• Starpath: Scoundrels of the Interstellar Highway - Thread 2
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Dvajn shook Ira's hand and nodded with a smile. After she greeted the other new members, everyone got on board the Muramasa II and the ship departed. Dvajn quickly discovered his new room, and dumped his things as he had done on the Aurikha. The room would serve its purpose quite well, with the stout being organizing his things in an utilitarian fashion. He remained in his armor, neatly sorting his regular clothes once more, deciding to explore the ship a tad whilst nothing was going on. After doing so, he settled down in the bar, where he made himself a coffee when no one was looking. --- Dvajn was completely decked out, as a member of security should be - alongside his armor set, he had two gun holsters, a scabbard, and a backpack filled with a variety of weapons and what appeared to be two howitzers on both its sides. He looked ready to fight an one-man war.
"The canyon is just short of two and a half kilometers at its deepest, but we're not at the top of the ridge," Red answered. "We're already about halfway down, but that's as close as we can get because the ground isn't flat enough to land on below this. The tunnel inside the cave entrance will take us another kilometer deep, and all of it will be filled in once the vault is locked. Imagine- a sealed vault buried 3400 meters below the surface of an uncharted world. We're sparing no expense here to do the job right." Checkered met up with Neasha and showed her a diagram of the descent so that a plan could be made for transporting the Archive efficiently. For a while, the crew merely stood around in the heat, gearing up in harnesses and packing their climbing equipment and various supplies. The unnamed star in the sky began to set on the distant horizon, casting long shadows from the jagged ridges, some of which glittered with the barest hint of snow at the peaks. Finally, the arduous trek began after almost two hours, and the crew made good time despite losing a bit of water weight sweating in the baking sunlight. About 300 meters down into the gorge, they received their first sign of trouble. It came in the form of an unusual-sounding chime. Red, leading the group halted immediately, signalling to the entire group to pause before pulling out his personal tablet. A tense moment later, he turned to the crew. "I'm not going to say we have a problem, not yet. But just so you're aware, Vigil forces are in the region. Our checkpoint was hit with a scouting force about ten minutes ago which was repulsed. They may have followed you to that point, but our forces say they didn't warp along the right vector to track you any further. Hopefully, that'll be the end of it."
The heat didn't bother Taylor all that much. She was raised in similar temperatures. This was almost like being back home, just without the need of an environment suit. And no lava pools, or air so deadly that one breath could kill you. Taylor smiled at the memories of the cramped colony as she continued decending with the rest of the group. As Red halted their decent, Taylor looked about. Keeping an eye out for traps or possible enemy sightings. "I'm not going to say we have a problem, not yet. But just so you're aware, Vigil forces are in the region. Our checkpoint was hit with a scouting force about ten minutes ago which was repulsed. They may have followed you to that point, but our forces say they didn't warp along the right vector to track you any further. Hopefully, that'll be the end of it." "That's nowhere close to the end of it." muttered Taylor. She was fully expecting them to strike at any moment. Swarming them like locusts in an attempt to slaughter them and take the Archive. At the moment, they were targets waiting to be picked off. Stuck to the side of a gorge with the prize. She didn't like this position at all. Anywhere else with proper cover, and she'd have been a bit more happy. At least she had the armor that Valk had thrown together for her, using parts from her old power suit. The exosuit from the power armor was still intact, forming the skeleton of the armor itself. Armored plating (what could be salvaged anyway) was bolted on in various spots, while new armor had been fashioned together and added on. It was given Valk's trademark spraypaint job, again in Belladonna Company colors. Valk's signature was etched onto a shoulder pad, along with a nice stenciled "IRON BITCH V2" etched onto the back above the spine. Version one was beaten to hell and back during the Vostokrebh mission.
"I'll watch the rear," said Karl before repositioning himself to guard the rear of the group. At the same time Iron kept his handcannon close and ready for use.
Sting lay leisurely on Golems back, having two pistols drawn and and using her other hands to flip through a hovercraft catalog. The planet was much to her liking. It reminded her of Doulanhota, the region on Duroma she had emerged from all those years ago. A hot climate and a tight canyon med her feel right at home, and her demeanor indicated that she didn't quite take the situation seriously. "Y'all need to loosen up", she said as she looked down on the group in front of her. "Ain't ya done beat up these deaf virgils before?"
Last time on Starpath... "Tarver, Are you sure this is the place?" "Aw come on! People make honest mistakes. Besides. I am 100% sure he IS there. If not. Then. I'll gladly eat my words and we'll get us some drinks. Al'righty?" "The SISP are stll having problems about finding who were behind the deadly Red Dome terrorist attck that left 50 dead and 20 wounded" ".....While onboard. The officers uncovered mutiple civilian casualties spread throughout the ship. The ship has since then been impounded for our forensic teams to conduct their analysis" ................................................................ Darkness. Just.... Pure darkness. Fucking Dex. Damn monsters... Doing this just to say "oh. We'll support the government. Don't worry about it."? I'm done with him. I'm outta here.. ............................................................... Jason''s eyes were closed and his head is relaxing on his comfty chair. Thinking back to the traumitizing moment of his own life.. He was only interrupted when Tarver reached out of his seat and patted his shoulder. He immediatly woke up from his thinking and he looked at Jason with concerned eyes. "Jason.. I know that look" Jason tried to look normal by saying a "what?" and patting off anything of his trenchcoat. However he failed to realize Tarver can see through his faked mask of energy and charisma. "Look Jason. I know we are going to some pretty hard times here.. O don't know exacly what Dex is doing.. But its gonna bite him in the ass if he gets caught" Jason put his head back to the padded surface of his chair and just stared up the celing for a bit before looking over the window. Pitter-patter from the outside can be heard from the outside of the pub. It was dark times indeed. He looke over for a few more seconds before speaking up *I could have saved them. Tarver... If I would have knom..." "Jason. I know. Everyone in the HQ feels the same. Is just that Atlas decided to do the dirty work intentionally... Look. What matter is about we are doing in yhe present. We are going to find this guy and try to get him to the Upyri police forces after we do so. Okay buddy?" Jason took a deep breath and calmed himself. He merely replied with an "okay" and they went back to watching the some shows on their table. To be continued
Golem's heavy steps send up waves of dust in the air as it rushed to the front, trying to take point before anyone else does. The small "head" it carried between it's shoulders spun rapidly, scanning the area for hostiles, and occasionally bumping into Sting.
After hearing about Vigil forces being in the area, Dvajn did a recount of all his equipment to make sure he had everything with him. While before the heat was bothering him a tad despite having been in warmer climates, now he barely noticed it due to his attention moving squarely towards the idea of being attacked and being ready in such a scenario. His hands were ready to either pull up the howitzers, pull out the handguns, break out the melee, what have you.
Before While the others were talking with Neahsa, Alex and Amy had some time to themselves. They hugged and began to catch up. "So you went on and found us some new recruits?" Alex eyed up the newcomers "Not bad first crop of misfits." "Those aint all of them. Had to work out some old connections to get some of the people that I did. You would not believe the amount of people who have it in for the Sisters. Both current and former members." She leaned back on the wall behind her "I'll be off as soon as you guys are done meeting the newblood. Got plenty of other contacts to go through my list before I have to switch to other methods. But before that, how are you Alex? Haven't really talked since I left." "Well, I went and settled a few old scores on Duroma." Alex began to count the things he did on his fingers "Tried to get in contact with Kras and see if he wants to go legit and contribute to society for once. No dice." "Figures." "Yeah, no kidding. Guess being the blood kingpin of Duroma and Prospera is too good for him. I met a guy who's life I ruined because he bet his life savings against me. So now I'm about half a million credits poorer, but he's feeling better at least." "Wait. You gave a random hobo on the street half a million credits?" Amy looked at him with suspicion "You lost it by gambling, didn't you?" "Nah, I'm telling you the truth here. I did lose another half-million on the tables, but that's besides the point. I'll be honest with you, after the thing with dad I just can't look at that money anymore. It's emergency money. But the fucker is in the ground. What the fuck am I going to use it for? Might as well give it to someone who can use it." "I have been traveling around the galaxy with all sorts of people and you by far are the weirdest man I know." Alex shrugged "I guess that I don't care about the money anymore." Now "Yeah, we beat them before. But they almost killed us all." Alex answered to Sting "Wonder if buckethead will be here with them." Somewhere in the Southwest Quadrant The Starving Buzzard's navigator turned to Specter and to Archangel. "We've got confirmation- Argos is in the area." "Every move they take, every breath they take, you will be will be watching them, got it?" Countess nodded "As soon as the team is on the ground, activate the EMP shock and shake any pursuers off your tail. We need a clean getaway." Beta sat among the Vultures, her eyes fixed on the floor between her feet. The team had been given such specific instructions that it likely wouldn't be possible to stay and cause additional bloodshed without risking being left behind. It felt like such a shame; she had spent so much time preparing for her next encounter with the Muramasa crew, and now it was possible that they would simply be purged once Mordecai gained whatever it was he was seeking from these "Archives." And she had no illusions about the matter- no leader in his position would go to war against Yscom, and no leader would bypass the Belladonna Company without exterminating it, unless they were supremely confident that the next victory would be a final one. She sighed, loudly, her voice choppy and metallic behind the filters of her new, full-head mask. A few of the vultures nearby moved themselves an additional few inches away from the kanad, and even more so when the faceless helmet turned to look at them and sneered. "Relax, Vultures. Training is training. This is real life... I think. Hyeh hyeh hyeh..." she teased. Maybe she could squeeze a few deaths out of the mission. She comforted herself on the idea. "She comes with her own wicked witch laugh now?" Specter's sarcastic nature was getting the better of him while he was working the pilot's console "Flying broom and black cat included?" "A witch...?" Beta looked to the front of the bridge. "I was born with this voice and laugh. My people consider laughter rude, but you, teres... I wish I were human for a moment, so I can know how my laugh sounds to such sensitive ears. Hyeh hyeh hyeh. I can't stop.... I can't stop. I can only imagine..." "Focus!" Archangel's voice boomed louder than usual, the machine's voice sounding distorted as a result. "I'll let you both have a nice chat in private after the mission is done. Until then, focus on the Archive. End of discussion!" He couldn't tell if Beta was annoyed, amused or angered by him cutting the exchange short, but he couldn't care less. Mission came first, that's all that matters. --- The landing team was nearly three-quarters of the way to the cave entrance when Red got another notification. Again, he asked the group to stop so that he could read it. After a moment, he lowered his tablet and looked to the sky for a moment. "They're coming here," he said. Immediately, the crew's heads snapped to Arkadam, who looked back at them harshly, but not surprised. "Keep guessing," he said quietly. Red now picked up on what wasn't being said, and reeled around, grabbing Arkadam by his collar and lifting him with severity that the group never expected. "Not another word out of you... You're the only one who could have-" "If I wanted this," Arkadam replied fiercely, "I would've gone straight to them." Red released him before nearly punching the kanad's lights out. He thought better of it. "We'll figure this out once the Archive is safely tucked away. Come on, let's pick up the pace," he ordered. --- The Buzzard exited warp with a shudder and immediately loaded in battle information onto the hud. As expected, the Argos forces were being slammed by the swift attack, but the landing needed to be even quicker if the Vigil sought to press its advantage. Specter pushed the ship to maximum impulse power and weaved his way into the skirmish, ignoring lock-on warnings and relying on shields to protect the crew. The Vigil's heavy hitters, which had arrived minutes earlier, would cause plenty of distraction as the transport plunged into the atmosphere, seeking the landing site out using long-range equipment. There were no landing beacons, but with a careful enough scan, they would eventually detect two ships perched on some remote plateau, and closed in. The roar of their engines could be heard in the sky above the Red, the Argos operatives, and the Muramasa crew. They were nearly at the cave's entrance by now.
"We have incoming hostiles. Likely a team of Vultures." stated Eve, looking amongst her comrades and the Argos operatives. Taylor drew her mother's rail-revolver from her thigh, gripping her rifle in her off hand. "Probably Archangel and friends." she said, nearly spitting the words out. The reunion between her and Archangel was a long time coming, and it would end with her beating him to death. "Whatever happens...defend that Archive with your lives." she said finally, looking to the others. "We can't let Vigil get their hands on it. If they do, the galaxy is fucked."
Golem seized up, it's sensors also detecting danger. It's main weapons began spooling up as it's upper body turned left to right slowly.
"Hoorah," replied Iron to Taylor's statement. He flicked on his wristshields and kept his handcannon ready to fire. Karl did the same with his rifle. He looked up behind them. "You don't think they will try to fly down here, do you?" He looked at Red and Taylor. "Got any traps we can place?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4siXlLOSW0 The final slope to the cave's entrance became a mad dash, as Karl's concern was entirely too valid. The Starving Buzzard dove straight into the canyon, its cannons trained on the thin trail of operatives sprinting into the shadow of the rocks, carrying the Archive along the way. Inside the bridge, the ship's gunner was fully prepared to open fire, but Archangel intervened. "Watch the Archive!" he barked. "We don't damage the prize, remember that!" Down below, the team entered the cover of the cave and took up positions defending the entrance as Argos carried the Archive deeper and deeper, toward the artificial tunnel leading to the vault. "No, don't stop, no matter what!" Red yelled to the Muramasa crew. "The whole galaxy is as stake, here!" Reluctantly, Taylor and the others backed away from the strong cover of the mouth of the cave and descended down the jagged, wet rocks into the darkness below. Several loud bangs echoed from the entrance above them as a billowing cloud of dark smoke entered the cavern and fell down over top of them. The occupants of the Starving Buzzard were rappelling down to the ground, trying to close the distance. But as the crew ducked into a particular turn in the winding stone crevices, they saw a welcome sight- a teal-colored ring of light around a heavy door. Red slid down the remainder of the climb, rolled, and quickly retrieved a keycard from his suit jacket, pressing it up against the sensor at the edge of the door. The dense steel split down the middle and rolled apart just in time for the Achive's transporters to arrive and enter the tunnel, where some sort of flat-top magnetically-driven vehicle awaited. "Come on, come on!" Neasha ordered as she easily took the lead over the human members of the Muramasa team. On the wet rocks, several took hard falls in the final moments before they reached the door, but adrenaline prevented them from feeling the pain. By the time Karl, the last one in line, had boarded the tunnel crawler, the Vultures had closed to within sight of the entrance. The joint crews turned around and faced them; Archangel was at the lead of their force, and locked eyes with Taylor just before the blast doors slammed shut. The engines aboard the crawler revved up as Red frantically stabbed at the controls. "Dammit, dammit, dammit! Everyone hold on, this is going to be a fast trip!" Just as he finished warning them, the vehicle surged forward, accelerating swiftly and immediately putting a large distance between them and the danger. "How the hell did this happen?" Red roared at Arkadam. "I don't know," Arkadam replied. "Maybe Argos has a mole." There was a thunderous explosion that echoed down the entire tunnel, but all the crew could see is a cloud of smoke and dust. The erupting black plume was parted in the center by a brilliant flash of light. "Get down!" Arkadam screamed as a wave of scorching plasma split the air above the crawler, vaporizing two of the Argos operatives from the waist up. "What the fuck!?" Neasha screamed as the disembodied legs fell to the floor. At the entrance to the tunnel, the Vultures discarded their now-spent laser weapon, which smoldered on the ground nearby and evaporated puddles of cave water through the immense heat alone. "Move!" Archangel boomed, and this time it was Beta's time to shine. Taking up something akin to a sprinter's pose, her new suit's jetpack unfolded a pair of long radiators and revealed two massive repulsor pads, much like the ones she once built into hover bikes for her long-forgotten friends. They roared to life, and the infernal machine glided through the opening into the tunnel on the pads of its feet, gaining on the tunnel crawler over the course of the several kilometer long downhill tunnel. The Muramasa crew took aim against what appeared to be some kind of small black mech following them. The small caliber weapons seemed to do almost nothing to slow it down, until the two became very close. "Don't let it-" Red yelled, but he was interrupted by the sound of grinding metal. The mech had suddenly latched onto the rear of the crawler with long metal claws that dug deep into the machinery, and was grinding its heels into the ground to slow the vehicle down. Red struggled to increase the power even further on the crawler, but the mech soon turned itself around gracefully, so that its toes were now spitting sparks as they dug grooves in the tunnel, and the repulsors were now oriented to stop the crawler in its tracks. Towering above it, Golem took up position at the edge of the crawler and pointed its massive cannons down on the smaller mech, but the sudden, irresistible deceleration carried it off its feet along with the crew members, who struggled to hold on as the crawler skidded to a stop, with a groaning, painful sound, before reversing direction. With no other option presenting itself, Red wasn't willing to allow the Archive to be delivered to the enemy in such a way. He grabbed hold of it and lifted, and soon, with additional help which came to the same realization, he lifted it over the front of the crawler and dropped it unceremoniously in the tunnel as the vehicle hurtled back toward the enemy. To their great surprise, the mech, which had been silent until then, spoke to them in an all-too-familiar tone. "That's alright... we'll get it later. I wanted to go through you anyway," Beta mocked. Archangel emerged from the cloud of smoke ahead and simply crossed his arms as the Vultures took up position around him. Beta slammed her feet into the ground and spun around again, using her jetpack to slow the crawler down once more. The struggle would now begin.
While the others had slid around in the crawler and had been thrown around by the shifts in speed and direction, Sting had nimbly remained on the floor. As Golem then fell down and then slowly got up, she skittered along the floor and onto it's back as some sort of rucksack. As Golem took up a position to deal with Beta, she narrowed her eyes and took aim at the approaching group of vultures. "Thas right, Machine man. Ya deal with that one an I'll deal with them white armored sum'bitches."
Karl kneeled down next to one of the vehicle railings. He scoped in and engaged one of the vultures. Meanwhile Iron raised his wristshields and opened fire on one of the vultures enxt to Archangel.
Dvajn steadied himself as he realized that the repulsion-propelled mech they faced was in actuality the vile being that he had unwittingly helped spread chaos for the past two years. As much as he sighed that today wasn't going to turn out the way he had hoped, at least the reason why he was here showed its ugly face. Thankfully, despite being thrown about by the shifts in acceleration, none of his equipment came off. Beta had not seen him in this armor in ages, and with his research revealing that Lion's design had been adopted by the SDF, he hoped that he would be misrecognized as a stout ex-SDF mercenary. With his helmet's visor made opaque from the outside, Dvajn reached for his shotgun, the LWA Texas Ranger, and joined Golem in facing the devil he had allowed to fester.
Alex was not in the right spot to do much just yet. He had his sword yes, but the nearest melle he could strike at was Beta and she was still an unknown. Still, he had a sidearm. He fired it towards Beta for whatever good that would do. --- "Kill them." Archangel observed those that started to target him instead of the trouble before them. A disorganized mess of would be heroes, just like the ones he fought a month ago. Panicking. Scared. Desperate. Perfect. His men were already firing back in retaliation to the attacks. The android activated his own shield and started to move forward, two vultures moving behind him and pushing the line while shooting. The rest would come shortly as resistance waned. "Beta, you can have your fun. But I'd prefer you leave their captain to me." The android had a plan to end the menace once and for all and he was within striking distance of their morale base. All he had to do was break it. A second later he added "And preferably their spinal columns intact too."
Despite the seething hatred that was clearly visible on her face upon seeing Archangel, Taylor stepped up and behaved like a leader. "Everyone, focus your fire on Beta. As for the scum sucking son-of-a-bitch leading them, we'll kill him last. If he makes a move on you, blow his fucking head off." she barked, pointing to each of the targets as she spat out the orders. "WE END THIS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT FUCKING NOW." "Roger that. Focusing fire on Beta." sounded off Eve, pointing her plasma rifle in Beta's direction and opening fire. Taylor pointed the rail-revolver at Archangel, and fired off a pot shot. The round cracked through the air as it burst forth from the barrel. Miranda was right. It did pull a bit to the left.
With the smoke slowly dissipating, it was now clear that there were eight Vultures present to assist the two enemy leaders. Both sides opened fire before the crawler had even finished sliding to a halt, with Golem delivering the opening salvo at Taylor and Sting's command. It lowered its barrels at the Beta, whose armor was beginning to glow red with some sort of plasma discharge, to unleash a powerful autocannon strike. Golem (Auto Roll): 9 x 1.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 11.25... 12 DMG Just as the first round fired, Beta suddenly jerked backwards to avoid the coming onslaught and only received one direct hit from an armor-piercing round, which unfortunately failed to do its job as it ricocheted off of the heavy plating on the infernal machine. The radiators let out a loud hiss as the powerful repulsors deactivated, and the suit reconfigured itself for greater 3-dimensional maneuverability. Before Beta could even respond, however, three others opened fire, probing her for some kind of weakness. Dvajn: 6 x 1.5 x (No Feat Applicable) = 9 DMG Alex: 7 x (No Feat Applicable) = 7 DMG Eve: 5 x 1.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 6.25... 6 DMG Dvajn and Alex each got their shots off at roughly the same moment, with both weapons finding their marks respectably on the black mass in front of them. It was difficult to tell whether it had any effect on the devilish kanad, however, and she didn't seem deterred even when struck again by a point-blank plasma blast from Eve. "That's it!? Sister couldn't do better than you!?" she howled in contempt before a jet of reddish flame erupted from the rear of the mech, revealing the suit's version of her ubiquitous demon's tail. Planting her feat, the suit's smaller repulsors activated, allowing for a massive vertical leap- she seized onto Golem, knocking Sting loose and propelling the drone into the air before an array of weapons popped out of her armor to pepper Golem with firepower as it tumbled backwards, eventually landing on the tunnel floor ahead of the crawler. Beta: 6 x 2.25 x 2.5(Kerostasia) = 33.75... 34 Golem: DEF Roll = 5 29 DMG Golem HP: 90/99 Beta landed on the other side as well, but despite seeing the blueish glow of the Archive far ahead of her, turned instead to face the crawler once more, determined to exterminate the enemy force rather than recovering the precious object. After all, Archangel had instructed her to kill, but there was something else, as well. A certain suspicion was on her mind about a certain pint-sized merc in SDF armor... The extravagant display shocked the group, but Taylor's orders still got through: attack Beta first, and then the Vultures, and Archangel last. Sting, slightly disoriented from the sudden ejection a moment earlier, Karl, and Iron all took the opportunity to attack the less well-armored of their foes, trying to slow the advance of the enemy toward the Crawler. Sting: 9 x 2.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 20.25... 20 DMG to Vulture 1. Karl: 7 x (No Feat Applicable) = 7 DMG to Vulture 1. Iron: 7 x 2.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 15.75... 16 DMG to Vulture 1. Conventional ammunition was the order of the day as the Muramasa team had the good sense to focus all of its attacks on the man to the left of Archangel, working their way from left to right, and from the front of the group to the back. As a bullet struck the Vulture's helmet and staggered him, and another embedded itself in his hip, and yet another punched several holes in his armor, the Vulture briefly fell to the ground, unable to return fire due to the massive shock. It also sent a message to Archangel: this crew was stronger and smarter than the one that went to Voyak, and it would not go quietly. Ignoring his wounded associate, however, Archangel marched onward, deploying his personal shield without bothering to return fire on his own. Even with evidence of danger ahead, he seemed totally confident that the Muramasa crew would fall. Taylor decided a stronger message was needed. Taylor: 4 x 1.5 x (No Feat Applicable) = 6 Archangel: (CH=2/3, 1, Roll Failed) 6 DMG Taylor's new sidearm pierced the enemy commander's shield, striking him with a glancing blow to the head. Archangel stopped for a moment and merely gave off a little smirk before settling back into his approach, as serious and determined as before. The vulture on his left and the four others in back picked targets and fired. Vulture 2: 9 x (No Feat Applicable) = 9 Taylor: DEF Roll = 6 3 DMG Taylor HP: 212/195 (Nanomachines) Taylor felt an impact at hip level which apparently deflected off of her armor harmlessly. Karl, however, was nearly struck off the bounce, and quickly ducked inward to avoid being targeted before he could set up another shot. Vultures 3, 4, and 5: {5, 2, 10 x Crit(CH1/2, 2, Roll Passed, x2) = 20} x (No Feat Applicable) = 27 Sting: DEF Rolls = {5, 4, 2} = 11 16 DMG Sting HP: 54/50 (Nanomachines) A number of rounds streaked through the air at Sting, who, thanks to Golem's unforeseen departure from the Crawler, was now exposed. She was clipped several times by the enemy's burst-round fire, but was semi-protected thanks to her hard exoskeleton, and felt the nanites in her system repairing what damage there was. Vultures 6, 7, and 8: {2, 10, 3} x (No Feat Applicable) = 15 Iron: DEF Rolls = {3, 5, 3} = 11 4 DMG Iron HP: 116/100 (Nanomachines) Iron barely felt a thing as a few shots hit and deflected off his armor. Confidence began to rise on the crawler that the defense of the Archive would succeed, but only if the highly agile threat posed by Beta could be contained. Moreover, Archangel and his Vultures still had tricks up their sleeves which would soon present a terrible challenge to the crew.
"Shit!" Karl narrowly avoided getting shot which could, despite his armor, prove fatal. Undetneath his helmet the hunter gritted his teeth. He steadied himself and loaded a high-power shell directly into the ejection port: it was time for his special surprise. After pulling back the charging handle Karl took a deep breath, exhaled and fired at Beta. Iron simply shrugged. "I fought malnourished Kaxani pirates with better aim than you." He pulled the trigger and engaged Vulture 1.
"Nice toy, Caine." Archangel mocked as he got closer "Present from mommy dearest?" One more step and the android extended his hand. The blade usually nested in his armor was now in his palm. With a motion of his arm, the lade shot forward aiming not to pierce, but to lodge itself in Taylor's armor. He was going to pull her in and gut her like a fish. The other vultures received commands in their headsets as Archangel painted the targets on their hud for better view. Iron, Karl and Sting. "Focus on these three. Put them down."
Eve observed Beta's movements and actions for a brief moment, attempting to calculate battle tactics to deal with the disturbed copy of Yanim. Enhanced armor...cybernetic in nature. Or at least technologically enabled. Maybe she could toss a wrench into its workings? She'd had developed a new method of attack during the days prior to their journey here. Assaulting the systems of an android or technologically advanced armor via wireless hacking. Beta was the perfect test subject for such an attack, especially at the moment. As Beta turned back towards them, Eve struck. The lights across her body flashed green for a brief moment before returning to their normal cyan color. Payload sent. ((Using Eve's ability.)) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Taylor grunted at Archangel's remark. He's trying to piss me off even more. "Yeah. But I'm not gonna kill you with it. I'm gonna beat you to death, then kill your crew with it. You decided to fuck with me, my family, and my crew. So now I'm gonna make you fucking pay for it." she spat. She then noticed his arm shift up and something launch out of it. Shit! Gotta move! She attempted to dodge and press for a counter attack, cocking the hammer of the rail-revolver back as she moved.
Dvajn couldn't tell if his laser shot had done anything, especially once she no-sold the robot's plasma blast. Before he could react further however, she repulsed herself onto Golem, propelling the drone out of the crawler. While others concentrated on the Vulture thread ahead, he concentrated on the armored, shark-toothed, spike-tailed goblin he blindly trusted until the truth got to him. He pumped the three-barreled pump-action laser shotgun, before switching from the primary firing mode to the secondary mode, which allowed him to fire all three barrels simultaneously. He did a hand gesture asking for backup, before he went ahead and fired at Beta once more.
Golem continues its attack on Beta, charging at her with both of its mechanical arms outstretched and ready to grab her now that the two of them are close.
Alex was ready to strike at Beta, but the big lumbering Golem managed to outpace him. Whether he was successful at what he was trying to do, Koronov was going to assist him. Either striking at Beta while she was distracted by him or after.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqOMJ10QZcs Spiteful words exchanged, the Captain and the Horseman finally took off the gloves. Archangel had a score to settle with the Muramasa crew and he was ready to unleash brutality. The Vultures raised their rifles as he raised his arm and fired a grappling blade at Taylor, its chain whipping through the air with crackling menace like an enslaved lightning bolt. Taylor: CH 2/5, 4, Passed. The defenders on the crawler stepped back to avoid the incoming attack, but at the speed the blade was launched, it would have been impossible to avoid- unless you predicted the attack, which is exactly what the Captain had done. With a diving roll, she escaped the blade's impact narrowly as a flash of light and the boom of thunder signaled its benign discharge against the handrail around the edge of the crawler. She kept her momentum and got back onto her feet, whipping her pistol around to zero in on the android's head, and this time, corrected for the leftward kick. Taylor: 10 x 1.5 x Crit(CH1/2, 2, Passed) = 30 DMG Archangel stumbled backwards from the impact alone, the direct hit damaging the synthetic materials which made up his face. Undeterred, the Vultures opened fire against their targets, in this case only Karl and Iron, since Sting had elected to remain in cover for a moment longer. She found herself practically shoulder to shoulder with Arkadam, who was defending Neahsa, the latter unarmed aside from her beloved knives. Vultures 1, 2, and 3: {10 x 2(Conviction) = 20, 8, 6} = 34 Iron: DEF Rolls = {4, 4, 5} = 13 21 DMG Iron HP: 95/100 This time, Iron felt it. The wounded Vulture at Archangel's side was heating up, feeding off the pain and the anger of the battle to drive himself toward even greater bloodshed, and landed a piercing shot into the bounty hunter's torso, thankfully missing anything vital. Two others added their own contribution, forcing Iron onto his back foot before replying with an attack of his own. Iron: 1 x 2.25 x (No Feat Applicable) = 2.25... 2 It was no good; the enemy Vulture ducked and took only a glancing blow from Iron's attack. Meanwhile, the other side of the line had its own word with the Muramasa's sniper, who had taken his eyes off the entrance of the tunnel so he could set up a new shot against Beta, now ahead of the crawler with Golem still further ahead, and the Archive somewhere beyond. Vultures 4, 5, and 6: {4, 4, 4} x (No Feat Applicable) = 12 Karl: DEF Rolls = {1, 1, 1} = 3 9 DMG Karl HP: 316/305(Nanomachines) The hunter managed to stay low and avoid serious injury, as the barrage barely clipped him. The nanites in his blood stitched the wounds closed before they even had a chance to bleed, and he quickly proceeded to set up his shot on the Velkratkammik. He could tell, even without her eyes visible, that Beta was staring down his barrel, but she didn't seem to care as he primed the slug round and pulled the charging handle. Aiming to put it right between her eyes, he pulled the trigger. Karl: 3 x 3(Hunter's Mark) = 9 DMG The heavy shot impacted the helmet and ricocheted away with the sound of a ringing bell, and it only slowed the demon's approach by a step. "Ohhhh... I don't even remember who the fuck you are, but I can't wait to see you dead," Beta replied with a certain giddiness in her voice. At that moment, Golum ran up from behind, having picked itself up off the ground, and lunged at her, but she easily dodged out of the way thanks to the third eye in her tail warning her of its approach. The two mechs traded a few slashes before the drone attempted to grapple her, but with a loud blast from the repulsors, the Infernal Machine escaped from under it, skating on the pads of its feet up the circular tunnel wall and onto the ceiling, where it aimed a half-dozen weapons directly at the hunter below. Karl, feeling well and truly fucked at the display, dropped back in panic, bumping into Eve, which had already probed the enemy for weaknesses and was confident that she had found an entry point. Beta: 10 x 2.25 x 2.5(Kerostasia) x Crit(CH1/2, 2, Passed, x2) = 112... 113 DMG to Self (Hacked!) The moment the weapons were set to fire, the whole electrical system suffered a momentary seizure on hostile code, and Beta's "new skin" rejected its host. The temperature inside the unit soared as the cooling was overwhelmed, and the excess energy was vented as raw plasma- Beta received second-degree burns as the mech narrowly avoided self immolation and destruction, and her shriek could be heard all the way at the entrance to the cave. The beast fell from the ceiling in a shower of red sparks, but before it even it the ground, Dvajn and Alex were present to add injury to injury. Dvajn: 8 x 1.5 x (No Feat Applicable) = 12 DMG The lasers splashed into the already boiling surface of the metal and splattered molten flecks through the air. Right behind the blast, Alex had taken a running leap, jumping off the railing of the crawler like a pro wrestler leaps from the ropes in the corner, and raised his power sword overhead for a legendary strike! Alex: 7 x 1.5(Contender) = 10.5... 10 DMG The sword cut into the metal like butter as Alex vaulted over Beta, landing and rolling on the opposite side as the mech crashed hard on the stone ground. At once, all of the fighting in the room stopped as the Vultures witnessed their hideous demon ally receive a total beatdown at the hands of the Muramasa crew, and a fear sunk into them as their opponent's prowess became evident. These weren't the "disorganized mess of would-be heroes" that anyone expected. The morale of the Muramasa crew soared, and Neasha and Red cheered in unison at the sight. But as impressive of an attack it was, Beta wasn't dead yet. She painfully rose to her hands and knees, growling furiously, only to be seized upon by Golem once more. Golem: CH2/5, 5, Passed Golem: 4 x 1.25 + 10(Hydraulics) x Hydraulics(CH1/3, 2, Failed) = 15 DMG This time, Beta wasn't able to break loose. The machine faded from a glowing red to an obsidian black as it fruitlessly struggled against the overpowering defensive drone, and she was liable to be crushed to death. The reactor on her back was howling, spinning at full speed to gather up power, and yet she seemed to be smothered by the strength of her opponent to the point that the weight exerted on her heels caused the stone ground to crack beneath her. Up above, Dvajn looked down on the pathetic, wretched little lump of death-worshiping evil he allowed to invade this universe, and decided that the moment had come to ditch his fake identity. One well-timed incantation could potentially wipe out the Death Vigil's chances of gaining control of the Archive and bringing about disaster. More importantly, he had known "Damya" long enough to expect at least one more trick up her sleeve. Yes, this was the time, while she was on the ropes. Landing on the ground ahead of the Crawler, and close to the Infernal Machine, he focused the ground, and within seconds a bluish flame began to rise from the inert ground in a ring around himself and the grappling foes. At this point, he wasn't too concerned for Golem's safety, as it was merely a drone that was doing its job. If it fell into the portal, it was an acceptable loss. Beta, even while down on her knees and struggling to escape certain death, somehow managed to take her concentration off of the killer robot and addressed Dwan through clinched teeth, cursing every fiber of his being. "I knew... I knew it was you. You couldn't stay away, hyeh... my life is... too much fun for you," she grunted. Her helmet uncloaked at the front, revealing her crazed eyes, staring him down, trying to break his concentration. While his opaque visor revealed nothing, behind it Dwan clenched his own teeth and concentrated on the incantation, if even for the slight possibility of finishing it faster, for time was of the essence. "You think I didn't predict this?" Beta spat. "You think... rrhaagh... You think I didn't plan for this? After what we've... been through!?" This time, Dwan, without even giving her a look, spoke: "Sure, but when could you have planned for this? ...when you were out abusing my trust!?" "Well... you're right, hyeh hyeh hyeh... I didn't have enough time. I didn't plan for this at all." Dwan disregarded the statement. Beta was on the brink of defeat, as the ring of fire around the two continued to rise, and the floor below them glowed with the growing power of his incantation; she was merely stalling for time which wouldn't be available to her. He almost felt like he could rest assured, but he didn't. Especially since Beta really wasn't out of tricks. "...But Yanim did!" Beta called out. Dwan looked up to see the Velkratkammik suddenly glowing bright red, but not in a chaotic way like it had done when it was overloaded. Suddenly he understood; the reactor wasn't failing to supply power, Beta had been saving it up instead, and now all that built up power was flowing freely into her final ace. This was the Zhukamangana- the Eater of Nonsense. The blue aura which had pooled around their ankles was repelled in a perfect ring, like magnetic shavings fleeing from their own pole. Bathed in the red light, Dwan found his power fading from sight; it seemed impossible, and yet all at once, the portal was scattered in an explosion of sanguine-colored sparks as the metaphysical distortions cancelled each other out.The Infernal Machine, now practically overflowing with power, slowly reversed the tension applied by Golem, and suddenly broke free, forcing the defense drone backwards before pivoting hard and slashing at Dwan's helmet, knocking it free to reveal his horrified face as he backed into the front of the crawler. The Muramasa team scrambled to respond, but in an instant, Beta had pinned him using her tail- the scissor-like blades positioned across his neck, threatening decapitation. "Oh, Dwan... if only you had stuck to serving me spirits. Oh well. It is what it is, after all! Hyah hyah hyah hyah hyah!" She cackled triumphantly, to the point that nothing could be expected except the dwarf's imminent demise, but instead, the pent up energy from her on-board reactor was diverted into the repulsors, which fired on every side at once. Golem, and all of the others currently surrounding her were knocked back by the immense release of force, before the robotic shell took off once more, skating along the wall in a torrent of the Muramasa team's fire. It outmaneuvered the whole team, snatching up the Archive as it did so, and placed it on its back, wrapped tightly using the bladed tail. "I need cover, now!" she called out to her allies in the Vigil, and they responded with smoke grenades that cascaded over the battlefield like an eerie green fog, thanks to the teal-colored lighting within the tunnel. "Fuck, no!" Arkadam blasted as he ran up to the railing where Karl and Eve stood by, raising his rifle and firing blindly into the smoky haze. The others followed his lead, pouring a maelstrom of attacks into the unknown, but it was too late: the Velkratkammik, carrying the Archive which would doom the galaxy, burst through the cloud and flew over the crawler. Arkadam was hit in the shoulder and flipped end over end, narrowly avoiding a broken neck as he landed on the floor of the crawler, his arm completely dislocated. The Infernal Machine touched down and skidded to a stop in front of Archangel, battle scars visible on every square inch. The helmet cracked open and lifted up, venting a foul-smelling steam in the horseman's direction. "Perhaps leave 'satisfaction' for the next encounter," she cautioned, playfully. "I won't be able to bail you out again until my burns are treated." The helmet snapped back down, and the machine skated its way up the ramp through the destroyed blast doors, leaving Archangel and the Vultures to cover the withdrawal. Red was practically convulsing in panic. "No, no, no, no! We were so damned close!" Neashsa bolted to her feet, grabbing one of the dead Argos operative's rifles and forcing the tip of one of her claws into the trigger guard. "Godsdammit, all of you! You don't know what the fuck you're doing!" she screamed at Archangel.
Alex got up on his feet, bewildered and confused "What the fuck was that?" --- Archangel ignored Beta's snide remarks. He'd deal with her later. Right now there were more important matters to attend to. Godsdammit, all of you! You don't know what the fuck you're doing! "I do actually. I'm just programmed not to care." Archangel reached for a small container hanging on his belt. He pressed a button on it and threw it in front of him "Even in victory, you lose Caine! But let me leave you with a parting gift." The air around the container began to fill with a thick orange smoke enveloping the Vultures. The one who was injured in the fighting began to cough wildly. "You see, I would advise not going into the mist. It's not good for organics. It will evaporate in a few minutes. Don't worry, you won't die here. Not now at least." The machine began a synthetic laugh as it turned around and began to race back the way they came. Behind him the other vultures began to drop similar containers leaving the trail of orange fog behind them. In front of the crew the remaining Vulture was scratching and crawling towards them. His helmet had retracted back into his suit, leaving his agonized expression to be witnessed. Made worse by the hemorrhaging of blood through all his orifices. He was dead in seconds, but they felt like years. "Specter, we're coming up the tunnel, Beta should be there soon with the Archive. Get the doors ready for her." --- "On it." The Buzzard decloaked allowing for Beta to spot it. His eyes caught something else on the radar. "Hello, what's this?" "Is that the..." Countess wondered as she saw the same thing. She looked at him with some form of perverse glee in her eyes "Blow it!" "Hold on there, I'll do one better." A few strokes on the console and he was in contact with someone, someone who would love to take part in what happens next "This is Specter of the Starving buzzard, calling Horseman Nathaniel on the ship, Poltava. Come in." "This is the Horseman, what do you need, buddy?" "We got the Archive, will be with you shortly, but that's not the best part." "Oh?" "We have their ship's coordinates." "Send it here, now!" They could hear the Nathaniel give orders to his suordinates "Mobilize the scythes, now! I wan't a bombing run on those coordinates 15 minutes ago!" Specter looked at Countess with a sly grin on his face. He never let it show, but he was really pissed off at that cew of shitheads. Now he got to kick them right in the teeth. --- Minutes later Archangel was on the surface with his team, boarding the Buzzard, oblivious that Specter's actions for only a few minutes more.
Dwan just remained where he was, sitting with his back to the crawler, in shock. His head lay on the side of the transport vehicle, his pupils constricted in light of what had just occurred. He didn't even consider what the others may think of the fact that he just opened a portal, heck, they may have just glossed over that fact in sheer stupor. He just.... didn't know what to think. Somehow, Beta had managed to figure out a way to at least subvert his ability to use the portal. He wasn't even sure what she meant by "But Yanim did!"... Was Yanim so paranoid about his true nature that she was looking into ways of fighting back? She couldn't have been..... right? Right? Even if she was, she wouldn't have the necessary inf- He just suddenly started groaning, as he realized what had occurred.
Iron went up to Taylor, gun still raised, and scanned the area. "If we got any tricks up our sleeves this would be the time." In the back Karl rushed over to Arkadam and flipped him over on the side. After a quick bloodsweep the hunter grabbed the dislocated arm. He grimaced. "This will hurt." Crack.
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