The flood of adrenaline released by finally joining the battle saw Helia charging her mech up the side of the crater with enough speed to briefly escape the planetoid's gravity. Just as she brought her weapons to bear on the tiny Locust huddled in the center of the crater, her comm crackled to life, "Cease fire! Cease fire! The enemy has signaled their withdrawal."

Helia sighed, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she was holding as her mech touched down in the powdery regolith.

Undamaged, and with only a single round of ammunition expended, Helia found herself standing sentry over the Mule as her disabled comrades were recovered and repaired.

Anastacia sighed as she left the cockpit  of her loader, then turned to her lance and smiled.
"good job girls, Lets get and parse the data from the crater scans, see if we can figure out why they were her ein the first place!"
She saluted the girls and moved on to grab some much needed food.

after picking up the boring mulch called food on a dropship, she went to speak to lucious.
She was quite intrigued to find out what a pilot of a regular mech thought of the loader, any improvement she might think of, which she could bring up the next time she spoke to the people back at new eden.

She found him speaking to that crazy religious girl, Regina, and waited a moment for an opening in conversation.

"So how do you like it?"
She indicated the loader with her thumb, and found a crate to lean against.

she chuckled at reginas comments.
"this is why we call it mass and not weight, Mass remains unaltered by gravity while weight is measured based on amss as affected by it"

She tried to ignore the extra dose of crazy the girl was radiating after the battle.

Luc could help but grin and laugh and her groping herself in front of him and now knew she thought of her breasts are her babies.  Ever since he'd first met her she had fell into that space cadet sister that needed his help more than the hot but disturbed woman that she was that he'd otherwise have gone after, "They are fuller.  A by-product of zero-g and how the body reacts to it.  Enjoy it while you can."

Nodding his head to her second question he affirmed her statement, "Yup.  Lots of data from all the scanning but I haven't had a chance to talk to Jen yet about what it actually means since she saw multiple craters and could extrapolate more."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:10, Tue 24 June 2014.

Looking over to Anastasia at her question as to the power loader he tilted his head a bit and took out a cigar to chew on the end of, "She's new and needs to be broken in some more before I could tell you for certain.  That said as much as I pushed the actuators they didn't freeze up or fall apart so I think that's a good sign, but the targeting matrix for the sword could be refined.  That or else when it was loaded on someone forgot to tighten some bolts...when I used it the thing felt like it was ready to wobble off its arm.  On the other hand I've got mixed feelings about the way the pod system works.  It's great for quick combat swaps but for optimal loads it's a bit lacking.  Maybe that's cause I don't have access to all your toys but it's what I've got for you at the moment..."

Regina made an impatient face, as the pushy Valkyrie pilot shows up to discuss stuff with Lucius.  It was the last thing that Lucius got to see before Regina flips the welding mask back on to cover her face.  There was a brief clicking sound and then a whooshing sound as Regina went back to work to weld quickly.

Welding was expected to be quick and efficient since, the amount of air the torches used was considered extravagant.

Luc took the cigar out of his mouth and started moving it reflexively to Reggie's welding torch to light the end before he sighed.  No smoking in space when it isn't your ship.  He stopped himself and put the cigar back into his mouth and figured he'd keep talking to Reggie after she was done and Ana had gotten all the questions out.

Ana was about to say something, when luc stopped his motion, she chuckled.
"ah, in that case I will leave you to yours"

She started moving away, but then stopped.
"If you have anything in the future, feel free to ask, or let me know, any feedback is much appreciated"

"I'll keep it in mind Karkoff," Luc replied with a nod.

He knew that Reggie would be busy for a bit so he left her to her own devices for the time being.  Heading back to his X-3a he climbed into the cockpit and pulled on his helmet to engage secure comms so he could talk to Jennifer while she was out keeping watch to see if she had made any headway with the data.

++Rook.  Burner here.  Anything on that data yet?++

Jen was still browsing through the accumulated data, and trying to make sense of it all.  All while keeping a watchful eye for potential counter attacks.

"Hmmm...?", Jen comments distracted.

"I'm on over watch duty you know.  Not that theres anything to watch.  I think that first encounter was messy enough that they're busy fixing the decompression damage too."

"There's something funny about that field of craters.  It's sort of outlandish, so i dont want to embarrass myself til i've had time to confirm my thoughts on what's happening here.", there was a short pause.

"Give me till my watch is over, and i'll get back to you on my findings.", she says simply.

Kitty Note:  Jen will slowly unravel the details for the plot of the next mission.  The mission is not ready at this time, so i'm not ready to give away the plot at this time either.

Luc chuckled, ++Of course you are and of course they won't attack now.  We all have embarassing moments and in the Ironswords it's best to just get them over with.  You'll learn that if you stick with us long enough, but take your time and get it right...even if it is outlandish, and let me know when you have something solid.  Burner Out.++

Taking his neurohelmet off he crawled his way out of the X-3a and found himself a good spot to watch the various women in the merc teams.  It was times like this that he missed Echo because he could get her riled up with only a little innuendo and speed up the waiting before the storm.

As he floated around he heard Echo's name being mentioned by the techs and is surprised him a bit.  He thought that she had gone on to different merc pastures or back to the 'Mothership' on Eden to teach the clueless Edenite cadets how to really fight...or well rather try to fight.  Pushing his way over to Elaine he tapped her on the shoulder, "Elaine...what's this I hear about Echo being here?  I don't remember seeing her ride being on board."

Akarian was sitting below Phoenix having no need for repairs, his mind was swirling around the battle of moments earlier still. He wasn't sure what to think about rules of engagement having been drawn up and honored. Was this not the realm of battle and death? Surely it would have been better to press the offensive while they had it, and have eliminated the enemy units or pilots for good. Now he suspected he would have to chance death once more against the enemy, and in this cursed vacuum of space.

Joaquin sat in his Spider fuming over the situation....

Lucky Son of a B*tch!!! ......

When the Spider was finally in the repair bay, Joaquin stayed in his cockpit. He called over to Command.

" This is War Dog. I want to request time to go through the battle logs in the simulator. Anyone who wants to join is welcome. "

He loaded up the simulator and began to study what he could of done better, and watching the enemy tactics.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 15:51, Wed 25 June 2014.

Lucky helps fix up the light armor damage to his Whitworth, then starts walking around looking for somebody in the ordnance department...

"Hey, hhhmmm, where's the LRMs, somebody had mentioned earlier there were some crates laying around, but I'm not seeing any."

No simulators really... You're using a Mule, with Technical repair stuff in cargo for repairs... youre lucky to have parts for repairs, something like a Simulator isnt going to be available...

 After securing his mech he hands his report in and just shook his head at those burners who had raced ahead of the back up force and engaged that heavy load op forces.

 He did come to the understanding that fighting in a airless rock was not much fun,still the op force bandits had acted in fairness so he would cut them some slack as much as any decent merc unit.

 Stopping off at the infirmary he stops in to see how the CO was doing, "Hey Commander, glad to see you still in one piece, had a chill when your status went blank on our team thread. How is your ride?, going to be able to patch it together again?."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Wed 25 June 2014.

In reply to Kitten (msg # 357):

I will just say he loads the tactical information/play back from the HUD system then. Trying to analyze what he can from the scenario from that then.

Ziro paces nervously as the techs look over his 'mech. Fortunately the engagement had been relatively short, which cut down on the repair time. However, ammunition seemed to be in short supply. He tries to help the techs out as best as he can with a welder, but ends up mostly making small talk.

"Do you think the cold had any negative effect on the heat sinks? I'm of the opinion that it hasn't had any long term impact, but you never know..."

Ziro takes an interest in their work, having heard stories of the advanced technology coming out of Eden. When he senses his inquisitive nature getting in the way of repairwork, he meanders about, trying to acquaint himself with the other pilots.

Jennifer had doubled and triple checked her findings and she still wasnt certain about the findings.  They  were simply too outlandish to consider, and yet... what else could they be?

She spends the rest of her tour of duty on sentry duty mulling over the implications and exactly what to say when it the time comes to debrief the lance commanders.

Space in the Mule was at a premium, but the captain of the dropship was gracious and allowed the use of his stateroom to be used for the debriefing.  The small bunk bed against the wall would allow for three to be seated.  There was a small desk that would serve as seating for two more, while another might stand in the doorway for the cramp debriefing.

Present were Kurt Steiner, Lucius McMurphy, Pax Tarkin, Anastasia Karkoff, and representing the Freelancers, Regina Arlington.

When all were present she began a brief outline of the situation at hand.

"I just spent the last hour reviewing the intel we gathered from our encounter with the Op Force.  I thought it was odd that many of the craters were so perfectly formed.  When i say perfect, i mean the symmetry and depth of the craters.  They were nearly perfect circles.", Jen thought for a moment as to why this was odd.

"When a meteor strikes the surface, they will do so at an 'angle', skewing the shape of the crater into something more 'oval'.  A perfect circle, means that the meteor would have had to have struck at a perfectly perpendicular angle.... Every time."

"So... i thought... maybe they werent formed by meteor strikes and i made an effort to examine the craters more throughly."

Jen pulls up some scans on a noteputer she has hooked up the a small monitor on the desk.

"Look... these three big ones... Metallugical scans... They're alloys.  They dont appear naturally in nature... they're man made."

After a few moments she changes to a new screen.

"... and these heat signatures... well... less the presence of the mechs...", the screen adjusts and 'hot' blips vanish, leaving heat traces over the three craters of interest.

"There are thermal readings in them.", Jennifer pauses and makes an uncertain face, "I think... I think these are engines...  Used to propel the planetoid slowly through space.  Spaced out and directional angles seem to suggest vague course corrections are possible as well.  I've checked with the Captain Anderson {the dropship captain}, the current course of this planetoid will bring it dangerously close to Omni.  A few blast of those engines to correct the course over time, will almost certainly put it on a direct course with Omni.

If that's allowed... it would trigger an event horizon... a potentially world ending event for the inhabitants of Omni."

Jen waits a moment to let that sink in, and gauge the reactions from the mech commanders.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:49, Mon 14 July 2014.

Regina didnt care much for Jennifer, she seemed much much much too serious and self absorbed.  Life was much too short for such seriousness.  What she was describing seemed outlandish and unlikely.  The cost and expense of such an ploy was impressively expensive, not to mention the total disregard for life.

"Event Horizon?

 Is that... like a pretty sunset?"

"No... not quite.

 It's said that large collisions like this can cause severe climate changes, as well as kick up dirt into the atmosphere blotting out sunlight for significant parts of the planet.  If the planet stays habitable, I'm not sure what changes would occur, but it wont be the pleasant tropical atmosphere that's currently enjoyed.  .

We need to capture the 'bridge', or at the very least 'destroy' it so that they cant make course corrections."

Luc sat back and watched the battle-rom from his duels against the Omni cadets as well as all the other mercenaries that were there competing...never knew when he would spot new talent or old talent that had passed a cusp and was worth courting to sign up to the unit.  Ever since the last engagement where he had to split Rook off into her own zone of control he'd done some minor modifications on the comms systems in the X-3a...

...it was at this particular point that he realized that his 'extra-curricular' work might have been the cause for his targeting computers electronic jitters.  With a sigh he went back to watching the vids until he saw the individual in a ChIPs uniform walking towards him.  With a grin he stood up and greeted her while enjoying her assets, "You Charter Interstellar Postal Service gals are the best.  I take it that is the delivery for me?"

He held out his identification and she gave him a scowl as she pulled out a scanner and verified his credentials before looking back up to him, "Thumb print here and sign here..."

Pressing his thumb against the scanner to verify himself further he then signed the screen and reached his hand out for the briefcase that she had been carrying...a plain looking titanium sealed thing.  With a shake of her head she handed the case over to him, the external light flashing from red to yellow to green confirming his entire grip print was valid for him to open the package.  To which she then added rotely, "Thank you for using Charter Interstellar Postal Service, we hope to continue to provide our services to you in the future."

Luc chuckled again quietly as she walked away, "You bet I will..."  Sitting back down he carefully cacked the case open and smiled at the contents within.

* Lights *

* Camera *

* Action *

"HellllloooOOOooooOOooooo!!!

 SOLARIS!

 We're taking our show on the road a few seasons as we follow the trail of mystery Lostech to the little known planet on the periphery known simply as... 'Omni'.  While i had no idea what to expect when we packed up for this adventure, i have to say i cant believe i'm being paid for this.  It is GORGEOUS out here."

* Cameras pan out to show Penny standing on a beach, dressed in a bikini with palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze behind her. *

"While you might think i'm here on vacation, i'm actually here following the trickle of LosTech being produced and sold by....", makes air quote motions with her fingers, "... mystery producers 'Omni Corporation'.  Who are they?  How are they producing LosTech?  Who do you have to shoot to take their place in line to buy their goods?  These and other intriguing questions will be answered in future episodes of Penny Plenty and Pussy Cat Brigade!"

* CUT *

"How's it look?", Penny asks Lily, her Camerawoman.

Lily makes a so~so motion with her hand.

"Maybe too much glare from the sun.  Will have to see in production.  We'll re shoot it if we have to."

Penny nods, "That's fine.  Rick said he cleared the red tape to get me a position with some unit called the Ironsides."

"Bor~ring...", Lily rolls her eyes as she packs up the camera.

"Yeah... I know.  I can see the ratings plumeting now.  It'll be good for my street cred to actually do a little time in a real unit and... you know... maybe see some action."

"Just dont get yourself killed.  It'd be great for ratings, but what will we do next season?"

"Your concern over my health is touching.", Penny trades air kisses with Lily and saunters off the beach to change for her meeting with Iron Swords.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:46, Mon 08 Sept 2014.

Luc had taken the case and its contents back to his Loader and left it in the cockpit.  Regina thought that Blake was inspiring but simple fact was she was still alive so it meant something even if he wasn't a religious fanatic like her.  Once done with things he read his messages on the comm-pad and swore.  Jen had used the opt-out clause in the contract that they had.  She'd paid for armour already but her EW gear was going.

He would have missed the next message on the pad if he hadn't stubbed his toe as he walked, and sworn even louder as he came crashing down to the floor and the message was staring him in the face...some Solaris flunkie had come out this way to do her 'multi-network holo-show' and was looking to do some time in a unit to cover expenses.  Coverage could be both good and bad for the Ironswords but he was up a creek without a proverbial paddle.

Standing back up he finally got to her name and holo-advert and he couldn't help but say it out loud, "Penny Plenty?"

"...and plenty of Penny." Olaf's voice chimed in, quoting the popular slogan from last season's run of Pussy Cat Brigade.  Stepping out from from behind a pallet load of missiles loaded onto a gantry and bound for his Whitworth he asked: "What's the story boss?  Catching up on last year's tabloid holovids?"