2280/Rocket Rendezvous

Rocket Rendezvous
Date of Scene:	19 May 2015
Location:	Typhoeus System <CS2>
Synopsis:	Rocket comes to Atlas to answer Rebecca Kismarin's job offer and combats some HERCs along with her and XCOM forces
Cast of Characters:	62, 343, 781

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Rebecca Kismarin (343) has posed:
     Atlas. Daylight. In this system, it's late morning, the dew on the grass still present and a healthy chill in the air. The 'Hand of Iapetus' isn't present, it's docked far, far off where it belongs, in the hangar bay. Here at the old, abandoned LZ, however, there are a few vehicles milling about. A Sensei HERC stands tall, sensors deployed, with an Ogre and a Giant on standby. A single grav tank patrols the periphery, the Lightning gunship sweeping low across the open grasslands. At one of the abandoned prefabs, a woman stands, dressed in a crisp officer uniform, eyes cast towards the morning sky. "I'm putting faith in a mercenary," she thinks aloud, "But the gears of capitalism turn the multiverse. And what are we, if not mercenaries, as a corporation? Still, a splinter of profit broken to gather the whole tree is worth it in the end.."

     She had looked through her contacts in the Syndicate Network, analyzing files, dossiers, and had found one of interest, in particular. Biomorph? Not a problem. Non-AI? Perfect. Mechanically inclined and heavily armed? Even better. And so she forwarded a rendesvous location to a one 'Rocket', within her system of operation and far enough from her base should there be an ambush or any other sort of liability.

Rocket (781) has posed:
A distant sonic boom is the first indication of the approach of the "Rack 'n' Ruin", a blade-shaped spaceship with wings attached to the aft section of the hull. As it approaches the LZ it slows and a radio signal is broadcast from it as it comes to hover about half a mile away.

"This is Captain Rocket of the Rack 'n' Ruin. Responding to a call from a Rebecca Kismarin. Requesting permission to land."

Elise Leroy (62) has posed:
    XCOM is here too. The team is spread out to cover the HERCs, a MEC hugging close to the Sensei with his Railgun primed and ready. A Heavy sits atop the building looking through binoculars while he hefts his Heavy Laser. It's a prototype, and is mounted onto his Carapace suit via a heavy harness, and hooked up to a heavy cooling array on his back. The Sniper is perched on an old watchtower, sighting down the scope, with the SCOPE overlaying her other team mate's suit cameras.

     The Support and Assault stand near Rebecca, as a kind of 'Honor Guard', their laser rifles primed, but kept at rest.

Rebecca Kismarin (343) has posed:
     Rebecca unfolds her arms and slips an expandable flexi-screen out of her pocket, a moldable tablet. The Sensei's arrays filter the data from the broadcast and double-check identity and IFF codes. She radios to the XCOM team, "It checks out. Weapons on standby just in case," she states. The Ogre's ballistic shoulder mounts angle skyward and the eight barrels of cannon that is the Giant do much the same, targetting data on the 'Rack 'n' Ruin' being channeled to their pilots. Just in case.

     "This is Captain Rebecca Kismarin of UniTech's Typhoeus Expeditionary Force. You are cleared to land. There is ample space around the field remnants here. My scout indicates that your ship may be too large to utilize one of the landing pads within the compound." She's professional and curt, looking expectantly towards the glint in the morning sky.

Rocket (781) has posed:
"Roger Wilco, over and out," Rocket's voice is heard to say on the radio.

The hovering ship begins to move again. While it seems slow at first, it only takes moments to close the distance to the indicated area. As it lowers to the ground the wings sweep up from vertical so that when the bottom of the ship touches down the tips of the wings just barely brush the ground to provide additional support. A ramp lowers from the blade-like portion of the hull and a few minutes later a pair of humanoid figures walk down it: one, a tree-like figure almost three yards tall, towers over the other, a bipedal raccoon with a rifle strapped to his back which is almost as long as his approximately three-foot height.

As they approach the arboroform says something in a voice which carries as a rumbling tone more than anything else. Rocket's response is heard more clearly however because it comes just a bit later as they get closer to the assembled forces, "Yeah, I hear you. I wan't planning on trying it anyway. I don't think that I could sneak one aboard the Rack without them noticing it."

Elise Leroy (62) has posed:
    The XCOM Team watch the ship approach, and at Rebecca's call, go back to spotting for incoming hostiles, just in case. The MEC shifts position heavy footfalls thudding against the ground as he moves around the far side of the Sensei.

    The Assault watches the pair approach, XCOM knew a Rocket and Groot before, so they don't make mention of the oddity they represent.

Rebecca Kismarin (343) has posed:
     Rebecca steps out of the cover of the building with her little entourage. The good Captain does have a sidearm, there's a pistol strapped to her hip. If she's thrown off by the appearance of who and what steps out of the ship, she does her best not to show it. "Not exactly what I had expected, but welcome to the Typhoeus system, Mister Rocket. And Atlas," she gestures to the grasslands around her. "I understand you are looking for work, of a sort. And I am always looking for reliable and well-armed allies." She frowns slightly, "...before my competitors get to them." Her hand outstretches towards the raccoon-morph and she looks him in the eye. "Captain Rebecca Kismarin."

Rocket (781) has posed:
Taking Rebecca's hand in his as he speaks, Rocket says, "Nice t'meet you Captain. And its just Rocket, no 'Mister' please..." he pauses and looks about before saying, "... Or I could make an exception if protocol makes it impossible for you to not do so of course." From behind him, Groot says, "I am Groot." ((You can call me Groot. Or 'Mister Groot' if you wish.)) He extends his own hand as Rocket finishes shaking the Captain's. Rocket doesn't bother to translate this, figuring that what is heard by most will cover what Groot is actually saying. Instead he says, "We're always looking for the next job, starship fuel doesn't appear out of nowhere after all."

Elise Leroy (62) has posed:
    The Support blinks curiously at the arboromorph, but the Assault steps up. "Nice to meet you both, Rocket, Mister Groot." she offers, taking the extended hand. "XCOM had one iteration of the both of you for a while. I had the... unique... opportunity to be assigned to that Groot's on-base bodyguard."

Rebecca Kismarin (343) has posed:
     Rebecca takes the offered... branch? Hand. Whatever. She gives a little shake as well, "...pleased to meet you both. Groot. Rocket." She steps back, letting the Assault re-familiarize herself with the arboromorph. Once the reunion is complete, she clears her throat. "Starship fuel. That brings up the matter of payment for your services. Do you take credits, or would you prefer materiel? We utilize fission for our power plants, but there may be something of use to you in this system that we might come across during our mining operations."

     She looks back towards her HERCs, the silver metal gun platforms standing eerily still, their cannons pointed towards the landed vessel. "That of course, brings me to what your services would entail. Do you think you would be able to take down one of those?" she asks, turning ninety degrees and gesturing towards the Giant. ( )

Rocket (781) has posed:
After shaking the Captain's hand Groot steps aside with the Assault and says, "I am Groot." ((Are you saying that there was another Rocket and me here in the Multiverse? That would be an interesting thing to study. What was he like? The 'other' Groot you knew?)) After speaking he tilts his head slightly, examining the soldier as if trying to find evidence of this previous exposure.

While Groot speeks with the Assault, Rocket looks at the indicated mech. There is a similarity of motion to Groot's head tilt when Rocket does the same, from side to side as if trying to take it in from different angles. "I'm not familiar with the design. What type of defenses and armament does it have?" he asks contemplatively.

Elise Leroy (62) has posed:
    The Assault smiles. "He was a big goof. Kinda sweet too. He gave me a flower after I showed him how to use the vending machines without breaking it." she says, 'holstering' her rifle over the back of her Carapace suit. It latches on to a magnetic clap and the red glow fades as the device 'collapses' down to a more boxy formation. "I still have it... dried it and pressed it in some clear vinyl."

Rebecca Kismarin (343) has posed:
     "HERCULANs are generally protected by a layer of energy-absorbing shields and thick armor. They are the main battle tanks of this day and age for my world, though we do also have tracked vehicles equipped similarly," Rebecca explains. "HERC armaments vary widely. Cottus and Gyges can demonstrate for you," she gestures to the Giant and the Ogre respectively. The Ogre's four arms lift and the shoulder-mounted cannons focus on the Giant. "I would cover your ears if they're sensitive," she cautions the group. "Range. CLEAR. Fire at will!" the woman's voice is loud and commanding. And then it gets loud.

     Two of the Ogre's arms light up, energy projectors built into them sending out laser pulses that pepper the Giant with energy. Energy that splashes, almost literally, against a once-invisible dome of teal that, for the moment, seems to be holding well enough against the barrage. It's brief, flashy, and then the shoulder cannons erupt with thundering booms. The shells pepper the shields as well, flecks of the slugs nicking the armor plating underneath as they penetrate a little at this range. When the smoke clears, the Giant still stands tall, the energy barrier flickering before winking away, barely visible as a distortion in the air. "Particle cannons, compression lasers, particle beams, autocannons, artillery, plasma, missiles... if you can name a tech, we may have it. Our researches are working on ever more breakthroughs as well," she says with a nod.

     The Sensei's sensor 'ears' prick up, lifting, antennae practically twitching as it pulses the active radar. THe data it collects pings to the patrolling gunship--and to XCOM's crew. Rebecca's smile immediately turns into a small frown. "Three?" she queries, looking towards the Assault, as she's standing the closest. "No corporate IFF..." she grits her teeth, "...glitches."

Rocket (781) has posed:
Rocket covers his ears as suggested but watches the display. Behind him, Groot starts for a moment when the barrage begins as his conversation with the Assault had him distracted enough to not notice the Captain's announcement.

Once the display is over, Rocket nods and says, "I have some weapons that I think I could use to help out with this...." He pauses a moment and looks back at Groot who, looking at the HERCs then at Rocket shakes his head and says, "I am Groot." ((No. Don't even think it.)) Then, with a sigh as he sees the gleam in Rocket's eyes he says, "I am Groot." ((Oh. You've already thought it.))

When Rocket turns back to Rebecca he is obviously grinning as he asks, "How good are they at targeting man-scaled targets and are those shields permiable to organic projectiles?"

Elise Leroy (62) has posed:
    The Assault looks at Rebecca, then lifts her hand up to her ear. "Longshot, get eyes on." she chimes through the SCOPE net. "Sync up your visual feed with the rest of the squad. Firefly, heads up, heavies inbound. You too Atomic." she then looks at the Support. "Faraday, stick close to the Captain. I'll grab the mag charges."

    Longshot, the Sniper, chimes in a moment later. "Looks like a big Quad with sensor arrays, a short Quad with a big missile pod, and one of those six-leggers from the ISI assault, Arachnis? The other two aren't in the database."

Rebecca Kismarin (343) has posed:
     "Not in the..." Rebecca mutters, "...old warforms. They're in the UniTech databases. Probably a ... Parasite and a Cerberus ..." She turns back to Rocket. "Organic projectiles? No idea. If Groot wants to step up and hug one of the bloody bastards, he can probably get through. The faster the projectile, the better the shields are against it. One of the XCOM team was able to get right up on the legs of one and strap a demo charge to it, so... you've got options."

     Then she stalks towards one of the prefabs, "Get out of the open, hunker down, and get the biggest guns you can get out. Rocket, you want to earn your first paycheck? Get these Cybrid bastards out of my LZ. They'll have trouble hitting a small target, but they never had too much trouble hunting down humans back when The Fire hit. I doubt they'd see you as a threat immediately, however, so make your first shot count." She mutters, "...figures half of the Gyges' loadout is training lasers, too."

     Out on the grassland, three black-hulled HERCs, smaller ones, make their way towards the compound. The first and fastest is the Parasite, looking almost mouse-like as it bounds forward, missile racks at its tail end and two cannons at the fore.

Elise Leroy (62) has posed:
    Firefly sets up his Heavy Laser. As the Parasite bounds up, a torrent of pulsed red light lashes out against the smaller HERC. The MEC Atomic, steps out of the Sensei's shield, and levels his Railgun. The coils give off a deep thrum, before a near-luminal slug lances out, leaving a trail of ionized air ins its wake.

    Longshot doesn't hold off though. She's only using a slug-thrower, but she's packing Reaper rounds, the report resonating across the grassland, and the red tracer like a laser aiming for the red optics on the bounding HERC. Faraday ducks into the prefab with Rebecca, while the Assault, Broadside, exits another, carrying three magnetic det-packs, aiming to get to the closer prefab that the big, bulgy Quad, the Cerberus, is coming toward.

Rocket (781) has posed:
"Groot, with me," Rocket says as he unslings his gun and unfolds then pulls a lever on the side of it causing it to expand to twice its original width and extend to a third again its original length easily making it longer than his height. He dashes ahead of Groot who dutifully follows along and then after closing the distance he fires off a shot consisting of a depleated uranium bullet encompassed by a charged sheath of plasma at the Parasite's right-hand missile pod. After firing the shot - and clearly identifying where he is - he begins to move, both perpendicular to the direction the mechs are moving and somewhat towards them. With a hand-signal from Rocket, Groot says "I am Groot," ((I have a bad feeling about this, Rocket,)) and heads towards the mech his friend had just fired on at a walking pace most humans would have to run to keep up with.

Rebecca Kismarin (343) has posed:
     The Parasite is the size of a small car, highly mobile and quick for a HERC. If such a thing could rightly be called a HERC. The burst of laser fire from the Heavy peppers the bounder's light shields and they pop with alarming speed. The twin guns flanking the frontal sensors open up, sending lances of crimson over the prefabs and the compound's defenders. Rebecca has taken cover behind a wall of plascrete while her HERCs take up defensive positions, the much larger machines taking the brunt of the light fire.

     The Parasite's missile packs open, spikes the size of fists glinting in the morning sun. Right before the guns hit them. A few micro-missiles manage to fly before Rocket's plasma fire and Atomic's railgun explode both mounts in a shower of flame and shrapnel. Longshot's 'headshot' is spot on, removing the red eyeball from the upper hull. With a series of mechanical screeches and knocked off balance by the explosion of its heavier payloads, the Parasite flails in the grass, dirt and embers flying into the air where it scrambles and panics.

     Behind, the Arachnus and the Cerberus advance slower, the latter's bulk and armor giving it a lumbering gait, the chainguns mounted on its sides spooling up and chattering as 40mm slugs rain down towards Rocket and Groot. The Arachnus' quad 50mm autocannons fire one by one, a withering hail of explosive rounds that thud against the little cluster of buildings.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Groot reaches the Paraside mech as it begins to fall and grabs one of the legs still supporting it. He hugs the mechanical limb and begins to grow to about a third again his original height but inwardly as well. Vine-like twigs grow out of his torso only to insinuate themselves into the limb's joints. With a quick jerk of his arms he pulls the limb apart in such a way to send shrapnel flying, further disabling the mech.

As his buddy brutializes the Predator Rocket and after cocking his gun again, he fires at the Cerberus' weapon mounts while dodging the hail of bullets, hoping to disable the chainguns. Small size and quick motion is not always enough however... and after a couple of shots at the mech Rocket's arm suddenly has a line of crimson from a close graze. Crying out for a moment in pain he drops to the ground and scrambles behind a rock that wouldn't hide a human.

Groot, unable to dodge the bullets, simply moves out of the way while taking a few hits which burrow though his torso, some leaving holes clean through his wooden flesh.

Elise Leroy (62) has posed:
    Firefly switches target, turning the rotating barrel of his heavy laser on the Arachnis. Atomic turns and dashes toward the spider-like mech as well, deploying his Kinetic Strike Module as his mechanical gait lopes across the open terrain.

    As the Cerberus trundles by, Broadside exits the prefab and charges up to its legs, tossing a couple of charges up at the joints. She hurls the third one up at the main torso then hoofs it the way the HERC came, so those guns can't track to her.

    Longshot racks the bolt of her rifle, and aims to the 'head' of the Arachnis now. She can't do much against these heavy targets, but sensor systems are always a good bet at being lightly armoured.

Rebecca Kismarin (343) has posed:
     Much like their bioderm-piloted counterparts, the Cybrid mechs need a moment to stop and reload. The barrage of ballistic weapons means the series of shells needs time to re-rack a magazine and lock an internal belt in. Enough time for the larger force to get its bearings -- and get the drop in, too. The plasma blast from Rocket almost overwhelms the Cerberus' shields in one go, a fusilade of laser fire from the Sensei's arm cannons finishing the job. Just in time for Broadside to slap the magnetic charges on the lumbering assault mech.

     Firefly's laser fire easily downs the Arachnus lighter by comparison shields, giving Longshot the opening needed to cripple the targetting sensors of the arachnoid cybrid. The cannons reload, but it can only easily detect larger targets. One of which bears down from the sky in the form of the Lightning gunship, EF rotary spinning up on the nose and spewing charged green slivers at the upper hull and its wing mounts unloading a dozen missiles. It explodes almost in synch with the Cerberus, fires lighting up the morning, shrapnel raining down on the sky while pillars of fire are like beacons at two points in the base. Torn to pieces, the Parasite chitters weakly in a mechanical tongue before what's left of it simply powers down, memory core melting.

     "Good fragging morning," Rebecca hisses through her teeth as she steps out into the sunlight, "Christ and Hunter... that was a small patrol. Something must've riled up the glitches."

Rocket (781) has posed:
As the mechs fall, Groot immediately looks around for Rocket, moving slowly as his body is recoving from the bullet wounds. "I am Groot?" ((Rocket, where are you?)) Groot calls out somewhat woefully.

Holding a hand to his wound, Rocket calls out to his buddy, "I'm right over here, Groot," gritting from the pain in his arm. Groot, as much as he can, rushes to Rocket and scoops him up into his arms, cradling him even as Rocket holds onto his rifle with his injured arm desprate to not loose it. "Lets return to the Captain, Groot," Rocket says only to be answered with a nod and a shuffling in the indicated direction.

Elise Leroy (62) has posed:
    Broadside pants a little, rubbing hair out of her face as she does a Luke Skywalker on that giant walker. "Sound off. Strike Elements." she huffs into her mic.

    "Atomic reporting. All systems nominal." "Firefly here, laser's melted itself, but otherwise I'm fine." "Longshot reporting, five by five." "Faraday here, all good Lieutenant."

    "Alright, group up at Captain Kismarin's coordinates."

Rocket (781) has posed:
"How much are we gonna..." Rocket starts to ask about payment but passes out from the pain - hey, it was a big bullet! Groot, on feeling his friend go limp in his arms changes direction, heading towards the Rack 'n' Ruin instead of Captain Kismarin. He says, "I am Groot." ((I'm taking him to our sickbay. We will remain here so you can speak with him later.)) while looking around to see if the Assault he knows can understand him has heard him. Unsure, he still heads for the ship. Those watching him go can see the holes in his body closing as he heals the wounds while he walks.

Elise Leroy (62) has posed:
    Broadside nods toward Groot. "He said he's taking him to the sickbay. They'll remain on-planet so you can talk to them when he recovers." she explains to the Captain.

Rebecca Kismarin (343) has posed:
     One could hardly call a Cerberus 'giant', though being as big as a full size van just makes it smaller than your typical HERC. Rebecca watches Groot carry Rocket up into their ship, frowning. "He has the firepower but lacks in defense. Open ground is not good for him. If I hire him on, I'll do my best to ensure he isn't pitted against Cybrids." She shakes her head, "...if there's anything those bastards are good at targetting, it's humans. Always have been. But he and his tree friend... I'll see about sorting out his fees once he wakes up. I need a few extra hands for some demolition work..." she explains to Broadside.

     Then she gives a respectful nod to everyone in turn, "...looks like shaking down your new tech was successful. Let the Commander know that I wouldn't mind bringing you along for it, Cassidy's Moon has a breathable atmosphere. If you don't mind heat. I'll see to refitting my HERCs and we'll hold position here for the day."