(( Last I heard, he was having some medical problems. Hopefully it's nothing bad like last time. ))
(Give it time, lads. Worst comes to worst we can pull together some world-building discussions to help expand this fun little universe.)
[QUOTE=F T;50657282](( Last I heard, he was having some medical problems. Hopefully it's nothing bad like last time. ))[/QUOTE]
((RIP Sega Saturn 19XX - 2016 ))
The SNV Shadow suddenly appeared in the midst of the black void. Captain Valerie Reed tapped her fingers nervously as Gladius, followed by Ares, Xerxes, Zeus, Mercury and Warren marched onto the bridge.
"Have we reached our objective, captain?" Asked Gladius. The soldier formed a semi-circle next to the captain's chair.
Valerie shook her head. "No, we haven't We stopped because we're getting a distress signal broadcasting on a open channel. Normally protocol dictates that only SDF calls or hails gives us reason to deviate from our mission. However, after hearing this... message, we decided to make an exception."
She nodded towards First Officer Hendricks. "Hendricks, play the message." Hendricks nodded and the soldiers listened.
[i]"This is Diamondback 0-0-5-1-1-9 hailing all nearby vessels on a open channel. Requesting immeadiate assistan-*static*-... Heavy casualties! We need immeadiate assistance. Containment has been breached. Sector 02385-83341. Sierra. Oscar. Sierra."[/i]
Warren glanced at Mercury and Ares.
Gladius shifted his stance slightly. "How far out are we?"
"We should have visual on it right baout now." Said Valerie while gesturing towards the window. She got up and walked towards it, followed tightly by the group of soldiers.
Infront of the ship was a large space station which probably doubled as both a trading hub and a outpost judging by the large hangar, docking rings, advanced communications array and point defense turrets.
Valerie looked at Hendricks. "Spotlight, now. Start a full scan of the station."
As the spotlight came to life Valerie grimaced while Warren clenched his jaw. A large hole caused by what would appear to be a internal explosion had knocked up a large portion of the station hull. The hangar was closed and one of the defense turrets looked like it had been used to destroy the escape shuttle as the barrels were still pointing at the partially destroyed vessel still clinging to the station. The blastshields had been deployed on the control room, making it impossible to see if any of the command staff were still present.
Painte din bold white text above the control room window was the name [i]Brakavic Station[/i].
"Look!" Sad Ares, pointing at the docking rings.
One of the rings had deployed its airlock tube halfway with the far end destroyed while the other one was linked to a sleek mercenary vessel donning the colors and emblem of the Diamondback PMC forces.
Hendricks looked up from the terminal. "Captain, we're detecting debris around the station. It looks like someone destroyed the escape pods as they were launched. Several levels seems to be sealed off due to internal damage caused by explosives."
He gestured with his hand in confusion. "Trace amounts of radiation from a plasma bomb and roghly twenty bodies near the destroyed docking ring suggests someone tried to vent the tube of whoever was stuck inside."
Valerie walked up to the screen to the left of her chair. "Give me a close-up of the bodies."
"Yes ma'am."
Everyone on the bridge but Gladius became visibly pale as the feed from one of the hull cameras appeared on-screen. "May Sol guide us." Whispered Ares.
Slolwy circling around the destroyed airlock tube were several mutilated bodies. Human bodies with crude mechanical limbs replacing their organic counterparts were slolwy drifting in space. The procedures had not been elegant and the twisted corpses looked more like monsters than actual human beings. Sharp metal claws had repalced most of their hands and various spikes could be seen coming out of their backs, shoulders and even heads.
Valerie looked at Hendricks. "Are you picking up any life signs?"
"Only faint ones, it's impossible to determine any real numbers. The station looks like your average trade hub but the name Brakavic gave me the info for a research facility. I'm guessing its shielded for a very good reason."
Warren nodded towards the Diamondback ship. "What about the ship?"
Hendricks shook his head. "Not shielded and there's nobody onboard as far as I can tell. Looks like the entire crew left and locked up the ship before boarding the station."
"Then that's our way in." Said Gladius. He turned to Valerie. "Captain, requesting permission to investigate the distress call."
Valerie nodded. "Permission granted. We'll prepare a Hawk for you."
[video=youtube;IWjk6pNHZ8Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWjk6pNHZ8Q[/video]
Several loud bangs could be heard as the soldiers and their magnetized boots landed onto the surface of the Diamondback ship. Flying nearby was a [url=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71236376/Starpath%20RP/SDF%20Hawk%20VTOL.jpg]SDF Hawk dropship[/url], while new to the SDF arsenal the STWG force onboard the SNV Shadow were already familair with the ship as they had used three of them during the Terranos raid which led to the elimination of a terrorist cell.
Gladius did a thumbs up as he, Gladius, Warren, Mercury and the rest of Strikeforce Ares succesfully connected with the ship and began to moved towards the upper service hatch.
The hawk pilot nodded. [i]"Falcon Two-Six, RTB."[/i]
The squad slowly converged on the hatch which was easily opened with a universal access code provided by the Shadow's electronic warfare group after they hacked the private military vessel. Clad in heavy SDF boarding trooper armor, Gladius and Mercury were the only members of the squad who still wore their own personal armor sets as both soldiers normally wore heavy armor.
Meanwhile the rest of the squad had more or less been forced to change as the mission would take place inside the space station which was full of tight spaces and narrow hallways.
Gladius landed on the floor with a thump. "Gladius to Shadow, we're onboard the ship. Hold five for next status."
"Copy, holding five Gladius."
One by one the team members entered the ship and secured it.
Clean and with a very spartanic design and layout, the Diamondback vessel showed no trace of the crew. Thanks to a active console in the cockpit and a data transfer cable leading to the airlock it was quickly determined that the crew had for some reason jury-rigged their communications console to draw power and broadcast from the station instea dof their own ship.
"Ship is clear, moving towards the airlock."
The squad formed up on the airlock door while Mercury, covered by Warren, started to work with the control panel which was currently in a lockdown state- preventing anyone from entering and leaving the ship.
Mercury nodded and the doors opened up, revealing a pitch-black corridor.
"Lights." Said Ares. All soldiers turned on their weapon-mounted flashlights as well as helmet-mounted ones. Gladius, Warren and Ares took point while two strikeforce troopers armed with kinetic shotguns covered the left and right flanks.
The corridor was empty save for a pair of cargo crates and a large pool of... blood?
Warren held up his hand. "Watch my six." He cautiously approached the pool of blood which was next to the crates. "You're gonna want to see this, commander."
The squad moved up and Gladius stopped next to Warren. Behind the crates was a torn up [url=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71236376/Starpath%20RP/Diamondback%20PMC.jpg]Diamondback contractor[/url] with deep claw marks having punctured not only his armor but also his helmet. Blood had splattered across the wall while casings from the contractor's ballistic weapon had been covered in the red pool.
"I got a bad feeling about this." Said Ares. The rest could only nod.
((Gonna continue this tomorrow.))
((I'm fine, guys. I've just been out of town spending time with my girlfriend; I didn't mean to make you guys think I've been seriously ill or anything. Updates will resume this weekend.))
((Hey man as long as you got tail it's cool. You got tail right?))
After having tagged the deceased Diamondback operator near the docked ship, the SDF team had procceeded down the hallway. The station was eerily quiet and the squad couldn't shake the feeling that something really bad was about to happen.
So far they had passed by several empty storage rooms, as well as a sealed off section. Judging by the position of the locked area, the team concluded that it was the same part of the station which had suffered from major explosive damage.
"Thirtythree." Said Warren suddenly.
"Repeat last, over?" Replied Ares with a annoyed tone.
"We just passed the thirtythird door." Warren explained, right before Mercury jokingly punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow, friendly fire." Said the now laughing Warren. Mercury was about to say something when Gladius held up his hand.
"Hold. Movement on sensors. Dead ahead." The squad froze before slowly resuming their walk forward.
A sign on the left wall identified the room ahead as the canteen. A bloody handprint was visible next to it.
"Uh oh." Said Warren, tightening the grip of his weapon, a fully automatic kinetic shotgun. Having reached the doors, Gladius motioned for Mercury to crack the controls as a red light above the door indicated that it had been locked.
Nothing could've prepared the squad for what was on the other side of the door. As soon as the door opened Gladius, Warren and Ares took point and barged in, weapons at the ready.
When they entered, the sound of feet stepping in liquid echoed. Warren and Ares became pale.
"Fuck..." Muttered Ares.
Inside the canteen the tables had been moved aside to block all of the windows. At the center of the room laid four dead Diamondback operators, still with their weapons in hand. Around them were dozens of dead humans and just like the ones spotted floating outside in space, they all had crude mechanic limbs.
Blood covered most of the canteen floor and alot of it could be traced back to a series of figures spiked up against the far wall, with their faces still full of fear even after dying it looked like someone had literally torn them apart.
At the center of the room one single twisted human figure was still standing. Kneeling next to one of the Diamondback operators it looked as of the creature was sawing off the limbs from its prey.
When Ares spoke, its head snapped to the right. With bloodshot eyes the creature opened its metallic jaws and let out a scream.
"Engage! Engage!" The SDF team opened fire, gunning down the creature with ease as chunks of it was torn off and sent flying. Unlike the Diamondback operators who used ballistic weapons, the SDF used kinetic firearms only which were much more effective against armor.
"Was that all?" Asked Mercury just as a second door on the far side of the room was slammed open, revealing a red and grey mass of more cyborg creatures. "Really?" Yelled Warren at Mercury before taking point, blue kinetic buckshot rounds started to fly across the room as he opened fire.
Meanwhile the rest of the SDF team formed up, two of Ares's men deployed energy shields which were used to great effect to deliver lethal shock charges to the creatures dumb enough to try and claw them.
Gladius walked forward, gunning down the twisted figures with his machinegun. He stopped once he noticed that there were no more enemies to shoot.
He glanced at the squad. "Status?"
"All green."
"Good, then let's go."
Jag begin to swiftly moves behind Johannes as he slowly press forward with his shield covering him and the Sanghvi.
Jag patiently watches the hallway while it moves along with the rest of the team.
Ready to shrike down any foe trying to get an jump on them.
Genji gently walked down the hallway stretching the entirety of the Shuur estates upper floor.
In his hands he was carrying a tray with a teapot, three cups and a small bottle of seka, a sort of sweet liquor.
Genji had served the Shuur family for a long time, ever since he was stripped of his name when his fathers body returned from Gyomgm after having succumb in a mining accident. With their house in dire straits from before, his mothers employment as a waitress could not support what was left of their line and she died shortly afterwards from a regrettable combination of grief and depression.
Genji had just finished the 15 year long preparatory education when his mother died, and with his father who had been his only contact to Dowa and the Resource Guild, he had nowhere to turn for assistance.
With a future crumbled by unfortunate circumstances he was forced to end his line.
He was simply Genji now, a Ayr without a house and at the very bottom of the societal hierarchy.
However, luck had not forgotten him it seemed when Ryuko, Yuga Shuur's fiencée, returned to the Shuur estate on leave from her job as an imperial servant at the Royal Palace in Honnoji to find him loitering outside of the estate.
Touched by his misfortunate fate, she offered him a place as the servant in the Shuur house under her guidance.
As the years went by he established himself as a common presence in the house and Setsu Shuur took a liking to him in an informal sense as Genji had proved himself to be loyal and good at keeping secrets.
The second floors common room's door was already open and Genji walked straight in.
The room was very traditional with a high ceiling and tall arched windows.
On the rooms left wall was a fire place with a series of delicate armchairs and a sofa.
Setsu Shuur, who was sat on the sofa facing away from the door, turned her head to glance at Genji over the shoulder and acknowledged his presence, as did the two other guests who were sat in the armchairs.
Genji sat his tray down on the centre table and handed the first cup to Setsu Shuur.
She was very gaunt, with wrinkled eyes, gray hair tied into a topknot and dressed in a very decorated and elegant kimono. She was originally from the a small house that had long served House Akiya as accountants in the Imperial Treasury.
She was married to Hayato Shuur, Yuga's fathers brother, who was a navigator in the Imperial Starfleet.
As Hayato was often away from home like Yugas father, Setsu devoted her time to helping Yugas mother with her childs upbringing. This role became much more prominent as Yugas mother succumb to a fatal disease.
Setsu squinted in a friendly manner and nodded towards Genji as she took the cup.
He bowed as a reply and turned to give the second cup to Captain Jiro Tojo.
He was clad in an ornate ISF Naval uniform adorned with a notable amount of decorations.
He was a very plump man with a rosy face accompanied with a well tended pair of sideburns.
Genji didn't know much about him, but what he knew was that he had been a Captain for some time in the Starfleet, a job which according to himself had not been interesting in the slightest.
After being injured in a battle at the Wubach Nebula he sustained damage to his head and had to undergo therapy.
It was in this therapy he discovered singing, and was immediately intrigued by it. He had in his later years made himself famous as a proficient singer, mostly performing operas in full-seated halls.
The Shuur family had known him as a personal friend since long before, as Yugas father and Jiro had served on the same ship during their examination year from their respective guilds.
Jiro also nodded slightly as he gripped the cup before turning to Setsu, "I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the his Majesty's birthday for a performance, my Dear. I've decided to bestow myself a lengthy vacation now that spring has arrived."
"That brings us to my errand, Ms Shuur." a firm but hoarse voice said.
Seated in the armchair opposite Jiro, dressed in rustic but presentable manner, was Takara Ogura.
She was built very muscularly, a trait usually attained by those coming from rural houses. Genji knew almost nothing of Takara other than that she belonged to the Ogura house which were know for their botanical knowledge and gardening expertise, and that Takara and a small ensemble of gardeners would tend to the Shuur residence's garden during the spring and the summer.
Genji picked up the seka bottle and looked at Takara, "How much liquor would you prefer?"
Takara gestured with her finger, "Just a pinch, my boy. Too much and you ruin the tea."
She turned her attention towards Setsu, "The details regarding your garden must be prepared as soon as possible. Otherwise we might have problems regarding a few flowers and weeds."
She took the tea cup that was offered to her by Genji and took a small sip.
Nodding slightly she looked from Genji to Setsu, "The boy is good." she conveyed in a delighted tone.
Genji nodded and excused himself from the room when he had been notified by his wristband that there was someone at the door.
As he opened the large front door the the house he recognized instantly who stood before him.
It was Vice-Admiral Iwo Kanoko, a tall, imposing figure dressed in a minimalistic naval trench coat.
Aside from being the commander of the south eastern fleet he had also been rumored to be the director of the Imperial Intelligence Faculty, but nothing had been proved.
He looked down on Genji, who tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
"I have matters to discuss with Setsu Shuur regarding her neice, Yuga Shuur."
Sylvia rubbed her cheek through her mask as she walked, annoyed with János's disapproval. "So he had a hare trigger; not my fault. Most of the time, I get what I want if I ask nicely."
"We could have just taken him out, you know," Dio grumbled. "Nobody would have noticed until we were through the apartment block."
János shook his head and reiterated his plan. They would wait and see if the officer would depart, and then make their move. His cohorts seemed uncomfortable with the plan. There was no guarantee that the patrolman would stop blocking the way, and even if he did, every minute spent in hiding was time wasted while their comrade's body lay vulnerable in lot beyond.
CH Estimate: 2/5
[B]Actual: 3[/B]
Roll Failed.
The officer may have turned back had he not been approached at all, but János and his team were simply too suspicious. He stayed in place, and in fact seemed to be talking into a radio. Was he calling for backup or merely giving a status update? It wasn't clear. Finally, Dio had reached the end of his patience. "Warden, he's just a beat cop, and he's all alone. Nothing but an easy target- if you won't make the call then maybe someone else ought to take charge."
---
The main away team crossed through the security door into the central walkways of the complex. After a short walk through another nondescript concrete tunnel, they emerged into a dimly-lit, cavernous chamber which was shaped like a large "X." The ceiling was high above, and reinforced with massive steel trusses which bore the weight of the mountain above, and below the wide catwalk on which they stood, the ground was so far away that any fall from this height would most definitely be lethal.
The bridge continued across this gaping trench to the opposite side of the cross, where staircases doubled back here and there to connect to the numerous smaller walkways which lined the sides of the four branches, and a quick count told the crew that there were eight total floors in the launch complex alone. On either side, numerous computer-controlled gun placements hung limply from the trusses, reminding the crew that the compromising the base security system had been critical to their success. At the center, between these staircases, were the elevators.
[quote]Crew, this is Rask. Listen, I __ow that you're ki__ of deep in shit at the mo♣ent, but it'♦ ju*t occ╓red to m╫┌π.._╢[/quote]
The comm system stopped working. At first, the crew assumed that they were too far underground, but after Hariim reflexively attempted to patch through the base's compromised array, they realized that the signal was being jammed by something not connected to the network at all- perhaps even a man-portable device.
There was no choice but to hurry forward, toward the elevator doors, but only halfway across the gangway the doors opened, revealing a pair of heavily-armed and armored peacekeepers- gohvas, and an ahra-phi technician. As soon as the doors opened, the gohvas raised their guns and fired into the florescent lights directly above the crew.
Gohva 1 + 2:
CH Estimate: 3/5 + 3/5 = 1
Roll Passed.
With a stream of lead, the Peacekeepers eliminated the only light source on the bridge itself, leaving the crew totally in the dark. For those who had no form of night vision, it meant total blindness. More shots rang out from the darkness- snipers, aiming from the high walkways in each of the four branches of the base. Instinctively, the crew dropped to the ground to make themselves harder to hit, but in the process, Valkyrie tripped over Johannes's foot and nearly tumbled under the handrail and off of the bridge. The air was filled with profanity as the crew was once again on the defensive.
Worse yet, the technician inside the elevator, illuminated by the carriage's dome light, could be seen literally tearing buttons and wires out of the control panel in a crude effort to disable the machine.
Whatever the crew did next would mean the difference between life and death- for all of them.
[video=youtube;RJjTvm2UHeI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJjTvm2UHeI[/video]
Rask repeated himself, waiting for any response from the crew. Not receiving any, he turned to Yanim. "I've lost them. Sounds like the signal's jammed."
Yanim grunted, clutching the armrest of her chair. She was obviously nervous, but trying to appear calm and collected. "Captain Sharpe," she croaked, "are you in position?"
[quote]We'll be at Dyatiq in 2 minutes.[/quote]
"Be ready to extract the crew from the main entrance to the tunnel if they retreat." She looked to the sat-map of the mountain range and glowered at the missile complex. "Rask, I think we might have made a mistake."
Rask eyed her disapprovingly. "...We?"
[video=youtube;LK6uWFl4KkU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK6uWFl4KkU[/video]
[i]Johannes glances around quickly, then making a judgement call, slams his shield down as hard as he can into the catwalk, causing it to explode into a dense, superchilled fog that hangs around the crew, hopefully cold enough to mask their heat signatures on the thermal/infrared optics the snipers and peacekeepers surely have. He then pulls two grenades from his belt, primes them for a 3 second detonation, and throws them both into the elevator holding the Gohva and Ahra-phi peacekeepers. As soon as the grenades have left his hands, he flicks his HUD to an echolocation mode, allows his helmet to find a sniper, calculate distance, and uses his jumpjets to launch himself up off the catwalk and onto the sniper, attempting to land on him and stab him with his knives.[/i]
János rubbed his temples in response to what Dio said.
"Dio, killing the officer only helps us in the short term. Who's to say the police wouldn't notice his death almost immediately? A gun shot or a knife kill would surely be heard over a radio, the former possibly even ringing through the area. We aren't even certain Frosty's still in the building. What if some good Samaritan saved him before we got to him? Killing the officer would make us waste even more time.
"My final decision is that we wait to see what the officer does. If he leaves, we wait half a minute and rush in. If backup arrives, we sneak off and look for another way in. There will be no killing!" he stated. After a moment of uncomfortable pause, János' face lit up.
"You want action, I'll give you action," he said, as he grabbed a pebble of the ground. "We'll distract him with noise," he said, as he looked past the officer, searching for anything interesting to throw the pebble at. If he finds something, he'd calculate the best throwing angle, as to avoid the officer seeing the pebble. If the officer is sufficiently distracted and goes to investigate, the group will attempt their best to sneak into the building as quickly and quietly as possible.
Maddox ducks for cover. "Sniper fire!" He folds down his visor and enables the infrared nightvision mode. At the same time he flips on a IR-laser on his weapon and begin to scan for targets.
As Moloch was fixing Frosty's broken body, his elbow bumped into Frosty's hip transmitter, accidentally turning it on.
The sounds of flesh being torn and mended, bones snapping while being adjusted, and Moloch chanting a mantra were being broadcasted through to the bridge.
Taylor uses her suits scanners to hunt for snipers, while giving out orders. "Everyone, try to retreat back across the bridge. If you've got scanners or night vision, take out the snipers. Mad, give Valk your launcher. Valk, deliver those armored fucks one hell of a [I]'fuck you'[/I] with the RPG. Harrim, are you able to hack any of the turrets from here and get them to work for us? Might help out a helluva lot."
Markus slowly looked around as they entered the giant chamber.
A quiet "Bloody 'ell" escaped him before he was forced to snap to it as all hell broke loose once again.
As the lights were shot out and he began hearing sniper fire he threw himself flat on the bridge. He noticed the ahra-phi sabotaging the elevator and took aim, but before he could take the shot he was enveloped in Johannes' mist which began whiring like a blizzard when he took off with his boosters.
Taylor ordered the group to get back so he got up and took a shoot at the techicians silhouette through the mist before retreating back across the bridge, fumbling along the railing in the dark.
...
Yuga narrowed her eyes as the ground teams signal vanished as they went further underground.
Captain Sharpe's assistance was most welcome, as it meant they could focus at retrieving Frosty, or what was left of him.
It was then that ungodly sound began transmitting over the bridges comms.
She hastily stood up and gazed with wide open eyes at the communicator.
As she turned to give Vakarus a glance, he could clearly see an expression of genuine fright in her glowing eyes.
She focused on the communicator before turning it off, "Devil worship..." she thought to herself.
Yuga collected herself and contacted the retrieval team, "I care not for your pacifist plans, Mr Celofan. Mr Bradley, you are authorized to use lethal force. Someone is tampering with Frosty's remains and your time has run out. Now GO!" she commanded with a mixture of gravity, disgust and fear all mixed into one in her tone.
((I'm going to give the situation at Dyatiq a bit more time to hash out before I roll for it. Most of the away team has yet to state their intentions.))
Yuga had given the order, and Dio's face lit up with excitement. But János wasn't willing to give up on his principles, and instead, hurled a small rock as hard as his robotic body could propel it. His hope was that it would bounce off a distant gutter pipe, creating a loud and hollow metallic clang, something which would surprise the officer and lead him away.
CH Estimate: 4/7
[B]Actual: 6[/B]
Roll Passed.
The rock soared over the corner of the building and plunged toward its target, but as soon as he had released it, János knew that it was spinning in a way which would harm its trajectory. As luck would have it, however, it sailed toward a window nearby the pipe and broke the glass instead. The police officer, suspecting looters, immediately trotted off to investigate. The team waited, Dio slightly dejected, until it was clear that the officer was not going to return quickly.
"Let's go," János urged them. They dashed down the road, following the warden as he bashed into the apartment block door. Ducking to the side, János avoided an explosive wave of flame and smoke which belched out of the building once in contact with fresh air. Having cleared the door, the four crewmates entered the lobby in their desperate attempt to catch up to Frosty and stop whoever was desecrating his corpse.
(Auto Roll)
János + Dio + Sylvia + Hestia:
1/4 + 1/6 + 1/6 + 1/3 = 11/12
[B]Actual: 9[/B]
Roll Passed.
As they dashed through the burning building, crouching low to avoid the cloud of smoke, János lead the way. He forced his way through several barriers and blocked doorways before a collapsed ceiling forced him to change directions and use a backup plan. Sylvia kept up fairly well, but Dio had a much harder time keeping his sense of direction. As the crew mounted a half-charred flight of stairs, Dio lost his footing and plunged the wrong way down the stairwell. As planned, Hestia then stepped in and chased him down while János and Sylvia continued toward safety. Back on his feet, Dio followed the medical robot toward another alternate route, where they zigzagged up a flight of stairs. Bashing their way through another door, the two halves of the team were reunited just before the exit into the courtyard.
János, Sylvia, and Hestia all emerged from the door while Dio, having realized that his clothing had caught fire, opted to jump through an already-damaged window instead. After some stopping, dropping, and rolling, the four finally came into contact with the charred remains of Frosty's starfighter. Choking on the smoke, Dio and Sylvia stumbled over to the cockpit, where it was obvious that Frosty's body had been removed by an outsider. A trail of now-dried blood, Frosty's uniquely colored humor, could be seen trailing away.
"Shit..." Dio cursed under labored breaths. "Guess we've... got to... keep going."
---
Yanim had seized onto him so suddenly that Rask momentarily forgot his training. She was screaming something about his opportunism, but Rask was too focused on her physicality to worry about her point. This was not good; all he had insinuated was that he would have picked siding with the kanads over the sanghvi and that he still believed it was the better choice. Yanim was caught up with her own ever-present terror of betrayal, and had begun descending into a panicked meltdown. It was reminiscent of their first days on the Belladonna together, before the company really got rolling. He hoped she wouldn't pull a gun on him as she was asking something about "when Rask planned to stab her in the back."
He was annoyed and answered automatically. He missed Virin; that boy could break up arguments much easier than Neasha ever could. Before he was even done thinking about the way his comrade once stopped Yanim and Gataska, TBC's original doctor, from fighting, Yanim had released his lapels and began to pace the room feverishly. Constantine, whom had very obviously been waiting just outside the bridge, now sheepishly entered. He was a human in his mid-forties, hair and skin beginning to gray, dressed in a newly-tailored uniform based on design notes from the Boss and her lieutenants themselves. On his arm, he wore a band of three colors- black, sanguine red, and plum purple.
"Is this a bad time?" he asked once Yanim had stopped pacing and looked at him with severity.
"Maybe, maybe not. Speak your mind, human," she spat.
"One of my partners on Seloveha has said that his commander has just placed a large order for plasma rifles. I copied the info into the intranet but I didn't get a response-"
"That's because we're both busy," Yanim barked. "I've heard about the civil unrest here. It will be going on long after we leave, long after we've become involved with something else. I won't invest in anything."
"Understood, ma'am," Constantine replied. "Although, I should mention that the leader of SULP... Beshyem-"
"What about him?"
"You and him are strikingly similar. At least to me. Perhaps I haven't known you long enough..." he said, stepping out of the bridge angered at his boss's temper.
Yanim, flush with indignation, scowled at Rask. "What did he mean by that!?" she snapped.
"Beshyem is what you'd call a freedom fighter, keh. A real folk hero on his planet at this point. Did you read the dossier?"
"No, not that, what did he mean by the last comment?"
Rask crossed his arms, expecting another outburst from his leader, but he was unconcerned with the consequences. What needed to be said, needed to be said. "You ought to look at yourself right now, blusterin' at your subordinates and making a big show of how angry you are at everything. You're scared underneath it, I'm sure. That's what you're covering up. Scared like the little girl you are when the lights are out, keh." Rask's harsh voice rang with bitterness.
Yanim's eyes were wild with fury, but she was speechless. Rask pressed the advantage while he had it. He chose his next words carefully. In kanad:
"[If the crew gets wasted down there, it's gonna be your fault for leaving it up to them to choose their next mission, and letting them run right into the Collective's nest egg. That's what scares you, that you're going to do to them what you did to Virin. Get over it; they can be replaced, after all. But if they survive this thing, they're going to need [I]real[/I] leadership. You can keep spouting your 'vision' to anyone that'll listen, and keep moving the money around. But I'm in charge of operations, aren't I? Let me do my job from now on, because you [I]clearly[/I] can't handle it.]"
His last words rose in intensity until for once, in his years of working with Yanim, he finally rivaled her in his force of will. The fury in her eyes faltered, there was a jitter. Something had gotten through, but then she went flush and the anger returned.
"[They are [I]not[/I] replaceable. They never will be. And until you change your way of thinking, you will never have direct control. Get off my bridge. Stay away until tomorrow.]"
János, seeing Frosty's blood trail, ducked down to give it a better look.
"Dried. Whoever did this must've done it a while ago. Heck, they might be responsible for this!" he said, referring to the charred remains of Frosty's starfighter.
"Seems like we know where to head next. Dio, Sylvia, take a breather for a moment and get that smoke out of your systems. Then we'll follow the trail."
Abraxas ducked, able to see the traces enough to get a glimpse. He took the time to plant a syringe against his skin, injecting a Malmarian remedy while keeping watch on Amy.
A beep came from Frosty's transceiver, turning it off while also startling Moloch. To his surprise, he noticed that it was on, and probably was on for a while. Somebody on the other end was listening to him operate on Frosty, hearing all the noises he made while invoking the name of his god. Curious, he wiped his hands, and inspected it. Whoever it was on the other end turned their communicator off, so he switched it to another frequency that was marked and spoke into it.
"[I]Hello?... Hello?[/I]"
Vakarus looked at Yuga. "Yuga'atvan, my tactical overview has notified me that the Frozen-one is once again active on the recovery team's channel."
Yuga slowly turned her head around to look at Vakarus again, her eyes formed into a deep iron frown.
She walked hastily up the steps towards Vakarus terminal.
Had they been of equal size and strength, Yuga would have pushed Vakarus aside. The latter however noticed the seriousness of his captain and calmly sidestepped away from the terminal.
She leaned on the terminal and stared intensely at frosty's name which was on the display and showed active status. "Impossible..." she thought to herself, but her state was such that Vakarus could pick up the psychic waves.
She turned towards him and pointed at the screen, "People don't come back from the dead, Va'un. It's heresy I tell you!" she conveyed furiously whilst gesticulating.
She walked back to her chair with prompt steps.
"Monitor that channel! I want to know what they are saying!" she said whilst throwing on last glance in Vakarus' direction before sitting down and releasing a huge vapor cloud out of her compass.
She sat in it's midst and took it in while contacting Amelia, "Ms Weinheart, please report to the bridge on this instant." she said, with her voice now slightly more calmed and collected.
"[I]For whomever may be listening... whomever this man made company with, make no attempts to find him. For your own safety, do not come for this man. He is in better hands now. Turn away, and forget him.[/I]" warned Moloch over the radio.
[quote]She sat in it's midst and took it in while contacting Amelia, "Ms Weinheart, please report to the bridge on this instant." she said, with her voice now slightly more calmed and collected.[/quote]
Amelia runs into the bridge as she just finishes putting her lab coat on. "Amelia reporting for duty Captain. What's the situation?" she asks in a hurriedly fashion.
(( feels like forever since I've posted here hi guys ))
Hariim immediately lines up a shot on the technician, and fires a string of slugs set for post-impact detonation. He reaffirms the squad's network security and makes use of his sensor suite to provide everyone with false-color imaging of the positions of all present hostiles. After firing his burst, the cyborg ducks for cover.
Jag took an brief moment to scan the area, it's natural thermal vision was able to pierce the darkness easily.
It quickly assumed the role of an spotter for Markus after finding the technician, it's implant highlighting his silhouette out to the rest of the crew.
The Sanghvi begin to quickly dash forward towards an sniper that Johannes had quickly spotted.
It too, leap at the marksmen, ready to rip the target to ribbons with in close combat.
Vakarus nodded. "As you command Yuga'atvan." Listening on the feed from Frosty's comms a look of confusion soon fell over his face.
He opened up the channel to the recovery team. "Attention warriors, a person of unknown origin will attempt to stop you from recovering the Frozen-one. Stay vigilant."
Constantine returned to his own quarters just behind the bridge and sat at his personal console. Logging in via biometrics, he resumed his conversation with his partner on Seloveha, a melora and quartermaster general for SULP. His name was Zeddai.
"No luck?" he said as soon as he caught sight of Constantine's melancholy. The latter straightened his tie absentmindedly as he spoke about his superiors.
"In the short term, it could be difficult. They don't seem to grasp the magnitude of this opportunity, especially not Terika herself. I have an idea, though."
"Oh?"
"Can you get us an interview with Beshyem? And... and also a few civilians," he elaborated, the gears in his mind churning. "Make sure they're just everyday folk who are all-in for SULP. Really sell the liberation angle; if she believes she can help fight oppression, I'm sure she'll have a change of heart."
"Of course we can. We'll begin making arrangements immediately if it will help fill this order. But I am curious, why are you so personally invested in this struggle? Most foreigners don't understand our plight; King Erimus has done so much to strengthen our world. He conquered the Valesh Depths once and for all, and brought peace. He built our largest spaceports and instituted our world's religion. He makes a rather good impression, does he not?"
Constantine smiled. "To some, but not to me. When I was a young man, I read books about the so-called 'great leaders' and the empires they controlled from my people's ancient past. We judge them for their achievements, but not by the metrics we value today - liberty, justice, and equality - they're discounted through a historic lens. We instead judge them as they wanted to be judged: by the height of their monuments, and the size of their battlefield victories. Humanity has enshrined slaveholders and warmongers with the mantle of greatness, but most humans today would never agree to go back to those times.
"No, we live in an era when our aspirations and our values have fallen into alignment. We are only free if all of us are free. We are only just if all of us receive justice. That was the dream which unified my people and what led me to join the UGC, all these years later," Constantine concluded.
"But why [I]us,[/I] specifically?" Zeddai pressed on.
"Because there are so few democracies in this wing of the galaxy. Seloveha is on the verge of a social and political renaissance that could send waves throughout the Foxglove Region. I could see it brewing years ago, while I was still at my previous post, but I had no power or authority to help you then. And now, with the UGC receded and having lost its legitimacy, we're at a crucial moment when the dream of your people will either take root and grow, or be extinguished. I feel that, if I ever truly believed in the mission of the UGC, then I am obligated to assist you in any way I can."
---
Jag set about scanning the area for hostiles as soon as the shooting began, marking the technician's position. Markus, who was already preparing to shoot at the ahra-phi, was able to utilize the target painting. However, before he could pull the trigger, he was engulfed by a thick, cool haze. As it turned out, Johannes had also reacted immediately to the turning of the tables. By slamming his shield into the ground, he converted it into a concealing fog to prevent the snipers from seeing the team on infrared. Problem was, his own team couldn't see out through the same dense cloud.
Nonetheless, Markus took his shot at the fading infrared outline.
CH Estimate: 2/5
[B]Actual: 1[/B]
Roll Failed.
The technician had taken a knee to fish something out of his belt when the shot impacted the wall of the elevator above and behind him. Maddox was equally incapable. Next, Johnnes primed and threw a set of grenades toward the elevator.
CH Estimate: 4/7
[B]Actual: 3[/B]
Roll Failed.
As he wound up to throw, one of the gohva had brought his sights back down onto the crew, and, as the icy mercenary was the most exposed, easily got a shot off in time to prevent him from being accurate.
Gohva 1: [B]10[/B] x 2.5(Homefront) = 25
Johannes: DEF Roll = 6 (Machinist)
[B]19 DMG[/B]
Johannes HP: 101/100 (Nanosurgeon)
Visibility in general became poor. From somewhere distant below, the sound of Johannes's grenades exploding echoed through the base. Staggered, the dutchman clasped onto the railing and switched to an echolocation device for sight. Emitting a high-frequency signal which could not be heard by anyone, Johannes scanned through the fog at the nearest catwalks opposite from his side of the walkway for snipers.
Having found one, he pushed away, got two strides of head start before vaulting the opposite railing and activating his jump jets for a flying leap. Although he was confident in his computer's calculated guidance, he would need to stick the landing to avoid crashing into the sniper's handrail, or overshooting and potentially tumbling out of control to his doom. The jets, powered by compressed refrigerant acting as a monopropellant, allowed him to soar over the 70 meter gap between himself and his opponent.
CH Estimate: 3/10 x 2(Cryokinesis) = 3/5
[B]Actual: 5[/B]
Roll Passed.
The enemy sniper, a human, was so focused on waiting for the cloud to disperse that he couldn't possibly have noticed Johannes's descent onto his position.
Johannes: [B]8[/B] x 1.75(Machinist) = [B]14 DMG[/B]
The knives crashed down on him, plunging all the way to the bone as Johannes swung his legs skyward and then over, the jets assisting in slowing him down and preventing him from breaking loose and tumbling over the opposite side. Instead, he pivoted and touched down on the walkway and kicked his opponent loose, disarming him in the process.
Jag had nearly followed Johannes in this endeavor, but after watching Johannes's perilous landing, he reasoned at the last moment that the jump would be too great of a distance even under the best of circumstances.
[I]Action invalidated.[/I]
((Remember, Deathgrunt, that you gave up your Paraglider feat for this chapter. Had I carried out your command, Jag would have certainly fallen to his death. I only reconsidered because I hadn't given an exact distance for the space between the catwalks as of last post.))
Through all of this, Taylor attempted to maintain control of the situation. She gave several common-sense orders: first, she made Maddox hand his RPG over to Valkyrie, and then she asked Hariim to take control of the turrets and use them. Hariim, however, wasn't paying attention and instead opted to repaint the targets as the cloud began to disperse, before firing directly on the technician.
Ahra-Phi:
CH Estimate: 1/2
[B]Actual: 2[/B]
Roll Passed.
Hariim: [B]3(Missed)[/B] x 1.5 = 4.5... [B]0 DMG[/B]
The technician crossed his arms in a strange way, and the slugs were deflected in multiple directions by a metaphysical distortion. Now standing upright, the technician pointed a rangefinder at the crew which marked their positions, painting them for the snipers. In this exposed position, Maddox was able to get a decent shot.
Ahra-Phi:
CH Estimate: 1/2
[B]Actual: 2[/B]
Roll Passed.
Maddox: [B]8(Missed)[/B] x 1.25(Machinist) = [B]0 DMG[/B]
Once again, the technician deflected the bullet. It was almost as if the Muramasa crew was missing a basic dichotomy which ought to dictate the order and manner in which they should engage their opponents.
The second gohva, having spotted Valkyrie prepping the RPG, charged forward. He was not going to provide her enough distance to use the weapon safely. He seized onto Maddox, his nearest opponent, and attempted to grapple him.
CH Estimate: 3/5
[B]Actual: 3[/B]
Roll Passed.
The gohva used his brutish strength to pin Maddox's arms to his body before hoisting him into a "human shield" position. Maddox, or anyone close by, for that matter, would need to do [I]something[/I] to break the grapple or else Maddox would be thrown to his death! In this commotion, Valkyrie wouldn't be able to shoot at the "armored fucks" without endangering the life of Maddox and possibly the whole team. What would happen if the rocket were to hit the elevator, or worse, [I]the bridge itself?[/I]
More sniper shots rang out, targeting Taylor, Valkyrie, and Markus. With the help of Hariim's target painting, the lack of further shooting verified that there were only four snipers total.
Human 2: [B]9[/B] x (No Feat Applicable) = 9
Taylor: DEF Roll = 5
[B]4 DMG[/B]
Taylor HP: 80/125
A bullet deflected off of Taylor's armor with a loud ringing sound, sending a jolt of pain up her arm.
Kanad 1: [B]4[/B] + 4(Numbers) = 8
Valkyrie: DEF Roll = 2
[B]6 DMG[/B]
Valkyrie HP: 89/100
Valkyrie's leg was hit by a plasma burst, burning her just inside her right knee. She stumbled and almost pulled the trigger of her RPG, which would have been a terrible way to die. Luckily, she maintained composure.
Kanad 2: [B]3[/B] + 4(Numbers) = 7
Markus: DEF Roll = 2
[B]5 DMG[/B]
Markus HP: 77/125
As if he hadn't taken enough hits already, Maddox was struck in the back as he hurried over toward his comrades. The plasma burst dealt a nasty burn, but had hit him at such an angle that part of the shot dissipated into the air, rather than piercing him.
Some lights flickered in the distance. An alarm briefly chimed.
[B]5 Turns Until Enemy Regains Security System[/B]
"You thick fuck!" Yelled Maddox as he pulled out his baton, set the charge to lethal and yanked it into the Gohvas face.
The rescue team rested for a moment, with Dio and Sylvia catching their breaths. Just as János was about to suggest continuing, they received a message from the ship.
[QUOTE]"Attention warriors, a person of unknown origin will attempt to stop you from recovering the Frozen-one. Stay vigilant."[/QUOTE]
"Probably the same person who's tampering him, I assume," János said, rubbing his chin.
"Whoever this person might be, I still believe that, if we don't threaten them or anything, and choose a diplomatic route, we'll be able to finish this mission without any blood spilled. Come on, you lot, let's follow Frosty's blood trail."
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
