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

((I've stopped pulling punches, as I repeatedly warned I would. This mission was actually 100% winnable, but a few too many bad decisions and things gone wrong have piled up in a row. Don't worry too much about it, though. I have a backup plan.))

((Final chapter includes the execution of all the TBC members.))

((Couldn't do the combat update tonight, too tired. Have this little scene in the meantime.)) "[She's awake,]" a familiar voice spoke. "[Look in her eyes, the dilation has subsided-]" "[I see. Bring her around yourself,]" another voice instructed. Yanim didn't recognize it. "[Make sure she understands basic commands.]" "[Okay.]" Gataska leaned over the operating table so that Yanim could see her. The two stared at each other for a painfully awkward moment until Gataska spoke again. "[Hey, [I]boss[/I]. It's been a while,]" she said with a hint of bitterness. "[You've been busy.]" Yanim swallowed painfully. Gataska had been her friend, once. They had crossed paths on Rigel and later Duroma, when the Archius happened to be in port at the same time as whatever ships Gat had been flying with. When Yanim formed her own crew to take part in the battle of Zeruel, Gataska had been the Belladonna's medic. Yanim always regretted the pain she had inflicted on her, inadvertently introducing her to the object of her heart's desire in Virin Rozel, before tearing that prospect away by failing to protect his life on that terrible day. Even with hundreds of millions of credits in payment, and a custom-designed robotic arm to replace the poor-quality appendage she had been saddled with, Yanim felt as if Gataska had given far more than she received. Maybe it was because Gat had been a law-abiding offworlder before Yanim recruited her. Maybe it was because she was largely innocent, as well. Now Gataska was staring down at her inside a military hospital, apparently working with the GKVR. "[...are you okay?]" Yanim asked her softly. "[Are they forcing you..?]" "[Yes,]" Gat replied, immediately. She didn't seem to fear reprisal for speaking freely. "[They arrested me right after they started their investigation. They showed me the things you've done and I've been getting updates the whole time,]" she explained while her robotic hand continued to operate. "[You've been doing a lot of killing, I know that much,]" she spat. "[It's complicated,]" Yanim strained to say. "[I didn't enjoy it; I only did what I had to do.]" Gataska glared at her. "[That makes two of us,]" she replied, intentionally allowing one of her bladed fingers to slip and leave a painful nick. "[I wanted to let you die, I hope you understand that.]" "[I appreciate that,]" Yanim replied, dryly. "[Don't,]" Gataska snapped. "[I'm not your friend, Yanim, not anymore. They took all the money away; they said I was paid 'blood money' and I think they're right about that. Then they told me what you've been doing, and all I can think about is how I pulled your wasted ass out of the desert. You should have died that day, or on Zeruel, because you fucking deserved it...]" "[Gat-]" "[[highlight]I hate you.[/highlight]]" The words came so forcefully that they hurt more than the bloody nick. "[Do you even realize, the GKVR has arrested me over and over again, every time you killed another batch of batakya grunts? They kicked in my door and dragged me out of bed, picking my brain for some minuscule detail about our past together that they might have missed before. And the more I thought about those days, the more I realized how horrible you actually are. You've ruined my life, Yanim. They brought me here so that I could assist Dr. Marinaya, either by working around your precious implant, or by identifying your remains. When this is over and you're in the Council's hands, I'll finally be free.]" Marinaya interrupted. "[Ask her the question already!]" Yanim started to look over at the black-clad doctor, unaware of her close proximity to Arkadam, as well, when Gataska seized her head and forced Yanim to look her in the eye. "[Where is the Aurikha, Yanim?]"

The battle was reaching its conclusion. Valkyrie's drone sprinted into the room and charged directly at Kyrskada, who adopted a stance to parry the robot's attack. At the same moment, Alex leaned out from behind cover to hurl a plasma grenade at the kanads hiding in cover. Drone 1: CH Estimate: 2/5 [B]Actual: 3[/B] Roll Failed. Kyrskada barely broke concentration as the grenade flew through the air above him; he was quickly able to determine that it would fall too far from him to be a threat, and that the drone was his primary target. He didn't know about the bomb inside of it, but he knew he didn't want to come within reach of its arms for fear that it would restrain him. The drone closed on the sergeant, throwing its arms out to grab onto his body for the suicide attack, but Kyrskada disarmed it instead. That is, he swung his saber, and the arms came off the drone. The kanad then kicked it backwards as if he was busting in a door, causing the drone to crash the ground two meters away and sliding on the tile floor. That's when the bomb finally detonated, too far away to be lethal. [B]30 DMG to Kyrskada.[/B] The sergeant stumbled backwards, grunting in frustration as he finally recognized the ploy. Little bits and pieces of metal rained down along with chunks of the ceiling which had been knocked loose. The blaze was growing out of control, and yet no fire control system had engaged. The harpy almost killed him after all, it seemed... he shrugged it off, trying to keep his temper in check. He looked over his shoulder at where the grenade had landed and realized it had fallen right on top of one of his companions. Alex: CH Estimate: 3/5 [B]Actual: 3[/B] Roll Passed. There was a shout of panic as the trooper realized what had landed at his feet, interrupted by a thunderous explosion and flash of light. In full view of everyone, the legless body of the trooper was propelled across the room and into the wall, where it dropped limply onto the floor. [B]Enemy Eliminated.[/B] Kyrskada let out a hate-filled bellow, turning his full attention to Alex. As Valkyrie was already at death's door, he would leave her for his remaining comrades to finish off. The damned human, he was the one Kyrskada wanted to silence the most, before he had a chance to taunt again, the bastard. Kyr marched directly at the cook with his saber at the ready. "Alright... your turn." Kyrskada: [B]3[/B] + Bladedance(CH3/10, 10, Passed) + Bladedance([B]6[/B]) + Bladedance(CH6/10, 4, Failed) = [B]23 DMG[/B] Alex HP: 81/125 Knowing the danger the sergeant posed, Alex quickly jumped backwards when the kanad came within striking distance. Kyrskada chopped his way through the cover Alex had been using, swiping again, wildly trying to immobilize Alex by hacking away at his legs. Thanks to the backwards scramble, Alex was only hit and burnt twice, whereas a more direct hit might have been life-threatening. Having finally gotten out of the way, Alex was no longer in the line of Amy's fire. Amy: CH Estimate: 1/3 [B]Actual: 1[/B] Roll Failed. [B]10[/B] x 1.75 x Crit(CH1/2, 2, Passed) = [B]35 DMG[/B] Amy had been aiming to disarm the kanad, but had missed and struck him in the helmet instead. This time, the shot clearly inflicted a great deal of pain, as Kyrskada doubled over, barely catching himself on the floor before bolting upright again. There was visible damage to his helmet afterward, and he seemed almost dazed, as if he had lost track of Alex in the process. Elsewhere in the room, Sting pounced on another of the remaining kanad soldiers and wrestled for control of his OBV. Sting: CH Estimate: 5/7 [B]Actual: 7[/B] Roll Passed. Very quickly, Sting gained the upper hand, forcefully flipping the kanad onto his back and ripping the weapon out of his hands. She then proceeded to fire upon him with his own gun. (Auto Roll) Sting: [B]9[/B] x 1.75 = 15.75... [B]16 DMG[/B] The batakya trooper took a plasma blast to his chest plate with a loud, pained yelp, before finally summoning up the strength to break out of his opponent's grasp. He wound up and threw a huge hay-maker punch. Kanad 7: [B]10[/B] x Crit(CH1/2, 1, Failed) = 10 Sting: DEF Roll = 5 [B]5 DMG[/B] Sting HP: 48/50 The two were knocked apart from each other at the same moment that the remaining two troopers fired on Valkyrie unhindered, clearly expecting to deal the finishing blow. Kanads 8 and 9: {6, 7} + {4, 4}(Numbers) = 21 Valkyrie DEF Rolls = {5, 1} [B]15 DMG[/B] Valkyrie HP: 7/125 Unbelievably, Valkyrie survived again, suffering additional burns but otherwise avoiding grievous injury. Kanads and humans alike filled the air with vulgarity at that moment, mutually infuriated by the situation. But now that the kanads had left their cover, they would be punished by Iron. Iron: {3, 10 x Crit(CH1/2, 1, Failed), 5, 6} x 2 = [B]{6, 20, 10, 12}[/B] One after another, Iron blasted the kanads ruthlessly and drove them back to seek cover again. One of them lacked a rifle, all of them showed signs of wear on their armor, and their morale had clearly fallen as Valkyrie was still alive. The TBC crew almost couldn't believe their eyes. Was it working? Were they about to break through in some sort of miracle, like they managed to do on Voyak? Markus swore loudly and ducked, barely avoiding an out-of-control motorcycle which tumbled into the room and exploded against the rear of the rover, bursting into additional flames which clawed their way into the ceiling. The sniper propped his gun against a protruding surface and aimed the barrel down at the plaza, where he caught sight of Vixe, smiled, and pulled the trigger. But moments later, he had nothing to smile at, as dozens of soldiers closed in around Taylor and Karl. "[Sir!]" one of the troopers inside the headquarters shouted, "[The roof is coming down on our heads!]" Kyrskada snapped out of his haze, rubbing his fingers over the gash left in his helmet. "[UGC base, private. They won't turn the sprinklers on and [I]then[/I] make people evacuate... we can handle the cold, but they wouldn't...]" He slowly twirled his saber in his hand, getting back into stance as if to fight Alex some more, but he seemed too relaxed for that. The crew's hearts sank. There was no escaping it now: the battle was lost. ((From here on, we're running a cut scene. [B]There will be no rolls, combat or otherwise[/B], but feel free to add dialogue and noncombat actions.)) The UGC military flooded the steps of the building, blocking Markus's line of sight to the plaza. Sensing the imminent end of the fighting, the troopers inside ceased trying to kill Valkyrie and instead pounced on her, holding her still so that the swarm of soldiers coming in could properly apprehend her. Smoke and confusion was choking the room, and everything the crew had struggled for seemed to evaporate in front of them. They were forcibly disarmed, and pushed out the front of the building to greet the scene of carnage they had left behind outside. Taylor and Karl were on their knees there, and Vixe, half wrapped up in a bandage around her head, paced in front of them. "[The rules are simple, now!]" she barked. "[Follow directions, and you will not yet be harmed. Attack any of us and we will attack two of you!]" "[What the hell are you doing here!?]" Kyrskada screamed when he saw the captain in the plaza. "[Why are you armed? I should arrest you with the rest of these mongrels!]" "[I am still your captain,]" Vixe replied, "[and you, sergeant, will do as I say unless the order is unlawful. Do I make myself clear?]" Kyrskada crossed his arms disapprovingly. "[Fine. Prisoners, identify yourselves to the captain.]"

Markus, with his hands slightly raised in the air, raised an eyebrow and leaned slightly towards Alex who was on his right, "Looks like it was a good thing we din' let Valk make shish kebab outta this one." he said, referring to the commandeering Vixe. Sting huffed and puffed, but the UGC troopers had surprisingly enough found a aracaan restrainer. With all her hand bound by her back and her tail locked in place into the same mechanism, she glared at Kyrskada, "Aint y'all 'spouse to have some computron with our faces on it. I seen ironman over hier use one o them."

Taylor simply remained silent. They were probably asking for their names or something, but she couldn't tell as the thrashing the others had given her before dragging her out here had damaged the HUD in her helmet. The translation bar at the bottom of her screen was a fucking garbled, glitched up mess. She just remained still, sitting on her heels as she looked down at the slushed snow on the ground. Soon, they'd probably be dragged off just like Yanim mentioned. Locked up, tortured, forced to talk and spill secrets. Quite frankly, at the moment she didn't care. She wanted to get her hands around the throat of this Kanad bitch pacing in front of her. Just squeeze until her skin turned a different shade, and she was gasping for any and every hint of air she could get. Till her windpipe was crushed and her spine was snapped in two. Then, her armored friend would be next, and so on and so forth until everyone that flew the UGC or Black Fleet flag at this base was dead. She finally realized something after another moment of thought. [I]Shit, I sound like Valk.[/I] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Valkyrie, meanwhile, was softly giggling to herself and wearing the biggest grin she could muster. A few of her teeth were stained with blood, and occasionally a cough would force its way out of her chest. Everything hurt, but she took it in stride. She had lived under all the abuse the Kanads had dealt to her. As she heard the armored fuck that had stabbed her earlier ask for their names, she only chuckled harder. "[I]Valencia-fuckin'-Blackwell.[/I]" she spat out through her teeth. She wanted them to know. She turned her attention to the sargeant. "So what are we gonna do first? [I]Chemical torture?[/I] [I][B]I've OD'd on Red Ice[/B][/I], so that's gonna be a tough one for you guys. [I]Shock torture?[/I] That one will probably be fun! Oh, or [I]the old 'beat the fuck out of her till she talks'?[/I] That bitch there in the metal suit couldn't even do that, so it probably won't work for you either." she said, her big grin shifting into an insane smile. "[I]C'mooonnn![/I] I don't even care if you kill me and bring me back! [I]I already died once, so it'd be a fucking cake walk.[/I] I'll even give you messages from your fuckbuddies in the afterlife when you bring me back!"

[QUOTE]Looks like it was a good thing we din' let Valk make shish kebab outta this one.[/QUOTE] "Dont know if that's good or bad." He shrugged and turned towards the captaine. "Well, me and shorty already know each other, kinda. But if you insists." His tone remained serious at all times. "I like Alex the red the most, but I've been called Pisspot, Cookboy, Chef Asshole, Master chef, the Terror from Terra(didnt stick long), Pornstach" He glanced at Markus on that one" and Alexander Koronov...What? You asked, I'm just helping you. And do me a favor, when you find the obvious link to my father, send him a nuke in the mail." [QUOTE]Valkyrie's mad rambling here[/QUOTE] "She's our pr agent. Really good with the kids." "Alex, please stop." Amy was probably the most annoyed with her brother out of all of them. The gravity of the situation was hitting her, and his 'jokes' werent helping. She looked towards Vixe "Amy Koronova."

Karl glanced at the rest of the gang as they were forced in line and down on their knees. "Glad you could join us." When asked to identify himself he just said laughed. "I'm Karl. No last name." --- Iron kneeled down and sighed deeply. "Well... shit." He glanced around at the rest of the crew and was surprised by Valkyrie whom, despite her grave wounds, was quite chipper. When asked for identification he remained silent and hoped that the soldiers would just ignore him.

The joint enemy forces corralled the crew into the plaza near where the tank had been destroyed some time earlier. It took a moment for the crew to even begin to comply, both from the earsplitting noise of fire and intrusion alarms, the chaos of evacuation unfolding around them, and from the fact that Kyrskada had forgotten to switch back to English when addressing the crew. Still dazed from Amy's head-shot, he pulled his helmet off and wiped sweat from his brow. A bilingual UGC officer eventually translated the order. "Aint y'all 'spouse to have some computron with our faces on it. I seen ironman over hier use one o them..." "Of course," replied Kyrskada to Sting, sarcastically. "Let me just pull out my tablet and tap into the SS galactic criminal database, and identify a bunch of humans I've never met, half of them in armor, in the dark, by sense of sight and smell alone. We're just trying to make things move a bit smoother, alright? At least you'll be easy to figure out, [I]aracaanes[/I], I doubt the Belladonna scum has more than one of you." Alex was the first to identify himself. Kyrskada didn't seem to react to the mention of his cooking-themed nicknames at first, instead paying more attention to the last name Koronov. The sergeant had heard the name in the news media, but given that it was kanad-produced propaganda news, it was likely only a passing mention to a mainly-human conflict. Kyrskada shrugged. "When I find out who your father is, I'll look into killing him and anyone else in your family I can find," he joked, mirthlessly. "So you cooked for them?" he added quietly. He shook his head, seemingly disappointed in himself. Valkyrie was quick to reply next, especially since she could now see the sergeant exactly how he was- not the dauntless, revenge-driven death dealer he portrayed himself to be in his armor, but rather gaunt, with sunken, yellow eyes and white hair pulled into a long pony tail which was tucked down into the cavity of his armor. He looked more than just fatigued, he seemed physically exhausted, the kind of downtrodden appearance that normally indicates days without sleep. Valkyrie gave her full name before practically daring the kanads to torture her. The sergeant rolled his eyes. "You have to be worth something to be worth torturing," he replied, prompting his comrades to howl in reaction. "[Gag her, please.]" "She's our pr agent. Really good with the kids," Alex joked. "Alex, please stop," Amy pleaded before identifying herself to Vixe, who to this point was becoming increasingly jealous of the attention the crew was paying to Kyrskada. Vixe nodded, before pointing at Alex and Amy. "Koronov, Koronova... [same family, or different?]" Before Vixe could get an answer, Karl chimed in. "I'm Karl. No last name," he said. "The captain says she finds that hard to believe," Kyrskada said. "She didn't say anything," Karl pointed out. "She doesn't need to. Quit bullshitting." "[These ones aren't talking,]" a trooper remarked while motioning at Iron and Markus. "[That one had a sniper rifle, right?]" Vixe said, pointing at Markus. "[Maybe he's the one who shot my fucking ear off, and he's too afraid to admit it. Go on, ask him!]" Before the translator had even finished asking the question, Markus's reaction told Vixe everything she needed to know. "[Get his gun!]" Markus expected to be shot in retaliation when the soldier handed the bulky rifle over to the sprightly kanad. To his surprise however, she didn't even point it at him. "[This is it, huh?]" she spat. She marched over to the still-smoldering tank and hurled it into the gaping turret hole on top. "[We'll just call you 'Senilvipra' until you tell us your name, sniper.]" "It means 'gunless one,' yatara barbem," Kyrskada explained. "What about the other one?" a UGC phirin asked. "The aracaan called him 'ironman,' so I think we can just call him 'Iron' for now," Kyrskada replied, disinterested. "The last one must be Taylor Caine. I read about her after the other battle. Take special care of her, the SS is going to want her alive for interrogation, and I don't want her committing suicide to get out of it." More soldiers and officers from the UGC came stumbling out in semi-disarray right behind them, along with a large team of State Security officers, all of which had been evacuated from the upper floors and basement of the building. Among them, the blackjackets were the most raucous, calling for the prisoners to be turned over to the intelligence services or to be executed on the spot. The commanding officers grappled with the various factions with limited success, as the attack, the evacuation, and the sense of victory washing over the scene produced a palpable sense of bloodlust. The enemy had finally killed the pig, and the next step was to bleed it dry. At that moment, the highest-ranked GKVR officer on hand was a lieutenant colonel, who waltzed up to Vixe and Kyrskada, brimming with undeserved authority. "[Well done, well done,]" he congratulated, almost genuinely. "[You've done your country a great service tonight. But now that the enemy has surrendered-]" "[It's too late to take credit for their capture,]" Vixe interrupted. "[They were captured by the Black Fleet, and they should remain in our custody.]" The blackjacket sneered, followed by a number of his cadre. "[I respect neither the authority of your fleet nor your rank, so shut your mouth before I make a demonstration of you. But...]" he added, "[you are correct insomuch as that it's not yet time to transfer custody- I'm here to issue you a direct order. You will take these prisoners aboard the Viokhmar and fly them to Sverdeko immediately. The third bureau will arrange for their transportation off the planet...]" Interrupting the officer, one of the Peacekeepers presented a comm device to the lieutenant colonel, informing him that, as the conflict had taken place on UGC property, the prisoners should be held by UGC authorities for questioning, and shouldn't leave the base at all. Kyrskada became infuriated. "[For fuck's sake, it's not like they're all important, we might as well take the captain and just kill the rest right now-]" "[Shut the hell up, sergeant,]" the lieutenant colonel interrupted. "[Know your place.]" The crew wasn't sure what was being said, but the kanads involved were clearly becoming more confrontational, and the point of contest was clearly their ultimate fate. --- The medical drone craft finally landed on the roof of the hospital, where an awaiting set of attendants hoisted Ryvik out of the hatch and onto a gurney so that he could be transported to the emergency ward. Having just finished scribbling his thoughts into his journal, he stashed it into his pack just in time to avoid being noticed. --- Ravis looked at János nervously. There hadn't been any update on the mission in several minutes' time and it was becoming increasingly clear that something had gone drastically wrong this time. "So- so what do we do if they get caught? Do we have a plan?" János clearly didn't know the answer, as no one had shared any backup plans at any point. Ravis looked back at the empty shuttle bay behind him, the walls still lined with TAC-85 rifles at the ready. "We, uh, we have more guns. Do you think..?" Ravis started to say before trailing off. He swallowed hard. "Do you think we should do something... ourselves?"

Valkyrie chuckled a bit, ignoring the noises coming from the sergeant's men. "Trust me, bitch, I'm worth quite a lot." she mumbled, before a kanad stepped over to slap a gag on her. "Oh, [B][I]NOW[/I][/B] we're getting kinky. [I]Don't forget the leather and chains![/I]" she joked, before the gag was affixed to her head to shut her up. Only her eyes spoke now, cutting each and every one of them a crazed look. Taylor simply found herself looking up and glaring at the trio before her. Of course, being the Captain, she'd be the most valuable. And would get the shit end of the stick alongside Yanim and Arkadam. Assuming they were able to revive them. Either way, this wasn't going to end well at all.

János sat nervously as the minutes went by without any mission updates. He thought about the possibility of things going wrong, but despite thinking that something like that couldn't happen, not now, as the clock ticked, the possibility rose. Ravis broke the silence, asking if there was a backup plan in case the crew was caught. He just say there silently, as anxiety built up over the thought of that even happening. No backup plans were shared. Things were assumed to go as they usually did. But seemingly not so. As Ravis looked behind himself, towards the empty shuttle bay, János put his hands to his head, now worrying heavily. Ravis once more spoke up, suggesting the idea of possibly intervening themselves. János turned towards Ravis and looked him in the eyes; "If they were somehow outmatched, what chance do we have?" he said in a distressed tone, "The only chance we'd have if there were, say, a massive distraction that could allow us to swoop in and rescue the others..." he hypothesized, with the tone of his voice suggesting the unlikeliness of such a scenario. He placed his left hand on his face, covering his mouth completely, as he began thinking about what they could do.

Karl sighed with relief as the UGC troops stepped in, prompting an argument. Valhalla still had close ties to some members of the UGC which could earn him some leverage. Then again he was technically a terrorist now, unless his actions counted as self-defense. --- Iron glared at Taylor with a worried look. He leaned slightly and whispered. "You okay, sis?"

[QUOTE]"You okay, sis?"[/QUOTE] "No." was the reply, as Taylor glanced over. "Far from it."

While the officers continued to argue, the very last of the headquarters' occupants arrived in the plaza, including around twenty prisoners, mostly khergians who bore signs of major abuses. They were dirty, malnourished, and many had their right hands bandaged up- the GKVR had taken their trigger fingers. They were stony eyed and weary, even as they glimpsed the surface for the first time in weeks or months, but snapped out of their trance when they noticed the TBC crew. "[Who did they send?]" one asked in Khergian. They didn't recognize the winking fox logo on some of the crew's gear until a recently captured militia private called it out: "[Belladonna! They're the ones I was talking about -]" he cried out before a kanad soldier silenced him with a blow to the face, using the butt of his rifle. "[Obedience, you cur- remember it!]" the soldier instructed in an excessively precise Khergian accent. He had clearly been trained for this sort of work. "[You will not speak unless spoken to!]" Despite the guard's warning, whispering persisted as well as inquisitive glances and pointing. It was clear that they feared for both the crew's fate as well as their own. If the crew that attacked kanad bases on Voyak couldn't break them out of Vostokrebh, then who could? "[Enough of this, do as you want,]" Vixe suddenly snapped. "[I'm going to the hospital to get my head patched. Sergeant Kyrskada will stand in for me.]" "[I won't even speak with an enlisted grunt!]" the lieutenant colonel boomed, but Vixe ignored him and walked away. The argument only grew more fierce in her absence. The distraction was so great that it was quite possible for the crew to discreetly use their comms.

Taylor quietly took the chance. She spoke low, hoping that the comms system in her helmet still worked after the beating she took. "Ravis, János, really anybody. Can you hear me?" She paused, looking up at the UGC and Kanads as they bickered. "We've been captured and are being held outside the main complex inside Vostokrebh. The Khergians are here with us. Yanim and Arkadam were taken out and are being held somewhere else. Probably still inside the complex's medical wing...I don't know if they're alive or not. If you have any ideas, now would be the time because there's a very good chance we will be executed soon or taken off-planet."

Ravis went wide-eyed, more so than usual, as the message came through. "I need you to stay here," he said with an unusual icy calmness. "Keep the Cascade up and running for me until I get back." He grabbed one rifle off the wall, and then another, and another. "I- I'm gonna be the distraction."

János looked at Ravis, shocked to hear what the fella had just said. "Are you insane?!" he yelled at him in worry, "Th-there has to be another way!" he stuttered. "Maybe... maybe..." he began thinking, as he attempted to consider the implications of this kind of fight happening where it did. He then got an idea; "Wh-what if all of this had caused such a ruckus that folks were talking about it!?" he half-yelled it out, "Maybe, maybe, maybe someone is talking about it somewhere over public local frequencies!?" he stated, unsure of what he was saying at that point. "Someone must've heard the noise! Someone must've heard something through the grapevine in such a short space of time!" he began sounding frustrated.

Ravis paused for a moment, then shook his head. "You heard the captain... They can't afford to- to wait, for help, help that we d-don't even know is out there. No," he added, "it's our turn. We... I..." János had no idea that the look is Ravis's eyes was the same as what he saw in Arkadam's, before the latter chose to carry the gas canister away. Ravis sighed. "Time to be brave." He opened the hatch and stepped into the coldest night he had ever known.

"Ravis... RAVIS..... [B][I]RAVIS[/I][/B]!" János yelled at him, reaching out towards Ravis, as he watched him walk into the night. János stood there for a moment, in shock of what had just unfolded in front of his eyes. One eye began twitching in disbelief, his mind filled with conflicting emotions. His stretched-out hand turned into a fist, as it was swung hard downwards, the android yelling angrily worried "[B]NO![/B]"s whilst doing so. He stared at the floor, panting in distress. A good chunk of the crew had been captured, and one more had just left in a possibly desperate attempt to save them. He wasn't sure what to think anymore. He just didn't want to be responsible for another [I]Frosty[/I] situation. He regretted volunteering to help earlier - he always got into these situations just because he wanted to help. He overestimated his own abilities, his own emotions and ideals in relation to the task at hand, leading to something terrible happening. He knew he had to keep the Cascade up and running, even if he himself didn't believe in Ravis. He had to force himself into belief. He straightened himself up, and hoped that something, anything, would help them in this situation. Despite hearing what Ravis said, he rushed to check the local frequencies - there had to be someone, anyone, that had an idea of what was going on, and was possibly looking into getting involved for any reason. He checked fervently, knowing if he found anything that could be used as a distraction, then he could try and rally some of the remaining crew in order to join him in saving the others.

As János tuned through all the local frequencies, Eve stepped up behind him at the communcations station. "Mr. János...I overheard your conversation with Mr. Ravis. Did the both of you forget that there is a Khergian artillery brigade nearby? One could try and get into contact with them and request that they fire on the base now instead of later. It's a very risky option, as some of the artillery might hit our allies, but would provide a wonderful distraction. It possibly might even give our fellow crewmembers a chance." "I shall assist Mr. Ravis by instructing some of Lady Blackwell's drones to join Mr. Ravis in his mission. Meanwhile, I shall remain here with you and assist in any way I can. Just as Lady Blackwell instructed me to." continued Eve, before glancing back to a cluster of ADAM drones standing behind her. Three drones nodded, before walking over and grabbing several TAC-85s off the wall and heading towards the exit. Eve then returned her attention to János, folding her arms behind her back.

János stopped everything he was doing once Eve reminded him of the existence of the artillery brigade. He turned his head slowly towards her, with a flabbergasted look on his face. He kept his gaze aimed at her, as he examined his memories of earlier. Once he reached the section where that fact was specifically mentioned, his face went smeckledorfed. He dropped to his knees, and just looked disappointed in himself. If Chemosh's departure didn't confirm his decision to leave the company, [I]this[/I] did. If they all survived this, he's going to leave once the opportunity arises. The company doesn't deserve someone as poor outside of their designated job as him. He rubbed his face, and waved his other hand pathetically at Eve: "Y-yeah, assisting Ravis with the drones would be suitable," he meekly said, before bringing himself off the ground. He took his hand off his face and spoke; "Taylor mentioned their approximate location within Vostokrebh and where everyone involved is at this current time. If we spread this info along with the possible plea to the Khergians to fire upon the base now, assuming they had a rough idea of where they would be based on our info, would that possibly lessen the chance of them getting hit and increase the probability of us choosing to take the risk?" János asked in a tired manner.

[QUOTE]"Taylor mentioned their approximate location within Vostokrebh and where everyone involved is at this current time. If we spread this info along with the possible plea to the Khergians to fire upon the base now, assuming they had a rough idea of where they would be based on our info, would that possibly lessen the chance of them getting hit and increase the probability of us choosing to take the risk?" János asked in a tired manner.[/QUOTE] "Yes, it would lessen the chance of our allies being injured if their aim was corrected slightly." she stated. "I would suggest alerting Mr. Ravis and Ms. Taylor of this option immediately via comms."

János nodded with tired eyes. He double-checked the comms to make sure Ravis and Taylor heard what he was about to tell them. With a sigh, he sent out a message through the comms. "As everyone surely remembers, we have a Khergian artillery brigade nearby on standby, prepared to fire upon the base. While this may be risky, with the information given, if the Khergians had a rough idea of where you guys are based on said info, we could request that they fire at the base immediately in order to create a hell of a distraction. Captain, if you can respond, what are your thoughts?" he said, rubbing his forehead as he did.

[QUOTE]"Captain, if you can respond, what are your thoughts?"[/QUOTE] "As long as that shit doesn't drop right on top of us, a few shots would work." responded Taylor, quietly. "I can give exact coordinates if need be, since that's probably one of the few things on my HUD that actually still works." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "You could combine the artillery barrage with Mr. Ravis' rescue mission. Time it accordingly, and Mr. Ravis could easily slip in and help out." said Eve, behind János.

János turned his head and gave Eve a quick nod before turning back towards the comm. "Exact coordinates would be useful if they can be provided. We can also time the barrage with, ehm, Ravis' self-assigned rescue mission he's on right now with some drones. They're packing those, whatsitcalled, TAC-85 rifles I believe, and if done correctly, he could slip in and help you guys," he stated, with some of his worriedness being audible once he mentioned Ravis.

[QUOTE]"Exact coordinates would be useful if they can be provided. We can also time the barrage with, ehm, Ravis' self-assigned rescue mission he's on right now with some drones. They're packing those, whatsitcalled, TAC-85 rifles I believe, and if done correctly, he could slip in and help you guys."[/QUOTE] Ravis was coming to rescue them? Ballsy. "Alright. I'll read out the coordinates since I can't exactly [I]send[/I] them to you at the moment." She then read off the coordinates, softly as to make sure the bickering troops in front of her didn't hear. When she finished, she checked to see if Ravis was listening. "Ravis, if you're listening, are you fine with this plan?"

"You think they'll come back soon, sir?" One of the Boome's asked while sitting on top of the APC they rolled in the TBC ship. It's been days and while they were told by Seth to stay put, the waiting was getting to them. "It's been a minute." Orso answered. "Turn on the comms a bit. Just listen in and dont say a word." He was expecting mild chatter and possible sounds of gunfire. There was chatter alright, but not the kind he liked. He was ordered to stay in one place and not budge, but the crew was out there 3 steps away from getting executed. "To hell with it." Orso nudged in over the comms "Yeah, sorry for just barging into this conversation, but you sound like you need help. I cant really do anything, but" He took a quick glance at his men. Two of them were already standing up and getting closer as if they could hear better if they moved in. "my boys arent exactly the sitting on their ass kind. I dont think I can hold em."

Ravis's voice cut into the comm channel, breathing heavy and clearly shivering. [quote]Huh? Oh- huh... huh... s-s-sorry, I uh- *gulp* I just uh, met up with the drones, huh... huh... This snow is pretty fuckin' deep... I'm s-s-still a f-few hundred meters out... huff... b-but yeah, a f-f-f-few shots should do the trick...[/quote] Suddenly, Constantine and Neasha broke in, speaking through the same microphone. [quote]NEASHA: Are they close enough? The original plan called for them to aim for the open valley just outside the base. CONSTANTINE: Our best guess puts them point-four kilometers out of range of the enemy HQ, but there's a ridge they need to stay behind so- NEASHA: Aren't the crew outside, though? CONSTANTINE: Not close enough; that only shaves fifty, or a hundred meters, maximum...[/quote] [quote]They'll uh... They'll have t-t-to move up, then. *cough*[/quote] [quote]CONSTANTINE: No good. That's what I'm trying to say- If they get any closer, they'll be over the ridge and be visible to Vostokrebh's defenses. The moment they start firing, they'd be blown away. NEASHA: Dammit. What kind of defenses are we talking about? CONSTANTINE: As far as I can tell, those missile pods at the base perimeter are Peacekeeper MPR-70s... designed for both targets on the ground and in the air.[/quote] Then, Owen of all people joined in on the conversation. [quote]So, what if, just sayin', there was an aerial target to distract the enemy?[/quote] [quote]NEASHA: No way, we can't lose the Cataract.[/quote] Owen answered strangely enthusiastically, as if he were excited to have the chance to run from deadly AA missiles. [quote]Why not? The only reason the Cascade wasn't slated for ex-filtration is because the crew was supposed to come back on trucks and motorbikes. That ain't happening, obviously, so they can just ride in the Cascade with the khergians![/quote] [quote]That'd... that'd be a t-t-tight fit... B-but I think, uh, I think it would work.[/quote] [quote]Yeah, see? Bat-boy gets me![/quote] [quote]CONSTANTINE: That... might work? We could send the Cataract as a red herring, and then shock them with a ground barrage once the pods are empty...[/quote] Then, with Orso's interjection, the rescue plan took on an even greater scope. [quote]NEASHA: You couldn't have picked a better time...[/quote]

"Better get moving, guys. We'll try and get Yanim and Arkadam out during the chaos." said Taylor. She glanced over to the others around her. They'd better hurry.

"Well we're branded terrorists too, so we're doing it against the Boss' orders, huh sir?" Orso looked at him. "Oh no, I'm just pointing you in the right direction. You decided to take matters int your own hand. Hold still." Orso took out his knife and started to carve where the Boome logo was on the marine's armor. He repeated the motion for the other two. "Looks like you went renegade in order to help our hosts in their fight. Tags." He said as he motioned with his hand for their dogtags. "Dont worry, you'll get them back when you come back. As well as get reinstated for being valuable help. Follow Ravis' lead and remember what we taught you."