Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 1: The Culmination

[Terrador]

At the sound of the siren, Bruno pops open the cockpit and settles into his mech, hearing an unfamiliar voice comment on his decision to observe, rather than enter the cockpit early. He ignores the voice for a moment, raising each foot of the Legionary and checking the attachment of each new weapon. [incision knife, assault blade, impact gunlance. All appear to be fully operational.] With a slow, clear intonation, Bruno confirms his status.

"Giant-4, ready to deploy."

Astin's comment didn't quite merit recognition yet... in no small part because Bruno didn't know who had actually said it!

Edited June 12, 2016 by Terrador

[scorri]

"See, there you go. That'll work better. Though I noticed something... Did you not get any guns either? Err, this is Astin. Uhm. Steel-3? I guess?" Astin frowned at the inscription on the monitor before clicking the intercom again. "Didn't mean to offend if I did. Sometimes just say things without really thinking about it."

[Terrador]

Bruno takes a moment to find the appropriate switch, never having had to switch comms in a mech before. [it has to be one of these in the communications grid...[ He turns a dial experimentally--volume. Painful, but a learning experience. Another places an audio marker next to Steel-3, one that hadn't been there before. [This must be it.]

"Testing. Giant-4, Lieutenant Junior Grade Bruno Tian." As always, opening formally. "I considered the pre-installed weapons to be sufficient long-range coverage, and instead optimized for high power at a low engagement distance." He pauses, lifting his finger from the mic button. Best practices and all; if one is panicking, leaving one's mic on to allow others to hear it could quickly cause a morale spiral. "Think nothing of it. I am ready for the exercise, but was not at the siren."

[scorri]

"Oh, right. You guys have weapons pre-installed in your mechs. Err, Sergeant Astin Doyle is my full title. Not really used to that one... You seemed comfortable up on the mech. I just thought I'd joke a bit." Astin leaned back away from the com for a second, before continuing. "I just thought you might be similar to me when it came to weapons. I'm not exactly one for guns. Or much long range really."

Edited June 12, 2016 by scorri

[Nanami Touko]

Bite The Dust

Alright, some of the lights were turning on at her console for pilots getting into their mechs. Seung-Min, Astin, Bruno... Good, all good. There was something amusing on the monitor, though... Is that... Oh... Ohohoho... You're late~ Oh, this is good. Jessica smiled, though not smugly. "Alright, close up the elevator, the doors are open. Start taking off."

"But, uh..." One of the crew had spoken up, having noticed Roxanna, "your XO, she's..."

"She's late, and it's just a test flight. It's not a big worry. She's smart enough to be clear of the ship before it takes off, anyway." She got a bit of a stare, that seemed to say 'really', but she was the captain, and at least some of the crew did agree that being late was the XO's own fault. The elevator pulled itself away from the ship, and with the doors open, they started the countdown for the take off.

Edited June 12, 2016 by Melissa

[Terrador]

Bruno thinks for a moment--Astin Doyle... Velite, exclusively melee. They were similar, but not entirely. "I prefer to have options at long range as well, although I must admit that I have forfeited extreme long-range capabilities in favor of close-range superiority", Bruno notes. "What tactics do you keep at hand for foes that remain distant?"

[scorri]

Astin gave a slight shrug before realizing the man couldn't see them. "Ah, uhm, I have some weapons that can reach range but mostly am limited. I also can occasionally catch opponents by surprise... Move further than they think I should be able to in a shorter time... It's not something I can use a lot or it gets predictable but... It's a fencing tactic. Never let your opponent know your full range. That way you can tempt them in closer. Plus that's what squad-mates are for, isn't it?"

[Xinnidy]

Dust in the Wind

"What. WHAT. WHAT NO." Roxanna slammed her hand against the elevator door. The elevator reached the ground floor, but it refused to open. Then she heard the whirring. No, no way. I was screaming my lungs off, no way nobody heard me. That pipsqueak...!! She grit her teeth, that pipsqueak just took the opportunity to play her like a fool. "Hhrahhh. I. Can't. Believe her...!!" She stomped her feet on the ground, half tempted to just bash her head on that elevator door or try to get it open... except it was already moving away from the ship now. "Damn it! I-I'll remember this!" She rose an arm and balled fist, trembling with anger. Unfortunately, she couldn't stay there cursing the captain's sake for much longer. It would be even less funny if the ship took off with her still there.

Roxanna stomped away, pride stinging. Stupid pipsqueak. So dumb. She was too tired to go back to the main building now, too, the strain from her exertion finally kicking in. Ugh, I need a glass of water...

[Dandragon]

Elaine had finally climbed all the way back up to her cockpit and got in. After flipping everything back on, including the air conditioner, she was far more ready than last time. "Giant-3, ready for take off."

[Phoenix]

It didn't take Brant very long to get changed. What held him up was the fact that the changing area had been empty while he was there. He had the opportunity to break his new flightsuit in, and quickly. He kept one eye on the door, and the other on the central bench, the only real obstacles that might trip him up during his exercise.

[spoiler=An Exercise in Futility]He fell back into a combat stance, his focus on his lower body. For Brant, most martial arts were completely different from piloting. In something like a skygrasper, all his feet could do were control the vehicle's yaw. Everything else came down to hand-eye coordination. With martial arts, particularly tae kwon do, one's footwork was everything. Brant twisted as quickly as he could, leaping into the air. His legs whipped out from under him as he aimed a vicious kick at an invisible opponent. The suit resisted the move and Brant almost ruined the landing. That was no surprise. It was a new flightsuit that he was trying to break in. He had to push it a bit further than this, though.

Brant's right leg swung out, forming a blurry crescent in front of him. He mirrored the move with his left leg, and then quickly threw himself forward, leaping into an aerial that was only ruined by the clumsy landing. He was just thankful he'd landed at all, really. He sent several more wild kicks out, and made sure to flourish with his arms while he was at it, pushing the flightsuit as far as he reasonably could, all the while envisioning a wiry opponent slipping by unscathed with each attack.

The target didn't have a face, only a silhouette. It was like trying to take down a shadow. He imagined some of the Alkaevs would be disappointed seeing him practice a korean martial art he'd studied in relative secret, instead of sambo, an old russian self defense form they had more or less forced on him, his older brother, and to a far lesser extent, Firmia. To be fair, Brant mused, sambo was too similar to judo to really help him break in a flightsuit, and a lot less fun without a sparring partner.

Suddenly the shadow he was throwing kicks at took on a face. Firmia's. Brant's latest kick completely faltered, coming in way too slow to do much of anything, and the phantom evaded it with contemptuous ease, more so than any of the others. Then it faded from Brant's mind. The skygrasper pilot winced as he dropped his stance and stood there, alone in the changing room, feeling awkward about what had just happened. "You've got to be more careful," he quietly scolded himself. "Firmia's not around anymore. Hesitate like that in a real battle, and you're the one that's going to taken down." It was no surprise Firmia's face was the one he'd seen. During their training, she'd been his sparring partner. She was slightly slower than him, and he was far and away stronger than her, able to restrain her with just one arm if she gave him an opening. Her one saving grace was incredible flexibility, flexibility that allowed her to weasel her way out of just about any lock if Brant didn't use all his power to make her tap out.

Before Rex had left to join the EU, he had been Brant's sparring partner. He didn't always lose to his brother, but winning was nearly always something Brant celebrated with himself. His brother wasn't faster than him, but he was stronger, and when it came to breaking his brother's vice grips, he didn't stand a chance most of the time. Frankly, Brant was glad his brother's face hadn't come to mind during his exercise. There was no chance in hell he'd ever have to fight Firmia; Rex on the hand was an unlikely but distinct possibility now that Brant had joined the ANF. It was time to put that out of mind before he started having second thoughts.

Brant sent his right leg straight up in one last kick to take his mind off his family, and then sat down on the bench. He checked his wrist, where his alpha tool was located. Wearing it on the outside of the flightsuit felt strange, but since he couldn't roll back his suit's sleeves, there wasn't any other choice. It's display couldn't penetrate the material, and it wasn't compatible with the flightsuit's heads up display ... not yet, at least. The screen lit up, giving off a faint teal light as a set of numbers showed up. It read '9:37' and was counting upward. Nearly ten minutes he'd been at this. It was time to go.

Brant made it back to the hangar just as a warning siren went off. He'd taken a bit too log in getting back, but since his machine was ready to go, that didn't seem to be much of a problem. There was the issue of the T-link installed on it, though. Until the aircraft could do more with it than just interpret mental commands, he wouldn't really need it, he supposed.

He approached the fighter and finally climbed up into the cockpit. Now he could have a thorough look around. If there was one thing he had to give the americans credit for it was their ergonomic cockpits. Almost as soon as he'd gotten the Accensus into its startup sequence, a callsign appeared on his main monitor. Brant just stared at it for a moment as more lights began to flicker into existence. "Stealth One, huh? Okay," he nodded his approval and began scanning the control board for the comm. His visor's hud popped up just as he found it, almost but not quite startling him. He smiled as the sensor package came online and began highlighting every other machine, both active and inactive. They were all marked as friendlies or 'unknown objects.'

Captain Gelafscht had been spot on. There was hardly anything for him to do while the Accensus started up. It gave him plenty of time to browse the system menus and take a look around the main computer's functions. There were more items on the index than Brant had years under his belt. "All this thing's missing is a drink holder, and that's a simple fix," he said, scratching the side of his helmet. "No wait ..." he spotted a small compartment near the throttle control on his left side. If he were a guessing man, it was probably for storing small items. It could probably fit a drink packet or two. Hell it was probably stocked with field rations. He sighed with a resigned smile. "I shouldn't have spoken so soon."

"This is Stealth One reporting in. All systems are green and I'm ready for takeoff. Standing by for clearance." Brant loosed another sigh and leaned back in his seat. No need to worry about anything else until he was in there air. He glanced down at the main monitor and sat up, again, deciding to do a bit of browsing while he had the chance.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Phoenix

[riariadne]

"Good day, Captain."

Dwight Turner gave a brief salute, walking into the bridge with good timing. "How are the recruits? Of course, we're testing their prowess now, and I'll have to speak with them later, but were your first impressions positive as far as attitude is concerned? It wouldn't do at all to have a squad full of belligerents. The overviews generally seemed fair enough, so hopefully they aren't too far off. Otherwise, Officer Roxanna's tardiness is disappointing, training or not- I'd have expected better from someone of her previous post."

He headed towards his station, observing the monitor carefully. "Conditions seem to be about as expected for takeoff. At your ready, Captain."

[Terrador]

Bruno offers a bit of stoic advice for the young sprout as all the mechs prepare for takeoff. "I am glad you have a countermeasure at hand, at least. However, shirking responsibility for one's own failings spelled death for more than one hothead under my command on Mars. Mind your own capabilities carefully, Sergeant Doyle." He speaks casually of the deaths; they were not horribly traumatic, and their blame couldn't reasonably fall to their superior. One lied about a life support alarm to finish a project already running behind; another hastily drilled without consulting the mine's integrity, collapsing the entire thing on his head.

[scorri]

"I'm not going to shirk my responsibility. But if I close in and take on their melee fighters, that frees up others to take on their ranged fighters. That's all I meant. I'm anything but a hot head. Ah, but, I should probably say that I'm all ready... See you on the field." Astin hastily switched over to the main channel. "Steel-3, ready to head out."

[Shin]

Thorvald's words struck deep, there really wasn't anything like that for Tarquin. Success was his only motivator and results were his only comfort. Thorvald's sentimentality was alien to the boy, it just wasn't something he was able to experience. It was almost unsettling, the further he could distance himself from it, the better.

"If it helps you, I understand." Tarquin replied, eager to leave the conversation - the less he had to talk about himself the better.

It appeared that everyone was starting to get ready, it would be best if he were also in position when it were time to deploy. The ascent into the cockpit was quite something, it wasn't like stepping into the simulator booth at all. Still, it was something he'd been trained for. He'd memorised all the instruction manuals and schematics of the seat, nothing seemed out of place. Adjusting his montiors, Tarquin readied himself.

"Steel-2 fully operational, awaiting further orders." he announced via radio, ensuring he was on the main channel. There wasn't much else to do, everything was functional and in prime condition. The only challenge would be the task ahead of them.

[SB.]

Mateus laughed at the rabbit's name, but it looked like they were running short on time. "I better go and get ready." He waved at Thorvald (and Tarquin's back) before dashing into the changing room and then hurriedly set up his weapons - all melee sounded good. With everything else sorted, he slid into his seat in the cockpit of his new machine and quickly shuffled in the seat until he felt comfy enough. "This is Steel-4, ready to move captain." He rubbed his hands together, trying to contain his excitement. We're doing it. This wasn't a sim, it was the real thing. Even if it was a training mission, he was sure that it was going to be a blast.

[Balcerzak]

He wasn't sure if his advice got through, but Thorvald felt good for trying. The alarm indicating imminent departure caused everyone to scatter off to their own mechs, so that just left climing in the cockpit of his own and affixing the chosen photograph front and center (the rest would have to wait until after the exercise, it would seem). Then it was just a matter of hopping on the comms and sounding off readiness.

"This is Giant 2, we are all green. Repeat, green to go, over."

[Phoenix]

Still waiting for takeoff clearance, Brant continued perused the system's menus. It wasn't long before he found something intriguing enough to investigate further. "These are the other callsigns ... and their equipment? Giant Two ..." He tapped the screen and a Legionary MK.III diagram along with some estimated parameters and equipment listings flashed across Brant's main monitor, causing the pilot to smirk as he took in the details. It was good he had access to this; visually confirming everything would take too long and wasn't as efficient as an onscreen reference he could use at virtually any time.

"Wrist mounted gatling, a sword, shotgun, chaff grenades, and a shoulder mounted cannon," Brant went down the list. Rather than closing out of Giant Two's listing, he converted it into an independent window, sent it to another monitor, and then minimized it, freeing up space on the main monitor. He repeated this for all the other pilots and their loadouts, including his own. "So I'd say overall we've got all combat ranges thoroughly covered, and various specializations reasonably covered. We should be fine then," Brant mused, glancing out his cockpit at the other machines in the hangar.

"That just leaves politics," Brant murmured. He switched the comm back on, but used a private frequency. "Stealth One to Giant Two. You got a moment?"

[Ether]

"Steel-1, prepared to deploy." Seung-Min called out through her comms, seeing as everyone else was doing the same at present. Notably, her usual stuttering and pausing was entirely gone, this particular sequence of events fully memorized in her mind by this point.

[Balcerzak]

With a new group it's always hard to know exactly what to expect. One thing Thorvald explicitly hadn't expected was getting hailed on a private frequency right off the bat. Intriguing, and... Stealth One would have to be the man in the fighter plane, at least based on any reasonable inference from the call-signs that had sounded off thus far. Okay, let's see what he's after.

"This is Giant Two, Stealth One. I'm reading you. Not exactly pressed for time here, and certainly more than a little curious about what you didn't want to share with the rest of the class," Thorvald replied on the closed channel with a playful tone. "Feel free to lay it on me, over."

Edited June 12, 2016 by Balcerzak

[Phoenix]

Really, Brant was less interested in privacy and more interested in avoiding a three, four, or possibly even ten way conversation. A light chuckle made it through to Thorvald's comm. "Oh we'll share this with them, too ... after I get your take on it. Right, then. The Captain didn't put anyone in command for this test. She's probably holding off on that until she's got a better idea of what we're like." It was a 'test,' Brant repeated silently to himself. "Still, without a clear chain of command we're going to have a harder time coordinating our attacks." Hopefully Thorvald could see where he was going with this now, as well as why he didn't want an open comm just yet.

"No one seemed to take offense at your little pep talk earlier, which I personally saw as the best first impression. That said, you're probably the one people would have the least issue with taking the reins for this test. I'll pitch my own name if you're not interested, but I want to make sure we knock this test of ours out of the park." While he was talking, Brant was preparing to send over the data he'd gathered on the other pilots. He didn't have any doubts that Thorvald already had this information available in his own system, but Brant's 'packaged' info was ready for viewing with just a single input. "If you are interested, I think you'll find these useful for coordinating the squad ... over."

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald nodded as the other man laid out his plan. What he said both made sense and was worth the little extra initial discretion. The only issue was, who was the right man for the job? Was it really something he should be taking charge or, or should he leave it to Brant?

With the points the fighter pilot had raised about his earlier inspirational speech, Thorvald could see how it might not be so bad to take charge here, plus it would be only a little step up from the sort of training capacity he'd been put in on previous occasions. And it would certainly only be temporary matter. Thorvald wasn't blind, and he'd seen which of the troops the captain had been paying special interest to, who among them were expected to be the real stars of the squad. Brant being one of those was a cause for slight pause, as letting the man take up the mantle now would ease the others into the long-term command structure early... however letting Brant toss his own name into the ring for command was likely to earn a sour reception, as folk would assume he were trying to put a feather in his cap and pad out his resume. Thorvald could easily see that spiral into arguments with some of the other more ambitious pilots, those who were cocksure and confident in their skills and likely to chaff under the command of anyone they felt their equal. (Elaine certainly came to mind here as a candidate for something like that). Thorvald's age and relative experience gap on most of the others certainly would work to diminish that as a possibility for conflict. That said, in theory he could also just turn the tables around, and nominate Brant himself to avoid the whole self-nomination stigma, but that left the problem of just how he'd achieve that. His impressions of the other man were a little on the slim side, though he was certainly growing in esteem as time went on, and he wouldn't be able so support them with any sort of solid evidence if pressed on the matter.

It might not be the ideal situation, and it certainly wouldn't have been one he'd have gone after without this little prompting, but after having put some thought into the alternatives, it was probably one of the better ones. There was an old maxim or proverb, something of the sort, that came to mind here. Probably some dead greek guy had been the first to say it, but since it rang true it had echoed down through the ages. The best leaders are unwilling ones, who only take up the mantle because they'd be worse off otherwise.

"I see what you're saying here, and, with the caveat that this is just until the captain establishes a proper chain of command, I'll go along with your plan here. Even if it's just a training exercise, it'll be in the best interest of everyone to perform well and observe proper discipline. Since this whole thing was your idea, I'll let you break it to the others, you do seem to have a knack for presentation. Was there anything else...? Over."

His reply out of the way, Thorvald resumed work on putting the displays, gauges, and monitors into the positions he personally found most comfortable, and where the information was all easily accessible.

[Phoenix]

"That's everything," Brant said, "and thanks." No one was leaving the hangar, which meant no one had been given the all clear to head out yet. Still probably just enough time to inform the others. It looked like it was time to put those presentation skills to the real test. Brant switched to open comm and braced himself.

"Stealth One to all friendly units, before we head out there's something I want to run by you all. I'm sure the captain will be giving us at least a general attack order, but coordinating those attacks, keeping damage on our side to a minimum, and so on, is going to come down to us." It was a test, after all. "That's why I'm recommending we have a squad leader for this test, namely Giant Two. Now I'll admit, it's not strictly necessary, or they would have picked someone for us, but this is as good a chance as we're going to get to impress the people who put us here. Whatever their expectations are, we can bury them under far better results, right now. Interested?" He omitted the usual 'over' to preserve what little impact he could fit into his message. He supposed anyone who wasn't interested in taking orders could go it alone and still do quite well here, but individual merits only counted for so much. Functioning as a unit was just as important.

[scorri]

"Steel-3 here. Sounds reasonable. We need a leader after all. May as well go with him." Astin sat back in their seat, doing another 'final' check over their console while waiting for the orders to move out to be given. They were just ready to fight and get this test over with.

[Nanami Touko]

The Rush

"Oh! Dwight, hello. Or should I call you Mr. Turner?" Jess nodded politely at their senior navigator as he came into the bridge, a small salute following. Still have to get used to that... "The recruits look promising, mostly. Some of them came across as rather strange-- there's a child out there, for goodness' sake. I know I'm nineteen, but his papers said he was fourteen. Is the ANF really recruiting people so young?" It was still a worry to Jess, wondering why someone like Tarquin was there fighting with them. The ship began to rise out of the hanger as she spoke, thinking about who else to address. "There was a quiet one, one of the 'belligerents' you described-- though she apologized, so I suppose we'll have to see what comes of her. A rather calm looking bald man, and that Eriksson, who I think I can come to trust. He had this... Protective vibe about him, and he gave a pleasant little speech to the crew."

"Oh, yes, right, we've got two Telekinetics with us, as well. I'm not sure why such important assets are being tossed out at us in the middle of the desert, but I won't second guess command. Great pilots makes out life easier!" She smiled at that, chuckling almost nervously about Roxanna. "It's a shame, but she knew the test was happening-- being late is all on her. I'm sure I'll still get an earful of it after, though." She offered a wry smile, turning her attention back to the main monitors, and tuning her headset in to the main channel of the squad, just in time to catch the last conversation being had.

"Wonderful idea, Brant. Specialist Eriksson, do you mind taking head after the first part of the test?" Jess may have sounded different to everyone over the comms. There was a certain air of confidence to her voice, now that she was situated in her seat. "You're all clear for take off, so proceed out of the hanger and assemble in front of the station, near the wastes. I'll be running you all through today's drill before we begin, so you'll understand your objective. Giant-2, you're up first."

Jess had to bite back a giggle, still a mite embarrassed to sound so official and important. But, she was doing it! She was giving it her all and not flubbing the command at all~ Something about being in this seat and fulfilling her main part of the job instill a very powerful relaxing feeling in her. It was definitely helpful to have.

Click Player Phase and Enemy Phase for neat music~

Player Phase/Turn 1

Objective: Defeat assigned targets

Battle Mastery: Complete the entire map before the end of Player Phase 5

----------

Assembled and ready to fight, Jess went on comms again, addressing the new crew. "Alright. Here's the set up. We'd like to see how each one of you performs individually. For the first part of this test, you'll each be fighting against two A.I. run combat tanks. Get a feel for your machine. Get a feel for your weapons. Your targets are marked on your monitors, and are distributed as follows: Bruno, you've got numbers one and two. Mateus, three and four. Seung-Min, five and six. Brant, seven and eight. Elaine, marks nine and ten. Tarquin, eleven and twelve are yours. Thorvald, you're on numbers thirteen and fourteen. Lastly, Astin, numbers fifteen and sixteen."

It had been a bit long winded, but it was required. Everyone had to clearly hear which targets they were to fire on; there could be no mistakes. "Once you have dispatched your targets, idle. Do not fire on targets marked outside of your own. The A.I. will auto shutdown if your robot takes too much damage, and if you assist someone with their marks, it will affect their data. You will also be penalized heavy if you interfere with anyone else's marks during this first part of the exercise. We'll get to working as a team soon, don't fret. Over." Jess cut her transmission, but left the channel open. That had gone perfectly! She'd missed nothing. She bet they thought she was smooth now~ She hadn't even forgotten-- O-Oh, shoot. She re-opened the line. "A-And, uhm, please k-keep all comms to the main channel, so we can... Record what is said, between you all... Th-Thank you. O-Over!" Ugh... Jess held her head in her hands after that moment. Almost perfect...

Edited June 13, 2016 by Melissa

[scorri]

Right then, lets do this... Astin charged their robot towards their targets, closing in quick and slashing the closest one with one of the stronger swords they had available.

Astin to 17-5, Beam Sword #15

Edited June 13, 2016 by scorri