Welcome 206th Team you are here for a briefing of your deployment.
The 260th MS Team are called in for a briefing with Lieutenant Commander Brenog. A giant screen with an information box on the left were data is pouring in. Another square to the top right showing Kasakhstan and the two landings of Zeon forces in the Aral Sea and Lake Balkhash as Captain M'Quve and Kycilia Zabi. Then other officers come and go through the screen only Kycilla Zabi remaining as they are given their orders.
Once you are all seated at a long table with it's respective chairs only one face is show in the screen Breniff Oguz.
Brenog "Well then, I will see you when we get there"
Oguz "You are a bit slow Brenog, I'll be in Spain drinking to your good health by the time you deploy"
Brenog "I handpicked this group myself! I will be damn sure we show you how things are properly done, just like I did during Luom!"
Oguz smile fades "That was a tie! It was 3 ships and I brought down a Salamis-class one"
Brenog "A ship is a ship, so I can't count as a tie"
A Zeon soldier whipers something to Oguz.
Oguz "We will continue this conversation another time, stay alive until I see you again."
Brenog smiles and now the map of Kaskhstan becomes the whole screen. "Alright recruits, your simulator has prepared you for battle as best we can. You best be careful of those Feddie bastards, they are engaging in guerrilla tactics and with artillery fleeing before any real conflict, but once they damage your Mobile Suits enough they won't hesitate to commit to an all out assault and kill you"
Brenog makes a small pause not taking questions yet "Now, this is the staging point from where we lunch the deployment to conquer Asia, Middle East and Europe." a grin in his face "Since we have a earthnoid among us, I figured we could use her intel since we are tasked to take East Asia. Which is Mongolia and North East Russia. We must establish control of the Sea of Okhotsk, or however you even say the damned name" as he points at it in the screen "Our true goal is to control the Stretch of Bering and the Sea of Bering"
Turning to look at pilots gathered there "Any questions so far?"
Zzed, his hair still not grown out, glances at the other recruits. His white hair and blue eyes are an oddity for certain. He hasn't met the other recruits before today, so he isn't sure if they are competent or not. He doubts they are as competent as Ten Kay and Zed Omega. He forces himself to use the strange names, as the rest of the military seems to prefer call signs over real names. His uniform though has his true name on the name lapel, 005BF.
Since no one else speaks up, he nods. "Do we have a force appreciation estimate? Details on the most likely enemy units we will be encountering? What supplies do we have? What is our first mission objective, other than surviving to get to the surface?"
"What's our role specifically, sir?" says Edel, echoing the other squaddie.
You will be accompanied by an infantry platoon and a support unit with enough supplies to make it to Neryungri. This will be a fierce battle as it's a natural choke point. Before getting there there are 5 small cities which will probably be also small garrisons and bobby traps." as he traces the line in the southern border of Russia with China "We are not entering China, but we will take over Mongolia and then traverse the edge of Chinese borders toward Russia" pointing towards china and the entire South East of Asia "Commander Ginias Sahalin should be managing this area, we get to deal with a lot of mountains and plateaus as the East of Russia is not very kind. Your Zaku's will be adapted for cold weather so you don't freeze to death in your cockpit, but be very careful, the feddies know the terrain and they will use the camouflage on to their advantage"
"We are a vanguard of sorts, but also reconnaissance. We must find out if there are any good mining materials we could acquire for the war effort and be sure to not destroy the cities, after all taxation and supplies can be had from them"
"As for enemy units, we are dealing with Type 61 tanks. They are easy to destroy, but if they shoot first they pack a nasty punch specially since they are deployed in squadrons of 3 to 5, so that is 3 to 5 shots that can kill one of you before we wipe them out. There are rumors of another tank that was seen when the first wave arrived, but we don't know what to expect. Then again expect aircraft of several type, their main weapons are their missiles as their machine guns lack the caliber to do anything unless they get close enough to shoot your Zaku lenses and then you go blind"
"Who will be leading the squad during the mission, then?"
Brenog smiles "I will leave that up to you to determine, as I won't make landing until you guys secure our foothold in Russia. I will be in direct communication here from the Rache"
"I will be sending the Shuttles with supplies as needed" pausing and looking at Kanoe "She can't lead until we are sure she isn't some feddie scum, so be wary as it is your skins you are risking, but I cannot deny her skills as a pilot so be wary"
Edel leans back in her seat and crosses her arms "I'm sure she'll be fine, unless command let her skip every psyche eval 'till now. 'Sides, even if she went rogue I doubt she'd get very far. What's our time window for the operation?"
Kanoe' arrived five minutes before the briefing... as usual... a woman in a man's military always had to be an extra bit better and eager to gain any notice for her skills! Not that is seemed to have any good effect upon her prospects for a command or even promotion... the Spacenoids were constantly reminding her she was not one of them... being from earth. They never let her forget that, and no one wanted her in their units.. this Vanguard Recon mission was the best action she had been assigned to in months! Her usual station was all rear-echelon guard-duties over non-critical depots and backwater patrols in uncontested Sides. The high command did not trust her.. it was clear, she'd done everything they'd asked she believed the Principality's cause was just and honorable~ to stop the 'Feddie' brutal suppression and tyrannical taxation of the colonies... but all they saw was a Earthnoid... and a woman no less! But she was under no illusions about her opportunities here... this was dangerous work.. work you sent expendable units to do... recons you did not mind if they came back in tact as the High-Command was only probing to see what the enemy was trying to defend and how hard. Casualties were expected before a full-force assault at what ever targets the enemy 'seemed' to put importance into defending... they were bait.. all of them.. just to see what the enemy would do so the Brass could adjust their recourse deployment when the actual invasion force was sent in to put down resistance and hold what was taken.
She grimaced the sad fact that this was still probably the best opportunity she would have to prove her worth and trustworthiness.
Kanoe' sat in her tight-fitting crimson and grey shouldered flight suit her helmat clammed-open back on her suit's neck brace. She was clearly of a japanesse-Korean human stock her long straight hair tied upon on her head to a short-crop of dyed-blue tresses framed her heart shaped face and her frosty pale blue eyes. She was feminine perfection in personified beauty~ gifted with a slender shapely figure, full pert breasts that bulged her close fitting flight suit.. a physical presence that gained every males attention when she entered a room .. and a cat-like grace that made her the envy of MS pilots and martial artists alike! And it was more of a burden than a help in proving her value as a dedicated solider of Zeon!
She listened to the interchange between the commanders congratulating themselves on past glories.. that really the grunt soldiers had won for them with blood and loss.
She thought wryly, {I guess somethings are the same in ALL militaries~ Men...!}
Kanoe' looked around at her fellow pilots.. none of them were familiar.. not a surprise as this was the fourth unit she'd been 'administratively' transferred to in the space of a similar number of months. But perhaps this would be a fresh start? A chance to really prove herself! She seemed, well~ besides the very intensely electric blue-eyed platinum blonde pilot the youngest here.. how odd he had no name on his uniform other than the numbers 005BF?
She had hoped she would be given a fresh start with the new pilots... then of course Lieutenant Commander Brenog had to bring up the fact she was an Earthnoid and her hopes were dashed. She felt like sinking into her folding chair... It didn't matter her home was in South Africa well far an hella gone from anywhere near they were scheduled to deploy and the area was as familiar to her as perhaps the inside of Anahiem's Secret lunar MS research labs for all she knew about the Russian/China boarder!
She groused mentally, {What does he care all us Earthnoids are the same right!?! 'sigh'}
Kanoe' scanned her eyes about the briefing room to note any reaction from the other pilots to her Earther status reavelled.. and was at least initially grateful not to get any ugly looks like she usually got.
She liked the fact he and the only other female pilot asked reasonable and important questions... it reflected well on their competence.. though she was technically the rookie.. she had plenty of time to study the 'rules of engagement', she knew the drill.
She knew what they were expected to do... but her concern was for the platoon of Infantry who they were to have as a support force. A Zaku was effectively a full battalion of conventional 20th-century tanks in one unit.. but their Infantry were very exposed...
Kanoe' spoke up, "Sir, Lieutenant Commander, I might suggest we try to disrupt communications, power and water treatment... it is an easy way to disable a city without actually damaging infrastructure over-much. Most cities have power-junction stations, communications towers, and secondary pumping water treatment plants outside the city proper that are vital to maintaining a city.. but are not the main facility for power, communication or water distribution. These secondary facilities can be damaged or occupied and effectively deny a city of it resources without major destruction to the main facilities and infrastructure. Unlike a colony side... where such facilities are centrally located."
"But I do have a question about our infantry platoon Sir, will they be on a command craft or in conventional armored vehicles? Will they have any anti-armor weaponry? Our Zaku II's are a worth an entire army each but our infantry will be vulnerable against any stiff resistance... even in just a support capacity with our some minor armored transport or light armor of their own? This mission is clearly a probing recon to find out what the enemy is defending and how strongly, before our main force is deployed to attack~ we'll be VERY exposed.. our infantry units will come under fire I'm certain.. do we have a base of operations to fall back to if we must or any backup forces we can rely on?"
Zzed taps a bit on his pad. "We'll need to be careful what infrastructure we damage on the way in, as we will not have access to backup supplies to repair the local infrastructure beyond what is immediately accessable. On the other hand, we could simply cannibalize the first town's infrastructure to have spares for subsequent hostilities. It depends on the size of the first town, of course. If we are to probe, hitting smaller outlying towns, especially if we can use our high speed and mobility, it may force the local defense force to spread out their defenses. Indeed, hit and run tactics innitially, taking out secondary infrastructure in towns and cities we don't intend to actively inhabit may be a good first strike. It will panic the local inhabitants, and they will either evacuate to central locations, which will increase the draw on hoarded supplies, making it harder to defend, or it will force the defenders to spread their defenses to stop us from forcing evacuation of outlying areas." He seems generally approving of Kanoe's suggestion.
He waits for the further answers from the commander.
"Personally I'd rather minimize civilian involvement. Let the infantry take care of recon and intel - our job is to make it to Neryungri. Wrecking the place along the way doesn't help much. Plus, the more damage we do the more likely the Feds are going to give up on avoiding'collateral damage' and start hitting use with artillery and bombs."
Brenog can only nod at Zzed and Edel as if Kanoe never spoke "The infantry platoon will have weapons to deal with type 61 tanks and other similar armored vehicles. The Federation has no Mobile Suits they believe themselves that superior. Arrogant pricks."
Looking at all the officers before him "Most of your support travels on apc and cargo vehicles, and the platoon is there to baby sit them and to infiltrate a city or do recon as needed. You have no support other than what I can send you, and if there is any artillery or air defense system I can't do anything for you, so those should always be priority for you"
"The nearest FOB is going to be in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. That is once you have taken it. That is one straight forward battle. No cover, just endless sea of grass or desert, so you best keep your eyes open, because if they get the first shot in, you might be regretting ever gone there"
Welkin has kept himself in the background for the most of the breifing, but he finally speaks up. "Hit and Run on smaller different towns can be a valid strategy, and we don't have to destroy the towns or kill civilians. We can focus on demolish smaller units stationed at those towns and leave once they are dealt with leave the civilian casualty to a minimum and still spread the defense.
If they think we are aiming for multiply cities at once they may focus thier defenses on the wrong town and leave Neryugri understaffed. A bonus point is we don't force them to avoid collateral, and while we move along the citylines they are sure to not use high explosives or artillery to attack us with."
Kanoe' is pleased they all seem to be on the same plan and she speaks up again.. more for her fellow pilots than for the commander.. who of course seems to ignore her.. though she's not sure its because she's a woman, or because she's an earthnoid really...
"So seems we have a strategy.. we will perform hit and run strikes on the outlying towns to sow chaos a force evacuations hitting small but important key infrastructure locations {which I can identify to our forces}.. that can easily be repaired but will strain resources on the big cities as we make our way to for the actual attack. While our Infantry use stealth and infiltration into the the fleeing populous to find out and report what the enemy tries to defend, what is left less defended as a result and locates where their concentrations of military forces are as we make our way to our actual objective. Sounds like a great plan... Shall we begin? "
The last part she stands suddenly, cutting a fine figure and salutes, left hand over breast and Right arm extended palm down... hand high!
"Ready to set out when the rest of you are!" Welkin responds, not really joining the the salute at this point, waiting for the commanders to issue it.
Roldy sit more or less straight is his chair, listening to the exchange and trying to evaluate his new S.O. and his squad mate.
Handpicked?trying not to react, Roldy can't beleive someone would handpick this group unless there is something more that he is not seeing here.
While the conversation continues, Roldy tries to keep is breathing regular and prevent coughing fit. Come on, don't show any weakness here. You were clear for duty after the accident, don't make them think that you are not ready for it. The mention of the earthnoid in their group however take Roldy by surprise which make him cough for a few second. Great, now that one will think I have a problem with her... Stupid damaged lungs!
Thankfully, the briefing continue and Roldy can get his coughing under control. The question about leadership of the squad make him pay more attention. Looking over the one that asked about it, Roldy wonder if it's her way of assigning the role to herself. Bah! She can have the job as far as I care. Just as long as I get to pilot a suit!
After hearing the earthnoid resume the plan and salute, Roldy smile behind his mask. The overzelous earthnoid just called a end to our S.O.'s briefing, not bad! Slowly gathering his things, Roldy wait to see if the S.O. is done.
"Only one problem with the hit and run tactics. We are a small unit, and if the enemy realizes it, they can set a trap for us. One way to resolve that is to convince them we are more than we are. For that to work, we'd have to hit multiple targets at the same time. That is a risky strategy though, and becomes riskier as time goes on. It may be easier to establish that in the initial attack, attack in the dark of night, between 2 and 3 in the morning, on the first night, at two towns simultaneously, with split forces. After that, it would not be safe to split forces. We could, however, push both the pilots and mechs and hit multiple targets over the next week, one per day, or every other day, spread out. That could make it appear we have multiple squads, further enhancing the idea to spread out forces."
"Alright, once you reach Kaskhstan you will speak to Lieutenant Dahvana, she will be the link between us until you can secure us a base of operations inside Russia. Before you ask she is blond with blue eyes a tad small" Brenog smiles "Do not be fooled by her appearance, she is a tyrant one she is soldiering and somehow ridiculously girly when she is not. Just don't piss her off..."
Brenog salutes "Sieg Zeon! Next time I see you better be over a pile of feddie scum"
"That idea makes alot of sense, but we should stop it if the risk gets to great and focus our effort on the main target after that. To Kaskhstan Sieg Zeon!"
Zzed executes a perfect salute. "Sieg Zeon." His voice is calm though, as he salutes.
Turning to the group, he taps on his pad. "It appears that we are all officers of the same rank. And, we all appear to have been promoted as part of the same batch. That makes command more difficult, as nobody has seniority on anyone." He sounds as if he thinks someone in BuPers should be fired... out of an airlock. "This is.. not normal. Usually someone with more experience would have been placed in charge of a new squad. That someone wasn't indicates we are stretched very thin and are putting out as many squads as possible. Please keep that in mind while fighting, we cannot afford to lose pilots if we are spread this thin. Looking over our placement scores, it appears that Ensign Katzuya has the highest overall tactics and strategy scores. Fortunately, we appear to have several pilots with acceptable scores in both. It would appear that my scores are slightly below Ensign Katzuya, and that Ensign Fuastus is slightly below myself. That gives us a working command structure, with a squad leader and two seconds." He doesn't bother mentioning that the others have no scores at all in either, and are thus not fit for command of a squad.
"Initial piloting tests indicate we have a very good group of pilots. Ensign Faustus appears to have a slight edge over the rest of the squad. Myself, Ensign Katzuya, and Ensign Yashida appear to be on par with each other overall. While Ensign Heson may be last, his scores are still respectable and should not be a drain on the squad." He checks off a few things on his datapad. "Unfortunately, we will be stuck with Zaku II's for the foreseeable future. I am personally more comfortable with a sniper role, but that will not be possible for now. Should we need to split the squad, I would suggest Ensign Katzuya and Ensign Yashida form one sub-unit, with Myself, Ensign Faustus, and Ensign Heson forming the other sub-unit."
Roldy stand and salute with the rest of the group."Sieg... Zeon."His voice sounding more like claws on a board.
"Just... point me... in the direction... of the targets... and I'll do... my job."
His voice being painful to hear, one can only imagine how having a conversation with him would be.
Waiting to see if there is more instruction to come, he looks at his new squad mates one after another. If no one says anything else, he grab his gear and head out.
After collecting your necessary items you are guided to one of the Shuttles to be transported down to Earth. several personnel on your way as they move in supplies and your mobile suits are also being deployed, one per shuttle and the other three with atmospheric entry equipment.
"Shuttle one and two will land near Lake Balkhash, be sure to report to the 163rd brigade to get your paperwork straight, then to your assigned battalion and troop respectively"
Things get a bit bumpy as the Shuttle starts to enter the atmosphere.
"Make sure your seat belts are on" letting out a throaty laughter that is consumed by the noise of the shuttle until it finally starts to calm down as the slow descent begins.
Once shuttle hits ground the sounds of a military base begin to sound familiar. The heavy steps of Zaku's and vehicles moving. Even inside the shuttle the steps of the Zaku make a tiny tremble. Shuttle doors open and it's mostly dirt ground as the sun comes in the shuttle makes some squint "Get out of my shuttle!"
Zzed exits the shuttle, scanning the area, making sure it's safe, out of habit.
Upon making sure nothing is wrong and the base is not under attack, as unlikely as that is, he trots over to his assigned Zaku II, to get in and start it up and move it into the base proper so he can follow orders and find the base commander.
Just before the shuttle lands Edel starts the process of bringing her Zaku out of standby. She had declined to take a seat in the shuttle proper during the trip, preferring the Mobile Suits pilot seat instead. She lazily flips through controls in the cockpits interior, activating systems and subsystems in their rightful order - a process she had done hundreds of times. Her hand brushes a series of photographs she keeps taped to the dash: one of her family from when she was a child, another of her getting her MS wings, and the last a picture of her and her girlfriend. She smiles at the memories before returning to her work.
The Mobile Suit comes to life just as the shuttle sets down. With practiced precision Edel maneuvers the 60-ton warmachine through the opening and down the ramp. "This is Kraken-3: all systems online".
Protecting his eyes from the sun for a momment to let them ajust, Roldy walks out of the shuttle. Looking down at his paperwork, he tries to figure out where exactly the 163rd brigade would be.
He then notice the young one pass him and walk toward his Zaku.
Do we even know where we are suppose to park them?
Looking back down at his papers, Roldy try again to make any sense of them. He then walk toward the first person he sees to ask for direction, but when the soldier look up and see him, he just let out a small scream and walk(run) away trying to look busy.
His shoulder dropping, Roldy rotate on himself to find another source of information.
This is going to take a while...
Zzed brings his his Zaku up and checks all the motor functions. "Kraken-2: Green." He says briefly on the tactical net, then tunes to the base command net, waiting for either Katzuya to contact Suit Operations to get their hanger location and the location of the Base Commander, or for them to volunteer the information to the 260th.
See Roldy on the ground, he opens a link to the man's unit comm. "Kraken-5. Ensure your Zaku is functioning at optimum levels, we can't leave them sitting around in the way. Kraken-1 will be communicating with MesCom as soon as his unit is on line to find out where our hanger is, and where we go to report in to the base commander."
"'Sides, you'll catch a cold out there. It's nice and toasty here in the Zakus." Edel adds with a smirk.
Welkin steps out of the shuttle seeing the others going straight for thier own mobile suits he finds his own and starts it up and responds to the rest. "Kraken-1 is ready will contact MesCom and find our hanger asap. Stand by to move."
Welkin sets his comunit to the frequency to the command "MesCom, Ensign Katzuya here reporting my mobile suit squad arrived on earth and functioning. What is our hanger-number where we can prepare the suits for full on combat? Also where do we find the MS Command to report once we are ready?"
Back in the Debrief room...
Kanoe' listened closely to the other more veteran pilots and was relieved that they all seemed to have a grip of what they were doing.
She nodded in agreement with 'Zzed's' suggestion replying, "..I like that idea.. eventually when the Feds figure out we are just a small unit things will get more difficult but some preliminary obfuscation should keep them guessing for a while. Possibly long enough for us to hit out objective!"
Again Kanoe' listens to Zzed's assessment of the rank situation and she has to concur on that matter as well, "I agree... if Ensign , has the highest scores in tactics, strategy and completed officer train school with higher marks.. hell have my full support as Kraken-01 and leader of our unit. We might suggest to the Base Commander where we land giving a field-promotion to Acting-Corporal, even if his actual rank does not change~ just to make matters clear?"
There is something ...decidedly odd about Kanoe's scores Zzed noticed in the statistical reports. Even though Kanoe' had the lest amount of logged flight-time and real battlefield combat experience of all the pilots.. her reaction times were just unbelievable. The statistics show indeed Katzuya was rated as an Olympic champion-level in his 'reflex hand-eye coordination'-tests... and true Yashida scored just under him.. but consistently in her reaction times she was a full second faster than Katzuya and at least 3 seconds faster than any of the other pilots, even Faustus who had the best combat scores did not react faster than Yashida.. perhaps there was some error in the listed test scores on Kanoe'? It was the only thing that made sense...!
.....
On the Shuttle...
Kanoe' also preferred to take the ride down in her Mobile Suit.. if the shuttle had come under fire while performing its orbital transfer she would only need to exit the shuttle. Before she closed up the put in her personal belongs rucksack behind her seat and unzipping her flight suit revealing a tantalizing bit of cleavage she hung around her neck the cord from which hung the old ceramic Ocarina her father gave her as a child when he was last deployed~ good luck charm that he would return.. he had a hero.. but injured his days of military service over. Keeping it close to her heart gave her confidence, as she snugly tucked it close to her breast... before zipping the flight suit back up. Climbing in she close her cockpit and smiled as the two photos on her dash.. the group picture of Her, Jarad, and Carla.. her boyfriend Jared center and her and her best friend Carla at his sides his arms over their shoulders and a his silly lopsided grin on his face. It had felt so long since she last saw them at the Principality refueling base on Luna. She hoped they were safe from all the fighting.. but they were soldiers too.. she was sure the brass would not keep them idle.
The other photo was her father giving a crisp salute with his subordinates and colleges.. his protege Bright Noah looking so proud to have been mentored by her father. They were all in Earth Federation uniforms.. and she always felt a tinge of guilt she had sided with the Principality against Earth Gov.. but Honor demanded it.. the Earth Federations excesses at the expense of the colonies had to be stopped! But the picture of her father always inspired her.. she would always be daddy's little soldier! She would make him proud!
Kanoe' actually fell asleep during the orbital insertion and only woke up just before the base touchdown...
Powering up her Zaku II she readied it systems doing a system check as the ramp lowered triggering her comm, "Kraken-4, All Systems Green. Embarking".
With that the multi-ton mobile suit came alive moving deliberately if not slowly Kracken-4 stood from its cradle walked over to the weapons rack with a step or two picking up is 120mm Machine Cannon and stowing it on the Zaku's shoulder and strode from the Shuttle-Bay clearly avoiding any ground traffic following the hammered in sign-lane markers to the MS hanger on base and various other bivouac locations for troops and supplies.
Triggering her comm again, Kanoe' addressed the base Comm tower, "This is Ensign , Kraken-4 of Kracken Squad, to Base Tower, requesting hanger number for open Zaku berth, over."
++Acknowledged++
Finding his Zaku, Roldy climb into it and start the power up sequence. Even though he hasn't sit in one of those in while, the movement are still engraved in his brain.
++Kraken-5... All green++
"+++Welcome Ensign Katsuya to 163rd Brigade+++"
"+++Move your Mobile Suits to Hangar 14+++"
"+++Your set up with 260th Battalion, and Bravo Company+++
"+++More instructions upon your arrival there"
The landscape is so far a makeshift base, with priority to Mobile Suit Hangars and tents for the soldiers. While the once grassy plains are now compacted dirt from all the thousands of soldiers and equipment you can still see through your cockpits that the winter is almost completely gone. In some small streams you can still see the vestiges of ice on the edges melting away and the lake makes for a beautiful scenery.
There are in total around 37 Mobile Suits were you area headed and it is further divided into tracked vehicles were the Magella tanks and other artillery equipment is with their respective troops, some areas are all personnel. Probably some kind of HQ, as well as some MS with the supply troops, and scattered in various troops.
Much to your surprise is not 1 hangar, but several that House 10 mobile suits at any given time. and there are two troops that have two hangars. You are directed to the last pair which have a large No. 14 on the doors.
Several engineers wait for you inside waiting for you to dock your mobile suits in the same hangar, while a small man with glasses awaits for you. His name tag reads Reddok, rank 2nd Lieutenant (Same as yours).
Kanoe' moves her MS to the designated gantry by the ground crews and cracks her cockpit. Climbing out she makes her way down to the ground and salutes the 2nd Lieut, "Sir, Kracken Squad reporting!"
Zzed pilots his suit to the indicated mobile bay, and backs it in.
The mobile bay isn't perfectly level, but even so, the mech clicks into the harness without too much trouble.
Once he's done, he climbs out of the mecha, and hands the access chip to the waiting techs. "The unit insignia is on the chip. My call sign is Zzed Fox. I'd prefer Zzed above the insignia, and Fox below. The orders indicated you'd be adding our insignia and callsign markers to the mobile suits." Then, with no apparent care for the cold, he makes his way over to 2nd Lieutenant Reddok. He then waits at relaxed attention for the rest of his squad to join.
Edel moves to the hanger, docks her Zaku, and disembarks with her belongings in hand. She jumps on squad comms while standing around, waiting for direction +++Alright Katzuya, let's get this show on the road+++. She follows after the rest of the squad and stifles a laugh when Kanoe salutes the Lt.
Zzed raises an eyebrow. "Ensign Yashida, you should probably study up on the cross-branch ranking structure. A 2nd Lieutenant, also known as a 2nd Louie, is an officer of equal rank with an Ensign. Saluting is... inappropriate."
Kanoe' frowns, "I'm being polite and respectful! We are NEW here and we ARE reporting in! It never hurts to be on good terms with your technician for your MS!"
"I'm sure a handshake and a sturdy "hello" will do in the future, rook. Wouldn't want people thinking we're fish out of water, right?"
She leans in close and whispers: "'Sides, the good Lieutenant is probably our chaperone, not a tech."
Kanoe' just folds her arms across her chest looking away at the comment and huffs defiantly blowing a loose locke of her blue hair in her face in the process, then extends a hand to the small man Reddock, "It's a pleasure to meet you 'SIR', we are .. if a little light on manners...!"
Its sort of disconcerting how the most simple of moments of Kanoe'~ how she walks, how she stands, even her simplest gestures are beauty in motion... she is going to have many of the men here watching her {and possibly no small number of women as well}... hungrily...
"Thank you" he focuses on your name tag "Ensign Yashida" he begins to walk "Follow me now, Lieutenant Dahvana is waiting, and you will go through medical. It's going to be a long day today for you"
Reddok walks you down and out of the hangar, were a purple zaku with command antenna passes by and is driven into the hangar. Some Russel trucks pass by with supplies and soldiers about quarter of a mile from the hangar are some barracks and next to it offices were Reddok enters.
Officers of both Zeon space and Zeon earth uniforms are mixed and, but at the end there is two doors and he bids you to wait as he enters the one on the left a small grey hare comes out.
Kanoe' salutes snapping off a quick, " Lieutenant, Ma'am! Reporting!"
Roldy follow the rest of the squad and dock his Zaku in the designated spot. Slowly walking to the rest of the group, he gets there just in time to hear Reddok mentionning about medical... and a long day.
Oh great! More doctors! As if I need more probing and proding
Following the group silently, he looks around and take mental note of what equipment is available and where they are.
"Understood." Zzed comments, and then follows along without further comment.
Zzed watches as Kanoe salutes the small furry rabbit and calls it ma'am. He then stoops and tries to pick the rabbit up. If it allows it, he doesn't hurt it, but does examine it while rubbing it's head. "It appears to be a member of the lapis family... I do not believe it is in the chain of command, Ensign Yashida. I find it odd that the Federation would allow rabbits to be in the chain of command. It's almost certainly the pet of someone on the base." He seems to think Yashida's background of being from the Federation is her reason for thinking the rabbit is in the chain of command.
Welkin pilots his mobile suit to the hangar area and greets the man waiting for them. "Greetings Reddok, are you here to show us to the commander?"
Welkin ignores that Kanoe salutes the LT. And as Reddok explains wehre they are going he just follows him to the command, and he cna't help but look up at the commanders suit "Purple is not really my color, but I'd like to have that kind of command and acknowlodgement from the higher ups.
"Oh my god!!" a small woman fitting the description of Lt. Dahvana in civilian clothing comes out "Mr. Fluffers escaped" bumping into Zzed "Oh there he is, thank you for catching Mr. Fluffers, LtC. Brenog would put me in the cage if he has to track it down again because I lost it"
Reddok makes some sounds to get her attention "This are the new recruits sent by LtC Brenog ma'am"
Somehow Dahvana is able to tower over him, but not do to size, but it is how he begins to cower from her gaze, and whispers around the office bring everything to a stand still. Some kind of fear permeates the place for a split second until she smiles again "Well, this is the squad mascot, and who leads this squad?"
With an eyebrow raising behind his mask, Roldy look at the small woman.
Mr. Fluffers??
Not entirely sure what type of answer she wants, Roldy just casualy points at Katzuya when she ask about the squad leader.
"That'd be Lt. Katzuya, Ma'am" nods Edel along with Roldy pointing. She's wary of this newest officer, but otherwise maintains her composure.
Zzed raises an eyebrow, and then returns 'Mr Fluffers' to the small woman. Once his hands are free, he gives the woman a salute, before asking. "Is that his name or callsign, ma'am?" Given that Ensign Faustus had already pointed out their commander.
"Ensign... it's his name... God Brenog what rag tag did you send..." Turning to face Katsuya and snapping her fingers Reddok hands her 5 packets filled with paperwork "Go to thew 163rd HQ to start registration so records show you made safe planet fall and you families if any are notified" she smirks "Then go to medical for a physical, vaccines, and other required testing just so you don't get sick and die on my because you caught the flu"
"Call sign? You will be assigned one, until you prove you can at least kill a guntank Ensing" she goes into her office and brings a small board out were she adds your names "There are 11 pilots in this troop, LtC Brenog, then me, then we have squad leaders" points at Katsuya and Engisn Tracant on the board, 3 marks are next to her name. LtC Brenog has nothing, not even a space for counting his kills, while Dahvana has a blue mark and 5 regular marks. The other members only one has a mark.
"These marks represent guntanks, the toughest thing the feddies can throw at us now. This blue one is a mobile cruiser." not sure if you guys fought one in the simulation as they are fairly new also "Imagine a spaceship for land packing more punch sometimes plus soldiers and what have you"
Looks at Zzed "The day you at least get two marks, I will let you get a call sign of your own, but for now you will be Kraken and a number when talking to me or LtC Brenog, among your squad, you can call yourselves whatever you want, but it will not be reflected in your Zaku II's you earn it."
Zzed takes the paperwork, and shrugs. "BuPers assigned my call sign, I'm not sure either of us are allowed to change it. If I get orders to change it, I'll change it." He then salutes. "By your leave them, ma'am, and I'll report to the physicians." Assuming there's no response, or a positive one, he takes the papers to the medical tent and begins his process of being examined.