fleet-admiral-red:

“Guild hall? I’ll be sure to look there.” Yellow replied appreciatively with a short bow. “Thank you for enlightening me.”

Important missions, now, was it? In that case, she would do her best to avoid any combat missions. Those definitely weren’t going to help her keep a low profile.

The blonde swept her gaze around the city streets before returning her attention to the man. “Do you happen to know the directions to the guild hall here?”

“Sure, I can bring you there,” the man said. “I’m not much of an Adventurer myself, but these days especially, it pays to know how to fight, given the rebellion and the uncivilized monsters we have to deal with. You do know how to fight, right?”

“I know a thing or two.” Yellow admitted.

Her time spent training with the Tenno hadn’t been for nothing, after all. Her personal weapon had been one of the things she’d brought with her.

“Please, lead the way.” she requested.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red:

Having recalled seeing a few small villages and towns near the landing area from orbit before she went in for the landing, Yellow thought fast and gave the local a small, shy smile.

“I’m from a village close to the sea, but I’ve come here to look for a better life, maybe help some people.”

A half-truth, but it would serve. Hopefully this local wasn’t going to probe too deeply.

“I see,” the man replied. “Well, welcome to the Astridian Empire. If you’re looking to help people, no better way to do it than as an Adventurer. You might wanna swing by the local guild hall, that’s where all the important missions are located.”

“Guild hall? I’ll be sure to look there.” Yellow replied appreciatively with a short bow. “Thank you for enlightening me.”

Important missions, now, was it? In that case, she would do her best to avoid any combat missions. Those definitely weren’t going to help her keep a low profile.

The blonde swept her gaze around the city streets before returning her attention to the man. “Do you happen to know the directions to the guild hall here?”

Aegis of Hope

howlofthewolf:

BEA fighters danced with pirate interceptors, while BEA Bombers began attack runs on the pirate cruisers. It wasn’t long before 3 Rathian-class Star Destroyers came out of hyperspace, opening fire on the cruisers.

“Keep those damn pirates off the GDI’s back!” Wolf growled into the comlink in his fighter’s cockpit, firing a proton torpedo straight into the bridge of one of the enemy cruisers.

“I see them. Shields are already at max.” Captain Thompson replied and cut the comms, before shaking his head and addressing Noriega.

“Take us to Red Alert. And wake Aegis up.”

“Acknowledged. Moving to Red Alert, arming all weapons.”

The haptic lighting shifted to combat status as an alarm blared. In her quarters, the noise roused Aegis, the Titan rubbing her eyes as fresh data poured into her awareness.

And an eye twitched as Aegis frowned, still somewhat sleepy. And now very, very annoyed. “Nori…Blink me outside. Please.”

The AI obliged, teleporting Aegis just outside the window of her quarters, in the vacuum of space. Her rigging manifested immediately, and Aegis began grumbling very audibly on an open channel, one that the Bouzac and even the pirates could hear.

Sighting in and running a firing solution, Aegis brought her massive five-barreled primary weapon to bear.

Straight at the enemy dreadnought.

“I…was having…a good SLEEP!”

The hyperluminal impactor, a hyperdense round able to shatter entire planets with ease, smashed straight into the dreadnought, obliterating it in a blinding fireball.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red:

The Long and Lonely Road

(Closed starter for @saviorgoddessastrid )

The silence of orbit was a strange and rare comfort. To the blonde woman piloting the stealth shuttle down to the planet below, it was a rare moment of peace.

The presence in the back of her head that had been her personal AI was gone now, vacated upon request. The blonde closed her eyes for a moment as the autopilot took over, guiding her down to the remote outskirts of a city. Where she planned on landing was a forest that by all estimates was a walk away, albeit a long one.

The woman checked her belongings in the backpack she’d brought along one more time. There wasn’t much, just a few spare clothes and the device that held her gear in energy storage. She herself had already changed into more simple civilian clothes. At the very least, she would blend in.

Upon landing, the blonde disembarked, looking at the city just a long walk away, backpack at the ready. A faint smile crossed her features. It had been a long time since she had been on a journey.

And this was one where she had to go alone.

“Yellow, heading out.”

Yellow’s arrival didn’t go unnoticed by others. When she arrived in the city, there were folks who looked over to this strange new arrival. Being on the edge of the Astridian Empire, the lands around still showed some scars of war, one that looked like it only recently ended.

One of the locals, who wore a pretty basic outfit, approached Yellow. “Heya,” he said. “You seem new here. Where might you be from?”

Having recalled seeing a few small villages and towns near the landing area from orbit before she went in for the landing, Yellow thought fast and gave the local a small, shy smile.

“I’m from a village close to the sea, but I’ve come here to look for a better life, maybe help some people.”

A half-truth, but it would serve. Hopefully this local wasn’t going to probe too deeply.

Aegis of Hope

howlofthewolf:

fleet-admiral-red:

howlofthewolf:

fleet-admiral-red:

howlofthewolf:

BEA fighters danced with pirate interceptors, while BEA Bombers began attack runs on the pirate cruisers. It wasn’t long before 3 Rathian-class Star Destroyers came out of hyperspace, opening fire on the cruisers.

“Keep those damn pirates off the GDI’s back!” Wolf growled into the comlink in his fighter’s cockpit, firing a proton torpedo straight into the bridge of one of the enemy cruisers.

Aboard the Sumeragi, things were getting more busy. Repair drones flew out from their storage bays by the dozens, while the engineering personnel prepared heavy-duty industrial rigs and other associated gear within the cavernous deployment bays.

In the CIC, Captain Thompson observed the readouts on both his command interface and the displays before him as Noriega reported more information.

“Replicators are go, foundries are go. Primary landing point identified. T-minus 10 minutes to operation start.”

The AI turned to him. “Captain, those pirates are still engaging Bouzac forces. Recommend we move to assist.”

Captain Thompson shook his head. “Negative on that, we’re remaining at Yellow Alert. Let our allies take care of them, our mission is to focus on repairing the Gate.”

Noriega simply nodded. “Alright, sir. Command base is ready and on standby in the construction queue. Crew are making final preparations for operation.”

“And how’s Aegis doing?”

The AI checked one of her data feeds. “Still sleeping in her guest quarters. Shall I wake her?”

Again, Thompson shook his head. “No, let her rest as much as she needs.”

Several pirate vulture droids began to try and curve off and attack the GDI ship. Wolf and a squadron of fighters moved to intercept them, speeding alongside the Sumeragi. On the bridge of the GDI ship, the BEA AI Viper appeared.

“Captain, be warned, several pirate droid fighters and bombers are poised to begin their attack run on this ship.” Viper said, “Wolf is moving to intercept, but I thought you might want to know.”

Within the CIC, Captain Thompson only sighed, looking to his ship’s AI.

“Noriega, if you will?”

The comely AI only shrugged and snapped her fingers. “Gladly. SPEAR grid already online.”

While the Sumeragi wasn’t quite as heavily armed as other Initiative warships, being a support vessel, she still had an arsenal to her name. The SPEAR point defense network was no exception.

Particular nodes activated, the incoming hostile fighters and bombers already having been tracked and designated as targets. Within milliseconds, a volley of needle-thin antiproton beams had lanced out and all but vaporized them.

Noriega looked to her BEA counterpart. “All targets destroyed. Don’t worry, we can handle small fry. You just keep them off us.”

“Just know you’re the main target.” Viper said, “They want to keep us disconnected, weak.”

——————————————-

Wolf wheeled around, blasting droids as he tried to keep the Sumeragi clear of enemy fighters.

Soon, Yumi opened fire with her superlaser on the lead cruiser.

“Operation commencing, all teams deploy now!” Captain Thompson announced.

Watching as the engineers and other repair crew were either launched or Blinked to the primary command point marked on the Gate, the Captain then switched his attention to the tactical display.

“Those pirates must have allies. Noriega, any chance you have blueprints for deployable defenses?”

“All those and more. Just give the word.” Came the reply from the AI, just as another volley of enemy fire that was deflected by shielding caused the Sumeragi to tremble a little. “Primary shield layer hit, recovery is back to full. No effective damage. I highly recommend we escalate to Red Alert.”

Thompson ground his teeth. “They just keep asking for it, don’t they? Negative for now, Noriega, we have to focus on our task. But if they keep this up too long, we’ll have to respond. Just the secondaries should be enough to scrap them.”

Meanwhile, in her guest quarters, Aegis was oblivious to the battle raging beyond the ship, still sleeping blissfully.

The Long and Lonely Road

(Closed starter for @saviorgoddessastrid )

The silence of orbit was a strange and rare comfort. To the blonde woman piloting the stealth shuttle down to the planet below, it was a rare moment of peace.

The presence in the back of her head that had been her personal AI was gone now, vacated upon request. The blonde closed her eyes for a moment as the autopilot took over, guiding her down to the remote outskirts of a city. Where she planned on landing was a forest that by all estimates was a walk away, albeit a long one.

The woman checked her belongings in the backpack she’d brought along one more time. There wasn’t much, just a few spare clothes and the device that held her gear in energy storage. She herself had already changed into more simple civilian clothes. At the very least, she would blend in.

Upon landing, the blonde disembarked, looking at the city just a long walk away, backpack at the ready. A faint smile crossed her features. It had been a long time since she had been on a journey.

And this was one where she had to go alone.

“Yellow, heading out.”

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red:

“Right.” Aegis nodded as she brushed a stray lock of hair back.

“I’ll…be off then. It was good talking with you again, Astrid.”

In a flash, Aegis had manifested her colossal rigging, beginning to hover as she prepared for takeoff. She gave one last wave to Astrid as her sublight drives charged up and inertial dampeners switched on.

“I might come back soon…”

“I’d love to have ya back anytime!” Astrid replied. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy being on Terra Ancora too! Take care, my friend!”

“I will.” was Aegis’s reply before she shot upward, the air around her screaming as she soon went hypersonic.

Clearing orbit, Aegis smiled as she took one last look at Terra Ancora. A good place for a vacation. Surely the others would love to visit.

Clearing that thought from her mind, Aegis ran through the usual motions as she jumped to transwarp, soon leaving Terra Ancora far behind.

She was going home.

Yet, with how occupied she’d been, Aegis hardly noticed as a distant sensor ghost flickered on her awareness before vanishing.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red:

“If she’s even coming here at all. Admiral Yellow could be literally anywhere in the galaxy right now and we wouldn’t know.” Aegis felt inclined to point out.

The Titan truly hoped Yellow would indeed make her way to this planet. At least it would eliminate the need for a search, despite the fact that Yellow had managed to have her subordinate Vice Admiral take over her duties and place a successful request for shore leave without administrative AIs noticing anything amiss.

And speaking of this planet…

“I think I’ll start heading back to the Initiative. But…before I go, Astrid, since you said that some ‘reboot’ had happened, what’s your world called now?”

“Terra Ancora,” Astrid answered. “I believe I said that when I showed up before you. It’ll be nice to be in contact with the GDI again.”

“Right.” Aegis nodded as she brushed a stray lock of hair back.

“I’ll…be off then. It was good talking with you again, Astrid.”

In a flash, Aegis had manifested her colossal rigging, beginning to hover as she prepared for takeoff. She gave one last wave to Astrid as her sublight drives charged up and inertial dampeners switched on.

“I might come back soon…”

Aegis of Hope

howlofthewolf:

fleet-admiral-red:

howlofthewolf:

BEA fighters danced with pirate interceptors, while BEA Bombers began attack runs on the pirate cruisers. It wasn’t long before 3 Rathian-class Star Destroyers came out of hyperspace, opening fire on the cruisers.

“Keep those damn pirates off the GDI’s back!” Wolf growled into the comlink in his fighter’s cockpit, firing a proton torpedo straight into the bridge of one of the enemy cruisers.

Aboard the Sumeragi, things were getting more busy. Repair drones flew out from their storage bays by the dozens, while the engineering personnel prepared heavy-duty industrial rigs and other associated gear within the cavernous deployment bays.

In the CIC, Captain Thompson observed the readouts on both his command interface and the displays before him as Noriega reported more information.

“Replicators are go, foundries are go. Primary landing point identified. T-minus 10 minutes to operation start.”

The AI turned to him. “Captain, those pirates are still engaging Bouzac forces. Recommend we move to assist.”

Captain Thompson shook his head. “Negative on that, we’re remaining at Yellow Alert. Let our allies take care of them, our mission is to focus on repairing the Gate.”

Noriega simply nodded. “Alright, sir. Command base is ready and on standby in the construction queue. Crew are making final preparations for operation.”

“And how’s Aegis doing?”

The AI checked one of her data feeds. “Still sleeping in her guest quarters. Shall I wake her?”

Again, Thompson shook his head. “No, let her rest as much as she needs.”

Several pirate vulture droids began to try and curve off and attack the GDI ship. Wolf and a squadron of fighters moved to intercept them, speeding alongside the Sumeragi. On the bridge of the GDI ship, the BEA AI Viper appeared.

“Captain, be warned, several pirate droid fighters and bombers are poised to begin their attack run on this ship.” Viper said, “Wolf is moving to intercept, but I thought you might want to know.”

Within the CIC, Captain Thompson only sighed, looking to his ship’s AI.

“Noriega, if you will?”

The comely AI only shrugged and snapped her fingers. “Gladly. SPEAR grid already online.”

While the Sumeragi wasn’t quite as heavily armed as other Initiative warships, being a support vessel, she still had an arsenal to her name. The SPEAR point defense network was no exception.

Particular nodes activated, the incoming hostile fighters and bombers already having been tracked and designated as targets. Within milliseconds, a volley of needle-thin antiproton beams had lanced out and all but vaporized them.

Noriega looked to her BEA counterpart. “All targets destroyed. Don’t worry, we can handle small fry. You just keep them off us.”

A Shining Star (Closed)

secondshipgirlsquadron:

fleet-admiral-red:

secondshipgirlsquadron:

“GDS Tempest Eternal, Thanatos-class carrier.” She corrected, a little too boastfully.

“It’s nice to meet you, doctor.” She added. “What kind of laboratory is this?”

As one of the corvette’s doors slid open and a figure stepped out, Hope’s happy expression grew so bright it looked like it could power the whole Starbase for a year.

The young woman that had emerged had an extremely similar figure and appearance to Hope, save the raven-black color of her hair. And who was now looking at the two behind Hope with surprise.

“Lumi!”

And before anyone else could say anything, Hope practically leapt with joy towards the woman she knew as her sister ship, hugging her before pulling the other into a deep kiss.

Aegis chuckled at the sight. One could trust Hope to always be so open with her affections.

Tempest cringed internally. They were sisters, and nobody else had a problem with this? Fortunately, she kept those thoughts to herself. She allowed them a few moments of reunion time before she would speak.

“I’m guessing you’re Luminous Horizon, right? My name is GDS Tempest Eternal.” She repeated her earlier introduction. “Nice to meet you.”

After being released from the kiss by a happily giggling Hope who proceeded to nuzzle her neck, Lumi looked at Tempest with another bout of surprise. “How did…”

And then a look at Aegis, then back to Tempest. “Oh. My reputation…precedes me.”

A small sigh as Lumi tried to hide her hand that was wrapping around Hope’s waist to hold her close. “Yes, I am GDS Luminous Horizon. Advent-class cruiser, like Hope.”

A slight blush colored Lumi’s cheeks. “I…must apologize for the scene we made, Tempest. Please forgive my sister, she can be…overzealous.”

As if in response, Hope sank into Lumi’s embrace, making a contented sigh. On her part, Lumi was desperately trying not to be embarrassed by how much she secretly enjoyed Hope’s warmth.

Aegis’s amused tone only grew even more teasing as she laid a hand on Tempest’s shoulder, by now a familiar gesture. “You two are adorable.”