Episode 28 - Passage to Tartarus

[Kite_Ishma]

Hamburg: Ready room

Kite smirked as he entered the ready, his helmet held loosely by his finger tips. "Who the whole dream team is here...we're you even cleared for combat?" That was meant to be a thought that he kept to himself but it found its way out of his mouth. Anyway, it's go time. L-T, you gonna lead us out or do you mind if I take point today? I'm itching to dish out some payback on that blue bastard from last time."

[Cardi Doorl]

- Alexandria-class Kirov -
- Combat Bridge -

“That would be our luck…” Trent drummed his fingers against his armrest - an action bereft of dramatic effect when done through a normal suit - as a number of Axis warships materialized on the situation map. “Our main target is still AEUG. If Zeon wants to dance, we’ll oblige, but we’re not about to reach out to them first.”

Then Taskforce Echo reached effective firing range of the AEUG vessels. “Begin the initial bombardment as planned. I want Alpha, Gamma, and Iota teams to advance after the third volley. Launch the teams from the Buxoro and Herakles, and one of Nunavut’s teams; they’re going forward, too.” After only a moment’s pause, he added, “And Delta Team, discourage Zeon from getting anywhere near us.”

Before long, space and the bridge were awash in the red glow of mega particles fired in three-second volleys from all of Echo’s ships. The nature of long-distance space warfare in the era of Minovsky particles meant that most of the shots were unlikely to hit any targets, but all that mattered was that the advancing mobile suit teams had cover fire until they reached their own effective weapons range.

- Kirov Vicinity -
- Delta Team -

Leandro twisted his Barzam around while the ship volleys began. “You heard that order, Kyle. We only need to shake them up.” Actually hitting the Zeon ships at their range was unlikely, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt if they’d succeeded.

He brought the heavy beam launcher to bear while the sensor radome analyzed data and calculated shots at extreme distance. He picked a ship near the head of the formation - the Mudra - and pulled the trigger. An intense red beam lanced out into the dark at the distant Axis ships.


- Alpha Team -

Stukov’s face didn’t so much as twitch when Echo’s third volley was completed. He launched the attack flare, then powered the Griffin’s thrusters for full acceleration, knowing Pan Heyden and Schuyler Dolk would not be far behind - and aside from them, the rest of Echo’s forward attack elements.

[Tangerine]

- The Dervish
- Team 3 Ready Room –

“ great... well, guess we'd better go and say hi." Irene nodded to what Wales said, donned her helmet and heading out. On her way out she saw Lt. Trask and greeted him as she wasn’t able to earlier. “It seems I’ll head out first, I’ll see you guys in flight.”

Two minutes latter she finished prepping the system and guided her suit into the catapult. “All systems go… I’m heading out!” Fully loaded the Rick Dias break free from the catapult near maximum velocity and took a full radius turn to check around before resuming defensive position.

She switched to friendly nearby channel and waited. Her screens already filled with dots along with little information about them. Now outside it seems the battle was just begun.

[mcred23]

-The Dervish-
-Ready Room 2-

Bernard zipped up his pilot suit. "Either way, I'll be in the hanger. All the activity has me worried. Besides there was a commotion in the hanger about a blue titan mobile suit," He said before leaving.

Eckardy rolled his eyes at that. The rumors about some kind of improved blue Marasai-ish suit had been floating around the Dervish for some time, and they'd recently gotten a more established profile of what the machine, called M.156, was like. Eddie had a hard time believing the thing was real, even based on what other pilots on the Dervish said about it, without seeing it himself. He leaned his head back and looked at the roof, wondering if they'd be allowed to go back to sleep when the launch alarms started going off.

"F***," He croaked quietly and sat up. Eddie zipped his white pilot suit and grabbed his helmet. "I'll be right about this s*** one of these days..." He muttered, heading out the door as he pulled his helmet on.

Marvin waited a moment before getting up off the couch slowly, only to have his helmet bang into a piece of the cake Bernard had kicked, adding more chunks to the mess. Several of the crumbs stuck to his helmet, blending in there, but a few more became stuck to his arms and were obvious on the white material of his pilot suit. He brushed them away and started off into the hallway that would lead to the hangar.

Cowboy pulled on his helmet and entered the hangar a moment after Eddie. The doors to space were already opening and other pilots were heading to their machines, but Marvin couldn't tell who. He and Eddie still wore the white pilot suits the original Dervish team had used, save their differently colored helmets, but everyone else wore the normal AEUG yellow. It was one of the many random oddities that crossed his mind as he floated to his own Rick Dias, trying not to think about the likely upcoming battle...

...Except it wasn't his mobile suit. It wasn't the Rick Dias he'd been used to using for the past months. It was an MSA-099S, an upgraded machine that was better than the basic -099. Better enough to kill two pilots... He thought, forgetting the other incident in the hangar. The mechanics said it was cursed, and some took that a little too seriously for Marvin as he powered it on. Everything started to come online alright. The suit didn't burst into flames instantly. It would be alright...

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Gryps 2 Space -

- The Dervish -
- Bridge -

The late night wake-up call from Taskforce Echo streaked in towards the 4th through slowly thickening Minovsky interference, most of it reduced to a nerve-rattling light show by the time it reached the vessels themselves. "It's all from the Titans so far, sir... Axis is still pretty quiet on our end," Jungst reported, squinting a bit more than normal as the bridge lit up from a close-by blast. "No damage reported, captain. We're holding up so far - probably cover for their mobile suits," Wade said, eyeballing the monitor above his helm station. Abbey's flat expression deepened a bit into a frown - they were working from behind. "Get our MS out there - five minutes ago! And return fire! Then I want continuous covering fire until they're all launched and out," he ordered, resting his hands on his hips. The fire from the ships didn't worry him too much yet. He'd wait to revise his opinion of how dangerous it was once Axis joined in and their mobile suits were engaged holding everything back.

"Preparing to return fire..." Filmore announced, turning to the windows after the orders were relayed and the gunners reported ready. It took a few moments for the ship's heavier guns to traverse into position, but within fifteen seconds the Dervish was pounding away back in Echo's direction. The Hamburg and New Yark joined in shortly, and the area between Echo and the 4th was filled with deadly mega-particle fire.

- Hangar -

"All right. We've got folks already on the way out and the captain will put a boot in our ass if we're not right behind them. The volume of fire is picking up out there," Fritz said on his team's channel as he finished preparing his Rick Dias to move out. The panoramic monitors finished cycling through system checks and gave him a view of the hangar as somebody else started to move for one of the launch areas. "Celeste and I will launch first. Jacob and Michiko, once you're out, form up with us and stay close," he ordered, moving out of his suit's maintenance rack. "And pray we don't run into that blue mobile suit," he thought, for all their sakes.

- The Hamburg -
- Bridge -

"Adjust our fire! We're not going to hit anything at this distance with those angles. what are they aiming at?" Loweno complained, rapping his knuckles on the arm of his chair in frustration. Lt. Stalvern remained stone faced and turned briefly to check the data on one of the bridge stations before answering, "We're not likely to hit anything at this distance, period, sir,". The captain blew out a breath and relented, "I suppose so. We'll have to close in if they don't,". He cut his eyes towards the left side of the bridge where the Trammel unit was slinking in and muttered, "And don't forget about those Zekes. They're getting ready to try me too,".

- Ready Room -

"I'm ready to go," Al said, forcing himself to keep his discomfort disguised as he finished sealing up his normal suit and gave a thumbs-up. "We can handle this, right guys?" he said, mustering up a little bravado to help him ignore the dull ache in his temples. The deck beneath their feet trembled slightly as the ship's guns let loose with another volley.

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Gryps 2 Space -

- The Bindra -
- Bridge -

"Tch," Capt. Wald grunted, dismissing Echo's opening cascade of beam fire out of hand. None of it was aimed their way, and it seemed to amount to a big show to cover for their mobile suits' advance. "The team is preparing to launch, captain. We're all clear to proceed... The Mudra and her escorts have deployed their Gazas," Vada rattled off info coming in from the Trammel and their own crew. Pizal watched the thruster flares coming from the Axis advance unit and the beam fire being exchanged between the Titans and AEUG fleets for a few moments in silence. It would be foolish to expect the AEUG to focus so much on the Titans that they could slip past or easily catch them off guard, he supposed. If he had to peg any of their enemies as "stupid" it would have been the Titans... right up until that man Scirocco took over. Now, for the time being, they were potentially more dangerous than the AEUG if Haman-sama's demeanor was any indication. He was counting on her to deal with Char.

"Remind everyone to avoid the Titans for now unless they're fired upon. We're trying to break up this AEUG unit, not drag that Titans fleet closer to us," he ordered, gesturing towards Gina to have her pass the word along. After a moment he added, "And tell them to let the Mudra unit move in first. They're set to take the brunt of whatever response the AEUG deigns to send our way,".

- Hangar -

"...what," Ball muttered incredulously as he stared at Gwen's message, his cheeks just barely flushing. He sheepishly punched past it, ignoring the tail end of Djorn's bad singing as he prepared his Gaza to move. Clearing his throat as he tried to ignore the poorly formed heart, he said to the team, "I'll launch first. Then Renard. Then Pris. The rest of you work it out after that. Don't get too far away from us. Don't get ahead of the Mudra team. Don't do anything unless Pris, Renard or I tell you to. Don't be stupid,". He had watched an entire team of rookies and an ace from the last war get obliterated in his last combat sortie. He refused to see that performance repeated.

"Max Ball, moving out," he announced himself to the bridge as he bypassed the catapult entirely, transforming into MA mode and blasting out of the edge of the hangar sending some of the crew diving for something to cling to. "Sieg Zeon!"

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Dolk -

Dolk didn't need instructions once he saw the laser light show setting up his entrance. He was already weaving through some of the friendly beam fire when Stukov fired off his flare, and he slowed down to bring himself into formation behind the Russian's murder machine. Not time to go off the rails yet. The other MS from Echo were fanned out behind them, all being tracked as best his computer could keep up with the speed and interference. One team in particular was highlighted in red, tagged in a manner almost identical to an enemy unit...

- Wolf -

"Go!" Wolf roared, his only command before a wordless growl as his Barzam shot off ahead of Sven and Daren who quickly accelerated to catch up. "Daren," Sven said, reaching for the younger pilot's suit to initiate skin talk, "Stay close to him. We have to see him through this, for everyone's sakes,". Nwosu looked at the small window that showed Sven's face, then slowly looked back to his monitors where Wolf flew ahead of them and answered, "He won't shake me. No matter where he leads us,". "Remember what I've told you! They'll be forced to show themselves before this is through!" Wolf ranted, his Barzam pushing ahead harder, it's thruster flare growing, "We'll pass through the Destiny's cleansing fire and leave all of these liars and murderers behind as ash!".

[King Monkey]

-The Dervish-
-Hangar-

Jacob flexed his fingers, and shook his hands, working the kinks out of them and listening to the creaking of his gloves in the close space of his cockpit. He snapped his helmet into place and then started the start up sequence of his mobile suit. Soon enough, the panoramic display activated and he got the sensation that he was floating in a linear seat in the middle of the air in the middle of the hangar. It was no longer disorienting for him, though it had only been a short time since he was a green rookie.

"Yes, sir," he replied to Fritz's commands. Taking hold of his controls, he uncoupled his Rick Dias from its rack and set it in motion. Soon, he was standing behind Fritz, ready to take his turn on the catapult.

"We'll show these old guys what we can do this time, Michiko," he radioed the other relatively new pilot in Team 1. He was noticeably much more jovial than he'd been in a long time.

-The Bindra-
-Hangar-

Djorn was already in motion when Ball called out his commands. He brought his mobile suit to a halt and glared at the back of the other man's Gaza as it launched. Don't do anything without being ordered? Don't do anything stupid? He might as well have told Djorn to jump out of the ship with just a fistful of rocks without his mobile suit. He never did anything stupid and he didn't have time to wait for orders. When the moment came, there was no time to ask for permission to do it, he had to move.

Still, he wouldn't directly disobey orders. He would just be creative in following them.

"I'll launch after Pris!" he declared before anyone else could claim the next spot. He moved up to make that happen, ready to blast out onto the battle field as soon as the other three had launched.

[Wedge14]

[Pan Heyden]

Like a well oiled machine Heyden fell in behind dolk and Stukov bringing up the rear in his Pink, blue and yellow euthanasia machine. Heyden was tailing his squadmates as best as he could mimicing their movements in an attempt to mislead the AEUG's tracking computers.
More likely then not the big earthnoid was going to run into some of his former allies,he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger first.

[wonton bob]

- Kirov Vicinity -
- Delta Team -

“You heard that order, Kyle. We only need to shake them up.”
"Roger that," he replied as the Axis fleet was barely tracked on his sensors. While the comp continuously adjusted its lock, Kyle fired his verniers, spinning his suit to the side he raised his beam launcher waist high and quickly fired a pair of shots at the nearest ship (Mudra).


- Iota team -

Receiving his orders, Allister waited for the third volley to lash out at the enemy fleet. He was eager to get back in the fight without worry from his squad who he knew were far from rookies. They would watch his back as they engaged in battle.

Alpha and Gamma teams suddenly started to advance, he opened his comm, "Lets go."



- The Dervish -
- hallway -

Upon hearing the alarms, Bernard picked up his pace to the hanger. Bodies soon rushed to their respective battle stations. It was no different once inside the hanger. It appeared that the order for all suits to launch was given which made it a hazard to get through all the movement in the hanger but once inside the cockpit Bernard started up the Dias. As the monitor and comp came online he snapped on his helmet and opened up his comm, "Ens. Korbell, reporting in."

[The Big Zabowski]

-Jack-

"'ere we go.."

As with the other units in Echo's line, Jack's Marasai kept in a tight formation with Te'litha as Aaron lagged a bit behind. The trio would trail Alpha and Iota teams, but that didn't matter as Jack kept an eye on his CO and Beta.

Oddly, just like Dolk.. Jack had also reprogrammed his IFF encoder to pick up the unique signature of Beta's suits. One of the benefits of being a former mechanic. As he peered out into the darkness ahead of Echo's line; the light show long simmered down to the flares of multiple MS verniers, Jack initiated skintalk with Nick.

"Nick.. can't count on Faraday to stick by once we intercept Wolf and co. When do you want to pull the trigger..?"

[The Loser Villain]

- Gamma Team -

With the order to go given, Aaron followed behind Nick and Jack for a bit. He wasn't sure if Beta was going to attack right away when they thought Nick would be focused on the mission at hand. But he quickly noticed the gap was growing between him and the rest of Gamma.

Throttling up he caught up with Nick and Jack, "Sorry about that," he said over the comm., unsure how much was getting through at that point with rising minovsky density. "I felt it was wise to watch our backs for a moment with all that's been going on." Aaron hoped that might cast off any suspicion that was cast on him. It might even have the complete opposite effect and throw him under the bus for all he knew.

-The Bindra-
-Hangar-

"Tell that to the Titans and AEUG! Come back alive."

"Will do Djorn!"

It wasn't long before their new CO Lt. Ball issued orders regarding the launch order of the Bindra Team and in regards to combat.

"I'll launch after Pris!" Djorn's voice came over the comm.

"What!" Nikolai screamed in protest, "fine I'll go after Djorn!"

He wasn't too keen on the 'don't do anything unless we tell you to" order Ball issued. They'd survived the sorties they'd been on already, the ones who died were actually veterans.

-The Dervish-
-Ready Room 2-

"F***, I'll be right about this s*** one of these days..."

Even with everything that was going on, Sophie couldn't help but snicker at Eddie's reaction as she finished donning her yellow normal suit. "One day Eddie. Hopefully we won't need to anticipate anything like this for much longer." She said following him out into the hallway and heading for the hangar.

[Ziryab]

-the Bindra-
-hangar-

Pris sucked at her teeth in mild disappointment at Ball's commands. She felt that he was selling the rookies far too short but she would keep her disagreement to herself for now. It wouldn't be a good time at this point.

"Try to stick together in this one," addressing mainly the youngbloods Gaza rose to its full height, "you're to wingman one us should we have to divide ourselves up into pairs," and began marching across the hangar towards the catapult to await Renard's launch. "Djorn, Nikolai, with me if we split in threes."

"More than usual we'll have to keep our eyes and suits moving and always mind our instruments. If those Titan 'things' from last time show up we bail to safety or escape by leading it to the AEUG if that fails."

Pris leaned back in her cockpit's seat as the Gaza was clutched in the catapult's launch clamps. "One-on-one-on-one, I rather we do the work of carrion eaters in this mess."

[mcred23]

-The Dervish-
-Hangar-

Eddie missed Sophie's comment as they entered the hangar, but saw her and Marvin head to their mobile suits as he entered his. The machine came online as usual, and Eddie barely got the comm powered up in time to hear Bernard report in.

"Ens. Korbell, reporting in."

"This thing ain't fell apart yet..." Marvin muttered over Team 2's channel, letting them know he was ready.

Eddie glanced around, seeing Sophie's machine was powered up, and Fritz's Dias was already moving toward the catapult, and keyed the rest of the team. "Team 1 is going first, so as soon as they're clear, I guess we'll join the s*** storm," He smirked. Outside, they could already see the many flashes of beam weapons. As much as Eddie didn't want to admit it to himself, this one looked like it might be bad...

[Cardi Doorl]

OOC: Not dead! Sorry for the wait, just had a few days of adjustment after moving across the ocean. More substantive Titan post to come in a bit.

IC:

- Endra-class Bindra Vicinity -

Renard had launched shortly after Max, using the same catapult Pris was about to use. He brought his Gaza-C, in mobile armor mode, into loose formation with Max’s and gazed, pokerfaced, at the AEUG formation they were approaching.

[Cardi Doorl]

- Alexandria-class Kirov -
- Combat Bridge -

Trent swore when it became clear that Beta Team had advanced against orders.

“Issue a recall order to Gamma Team,” he said quickly, though he knew it was a futile gesture; Wolf Ritter had been out of his control for a long time now. Beta and Gamma teams in the same field of fire…


- Between Taskforce Echo and 4th Advance Squadron -
- Alpha Team -

Like clockwork, the AEUG vessels returned fire. That kind of main-gun fire was of course unlikely to strike down a mobile suit with a well-trained or experienced pilot, but it did delay their arrival and buy time for AEUG mobile suits to deploy.

Now Stukov, Dolk, and Pan were in formation at the head of the Echo spear rapidly closing in on the target vessels despite the juking and twisting maneuvers. Soon enough the AEUG battleship - now confirmed as an Irish-class - was within the maximum range of the Griffin’s beam rifle. Stukov readied the weapon but wasn’t about to waste energy firing until he was a good deal closer.


* * *

- Salamis Kai-class Nunavut -
- Combat Bridge -

Lieutenant Commander Kaapro Laaksonen remained expressionless as the last Hizack of the Nunavut’s first three-man team shot forward from the launch catapult into formation with the advancing Kirov teams. The Finnish-born Titans commander struck an impressive figure despite his below-average height thanks to his athletic build and unrelenting demeanor. The contrast of his dark brown hair and eyes with his very pale skin only made him more imposing, like something from another world unaffected by, and contemptuous of, this one. It was because of this quality that he was often mistaken for a Jovian despite being Earth-born.

At the very least, this team going forward is from the Zedan reinforcements, but what a waste. I know how this Andrewson Trent uses auxiliary forces, and my men won’t be the next.

[Inferno]

The Herakles

"Go time." The words left Orsino Gerwulf's mouth with a disturbing calmness, only hinting at the volcanic anticipation building in him. The Hizack shot forward and out of the Hangar, with Orsino jetting out to survey the battle. He could make out the biggest ship, but that wasn't his main interest That Sally-K we shook up last time... Where are you, rookie?

Marco was next to launch, being Orsino's "Caretaker". He kept the beam rifle ready. Now to pick out a target. It looked like the main ship was covered by the Kirov crew. Still, orders were to go after it, so a little bit of support wouldn't hurt. But then again, who was covering its escorts?

Criss shot out next, immediately sticking to the back of the formation, beam rifle ready. Last time she looked like a coward. That wouldn't be happening again.

The Hamburg

"Okay folks, let's get this show on the road!" Kou hopped in his Nemo and approached the catapult. "Stuck together, and get ready to fight as soon as you clear the hangar!" And with that, Kou Uraki launched out into space.

[Attomoku]

Gamma Team

Lt. Te'litha

Nick had taken off like shot when the third volley had lit up under his feet like some neon road into chaos; Only slightly adjusting position when Jack pulled up next to him and initiated skin talk. "Nick.. can't count on Faraday to stick by once we intercept Wolf and Co. When do you want to pull the trigger..?" Nick was about to answer when he noticed that Wolf and the rest of Beta, (Highlighted in purple, so to standout even further than just 'enemy red') had pulled away with the intercept teams against orders. "Whoa, hold up for a moment," he said slowing his machine and spinning it to face Wolf's as it raced towards the AEUG. "What are you doing??" he muttered to himself semi-rhetorically. Ignoring Aaron for the moment, and tuning out the tinny recall orders playing in his ear, he waited to see how Wolf would react..


Iota Team

Ltjg. Kelborn

"Lets go."
Grace acknowledged Grant and, after steeling herself for what was to come and what might pass, took off across the ever deceasing gulf between the engaging fleets in a small cornea of blue thruster light.


Buxoro Team

Lt. Robin

"Lt. Robin you are go for launch" came the voice of the combat coordinator following the third MP Volly.
"Right! Marasai launching!" Elijah reply and took off down the catapult and was flung out into space towards the AEUG. He was very soon joined by Tyler and Vladas the distance continued to close.

[blind_dead_mcjones]

-The Dervish-
-Hangar-

opening the hatch of his assigned mobile suit, wales found himself hesitating slightly as he peered through the opening, a brief flash of terrace lurched over while melted to the linear seat appeared in his vision.

growling to himself the ensign angrily shook his head took a deep breath and jumped straight in, focusing on the hum of the minovsky reactor starting up in an effort to relax "ok, lets get this over with" he muttered to himself as he moved his suit from the maintenence berth, taking up position behind celeste and michiko at the catapult irene had just launched from.

trask meanwhile had finished his mobile suits boot up and was doing the same, lining up behind jacob as he checked the targeting systems while he waited, looks like the anaheim guys got the targeting issue sorted out. he thought

-the Hamburg-
-Hangar-

without amoments delay, Paris launched in her Nemo alongside Kou's, immediately bringing her shield and beam rifle up in the standard combat position

"i'm ready Sir!" she replied on the comm, wishing her heart would stop pounding as she saw the barrage of mega particles being exchanged between the approaching ships

focus on the mission. she kept telling herself, stick together with everyone else.

[The Green Flame]

- Salamis Kai-class Herakles -
- Hangar -

Alex's Hizack shot out of the hangar last, accelerating to catch up to the rest of its squad that had formed up and moved to join the rest of Echo's mobile suit teams. Not much had happened yet but it must've been time to stop playing around and kick the AEUG out of the area.

Eyes searching it wasn't hard to find their main target but well he would rather deal with its escorts and let the Kirov bunch handle it. Why he almost hoped they ran into that extremely unlucky Salamis from before. At least that way he knew what they were up against.

"Try not to get carried away guys, I don't want to peel your remains off a ships hull"