By Rayanne Dawson on Saturday, August 03, 2002 - 06:12 am:
| By Rayanne Dawson on Saturday, August 03, 2002 - 06:12 am: |
Jameson's report on Ikaru was less than reassuring to Rayanne. The Lance Corporal had joined the outfit as a fresh-faced rookie and had become as much a member of the team as any of the old-timers. He was an old-timer. As desperate as she was to get out of there, she didn't want to lose someone like Nexx.
"Jameson, you've got 3 minutes to find something that resembles Lance Nexx. I can't allow any more than that." Her body virtually tore itself in two as she gave the order. It went against every ounce of her training and the very heart of what the Corps believed. She hated being an officer at times like these.
Teruo's voice came through, as calm and steady as ever. "The status, Private, is [???]".
(OOC: I'm guessing this is the warheads, which aren't even on the Falcon. If there is something else I should know about, please fill me in. ASAP!)
| By Teruo Shigeru on Saturday, August 03, 2002 - 04:43 pm: |
"Thank you, Lieutenant..." Teruo replied to Dawson without missing a beat. He had seen first hand what his people had done to their Earth and he never fully understood how important life was, until he witnessed the death of Kaine's children. "Requesting permission to fall back and secure the Lance Corporal. Over..."
| By Jade on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 01:40 am: |
Jade hated having to voice it but the Eagle was beyond help and hope. She did her best to relate the severity of the situation.
"Vagabond, I can't get a clear shot of the whole ship but she's trailing so much debris that I doubt she could stand up to strong wind at this point. Regardless of that, the Eagle's vecotor alone will ensure nothing survives, even if she weren't so badly damaged. If there's any power left, I'd suggest ordering an abandon ship. We might be able to retrieve some pods before it's too late."
She hoped that was enough information to get whatever pilots were left moving but there just weren't words enough to describe the sight of their home's desecration. It was somewhat like watching in slowmotion as the Eagle slowly came apart at the seams...and everywhere else.
*Bleep* *Bleep* The Falcon's proximity alarm sounded, a large piece of hull was drifting towards the Falcon.
"Hang tight people, gotta move."
She activated the vertical thrusters, altering the Falcon's position by Z plus 200 meters. The new position was out of the path of the closing chunk of hull but according to the radar, several more were now on a collision course with them.
"Any sign of Nexx or Polinkis? We're not gonna be able to stay here much longer."
The large chunk passed and it was time to move again.
"Manueving again in 3...2...1...mark."
Hitting the thrusters, Jade reversed their direction back towards their original point.
OOC: Since the Nexx and Polinkis aren't posting, what are we to assume about them? Unconscious, dead, etc? Can we get IFF readings on them? If so we should be able to at least bring them aboard.
Otherwise I'm not sure what else to do. I'm not bitching, just hoping to keep things moving.
| By Maj. Amaris Martin (Vagabond) on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 02:31 am: |
Vagabond responded almost immediately.
"Understood, Falcon. We've been trying to get out as many of our people as possible. Those fighters in good condition should be able to enter the atmosphere on their own. The others will have to be dealt with individually, securing their escape pods somehow and checking for breaches. I'll need your help with that as soon as you're done where you are. Inertia will keep us falling towards the planet; we'll do our best to slow the process and even attain orbits where possible, but there might be too many to deal with in the short amount of time we have left. I'll keep you updated."
| By L Cpl. Nexx on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 03:14 am: |
The Specra suits were supposed to protect from the riggors of freezign cold in deep space.
Nexx would tell you diffirent in heartbeat, if he could.
````````````````````````````````````````````````
His head turned as obvious screaching of the metle as it tore apart signaled the dire results of the attack the Egale had just taken. In moments the bulkhead disapeared into deap space and almost everything not tied down, and some that were, were sucked into the blackness of space.
Ikaru leaned back in a futile attempt to brace himself for the pull, hoping that his displaced weight would hold him to the floor. Instead he was instantaniously picked up and hurlled toward one of his felow squad mates PAs. There was a crack that seemed all to familiar upon impact. Reminded him of the time he had fallen out of the large tree in teh front yard of his old home as a child. A full second later pain registered in his synapses along with the audible crack to confirm his left forearm had fractured.
Bouncing off of the PA sent him straight out of the gaping hole. The direction of travel was no better off then him getting yanked from his feet the first time as he was sent directly into the leading edge of the Falcons wing as it was beign spun around upon exiting the hole in the bulkhead as well. Another loud crack later and he was doubled over in a semi fetal position. As he turned to try and watch what was happening to his squad and the Falcon teh pain instentaniously shot from two broken ribs on his left side.
You would think a Marine of his years would be amune to the pain and manuver back to his squad with ease. But Ikarus head was spinning. If there were an up or down in relative space he couldtn tell what it was. He heard the calls of his team mates but lay powerless as his head cleared rather quickly. Breathing came very hard at the moment and it took a minute before he could deal with it to teh point where he could speak.
"Christ! NGG!"
The cring forced by the pain as he tried to speak was sent through teh TacNet clearly. With a bit less enthusiasm he tried again.
"Im still alive. Barely."
Ikaru reached up as slowly as possible and his wounds fought him ever step of the way. His face contorted in responce. As if he had tasted a really harsh drink of some high content alcohol. Managing to reach his helmet he sellected his own IFF signature and set his helmet to transmit that frequancy.
His arm fell imediatly back into a natural rested possition. He could only lay and wait to be picked up at that point. Or wait to be left to his cold death.
| By Rayanne Dawson on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 06:30 am: |
"Proceed, Private." Rayanne knew better than to prevent Teruo from following what felt right to him. Granted she had been a bit uncertain of his knack for having hunches that paid off then, but at that point she'd been a flighty Corporal.
Speaking of Corporals, she heard a voice. One she knew from years of being part of this team.
"Nexx!! What's your status?" While she didn't have access to a screen that would allow her to trace his signature, she knew others were working on it. Silstar and Jameson both made good NCOs in that respect. Taking care of their charges, risking regulations if they had to. If she'd been in their position she'd doubtless have done the same thing.
Okay, get Ikaru out, find Polinikis and get everyone out of here! Simple.
| By L. Cpl. Nexx on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 11:08 am: |
Finnaly being able to hear a familiar voice was good. It was obvious that Ikaru was still somewhat taken by the whole incident as he reverted to a time his memories were most fond...
"IM hurt Sarge. My left arms killin me, fells broken. I have a rib broken as well. I have no clue of my possition."
Nexx was near exhausted after that transmision but he was getting a grip on his pain more and more as time passed.
"Im transmitting my IFF signature so I cant view that of the rest of the squad. Im lost and adrift ma'am."
| By Jade on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 08:18 pm: |
Ikaru's IFF signal registered on the Falcon's instruments at about the same time his voice registered in Jade's head. She restrained herself from sighing audibly; now that she knew Ikaru was alive she wasn't so distracted as to blurt her thoughts out.
Still, she was extremely relieved and she knew that even in the darkest nights, light always shone through.
"I've got you Ikaru. Just relax and we'll have you aboard in no time."
Jade started the Falcon moving once more, this time in Ikaru's direction.
"Jameson...Rivel, stand ready and keep your eyes peeled for Polinkis. If Ikaru got thrown out that far..."
She didn't need to speculate further on that. She really didn't even need to say anything to Jameson or Rivel. They'd do their job without her coaching or giving orders. Jameson held the same rank she did anyway; though Jade had more time in the corp., Jameson was older and served in another operation on earth. Then again...so did she. Giving orders was something natural to both of them she guessed...as was taking them.
Jameson was a good man and she was glad he was on the team and had survived where so many others had not. A thought occured to her then out of nowhere; How was Jameson handling Charima's dissapearance? The D.I.R.E.'s new medic, at the time, who seemed to despise everything: the Corp, the team...and the world; had taken up with just one person Jameson.
Jade was usually too distracted to notice any of the personal relationships in the group but Charisma was so unpersonal, which wasn't bad, but it was hard not to notice when she spoke and to whom. She could still picture the two of them together at Motentot's. In fact, it was the probably the last time she had seen Charisma.
She had hardly had time to notice since leaving Shangri-La and the twangs of guilt started to creep in nonetheless. Jameson had shown no outward appearance that anything was amiss, at least not that she'd notice; which wasn't saying much. Still, Jameson was too much a professional to let on to that anyway. She wondered if he'd even talk about it if asked.
Not that she was anyone to talk to about relationships... Jade's stomach suddenly clenched tight as something...someone...she'd avoided even thinking about threated to take hold of her emotions. She shoved it deep down and refocused on the task at hand knowing that she would lose herself if she let those thoughts surface.
Take a lesson from Jameson and do your job girl.
The Falcon was nearly on autopilot as it had moved to Ikaru's location. The debris was thinning out the further they had gone from the Eagle and Jade only used manueving thrusters to slightly change course as was needed; letting the initial engine burst provide the momentum.
Ikaru's floating form was just out of sight but judging from what she guessed his vector would be, she calculated the best position to do a pick up.
"I'm gonna go high and to port about 100 meters of you Ikaru. Jameson and Rivel will come get you. Call out when you can see us."
She wanted to open the throttle, to speed up the whole thing but until everyone was on board and locked down, it just wasn't safe. There'd been enough bad stuff for one day.
| By Cpl. Anthony Jameson on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 11:52 pm: |
Nexx!
The thought plowed through Anthony's head as others in the group voiced it. Instead of adding to the com chatter, he went for locating their downed comrade. Nexx's IFF was intermittent, but Anthony was able to locate the general location. It was definitely outside his range if he stayed grappled to the Falcon.
"Nick, stay 'ere. Ima gonna get Nexx. Keep yer eyes open fer Polanekus." Anthony recoiled the grapple and gave a quick push off the Falcon to gain some momentum. Though Dawson's artificial deadline of three minutes would likely be forgiven for the moment, he wasn't too keen on the idea of floating around with the Eagle disintegrating right before his eyes and scattering the subsequent debris across all local space. Small pings on the armor were a constant reminder of how dangerous things were and they weren't likely to get better anytime soon. A quick glance to the unknown planet only confirmed his fears.
Luckily, Nexx wasn't too far outside of range and it took only a minute of searching to get a stronger, more consistent reading on his IFF. A few seconds later, Anthony had a visual on the battered Marine and he jetted closer, matching Nexx's velocity.
"Someone call fer a taxi?" he called to Nexx as he positioned himself to pick Nexx up. "Curl up, ef ye can, Nexx, as et will make et easier ta get ye back safely. I'm gonna protect ye as best I can with me Cyclops, but I mayanot be able ta protect ye all tha way."
Nexx didn't look all that together as Anthony fired quick correction bursts to gather the man up. Hopefully Ikaru would be able to make himself a small target for the countless pieces of debris that would love to punch through him on the way back to the Falcon.
| By L. Cpl. Nexx on Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - 12:03 am: |
Ikaru kept his eyes closed the entire time. He knew he was to be looking for the Falcon but at this point he was tired adn beat. A marine would never admit to such a thing, however his body language or lack ther of rather told teh tale all to well.
Oh christ
He knew this was going to hurt far worse than the impacts that caused teh damage. He took amoment to slowly pull is right arm up to his helmet and disengage voice transmisions briefly. The need was made apparent even to himself as Jameson took hold of him and pulled Nexx in towe back to the Falcon. He screamed freely for a brief second and was glad no one could hear him give in to the pain.
Ikaru did as was suggested and tried to pull himself in as small a area as possible, his broken ribs however kept him in an oblong shape. It seemed he would have to endure yet more and more untill he was safe with in the Falcons hull.
| By Cpl. Anthony Jameson on Thursday, August 08, 2002 - 09:54 pm: |
"Jade, Jameson. I've got Nexx," Anthony commed to the pilot of the Falcon. He noted Nexx's inability to fully comply with instructions to ball up. Probably from 'is enjarees.
Pings on the PA kept Anthony aware of the dangerous situation in the space surrounding him. Carefully, but quickly, he thrusted his way towards the waiting dropship. With only a few course corrections, Anthony had a line to the open cargo bay.
"Comin' en 'ot, Lieutenant," he warned Dawson. He wasn't willing to expose Nexx to more danger than absolutely necessary, so he kept his PA interposed, acting as a shield. Anthony would have to spin around to break his momentum, but he waited until he was almost completely inside the cargo bay before attempting the maneuver. "'old on, Nexx," he commed, just before giving a hard burst on a lateral thruster.
Anthony's PA spun sharply around then stopped abruptly as the opposite lateral thruster fired. As soon as he was straight, Anthony fired his primary thrusters again to kill his velocity. He misjudged it a bit, but his amplified and armored legs took the brunt of the contact with the Falcon's deck plating. Unfortunately, Nexx likely felt all of the effects of the changes in inertia.
"Sorry Nexx. Couldna be 'elped," he apologized, then clicked over to the squad frequency. "Nexx es en. Any sign o' Polanekus?" Anthony gave Nexx a gentle nudge towards Dawson and spun himself around again, ready to aide the newest member of the team, or anyone else for that matter.
| By Rayanne Dawson on Friday, August 09, 2002 - 03:31 am: |
Rayanne felt a wave of relief come over her when she saw Jameson approach the bay, Nexx hanging limply in his arms. Though Jameson's landing was a little rough, now was not the time to fault a person on their PA-handling technique. Ikaru's body drifted towards her, which despite her small size in comparison, Dawson caught with relative easy. Carrying him in her arms, she went over to the bench on the side of the bay.
"Nexx? This is Lieutenant Dawson. Can you hear me?" She looked at the readout display on his gauntlet. Possible fractured left radius... exposure readings. Looking around the hold, she found that she had inadvertantly placed Ikaru less than two meters from a tube that lead to an external exhaust valve. Grabbing a blanket, she threw it over him, reassuring him in a most un-Dawson like way.
"It's going to be fine, Ikaru."
She crouched by his side, waiting for the others to file in one by one. Only one lost leatherneck.
(OOC: I have no idea where Polinikis is. My bet would be to say we've got him already, uninjured but unconscious.)
| By Teruo Shigeru on Friday, August 09, 2002 - 01:41 pm: |
"Lieutenant..." Teruo said as he finally came face to face with Dawson. He was ready to assist Jameson, as soon as he brought Nexx on board. "I believe a distress call is in order, we are in need of much assistance. The sooner we send it the quicker help will arrive, lieutenant."
Until Teruo actually became involved with the M'Cron culture, he would have never thought of calling for help. In fact he still considers it a sign of weakness, which given the current events wouldn't be too far from the truth.
"Where does it hurt, Lance Corporal?" Teruo asked as he began to palpate the area around the obvious injury and watched his face for signs of discomfort. If he did have fractured ribs then he would have to take steps to make sure his lungs were not in danger. It would come to a surprise for Dawson, but Teruo had learned much about first aid during his time on Kaine's farm. "Corporal Jameson, would you please retrieve the Falcon's Medkit."
| By Rayanne Dawson on Sunday, August 11, 2002 - 06:12 pm: |
(OOC: Let's remember who was the trained Medic on the team though, hmmm?)
Sparing a glance around the rest of the hold as Teruo spoke, Rayanne couldn't entirely disagree with him. The fact that Nexx had a broken limb wasn't that big a deal, and a flexi-cast from her pack should help with healing just nicely. His exposure however was a concern.
"Better yet, Corporal, get my pack near the cockpit." she nodded at the large grey cube near the doorway forward. As everyone had now gotten on board, she opted to strip Nexx out of his suit. It wasn't helping things all that much.
If nothing else, the suit came off easily, though it was still cold to her touch. She didn't like the way they had been sent out without knowing just what this stuff could do. Laying Nexx out once more on the bench, Dawson carefully inspected his wounded arm, making sure the rest of him was covered by the blanket.
"Jade, we're good to go. Report with flight elements and make scan for life pods. We're not leaving anyone behind."
(OOC: Worried about Polinikis? I'm proceeding as if he is aboard and unconscious. Thought I'd try and move things... just a little. If I'm out of place, let me know.
| By Teruo Shigeru on Sunday, August 11, 2002 - 07:36 pm: |
"Lieutenant, I should be able to handle things here..." Teruo stated as he continued his treatment. There was little doubt in his mind that Dawson was much more skilled in the medical arts then he was, however given the current situation her others skills were more in demand. "With all due respect, it shouldn't take much to stable the Lance Corporal."
| By Jade on Monday, August 12, 2002 - 03:04 am: |
"10-4 Lieutenant." Jade smiled as she locked down the external ramp. Having found Nexx and Polinkis, things were looking just a little less grim. And for that she was glad.
"Moving out."
The Falcon roared to life once more, moving up and around the separated section of the Eagle. So far nothing else had appeared on her screens but the Eagle's hull and debris sheilded much. Getting beyond would give them a better range.
"Jameson, Rivel. I'm going to leave the APC bay depressurized. Stand ready by the ramp for retrieval. And I could use a hand with the comm and sensors up here if anyone's free."
Jade hardly ever asked for help and though she'd never admit it, she'd always believed there wasn't anything she couldn't do alone. She'd long since learned the hard reality of that belief and had gotten better at asking for help and delegating the things she couldn't do. Lives were at stake and she wasn't about to take the chance of missing anything. Flying the Falcon through all the debris was going to take enough of her concentration without trying to sift through for survivors.
Tapping a few keys on her portable, Jade brought up the bio/motion sensors for display. Initially, she had added the short range system for security and defense but there was an ever small chance that the bio sensors would detect something.
That set, Jade opened the comm up again.
"Falcon to Vagabond. We've got our team accounted for and onboard. I'm bringing us around for rescue operations. What's your situation? Over."
| By Cpl. Anthony Jameson on Monday, August 12, 2002 - 06:13 pm: |
"Copy," Anthony replied to Dawson as he pushed through the hold to retrieve her medic kit. He dellivered it and stood ready to assist as he could. Staying in the PA seemed the best course of action since, with everyone of the Marines accounted for, the Falcon had essentially become a SAR vehicle for the rest of the Eagle and the immediately surrounding environs. Having someone ready to do EVA would be a tremendous benefit.
"Nick, 'ead up an' 'elp Jade. I'll stand by ta EVA ef needed." Anthony thumped Nick on his armored shoulder as the former turned to make his way to the APC bay. "Copy, Jade. Nick es on 'is way ta tha cockpit. I'll stand ready en tha APC bay fer ratreeval." Anthony made a quick check to ensure that he had everyone in his TacNET channel; he did.
As quick as he could, Anthony traversed the Falcon's interior to the still-depressurized APC bay. Taking up residence near the loading ramp, he commed his readiness. "Jameson 'ere. All set ef ye need EVA assistance."
| By Nick Rivel on Monday, August 12, 2002 - 10:53 pm: |
"Aye, got it." Nick gave Jameson a thumbs up as his superior braved the vacuum once more.
Nick did his level best to tread lightly (in powered armor, no less) around various battered and bruised and altogether uncomfortable members of the team. He flipped up his face shield and offered the occasional "hang in there" to those he passed, Nexx in particular. Nick found it both surprising and ironic that the enormous Zentran was being so careful with Nexx. Nick knew full well that he was doing his level best, and that meant being careful, still, he couldn't help but grin at the thought of a powerhouse like that holding a fellow marine like a child.
He finally made his way to the cockpit, or at least the entrance. His armor was of lighter make than average, and although he could fit in the cockpit, he decided it would make all parties more comfortable if he kept his mechanized form in a slightly larger area. He was only a couple of feet away from Jade anyhow.
"I'm here, now what can I help wit'?" he said, a trace of Portuguese accent tinting his speech.
| By Heather (Illusion) on Monday, August 12, 2002 - 11:00 pm: |
Everyone, please read the Announcement thread.