Ready Room) or Chuck (Hangar Bay)==
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ZGMF-X28A Nu-Liberty
Nugget
[ *  *  * ]
The Ready Room doors then opened to reveal Eddy, no longer wearing his Teashades, dressed in his normal suit and carrying his helmet in his left hand over the shoulder. The suit was colored a dark shade of purple with black trim, the upper arms bearing unit patches. One was his old unit from the first war, but the other had a distinctly Zeon-influenced design to it. Whenever people asked why he wore such a different pair of patches, it usually came with a lengthy story attached.

Probably more than anyone, Eddy was surprised when Hilda yielded tactical command to him for the duration of this assignment. In a way, he wished she’d taken command, considering he’d spent the better part of almost two years training others rather than participate in active combat. Hopefully I’m not too rusty... He didn’t have to worry too much about everyone else, even Finley. The last hour had been full of surprises as far as Finley was concerned.

He’s still a boozer and an asshole, but it looks like that potential I’d been told about is finally starting to show. I think even Steiner was impressed.

Walking over to where Hilda was going over everyone’s jackets, Eddy decided to try and make some small talk considering they didn’t have much longer before the inevitable encounter with the convoy. "I’ve trained just about a hundred people in almost two years, but I’d say this is the first time I’ve had final evals done under live fire. Talk about odd coincidences. So, you think we’re ready?"
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