UDF Training Fleets, Place your bets

As two UDF fleets cruised out of their docks the assembled personnel had mixed feelings. This was going to be the first of many UDF drills aimed at improving general skills and training tactics from the last war. This of course meant dragging out personnel into a frontier world, and refitting two fleets for training purposes.

Maria was on one of the thirty two vessels that were being cruised into position on the outskirts of the system around an uninhabited planet, it allowed the UDF the freedom to preform the maneuvers they wanted without going through dozens of piles of paperwork that was necessary to even be near the inhabited planets.

The clone herself wasn't really concerned with the training mission as a whole however, she just had to find the people she was assigned too. With a sigh she lowered her data pad down which had their room listings and a picture of them down and glanced around the corridor she was in. "I'm lost aren't I?"

Lifting up her data pad she tried to bring up the map and find her way towards her teammates room's or at least find someone that knew where these pilots could be.

Kite yawned walking down the corridor with a towel draped over his head. He wasn't in full uniform, leaving the shirt over his shoulder and just a T-shirt covering his top for the moment. Besides he didn't see anyone he needed to be "up to code" for.

He made his way to his room in due time and opened the door quickly. Once inside he fully dried his hair and let the towel float to a bin across from his bed and sat at his desk. A training exercise huh... Well hope this isn't a total drag.

As the multiple ERU vessels departed from their docks a single church use transport flanked by two Uriel class destroyers exited slip space and began rapidly approaching the fleet. The two Uriel’s however soon halted and three X3 mobile suits where launched to escort the single transport until it reached the defense perimeter of the two ERU fleets.

On Board the captain of the small transport contacted the flagship saying, “This is the Commitment and Patience of the Terran Ascendency. We carry Her Holiness Lady Alma who has been requested to oversee your exercises. Please allow us to dock.”

Alma---

Alma, bored out of her mind, sat in her ornate throne like chair as Cardinal rattled on about the importance of maintaining relations with the ERU. It wasn’t something she needed to be reminded about, it had been drilled into every part of her existence since the day she was chosen. Still the Cardinals liked to appear as if they still had any power and Alma had no intention of doing anything to harm that illusion even if it reflected the days of the ‘old order’.

As the man carried on Alma instead took to gazing at the room’s features for the millionth time. The transport itself wasn’t very large, around fifty to sixty meters at the most, but it offered some comfort for the select few and was an icy jagged rock for all others. Still despite such comfort Alma desired to be onboard one of the ERU vessels where at least she’d be able to get away from the incessant droning of the many tools that surrounded her.

The ERU training fleets were about to be underway with the exercise, both fleets had began to split into their proper sides. On fleet carried the pilots and their machines. The other fleet, carried some older make mobile suits being used as drones for the training exercise. While it wasn't a mandatory attendance, a lot of pilots were bribed by the high council and brass to become sponsored pilots. This was probably a lie since all the brass wanted to see was how well their defensive forces performed in a scenario. what was made up of the main fleet was a single carrier class being escorted by a couple other ships. The fleet wasn't too big, so that wasn't a problem at all. The other fleet had various vessels as well, but it didn't have a carrier like the other one did.

Pilots, who were dismissed from the briefing rooms, began rushing around to get ready for deployment. It was chaos in those hangars, many pilots wanted to use every weapon they could choose from. Others wanted strictly power weapons, the mechanics were getting tired out, from all that rushing around, but in the end it was just another day trying to impress the guys up at the top.

While preparations were under way, the fleet received an unexpected surprise. A small group of White Patriarches ships appeared out of slip space, one of those ships contacting the ERU fleet. A Communications woman from the Behemoth Class carrier, was instructed to reply a yes

(I'm just gonna call one of the Behemoth Class ships Pandora. Hope that's OK.)

"This is UDF Behemoth Class carrier Pandora, you have been approved for docking. Please proceed."

While the White Patriarches approved, the Pandora readied its retro thrusters and such to align with the Commitment and Patience of the Terran Ascendency. It was rare to see the White Patriarches leader come out for a small event like this, more so since it was a Training Battle.

Meanwhile, down in the Pandoras hangar, Lester attended to his machine. While it wasn't the fanciest, the Mustang model was one of his favorite. Armor was goodin terms of frame and build, but that was fine. As long as he could do his duty and fight like he was asked to, then it wouldn't matter. The catalog specs for the Mustang was pretty good, Lester always perfered to know his machine in and out, that way he could perform at the most possible optimum level.

Wile he read on about the machine a small notice cam up on the intercom through out the ship.

"Sortie for Training Exercise will commence in twenty-five minutes, all pilots please finish up any unfinished preparations and then stand-by in your machine."

The notice ended and Lester went straight back to reading the manual. It wasn't important for him to rush, at least thats what he taught himself to believe.

(I don't know if Tak is gonna be controlling the fleets or if its just a one time thing. So I'll just do this FL post for now and see what happens later.)

(Nah it's all you Lester, I just needed to establish the setting)

"Well this is Mister Ishima's room, maybe he'll know where Mister Maycraft is." With a plan now in mind Maria stuffed her data pad away and did a brief adjustment to her armband to make sure it was visible. Thus with her uniform squared away she docked on the door.

Pausing for a moment Maria waited before speaking. "Mr Ishima, I've been assigned under you and a Mr. Lester Maycraft. Do you happen to know Mr. Maycraft?" Since she was a clone she had to speak politely when talking about others, especially since they were both sponsored pilots.

The pilot acknowledged the conformation before taking the shuttle craft in for a landing on the flagship.

Alma---

Alma was ready to jump up and strangle one of the Cardinals when a guard entered the room. The guard knelt down and kept his head lowered as he said, “Most Holy Mother, we have docked aboard the ERU flagship.”

Alma almost jumped from her seat but her lengthy training on etiquette snapped into play and her composure kept solid as a rock as she responded, “Thank you, and please inform my guard that I will be disembarking right away.”

The guard stood but kept his head bowed as he replied, “As you wish Most Holy Mother.” The guard then backed out of the room and kept his head bowed until the doors slid closed.

Alma waited for the Cardinals to get in their last word before they to left the room leaving just Alma and her two handmaidens. The handmaidens brought over a large ornate case which contained a set of ornate white robes and a long flowing cloak. These where actually the remnants of a long outdated tradition that stated that ladies of the church where not allowed to be viewed directly by heathen eyes. In truth Alma had no great liking for this tradition but she had to abide by the rules, at least until she was in control.

So her handmaidens helped Alma change into the robes and finally donned the hooded cloak. The hood of the cloak was large enough so that it obscured most of her face only leaving her mouth visible. However the cloth was largely transparent from the inside allowing Alma to almost perfectly see everything.

Her two handmaidens led her out of the room where her personnel guard of six fully armor clad white patriarch troopers and four ceremonial wear clad Praetorian Guards stood. The four Cardinals where the first to step out and waited at the foot of the boarding ramp on the ERU vessel floor for the ERU officials to great them while Alma already flanked by her guard stood and waited out of sight until the Cardinals made contact.

Several officers arrived at about the same time as the White Patriarch shuttle landed in the bay. The two officials were clones dressed in coveralls, colors ranging from mostly blue colors. They approched the shuttle and gave a small bowing gesture to the Cardinals that came out.

"Welcome to the Pandora, I understand your High Priestess has decided to delight us with her presence." One of the officers said.

What was more surprising than ever was that the pilots that were around the shuttle area didn't even care. They were so obsessed with what was going on that some of them didn't even notice. To avoid any delay the officers wanted to hurry and escort the High Priestess to the private quarters they had arranged. While on route they figured a tour was in order since it was probably the Prophets frist visit to a ship like this.

"Before we head over to the private quarters we have set up for you, would your highness like to take a tour of the ship?" The officer asked.

(I'll start the training exercise in the next post. Sorry if the post is small as heck.)

The Cardinals accepted the bow from the ERU officers before motioning for Alma and her escort to descend down from the ramp. As she left the ship the four armored white patriarch troopers halted while the Praetorian Guard troops and her personal handmaidens continued their escort. Alma came within several feet of the officers which was as close as her guards would let her.

She bowed her head and placed her hands together, which constituted a greeting before she raised her head and spoke, “Thank you for gracing us with your hospitality. I don’t mean any offense but I’d rather go to our observation area first. The High Prophet sent us here to observe your training exercises as the ERU provides principle defense for our Holy Terra. The High Prophet wishes to fill confident that your current training exercises prove up to task to handle such renegade groups such as the many pirate fleets and more importantly the Revanchists.”

Alma in reality cared little for any of this. The only reason she was even here was because she had to make appearances every so often nor did she worry about the Revanchists or pirates both of whom she considered to be nothing more than a nuisance.

It was an honest request, the High priestess wanted to get a front row seat the action about to take place. The two officers looked back at each other and nodded.

"Well, if thats what you wish, than shall we proceed?" Said One of the officers.

The two officers turned to face the direction of the left that would take them to the floor the obersevation deck was on. Then began walking, figuring the White Patriarches would follow close behind.

"Please follow us, we'll take you directly to the observation deck. We haven't much time since I think its gonna start in a few minutes." Said the same officer.

The hangar was about to begin letting out mobile suits, and that would be trouble if someone without a space suit to protect them was in there. The two officers wanted to get their guests out quickly, so they moved as fast as possble without leaving the White Patriarch groups sight.

Pilots hurried to finish what they were doing and boarded their machines. The current situation now was to wait until it was time to sortie for the Training battle about to ensue. Mechanics made sure the power cables were connected until the machines launched, that way they would recived maximum operational time. Still, five minutes was probably a bit too short of an alert time, there was panic amongst the pilots if they were gonna make it or not, others justr sat there and awaited what was gonna happen next.

Maria sighed as she hurried into the hanger in her pilot suit, the blue material a rather stark contrast to the regular white pilot suits most clones were given. Since it looked like Kite Ishma was busy she was left wandering around looking for this Lester Maycraft. A rather hard task with everyone now in their pilot suits. Holding up her datapad she looked up where Lester's suit would be and hurried off to check on it.

"Mister Maycraft! Is there a Mister Maycraft here?" With her green armband still in place no one could mistake her for a normal human pilot, hopefully she'd meet at least one of her mentors before this training exercise, she didn't want to end up alone in the squad.

Alma---

Alma and her entourage followed to the two ERU officers though the officers seemed to be in a hurry. Alma wasn’t particularly fond of the vessel they were traveling through but it was better than the constant droning she’d had to endure while onboard her shuttle. Still she hoped the exercises wouldn’t last too long.

Revanchist Fleet---

Devine Retribution Class- Pious Inquisitor
MS—
Unit 1
WP-GNZ03 Gadessa x 5
WP-GXIIIAA Superbia JINX x 3
WP-GXIII JINX-III x 9
WP-GX JINX x 12


Eternal Reverence Class x 4
MS—
WP-GXIII JINX-III x 8
WP-GX JINX x 16

Revan stood on the bridge of the Pious Inquisitor, before the main view screen watching the distant ERU fleets start their exercises. The five vessels held position under the cover of the stealth field far outside of the planetary zone.

The Revanchists had long known that the ERU would be conducting war games in the Helios system and had previously planned on passing up the chance to attack due to the strategic insignificance of games.

But several days ago their informants in the Order had tipped them off that the next high prophet and several Cardinals would be in attendance and Revan had no intentions to miss the chance to pick off a few defilers of the church. But the size of the enemy fleet still posed a problem. Revan knew that his far more experienced soldiers could take the training fleets but they’d still suffer more casualties than Revan wanted.

So Revan decided to delay his attack until the enemy’s squadrons had moved away from the fleet before he sent in his strike lances to prod the defilers into trying to flee.

On that note he turned to the Paladin in charge of the vessel and asked, “Are the strike lances ready for combat?”

The Paladin gave a slight bow and responded, “Yes my lord however may I ask why we are only sending in three lances?”

“Speed and surprise will be a critical factor in this operation. The enemy will have moved the majority of their units away from the fleet to conduct their exercises which will give us a large of window to quickly strike. However if they fail to complete the objective by the time the enemy squadrons return we can strike with the remainder of our forces and catch them off balance.” Revan replied

“Yes my lord,” The man replied with a hint of uneasiness still in his voice.

Revan however chose to let the matter drop and continued his vigilant watch over the fleets as they began their maneuvers.

The start of the training exercise was moments away. Most pilots, if not every pilot, were situated in their personal mobile suits. The atmosphere went from a simple nervous one to a panicky one, War games were nothing to be afraid of in general, but what pilots feared wasn't an accidental death, their fears were mostly about their performance. The ERUs forces were basically candidates for new sponsored pilots to debut, any chance they could get was good anytime.

Sitting in his mobile suit, fourth from the front left launch catapult, Lester gave a sigh. He felt stressed, was probably from the lack of things to do in space. This Exercise was only a game to Lester, but was probably a good way to show off his skills a someone who was chosen to be a sponsored pilot in the first place. As he was about to shut the hatch, a mechanic came up telling Lester about someone looking for him.

"Excuse me, but you seem to have a guest looking for you. From her arm band I believe its a clone." The mechanic said.

"A clone? wonder why a clone would be looking for me." He replied.

"No clue, better hurry, cause its about to start." He said.

The mechanic floated off to go do other duties while Lester turned one the loud speaker on the mobile suit to get the girls attention."

"Hey, are you looking for me?" He said to the clone girl.

Turning attention else where, the two officers from earlier were escorting the High Preistess to the main observation deck. From there the woman could get a good view of the battle about to happen while still being protected. The group took a lift from the hangar and up to the floor where the obsevation deck was, if fast enough they could get there when the battle would just be beginning.

"Sorry if we don't get there before the Exercise actually starts, but we should arrive at the oberservaton deck to watch the actually fighting begin." Said the officer.

----

As everyone was finally ready in the hangar the Captain of the ship opened a line through out both fleets and mand his announcment.

All three hangar hatches on the carrier opened up as wide as possible while the rest of the ships in both fleets began launching suits as soon as the confirmation was given.

(Ok now, pilots may launch but don't fire until my next post, hopefully that will be as soon as you all have posted atleast once.)

Maria looked around for the source of the voice and kicked off from a mobile suit towards Lester's Mustang. With a few aerobatics Maria slipped in front of Lester's mobile suit and floated upside down in front of the cockpit hatch.

"Yes I was Mister Maycraft, I'm Maria, Maria 13 I've been assigned to you as a pupil." The clone smiled to make a good first impression on her teacher, while keeping a firm grip on the machine. "I'm also Mister Ishma's pupil, but he seemed busy when I tired to meet him."

"I'll be following you out in my Daughtress, I look forward to learning from you two." With the brief introduction done, Maria held her hand out for a hand shake. It was something she had been looking forward to doing with a human, clone bias had a habit of making simple 'human' gestures hard to complete.

((Lost the link to this place...sorreh))

Kite sighed dragging himself from bed and pulling his flightsuit on completely. It took him a few seconds but he pulled teh tight suit up from his waist and slipped his arms through and sealed it in the front before grabbing his helmet. Ugh...that was a horrible nap, I kept getting interrupted. ...Hm was someone at my door?

He yawned a bit despite the so called high priority that this whole training thing was supposed to have. He looked over to the folder in his han and actually opened his eyes for once. Oh...I guess someone did knock. I was supposed to meet a clone before this whole thing started. Well I'll have to play catch up later.

He pulled his helmet on and floated through the MS deck slowly making his way to his personal Mustang. the only real cosmetic difference being the star insignia on the left shoulder. He looked over to Lester and hte girl with him. "Must be her, but we'll all have to meet after we launch I guess." He muttered while strapping himself in and starting up hte machine.

--ERU
-Behemoth class, Pandora

"Lets go Mister Maycraft, I'll be following your lead." Maria could tell time was off the essence and moved off from Lester's mobile suit towards her own Daughtress and slipped into her mobile suit waiting for Lester's Mustang to fly first.

--Discovery Task force
-Discovery
MBR-04 Destroid Tomahawk x 20
MBR-07 Destroid Cheyenne x 80
LMS-038 Dixen x 18
MS-043 Maledict x 20

-Tristan Class x 3
MS-034 Geara Doga x 12

-Abaddon Class x2
MS-034 Geara Doga x 10
MS-043 Maledict x 2

-Augoror Class
MS-034 Geara Doga x 7
MS-043 Maledict x 1

-Dragon Class
VX-3000 GHOST x 20

-Loose Mobile Weapons
MS-034 Geara Doga x 15
MS-043 Maledict x 3

--Celestial
-Colony Ship Discovery

It had been some time since the ship's fold engine had engulfed several ships and been pushed into overdrive to get there here. But thankfully engineers were getting close to finally regaining control of the Fold Engine and getting to defold. With updates the occupants were constantly updated and there were moments from being freed from this trap.

Klaus stood in the temporary command center, since the safety of the ship had been secured since they had found the terrorist's bodies evidently killed by their own. Lucia and Kairi were mainly left to their own devices , leaving the girl near the mobile suit hanger as she tried to distract herself from all this waiting.

"Attention all crew, we will be defolding momentarily, please brace for transition." The intercom blared briefly letting the crew settle as the ship and the units around it defolded, right in ERU space.

Almost immediately things went crazy, stranded mobiles suits hurried to regroup in the Discovery, three ships were also damaged due to being on the edge of the fold bubble, two of the Tristans and the Dragon class.The reason for the sudden high alert? The two unknown fleets within weapons range and had unknown mobile weapons launched already.

Problems were also within the Discovery, the jump had been been almost in overdrive and the power required to defold blew the Fold Engine. The entire ship had shook as the explosion took out part of the Fold Engine section, fires broke out and the ship left behind a trail of debris and smoke.