Against the KreeSara
The yaoquizque each board their Warrior Skin and begin the litany of preparedness1. This is particularly important because of the newness of their Warrior Skins - there are often imperfections, even in the work of the Huitznahua, which must be corrected, and there are sometimes design trade-offs that the priests of Macuiltotec must perform in order to add the systems that each young warrior requests2. As the warriors go about their preparations their "Spirit Helper"3 relays to them their mission parameters and tactical information:
Mission will take place on the third moon of the KreeSara homeworld. Terrain is believed to consist primarily of rough, rocky, mountainous terrain, alternating with dust pools, open terrain, and high rocky ridges. The moon has no atmosphere, so full life support will be necessary.
Specific terrain maps of the area are not available at this time, but a scan of the drop zone will be initiated during final approach and the information will be downloaded prior to drop.
Enemy strength and deployment are unknown at this time. It is recommended that Warriors maintain systems passive status unless conditions require active jamming.
War Party will be dropped approximately 30 kilometers from the location of the distress beacon. Drop ship will retire the far side of the 5th moon and will await contact from the War Party. War Party will proceed to the location of the distress beacon and attempt to make contact with any Spirit Warriors they may encounter. Intelligence on the situation within the KreeSara system is of paramount importance. Location and strength of Azteca within the system is also important. Any information on the location of Quetzalcoatl is also of great value.
Drop ship will emerge from nullspace 5 minutes prior to drop, and will commence scan of the drop zone as it dives towards the surface of the moon. Drop will be made at low altitude and will be drop ship controlled.
As the information scrolls across the screen the communicators in each Warrior Skin also activate and the voice of tequiua Ollin echoes through the pilot compartment of each Warrior Skin.
"This is the Pilot's House. On my mark ten minutes to exit from nullspace. Mark. Combat drop will commence in fourteen minutes and 55 seconds. Begin final systems check. War Party leader report war party status4. Clear western drop bay - decompression in nine minutes 43 seconds."
Xoco's voice follows tequiua Ollin's on the comm channel. "War party, report status." She sounds grimmer than is usual for her. The left hand of her warrior skin moves with slow caution, nudging the weapon mount in the suit's left hip socket, then returns to rest position.
Yaotlquauhtli shifts his skin's position slightly. Leg actuators, weapons controls, jump jets. He'll miss the net, but the cockpit is definitely better. Everything close, right where he likes it. All systems are lighting up green -- once the finish is messed up a little, the skin will be perfect.
He nudges the arm controls slightly, and his warrior skin's arm lifts the Warning Cry up to his viewport for a final visual check. The other arm pulls back the ammunition cover and the Jaguar nods with satisfaction at the full chamber. Returning the cover to its normal place, he calls up the far talker's spirit. "All systems ready."
"Acknowledged, Yaotlquauhtli," Xoco answers calmly on broadcast.
Then the comm returns Xoco's voice again, on a private response for the War Eagle's ears only. "Psst!" she calls softly. "When you sound off, you must identify yourself. In battle we won't have any room for confusion." The Chichimec's warrior skin flexes the fingers of both hand-manipulators, still in the process of checking all motor systems -- and gives what may be a tiny wave in the Jaguar's direction.
Yaotlquauhtli switches to private communication on Xoco's channel. Somewhat blandly he replies, "Thank you for your reminder, Iyac. I'm aware of proper battle communication procedure. But as you didn't identify yourself in your initial request for status, I was unaware of the need for such formalities during pre-battle preparations in the hangar. I'll be more careful in the future. Yaotlquauhtli out."
Clicking the far talker back to standby mode, he leans back slightly and closes his eyes in silent prayer to Yoali Ehecatl.
Belatedly, Yaotlquauhtli realizes that what he thought was the private communications channel - isn't, and that he was just rude to his War Party leader on an open line.
At this point in the motor systems check, Xoco demonstrates that her warrior skin's servos have enough fine control to manage a shrug and headshake of a sort. The effect on a mecha is not entirely satisfactory, but somehow she suspects she will get plenty of practice.
Another voice sounds in her cockpit. "This is Tepiltzin - I have a minor calibration error in my sensors. Nothing serious. All other systems show ready."
"Acknowledged, Tepiltzin," answers Xoco.
Notes
1 In other words they begin the pre-flight check - Ed. Return.
2 After the design process is finished for Warrior Skins the GM makes a roll for flaws that may have crept into the design or manufacturing process. Flaws in the design are just that - they are unforeseen problems which have crept into the design, which cannot be corrected except by a redesign of the Warrior Skin. These may be either systems that simply do not function as planned, or design trade offs forced in order to build the design to spec. Flaws in the manufacturing process are just mistakes that were made when the Warrior Skin was put together, and can be corrected by a competant Priest of Macuiltotec given time and tools. Needless to say until one gets into the guts of the Warrior Skin - which most Azteca are loathe to do - there is no overt way to tell a design flaw from a manufacturing flaw. Although each Warrior Skin is a unique design, I rolled using the rules for "limited production run" instead because it gave less of a chance for serious flaws. Ed. Return.
3 Their onboard computer. Ed. Return.
4 As with the modern military, war party members report status to the war party leader, the war party leader reports to the Pilot. Ed. Return.
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