MECH rp chapter 1: Aiding the Motherland
 

The year is 2100 on Earth. The European powers, russia and the far east have been locked in a war over dwindling resources in Europe and the middle east. Multiple attempts to synthesize a substitute have been made but the powerful corporations who control the oil trade have stopped these attempts at every turn.

The war has been raging since 2050 when a mysterious eco-terrorist group called Arc attacked and burned a large oil field just inside of the Russian border. This oil refinery had produced a huge majority of the oil and gasoline necessary to run the country. Without it, Russia faced a huge power crisis adn in it's face turned to what seemed to be the only viable solution at the time. They blamed the attack on the European powers calling it a "combined act of sabotage to weaken the Russian people for an upcoming invasion" then promptly went on the offensive, plunging deep into Eastern Europe and larger oil fields in the Middle East. Seeing this push the Eastern nations realised that to hold onto their own supplies they would have to join the quickly escalating war.

America, on the other hand had lost it's need for oil when a large environmentalist movement started up in California and rapidly spread across the entire country. Whole cities erupted in protest and the government and corporations that controlled it were forced to give in to the demands of the populace.

Back in 2057 as the body count escalated, the three warring parties began searching for a means to destroy large amounts of enemy troops and tanks without the use of nuclear weapons. The answer was the mechanized battle armor later to be known to the populace as "mechs". These huge mechanized killing machines, invented by Heimrich Zimmerman, slowly but surely turned the tide in favor of the European powers who had been hard pressed to match the huge numbers that Russia and the Eastern Powers were able to put into the field. Mechs were viewed by most as impossible to destroy by conventional means. They utilized a new type of metal that was discovered shortly before the first mechs were field tested rendering them nearly invulnerable to standard military weaponry. This shortly changed.

In the year 2068 an American scientist named Harry Young created a weapon to be used by mechs that used ionically charged bullets to pierce the armor standardly used by mechs. Young sold the idea first to Zimmerman whom he admired greatly as the greatest inventor of their time. With these new weapons, Europe won hundreds of battles until Russia discovered how to create the anti-mech weaponry emloyed by the European powers.

What followed became a huge revolution in the world of the military. Each mech carried it's own generator so they had no need for gasoline or any other kind of fuel. Yet black gold was still needed to fuel civilian adn military vehicles. Unfortunately for all involved parties, no single power had the money necessary to totally mechanize their armies, so infantry and tanks and planes continued to be found on the battle field. But these troops were no longer the centre of an army's military. Tactics now revolve almost totally around getting the mechs into strategic positions while the rest of the army and air force tries to draw the enmy away and form a "smoke screen" of noise and heat to throw off enemy observation sattelites and aircraft.

You are an elite pilot, trained from birth to fight this war for your country. Your skills are honed and ready. Your mechs wait in their hangers for the call to arms. The war is raging and you needed to fight it for king and country, praise the might of the Motherland, Russia.

"Attention, attention, this is commander Ivanov, will all Alpha squadron units and their support crews please report to briefing room 2. I repeat, will all Alpha squadron units and their support crews report to briefing room 2."

The message repeats over and over again over the loud speakers as the highly trained members of the Alpha Phalanxe squadron make their way towards the briefing room. On arrival they are met by the commander who is standing in front of a large map of the Middle East that is being displayed on a large view screen in the middle of the room "Comerades, this is a map of the main theater of the war in the Middle East." the map zooms in "We have troops located here and here," he points out the two positions using his pointer "these men need food and ammunition badly, your job is to get it to them. You will be escorting this convoy," the image switches to that of a convoy of some 30-odd vehicles "to the previously indicated positions, once there you will reinforce the men their and orchestrate a counter attack from the mountains near Gazlantep and push towards Aleppo in Syria." suddenly a young man steps out of the shadows in the corners of the room "This is Polkovnik Gavrie Radchenko. He will be your commanding officer throughout the mission." At this Radchenko begins to speak "I will have a full reconaissance squad with me so that I may monitor all situations accurately. We must succeed, if we fail it could mean the fall of Russia in the Middle East, needless to say we can't afford to lose the fuel available in that region. We leave at 0500 hours sharp. Be ready."

With that the two ranking officers depart, leaving the remaining men and women to depart at their leisure.

OOC: this is an oppurtunity to ask any questions you have, I'll answer through the various NPCs in the room. Also, support crews are your repair and maintenance people as well as your provision and ammunition trucks.

John Azrael wondered inwardly would the loss of oil dependence be such a bad thing. he would never voice such things though.

Shen leans against a wall, not paying attention. Why are they sending so many mechs with only 30 vehicles? He thinks. It can't be that dangerous.

John Azrael left for the hanger he wanted to be in his mech. The cockpit was the only place he ever felt at home. He knew he was addicted to the adrenaline, amoung other things. He reached the hanger and looked up at the dull black humanoid mech. The mech had two large folded wings on it's back and single large jet between the wings. In it's right hand it held a large sleak looking rifle with a cord running from the fore arm to the handle, on it's left hip was fastened a massive sword. On the right shoulder, a circle of blue with two black wings pointing to the sides and a shattered gold loop. Down the front of the chest a ladder of metal rope and plastic. John grabbed a rung of the ladder and started to climb.

"Hey...you awake in there, Zwei?"

The Greased Lightning model walked forward a few steps, the commonplace sound of ground being crushed under the feet of the machine sounding off again. Zwei's indication that she was awake.

"Please don't fall asleep, Zwei. With shit as bad as this is now, rest is a privaledge we can't have just yet. Keep your spirits high. Command is finally answering our request for supplies and reinforcements."

Zwei didn't say anything. She seldom did. She, and any number of other Japanese pilots, mechs, and supplies were here with the Russians. She checked her status. A lazer blast fried the antenna, and now she would only be able to detect mechs by seeing them directly, allies included. The antenna also gave colored signatures so that she could tell which mechs were allies and which were enemies. Given the shape and size differences of the mechs, Zwei didn't think she'd have to worry about shooting an ally because it looked like the enemy. Speaking of shooting, she was out of missiles, her machine guns were low, and much use of the Pulse Projection Cannon had left it taking a little longer to charge fully, but it was still in decent shape. Given what they had been up against so far, things could have been a lot worse. As least her mech was fully capable of running and swift turns. Zwei wasn't a mechanic, but knew enough about her mech to guess that the repairs and maintenance would take roughly a day and a half, a full day in the maintenance crew worked fast and pulled an all nighter, something Zwei didn't want. With exhaustion, you often neglect little details that would appear much more important when you were wide awake and aware.

"Look alive. I think we have another wave incoming."

Zwei steeled herself and her mech stood proud, marching forward to the vanguard lines. All they had to do was hold out for a little bit longer for the supply convoy to make it.

Shen walked out of the room, heading for the hanger. He climbed the rope ladder to his mech and jumped into the cockpit. He loved it in here, the simple silence. He could be all alone. He started the mech. He liked the roar of the engine, the exhilaration of destroying the helpless swine they call his enemies. The feel of the cold metal smashing down on the soldiers. He never really asked why he was doing any of this, he was in it for the fun. He drew his katana, and ran the mech's fingers along the blade. He sheathed it. His weapon of choice, the katana.

Suddenly the loud speaker roars into life with the cry "Enemy task force approaching, enemy task force approachng. All units to battle stations. All units to battle stations. Alpha Phalanxe, you are to escort the convoy from the premises immediately. I repeat..." The message trails on for a long time, in the distance the sounds of fighting can be heard. Many of the members of Alpha Phalanxe are sorry they're missing the action, but are content that they will be thoroughly entertained.

Meanwhile back at the base things were not looking to good. The European strike force had pushed through their lines and was coming steadily closer to the small group of units left at the base. Over teh speaker system came "Men and women of techyakov military base, you have fought honorably and bravely, but now it is time for you to leave, rendevue with Alpha Phalanxe as soon as possible. Commander Ivanov out.

The Fallen Angel went through it's startup procedure, the powerful ion jets blasted forth energy. The wings unfolded and locked into position. John throttled forward and the Fallen angel lifted off the ground and shot forward soon the mech was sky ward. The H.U.D. showed the battle off to the side at the fringe of his weapons range.

"Fallen Angel to control, awaiting orders." John said on the oncoded channel.

The jets on the mech's feet activated. The mech sped out the door and he jumped as soon as he cleared it. He wanted to fight the advancing attack force, but he had a job to do. He spoke on the radio "Awaiting orders. Darkwing ready!". He landed with a spray of dirt, and awaited the convoy.

Hopping into the cockpit of the Mammoth Tusk, Milo fired up the controls and ran a brief systems check.

"Engine...check. Fuel...check. Weapons...check. Comm...check. Everything's ready."

He punched the throttle, and the mech slowly trudged out the door, outrun by nearly all of the other mechs assigned to escort duty. It didn't bother him; the Mammoth's advantage was firepower, not speed.