Deadnaut

Falling Skies: 7th Mobile Armor Suit Team

So then...

Now what?!?!

Valkyrie Theory: Horizon War [Mecha] [8*/13Slots]

All Green here

Falling Skies: 7th Mobile Armor Suit Team

waves frantically

Princess: The Hopeful ~ A Magical Girl* RP

I echo the above. I am unsure if it is a tabletop, unlike Sez I do have experience with it, but since I usually play gritty, dark-ish military RPs it may be nice to try something noblebright like this.

Valkyrie Theory: Horizon War [Mecha] [8*/13Slots]

No matter how many times Aura did this, it never got easier. After dismissing her pilots, Aura retreated to her quarters for an hour, and spent much of that hour staring at the locker on her wall. Contained within was her gear, now on perpetual issue from supply, remaining from the days she spent entirely on the battlefield. Aura knew if she opened that locker, she'd have to confront all that the gear within entailed. Nobody had seen her strap this gear on for years, not since she last put foot to ground as a grunt, and that was really for a good reason. This uniform, that armor, symbolized a lot of dead men and women, but Aura had little choice but to suit up, after all she owed it to her pilots and herself to maximize her odds of survival. Opening the locker, Aura gingerly ran her fingers over the fabric of the uniform and the armor that formed part of her ensemble. Soft, well-maintained camouflaged fabric, as well as kevlar and ceramic trauma plates, all passed beneath her fingers as she inspected the gear. Tucked into a pocket of her uniform, Aura found an aging photograph of a much younger version of herself, taken by a frightened UNF correspondent as she and her men swept over a UNF compound. Running her fingers over it, Aura was reminded of her men again, the ones who had somehow acquired this photo and gifted it to her, and she couldn't help but think back on them. Doing so made her undeniably nostalgic, and in her minds eye she flashed back to a different place, a different time.

An Old Photo

Aura's War Diaries

Sergeant Kalstov stood proud, her QR rifle casually held at a low ready by one hand while a pilfered UNF Glock was held in her right hand, which hung at her side casually. As her men swept over the rubble of the compound, Aura's attention was taken by a flash from off to her left. Flinging herself to the ground, both weapon barrels were brought on target as Aura tried to locate any contacts she had missed. However, no gunshot accompanied the flash, and after a moment Aura realized it was just that damn reporter. He'd, apparently, been embedded with this UNF squad when Aura's own team had launcher their assault. Since he was a civilian who was smart enough not to pick up a weapon, Aura left him be as her men gathered usable kit from around the squad's camp. UNF backup would be mere minutes away, so the squad had little and less time to spend dealing with this guy.

"Sarge, there's some AT here, what's the call on it?" Aura heard from one of her men, Private Issac Matthews, and Aura coughed ,thoroughly embarrassed by her reaction, and got to her feet, calling in reply "You and Fredericks will hump it back to base." Not long after, she heard over the radio from her security element leader, Sergeant Matthias, "Paladin to Knight, Paladin 1-3 has got eyes on a UNF QRF inbound, recommend we make tracks." Aura quickly got on the radio, saying "Copy that Paladin, RTB, we're clearing out." She then called out to her men "Knight, grab anything in arms reach and lets move, we're clearing out." Aura lead her men from the compound within a minute, never stopping to check what they had managed to pilfer, moving at a low run through the woods. The UNF attempted to follow, but their big units and heavy vehicles were easy to hear coming and evade. This mission was a success, no friendly deaths, only minor wounds and rucksacks full of valuable UNF gear.

Aura shook her head, clearing it of the memories with a wistful smile. Matthias had been a good XO, and had been surprisingly accepting of being ordered about by a woman younger than him, though likely only because she had more combat experience than he had. She was pretty sure Matthias had become a Major by now, he always had a talent for tactics and strategy, and Matthews was now a grizzled Sergeant with his own squad. This line of thought inevitably soured her otherwise happy face, however, as she was forced to remember the ones from that very squad who were no longer living. Paladin 1-3, a young Cadet called Amanda Skarv, had died under Aura's own command a short four months after that operation, and Fredericks had died as a Sergeant defending a position per then-Lieuteant Aura's orders. That was the part of command Aura didn't much care for, the knowledge that her own men were dead, and that she'd sent them places knowing they could die.

At last clearing these memories from her mind. Aura pulled on her old gear, vest finding its place with her headset being carefully lowered into position. Following this, she went to supply and drew her ammo for this op, along with a suppressor for her rifle. The PHP was a personal sidearm, and so no suppressor was available for it from the quartermaster. With her gear ready, and Longshot still under the tender ministrations of the maintenance crew, Aura had little left but to hurry up and wait. Thankfully, the time passed in a hurry, and Aura found herself entering the hangar thirty minutes before launch time to prepare. Noticing Yaz over by Ordine, Aura ambled over and noted the tech she was talking to. The tech was semi-familiar to her, she was pretty sure he had a buddy who was a grunt and that was why she felt she oughta know him. After all, she and the grunt population of the base were well acquainted, and so she knew most of their friends. Again clearing these thoughts, she came to a halt a few paces behind Yazmin. Predictably, techs popped into salute, and Aura just as quickly ordered "At ease!"

Turning her attention to her battle buddy for this operation, Aura gave a relaxed grin and said "Alright Yaz, we'll be watching each others' asses in there, so we need to stay high speed. I don't doubt you'll be able to keep the pace an old-timer like me sets. On that note, we're weapons tight in the facility, no trigger pulling unless I give the word. If we get made, well...I'd rather not be trapped in the middle of a UNF outpost with low ammo. Any last minute questions, comments or concerns?"

@Kyrisse@Musaki Hajime@POOHEAD189@The Survivor

Valkyrie Theory: Horizon War [Mecha] [8*/13Slots]

Aura quietly let the group ask their questions, after a moment she added "Fall out when you're done asking questions and come find me in the hangar for the tactical level briefing." At that, Aura gave a crisp salute to Commander Hale before falling out and walking over to the Longshot to begin planning. She already had an idea about how to play this, an infiltration team and an assault team, but the question became who to put where. Neil was a shoe-in for assault, and Aura would definitely go infiltration herself given her time on the ground, but Yaz and the newbie..they were more unknown. However, walking into the hangar, Aura laid eyes on her new blood and knew, beyond any doubt, where they were going. Cadet Jindaal was a name she'd heard a time or two, she'd known he would come at some point. One of the brightest cadets with one of the old, hardened veterans was basically a shoe in, and the hope had been Aura could make Jindaal into a soldier. She'd dreaded this duty since it came down from on high, however, as newbies were definitely a curse on the battlefield.

Seeing the cadet saluting with his machine behind him, Aura knew first impressions were key and endeavored to make one befitting an officer her status, which wasn't hard. Thoroughly unimpressed by his candor, and his machine, she barked "At ease cadet. So, you're the rookie I've been sent eh?" Looking him over, he had a bastardized ground-pounder's kit mixed with pilot's gear, and Aura couldn't help but curse supply. Give a pilot kit like that and he'll forget his role, think he's out there to slay bodies with a rifle and not a Valkinai. Halting right in front of him, she continued "Cadet Jindaal, I've been expecting you. Now, I'm told you're the top of your class, and I've no doubt you've heard a thing or two about me, so let me be blunt. I'm sure you're filled with pride, confidence, hungry to prove your competence. Let me tell you now that you need to swallow all of that, because academy doesn't tell shit about how you'll act in real battle. You will not engage unless I say so, you will not pursue the enemy unless I say so, and above all you WILL break contact the moment I give the word. This is because, Cadet, know that you may die from even the smallest error, and if I'm around to do it, I'll die so you don't have to. Now, since I'm in no hurry to die, that means you aren't to fuck up."

Her schpiel out of the way, Aura released a sigh and visibly relaxed, extending her hand to Jay, saying "Welcome to my squadron, Jin. If you've got as much potential as I'm assured you do, you'll pick this up before long. You'll be part of the emergency assault team for this coming op with Neil, you'll be his battle buddy and he'll be yours, so make sure to get to know each other." At that, Aura waited for the rest of the team to arrive before presenting her briefing

Op Plan

"We're going to keep this briefing short and sweet so you all have time to go about your business and ask me questions. Yaz and I will be infiltrating the enemy facility. Our goal will be to accomplish each objective while going undetected, and if that is the case then we'll exfil quietly. If the infiltration team is compromised, I'll click the radio three times, so the three bursts of static are the assault team's cue to raise hell. Now we don't know much about the interior so I can't give a more detailed op plan on that regard, but know we'll start by infiltrating through the sweet spot to the south west and gaining entrance to the base. If we go silent for more than five minutes, assume we're compromised and go loud. Everyone clear?"

Star Wars: TIE Fighter

"I didn't want to be a pilot." Charlie thought to himself as he jerked his fighter out of the path of an X-wing's laser cannons. "I just wanted to have a command, hopefully a Star Destroyer but anything would've been fine. TIE Corps though? That was the last thing I wanted." Another errant thought flew through Charlie's mind as he pulled his fighter in a loop, an X-wing briefly appearing in his target window before the rebel pilot wised up and cleared his firing line. Charlie banked his fighter into a turn right after the fighter, an easy grin as he saw the fighter coming into his field of view, though this time the other pilot didn't jink out of the way. As his computer caught a solution, Charlie pondered "Why isn't he clearing the fire line? Sure I could keep on him from this angle but you'd think he'd at least try, come to think of it what kind of shitty wingman leaves his pal be-...SHIT!"

As Charlie depressed the firing stud, his lasers blasting the fighter in the rear, he realized he'd been had. His sensors pinged, warning him of a contact coming in on his six. Charlie was forced to begin jinking around, trying to keep the rebel's shots off target. Charlie's own shots had damaged the other fighter, a few going wide, but Charlie had the presence of mind to keep firing as he evaded. He was able to twitch the fighter on target for a split second, a few shots finishing the X-wing in a blast of fire. However, the other fighter was still on his six, and Charlie could only evade for so long. "Aurek Six, Amos I need an assist, I've got one on my tail and I can't shake him."

Star Wars: TIE Fighter

As Charlie sat in the briefing, listening to the Captain, he couldn't help the grin on his face as they were told they were going to establish superiority. That meant dogfighting, and that was the kind of thing that could get him on the map. In the TIE corps, kills got you noticed, and once you were noticed you could start going places. Of course, Charlie had his eyes on a captaincy of his own vessel, not spending all his days as some adrenaline jockey pilot. The Captain dismissed them with the order to remember their training, and the vets filed out not long after. Raising his eyebrow at the brusque approach of one of his fellow pilots to meeting his wingmate, some pretty little brunette. Just as Charlie got up to cut in, however, his COM chirped and then he heard the voice of his fellow pilot issuing forth

"Marick this is Lieutenant Amos, I believe we're saddled together for the rodeo tonight." Charlie raised an eyebrow at that, and with a glance noted that Amos wasn't in the room. Ah yes, he was the one who had left the briefing halfway through, wasn't he? The Captain wouldn't like that, though if he did well enough in the field that may just get forgiven. Charlie didn't want to stay shackled to this guy though, after all being associated with some loose cannon could hinder his path to glory. He'd have to try and swap wingmates with someone after this flight, perhaps Lieutenant Jinnau would be willing to fly with him.

Shaking his head of these thoughts, Charlie keyed his COM and said easily "Amos huh? This is ell-tee Marick, but you can call me Charlie. We'll be watching each others' six on this flight to be sure, so lets keep each other alive eh? I'm heading to the hangar to look over my machine, but if you're interested in talking, let me know when I get there." Striding from the room with a light jaunt, he noted a few veterans remained near the room in a small clump, glaring as Charlie walked past. They sure didn't seem to care for the rookies, though if the rebels were only as effective as Charlie had heard then they'd be stuck with the new pilots for awhile. Reaching the hangar after a few minutes of taking elevators and corridors, Charlie strode to his fighter with a wide smile. Say what you will about flying a TIE, and Charlie had plenty to say, but these machines were downright majestic.

Looking it over, he noted maintenance finishing work on his fighter and moving to the next. That was good then, that meant it would be perfectly operational for the flight. Charlie quickly began looking it over himself, his experiences on ships his whole life meant pre-flight checks were no big deal. Sliding into the cockpit and powering it up, Charlie powered up his instrument panel and began checking systems. Sublight engines, green to go, armament read armed and ready, cockpit gyros were properly calibrated, life support was online, locator beacon was prepped and ready, and the ejection seat was armed. Charlie chuckled at that, an ejection seat in a vacuum fighter was a semi-hilarious concept, even if he knew it was more meant to be used by those pilots who were in atmo. His fighter was good to go, his suit had been checked earlier, and his wingman was..."Well, I guess two out of three good things is alright, and hey, maybe Amos won't be so bad..." The stray though struck Charlie as he chuckled again, powering the instrument panel back down.

Star Wars: TIE Fighter

Charlie Marick

Name: Charlie R. Marick

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Appearance

Appearance:

Attributes: Sharp reflexes, Fast Learner, Poor Upper Body Strength, Easily Winded

Personality

Personality: Charlie is sharp as a tack and looking to make his own way in the galaxy. He's ambitious, though not quite enough to do what some would deem necessary to feed it. He passes himself off as a very easygoing guy, usually laughing at something or cracking jokes. He's a glory hound at heart, willing to take any risk to get where he's going.

Biography

Biography:​ Charlie was born on the freighter Providence to the ship's captain, the child of a brief fling she'd had in port. Growing up, Charlie rarely felt the pull of natural gravity, and even more rarely did he leave the vessel he was born on. Charlie's mother did well enough that ends met without issue, but they were far from wealthy. The Empire was good to the single mother and son, as the pair often served to resupply one of its remote outposts. The crew of that outpost often offered rations when money became too tight, a bed after long humps, and companionship for the young man, even if only in the form of army troopers and navy pilots.

Charlie had no formal schooling, but was well educated by his mother and all the books he could read. It didn't take the young man long to realize that his mother and he hardly had the grandest life. So, he resolved he would make a far better life for himself, aspiring to be one of the Grand Moffs he saw seated in thrones of authority, surrounded by wealth. He dedicated himself to this, researching successful political campaigns everywhere he could, and when he couldn't he learned math, science, other things he'd need to ensure he never made a fool of himself. And so, after his twentieth birthday, he was off to the navy academy, lusting after a command of his own so that he could claim glory and the eye of those in power. For now, however, his fast reflexes saw him sent to TIE training, where he flourished, much to his chagrin.

Valkyrie Theory: Horizon War [Mecha] [8*/13Slots]

The warthog's gun is always a good thing to base anything off of, including modern art.

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