ABS FIESTA REDUX

[comr4de]

Jaakko sits in the rear of the Hind. His carbine rests between his legs, pointed upwards at the ceiling. His hands grasp it, positioned almost as if he were praying. His head rests against the wall of the cabin. He is trying his best to control his anxiousness.

He looks to his carrier. There are two patches. One is labeled O POS, the other labeled NKDA. His eyes flick to his gun. He removes a magazine from his carrier and eases it into the mag well, but hesitates to charge the weapon.

The ground is not far below them, and the Hip is circling for a place to land. He hopes and prays in earnest that Matsumoto is down there and alive.

Its a hip, not a hind


t. Harm

[Ad Bot]

[Qwepir]

"Hey, Rask."

Gus stops and raises his carbine to his left shoulder, motioning with the barrel of the gun towards the scorches.

"What do you make of that?"

He looks around at the area again.

"This place is near pristine. That's not battle damage."

He stops and lifts his ballistic shield to take a better look at what you point out, before letting it fall back down.
: Could be burn scoring from a VTOL landing. Izzy was probably out here looking for their own pilots after you thrashed 'em.

[CypherX]

"Let's hope they didn't find Matsumoto."

A pang of worry shoots through Gus at his own thought. He thinks for a moment, following Jaakko slowly.

"Is her helmet on? We ought to be close enough to pick it up now."

He starts flipping through comms channels.

[Qwepir]

"Let's hope they didn't find Matsumoto."

A pang of worry shoots through Gus at his own thought. He thinks for a moment, following Jaakko slowly.

"Is her helmet on? We ought to be close enough to pick it up now."

He starts flipping through comms channels.

The medics chime in over the comms.
: We sure are, In fact I'm picking it up as we speak.
: The joke doesn't work if they can't see you.
: Right. Uh, we've found the seat, and I physically have the helmet in my hands. No sign of the pilot, but... this is a lot of blood.

The chopper forwards Gus's request to the flyers, and Virvel begins scanning the area for heat signatures. In the meantime, the choppers continue to move along their path to the battlefield, and a trio of Typhoons appear at radar range to the southeast, taking up a pattern that maintains relative distance to the search party and their escort.
: Already? I was expecting we'd have more time than this.

[CypherX]

Gus jogs over to the medics.

[Tayasaurus]

Tippy keeps a close watch on the arrival of the Typhoons and gets a sinking feeling in her stomach at the report of blood.

"Keep distance. Don't fly aggressively. They could just be keeping an eye on us."

Tippy throws out a scan

[Qwepir]

Gus jogs over to the medics.

You find them standing near the Kintharian ejection seat. There's a rather serious-looking trail of blood that leads only about two meters before terminating in what looks to have been a sizable puddle, near which lies a Kintharian medkit. One of the medics is remaining alert, while the other idly tosses the helmet up into the air and catches it. Apparently it's still transmitting, because Yamashiro contacts the ground team to complain about the sounds being broadcasted over her squad frequency.
: Whatever you idiots are doing with her helmet, knock it the hell off!

The medic responsible puts down the helmet with a sheepish expression.

Tippy keeps a close watch on the arrival of the Typhoons and gets a sinking feeling in her stomach at the report of blood.
"Keep distance. Don't fly aggressively. They could just be keeping an eye on us."
Tippy throws out a scan

The only heat signatures you can spot at the moment are those of the ground team.

[Tayasaurus]

"Not getting any other heat signatures. Just you guys and occasionally a stray animal."

Tippy drops altitude.

"I'm going to fly lower for a closer look. See if that helps any."

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko walks towards the ejection site, still looking around. He notices the seat and the blood and feels sick from the fact that this is all pinned on him. The blood doesn't help his unease.

He stands nearby, trying to remain vigilant, looking for any other signs of Matsumoto or Imperials.

[Qwepir]

Jaakko walks towards the ejection site, still looking around. He notices the seat and the blood and feels sick from the fact that this is all pinned on him. The blood doesn't help his unease.
He stands nearby, trying to remain vigilant, looking for any other signs of Matsumoto or Imperials.

: Right, well, guess we better spread out and start looking.

Sergeant Nylund takes Private Rask to search one sector, Specialists Czajkowski and Mikolajczak head to another, and Crash and Tempest a third.

"Not getting any other heat signatures. Just you guys and occasionally a stray animal."

Tippy drops altitude.

"I'm going to fly lower for a closer look. See if that helps any."

It doesn't.
: Yeah, I'm not seeing stuff either.
: Give it time.

Time passes (about five more minutes of it) with no more progress. Then, another four Typhoons enter radar range from the southwest, and even more from the east. The GTO forces conducting the search are now encircled.
: I don't like this. They're like a bunch of sharks out there.
: Are we calling this off?
: No. Not yet. I'm just saying I don't like the look of those Typhoons.
: You're not the only one. Ground team, be advised, we've got company up here. We may need to bug out at a moment's notice.

[Tayasaurus]

Tippys grip tightens around her controls.

"It's just a swarm of Typhoons. A typical, everyday thing i'm sure."

Tippy continues to scan

[Mr. Hurricane]

"forgetin' great, we're getting swarmed already," Jaakko murmurs.

He studies the buildings for any sign of activity, be it Imperials or Matsumoto.

[CypherX]

Gus walks in a half crouch around the suburban buildings, gun half shouldered. Jaakko's comment spurns a quiet response.

"I'm no expert but I can tell you what I saw when I was down. Zents may not be fighting here but they're still moving troops back and forth between the front. Their convoys are mean stuff."

He pauses and looks down the street, half expecting a column of armor to be rolling towards them.

"The Svirask Militia hold up in some of these buildings. Saw a fortification in a restaurant, or what was left of it. Zent recon seemed to be clearing building by building for that reason exactly."

He takes a breath and stops, turning to look at Jaakko.

"If Matsumoto is smart, she knows that, and she's gotten herself into a room she can hide in, which makes our job all the harder. I say we start clearing the buildings closest to that seat. With that much blood she hasn't gone far."

[Lockebox]

Ash turns the sink on in his room and wets his comb. It's been a few hours since he left the cafeteria so he figured he'd go back and write up a page on how the day went and clean up some more. He combs his hair back and adds gel, making sure it says in place.

The coffee maker starts beeping as he leaves the bathroom then he pours a cup before unpacking the rest of his things from his carry-pack. He takes a pill bottle out of his satchel and pops the cap, taking two of the pills as instructed by his prescription with a swig of the coffee. It was a relaxant, and he tends to be a very high strung person whenever off of it. He attempts to light a cigarrette but only sparks came out. He checks the inside of the lighter and finds the fluid to be very low. He rolls his eyes and stuffs the cigarette back into the box and tosses the disposable lighter into the trashcan near the nightstand.

He steps outside and heads for wherever Rec is to see if he can find a new lighter.

[Qwepir]

Tippys grip tightens around her controls.
"It's just a swarm of Typhoons. A typical, everyday thing i'm sure."
Tippy continues to scan

"forgetin' great, we're getting swarmed already," Jaakko murmurs.

He studies the buildings for any sign of activity, be it Imperials or Matsumoto.

Gus walks in a half crouch around the suburban buildings, gun half shouldered. Jaakko's comment spurns a quiet response.

"I'm no expert but I can tell you what I saw when I was down. Zents may not be fighting here but they're still moving troops back and forth between the front. Their convoys are mean stuff."

He pauses and looks down the street, half expecting a column of armor to be rolling towards them.

"The Svirask Militia hold up in some of these buildings. Saw a fortification in a restaurant, or what was left of it. Zent recon seemed to be clearing building by building for that reason exactly."

He takes a breath and stops, turning to look at Jaakko.

"If Matsumoto is smart, she knows that, and she's gotten herself into a room she can hide in, which makes our job all the harder. I say we start clearing the buildings closest to that seat. With that much blood she hasn't gone far."

Crash and Tempest go from building to building, searching every room as they go; and the jets continue their FLIR scans. The search continues for around twenty minutes with no luck, until finally the Imperials have had enough. The AWACS contacts both air and ground teams to deliver the news.
: I'm getting a message from the Imperial commander. Patching him through.
: Attention GTO aircraft, this is Kommandant Adrian Paladius of XVI Manipulus Discipulo Aestimatio. My squadron has authorization to fire on you if you do not immediately terminate your mission and exit the area. This is your only warning. You have thirty seconds to comply.