[QUOTE]"Attention warriors, a person of unknown origin will attempt to stop you from recovering the Frozen-one. Stay vigilant."[/QUOTE]
'Frozen...one? His body isn't even in rigor mortis.' thought Moloch.
He responded to Vakarus.
"[I]I warned you once. Call off this team or I will be forced to kill them. I will not let you or them take the body of my friend.[/I]"
Vakarus glanced at Yuga and Amelia as the vocie echoed from his console. "I do not know who you are stranger, what I do know is that you're in posession of our fallen comrade."
"[I]What a coincidence. I too, am in the possession of a fallen comrade. And I will [B]not [/B]let you take him away.[/I]"
Vakarus shook his head and looked at Yuga. "Yuga'atvan, I ask for your permission to enable Frozen-ones helmet camera."
[i]Johannes laughs gleefully at the success of his vault, pulls his revolver from his hip holster, and presses it against the back of the sniper's head, pulling the trigger immediately. Seems he has a penchant for execution style shooting. He then pulls another grenade from his hip and uses Frostbyte to calculate trajectory and velocity to assist him in throwing it... into the elevator. As soon as Frostbyte gives him the metadata, he uses his suit's servo motors and a single low impulse jet from one of the jump jets on his arm to throw the grenade hard enough to fly the 70 meters down into the elevator.[/i]
Yuga was drumming her fingers on the armrest. She glanced towards Vakarus, "If it is still functional, activate it and put it on display on the center holotable."
She contacted Janos, "Subdue the target before recovering Frosty and bring him to the ship. I wan't this heretic interrogated before we execute him." she conveyed, her voice now much calmer but still filled with fierce determination.
She got up from her chair and turned towards Amelia, "Ms Weinheart, I am not familiar with the human physiology but surely some should not spontaneously return to life after such a fiery descent. Do you have any explanations?"
Yugas eyes were wide and her voice was filled with genuine disbelief and curiosity.
...
Markus jolted a bit after being hit by plasma round, letting out several muffled curses whilst gripping the area with his free hand.
He removed it to inspect the damage, concluding that it would hurt but it wasn't threatening.
He spun around to see Maddox trying to go toe to toe with the gohva.
If anything, he was the thick one. Ain't no chance he could take one of them on.
He kneeled down and aimed his rifle at the gohva, but Maddox was in his line of fire,
"Get down, ya fuckin' cowboy!"
[quote]"Ms Weinheart, I am not familiar with the human physiology but surely some should not spontaneously return to life after such a fiery descent. Do you have any explanations?"[/quote]
Amelia thinks to herself, 'what a bizarre question but...', she opens her mouth and begins to try to explain.
"If there were nano-machines involved, it could be possible since that kind of technology has only been touched on from the surface where I'm from. We've barely able to begin to understand it's capabilities so far. Although if they are already dead, I don't know how they would be able to come back to life. Then again, the technology of nano-machines are mostly unknown."
She stops for a moment, then begins to speak again, "There aren't many explanations to go on unless I get the specific details on how they died and in what conditions did they come back to life. If they exploded into a billion pieces then the odds of them coming back to life would be so small it's technically impossible. If they were ripped in half, there would be a possibility to have nano-machines reconstruct the connection between the two bodies.
"However, this is human we are talking about. There are many lifeforms that I've studied to have regeneration abilities such as limbs and senses. But to die and live again without any external stimulation, that is a mystery to me as I haven't come across that in any of my studies."
"Also if you're asking about Frosty, I don't have any idea since I never performed anything on him nor talked with him much."
(( SCIENCE ))
Vakarus directed the camera feed to bridge holotable which began to project a holographic screen.
Moloch had placed Frosty's helmet in a corner of his shuttle earlier as he cleaned it of all the blood and drool inside of it, giving the bridge a clear view of what's going on in his shuttle.
The holotable projected an image of a [url=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/51361672/Molech.jpg]hulking figure clad in red[/url] looming ominously over Frosty's cut open body. It wore a hood with no eye holes cut out and a crown of spikes adorned it's covered head. It had one hand placed on Frosty's innards, and the other hand was holding a radio close up to it's hood.
Owen looked at Yuga and Face-plant, and upon hearing the conversation, gave his own opinion. "I've been in quite a few races and some wrecks you just wouldn't believe. Some of the more memorable have 'em flipping about five or so times or something. Kind of wrecks that chew up cars and spit out drivers and what not. But this would be nothing short of miraculous."
((Sorry for referring to your character like that, otter man, auto correct just loves me))
Taylor flicked her arm, attempting to dull the pain shooting through it as best as she can. This was starting to frustrate her. "[I][B]HARIIM! TURRETS! HACK AND USE THEM! NOW![/B][/I]" she ordered loudly, before turning her sights to the Gohva holding Mad. She was sure he could figure out a way out of this. Problem was that they needed to get the hell off this bridge. And that meant going through those Gohva, or retreating. "[I][B]MARKUS! COUNTER-SNIPE! EVERYONE ELSE, FOCUS ON HELPING MAD![/B][/I]"
She then looked towards the other Gohva. She was tempted to engage her suits built-in exosuit, and try to throw the Gohva over the edge of the bridge. But that'd mean she'd run the risk of falling herself...maybe if she gave him one well placed kick. Flip on the exosuit, charge him, fire her suit's microjets for a little extra oomph, and plant her boot in his chest. Good plan, but lets wait till he gets a bit closer. For now, she opts to lock onto him, and fires off a burst of LMG fire from a crouched position.
Valkyrie, meanwhile, took a knee after getting burned by a plasma shot. She couldn't fire the launcher from this close. It'd kill everyone and probably destroy the bridge. Shit. She slung the launcher onto her back and followed Taylor's orders, firing her SMG at the Gohva (holding Mad). Aiming for his knees. As she did, she ordered her drone to engage the technician in the elevator. Maybe it'd distract him long enough for them to get to the elevator. The drone acknowledges with a beep, and charges across the bridge rapidly.
[I wanted to post this a few days ago, but I got distracted :v:]
Casander walked into the hall where the Executor had called him in. One step in was enough to shock him to his core. The corpses of the council laying there where they fell. The horrible stench filling the room. At the same time, Mordecai leaning on a desk, looking at him. Clearly the grizzly scene wasn't bothering him. Casander took a few steps forward after some hesitation. "You wanted to see me, executor?"
"Yes. I did." Mordecai said in a calm almost friendly tone. "Relax my boy. You are in no danger here. The rat nest has been purged and I need your skills to find replacements."
"Why call me here then? Shouldn't we be somewhere less...unnerving?"
"Call me paranoid, but I wanted to make sure you knew the fate of those who would conspire against me. It was to ensure your loyalty. Besides, the public still has no knoledge of what happened here, nor do they know that I'm still alive and well. I want to keep it that way for now. Ensure myself some piece and quiet."
"In this place? With the bodies and the smell?"
"The dead make poor company for conversation, I admit. The smell doesn't bother me, since my mechanical lungs filter it."
"Convenient. Why did you call me for, sir?"
"I have a few things that need to be taken care of. Prospera. Who's in charge of our operations there?"
Casander looked through the notes on his holotablet. "Lorica, sir. She last reported a few days ago. Tourism is down due to an incident that ended in bloodshed and the mafia is split in two factions currently fighting for control. We are backing Gionata Traversi and he is currently winning. We also know that the Tri-Enterprise is supporting the other side."
Mordecai crossed his arms and nodded as Casander listed off the details. "I see. Have Lorica come back for reasingment. Send someone else in her place. Falka, Joseph or someone else."
"With all due respect, Executor, that seems like a terrible idea. She already spend 2 years building a infrastructure for our operations there and..." he was cut off.
"Then whoever we send there should not have trouble resuming operations as intended. I need her here. Understood?"
"Yes sir." Casander said as he sighed. "Anything else?"
"Yes. I still need to pick a personal assistant. Same as the last time. Have all devisions send in their nominations from their best performing members. Exept the 33rd. That one is where Karina came from. If they can produce a traitor of that caliber, I don't want to think what else they can produce."
"Judging an entire devision based on one person hardly seems fair."
"True. I'll give them a chance. I'll arange a mission for them. A near suicidal one, but if they sucseed, they will be vindicated. Now, one last thing. Arange a meeting with the press in a few days. I should have everything in order by then."
"Yes executor. Just need you to put down your signature on those orders." He said as he handed the tablet to Mordecai.
"Paperwork. The worst part of this job. Where is my pen? Might have to take someone else's" He looked around. "Ahh councilwoman Mendoza, thank you for you pen." Mordecai took the pen from the nerby corpse's pocket. He singed and handed the tablet back. "That should be everything in order. Do tell the cleanup crew to hurry up. It's been a few hours."
---
[I]Back on Prospera[/I]
The bouncer at the door stood at the same spot he stood every night. Letting members of the club in and telling everyone else to fuck off. The club looked like your everyday nightclub where people can come and unwind and listen to loud music while drinking, but in reality, the main atraction was in the basement area. Beneath the dance floor was another one. One covered in blood sweat and tears. One surrounded by a cage. The cage istself surrounded by seats and screaming patrons.
A limo pulled up next to the entrance. From it three people emerged. A kanad male and two female humans. The kanad was clearly aging as he was using a cane to move around. They walked up to the bouncer.
"We're here for a meeting with your boss, Korbin."
"Really? And who might you be?"
"Kras." The bouncer reaised an eyebrow and nodded. He let them through. The trio walked through the door and through the nightclub section of the building. They climbed a flight of stairs up to an office where they were let in by two mafia goons. The office itself was quite roomy. Enough to fit in a big screen TV, a few couches, a desk and even a jacuzzi. Korbin knew how to make an interesting first impresion at least. The man himself was standing behind the desk finishing off a call before he turned to face Krass. "So, the notorious pit baron of Duroma decided to visit my fight club. I have to say, I feel honored. Your company however, I don't recognize."
"These two are my busiuness partners here on Prospera. Kiki and Viola, respectfully. Now I didn't come here to chit chat with you. I came here to talk business. I want this club. How much?"
Korbin's face formed into a mocking grimace. "Oh, you just expect me to sell the place to you? Please. Do I look stupid to you? You're how old? You look like you're ready to fall over and die. Who's gonna run the place then? The two tramps you're draging along?"
"Funny how you suddenly went from respectfull to a little shit in a span of a few seconds. What's the mater? Is this old bastard this scary to you? Am I that intimidating that you have to play tough guy?"
"I know how you operate you overgrown iguana! I know how you took over the pit in the slums and that you control the two downtown. Now you came here trying to hustle me out of what I acomplished! I wont be fucked around with!"
"Kid, I broke the guy's legs because he tried to cheat me during the deal. I bought one of the downtown clubs from Gio and the other one from these two. For someone acting so tough and smart, you don't know shit and have Franco keeping a tight grip on your balls. Now I suggest you calm the fuck down and let us do buisness." Korbin stood up and got infront of his desk.
"I'm not doing shit with you. Get the fuck out of my club and take your whores with you!"
Kras remained unfazed. "You mind comming closer and reapeating that? Getting old and can't hear all that well." Korbin got closer, but before he could say anything, Kras pulled the top of his cane off, revealing it to be a knife and jammed it in his neck. "Fucking pissant. Should have known your place." As Korbin lay on the ground dying Krass called someone on his comm. "Yeah, Lobs, shit didn't go as planned. We're going with plan B. Get the boys ready for a party. Either way, we now own all four fight clubs, so we're celebrating!" After the call ended he turned around to face the two women in the room. "Sorry you couldn't get a word in ladies. Guy was a real prick."
"Quite alright Krass."
"We knew Korbin wouldn't play ball with you, so we anticipated not talking with him at all. Did not expect the neck stabbing however."
"Well, I'm a man of many tricks. Dumbasses outside don't know what happened and probably wont till it's too late Probably think we're still talking. Lets lock the door and wait till my boys come and clean the place out." After Krass pressed a button on the desk, the door leading to the office was shut. He noticed the liquor cabinet and grabbed a bottle. "Care to join me?"
Hariim is busy dodging bullets, but hands his artificial motor cortex over to his suite of sensors, and gives the newly-linked technological couple a chunk of his processing capabilities to keep him alive and not shot with. While he lets his body handle surviving, Hariim starts hacking into the turret systems as best he can. Automated defenses were one of his multitude of specialties back in the corp, so he begins his work with confident resolve.
As the cyborg monstrosity opened its mouth, revaling several sharp metallic teeth, the head was struck by a kinetic slug and exploded into a red paste.
"Advance!" Yelled Gladius as he mowed down mindless cyborg after cyborg. Kinetic fired mixed with ballistic made quick work of the incoming onslaught as the squad, now with three additional members, made their way through the corridors of the forsaken station.
"Covering! Left!" Yelled one of the Diamondback operators, callsigned Bull, as he unloaded a hail of bullets into the chest of a particularly armored cyborg which collapsed on the floor with a big [i]thud[/i] sound.
Following the engagement in the canteen, the SDF striekforce had continued to explore Brakavic station. After investigating noise from a storage room, the team discovered the three last survivors from the Diamondback ship.
Bull, Kilo and Zenith was the name of the last survivors. Their ship had originally been on its way back to one of the Sol neighbour worlds when they had picked up the same distress signal which the SNV Shadow had also detected, figuring that it could potentially mean some extra credits they had arrived at the damaged station.
Twenty operators had boarded the station with one staying at the airlock to guard the ship. The rest had split into several smaller teams. According to Zenith who was one of the fireteam leaders, the Diamondback captain and his team had went for the bridge when contact had been lost.
Following a ambush in the canteen which cost them half their team, Zenith and her team had chosen to fall on the defensive.
With this new information the SDF team had decided to go for the bridge; a risky move as alot of corridors and rooms stood between.
"Shockwave, out!" Yelled Mercury as he sent out a directed EMP pulse through the corridor. Many of the cybrogs fell limp or were otherwise unable to move normally, allowing the SDF team to quickly dispatch them.
"We're almost at the elevators!" Said Warren over the comms just as a salvo from his shotgun obliterated one of the smaller cyborgs.
Soon they reached a T-shaped intersection, to the left and right were dark hallways while infront of them were three elevators.
"Sentries!" Said Ares as he started to eliminate pursuing hostiles with military precision.
Three of his men complies immeadiately and quickly deployed three medium-sized sentry guns with personal shields at the front. Roughly the size of a smaller kanad or a larger human child the sentry guns started to open fire.
"Everybody in." Said Gladius as the three elevators arrived. Warren, Mercury and the Diamondback operators got in one of the elevators, Gladius and half of Ares's team got in the second one and the rest of Strikeforce Ares got in the third.
In a matter of seconds the elevators went up, leaving the sound of the sentry guns firing echoing below, towards the bridge.
"Lock and load." Said Ares.
[video=youtube;YfRQXIJ3fEM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfRQXIJ3fEM[/video]
"You thick fuck!" Maddox shouted as he struggled for his baton. His arms were pinned to his body, however, and so it was a test of explosive strength.
CH Estimate: 1/3
[B]Actual: 3[/B]
Roll Passed.
With a powerful surge of resistance, Maddox broke free from the gohva's grapple and pulled out the stun stick. Setting it to a distinctly higher setting than "stun," he jammed it into the peacekeeper's face, expecting a lethal blast of electricity.
[I]Action Invalidated (Dominance)[/I]
With a loud crack, the electricity discharged into ground points built into the gohva's helmet. The physical impact of the baton seemed only to anger him further, and he (predictably) responded by grabbing onto Maddox again.
Gohva 2:
CH Estimate: 3/5
[B]Actual: 2[/B]
Roll Failed.
As the lumbering brute's arms swung together to tighten their grip on the mercenary before him, a voice called out from further up the bridge. "Get down, ya fuckin' cowboy!" Markus yelled to his comrade. Just then, Maddox quickly spun on his heels and rolled out of the way, regaining his footing a short distance closer to his teammates. Quietly, he hoped that Markus wouldn't think he actually needed the advice. The latter was preparing a shot against the brute.
(Auto Roll)
Markus: [B]3[/B] x (No Feat Applicable) = [B]3 DMG[/B]
Unfortunately, as he pulled the trigger, Taylor bumped into him while trying to get Hariim's attention, throwing off his accuracy just so- the bullet barely winged him. No matter, Valkyrie was next in line to attack the giant.
Valkyrie: [B]9[/B] x 1.25 (Machinist) = [B]11 DMG[/B]
Aiming for the knees, Val delivered a series of punishing shots to the Peacekeeper's legs. He briefly fell down, remembering that his training should have made him a soldier and not just a raging cave-dweller. As he backed up, trying to prep his own LMG for fire, the Cerberus drone flew overhead and into the elevator, ready to attack the ahra-phi head on. Rather than using any onboard weaponry, the robot simply slammed into the technician at full speed.
Cerberus: [B]5[/B] x 2(Roboticist) = [B]10 DMG[/B]
The technician was thrown from his feet, slamming face first into the back wall of the elevator. Ignoring his bleeding mouth, he quickly retrieved a pocket welding tool from his pack and ignited it, attacking the droid with everything he had.
Ahra-Phi: [B]4[/B] x 2.5(Homefront) = 10
Cerberus: DEF Roll = 4
[B]6 DMG[/B]
Cerberus HP: 24/50
With a shower of sparks, the welding tool cut through the metal exterior of the robot and sliced into the concealed rubber tubing beneath. While hydraulic fluid sprayed out of the "wound" machine oil inside caught fire. Luckily, with Cerberus being a kill-bot, this sort of damage was sustainable and the droid remained active in the battle. The second gohva witnessed this, and surprisingly turned his back on the rest of the crew in order to attack the droid. It seemed as if his top priority was to protect the technician's life.
Gohva 1: [B]10[/B] x 2.5(Homefront) x Crit(CH1/2, 1, Failed) = 25
Cerberus: DEF Roll = 5
[B]20 DMG[/B]
Cerberus HP: 4/50
The gohva's LMG perforated the machine as the technician hit the deck for safety, blasting free an entire plate of its outer shell. This influx of oxygen greatly accelerated the fire, which began to consume it. Cerberus's internal mechanisms let out a shrill whine as the motors began to seize and it fell to the ground, practically immobile. Its weapons were still online, however, and it seemed capable of attacking one last time. However, this opportunity would not come, as one of the snipers chose to put the machine out of its misery.
Kanad 1: [B]7[/B] + 4(Numbers) = 11
Cerberus: DEF Roll = 3
[B]8 DMG[/B]
Cerberus HP: -4/50
The bullet went through the open panel and smashed through the layered logic boards inside like a toothpick through a sandwich. The bot didn't explode, or toss and writhe in its death throws. It simply shut off and burned.
[B]Cerberus has been destroyed.[/B]
Outside, on the bridge, Taylor opened fire on the same gohva, taking advantage of the opportunity as he had his back turned.
Taylor: [B]4[/B] x 1.25(Machinist) = [B]5 DMG[/B]
Her own LMG hit its mark a few times, but the massive gohva's thick body armor absorbed most of the damage. He turned back around, frantically reloading his gun as the technician resumed his work. Far away, on the other side of the gap, Johannes followed up his acrobatic leap with a hearty laugh before attempting a point-blank shot to the sniper's head. However, this time the Dutchman wouldn't have such an easy time killing off his opponent as he had when he killed the serek outside. He was firing directly into the man's helmet.
Johannes: 9 x 1.75 (Machinist) =15.75... [B]16 DMG[/B]
The shot certainly connected, as the man was concussed and nearly knocked unconscious. The bullet had buried itself in the composite materials of his helmet. He stumbled backwards and slid into a seating position, his body propped up against the railing as he spoke gibberish. Johannes didn't need to stretch his imagination to figure out that he was begging for his life. He limply raised his hands in an attempted surrender. Turning back toward the action, Johannes used his implant to calculate the proper throw to put a grenade into the elevator.
CH Estimate: 5/7
[B]Actual: 4[/B]
Roll Passed.
The grenade tumbled through the open air, not even touching the ground before it cleared the elevator doors at the end of the bridge. There was no time for the technician to react before the device exploded and plastered him to the wall. And plaster it did, as it detonated within a nearly-enclosed space. [B]50 DMG[/B]
[B]Enemy Eliminated.[/B]
The gohva who had been protecting him yelled a battle cry, completely ignorant of where the grenade had come from. But while the crew was relieved to see the technician killed off, preserving what's left of the elevator for riding, Hariim had been hard at work all the while trying to gain control of the turrets he had previously disabled. The problem wasn't turning them on; it was that the turrets worked by negative feedback- they would only shoot at those who were not carrying an RF beacon marking them as friendly. He struggled to quickly mash together a code which would reverse the distinction- making the beacons the targets instead.
CH Estimate: 4/7
[B]Actual: 2[/B]
Roll Failed.
Despite confidence in his eventual success, at the moment Hariim was too pinned down and too pressured to execute his new code. Moreover, there were other failsafe systems in place to prevent this exact type of reprogramming. And worst of all, he was detecting other agents in the network. There were hackers working against him in real time.
He would have to keep trying, for the sake of the crew.
The remaining snipers fired off another salvo, aimed at Taylor, the apparent leader of the intruders, and Valkyrie, who was holding a rather-dangerous looking rocket launcher. The second shooter got a devilish idea and scoped in on the large shaped charge sticking out the end of the barrel, which was slung over Val's back.
Human 2: [B]2[/B] x No Feat Applicable = 2
Taylor: DEF Roll = 1
[B]1 DMG[/B]
Taylor HP: 79/100
Taylor barely felt a thing as a bullet deflected off a thick portion of her armor from a very shallow angle. Meanwhile, the kanad sniper took a long breath out, watching the enemy engineer carefully. He pulled the trigger.
CH Estimate: 1/6 x 2(Malevolence) = 1/3
[B]Actual: 3(!)[/B]
Roll Passed.
With a shriek, the plasma coils sent a burst down on the bridge below, and in an instant, faster than even the flight of a bullet, it reached its target and connected with the shaped charge. Valkyrie, standing near the back of the bridge, further back than her comrades and closest to the sniper who had chosen her, was thankfully far enough away from her crewmates that the ensuing blast didn't injure them. In addition, as the charge was pointing up and away from the bridge, its detonation didn't collapse the structure either. Only one thing was close enough to detonation- Valkyrie's head. [B]100 DMG[/B]
Valkyrie HP: -11/100
[B]Total Incapacitation.[/B]
The blast was so loud and so sudden that it startled everyone, even causing the bruiser gohvas to cling onto the railing for fear that the bridge was about to give way. Instead, a column of flame and debris like a twisted roman candle rocketed into the air, and Val's limp body flipped forward like a ragdoll. Shortly after she hit the ground, singed brain tissue rolled out of her head through the major hole blown from behind her right ear. Abraxas, having just healed himself back to full strength, practically pounced on her as soon as the smoke had cleared, trying to see if there was anything he could do to preserve the body and get it back to the medical bay. On most planets, in most wars, Val would be considered DOA, but Abraxas wasn't that kind of doctor. He was the sort of man who could look Death in the eye and call him mediocre. Within moments of work, he had created a temporary "plug" over the wound, and stabilized Val's broken neck, caused by whiplash.
[B]4 Turns Until Enemy Regains Security System[/B]
---
A tinny voice came through Yuga's personal communicator. It belonged to Rask, speaking quietly, very quietly, as if he was being watched at that very moment from his personal quarters aboard the Aurikha. Only Yuga could hear him.
[quote]Captain Shuur... I'm sure by now you've noticed that we've lost contact with our team at Dyatiq... and unless they go and retreat, I'd figure they're all as good as dead. And this business with Frosty- I think it's bait. I think someone is trying to lure us even further into this mess, and Yanim is biting hard on it. No one survives a crash like that... wouldn't you think? Don't buy into any illusions, now. As captain, you can't allow yourself to be taken by them. Stay lucid and I think you'll find, keh, that given the circumstances, this mission was a bit [I]misguided.[/I] Am I wrong?[/quote]
((More to come tomorrow.))
Abraxas was busy, more than busy, he was practically taking care of two bodies at the same time while the other fought. Once he finally had an opportunity, he shouted at the team.
"Two people down, security heading our way, and a drone is destroyed. Not to mention we're standing below a death pit. If we don't take care all of these people in the next round we might have to pull out!" He shouted, he attempted to heal any moderate wounded in his radar.
Taylor looked back after the detonation to see Abraxas hovering over the one person she knew better than anyone else in this crew. As much as they hated one another, there was an odd sort of friendship there that shown brightly at times. Taylor always backed her up, and Valkyrie (funny enough) always returned the favor. Even if they had been at each other's throats mere minutes before. And now, Valkyrie was dead. Or pretty fucking close to it.
The sight made Taylor's blood run cold. She hated to lose soldiers and mercs under her command, but to lose a friend? That was all she could take. [I][B]Fuck[/B][/I] this. "Everyone, we're pulling out. Now. We can't take any more casualties. Hariim, try and hack the turrets one more time to cover our escape. If you can't, fuck it. Jag, carry Valk. Abraxas, you carry Amy. Lets go." she said finally, backing towards Abraxas. Her tone was much calmer, almost sad. She fired one last burst from her LMG at the Gohva near Mad, to at least give him a bit of breathing room.
((I don't plan on Valkyrie staying dead. Got big plans for her.))
"Copy that boss!" Yelled Maddox. He glanced at Markus. "Koval! Covering fire!"
Confident in Markus's skills with a rifle, Maddox deployed the three spidermines each with different orders.
Mine one was to rush the enemy forces and detonate its N-X charge while mines two and three were to bypass the enemy forces and cause as much damage as possible.
After deploying the mines Maddox fired a short burst at the nearest gohva.
[video=youtube;dJ-QLl5qjLg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ-QLl5qjLg[/video]
[i]Johannes barely had time to appreciate the grenade throw as he flinched at the explosion, looking down and seeing Valkyrie's limp body fall to the ground. Enraged, he looks around and locks eyes with the sniper that had made the shot. He may be new to the crew, but she was a [u]comrade[/u] and he would be damned to hell and back if he was going to let some piece of shit coward sniper kill a comrade and get away with it.
He holsters his revolver and starts walking down the catwalk towards the sniper that made the shot, pausing briefly to grab the dazed concussed sniper by the front of his armor and pitch him over the side of the catwalk. He breaks into a sprint, using his computer and implants to calculate trajectory, distance, enemy combatant movement and in-flight corrections. As soon as the calculations were done, and he was locked onto the sniper, he pulls [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/21/6c/71/216c7128f88d07cd4a7eefafc1cb2b9e.jpg]his sword[/url] from the sheath on his back, maglocked opposite his condenser pack, and holds it down and ready to impale as he ignites a high-impulse thruster boost to propel him straight forward towards the sniper instead of a leap. He was going to skewer that mother fucker.[/i][b] "Je bent dood, kanker."[/b][i] He mutters to himself as he clears his visor's blank screen so the sniper could see his face as he killed him.[/i]
((This is assuming the sniper is on the same catwalk. If he isn't, Sega, please let me know so I can edit my post.))
In spite that Frosty's helmet cam was recording Moloch's every movement and broadcasting it to the bridge, he continued with his hands-on approach to healing Frosty.
The ripped and torn organ tissue was mended, and the broken and shattered bones were repaired. Moloch sealed the I-shaped cut he made in Frosty's body which interestingly made no scarring or any trace there was an incision. The torso was finished, next was the head. He removed Frosty's gasmask he had placed on him earlier, revealing Frosty's face still looking horrified. With his index fingers he made a horizontal cut along Frosty's forehead, then cutting upward at the tip of the ears until both cuts met at a point on his scalp. He removed the part of the frontal bone he just cut around, exposing Frosty's brain, and began to check for damage to it.
Hariim keeps doing his absolute best to hack the system, and throws as many ICE programs, viruses, and junk data into the opposing connections as he can. He brings the whole of his brain power onto the issue once he's in suitably safe cover, and fully dives into the local computer systems via his connections.
((Just open a web browser within the security system and direct it to "youareanidiot.com" ))
"[Krasus is [I]here?[/I]]" Ryvik's voice was filled with alarm as his assistant repeated the news. He bolted upright from the edge of the hotel bed, his boots hitting the carpeted floor with a dull thud. Facing the sergeant eye to eye, he interrogated him- "[how long has he been on Prospera? Was he here during the madness?]"
Kras was known to the agency for his connection to Alex Korunov, but he had never been deemed critical to the investigation due to his apparent lack of stake in the Terika-Belladonna Company. After all, Alex, a former colleague, was only the ship's cook, and Kras's business was limited to Duroma. But his appearance on Prospera seemed to mark a change in his relationship with the company. Clearly, there had been favors exchanged somewhere along the line to clear the way, or at least that's what State Security was ready to assume. Kras would likely know something, and Ryvik was keen to get it out of him.
Sergeant Zhesid Rozel was Ryvik's personal assistant on Prospera, and was the same young age as his commander. He was bone-thin and chronically ill, awaiting a major bionic surgery that always seemed a month or so away, until the next stopgap transfusion or nanite treatment delayed the procedure once more. His mind was highly analytic and his tactics were innovative, and if Ryvik hadn't entered the GKVR as a special asset to the Terika case, Zhesid would easily outrank him. He didn't appreciate hostility or confrontation within the agency, and answered Ryvik's outburst coolly.
"[He came after the madness began, no sooner. We picked up his trail after he made his move on one of the local clubs. He's trying to lock down a second one as we speak.]"
"[Is there a reason you haven't arranged transportation? What good is sitting, around, [I]sergeant?[/I]]" Ryvik lectured. "[Let's hope he hasn't moved on yet.]"
Zhesid rolled his eyes. "[You can't just walk up to Krasus and expect him to be civil. The man is taking these clubs by force, after all. And to be clear, I [I]have[/I] ordered us transport, but we're not leaving without SWAT. There are turf wars happening and we're going to have to suppress the gangs if we want to get to him.]"
"Hyushya!" Ryvik beamed with excitement. "[If that's how we're going to do things, I'm all for it. You did well, [I]sergeant.[/I]]" Zhesid grunted in reply as the two exited into the hall. Four other agents, summoned silently via a transmitter in Zhesid's cuff, met them there while carrying a pair of heavy trunks.
"[Lieutenant,]" one barked with a crisp salute before opening the latches on his case. Ryvik watched as the trunk unfolded and revealed the powered armor within. It was largely identical to the sets issued to Black Fleet infantry, but lighter weight and, of course, recolored to reflect GKVR usage. Unlike the uniforms of the secretive agency, the armor's black coloring was occasionally interrupted by gold trim, and on this example, there were a few scorch marks left over from Ryvik's last fight on Spirra. As Ryvik suited up, Zhesid hung back and sipped on a fresh cup of topa brought along by one of the cadets. His poor health excluded him from such operations.
The second trunk contained an OBV-GK82, a rare variation of the standard fleet rifle which was intended for Bureau III officers. Few officers bothered to order them, as most tended to avoid combat. Ryvik, however, enjoyed commanding missions from the inside. Zhesid and others would chalk this up to a narcissistic streak, but Ryvik considered it an artistic outlet.
"[Sir, the vehicle is ready for us,]" one of the cadets reported.
"[Good. Let's waste no time,]" a metallic voice responded from within the armor.
---
Hariim was pulling double duty, same as Abraxas. While he worked on taking control of the machine turrets, he scoped out the base's surroundings using the camera feeds he still had access to. Bit by bit, the security system was slipping from his grasp, but he was able to piece together what was happening in the main tunnel where they entered, as well as in the above-ground areas outside. An array of five tanks guarded the way from which they entered, with three full platoons of soldiers preparing to enter. On the opposite side of the hill, facing Yovek Airbase, the Black Fleet had amassed a fighting force of two platoons supported by six close air support vessels. It seemed that retreat through either entrance of the tunnel would be impossible.
However, checking these cameras revealed a third route of exit. By climbing a stairway to the right of the blast doors that the crew had passed by while entering the cavern, they could then double-back into a hallway which connected to the destroyed machine gunner's nest. There, they could climb into a maintenance passage which rose at a steep incline toward the massive blower motors which were forcing air into the base's air ducts. By disabling and climbing into one of the eight motors, the crew could then slip past the fan blades and emerge on the mountain itself, to be recovered by Captain Sharpe and the Cataract. It was a good option, but before he could report it, he had his answer on the machine turrets.
CH Estimate: 4/5
[B]Actual: 1[/B]
Roll Failed.
Unbelievably, they still refused to come online!
It was clear. The crew had failed to get past the base's second line of defense: the operators themselves, and now their morale was shaken to the point that they were no longer focused on the mission, but for their own safety. Taylor and Markus provided covering fire while Maddox deployed mines.
Taylor: [B]6[/B] x 1.25(Machinist) = 7.5... [B]8 DMG[/B]
Her LMG tagged the second gohva several times, further enraging him. He lifted his now-reloaded gun and returned fire.
Gohva 2: [B]8[/B] x 2.5(Homefront) x 0.5(Suppression) = 10
Taylor: DEF Roll = 7
[B]3 DMG[/B]
Taylor HP: 76/100
None of the gohva's shots were particularly effective, and Taylor continued to move backwards toward the exit. Markus meanwhile put his crosshairs on the same gohva in hopes of giving Maddox more time to act.
(Auto Roll)
Markus: [B]10[/B] x Crit(CH 1/2, 2, Passed, x2) = [B]20 DMG[/B]
Landing a head shot, Markus smiled as he watched the Gohva enter into the fencing response as he rolled backwards on his heels, hitting the ground ass-first and, upon falling the rest of the way, fell below the handrail and was dragged off the bridge by the weight of his own torso.
[B]Enemy Eliminated.[/B]
Maddox now only had the one Gohva to worry about as he deployed the NX mines. The gohva, having just witnessed Markus pull off a head shot, attempted to return fire just as the metallic spider arrived.
Maddox:
CH Estimate: 7/8
[B]Actual: 1[/B]
Roll Failed.
The detonator failed to function, providing the gohva his chance.
Gohva 1: [B]2[/B] x 2.5(Homefront) = 5
Markus: DEF Roll = 3
[B]2 DMG[/B]
Markus HP: 74/100
Markus, having seen the danger, leaped into a roll to avoid the danger, and was only grazed by a shot as he did so. Maddox then rerouted his second mine, trying to kill the gohva.
Maddox:
CH Estimate: 6/8
[B]Actual: 5[/B]
Roll Passed.
[B]Enemy Neutralized.[/B]
The gohva had only just noticed the first mine by the time the second arrived to do the job. He started to jump backwards, but it was too late- the bomb exploded, sending tremors across the entire bridge. The gohva's legs were nearly blown off, and the Peacekeeper bellowed in agony. The third mine continued to crawl across the bridge, headed toward the large, load-bearing trusses which were supporting the roof of the complex. The kanad who had just neutralized Valkyrie was on it, attempting to disable the mine before it could reach its destination.
However, Johannes was just around the corner, on the far side of the same catwalk. He dropped his first opponent over the edge, to his death.
[B]Enemy Eliminated.[/B]
Convinced he had heard the shriek of a kanad rifle just before the explosion that downed his comrade, Johannes found himself just ten meters away from the presumed shooter. Pulling out his sword, he chose an unorthodox method of attack which would hopefully immobilize his opponent in one swift move.
CH Estimate: 1/3
[B]Actual: 1[/B]
Roll Failed.
The kanad, having heard Johannes's footsteps, suddenly jerked upright at the moment Johannes blasted forward. He used his own rifle to block as he shrunk backwards, narrowly avoiding being run through but suffering a nasty cut nonetheless.
Johannes: [B]3[/B] x 1.75 (Machinist) = 5.25... [B]6 DMG[/B]
He then responded with an attempt to disarm Johannes.
Kanad 2:
CH Estimate: 1/5 x 2(Malevolence) = 2/5
[B]Actual: 4[/B]
Roll Passed.
He struck the Dutchman in the head with the but end of his rifle to create distance before leaning forward, shoulder tackling the human and delivering a blow to Johannes's wrist. The combination of blows, combined with Johannes's reflexive need to catch himself from falling over backwards forced him to drop the blade. It fell between the slats of aluminum which made up the catwalk before landing flat on the catwalk directly below.
On the opposite side of the cavern, the other kanad caught sight of the battle on the catwalk and, in order to protect his Black Fleet comrade, fired a shot at Johannes.
Kanad 1: 4 + 4(Numbers) = 8
Johannes: DEF Roll = 5
[B]3 DMG[/B]
Johannes HP: 98/100
The plasma dispersed over Johannes's armor, dealing little damage as the closer kanad let out a sneer. He stepped back and drew a knife, prepared to engage the human in a melee. Just then, however, the final NX mine reached its destination and exploded.
Maddox:
CH Estimate: 1/3
[B]Actual: 3[/B]
Roll Passed.
((o shit))
At first, it wasn't clear that the mine had done anything- it had merely climbed up onto the large steel truss, tucked itself into a corner where several welds and bolted plates came together, and detonated. There was a loud bang, but no visible damage to speak of. Well, maybe there was a bend here, a bulge there, but otherwise, the smoke disappeared to reveal an intact truss... which slowly began to twist and groan. Whereas the second mine had exploded in the middle of the bridge, where the explosion merely damaged the non-load-bearing platform, the third mine had damaged metal beams which were holding hundreds, maybe thousands of kilograms of tension.
Things got very loud, very dark, very quickly. The air became hard to breathe as tonnes of dirt, rock, and debris began to avalanche into the cavern in a black cloud. The snipers abandoned the fight, the crew tore hell back toward the entrance, and Johannes continued being a daredevil even as the world collapsed around him.
---
Ten minutes later, they were all gathered in the cargo bay of the Cataract, being attended to by the ship's doctor, Melody. They were all a similar shade of brown, wild eyed and very quiet after what they had witnessed. Johannes was clutching his sword; even he wasn't sure how he had managed to recover it. They had escaped through the maintenance tunnel that Hariim had discovered moments earlier. The mission had been aborted obviously, and no further action would be seen that day.
However, they had been given four days to accomplish their task on Voyak. Given that the silos were separated from the main cavern, and the control room was far below, in the safety of the lowest level, they would need to make some sort of second attempt. Just not today. Good god, not today.
---
János and his team followed the blood trail through the yard, eventually rounding a corner which passed between two other buildings. In the gravel lot which lay beyond, they found a large spacecraft of indeterminate origin. It looked as if it might have been built by humans, but in a style not seen for centuries. Strangest of all, it was adorned with the same logo which had been painted on Frosty's mysterious craft.
Dio turned to János. "Warden, we can either go in there and try to ambush this freak, or we can try to talk it out. Personally, I doubt he wants to do this the easy way. It's your call, I guess."
(( jesus christ maddox ))
((Good fucking job Maddox you destroyed the Bridge to Terabithia))
[i]Johannes was staring at his sword, uncharacteristically quiet as he repeatedly ran an armored finger along the tip of the blade, a quiet sizzle as the plasma burned the paint but didn't have enough pressure being placed on it to cut into the armor. His helmet was off, and his lips were moving quietly. If anyone was close enough and cared to listen, they would hear him murmuring very, very quietly in Dutch. It sounded solemn, almost choral. Perhaps a prayer or hymn.[/i]
Something was wrong with Frosty's brain. Moloch sensed it as he placed his hand over it and scanned for any sustained injuries. There was a problem in the temporal lobe. He was intent on resolving this issue as he shoved his fingers into the exposed part of Frosty's head. To him, it felt like something was disconnected, something wasn't in the right place, something was being blocked. The matter was taken care of rather quickly. A sickening popping noise echoed throughout the shuttle, and the bridge, as Moloch withdrew his fingers from within Frosty's cranial cavity.
The frontal part of Frosty's skull snapped into place as Moloch placed it back on Frosty's head, and sealed the cut he made. Frosty's body was healed, and all would be well if he would just regain consciousness to meet the healer that was so intent on fixing him.
(( I like how the bridge is just soaking in this daily episode of "Horror Stories from the ER, with Dr. Moloch". :v: ))
Maddox sat down and let out a deep sigh. He then started to laugh from behind the visor of his helmet.
"I need to make more spidermines."
Taylor was silent, looking down at the floor as her helmet sat beside her. Two incapped. Amy and Valk. She glanced over towards where Valkyrie and Amy were lying, being tended to by Melody and Abrax. She blamed herself. She was their leader, supposed to keep them focused and alive. Keep them working as a unit. If she had done that, they wouldn't have lost the APC and they might have actually completed part of the mission before the day was over.
Instead, everything went to hell. And they payed for it because she couldn't maintain control. [I]AGAIN.[/I] She stared at Valkyrie's head. Her pale, Mauve colored hair singed and scorched. Most of it missing from where the hole had been blown through her skull. She wondered if Abraxas could actually fix her, or if it was a lost cause. If he could, she'd have a newfound respect for him. If he did fix her, though, she may not come back right. The concussive blast from the rocket's detonation probably turned half her brain to mush...she'd need cybernetics.
She heard Mad's comment about the spider mines a moment later. "...Yeah. Make more of them." she said softly, as she reached over and grabbed her helmet. She slipped it back on, secured it, and switched on her comms before switching to the Muramasa's frequency. [I]"Caine to Muramasa. We had to pull out. Encountered heavy resistance, suffered two casualties. Explosive detonation caused the ceiling to cave in. We barely made it out. Currently aboard the Cataract. We'll have to find another way down to the missile control room tomorrow."[/I]
((Gonna get right to respond after I get home. Been working like a dog because the lift is broken on our truck so me and mu shift partner are like 320 pick-up locations behind.))
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_lyQ-OCIYs[/media]
Abrax stared, replacing his leather gloves with surgical ones. He took a long look at Valkyrie, performing her first due to obvious reasons. Without any of his special tools from Muramasa he had to make due with all of the standard medical tools in this ship. He order this so called Melody to tend to Amy. The Malmarian took a lab coat and covered over his back, breathing through, keeping calm and making sure the entire environment was sterilized. His main goal was to complete all four injuries: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary
If not, then it was game over. A high explosion like that is serious and any mistake can result in death.
A table full of surgical tools laid present aside. First of all, Valkyrie suffered a devastating blast to the head. Not only was it near difficult to actually keep her stable but after this, if, she might have to get her bearings up to speed for awhile. Abrax reported a horrendous injury pattern: severe intracranial haemorrhage, brain swelling, trauma to the neck and the side of the brain. With a case of bone fragments scattered everywhere. This sort of management was complicated to say the least, tracheostomy to actually help the woman breath. With anesthesia activated, Abraxas inserted a tube, creating an opening to Valk's throat. Once he cleaned out any intrusions and draped the neck he grabbed one of his remedies, and planted aside.
He grabbed an accurate blood pack to her type and attached it to her IV. The Malmarian kept IV hydration—up to 1.5 L/hour for maintenance.
He watched as the blood circulate and grabbed several tools, with the nasal packing this would stop bleeding from her nostrils and hopefully reduce blood loss. Because of the major explosion, Abrax realized she also had carotid artery dissection. Right now this injury needs to be managed or else she might suffer intense blood loss or a possible stroke.
Intracranial haematoma was likely but not yet confirmed until Abraxas got to the point he patched up the neck and facial injuries first. With the airway established he made sure to give pressure. He planted a long chest tube for her lung, making sure the robotic drones in the background helped him out. So long as her lungs kept sustaining she won't have to succumb to Blast lung. Abrax then headed to the top of her head, checking the monitors for status and signs of life. He went back to the real problems on her circulation and respiratory systems. So long as he kept blood loss to a minimum and oxygen optimal he can prevent cases of hypoxia. Until then, Abraxas worked as hard as he can to pull this operation off. But with the future looking grim the chances of brain surgery got higher each second.
...
"Cheers."
Abrax raised his glass, his smile brightening up the entire deck.
"Cheers."
Anna replied, making a dedicated toast. Both of them gulped down on their natural fruit wine. Anna giggled and let out a slight burp. "Really?" Abrax asked.
"Why not?" Anna said tilting her glass, eyeing it while the music warmed her eyes in rhythm. She then saw another couple chatting together, the ushering into laughter. She curved her mouth into a smile. "Do you ever think that for each person there is a story, an interesting one in fact, but sometimes we don't get to hear them. Most likely never know." She explained as Abrax nodded, intrigued at the concept.
"Sorta."
"It's almost scary. One day you save a group of people and then tomorrow you're dead." Anna deep down felt her heart shrink, stories were history and an unpublished one managed to kill a part of it. "Uh, I'd rather not talk about death right now."
"I'll be right back." Abrax said, immediately leaving the table and went to the bathroom. Anna sighed tapping on the finely crafted table and waited. For a minute or two Anna heard a mild psst from the right side. She spotted a tall boy in military dress and a black cap. She widened her eyes and already knew.
"Mortimer?" She rose from her chair and walked up to him. "Anna, I thought you were still serving?" He asked as he gave her a warm hug.
"I left after the war, you remember Abrax? We're married now." Anna raised her left hand, showing her golden ring. Motimer was smiling until she spoke about the name Abrax. He slowly raised an eyebrow and was left with confusion.
"Abrax? I didn't know. Well that's a bit unexpected." He kept the same face.
Anna made a frown "What do you mean?" Mortimer sighed. "I mean Abrax, I'm sure he treats you right, but there have been some rumors. Rumors in the Heer, involving him."
"What are you talking about?"
...
Abrax kept working on Valk, determined as ever, yet this was what he came for. The experience, the money, yet the risk kept turning on his head each time. Sooner or later, Anna would ask him to come back. The experiences the pain bore upon him, they were changing him, yet no one knew.
No one.
After this mission, he must leave the crew.
Simple as that.
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