The shock batton smacked Alex right in the back. Sending even more electricity through him. This time it was enogh to knock him on the ground and drop the sword. He realized that he had lost this one too. He swalowed his pride and raised his hand. "Alright, I give."
Amy shook her head and laughed. "Ok, don't do what he just did."
Maddox extended his hand and helped Alex up. "Technically you won with your first blow, had I not worn armor."
"Ahh, winner by DQ then." Alex joked as he was helped back on his feet. "Big mistake on your part. Now I'll bring it up, every time we're talking about this."
Maddox chuckled. "Careful" He jokingly punched Alex on the shoulder lightly as his visor folded up. "I might plant a flashbang in your bunk."
"And I might give you the same treatment I gave Ahaz then. But seriously, good fight."
"Likewise." Said Maddox nodding.
[i]Johannes eventually makes it back to the armory while waiting for Hariim to reply to his comm ping and looks around, not sure where Maddox went.[/i]
[video=youtube;IWjk6pNHZ8Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWjk6pNHZ8Q[/video]
The convoy slowly moved through Terranos, covered by the night itself. Despite traffic being relatively low the five vehicles zig-zagged through the city by driving through back alleys and through smaller streets.
A homeless man about to stick a needle in his arm paused to observe the vehicles as they drove by him.
At the front of the convoy was a sleek police SUV painted all black; standard for SSOID agents in the field. Behind it was a secondary SUV which too was painted black.
Third in line was a large hovering truck. Despite its natural and inconspicious look the truck was a special-made SSOID transport vehicle with armor plates and blast padding alongside a shield.
Behind the truck was a black van loaded with eight SSOID tactical operators, being former SERPU and SDF these operators were equipped and ready for most challenges.
Lastly another SUV covered the rear, keeping an eye out for potential threats coming from the rear. Despite the fact the convoy consisted of multiple heavy vehicles they produced almost little to no sound at all.
Only a faint humming sound could be heard as the convoy moved towards their target, namely the SSOID HQ.
The truck driver calmly chewed on a piece of gum while the SSOID agent next to him tapped on the grip of his pistol.
"So far so good, huh?" Said the driver.
"Don't jinx it." Replied the agent.
Meanwhile, in the car right infront of the truck specialist Dara Vega observed the road ahead.
"Something wrong?" Asked Warren, sitting in the front passenger seat with his carbine resting between his legs.
Vega glanced at him. "This may sound off but my gut has a habit of telling me when something bad is going to happen and right now I got that feeling."
Warren grunted. "I believe you." He looked over his shoulder to Mercury who, somehow, had managed to fit in the back seat despite wearing heavy armor.
"Safety off, friend." Said Warren. Mercury nodded.
A few minutes later the convoy pulled up outside the SSOID HQ. A pair of SISP patrol cars where parked outside and four officers were observing the front entrance alongside a trio of SSOID agents.
Wasting no time, the agents started unloading the truck while the SSOID tactical operators formed up around the vehicle.
Specialist Vega, Warren and Mercury greeted one of the agents.
"Specialist Vega, good to see you." The agent, a man in his late thirties, turned to Warren Mercury.
"I'm agent Harkin, pleased to meet you." After shaking hands, Harkin gestured towards the large crate being loaded onto a hoverpad.
"I heard that the new guest of honor here caused quite the stir on Novithus."
Mercury chuckled. "You could say that. What are you gonna do with him anyway?"
"Research. Can't tell you anything besides that." Replied Harkin.
Mercury shrugged and looked towards Warren who seemed to be focusing on something else. Vega gripped her gun as she too looked in the same direction.
On the other side of the street a slow-moving hovertruck covered in makeshift armor plates rolled out from a back alley. At the same time multiple figures clad in black stepped out from the shadows with weapons raised.
"Take cover!" Yelled Harkin.
Soon projectiles, both kinetic and laser, were flying across the street. Several of the black figures were hit and droppe down onto the road, however many of the agents and two of the SISP officers hadn't reacted fast enough which resulted in their deaths.
A grenade launched from one of the attackers landed next to the crate, obliterating it and its contents.
The hostile hovertruck pulled over at the middle of the street, ignoring all incoming fire. A hatch opened up revealing a large 70mm cannon.
Warren widened his eyes. "Shi-"
Just as the cannon fired a energy barrier appeared, surrounding the SSOID HQ in a blue aura. Out from the entrance stormed several more SSOID tactical operators and agents with their weapons drawn.
Thanks to the one-way shield the SSOID forces easily repelled the attacking forces while a defensive turret with a gauss cannon wiped out the enemy truck.
"Cease fire!" Yelled Harkin as he holstered his gun. The SSOID forces stood down and moved in to check the bodies.
Vega shook her head as she inspected the crate; the body of the mysterious commando soldier had been completely pulverized aside from a chunk of the helmet.
Mercury and Warren looked at eachother. "Looks like our work got a bit harder." Said the mercenary.
Warren could only nod.
There were three statues that adorned a rather large triangular base which had the names of various SDF servicemen and women engraved on it, as well as the names of other soldiers and mercenaries who were not affiliated with the SDF, such as the Boome Marines, HarkArk Privateers, and other groups Frosty did not know. The three statues were of certain individuals who must have done something very important to receive such a memorial like this. One was a statue of Lion, whom Frosty saw earlier. The other was of a human man who had a starship flying over his shoulder, and "CAPTAIN JEREMY SPACEHAWK" was inscribed at it's base. The last one was of a very menacing and heavily armored figure who held a laser shotgun at his hip. "VARN MERNER" was his name, judging by the inscription. All in all, the memorial looks extremely impressive, and it had Frosty staring in amazement at it for a few moments.
This was the Zeurel monument in all it's glory.
After taking in the sight of such an impressive monument, Frosty circled it several times while trying to find his logo on it anywhere. No matter how hard he looked, he found nothing. Oh well, at least he could take a picture or something. Hopefully that wasn't illegal.
Frosty set his helmet down, turned on it's camera and set it to a 30 second delay, and then stood at attention next to the monument when the camera went off.
With no sign of his symbol anywhere, Frosty decided it was time to return to the Murumasa. There was nothing else he could do here.
[quote]Amelia was another story entirely. While she had imitated Amy to near perfection, her defense was lacking. She could dodge, that was good. But any attempt to block or parry a strike, made her nearly drop her sword several times. A fatal flaw, but one that can be fixed if she put the work in. She put her hand on Amelia's shoulder. "You two did great on the offense, but defense proved to be a chalenge." Amy gave Amelia a comforting look. "It's alright to fail now, so you can succseed later, that's what I learned when I was taught. Bottom line is, Taylor, you need practise and we need training dummies and some way to train your blocking and parry if you wanna keep at it. But you, Amelia, you need to look to avoid your target and keep a big distance between you and them. Tire them out and poke them in the ass when they are too tired to stand up straight. That's all I can help you with. You want to know what the Kinght commander taught Alex, ask him."[/quote]
Amelia interprets the information like a computer. Analyzing, interpreting, and printing into the brain. Keep distance. Poke them in the buttox when tired. Ask Alex.
"Thanks for the lesson." she bows, then turns to Alex with an eager expression, "Hiya, Amy said you know how to block." she twirls her foot, putting her hands behind her back, "Could ya show me?"
[QUOTE=Snoberry Tea;50376765][i]Johannes eventually makes it back to the armory while waiting for Hariim to reply to his comm ping and looks around, not sure where Maddox went.[/i][/QUOTE]
Maddox walked back into the armory. "I've taken a look at your guns."
[I]Johannes nods and walks over to Maddox. Without his gear and helmet the extent of his genetic modification was obvious as is his Dutch accent.[/I][b] "Great. What's the verdict? Fix or upgrade?[/b]
[QUOTE]Hiya, Amy said you know how to block." she twirls her foot, putting her hands behind her back, "Could ya show me?[/QUOTE]
Alex was a bit unsure about the request aftre seeing Amelia handle the attacks. "Uh sure. Lets see where we can improve." he moved in closer and grabbed her by the arm to inspect it. Noodle arm all the way. It felt like he was holding chicken legs rather than human arms.
"Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh, what?"
"Nothing. Ok, stand like so. Right foot here left foot there. Arms like so. Keep them like so." He continued to give her pointers and on ocasion show her what to do in order to minimize any damage and to incease her chances of deflecting. "Ok, there is one last thing to do to see how good you are with what I showed you." Alex stood in front of her and drew his sword. What attacks he did, he did while holding back. Last thing he needed was putting her in the emergency room.
[quote]"Uh sure. Lets see where we can improve." he moved in closer and grabbed her by the arm to inspect it. Noodle arm all the way. It felt like he was holding chicken legs rather than human arms.[/quote]
'Woah... um... you could have asked before you grabbed with your big, meaty claws...' Amelia thinks to herself.
[quote]"Ok, stand like so. Right foot here left foot there. Arms like so. Keep them like so." He continued to give her pointers and on ocasion show her what to do in order to minimize any damage and to incease her chances of deflecting.[/quote]
Every step was followed by Amelia mumbling, "Mhm."
[quote]"Ok, there is one last thing to do to see how good you are with what I showed you."[/quote]
'Please don't blast my ass.' she pleads inside her head.
[quote]Alex stood in front of her and drew his sword.[/quote]
"Wha-HA!" Amelia gets in her stance, albiet less open and more enclosed.
[quote]What attacks he did, he did while holding back. Last thing he needed was putting her in the emergency room.[/quote]
She deflects each attack, a fumble once, luckily, she dodged just in time. A rythm takes place. Block, parry, push.
'Don't attack unless you find an opening' she reminds herself.
Due to being a quick learner, even if she is a little out there, Amelia is able to get it down quick. Her breath becomes heavy after a few minutes going at it.
"Very good. You can probably handle a squire if he gets too close." Alex said as he sheathed his sword and placed it back with the others. "You still need practise, but you can get the hand of it. However, I advise you avoid the large and strong oponents."
Taylor stands nearby, watching Alex and Amelia practice. She wondered how difficult it'd be to train her in hand-to-hand, seeing as she's learning swordplay quite quickly. Small, barely any muscle...hopefully she'd never have to actually BE in a CQC situation, but its best to plan ahead. She glanced over to where Mad and Johannes were talking outside. Mad was pretty good with that stun rod, so he'd be fine. She didn't know what Johannes could do, but she imagined he was decent due to his Marine experience. Who else on the ship didn't have hand-to-hand or melee experience?
Taylor thought for a few moments. Bucky more than likely. Owen and Ahaz...Valkyrie had knife experience but fought like a fucking rabid dog. She'd be fine just from sheer aggressiveness in CQC. As Alex and Amelia finished up, Taylor stepped over and set her training sword with the rest. "We should probably train the others on-board that have no close range experience sometime, too. Bucky, Owen, Ahaz...Valkyrie's never used a sword, but she'd be fine in a hand-to-hand fight, I think."
She then turned to Amelia. "Up for some hand-to-hand training now? After you catch your breath, of course. That way, you'd be able to defend yourself without a weapon. Or try to at least."
[quote]"Very good. You can probably handle a squire if he gets too close."[/quote]
'Yes, I can get at least [i]someone[/i].'
[quote]"You still need practice, but you can get the hand of it. However, I advise you avoid the large and strong oponents."[/quote]
'There goes my chance of beating up Porter...'
"Thanks, Alex. Maybe train again some other day, yes?"
[quote]She then turned to Amelia. "Up for some hand-to-hand training now? After you catch your breath, of course. That way, you'd be able to defend yourself without a weapon. Or try to at least."[/quote]
"Hand-to-Hand..." after hesitating for a bit, "Sure, I'm up for it." She makes a sly grin. A water bottle sitting next to her is picked up and emptied almost immediately from Amelia's chugs. "Ahhh~ refreshing." she wipes her lips to get rid of the drops of water still left. Already, her breath is back to normal. "Okay, let's go! I'm ready." she bounces up and down, like a pumped up boxer.
"Alright." says Taylor. She motions for Alex to come over. "Alex is more of a traditional fighter. My fighting is more complex and technical. Of course, the ultimate objective is to defeat your enemy, whether it be to kill him or just cripple him. We'll show you the basics and how to counter them and deliver your own blows. Then we'll move on to the more advanced stuff later. Sound good?"
[QUOTE]We should probably train the others on-board that have no close range experience sometime, too. Bucky, Owen, Ahaz...Valkyrie's never used a sword, but she'd be fine in a hand-to-hand fight, I think.[/QUOTE]
"We can pitch it to the captain probably. Better to have a crew that can defend itself rather than not."
[QUOTE]Thanks, Alex. Maybe train again some other day, yes?[/QUOTE]
"Sure. As long as I'm not working on something else."
[I'm too slow with writing this]
Alex followes Taylor's instructions.
Frosty climbed back inside his starfighter and ascended as high as possible into the skies above. The afterburners roared as he doubletimed it back to the Muramasa. Who knows what has been going on during the time he was away? Hopefully the rest of the crew didn't spontaneously combust and die. That would be awful indeed.
[QUOTE=Snoberry Tea;50377808][I]Johannes nods and walks over to Maddox. Without his gear and helmet the extent of his genetic modification was obvious as is his Dutch accent.[/I][b] "Great. What's the verdict? Fix or upgrade?[/b][/QUOTE]
Maddox opened up a case which contained the wepaons turned in by Johannes. The handgun and the revolver appeared to be unchanged however the shotgun had underwent a serious makeover.
"As for your handguns, I wouldn't rely on them in the field. The 50. could work as a last resort wepaon if tucked away somewhere on your person but I strongly advise you to upgrade to something better, preferably a rapid-firing kinetic or plasma pistol to complement your shotgun.
Truth to be told, you could probably earn some quick credits by selling them off to some collector on Terra. I know that the Terranos Arms Museum would pay a hefty price for them."
He paused and grabbed the shotgun. "As for this... thing. I completely reworked the firing system and updated the heatsink, which was almost completely fried by the way, with a more modern one capable of auto-cooling.
The firing system also underwent a more modern makeover and should allow you to push the wepaon to its very limit without it exploding in your face. I switched out the chamber and replaced it with a Mars AutoMag one, meaning you just need to slap a magazine or a ammobelt right into the magwell to start shooting. Can switch between semi and full-auto."
Maddox handed over the shotgun to Johannes.
"As much as I love wepaons with wooden furniture the wood grip had to go and has been replaced by a more ergonomic alloy grip with fingertip sensors. Bottom of the grip also houses a NewGen WarTracker chip which doubles as a direct weapon link to your helmet HUD but also as a GPS system incase you lose the weapon for some reason.
Keep in mind you'll need to talk to Hariim so he can prime the chip, otherwise its just dead metal.
Aside from that I took the liberty of making some ammo for you, you have two ammotypes to choose from: Muramasa SmartAmmo which is standard kinetic ammo that can be primed with corrosive plasma, explosive or armor piercing tips thanks to a trick with chemicals I learned a few years back. Thirty rounds in each mag.
The other is a supercharged slug based on the slug ammo you gave me. Working as a tiny shaped charge the slugs should theoretically pierce most armors and detonate inside. Fifteen shots per mag.
Oh and one last thing, I took the liberty of naming the weapon [i]Jager Mk. 1[/i]. I hope you'll like the changes I did."
While waiting for Johannes to respond, Maddox brought up his datapad and sent a message to Valkyrie.
[quote]
Valkyrie,
I took a look at that bolter you dropped off. Come by when you have time.
Mad[/quote]
[quote]"We'll show you the basics and how to counter them and deliver your own blows. Then we'll move on to the more advanced stuff later. Sound good?"[/quote]
"Yeppity-doo-da!" she clacks her heels, saluting.
János tried his best to keep up with the others in-game. Bucky was in the lead, with Valkyrie steadily behind her. Meanwhile, he was struggling against Val's traps, audibly grunting every time he narrowly avoids one and every time he hits one. Only Owen's struggling in dealing with some of the game's mechanics were preventing him from entering last place, and even still, Owen was close behind him.
"Alright. Alex, take a few swings at me. Jabs, hooks, and so on. We'll alternate to show her." said Taylor.
Alex nodded, and got ready. Taylor got into a boxing pose like what Amelia had been doing, and soon they were trading punches. "See, jabs and punches like this you can block or dodge." she said. Some of Alex's punches and hooks smacked into Taylor's forearms as she held them up in front of her face. Some he missed completely due to Taylor leaning and dodging. "Simple, right? The ones you dodge, you can counter with your own punches if you find an opening." She dodges one punch, and swings across with a hook to tap Alex's head. "Also, note how we're punching one another. Gotta make sure your punches and such are proper, otherwise you might end up fucking yourself up more than you do your enemy." They stop hitting one another, and slowly move through their punching motions to give her a clear view. "Also, don't do this shit." said Taylor, before rearing back to throw a punch. "In the time it takes you to load a punch like this, the enemy could have clocked you two or three times. You just punch the fuck. Don't do this."
"... okay."
'didn't know these guys had such strong harsh words in their vocabulary...'
"No pulling back, find openings, dodge duck block and such. I think I got it. Maybe..."
"One way to find out." Alex looked at his sister. "Amy, get into position."
"Uhhh, what?"
"You heard me. Get infront of Amelia and get in position." Amy oblidged if a bit hesitantly. "Ok, Amelia, show us what you remembered."
[I]Johannes nods and listens as Maddox speaks, inspecting the weapons as he goes over them. When Maddox finishes, he speaks.[/I][b] "I'm not worried so much about the effectiveness of the .50AE, I only carry it as a concealed defensive handgun when I'm not in my armor. The revolver shouldn't have much trouble, the heavy plasma tipped .45-70 rounds are higher pressure than most ballistics available today and they hit like a truck. I've used then pretty effectively in the last six years, although if you could work your magic on them and make some sort of smart round? As for the Jager, the fried heatsink would probably explain why the plasma field was collapsing so often. I like the name by the way, did you know I was Dutch or did you just guess? That being said if you're going to replace the stock with something synthetic is it possible for you to at least keep the wood aesthetic? Some sort of treatment or covering? I'm a sucker for style. The rest of the modifications sound good but I am slightly concerned about how big is 30 and 15 round magazine will be for 3.5" 4 gauge shells... also how are fingerprint sensors going to work when I wear gloves?"[/b]
Maddox listened and nodded. "I could probably beef up the revolver, just keep in mind that armor has developed alot in the years you've beennin cryo. Military nanite armor with regenerative abilities would be able to harden itself before you even load your second shot. That said, I'll see what I can do."
He paused and inspected the Jager. "As for this, I could probably slap on some fake wood panels to the stock exterior. Although you'd have to get me some fake wood from a merchant first.
And like I said, the firing system has been reworked to hold kinetic shotgun rounds which are far more compact than your old-school stuff while retaining the same amount of force.
I added your fingerprints from your crew dossier, if the weapon detects any other prints it will lock.
As for the name, I read your dossier. Plus, a good portion of people from Novithus, my homeworld, are dutch descendants. I know some basic words, can't speak it tho."
[B]"Maddox I didn't ask where you got my fingerprints, I asked how the reader is gonna work when my armor has gloves? I have to keep them on for my suit to be useful. As far as the Dutch thing, want me to teach you?"[/B]
Hariim answers the ping after working through a particularly peculiar section of the ship's internal computer systems. He still can't figure out how some of the shit on this crate works. "Hariim here. Whaddya need, newbie?"
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
