| Rescue of a Stranded Honour Patrol |
| Arc: | None |
| Summary: | Six Pilots attempt a daring rescue in of pilots from the Honour that were stranded in Nexus. This all using just three Broadswords. |
| Date: | 2658.135 |
| Related Logs: | TCS Honour Rescue |
| Participants: | Cole Draygo Foster Phillip Kanani Trey |
Set above the ready line, this sizable room serves as a briefing area for the Majestic's air wing. Stadium-style seating in five rows provides space for sixty pilots or other flight crew. At the front of the room, a lectern with the Confederation logo stands on a raised platform for presentations, with a trio of chairs located behind it. A large vidscreen is set into the wall, for projecting mission flight paths or other critical information. The side walls are decorated with the insignia of the squadrons operating off of the Majestic.
Cole stands at the lectern at the front of the room, still in his flight suit from the previous little operation, looking towards the pilots filing in. "If you'll all be so kind as to take your seats, we'll get started. Sorry to turn everyone around so fast, but we've got a short fuse on this one."
Kanani makes her way over to the 221st's seating area, quickly finding a place to sit, and then waits to hear what the heck's going on now, trying to keep from yawning or anything.
Phillip is still in his suit, though it looks a little ruffled from several hours sleep. He enters the room and heads toward his usual seat. He looks around and notices a few absences.
Another person still in flight suit would be Foster. Making his way in now, he heads for one of the seats, humming a bit to himself as he looks around. "How short?" he asked, after a few moments. Taking a seat not far from the one Kanani's taken, he leans back in the seat, looking towards the front now.
Stepping into the briefing room at the time that he was ordered to show up at, Kell's eyes takes a look around the room and notes a couple of new faces. He also heads towards where the pilots of the sleek Stiletto fighters are situated, sitting down on a chair next to Kanani in a rather casual manner, leaning back as he waits for the briefing to start.
Leaning over slightly, the young Lieutenant whispers a quick question to his squadronmate, "Heard anything about this mission? I get the feeling we'll be flying escort, since he's the head honcho of the bloated bombers." Kell ends with a slight motion of his head towards Cole, who is hosting this briefing.
"As I'm sure most of you are aware, the TCS Honour is currently sitting in formation with us undergoing repairs. From the reports her acting Captain has provided, she was attacked in Nexus and took some choice hits in short order. We're not quite sure how the Kilrathi got in on her the way they did, I suspect they're too busy putting their asses back together to do much analysis right now. A number of her fighters were out on long-range patrol, and returned when the carrier sent her initial distress call. Kilrathi reinforcements prevented them from ever reaching the Honour. Instead, they engaged with what had been a second wave of Kilrathi moving in for the attack. With no carrier left in the system, those pilots… if they are alive… are now stranded. We are going to correct that situation"
"Haven't got a clue, really." Kanani whispers over to Kell, and then shuts up, as Cole starts to explain things. She frowns slightly as she ponders what's to be the mission as something hits her, and she whispers some more to Kell out of the corner of her mouth. "Wonder how exactly we're supposed to do that."
Foster shakes his head to Kell as he hears that, before he raises his brow a bit at that part about what Cole said that Kanani pointed out. "I'm sure they'll pull something out of the hat, so to speak…"
As the briefing continues, Kell only shrugs his shoulders slightly at Kanani, showing that he has no idea himself before turning his full attention back to Cole while leaning back in his seat. Rescuing pilots is certainly a good mission, though he has a feeling it'll be some time before they launch since the Carrier will have to chug there with the fleet to jump through to Nexus.
Trey's reaction, if one can call it that, is amusement. Not the glib variety, but the darker flavor. The 'this is some shit we're in' sort of amusement. The kind that prevents tears. Fingers tap against his clipboard, but he's otherwise sinking into his seat, watching the screen and listening.
Phillip sits down, and Cole begins his briefing. Phillip's eyes go a little wide as he listens, feeling unsure as to what Cole has in mind. He turns his head momentarily at Trey's entrance, but he turns back to Cole a second later thinking about the possible mission ahead. He whispers quickly to Trey, "Paz still cleaning?"
"Unfortunately, with a wrecked carrier to play mother hen over, the battlegroup is unable to detach an escort for the duty." Ahh, the lovely arithmetic of war. "So, instead we're going to have to be a little creative. We're going to take a flight of broadswords through the jump and head out to the last known coordinates of their fighter craft. If anyone's still alive out there, we'll be able to tractor the ejection pods in and bring them back." There's a moment's pause, before he adds. "And yes, I said Broadswords. Congratulations, half of you have just been drafted to join me in flying this crazy stunt. The other half of you have just become gunners."
As Cole continues with the plan for this upcoming mission, Kell gets a sinking feeling in his stomach as he hears that the carrier will be staying put. When his worst fears are confirmed, however, he lets out a groan and shuts his eyes for a few moments. The Lieutenant doesn't try to back out of the mission, since he knows what needs to be done, it's just that his luck with the 'Swords have been awful.
Kanani just shakes her head at this news, and glances over at her two squadron mates, before whispering. "Geeze, it's even worse than I thought. Someone," she doesn't bother to identify this someone, but it should be clear who might be it, "is an evil bastard." She whispers with a smirk.
Foster blinks a bit at what he hears now, grimacing a little bit, "This is a crazy idea…" he whispers to the others nearby, before he looks up to the front again.
Trey Grayson's reaction? More of the same. The man is smiling, shaking his head incredulously, like the whole thing is just amusing as hell the same way one might find it amusing to die of a catch 22. The laugh track that only he can hear is interrupted by Phillip, to whom the man turns, leaning back in his chair, "Of course not. Escort duty, I think. That or CAP." he turns towards Cole and raises a hand… His index and ring fingers are together, with a thumb holding a pen against them at an angle, "Sir?"
Phillip nods real quick and then focuses back on the Captain. His eyes pop open real wide at the mention of flying Broadswords. When Cole pauses, Iceblade gives a quick look to Trey and back up to Cole still a little surprised by this idea.
Cole pauses in his delivery, looking along towards Trey. "Yes, Lieutenant?" he calls, offering a slight wave of his hand over in Sloppy's direction.
"Captain Cole, sir… you said we're flying Broads in with crew and we're coming into a potential hotzone, -SO-…" He punctuates this with a waggle of his pen, which he's still holding in the air, "With limited intel, I'm guessing we don't know what we're walking into. I didn't hear you mention fighter cover, in case we run into some kittens. I realize you've -clearly- got no problem swatting Snookums in the face with a Broad but the rest of us aren't so gifted. I mean… we -can- be at a moment's notice, sir. If you say we need to jump, I won't ask how high. I'll just strap on a rocket pack. I'm just sayin', is all."
"Sloppy, if you can figure out a way to get a jump drive into a Scim, Rapier, or Stiletto in the space of the next ten minutes, you'd be the most popular man on the ship at the moment. Though let me assure you, Douglas Aerospace has been working at it for years." Cole explains. "As it is, the 'Swords are the only secondary craft we have with jump drives, and thus the only way we've got of getting back into Nexus without capital ship support."
Trey nods, "Right. So.. TCS Honour's still not kicking baby birds out of the next. I was afraid you were going to say that." He lowers his HAND and bounces his back into his chair a few times. More grim amusement. The divine comedy. Clearly.
Kanani turns her gaze from the podium towards Trey, as he asks the Captain his question, and shrugs a bit. By her expression, she's, if not particularly pleased about flying in a 'sword, but at least she's resigned to that fate for the moment.
Foster shakes his head a little bit as he listens for the moment, keeping quiet for now.
"Right now, I think the Honour's glad it isn't kicking the bucket. Four fish is more than any light carrier has a right to survive," Cole explains, pausing for a moment and looking over the gathering. "I realize this is a little outside the usual. But I'd like to think, if our places were reversed, the Honour's people would do the same for us." That said, he continues on with the business of the day. "Razor, Iceblade. You're in dash two. Razor's flying. Sloppy, Gambit have dash three. Sloppy's flying. Tsunami, afraid you're stuck with me in dash one. Questions?"
Phillip shakes his head in the negative.
As the mission is finalized, any reservations or ill feelings that Kell might have is pushed away since serious business is about to start. He looks around briefly trying to see who 'Iceblade' is since the callsign doesn't ring a bell, but when he doesn't see anyone looking towards him, he turns towards Kanani and Foster. Giving both a nod as if to say good luck, Razor sits up and gets ready to rise once the order to head towards the bombers are given.
Kanani shakes her head some more, and nods towards her two squad mates as well, waiting to see if there's any questions before the mission starts up.
Trey glances towards Foster, nods once to the man, and then turns back to the podium.
The Broadsword's cockpit seems to be unusually spacious for a Confederation craft, likely due to being located in a larger hull. The traditional bank of consoles surrounds the pilot, with MFDs to either side, damage and fuel indicators left and right of center, and the radar display directly in front of the pilot. The top half of the cockpit is entirely clearsteel, with the exception of the supporting struts where the plates are joined. The biggest change from this from a standard confederation craft, however, is that the cockpit is not designed to open, instead accessible by a door that leads towards the rear of the craft and the three bulbous turrets mounted there. Ingress and egress are performed through a hatch set into the floor between the three turrets.
Trey checks the controls on the ship, leaning back into his chair and flipping various switches overhead. "God… what a lumbering pile of steel. I love it. You clean back there?"
Sloppy says, "Control, Control, Control, this is Bravo Sigma One Three Stroke Three requesting clearance for launch, in deference to element lead Dash one. Pleaaaase advise, control."
"Good," comes the short reply from Foster now, as he looks over the guns for a few moments.
Iceblade says, "Razor, Ice. Ready to protect our tail, Razor."
The flight out towards the jump point might be long at Broadsword-speeds, but it's at least uneventful. Four Raptor-class heavy fighters are waiting at the jump point, Majestic's guard against a further Kilrathi intrusion. As the three craft make their way to the jump in formation, there's a brief but brilliant flash of blue-white light and the fighters disappear… reappearing a moment later in Nexus, with the gut-wrenching sensation that accompanies a jump. « All craft, come to heading zero six seven mark negative four six. Last known position of the Honour's fighters has been designated Nav 1, two hundred eight seven thousand kilometers out. » Cole orders, as his own broadsword lumbers around towards the appropriate heading. That said, he kills the mic and looks back over his shoulder for a moment to Kanani. "Doing alright back there?"
Kanani chuckles slightly at the question from Cole, and she turns around from the turret controls for a moment, to answer. "Yeah, I'm doing fine so far. Though I'm wondering if it'd help if someone got out and pushed this thing. She adds with a snicker."
Phillip turns his head around to Razor, "Man, I don't think I'll ever get used to jumping in smaller craft."
Trey crawls, relatively speaking, onto Cole's five o'clock position and sucks in its chest, and its altitude, to sling beneath the craft, as well. Its pilot glances down the rear of his bomber, "How are the gimbals, Gambit? Smooth or creaky? I heard one of the 13th guys complain about a problem with a stuck gimbal that seems to get circulated around."
Foster pauses a little bit as he hears that question, "So far, so good…" he replies, with a bit of a shrug. "Let's hope it's circulated to someone else for now?"
The urge to look for the afterburner button on the Broadsword is great but there isn't one to be found so Razor and Iceblade lumber along at cruising speed with the rest of his flight. The speed is a lot slower than he is used to and from time to time a scowl would appear as he has to steer, not fly, but steer the bomber towards the direction they are supposed to go.
After the jump, Kell is back to game faces as he quickly scans the sensors once they enter the destination system, «Understood, forming up as ordered.» Razor glances back briefly towards the rear gunner pod and says, "Get ready, Iceblade, we might get jumped at any moment." He then returns his attention to his sensors and visual spotting while they are flying.
"Roger that," Iceblade says quickly to Razor before turning around and focusing intently on his own sensors, glancing up every few moments.
Thankfully, it doesn't seem the fighters are going to be lumbering long. A little more than halfway to their destination, the fight seems to be coming to them, a trio of Confederation fighter craft locked in an odd sort of low-speed running combat with four Kilrathi. The sort that the Stiletto pilots in the group might well recognize as resulting from craft fighting at the very end of their range.
« Looks like we found the party » Cole comments. « Good to see there are some still fighting. » he says to his wingmates, before attempting to contact the other fighters. « Confederation craft, you've got friendly assistance inbound. We'll come in as quick as we can, but anything you can do to bring the fight to us would be appreciated. »
As they continue on their mission, Razor picks up a few blips on his sensors, both friendly and hostile, «Looks like we have action up ahead. The friendlies are almost out of juice.» He quickly looks down at his HUD, cycling through the different systems until he finds the weapon's one and looks at the armament on this bomber. "Get ready for some action, Iceblade. It's about to get hot." He arms the missiles on the Broadsword and finds one of the hostile Kilrathi before pushing the throttle up as far it goes, the speed picks up slightly.
"Well at least if they're fighting still, it should make things a bit easier for us to finish off the cats. Hopefully." Kanani calls out over her shoulder towards Cole, as she makes a few last minute checks on the turret's systems before going into battle.
Iceblade responds, "Roger Razor." As he looks as his own display adding in a joking manner, "OH and try not to go too fast, okay."
Trey ho-boys at the situation beginning to unfold outside his cockpit window. "Gambit, this is gonna get a little tipsy." The entire craft seems to shudder a bit as he pulls the throttle all the way back. It's moving as fast as it can, staying in formation, and that's really not fast enough. One would expect a Scimitar pilot to understand, but clearly this one no likey. "What did you eat for lunch today?"
Foster nods a little bit as he hears that, getting the guns ready. "Not much," comes the reply to the inquiry about the lunch. "Don't worry about that."
It takes a moment, but a human face clicks onto the VDUs in response to Cole's words. The man's face is covered in a series of tattoos. « We will attempt to comply, though I suspect you are too late to save us ». The man explains simply, pausing for a moment, the image visibly jerking to one side as one of the Rapiers in the distance comes around hard to stitch a line of gunfire across a Sartha. Still, between the three Rapiers working towards their 'rescue' and the Broadswords continue lumbering along, the fight seems to be close at hand.
« Lead to element. Break and attack » Cole orders simply, his own craft banking down and away from the formation, moving in to try and catch a Sartha pilot paying less attention than he ought to be. "This is about to get interesting…" he calls back to Kanani in warning.
Phillip scans for a target and spots one sartha coming in range and begins firing at it.
"Was just asking because I suspect you'll get to keep it. Hang on. We're in for some chop." Trey pulls the craft out of formation and steers towards one of the Kilrathi, doing his best to keep the ship relatively steady. To facilitate this, he switches to FoFs, popping the safety cap on his flight stick and firing one off indiscriminately. He hits the comms and his face shows up on the VDUs, « Keep your pants on. We're coming for you. » and then to the Captain, «Copy, sir. Dash Three is breaking formation. Gambit! Targets at bearing two one nine mark one four, three two niner mark eight six, zero zero four mark nine zero and zero nine six mark six two. Weapons free, man. Clearing the road.»
Foster nods a little bit as he hears that, looking around for a few moments, before firing off at the closest available Sartha now. "Let's do it!" he offers.
The Broadsword is going as fast as it could, but it is still very slow to Razor's standards. The bomber turned fighter finally reaches range and the fight is joined, the pilot steering the bomber into a dive at one of the Sarthas that is engaged with the Rapier that is in dire straits. He tries to activate the afterburners out of habit but finds it missing so he can only watch the klicks countdown as he gets into missile range. With that done, he fires off a missile, easier to do in the Broadsword since it isn't a Heat Seeker.
Kanani rotates the turret around that she's currently occupying, keeping an eye out for a free shot at the cats. "Well, here we go, it looks like. Don't get us shot up, Voodoo." She adds, before one of the Sartha flies into her view, and she opens fire with the neutron guns.
« Shit, I'm gettin' torn up out here! » A female voice calls from one of the Rapiers, as gunfire from a Sartha tears one of the fighter's laser cannon from its wing mount. Still, the Kilrathi seem to be getting the worse of the exchange for the moment… none of their fighters escape damage in the first pass, and one is shattered by combined gunfire.
« Nice shooting… whoever that was » Cole's a little too caught up to pay attention to who's where, aside from the target he's struggling to keep in his sights. All he knows right now, is that the four red dots on his radar screen have suddenly been reduced to three.
As the Sartha buzzes past one of the Rapiers, it misses all of its shots and takes a few nasty hits by the other Rapiers. Iceblade lines up on this Sartha and blasts it right across the nose causing it to explode in lovely ball of hot fur. «Yeah, this is Iceblade. Scratch one kitty.» Iceblade then quickly pans around looking for a second target.
Kanani grumbles a bit after only doing a little bit of damage to her target's wing. She continues to track her gun along the Sartha's flight path, trying to maybe do some more substantial damage to the enemy fighter.
Trey keeps it steady as she goes, flying directly into the fray and letting his gunner do most of the heavy lifting. The smart missile he launched billows smoke into the void, and then sharply turns towards one of the Kilrathi fighters. Though the craft attempts to outrun the thing, it just can't. To boot, the feline's gyrations cause it to entirely miss the pilot he was attempting to exterminate. The missile slams into his guns, tearing loose some of the cannons. «Hey, cat!» addresses Trey on the VDU to everyone, though clearly it's intended for his target, «Is it just me, or are you needing a litter box right about now?»
When the first missile misses, Razor frowns as he continues on, arming the second missile now as he continues to chase or what he does his best as chasing as he keeps the Sartha in his sights while he launches another Friend or Foe Missile. This one streaking at the same Sartha that was able to evade the first one by inches, the scorch mark of the missile's rocket propellant on its wing.
Foster keeps attempting to fire on the enemy craft he has in his sights at the moment, firing off another time. "Stop playing with them, just take them out?" he suggests a bit lightly to Trey. "Otherwise we could be singing 'What's New Pussycat' or something?"
« We may survive this yet » The tattooed pilot calls over comms. Though he's quick to add a retraction of « Nevermind » as another four Sartha move into join the fighting, drawn to the battle by the calls of their now-mostly-dead companions.
"Not sure what you're doing back there, but I just made one go away up here!" Cole calls back towards Kanani with a little laugh. "We've got more coming in, though" he adds, before his bombers wings around hard to meet the new wave of attackers head-on.
Trey cracks, "I'll fire my fully auto-locking smart missiles a little more expertly just for you." The response is light, as well. Just a friendly jab. He fires off the other FoF missile, which latches onto the feline aggressor with gusto and blows it to pieces. "See? Just for you. Good shooting, by the way. Please be advised I'm out of mi-HOLY SHIT THIS THING HAS TORPEDOES." Yes Trey. It does. «I have explosives.» It's out of context, but he sounds so cheerful about things. "Well, I'm not firing a torpedo at a fighter, so it's moving target time." He pulls the flight stick back and begins to line up on an enemy fighter as smoothly as he can, peppering the space in front of himself with mass driver shot.
Phillip eyes the three Sarthas going after one of the rapiers and begins firing on one of them, scoring on blunted hit. Damn, Iceblade mumbles. Just then the Sartha is taken out by an FF missile from one of the broadswords. Iceblade then scans for another target, but notices more enemies in-bound on his sensors. Ice comms, «Guys, more bogies in-bound.» Iceblade looks up and
notices the remaining Sartha from the first flight coming for his broadsword
and focuses on it.
Kanani gives a bit of a snort, at her pilots comment, and calls over her shoulder. "Yeah, yeah. I keep hitting them, but they haven't decided to die yet." She states and then turns her turret to fire on one of the newer arrivals. "I see them, I see them." She adds as well, with a thin chuckle.
Foster grins as he hears Trey. "Anyone ever claimed that you're insane?" he
calls over, before he aims for one of those newly arrived enemies. Always the
closest he can see.
"Foster, you have no idea." replies Trey as the airframe thunders from the
combined stress of the firing cannons.
The second missile flies true and impacts into the Sartha, crumpling the wing but it seems like the damage is mostly superficial damage as the Sartha continues to fly on as if only lightly damaged. "What the fuck! Either these missiles are garbage or that Sartha is the luckiest kitty in the world on its ninth life." Gritting his teeth, he flicks his weapons to Mass Drivers since he is out, continuing to chase after the damaged Sartha as he calls out to his gunner, "More hostiles on sensors so you will have a target rich environment, Iceblade."
<COMBAT> Trey attacks Sartha-5 with Mass Driver - Light wound to Nose (Reduced
by Armor).
<COMBAT> Sartha-8 attacks Pixie with Neutron but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Kanani attacks Sartha-8 with Neutron but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Doomsday attacks Sartha-8 with Full Guns - Moderate wound to Body
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Cole attacks Sartha-7 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Sartha-7 - Moderate wound to Right Hand.
<COMBAT> Sartha-6 attacks Draygo with Neutron - Serious wound to Body (Reduced
by Armor).
<Newbie> Trey says, "+n <whatever> to talk."
<COMBAT> Sartha-5 attacks Pixie with Neutron - Light wound to Left Wing
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Sartha-3 attacks Draygo with Neutron - ARMOR on Body stops the attack!
<COMBAT> Pixie attacks Sartha-5 with Full Guns but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Phillip attacks Sartha-3 with Neutron and MISSES!
<Newbie> Guest says, "Testing, testing…"
<COMBAT> Padre attacks Sartha-3 with Full Guns - Moderate wound to Body
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Foster attacks Sartha-6 with Neutron - Moderate wound to Weapon.
<Newbie> Trey gold stars.
<COMBAT> Draygo attacks Sartha-3 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Right
Wing (Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Sartha-7 attacks Padre with Neutron and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
The fight turns into a fresh mess with the arrival of the second wave of Kilrathi, neutron fire ripping into the armor of Draygo's broadsword, tearing a few nasty chunks away from it. The Kilrathi fighters don't escape cleanly either, flying headlong into a forest of weapons fire, shedding pieces of red durasteel from their hulls as the price of their attacks.
Cole winces under his helmet at the sight of Razor's bomber staggered by weapons fire. « Razor, what's your status? » Cole asks, even as he continues to pick through the swirling melee in search of a target.
Kanani frowns slightly as her latest shot goes wide of the newly arrived Sartha. She then notices the offending fighter moving on a course to attack the Broadsword she's in, and calls over her shoulder to Cole. "Heads up, Voodoo. We've got one of the cats on our tail." She then opens fire on the fighter again, trying to get it off of the bombers tail.
The lumbering along, Razor didn't see the Sartha's coming in until it was a little too late, his mind focused on the Sartha that won't die. His Mass Driver cannons are accurate and the Kilrathi is still alive, while the Broadsword is pummeled by Neutron blasts from two different Kilrathi fighters, "Dammit, those things pack a punch. Was hoping the 'Swords armor was thicker but I guess this boat isn't invincible." When the status check is
called out, Razor quickly responds, «Still okay, Lead. Just some big holes in the armor but we're doing alright, just a little more sluggish than usual now.»
Trey Grayson swings his craft over as gently as he can, but when his target tries to evade him, that plan goes -completely- out the window. "I'm taking us up and over. Watch the friendlies." And he's not kidding. He rolls the craft, offering Foster a -beautiful- opportunity for fratricide as he presents Cole to him as a target right where there was a Kilrathi a moment ago. He squeezes the trigger and lightly peppers the Kilrathi with bullets.
Thanks to the warning, Foster manages to hold back the guns long enough to send the rounds for some other enemy, instead of the friendlies. "Fancy flying," he offers.
<COMBAT> Draygo attacks Sartha-3 with Mass Driver - ARMOR on Body stops the
attack!
<COMBAT> Kanani attacks Sartha-8 with Neutron but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Doomsday attacks Sartha-5 with Full Guns - Critical wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Sartha-5 - Moderate wound to Left Arm.
<COMBAT> Trey attacks Sartha-5 with Mass Driver - ARMOR on Nose stops the
attack!
<COMBAT> Sartha-8 attacks Cole with Neutron but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Sartha-7 attacks Padre with Neutron - Moderate wound to Nose (Reduced
by Armor).
<COMBAT> Sartha-6 attacks Padre with Neutron - Light wound to Controls (Reduced
by Armor).
<TCSF> "Voodoo" Cole says, "Wow, these are the uber-sartha."
<COMBAT> Sartha-5 attacks Trey with Neutron and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Sartha-3 attacks Pixie with Neutron and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Pixie attacks Sartha-8 with Full Guns - Moderate wound to Nose
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Phillip attacks Sartha-3 with Neutron - Moderate wound to Body.
<COMBAT> Padre attacks Sartha-8 with Full Guns and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Foster attacks Sartha-8 with Neutron and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Cole attacks Sartha-7 with Mass Driver - Light wound to Right Wing
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Cole has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Sartha-5873v has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Sartha-5 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Sartha-7 has been KO'd!
If nothing else, the 1087th are getting a good demonstration of the Rapier's durability… one of the Honour's fighters staggered by another pair of hits from the Sartha, but somehow remaining intact despite the punishment. Though by this point, intact might be charitable. Still, the craft is still flying… which is more than can be said for a pair of the Kilrathi fighters.
"Handle it!" Voodoo yells back towards Tsunami at her warning about the approaching fighter, not about to break off his pass… and apparently for good reason, as his shots blow a wing off the Sartha he'd been attacking, sending it spinning harmlessly out of control into the infinite void of space.
"Fancier shooting. Keep it up, then we all go home and get laid." Wow. Trey, through a mixture of trying to keep it steady and trying to hit his target, manages neither. What's worse is that one of the Kilrathi are coming after his craft. He jinks as much as he can, probably screwing Foster's shots to hell, but managing not to get hit himself. When Doomsday dispatches the bandit, Trey's face appears over the VDU. «Thanks. Looks like we're even.»
Kanani unfortunately misses the Sartha she was shooting at, but it also missed and apparently decided to go after an already wounded ship. As another Sartha moves to take its place, she tracks her neutron guns to take care of this new threat. Hopefully more effectively than the last few shots.
Foster frowns as the shots miss, but moves to retarget the same enemy, grimacing a bit in the process. Keeping silent for now.
Sweeping the targeting reticule over the Sartha, Razor fires off another volley for the triple linked Mass Driver Cannons and watches as the lethal projectile shoots out at the lucky Kilrathi. Apparently the Kilrathi's luck continues as it eats the projectiles without damage except to the armor plating. Stifling a loud curse, the Lieutenant fires off another wild shot as he sees the Sartha breaking around to engage him along with a wingman,knowing
this could hurt. "C'mon, stay together, Broadsword, I know we've had some rough times together. Iceblade, hang on, we have incoming!"
<COMBAT> Sartha-6 attacks Cole with Neutron but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Sartha-3 attacks Draygo with Neutron - Serious wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Draygo - Serious wound to Head.
<COMBAT> Foster attacks Sartha-8 with Neutron but MISSES!
<OOC> Draygo D:
<COMBAT> Draygo attacks Sartha-3 with Mass Driver and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Doomsday attacks Sartha-8 with Full Guns - Light wound to Body
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Cole attacks Sartha-8 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Body
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Trey attacks Sartha-3 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Body.
<COMBAT> Sartha-8 attacks Draygo with Neutron and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Pixie attacks Sartha-6 with Full Guns - Critical wound to Cockpit.
<COMBAT> Phillip attacks Sartha-3 with Neutron and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Padre attacks Sartha-6 with Full Guns and MISSES!
<OOC> Cole says, "Phew. It only hit Draygo's head. Good thing that's empty."
<COMBAT> Kanani attacks Sartha-6 with Neutron - Moderate wound to Controls
(Reduced by Armor).
<OOC> Draygo says, "Good point."
<COMBAT> Cole has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Draygo has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> 13bs-2 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Draygo has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Phillip has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> You may use +combat/hero to spend a luck point and stay in the fight.
Also someone may come along and treat or rally you. If you are truly out of
combat, please switch your type to 'observer' so the pose tracking works
properly.
<COMBAT> Sartha-5673v has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Sartha-6 has been KO'd!
As one Sartha learns the hard way why a Broadsword is just as tough a target from behind as it is in front, the others chew away further at the battered Broadsword, the ancient Kilrathi predator's instinct to bring down the weak member of the herd taking priority over any tactical sense.
"Hang on, Kanani, this might get a little rough" Cole calls back towards his gunner, driving his broadsword straight in towards the Kilrathi fighter still attacking Draygo, finally toggling over to his missiles and stabbing at the firing control. « Razor, sit tight. Trying to clean this bastard off your
tail » Trey, now aggressor free, is free to be easy on the stick, slowly banking towards his target and trying to pick one off of Draygo. He moves nice and easy, shots tearing through the catmobile's wings and sending smoke and fire about in its wake, though there is no boom. Not yet.
The Broadsword is sluggish in general and the damage that Dash Two had taken made it even more sluggish. So what was supposed to be a elegant and sleek barrel roll that dances through the hail of Neutron fire, is replaced with a rather piggish roll on its axial that deviates slightly to the port and to the starboard. This manages to trick one of the Sarthas as the Neutron fire goes wide, but the incredibly lucky Sartha that Razor had been gunning for seems to be the Kilrathi God of Death.
The Neutrons slam into the cockpit, rocking it and causing pretty nasty damage. The shrapnel inside flies all around and a few pieces pierce the helmet of the pilot, bloodying up the pilot and almost causing him to black out. Fighting it off, the battle adrenaline pumping through his bloodstream, Kell keeps the bomber flying and the only response through the Comm System is static. One of the HUD's is still active for now and he manages to cycle through it, reaching up to wipe away some of the blood to see, and then activating the auto-repair system.
Foster keeps on firing at the remaining enemy that he sees, muttering quite a bit in the process.
"Got one!" Kanani states as one of her shots strikes the tailing Sartha, and blows it to smithereens. "Got it. Hanging on." She calls towards the cockpit as the uberkitten decides to play with the undamaged Broadsword. Once she has a clear shot on it, she opens fire, hoping to do what nobody else seems to have been able to do so far, and blow the darn cat up.
<COMBAT> Trey attacks Sartha-3 with Mass Driver - Moderate wound to Controls
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Sartha-3 attacks Cole with Neutron and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Sartha-8 attacks Draygo with Neutron and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Pixie attacks Sartha-3 with Full Guns - Moderate wound to Body
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> CREW HIT! Sartha-3 - Serious wound to Right Hand.
<COMBAT> Phillip attacks Sartha-8 with Neutron and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Padre attacks Sartha-3 with Full Guns and MISSES!
<COMBAT> Kanani attacks Sartha-3 with Neutron - Light wound to Left Wing
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Foster attacks Sartha-8 with Neutron but MISSES!
<COMBAT> Draygo passes.
<COMBAT> Doomsday attacks Sartha-8 with Full Guns - Light wound to Body
(Reduced by Armor).
<COMBAT> Cole attacks Sartha-8 with Friend Or Foe - ARMOR on Nose stops the
attack!
<font color="#804040">ooc back</font>
<OOC> Phillip says, "back"
<COMBAT> Bossman has started a new turn. Pose and choose your action.
<COMBAT> Sartha-3 has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Sartha-6673v has been KO'd!
<COMBAT> Sartha-8 has been KO'd!
The last two Kilrathi fighters fly apart under a barrage of gunfire… through some miracle, not managing to inflict any further harm on the bomber wing, or the craft they came to rescue. « We survived. Surprising » Comes the comment from the tattooed pilot. « I suppose we'll live to die another day. This is Captain Etienne Montclair, by the way. Formerly of the TCS Honour. I take it by the fact they have not come back for us, they were destroyed? »
"Cheerful fellow" Cole comments with a little chuckle, before he reaches down to key his comms again. « Captain Victor Cole, TCS Majestic. And negative, the Honour is damaged but still intact. She withdrew to Junction several hours ago. »
Phillip has been fighting alongside scoring a hit but also misses several times. All of sudden, the 'sword takes some nasty hits towards the front, but holds together and Phillip keeps focused on taking out the offending Sarthas, but keeps misses his targets. Finally the remaining enemies are destroyed. "Thank god, you alright there Razor."
Kanani gives a brief chuckle herself, as she scans the area around the
Broadsword for any other cats in the area. "I imagine anyone would be a bit depressed after not being able to catch their carrier before it jumped out."
She comments thoughtfully.
Trey begins to circle around the Rapiers… for certain values of 'circle', at least. It's a Broadsword and isn't meant to circle things unless it's coming around for another pass just prior to blowing them into their constituent atoms. « Dash Two, Dash Three. You okay? Looks like you guys took a pounding. »
With the last Kilrathi Sartha finally destroyed, Razor continues to fight the possibility of blacking out. He keeps the auto-repair running the best it could but it will take a miracle worker, aka a real mechanic to fix what Dash Two had went through. For now, there is no response to the comm directed at his ship, either it doesn't go through or the pilot is busy.
Inside, Kell unstraps what is left of the safety harness of his seat and slowly gets up, "Iceblade… take over…" He manages to say though somewhat quieter as half of his vision is blurred by red, from the blood of his wounds. "Need… find… medkit." He stays to the side so that Phillip can pass and quickly take the controls of the bomber that is on linked autopilot with the flight leader right now.
"I'd rather not have occasion to find out" Cole calls back towards Kanani. « So, good news is you've got a rescue here » Cole comments over the comms. « It's just us. No capital ship support, they're all with the Honour. So that's going to make our game plan to move back to the jump, where you three will eject. We'll recover you and then destroy the fighters. »
"Heh, that makes two of us, I think. Being left behind with no way of jumping, doesn't sound fun." Kanani calls back, and then shakes her head as Cole relays the recovery plan to the Rapier pilots. "And if you thought he was cheery before, I bet that news is really going to brighten his day."
« So we survive and still have to eject » Doomsday replies to Cole's latest round of information. « I knew this mission wasn't going to end well. Very well, Captain, we will follow you to the jump point. And hope the Kilrathi are not waiting there to destroy us. »
"Damn, are you…are you going to be alright?" says Iceblade concerned as he looks at Razor's head while passing into the pilot seat. "Oh and the medkit is in this cabinet." Iceblade adds as he smacks the rightside above cabinet before sitting down. «Guys, Iceblade here. I'll be need to land this thing as Razor has got a nasty looking piece of metal sticking out of his head.» "Now Razor, you just relax there buddy and I'll take care of everything up here.»
A hand comes up to wave off Phillip's concern, Kell can be heard muttering back, "Don't worry… had worse…" Whether he is telling the truth or not, Iceblade will probably not know but if he has had worse than that, it must've been messy. "Thanks." Is added as reaches up and opens the cabinet, grabbing the kit before bringing it to the back of the bomber, "Just… fly." He gets out before he sits down in the gunner pod and looks at the kit. The Lieutenant seems to be deciding if he should risk it by removing his helmet and trying to treat himself or just stay the way he is.
"What can I say, I spread good cheer wherever I go" Cole replies with a little shake of his head. « Alright, let's form up and head back for the jump then. Dash two, you take the lead position. We'll keep to whatever pace you can manage »
Trey continues to circle around. At Cole's word, he steers the craft into formation with Cole. « Cooopy. I'm on it. »
«Lead, Iceblade. Roger, I think I can manage 200. Dang, I'm landing another busted up ship, at least I think the air frame is still strong. Ice out.» Iceblade then moves his craft towards the front of the group.
« You'll find a 'sword was meant to take a pounding. » Voodoo replies to Iceblade. « I brought one back after flying it between two Fralthi once. Looked like someone had given a stuffed broadsword to a wolverine, but it still settled down on the deck just fine. They build these things to last »
Phillip picks up one of the ejected pilots and making the jump. The Broadsword's make it back to the Majestic and start landing procedure.
After landing, Phillip gets out of the Broadsword and spots Weiss. "Oh God," He mumbles.
Weiss stands at the deepest end of the deck, looking down the flight corridor to the Broadswords as they arrive. His arms are crossed and a cigar is puffing between his lips and he is flanked and side by his crew, just waiting to get to work. He looks.. not angry. not HAPPY but not angry. Of all the birds his grey eyes narrow on one in particular.. 13bs-2. He snacks his lips around the cigar as if in thought and.. pulls out his clip board and makes a note or a checkmark.. saying nothing and tsking.
Cole pops open the hatch to his broadsword, hopping down to the deck a moment later. Making sure to open the cargo section as well, to allow his 'guest' to depart. After all, he's quite sure the Rapier pilots don't want to stay cooped up in the back of a Broadsword for ages.
Phillip slowly helps Razor down the ladder. Iceblade then hollers, "CAN WE GET A MEDIC HERE!!"
After the heavily damaged Broadsword, designated Dash Two, Kell climbs out of the bomber after the gunner turned pilot gets out. He appreciates the assistance from Phillip before wincing as he says in a half mumble, "No shouting… please…" Seems like the pilot had chosen not to remove the helmet and try to treat himself but he did give himself a dose of some pain killer to numb it, so he doesn't pass out completely in case they were jumped.
He had spent the rest of the mission with slightly dazed vision as he manned the rear turret of the Broadsword. When his feet finally touches the deck, Kell stumbles for a second as balance is a little off within him, but he rights himself with one hand on Phillip and the other on the disembarking ladder.
Kanani waits until the guests onboard the Captain's broadsword are out, before sliding down through the hatch, and exiting it herself, and comments. "Man, I never realized just how slow these things were."
what is she? Maid service? Raine and her bonsai seem to end up running laps these days. She's got a Corpsman, probably in training to observe, behind her. She explains what's going on to the fellow and moves towards the disembarking pilots. "What? You can just call for one-" Not like medics are bar hops or- whatever. She looks around, "We start with triage. Look for bleeding and make sure you count out anyone obviously dead and/or with no chance of survival.
There's no sense wasting effort, even if it's sad and emotionally distressing," That's (not so) polite medical term for 'just about to find out what awaits on the other side should wait behind those we know have a chance'. She goes quiet towards Razor. "Are there any others injured?" The faithful Corpsman looks on.
Weiss hears the cal go up for a medic, looking up from his board. He grumphs and motions for his men, as well, to start hitting the Broadswords in their designated teams. He joins the team for dash two, plucking his cane up and limping after them. "Ja, get ze /Dummkopf/ a medic, already. An for Gotts sake, keep ze bleeding to minimum! He is messing up cockpit even more." Yes, we see where HIS priorities are.
Phillip helps Razor over to Raine and the other corpsman who he can't quite make the name of. Handing Raine over, he turns around to see Weiss giving a few instructions to various techs as Weiss walks to where Phillip is standing.
Phillip mumbles "Oh God" as he remembers the horrible clean up job he is going to have to do now that he is out of medical and clearly fine.
The injured pilot, Kell, manages to flash the German mechanic, Weiss a bloody grin since the pilot is one of those who usually brings in his fighters rather banged up and almost broken. "Sorry… about the mess… the 'Sword may be a little scratched." At least the young Lieutenant remains light-hearted about getting shot up, again. What has kept Kell from bleeding more or out is probably the tight but comfortable seal the helmet provides, though not a complete seal since some blood has seeped down over his face, making him look a lot more hurt than he might be, but it could be bad since.
The Corpsman has the stretcher. Probably easier to carry. Raine says nothing about the cleanup. This is Weiss' domain, not hers. The Corpsman sets the stretcher down. She doesn't break the seal of the helmet just yet, and points out to the Corpsman, "Don't take anything out at the scene if you can help it.
Painful as shrapnel or bullets are, sometimes they stop major bleedouts. Also, headwounds are hard to assess. There's lots of bitty blood vessels near the surface and sometimes you can't tell a hematoma right away," She explains, tapping her own head as an example. The pair will load poor Kell onto the stretcher. "Easy now. We'll have him cleaned and good as new. Is anyone else hurt?" The corpsman is boggling. He flashes a grin at Phillip though. "Hey, pay attention." Raine pouts at the poor Enlisted man.
Cole takes a moment to step back away from his broadsword, eyes surveying the craft for a moment. Making sure that it didn't take any hits that somehow didn't register. He idly lobs his helmet with gloves inside back through the hatch, before turning to Kanani. "I've got an action report to write, but I need to see you in my office for a few minutes when you have the chance" Cole says to her simply, before turning to head for Raine and the battered pilot she's tending. "Hell of a job out there today, Razor. Think I'll even give you a free pass on the fact you bent one of my birds"
Kanani watches the proceedings on the flight deck, as Raine starts to do the whole medical thing with Kell. She peers over at Cole and shrugs, "Yeah, alright. I'll drop in when I can." She states with a nod.
Weiss limps up to Phillips and Draygo, snorting at the apology but.. "Vell.. a sorry pilot.. Who vould have thought?" he asks, shaking his head as he marks something down. "Hemdell! You lazy /Arschloch/! Get your team on Dash-B.. I vant to see how bad zee hull armour vas peirced. I am tired of zese flyboys coming back as swiss cheese!" He then looks to Draygo as he is set on the gurney and does something out of character for him. he rests his hand on the pilots shoulder and pats it. "Seen vorse, I guess. Just zurvive long enough to bring next one back in better shape. Okay?" He then looks to Phillip and narrows his eyes. "Vell? Help zem vith gurney! He ist your wing man, /Gott verdammt/." Apparently he is giving the Phillip an out to not have to clean the blood. This time. He looks over at Cole and raises a brow. "Your birds?" he asks, smuggly, crossing his arms. His eyes look over to Cole's fighter… and shrugs. "Not look /too/ bad.. so you can keep her. For now." Another check mark on his tablet.
"Took… painkillers…" Kell manages to inform Raine as they load him onto the stretcher, most likely a good idea since the Lieutenant will most likely not make it to the Medical Bay successfully on his own two feet. "Regular dosage." Atleast the young pilot is by the book when it comes to stuff like this, instead of overdosing just because the kit had more. With that information given, he finally goes silent as he tries to relax, knowing he is in good hands. Kell does give Cole a thumbs up though, at the compliment given, though the words are only half registered right now as darkness is wavering on the edges of his vision. He is also able to give Weiss one more grin and a half nod before his eyes slowly closing.
Raine hides a smile. It's more fun to see Weiss in his natural habitat doing his thing. "Alright," Raine nods, perhaps aware of the standard kit on a craft. "Well, sit tight for now. We'll carry you up," She promises. She finally lets herself smile at all the exchanges. "Thank you," She murmurs to the others. "Come on now." She will lead Kell and the Corpsman along so the Deckies and pilots can take care of business while poor Draygo gets duct taped back together. She looks to Phillip. "You can help with the gurney if you wish," Perhaps aware that some feel better at work.
Phillip helps Razor onto the Gurney and over to the lift. Just then a crew chief comes over from the direction of a very messed up scimitar, the same Scimitar that Iceblade flew in nearly 6 hours ago. The crew chief informs Weiss that after hours of work on the scimitar there is nothing that can be done to restore her with the frame so weakened. Phillip barely hears a few additional words about certain parts still being good, but they don't really have time and the crew to tear it apart piece by piece.
Cole can't help but give a little grin at Kell's response, before giving an amused shake of his head at Weiss. "Glad you approve…" he tells the technician, before he moves along towards the lift. Fleeing the aftermath of this little mess rather quickly, it seems.
Weiss grunts as Cole passes, as if he completely agrees that yes, it is his right to approve. When he gets the info from one of his team chiefs who had been working on one of last night's Scimitars he growls and shoots Phillip a look that could melt transparisteel. But he holds his tongue, since really the Scimitars ARE going to be hauled away.. And he is warmed by the thought that while Phillip's bird is junk.. after the cleaning it will be the PRETTIEST piece of junk. "Maybe I should make him paint it pink.. tie bow around it.." he murmurs to himself, looking even MORE amused.
Is it possible NOT to be eternally amused by the deckies and pilots? Raine and her carnivorous bonsai don't want to know. The Corpsman grunts as he hefts the other end of the gurney. "Alright, let's get moving," preferably before Weiss' disapproving Teutonic gaze melts Phillip and Raine has to get the wet vac. "I think you might have work down here," Raine notes to Phillip quietly. And off they go!
Weiss finally sighs. "Nein. He has caused enough damage." he says to Raine. "So he can go. I not need MORE of a mess zen I have already."
Phillip leaves with Raine and Razor.
"Alright. Thanks, Weiss." She smiles at the deckie. She seems glad to see him up and at his job. Raine will lead the Corpsman, Phillip and their patient on out then.