Lion was almost knocked down when the blade returned. He struggled to stay upright as the damage to his body had increased. Seeing that Iska managed to seriously injure Dirge Lion decided to bring out his LWA Lionclaws, firing several bursts from the micro SMG's from a moderate distance.
Varn charged Dirge while he was distracted. Aiming to stab him in the wound Iska opened.
Dwan fired his howitzer with all he had, but Dirge dodged them all. Dwan was then caught by surprise when Dirge didn't try to whip his sword out of his hands. He watched as Dirge used the thermal whip to break the howitzer, as he ripped off the entire barrel and parts of the base, damaging Dwan's armor slightly in the process. Dirge flinged the ripped off part against the rocks, before concentrating on his wound.
Dwan rushed over to the ripped off artillery piece. Dirge had just damaged what he considered an ancestral weapon, as these artillery-packback fusion weapons were used by the Dwarfs of Ancaria. He grabbed the piece, before slowing placing it in his backpack. He straightened out his sword, before letting out a demonic yell. He turned to look at Dirge. "[You shouldn't have fucking done that.]", he said in Enochian at Dirge. He got into a attack position with sword in hand and rushed at Dirge, hoping that he could overwhelm him with Varn's help.
[QUOTE=Viper123_SWE;49070528]Lion was almost knocked down when the blade returned. He struggled to stay upright as the damage to his body had increased. Seeing that Iska managed to seriously injure Dirge Lion decided to bring out his LWA Lionclaws, firing several bursts from the micro SMG's from a moderate distance.[/QUOTE]
Mini Roll Critical Success[highlight][9][/highlight]: Lion drew his dual smgs and aimed directly at Dirge's throat, piercing through as several salvos per second went through. Dirge stumbled and stood, holding his throat together like a guy attempting to attach his limp.
He stood and kneed down as a result of the pain overtook him. He lowered his head and saw his pet, slowly dying. The scars they've received were extraordinary. He turned to his pet and went towards him slowly. Both vitals were fading away and saw death right in front of them. Dirge extended his hand towards the creature. The creature breathed slowly and blinked once, pulling out a claw. Both clenched and shook. Dirge immediately grabbed the creature's head, pressing down to create pressure, twisting the bones. A snap. Out of mercy, out of necessity. Dirge shook his head as he stared towards his best friend. Now laying in requiem.
Dirge turned to them, standing as he slowly raised a fist to his chest. His arm went limp, on along with himself stumbling down to the ground with his pet.
...
[i]2379[/i]
Dirge sped up as his own chased the convoy under the bright sun. This was another easy day for him, considered a breather when it came to Auditor assignments. Folter was chasing through like a crazed maniac and ran to the window of the pilot's seat casually. Sertum and Zane were right behind him searching their surroundings for any intrusion. He pulled out the cube he made for Darling. He wanted to test this thing out as a way to transport her through all the missions. He threw the cube like a baseball onto the rocks. A bright glow erupted as Darling sprinted with him.
"Dirge, I could use Darling as a bulldozer to topple that big truck. Whip her up for me will ya?" Folter radioed in as he saw multiple shots ringing towards him. Folter saw a Kercan driving while shooting. "Hey Bill, if that's your real name stop the damn truck!" He said as he looked on to the name tag. He spated out a weird alien language Folter could not comprehend on his translater. "Oh you."
Asshole, Dirge thought. In a amusing right Folter was full of it and was more of a prankster than a warrior. "Focus on your mission Folter, I do not expect Sertum will be pleased to see your behavior." Dirge said as he pulled out his whip. A quick lash on the back and Darling already went full throttle. Charging her way with fierce predation. Folter turned his head to see Darling going to ram the truck and turned to "Bill"
"Hey! Darling going's to bust your vehicle, you might want to get out!" Folter warned as Darling was getting closer and closer. Folter shrugged and leaped on to the steps, pulling out the door and grabbing Bill by the collar. Right before Darling rammed the truck's rear Folter pulled out of the truck with Bill yelling.
The truck tumbled sideways, crashing as the exhaust smoke came out. The backdoor flew out as an armored individual stepped through, tubes plugged onto the back. "Alright boys! Fun time's over!" She yelled staring at all four.
"Enhance serums? There's no coming out of that you know." Folter walked forward.
"Stay back, this cache belongs to me!" She said.
"Actually correction, that belongs to the Genesis Nova." Folter pointed with his index finger while holding Bill.
"Stealing property is a severe offense to the Crimus. You have no chose but to submit." Dirge added in.
"You think I care about that? I could make a lot of money from this." She reasoned to them. Dirge crossed his arms and shook his head. "Your greed has blinded you, what exactly is your motivation for stealing?" Dirge questioned.
"The Crimus is one big lie, you know that. Fuck all of it, I want to explore and take my leave. Your rules are fucked and your Richter is fucked."
"The Constable of Leadership is the path you've chosen to uphold the Richter's wishes, it is a guidance to those that follow and inspire others. Without it we are nothing and as such are doomed to mediocrity. And you Perra, have failed that test." He remarked.
Perra chuckled and sighed. She raised a large caliber hand cannon as big as a Bolter, piercing through Dirge's throat. Darling roared and charged at Perra while Sertum quickly went to help. Folter knocked Bill out and went to the chase only to find out Perra has already injected the enhancers to her system, increasing her strength and agility ten fold. Folter gestured outwards as Darling went to assist.
Sertum pulled out the stimulant and injected the wounded area while pressing an emergency button on Dirge's chest plate. He took off his helmet and saw a face of a young man. "Don't give in, press through Dirge!" Sertum yelled. Auditor initiate Perra Clarke was a shame to everyone. She chose to steal that cache of enhanced drugs for profits and cared only to herself. Dirge knew that while he could see the bright sun. He hoped this wouldn't be the last time they saw her and considering her acts she had a life exception of 3 years. Dirge closed his eyes and went out.
...
Sertum oversaw the surgery process behind a window, this was a disaster on their part. A door opened, unveiling Folter. "Well, after setting up a shit load of mines, gaining enhances and running away rather than fight she got away." Folter turned to see Dirge through the glass. "An explosive kinetic like that could have killed him." Folter crossed his arms. Sertum shook his head. "The seized cache?"
"Temporary. It looked like she was planning to sell them so others can crawl back and buy more of the stuff. Good thing she's not an official Auditor eh?" Folter said. Both looked at Dirge and saw the dead tissue getting cut.
"She won't last outside without others to help her."
"We're going to need another person to fill Perra's position soon. I'm sure there will be many volunteers for that." Folter stated.
"Indeed." Sertum ended as both saw Dirge getting fixed in no time. Though they would imagine this wound will cause him to no longer speak.
Dwan ended up stopping Varn from rushing towards Dirge, realizing that Lion's shot had ended him. They all watched him slowly die. Dwan sighed. "Well, that's over with.", he said. "We've got to keep moving, however. I need a few folks to help me with the beast's body. I'll deal with the mute's body.", he told everyone.
"Right. Just tell us what you want us to do." Varn moved closer to the creature's corpse. He motioned to the marines "Are you gonna stand there? Help me with this."
Pippin looked around. "Shit! is everyone okay?"
Iska walked up and put a hand on Dwans shoulder. "Wait." iska muttered while bending down to grip the handle of her knife, still sticking out of Dirges neckplate. Iska put her foot on his head and started tugging away at the knife, it was wedged in good. When she finally got it out she swung it around slightly to get rid of the blood. She then put the knife back into her belt and gestured for Dwan to continue while she went over to the heavy machinegun which had been knocked out of her hands earlier.
"Shit! is everyone okay?"
"Acording to Gabriel I have a cracked rib. I'll be fine. You should check for some medical help tho. That gash looks bad. Mercury, give him a stimpack." Varn turned his attention towards the men and the carcass. "On the count of three, we push it over the edge over there." The men got into position. "One, two, three." They started pushing and rolling the creature's body. It was heavier than it looked, but eventually they pushed it over to a ledge. "Hold up. Lets leave a surprise waiting for anyone who gets too close to it." Varn gestured towards a Boome, who gave him a sticky grenade. He set it to mine mode and stuck it under the creature's wings. Once done, they pushed it over the edge.
"Nice work.", Dwan said, as he grabbed Dirge and his whip. "I'll be right back, need to throw out this trash.", he said, as he walked to a different part of the cave, away from everyone's sights.
Pippin looked down at the gash. "I don't think it's that bad. I think most of the damage was to my armour." A marine medic walked over to take a look at Pippin.
As Dirge fell Lion holstered his SMG's. He stood silent for a moment with his armed crossed behind his back, a Sol tradition to honor a worthy opponent. Behind him Warren, the rest of Spectre and a couple of marines did the same.
After a few seconds they got to work, tending to eachother while resupplying. Lion started gathering the shattered remains of his sword while repairing his chest wound.
((Been out of town. Catching up now.))
Yanim and Virin arrived at Fort Blaze at roughly the same time as the Belladonna, as they had a much shorter distance to travel than the damaged vessel. In an open field where a number of Privateer and allied fighters and gunships were being serviced, the freight-carrying Belladonna seemed out of place- overweight, bloated and clumsy. Its rough landing did nothing to deter this image as the lack of hydraulic pressure caused the landing legs to buckle under the ships weight pitifully. There was smoke rising from the engine compartments and large amounts of fluid draining onto the barren surface of the world.
A pair of technicians arrived on sight to un-jam the cargo door practically immediately, with the kanads arriving soon after to check in on the crew. "What's with this rig?" one of the humans questioned.
"It's a Drotik ship, for sure. I've worked on these," replied the other. "This one's pretty weird though, they don't make 'em like this. Got that tool in place?"
"Yeah- one, two, three!" The two humans used an air-driven shock device to blow the door open. It slammed to the ground unceremoniously, adding even more dust to the cloud the ship had disturbed while landing. Yanim nodded at Virin to go inside before she turned to the mechanics.
"You two, have you worked with sodium reactors?" Yanim asked them. They looked down on the mysterious kanad with confusion.
"Who are you?" One of them asked.
"I'm an engineer by trade, but I own the company that owns this ship."
"Right," one of them answered in an uncertain tone. "We don't really 'do' reactors here. Most fighters don't have 'em, but this ain't a fighter anyway."
"I assure you it's a capable vessel," Yanim replied, coldly.
"Uh-huh."
"Just follow my lead, human. They aren't hard to understand."
---
The interior of the ship, aside from being dark, appeared to be in much better shape than the exterior implied. Even then, the lights were out due to a safety mechanism which reserved all power generation for essential functions. The engines were damaged, but still producing plenty of energy which was now being stored in batteries and capacitors.
As Virin entered the bridge, he knocked something with his foot and heard a grunt. Straining his eyes in the dim light, he suddenly made out Rask, seated on the floor with his back propped against the wall. Gataska was crouched nearby, attending him, and at the sight of Virin she smiled. "[We're okay. Rask is just a little oxygen-poisoned, he'll have it out of his system in a few minutes. Neasha's in the bathroom.]"
"[The bathroom?]"
"[Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's vomiting. She seemed pale,]" Gat explained. Virin wondered what she meant- serek skin being scaled as it is, it was difficult to imagine Neasha going pale.
"[Right...]" he replied. "[So, I think we're done here. You?]"
"[Absolutely. As soon as this ship can take off I think we should leave.]" As Gataska spoke, the lights suddenly came on in the bridge, signaling a slight improvement in the electrical systems.
Yanim's voice came in over the comm- "Yakka, okay, there it is. How is the crew, Virin?"
"They're all dead," Virin answered dryly. The sound of a tool being dropped could be heard over the radio.
"Vok!?"
"Spaska, Yanim," Gat interrupted obliviously.
"Fuck you Virin, that's not funny! I want you all to listen to the radio and tell me what's going on- in orbit, too. We're still not sure if this vessel can fight."
"What a waste of good payload..." Rask wheezed.
"Oh... what is that?" Yanim suddenly asked with a worried tone. After a moment of listening to one of the human mechanics point out the obvious, Yanim snapped- "Yes, I know it's the fucking warp drive! But why does it look like that? Yes we discharged it! In... In atmosphere? Oh, yes. Oh... huh. Right. Right. Ah... shit."
A dull thud echoed from the bulkhead which separated the main tunnel from the bathroom, as if the occupant had pounded a fist against the wall...
---
"We're trapped," Neasha said, running her hands through the narrow mane on the crown of her head as she paced back and forth in the bridge. "Gods, Yanim, why didn't you just let us go? I never wanted to get wrapped up in this battle of yours."
Gataska spoke up next, having found her translator. "<You surprised me with your pirate ship when you showed up Ipyk->"
"[...[I]freelancers without an allegiance[/I]...]" Yanim corrected.
<-because I thought this was going to be a freight job. Somehow, this is different from both ideas. What the hell is this crew's actual business?>"
"Keh- whatever the hell we want it to be," Rask answered with a dry cough. "Or, at least, whatever the hell [I]boss[/I] wants it to be."
Yanim closed her eyes in annoyance and thought about the situation while her crewmembers continued to level accusations and blame on her. She deserved it, she reasoned, but it wasn't solving anything. The warp drive was fried and couldn't be salvaged, the result of her quick thinking to save the crew from the planet's defenses. Now they couldn't leave the field of battle unless they docked inside of a much larger ship- all of which were currently engaged with the enemy in a desperate fight to hold control of space around Zeruel.
"Fight, or don't," She responded. "Either way, we're not getting off this planet on our own. If we live through, I'll... remove the virus on the ship's computer, split our payout money, and you all can go your separate ways. If that's what you want."
For a moment, there was silence on the bridge. Virin broke it with a placid reply: "If Neasha wants her ship back, I'll go halfway on a new one. Provided HarkArk actually pays out..." Yanim looked over in surprise as he explained, "nothing could be worse than this. If we get through this battle without anyone dying, then we're an honestly decent crew. I think we can do alright together," he added with a shrug.
"I've got nowhere else to go," Rask said after more silence. "I'm... afraid of..." he trailed off, suddenly averting his eyes. "Anyway, wherever Yanim and Virin are going, I suppose I'll go too. What about you, Gat?"
Gataska sighed as she listened to the translation. "<I'll go along if you can promise me something: I want to be able to quit at any moment, no strings attached.>"
Yanim shrugged. "Okay."
The four kanads looked at Neasha. She said nothing for a while, before glaring directly at Yanim. "Remove the virus right now."
"Okay."
"When the mission's over," the serek continued, bitterly, "you pay for all the repairs to the ship, personally. Then I want you to get down and kiss my ass. Then I'll think about it."
"Okay."
"So now what?" Virin cut in. "On the radio they're saying there's a huge four-legged mech they want every available ship fighting. It's killing just about everything HarkArk is sending. If we're going to do this, those are our orders."
"All in favor?" Yanim asked with a sorrowful smile. She lifted her hand limply.
Rask followed, after which Virin raised his hand while hanging his head. Gataska joined, and finally, Neasha.
"Okay," Yanim said, weakly. She felt warmed by the comradery, but deeply saddened by the possibility that she had brought this unlikely crew together just to perish in a blaze of glory for a conflict most had nothing riding on.
"Okay..."
---
After finalizing the repairs and doing a brief flight systems check, the ground crew cleared the Belladonna for combat. It lifted off, closing its ramp under its own power once more, trailing particles of sand and rock as the beast took to the sky. Rask located the mech on the radar display and gave the heading to Neasha. Gataska gave a quick hug to Virin and whispered something in his ear. He smiled as she left the room once more, gracefully moving past Yanim, who stood motionless in the center of it all.
Beyond her control, the crew she had assembled marched toward destiny. The mech appeared on the horizon in front of them, larger and uglier than anything Yanim could have imagined.
"Neasha," Yanim said, "please take us into a circle about 1 kilometer in radius around the mech. Rask, use the long-range optics and try to get a visualization in the holo-display. I'll do my best to find some kind of weakness. It's the only thing we can do that the fighters can't."
Slowly, the hulking machine drew nearer, and the crew of the Belladonna did its best to determine the location of its Achilles' heel.
((Roll for targeting information))
Mini Roll[8]: With massive scourge of luck, the scanners where able to zoom close to the mech. The main cannon on the right arm had exposed tubes connecting to the main body, same as the left arm. This was their main exposed points that might render its main weapons offline. Though it most likely won't disable the top guns it will still increase their chances of survival.
Varn picked up his gun after disposing of the corpse. He looked around and started counting the marines and mercenaries still standing. He didn't like the drop in numbers. He walked to Lion. "Shame about the sword. You alright after all that?"
Dwan managed to get away from everyone's sights. He sighed once more as he looked at the corpse he was dragging. He activated a Universe Jumper incantation and went through it, dragging Dirge with him.
Arriving at his pad, he quickly constructed a room where he could preserve fresh corpses in. He threw Dirge and his whip into the room. "[Once I get all of you, you'll receive a fate worse than death.]", Dwan said to the corpse as he closed the room, activating its preservation process. He left the whip knowing that if one of the other Auditors saw it, they would become enraged. He started activated the same incantation he did earlier, and as he did so, he used his powers to repair his broken weapons. The incantation then activated and he returned back to this universe.
Having returned, he rushed to the others. "Threw out the trash.", he told Varn.
[QUOTE=kilerabv;49082413]Varn picked up his gun after disposing of the corpse. He looked around and started counting the marines and mercenaries still standing. He didn't like the drop in numbers. He walked to Lion. "Shame about the sword. You alright after all that?"[/QUOTE]
Lion nodded. "I'm fine." Several nanobots were busy swarming the wound. "How about you? We all took some hits."
The medic finished looking at Pippin's wound and he walked over to Lion. "Hey Lion, is there anything you can do about this hole in my armor?
Lion turned to Pippin and begun examining the damage to Pippin's armor.
"I could weld on some spare metal but aside from that your nanobots will do most of the work."
Pippin nodded and sat down on a nearby rock.
[QUOTE=Viper123_SWE;49082604]Lion nodded. "I'm fine." Several nanobots were busy swarming the wound. "How about you? We all took some hits."[/QUOTE]
"Cracked rib, but I'll be fine. The Nomad is keeping me together in one piece. We should move ASAP. I doubt that the Sun will wait for us."
"Threw out the trash."
"I don't know what you did, but the fact that you did it so quickly and nobody noticed is freaking me out a bit."
Lion begun patching up Pippin's armor using several surgical lasers and some debris metal. "You're good to go, just try and avoid getting hit on this particular spot." Said Lion as the nanobots incorporated into all of the KUAS sets kicked in.
He then turned to Varn. "Agreed." Lion then turned to the group. "We're moving out in five so pull yourselves together and get your heads back in the game."
He gestured towards the dozens of fallen marines. "Grab their ammo, no looting. We'll bury them later."
Pippin stood and grabbed some ammo off of a nearby soldier as more soldiers arrived to secure the area.
"Did I really do it that fast? I think you guys disposed of the monster a little quicker.", Dwan said in response to Varn's comment.
"Doesn't matter. If I remember I'll ask you later." Varn looked through the fallen marines and mercenaries. He pocketed some ammo and stood up. He put his fist next to his heart "Your killer is dead. May you men rest and find your eternal fortune in the afterlife." He looked towards his squad. "Get ready to move and stay Sharp. We're close to finishing this." He turned to Lion. "Ready to move, sir."
Iska turned to the last remaining marine from her squad while she picked up the last box of ammo for the heavy machinegun and the tracer gun, which she gave to the marine. She gave him a bit of a sad look, "Comrades are dead, can not help anymore. Now you must fight for them". The Marine nodded slowly. He and Iska walked over to the rest of the group.
Lion waved forward into the tunnel. "Let's move out!" He clecnhed to his trusty rifle and took point, followed by Warren, Spectre Unit, Varn and Iska.
"Come on Pippin, let's move out too.", Dwan told him, as he followed the group further into the tunnel.
The mech was as tall as the Belladonna was long, from bow to stern, and at least five times as massive. Knowing its weak points was one thing, actually hitting them would be another. The crew would need as much help as it can get. While Neasha alerted the allied fighters of the mech's vulnerabilities, Yanim and Rask prepared a bomb sled in a special configuration. Rather than simply following the laser path of a rangefinder, this device would be radio-controlled. Yanim would guide the missile to its target using her implant, telegraphic it a snaking path to follow in order to avoid countermeasures.
However, that wasn't all- this missile would be built like a sabot. Once she had closed in on the vulnerability, Yanim would detonate part of the payload which was encased in a breakaway shell. The actual warhead inside would be momentarily propelled at hypersonic speeds as if fired out of a railgun. It was a radical plan with many possible points of failure, but there weren't any available "simple" solutions to accomplish the same.
The ship climbed until there was enough room for Yanim to glide the missile to its target. Rask released it, and Yanim took control, doing everything she could to guide the weapon to its destination.
[video=youtube;N3472Q6kvg0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3472Q6kvg0[/video]
[b]DAEDALUS - THE BEAST[/b]
[QUOTE=Sega Saturn;49086197]The mech was as tall as the Belladonna was long, from bow to stern, and at least five times as massive. Knowing its weak points was one thing, actually hitting them would be another. The crew would need as much help as it can get. While Neasha alerted the allied fighters of the mech's vulnerabilities, Yanim and Rask prepared a bomb sled in a special configuration. Rather than simply following the laser path of a rangefinder, this device would be radio-controlled. Yanim would guide the missile to its target using her implant, telegraphic it a snaking path to follow in order to avoid countermeasures.
However, that wasn't all- this missile would be built like a sabot. Once she had closed in on the vulnerability, Yanim would detonate part of the payload which was encased in a breakaway shell. The actual warhead inside would be momentarily propelled at hypersonic speeds as if fired out of a railgun. It was a radical plan with many possible points of failure, but there weren't any available "simple" solutions to accomplish the same.
The ship climbed until there was enough room for Yanim to glide the missile to its target. Rask released it, and Yanim took control, doing everything she could to guide the weapon to its destination.[/QUOTE]
Mini Roll[7]: Once Rask prepared the launch, Yanim took drive and guided her bomb to one of the arms, specifically the fortress annihilator cannon that just blew Omega Field out of existence. The Daedalus marched its way while thousands of tanks and ships fired their salvos, some actually crashing into it to stop its rampage. Distracted the mech was, the bomb closed in at the armpit, detonating on impact as a explosion as wide as a small ship took place. Despite some damage the Daedalus was still busy shooting down several companies at a moment's notice. They needed to keep the pressure as hard as they can.
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