AmongHeroes

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 261st

Well I haven't seen him, have you?

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 261st

I vote that we go ahead and move the story along, and when Eschatologist comes back, he can jump in. What do you think, AutoFox?

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 261st

@Eschatologist You still around buddy?

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 261st

Like the great Tom Petty said, "The waiting is the hardest part."

True Vacuum - New Universe Space NRP

@duck55223 I'd do a collab with you.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 261st

Laytn had to hide his irritation with Commander McKnight’s seemingly flippant disregard for the disposition of the 261st’s officer corp. It seemed uncharacteristic of the man to be so cavalier, and the manner in which he insinuated that the Black Saints, and the remaining Mobile Suit pilots, could simply take the place of the three lieutenants should tragedy strike, galled Laytn. The fact that the whole Zeon military was in the process of surrendering to the Feddies only worked to intensify Laytn’s feelings on the matter. It was only with the interjection of Milo’s reasonable tone and suggestion that Laytn was able to fully bite his tongue.

“Fair enough,” Laytn said with a single nod as Milo finished. “I’ll go make sure our rides are fit.”

Without a departing glance to either Joshua or the commander, Laytn turned on his heels and marched his way in the direction of the parked Wappas. The desert wind gusted hard, and Laytn had to keep his hand upon his boonie hat to keep it from blowing from his head. Squinting against the sun and shifting sand, he looked up to the group of soldiers that were sitting in the small pools of shade provided by the Wappas’ hover-fan nacelles. The men saw Laytn approaching, and they stood from their places as he drew near.

One soldier, a corporal named Enders, stepped forward and saluted smartly. “Good afternoon, Lieutenant. Something we can help you with?”

Laytn returned the salute and nodded. “As a matter of fact, Corporal, we’ll need your Wappas. Commander McKnight, Lieutenant Tyranne, Lieutenant Gordon, and I will be doing a forward recon. They ready to roll out?”

“Yes sir,” replied Enders, “they’re all yours, sir. The MG’s are fully loaded, fuel levels are full, and the fan motors have been running cool, despite the heat.”

The corporal waved at his fellow Wappa pilots to get up, and clear off. Immediately the men began hurriedly picking their personal gear off the hovercraft. They were careful to leave the flight helmets that housed the communications systems for the machines.

“Very good, Corporal. The four of you that still have your Wappas will still be assigned to the convoy’s immediate vicinity. The rest can go take a break from the heat in the cabs of the Samson’s.”

As the four displaced Wappa pilots moved off towards the trucks, Laytn began walking around to the hovercraft. With each machine, he set the throttles to idle, started the engines, and ensured that each machine gun was set to ‘SAFE’ and securely locked into its pintle mount. By the time he had completed the pre-flight check on each Wappa, the immediate air was filled with the low whine of the hover-fans, and the gurgle of the engines.

Satisfied, Laytn jumped into the command chair of the last Wappa, and adjusted himself comfortably into the seat. Placing his feet on the rudder pedals and his hand on the collective stick, Laytn went about checking the operation of the control surfaces that directed the thrust of the hover-fans. Each of his movements was instantaneously followed by the articulation of the applicable flap. A smile came to Laytn’s face as he awaited his comrades.

True Vacuum - New Universe Space NRP

I'm still here.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 261st

@AutoFox Great post. I'll have something up soonish.

True Vacuum - New Universe Space NRP

Post #2: Putting Down Roots

Hider

The destroyer, VRS Venture Star, along with the frigates White Knife and Altos, departing the Qetesh System.

VRS Venture Star
Underway ≈10,000 LY beyond VUR controlled space

It was an exciting time to be a Val. For the first time in over a century the species was expanding beyond its borders, and venturing forth into the great unknown. That the universe beyond was even more wild and uncertain than in all of recorded history, made the occasion even more momentous.

Captain Selussa Esta-Athobus lay in her berth, quietly contemplating the import of her species’ undertaking, and the role in which she was playing. It was yet difficult for her to comprehend just how much had changed in the six weeks since the Quantum Spacetime Anomaly had transplanted her entire nation into the frontier of the true vacuum. She had gone from being a decorated, ambitious, and talented naval officer of the venerated 4th Fleet, to being granted command of a brand new destroyer as a part of the equally contemporary 5th Fleet.

While having been under development for several years, the 5th Fleet expansion had been rushed to fruition in the aftermath of the QSA, and the VUR’s new focus of establishing a more secure military force. Where the other naval fleets were tasked solely with the defense of their specific systems and sectors, the 5th Fleet was a new animal altogether, bearing the distinction of operating beyond the established boundaries of the VUR, and setting the first building blocks for secure galactic expansion.

Selussa, and her ship, the destroyer VRS Venture Star, were leading the 5th Fleet’s first foray into this bold, new purpose. A small taskforce of thirty-six ships had departed from the Qetesh System just over seven days ago, hurtling through space towards the expanding remnant of a supernova some 46,000 LY beyond the VUR. The fleet itself was mainly comprised of specialized research vessels from various space mining companies, intent on being the first to claim the prized resources yet held within the supernova remnant’s rich womb.

The VUR navy had almost been left out of the expedition entirely. So fervent was the intent of the mining corporations to explore this new find, that they announced that if the navy was not prepared to escort them at the time of their set departure, that they would forego official support in the name of expediency. The politics of the matter, however, demanded that the navy have some presence within a mission of such momentous import. As such, those in the upper echelons of government had made it so, heedless of the more conservative thinkers in the naval high command.

As a result, Selussa and her compatriots of the 5th Fleet, made up only three ships within the taskforce: the destroyer Venture Star, and the frigates White Knife, and Altos. While these new, and state-of-the-art warships, represented a formidable threat, the rush to get the ships prepared to escort the taskforce had made it impossible for the government to outfit the naval contingent with more support vessels. So, while the 5th Fleet had the esteem of being the first military body of the VUR to venture beyond its established borders, it also had the heavy responsibility of tending to its flock with little more than an honor guard.

Captain Selussa checked her chrono. It was still another hour before she was to take her watch on the bridge. Sighing, she lay her silver-furred head back onto the pillow. Sleep had eluded her for most of the voyage, and she knew it was a useless proposition now. Three more weeks of travel at FTL speeds until they reached the supernova remnant, and the captain knew it would take longer than that to find restful sleep once again.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 261st

Laytn’s eyes narrowed, and his lips became a thin line. He knew where his fellow officers were coming from, and the forward reconnaissance with the Wappas would be fast and efficient. Yet, in Laytn’s mind, it was never a bad thing to have someone sitting quietly on some hilltop with their eyes watching your back through a giant scoped beam rifle. He hadn’t meant for the 261st’s entire contingent of mobile suits to form up, and start combing the desert for Feddie saboteurs.

In reality though, Laytn acknowledged the Commander and Milo had fair points. The issue with the shredded tires was probably nothing more than bad luck, and getting Old Crow out of bed would be overkill in such a situation. The chance to get out of the convoy for a bit, even if it wasn’t in the pilot’s couch of his beloved mobile suit, was still an opportunity Laytn wasn’t going to pass up.

“Very well, sir,” Laytn nodded to Commander McKnight. “Binos and Wappas it is.”

Casting a sidelong glance to Milo, he smirked. “I did hear about that—the unit that almost took down the White Devil with the Wappas. Thought it was bullshit at the time, but…” Laytn shrugged, “…after the things I’ve seen in this war, anything is possible.”

Laytn heard Joshua’s fervent offer to join the recon mission, and he chuckled lightly at the younger man’s almost boyish eagerness. He liked Joshua, and he knew the man to be a good soldier, and a good pilot. It was amazing how much Laytn had grown accustomed to being with these men, fighting and toiling alongside them for months. Their cause had failed, but there wasn’t a single spacenoid in the 261st he wouldn’t be proud to serve with again.

“Doing recon on Wappas is a little below our paygrade, don’t you think fellas?” Laytn said to the other men. “I get we’re all going stir crazy, but, in the unlikely event that shit does hit the fan, we wouldn’t want the lion’s share of the 261st’s officers going down in a blaze of glory would we?”

Laytn pushed his boonie hat back on his head so he could scratch at the sunburn that lingered on his brow. “I mean, that’s just something to chew on. I’m up for whatever, Commander. But it is something to consider, especially since Milo just said we’re going to be without long range comms due to that Minovsky zone.”