• Starpath: Scoundrels of the Interstellar Highway - Thread 3
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"Karl, you ok?" Alex yelled through the comms as he shielded his comrade from the incoming fire. The Vultures let up for a second so they could reload. Not one to miss on an opportunity, Alex opened fire on them with a hail of plasma. --- "Keep the pressure on them. Two mechs are already down. Keep firing!" Archangel commanded the Vultures. The machine didn't catch the attention of his target by the looks of it, maybe a little persuasion was needed. It began it's slow and insidious march. Centurion shield active. He scanned the horizon for those of the crew not in mech suits. And he picked one out. The medic. Archangel aimed the magnum again and fired a bolt right towards Abraxas
Iron cursed. "How much more can she take?" His mech kneeled down into the gravel. "Eat this!" Suddenly a hailstorm of plasma fire and missiles were unleashed. The projectiles turned into a lethal swarm heading straight towards Beta. --- "Shit, shit, shit!" Karl narrowly avoided death as he tumbled out of his mech, rifle in hand, and into cover behind a smoldering piece of debris and the wreck of his mech. He looked up. "I'm fine," he responded to Alex's inquiry. Karl spun around, took a knee and fired several shots at the Vultures he had managed to wound. His hand worked at an incredible speed as the bolt of his rifle was pulled back over and over in order to quickly deliver blows against the incoming enemies.
Taylor, grunting that Sting was likely about to be taken out, locked onto Beta yet again and letting loose a trio of missiles as she moved in closer. Beta needed to be killed NOW. Archangel, as much as she wanted to beat him to death herself, could wait. Meanwhile, Eve noticed that Archangel was taking aim at the group's medic. "Archangel is attempting to eliminate our medical personnel." she stated, before firing off several shots in Archangel's direction with her rifle.
As Dvajn set himself up for another pass at Beta, he was growing increasingly worried over those on the ground without mechs. There were still drones remaining, the Vultures were flooding in, and it seemed as though team coordination, aside from getting Beta, was cracking slightly. As Arkadam notified the team of his grounding, and Alex and Karl's discussion confirmed the latter mech's downing, for a split moment, doubt in his abilities started to form, as the skies darkened in a way he had only seen in his excursions with his parents in his youth. But he shook his head as Eve's comment was heard on the comms - action was needed now, and to falter was to die without going down in a fight. He spoke: "To everyone without a mech right now, you know who you are, find better cover as quickly as possible!" he shouted over the comms as he decided on his next course of action, "Don't let your mech's sacrifices go for nought! Survive and fuck those bastards up!" he yelled hard. He knew he wouldn't be fast enough to react to Archangel, and ambush was the best he could do with Beta, as he knew how the rest were aiming her way, even if he worried for Sting. So, he aimed for the skies first - if any drones or Vultures approached, either to attack those aiming for Beta or coming to assist her, he'd fire a volley of missiles at them; and just as he waited earlier, he'd strike against Beta after the others had made their shots, though unlike last time, he'd send a pair of missiles her way. They needed to impair her quickly. He just hoped he could find some additional protection, considering what happened to Karl.
Archangel: 4 x 1.75 x (No Feat Applicable) = 7 Abraxas: DEF Roll = 3 4 DMG Abraxas HP: 170/155(Nanomachines) As Karl bailed out of his burning machine, Abraxas took off running to assist him, narrowly avoiding a direct hit from Archangel in the process, whose bolt barely clipped his armor as he stormed across the surface of the planet. Ahead of him, Karl took a stand with his rifle and began to return fire against the Vultures he had already wounded, knowing how vicious they could be if left alive to counterattack. Once Alex was sure of his comrade's survival, he, too, returned fire in his mech, trying to cover the entire field and overwhelm them with his attack. The ground thumped with the impact of space debris in the middle-distance, the closest impact so far, as the air was filled with plasma and lead. Karl: {10, 8, 8, 4} x (No Feat Applicable) = {10, 8, 8, 4} Alex: {6, 9, 3, 10, 1, 2, 6} x (No Feat Applicable) = {6, 9, 3, 10, 1, 2, 6} The Vultures relied on a combination of their shields, maneuvers, and scattered cover to endure the onslaught, with most emerging only with minor injuries. Their priorities were still set on removing the Muramasa crew from their mechs, and so they closed single-mindedly on Alex for their next wave of attacks! Vultures 1, 5, and 7: {9, 1, 7} x (No Feat Applicable) = {9, 1, 7} No Strikes. Vultures 2-4, and 6: {4, 3, 2, 1} x 2(Conviction) = {8. 6. 4. 2} No Strikes. Knowing that he was about to draw heavy fire, Alex refused to take the shots head on after what had just happened to Arkadam. He fired his Mech's boosters and went airborne, blasting dust and gravel into a cloud around himself as he took off. When he cleared the plume, systems diagnostics confirmed that the few direct hits he had taken from the enemy rounds had failed to seriously damage the machine. A few seconds later, he touched down on the gravel with a hard roll, landing on the opposite side of the Vultures from where he had been, between them and Archangel himself. The Vultures, meanwhile, would miss a critical opportunity to overrun those Muramasa operatives who were now on foot, as all of them were forced to reload again. Eve, having witnessed Archangel's attempt to remove the team's medic, chose to use the lull in the fighting to get a direct shot on the enemy leader. Eve: 3 x 1.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 3.75... 4 DMG Frustratingly, most of her shots were absorbed by the android's large shield. He could safely ignore her for now. On the other side of the field, Dvajn turned to witness the growing chaos of battle and the setbacks suffered by his team. There didn't seem to be a winning move he could make on his own, and so he held off just for the moment. Instead, it was Iron and Taylor, still distant from her position, who would have to intervene first against Beta, who zipped across the dusty ground like a bullet train out of Hell. It seemed for a moment as if she was totally unaware of the danger heading her way, but Dvajn would be a fool for thinking so. In truth, Beta had already accounted for their attacks as the swarm of Drones swirled into each other to form an aerial shield ahead of her! Drones 1-7, 1-9, 2-2, and 2-6 through 2-9: CH: 1/10 x 7 = 7/10 Actual: 10 Roll Passed. Taylor: 1 Strike to Drone 1-7. 1/3 Strikes Remaining. 1 Strike to Drone 1-9. 1/3 Strikes Remaining. 1 Strike to Drone 2-2. Drone 2-2 has been shot down! Iron: 1 Strike to Drone 1-7. 1 Strike to Drone 1-9. 1 Strike to Drone 2-6. Drones 1-7, 1-9, and 2-6 have been shot down! Only after Dvajn had released his own volley of rockets at the enemy drones did he realize they were intentionally taking the blows from the other Muramasa fighters. His plan to wait and see would only result in disaster. Dvajn: 1 Strike to Drone 2-7. 1 Strike to Drone 2-8. 1 Strike to Drone 2-9. Drones 2-7, 2-8, and 2-9 have been shot down! "Shit!" Arkadam yelled as he, too, took aim at the formation, but by this point, it had turned into a cloud of black smoke and deep red fire that plowed into the landscape like a meteor. He fired blindly into the mess, hoping the mech's targeting system could locate Beta even if he couldn't. Arkadam: CH: 2/7 x 2(Malevolence) = 4/7 Actual: 2 Roll Failed. His rockets screamed into the mouth of the beast, and through the window of their mechs as they rushed toward the carnage, Dvajn and Arkadam couldn't tell whether or not they had managed to strike the demon hiding behind it all until her black shadow of a machine suddenly burst from the soot-colored curtain in front of them, closing in on Sting, who had been trying to limp toward cover. Beta: 7 x 2.25 x 2.5(Kerostasia) = 39.375... 39 Sting: DEF Roll = 1 38 DMG Sting HP: -18/50 Sting has been killed. The Infernal Machine dove on Sting's position, seizing onto her with its claw-like hands and ripping her from the ground, and with a single roll, hurled her into the air like a ragdoll. A thunderous boom came from the mech's engines, and it surged upwards, slamming into the aracaan with the force of a speeding bus. Her limp body fell four stories and crashed lifelessly into the gravel. Through an unencrypted comm channel, Beta contacted Dvajn directly as she made her landing near Archangel's position and the main fight. "Don't be too hard on yourself," she taunted. "You weren't after Picaea." She closed the channel.
Dvajn held off for a moment, and let his chosen action run its course, observing as the droids swarmed the area around Beta. As he fired his own missiles as suppressive fire, seeing Taylor and Iron strike the drones made him realize what was really going on - the drones weren't acting as counter-suppressive fire, but rather as a shield, making sure the threat it was covering wasn't hit. As the machines took their blows, a cloud of black and deep red covered the landscape, covering the Infernal Machine in its entirety... a greater realization then hit him, as his greatest current worry resurfaced - Sting. Arkadam's ineffectual firing only displayed what had just unfolded, a miscalculation that he should've seen coming, but hadn't. With no way to locate her, he rushed towards the carnage, as worry filled the dwarf's mind, before it all happened so quickly. Watching the devil he had unwittingly created burst out of the hell they had caused and she had orchestrated, seizing upon Sting and hurling her upwards, the mech slamming into her and letting her lifeless body slam into the gravel. The comms were filled with Dvajn's incessant denial of what had just occurred, shouting aggravated and despaired NOs as he looked upon the body. He had just watched a car crash in slow motion, one he could've prevented had he acted differently, had he acted sooner. He reminded himself in his mind that everything occurring now was his indirect doing, that the people he was fighting with were victims of the accidental machinations that had slowly formed following his departure from Mars two years prior; nay, even earlier, when he and Lion had returned from Hanza, resulting in Yanim's departure. None should die for what he had caused upon this universe, and yet here, after swearing to himself to prevent it from happening, one of them had died. In the brief respite he had given himself, as to catch his breath, he received a message most cruel. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You weren't after Picaea." He could've concentrated on how she had managed to contact him. He could've attempted to force the channel open. But his mind lingered on the end of her taunt, the reminder of the massacre that had occurred on Duroma. In his time after Damya- Beta had joined him, when he began suffering his internal crisis over the events that had transpired during his time on the Archius, he mulled over the event greatly. His fears, his paranoia, over his place within the group, the community, to be used a lifeless tool once more, had prevented him from sharing the truth of his nature to the majority of the group, only to two - one who would be supportive, but not questioning, tipping the balance, and one who had been using them all along in a conflict greater than any of them had anticipated. In retrospect, his paranoia had allowed those children to die. So, so many had died due to his decision to not use his abilities, for fear of bigotry, and even more died when he used them under the wrong cause. Despair and rage began to overflow within his body, heartbeat rising higher, teeth gritted as to not just yell out of frustration, for this situation, for the death of an effective innocent, and for this own shortcomings. Even if he had trained his body, likely the fittest he has been in years since living his lonesome, his mind had remained the same as before, his mindset having allowed this to unfold. He hadn't changed at all, something which he could've realized during his mech training. His body just wished to charge forward, and just slam right into that damned mech, yet his mind told him that it would not only reveal him to Beta, but also result in his demise, before he could make things right to at least some degree. He couldn't take a moment to even attempt meditation, for it would make him an easy target. He was left seething depressingly, for his actions were once more what had made things worse. In his manicesque state, he quickly spoke into the comms: "What's the plan now? What course of action will we take? For it is clear to me that my actions, or lack thereof, had caused this." The string of sentences only somewhat made sense to the rest, for they were unaware of the internal turmoil he was suffering, not as if he wanted them to know that he was suffering it. Yet one could guess that he was asking for orders, commands to set him on a path, even when he knew that such commands were still flexible, or possibly downright dismissable if the circumstances changed enough, for he was still in control of his own actions, lack thereof or not. Following commands without much question were what led him to become an effective war criminal.
"What's the plan now? What course of action will we take? For it is clear to me that my actions, lack thereof or not, had caused this." "...We kill them." The statement was short and unnervingly calm. Quite different from the rage-filled ranting from Taylor back on the unnamed planet. "Your orders haven't changed. Work as a team, and coordinate your attacks. Beta dies first, then Archangel. Kill them any way you can. If anyone gets in your way, cut them down." continued Taylor. "Sting's death will not have been in vain. Do you understand?" Just as she had done before, Taylor locked onto Beta. And a moment later, another volley of three missiles was fired off. Meanwhile, Eve focused on the Vultures. She opened fire with her plasma rifle, as she darted for some nearby cover.
"Shit" Alex muttered to himself. He was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. He needed to move, fast. He fired up the engines of his mech and shot upwards trying to fall back with the others. While in the air he targeted Beta again. Locking on and shooting missiles at her. --- Picaea? The databanks in the machine scrambled to search for relevant information. The it all started to come together when it started digging into the personal logs and memory banks of the core it was based on. But the numbers were...astronomical to say the least. But it the physical evidence was making it seem true. He needed to get a confirmation. Beta had closed down her channel, but Archangel had not. "A little late for negotiations, but I have to add. Picaea is nice this time of year. Burning buildings, biker gangs and a burial mount." There was a brief pause as he marked the mech Dvajn was piloting and aimed at its weak points. "And the bar serves a really strong drink." He closed the open channel and opened one between his men and Beta "Keep focusing on those mechs. Make them molten slag. Beta, that one is out of position." He was referring to Alex "See if you can teach him why that's a bad idea."
"...Yes!" Dvajn responded nervously, yet confidently after hearing Taylor's question. In truth, his wish for a proper command had been dashed, replaced more with a common goal, one that had seemingly been agreed upon already. But that fact didn't matter to him, for what she said was right. He himself had told those without mechs that they shouldn't let their mech's sacrifice be in vain, so he wasn't about to let Sting's death go in vain either. As he looked around, he added upon Taylor's words, having managed to slightly compose himself. "Do your damndest to keep these bastards apart from one another! Drones, those Vultures, the two we face right now! Divide them, don't let them have the advantage in numbers-" he was saying before he was interrupted by yet another message so cruel. "A little late for negotiations, but I have to add; Picaea is nice this time of year... burning buildings, biker gangs and a burial mount - and the bar serves a really strong drink." Dvajn shuddered as the voice echoed in his mind... it sounded like Varn. But, it couldn't be, he saw him die on Zeruel. How?! He quickly tried to trace the channel back to its source and found it came from... Archangel. What did he know? How could he know?! Sure, anyone could do research on what had happened with the crew of the Archius XI, but to mention the bar specifically, and to even imitate that voice in particular... He needed to vent. "...I'm going to attack Archangel," he said coldly, "The rest of you, either strike hard against Beta, or help me with this bastard!" he shouted, as he darted off, opening fire with the mech's plasma rifle.
Sting groaned and coughed up blood as she lay face down on the hard ground. "h-heh... All my wildest... kin... met their maker... with a smile." she sputtered weakly. She used her remaining strength to roll around and took out her flask from her jacket. To her dismay it had been crushed by her impact, and it's juices was long gone, "Ahh hell.." she concluded dropping the bottle and closing her eyes. She grinned as she felt the familiar rays of a warm sun shine down upon her as she died. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr_CaW_nox0 https://u.cubeupload.com/Radley/Sting.jpg
Iron froze up and watched as Beta dealt the final blow to Sting. He watched his comrade fall from the sky and hit the dirt. "No... This is not happening..." His pulse shot up. Iron started to breathe faster. Communications from the others turned into white noise, as did the sound of the battle. Iron twitched. He watched Sting cough and say her final words. Iron turned towards Beta. His pulse started tobeat faster and faster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNkQMtZAMAw "Alert! Vitals nearing extreme levels, please calm down," said the onboard AI. Iron didn't listen. Every combat-related system was kicking in, as well as every system of Iron's own Iron Suit. Adrenaline and reflex-enhancing stimulants reserve donly for the worst situations possible were being pumped directly into Ira's bloodstream causing her eyes and muscle to switch momentarily before adjusting. "You killed my friend, you piece of shit." Iron suddenly leaped forward, unleashing several plasma salvos and missiles mid-air, and then turned into a sprint directly for Beta. With an unnatural speed Iron used his mech's weapons and weight as a battering ram while also delivering several rapid punches. "TIME TO DIE, MOTHERFUCKER!" --- Karl widened his eyes as the Vultures pressed on. "Shit! They're not backing down!" He ejected his spent magazine and swapped it for a new one. Karl quickly chambered another round. Time to go big or go home. Karl spotted Dvajn charging Archangel and decided to help him. After zeroing in he pulled the trigger, sending an explosive bullet at the enemy commander.
Unlike the others who were targeting the one other target they were not ordered to engage first, Golem stuck to protocol and began tracking Beta. After a few seconds, a hailstorm of bullets and rockets were sent her way.
The Muramasa crew was stunned after losing its first member. Shock, anger, and denial ran its course through their minds as they scrambled for a response, some fitting retribution for the devil that took Sting's life. The pressure was affecting their judgement, and their unity began to falter- despite a standing order to focus fire on Beta, not all of the crew would obey. and so the battle would only become more perilous as there was no end in sight. Debris was beginning to rain from the sky more frequently now, small pieces which burned up in the atmosphere like a meteor shower, and larger pieces which fell in the distance with eerie thumps in the stale, dead air. Beta, that one is out of position. See if you can teach him why that's a bad idea. Beta, having scarcely landed before receiving her next order, grunted with annoyance. She wanted to continue mopping up the enemy fighters who had already been forced to abandon their mechs, as they were easy pickings. Worse yet, her nitrogen supply was dwindling more quickly than she had previously estimated. "As much as I'd love to keep on reaping, I can't kill if I can't breathe. I need some time to stop the bleeding..." Beta was interrupted by a number of lock-on warnings. It would be nearly impossible to avoid all of the incoming rockets, but she tried anyway, blasting off from the ground again in a reckless corkscrew. Taylor: CH: 3/5 Actual: 5 Roll Passed. Taylor watched as her rockets streaked toward the Infernal Machine, with one hitting its mark with a fiery orange ball of entropy. The black mech tumbled to the right, slamming feet-first into the gravel but nonetheless thundering onward into battle. 25 DMG to Beta. Alex: CH: 4/5 Actual: 1 Roll Failed. Iron: CH: 3/5 Actual: 1 Roll Failed. As the mech approached their line, the rockets which had previously been fired impacted the ground behind it. Iron could sense the directionality of its approach, and much like in orbit against the drones, was unwilling to take more chances with unreliable rockets when lives were on the line. Iron closed in, turning hard, and caught Beta by the side before dragging her down at high speed into the gravel. As the two flipped and tumbled, they threw punches and attempted close-range blasts from their plasma cannons, but Iron clearly held the upper-hand. The repeated blows to Beta's helmet increased the leak in her pressure suit to the point that she could now hear the hiss of precious air escaping. Iron: 8 x 2.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 18 DMG CH 1/3(Knockout) Actual: 2 Roll Failed. Iron got a grip on the kanad's helmet and began to pry on it, and given another split second, might have succeeded in ripping it clean off the mech's shoulders and leaving its pilot to drown in poisonous oxygen. Beta, however, had also gotten a hold of Iron, using the demon's tail of the armor to reach between Iron's legs and grip his armor from the back, using the flaming red blades built in to sink right into the armor plating. Iron didn't even have time to register what had happened before the tail's flexing had pried the two mechs apart, and with a terrible hiss and a groan... Beta: 9 x 2.25 x 2.5(Kerostasia) x 2(Conviction) = 101.25... 101 10 Strikes. Iron has been shot down. (Auto Roll) CH: 1/3 Actual: 1 Roll Failed. The rear of the suit was opened like a tin can, exposing pressurized components to the air and causing a jet of flame to erupt from the armor. Beta released him, scrambling away on the mech's four limbs like an animal as the fire turned into an inferno. Meanwhile, Iron faced an entire screen full of warnings screaming about critical malfunctions. Ignoring the fire, Iron blew the hatch open and relied on his personal armor to escape unharmed, hitting the ground and rolling away from the gradually worsening blaze. In the distance, the Starving Buzzard descended from the darkened sky, its landing ramp like a yellow moon setting in the distance. Beta set her sights on it, alarms blaring in her ears as she prepared to take off. In fact- one of those alarms was yet another lock-on warning, but she disregarded it in the attempt to escape. Arkadam: CH: 3/5 Actual: 4 Roll Passed. As she accelerated, rockets began to fall to the left and right of her, until a direct strike caught the Infernal Machine by its legs and caused it to crash into the ground. Arkadam, whose mech's thrusters were only partially working, had essentially bunny-hopped his way across the landscape in an effort to close the gap. Beta screamed with annoyance as she clawed her way back to her feet. 25 DMG to Beta. The Muramasa crew was well on its way to running the devil down, but other targets were presenting themselves, and some found them impossible to ignore. Dvajn, seething with anger inside his mech, was blinded by Archangel's taunt and set his sights on the enemy commander, rather than the one he had original come to eliminate. He set his sights on Archangel, firing with his plasma cannons as if to challenge him. Dvajn: 4 x 2.25(Renaissance Man) = 9 DMG Archangel's shield once again absorbed most of the impact as the android continued to walk menacingly at his foes, disregarding the apparent danger around him. Karl, witnessing this, added his own attack to try to slow him down, firing his explosive slug round. Karl: 6 x 3(Hunter) = 18 DMG The flak pierced the barrier and struck Archangel in several places, the sparks flying as the flecks ignited against the android's armored body. Eve joined in the assault as well, but must have regarded Archangel as too durable for the time being, and instead focused on his Vultures- the more guns removed from the enemy's side, the better their own chance of survival. Plus, with her own metallic body, she stood a better chance than the others on foot currently should the Vultures focus their fire on them rather than the mechs. Eve: {8, 4, 9, 1, 8, 5, 2} x 1.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = {10, 5, 11.25... 11, 1.25... 1, 10, 6.25... 6, 2.5... 3} She stormed forward, blasting away with her plasma rifle as she searched for an advance position that would be shielded from enemy fire. Unfortunately, there was no cover which was thick enough or high enough to prevent a counterattack, and soon she was standing alone at the center of the enemy's focused attacks. Vultures 1, 5, and 7: {5, 5, 7} x (No Feat Applicable) = {5, 5, 7} Vultures 2, 3, 4, and 6: {5, 8, 8, 9} x 2(Conviction) = {10, 16, 16, 18} Eve: DEF Rolls = {9, 3, 1, 6, 1, 12, 11} 34 DMG Eve HP: 65/79 Trading fire continuously, Eve fared rather well, given the number of impacts she took in the process. Still, it was clear that the Muramasa team hadn't made enough progress; the Vigil side would eventually wear them all down unless something drastic happened. She checked on Golem, realizing that the drone had never fully entered combat and still sat unused where it had landed. Silently, it communicated to her a general error which must have begun on landing. With no time to properly diagnose it, she instructed the machine to reboot. As it turned out, nothing was wrong with it, and within ten seconds, it had updated its orders and locked onto Beta with a long-range artillery strike. Golem: 9 x 1.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 11.25... 11 DMG As the shells were falling through the air, two more fighters entered the mix: Harvey and Jason, who had previously accompanied Arkadam in orbit, had landed off course earlier and had been flying nonstop across the surface in an attempt to join the battle. They had taken a few hits to the drones, but were in relatively good condition aside from their morale- had they intervened earlier, it was possible that Sting would still be alive. While Jason led the charge with plasma, Harvey relied on a rocket barrage. Jason: 9 + 7(Assualt) x 2 = 32 DMG Harvey: CH: 3/5 Actual: 5 Roll Passed. The Infernal Machine staggered and fell, taking significant damage from the absolutely torrential downpour of shells, rockets, and plasma. The Starving Buzzard closed in, hovering just above the ground and ready to take off once more to prevent enemy boarding, and Beta was forced to will herself forward, crawling toward sanctuary. Mere minutes remained in her nitrogen supply. 25 DMG to Beta.
"Shit shit shit!" Alex continued to mutter as he missed Beta. If he managed to hit, she could be dead right now. One final desperate move. He locked on to where she was and fired whatever rockets he could. --- "Cover Beta! If she dies, I'll have your collective asses in a sling!" The machine commanded it's troops. Taunting had worked but it wasn't going to keep working effortlessly. He needed to go or the throat now and that meant drawing much more fire towards himself. He opened up the channel again and scanned the horizon "You are still completely shit at shooting. Maybe if you were worth something I would be on your side right now. Maybe Lion would be here with us now." He stopped and spotted his pray. Iron was still recovering from the fall. Perfect. "You remember him, right? Our old talkative robot friend. Our captain. He build a lot of good things for us. I really liked my toy." He holstered his magnum and put the shield down to pick up the pace. In motion he had switched to a more devastating weapon. The LWA shotgun . "It's why I kept it." He aimed at Iron and was going to blast the son of a bitch with full auto of plasma.
Dvajn watched as Archangel effectively no-sold his plasma shots, and as he did, he remembered that he couldn't find much in terms of Archangel's combat abilities in the Belladonna archives he went through. He realized that he probably should've asked what they were prior to doing this. He began reversing, strafe-swerving, as to weave away from his aim and make sure he couldn't get hit. "Alright, so, that course of action was incredibly stupid," Dvajn admitted publicly on the comms, "probably shouldn't have let myself get caught up like that. Coming back in to-" he was about to recommit to the 'kill Beta' club when he noticed the state she was in. He couldn't allow her to get away! Dvajn drifted his mech as to be facing in Beta's direction, but as he began locking several missiles - one on her directly, two in front of her, and one at the Starving Buzzard's landing ramp - when Archangel could be heard once more. "You are still completely shit at shooting. Maybe if you were worth something, I would be on your side right now. Maybe Lion would be here with us now." His poor shooting skills were something he already knew, so he didn't pay attention to it much, but the mention of Lion caused him to exhale suddenly. He couldn't let his anger blind him once more. He needed to finish this! "You remember him, right? Our old talkative robot friend... our captain. He build a lot of good things for us. I really liked my toy - It's why I kept it." Dvajn's eyes trembled at that comment, and as he looked towards Archangel once more, he wished he wasn't seeing what that motherfucker had in his hands - the Boombox. He instantly moved to relock one of the two missiles he was about to shoot in front of Beta onto Archangel, especially once he noticed at what way he was aiming, and prepared another. "Ira! Get out of the way!" Dvajn yelled with an intensity that almost seemed demonic sounding, as he fired the three missiles in Beta's direction and the lonesome missile in Archangel's, soon followed by another. The uncannily sounding voice, the memories, the Boombox... as he considered how he had these things, he barely remembered something, something which he wasn't sure Varn mentioned much after Lion and he had rejoined the crew, but with the channel still open, he switched to it and called him out on his hunch. "Don't you fucking dare, you goddamn AI core!" he shouted at Archangel, "To think I'd face you, you disgrace!"
Beta is almost dead, now it's time to finish her! Golem launches his remaining missiles, targeting a space only a mere foot in front of Beta, trying to knock her away from the Starving Buzzard with the blast.
"Finish that miserable excuse for a copy off. NOW." spat Taylor into her comms, pushing for the group to focus on Beta. She needed to die, right here and right now. A moment later, she locked on to Beta with the remaining missiles that she had. As the locks were confirmed, she flipped on an open line of communication. "YOU'RE NEXT, ARCHANGEL. WAIT YOUR FUCKING TURN." she growled, before unleashing the final string of missiles from her mech. ----------------- Eve, after booting up Golem, quickly searched for anything she could hide behind. Then, Taylor's order came in. Finish off Beta. "Confirmed." she said, before taking aim from where she was standing. Once she was focused enough, she unleashed a burst of plasma fire.
Don't you fucking dare, you goddamn AI core!...To think I'd face you, you disgrace! "I'm still him. Just not bothered by his pathetic conscience." ..."Only reason I was friends with you, really. That and the drinks." YOU'RE NEXT, ARCHANGEL. WAIT YOUR FUCKING TURN. "Did you pick that barking from your old bitch too, sweetheart? " He didn't waste any time after that and pulled the trigger.
Iron tumbled out of his mech and onto the ground. He kneeled down and unholstered his hand cannon. "I'm fine." Before he could do or say anything else Dvajn started yelling and it didn't take long to notice that Archangel was closing in. Iron grunted, activated his wrist shields and took off in a sprint towards the enemy. He jumped up into the air in hopes of landing behind Archangel before striking several close-quarter blows and well-timed shots. --- Karl muttered something about "space magic" as he rechambered his rifle. He fired another explosive shot at Archangel, aiming for the legs, and then fired another one at Beta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezRtSWOHQBo Beta was on the run. She was nearly out of breathable air, and there were no drones left to take the impact for her. Unless she had time to retreat and repair her suit, she would be left without the Zhukamangana, her one true protection against Dwan, so she pressed forward, relying on others to intervene, distract, just do something, but the Muramasa crew had galvanized itself once more and unleashed its greatest barrage yet. One after another, their guns, rockets, and artillery sounded to fill the air with the specter of death she once wore so well. The first blasts to arrive came from the plasma rifles and cannons, namely Arkadam and Eve's... Arkadam: 1 x 1.25 x 2(Desperation) = 2.5... 3 DMG Eve: 8 x 1.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 10 DMG ...followed by a singular rifle round from Karl, who anyone would have assumed to be too far away, but wasn't... Karl: 8 x (No Feat Applicable) = 8 DMG ((Note: Hunter Feat is unavailable due to previous use in this battle.)) ...A deluge of shells from above... Golem: 6 x 1.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 7.5... 8 DMG ...and a series of crippling rocket blasts to finish the job! Alex: CH: 3/5 Actual: 4 Roll Passed. Dvajn: CH: 2/5 Actual: 5 Roll Passed. 50 DMG to Beta. The Infernal Machine has been destroyed! Beta's HUD was a cacophony of flashing lights, warnings, and blaring alarms. The shields couldn't hold forever, the radar couldn't even account for the number of target locks against her position, and there was no longer enough energy left over for a rocket-assisted leap into the safety of the Starving Buzzard. She had two choices: bail out of the Infernal Machine and risk being blown apart by enemy projectiles, or hunker down and hope that the bombardment would cease long enough to facilitate an escape, and instead risk annihilation from her own miniature reactor detonating on her back. With one, final impact forcing her to her hands and knees, the decision was made for her: everything went dark and silent, and she knew she had only a moment to spare. The chest of the Infernal Machine split open, and Beta tumbled out, holding her breath as she dashed away from the doomed craft, which began to glow brighter and more red by the moment as the heated components began to break down. There was no chance to run back toward Archangel and the single canister of nitrogen his Vultures had brought along, and before the Starving Buzzard could even stoop low enough to collect her, she pressed a button on her belt line, and her personal rocket pack's long radiators deployed. One bright flash and an instant later, she was flying upwards to relative safety, even more rockets striking the vehicle around her as she tumbled onto the landing ramp. On the ground, the Infernal Machine seemed to melt into itself for a moment as an eerie blue glow emanated from the interior before the whole thing exploded into a column of radioactive debris. Taylor: CH: 3/5 Actual: 2 Roll Failed. Harvey: CH: 3/5 Actual: 2 Roll Failed. Quickly, the Vigil worked to get the landing ramp shut so they could attend to Beta. Aside from a few minor wounds from flying shrapnel, she was fully intact, but starving for air. The air contained aboard the ship was enough to let her catch her breath, and she responded to the destruction of her prized mech with a rabid outburst of hate-fueled profanity. "Dwan still lives!" she screamed, pounding her fist on the ground. "I should have gone after him first!! AKHAAAA!!!" Per mech combat rules, Beta restored to 100 HP. --- Moments earlier, as all of this was going on, the crew was also doing battle with Archangel and the Vultures. The enemy commander himself had targeted Iron as soon as the latter escaped his burning mech, firing his shotgun multiple times at the bounty hunter, who weaved nimbly between the fallen debris of mechs and starships in Archangel's direction. He was only able to connect with glancing blows which were absorbed by Iron's defensive equipment, while also drawing fire from others- like Dvajn, who had just fired off rockets at Beta before turning his attention toward the android. Archangel: 2 x 1.75 x (No Feat Applicable) = 3.5... 4 Iron: DEF Roll = 5 No Damage. Dvajn: CH: 2/5 Actual: 4 Roll Passed. Two rockets streaked in, striking the ground on either side of the Horseman and kicking up giant plumes of gravel and rock. A number of pieces of shrapnel pierced him from multiple angles. 50 DMG to Archangel. Likewise, Karl fired on Archangel just after Beta, inflicting an additional wound before Iron and Archangel clashed in the middle of the field. Karl: 8 x (No Feat Applicable) = 8 DMG Iron: 10 x 2.25 x Crit(CH1/2, 1, Failed) = 22.5... 23 DMG CH: 1/3(Knockout) Actual: 3 Roll Passed. At the last moment as Iron approached, he dodged to the side, planting his feet on a chunk of debris and leaping. Archangel had been prepared for a direct assault, and swung fruitlessly with a massive overhand punch. Iron landed behind him, and with three successive blows to Archangel's legs managed to knock the android to its knees. Archangel turned, grabbing Iron by his armor before rearing back for another heavy blow to the face, when Iron struck first with a thundering blow to Archangel's head. The android didn't appear to register the shot, but a moment later, it stood and took two steps backwards, looking far too casual in the moment. Then, without warning or sound, Archangel simply fell face-first to the ground, as if he had been knocked unconscious. Iron and the others present, even the Vultures, simply gawked for a moment as the unthinkable seemed to have occurred. The actual truth was that the interface between Archangel's core and the motor control units of his body had been jostled from the impact, causing the whole unit to malfunction and require a restart. The android was still fully awake and struggling to regain control in order to respond, and issued a nonverbal order to the Vultures to open-fire on Iron in retribution. Vultures 1, 5, and 7: {9,10, 9} x (No Feat Applicable) = {9, 10, 9} Vultures 2, 3, 4, and 6: {10, 1, 2, 9} x 2(Conviction) = {20, 2, 4, 18} Iron: DEF Rolls = {4, 2, 5, 2, 5, 2, 3} 49 DMG Iron HP: 71/100 A significant amount of damage was done before Iron could find safety behind cover again. Far above them, the other two Horsemen aboard the Stalingrad gravely took note of the situation unfolding before them. Specter, aboard the Starving Buzzard, had reported Beta and Archangel's struggles, and so It seemed that direct intervention would be needed to prevent the Muramasa team from disrupting their plans, after all... While the firefight on the ground continued, the Muramasa fighters noticed what seemed like a significant quiet forming all around them. One by one, they looked to the sky to find nothing but an expanding black canvas. A sort of blueish portal opened in the center, a force field, out of which a large, cylindrical object appeared and descended, and only as it grew larger from its proximity did they understand how truly massive the Stalingrad actually was. What appeared to be cylindrical, they realized, was simply a folded machine, which gradually unfurled into a terrifying large walker mech, much like the one employed by the Divinity Creed. They looked at their own inadequate equipment, listened to the rallying cries of the Vultures, and wondered whether the progress they felt they had made had even been real. They would have only moments before the walker would arrive, and so they made their final preparations.
We're doomed. Those were the words that ran through Taylor's head over and over at the sight of the mech. Not the anger that Beta managed to survive, nor the rage that she felt that Archangel was still existing. The Divinity Creed mech, in all its size and power, was still taken out by the group because they had a tank and Valk with her plasma saber. This time, they had neither. In fact, a chunk of them didn't even have mechs. Vigil was going to win this, it seemed. Eh, they've been in this situation before. The battle at Dyatiq. The assault on Vostokrebh. Faced with great odds, and they managed to survive somehow. But this was likely to be the end. Taylor finally just sighed. "Lets finish off these grunts and Archangel. Then we can focus on trying to take out that mech. Remember the mech the Creed had? Go for the legs, knock it down. If Beta rears her head again, rip it off." she said, giving out orders just as she had before. A hint of defeat was detectable in her voice. She turned her plasma weapons, which was really all she had left in her mech, on Archangel as he tried to regain control of himself. She opened fire, determined to cut him to pieces as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Eve returned her focus to the Vultures as she peeked out from behind a chunk of wreckage.
"Roger that." Alex acknowledged Taylor's commands. If they die, they would take as many of them as possible. He locked on targeting the Vigil soldiers shooting at Iron and unleashed a volley of plasma. --- On a ridge overlooking the battle, Nathaniel had deployed his own group as reinforcements. It didn't take long for them to join the fray. "Oh my..." He muttered when he saw the carnage and opened up a channel "You look fucking ridiculous face down in the dirt like that. HAHA!" "Very funny, get me up before they tear me to pieces." "Yeah yeah, let me just get a snapshot of this, for the memory books." "You're wasting time!" "I'm boosting morale." His own men already had orders, focus on retrieving the fallen commander and to reboot him. Nathaniel himself had brought along something special for the mechs. A few stingers. They were going to punish the enemy hard. The Horseman of war locked on to Taylor's mech and fired. --- The Vultures on the ground were shocked when they saw what happened to their commander, but nothing could prepare them for what was deployed behind their back. The large metallic monstrosity took form. The sudden shock was turned to renewed vigor as the tide had turned in their favor once again. On board the walker Mordecai sat in his seat, observing the information that was being shown on the console in front of him. The Executor was close to achieving his goal and all that stood in his way were a few gnats. "To the Vultures on the ground, push forward and recover your commander. And to the insects before us. You have lasted this long and I commend you for that. But this game is at an end." The walker's guns locked on to it's targets. Those mechs wouldn't last long.
Iron tried grab Archangel's shotgun in an effort to use it as a blunt objeect and to shoot plasma at the Vigil commander. --- Karl swung around and opened fire at the Death Vigil soldiers, one shot for each Vulture.
Dvajn turned away from Archangel, whom Iron was dealing with, towards Beta and the Starving Buzzard, just in time to watch the Infernal Machine blow up to smithereens! He cheered the armor's explosion over the comms, liking to think that he had managed to deal the finishing blow with his rockets, but he quickly moved onto his next target, which was the Starving Buzzard itself! He locked onto the Buzzard with a sextet of missiles, across several areas of the ship, and fired them as to prevent it from getting away! It was after he fired the missiles that he saw the mech to come, Stalingrad. His eyes widened at the sight of the mechanical beast that's headed their way, and he gulped. He heard Taylor's words, remembering what he read on the battle involving the Creed mech, and replied when Beta was mentioned: "Don't worry, I'll deal with her personally! Now go fuck up that metal Nimrod!" He looked towards the incoming Vultures, as they pushed to save Archangel, who was down face-first on the ground. He fired his plasma cannons at the Vultures in an act of suppressive fire, to ensure the rest had enough time to defeat the Vigil Commander. To add insult to injury, he finally decided to switch back to the other channel and reply to Archangel's attempt at taunting him. "Drinks, sure, that was my job, but I'm not so sure Varn's conscience was the only reason why he was friends with me. I mean, if not, why would you be reenacting the time I drank that Valhalla Gin at a time like this?" he said, with a tinge of smugness added to it.
The targeting disc around Beta disappeared as she crawled out of sight into the Starving Buzzard. Golem let out a buzz, indicating he wasn't able to track his target anymore. Though as the giant walker appeared before the crew, it immediately made a threat assessment of all available targets. Obviously, the walker had the highest of them all. So Golem maneuvered itself backwards, creating distance between the both of them while firing its guns at it.
"Fucking... that's just overkill," Arkadam droned as the walker made its descent nearby. Even standing fully upright in his mech, he knew he was only about the height of one of the talons on the tips of the walker's four legs. "I'll bet you anything the Archives are inside that bastard." He tried to ignore the frustration of Beta's momentary escape from battle, since he had already taken action regarding it. When Dvajn had finished taunting Archangel, Arkadam spoke up. "Heads up, dwarf," he said. A moment later, a notification appeared on Dvajn's HUD, a message from Arkadam containing only an attachment. It was a photograph, slightly blurry but nonetheless decipherable, and highly useful. It took him only a moment to figure out that Arkadam had used his mech's optics to zoom in on the Starving Buzzard just after Beta abandoned her rig, revealing a small section of the ship's interior, mainly a blank wall near some large racks of compressed air. Having just knocked Archangel to the ground, Iron wasted no time in disarming him, taking the plasma shotgun from the android's hands and beating him with it savagely. Iron: 10 x 2.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 22.5... 23 DMG Several strikes in, the gun began to break apart in Iron's hands, as the bounty hunter's suit had provided the extra strength needed to damage Archangel in melee and the incredible forces involved caused the polymer furniture to splinter and crack from the stress, and the metal to bend and give way. The gun would no longer be safe to fire, and Iron could sense danger in attempting to do so. Instead, he discarded it and moved out of the way so that someone else could get a clear shot in. The Vultures close by readied themselves for another volley when Alex intervened using the plasma cannons on his mech to cover fire. Alex: CH Estimate: 1/4 Actual: 4 Roll Passed. Alex: {5, 9, 10, 3, 4, 5, 4} x (No Feat Applicable) = {5, 9, 10, 3, 4, 5, 4} All Vultures Stunned. Taking Alex's lead, several others began to fire at the Vultures to try to pin them back and keep Archangel disabled and on the ground. Eve: {10, 9, 6, 1 10, 5, 7} x 1.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = {12.5... 13, 11.25... 11, 7.5... 8, 1.25... 1, 12.5... 13, 6.25... 6, 8.75... 9} Karl: {5, 7, 7, 6, 10, 10, 7} x (No Feat Applicable) = {5, 7, 7, 6, 10, 10, 7} With the Vultures held back, Taylor saw fit to attack her defenseless opponent with plasma, trying to shred the Horseman before he could have a chance to recover. If she was going to die, at least she wouldn't give Archangel the satisfaction of seeing it. Taylor: 7 x 1.5 x (No Feat Applicable) = 10.5... 11 DMG The enemy staggered backwards, repulsed by the overwhelming curtain of fire. It was difficult to tell, but they were beginning to show signs of weariness, even after rallying moments earlier for the Goliath of a walker which was on its way. Unfortunately for the Muramasa crew, the battle was about to change drastically. The crew had been so distracted by Archangel's predicament and the arrival of the Executor's death machine that they hadn't noticed the shuttle which touched down on the far side of a nearby ridge. On board, Nathaniel and four additional elite Vultures equipped themselves with weaponry designed to tackle the heavy metal being fielded by the Muramasa team. Once they had reached their staging position, a few cracked jokes aside, they immediately intervened. NATHANIEL - WAR As Taylor unloaded her plasma cannons on Archangel, alarms began to sound within her helmet... lock-on alarms. They had seemingly come from nowhere, in the opposite direction from the walker, and she didn't have time to react and get out of the way. Nathaniel, Vultures 8-11: CH: 3/5 Actual: {5, 2, 5, 1, 1} Two Rolls Passed. Enemy rockets split the air, descending from the ridge onto the crew's position, all targeting Taylor and her mech. She put all of her power into her shields, and only two of the five broke through, but the impact was devastating. 50 DMG. Taylor HP: 165/195 Dwan was among the first to see the new entrants to the fray, and with a boost from his mech he closed the distance. Arkadam could see this maneuver in progress and followed, but knew that his damaged vehicle wasn't going to take him to the top of that ridge easily. He decided to join in with the attacks on Archangel's vultures. Arkadam: {7, 9, 7, 6, 3, 1, 10} x 1.25 x 2(Desperation) = {17.5... 18, 22.5... 23, 17.5... 18, 15, 7.5... 8, 2.5... 3, 25} There was something wrong. The sheer excess of weaponry brought to bear against the Vultures should have been enough to kill at least some of them, but even the men missing limbs or otherwise bleeding profusely weren't ready to lie down. Nathaniel's entrance had somehow energized them to fight like true bersekers. Personal Feat Discovered: Nathaniel's "Death Marches On." (All Vigil present survive up to 1/3 max HP into negative integers, extends Conviction feat to 3.0 maximum boost) "Jason, Harvey, can you two hear me?" Arkadam asked. "I need you both to back up Dwan, he's attacking whoever the fuck just rained rockets down on the Captain!" "On it," Jason replied quickly, diverting himself immediately. Harvey followed in his wake, and soon a flight of three mechs were attacking the men on the ridge, who were busy reloading their rocket launchers for another volley. Dwan: {1, 4, 8, 5, 4} x 2.25(Renaissance Man) = {2.25... 2, 9, 18, 11.25... 11, 9} Jason: {5, 10 + 8(Assault) + 7(Assault) = 25, 6, 1, 10 + 5(Assault) = 15} x 2 = {10, 50, 12, 2, 30} Harvey: CH: 3/5 Actual: {5, 2, 2, 4, 5} 3 Rolls Passed. 25 DMG to Nathaniel, Vultures 10 and 11 The raid on Nathaniel's position sent an immediate message: "We have more than enough ass-whooping to go around." Within seconds, the elite vultures who had been brought along were suffering from major wounds, burns from the plasma and shrapnel from the rockets. Whatever humor Nathaniel had seen in the situation before would be tested here. At least until... --- The walker finally landed, shaking the ground and sending out a blast of hot wind, the jet deflection from the vehicle's landing boosters, which soon crashed to the ground, discarded and spent. The Muramasa team resisted the urge to panic as they craned their necks upward at the monstrosity, sounds of grinding metal and unseen nuclear turbines spinning to produce the power and pressure needed to flex the beast's impossibly large muscles sounding in their ears. It must have taken a small city's worth of power to allow it to even support its own weight, and yet it moved. On board, Mordecai looked down at them with contempt. MORDECAI - CONQUEST ((Mordecai's walker is a mech with 10 strikes.)) Two years prior, he had stood at Zeruel and listened to the disrespect of a couple of kanads from a tiny and unknown company, who had come to his vicinity to warn the highest-level mercenary commanders that Harken Saw was about to turn his ultimate weapon on the planet itself, and to beg for an escape route. The leader of the two had been a member of the now-famous Archius expedition, and had some sort of inside information. Even after being taken seriously and given what they had asked for, they had the nerve to expect first pick of the remains of a similar giant walker to the one he was currently operating, and were insulted when his own men had gotten there first. He didn't remember exactly what had been said between himself and Yanim Terika that day, only that she slinked away from him like a scolded dog when he had finished cutting her down to size. How could anyone not underestimate her and her outfit after such an encounter? And yet here he was, two years later, on the verge of ultimate victory against the galaxy, and the very last obstacle standing in his way were the forces that little runt had assembled. Only two years... He could only imagine how much more frustrating things could have been if Terika had lived on, if her company had been given more time to prepare. He knew of their craft and their tenacity from the way they resisted for so long, so independently, before they were betrayed from within. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFwJQI7nmyc And from the way Beta demonstrated her true potential, Mordecai almost regretted that encounter on Zeruel. Argos had apparently seen that potential, and had built connections and loyalty with her from the beginning. How much easier could this have been if he had been paying more attention, if he had been the first to extend a hand? In the end, it wouldn't matter after all. Victory was practically assured, now. With the swipe of his finger across a long targeting screen at his console, Mordecai selected the remaining mechs on the battlefield, the ones operated by Alex, Arkadam, Dvajn, Harvey, Jason, and Taylor. The guns on the outside of the walker turned; at once Arkadam realized the danger and shouted to everyone "Move!" CH Estimate: 3/7 Actual: {3, 3, 5, 2, 3, 4} 1 Roll Passed. 1 Strike to Dvajn Dwan: 4/5 Strikes remaining. The grand entrance was not to be. The Muramasa team would not fold so easily; they would leap, dive, jump, and fly in every direction, illustrating a classic wartime error on the Executor's part: the guns fired shells, not plasma, and not rockets. They were meant for larger targets to be tackled in a fair battle, not small, nimble enemies better left to smaller craft. Two large flak cannons graced the front of the machine, but their range of motion was highly limited due to being mounted so low on the body. The simple truth was that Mordecai had brought too much firepower to the fight, and would now experience the price of that folly. Only Dvajn, taking a heavy hit from a piece of shrapnel, would register as a hit on Mordecai's console screen. "Aim for the joints in its legs!" Arkadam called out. "If it rolls, it's history!"
"Aiming for the legs then." Alex had a few more missiles left. He took aim and fired at the leg joints to bring that thing down. --- On the ground Archangel registered hits to his shell. The circuits hypothesized on what it could be and ran the numbers. After another check on the weapon capability systems of his arsenal, he could see what it was. Iron was clobbering him with the plasma shotgun and not using it as intended. Stupid. The weapon was useless for firing now. But not for something else the android had in mind. It still couldn't, atho try as it might, restart it's motor functions, but it's connection to it's gear wasn't severed. ACCESSING WEAPON FUNCTIONS FOR EQUIPMENT DESIGNATED 'BOOMBOX' INITIATING SEQUENCE:SELF DESTRUCT INITIATING SEVERITY:10 The android was going to make him pay for touching his gun. --- Nathaniel grunted after sustaining a hit from the enemy fighters. Under his helmet he smiled. This was going to be fun. "See the fucker that shot at us? Fuck him up!" --- Mordecai was slightly frustrated that the shots barely connected, but that was to be expected. Archangel and Beta's failure to dispose of the enemy forced him to deploy so quickly. In any case, he would press on. "Keep pushing and don't let up your assault. They are lashing out, but they are a cornered animal." Targeting the mechs again he opted for a different approach. Rather than targeting where they are, he would hit where they were going.
Iron dropped the Boombox next to Archangel, pulled out his handcannon and fired five shots into Archangel's head. Point blank. A small prompt on his HUD warned him of Archangel transmitting a signal but the bounty hunter was too frenzied to notice. Once he had fired his shots Iron backed off. --- Switching to another fresh magazine Karl steadied his aim and adjusted his posture. He chambered another round and inhaled. Exhale. A swarm of bullets were unleashed at the Vultures and the soldiers escorting Nathaniel.
After firing upon Nathaniel and his Vultures, Dvajn took a moment to inspect the photograph he had received from Arkadam further. He began to consider what exactly Arkadam meant with the image, firstly concentrating on the racks of compressed air. Since from the angle he could tell on which side of the Buzzard that's on, maybe he was suggesting he fired upon them through the Buzzard via his plasma cannons? Or perhaps manually toss a missile at them as to avoid EMP interference? No, both those ideas are silly as heck. He moved onto the blank wall next to the large rack, why would Arkadam include it in the photo? Maybe it was a weak spot, for plasma or manually thrown missiles? No, no, no, he wasn't thinking clearly. There had to be some other- "Ooooooh," Dvajn audibly moaned into the comms, indicating to Arkadam that he finally realized what that photograph meant. But before he could do anything, or think about the idea proposed even further, he was suddenly hit by shrapnel, coming from Mordecai's attack! He felt himself shaken inside, as he moved the mech away from the incoming beast as to concentrate on his thoughts. He figuratively scratched his chin, thinking how he could even execute this plan if he was within this mech. It was the fading feeling of shakiness that gave him an idea, which he spoke into the comms. "Guys, that last strike really shook me up! I'm sorry, but I just, just need a second to catch my breath," he said in a faux tired and distressed tone, "unless this thing's got an autofiring mechanism, someone will have to cover me, but don't let this falter our pushback against their advance!" he finished, as he began checking the settings to see if there was anything of the sort. He straightened out his seat, blue flames visible in the corner of his eyes, as he found the autopilot functions. Looking through, he thought he had found what he was looking for, allowing the mech to fire against a designated enemy... or at least, he hoped that's what it was saying. Spent too much piloting the mech itself during training that he barely used the functions after he was taught them. He selected Nathaniel and his Vultures for now, hoping that it can at least help in the suppressive fire. With that done, he just waited a bit more until the portal opened. He unbuckled himself and went through. Just needed to grab some weapons, and the infiltration can begin.
"Now isn't the best time to take a break!" responded Taylor into her comms, but a moment later Dvajn went silent. SHIT. "Fuck, you heard Arkadam! Knock that big bitch over! Watch out for the other goons with the rocket launchers too!" She took aim at Nathaniel, firing off bursts of plasma from her mech's main guns as she moved away from Archangel. He'd have to wait for now, because there were much bigger targets to fry. Meanwhile, Eve focused more on the massive mech. Maybe she could use her hacking efforts on the mech? She'd have to come up with a payload to scramble its electronics. After finding and locking onto a signal from the mech, she paused for just a brief moment before firing off a viral payload.
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