• Starpath: Scoundrels of the Interstellar Highway - Thread 2
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'He even sucker punches like a bitch.' Alex thought as he was getting up. He looked towards Kyrskada. A slight grin on his face. They were already under his skin, they just needed to push his buttons some more when the time was right. "Whatever you say." --- Orso exited the APC, following Amelia. While his men were preparing to go, he was gonna stay behind to make sure she was safe. After entering the dropship he could hear Ravis' voice. [QUOTE]The drones have the guns, and I don't know... I don't know what I can even do from up here.[/QUOTE] He turned towards Janos. "If they aren't outside, then they are probably somewhere inside. Less chance for them to get hit by the barrage that way."
János heard what Orso had said, and could tell what he had to do next: "Better let the Khergians know, then," he replied, as he turned towards the Cascade's comm station and took a seat. He once more attempted to contact the Khergians, though this time they should respond much more quickly, considering they should know their frequency. ""One, two, hello, anyone receiving this message?" he said in a familiar manner.
After a brief silence, the familiar voice of the sergeant came through, "Varkin hear ok, Artillery is ready. Ship soon arrive, yes?"
"Yes, the ship's going to arrive soon, but we've got some updates regarding Vostokrebh," János responded. "Our main man on foot has arrived there and has reported back on the situation there - it seems that they moved those captured elsewhere, possibly inside now. We still have those coordinates for their prior location outside the main complex, though now it seems you don't have to avoid hitting that area," he explained, before continuing; "Since they are possibly inside now, there may be less of a chance for them to be hit by the barrage. As our main man on foot is currently on a tower right now, we could maybe even patch you through to him and perhaps have him act as a spotter if need be. And we're still able to patch you through to the ship's pilot in case you need more direct coordination for the upcoming barrage," János elaborated.
While János was busy with the Khergians, Orso tried to assist Ravis as best he could. "Hey, Ravis was it? Listen if you're safe up there and the enemy cant reach you, that's good. Means you can be our lookout for the crew when the barrage starts. Talk so I know you heard me and understand."
After a moment, a voice crackled through the line. [quote]Who am I talking to? Oh, r-right, uh, Orso... Yeah, I think being look -uh- a lookout is probably the only thing I [I]can[/I] do. I- if I crawl back down now, they'll find me pretty quick, uh, a lot of people are looking for me right now. *sniff* *cough* I'm bleeding pretty bad... I, uh, gliding isn't going to h-happen right now. I've basically treed myself.[/quote] [quote]CONSTANTINE: Don't worry, Ravis. We're not going to leave you behind. Once the cavalry comes, all you have to do is get from your current position back into the Cascade. Eve- do you think you can maneuver the vehicle close enough to that tower for Ravis to transfer in the air?[/quote] Eve answered in the affirmative. [quote]NEASHA: Well, that's good. Ravis, do you see the khergian prisoners? We need to get them out of the base or else this whole thing would've been pointless...[/quote] --- Ravis peered through his binoculars at the plaza. The tank near the steps had finally been extinguished, and the base's fire crew was battling the remains of the blaze at the HQ building, which had gotten seriously out of hand due to the long evacuation time required. Several other buildings were smoking and smoldering from embers and scattered debris, and a few dead bodies were still lying in the open. The UGC and kanad soldiers had scattered a bit since half an hour earlier, and there was at first no sign of the khergian prisoners. "Shit..." Ravis swore to himself, letting the binoculars hang from his neck. He craned his neck, trying to look down the long roadways which snaked to the edges of the base, when he finally noticed something interesting. "There's a a building down the road, I- the lights are on, I think I'm looking at kanads down there, in the street..." he explained, painfully adjusting himself in the aluminum structure so he could get a better look. "Yeah, those are definitely kanads over there... I think they're, uh, guarding the building. It's not much t-to go on, but I think... I think that's our best bet." [quote]NEASHA: If that's all we've got to go on, then we'll just have to go with it. Get the drones in there, Ravis.[/quote] Ravis checked the drones' location on his tablet, using their built-in video feed to gain a better sense of their positions. They had been instructed to take evasive maneuvers whenever possible, only engaging the enemy if ordered to, as he had done earlier, or if escape proved impossible. So far, all of the drones had survived and eluded the enemy, but were now scattered. Cursing under his breath, Ravis began to instruct them on their path of advance, toward the enemy's building. [quote]CONSTANTINE: What about the barrage? What are we aiming for?[/quote] Ravis breathed into his hand, trying to warm his lips. "Well... I don't know, sir. H-how am I supposed to know?" he answered, a bit exasperated. He had given his all just to reach his current location, but he couldn't see through walls, as much as he wished he could. [quote]CONSTANTINE: Easy now. We're just trying to learn everything we can- NEASHA: Hold on, the captain mentioned a blackjacket... those kanads you see, are they in white armor or are they in black uniforms?[/quote] Ravis blinked. He didn't even need to look through the binoculars again. "They're blackjackets," he answered without stuttering. [quote]NEASHA: Aha. My money is on the crew being in that building with the khergians. The SS would be watching them both, wouldn't they? CONSTANTINE: That makes sense to me. Ravis, you have a rangefinder on those binoculars, right? And how about GPS?[/quote] Ravis checked his equipment and found the proper way to report the coordinates he was looking at. He read them slowly into the comm, making sure that János and Varkin would hear him. [quote]CONSTANTINE: Did you get all that? Once the drones reach their mark, the militia is going to have to escape toward the plaza and then run out through the path we carved. The shells should come down on top of that building, whatever it is, once they've all made their move.[/quote] Ravis smiled weakly. The plan seemed to be back on track. Out of curiosity, he took another peek through his binoculars at the plaza. "H-hey, wait a minute!" he shouted. --- Ryvik, Vixe, Yanim, and Arkadam hurriedly crossed the open plaza toward the service platforms where the Viokhmar awaited them. When the batakya troopers spotted them, there was confusion that Ryvik quickly settled- "[Come here and give us a hand! The enemy thinks we're still in the hospital!]" Dutifully, they closed in around the quartet and guided them to safety, all in sight of Ravis, far away and unseen on a radio tower mast. As they shuffled through the armory on their way to the lift, they passed by a number of OBVs and other weapons scattered about, but Yanim was, for once, too weak to even consider grabbing one. Draped in a hospital gown and her long, unkempt hair, she looked like a ghost. Arkadam, with his heavy, stilted steps and stony gaze, looked more like Frankenstein. Unlike his fiancee, he was barely wounded aside from the terrible damage done to his face and head, and was more than capable of putting up a fight. He simply couldn't find the willpower to act on his compulsions, and they passed him by. They entered the small elevator car and rode to the second deck from the top. "[The prisoners would have been placed in the mess hall,]" Vixe explained. "[We're barely maintaining cabin pressure through most of the ship; that'd be the only safe place for them to be.]" "[That's a bad idea,]" Ryvik replied with palpable annoyance. "[They'd better be fully-restrained.]" Vixe scoffed. "[They're unarmed and we have them surrounded. What could they possibly do?]" "[Don't ever underestimate them. Every time it happens, kanads end up dead,]" Ryvik warned. "[Who's in charge right now?]" Vixe explained that her sergeant, Kyrskada, was the ship's most adept fighter and that he would take "[every precaution]" to ensure that the crew was safely neutralized. They rounded a corner, where Vixe held her badge to the door console. It had been locked from the inside to prevent unwanted intruders. "[Oh fucking dammit,]" Ryvik cursed as soon as the door slid open, revealing the entire TBC crew crouching and sitting without any form of restraint in the middle of a circle of guards. "[Have we learned nothing!?]" he barked. Yanim sneered a bit despite herself. Vixe went red in the face. "[Sergeant Kyrskada! Why aren't these prisoners bound!?]" Kyrskada turned to the captain but ignored the question. "[What the fuck took you so long? We've been ready to take off now for fifteen minutes?]" "[Sergeant, you do not disrespect a superior officer!]" Ryvik shouted, getting into Kyrskada's face. "[You have the most dangerous load of renegades this side of the galaxy has seen in decades and you've got them sitting around like it's a knitting circle?]" Taylor and the others sat in silence, gritting their teeth as they endured even more kanad bickering that they couldn't decipher. "[And who the hell are you!?]" Kyrskada howled. Ryvik had forgotten that he wasn't in uniform, and quickly identified himself as GKVR. Only then did Kyrskada finally begin to calm down. Vixe beckoned Yanim and Arkadam into the room, and finally, the crew understood what was happening to some extent. Both of them looked like the walking dead. Ryvik studied their faces and gauged their reaction. "Surprise," he said in English, a sad indifference in his voice. With sarcasm he added, "good as new." "[We're taking these two upstairs and getting this rig off the ground right now. I'd make sure these prisoners are properly bound,]" Vixe instructed, calmly. Kyrskada seemed annoyed, but nodded nonetheless. "Apparently the captain wants you all hogtied," Kyrskada explained, dripping with sarcasm. "As long as nobody decides to pull a jailbreak at 12 kilometers, we'll just zip tie your hands behind your backs. No reason to break out the heavy stuff." --- [quote]Th-they just took Boss and Mr. Arkadam aboard a starship...[/quote]
Shit. If they're bound, then the escape will be a LOT more difficult. They had to act now, or risk being at a [I]MAJOR[/I] disadvantage during the escape. Taylor glanced to the others in her group. [I]Think, Taylor, THINK.[/I] First option that came to mind was a really dumb one. But it'd cause a bit of a commotion, and probably open up some chances for the others to act. It was also more than likely gonna hurt, and [I]really fucking risky[/I], but it was an idea none the less. She waited for their conversation to come to an end, and while Kyrskada was distracted with Vixe, she lunged forwards towards Kyrskada in an attempt to spear him with her shoulder. She hoped the troopers wouldn't open fire on her, considering she was attacking their sergeant and he'd be in the line of fire, plus she was considered a high value prisoner to their superiors. Valkyrie observed nearby, watching Taylor launch forwards towards Kyrskada. Ballsy move in a room full of armed guards, but it'd make for a good distraction. She was kind of jealous, because she was the one that wanted to kill Kyrskada the most, but she'd just have to deal with it.
János squinted his eyes at the news of Yanim and Arkadam being taken aboard a starship. The thought bounced around in his metal mind before he realized something. "...if the service station we attacked at Vostokrebh was that of the UGC, wouldn't it make more sense that those captured from our crew would also be on that starship?" János suggested over the comms. "I mean, the UGC has labeled us as terrorists, so the Kanads would have to hand them over to them, right? Those blackjackets could be watching the Khergians, though."
"Your boss is a VIP isn't she?" Orso asked János "They could be trying to get her to a super-max prison. Although the siblings could be taken with her. Doubt my boss would like to risk that happening." He noticed János raising an eyebrow at that last part. "I said too much. Forget it. We should get a move on so we can get them out before the ship takes off." 'What crazy shit would you pull in my shoes, Boss.' Orso wondered. --- The wreckage of the APC was filling up with smoke as the fire spread. The explosion didn't knock him out. It was the sudden sharp pain as his legs were turned into a broken mess, resembling minced meat rather than appendages. By some miracle, the door could be opened and he tried his hardest to make make it out before he suffocated to death. He crawled and crawled for what seemed hours, but were just minutes. With his one good eye, he could make out the bodies of comrades. Butchered like animals. Dead and dying. He finally stopped when he reached the feet of two figures standing over him. He didn't need much to guess who the architect of his misery was. But he had one question. "Why?" One of the figures looked at him with hatred in her eyes, the other one looked like he was tired. "You stood in our way. Wrong place. Wrong time." "c..cunt." He coughed out. "Been called worse. Probably will be called something worse in a few hours." He lids a cigar as he looked towards his handiwork. "...her..." The wreck spat out in pain as he looked to the woman. "Oh. Well, that's not a proper way to talk to a lady, now is it." The figure didn't even look at him as he chastised him. "Seth. Please." She finally spoke before planting a bullet inside the crawling Omega brother. "We're you really going to try and defend my honor to this rat fuck?" She kicked the still body. Seth just looked at her, still with the same tired look. "I appreciate it, but come on. Drop the gentleman gimmick, doesn't fit your family." "Easy now, Karina. I'm simply making sure my business partner gets some respect. Nothing more." He chuckled. "I'll oblige you, however. Varn taught me not piss of you Swartzwassers. He learned that from your sister." "Sasha was insane and a degenerate. Don't compare us!" She was visibly getting pissed. Seth tried to ignore her as he looked towards the remains of the ill-fated raid. Karina calmed down after a few seconds. "Moving on. I upheld my end of the bargain. I help you end this raid and... " "In return you want Koronova. I know. We talked less than an hour ago. The Alpha Sisters' help me in my hour of need and in return, I'll lead you straight to Amy Koronova. Don't worry, I remember. Both she and her brother just need to get themselves out of a tight spot they got themselves in and they will come straight to us." Karina felt assured from his answer. Seth was many things and his reputation was that he was also a man of his word. She knew she made the right choice by keeping an eye on him after his fight with the Creed. "I didn't get a chance to ask you this before the fighting started. What exactly do you hope to get out of those two?" Seth looked at her for a second, then he looked towards the fire. "Payback." That was enough for her. A faint smile formed under her helmet. "You think they will be ok until then?" "They can take care of themselves." --- Watching Taylor collide with the armored midget spurred something in Alex. One of the guards was also distracted. Alex capitalized on that. He moved behind him as fast as he could. 'Welcome to suplex city, bitch!'
János lowered his eyebrow towards Orso and turned around back towards the comm station, obviously not forgetting what he just said. "Nevertheless, this does mean we have virtually narrowed down the locations of everyone we need to rescue to two areas; the blackjacket-guarded building, where the Khergians are likely located for ease of Kanad access, and the unidentified Kanad starship, where Yanim and Arkadam are at this moment, along with possibly those from our crew that have been captured," János reiterated as so Varkin knew things concisely. "So, I'd guess we'd need those two areas hit hardest with the barrage, no?" János asked all over the comms, so that they could confirm the very last details and get this show on the road.
"Yes. Aim there and rain hell on em. Don't give them a chance to breathe."
Varkin wasted no time responding, "We will strike them!" He turned his comma over to his company, "[It's go time, boys!]" As the khergians scrambled to their vehicles, Varkin and one of his subordinates started calculating the coordinates for the guns when they'd be in position to fire. --- Noticing his captain taking action, Markus sprung towards the nearest kanad to disarm him and wreck havoc. Sting also attacked, but her restraints limited her usefulness. She opted to bull charge the kanad next to the one Markus was targeting.
((Nobody mentioned binding the crew in English so it originally didn't make sense for Taylor to react how she did. I've added a line to the above post and rectified the problem.)) A chilling wind cut through the radio tower as Ravis watched in silence. He replied to János, "Th-that doesn't make much sense. Why would they, uh, need to take them on a sh-ship to hand them over to the UGC? If this is a UGC base, can't they... Can't they just hand them over now?" There was activity in the distance, and Janos found himself looking through his binoculars at the base hospital. A window had been blown out of its casing, and some unidentified creature came bursting out of it. "Woah! What is that!?" he yelled into the comm. "S-Something just came flying out of the hospital, uh, it's got a tail, and it's flying... and it's on fire!" he elaborated, a mixture of awe and fear in his voice. [quote]CONSTANTINE: It's on fire? What are you talking about?[/quote] "The tail! The tail on that th-thing is burning so bright I... I can see it from here!" [quote]NEASHA: Is it a drone? What's it-[/quote] Ravis interrupted, "They're shooting at it! The kanads- th-they're shooting from the window!" --- [video=youtube;PVg8rXlx9z4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVg8rXlx9z4[/video] Beta growled as she hit the next rooftop and tumbled back onto her feet. The great engines of the Viokhmar loomed in the distance, an eerie blue glow filling the deep channels within. It was preparing for takeoff; she had heard the chatter on the SS comm lines, and knew that if she wasn't aboard that craft that she'd miss her chance to finally erase her alpha and assume her destiny... at least for another day or so. She cursed under her breath; she wasn't sure whether Yanim would live long enough to be killed- she couldn't collect Mordecai's bounty money otherwise. She needed that money if she was going to accelerate her murder spree, the only goal on her mind. Her jetpack ignited, sending her bounding through the air again. Her tail left a trail of smoke as it burned from her rage. She landed on the remains of the tank in the plaza, to the shock of the guards on duty there. Perching on the sagging remains of the turret's barrel, she pulled out her YSV rifle and fired off six consecutive head shots, clearing the way ahead. The other soldiers began to run in terror as they realized the burning tail was [I]watching[/I] them, a camera in its center glowing with an "eye" of its own, feeding their positions into the monster's brain. The way was clear. Beta charged onto the repair platform and dove through the closing cargo doors just as the ship began to lift off the pad. --- [quote]It just boarded the starship, the UG- the Peacekeepers, they're running away from it![/quote] Neasha sat wide-eyed in her chair as Ravis's panicked voice described the spectacle. She muted the open microphone and turned to Constantine. "This is bad," she said. "What? What's he talking about?" "All that stuff about a burning tail," Neasha explained with a shiver. "Yanim's cybernetics... She originally designed them to use a tail just like that... You know she has a doppelganger, right? The one that killed those Blackjackets on Prospera?" Constantine shook his head. "I had no idea." Neasha put her head in her hands. "Yanim mentioned it to me. She was worried she had a clone running around, and I think this just about proves it." "Who would clone the Boss?" Constantine wondered aloud. "And why?" Neasha shook her head. "I don't know. But the enemy is shooting at it... so maybe the clone's on our side?" The two sat silent for a moment. "I have a bad feeling about this," Constantine grumbled. "I wonder if Argos did it. Yanim used to be one of their best contractors, after all." --- The Viokhmar shuddered as one of the guards pulled a bag of zip ties out of his pocket. He started to pass them out when Kyrskada stopped him. "[Iyokada, tie them all yourself. The rest of you, don't let your guard down.]" "Yakka," the guards replied, quickly handing the ties back and shouldering their rifles. The lights in the room blinked off once and came back on, signaling that the ship was under its own power again. A number of voices in the room seemed relieved. The pressure was mounting on the crew to do [I]something[/I], but there wasn't any clear opportunity to seize onto. Taylor decided to create her own. As soon as the guard stooped down to tie her wrists back, Taylor grabbed a hold of his arm and yanked him downward, propelling herself onto her feet so that she could lunge at Kyrskada. At least one gun was discharged in a panic, but no plasma reached Taylor in time to prevent her from dropping her shoulder and bashing into the sergeant. Despite his heavy armor, the surprise blow was enough to knock him off his heels, and he fell to the floor with his arms windmilling. Immediately, the first guard leaped onto Taylor from behind, putting her in half nelson with one arm and grabbing at his VRI with his other. Taylor threw an elbow into his ribs and the soldier fumbled his weapon. Alex was ready. He grabbed onto the kanad from behind and ripped him loose from Taylor, hoisting the heavy armor above and over his shoulder, jumping into the air as he did so and suplexing the kanad to the ground with an enormous force that knocked the air out of his victim's lungs. Amy, meanwhile, moved as soon as her brother did and snatched the VRI off the floor and, while still sliding, got the angle on her targets- the two guards standing over Markus and Sting. They had just set their aim on Taylor and fired, piercing the captain twice through the back, but they received instant payback- shots to the head and neck which either killed them or took them out of the fight. Markus sprung to his feet, grabbing hold of the nearest kanad and struggling for the soldier's rifle. The trooper headbutted him with his helmet and threw him back at the same time that Sting attempted to tackle the next kanad over, only to collide with Markus and be shot through the abdomen in the attempt. Nevertheless, the situation was completely unraveling for the kanads. "[Kill them all!]" Kyrskada roared, whipping his saber out and igniting the plasma pseudo blade. Alex had just rolled back onto his feet when Kyrskada swung in a decapitating arc to end Taylor's life, but narrowly missed as Jag suddenly burst forth from its submissive position, grabbing Taylor by the ankle and yanking her to the ground. With one of its other tentacles, the stone creature grabbed hold of a guardsman's OBV and tore it loose from his fingers. "Akha!" the guardsman yelled, stumbling into the middle of the circle, into Valkyrie's reach. She pounced on him, using him as a shield as several of the other guards panicked and fired at their comrade by accident. The soldier activated his power armor and threw Valkyrie all the way to the back wall, hard, nearly knocking her out. Kyrskada ignored the chaos in stride and locked onto Amy. Dashing forward, he dragged his saber across the ground so that he could hit her, but Alex had already begun his counterattack, swinging at Kyrskada's head. At the last second, the sergeant realized the threat and ducked under Alex's punch, slashing him across the leg with a back-handed strike and cutting Alex's foot off. Alex screamed in pain, but Kyrskada didn't appear triumphant- he knew that the momentary distraction was all that Amy needed to get her next angle. He threw up his off hand and took a shot to the forearm and another, grazing shot to the face before tripping over Alex and falling into the middle of the room. His saber deactivated itself as it fell from his hand, clanging against the metal floor and rolling over toward Karl, who dove on the weapon at the same moment a kanad did the same. The two wrestled on the ground as another trooper kicked Karl in the ribs, but eventually the huntsman managed the flick the saber out in the direction of Valkyrie, who took hold of it with a wicked grin. --- Neasha and Constantine continued to debate the doppelganger even as János, Ravis, and the others debated the likely location of the crew and the prisoners. It was eventually decided that the artillery would attack both, but time was quickly running out. "It could've been anyone," Neasha snapped. "Yanim had enemies everywhere. For all we know, the clone's just an SS pet project gone wrong. Regardless, we need to focus on the mission!" She hit the microphone switch. "Ravis! Ignore the 'creature' for a moment and give us an update on the drones!" [quote]ETA... 30 seconds! Also, that ship the Boss is on, it's taking off![/quote] He sounded surprised, as if he hadn't been paying attention. Constantine stood up, decisively. "Owen, Jason, move!" --- By this point, the alarm had been raised throughout the ship, which was now rising quickly and departing the repair platform. Vixe turned to a lieutenant. "[Lock down every door in the ship! All keycard requests come through my terminal,]" she ordered, logging herself into one of the auxiliary control terminals in the engineering department's temporary bridge. It looked and felt eerily similar to the arrangement Neasha had to work with on the Aurikha. "[I told you-]" Ryvik began to lecture when Vixe cut him off. "[I know, I know... this one's on Kyrskada, the obsessive fool. If you ask me,]" she added, slyly, "[I think he wanted this to happen. I think, deep down, he wanted a chance to finish them all off.]" Yanim, handcuffed to a nearby pipe, sneered at them. "[And what'll you do when they escape that stupid lunch room and come looking for you?]" Vixe scoffed. "[Don't you mean looking for you? I'm sorry, that's not going to happen either. But even if it did, I'd be the first to use you as a hostage.]" Ryvik slapped himself in the forehead before Yanim could even respond. Smiling, she replied, "[I'm finished either way, Vixe. They don't want me. They want their freedom. I want their freedom. There's nothing you can offer any of us that can offset it. If they escape - [I]when they escape[/I] - they will come looking for you, they will kill you, and then they'll land this ship and escape.]" Vixe went silent for a moment, thinking about her options. "[In that case,]" she said, quietly, "[[I]if[/I] they escape, and [I]if[/I] they're coming for me, I'll pilot this ship directly into the ground and kill us all. On my honor, I can't allow you all to escape a second time.]" "[I let you live before, and I can let you live again,]" Yanim teased. "[Don't you get it? You're the hostage, not me.]" "[Not yet,]" Ryvik said, locking eyes with his sister with ample ferocity. "[If she doesn't crash this ship, then I will... and I won't negotiate.]"
János placed the binoculars that were conveniently placed near the comm station back in their place, and looked towards all those on board. "I hope you're all fastened and ready, we're about to get into the thick of it," he told them, as he rushed up to the Cascade's bridge. He looked over at Eve, ready in the captain's seat. He looked over at where their spare weapons were fastened in the bridge, since they included his pistols and MAWS. He sat down in the first officer's seat, fastened himself in, and quickly grabbed some old manual that was lying around. He quickly flipped through it and placed it back, so that he had at least a rudimentary understanding of flying a machine like this, though he hoped dearly that he wouldn't end up in such a position. He closed his eyes for a moment, and took a second to just hope that everything goes swimmingly, the plan and everyone's part in it. He opened his eyes, and now waited to hear from Owen, the Khergians, and Jason.
((Oops, fuck up on my part. Didn't see the [ ] marks, so I assumed she said it in english.)) Valkyrie's grin couldn't get any wider as she gripped the saber. [I]Oh hell-to-the-fuck [highlight][B]YES.[/B][/highlight][/I] She hit the switch to activate it, then began her attack, going for the troopers attacking Karl. She swung violently at the trooper kicking Karl, arcing the the plasma blade almost like she was swinging a baseball bat. Taylor, meanwhile, scrambled back to her feet after Jag's quick save. She had already been shot twice, but the adrenaline dulled the pain. At the moment, she had plenty of other shit to worry about. She opted to help Markus and Sting this time, rushing the trooper Markus has attempted to take out. She needed a weapon. He had one. She was taking it.
Markus lay on the ground and looked up towards the two guardsmen. "Have at it, ya slags!" He roared as rolled backwards and got up into a defensive stance. Sting, however was writhing on the floor. The shots into her abdomen had done a clear number on her.
Amy took aim at the remaining guards. Same as before, take em down as quick as she could so they could focus on their commander currently in the middle. Alex couldn't get up, but he could keep Kyrskada down. He worked through the pain and grabbed the kanad by the leg and yanked it towards him. Now he was closer and ready to start pummeling the bastard's head. His pit rust was shaking off, so he knew exactly where to punch to keep his foe dizzy.
Iron got on his feet and attempted to tackle one of the guards. Meanwhile Karl did his best to ignore the fact that he was being beaten untill Valk could ease the pressure.
Jason was waiting in the Truck, silent and in the cover of dark. The engine was off but the necessities like the heater and the GPS remain open. Radio still in breast pocket, He was soon broken out of his relaxed stance when he heard Ravis reported a "creature" with its tail burning while the Kanads fire upon it. by now, Jason has his hands on the wheel. it was clear that hell has broken loose inside and he was going to be a part of it sooner.. Silence breaks as Constantine's voice comes out of his radio. An order to move out. With this, Jason grinned and cracked his fingers before pressing down on the PTT button. [QUOTE]"Roger that, Let's get this show on the damm road people!"[/QUOTE] The Truck's engine came to life. Giving it a few hums to ensure that it was working fine. He puts the truck into first gear. doing a burnout, which left a lot of snow piled up behind. The Truck was now on its way to the crew. with the intent of destroying debris along the way with its reinforced bumper.. Or to run over multiple troops to add more kill marks to his record.
Matar Nkosi felt his feet sink deep into the snow. He cursed the snow quietly and wished that whatever god which controlled the weather of this forsaken world would burn eternally. Nearby several mercenaries were busy cursing the snow as well. Unlike Matar who wore a powered armor concealed by a thick hide from a Terran bear he killed himself, his men were clad in several different suits of armor which reflected their status as guns for hire very well. Out of his eight mercenaries only two were Khergian, the same two were the only ones not covered in ten layers of cloaks and hides. Matar chuckled. He almost wished he had the same resistance to the cold as his Khergian companions. Four of the mercenaries were Humans hailing from Legkiy. Pirate scum. The two remaining members of his team was a former Krogir soldier and a Haalsian warmonk-gone-ranger. It was a odd bunch divided into two groups: Humans and non-Humans. No group trusted the other but trusted each of their own members enough to not sleep with a loaded gun undernetah the pillow. Matar on the other hand was safe. As long as he provided work that is. He didn't worry, the SSOID paid their non-existant black ops crews very well and there were always plenty of loose ends to get rid of. The only price for their loyalty was a demand for secrecy. As long as the mercenaries kept their mouths shut they would earn more money in a month than a member of the Sol Special Forces Division earned in a year. High-risk, high-reward as Matar called it. His thoughts were interrupted when one of the men called for his attention. As Matar turned to face his men the thin layer of snow which had started to cover him fell to the ground. "We found it sir." Said one of the Human mercenaries as both Khergians continued to dig into the ground. At the centre of the hole were the mutilated remains of a soldier. The skull appeared to had been either crushed or struck by a larger than average projectile. Matar didn't care. "DNA?" The Krogir merc who was sitting next to the corpse while holding a large device nodded. The device was currently scanning the right hand of the corpse for fingerprints and DNA residue. "Identity confirmed, sir. It is our target." Matar grunted approvingly. Someone had done their work for them. It's a shame, he almost wished he'd been there to see it. He looked at one of the Khergians. "Retrieve the chip." The mercenary nodded and reached for the skull. Because of the freezing cold it was easy to locate the chip and after snapping of pieces that used to be the face and rummaging through the frozen brown tissue that once resembled a brain the Khergian held up a chip with SSOID markings. One of the other mercenaries presented a capsule in which the chip was dropped. Matar nodded. "We're done here. Call for transport." The Haalsian nodded and begun hailing the dropship currently hiding in a nearby crevice. The Krogir mercenary stood up. "Shall we bury him?" [i]"It."[/i] Replied Matar. "Sir?" Matar turned around and gestured towards the body. "That corpse was no man, but a demon in an empty shell. Leave the corpse as it is. Nature will handle it." The mercenaries nodded. In a few minutes they had packed up all their equipment and shortly after a near-silent dropship without any form of markings arrived to retrieve the squad. Behind them were footsteps slowly filling up with snow as well as a hole in the ground. Inside that hole were the remains of Maddox Graves, another failed attempt for the SSOID to play God.
(( I thought Maddox’s body was taken inside the Aurikha. I clearly remember Frosty/Chemosh and Moloch trying to retrieve it. ))
((I'm pretty sure that attempt was twarthed when Vakarus almost killed Chemosh.))
((I re-read the segment and the details are a little fuzzy. But from what I gathered, Amy blew his head clean off with the AMR. Ultimately it's Komo that has the final say on this.))
((Maddox was killed when his head was blown into chunky salsa by the AMR. At the very least, I would take this to mean that his cranium and facial bones were blown open to the point that his face would no longer be recognizable- but not necessarily "blown clean off" like Radley describes. Vakarus stopped Frosty from recovering the body by cutting his arm off, and rather than recovering it himself, he picked up Frosty instead. That means Maddox's body was abandoned in the snow just short of the Aurikha's ramp, as no one mentioned it after that. As for Viper's most recent post, I think we can let it slide by saying that the chip was attached to some portion of the skull which was still attached to the neck. Btw, I'll be updating later tonight to get the game moving again, sorry about the delays.))
((Thanks for clearing that up, Boss.))
Finally getting the order to advance, Owen gripped the throttle and cleared his mind. The Cataract roared to life, hoisting its massive weight into the air with a sluggish reluctance which was gradually overcome by intense thrust. Within seconds, Owen and his ship had climbed to within the enemy radar's line of sight, immediately setting off alarms within the base's defensive network. Computerized response systems locked onto the former hospital ship and immediately discerned its allegiance using IFF, and began to arm the dreaded MPR-70 missiles. Permission to fire was granted by a living operator. [video=youtube;61Q0moGbeEo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Q0moGbeEo[/video] A dozen flashes of light erupted from the pods on the ground, creating a ring of fire around the base as Owen closed in, body shaking with adrenaline but with a steady hand guiding the stick. With the flick of a switch, he deployed flares while twisting the controls, entering into a spiraling barrel roll before cutting ground-ward in a terrifying dive. The rockets bent on their path, some missing him narrowly but exploding in the near-distance, puncturing the inadequately-armored Cataract all across its bulbous form. But Owen was only gaining speed, not turning back. He gritted his teeth, setting his eyes on the base's defense systems and waiting for the next wave. Down below, he could see the shambling Viokhmar, its nose still broken from the fight two days earlier, rising listlessly from the repair platform like a corpse rising from the grave. "Get... moving!" he strained to say through the nearly unbearable G-forces which pulled him into his seat. "Shoot... it... down!" --- "[Joskada's dead!?]" one of the blackjackets spoke into his comm. The other guard looked at him incredulously. "[What are you talking about? We just saw him...]" There was a shot from nowhere- the bullet pierced the guard's helmet with a loud ping and splattered the wall behind him with blood and gray matter. The other guard shrieked in horror, grabbing for her OBV when another shot with mechanical accuracy blew through her neck and upper body. One final shot finished her off as the drones charged out of the darkness, guided from afar by Ravis's trembling hand. They smashed through the now-unguarded blast door and into a dimly-lit narrow hallway with concrete walls, rapidly advancing toward the large double doors at the end. Ravis ignored the smaller rooms; the kanads would undoubtedly need a large room to contain the militia. They slammed through the locked doors to find that the enemy had sensed their coming and lined up in a defensive formation, a bristling mass of guns pointed directly at the opening. Plasma and OBN rounds pummeled the robots, they unloaded their TAC rifles in response but it simply wasn't enough to overcome the enemy. They staggered forward, getting shredded from the attack, closing in toward the line to where Ravis could finally see the prisoners on his tablet screen, huddled in the corner and out of the line of fire. He issued a final command- deploy the spare rifles and self destruct. "[Keep firing!]" a metalic voice echoed into the Lirya's ear. From the top of the radio tower, Ravis gritted his teeth, feeling as if he was pulling the trigger himself. The drones threw the bundled weapons across the room, over the kanads' heads, even as they fell to their knees in dysfunction. Ravis looked up from his screen to the building itself, and watched as a small section of room was blown open, smoke billowing out of the gash. "Come on... Come on..." he hissed under his breath. A moment later, as a swarm of base security rushed to the sight, the khergians poured out of the same opening the drones had gone in through, some wielding TAC-85s, others carrying OBVs and OBNs, cutting down the unready enemy in their tracks. Ravis wanted to shout in celebration, but his smile disappeared as the khergians now turned the wrong direction, away from the plaza and toward the nearest exit- toward intact machine turrets and tightly-controlled checkpoints. Ravis looked over his shoulder at Jason's rapidly approaching truck, and then back at the missile pods which were unleashing another round of attacks on Owen in the sky, and then his eyes darted to the slowly escaping kanad frigate, and, realizing that his friends hadn't been in the building with the khergians, also knew that he was the [i]only[/i] one in position to save them from their decision. He flexed his wings, grimacing as a tender wound reopened and trickled blood down his side. He could still glide, but it was going to cost him. "Guys... the c-crew is on the enemy ship, they're not with the militia... I- I'm going down there, they- the khergians- they're uh... going the wrong way," he explained, grimly. [quote]CONSTANTINE: You didn't wait for the artillery barrage!?[/quote] "I didn't need to," Ravis replied, nervously. "Call off that strike, I- I need to get down there!" [quote]NEASHA: Is the coast clear?[/quote] "Uh... no." Ravis said. And then he jumped from the tower. --- Jason's truck was already under fire before it even reached the gate- the Peacekeepers had deployed barriers across the entryway a few minutes earlier and were now using LMGs to attack him. He ducked under his dashboard and waited for the collision. Bullets tore through the metal and smashed the remaining glass while others ripped into the engine's radiator, causing the coolant to hemorrhage as it churned away, gaining speed until the bumper collided with the concrete. There was a heavy impact as the truck bucked up onto two wheels, knocking the barriers over in the process of lunging skyward until the back wheels made contact and threw the nose back into the ground. The suspension bottomed out on the landing and the vehicle bounced, heavily damaged from the maneuver. But now Jason had open road again. He peeked over the dashboard to see, even as bullets continued to rain on him from behind. The plaza was up ahead. The enemy was strangely dispersed, firing at him from odd angles, rooftops, and corners. It seemed as if someone or something had already scared them out of the way. He remembered the "creature" Ravis mentioned and wondered whether it had actually boarded the now-airborne frigate, as Ravis had said. There was a shudder through his vehicle; he could feel the parts practically shaking themselves apart as he got closer and closer to the scorched remains of the tank. When he finally neared the terminus, he stomped on the breaks and cranked his steering wheel until he was sideways, skidding to a stop just short of the HQ's staircase. The engine, which had been heavily damaged by his foes' LMGs, sputtered to a stop as he grabbed his own weapon. He announced on the comms that he was now in position, and sat the barrel down on his dashboard. It was time to start returning fire. --- The Cascade was now barreling across the landscape under EVE's control, staying as low to the ground as possible as missiles continued to light up the sky. They crested a final ridge and caught sight of the same entrance Jason had just plowed through, and ignored the enemy's raking fire as they zoomed into the open street. János listened as his friends gave status updates- the whole mission was resting on the razor's edge but there was no possibility of hesitation; all they could hope for was for Ravis to get the message through and for the militia to arrive safely. The artillery up on the hill was now setting up in position, and would be focusing everything on the frigate, and if that was where the crew really was, then János hoped that the barrage would be enough to knock the enemy ship out of the sky without being enough to destroy it. --- Ravis glided through the air headfirst, unarmed, as he had needed to shed weight and free both of his arms for his earlier stealth work. As he neared the ground, he kicked his feet out in front and used his wings to pull up, crying out in pain from the now-gaping wound. His boots hit the ground hard and he stumbled, falling on his face and arms painfully before tumbling to a stop behind the khergian prisoners. "Dumov!!" one of them yelled. "Huh? Sh-shit, no!!" The khergians turned their rifles on Ravis and shot, and the liryan scrambled backwards trying to waive his hands in the air even as he needed them to backpedal. He was shot several more times before they realized he wasn't a kanad and rushed in to investigate. "Who are you!?" one of them yelled as Ravis writhed in pain. "I'm friendly, stop fucking shooting!" Ravis managed to reply without stuttering. "Huh!? No speak human language!" Ravis growled. "Belladonna!" He yelled, tapping at the company's tricolor band on his sleeve. "Kadaren!" he added, hoping the khergians would recognize the kanad word after spending months in captivity. "[Oh fuck,]" one of them said, lowering his weapon and quickly rushing in to check on Ravis's wounds. He was badly hurt, and since there were more than enough armed khergians now, he put his rifle on his back and lifted Ravis off the ground. "[He's trying to help us escape,]" the same khergian explained to the others, "[we just shot a friendly!]" "[Dammit, he looked like a blackjacket...]" one of the others complained. "[Come on, let's go-]" "[Wait,]" the first khergian said. "[Look!]" Ravis was grabbing at the khergian's shoulder and pointing toward the plaza, intensity in his eyes. "Go there!" he urged. "Go there!" "[Is he leading us or trying to warn us of something?]" one of the others asked. There was a shot from a nearby rooftop. "[Shit!]" the militiaman yelled as several returned fire. Ravis yelled in frustration. "[Go where I'm pointing!]" he screamed in kanad, hoping they wouldn't be suspicious of his bilingualism. They looked at each other skeptically, while he urged them on, so intensely that tears were beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. "C-come on..." he begged. "[Let's go,]" one of the other khergians, apparently their leader, said with authority. "[We can trust him.]" Reluctantly, the others all took up formation, and the group began to hustle toward the plaza, guarding every angle. Rask felt a sense of relief like no other and began to relax. A heavy weight seemed to settle over him and the pain began to dull. He just wanted to sleep for a while. --- Beta sprinted through the halls of the Viokhmar, firing her VRI at any member of its crew she crossed paths with. It didn't matter if they spotted her- she knew they couldn't capture her even if she were cornered. All she'd need is a second alone with the device, and she would disappear into thin air as she had done before. But she had a problem. Every time she tried to card her way through a door, it rejected her credentials. She searched aimlessly, trying to figure out where the alpha Yanim had been taken, trying every door and opening any which weren't lockable. It generated dozens of "security events" which appeared all over Vixe's monitor several decks above. The captain, in response, grabbed a hold of her comm device and issued an announcement. "[Crew, I must insist you stop moving around the ship! We are under attack as we speak!]" She thumbed through the various camera feeds, finding the various doors Beta had tried to unlock, but without anyone standing by for approval. With another swipe, she found herself looking at a dying trooper in the middle of the hallway. "Shnka!" she hissed after cutting off the comm. "[There's one loose in the halls,]" she told a lieutenant. "[Get security on it!]" "[You locked their permissions down-]" one of them explained. "[Unlock it then, for fuck's sake!]" Vixe replied, furiously. "[I was trying to contain the enemy, I didn't know one of them was at large!]" She swiped onto another camera feed and the group finally caught a glimpse of Beta, trudging menacingly down the hallway with her burning tail behind her. "[NO,]" Ryvik blurted, wide-eyed. "[Vixe, it's the one from the hospital.]" They sat in silence as the gravity of the situation set in. "[Well then... what should I do?]" she asked quietly. Ryvik looked down at his feet, and then at his sister and her disabled fiance, and felt a sense of hopelessness creep into his soul. "[She's coming for us. I don't think we can stop her.]" "[Ryvik, what do we do?]" Vixe asked again. He didn't answer for a long time. One of the lieutenants reminded them that the enemy in the mess hall was killing their security team, and that the few remaining troopers in the hallways were being cut down at an alarming rate. "[Nothing,]" he replied at last. "[Nothing?]" "[There's... nothing we can do,]" Ryvik replied. "[We're going to die either way, Vixe. I suggest you crash this ship immediately.]" Vixe's face was a mixture of confusion and disgust. "[You don't think we should even try?]" she spat. "[We already did,]" Ryvik replied. "[We did everything we could.]" The others in the room began to turn around, looking at the pair uncomfortably. Somehow they knew that Ryvik was speaking the truth- the batakya's own were doomed to lose this fight, but they could still prevent the enemy from winning. Even Vixe's expression seemed to soften as reality settled in. Yanim, sitting silently in the corner, put her arm around Arkadam and leaned on him. He didn't seem to react, but she felt better knowing that he would hold her, if only he could. --- Inside the mess hall, Valkyrie hacked away at the first kanad she laid eyes on. The first swing made him let go of Karl and cry out in pain. The second swing removed an arm and the yells became louder. The third, fourth, and fifth swings each inflicted mortal blows, and the sixth swing finished the job by decapitating the body. Taylor grabbed onto the enemy nearest Markus, getting an arm around his rifle and headbutting him away from it. Markus backed away into a defensive stance, and threw another guardsman to the ground when one tried to tackle him. Jag then impaled him using its tentacles. More gunshots: Amy struck down two of the remaining guards with her VRI before turning on Kyrskada. Alex had pulled him close to the ground, and the two men exchanged several blows to the head. Kyr's wounded face reminded Alex of Rask, and it enraged him further, pummeling the enemy's skull with all of his strength even as the metal gauntlet crashed into his head several more times. They both began to slow down, exhausted, trying in vain to end each other, until Iron seized onto the sergeant and lifted him from the ground, thrashing only halfheartedly. Iron threw him back against the wall, and Valkyrie, eager for the opportunity, impaled him through the stomach with his own pseudo-blade. He looked down at the burning fountain of plasma which engulfed his abdomen, stunned into silence from the pain. "[highlight]Payback's a bitch, ain't it?[/highlight]" Valkyrie spat in his face. Kyrskada's legs gave out from under him, and as he slid to the ground, the blade cut upwards through his chest to his neck, engulfing his horrified face in fire as the job was finished. His corpse crashed to the ground, smelling of burnt meat. They were all dead. The crew found itself standing, sitting, and laying in the mess hall, surrounded by a pile of corpses. No one else had come to stop them. The kanads had finally run out of kanads. Now that the ship was off the ground, there was the overwhelming, impossible question. What should they do now? What [i]could[/i] they do now? Jag stated the obvious. "We are not safe here. Engineer-Valkyrie, you hold the means of our escape," he explained, referring to [I]her[/I] new plasma saber. Valkyrie nodded, stepping over to the door. With a thrust, she pushed the plasma fountain into the locked door and began to cut away at the metal in a long, vertical stripe to separate it from the panel it was attached to. When she was about halfway through, there was a sound like rolling thunder which grew louder and louder by the moment. The artillery barrage had arrived. The floor below them began to shake and the ship began to list. Valkyrie stepped away from the door and killed the beam for safety, nearly tripping over Alex in the process. --- Owen had just completed his third lap of the base. Sweat was pouring from his skin all over. He watched from the air as the shells exploded on the frigate's back, one after another, tearing chunks of its decrepit hull away and leaving a long trail of smoke in the air. But the Viokhmar, despite a hard lean to the right, continued to limp along, trying desperately to escape the disaster. Another ring of fire appeared, and Owen had an idea. [quote]The prisoners are in sight. We're landing the Cascade now.[/quote] The voice belonged to EVE. Constantine and Neasha responded: [quote]CONSTANTINE: Good, good! Get them on board as quickly as possible. NEASHA: Is Ravis with them!?[/quote] János replied. [quote]I see him! They're carrying him...[/quote] [quote]NEASHA: Shit... Owen, what's your status?[/quote] "Still... alive..." he grunted, cutting another heavy turn. Once he had forced the majority of missiles to miss their mark again, he added, "that ship's still goin'. I can bring it down, though. I'm gonna make them shoot their own side." [quote]CONSTANTINE: You're going to do what? There's no way that's going to work, Owen. Don't be stupid![/quote] "If it doesn't work, I'll just crash the Cataract into it. I'm just one man, Constantine, you can spare me." --- Jason unloaded on every sign of movement from every rooftop, feeling as if he was under siege the whole time. The slick shape of the Cascade moved into the plaza and began to settle down, and as it did so it drew the enemy's fire. Recognizing his opportunity, Jason leaped from his seat out through the hole where the front windshield used to be, rolling over the hood and onto his feet in front of the vehicle. The khergians briefly turned on him as well, but thanks to the shredded remains of the technical behind him, they knew he was an ally. They sprinted together for the ramp, crowding in as quickly as possible, until János came face-to-face with Ravis. EVE didn't wait for him to return to his seat; she immediately began the takeoff procedures and oriented the craft in the opposite direction. Ravis, barely alive, looked up at János. "I... I did it," he said with a weak smile. --- "[We're losing altitude,]" a lieutenant warned. "[There's extensive damage to the starboard-side engine pods. If we don't scuttle ourselves now, we won't have enough space to dive,]" he added. It meant that if Vixe didn't kill everyone at that moment, she soon wouldn't be able to overcome the Viokhmar's built-in crash safety features. They wouldn't have enough speed when hitting the ground. "[Do it,]" Ryvik urged. "[We can't take them all alone.]" "[I'm scared.]" Vixe said, quietly. "[Me too,]" Ryvik replied. She reached out her hand and took hold of the stick in one hand, and with her other hand, she disabled and overrode all altitude control features, as well as placing her personal authorization into a prompt which informed the ship of her desire to destroy it. When all was ready to go, she pushed hard forward on the stick while pulling the throttle back to half-thrust. The ship nosed down hard, until everything in the room began to slide toward the nose of the ship. Vixe let her off hand dangle, and Ryvik, heartbroken but stalwart, took hold of it. There was nothing left to say as the altitude warnings continued to blare. Out in the hall, Beta slipped from her feet and began to roll toward the front of the craft. "No, no, no, no, no!" she howled, slicing into the floor itself with her tail. "What are they doing!?" --- "Perhaps we are too late, after all," Jag said, somberly. When the ship didn't correct its course, the realization set in for the rest. Taylor was shocked. She hung her head but found the strength to say- "It's been an honor to fly with you all." A number of murmurs followed. Some agreed, some were outraged. It couldn't end here. Not after they had fought so hard. Not after they had taken the power back- there must be something left to do! --- [video=youtube;-jiJsFEcPRE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jiJsFEcPRE[/video] Owen closed in on the Viokhmar from behind, and, realizing the dire situation ahead, knew that there would be no second chance to save the crew if the missiles missed their mark. He committed to plan B, immediately. Dipping low and fast over the frozen terrain, he gave the khergian artillery a good show, getting the clunky old medical ship under the frigate before using his thrusters to ram it from below, crushing all of the Viokhmar's remaining engine pods while providing it enough lift to slow its fall. But no matter what Owen did, there was no way the Cataract could carry the weight. The frigate bore down on him, the ground got closer, and all at once, the MPR-70s scored a quadruple direct hit on his tail. The two ships fell lifelessly to the rugged ground below, the frigate utterly annihilating the Cataract on impact. No one had ordered this maneuver. No one had expected this act of heroism. To Vixe and Ryvik, the Cataract's arrival had come as a cursed blessing, but not even they could identify the object which had prevented their fatal nosedive. Yanim was speechless during the entire descent, unable to figure out who had intervened on their behalf. The crew inside was oblivious to the entire rescue operation. Only when the Cascade arrived on site several minutes later did they all come to know that Owen Jackson died that morning, just before sunrise on February 12th, 2385. He entombed himself in the wasteland just outside of Vostokrebh, his bravery having transcended his piloting skills. --- The lights went out at the moment the whole room seemed to bounce, sending the whole crew into the air and sliding into the walls painfully in the process. There was an ear-splitting boom which caused them to scream in terror as the Viokhmar hit the ground, followed by the sound of bending and tearing metal. The frigate was crashing, twisting, and deforming, and there was no telling whether the room would retain its integrity. When all had finally settled, dim LED lighting flickered on around the edges of the floor, helping them to identify where the exit was supposed to be. With the help of a flashlight, they armed themselves with the fallen soldiers' weapons and crept out through the gap where the door had been. The hallway outside disappeared into darkness on either side. The floor was tilted so that the bridge and upper decks were "downhill." There was no clear escape, but the crew was alive and armed. They now held all the advantages. --- János and EVE landed the Cascade in the valley close to where the two ships had landed and the Cataract had been crushed. János wasn't sure how to even begin describing what he was looking at.
EVE spoke over comms, alerting János. "I shall send the rest of the drones that Lady Blackwell left to depart for the the downed frigate. Please begin emergency first aid procedures on those that are currently wounded untill our crew can be retrieved from the frigate." As soon as she finished, the few drones that had remained aboard the Cascade fetched weaponry and bounded off the ship and into the snow. Heading straight towards the wreckage. - - - - - - - - - - - - - Taylor could still feel her head spinning a bit from being tossed about in the crash. Her helmet was completely useless now, and the static on the screen inside didn't help. She ripped it off and threw it aside, before looking back to the rest of the crew. After a cough, she spoke. "W-We need to find Yanim and Arkadam. [I]Kill everything else.[/I] Then we get the fuck out of here." she said, wiping blood from her face as she gripped a rifle in hand. Valkyrie, still firmly gripping the plasma sword in her off hand, had found a pistol to use in her primary one. "Sounds like a plan." she said, before she started to creep down the hallway towards the 'upper levels'.
János wasn't even sure how he should feel at this time. When Jason and the Khergians, carrying Ravis, rushed in, he immediately leapt towards the injured liryan to see if he was ok. After hearing what he said, he nodded and reassured him that he indeed did it. He immediately called for Amelia to check him up. Soon, those using the comms heard a sharp noise emitting from their device of choice. János hoped that the noise wasn't what he thought it was, but his fears were confirmed once they arrived onto the crashing site. He wanted to cry in frustration that someone had passed under his technical command, but he couldn't. He wanted to yell in frustration, but he knew he had to subdue it. Once the Cascade landed and the ramp went down, he just stared at the wreckage for a moment, promising to himself that he wouldn't let Owen's sacrifice be in vain. It wasn't until EVE spoke once more that he broke out of his frustrated trance. As the drones passed him by, he replied: "Understood, already underway with Ravis," he nodded to himself even though EVE was over the comms. He approached the Khergians and Jason next to them as to check up on them: "Ehm, [I]kak vy[/I], sshmm, [I]pozhivayete[/I]?" he tried asking them in his weird accented Khergian, before turning his head towards Jason; "I hope I asked how you're doing."
Karl followed Valk tightly, making sure to scan every corner they passed. He wasn't gonna die on some ship like a cornered animal. Iron on the other hand faced the same issue Taylor had: his helmet was too busted up to offer any real advantage. With a deep sigh Ira removed the helmet which had protected both her and her identity for years. Karl and Taylor were the only ones not surprised. Ira glared at the others as she adjusted her ponytail. "Save your questions for later, 'kay?"
Markus looked wide eyed as Ira removed her helmet. He then shook his head, "Why's it gotta be so fuckin difficult to be 'onest?" he muttered to himself as he turned around to pick up one of the rifle. Making his way to a pile kanads that had been stopped by a table that was bolted to the floor, he found sting laying on top of the macabre mattress. Using his knife he pried open her restraints. Sting looked up with a dazed smile, "God damn, hoss, them kanad fellas done a good number on me for sure." she remarked asshe looked down onto her bloodied shirt and the holes in her abdomen. Markus fished out a can of medical foam and a fem heavy duty band-aids from one of his pouches, "Shut yer trap, I know you bugs are harder than this to kill." he said as he filled the holes with the foam and sealed them with the band-aids, "But I appreciate yer help back there." Sting coughed as she righted herself to get up, "You gots to teach em that if they mess with me they catch a countryside ass whoppin" she said jokingly, but her face turned pale as she noticed her hat was missing. Markus picked it up from the ground, it was crumbled and had a few bullet holes in it, but Sting took it happily from him, " 'Preciated, pardner." She picked up the weapon closest to her, which happend to be a plasma shotgun and then followed Markus along with the rest of the crew out into the darkened corridor. --- Varkin and his men stood with awe on their faces. Never before had they witnessed such destruction as when the colossus fell from the sky and shook the ground when it landed. After a while he regained his composure and looked around. "[Pick up your jaws and pack up! We need to get out of here as soon as possible.]" Varkin got into his command vehicle and picked up the radio, "[[I]Glavni[/I], we've completed our mission we're returning to the firebase.]" Iska sat in the warroom in Stalnazyp, along with Joshokk. After hearing the news, Joshokk looked up, "[Your friend better pull this off.]" he said nonchalantly. Iska cut him a look, "[And you better give her that ship for free if all our fighter make it back alive, you old fuck.]" Joshokk stood up from his chair, "[Do I need to take your attitude up with the council?"] he replied with a unfriendly tone Iska flew out of her chair, "[Or maybe you can invoke [I]pochedinok[/I] so I can beat some sense into you?! This kanad is one of the only people in the galaxy that has aided us this much and directly and yet you shit on her like it's some kind of care-package from SOL or LPM.]" She threw her chair aside and walked around the table and stopped in front of him, "[You need to get your head out of your ass and stop thinking this is the siege. This kanad, a fucking kanad of all people, is one of those who have aided our cause, deserves more recognition that you can't give. With honor like this you might as well spit on the Mahak ancestral tomb.]" Joshokk was taken aback but then swung a right hook at Iska, "[You valley-bitch!]" Iska blocked the hook and sucker punched him, sending him to his knees. She squatted down next to him, "[Listen here, you stone-headed mijak-fucker. Either you change YOUR attitude or I will take this to the council and invoke [I]pochedinok[/I], and we both know how that will end, huh?]" Joshokk remained silent and Iska got up. Picking up her jacket, she left the room to ride out and discuss with Varkin at the firebase. ---- The Khergians let out a laughter when they heard Janos attempt to speak their language. "[I]Zatknis'[/I]!", a large Khergian shouted and the group went silent. He was easily the largest in the group and his face and arms were scarred and covered in numerous tattoos. He looked over the group with a judgmental stare, "[I]Dvornyag[/I]..." he muttered. He then turned over to a shorter female khergian and gestured for her to come over. Janós could hear them discussing and the female then turned to him, "Zerbya" she said as she pointed to herself and then to her larger colleague, "Buko, leader." "Buko say thank to rescue. Buko want strange man to have care of hero." she continued as she pointed at Ravis. Buko turned around and gave a short speech which seemed to end in a question. His group all shook their heads and Buko seemed to be satisfied with the answer. Zerbya continued, "Buko say militia will fight for strange man if need help." she said as she pointed out towards the crashed frigate. "Need help?"
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