ABS FIESTA REDUX

[Qwepir]

: Alright, so I guess that Djuriskas-6 will pair up with Pansar, 8 will pair up with Snowman, and Letterman will pair up with Walt. Make sure to call your targets so they don't end up wasting munitions. Fire off your rockets first, then your partners will fire their AGMs and JSMs at the turrets.

She looks at the display again.

: If everything goes well, you should be able to take out three of those turrets.

"Fire JSM on the bow, the PD is weak and we can take out a turret. Snowman, fire on the central emplacements with me before it fires on the Falkenberg."

Walter aims briefly on the central emplacements and fires off 8 heavy rockets then fires both his heavy cannons

LAMS S1 rolls 1d6 to destroy rockets: 6
LAMS P2 rolls 1d6 to destroy rockets: 2
Regardless of whether the rockets would have hit the target, the LAMS targets and shoots them down.

UAC accuracy 40
Experience provides bonus of 5
Aim provides bonus of 10
Missile range provides penalty of 20
Test taken at 35
Roll: 61 - failure
Reroll: 58 - failure
The cannons miss their mark by a country mile, however.

LAMS S2 rolls to destroy missiles:
JSM 1: 87 - missile destroyed
JSM 2: 91 - failure
Letterman follows Walt's instructions and fires on the front turret with both JSMs. With the PD around it distracted by the rockets, one reaches the target and destroys it.

"Snowman, attacking target," Lorens complies. He dives down on the Octarius and fires rockets from both pods down on the central emplacements. Following up, he switches to the coilgun and looses a slug on the middle rotary laser assembly.

LAMS P3 rolls 1d6 to destroy rockets: 6
LAMS S3 rolls 1d6 to destroy rockets: 4
Once again, the point-defense cover proves too dense for the rockets to penetrate.

KSM accuracy 50
Aim provides bonus of 10
Test taken at 60
Roll: 15 - success
Test passed
However, you manage to score a second direct hit against the rotary lasers.

Djuriskas-8 fires on the center triple turret with two AGMs.
LAMS P4 rolls to destroy missiles:
AGM 1: 75 - missile destroyed
AGM 2: 31 - missile destroyed
Both of them are shot down by a single PD emplacement.

Pansar targets the turret in rear and fires his rockets.
LAMS S4 rolls 1d6 to destroy rockets: 3
LAMS P5 rolls 1d6 to destroy rockets: 6
LAMS S5 rolls 1d6 to destroy rockets: 3

Once again his rockets are shot down, but they grab the attention of multiple emplacements in the process. Djuriskas-6 fires two JSMs at the remaining surfaced anti-air emplacement.

LAMS P6 rolls to destroy missiles:
JSM 1: 97 - failure
JSM 1: 87 - failure

LAMS S6 rolls to destroy missiles:
JSM 1: 47 - success
JSM 2: 45 - failure
One somehow manages to get through the screen and destroy it.

Frisk, seeing everyone else dumping munitions into the ship, joins in as well with his two anti-ship missiles. With the point defense occupied with the initial barrage of rockets and joint-strikes, his anti-ship missiles are able to destroy both targets and deal severe damage to the surrounding area.

Recognizing the situation it is now in, the Octarius withdraws below the waves again as gunfire from the Falkenberg bounces off its hull.

[Ad Bot]

[Badger]

"Snowman see if you're able to hit them again with the Gauss. I don't want to have to deal with this again when it's repaired."

Walter swaps over

"Admiral; the sub is appearing to disengage. Was that the only vessel that did all this damage?"

[NoZoner]

"I'm on it!"

Lorens spots the bridge on the Octarius, drags the coilgun CCIP pipper over it and pulls the trigger. "GUNS!"

[Qwepir]

"Snowman see if you're able to hit them again with the Gauss. I don't want to have to deal with this again when it's repaired."
Walter swaps over
"Admiral; the sub is appearing to disengage. Was that the only vessel that did all this damage?"

: Yes. And after the damage it did... I don't know if we stand much chance against the rest of the enemy fleet. We were hard pressed to match their firepower even before we lost seven ships.

Lorens spots the bridge on the Octarius, drags the coilgun CCIP pipper over it and pulls the trigger. "GUNS!"

KSM accuracy 50
Aim provides bonus of 10
Invisible target provides penalty of ??
Test taken at ???
Roll: 9 - success
You see an explosion underwater, indicating that you must have hit something.

[Badger]

"We didn't complete our strike mission yet, I can't speak for the sky Marshall but I wouldn't be surprised if we are sent back out again to attack their fleet."

Walter pauses for a moment then addresses the admiral again

"Mjolnir is withdrawing from the area to land and refuel. Sorry we couldn't have responded sooner."

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko wonders if he should tell Cualli that Eremit defected, perhaps if only so she'd know what to expect as the aircraft returned. His mind wonders to Walt briefly, thinking about putting him in for a medal for fishing a man from the sea, as well has his initiative in getting involved in the dogfight.

But the thought is pushed out by Eremit's defection and Cualli, as well as one of Jaakko's last conversations with Gus before he was transferred away, that Cualli is a member of Mjolnir and all of Aesthia may well have it out for Deltans.

He reasons finally that perhaps it's better that she know what to expect, and that he doesn't necessarily trust Djuriskas to be tactful about it.

Though, it's not like he himself has any tact, but Cualli is already weary of him, and if she ends up hating him then so be it.

Jaakko, still dressed to fly, seeks out Cualli to report the news.

[carolcat]

Cualli is spending her break relaxing with Elu in the rec room, making an effort to teach him how to braid her hair. Most of her braids are neat and tight- clearly done by her own hands- but there are a handful of sloppy, messy braids that must have been done by Elu. He's currently fumbling with a few pieces of hair, struggling a little to keep them in order.

"No need to pull so tight," she says to her robot companion, glancing away from the TV. "Just enough to keep them taut. Tight, not so tight that you pull my hair out."

Elu adjusts his grip on her hair as instructed and Cualli gives a light smile. "There, that's better." Not having noticed Jaakko yet, she adds in a quieter, more light-hearted voice, "make sure they look nice for when Arkhip gets back."

[Mr. Hurricane]

Something twinges in Jaakko when he sees Cualli, and Jaakko is apprehensive to tell her, because for a moment it seems meaningless whether Jaakko told her now or if she learned because his aircraft wouldn't come aboard. Who would care? Gus might, he thinks, and runs through that conversation with Gus in his head.

Outwardly, Jaakko appears displeased and uncomfortable.

"Airman Cualli," he addresses her, helmet in hand and pilot bag in the other.

He stands in front of her, with his weight shifted on one leg and with the rest of his body facing the other side of the sofa. He looks quite annoyed.

He shifts to face her, willing himself to not look dismissive or absent, and clasps his hands in front of him, helmet over pilot bag. He glances at Cualli, but seems to have trouble looking at her. He thinks through his words for a moment.

"I was forced to land early, the others are still out there, but I think you should be aware that- uh... Arkhip-"

Went AWOL? Ran off? Defected? Left us? Turned yellow?

[carolcat]

Cualli turns her head slightly in the direction of Jaakko's voice when he first speaks, careful not to get her hair pulled again by Elu. Gently, she lifts a hand and takes her hair out of Elu's fingers so that she can turn her full attention to the pilot.

The engineer looks him over, noticing his expression. Uncomfortable: whatever he's about to say, it isn't good. Still in all of his gear: whatever he's about to say, it's urgent. Neither of those things spell good news for her, especially not when she hears Jaakko say Arkhip's name.

Immediately, Cualli expects the worst. The carrier may be tens of thousands of feet off of the ground, but in a split second, it feels as if her stomach has leapt out of the hangar bay and fallen to its death. Her throat tightens and it feels as if her heart has stopped.

"He's dead, isn't he," Cualli whispers, her voice barely audible over the TV and the noises of the carrier. One of her hands grips Elu's leg in a futile attempt to stop the room from spinning around her.

Her mind flashes back to the time spent together on leave: keeping warm at night in his cabin, the stabbing in the parking lot, the promises made in the hospital, all of their shenanigans that would have them dishonorably discharged in an instant.

She tries to swallow, but finds her mouth dry. "He's dead."

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko's train of thought is derailed as Cualli assumes the worst.

"No! He's not dead," he says glancing at her.

He holds his posture and wills himself to have the respect to look her in the eye.

"He went AWOL, ran off. Walt tried to talk him down at one point, I heard, but he's gone now,"

The same grief that Jaakko gets when he wrote letters to the family of his KIA squadron members burns in his stomach, and it's not until Jaakko says it that Eremit defecting starts to really bother him.

[carolcat]

Whatever relief Cualli might have felt at hearing that Arkhip was alive is quickly dashed at the news that he not only left, but lied to her. She feels a mixture of emotions: sadness, anger, bitterness.

She takes a breath, trying and only partially succeeding at composing herself. "He deserted?" she asks. "Just... left?"

Again, the promise Arkhip made to her in the hospital comes back to her. A promise that he'd do everything he could to come back to her in one piece. I promise.

I love you, too.

Months spent together, the dates together, the sleeping together, the pushing their luck and sneaking around on the carrier together: all for nothing. Bitterness and anger takes over as Cualli realizes the depth of Arkhip deserting.

"That lying starfish," she hisses. "That starfish!" In her anger, Cualli completely neglects her personal policy of not being responsible for teaching her robot son how to swear. Not only did he desert his squad and our country, he deserted me.

[NoZoner]

Lorens makes a pass over where the Octarius was last seen diving. "Snowman, returning to formation." Unable to make anything out in the storm, he returns to altitude and forms alongside Walt.

"I think I might've gotten a splash on the submarine with that last round, but I can't tell for sure," Lorens notes. Feeling a little chilly, he looks around the roosterpit for the pilot heat switch.

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko looks away again as Cualli comes unglued. For a moment he looks sad and subdued, but the look quickly goes away as he shifts his gaze and starts gritting his teeth. Arkhip ran off with a load of missiles too, Aesthia's Annoying Orange cards. A yellow bitch.

He keeps his sentiments to himself.

"I feel like he said why, but I was being shot full of holes so I couldn't pay attention..." he reports, "but he said, I remember, that you were strong, and he wishes he could of told you, and that was the last thing he said to us,"

[carolcat]

"The hell he did," she spits. "He knows that if he told me then I would've decked him on the spot for such a stupid idea!"

"If I ever get to see that coward piece of stuff again, I'll show him strong alright. I'm going to wring his loving neck."

Inwardly, Cualli kicks herself for being dumb enough to fall for someone that she should've known was bound to desert. But, despite herself, she feels a pang of longing for him. Part of her wishes that this were all a bad dream, that she wasn't sitting here insulting her lover, that everything was fine and that he'd be back later that day to sit across from her in mess hall, to see the smile on his eyes when he saw her, to sleep soundly at night knowing she'd get to see him the next day.

You know that isn't true. Don't lie to yourself.

He's gone.

[Mr. Hurricane]

"You and me both," his tone is abruptly harsh.

He drops onto a coffee table in front of Cualli, finally exhausted. His helmet hangs over his pilot bag on the ground.

"I wanted to make sure you knew what to expect," he says in an easier tone.