Scene #1478: Operation: Dark Calm

Owner	Pose
Elise Leroy	ALERT. ALERT. INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM FUNDING NATIONS! The alert klaxons rang throughout the Base, rousing every trooper available to get their gear on and stand ready. Bradford looks at the Hologlobe. "France, Russia and the UK..." he taps the control panel in front of him, overlaying the 'Panic Meter' and giving a deep frown. That same hand comes up to his headset, and presses the transmit button there. "Strike Five, report to launch bay. Big Sky, I'm sending you the mission site coordinates... You're heading to Paris." It takes about ten minutes for the troopers to load up. The four Rookies look uncomfortable with the new stark white Laser Rifles and their Carapace armour tinted a light red. The Support hefts her weapon, inspecting the emitter coil and the Thermal Clip unit as Vahlen runs them through operations. The only one not sporting a Rifle is the grizzled looking Assault, inspecting instead a small Pistol she's been given to supplement her traditional Buckshot Dispenser. Vahlen taps her datapad and explains. "The Thermal Clip we have designed with help from Miss Weiss, Doctor Benson and several others, is designed to operate fully within standard field operation parameters. They said, they have been stress tested to a maximum load of five 'shots' of approximately five seconds in length before they will no longer function. Each 'clip' comes with four replacements that can be cycled into place with the device that looks like the locking pin on your old rifles. Pull it back until it stops, then push it back forwards. The spent heat sink will pop out and a new one cycled into place." she looks at each of them seriously. "Remember to pick up your spent heat sinks after you have cleared the mission site. They are reusable and I would rather spend time replenishing their chemical bath than manufacturing more." The troops nod, salute then file into the Skyranger. The big Dropship then lifts off and heads off toward Paris.
Garen	Somehow, the chiss known as Garen was already on the field in Paris. Wether he had been there on a black op for XCOM or some other reason, it was unknown. Even so, he was set up in an area, waiting for the call. "XCOM command, this is Ghost. In position."
Alexis Maaka	"Paris is overrated."Alexis says dryly, clutching a laser rifle as she folds her helm into place. Logging away Vahlen's briefing for the new tech, she clutches the rifle tightly as she takes off alongside the other troopers. She checks over the supplies she has for this op, including the thermal-sinks provided to reload the weapon. She's raring at a chance to try out the new tech ROry and the other R&D techs have made, especially at a product that's combat-capable at that. There's always that thrill of having a goddamn laser gun to use, like in the old sci-fi movies and such. That, and the rifles are ergonomic as hell as far as the cyborg's concerned. Grabbing a seat on the Skyranger, she hooks in with Kotone and Rory, among others.
Rory White	Rory happened to be on-base when the alert went out. This time, she's determined to not be overwhelmed by the strangeness or the violence. She's seen enough these last few weeks to understand very well what the cost for hesitation and emotional weakness is. There is time afterwards to grieve, to be horrified, to lament and regret. On the field one cannot afford that. All those crisis management lessons she received long, long ago have finally come flooding back. It's time to prove that she's not merely a scientist or a mercurial transhuman... She is an AGI made to look after countless people. Devoted to that task. Is there a difference if it's overseeing their facilities or aiding them on the front lines? She's ditched her ordinary outfit for a sleek set of ergonomically designed, custom-tailored body armor of flexible plating and thick armor-weave clothes. Her limbs bulge in places strangely - the armor doesn't appear to be made of any conventional materials or design processes, for it's almost entirely lacking any ordinary joined plating. It's more like a suit of bulky second skin woven out of fullerene fibers with occasional padding, and has a texture much like raw muscle here and there. An XCOM color scheme makes it quite clear who it's devoted to though! Only Rory's face is visible, and only because she's not yet put the helmet on! She's carrying one of the new laser pistols... and after the rest of XCOM filters out of Big Sky, four Saucer drones zip out of the hatch and two wheeled drones the size of large dogs which somewhat resemble SHIVs follow. "What could the aliens be after this time?!"
Staren	It's an alien attack! Once the sky rangertransmits its LZ, Staren teleports in nearby, in his usual white and sea-green armor. He's not using a prototype laser, because he has energy weapons of his own and no rules against using them. It will be interesting to see the new weapon in the field all the same... but his first priority is elimination of the alien threat. <<So what is it this time? Abductions again? Or something else?>> He pulls the raiser rifle off his back and runs up to the skyranger to greet the crew. "So those are the portable lasers? Nice. Hope they work as well in the field as they did in testing!" He sounds optimistic about it, though! Also, Rory gets a request to join her tacnet.
Rory White	All Tacnet requests to Rory are immediately approved. Either she's inhumanly quick at it or has automated the process!
Taylita	Taylita likes tech stuff, so when someone invited people to help with the testing of a new laser weapon, she was happy to tag along. She also joins the troopers in the Skyranger and takes a weapon if it is offered to her. Along with her usual modest body armor she is wearing what most DBZ-world denizens would recognize as a scouter. Going on a tech mission means you need teck to properly communicate with your team, so she is busy linking up to the information networks she will need for this operation. And she seems quite excited about it, too! "Even though I don't use them in battle, weapons are pretty awesome. Just about anyone can pick one up and cause a bit of destruction."
Elise Leroy	"Copy that Ghost. Linking you into SCOPE-TacNet now. What do you see?" replies Bradford to Garen. There's several 'pockets' of Sectoids and Thin Men. 'Sound Cues' indicate there's other pockets of hostiles that can't be readily seen. As the Skyranger sets down, the ramp opens and allows people out of it. The Saucer drones would likely pick up thermal signatures not too far away, confirmed as a trio of green-armoured Mutons bust down a door in a fit of rage, before they register that the Dropship is like /RIGHT THERE/. They roar in defiance, and scatter into cover, bringing their heavy plasma cannons to bear and firing random bursts of searing green at the Dropship and the assorted people around it. "Shit! SCATTER!" shouts Boomer as she hightails it behind a low wall nearby. The building the Mutons just exited is one of those 'open air' cafes, with plenty of tables and low walls outside. The Rookies also scatter to cover, skidding behind a car, tipping over one of the street tables or using the Dropship's armoured hull to shelter from the storm of plasma fire. Unfortunately, one of the Rookies isn't fast enough. She takes a plasma bolt to the right arm, severing the limb and dragging a scream of pain as the plasma cauterizes the wound. That little saving grace does nothing for the fact that another bolt slams into her chest, followed by a third that takes her head off, leaving a limp corpse to fall to the ground with one final, bubbling death gurgle. "Shit... SHIT! No nononono!" One of the other Rookies panics, and starts firing wildly at the Mutons, searing holes in the building and slicing off parts of the walls and tables the Aliens are using as cover.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is called out for more field work given what's going on Kotone is suited up at this point she listens as they get the report on the new weapon she looks the laser rifle over for a moment nodding to Vahlen and nods. "Undertood." She gets on to the Skyranger followed by a SHIV as she goes and she's already witing for the tact net hoping for Rory to get hooked in sooner or later as they head to Paris. "I'd never got a chance to go to Paris...I wanted to but not like this."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa Finds a strange amount of interest in the call sign of Samsara given the meanings of the term. It wans't something she followed but she could understand it. Either way they got aliens to worry about and if her name had any truth? Given the multiverse she wonder if the xrays would end up as rocks or the like. She was more than a little shocked at how into things that Rory had ghot not that it's bad so Samsara is making ready to reply. Taylita is very welcome backup, given the Sayain mechanic can give a heck of a fight. She gets off the skyranger even as one o the rookies panic. She orders her SHIV out while he starts looking for a spot she's also staring to watch for signals and she's got her ports open for Maaka and Rory alredy.
Garen	"Looks like alot of Secoid and Thin man activity....I can hear more though." Garen says over the radio. He watches the team of rookie's come under fire and one of them die. "...Really? You need better soldiers." He then takes aim and fires for one of the Mutons. "Ghost to ground team. I have you covered."
Alexis Maaka	"Jesus-!" Alexis grunts just as the fight begins. She blances within her helmet as the Rookie meets a grisly end before anybody can react fast enough, and she slides to take cover behind an abandoned police car with her rifle at the ready. "CONTROL FIRE DISCIPLINE!" She barks at the other, panicking soldier before she begins taking aim. Crap, Mutons. Alexis hates these guys a lot, especially after the last real op she took part in. Her rifle blasts at one of them, the stock kicking against her shoulder firmly as she fires single shots at its head. "C'mon, we need to flank these guys. Someone get heavy weapons set up so we can trash the big ones."
Staren	Suddenly, mutons! Staren readies missiles and looks for cover when there's a scream. He winces as he sees the rookie with no arm, but at least they can... oh, oh no, they can't fix that. He runs for cover behind the skyranger, then fires a missile in an arc over it, programmed to come down behind the mutons and explode in a giant plasma fireball!
Taylita	"I got your heavy weapons fire right here!" Taylita yells angrily as she pops out of the drop ship and flies toward the Mutons, trying to draw their fire. The light around her dims and her skin starts to glow softly. "Solar Beam!" she yells before thrusting her hands forward at the nearest Muton. A beam of pure, searing light energy (very much like a powerful laser) fires from her hands, seeking to turn the Muton into ash. If it goes down, she arcs the beam toward the next one. "I thought this was a weapons test?! I figured we would be dropping into a relatively clear area! Not that I mind beating a bunch of murderous mutant aliens into a bloody pulp!" She hasn't had a chance to greet Kotone yet beyond a little wave back in the Skyranger. But, don't worry, she hasn't forgotten about you!
Rory White	With Mutons approaching and one of the rookies getting utterly torn up in a hurry, Rory is in no hurry to expose herself. Fear. Such a strange emotion. And what does SHe have to fear? THESE soldiers are risking far more than she. if SHE goes down... well, she has Plans for that. going down is not fun. But it's not final death. That thought fills her with courage. The next moment she activates her speed boost augmentation, and from then on has all the time in the world to think and strategize. Everything and everyone else around her is going SO SLOW it's like watching cows in a pasture ambling around, or a slowly rotating asteroid. "FOCUS!" She radios the panicking Rookie. "You're wasting shots!" But she knows that's probably not going to be enough. And so she takes aim, taking advantage of the SCOPE-tacnet to provide targeting reticles to aim at. She lines her laser pistol up with the distant Muton's head and takes calm aim-- and fires! Several shots in fact. If she's going to save the Rookie she'll need to draw attention from them. But the only thing going for her is Time To Think and act carefully. She's neither a good shot or an athlete who knows how to move around quickly and efficiently and powerfully.
Elise Leroy	Boomer grits her teeth, "Sarah, get ahold of yourself!" she shouts over at the Panicking Rookie. The firm orders from the others seems to get through, and she drops back behind cover, but just seems to be cowering now, quaking in place. Boomer herself pulls the laser pistol and opens fire on the Mutons, it's not enough to punch through their armour, but it /does/ get them to duck down and get out of the firing line. Garen's shot punches right through one Muton's head, making it explode in a shower of gore. Staren's missiles and Taylita's Solar Beam cut through the Muton's cover, the missile making on Muton stagger as its armour buckles and entire schutes fall away to the floor. The other isn't so lucky, as it receives the full blast of that beam attack, the laser-like energy punching right through and going out the other side, before it's peppered with more controlled pulses of laser fire. Rory gets the final killshot, peppering the Muton's head with individually weak, but cumulatively powerful laser bolts. "They're all down Strike Five... Bradley's flatlined, recover the body and move on." chimes in Bradford. "RecSat Charlie is on station. Marking thermal signatures on your HUDs." The SCOPE-TacNet lights up with about five other 'hotspots' where aliens are congregating.
Garen	"I swear, He reminds me of Keeper..." Garen muses to himself. He turns and aims down the sights towards the next hotspot, ready to shoot down anything that stuck it's head out and into his sights.
Taylita	With the current threat over, Taylita floats back down to the ground near Kotone. "Hey. You alright? I wasn't expecting us to land in a hot zone." She looks over at the fallen rookie, then bows her head and sighs softly. "That's why I don't like war. It cuts lives short all too often." she says, then looks around at the Tacnet icons. "Well, where to next?" she says to Bradford. This is a weapons testing mission, after all. Not just an 'eliminate all the targets' mission.
Rory White	Rory's hovering Saucers are her main weapon here, make no mistake. Information's the best tool in warfare. With information you can defeat an enemy's strategy and come up with your own. So she directs them to fan out and swoop over the hotspots and use a sensor barrage to penetrate whatever they must and build a picture: how many beings down there, and what are they? The little metal drones ober her orders unquestioningly , wobbling high in the sky for their desinations. Good luck hiding from those. But while they're doing that, Rory's lowering her pistol and checking it. There'll be time to worry about the fallen later... her eyes tell all. She's not happy about this, not one bit. "So now I see what they're really up against... what monsters!"
Alexis Maaka	Checking up on one of the hotspots, Alexis leaps over the car's hood with a sliding motion as she begins to sprint towards one of the spots. She begins to follow a drone as well as she can, only sparing Bradley's body a momentary glance as she starts to pace down the streets. All the while, her eyes peek over at her HUD every so often to consult the tacnet, as her path leads into a little bookshop across the street.
Staren	The mutons are taken care of. Staren offers to just missile them now, but this is Rory's mission and she wants to see what they're up against first. So he waits for her scans to finish, watching the tacnet data.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa hopes Rory is and the others may be better suited to keeping the rookie in line and so far things go as well as can be xpected they bring down the Mutons but there's others there are always more X-rays. Kotone get sthe notice they lost Bradley and part of her sinks there's nothing she can do about it and she ownders about how Rory will take it. She not sure what else she can o however there's more signs of others. Her Shive move in ahead of the others taking point with the drone rather than live personel.