Starpath: Scoundrels of the Interstellar Highway - Thread 2 - Games

[i]Istasha shoots at the hand. Johannes is still waiting for his last actions to occur.[/i]

[Read the post again, dummy.]

[i]Johannes reaches back and unsheathes his nano sword from its back holster and swings his sword in an arc, aiming to cut off the head of one of the two remaining Corsairs and then cleave into the other's shoulder and chest in the same swing.[/i]

Johaness misses his intended targed as the pirate ducks under the swing. The blade barely singes the armor of the other man. They both tackle him in responce.

[b]"Alright fuckos you wanna play this game?"[/b][i] Johannes begins shooting refrigerant out of the ducts on his hands, spraying the men with it as they try to pin him down, all the while fighting like a cornered mongoose to get them off him.[/i]

The spray of cold air catches both men unaware. Moving becomes difficult as the cold creeps through their bodies, allowing for Johannes to escape their grasp.

[i]Johannes scrambles up, retrieves his sword from the ground, and plunges it towards the back of one of the men with one hand, aiming and firing his revolver at the head of the second.[/i]

The sword pierces the heart of its target. The galactic thug hits the ground silently. The last remaining pirate manages to recover from the frost fast enough to dodge the bullet and smack the gun out of Johhanes' hand.

[i]Johannes grunts and cracks his neck, by this point thoroughly irritated. He draws his knife from its holster and jumps at the man, aiming to drive the blade into his throat.[/i]

As Johannes is in the air mid-jump, the Corsair jumps from his own position shoulder first. Effectevly spearing him and knocking the wind out of him.

[i]Johannes falls to the ground and rolls, springing back up on his feet. He grows two ice daggers in his hands and lunges at the man again, aiming to slip one into his chest and the other up into his neck.[/i]

The daggers tear through his jacket and flesh as it were tissue papper. Whatever fight was left in him fades away as the life leaves his body. Johannes is victorious today.

[i]Johannes returns the ice and metal to his suit's tanks, retrieves his sword and revolver, and walks out of the building. He hears the beeping of the bomb and looks around, trying to figure out where it's coming from. He uses his visor's thermal imaging to see through the smoke.[/i]

Johannes easily makes out where the beeping is comming from. In fact, he does it so well, he can could even trace the manufacturer of the beeper.

[i]He jogs over to it to see what the device is that is using a Magnavox Industries IntelliChirp mk23 "Audible Indication Device"[/i]

[URL="https://youtu.be/NG1qKzIsisU?t=19"]He makes a shocking discovery.[/URL]

[b]"Oh god damn it."[/b][i] With only a minute left on the clock, Johannes does the only thing he can think to do. He presses his hands against the computer display and starts to pump refrigerant into the cracks and casing, hoping to freeze the systems and prevent a detonation.[/i]

The refrigerant begins to seep into the device as it continues to count down. Each second more and more sinks in until the clock reaches 0. There is one final click and then nothing. Johannes managed to disarm the bomb in time.

[b]"Thank fuck. Holy shit."[/b][i] Johannes steps away from the bomb a little shakily and scans the area, looking for any more enemies.[/i]

The pirates were either dead or dying and the Dusts were nowhere to be seen. The coast was clear.

[I]Johannes runs back inside, grabs the transfer drive, having done its work and raided the servers for all the information on them, and bolts out of the camp. It doesn't take long for him to reach Istasha, and for them to climb aboard their atmospheric entry vehicle and ascend into orbit and from there to a debris field hiding Istasha's cousin's ship, the Hephaestus.[/I]

[I][Sekadera... You're ashamed of me? You aren't really my sister, I know. But somehow, I know you still are. You're what's eating her from the inside out, what's eating me- and our family, too. Fuck you. Fuck what you've done to us. You can try to poison me with your philosophy all you want, but I'd rather die than to enjoy what I'm about to do. But I can't. If I die, the bomb will detonate. I'll have destroyed this whole settlement and killed everyone inside of it. I should have refused. I should have let them lock me up... General! I thought you were the father I needed; I thought you would teach me how to be a real man. But now, I see your betrayal. You'd have a whole city of innocents die, and maybe more, all for victory against one bandit? Where are your ethics? Where are mine!? I was never your protege, was I? I'm just a weapon at your disposal. This is a coward's fight!][/I] Ryvik stood at the halfway point between Iska and Beta. A new resolve boiled up from inside. It was time for him to be the person he knew he should be. He slammed his fist into the metal stacked next to him, sending a hollow ring into the scrapyard like a bell, announcing his approach. Beta was waiting to ambush him, so he would rob her of the satisfaction. He wasn't going to let her hunt him, and he wasn't going to use Stalnazyp as his shield. He would hunt her, alone, with nothing but his own life at stake without the intervention of the Perikal. [I][And fuck you, Iska, for giving her exactly what she asked for.][/I] His chest plate extended, revealing the bomb's control panel. With a quick six-digit code entry, he locked the device's dead hand switch into its safety position, allowing him to leave his armor behind with the confidence that it would not detonate accidentally. Once the pieces had retracted themselves, he stepped out into the snow and pulled his OBV out of the magnetic "holster" on his armor's back. All at once he knew that, behind all the aesthetic differences between himself and his sister, the Collective had made them both. It only makes one type of creature. Vorokar, Yanim, and Ryvik were all products of its immense cruelty. All that separated them was how they took to their upbringing. "[I'll show you 'something special,']" he hissed. [video=youtube;WaQPEYuzqro]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaQPEYuzqro[/video] Ryvik charged forward, diving out of the opening as plasma shrieked through the air, painting the walls behind him with splattered embers of molten metal. He rolled in the snow, unsure of where the blasts were coming from, but utterly determined to advance. He hit something hard in the snow, and, instinctively recognizing the body of a fallen comrade, he wasted no time in pulling the blackjacket's sidearm out. Another leap forward and the blasts spattered the ground from nearly dead-on; his training allowing him to sight his corrupted sister. [I][Above.][/I] He reversed course and gripped the fallen soldier's arm, dragging him up from the ground and using him as a shield. "[Not so helpless after all?]" Beta mused as Ryvik's blind shooting hit the crane's cabin, above her. Looking carefully through her scope, she realized why her brother was so hard to hit. Losing his armor had increased his agility, but he was sorely missing its infrared visor. "[Lousy gimmick,]" she spat, firing several rounds into the corpse blocking her foe. Ryvik, however, wasn't looking down his sights. He was watching for Beta's muzzle flash, and finally spotted her nightmarish hanging technique. He ignored the spurts of plasma which pierced his shield and burned him, placing his aim directly on her and pulling the trigger without hesitation. Beta screeched indignantly as the VRI scorched her. Of all the guns she had encountered, it was that damned plasma pistol which always seemed to hit its mark. Her light armor diffused much of the impact, but the message was clear- Ryvik was done with her games. She lifted her body, gripping the wall of the cabin and dislodging her heels, sending herself tumbling through the air. The jet pack caught her fall and she rolled, returning fire with her OBV, but Ryvik was already moving, continuing to evade her as he sprayed the air with both of his weapons. "[Maybe you really are my brother~!]" she yelled, gleefully. "[You're an orphan,]" Ryvik replied, coldly. The ammunition in his pistol had run dry, but the OBV still had plenty of shots left. Beta's rifle had also been depleted, but her pistol was still in her boot, ready for firing. She pulled the plasma cartridge free from the OBV and spun, reaching for her pistol; but Ryvik instinctively knew her plan. He had seen her do it in the Prospera footage, but this was far in the back of his mind. Like a robot, he snapped to attention and sniped the plasma cartridge while it was still in her hand. "AAAAHGH!" Beta screamed, the detonation blowing her trigger hand to pieces. "Shhhnkaaaa..." As blood sprayed out of the mangled stump of her hand, she haphazardly retreated, trying to pull the VRI out of her right boot with her left hand. Ryvik pumped several more bursts into her before she finally panicked and leaped for the scrap piles, her jet pack assisting the ascent. "[What's the matter!? All out of tricks!?]" Ryvik screamed. "[I'm not done with you!]" He tossed the pistol away and sprinted after her, but the distance was long. She crested the hill before he could catch her, his shots piercing the air around her. She had evaded him, but the fight was only beginning. "[She's here!]" the militiaman yelled, aiming his machine gun at the monster. He caught a glimpse of her savage eyes as she fired a wild spray of plasma with her off hand. The splash was enough to throw off his aim, and she dove feet-first at his legs. The blades in her heel were deflected by his armor, and he landed a mighty punch to the side of her head. She stumbled, losing her footing on the hazardous ground and falling, the rusted mesh below her giving way so that she landed painfully on her back in the corroded remains of an old spherical fuel tank. As she gasped, the shadows of the khergians appeared above her, but they hesitated. They couldn't see her; the interior of the tank was nothing but a void, to them. "You, kanad-" Iska instructed as Ryvik arrived, "shoot and make light!" "Fuck you." Ryvik pulled the cartridge out of his OBV and threw them both aside before jumping onto the tank's surface, stomping with his feet so that he would break through the rust. He fell several more meters, landing just to the side of his pseudo sister, but unable to see her in the total darkness. She kicked at him with her heel desperately and struck him several times, leaving bloody gashes, but Ryvik was fanatical, seizing onto her foot, planting his leg, and dislocating her ankle with a quick turn. Still holding her leg despite the slowly accumulating wounds on his arms, he stomped at her with his boot, breaking her ribs. Beta thrashed desperately. There were no more nanites to save her; this fight was to the death. "[Kill them both!]" Iska instructed. The other khergians raised their guns and fired blindly into the darkness, only to watch as the two kanads suddenly exploded out of the side of the tank, Beta's overworked jet pack leaving a trail of smoke. Ryvik tumbled off of her, having been yanked in her wake, and the two landed apart from each other. Unable to run, Beta attempted to fire her pack again, but there was no power left. Ryvik felt deathly ill as the blood was draining from his body. Beta had cut him badly and the khergians had shot him multiple times. He searched for the crevice where he had hidden his armor - there were medical supplies inside - and began to drag himself towards it. The khergians followed the smoke and spotted the glowing jet pack, and were distracted enough to not notice him. He was satisfied. Beta would die, and he would live, but he would never be the same. --- The team rapidly closed on the entrance to Vostokrebh, making their presence known. "...Kyagmata!" the ahra-phi swore in his native language before hammering the general alarm. A siren sounded throughout the base, waking the soldiers from their sleep. Yanim and Arkadam leaped over the barrier and sprinted around the side of the building as two automated turrets popped out of the ground nearby. The two kanads each picked a target and hurled grenades, trying to disable them before they could fire. Yanim: CH Estimate: 1/4 x 2(Malevolence) = 1/2 [B]Actual: 1[/B] Roll Failed. Arkadam: CH Estimate: 1/4 x 2(Malevolence) = 1/2 [B]Actual: 2[/B] Roll Passed. In a panic, Yanim missed her mark completely, while Arkadam was far luckier and placed his attack on target. The turret was blown completely out of its base, sending shrapnel and flames arching into the air. As his fiance's errant grenade exploded harmlessly in the snow, the remaining turret roared to life and knocked her from her feet. Arkadam buckled down, taking the hits to the thickest parts of his armor, but was nonetheless wounded by the attack. [B]20 DMG to Yanim and Arkadam[/B] Yanim HP: 50/50 (Nanosurgeon) Arkadam HP: 63/63 (Nanosurgeon) Yanim rolled across the ground, eventually falling into a ditch, forcing Arkadam to search for an override switch to lower the barrier. "Shnka shnka shnka!" He stumbled around another corner to find the door to the guard shack and activated the armor's strength capabilities, pounding on the door to no avail. Rapidly closing in, Jag was perched atop an old off-road vehicle driven by Dio. At the last moment, Jag launched itself from the roof, aiming for the narrow window of the guard shack. Jag: CH Estimate: 3/4 [B]Actual: 2[/B] Roll Passed. The sanghvi narrowed its cross section down to its narrowest diameter with its stone tentacles outstretched, bursting through the thick glass and impaling the ahra-phi behind it. Straightening up as much as it could within the tight confines of the tiny building, Jag loomed over the rapidly bleeding-out soldier and felt an overwhelming pang of sorrow for his death. It had to shake itself back to reality, turning toward the gate controls and opening the way for its comrades. The gate opened as the others arrived on their vehicles. Ahead of them, the road was indeed perfectly straight, but already, soldiers and pop-out turrets were already lining up to cut them down. [B][Visual][/B] Base Entrance: 1 Turret V V Outer Roadway: 2 Turrets, 1 APC, 10 UGC Soldiers V V Inner Roadway: 2 Turrets, 1 Tank, 10 UGC Soldiers, 10 Kanad Troopers V V Base Headquarters: Hazards Unknown. The only hope of survival was to advance as quickly as possible. --- Kyrskada awoke in his bunk at the sound of blaring sirens just outside the ship. Staggering to his feet, he checked the porthole, grumbling as the surface was covered in frost on the outside, blocking his view. He quickly threw on his gear and shuffled into the hallway, annoyed with the slow pace of his fellow batakya soldiers. Sure, they had taken heavy losses that week, but that was the burden of their duty; the Collective was under attack, as far as he was concerned. There was no time to lose. As he sprinted toward the armory, it occurred to him that the attack might not be the hostile khergian locals, but rather those same rogues that destroyed the Tyrta and killed most of the Viokhmar's away team- his friends. His sense of duty was catapulted into a brewing compulsion for revenge. --- Vixe awoke with a start at the same moment Kyrskada had on the deck below. Scrambling to her feet, she realized she was still dressed in her officer's uniform, quite unprofessional (but understandable given that she likely wasn't even an officer anymore), but convenient given the circumstances. She exited into the top deck, where there were a few highly-confused and recently-promoted bridge officers milling about. "[Are we under attack!?]" one of them blurted out. "[Sounds like the base is,]" Vixe replied. "[Go find your commander.]" "[Uh, mam...]" one of them replied. "[Oh, right,]" Vixe said, shaking her head as she tried to wake up. She had forgotten that her status, still being under review, meant that she was still the commanding officer of the ship, since Commander Ryakir had died in the fighting. "[Stay on the ship. Sergeant Kyrskada will lead the defense.]" They nodded in response, but were left without direction, and so they sort of wandered aimlessly around the ship, unsure of what to do to help. Meanwhile, Vixe opened her comm line to Kyrskada. [quote][The hell do you want, traitor?][/quote] Vixe rolled her eyes. "[I've just informed the officers that you're in charge of defending this vessel. Do whatever you feel is appropriate.]" [quote][...Understood. Stay out of my way.][/quote] --- Ryvik let out a yelp as he lowered himself back into his armor. Immediately, he activated the pressure-suit function, which used compressed gasses to force the inner liner against his body, exerting positive pressure on the wounds and stopping most of his bleeding. He also utilized a small supply of synthblood to give himself an emergency transfusion. He felt pain all over his body, and weakness as he forced himself to stand, hobbling closer to the light of the passage exit. Suddenly, it occurred to him that he had only been able to locate his armor because he and Beta had landed in the same jagged crossroads where Bubal had been knocked unconscious. There was a lot of shooting going on, and to his disbelief, Beta was not only still alive and fighting, but had located her discarded tail and dislodged it from the khergian corpse it had been tangled in. Bullets smashed into her armor in various places, shattering it and piercing her further, and Ryvik was certain she was about to die, when the tail suddenly went limp- its internal power supply drained in favor of the jet pack. Beta wasted no time, rapidly climbing out of the valley and disappearing over the ridge. Ryvik slid to his knees, holding his head in his hands and waiting for the infusion to give him strength to continue. The khergians would soon be searching for him; he had to run. But for a while, he considered re-arming the bomb and waiting for them to find him. He finally found the strength to crawl away.

Amy stopped the bike near Iron's truck. The lines of defense didn't exactly fill her with too much confidence. The turrets were stationary and could probably be taken out with a well placed sniper shot, but that APC and tank were going to be a problem. "Boss, captain. What's the plan here exactly?"

Taylor's bike eased to a stop near Amy. "We gun it. Rush in, do what we need to do, and get out. Take out the turrets first and foremost. As for the APC and Tank, try to avoid them or plant an explosive in a weak spot. But we have to do this [B][I]QUICKLY[/I][/B]. We get bogged down, we die." After finishing her statements, the bike revved up again, and darted off towards the base entrance. There was one turret left, and it needed to be taken care of. As she neared it, she tapped a button on the scout bike's controls before her, and fired off a few shots from the plasma cannon mounted just under the nose of the bike. She'd save the missiles for the Tank and APC. The drone that Valk made ride with her readied its own weapon, another plasma rifle.

[quote]We need to advance; stick together so that the turrets divide their fire! If you have heavy weapons, use them against the armored vehicles! Go![/quote] From the sound of her voice, the crew could tell that Yanim was nervous, but not panicked, after the faltering of their plan. As per usual, her do-or-die attitude was in force, even as she was hiding in a ditch from a machine gun's ferocity. Taylor: CH Estimate: 2/5 [B]Actual: 4[/B] Roll Passed. With a spatter of heavy plasma bursts, the cannon was blown off its base, and Taylor roared in on her motorcycle. Arkadam darted out from behind the guard shack and hoisted Yanim to her feet just in time for Karl to arrive with the skiff and drop off their Komet. "Not too bad;" Arkadam joked: "so far, only we've been shot, dearest." He quickly unhitched the bike while exchanging his decoy OBV for the Type-1 he was accustomed to. Yanim nodded in agreement as she straddled the bike, a metallic sneer barely audible. "Shut up and get on already. I want you to shoot soft targets while I focus on evasion." The Komet grumbled as its jets blasted the ice out from under its skis. --- Ravis listened to the comm messages with bated breath as he and János waited to conduct their rescue mission. "They've already been spotted..." Ravis muttered. "I uh... I hope they know what they're doing. I mean, I'm sure you all know what to do, considering what you did on Voyak... that was, uh, yeah... that was amazing. I wish I could do something like that, you know? Something crazy cool and heroic," he said. After a moment of silence to listen in on the brewing action, he turned to János again. "Do you think I... that I could do it? That I could be one of you?"

János was slightly caught off guard by Ravis' question. He took a moment to consider how exactly he was going to answer it, since he began wondering if he considered himself 'one of them'. After a bit, he finally figured out his answer; "I'm not sure if we could call what we've done thus far cool and heroic," he started off, sounding slightly sad, "we've hurt our opponents and have managed to fight off their attempts at destroying us, but at what cost? We're considered a criminal group. Vilified, despite the fact that not all in this company, heck even in the crew, are mercenaries looking for money and adventurers searching for their purpose," he stated, motioning to himself. "Look at me, for example. I'm an interrogator, working as a warden. From what I remember of my past life, I interrogated through the befriendment of those lucky enough to have not gone to the interrogators who used brute violence. I barely have any combat training, outside of what the company has provided me. In a way, in comparison to almost everyone else on the crew, I'm basically a pencil pusher. "But I've done things, [I]major[/I] things, within this company, some good, some bad, and some I'm not even sure of anymore. And I've been taken out of my comfort zone, forced to fight against the enemy, coming out relatively unscathed thanks to my androidness, and driven to abandon my interrogative style for something more threatening for at least one prisoner. If there's anything we as a crew have done, out of what you've said, it is crazy things," he spoke. "I don't feel like I can continue in this business, as a mercenary, and I might end up leaving after this mission; but if there is one thing I'm certain of, I probably would've left a while ago if it weren't for my colleagues, my current peers - the crew," he looked right into the lirya's eyes. "It doesn't matter what kind of person you are, a pencil pusher, or the most violent being in existence, if you're going into this business, you need to have some sort of comradery. Unless you're someone who can survive long periods of their life alone, or someone who sees all as their enemy, [I]camaraderie[/I] is what ultimately gives you the will and the power to push through and do what you have to do. "As long as you have that, I'd say you could be one of us," János gently smiled at the winged furry, before patting him on the back. "And right now, we've got a job to do."

Ravis jumped a bit when János touched him. "Oh! Uh, yeah..." he stammered, "I guess I didn't think about it like that." For a while, the two were silent as they listened to the comm. Finally, Ravis spoke up again. "...I think you sell yourselves short," he said a bit quietly. "It's not like... I don't mean you're heroes in the grand sense. Nobody can be the good guys everywhere they go, you know? But the other day, when the enemy came for us, when mister Arkadam got poisoned... I'm the one who spotted that canister. I should've been the one... but I was scared. He almost died to save us. And before, on Voyak, you guys risked so much for Jason's sake and you didn't even really know him... You don't leave people behind," he said, his eyes gleaming.

János put his hand on Ravis' shoulder in a friendly manner, acting as though he knew about the canister and all that. "Some folks handle pressure in intense situations better than others, and that's normal. And with Jason, it was just part of the job. He had the Archive, and he was supposed to join the crew anyway, so all the better," he told the fella. "But maybe you are right; maybe I am selling myself short. Though it seems ironic when you say it, doesn't it, since you were the one asking if you could be one of us?" he smiled, huffing despite not actually blowing air from his nose.

Amy followed after Yanim and Taylor's bikes. The bike didn't have any guns, so she would have to focus on dodging incoming fire. "Mark, you think you can hit some of those?"

"Not with my rifle" he huffed, clining on steadily as Amy vanouvered the vehicle at a high speed. "But I got another idea". As they roared past the two kanads and the destroyed turret, markus fished out his flare gun. " Just keep goin! We can let the cavalry deal with these wankers!" he yelled. Aiming his flaregun as best he could at the breakneck speed he fired off a ball of bright red light and thick smoke into the crowd of UGC soldiers, hoping to distract or even maim or blind them. --- Sting bounced around in Irons truck and turned to Alex, "You take care o this computron, hoss. I'm gonna get my hands dirty." she said, motioning to the turrets controlpanel while fishing out her revolvers. Sting popped the hatch on the trucks roof and emerged with a schreeching cry while totting all four of her guns, "Go Bama! Roll Tide!" she exclaimed as she fired blindly into the crowd lf soldiers in the distance. [Quickdraw]