[indent][hr][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qJLhXWW.png[/img][/center][hr][hr][b]First Lieutenant Kris Periwinkle[/b]
[color=silver][sub][b]IC 286.08.16[/b] // Petrichor-8 System, Frontier Planet Alora // Approaching planet's surface.
1421 hours // [@Raijinslayer][@Supermaxx][@Lemons][@Fading Memory][@Feyblue][/sub][/color][hr][hr][/indent]
[indent][color=silver]Kris Periwinkle, pilot of a military-issue G-37 Galea Dropship, wrinkled her nose as the details of the planet below grew clearer with their descent into the stratosphere. Even from 70,000 feet above Alora's surface, it was clear that anyone in-charge of rehabilitation was going to need one hell of a cleanup crew, the mega-city once known as Althea that had become the Aberrants' breeding ground a shell of its former self.

War-torn, shell-shocked, ruined. Whatever term one chose, it didn't sufficiently quantify what a mere two months of the Princess' presence had caused to the city and its surroundings. Centered around the giant, bulbous structure that had planted itself in the heart of the city, a massive spot of gray visible from space had spread across the dirt and soil, latched onto the planet's surface like a diseased tumor. Kris was certain that as they drew nearer she'd see that the dark coloration was caused by long dead grasses and plant life, unable to persist without the nutrients they require. In the city itself, buildings were destroyed, businesses dismantled, homes flattened, resembling the site of a hundred warzones rather than just one, the amount of completely intact structures probably no more than a couple dozen. Even now, as their altitude decreased at a steady rate, the pilot watched as several buildings disappeared in a ball of fire and smoke, lights of various colors flashing from both in and out of the megapolis as both Aberrants and military fought over control for sectors of land. 

Kris hadn't been around for most of the battle on Alora, but the First Lieutenant had seen enough of these frontier wars to know they would lose if something didn't change soon. The air quality for flight was already suboptimal, the temperature beginning to drop despite being the planet's equivalent of summer, and the visible size of the Corrosion only belying the actual damage to the planet's habitability. Whether it be today or sometime within the week, the fighting would come to an end, one way or another.

Nothing she had any control over, perfectly content with her position as what was effectively a military taxi service, but she couldn't help but feel frustrated at the bleakness of the situation.[/color]

"Cover for me," [color=silver]she sighed to her co-pilot, diverting control of the aircraft to the soldier seated beside her with a few switch clicks, her steering wheel retracting into an open panel as she leaned back in her chair. Kris' partner grabbed hold of the wheel that appeared on his side while the First Lieutenant pushed a button, changing one of the monitors in the cockpit that displayed visuals of the ship's interior. The dropship being 350 feet long and 90 feet tall, she had to wait for the screen to flicker through multiple rooms before finally revealing her desired location: the drop-off area.

Made for enough space to fit an entire company of soldiers and several Pilot mechs, only a platoon's worth of people were riding inside, three docked mecha filling the background while the passengers were all strapped to their seats lining the far wall. Changing to another point of view, the camera she switched two had a convenient overhead view at an angle, close enough to catch the details of the people aboard her vessel. The troops were ordered from top rank to bottom, front to back, with the enlisted infantry closer to the mecha while officers and the like ordered closer to the exit. Most of them were people she knew, whether it be before boarding or in previous missions, but there were several who stood out to her.

The Pilots. One for each docked machine, they were similarly ordered in seniority, though the levels of experience seemed to wildly fluctuate between them. 

The first being a blue haired young man, the most brightly dressed by fair in some sort of sleek form-fitting suit. She could almost see the green wafting off of his demeanor, clearly new from how brightly his eyes shined, although the fact that he seemed maybe a bit too young to be drafted might've contributed to that. The second was a woman who seemed like she was there as a tourist rather than for war, her eyes flitting about behind her glasses while her fingers fidgeted with... a handheld game system? The First Lieutenant wouldn't bash someone for their hobbies, but surely there was a time and place for that sort of thing. The last was the eldest, and was rigged up in such a manner that he would've looked right at home alongside the other platoon members. She could trust him in-case things went to hell in a handbasket, probably, but with the other two seated next to him Kris couldn't help but wonder if he had something wrong with him as well.

But as her eyes moved to the next group, her inner monologue halted, and she took a second to really process how valuable the cargo aboard her ship truly was. Constellations, their fabled weapons visible near their persons as they sat. Not just one or two, but [i]six[/i], with four of them seated like the rest while the last two stood before the entire group, two of the seats near the end of the line empty. Adjusting the audio levels to just barely hear what was being said, her co-pilot rolled his eyes at his partner's antics as she leaned closer to the monitor.[/color]

"-aven't had a chance to introduce ourselves before we took off," [color=silver]the older and taller of the two began, his bald head gleaming beneath the illuminating light, eyes hidden behind a pair of novelty sunglasses with his voice betraying a wide, teeth-revealing grin surrounded by a scruffy, grey circle beard. Large and imposing, though hidden beneath a heavy coat that covered his shoulders and back, the man's musculature could be seen through the few patches of his body visible around his neck and his legs. And, from how one of the soldiers she knew seemed to be eyeing him up, the coat was most likely open on the other side, revealing his chest and abs.[/color] "While most of you were already pre-briefed who we were beforehand, I thought it would be best to make sure things were clear to everyone involved. I am the Main-Class Constellation Douglas Eorman, callsign Rigel, and the deputy for our little field trip today!"

[color=silver]He punctuated his statement with a hearty laugh, hands to his hips and his entire torso shaking from the effort. The movement of his hands drew Kris' attention to his weapon, a massive gauntlet larger than most people's heads, complex mechanisms from within visibly clicking into place as Rigel gestured to the man next to him. Of a much more reasonable build, the blond simply sighed when directed to speak. Subdued despite his appearance being somewhat wild, he took a step forward with the hem of his cloak trailing behind him, stabbing his sheathed longsword into the space in front of him as he tersely spoke,[/color] "Maximus Solignis. Antares. Main-Class."

"You can just call him 'Max'!" [color=silver]Rigel suggested jovially, his gauntleted hand swinging to pat his peer on the back. Antares, however, had already sidestepped away, letting the larger man swing at open air, visibly disgruntled by the nickname.[/color]

"Insufferable," [color=silver]the blond mumbled as he returned to his original place, something the First Lieutenant had just barely overheard before he directed his voice toward the group with a bit more energy.[/color] "We will be landing on the planet's surface in five minutes, upon which we will immediately link up with an intelligence gathering group that will direct us to dispatch an area with known Aberrant presence. Our focus is to develop the talents we've brought along with us, and field test equipment that has just exited the experimental stage of development."

[color=silver]Antares' gaze swung over to the group of seated Constellations, whom Kris began to study just as he did. Seated next to the eldest Pilot was... well, she didn't want to call an honored Constellation an Aberrant, but that's what the woman looked like. Red as blood, black as night, and armored to the nines with the metal carapace seemingly bonded to the muscle within the skin itself, if it wasn't for the human face staring out from under it all she might've asked someone to shoot down her ship full of bug-loving freaks. She'd gotten the debrief as to what exactly she'd be carrying, and how important it was for this operation to succeed, but the First Lieutenant couldn't keep herself from reacting to such a sight.

The others, thankfully, were easier on the eyes, the white-haired young man draped in a similarly pale cloak equipped with a saber of some sort, along with a blond woman seated with a spear next to her seat were more along the lines of what Kris expected a Constellation to look like. Exuding a regal air, though they were clearly less experienced than the two standing before them, their mere presences demanded respect, and the pilot couldn't wait to see what they were capable of. But eventually, her eyes landed on the last bound to the furthest seat, older than anyone else in the group by far. She might've mistaken him for a hermit were it not for the way he carried himself, prepared for battle even in the safety of the dropship, a characteristic only held by those who've seen much and done more. 

Something that Antares seemed to agree with, as he nodded his head deferentially toward the seated warrior, Rigel letting his smile fall as he mirrored his companion just as respectfully.[/color] "While the Eorman and I will be directing the operation, we will also be operating under an observer. Ser Lictor, thank you for accepting the position on such short notice."

"And while Antares brown-noses, I'd like to get to know our recruits!" [color=silver]Rigel immediately regained his grin as he turned his attention toward the Pilots and Constellations, several of the infantry leaning forward in their seats attempting to get a peek at the group of various faces.[/color] "I've seen some of your faces once or twice before, but never on the eve of battle. Better to have a name to the blades rather than strangers fighting by your side, no?"

"We have a list of their callsigns right-" [color=silver]Antares began, but cut off as Rigel swept his massive gauntlet around, nearly clipping the blond who ducked away with a pointed glower. The First Lieutenant watching the feed had to bring her hand up to her mouth to keep herself from laughing.[/color]

"Which of you would like to volunteer? If I have to call on your names like you're back in training, I'll be sorely disappointed!"
[/indent]

[indent][hr][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/EZxSm84.png[/img][/center][hr][hr][b]Red Giant Ahkari Ganju[/b]
[color=silver][sub][b]IC 286.08.16[/b] // Petrichor-8 System, Frontier Planet Alora // Approaching Princess D-47's Nest
1423 hours // [@Eisenhorn][@McMolly][@Asura][@vietmyke][@OwO][/sub][/color][hr][hr][/indent]
[indent][color=silver]Pressed against the inner wall of a dilapidated building, Ahkari Ganju observed with bated breath as a patrol of Knight-Class Jetsam circled overhead. Malformed shapes that resembled fish if one squinted, their unorthodox shapes allowed an unparalleled deftness traversing through areas with a high volume of obstacles, slipping around corners and squeezing through holes of buildings despite being larger than a minivan. 

She watched as one swiveled its compacted head in her general direction, and the Constellation hefted her twin-headed javelin in preparation. The steel weapon hissed as air pressure built up inside, the compact handle tripling in length while the rounded guard of each spearhead curled inward, the overall shape becoming more aerodynamic as the pieces clicked into their new configuration. Even if the scout sounded the alarm, she had around eight seconds before any of the other Aberrant groups would reach the area for pursuit. With some effort, she could make her escape and draw their attention, but she rather not get to that point.

The violet-haired woman didn't realize she was holding her breath until she released it, her weapon returning to its original shape as she left the wall behind, hopping down a hole in the floor down several levels until she landed next to her group of soldiers with a subdued 'thump'. The group had been gathered within the lobby of an abandoned hotel, the interior turned to rubble and barely held together by what was left of the building's supports. Plasma burns lined the floors and walls, some of them outlining a strangely clean area in the shape of a human being while others were blackened piles of ash, their original shape unconfirmable. The company of infantry had thankfully cleaned away the corpses by the time she returned, but the woman could still smell the underlying stench of dried blood and guts.[/color]

"Commander Aurigae," [color=silver]Janice, the company's battlefield analyst, called Ahkari by her callsign, walking up to the Constellation with a holographic display of their current location. A detailed reconstruction of the hotel and the surrounding buildings hovered before the two women, slowly zooming out and revealing more of the landscape until their target became visible. Only twenty-five kilometers away by the hologram's calculations, yet they spent the last few days fighting for only half that distance. A red line passing from the hotel to the destination stretched before them, taking several detours to various rest points while the analyst claimed,[/color] "We're getting close. I have devised a path through what we've observed of the enemy's patrol patterns if we wish to proceed. At our current pace, we will be able to reach the Nest by the twenty-third, midday."

"We don't have enough time," [color=silver]Ahkari replied plainly, a hand up to her temple as she attempted to massage the oncoming migraine. The drone support that granted such comprehensive imaging of the Aberrant movements and allowed them to get as far as they have has been nothing but helpful, yet the Constellation couldn't help but wonder if the people operating them cared about anything but the immediate results at times.[/color] "Find us a faster route. We will take the Princess down today, or not at all."

[color=silver]Ever since she touched down onto the planet's surface, she'd been counting the days since the Corrosion began, with every precious second of time wasted taking a year off her life from stress. Retaking the planet had already been calculated as unlikely, and at the way things were going, reconstruction of human livelihood was next to impossible. But she couldn't let things end so meekly, allow hope to die when she had a chance to reverse fate. Even if there was only a million in one chance that she could see people running around on her homeworld once again, she'd take it, and damn the consequences.[/color]

[color=silver]Her inner monologue halted as the analyst caught her attention, the brunette visibly nervous as she spoke,[/color] "There is a way."

[color=silver]Ahkari didn't hesitate.[/color] "Speak."

[color=silver]Flicking through the holographic display a few times, Janice adjusted the route into one more direct, with barely any detours on the way to the Nest. Multiple red dots along the path, Aberrant activity, began glowing violently while the woman continued,[/color] "From the calculations, we will be passing through the territories of five Bishop patrols, three Knight scouting parties, and at least two Rook encampments. We will have to move at the fastest speed our company can allow, no breaks in-between. We would reach the Nest by 1956 hours, not accounting for any additional units that may be called during our breakneck blitz, and we would have to fight our way into the Princess' chamber immediately afterward, with the lowest accounted for number of Bishops in one Nest historically being seven."

[color=silver]Stressed for an entirely separate reason, Ahkari took a second to look away from the display and toward the people gathered within the hotel. Only 40% were from her own squadron, the rest being soldiers and manpower that had merged with theirs on the way to the Nest, being the closest to it of all the operations playing out to approach. If they waited a day or two, they would be able to regain their strength, their current position easily defensible against most forms of attack bar a Bishop raid and many of the troops tired from the month-long campaign.

Her mouth tightened as she left Janice behind, headed toward one of the smaller groups that had formed within the building. Many of the soldiers had gathered among their fellows, sticking together and mingling regardless of previous affiliation, but few if any approached the party that had formed by the caved-in fireplace. A group of Constellations and Pilots, five and seven strong respectively, the former group comprised of four Main-Class and an unlucky Proto, while the latter were seated among their mecha, the roof of the hotel high enough to acclimate for them and a previous engagement creating a hole for them to enter and exit through.

Only one of them was hers, the rest of her retinue gone in the second week during an ambush, but they were all she had. Clearing her throat to catch their attention, despite having seniority the Red Giant struggled to keep her composure as she called toward them.[/color] "So, what will you do?"

[color=silver]She hadn't been very secretive during her conversation, and the hologram had been large enough that most if not everyone in the lobby had been able to see it. Something she did entirely on purpose, regrettably, making it clear what the plan was without outright ordering everyone to follow it. The mission was dangerous, and with only around a hundred and forty men, suicidal. 

Ahkari's gaze passed over the group, noting among the Constellations the one rumored to be nearing her rank, the infamous survivalist that returned from every mission she took on, and one she only knew of by name and not achievement. Similarly, the two most reckless Pilots, with one filling comms with various quips during firefights and the other having a mech that's needed the most repairs by far, giving the former a run for her money. While they were various levels of 'quirky', they'd all proven their worth, and she looked each of them in the eye as she asked once more.[/color]

"I cannot ask for your lives as I am not your direct commander, so I'll ask for your opinions, as one warrior to another. Do we play things safe, or shall we end the war on this planet here and now?"[/indent]