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

The week was something the Koronovs needed. It allowed for them to slow down and catch their breath for once. Alex had returned to his duties on the ship as the chef, keeping the crew fed and in good health foodwise. But he did look to maintain proper fighting form just in case, especially with whatever this Rollonso guy was planning to drag them into. Amy didn't fall behind after her brother in regards to personal training, but she spend a large part of her free time in the ship's armory. There she worked on the stealth suit's capabilities, trying to find ways to improve them so when she needed it, she would be ready. The rest of her free time? Well, Amelia needed someone to binge watch shows with now, didn't she? --- [QUOTE]Trixina 14:27 local time[/QUOTE] "One week down, another to go. You sure they will come at all?" Karina asked impatiently. She had been asking the same question day after day ever since they landed on the resort world. Seth put his drink down on the table and sighed. "Like I told you yesterday and the day before that and the one before that, just wait." He looked at her for a second. Karina tried to put up the impression that she was all business all the time, but their stay so far only undermined her image. She had let her hair down and was enjoying herself. So were their collective crews. "You're getting heated, go take a dip in the pool and cool off, will ya?" Both mercenary factions had taken full advantage of the calm beaches and sunny weather provided by the resort. Uniforms and armor were swapped for civilian clothes and swimsuits. Some of the more adventurous members decided to go on the four day hunting trips offered by the resort officials. The good times couldn't last forever and Seth knew it. As soon as they were off the planet, they would again be turning their guns at each other if the situation called for it. He could only hope that this short period would make some of them hesitant when pulling the trigger and that it won't be his own men. A few minutes later he had nearly finished with his drink, when one of the hotel's staff brought him a new one. "You do refills in this place? I should come by more often." "No sir, the drink was bought and delivered to you by request of the gentleman at the bar over there." Seth took a look at the bar and he instantly regretted it. His mystery supplier of booze was one of Vulkov's sons. Dragan, the 'legitimate' businessman. Seth didn't need to invite him over as the welp did it himself after they made eye contact. All he could do was brace for whatever the brat had for him. "Your drink bought you five minutes of talking time." He looked at Dragan as if he were a pest "Make the most of it." "Heh, booze doesn't mellow you out much, does it." Dragan sat down next to Seth "Relax commander, I'm only here for some advice. Seeing as how you are no longer working with Sol and my organization is the most likely to replace you, I think you can give me some insider information no other person can deliver me. You were pretty close, after all." Seth's expression changed drastically, nearly choking on his drink. He didn't know what shocked him more. That Sol would work with the Gold dusts or that they could think they would. "How the fuck can you be so sure that you would be the ones to replace us? The Alphas and Omegas have more of a claim to that than you." Dragan smiled. His rat face already gave Seth a chill down his spine, but the smile made him look like a crude cartoon character "Father will pitch the initial deal on the fact that he is a pretty big patriot. He's quite good at playing that trumpet. Former military get like that I suppose. As for the deal makers. Silver star produces Sol's uniforms. We own that company. We have also been systematically acquiring many of their gun manufacturers and contractors." "So you're going to blackmail them into hiring you?" "Pfff, no! Seth, I am offended that you would even suggest that. Like I said. Father is a patriot. And now he's a patriot with a lot of pull in the war economy. Essentially making himself an asset to Sol, one they cannot resist." "Alright, I get your dad's master plan." Seth looked at Dragan again, wondering if he really realized what was going on or if the scent of money had clogged up his brain full of bullshit. This bucky beaver motherfucker's entire family was playing with fire and he was oblivious to it. "You wanted my advice Dragan? Here it is. When dealing with Sol, there is one important thing you have to remember. Don't. Fuck. With. Them! Now get out of my sun."

"Captain, we are being hailed." stated Eve rather loudly. "It is the Aurikha. It looks as though our employers survived their time on Rigel." Taylor glanced up from her tablet, as she sat in the captains chair a short distance behind Eve herself. "Glad to know they're alright." she muttered, before speaking up. "Patch them through." The week had dragged by for her, having spent most of her time either working out or waiting for contact from the others. Or drinking. She straightened up in her seat, waiting as Eve hit a button next to her. - - - - - - - - - - - - As Taylor dealt with the hail on the bridge, Valkyrie was in her room. She had finished Alex's foot days ago, and now he just needed someone to attach it. She sat at the table at the side of the room next to the bed, filling out a brand new tattoo in the last empty space on the inside of her right forearm. It was a [URL="https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starpath/images/3/3b/TBC.png/revision/latest?cb=20171021055414"]very simple design[/URL], one that the crew had been familiar with for weeks now. She figured it was about time that she did it, considering she was so close to leaving. Soon enough, she finished, looking over the design and checking her work. She'd figure out what to fill in the empty space around it wth later, so that it blended in with the others on her arm.

Slowly placing the outer shell to protect the sensitive wires and ID-systems, Ira finalized the repairs of her helmet. During the week since Rigel she had been busy repairing her gear and exercising. While she didn't admit it publicly the last mission had made Ira realize that it had been a long time since she fought an experienced opponent rather than gangbangers, drunken pirates and paranoid outlaws. After placing the helmet next to her suit she left her quarters (in reality a small auxiliary room with a military bunk bed inside). She slowly made her way to the kitchen and greeted Alex, whom she had gotten to know quite well during the past days. Normally she never trusted anyone but a select few people, which was reserved for Taylor, Miranda and Lex. However because of Alex's (and Amy's) past there was something which made Ira trust them both. Maybe it was the rough start in life? That they all went their own paths? For now, she didn't know and happily settled for being his friend. Ira entered the mess with a smile. "What's cookin' good lookin'?" --- Having spent the week cleaning his rifle and resting when not busy adjusting the gunnery console, Karl was relatively calm. While he had pondered on the idea of ditching the mercenary career while he still was ontop he quickly realized that right now he didn't have any other plans. Karl peeked up at Taylor from his seat infront of the gunnery console. "It must've been a bad fight. What do you think they're gonna tell us?"

"I found an old recipe from Terra before the World war 3. Not a lot of stuff like this survived sadly." Alex looked to Ira as he put the lid on the pot "An old pasta recipe from a chef named Boyardee"

[QUOTE]"It must've been a bad fight. What do you think they're gonna tell us?"[/QUOTE] "Probably to come meet them somewhere. Just nice to have some kind of contact after radio silence for the past week." replied Taylor, glancing over. - - - - - - - - - Valkyrie decided to take a break from her tattooing session, putting her kit away and grabbing her jacket. Time for another walk around the ship. She felt a tad hungry, but she was sure that Alex was cooking up something so she decided to head for the Mess. Upon arrival, she noticed Ira was already there talking to Alex. She happene to catch the last of Alex's statement as she entered. [QUOTE]"An old pasta recipe from a chef named Boyardee."[/QUOTE] "I've heard of that. Some fucker back in my old Hellions crew made a batch every so often. Never tried it myself." she said, sitting down at a table and slipping a cigarette into her mouth. She had found a carton of them in one of her bags a day after they left Rigel. Pretty nice honestly. She lit it and took a drag before glancing to Ira. "Finally gave up the suit, or still planning to play the wanna-be Taylor?" she asked, with a smug smile.

Eve activated the comm line just as Taylor finished replying to Karl. Projected on the screen in front of them, Neasha sat at the helm of the Aurikha's mostly-repaired bridge, smiling broadly and appearing more professional than at any point since Itara, exuding a welcome aura of stability. [quote]NEASHA: Captain Caine, it's a pleasure to finally meet up with you all. I was very concerned that we would miss our deadline. We were I trust it's been smooth sailing... would you mind docking in our hangar? We have some materials to exchange, and a possible crew transfer as well. CONSTANTINE: So you're all aware, Arkadam and Ravis have been making steady recoveries- NEASHA: Oh, hold on...[/quote] Neasha leaned forward, swiping her claw across the surface of her comm console, and the image projected within the Muramasa's cockpit flexed and widened, revealing the other occupied positions on the bridge. Constantine was sitting in the captain's chair, slightly behind the serek pilot; behind them both, an unknown khergian mercenary sat at the tactical overview console, presumably to monitor and direct power flow to the shields and plasma cannons. The engineering console was manned by Mattheus, who in the week following the final battle on Rigel had made peace with Constantine by accelerating repairs once more using almost nothing but local laborers, and had avoided spending time in the brig for accidentally shooting a comrade. The navigator's position sat unoccupied, but the planets of the local star system were conspicuously displayed in the Kanad language. Constantine cleared his throat. [quote]CONSTANTINE: As I was saying, the two we were most worried about have been recovering well, but I want to warn you that the interior of the ship may be a bit eerie right now. To put it simply, we've had to process a lot of... well, a lot of bodies, let's be honest... It's still pretty obvious that a real fight took place here. NIR: The enemy chose to stop fighting and peaceably surrender their weapons once they were dead. NEASHA: ...by the way everyone, this is Nir Ogona, our new chief security officer aboard the Aurikha.[/quote]

Ira observed the food being cooked. "Pasta? What's that? You'll have to forgive me but when I'mmnot eating from packets I mostly eat offworld food." Valkyrie then entered the kitchen. Ira put up a fake smile. "Well, there's no point wearing a suit when everyone here already knows the secret. Besides, no one would believe the rumor that Iron was infact a woman from Mars. I'd say it's a win/win case." --- Karl glanced at Taylor but otherwise remained silent. It must've been [b]really bad[/b] for them to hire more people on a whim. Then again this company seemed to excel at providing a second chance for all kinds of folks.

Taylor gave Nir a quick two fingered salute, before returning her attention to Neasha and Constantine. "Nice to hear that Arkadam and Ravis are doing better. And no worries regarding the mess. We're used to it by now. Shoot us the coordinates, and we'll head over." she responded.

[QUOTE]Pasta? What's that? You'll have to forgive me but when I'mmnot eating from packets I mostly eat offworld food.[/QUOTE] "You'll see when I'm done preparing it." Alex turned his attention to Valkyrie "Speaking of prep, how's that foot going along?"

[QUOTE]"You'll see when I'm done preparing it." Alex turned his attention to Valkyrie "Speaking of prep, how's that foot going along?"[/QUOTE] "Its finished, sitting on a table in my room. Just gotta find someone that can attach it. Didn't know if you wanted a specific color painted on it, so I just left a silver color." replied Valkyrie, before taking another drag on her cigarette. As she exhaled, she spoke again. "Even built in the plasma cutter I mentioned."

With the coordinates having been forwarded, the two ship quickly met up. Approaching from the outside made it obvious how much work had been done, but for what it had been through, the Aurikha looked impressively capable. The crew circled around to the port side of the ship, where the blast doors simply retracted without having to be extended into the landing ramp configuration, and moved the new Muramasa up next to the opening. Eve steadily guided the frigate into the narrow opening, finding that the old Muramasa had been moved to the very rear of the hangar to make room. A pair of workers helped guide the ship in safely, and although there was still space for another corvette if they parked it creatively, the hangar was effectively full. The blast doors quickly slid closed behind them, attaining a full seal before the atmospheric force field was disengaged. Eve then disengaged the controls and allowed the ship to idle. [quote]NEASHA: Nice job, Eve. We'll be with you shortly.[/quote] The hangar was far less busy than the last time the crew had stood in it. A significant portion of the original industrial crew had perished the previous week, and scorched panels and bullet holes were visible practically everywhere within; one whole wall over where the Muramasa I was now sitting had been blown into the next room, and bits and pieces of gear were strewn about- some of it mercenary, and some of it kanad. Thankfully, there was nothing decomposing, as the remaining crew had done all the dirty work disposing of the dead, but an unpleasant bleach smell hung in the air. The lift doors opened, and out walked the current bridge crew. They saluted from afar, but stayed where they were, as they were waiting for others to arrive. Shortly afterward, one of the doors to the bow-side tunnels opened, and Hestia arrived with both Arkadam, who was walking with a cane in a stilted manner, and Ravis, who was walking unassisted but with a leg brace.

"A darker shade to fit the armor would be better. That thing is gonna stand out like a sore thumb otherwise. Speaking of cutting, you decide on where you're gonna leave and start your merry band of pirates?"

"After I help Taylor with Jag." said Valkyrie. Whenever and wherever that was. A moment later, Taylor announced over the intercom that they had landed in the Aurikha's hangar. Valk sighed, then stood from her chair. "Well, lets see how fucked the ship is." she said, the cigarette in her mouth moving to the corner as she shoved her hands in her pockets. She departed from the Mess, meeting up with Eve and Taylor as they reached the elevator. A few moments later, they'd arrive outside in the Aurikha's main hangar. "...yeah, shit was fucked here." said Valk, looking around. The bleach smell irritated her nose, but she shrugged it off as she exhaled smoke from her cigarette. Taylor looked around as well, waving at the others as they stood beneath the frigate.

Karl stood at the top of the ramp before cautiously making his way into the hangar. "That smell." He grimaced. "I hope no one suffered."

Markus walked up behidn Karl, "Get yer head outta yer ass. Ya think getting shot in this bottleneck don' leave people sufferin? Welcome to the other end o' the tv screen, mate." Sting joined them, dressed in her usual attire, except her trenchcoat replaced by a ragged tanktop adorned with the battle flag of virginia and the text "you got a problem with this flag? Talk to my gun."

Alex sniffed the air as they entered the hangar. "Just like the pits." It was oddly nostalgic for him.

Karl simply glared at Markus. Asshole. He should respect the dead. He sighed. Meanwhile Ira walked down the ramp next to Alex. "Memory lane?" She asked.

"Oh yeah." He looked at Ira "Every time the fights were over for the night, the clean up crew would come in to sanitize the place. Kras was all about image. And the following morning the entire arena would smell like this. Should I be worried that I'm feeling nostalgia over this?" "Next time we get free time, I'm taking you to a shrink." Amy commented while walking down the ramp. "We both need one with someone like dad in our lives now that I think about it."

"Now that we're all here," Neasha announced, getting everyone's attention, "we have some parting gifts for you all, here-" she said as an employee wheeled up a large handcart piled with scavenged equipment. It was neatly sorted into matching stock, with OBN armor-piercing ballistic rifles being the star of the show, the same type the crew had seen on Voyak as sanghvi-killing weapons. There was an entire pile devoted to grenades and other tools such as motion-detectors, sections of ballistic armor, flares, and gas mask filters which had been looted and thoroughly cleaned for reuse. "This is a sign of our gratitude," she beamed. Mattheus had also been hard at work taking some of those OBVs apart and using their coil interchanges as conversion kits, retrofitting a few TAC rifles to be compatible with kanad plasma cartridges, of which there were so many that an cardboard box the size of a dishwasher was overflowing with them. The new variant was labeled TAC-85BKM. Another two boxes were partially filled with Terika-Belladonna ammunition and various other types held in labeled plastic bags. Familiar, odd, practical and impractical weapons brought in by mercenaries were stacked up at the back, and included things like reusable rocket launchers, sniper rifles, and lots of interesting sidearms. Finally, a small pile of circuit boards were piled up on top. "Those were the 'brains' of the kanad power armor units," Mattheus began to describe. "They're actually really interesting in terms of design, it's sort of like a computer on a chip, sitting in a network environment on the card-" "Matt," Constantine interrupted, "I'm sure they can figure out some fun and interesting uses for those cards now that you've wiped them clean." "Right," Mattheus replied, "all except for that card with the sticker," he said, tapping on one. "That one has the original programming intact, if you want to try your hand at cracking into Collective military tech sometime in the future, it would be a handy test bed." "And there's more," Neasha added, putting on her best TV-salesman voice. "Nir, would you do the honors?" "What honor is to be had in moving a tank?" Nir asked as she trudged away. "No glory there unless you are driving into battle against the foreign criminal scum." "You ruined the surprise!" Neasha said, genuinely pouting. Nir laughed, flatly. "Sorry children, but Santa Claus is not real." Shortly after Nir disappeared behind the original Muramasa, there was the sound of a heavy door being pulled open before a dull vibration began. A moment later, one of the two captured UGC tanks rumbled around the corner. Nir's head poked out the hatch. "Nonetheless, Merry Christmas," she said. Constantine chuckled. "The kanads borrowed some of these from the UGC to attack our ship. They must not have been very familiar with all of the controls, because this one and another one were both left behind with intact, unused self-destruct systems. We're giving one to you and we're keeping the other so we can make more." The entire time this was being discussed, Ravis and Arkadam stood silently. The former had a warm look in his eyes like a child who just got home from summer camp. He was eager to rejoin the crew. The latter didn't quite seem present, as he was staring off into space the whole time. "And now we'd like to know if you'd mind taking Ravis back aboard your ship," Neasha added. "He's not fully healed, obviously, but in a week from now, Hestia has told me he'll be 100%." "This is correct," Hestia interjected. "Arkadam has not reached his full recovery either. We expect further improvement." "Yeah," Neasha said, patting Arkadam on the shoulder. "We have a lot of work to do on him, but he's already able to help us navigate," she explained. Arkadam's eyes suddenly snapped to alertness, taking on a mistrusting air. "Please don't talk as if I'm not in the room," he said in a monotone which was both devoid of familiarity and vaguely threatening. "I may not show it, but I am listening. And I am not your guinea pig."

Karl slowly made his way towards some of the long guns, hoping to find useful components to scavenge and reuse for his own rifle or find a reliable reserve weapon. Meanwhile Ira excused herself from Alex and Amy and made her way towards Ravis. She extended her hand. "Never got around to thank you for what you did back on Rigel. You saved our asses Ravis, good job."

Amy joined Karl in the scavenging. It didn't take her long to find what she wanted. Many of the snipers had components she could use to enhance her own gear as well as experimenting with something new. The armor piercing guns caught her attention next. Oh the things these things could do in the right hands. Finally, the circuit 'brains'. She had heard that variants of these were starting to make their way through the different mercenary outfits, but not as good as the real thing. Given some time with these, the crew could cause some serious damage. "Santa may not be real, but somebody put us on the good kids list."

Taylor stepped over, looking into the handcart at the various weaponry and devices. The armor-piercing rifles would be more than useful, as well as the chips. The tank, though, its what caught her eye. A main battle tank was great in general, able to deal with various targets (unless the target is flying, like a VTOL or something.) Valkyrie was already on her way over to the tank. Eager to climb in and check out the internals. She was interested in the chips as well, but this big present was much appealing to her chaotic nature. "The things I could do to [I][B]you.[/B][/I]" she muttered, nearing the tank and looking it over. She had a wide grin on her face, devious ideas pulsing through her head as she took in the general design of the large vehicle. Meanwhile, Taylor returned her attention to Ravis and Arkadam. "We'd be glad to have you, Ravis." she said, with a smile. After a glance to Arkadam following his statements, she turned her attention to Hestia. "From what I understand, Valkyrie has finished making Alex a new foot, and needs someone to attach it. Probably would be best if you did the deed." Finally, her attention turned back to Neasha and Constantine. Mainly Neasha, due to her upbeat attitude. It was refreshing, really, considering the shit they had been through for the past few weeks. "Nice to see you in good spirits."

Hestia nodded at Taylor before turning to Alex. "As you wish. Mr. Koronov, if you would come with me, please..." As Alex was led off toward the medbay, Ravis was approached and complimented by Ira. "It- it was an honor," he stammered before shaking her hand. Taylor then welcomed him to join the crew. Ravis gave a toothy grin, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. "I won't let uh, I won't... you, uh," he stuttered with a nervous laugh. "Thanks!" he blurted, giving a salute. He scurried over to the hall he had entered from, opened the door, and grabbed a bag which had been positioned just out of sight on the other side of the wall. Before heading for the new Muramasa, he paused- "f-figured as much," he explained, "but I didn't want to, uh, you know, presume..." he then trotted off toward the frigate with a spring in his step, despite the brace. Neasha started to reply to Taylor when Ravis cut in one more time. "Eh heh heh, almost forgot," he said, grabbing one of the new 85BKMs. "Gonna need one of these," he mumbled, mainly to himself. "And one of these, and, uh... this looks cool..." he quickly snatched up a ballistic vest and an exotic-looking knife, before picking up a huge, hand-machined khergian revolver which he quickly put down after thinking better of it. "Alright, c-cool. See you around, comrades! I gotta, uh, I gotta go set my room up. So, uh, see you a..." he trailed off as he realized he was repeating himself. Neasha put her hand on his shoulder, patting him reassuringly with her fingertips. "Good luck," she said. The Lirya nodded. He looked at Arkadam, but the latter was staring into space again. Ravis said goodbye nonetheless. "Sir," he said. Arkadam's eyes very slowly turned to meet him. "Thank you," he said quietly. Arkadam nodded, his expression unreadable. "Anyway," Constantine said as soon as Ravis had walked away for the last time, "We [I]are[/I] doing well, thank you for noticing." "Yes!" Neasha agreed, brightly. "Yes, after a week and a half out in Satan's icebox, we're heading somewhere bright and sunny, and tropical! I mean, sure, it's for business, and it's another warzone, but still, it might as well be a vacation after what we've seen." She clapped her hands together and rubbed them. "Hey, you guys," she said to a couple of nearby workers, "get everything loaded up!" They saluted, quite sloppily, and began to wheel all the supplies from the hand cart into the Muramasa's cargo lift. Nir beckoned at Valkyrie. "You want to see the inside?" she asked in a heavy accent. "Come take a look while I drive. Take notes if you need to, 's a complicated machine, okay?" She didn't have to tell her twice; Valkyrie quickly climbed into the hatch, dropping into the surprisingly-roomy interior with its high-quality furnishings which looked [I]just a little bit[/I] old and tired, as if neglected by maintenance for a while. There were plenty of touch screens and holographic surfaces providing a full 360-degree view of surroundings, and virtual switches seemed to line every wall. Sure enough, a large, turn-key self destruct system set to a 2-minute detonator was the only device in the entire cabin to not have its own touch screen. Its directions were printed on an etched metal plate, which made perfect sense as it would still be usable if power to the rest of the vehicle was lost. Since the kanads couldn't translate the device with the push of a button, like they were used to, they were unprepared when it came time to abandon the vehicles. "Watch very closely," Nir instructed. "I will only do this once." She put her hand on a joystick and pushed it forward, and the tank began to move toward the Muramasa's hangar. A few seconds later, once it was safely inside, Nir released the joystick, and, without touching anything else, removed the key and handed it to Valkyrie. "Enjoy," she said, and got out of the vehicle. Outside, Alex reappeared with Hestia from the forward tunnel, walking on his new foot.

Valkyrie grumbled a bit after Nir left, returning her attention to the controls. [I]Fucking smartass.[/I] She slipped the key back into the ignition, cranking it back up and taking in all the information that appeared on each of the screens. It seemed to be all really basic stuff. Stuff she already knew after working with other mercenary factions and pirates. Just like driving a mech, just without bipedal or quadrupedal legs. Cameras seemed to function beautifully, and everything performed at the opimal efficiency almost. One of the meters on the dash listed the current ammunition levels in a numerical format. One number followed by a slash and a set of other numbers. One in the barrel, the rest in reserve. This signified that the tank was based either on kinetic firepower like other common tanks, or on plasma with an ejectable plasma core somewhere inside the vehicle. Not a problem, it could be enhanced or converted. That'd take a bit of time, though. Stiil, its a good all-around death dealer. There seemed to be smoke dispensers, as well as anti-infantry weaponry mounted aboard as well. One of the meters read that the dispensers were empty. Those could be refilled, as could the other weapons. All in all, she kinda felt at home in the vehicle, though it wasn't a mech. She paused for a moment, before finally turning the vehicle off and climbing out with the key.

Alex walked over to Valk as she was climbing out of the tank. "The foot is operating just like the real thing. Meaning I won't have to fail you on that final lesson."

[QUOTE]Alex walked over to Valk as she was climbing out of the tank. "The foot is operating just like the real thing. Meaning I won't have to fail you on that final lesson."[/QUOTE] "Glad it works. Curl your toes and flex your ankle upward towards your knee so your toes are pointing up. Then, twist your foot to the right. The plasma cutter should deploy. You've got five shots once it deploys, and you can replace the plasma cell through a port you pop open in the back of the heel. Best I could do without giving it a few buttons on the outside for you to press." she said, folding her arms as she looked down at Alex's foot.

"I'll keep that in mind next time I want to kick a mothrfucker in the balls then." While carrying the equipment she found to her liking, Amy tried to get Taylor's attention. "Cap, we better get moving if we want to hit the deadline for our mercenary friend."

A trio of Apostle hovertanks made their way across the rocky surface of Zyus II. Without a sound they traversed over the many holes, rocks and other features of the rough terrain which made tracked vehicles near-obsolete. Granted, the Creed had built roads as requested by the Zealot Koronov however these roads were strictly to be used by logistical vehicles. Eventually the tanks reached a small checkpoint, or rather a pair of huts with a small roadblock manned by by a group of disgruntled crusaders. The roadblock was quickly cleared and the crusader in charge waved through the tanks. On a rocky cliffside half a kilometer away Alpha set down his binoculars. He glanced to his right. "Bravo. Mark the time. Still a regular schedule?" Bravo, who was sitting kneeled down behind a large boulder, nodded as his fingers danced across the surface of his tablet. "Ten-four on that and yeah, still a regular schedule. Tank patrol every two hours, gunship patrol every fifth hour. Stanislav sure likes his toys." From behind another boulder the sound of Echo chuckling could be heard as he monitored the checkpoint through the scope of his rifle. "His toys might work on backwater colonial militias, wouldn't count on them working as well against a combined SDF force." Golf smacked Echo on the back his helmet as he moved crouched down towards Alpha. "Echo you must've missed the fact that these so-called toys kill both SDF and Upyri soldiers on a regular basis. Or are you still going with the whole "marines never die" shit?" Alpha sighed. "Cut the chatter, team." He glanced at Golf. "Anything on the south side?" Golf shook his head, removed his helmet and started to eat from an MRE. "Negative. Charlie, Delta and Foxtrot are just as bored as you guys. We've had a single shuttle fly through during the span of ten hours, not counting the gunship patrol." Using his metal spork Golf continued to scrape out warm food, a pack of pasta bolognese, while Alpha returned the binoculars to Echo. "My guess is that nothing interesting is going to happen untill the fleet gets the word to jump in. Then again, this deep into enemy territory anything could happen." He tapped Golf on the shoulder. "Take control. I'm going in to send a report. Might even take the luxury of sleeping for three hours." Golf nodded. Bravo made a faux salute. "Sweet dreams, Boss." Alpha chuckled. "Don't let Echo take pot-shots on those checkpoint grunts while I'm gone." Echo grunted. "No promises." Shortly after Alpha found himself sitting infront of a communications terminal placed inside the cave he and his team had been sleeping in for three weeks. He grabbed a cord and inserted it into his helmet. Within moments he was connected to the SSOIDs highly encrypted message system, a gift from the Director Williams. The Creed forces on the planet would no doubt detect the message, but to them it would appear deep in space and would be heavily masked thus making it look a message sent through space by a civilian ship or station. Alpha began to go through the information gathered since the last report which had been sent a week ago. After packaging all the intel, such as reports and images, Alpha recorded a short message. "Outlaw to Deputy. Message from Zeta Two. Situation green, break, no hostile contact. Awaiting signal for launch." With his message recorded Alpha hit 'sent'. A green prompt appeared, notifying Alpha that his message had been successfully sent. With a sigh he put the terminal on standby and walked over the corner filled with four sleeping bags. He unzipped one of the bags and laid down after putting down his helmet and rifle next to him. While sleeping in body armor wasn't comfortable, it did allow him to spring into action quickly. Alpha smiled to himself. Besides, the SDF could pay for any back problems he might get during his service. As well for his retirement. Assuming he lived that long. ----- Onboard the SNV Shadow gunshots could be heard as Ares and his team cleared a mockup of the main command building on Zyus II, located inside Fort Morningstar. Executing their tactics at a lethal speed Ares and his men cleared each room with not a single hologrpahic target left standing. Gladius observed the entire breach from a nearby observation deck with crossed arms. Ares was good, so was his team. There was no doubt regarding that. The problem was that their knowledge of Fort Morningstar's interior was very limited and restricted completely to footage from helmet cameras and eye witness accounts taken from the soldiers which participated during the first raid. While the primary objective was to kill Stanislav Gladius hoped that the captured SDF soldiers could be saved alongside the Boome Marines mercenary named Mercury. Mercury and Lt. Warren had both been captured during the first raid after attempting to save the crew of one of the downed Atlas gunships. Valerie Reed entered the observation deck and walked up to Gladius. "How are they doing?" "Excellent considering the circumstances." Valerie raised an eyebrow. "Circumstances?" Gladius gestured towards the soldiers. "Ares and his men are very competent, the problem is all the external factors. There's alot of questions marks and even if the raid goes smoothly we can't factor in Commander Rollonso's plan simply because he haven't told us anything. I don't like it." Valerie nodded. "There's some things in life which you simply can't control. In this case we can simply hope that everything goes smoothly. As for Seth, I have no worries. He's smarter than most people think he is. He'll come through." ----- Knight Sarok walked into the detention block with a big grin on his face. Followed closely by a pair of crusaders he made his way towards the main cell. Ever since the first assault he'd been working hard to regain the trust of Stanislav as he'd been, unfortunately, held personally responsible for letting the SDF forces ransack Fort Morningstar unopposed for roughly thirty minutes. To do this he'd been torturing the SDF prisoners on a regular basis, hoping to gain some information. Last night he had succeeded. One of the crewmen on the downed gunship had spilled his guts, at first it was incoherent nonsense but eventually the crewman had begun talking about the SSOID. The information was in reality useless but Sarok had no doubt that he would be able to make some use of this prisoner. At the very least his crazed state could force the others to speak. Sarok entered the large chamber where Warren, Mercury and the gunship crew were held chained up to the wall. Two of the crewmen had grown stiff after dying three weeks ago. Meanwhile the captain was mumbling to himself and the pilot had a thousand-yard stare. Mercury and Warren had fared the best, ignoring the pain to the best of their abilities. The two of them looked up as Sarok entered the room. The knight pulled out a baton which began to spark. "Let's play a game."

[QUOTE]"Cap, we better get moving if we want to hit the deadline for our mercenary friend."[/QUOTE] Taylor nodded, before looking back to the others. "Yes, we should get going. Seth won't be waiting much longer, really. After that, I'll carry out Jag's last wishes and finish things regarding Maddox." she said. "If you should need me, you know how to reach me." She quickly saluted the trio of Neasha, Constantine, and Arkadam, before looking back to the others. "Alright, guys and girls. Load up. Hope you have tropical wear and sunblock, because next stop for us is Trixina." she said, motioning to the Muramasa II.

"Good luck!" Neahsa blessed them. She and the others, aside from Arkadam, saluted. "When you see us again, this company will be blossoming on the heels of your success."